Remember lady liberty on Mandela Day

July 18 marks the first Nelson Mandela International Day. It was last November that the United Nations General Assembly adopted a special resolution declaring July 18th an international Mandela day to be observed annually.

Mandela Day is undoubtedly a befitting tribute to a man who spent 27 years of his life in prison. The defunct Apartheid regime had given many opportunities to Mandela, who is celebrating his 92nd birthday, to renounce the struggle and walk out of jail. He never budged and resolutely chose to die in jail than kneel down to one of the most abhorrent systems history has ever known. The General Assembly underscored the fact that the longstanding dedication of Mandela, South Africa’s first post-Apartheid president and Nobel Prize peace laureate, “ to humanity, particularly in the areas of conflict resolution, race relations, human rights promotion, reconciliation and gender equality.”

The world is just trying to pay homage to a man who has contributed so much to transform South Africa from a land of injustice to a beautiful “rainbow nation.” Despite the fact that a lot remains to be done to fully heal the wounds of political and economic injustice, South Africa has managed to become a pride of Africa. The successful conclusion of this year’s World Cup, which was staged colorfully with blaring Vuvuzela horns, is testimony to the fact that South Africa has changed forever.

As South Africans have been enjoying their post-Apartheid freedom, our country Ethiopia, which boasts to be the cradle of humanity and symbol of liberty for blacks all over the world, is still groping in the darkness of injustice. Suffering under tyranny and abject poverty, all the great sacrifices of our forefathers since time immemorial has not still created a single day where all citizens of Ethiopia, regardless of their race and cultural heritage, can hold hands and sing that beautiful slave song: “Free at last, free at last…thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

On this historic Mandela Day, where people across the world honor a great man who has lived long enough to reap the fruit of his immeasurable sacrifice, Ethiopians across the world need to remember our compatriots who have laid their lives for freedom. They are martyrs who deserve to be remembered and honored.

We also need to remember and honor our own Mandelas who have followed the footsteps of those whose exemplary lives have shone and inspired millions across the world. The heroine leader Birtukan Mideksa deserves to be honored and recognized by every freedom-loving Ethiopian. At a time when the deficit of credible leadership have made the struggle of the Ethiopian people devoid of meaning and direction, this woman of extraordinary courage and character needs to be as unifying as Mandela, whose defiance and suffering ignited and fuelled the anti-Apartheid struggle.

Some people may fail to understand the deep meaning of selfless sacrifice. Like Mandela, Birtukan is languishing in prison of the despotic regime just because she refused to kneel down to tyranny and renounce the struggle of the Ethiopian people. She was also given an opportunity to appear on national TV and deny the inconvenient truth to dignify a ruthless tyrant. She chose to die in jail than lower herself to uplift an insolent and sadistic dictator.

There are also others who think that Birtukan showed lack judgement by putting herself and her family in harms way. Yes, Birtukan could have avoided going to jail. Likewise, Mandela could also have avoided spending 27 years of his life in solitary confinement. The reason why Mandela is now considered a hero, even by those who used to chastise and question his leadership, is not for his surrender but for his unyielding defiance against Apartheid.

At a time when so many leaders, who had vowed to lead the struggle of the Ethiopian people have lost credibility, Birtukan remains unique as her vision is clear, her calls unfaltering and her stand still unwavering. During the last 19 years, many of our leaders have spent a great deal of their wisdom, energy, time and resources, fighting, bickering and undermining one another than fighting the inhuman tyranny that has revived Apartheid in our land. Today, more than ever before, the struggle needs not many but one unifying leader.

Whether we like it or not, there is no other leader in Ethiopia who has won the love, admiration and credibility of freedom-loving Ethiopians dispersed across the world. She is the only one who can unify our deeply divided nation. We don’t have to wait 27 years to recognize the fact that Birtukan’s sacrifice is as worthy as Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King Jr.

In one of her speeches, she said she was ready for sacrifice and turned to the audience to demand their resolve. “What about you?” she asked bravely. Now this question is haunting each one of us. Little has been done to mobilize people in Ethiopia and around the world to demand for her release unequivocally and persistently. As South Africans had made the release of Mandela a rallying cause during their bitter struggle, freedom-loving Ethiopians, regardless of their political, ethnic and other petty differences, should be able to recognize the importance of a sacrificial lamb as good as lady liberty.

During the 64th United Nations General Assembly plenary meeting, which adopted the resolution last November, the tyrant’s shameless representative, Mesfin Mideksa, said: “The Ethiopian Federal Constitution was firmly anchored on the principle of according genuine recognition and safeguarding the individual identities and rights, as well as ensuring the full representation and participation of all nations and nationalities in the country.” We know that this is a self-refuting lie echoing the emptiness of an unjust tyrannical regime. Though not related at all, Birtukan and Mesfin, who is paid to lie unlike the heroine, have exactly similar father’s name. But they represent completely contradictory visions. Mesfin represents a lying criminal tyranny that sucks the blood of poor Ethiopians. Birtukan, ruthlessly punished for telling the truth, represents freedom, justice and dignity.

December 28, 2008 is an important day in Ethiopian history. The tyrant ordered his security agents to re-arrest Birtukan and condemn her to spend the rest of her life in jail. He callously declared that Birtukan has a “zero chance” of being released again.

True to her words, Birtukan is Ethiopia’s Mandela! In recognition of her immeasurable sacrifice for the sake of freedom, dignity and rights, let us declare 28th December Birtukan’s day. Until she walks out of jail freely, let us rally and honor lady liberty around the world. Her defiance against tyranny symbolizes the nation’s collective desire for liberty and represents the heartbeats of the majority of Ethiopians, who have been reduced to tax-paying slaves, refugees and prisoners by a tyrannical regime that neither represents nor respects them and their history.

Happy Mandela Day!

Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid. By Peter Gill.

SO PREDICTABLE was the result of the recent general election in Ethiopia that the announcement that Meles Zenawi, the prime minister, had been returned to office seemed almost comically triumphant. His ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) won 499 out of 547 parliamentary seats—with all but two others going to EPRDF-allied parties—and all but one of 1,904 council seats in regional elections. The voter turnout was a vertiginous 93.4%. This was one-party rule with a vengeance: the triumph of repression, the squashing of dissenting voices and the shutting down of independent media.

Yet many in the West had high hopes for the clever and resourceful Mr Zenawi, who came to power nearly 20 years ago. Once a mate of Britain’s former prime minister Tony Blair, for instance, Mr Zenawi sat on Mr Blair’s Commission for Africa which in 2005 outlined a comprehensive approach to solving Africa’s many problems. Mr Zenawi was supposed to be the brightest example of a new generation of leaders who were going to combine good governance with making poverty history. In fact, as this year’s election proved, there is precious little of the former, and as Peter Gill’s well-written and accessible book shows, still an awful lot of poverty.

Despite the fact that Mr Gill almost bends over backwards to be fair to Mr Zenawi, there is no escaping the fact that Ethiopia remains almost as fragile and underdeveloped as it was when an Irish musician, Bob Geldof, set up the first global pop concert, Live Aid, to help the drought-benighted nation 25 years ago, on July 13th 1985. A country that became best known for famine, when Mr Gill first covered it as a television reporter, Ethiopia remains uncomfortably close to the brink every time the rains fail.

The core of the book covers Mr Gill’s return to the areas he had reported on during the famine a quarter of a century earlier. Depressingly, he finds few grounds for optimism. Aid has rarely helped much. In one chapter he returns to the impoverished region of South Wollo. In 2005 nearly 800,000 people had been put on a “safety net” food-for-work scheme, aimed at helping them achieve self-sufficiency. After three years barely 2% had done so. Despite billions of dollars in aid money, Ethiopia’s agricultural economy after years of Mr Zenawi’s rule is, he concludes, “in a state of almost permanent crisis”.

Mr Gill touches on the reasons for this state of affairs, even if he never marshals them into a coherent indictment of Mr Zenawi and the clique of former Marxist guerrillas who surround him. An ideological attachment to the “peasantry” means that landholdings are still far too small for people to make money from. A preference for state economic control means private enterprise is discouraged, especially in the mobile-phone sector that is booming elsewhere in Africa. The result is no jobs. Political repression discourages any constructive criticism. The most menacing problem, Ethiopia’s rapidly growing population, is almost never discussed.

Mr Gill suggests that Mr Zenawi may yet be saved by China. That would be a shame for Ethiopia. The Chinese might be building a lot of roads, but it is not at all evident that they are helping to tackle the issues of land and population. Mr Gill generously concludes that Ethiopia has made “modest but real progress” under Mr Zenawi. In fact, most of the book points to the opposite conclusion.

Press Realease

Protest against Meles Zenawi’s presence at the G20 in Toronto (Canada):

Media Release

June 26, 2010

WHO WE ARE:

• We are concerned Canadians of Ethiopian origin congregated here today from the greater Toronto area, Ottawa, London, other surrounding cities including the United States to be part of the protest organized by the members/supporters of the Diaspora Ethiopian human rights and political opposition groups namely: Unity for Human Rights and Democracy (Toronto), Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political prisoners-Canada (SOCEPP Canada), Supporters of the Ginbot 7 movement, and EPRP (Democratic) in collaboration with the Ethiopian Association in greater Toronto and the Surrounding Region. We are all members of the Ethiopian Diaspora community forced out of our country by this and the regime before it at different times and are particularly and gravely concerned about the human rights tragedies that has befallen our people in Ethiopia, who continue to suffer under the cruel and dictatorial rule of PM Meles Zenawi and his party – the EPRDF.  

WHO/WHY/WHAT WE PROTEST AGAINST:

• We are protesting AGAINST the presence of Ethiopia’s de-facto ruler: Mr. Meles Zenawi who is in town invited by PM Stephen Harper to be present at the G20 Summit here in Toronto. We also protest against PM. Stephen Harper’s decision to invite this dictator, who should instead be held criminally responsible for the crimes he committed against humanity, as to be part of the G20 Summit.

• We protest against Meles Zenawi  as this dictator represents himself and his one party - EPRDF’, only, not Ethiopia’s interest. He and his party came to power 20 years ago by the barrel of the gun and stayed in power through the rule of terror and repression. The May 23, 2010 fake election that fell far below international standards only crowned the group and this dictator with a contest free totalitarian rule and a fully narrowed political space similar only to that of his predecessor – Col. Mengistu H/Mariam’s and/or the late dictator - Sadam Hussein of Iraq.

• What we protest against are a number of issues. To name the major few:

• We reject the process leading to and the outcomes of the so-called May 23, 2010 election held in Ethiopia for it fell far below international standards, as also variously and pointedly addressed by the EU Election
• Observers (with which Canadian Observers were part of ), the US State Department, Human Rights Watch and various other impartial groups and state actors.

• The closing of the political space in Ethiopia under the totalitarian rule of the EPRDF where political freedom and human rights continue to vanish and political opponents of the regime like Birtukan Mideksa, Bashir Amhed Makhtal (Canadian), Abera Yemaneab and many others continue to suffer in the dungeons of the regime and the “disappeared” like Tsegaye G/Medhin, Aberash Berta and thousands of political prisoners languish in various jails, and many continue to remain an accounted for, is not acceptable to us. 

• The two laws enacted leading up to the fated election in May 2010 – the CSO law and the “Ant-Terrorism” law continue to play a crucial role for the incumbent as tools of repression for muzzling the free press, human rights activism and political dissent despite the mountain of opposition lodged against such laws by the world community at the last December UN Human Rights Review of Ethiopia last December in which Canada too played a crucial role.  (See: UNHCHR 16^th Annual Human Rights Review in their site).

• Hence, it is our undivided view and position that Meles Zenawi has become a symbol, or rather an icon of repression, who should not have been invited to be present to this prestigious Summit which should have been left only for those leaders who respect and abide by international human rights conventions and laws.

Why was Mr. Zenawi invited to the G20 Summit? : THE RATIONALE

• We are informed by DFAIT who extended the invitation to Mr. Zenawi that, he was invited not because of his democratic credentials; it is because Ethiopia is the seat of the OAU, and
• We are also briefed that the invitation was forwarded because Meles represented Africa at the climate change meeting in Copenhagen last year.

And we say: irrespective, is this rationale good and prudent enough when tested against the criminal records of Mr. Zenawi and his party they perpetrated against their own people during the last 20 years they have been in power. Let’s enumerate some without getting into further details:

• He/they muzzled and completely decimated the free press imprisoning and/or forcied into exile over 123 Ethiopian journalists and closing over 100 independent news papers. Now there are almost none let. The last strong independent press Addis Neger’s editors and journalists were forced to exile in Dec 09.

• VOA Amharic Service the DW-de Amharic service and the New Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) are regularly jammed; the Meles Zenawi openly said that he would give the order to shut independent media, and he did that.

• All pro democracy Web pages are blocked and Ethiopia is second in the entire Africa for jailing journalists and No.1 for blocking web sites.

• Civic societies are paralyzed – the draconian legislations such as the Charities and Association act, the media law and the anti terrorism laws have paralyzed the civic society and the political opposition.

• The 2005 and the 2010 election processes and outcomes remain to be illegal and below standard and the regime continues as the de-facto ruler of Ethiopia.

• The election commission is fully controlled by the ruling party. The election officers all over the country are specifically chosen for being loyal to the ruling group. The so-called code of conduct forced through the throats of the opposition that took part in the election was abrogated by none other than the regime itself when it started killing opposition members in Tigrai, Southern Ethiopia and elsewhere.

• Political prisoners continue to languish in prisons including Birtukan Mideksa, Abera Yemanab, Bashir Makhtal (the Canadian) and many more. The detained and “disappeared” like Aberash Berta, Tsegaye Gebremedhen, and many others continue to remain unaccounted for.

• Crimes against humanity committed in the regions of Gambella, the Ogaden and mass killings in Addis Ababa and many other cities still remain uninvestigated and unpunished and the perpetrators including this leader are still walking free amongst us as if they belong to the civilized, humane and just world. 

Acknowledgements and Demands:

• We are thankful of all the law makers/parliamentarians and human rights groups in Canada, the US and Europe who have listened to our appeals and stood with us to address the continued human rights and political abuses of our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia. We specially acknowledge the works of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the ICG, Genocide Watch, ICFPJ and the like for their critical and central role in exposing the crimes of Meles Zenawi to the world.

• And to the less involved and ambivalent Canadian, American and European politicians We say: we hear what you tell us may make sense to a certain extent but WE ASK OF YOU TO DO MORE FOR THERE IS ONLY ONE  INTERNATIONAL STANDARD: THE FULL RESPECT OF THE VARIOUS
• HUMAN RIGHTS CONVENTIONS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW INCLUDING THE PRINCIPLES OF FREE & FAIR ELECTIONS irrespective of who you are dealing with! Would you not rather have a partner in democracy and justice to justify the millions of taxpayers money you invest on someone who is a terrorist himself against his own people and yet stands with you to “fight” terrorism elsewhere?  

The Venue & Time of the Demonstration, Events that Follow & Contact Info:

• The demonstration will be held on June 26^th starting at 9 am EST/ NYT/ Toronto time at the designated area at Queen’s Park.
• Following the demo, we will have a dinner solidarity evening at 40 Donalds Street (Toronto) - Meeting Hall, located in the east end of Toronto, Near Donlands Subway Station, starting at 7 pm.

For media inquiry please contact: Mr. Yousuf Omar at (416)570-3041 Mr. Aklilu Wendaferew at (647) 223-0404 

Canada and "the butchers"

 By Brodie Fenlon

A quick taxi ride this morning suggests the Harper government will have to mend relationships with at least some people in one of Canada’s immigrant communities after the G8/G20 summits.
My driver, an Ethiopian-Canadian whose name I didn’t get on the 10-minute ride, nearly spat with disgust when I raised the topic of the G20.
“They invite the butchers here. Why? Why they bring butchers to Canada?” he asked in heavily accented English.
He spoke with disdain of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who seized power in an armed takeover in 1991 and whose party most recently won a landslide election in May. Many observers, including Human Rights Watch, said the election was marred by government intimidation, threats and pressure on the electorate.
Mr. Zenawi is one of a half-dozen African leaders invited to the June 25 summit in Muskoka, Ont., as part of an outreach to African countries.
My cabbie recalled the last Ethiopian election in 2005, which led to angry protests and a violent crackdown by government security forces. An estimated 200 people were shot dead.
“We come here because Canada is a democratic country. Then they invite him ... Why?”

With a report from Canadian Press

The human-rights abuser on the G20 guest list

Ahmed Hussen, National Post · Tuesday, Jun. 8, 2010

National Post

Later this month, leaders from Ethiopia and Malawi will be in Toronto as invited guests of the G20. While it is to be expected that the Malawian President would be invited in his capacity as the Chair of the African Union, it is more surprising to see an invitation extended to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.

Mr. Zenawi has been a disappointment to the international community. Since coming to power, he has not lived up to his promises to democratize Ethiopia and end the abuses of the country's minorities. In fact, the opposite has occurred: Mr. Zenawi heads a government that has been accused by the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch of systematically attempting to destroy ethnic minorities in the Ogaden region and southern Ethiopia.

Mr. Zenawi's government also has a history of repressing democratic opposition groups, banning or severely restricting the activities of NGOs, manipulating food aid to reward political allies, starving opposition supporters and cracking down on free media.

After opposition parties protested peacefully against rigged 2005 general elections, Ethiopian government troops opened fire on protesters, resulting in the deaths of 193 opposition supporters. The opposition leader at the time, Birtukan Mideksa, is still in prison serving a life sentence on trumped-up charges, and her plight has been compared to that of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Ethiopian government's disregard for human rights and the rule of law has been felt beyond the country's borders. Canadians, for instance, have been alarmed by its treatment of Canadian citizen Bashir Makhtal, who has been detained in Ethiopia for more than three years after being illegally rendered to that country by Kenyan authorities. The Ethiopian government has refused to release him despite being unable to prove any wrongdoing. Federal Transport Minister John Baird recently made a trip to Ethiopia in order to lobby for the release of this Canadian citizen, but Mr. Makhtal remains in jail.

Ethiopia also has been a destabilizing force in Somalia. Despite Ethiopian troops officially withdrawing from Somalia at the end of 2008, they are still unofficially entering that country in their quest to fight a proxy war with Eritrea. This has led to gross violations of human rights by Somali groups that are funded, trained and armed by these two neighbouring countries in clear violation of the United Nations arms embargo on Somalia. Just two weeks ago, Ethiopian troops entered the relatively peaceful Somali district of Buhoodle to carry out military actions that resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians. The totality of these actions make Mr. Zenawi the wrong type of head of government to be invited to a G20 summit. This invitation sends the wrong message to Ethiopia and other African countries that are gradually backsliding on earlier promises to democratize and improve human rights.

At a minimum, Canada should stand up for one of its own by making it clear to the Ethiopian government that Mr. Zenawi would be admitted into Canada only if he immediately and unconditionally releases Canadian citizen Bashir Makhtal. Future Canadian aid to, and diplomatic engagement with, Ethiopia should be tied to a demonstrable improvement in democracy, human rights, rule of law and governance.

- Ahmed Hussen is the national president of the Canadian Somali Congress. He analyzes issues related to politics, peace, security and governance in the East African region.

Beloved, and behind bars Birtukan Mideksa, the country’s main opposition leader, has been in jail for 18 months

Two months ago, Halle Mideksa celebrated her fifth birthday. For the fourth time, the bubbly little girl—dressed, to meet Maclean’s, in pink and purple, hopping on one foot, a yellow sucker gripped between her teeth—had to celebrate without her mom, Birtukan Mideksa. The 36-year-old former judge is Ethiopia’s most famous opposition politician. But she was forced to miss Ethiopia’s state elections on May 23—along with the party for her only child. Mideksa, the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa, is being held in a two-by-two-metre cell she shares with two other prisoners. She’s been at Kaliti jail for 18 months—her second stay in the hot, crowded maze of sheet-metal shacks at the southern edge of Addis Ababa, the capital. She is accused of violating the terms of a pardon under which she was released in 2007.

Mideksa was initially jailed on treason charges after elections in 2005 in which her opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice party—widely popular in cosmopolitan Addis—fell curiously short of expectations. Many took to the streets to protest results observers deemed fraudulent; 30,000 were jailed, including hundreds of journalists and human rights activists; 200 unarmed protesters were shot dead and 70 opposition politicians were tried en masse, Mideksa among them.

The crackdown by Meles Zenawi’s government—which took 99.9 per cent of seats in last year’s local elections—hasn’t slowed. Four months ago, the newspaper Addis Neger, one of the country’s lone remaining independent voices, was shuttered after intimidation and harassment by government. Tsion Girima, one of the country’s only female political journalists, was jailed for misidentifying a judge in the high-profile trial of singer Teddy Afro, whose songs compare the government to a brutal junta. Ahead of these elections, the government jammed broadcasts from Voice of America, a move Zenawi defended by likening VOA to Radio Mille Collines: hate media that stoked Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

All this as the West, Ottawa included, lavishes record amounts of aid on Ethiopia, subsidizing a government now ranked among Africa’s most repressive and dictatorial regimes. Surrounded by basket-case neighbours, the country is a key Western ally in the war on terror; without Zenawi, it would join the rank of anarcho-hellholes like Somalia—or so the argument goes.

In the past five years, Mideksa, a brilliant speaker with a quick, agile mind, has become a symbol for democracy and change: a female leader in a country where, outside Addis, female circumcision remains the norm, and a single mom who staunchly opposes the politics that divide Ethiopia along ethnic lines. Her sacrifice has captivated the country—terrifying its leadership. “I wish everybody hated her,” her 76-year-old mother tells Maclean’s, tears washing down her face. “The only reason she is in jail is because everyone loves her.”

Mideksa’s books, among them works by legal philosopher John Austin, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jean-Paul Sartre, and a poster of her idol, Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, still line the walls of the family’s tidy green and white house. But hope that Mideksa might be released following Zenawi’s landslide, preordained victory was dashed by the PM. No, he announced on the campaign trail, she won’t be released—“ever. Full stop.”

Spotlight on the Struggle of Birtukan Mideksa: Ethiopian Human Rights Activist in the Global Women's Movement

 Zainab Salbi

Posted: June 1, 2010 09:14 AM

Today I would like to tell you the story of Birtukan Mideksa, an Ethiopian prisoner of conscience who is facing life imprisonment for speaking out against an oppressive government. Birtukan is an opposition leader of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (formerly Coalition for Unity and Democracy) party and is advocating for democracy and rule of law in Ethiopia. After years of civil unrest and war with Eritrea, Ethiopia is still struggling to overcome oppression and establish political freedom. The parliamentary elections in 2005 spurred violent protests, which led to the arbitrary arrest and detainment of hundreds of opposition leaders, journalists, human rights advocates and civilians. Birtukan was one of those arrested in 2005, and she received a life imprisonment sentence. Then, in 2007, Birtukan received a pardon and was released from prison, only to be put back into prison once more in 2008 for discussing the details of her prior arrest. Her original sentence of life imprisonment has since been reinstated.
Much of Birtukan's time in prison has been spent in solitary confinement. The only people allowed to visit Birtukan are her mother and her four-year-old daughter. Before her arrest, Birtukan was the main provider for her family, who is now suffering not only emotionally but also financially from Birtukan's imprisonment. She is not allowed to meet with any legal representation and the government refuses to listen to her needs. There are even reports that she is being denied medical treatment, despite numerous requests for a physician. The Red Cross and other humanitarian officials are being denied access to the prison, and the exact treatment of Birtukan is unknown.
When addressing the U.S. Congress in 2007, Birtukan stated that "only through dialogue and negotiation will stability and peace be guaranteed" in Ethiopia. In the context of the rampant human rights violations and other oppressive government actions, advocates for peace and freedom are desperately needed in Ethiopia. And yet, women like Birtukan are still being denied the opportunity to negotiate this peace.
Birtukan's story represents the struggle women across the world are facing to have a political voice and to stand up for human rights. Take Jameela, a Palestinian woman from Gaza, who was imprisoned in Israel for 2 years when she was 18 years old for smuggling letters for the PLO. She was tortured. She was hanged from her hands for long periods, put in solitary confinement for about 6 months, and had drops of water dripping on her forehead for hours at a time. When she was finally released from prison, her entire community wanted to abandon her because they assumed she had been sexually abused in prison and thus had her honor taken away. Only her father and her future husband stood by her side. She is now living in a half-destroyed one-room house with her entire family.
Or take Mona, a young activist from Iraq, who was continually raped by a captain during the war so that he would not kill her brothers. This captain started a habit of visiting her daily at her family home. There, he would take her to a bedroom in her house, close the door behind him (her brothers, mother and sisters are still in the living room), and rape her. He would then leave her home. "Day after day, week after week, month after month he did that and not once did my brothers or mother said anything. As a matter of fact, when I would refuse to go with him, they would scold me and urge me to go to him so he wouldn't get upset. In the beginning, this whole ordeal was to save my brothers from prison." Mona is now activist dedicated to rescuing prostituted girls and women who, no different from her, ended up in a path not because of their desires but because they were saving loved ones as she saved her brothers.
According to the UN, 90% of modern war casualties are civilians, 75% of which are women and children. That reality only addresses the death tolls created by war. Statistics have yet to capture the price women pay for wars often just for living in it and trying to survive it. On top of political and military pressure, women are often faced with another layer of community and traditional demands. Then there are the women, like Birtukan, Jameela and Mona, who are trying to take a stand against these wars and who end up facing extreme oppression and human rights violations imposed by governments and military groups.
The bravery of these women despite all odds is inspirational. Women everywhere are paying a personal price for their political reality. It is these women, and the millions of women survivors of conflict who are striving every day to carry on in the midst of astronomical challenges, who are pushing us forward in the global women's movement. It is these women who are standing up for peace and equality, finding their voices and speaking truth in the face of oppression and fear. These women deserve to have their voices heard.

March againist the Tribalist and Dictator Meles Zenawi

Ethiopia Ruling Party Leads Vote Marred by Intimidation Reports

By Jason McLure

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling party headed for victory in the Horn of Africa nation’s first national elections since 2005 after a campaign that was marred by allegations of intimidation.
With about 7.3 million votes tallied of an estimated 29 million cast yesterday, Meles’s Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front had 6.8 million, compared with 458,242 for the opposition Medrek alliance, Mergera Bekana, chairman of the National Electoral Board, said today.
The EPRDF was ahead in 20 of 23 seats in the capital, Addis Ababa, with Medrek leading for one parliamentary seat and two constituencies not yet reporting, he said.
“In all regional states, EPRDF is leading,” Mergera said in the capital.
Government and ruling party official used a combination of harassment and arrests and withholding food aid and jobs to thwart Medrek in the weeks running up to the polls, New York- based Human Rights Watch said in a statement today. The government has denied the allegations, saying economic growth in Ethiopia of more than 7 percent annually over the past five years has bolstered its support.
About 31.9 million registered voters were eligible to cast ballots to elect 547 members of parliament and representatives to regional councils.
A former Marxist guerrilla leader who has ruled Africa’s second-most populous nation since 1991, Meles, 55, has been a key ally in the fight against Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia. Under Meles, Ethiopia, Africa’s top coffee producer, has pursued an economic model that mixes a large state role with foreign investment in roads, dams and power.
The government controls the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corp., a state-run monopoly, and owns all the land, while companies owned by the state or the ruling party dominate banking and trucking. Almost a sixth of its 85 million people depend on food aid.
Medrek is a coalition that includes jailed opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa’s Unity for Democracy and Justice party and a number of ethnic-based parties.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

EU needs consistency in human rights

New Europe: May 09 2010

EU's foreign policy on human rights can only be effective if  linked to the promotion of democracy, the rule of law and the strengthening of civil societies. Credibility in human rights advocacy worldwide requires the EU to also pay attention at its own Member States laws and practices, in particular towards minorities, migrants and refugees. The collaboration of European governments with the "extraordinary renditions programme" of the Bush Administration badly affected the general perception on the EU commitment to international human rights law. A strategic reading of all situations and crisis in terms of human rights and democracy implications is essential for the EU, as much as policy coherence in the use of the different instruments must improve. Human rights should be the cornerstone of EU foreign policy to comply with EU principles and values, but they are often left in the shadow of other priorities. "Stability" is regularly invoked when human rights deserve mere lip service from  EU officials, even if  avoiding conflict means perpetuating oppression.         
One particular case of inconsistency and incoherence is the EU approach towards Ethiopia, a main recipient of EU ODA, a partner bound by the Cotonou Agreement clauses on human rights, the second most populous country in Africa and the headquarters of the African Union.  As Head of the 2005 EU Election Observation Mission, I witnessed the incredible hopes of the proud Ethiopian people be brutally suppressed by a ruling party which prevented international observers to watch the counting of votes in order to manipulate results, once the Addis Ababa tabulation showed a landslide in favour of the opposition. Today basic conditions for democratic elections are even worse: there are thousands of political prisoners, many arrested after the demonstrations that contested the 2005 election results and which were violently put down by governmental forces, killing more than 200 people. Birtukan Midekssa, a young mother and the leader of a main opposition party is in jail, serving a life sentence, instead of running for elections. There is no media freedom and the work of NGOs has been severely limited by a law which criminalizes human rights work. The Ethiopian government formally rejected the EU EOM 2005 report, but not even that has stopped the European Commission and EU governments from continuing "business as usual" with the totalitarian regime of Meles Zenawi - they just sent a new EU Election Observation Mission, at his request, in the hope of legitimizing the electoral farce his party is organising for the coming 23 May.
The EU - now through the voice of its High Representative Catherine Ashton - needs to be consistent, credible and bolder  in condemning human rights abuses and delegitimizing human rights violators. It also must make a greater effort to match policy commitments with practice. The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights is an important tool, but its financial envelope needs to be considerably increased and better used  in support of human rights defenders and in strengthening civil society in different countries - these should be the main partners of the EU in many countries all over the world.
 
Ana Gomes is a Portuguese Member of the European Parliament and a Member of the Human Rights Committee

Foreign aid subsidizes repression in Ethiopia

Expert accuses foreign donors of subsidizing a regime 'that is rapidly becoming one of the most repressive and dictatorial on the continent'

Note from Guest Editor Ory Okolloh: This is a blog from allAfrica.com, which aggregates, produces and distributes news from across Africa. The site has given The Globe permission to reprint its staff-written articles. I chose this piece because Zenawi will be one of Africa's representatives at the G-20. His repressive regime in Ethiopia continues to be ignored by his friends in the donor community ... and then later the same people will complain about Ethiopia's lack of development years from now. An example of bad aid.

A month ahead of national elections, the Ethiopian government has come under critical Western scrutiny in an article which accuses foreign donors of "subsidizing a regime that is rapidly becoming one of the most repressive and dictatorial on the continent."

Writing in the current issue of The New York Review of Books, Helen Epstein suggests that Western aid officials "seem reluctant to admit that there are two Prime Minister Meles Zenawis.

"One is a clubbable, charming African who gives moving speeches at Davos and other elite forums about fighting poverty and terrorism. The other is a dictator whose totalitarianism dates back to cold war days."

Epstein, a specialist in public health in developing countries, declares in an extensive analysis:

"The problem with foreign aid in Ethiopia is that both the Ethiopian government and its donors see the people of this country not as individuals with distinct needs, talents, and rights but as an undifferentiated mass, to be mobilized, decentralized, vaccinated, given primary education and pit latrines, and freed from the legacy of feudalism, imperialism, and backwardness."

She says Meles' government has received U.S. $26 billion in development aid from the West in an experiment "to see whether 'the big push' approach to African development will work." In 2008 it received more aid than any other sub-Saharan country.

"The big push," writes Epstein, "has financed 15,000 village health clinics, seventeen universities, countless schools, and the beginnings of a new road network that will bring trade and services to many previously isolated rural areas."

But the aid subsidizes repression, she adds.

"On May 23, Ethiopia will hold its first parliamentary elections since 2005, but the results seem foreordained.

"Opposition groups have been prevented from opening local offices and some opposition candidates have been assaulted by [ruling party] officials or arbitrarily detained by the police.

"The government uses Chinese spy technology to bug phone lines and Internet communications, and countless journalists, editors, judges, academics, and human rights defenders have fled the country or languish behind bars, at risk of torture.

"New laws passed since 2005 have made political activity more difficult than ever."

“TPLF cadre’s disgraceful visit to Toronto”


Rumors were circulating in this big city of Toronto that a high level TPLF’S (Tigray People Libration Front) delegation is shortly paying a scandalous visit. Our city has in recent past seen woyane cadres secretly meeting one ethnic group and disregarding others as part of their sinister ethno centric policy of divide and rule. It was part of their North American mission to reach out their supporters and appeal to them to play the role of actively discrediting the Diasporas opposition. Patriotic Ethiopians spared no time to organize and expose those woyane agents. A protest rally was organized by the office of Unity for Human Rights and Democracy, Ginbot 7 movement for justice democracy and Unity, with cultural groups including Ethiopians of Oromo and Ogaden origins. As is always the case everywhere, those woyane agents have planned to meet selected few individuals who are considered loyal supporters. Official invitation cards were distributed to those individuals who are beneficiaries of the corrupt system through privileged investor status or promises for land grab.
After securing license to stage a protest rally from City police, patriotic Ethiopians converged at down town Marriott where meeting was scheduled to take place. Placards were displayed to the public exposing Meles Zenawi’s human rights record. Protestors continued to echo slogans denouncing Meles's dictatorial regime. Demonstrators wearing Birtukan's T shirts expressed their determination to carry over the struggle until Birtukan and all political prisoners are set free. The privileged few current and potential investors under their opportunistic stances started arriving at Marriott and they were greeted with applauses of shame. As common greed is what has affiliated them to the system, they didn’t have the slightest courage to face patriotic Ethiopians and had to cover their faces to hide their identity and run away.
It was past 3 pm that a limo just drove by the crowd of protesters and we knew that they were those woyane agents. The protesters greeted them with the Ethiopian flag, placards and slogans with loud and clear messages that they are not welcome here. As they clearly know how determined the protesters are to voice the plight of our people in Ethiopia, they didn’t even have the gut to raise their heads up and face us. With very limited attendance of opportunist individuals, the woyane cadres had to dwell much of their discussion on the “democratic process” of the forthcoming election. However, most of the invited people in attendance didn’t show any interest in the political process and instead they voiced their frustration about it. They said they were invited to discuss investment potentials and would rather prefer the discussion focuses on areas they would participate as investors. The whole sessions appeared coordinated enough those woyane cadres deliberately continued to preach more and more on achievements of the regime and left no time for participants pose questions Most participants have clearly expressed their anger that what they expected at the meeting was not those low level cadres. They wanted to meet the likes of Abay Tsehaye and Seyoum Mesfin whom they expected they will have the opportunity to wine and dine with.
The protest rally has brought together many human rights groups actively engaged in and around the great city of Toronto. Those Ethiopian groups including representatives of Unity for Human Rights and democracy, Ginbot 7, Oromo and Ogaden communities are determined to continue their struggle for the realization of our dreams of unity, equality and democracy. They take this opportunity to invite other organizations to join the group to collectively take charge of coordinating one big protest rally against Meles Zenawi’s attendance of the G-2O meeting this June in Toronto.
Toronto April 27, 2010

Birtukan Mideksa and a challenge to the Ethiopian Diaspora

I will commence a hunger strike in front of the White House to get President Obama or someone from his administration to acknowledge Birtukan Mideksa as a prisoner of conscious and to call for her immediate release from wrongful imprisonment. Fighting for democracy and freedom have always been traditional American values and I will fight for these values for my Ethiopian brothers and sisters. Please join me in the hunger strike which will commence on May 3rd 2010. We can't save the World but we can certainly do our part. – Chris Flaherty

Watch below the video of Chris Flaherty's speech at the Horn of Africa Conference in the Washington Metro Area on April 11, 2010:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and conveniences, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

This is a quote from my biggest hero since childhood, Martin Luther King Jr. It was his movement that inspired me to make films documenting the pursuit of democracy and freedom on a World scale. My recent film, Migration of Beauty documents the historical events that led up to the tragic massacre of some 200 unarmed civilians during the 2005 Ethiopian elections. Out of this storm of tragedy rose one of the most promising leaders for Ethiopia's future, BIRTUKAN MIDEKSA. Shortly after announcing her bid to run against the ruling party in the 2010 elections she was arrested and imprisoned, effectively eliminating any possibility of the ruling party, the EPRDF to lose the election.

Birtukan Mideksa has been declared a "PRISONER OF CONSCIOUS" by Amnesty International and shares the same status as imprisoned Burmese dissident AUNG SAN SUU KYI. President Obama has made a public statement affirming Aung San Suu Kyi's status as a prisoner of conscious and called for her release. To date, President Obama or the U.S. State Department have not made any such statements concerning the plight of Birtukan Mideksa supposedly because of vested U.S. interest in the Horn of Africa. The Obama Administration is demonstrating their willingness to appease Meles Zenawi and his EPRDF ruling party for the sake fighting the war on terror, trading off the freedom of an entire nation of people.

Vanvouver advocacy for Birtukan and all political prisoners.

April 10. 2010 Vancouver Canada
Meeting with MP Peter Julian(NDP) and MLA Raj Chouhan (NDP)
to strength the campaign to Free Ms. Birtukan Mideksa and discuss current human right condition in Ethiopia
Here are two Videos of very inspiring speeches by Peter and Raj
MP Peter Julian(NDP)

MLA Raj Chouhan (NDP)

Joint statement form SOCEPP Canada and Unity for Human Rights and Democracy Toronto

An urgent appeal to the Government of Canada and all Parliamentarians

March 31, 2010

The Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political prisoners, (SOCEPP Canada) and Unity for Human Rights and Democracy are Toronto based Human rights groups striving for the respect of Human and Democratic rights in Ethiopia.

We are writing to request your immediate intervention to avert a serious human tragedy in Ethiopia.

The health of Birtukan Mideksa, the jailed leader of the opposition UDJ, the first and only female political party leader in the country’s history, is deteriorating fast. Reports indicate that both her physical as well as mental health is at an alarming point. Birtukan Mideksa who is clearly categorized as prisoner of conscious is jailed for speaking her mind and standing firm in her opposition to the ruling group that has been in power for the last 20 years. Birtukan Mideksa, needs to be provided with all the proper medical care that she needs.  Birtukan Mideksa is a political prisoner and she needs to be released without any precondition.

The repression against the free press has intensified. Ethiopians continue to be denied of their most basic rights. The Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, in a recent interview with one of the local government media, has openly stated that his government was “testing its ability to jam” Voice of America’s Amharic service. There are fresh reports to indicate that, like many other radio transmissions and web sites before it, the VOA has now been blocked in Ethiopia. This blatant disregard of the free press and the plight of the international community is a continuation of the unabated affront against the international human rights standards.

In the run up to the May 2010 election, the government is increasing its attack on the opposition. There are numerous reports of continued attack on the members of the opposition all over the country. For example, in Jimma Zone, western Ethiopia, candidate of the opposition Medrek was attached by a knife wielding security agents and seriously injured. Another member of the opposition Medrek, Ato Aregawi Gebre Yohanes, was brutally murdered by six members of the same security forces in the northern province of Tigray. Another opposition party - AEUP has stated that a number of its members have been arrested and jailed without cause. In short, indications are that the governing TPLF/EPRDF is forcefully implementing all the means to frustrate the opposition and withdraw from the said election in May 2010.

Additionally, it has now been reported by the likes of the BBC and the party’s former functionaries that, the international humanitarian and relief aid sent from the western world during the great famine of 1984/85 was appropriated by the TPLF and used to buy arms and strengthen its fighting forces while millions of Ethiopians were flooding into the Sudan and tens of thousands were made to perish. There are similar reports to indicate that the TPLF/EPRDF has continued to misappropriate international aid even after it came to power to buy vote  while close to 13 million of our people are facing once again facing starvation. It is also reported that those who are suspected of supporting the opposition are denied humanitarian aid.

In view of these harrowing past and present events, then, it is imperative that the international community take these issues seriously, heed the calls of such human rights groups as: Genocide Watch, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and stop enabling a government that has and continues to perpetrate possible crime against humanity and possible genocide.

We specifically urge the government of Canada and all parliamentarians to:

• Engage in a formal discussion regarding the situation in Ethiopia and provide a principled political leadership. A good place to start would be a hearing in the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee on the situation in Ethiopia.
• Take immediate action for the respect of the basic rights of Birukan Mideksa including access to medical treatment, to visit by her family friends and international organizations such as the ICRC.
• Strive for the release of Birukan Mideksa and all political prisoners including Aberash Berta and many others.
• Investigate if Canadian aid was and continues to be used for political purposes by the ruling TPLF/EPRDF both in the mid 1980’s and at the present time.
• Demand that the ruling party in Ethiopia respect international conventions and treaties on Human and Democratic rights including freedom of the press and assembly.
• Monitor very closely the upcoming election in the country and demand that the ruling party refrain from harassment and suppression of the opposition.
• Suspend all direct budgetary aid until the ruling group show full compliance for the respect of Human and Democratic rights in Ethiopia.

SOCEPP- Canada                                   Unity for Human Rights and Democracy

socepp-can@humanrightsethiopia.com         7 Woodmount Ave. Toronto, Ontario

                                                      M4C 3X4

P. O. BOX 413, STATION E,                       www.andnettoronto.blogspot.com/ 
TORONTO, ONTARIO                                 www.freebirtukan.org           
M6H 4E3                                                       unityforhumanrights@gmail.com
CANADA

www.humanrightsethiopia.com

Ethiopian opposition barred from seeing jailed leader

(Reuters) - Ethiopian opposition politicians were barred from visiting their jailed leader, Birtukan Mideksa, Saturday after a U.S. State Department human rights report said her mental health has deteriorated.
Eight opposition politicians asked for access to Birtukan at the prison. They were met by prison head Abebe Zemichael and, after a heated argument in the street outside, were refused permission for not being family members.
Unity for Democracy and Justice party (UDJ) leader Birtukan, a 36-year-old single mother, is seen by analysts as the biggest threat to the almost 20-year-rule of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Ethiopia holds parliamentary elections on May 23.
"We are here today because we are worried about her health and we want to see for ourselves what her condition is," senior UDJ official Seye Abraha told Reuters at the entrance to Kaliti prison, 20 km from the capital Addis Ababa.
"Only her mother and her daughter have been given access to her. They bar friends, they bar party colleagues, no lawyer, no independent doctors."
Ethiopia's last elections in 2005 ended with violence after the opposition said the government fixed its victory.
About 200 protesters were killed by soldiers in riots and opposition leaders, including Birtukan, were jailed for life after Meles said they were trying to oust him.
They were pardoned and released in 2007 when they signed a letter admitting to provoking the violence. Birtukan was sent back to prison in December 2008 after she denied responsibility for the trouble and said she did not ask for a pardon.
The U.S. State Department's human rights report for 2009 said this month: "There were credible reports that Birtukan's mental health deteriorated significantly during the year."
It called her a political prisoner, echoing rights groups.
"She is severely depressed," a relative who did not want to be named told Reuters. "We need to get an independent doctor, not a prison one, to see her."
Ethiopian law permits friends and lawyers to visit prisoners.
Meles has said Birtukan was in "perfect" health, but that diplomats and journalists would not be allowed to visit her.
Analysts say Meles' Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition will win the May 23 poll.
The opposition says this is because they are harassed and jailed. The government says the opposition is trying to discredit a poll it has no chance of winning.
(Editing by Diana Abdallah)