In a Letter to the Editor, European Union Chief Election Observer takes to task the Woyanne-controlled Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) for publishing a distorted report about a statement released by the Election Observation Mission. Read the letter below:
Letter to the Editor
To: ENA, Ethiopian News Agency
From: Thijs Berman, EU EOM Chief Observer
Addis Ababa, May 26, 2010
Dear Sir,
With more than great interest I have read your article this morning (“EU EOM says NEBE competent, professional to administer national election”, as published in the Ethiopian Herald) on our findings regarding the May 23 elections in Ethiopia. You may imagine that I, as the Chief Observer, find it highly important that the Ethiopian citizens have full access to accurate public information on these findings.
Being a former journalist myself, I understand that you cannot possibly highlight everything present in a report of 11 pages, in an article that is necessarily much shorter. However, in this article, you exclusively show the positive points we have mentioned on these elections. Not the smallest point of our regrettably important list of factual criticism found room in your text.
We drew a nuanced, albeit critical picture of these elections. One the one hand, these elections were well organized, orderly, peaceful and calm until the day after election day. On the other hand, there was no level playing field between the ruling party and the opposition. The ruling party has used state resources in its campaign. Many opposition leaders are in exile or in prison. Furthermore, the issue of transparency raises serious concerns, and fundamental freedoms, such as the freedom of information, are not fully respected. These findings are documented by facts, observed by our 170 highly professional observers.
I would hope that your newspaper attaches just as much importance as I do to balanced information, and that you would wish to inform the Ethiopian citizens about these facts. This requires that you allow your readers to form their opinion on all our findings in a balanced way, in respect of the binding Ethiopian Media Code of Conduct for the elections (Art. 2.1, 2.2 and 2.12b; Art.3.1, 3.5 in the draft version) of which, regrettably, your article is in clear violation.
Perhaps it would ask too much space in your newspaper to publish the executive summary of our Statement fully. Instead, I would urge you to publish this letter as a right to reply, with our short press release on our Preliminary Statement, and the link to the EU EOM website (www.eueom-ethiopia.org) where your readers can download all our texts freely.
Best regards,
Thijs Berman
EU EOM Chief Observer
www.eueom-ethiopia.org
A former top U.S. official on Africa says Ethiopian opposition parties failed to get equal access to the media in the run-up to Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Herman Cohen (1989-93) said, “This time opposition media and opposition groups were not given fair time on the media and opposition media tends to be suppressed and in that sense I don’t think it was a fair election.”
He added, “In contrast to the 2005 election, this seems to be rather peaceful and administratively ok, so I think it is an improvement,” said Cohen, a specialist in African and European affairs.
He expressed doubt opposition complaints and their call for a new vote would amount to anything, but added “If the opposition rejects [the election] then it makes it difficult to consider the election legitimate.”
Cohen said despite the flaws it was important for the opposition to have taken part. “I always tell the opposition that if they do not participate then there is no reason for the government to commit fraud, so they should always participate and if there is fraud everyone will know.”
He said unlike the 2005 election, it is unlikely there will be violence.
“In 2005, they (government) reacted to violence with lethal force and I think the opposition groups have a vivid memory of the results,” he said.
Also, the current top U.S. diplomat for Africa, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, said Tuesday the Ethiopian government took “clear and decisive steps” that ensured it would win the election.
Ethiopia’s ruling party claimed a landslide victory this week in the first vote since a brutal crackdown in 2005, but some observers and human rights groups say the election was heavily tilted in favour of the government. After the election results were announced on Tuesday, thousands of government supporters rallied in the streets of Addis Ababa, celebrating the victory.
Ethiopia’s opposition leaders are sceptical of the official results. One of the top opposition leaders, Hailu Shawel, said the election was “ridiculous” because it was completely controlled by the ruling party. He told reporters Wednesday intimidation and fraud influenced Sunday’s elections.
Ethiopia’s electoral board said on Tuesday that the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and allied parties had won a Sunday election by a landslide.
European Union chief election observer Thijs Berman praised the polling for being peaceful and orderly, but noted that there was an “uneven playing field,” according to news reports.
[Meles Zenawi, head of Ethiopia’s ruling tribal junta, surrounded by heavy security at a victory rally in Addis Ababa, May 25, 2010 – Photo: Reuters]
The run-up to the vote, and the voting process itself, were characterised by the absence of a free, independent media.
Observers reported the harassment and intimidation both of voters and of journalists in the run-up to the election. The Ethiopian police, and an opposition party, said two opposition members had been shot dead by the police after the election, news reports said.
Against this backdrop, the International Press Institute (IPI) today called on any future government to relax its control of the media.
“No free and fair elections can be held in the absence of a vibrant and free media, whether it is in Ethiopia or elsewhere,” said Mesfin Negash, managing editor of Addis Neger, in an email to IPI. “Ethiopia failed miserably to have both: free and vibrant media, and therefore a free and fair election.”
He added: “Local independent media outlets and international correspondents in Ethiopia reported the election under serious pressure.” Referring to a “Code of Conduct for the Mass Media and Journalists” issued by the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) earlier this year, Negash said: “It prohibits interviewing voters within a 500-meter radius of a polling station. It was even prohibited to take a photo in polling stations … Just outrageous … Practically, however, we have seen that government journalists were transmitting live from within polling stations.”
Addis Neger, a popular independent weekly newspaper, decided to stop publishing in November 2009 after its editors and managers received a credible warning that they were to be targeted under anti-terrorism legislation.
In the months preceding the May elections, IPI called on the Ethiopian authorities to relax their stranglehold on the independent media, and condemned attempts by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government to limit the flow of information to people in the country.
“IPI firmly believes that no election can be deemed free or fair if there is no robust and independent local media to report on alleged government abuses, cover opposition candidates, or report on corruption,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “The Ethiopian government must relinquish its somewhat obsessive desire to control the flow of information in the country.”
Following Ethiopia’s last round of parliamentary elections in 2005, dozens of journalists and opposition activists were jailed on fabricated charges, and several publications and civil society organizations were shut down.
Since then, the Ethiopian authorities have made every effort to manage the information presented in the press. Broadcast media are entirely state run and self-censorship is the norm amongst journalists for Ethiopian Television and Radio, according to IPI research.
Many of the print publications shut in 2005 remain closed. Local reporters continue to be arrested, harassed and intimidated, and since 2005, several foreign journalists have been detained or expelled from the country for covering sensitive issues. Recently, the government began jamming Voice of America shortwave broadcasts, which it compared to Radio Mille Collines, one of the stations involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
In March 2010, the Ethiopian Supreme Court ruled that four publishers had to pay exorbitant fines originally rendered void under a 2007 pardon. The publishing companies were shut during the media crackdown of 2005, and the editors and publishers were jailed on treason charges. Despite the fact that all were either pardoned or acquitted, the government continued to push for the fines.
Finally, a slew of repressive laws passed in the last two years ensure that journalists work in a climate of fear.
“Everything done by [government print and broadcast media] is highly controlled by party people assigned at every level of the production of news and commentaries,” said Negash, referring to the ruling EPRDF. “The private and independent media is also crippled… Internally, most of the independent newspapers lack the capacity to provide quality and influential information. Their circulation is very small and limited to the big cities.”
He noted: “The few with the potential to provide such quality information are tied up with their fear and economic interests. As a result, they are too shy and apologetic in dealing with major issues of democracy and freedom of speech.”
The European Union’s chief election observer Mr.Tijis Berman’s comments have confirmed other reports coming from Ethiopia that the national elections held on Sunday, May 23rd were neither fair nor free. During a press conference in Addis Ababa, Mr. Tijis Berman stated that last weekend’s poll was conducted on an “uneven playing field” that favored the party of the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Mr. Johnnie Carson, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the State Department told the House Foreign committee, “we note with some degree of remorse that the elections were not up to international standards…the government has taken clear and decisive steps that would ensure that it would garner an electoral victory.”
Dr. Merara Gudina, leader of Mederek, the largest opposition coalition, stated in an interview that the Ethiopian 2010 election “doesn’t look like an election even by African standards.” Dr. Negasso Gidada, another Mederek leader added, “…some of his party’s observers had been blocked and arrested in northern Ethiopia, and others had been intimidated.” Similar stories of massive intimidation and harassment of opposition candidates, activists and observers have been heard from most of the leaders of the opposition parties who took part in the elections, including Ato Hailu Shawel, the leader of AEUP, signatory and party to a code of conduct agreement with the ruling party few months ago.
A resident of Addis Ababa told Human Rights Watch “Intimidation to register and to vote for the ruling party is everywhere, if the local administration is against you; they’ll be after you forever. They can come and round you up at will.” Human Rights Watch also reported, “that during April and May, officials and militia (known as tataqi in Amharic) from the local administration went house to house telling citizens to register to vote and to vote for the ruling party or face reprisals from local party officials such as bureaucratic harassment or even losing their homes or jobs…” Human Rights Watch ended its report on the 2010 election by stating, “Ethiopia is an authoritarian state in which the government’s commitment to democracy exists only on paper, the question is not who won these elections, but how can donors justify business as usual with this increasingly repressive government?”
Advocacy for Ethiopia (AFE) and Ethiopian American Civic Advocacy (EACA) reject the results of the 2010 elections in Ethiopia. The ruling regime EPRDF, by claiming to have a so -called “landslide” election victory with a margin of over 96%, has put itself in line with other dictators including Mengistu Haile Miriam and Idi Amin of Uganda who all boasted landslide wins of more than 90% votes. Several advocacy and human rights groups have previously expressed their profound concern about the lack of conditions necessary to conduct free and fair elections in Ethiopia. The ruling TPLF/EPRDF has once again failed Ethiopia, Africa and the international community.
With overwhelming evidences of election irregularities as indicated by European elections observers, AFE and EACA therefore, reject a process and outcome that fails far short of being free and fair by all accepted international standards, principles, and norms of holding free and democratic elections. Moreover, Birtukan Mideksa, the leader of UDJ and thousands of other political prisoners still languish in EPRDF’s jails.
AFE and EACE call on the international community to reject the results of the 2010 elections and boycott the charade to crown a brutal dictator for another five years. AFE and EACA call on all who believe in human rights, the rule of law and democracy to be reenergized and intensify the struggle for freedom by charting in unison a national platforum that is inclusive of all those striving for democracy, human rights and the rule of law to prevail in Ethiopia.
Advocacy for Ethiopia
PO Box 892, El Segundo, CA 90245-0892 USA
AdvocacyForEthiopia.org
Tel: 202-386-3037
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) — An eight-party opposition coalition called Medrek called Wednesday for a rerun of the election and said it would not be deterred by the ruling party’s desire to have a single-party state.
“In spite of all the sacrifices paid, both by the nation and by the respective parties, this election simply does not pass the test so we are calling for a rerun of the whole election in the presence of independent election administrators and observers,” said Beyene Petros, the chairman of Medrek.
“This election — let me take that word back, this activity — that took place on May 23, we don’t consider it a genuine election but rather a drama acted by the EPRDF,” he told a news conference in the capital Addis Ababa.
Medrek has won only one seat in parliament so far.
The country’s second biggest opposition party, the All Ethiopian Unity Organization, also rejected the result of the elections and called Wednesday for a rerun.
A European Union observer mission said the election was marred by the EPRDF’s use of state resources for campaigning, putting the opposition at a disadvantage ahead of the vote, but this did not mean the count itself was invalid.
The United States said Ethiopia’s election failed to meet international standards and called for stronger democratic institutions in the country, a key U.S. ally in Africa.
Western diplomats are watching closely to see how the opposition will react after many of its senior leaders lost their seats in the parliamentary victory for Meles, who is looking to foreign investors to help accelerate development.
At the last election, an opposition coalition cried foul after the EPRDF and its allies won 327 seats. Riots erupted in the capital on two separate occasions. Security forces killed 193 protesters and seven policemen died.
Oromia is home to the Oroma, Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group with 27 million out of 80 million people. The area produces most of the coffee in Africa’s biggest grower, along with oil seeds, sesame and livestock, which are major exports.
Oromo had been seen by analysts as an opposition stronghold but the EPRDF won all 178 of the region’s parliamentary seats.
Oromo politicians said the government was cracking down on them ahead of the poll. Both the government and the opposition said members were murdered in Oromia by the other side in the four weeks leading up to the May 23 poll.
The European Union Election Observation Mission has issued the following press statement regarding last Sunday’s (May 23) general elections in Ethiopia. It is reported that after reading the statement, Meles Zenawi called the Chief Observer, Thijs Berman, to his office and threatened to expel him and his team from the country. The beggar dictator must have forgotten that without the financial assistance he receives from EU and the U.S., he cannot last 1 more month in Ethiopia and continue to loot and plunder the country.
Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA — The European Union Election Observation Mission to Ethiopia (EU EOM) assessed the election day as peaceful, calm, with high voter turnout for Ethiopia’s fourth elections to the House of Peoples’ Representatives and State Councils.
“I commend the Ethiopian people’s commitment to democracy, as the massive turnout and the peaceful vote is a big achievement for all citizens, demonstrating their desire to exercise their democratic rights fully”. – said the Chief Observer, Thijs Berman.
NEBE organized the elections in a competent and professional manner, however, with some technical difficulties. NEBE has failed to gain the confidence of opposition political parties, as in many regions NEBE officials were perceived to have links with local government authorities.
The EU EOM found that the elections fell short of certain international commitments, notably the lack of level playing field for all parties and the transparency of the process.
The political atmosphere during the weeks leading up to the election was generally calm and peaceful. Nevertheless, the EU EOM observed a climate of apprehension and insecurity, during which the quantity of complaints gradually increased.
The election campaign was peaceful overall and somewhat low-key until the last days of campaigning. The EU EOM observed that the ruling party, EPRDF, had at times used state resources for campaign purposes, contributing to an unlevel playing field leaning in favour of the ruling party in many areas.
The EU EOM observed that the media generally ensured a neutral tone when covering main campaign events; however, more than 50 % of campaign coverage was given to the ruling party in the state-owned media. The media were cautious in their reporting. A generous amount of free airtime was allocated by NEBE to all 63 political parties, but the limited outreach of print and broadcast media around the country weakened voters’ ability to make an informed choice.
The EU EOM will stay in country to observe the tabulation of the results and the announcement of the final results. It will issue its final report within two months of the completion of the entire electoral process.
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Herman Cohen (1989-93) said, “This time opposition media and opposition groups were not given fair time on the media and opposition media tends to be suppressed and in that sense I don’t think it was a fair election.”
Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA — The European Union Election Observation Mission to Ethiopia (EU EOM) assessed the election day as peaceful, calm, with high voter turnout for Ethiopia’s fourth elections to the House of Peoples’ Representatives and State Councils.