Reuters, Nov 27, 2005 – Detained Ethiopian Opposition leaders facing possible treason charges said yesterday they would go on hunger strike this week to pressure the government to release them.
Members of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) arrested earlier this month amid deadly violence during protests over disputed May elections said they would begin refusing food today.

“As of Monday, all who are behind bars, with the exception of diabetics, are starting a hunger strike until the government responds to our demands and releases us from prison,” CUD deputy chief Bertukan Mideksa said.

She and a number of other jailed CUD officials, including party chief Hailu Shawel, denied any wrongdoing as they spoke with reporters allowed a rare visit to the central Addis Ababa police facility where they are being held.

“There is no crime,” Hailu said. “If there is none, you have to create fictitious ones. We have not (even) committed a petty crime, let alone a crime that could be described as treason.”

The hunger strikers are among 48 prisoners, most of them CUD officials, held at the Criminal and Forensic Investigation Department since early November when four days of violence erupted in the capital and outlying towns, killing at least 48 people.

Last week, the country’s high court denied them bail, agreeing to a police request for more time to complete their investigations before presenting formal charges.

However, the government accuses them of trying to foment a coup by calling for mass protests over the May 15 poll result. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said they could face treason charges, which carry the death sentence.

The CUD, which won 109 seats in Parliament, but says massive fraud by the ruling party robbed it of victory, is boycotting the legislature and has urged a campaign of civil disobedience to force a new election.

Meles and his Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) have rejected the fraud charges and ruled out fresh elections.
Protests against the poll result turned deadly in June when police fired on protesters in Addis Ababa, killing at least 37. Violence broke out again on November 1 after efforts to find a compromise failed.

Authorities then launched a crackdown on the CUD leadership, arresting most of the party’s leadership.

“There is no crime to charge us with, even the police can’t link our party to the violence in Addis Ababa,” said Bertukan. Earlier yesterday in the capital, hundreds of competitors exploited a 10-kilometre charity race to berate the government.

More than 200 runners flashed victory signs, a CUD symbol, as they crossed the finish line and shouted anti-Meles slogans.

A similar number of people later disrupted the prize-giving ceremony by whistling and making victory signs with their arms.

Standing nearby were baton-equipped police, but they did not intervene.

Meanwhile in a DPA news report CUD leaders declared they were ‘political prisoners’.

The 48 men were detained in connection with post-election violence in June and early this month, but they insist their sole crime was opposing the government in power, that of the ruling EPRDF party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

‘Ours is a political, not a criminal case, and the government is wasting the resources of this poor country,’ Berhanu Nega, CUDP executive member and mayor-elect of Addis Ababa, said.

Hailu and Brehanu castigated the international community for ‘giving lip service’ to democracy, but failing to act during gross human rights abuses during the post-election disturbances this year in which many people were reported killed and scores of others were injured.

‘It is a mockery of human rights when such leading democratic countries as Germany and Britain greet the leader of a country only a few days after his government was involved in mass murder of demonstrators,’ Mesfin Wolddedmariam, CUDP member and civil rights activist, said.

He was referring to Meles’ visit to Bonn for a meeting of the German-African Forum hosted by President Horst Koehler, and to Prime Minister Tony Blair for congratulating Meles on his election for a third five-year term.

Oct 26, 2005
Ethiopian Review

The Coalition for Unity & Democracy (CUD) is preparing for major peaceful actions to pressure the Meles regime to accept its demands. The Meles regime is expected to react with brute force, as it did during the June 6 peaceful protests by university students. Under the direct command of Meles Zenawi, troops gunned down 42 unarmed civilians in Addis Ababa alone. Thousands have been rounded up and tortured. When CUD makes a call for action in a few days, it could face similar reaction from the brutal regime. Is CUD prepared to overcome Meles Zenawi’s murderous violence?

The Melees regime is currently intensifying its attack and harassment on CUD rank and file members. Thousands are being arrested and tortured through out the country. Next, Meles will try to do divide and weaken the CUD leadership by arresting those who take strong stand while approaching, through the American and European ambassadors, weaker members of the leadership for negotiation. This is what happened last June.

In order for CUD to protect itself from such an attack on its leaders and derail the struggle, the CUD Council needs to give the party’s chairman temporary emergency powers. With the emergency powers, Ato Hailu Shawel will be able to make necessary decisions by himself in the name of CUD in the event that the executive committee members are not able to meet. No negotiation should be conducted if he is imprisoned, and he alone can sign on any agreement with the Meles regime. He will also have a veto power over the Executive Committee’s decisions–only the 60-member council can override his veto. This is necessary to avoid the danger that some of the Executive Committee members may sign an agreement in the name of CUD under duress.

Currently, Ato Hailu is the most trusted political leader in the country. He proved himself to be a consistent and unflinching leader who will keep the promise he made to the people of Ethiopia that the Meles regime will not rule over them for five more years. Ato Hailu can deliver this promise only and only if he gets the full support of his colleagues in the CUD. Currently, that is not the case currently. He is not leading a united party. Giving him emergency powers will solve this problem until victory is achieved.

Every successful political movement needs a strong leader who is allowed to lead with the full support of his colleagues, particularly at times of extreme hardship. Ato Hailu is a strong leader, but since CUD is a new party that has just been transformed from a coalition of four parties, he has not solidified his leadership yet. The current political crisis will not let him. That’s why he must be given temporary emergency powers by the 60-member CUD Council. This must be done as soon as possible, or else all the struggle for democracy in our country will suffer a disastrous setback.

In the mean time, the heavy-handedness by some of the Executive Committee members against the younger leaders in the party such as Ato Lidetu Ayalew must stop for the sake of the struggle. They need to be able to voice their concerns without being called divisive and other names. But ultimately, every one should be governed by the decision of the majority.

The attack by Meles on any of the CUD leadership must trigger automatic worldwide revolt by Ethiopians. The people of Ethiopia need to come out in massive numbers and rescue the leaders. Ethiopians abroad must shutdown Ethiopian embassies, consulates and any establishment that is associated with the Meles dictatorship.

8-point Proposal for Peace presented by the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) to Meles Zenawi’s dictatorship in Ethiopian (Oct. 2005)

1. The Restructuring of the Election Board into an Independent body;

2. Freedom of and access to All Media;

3. Independent legal system (free of EPRDF/Woyanne party control);

4. An Independent Commission to investigate the killings of innocent Ethiopians;

5. Non-involvement of armed forces or police in political affairs;

6. Reinstatement of Parliamentary procedures and Governance of Addis Ababa in accordance with the verdict of the people;

7. Release of all political prisoners; and,

8. Independent commission or body to adjudicate the above.