Ethiopia turns its critics into untouchables

ZOE ALSOP AND NICK WADHAMS

Special to The Globe and Mail

July 27, 2007

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA -- Dressed in a black Adidas track suit and seated amid a comfortable clutter of term papers and political science tomes in his modest office at Addis Ababa University, Prof. Merera Gudina hardly looks like a menace. But, ever since he was elected to parliament two years ago, people have been avoiding him.

There was, for example, the time that local mechanics were too terrified to repair his car when it broke down on the way back from his mother's funeral east of Addis.

THEY ARE OUT

Breaking News

USA - (5:00 AM EST) KIL source announced Kinijit leaders have been released at last. The source said, thousands of people are at kality right now. When Kinijit leaders are being taken from Kaliti by mini-buses, people were flashing the V sign and the traditional 'Eleleta' was heard. The source assumed kinijit leaders have been taken to Sheraton Addis where press conference is taking place.

Ethiopia needs to take seriously democracy and human rights

Editorial, The Wall Street Journal

July 17, 2007 — Let’s play name-that-state. After the EU declared its 2005 elections flawed, this country’s troops killed 193 protestors and arrested 20,000 more. Last week, 42 of the accused were convicted of inciting violence to overthrow the state (down from an original charge of genocide and treason). Thirty-five were condemned to life in prison and forbidden to vote on Monday. Some of the accused were journalists, so their publishing houses were fined and closed.

Did you guess Ethiopia? Probably not, since this African state has often been held up as a pillar of good governance on a troubled continent. In just over a decade, Ethiopia went from military rule to a parliamentary system. But this democracy is on paper only.

The convictions are not an isolated incident, nor are the 42 defendants just any opposition figures. They include the elected mayor of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, a former Harvard scholar and a former U.N. envoy. They’ve been condemned to the same fate, life in prison, as ousted military strongman Mengistu Hailee Mariam, who is held responsible for the murder of 150,000 academics and university students in two decades in power.

Given the government’s recent record, it’s odd to say the least to see Prime Minister Meles Zenawi advise Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa in 2005 on the future of the continent. Or to hear that the Bush Administration considers Mr. Meles a "staunch ally" in the war on terror for searching out al Qaeda suspects during Ethiopia’s messy military intervention in neighboring Somalia and makes the country a priority recipient of U.S. assistance. (The world last year sent $1.6 billion.)

America needs to work with all kinds of regimes and military cooperation doesn’t always have to be tied to democratic progress. But if Ethiopia wants to become a real ally of the U.S., possibly playing host to the new African Command, it needs to take seriously democracy and human rights.

Human Rights in Ethiopia: Another Casualty of the "War on Terror"?

An Ethiopian court sentenced 35 opposition politicians and activists to life in prison on Monday, AP reports. The prosecution had asked for the death penalty against the defendants, who included Ethiopia's top opposition leaders.

Those sentenced to life imprisonment include the leader of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, Hailu Shawel; Berhanu Nega, who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa; former Harvard scholar Mesfin Woldemariam; and former U.N. special envoy and former Norfolk State University professor, Yacob Hailemariam.

Human rights groups condemned the trial as an attempt to silence government critics, and opposition leaders have claimed it was politically motivated.

Where is the U.S. State Department in all of this? Absent without leave. It seems that since Ethiopia is doing the State Department's bidding in Somalia, the U.S. is turning a blind eye to the Ethiopian government's crackdown on dissent. That's what some of the relatives of the prisoners believe. The Washington Post reported on June 12:

The prisoners' families and others have accused the U.S. government of softening criticism of Ethiopia's human rights record in light of the country's recent military intervention to oust a radical Islamic movement in Somalia. The U.S. government supported that intervention.

"The U.S. government will not pressure the government here because they have an interest in Somalia," said a relative of one of the prisoners, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of being harassed by Ethiopian security forces. "It really is a big disappointment."

There is an effort underway in Congress to reform U.S. policy towards Ethiopia to put concern for human rights back on the table. H.R.2003, introduced by Representative Donald Payne, now has 77 sponsors. It would encourage democratic reforms in Ethiopia, beginning with the release of political prisoners. Human rights groups are pressing Congress to take action on the bill before the summer recess.

Unfortunately, the crackdown in Ethiopia hasn't received a lot of attention in the U.S. press. Your Representative needs to hear from you.
...
Take action here.

Breaking news: Court sentences CUD leaders to life imprisonment

Monday, July 16, 2007

Breaking news: Court sentences CUD leaders to life imprisonment

The Federal High Court today sentenced all CUD leaders who were convicted of outrage against the constitution to life imprisonment. The other nine who weren't in CUD leadership got sentences ranging form 1 year and six months to 18 years imprisonment.

The court also decided to take away the political rights of CUD leaders to elect and be elected. It decided that the judicial interdiction is absolute. It means the interdiction is applicable throughout their life time.

Ethiopians in Transformation: Becoming People of Action!

(Part I of a report on the Ethiopian movement for peace, justice and freedom in Europe)
July 14, 2007.
“He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy
honors God.”
Proverbs 14:31
=====================
In May, I received an invitation from Ana Gomes, the EU Chief Election Observer of the 2005 Ethiopian
National Election to speak at the 13th Session of the African-Caribbean-Pacific- European Union (ACPEU)
Joint Parliamentarian Assembly that would be held in Wiesbaden, Germany, from June 25 to 28.
Ana Gomes told me that it would be a very strategic meeting where approximately 200 parliamentarians
from Africa, the Caribbean Islands, the Pacific Islands and from the European Union would be
represented. She invited me to speak to the group at a general session about human rights and injustice in
Ethiopia, what she believed would be an excellent opportunity because most of the participants would be
coming from Africa. She indicated that the Ethiopian Speaker of the House of Parliament, Tesohme Toga
would be there, along with some others from 179 countries, including the Ethiopian Ambassador to the
European Union, Berhane G. Kirstos.
She said that even though she could speak about the crisis of democracy and human rights problems in
Ethiopia herself, it would have more impact for someone else to address them as an Ethiopian. The
previous year, she explained, someone from Zimbabwe had addressed the assembly regarding the human
rights abuses in that country.
The main topics to be covered at the assembly would include the Millennium Development goals, good
governance, transparency and accountability in relation to the exploitation of natural resources in African,
Caribbean and Pacific countries and human rights and conflicts—such as in Darfur. Other topics would
include HIV, property eradication, the migration of the skilled workers from their respective native
countries and its impact on the country’s national development.
I told her I would come if we could find funding for the travel expenses. We then started searching for
funding. We had sent a letter and word out to the Ethiopian community, seeking funds for the European
trip. The letter was even posted on some of the major websites, such as Ethio-media, but the response was
very disappointing as it resulted in less than $600 being given. However, Ana kept calling and urging me
to come. After a number of Ethiopians in Europe had attempted to find funding without success and when
the meeting was only a few days away, it appeared there was no real prospect of going. In order to get to
the meeting on time, I would have to leave no later than June 23rd. However, by June 22nd, it was obvious
that there was no chance of going, but little did I know, God had a different plan!

Threatened Execution of Ethiopian Opposition Should be Opposed

Washington, D.C.

July 11, 2007

Efforts by the Ethiopian government to sentence 38 Ethiopian opposition activists to death are anathema to democracy and should be opposed by the United States and other democracies in the African Union and around the world, Freedom House said today.

The 38 politicians and activists were convicted last month of “breaching the constitution” during a period of unrest following disputed elections in 2005. They will be formally sentenced next week, and the prosecutor of the case has now called for their execution. Included among the 38 are leaders of the main opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, as well as several members of parliament and the mayor of Addis Ababa, Mr. Berhanu Negga.

“Any government that suggests sentencing its opposition leaders to death in response to legitimate demonstrations of dissent cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, call itself a democracy,” said Paula Schriefer, director of advocacy of Freedom House. “Ethiopia, the seat of the African Union, must demonstrate respect for the rule of law by allowing full freedom of expression and association for members of the political opposition, as well as other citizens.”

While Ethiopian leaders have presented the country as an emerging democracy in an otherwise tumultuous region, the government has been sharply criticized for its response to the protests following the 2005 elections. Scores of civilians aligned with the opposition were killed and thousands more were arrested. The U.S. government has been muted in its criticism of Ethiopia, however, and considers the country an ally in the war on terror.

“The U.S. government clearly needs allies Horn of Africa, but as with all alliances, there is room for criticism,” said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House. “The Bush administration’s engagement with Ethiopia should enable it to persuade the Meles government to refrain from such a heinous act of retribution.”

In the 2007 version of Freedom in the World, Freedom House’s annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, Ethiopia was ranked Partly Free. The country received a rating of 5 (on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 as the lowest) for political rights and a 5 for civil liberties, and was given a downward trend arrow for the government’s repression of opposition protests.

The report also notes that freedom of association in Ethiopia is very limited, and most of the country’s NGOs are reluctant to advocate for policies that may bring them into conflict with the government. Similarly, the press environment is extremely restricted. Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press 2007 survey notes that “the broader political crackdown which began in November 2005 continued to have extremely negative implications for the media” in 2006.

Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organization that supports the expression of freedom around the world, has monitored political rights and civil liberties in Ethiopia since 1972.

Ethiopians in the Ogaden Need Our Help—Let Us Stand United Against the Terrorism of Our People!

By Mr. Obang O. Metho / July 10, 2007 As most Ethiopians come out with outrage to the guilty verdict against the Opposition leaders and other political prisoners, we should come out with outrage to the killing going on in the Ogaden against our fellow Ethiopians living there.

Human Rights Watch and a few others in the international media, like Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times, have reported on the numbers of women and children being killed daily by the EPRDF-controlled military. Although the EPRDF Minister of Foreign Affairs, Seyoum Mesfin, used the website Ethio-media—blocked within Ethiopia by his own administration—to berate Gettleman’s report as being outrageously false, we know differently! Lies, in the company of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, are nothing new for this regime!

In that article that appeared on the front page of the Times, Gettleman reported that in addition to women, children and elders being killed, any men—even elders and the young—are seen as a threat. As a result, numbers of them are being killed or arrested for only “looking suspicious.” Villages and homes are being burned and property is being destroyed. Their cattle—the main life support of these nomadic people—are being killed, creating certain suffering and hardship that has led to a humanitarian crisis where many other innocent Ethiopians will die. Now, many thousands are displaced, without food and basic necessities, and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces are preventing humanitarian supplies from reaching them.

Justifying their actions because of the recent attack on the Chinese oil workers by the ONLF, the EPRDF-controlled military, with all their weapons and equipment, are now intensifying their attacks on helpless, unarmed and vulnerable people. They seem not to care that they are merely targeting proxy victims rather than those in the ONLF. Do not think that such killing of innocent civilians was not going on preceding the attack on the Chinese. Instead, this aggression against the Ogadenis by the EPRDF has been going on for 17 years, but with much greater intensity in the last months and year since the invasion of Somalia and the discovery of oil and petroleum in their region.

It is not surprising that the ONLF resistance movement has taken more serious steps in an attempt to stop the destruction of their people. In fact, some might make the case that the ONLF is acting in self-defense against government forces that are destroying them in order to gain access to their natural resources. They are not alone. During the Meles regime, many insurgency and separatist groups have arisen in response to the brutal oppression by the current regime of the EPRDF.

We strongly condemn this widespread killing, rape, torture, arbitrary detention and destruction of property that the EPRDF-led military troops are perpetrating against Ethiopians in the Ogaden region of our country. It is beginning to look like an ethnic cleansing. We condemn any violence against civilians by any groups, but what is shocking is the hypocrisy of the EPRDF who condemns the ONLF while committing worse atrocities itself! They have asked the US State Department to add the ONLF to the list of terrorist international organizations. Does the same apply to them?
Some day they may be standing in International Criminal Court for charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Therefore, we ask, on what moral authority can the EPRDF stand in accusation of others over the same terrorism that they are ruthlessly perpetrating against Ethiopian citizens?

Remembering back to 2003 in the Gambella region, the situation is nearly identical to what happened to the Anuak. At that time, the human rights abuses against the Anuak started simultaneously with the oil drilling activities of the Chinese oil company, Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB). In a well-calculated plan, EPRDF-controlled military troops and militia groups massacred Anuak leaders who had spoken against being excluded from the oil development plans in their region. This followed many years of federal control over the affairs of the Gambella region.

Puzzled

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Puzzled

(by Ethio-Zagol)
Having read Sean McCormack's interview, I am asking linguistic wizards, analytical philosophers or even lawyers to tell me what the following really means:

We call on the Ethiopian government and High Court to take action in making a
final sentencing determination, which is consistent with the greater objectives
of bolstering the rule of law and promoting much-needed reconciliation.

Is there a possibility that punishment of "treasonous criminals" by death is consistent with the two objectives read together? If there is a theoretical possibility that the objectives of bolstering the rule of law and promoting reconciliation which is much needed- not necessary- read together are consistent with the punishment of "treasonous criminals" by death, I am wondering whether there is a possibility that the US may support, or at least not oppose, the decision of the high court, and then ultimately the Ethiopian government, if a death sentence is made?

Comment....Until Yammamoto can go in and out his office peacefully, the US will never be interested in justice or human rights in Ethiopia. In short, they are encouraging violence instead peaceful struggle.

Zenawi’s “Report to the House of People’s Representatives

An Analysis and Commentary
Alemayehu G. Mariam 7/2/2007

A Note of Full Disclosure to the Reader:

This analysis/commentary is written at the behest of numerous individuals and
organizations who wanted to hear my views on Zenawi’s recent speech presented in the
form of a “report” to his “House of People’s Representatives”1.
In the past, I have deferred to the commentary and scrutiny of independent local
media sources and opposition political groups for enlightenment on Zenawi’s
shenanigans. I reluctantly agreed to comment on this “report” now for two reasons. First,
since independent journalists and opposition leaders in Ethiopia -- that is, the voice of the
people -- remain muzzled in jails and prisons, I thought it my moral duty to “stand in” and
stand up for them, and let the world know that though they may be in the belly of Zenawi’s
dungeons, THEY ARE NEITHER ALONE NOR VOICELESS! WE ARE STANDING
BY THEM!
Second, I believe there will be wide-ranging conversation on freedom, democracy
and human rights within and without Ethiopia following the release of the prisoners of
conscience. I am acutely aware of the gamesmanship surrounding their release, and even if
they are not released, the GAME IS OVER for Zenawi. Beyond that, I believe it is
necessary to challenge Zenawi not only for his actions and omissions, but also for his ideas
and vision, if he indeed he has any, for Ethiopia. And so, here is my analysis and
commentary…
Zenawi’s Mantra: Peace, Development and Good Governance
The central themes in Zenawi’s report to the “House” consist of the trilogy of
clichés he has been tediously harping about for the last decade and half: peace,
development and good governance. The “report” is a self-graded, self-serving statement
intended to chronicle his achievements on these issues over the past year, and rationalize
the “government’s action plans” and “implementation of strategies for peace, development
and good governance.”
Let me say at the outset that this report-cum-speech is one of the most desultory and
confusing statements I have ever read by anyone purporting to be a political leader. The
“report” is full of platitudes about peace. It is unimaginative about development; and it
lacks fresh ideas about good governance.

PRESS LINK FOR MORE