The arrest of Birtukan Mideksa was a criminal act in the first place
Ethiopian civic, political, and media groups, as well as activists in the Diaspora held a meeting today and issued the following statement on the release of Birtukan Mideksa:
After holding a sham election in May 2010, and forming a fake parliament and cabinet this week, Ethiopia’s tyrant Meles Zenawi has released Birtukan Mideksa, chairperson of Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ), today.
It is well known that the regime re-arrested Birtukan Mideksa on December 29, 2008, on the flimsy charge of violating her terms of release by making a public statement that she did not ask for pardon in order to be released from prison in July 2007.
It is also clear that the Meles regime had thrown Birtukan in jail illegally in preparation for the fake election that it planned for May 2010.
Birtukan had languished in jail under inhumane condition from Nov. 2005 – July 2007, and again from Dec. 2008 until this month. Both times her arrest was a criminal act and a violation of the regime’s own constitution, further proving that there is no rule of law in Ethiopia under the Meles regime.
As we prepare to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the massacre of pro-democracy protesters next month, we hold the Meles regime accountable for the illegal detention of Birtukan Mideksa and tens of thousands of other political prisoners in Ethiopia.
We also strongly urge the international community to:
* demand the immediate release of all political prisoners in Ethiopia,
* demand the opening of political space
* urge the regime to respect the rule of law and fully respect human and civil rights, including freedom of association, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.
We will not rest until freedom and democracy prevails in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Review sources in Addis Ababa are reporting that opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa has been released today.
Birtukan was thrown in jail by the ethnic apartheid {www:junta} in Ethiopia almost 2 years ago, Dec. 29, 2010.
Birtukan left Kality jail at 11:15 AM local time today. She was greeted by family members, friends, and hundreds of supporters who were waiting for her outside the prison.
After learning the news of her release, Ethiopian civic, political and media groups in the Diaspora held a meeting and issued a statement condemning the Woyanne junta for illegally arresting her in the first place. They also expressed through the statement their demand for the release of all the other prisoners of conscience who are languishing in prisons throughout the country (full text).
Reuters’ Barry Malone reports:
Ethiopia[‘s ruling junta] released the country’s most {www:prominent} opposition leader from jail on Wednesday, four months after the government’s landslide win in elections criticised by Western powers. Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge, is the leader of Ethiopia’s biggest opposition party, the Unity for Democracy and Justice.
She left a prison in the capital Addis Ababa in a car with her daughter and mother, a Reuters witness said. Supporters said she was going to her home.
Critics of the government say she was jailed because she was the main threat to the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) at the May 23 election.
In a cabinet reshuffle that is announced today, Ethiopia’s khat-addicted dictator Meles Zenawi has replaced TPLF veterans Seyoum Mesfin and others with puppets like Hailemariam Desalegn (photo on the right). Dumber than a {www:door knob}, Hailemariam’s only qualification is the speed with which he wags his tail in front of Meles.
The new 21-member cabinet puppet galore looks as follows:
Abdulfeta Abdoulahi Hassen, Minister for Labor and Social Affairs
Abdurahman Sheik Ahmed, SPDP, Ministry of Trade
Alemayehu Tegenu, Ministry of Water and Energy
Amin Abdulkadir, Minister of Culture and Tourism
Bereket Simon, ANDM, Minister of Communications Affairs
DebreTsion GebreMariam, TPLF, Minister of Communications and Information Technology
Demeke Mekonen, ANDM, Minister of Education
Desse Dalke, Minister of Science and Technology
Diriba Kuma, Minister of Transport
Haile-Birhan, ANDM, Minister of Justice
Hailemariam Desalegn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Junedin Sado, OPDO, Minister of Civil Service
Melaku Fenta, Director of Revenue and Customs Authority
Mekuria Haile, Minister of Urban Development and Construction
Manyazewal Mekonnen, Minister of Industry (replacing Girma Biru)
Shiferaw TekleMariam, Minister of Federal Affairs
Sinknesh Ejigu, Minister of Mines
Siraj Fegeta, Minister of Defense
Suffian Ahmed, OPDO, Minister of Finance
Tewodros Adhanom, TPLF, Minister of Health
Zenebu Tadesse, Minister of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs
The cabinet is a rubber-stamp body as is the parliament. The real power is in the hands of the 9-member TPLF Meles politburo, that has instituted and is in charge of an ethnic apartheid system in Ethiopia.
A press conference is scheduled for tomorrow by Prof. Ephraim Isaac and other members of the elders committee regarding the release of Birtukan Mideksa, a {www:political prisoner} and chairperson of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) of Ethiopia.
Sources in Addis Ababa have confirmed to Ethiopian Review that Birtukan’s family have picked up her belongings from Kality prison today. The family is also preparing a welcoming ceremony. A lot of people are seen today going in and out of her family {www:residence} .
Hailemariam Dessalegn, Abadula Gemeda and other puppets were summoned to Ethiopia’s fake parliament yesterday to officially “elect” their {www:puppet-master} Meles Zenawi as prime minister for another five years. VOA reports the daytime realty show as follows:
(VOA) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been sworn in to another five year term at the opening of a new session of parliament. Mr. Meles is expected to begin his term with a government {www:reshuffle} .
“Honorable [Ato] Khat-addicted {www:despot} Meles Zenawi has been been appointed as prime minister of the unDemocratic Republic of Ethiopia.”
With those words spoken by Speaker of Parliament Abadulah Gemeda, Mr. Meles officially began his fourth term in office. By the time this five year term is over, the former Marxist guerrilla leader will have been in power nearly a quarter of a century.
His deputy chairman puppet at the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, Hailemariam Dessalegn, hailed the prime minister as an international {www:statesman} and leader of the revolution that overthrew the pro-Soviet dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. He spoke in Amharic through a translator. “Our country Ethiopia is changing at a very fast rate and in international forums the man has played a critical role to make sure the rights of Africa are ensured,” he said.
[Solomon Tekalign could not make it to the parliament in time to sing “qindibu.”]
Among Mr. Meles’s first acts is expected to be a fundamental reorganization of his government, possibly as early as Tuesday. Deputy EPRDF chairman Hailemariam is said to be in line for a senior post, but there has been little {www:speculation} in the local press about who may be named to which prominent positions.
{www:Lawmaker}s Monday said even government insiders were only informed of the list at the last moment.
The EPRDF Tigray People Liberation Front and its allies control 545 of the 547 seats in this parliament, in sharp contrast to the last parliament, where there were more than 150 opposition members. Of the remaining two seats, one is held by an independent, the other by Girma Seifu, the lone winner from main opposition Medrek front.
When asked what he hoped to accomplish in his role as voice of the opposition, his answer was blunt. “Nothing. If things continue like this, you can do nothing,” he said.
The opening of the new session has given rise to strong speculation about the {www:imminent} release of opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa. Birtukan was among dozens of opposition activists sentenced to life in prison after the disputed 2005 elections, but she is the only one still behind bars.
She has been named a prisoner of conscience by rights groups, and was listed as a {www:political prisoner} in the most recent US State Department human rights report.
Mr. Meles hinted at the possibility of Birtukan’s release last month at a public forum in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
A {www:clergyman} who has been allowed to see Birtukan in prison said Monday he was aware of negotiations for her release. When asked if he knew when it might happen, he said, “call me tomorrow.”
Kjetil Tronvoll will speak at Colombia University on Ethiopia: Towards Totalitarian State?
Time: Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Place: Knox Hall
Kjetil Tronvoll is professor of {www:human rights} at the University of Oslo and holds professorial {www:competence} in peace and conflict studies. He is also founding and senior partner of the think tank International Law and Policy Institute. Tronvoll’s doctoral degree is in political anthropology from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Tronvoll has carried out studies in Africa for about 20 years, and has carried out long-term anthropological fieldworks in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Zanzibar.
He has published a number of books, articles and reports on issues of conflict, peace processes, human rights, and {www:democratization}. His core geographical areas of research is the Horn of Africa and Eastern Africa, where he also has been involved as an advisor to international initiatives on peace and reconciliation.
Kjetil Tronvoll will speak at Colombia University on