ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – The Woyanne high kangaroo court today reduced Teddy Afro’s 6-year prison sentence to 2 years, allowing him to go free in 5 months from now.

Teddy has been held in prison for the past 11 months after being falsely accused of vehicular manslaughter.

In December 2008, a Woyanne party hack acting as judge sentenced him to 6 years in prison for killing a homeless man, Degu Yibelte, in Addis Ababa with his BMW in what the prosecutor alleged as a hit-and-run accident.

A hospital record that showed Degu’s death one day earlier than the day Teddy had a car accident was ignored by the dumb judge.

ቴዲ አፍሮ ከአምስት ወር በኋላ ይፈታል

(አውራምባ ታይምስ) – ዝነኛው አርቲስት ቴዎድሮስ ካሳሁን በመኪና ሰውን ገጭቶ በማምለጥ ወንጀል ክስ ተመስርቶበት በከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት የስድስት አመት እስራት እንደተፈረደበት ይታወቃል፡፡

ሆኖም ድምጻዊው ለጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት ባቀረበው ይግባኝ መሰረት ውሳኔው ተሸሮ በሁለት አመት እስራት ብቻ እንዲቀጣ ተወስኖበታል፡፡

አውራምባ ያነጋገራቸው የህግ ባለሙዎች እንዳሉት ‹ያቀረበው የይግባኝ ሰነድ የቀረበበትን ክስ ሙሉ ለሙሉ ውድቅ የሚያደርግ ነው ሆኖም የስርአቱ አገዛዞች ድምጻዊውን ነጻ ማድረግ ስላልፈለጉና ወንጀለኛ ነው እንዲባል ስለሚፈልጉ ነጻ ከማለት ይልቅ ሁለት አመት ብለው ፈርደውበታል› ብለዋል፡፡

ስማቸው እንዳይጠቀስ የፈለጉ የቃሊቲ ወህኒ ቤት ኃላፊዎች እንደገለጹልን በወህኒ ቤቱ አሰራር መሰረት አንድ ፍርደኛ ከተፈረበት ፍርድ 1/3ኛውን በአመክሮ ስለሚቀነስለት የሚታሰረው አንድ አመት ከአራት ወር ብቻ ይሆናል ብለዋል፡፡ በዚህም መሰረት እስካሁን ለአስራ አንድ ወራት ያህል በእስር ቤት የቆየው ቴዲ ከአምስት ወር በኋላ ነጻ ይወጣል ተብሎ ይገመታል፡፡

አመክሮ የሚከለከልበት የተለየ ምክንያት አለ ወይ ስንል ጥያቄ ያቀረብንላቸው የወህኒ ቤት ምንጮች እንደገለጹልን አንድ ታሳሪ የተለየ መጥፎ የዲስፕሊን ችግር ከሌለበት በስተቀር ወይም ለማምለጥ ሙከራ ካላደረገ በቀር የአመክሮ ተጠቃሚ ይሆናል ቴዲ ደግሞ በሁሉም ዘንድ እጅግ የሚወደድ ባህሪና ጨዋ ስነምግባር ያለው ሰው እንደመሆኑ ይህ አይነቱ ክልከላ እርሱን አይመለከትም ብለውናል፡፡

Related:

* Teddy Afro railroaded to prison for 6 years by kangaroo court

* High court reduces Teddy Afro’s sentence to 2 years

* Ethiopians react to Teddy Afro’s sentence

* There Is No Justice In Ethiopia – The Teddy Afro show trial

* Ethiopians in DC demand the release of Teddy Afro

The notorious Kality Prison in Ethiopia

By xcroc

In January 2007, after the Ethiopian invasion, and US bombing of Somalia, at least 85 different people from at least 25 countries, including the US, were part of Africa’s first mass rendition of prisoners. At least 18 of these were children under the age of 15. They were people trying to flee the fighting in Somalia by crossing into Kenya, and were arrested by the Kenyans. They were then held without charge. They were flown by Kenya to Somalia, and were taken on from there to Ethiopia. In Ethiopia they were subjected to lengthy interrogations by Americans, who also took DNA samples from them. They were questioned repeatedly, for months.

“A week after we arrived we were interrogated by whites – Americans, British, I was interrogated for weeks,” Salim says.

“They had a file which was said to implicate me in the Kenyan bombings. So I was taken away and was placed in isolation for two months – both my hands and legs were shackled.

“The interrogations went on for five months. Always the same questions about the Nairobi bombings.”

Former detainees have also told the BBC they were questioned by US agents. One said he was beaten by Americans.

Two others said they were threatened and told that if they did not co-operate they could face ill treatment at the hands of Ethiopian guards.

All said they believed it was the Americans and not the Ethiopians controlling their detention and interrogation.

Human rights groups in the region say this was a new form of extraordinary rendition.

The US did not play an overt role in the transportation or detention of suspects as it has in the rendition of other suspected terrorists, but it nevertheless controlled their interrogation and treatment.

Nobody know for certain how many people have been renditioned to Ethiopia. The number 85 above is based on the manifests of three flights out of Kenya on one night. The wife of Salim, quoted above was also arrested.

They were all:

… part of the first mass “renditions” in Africa, where prisoners accused of supporting terrorists in Somalia were secretly transferred from country to country for interrogation outside the boundaries of domestic or international law.

Along with at least 85 others from 20 countries, she was flown back to Somalia – a war zone with no effective government or law – and on to Ethiopia. There, American intelligence agents joined the interrogations – photographing and taking DNA samples, even from the children.

On April 7, three months after her arrest, Ms Ahmed was released. Salim Awadh Salim, her husband and father of her unborn baby, is still in detention. So, too, are 78 of the other passengers aboard the three secret rendition flights. At least 18 are children under 15.

Ethiopia admits holding 36 other “suspected international terrorists” but has refused to give the Red Cross access to them. The rest of the “ghost plane” passengers are missing.
…
On April 7 Ms Ahmed was put on a flight to Kilimanjaro. Her escort promised that her husband and the others would be released with a week.

That was in April 2007. Her husband is still in prison in Ethiopia, he has not been charged, and has not appeared before a court. She was briefly able to talk to him when he got access to a cellphone:

“The conditions are really bad: we don’t have enough food, we don’t have enough access to medicine. The cell is wet,” he says.

“We sleep on the floor rather than the sodden mattresses. One of the other prisoners was beaten so badly he’s had his leg broken.”

Another person still languishing in an Ethiopian jail is Canadian citizen Bashir Makhtal. His cousin has been working tirelessly to get him back, and to pressure the Canadian government to do something. So far the Canadian government seems to be dragging its feet. His cousin even created a website to keep people informed, and to try to free him, www.makhtal.org

Bashir Makhtal and about 100 other foreigners were swept up in “Africa’s Guantanamo,” a little-known chapter of the U.S.-led war on terror in which a series of illegal “rendition” flights took terror suspects from Kenya to Ethiopia, one of the key allies of the U.S. in the Horn of Africa.

Once in Addis Ababa, the detainees were interrogated by security officials, including agents of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. In April 2007, Ethiopia finally admitted having Bashir and the others, but refused to allow Canadian diplomats to see him. Bashir, however, said plenty through smuggled letters and messages. In his letter of May 2007, he says that he was beaten and forced to record a false confession to various crimes. Two months after that, according to Human Rights Watch, a fellow detainee saw Bashir briefly and reported that “he was limping. He had a deep cut in one of his legs. He looked weak. He looked so famished.”

There are no rights in Ethiopian jails.

Al Amin Kimathi believes Ethiopia was seen as the ideal destination.

“It was the most natural place to take anyone looking for a site to go and torture and to extract confessions. Ethiopia allows torture of detainees. And that is the modus operandi in renditions.”

The US is not only not helping, it is actively hindering:

More than a year and a half after the renditions, the US government still refuses to respond to questions on the alleged US role.

“I have no knowledge of it nor as official policy can I comment on such matters,” US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer told the BBC.

In 2006 a French woman who was living in Addis left Ethiopia. She had been friends with the opposition politicians. The leadership of the opposition party was jailed in 2005. She visited some of them in prison and took the pictures above. She describes the conditions:

Kaliti is a huge waste ground full of big shacks of iron sheet that look built at random. During the rainy season it is muddy, damp and cold. You are not allowed to check the conditions in which the prisoners are living. Yet some views from outside – see below [above] – give a disastrous impression.
…
According to my experience of stable manager iron sheet shacks are not suitable for horses, they are cold in winter, hot in summer and likely to bring contagious diseases. … where there are iron sheet and food, there are rats… and big ones … flees and parasites prosper.
…
I was surprised to hear than Woizero Birtukan, for example, was sharing a cell with 70 other female detainees.

There is a network of prisons in Ethiopia. She interviews a friend in Maeklawi prison:

AF: So, how was Maeklawi? Tell me how it looks like… inside…
AA: Conditions are terrible. We were more than 200 prisoners there and only one of us was allowed to go to the hospital daily.
AF: What kind of diseases detainees are suffering of?
AA: You know, coughing, diarrhea… The food is… Well, I have been traveling all around Ethiopia but never saw THAT kind of injera. I could not identify the place it came from. I did not eat it. I had my own food.
AF: I guess they need medical care for being beaten too, no?
AA: Oh yes, of course… broken legs, broken hands…
AF: Did they dare touching you?
AA: No, I was protected because you were coming but others were not that lucky. One of the prisoners even told me they used electric shocks.

And on leaving Ethiopia she writes that it is:

… a police state in which [to] freely express an opinion endangers your life or drives you to prison, a country where young protestors are beaten and shot. I left a jail. … A few days before my departure, a young man told me: “Tell them, tell them how it is to live here, tell them what we endure.”

Salim Lone writes:

Human Rights Watch has documented how Kenya and Ethiopia had turned this region into Africa’s own version of Guantánamo Bay, replete with kidnappings, extraordinary renditions, secret prisons and large numbers of “disappeared”: a project that carries the Made in America label. Allowing free rein to such comprehensive lawlessness is a stain on all those who might have, at a minimum, curtailed it.

These people languishing in Ethiopian jails are caught in something large and evil. This week, on February 16, 2009:

In one of the most extensive studies of counter-terrorism and human rights yet undertaken, an independent panel of eminent judges and lawyers today presents alarming findings about the impact of counter-terrorism policies worldwide and calls for remedial action. The Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, established by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), has based its report “Assessing Damage, Urging Action” on sixteen hearings covering more than forty countries in all regions of the world.

“In the course of this inquiry, we have been shocked by the extent of the damage done over the past seven years by excessive or abusive counter-terrorism measures in a wide range of countries around the world. Many governments, ignoring the lessons of history, have allowed themselves to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have undermined cherished values and violated human rights. The result is a serious threat to the integrity of the international human rights legal framework,” said Justice Arthur Chaskalson, the Chair of the Panel, former Chief Justice of South Africa and first President of the South African Constitutional Court.

The report illustrates the consequences of notorious counter-terrorism practices such as torture, disappearances, arbitrary and secret detention, unfair trials, and persistent impunity for gross human rights violations in many parts of the world. The Panel warns of the danger that exceptional “temporary” counter-terrorism measures are becoming permanent features of law and practice, including in democratic societies. The Panel urges that the present political climate may provide one of the last chances for a concerted international effort to take remedial measures and restore long-standing international norms. The change in US administration provides a unique opportunity for change.

“Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years. Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats,” said Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, former President of Ireland and current President of the ICJ. “It is now absolutely essential that all states restore their commitment to human rights and that the United Nations takes on a leadership role in this process. If we fail to act now, the damage to international law risks becoming permanent”, she added.

The report calls for the rejection of the “war on terror” paradigm and for a full repudiation of the policies grounded in it.

Harar, Ethiopia (IAAF) – Ethiopia’s Olympic marathon bronze medallist Tsegaye Kebede fine-tuned his preparations for April’s Flora London Marathon with a {www:comfortable} victory on Sunday (16) in the Major General Hayelom Araya Memorial, an annual 15km race that serves as the Ethiopian national championships, in Harar, east of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

In the women’s race, little-known runner Roman Gebru took a closely-fought contest from Terfe Tsegaye with race favourite Atsede Bayissa forced to settle for fifth.

MEN – Kebede dominates

As part of its efforts to promote athletics across all regions of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) organized this race for the first time in the Harari region which is one of Ethiopia’s iconic cultural and religious centres.

The race was an early chance for selectors to assess the prospects of up and coming runners, but it was also an opportunity for full marathon runners to test their speed ahead of big city marathons in March and April.

There was no doubt who the favorite in the men’s race was even before the onset. An Olympic bronze has transformed Kebede from a regular marathon runner to a public figure over the last six months since his Beijing success.

The 21-year-old, who improved his full marathon personal best to 2:06:10 in Fukuoka late last year, was in commanding form throughout the race and won by nearly thirteen seconds from fellow Defence Club runner Dereje Debele. Tariku Jufar, the other high-profile marathon runner in the field, had to settle for sixth.

WOMEN – Gebru shocks Bayissa

The domestic circuit in Ethiopia continued to {www:produce} shocks in the women’s race with little-known runner Roman Gebru beating Atsede Bayissa, who is the second fastest Ethiopian over the half marathon.

21-year-old Gebru took control of the race in the final kilometres before taking a decisive victory in 53:45.03. A struggling Bayissa had to settle for fifth.

By Elshadai Negash for the IAAF

Men
1. Tsegaye Kebede (Defence) 45:28.99
2. Dereje Debele (Defence) 45:41.68
3. Tesfaye Sendeku (Addis Ababa) 45:56.90
4. Sentayehu Mergia (Oromiya Police) 46:00.95
5. Getachew Terfu (Oromiya Police) NA
6. Tariku Jufar (Defence) NA

Women
1. Roman Gebru (Defence) 53.45.03
2. Terfe Tsegaye (Omedla) 53:45.95
3. Saada Seid (Addis Ababa) 53:47.63
4. Zenash Gezmu (Prisons) 53:54.19
5. Atsede Bayisa (Defence) NA
6. Aberash Mesga (Oromiya Police) NA

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (PANA) – Ethiopian Prime Minister tribal dictator Meles Zenawi has ordered a total freeze in government borrowing, but the country still faces a major foreign reserve crisis with the current reserves only enough to cover one month and just a few more days.

The Ethiopian tribal regime, which has previously fixed its public borrowing to 1.5 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is aiming to cut domestic borrowing to zero while tightening money flow to the economy at 8 percent.

The measures announced by the Prime Minister are aimed at reversing a potentially dangerous economic crisis, sparked by the country’s growing demand for imports against falling export volumes and worsened by the global financial crisis across the world.

“The facts are less bleak than have been portrayed. We have had massive inflationary pressure and there is a serious strain on the balance of payment. We needed steps on the monetary front, foreign exchange markets and fiscal measures,” Meles said. The annual inflation currently stands at 45.6 percent.

Ethiopia, which depends mainly on coffee, tea and leather exports, is suffering from an increase in the level of imports, caused by the rises in the price of crude oil, fertilisers and other essential cereals, against a crushing shortage of foreign currency inflows.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), the central bank, said foreign remittances had increased over the past half-year by 19 percent, but the Prime Minister said the level of foreign remittances might have been higher were it not for the global financial crisis.

“The maximum (step) is to ensure zero borrowing by the government from 1.5 percent of the GDP to zero to reduce the budget deficit. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) have applauded this decision,” the Ethiopian Prime Minister told a news conference.

{www:Ethiopia} has limited bank lending in a move aimed at boosting foreign currency reserves. This has been done to avoid the possibility of using bank interest rates as the other tool to curb bank borrowing.

“You cannot use the interest rates to reign in the economy. You have to limit bank lending,” the Premier said.

NBE has taken steps to limit bank lending by asking the local commercial banks to triple raise their reserve money requirements to 15 percent from 5 percent, private business weekly, the Capital newspapers, reported.

The measures are also expected to curtail the movement of money to the economy to less than 20 percent, from the 23 percent at the end of the last fiscal year, the paper reported.

But Meles said that the government’s target is to cut money supply to 8 percent.

“The latest credit crunch has come solely as a result of the NBE policy to defeat inflation as their primary objective…but the most challenging issue is the foreign currency shortage and the speedy depreciation of our currency,” Meles said.

He said that the depreciation of the local currency, the Birr, was done recently to relieve the economy of the currency imbalance, noting that a speedy depreciation of the Birr could also speed up inflation.

The IMF has agreed to Ethiopia’s depreciation of the currency, which saw the Birr touch an all time low of 11.46 to the US dollar in January, from a high of 9.15 in December.

IMF has given Ethiopia US$50 million as a result of the economic policies it has deployed to stabilize the domestic economy and rid the country of an economic crisis.

“We may have had a perfect storm, but the storm is behind us now. It is also the opinion of the IMF. If the IMF is happy, we can rest assured the steps are effective. We expect a single digit inflation by June-July this year,” the Ethiopian Premier said.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Daily Monitor) – Climate change-induced livestock diseases are causing more illness and death of livestock in southern lowlands of the country, a study conducted to assess the local level of impacts of climate change said.

The study entitled: Climate Change-Induced Hazards, Impacts and Responses in Southern Ethiopia, carried out in the southern lowlands of Ethiopia’s three selected zones- Borena, Guji and Omo Zones- in the Oromia SNNP regions said climatic change impacts on livelihoods particularly increased vulnerability to poverty and food insecurity as livestock possession of households during the past 20 years shows an overall decline.

In Borena zone, for instance, the average number of livestock per household declined from 10 oxen, 35 cows and 33 goats to 3 oxen, 7 cows and 6 goats, the study said.

The study also showed similar outcome in South Omo pastoralists as “the number of livestock decreased from 30 cows, 38 goats and 36 sheep to 21 cows, 23 goats and 21 sheep at present.” “Tick and skin diseases on camels, cattle, goats and sheep as increasingly becoming common problems during severe droughts, the study found out, adding even camels and goats, considered more resistant to drought, are affected by the newly prevailing diseases,” the study pointed out.

The collaborative study undertaken by FSS (Forum for Social Studies) and Cordaid, indicated the declining in livestock productivity and reproduction is becoming the most serious risk households are facing today, exacerbated by shortage of health facilities and services and poor infrastructure.

The collaborative study undertaken by FSS (Forum for Social Studies) and Cordaid, indicated the declining in livestock productivity and reproduction is becoming the most serious risk households are facing today, exacerbated by shortage of health facilities and services and poor infrastructure.

The senior researcher Dr Aklilu Amsalu said over the past years, the incidence and distribution of diseases and pests has changed in the study area.

“Existing diseases known in the area are expanding and new types are emerging of which some types are not yet identified,” he said, adding unidentified new diseases were also causing sudden death of camels and goats.

Loss of livestock assets has led to increased poverty and dependency on external food aid and non-food assistance, the study found out, adding dry seasons triggered conflicts among the inhabitants, due to recurrent droughts and resource scarcity, in the area are not new phenomena.

Survey results indicate that more than 44% of the households in South Omo and about one-fourth in Borena and Guji have suffered from conflict related raiding in the last five years (2004-2008).

By Tedla Asfaw

I followed the interview Meles Zenawi gave to an Ethiopian audience this past week. For the question of making Ethiopia an exporter of power while there is domestic power shortage including in the capital Addis Ababa, the answer he gave and caught my ear was the completed Tekeze Dam a year ago which is still not operational.

The completed Tekeze Dam reservoir is too low to generate power accodring to Meles. If we build the dam based on hydrological study of the area dry seasons will force a lower capacity. The other reason might also be a grander structure for political reason and if that is the case we will never have enough discharge to fill the dam to its capacity. The truth will be known on the coming year or years.

Unaccountable regime like Meles Zenawi do not take responsibility for the cost of such huge projects. If this huge dam never to be operational because of lack of water the cost will be for poor Ethiopians since it was built with foreign loan. If the catchment area of the dam is deforested as many believe it is not only we will have shortage of water but we will have unavoidable silt problem.

We have silt problems affecting dams in Ethiopia and the Awash Dam which was built more than fifty years ago is at the end of its life mainly because of silt problem but Tekeze is the first dam in Ethiopia not to be operational for lower reservoir capacity on its first anniversary.