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)

Ethiopia: Repression Rising Ahead of May Elections

Government Intimidating Opposition Supporters, Media, Activists

March 24, 2010

(Nairobi) - The Ethiopian government is waging a coordinated and sustained attack on political opponents, journalists, and rights activists ahead of the May 2010 elections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. On May 23, 2010, Ethiopians will vote in the first parliamentary elections in Ethiopia since 2005, when the post-election period was marred by controversy and bloodshed.
The 59-page report, "‘One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure': Violations of Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia," documents the myriad ways in which the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has systematically punished opposition supporters. Since the 2005 polls, the party has used its near-total control of local and district administrations to undermine opponents' livelihoods through withholding services such as agricultural inputs, micro-credit, and job opportunities. The report also documents how recently enacted laws severely restrict the activities of civil society and the media.
"Expressing dissent is very dangerous in Ethiopia," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The ruling party and the state are becoming one, and the government is using the full weight of its power to eliminate opposition and intimidate people into silence."
Government repression has caused many civil society activists and journalists to flee the country in recent months. The most prominent independent newspaper was closed in December 2009 and the government jammed Voice of America radio broadcasts last month. Ethiopians are unable to speak freely, organize political activities, and challenge their government's policies - whether through peaceful protest, voting, or publishing their views - without fear of reprisal. In 2008, the government arbitrarily imprisoned opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa, president of the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party.
Ethiopia is heavily dependent on foreign assistance, which accounts for approximately one-third of all government expenditures. The country's principal foreign donors - the World Bank, United States, United Kingdom, and European Union - have been very timid in their criticisms of Ethiopia's deteriorating human rights situation, Human Rights Watch said.
For the report, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 200 people during 15 weeks of research in Ethiopia, including farmers, teachers, civil servants, activists, opposition, and government officials, as well as foreign diplomats and aid officials in the capital, Addis Ababa, and in three other regions.
Since the April 2008 local elections in which the EPRDF won over 99.9 percent of the vote, the ruling party has consolidated its control over village and district administrations and ruled with an iron grip. In the districts visited by Human Rights Watch, residents told how every village was organized into cells and local government officials, and militia monitored households for signs of dissent. Local administrations withheld government services to punish those who criticized the government or did not support the ruling party.
Local government officials have considerable influence over the livelihoods of villagers: they are responsible for selecting and supervising participation in food-for-work programs, allocations of seeds and fertilizer, micro-credit loans, and for providing letters of reference for jobs, educational opportunities, and training. Opposition parties claim that their memberships have been decimated because people have no option but to join the ruling party to protect their jobs and feed their families.
The government has also put pressure on all state employees - and especially teachers - to join the ruling party, and selectively punished critical voices. It has used the draconian Charities and Societies Proclamation as well as the Anti-Terrorism law to intimidate civil society activists and journalists who have tried to report on state repression.
Human Rights Watch calls on the Ethiopian government to take urgent steps to improve the electoral environment by immediately releasing all political prisoners, including Birtukan. Human Rights Watch also calls on the government to publicly order all officials and EPRDF members to cease attacks and threats against members of the political opposition, civil society, and the media; and permit independent efforts, including by international electoral observers, to investigate and publicly report on abuses.
The European Union and the African Union are the only institutions considering sending international election observers to monitor the May elections. Restrictions in the Charities and Societies Proclamation make independent election monitoring by Ethiopian organizations practically impossible. Human Rights Watch called on all international observers to take into account the pre-election repression when assessing the freedom and fairness of the polls.
"Ethiopia's foreign backers should break their silence and condemn the climate of fear in Ethiopia," said Gagnon. "Donors should use their considerable financial leverage to press for an end to the harassment of the opposition and to oppressive laws on activists and the media."
Selected Accounts from the Report

"You have to understand that at the grassroots level, everything is organized according to the EPRDF ideology, everything is organized and controlled by cells; if you are opposition you are excluded [from village life]."

- Teacher, Amhara region

"I am a member of the EPRDF, but I do support the opposition party. Being a member does not mean anything. I am a member of EPRDF because I need relief assistance.... The list of receipts - the proof that I am paying my dues to the party - are required to get relief assistance. I am paying because I do not want to be suppressed or ignored."

- Ruling party member, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region

"There is a significant element of self-censorship, there are many stories we cannot write, many things we cannot say. We are not told the red lines, we have to guess. Their interpretation of terrorism [in the anti-terrorism law] is so broad that it is dangerous for us. For example, if they label a particular political party a terrorist organization then we cannot write about them.... Newspapers are not allowed to do polling or predict anything before the National Electoral Board has announced it."

- Journalist, Addis Ababa 

Related Materials: 

“One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure”

Ethiopia: Repression Sets Stage for Non-Competitive Elections

EU should not tolerate Ethiopia's repression

The ruling party and the state are becoming one, and the government is using the full weight of its power to eliminate opposition and intimidate people into silence.

Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch

2009 Human Rights Reports: Ethiopia

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

March 11, 2010

Human rights abuses reported during the year included unlawful killings, torture, beating, abuse and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces, often acting with evident impunity; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of suspected sympathizers or members of opposition or insurgent groups; police, administrative and judicial corruption; detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement on citizens' privacy rights, including illegal searches; use of excessive force by security services in an internal conflict and counterinsurgency operations; restrictions on freedom of the press; arrest, detention, and harassment of journalists; restrictions on freedom of assembly and association; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female genital mutilation (FGM); exploitation of children for economic and sexual purposes; trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities and religious and ethnic minorities; and government interference in union activities, including harassment of union leaders.

Opposition UDJ party president Birtukan Mideksa, whose pardon was revoked and life sentence reinstated in December 2008, remained in prison throughout the year. She was held in solitary confinement until June, despite a court ruling that indicated it was a violation of her constitutional rights. She was also denied access to visitors except for a few close family members, despite a court order granting visitor access without restrictions. There were credible reports that Birtukan's mental health deteriorated significantly during the year.

Canadians and Ethiopians cannot be duped to serve the cause of a repressive regime in Ethiopia

The Canadian Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP CANADA) is a non-governmental and non-partisan organization that campaigns for human rights protection and good governance in Ethiopia. One of our mandates is to inform the Canadian public and civic society groups on an ongoing basis about the continued human rights abuses and political repression in that country. As professional Ethiopian Canadians, it is our duty to inform and seek the support of the Canadian public and the government on issues that affect the interests of the two peoples.

The purpose of this statement is to bring to your attention atrocities of the current government of Ethiopia and appeal to your conscience not to get entangled in a Machiavellian scheme that is bent on making you a tool of one of the most despicable dictatorships in Africa. While it is perfectly acceptable to form a voluntary friendship association of Canadians and Ethiopians, given the fact that the Ethiopian Embassy in Ottawa is pushing this agenda, we have little doubt that such an association will soon be trapped in the political whirlpool of a repressive regime the whole world has widely acknowledged especially after the UN Human Rights Review of Ethiopia in Geneva this last December. The embassy is here to do the bidding of the regime in power and has nothing to do with the interests of the people of Ethiopia at large. We say this because the regime in power is not legitimate and not democratically elected; it came to power by military force and continues to maintain a police state that employs mass murder, incarceration, disappearances and exile.

The following points define the character of the current regime in Ethiopia፡-

 The regime is one of the worst violators of human rights in Africa; mass murder in Addis Ababa, Ogaden, Gambella (See: http://www.hrw.org/….http://www.amnesty.org/)

 Total darkness and total control has set in Ethiopia; the regime has wiped out civil liberties, the independent media and exiled several journalists (ref. www: Ifj.org)

The regime in power kills, imprisons and represses political opponents (witness the incarceration of Birtukan Mideksa, the killing and imprisonment of alleged OLF and ONLF members)

The ruling clique, commonly known as TPLF (Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front) controls all three powers of government, i.e. the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. This empowers a minority elite group that comes from 6% of the country’s population to control the political, economic and social life of an entire population of 80 million. (see http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A.HRC.13.17_En.pdf)

 The main reason for the poverty and destitution of Ethiopians is the obscene concentration of wealth in the hands of TPLF elites. The ruling party controls banking, import/export, manufacturing, mining, construction, transport, communication etc. Compare the opulent lifestyle of the ruling elites and the starvation of 6 million people every year.

 More than 80% of the top military leaders of the national army are ethnic Tigrians. That explains why a small group of authoritarian politicians are able to impose their rule over an entire country.

(http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A.HRC.13.17_En.pdf)

Whatever the paragons of deceit may tell you, life under the TPLF regime for ordinary Ethiopians is hell on earth. They have neither enough to eat and nor freedom to exercise their rights. They are a nation caged up in the authoritarian prison of TPLF. Canadians are a glorious nation of compassionate people who respect the rights and liberties of all peoples without distinction. SOCEPP Canada urges all Canadians who have been invited by the Embassy to form an “Ethiopian Canadian Friendship Association” to reject the proposal presented by the agents of a repressive regime. If we need a friendship association, we assure you it can be formed in a free and unrestricted environment where interested people can come together and form it without strings attached.

FRIENDS OF ETHIOPIA STAND FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM

FRIENDS OF ETHIOPIA REJECT THE MANIPULATION OF A REPRESSIVE REGIME

Source http://humanrightsethiopia.com