ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A U.N. elections consultant told an Ethiopian treason trial on Tuesday two anti-poverty activists charged with trying to overthrow the government had been acting within the law.
Daniel Bekele, 40, and Netsanet Demissie, 29, are the last defendants out of 131 originally charged in the proceedings that followed post-election violence in 2005 which a parliamentary inquiry said killed 199 civilians and police, and resulted in 30,000 arrests.
The defendants were involved in deploying observers at polling stations in and around the capital Addis Ababa.
Most of those originally charged were freed on July 20 after the government published a letter it said opposition leaders had signed admitting their guilt and repenting.
Defence lawyers say Bekele and Netsanet, who work for ActionAid Ethiopia and the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia respectively, refused to sign and want to be acquitted.
The case has been criticised by human rights groups and donors, who complained that it was an attempt to dismantle the opposition after it made strong gains in elections.
Richard Morgan Chambers, who was assigned by the United Nations to advise the then-chairman of Ethiopia’s election board, testified the pair had “performed in accordance with the constitution and the legal framework of the country”.
Chambers, who was appearing as a defence witness, said the defendants had provided him with “extremely helpful” analysis.
“Their report on the election was balanced and contained the negative and positive aspects. They performed an impressive job as election observers despite the difficult situation,” he said.
The trial was later adjourned to Wednesday afternoon.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A U.N. elections consultant told an Ethiopian treason trial on Tuesday two anti-poverty activists charged with trying to overthrow the government had been acting within the law.
Daniel Bekele, 40, and Netsanet Demissie, 29, are the last defendants out of 131 originally charged in the proceedings that followed post-election violence in 2005 which a parliamentary inquiry said killed 199 civilians and police, and resulted in 30,000 arrests.
The defendants were involved in deploying observers at polling stations in and around the capital Addis Ababa.
Most of those originally charged were freed on July 20 after the government published a letter it said opposition leaders had signed admitting their guilt and repenting.
Defence lawyers say Bekele and Netsanet, who work for ActionAid Ethiopia and the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia respectively, refused to sign and want to be acquitted.
The case has been criticised by human rights groups and donors, who complained that it was an attempt to dismantle the opposition after it made strong gains in elections.
Richard Morgan Chambers, who was assigned by the United Nations to advise the then-chairman of Ethiopia’s election board, testified the pair had “performed in accordance with the constitution and the legal framework of the country”.
Chambers, who was appearing as a defence witness, said the defendants had provided him with “extremely helpful” analysis.
“Their report on the election was balanced and contained the negative and positive aspects. They performed an impressive job as election observers despite the difficult situation,” he said.
The trial was later adjourned to Wednesday afternoon.
ADDIS ABABA, 31 July 2007 (IRIN) – The number of girls and women who undergo female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has declined in Ethiopia’s Southern Regional State, and could be reduced further if stronger penalties were enforced, an NGO leader said.
“Previously people did not even mention FGM/C; it was a taboo,” said Bogaletch Gebre, executive director of Kembatta Women’s Self-Help Centre, a local NGO engaged in educating the public in Kembatta, Alaba and Tembaro zones.
According to official statistics, FGM/C prevalence in the state decreased from 80 percent in 2000 to 74 percent in 2005. Bogaletch said this could improve with legal reform.
“The law in our country is very weak and not a deterrent,” she said. “When this happens, people are not afraid of breaking it. My life as a woman is not worth more than 500 Birr [US$55].”
Under the Ethiopian Penal Code, FGM/C carries a punishment of imprisonment of not less than three months or a fine of not less than 500 Birr.
“Ethiopia is a signatory to many international laws, but has not yet ratified the Maputo protocol,” she told IRIN in the capital, Addis Ababa, on the sidelines of an African consultative meeting on FGM/C.
The Maputo Protocol came into force in November 2005 and is an African initiative that prohibits and condemns FGM/C. As a result, 16 African countries have banned the practice.
The consultative meeting heard that the occurrence of FGM has reduced in several other African countries.
“Prevalence decline is visible in countries like Kenya, Eritrea, Mali and Nigeria where anti-FGM/C interventions have been going for some years,” said Fama Hane Ba, African Division Director at the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). “This is good news.”
FGM/C, which involves the partial or total removal or injury to the female genitalia, is practised as a deterrent to promiscuity in some African communities.
”Prevalence decline is visible in countries like Kenya, Eritrea, Mali and Nigeria where anti-FGM/C interventions have been going on for some years”
Hane Ba said the majority of women at risk are in 28 African countries. “An estimated 120 to 140 million women and girls have also been subjected to the FGM/C practice throughout the world,” she said.
She added: “It is encouraging to note that many organisations are implementing innovative programmatic strategies combining law enforcement and culturally sensitive approaches to sustain behavioural change.”
Community dialogue, alternative rites of passage ceremonies, role modelling by families and consensus-building among communities were cited as achieving positive results in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Egypt.
“Community dialogue uses a wide range of participatory methodologies and culturally sensitive advocacy strategies, such as story-telling, active listening and strategic questioning to generate a deep and complex understanding of the nature of FGM/C,” Hane Ba said. “Through this process, many communities are saying ‘no’ to FGM/C.”
ADDIS ABABA, 31 July 2007 (IRIN) – The number of girls and women who undergo female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has declined in Ethiopia’s Southern Regional State, and could be reduced further if stronger penalties were enforced, an NGO leader said.
“Previously people did not even mention FGM/C; it was a taboo,” said Bogaletch Gebre, executive director of Kembatta Women’s Self-Help Centre, a local NGO engaged in educating the public in Kembatta, Alaba and Tembaro zones.
According to official statistics, FGM/C prevalence in the state decreased from 80 percent in 2000 to 74 percent in 2005. Bogaletch said this could improve with legal reform.
“The law in our country is very weak and not a deterrent,” she said. “When this happens, people are not afraid of breaking it. My life as a woman is not worth more than 500 Birr [US$55].”
Under the Ethiopian Penal Code, FGM/C carries a punishment of imprisonment of not less than three months or a fine of not less than 500 Birr.
“Ethiopia is a signatory to many international laws, but has not yet ratified the Maputo protocol,” she told IRIN in the capital, Addis Ababa, on the sidelines of an African consultative meeting on FGM/C.
The Maputo Protocol came into force in November 2005 and is an African initiative that prohibits and condemns FGM/C. As a result, 16 African countries have banned the practice.
The consultative meeting heard that the occurrence of FGM has reduced in several other African countries.
“Prevalence decline is visible in countries like Kenya, Eritrea, Mali and Nigeria where anti-FGM/C interventions have been going for some years,” said Fama Hane Ba, African Division Director at the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). “This is good news.”
FGM/C, which involves the partial or total removal or injury to the female genitalia, is practised as a deterrent to promiscuity in some African communities.
”Prevalence decline is visible in countries like Kenya, Eritrea, Mali and Nigeria where anti-FGM/C interventions have been going on for some years”
Hane Ba said the majority of women at risk are in 28 African countries. “An estimated 120 to 140 million women and girls have also been subjected to the FGM/C practice throughout the world,” she said.
She added: “It is encouraging to note that many organisations are implementing innovative programmatic strategies combining law enforcement and culturally sensitive approaches to sustain behavioural change.”
Community dialogue, alternative rites of passage ceremonies, role modelling by families and consensus-building among communities were cited as achieving positive results in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Egypt.
“Community dialogue uses a wide range of participatory methodologies and culturally sensitive advocacy strategies, such as story-telling, active listening and strategic questioning to generate a deep and complex understanding of the nature of FGM/C,” Hane Ba said. “Through this process, many communities are saying ‘no’ to FGM/C.”
Addis Ababa – Ethiopian opposition officials told a court on Monday that two anti-poverty activists on trial for allegedly trying to overthrow the government were never members of their movement. Daniel Bekele, 40, and Netsanet Demissie, 29, are the last two defendants out of 131 original charged in a long-running treason trial.
On Monday, Hailu Shawel, chairperson of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) told the court neither men had been a part of his organisation.
“Charges that they were CUD members are totally false,” he said. “If they had been members I would have known.”
Hailu Shawel and other senior CUD officials were also charged in the same trial, which human rights groups and donors said was an attempt to dismantle the opposition after it made strong gains in 2005 elections. They were all arrested after two bouts of violence after the disputed polls in which 199 civilians and police were killed, 800 people wounded and 30,000 arrested, according to a parliamentary inquiry.
They were freed on July 20 after the government published a letter it said CUD leaders had sent to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi admitting their guilt and repenting.
Defence lawyers say Bekele and Netsanet, who work for ActionAid Ethiopia and the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia respectively, refused to sign and want to be acquitted.
ADDIS ABABA — Nearly 12,000 people have been displaced and one person has died in western Ethiopia in flash floods over the weekend, an official said Tuesday.
“As of now, we only know that 11,886 people have been displaced and one killed from the flood that resulted from Sunday’s heavy rainfall,” Ojulu Bach, head of disaster prevention program in the Gambela region, said.
Ojulu said that both the toll and the number of displaced could rise as rescue teams had not accessed all those affected.
“The field teams are using boats and whatever necessary to rescue the people in danger,” he said. “The numbers could be higher after our teams conclude their search.”
Earlier this month, some 7,000 people were affected by floods after heavy rains pounded southern Ethiopia for more than a week.
The rainy season began in early June in the Ethiopian Highlands and is due to last until the end of September.
Last year, more than 600 people were killed and hundreds of thousands affected by unusually heavy floods that ravaged several regions in the Horn of African nation.
