Meles Zenawi was elected from a district from which he has never lived for the last 30 years. It is clear that he has no legitimacy even from his own electoral district. However, the 1995 constitution in Ethiopia has made him a vicious emperor whose brutality has been ubiquitous, not only throughout the nation, but also expanding to the neighbouring countries. The constitution was drafted and ratified by a total control of Meles zenawi’s party. Thus, it makes the power of the prime minister unrestrained or unchecked by the executive, legislative, judiciary and other federal or regional institutions in Ethiopia.
According to the 1995 constitution, the power of the prime minister is unprecedented: he controls the armed force; the executive is totally accountable to him; he is a head of a party that has a majority in the legislative (90 percent majority from 1991 to 2005 and two-third majority since May 2005). The constitution (Article 74) gives him a full power to select and recommend the appointment of commissioners, the president and vice-president of the federal supreme court and the auditor general. He has a significant power in influencing the judiciary and other important institutions that should be vital for checks and balances in the federal systems. Moreover, since the president and vice-president of the federal supreme court are serving as a president and vice-president respectively in the council of constitutional inquiry that have powers to investigate constitutional disputes. Thus, the prime minister has also a greater influence to affect the functions of constitutional inquiry. The president of the supreme court serves also as a chairperson of the national electoral commission.
The court system is structured in a very susceptible manner to the interference of the executive branch as the prime minister and his majority party in the parliament is responsible for the appointments of judges. All the powers allocated to the parliament are indirectly allocated to the prime minister, as the prime minister is the head of the majority party in the parliament. Thus, the parliament (the legislative) is simply a rubber-stump to the executive body. Constitutionally, a majority party in the parliament always belongs to the prime minister and therefore it is expected to endorse the prime minister’s selections of key public offices.
Although the constitution declares that judges should exercise their functions in full independence and should be directed solely by the law, the Judicial Administration Council, which has a power to remove judges due to violation of disciplinary rules or on grounds of gross incompetence or inefficiency, is accountable to the ruling party as its decision to remove a judge should be approved by a majority vote in the parliament that is dominated by the ruling party (Article 79).
The prime minister also has a tremendous influence in the operation of the Judicial Administration Council, because the Council is operating within the federal government’s executive structure. The Council has responsibilities to assess and determine code of professional conduct and discipline as well as transfer of judges of any court. Besides, concerning appointment of other federal judges, the federal Judicial Administrative Council has a responsibility to select candidates that should be acceptable to the prime minister (Article 81). Hence, cumulatively, all key judicial powers in the country are at the mercy of the prime minister.
More critically, the Ethiopian federal project suffers from the absence of an independent constitutional interpretation procedure. The constitution states that the house of federation (HF) has the power to interpret the Constitution (Article 62, 1), but the HF is a political institution as its members are elected or appointed from elected party members, besides its members are strongly connected to and influenced by the winner party in the government. As a result, the power to interpret the constitution can certainly fall down into the ruling party.
In addition, the Council of Constitutional Inquiry that was given powers to investigate constitutional disputes would be organized by the HF and also expected to submit its recommendations to the HF. Making the matter worse the president and the vice-president of the federal supreme court would become a president and vice-president of the Council respectively. As argued above, the prime minister has a tremendous power in the appointment of the presidents of the federal supreme court, thus he can get a direct influence in the operation of the Council of Constitutional Inquiry that could undermine its independence and impartiality.
The constitution does not put limit on the term of the prime minister, who has much power, but a term limit was placed on the post of a president, who has only a ceremonial power (Article 70). This is a very intriguing and deceptive constitutionally decree; in principle a term limit should be made on the tenure of the executive in order to discourage a tendency of autocracy and power abuse by the power holder due to a longer tenure in power. But in the Ethiopia case the tenure of the executive (the great power holder) has been made infinite whereas the term limit was made on the non-executive, non-powerful and very ceremonial president. It should have been the other way round, if the purpose is it to limit abuse of power by the power holder. That it the essence of introducing term limit in political office.
Although democratic and human rights are unconditionally promised in the constitution, there is little tolerance for alternative views and dissents. The constitution declares that courts shall be independent and judges shall “exercise their function in full independence” and protected from unduly removal, but there are abundant cases that judges were removed for political reasons. It is one thing to put provisions in the constitution and another to genuinely pursue them. The constitutional provisions are simply an attempt to secure political hegemony of the TPLF through a veneer of democracy. As Harbeson (1998) indicates that since 1991 Ethiopia has acquired virtually all the forms of democracy but little of its substance.
The constitutional defect was inherited from the defect of the transitional charter which was exclusively authored by TPLF/EPRDF without a genuine and free participation of the Ethiopian people. It was produced in greatly flaw process, but became a code of conduct for drafting of the constitution. The 1995 constitution was ratified by the constitutional assembly, which was composed of undemocratically selected individuals, in which TPLF/EPRDF controlled almost 95 % of the members. The oppositions and all major civil society organisations boycotted the election. The overall process, starting from assigning the constitutional commission to electing the constitutional assembly and ratifying the constitution was absolutely dominated by the ruling party.
Thus, the 1995 constitution in Ethiopia has become the document of the ruling party and its affiliated associations. It was an imposed “federal covenant” on the Ethiopian people without their genuine participation and consent. It only reflects the ideology and wishes of the TPLF-led EPRDF. It was implemented in a manner completely dominated by a power at the center in collaboration with the co-opted elites at central, regional as well as local levels. The 1995 constitution shows either mere intentions or a cover for deception. It is purely a facade that masked an authoritarian regime. It is simply a caricature for misinformation and perversion.
To conclude, I will cite from John Young, a close examiner of Ethiopian politics and, perhaps, initially sympathetic to the TPLF, who states: “Constitutional making under the EPRDF has little in common with the bargaining, trade-offs, and compromises that usually typify such process; rather it reflects the weakness of the country’s democratic institutions, the political objectives of the governing party, and its position of dominance with a state where serious opposition had been crushed or marginalized (Young 1998).
So, what is a crime in opposing a constitution that makes a prime minister a monster and his rule a brutal autocracy?
The U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs markups:
________________________________
Tom Lantos (D-CA), Chairman
You are respectfully requested to attend the following OPEN hearing of the Full Committee, to be held in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building .
Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Time: 10:00 AM
Markup Of:
H.R. 1400, Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007;
H.R. ____ , Food Security and Agricultural Development Act of 2007;
***H.R. 2003, Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007;
H. Res. 121, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of Japan should formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Force
***H.R. 2798, To reauthorize the programs of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and for other purposes;
H.R. 176, Shirley A. Chisholm United States-Caribbean Educational Exchange Act of 2007;
***H.R. 2293, To require the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a report on efforts to bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who killed John Branchizio, Mark Parson, and John Marin Linde;
***H.R. ____, Library of Congress Public Diplomacy Collection Act of 2007;
***S. 377, U.S.-Poland Parliamentary Youth Exchange Act of 2007;
***H. Res. 208, Honoring Operation Smile in the 25th Anniversary year of its founding;
H. Res. 287, To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first use of the name “America”, and for other purposes;
***H. Res. 294, Commending the Kingdom of Lesotho, on the occasion of International Women
H. Res. 378, Honoring World Red Cross Red Crescent Day;
H. Res. 380, Resolution commending Idaho on winning the bid to host the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games;
***H. Res. 426, Recognizing 2007 as the Year of the Rights of Internally Displaced Persons in Colombia, and offering support for efforts to ensure that the internally displaced people of Colombia receive the assistance and protection they need to rebuild their lives successfully;
H. Res. 427, Urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial seal hunt;
***H. Res. 457, Calling on the Russian Federation to withdraw its military forces, armaments, and ammunition stockpiles from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Moldova;
***H. Res. 467, Condemning the decision by the University and College Union of the United Kingdom to support a boycott of Israeli academia;
***H. Res. 482, Expressing support for the new power-sharing government in Northern Ireland;
***H. Res. 497, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of the People
**H. Res. 500, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in opposition to efforts by major natural gas exporting countries to establish a cartel or other mechanism to manipulate the supply of natural gas to the world market for the purpose of setting an arbitrary and nonmarket price or as an instrument of political pressure;
H. Con. Res. 136, Expressing the sense of Congress regarding high level visits to the United States by democratically-elected officials of Taiwan; and
***H. Con. Res. 139, Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States should address the ongoing problem of untouchability in India.
***NOTE: Measures have been added.
**NOTE: Measure has been assigned a bill number.
A Johannesburg business consultant, released on Tuesday from a Guantanamo-style detention centre in Addis Ababa, has told of kidnapping, assault, torture and interrogation, mainly at the hands of American intelligence officials.
Abdul Hamid Moosa, 41, of Robertsham, told the Sunday Tribune of his “six months of hell” after he went to war-torn Somalia in late December for “humanitarian purposes and to assist my brothers and sisters in realising an Islamic state”.
The bearded man, wearing a fez (cap) and kurta (gown), related how he was kept handcuffed in solitary confinement for more than a month, and how he had been treated like a caged dog. He also told of a mystery Afrikaans interrogator.
The muscular Moosa, who refuses to be photographed, said he was having difficulty finding his feet in the outside world.
“During solitary confinement the days turned into nights and nights turned into days. I lost sight of what day or month it was. There were no calendars, nor were we allowed to keep watches,” he said.
Moosa said he left South Africa in September 2005, to further his Islamic studies in Damascus, Syria. He was taken prisoner by Ethiopian troops on the Somalia-Kenya border on January 9, 2007 after being caught up in sudden hostilities in the region.
Moosa told of his treatment at their hands and said an Ethiopian cargo aircraft had flown him from Somalia to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 16.
“From the landing strip, I was bundled into a vehicle and taken to a house that was used as a secret prison. I was in isolation there for about three months, policed 24/7 and handcuffed while my feet were shackled with a lock and chain.
“I wasn’t allowed to walk, unless I needed the bathroom, and I was subjected to loud music and bright lights 24/7. During these three months I was taken before dawn to various other secret cottages that were used as interrogation venues by American, British, Israeli, Egyptian and other intelligence officers.
“I would then return from interrogation to the secret prison after dark. I was kept standing throughout these sessions.
“I later discovered there were two other prisoners at the secret house. One was from Denmark, the other from Jordan.
“We slept on the floor. They supplied us with a thin mattress, blanket and sheet.
“There was a war of wits between me and the interrogators. They would continuously ask the same questions, trying to trip me into saying something different. If I did fall into the trap, they would pounce upon this new revelation as if it were a victory.
“They would ask questions such as: What was I doing in Syria and Somalia? What activities were I involved in while in these two countries? Did I propagate jihad? They tried to establish if I had links with Al-Qaeda or any other terror group,” he said.
Moosa said the officers did not want to believe he was South African, even though they had his passport and driver’s licence.
“They said if I had an English name they could believe I was a South African. But because I had a Muslim surname this was not possible. They believed I was either from the Middle East or of Egyptian origin.
“I felt intimidated, victimised, made to feel like a criminal and became very frustrated. I decided I could not take it any more and went on a hunger strike. I demanded they charge me, even if it meant by Ethiopian law.
“I was on strike for about three days and was then taken to the police hospital where I was put on a drip. The hospital superintendent urged me to stop the hunger strike and said he would try to get me a court appearance,” said Moosa.
He said he appeared before a military court on March 21.
“There was a judge and a prosecutor. It was decided to remand the case for another month to determine whether I was a prisoner of war, an illegal combatant or innocent.
Moosa said his last two months were spent in a secret prison behind a police barracks/military hostel in Addis Ababa.
“The front yard served as a military vehicle scrap yard. Behind the scrap yard was a hostel and physical training camp. The secret prison was then behind this. Here I spent more than a month in solitary confinement, handcuffed in a cell about 1.7m by 1.2m,” said Moosa.
He said the only item was a thin mattress on a corrugated stone floor.
“Even though there were a number of cells on either side of a passage, these were left empty to make sure that I was kept incommunicado. The only thing I could do to keep my sanity was to pray and read the Quran.
“My hands were freed only for a brief while to eat or use the bathroom. It was at this site that I realised there were about 50 more prisoners that were being held at this secret rat hole.
“There wasn’t a single sink. There were only three taps without drains. The 50-odd prisoners, including women and children as well as about 20 prison staff, shared the three unlit, unhygienic, unlockable toilets.
He said two children were born while he was at the secret prison.
“Although we were not allowed to speak to each other and kept under guard 24 hours a day, we used to clandestinely utter a few words to each other when going to the toilet.
“During this time I was taken twice for further interrogation. On about April 21, 12 of us appeared in the same military court. The court found they had no evidence against us. The prosecutor asked that the case be postponed for a further 45 days for him to ascertain our country of origin,” he said.
“Again the frustration of being kept in solitary confinement starting creeping upon me. I went on another hunger strike towards the end of May.
“I preferred starving as a human being than living like a caged dog.”
Moosa said he eventually ended his strike on June 5.
When the sirens rang out, Karen Yifru had a bad feeling.
“I never go to sleep until all my babies are home,” she said. “I was waiting by the window, waiting for him to walk home.”
Yifru’s 17-year-old son, Biniam, never came home Friday night. The recent graduate of James Logan High in Union City had gone just a few blocks away to a graduation party for a fellow student at a house owned by an assistant principal at the high school.
The party went bad, police said. Gang members arrived uninvited, prompting a bloody melee that injured five people. Two were shot, including Biniam, whom officers found lying on a front walkway with a wound to the head. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Investigators, who are still interviewing dozens of witnesses, still don’t know why he was shot, Union City police Lt. Jim Bizieff said today. “I don’t think the victim had anything to do with (the fight),” he said.
At about noon today, investigators arrested the suspected shooter, Bizieff said. The unidentified 17-year-old boy, found at a friend’s house in Hayward, was booked into juvenile hall on suspicion of a single count of murder.
Bizieff said he did not know if the owners of the Fellow Street house where the party was held, Beth and David Davies, could face legal consequences. He said police received no complaints about the party until the fight, and neighbors said Davies’ 18-year-old son told them in advance of his plans.
Partygoers said alcohol was consumed.
Beth Davies was recently named principal of Hillview Crest Elementary in Union City after spending this past year as a house principal at James Logan. Two women at Davies’ home declined to comment today.
News of the alleged shooter’s arrest was of little consolation to Biniam’s loved ones, who said he had recently registered for Ohlone College in Fremont, secured a job as a law clerk, and got a haircut for the first time in two years.
Family members said Biniam endured the death five months ago of his 24-year-old brother, Travis Yifru, from diabetes. Two years ago, Biniam’s father had left and returned to his native Ethiopia.
His other sister, Candance Yifru, 14, said Biniam had taken her and another friend to the party, where he danced. The house was packed with about 100 people and there was no adult supervision, Candace said. She said, though, that the guests — most from James Logan — had no problems prior to the fight.
The fight broke out around midnight, said Candace, who was bruised and lost a contact lens.
Candace’s friend, 17-year-old Courtney Wilkerson, said Biniam ushered her to safety when the fight started. But then she lost contact with him.
Back home, Candace received a text message that Biniam had been shot. Karen Yifru then drove four blocks to the shooting scene, where an officer told her that her son was dead.
AFP, June 25, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopian opposition leaders convicted after violent protests in the wake of contested 2005 elections have admitted their “mistakes,” their lawyer said Sunday.
The lawyer said the thirty-eight accused, convicted by the High Court on June 11 for violating the constitution and trying to launch a rebellion, had signed a document to accept responsibility for the violence — a move that could prompt their release.
“All the convicted 38 have agreed and signed a document accepting responsibility over the post-election violence. They have acknowledged to have made mistakes at that time,” lawyer Wondawuk Ayele told AFP.B
But the spokesman for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Sunday denied that a deal had been struck for the activists’ release.
“So far there hasn’t been any proposal from the government, nor has there been any mediation involving any other country,” Bereket Simon said.
“I’m not aware of any developments regarding their release,” Bereket added.
An Ethiopian woman who said she was kept as an indentured servant in a Potomac home for four years won a $61,000 federal jury verdict against her employers on claims of unjust enrichment.
Fikre Wondimante’s lawyers consider this judgment a win even though they had hoped for something in the ballpark of $200,000 plus punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.
However, the defendants are also claiming victory.
“With $60,000, we won,” said David C. Simmons, lawyer for Fana and Meherete Assefa, two sisters named as defendants in the lawsuit. “We won big time. We offered to settle the case for much more than that.”
Wondimante filed suit against the Assefas under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, but the sisters prevailed on those claims. The jury in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt found in the plaintiff’s favor only on the unjust enrichment claim.
Wondimante’s August 2004 complaint alleged that the Assefas, both naturalized U.S. citizens, brought her over from their home country to work for a salary of $200 a month.
The plaintiff said she worked from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. each day, cooking, cleaning and caring for the Assefas’ mother. Over the four years she lived in the home, she claims to have worked 22,000 hours for just $2,000 in pay. She says she left after seeking help from a distant relative living in Washington, D.C.
“There was a lot of mud slung, and it’s hard to say what affect that had on the jury and if that was a significant factor in the verdict,” said Wondimante’s pro bono lawyer, Donald Salzman. “Obviously the verdict vindicates our client, but we were hoping the jury would find she worked the hours that she did.”
Simmons, the defendants’ lawyer, guessed that Wondimante sought to position herself as a “human trafficking” victim in order to get on the fast track for U.S. residency. Wondimante lived as a family member with the Assefa sisters and her work around the house constituted chores, he said.
“It’s sad, because the attorneys who worked on her behalf and the group that was supporting her are good, well-meaning, talented folks, and I think they got duped on this,” Simmons said.
Wondimante was represented by CASA of Maryland Inc. along with Salzman and other lawyers from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Ruling
Fikre Wondimante v. Fana Assefa et al.
Court: U.S. District Court in Greenbelt
Case Number: Civil No. JKS 04-3718
Proceedings: Jury trial
Judge:Jillyn K. Schulze
Outcome: Plaintiff’s verdict
Dates: Incident: June 2000 – June 2004; Suit filed: August 2004; Disposition: June 5, 2007
Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Andrew Sandler, Donald Salzman and Bradley Klein of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C.; Elizabeth Keys of CASA of Maryland Inc.
Defense Attorney: Donald C. Simmons of Washington, D.C.
Damages sought: $700,000
Award: $61,000
Incident location: Potomac, Md.
