Ethiopia: Trial of opposition leaders, human rights defenders and journalists continues

One year after their trial opened in Addis Ababa on 2 May 2006, 48 members of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) party, human rights defenders and journalists are still in prison. Most charges carry possible death sentences. They are on trial for allegedly inciting violence in opposition demonstrations in 2005 protesting alleged electoral fraud. The demonstrations started peacefully but ended in clashes with government forces that shot dead 187 demonstrators.

Amnesty International reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of those defendants whom it considers are prisoners of conscience who have not used or advocated violence and were peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, as guaranteed by the Ethiopian Constitution and international human rights treaties which Ethiopia has ratified. They include:

• CUD leaders -- some of whom were elected to the federal parliament or Addis Ababa city assembly -- for example Dr Berhanu Negga, an economics lecturer, Dr Yakob Hailemariam, a law professor and former UN prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Ms Birtukan Mideksa, a lawyer and former judge, and retired geography professor Mesfin Woldemariam, founder and former president of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, among others;
• two civil society activists and human rights lawyers -- Daniel Bekele, policy manager of the Ethiopian office of ActionAid, the international development agency, and Netsanet Demissie, founder and director of the Organization for Social Justice, an Ethiopian NGO;
• seven journalists from the independent media who are charged on the basis of published articles which to Amnesty International’s knowledge did not advocate violence.