Horn of Africa: Priorities and Recommendations
Hearing before the House Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations
Committee on Appropriations
12 March 2009
Ethiopia
Ethiopia has been a good ally of the United States on a number of issues while it offers challenges for U.S. policy concerning its human rights practices and pace of democratization. As a result, U.S. policy towards Ethiopia since the current government took power in 1991 has always been a delicate balancing act. This will continue to be the case.
Ethiopia has been a strong supporter of U.S. counter terrorism policy in the region. Even if the tactics change under the Obama administration for dealing with terrorism, the United States will continue to look to Ethiopia for support. Ethiopia has also consistently been responsive to U.S. concerns about stability and peacekeeping operations in the region and beyond. It supported U.S. policy on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan and provided support to the peacekeeping operation in Darfur. It has contributed to peacekeeping efforts beyond the Horn of Africa. Although in my view, both the United States and Ethiopia followed a misguided policy in Somalia, they did it together. It is just not possible to ignore the helpful role of Ethiopia on regional issues that are important to the United States. In addition, the Meles Zenawi government has established a solid economic track record for which it does not receive much credit.
U.S. policy must weigh these positive factors against the need for significant improvement on human rights issues and the democratization process. Since 1991 there have been periodic large-scale arrests of political dissidents, frequently among the Oromo who are perceived rightly or wrongly to have ties to the Oromo Liberation Front, which calls for the overthrow of the government. Although many are eventually released, new groups of political dissidents are routinely arrested. The government has a long history of harassment of the private press and a reluctance to permit civil society groups to engage in advocacy work. The new act covering charities and non-governmental organizations places severe restrictions on their ability to conduct advocacy work.
Democratization in Ethiopia experienced a major setback following the 2005 national elections. Although the election process began well, it ended badly. The political opposition must take some responsibility for the violence that followed the election, but ultimately the government is responsible for preventing violence and maintaining credibility in the electoral system. The 2008 local elections were an opportunity to put the democratization process back on track. They did not. The government party won all but a handful of the 3.6 million positions. The next national elections occur in 2010 and the outlook for serious competition is not good.
U.S. policy must continue to balance the need for Ethiopia’s cooperation on regional issues with its desire to influence positively the human rights’ situation and democratization process in the country. Putting pressure on Ethiopia will become increasingly difficult for the United States and other western countries as Ethiopia continues to strengthen its relations with countries such as China and Russia.
Editors Note: In this testimony Mr. shin tried to link the violence or the aftermath of election 2005 on the opposition parties. What Mr. Shinn purposely omitted to mention is that the current government was not elected and is not the legitimate government of the country. Moreover, it looks like Mr. shinn is approving the killing of hundreds of unarmed civilian protesters and the imprisonment of more than fifty thousand opposition supporters members, and leaders. If those killed were whites like in Zimbabwe or jews in israel, Mr. shinn might have a different report. What a pity.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
CANADIAN MPS REACTION REGARDING THE UNJUSTLIFE IMPRISONMENT OF BIRTUKAN MIDEKSSA
Julian tackles human rightsChristina Myers (staff reporter)
A local MP is tackling a human rights issue on the other side of the planet. Peter Julian, NDP MP for Burnaby-New Westminister, recently tabled a private members’ motion in the House of Commons, calling on the Canadian government to do what it can to pressure the dictatorial regime in Ethiopia to release Birtukan Mideksa from Solitary confinement unconditionally.
Peter Julian, NDP MP said
“Anyone interested in backing his campaign can contact his office to receive copies of the petition. Any petition with a minimum of 25 names can be presented to the House of Commons”.
All Canadians and in particular those from Ethiopian origin please respond to his call for action. His details are;
Constituency Office:
7615 Sixth Street
Burnaby, BC V3N 3M6
Tel: 604-775-5707
Fax: 604-775-5743
TTY: 604-775-5737
juliap@parl.gc.ca
Parliamentary Office:
Room 178, Confederation Building, House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Tel: 613-992-4214
Fax: 613-947-9500
TTY: 613-992-4249
Information Service, Parliament of Canada, Toll-free (Canada): 1 (866) 599-4999
Also you can visit his website at www.peterjulian.ca
Bashir Makhtal - McGuffi
CBC RADIO "THE CURRENT PROGRAM REGARDING BASHIR MAKTAL
Bashir Makhtal was in an open court room in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa today. He's a dual Ethiopian and Canadian citizen and he's spent more than two years in an Ethiopian prison as a domestic terror suspect. Mr. Makhtal was picked up along the border between Kenya and Somalia in December, 2006. He was then forced onto a rendition flight and flown illegally across international borders, eventually landing in an Ethiopian prison cell. He was not allowed to see Canadian consular officials for more than a year and a half. And he did not actually meet his Ethiopian lawyer until about two months ago.
ethiopia accuses Mr. Makhtal of being a key figure in the Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF, a rebel group that is fighting for more autonomy or outright secession from Ethiopia. Ethiopia considers the ONLF a terrorist organization. But it is not on the terror watch list in Canada or the United States.
David McGuffin is following Bashir Makhtal's trial. He is CBC's Africa correspondent and he was at the court house in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Bashir Makhtal - Cousin and Lawyer
Said Maktal is Bashir Makhtal's cousin. They were raised in the same house in Somalia. And Said Maktal has been leading efforts in Canada to get his cousin out of Ethiopia. Said Maktal was in Toronto this morning.
Lorne Waldman is Bashir Makhtal's lawyer in Canada.
Bashir Makhtal Trial: Baird
John Baird has taken an active interest in Bashir Makhtal's case. He's Canada's Federal Transport Minister. He represents the riding of Ottawa West-Nepean, a riding with a large Somali community. And he says the Federal Government has told the Ethiopian Government that it expects Mr. Makhtal to be treated fairly.
The minister is travelling today and was unavailable to be interviewed. He did, however, speak to this issue at a press conference on Tuesday. We aired a clip from this conference.
To listen to the entire program press the link
Bashir Makhtal was in an open court room in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa today. He's a dual Ethiopian and Canadian citizen and he's spent more than two years in an Ethiopian prison as a domestic terror suspect. Mr. Makhtal was picked up along the border between Kenya and Somalia in December, 2006. He was then forced onto a rendition flight and flown illegally across international borders, eventually landing in an Ethiopian prison cell. He was not allowed to see Canadian consular officials for more than a year and a half. And he did not actually meet his Ethiopian lawyer until about two months ago.
ethiopia accuses Mr. Makhtal of being a key figure in the Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF, a rebel group that is fighting for more autonomy or outright secession from Ethiopia. Ethiopia considers the ONLF a terrorist organization. But it is not on the terror watch list in Canada or the United States.
David McGuffin is following Bashir Makhtal's trial. He is CBC's Africa correspondent and he was at the court house in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Bashir Makhtal - Cousin and Lawyer
Said Maktal is Bashir Makhtal's cousin. They were raised in the same house in Somalia. And Said Maktal has been leading efforts in Canada to get his cousin out of Ethiopia. Said Maktal was in Toronto this morning.
Lorne Waldman is Bashir Makhtal's lawyer in Canada.
Bashir Makhtal Trial: Baird
John Baird has taken an active interest in Bashir Makhtal's case. He's Canada's Federal Transport Minister. He represents the riding of Ottawa West-Nepean, a riding with a large Somali community. And he says the Federal Government has told the Ethiopian Government that it expects Mr. Makhtal to be treated fairly.
The minister is travelling today and was unavailable to be interviewed. He did, however, speak to this issue at a press conference on Tuesday. We aired a clip from this conference.
To listen to the entire program press the link
US President Barack Obama nominated career diplomat Johnnie Carson to be assistant secretary of state for African affairs
Washington, DC — US President Barack Obama nominated career diplomat Johnnie Carson to be assistant secretary of state for African affairs, the White House announced.In the late 1990s, he served under Susan Rice, the current UN ambassador, as principal deputy assistant secretary for the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs.
The White House announced the nomination of Ambassador Johnnie Carson Friday. The full text of the White House announcement:
President Barack Obama today announced his intent to nominate Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, State Department.
Ambassador Johnnie Carson is currently the National Intelligence Officer for Africa on the National Intelligence Council. He joined the NIC in September 2006 after a 37-year career in the Foreign Service. Prior to this appointment, Carson served as the Senior Vice President of the National Defense University in Washington D.C. (2003-2006).
Carson's Foreign Service career includes ambassadorships to Kenya (1999-2003), Zimbabwe (1995-1997), and Uganda (1991-1994); and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs (1997-1999). Earlier in his career he had assignments in Portugal, Botswana, Mozambique, and Nigeria. He has also served as desk officer in the Africa section at State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research; Staff Officer for the Secretary of State (1978-1979), and Staff Director for the Africa Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives (1979-1982).
Before joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Carson was a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Drake University and a Master of Arts in International Relations from the School of Oriental and Africa Studies at the University of London.
Ambassador Carson is the recipient of several Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State and a Meritorious Service Award from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The Centers for Disease Control presented Ambassador Carson its highest award, "Champion of Prevention Award," for his leadership in directing the US Government's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in Kenya.
Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommitee on African Affairs has hailed Carson’s choice describing him as “an accomplished career foreign service officer.”
“President Obama’s nomination of Johnnie Carson to be Assistant Secretary for African Affairs is a strong choice. Carson is an accomplished career foreign service officer with an excellent track record on African issues spanning many decades and a range of positions. Carson has a deep understanding of our diplomatic capacities and the importance of regular interagency collaboration. I look forward to considering his nomination and hearing how he and the administration plan to address the many challenges we face on the African continent.” Feingold said after the White House announcement.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tories to scrutinize Canadian's trial in Ethiopia
If proceedings aren't fair, Baird vows to bring Toronto businessman home
By Louisa Taylor, The Ottawa Citizen March 18, 2009
Days before a Canadian businessman is to appear in an Ethiopian court to face terrorism charges, the Harper government is sending "strong signals" to Ethiopian authorities that it is watching to see whether Bashir Makhtal has any hope of receiving a fair trial, and if he doesn't, Canada will be taking steps to bring the former Toronto businessman home.
"Thursday is going to be a very important day," John Baird, minister of transport, infrastructure and communities, said Tuesday. "What is required is that, after two years of holding Mr. Makhtal with no charge, they now put up the evidence."
The Ottawa-Nepean MP says he will be speaking to embassy officials today to ask that the Canadian ambassador attend Makhtal's hearing in Addis Ababa to underscore to Ethiopian authorities that "the government of Canada at senior levels will be watching this very closely."
Baird took on the Makhtal case last year at the urging of Ottawa's Somali community. Born in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, Makhtal is an ethnic Somali who immigrated to Canada in 1991.
The 40-year-old trader was arrested crossing the border between Somalia and Kenya in late 2006. He is accused of being an Islamic extremist. A month later, he was illegally deported to Ethiopia, where he was held for two years in solitary confinement with no access to a lawyer or to Canadian embassy officials.
Makhtal's case was recently transferred to civilian court, where he finally heard the charges against him. The Ethiopian government alleges that he was a leader of the Ogaden National Liberation Front from 2003 to his arrest in 2006. As the head of a military and political training centre, he is alleged to have led 800 fighters into Somalia on a "terrorist mission."
The ONLF is fighting for Ogadeni independence from Ethiopia, which considers the group a terrorist organization. (The Canadian government does not.) Makhtal has repeatedly denied any active involvement in the ONLF, and says he is being persecuted because his grandfather, Makhtal Dahir, helped found the ONLF decades ago.
The evidence listed on the charges includes the names of six witnesses, all of whom Makhtal's lawyer and family believe were coerced into making statements against him. It also includes three pieces of documentary evidence, one of which is an ONLF news release claiming responsibility for an April, 2007 attack on an Ethiopian oil field.
The press release makes no mention of Makhtal, who had already been in solitary confinement for four months by the time of the attack.
Another piece of documentary evidence listed is the case number of an Ethiopian military court decision from the fall of 2008. Makhtal was brought before a secret military tribunal a half-dozen times last year. He was blindfolded, the proceedings were in Amharic -- a language he barely understands -- and he was not allowed to have a lawyer present.
The evidence "underscores the fact that trials in Ethiopia, particularly in a political context and certainly when ONLF suspects are involved, generally fall far, far short of international standards," said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, adding that political trials in Ethiopia were "quite unpredictable."
"I can't say there's a good chance a judge will look at the flimsy evidence and laugh it out of court and Mr. Makhtal will be a free man because this could very well stretch out for many more sittings of the court," Neve said.
Baird has previously said he would consider going to Ethiopia to press for Makhtal's release, and members of the Makhtal family say they have been told that the minister plans to go in April.
"I'm hoping to welcome Mr. Makhtal home before then," Baird said Tuesday. "But I've had good discussions with Lawrence Cannon, the minister of foreign affairs (about going to Ethiopia). ... I'll be speaking to that issue after I see what goes on Thursday."
Baird met yesterday with Makhtal's cousin and main advocate, Said Maktal, to deliver the same message.
"At least now, after two years, I feel like the case is getting some attention from senior levels of government," Said Maktal said. "I think it's clear my cousin is never going to get a fair trial."
Said Maktal said he asked the minister to make sure that, if he did travel to Ethiopia, he went armed with a letter from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
"Meles Zenawi will not give it the attention it deserves unless it comes from the Canadian prime minster," Said Maktal said.
By Louisa Taylor, The Ottawa Citizen March 18, 2009
Days before a Canadian businessman is to appear in an Ethiopian court to face terrorism charges, the Harper government is sending "strong signals" to Ethiopian authorities that it is watching to see whether Bashir Makhtal has any hope of receiving a fair trial, and if he doesn't, Canada will be taking steps to bring the former Toronto businessman home.
"Thursday is going to be a very important day," John Baird, minister of transport, infrastructure and communities, said Tuesday. "What is required is that, after two years of holding Mr. Makhtal with no charge, they now put up the evidence."
The Ottawa-Nepean MP says he will be speaking to embassy officials today to ask that the Canadian ambassador attend Makhtal's hearing in Addis Ababa to underscore to Ethiopian authorities that "the government of Canada at senior levels will be watching this very closely."
Baird took on the Makhtal case last year at the urging of Ottawa's Somali community. Born in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, Makhtal is an ethnic Somali who immigrated to Canada in 1991.
The 40-year-old trader was arrested crossing the border between Somalia and Kenya in late 2006. He is accused of being an Islamic extremist. A month later, he was illegally deported to Ethiopia, where he was held for two years in solitary confinement with no access to a lawyer or to Canadian embassy officials.
Makhtal's case was recently transferred to civilian court, where he finally heard the charges against him. The Ethiopian government alleges that he was a leader of the Ogaden National Liberation Front from 2003 to his arrest in 2006. As the head of a military and political training centre, he is alleged to have led 800 fighters into Somalia on a "terrorist mission."
The ONLF is fighting for Ogadeni independence from Ethiopia, which considers the group a terrorist organization. (The Canadian government does not.) Makhtal has repeatedly denied any active involvement in the ONLF, and says he is being persecuted because his grandfather, Makhtal Dahir, helped found the ONLF decades ago.
The evidence listed on the charges includes the names of six witnesses, all of whom Makhtal's lawyer and family believe were coerced into making statements against him. It also includes three pieces of documentary evidence, one of which is an ONLF news release claiming responsibility for an April, 2007 attack on an Ethiopian oil field.
The press release makes no mention of Makhtal, who had already been in solitary confinement for four months by the time of the attack.
Another piece of documentary evidence listed is the case number of an Ethiopian military court decision from the fall of 2008. Makhtal was brought before a secret military tribunal a half-dozen times last year. He was blindfolded, the proceedings were in Amharic -- a language he barely understands -- and he was not allowed to have a lawyer present.
The evidence "underscores the fact that trials in Ethiopia, particularly in a political context and certainly when ONLF suspects are involved, generally fall far, far short of international standards," said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, adding that political trials in Ethiopia were "quite unpredictable."
"I can't say there's a good chance a judge will look at the flimsy evidence and laugh it out of court and Mr. Makhtal will be a free man because this could very well stretch out for many more sittings of the court," Neve said.
Baird has previously said he would consider going to Ethiopia to press for Makhtal's release, and members of the Makhtal family say they have been told that the minister plans to go in April.
"I'm hoping to welcome Mr. Makhtal home before then," Baird said Tuesday. "But I've had good discussions with Lawrence Cannon, the minister of foreign affairs (about going to Ethiopia). ... I'll be speaking to that issue after I see what goes on Thursday."
Baird met yesterday with Makhtal's cousin and main advocate, Said Maktal, to deliver the same message.
"At least now, after two years, I feel like the case is getting some attention from senior levels of government," Said Maktal said. "I think it's clear my cousin is never going to get a fair trial."
Said Maktal said he asked the minister to make sure that, if he did travel to Ethiopia, he went armed with a letter from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
"Meles Zenawi will not give it the attention it deserves unless it comes from the Canadian prime minster," Said Maktal said.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Honourable Bob Rae Writes a second letter to foreign minister Lawrence Cannon
March 3rd, 2009 - OttawaDear Minister Cannon,
Please accept this letter in conjunction with my previous correspondence on this same issue dated Feb 6th, 2009.
Recent reports on the illegal detention of Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa continue to be disturbing. I have been advised that Ms. Mideksa has been held in solitary confinement for over two months now, and remains isolated from her legal representation.
I am asking you to review Ms. Mideksa`s case and urge the Ethiopian government to move towards her safe release. I would appreciate an indication from you as to what steps Canada plans to take on this case.
Sincerely,
Hon. Bob Rae
Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
JULIAN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO FREE ETHOPIAN OPPOSITION LEADER BIRTUKAN MIDEKSA
MARCH 3, 2009
THE HONORABLE JULIAN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO FREE ETHIOPIAN OPPOSITION LEADER BIRTUKAN
MIDEKSA
OTTAWA –Canada must stand up for democracy in Ethiopia and oppose the illegal and unjustified imprisonment of Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge and the leader of the Unity and Justice Opposition Party.
That is why New Democrat Peter Julian, MP (Burnaby-New Westminster) has tabled a Private Member’s Motion (M-344) at the House of Commons that calls on the Government of Canada to immediately use all diplomatic means possible to put pressure on the Ethiopian government to release Ms. Mideksa.
“Birtukan Mideksa is an inspiring woman and leader in a country where political freedom, democracy and equality for women are under direct attack. Canada must support her political efforts to bring about peace and democracy in Ethiopia” said Julian.
Ms. Mideksa has been rearrested and illegally detained since December 28 2008 after being originally pardoned of trumped up charges.
“This is a matter of fundamental democracy and human rights,” said Julian. “Here we have a very clear abuse of power by the Ethiopian government in an effort to shut down the democratic opposition. Canadians should be concerned and should add their voice to petitions currently being circulated to put pressure on the Ethiopian government to immediately release Ms. Mideksa.”
Ms Birtukan Mideksa has been held in solitary confinement in a prison cell only two-metres-squared in size. In addition to being forced to endure appalling, life-threatening conditions, Ms. Mideksa is at constant risk of torture.
International human rights organizations including Amnesty International have called for her release and many Canadians are expressing concern and are urging Canada to stand strong.
*********************************************
M-334 — March 2, 2009 — Mr. Julian (Burnaby—New Westminster) — That the House express its concern over (i) the ongoing imprisonment by the Ethiopian Government of Ms. Birtukan Mideksa, President of the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party, originally pardoned of all charges against her before being arrested on December 28, 2008, (ii) her re-imprisonment without a formal hearing as guaranteed by Ethiopian law, (iii) her not been given full access to a lawyer, (iv) international monitoring organizations not been given access to her, (v) her limited contact with close family members; and furthermore, that the House call on the government to make use of every means at its disposal, in addition to working with its allies in the international community and at the United Nations, to exert maximum pressure on the Ethiopian Government to unconditionally release Ms. Mideksa and allow her to participate fully and peacefully in her position as the leader of a political party.
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
Birtukan arrested for telling truth: According to US state department report
On December 5,a popular singer known as Teddy Afro (Tewodros Kassahun) was sentenced to six years in prison and fined 18,000 birr ($1,755) for the hit-and-run death of a homeless man in 2006. Some of Teddy Afro's songs were seen as opposition anthems during the violent aftermath of the 2005 elections. While it is unclear whether the conviction was politically motivated, the expeditious incarceration and prosecution of Afro's case 18 months after the alleged incident suggest political interference rather than solely delays in pursuing the case.On December 29, Unity for Democracy and Justice Party president Birtukan Mideksa was rearrested for accurately telling European media organizations that she had not requested from the government a pardon leading to her release from jail in July 2007. President Girma Wolde-Giorgis revoked her pardon and reinstated her life sentence.
At year's end, many other political detainees, including CUD, ONLF, and OLF members, remained in prison.
In July and August 2007, the government pardoned 71 individuals arrested following demonstrations in 2005. The pardons permitted the defendants' future political participation, but in practice the government continued to limit that right.
The trial continued for most of the 52 individuals arrested in 2006-07 for alleged membership in the EPF, although two prominent ETA members reportedly disappeared
please click on the above link for full report
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tory ministers weigh in to support Canadian jailed in Ethiopia
Canadian Press
22/02/2009
OTTAWA — Two high-profile Conservative cabinet ministers are voicing support for Bashir Makhtal, a Canadian imprisoned for over two years in Ethiopia.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Transport Minister John Baird both declared Sunday that they've seen no credible proof Makhtal is a criminal or a security risk.
"There's absolutely no evidence whatsoever that he's committed any crime," Baird told reporters as he prepared to address a meeting of about 200 Somali-Canadians.
"What we have here is a Canadian citizen whose civil liberties have been egregiously violated."
Kenney later told the meeting in an Ottawa banquet hall that Canada can't simply barge into a foreign country and "remove" a person facing a judicial process there.
But he said the government has successfully pressed Ethiopian authorities to allow visits by Canadian consular officials, to transfer Makhtal's case from a military tribunal to a civilian court, and to grant him access to legal counsel.
"We want to ensure that, one way or another, this matter is brought to a quick resolution," Kenney said. "And of course we, as Canadians, hope that resolution will see him come home to Canada as soon as possible."
The comments - by far the strongest public statements by the Tory government since the case came to light - were welcomed by Lorne Waldman, the Toronto lawyer hired by Makhtal's family to represent his interests.
"I think we've learned in the past that quiet diplomacy doesn't always work, so we're thrilled to have the ministers here," said Waldman.
"I think we're at a critical juncture (in the case.) We hope the Canadian government will take this up at the highest levels."
Ethiopia has laid charges accusing Makhtal of involvement in the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a separatist group whose founders included his grandfather.
But friends and family say he has never been active in the group. And Canada, unlike Ethiopia, doesn't classify the ONLF as a terrorist organization.
Makhtal, though born in Ethiopia, grew up in neighbouring Somalia and came to Canada in 1991. He studied computer programming, became a Canadian citizen and held jobs at two banks over the next 10 years, before deciding to return to East Africa to start a used-clothing business.
He was in Somalia, travelling on a Canadian passport, when Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 and was detained by Kenyan police in December of that year as he tried to cross the border into their country.
He was held at first in Nairobi, then transferred to Somalia and eventually to Ethiopia, apparently as part of a multi-country roundup of suspects as part of the U.S.-led war on terror.
Waldman said it appeared Makhtal was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Neither the Canadian Security Intelligence Service nor the RCMP had expressed interest in him during his years in Canada, said the lawyer. And neither the FBI nor the CIA have interrogated him in Ethiopia, although U.S. anti-terrorism officials have questioned others imprisoned there.
The case has been compared by some to that of Maher Arar, the Ottawa engineer who was detained by U.S. officials in New York and spirited to Syria to face torture.
A public inquiry later cleared his name and found the Americans had acted on the basis of erroneous allegations by the RCMP that Arar had ties to al-Qaida.
Baird went out of this way to rebut any comparison with the current case, saying the Canadian government was "in no way" involved in the arrest or detention of Makhtal.
Kenney, for his part, said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has written to Ethiopian authorities on behalf of Makhtal. Former minister Peter MacKay, who has since moved to the defence portfolio, also intervened behind the scenes.
In addition, Tory MP Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister, visited Ethiopia last year and took up the case directly with the prime minister.
The slow pace of developments since then has been frustrating, Kenney acknowledged, but the government remains optimistic that "we're making progress."
22/02/2009
OTTAWA — Two high-profile Conservative cabinet ministers are voicing support for Bashir Makhtal, a Canadian imprisoned for over two years in Ethiopia.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Transport Minister John Baird both declared Sunday that they've seen no credible proof Makhtal is a criminal or a security risk.
"There's absolutely no evidence whatsoever that he's committed any crime," Baird told reporters as he prepared to address a meeting of about 200 Somali-Canadians.
"What we have here is a Canadian citizen whose civil liberties have been egregiously violated."
Kenney later told the meeting in an Ottawa banquet hall that Canada can't simply barge into a foreign country and "remove" a person facing a judicial process there.
But he said the government has successfully pressed Ethiopian authorities to allow visits by Canadian consular officials, to transfer Makhtal's case from a military tribunal to a civilian court, and to grant him access to legal counsel.
"We want to ensure that, one way or another, this matter is brought to a quick resolution," Kenney said. "And of course we, as Canadians, hope that resolution will see him come home to Canada as soon as possible."
The comments - by far the strongest public statements by the Tory government since the case came to light - were welcomed by Lorne Waldman, the Toronto lawyer hired by Makhtal's family to represent his interests.
"I think we've learned in the past that quiet diplomacy doesn't always work, so we're thrilled to have the ministers here," said Waldman.
"I think we're at a critical juncture (in the case.) We hope the Canadian government will take this up at the highest levels."
Ethiopia has laid charges accusing Makhtal of involvement in the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a separatist group whose founders included his grandfather.
But friends and family say he has never been active in the group. And Canada, unlike Ethiopia, doesn't classify the ONLF as a terrorist organization.
Makhtal, though born in Ethiopia, grew up in neighbouring Somalia and came to Canada in 1991. He studied computer programming, became a Canadian citizen and held jobs at two banks over the next 10 years, before deciding to return to East Africa to start a used-clothing business.
He was in Somalia, travelling on a Canadian passport, when Ethiopian troops invaded in 2006 and was detained by Kenyan police in December of that year as he tried to cross the border into their country.
He was held at first in Nairobi, then transferred to Somalia and eventually to Ethiopia, apparently as part of a multi-country roundup of suspects as part of the U.S.-led war on terror.
Waldman said it appeared Makhtal was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Neither the Canadian Security Intelligence Service nor the RCMP had expressed interest in him during his years in Canada, said the lawyer. And neither the FBI nor the CIA have interrogated him in Ethiopia, although U.S. anti-terrorism officials have questioned others imprisoned there.
The case has been compared by some to that of Maher Arar, the Ottawa engineer who was detained by U.S. officials in New York and spirited to Syria to face torture.
A public inquiry later cleared his name and found the Americans had acted on the basis of erroneous allegations by the RCMP that Arar had ties to al-Qaida.
Baird went out of this way to rebut any comparison with the current case, saying the Canadian government was "in no way" involved in the arrest or detention of Makhtal.
Kenney, for his part, said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has written to Ethiopian authorities on behalf of Makhtal. Former minister Peter MacKay, who has since moved to the defence portfolio, also intervened behind the scenes.
In addition, Tory MP Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister, visited Ethiopia last year and took up the case directly with the prime minister.
The slow pace of developments since then has been frustrating, Kenney acknowledged, but the government remains optimistic that "we're making progress."
Friday, February 20, 2009
Ethiopian Rebels Clash With Government Forces; at Least 45 Dead
By Jason McLure
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- At least 45 people died in clashes between Ethiopia’s army and the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front in the east of the country, government and rebel spokesmen said.
The ONLF said its ethnic Somali fighters killed 140 Ethiopian soldiers and allied militia members in battles over the past five days near the towns of Fik and Degehebur, according to an e-mailed statement from the group. In addition, 29 ONLF members died in the fighting, it said.
“The area around Degehebur is now completely in the hands of the ONLF, as is the area around the city of Fik,” it said.
Ethnic Somali rebels from the ONLF are seeking autonomy for Ethiopia’s Somali region, an arid tract of land twice the size of England, which is also known as the Ogaden. In June, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the Ethiopian government of burning villages, executing civilians and raping women in an effort to quell the ONLF’s insurgency. Ethiopia denied the allegations.
Ethiopia’s government disputed the ONLF’s version of the latest fighting.
“This is completely wrong,” Ermias Legesse, Ethiopia’s state minister for communications, said in a phone interview today from Addis Ababa, the capital. “The regional peoples fought with the ONLF and they killed more than 45 ONLF soldiers.”
Legesse said three or four innocent people died in the fighting. He said he couldn’t respond to an ONLF claim that Ethiopian attack helicopters have been active in the region.
Opposition
Ethiopia claimed the Ogaden region in the late 19th century through a series of agreements with Italy and the U.K., which colonized much of modern-day Somalia. Ethnic Somalis from the Ogaden clan have opposed Ethiopian rule, and fighting in the region surged after the ONLF killed 73 Chinese and Ethiopian workers at an oil exploration site in the region in April 2007.
Ethiopia accuses neighboring Eritrea of backing the ONLF and has in turn backed Somali militias from rival clans to fight the rebel group.
Ethiopia has banned journalists from traveling independently in the region and rejected a United Nations call for an independent assessment of human rights atrocities.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- At least 45 people died in clashes between Ethiopia’s army and the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front in the east of the country, government and rebel spokesmen said.
The ONLF said its ethnic Somali fighters killed 140 Ethiopian soldiers and allied militia members in battles over the past five days near the towns of Fik and Degehebur, according to an e-mailed statement from the group. In addition, 29 ONLF members died in the fighting, it said.
“The area around Degehebur is now completely in the hands of the ONLF, as is the area around the city of Fik,” it said.
Ethnic Somali rebels from the ONLF are seeking autonomy for Ethiopia’s Somali region, an arid tract of land twice the size of England, which is also known as the Ogaden. In June, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the Ethiopian government of burning villages, executing civilians and raping women in an effort to quell the ONLF’s insurgency. Ethiopia denied the allegations.
Ethiopia’s government disputed the ONLF’s version of the latest fighting.
“This is completely wrong,” Ermias Legesse, Ethiopia’s state minister for communications, said in a phone interview today from Addis Ababa, the capital. “The regional peoples fought with the ONLF and they killed more than 45 ONLF soldiers.”
Legesse said three or four innocent people died in the fighting. He said he couldn’t respond to an ONLF claim that Ethiopian attack helicopters have been active in the region.
Opposition
Ethiopia claimed the Ogaden region in the late 19th century through a series of agreements with Italy and the U.K., which colonized much of modern-day Somalia. Ethnic Somalis from the Ogaden clan have opposed Ethiopian rule, and fighting in the region surged after the ONLF killed 73 Chinese and Ethiopian workers at an oil exploration site in the region in April 2007.
Ethiopia accuses neighboring Eritrea of backing the ONLF and has in turn backed Somali militias from rival clans to fight the rebel group.
Ethiopia has banned journalists from traveling independently in the region and rejected a United Nations call for an independent assessment of human rights atrocities.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Monday, February 16, 2009
MEP Ana Gomes asked the Speaker of the Ethiopian Parliament “not to leave a stone unturned until Birtukan Midekssa is released”.
The request was put forward during a meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, on 12 February, in Brussels, Belgium.In reaction to the request, Mr. Teshome Toga argued that Ms. Midekssa has questioned the Ethiopian authorities, by publicly stating that she did not voluntarily ask for the governmental pardon that lead to the release of several political prisoners, in 2007.
“In which civilized country is someone sentenced to life imprisonment only for speaking publicly about the negotiations preceding her release from prison?!”, added Ms. Gomes, during the discussion.
The European Parliament passed last January a Resolution on the Horn of Africa, which asks for the immediate and unconditional release of Birtukan Midekssa, leader of the opposition party Unity for Democracy Justice (UDJ).
Background:
In 2006 Birtukan Midekssa was charged with treason, alongside other CUD leaders, parliamentarians, journalists and human rights defenders, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. The majority of those found guilty were released by a negotiated pardon which took 18 month between Mr. Meles Zenawi and traditional elders in 2007.
In November 2008, Burtukan Midekssa spoke at a public meeting in Sweden about the process leading to her release. Ethiopian government officials responded by accusing her of denying that she had asked for a pardon. On 28 December she was rearrested. Shortly afterwords, the Ministry of Justice issued a statement revoking her pardon and re-imposing her original life sentence.
Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience, at risk of torture, who was arrested solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and association.
The Inhuman ill-treatment of Ms Mideksa Persists in Ethiopian Prison
February 16, 2009
The Association of Andinet Support Organizations in North America has learnt disturbing developments in the prison conditions of Ms. Birtukan Mideksa, Chairwoman of UDJ.
According to our sources, Ms. Mideksa still continues to be held in solitary confinement- nearly two months now. Her lawyer is once again prohibited from contacting her after he was allowed to meet with her only once following an international outcry. Ms. Mideksa’s niece, who was allowed to visit her in order to relieve her 72 year old frail mother from the burden of carrying food and other essentials on a long trip, is no more permitted to show up at the gates of the prison. As of today, it is only her elderly mother and her four year old daughter who have a weekly visitation rights.
More disturbing and alarming is the information we are receiving from credible sources inside the prison about the government security operatives’ physical and psychological torture against Ms. Mideksa.
Ms. Mideksa is held in a small unhygienic cell infested with bugs. She is not allowed to read books or listen to radio or watch television like the other prisoners. Prison sources have informed us that Ms. Mideksa is subjected to sleep deprivation for days at a time. It is apparent that the government security operatives are putting inhuman and illegal means to break her will. The physical and mental ill-treatment that Birtukan is subjected to is corroborated by her mother who told relatives and friends that she observed an unusual behavior from Ms. Mideksa emanating from distress. Ms. Mideksa’s mother said recently that her daughter has told her, “the ill-treatment is getting beyond she could bear as a human being”. The regime has blocked access to Ms. Mideksa and her condition in prison by all independent observers including human rights organizations.
We call upon all freedom loving governments to protest against this barbaric violation of the basic rights of Ms. Birtukan Mideksa. We particularly urge the donor community to release that their financial support to Meles without a strong demand for change in his regime’s behavior has been an enabler for repression against Birtukan and other political opponents. We want to also to remind these donors that Ethiopians are truly baffled by the contradictory stances of the donor countries’ laudable stand and action against Mugabe of Zimbabwe and the absence of any meaningful actions against the human rights abuses of Ethiopia’s Meles.
Finally, we call on the new US administration to use every influence to exert pressure on the Ethiopian dictators to unconditionally release Ms. Birtukan Mideksa who is in prison for the last two months in blatant violation of all laws of the country and international covenants to which Ethiopia is a signatory.
ANDINET NORTH AMERICA ASSOCIATION OF SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS (ANAASO)
1334 9th Street, NW. Suite # 1 Washington DC. 20001.
Tel: (202) 462 0556 Fax: (202) 462 0557 Email: info@andinetusa.org
The Association of Andinet Support Organizations in North America has learnt disturbing developments in the prison conditions of Ms. Birtukan Mideksa, Chairwoman of UDJ.
According to our sources, Ms. Mideksa still continues to be held in solitary confinement- nearly two months now. Her lawyer is once again prohibited from contacting her after he was allowed to meet with her only once following an international outcry. Ms. Mideksa’s niece, who was allowed to visit her in order to relieve her 72 year old frail mother from the burden of carrying food and other essentials on a long trip, is no more permitted to show up at the gates of the prison. As of today, it is only her elderly mother and her four year old daughter who have a weekly visitation rights.
More disturbing and alarming is the information we are receiving from credible sources inside the prison about the government security operatives’ physical and psychological torture against Ms. Mideksa.
Ms. Mideksa is held in a small unhygienic cell infested with bugs. She is not allowed to read books or listen to radio or watch television like the other prisoners. Prison sources have informed us that Ms. Mideksa is subjected to sleep deprivation for days at a time. It is apparent that the government security operatives are putting inhuman and illegal means to break her will. The physical and mental ill-treatment that Birtukan is subjected to is corroborated by her mother who told relatives and friends that she observed an unusual behavior from Ms. Mideksa emanating from distress. Ms. Mideksa’s mother said recently that her daughter has told her, “the ill-treatment is getting beyond she could bear as a human being”. The regime has blocked access to Ms. Mideksa and her condition in prison by all independent observers including human rights organizations.
We call upon all freedom loving governments to protest against this barbaric violation of the basic rights of Ms. Birtukan Mideksa. We particularly urge the donor community to release that their financial support to Meles without a strong demand for change in his regime’s behavior has been an enabler for repression against Birtukan and other political opponents. We want to also to remind these donors that Ethiopians are truly baffled by the contradictory stances of the donor countries’ laudable stand and action against Mugabe of Zimbabwe and the absence of any meaningful actions against the human rights abuses of Ethiopia’s Meles.
Finally, we call on the new US administration to use every influence to exert pressure on the Ethiopian dictators to unconditionally release Ms. Birtukan Mideksa who is in prison for the last two months in blatant violation of all laws of the country and international covenants to which Ethiopia is a signatory.
ANDINET NORTH AMERICA ASSOCIATION OF SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS (ANAASO)
1334 9th Street, NW. Suite # 1 Washington DC. 20001.
Tel: (202) 462 0556 Fax: (202) 462 0557 Email: info@andinetusa.org
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Immoral fund flow to the evil powerhouse of TPLF
By Robele Ababya,
The name Obama has now become a universal household word or idea synonymous to respect for human rights, rule of law, and democracy. The following quotation is striking in that respect particularly in the case of Ethiopia where thousands of political prisoners, including the icon Judge Birtukan Mideksa and artist Theodros Kassahun, are languishing in congested jails:
“Described as an 'Ethiopian Obama' and a brilliant speaker and organiser, she [Birtukan] has become a symbol of democracy in her own country, compared with figures like Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi." - The Independent
The Independent said nothing but the truth in the above quotation. Ethiopians are right in seeing Birtukan as their symbol of democracy in their bitter struggle with the crisis-ridden powerhouse of TPLF kept afloat by the support of the EU and IMF among others. Ethiopians have long come to the point of losing confidence and trust in the ruling regime because of rampant leadership crisis in their country under the misrule of Meles.
There are indeed four easily discernible crises in our country in terms of eroded moral authority, anachronistic ideology being secretly practiced, lack of confidence due to absence transparency, and mistrust in the integrity of the pathological liar, Meles
Yes, Birtukan is paying priceless sacrifice on behalf of her fellow citizens to put an end to these crises.
Irony of rewarding a tyrant
The tyrant Meles is now wealthier by the amount he can siphon from the US$ 320 million plus US$ 50 million given to his brutal regime by the EU and the IMF in that order. We know the lion’s portion of the donation will find its way back to the pockets of some corrupt officials of these two institutions and as well end up as salaries and allowances of experts recruited by these officials. Little will be left for poor Ethiopia to do any worthwhile project. The question is who will hold these institutions to account when they extract money from taxpayers and channel it to the tyrant despite his internationally known heinous crimes.
The propaganda value of the announcing in the media of these two amounts given in the name of Ethiopia is far greater, politically in enhancing his image, than the monetary share that Meles will get. The tyrant knows that the lion’s portion reverts to the givers as a price for their vote of confidence cast in his favor. We know how this money will evaporate in financing costs such as project identification, project document preparation, project appraisal trips, salary and emoluments of experts, ad infinitum. Imagine how much money per capita remains for poor Ethiopia after deductions for all these!
This support from the EU and IMF to the leader of the repressive regime came in the wake of hundreds being thrown into jail including the imprisonments of the iconic Judge Birtukan Mideksa, for exercising her right of freedom of expression, and the star artist Theodros Kassahun for his clarion call for love, unity, peace and reconciliation enshrined in the famous ballades of his songs. This reward is not surprising given the fact that the tyrant was given a red carpet reception to the G8 summit hosted by the former Prime Minister Tony Blair in Scotland, shamefully only a few days after the slaughtering by his security forces under his direct command of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators protesting his day light robbery of votes cast at the polls at the historic election of 2005.
Given the current crisis mainly attributable to World Bank, IMF and the Wall Street among others, it seems some leaders in the IMF exercised their last rites in rewarding their accomplices (in the act of embezzlement) before their impending demise by the tsunami of angry calls of the peoples of the world demanding basic changes in the way these institutions operate. Their demise is surely inevitable in view of the assurance uttered by none other than Prime Minister Gordon Brown during the Davos debate in Switzerland hosted by Farid Zacharia (Global Public Square), Prime Minister Gordon Brown assured the world that the present financial institutions will be radically overhauled to fit the emerging worldwide demand for effective
There seems no end to the double standard of some Western leaders. They preach democracy on one hand and deliver hefty rewards to internationally known grave violators of basic human rights on the other hand. In the context of the current worldwide economic down turn, one wonders if this double standard is not a crisis of leadership and moral bankruptcy then what is.
The following recent passage taken from http://www.ethiopundit.com/ is an apt description of the regime that the EU and IMF are keeping alive:
”The rulers no matter the hat they wear are actually the same people. Ethiopia's ruling party is actually a party no democrat would recognize. It is a bloody minded terrorist organization built on greed, fear, and deceit. It owns businesses, runs government monopolies, and regulates all of them. The whole rule is enforced by armies of tribal militias, espionage agents, spies, agents provocateurs, torturers, and gulag managers.”
Gratitude to the EU Parliament
EU Parliament has consistently played positive roles to assist the development of democracy and respect for human rights in Ethiopia; whereas the EU Commission has dealt a heavy blow to thwart these fundamental imperatives.
What the Honorable Members of the EU did in calling for the immediate release of Judge Birtukan is commendable.
Certainly, the Honorable Anna Gometz shall be eternally remembered as a principled and true friend of the oppressed people of Ethiopia. The validity of her words that there will be no democracy in Ethiopia as long as Meles is in power, is vividly manifest in the increasingly evil deeds of the tyrant. .
Lesson from Davos debates
I am sure most readers have watched the Davos debate in Switzerland on the current economic crisis battering the entire world. In particular one of the debates aired on the television on 31 January 2009 caught my attention. This is so because the crisis enumerated in the title to this piece was time and again articulated in the debate hosted by Nik Gowing of the BBC. The panelists included President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana, Professor Laura Tyson (Professor of Global Management at the University of California, Berkeley) and three others whose names I did not catch – a Professor of Economics at New York University, a CEO of Global Economics and a Vice President of AIG. For the sake of brevity I will mention three points among those of relevance to this piece:
The era of unbridled free-market economy is dead, according to the Professor from the University of New York who earned the reputation of being called Dr. Doomsday for predicting the onset of the present crisis years in advance.
Professor Tyson said that chief executive officers of corporations and their respective board of directors are not to blame for the current crisis because they were operating within the management structure in which they found themselves. A “risk management model”, mathematically contrived for one corporation and well understood at micro level was sold to and adopted by other corporations; this micro model is to blame in that it was applied at macro level causing unnoticed systemic problems leading to the current crisis. The Professor admitted there were law breakers with the structure like the now infamous Bernard Maddoff who swindled US$ 50 million from charity organizations and families including that of the Professor.
The President of Guyana served on the Boards of the World Bank and IMF before he retired to become President. He was paid tribute by the host for his advance warning of the present crisis. In the debate the President underlined that gone are the days when developing countries will be lectured by gurus of the industrialized countries on how to deal with their economic problems
I would hope that my fellow citizens will agree that the doctrine of absolute free-market economy is critically sick.; that the President of Guyana is so right that people of the developing world should rely on the advices of their own gurus in shaping their own destiny without succumbing to the diktat of Western powers; that Meles, like Maddoff, is a swindler to be caught and brought to justice.
Storm of anger & positive paradigm shift in the making
The storm of anger against gross violation of human rights and sellout of vital national interests is gathering. TPLF can not stop the momentum by force because time is on the side of democratic forces both at home and globally. I would like to cite the following encouraging examples:
(a)EWHRA says – “Enough”
The Ethiopian Women Human Rights Alliance (EWHRA) recently blessed us with their exhilarating Press Release demanding in no uncertain terms the immediate and unconditional release of Judge Birtukan Mideksa. This is a reassuring sign that the Ethiopian women reputed for their valor in fighting invaders have joined the foray in the bitter struggle to ensure the supremacy of the rule of law in Ethiopia and the development of democratic civil societies with no government interference. The Release ends with the stern warning “Enough” to the abuses of the TPLF regime.
I salute EWHRA sure that their resolve is unstoppable. Their own Birtukan has torn down the iron curtain of FEAR to let us into the train of HOPE in our journey to reclaim our right to unity, democracy and justice.
(b) Release Birtukan, says Dr, Bulcha Demeksa
This is a demand from a seasoned and highly educated gentleman with considerable in-depth knowledge of Ethiopian politics. It is my fervent prayer and ardent hope that Meles would respond to the call of this noble man of wisdom and release Judge Birtukan immediately.
Positive voice of Tigreans at home and Diaspora
The paradigm shift expressed in the communiqué by the Association of Tigreans in the Diaspora is a significant breakthrough in our struggle to save our Motherland on the course of disintegration due to the evil policy of TPLF contradicting the principles of democracy in all dimensions. The resolve to organize under a national emblem is commendable. Arena Tigrai is also moving in that positive direction. So, our struggle is moving in the right direction gathering momentum everyday.
I should add that the statement by Mr. Siye Abraha (in his interview with the VOA) giving credit to the Amharas for their contribution in the preservation of the territorial integrity of Ethiopia is wonderful. After all, as I will explain in the following paragraph all ethnic groups of Ethiopia share a common history bound by blood and a mosaic culture.
Urgent need for unity
The theme today is common humanity. Dissent must be based on well established historical facts. The ethnic-conflict exacerbated by the ruling regime as a matter of policy is a case in point for the regime does not take the uniqueness of the relationship of the various ethnic groups over centuries. It does so deliberately.. I wish to advance this argument further.
As an individual born to Oromo parents not by choice, I submit that my forebears were part and parcel of the Ethiopian politics in the past; I take pride for their countless achievements as much as I share the blame for their mistakes. The Oromos came to the corridor of power in the Solomon Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Iyasu in Gonder. Ras Gugssa, descendant of the first Ras Ali of Yejju Oromos, ruled Ethiopia for twenty eight years. Great patriotic leaders like Ras Gobena Dacthe, Fitawrari Haptegiorgis Dinegde, Dejazmatch Balcha Abanebsso, et al played noble and patriotic roles for the preservation of the unity of Ethiopia. Oromos were in the corridor of power during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and the Derg. But it is TPLF that has downgraded the Oromos to the level of stooges by excluding them from holding real political power., Thank God, the Amharas, Oromos, Guraghes, all Tigreans opposed to TPLF policy, Kembatas, Hadeyas et al are now wide awake to the treachery of TPLF and Shaebia (EPLF). Thank God, Ethiopians, including Birtukan Mideksa, born out of mixed ethnicity constitute the overwhelming majority of the present Ethiopian population.
True love knows no ethnic boundary. Marriage between the Anuaks and Nuers as well as with members of other ethnic groups in Ethiopia is undeniable, for we have friends to prove it. The same is true of other ethnic groups I did not mention. Tigreans may have been married to Oromos and Amharas, otherwise where did Ras Araya Gugssa, Dejazmatch Haile Selassie Gugssa and Hailemarriam Gugssa (the leader of the first Woyanne) get their second name. Centuries ago, Basha Dori was the administrator of Bahr Negash later called Massawa. Dori is an Oromo name. There are the Raya Oromos in Tigrai.
There is no question that this majority will increasingly hold its commanding numerical superiority eventually shaming hypocrites in the TPLF regime playing the ethnicity game in our politics. I say Amen to the inevitable trend. Dissent based on wrong premise should not impede our unity so indispensable to our victory over tyranny.
Counting of the number of people in a society begins with one individual. Therefore the right to life, liberty and prosperity of an individual translates to all members of that society as a whole.
The great people of the USA elected Barrak Obama as their President not because he is African American. They elected him for the content of his character. I believe we Ethiopians should borrow a leaf from this example and ensure the fundamental right of the individual regardless of his/her ethnic origin. This must be the starting point to secure the unity that most of us crave.
We need to create a political space that lets the individual to climb to the zenith of power on merit by consent of the people in a fair and free election.
Jails for prisoners of conscience must soon be a thing of the past in our Ethiopia! This must be achieved by us for ourselves. Let us say “Enough” to the abuses of TPLF and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Birtukan Mideksa and all political prisoners.
Let us admit that it is the fault of opposition forces due to lack of unity that foreign fund is flowing to the divisive evil powerhouse of the repressive regime encouraging it to continue its gross violation of human rights acknowledged by the international community.
LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!
The name Obama has now become a universal household word or idea synonymous to respect for human rights, rule of law, and democracy. The following quotation is striking in that respect particularly in the case of Ethiopia where thousands of political prisoners, including the icon Judge Birtukan Mideksa and artist Theodros Kassahun, are languishing in congested jails:
“Described as an 'Ethiopian Obama' and a brilliant speaker and organiser, she [Birtukan] has become a symbol of democracy in her own country, compared with figures like Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi." - The Independent
The Independent said nothing but the truth in the above quotation. Ethiopians are right in seeing Birtukan as their symbol of democracy in their bitter struggle with the crisis-ridden powerhouse of TPLF kept afloat by the support of the EU and IMF among others. Ethiopians have long come to the point of losing confidence and trust in the ruling regime because of rampant leadership crisis in their country under the misrule of Meles.
There are indeed four easily discernible crises in our country in terms of eroded moral authority, anachronistic ideology being secretly practiced, lack of confidence due to absence transparency, and mistrust in the integrity of the pathological liar, Meles
Yes, Birtukan is paying priceless sacrifice on behalf of her fellow citizens to put an end to these crises.
Irony of rewarding a tyrant
The tyrant Meles is now wealthier by the amount he can siphon from the US$ 320 million plus US$ 50 million given to his brutal regime by the EU and the IMF in that order. We know the lion’s portion of the donation will find its way back to the pockets of some corrupt officials of these two institutions and as well end up as salaries and allowances of experts recruited by these officials. Little will be left for poor Ethiopia to do any worthwhile project. The question is who will hold these institutions to account when they extract money from taxpayers and channel it to the tyrant despite his internationally known heinous crimes.
The propaganda value of the announcing in the media of these two amounts given in the name of Ethiopia is far greater, politically in enhancing his image, than the monetary share that Meles will get. The tyrant knows that the lion’s portion reverts to the givers as a price for their vote of confidence cast in his favor. We know how this money will evaporate in financing costs such as project identification, project document preparation, project appraisal trips, salary and emoluments of experts, ad infinitum. Imagine how much money per capita remains for poor Ethiopia after deductions for all these!
This support from the EU and IMF to the leader of the repressive regime came in the wake of hundreds being thrown into jail including the imprisonments of the iconic Judge Birtukan Mideksa, for exercising her right of freedom of expression, and the star artist Theodros Kassahun for his clarion call for love, unity, peace and reconciliation enshrined in the famous ballades of his songs. This reward is not surprising given the fact that the tyrant was given a red carpet reception to the G8 summit hosted by the former Prime Minister Tony Blair in Scotland, shamefully only a few days after the slaughtering by his security forces under his direct command of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators protesting his day light robbery of votes cast at the polls at the historic election of 2005.
Given the current crisis mainly attributable to World Bank, IMF and the Wall Street among others, it seems some leaders in the IMF exercised their last rites in rewarding their accomplices (in the act of embezzlement) before their impending demise by the tsunami of angry calls of the peoples of the world demanding basic changes in the way these institutions operate. Their demise is surely inevitable in view of the assurance uttered by none other than Prime Minister Gordon Brown during the Davos debate in Switzerland hosted by Farid Zacharia (Global Public Square), Prime Minister Gordon Brown assured the world that the present financial institutions will be radically overhauled to fit the emerging worldwide demand for effective
There seems no end to the double standard of some Western leaders. They preach democracy on one hand and deliver hefty rewards to internationally known grave violators of basic human rights on the other hand. In the context of the current worldwide economic down turn, one wonders if this double standard is not a crisis of leadership and moral bankruptcy then what is.
The following recent passage taken from http://www.ethiopundit.com/ is an apt description of the regime that the EU and IMF are keeping alive:
”The rulers no matter the hat they wear are actually the same people. Ethiopia's ruling party is actually a party no democrat would recognize. It is a bloody minded terrorist organization built on greed, fear, and deceit. It owns businesses, runs government monopolies, and regulates all of them. The whole rule is enforced by armies of tribal militias, espionage agents, spies, agents provocateurs, torturers, and gulag managers.”
Gratitude to the EU Parliament
EU Parliament has consistently played positive roles to assist the development of democracy and respect for human rights in Ethiopia; whereas the EU Commission has dealt a heavy blow to thwart these fundamental imperatives.
What the Honorable Members of the EU did in calling for the immediate release of Judge Birtukan is commendable.
Certainly, the Honorable Anna Gometz shall be eternally remembered as a principled and true friend of the oppressed people of Ethiopia. The validity of her words that there will be no democracy in Ethiopia as long as Meles is in power, is vividly manifest in the increasingly evil deeds of the tyrant. .
Lesson from Davos debates
I am sure most readers have watched the Davos debate in Switzerland on the current economic crisis battering the entire world. In particular one of the debates aired on the television on 31 January 2009 caught my attention. This is so because the crisis enumerated in the title to this piece was time and again articulated in the debate hosted by Nik Gowing of the BBC. The panelists included President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana, Professor Laura Tyson (Professor of Global Management at the University of California, Berkeley) and three others whose names I did not catch – a Professor of Economics at New York University, a CEO of Global Economics and a Vice President of AIG. For the sake of brevity I will mention three points among those of relevance to this piece:
The era of unbridled free-market economy is dead, according to the Professor from the University of New York who earned the reputation of being called Dr. Doomsday for predicting the onset of the present crisis years in advance.
Professor Tyson said that chief executive officers of corporations and their respective board of directors are not to blame for the current crisis because they were operating within the management structure in which they found themselves. A “risk management model”, mathematically contrived for one corporation and well understood at micro level was sold to and adopted by other corporations; this micro model is to blame in that it was applied at macro level causing unnoticed systemic problems leading to the current crisis. The Professor admitted there were law breakers with the structure like the now infamous Bernard Maddoff who swindled US$ 50 million from charity organizations and families including that of the Professor.
The President of Guyana served on the Boards of the World Bank and IMF before he retired to become President. He was paid tribute by the host for his advance warning of the present crisis. In the debate the President underlined that gone are the days when developing countries will be lectured by gurus of the industrialized countries on how to deal with their economic problems
I would hope that my fellow citizens will agree that the doctrine of absolute free-market economy is critically sick.; that the President of Guyana is so right that people of the developing world should rely on the advices of their own gurus in shaping their own destiny without succumbing to the diktat of Western powers; that Meles, like Maddoff, is a swindler to be caught and brought to justice.
Storm of anger & positive paradigm shift in the making
The storm of anger against gross violation of human rights and sellout of vital national interests is gathering. TPLF can not stop the momentum by force because time is on the side of democratic forces both at home and globally. I would like to cite the following encouraging examples:
(a)EWHRA says – “Enough”
The Ethiopian Women Human Rights Alliance (EWHRA) recently blessed us with their exhilarating Press Release demanding in no uncertain terms the immediate and unconditional release of Judge Birtukan Mideksa. This is a reassuring sign that the Ethiopian women reputed for their valor in fighting invaders have joined the foray in the bitter struggle to ensure the supremacy of the rule of law in Ethiopia and the development of democratic civil societies with no government interference. The Release ends with the stern warning “Enough” to the abuses of the TPLF regime.
I salute EWHRA sure that their resolve is unstoppable. Their own Birtukan has torn down the iron curtain of FEAR to let us into the train of HOPE in our journey to reclaim our right to unity, democracy and justice.
(b) Release Birtukan, says Dr, Bulcha Demeksa
This is a demand from a seasoned and highly educated gentleman with considerable in-depth knowledge of Ethiopian politics. It is my fervent prayer and ardent hope that Meles would respond to the call of this noble man of wisdom and release Judge Birtukan immediately.
Positive voice of Tigreans at home and Diaspora
The paradigm shift expressed in the communiqué by the Association of Tigreans in the Diaspora is a significant breakthrough in our struggle to save our Motherland on the course of disintegration due to the evil policy of TPLF contradicting the principles of democracy in all dimensions. The resolve to organize under a national emblem is commendable. Arena Tigrai is also moving in that positive direction. So, our struggle is moving in the right direction gathering momentum everyday.
I should add that the statement by Mr. Siye Abraha (in his interview with the VOA) giving credit to the Amharas for their contribution in the preservation of the territorial integrity of Ethiopia is wonderful. After all, as I will explain in the following paragraph all ethnic groups of Ethiopia share a common history bound by blood and a mosaic culture.
Urgent need for unity
The theme today is common humanity. Dissent must be based on well established historical facts. The ethnic-conflict exacerbated by the ruling regime as a matter of policy is a case in point for the regime does not take the uniqueness of the relationship of the various ethnic groups over centuries. It does so deliberately.. I wish to advance this argument further.
As an individual born to Oromo parents not by choice, I submit that my forebears were part and parcel of the Ethiopian politics in the past; I take pride for their countless achievements as much as I share the blame for their mistakes. The Oromos came to the corridor of power in the Solomon Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Iyasu in Gonder. Ras Gugssa, descendant of the first Ras Ali of Yejju Oromos, ruled Ethiopia for twenty eight years. Great patriotic leaders like Ras Gobena Dacthe, Fitawrari Haptegiorgis Dinegde, Dejazmatch Balcha Abanebsso, et al played noble and patriotic roles for the preservation of the unity of Ethiopia. Oromos were in the corridor of power during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and the Derg. But it is TPLF that has downgraded the Oromos to the level of stooges by excluding them from holding real political power., Thank God, the Amharas, Oromos, Guraghes, all Tigreans opposed to TPLF policy, Kembatas, Hadeyas et al are now wide awake to the treachery of TPLF and Shaebia (EPLF). Thank God, Ethiopians, including Birtukan Mideksa, born out of mixed ethnicity constitute the overwhelming majority of the present Ethiopian population.
True love knows no ethnic boundary. Marriage between the Anuaks and Nuers as well as with members of other ethnic groups in Ethiopia is undeniable, for we have friends to prove it. The same is true of other ethnic groups I did not mention. Tigreans may have been married to Oromos and Amharas, otherwise where did Ras Araya Gugssa, Dejazmatch Haile Selassie Gugssa and Hailemarriam Gugssa (the leader of the first Woyanne) get their second name. Centuries ago, Basha Dori was the administrator of Bahr Negash later called Massawa. Dori is an Oromo name. There are the Raya Oromos in Tigrai.
There is no question that this majority will increasingly hold its commanding numerical superiority eventually shaming hypocrites in the TPLF regime playing the ethnicity game in our politics. I say Amen to the inevitable trend. Dissent based on wrong premise should not impede our unity so indispensable to our victory over tyranny.
Counting of the number of people in a society begins with one individual. Therefore the right to life, liberty and prosperity of an individual translates to all members of that society as a whole.
The great people of the USA elected Barrak Obama as their President not because he is African American. They elected him for the content of his character. I believe we Ethiopians should borrow a leaf from this example and ensure the fundamental right of the individual regardless of his/her ethnic origin. This must be the starting point to secure the unity that most of us crave.
We need to create a political space that lets the individual to climb to the zenith of power on merit by consent of the people in a fair and free election.
Jails for prisoners of conscience must soon be a thing of the past in our Ethiopia! This must be achieved by us for ourselves. Let us say “Enough” to the abuses of TPLF and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Birtukan Mideksa and all political prisoners.
Let us admit that it is the fault of opposition forces due to lack of unity that foreign fund is flowing to the divisive evil powerhouse of the repressive regime encouraging it to continue its gross violation of human rights acknowledged by the international community.
LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Human Rights Watch, World Report 2009 - Ethiopia,
Human Rights Watch, World Report 2009 - Ethiopia,
The Ethiopian government's human rights record remains poor, marked by an ever-hardening intolerance towards meaningful political dissent or independent criticism. Ethiopian military forces have continued to commit war crimes and other serious abuses with impunity in the course of counterinsurgency campaigns in Ethiopia's eastern Somali Region and in neighboring Somalia.
Political Repression
The limited opening of political space that preceded Ethiopia's 2005 elections has been entirely reversed. Government opponents and ordinary citizens alike face repression that discourages and punishes free expression and political activity. Ethiopian government officials regularly subject government critics or perceived opponents to harassment, arrest, and even torture, often reflexively accusing them of membership in "anti-peace" or "anti-people" organizations. Farmers who criticize local leaders face threats of losing vital agricultural inputs such as fertilizer or the selective enforcement of debts owed to the state. The net result is that in most of Ethiopia, and especially in the rural areas where the overwhelming majority of the population lives, there is no organized opposition to the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
please click the link above for more detail
The Ethiopian government's human rights record remains poor, marked by an ever-hardening intolerance towards meaningful political dissent or independent criticism. Ethiopian military forces have continued to commit war crimes and other serious abuses with impunity in the course of counterinsurgency campaigns in Ethiopia's eastern Somali Region and in neighboring Somalia.
Political Repression
The limited opening of political space that preceded Ethiopia's 2005 elections has been entirely reversed. Government opponents and ordinary citizens alike face repression that discourages and punishes free expression and political activity. Ethiopian government officials regularly subject government critics or perceived opponents to harassment, arrest, and even torture, often reflexively accusing them of membership in "anti-peace" or "anti-people" organizations. Farmers who criticize local leaders face threats of losing vital agricultural inputs such as fertilizer or the selective enforcement of debts owed to the state. The net result is that in most of Ethiopia, and especially in the rural areas where the overwhelming majority of the population lives, there is no organized opposition to the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
please click the link above for more detail
CANADIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS CRITIC OF THE LIBERAL PARTY THE HONORABLE BOB RAE WRITES A STRONG LETTER TO FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINSTER
CANADIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS CRITIC OF THE LIBERAL PARTY THE HONORABLE BOB RAE WRITES A STRONG LETTER TO FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINSTER LAWRENCE CANNON REGARDING BERUKAN MIDEKSSA'S IMPRISONMENTFEBRUARY6,2009
I write to you in support of the Kinijit Organization for Human Rights and Democracy, along with many other organizations, in calling for the safe release of Mrs. Birtukan Mideksa, chairwoman of the United for Democracy and Justice Party in Ethiopia.
According to UN sources, Ms. Mideksa was arrested on December 29, 2008 by security forces and is still held without charge and in solitary confinement in a prison outside Addis Ababa. In your letter response to an email dated January 7th, you wrote “Canada continues to closely monitor the situation in Ethiopia, and maintains a commitment to the development of a strong democracy.`` Minister Cannon, that is not enough.
I ask you as Canada’s Foreign Minister, and the official Canadian voice to the international community, to call for her immediate release. Ethiopia is signatory to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, a commitment which clearly prohibits torture and other cruel, and degrading treatment.
In this case, the Ethiopian government has shown disregard for their commitments to international law. The Ethiopian government’s continued practice of detainment without, trial and harsh domestic repression is both illegal and immoral.
I urge you to take action on this issue and speak out on behalf of all Canadians.
Sincerely,
Hon Bob Rae
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Ethiopia: OFDM’s Bekele Jirata freed on bail, Bulcha Calls for Birtukan’s release
Birtukan has been jailed because she is a very strong and serious contender to Prime Minister Meles - Bulcha Demeksa, OFDM Leader
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - A leading Ethiopian opposition politician was freed on bail on Wednesday after he was jailed last November after the government accused him of working with rebels, his party said.
Bekele Jirate, 54, a top official with the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), was accused by the authorities of working “hand-in-glove” with insurgents like the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).
“I am very happy because not only is he important for our party, he is innocent,” OFDM leader Bulcha Demeksa told Reuters. He said no date had been set for Bekele’s trial. The OFDM said another leading opposition politician remains in solitary confinement.
The OLF is one of several rebel groups in the Horn of Africa nation and has been fighting for independence for the southern Oromo region since 1993.
Opposition groups accuse Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government of harassment, and the OFDM says the security forces have jailed hundreds of ethnic Oromos in recent months. The government denies it.
Bulcha called for the immediate release of Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge who heads the newly created Unity for Democracy and Justice party. She has been in solitary confinement since December and went on hunger strike for 13 days last month.
Regional analysts consider the 34-year-old to be the country’s foremost opposition figure.
“She has been jailed because she is a very strong and serious contender to Prime Minister Meles,” Bulcha said.
Birtukan was first jailed after elections in 2005 ended in street violence that killed 199 civilians. She was pardoned in 2007 after she agreed, along with other opposition leaders, to take responsibility for the unrest.
She was rearrested after refusing to retract a speech made in Sweden last year in which she denied she was involved in the talks that led to her release.
The OFDM accused the government of intimidation as voters went to the polls last April for the first time since the 2005 bloodshed. It said almost all its nominees for the local elections had been threatened and forced to pull out of the race. Ethiopia will hold parliamentary elections next year.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Jailed – judge who refused to say sorry
Since being feted by Tony Blair, Ethiopia's government has grown increasingly intolerant of dissent – and the leader of its main opposition party is paying the price.
By Daniel Howden
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Birtukan Mideksa has been sentenced to life in prison. She spends her days and nights in solitary confinement in a two-metre by two-metre cell. She cannot leave it to see daylight or even to receive visitors. Previous inmates say the prison is often unbearably hot.
Her crime: refusing to say sorry. The judge, aged 34, is the head of Ethiopia's most popular political party, the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa.
The government in Addis Ababa had her arrested on 28 December, claiming she had violated the terms of an earlier pardon.
Her previous release in 2007, which came after serving two years in prison, was conditional on her signing an apology for taking part in protests against fixed elections.
In November, the woman who is becoming a democratic icon in Ethiopia told an audience in Sweden that she had not asked for a pardon. On returning to Ethiopia it was demanded that she sign further apologies and, when she refused, she was re-arrested. The Ministry of Justice then issued a statement reimposing her life sentence.
Mesfin Woldemariam, an award-winning Ethiopian human rights campaigner, is clear about what she says is going on: "She refuses to bow to them. They want her to submit, but she didn't submit when she was a judge. That's why she left the bar. And she won't now. She's a tough cookie." She won national acclaim by defying government control of the courts and resigning the bar to practice law after high-profile decisions were overturned.
The charges against her go to the heart of Ethiopia's experiment with democracy in 2005 and the violent backlash that followed the country's flawed first attempt at a multi-party election.
When demonstrators, including Ms Mideksa, took to the streets to protest at the skewed results which returned the ruling party, the police opened fire, killing at least 187 people. The opposition leadership, along with thousands of others, were rounded up and jailed.
"In 2005, we expected the results of the national parliamentary elections as a strong foundation for building a temple of democracy in Ethiopia," she told a US Senate hearing in 2007. "Our hopes were dashed, and we found ourselves trapped in a burning house of tyranny."
Her response since being released has been to unite the fragments of opposition into a single party committed to non-violence, democratic reform and an independent judiciary.
A mother who has missed much of her five-year-old daughter's life so far, she has shown remarkable courage. "I'm not afraid of going to jail," she said last year after founding the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party. "Not because that is not a possibility. I know that could happen."
Professor Woldemariam was with her when it did happen. Five cars pulled up and the pair were confronted violently by police while on a street in the capital city. "They behaved as if there was a prize for the first person who got her," the former Fulbright scholar and now professor of geography recalls.
When he asked why they had not issued a warrant and asked her to give herself into custody, one of the men turned on him. "He hit me with the butt of his gun and they pushed her into a car and took her."
Her destination was a cell in the notorious Kaliti prison outside the capital Addis Ababa. It's a place with which she is already intimately acquainted, where prisoners are kept in conditions she once described as "dehumanising", "atrocious" and "barbarous".
The UK director of Amnesty International, Kate Allen, said: "There appears to be no lawful reason why Birtukan Mideksa was arrested or remains in detention. She has now been held for a month in solitary confinement and still has not been charged. This is unacceptable."
Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, has been in power since 1995. He was formerly feted as a progressive voice by Tony Blair but he has become markedly dictatorial during his years in power. One regional analyst said the government was becoming increasingly paranoid.
"This came in the context of an election that the government lost control of in 2005, and ahead of 2010 elections that it fully intends to keep from going the same way."
Recently, laws have been passed to heavily restrict the work of international non-government organisations, despite an ongoing famine in areas of the country. "Much of the government's behaviour stems from security concerns, and a lack of understanding that improving human rights will actually help to mitigate many of their concerns," said the analyst.
Professor Woldemariam, one of a few people still prepared to speak out in a country he describes as a "police state", says the regime had become frightened of Ms Mideksa. "They are looking for any excuse to get her because she's a dynamic girl who is getting increasingly popular. They want to cut her short."
But it will not be easy to intimidate her, he believes. "She has such faith in the law. She says to me, 'the law says this, the law says that ...'. I said to her: 'What law are you talking about? You were locked up for two years with no due process.'"
Described as an "Ethiopian Obama" and a brilliant speaker and organiser, she has become a symbol of democracy in her own country, compared with figures like Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi.
There is reported to be deep disquiet among the general population at her arrest and conditions of detention, even though their dissent is not tolerated. Ethiopia, largely Orthodox Christian, has been a staunch ally of the American-led war on terror and a partner in its disastrous policy on Somalia.
The arrest of Ms Mideksa has sparked criticism from some American senators and the hope that the Obama administration might change Washington's relationship with the Zenawi government.
"There is no democracy in Ethiopia today, despite empty claims of 'recent bold democratic initiatives' taken by our government," Ms Mideksa told US senators.
Many in Ethiopia and its large diaspora are hoping that Mr Obama's offer to "extend a hand" to dictatorships who would unclench their fists included a message to Addis Ababa.
Ms Mideksa has already given Washington her advice: "Ethiopia has many problems, including a legacy of repression, corruption and mismanagement. The US can help by using its considerable influence to encourage the government to negotiate with the opposition. It will not be easy to confront the past.
"We must start at the right point by embracing the rule of law, human rights and democracy."
Views from cyberspace: What the blogs say
*There is an old Ethiopian proverb which in translation says, "Oh, Mr Hyena, don't give me excuse to eat me". (Aya jibo sata mehagne blagne). Why is Zenawi resorting to such thuggish tactics against Birtukan? And Professor Mesfin? And the [Unity for Democracy and Justice Party]? Is he trying to create a convenient distraction from his devastating defeat in Somalia? - Quatero News and Views
*Birtukan has modelled courage and conviction. I do not think she is asking the Ethiopian people to personally rescue her; but instead, on behalf of others. - Anyuak Media
* Birtukan Mideksa continues to impress millions of her fellow compatriots to promote the struggle forthe triumph of democracy over tyranny. - Ethiomedia
*In fact, the Ethiopian tyrant has killed far more innocent people than the Zimbabwean tyrant. The Ethiopian tyrant also has rigged national elections for three times like the Zimbabwean tyrant. I hope and I believe democrats as well as President Obama will restore respect for the US by supporting people who aspire for their democratic rights. - Shemolo
By Daniel Howden
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Birtukan Mideksa has been sentenced to life in prison. She spends her days and nights in solitary confinement in a two-metre by two-metre cell. She cannot leave it to see daylight or even to receive visitors. Previous inmates say the prison is often unbearably hot.
Her crime: refusing to say sorry. The judge, aged 34, is the head of Ethiopia's most popular political party, the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa.
The government in Addis Ababa had her arrested on 28 December, claiming she had violated the terms of an earlier pardon.
Her previous release in 2007, which came after serving two years in prison, was conditional on her signing an apology for taking part in protests against fixed elections.
In November, the woman who is becoming a democratic icon in Ethiopia told an audience in Sweden that she had not asked for a pardon. On returning to Ethiopia it was demanded that she sign further apologies and, when she refused, she was re-arrested. The Ministry of Justice then issued a statement reimposing her life sentence.
Mesfin Woldemariam, an award-winning Ethiopian human rights campaigner, is clear about what she says is going on: "She refuses to bow to them. They want her to submit, but she didn't submit when she was a judge. That's why she left the bar. And she won't now. She's a tough cookie." She won national acclaim by defying government control of the courts and resigning the bar to practice law after high-profile decisions were overturned.
The charges against her go to the heart of Ethiopia's experiment with democracy in 2005 and the violent backlash that followed the country's flawed first attempt at a multi-party election.
When demonstrators, including Ms Mideksa, took to the streets to protest at the skewed results which returned the ruling party, the police opened fire, killing at least 187 people. The opposition leadership, along with thousands of others, were rounded up and jailed.
"In 2005, we expected the results of the national parliamentary elections as a strong foundation for building a temple of democracy in Ethiopia," she told a US Senate hearing in 2007. "Our hopes were dashed, and we found ourselves trapped in a burning house of tyranny."
Her response since being released has been to unite the fragments of opposition into a single party committed to non-violence, democratic reform and an independent judiciary.
A mother who has missed much of her five-year-old daughter's life so far, she has shown remarkable courage. "I'm not afraid of going to jail," she said last year after founding the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party. "Not because that is not a possibility. I know that could happen."
Professor Woldemariam was with her when it did happen. Five cars pulled up and the pair were confronted violently by police while on a street in the capital city. "They behaved as if there was a prize for the first person who got her," the former Fulbright scholar and now professor of geography recalls.
When he asked why they had not issued a warrant and asked her to give herself into custody, one of the men turned on him. "He hit me with the butt of his gun and they pushed her into a car and took her."
Her destination was a cell in the notorious Kaliti prison outside the capital Addis Ababa. It's a place with which she is already intimately acquainted, where prisoners are kept in conditions she once described as "dehumanising", "atrocious" and "barbarous".
The UK director of Amnesty International, Kate Allen, said: "There appears to be no lawful reason why Birtukan Mideksa was arrested or remains in detention. She has now been held for a month in solitary confinement and still has not been charged. This is unacceptable."
Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, has been in power since 1995. He was formerly feted as a progressive voice by Tony Blair but he has become markedly dictatorial during his years in power. One regional analyst said the government was becoming increasingly paranoid.
"This came in the context of an election that the government lost control of in 2005, and ahead of 2010 elections that it fully intends to keep from going the same way."
Recently, laws have been passed to heavily restrict the work of international non-government organisations, despite an ongoing famine in areas of the country. "Much of the government's behaviour stems from security concerns, and a lack of understanding that improving human rights will actually help to mitigate many of their concerns," said the analyst.
Professor Woldemariam, one of a few people still prepared to speak out in a country he describes as a "police state", says the regime had become frightened of Ms Mideksa. "They are looking for any excuse to get her because she's a dynamic girl who is getting increasingly popular. They want to cut her short."
But it will not be easy to intimidate her, he believes. "She has such faith in the law. She says to me, 'the law says this, the law says that ...'. I said to her: 'What law are you talking about? You were locked up for two years with no due process.'"
Described as an "Ethiopian Obama" and a brilliant speaker and organiser, she has become a symbol of democracy in her own country, compared with figures like Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi.
There is reported to be deep disquiet among the general population at her arrest and conditions of detention, even though their dissent is not tolerated. Ethiopia, largely Orthodox Christian, has been a staunch ally of the American-led war on terror and a partner in its disastrous policy on Somalia.
The arrest of Ms Mideksa has sparked criticism from some American senators and the hope that the Obama administration might change Washington's relationship with the Zenawi government.
"There is no democracy in Ethiopia today, despite empty claims of 'recent bold democratic initiatives' taken by our government," Ms Mideksa told US senators.
Many in Ethiopia and its large diaspora are hoping that Mr Obama's offer to "extend a hand" to dictatorships who would unclench their fists included a message to Addis Ababa.
Ms Mideksa has already given Washington her advice: "Ethiopia has many problems, including a legacy of repression, corruption and mismanagement. The US can help by using its considerable influence to encourage the government to negotiate with the opposition. It will not be easy to confront the past.
"We must start at the right point by embracing the rule of law, human rights and democracy."
Views from cyberspace: What the blogs say
*There is an old Ethiopian proverb which in translation says, "Oh, Mr Hyena, don't give me excuse to eat me". (Aya jibo sata mehagne blagne). Why is Zenawi resorting to such thuggish tactics against Birtukan? And Professor Mesfin? And the [Unity for Democracy and Justice Party]? Is he trying to create a convenient distraction from his devastating defeat in Somalia? - Quatero News and Views
*Birtukan has modelled courage and conviction. I do not think she is asking the Ethiopian people to personally rescue her; but instead, on behalf of others. - Anyuak Media
* Birtukan Mideksa continues to impress millions of her fellow compatriots to promote the struggle forthe triumph of democracy over tyranny. - Ethiomedia
*In fact, the Ethiopian tyrant has killed far more innocent people than the Zimbabwean tyrant. The Ethiopian tyrant also has rigged national elections for three times like the Zimbabwean tyrant. I hope and I believe democrats as well as President Obama will restore respect for the US by supporting people who aspire for their democratic rights. - Shemolo
Monday, January 26, 2009
Prominent political leader's imprisonment attracts international condemnation
Birtukan Mideksa, 34
Ethiopian opposition leader and former judge Ms. Birtukan Mideksa jailed for life by increasingly repressive Ethiopian regime
By Chelsey Lepage
Human rights demonstrators gathered last week throughout the world to demand the unconditional release of jailed Ethiopian opposition leader Ms. Birtukan Mideksa and called for an end to American aid to the authoritarian regime of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The recent arrest of Mideksa, 34, comes only 17 months after she was released from jail after spending nearly two years as a political prisoner in the aftermath of contested national elections in 2005.
In Seattle, amidst a chorus of peaceful protest slogans, activists collected cards of support for the charismatic politician, wishing her strength and encouragement and pledging continued support towards her release. Part of an international postcard campaign organized by the newly-formed Ethiopian Women Human Rights Alliance (EWHRA), the cards will be sent along with hundreds of others from around the world to Kaliti federal prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where Mideska has been detained in solitary confinement since her arrest on December 29,2008.
"The purpose of the campaign is to mobilize Ethiopians and human rights activists, anywhere and everywhere, to express [their] support and encouragement…and to send a message to the regime in power that the world is watching," explains Portland-based activist and founding member of EWHRA, Lulit Mesfin.
Birtukan Mideksa, leader of the Unity for Democracy Justice party, is the first woman to lead a major political party in Ethiopia, a country with a population of 77 million.
The re-imprisonment of Mideska has drawn strong condemnation from international human rights organizations and lawmakers in the United States and European Union, who have criticized the Ethiopian government’s increasingly brutal rule.
In a statement issued on January 9, 2009, US Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, called for the immediate release of Mideksa, whom he called a “prominent political leader and staunch human rights advocate”, and warned that “the Ethiopian government must realize that brutality and repression will never succeed in crushing the aspiration for democracy and freedom.”
Following the contested elections of May 2005, the Ethiopian government launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent. Government security forces killed at least 193 unarmed civilians during protests against the election results, and scores of opposition party leaders, academics, lawyers, human rights advocates and members of the press were arrested and imprisoned throughout the country. Mideksa was charged with treason, along with other prominent opposition leaders and supporters, and sentenced to life in prison following a lengthy internationally condemned political trial. She was released along with 37 others after local elders negotiated a pardon with the Ethiopian government in July 2007.
According to a statement by the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice, Mideksa’s pardon was revoked as a result of statements she made publicly in Sweden in November 2008 regarding the circumstances surrounding her release. She now faces a life sentence in federal prison.
Mideksa insists that all statements she made were accurate and within the boundaries of her constitutional rights.
”In my opinion, the reason why all these illegal imprisonments and warnings are aimed at me have nothing to do with…inaccurate statements or rules broken, “ said Mideksa in an open letter to the press a couple of days prior to her arrest. “The message is clear and this message is not only for me but also for all who are active in the peaceful struggle.”
She now faces a life sentence in kality prison.
Ethiopian opposition leader and former judge Ms. Birtukan Mideksa jailed for life by increasingly repressive Ethiopian regime
By Chelsey Lepage
Human rights demonstrators gathered last week throughout the world to demand the unconditional release of jailed Ethiopian opposition leader Ms. Birtukan Mideksa and called for an end to American aid to the authoritarian regime of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The recent arrest of Mideksa, 34, comes only 17 months after she was released from jail after spending nearly two years as a political prisoner in the aftermath of contested national elections in 2005.
In Seattle, amidst a chorus of peaceful protest slogans, activists collected cards of support for the charismatic politician, wishing her strength and encouragement and pledging continued support towards her release. Part of an international postcard campaign organized by the newly-formed Ethiopian Women Human Rights Alliance (EWHRA), the cards will be sent along with hundreds of others from around the world to Kaliti federal prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where Mideska has been detained in solitary confinement since her arrest on December 29,2008.
"The purpose of the campaign is to mobilize Ethiopians and human rights activists, anywhere and everywhere, to express [their] support and encouragement…and to send a message to the regime in power that the world is watching," explains Portland-based activist and founding member of EWHRA, Lulit Mesfin.
Birtukan Mideksa, leader of the Unity for Democracy Justice party, is the first woman to lead a major political party in Ethiopia, a country with a population of 77 million.
The re-imprisonment of Mideska has drawn strong condemnation from international human rights organizations and lawmakers in the United States and European Union, who have criticized the Ethiopian government’s increasingly brutal rule.
In a statement issued on January 9, 2009, US Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, called for the immediate release of Mideksa, whom he called a “prominent political leader and staunch human rights advocate”, and warned that “the Ethiopian government must realize that brutality and repression will never succeed in crushing the aspiration for democracy and freedom.”
Following the contested elections of May 2005, the Ethiopian government launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent. Government security forces killed at least 193 unarmed civilians during protests against the election results, and scores of opposition party leaders, academics, lawyers, human rights advocates and members of the press were arrested and imprisoned throughout the country. Mideksa was charged with treason, along with other prominent opposition leaders and supporters, and sentenced to life in prison following a lengthy internationally condemned political trial. She was released along with 37 others after local elders negotiated a pardon with the Ethiopian government in July 2007.
According to a statement by the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice, Mideksa’s pardon was revoked as a result of statements she made publicly in Sweden in November 2008 regarding the circumstances surrounding her release. She now faces a life sentence in federal prison.
Mideksa insists that all statements she made were accurate and within the boundaries of her constitutional rights.
”In my opinion, the reason why all these illegal imprisonments and warnings are aimed at me have nothing to do with…inaccurate statements or rules broken, “ said Mideksa in an open letter to the press a couple of days prior to her arrest. “The message is clear and this message is not only for me but also for all who are active in the peaceful struggle.”
She now faces a life sentence in kality prison.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Ethiopia curb on charities alarms human rights activists
Human rights activists have accused the Ethiopian government of tightening its grip on power through a new law on charity funding that they claim will criminalize human rights work and clamp down on political debate ahead of next year's elections.
At the core of the charities and societies proclamation (CSO law) that came into force this month, is a provision stating that any organization receiving over 10% of its funding from abroad is a "foreign NGO".
Once designated as "foreign", an organization is not allowed to engage in activities concerning democratic and human rights, conflict resolution or criminal justice.
Ostensibly, the law is designed to ensure those who engage in Ethiopian politics should be Ethiopian nationals. However, not even the largest human rights groups in Ethiopia can raise enough money domestically in what is one of the world's poorest countries.
Ethiopian officials say the law is simply in line with the constitution, which forbids foreigners from taking part in domestic political activities. But human rights groups and Ethiopians abroad view the law as a draconian act by an increasingly authoritarian government, especially since the contested elections of 2005.
The critics of the Meles Zenawi government say the law is but the latest in a series of measures aimed at cracking down on dissent, ranging from the censorship of the media to the arrest of opposition leaders. The US and Britain have tried to persuade the Ethiopian government, which is a major beneficiary of foreign aid, to dilute the measure.
"We appreciate that some of our concerns have been addressed," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "However, core elements of the legislation, notably the provisions on foreign funding and social advocacy, have not been changed. We are concerned that the law could limit the legitimate activities of Ethiopian and international CSOs undertaking development work in Ethiopia."
The outgoing Bush administration, which viewed Ethiopia as an important ally in its "war on terror", said this month that the law may restrict US government assistance to Ethiopia.
Organizations such as the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, the main group carrying out human rights monitoring, and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, a woman's advocacy group, depend overwhelmingly on foreign money - by as much as 90%.
The only associations in Ethiopia that do not rely on foreign funds are the so-called mass associations, known as gongos, which are dismissed by critics as "impostors of democracy" because they are essentially ruling party or government-run organizations.
The law also provides for the establishment of a regulating body - the Charities and Societies Agency - with extensive, albeit unclear and arbitrary, powers over the registration of charities and over how they work.
At the core of the charities and societies proclamation (CSO law) that came into force this month, is a provision stating that any organization receiving over 10% of its funding from abroad is a "foreign NGO".
Once designated as "foreign", an organization is not allowed to engage in activities concerning democratic and human rights, conflict resolution or criminal justice.
Ostensibly, the law is designed to ensure those who engage in Ethiopian politics should be Ethiopian nationals. However, not even the largest human rights groups in Ethiopia can raise enough money domestically in what is one of the world's poorest countries.
Ethiopian officials say the law is simply in line with the constitution, which forbids foreigners from taking part in domestic political activities. But human rights groups and Ethiopians abroad view the law as a draconian act by an increasingly authoritarian government, especially since the contested elections of 2005.
The critics of the Meles Zenawi government say the law is but the latest in a series of measures aimed at cracking down on dissent, ranging from the censorship of the media to the arrest of opposition leaders. The US and Britain have tried to persuade the Ethiopian government, which is a major beneficiary of foreign aid, to dilute the measure.
"We appreciate that some of our concerns have been addressed," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "However, core elements of the legislation, notably the provisions on foreign funding and social advocacy, have not been changed. We are concerned that the law could limit the legitimate activities of Ethiopian and international CSOs undertaking development work in Ethiopia."
The outgoing Bush administration, which viewed Ethiopia as an important ally in its "war on terror", said this month that the law may restrict US government assistance to Ethiopia.
Organizations such as the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, the main group carrying out human rights monitoring, and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, a woman's advocacy group, depend overwhelmingly on foreign money - by as much as 90%.
The only associations in Ethiopia that do not rely on foreign funds are the so-called mass associations, known as gongos, which are dismissed by critics as "impostors of democracy" because they are essentially ruling party or government-run organizations.
The law also provides for the establishment of a regulating body - the Charities and Societies Agency - with extensive, albeit unclear and arbitrary, powers over the registration of charities and over how they work.
Friday, January 23, 2009
CANADIAN NDP MP PAUL DEWAR CONDEMNS THE IMPRISONMENT OF BERTUKAN MIDEKSSA
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
January 15, 2009
Dear Minister Cannon,
Since December 28, 2008, Ethiopian government authorities have held opposition party leader Birtukan Mideksa without charge, in solitary confinement. Amnesty International reports that Ms. Mideksa has been on a hunger strike in protest at her detention. Her arrest for the peaceful exercise of her freedoms to expression and association make her a prisoner of conscience.
Concerns have been raised by independent international human rights organizations that she has not been provided medical assistance. This is of particular import in light of her ongoing hunger strike. Also, she has not been provided access to legal representation of her own choosing. Furthermore, I am deeply concerned that Ms. Mideksa is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment due to her confinement in isolation.
Canada’s NDP believes that the Government of Canada must call on the Ethiopian authorities to release Birtukan Mideksa immediately and unconditionally, unless she is charged with a recognizable criminal offense.
I look forward to your immediate action.
Sincerely,
Paul Dewar, MP
Ottawa Center
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
European Parliament resolution on the situation in the Horn of Africa
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Horn of Africa countries,
– having regard to the report of the mission to the Horn of Africa adopted by its Committee on Development on 8 December 2008,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
22. Regrets that the Ethiopian parliament has ratified the Proclamation for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies; calls for significant adaptations to be made to guarantee basic human rights principles; calls for a non-restrictive implementation of this law, and insists on close monitoring of its implementation by the Commission;
23. Urges the Ethiopian authorities to review the press law and party registration law, as well as the composition of the Election Board, so as to ensure that the political rights of opposition parties are guaranteed; urges it to investigate the allegations of harassment and arbitrary arrests affecting the opposition and civil society organisations and to bring those responsible to trial;
24. Is outraged at the imprisonment of Birtukan Midekssa, leader of the opposition party Unity for Democracy Justice (UDJ), and demands her immediate and unconditional release;
25. Calls on the Ethiopian authorities to swiftly handle the request for registration by the Ethiopian National Teachers' Association (NTA), in accordance with the respective laws and rules, and stop persecuting members of this association;
26. Calls on the governments of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti and the Council, in accordance with Article 8 and Annex VII of the Revised Cotonou Agreement, to jointly agree to deepen the political dialogue on human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law, including the issues mentioned above, with a view to defining benchmarks and attaining tangible results and progress on the ground;
27. Recognises that elections are due to take place in Sudan in 2009, but notes that the amendment of the laws which restrict freedom of expression and organisation for individuals, political parties and the media, and which contravene the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the Interim National Constitution (INC), has not yet taken place, nor has a National Human Rights Commission been formed; stresses that repealing these laws and replacing them with legislation that is in line with the CPA and INC and the creation of the National Human Rights Commission are necessary preconditions for an environment in which free and fair elections can take place;
28. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the placePlaceNameMemberPlaceType States, the Chair of the African Union Commission, the Chair-in-Office of the African Union Assembly, the General Secretary of the African Union, the Pan-African Parliament, the Governments and Parliaments of the IGAD countries, and the Chairs of the ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Jailed Ethiopian Opposition Leader Mideksa on Hunger Strike
By Jason McLure
Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia’s leading opposition politician is in her 10th day of a hunger strike after she was jailed for life on Dec. 29 following a dispute with the government, according to her mother.
Birtukan Mideksa, 34, has been taking only juice and water and is being held in solitary confinement in a windowless 3-meter by 4-meter (10-foot by 13-foot) cell in Ethiopia’s Kaliti prison, said her mother, Almaz Gebregziabhere, who visited her in prison yesterday.
“I didn’t recognize her because of how she’s changed,” said Gebregziabhere, 72, in an interview today at her home in Addis Ababa. “I begged her for the sake of her daughter to eat, but she didn’t.”
Prison officials have banned all visitors except Gebregziabhere and Mideksa’s 3-year-old daughter, Halle, from visiting her, Gebregziabhere said. Gebregziabhere, speaking in Amharic through a translator, said the family had been unable to hire a lawyer for Mideksa because those contacted on her behalf have turned her down as a client, fearing government reprisals.
Mideksa, a leader of the now-dissolved Coalition for Unity and Democracy party, was first jailed after Ethiopia’s 2005 elections, in which the CUD claimed victory. She and dozens of other opposition leaders were sentenced to life in prison, though they were released in 2007 after a pardon agreement with the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
She was re-arrested Dec. 29 after she rejected government demands that she make a public statement saying she had formally requested the original pardon.
‘Humane Condition’
Bereket Simon, an adviser to Zenawi, said he wasn’t aware of Mideksa’s fast.
“We have a prison system whereby we hold prisoners in a humane condition,” Simon said. “This is a case where she has said that she didn’t ask for pardon and the decision of the judiciary is being applied. At this point, I don’t think it requires intervention by lawyers.”
Simon also said the government wasn’t interested in potential mediation efforts by the independent group that negotiated Mideksa’s initial release.
Following their release in 2007, some former CUD leaders chose exile in the U.S. or U.K. Mideksa stayed in Ethiopia and formed a new party that planned to contest the 2010 elections.
“Look what has happened to her,” said Berhanu Nega, who along with Mideksa led the CUD movement in 2005, in a phone interview from Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The government “will never allow any peaceful transition in that country.”
Call to Struggle
Nega, who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005 before his imprisonment, has called for armed struggle to oust Zenawi. Nega left Ethiopia after his release from prison in 2007 to teach at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
His new movement, Ginbot 7, has formed an underground network inside Ethiopia with the goal of overthrowing Zenawi’s Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, Nega said.
The U.S., which views Ethiopia as a key ally in the fight against terrorism, offered a rare rebuke to Zenawi’s government following Mideksa’s arrest, warning Ethiopia to avoid steps that appear to “criminalize dissent.”
Government opponents accused the state of rigging the May 2005 poll, sparking protests in Addis Ababa. A judicial inquiry after the election concluded that government security forces had killed 193 opposition supporters in the unrest.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via the Johannesburg bureau at abolleurs@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: January 8, 2009 13:51 EST
Thursday, January 1, 2009
“I do not believe that all this intimidation and threat is aimed only at me”
Birtukan Mideksa's letter
(Translated to English by Andinet North American Support Association. The original letter was posted on the Web a day or two prior to her arrest). | January 1, 2009
My Word (My testimony)
It is very difficult to describe what I felt after watching on Ethiopian Television the very same warning that was given to me at the federal police after being summoned there the afternoon of December 23, 2008. Although there is nothing that I will say different from what I know and believe in, I have decided to write this to clarify the issue since what happened has raised questions among the public. Perhaps this can even be my last word.
Let me start with the mediation. The underlying spirit of the mediation led by the elders was to come up with an agreement that can bring the two parties into harmony and resume the political process through injecting a sense of reconciliation. The elders were not aiming at blaming one party while absolving the other from the blames. Instead, what they sought was for each party to ask forgiveness from the public for the problems that followed the 2005 election.
Furthermore, the elders also expected the parties to the negotiation to ask forgiveness from each other and to establish their respective political views on items considered principal in order to move forward with the spirit of reconciliation. The elders continued to present to the two parties proposals they felt will help achieve the above stated objectives. They also tried to facilitate the exchange of ideas between the parties and tried to find a compromised solution.
Therefore, the mediation which was focused on achieving a negotiated deal took place not only with the blessing of the government but also with its active participation. Through the process the government had agreed to guarantee that it will start again to respect the country’s constitution and to compensate citizens and families who suffered due to the violence following the 2005 election. However, later while the negotiation continued to progress and the time for the court to render a verdict was approaching, the coordinators of elders informed us of a very disturbing development. We were told that the other party was no longer willing to agree on any issue other than the one in which we, the jailed ones, ask forgiveness from the government and the people. We were told that they were particularly not willing to agree on the discussion points dealing with the government. Nevertheless, even with this, the spirit of reconciliation upon which the negotiation was based was not altered. Though some of the discussion points were abandoned, the elders continued with their mediation role after explaining that if we sign the document, which was crafted on the basis of our country’s tradition of forgiveness, the case would be stopped and the court file would be closed. And using the Prime Minister’s exact words, the elders confirmed to us that the Prime Minster had said: “If this document is signed, using my executive power I will make sure that the charges be dropped.” In relation to this, an agreement was also reached that “all prisoners who were jailed throughout the country due to issues linked to CUD will be released without any precondition; direct political discussion between the government and the former leaders of CUD will resume; and that leaders of the party will continue with the work of the party without any limitations.” Moreover, the document was signed after confirming that it was being signed to the elders and after that the elders will write a letter to the prime minster based on the signed document. It was also agreed that the document will in no way be used by any of the parties for a political gain. As one of the prisoners I had indeed signed the document, a fact which I have never denied. In accordance with the spirit of reconciliation the elders championed and to give a political conclusion to a charge that emanated from politics, out of commitment for reconciliation and after agreeing with other leaders of the party, I have asked forgiveness through the elders by signing on the document dated June 18, 2006. This is a fact that I cannot change even if I want to.
What was expected after this was the termination of the charge and the closing of the files, according to the promise the Prime Minister had made to the elders. However, the process took a different turn. The office of the prosecutor which is led by the Prime Minster failed to terminate the charge. Instead, we the accused received a life sentence. What happened after this was not based on our agreement, rather it was orchestrated with the permission of the Prime Minster. Then in the end, the case was concluded with our release, after the president of the country granted clemency to the prisoners.
Then, to present a process that has this type of complex features as a case that followed a normal legal process for asking forgiveness is either foolishness or ignorance.
According to the law, an accused person is supposed to submit a request for pardon to a clemency board, and not to the Prime Minister. When it comes to us, the letter that we signed for the elders was submitted to the clemency board by the Prime Minister. It might also be possible to say that it is the Prime Minister who asked for the forgiveness. However, according to the law, the person who can submit an appeal for clemency is the concerned person or his/her lawyer or family members but it is not the Prime Minister. The law also stipulates that such applications could be submitted only after the court process has been completed and a verdict has been rendered. In our case since from the start we did not have an intention to conclude the case with asking for forgiveness, the document was signed to the elders before the court passed its verdict. Therefore, based on this truth I have not asked for forgiveness within what the law stipulates. Yet I have not denied signing the document which the elders cajoled us into signing on June 22, 2006 for the sake of reconciliation. Thus, how is it to say that I have signed this document and I have not denied the content of the document constitute a crime? Where is the mistake?
And what I said on this topic while traveling abroad was exactly explaining and elaborating on this and it had no other form. I suspect that perhaps what I said was misinterpreted.
And even if what I said was said to be inaccurate, should that result in being required to go back and forth to the police station both with and without a warrant? Impossible. And even if it initiates a question of accountability, how can it revoke a pardon granted by the President? Also, even if it is considered enough to revoke the pardon, what legal authority have the federal police to investigate the case and issue a warning?
On December 10, 2008 when the Federal Police commissioner sent two officers of the District 12 Police to ask me to go to his office, I went to his office thinking that he probably wanted to talk to me about our Unity Party. However, when he told me the reason I was summoned to his office was related to the pardon, the first question I asked him was what authority the police have in relation to this issue. But his response was accompanied with a smile of surprise and said this is not an academic discussion and it is better for you to stop this kind of question. But what they found to be funny and perplexing is something great that I will forever live for, stand for, and sometimes get jailed and released for – it is the rule of law and abiding by the constitution.
Lawlessness and arrogance are things that I will never get used to, nor will cooperate with. That is why I did not go to the Federal Police Commissioner’s office when on December 24, 2008 he summoned me to his office again through a messenger but without a legal warrant. But when I received a legal warrant in the afternoon of the same day, I did not waste a minute to go to his office. What awaited me at the Commissioner’s office and what was stated in the warrant were very different. Instead of asking me questions as stated in the warrant, what the Commissioner did was to give me a warning that sounded like an order. He said that unless I retract the statement I made in Sweden within three days, the government will remove the pardon and lock me in jail.
The only person that can remove the pardon is the President, and not the Executive that you consider the government. Twenty days after the request for removal of a pardon has been received by the person, if the pardon board agrees with the decision, the request will be presented to the president, and it is only after that the President might revoke the pardon. I wanted to explain to the Commissioner these proper processes that are necessary to remove a pardon. But I did not do that. After confirming that he has finished his speech, I left the room without saying a word.
In my opinion the reason why all these illegal intimidation's and warnings are aimed at me have nothing to do with playing with words or inaccurate statements or rules broken. The message is clear and this message is not only for me but also for all who are active in the peaceful struggle. A peaceful and law-abiding political struggle can be conducted only within the limits the ruling party and individuals set and not according to what the constitution allows. And for me it is extremely difficult to accept this.
----
Monday, December 29, 2008
BIRTUKAN MIDEKSSA THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY UNITY FOR DEMOCRACY AND JUSTICE (UDJ)formerly(CUDP)HAS BEEN IMPRISONED FOR LIFE
Ms. Bertukan Mideksa, an opposition leader Ethiopians regard as a unifying force of their ethnically-fragmented country, may be sent to Kaliti, a notorious prison where the 34-year-old former judge spent nearly two years before her release last year.
A Clemency Board controlled by the ruling party on Saturday decided that the leader of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJP - Andinet) should be arrested for allegedly failing to give “adequate response” to police.
On Sunday, www.abugidainfo.com, a pro-democracy website based in Boston, broke the news that the Clemency Board was after the arrest of Bertukan, the first female leader of a major opposition party in the history of Ethiopia. The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is incriminating Ms. Bertukan for telling support groups in Europe last November that she and other leaders of the former Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) were released thanks to mediation efforts by a group of prominent elders called shimagle.
The government wants the opposition leader to acknowledge that her release was dependent on taking responsibilities for the violence that followed the 2005 elections, and posting an apology to the government in exchange for clemency.
If the head of state, President Girma Woldegiorgis, approved the Clemency Board's request for the arrest of the opposition leader, Bertukan would end up behind bars, the report that appeared in Amharic on AbugidaInfo warned. Observers say the symbolic head of state has no executive power, and he would approve whatever the Clemency Board passed as a decision.
Police last week gave Bertukan a three-day ultimatum either to recant her remarks or go to jail for life. She said she had committed no wrongdoing.
“The relentless campaign of fear and intimidation targets not only me but also all law-abiding activists,” Bertukan warned in a statement.
Since the last several days, Ms. Bertukan has been the target of vitriolic attacks by the state-run media, while her daily life has been haunted by government security agents who check her movement in four cars.
Bertukan and her party, UDJP enjoy tremendous support at home and abroad.
Despite the threat of arrest in the spy-infested society, UDJP was able to draw over 5,000 enthusiastic supporters to its first ever meeting in Addis recently.
Following news of the government campaign of intimidation, Bertukan was able to draw a swift show of solidarity from the powerful association of UDJP support groups in North America.
The Zenawi regime, which has deliberately fragmented Ethiopia under an apartheid-look-alike system of misrule since 1991, is often denounced by human rights organizations as one of the most ruthless regimes in Africa.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Gwynne Dyer: The U.S. and Ethiopia's blunder in Somalia
By Gwynne DyerStatesmen ought to have a special prize just for themselves, like fools have the Darwin Awards. The Darwin Awards commemorate very stupid people who did a service to human evolution by accidentally removing themselves from the gene pool. The statesman’s equivalent could be called something like the Cheney-Zenawi Award.
I mention this because the shining stupidity of the US Vice-President and the Ethiopian Prime Minister are on special display this week, as the Ethiopian army prepares to withdraw from Somalia two years after its foredoomed invasion, leaving the country in the hands of precisely the people whom they wanted to eliminate. We need negative role models too, and you couldn’t ask for worse than this pair.
I can’t actually prove that getting Ethiopia to invade Somalia was Dick Cheney’s brainchild, but it smells exactly like a Dick Cheney idea: crude, violent, and barking up entirely the wrong tree. Just like invading Iraq, in fact.
As for Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, he had already distinguished himself by becoming obsessed with the stupidest border war in modern African history. It wasn’t his fault to start with: Ethiopia was attacked out of the blue in 1998 by the insanely aggressive regime in Eritrea, but Ethiopian troops drove the Eritreans back. By the ceasefire in mid-2000, Ethiopia had recovered all the ground it lost at the start.
An international commission found Eritrea guilty of aggression, and another one arbitrated all the disputed stretches of border, granting Ethiopia most of its claims. Both sides said they would accept the rulings—and then Zenawi walked away from the deal. He has been getting ready for another war with Eritrea ever since.
Going to war with Eritrea again would mean defying the United Nations ruling, so Zenawi needed the backing of some great power that could protect him from the UN’s censure. Who better than the United States, which has assiduously ignored and belittled the UN under the Bush administration? Now what could Ethiopia do for the Bush administration in return?
Well, it could invade Somalia. Washington didn’t want to put American troops into Somalia again, having had its nose bloodied in 1993, but it did want to overthrow the civilian regime that was restoring peace in southern Somalia and put its favourite warlord in power instead. Ethiopian troops would do the job just as well.
I think I can see the self-satisfied smirk on Cheney’s face as he closed the deal: another triumph for the subtle master of geopolitics. I can’t make out the look on Zenawi’s face, but maybe he was smiling too. Too clever by half, as the saying goes.
The job was to overthrow the Union of Islamic Courts, a mass movement funded by local merchants in Mogadishu who wanted to end the constant robberies and kidnaps that made life impossible in the Somali capital. The UIC mobilised the desire of ordinary Somalis for an end to the violence that had ravaged the country for fifteen years, and the peace they brought to Mogadishu soon spread over most of southern Somalia.
Unfortunately the courts were “Islamic” and they wanted to enforce sharia law, which in Washington’s book made them practically terrorists. They did have a few unsavoury allies, notably an extremist militia called al-Shebab, but they gave people in Mogadishu their first real hope of security and justice. They should not have been destroyed.
The Ethiopian army invaded Somalia in December 2006, drove the Islamic Courts out of Mogadishu, and installed Abdullahi Yusuf, the president of the “Transitional Federal Government” (TFG) of Somalia, in power. Well, not exactly in power, since the citizens and militias of Mogadishu immediately began attacking the hated Ethiopians, who only controlled whatever was in their gunsights. As for Abdullahi Yusuf, he only controlled a suite of rooms and some telephones.
He was originally chosen as president of the TFG, with ample US support, at a conclave of Somali warlords dignified with the name of “parliament” in Kenya in 2004. He would never have made it back to Mogadishu without the help of the Ethiopian army, and accepting that help made him deeply suspect in the eyes of most Somalis.
The resistance has driven the Ethiopian army out of most of southern Somalia in the past two years, and now the Ethiopians are going home. Abdullahi Yusuf will have to leave too, since he has no supporters except the Ethiopians and the Americans. Which will leave Mogadishu in the hands not of the Union of Islamic Courts, alas, but rather of the extremist militias that have pushed the UIC aside during their struggle against the foreign troops.
It’s almost as perverse as the Bush administration’s decision to eliminate Iran’s two great enemies in the Gulf, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Ethiopia and the United States have not only plunged Somalia needlessly back into war. They have made it possible for the nastiest, craziest extremists, people who think it is their duty to kill other Muslims with “un-Islamic” haircuts, to take power in Mogadishu.
The world needs a Cheney-Zenawi Award for Gross Political Stupidity, and I know who the first nominees should be.
Gwynne Dyer’s new book, Climate Wars, has just been published in Canada by Random House.
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