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.
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