WASHINGTON, June 13, 2007 (Reuters) – The United States said on Tuesday it was very concerned by an Ethiopian court’s guilty verdict of 38 opposition officials and said it was watching the situation very closely.
Ethiopia, a close ally of the United States in anti-terrorism efforts, has cracked down on the opposition, especially after disputed elections in 2005.
Those found guilty on Monday by an Ethiopian court were among 131 opposition leaders, journalists and civil society activists charged in December 2005 with treason, inciting violence and attempting to commit genocide.
They could face the death penalty when sentenced, which local media said would take place next month.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States was looking into whether the court’s action was in accordance with Ethiopia’s constitution and law.
“It would appear that this is a peremptory action that was taken by the court that surprised not only us but the defendants, as they were working to mount a defense against these charges,” said McCormack.
“Suffice to say, it is something we’re very surprised about, quite concerned about and watching very closely,” he added.
A former professor from Norfolk State University in Virginia, Yacob Hailemariam, was among the opposition leaders convicted in Ethiopia, the State Department said.
Hailemariam was a former prosecutor for the U.N.’s tribunal on war crimes in Rwanda and returned to Ethiopia in 2005 to take part in the elections
Abraham Yayeh went on Hagerfiker Radio (June 10, 2007) to accuse what he called an Amhara plot behind the Aider School bombing during the Badme war. He elaborated what he called the hidden motive of the Amharas to instigate hate and division between Tigrayans and Eritreans.
His recent appeal, written on more than fifty pages of article in Tigrigna for the Eritreans, is to bridge the difference between them and call for the Eritreans to reject Issayas Afwerki. He tries to assure Eritreans that the sacrifices that is paid for Eritrean independence will not be in vain.
Over the course of the interview., the radio host had to interrupt Abraham a couple of times for expressing too much racist venom against Amharas.
Editor’s Note Abraham Yayeh is a former treasurer of the Tigrean People Liberaiton Front. In early 1980s, he defected to the Derg, a TPLF accountant Ato Gebremedhin Araya. When Derg was ousted, Abraham fled to Uganda. While in Uganda, he was arrested and convicted for savagely beating and robbing two Ethiopian immigrants. He served a prison term and released. Now he is trying to return to his root–the TPLF.
Recently a delegation was sent to Ethiopia by Bedr Ethiopian Muslim Federation to address the violations of God-given and constitutional rights of Ethiopian Muslims by the present government. A body that is composed of Ethiopian Muslims from North America, Europe and the
Middle East met high level Ethiopian government officials including Meles Zenawi.For further reference, a full report of the delegation’s endeavor can be found here.
As head of the delegation and president of the First Hijra Foundation (the local Ethio-American Muslim association in the Washington, DC area) Mr. Nejib Mohammed has given a number of interviews inside Ethiopia, and upon his return in the Washington area in various media outlets. Those of us who are familiar with the task of the delegation were totally taken by surprise with some of the views that Mr. Najib has taken liberty to entertain and would like to remind readers that it is contrary to the views ofthe mainstream Ethio-American Muslims.It should be highly stressed that the demands put forward by the delegation to the prime minister are legitimate concerns of Ethiopian Muslims in diaspora, which are still in need of resolution. Although no one expects any tangible and fruitful outcome from the trip of the delegation, the need for the wide dissemination of the demands has been high on the agenda of most Ethiopian Muslims. In fact, some of those very demands came from the utter disregard and deliberate suppression of rights by the very government that the delegation is trying to get answers from.
Although the local Ethiopian Muslim community has been aware of the admiration Mr. Nejib had for the current regime in Ethiopia and the close relations that he enjoys at the Ethiopian Embassy for reason that are unknown, it was the leap of faith that he took in total support of the regime that mostly surprised the Muslim community. In subsequent interviews that he gave during his visit in
Ethiopia and upon his return, he went out of his way in praising the achievements of the regime without uttering a word about the injustices that the Ethiopian people are suffering under. Although the reporter did not ask any question pertaining to the recent incident in the Ogaden region, Mr. Nejib went out of his way in an effort to appease the regime and to show his allegiance by condemning the recent attack by Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Is Mr. Nejib aware of what the people of the Ogaden are going through under the present regime in Ethiopia? Does he have all the information to pass judgment on the particular incident except the one provided by the government? And is he truly representing the Ethiopian Muslims in Diaspora by taking sides on issues that he is ill equipped to deal with? For further reading on the subject, I encourage the reader to look into a very critical and educational article on the subject here. Mr. Nejib kept on repeating like a mantra the official line of the regime in all the interviews he gave, including the one with the Voice of America (VOA).
And the final letdown of the Muslim community by Mr. Nejib came at a function that was held by the Ethiopian Embassy recently in honor of who-knows-what. It should not surprise anyone by now that Mr. Nejib is a frequent guest at the Embassy with status of no-need-for-invitation. An acquaintance who was at the same event was at a loss for word regarding the views forwarded by Mr. Nejib in relation to the recent rumor in town that Mr. Meles is not running for office in the next election. According to my source, Mr. Nejib went out of his way in praising the achievement of Mr. Meles and what a great loss for our country it is for Meles not to run for office. No matter what Mr. Nejib feels about the prime minister, the question should be is he representing the mainstream views of the Muslim Diaspora? Whenever Mr. Nejib attends a function at the embassy, is he aware that he is, knowingly or otherwise, representing the local Ethiopian Muslims? Mr. Nejib might argue that he is just expressing his personal views on the matter, but the question remains, is that the perception everyone holds? I don’t believe so.
No one is trying to convince Mr. Nejib personally which side to support regarding the Ethiopian political landscape. As an individual, he has every right to support whomever he fancies; but careful distinction should be made on his part if he is representing an organization and speaking on behalf of it or just expressing his views. It is common knowledge that the Ethiopian Muslim communities in the Diaspora have quite a number of issues with the present regime in
Ethiopia as the demands presented to the prime minister as well as other fundamental larger issues of the Ethiopian people clearly shows. There is a common, but erroneous perception on the part of the opposition group (CUD) that the Muslim community is aligning with the Meles regime because of the numerous “benefits” it has achieved in the last decade. And of course every Muslim is aware that this is a blatant fabrication that is hurled against Ethiopian Muslims because it has no factual basis whatsoever. Just to give a slice of history for those who have made a livelihood manufacturing and propagating lies, Ethiopian Muslims have been in a continuous struggle to establish and uphold their God-given rights since time immemorial. Since the downfall of the Haile Sellassie regime, a fraction of these demands were painstakingly and slowly implemented by the Military Junta followed by the present regime. A huge chunk of those demands are still waiting in limbo. And, therefore, for Mr. Nejib to cry at the loss of our “esteemed” prime minister not to be at the helm of power (although I do not believe a word of it until I see it, and if then) to go on trampling on our rights is troubling, to say the least. And if this is a heartfelt opinion on the part of Mr. Nejib, good for him and all the benefits he might loose as a result. But believe me, Mr. Nejib, no one will be shedding a tear if Mr. Meles passes away this very moment, except for the very few who benefited in his royal dictatorship.
And the larger question still remains why Mr. Nejib is embarking in this bold attempt to change the face of a dictator and present him as a savior for Ethiopian Muslims. Forgive me for being direct, but the question has to be asked; Mr. Nejib, have you been recruited and promised some reward on your mission to humanize Meles and present it to us who have been erroneously led to be believe that he is a dictator? Give some credit where it is due, Mr. Nejib, the majority of Ethiopian Muslims as well as the larger population, both in and out of
Ethiopia, is politically savvy and sophisticated enough to know what is real and something that is made-up. We have been fooled too many times by snake-charmers, come out of the closet and tell us what this is all about, Mr. Nejib.
The exiled Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has announced [Amharic, pdf]today that it will launched a weekly radio broadcast to Ethiopia starting on July 2, 2007. The radio will be broadcast every Monday from 7 – 8 PM Addis Ababa time on 15260 kHz or 19 meter band.
The radio program will include bible teaching, church news, as well as reports and discussions on current social, political and other issues of national importance.
The Holy Synod is led by the legitimate patriarch of Ethiopia, Abune Merkorios, who went into exile when the Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne) came to power in 1991.
While in exile, Abune Merkorios helped prevent Ethiopian churches in the Diaspora from being taken over by the Woyanne-installed patriarch, Aba Gebremedhin (formerly Aba Paulos) who is viewed by Ethiopians more as a political cadre of the regime than a religious leader.
Abune Merkorios has also helped build several churches, providing spiritual comfort to hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians who scattered around the world.
The radio broadcast is intended to expand its spiritual service the Church providing to its followers be a voice for the millions of Ethiopians who are being brutalized by the tribal junta in power.
We are deeply shocked and dismayed to hear the guilty verdict of the 38 courageous human rights advocates, elected parliamentarians, and opposition leaders. This decision clearly demonstrates that the judicial process is controlled and managed by the ruling party in Ethiopia.
The verdict by the Court also proves beyond doubt that the Courts lack the necessary and required independence from political influence. These prisoners were deliberately and systematically misled by the Prime Minster’s office that a peaceful resolution was possible. In fact, on a number of occasions we were led to believe that an agreement between the prisoners and the Prime Minister was reached.
We strongly condemn this politically driven and unjust guilty verdict. This kind of authoritarian behavior will only lead to more violence and instability. What crime did the prisoners commit? They ran for parliament and won. Many Ethiopians lost their lives under this regime and many have been tortured while in prison. The Commission of Inquiry that the Ethiopian Parliament established to investigate the June 8, 2005 and November 1-10, 2005 violence, concluded that 193 civilians were killed and 763 injured by government security forces.
This regime not only murdered innocent civilians in the streets of the capital, but also killed prisoners who were locked up in their quarters. According to the Commission, security forces fired 1,500 bullets at prisoners inside the corrugated iron building, killing 17 and injuring 53 prisoners. Now, who is guilty of multiple crimes? The prisoners or the government whose own Commission of Inquiry stated that security forces used excessive force against civilians?
Once again, we call for the immediate release of these prisoners without condition.
_________________________________
Contact: Kerry McKenney
JUNE 12, 2007 (202) 225-3436
From: Tegbar League Central Executive Committee, Addis Ababa
Attn: All foreign companies operating in Ethiopia
Date: June 12, 2007
Re: Ethiopian millennium
Tegbar League-Ethiopia is calling on all foreign companies that are operating in Ethiopia to cease their operations in the country from August 20 until September 12, 2007, as preparation are underway for nationwide protests to demand the release of opposition leaders, journalists and all other political prisoners.
As you know well, the jailed opposition leaders are elected by the people of Ethiopia in a landslide victory in May 2005.
Following its defeat at the ballot box, the losing party, the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), carried out a massive crackdown in order to rule by force, disregarding the will of the people.
All major international organizations, the European Parliament, and the U.S. Congress have condemned the TPLF atrocities.
The opposition leaders made repeated calls for dialogue and all-inclusive talks to resolve the crisis peacefully. But the TPLF leaders refused, and instead threw all the opposition leaders, and tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in concentration camp-like jails.
After two years of appeals and calls for dialogue, we have ran out of options. We will not allow our elected leaders to languish and die in jail.
We therefore have decided to use the upcoming Ethiopian millennium to launch massive nationwide peaceful civil disobedience campaigns.
We will take extreme care to protect foreign nationals and companies. But knowing the past deeds of the TPLF regime, we are worried that they will attack foreigners and civilians and blame it on the opposition.
So we believe that it is a wise thing for us to issue this advisory in advance. The best thing for every foreign national to do is to stay away from the country during the days leading up to September 11, 2007.
Ethiopia, a close ally of the United States in anti-terrorism efforts, has cracked down on the opposition, especially after disputed elections in 2005.