After their respective Beijing disappointments, Ethiopiaʼs World Indoor 3000m champion Meseret Defar and Sudanʼs World Indoor 800m champion Abubaker Kaki will attempt to put their careers back on track when attempting World Indoor records at the 2008 Sparkassen Cup meeting in Stuttgart, Germany on 7 February 2009.

The Stuttgart fixture is one of a series of ten IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings in 2009.

After a 2008 which was full of ups and downs, when she successfully retained her World indoor crown in Valencia, but then only finished third when defending her Olympic 5000m title in Beijing, Defar will now attack her own World Indoor 3000m mark in Stuttgart.

The World 5000m champion has very fond memories of the indoor track in Stuttgart. Two years ago, she ran one of the races of her life when breaking 3000m record by well nearly four seconds (8:23.72). Last year, she made another this time unsuccessful record attempt at the same meeting, but still clocked the fastest world indoor 3000m time of 2008.

While Defar might feel bronze did not do her talents justice in Beijing, Sudanese teenager Kaki did not even get to the final of the menʼs 800m in the Chinese capital.

Despite his disappointment at the Birdʼs Nest Stadium, Kaki produced some stellar achievements in 2008 where he became his countryʼs first ever World champion in any sport when winning 800m gold in Valencia, broke the World junior record in Oslo in 1:42.69, the fastest time in the world last year, and also struck 800m gold at the World Junior Championships in Poland.

In Stuttgart, Kaki will attempt the World 1000m record nearly a year since he improved the world junior best in Stockholm (21 Feb 2008) to 2:15.77, just 0.81 slower than Wilson Kipketerʼs World record.

By Elshadai Negash for the IAAF

TOKYO (Xinhua) — Japan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed the release of Keiko Akahane, a female 32-year-old doctor abducted in Ethiopia in September, was freed on Wednesday.

“I am pleased from the bottom of my heart for the people concerned. I condemn the abduction as a dirty crime and stress anew that it cannot be justified for any reason,” said Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone in a statement released Thursday.

The ministry said Akahane sustained no injuries and is now in a facility of an aid group in Kenya.

The foreign ministry declined to comment on whether Japan paid any ransom.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (IRIN) – Ethiopia’s [rubber-stamp] parliament has passed a law to regulate charities, despite strong criticism from opposition politicians, international human rights groups and national civil society organisations.

The Proclamation for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies was passed by the government-dominated 547-seat parliament with 327 members in favour and 79 against.

“The non-governmental organisations [law] will redefine their areas of operation,” Berahnu Adelo, an official in the Prime Minster’s office, said in Addis Ababa. “Those that are working more on development will continue with us.”

Meles Tilahun, a whip in parliament, told IRIN in December: “The law is needed to create a conducive environment for NGOs and CSOs and provide a separate legal framework for them. It does not mean to shut them down.”

The bill was passed on 6 January during an ordinary session of the House despite strong objections by opposition politicians who are a minority. Mesfin Nemera of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement party walked out.

“I simply do not have [the] language to express what this law is [about],” Beyene Petros, chairman of the United Democratic Forces party, told IRIN. “It is a scheme to stifle societal activity and voluntary initiatives which would assist both political and economic progress in this country.”

Critics argue that the new rules, especially on foreign funding of local NGOs, would hurt human rights groups critical of the government and could disrupt aid operations by such groups.

The government, however, says charities have been used by political activists who are working on “other issues”, not “catastrophes that required aid and assistance”, according to a September 2008 statement.

Eshetu Bekele, head of the National Task Force on Enabling the Environment of Civil Society Organizations in Ethiopia, said the new law could restrict funding and the scope of charities’ activities.

“There are organisations that are very fragile in their capacity and organisational structure,” she told IRIN in Addis Ababa. “Those might close down.”

Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, told IRIN: “I am very concerned about this legislation. It is regrettable to have legislation which might close the enabling space for civil society because it is actually part of the development of a country.”

Oversight agency

The law establishes an oversight agency, rules and supervision for the establishment of trusts and endowments, societies and charities. Rules governing fund-raising, membership and governance are detailed.

It also sets tough penalties and powers to investigate and oversee charities, and restricts activity in human and democratic rights, gender or ethnic equality, conflict resolution, the strengthening of judicial practices or law enforcement.

Only Ethiopian charities or societies with no more than 10 percent of their spending coming from “foreign sources” would be able to work in those areas.

The law has been criticised by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the development committee of the European Parliament, the civil society lobby group CIVICUS and the US government.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are reportedly going to adopt another Ethiopian child this month.

The couple – who already have three biological children Shiloh, two, six-month-old twins Knox and Vivienne, and three adopted children, Cambodian Maddox, seven, Pax, five, from Vietnam and four-year-old Ethiopian girl Zahara – are planning to jet to Africa before the end of January to complete paperwork on the new addition to their family.

A source revealed: “Brad and Angelina have seen pictures of a two-year-old girl they’d love to adopt. If everything goes to plan, Angelina will file papers in person in the capital city of Addis Ababa in the New Year and they will pick up their new daughter two days later.”

Officials in Ethiopia have confirmed they are expecting the family this month as Brad, 45, and 33-year-old Angelina are planning to visit the AIDS/HIV clinic they founded after adopting Zahara.

A clinic source told Britain’s Grazia magazine: “I can’t say anything about when they are coming, but yes, when they come to Ethiopia we will expect a visit from them.”

Brad and Angelina are said to be keen on extending their brood while their other children are still young.

An insider explained: “Angelina gets a kick from saving kids and giving them this amazing life they would have never had otherwise.

“Yes they might be adding to their family fast but they want all their kids to be roughly the same age so they do the nanny stage and get it over and done with.

“Another kid in the house will make no difference to the noise and chaos they already have.”

– Showbiz

By Jason McLure | Bloomberg

Ethiopia’s [rubber-stamp] parliament ratified a law that critics say will prevent groups from promoting human rights and democracy in the Horn of Africa country, strengthening the government’s hand to crack down on dissent.

The so-called “Proclamation for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies” was passed today by a vote of 327 to 79 in Ethiopia’s parliament. The 547-member legislative body is dominated by members of Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front Woyanne, which has 481 seats.

Zenawi’s party, which has ruled Ethiopia since 1991, backed the law even after Western donors, domestic civil society organizations and members of Ethiopian opposition parties objected. They argue the legislation aims to quash dissent.

“This law goes far beyond any normal effort to regulate civil society,” said Leslie Lefkow, a researcher in the Africa division of New York-based Human Rights Watch. “It’s really an instrument of repression.”

Under the new plan, any charity that promotes ethnic gender and religious equality; human rights; democracy; or conflict resolution and receives more than 10 percent of its funding from overseas, will be banned. Organizations that advocate rights for children and the disabled or promote “the efficiency of the justice and law enforcement services” will also be outlawed unless they source more than 90 percent of their revenue inside Ethiopia.

Blanket Ban

Since nearly all non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, that work in these areas rely on foreign funding, the law is tantamount to a blanket ban, political activists said.

“Ninety-five percent of these organizations will not survive under this legislation,” said Lidetu Ayalew, an opposition member of parliament, during a debate on the law on Dec. 24.

Ethiopia’s government Woyanne says the new law is needed to regulate the country’s more than 3,800 NGOs. It also argues that it’s the role of the state, rather than foreign-backed organizations, to protect human and democratic rights.

“We need social development,” said Berhanu Adelu, chief of Zenawi’s Cabinet, in a forum on the new law on Dec. 24. “We invite NGOs to do this work, but it is not their role to protect the rights of citizens. That is the role of government. It’s an internal issue.”

The government also disputes claims that the law is intended to silence critics or that groups will close as a result.

‘Clearly Specified Duty’

“No NGOs will be closed as a result of this,” Justice Minister Berhanu Hailu said in an interview on the sidelines of the forum on Dec. 24. “They just have to raise funds locally. This is not a closing of political space. We are not undermining civil society in Ethiopia, but their duty area is clearly specified.”

The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa said the law “appears to restrict civil society activities and international partners’ ability to support Ethiopia’s own development efforts.”

“We are concerned that this law may restrict U.S. government assistance to Ethiopia, particularly on promoting democracy and good governance, civic and human rights, conflict resolution and advocacy for society’s most vulnerable groups,” the embassy said in an statement read to Bloomberg.

Amnesty International, the London-based human rights organization, said that while the government had provided assurances that the law was intended to regularize non- governmental activity, it appeared to have emerged out of state fears about political control.

‘Increased Repression’

Those fears “manifested as increased repression of civil society activity after the contested 2005 elections and continue to severely limit space for civil society as Ethiopia heads toward elections in 2010,” Amnesty said in an e-mail today.

Government opponents accused the state of rigging the May 2005 elections, sparking protests in Addis Ababa and other cities. A judicial inquiry after the election concluded that government security forces had killed 193 opposition supporters in the unrest.

In October and November of 2008, the government arrested 15 members of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, an opposition party, on suspicion of belonging to a separatist group. Last month, Birtukan Mideksa, the country’s leading opposition politician, was arrested and jailed for life after a dispute with the government over a pardon agreement that had freed her in 2007.

Rights Monitor

Among the NGOs likely to be banned is the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, or EHRCO, a non-profit organization that has issued more than 140 reports detailing summary executions, disappearances and unlawful detentions of Ethiopians over the past 17 years.

More than a dozen of the group’s staff and members were arrested in the wake of Ethiopia’s disputed 2005 elections, during which EHRCO ran voter education programs, Yoseph Mulugeta, the group’s secretary-general, said in an interview

About 99 percent of the 1,500-member group’s 4 million birr ($400,000) annual budget comes from foreign sources, including the U.S. based National Endowment for Democracy, Canada’s overseas aid agency, and the embassies of European governments.

As a result of the law, many of the group’s 60 investigators and administrators across the country have been notified they’re likely to lose their jobs.

“Who watches when the government violates human rights?” Mulugeta said. “In many countries the government is the biggest violator of human rights. There needs to be independent watchers.”

(To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at [email protected].)