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Talk Radio Network Corporate Office
Dear Mr. Ed Krimpf,
(TRN Regional Vice President in Northern California
for Clear Channel, and owner of the station)
P O Box 3755 central Point, Oregon 97522
Dear Sir:
Your radio station Talk Show host Mr. Savage/ Michael Weiner, ridiculed the Ethiopians, declaring they “have flies around their eyes”; labeled Islam “a bloodthirsty religion on the October 23 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show. On his October 23 radio show, he said of Ethiopians: “The people down there have flies around their eyes,” adding, “I never went into an Ethiopian restaurant. The Ethiopians come here to eat American food.” Earlier in the broadcast, while discussing Ramadan and the continued violence in Iraq, Savage suggested that Islam is “a bloodthirsty religion that’s practiced over there by a bunch of throwbacks, and we’re gonna to kill ‘em.” Savage called for the United States to say: “That’s it, we’re leaving them; we’re killing them.”
Photo: Michale Savage From Wikipedia
For your memory with a similar incident in the past, I like to remind you what you have said during his previous broadcast complaints you got from his audiences and during your interview with one of the newspapers:- here is what the news media broadcast quoted you- “KNEW-AM (910), Savage’s radio home in San Francisco, decided not to suspend him because he apologized, said Ed Crimp, regional vice president in Northern California for Clear Channel, the owner of the station. “ Comments on MSNBC were wrong,” Crimp said. “He’s admitted that and apologized to his listening His audience. He assured us that this is not who he is, that it was an unfortunate mistake, and that I’d never have to worry about it again.”
Dear Mr. ED:
It was you who trusted him, assured us it was unfortunate mistake, and that you ‘d never have to worry about it again. For your surprise here he goes again ridiculed the entire Ethiopian nationality as quoted above aired on your own station again this time!. Before I want on to point out where your failed to respond accurately to your trusted audiences appeal of complaints by simply trusting his words mischievously assured you what he is not. The purpose of sending you this letter is that Ethiopians who are aware of this incident are very disappointed and angry at the managing editor and station owner for letting such uncontrollable individual radio talk show host to repeatedly lashed out at the every segments of society, nationalities, countries/continents/ head of States sectors/communities/religious, political followers and different cultures of the Glob with his bigoted terms using air wave. No one is spared from his racist attacks, even he speaks pejoratively when he referring to talk radio hosts or individuals with whom he disagrees.. It is this reason that I am presenting my complaint to your office to take immediate administrative steps to freed your self from being called an accomplices, and will save your station from legal protests and boycotts.
To see such limitless aggressiveness from a society well taught people shows something is not right with this individual regardless his knowledge of modern education (And I hope you agree with me). I ask to myself “could this man be suffering from a mental disorder which is known as psychopath or psychopathic personality?” Let us examine the following if that can help you to think seriously to take action to help this fellow from what he might be experiencing which society doesn't know from what he is suffering.
Let me begin with your previous response to the previous incidents interview you gave in the past. what you said was-( “He assured us that this is not who he is”).A person who is suffering from different surrounding pressure in any cases is very hard for the public to easily recognize his sufferings, for a simple reason he acts normal (you recall the fellow who was KGO popular talk show host in San Francisco who threw himself down to the bridge and committed suicide- for the management and his audiences he was normal and darling). There walk among us men women who are in but not of our world. As a group or individual, they suffer from a disorder of the total personality that absolutely unsuited them for social living ( they could be rich/poor it doesn't mater). As an individuals, it has been observed many times that they are driven by often irresistible pressure to move against any sectors, people,institutions to place themselves by their deeds outside the pale of the community, to be in perpetual conflict with the world about them. Spurred to wild/ savage and extravagant behavior by clamoring needs, by insisting demands of their nature, they are best described as chronic and cause-seeking rebels whose essential aggressivity can be aroused with minimal effort (lashing out at his environment with recognizable indifferences for where or on whom his blows fall) . For this reason they are the darling of the demagogues.
Behavior experts designate people of this kind “psychopath” or “psychopathic personalities”. By this term is meant individuals distorted in their reactions to community and to other men. For them, the rules of conduct and laws that given the relations of humans- rules and laws won painfully over the millennia of man’s tenantey of Earth- do not exist. All those qualities which ordinary, non- psychopathic people strive to obtain, all the values that give life meaning, are foreign to the psychopath. From this derives his menace to the security of everyone.
Sir:-
Your employee Mr Savage’s repetitious obnoxious behavior and rage against all sectors of community and all corridors of life living in America or other countries and continents speaks volumes to many of us hopefully also to psychologists who listens to his bigotry speech to lash out at any other communities culture/beliefs under the warrant of media liberty. We all know who the psychopaths are, although we do not always give them that label. Literally they wear their symptoms on their sleeves/(in this case, may I say on their shade/darker sunglasses too!?) Often the sign by which they betray themselves is reckless type, ruthlessness in dealing with others socially, even commercially. In this day the sign is more frequently hate, bigotry, intolerance, power. Honestly speaking, many of us are worried from the increasing bigotry and rage against black Africans and other ethnic and religious sectors aired legally and openly on the air to poisoned and distort ill informed society.
To combat the rising tide of psychopath must become a task to which citizens of democratic society have to dedicate themselves if they want their civilization to continue. One of the highest missions a man of your culture can have is this: to identify the psychopathic antagonist and to struggle against the conditions that produce him. While we do that, you the owners of radio, TV and other media must and it is time to start to examine your service if it is worthy to keep hiring such individuals who contradict every sector of society and culture. Continuing hiring such aggressive individuals with such unacceptable media style only aggravate ethnic clash and disintegration of society. It this kind media service that caused ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and in Europe in the recent events.
Your urgent goal must be supervise elements of hate who are taking advantage of the air media from raising his/her provocative voices again; so to keep him/her from spreading primitive; intoxicating philosophy of force, restrain him/her from distributing his poison that acts one man against another. Some of this type is indeed present in your station and other the likes media.
I am certain the public at large knows little and cares less about the kind of persons the psychologists call psychopaths. Psychologists believe the public at large doesn't know the different type of psychopathic individuals look alike healthy and normal individuals. The public doesn't know, he surely doesn't know –he has not been told- that the psychopath sometimes can be looking healthy (like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochle, Mengistu of Ethiopia, Amin of Uganda and the rest of the crazes in Asia all over the Glob….) and educated, that the psychopath is the enemy of his life, the adversary of his welfare. Psychopath is the harbinger of social and political distress . The psychopath in our time doesn't reflect one mood alone unlike the brutes of prehistory with their vicious selfishness, with their callous disregard for the rights and feelings of others (They can be quite mischievous in the fluctuating techniques of attitude they show to repair the damaged ego under his/her sleeve).
Dear Mr ED:
Hoping that if your policy is not that of Mr Savage’s, I am positive my brief illustrative comments might help you not to believe “a sick” man whenever he told you “this is not what he is” for the logical reason that a sickman can't diagnose himself to what went wrong with him. Only outside observers and surrounding people can tell the differences with the person’s unacceptable anomaly behavior and alarming attitude towards society/community. Some individuals who suffered from such illness are aware of their problems. And expecting to be punished for his/her hatred, the psychopath forever lashes out at his environment with a recognizable indifferences for where or on whom his blows fall. And,fatefully, with this manner the behavior he se sets up a psychic chain from which only death can free him. With each aggression he increases his guilt, hence his further expectation of punishment, so we find him acting always with more aggression, more violence, and acquiring only more guilt.. It is this basic facts that urged me to complain to you to take action urgently, so your station will not be endlessly a vehicle to such distorted individual media personalities to lash out the public and my community. For your information a copy is been sent to all Civil Liberty Office and activists and internet media.
Yours Truly
Getachew Reda
Address attached
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Ethiopia, Within Easy Reach
RESTAURANT REVIEW | MESKEL ETHIOPIAN RESTAURANT
Nov 1 2006
New York city
By The New York Times
How about taking your American Friend to an Ethiopian Restaurant for a fine Ethiopian Cusine.
For list of Ethiopian Restaurants check out nazret.com Directory
Ethiopian Airlines to introduce new travelers management system this week
Addis Ababa, November 01, 2006 (WIC) – The Ethiopian Airlines disclosed here today that its new travelers management system, called Sabre system, will become functional this week.
Marketing and Sales Director with the Airline, Yeneneh Tekleyesus, told WIC that the system will replace the 25 year old system enabling the airline to catch up with modern airlines.
He said the Airline has been handling the process through manual registration for the last 25 years, adding that it has however gradually automated its operations.
The Sabre system has been under study by an American company with an outlay of 10.5 million USD, it was learnt.
The system which will go operational as of November 3 would modernize the operations of the airline and enable it to receive information about the situations of an aircraft on flight.
It will also allow direct access to information instead of passing through three systems, Yeneneh said, adding that it would again provide full information on passengers from registration up to destination and offers a better way of purchasing airticket.
Moreover, he stated that the Sabre System equally benefits passengers, especially those who fly frequently.
It will also avoid the transportation and telephone cost travelers used to spend to request information as it enables them to get information through Internet, he further said.
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Special Business Section: Transportation Sector
Annan warns of another war between Ethiopia and Eritrea
Xan Rice, east Africa correspondent
Tuesday October 31, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
The UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, has warned that the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which claimed 70,000 lives between 1998 and 2000, could soon reignite unless the two countries are persuaded to talk.
"classic example of the tragedy" of Africa
Describing the impasse as a "classic example of the tragedy" of Africa, Mr Annan said the UN had been unable to persuade the neighbours to cooperate and called for more world attention on the region. Tensions in the Horn of Africa have risen sharply in recent weeks with accusations that Eritrea has sent troops into the border buffer zone, and the two countries have taken active positions on opposite sides in a looming conflict in Somalia.
"We need to handle it [the situation] very carefully before it leads to another explosion," Mr Annan said in a speech at Georgetown University in the US last night.
The war originally erupted over a border dispute. After signing a ceasefire in 2000, both countries agreed to abide by the decision of an independent panel on the location of their mutual border. Thousands of UN troops were sent to patrol the frontier until demarcation occurred.
But Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, has refused to accept the panel's decision. The president of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki, who assisted Mr Meles in toppling the Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, maintains there is no ground for negotiation. He has accused the international community, and the US in particular, of siding with Ethiopia.
In a sign of its frustration last December, Eritrea placed severe limitations on the 3,800-strong UN peacekeeping mission. Since then, both countries have maintained tens of thousands of troops either side of the border.
Last week Mr Annan urged Eritrea to recall 1,500 troops and 14 tanks that recently entered the frontier buffer zone in defiance of the peace deal. Eritrea refused, saying the soldiers were there to help improve the local infrastructure.
Mr Afewerki has also been accused of sending arms and troops to assist the Islamists in Somalia, who are vying for power with the fragile, secular government. A leaked UN report suggested there were 2,000 Eritreans on the Islamists' side, although this has been strongly denied by Eritrea and has not been independently verified.
Eritrea has little reason to side with the Islamists other than sharing a disdain for Ethiopia. Mr Afewerki's government has a record of religious intolerance.
The Somali government enjoys close ties with Mr Meles, who does not want an Islamic state as a neighbour. In a Reuters interview last week, Mr Meles said his country was "technically" at war with the Islamists. He admitted sending troops to Somalia, but said they were military trainers numbering in the hundreds rather than the 6,000 to 8,000 mentioned in the UN report.
From weapons of war to great coffee
BBC News
Read Original Article from BBC News
In Biblical times they said "turn your swords into ploughshares", now in northern Ethiopia a tradesman is bringing the saying into the 21st century.
In his workshop in Mekele, just 200km from Ethiopia's border with Eritrea, Azmeraw Zekele is turning burnt-out shells into cylinders used in coffee machines.
Most of the shells are leftover from the war between the two countries which took place between 1998 and 2000.
The workshop is made up of three quite small ramshackle rooms that lead from one to another with sunlight coming through the gaps, but it is a hive of activity for Mr Azmeraw and his six staff.
Ethiopia hit by new deadly floods
BBC News
At least 67 people have been killed by floods in Ethiopia's eastern Ogaden region, aid workers say.
Almost 300,000 have been affected after the Shabelle river burst its banks, an aid worker told the BBC.
There are also unconfirmed reports that crocodiles have killed two people in the floods. Accurate information is hard to get from the remote area.
The area was also hit by devastating floods earlier this year, which killed hundreds and left thousands homeless.
The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Ethiopia says some people had only just returned home when they were forced to flee again following torrential rain.
Government spokesman Sisay Tadesse said measures were being taken to avoid a wider catastrophe in the Gode area about 650 km south-east of the capital, Addis Ababa.
Almost 20,000 metric tones of food aid have been sent to the remote region and more will soon be on its way.
The spokesman said they were also sending plastic sheeting, jerry cans and cooking equipment.
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Special Section: Ethiopia Flood
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Ethiopian News updated 24/7 www.nazret.com/news/
Ethiopian Radio and TV Page
www.nazret.com/radio/
World Bank sees Africa progress
BBC News
Fewer conflicts and increased economic growth has made 2005 - dubbed "The Year of Africa" - a turning point for the continent, the World Bank has said.
Its annual study of the continent found that 16 African states had managed to maintain annual economic growth of more than 4.5% since the 1990s.
This had enabled them to lift more of their citizens above the poverty line.
Meanwhile, the number of African conflicts had fallen from a peak of 16 in 2002 to five in 2005.
Read the complete story from BBC News
ETHIOPIA FACTS
Source: World Bank African Development Indicators 2006 Report
In 1991 only 30 percent of Ethiopian children attended school. Addressing this challenge has involved mobilizing communities, training teachers, and obtaining fi nancing for the effort. Development partners are supporting a
sectorwide education reform program. One of the results has been a rise in the gross enrollment rate to 77 percent in 2004 thanks to annual reviews and a good monitoring system.
Millennium Development Goal 2:
achieve universal primary education
Net primary enrollment ratio
(% of relevant age group)
1991 22%
2004 46%
Millennium Development Goal 3:
promote gender equality and empower women
Ratio of girls to boys in primary
and secondary school
1991 68%
2004 73%
Millennium Development Goal 4:
reduce child mortality
Under-five mortality rate (per 1000)
Ethiopia
1990 204
2004 166
Ethiopia Gross domestic product per capita, real
1990 122
2004 132
Ethiopia Gross national income per capita (Table 2.21)
1990 170
2004 110
Information and communication technology
Telephone subscribers
(per 1,000 people)
Ethiopia
Main Telephone Line : 6.3 Phone Per 1000 People
Cellular Phone: 2.5 Per 1000 PeopleKenya
Main Telephone Line : 8.9 Phone Per 1000 People
Cellular Phone: 76.1 Per 1000 People
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Some Factoids about Ethiopia from the report
The country with the largest population is Nigeria , with 128.7 million people. It is followed by Ethiopia, with 70.0 million people
The country with the most children under-5 that are underweight is Ethiopia, at 47.2 percent.
The country with the highest level of births assisted by skilled health staff is Mauritius, 99 percent while Ethiopia has the lowest at 6 percent.
The country with the highest percentage of population with access to improved water sources is Mauritius (100 percent) while the least is Ethiopia, with 22 percent.
The country with the highest population access to improved sanitation is Mauritius (99 percent) while the least is Ethiopia with 6 percent.
World Bank African Development Indicators ADI 2006 Report
Immigrant-Focused News Outlets Find Growing Audience, Funding Obstacles
By Krissah Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 30, 2006; Page D01
The Washington Post
Dereje Desta worked the room, passing out fliers promoting his biweekly newspaper's fourth anniversary. He is the founder, owner, editor and sole reporter of Washington's only Ethiopian-oriented news publication.
He is also its only salesman, trying to build his small newspaper's revenue and convince advertisers that the more than 22,000 Ethiopians living in the Washington region are a valuable consumer base.
"The main things is to explain my community, how large they are," Desta, whose first language is Amharic, said in halting English.
Desta, 41, was one of a dozen of the newest entrants into Washington's growing media industry who mingled over drinks, grilled shrimp and roasted duck tarts at a reception Thursday evening at the Center for American Progress.
Desta's four-year-old newspaper, Ze Ethiopia -- loosely, "Belonging to Ethiopia" -- is in English and Amharic. Almost all its advertisers are Ethiopian, mostly lawyers, restaurateurs and parking-garage owners.
"When the others come, I am ready," he says. For now, Desta pays himself a small salary but cannot afford a staff.
Oil Price Hike Slashes Two-Third of Ethiopian Profit
The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
October 30, 2006
By Hayal Alemayehu
Addis Ababa
The rise in oil prices witnessed in the current fiscal year has robbed off 65 per cent of the total profit Ethiopian Airlines would have netted in 2005/2006, ETHIOPIAN CEO Girma Wake disclosed on Saturday at a press conference.
Owing to the spike in fuel price, the airline's net profit in the reported period (133.6 million birr) has shrunk 57 per cent against that of the preceding year (309.9 million birr), according to the CEO.
If the fuel price in the preceding year (2004/2005) was retained in 2005/2006, Girma said, ETHIOPIAN would have secured an additional profit of 248 million birr.
Ethiopian Airlines will become the first to fly Boeing 787 in Africa
According to the CEO, the airline's fuel consumption in the stated year has taken 36 per cent of its overall expenses in same period. The airline's total expense in the 2005/2006 was 5.4 billion birr, the amount surging up 26.8 per cent compared to that of company's previous year overall expenditure.
Related Article
Fuel Costs Cut Ethiopian Airlines Profit
The CEO said that the airline has started providing payments for the Boeing jetliners it had acquired over the last couple of years, which has also contributed for the stated decline in its profit.
Briefing reporters on the airline's 2005/2006 performances and future major activities, Girma said the airline expects to transport ETHIOPIAN record number of over two million passengers in the current 2006/2007 year, while it forecasts a net profit of 307 million birr.
ETHIOPIAN major activities during the year 2006/2007 include raising its international operations and systems to 50 destinations by starting four new services to Monrovia, Zanzibar, Juba and Bahrain; leasing two to three wide-body aircraft; replacing aircraft for domestic flights; assess the mix between the two types of B787 (B787-8 and B787-9, ten of which the airline will acquire starting September 2008).
The airline will also start preparations to build a 300- room four star hotel at a 40,000 sq. meters plot of land it has already acquired nearby its premises, while it is in the process of hiring a contractor to build houses for some 2000 staffers in a 300,000 sq. meters plot which the airline has also secured, according to the CEO.
Girma also said that the airline will upgrade its pilots and technicians training school to a training academy.
With the dream-liners ( the ten B787 it will acquire) joining its fleet, the four-star hotel it planned to build start giving service, and other facilities and services it will be upgrading, ETHIOPIAN foresees itself a billion US dollars making airliner in 2010.
Source: Daily Monitor
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Ethiopian airlines accuses rival Kenya Airways
Special Section: Transportation Sector
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Ethiopian News updated 24/7 www.nazret.com/news/
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Fuel Costs Cut Ethiopian Airlines Profit
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
October 29, 2006
Ethiopian Airlines' net profit for 2005/06 fell by more than half to 133.6 million Ethiopian birr (USD$15.3 million) due to high fuel costs, its chief executive officer said.
Ethiopian Airlines will become the first to fly Boeing 787 in Africa
"The carrier's annual net profit this year was reduced to 133.6 million birr from 309.9 million birr last year due to the high cost of aviation fuel in the international market," Girma Wake, Ethiopian Airlines CEO, told a news conference on Saturday.
Girma said the airline's total revenue before expenses in 2005/06 was an all time high of 5.4 billion birr compared with 4.5 billion birr in 2004/05. Expenses for 2005/06 stood at 5.2 billion birr, up from 4.1 billion the previous year.
Related Article
Oil Price Hike Slashes Two-Third of Ethiopian Profit (Daily Monitor)
Ethiopia's fiscal year runs from July to June.
"Our performance was good and could have generated more profits had it not been for high cost of fuel," he said.
Girma said the airline had increased the number of passengers it had carried in 2005/06 to 1.76 million from 1.55 million the previous year.
He said the airline planned to generate 6.8 billion birr by transporting 2.09 million people during 2006/07.
"We hope to meet our goal by extending the route network, improving our cabins, catering as well as ground services to attract more passengers," he said.
Girma said the airline was in the process of constructing a USD$30 million four star hotel near Bole Airport in Addis Ababa to accommodate the growing number of transit passengers passing through the Ethiopian capital.
State-owned Ethiopian Airlines owns 44 aircraft. It ordered 10 new Boeing 787 planes last year.
(Reuters)
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About Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines recently won the African Aviation Award as “African Airline of the Year -2006”. The key criteria for Ethiopian Airlines to have won the African Aviation Award from African Aviation Journal include its financial performance and overall profitability, passenger growth, route network expansion, fleet modernization, in-flight services, and overall customer care.
Deepening its services within Africa Ethiopian Airlines, effective October 29, 2006, will fly twice daily to Dubai, 11 times to Lagos, Eight times to Accra, daily to Khartoum and Johannesburg, six times to Dakar, five times to N’djamena, and four times to Lome.
One of the largest airlines in Africa, Ethiopian - www.ethiopianairlines.com – made its maiden flight to Cairo on April 8, 1946. Ethiopian provides seamless connections to 47 destinations spread around the globe including 28 in Africa via its Addis Ababa hub. Major destinations served include: Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Amsterdam, Bahar Dar, Bamako, Bangkok, Beijing, Beirut, Brazzaville, Brussels, Bujumbura, Cairo, Dakar, Dar Es-Salaam, Delhi, Dire Dawa, Djibouti, Douala, Dubai, Entebbe, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Harare, Hargiesa, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Kigali, Kilimanjaro, Kinshasa, Lagos, Libreville, Lilongwe, Lome, London, Luanda, Lusaka, Mumbai, Nairobi, N'djamena, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Tel-Aviv, and Washington.
More on Ethiopian Airlines Website
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Special Section: Business Transportation
Ethiopia opposition dismisses probe into killings
ADDIS ABABA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Opposition politicians in Ethiopia on Monday dismissed a probe into two bouts of 2005 post-election violence as an attempted cover-up because it failed to accuse security services of using excessive force.
The independent Inquiry Commission, which presented its report to parliament on Monday, said 193 civilians and six policemen were killed in street clashes in June and November last year in the capital Addis Ababa and some regional towns.
"The report indicates that 193 civilians died without saying how they were killed," said Lidetu Ayalew, head of the opposition Ethiopian Democratic Union Party-Medhin.
"Were they killed while trying to flee the violence or were they shot in the back? All these were not clear in the report."
Mohammed Ali, parliamentary chairman of the main opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), demanded a new probe.
An earlier version of the report -- leaked by the inquiry's previous deputy head after he fled to Europe -- gave the same civilian death toll, but accused security agents of conducting a "massacre", shooting, beating and strangling people.
The 10-page report presented on Monday said the security forces took "legal and necessary" steps to protect the system of government and stop Ethiopia descending into a worse crisis.
"Considering the vastness of the violence ... and huge number of people who participated, it is not difficult to fathom the potential damage it could have incurred had it not been for the timely action taken to control it," the commission reported.
It said property damage in the capital totalled more than $500,000, including 190 buses and 44 cars as security forces tackled rioters who blocked roads with rocks and burning tyres.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Reuters last week he regretted the violence, but blamed it squarely on opportunist rioters and an opposition conspiracy to toppled him by violence.
Ambassador Mohamed Dirir, Ethiopia's culture and tourism minister, denied there had been any attempt at a cover-up.
"The report covers all incidents which took place during the violence. It is clear to anyone that there were no attempts to cover-up," he said.
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Ethiopia denies excessive force used after protesters killed
Judge Says Ethiopia Forces Killed 193
Special Section: Election 2005
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Rekha Basu's Ethiopia diary
Ethiopia part 4: Africa's abortion laws offer lessons of hardship
11/01/2006
Ethiopia’s ban on abortion and the persistence of botched ones might offer a prelude if the United States were to ban them again.
Ethiopia Part 3: Life, marriage, death hang in HIV test resultsThe test results for one half of an engaged couple foils the pair’s future together, but prevents another person from being destined to join the 1.5 million Ethiopians with AIDS
Ethiopia Part 2: Married off at 10, selling sex at 16
After she fled from her husband a young woman reluctantly becomes a prostitute because she can’t find any other way to support herself.
Ethiopia Part 1: Women struggle, but strings bind U.S. help
Part 1 of a six-part series of commentaries by Register columnist Rekha Basu on her recent trek to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia part 2: Married off at 10, selling sex at 16
U.S. aid policies fail to recognize difficult realities of life.
Woldia, Ethiopia She was only 10 when her parents married her off to a man in his early 20s, and 13 when she fled him because he wouldn't follow time-honored tradition and wait three years for sex.
Now at 16, she supports herself selling that very commodity to strangers.
Photo: ANTONIO FIORENTE/ENGENDER HEALTH
Tigist Eyase, 16, is a sex worker in Woldia.
Read Complete Report by DesMoines Register Columnist REKHA BASU
Rekha Basu's Ethiopia diary
A six-part series of commentaries exploring women’s health issues in Ethiopia and how help from the United States sometimes hurts instead.
•Tuesday: In a country where 1.5 million people are HIV positive, a couple wishing to marry learns the results of their HIV tests.
•Wednesday: Ethiopia’s ban on abortion and the persistence of botched ones might offer a prelude if the United States were to ban them again.
•Thursday: Ethiopia leads the world in obstetric fistula, a horrific condition tied to early childbirth and malnutrition.
•Friday: Another of Basu’s essays on “Surviving”: Sometimes, seeing how life is lived halfway around the world gives new insight into one’s own circumstances.
"Some husbands say if a woman takes contraception, she can enjoy herself (with other men) rather than her husband," says Hailu Berhanu, the medical director of Lalibela Hospital, which offers family planning and delivers babies.
An Ethiopian woman is "a machine who's fabricating an assembly line until the end of her fertility," says Tilahun Gilday, director of Pathfinder International in Ethiopia,
Related Links
Photo courtesy of Antonio Fiorente and Beth Weinstein of EngenderHealth.
See More on Des Moins Register
Ethiopian airline accuses rival of freezing it out
AFP
October 30, 2006
ADDIS ABABA -- Ethiopia's national airline, Ethiopian Airlines, accused rival Kenya Airways of unfair trade practices Saturday, as a row broke out between East Africa's two leading carriers.
Company chief Girma Wake said that Kenya Airways had blocked it from flying to three regional destinations, Entebbe, Kigali, and Bujumbura, from its Nairobi hub despite Ethiopia allowing it intra-African flights from Addis Ababa.
"Kenya Airways' decision is not in conformity with the agreement we have with it, neither with the COMESA agreement and this is not good for Kenya," Girma said, referring to the regional east and southern Africa trading bloc. "Legally, we have the right to fly from Nairobi to these places," he told reporters at a news conference called to release results from the last financial year.
"We don't prevent them from carrying passengers between Addis and Djibouti, and we won't," Girma said, maintaining that the move was retaliation for Ethiopia's refusal to allow Kenya Airways to fly to Jeddah and Dubai from Addis Ababa.
He said that the decision was misguided because Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, were in the Middle East and not Africa, where COMESA open skies policies apply.
"As far as I know these destinations are not in Africa," Girma said. "For us it is a matter of principles. We are for the liberalization of the flights in Africa, for openness."
In Nairobi, Kenya Airways officials could not be reached for comment on the matter Saturday and Girma said that the company had not yet responded to an Ethiopian Airlines complaint. "For three weeks, I'm waiting for a reply," he said.
State-run Ethiopian Airlines and private Kenya Airways, in which the Dutch carrier KLM owns a 26-percent stake, are among Africa's leading airlines and the two biggest in east Africa.
On Saturday, Ethiopian announced a 57-percent drop in profits over the past year due to soaring fuel prices and payments for new aircraft that overwhelmed a healthy rise in passenger and cargo loads.
On Friday, Kenya Airways said it posted a nearly 9 percent boost in earnings.
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Special Section: Business Transportation
Book Review
By Worku Abebe, BPharm, PhD
Title: "Interactions of Ethiopian Herbal Medicines and Spices with Conventional Drugs. A Practical Guide"
Author: Fekadu Fullas, RPh, PhD
Publisher: AJ Philipson Publishing Co., South Sioux City, Nebraska
Year of Publication: 2006
Pages: 180
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 80% of the population in the developing world relies on traditional medicine for health care and this is believed to also apply to the Ethiopian population. While different disease prevention and treatment methods are known to be employed in traditional Ethiopian medicine, phytotherapy appears to be at the top of the hierarchy. However, neither regulatory mechanisms nor restrictions exist for the use or sale of herbal medicines in Ethiopia. Furthermore, there are no scientific data of visible importance guaranteeing the efficacy and safety of these natural substances as utilized in Ethiopia. Consequently, the use of traditional herbal medicines in Ethiopia is likely to be associated with a number of risks.
Herbs in Ethiopia are also widely used as spices, most of which are also employed for medicinal purposes under different circumstances. The scientific literature, based on studies conducted in other countries, suggests the possibility of Ethiopian herbal medicines and spices being bioactive. When these materials are taken by consumers concomitantly with the “right” kinds of conventional drugs, herb-drug interactions can occur, which can either be beneficial or harmful, depending upon a number of factors. However, such information for the Ethiopian herbs has not been compiled systematically and this new book by Dr. Fekadu comes as a welcome contribution to a very important area. It is based on review of the literature on herb-drug interactions relevant to the commonly used herbal medicines and species in Ethiopia. This is the third book by the same author on closely related topics: Ethiopian traditional medicinal and spice plants.
The book is divided into three main chapters. Chapter I deals with the general principles of drug interactions, and the contribution of plants to the promotion of human health through direct application and the development of pharmaceuticals. This chapter is intended to serve as an introduction to the topic under consideration. Chapter II, focusing on Ethiopia, discusses about the issues of utilization of Ethiopian traditional herbal medicines visa vise conventional drugs and the possibility of integration of the two systems of therapeutic approaches. Along with this, a brief account of cytochrome P450 polymorphisms in Ethiopians is given to indicate the likelihood of a unique kind of drug metabolism at least by some Ethiopians. Chapter III contains monographs of interactions of thirty-eight Ethiopian herbal medicines and spices with conventional drugs. These are organized alphabetically according to the common names of the herbs. This Chapter forms the core of the book. The herbs described are believed to be among those commonly used in Ethiopia. Each monograph has a standard format for quick reference. Entries include local name, scientific name, family, common English name, medicinal uses (in Ethiopia and outside Ethiopia), culinary uses (whenever applicable), herb-drug interactions, clinical management and references. As these entries complement each other, the inclusion of all the information has made the book very valuable. However, it should be mentioned that the usefulness of the book would have been further enhanced if data on doses and active ingredients of the herbs had also been included. Understandable, however, this kind of information is difficult to be found at this stage and perhaps the author may want to keep his eyes open for the possibility of emerging information for future edition of the book.
As an added bonus, there are also several helpful appendices on major (overall) categories of herb-drug interactions, effects of herbs on selected P450 isozymes, additional commonly encountered herb-drug interactions and major classes of drug substrates of P450 enzymes. The book also contains a glossary and index sections to facilitate its readability and understanding.
All in all, Interactions of Ethiopian Herbal Medicines and Spices with Conventional Drugs provides readers with useful and practical information. It is a good resource for health professionals, biomedical scientists, students and consumers interested in practical information about herb-drug interactions in the Ethiopian context. I recommend the book to be kept within easy reach for quick reference. I also like the book for entirely another reason - for being decorated with the magnificent colors of the Ethiopian flag on its front cover page. After all, Ethiopian patriotism should not be limited by professional boundaries. The book can be obtained by contacting the author at FeFuBal@aol.com.
Worku Abebe, BPharm, PhD
Medical College of Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Bethlehem Ayele was undercover
Washington Times
By Jim McElhatton
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 6, 2006
Updated Nov 7 2006
An Alexandria woman fatally shot last month in what police are calling a targeted hit worked undercover and cooperated with the FBI in violent-crime and drug cases up and down the East Coast, previously sealed records show.
Restaurant owner Bethlehem Ayele, 34, assisted in a homicide investigation in Connecticut, arranged an FBI sting in Florida and testified against drug dealers in the District.
Miss Ayele, 34, was fatally shot Oct. 25 in Alexandria while waiting at a stoplight at Mount Vernon and Commonwealth avenues in the city's Del Ray section.
The shooting prompted immediate speculation about whether Miss Ayele's death was tied to her testimony against members of the so-called Murder Inc. drug gang in the District.
But previously sealed court records show Miss Ayele also provided valuable help in several other felony cases over the years. Police say they are looking into whether her cooperation in other cases played a role in the shooting.
"Detectives still believe she was targeted, but they have not determined exactly why," Amy Bertsch, a spokeswoman for the Alexandria Police Department, said yesterday.
"The detectives are aware of all of those aspects," Miss Bertsch said. "They just don't know if they're connected to her murder. It's certainly something they're investigating."
According to unsealed records in federal court in the District, Miss Ayele debriefed detectives in a double homicide in Connecticut.
In Florida, she worked with the FBI to set up a cocaine buy between a drug dealer and an undercover FBI agent.
She cooperated in the investigation of a drug ring in the District. She testified publicly in the 2003 and 2004 Murder Inc. trial, linking two men to the conspiracy. Various members of the gang were convicted in 31 separate murders.
Miss Ayele's cooperation began after her arrest by U.S. Park Police in April 2000, when she was stopped for a traffic violation and officers found $20,000 in cash, drugs and a handgun in her van, according to court records.
She pleaded guilty to conspiracy in December 2000, agreeing to cooperate and forfeit more than $200,000 in seized cash, two cars and jewelry.
According to court records, there was concern about Miss Ayele's safety as a cooperating witness during her case.
In 2001, a federal magistrate judge ruled that her case should be kept off the public docket, writing that "her cooperation, due to the nature of the case, places the personal safety of the defendant and the officers and agents working with her at substantial risk."
A provision in her plea deal stated that the U.S. attorney's office in the District would back her entrance into the federal witness protection program.
It is not clear whether Miss Ayele ever opted to go into the program. Federal authorities and Miss Ayele's attorney declined to comment for this story.
When she was killed, Miss Ayele was working as a real estate agent in Alexandria. She also ran the Ohio Restaurant on H Street in Northeast. The restaurant remains closed, and family members could not be reached for comment.
According to court records, Miss Ayele was held without bond after her arrest. She was released into the custody of an FBI special agent to help in undercover investigations, including cases in Florida and Georgia.
ABC 7 Washington DC TV
Police: Shooting Victim Likely Targeted
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Alexandria (website - news) police say they believe a woman who was shot and killed at a stoplight Wednesday night probably was targeted by her killer.
Police say they they're pursuing a number of leads, including a theory that 34-year-old Bethlehem Ayele may have been killed in retaliation for her testimony against members of a major D.C. gang known as Murder Inc.
Ayele was shot by someone who walked up to her car as she say at the intersection of Mount Vernon and Commonwealth avenues in the Del Ray section of Alexandria. It was the city's fifth homicide of the year.
Ayele was a witness for the government in one of D.C.'s longest-running and highest-security criminal trials. Six men were convicted for their involvement in a gang believed to be responsible for 31 killings between 1988 and 1999, as part of a quest to dominate the District's cocaine and heroin markets.
Source WJLA ABC 7 News Washington DC
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Woman Slain in Del Ray Had Testified Against Gang
By Jamie Stockwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 27, 2006; B05
A woman shot to death while she waited at a stoplight in Alexandria late Wednesday probably was targeted by her killer, though a motive for her slaying remained unknown, police said yesterday.
A number of leads were being pursued, including the theory that Bethlehem Ayele, 34, may have been slain in retaliation for her testimony against a major murder and drug enterprise known as Murder Inc., which was prosecuted nearly three years ago in the District, police said.
"Our detectives are aware of that information, and they are looking at all the angles," said Lt. James Bartlett, an Alexandria police spokesman. "We don't know what she was doing when she was killed, but we feel [she] was specifically killed, and for that reason we don't feel that her killer presents a threat to the community at large."
Ayele, whose jobs included selling homes for Weichert Realtors and answering phones at Alexandria Yellow Cab, was pronounced dead at Inova Alexandria Hospital not long after the 10:15 p.m. shooting, the city's fifth homicide this year. Officers arrived at the busy intersection of Mount Vernon and Commonwealth avenues in the Del Ray section of Alexandria after receiving reports that gunshots had been fired.
Bartlett said Ayele, of Alexandria, was stopped at the light when someone walked up to her car after walking past several others idling at the intersection. The assailant fired the shots into the driver's side of Ayele's car, Bartlett said, and then ran away.
The car Ayele was driving rolled across the intersection before striking a utility pole. No one else was in the car when officers arrived, Bartlett said.
Detectives canvassed the area and worked to find information on who killed Ayele, who, court records revealed, was involved in various drug-related cases. In the District, Ayele testified for the government in one of the city's longest-running and highest-security criminal trials, which led to the convictions of six men accused of being lieutenants in Murder Inc., a gang whose members allegedly killed at least 31 people from 1988 to 1999.
Channing Phillips, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, yesterday called Ayele's death "a huge tragedy" but declined to comment further.
According to court documents, Ayele was accused in November 2000 of conspiring to distribute cocaine and carrying a firearm. She was found guilty four years later, not long after her testimony led to the convictions of members of Murder Inc., and was sentenced to probation.
While out on bond on the drug and firearm charges, Ayele was arrested in July 2003 in Alexandria after she allegedly threw hot coffee at her mother. She was acquitted of the domestic assault and battery charge a few weeks later.
Residents who live nearby said the intersection, near a heavily trafficked strip of shops and restaurants on Mount Vernon Avenue, is frequently the site of crashes because of its odd design. Three streets come together in that spot. And so when the shots were fired late Wednesday, several residents said they thought nothing of it.
"I heard a bang, and it sounded like another accident. I had no idea someone had been killed," said Joanne Winters, 56. "It's mostly quiet around here. This is something unusual."
Three years ago and about a half-mile away, the wife of former Alexandria sheriff James H. Dunning was found slain inside the couple's home. Yesterday, residents recalled the unsolved killing of Nancy Dunning and said that until Wednesday's slaying, it was the worst incident to occur in the immediate area.
Bartlett encourages anyone who was in the area of the shooting to call detectives at 703-838-4711. "We know there were other people in cars, and maybe they weren't aware of what was going on," he said.
Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
Source: The Washington Post
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Related Links
Bethlehem Ayele used to work At Ohio Restaurant on H Street in
1380 H St NE Washington DC
More on this here
Also a picture from Ohio Restaurant on flickr
The Ethiopian Royal Family Decides to Sell Property in
Jerusalem to Foreign Nationals
On September 21, 2006, the Jerusalem District Court in Israel decided in favor of conferring a disputed property in Jerusalem to the survivors of Emperor Haile-Selassie and Empress Mennen. As recalled, this property’s ownership was in dispute between the Royal Family and the EPRDF government in Ethiopia since 1999. The would-be Empress acquired the land, which is situated on Dvora Hanevia St. no 4 and 6 in Jerusalem through the mediation of the Ethiopian Consul in Jerusalem at the time Ato
Paulos in early 1928, and was legally registered under the names of the late Emperor and Empress on January 25, 1928. Recently, the EPRDF government appealed to an Israeli court and was able to have a temporary restraining order issued against the Royal Family’s usage of the property, which was also cancelled by the District Court. The EPRDF government was represented by Adv. Itzhak Hennig, and the survivors of the Emperor and the Empress by Adv. Tzvi Shamir.
EEPCo board approve 34-storey headquarters design
By Groum Abate
Capital
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
The board of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) approved a design of its 34-storey headquarters at Mexico Square , on Wednesday October 18. The building will be the tallest in the country.
Sources told Capital that the board approved the design after the first version was revised and improved.
The corporation had selected a design for its headquarters in 2003 and construction was to resume shortly. However, the design was not found to be adequate by the corporation for reasons of an improper airflow system. The corporation then selected MH Engineering from nine local and international consultants for design, supervision and contract administration of EEPCo's head office complex.
The building was envisioned a 30-storey complex, when the contract was signed three years ago, but redesigning of the plans added 4 more floors.
According to sources, the construction was planned to start in March 2006. However, due to delays, construction is expected to begin in January 2007, and is expected to be completed in four years.
The site also hosts Tekezze Project office and Project co-ordination offices of the corporation.
The three offices are to be located near the Civil Service College on a property owned by the corporation.
The new EEPCo headquarters would also host the new department of Load Dispatch Centre. The centre will be equipped with computer hardware and software and a tele-indicator system of data transfer/communication between the LDC and control-equipment at remote sites.
Source: Capital
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Related Links
According to SkyscraperPage.com Ethiopia ranks number 10 in Africa in the number of skyscrapers and Addis Ababa ranks number 13 among all African Cities.
By Country
1. South Africa
2. Egypt
3. Kenya
4. Nigeria
5. Zimbabwe
10. Ethiopia (11 buildings)
42 Eritrea
By Cities in Africa
1. Cairo
2. Durban
3. Johannesburg
4. Nairobi
5. Lagos
13. Addis Ababa
Source: Skyscraperpage.com
Some of the greatest skyscrapers in the world
US opens center for African strategic studies in Ethiopia
Oct 27, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — The Africa Center for Strategic Studies opened its first regional office in Ethiopia October 26 with a ceremony at the office site, which is located within the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.
The office is designed to allow the Africa Center better access to African leaders and other community members on the continent. Backed by the US Department of State, the ACSS would conduct researches and studies aimed at peacefully resolving conflicts and problems in the African continent through dialogue.
The ceremony featured remarks by Girma Woldegiorgis, President of Ethiopia; the Patrick Mazimhaka, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union; Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, U.S. Charge d’ Affaires Ambassador Vicki Huddleston; and General (retired) Carlton W. Fulford, former Director of the Africa Center.
In a meeting with the former head of ACSS, (Ret) US general, Carlton Fulford, Thursday 26 October, Meles said that the decision taken by the US government to open the centre in Ethiopia is inspiring.
Meles said that the opening of ACSS would enable to conduct studies and researches that would help prevent conflicts in the African continent.
General Fulford said he has discussed with Prime Minister Meles the importance of opening the centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s support to its activities as well as issues related to conflicts in the Sudan and Somalia.
Countries in the Horn of Africa should work jointly in order to peacefully resolve conflicts and other complex problems, Fulford said.
The existing situation in the Horn of Africa has been complex, General Fulford said, adding countries in the continent should exert joint efforts to find solution to problems.
At the inaugural ceremony, President Girma said that the opening of the centre has a paramount significance towards assisting Ethiopia and the rest of east African countries to solve security challenges that had hampered their development agenda for decades.
Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, on her part said that the first regional office of ACSS is opened here for the very reason that Addis Ababa is the seat for AU and other international organizations and its proximity to other east African regional and sub-regional organizations.
She underscored that every one of us should coordinate our effort and take the responsibility to bring peace and stability in the region as well as through out Africa since they are the most important component to bring prosperity and democratic leadership.
African Union Commission deputy chairperson, Patrick Mazimhaka, recalled that the commission has done a lot to resolve peace and security problems across the continent.
The opening of the office indicates the commitment of US government to share the burden of the commission, he said adding that the commission work with ACSS to get the best outcomes out of it.
ST
Smithsonian Refuses To Exhibit Ethiopia's Fragile 'Lucy' Fossil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 28, 2006; Page C01
Read Original Article on The Washington Post
Plans for a six-year U.S. tour by "Lucy," one of humanity's earliest known ancestors, have hit a major snag.
Earlier this week the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ethiopia and the Houston Museum of Natural Science announced an agreement to include Lucy in a tour of several hundred Ethiopian relics. But at least two major U.S. museums now say the bones should not be moved and they don't want to show them
Rick Potts, the director of the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program and an influential paleoanthropologist, said he and many other scientists agree that Lucy is too fragile to travel. He said the Ethiopian artifacts would not come to the Smithsonian.
The International Association for the Study of Human Paleontology, a group affiliated with UNESCO, passed a resolution in 1998 saying such fossils shouldn't be moved outside the country of origin. The resolution, unanimously approved by representatives of 20 countries, including Ethiopia and the United States, said replicas should be used for public display.
Potts, who has led major excavations in East Africa for more than 25 years, said fossils should be moved from their vaults "only under the most compelling scientific reasons." (He keeps a cast of Lucy in his laboratory at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.)
A spokesman for the American Museum of Natural History in New York also said that museum would not accept the 3.2-million-year-old fossilized remains.
Neil Shubin, provost of the Field Museum in Chicago, said the museum's officials hadn't discussed the possibility of exhibiting Lucy on the planned tour. "This is a hot potato because there are a lot of issues institutions have to confront. These are rare fossils, very fragile, and they can be damaged or lost," he said. Shubin said the scientific group's aversion to Lucy being moved "would be front and center" in the museum's discussions.
Potts said he also objected to the use of the fossil as a tourist attraction. "The value of these things to the scientific community comes first," said Potts.
Joel Bartsch, president of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, said there are no plans to cancel the tour. The museum is paying most of the costs and expects other museums will want to display the artifacts. The agreement calls for 11 venues, including Houston.
"I am quite confident all the slots will be filled," Bartsch said. "I respect the opinions of the scientists, but museums travel irreplaceable, rare objects every day."
He said his museum has shown the Dead Sea Scrolls, treasures from the Vatican and other fragile objects with no problems.
Details of the tour, which will start in Houston next September, are not final.
About 40 percent of a female skeleton was discovered near Hadar, Ethiopia, in 1974 by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray. Lucy stood roughly 3 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 62 pounds. The bones are kept in a vault in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The fossil's name comes from the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," which was playing during the party celebrating the discovery.
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Relate Links
"Lucy" to be exhibited in United States
Lucy (Dinknesh) to leave Ethiopia for first exhibit abroad
Open Letter to Ethiopians.
Dear Compatriots at Home and Abroad:
Citizens' Charter for a Democratic Ethiopia
We, the undersigned, are a group of concerned Ethiopians who value civic activism in the cause of freedom, that is, freedom from unrelenting poverty and freedom from unremitting tyranny. The lessons of history clearly show that the cause of liberty is best served by a political system that respects the sovereignty of the citizen and generously rewards those activities that promote the common good. They also show that shared prosperity comes with the help of an economic system that guarantees economic freedom and rewards productive activity.
ETHIOPIA:
Soviet school
More disturbing news from a former aid darling of the West
Oct 26th 2006 | NAIROBI
From The Economist print edition
Yalemzewd BEKELE Photo:European Commission
THE story is reminiscent of a cold-war spy tale: two diplomats risking everything to smuggle a dissident out of the country with the secret police just one step behind. Except that in today's Ethiopia the secret police proved to be one step ahead and Yalemzewd Bekele, a young human-rights lawyer working for the European Commission office in Addis Ababa, never made it. She was dragged aside by a plainclothes officer at the border with Kenya on October 19th and is now in prison and at risk of torture. The two colleagues from the commission who had taken her to the border were arrested and deported.
"government's grip on power is slipping"
Ms Bekele's plight is probably connected to the arrest, on October 5th, of Alemayehu Fantu, a businessman. Mr Fantu was charged with distributing calendars with pictures of imprisoned opposition leaders on them. The calendars called for a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience to bring down the government—and seem to have driven the secret police berserk. A student was shot dead for handling them and those suspected of printing and distributing the calendars have been rounded up. Amnesty International, a human-rights pressure-group, is concerned that three of them may already have been tortured to death. Mr Fantu had difficulty walking when he appeared in court on October 12th. Senior diplomats believe he was injured by electric shocks.
The brutality is nothing new. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians were killed in the late 1970s by a Soviet-backed Marxist regime trying to cement its hold over an intensely religious, impoverished and ill-educated populace. But it is a disappointment. Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, had been close to Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, and a favourite of aid donors. His government has shown some leadership in reducing poverty, not least by extending the reach of primary schools, health clinics, electricity and roads.
But the government's grip on power is slipping. An instinct for self-preservation may explain the former rebel fighters' return to Soviet methods. Things began to fall apart last year when a disorganised opposition disputed the results of a general election. Street protests followed in the capital in June and again in November. Around 80 people were believed to have been killed, including some police, after which opposition leaders, journalists, human-rights activists and businessmen were arrested. Many have since been charged with treason and genocide.
The government promised a speedy trial but has reneged, dragging out the process while keeping it far from view. Most of those arrested are still languishing in Kaliti prison in Addis Ababa. The cells there are baking hot by day, freezing by night, infested with roaches and mice, and thick with mud in the rainy season. The government has so far used a mix of spin and harassment of journalists (local more than foreign) to avoid international condemnation. But that may be changing.
An independent commission into the June and November killings has become an embarrassment. The government had stacked the commission with its supporters but eight out of ten of them still decided that the government had used excessive force. The commission members claim Mr Zenawi tried to get them to reverse their decision earlier this year; when that failed the government sought to bury the findings. The head of the commission and his deputy fled to Europe, fearing for their safety. Their investigation says at least 193 people were killed, nearly all by the security forces, including 40 teenagers, some shot at close range, others strangled. Some 20,000 young Ethiopians were said to be imprisoned in labour camps, though a government spokesman calls this “absolute rubbish”.
The government is spending more on its secret police as well as on state media. Well-placed sources claim an Israeli-trained unit now monitors e-mail and blocks opposition websites. Yet there is also disloyalty in the security apparatus. Berhanu Nega, the imprisoned mayor-elect of Addis Ababa, managed to write a book in Kaliti entitled “Dawn of Freedom” that is now being widely distributed in samizdat. Some people say 200,000 of the opposition calendars have been sold, often for several times their cover price.
The government could claw back some credibility by releasing the political prisoners, but this is unlikely. And that credibility took another knock last week when Mr Zenawi was forced to admit, after months of denial, that Ethiopian troops had indeed been sent to intervene in the growing civil war in neighbouring Somalia. Donor countries are disgusted by the treason trial, but equally terrified that the country could once again fall miserably apart if they dare to stop their aid.
Source: The Economist
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Related Articles
Ethiopia releases detained lawyer
EU says two EU diplomats expelled from Ethiopia
Somalis protest against Ethiopia
BBC News
Thousands of young Muslim men have demonstrated in the Somali capital in support of a call for a holy war, known as a jihad, against Ethiopia.
The young men were urged to register their names for a jihad.
Demonstrations following Friday prayers were also held in other parts of the south under the control of the Union of Islamic Courts.
Islamic militias have moved towards Baidoa, where the interim government, backed by Ethiopia, is based.
Ethiopian troops are reported to be stationed in Baidoa in support of the government, although Ethiopia says they are there in a training capacity only.
Veiled woman hold banners and a poster of one of the Council of Islamic Courts leader's, Sheik Sharrif Sheikh Ahmed, Friday, Oct. 27, 2006 during an anti Ethiopia rally in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. In more than 40 towns and villages across southern Somalia on Friday, thousands took to the streets after calls from Islamic leaders to protest Ethiopia's backing of the virtually powerless government. Some 15,000 turned out alone in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.(AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor)
Some fear a regional conflict starting in Somalia, with Ethiopia backing the government and Eritrea and foreign Islamists backing the Union of Islamic Courts.
Somalia has been in the grip of warlords and militias for years and has not had a functioning national government since 1991.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Coffee and controversy in 'Little Mogadishu'
By Andrew Cawthorne
IOL
Addis Ababa - It's not hard to start an argument in the cafes of the Ethiopian capital's "Little Mogadishu" district.
Mention politics back home - or the threat of war between Ethiopia and Somalia's Islamists - and the shouting starts.
"The Islamic Courts are al-Qaeda. Ethiopia should go in and get rid of them - now!" exclaims Osman Nur, a 64-year-old carpenter and refugee from Somalia's Puntland region, with a thump that rattles the coffee cups on his table.
"Not true!" responds another man, shaking his fist as he stands nearby at the pavement cafe in this hub of Somali refugees and ethnically Somali Ethiopians.
"I support the Islamic Courts, so do others. They have brought peace," he adds, drawing a tide of derision from Nur's friends that eventually drives him away.
The exchange highlights the divisions and dangers in Somalia, where the Islamists' rise has dented the authority of an interim government intended to end 15 years of anarchy.
The situation is tense too here in neighbouring Ethiopia, which has promised to intervene if the Islamists attack that government or enter Ethiopia.
The Islamists say they are simply bringing law and order, but critics including Ethiopia say they are led by extremists.
A reporter's morning wander round "Little Mogadishu" showed most opposed to the Islamists: perhaps not surprising, given they are in Ethiopia and that many come from places like Puntland in north Somalia which the Islamists do not hold.
"All the Islamic Courts have brought to Somalia is guns," said Yusuf Jama, 56, a farmer from Puntland who has been in Ethiopia for two years seeking passage to Sweden.
A few, however, did express Islamist sympathies, but were chased away by others or asked not to be named.
"It's too dangerous here. We are surrounded by informants," one young man from Mogadishu said in a side-alley.
Tens of thousands of Somalis live in Addis Ababa, but precise numbers are difficult because of the blurred distinctions between native Somalis and the six percent of Ethiopians of Somali ethnicity.
Ethiopia's eastern Ogaden region is almost entirely Somali and was the scene of a devastating 1977-78 war when Soviet-backed Ethiopia defeated a Somali invasion. Addis fears the Islamists aspire to folding Ogaden into a "Greater Somalia".
"They are threatening the whole of the Horn of Africa," said Omar Muse, 18, who left the Somali port of Kismayu five months ago, before the Islamists took it over.
Most of the Somali refugees in "Little Mogadishu" recounted long and dangerous treks into Ethiopia by foot, road and mule. Ambushes were common and hunger widespread.
"It is very tough," said Abdi Hassan Farah. The 61-year-old, with an orange-tinged beard typical of elder Somalis, said he came into Ethiopia in 2005 after drought and fighting wiped out his sheep and goat herds.
Once in Addis, the Somalis join a well-organised network of compatriots who live off remittances from relatives.
As well as the ubiquitous cafes where the men gather, the streets of "Little Mogadishu" are replete with telephone and money transfer shops.
Muslim women lay their wares on blankets on the floor, while the odd goat and sheep nibbles on rotting food.
Among the shacks and more humble homes, however, lie the larger walled compounds of those Somalis who have set up flourishing businesses here.
And while the majority seem to be looking for a ticket to Europe or the United States, some have long-term commitments.
Ibrahim Jamma, who came from the self-declared independent Somali enclave of Somaliland in 2003, runs a small private school, the Somali Education Centre.
"Somalia has such great potential," he said, as young Somalis were tutored in British accents prior to a hoped-for transfer. "What our future generations need is education, not more arguing and conflict."
Ethiopia releases detained lawyer
By Amber Henshaw
BBC News, Ethiopia
A European Commission lawyer who was arrested in Ethiopia last week while trying to cross the border into Kenya has been freed without charge.
Yalemzewd Bekele, a human rights activist, spent a week in custody.
Two European diplomats were expelled over the incident - accused of helping to smuggle her out of the country.
Ms Yalemzewd was said to be in good spirits following her release. Amnesty International had previously raised fears that she would be tortured.
Ms Yalemzewd was arrested last Thursday. At the time, the ministry of immigration said she was wanted for what they described as serious crimes.
The two international staff expelled by the Ethiopian government over the incident, Bjorn Jonsson from Sweden and Enrico Sborgi from Italy - were deported without even having time to collect their passports.
The whereabouts of an Ethiopian man arrested in connection with the incident are not known.
Torture fears
Relations between the Ethiopian government and the European Union have been under pressure since the 2005 election.
The European Union's development commissioner Luis Michel warned there would be repercussions.
Head of the EC delegation in Ethiopia Tim Clarke said he had seen Ms Bekele after her release.
"I spent about two hours with her. So far she has not been charged with anything," he said.
Mr Clarke said she seemed fine and that they were delighted that she had been freed.
They said they believed Ms Bekele had been arrested in connection with the publication and distribution of a calendar of action for non-violent civil disobedience by the opposition party the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD).
Following last year's disputed election, key members of the CUD are currently being tried on a number of charges including one of trying to overthrow the government through an armed rebellion.
The Longest bridge in Ethiopia opens to traffic
Addis Ababa, October 26, 2006 - The longest bridge in Ethiopia, constructed over the Beshlo River and those built over the Amleshet and Laymen rivers have opened to traffic.
The bridges that connect Mekdela, Lalibela, Gishen-Mariam and other towns in South Wollo and North Wollo zones of Amhara State were constructed at a cost of 25 million birr.
The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) said that the bridges would have a significant contribution in the development of the tourism industry besides connecting the towns.
The new 319-metre bridge constructed over the Beshlo River is the longest in the country followed by the 305-metre bridge constructed over the Baro River in Gambela State.
File Photo: New bridge under construction to span the Blue Nile Gorge
The new bridge will be constructed 1,060 meters (3,480 feet) above sea level over the Blue Nile Gorge. The road rehabilitation work is for a stretch of road that links Goha Tsion and Dejen, two towns situated about 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level and separated by the Nile River. Expected to be completed December 2008 (Photo Credit Kajima)
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, ERA Engineering and Architecture Section Head Eng. Tesfaye Ayele said that the bridges have a significant contribution to the development of the nation.
The government has attached due attention to the construction of roads, the Ethiopian Television quoted Eng. Tesfaye as saying.
Blue Nile Construction Share Company constructed the bridges.
(ENA)
Ethiopia denies excessive force used after protesters killed
VOA Butty interview with Wolde-Michael Meshesha audio
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Ethiopia acknowledged Thursday security forces killed 193 civilians protesting election fraud last year, but insisted they did not use excessive force.
The figure -- three times an earlier official toll -- had been revealed last week by a senior judge appointed to investigate the violence who had accused the government of trying to cover up the findings.
The judge, Wolde-Michael Meshesha, a vice chairman of the inquiry board, fled Ethiopia last month. Two other team members, including the former chairman, have also fled Ethiopia fearing for their safety, Wolde-Michael said. In early July, shortly before completing the original report, the team held a vote and ruled eight to two that excessive force had been used. The vote and comments of the commission members were recorded on video, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
"Unarmed protesters were shot, beaten and strangled to death". "If that is not excessive force I do not know what is." Judge
"Unarmed protesters were shot, beaten and strangled to death," Wolde-Michael told AP on Thursday. "If that is not excessive force I do not know what is. The reason I and others left the country was because we would not change our original findings."
Mekonnen Disasa, the newly appointed head of the inquiry board, was one of two members on the video who supported the government's actions and was the only member to appear before reporters Thursday to present its findings. He refused to take questions after his presentation, during which he said security forces used reasonable force to quell post election disturbances.
The new report did, however, say some human rights violations were made but did not elaborate on what those violations were.
It also stated 30,000 people were arrested during the protesters.
Six policemen were also killed, according to the 10-page report, bringing the overall death toll to 199 -- three times the official death toll of 66.
"The measures that were taken by the security forces for stopping the violence that occurred was legal and essential on the basis of defending the new system of government as well protecting the country from endless violence," said the official report into the June and November 2005 killings.
The prime minister and other officials said at the time demonstrators were trying to overthrow the government.
Wolde-Michael had said the inquiry team came under intense pressure once the ruling party learned of its findings. Their offices were surrounded by security forces and the electricity was cut, he said. The team was summoned by the prime minister and told to reverse its findings, Wolde-Michael said.
The unrest followed May 2005 parliamentary elections that gave Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front control of nearly two-thirds of parliament. Opposition parties said the election was rigged.
U.S. and European election observers said the vote had been marred by irregularities.
Since the vote, more than 100 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers were charged with treason and attempted genocide in connection with the postelection violence.
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Starbucks, the coffee beans and the copyright row that cost Ethiopia £47m
Listen to an Interview with Oxfam on Australia Radio Program PM
Ashley Seager
Thursday October 26, 2006
The Guardian
Starbucks, the giant US coffee chain, has used its muscle to block an attempt by Ethiopia's farmers to copyright their most famous coffee bean types, denying them potential earnings of up to £47m ($88m) a year, said Oxfam.
The development agency said the Ethiopian government last year filed copyright applications to trademark its most famous coffee names - Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe. Securing the rights to these names would enable the impoverished African country to control their use in the market and allow farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price.
The move would have increased its annual export earnings from coffee by 25%.
But Oxfam said Starbucks, which enjoyed a 22% rise in annual global turnover to £7.8bn in the year to October, has acted to block Ethiopia's application to the US patent and trademark office. The USPTO has denied Ethiopia's applications for Sidamo and Harar, creating serious obstacles for its project.
Oxfam had a one-year cooperation agreement in 2004 with Starbucks which saw both provide support to coffee farmers in Ethiopia as part of wider attempts to reduce poverty in the country. But Oxfam now feels that the Seattle-based company's attitude is questionable.
Phil Bloomer, Oxfam's policy director, said: "Starbucks has made some progress towards helping poor farmers in recent years, but their behaviour on this occasion is a huge backwards step, and raises serious questions about the depth of their commitment to the welfare of their suppliers. By acting responsibly, they could set an example for others by supporting Ethiopia's plan to help the 15 million struggling Ethiopian farmers who depend on coffee for their survival."
Tell Starbucks to give Ethiopia control over its coffee names! Click Here
Fitsum Hailu, of the Ethiopian embassy in the US, added: "Struggling Ethiopian farmers should be able to realise a greater portion of the value our coffee commands on the international market. This project is innovative - and a unique opportunity for our farmers to be empowered in the arena of international trade."
Starbucks, whose annual turnover is equivalent to about three quarters of Ethiopia's entire gross domestic product, said in a statement it had never "filed an opposition to the Ethiopian government's trademark application".
However, Ron Layton, head of Light Years IP, a Washington-based intellectual property rights organisation that is advising the Ethiopian government, said that in 2004 Starbucks had filed a trademark application with the word "Sidamo" to the USPTO. The USPTO then judged that Ethiopia's application a year later had to be rejected because the word was already the subject of Starbucks' application.
When Starbucks' application lapsed this June, the US National Coffee Association, of which Starbucks is a leading member, objected to the Ethiopian application. NCA representatives admitted to the Ethiopians and Mr Layton that Starbucks had prompted their opposition.
"Intellectual property ownership now makes up a huge proportion of the total value of world trade but rich countries and businesses capture most of this. Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, and one of the poorest countries in the world, is trying to assert its rights and capture more value from its product. It should be helped, not hindered," said Mr Layton.
Starbucks insisted, however, that it was committed to paying premium prices to producers in more than 27 countries and its purchases of Ethiopian coffee had grown by more than 400% in the past four years. It said it paid an average of $1.23 (65p) per pound last year, 23% above average market prices.
Tadesse Meskela, head of the Oromia coffee farmers cooperative union in Ethiopia, was unimpressed, however. "Coffee shops can sell Sidamo and Harar coffees for up to £14 a pound because of the beans' specialty status. But Ethiopian coffee farmers only earn between 30p and 59p for their crop, barely enough to cover the cost of production.
"We sell organic coffee for less than £1 a pound but that pound can make 52 specials in coffee shops selling for £2 each, meaning the retailer is selling it for £104. The people who are producing this in Ethiopia don't have enough food, clean water or health centres.
"Farmers are losing out while others in the chain are making huge amounts of money. That is hugely unfair."
Ethiopia is continuing to pursue its trademark applications in the US. It is also asking Starbucks and other companies to sign voluntary licensing agreements that immediately acknowledge the country's ownership of the coffee names, regardless of whether they have been issued with a trademark.
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Starbucks and Ethiopia Make Bad Blend (ABC News)
The bitter taste of hypocrisy (Phil Bloomer Guardian)
Starbucks Response to Ethiopia
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Eritrean fatally shot after entering UN post in border zone with Ethiopia
UN News Center
5 October 2006 – Two Eritreans illegally entered a post of the United Nations peacekeeping force overseeing the ceasefire along the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia over the weekend, and one of them was fatally shot when a sentry fired to scare off the assailants, the UN mission reported today.
“Repeated calls by the sentry for the intruders to vacate the premises were not heeded,” the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said in a statement on the incident, which occurred on Saturday at the missions Sector West headquarters in Barentu, Eritrea.
“At some point, one of the intruders tried to attack the sentry, who fired shots to scare off the assailants. Unfortunately, one of the intruders was hit,” it added. The injured person was immediately offered medical attention at the mission’s level 1 plus hospital and then transported to Barentu Hospital where he died.
“UNMEE deeply regrets this tragic loss of life and extends its sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and to the Eritrean authorities,” the statement said.
The mission has since instituted an investigation, and will fully cooperate with the Eritrean Government for the successful conduct of this probe.
Nine days ago, Eritrean troops moved 1,500 troops and 14 tanks into the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) separating the two countries in what Secretary-General Kofi Annan called “a major breach” of the ceasefire that ended the two-year border war in 2000. He called on Eritrea to withdraw its troops immediately.
UNMEE reported then that the Eritrean forces took over one of its checkpoints in Sector West.
Last year Eritrea restricted UNMEE’s use of helicopters, impeding its ability to monitor 50 to 55 per cent of the area on the Eritrean side within the TSZ.
In his latest report last month on the conflict, Mr. Annan repeated concerns that Ethiopia had not accepted the binding decisions of the Boundary Commission demarcating the border at the root of the war, and that Eritrea refused to continue to cooperate with the body
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Ethiopia says Eritrea has 10,000 armed men at border
Wed Oct 25, 2006 7:24 AM ET
By Andrew Cawthorne
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's tiny neighbor Eritrea has nearly 10,000 soldiers and militia inside a U.N. buffer zone on their disputed border in a "flagrant" breach of a ceasefire, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said.
"My mother happens to be an Eritrean" Meles Zenawi
His figure was far higher than the 1,500 soldiers the United Nations last week accused Asmara of moving to the border where a 1998-2000 war killed more than 70,000 people and left the Horn of Africa neighbors on bitter terms.
Meles told Reuters in an interview that besides the 1,500 soldiers and tanks mentioned by the United Nations, thousands more members of a militia of armed local farmers had been "smuggled" into the sensitive border zone.
"It's close to 10,000, including the so-called militia," he said late on Tuesday.
Ethiopia Prime Minister Meles Zenawi speaks during an interview in Addis Ababa October 24, 2006. Zenawi said on Tuesday Ethiopia was 'technically' at war with Somalia's Islamists because they had declared jihad on his nation. (Andrew Heavens/Reuters)
"We consider this to be the most flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement so far. Nevertheless, our position remains that we shall not respond in kind to this provocative act."
Eritrea has not given numbers, but acknowledged it has personnel in the area for agricultural work like harvesting.
"What is the fuss about? This is sovereign Eritrean territory and this is perfectly understandable," presidential adviser Yemane Ghebremeskel told Reuters recently.
Experts also note that army and civilian life in Eritrea, one of the world's most militarized nations, are closely intertwined. A Reuters reporter at the border zone last year saw both soldiers with pitch-forks and civilians with rifles.
The incursion has, however, heightened tensions between Eritrea and the U.N. peacekeeping mission, and fueled the seemingly endless enmity between Asmara and Addis Ababa.
"You don't need tanks to pick crops. That's just the Eritrean government's way of poking their finger at the eyes of the international community as a whole," Meles said.
He implied Eritrea was taking advantage of Ethiopia's tensions with Islamists in also neighboring Somalia, but said Addis Ababa would not respond unless attacked.
"The Eritrean government is the main armer and trainer of the jihadists in Somalia. It would be very naive to assume that the current violation of the temporary security zone is just a coincidence," Meles said.
"But in the interests of peace, we don't shoot until and unless they shoot."
FAMILY?
Eritrea is accused by the United Nations and others of arming the Islamists, while Ethiopia has sent military personnel to help its rivals the interim Somali government.
That has fueled fears of a regional war.
Meles said Eritrea has frequently sent armed men into the U.N.-monitored border zone since the 2000 ceasefire. But the "serious escalation" this time was the presence of regular soldiers, tanks and heavy artillery.
Eritrea's roughly 4 million population is dwarfed by Ethiopia's 79 million, but Asmara is proud of having won independence from its giant neighbor in a three-decade conflict until 1991.
Meles and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki were comrades-in-arms during the toppling of former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, but quickly fell out culminating in war at the end of the 1990s and political standoff since then.
Both were once hailed by the West as part of a "new generation" of young African progressives, but are now viewed abroad as authoritarians.
Meles smiled when asked about reports they were cousins.
"I understand from where they are coming. My mother happens to be an Eritrean. And the president of Eritrea has relations in and round the area where I was born," Meles said in rare comments on the issue.
"But this geographic overlap does not have any biological implications. We do not have any family."
Ethiopia, Hong Kong ink air services deal
Oct 25, 2006 (HONG KONG) — The Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed an Air Services Agreement with the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia here Wednesday.
The Hong Kong Secretary for Economic Development and Labour Stephen Ip and State Minister of Ministry of Transportation and Communication of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Getachew Mengiste attended the signing ceremony to sign the agreement.
"The Air Services Agreement signed today provides a legal framework for the establishment of air links between Hong Kong and Ethiopia. It opens a new chapter in the development of air services between the two places," said Ip at the ceremony.
"To enhance Hong Kong’s position as an international and regional aviation centre, we will continue to expand our air services network in line with our progressive liberalization policy in aviation," Ip added.
Ethiopia has an extensive aviation network for eastern and central Africa. More air links between Hong Kong and Ethiopia would encourage more passenger and cargo traffic between eastern and central Africa and Asia to flow through Hong Kong. At present, Ethiopian Airlines is providing three weekly passenger services between Hong Kong and Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.
The Air Services Agreement with Ethiopia is Hong Kong’s 56th Air Services Agreement with foreign aviation partners.
(Xinhua)
Savage ridiculed Ethiopians, declaring they "have flies around their eyes"; labeled Islam "a bloodthirsty religion"
On the October 23 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage said of Ethiopians:
"The people down there have flies around their eyes," adding, "I never went into an Ethiopian restaurant. The Ethiopians come here to eat American food."
Earlier in the broadcast, while discussing Ramadan and the continued violence in Iraq, Savage suggested that
Islam is "a bloodthirsty religion that's practiced over there by a bunch of throwbacks, and we're gonna to kill 'em." Savage called for the United States to say: "That's it, we're leaving them; we're killing them."
I can just imagine them at an Ethiopian restaurant what they must carry on. Do liberals go to an Ethiopian restaurant? Could you imagine they're eating food from that area? What do they eat down in Ethiopia? I never went in one. There was one in San Francisco. Why would you eat in an Ethiopian restaurant? The people down there have flies around their eyes. What would they -- what kind of cuisine comes from Eretea [sic]? I never went into an Ethiopian restaurant. The Ethiopians come here to eat American food. You don't need to wind up with flies in your baby eye -- baby's eye.
Here is the Audio Clip
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More on
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Who is Michael Savage
Michael Savage is the pseudonym of Michael Alan Weiner(born March 31, 1942). Savage is a controversial American conservative talk radio host, author and political commentator. Michael Savage was born Michael Alan Weiner in the borough of the Bronx in New York City to a Russian Jewish family. Michael Savage once had the third largest syndicated radio talk show in the nation according to Talk Magazine
Source: Wikipedia
WARNING
READER DISCRETION STRONGLY ADVISED. SOME COMMENTS MAY BE OFFENSIVE.
New Directive Standardizes Bus Requirements
Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
October 24, 2006
By Issayas Mekuria
The Federal Transport Authority (FTA) issued a directive last week which requires that cross country public transport vehicles include standardized services.
The requirements, released on October 16, 2006, include a microphone, a tape recorder with speakers, a mobile phone, seat numbers, clean curtains, and a display board to monitor the vehicles destinations.
Also, the driver and assistant will have the same color uniform, including a tie and cap. And for safety precaution, a first aid kit and fire extinguisher are required to be put in a visible place.
The directive also requests a mobile weighing scale to be present in the vehicle for transit passengers who get in from stations on the way. Luggage tags, tickets and receipts are to be printed properly as well.
In addition, information on breaks during the journey (for meals or otherwise) and lodging information for overnight travel will have to be posted in a visible place on the bus and at the departing station. Drivers, the directive says, will only be allowed to take breaks at specified times.
Public response to the directive was slightly incredulous. "I do not see the importance of the uniforms" said Getasew Ashagre, a passenger from Dessie.
Another passenger, Sintayehu Zewde, said that he did not "understand why the Authority came up with this type of directive, especially the idea of putting on a tie and cap in hot weather."
The professional response was not much better. "The Authority told us that the directive is taken from experiences of Canada, Germany and Malaysia," said Haile Gebre Wahid, Board Chairman of the Africa Alem Public Transport Bus Owner's Association. "It will be difficult to implement it considering the sector's capacity and the road conditions of the country."
But despite this reticence, transport vehicles owners are more worried about the directives to follow. The Authority let owners know that it is working to make a major change in the sector, and that owners should prepare themselves for it.
According to an official from the Authority, this next directive might create controversy with a requirement that vehicles manufactured within the last seven years go 80Km per hour and have leather seats covers and toilet facilities.
In addition, the upcoming directive will require that drivers have at least five years experience on the job and be within 30 to 45 years of age. Assistants will be required to have auto mechanic knowledge and a fourth grade driving license.
An official at a bus owner association told Fortune that he does not think that the Authority will implement the directive, "as the whole plan looks unwise".
According to the information obtained from the Authority, there are 16 associations which operate 1,300 cross country buses.
"All this talk is a luxury," said Emebet Yifru, a Bahr Dar University student who waited to get a bus for three days at the Merkato bus terminal, "all I need is a vehicle which takes me to my destination safely and on time."
Ethiopia Talk Show Interview with song writer and singer Wayna Wondwossen hosted by Nigist Abate.
Ethiopian talk show Interview with Dr.Getachew Afre hosted by Nigist Abate
About Ethiopian Talk Show
An informative, entertaining, and community-oriented program produced and hosted by Nigest Abate. The show highlights a variety of topics of interest to the Ethiopian community and will feature local, national, and international guests.
Visit Ethiopian Talk Show Website for more information.
North Korea, Turkmenistan, Eritrea the worst violators of press freedom
The Top 5 in 2006 World Wide Press Freedom Index
Finland
Iceland
Ireland
Netherlands
Czech Republic
The 10 worst violators of press freedom
159 Nepal
160 Ethiopia
161 Saudi Arabia
162 Iran
163 China
164 Burma
165 Cuba
166 Eritrea
167 Turkmenistan
168 North Korea
United States and Botswana tie They’re 53rd on world index
See Complete Report
Eritrea, Ethiopia Ranked Among Worst Press Violators
By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
24 October 2006
VOA
Listen to Majtenyi report audio clip
The global press watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, says Eritrea and Ethiopia are ranked among the worst violators of press freedom in the world, while Benin, Namibia, and Mauritius are among the best countries in Africa for press freedom. Reporters Without Borders has released its annual press-freedom report.
Photo: Ethiopian journalists demand release of more than a dozen jailed colleagues during a press conference in Nairobi, May 2, 2006
To come up with its index, the Paris-based organization looks at such factors as censorship, threats, intimidation or physical reprisals levied against journalists as they gather and report information.
Out of the 168 countries surveyed, the Horn of Africa nation of Eritrea ranked 166th, doing slightly better than Turkmenistan and North Korea.
The head of Reporters Without Borders' Africa desk, Leonard Vincent, tells VOA that in 2001, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki suspended the private press in his country and launched a security operation to arrest influential members of the private press who appealed for democratic reforms in the young country.
"There are more than 100 political prisoners somewhere in the jails of the country," said Leonard Vincent. "At least 13 journalists are in jail. They have no access to their lawyers or to their families. So this is a very concerning situation."
Several years ago, a Voice of America reporter was arrested and jailed in Eritrea because of a report he filed for VOA. He has since been released.
Eritrean authorities could not be reached for comment.
Slightly behind Eritrea is its neighbor, Ethiopia, ranked 160th out of the 168 countries surveyed.
The organization says this is primarily because of last year's crackdown by the government against journalists, opposition supporters, activists, and others contesting the results of the May 2005 elections.
Dozens of journalists were arrested and charged with treason, including five VOA reporters charged in absentia. About 20 journalists still remain behind bars, possibly facing the death penalty because of their reporting.
The head of Ethiopia's Press, Film, License, and Regulation Department, Fantahun Asress, tells VOA that press freedom is a reality in Ethiopia, saying that since 1992, more than 1,100 licenses have been granted to private and government newspapers, broadcasters, and other media.
Fantahun says he thinks it is the private media that is plagued with problems.
"The major ones are: lack of professionalism; weak organizational structure; and the other is the political attitude of journalists," said Fantahun Asress. "Journalists usually report based on their own political grounds."
Reporters Without Borders also expressed concerns about Uganda, which was ranked 36 places lower than the previous index. Vincent explains.
"In Uganda, the situation was really bad during the elections in the beginning of this year, where several foreign correspondents were threatened or expelled, and information was kept under strict control of the government," he said.
Vincent says the governments of Kenya, Burundi, and Rwanda also displayed hostility towards journalists in 2006. Low rankers in other parts of the continent include: Gambia; Somalia; Democratic Republic of Congo; Zimbabwe; and Equatorial Guinea.
But there were some bright spots in Africa. Benin, Namibia, and Mauritius are ranked among the best countries in Africa for press freedom, with Ghana making good progress.
Vincent says in countries such as those, journalist groups are strong and responsible, there is a viable opposition press, and journalists do not have to fear facing systematic intimidation and arrest.
Ethiopia says"technically" at war with Somali Islamists
ADDIS ABABA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Tuesday Ethiopia was "technically" at war with Somalia's Islamists because they had declared jihad on his nation.
"The jihadist elements within the Islamic Court movement are spoiling for a fight. They've been declaring jihad against Ethiopia almost every other week," Meles told Reuters in an interview. "Technically we are at war."
"We believe they've been preparing terrorist outrages (in Somalia and Ethiopia). They're very close to our border. The indications are not that encouraging. But we've been patient so far and we'll continue to be patient," he said.
Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa's most powerful nation, has "a few hundred" armed military trainers in Somalia to support the interim government but will continue to exercise restraint, the prime minister said.
Ethiopia "technically" at war with Somalia -Meles
Ethiopia regards the Mogadishu-based Islamists, who have taken a swathe of southern Somalia since June, as led by terrorists.
The Islamists say Ethiopia wants to control them and has sent thousands of troops across the border to back President Abdullahi Yusuf's isolated government in the town of Baidoa. Various Islamist leaders have spoken of a jihad on Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian military trainers in Somalia "are providing elementary military training to the Somali security elements," Meles said. "Naturally, they are in a dangerous place so they have to be armed to protect themselves. A few hundred at most would be the number."
"We are trying to avoid a shooting war to the maximum extent possible and therefore, as it were, we are looking the other way in spite of these declarations," Meles said.
"They will have to force us to fight. That can come when and if they physically attack us."
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Ethiopia's "Lucy" to be exhibited in United States
Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:55 AM ET
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia agreed on Tuesday to exhibit its world-acclaimed archaeological find -- the 3.2 million-year-old remains of a female hominid known as Lucy -- and 190 other heritage items in America, officials said.
A full-scale model of "Lucy," the celebrated skeletal remains of a female hominid who lived 3.2 million years ago, is seen at a prehistoric museum in Bidon, France. Lucy will leave Ethiopia next year for her first-ever foreign exhibition, officials said.(AFP/File) Pictured Right
An exhibition is scheduled for September 2007 at the Houston Museum of National Science and then will move to 10 other U.S. museums. Lucy is expected to return to Ethiopia in 2013.
Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Tourism Ahmed Drir and Joel Bartsch President of the Houston Museum of National Science signed the agreement.
"Ethiopia's rich cultural heritage, and the vibrant country that it is today, is one of the best kept secrets in the world and it is a story that needs to be told much more broadly," Bartsch said.
A statement said other items including humankind's earliest stone tools would also be exhibited.
The remains of Lucy were discovered in 1974 by U.S. scientist Donald Johnson and described by scientists as one of the world's greatest archaeological finds.
The discovery of the almost complete hominid skeleton was a landmark in the search for the origins of humanity.
The statement said the exhibit would help renew interest in Ethiopia's tourist attractions and increase the number of U.S. tourists coming to the Horn of Africa country.
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'Lucy's baby' found in Ethiopia
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Somali radicals: Ethiopian officer captured after fierce battle
KISMAYO, Somalia (AP) -- Somalia's Islamic radicals claimed Tuesday they had captured an Ethiopian officer after heavy fighting against pro-government militia in which 43 were killed.
The wounded soldier was seized after 26 hours of fighting between Islamic fighters and militia loyal to Somalia's defense minister, said Islamic movement spokesman Sheik Shukri Abraham.
Ethiopian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Ethiopia and Somalia's governments had initially denied the presence of Ethiopian troops in the country, but Ethiopia's prime minister recently acknowledged he had sent troops. He said there were only a few military trainers.
Tensions between Ethiopia, which backs Somalia's weak government, and the Islamic radical group that controls much of southern Somalia have been mounting in recent months.
So far they have avoided any direct clashes, though the rhetoric on both sides has been fiery, raising fears of a conflict that could engulf the entire Horn of Africa region.
The fighting between the rival militias, which broke out late Sunday and ended late Monday, occurred in the Islamic base of Bu'aale, 170 kilometers (100 miles) south of the government base of Baidoa and where Ethiopian trainers are believed to be based.
The town briefly fell to forces loyal to Defense Minister Col. Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire during the fighting, but was recaptured by Islamic militia, Abraham told journalists.
He said 43 pro-government fighters were killed while three Islamic militia also died.
"We have defeated the militia after 26 hours fighting," he said. The Islamic forces also captured six pickup trucks mounted with machine guns and known locally as "technicals."
"We have captured an Ethiopian officer and he is now being held under guard in one of our compounds," he said at press conference in the southern strategic seaport of Kismayo. The Ethiopian soldier will be shown to the media in the coming days, Abraham added.
Officials for Shire were not immediately available for comment.
Somali government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, say about 6,000 Ethiopian troops are in the country or encamped on the 1,600 kilometer (990 miles) border.
The issue is sensitive because Ethiopia and Somalia are traditional rivals. Ethiopia, with almost half of its 77 million population Muslim, fears fundamentalism in its neighbor.
Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.
President Abdullahi Yusuf's government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help in hopes of restoring order after years of bloodshed.
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Special Section: Somalia
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Drought in Africa: Ethiopia's bitter harvest
The Independent
By the time the October rains arrived last week, five of the 13 heads of families in the village of Magado had hanged themselves, tormented by the loss of their cattle and livelihoods. Cahal Milmo reports from southern Ethiopia on what has become an international failure
Published: 24 October 2006
The skeletal acacia trees that surround Magado village are testimony in more ways than one to the drought that has destroyed the lives of its inhabitants.
The bare branches and parched earth are evidence of the six months of rainless heat that has wiped out up to 70 per cent of the livestock owned by the 11 million nomadic pastoralists spread across the Horn of Africa in the worst drought for a decade.
Emirates winter schedule focuses more on Africa
By a staff reporter
Khaleej Times
24 October 2006
DUBAI — A growing focus on Africa with scheduled enhancements to existing operations in Egypt, Ethiopia and Tanzania, and soon-to-be-launched services to Tunisia, marks the start of Dubai-based Emirates' winter schedule.
The carrier's East African presence, currently at 31 flights to four gateways in four countries, will be bolstered when it introduces daily non-stop flights to Addis Ababa and Dar es Salaam.
The Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa which entered Emirates' 85-strong destination network on March 27 as its 77th gateway will experience an influx of over 1000 passenger seats and 52 tonnes cargo capacity, as the airline adds four flights to its existing three per week, making it a daily service from December 1.
Connections to East Africa will also improve as Emirates introduces direct flights between Dubai and Dar es Salaam, putting an end to the service which originally operated via Nairobi. The non-stop flights will make available almost 1700 passenger seats to Dar es Salaam per week per direction.
In North Africa, Emirates will add an additional flight every Saturday to power-house Egypt's capital city, Cairo, bringing its total to 10 flights a week, starting October 29.
Nasser bin Kherbash, Emirates' Senior Vice-President, Commercial Operations Africa explained that the increasing capacity was only natural given the growing business between traditional trade partners, UAE and Africa. "Currently, Dubai's trade with Africa exceeds $27 million, and is expected to reach new heights as more and more African countries adopt free trade policies. Emirates' increasing presence in the region will facilitate and add greater momentum to this trade process," he said.
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Open letter to:
Tim Clarke, Head of Delegation to Ethiopia
Hervé Delphin, Member of the Cabinet (oversees EC programs in Ethiopia)
Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid
Dears Mr. Clarke, Mr. Delphin, and Mr. Michel:
I am deeply troubled by the information recently learned that an employee of the European Commission in Ethiopia, Ms. Yalemzewd Bekele has been arrested yesterday by Ethiopian government authorities close to the Ethiopian-Kenyan border. She is being accused of having helped to distribute a calendar calling for nonviolent civil disobedience against repressive practices by the Ethiopian government. Amnesty International recently reported on Ms. Bekele's case and expressed the concern that she is at risk of torture. AI also reported on the confirmed case of severe torture of Mr. Alemayehu Fantu, as well as the deaths resulting from grave torture of three individuals -- all related to the same charge levied against Ms. Bekele. Please see the following links for the above mentioned Amnesty International reports:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR250332006
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR250322006
I am gravely concerned for Ms. Bekele, a woman lawyer and professional employee of the European Comission for over two years. I strongly urge you to use the full power of your office to ensure that Ms. Bekele be released immediately and unconditionally. I also expect that you will do your utmost to prevent that she be tortured or otherwise ill-treated.
As a major international institution, the European Commission has the moral and legal responsibility to protect its staff from violence committed against them by governments of countries in which it operates. In addition to this responsibility that I hope you take very seriously, I believe that if Ms. Bekele continues to be held in detention of if she in any way is mistreated by government forces, the EC as a whole will incur damage, as the institution may lose the trust of its staff that they would be ensured that their employer will do what is in its power to protect them from physical harm and violence by governments with which the EC conducts business. Furthermore, I believe that the EC will also lose the trust of European citizens, the vast majority of whom would strongly condemn anything other than strong and decisive action by the EC to ensure the physical safety of its staff.
Sincerely,
Hewan Zerfu
CC:
Human Rights Watch, attn. Peter Takirambudde, Executive Director (Africa Desk)
European Union Office, Amnesty International
Charles Schaefer, Country Specialist for Ethiopia, Amnesty International
European Union Delegation to Ethiopia
Horn of Africa Division, Voice of America
The Guardian newspaper
ETHIOPIA REPRESSION WORSENS: CALLS FOR SANCTIONS BLOCKED BY HASTERT
author: Don Baseman
A wave of political oppression in Ethiopia has resulted in the arbitrary arrests and torture involving hundreds of political prisoners, journalists, and human rights acivists. A bipartisan bill in the US Congress calling for sanctions against Ethiopia was blocked by Dennis Hastert while the Bush administration calls the government of Prime Minister Zenawi an ally on the 'war on terror'. A lawyer with a history of working on behalf of women's rights, Yalem Bekele, was arrested yesterday and Amnesty International fears she may be tortured.
ETHIOPIA: ANOTHER BUSH "TERROR POLICY" GONE WRONG: REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP TURNS A BLIND EYE TO ABUSE
Bipartisan sanctions bill against Ethiopian human rights violations blocked by House Speaker Hastert
Increasing torture and arrests of peaceful opposition leaders is ignored by the US administration, causing growing resentment towards the United States here in Africa's third most populous nation
by Don Baseman
Portland
October 20, 2006
In recent months, the government of Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has launched a brutal crackdown on dissent, including the killing of peaceful protesters and arbitrary arrest and torture of political opposition leaders.
Yesterday, October 19, Yalemzewd Bekele, a lawyer working for the European Commission who has a history advocating for women and freedom of expression, was arrested by the Ethiopian authorities. According to Amnesty International she is at high risk of torture or other ill-treatment. This follows a rash of other arrests, and reports of torture, all of them without formal charge or due process of law. Among those who have been arrested are Dr. Berhanu Nega, the elected Mayor of the capital city, Addis Ababa, and Professor Mesfin Woldemarian - the founder of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and a recent winner of the NY Academy of Sciences Human Rights award.
Calls for the immediate release of political prisoners by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (see attached reports) have thus far gone unheaded by the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. In the United States, the Bush administration calls Zenawi a 'lynchpin on the war on terror' while making mild statements critical of the arrests. In Congress, meanwhile, Republican House Leader Dennis Hastert recently blocked a bipartisan bill (HR 5680) proposed by the House Committee on International Affairs that would have imposed economic sanctions on the Ethiopian regime unless it releases the political prisoners.
The crackdown on dissent in Ethiopia started after national elections in May, 2005 resulted in an unexpectedly large victory for the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD). This included the CUD's winning the entire city administration of the capital, Addis Ababa.
Since the elections, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has closed independent media, arrested hundreds of prominent and popular civic leaders en masse, including the elected Mayor of Addis Ababa, Dr. Berhanu Nega, a respected international economist (and the winner of last year's "alumni of the year' award from the New School of Social Research in New York). In June and November last year, police opened fire at peaceful demonstrations, killing hundreds of innocent civilians.
A bi-partisan group of US Congresspersons said "... These measures were deliberately taken to stifle and criminalize opposition party activity in the country. The measures also were intended to intimidate and silence independent press.." (Chris Smith, R-NJ, Donald Payne, D-Ill, et.al, in HR 5680, "''Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006''.)
The Bush administration's reaction?
The president's foreign policy team praised Meles Zenawi as ""... a lynchpin on the global war on terror" (one example: see USADI).
Some members of the Congress have chosen to see things differently.
In July 2006 New Jersey Representative Chris Smith introduced a bill, HR 5680, which "... .calls upon the Government of Ethiopia to immediately release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience... " and threatens economic sanctions if it doesn't. Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer, a member of the House International Affairs Committee, voted in favor of this bill. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said: "There should be severe consequences for such [a] flagrant subversion of the will of the Ethiopian people."
HR 5680 passed unanimously in sub-committee. However, House Speaker Dennis Hastert blocked the bill from being presented to the entire House for vote.
Mr. Hastert's office did not return our phone calls and he has not issued any public explanation to his blockage of the bill.
What is known is that the Meles regime retained the huge Washington lobbying firm of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, at a cost of $50,000 per month, to lobby against the sanctions bill. One of the principals of the firm is former House Speaker Dick Armey, a longtime political ally of ... Dennis Hastert.
A foreign policy assistant to Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) told us that his office was "lobbied hard by the State Department to vote against sanctions".
The Blumenauer staffer said "the Bush administration does not want to upset Prime Minister Zenawi" because of his 'cooperation' against terrorists.
One prominent Ethiopian businessman, requesting anonymity out of fear of government reprisal, told us "bullshit" when we asked him about Zenawi's 'role' in combating terror. "He himself terrorizes us, the people of Ethiopia" he said. "People here are very, very angry at Bush. We feel betrayed, and we don't understand it" he said.
Prime Minister Zenawi has ruled Ethiopia for the past 15 years and has become a despised dictator. The Washington Post included Meles in its list of the world's worst dictators (April 23, 2006, page B3), and described him this way: "Prime Minister Zenawi was widely criticized for ... gunning down scores of demonstrators and putting prominent opposition politicians on trial for genocide and treason. ... . thousands of alleged government critics have been harassed, imprisoned, tortured and killed in the past decade. Millions have been intimidated into silence."
As is the case in Iraq and so many other nations around the world, the misguided US policy 'on terror' - here being played out in Ethiopia - is in fact resulting in large segments of populations around the world turning into America haters.
Many Ethiopians I met - in a variety of settings, in numerous, random conversations off the street - told me how angry off they are at America's apathy to Zenawi's abuses.
Ethiopia is an important example - away from the politicized media spotlights on the Iraq or Afghanistan fiascos - where we can see how the policies of the Bush administration's flailing and zealous,"war on terror" are in fact creating the conditions that make America more hated, and less safe in all corners of the world, including at home. The failure starts when local people begin to resent America for turning a blind eye to the real human suffering they endure. Such heated resentment has begun in Ethiopia.
Several Ethiopians involved in the nascent underground resistance movement there told us it will only be a matter of time before the people of Ethiopia will begin to resist government abuses with violence. If the nation indeed spirals into a cycle of violence, the policies of the US will have added to yet another state of violent anarchy. Bush must reverse his alliance with Meles Zenawi now and reverse the growing resentment towards America now in Ethiopia.
With 77 million people, Ethiopia is Africa's third most populous nation behind Egypt and Nigeria. It is located in a strategically vital region in Africa close to the Arabian peninsula, with an estimated 30 to 40 million Muslims (almost 50% of the total population). It borders Somalia, which was recently taken over by a fundamentalist Islamic 'council' with a decidedly 'anti-western' outlook.
Ethiopia is indeed another striking failure of US foreign policy in the name of "the war on terror." It is a failure on two levels: as a strategic policy (it is creating more anti-American sentiment, not less) and, more so, as an ethical yardstick with which to measure the Bush administration's foreign policy team.
A collegue of mine, who also traveled to Ethiopia with me, said my initial description of the Bush administration as a group of hate-breeding, incompetent and, possibly, heartless morons, as seen in the Ethiopia element of their "war on terror", was too harsh.
I told him I would use less confrontational language, then, which I offer here: The Ethiopian example of Bush's global policy in the the 'war on terror' is yet another example with questionable results.
For further information on the deteriorating human rights crisis in Ethiopia, and the US role in the crisis, go to www.ethiomedia.com , www.allafrica.com, and www.amnesty.org.
Don Baseman is an acronym for an independent journalist and previous contributor to Indymedia and other media outlets. He spent the month of September in Ethiopia compiling several humanitarian and human rights reports. He will shortly be in Ethiopia again and is using an psedonym to ensure he can return to Ethiopia without reprisal from the Ethiopian authorities.
FOOTNOTE:
1) "Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006" (HR 5680, presented to the House of Representatives Committee on International Relations", co-authored by US representatives: Chris Smith (NJ) and Donald Payne, and signed by Representatives Lantos, Tancredo, Towns, Rangle (D-NY), Leach, Rohrabacher, Mortan (VA), Chabot, Green (TX), Sabo, Sanchez (CA), Scott (VA) , Brown (FL) and Ms. Mckinney.
PRESS RELEASE
OCTOBER 23, 2006
Contact:
Tel#: 323-988-5688
Fax#: 323-924-5563
ETHIOPIAN AMERICAN AND ETHIOPIAN LAWYERS IN THE UNITED
STATES CONDEMN THE REGIME OF MELES ZENAWI FOR PERSECUTING
ETHIOPIAN LAWYERS AND FOR ITS CONTINUING PRACTICES OF
GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Ethiopian American and Ethiopian lawyers in the United States strongly condemn the regime of Meles Zenawi for its recent unlawful arrest and detention of Ethiopian civil/human rights lawyer Yalemzewd Bekele and others engaged in peaceful exercise of their constitutional
rights, and for its continuing practices of gross human rights violations.
In condemning and protesting the arrest of Yalemzewd Bekele and others, and the rampant violation of human rights by the regime of Meles Zenawi, we note the following facts, among others, documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and United States Department of State, and the Inquiry Commission on the Massacre of Unarmed Peaceful Protesters:
. In November 2005, 193 peaceful and unarmed protesters were unlawfully
killed, execution-style, by security personnel loyal to the regime of Meles Zenawi. According to the Inquiry Commission, “The majority of [the peaceful protesters] died from shots to the head.” 763 persons sustained serious nonfatal injuries. The regime has used and continues to use paramilitary groups to commit extrajudicial political killings;
. Since the parliamentary elections of 2005, the regime of Meles Zenawi has embarked on a massive and sustained crackdown of all dissent in the country, resulting in the arrest and detention of over 60,000 persons. There have been massive extrajudicial killings and massacres in Oromia, Gambella, Sidama and Somali regions, as well as many other parts of the country;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi has unlawfully imprisoned the winners of the 2005 parliamentary elections and leaders of the opposition, journalists, leaders of civil society and human rights defenders. These political prisoners are held in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. They receive little or no medical care;
. The show trial of the opposition leaders and others held in Qaliti prison has been condemned universally by governments and international human rights organizations as a sham and a fraud, and without any credibility;
. In H.R. 5680, the Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2006, the United States Congress has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of opposition leaders and all political prisoners in Ethiopia. Numerous members of Congress have publicly condemned the gross violations of human rights by the regime of Meles Zenawi;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi has routinely engaged and continues to engage in torture, beatings, systematic abuse, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment of dissidents and opponents in violation of Arts. 14, 16 and 18 of the Ethiopian Constitution;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi has engaged and continues to engage in
disappearances and politically motivated abductions of dissidents and
opponents. Such persons are held incommunicado in undisclosed locations for varying lengths of time ranging from weeks to months, in violation of Arts. 10, 13, 14, 16, 17 of the Ethiopian Constitution;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi continues to harass, persecute and prosecute
publishers, editors and journalists for publishing allegedly fabricated information and for other trumped up violations of the press law in violation of Art. 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution. The regime controls all broadcast media;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi has engaged in widespread violation of the privacy rights of Ethiopians by searching and seizing property from persons, homes and offices without properly authorized judicial search warrants, and/or by arresting persons without probable cause or properly authorized judicial arrest warrants in violation of Art. 26 of the Ethiopian Constitution. There is ample evidence showing that police have used fraudulent warrants or no warrants at all to enter homes and commit criminal acts, including extortion and home invasion robberies;
. Following the May, 2005 elections, security forces loyal to Meles Zenawi illegally entered private homes and arrested thousands of persons in the middle of the night, and in such unlawful search and seizures, often detained family members or other residents on the premises in violation of Arts. 17 and 26 of the Ethiopian Constitution;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi has severely curtailed the right of freedom of association and the right of the people to engage in unrestricted peaceful political activity, by imposing stiff registration and licensing requirements and summarily denying permits to human rights groups, dissident and opposition organizations in violation of Art. 31 of the Ethiopian Constitution;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi continues to violate the people’s right to assemble freely by disrupting or unlawfully banning opposition party meetings, arbitrarily denying or delaying or engaging in last minute revocation of public meeting or demonstration permits, and by using pressure tactics on ordinary Ethiopians, including requiring opposition members to renounce their party membership if they wanted access to fertilizer, other agricultural services, employment opportunities, health care, or other benefits controlled by the government in violation of Art. 30 of the Ethiopian Constitution;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi thrives in a culture of corruption and oppression. Regime officials continue to manipulate the privatization process, as state- and party-owned businesses received preferential access to land leases and credit. There is rampant corruption, nepotism and cronyism and lack of transparency in telecommunications, power, and other infrastructure services in violation of Art. 12 of the Ethiopian constitution;
. The regime of Meles Zenawi relies on politically appointed judges to obtain predetermined outcomes, which often result in a miscarriage of justice in violation of Art. 78 of the Ethiopian Constitution. Judges such as Birtukan Mideksa have been dismissed in recent years for performing their judicial duties with neutrality and impartially. Others have been promoted for delivering judgments favorable to the government.
. The Chairman, Vice Chairman and other members of the Inquiry Commission
on the Massacre of Unarmed Peaceful Protesters have been forced to leave the country because they refused to alter the facts and conclusions of their investigations. They were forced into exile to avoid persecution by the regime of Meles Zenawi. We reject all current and future attempts by the regime of Meles Zenawi calculated to impugn the integrity and professionalism of the Chair, Vice Chair and other members who have left the Commission, or campaigns intended to assassinate their characters or motives; Aware of the continuing and systematic violations of the fundamentals rights of the Ethiopian people, and joining Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the European Union and the
United States congress, we call upon the regime of Meles Zenawi to:
. Release immediately and unconditionally civil/human rights lawyer Yalemzewd Bekele and the other individual arrested and detained with her, leaders of the opposition, journalists and civil society leaders currently held in unlawful detention in Qaliti prison, and dismiss all criminal charges against them;
. Prosecute the individuals, officials and others who were responsible for the deaths of 193 unarmed and peaceful protesters and scores of others
who sustained serious injuries as a result of the unlawful use of deadly force by regime security personnel in November, 2005;
. Establish independent and impartial investigations into any allegations of torture, official abuse, arbitrary killings, arrests and detentions, and bring to justice those responsible for such heinous acts;
. Implement specific measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary, and institute due process to guarantee defendants accused of crimes the right to be tried by a competent and independent court, as well as enjoyment of the rights to the presumption of innocence, confrontation and compulsory process, speedy trial and assistance of counsel;
. Implement structures and processes that maximize and ensure the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and association for individuals, journalists, political parties and civil society groups, including freedom of the media, as guaranteed in Arts. 13 and 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution and international and regional human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is party, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights;
. Ensure that all political prisoners and other defendants are treated humanely while in custody in accordance with international and regional standards for the treatment of prisoners, such as the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, with particular regard to medical treatment, family visits and reading and writing materials;
. Respect and protect the legitimate role of human rights defenders and civil society activists, in conformity with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. We call upon Ethiopians in the Diaspora to:
. Undertake all efforts in their countries of residence to contact political, religious, humanitarian and civic leaders and seek their assistance in mobilizing national legislative and executive policy makers to apply pressure on the regime of Meles Zenawi;
. Organize and undertake legislative efforts along the lines of H.R. 5680 to ensure that the regime of Meles Zenawi will not receive non-humanitarian aid from donor countries unless he demonstrates material and measurable progress in advancing freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia;
. Begin or strengthen collaborative working relationships with human rights, civil liberties and other humanitarian and political organizations to gain the immediate release of the unjustly imprisoned opposition leaders, journalists, leaders of civil society and human rights defenders; and
. Organize local charity and benevolence associations with the utmost urgency to raise funds and provide all necessary financial, material and moral assistance to the families of the prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia, and exiled former officials and civil servants who left their service in the regime of Meles Zenawi on the grounds of conscience.
We call upon the Government of the United States to:
. Continue to press the regime of Meles Zenawi Ethiopia to observe and conform its conduct to international standards on freedom of expression and association, and to release immediately and unconditionally all the prisoners of conscience on trial and in detention, including leaders of the opposition, journalists, civil society leaders and human rights defenders; and
. Enact H.R. 5680, the Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Act of
2006 in the 109th Congress, Second Session.
On behalf of Ethiopian American and Ethiopian lawyers in the United States:
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam
Professor Alemante G. Selassie
Professor Adeno Addis
Mr. Shakespeare Feyissa, Esq.
Mr. Adissu Haile Medhin, Esq.
Mr. Fistum Alemu, Esq.
Mr. Alemayehu Zemedkun, Esq.
Mr. Samuel Alemayehu, Esq.
Mr. Endesa Kinfe, Esq.
Ethiopians militant but nervous over Somali crisis
By Andrew Cawthorne
- Tensions between Ethiopia's government and Mogadishu's new Islamist rulers have sparked fear among Addis Ababa citizens of a new conflict, but has also inflamed nationalist passions against traditional rival Somalia.
Having taken a swathe of south Somalia in June, the Islamists accuse Ethiopia of sending troops across Somalia's border, have declared jihad against Addis Ababa, and are now threatening to execute two Ethiopians they accuse of spying.
For its part, the Ethiopian government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi calls the Islamist leaders terrorists, admits sending military trainers to help the interim Somali government, and has warned it will "crush" any Islamist incursion.
The mutually bellicose postures and the build-up of military forces on both sides have raised the spectre of yet another devastating conflict in the Horn of Africa.
"We can clean them out,"
"We can clean them out," 22-year-old Addis resident Sisay Assefa enthused. "Our air force is the second biggest in Africa. We can control Mogadishu in hours."
Nationalism runs strong in Ethiopia, where residents take pride in never having been colonised like other African states.
That and its centuries-old rivalry with Somalia -- which has boiled over into war before -- easily arouses the kind of excitement that can overwhelm the reluctance of Addis residents to speak to journalists on the street despite a pervasive state security apparatus.
"Of course we are worried about war. Everyone is," said 25-year-old history student Salomon Berhea. "The Somalis are getting more and more powerful. They will attack Ethiopia, and Eritrea will attack on the other side."
Eritrea -- Ethiopia's other arch-enemy in the region with whom it fought a border war in 1998-2000 -- has been accused by the United Nations, United States and others of sending arms to the Islamists to spite Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia makes no secret of backing President Abdullahi Yusuf's interim Somali government, which has been isolated and rendered virtually powerless by this year's rise of the Islamists and their increasing territorial control.
"These people are fanatics, they are close to al Qaeda. They think if they kill a Christian, they will go to heaven," said tour guide Tewodrose, who gave only his first name.
"But if they kill these two Ethiopians they have arrested, there will be trouble ... Addis Ababa is the headquarters of the African Union, so we are the capital of continent. Ethiopia has to stand up for the peace of Africa."
U.S. INFLUENCE?
Random chats with Ethiopians in cafes and streets round Addis Ababa's central Meskel Square found similarly militant anti-Islamist views among the majority -- even those who oppose the Meles government.
But some, lowering their voices, had more cynical interpretations of why their nation, the world's seventh-poorest, appeared to be spoiling for another costly war.
"We all know the government is doing this for the Americans," said office worker Tadele. "We need their dollars, and they need us to do their dirty work."
While Washington has publicly exhorted both Ethiopia and Eritrea to show restraint and not turn Somalia into a proxy war, some analysts have said they believe Addis Ababa has tacit U.S. support to restrain the Islamists' rise, by force if necessary.
Traditionally Christian Ethiopia is a key anti-terrorism ally for Washington, which fears Somalia under Islamist rule may become a haven for Islamist extremists.
But memories of the recent war with Eritrea, a 1977-78 conflict with Somalia, and the violent 1991 overthrow of former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, are still fresh here.
"The last thing we need is more war cripples and more diversion of money to military fronts that should be spent on milk and schools," said a female Ethiopian teacher, who asked not to be named. "I pray it doesn't come to that again."
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Somalia's Islamic leader dares Ethiopia to attack amid fears of regional conflict
The Associated Press
Published: October 23, 2006
MOGADISHU, Somalia A senior leader of Somalia's Islamic radicals urged Ethiopians Monday to revolt against their government, which he described as an oppressive regime led by an unpopular minority ethnic group.
Tensions between Ethiopia, which backs Somalia's weakened government, and the Islamic radical group who control much of the south of the country have been mounting in recent months. So far they have avoided any direct clashes, though the rhetoric on both sides has been fiery, raising fears of a conflict that could engulf the Horn of Africa region.
"I dare you to come and fight us. Do not just run," said Islamic leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, directing his words at Ethiopia in an address before thousands of Somalis gathered in the capital, Mogadishu, to celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
"We urge Ethiopian people, who are not part of this aggression against Somalia, to revolt against and remove the oppressive regime led by (Ethiopia Prime Minister) Meles Zenawi," added senior Islamic leader, Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, at the same event.
In other towns, Somalia's Islamic leaders made similar calls, threatening to drive Ethiopian forces from Baidoa, the only town the Somali government controls, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Mogadishu.
Ethiopia, with almost half of its 77 million population Muslim, is fearful of a neighboring fundamentalist state. It has consistently denied its forces are in Somalia, but on Thursday Meles acknowledged that his troops were training Somali government forces.
Eritrea, which fought a border war with Ethiopia that ended in 2000, is accused of providing military support to the Islamic group.
Aweys comments came as Somali government troops withdrew from a strategic hilltop town Monday, a resident said. Government troops, backed by Ethiopian forces, took control of Bur Haqaba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) east of Baidoa, on Saturday.
"There was a preparation for war all night long but when we saw government troops pulling out the city at around 6:30 a.m., our fear of war subsided," traditional leader Abdullahi Malaq Kerow told The Associated Press. "Local militias fear that the pullout is just a tactical retreat by the government side, so they have not entered (the town) yet."
Islamic officials said they had re-entered the town Monday morning after the government forces pulled out. Militia leader Mohammed Ibrahim Bilal said an Islamic law court would be established there and vowed the town would become one of his movement's biggest bases.
Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.
The current government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help in hopes of restoring order after years of bloodshed. It has never asserted much authority, and the Islamic group, trying to fill the power vacuum, seized control of much southern Somalia in June. Its strict and often severe interpretation of Islam raises the specter of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime.
___
Associated Press writers Nasteex Dahir Farah in Kismayo and Salad Duhul and Mohamed Sheik Nor in Mogadishu contributed to this report.
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Ethiopia to fight if Somali Islamists attack govt
By Andrew Cawthorne
ADDIS ABABA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Horn of Africa power Ethiopia warned on Monday it would intervene if Somali Islamists attacked the interim government amid a standoff over a key town that has heightened fears of all-out war.
"We will defend the government if attacked by the jihadists," senior government official Bereket Simon said.
"If they try to overthrow the legitimate government, we will help the government," Bereket, a minister without portfolio and key ally of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, told Reuters at his office.
Heavily armed Islamist fighters on Sunday had gathered near the strategic town of Buur Hakaba -- 30 km (20 miles) from the government's base in Baidoa -- after allies of theirs were chased out by government troops over the weekend.
Islamist security chief Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, known as Inda'ade, said his fighters had retaken the outpost on Monday but refused to give any details.
"The town is back in our hands as of this morning," he told Reuters by phone.
There was no independent confirmation and the government had no immediate comment.
Analysts and diplomats fear conflict between the Islamists and the government could drag the volatile Horn of Africa region into war and give Muslim militants a new battlefront -- especially if Ethiopia enters the fray directly.
They fear that would spur Addis Ababa's arch-rival Eritrea to further back the Islamists -- which Asmara denies doing -- and hand extremists cause to attack what many Somalis believe is a Christian imperialist power backed by the United States.
The Islamists have long accused Ethiopia of sending troops into Somalia, and witnesses have reported seeing Ethiopian military units moving inside the nation. Addis Ababa denies sending anything but military advisers.
Citing the sensitivity of the situation, Bereket declined to say if Addis Ababa would respond militarily to an attack on Buur Hakaba, or only -- as it has stated in the past -- if the Islamists went to Baidoa.
"They have been threatening to continue with the destabilisation of the Transitional Federal Government, they have been declaring jihad on Ethiopia, and they have become magnets for all sorts of terrorist groups converging on Somalia," he added.
Ethiopia's support for Yusuf's government was only putting into practice international backing expressed by the African Union, United Nations and countries in the region, he said.
Borne out of sharia courts which brought a measure of order to anarchic Mogadishu, the Islamists took the capital and a swathe of southern Somalia in June.
Their rise has dented the aspirations of the Western-backed Yusuf government to impose central rule on Somalia for the first time since a military dictator was ousted in 1991.
While the Islamists say their priority is to bring law and order to Somalia and have no intentions beyond their borders, critics say they harbour al Qaeda-linked extremists and are eyeing Ethiopia's ethnically Somali region of Ogaden.
"They have repeatedly expressed their views to the Ethiopian Somalis that they would like to take this area by force," Bereket said.
The official declined to say how many advisers Ethiopia had sent to Baidoa, or how many troops it has massed on its border with Somalia.
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Ethiopian Airlines set to buy five aircrafts
By Kaleyesus Bekele (The Reporter)
Ethiopian Airlines, on Thursday, announced it planned to purchase five new aircrafts.
In a joint press conference organized by Airbus and Ethiopian at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, Girma Wake, Ethiopian CEO, said that Ethiopian needed to buy five jetliners. Girma told journalists that the Airline had invited Boeing and Airbus to present proposals. Ethiopian has been considering buying the Airbus A350 and Boeing B787-9 (dreamliner) aircrafts. "We are holding talks with the manufacturers. But we have not yet decided on which aircraft to aquire," Girma said.
In 2004 Ethiopian evaluated the A 350 and B787 dreamliner aircrafts and opted to buy the latter. In January 2005, Ethiopian placed orders for ten B787 aircraft with a total value of 1.2 billion dollars. Delivery for these aircraft will begin in 2008. "We opted to buy the B787 because it was more convenient to bring the aircraft into our system. This does not mean that A350 is a bad aircraft," Girma told journalists. "There is a neck to neck competition between the two aircraft manufacturers," he added.
Ethiopian Airlines will become the first to fly Boeing 787 in Africa
As part of its fleet modernization program, Ethiopian has acquired eleven B767 and B737 aircrafts in the past three years. However, the growing number of passengers has prompted the airline to buy additional aircraft. Recently, it leased an A330-200 from a company called Societede Transport Aerien Regional. According to Girma, the comparison was made based on the price of the aircraft, its performance and the investment that was required to introduce the aircraft into Ethiopian's system.
The Airbus A380, the ever largest passenger aircraft, this week, conducted high altitude test flights in Addis Ababa. The new aircraft, equipped with four engines manufactured by Alliance Engine, and weighing about 560 tons, landed in Addis Ababa last Monday. It flew seven hours directly from Toulouse, France to Addis Ababa.
The A380 crew, which comprises of test pilots, flight engineers and other experts from the European Aviation Safety Agency, conducted several test flights in Addis Ababa in the past four days.
Captain Etienne Tarnowski, head of the crew, said that the particular A380 he commanded was the fifth prototype aircraft. He added that the performance of the aircraft was tested under extreme conditions. "Addis Ababa was selected for the test flight for its high altitude [7,500 feet above sea level] and for its airport facility."
Alemayehu Tekle, general manager of the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise, said that the new runway and taxiway at the airport demonstrated it was of a high standard by accommodating the A380 aircraft. President Girma Woldegiorgis, Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Junedin Saddo, Minister of Transport and Communication and the ambassadors of Germany, UK, France and Spain and other officials visited the prototype aircraft.
The A380 is a 555-seater aircraft and double decker which consumes three litters of fuel per 100 kms per seat. The number of seats could be increased up to 800 by changing the configuration. The price of the aircraft is 300 million dollars. Airbus spent 10.7 billion dollars on the A380 aircraft development program. So far five A380 prototype aircraft have been manufactured. Four of them are equipped with Rolls-Roce engines.
Mr Hadi Akoum, vice president of customer relations for Africa, said that the A380 has attracted about 200 orders from 16 airlines. Air France, Lufthansa, Singapore, China Southern, China Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Quatar are some of the airlines that have placed orders for A380. Mr Akoum said so far there was no African airline which had ordered the A380. "We manufacture 13 different aircrafts. We started to sell the aircrafts to Africa in the '70s. We hope to find African airlines who will order the A380," he added.
Three weeks ago airbus informed its A380 customers of a further delay in the delivery schedule of the aircraft. According to the company's revised plan, the first A380 will be delivered in October 2007.
Girma Wake said the A380 was too big for Ethiopia's needs." .At the moment we don't dream to acquire this giant aircraft. But we are grateful to Airbus for picking up Addis for the first test flights in Africa," he added. Airbus will reportedly pay substantial fees to the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise and Ethiopian for the airport facilities and other services they rendered during the test flight. The A380 yesterday, left for the United Arab Emirates. Airbus has so far conducted test flights for the A380 in the UAE, Columbia and Canada. It will also have similar tests in China, South Africa, Egypt, Australia, and India.
Airbus is a European consortium owned by the governments of France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The company was established 30 years ago and is headquartered in Toulouse.
Source: The Reporter
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11ALIVE TV Atlanta reported that
Adem was sentenced late Wednesday to 10 years in prison and 5 years probation.
Father Found Guilty in Female Circumcision Trial
11ALIVE TV Atlanta Jennifer Leslie Reports
Dad convicted of mutilation
By LATEEF MUNGIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/01/06
A jury found accused mutilator Khalid Adem guilty today.
After deliberating for about four hours the jury of seven women and five men found Adem guilty of aggravated battery and cruelty to children.
It's unclear when Judge Richard Winegarden will sentence Adem. He could face up to 40 years in prison.
Authorities say Adem, 31, circumcised his daughter sometime in 2001 when the girl was 2. Health and human rights activists refer to the procedure as female genital mutilation.
The mother reported the crime in 2003.
The jury apparently chose to believe Adem's young daughter who testified earlier in the trial. The young girl, now 7, told the jury that Adem cut her. Adem cried many times during the trial and he testified that he did not do it and that he loved his daughter. He had blamed his ex-wife and the maternal grandmother of circumcising the girl.
Adem sobbed after the guilty verdict was read. Moments after that his girlfriend, Susie Aaithens, who was in court, collapsed and went into convulsions. The courtroom was cleared and paramedics were called.
Outside the courtroom, the scene quickly deteriorated. Adem supporters began to wail and hold each other. One man, who was taken from the courthouse by sheriff deputies, shouted: "Khalid is not guilty. We need justice."
Source: AJC
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Last Modified: 11/1/2006 2:16:10 PM
11ALIVE TV
A verdict was reached the case of a Gwinnett County man accused of mutilating his daughter Wednesday afternoon.
After less than three hours of deliberations, a jury made up of seven women and five men decided that Khalid Adem is guilty on charges of cruelty to a child and aggravated battery Wednesday afternoon.
Closing statements wrapped up in the case late Tuesday.
Prosecutors contended that Adem, 28, circumcised his daughter when she was 2-years-old. The defense said Adem's ex-wife blamed him for the genital mutilation as part of a custody battle. The couple soon divorced. Adem was denied visitation rights.
While female circumcision is illegal in the U.S., it is practiced in Adem's home country of Ethiopia where it is designed to preserve one's virginity.
The girl's mother, Fortunate Adem, is from South Africa where female circumcision is not accepted. She said she did not find out about the incident until two years later when a doctor discovered a scar on the girl's genitals.
The defense raised the question of why it took two years before her mother noticed.
Adem now faces a possible sentence of 40 years in prison.
Updated Oct 30 2006
Defense: Girl Had False Memory
The defense attorneys for a Gwinnett County man accused of performing a female circumcision on his daughter presented the jury with testimony that the child may have had a false memory about the incident.
The girl's father, Khalid Adem, is on trial for cruelty to a child and aggravated battery. He faces a possible sentence of 40 years in prison if he is convicted.
A clinical psychologist hired by the defense took the stand Monday morning and raised serious doubts about the allegations in the case against Adem. Prosecutors contend that Adem circumcised his daughter when she was 2 years old. The defense said Adem's ex-wife blamed him for the genital mutilation as part of a custody battle.
Read More from 11ALIVE TV Atlanta
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Updated Oct 28 2006
Khalid Adem Takes the Witness Stand. 11ALIVe TV Video Click here
Check
11ALIVE TV website for updates on the trial
Updated Oct 27 2006
A tearful but steadfast Khalid Adem took the stand Friday to say he did not circumcise his two-old daughter.
Khalid Adem weeps during testimony Friday Photo: AJC
Adem also denied to Gwinnett Superior Court jurors that he had ever seen the procedure of female genital mutilation performed on anyone. Adem said he comes from a metropolitan city in Ethiopia that has long given up the practice he called "disgusting."
Read More on AJC
Father denies circumcising daughter
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Fortunate Adem, mother of the now-7-year-old victim, on the witness stand.
More on 11ALIVE TV
Updated Oct 26 2006
Jon Shirek Reports 11ALIVE TV Atlanta
Updated Oct 25 2006
Female Circumcision Trial Starts
Keith Whitney Reports 11ALIVE TV Atlanta
Tears, tension at trial's outset (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Elaine Reyes Reports 11ALIVE TV Atlanta
Jury selection continued Tuesday in the case of an Ethiopian immigrant accused of circumcising his daughter when she was 2 years old. Khalid Adem claims that his ex-wife falsely accused him of the practice during a bitter custody battle.
Both defense attorneys and prosecutors continued to question potential jurors in the Gwinnett County case and said they hope to have a jury seated by late Tuesday or early Wednesday morning.
Prosecutors said Adem used scissors to cut off his daughter's genitals in 2001 at the family's apartment home in Duluth. The girl's mother, Fortunate Adem, is from South Africa where female circumcision is not accepted. She said she did not find out about the incident until two years later when a doctor discovered a scar on the girl's genitals. The couple soon divorced. Adem was denied visitation rights.
While female genital mutilation is practiced in Ethiopia, it is illegal in the United States. A grand jury indicted Adem on charges of aggravated battery and cruelty to children. He could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
Source: 11ALIVE TV
Dad stands trial over daughter's 'mutilation'
A father stands accused of the unthinkable: brutally cutting his daughter's genitals.
By LATEEF MUNGIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The girl was only 2.
Monday, activists from all over the world will be focused on a Gwinnett County courtroom as Khalid Adem (Photo Right), accused of cruelty to a child and aggravated battery for allegedly circumcising his daughter, goes on trial.
Adem, 30, was charged with aggravated battery and cruelty to children more than three years ago and, if convicted, could face 40 years in prison. He was born in Ethiopia, where circumcision is a common procedure for young girls.
Adem's trial may be a landmark case for health and human rights activists fighting against the African custom they call genital mutilation. But for those close to the victim, this trial is about vindication and healing for a little girl who was forced to endure unbearable pain.
"When I saw that child I saw myself. I could see the pain in her eyes," said Soraya Mire, a filmmaker and activist who was circumcised when she was 13 in Somalia. Mire is known for her 1994 documentary "Fire Eyes" in which she chronicled her struggles after having the procedure.
Mire, who now lives in Los Angeles, was asked by Gwinnett authorities to counsel the victim in 2003 when it was discovered that she had been circumcised.
"She hugged me, and I just burst into tears," Mire said. "Since that day, I've been obsessed with finding out who did this to that child."
Police say Adem circumcised his daughter with scissors in his Duluth apartment, while someone else held the girl's legs.
Authorities said the circumcision occurred sometime in 2001 but the mother didn't discover it until two years later. The mother told police she learned about it while arguing with Adem about female circumcision. The mother told police that she told Adem she didn't want that to happen to their daughter, but Adem implied the circumcision had already occurred.
The mother went to a doctor who confirmed that the girl had been circumcised. The girl then told Gwinnett authorities that her father had done it. He was arrested in March 2003.
Adem has said through his defense attorney W. Mark Hill that he was innocent. Hill said the allegations stem from a bitter divorce and custody battle the couple was going through at the time. Hill has said the family of the girl's mother, Fortunate Adem, also is from Africa and could have performed the circumcision.
Georgia law changed
The African practice of female circumcision has been denounced for decades by health and human rights activists. In some areas in Africa, it is considered a coming-of-age ritual.
Opponents claim the procedure, which may involve the removal of the clitoris or all of the external genitalia, is extremely painful, medically unnecessary and unsafe. It is illegal in the United States and has been condemned by the United Nations.
The centuries-old practice is performed for many reasons, including to curtail sex drive and preserve virginity. It also is a prerequisite for marriage in some cultures, experts say.
After Adem was arrested, activists and educators flocked to metro Atlanta to denounce genital mutilation. A four-day conference on the practice sponsored by international women's rights group Equality Now was held in Atlanta three months after his arrest. The conference was originally supposed to be in Nairobi, Kenya, but was moved to Atlanta because of the national interest following Adem's arrest, said Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of Equality Now.
It is difficult to document the number of female circumcision prosecutions in the United States. Although Congress passed a law in 1996, many states still do not have their own laws forbidding the practice. But experts who follow the issue say arrests for female circumcision are rare.
"To our knowledge, this was the first documented case of [female circumcision] in the United States," said Bien-Aime, whose organization, which has offices in New York, London and Africa, has been following the issue since 1992. "We will be monitoring the trial and hope that it will help bring awareness to the issue."
Adem's arrest also had an impact on Georgia law. In 2003, there was no state law in Georgia that addressed female circumcision. That's why Adem was charged with aggravated battery and cruelty to children.
After her ex-husband's arrest, Fortunate Adem worked with Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) to get a law passed outlawing female circumcision. The law was enacted in May 2005.
If Khalid Adem had been arrested after the new law was in place, he could have faced an additional 20 years for the genital mutilation charge.
Fortunate Adem refused to comment for this article but has said her daughter suffered severe pain since the circumcision.
"Her whole life has been changed," she said. "She is going to be traumatized psychologically. Parts of her body have been taken away from her without her consent. They need to look at this child the same way they would if she had been raped."
Father claims innocence
Hill will handle the defense case and plans to call eight to 10 witnesses. He said he is trying to get three of Adem's sisters to Gwinnett from Ethiopia to testify that they had not been circumcised.
Another key piece of evidence will be the taped interview of the victim in which she told Gwinnett authorities that Adem cut her with scissors. It's unknown whether the girl, now 7, will be called to testify.
Gwinnett Assistant District Attorney Marty First will handle the prosecution's case. First declined to comment or give any details about the case.
"I will try this case in the courtroom, not in the media," First said.
While much has been heard from Fortunate Adem through her efforts in changing Georgia law, this will be the first time that Khalid Adem will publicly tell his side of the story.
He will testify and proclaim his innocence, Hill said.
Adem bonded out of jail a week after he was arrested and continues to work as a clerk at the same Snellville gas station he did before his arrest, Hill said.
Hill said there are major problems with the prosecution's case and that Adem was arrested primarily on the word of the then-2-year-old girl who could have been coached by a mother desperate to get custody. Another problem in the case, Hill said, is that the alleged circumcision, which took place in 2001, wasn't discovered or reported to police until two years later.
"What mother would not know that this has happened to their daughter for two years?" he said.
Hill said the couple's history of problems also led him to question the prosecution's charges.
Khalid Adem immigrated to the United States from Ethiopia when he was 16, Hill said. Fortunate Adem moved to this country from South Africa when she was 6, according to court documents. The two met at Georgia Perimeter College in Clarkston. The couple was married, and their daughter was born on Sept. 8, 1999. The couple had a contentious marriage and was divorced by August 2003.
Fortunate Adem was awarded full custody of the child. Adem was not granted visitation rights.
The trial is expected to last about two weeks. Jury selection will begin Monday morning.
Mire, who plans to follow the trial, said this case is about finding the truth for the little girl she once held and cried for.
"My main focus is the girl," Mire said. "I hope that she gets everything that she needs. I am a survivor of this. I know the pain that she is still going to feel. It is brutal and terrible. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."
For Immediate Release October 20, 2006
Congressman Donald M. Payne Condemns Continued Harassment of Human Rights Advocates in Ethiopia and Calls for the Immediate Release of the Ethiopia Commission of Inquiry Report
On Thursday October 19, Yalemzewd Bekele, 29, a human rights advocate, was arrested near the Kenyan border by Ethiopian security, while on her way to Kenya fleeing persecution.. In August 2006, during a visit to Ethiopia my delegation talked to Yalemzewd but was unable to meet with her
face to face because of security concerns. Yalemzewd, who works for the European Commission in Addis found out late last week that a decision was made to arrest her. She decided to stay in her office to avoid arrest. After several days, she was asked by a senior EC official to leave the office.
Yalemzewd was betrayed by her own employer. Instead of protecting her, this official ruined her life. I strongly condemn this act and call on the European Commission to investigate this decision. Yalemzewd is in a detention center in Moyale, a small town near the Kenyan border.
Alemayehu Fantu was also arrested on October 5. He was visibly tortured when he appeared in court on October 12, 2006 and may have been coerced into naming Ms. Bekele. Conditions in Ethiopia are going from bad to worse. Ethiopians are living in fear and they don’t know what to expect
tomorrow, a true reminder of the torturous past. Under the circumstances there is enough indication that Ms. Bekele may be harmed while in detention. I call for the immediate release of these political prisoners.
For over a year, I constantly argued that the Ethiopian government used excessive force against innocent civilians. Many innocent civilians lost their lives. Parliament established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the killings. The Commission interviewed dozens of people and spent months investigating and documenting what they saw and heard. When the time came to submit the report, parliament was adjourned a day early, denying the Commission the opportunity to present their findings. The decision was deliberate in order to force the Commission to change its findings. In August, I was told by a senior Ethiopian official that the Commission did not finish its work. After constant threat and harassment, the Chairman of the Commission and the Deputy Chair left the country with the report. Over the past week, a friend spoke to both the chair and deputy chairman of the Commission. They clearly stated that they “can not turn their backs on all those people who risked their lives to speak to us.” They said “the truth must come out and Ethiopians must know what happened in June and November.”
I have seen the reports and the video of the deliberation of the Commission. One can not question the quality of the work nor the authenticity of the documents. The faces of the Commissioners are clear to see and the message and conclusions loud and clear. The data presented
in these reports and the videotaped testimony of the members of the Commission as they cast their votes further reveals the degree to which a systematic crackdown was in place. I repeatedly stated then and the Commission agrees that the Government used excessive force against civilians in June and November. I said then and I repeat again, those who gave the orders and those who carried out the order must be held accountable for this unspeakable crime.
The commission finally voted 8-2 that indeed excessive force was used. The committee chairman, Supreme Court Judge Frehiwot Samuel, stated that “many people were killed arbitrarily.”
He stated further that “Old men were killed while in their homes, and children were also victims of the attack while playing in the garden.” An Ethiopian Orthodox priest, Estatiose Gebrekristos, was recorded as saying, "based on my eyes, ears and knowledge the actions taken were 100 percent
wrong." We must never forget the victims. These are just a handful of the many who perished last year. Mathewos Girma, 14; Qasim Ali, 21; Legesse Tulu, 60; Tamam Muktar, 25; Etenesh Yimam, 50; Worke Abebe, 19; Debela Oliqa Guta, 15; Hassan Dula, 65. Etenesh Yimam was killed in her home in front of her family for simply asking why they are arresting her husband, who was elected in May. Etenesh is dead, her husband in prison, and her daughter in hiding somewhere in Africa. This is the more reason why we should pass H.R. 5680, Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006.
Ethiopia arrests notorious "Red Terror" actor,Kelbesa Negewo,during the Derg at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport
Oct 21, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA) — Ethiopian authorities have arrested a convict of genocide, Kelbesa Negewo, on Friday 20 October at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.
Kelbessa Negewo (Photo), when he was a midlevel administrator during Ethiopia's Red Terror. Photo: Ethiopian Press Agency For Background on Kelbessa Negewo Read The Long Interrrogation By NY Times Magazine Published June 4 2006
Kelbesa, a notorious Red Terror actor during the Dergue — former military government of Mengistu Hailemariam— regime in the then Higher 09 in Addis Ababa, was tried in absentia and sentenced to life on a number of counts of genocide, the state-run ENA reported.
The office said Kelbesa was convicted on the genocide counts he perpetrated in 1978 when he held the infamous office as chairperson of the Revolutionary and Campaign Committee with Higher 09 in addition to his membership with the city council. Kelbesa is only one of the 48 officials in Higher 09 who faced genocide charges filed by the Special Prosecution which was established by proclamation to handle genocide and related crimes perpetrated throughout the country during the former military regime. The Sixth Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court has been looking into the cases of Kelbesa.
Convict Kelbesa had remained at large all along the trials, also refusing to heed summons, including one published in an official newspaper. The Bench, having looked into Kelbesa’s case in absentia, came up with a "guilty" verdict and sentenced him to life in prison on 20 May 2002. This final verdict was accompanied with an order by the court calling on the police to track down and hand over the convict to the prisons administration which was also ordered to see to the sentence.
It was in line with this ruling of the Sixth Criminal Bench that police arrested convict Kelbesa on Friday, 20 October 2006, at the airport.
Earlier on during his absence, Kelbesa was identified in North America by three Ethiopian women.
It was shortly after Kelbesa received a US citizenship that the US immigration authorities launched investigations and found out that he had got the status illegally. The US government then submitted a motion to the Atlanta court demanding annulment of his citizenship status. The court revoked Kelbesa’s status and stripped him of the rights and privileges thereof. On 4 January 2005, he was arrested and put under custody
Source; ENA/ST
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Related Article
Ethiopian extradited from US begins life term
Addis Ababa - A former Ethiopian official extradited from the United States on Friday has started a life sentence with hard labour for his role in the Red Terror purges of the 1970s, prosecutors said on Saturday.
Kelbesa Negeo was a local administrator in the capital Addis Ababa under the Marxist former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
In 2002 he was jailed for life with hard labour after being convicted in absentia of genocide during the 1977-78 campaign that killed tens of thousands of Mengistu's opponents.
Suspects were rounded up, gunned down and their bodies then thrown into the streets as a warning to others.
After Mengistu lost power, Kelbesa sought political asylum in the United States and found work at a hotel - but he was recognised there by an Ethiopian waitress who was once one of his victims.
"Three Ethiopian women who were torture victims of Kelbesa and who lived in the US identified him and opened a court case (there) accusing him of torture and human rights violations," a statement by Ethiopia's Office of Special Prosecution said.
It said Ethiopia's government had sent documentary evidence to the US authorities supporting the women's case and had requested the 66-year-old Kelbesa's extradition.
Saturday's statement also quoted testimony from the women recounting their torture at his hands.
"We were crucified naked and dirty rags soiled with blood put into our mouths. Our feet and backs were beaten until blood oozed from our bodies and our skin peeled off," it said.
"We fled to the US immediately after we were released out of fear for our lives."
A US court ordered Kelbesa to pay $50 000 (about R375 000) compensation to each of the three victims, the statement said.
Mengistu - who fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 after he was ousted by guerrillas led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi - has also been tried in absentia in Addis Ababa.
A final verdict against him and some of his top followers is expected later this year, ending a 13-year trial examining one of the darkest periods in the country's turbulent history.
Source : IOL
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Related Links
The Long Interrogation Kelbessa Negewo (NY Times Magazine)
Background Information from The New York Times Magazine June 4 2006
Ethiopian man suspected of torture ordered deported from U.S.
Ethiopian's US citizenship revoked
Accused Ethiopian torturer Kelbessa Negewo loses appeal
These Celebrities Are Merely On an Ego Trip
The Nation (Nairobi)
OPINION
October 20, 2006
By Rasna Warah
Nairobi
Imagine flying into a European country, picking a child you would like to adopt, and flying out with it, all within less than a week.
Hard to imagine, isn't it? Well, this is exactly what pop diva Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie did last week despite claims made by civil rights organisations that the couple's adoption of one-year-old David Banda was illegal.
Apparently the laws in Malawi do not allow for international adoptions. Moreover, would-be-parents need to be monitored by social workers for at least 18 months before the adoption can be finalised. The rules, say the organisations, are intended to protect the child from exploitative or irresponsible would-be parents.
The fracas may never have erupted if the Malawi Government had followed due process and not bent over backwards to please their celebrity visitors. It was apparently so pleased with the publicity that Madonna's visit generated, it agreed to the pop star's every demand and even helped fast-track the process.
This has set a dangerous precedent, because it assumes that if you are rich and famous, you automatically qualify as a good parent. Moreover, it places thousands of children in a vulnerable position. After all, if the rules were bent for Madonna, they might be bent for others, whose intentions may not be as "noble" - child traffickers, for instance.
Malawi was probably following the example of neighbouring Namibia, where all rules and laws were suspended to accommodate the whims and desires of Hollywood's A-list couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who arrived in the country in May for the exclusive purpose of giving birth to their child.
According to Robert Sandall of the UK's Sunday Times, "any foreign journalist wishing to enter the country during their sojourn had to be approved, in writing, by the Brangelina partnership - Terrified of offending their new celebrity colonial overlords, the Namibian Government agreed. It also imposed a no-fly zone over the Burning Shore resort for the duration of their six-week stay, and declared the day of the birth a national holiday".
The media frenzy generated by the couple also made one wonder whether their decision to give birth in a Namibian hospital was perhaps a cynical attempt at gaining the kind of media attention that they might not have received had they delivered their baby in a Beverly Hills hospital that regularly churns out star babies.
Madonna is just one among a growing band of rich Western celebrities scouring Africa for children to adopt. Apparently, African babies have become the most sought-after fashion accessory since Jolie was spotted with one draped around her arm during a recent jaunt in Ethiopia where she had gone as a UN goodwill ambassador.
Plethora of articles and images
Since then, other celebrities have expressed interest in the Adopt an African Child Campaign, no doubt fuelled by touchy-feely speeches given by the Bono-Bob Geldof duo, and backed by a plethora of articles and images in the media showing starving children, scorching sunsets, barren landscapes and gun-toting guerrillas. Who wouldn't want to rescue children from such mayhem?
Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with people choosing to adopt children, be they African, Chinese or Slovaks. Adoptions allow destitute or orphaned children to have a chance in life.
Over 12 million children in Africa have lost one or both parents to Aids. These children need care, and this care is most likely to be sustained if people adopt the orphans and raise them as their own.
The problem lies not in the act of adoption but in the motives and methods of the current crop of celebrities. As in the Malawian case, these adoptions are encouraging governments to circumvent the law.
Moreover, these adoptions do not attack the root causes of poverty in the region and merely serve to prop up the egos of those who adopt.
One critic has suggested that the sudden rush for African babies is part of celebrities' public relations campaigns. Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff is reported to have said that the stars' publicists are using Africa to boost their clients' careers.
The visits to Africa by celebrities have, however, had one unintended, but positive, impact. A recent New York Times article reported that tourism in several African countries is on the rise. Hopefully this will boost the economies of some of the African countries from which these children are being adopted.
Ms Warah is a Nairobi-based writer.
Smith: Ethiopian Regime’s Silence on Report Speaks Volumes
Calls for immediate passage of H.R. 5680 when Congress reconvenes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) today expressed outrage at the Ethiopian government’s continued silence about the report linking their security forces to nearly 200 deaths during two waves of protests over election results in 2005, and called for immediate passage of his bill to promote human rights and democracy in Ethiopia when Congress reconvenes.
Smith—who is the Chairman of the Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations Subcommittee and author of the “Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006” (H.R. 5680)—said “Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s silence speaks volumes. The regime refuses to comment on the report, most likely because they never expected it to see the light of day. We have a responsibility to hold them accountable for their brutal actions as well as their subsequent efforts to suppress this inquiry.”
"We must send a message to the Ethiopian government that these actions will not be tolerated" Rep. Chris Smith
Smith added “this report should prompt the House to move on my bill when we reconvene. We must send a message to the Ethiopian government that these actions will not be tolerated.”
The independent Commission of Inquiry report found that Ethiopian security forces fatally shot, beat or strangled 193 people protesting election fraud last year—a number that far exceeds the Ethiopian government’s official death toll. The report also states that these demonstrators were unarmed, yet the majority died from shots to the head.
Wolde-Michael Meshesha, a vice chairman of the 10-member panel who conducted the investigation, said the Ethiopian government tried to suppress the inquiry and he has stated in news reports that he was told to change the results two days before the release of report. Meshesha fled Ethiopia in the wake of controversy surrounding the report and is in Europe seeking asylum.
The report comes well over a year after the first wave of violence, despite the Prime Minister's assurance to Rep. Smith during a meeting in August 2005 that there would be an expeditious and transparent investigation.
"This delayed, secret report, as well as the repeated delays in the trial of the opposition leaders, human rights activists and journalists, demonstrates an outright contempt for rule of law and due-process," Smith said.
The “Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006” aims to bring democratic reform and accountability to Ethiopia by limiting U.S. security assistance to peacekeeping and counter-terrorism only; denying visas to anyone who was involved in the June and November 2005 killings of demonstrators; and by assisting political prisoners, indigenous Ethiopian human rights organizations, independent media, civil society and to promote legal training. Smith’s legislation passed the House International Relations Committee last June.
“This legislation helps strengthen the will of the Ethiopian people who want freedom and democracy, and will bring positive change to the circumstances that have limited progress in Ethiopia. It should be brought up for immediate consideration when the House reconvenes next month,” said Smith.
###
For Immediate Release: October 20, 2006
Contact: Patrick Creamer (202) 225-3765
Source:United States Congress
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Related Links
Inquiry finds 193 beaten, strangled or shot to death
Two EU diplomats expelled from Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Somali Islamists may execute Ethiopian "spies"
By Guled Mohamed
Two Ethiopians arrested in Mogadishu and accused of spying on Somalia's newly powerful Islamist movement will be charged with espionage soon and could be put to death, Islamist officials said on Friday.
The Islamists have declared holy war against Ethiopia, which it accuses of having invaded Somalia to prop up the interim government based in the provincial town Baidoa.
"The two Ethiopians were arrested some time ago for spying. They were found with documents that showed they were spying for Ethiopia," Islamist spokesman Abdirahim Ali Mudey told Reuters.
"They are in our custody just like any other criminals but soon they will be charged according to sharia law."
He did not name the men, who were arrested about a month ago, or give further details. Ethiopian officials were not immediately available to comment.
The Islamists, formed from a union of sharia courts, seized Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords in June then much of south Somalia, where they have imposed strict Islamic law.
Under sharia law, the two men could be executed if convicted.
"Sharia law states that spies should be executed," another Islamist source, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
"It is upon the Islamic court to decide the method of execution. If they want to hack their heads off it is fine, and if they want to shoot them dead it is also fine. The two Ethiopians are just waiting to die," he said.
Another Islamist source said the men would soon be paraded before journalists.
Although some Somalis complain of the harshness of the Islamists' rule, others credit them with bringing a semblance of order to a country starved of normalcy for 15 years since the ouster of a dictator.
Diplomats fear that if tension between the Islamists and the Somali government escalates, it could spark a major regional war in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia, which says the Islamists are led by terrorists, denies sending any soldiers into Ethiopia expect military trainers requested by the government. But residents and diplomats say thousands of Ethiopian troops entered Somalia.
Ethiopia:Opposition Jobs
By James Butty
Washington, D.C.
20 October 2006
Butty Interview with Berhan Hailu audio clip
The opposition United Ethiopian Democratic Forces party of Ethiopia says Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government is threatening to withhold jobs from civil servants and students if they did not support the ruling party. The party describes the alleged tactics as coercive. But the Ethiopian government has denied such tactics. Berhan Hailu is Ethiopia’s minister of information. He tells VOA’s English to Africa reporter James Butty the government is simply following its own civil service guidelines.
“My comment is that their accusation is baseless and unfounded. They don’t have any facts to support such an accusation. We are doing to the level of our best, and the civil servants or other new graduates are employed in the civil service based on merits, based on our laws and regulations,” Hailu said.
Hailu says whether those seeking employment with the Ethiopian government take a test or not depends on the kind of job they are seeking, and whether they get those jobs or not has no relationship to their party affiliation.
“We are strongly working on the merits of the graduates. If they are qualified with education, and also their experience or their skills, they have the right to be employed in the civil service. We don’t have a criteria for graduates to be party members,” Hailu said.
The Ethiopian information minister says the fact that his government has jailed several opposition leaders has nothing to do with who gets jobs in Ethiopia and who does not.
“People who are listening they should have to search by themselves what the reality is in Ethiopia. The reality in Ethiopia is that we are doing to the level of our best to have a good civil service, to have a good government service, and we are building a good democratic system. We have a good plan of implementing civil service reform. They should have a comprehensive understanding of these things. They should not be biased and they should not relate what we are doing here in Ethiopia with political interest,” Hailu said.
Source: VOA News
EU says two EU diplomats expelled from Ethiopia
The Associated Press
Published: October 20, 2006
BRUSSELS, Belgium The European Union on Friday demanded that Ethiopia explain why two of its diplomats were expelled from the politically tense Horn of Africa country.
Ethiopian state television reported Thursday that police arrested two foreigners working with the European Union because they were trying to help two Ethiopians wanted for serious crimes cross the southern border with Kenya. Amnesty International expressed concern about one of the Ethiopians it said was involved.
EU development spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio refused to elaborate on the Ethiopian charges "out of principle" since the EU was still awaiting an official explanation for the expulsion. But he said: "It is true that we are concerned about the situation of political members of the opposition that have suffered from persecution."
EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said he had called on the Ethiopian ambassador for an explanation of the expulsions. Michel also said he would continue to try to contact others in the Ethiopian government.
"This expulsion without explanation is totally unacceptable," Louis Michel
"This expulsion without explanation is totally unacceptable," Michel said.
The EU head office confirmed the two EU diplomats were Bjorn Jonsson and Enrico Sborgi who worked in the food and finances departments. The EU did not release their nationalities. The Swedish Foreign Ministry said one was a Swede, but would not confirm the name, saying it was an EU matter. EU development spokesman Altafaj Tardio said he expected they would already have returned to Europe.
The European Union is one of Ethiopia's largest donors, but its officials have been sharply critical of political developments in Ethiopia amid questions about top Ethiopian officials' commitment to democracy.
An immigration department statement read on Ethiopian TV did not identify the foreigners nor the Ethiopians. Police stopped a European Commission vehicle with diplomatic license plates containing four people in the southern border town of Moyale and made the arrests when the foreigners refused to wind down their windows, the statement said.
Amnesty International said Yalemzewd Bekele, an Ethiopian lawyer working for the European Commission in Addis Ababa, was one of those arrested on Thursday.
"Amnesty International is concerned that she is at high risk of torture or other ill-treatment," it said in a statement. It said Bekele was apparently arrested in relation with the distribution of an opposition schedule for nonviolent civil disobedience.
Altafaj Tardio refused to say whether Bekele was involved in the case.
Unrest broke out in Ethiopia following May 2005 parliamentary elections that gave Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front control of nearly two-thirds of parliament. Opposition parties said the election was marred by fraud, intimidation and violence.
More than 100 independent journalists, opposition leaders and aid workers were charged with r treason and attempted genocide after the protests. Their trials, condemned by international human rights groups, continue.
Earlier this week, Wolde-Michael Meshesha, a vice chairman of a 10-member inquiry appointed by the Ethiopian government to look into deaths during the postelection protests, said Ethiopian security forces fatally shot, beat or strangled 193 unarmed protesters, triple the official death toll. Wolde-Michael accused the government of trying to suppress the results of the probe.
Ethiopian officials refused to comment on the charges from Wolde-Michael, who left Ethiopia last month after he said he received anonymous death threats and is claiming asylum in Europe. The prime minister and other officials had at the time accused the demonstrators of trying to overthrow the government.
Ana Gomes, who was the European Union's chief observer during the elections, told the AP Wolde-Michael's report "exposes the lie" that the Ethiopian government is moving toward democracy.
In January, Britain withheld US$87 million in aid because of concerns about the government's handling of the unrest. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and more than half of its 77 million people live on less than $1 a day.
Source: IHT
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Related Article from BBC News
EU anger over Ethiopia expulsions
BBC
The European Union has condemned the expulsion of two EU diplomats from Ethiopia as "totally unacceptable".
The two were given 24 hours to leave Ethiopia after being caught allegedly trying to take two fugitives to Kenya.
The wanted pair were Ethiopians who worked for the European Commission. Ethiopia said they were arrested over "serious crimes" without specifying.
The expulsions come at a time of strong international criticism of Ethiopia over last year's disputed elections.
"Any international organisation operating in Ethiopia needs to respect the laws of the host country and face punishment if it violates the law"
Interior ministry
The EU halted budgetary aid to Ethiopia in the wake of the poll and the wave of violence that followed it.
Until the election violence, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had been seen as part of a "new generation" of African leaders.
The chief observer for the EU during the elections, Ana Gomes, on Thursday said a leaked report into an alleged "massacre" confirmed that the government did not respect human rights.
'Repercussions'
Development Commissioner Louis Michel said he had called Ethiopia's envoy in Brussels for an explanation.
Mr Michel did not name the diplomats but said they were Italian and Swedish nationals working for the European Commission's delegation in the capital, Addis Ababa.
"There will be repercussions," he said.
He also said he had been trying since Thursday to contact Mr Meles about the incident, without success.
"Usually I can make contact quite easily with Prime Minister Meles," he said.
The arrests were made after a car with diplomatic number plates was stopped near the southern border town of Moyale, Ethiopian officials say.
A statement from Ethiopia's interior ministry said the attempt "violates the sovereignty of the country while jeopardising the security of the nation".
"Any international organisation operating in Ethiopia needs to respect the laws of the host country and face punishment if it violates the law," the statement added.
Lawyer arrested
Human rights group Amnesty International says one of those arrested was EC lawyer Yalemzewd Bekele.
Amnesty says it is concerned that she is at a high risk of being tortured.
The lawyer was accompanied by another person, Amnesty says, but it has no details about the other person's identity or whereabouts.
The human rights group says it believes Yalemzewd Bekele was arrested in connection with the publication and distribution of a calendar of action for non-violent civil disobedience by the opposition party Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD).
CUD was in the forefront of protests over last May's elections, saying it was cheated of victory.
Several CUD leaders are on trial on a number of charges, including one of trying to overthrow the government.
Story from BBC NEWS
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Related Link
Ana Gomes, who was the European Union's chief observer during the elections, told the AP Wolde-Michael's report "exposes the lie" that the Ethiopian government is moving toward democracy.
Fear of Torture or ill-treatment: Yalemzewd Bekele
Amnesty International
Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) Press Release October 19 2006
ሻለቃ ዮሴፍ ያዘው ተጨማሪ ገንዘብ እንዳያወጡ ስለመታገዱ
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ሻለቃ ዮሴፍ ያዘው የተሰጣቸውን ሃላፊነት በመዘንጋት የቅንጅት ድጋፍ ሰጪዎች ያሰባሰቡትንና
በ”ባንክ ኦፍ አሜሪካ” ተቀምጦ የነበረውን እሩብ ሚሊዮን ዶላር በየትኛውም እርከን የሚገኙ
የአመራር አካላትን ሳያነጋግሩ በግል ፊርማቸው ወዳልታወቀ አካውንት ማዘወራቸው ይታወሳል።
ይህ ገንዘብ በውጭ አገር በሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያዊያን የተዋጣው; አገር ውስጥ በችግር ላይ
የሚገኙትን የፖለቲካ እስረኞችና ቤተሰቦቻቸውን ለመርዳት መሆኑ የሚታወቅ ነው።
ይህንን ከስርአት የወጣ ድርጊት አጥብቀን የምንቃወመው ሲሆን፤ የህዝብን ንብረት ለማስጠበቅ
የመጀመሪያውን የሽምግልና ተግባር በሚቀጥሉት 72 ሰአታት ተፈጻሚ ለማድረግ በመንቀሳቀስ
ላይ ናቸው። በዚህም መሰረት ሻለቃ ዮሴፍ ገንዘቡን ወደነበረበት የቅንጅት አካውንት እንዲመልሱ
በአክብሮት የተጠየቁ መሆናቸውን እንገልጻለን።
በአሁኑም ወቅት በቀድሞǡ
