United We Stand!!!

United Nations Rights Advocates Criticise Ethiopian Use of Anti-Terror Law

2012-02-03T20:31:00.001-05:00

The United Nations criticized the Ethiopian government’s use of an anti-terrorism law to curb freedom of expression by jailing opposition politicians and reporters critical of the state.

In December, two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years each by an Ethiopian court for supporting terrorism after being captured with a banned rebel group. An exiled journalist, two writers, a politician and one other individual, all from Ethiopia, were given terms ranging from 14 years to life last week for plotting terror acts.

Journalists “should not face criminal proceedings for carrying out their legitimate work, let alone be severely punished,” Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, said in a statement posted on the website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ethiopia holds journalists accountable when they commit crimes, Communications Minister Bereket Simon said.

“Ethiopia clearly differentiates between freedom of expression and terrorism,” he said in a phone interview from the capital, Addis Ababa, today. “This is simply a very wrong defense of foreign journalists who have been caught red-handed when assisting terrorists.”

Ethiopia was the third-largest recipient of humanitarian aid in the world in 2009, receiving $3.8 billion, according to Global Humanitarian Assistance, the Wells, England-based research group. There are 26 UN agencies operating in Ethiopia, according to the Addis Ababa-based Development Assistance Group, which represents Ethiopia’s donors.

Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia Charges Opposition Figures, Reporter With Terrorism

2011-11-16T22:59:00.002-05:00

Ethiopia has formally charged 24 people, including senior opposition politicians and an outspoken Internet journalist, with plotting terrorist acts to create public chaos. Eight of the defendants appeared in court to hear the charges, while the others are to be tried in absentia.

Two leaders of Ethiopia's Unity for Democracy and Justice Party, Andualem Arage and Natnael Mekonnen, stood alongside columnist Eskinder Nega in federal court Thursday to hear the charges against them. Most of the six charges involve alleged violations of an anti-terrorism law that has come in for harsh criticism from human rights and press freedom groups.

The trio were among the opposition figures arrested in police sweeps in September. They have since been held without bail. Former Ethiopian president Negaso Gidada, who attended the proceedings, told VOA by telephone that Natnael told the court he had been abused repeatedly in custody.

Read Full Story≫

Government Critics Detained In Ethiopian Anti-Terror Sweep

2011-09-15T11:55:00.001-04:00

Two fierce critics of Ethiopia’s ruling party have joined a growing list of government opponents detained in recent days under a new anti-terrorism law. The latest to be arrested are a journalist and a rising star in opposition politics.

Ethiopian federal police detained five people Wednesday in an ongoing roundup of terrorism suspects. Among them were Andualem Aragie, the youngest executive committee member of the main opposition bloc Medrek, and independent internet journalist Eskinder Nega.

Both men have been outspoken critics of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Party, which has ruled the country since seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1991. Both were among 130 journalists and political activists convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison following the disputed 2005 elections. All were later pardoned.
Read Full Story≫

4 Journalists Face Terrorism Charges in Ethiopia

2011-09-13T17:37:00.003-04:00

Ethiopia has filed terrorism charges against two Swedish journalists arrested in July in the company of rebel fighters in the restive Ogaden region. Two Ethiopian journalists are also facing terrorism charges in a separate case.

Ethiopian officials say the two Swedish journalists, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, were taken before a judge in Addis Ababa this week and charged under a newly-enacted anti-terrorism law. They were ordered held until a further court appearance October 17.

The pair was captured July 1 after a gun battle between Ethiopian forces and rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Force. News reports at the time said at least 15 ONLF fighters were killed in the fight and one of the journalists was wounded.

The ONLF has been fighting since the mid-1980s for self-determination of the Ogaden, or Somali region in eastern Ethiopia, bordering Somalia.

The two freelance journalists had reportedly been travelling with ONLF fighters for a story on the drought and malnutrition crisis in parts of eastern Ethiopia where the rebels are active.
Read Full Story≫

CPJ concerned about detained Ethiopian journalists

2011-09-04T14:36:00.003-04:00

New York, September 1, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists holds Ethiopia responsible for the well-being of two journalists detained without charge or legal access since June under the country's far-reaching anti-terrorism law.

Woubshet Taye (Awramba Times)
Police arrested Woubshet Taye, deputy editor of the weekly Awramba Times, and Reeyot Alemu, columnist for the weekly Feteh, on June 19 and 21, respectively, on vague accusations of terrorism. The journalists have been held for more than 65 days with no official charges placed against them and no access to legal counsel, local journalists told CPJ.

In a court hearing last month, Taye said state officials repeatedly tortured him while he was being interrogated in Maekelawi Prison in the capital, Addis Ababa, local journalists said. Ethiopia's constitution dictates that a suspect cannot be compelled to make a confession and that any evidence obtained under coercion is admissible. Taye is due back in court on September 13.

Reeyot Alemu (Feteh)
Alemu's overall health rapidly deteriorated during her detention at Maekelawi Prison, according to local journalists who visited her in prison. Her relatives were allowed to visit her and brought her medicine for chronic gastritis, which improved her condition somewhat. She is expected back in court on September 14, local journalists told CPJ.

"We are very disturbed by Woubshet Taye's allegations of torture and call on authorities to immediately investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. "Authorities must also provide adequate medical treatment for Reeyot Alemu."

Ethiopia's July 2009 anti-terrorism law criminalizes any reporting considered supportive to groups that the government has labeled "terrorists." In June, the government formally classified five groups as terrorist entities, including the banned political party Ginbot 7.

Ethiopia 'using aid as weapon of oppression'

2011-08-05T18:27:00.002-04:00

A joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that the Ethiopian government is using billions of dollars of development aid as a tool for political oppression.
Posing as tourists the team of journalists travelled to the southern region of Ethiopia.

We are just waiting on the crop, if we have one meal a day we will survive until the harvest, beyond that there is no hope for us
Villager in southern Ethiopia
There they found villages where whole communities are starving, having allegedly been denied basic food, seed and fertiliser for failing to support Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The investigation has also gathered evidence of mass detentions, the widespread use of torture and extra-judicial killings by Ethiopian government forces.
Yet Western donors including Britain - which is the third largest donor to Ethiopia - stand accused of turning a blind eye by continuing to provide aid money despite being warned about the abuses.
The aid in question is long-term development aid, not the emergency aid provided in response to the current drought in Ethiopia and its neighbours in the Horn of Africa.
Government response
Ambassador Abdirashid Dulane, the Deputy Head of Ethiopia's UK Mission, has rejected the allegations saying that the Newsnight/Bureau report "lacked objectivity, even-handedness".

The team found villagers eating leaves in order to survive
"The sole source of the story was opponents of Ethiopia who have been rejected by the electorate, and time and again it has been shown that their allegations are unfounded".
Our reporters visited one village in southern Ethiopia with a population of about 1,700 adults.

Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia : Meles Zenawi issued a blunt warning to opposition groups

2011-04-07T21:03:00.000-04:00

By Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa

VOA News

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi issued a blunt warning to opposition groups he says are trying to organize a people’s revolution. Mr. Meles on Tuesday accused the largest opposition coalition of serving as a cover for an outlawed rebel group.

In a nationally televised session of parliament, Mr. Meles had harsh words for the domestic opposition and for external forces he said are trying to destabilize Ethiopia. He served notice that his government would not tolerate anyone plotting demonstrations or terrorist attacks.

The legislative session had been called to hear the government’s six-month progress report. But when the only opposition lawmaker in the 547-seat legislature asked why supporters of the Medrek coalition are being arrested in the Oromia region, Mr. Meles responded that those in custody are suspected of being members of the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front.

Speaking in Amharic, Mr. Meles suggested that his government is aware of attempts to incite a people’s revolution. He blamed Medrek and its main component, the Unity and Justice for Democracy Party.

He said, "I would like to pass a message to Medrek, and particularly members of [the] Unity [for Justice and Democracy Party].

The Ethiopian leader said his government is not blind and deaf, and warned that anyone who takes part in what he called "the plot being hatched to incite protests and terror" would "pay a price."

Mr. Meles gave no details about what the plot might entails. But a campaign on the social networking website Facebook is calling for massive protests next month on the 20th anniversary of the day Mr. Meles’s Tigrayan People’s Revolutionary Front came to power.

Former Ethiopian President Negasso Gidada, who is chairman of the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party, denied any opposition involvement in planning the demonstration. In a telephone interview, he accused Mr. Meles of trying to suppress public protests by intimidating and demonizing the opposition as well as Ethiopia’s neighbors.

"We have not been involved in any kind of plot or in any kind of inciting protests and terror at any time, whether it is last week or this week or in the future - particularly not to incite terror. What he is saying does not apply to us, and it is only for us a threat to have it as a reason to prepare himself and his government to take illegal action against opposition party members," he said.

In his remarks to lawmakers, Mr. Meles accused two other countries in the region of trying to foment instability. He charged neighboring Eritrea with backing the Oromo Liberation Front, and he vowed to reciprocate by supporting rebels trying to overthrow Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki.

The Ethiopian leader also said he is not concerned about Egypt’s attempt to block funding for a massive dam to be built on the Nile River. Mr. Meles vowed last week that the $4.8-billion hydropower project would go ahead as planned, even though no international donor has agreed to provide financing.

It Ain't Just Mubarak -- 7 of the Worst Dictators the U.S. Is Backing to the Hilt

2011-02-11T17:52:00.002-05:00

Embattled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, whose regime has received billions in U.S. aid, has been in the global media spotlight of late. He's long been “our bastard,” but he's not alone

It Ain't Just Mubarak -- 7 of the Worst Dictators the U.S. Is Backing to the Hilt
From Saudi Arabia to Uzbekistan to Chad, the U.S. keeps some very bad autocrats in power.

6. Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia
Zenawi has ruled Ethiopia for 20 years. Just last year, after what Human Rights Watch called “months of intimidation of opposition party supporters,” Zenawi's party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, won 99.6 percent of the vote. Legitimacy!

Ethiopia is a key strategic partner in the “war on terror,” and contributes significantly to African peace-keeping operations. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United States is the largest donor to Ethiopia. Congress passed a law, over the objections of the Bush administration, that restricts military aid to the country until it has a free press and the Zenawi regime improves its human rights record, but – and this is a big but – it exempts aid for “counter-terrorism.” So despite the fact that, according to Amnesty International, Ethiopian opposition groups are illegal, NGOs have been banned and Ethiopians often disappear without trial, the U.S. continues to train Ethiopian troops.

Read Full Story≫

Rights group alleges misuse of Ethiopia aid

2011-01-20T17:57:00.001-05:00

By PAUL CULLEN, Political Staff

Source: Irish Times

IRISH OVERSEAS aid to Ethiopia is being used to shore up the power of the regime and marginalise its opponents, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

Money from Ireland and other donors flows through government structures in Ethiopia and is used by a highly partisan, politicised and authoritarian ruling party to jail and torture people who disagree with it, according to Ben Rawlence of Human Rights Watch.

Mr Rawlence told the Oireachtas committee on foreign affairs that international donors, including Ireland, were aware this was happening but found it hard to get independent information.

Ethiopia has been a priority country for Irish Aid since 1974 and received more than €35 million last year. None of this goes directly to the central government. Overall, according to Mr Rawlence, it is the world’s biggest recipient of aid, amounting to over €2 billion a year.

Human Rights Watch last year published a report written by Mr Rawlence which alleges that aid underwrites repression.

While the aid provided by western governments is passed on to regional and village administrations in Ethiopia, the human rights group says it has found evidence of systematic discrimination in its administration. Government supporters were favoured in the distribution of seeds and the allocation of land, and trade union members were discriminated against in schools, which were also used for the indoctrination of children with the ruling party ideology.

The group also found widespread problems with the administration of a food-for-work scheme funded by Ireland and other donors. Mr Rawlence said that in every area he visited, the programme was being used to target opponents of the regime.

He said villages were grouped into cells of five families and the leader of each cell was a member of the ruling party. People had to have a party card and pay dues to get food aid.

“All the donor agencies know this is going on. We have reams of off-the-record testimony from donor officials,” said Mr Rawlence, who was arrested and deported towards the end of his visit to Ethiopia. However, donors didn’t have monitoring mechanisms in place to capture what was happening.

Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power said Irish Aid’s assessment did not support Human Rights Watch’s allegation of widespread, systematic abuse of aid. However, Irish Aid was concerned about any allegation of abuse of aid at local level and had raised the claims in the report with Ethiopian ministers.

Fine Gael TD Seán Barrett called for a thorough investigation of Human Rights Watch’s allegations by the EU. Ireland couldn’t do such an investigation alone.

Ethiopian PM says EU election report is "trash"

2010-11-16T17:51:00.002-05:00

Nov 2010 15:29:41 GMT
Source: Reuters

* Meles rejects "view of Western neo-liberals"
* Europe's observers said poll was marred
By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has dismissed as "trash that deserves to be thrown in the garbage" a European Union (EU) report that criticised his overwhelming May election victory.

Meles' ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and allied parties won 545 seats in the 547-member parliament in a vote that was also criticised by the United States.

"The report is not about our election. It is just the view of some Western neo-liberals who are unhappy about the strength of the ruling party," Meles told state television as he returned from the G20 summit late on Sunday. "Anybody who has paper and ink can scribble whatever they want."

Ethiopia is a key U.S. and European ally in the volatile Horn of Africa, where its secular government is seen as a bulwark against Islamic extremism. The country's biggest opposition coalition, the eight-party Medrek, won just a single parliamentary seat. Medrek and the smaller All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP) demanded a rerun, alleging pre-poll intimidation and some vote rigging. The calls were rejected by the country's electoral board and Supreme Court.

OPPOSITION DISADVANTAGE
The EU observer mission's report said the poll was marred by the EPRDF's use of state resources, putting the opposition at a disadvantage, and that freedom of expression and movement was not "consistently respected".

"The electoral process fell short of international commitments for elections, notably regarding the transparency of the process and the lack of a level playing field for all contesting parties," the 87-page report said.

Europe's chief observer for the election, Thijs Berman, says he was refused a visa to present the report in Ethiopia. The government denies that.

Ethiopia's last elections in 2005 damaged its reputation and hampered investment when the opposition disputed the result and street riots erupted in capital Addis Ababa, killing 193 protestors and seven policemen.

At the time, the government accused Europe's then chief observer of being biased in favour of the opposition and of helping to incite the trouble. (Editing by Noah Barkin)

Rights Report on Ethiopia Sparks Fierce Debate

2010-11-04T21:54:00.002-04:00

A U.S.-based human rights group has raised an uproar with a report arguing that development assistance to Ethiopia may be doing more harm than good by strengthening a repressive government. The report has sparked condemnation in some quarters, praise in others.

The Human Rights Watch report issued last month accuses Ethiopia's government of using development aid to suppress political dissent. The 105-page document alleges that much of the $3 billion a year contributed by foreign donors is used to consolidate the power of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front.

Ethiopian government spokesmen did not answer repeated phone calls seeking comment on the report. The government, however, launched a scathing counterattack online. Statements posted on the foreign ministry website accuse Human Rights Watch of "unbridled arrogance" and "warped neo-colonialism."

One statement calls the allegations a "make believe" story that is part of a "vendetta" against the Ethiopian people. Another accuses the rights group of trying to bully the international aid community into halting cooperation with Addis Ababa.

Read Full Story≫

Ethiopian journalist jailed without charge since September

2010-10-31T11:11:00.000-04:00

New York, October 29, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls upon authorities in Ethiopia's northeastern region of Afar to release a journalist who has been held without charge since September 11.

Akram Ezedin is jailed in Asaita, the regional capital of Afar. He is 17 years old. His father is Ezedin Mohamed, the editor of Al-Quds, a privately owned Islamic weekly newspaper based in capital city of Addis Ababa.

Last year, Mohamed began serving a one-year prison sentence for a 2008 column criticizing statements made by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Mohamed told CPJ. His son, Ezedin, was left to run the paper.

On September 11, police released Mohamed from prison and arrested his son. Ezedin's imprisonment stems from articles that criticized the performance of Afar's local Islamic Council or Mejilis, which Al-Quds published in July, according to local sources.

"Jailing Akram Ezedin without charge is against the laws of Ethiopia, where the pre-trial detention of journalists is illegal under the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation. Furthermore, any case against Al-Quds, a national newspaper, belongs in federal court, not state court," said Tom Rhodes, CPJ's East Africa consultant. "We call upon authorities in Afar to adhere to national laws and release Ezedin immediately."

Ezedin has appeared in Afar's court four times but has yet to be charged, according to local sources.

With five journalists behind bars, Ethiopia is currently Africa's second-leading jailer of journalists, only trailing neighboring Eritrea, according to CPJ research.

Ethiopia using Canadian aid as a political weapon, rights group says

2010-10-20T21:16:00.002-04:00

The Canadian government says it is “deeply concerned” by a report that its foreign aid to Ethiopia is being used as a weapon to crush political dissent and bolster the power of the ruling party.

The federal government, which provided more than $150-million to Ethiopia in 2008, is calling for a full investigation into the allegations that Ethiopia’s ruling party is routinely using aid money to reward supporters and punish those who fail to support it.

“Canada, together with other donor countries, continues to encourage the authorities in Ethiopia to investigate these allegations thoroughly and to take corrective action if required,” Scott Cantin, a spokesman for Canada’s aid agency, the Canadian International Development Agency, said in a statement.

Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest recipients of foreign aid, benefiting to the tune of more than $3-billion in 2008 alone. The country is considered a strategic ally for the United States, providing stability in the troubled Horn of Africa where the war in Somalia has spilled across borders and fuelled terrorist attacks.

Canada was the fourth-biggest donor to Ethiopia in 2008, providing about $153-million (U.S.) in aid, nearly three times the amount it gave in 2004.

Human Rights Watch, an independent monitoring group, reported on Tuesday that the Ethiopian government has withheld aid from those who desperately need it, even starving families, if they refuse to support the ruling party.

The report, based on a six-month investigation in 53 villages, concluded that Ethiopia is abusing its foreign-aid funds to consolidate the rule of a repressive one-party state. Farmers who fail to support the ruling party are denied access to the fertilizers, seeds, loans and other agricultural aid that is funded by foreign donors, the report says.

In some districts, farmers cannot get assistance unless they provide receipts to prove that they paid membership dues to the ruling party, the report states. In other cases, aid goes to supporters of the ruling party who are not poor and should not qualify for it.

“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 behaviour with ever-larger sums of development aid.”

Canada is one of the biggest donors supporting a $398-million “capacity-building” program for Ethiopian public servants. But the government is using this program, and similar foreign-funded programs, to intimidate teachers, purge the civil service of anyone with an independent political view and indoctrinate school children in the ideology of the ruling party, Human Rights Watch says.

Responding to questions on Tuesday, Mr. Cantin said Canada’s aid to Ethiopia can be suspended if the authorities fail to meet the conditions that are attached to the aid, including a pledge that the aid must reach the targeted beneficiaries.

Surveys by CIDA suggest that its aid is reaching those who need help, he said. “CIDA takes allegations of aid politicization seriously,” he said, “and together with the international community, will participate in efforts to strengthen safeguards where necessary.”

Ethiopia: Donor Aid Supports Repression

2010-10-19T22:38:00.001-04:00

Contributors Should Review Development Programs, Monitor Use of Funds
October 19, 2010

(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 donor

Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia reshuffle boosts Meles power: opposition

2010-10-07T18:22:00.000-04:00

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi appointed a new cabinet on Tuesday in a post-election reshuffle that the opposition and analysts said would further cement his position.

Meles, in power since 1991, was sworn in as prime minister by parliament on Monday after a disputed May 23 vote gave his Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and allies 545 seats in the 547-seat parliament.

A European Union observer mission criticised the election and the United States said it failed to meet international standards. Demands by opposition parties for a rerun were rejected by the Horn of Africa nation's electoral board and by its Supreme Court.

The most high-profile cabinet change was the retirement of Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, who had been in the post for 19 years. He was replaced by former government whip and advisor to the prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, seen as a Meles loyalist. Hailemariam will also serve as Deputy Prime Minister.

"They just changed the old horses and replaced them with the same breed," Beyene Petros, spokesman for the biggest opposition party, Medrek, told Reuters. "People like Hailemariam are the 'yes people' who have not shown any independence or creativity. They just follow the party line."

Other senior ministers stepping down include Minister for Trade and Industry Girma Birru and Deputy Prime Minister Addisu Legesse.

"OMNIPRESENT POWER"

The top jobs in the finance, defence, justice, health, education, agriculture and federal affairs ministries are all unchanged. New appointees to other ministries were mostly drawn from the ranks of state ministers and senior officials.

"It seems that Meles now has more or less omnipresent power, as there seems to be no one in cabinet who has the status and experience to challenge him on policy development," Kjetil Tronvoll, Ethiopia analyst at the International Law and Policy Institute, told Reuters.

The Mines and Energy Ministry has been split in two, with Sinkenesh Ejgu heading up the new Mines Ministry in a country being explored for deposits by foreign oil and gas companies, including Africa Oil Corporation.

Diplomats say the full European Union report on the elections will be published in mid-October.

Ethiopia: Birtukan’s release in perspective

2010-10-06T23:05:00.002-04:00

By Yilma Bekele

Chairman Bertukan Mideksa has been released from Kaliti Jail after spending six hundred forty four days, one

Birtukan Mideksa
hundred forty of it in solitary confinement. We are happy she is reunited with her family and loved ones.

She was thrown in to a rat infested jail not because she committed some dastardly crime but for the simple reason of demanding justice and the rule of law in her homeland. Bertukan was what is called a ‘political prisoner.’

The fact that she was the leader of the largest political party and the country was in the process of holding general elections was a factor in her imprisonment. Her determination to participate in the election process and her overwhelming popularity with the public was a cause of concern for those in power.

They solved their dilemma by the only way they know. Bribe, blackmail, jail, exile or kill are the options the TPLF regime brings to the table. They choose jailing in Birtukan’s case.

That it was the wrong choice has been made clear during her two years stay. Her imprisonment became a ‘cause celebre’ for the Ethiopian people. Her incarceration highlighted the absence of rule of law in Ethiopia. Chairman Birtukan became a rallying point. Her plight was discussed in the US Congress, European Parliament, Noble Prize Committee, Sakharov Prize and many other international awards. What the regime did to her became the symbol of what is wrong in Ethiopia.

Her freedom should be seen as a beginning of what is to come. Birtukan is but one of the many Ethiopian citizens languishing in Woyane jail because they were deemed to be a ‘threat’ to the ethnic regime. There are thousands of nameless Ethiopians still in jail. Today, as we celebrate the release of Chairman Birtukan let us not forget those thousands left behind.

We are not thankful to the regime nor do we see it in a different light. The release of one individual does not wash off the crimes against eighty million people. We know she was released because her country people would not stop invoking her name and her cause in every gathering.

If those in power think that her release would stop the struggle for freedom they are sadly mistaken. If they think releasing one of many will change how we look at our jailers they need to go back and study history. We assure them that the quest for freedom cannot be satisfied by some symbolic act or public relations gimmick.

Welcome home Chairman Birtukan; we have a lot of unfinished business awaiting us.

Activists call on China to stop supporting rogue regime in Ethiopia

2010-08-04T20:45:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON, DC - Ethiopian Americans on Tuesday accused China of colluding with the rogue regime in Ethiopia "for the triumph of tyranny over liberty and democracy for the people of Ethiopia, as it is doing in much of Africa."
Representing several civic organizations in the United States, the activists circulated a strongly-worded statement which called on the Chinese government to stop supporting state-sponsored terrorism in Ethiopia.

The press statement came out ahead of a planned protest rally on August 5 in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC.

In power since 1991, the Meles Zenawi regime stands accused by human rights organizations of serious crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Though Ethiopia is the second most populous nation in Africa after Nigeria, the country is deprived of having its own independent radio and TV. Other independent media are also jammed with the help of Chinese technology, the activists say.

Excerpts of the press statement follow:

"By providing military technology, radio and satellite television jamming technologies, the government of China has played a role in the suppression of liberty and basic human rights in Ethiopia. These technologies provided by the Chinese are being used against several independent radio stations, including the Amharic services of the Voice of America and Deutsche Welle. The latest victim of the rogue regime’s airwaves piracy is the newly launched and popular Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT)," the activists said in the statement.
"Instead of defending the Ethiopian people in their call for freedom and democracy, due to growing economic interest in Africa, China is colluding with totalitarian regimes that suppress their citizens’ rights and the quest for liberty and democracy in Africa. Instead of empowering Ethiopians in Ethiopia, China is engaged in an exploitative relationship in numerous of its projects throughout Ethiopia in a bid to quench its voracious appetite for strategic resources and cheaper labor in Africa. China is exploiting Ethiopia’s natural resources and hampering the Ethiopian people’s inalienable rights for liberty, justice, and democracy. Chinese firms have been engaged in bribing and corrupting Ethiopian officials.

"By supporting the Meles Zenawi regime, China is banking on profiting from the triumph of tyranny over liberty and democracy for the people of Ethiopia, as it is doing in much of Africa. China has a terrible human rights record at home and supports human rights violations abroad. It is time for China to stop supporting war criminals like Meles Zenawi, who has been suppressing basic liberties of the Ethiopian people. It is time for China to reassess its dealings with rogue regimes like that of Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and other African dictators.

"We, Ethiopians and Ethiopians Americans, demand that the Chinese government immediately

1.Cease its support for Meles Zenawi’s ethnocentric regime;
2.Cease arming and supplying Meles Zenawi’s minority ethnic dominated military;
3.Cease its support for tyranny in Ethiopia/Africa
4.Cease its support to Meles Zenawi’s regime in jamming the Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, and Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT);
5.Respect the human rights of the Ethiopian people, Ethiopian workers employed in Chinese owned projects in accordance with accordance labor and environmental standards as well as the Universal Declaration of Human rights.
6.Stop bribing and corrupting Ethiopian officials to get no bid contracts from the government and dumping their low quality and often dangerous products.

A Coalition of Ethiopian American and Ethiopian Political and Civic Organizations and media groups.

Clinton says steel vise crushing global activists

2010-07-03T13:05:00.002-04:00

By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer Robert Burns, Ap National Security Writer – 53 mins ago

KRAKOW, Poland – Intolerant governments across the globe are "slowly crushing" activist and advocacy groups that play an essential role in the development of democracy, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday.

She cited a broad range of countries where "the walls are closing in" on civic organizations such as unions, religious groups, rights advocates and other nongovernmental organizations that press for social change and shine a light on governments' shortcomings.

Among those she named were Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia , Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Venezuela, China and Russia.

"Some of the countries engaging in these behaviors still claim to be democracies," Clinton said at an international conference on the promotion of democracy and human rights. "Democracies don't fear their own people. They recognize that citizens must be free to come together, to advocate and agitate."

Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia expels American journalist reporting in rebel area

2010-06-19T16:12:00.001-04:00

New York, June 18, 2010—Authorities in Ethiopia expelled an American journalist on Thursday who had been reporting near a rebel area in the east of the Horn of Africa country, according to local journalists.

Heather Murdock had been reporting with the U.S. international broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) in the eastern region of Harar, near an area where there was reported skirmishes between the army and rebels of the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), according to the same sources. The Ethiopian government has denied journalists independent access to the restive Ogaden province, which neighbors the Harar region, and attempted to censor an exclusive report on the rebels last year, according to CPJ research. Under Ethiopia’s draconian anti-terrorism law, journalists risk as many as 20 years in prison if authorities deem their reporting favorable to armed rebels and banned opposition groups.

VOA confirmed to CPJ that Murdock had left the country. Assistants to Ethiopian government spokesmen Bereket Simon and Shemelis Kemal told CPJ the officials were not available for comment. The Ethiopian government announced plans to officially jam VOA in March, after reports that there had been electronic jamming of the station’s Amharic-language shortwave broadcasts and that its Web site had been blocked in the country.

“We condemn the expulsion of Heather Murdock,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Ethiopian authorities have for years used the threat of expulsion to induce self-censorship among foreign journalists working in the country.”

Murdock arrived in Ethiopia last month after she was expelled from Yemen in April following a reporting trip to strongholds of Yemen’s armed separatist Southern Movement, according to news reports. In Ethiopia, she covered the country’s general election and its aftermath, among other topics.

Ethiopia: Boycott TPLF/Weyane businesses!

2010-06-07T20:38:00.002-04:00

Sami Aron

This is to inform the trade organizations of WOYANE. Since you are part of this all rounded struggle, we kindly tell you not to buy whatever the product or service of the following enterprises and share this information for your friends as many as you can.

The enterprises of Woyanes are:

Company Name: – Almedan Garment Factory Established 1995, Capital 660, 000, 000, $; Headquarter Mekele, Chairman of the Board Abadi Zemu.

Addis Engineering Consultancy: – established 1995, capital 10, 000, 000, $ headquarter Addis Ababa; chairman of the Board Arkebe Ekubay.

Addis Pharmaceuticals Production: – established 1995; headquarter Addis Ababa; capital 53,000,000; chairman of the Board Abadi Zemu.

Africa Insurance Axion Assn: – established 1995, headquarter Addis Ababa, capital 30,000,000; chairman of the Board Yohannes Ekubay.

Almeda Textile Factory: – established 1995, Capital 180,000,000 headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Abadi Zemu.

Mesob Cement Factory: – established 1995; capital 240,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the board Abadi Zemu.

Mesfin Industrial Company: – Established 1995; capital 500,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the board Arkebe Ekubay.

Sur Construction: – established 1995; capital 150,000,000; headquarter Addis Ababa; chairman of the board Arkebe Ekubay.

Trans Ethiopia; established 1995:- capital 100,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the board Shimelis Kinde.

Tesfa Livestock: – established 1995; capital 20,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Yohannes Kidane.

Star Pharmaceuticals: – established 1995; capital 25,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Arkebe kubay.

Selam Bisline: – establishe 1995; capital 10,000,000; headquarter Mekele: chairman of the Board Tilma.

Sheba Tannery Factory Axion Assn: – established 1995; capital 40,000,000; headquarter Wukro; chairman of the Board Abadi Zemu.

Segel Construction: – established 1995; capital 10,000,000 headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Araya Zerihun.

Rahwa Yebegina Fiyel Export: – established 1995; capital 25,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Yassin Abdurahman.

Meskerem Investment: – established 1995; capital 40,000,000; headquarter Axum; chairman of the Board Tewodros Ayes Tesfaye.

Mega Net Corp: – established 1993; capital 10,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Alemseged Gebreamlak.

Hiwot Agriculture Mechanization: – established 1995; capital 25,000,000; headquarter Mekele; Yohannes Kidane.

Hitech Park Axion Assn: – established 1996; capital 10,000,000 headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Shimelis Kinde.

Tana Trading House Axion Assn: – established 1994; capital 50,000,000; headquarter Addis Ababa.

Sibhat Nega Global Auto Spare part: – established 1992; capital 26,000,000; headquarter Addis Ababa; chairman of the Board Teklebirhan Habtu.

Fana Democracy plc. – established 1995; capital 6,000,000; headquarter Addis Ababa; chairman of the Board Negash Sahle.

Ezana Mining Development: – established 1995; capital 55,000,000; headquarter Addis Ababa; chairman of the Board Tewodros Hafis Berhe.

Express Transit: – established 1995; capital 10,000,000; headquarter Addis Ababa; chairman of the Board Gebreselassie Gidey.

Experience Ethiopia Travel: – established 1995: capital 26,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Tony Hiki.

Ethio Rental Axion Assn.:- established 1995; capital 10,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Atkilit Kiros.

Dedebit Saving & Loan: – established 1997; capital 60,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Atkilit Kiros.

Dilate Brewery: – established 1995; capital 15,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Kahsay TewoldeTedla.

Dessalegn Caterinary: – established 1995; capital 15,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Dr, Maru Erdaw.

Berhe Chemical Axion Assn.:- established 1995; capital 25,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Abadi Zemu.

Addis Consultancy House: – established 1995; capital 10,000,000; headquarter Mekele; chairman of the Board Sibhat Nega.

Birhane Building Construction: – established 1995; capital 10,000,000; headquarter Addis Ababa; chairman of the Board Bereket Mazengiya.

Thank you! I hope you will inform to me as for how many people did you send it.

A country of grey and gold

2010-06-05T11:08:00.002-04:00

An election in Ethiopia promises little change
May 28th 2010 | ADDIS ABABA | From The Economist online

THERE are two colours I associate with Ethiopia. Grey for the dust, the bare hills, stony soil and donkeys. Grey for the Soviet-era buildings in the towns and the fumes of ancient Lada cars. Then there is gold, in the fields at harvest time, in the sunshine at that lung-busting altitude, and the heavy jewellery worn by women. Gold especially for the churches, the icons, the luminous curls in the crosses and staves, and in the golden plumage of archangels who many Ethiopians believe overlook the inner workings of their lives.

Religion is central to life in Ethiopia, as it is in the rest of Africa. But it is of a very different type. Neighbouring Kenya became Christian just over a century ago. Its Christianity still has a stripped-down missionary flavour. The Amhara and Tigray regions of Ethiopia, by contrast, were Christian long before St Augustine of Canterbury landed in England. The Band Aid anthem to raise money for Ethiopian famine victims in 1984 was in some ways ill-judged: of course they knew it was Christmastime.

Yet Ethiopia is also a country of revolutionary zeal. It is ruled by an inner circle of former Marxist guerrillas who are not evidently religious. That sets up a tension in the country. After this week's election victory by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), I ask Ethiopians what they would like to ask their long-serving prime minister, Meles Zenawi. Most often they say they would like to quiz him about God. "I want to know if he is a believer," says my driver in Addis Ababa. Teddy—his name changed to protect his identity—is critical of the government. They have done many good things. But they like to control us." Even in heavy traffic Teddy takes his hands off the steering wheel and crosses himself when passing one of the many churches. He gently recounts his own story of last week's elections. The organisers of the taxi fleet he drives for are card-carrying members of the EPRDF. "We are not talking about many people. Maybe 20 out of a couple of hundred cabs. But they decide on a lot of things, including the renewal of licences. They told the rest of us we had to attend government rallies in a procession during the election campaign. Most of us refused. After the election they will come for us." What will he do then? Teddy shrugs. He is close to retirement, but has two small children. "A man cannot live on his knees."

Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia: A ‘Smart’ Copycat in the 21st Century

2010-05-31T14:07:00.001-04:00

BLOCK…BLOCK, JAM BABY JAM!

Note: This blurb here is not new, nor do I pretend it to be original, but only decent observations and reflections.

By Joseph M (PHD)

The dictators of our time live by preaching dogmas such as religious fundamentalism and fanaticism, revolutionary democracy etc interwoven with practiced kleptocracy (rampant greed & corruption), misinformation, deceptions, intimidation, scare mongering, repression, extra-judicial killings etc.

Religious fundamentalism, for example, is a fertile ground for some dictators as it is for Al-Qaida. Dictators like Meles Zenawi however come to power having as their cause (illegitimate) liberation of a single ethnic group, but then pave their way to the peak of political power using all known techniques and methods that other evil dictators have been using around the world.

There are plenty of experiences to coach; such as the methods used by J Stalin-Former Soviet Union, Mao and Hu Jintao-Communist Party of China, Milosevic -Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda’s genocide, Omar al-Bashir-Sudan, Kim Jong-il-North Korea, Than Shwe-Burma, Robert Mugabe-Zimbabwe, Ahmedin Ahmadinejad-Iran etc.

History has recorded that thousands and millions of innocent people have been killed by self-imposed ruthless dictators in order to stay in the front seat of power forever. Behind the façade of their power they hide their evil acts by using ethnic differences, deceptions and all other means.

In our time, we also witness the role information technology and media has been playing (as if it is God-given gift from heaven for their manipulations), enormously helping those dictators to pursue their objectives; to misinform, fabricate, lie, intimidate, demoralize and harass the innocent population that they rule, making them helpless creatures.

With the run-up to the Election 2010 in Ethiopia, Meles negotiated a lion-share of the radio and TV air time to dominate and defeat his “enemy” (the opposition parties). Those of us who watched the pre-recorded and so called “national election debates”, have wondered how on earth radio and TV air time was distributed on the basis of current number of seats in parliament that parties hold, while the election is for a future parliament. It begs questions as to what has been the logic behind the saga and why the debates has to be held in the caged studios of the TPLF/government owned Ethiopian Television and Radio? Why free speech and freedom of expression of ideas have been harnessed, censored, controlled etc in this way? Why TPLF needed to enact laws to restrict the media? Why the debates have been full of fear and uncertainty? Where does this type of model exist in the world in the 21st Century? Why people (the electorate), I would rather call them “enslaved voters”, are deprived of knowing the truth about TPLF/EPRDF candidates’ crimes? Why the army commander has to come out with warning to name and shame and also implicate Seye’s presentation at the debates? In all these, the Ethiopian Television and Radio Organization has been the weapon that Meles needed to have absolute monopoly on, control and kill voices of the opposition groups as he wished. Meles has also showed on the ETV his predecessor’s (Mengistu’s) crimes to refresh the memories of the enslaved voters, likening the opposition groups with Mengistu. If I may ask, is this not a criminal act that Meles has committed using the ETV, the only TV channel in the country? More…

Dr. M Joseph is an expert in Applied Distributed Programming & VSAT
The writer of this piece, M. Joseph, can be reached at sofomore@googlemail.com

EU chief observer says Ethiopian poll was not fair

2010-05-25T18:16:00.002-04:00

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Tens of thousands of ruling party supporters rallied Tuesday in Ethiopia's capital to celebrate victory in the national election, while the chief EU observer said the poll had been marred by an uneven playing field. A top opposition leader denounced the provisional results released by the Ethiopian elections board, but did not indicate what action his party would take.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi arrived midmorning at the main square in Addis Ababa and addressed the crowd as hundreds of blue-uniformed federal police stood guard.

"We'll not boast about our victory, but we'll add to the burden of work that we have to deliver for the next five years," said Meles, who seized power in a 1991 coup

Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia: Government Repression Undermines Poll

2010-05-25T17:58:00.001-04:00

(Nairobi) - Ethiopian government and ruling party officials intimidated voters and unlawfully restricted the media ahead of the May 23, 2010 parliamentary elections, Human Rights Watch said today.

In assessing the polls, international election observers should address the repressive legal and administrative measures that the Ethiopian ruling party used to restrict freedom of expression during the election campaign, Human Rights Watch said.

"Behind an orderly façade, the government pressured, intimidated and threatened Ethiopian voters," said Rona Peligal, acting Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Whatever the results, the most salient feature of this election was the months of repression preceding it."

In the weeks leading up to the polls, Human Rights Watch documented new methods used by the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) to intimidate voters in the capital, Addis Ababa, apparently because of government concerns of a low electoral turnout.

During April and May, officials and militia (known as tataqi in Amharic) from the local administration went house to house telling citizens to register to vote and to vote for the ruling party or face reprisals from local party officials such as bureaucratic harassment or even losing their homes or jobs.

The May poll was the first national parliamentary election in Ethiopia since the government violently suppressed post-election protests in 2005; almost 200 people, including several police officers, died after the 2005 poll and tens of thousands of people were arrested, including opposition leaders, journalists and civil society activists.
Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia Ruling Party Leads Vote Marred by Intimidation Reports

2010-05-24T18:27:00.000-04:00

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.

Experts Say There Will Be No Contest in Ethiopia's Upcoming Vote

2010-05-18T17:47:00.002-04:00

Horn of Africa experts in the United States say there will be no contest in Ethiopia's parliamentary election Sunday. They say it will be unlike the volatile vote in 2005, due to a diminished opposition and a ruling party totally in control.

The last election in Ethiopia in 2005 was fiercely contested, and when the opposition alleged there had been cheating in vote counting, riots broke out and about 200 people, most of them opposition activists, were reported killed.

Africa experts say the ruling party in Ethiopia made sure Sunday's upcoming election will not repeat that pattern.

Oberlin College International Studies Professor Eve Sandberg says the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front has made sure its message has been heard by would-be voters. "The current government has been using the media, which they control in a non-stop way to broadcast programs, which talk about how much better this regime is than the previous one and the fact that at least they have built roads, and at least they have painted some buildings, and at least people are not experiencing famine," she said.

Sandberg who recently worked as a political consultant in Ethiopia says, on the other side of the political equation, the opposition has nearly disappeared. "Their leaders are either in jail, in exile, or have resigned because they cannot see any way forward. If they show they are in opposition many of them find that police show up and they are either shot, or detained or harassed," she said.

A series of campaign-related killings in Ethiopia has raised tensions and sparked counter allegations between the government and opposition.

Examples of opposition leaders excluded from the process include Birtukan Mideksa, who heads the Unity for Democracy and Justice. She is in jail under a life sentence after an initial pardon for treason was revoked.

Berhanu Nega, who was elected as mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005, was also imprisoned during the post-election riots. He has since become a professor in the United States and was sentenced to life in prison in absentia for alleged coup plotting.

An expert on U.S.-Africa relations, who was in Ethiopia for the 2005 vote, J. Peter Pham, says major figures of the opposition remaining in the race are divided. "Hailu Shawul who led the opposition coalition the last time around is being opposed by the deputy head of the old opposition, Hailu Araya. They are facing off against each other for the same constituency," he said.

Terrence Lyons from George Mason University says he is disappointed, but not surprised by current political conditions. He says competition is still taking place within the ruling party. "Some of the folks who have been in power for almost 20 years are retiring and a younger generation, some perhaps more technocratic or more professional is coming up. There are endless speculations about what might happen when and if Prime Minister Meles Zenawi were to step down and who might be the successor. So, there are a lot of those kinds of questions that are percolating now," he said.

A former rebel leader, Mr. Meles has been prime minister since 1995. All of the experts interviewed for this report expect his party to win much more easily than in the 2005 election.

The prime minister's supporters say he has done much more than recent Ethiopian leaders in building up the country's economy, health and school system, while also keeping a vast multi-ethnic society stable, even as neighboring countries experienced repeated strife.

Ethiopia Will Keep Opposition Leader in Prison Beyond Elections

2010-05-13T17:23:00.000-04:00

May 13, 2010, 7:52 AM EDT
By Jason McLure

May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia’s government will ignore foreign and domestic pressure to free opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa from prison and keep her incarcerated beyond this month’s elections, Communications Minister Bereket Simon said.

“We are not in a position to intervene in any legal affair,” Bereket told reporters yesterday in Addis Ababa, the capital, in response to a question about the jailed leader of the Unity for Democracy and Justice party. “The government has repeatedly declared its position is not to budge to any foreign or local pressure.”

Birtukan, 35, has spent 500 days in prison since she was arrested on Dec. 29, 2008, after the government accused her of violating the terms of a pardon under which she was released in 2007. She was originally jailed on treason charges following protests after Ethiopia’s disputed 2005 elections. Her continued imprisonment comes amid claims by government critics that the May 23 vote won’t be free and fair.

“The best evidence that these elections cannot be genuine democratic elections is that this woman, who should be running, is unable to do so because she is jailed for life,” Ana Gomes, a Portuguese member of the European parliament who headed the EU’s electoral mission to Ethiopia in 2005, said in a May 11 phone interview.

Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department labeled Birtukan a political prisoner, and the United Nations Human Rights Council listed her as a victim of arbitrary detention.

Her supporters say the former federal judge was jailed because she was the opposition leader most likely to organize a successful nationwide challenge to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has ruled the country since 1991.

“Had she been part of the election, not only the people here but the whole country would have voted for her,” Leulseged Wubeshet, a 23-year-old Birtukan supporter, said from her home neighborhood in northern Addis Ababa. “She’s more popular than the others.”

--Editors: Paul Richardson, Philip Sanders.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.

American Goes on Hunger Strike to Support Ethiopian Opposition Leader

2010-05-07T22:12:00.002-04:00

By Alula Kebede
washington, DC
06/05/2010

American documentary filmmaker and activist Chris Flaherty is on a hunger strike at the front gates of the White House in Washington, D.C. to support Birtukan Mideksa, an Ethiopian lawyer and major opposition party leader serving a life sentence in Ethiopia.

Birtukan, leader of the largest opposition group in Ethiopia, Unity for Democracy and Justice, has been held at the Kaliti prison for the past 16 months on a treason conviction.

Flaherty became interested in Birtukan's case while doing research for his film about Ethiopian politics and the 2005 election. He is convinced that the Ethiopian government claims about her are inaccurate. He is using his strike to bring her case to the attention of the Obama administration. He is calling on the President to identify her as a prisoner of conscience.

"This is important to me as she was jailed simply because she stands by what she believes. To me that is a strong character. She believes in the same values that I believe in as far as democracy and freedom are concerned. I would hunger-strike for anyone like that," Chris said. "She shouldn't have been in jail in the first place."

Kebadu Belachew, an Ethiopian-American, took three days off from work to join Flaherty on the hunger strike in front of the White House.

Birtukan was arrested in December 2008 for allegedly violating the terms of an earlier pardon. She and several fellow opposition leaders previously served two years in prison on government charges.

Flaherty's film, Migration of Beauty, will broadcast in the United States this month.

Listen to the Amharic report on Flaherty's strike.

Press Group Concerned by Detention of 2 Ethiopian Journalists

2010-05-04T18:19:00.001-04:00

A U.S.-based rights group has expressed concern about the detentions of two Ethiopian television journalists being held by the government since last week.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday that editor Haileyesus Worku and reporter Abdulsemed Mohammed, who were working for the government-run Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency, have not been formally charged since their arrests.

The men were arrested April 22 for allegedly misusing state property. A government spokesman told CPJ that that journalists had been caught "red-handed" smuggling property belonging to their workplace with the intent to sell it.

CPJ Africa Program Coordinator, Tom Rhodes, said his group is skeptical of the charges because Ethiopia has a long history of arresting journalists under politically motivated charges.

CPJ noted that in 2009, VOA reporter Meleskachew Amaha was imprisoned for three weeks for old tax charges that were later dismissed, among other similar cases.

The group says it is calling for due process and transparency in the case.

Ethiopian Opposition Demands Independent Probe Into Activist's Death

2010-04-24T09:48:00.002-04:00

Ethiopia's main opposition coalition is demanding an independent investigation into the death of a campaign worker allegedly beaten to death for his political activities.

Despite strong denials by ruling party officials, leaders of the opposition group Forum say Biyanza Daba Gadisa was beaten outside his home early this month in a small community in western Oromia. He died several days later in an Addis Ababa hospital.

An executive of the local Forum council, Olbana Lelisa, says ruling party officials in Biyanza's neighborhood followed him home and hit him with a gun butt after he refused to stop campaigning against them.

"The main cause is that he is agitating for Forum, the organization," Olbana told an interpreter. "They said you have to stop this agitation against the Ethiopia's main ruling party and abide by our order. And he said, I will not stop. I have to agitate for my party's sake."

A government spokesman Shimelis Kemal called reports of the beating "the biggest lie we have heard."

Speaking to VOA, Shimelis said Biyanza would never have worked for the opposition, because he was a registered member of the ruling party in Oromia. He said the victim had not been beaten, but had died of complications from malaria and typhoid.

The spokesman described the charges as "part of a series of lies concocted by the Forum to smear the electoral process." He said investigations of previous allegations had always shown the opposition to have been wrong.

But senior Forum leader Beyene Petros questioned the impartiality of previous investigations. He charged ruling party officials in communities across mostly rural Ethiopia are carrying on a coordinated campaign of harassment and intimidation, and called for an independent probe into Biyanza's death.

"He is our activist who goes around and posts posters, distributes leaflets, campaigns on our behalf," said Beyene. "So we are demanding that an independent inquiry committee be formed to review this case. We feel it is a politically motivated killing or attack that ended in fatality." He added "Its a very sad case."

. Read Full Story≫

Meles warned party leaders not to boycott the vote, saying it would be like starting a dangerous fire and walking away.

2010-04-14T19:13:00.004-04:00

Ethiopia's heated election campaign has spilled onto the floor of parliament, with bitter and at times personal exchanges between Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and opposition leaders. The prime minister was forced onto the defensive on issues from the economy to allegations of political dirty tricks.

With less than six weeks to go before elections for a new legislature, Prime Minister Meles used a nationally-broadcast speech to trumpet his government's achievements. He said the economy is expected to register double-digit growth for the seventh consecutive year, inflation has slowed to under four percent, and the number of Ethiopians needing food aid is less than predicted.

Ethiopia's heated election campaign has spilled onto the floor of parliament, with bitter and at times personal exchanges between Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and opposition leaders. The prime minister was forced onto the defensive on issues from the economy to allegations of political dirty tricks.

With less than six weeks to go before elections for a new legislature, Prime Minister Meles used a nationally-broadcast speech to trumpet his government's achievements. He said the economy is expected to register double-digit growth for the seventh consecutive year, inflation has slowed to under four percent, and the number of Ethiopians needing food aid is less than predicted.

"Favorable conditions have been set for the conduct of elections which are peaceful, democratic and credible to the people," he said.

But when the floor was opened for opposition comments, Mr. Meles found himself facing a barrage of criticisms.

Merera Gudina, leader of a party representing Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, the Oromos, drew a rebuke from the house speaker for challenging the prime minister's economic figures.

The Oromo leader also charged the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front with rigging next month's elections through its control of the electoral machinery. He spoke in Amharic, but afterward summarized his remarks in English.

"The EPRDF is trying to be both the referee and a player. If you are both the referee and a player, who is going to win is clear from the beginning," said Gudina.

Ethiopian Democratic Party leader Lidetu Ayalew caused a stir when he charged ruling party officials in his devoutly Christian district were trying to discredit him by spreading false rumors he had converted to another religion.

Mr. Meles called such acts 'deplorable', and promised that if the charge turns out to be true, the 'disreputable elements' would be expelled from his party.

He accused the opposition of whipping up passions with inflammatory charges. Again through an interpreter, he warned party leaders not to boycott the vote, as happened during the 2008 local elections, saying it would be like starting a dangerous fire and walking away.

"If my estimation is correct, some of you are walking this direction," said the prime minister. "I think you are making a huge mistake because to light the fire and at the last [moment] to go into hiding, would not be good, because to light the fire and [be] behind it, and also to fight and use the blood of children, that would not be something that is useful," he said.

Officials said Tuesday's address was likely Prime Minister Meles's final speech in parliament before the May 23rd elections. Analysts say the ruling party is expected to easily retain control of the legislature.

Ruling party officials attribute the bright outlook to effective policies and an opposition in disarray. Opposition leaders say their poor prospects are the result of the ruling party's firm control of the electoral process.

Silence Not Golden In Ethiopia

2010-04-07T23:49:00.004-04:00

While a friend and supporter of Ethiopia, the United States nevertheless cannot remain silent on censorship, which runs counter to the country's constitution.

With national elections in Ethiopia fast approaching, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi appears intent on controlling both the medium and the message. Reports of the harassment of opposition political figures and interfering with international media broadcasts into the country undermine the image of his government, and if the polling is to be credible, it must be an open process.

Following the jamming of the Voice of America's radio broadcasts in Ethiopia's dominant Amharic language for the last four weeks, the government there appears to now have turned its attention to VOA's Internet service in the East African nation. Numerous reports have been received that VOA's website is unavailable inside Ethiopia, where individuals both inside and out of Africa often turn when they cannot get a radio signal.

The prime minister accused VOA of broadcasting destabilizing propaganda and has admitted seeking ways to block it. Committed to broadcasting unbiased and comprehensive news throughout the world, VOA initiated satellite broadcasts into Ethiopia and is exploring other ways to get its programs through.

While a friend and supporter of Ethiopia, the United States nevertheless cannot remain silent on such actions and censorship, which run counter to the country's constitution. It is watching with great interest and encourages all parties there to act responsibly during the election campaign. An election cannot be run under the guise of democratic process if all candidates cannot participate freely and state their case or if political news is suppressed.

Media Group to Ethiopia: Stop Jamming VOA Broadcasts

2010-04-03T17:08:00.003-04:00

An international media group is calling on Ethiopia to top jamming VOA broadcasts.

The head of the International Federation of Journalists, Aidan White, on Friday condemned Ethiopia's restrictions on broadcasts by VOA's Amharic language service.

White called the government's jamming "unprofessional" and "intolerant." He also said it goes against government claims that Ethiopia is committed to press freedom.
The Ethiopian government began interfering with VOA's broadcasts in February. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has accused VOA Amharic of trying to destabilize his government.

The United States has rejected Mr. Meles' claim as "baseless."

In March, VOA started broadcasting its Amharic-language programs to Ethiopia by satellite in order to bypass jamming efforts.

The Voice of America is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government. It broadcasts more than 1,500 hours of news and other programming every week in 45 languages to an audience of more than 125 million people.

VOA says Ethiopia blocks website as US row escalates

2010-03-30T07:45:00.006-04:00

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - U.S. funded-broadcaster Voice of America said on Monday that Ethiopia may have blocked its website in a move which may lead to further U.S. criticism of its closest ally in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopia holds national elections on May 23 and international press freedom advocacy groups say the government is intimidating and harassing journalists ahead of the vote. The government denies that.

"We have received reports that VOA's website is unavailable inside Ethiopia, and we are investigating the causes," VOA Director Danforth Austin said in a statement.

Government spokesmen were not immediately available to comment.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi this month accused VOA's radio service in Ethiopia's dominant Amharic language of broadcasting "destabilising propaganda" and said his government was testing its ability to jam it.

Meles compared VOA to Radio Mille Collines, whose broadcasts are blamed by many for sparking the 1994 Rwanda genocide. He said he would order the service jammed if testing succeeded. Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia: Repression Rising Ahead of May Elections

2010-03-24T22:20:00.005-04:00

(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. Read Full Story≫

Fears over Ethiopia's press code for poll coverage

2010-03-23T20:42:00.005-04:00

by Aaron Maasho Aaron Maasho – Tue Mar 23, 1:46 pm ET

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – A new press code that sets guidelines for coverage of Ethiopia's elections in May has drawn fire from embattled media staff, who face fines and jail time if found guilty of violations.

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia approved the framework two weeks ago, ahead of the May 23 polls, but journalists are already voicing their disapproval and fears over its restrictions.

The code bans journalists from carrying out interviews of voters, candidates and observers during election day, while it also prohibits predictions ahead of the announcement of results.

Transgressors face one year in jail for reporting on the latter.

"We stand against every article that is stipulated in the law. It simply puts an unreasonable amount of burden on any journalist," Anteneh Abraham, head of the Ethiopian National Journalists Union, told AFP Tuesday.

"We simply can't work under those conditions. The strict restrictions have instilled fear in all media workers," he added.

Further restrictions have also been placed on coverage from inside polling stations during the same day, in particular the limited access granted for photography and video footage. " Read Full Story≫

Ethiopian PM Says He Will Authorize Jamming VOA

2010-03-18T23:25:00.009-04:00

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says he is prepared to order jamming of VOA broadcasts in Amharic, the country's main official language. Mr. Meles compared VOA Amharic to the hate media that incited the Rwanda genocide.

The Ethiopian leader denies having authorized the interference VOA Amharic listeners have been experiencing since February 22. But speaking to reporters Thursday, he acknowledged ordering preparations for jamming, and said as soon as the equipment is working properly, he would give the go ahead.

"We have to know before we make the decision to jam, whether we have the capacity to do it," said Meles Zenawi. "But I assure you if they assure me at some future date that they have the capacity to jam it, I will give them the clear guideline to jam it. But so far there has not been that formal decision to jam." Read Full Story≫

When Humanitarian Aid Winds Up in the Wrong Hands

2010-03-15T19:55:00.007-04:00

British rock impresario and Africa aid promoter Bob Geldof, a.k.a. "Saint Bob," was back in the headlines this past week after blowing his stack at the BBC for a story it aired alleging that Ethiopian rebels had diverted 95% of the $100 million in Ethiopian famine relief raised in the mid-1980s — much of it by Geldof's iconic Band Aid concert.

Geldof's spirited denials (he called the BBC a "rotten old cherry" and said there was not a "shred" of evidence to support the claim) drew support from NGOs that worked in Ethiopia at the time, along with those who remember the miseries of the famine which killed hundreds of thousands of people, as well as the gumption Geldof showed by pulling together rock stars from the U.S and Britain to help feed the victims. In the days since, however, Geldof has raised eyebrows for his apparent refusal to acknowledge the possibility that money may have been skimmed off the top, which many aid agencies and humanitarian workers say routinely happens in developing nations. In fact, doubts in the last few years about whether relief supplies reach their intended sources in conflict zones have given rise to a whole new way of thinking about humanitarian aid — and caused some to question whether giving aid in times of war does any good at all. Read Full Story≫

US Rights Report Lists Ethiopian Opposition Leader as Political Prisoner

2010-03-12T19:42:00.007-05:00

The U.S. State Department's annual human rights reports says Ethiopia is holding several hundred political prisoners, including the leader of one of the country's largest opposition parties. Ethiopia has reacted strongly to past U.S. criticisms of its rights record.

The 2009 human rights report says Birtukan Mideksa, president of Ethiopia's opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice party, was held in solitary confinement for the first six months of the year despite a court ruling that it violated her constitutional rights. The 61-page document says there were credible reports that Birtukan's mental health deteriorated significantly during the year.

Birtukan was among scores of political activists sentenced to life in prison following Ethiopia's disputed 2005 election, then later pardoned. She was jailed again in December, 2008 and ordered to serve out her life sentence after refusing to apologize for saying she had not requested the pardon.

The 35-year-old single mother was recently listed by the U.N. Human Rights Council as a victim of arbitrary detention, and by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. But at news conference late last year, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi staunchly defended her re-imprisonment, saying it was based on 'elementary notions of the rule of law'. Read Full Story≫

VOA Amharic Broadcasts Jammed in Ethiopia

2010-03-04T19:18:00.005-05:00

International shortwave radio monitors have confirmed that VOA broadcasts in the Amharic language are being jammed. Amharic is the main official language and the language of commerce in Ethiopia.

VOA representatives in Ethiopia have been received complaints from listeners about noise drowning out its Amharic Service broadcasts. People trying to tune in can hear occasional snippets of the VOA broadcast covered by a loud crackle.

The static began February 22 on all five VOA shortwave frequencies aimed at East Africa in the 25 and 31-meter shortwave bands. Read Full Story≫

Millions donated by British public to help Ethiopian famine victims "was used by warlords to buy weapons"

2010-03-03T20:15:00.006-05:00

By Lucy Ballinger
Last updated at 6:57 PM on 03rd March 2010

Millions of pounds raised by Live Aid was spent on weapons, it has been claimed. Money donated to buy food for Ethiopian famine victims was instead used by rebel leaders who used it to buy weapons. Sir Bob Geldof's Live Aid raised £40million for those starving in Ethiopia, along with other charities who also sent over aid. Read Full Story≫

Candlelight Vigil For Jailed Oppostion Leader, Birtukan Mideksa

2010-02-26T22:50:00.044-05:00

- Re-imprisoned for life in December 2008,
- In the United Nations list of arbitrary detainees,
- Prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International,
- Become a symbol of democracy,
- Person of The Year by most Ethiopian Prvate Media

Date: Feb 28, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave

A leader who always uses democratic process to advance his undemocratic goals.

2010-02-21T13:08:00.018-05:00

After nearly two decades in Ethiopia's leadership, Meles Zenawi has proven himself a master of democratic manipulation. He has been using the democratic process to advance undemocratic goals. To mention some of them, he divided the country by ethnicity; arbitrary arrest, killing, torture, imprisonment and harassment of opposition leaders, members and supporters; benefit one ethnicity over other Ethiopian people, incompetent to resolve countries critical problems such as poverty and HIV/AIDS.

Zenawis government was undemocratically elected in 2000; the results were heavily criticized by international observers and denounced by the opposition as fraudulent. The EPRDF also unlawfully elected in the 2005 election returning Zenawi to power. Both the opposition and observers from the European Union and elsewhere stated that the vote did not meet international standards for fair and free elections. Ethiopian police have massacred more than193 protesters.

Since the EPRDF/TPLF came to power in 1991, Ethiopia has conducted at least three “national and regional elections”. In all of these, the ruling party “won” by landslide mainly because it was running by itself and against itself. Because of the many obstacles that are in place, all these elections proved to be extremely restrictive and highly uncontested.

Zenawi, 54 years old, had been giving mixed signals for months that he might retire from office. However, because his party's members 'love him so much' and because they see him as 'irreplaceable', they have 'urged' him to stay in power longer. He is also determined to win 2010 and beyond by any means.

Ethiopian Government is likely to use the same poor tactic in 2010 election. They started their harmful activity by rearresting the prominent leader of the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party, Birtukan Mideksa for the reason that she publicly challenged the conditions and terms of their release from prison. These moves by Ethiopian government was considered by many and Ethiopian political opposition parties as a way forward to block fair and free election and democratic process in the country.

Ethiopian Government wants to use the same old approach again and again. We want the world understand that Ethiopia government cannot rule us by portraying that Ethiopia is enjoying democracy while we do not have any. They can not falsely portraying their image as democrats.

CPJ urges Ethiopia's Zenawi to pursue press reforms

2010-02-17T19:12:00.005-05:00

February 16, 2010
His Excellency Meles Zenawi
Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Via facsimile: (251) 11 1552020

Mr. Prime Minister,
We are writing to draw your attention to conditions that undermine press freedom as guaranteed in Article 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution. We would welcome your leadership in furthering reform by working for the repeal of draconian provisions in recent antiterrorism and media legislation. We also call on your administration to abandon practices that obstruct the free flow of information, such as the ruling EPRDF’s absolute control of the government-subsidized and publicly funded national press, the government’s restrictive media regulation and licensing practices, and the state’s censorship of Internet content. Read Full Story≫

UDJ Chairperson Birtukan Mideksa is among those prisoners who are arbitrarily arrest

2010-02-07T11:22:00.008-05:00

The United Nations Human Rights Council officially declared UDJ Chairperson Birtukan Mideksa is among those prisoners who are arbitrarily arrest

It is eighteen years now since EPRDF has been in power. Throughout these years, it has never ceased to preach about the rule of law and human rights. However, the preaching and the practice have never gone together. In fact, Ethiopia is known as one of the forefront countries where blatant violations of human rights are perpetrated. Although many examples could be cited, let us take Birtukan’s imprisonment as an example. She has been illegally imprisoned. We repeatedly notified the Addis Ababa City Administration of our wish to hold candle light vigils at the Meskel Square to commemorate our Chairperson’s illegal imprisonment. This is our right enshrined in the Constitution. But the City Administration has repeatedly denied us this right. Article 30 of the Constitution, guaranteeing citizens the right of assembly is repeatedly and blatantly violated. This clearly demonstrates that the EPRDF and one of its arms, the Addis Ababa City Administration, are making a mockery of the Constitution and the rule of law. The mockery does not stop here.
Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia: Events of 2009 - Human Right Watch

2010-01-21T22:22:00.006-05:00

Ethiopia is on a deteriorating human rights trajectory as parliamentary elections approach in 2010.

These will be the first national elections since 2005, when post-election protests resulted in the deaths of at least 200 protesters, many of them victims of excessive use of force by the police. Broad patterns of government repression have prevented the emergence of organized opposition in most of the country. In December 2008 the government re-imprisoned opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa for life after she made remarks that allegedly violated the terms of an earlier pardon.

In 2009 the government passed two pieces of legislation that codify some of the worst aspects of the slide towards deeper repression and political intolerance. A civil society law passed in January is one of the most restrictive of its kind, and its provisions will make most independent human rights work impossible. A new counterterrorism law passed in July permits the government and security forces to prosecute political protesters and non-violent expressions of dissent as acts of terrorism. Read Full Story≫

Birtukan, Invictus! (Unconquered) - A Tribute - Alemayehu G. Mariam

2009-12-28T23:02:00.006-05:00

Birtukan Midekssa condemned to life in prison by a vengeful dictator, but unconquered.

Birtukan thrown into the dungeon of wrath and tears, but defiant.
Birtukan beaten, bludgeoned and bloodied, but unbowed.
Birtukan mocked, ridiculed and disrespected, but gracious.
Birtukan denounced, vilified, strong-armed and manhandled, but unfazed.
Ethiopia under the crushing boots of soldiers of fortune.
Birtukan, Invictus!
Ethiopia, Invictus! Read Full Story≫

Is food a political weapon in Ethiopia?

2009-12-27T13:21:00.007-05:00

Accusations about food aid are very emotive. Especially when they are made in Ethiopia — a country that saw more than 1 million of its people starve to death in the 1984 famine.

So everyone is tiptoeing carefully around recent allegations that food is being kept from the opposition.

A coalition of eight opposition parties called Medrek, or the Forum, accuses some officials of only allowing ruling party members to benefit from a long running food-for-work programme for more than seven million Read Full Story≫

Ethiopians chanted "ቡርቱካን ማንዴላ ልደቱ ሌባ " at Great Ethiopian Run

2009-11-23T17:15:00.004-05:00

EthiopiaZare.com, a leading independent media based in Ethiopia, reports that several athletes participating in the 9th Great Ethiopian Run chanted slogans against Hailu Sahwel and Lidetu Ayalew and demanded the immediate release of Ethiopian political prisoner Birtukan Mideksa. Ethiopia Zare reports that many were heard chanting "ቡርቱካን ማንዴላ ልደቱ ሌባ " (Birtukan Mandela:Lidetu Thief)

Concern Over Aid To Ethiopia

2009-11-21T13:14:00.003-05:00

The United States is committed to helping people in need all over the world, and it takes this mission very seriously. With billions of dollars spent on humanitarian, economic and other forms of assistance every year, the U.S. wants to be sure that the aid is properly and effectively distributed. So it is that U.S. officials are concerned about recent reports that the Ethiopian government may be politicizing humanitarian assistance ahead of next year's national elections.

Amid wide-spread food shortages caused by a long-running drought across much of East Africa, Ethiopia receives considerable aid from the U.S. and other nations. It is estimated that more than 6 million of the country's 80 million people rely on aid to survive, with another 7 million relying heavily on on the Productive Safety Net Program, a food-for-work program administered by the government and supported by foreign assistance. Read Full Story≫

Ethiopian government starves citizens

2009-10-29T13:24:00.002-04:00

Pan-African Coalition Condemns Junta Induced Starvation in Ethiopia

Houston, Texas (October 24, 2009) – On this World Food Week, we condemn the Mass starvation taking place in Ethiopia, primarily due to the Communist led economic and political policy of the regime for the last 20 years. Many observers believe that 23 million people, or nearly more than one in four Ethiopians is in need of food aid, but the Ethiopian dictator denies the existence of such famine.

The regime’s economic and especially agricultural policies have been counterproductive, as excessive state control from land to small business has become a road block to economic development, and put millions of people at risk unless international agencies come to their rescue.

It is heartbreaking and unforgivable to see the agony of Ethiopian children and their helpless and starving parents. Despite the recent hype about the economy by the regime, the food situation is worse than during 1984 famine (Watch video).

What is surprising is, just last week; President Girma Woldeselassie gave an account of a robust GDP growth of 10.1%, one of the highest in the world and dismissed the presence of famine. The current famine is an indictment of a failed economic policy of the regime. Like Marie Antoinette of France, Meles has a problem admitting famine exists in Ethiopia.

The stark and intolerable starvation lies directly and squarely on the laps of Meles and his party, TPLF, which has ruled Ethiopia for nearly two decades with an iron hand by controlling every resource including land, telephone, Internet and every aspect of life in this rich but forsaken country. Yes, forsaken by its own leaders for thousands of years. Ethiopians have been deprived of their land and their political rights by various succeeding rulers. Of course, this regime pales to any other in its cruelty in denying basic human rights and stupidity in management of resources or basic knowledge of economics.

It has been obvious for the majority of Ethiopians that the current regime has been a disaster for the country economically and politically, but the U.S. government keeps this regime afloat out of the believe that it is a stabilizing force for the region despite its corrupt, anti-free market and oppressive system.

In order to stay in power the regime has done uncalculated damage through its Machiavellian gerrymandering of Ethiopia by tribes, putting at risk the unity of the country, long term peace and co-existence of the people. The creation of the clan system has irreparably planted the seed for Ethiopia’s disintegration and has already caused numerous ethnic clashes by pitting one tribe against another. Consequently, it has created a fertile foundation for future genocide.

Some American representatives have been beneficiaries of the government’s largess either through lobbyists, direct funneling of funds to their foundation or direct gifts thus forsaking the people of Ethiopia and their solemn duty to defend human rights, free market and democracy.

In order to end this unprecedented pain and agony of perpetual famine of the Ethiopian people, we demand an unconditional and immediate resignation of this illegal and dictatorial regime which is directly responsible for the current episode and cessation of all non-humanitarian aid until a transitional government is constituted to lead Ethiopia to a democratic and free market economy.

---
Contact: Dula Abdu, Media Relations

dula06@gmail.com, (713) 446-5222 (713) 446-5222

Guna, Owned by Ethiopian Ruling Party, Eyes Coffee-Export Share

2009-10-27T16:18:00.006-04:00

By Jason McLure

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Guna Trading House Plc, owned by Ethiopia’s ruling party, said it plans to become one of the nation’s biggest coffee exporters, raising concern among industry observers that private industry may get crowded out.

The company began shipping the beans in July and aims to export at least 12,000 metric tons of coffee in the year through June, Mulualem Berhane, general manager of Guna, said in an interview on Oct. 22 in the capital, Addis Ababa.

“We are intending to export to Europe, the U.S. and China,” he said, adding that Guna is among at least four other companies owned by the state or Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling party intend to expand in the industry.

Ethiopia, where arabica coffee originated, is Africa’s biggest producer of the crop, which accounts for 26 percent of the nation’s export revenue. The Horn of Africa country shipped 133,993 tons of beans worth $375.8 million last year, according to Trade Ministry data. More ≫

A country you can never stop worrying about

2009-10-10T20:36:00.001-04:00

Last Updated: Friday, October 9, 2009 | 11:06 AM ET
By Brian Stewart, special to CBC News
Ethiopia is one country that I can never stop worrying about. Nor can the world.

Each time that I have gone back over the past 25 years I am encouraged to see so much has changed since the great famine of 1984-85 that shocked the world and so moved us Canadians. Yet there is also much here that is alarmingly similar.

This time old friends — survivors of that earlier tragedy — are proud to show me the signs of progress in the northern province of Tigray, the very epicentre of a famine that killed over a million people.

In the countryside, small catchment dams have been built to trap rainwater and reforestation projects are underway; in the small provincial capital of Mekele, they can now show off a modern university, busy markets and a vibrant youth culture.

A boy eats raw chickpeas from the family plot in Ethiopia's drought-stricken Oromiya region in January 2009. (Ho New/Reuters) Still, for all these encouraging signs I know there remain two constants here.

First, Ethiopia cannot yet feed itself without help from the rest of the world; and second, the unpredictability of this help means the threat of severe food crisis, even famine, is never far away. More ≫

Author Defends ICG Report from Meles Zenawi's Attacks

2009-09-20T22:54:00.001-04:00

By Tizita Belachew
Washington, D.C.
17/09/2009

Daniela Kroslak replied to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's recent dismissal of the International Conflict Group's "Ethiopia: Ethnic Federalism and Its Discontents," by pointing out that he thought it was important enough to read it.

In a press conference last week, the prime minister cited an Ethiopian proverb that suggested the report was not worthy of his time. In the press conference for Ethiopia's Amharic media, Meles questioned the motives of the funders of ICG and said the report, which was written by ICG's Nairobi office staff, was biased because it was written by an Eritrean.

Kroslak told VOA's Tizita Belachew for the Amharic service's Democracy feature that the Eritrean left the staff a year ago and was not an author of the report. She denied the Eritrean had any involvement in the report and said the organizations who fund ICG's work are listed on the ICG web site. Read Full Story≫

Ethiopia PM: ethnic violence claim is contemptible

2009-09-17T15:45:00.001-04:00

* Meles says think-tank meddles in developing world

* Says opposition trying to discredit 2010 elections
By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's prime minister has denounced a think-tank report that warned his country could descend into ethnic violence ahead of its first national election since a 2005 poll triggered deadly street clashes.

In a study last week, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said there was a risk of conflict ahead of the ballot scheduled for May 2010 because of rising ethnic tensions and dissent.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi rejected that.

"Some people have too many billions of dollars to spend and they feel that dictating how developing countries manage their affairs is their God-given right," he said late on Wednesday.

"We have only contempt for the ICG."

The Horn of Africa nation's last elections four years ago were touted as its first truly democratic polls. But they ended in protests and bloodshed after the government declared victory and the opposition accused it of rigging the result.

Police and soldiers killed about 200 people who had taken to the streets to demonstrate. At the time, Meles accused the protesters of trying to topple his

More ≫

Ethiopia's ruling party tells Meles to stay on

2009-09-09T22:06:00.007-04:00

09 Sep 2009 16:22:34 GMT
Source: Reuters
* PM told by party he can go after five years

* Opposition say Meles resignation request a sham

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's ruling party wants Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to remain its leader for another five years, making it likely the former rebel will run the Horn of Africa nation for some time to come.

"We have made a decision about all our frontline leaders, not just Prime Minister Meles Zenawi," Muktar Kedir, chief of headquarters for the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), told Reuters on Wednesday.

"They will all resign within five years. We will consider his request again then," he said after the EPRDF's annual congress this week.

Speculation has surrounded Meles' intentions since he began talking about resigning in 2008. But Meles has always insisted he needed permission from his party to step aside. More ≫

International Crisis Group Warns of Potential for 'Violent Eruption' in Ethiopia

2009-09-08T09:53:00.002-04:00

By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
07 September 2009

A new International Crisis Group report says Ethiopia is becoming an authoritarian one-party state, and warns that government policies there could lead to a violent eruption ahead of next year's elections. The report also faults the international community for downplaying Ethiopia's weak democracy.

The 40-page report by the International Crisis Group says that despite its democratic rhetoric, the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is unwilling to give up power. Moreover, it says the government's cornerstone policy, known as "ethnic federalism," has heightened tensions and sparked growing discontent in Ethiopia, with potentially explosive consequences
More ≫

Ethiopian flag flies high at San Jose City Hall

2009-09-03T18:06:00.002-04:00

Ethiopian Americans Council (EAC) | September 3, 2009

SAN JOSE - Pride will light up the face of every Ethiopian and Ethiopian American who comes to celebrate the fifth annual Ethiopian flag raising ceremony on September 8 in San Jose. The event will begin at 12:00 noon at the San Jose City Hall.
The event aims not only at celebrating Ethiopian New Year but also at stirring the patriotism within the hearts of Ethiopians, so they may never forget their roots, even when they are far away from their motherland.

Please join the San Jose City Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Council members at the unprecedented flag raising ceremony where the Ethiopia flag will fly over the new San Jose City Hall.

This special civic ceremony is an excellent exercise of patriotism and keeps tradition and respect for the homeland alive in the soul of every Ethiopian. So invite friends and family, dress in the green yellow and red of Ethiopia and come celebrate with us!

San Jose is the first city in the entire United States of America officially hosting the Ethiopian flag.

When: Tuesday Sep. 8th 2009
Time: 12:00 (Noon)
Place: 200 E Santa Clara Street Next to front water feature by the poles.

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

CONTACT

Ethiopian Americans Council (EAC)
P.O. Box 28597 San Jose, Ca 95159
e-mail: ethioamericans@gmail.com
www.eacouncil.org

EPRDF Membership Required for Ethiopia Gov’t Employment

2009-08-31T19:41:00.001-04:00

daily monitor - Ayenew Haileselassie

________________________

Is Ethiopia Writing Its Own Obituary?
________________________

Now nearly every university student applies for membership, because the card is at least as important as the diploma and degree.
________________________

One brazen new member attached a copy of his membership ID (dubbed ‘green card’ by the new members) with his CV when he applied for a job- it might have been a coincidence, but he got the job.
________________________

“They (EPRDF) could rule for any length of time,……..finally the outcome is disastrous. Look at what happened to Congo and Somalia when Mobutu and Ziad Barre went out of office.”
________________________

[Addis Ababa] — Into a dreary and cold small Southern village in Kembata a young man was posted as a teacher in a local government school. Those were the dark days of fear under a Marxist military government. Everybody received the party newspaper, Serto Ader, and pretended that they loved it.
More ≫

The two sides of Meles Zenawi

2009-08-14T10:46:00.003-04:00

Aug 13th 2009 | ADDIS ABABA
From The Economist print edition

A long-lasting leader faces growing problems at home and abroad

HE HAS run Ethiopia as prime minister since 1991, but Meles Zenawi, still only 54, has two faces. One belongs to a leader battling poverty. In this mode he is praised by Western governments, with Britain to the fore, for improving the miserable conditions in the countryside, where 85% of Ethiopia’s 80m-plus people live. Mr Meles takes credit for building new roads, clinics and primary schools, and for an array of agricultural initiatives. He also wins plaudits for his country’s low crime rate and for keeping its parliamentarians more or less on the straight and narrow, especially in terms of wealth. They get paid only about $3,240 a year compared with the $120,000 earned by Kenya’s fat-cat MPs. Moreover, in the past few years Ethiopia’s economy has grown fast. Mr Meles says it will grow this year by 10%, though the IMF’s figure is about half as big.
More ≫

U.S. Policy Shift Needed in the Horn of Africa

2009-08-08T23:42:00.003-04:00

Author: Bronwyn E. Bruton, International Affairs Fellow in Residence
August 6, 2009

U.S. strategic interests in the Horn of Africa center on preventing Somalia from becoming a safe haven for al-Qaeda or other transnational jihadist groups. In pursuing its counterterror strategy, the United States has found common cause with Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government has long feared the renewal of Somali irredentist claims on its eastern border, or that a powerful Islamist movement may stoke unrest among its own large Muslim population, and feels beset both by a powerful indigenous separatist movement in its Ogaden region and an unresolved border dispute with its northern neighbor, Eritrea.

But the Ethiopian government's behavior in recent years, both domestically and in bordering states, poses mounting difficulties for the United States and its long-term goals in the region. Washington must be prepared to press its partner to alter its strong-handed approach to political dissent and counterterrorism or consider ending the relationship. More ≫

Heads Up Diaspora, The New Terrorism Law Is Dangerous For You Too - Joe Michael

2009-08-07T10:15:00.001-04:00

According to the new law, even a peaceful citizen who doesn’t report a terror activity, whether he/she was aware of it or not, historically terror in Ethiopia could be peacefully assembling to criticize the government, could face a serious penalty. A journalist that interview, publish, meet, etc. with someone who is doomed by the government as a terrorist, again keep in mind that the government has been dooming his critics as terrorists, will be punished with rigorous imprisonment of 10 to 20 years.

It is to be recalled that in the aftermath of the 2005 election, special military squad killed close to 200 innocent civilians using U.S. made humvees that was given to Ethiopia by the Bush administration for a purpose of fighting terrorism. The regime also doomed all main opposition leaders as terrorists and imprisoned them for two years. Their crime was basically winning the election.

The new terrorism law also requires Ethiopians to report all foreign nationals in their homes, including Ethiopian born foreign nationals who would go back home to visit their families. This simply means that families must report their loved ones when they return home, or they will face serious punishments, perceptibly if they are pro-oppositions.

Even though terrorism was misinterpreted and misused in Ethiopia long before the new law, it is now going way out of hand. Like one opposition member said, the new terror law it self terrorizes Ethiopians in that it gives infinite power to the government to make 80 million Ethiopians terrorists any time it wants to. The only terror act that is not punishable by the new law is having a dream about terrorists (oppositions), which no one yet would dare to tell it.

What is terror anyway? Who are real terrorists in Ethiopia? Aren’t the terrorists those who are killing innocent, unarmed civilians? Aren’t terrorists those who kept opposition leaders and their supporters in jail without due process? Aren’t the terrorists those who cruelly shot and killed hundreds of civilians, women, and kids
in 2005?

Well, heads up Diaspora, next time you want to go back to Ethiopia, you should know that you are not only taking dollars to your family, you are placing them in trouble too. Get registered, or your family will be doomed as terrorists.

Ethiopia suspends 42 NGOs as hunger worsens

2009-07-22T20:14:00.001-04:00

ADDIS ABABA

Ethiopian authorities have suspended the operations of 42 non-governmental organisations allegedly involved in activities that are "out of their mandate” in the Southern region of the country.

Ethiopia's Southern regional state justice office chief Mr Yilma Meresa told this writer that those NGOs were out to interrupt the peace and development of the region.

Mr Yilma refused to disclose the name of the suspended organisations. However, he hinted that most of them were local NGOs.

The Nation has learnt that international humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and two local gender rights organisations are among the suspended NGOs.

The Ethiopian government moved to revoke the licence of the NGOs following accusation of their alleged involvement in reporting human right abuses in the rural areas.

Ethiopian government publicly accused some NGOs of supplying “inaccurate” information to the United States' State Department, which was published in March 2009.

Food aid

Meanwhile, United Nations humanitarian office in Ethiopia has warned that the number of people who need food aid in Ethiopia will increase to 6.2 million unless more food aid can be secured.

The recent number of people requiring food aid has been 4.9 million and now the country needs additional 390,000 metric tonnes of emergency food aid for the coming three months.

Ethiopia leads the region by registering an average 10 per cent annual economic growth, has been avowed to end hunger but has achieved less success.

Landlocked Ethiopia is also facing port congestion at port Djibouti which delays the flow of food aid to the country.

Recently, World Food Program (WFP) urged Ethiopian authorities to prioritise the transport of food aid rather than agricultural fertilizer, which is equally important for the second most populous African nation at 85.2 million (UN, 2008).

According to WFP, Ethiopia government agreed to prioritise transporting food aid and allocate more berths for ships to offload available food aid at port Djibouti.

Obama declares to Africa: End tyranny, corruption

2009-07-11T16:49:00.004-04:00

- By MARK S. SMITH(AP)

ACCRA, Ghana – America's president and Africa's son, Barack Obama dashed with pride onto the continent of his ancestors Saturday, challenging its people to shed corruption and conflict in favor of peace. Campaigning to all of Africa, he said "Yes you can."

"I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world," Obama told a riveted Ghanaian Parliament. "I have the blood of Africa within me."
" More ≫

Ethiopia adopts strict anti-terrorism bill

2009-07-07T12:53:00.000-04:00

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Ethiopia's parliament on Tuesday adopted a new anti-terrorism bill despite criticism by rights groups that the legislation violates civil liberties.

The law, proposed last year after a string of bomb attacks in the capital, comprises 38 sections and paves the way for arrests and searches without court warrants.

The legislation championed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was voted for by 286 lawmakers in Ethiopia's 547-seat parliament, 91 against and one abstention, an AFP correspondent reported.

Ethiopia: Amend Draft Terror Law

2009-07-01T23:50:00.005-04:00

Source: Human Rights Watch

(Nairobi) - Ethiopia's draft counterterrorism law could punish political speech and
peaceful protest as terrorist acts and encourage unfair trials if enacted, Human Rights Watch said today. The government and members of parliament should amend the draft law, which may otherwise be imminently passed as-is by parliament, to meet international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said.
More ≫

Ethiopia's PM Meles "bored" with resignation talk

2009-06-25T18:36:00.005-04:00

25 Jun 2009 07:06:50 GMT
Source: Reuters

• Generator Dispute
• Coffee Sabotage
• Stepping Down
• Meles said there is “zero” chance that opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa will release

ADDIS ABABA, June 24 (Reuters) - Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday he was tired of speculation over when he will quit after running the Horn of Africa nation since 1991.

Former rebel leader Meles, 54, has fuelled the talk with some of his clearest comments to date this month that he would like to step down if his ruling party is in agreement. More ≫

Meles Says World Bank to Blame for Power Blackouts

2009-06-22T12:42:00.002-04:00

By Jason McLure

June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the World Bank and international donors share the blame for nationwide power cuts that led the government to trim its economic growth forecast.

The Horn of Africa country’s economy may grow 10.1 percent in the fiscal year ending in July, compared with an earlier prediction of 11.2 percent, Meles said in an interview on June 19 in the capital, Addis Ababa. The World Bank underestimated electricity demand in previous years and failed to provide funding for new power-generation projects the government had wanted, leading to under-investment in the industry, he said.

“We could have avoided that mistake if we had the money or had we had the support of our donors,” Meles said. More ≫

Ethiopia plot suspects tortured, say relatives

2009-06-20T12:16:00.002-04:00

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA, June 15 (Reuters) - A group of men accused of plotting to topple Ethiopia's government were tortured in prison during lengthy interrogations, relatives said on Monday.

At a pre-trial hearing in Addis Ababa, a judge refused a request from a lawyer for one of the 32 men for a doctor chosen by the families to visit the detainees in prison to compile a report on any injuries. More ≫

Andinet-Atlanta Honors 2005 Election Victims

2009-06-14T11:02:00.005-04:00

Atlanta, GA Sunday, June 7, 2009
A moment of Silence for a Solemn Sacrifice

The anticipation was palpable. The audience, in character, had high expectations. If you were in attendance this past Sunday June 7, 2009, at the public meeting hosted by Andinet-Atlanta, you would undoubtedly agree that the guests did not disappoint. The guests, of course, were none other than the current chair of Andinet-North America Association of Support Organizations, Ato Aklog Limeneh, and the well-known Professor from California, Prof. Alemayehu Gebremariam.
More ≫

Ethiopia-Ahmara census: A question of politics, money and manipulation?

2009-06-03T23:59:00.001-04:00

Ethiopia-Ahmara census: A question of politics, money and manipulation?
In Ethiopia, more people in a region means more MPs and gov’t money

After months of government in-fighting concerning results of new population census conducted in 2006 and released in December 2008, the Ethiopian parliament ordered a Census Commission to re-examine an earlier projection data, which had bloated the current Amhara Regional State population statistics by over two million. Statistics from the new population census conducted and approved by the Central Statistics Agency has considerably impacted the allocation of budget. This comes after the Ethiopian government decided to use the new statistics as a benchmark for the next fiscal year’s budget allocation. According to the chairman of the Parliamentary Budget and Finance Standing Committee, the new budget could be readjusted while expressing his doubts on the finality of the census statistics. His views have been challenged.

The Central Statistics Agency, charged with annual population growth projections, put the Amhara region population at 19.7 million in its projection for the year 2006. However, a population census conducted in 2006 indicated a 2.4 million reduction in the projected figures. According to the Census Commission, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Adisu Legese, also chairman of Amhara Nationalities Democratic Movement (ANDM), their five month long inquiry has given a stamp of approval to the new Amhara Regional State population statistics. It remains at 17 million.

“Consultants hired from Harvard University including experts from the (Census) secretariat made an in-depth evaluation of the result but couldn’t find any fault with data collection methods or analysis”, Samiya Zekaria head of the secretariat, also Director General of the Central Statistics Agency (CSA) said. To avoid any possible political influences that could affect an objective census result, the secretariat made sure local residents of Amhara were involved, which helped with an “accurate” data collection “covering all kebeles of the region,” said Samiya.

In December 2008, a political battle among parliamentarians — that set members of the same parties against each other while bringing together some opposition MPs and members of the ruling coalition (EPRDF) — began when Samiya Zekaria, head of the census secretariat and also Director General of the Central Statistics Agency (CSA), in a meeting with the parliamentarians admitted that the disparity between the projection and real census figures was way beyond measure. “Mostly there is a variation between projection and actual census, however, it should only amount to 1.5 percent, according to international standards,” she said. The ensuing house battle was marked by one of the few occasions when MPs from the ruling party spoke out against their leaders.

“Non-Ethiopians aware of the negative impact of population growth may wonder why the downwards revision caused such an outcry, but the MPs had good reason: it is a battle to gain not only more political power but also more money,” said an observer who did not wish to be named. Indeed, according to the country’s electoral law, more populated areas mean more MPs, which also translates into more budget subsidies from the Federal Government. The more populated a region is, the higher budget allocation from the central government. “That is why MPs from Amhara complained thunderously, however, they couldn’t change it, which means the region’s budget subsidy for the coming fiscal year has been cut,” the observer continued.

Last week, the House of Federation approved a budget formula in which the Federal Government allocated its budget to the regions for the next fiscal year. According to Ayalew Gobeze, chairman of the House’s Budget and Finance Standing Committee, and also the president of Amhara State, the budget allocation was made using the latest census results and that it stands to be modified should the Central Statistics Agency’s (CSA) investigation into the Amhara population lead to a readjustment of the new statistics before parliament announces next year’s budget. Samiya, however, insists that no readjustment will be needed. “Indeed, it is possible some faults will be found in the projection, but it couldn’t affect the actual census results (which have already been) approved by the commission,” she told Capital.

The census secretariat has launched investigations into the 2006 projection data. Rates of mortality, fertility and migration that led to the projection are under microscopic scrutiny.

Minority ethnic domination of the military in Ethiopia

2009-05-27T19:35:00.001-04:00

The central issue that has eluded candor national debate

May 27th, 2009 | By Neamin Zeleke — Several Ethiopian scholars and political commentators alike have argued in the past that the TPLF regime in Ethiopia has been promoting the domination of a minority ethnic elite, i.e., the Tigreans, in all spheres of the nation’s life — economy, military, intelligence and security services, foreign affairs, etc. Much has been said and many have commented upon the blatant nature of the drive to ensure the domination of Tigrayan elites who claim to represent only 6% of close to 80 million Ethiopians.

Dr. Berhanu Balcha, a member of the Network of Ethiopian Scholars in Scandinavia (NES), wrote an article under the title “Minority domination and Ethnic Federalism.” In the article published by many of the Ethiopain Websites, Dr. Berhanu aptly argued:

…according to the principles of its own ideology of fair and equal representation of ethic groups, the TPLF, which represents the Tigray province with its 6 percent of the Ethiopian population, should have assumed a minority role, if its intention has not been a minority ethnic hegemony via ethnic federalism. Because it has operated contrary to the rule of its own game, the TPLF is operating as an instrument of coercion and domination rather than equality and freedom.”

He continues:

…as a result, the ethnic federal arrangement in Ethiopia has been characterized by economic monopoly, militaristic domination, and brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Ethiopian people, by the TPLF. In a nutshell, the ethnic federal project in Ethiopia has become a device for the implementation and protection of the hegemonic position of the tiny minority Tigrayan elites who have been aiming to have a dominant control of resources that the Ethiopian state controls and generates…”

In the name of a ridiculous notion of “organizational solidarity,” almost all of the ethnically drawn regions under the TPLF ethnic federal arrangement are controlled by Tigrayans running the show. In fact, the pattern has been dubbed in Amharic as “tako”. There are Amharas, Oromos, Southern, and individuals from the plethora of ethnic groups of Ethiopia holding formal positions, yet the real decision makers, movers, and shakers are Tigrayans deemed loyal to the ruling party, the Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne).

It is important to note what is written in a recent statement released by AFAR MOVEMENT (AM) – QAFAR UGUGUMO. The statement mentions a UN Report 2002 that indicates that about 98% of directorial, managerial, adviser, technician and engineering positions in the State of Afar are all occupied by non-Afar speaking people. The statement discloses quoting an ex-cabinet member of the Afar state that “All advisers and expertise are all Tigreans.”

So much for the so-called “equality of nations and nationalities” under the TPLF ethnic federal arrangement that purports to ensure the devolution of power and self-government to the ethnically drawn regions.

Ginbot 7’s latest statement provides a comprehensive list of the key and commanding positions held by Tigrayns in the military. By any stretch of imagination, it is not possible that 6% of the population have the unique capacity to command and control 95% of the command posts in the military. It is not possible by any kind of qualitative measurement for promotion — merit, experience, education and other criteria — that a single and minority ethnic group would have what it takes to hold 57 out of the 61 key and mission critical positions within the national military. Nothing can be further from the truth; the only thing that they have is their ethnicity and political loyalty to be able to totally dominate the military in such grossly disproportional ratio. This is the penultimate and most central point that comes out very loud and clear indeed.

If one is curious enough to examine the military composition during both Emperor HaileSelassie and the Derg regimes, dubbed as “Amhara ” regimes by the TPLF, it is extremely doubtful such a blatant phenomena where 95 percent of the command posts in the military of both regimes were held by Amharas. In fact, the best and ablest, and also the most powerful generals hailed from all ethnic groups of Ethiopia. Gen. Mulugeta Buli, Gen. Jagama Kelo, Gen. Aman Andom, Maj. General Demissie Bulto, Maj. General Regassa Jima, Gen. Woldeselassie Berka, Maj. General Merid Negussie, Gen. Tesfaye HabteMariam, Gen. Teferi Benti and scores of others who come from various ethnic backgrounds come to mind.

Here, the reader should be cognizant that we are not talking about the rebel army the TPLF was back in the days when it was in the Dedebit desert, but 18 years later and right now — and claiming to rule Ethiopia, telling us that there is a national “Ethiopian Army,” or the so-called “Ethiopian Defense Forces”! Only the tribalist regime and its mindless mouthpieces abroad would have the shameless audacity to argue to the contrary — that what we have in Ethiopia is an equal and proportional representation of the major and minor ethnic groups in the military. Therefore, they have been claiming “equality among nations and nationalities hitherto absent…” assured and ascertained, as they deafen us with their endless mantra, day in and day out.

But the facts and figures in the table below and many hitherto scattered data speak otherwise. Thus vindicating what has been known for so many years, i.e., the grossly blatant and far reaching drive for ethnic hegemony of a minority Tigrayan elites over the rest of the Ethiopian people. Of course, for those who are quick to show a handful of non Tigrayans with rank of a Lt. General, Brg. General, etc, yes there are coteries of yes men from other ethnic groups all around the Tigrayans. The nominal and feeble so-called generals, the likes of Kassa Deme, Bacha Debele, and others from Amhara, Oromo, and other ethnic groups — who have lost or do not have any sense of self respect — do exist. They go through the motion of sheepishly scavenging crumbs from their masters table. These puppets do not wield any real power in addition to the often encountered humiliation of being scolded by not only Tigreans with much lower ranks, as many have exposed, including the latest by Tesfaye Gerbeab’s “The Journalist’s Memoir” who laid bare the extent of this phenomena.

Ginbot 7’s latest statement recounts the thousands of high ranking officers, line officers, NCOs and privates from Amhara and Oromo ethnic groups purged by the TPLF mafia in the thousands in recent years. In effect, an ethnic cleansing within the military enclave. On a related story, the purge carried out by the Tigrayan gang is characterized by inhuman torture and suffering the victims are subjected to. Tesfaye Gebreab, in his rent article about Ginbot, mentions the brutality of a woman torturer named Col. Biraa, a former TPLF commissar and now in charge of prison, where military officers are held incommunicado and tortured, some until they are disabled for life. For the latest purges and repression carried out against officers and privates alike in the military one can also refer to a recent report by Finote Democracy [pdf].

Captain Teshome Tenkolu’s story, one of the ablest air force pilots and trainers subjected to inhuman torture is a yet another case among perhaps the untold thousands of others subjected to cruelty and inhumanity carried out by the Tigrayan mafia within the military establishment. The stories told about Capt. Teshome and his late friend, Maj. Daniel say much about the brutal and inhuman ways used by the tribal mafia regime and its henchmen to punish members of the armed forces suspected of any “wrongdoing”. Both were forced to spend two years in underground dungeon under extremely gruesome conditions, forced to sleep and live literally on human remains until they were released after being told by the shameless Woyanne that their country needs them to fight their war with Eritrea — to save their skin in that war with Eritrea which consumed 70,000 Ethiopian lives with no relevance whatsoever for Ethiopia.

The two were asked to return to the air force as pilots. It gave Capt. Teshome the chance to escape to Eritrea with an air force plane. He is now living in Canada. While his friend Maj. Daniel who stayed behind was less fortunate. Several years later, just barely two years ago, he was found dead in Ethiopia under extremely dubious circumstances. Who else could have killed him except the usual suspect, now that he has done his “service,” he could be disposed off.

According to Capt. Teshome’s account of the extreme suffering and inhuman conditions he was forced to endure, the captors who took him from his office at the air force base were Tigrayan officers (former TPLF cadres mentioned by name); the interrogators torturing him, for reasons that he has yet find out even today, were also Tigrayans. It is yet another story of the judge, the jury, the police, were all being played out by individuals belonging to the same ethnic group — Tigrayans — at the service of the TPLF mafia. The full story of Capt. Teshome could be found here.

The minority ethnic domination has far reaching implications for Ethiopia’s future peace and harmony that must exist among the various ethnic groups, including the people of Tigray region. Such facts and figures must come out to show the world the bankruptcy and total recklessness of the TPLF regime and the cabal controlling it.

Below one can find partial list of the names, positions, and ethnic compositions that exist in the current so-called national military in Ethiopia. For a full list of names by rank, ethnic composition and key positions held, one can check the six page report in Amharic release here.

Senior Command Posts mof the Ministery of Defense

1. Chief of Staff, General, Samora Yunus, Tigre
2. Training Department, Lt. General Tadesse Worede, Tigre
3. Logistics Department, Lt. General Geazi Abera, Tigre
4. Military Intelligence Department, Brg. General Gebredela, Tigre
5. Operations Department, Lt. General Gebre Egziabiher, Tigre
6. Engineering Department, Lt. General Berhane Negash, Tigre
7. Air force, Brg. General Mola Haile Mariam, Tigre

Heads of the four commands

1. Central Command, Lt. General AbebawTadesse, Agew
2. Northern Command, Lt. General Seare Mekonnen, Tigre
3. South Eastern Command, Maj. General Abraha W. Gabriel, Tigre
4. Western Command, Brg. General Siyoum Hagos, Tigre

Division Commands

1. 31st Division Commander, Colonel Tsegaye Marx, Tigre
2. 33rd Division Commander, Colonel Kidane, Tigre
3. 35th Division Commander, Colonel Misganaw Alemu, Tigre
4. 24th Division Commander, Colonel Work Aieynu, Tigre
5. 22nd Division Commander, Colonel Dikul, Tigre
6. 14th Division Commander, Colonel Woedi Antieru, Tigre
7. 21st Divison Commander, Colonel Gueshi Gebre, Tigre
8. 11th Division Commander, Colonel Workidu, Tigre
9. 25th Division Commander, Colonel Tesfai Sahel, Tigre
10. 20th Division Commander, Colonel, Teklai Klashin, Tigre
11. 8th Mechanized Division, Colonel Jemal Mohamed, Tigre
12. 4th Mechanized Division, Colonel Hintsaw Giorgis, Tigre

Minority ethnic domination of the military in Ethiopia

2009-05-27T19:32:00.003-04:00

Minority ethnic domination of the military in Ethiopia

2009-05-27T19:32:00.001-04:00

Minority ethnic domination of the military in Ethiopia

2009-05-27T19:32:00.000-04:00

Ethiopia calls U.S. human rights report “lies”

2009-05-19T10:59:00.001-04:00

May 18, 2009 By Barry Malone

‘We stand by our report’ - Donald Yamamoto

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia rejected on Monday a U.S. government human rights report published in February that accused security forces in the Horn of Africa nation of politically motivated killings.

The U.S. State Department 2008 human rights survey detailed cases of opposition members being killed and said citizens’ political rights were restricted through bureaucratic obstacles, intimidation and arrests by the government and ruling party.

“The State Department report is based on hearsay and lies,” Bereket Simon, the Ethiopian government’s head of information told reporters. “We fully reject it.”

Bereket said the report was based on claims from opposition parties and charities and that the Ethiopian government had not been consulted before its publication.

“We talked to Ethiopian government officials and we stand by our report,” U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald Yamamoto, told Reuters on Monday.

Analysts say Ethiopia has been a key U.S. ally in its fight against terrorism.

The Horn of Africa’s biggest military power sent troops into neighboring Somalia to topple Islamists in late 2006. The Ethiopian troops withdrew earlier this year.

“This doesn’t reflect any bad relationship between us and the U.S.” said Bereket. “We welcome accurate information about possible abuses in our country.”

Opposition parties routinely accuse the government of harassment and say candidates were intimidated during local elections in April of last year. The government denies that.

Ethiopia last month jailed 46 men it accused of planning to overthrow the government through a series of assassinations and bombings. International rights groups have called on Ethiopia to name the accused and say where they are being held.

Ethiopia will hold national elections in July 2010.

(Editing by David Clarke and Richard Balmforth)

Worldwide rally to mark the May 2005 election

2009-05-16T11:59:00.002-04:00

Organized by International Network against Repression and Injustice, Ethiopian held the third worldwide rally today to mark the May 15, 2005 elections, and remember the innocent citizens massacred by Meles Zenawi regime (Pictures by Abebe Belew & Tewodros Mekbib, ).

In a letter handed over to the Whitehouse and American embassies in Europe, the protesters have also asked the Obama administration to stop supporting the genocide regime of Meles Zenawi.

Ethiopia blasts report by rights watchdog on arrested opponents

2009-05-14T00:18:00.001-04:00

Sudan Tribune | May 13, 2009

The Ethiopian government dismissed a recently released report by Human Rights Watch in connection with the recent arrest of 40 opposition member suspected of plotting to assassinate top government officials and strategic bombing on public facilities.

The US-based Watchdog in its recent report condemned the mass arrest against 40 members of opposition, "Ginbot 7"as "politically motivated" and "in line of blood relation." But the Ethiopian government strongly reacted to HRW’s report and blasted it saying ground less and a usual deliberate campaign aimed to defame a nation’s image. "The report by the so-called Human Rights watch is baseless," the Government communications Affairs Bureau said in an Amharic statement issued on Friday.

It said the HRW jeopardized the rule of law in reporting on matters in due process by the country’s court.

"The suspects were put behind bars after it was discovered that they were preparing to assassinate government officials and blow up selected government cities," the statement said, adding the round up took place following an arrest warrant by the court.

"Citizens who violate the country’s law are held accountable, and this process will not be disrupted by fabricated reports and negative campaign aimed at tarnishing the country’s image," the statement added.

The ministry said it was not understood why the rights NGO chose to resort to making hasty statements about the matter while the issue was in due process and in line with national and international legal practices.

The statement accused the human rights watch as an organization engaged in relentlessly attempts of hurting the image of the country. "The report is a product of one those so called international organizations who in the name of human rights, are engaged in hurting the image of the country." "This kind of unfounded and baseless report made in the midst of the due process is faulty and therefore unacceptable," the statement further said concluding government’s response to the HRW report released on Thursday.

The suspects were first taken to custody on alleged allegation of coup plot but Bereket Simon, Minister for government’s communication last week at a news conference reversed the claims saying plans were not to conduct a coup plot, it was an intent to create havoc by those that he described them as "desperados."

Ethiopia government’s report alleges that Weapons, landmines, and copies of plans were seized during a raid by security forces last month.

Today, suspects have come before court on a second hearing but it is again adjourned for two weeks.

---
Source: Sudan Tribune

A minority domination and ethnic federalism in Ethiopia - By Berhanu G. Balcha (Ph.D.)

2009-05-10T15:29:00.000-04:00

. Introduction

Ethnicity and federalism have become the major factors in organizing the political and territorial space in Ethiopia since 1991.

The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which had started its movement for the liberation of its ethnic territory from the central Ethiopian administration, has advocated ethnic- federalism by vowing to reduce conflicts and equalize the diverse ethnic communities. As a result, the overall centralized structure of the previous regime has been replaced by a ‘federal’ system consists of nine ethnically and regionally delimited regional states.

The ‘ethnic- federal’ experiment of devolving public sector powers to ethnic groups goes against the centralized nation-building project of the previous regimes. The previous regimes used a different model; they gave much emphasis to ‘Ethiopian nationalism’ as a unifying concept and promoted centralization rather than regional or ethnic autonomy. The rule of the emperor was based on absolutism and concentration of power on the king himself through a patrimonial network of power, resource and privilege accumulation and distribution system that benefits the rulers and their few collaborators at local, regional and central levels. The major orientation of the imperial state was to use the state power for voracious appropriation of resources mainly from the peasantry in order to reward the few ruling nobilities, viceroy and their clienteles that maintain the survival of the highly centralised state. Although the brutality of appropriation and mode of domination differ from place to place due to the historical process and mode of incorporation into the centralized state structure, the expansion toward the south accompanied with the assertion of the cultural superiority of the core and the serfdom and exploitation of the people of the south (Clapham 2002: 10, Teshale 1995: 176, Bahiru 1994, Messay 1999). In the process, many of the southern Ethiopian peasantry were turned in to serfs in their own land when the ‘ownership’ of their land was transferred to the emperor, nobilities and loyal followers of the imperial authority. Though the predatory state had showed some favouritism based on provincial ethnicity for functional purpose, it promoted ‘state nationalism’ and ‘national integration’ with the perception of national identity as the mirror-image of the ruling elite’s ethnic and cultural manifestations in terms of language, religion and, self-proclaimed moral superiority and military triumph over others. It is indisputable that language proficiency plays a significant role to determine better access to education and employment by putting in a relatively disadvantageous situation those groups whose language is not used in employment and education.

The military regime, after 1974, repeatedly stressed that it preferred ‘socialist’ solution to the nationalities question but promoted militaristic nationalism by means of authoritarian and highly centralized political system. It initiated, however, few measures like broadcasting radio programmes in Afar, Somali, Oromiffa and Tigrgna languages, establishing national research institution for studying nationalities and finally drawing a new internal boundary based on linguistic and territorial bases. Most importantly, it made a radical shift in the landownership in 1975, particularly in the southern part of Ethiopia by destroying the exploitative and unjust land appropriation of the nobility and others. Although the radical change had abolished serfdom by distributing the land to the peasants, land remained the property of the state and thus made the peasantry highly intervened and controlled by the state. Nevertheless, it did not make any attempt to link ethnic rights with politics or governance issues. Rather without any regional or ethnic prejudices, it imposed its greater centralization and brutal governance system, controlled at the core by junior military officers regardless of their ethnic affiliation or orientations. Militaristic state nationalism blended with socialism was promoted by hoping to obliterate regional and ethnic movements. However, excessive centralization backed by ruthless coercion did not abate regional and ethnic movements. Rather, it exacerbated internal turmoil and massive resentment of the population, which provided a good opportunity for the expansion of ethnonational movements that finally overrun the state’s centre in 1991 by defeating the military regime, and introducing a rhetoric of ethnic autonomy and ethnic entitlement.

2. Ethnicity: a theoretical challenge and empirical nuisance

Structuring of society and politics on the basis of ethnicity has been viewed by many scholars as a risky approach for the reason that politicisation of ethnicity could excessively awaken ethnic consciousness and unleash ethnic groupings at the expense of shared identities and interspersed settlements (Horowitz 1985, Messay 1999, Clapham 2002). It is held that ethnic entitlements could give much more leverage to blood relationships and ascriptive loyalties in place of rights and duties (Kedourie 1993). It could also promote the rule of kin, instead of the rule of law, because ascribed ethnic solidarity is more important than merit and other achieving qualities in the ideology of ethnic entitlement, therefore sharing the same genealogy will be a reassurance for assuming political leadership. Ethnic entitlement can also be used by ethnic leaders to gather justification or legitimisation for autocratic rule in the name of their ethnic community. Most importantly, the adulation and preponderance of affinitive or kinship ties within societies would pose formidable barriers to build tolerant multiethnic societies (Ali. A. Mazrui 1967).

On the other hand, scholars concerned about ethnically fragmented societies suggest that in order to reduce ethnic tensions and conflicts, it is imperative for multiethnic states to engineer accommodative structure in order to achieve peaceful coexistence (O’Leary 2002, Lijphart 1994; 2002). A prominent scholar in the field of ethnicity, politics and power-sharing in multiethnic societies, Arend Lijphart (1994) advises for designing ethnic power sharing arrangements or consociational model in segmented or divided societies. According to Arend Lijphart that successful political accommodation of diverse ethnic groups could be achieved through recognition and devising appropriate institutions for accommodation and power sharing. In his discussion of consociational politics, Lijphart enumerated four necessary institutional arrangements in accommodating diversities. These are power sharing government (grand coalition), mutual veto, proportionality and segmental autonomy (Lijphart 1977). In his discussion Lijphart outlined the necessity to have proportional representation from all significant groups, a protection for minority groups and a territorial autonomy or non-territorial division of power or functional autonomy. Although Lijphart’s consociational democracy is criticized for its high reliance on the good will of elites, it can be used as a model for engineering appropriate institutional structures in places where diverse ethnic groups are competing and fighting for controlling the state power.

In line with Lijphart’s argument other scholars suggest also that stability in culturally fragmented countries increases if these countries adopt a political system characterised by proportionality, grand coalition, federalism and strong veto points (Steiner et al 2003: 82). Ethnic federalism is suggested as a relatively preferable institutional arrangement in case of geographically concentrated ethnic groups. Federalism can provide an autonomous space for power exercise and a space for expression for territorially concentrated homogeneous ethnic groups. In such case it could reduce demands for separation and other tensions associated with secession.

However, scholars like Donald Horowitz (1985 & 2002) and Basta Fleiner (2000) argue that ethnic arrangement as a means to ensure ethnic self-government could further radicalise ethnic problem by turning ethnic demands into political principles rather than providing a remedy or cure. In this connection, federal framework based on ethnic coalition could be very unstable form of government, because ethnic elites could be possessed by their own sectional self-interest to pull apart the framework or the coalition. They could also be constrained by their ethnic community if they concede much for the sake of cooperation. Horowitz (2002) therefore argues that federalism should aim to create an integrative dynamics by encouraging ethnically heterogeneous groups or political units to work together within a shared structure that can provide incentives for inter-ethnic co-operation. For Horowitz, non-ethnic federal units could help to forge common interests, other than ethnic identities, among people living within the same federal units in order to compete against the other federal units beyond ethnic interests. Horowitz believes that the remedy for ethnic problem is institutionalisation of ‘ethnically blind’ structures and policies that could reduce or undermine ethnic divide. However, he recognises that in a climate of elite competition ‘a fear of ethnic domination and suppression is a motivating force for the acquisition of power as an end and it is also sought for confirmation of ethnic status’ (Horowitz 1985: 187). ‘An ethnic contrast that has produced an extraordinary amount of conflict in many African, Asian, and Caribbean states is the juxtaposition of ‘backward’ and ‘advanced’ groups’ (Horowitz 1985: 148). Thus, Horowitz advises that ‘if indeed ethnicity and ethnic organisations provide security to groups in an uncertain environment, then attempts to replace or outlaw them may have the effect of increasing insecurity’ (Horowitz 1985: 567-8). It could be essential, therefore, to recognise the importance of power-sharing and territorial devolution. Territorial compartmentalization with devolution of generous power can have tranquillising effects in countries with territorially separate groups, significant sub-ethnic divisions and serious conflict at the centre (Horowitz 1985: 614). It is very vital to consider the importance of timing in engineering a political process and structure, because ‘accommodation long delayed may be accommodation ultimately denied’ (Horowitz 1985: 617).

As Walker Connor (1999) articulates that ethnonational movements’ are found worldwide, they

‘are to be found in Africa (for example, Ethiopia), Asia (Sri Lanka), Eastern Europe (Romania), Western Europe (France), North America (Guatemala), South America (Guyana), and Oceania (New Zealand). The list includes countries that are old (United Kingdom), as well as new (Bangladesh), large (Indonesia), as well as small (Fiji), rich (Canada), as well as poor (Pakistan), authoritarian (Sudan) as well as democratic (Belgium), Marxist-Leninist (China) as well as militantly anti-Marxist (Turkey). The list also includes countries which are Buddhist (Burma), Christian (Spain), Moslem (Iran), Hindu (India) and Judaic (Israel). (Connor 1999: 163-4).

Ethnic associations and ethnic parties have been discouraged and banned in many countries and in majority cases due to fear of the presumed radical and destructive backlashes of ethnic demands and ethnic rights. Vindictive horrors of ethnic conflicts, genocide and ethnic cleansing in cases like in Rwanda, former Yugoslavia, Nigeria and also unrelenting and destructive ethnic strives in places such as in Sudan, India, Malaysian, Sri Lanka and others are signalling the recalcitrance nature of ethnic demands and also indicating the difficult challenges connected to ethnic entitlement and ethnic rights.

However, in his cross-national study of communal based conflicts, Ted Gurr (1994) shows that ‘ethnic identity and interest per se do not risk unforeseen ethnic wars; rather, the danger is hegemonic elites who use the state to promote their own people’s interest at the expense of others (Gurr 2000: 64). Thus, he warns that ‘the push of state corruption and minority repression probably will be a more important source of future ethnic wars than the ‘pull’ of opportunity’ (Ibid). Horowitz also asserts that even if ethnic problems are intractable, they are not altogether without hope; ‘even in the most severely divided societies, ties of blood do not lead to ineluctably to rivers of blood’ (Ibid. p. 682). Power-sharing and coalition political frameworks that could encourage inter-ethnic cooperation by ensuring recognition of some prominent group’s rights could be one option to minimise group’s resentments and mitigate destructive conflicts.

3. A paradox in Ethiopia: a tiny minority and relatively poorer region demands and monopolises federalism

In the Ethiopian context, the TPLF was inherently and structurally deficient in establishing a genuine accommodative federal political framework in the country. The TPLF officially and proudly claims to represent the Tigray province and the Tigray people. The Tigray people constitute only 6 percent of the total population of Ethiopia, a very tiny minority in Ethiopia’s ethnic configuration when compared to the Oromo and Amhara people that represent about 35 and 30 per cent of the Ethiopian people respectively. The Tigray province has been relatively the most impoverished, environmentally degraded and highly vulnerable to frequent draught and famine. Without siphoning or supplementing resource from the other part of Ethiopia, it is unlikely that the province could sustain the current, though still precarious, life standard. Conceivably, therefore the TPLF’s ethnic empowerment discourse could damages more the interest and benefit of the Tigray elite and the TPLF, if it is to be implemented genuinely. The TPLF and the Tigrayan elite would have lost their privileged position with a genuine ethnic federal arrangement in Ethiopia.

As a result, the TPLF was not interested to create a genuine ethnic coalition government and a genuine ethnic federal arrangement in Ethiopia that would certainly put it in a gravely disadvantageous position. More importantly, the Tigray province, a home of the TPLF, would be the least to be benefited from a genuine federal arrangement in Ethiopia, therefore the TPLF has not worked for a genuine federal arrangement. From the beginning, the intention of the TPLF has been a sham federal arrangement through a superficial ethnic coalition arrangement. Hence, it has been embarking on sustaining a political travesty via EPRDF (Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Force) that would assure its hegemonic project by using ethnic rights as a discourse to attract and subdue the disoriented ethnic elites.

Ethnic rights and ethnic entitlement have become an attractive inducement for many of elites from various ethnic groups to fell so easily in the trap of the TPLF’s manipulation and machination. Many of surrogate ethnic parties, which have not have any legitimacy from their respective ethnic communities, have become an instrument of the TPLF’s hegemonic desire, as they have been easily susceptible to TPLF’s rewarding or/and coercing power. In this case, the TPLF has been consistent in its core policy in promoting first and foremost the interests of the Tigray elite.

From the beginning, the hegemonic ambition of the Tigrayan elite or the TPLF has been the major factor in blocking an effective power-sharing federal government in Ethiopia. The TPLF single-handedly dominated the constitutional drafting process and the procedures for establishing an elected government that replaced the transition government. The TPLF was more interested to promote its project in reasserting the hegemony of the Tigrayan elite in Ethiopia. The Tigrayan elites have been very nostalgic about the past glory and standing of Tigray in the history of the Ethiopian state (Aregawe 2004: 576). Marcus states that ‘Tigrayan felt marginalized, even though the Tigray had participated in Emperor Menelik’s empire building and in Emperor Haile Selassie’s effort to establish a nation’ (Marcus 2002: 221). Kinfe Abreha argues also that ‘the Tigrians also resent the unfair historical process through which the Tigrians overloardship of Emperor Yohannes IV was lost to Menelik II, leading to the gradual decline of the region from the citadel of the Empire’ to a quasi autonomous one’ (Kinfe 1994: 159). He writes that: ‘The Tigray resistance is naturally the outcome of the gradual decline of the region whose human and material potentials was spent in the preservation of the territorial integrity of Ethiopia. It was the case of a candle that consumed itself while giving light to its surroundings’ (Ibid.). Adhana also claims that Tigray, defined by its predominant Christian character, formed not only a durable component of the Ethiopian nation but was also part of the backbone of the Ethiopian state and thus ‘everything that defined the Ethiopian state was a result of Aksumite invention and innovation.’ (Adhana 1998: 43). These assertions may reflect the disquiet of the Tigrayan elite on lost pride due to ‘a humiliating sense of exclusion from the important centre of power’.

4. Is the TPLF empowering ethnic groups?

Many critics have accused the TPLF for excessively empowering ethnic groups, however the real practice has been that the TPLF has co-opted elites from the various ethnic groups who have not make an effective resistance against the dominance of the Tigrayan elite in the Ethiopian state. Here, the most important point to understand is that the TPLF has not been an honest force in implementing a genuine ethnic federalism. Actually, the TPLF is not giving a real power to the ethnic communities, but it is promoting surrogate elites and ethnic entrepreneurs from various ethnic communities who have facilitated the expansion of its influence and rule in their respective areas. The implication is that the ethnic federal arrangement has been used by the TPLF in order to extend its authority beyond its own territory in order to make the Tigrayan elite a dominant political and economic force in the Ethiopian state.

Although the TPLF claims that it has been struggling, first and foremost, for the rights of the Tigrayan people for self-determination, its legitimacy in Tigray has not been confirmed democratically. Nevertheless, it is evident that the TPLF has been able to secure immense moral and political support from some section of the elite of Tigray because of its ‘commitment’ for the reassertion and promotion of the Tigrayan nationalism. It is becoming clear that the ethnic federal arrangement in Ethiopia has been used by the TPLF to establish the hegemony of the Tigray nationalism over other nationalisms, including the ‘Ethiopian nationalism’. Though it is difficult to know whether the Tigrean people as a whole support or benefit from the strategy of the TPLF, there is ample evidence that some of the Tigrayan elites have been benefiting significantly in getting a dominant political and economic position in disproportionate to the share they should have been given in accordance with the ethnic entitlement principles of the motto of ethnic federalism as it has been proclaimed by the TPLF itself.

According to the principles of its own ideology of fair and equal representation of ethic groups, the TPLF, which represents the Tigray province with its 6 percent of the Ethiopian population, should have assumed a minority role, if its intention has not been a minority ethnic hegemony via ethnic federalism. Because it has operated contrary to the rule of its own game, the TPLF is operating as an instrument of coercion and domination rather than equality and freedom. As a result, the ethnic federal arrangement in Ethiopia has been characterised by economic monopoly, militaristic domination, and brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Ethiopian people, by the TPLF. In a nutshell, the ethnic federal project in Ethiopia has become a device for the implementation and protection of the hegemonic position of the tiny minority Tigrayan elites who have been aiming to have a dominant control of resources that the Ethiopian state controls and generates.

5. Conclusion

There will be no a magic democratic formula or military adventure that can make the TPLF or the Tigrayan elite a majority group in the present day Ethiopia. A continuation of brutal and forceful rule of a minority rule in long run could lead to a chaotic scenario in which the majority may rise to take a desperate violent action to free themselves from the despotism of a minority group. It is totally unfeasible and unsustainable for an elite from a minority ethnic group to assume a hegemonic position in a context where the consciousness of the people as well as of the ethnic communities is sufficiently mature to distinguish between what is appropriate and what is not. Military force and other deceptive strategies such as co-option of elites, and divide and rule tactics may work for some time, but such strategies can not create a genuine framework that can nurture a workable political system in a sustainable way. The TPLF has got a considerable support from the US because of its tactical alliance in the ‘coalition of the willing’ and the ‘war on terror’, however, it is unwise to rely on external patron in a sustainable manner. Neither the imperial rule, nor the military regime was saved by its external patron. It is evident that the willingness of the people to accept the rule of the TPLF has been weakening. The May 2005 Ethiopia’s election, in which the TPLF forcefully and brutally changed the outcome of the election’s result (as reported by the European Union’s Election observers mission and by all civil society groups in Ethiopia), was a clear message from the Ethiopian people to the TPLF that the Ethiopians are badly in need of a democratic change and they are also ready to make it to happen.

References

[1] Adhana H. Adhana 1998. ‘Tigray- The Birth of a Nation within the Ethiopian Polity’. In Mohammed Salih, M. A. and J. Markakis (eds.) Ethnicity and the State in Eastern Africa. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikaninstituten.

[2] Aregawi Berhe 2004. ‘THE ORIGINS OF THE TIGRAY PEOPLE’S LIBERATION FRONT’, in African Affairs (2004), 103/413, pp 569–592, Royal African Society

[3] Bahiru Zewde 1991. History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1974, Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University

[4] Clapham, Christopher 2002. Controlling Space in Ethiopia in James, Wendy, Donham, Donald L., Kurimoto, Eisei, and Triulzi, Alessandro. (Eds.) Remapping Ethiopia. London: James Currey.

[5] Connor, Walker 1999. ‘National Self-determination and Tomorrow’s Political Map’. In Alan Cairns (ed.) Citizenship, Diversity and Pluralism. Montreal: McGill Queen’s University Press.

[6] Fleiner, Lidija R. Basta 2000. ‘Can Ethnic Federalism Work?’- Paper for the Conference On “Facing Ethnic Conflicts”, Bonn, Germany 14-16, December 2000 - Center for Development Research (ZEF Bonn).

[7] Gurr, T. Robert 2000 ‘Ethnic Warfare on the Wane’ in Foreign Affairs, May/June 2000, Volume 79, Number 3, pp 52 - 64

[8] Horowitz, Donald L. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and
London: University of California Press)
———————– 2002. Constitutional Design: Proposals versus Processes.
In Andrew Reynolds (ed.), The Architecture of Democracy, Constitutional Design, Conflict Management, and Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press

[9] Kedourie, Elie 1993. Nationalism. London: Hutchinson

[10] Kinfe, Abraham 1994. Ethiopia from Bullets to the Ballot Box. NJ: The Red Sea Press

[11] Lijphart, Arend 1977. Democracy in Plural Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press

[11] —————— 1994. ‘Prospects for Power-Sharing in the New South Africa’ in
ReynoldsA. (ed.) Election ’94 South Africa: The Campaigns, Results and Future Prospects. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[12] —————— 2002. ‘The Wave of Power-Sharing Democracy’ in Andrew Reynolds (ed.) The Architecture of Democracy: Constitutional Design, Conflict Management, and Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[13] Marcus, Harold 2002. A History of Ethiopia. Berkeley: University of California Press

[14] Mazrui, Ali A. 1967. Soldiers and Kinsmen in Uganda: The making of a Military Ethnocracy. Beverly Hills: Sage

[15] Merera Gudina 2003. Ethiopia: Competing ethnic nationalisms and the quest for democracy, 1960 – 2000. PhD dissertation.

[16] Messay Kebede 1999. Survival and Modernisation: Ethiopia’s Enigmatic Present: A Philosophical Discourse. New Jersey and Asmara: The Red Sea Press, Inc.

[17] O’Leary, Brendan, 2002. ‘Federations and the Management of nations: Agreement and arguments with Walker Connor and Ernest Gellner’. In Daniele Conversi (ed.) Ethnonationalism in the Contemporary World: Walker Connor and the study of nationalism, London and New York: Routledge. pp 153-183

[18] Steiner Jürg, André Bächtiger, Markus Spörndli, Marco R. Steenbergen, 2003.
Deliberative politics in action: Crossnational study of parliamentary debates. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

[19] Gurr, T. Robert and Barbara Harff, 1994. Ethnic Conflict in World Politics. Oxford, Boulder, and San Francisco: Westview Press

[20] Teshale Tibebu 1995. The Making of Modern Ethiopia 1896 – 1974. NJ:
Red Sea Press

Comments can be sent to: berhanugbnes@yahoo.com

Ethiopia - EFFORT merged with Dejenna Endowment

2009-05-10T12:49:00.000-04:00

By Yohannes Anberbir

Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT), has merged with Dejenna Endowment, which has the same aim. The measure comes following Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s wife, Azeb Mesfin’s, appointment as its deputy head.

EEFORT was established in 1995 as a non-governmental foundation controlling 13 companies engaged in finance, trade, mining, construction, transport, and agriculture, and more than 10 subsidiary companies.

Criticism from opposition parties has labelled EFFORT as controlled by the ruling coalition, the EPRDF. They have urged it to withhold from business activities because of its alleged connections, but figures from the ruling party have denied giving continued support to the foundation.

According to them, assets acquired during the period of armed struggle against the Derg in the late 1980s and early 1990s provided the resources to establish the endowment fund, which aims to rehabilitate war damaged areas of Tigray, Ethiopia’s most northerly regional state.

Bucknell University professor can't return to Ethiopia

2009-04-28T12:25:00.003-04:00

He denies any role in coup attempt

By Tricia Pursell
The Daily Item

LEWISBURG -- Bucknell University economics professor Berhanu Nega knows the Ethiopian government would imprison him if he were to return to his homeland.

But his dream for democracy in the African nation of 81 million people has not died. He continues to be an outspoken supporter of opposition leaders.
more

Meles Dismisses Calls for UN Investigation of Rights Abuses

2009-04-15T19:05:00.001-04:00

By James Butty - Washington, DC (15 April 2009) The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission says Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government has designed good governance programs aimed at respect and protection for human rights. Commissioner Kassa Gebrehiwot reportedly said the commission has been striving to raise public awareness about human rights through the use of the mass media.

He spoke Monday in Addis Ababa during a seminar on the role of members of parliament in the respect and protection of human rights.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government is denying allegations it committed human rights abuses against the Anuaks in the Gambella region of western Ethiopia and ethic Somalis in the Ogaden. In a letter, the organization “Genocide Watch” has asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to investigate the alleged crimes which it said fit the definition of genocide.

Woindimu Asamnew, spokesman for the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington told VOA his government considers the allegations as lies.

“We don’t take seriously their allegations and fabrications. They are totally unfounded, fabricated lies,” he said.

In his letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Genocide Watch President Gregory Stanton said Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and others in his government were probably aware that they too could one day be brought before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Asamnew said the Ethiopian government does not take such comments seriously. He also said there was no need for an independent outside investigation as was being requested by Genocide Watch.

“We don’t take this kind of idea seriously. We have a parliament; they do take care of these kinds of issues. There is no any need of inviting international body for this purpose because of unfounded allegations. An outside investigation is unnecessary and unacceptable,” Asamnew said.

Genocide Watch said the atrocities allegedly committed in Gambella against the Anuaks in 2005 fit the definitions of genocide and crimes against humanity. But Asamnew said the allegations are false.

“We have investigated the matter and taken corrective measures, otherwise this kind of exaggerated and unfounded lies are not taken seriously by our government,” he said.

He also denied Genocide Watch’s claims of a “culture of impunity” within the Ethiopian government.

“What I’m saying is that any individual can say whatever he wants, but alleging something and the realities on the ground are totally different matter,” Asamnew said.

Ethiopia was supposed to help America in the war on terror. But it's only made matters worse.

2009-04-13T11:41:00.002-04:00

By Jonathan Tepperman | NEWSWEEK
Published Apr 11, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Apr 20, 2009

Few people outside Ethiopia have ever heard of Birtukan Mideksa. And that's just how the government wants it. Since December, Birtukan has been kept in solitary confinement, one of hundreds of political prisoners there . Her apparent crime? Organizing a democratic challenge to the increasingly iron-fisted rule of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. more

“It might take time but Zenawi faces justice” Dr. Gregory

2009-04-13T11:28:00.000-04:00

In an interview with the Voice of America and Deutsche Welle Amharic services, president of Genocide Watch, Dr Gregory Stanton said that his appeal to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate genocide in Ethiopia had received sincere attention. “It might take time but Meles Zenawi will face justice for sure,” Says Dr. Gregory. Listen to his interviews in Amharic, [VOA] [DW] and [Addisdimts FF to 1h 14 min]

Ethiopia: Dictator appoints wife CEO of largest business chain

2009-04-10T12:16:00.001-04:00

ADDIS ABABA (Ethiomedia) - Azeb Mesfin, the wife of anti-Ethiopian tyrant Meles Zenawi, is poised to taking over the largest business conglomerate that controls 60 percent of the Ethiopian economy, a source reported on Monday. more

Ethiopia - World Bank disputes gov't Growth Forecast

2009-04-09T21:54:00.000-04:00

Ethiopian government is saying the country's GDP is expected to expand by 11.2% for the current fiscal year, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) thinks that projection number is too rosy and it cuts the projection by half. Earlier this month, Sukhwinder Singh, IMF resident representative for Ethiopia, said that the Fund’s 2009 GDP growth forecast for Ethiopia stood at 6.5 percent, contrary to the government’s 11.2 percent projection. Now The Daily Monitor is reporting that, the World Bank agrees with IMF's forecast. Here is what was reported by The Monitor, "The World Bank team here believes that the IMF's is more realistic than the government's forecast for the reason that investment in the country seems to be slowing" the Bank's Country Director for Ethiopia Kenichi Ohashi told journalists at a round table discussion attended by visiting World Bank Director for International Affairs, Grace Ssempala.

Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS among African Americans

2009-03-25T12:09:00.000-04:00

In the United States, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is a health crisis for African Americans. At all stages of HIV/AIDS—from infection with HIV to death with AIDS—blacks (including African Americans) are disproportionately affected compared with members of other races and ethnicities [1, 2].

STATISTICS
HIV/AIDS in 2005

According to the 2000 census, blacks make up approximately 13% of the US population. However, in 2005, blacks accounted for 18,121 (49%) of the estimated 37,331 new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the United States in the 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting [2].*
Of all black men living with HIV/AIDS, the primary transmission category was sexual contact with other men, followed by injection drug use and high-risk heterosexual contact [2].
more

Ethiopia Shuts Warehouses

2009-03-25T11:08:00.001-04:00

By Jason McLure

March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia, Africa’s largest coffee producer, closed the warehouses of the country’s six largest exporters of the beans and suspended their licenses after accusing the brokers of hoarding the crop, the government said. more

Identical at Birth: World Worst Dictator

2009-03-23T11:31:00.003-04:00

16. Meles Zenawi
Ethiopia
Age: 53
In power since: 1995
Last year’s rank: 15

A former guerrilla leader, Meles shows no signs of sharing power with anyone. In January, his government passed a law forbidding any NGO that receives more than 10% of its budget from abroad from doing human rights work in Ethiopia. Despite Meles’ excesses, the U.S. considers him an important regional ally and continues to train his more

2009-03-22T18:24:00.002-04:00

Addis Abeba — The NGO legislation could potentially restrict the operations of civil society organisations, as well as international partners' assistance to Ethiopian Government's development priorities, despite claims by the government the new law will not affect majority of civil society and NGOs operating in the country, the European Union said on Friday. more

Birtu-Can! Yes, We Can!

2009-03-02T11:39:00.015-05:00

On March 2, 2009, Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia throughout the world will be taking to the streets to protest human rights violations by the ruling regime, and to demand the release of all political prisoners. The preeminent political prisoner and the undisputed symbol of democratic resistance in Ethiopia today is Birtukan Mideksa, chairperson of Andenet party (Unity for Democracy and Justice party). Over two months ago, Birtukan was strong-armed, manhandled and whisked away to the infamous Kality prison by armed thugs. Her crime (don’t laugh), “Pardon Denying.” Her “life sentence” by a kangaroo court was reinstated because she allegedly told an Ethiopian audience in Sweden that she and other political prisoners were released in July 2007 following negotiations with the ruling regime in Ethiopia. In her response to a regime ultimatum to retract the alleged pardon denial, she issued a clear public statement acknowledging receipt of a pardon: “As one of the prisoners I had indeed signed the [pardon] document, a fact which I have never denied. I have asked forgiveness through the elders by signing on the document dated June 18, 2006. This is a fact that I cannot change even if I want to.” more

2008 Human Rights Reports: Ethiopia

2009-02-26T12:04:00.003-05:00

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
February 25, 2009

Ethiopia is a federal republic led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition. The population was approximately 77 million. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the EPRDF won a third consecutive five-year term. more

Ethiopians Rally on March 2, 2009

2009-02-22T12:40:00.007-05:00

Ethiopia and the friends of Ethiopia will on the 2nd of March 2009 take to the streets of many Cities around the world to protest against the gross human rights violations in Ethiopia. The activists will also demand the release of thousands of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

USA: Protest March from State Department to the White House
2200 C S1 NW, Washington DC, USA.
Starting from 9:00am

UK: Embassy of The United States
24 Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE
from 3pm to 7pm, info:07946644831, 07970350860

Switzerland: Embassy of The United States
Sulgeneckstrasse 19, CH-3007 Berne, Switzerland
Info041448110806, 041223410013

Ethiopia Won’t Free Telecoms, Banking for WTO, Minister Says

2009-02-19T18:48:00.004-05:00

By Jason McLure
Bloomberg

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia will pursue membership of the World Trade Organization, though it has no plans to liberalize its telecommunications and financial-services industries to gain access, Trade Minister Girma Birru said.
more

Ill-treatment of Birtukan Mideksa

2009-02-18T21:28:00.012-05:00

ANDINET NORTH AMERICA ASSOCIATION OF SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS (ANAASO)
Action Alert, For Immediate Distribution

The Association of Andinet Support Organizations in North America has learnt disturbing developments in the prison conditions of Ms. Birtukan Mideksa, Chairwoman of UDJ. According to our sources, Ms. Mideksa still continues to be held in solitary confinement- nearly two months now. Her lawyer is once again prohibited from contacting her after he was allowed to meet with her only once following an international outcry. Ms. Mideksa’s niece, who was allowed to visit her in order to relieve her 72 year old frail mother from the burden of carrying food and other essentials on a long trip, is no more permitted to show up at the gates of the prison. As of today, it is only her elderly mother and her four year old daughter who have a weekly visitation rights. more

Attacks on the Press in 2008: Ethiopia

2009-02-12T09:42:00.003-05:00

The small vanguard of independent media that emerged from a brutal 2005 crackdown struggled in the face of continuing government harassment. Although authorities issued licenses allowing a handful of independent political newspapers to operate, they continued to use imprisonment, threats, and legal and administrative restrictions to suppress coverage of sensitive issues. more

Ethiopians United Can Never be Defeated!

2009-02-10T12:16:00.002-05:00

By Alemayehu G. Mariam

February 9, 2009What Is Ethiopian Unity?

There are some who are working double overtime to make sure Ethiopia is strewn across the African continent like shards of broken ethnic glass. They have spent the last 18 years sleepless devising ways of defeating the people by separating them along ethnic, religious, cultural, regional and class lines. Now, we say emphatically: "Enough! Not This Time!" This is our time to come together and unite against a divisive, dastardly and devilish dictatorship. This is the time to stand up and declare: "Ethiopians united can never be defeated!"

But what exactly is the "unity" which makes Ethiopians invincible? In its purest form, Ethiopian unity is a "soul-force" or "truth force" that dwells within the heart and mind of each patriotic Ethiopian and impels him or her to take a personal and public stand for the indivisibility of the Ethiopian nation under God and the one-ness of the Ethiopian people. This "truth-force" has many manifestations. As a state of mind, it signifies the indisputable principle that every Ethiopian has the right to vote for the government of his/her choice and to live in a country where human rights are fully respected and the rule of law reigns supreme. As a form of political advocacy and action, Ethiopian unity means working together on a common set of goals while respecting our differences; uniting around a common vision, agenda and dream and making a personal commitment to work with others on the basis of trust, honor and love of country. As a spiritual experience, Ethiopian unity is about praying together -- regardless of our faith -- for the end of tyranny and dictatorship, and the blossoming of true brotherhood and sisterhood in equality, liberty and the rule of law. Ethiopian unity is quintessentially about working together to build a future based on the firm belief that the next generation of Ethiopians will not be victimized by a succession of dictators who cling to power by means of arbitrary arrests and detentions, extrajudicial killings, political persecution and stolen elections. It is ultimately about living free in a land where justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream!
Unity Does Not Mean There Are No differencesEthnic division is an ugly fact of Ethiopian history nurtured and refined to its highest political form by the current dictators. One can not run away from it. But Ethiopian unity does not mean the complete absence of differences. The United States of America is "united" not on the basis of uniformity of culture, religion, race, class or ethnicity. Rather, diversity is the glue that holds Americans together. Americans from all walks of life live harmoniously under the rule of law which guarantees their individual rights to personal autonomy, ethnic and cultural identity and independent political activity. It is in the American melting pot that Americans of all backgrounds join hands to "form a more perfect union." A unity where there are no differences is unnatural and unhealthy. Differences are to unity what alloys are to steel. Likewise Ethiopian unity must be forged in the hearts and minds of free men and women of all ethnic, cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds.
The Power of ONE: Each One of Us is a Unifying ForceGandhi taught, "You must be the change you want to see in the world." If we want to see a more just and equitable society in Ethiopia, a country where the rule of law is supreme and where government fears its people, each one of us must act. Every Ethiopian is a power for good or evil. We have to make the choice to be a force for good. By every thought we contemplate and act we perform, we can bring about greater unity and harmony among the people. This is a burden of responsibility we carry for ourselves now, and for the next generation. The power of one for good or evil can not be underestimated. We have seen for nearly two decades how one man with a small group of henchmen has been able to destroy an entire nation. What we must also see is that many individuals working together can heal the wounds inflicted upon our country and set it on course to its glorious destiny. Everything begins with the one: One step begins a thousand mile journey. One tree starts a forest. One bird heralds the arrival spring. One candle illuminates the enveloping darkness. One voice can speak for thousands. One hope, one dream can raise the spirit of millions. Each one of us has the Power of One. Let's use it for the good of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people.

Understanding the Adversary and Extending an Olive BranchWhat have we learned from the last 18 years of dictatorial rule in Ethiopia? What can we learn from the 2005 elections? How can we build coalitions to help advance democracy, freedom and human rights in Ethiopia? The last 18 years have taught us many lessons. We know that the current dictators of Ethiopia are politically and morally bankrupt, and have no legitimacy in the eyes of the people. We know their raison d'etre (reason for existence) is to cling to power by any and all means necessary. They have proven that they will lie, cheat, rob, steal, kill and do whatever it takes to keep themselves in power. We also know they thrive in a culture of corruption. Politics to them is the business of corruption. The dictators also know basic truths about themselves: They are despised by the vast majority of the people. They know after 18 years of misrule, squandering the country's scarce resources on wars, useless projects and mindless adventures and social experiments they have little to show for it. (Recently, the World Bank reported that Ethiopia has been lagging in its infrastructure development [that is facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a society], as compared to other African countries.) They know they have committed so many unspeakable crimes that they dread the advent of that inevitable day when they will be held to account. They know they will never be able to win in the field of free political competition. The international community knows who they are too: war criminals, human rights violators and international outlaws. The ultimate truth about our adversaries is that they will employ a scorched earth policy if they believe they are at risk of losing power. For them it will be the old après moi le deluge (after me, the flood; or the Amharic equivalent of the donkey's byword that she does not care if tall grasses never grow after she is gone.) For nearly two decades, they have used ethnic division to consolidate their power, and they will not hesitate to use the same strategy to dismember Ethiopia on their way out.

But there is also another truth we must know: Not all of those on the side of our adversaries are truly our adversaries. Our adversaries are not necessarily a monolith, a single block of rock. It is true that the ruthless crooks at the top are carved out of the same granite of corruption, cruelty and criminality. But there are many who just live under the dark shadow of this rock out of simple survival. They pretend to support the dictators, but in reality, they are sick and tired of living under the long dark shadow of the hard rock of dictatorship. They do not want to be the object of irrational hate, contempt and ridicule by their countrymen and women. They too want to live in peace and harmony with their brothers and sisters. We need to extend olive branches to each one of them so that they do not feel trapped in circumstances over which they have little control, and make it possible for them to join the true cause of democracy, freedom and human rights. It is not necessary to scare or humiliate them and push them deeper into desperation where they see only one option: go down with the dictators. We need to reassure them always that we bear no malice towards them, but we condemn unreservedly any intentional illegal and immoral acts they may have perpetrated against their countrymen and women.

How Do We Practice Diaspora Unity?Unity is a combination of dialogue and action. It is fundamentally an affirmation of our humanity before ethnicity, nationality, political party, Africanity or Ethiopianity. The strongest form of human unity is based on unity of thought around principles of truth and justice. We demonstrate unity in the actions we take in our personal lives and how we treat and relate to each other; that is, in our ability to build relationships based on authenticity (the degree to which one is true to one's own personality, spirit, or character) and not ethnicity (looking at the world through tribal and cultural lenses). Practicing unity means focusing on issues and ideas and not personalities; not dwelling too much on the wrongs that have been done to us in the past but how we can heal each other in the future; adopting evidence-based thinking instead of reacting emotionally; thinking before acting and always maintaining a personal policy of openness, honesty, fairness and respect for each other. Practicing unity is also about not acting in certain ways: refraining from soiling the names and reputations of those who struggle with us in the cause but may not agree with us on everything; avoiding rumor-mongering; not insisting that we have a monopoly ownership of the whole truth; and refusing to walk a mile in the shoes of those with whom we disagree. None of us is naïve enough to believe that we can get beyond our differences, whatever they may be, in a single political event; nor do we believe that the removal of dictatorship will be a cure-all to all of our problems. But it is necessary now to begin working together for a better future without embracing the weighty burdens of our past, or becoming its helpless victims. That is why we must embrace the audacity of hope and act selflessly to help the Motherland.

The Power of Dialogue: Out of Many Voices, ONEThe national motto of the United States declares, "E pluribus Unum" (One Out of Many). Our motto for Ethiopian Diaspora dialogue ought to be, "Out of Many Voices, One." Coming to one voice will not be easy because there are too many echoes reverberating across the canyons that divide Ethiopians and keep us needlessly apart. We must bridge through genuine dialogue the ethnic canyons, the generational canyons, the culture canyons, the gender canyons, the language canyons, the religious canyons, the class canyons and the urban-rural canyons. We need many bridge-builders to sign up and begin working on laying the foundation for a robust Ethiopian democracy based on truly free elections, respect for the rule of law and human rights, the establishment of an independent judiciary, and the free functioning of an independent press and civic society institutions.

The power of Ethiopian Diaspora Dialogue should not be undervalued. Unity of thought in dialogue must precede unity of collective action; and the power of dialogue is the power of reason and the power of honest and authentic communication. The Ethiopian Diaspora Dialogue, we believe, has started everywhere. Many are in the beginning stages. We honor all who have taken the initiative to dialogue and encourage them to continue and intensify their efforts. We are humbly proud to be part of the emerging teams of dialogue facilitators in the Diaspora. We believe "truth-powder" is far superior to our adversaries' gunpowder. Guns and tanks do not stand behind us. Strong beliefs and ideas about the power of a united Ethiopian people do. And there is no gun or tank that can defeat an idea whose time has come. And the time has come for all of us to work single-mindedly for the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. Ancient wisdom says, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with other." We want to go far with our compatriots on the long journey to freedom from dictatorship. As we do so, we are inspired by Barack's message to the American people: "For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism…. Or we can come together and say, "Not this time." It is high time that all freedom-loving patriotic Ethiopians the world over make a choice, stand up and shout: "NOT THIS TIME!" Let's come together and make 2009 the beginning of a New Era of Unity in the Ethiopian Diaspora. YASTESERYAL!
Ethiopians United Can Never Be Defeated!

Opposition leader Bekele Jirata freed

2009-02-05T10:23:00.002-05:00

February 4th, 2009

By Barry Malone - Feb 4, 2009 –ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - A leading Ethiopian opposition politician was freed on bail on Wednesday after he was jailed last November after the government accused him of working with rebels, his party said.

Jailed - the judge who refused to say sorry

2009-02-03T17:20:00.003-05:00

By Daniel Howden
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
The Independent

Birtukan Mideksa has been re-arrested after refusing to say sorry for protesting against the 2005 election results in Ethiopia Birtukan Mideksa has been sentenced to life in prison. She spends her days and nights in solitary confinement in a two-metre by two-metre cell. She cannot leave it to see daylight or even to receive visitors. Previous inmates say the prison is often unbearably hot.

Her crime: refusing to say sorry. The judge, aged 34, is the head of Ethiopia's most popular political party, the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa. The government in Addis Ababa had her arrested on 28 December, claiming she had violated the terms of an earlier pardon.

Her previous release in 2007, which came after serving two years in prison, was conditional on her signing an apology for taking part in protests against fixed elections. In November, the woman who is becoming a democratic icon in Ethiopia told an audience in Sweden that she had not asked for a pardon. On returning to Ethiopia it was demanded that she sign further apologies and, when she refused, she was re-arrested. The Ministry of Justice then issued a statement reimposing her life sentence.

Mesfin Woldemariam, an award-winning Ethiopian human rights campaigner, is clear about what she says is going on: "She refuses to bow to them. They want her to submit, but she didn't submit when she was a judge. That's why she left the bar. And she won't now. She's a tough cookie." She won national acclaim by defying government control of the courts and resigning the bar to practice law after high-profile decisions were overturned.

The charges against her go to the heart of Ethiopia's experiment with democracy in 2005 and the violent backlash that followed the country's flawed first attempt at a multi-party election.
When demonstrators, including Ms Mideksa, took to the streets to protest at the skewed results which returned the ruling party, the police opened fire, killing at least 187 people. The opposition leadership, along with thousands of others, were rounded up and jailed.

"In 2005, we expected the results of the national parliamentary elections as a strong foundation for building a temple of democracy in Ethiopia," she told a US Senate hearing in 2007. "Our hopes were dashed, and we found ourselves trapped in a burning house of tyranny." Her response since being released has been to unite the fragments of opposition into a single party committed to non-violence, democratic reform and an independent judiciary. A mother who has missed much of her five-year-old daughter's life so far, she has shown remarkable courage. "I'm not afraid of going to jail," she said last year after founding the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party. "Not because that is not a possibility. I know that could happen."

Professor Woldemariam was with her when it did happen. Five cars pulled up and the pair were confronted violently by police while on a street in the capital city. "They behaved as if there was a prize for the first person who got her," the former Fulbright scholar and now professor of geography recalls.

When he asked why they had not issued a warrant and asked her to give herself into custody, one of the men turned on him. "He hit me with the butt of his gun and they pushed her into a car and took her." Her destination was a cell in the notorious Kaliti prison outside the capital Addis Ababa. It's a place with which she is already intimately acquainted, where prisoners are kept in conditions she once described as "dehumanising", "atrocious" and "barbarous".

The UK director of Amnesty International, Kate Allen, said: "There appears to be no lawful reason why Birtukan Mideksa was arrested or remains in detention. She has now been held for a month in solitary confinement and still has not been charged. This is unacceptable." Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, has been in power since 1995. He was formerly feted as a progressive voice by Tony Blair but he has become markedly dictatorial during his years in power. One regional analyst said the government was becoming increasingly paranoid.
"This came in the context of an election that the government lost control of in 2005, and ahead of 2010 elections that it fully intends to keep from going the same way."

Recently, laws have been passed to heavily restrict the work of international non-government organisations, despite an ongoing famine in areas of the country. "Much of the government's behaviour stems from security concerns, and a lack of understanding that improving human rights will actually help to mitigate many of their concerns," said the analyst. Professor Woldemariam, one of a few people still prepared to speak out in a country he describes as a "police state", says the regime had become frightened of Ms Mideksa. "They are looking for any excuse to get her because she's a dynamic girl who is getting increasingly popular. They want to cut her short."

But it will not be easy to intimidate her, he believes. "She has such faith in the law. She says to me, 'the law says this, the law says that ...'. I said to her: 'What law are you talking about? You were locked up for two years with no due process.'" Described as an "Ethiopian Obama" and a brilliant speaker and organiser, she has become a symbol of democracy in her own country, compared with figures like Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi.

There is reported to be deep disquiet among the general population at her arrest and conditions of detention, even though their dissent is not tolerated. Ethiopia, largely Orthodox Christian, has been a staunch ally of the American-led war on terror and a partner in its disastrous policy on Somalia. The arrest of Ms Mideksa has sparked criticism from some American senators and the hope that the Obama administration might change Washington's relationship with the Zenawi government. "There is no democracy in Ethiopia today, despite empty claims of 'recent bold democratic initiatives' taken by our government," Ms Mideksa told US senators. Many in Ethiopia and its large diaspora are hoping that Mr Obama's offer to "extend a hand" to dictatorships who would unclench their fists included a message to Addis Ababa. Ms Mideksa has already given Washington her advice: "Ethiopia has many problems, including a legacy of repression, corruption and mismanagement. The US can help by using its considerable influence to encourage the government to negotiate with the opposition. It will not be easy to confront the past.

"We must start at the right point by embracing the rule of law, human rights and democracy."
Views from cyberspace: What the blogs say
*There is an old Ethiopian proverb which in translation says, "Oh, Mr Hyena, don't give me excuse to eat me". (Aya jibo sata mehagne blagne). Why is Zenawi resorting to such thuggish tactics against Birtukan? And Professor Mesfin? And the [Unity for Democracy and Justice Party]? Is he trying to create a convenient distraction from his devastating defeat in Somalia? - Quatero News and Views

*Birtukan has modelled courage and conviction. I do not think she is asking the Ethiopian people to personally rescue her; but instead, on behalf of others. - Anyuak Media * Birtukan Mideksa continues to impress millions of her fellow compatriots to promote the struggle forthe triumph of democracy over tyranny. - Ethiomedia

*In fact, the Ethiopian tyrant has killed far more innocent people than the Zimbabwean tyrant. The Ethiopian tyrant also has rigged national elections for three times like the Zimbabwean tyrant. I hope and I believe democrats as well as President Obama will restore respect for the US by supporting people who aspire for their democratic rights. - Shemolo

Public Meeting Jan 31 2009 - 2:00pm

2009-01-30T23:19:00.000-05:00

Public meeting organized by Andenet DC Metro Support Chapter

Saterday Jan 31 2009 - 2:00pm
Marriott Washington1221 22nd Street NW
Washington. DC 20037

http://www.kinijitethiopia.org/docs/UDJ/event/jan31_meeting.pdf