Ethiopian PM says EU election report is "trash"

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

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.

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Ethiopian journalist jailed without charge since September

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

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

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

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Ethiopia reshuffle boosts Meles power: opposition

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

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

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

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."


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Ethiopia expels American journalist reporting in rebel area

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!

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

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."


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

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

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


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Ethiopia: Government Repression Undermines Poll

(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.
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Ethiopia Ruling Party Leads Vote Marred by Intimidation Reports

By Jason McLure

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling party headed for victory in the Horn of Africa nation’s first national elections since 2005 after a campaign that was marred by allegations of intimidation.

With about 7.3 million votes tallied of an estimated 29 million cast yesterday, Meles’s Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front had 6.8 million, compared with 458,242 for the opposition Medrek alliance, Mergera Bekana, chairman of the National Electoral Board, said today.

The EPRDF was ahead in 20 of 23 seats in the capital, Addis Ababa, with Medrek leading for one parliamentary seat and two constituencies not yet reporting, he said.

“In all regional states, EPRDF is leading,” Mergera said in the capital.

Government and ruling party official used a combination of harassment and arrests and withholding food aid and jobs to thwart Medrek in the weeks running up to the polls, New York- based Human Rights Watch said in a statement today. The government has denied the allegations, saying economic growth in Ethiopia of more than 7 percent annually over the past five years has bolstered its support.

About 31.9 million registered voters were eligible to cast ballots to elect 547 members of parliament and representatives to regional councils.

A former Marxist guerrilla leader who has ruled Africa’s second-most populous nation since 1991, Meles, 55, has been a key ally in the fight against Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia. Under Meles, Ethiopia, Africa’s top coffee producer, has pursued an economic model that mixes a large state role with foreign investment in roads, dams and power.

The government controls the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corp., a state-run monopoly, and owns all the land, while companies owned by the state or the ruling party dominate banking and trucking. Almost a sixth of its 85 million people depend on food aid.

Medrek is a coalition that includes jailed opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa’s Unity for Democracy and Justice party and a number of ethnic-based parties.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

(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

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

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

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

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

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"

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

- 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.

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

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

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

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≫