New Year Message

December 30, 2010

Dear Ethiopian compatriots all over the world:  

On Behalf of our members, I’m sending this New Year's message to wish a happy New Year to all.

As you all know, 2010, like all other previous years was a year of sadness for most Ethiopians. The violation of human rights continued unabated, we witnessed a sham and shameful election, the environmental degradation and land grab accelerated with a lightening speed. The Health and Education system of our people has collapsed beyond repair, and the social interaction among Ethiopians is jeopardized immensely. Yes, the release of prominent Ethiopian politician Ms. Birtukan Midekssa was a victory for all human rights activists and to all those who become voice for the voiceless.

Today more than any other time in the history of our Ethiopia, the existence of our beloved motherland is in question. Now more than ever, we should continue the struggle for Respect of Human Rights and democracy, hand and glove together as one people, regardless of our ethnic, religious and political differences.

I pray and wish the year 2011, to bring Unity, Peace and Democracy to our country and people.   

Yousuf Omer 

Unity for Human Rights and Democracy

Toronto Canada   

HAPPY NEW YEAR

አንድነቶች በቅርቡ አንድ ሊኾኑ ይችላሉ

ሰንደቅ ጋዜጣ ታማኝ ምንጮቼ ነገሩኝ ብሎ እንደጻፈው አንድነት ፓርቲ ውስጥ የተፈጠሩት አንጃዎች 99 በመቶ የእርቅ ስምምነት ላይ ደርሰዋል፡፡ በቅርቡም የእርቀ ሰላም ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ ተጠርቶ እንደ አዲስ አመራር ይመረጣል፡፡ በዚህ የእርቅ ጉባኤ ዶክተር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ፣ አቶ ስየ አብረሃ እና አቶ አንዷለም አራጌ  እንደማንኛውም አባል በመራጭነትና በተመራጭነት መሳተፍ እንደሚችሉ መግባባት ላይ እንደተደረሰ ጋዜጣው ዘግቧል፡፡ ሁኔታው እንደታሰበለት ከሄደ ህክምናቸውን በደቡብ አፍሪካ አጠናቀው ወደ አገርቤት የተመለሱትን የፓርቲውን መሥራች ወ/ት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳን ወደ ፖለቲካ ለመመለስ ምቹ ኹኔታን እንደሚፈጥር ጋዜጣው ያለውን ግምት ገልጧል፡፡

Ethiopian Donors May Further Probe Allegations That Government Misused Aid

Major donors to Ethiopia may renew a probe into claims the government has used aid to silence the opposition after Human Rights Watch called on them to investigate its allegations further.
In an October report, New York-based Human Rights Watch said the government used “donor-supported programs” to control political opponents by denying them access to land, credit, fertilizers, food aid and other resources. In an e-mailed statement on Dec. 17, the group called on donors to investigate the claims themselves.
The Development Assistance Group Ethiopia, which is based in Addis Ababa and made up of 26 donors, met recently to discuss the allegations, Sandra Baldwin, deputy director of the U.K. Department for International Development Ethiopia, said by phone on Dec. 18. Baldwin didn’t rule out field research to investigate specific claims of abuse.
The donor group “has been actively discussing the additional work to follow up on the earlier” report into the abuse allegations, Ken Ohashi, the World Bank’s country director for Ethiopia, said in an e-mailed response to questions. A government spokesman was not immediately available to comment.
The group said in an October statement it didn’t “concur with the conclusions” of Human Rights Watch’s report that alleged widespread, systematic abuse of development aid.
“Our study did not generate any evidence of systematic or widespread distortion,” said the donor group, which includes the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the U.S.
Human Rights Watch says the Horn of Africa nation, which has been ruled by former rebels since 1991, is one of the world’s largest recipients of foreign aid, getting about $3.3 billion annually from 2004 through 2008.
In May elections, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front and its allies won 545 out of 547 parliamentary seats. A European Union observation mission said the poll “did not meet certain international commitments.” The government has rejected criticism and said the process was free and fair.
To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

Ethiopia’s Spiritual warrior and Communicative Rationalist: Thinking of Birtukan Mideksa

By Teodros Kiros
Gone are the days of life in the beauty of darkness and the cruelty of solitude.
During those days, I imagined her, pensive, still and determined to live; I imagined her behind rusty prison rails thinking about the millions of Ethiopians gazing at stars and praying to the transcendent; I imagined her drinking water and breathing air and thanking the loving God for keeping her alive; I imagined her extending her contagious smile to the prison guards who kept their eyes on her; I imagined her taking notes in her heart for a future masterpiece that she will present to the Ethiopian people.
I cannot stop imagining her now, now that she is in the sunlight of freedom wrapped by the adoring hands of the Ethiopian public, most particularly the members of her generation.
Birukan, the queen of justice, as I called her, when she was in prison, is now the queen of silent justice outside of prison.
I now imagine her in the company of her loving mother and joyous daughter drinking from the fountain of freedom; I imagine her waking to the sound of trees, the music of birds and the voices of the millions of Ethiopians who secretly adore her; I imagine millions of Ethiopian women admiring her defiance and her intelligence; I imagine all those parents who will one day name their children after Birtukan, the eloquent tribune of deliberative democracy.
When the dawn of genuine freedom reins in Ethiopia, Birtukan will use her spirituality, always mediated through that embracing smile, which takes in the hearts of the Ethiopian public, yearning for freedom, to guide the Ethiopian nation through the sheer force of loving-kindness. This spirituality will work in concert with her fine legal mind, and be articulated via communicative rationality and emerge as the leader of a people’s party, which I would like to call, Ethiopianity.

How honored I would be if the Transcendent would preserve me to work for Birtukan Mideska, as the new voice of Ethiopianity and the leader of the people’s party, Ethiopianity.
Teodros Kiros
Professor of Philosophy and English (Liberal Arts)
Berklee College of Music

በቶሮንቶ የሠማዕታት ቀን ተከከበረ

Ethiopia: Donor Aid Supports Repression

(London) - The Ethiopian government is using development aid to suppress political dissent by conditioning access to essential government programs on support for the ruling party, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch urged foreign donors to ensure that their aid is used in an accountable and transparent manner and does not support political repression.
The 105-page report, "Development without Freedom: How Aid Underwrites Repression in Ethiopia," documents the ways in which the Ethiopian government uses donor-supported resources and aid as a tool to consolidate the power of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
"The Ethiopian government is routinely using access to aid as a weapon to control people and crush dissent," said Rona Peligal, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "If you don't play the ruling party's game, you get shut out. Yet foreign donors are rewarding this behavior with ever-larger sums of development aid."

Ethiopia is one of the world's largest recipients of development aid, more than US$3 billion in 2008 alone. The World Bank and donor nations provide direct support to district governments in Ethiopia for basic services such as health, education, agriculture, and water, and support a "food-for-work" program for some of the country's poorest people. The European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany are the largest bilateral donors.

Local officials routinely deny government support to opposition supporters and civil society activists, including rural residents in desperate need of food aid. Foreign aid-funded "capacity-building" programs to improve skills that would aid the country's development are used by the government to indoctrinate school children in party ideology, intimidate teachers, and purge the civil service of people with independent political views.
Political repression was particularly pronounced during the period leading up to parliamentary elections in May 2010, in which the ruling party won 99.6 percent of the seats.

Despite government restrictions that make independent research difficult, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 200 people in 53 villages across three regions of the country during a six-month investigation in 2009. The problems Human Rights Watch found were widespread: residents reported discrimination in many locations. 
Farmers described being denied access to agricultural assistance, micro-loans, seeds, and fertilizers because they did not support the ruling party. As one farmer in Amhara region told Human Rights Watch, "[Village] leaders have publicly declared that they will single out opposition members, and those identified as such will be denied ‘privileges.' By that they mean that access to fertilizers, ‘safety net' and even emergency aid will be denied."
Rural villagers reported that many families of opposition members were barred from participation in the food-for-work or "safety net" program, which supports 7 million of Ethiopia's most vulnerable citizens. Scores of opposition members who were denied services by local officials throughout the country reported the same response from ruling party and government officials when they complained: "Ask your own party for help."

Human Rights Watch also documented how high school students, teachers, and civil servants were forced to attend indoctrination sessions on ruling party ideology as part of the capacity-building program funded by foreign governments. Attendees at training sessions reported that they were intimidated and threatened if they did not join the ruling party. Superiors told teachers that ruling party membership was a condition for promotion and training opportunities. Education, especially schools and teacher training, is also heavily supported by donor funds.

"By dominating government at all levels, the ruling party controls all the aid programs," Peligal said. "Without effective, independent monitoring, international aid will continue to be abused to consolidate a repressive single-party state."
In 2005, the World Bank and other donors suspended direct budget support to the Ethiopian government following a post-election crackdown on demonstrators that left 200 people dead, 30,000 detained, and dozens of opposition leaders in jail. At the time, donors expressed fears of "political capture" of donor funds by the ruling party.
Yet aid was soon resumed under a new program, "Protection of Basic Services," that channeled money directly to district governments. These district governments, like the federal administration, are under ruling party control, yet are harder to monitor and more directly involved in day-to-day repression of the population.

During this period the Ethiopian government has steadily closed political space, harassed independent journalists and civil society activists into silence or exile, and violated the rights to freedom of association and expression. A new law on civil society activity, passed in 2009, bars nongovernmental organizations from working on issues related to human rights, good governance, and conflict resolution if they receive more than 10 percent of their funding from foreign sources.
"The few independent organizations that monitored human rights have been eviscerated by government harassment and a pernicious new civil society law," Peligal said. "But these groups are badly needed to ensure aid is not misused."
As Ethiopia's human rights situation has worsened, donors have ramped up assistance. Between 2004 and 2008, international development aid to Ethiopia doubled. According to Ethiopian government data, the country is making strong progress on reducing poverty, and donors are pleased to support Ethiopia's progress toward the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Yet the price of that progress has been high.

When Human Rights Watch presented its findings to donor officials, many privately acknowledged the worsening human rights situation and the ruling party's growing authoritarian rule. Donor officials from a dozen Western government agencies told Human Rights Watch that they were aware of allegations that donor-supported programs were being used for political repression, but they had no way of knowing the extent of such abuse. In Ethiopia, most monitoring of donor programs is a joint effort alongside Ethiopian government officials.
Yet few donors have been willing to raise their concerns publicly over the possible misuse of their taxpayers' funds. In a desk study and an official response to Human Rights Watch, the donor consortium Development Assistance Group stated that their monitoring mechanisms showed that their programs were working well and that aid was not being "distorted." But no donors have carried out credible, independent investigations into the problem.
Human Rights Watch called on donor country legislatures and audit institutions to examine development aid to Ethiopia to ensure that it is not supporting political repression.

"In their eagerness to show progress in Ethiopia, aid officials are shutting their eyes to the repression lurking behind the official statistics," Peligal said. "Donors who finance the Ethiopian state need to wake up to the fact that some of their aid is contributing to human rights abuses."
Background
Led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party is a coalition of ethnic-based groups that came to power in 1991 after ousting the military government of Mengistu Haile Mariam. The government passed a new constitution in 1994 that incorporated fundamental human rights standards, but in practice many of these freedoms have been increasingly restricted during its 19 years in power.
Although the ruling party introduced multiparty elections soon after it came to power in 1991, opposition political parties have faced serious obstruction to their efforts to establish offices, organize, and campaign in national and local elections.
Eight-five percent of Ethiopia's population live in rural areas and, each year, 10 to 20 percent rely on international food relief to survive. Foreign development assistance to Ethiopia has steadily increased since the 1990s, with a temporary plateau during the two-year border war with Eritrea (1998-2000). Ethiopia is now the largest recipient of World Bank funds and foreign aid in Africa.
In 2008, total aid was US$3.3 billion. Of that, the United States contributes around $800 million, much of it in humanitarian and food aid; the European Union contributes $400 million; and the United Kingdom provides $300 million. Ethiopia is widely considered to be making good progress toward some of the UN Millennium Development Goals on reducing poverty, but much of the data originates with the government and is not independently verified.

Canada Welcomes Release of Birtukan Mideksa

(No. 326 - October 6, 2010 - 7:45 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement welcoming the release of Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa:

“Canada is pleased that the Government of Ethiopia has pardoned and released Birtukan Mideksa. We see this as a positive step toward greater political freedom in Ethiopia.
“Ethiopia is a richly diverse country, and this is best reflected through a vibrant political dialogue. Ms. Birtukan’s voice—and that of other political leaders—is important to Ethiopia’s democratic development. Her release is welcome, and we look forward to the Ethiopian government’s efforts to build upon this constructive measure.”
Ms. Birtukan was imprisoned following Ethiopia’s post-election violence in 2005. Although she received a pardon and was released in 2008, she was subsequently reimprisoned.
- 30 -
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Melissa Lantsman
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874

HOOOOOOORAY Birtukan Mideksa has been freed from prison around 5 AM local time .

 Addis Neger Online has confirmed that the jailed opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa has been freed from  prison around 5 AM local time .
-Eye witnesses told Addis Neger online that Birtukan is not seen in her family’s house at Fernsay Legasion. However, the house is decorated with small Ethiopian flags and a big poster. The colorful plastic poster depicts a big picture of Birtukan with Amharic and English welcoming statements. The statements read; “enkuan lebetish abekash” and “welcome to home”.  Birtukan’s only daughter, Halley Mideksa, wore a cultural dress, which is mostly dressed during such occasions. Her mother, Almaz Gebregzihaber, is preparing fasting food for guests. Residents of the area stopover at Birtukan’s home and congratulate her mom. Journalists and supporters are waiting for Birtukan outside of the compound.
  CONGRATULATION TO BIRTUKAN HER FAMILY AND TO ALL SUPPORTERS WHO STRUGGLED FOR HER RELEASE.................................WE DID IT AGAIN THIS IS THE RESULT OF OUR STRUGGLE
 OCTOBER 6, 2010

Ana Gomes urges Zuma to help free Birtukan

Press Release                             September 29, 2010

(Brussels) MEP Ana GOMES (S&D, PT) asked President Jacob Zuma of South Africa today, during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, to help liberate Birtukan Mideksa, a young woman leader of the main opposition party in her country, Ethiopia, who has been jailed for life and whom Amnesty International considers to be a “prisoner of conscience”.

The South African Head of State admitted to not knowing the case in particular, but assured the European Parliament that “if she was jailed unfairly, South Africa would certainly be willing to use its influence” and press for her release.

Ana Gomes asked President Zuma and South Africa to show solidarity towards Ms. Mideksa, who the people of Ethiopia consider the “Ethiopian Nelson Mandela”. The Portuguese Socialist MEP evoked Nelson Mandela and his inspiring fight for freedom, stating that “he is not just a hero of South Africans, he is a hero for Mankind”, and recalled how world solidarity was important to return Nelson Mandela to freedom. “Will South Africa now show solidarity to get the release of this brave, young African woman imprisoned for life in Ethiopia, the country that hosts the headquarters of the African Union?”, directed Ana Gomes to President Zuma.

Together with MEP Marita ULVSKOG (S&D, SE), Ana Gomes proposed Birtukan Mideksa for the Sakharov Prize 2010. During the last plenary session in Strasbourg, the nomination of the Ethiopian political prisoner won the endorsement of the Socialists & Democrats Group for the European Parliament’s prestigious Human Rights annual award.

Ethiopian Birtukan Mideksa, S&D nominee for the 2010 Sakharov Prize

The Group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament will nominate Ethiopian activist Birtukan Mideksa for the 2010 Sakharov Prize next Tuesday, 5 October.

 The candidacy of Ms. Mideksa, an Ethiopian prisoner of conscience, was adopted with unanimity at the S&D Group Meeting.

Ms. Mideksa is an opposition leader of the Unity for Democracy and Justice in Ethiopia and an activist for woman's rights and equality. She faces life in prison for advocating peacefully and continuously for democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Ethiopia.

 Click here to learn more - International movement to free Ms. Mideksa : http://www.freebirtukan.org/

  

The vote on the candidates for the Sakharov Prize 2010 will take place - in camera and by secret ballot - on Monday, 18 October 2010 at 19.00. The prize-award ceremony will take place on December 15, during the plenary session in Strasbourg.

 

 Victoria Martín de la Torre

victoria.martindelatorre@europarl.europa.eu

+ 32 2 284 30 18

+ 33 3 88 17 81 64

+ 32 473 23 41 73

www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu

Birtukan: What She Means to Me by Betemekeds Belachew

Why do we have to lose something first to appreciate it? The question seems quite rhetorical. A few months ago, my friends locked me in a very small room with no light. I experienced a loss of things I deeply appreciated and needed. I am a member of the Freebirtukan chapter (focused on human rights) in Atlanta, GA; The organization is often misunderstood by many as a political group but its main focus is on human rights of all prisoner—political prisoners as well as apolitical prisoners.

From my experience, most Ethiopians or the African Diaspora as a whole do not want to get involved with the political system back home for many different reasons . But I hope that my big life changing experience will empower more Ethiopians and Africans writ large to become more conscious about their homelands. Regardless of one thinks about Birtukan Mideksas’ political stances, I hope that everyone takes away from this article a vital appreciation for her as a human being.
On December 27thm the Atlanta chapter remembered the one year anniversary of Birtukan, a solumn occasion that marked her one year prison anniversary. The main purpose of that day was to give people an appreciation of the daily struggles that Birtukan faces in an isolated cell.  The chapter members made a small room resemble prison cell room and asked the guests to sit in that room for few minutes. At the end of the event, I got a chance to be locked in that small and dark room. I thought it was not going to be difficult; I went into the room heard the door lock. Although I knew I was in safe hands, the idea of losing control or being controlled made me uncomfortable beyond words.  A minute passed and I was already edgy and started thinking that I could not be locked in.
I kept thinking that I could not continue with this for another minute.  It dawned on me later that this is a small sample of what prison is like.  This voluntary entrapment gave me a small sample behind the callousness of Birtukan’s situation. My few minutes in isolation are what Birtunkan faces on a daily basis for the past year.  I gained a whole new appreciation and love for freedom and realized that there are things which I take for granted that others are denied on a daily basis throughout the world.  My realizations might seem exaggerated but they were not: in that short amount of time, I was given a window into the hardships of others—except my hardship was controlled and temporary.  In that small and dark room, my understanding of freedom came into a clearer perspective and I started to see how much one brave lady in Africa is paying for her freedom. After five minutes, I begged my friends to open the door for me, and they did.
Birtukan Mideksa was a successful judge who joined the main opposition party, Coalition for unity and Democracy (CUD), in Ethiopia. In a very short time period, Birtukan became the leading figure of that party. Around the same time, Ethiopia held an election which drew sharp rebuke from the international community in 2005 (1987 EC).  During and after the election, there were a lot of protests by the opposition parties for the way the elections were conducted. The subsequent violent repression by the government led to the death and imprisonment of countless Ethiopians; Birtukan—with the rest of Kinjit party member—were imprisoned. The government believed the party and the party leaders were the main reason for the protests. Birtukan was imprisoned for a year—an imprisonment that only drew more attention to her defiance

After gaining her freedom, she started to campaign around the world for equality and freedom from political repression.  What makes her story that much more remarkable is that Birtukan is a single mother of a six year old daughter named Hale.  It was during that time I met Birtukan and the other opposition leaders when they came to.  I remember watching her walk on the stage with her cohorts—the only woman in a midst of many men—which inspired me even more. She was sitting in the middle and when she was talked, her confidence and resolve was unshakeable. Where most people would break down from the emotional stresses of being confined for such a long time, unable to see their family and children, she was instead the personification of strength.
The first couple of minutes, I was too busy expecting her to act like she was hurt. I gave up, when she started a sentence by saying “this is just the beginning.” Maybe I was too used to hearing too many women complaining about men that I was so shocked to hear this woman standing stronger than the strongest man.  As she talked, she drew respect and the attention of the crowd—listening intently to every word she said.  She was equally humble as she was forceful in her conviction, a trait that is hard to combine and she was beautiful in ways that go beyond the superficial traits of beauty.  I was astounded that a woman of her age and beauty would be so tenacious in fighting for what she believed in instead of worrying about immaterial things that seem to consume most of us. At the end of the event—in a bit of a foreshadowing—she mentioned to the audience that there would be more obstacles to come in the future but that she, just like the rest of us, would have to be ready for it.  She somehow knew that her ordeals were far from completed; yet, instead of staying behind and preaching about political freedoms from the comforts of America, she went back to advocate for her beliefs in Ethiopia.
Ironically, not long after that, Birtukan was sentenced to life in prison upon her return to Ethiopia.  She gave a speech in Sweden about her circumstances with her arrest and release from prison. The Ethiopian government said she her speech was “false” and unacceptable. It is one thing to be locked up for killing someone or for some other crime that harms people for life, but to be imprisoned for life—to lose one’s freedom—for making a speech that some disagree with is reprehensible.  Birtukan has been imprisoned for almost two years and her only connection to the rest of the world is her seventy-four year old mother. Birtukan is allowed to see her daughter and her mother when they come to give her food.
Birtukan was in solitary consignment for the first 6 month.  Imagine that, 6 months of living in darkness, no one to talk to, and nobody to give comfort, no sound other than one’s thought while being confined to a cell no bigger than a small bathroom.  The toll that solitary confinement can take psychologically is well documented; now imagine the tolls when this is taking place in third world prisons where treatment of prisoners is rarely considered a moral obligation.  These prisons are rank, dark, very crowded, and hardly any doctor visits or medical supplies at all.
Unfortunately, there are some people who think that she deserves this. I have heard it all before.  Politics aside, when is the last time you heard about a woman in Ethiopia who fought for what she believes in, who stood up and gave up her life for the people? These people might exist in movies or books but not in real life. Well, that kind of person exists, her name is Birtukan.  If you let go of your biases and prejudice, and irrespective of your political beliefs, I think we can all agree that no one should be locked up for life for standing up and saying what they believe. No one should be put in solitary confinement for not kowtowing the political mantra of the powers that be.  For her conviction in standing up for what she believes in, Birtukan Mediksa represents hope for many people; hope for women, hope for Ethiopia and of course she is the hope for her only daughter Hale. We need people like her, people who are ready to make sacrifices, people who stand up for their beliefs while doing so peacefully.
At the end of the day, if you believed in something strongly, would you fight for it or do you expect others to fight for it?  Most of us are talkers, complainers, and it surprises us when we see someone who is actually taking actions instead of talking. We hold in high regard about those throughout our history who have made a difference yet when we find one amongst us who are taking heroic stances, we do not notice. Should we wait till she is dead, until she too is in our past to start doing something?
Today, Hale wants her mom, Birtukan’s mom want her daughter. Today the women in Ethiopia, who dream of becoming politicians, want to see her freed. Africa needs courageous women like her. Ethiopia wants citizens like her. Birtukan needs her freedom.  Despite what you believe in, I know that you know any human being should have the right to practice and stand up for whatever political view he/she has. Even if you disagree with her positions, I implore you to recognize that she is a symbol of our collective freedoms and rights. If she can be imprisoned for life for standing up to her beliefs peacefully, who will be the next target? I ask you to ask for her freedom by going to www.freebirtukan.org.

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