The following are email exchanges with Washington Post reporter Nora Boustany and Ombudsman Deborah C Howell:

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from Elias Kifle [email protected]
to [email protected]
date Oct 4, 2007 11:58 PM
subject article on HR 2003

Hello Nora,

I’m writing in regards to your article on a U.S. Congress bill on Ethiopia, H.R. 2003. I believe that you have been misinformed. Mr Hailu (you misspelled his name as Haiylu) Shawel was in Minneapolis during the vote. He has been under physicians’ watch for the past 3 weeks and cannot travel any where. It would have been impossible for him to be in Washington DC on that day. But his deputy, Ms. Bertukan Mideksa, and another official of the party, Dr Berhanu Nega, were there. Both of them had testified at the Africa Subcommittee hearing right before the vote took place by the full House. The person who told you that Hailu Shawel was at the meeting could be Mesfin Mekonnen. I think he misled you on purpose because he wants to get credit for his group for helping pass H.R. 2003. Which is far from the truth. Neither Hailu Shawel nor Mesfin Mekonnen had any thing to do with the bill. It was members of the Coalition for HR 2003 who labored day and night to persuade members of Congress to pass the bill. You can find out the correct information from the author of the bill, Africa Subcommittee chairman Donald Payne’s office. It is important that you post a correction for the sake of WP’s and your own credibility.

Regards,
Elias Kifle
Publisher, ethiopianreview.com

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from Elias Kifle [email protected]
to [email protected]
date Oct 5, 2007 12:11 AM
subject false report

Dear Ombudsman,

I am writing in regards to this article which contains a couple of incorrect information:

This is the second from last paragraph:

“Passage of the bill sends a strong signal to the Ethiopian regime, the State Department and the international community. It shows that the U.S. government is on the record in supporting human rights in Ethiopia. For us this is historic,” said Mesfin Mekonen, an Ethiopian American who is chairman of the International Council of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy in Ethiopia, a group active in Washington.

Correction:

Mr Mesfin Mekonnen is not the chairman of the International Council of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy in Ethiopia. The chairman of this (now defunct) group is Dr Taye Woldesemayat. Ask Mesfin Mekonnen himself.

This is the last paragraph:

Passage of the bill came after intense lobbying by Ethiopian democracy activists. Hailyu Shawel, president of the coalition and an opposition prisoner who was recently released by the Ethiopian government, attended the House session for the vote along with dozens of others.

Correction:
Neither Mesfin Mekonnen nor Hailyu (correct spelling: Hailu) Shawel were at the Congress when the bill was voted on by the House. Hailu Shawel was on that day — and is still — receiving a medical treatment in Minneapolis. Mesfin Mekonnen was not at the Congress on that day, according to every one who was there.

The reason I am contacting you about this matter is because I believe that it is a deliberate misinformation on the part of Mr Mefin Mekonnen and his group who are at odds with the Ethiopian community. The same thing happened to a report for The Hill newspaper a few weeks ago. Possibly the same person had provided a misinformation about two Ethiopian political figures which caused a lot of uproar in the community. So please look into this matter and take appropriate actions.

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from Deborah C Howell [email protected]
to [email protected]
date Oct 5, 2007 11:21 AM

Dear Mr. Kifle:

I talked to Nora Boustany, who wrote that piece. She says that you are wrong. Those two men were there and that she talked to them. There was an editing error on Mr. Mekonnen’s position and that will be corrected. Thank you for writing.

Ms. Boustany said: “Shawel and Mekonnen were at the hearing the day before the vote and at the session of the vote. They were in the gallery and I spoke to Mekonnen twice by cell phone while he was there giving me a blow by blow account. Shawel is undergoing medical treatment in Minnesota. He came especially to DC to meet with Rep. Smith and to attend the vote and returned back to Minnesota immediately. You can check with Smith’s office. I had identified Mekonnen as a member of the CUD International Committee, a local group here that has been lobbying very actively, which is different from what the desk changed it to.

Deborah Howell
Washington Post Ombudsman
202-334-7521
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from Elias Kifle eliaskifle @gmail.com
to Deborah C Howell [email protected]
date Oct 5, 2007 11:47 AM
Re:

Dear Deborah,

I just spoke with Congressman Smith’s office (202-225-3765). They said that they are not aware of Mr Shawel’s presence on Tusday. They suggested that I speak with the Foreign Affair Committee’s Africa Subcommittee that authored the bill. I called the Africa Subcommittee chairman’s office (202-225-3436 ). They said Hailu Shawel was invited to come, but he did not show up. They said he was not among the group that was invited. So I believe that Nora Boustany has been deliberately misinformed.

Regards,
Elias Kifle

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from Nora Boustany [email protected]
to Elias Kifle [email protected]
date Oct 5, 2007 5:26 PM
subject Re: article on HR 2003

Dear Mr. Kifle,

My understanding from Rep. Smith’s office is that Mekonnen has been very active along with other democracy advocates in lobbying his office and pushing for a vote. I am sure you are all great patriots, though the
smear campaign underway today is beginning to make me doubt your prioritites. You should all be celebrating today, not attacking one another. I am sure you have all had a role and I urge you to keep me
informed of your activities as Mr. Mekonnen has. I have no preference. Mr. Shewal was here this week, albeit briefly and met with Smith and his staffers, according to his spokesman today. Please, before attacking my
credibility, why don’t you worry about yours.

Thanks. Nora

Nora Boustany
Foreign Staff Writer
Human Rights, Development, Trends
Tel: 202 334 7474
Fax: 202 334 5651
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from Elias Kifle [email protected]
to Nora Boustany [email protected]
cc [email protected] Ombudsman
date Oct 5, 2007 6:05 PM
subject Re: article on HR 2003

Dear Nora,

I am sorry if you feel that I have attacked your credibility. That was not my intention. I also did not question any body’s patriotism. This is not a question of patriotism, but truth and accountability. What I and many in the Ethiopian community did not like is that your report contains some glaring errors. It seems that Mesfin Mekonnen has deliberately misinformed you. The undeniable fact is that Hailu Shawel and Mesfin Mekonnen were not in Congress when the vote on HR 2003 took place Tuesday. The last time Mr Shawel was in Washington DC is about three weeks ago. He was invited by Congressman Donald Payne to come on Tuesday, but could not make it because he is in Minneapolis receiving medical treatment. You can easily verify this information by calling Congressman Payne’s office. So instead of trying to defend your credibility (which you do not have to), and explain Mr Mekonnen’s role, you can simply make a correction to your piece and case is closed.

H.R. 2003 is not about patritoism. It is about democracy and accountability in Ethiopia. It includes Ethiopian politicians like Mesfin Mekonnen who must be held accountable when ever they engage in misinformation and lies.

Regards,

Elias

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from Nora Boustany [email protected]
to Elias Kifle [email protected]
date Oct 9, 2007 11:01 PM
subject Re: article on HR 2003

Mr. Kifle,

we corrected his title, but not the fact that he was up in the gallery watching the vote. Thanks for your interest. Best Regards. Nora

Nora Boustany
Foreign Staff Writer
Human Rights, Development, Trends
Tel: 202 334 7474
Fax: 202 334 5651