Members of the Ethiopian Parliament on lunch break
Members of the Woyanne-controlled Ethiopian Parliament on lunch break
[l. to r. Beyene, Merera, Lidetu]
Ethiopia
Senator Patrick Leahy on Ethiopia assistance
Statement by Senator Leahy on the the Senate floor today.
After the overthrow of Ethiopia’s brutal former Prime Minister Mengistu, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ushered in a period of hope and optimism. On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia held its first open multi-party elections. The international community praised the people of Ethiopia for an astounding 90 percent voter participation rate, an encouraging beginning to a new political process. The Ethiopian people deserve a democratic process in which opposition parties can organize and participate, and journalists can publish freely, without fear of arrest or retribution. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the 2005 election was not the turning point many had hoped for.
Early polls suggested the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party would make gains in the Ethiopian Parliament that could threaten the control of Prime Minister Meles’ ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. These reports were followed by credible allegations of manipulation of the vote-counting process. When the government finally announced results that assured its continued hold on power, thousands of people took to the streets in protest. The police arrested over 30,000 people and some 193 people were killed. Although most of the protestors were released soon after their arrest, 70 opposition leaders and journalists remained in prison.
Following these events, I wrote to Ethiopia’s Ambassador Kassahun Ayele and officials at the State Department to express my concern with the imprisonment of the Ethiopian politicians. Human rights organizations and other international figures condemned the detentions and urged Prime Minister Meles to release them. These efforts were to no avail.
Some detainees remained in jail for over two years before being brought to trial in a manner that was incompatible with international standards of justice. Last month, they were convicted of such vague charges as “outrage against the constitution” and “inciting armed opposition.” They were stripped of their rights to vote and to run for public office. Several were sentenced to life in prison. Nothing was done to prosecute the police officers who fired on the protesters. The situation had gone from bad to worse.
Then suddenly, less than two weeks ago, the Ethiopian Government announced the pardon and release of 38 opposition leaders. I am pleased that Prime Minister Meles heeded the pleas of the Ethiopian people and the international community and released these prisoners. The fact is, none of them should have been arrested or tried in the first place. Their release was long overdue and is welcome.
I hope the government acts expeditiously to release the remaining political detainees, and bring to justice police officers who used excessive force. I also hope the negotiations that resulted in the prisoners’ release will lead to further discussions between the government and the leaders of the opposition, to ensure that their political rights are fully restored and that future elections are not similarly marred.
While this news is positive, it comes at a time when journalists and representatives of humanitarian organizations report human rights abuses of civilians, including torture, rape and extrajudicial killings, by Ethiopian security forces, including those trained and equipped by the U.S., in the Ogaden region.
Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, and a vocal defender of human rights and democracy in Ethiopia, inserted into the Congressional Record a June 18, 2007, New York Times article that described these abuses.
This situation is also addressed in the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2008 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill and report, which were reported by the Appropriations Committee on July 10. The Appropriations Committee seeks assurance from the State Department that military assistance for Ethiopia is being adequately monitored and is not being used against civilians by units of Ethiopia’s security forces.
We need to know that the State Department is investigating these reports. We also want to see effective measures by the Ethiopian Government to bring to justice anyone responsible for such abuses.
Unfortunately, it appears that the Bush administration has made little effort to monitor military aid to Ethiopia. It is no excuse that the Ethiopian military has impeded access to the Ogaden, as it has done. In fact, this should give rise to a sense of urgency. If we cannot properly investigate these reports, and if the Leahy Law which prohibits U.S. assistance to units of foreign security forces that violate human rights is not being applied because the U.S. Embassy cannot determine the facts, then we should not be supporting these forces.
As if the allegations of human rights violations were not enough, the New York Times reported on July 22 that the Ethiopian military is blocking food aid to the Ogaden region. The article also claimed that the military is “siphoning off millions” of dollars intended for food aid and a UN polio eradication program. A subsequent article on July 26 indicated that the World Food Program and the Ethiopian Government have reached agreement, after weeks of discussions, on a process for getting food aid through the military blockade to civilians in the Ogaden region. But the same article also reported that regional Ethiopian officials have expelled the Red Cross.
Mr. President, during the Cold War we supported some of the world’s most brutal, corrupt dictators because they were anti-communist. Their people, and our reputation, suffered as a result. Now the White House seems to support just about anyone who says they are against terrorism, no matter how undemocratic or corrupt. It is short sighted, it tarnishes our image, and it will cost us dearly in the long term.
Prime Minister Meles has been an ally against Islamic extremism in the Horn of Africa, for which we are grateful. But there are serious concerns with Ethiopia’s U.S.-supported military invasion of Somalia. It has led to some of the same problems associated with the Bush Administration’s misguided decision to invade Iraq without a plan for leaving the country more stable and secure than before the overthrow of Saddam. Iraq’s partition now seems only a matter of time, and it is hard to be optimistic that Somalia a year from now will be any more secure, or any less of a threat to regional stability, than before the influx of Ethiopian troops.
Ethiopia is also a poor country that has faced one natural or man-made disaster after another, and the U.S. has responded with hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian and other assistance. We have a long history of supporting Ethiopia and its people, and we want to continue that support. But our support to the government is not unconditional. We will not ignore the unlawful imprisonment of political opponents or the mistreatment of journalists. We will not ignore reports of abuses of civilians by Ethiopian security forces.
I yield the floor.
Jailed anti-poverty campaigners face two-month wait for verdict
Source: ActionAid – UK
Judges trying the case of two anti-poverty campaigners in Ethiopia yesterday (Thursday) adjourned the trial until 8 October, when the court will give judgement.
Daniel Bekele, 40, policy manager of ActionAid Ethiopia, and Netsanet Demissie, 29, general manager of the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia, will now spend two more months in prison awaiting the verdict, while the court takes its annual recess.
The two were detained in November 2005 alongside opposition political leaders and charged in January 2006 with the crime of ‘outrage against the constitution and the constitutional order’.
Of 131 originally charged, they are the only two still on trial.
Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders.
On Thursday 2 August they concluded their defence, after calling 29 witnesses and presenting 300 pages of documentary evidence. The prosecutors asked for time to consider the verbal and written evidence before presenting their concluding remarks. The judges agreed and said that the prosecutors must present a final written submission by 26 August and the defence should respond in writing by 31 August.
The court will reconvene on 8 October, at the beginning of the new legal year, to give judgement.
Ramesh Singh, chief executive of ActionAid said: “This further delay comes as a big disappointment when we were so near to the end of the process.”
Explosion kills one person and injures three in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) One person was killed and three others injured when a mortar exploded in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, APA learnt here on Friday.
Police said the mortar exploded in Merkato, one of the largest open markets in Africa.
“The four people were trying to use the mortar for another purpose unknowingly, and it immediately resulted in the death of one person while it injured the three people seriously,” police said.
The incident occurred in one place of Merkato mainly known for the sale of second hand and used metals and other materials.
Police are investigating how the mortar came into the hands of the people who are said to be used materials sellers.
Source: African Press Agency
Big favourites and strong challengers to contest NYC Half-Marathon
By Richard Finn for the IAAF
New York, USA – Two big-name favourites with near-matchless credentials – Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and Catherine Ndereba of Kenya – head the men’s and women’s fields for Sunday’s NYC Half-Marathon. But those fields are so strong that either of the favourites could be upset by any of several formidable challengers.
New York debut for Gebre
Gebrselassie, who will make his New York racing debut on Sunday, has a résumé paralleled in distance-running history perhaps only by the multi-gold medallists Paavo Nurmi and Emil Zátopek. As if his myriad of World records and two 10,000m Olympic gold medals weren’t enough, Gebreselassie is undefeated in his seven previous half-marathons.
“Sunday is going to be really fantastic,” he said upon his arrival in New York. “I have no idea about the course. I hear it’s quite difficult. My top priority is to win the race and get a good time.”
But not far behind “Geb” in the big-race-reputation department is Robert K. Cheruiyot, the defending LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon champion and a three-time Boston Marathon winner. A master of rising to the occasion, he excels on hilly terrain – like that of Sunday’s first seven miles, all in rolling Central Park.
Cheruiyot and Abdi lead field of challengers
Although the soft-spoken Cheruiyot made no predictions, a direct challenge came from Abdi Abdirahman, a two-time U.S. Olympian and the national 10,000m champion, who threw down the gauntlet at a Thursday news conference.
“I want to be the first guy to beat Haile in a half-marathon. And I should be the first guy to beat him in America – he’s coming to my home town!” Clearly, the outspoken “Abdi” has adopted New York, much as America has welcomed him from his native Somalia.
And one shouldn’t count out Hendrick Ramaala, the ING New York City Marathon 2004 champion and perhaps the closest runner-up in marathon history at that race in 2005, when he lost by three-tenths of a second to World record holder Paul Tergat in a diving finish. History’s seventh-fastest half-marathoner, Ramaala considers the distance a specialty; another of his specialties is setting a tough early pace that forces lead packs to run hard from the gun.
“This weekend, well, we just don’t know yet,” said Ramaala. “I won’t wish him bad on Sunday, but I know that in any race, any runner can win or lose.”
Sunday’s lead pack will likely include Kenyans John Korir, who is riding a hot streak of shorter road-race victories, and James Kwambai, a 1:00:22 half-marathoner who was second in this year’s Boston Marathon.
Ndereba aims at defending title
Ndereba, the defending champion of the NYC Half-Marathon, won the 2003 World Championships marathon and was the first woman to break 2:19 for that distance. She has won four Boston Marathons and a total of seven World Marathon Majors races. The smoothest of runners, she showed that her grit matched her cool when she edged hard-charging Benita Johnson of Australia to win last year’s race by less than one second.
Ndereba’s main threat may come from Hilda Kibet, a cousin of reigning IAAF World Cross Country champion Lornah Kiplagat. Kibet has already won two half-marathons this year and has cut her personal best to 1:09:43.
Also improving steadily is Maida Perez, the Mexican marathon record holder at 2:22:59 and third in this year’s Boston Marathon. New Zealand record-holder Nina Rillstone (1:10:49) and a strong Japanese contingent led by Megumi Oshima (1:09:59 personal best) and Yuri Kano (fourth in the inaugural NYC Half-Marathon) round out the field of women’s contenders.
Already a world-class destination race in only its second year, the NYC Half-Marathon expects some 11,000 runners to travel from Uptown through Midtown (and Times Square) to a Downtown finish in sight of the Statue of Liberty. Included are about 600 international athletes and 51 professional runners.
Gebrselassie, ever diplomatic, remarked, “It’s a strong field. Sunday will be a hard time for me because of such big names in the race. It’s going to be a difficult competition.”
As any running fan knows, there are few names bigger than Gebrselassie.
Israeli minister in Ethiopian racism row
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
Telegraph
Israel’s interior minister faces accusations of racism after he suggested suspending the policy of allowing Ethiopians with Jewish ancestry to move to the country.
While rabbinical authorities judge the so-called Falash Mura to be sufficiently Jewish to qualify for Israeli citizenship, Meir Sheetrit said they were not really Jewish and had been let in only because of “political correctness”.
In remarks that incensed the large Falasha community already in Israel, he implied that Ethiopians were fleecing the state by leaving the economic hardship of their birthplace and enjoying comfortable new lives in Israel.
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“Who needs them?” he said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. “They are all Christians. We need to take care of the future of Israel and this immigration will never finish.”
His comments were denounced as racist by senior members of the Falasha community who pointed out that Jews from white countries were allowed into Israel without any question from the authorities.
“The way he is expressing himself has a smell of racism about it because he would not say such statements to any other immigrants from America or Russia,” said Avraham Neguise, chairman of the Representatives of Ethiopian Immigrant Organisations in Israel.
“His remarks are unacceptable and irresponsible. The state of Israel is the home for every Jew and is it not the minister’s private home.
“These people have been described and identified as part of Jewish Ethiopian community by the chief rabbinate. They are our blood, our flesh and our bones.”
Ethiopians who come to Israel often complain of not being able to find good jobs and experiencing discrimination.
Some claim that Israel imposes a quota of 600 Falasha being allowed into Israel each month.
Others complain that Israel used the Falasha cynically to boost the population as part of the demographic battle with the Palestinians, who have a high birth rate.
The Falasha are said to be the descendants of one of the lost tribes of Israel that trekked south and set up home in the Horn of Africa.
The claim was strong enough to convince Israeli rabbinical authorities in the 1980s and 1990s when 90,000 were allowed into Israel.
The first Falasha to move to Israel were unquestionably Jewish. But a new group calling themselves the Falash Mura emerged.
They were Ethiopians living a Christian lifestyle but who claimed to have been forced to convert to Christianity from Judaism.