His Excellency Girma Woldegiorgis President, Federal Republic of Ethiopia Woyanne
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Via Facsimile: (251) 11 551 8656
Dear Mr. President Hey Girma,
The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the pending Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation, passed by the Ethiopian House of Peoples’ Representatives on July 1, does not fully incorporate public input, including that of local journalists and legal experts. The bill is flawed as a result, and we urge you to reject it and send it back to lawmakers for revision.
The bill was intended to reform the existing 1992 press law in line with international standards on press freedom, according to local journalists. In April, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Newsweek the government hoped the new press law would be “on par with the best in the world.”
In principle, the bill upholds constitutional protections against censorship, prohibits pretrial detention of journalists, and recognizes the rights of journalists to form professional associations. However, we are concerned that a number of its provisions allow the government to restrict the independent media, while leaving intact existing repressive statutes that fall well short of international standards.
In particular, the bill allows prosecutors to summarily impound any print publication deemed a threat to public order or national security. The bill also increases fines for defamation to 100,000 birrs (approximately US$10,000). Defamation and libel remain criminal offenses under Ethiopia’s penal code punishable by heavy prison sentences, according to CPJ research.
While the bill recognizes the government’s obligation to provide information of public interest, its mechanisms render the provision toothless. The bill grants information officials in government agencies the exclusive discretion to withhold information deemed sensitive while providing the public and the press no avenue for judicial review, according to legal experts.
The measure does not alter or address repressive elements in the existing press law that grant the government’s Ministry of Information absolute authority over media regulation, according to CPJ research. They include provisions empowering the ministry to “register and issue certificates of competence” to the press, to monitor the activities of the media, and to control the publicly owned Ethiopian News Agency. We believe the ministry’s official function as “the main source of government information” with a duty to “promote government policies and image building” compromises its mandate to “facilitate conditions for the expansion of the country’s media both in variety and members.”
This year, the Ministry of Information denied licenses without explanation to three independent newspaper editors known for their critical coverage of the disputed 2005 elections, according to CPJ research. Editors Serkalem Fasil, Eskinder Nega, and Sisay Agena remain blocked from securing necessary commercial licenses to launch their new publications.
The Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation was adopted without full public consultation and was opposed by most opposition party lawmakers in the House, according to local media reports. As an independent, nonprofit organization upholding the principles of press freedom worldwide, we urge you to reject this bill and call for its revision in consultation with journalists and legal experts.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Joel Simon
Executive Director
The Committee to Protect Journalists|
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is likely to seek the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in a new war crimes case he will open on Darfur on Monday, a senior European diplomat said on Friday.
The prosecution said on Thursday Luis Moreno-Ocampo would submit to judges “evidence on crimes committed in the whole of Darfur over the last five years” and seek to charge an individual or individuals, but gave no details.
Sudan has said any such move could undermine the peace process in Darfur and aid officials fear a potential backlash. The Darfur investigation also could embarrass China, Sudan’s close ally, weeks before the start of the Beijing Olympics.
“We don’t know anything for definite, but we know that Bashir is one of the people Moreno-Ocampo is looking at,” the senior envoy to the United Nations told Reuters.
“I would expect Bashir to be among those named by Moreno-Ocampo,” the envoy said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The Washington Post reported that the prosecutor of the Hague-based ICC would seek an arrest warrant for Bashir, charging him with genocide and crimes against humanity, citing U.N. officials and diplomats.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, asked by reporters about a possible move against Bashir, said, “That is what we have heard,” but declined specific comment.
Publicly, the United Nations has remained tight-lipped over an issue that could pit the demands of the U.N.-backed ICC against U.N. interests in deploying a peace force in Darfur.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declined on Thursday to say who would be named or how the move might affect the struggling U.N.-African Union force. Seven soldiers of the force were killed in an attack by unidentified militia on Tuesday.
“Peace without justice cannot be sustainable,” he told reporters at the United Nations. “I will have to assess all the situations when there will be an announcement by the ICC.”
STATE APPARATUS
French U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert also said he would wait until Monday, but told reporters: “If the procedure is going the way it seems it’s going to go, of course we have to be aware of the effects it could have on the ground, and we are inclined to take some contingency planning measures for the safety of everybody and I think the U.N. has to do the same.”
ICC deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, visiting Addis Ababa, said no details on indictments would be revealed until Monday.
Moreno-Ocampo said last month that Sudan’s “entire state apparatus” was involved in an organized campaign to attack civilians in Darfur and said he would present judges with evidence implicating senior Sudanese officials in July.
Asked by journalists how Khartoum might respond, Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador, Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, said, “Any action has its reaction and all options are open for us.”
ICC judges issued arrest warrants for two Sudanese suspects last year — government minister Ahmad Harun and militia commander Ali Kushayb. Khartoum has refused to hand them over.
International experts say at least 200,000 people have died in Darfur and 2.5 million have been displaced since a rebellion erupted in 2003. Khartoum says 10,000 people have been killed.
Only about 9,000 troops and police out of a planned 26,000 U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force have so far been deployed in Darfur.
Moreno-Ocampo’s office says he will hold a news conference on Monday when he will “summarize the evidence, the crimes and name individual(s) charged.”
Judges probably will take several weeks or months to rule on the likely application for new arrest warrants.
One option before the Security Council is to use Article 16 of the court’s statute to suspend a prosecution for a year, but the European envoy was skeptical the council would do that.
“China is reflecting on Article 16, but I think the position of most Western countries will be to support the court,” he said.
China has advised Sudan to cooperate with U.N. efforts to resolve the Darfur crisis, but has faced Western criticism as Khartoum’s biggest arms supplier and for not using its oil and investment stakes to press harder for an end to the conflict. (Additional reporting by Sue Pleming in Washington and Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa)
Every time there is an Ethiopians for Obama event, it seems that at least one person asks the invariable questions: “Why should Ethiopians support Obama?” The question has profound implications, because it rests on the premise that a candidate has to cater to every ethnic group, every religion, and every orientation. In this way, the question is really a perpetuation of the divided landscape we find ourselves in today. This question begs for the continuation and of the deep divides that are evident in our community and so many communities throughout the world.
My answer to this question is not a litany of specific policies that cater only to one country or one ethnic group. To the contrary, it is an articulation of universal goals that are near and dear to all, irrespective of race, religion, or creed. The common hopes of all mankind are unencumbered by the boundaries of micro-targeted policy initiatives. Specific policies and initiatives that cater only to a certain group of people could–by extension–exclude others. The aim is bring people together under the broad umbrella of democracy and equality.
The initiatives that Obama espouses, and which I support whole heartedly, are those of democracy, opportunity for every child, respect for human rights, and changing the political discourse that has made it reflexive for us to view those with opposing view points as adversaries. This is the change that Obama stands for, a change borne out of the hope that enabled him to succeed while navigating life without the guiding hand of a father. Some might see this idea of hope and change as nothing more than platitude. However, most of Ethiopians came to American with nothing more than hope and with the desire for a change. We took this undiminished hope and our determination for change and became part of the United States success story and a part of the American dream.
So the question is not what will Obama do for us. The question should be what will we do for ourselves. Ethiopian-Americans have the ability–in this election and beyond–to participate fully in this vibrant democracy of ours. We cannot demand of anyone without demanding of ourselves first the simplest of all struggles—voting. We cannot bemoan the lack of democracy elsewhere when we don’t participate in the birthplace of democracy here. We have no right to complain about a lack of opportunity anywhere when we don’t take on every opportunity that we have here. It is easy to look externally for the answers that we can find within.
It is for these reasons that Ethiopians for Obama strives to encourage everyone to register and vote. We live here in untold numbers; no one knows how many Ethiopians live in America. Some say thousands and others say hundreds of thousands. The truth is we don’t really know, and without knowing our numbers, we simply don’t count. Moreover, without voting, we won’t be heard. It is up to us to be the change that we have been waiting for. No longer should we ask what someone would do for us when we don’t know what it is that we will do for ourselves.
Ethiopians for Obama is a group of hundreds of Ethiopians who have supported and continue to support Senator Obama because in him we see a way for our own destiny with unity. We work together from coast to coast, boarder to boarder, in every state where Ethiopian-Americans call home. We are not lead by anyone but we are our own leaders. We are a decentralized group who believe that change occurs not from the top down but from the bottom up.
The grassroots passion that made Obama’s improbable journey possible is the same passion that motivates us to register our fellow Ethiopian-American. There is no president or chair of Ethiopians for Obama; we are all leaders of this vibrant group. Every Ethiopian who supports Obama in effect is a member of Ethiopians for Obama, in that way, we are all founders of Ethiopians for Obama. Thus, the question starts with us, and the answer will end with us. Once we arrive at that answer, we can then ask—with our registered voice and our votes—what is it others will do for us.
The Chairperson of Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), Wzt. Birtukan Mideksa, and the four vice-chairmen of the party met with American Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Yamamoto on Tuesday, July 8.
According to Ethiopian Review sources, the secret meeting had focused on UDJ’s preparations for the 2010 elections and the kind of assurances that the party can receive from the U.S. and other donor nations.
Independent local journalists and analysts are speculating that Yamamoto is trying to use UDJ against the other opposition parties by promising relaxation of some of the restrictions imposed on the party. It is not known what the UDJ officials promised in return.
Meanwhile, some members of the UDJ executive committee have started to complain about the speech Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam gave last Sunday in Washington DC condemning organizations that chose to raise arms against the fascist regime of Meles Zenawi. The executives are heard saying that the professor’s position does not represent the party.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Dubai will invest about $100 million in several Ethiopian economic sectors beginning in October, a visiting group of financiers said.
Sultan Ahmed Ben Sulayem, head of the Dubai World delegation, said the Dubai government firm would invest in mining, trade, agriculture, real estate and catering.
“A team of experts from Dubai is in the process of finalising agreements with the government,” he told state-run Ethiopian television late on Thursday.
Ethiopia has forecast economic growth in 2008 of 10.8 percent, boosted by agriculture and services, but the country of 81 million people remains one of the world’s poorest.
Sovereign wealth funds like Dubai World have been enriched by record oil and commodity prices, and are looking to emerging markets, as well as the richer economies, for new opportunities.
Dubai World is spending more than $50 million renovating a luxury hotel in Comoros.
Dubai Group — another part of Dubai Holding owned by the emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum — unveiled plans in March to invest $250 million in finance, real estate and tourism sectors of Mauritius.
The Undreamt: An Ethiopian Transformation by Makonen Getu (Christian Transformation Resource Center, 2004), 200pp.
Reviewed by Assafa Endeshaw
It is unusual when someone who had grown up with you in a remote part of the world takes up a pen to recount his journey through life that happens to be a mirror image of yours. As you would have known them all your life, their description of places, events, customs and issues in the decades past would be similar to yours; their revelation of their thoughts at those times would ring quite familiar. Indeed, the narrative is bound to convey the common features of experiences that a generation of people would have gone through. In a sense, then, Makonen Getu’s story could be read as a general record of the first educated group of people to come out of Borana, Wollo, Ethiopia.
Makonen’s description of his childhood, his village, his community and their customs and practices is carefully crafted, selective but adequate. His youth is replete with dreams that a fledgling educational system inculcated in all of us: a secure life, service to the nation, transforming Ethiopia into an advanced society. The uncertainty of one’s future during the Imperial times troubled Makonen in his youth just as much as his contemporaries. As a matter of fact, Makonen’s depiction of that period in Ethiopian history, though brief and limited, encapsulates everything one needs to know to justify the 1974 Revolution and subsequent turmoil under the Derg.
Makonen’s initiation into politics and his participation in the Ethiopian student movement abroad occupy an important section of the book. His account of his clandestine engagement in Ethiopia to try to replace the leadership of one of the larger groups, MEISON, which had suffered under the repression of the Derg, its erstwhile ally, echoes the fear, trepidation and horror most of us lived under in those terrible days. His style of narrative is at its best when he lays out, in a gripping and intense manner, his attempt to stay one step ahead of his pursuers, the secret police and the political cadres of the Derg. One would relive the perilous choices of life or death that were placed in front of him every moment that he stayed in Ethiopia, holed in disparate addresses during the day and only to be seen in the dark by a close circle of contacts. The story reverberates with the price paid by a generation of Ethiopians in their struggle to oust the Derg.
Makonen’s escape into Europe and later abandonment of politics to concentrate on his studies and pursue a professional career as a development expert fill the final third of the book. No one would have doubted Makonen’s abilities to achieve his career goals but his blunt renunciation of politics and apparent revival of religious dispositions came as a complete surprise even to someone who had known him for so long.
Overall, the book provides an interesting insight into Ethiopia during the 1960-70s and its generation of youthful idealists (Makonen being one of them) who sought to transform it. As a retrospective view of Makonen’s past, it was destined to be coloured by modern (particularly European) thoughts and value judgments that he had embraced while getting educated abroad and living there. Thus the picture of poverty, misery and unhappiness he paints of village people back in those days appear slightly exaggerated. The relativism inherent to his current assessments is also represented by his views of gender and marriage issues of those times.
Every time there is an Ethiopians for Obama event, it seems that at least one person asks the invariable questions: “Why should Ethiopians support Obama?” The question has profound implications, because it rests on the premise that a candidate has to cater to every ethnic group, every religion, and every orientation. In this way, the question is really a perpetuation of the divided landscape we find ourselves in today. This question begs for the continuation and of the deep divides that are evident in our community and so many communities throughout the world.