ETHIOPIA-TREND AND CONFLICT MARCH-APRIL 2007

PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE FROM SWISS PEACE. AN ORGANIZATION MONITORING TROUBLED NATIONS LIKE ETHIOPIA. IT IS A GOOD ASSESSMENT TO READ FOR MOST WHO ARE FOLLOWING THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN ETHIOPIA.

No negotiation with Kaliti prisoners" - Meles

Thursday, June 28, 2007

"No negotiation with Kaliti prisoners" - Meles

PM says prisoners will be sentenced

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says there has been no negotiation with the imprisoned CUD leaders. "Negotiation can only be made with two free persons. There can be no negotiation between an organ which has imprisoned the CUD members because they broke the law, and the prisoners on the respect for the rule of law, " Meles Zenawi said in Parliament today.
The Prime Minister was adamant that the issue of clemency can't be discussed in parliament before the court delivers its sentence on the prisoners as it affects the decision of the court.

EZ's view:
From Meles' statement, there is no possibility that the prisoners will be released before the sentencing which will either be a rigorous imprisonment or death. Last week, I wrote that the prisoners would be released this week unless Meles, the serial liar, backed down. He has done that again.

HR 2003 POSTPONED?????????????????????

THE OTHER SIDE

I can't believe that they have decided to postpone bill HR 2003!

According to sources, as soon as the remaining prisoners signed the negotiation statement, mediator Professor Ephrimim rushed to the United States for a meeting with the State Department, insisting that the bill be postponed in order to ensure the release of the prisoners.

This is truly amazing--Meles is holding his own people hostage while negotiating with the world's superpower. Even more remarkable--the US seems to be
actually negotiating with these tyrants (as if the prisoners themselves were American citizens)!

It makes no sense, and makes me wonder if the govn't had no intention of releasing the prisoners at all, intending to use the agreement as insurance in the face of future condemnation.


**I just received word that tomorrow's court session will be closed to the public and they will be meeting in chambers instead. Something very unsettling is going on here.
(I will post again when I get more information.)

Ethiopia rebels say govt kills 40 in air raids

NAIROBI, June 25 (Reuters) - Rebels in Ethiopia's remote eastern Somali region accused the government on Monday of using warplanes to bomb three villages, killing around 40 people, in an escalating offensive against the insurgents.

The government said it had the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) "on the run", but denied using planes during fighting in the poor and arid region on the border of Ethiopia and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.

An ONLF spokesman said as well as the victims of air raids, 57 more civilians had died in the past 10 days or so of battles.

"This is a big offensive, mostly targeting the population because they cannot beat us," Abdirahman Mahdi, an ONLF founder member and now its UK-based spokesman, told Reuters.

"We hear from our commanders that they carpet-bombed three villages -- Abaaqorow, Dar es Salaam, and Ayun -- with MiG jets last Thursday. About 40 civilians died. Another 57 died in other incidents."

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi announced a crackdown against the ONLF, one of several guerrilla groups fighting his government from remote corners of the vast nation.

The ONLF drew international attention with an April raid on a Chinese-run oil exploration field that killed 74 people.

That was one of the bloodiest attacks in a sporadic but long-running conflict between government forces and the ONLF, which seeks more autonomy for the underdeveloped region.

Jailed CUD Leaders 'to be freed'

A group of 38 Ethiopian opposition leaders Accused of links to violent election protests is to be freed, they have told their families.

They say they have signed a document to secure their release but it is not clear what this is.

Their friends and relatives went on Monday morning to the town of Kaliti where they are being held but were disappointed when they were not freed.

The 38 were convicted earlier this month but have not yet been sentenced.

They were originally charged with treason and genocide - charges which sparked international outrage.

Secret deal

KINIJIT CANADA PRESS RELEASE

KINIJIT CANADA PRESS RELEASE REGARDING THE SITUATION WITH KIL

READ RESOLUTION IN AMHARIC

BREAKING NEWS

Friday, June 22, 2007

Agreed!

CUD leaders in prison have finally agreed to sign the proposal sent by Meles last week. If Meles doesn't, as he usually does, back down from his own proposal, our heroes will be out of prison next week. There are additional lines in the proposal including that the partial acceptance of responsibility and admission of mistake have no legal consequences.
This is a political agreement. Meles has got his face-saving agreement, and the prisoners have in turn got his admission that the court was wrong. And more; their release from the rotten concentration camp called Kaliti. Still we don't know whether Meles who is a serial breaker of agreements will uphold this one.
(fingers crossed...or may be not)

Not yet...Prisoners haven't signed release papers

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Not yet...Prisoners haven't signed release papers

Stephanie McCrummen of WaPo wrote today that some of the prisoners have signed Meles' proposal. Read it here. The report isn't very accurate. I think the American officials in Addis whom she quoted and EPRDF are trying to spin this even before an agreement is reached. I hope all will be resolved today. Meles has come some way in this last round. Although the terms are still short of what we expect ideally, and although negotiating under duress is unjust, I think this one is can be accepted without compromising basic principles.

It is 4:50 in the afternoon here in Addis Ababa. The mediators are in Kaliti right now talking to the prisoners. Now that it it is broken, this is what has really happened so far.

Friday, 15 June

Meles sent a proposal to the prisoners outlining his intention to use his executive powers to release them. There were two main points in the proposal which differentiates in from his previous terms.
1. The terms "fault" and "guilt" were substituted by "mistake". The proposal states that the CUD leaders admit that they have committed mistakes after the election, and that they take partial responsibility to the consequences of the mistakes including the violence in October.
2. Meles says that he doesn't accept the "guilty" verdict by the court.

Caveat: The proposal is a "take it or leave it."

Monday, 18 June

Representatives of the prisoners debated about the proposal. Hailu Shawel(the chairman of the CUD) and Birtukan Mideksa(Vice chairwoman) rejected it. Dr. Yacob Hailemariam, Birhanu Nega and Muluneh Eyuel, Gizachew Shiferaw and Hailu Araya were just debating the pros and cons of the proposal without making their decision known.

Tuesday, 19 June

Hailu and Birtukan haven't changed their stance. The others said that once the two had decided civility, solidarity and the idea of practical public reason won't allow them to sign the document unless there is a consensus among the prisoners. The legal and political debates regarding signing the proposal continued.

Wednesday, 20 June

Hailu Shawel and Birtukan haven't changed their mind, and the others weren't willing to sign the paper. Late afternoon, the talks seems faltering. With the mediators except Ephrem Isaac giving up hope.

Today

The mediators are still there. The morning went the same as yesterday. But in the afternoon, all of the prisoners(not only the representatives) have met to debate on the issue.

Again, I believe this is an agreement our heroes can take. Meles' statement that he doesn't accept the guilty verdict of the court creates a false division between the executive and the judiciary. However, it is very valuable politically for the CUD leaders and the pro-democracy movement. This is just my opinion. It has nothing to do with the decicion of the leaders. I know they will decide what is best for the country as they usually do.

I don't like the way it is spinned by the US officials here though.
(more to come...)

Meles ready to sentence CUD leaders

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

last gasp mediation efforts have failed as the convicted CUD leaders rejected Meles' proposal that they be our before the sentencing by admitting that they have made mistakes. According to sources, Meles had said that his "compromise" proposal was a "take it or leave it."

The prisoners have decided to leave it and face the consequences. The crime they were convicted of carries death penalty or a mandatory rigorous imprisonment.

Stand up Ethiopians!

‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! … I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life…

…and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet - a vast army…”

“I will put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it….’” From Ezekiel 37

Convictions in Ethiopia Trials Condemned by Amnesty International USA

New York) -- Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) condemns the recent convictions in Ethiopia of 38 opposition party members, journalists and a human rights defender on charges that could carry life in prison or the death penalty.

"We are deeply concerned about the fairness of political trials in Ethiopia and call on the government to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience," said Lynn Fredriksson, advocacy director for Africa for AIUSA.

The defendants were convicted on June 11 after a 14 month trial by the Federal High Court of Ethiopia. The group included Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, founder and first president of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, who has been a "special focus" case for AIUSA. The individuals were arrested in November 2005 in connection with demonstrations against alleged election fraud. The demonstrations started peacefully but ended violently with soldiers and police killing 193 demonstrators.

Others include Dr. Berhanu Nega, elected Mayor of Addis Ababa and an economics professor, and Dr. Yacob Hailemariam, retired Norfolk State University law professor and former U.N. prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

The defendants refused to defend themselves insisting that their arrests, charges, detention and trials were politically motivated and that the trial was not likely to be fair. They were convicted on the basis of the prosecution evidence and prevented from making a statement in court after the prosecution case ended. The judge ruled that they had not submitted a defense and were guilty as charged, giving no reason for the sudden verdict. They were recalled to court for July 9.

The main count against the 38 individuals pertained to "outrages against the constitution." They could be sentenced to life in prison or given the death penalty when sentenced, which is expected in the coming weeks.

Ten co-defendants, including two civil society activists, Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie, chose to defend themselves through counsel; they are expected to start presenting their defense on June 18.

AIUSA has in the past criticized the arrests and detentions of these and other i

Ethiopia accepts to give a key town to Eritrea

CONGRATULATIONS MELES ZENAWI AND ALL TPLF SUPPORTERS

70.000 LIVES WERE PAID FOR THIS

June 15, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — After years of conflict and a tense border dispute, Ethiopia has accepted a U.N. commission’s ruling to turn over a disputed town to Eritrea.

The Ethiopian government gave its unconditional acceptance of the commission’s decision, announced five years ago, that it return the key town of Badme to Eritrea, in a letter last week to the U.N. Security Council.

"I believe it’s good news ... that was one of the bottlenecks in the situation," U.N. associate spokesman Yves Sorokobi said Thursday. "If they do agree, it should move the process forward a bit more quickly."

አስቸኳይ የስብስባ ጥሪ

ከቅንጅት ለስብአዊ መብትና ዲሞክራሲ ቶሮንቶ

በቶሮንቶና አካባቢው የምትኖሩ የቅንጅት አባላትና ደጋፊዎች በሙሉ

በቅንጅት መሪዎች ላይ ስለተወሰነው የፍርድ ሁኔታ እና በቅንጅት አለም አቀፍ አመራር ውስጥ የነበረው ችግር በመፈታቱ፤እንዴት ወደፊት በጋራ እንደምንሰራና፤ በሌሎችም አንገብጋቢ ጉዳዮች ላይ ለመነጋገር፤ አስቸኳይ ስብሰባ ጠርቷል

ቀን እሁድ ጁን 17፣ 2007

ቦታው፡ 427 BLOOR ST. WEST

ስዓት፤ 3pm ጀምሮ

የቅንጅት የህዝብ ተመርጮችና እንዲሁም የፖሌትካ እስርኞችን ከወያኔ እስር ለማስውጣት

ኢትዮጵያውያን ሁሉ በህብረት እንነሳ።

KINIJIT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY CALLS ALL ITS MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS FOR AN EMERGENCY MEETING

DATE: SUNDAY JUNE 17, 2007

PLACE 427 BLOOR ST WEST

TIME 3PM

AGENDA

THE VERDICT ON CUD LEADERS AND OTHER MATTERS.

KIL MEDIATION AND THE FUTURE PROSPECT

AND OTHER MATTERS.

The TPLF Court convicts four editors, three publishers

New York, June 11, 2007— TPLF'S High Court in Ethiopia, today convicted four editors and three publishers of now-defunct weeklies of anti-state charges linked to their coverage of the government’s handling of disputed parliamentary elections in 2005, according to local journalists.

Two of the editors were convicted of charges carrying life imprisonment or death.
The journalists were arrested after a massive government crackdown on the media and opposition groups in November 2005. The media was targeted for its coverage of how the government handled disputed elections the previous May. More than 190 people were killed when authorities crushed post-election protests contesting the ruling party’s victory.

The Committee to Protect Journalists last month named Ethiopia the world’s worst backslider on press freedom.

“We condemn this verdict which falls within the government’s pattern of judicial harassment to intimidate and silence the private press,” said Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director. “The severity of the sentences in these cases compounds our outrage. We call on the authorities to abandon criminal prosecutions of journalists.”

Those convicted worked for Amharic-language weeklies shuttered after the crackdown. Editors Andualem Ayle of Ethiop and Mesfin Tesfaye of Abay, who were convicted of “outrages against the constitutional order,” face possible execution or life in prison. Editor Wenakseged Zeleke of Asqual could get up to 10 years in prison on similar charges.

Deputy editor Dawit Fassil of Satanaw, who had been released on bail in April after 16 months in prison, was returned to Kality prison today on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. He faces up to three years in prison on charges of “inciting the public through false rumors.”

Great Patriots

When I learned of the expected news of the “conviction” of the Great Patriots in Zenawi’s kangaroo court this morning, my initial reaction was not disappointment or sadness. It was a deep and overwhelming sense of pride in the personal sacrifices and extraordinary courage shown by these Great Patriots for their country and people. As I thought about the Great Patriots, I began to imagine:

• the fortitude it took to say: “Zenawi, You can imprison our bodies and you can torture us, but you can never, NEVER, touch the Spirit of Kinijit.”
• the guts its took to say: “Zenawi, we are not afraid of your thugs and your goons, and your guns and tanks. We shall not be moved.”
• the virtuousness it took to say: “Zenawi, we will never give in to the dEvil, make a deal with the dEvil. No, we will always do the right thing, at any cost.”
• the audacity of hope it took to say: “Zenawi, we will languish in jail so that 75 million of our people will one day live FREE, and generations yet to come will one day experience the blessings of liberty.”
• the valor and heroism it took to stand face to face with the Overlord of Hell and say: “Begone to your Kingdom of Hell for there is no place for you in our paradise we call Ethiopia.”
• the courage it took to look The Beast in the eye and say: “Go take a hike!”

But soon I ran out of words. And so, I could only say: Oh! Great Patriots, ever was so much owed by so many to so few!

I have no words or phrases to sing you praises or express my deepest gratitude. I only thank God that I was born on the same piece of His good earth that you now stand to defend to the end. My cup runneth over!

And then I thought of Zenawi and his pathetic judicial crew on the stage of justice.

On that stage, open for the world to see, Zenawi made a travesty of justice. He perverted truth and glorified naked perjury. He dressed up falsehood in the garb of righteousness, and mocked the very idea of due process. He thumbed his nose at international law and the court of world opinion. He put on a theatre of the absurd, and what was on stage to see was only the monstrosity of his regime. .

THE TPLF'S COURT GUILTY VERDICT ON CUD LEADERS

The TPLF court in Ethiopia has found 38 senior opposition figures guilty of charges connected to mass protests after disputed elections two years ago.

The charges ranged from armed rebellion to "outrage against the constitution".

Sentencing is next month and they could face the death penalty, says the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Ethiopia.

Hundreds of thousands took part in demonstrations complaining of fraud and vote-rigging by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government in the 2005 polls.

The opposition leaders refuse to recognize the court and failed to present evidence in their defense.

Canadian begs for Ethiopian rescue

Asks Ottawa to step in to help end 6-month ordeal that's left him languishing in solitary confinement

Jun 08, 2007 04:30 AM

Debra Black
Staff Reporter

A Canadian citizen imprisoned in Ethiopia has made his first public plea to the federal government to rescue him from a "brutal and merciless regime" that he says threatened him with torture before videotaping an interrogation.

Former Torontonian Bashir Makhtal has asked his family and fellow Canadians for help in getting Ottawa to safeguard his rights as a citizen under illegal detention in Ethiopia without access to Canadian diplomats or a lawyer. His plea for help, in a letter received last week by a cousin, describes a six-month odyssey of detentions in three countries that has left him languishing in solitary confinement in a country he fled 30 years ago as child.

Makhtal was detained by Kenyan authorities in late December as he tried to cross the border from Somalia to be reunited with his wife in Nairobi. The Ethiopian-born Makhtal, who moved to East Africa in late 2001 after several years in Canada, was returning from a sales trip for his used clothing business.

Although he was travelling on his Canadian passport – he does not have travel documents from any other country – Kenyan authorities deported him to Somalia and he was then whisked to Ethiopia in January on a military flight, he says. In the letter to his Canadian cousin, Said Maktal, Bashir Makhtal asks that he be tried in a civilian court with the right to a lawyer and Canadian government representatives observing.

"My only hope and possible chance is the Canadian government," the letter says. "Without your strong involvement and presence in the court I will have no chance and will be like thousands of those who are lingering in the Ethiopian jails and detention centres because they don't have anybody to speak for them.

"I would like to repeat my humble and desperate request to the Canadian embassy in Addis (Ababa) and Canadian government to rescue me," the letter says.

Makhtal is among 41 prisoners from at least 17 countries that Ethiopia has admitted holding. Canadian Foreign Affairs officials say the Ethiopian government acknowledged on April 13 they have Makhtal, but Canadian officials have so far been denied access to him.

Foreign Affairs officials said they continue to push for the right to see him, but cannot explain why they have failed to gain access while other countries have been able to visit their citizens. Ottawa says it has been told its officials will get access to Makhtal once an Ethiopian investigation is completed.

Ethiopia has so far released a number of foreign prisoners including three Swedes, and a 24-year-old American, Amir Mohammed Meshal. Meshal, a U.S. citizen of Egyptian origin, was questioned by U.S. agents in Kenya, according to a report by Amnesty International. He was released and sent home to the United States without any charges last week.

According to Amnesty International, about 140 people were arrested by Kenyan authorities as the borders clamped down during the war in Somalia. Eighty-five were transferred back to Somalia and on to Ethiopia in January and February. Twenty-seven were released in Kenya or sent back to their countries and one was charged in Kenya.

The Ethiopian government has acknowledged it is holding 41 of those transferred to Somalia and Ethiopia. Four British nationals were sent back to Britain. Another 40 people remain unaccounted for, Amnesty International says.

The letter says that at the airport, just before Makhtal was deported from Kenya, he screamed out on the runway: "I'm a Canadian citizen and you have no right to deport me to Somalia with the Ethiopian army and my life is in danger if you do.

"I asked them to deport me to my country (Canada) instead."

According to Makhtal's letter, on Jan. 22 he was transferred from Somalia's Mogadishu airport, where he had been kept for two days, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has been detained there ever since at the Central Bureau of Investigation.

It is clear from the letter that both Kenya and Ethiopia violated Makhtal's rights under international law, human rights lawyer Lorne Waldman said.

"The time for quiet diplomacy has passed given what we now know," he said. "The Canadian government must make strong protests to Kenya and a firm protest to Ethiopia demanding it give Bashir access to a lawyer and due process."

In the letter, Makhtal says he was forced to record a videotaped statement on April 18, after almost three months of resisting, because his captors threatened "they will torture me if I don't give or tell what they want ... However, they didn't get what they want and ... I'm really terrified and worry about my future and my precious life."

Makhtal's grandfather was one of the founders of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a group that wants independence for the region in eastern Ethiopia. Now, members of the Ogaden Somali community in Canada plan to press Makhtal's case in Ottawa, holding a demonstration next Monday in front of the Prime Minister's Office as well as the Ethiopian embassy and the Kenyan high commission.

Crack down in Addis Ababa

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Crack down in Addis Ababa

At least sixty young supporters of CUD have fallen victims to the latest crackdown in Addis Ababa. According to police sources, most of them were teenagers. Police accused them of accumulating guns to destabilize the millenium celebrations in the country. Twenty of them were caught from the Rufael area of Addis Ababa where Tesfaye Tadesse, 25, and opposition supporter was beaten to death by security forces in January.

Martyrs for Democracy; your sacrifice will not be in vain!

KINIJIT INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE JUNE 7,2007

Remembering the martyrs of June 8, 2005 inevitably leads us to the May 2005 election in Ethiopia and the subsequent tragic developments following this election. The May 2005 historic election was a moment in the history of the Ethiopian people who have yearned and struggled for centuries to bring about good governance and development to their country. On May 15, 2005- 26 million registered voters came out to cast their vote and elect their leaders. Believing that their votes will count, Ethiopians stoically endured enormous suffering and sacrifice to usher in the new democratic era. On that election day, the mood of the nation was that of hope and jubilation. For the first time the installation of a government elected by the people became a possibility. However, on May 16, 2005 when 10% of the vote was not even counted the ruling party dominated by TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) blatantly stole the people’s vote, and declared itself a winner. And fearing the people’s reaction to this treachery, Meles Zenawi declared a state of emergency and banned all forms of peaceful protest.

Ballot Boxes? Yes. Actual Democracy? Tough Question

CAIRO, June 6 — This is election season in the Middle East. Syria just held presidential and parliamentary elections. Algeria held parliamentary elections. Egyptians will be asked to vote next week on a new upper house of Parliament. There will soon be elections in Jordan, Morocco and Oman, followed by elections in Qatar. So is democracy suddenly taking root in the strongman’s last regional stronghold?

The consensus among democracy advocates, diplomats and citizens interviewed around the Middle East is that the reverse is true. Elections, it appears, have increasingly become a tool used by authoritarian leaders to claim legitimacy.

Ethiopian government's stance on human rights attacked

The lack of democracy and the large-scale human rights violations in Ethiopia were condemned by MEPs on Tuesday at a hearing held by the EP's Development Committee and the Human Rights Subcommittee. The Ethiopian Government's refusal to send a representative to speak to MEPs was also criticised.

"The human rights situation has deteriorated since 2005 with the imprisonment of members of the opposition and human rights defenders who still await trial", said Josep Borrell (PES, ES), chair of the Development Committee, at the start of the meeting.

The former President of the European Parliament expressed disappointment at the refusal to attend the meeting by the ambassador of Ethiopia to the EU, Ato Berhane Gebre-Christos. In a letter addressed to MEPs, the Ethiopian foreign minister stated that the invitation could not be accepted, partly because "the list of invited speakers to this hearing does not indicate any intention to try and reach a balanced or accurate assessment of the stage of democratisation in Ethiopia today".

Referring to the parliamentary elections of May 2005, which were marred by fraud, the chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee, Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, FR), emphasised "the importance of envisaging follow-ups to election observations". "By acting as if there was nothing wrong, we strip the European Union's policy in this area of all credibility", she said.

Judge Woldemichael Meshesha Damtto, former vice-chair of the commission of inquiry set up following the protests which took place in June and October 2005 against the election results, said the members of the commission had been pressed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to alter their findings. "The civilians used no weapons, the forces used excessive violence, 193 people were killed, 760 were injured and 20,000 were arrested and held in military camps", he said. These claims were backed up by Mulualem Tarekegn, an opposition figure and former member of the Ethiopian Parliament, who today lives under international protection in Sweden.

In an urgent resolution adopted in November 2006 in Strasbourg, the EP called on the Ethiopian Government "to publish unamended and in its entirety, and without any further delay, the final report of the Commission of Inquiry".

Ana Gomes (PES, PT), who led the EP election monitoring mission for the 2005 parliamentary elections and is attacked by name in the letter from the Ethiopian foreign ministry, said she was accustomed to the attitude of the Ethiopian authorities, who attacked her personally instead of taking notice of the EU observers' findings. "The attitude of the present government, which is violating the human rights and the aspirations to democracy of its people, and the behaviour of the Ethiopians in Somalia, who are committing atrocities, are a disgrace", she said.



"Droits de l'homme et démocratisation en Ethiopie: situation actuelle et perspectives ", audition conjointe de la commission du développement et de la sous-commission des droits de l'homme

05/06/2007
Committee on Development
Chair : Josep Borrell Fontelles (PES, ES)
05/06/2007
Subcommittee on Human Rights
Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, FR)

ETHIOPIA FROM DEMOCRACY TO TYRANNY

G8 STOP REWARDING THE TYRANNY IN ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia: One killed as troops attacked in Mogadishu

Mon. June 04, 2007 06:49 pm.- By Bonny Apunyu. -

(SomaliNet) After an explosive device went off near an Ethiopian military post in the south of the Somalia capital, killing at least one person while wounding another on Sunday in gunshots Somali capital Mogadishu, eyewitnesses said.

"I heard a loud explosion and ensuing intense gunshots. Then, when we came out of our house we found a dead man lying in the street not far from where the Ethiopians were," Yonis Abdulkadir, a nephew of the deceased, told Xinhua.

The Ethiopian soldiers, stationed in Huruwa district in the south of the city, cordoned off the area and blocked traffic and started house-to-house searches in the surrounding neighborhood for weapons and suspected insurgents.

A pharmacist in the neighborhood, Ali Mudie, said one severely wounded women was sent to his pharmacy in Huruwa district for treatment.

However, no group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack and neither the Ethiopian military nor the Somali government issued any comment on the incident.

Rights & Wrongs: Venezuelan Media, Ethiopian Abuse, and Canadian Investment

Juliette Terzieff | Bio | 01 Jun 2007
World Politics Review Exclusive

Editor's Note: Rights & Wrongs is a new feature covering the world's major human rights-related happenings. It is written by regular WPR contributor Juliette Terzieff.

VENEZUELA MEDIA MAELSTROM -- President Hugo Chavez Wednesday lashed out at Globalvision, Venezuela's last private television station, in a nationally broadcast speech. He called the station an enemy of the state and threatened to shut it down. The Chavez speech came just days after Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) was taken off the air on May 27 to be replaced by a government-run channel. Thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets every day this week to protest the moves, seen by many as the latest salvos by President Hugo Chavez to quash all domestic criticism of his government.

Opposition politicians, foreign governments and human rights groups blasted the RCTV decision, which Chavez defended as legitimate in light of Venezuelan media's contribution to growing unrest through a "destabilization plan." Government-run operations now overwhelmingly dominate the radio and television airwaves, Internet-based news sites and news periodicals in the country.

Appeal to the Media and Policymakers to Break the Silence about the Gross Human Rights Violations in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Struggle for Peace

Ethiopians are struggling for freedom and democracy in their country and either no one is listening or worse, could we in the United States, United Kingdoms, UN, European Union, Australia, Canada, South Africa and especially the African Union have adopted a “no talk” rule about it in an
attempt to advance our own interests? How will history and the Ethiopian people judge us if this indeed is the case? Are we creating enemies needlessly or must their movement for true democracy be sacrificed for a greater good? Is the greater good only ours? Is it necessary that our interests be in competition with the needs of the Ethiopian people? We invite you to consider the situation from the perspective of Ethiopians.

On February 19, 2007 a trial of the leaders of the Opposition Party who ran against the current ruling party of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Republic Democratic Front (EPRDF) in the Ethiopian National Election of May 2005 will be taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Federal Special Court in Ethiopia is set to make a final ruling against CUD leaders, journalists and anti-poverty activists. Most Ethiopians believe that these leaders would have actually won the election had it not been rigged. Independent observers, such as the Chief Observer of the Election Process from the European Union, Ana Gomes, reported that the election did not meet international standards and has challenged the outcome of that election.

Oromo migrants fear deportation

SANA'A, 30 May 2007 (IRIN) - The Oromo people in Yemen have called on international organisations and rights groups to guarantee their rights and ensure their security in the country. Their representatives told IRIN they lead miserable lives in Yemen and live in fear of deportation.

Mohammed Mousa, 27, an Oromo who has an ID card from the Somali community, is able to work in a sewage plant in Sana'a. He told IRIN that in April a group of young Yemeni men attacked him after he received his salary.

Ethiopian millennium under poverty, war and oppression two

By Qeerransoo Biyyaa

June 1, 2007 — Dear readers, the first part of ‘Ethiopian millennium under poverty, war and oppression’ sets the general background to this critical analysis which is more focused on the millennium itself and the various campaigns and plans that are underway nationally and internationally. Given the excessive preoccupation of the Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Party with the millennium 2000 (EPRDF), it is worthy to turn to it again and point out some of its ideological and political underpinnings. Every corner you turn to here you will hear millennium chats going on or it naturally comes to you whenever you switch on the government owned ETV and Radio Ethiopia or when you visit the various ministries’ website.