Kisut Gebre Egziabher in Teferi Ber, Ethiopia
Source: UNHCR

TEFERI BER, Ethiopia, July 17 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency has reopened the Teferi Ber camp in eastern Ethiopia and begun relocating some 4,000 Somali refugees there from an overcrowded makeshift settlement close to the border with Somalia.

The first two convoys on Friday and Monday carried a total of 1,043 people, who were warmly and loudly welcomed by the local population when they arrived at the UNHCR-run camp here from Kebribeyah, some 120 kilometres to the south. There will be a convoy every three days.

“Praised be to Allah that I managed to escape the chaos and extreme violence of [the Somali capital] Mogadishu with my 10 children to enjoy such a rousing welcome,” said Ader Yusuf, who arrived in Teferi Ber on Friday.

She is part of a group of 4,000 Somali refugees recently granted refugee status by UNHCR and the Ethiopian government after fleeing fighting over the past year in central and southern Somalia between the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government and insurgents.

They have been staying in Kebribeyah, which has limited room for expansion. An estimated 7,000 additional Somalis are waiting to be screened for refugee status at other sites in eastern Ethiopia.

“We looked at a number of options and found that although it is close to the border, Teferi Ber is the best location because there is water,” explained George Menze, head of the UNHCR office in the regional capital, Jijiga. He added that UNHCR and the Ethiopian government planned with other partners to build a school, health centre and other basic infrastructure at Teferi Ber, which lies just 12 kilometres from the border with the self-declared Republic of Somaliland.

In the new camp, the refugees were given food as well as tarpaulins, blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, jerry cans, kerosene stoves and soap. They were to spend three days in a reception centre before moving to their new accommodation.

The residents of Teferi Ber clapped and ululated when Friday’s convoy rolled up at the camp. “This is yet another sign of generous hospitality by the people of Teferi Ber, who hosted up to 49,000 Somali refugees in the past,” said Chanda Cosmas, referring to UNHCR’s use of Teferi Ber as a camp in the 1990s. Cosmas, UNHCR’s deputy representative in Ethiopia, took part in the welcoming ceremonies. The Teferi Ber camp was officially closed in 2001 after all the refugees returned, mainly to nearby Somaliland.

Abdi Hassan, a 60-year-old resident of Teferi Ber, said that refugees caused a lot of environmental damage, while adding: “When they come to us for protection fleeing conflict in their own country, we must extend our welcoming hands.”

Since April 2006, UNHCR has recorded a steady influx of Somali refugees into eastern Ethiopia. This has brought the total number of new asylum seekers to an estimated 23,000. In addition to the 4,000 recognized refugees and 7,000 asylum seekers in eastern Ethiopia, thousands more Somalis remain in remote, difficult-to-access border areas such as Dolo and Suftu in south-eastern Ethiopia.

“We have some new refugees along the border, but they are in areas where we cannot open camps. The locations are also too far away, which makes it difficult to relocate refugees from there to the new camp at Teferi Ber,” said Cosmas.

The reopening of Teferi Ber reverses a trend which has seen the closure of eight out of nine refugee camps in eastern Ethiopia over the past few years and the gradual winding down of UNHCR’s operations for Somali refugees in the area.

At the height of the Somali emergency in 1988, UNHCR was caring for more than 628,000 Somali refugees in Ethiopia, a figure which dropped to 10,365 by the end of organized repatriation to Somalia in 2005. The camp at Kebribeyah today hosts 16,572 Somali refugees most of whom arrived in Ethiopia in 1991.

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SOCEPP Statement on the unfolding reports of Human Tragedy in Ogaden, Eastern Ethiopia

Increasingly disturbing news is trickling out of the Ogaden region in Eastern Ethiopia. In addition to varying reports by different media sources, on July 4, 2007, Human Rights Watch issued a report outlining the ongoing collective punishment perpetrated by the ruling EPRDF on the residents of Ogaden. These punishments include:

* Trade blockade on parts of the region since June, with few goods (including food) permitted into the area, which depends on commercial traffic from neighboring northern Somalia, particularly the coastal towns of Berbera and Bosaso.

* Destroying villages and property, confiscating livestock and forcing civilians to relocate.

SOCEPP Canada is disturbed by this unfolding news of human tragedy. The reported government actions constitute a serious violation of basic human rights as well as International Law. The deprivation of necessities of life is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which violates the very essence of the right to life itself. This tragedy must not be allowed to continue.

We call upon the authorities in Ethiopia to immediately halt this inhuman and collective punishment, lift the blockade and allow the operation of Aid Agencies to provide the basic necessities of life to residents of the Ogaden.

We also call upon the government of Canada, Canadian Humanitarian agencies, concerned NGO’s and the international community to use their influence and pressure the government in power in Ethiopia to end this tragedy immediately and avert similar situations in the future.

SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE FOR ETHIOPIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS – CANADA
P. O. BOX 413 STATION E, TORONTO, ON. M6H 4E3 CANADA.
E-Mail: [email protected]

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CUDP senior leader Andargachew Tsige and Amnesty International representative Martin Hill discuss the sentencing of political prisoners in Ethiopia

BBC TV, July 17, 2007
Part I

Part II

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Hundreds of Ethiopians in Washington DC held a protest rally in front the White House on Monday. The protesters demanded the immediate release of opposition leaders and journalists who were sentenced to life in prison by a kangaroo court in Ethiopia yesterday after a sham trial.

Three of the protesters — Dr Meqdese Fekade, Ms. Lishan Akuma and Ms. Zelekash — had been arrested by the park police and secret service agents for allegedly trespassing police lines and refusing to obey police orders.

Dr Mqedese and Ms. Zelekash were released in the afternoon, but Ms. Lishan was sent to a hospital to get treatment for a dislocated shoulder which occurred while she allegedly resisted arrest. She will stay over night in a hospital, according to the police.

The rally was organized by leaders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Kinijit Washington DC Chapter, UEDF-DC, Tegbar League and other civic groups in collaboration with members of the media, particularly Addis Dimts Radio and Netsanet LeEthiopia Radio.

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CPJ, New York — Ethiopia’s High Court today handed down harsh criminal penalties, including life prison sentences, against six journalists and three publishers on anti-state charges in connection with critical coverage of the government during the deadly unrest in the aftermath of disputed parliamentary elections in 2005, according to local journalists.At least 200 people packed the courtroom in the capital, Addis Ababa, as editors Andualem Ayele of Ethiop, Zelalem Gebre of Menelik, Mesfin Tesfaye of Abay, and Abiy Gizaw of Netsanet were handed life prison sentences and stripped of all civic rights forever, according to defense lawyer Weneawake Ayele. The prosecution last week had requested the death penalty for Tesfaye and Ayele, according to news reports. Gebre and Gizaw were sentenced in absentia.“Receiving a life sentence for criticizing the government is not only outrageous but galling,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. “These severe penalties are out of step with international norms and undermine the democratic credentials of Ethiopia’s government.”

More than 190 people were killed and dozens of opposition leaders and 14 journalists were put on official “wanted lists,” then jailed, when authorities crushed post-election protests alleging poll-rigging by the ruling party in November 2005, following the May elections. The journalists and publishers sentenced today on “outrages against the constitutional order” charges had all produced Amharic-language weeklies that were shuttered in the crackdown. Before 2005, more than 20 newspapers flourished in the country. Today, only five publish under intense self-censorship.

Meanwhile, editor Wenakseged Zeleke of Asqual was sentenced to three years in prison, and deputy editor Dawit Fassil of Satanaw to 18 months in prison, according to Ayele. The court also ordered the civic rights of the journalists suspended for five years. Fassil, who had been released on bail in April after 16 months in prison on charges of “inciting the public through false rumors,” was returned, along with the other defendants, to Kality prison on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, according to local journalists.

Fassil’s publisher, Serkalem Publishing House, which is also publisher of Asqual and Menelik newspapers, and Sisay Publishing and Advertising Enterprise, publisher of Ethiop, were ordered dissolved and fined respectively 120,000 birr (US$13,500) and 100,000 birr (US$11,000) on related charges of committing or supporting outrages to the constitutional order, Ayele said. A third publisher, Fasil, which put out the Addis Zena newspaper, was fined 15,000 birr (US$1,700).

The journalists and publishers, who were sentenced today along with more than 20 opposition leaders, “could” appeal the sentences with Ethiopia’s Federal Supreme Court, Ayele told CPJ. But Information Minister Bereket Simon told the BBC the defendants had “admitted” to attempting to violently overthrow the government and had “asked for clemency.”

Following the sentencing today, state television reported that a plea for clemency had been submitted to the prime minister’s office, according to local journalists. The statement, bearing the signatures of all the defendants, including journalists, accepted full responsibility for the post-election violence, they said.

Two other editors, Wosonseged Gebrekidan of Addis Zena and Dawit Kebede of Hadar, jailed since November 2005, were still on trial on related charges, but did not risk life imprisonment or death, according to local journalists.

“Sadly, this is just the latest example of the authorities’ ongoing repression of the independent press which led CPJ to this year name Ethiopia the world’s worst backslider on press freedom,” Simon said.

By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post

An Ethiopian judge handed life sentences instead of the death penalty to 30 of the country’s top political opposition leaders Monday in a trial the prisoners have called a sham.

The defendants were among an estimated 30,000 people arrested in a widespread crackdown on opposition supporters following Ethiopia’s 2005 elections, when the opposition made major gains despite accusations that the vote was flawed.

While most of those arrested were released after an international outcry, the top leadership of Ethiopia’s main opposition party, along with journalists, a 76-year old professor and the elected mayor of Addis Ababa, have remained locked up in a dingy prison on the outskirts of the capital. One woman, a journalist, gave birth in jail.

The judge in the 14-month trial threw out charges of attempted genocide, but the prisoners were convicted last month of charges including “outrage against the constitution” and “inciting armed opposition.” The prosecution had recommended the death penalty.

In addition to giving the 30 prisoners life sentences, the judge stripped the defendants of their right to vote and to run for office. Five other prisoners were given life terms in absentia.

Eight other prisoners were given terms of one to 18 years, and the trial will continue for 10 prisoners who have chosen to present a defense, which the others had refused.

“I certainly am relieved that the death penalty has been removed,” said Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.), who has sponsored a bill calling for the unconditional release of all Ethiopian political prisoners. “But I would hope the government would go a step further and release the prisoners. They have paid a price for what they felt was simply expressing political views.”

Amnesty International said the jailed opposition leaders were “prisoners of conscience.”

While Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had accused the opposition leaders of inciting violent protests following the elections, a government report later found that the protesters were unarmed and that Ethiopian security authorities had used excessive force, spraying crowds with bullets, targeting protesters with sharpshooters and hunting others down in their homes.

At least 193 people were killed during the crackdown, and autopsies showed that some victims had single bullet wounds to the head, according to the report.

Even as the prisoners’ trial has carried on, U.S. officials have been negotiating behind the scenes for the prisoners’ release — efforts that some of their relatives said were compromised because of Ethiopia’s alliance with the United States in fighting terrorism in the Horn of Africa. The State Department supported Ethiopia’s decision in December to invade neighboring Somalia and oust an Islamic movement, accused of having ties to al-Qaeda, that had taken control in the capital city, Mogadishu, and other major towns.

At various times in the past two months, a deal between the Ethiopian government and the prisoners seemed imminent, only to fall through. Meles has made various offers for the prisoners’ release in return for some form of apology or acceptance of responsibility for the election-year violence.

The prisoners had rejected most of those offers.

The case of Ethiopia’s imprisoned opposition leaders is only part of what U.S. officials, human rights advocates and the Ethiopian opposition say is a broader pattern of repression that continues across the country and is now occurring inside Somalia, where Ethiopian troops and their Somali allies are battling an insurgency.

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopian security officials have continued to arrest and harass people suspected of supporting the opposition, according to U.S. officials. And in Ethiopia’s ethnically Somali Ogaden region, villages have been burned, people arrested and tortured and some killed on suspicion that they supported a militant opposition group known as the Ogaden Liberation Front, according to the group Human Rights Watch and U.S. officials.

“The Ethiopian government needs to start reducing these major barriers,” said Payne. “These political problems certainly impact on the development economically and also in good governance, which the country needs.”

Special correspondent Kassahun Addis in Addis Ababa contributed to this report.

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