Cases of meningitis were reported during the first week of January in the Welayita region of the Kendo Kocha and Bolo Sore woredas (administrative units), in southern Ethiopia. In four weeks, the total number of cases reached 89 in Kendo Kocha, including 13 deaths, and 52 in Boloro Sore, with three deaths.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) immediately began working with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to respond to this epidemic, providing medications – oily chloramphenicol and ceftriaxone – and treatment protocol training to medical personnel at health centers. A vaccination campaign has also been initiated to contain the epidemic. It will target more than 200,000 people between the ages of two and 30 not previously vaccinated. Only those in this age range are vaccinated because the vaccine is not effective for children under two and the illness is rare among people over 30.
The campaign was launched on Sunday, February 12, and includes a major public awareness campaign. It will continue for about two weeks. The campaign is a joint project of MSF and the Ministry of Health. It will be carried out by 10 vaccination teams working in 10 locations across two affected areas. The Ministry of Health has supplied the vaccines, while MSF is providing injection supplies and logistical support with seven vehicles, and is handling the cold chain, which is a system used to maintain the vaccines at their viable temperature (see box below).
Meningitis is endemic in Ethiopia, and epidemics tend to break out particularly during the major dry season, from January to March. MSF has also responded to several outbreaks, including one in 2001 in the same region. Experience shows that people arrive in large numbers during the first days of a vaccination campaign and each team may vaccinate up to 1,000 people per day, for a combined total of 10,000 for all teams. If additional areas are affected, the vaccination campaign would be extended immediately.
We have read multiple articles by scholars, citizens and political groups about the May 15/05 elections and its aftermath. Ethiopians are united in their desire to see the democratic process continue and to stop brutality and human right abuses in Ethiopia.
The Diaspora community has concentrated its effort in carrying out mass demonstrations and intense lobbying to affect the policies of the west concerning Ethiopia. It has achieved some success. Some in the west have articulated clearly their displeasure with Mele’s government and some went as far as agreeing to withhold direct funding to Ethiopia. This effort continues and it must continue.
However we must be careful to use all the tools at our disposal to put pressure on the current government in Ethiopia. Terrence Lyons of George Mason University in his Jan 20/06 paper titled ‘Ethiopia 2005: The Beginning of a Transition’ expressed his view that lobbying and mass demonstrations used as a sole strategy is unlikely to lead to democratic change or collapse of the present regime. I too share that opinion. Why?
1. Past experience in Iraq, Cuba has thought us in the best case scenario these efforts achieve sanctions which makes it difficult for the government to operate but does not lead to democracy or a fall of government. In fact those governments become more dictatorial and more reliant on their military power.
2. According to an article titled ‘No questions asked’ printed in The economist Jan 21/06, Page 57, China has promised the Meles government to replace any funding shortfalls created by the west. Given that China’s economy is the 4th largest in the world with a GDP of $2.26 trillion and Ethiopia’s total annual donations from outside the country amounts to only $1.9 Billion, there is no doubt that China can make good on this promise.
3. Even as pressure is placed upon the west to withhold donations from Ethiopia, overall business investment in the country is skyrocketing. The ‘EIU views wire’ NY Jan 2006 reported that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ethiopia rose strongly, from US$255m in 2002 to US$545m in 2004, according to the latest World Investment Review (2005) from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) The increase is due to 2 factors:
1. Investment by a Saudi tycoon, Mohamed Al-Moudi, and his Mohamed International
2. Increased investment from ‘non traditional sources’ like India, Turkey and Iran.
These types of investments continue unabated despite the current situation in Ethiopia.
Some Ethiopians in the Diaspora believe the only strategy that will work to achieve release of prisoners and to continue with the democratization process is ‘politics’-by which they mean lobbying the west to apply pressure on the Ethiopian government. In my opinion ‘politics’ must encompass a much broader array of strategies if it is to be effective. We must use every strategy at our disposal e.g. legislative, legal, public relations, and economic to pressure Meles to do the right thing. After all we all know Meles is using multiple strategies including the courts and military tactics to play his brand of politics.
In summary one thing is very clear to me. We have to reenergize the non-violent movement campaign. Initially we were all caught off guard when the opposition leaders were unexpectedly thrown in jail. We mistakenly thought this might be a short-lived tactic to get concession. This led to complacency on our part. Now that we have realized our mistake and that our worst nightmare has indeed materialized we must regroup, strategize and take broad ranging action to effect the prisoners’ release and democratic change.
As we all know CUD is a coalition of multiple parties, sometimes with differing agendas, united by a single common cause. Let us set aside any such differences and work diligently on this one common goal. Let us form a loose but focused collaboration to share ideas, pool resources, and find effective strategies. Let us move Campaign ‘Free Ethiopia’ (‘Freee’) forward.
If you are an academic, political, civic or any other group or person who wants to have a loose working collaboration with Advocacy Ethiopia (group formed by some family members and friends write to us [email protected]
Reliable European Union sources tell us Meles Zenawi is in dire straights. He is putting up a brave, tough face in public while desperately pleading with European and American donors to keep the aid money flowing.
The situation is so bad that diplomats are looking for a face-saving formula to get him out of the bind. The main formula under discussion is the release of CUD leaders on bail in exchange for donor money. The Prime Minister is reportedly putting in place an elaborate mechanism to keep CUD leaders politically shackled even if they leave prison. Donors also appear ready to pressure CUD leaders to accept certain preconditions for their release.
We are told the country’s foreign exchange reserves are at an all time low. It’s not clear whether the recent assassination of the President of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the country’s largest, is related to the financial debacle.
A major goal of Mr. Zenawi’s emergency trip to Brussels this weekend is to shore up the rapidly dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
The ruling party’s severe crackdown against opposition parties, civic society leaders and journalists has put donors on the defensive. Releasing at least a few of those arrested may calm some nerves. It is a face saving formula that may work for donors as well. After all, they can always say they pressured Meles to release jailed leaders.
Releasing prisoners will only return the country to the situation that existed before November 1, 2005.
The EU and the US on November 7, 2005, called on Prime Minister Zenawi’s government to ‘restore peace and confidence in the democracy-building process by ensuring due process of law and respect for human rights in accordance with international practice and its own commitments.â€Â
The EU-US plan centered on 10 key demands. These are:
o “Immediate end to the use of lethal force, random searches and indiscriminate beatings and massive arrests.
o All political detainees should be released.
o Speedy review and, where appropriate, release of individuals detained in the recent demonstrations.
o Immediate lifting of any restrictions currently imposed on those CUDP leaders and members not detained.
o Immediate access by families, legal counsel and the international Red Cross and or other appropriate representatives of the international community to jailed CUDP, civil society and media leaders, as well as provision of medicines, food and other humanitarian needs.
o Notification to families of names and whereabouts of detainees, together with appropriate access and provision of humanitarian needs.
o An independent investigation of the deaths and injuries arising from recent events and the events in June.
o Review and revision of parliamentary rules and practices to ensure that all parties represented in parliament can participate on a fair and representative basis.
o Reopening of the private media and promotion of a code of conduct for the media to ensure a balanced and responsible flow of information to the public.
o Appointment of a national election board in consultation with the parliamentary oppositionâ€Â
The European Union and the United States are duty bound to enforce these demands if they are serious about advancing freedom and democracy in Ethiopia.
(CPJ) New York, January 30, 2006—Ethiopian security forces have detained a correspondent for the U.S.-based Web site Ethiopian Review, its publisher Elias Kifle said today. Journalist Frezer Negash has been held without charge in Addis Ababa since Friday, Kifle told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“We are disturbed that Frezer Negash has joined at least 16 other journalists in jail in Ethiopia,” said Ann Cooper, executive director of CPJ. “We call on Ethiopian authorities to release her immediately.”
EliasKifle and two other CPJ sources said that Ethiopian officials had recently threatened Negash over her work for the Web site, which is extremely critical of the government.
Kifle said that Negash was accredited by the Ethiopian government as an Ethiopian Review correspondent. She also ran for parliament as an independent candidate in Ethiopia’s May 2005 elections, but was defeated by a candidate from the opposition CUD party. Local sources told CPJ that Negash was known in the journalistic community in Addis Ababa, and that she attended government and opposition press conferences.
The government launched a crackdown on the press in November following protests over the disputed May elections. Fourteen detained journalists face charges of treason and genocide. Two more local journalists are serving jail sentences after being convicted of press offenses in December.
Kifle, who lives in the United States, is one of about a dozen journalists working for overseas media who were charged in absentia with treason and “trying to exert international pressure on the government with the explicit purpose of overthrowing the constitutional order,” according to a translation of the charge sheet obtained by CPJ. Five journalists working for the U.S. government-funded Voice of America radio in Washington, D.C., were also among those charged in absentia.
The government expelled Anthony Mitchell, The Associated Press correspondent in Addis Ababa, on January 21, a day after he reported on renewed clashes between police and protesters in the capital.
Earlier this month, two freelance journalists who were arrested during the crackdown were released from detention without charge, according to CPJ sources. Authorities accused Meles Geset and Samuel Tasew of aiding Sisay Agena, one of the journalists arrested and charged with treason, while he was still in hiding, according to CPJ sources. CPJ had not previously documented the arrests, and is investigating the circumstances behind them.
There was a glimmer of hope for the Ethiopian Opposition last week. The British have asked for the Government of Ethiopia to allow for an independent investigation into Human Rights Abuses. Now the ultimate player in world politics was calling. A delegation had arrived from the United States. The two main opposition parties made their concerns known and duly waited for the response. What was the reply? Don’t expect any changes to be facilitated by Washington. However we will talk with the government to improve conditions.
One must ask if this policy contradicts the goals laid out by President Bush in his second inaugural address in January 2005. In the address the President identified the spread of Democracy worldwide as a goal of his during his term that expires in 2009. This goal has had marginal success in the Middle East and in Africa recent elections in Liberia can be construed as a success. This goal is an interesting concept. In the Past the US has focused its foreign relations based more on stability than on Democracy.
This policy is a relic of the Cold War. The return of this policy could indicate that the US is trying to check the influence of a couple of actors trying to raise their sphere of influence in Africa. During the Cold War the US sought to minimize the influence of the Soviet Union. This time it appears that Washington seeks to limit the roles of an emerging China and the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism.
Members of the Opposition state that several months ago a political dialogue between Government and the Opposition ended. The climate of mistrust grew after the Parliamentary elections that were held last year. After there were allegations of fraud massive demonstrations broke out. Dozens of people lost their lives in the street battles. Several opposition members of Parliament have refused to take their seats in protest of the elections and the violence. Some of these people now face treason charges for refusing to take their duly elected seats. At this juncture both parties are trying to determine a dialogue so that negotiations can resume and end the impasse.
The United States has stated that it has an interest in promoting Democracy in Ethiopia. Which is a noble gesture in itself but hard to properly define. The American Delegation did promise to raise the concerns of the Opposition when it met with members of the Government. This could be seen as Washington once again doing just enough to appear that it is concerned with a crisis. Before the meeting the US Defense Department did withhold a shipment of HUMVEES to Addis Ababa to highlight its concerns over the current political detainees. But when asked to comment on the Outcome of the meeting both the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry and the US Embassy both declined comment. So was anyone truly surprised by this?
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The author comments on US Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Africa. He has posted items regarding these subjects on www.frontpageafrica.com, www.canadafreepress.com and other sites including www.rpec.org
Dr Nardos Minase, the wife of Addis Ababa mayor-elect, Dr Berhanu Nega, was prevented from visiting her husband yesterday at the Qaliti prison where he is detained.
Dr Nardos was told that she needs Kebele ID, even though she explained to the prison authorities that as a non-citizen she is allowed to have only a Ministry of Foreign Affairs-issued ID.
