Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Meto Aleqa (Lieutenant) Alemayehu Yeneneh, a national council member of the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ), has died today after suffering stroke.
Following the May 2005 elections, Lt. Alemayehu, who had worked as southern Ethiopia coordinator for the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (Kinijit), was arrested twice. On June 5, 2005, he was arrested and sent to Ziway prison, 200 km south of Addis Ababa. He was tortured by the Federal Police while in detention. His cellmate included Kinijit campaign strategist Andargachew Tsege, who was also savagely beaten up by the Federal Police. Both were released in August 2005. Again, on November 2, 2005, Lt. Alemayehu was arrested along with all the top leadership of Kinijit. This time he spent 21 months in prison. Conditions in prison, and the constant harassment by the Woyanne regime’s security while out of jail, had no doubt taken a toll on his health.
When UDJ was formed in October 2007, Lt. Alemayehu became a full time staff member of the party and an organizer of for southern {www:Ethiopia}.
Lt. Alemayehu, 45, was survived by his wife and 5 children.
By Peter Heinlein | VOA
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – The leader of Ethiopia’s Unity for Democracy and Justice Party, Birtukan Mideksa, who was imprisoned for life last month after a dispute with the government, has ended a hunger strike and told relatives she wants to begin legal proceedings to win her freedom.
Birtukan has called off the fast she began December 29, when she was arrested and placed in solitary confinement in Addis Ababa’s Kaliti prison.
Birtukan’s mother Almaz Gebregziabher told VOA her daughter had eaten the soup and Ethiopian bread (injera) she had brought to the prison Saturday and Sunday.
In an interview at her home, Almaz said Birtukan told her she had decided to fight the court ‘s move to revoke the pardon she received in 2007 – nearly two years after she and dozens of other opposition politicians were arrested in the wake of Ethiopia’s disputed 2005 election, and convicted of treason. They had been given life terms, then pardoned after signing a document effectively admitting their guilt and apologizing.
But during a visit to Sweden late last year, Birtukan denied having asked for a pardon, then refused a demand by the government to retract her statement.
Speaking in Amharic, Almaz expressed tearful frustration at her daughter’s action, which leaves her to care for Birtukan’s three-year old daughter.
Almaz also had strong words for government officials, whom she said had violated her daughter’s constitutional rights.
She said the government promised freedom of speech, democracy – she talked and ended up in jail.
Birtukan, a lawyer and former judge, is the first woman to head a major Ethiopian political party.
Her imprisonment changes Ethiopia’s political landscape a year and a half before the next scheduled parliamentary elections. Her Unity for Democracy and Justice is an outgrowth of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, which was a major force in the disputed 2005 elections.
She was widely seen as the party’s most charismatic figure and a prime minister hopeful, with potential for wide support among members of Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups, Oromos and Amharas.
Government spokesman Bereket Simon earlier told VOA politics had nothing to do with the court order sending Birtukan back to prison. He said it was a simple matter of the judge in the case enforcing the law, and suggested the government has no interest in any further legal proceedings on the issue.
By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN | The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, TEXAS – Behind the cash register at Don’s Food store, a heavy-set 60-year-old convicted felon named James minded the shop on a recent afternoon, his mere presence capturing what slain shopkeeper Alemu “Alex” Abebe, an immigrant from Ethiopia, represented to this long-neglected neighborhood in Old East Dallas.
James served time for cheating and stealing. He sipped Thunderbird wine and smoked dope while living on the streets.
Yet Abebe and his brother, Daniel Takele, thought enough of the man to give him food, money, work and trust when no one else would.
“You see, I love these guys, I really do,” said James, who asked that his last name be withheld. “To have gotten the chance I got with all the marks against me ….”
It’s been more than four years since Abebe was fatally shot during a robbery at the store, and the case remains unsolved. With some help from James and others, Takele continues to run the store and, along with Abebe’s widow and two teenage sons, still yearns for justice. The family’s $10,000 reward for information in the case still stands.
“One of the things that made me stay here is I might … be able to help in the closure of the case,” said Takele, who emigrated from Ethiopia with his brother. “Because we’ve been in the neighborhood and we know different people, I was hoping some day, someone would say something if they know something or heard anything.”
So far, that critical tip has not come for Dallas police homicide Detective Mark Ahearn.
Shots heard on phone
Ahearn believes the events that led to Abebe’s killing happened quickly and involved three men.
About 11:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 17, 2004, two of the men walked into the store at 825 S. Carroll Ave., while one remained outside as a lookout. When the only customer in the store at the time left, the robbery began.
A store employee mopping in the back kitchen felt a gun in his back and heard someone say, “Don’t move” repeatedly, before being forced to the floor.
Confronted by the other robber, Abebe probably tried to defend himself, Ahearn said. Investigators found the shopkeeper behind the front counter wearing an empty gun holster.
“Once [Abebe] made a decision that he’s going to defend himself, that’s when the suspect” panicked, he said. “There’s a lot of gunfire.”
Abebe was on the phone with his wife, who heard the gunshots. She has said she heard no argument beforehand.
The two robbers from inside the store were seen running away afterward by witnesses who could provide only vague descriptions: The shooter was a black man in his 20s, about 5 feet 5 inches tall, medium weight, medium complexion, with short hair and a small black gun. The one in the back of the store was described as a tall black man in his 20s, stocky and dark-skinned with a medium Afro hairstyle.
Community members turned out to express their affection for the friendly store owner they knew as Alex in the days and weeks after his death, adorning the store with cards, flowers and handwritten messages.
For Ahearn, who still hopes to find someone with key information about the killing, this case has taken a personal toll.
“Every person that’s murdered in Dallas is a victim,” said the 24-year veteran detective. “But this guy was truly an innocent victim doing his job at his business that he’s owned for 18 years.”
“This is a good man who has a family, who’s got two children who are growing up without a dad. It’s incredibly frustrating.”
Brothers fled Ethiopia
Abebe and his brother overcame long odds before becoming American business owners in 1987.
They were born in Ethiopia and joined the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Party, a group critical of the government. The men fled and ultimately ended up in the U.S. in the early 1980s after successfully seeking political asylum.
The brothers generally worked opposite shifts so that they could each maximize their time with their families during their off-hours. Still, they remained close.
“It’s very difficult,” Takele said. “You really don’t know how close you are until people are no longer there.”
As Takele took time to gather himself before returning to the store after his brother’s death, James helped get things in order.
He cleaned Abebe’s blood from the floor and did various chores in the store. He also eventually installed a thick Plexiglas fortress that now surrounds the cashier area, which faces a monitor displaying security camera images.
He helped then and he continues to help now, he says, because of what Abebe and Takele have done for him.
“No matter how much determination you have, you need a helping hand,” he said. “That’s what this store represents, a helping hand.”
REWARD
A $10,000 reward has been offered by Alemu Abebe’s family for information in this case. Call Detective Mark Ahearn at 214-671-3682 or e-mail homicide@dpd. dallascityhall.com.
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Washington, DC – Congressman Donald M. Payne, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, issued the following statement January 9, 2009:
“I am concerned over the continued targeting and imprisonment of innocent civilians by the Ethiopian government.
Ms. Birtukan Mideksa, one of the most prominent political leaders and a staunch human rights advocate, has been imprisoned for the second time by the Ethiopian government. Ms. Mideksa, a freedom fighter and a courageous leader, has faced untold suffering over the past several years.
I first met Ms. Mideksa in Kality prison in 2006. Ms. Birtukan Mideksa is on a hunger strike and unfortunately has been separated from her young child. “
In October 2007, shortly after her release from prison, Ms. “Mideksa stated in a testimony before my subcommittee that, ‘The period immediately preceding the May 2005 elections was an extraordinary time in Ethiopia’s history. For the first time in Ethiopia’s history, the seeds of democracy were planted throughout the land, and on May 15th, Ethiopians came out by the millions to harvest a bounty of democracy.
‘Unfortunately, instead of democracy, 193 Ethiopian civilians were killed and many more injured by Ethiopian security forces in demonstrations following the May 2005 elections. Additionally, more than 10,000 people were detained in the aftermath of the elections. According to the Independent Commission of Inquiry, the government used excessive force against civilians.
Ms. Birtukan also said in her testimony that, ‘…the most basic agreement we reached with the Elders to secure our release was nullified and used by the government for mind–numbing propaganda to isolate the CUDP [the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party] from the public and to instill fear in the public so that it will refrain from supporting the party.’ In her concluding remarks, Ms. Birtukan powerfully stated,’It will not be easy for all of us to confront the past. We must try embracing the rule of law and respect for human rights and democracy. The time is ripe for democratization in Ethiopia.’
I strongly urge the Government of Ethiopia to immediately release Ms. Birtukan Mideksa and other political prisoners, open the political space, and respect the rule of law. I will work closely with the incoming Obama Administration to ensure respect for human rights, regional stability, and the promotion of democracy in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government must realize that brutality and repression will never succeed in crushing the aspiration for democracy and freedom. Either one must embrace democracy and rule of law or face the same fate of the Mengistu’s of this world.”
An Ethiopian Boeing 757 airliner made an emergency landing at Malta International Airport this morning after one of its two engines failed, sources said.
The Boeing 757 was on a flight from Addis Ababa to Rome Fiumicino when it declared an emergency and diverted to Malta.
The Health Department was immediately informed and an emergency plan was put in place. Two ambulances were sent on site and all the doctors and nurses at the Emergency Department at Mater Dei Hospital as well as those at the four main health centres and at St Vincent De Paul, were prepared to handle any possible injuries.
The plane landed safely at 4.30 a.m.
– Times of Malta
