Key Contacts for Africa Advocacy

This directory is published soon after the beginning of the 110th Congress, at a time when there
is a shift in power of the leadership in the House. The change offers an opportunity for
constituent members to interface with Congressional leaders about U.S. policy on Africa. The
Senate Majority Leader and the House Speaker must lead this Congress to challenge, as well as
partner with, the Bush Administration to address issues that are of priority to Africa

Celebrity Photo Shoot for Day for Darfur:

Embargoed until 29th April.
Thandie Newton and Matt Damon are among a group of artists who have posed for a series of pictures to draw attention to the crisis in Darfur.

The photographs were taken by celebrity photographer Jane Hodson at the Jasmine studios in London on the 26th April.

The photographs tie in with the fourth anniversary of the conflict on Sunday 29th April. They picture the actors smashing hourglasses filled with fake blood to demonstrate that time is running out for the people of Darfur.

YouTube - Somalia: Ogaden War 77/79 Somalia vs Ethiopia & Co

YouTube - Somalia: Ogaden War 77/79 Somalia vs Ethiopia & Co

"The Most Lawless War of Our Generation" - Fmr. UN Spokesperson on Somalia

In Somali, fierce clashes in Mogadishu are being described as some of the heaviest fighting in the city's history. Some 329 people have been killed over the past ten days. This comes just three weeks after another series of battles claimed at least 1,000 lives. The United Nations says more people - over 350,000 - have been displaced in Somalia in the past three months than anywhere else in the world. [includes rush transcript]

The Rise and Fall of Mogadishu’s Islamic courts

CHATHAM HOUSE: APRIL 2007
• Multilateral efforts to support Somalia have been undermined by the
strategic concerns of other international actors – notably Ethiopia and the
United States.
• Security in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has severely deteriorated since
the US-backed Ethiopian intervention in the country.
• The Islamic Courts, which were ousted, had strong support in the
country but fell victim to the influences of ‘extremist elements’ within the
country and an Ethiopian power eager for the Courts’ downfall.
• The standing of the Islamic Courts was damaged by their defeat but the
subsequent disorder has served to make their time in control appear as a
‘Golden Age’.
• Support for the Courts has been fairly consistent for over a decade and
is unlikely to melt away. click the top .......for more

Classes stop as Addis Ababa University students

The student protest at Addis Ababa University is in its second day today after it was ignited yesterday by some students at Arat Kilo campus. The Students said they started chanting anti-university administration slogans when they learnt that the body of dead student was abused by the Menelik hospital autopsy department. The student passed away three days ago. His friends suspected that he was poisoned. According to sources, at least 200 students have fallen sick in the last two days as a result of food poisoning. The report is yet to be confirmed by the university's medical staff.

Talk but no action on genocide

Apr 25, 2007

Carol Goar

Every seat in the hall was filled despite the stirrings of spring outside.

"Even though it's a fine and lovely day, I will depress you deeply," warned Gerry Caplan, who was about to deliver the annual public lecture at the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics. He was true to his word.

PRESS RELEASE from Somali human Rights Action

Mogadishu 25, April.07 ( Sh.M.Network) We are serious concern of bloody conflicts and fighting’s in Mogadishu which caused the death of thousands of innocents in Mogadishu and also thousands living under trees for they escaped from the war.

A PLEA FOR KINIJIT UNITY

Over the years, since 1991, on account of lack of unity, foresight, and a commitment to Ethiopia by the opposition,, especially in the Diaspora since October 2005, Weyane has brought about incalculable damage to Ethiopia and Ethiopians:


1. Dismembered Eritrea, putting our Afar people under separate governments and land-locking Ethiopia.
2. Instigated a senseless and costly war with Eritrea, leading to some 70,000 brothers dead, at a colossal material cost, thousands of landmines scattered along the fictitious borders with Tigray and millions of dollars allocated to get them out.
3. Destroyed our National Defense Forces and exposed Ethiopia to Eritrean invasion. Members of the national Defense Forces, including senior officers, continue to be thrown out of service today on account of ethnicity and suspicions of support for the opposition, thereby again exposing Ethiopia to possible external attack.
4. Destroyed several institutions and dismissed several thousand professionals from their jobs, thereby forcing thousands out of the country to seek refuge in all corners of the globe.
5. Institutionalized a pseudo-ethnic system of government in which some 83 of Ethiopia’s ethnic groups are reportedly organized under 7 ethnic groups in Tigray, Afar, Oromia, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, Harari and Ogaden. The organization in Amhara and SNNPS is mixed since Weyane itself provides the leadership to ensure complete subservience and its designs of divide-and-rule..
6. Committed genocide in Gambella and Eastern Wellega, and crimes against humanity in broad daylight
Press the link for more

Somalia burns - but does anyone care?

By Andrew Cawthorne NAIROBI, April 24 (Reuters) -

The carnage and suffering in Somalia may be the worst in more than a decade -- but you'd hardly know it from your nightly news. For a mix of reasons, from public fatigue at another African conflict to international diplomatic divisions and frustration, a war slaughtering civilians and creating a huge refugee crisis has failed to grab world attention or stir global players. "There is a massive tragedy unfolding in Mogadishu, but from the world's silence, you would think it's Christmas," said the head of a Mogadishu political think-tank, who declined to be named because of the precarious security situation in Somalia.

Gunmen Kill at Least 69 in Attack on Oilfield in Ethiopia

By Edward Cody

Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, April 24, 2007; 9:34 AM

BEIJING, April 24 -- Gunmen attacked a Chinese-run oilfield in Ethiopia early Tuesday, killing at least nine Chinese and more than 60 Ethiopian workers, according to the New China News Agency.

The official agency, in a dispatch it said was confirmed by the Chinese Embassy in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, reported more than 100 Ethiopian soldiers beat back the attackers in nearly an hour of shooting. The battle took place just after dawn in an oilfield at Abole, a small town the agency said lies 90 miles from Jijiga in Ethiopia's Somali State near the border with Somalia.

U.S. House of Representatives

WASHINGTON - Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) on April 20 introduced the "Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007" in the US House of Representatives, the Coalition for H.R. 5680 has learned.

The new bill* re-drafted by Congressman Payne retains much of the legislative findings and provisions of H.R. 5680 (the "Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Accountability Act of 2006), and 'regime accountability' is the centerpiece of the legislation.

The Coalition of HR 5680 is mindful of the high degree of commitment being made by Congressman Payne, who is also chairman of the subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations.

A New Ethiopia: Calling All Youth to Join the Struggle for Freedom, Morality

April 20, 2007
A new Ethiopia is needed! We call on our youth to join us in our struggle for freedom, morality and the
fear of God in Ethiopia! We have come a long ways towards achieving our goals in Ethiopia, but the last
part of that struggle may be the hardest and things may get worse before they get better! Despite this, we
must push through to the next level and it may be our youth who bring it about! When so many of our
young people were killed during the student protests of 2005, the Prime Minister referred to those who
died as “unemployed youth” as if they were unimportant to the future of Ethiopia. We need a new
Ethiopia where youth are recognized and accepted as precious human beings and potential leaders of the
country! They are someone else’s children, our students and the fathers and mothers of everyone’s future.

PRESS THE NOTICE TO ENLARGE

EHRCO nominated for a major Human Rights Defenders Award!!!

Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders:

Ethiopian Human Rights Council. EHRCO was established in 1991 to strive for a democratic system, to promote the rule of law and to monitor human rights violations in Ethiopia. Because of its work, several members have been arrested and harassed by the government’s security forces, while others were forced to leave the country or to disengage from their human rights activities. A reduced staff courageously continue its operations.

Heavy Somali fighting amid crisis

Fierce fighting has resumed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, following UN warnings of a humanitarian disaster.

የትግል ቃልኪዳን ጥሪ

የትግል ቃልኪዳን ጥሪ

Scores of Ethiopian troops flee Somalia to Yemen: report

Sana'a - Scores of Ethiopian army troops have arrived off the coast of Yemen onboard two boats belonging to smugglers after they fled fighting with Islamic insurgents in Somalia, a press report said on Tuesday.

Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms

ON THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CANADIAN CHARTERS OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOM.
A GOOD READ FOR MY FELLOW COMPATRIOTS FROM ETHIOPIA.

Reports of torture in Ethiopia are widespread

07-04-16) 04:00 PDT Ghimbi, Ethiopia -- First, the police threw Tesfaye into a dark cell. Then, each day for 17 days, it was the same routine: Electric shocks on his legs and back, followed by beatings with rubber truncheons. Four or five officers would then surround and kick him. At last, a large bottle of water would be tied around his testicles. He'd pass out.

Ethiopia and Eritrea: Allergic to Persuasion

Six years after they signed a peace agreement in Algiers, Ethiopia and Eritrea
continue their confrontation. Ethiopia won’t accept the ruling of the Boundary
Commission. Eritrea won’t negotiate. Tensions rise in Somalia as Ethiopia and
Eritrea back different sides.

The Horn of Africa: a bitter anniversary

Edward Denison
Five years after international arbitration over the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, the world remains dangerously indifferent to the still-unresolved issue, says Edward Denison.

Our Quest for the Resolution to the Ethiopian Human Rights Crisis: Time for A Critical Appraisal

By Dr. Meqdes Mesfin | April 14 2007

The massive and systematic crackdown that followed the post-election protest of 2005 is in its second year. Needless to say, none of us had any idea that such destruction and carnage would follow such a powerful statement—— a people under a repressive environment, waking up to the fact that the key to the future of their country was in the ballot–coming out by the millions to vote for the first time! (more…)

Wolfowitz Fight Has Subplot

WASHINGTON, April 13 — When President Bush appointed Paul D. Wolfowitz as the president of the World Bank two years ago, the White House had to put down an insurrection among European nations that viewed the administration’s best-known neoconservative as a symbol of American unilateralism and arrogance.

Ethiopia loses her last MiG-21 pilot to exile

SEATTLE, Washington – Lt. Yonas Belay, Ethiopia’s last remaining MiG-21 pilot who had a staggering 128 reconnaissance missions into enemy territory in the 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea War, recently sought a political asylum in Canada.

Does terrorism work?

Nonviolent strategies of resistance are not simply morally superior to their violent counterparts. They are also more effective, according to the groundbreaking research of Dr. Maria Stephan and Dr. Erica Chenoweth.

Ethiopian troops to start major offensive in Somalia

Ethiopian and Somalia government soldiers are preparing to start a major military offensive against insurgents in Mogadisu, a source at the Somalia Embassy in Ethiopia said.

The source who requested anonymity because of the risks of leaking the information told Ethio-Zagol Post that the forces are at the final stage of their preparation. Mogadishu has remained relatively calm in the last week after the capital’s dominant clan, the Hawiye, had brokered a cease-fire about 10 days ago to end a calamitous fighting.

Canadian detainee may face trial in Ethiopia: CTV

CTV.ca News Staff

A former Toronto resident who disappeared in Kenya several months ago is behind bars in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa where he may face a trial, Ethiopian foreign affairs officials confirmed to CTV News on Tuesday.

Mogadishu’s Carnage, the Death of the TFG & its Fraudulent Reconciliation

Introduction

The European Union (EU) and the United States have “urged” Somalia’s weak and illegitimate Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to negotiate with ‘moderate’ elements of the Islamic Courts and other stakeholders in order to form a broad-based and inclusive transitional authority which can advance reconciliation and secure peace. Such a push by the USA and EU is a tacit recognition that the TFG is illegitimate. The EU, unlike the United States which has supported Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia and which has endorsed the TFG, informed the latter that it was not prepared to release funds to help the country unless the latter committed itself to the creation of an inclusive government. In response to the EU’s demand several TFG ministers traveled to Brussels and reported to the EU that the regime was ready to organize the reconciliation conference in Mogadishu. Although all the details are not known it is clear from the regime’s proposal that it will invite 3000 delegates and manage the convention. The EU appears to have accepted the proposal and the ministers returned to Nairobi/Baidoa in a cheery mood. Since then, the TFG leader has declared that the invitees will be solely clan elders and representatives, and a sprinkling of others.

PRESS RELEASE FROM KINIJIT CANADA CHAPTERS

Ethiopia genocide charges dropped

Ethiopia genocide charges dropped

The opposition leaders say the government controls the court

An Ethiopian judge has quashed controversial charges of attempted genocide and treason against 111 people arrested after election protests.

Twenty-five accused, mostly journalists and publishers, have also been acquitted of all charges.

However several opposition leaders remain in custody, accused of trying to violently overthrow the government.

Amnesty International says the charges of genocide were "absurd" and that the accused are "prisoners of conscience".

The accused have always said the trial was political and all but two have refused to co-operate.

Almost 200 people died in two waves of protests over alleged vote-rigging - denied by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

The genocide charges related to accusations that members of Mr Meles' Tigray community were targeted during the protests.

The opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy blames the deaths on the security forces.

The violence and the charges of election fraud have tarnished Mr Meles' image as a favourite of western donors and one of a new wave of reforming African leaders.

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Human Rights and Humans Without Rights in Ethiopia

Momentary Reflection on My Youthful Activism at the U of M
Before I offer my remarks, I would like to ask you to bear with me for a minute as I reflect on
the great tradition of human rights advocacy at the University of Minnesota, when I was a
graduate student here in the second half of the 1970s.
Back then, there were two major issues that galvanized the campus activist community:
Apartheid in South Africa, and gross violations of human rights by military regimes in Latin
America.
In the late 1970s, many of us at this university, supported and guided by progressive faculty
members, formed a vanguard to advocate and mobilize for divestment of university assets in
corporations that did business in apartheid South Africa. That effort paid off in the early 1980s
when the University of Minnesota became one of first three major American universities to
divest its portfolio from corporations doing business in apartheid South Africa.

TODAY................
The court in charge of the treason and genocide trial of political dissidents today ordered the release of five major newspapers including Serkalem Fasil and her husband Eskinder Nega. The The court also ordered the release of prominent journalists Sisay Agena, fasil yenealem and Dereje Habtewolde.
Meanwhile, the court said the prosecutor didn't show enough evidence proving the charges of attempted genocide and high treason(different from treason) against CUD leaders.
(more on this and other ruling later)

Ethiopia and the Global Antiterrorism Campaign

By John W. Harbeson

The Bush Administration’s recent announcement that it plans to create an Africa Command underscores Africa’s growing strategic significance to the United States, particularly in the post 9/11 era. At the same time, however, a new Africa-specific military command highlights critical, underemphasized, and to a large extent Africa-specific issues at the heart of U.S. foreign policy. The core issue is this: how can the United States pursue its global counter-terrorism agenda in partnership with African countries in ways that strengthen weak states, encourage embryonic democratization, and support Millennium Development Goal objectives?

MESSAGE TO OUR LEADERS, JOURNALISTS, AND MEMBERS OF CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS,
PRISONERS OF CONSCIOUS
KALITI PRISON

MOCKERY OF JUSTICE BY EMBOLDENED NAKED TYRANNY
The kangaroo court of the increasingly emboldened tyrant Meles Zenawi has dealt yet another flagrant and
severe blow to the cause of justice, liberty, and indeed to all national and international covenants on fundamental human rights.

ANDARGACHEW TSIGE & ELIAS KIFLE ARE GUILTY, COURT RULES


In a remarkable precedent in Ethiopian legal history, the court in charge of the treason trial of CUD leaders, independent journalists and civil society members ruled today that Andargachew Tsgie, Mesfin Aman and Elias Kifle are guilty of outrage against the constitutional order even before they are given a chance to defend their case. Although both of them are tried in absentia, they still have a constitutional right to defend their case.
The court either dropped or dismissed the case against other defendants who are tried in diaspora including Tamagne Beyene, Negede Gobeze, Abreha Belai and Brehane Mewa.
Civil society leaders Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie were also ordered to defend their case. Kassahun Kebede, however, was set free.
Ethiopia's greatest civil rights advocate Professor Mesfin Woldemariam was also ordered to defend the charge of outrage against the constitutional order. The court reasoned that eventhough as a non-member of the CUD council he didn't have collective responsiblity, professor Mesfin had made speeches advocating the dismantling of the constitutional order and institutions.
The Kangaroo trial continues Monday.

Source: seminawork

Please NOMINATE PROFESSOR MESFIN WOLDEMARIAM

Rights & Democracy presents the John Humphrey Freedom Award each year to an organization or individual from any country or region of the world, including Canada, for exceptional achievement in the promotion of human rights and democratic development. The Award consists of a grant of $25,000, as well as a speaking tour of Canadian cities to help increase awareness of the recipient’s human rights work.

It is named in honour of the Canadian John Peters Humphrey, a human rights law professor who prepared the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

How to Submit a Nomination

Rights & Democracy invites you to submit a nomination by mail, fax or e-mail by April 15, 2007 with the following documents:

• a letter describing the nominee, his or her work and why he or she merits this Award.
• a curriculum vitae or organizational profile.
• supporting documentation such as articles written by or about the nominee, e.g. press clippings.
• at least three references (with addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses) who have in-depth knowledge of the candidate’s work, and who may be contacted by members of the jury for more detailed information.

- Click here for the nomination form.

- Download the pamphlet in PDF.

Eligibility

• The nominee must be committed to peace and non-violence.
• The nominee must be independent of any political party or governmental affiliation.
• Preference is given to those working at the frontline for the benefit of developing countries, under conditions hostile to the recognition and application of basic human and democratic rights.
• Preference will be given to those involved in the priority issues of Rights & Democracy, namely: democratic development, women's rights, rights of indigenous peoples, globalization and human rights.
• In the case of an individual, the Award is not given posthumously, nor is it given to an organization that is no longer active.
• Former staff or board members of Rights & Democracy are not eligible.
• Self-nominations are not accepted.

An International Jury

The winner will be selected by an international jury composed of five members of Rights & Democracy's Board of Directors: Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Professor of Political Sociology at the American University in Cairo and Secretary General of the Egyptian Independent Commission for Electoral Review; Peter S. Li, Faculty Member of the Department of Sociology at the University of Saskatchewan, and Chair of the Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration‘s Economic Domain; Guido Riveros Franck, President, Bolivian Foundation for Multiparty Democracy; Sima Samar, Chairperson, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Darfur, Sudan; and Janice Stein, Director of the Munk Centre for International Relations, University of Toronto, and Chairperson of Rights & Democracy's Board of Directors.

Previous Winners

1992 – Instituto de Defensa Legal (Peru)
1993 – La Plate-forme des organismes haïtiens de défense des droits humains (Haïti).
1994 – Campaign for Democracy (Nigeria) and Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (Egypt)
1995 – Bishop Carlos F. X. Belo (East Timor)
1996 – Sultana Kamal ( Bangladesh )
1997 – Father Javier Giraldo (Colombia)
1998 – Palden Gyatso (Tibet)
1999 – Cynthia Maung and Min Ko Naing (Burma)
2000 – Reverend Timothy Njoya (Kenya)
2001 – Sima Samar (Afghanistan)
2002 – Ayesha Imam (Nigeria)
2003 – Kimy Pernía Domicó (Colombia) and Angélica Mendoza de Ascarza (Peru)
2004 – Godeliève Mukasarasi (Rwanda)
2005 – Yan Christian Warinussy (West Papua)
2006 – Su Su Nway (Burma)

For more information press the links..for

www.dd-rd.ca

APRIL 15 IS THE DEADLINE...............

Canada asked to use aid as lever to free arrested man

ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ

With a report from Canadian Press

Canada should use its aid to Ethiopia as a lever to force the government to release a Canadian held there as part of an alleged anti-terrorism "rendition" program, the man's lawyer says.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, acknowledged yesterday for the first time that Bashir Makhtal, who came to Canada as an 11-year-old refugee from Somalia, was being held in Ethiopia after being arrested in Kenya.

"We know that he is in Ethiopia and we have made, and continue to make, representations there and in Ottawa to get access to Mr. Bashir," Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Réjean Beaulieu said. "But so far we have not been allowed to meet him."

That's not good enough, says Toronto lawyer Lorne Waldman.

Print Edition - Section Front

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• Captives given look-alike outfits
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• Canada asked to use aid as lever to free arrested man
  
• Now you, yes you, just stop that! [deck#]
• Go to the World section

"Canada should be using its large aid program as leverage to release Mr. Makhtal," he said.

Canada's total aid to Ethiopia in 2004-2005 was $108.39-million, and the Canadian International Development Agency designates it as a "country of concentration," one of the nine in the world where it focuses its efforts.

Ethiopia is currently the country in sub-Saharan Africa to which Canada grants the most international assistance, which it co-ordinates with the Ethiopian government, international institutions and the other donor countries.

Mr. Waldman, backed up by New York-based Human Rights Watch, says that his client was arrested at the Kenya-Somalia border in December and sent to Ethiopia after three weeks in detention in Kenya.

The Ethiopian embassy in Ottawa said yesterday that chaos there has prevented officials from determining the whereabouts of Mr. Makhtal.

Once there is enough order to determine the facts, Ethiopia will provide "first-hand information to the Canadian government," said embassy spokeman Abdurahim Ali.

Mr. Makhtal was among dozens who fled Somalia after the armed conflict between the Union of Islamic Courts and the joint forces of the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia and Ethiopia.

His family has denied that he is a member of the Union of Islamic Courts. He is also alleged to have links to the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a separatist group fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis in Eastern Ethiopia.

But Mr. Waldman said these are innuendos similar to the campaign of leaks used against Maher Arar while he was being held and tortured in Syria:

"It seems that any notorious regime can seek to justify violations of human rights simply by implying that the detainee might in some way be connected to terrorism."

CIA and FBI agents hunting for al-Qaeda militants in the Horn of Africa have been interrogating prisoners in Ethiopia, The Associated Press has reported. The Ethiopian government denies holding secret prisoners.

Mr. Waldman said that his client was deported from Kenya to Mogadishu and then to Addis Ababa two days before his petition for habeas corpus was to be heard in the Kenyan Supreme Court.

Today.......................

The sham trial today proceeded with its ridiculous rulings.
Today, the court added many of the CUD members to yesterday’s list, to defend their case. Today’s additional include Prof. Mesfin and Ato Bedru.
The court also ruled against all the civic society members except the Ato Kassahun (Teachers’ Association) in which all the charges have been dropped for him as of today.
The court also dropped the first charge against the diaspora “defendants” including Ato Berhane, Tamagne, Solomon and others charged in absentia. Some diaspora charges were discontinued till they are upperhandded.
The only thing left is to make a ruling for the remaining few journalists, which is set to proceed on Monday.
Too sad the international media is keeping silent of this outrageous event taking place in Ethiopia.

The official website of Kinijit Ethiopia

The official website of Kinijit Ethiopia

What-it-is-like-to-be-EPRDF

If I would start with a cliche... Today was a sad day. After following the American embassy efforts and the mediation, I had thought that there could be some opening for reconciliation and a new start. The problem with the likes of me is that we try to consider EPRDF as a group which makes rational decisions and try to put ourselves in the shoes of EPRDF leaders and speculate about what their interest are and what they might decide.

Of course, there is something to be like EPRDF. Yet EPRDF doesn't have the same rational faculty as we have. Our way of perceiving things is different. We can't extrapolate EPRDF's reasoning from our experience. We can form schematic conceptions of what it is like to be an animal; but not what to be EPRDF is. What we can do, however, is to rob EPRDF of its power to perplex, hurt and anger us with its irrationally irrational decisions .

And this is only the beginning.
These defendants have so far been ordered to defend themselves against the first charge only. There are six remaining. There are also dozens of other defendants who await ruling.)

The defendants were brought in this morning at 10:20am. Considering the delay tactics of the past week, none of us were expecting the judges to get through the witness summary, let alone make a ruling. We were very wrong.

After the summary was read, there was a 10 minute break. Then the ruling was given: 23 defendants were ordered to defend themselves against the charge of treason. With his last word—before it was even clear that he had finished his sentence--Judge Adil turned abruptly and rushed out the back exit, with the other two following closely.

It was obvious that no one, least of all the defendants, expected such an outcome. The family members received the news with a mixture of anger, fatigue and sadness. “Ayzuachehu! Ayzuachehu!” rang out from both sides of the room as the prisoners, with their unwavering courage, tried to reassure their loved ones and encourage them to be strong. Court resumes tommorrow.

What was particularly striking about today’s session was the change in tone. Judge Adil far exceeded expectations with his particularly eloquent summary and prosecutor’s demeanor (reminding us all, that the defendants could, in fact, also be charged for conspiracy under Article 257 of the penal code, but would not be). This overnight drastic change in vernacular seems more than a little odd; and the phrases and wording seemed a little too familiar…Call me crazy, but it actually sounded strikingly similar to Meles himself!

Perhaps it was.

የአቶ መንግስቱ ታላቅ ወንድም ለገሰ ዜናዊ መጨረሻ ምን ይሆን?

Death sentence beckons our heroes

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Death sentence beckons our heroes

The court in charge of the reason and genocide trial of kinijit leaders, civil society members and independent journalists has today rules that all council members of kinijit including Hailu Shawel, Brehanu Nega and Birtukan Mideksa should defend their case in the treason charge.
The court ruled that the council’s decision has a direct cause and effect relationship with the June 8 and November one disturbances. It also ruled that the prosecutor has produced sufficient evidence to prove that they have committed treason.
The leaders have previously decided not to defend the case. If they stick to their previous decision, it means they will be sentenced for committing treason soon The crime of treason carries a death sentence or severe imprisonment in Ethiopian law.
The following are ordered to defend themselves
Ato Hailu Shawel, Chairman
Wzr Birtukan Mideksa, Vice-Chair
Ato Muluneh Eyuel, CUD Secretary General
Dr Befekadu Degifie, Head of Finance
Dr Yacob Hailemariam, Head of External Affairs
Ato Gizachew Shiferaw, Head of Public Relations
Ato Sileshi Tena
Ato Abayneh Berhanu
COUNCIL MEMBERS
Ato Andualem Aragie
Ato Aschalew Ketema
Ato Assefa Habteweld
Dr Berhanu Nega, Mayor of Addis Ababa
Ato Brook Kebede
Ato Bedru Adem, Member of Parliament
Ato Debebe Eshetu
Dr Hailu Araya, Member of Parliament
Ato Gebretsadik Hailemariam
Shaleqa Getachew Mengiste
Wzr Nigist G/Hiwot
Dr Tadios Bogale, Member of Parliament
Ato Tamrat Tarekegn
Ato Yeneneh Mulat
Ato Mesfin Aman

The court will rule on other defendants tomorrow

Breaking news:court ruled defendants to defend their case

The court decided that all council members (including HAilu Shawel , Birtukan Mideksa and Birhanu Nega) are ordered to defend their case. The court ruled that the prosecutor has shown enough evidence that treason has been committed.

Posted by ethio-Zagol at 2:33 AM 2 comments

postponed, again, again,

The judges in the trial of CUD leaders, independent journalists and civil society members yet again decided to adjourn the proceeding. They finished most of the briefing today.
The judges said they would conclude the briefing and read the ruling tomorrow.
The briefing was read today by judge Leul who was supposed to be sick.

Court adjourned for tomorrow

Monday, April 02, 2007

Court adjourned for tomorrow

(By Ethio-Zagol)
The court is adjourned again; this time for tomorrow. The briefing continued today with remaining part of the documentary evidence summarized. The testimonies of ten witnesses were also summed up. Seventy-nine witnesses had have testified in the trial. The court said the briefing will continue tomorrow.
The court said it would have continued in the afternoon if one of the judges hadn't been sick. This was the same reason given on Friday for not continuing the proceeding in the afternoon. The sick judge is Leul Gebremariam.

Somalia: Fighting continues in the capital for fourth day

By: Shabelle news Dept.


Mogadishu 01, April.07 ( Sh.M.Network) Fighting still continue in the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Sunday between Ethiopian forces together with the interim government troops and Somali local insurgents for fourth day despite the war seemed to be dying down this morning.

The situation around the battle zones such as Towfiq Ali-Kamin and former soccer stadium Mogadishu in south of the capital remain calm today amid the rival sides exchange sporadic fire.
The Ethiopian forces restarted shelling insurgent positions early this morning. People continue to flee the capital escaping the artillery shells.

Buses could be seen carrying families with their belongings and leaving the capital towards to southern regions.

The number of civilians killed in the last three-day clashes reached 150 and 300 more were wounded, while scores of soldiers have been killed in the fighting from both warring sides.

Shabelle Media Network Somalia
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