In a letter dated Sept. 22, 2008, U.S. Senator Feingold wrote Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice:
I appreciated State’s prompt response to the question I posed on the Department’s compliance with the Foreign Assistance Act at the hearing. However, I am disappointed that despite acknowledging security forces in Chad and Ethiopia are reported to have committed abuses, the response asserted without any reservation or justification that there is not a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights in these countries. This claim contradicts the State Department’s own annual country reports.
In Ethiopia, the State Department’s annual reports over the last decade all document persistent human rights abuses by the security forces, including unlawful killings, beatings, abuse and torture, especially targeting members of the political opposition. In addition, the State Department’s Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices for 2007 specifically cites “the use of excessive force by security services in an internal conflict and counter-insurgency operations.” This is a reference to the Ethiopian military’s operations in the Ogaden region, where available reporting alleges that they have subjected civilians to executions, torture and rape.
In the late 1980s the military government of Ethiopia found itself in a very precarious situation as a result of the escalating war in Eritrea and Tigray. As of May 1988 the government focused its manpower and material resources for the war effort in the northern battles. However, at the battle of Shire (Dec. 28, 1988 -Feb. 19, 1989) its huge army was decisively neutralized by rebel forces. Almost two years and three months later the EPLF captured Asmara and the EPRDF occupied Addis Ababa, making the battle of Shire a turning point in the protracted war in Ethiopia. This paper is a brief account of the event and has been prepared primarily from authentic, original sources from the government and the concerned rebel forces.
THE BACKGROUND
The TPLF was founded in 1975 by a group ofTigrian university students most of whom were active participants in the Ethiopian student movement. The front began its guerrilla activities on 18 February of the same year. It made its zone of operation in the localities of Tigray, which are known to have been influenced by the protracted war in Eritrea. TPLF’s area of operation between 1975 and 1978 was mainly eastern Shire, eastern Axum and eastern Adigrat, all adjacent to Eritrean territory.
Partly because of its military preoccupation in Eritrea and Ogaden and partly because it underestimated the potential threat from the TPLF, the government did not launch significant military campaigns into the region until 1978, although there were cases when the government made efforts to eliminate TPLF’s “suspected” members and supporters during the Red Terror. This, on the other hand, provided the TPLF with the opportunity to operate in the larger part of Tigray.
Later, however, the growing political and military activities of the rebels were not only felt by the government but made it launch better organized military campaigns into the region. Between November 1976 and early 1983 the government launched six major offensive campaigns against the TPLF. But none of these campaigns could attain their goals. The TPLF mostly avoided conventional resistance whenever the military balance of power was in favor of the government. It usually moved out of its liberated zones of operation downwards to Wello and the Assab Dessie road and averted planned government offensives. The front during this time largely depended on guerrilla warfare to destroy government forces stationed in the different parts of Tigray.
No major offensive campaigns were launched during 1983-1984. The TPLF effectively used this period for reassessment and consolidation of its positions. In September 1984, following misunderstandings with the EPLF, the TPLF constructed its own supply line through Welquait, western Tigray to the Sudan.
The 1985 great famine and drought made hundred thousands of people flee to the Sudan. Relief Society ofTigray (REST) did its best to alleviate the problem through cross-border supply. The government on the other hand launched joint operations of its airforce and ground forces to stop flights of the drought and famine stricken Tigreans to the Sudan. Its efforts in this respect, however, failed. In June 1985, when the rainy season approached except for the children, elders and weak women REST brought back the hundred thousands of refugees from the Sudan.
On the other hand 1985 was also a year of significant advancement for the TPLF in many aspects. A congress of its members was held and a crucial reassessment was made on the history of its ten years of struggle. After democratically held discussions from top downwards to the smallest unit, the front purged some founding members and others such as Aragawi Berhe and Giday Zeratsion for political and disciplinary reasons.
With respect to its military strategy, the congress realized that the government forces were superior in terms of manpower, possession of weapons and other facilities. But it also knew that many of the government soldiers had been conscripted, trained and deployed by force. It then defined its new military policy to be “we should not fight the army but its leadership and liberate those who joined the army without their consent.”
The 1985 congress of the TPLF also considered the need for a permanent base area. In 1985/86 the rebels destroyed the bridge on the river Tekezze, blocked the Welqait-Tembien-Adi Da’ero roads and founded a permanent base area at Kazza and Dajana.
The TPLF was able to integrate itself with the people ofTigray. It defined its political line in a way to uphold the grievances of the people. Leaders and fighters of the front operated inside the people tasting the life of the poor peasant. Through time the rebels refined their political and military position through a series of corrective measures, produced disciplined, well-politicized and gallant fighters and managed winning victories over government forces. In both of its political and military operations it clearly identified and attacked targets. It objectively exploited government weaknesses and endeavored to win not only civilian support but also that of government soldiers. At times of both relative peace and fierce fighting it objectively addressed grievances of government soldiers on class and nationality basis.
It has also been widely reported that the TPLF showed a good degree of hospitality to prisoners of war. As a matter of fact those who were allowed to rejoin the army went on disseminating pro-TPLF information among their colleagues. Soldiers who listened to them and who saw their colleagues being safely returned began to see submission to the rebels as a good opportunity to save one’s life. … continued on page 2
PARIS — Two expatriate staff for French aid group Medecins du Monde have been kidnapped in a rebellious southeastern region of Ethiopia.
The pair were kidnapped on Monday in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region, an arid stretch of land on the border with Somalia where rebels are fighting for independence, the Paris-based group said.
Medecins du Monde – which translates as Doctors of the World – did not give the names or nationalities of the kidnapped staffers. Nor did it give other details about the kidnapping or the kidnappers.
The aid group, in a statement Tuesday, said it is in contact with the authorities, with its other staffers in the Horn of Africa country and with the two staffers’ families.
Ethnic Somalis have been fighting in the Ogaden for more than a decade, seeking greater autonomy or an independent state. Somalia lost control of the region – the size of Britain and home to around 4 million people, in a war in 1977.
The region is being explored for oil and gas. Ethiopian forces stepped up their operations after the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April 2007, killing 74 people.
Drought and the rebellion have also combined to create severe food shortages in the region. Because of the military campaign, the government has restricted humanitarian agencies and others from accessing the Ogaden.
DERKA, ETHIOPIA – Fatima Muher Nur is one of the world’s marginal farmers. On two small plots in the Ethiopian village of Derka, South Wollo, Muher Nur grows sorghum and a little teff – the national staple – for herself and her family. On a village plot she also cultivates grass to feed her few animals and to sell within the community.
A widow with three young children, Muher Nur struggles to produce enough for the whole year. In a bad year her harvest lasts for just six to eight months. When it runs out, she may have to sell livestock to buy food. Or go hungry.
Marginal farms like Muher Nur’s make up the majority of farms in many developing countries. Varying in size from a quarter of a hectare to two hectares, these farms are home to most of the one billion people who live in absolute poverty. Across Africa, Asia and Latin America, marginal farmers, producing food mainly for their own families, are largely dependent on rain to water their crops. Few have irrigation. In good years they may have a surplus which they sell or barter in local markets. In bad years their food runs out long before the next harvest is ready.
The millions of farmers like Muher Nur have a limited impact on their country’s economic statistics. The food they produce only counts in national income statistics if they sell it.
Rising world food prices are hitting urban dwellers and the rural landless in developing countries, and benefiting better-off farmers with produce to sell. Farmers like Muher Nur are largely unaffected either way.
But marginal farmers are affected by changes in the global environment. Climate change is already hitting farmers, especially the poorest, who have little margin for survival. And its impact is likely to worsen.
Rainfall is becoming less dependable, posing a huge threat to marginal farmers. Anything that reduces rainfall, or makes it more erratic, can be life-threatening.
“Croplands, pastures and forests … are progressively being exposed to threats from increased climatic variability. Those least able to cope will likely bear additional adverse impacts,” says the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Ethiopian farmers interviewed by the non-governmental organisation Concern Worldwide were unanimous that changes in rainfall patterns are one of the major challenges facing them. Most indicated that rain patterns had changed dramatically over the past 10 to 20 years. In the past, changes to the rainfall patterns happened every few years and were the exception rather than the rule, they said, but now each year is unpredictable.
The FAO report says that to help farmers cope with climate change a strategy is needed that emphasises “conserving diversity, adapting varieties to diverse and marginal conditions, broadening the genetic base of crops, promoting locally adapted crops and under-utilised species”.
Marginal farmers are at the heart of world poverty and hunger. But development aid for them has declined over the past 20 years. Supporting them seems essential if the goal of halving poverty is to be reached.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ethiopia ranks 126th place out of 180 countries as having one of the most corrupt governments in the world, while Somalia is the last. What the researchers have failed to see is that Somalia is being governed by the same regime that is ruling Ethiopia. If they dig deeper, they would find that the Meles dictatorship in Ethiopia is more corrupt than its puppet regime in Somalia.
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By Noah Barkin
BERLIN, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Corruption in poor countries has created a humanitarian disaster which threatens to derail the global fight against poverty, Transparency International said.
Releasing its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on Tuesday, the anti-corruption watchdog said donor countries should address the problem by carefully targeting aid.
The index ranks 180 countries according to perceived levels of public sector corruption. The CPI scores countries on a zero to 10 scale, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10, low levels.
For the second year running, Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq received the poorest marks, with Somalia scoring 1.0 and Myanmar and Iraq scoring 1.3 each.
Denmark defended its ranking as the world’s least corrupt nation, alongside Sweden and New Zealand. All scored 9.3.
Transparency International (TI) chair Huguette Labelle called the high levels of corruption in low-income countries a “humanitarian disaster”.
“Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments, law enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society,” Labelle said in a statement.
“When these institutions are weak, corruption spirals out of control with horrendous consequences for ordinary people, and for justice and equality in societies more broadly.”
The Berlin-based watchdog estimated that unchecked levels of corruption would add $50 billion — or nearly half of annual global aid outlays — to the cost of achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals on combating poverty.
It urged a more focused and coordinated approach by the global donor community to ensure assistance strengthens institutions of governance and oversight in recipient countries.
TI also singled out the performance of some wealthy exporting countries which saw their scores decline from 2007, saying continued evidence of foreign bribery scandals suggested a broader failure by developed nations.
It said statistically significant declines were seen in 2008 in Bulgaria, Burundi, Maldives, Norway and the United Kingdom, which saw its score dip to 7.7 from 8.4.
TI said the UK’s anti-corruption credentials had suffered a setback following the December 2006 decision to discontinue a criminal investigation of British defence firm BAE Systems in relation to a contract in Saudi Arabia.
Significant improvements were seen in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.
(For a table of the best and worst ranked countries click here).
(Writing by Noah Barkin; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Over $1 billion dollars the Meles dictatorship in Ethiopia receives annually in aid and loan from the U.S. and other countries have made the country more poor, and the regime more corrupt and brutal. Little or none of this $151-million would go to serve the people of Ethiopia. It is an award to Meles for being a good puppet. The money is going to be used to fuel the Woyanne instruments of repression. The people of Ethiopia continue to live in an abject poverty as the video below shows.
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — The United States has given Ethiopia 151 million dollars to boost its health and education services, the US embassy said here on Tuesday.
The agreement was signed Monday by USAID representative Glenn Anders, US ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Yamamoto and Ethiopia’s Finance Minister Mekonnen Manyazewal, a statement said.
The grant will also finance economic growth and democracy and governance programmes.
Washington will this year also provide more than 900 million dollars (610 million euros) in aid to the Horn of Africa country, a key ally in its anti-terrorism war.
Ethiopia received US backing in late 2006 when it deployed troops to neighbouring Somalia to overthrow an Islamist movement accused of harbouring extremist elements.
The video below shows the result of U.S. assistance to the brutal dictatorship in Ethiopia. It shows Ethiopia’s obscene poverty after 17 years of plunder by the U.S.-financed regime of the Tigrean People Liberation Front.
