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.
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Government Critics Detained In Ethiopian Anti-Terror Sweep
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.
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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.
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Tuesday, September 13, 2011
4 Journalists Face Terrorism Charges in Ethiopia
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.
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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.
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Sunday, September 4, 2011
CPJ concerned about detained Ethiopian journalists
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.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Ethiopia 'using aid as weapon of oppression'
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.
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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≫
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Ethiopia : Meles Zenawi issued a blunt warning to opposition groups
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.
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.
Friday, February 11, 2011
It Ain't Just Mubarak -- 7 of the Worst Dictators the U.S. Is Backing to the Hilt
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≫
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≫
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Rights group alleges misuse of Ethiopia aid
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.
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.