By T. Mesfin

On February 15, 2005 C. Bryson Hull of Reuters wrote a curious piece under the heading, “Ethiopia’s Meles can weather political storms.” The “analysis” is very likely a well-timed plant.

Hull may not have done it deliberately, but it is a clever piece of disinformation being pushed by regime propagandists. The disinformers have dual objectives: to demoralize the opposition and to shore up the regime’s base.

Why an article about regime survival now? Someone obviously thought it was important. The story comes at a time when the hardheadedness of Zenawi has created a siege mentality and a sense of international isolation.

Reports from Addis Ababa indicate a sense of desperation and frustration even among the intelligence services of Meles Zenawi, leading them to wonder about regime survival.

Beyond public relations maneuvering, there are substantial domestic and international reasons that indicate that the regime of the Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) may not survive for long.

Internal Factors

Domestically, support for the ruling group is at an all time low. The harsh crackdown against opposition forces has further exacerbated an already tense situation. It has also effectively closed the route to any negotiations.

The TPLF has little legitimacy outside of its narrow base. All indications are that even if the Prime Minister’s Tigrian ethnic base, which numbers less than 10 percent, is not solidly behind him. Party cadres whose survival and livelihood depend on the government and a few direct beneficiaries of the patronage system make up the regime’s base of support.

Economic activity in Addis Ababa, the preeminent per capital, has been at a standstill for almost year owing to election-related uncertainties. The service sector has been performing poorly. There is very little long term investment.

The price of everyday commodities has increased dramatically, making life difficult even for the middle class. The price of teff, the staple grain, cooking oil, sugar, etc. have skyrocketed.

Oil prices too have gone up as well. A liter of petrol now costs birr 5.50. The government just decided to increase the local price to birr 6.88 per liter. The country now spends close to $1 billion, a 250 percent increase over two years ago, soaking up almost 40 percent of all imports.

Foreign exchange reserves are at an all time low. There is a booming underground market in foreign currency. One US dollar ($1) now fetches almost 10 birr on the black market, instead of the official birr 8.63.

Add to these political and economic woes 2.6 million Ethiopians that the World Food Program says need emergency food assistance.

External Factors

Mr. Zenawi has carefully and methodically cultivated in the last 15 years the image of a progressive African leader. This carefully orchestrated picture came to unravel back in June once the security forces began spraying unarmed civilians with machine gun bullets.

The Prime Minister’s fabled charm appears to have gone out the window as well. Donors don’t look kindly on regimes that have an aversion to using tear gas or water cannons.

Mr. Zenaw’s government has been rewarded with very generous foreign assistance since coming to power almost 15 years ago. It received $1.5 billion a year, $500 of which was in direct budgetary support with little accounting.

Awash with foreign largesse meant for Ethiopia’s poor, the regime continues to spend lavishly on an elaborate spy network to suppress dissent and to buy off people both at home and abroad.

Money meant for the poor is being spent on lobbyists and public relations firms. McGuire Woods is one of the firms siphoning money from Ethiopia’s poor. Another expensive lobbyist and public relations firm is Scribe Strategies and Advisors.

Add to this the hiring of Annette Scheckler, former head of the Voice of America Horn of Africa service as a special advisor to Prime Minister Zenawi.

The propaganda and disinformation machine is in full throttle.

Fortunately, no amount of public relations prettying can hide the ugly deeds of a nasty regime. Foreign donors too appear to be waking up to the true nature of this violent, kleptocratic group. Witness the cold shoulder Tony Blair gave to his old pal Zenawi at the recent “progressives” summit in South Africa.

Zenawi understands the language of money well. Thus when the European Union threatened to withhold some $500 million in annual budgetary support, he arranged for a secret emergency trip to Brussels to plead with EU authorities.

The bottom line: the pressure by the Diaspora and the financial squeeze is working.

We may never know the details of how Bryson Hull’s story was assembled. But there are interesting facts both about the writer and the so-called experts.

C. Bryson Hull is an American journalist who has in-depth expertise on issues related to Texas, including the Enron Scandal. His expertise in Africa consists of reporting from Nairobi for less than a year. He had an expertise of exactly two weeks in Ethiopia when he filed his analysis of why Meles will survive the political storm.

Another expert who predicts “little brushfire rebellions” and not a national uprising is Matt Bryden of the International Crisis Group. What, you may wonder, is Mr. Bryden’s expertise on Ethiopia? Mr. Bryden had a two-year stint (1994-1996) as a UN field officer in what appears to be the distribution of emergency food. It does not take much to read tealeaves in Africa.

Seasoned experts such as Christopher Clapham of Cambridge University with decades of experience were not consulted. Clapham wrote back in November, 2005:

“It now seems to me beyond any plausible likelihood that the EPRDF government can re-establish its position as an acceptable public authority …It has now reached the point, reached by the imperial and Derg regimes before it, at which its authority has withered away, and cannot be recovered. It has lost ‘the mandate of heaven.”. He concludes:

“The transition in Ethiopia is already under way, and the concern both of Ethiopians and of the international community should be to do whatever they can to make it as quick and as peaceful as possible.”

Turmoil at home and the tightening of screws by donors abroad clearly do not bode well for Zenawi and company. The genie of democracy is clearly out of the bottle. The TPLF Houdini who pulled so many tricks in his long, violent career won’t be able to put this one back in the bottle.

The writer can be reached at [email protected]

A critical look at the responses and strategies of Ethiopians to decades of political repression, divisive ethnic policy, continuing impoverishment and territorial disintegration

Before embarking on the issues to be explored in the coming article, let me make a few key remarks related to the historic, remarkable and indeed ridiculous measures undertaken recently by the unelected leadership of Mr Meles Zenawi, which is currently ruling my country, not by the will of the people and the rule of law, but with the barrel of the gun. Firstly, the incarceration of elected MPs whom Ethiopians consider to be their undisputed leaders. Since these victims have done nothing wrong, people feel that the TPLF leadership and its persistent refusal to release them unconditionally clearly shows not only the undemocratic nature of Mr. Meles Zenawi and his followers, but also their non-Ethiopianess and the animosities they hold against Ethiopia and its people.

Secondly, the charging and criminalization of Ethiopian leaders, journalists, and other Ethiopian political activists, including those of US and European nationals of Ethiopian origin who have been working tirelessly day and night. These individuals are still sacrificing their time, energy and money in an attempt to redirect the current course of immeasurable political repression, to be a contributing force for socio-political and economic changes in our country, to free Ethiopia from the yoke of a divisive ethnic policy imposed by a self installed regime, and to help our people escape from periodic and endless handouts provided by western governmental and non-governmental charity organizations. The charges against them on grounds of treason and genocide provides obvious, solid evidence that Meles Zenawi and those surrounding him are in a state of complete panic; they appear not to know how to deal with and respond to the rationally formulated demands of, and various charges made against them by the people of Ethiopia. The hastily, preposterously formulated charges, simply intended to intimidate Ethiopian intellectuals whom Ethiopians from border to border are proud of, suggests an obvious realization among the members of the self-installed ruling party of the incalculable damages they are inflicting on both Ethiopia and its people. The preposterous charges are therefore meant to be tactical and defensive. One may wonder whether the leadership of EPRDF and its dependents, especially those working for Meles Zenawi in the judiciary system, have ever been aware of or paid the necessary attention to the definitions of “treason” and “genocide,” accusations levelled against a large number of concerned Ethiopians among us.

Historical Sources of Current Political Turmoil, Divisive Ethnic Policy and Continuing Economic Impoverishment

Let me now go back and attempt to outline the complex, critical issues stated in the title of this article; for me these issues are the source of much anxiety, which I feel compelled to share. These have become not only the most challenging blockages to working with each other cooperatively and collectively, but are also instrumental in extending the duration of power of repressive regimes, the ongoing loss of an incalculable number of human lives, and the deterioration of the economic and health sectors of the country of Ethiopia.

Much to my dismay and disappointment, however, many Ethiopians, even well known Ethiopian and foreign historians of Ethiopian politics and the changing face of Ethiopia, speak today about Ethiopia finding itself at a “crossroads.” Most express themselves even more explicitly, saying that Ethiopia has been at a crossroads since the 15 May 2005 national parliamentary election, as if Ethiopia and Ethiopians have not always faced

testing and defining moments, and endless tragedies and persistent sufferings at the hands of successive dictators, assisted at one time by the former Soviet Union and another by the United States and its allies.

Indeed, as far as Ethiopians are concerned, Ethiopia has often faced periodic tragedies and political crises, particularly since the upheaval of the bloody 1974 Ethiopian revolution which marked the end of Emperor Haile Selassie’s forty-four year rule and the disintegration of the long existing feudal system, including the suspension of Ethiopia’s constitution. The subsequent years of the Ethiopian revolution were not only terrifying, cruel and most bloody, leaving an irremovable scar among Ethiopians and on the geo-political map of Ethiopia, but can also be characterized as the darkest years in the history of our country and its people. Tragically (and disappointingly), however, it was during this painful period that Ethiopian intellectuals, political actors and activists became divided and hostile to each other, even paralyzed. There was neither an ability to link together the efforts, energy and skill of Ethiopians to work cooperatively – creating wisely crafted, well-structured and respected political and socio-economic organizations operating meaningfully and professionally, upon which the voiceless majority of Ethiopians of the period could depend – nor to collectively challenge and fight back against the uninvited, unexpected emergence of the fascistic enemy of the military regime known as the Derg or Committee, which, after deposing the aging Emperor Haile Selassie on 12 September 1974, became the Provisional Military Administrative Council and the uncontested and most ruthless ruler of my country and oppressor of my people. The newly emergent dictatorship of Mengistu Hailemariam, previously unknown in the land of Ethiopia, was soon accompanied by the most appalling urban bloodshed, by mass indiscriminate executions of tens of thousands in their own houses, in offices and in the streets, day and night, without any charge or trial; and for the first time in the history of Ethiopia, there was a mass exodus of Ethiopians into neighbouring countries in all directions, using all available means of transportation, whether cars, horses, donkeys or of course, on foot.

As historical records clearly indicate, the power grab by a group of army officers from the people’s revolution and the toppling of Emperor Haile Selassie were the beginning of massive repression of Ethiopians by their own successive regimes – by their own compatriots, colleagues, neighbours – with a total terrorization of the entire population of Ethiopia that persists to the present day. It was also after the downfall of Emperor Haile Selassie’s government that internal and external conflicts and wars became rife – a common phenomenon in every corner of Ethiopia – and the impact of periodic drought and famine began to be felt more heavily. It is also true that the upheaval of the 1974 Ethiopian revolution and its consequences have changed the face of Ethiopia itself, including its decline in status within the international community from a highly respected nation to a beggar, and from a stable country to a battleground of newly emerging fronts and hostile groups. Now, due to the persistent and irreparable divisions that arose among Ethiopian opposition groups of the period (mainly caused by internal power struggles and widespread unfounded suspicions towards each other), most Ethiopians today, but especially the generation who had been in the forefront of the revolution, look back to the Ethiopian revolution with pain and regret for their role in the downfall of Emperor Haile Selassie, and profound nostalgia regarding his rein.

The Current Political Turmoil in Ethiopia: Responses, Opportunities and the Challenges of Resistance

Events and political crises in Ethiopia, with systematic killings and atrocious crimes being inflicted upon our people, are presently worsening day by day. The political position of the unelected leader, Meles Zenawi, is trembling, and his political status, including the positive perceptions he had tactically created among the leaders of the international community, is now vanishing in the eyes of world leaders, international journalists, and the leaders of human rights organizations and other non-governmental institutions. The creatively invented accusations he directs at his political opponents are finding no listeners either inside or outside Ethiopia. The TPLF-controlled media talks day and night but for many years has had no audience. Saddest of all, even when the TPLF media occasionally presents a factual news item, because it came from a transmission of the discredited TPLF leadership, Ethiopians tend to believe it only if the authenticity is confirmed by other media channels or other information sources. Also, the leadership of the unelected ruling party in Ethiopia has recently been progressively exposing its true, natural face and behaviour, not surprisingly given the unpopular and hostile measures undertaken, this is creating more and more enemies both at home and in the international community.

Additionally, it is undeniably also true that Mr. Meles and those surrounding him have, both knowingly and unknowingly, been engaged in providing Ethiopians at home and abroad, who are struggling for their freedom, equality and dignity, with a goodly amount of fuel conducive to generating additional energy and encouragement to collectively and uninterruptedly intensify the political and diplomatic war to end the nearly fifteen years of repressive rule of the TPLF and its entire leadership.

In more explicit terms, the most vicious measures undertaken in recent times by the unelected ruling party against the innocent and peace loving Ethiopians – including the incarceration of our leaders, journalists, and leaders of civil society; the continuation and intensification of killings, including women and children; and the open criminalization of those whom Ethiopians see as their most indispensable human assets, charging them with treason and genocide must be employed as appropriately and effectively as possible by all peace loving Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia both to fuel our energy and motivation, and as forces of unification to increase the direct participation of our people in the resistance and consolidate our voices, speaking in a dramatic fashion against the illegal rule of our people and country by an unelected quasi-foreign enemy.

Indeed, in logical terms, it would be reasonable to expect that the incalculable, appalling crimes currently being committed against our people – which for the TPLF leadership have become an obsession and a permanent culture – and the selection of Ethiopian political activists and human rights defenders to be charged, with the intention to hunt and imprison or kill us, would have had some positive effects. It would have been used as an effective bridge to link and strengthen our efforts, bringing together the knowledge and management capacities and the lobbying experience of various political and legal actors to enable us to achieve the goals desired by the people of Ethiopia.

Regrettably and most disappointingly, however, this has not been the case. While the situation described above is the reality in today’s Ethiopia and the daily experience of Ethiopians, and while wide-ranging opportunities have been created to free our people from decades of political repression, divisive Ethnic Policy, continuing impoverishment and gross and persistent human rights violations, it is only a few Ethiopians who are actively, tirelessly working in the forefront of the political and diplomatic wars being currently waged against the unelected leadership of Meles Zenawi, sacrificing their energy, time and money and even their lives. I am aware that uncovering for public discussion and debate the long-existing wounds and suggesting that new differences, disputes and divisions are developing among Ethiopians at home and abroad may have unintended effects and consequences, especially in these uncertain and sensitive times. It is, however, my deepest conviction that the culture of “don’t mention and don’t discuss at this time” applied to the actors and factors that are smoldering in our minds and hearts as we stand at the beginning of a journey, confronting hugely long distances to travel in the fight against a common enemy with an enormous and complex arsenal of power, can stand in our way. That is, a culture of not treating the wounds and not tackling the unfolding differences and divisions in a timely fashion can have dramatically harmful effects, serving as an obstacle – a bottleneck – standing in the way of the progress and eventual achievement of the intended goals and desires of our people. These are the factors that have in recent times become major sources of my anxiety. It is indeed disappointing and even hurtful to witness that, while almost the entire Ethiopian population would like to see the immediate removal of the quasi-foreign and most ruthless leadership of Meles Zenawi, with its divisive policies, from the land of Ethiopia; while millions of knowledgeable and skilled Ethiopians are well aware that Ethiopia is badly in need of their efforts, management and legal skills and other experience; while they, the silent majority, eagerly await the days of liberation and are prepared to test and share the fruits of freedom – yet they remain reluctant to stand side by side in the forefront of resistance, hand in hand with their compatriot sisters and brothers, collectively facing the complexity, challenges, anxieties and pains being experienced today by a limited but determined section of Ethiopian society.

It may also be healthy to state specifically that, while complex, multiple strategies still need to be wisely crafted, and projects need to be planned and carried out on various fronts – huge efforts that will require our collective hands and efforts – some of our compatriots continue to show unwillingness and inability to compromise, to accept the universal saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and the principles of a “one-man, one-vote” system, and to work together harmoniously within the resistance for the collective well-being of our people and the future liberation of our country. In recent times this has become a source of wrangling, frustrating highly motivated, active and productive supporters of Kinijit, thereby incapacitating the Kinijit Support Group itself and increasing the sources of my anxiety – the likely extension of the duration of stay of Meles’s regime in power. Indeed, it is more than depressing, it is frightening, even appalling to continually hear uncompromising statements, rigid standpoints and controlling behaviours from our compatriots, who are spending a good amount of time wrangling over issues such as “who is going to be the leader of the Kinijit Support Group,” or themselves believing and tirelessly making all possible efforts to convince others that, without their leadership and secretively devised methods, the established or planned Kinijit Support Groups will be either snatched or destroyed by those of Meles’ cadres who are primarily wandering aimlessly through some States and European countries. As a result, constructive ideas meant to help in approaching and enlisting those among the silent members of each community within the Ethiopian Diaspora and friends of Ethiopia who have managerial, diplomatic and lobbying experience – so as to add their voices to the broader camp of resistance and effectively utilize their badly needed skills – have often been resisted and rejected with the traditional argument and suspicion that those who are not yet involved might possibly (or perhaps must) have previously served or be otherwise associated with the regime of Ethiopia’s enemy – Meles and those surrounding him. This, at least in my view, is a very bad assumption, a self-centered and damaging strategy – a potential challenge and a possible bottleneck to the resistance.

Given the exceptional issues facing us, and especially given that our leaders and a disproportionately high number of other Ethiopians, including women and children, are languishing in TPLF’s disease-infected jails and concentration camps, it is time to regain our senses. If we mean to achieve our desires and goals, we will need to sacrifice our energy, time and money and to do this in a constructive, productive and meaningful fashion. We will need first of all to separate ourselves from the bad, old and destructive habits and cultures of suspicion, from unnecessary and unhelpful secretiveness and from looking at each other so arrogantly and disparagingly. In this respect, it is my view and deepest conviction that the door of our resistance should be open to every peace-loving Ethiopian and friend of Ethiopia. This should include those who have previously been a part and parcel of the unelected regime of Meles Zenawi, if they are fortunate enough to defect and manage to reach the camp of the people’s resistance, and on the condition that they wholeheartedly believe in and support the people’s struggle.

Purpose of the Main Article

The text above presents an overview of my previous and recent talks addressed to gatherings or courses on issues of the Horn of Africa, combined with some fresh observations of events and political turmoil in Ethiopia. It is my idea to go further with this material, also incorporating new thoughts, when I have the opportunity. The main purpose of the coming article “A Critical Look at the Responses and Strategies of Ethiopians to Decades of Political Repression, Divisive Ethnic Policy, Continuing Impoverishment and Territorial Disintegration” will be to take a close, critical look at the strategies and collective responses of Ethiopians to the 1974 Ethiopian revolution, including the achievements, challenges and failures of the resistance groups at the time to the rise of the Provisional Military Administrative Council, otherwise known as the Derg or Committee. The attempt will be to understand and draw lessons that might be helpful in the current struggle. The factors and actors that may have contributed to the creation, expansion and strengthening of the military, the power structures of the TPLF and EPLF, and their eventual takeover of the whole of Ethiopia from the previous dictator, the regime of Mengistu Hailemariam, will be examined. An attempt will also be made to briefly assess the moods, anxieties, responses and experiences of Ethiopians to the arrival of the invading TPLF/EPLF forces in their villages, towns and cities in May 1991. The extent of the involvement, activities, participation and contributions of opposition groups to the process of democratization in Ethiopia since 1991 will be briefly highlighted. The general development of the current political crisis, and more specifically the confrontation between the quasi-foreign leadership of Meles Zenawi and the people of Ethiopia, are the primary focus of the paper. Therefore substantial attention will be allocated to dealing with the professionalism and organizational structures of major opposition parties both prior to and after the May 2005 parliamentary election, including the involvement and support given by the Ethiopian Diaspora to the opposition. Particular attention will be devoted to the preparations made by Ethiopians for the possibility that the TPLF leadership would employ its usual violent means in the face of losing the election. This includes their responses and newly devised strategies to limit or even eradicate some negative sources of division and destruction in our culture, replacing them with a sense of togetherness great enough to be capable of galvanizing the forces of unity and resistance so as to effectively challenge the inhuman and atrocious criminal measures undertaken by the unelected leadership currently ruling our country by the barrel of the gun.

Readers who wish to contact the author or inquire about the availability of the main article can reach me at [email protected]

By T. Mesfin

Reliable European Union sources tell us Meles Zenawi is in dire straights. He is putting up a brave, tough face in public while desperately pleading with European and American donors to keep the aid money flowing.

The situation is so bad that diplomats are looking for a face-saving formula to get him out of the bind. The main formula under discussion is the release of CUD leaders on bail in exchange for donor money. The Prime Minister is reportedly putting in place an elaborate mechanism to keep CUD leaders politically shackled even if they leave prison. Donors also appear ready to pressure CUD leaders to accept certain preconditions for their release.

We are told the country’s foreign exchange reserves are at an all time low. It’s not clear whether the recent assassination of the President of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the country’s largest, is related to the financial debacle.

A major goal of Mr. Zenawi’s emergency trip to Brussels this weekend is to shore up the rapidly dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

The ruling party’s severe crackdown against opposition parties, civic society leaders and journalists has put donors on the defensive. Releasing at least a few of those arrested may calm some nerves. It is a face saving formula that may work for donors as well. After all, they can always say they pressured Meles to release jailed leaders.

Releasing prisoners will only return the country to the situation that existed before November 1, 2005.

The EU and the US on November 7, 2005, called on Prime Minister Zenawi’s government to ‘restore peace and confidence in the democracy-building process by ensuring due process of law and respect for human rights in accordance with international practice and its own commitments.”

The EU-US plan centered on 10 key demands. These are:

o “Immediate end to the use of lethal force, random searches and indiscriminate beatings and massive arrests.
o All political detainees should be released.
o Speedy review and, where appropriate, release of individuals detained in the recent demonstrations.
o Immediate lifting of any restrictions currently imposed on those CUDP leaders and members not detained.
o Immediate access by families, legal counsel and the international Red Cross and or other appropriate representatives of the international community to jailed CUDP, civil society and media leaders, as well as provision of medicines, food and other humanitarian needs.
o Notification to families of names and whereabouts of detainees, together with appropriate access and provision of humanitarian needs.
o An independent investigation of the deaths and injuries arising from recent events and the events in June.
o Review and revision of parliamentary rules and practices to ensure that all parties represented in parliament can participate on a fair and representative basis.
o Reopening of the private media and promotion of a code of conduct for the media to ensure a balanced and responsible flow of information to the public.
o Appointment of a national election board in consultation with the parliamentary opposition”

The European Union and the United States are duty bound to enforce these demands if they are serious about advancing freedom and democracy in Ethiopia.

In a letter to Meles Zenawi, the Canadian Labour Congress condemns press freedom violations and the repeated attacks on the integrity and human rights of the Ethiopian Teachers Association leaders and rank and file members:
_______________

January 27, 2006

Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
c/o Ethiopian Embassy to Canada
151 Slater Street, Suite 210
Ottawa, ON K1P 5H3
Canada

Re. Ethiopia: Teachers, Journalists and Trade Unionists’ Rights Violated

Dear Prime Minister Meles Zenawi:

On behalf of the Canadian Labour Congress, representing 3 million working women and men throughout Canada, I call on you to uphold the human rights of the many teachers, journalists and trade unionists detained by your government, since November 2005. The whereabouts of some of them are unknown and many have still not been charged nor released.

The Ethiopian Constitution provides that detainees be taken to court within 48 hours of their arrest and informed of the reasons for their detention. While they are waiting for their trials, detainees must have access to legal assistance and be allowed to have visitors. The detainees must therefore be released immediately or charged and brought to court in a fair and transparent process.

Over a hundred teachers, journalists, trade unionists, civil society activists and opposition leaders have been imprisoned in the wake of clashes between protesters and security forces in November. The November clashes followed similar protests in June against election results that the opposition says were rigged. Last Friday again, on January 20, 2006 police opened fire on stone-throwing protesters as annual religious processions were turned into political protests for a second straight day. At least two people were killed and 40 injured in these two days of clashes, according to credible media reports.

On December 16, 2005, fifteen separate charges, including conspiracy, armed insurrection, attempting to subvert the constitution, high treason and genocide, were presented in court by prosecutors against the 131 government opponents and critics detained by Ethiopian authorities, including numerous teachers and trade unionists.

Among those accused are Mr. Kassahun Kebede, Chairman of the Addis Ababa branch of the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA), Mrs. Mulunesh Ababayehu, activist member in the ETA Women Wing and Dr. Taye Woldesmiate, ETA President (currently overseas).

Meeting on January 4, 2006, the Second Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court categorically rejected the victims’ appeal to be released on bail. Following the denial of bail, hearings have been adjourned to February 23, 2006.

It is to be recalled that, according to Ethiopian law, being charged of treason does not allow detainees to be released on bail. If found guilty, the accused may face the death penalty. However, defense lawyers have boycotted proceedings for the second time, complaining of being prevented from meeting their clients who, if convicted, face sentences ranging from three years in prison to the death penalty.

These are extremely serious charges. Students’ protests, demanding the release of those detained, have spread to most schools and colleges in Addis Ababa. Students also oppose the act of surrounding schools by armed security forces and soldiers. In Addis Ababa, the Federal police and other security forces broke into school compounds and indiscriminately beat and injured a large number of students and teachers. It is reported that many school girls were severely injured.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reported this week that the Ethiopian government recently expelled The Associated Press correspondent in the country, Anthony Mitchell, who reported news last Friday of renewed clashes between police and protesters in the capital, Addis Ababa. He had to leave on Sunday after government officials gave him 24 hours to depart. Mitchell, a British citizen, who worked in Ethiopia for more than five years, also worked for the U.N. news agency IRIN. The Ethiopian government has imprisoned 16 journalists since November.

The Canadian Labour Congress strongly condemns press freedom violations and the repeated attacks on the integrity and human rights of the Ethiopian Teachers Association leaders and rank and file members. Many of the detained teachers’ spouses have no earnings. With ETA unable to offer financial support as its assets have been frozen since April 1993, the detentions are creating a strain on many families. We fear that this might be another long, arbitrary and non-transparent court case.

The United Nations have been asked by Education International to send a legal observation mission to Ethiopia to assess the validity of the charges, monitor respect for due process at the coming mass trial, and report back to the UN Security Council.

I urge your government to cease this policy of repression of trade union rights, to guarantee the physical integrity and lives of all trade union leaders and activists, and to take action against those police and civilians who have breached the laws protecting trade union rights.

Sincerely,

Kenneth V. Georgetti
Canadian Labour Congress
President

cc. CLC Officers

CLC Executive Committee
His Excellency Dr. Berhanu Dibaka Kuma, Ethiopian Ambassador to Canada
Honourable Minister, Foreign Affairs Canada
Honourable Minister, Canadian International Development Agency
International Labour Organization
Education International
International Federation of Journalists
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions – African Regional Office

Transportation and Communications Minister Junedin Sado’s opponent during the May 15 elections, Wzt Minisha Girma, has been kidnapped by security forces.

Minisha had defeated Junedin in the Oromiya regional elections, but he accused her of cheating and asked the Election Board to conduct reelection. The Board then declared him a winner after a fake revote. He is now appointed by Meles Zenawi as the Minister of Transportation.

Right after the May elections, Junedin’s cadres shot several bullets on Minisha’s house in Iteya Woreda, Arsi. She escaped the attempt on her life and went into hiding in Addis Ababa. Last Thursday, January 19, the security forces caught upto her. Minisha’s family are unable to locate her and they are gravely concerned for her well-being.

It was good news to hear Secretary of State, Hilary Ben, announcing from Addis Ababa, the withdrawal of direct budget support to the regime of Melese Zenawi. While appreciating this first step taken by the British Government, the campaign organized by Support Organizations of Kinijit, UEDF and the Consortium of Civic Organizations in the UK have continued with a candle light vigil yesterday and another one is planned for Friday, January 27.

Appealing to and lobbying the British Government shall continue until the Ethiopian people get respite from the indiscriminate killing, whole sale repression and violent human rights violation perpetrated by Melese Zenawi and his rouge regime. The killing machine of the TPLF/EPRDF is now turned against Christians. It is to be recalled that the regime had raided mosques and killed worshipers while in prayer in the past.

Britain along with the United States administration has played significant roles in the regime change that took place in Ethiopia in 1991. TPLF/EPRDF as a front and with Melese Zenawi as its leader came to power with the ‘blessings’ of Britain and the United States with the condition that human rights and democratization will be the guiding principles of government. After fifteen years of extensive and comprehensive support, consultation, and persuasion, Melese Zenawi has chosen to go his way, the way of revolutionary democracy, and in the event he is on the verge of loosing very useful allies, Britain and the United States. Melese has betrayed their trust.

“… the provision of budget support is based upon shared commitments between partners, one of which is upholding human rights. Recent political events have led to a breach of trust on this. [Letter to the Times, Hilary Benn, 19/01/06]”

Budget Support means “cash in hand on the level of government”. It is sheer arrogance if not naive on the part of Meles Zenawi to loose both a dependable alley like Britain and a vast amount of cash that is poured in annually into the coffers of TPLF/EPRDF via the conduit known as the treasury.

The British government had assumed that it had found a dependable African partner in the person of Melese Zenawi. Zenawi has rejected Britain and it mediation in the current crisis in Ethiopia and would have to pay a heavy price for it. Secretary of State for Development has started by turning off the tap for direct budget support but he may have to turn off more taps to bring Melese Zenawi and his regime to their senses.

The Ethiopian people must be pleased by the beginning of the end of British support for TPLF/EPRDF. Plaudits to Secretary of Overseas Development Hillary Ben. It is now most likely that the British government will work towards the implementation of the latest EU resolution, the publication of the final report of Ms. Anna Gomez, use its access through the Africa Commission to reach out to African governments to live up to the sprit of NEPAD and most important of all persuade the American administration to firmly back the campaign for human rights and democracy in Ethiopia.

The regime of Melese Zenawi may react to the cut in budget support by printing more paper money to pay wages of its ‘federal and Agazi’ killing divisions. This means the exponential rise of prizes of essential goods like bread, cooking oil, fuel, etc. which will spread and deepen the crisis to the extent that the privileged and protected sections in the TPLF/EPRDF camp also become engulfed in the crisis.

The crisis has deepened at the political level for some time now. It now appears that it is getting entrenched in the social and economic areas as well. TPLF/EPRDF shall reap the benefit of the leadership of Melese Zenawi that is leading it to the abyss.

Melese Zenawi and his comrades may be self-confessed atheists but they should not be allowed to desecrate the religious space of worshiping Christians and Muslims by gunning down believers on the act of worship. Violating the profane space of believers is transgression of the highest order. The international community should take notice of the vandalism and savage act by no less than a regime ruling over 70 million people. Melese Zenawi has to be stopped before it is too late. Failing to act now will lead to chaos and anarchy in Ethiopia that will in turn destabilize the entire region of north-east Africa. The way to fight international terror is to stop local tyranny and seek alliance for peace and stability with forces fighting for human rights and democracy and not the other way around. There will be no dependable alley in north-east Africa other than the Ethiopian nation and standing against the democratic aspirations of such a nation is a recipe for disaster.
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Support Groups for Kinijit, UEDF & Civic Organizations in the United Kingdom