PARIS (AFP) — Ethiopia is kicked out of the World Cup by FIFA on Friday after the long-running power struggle within the game in the African nation failed to be resolved.
FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, said that all four matches played by Ethiopia to date in African zone Group 8, as well as the results of those matches, are now cancelled.
The group now comprises three teams – Morocco, Mauritania and Rwanda. Ethiopia had won two matches in the group and had garnered six points.
“The Bureau of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup has decided to exclude the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) from the preliminary competition with immediate effect,” said a statement.
“The FIFA Emergency Committee suspended the EFF on 29 July 2008 due to the non-compliance of the EFF with the roadmap agreed in February 2008 by FIFA, the African Football Confederation (CAF) and the EFF in order to normalise the situation of the federation.”
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself and Mr. LEAHY):
S. 3457. A bill to reaffirm United States objectives in Ethiopia and encourage critical democratic and humanitarian principles and practices, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008. Senator LEAHY joins me as an original cosponsor. The purpose of this bill is to reaffirm policy objectives towards Ethiopia and encourage greater commitment to the underpinnings of a true democracy—an independent judiciary and the rule of law, respect for human and political rights, and an end to restrictions on the media and non-governmental organizations.
As many in this body know, I have spoken numerous times in recent months about the situation in Ethiopia and I continue to believe that the U.S.-Ethiopian partnership is very important—one of the more critical ones given not only our historic relationship but also Ethiopia’s location in an increasingly strategic region.
Ethiopia sits on the Horn of Africa—perhaps one of the roughest neighborhoods in the world, with Somalia a failed state and safe haven for terrorists, Eritrea an inaccessible authoritarian government that meddles across national borders, Sudan a genocidal regime, and Kenya still emerging from a profound electoral crisis.
One look at the deteriorating situation across the Horn and the importance of a robust relationship with Ethiopia is obvious. And, by contrast with some of its neighbors, Ethiopia appears relatively stable with a growing economy. But I am concerned about a number of anti-democratic actions in that country, particularly since this administration has largely overlooked them.
The security threats in Ethiopia are real but, unfortunately, the Bush administration’s approach to addressing these threats and strengthening this alliance remains short-sighted and narrow—focusing predominately on short-term ways to address insecurity while overlooking the need for long-term measures that are needed to achieve the same goal, such as desperately needed goverance reform, the rule of law, and increased accountability.
Genuine democratic progress in Ethiopia is essential if we are to have a healthy and positive bilateral relationship. It is also essential if we are going to successfully combat extremism, thereby bolstering our own national security here at home.
That is why today I am introducing the Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008—because as our administration fails to balance our priorities in Ethiopia, or to adopt comprehensive strategies to achieve those priorities, we are watching significant backsliding in previously hard-won democratic gains.
As we turn a blind eye to the escalating political tensions, people are being thrown in jail without justification and non-government organizations are being restricted, while civilians are dying unnecessarily in the Ogaden region—just like so many before them in Oromiya, Amhara, and Gambella.
Furthermore, the Ethiopian military has come under increasing scrutiny for its conduct in the Ogaden as well as Somalia, with credible reports from non-governmental organizations of torture, rape and indiscriminate attacks. By providing unconditioned security assistance we are also sowing the seeds of insecurity and creating new grievances both in Ethiopia and in its neighboring countries.
I want to see greater progress—not less—in Ethiopia which is why this bill authorizes an additional $20 million for democracy and governance projects in Ethiopia. The addition of these funds would make it one of the top five countries on the continent receiving this kind of assistance from this U.S. Government.
This bill calls on the President to take additional steps to implement these programs but also requires that funds made available to the Ethiopian government be subject to regular congressional notification. This ensures U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately—and used to support a government taking steps to become more democratic, not less.
I make it a practice to pay for all bills I introduce, and the authorization in this bill is offset by a transfer of funds from NASA. Some may disagree with me on the need for an offset, but recent Office of Management and Budget projections confirm that we now have the biggest budget deficit in the history of our country.
We cannot afford to be fiscally irresponsible so we must make choices to ensure that our children and grandchildren do not bear the burden of our reckless spending. Instead of cutting specific programs, which are likely to have begun and thus would cost more to close, transferring $20 million from the general budget would allow appropriators to evaluate, at their discretion, how best to make this transfer.
I ask my colleagues to consider what our own State Department has said about the political situation in Ethiopia and then consider how best to rectify the situation.
The 2007 State Department Report on Human Rights notes that in Ethiopia the following occurred:
“limitation[s] on citizens’ right to change their government during the most recent elections; unlawful killings, and beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces; poor prison conditions;
arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of those suspected of sympathizing with or being members of the opposition or insurgent groups; detention of thousands without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights and frequent refusal to follow the law regarding search warrants;
use of excessive force by security services in an internal conflict and counter-insurgency operations; restrictions on freedom of the press; arrest, detention, and harassment of journalists for publishing articles critical of the government;
restrictions on freedom of assembly; limitations on freedom of association; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female genital mutilation, FGM; exploitation of children for economic and sexual purposes;trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities and religious and ethnic minorities; and government interference in union activities, including killing and harassment of union leaders.”
The continued failure of the administration to acknowledge this reality is emblematic of its insular thinking and unwillingness to see the big picture. Without a balanced policy that addresses both short and long-term concerns in Ethiopia we are putting ourselves at greater risk and making ourselves more vulnerable, not less.
I had never been to the AMC theatre on Yong and Dundas. The movie Teza was slotted for 5:30PM on Wednesday September 10 in the great City of downtown Toronto. I arrived here early and perched myself comfortably on the top row seat. Shortly thereafter, a sharp looking African descendent with a touch of sophistication took to the stage. He introduced himself as Mr. Cameron Bailey the Co-Director of the Toronto International Film Festival or TIFF for short.
TIFF is the biggest film festival in North America and ranks only second to Cannes Film Festival in the entire world. It’s truly a great honour to be counted among those attending TIFF. Mr. Bailey thanked everyone that had come and spoke enthusiastically about the award winning movie Teza. The audience became infected with Mr. Bailey’s fervour as he introduced the internationally celebrated Ethiopian film maker of Teza Mr. Haile Gerima.
It was a special privilege to have Mr. Gerima in front of us. He thanked the audience and spoke briefly about Teza. He considered himself an outsider telling stories from the point of view of the outsiders. He expressed a powerful concept that, through the film medium, he had created a territorial space of freedom where he could express himself freely along with his people without interference from the outside. As a corollary, he was able to accept the outcome of such a freedom because any imperfections were his and not somebody else’s to attribute to. As Mr. Gerima was leaving the stage, Mr. Bailey quickly brought him back to say that even though Mr. Gerima was making reference to imperfections in his film, in fact Teza had won five awards at the Venice Film Festival to which the audience responded with a strong round of applause.
The philosophical idea of creating his own space that allowed him the unfettered autonomy or license to fashion his own destiny unimpeded resonated with me. As a published author of A Goodbye To My Little Troubles I have tasted this kind metaphorical freedom and I have since embraced it without letting go.
The highly regarded Mr. Gerima is a Professor of Film Directing and Scripting at the prestigious Howard University of the USA in Washington DC yet his humility is refreshing and only tends to increase his stature.
The lights dimmed and the glorious appearing of Teza on the silver screen arrested our attention. It was a powerful and moving movie. I will not go into details here so that you can go out there and watch Teza. More people need to go out to support African films. In brief this is about a German trained Dr. Anberber who returns to his homeland of Ethiopia in order to serve his people. He finds a different world from the one he had left long ago. This irreconcilable contradiction of his childhood idealism and the harsh realities of modernity under the iron fisted and communist President Mengistu and the war that ravaged a beautiful country came as a stunning shocker. Abeye Tedla who plays Dr. Anberber renders a poignantly brilliant performance along with exceptional performances of other credible actors like Evelyn Arthur Johnson, Veronika Avraham and Aaron Arefe among others. The film underscores the relevant issues of identity crisis and the great struggle for African freedom.
At the end of the film, the director came to the front to join the audience. He was treated to a long standing ovation and most enthusiastic applause I have ever witnessed. It was such a heartfelt moment and a well deserved tribute to Mr. Gerima who has become a legend in his own right. Moreover Mr. Gerima was seemingly humbled by such outpouring of love as he repeatedly bowed solemnly to acknowledge his enamoured audience. He allowed the audience to pose questions and this writer asked about the part of the movie where a mixed heritage boy whose mother (played by Veronika Avraham) is German and his doctor father (played by Aaron Arefe) is Ethiopian. The boy struggles with his harsh experiences of racism while his father is in Ethiopia. The boy wishes for his father to come to Germany to rescue him from the clutches of a Eurocentric society that he finds racially inhospitable. I pointed out that this was a powerful story that resonates with many of us whose children are born in Canada but are not accepted as well as other children of an Anglo Saxon background.
Often these children, from time to time, come home with tears on account of the manner in which they were unfairly treated by some teacher or affronted by their peers at school by reason of their African heritage. I asked him as to what motivated him to include this story.
Mr. Gerima replied that he had met a girl who was crying and she said to him “speak for me” and this motivated him to add this part of the movie story. We met the director outside the theatre to thank him one more time. He was quick to shake my hand and I shall forever cherish this honourable moment with an internationally celebrated Film Director Mr. Haile Gerima and a proud son of the African soil.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Vusi Moloi is a published author of A Goodbye To My Little Troubles and is also working on a documentary The Eyes of an Exile. A Goodbye To My Little Troubles is previewable online via Google Books.
ADDIS ABABA (IRIN) – Fewer Ethiopian parents are subjecting their daughters to female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM), according to an NGO campaigning to eradicate the practice.
“The knowledge [that FGM is harmful] is increasing,” said Abate Gudunfa, head of the Ethiopian National Committee on Traditional Practices (commonly referred to as EGLDAM – its name in Amharic]. “Children born more recently are safer.”
A network of 40 NGOs, including EGLDAM, the government and international organisations, are involved in anti-FGM campaigns in Ethiopia. Policies have also been reviewed to ensure participants are punished.
“Prevalence, especially among newly born children is decreasing – meaning that more families have sufficient awareness and do not support this practice anymore,” Abate added.
A 2007 survey conducted by EGLDAM found that prevalence across the country had dropped from 61 percent in 1997 to 46 percent.
Nine regions including Tigray, the Southern and Oromiya as well as two city administrations namely the capital Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, showed the highest improvement.
Other regions recorded minimal change. “There is almost no decrease in Afar and Somali [regions] – the strongholds of infibulation,” the survey noted.
Assessing prevalence among various ethnic groups, EGLDAM found a decrease in almost all. Some 29 groups reflected a 20 percent decline, of which 18 were located in the Southern Region.
“Those ethnic groups …should be considered real success areas and given due attention as possible learning sites,” EGLDAM said. “Six ethnic groups show about or less than 10 percent decrease and should be considered as groups of probable major resistance to change.”
These included the Harari, Shinasha, Alaba and Hadia ethnic groups.
Old tradition
Female circumcision is one of the 140 harmful traditions still commonly practised in Ethiopia. Often female circumcision involves the removal of part of the clitoris or the clitoris and all or some of the labia.
In some cases, genitalia are sewn up, leaving a small hole for urine and blood to pass. When combined with excision, this is the most severe form of FGM, according to experts.
In some communities, the girls are secluded for a month with their legs bound together to immobilise them, as they wait for the bleeding to stop and scar tissue to form.
FGM is carried out on girls as young as 80 days old, particularly in the predominately Christian highlands, and up to 14 years of age in the lowland Muslim regions. Some excisors use the same knife or razor blade on all their victims, regardless of the danger of spreading infections.
Globally, an estimated two million girls are still at risk of undergoing FGM each year. Activists say FGM is deeply entrenched in society despite various efforts to stop it.
According to the Inter-African Committee, the practice is a serious health issue affecting women, helping to spread HIV/AIDS and responsible for high female mortality rates in Africa.
Ethiopian Review wishes a Happy New Year for its readers and all Ethiopians with this song by Teddy Afro, who is currently languishing in jail on trumped up charges by the brutal dictatorship in Ethiopia. Let the New Year bring an end to the vampire regime.
Double Olympic gold medallist Kenenisa Bekele will top the bill at the Bupa Great North Miles on the Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides in North East England next month.
The 26-year-old Ethiopian, who in Beijing became the first athlete for 28 years to win both the Olympic 5,000metres and 10,000m titles, has confirmed he will compete at the event on October 4.
There are high hopes he can run under eight minutes, with back-to-back sub-four minute one-mile splits.
Eliud Kipchoge, who was runner-up to Bekele over 5,000m at the Bird’s Nest Stadium last month, is also entered, along with Australian Craig Mottram.
Bekele’s appearance however is a major coup for the organisers, and the event’s elite athletes manager Andy Caine said: “The Quayside race has in the past been held over 3,000m but we felt to add a little excitement, we would switch to two miles and hope Bekele can produce something extra special for fans to remember him by even after his tremendous Olympic successes.
“It’s a big ‘if’, but maybe if conditions are perfect he can cover the distance in under eight minutes which would equate to two sub-four minute miles.
“Yes, that will be tough but it isn’t a pie-in-the-sky theory.
“If anyone can pull it off, Bekele can, and I just hope there is a fast enough start to the race to see that a dream time can be achieved.”
