Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (AFP) – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir yesterday taunted the international community by arguing that an arrest warrant against him for war crimes had earned him more support than ever.
Bashir made his statement after meeting Ethiopian Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi (who is also accused by international human rights groups of committing war crimes) in Addis Ababa, on his sixth foreign trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its warrant on March 4.
“For us, the ICC indictment has been positive,” Bashir told reporters.
The veteran leader is accused by the Hague-based court of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, where the UN says six years of conflict has killed 300,000 people.
The arrest warrant was the court’s first against a sitting head of state and was seen as a key step in making world leaders accountable.
But Bashir, who has ruled over Africa’s fractious largest country for two decades, suggested the move had enhanced his domestic and regional standing.
“For the internal front in Sudan, we have all seen how the Sudanese people have come out in a spontaneous way to support the president of Sudan,” he said.
“We have found a very strong stance from the regional organisations like the Arab League and the African Union,” Bashir also said.
No Western representatives were at the airport for Bashir’s arrival yesterday.
A diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said Western ambassadors and envoys would boycott a state dinner in Bashir’s honour after receiving instructions from their capitals not to attend.
But Meles, whose country has often had tense relations with Sudan, stood by his neighbour and said the ICC’s landmark decision was “totally unacceptable”.
“What was done by the ICC to President Omar al-Bashir is an initiative with great implications not only for the people of Sudan, but also for Africans and for Ethiopia,” he said before going into talks with Bashir.
Meles condemned what he said was the “overpolitisation of the humanitarian issues and the overpolitisation of the international justice.”
Bashir has dismissed the notion that the warrant could restrict his travel.
No attempt has been made to arrest him during any of his recent trips, all to countries — Ethiopia included — that were not signatories to the 2002 international convention that created the ICC. Prior to his Ethiopian visit, Bashir on April 1 travelled to Saudi Arabia, where he performed the Umrah, or minor pilgrimage.
On March 30, he attended the Arab League summit in Doha, where other Arab leaders formally pledged their support for the indicted leader and condemned the court’s actions.
“We stress our solidarity with Sudan and our rejection of the ICC decision against President Omar al-Bashir,” the Arab leaders said in the summit’s final declaration.
Bashir has also travelled to Egypt and Libya since the warrant was issued but reserved his first trip for Eritrea.
By Kashmir Hill | Above the Law
Some of our DC-based readers may have spotted this anti-DLA Piper (a law firm) ad making its way around town via taxi. A reader sent us this photo, saying: :I saw this cab on Connecticut Ave. in front of the Mayflower yesterday and it caught my attention. Strange.”
Our first response was, “Bad PR for DLA Piper, but doesn’t everybody already know that blood money is the currency of Biglaw?” Our second response was to find out about this legislation and reach out to the firm.
The American Lawyer wrote in 2008 about the Piper’s playing the flute for the Ethiopian government. Partners Dick Armey, a former House majority leader, and Gary Klein lobbied on Capitol Hill on behalf of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who angered human rights advocates in 2005 with violent crackdowns on protesters during the elections there. The American Lawyer reports that the Piper was playing to the tune of over $50,000 a month. That’s a whole lot of injera.
The taxi ad refers to a bill, {www:S.3457}, introduced by Senators Feingold and Leahy “to reaffirm United States objectives in Ethiopia and encourage critical democratic and humanitarian principles and practices.” Or, in other words, a bill to encourage Ethiopia not to inflict violent crackdowns on its citizens. DLA Piper’s lobbying efforts may have paid off. The bill has been languishing with the Committee on Foreign Relations since 2008.
DLA Piper’s spokesman told us that the firm’s representation of the Ethiopian government actually ended in November. A statement from the firm refers indirectly to the protesting taxi driver (and other DLA Piper opponents): “There are some very vocal elements of the Ethiopian Diaspora, particularly in the Washington area, who are opponents of the current administration in Ethiopia and go to great lengths to try to embarrass or demean those who are associated with it.”
See the full statement, after the jump. DLA Piper may no longer have Ethiopia as a client, but the firm is actively helping to churn out new lawyers over in Addis Ababa.
DLA Piper says its representation of the Ethiopians ceased in November, though it’s still involved in pro bono initiative sending its lawyers to Addis Ababa to teach law school to aspiring Ethiopian esquires.
STATEMENT FROM DLA PIPER
For several years, DLA Piper provided advice and counsel to the democratically elected government of Ethiopia on a wide range of public policy, regulatory, legislative and legal matters. Our work focused on strengthening bilateral relations with the US, including humanitarian, economic and development assistance, trade and investment opportunities, and enhancing relationships with Congress and the Administration. In the past, the firm also provided legal support to the Government of Ethiopia at the International Court of Justice at the Hague on the Ethiopia-Eritrean border dispute. Our government affairs teams have worked with them in London and Brussels as well as Washington, DC.
This representation has ended, but we are continuing to assist Ethiopia on pro bono initiatives. In conjunction with the Northwestern University Law School, DLA Piper lawyers are teaching classes for the next generation of aspiring legal professionals at the law school in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. This is in addition to a number of major pro bono projects we are working on across Africa, including a new project to document systematic sexual violence by the Mugabe government against politically active women in Zimbabwe.
Ethiopia is an emerging democracy and an important ally of the United States in a troubled region of the world. The country has made remarkable progress in the last two decades, moving from dictatorship to a system of free elections, and a commitment to prosperity and greater inclusiveness. There are some very vocal elements of the Ethiopian Diaspora, particularly in the Washington area, who are opponents of the current administration in Ethiopia and go to great lengths to try to embarrass or demean those who are associated with it. While we disagree with these individuals and do not believe their views reflect the majority of Ethiopian Americans, we fully support their right to voice their opinions on this matter.
Source: DLA Piper Pleads Ethiopia’s Case Against Human Rights Sanctions [American Lawyer]
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (afrol News) – The Ethiopian Broadcasting Agency (EBA) has ordered the existing newspapers and magazines to re-register within three months time and further barred property owners of such media from holding positions of editor or deputy editor in their media houses.
The EBA deputy director Desta Tesfaw said the aim of the new set of regulations was to guard against media monopoly and ensure diverse opinions in the industry which the official said plays a critical role in democratic dispensation.
Mr Tesfaw, said individuals registered as having more than two per cent stake in a media house, cannot be an editor-in-chief or deputy editor of publication, saying professionalism has to be brought into the local media.
According to EBA the mandate of the editor-in-chief designated by the publisher encompasses the power to supervise the publication and to determine the content so that nothing may be printed therein against his/her will.
Government critics and analysts said the new regulations are only aimed at trampling on the freedom of the press and media. “Such positions are held by proprietors who could be answerable to all the content in the paper,” one analyst said.
Local media reported Dr Haile Ayele, a specialist on Ethiopian media ethics at Vienna University, Austria saying the theoretical aspect of the law may be valid, but said it was yet another blow for Ethiopia’s media.
The EBA became the regulatory authority over print media when the Council of Ministers by regulation established the government Communications Affairs Office and thereby implicitly abolishing the Ministry of Information.
By Victoria Moores | Flight Global
My recent visit to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia revealed it to be a place filled with contrast, extremely warm characters and confusing timelines.
First up, the timelines. It’s like travelling back in time. No, literally. In Ethiopia it is 2001. Their calendar is seven to eight years behind ours, depending on whether we’ve had our New Year. This means the Ethiopians celebrated the turn of their millennium on 11 September 2007.
The Ethiopian year also has an extra month, giving them the perk that their tourism brochures can truthfully boast 13 months of sunshine (even though the thirteenth month lasts only five days).
Add the fact that they have a completely different time system, and you have the proverbial cherry on the cake. Please note I’m not talking about the three-hour time difference from GMT here.
At what we would normally regard as 0600, it’s twelve o’clock there. They have 12 daytime hours and 12 night time hours, so 1500 by our clock is nine in the afternoon by theirs, a member of Ethiopian’s PR team informs me, somewhat intrigued by my fascination with the subject.
Unsurprisingly this led to a degree of confusion over the timings of my Airline Business cover interview with Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake.
Ethiopian’s PR guy said by e-mail: “Your interview is scheduled at 9:00pm tomorrow. It will be done at the board room. I will arrange a car to pick you from Sheraton at 02:15pm.”
After a bit of clarification, it emerged that the interview was actually scheduled for 1500, not 2100. I take solace from the fact that even Ethiopians find the system a bit confusing.
The moral of this? Don’t expect simplicity from a country which has a 300-letter alphabet.
Then there’s the contrast. The Sheraton in Addis (grounds pictured above) could happily slot in unnoticed among Dubai’s many palatial hotels. The surroundings, beyond the boundries of the luxurious, landscaped hotel compound, however, could not.
Goats wander the edge of the road. Beggars mingle among the cars, selling tissues and audio cassettes. Women and children work on construction sites, the upcoming buildings clad in bamboo scaffolding.
There are colours everywhere, from vibrant parasols to the more sombre, but beautiful, red jewelled coffins stacked up outside shops neighbouring a church. Every dusty side track has a collection of residences, in the loosest possible use of the term, their walls formed from corrugated iron, fabric sheets or, as you go farther off track, wattle and daub.
The country’s warmth, quirkiness and unbreakable spirit can be felt at Ethiopian Airlines’ headquarters, where it’s easy to forget the poverty down town. But, as always, the devil is in the detail. In the ladies’ toilets there’s a container filled with free condoms for the airline’s staff. Outside there is an Ethiopian Airlines advertising billboard, which shows an aircraft but carries the slogan: “All of us have a responsibility to fight HIV/AIDS.”
But the people. The people are amazing. Ethiopian’s chief agrees to pose for a photo with Flight’s mascot, Stefan the pilot. Children and adults greet us with enthusiasm, smiling warmly and proudly as we take pictures. Their happiness is infectious and, amid the poverty, it made me question exactly what we westerners have to be so glum about.
Ethiopians are very family orientated. I regale our hosts with a story about my return flight from my last visit, when a Somalian co-passenger told me about his 70 brothers and sisters (I’ll save you the maths, it was one dad and several mums). Ethiopian’s various PR team members express surprise at the tale, but two of them have nine siblings – maybe not quite as extreme as my Somanlian friend but still a very big family by our standards. I’m introduced to one of the PR manager’s brothers, a restaurant manager at the Sheraton. He greets me like family, lots of photos are taken on their cameras and I’m invited in for coffee.
And then there’s the odd quirky surprise. Beware: Addis Ababa’s altitude makes bottles pop open, as I discovered when my roll-on deodorant successfully aimed, and then fired, its ball at my underarm.
During our trip we visited a cultural restaurant, with local singing, dancing and cuisine. Ethiopians don’t traditionally use cutlery, so a waiter – armed with liquid soap, an ornate kettle and a large dish – appeared, pouring soap and warm water over our hands at the table.
Our shared platter (pictured below) includes injera, a pancake-like bread, which I’d experienced during my previous visit. At the time I wasn’t aware it was a bread and its grey, spongy, flannel-like texture made question whether it was, in fact, animal’s intestines. Injera is served rolled, like a napkin. One of my Ethiopian hosts says unknowing tourists often shake out the injera, neatly placing it on their laps in preparation for the meal.
The Ethiopian PR guys say it’s normal for visitors to have their feet washed after the meal. Thankfully, this didn’t happen and I later gather that this is a standard joke to use on westerners. Unfortunately they weren’t joking when they merrily summoned a local dancer, encouraging Tom (our photographer) and I to mimic the professional’s impossibly controlled neck movements in front of a full audience. I think I’ll stick with journalism.
With the goal of exploring a bit more of this fascinating country, we show our hosts an article in Ethiopian’s in-flight magazine about the ruins of Washa Mikael church, which was built from a single piece of rock and is situated on the outskirts of Addis. It’s accessed by a 45-minute walk, but the article says you can get there by car. One of the PR team says, grinning: “When they say ‘car’, they mean ‘CAR’.” A jeep shows up at the hotel. The engine starts, and I have a terrible feeling that our CAR may have an internal carbon monoxide emissions issue. I don’t mention it.
DSCN2869.JPGAs we steadily trundle on, it emerges that the exact location of our destination is, erm, hazy. At one point we were stopping every 50 feet to ask directions.
We ventured off-tarmac, to an unpaved road, and our route dilemma became a little clearer. We asked two random students (pictured right) for more directions. They, of course, hopped in the back to join our unlikely posse. The road then became bumpy. Very bUmPy.
When we finally arrived at the ruins, Tom and I stood by as a long, passionate discussion ensued between the church’s curators, our driver, Ethiopian’s PR guy and the students. The debate’s key prop was a notice board and the discourse seemed to centre on money, opening hours and more money to use cameras. I don’t know the details; I still hadn’t mastered the 300-letter Amaric alphabet by that point.
Negotiations amicably concluded, the church ruins (pictured left) were revealed in their serene beauty.
Once we’d fully taken in the worn, old building, our intrepid crew, which had now grown to eight including a priest and a guide (or nine with Stefan!), trekked briefly through a eucalyptus-perfumed forest to a nearby vantage point.
The view over Addis was stunning and we all gathered on a large rock to take it in.
It’s hard not to smile and relax when you’re in an environment which is this far removed from normal day-to-day life.
When we were finally reunited with our jeep, a young girl, who seemed to be the daughter of the priest, was keen to see the photos I’d taken of her and her brother. I showed her and she gave me a huge, delighted smile before being summoned back to dad. I captured the two of them together in a final photo.
Seriously, if you get the opportunity, do visit Ethiopia. It’s a fantastic country, filled with fantastic people, who have an amazingly positive outlook on life. I have never smiled, laughed, or felt so humble, on a press trip.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a good news since the flower farms in Ethiopia are destroying the soil. The Woyanne-affiliated flower exporters are using chemical fertilizers that are toxic to the soil and nearby lakes.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia says it is seeking new buyers for its fresh flowers because the global economic downturn is cutting sales in its main market, The Netherlands.
Tsegaye Abebe, head of the state-run Horticulture Development Association, told a news conference late on Saturday the Netherlands bought 65 percent of Ethiopia’s flower exports.
“But the recession affecting the European country is also affecting our revenue,” he said.
Abebe said Ethiopia was now only expecting to earn 60 percent of a projected $280 million from flower exports this year.
The Horn of Africa nation earned $177.6 million last year from the sale of some 1.5 billion stems, the government says.
Ethiopia is now trying to attract buyers in Dubai, Asia, Scandinavia, Russia and the United States to boost income, Tsegaye said.
Offering tax breaks to attract investment, Ethiopia hopes flower exports will overtake coffee and be worth $1 billion annually within five years. Flower farming employs about 60,000 people in the huge country, mostly women.
Neighbouring Kenya earned about $1 billion from horticulture in 2007. Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda are also developing their fresh flower export industries.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ENA) – Funeral procession program for Ethiopia’s renowned artiste Tilahun Gesesse has been issued. The funeral is due to be conducted on Thursday.