Ethiopia-visions of the final battle. By Yilma Bekele
We all should thank the Central Committee of Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front for making things a little clearer in our country. When election season is close the TPLF removes all pretenses and …
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Ethiopia-visions of the final battle.
Tagged with: Andenet Party, Birtukan Midekssa, Ethiopia Dictatorship, ethiopian elections, Woyanne, yilma bekele
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
The Audacity of Evil in Ethiopia
Triumph of Evil?
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”, said Edmund Burke. But what happens when evil triumphs over a good young woman journalist named Reeyot Alemu in Ethiopia? Do good …
Tagged with: albert camus evil, alemayehu mariam, andualem aragie, aristotle nicomachean ethics, Birtukan Midekssa, Eskinder Nega, ethiopia berhan hailu, ethiopia committee protect journalists, ethiopia grand renaissance dam, evil edmund burke, holocaust, martin luther king evil, Meles Zenawi, meles zenawi prison kality, pen american center reeyot alemu, politics, questions 48 summa theologica, reeyot alemu, reeyot alemu amnesty international, reeyot alemu courage journalism, reeyot alemu international women media foundation, reeyot alemu unesco guillermo cano world press freedom prize 2013, rwanda genocide, rwandan gacaca courts, Serkalem Fasil, south africa truth and reconciliation commission, van allen radiation belt, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: The Prototype African Police State
The sights and sounds of an African police state
When Erin Burnett of CNN visited Ethiopia in July 2012, she came face-to-face with the ugly face of an African police state:
…We saw what an African police state looked like
Tagged with: 2011 u.s. state department country reports on human rights practices ethiopia, 2013 world report, alan paton cry beloved country, alemayehu g mariam, Andualem Arage, andualem ayalew, Article 12 Ethiopia constitution, article 17 ethiopian constitution, article 7 (e) (g) rome statute, article 9 1948 universal declaration of human rights, article 9 international covenant on civil and political rights, Birtukan Judge, Birtukan Midekssa, birtukan prison, congressman christopher smith ethiopia, erin burnett cnn ethiopia, Eskinder Nega, Ethiopia accountability, ethiopia african police state, Ethiopia Apartheid, ethiopia arbitrary arrest detention, Ethiopia Corruption, ethiopia european union election observer group, ethiopia federal police, ethiopia hadid shafi ousman, ethiopia massacre 193, ethiopia meles radio mille collines, Ethiopia News, ethiopia police state, ethiopia robocops, ethiopia thug state, ethiopia zemedkun police chief, ethiopian muslims illegal search homes, international criminal court fatou b. bensouda, ken ohashi ethiopia, kinfemichael debebe, meles mel-welliana, meles police state, mitiku damte, nathnael mekonnen, politics, reeyot alemu, solomon kifle voice of america, voice of america ethiopia, woubshet taye, yeshiwas yehunalem, yohannes terefe, zerihun gebre-egziabher
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ode to timidity – the Ethiopian experience
By Yilma Bekele
I knew something was missing. It kept nagging at me, the little voice in side kept saying ‘you know you have been here before.’ I was driving south on the 580 Freeway when it hit me. It …
Tagged with: African Dictators, arab spring ethiopia, behanu nega, Birtukan Midekssa, Dictator Meles Zenawi, Eskinder Nega, ethio, Ethiopia News, ethiopian airlines, Meles Zenawi, TPLF, yilma bekele
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Reeyot Alemu: Young Heroine of Ethiopian Press Freedom
Alemayehu G Mariam
Reeyot Alemu
The past two weeks have been glorious days for Africans. Eskinder Nega, the heroic Ethiopian journalist was honored with Pen America’s Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. The award honors writers throughout the world who
…
Tagged with: Birtukan Midekssa, eskinder nega barbara goldsmith freedom to write award, eskinder nega pen america, ethio, Ethiopia News, Human Rights Watch Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, reeyot alemu feteh, reeyot alemu international women’s media foundation, shimeles kemal, swedish journalists martin schibbye johan persson
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: Kangaroo Justice for Two Swedish Journalists
Alemayehu G. Mariam
Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye in Kangaroo Court
The old adage is that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Could it be said equally that arrogance excuses ignorance of the law? Dictator-in-chief Meles Zenawi recently proclaimed …
Tagged with: african charter on human and people’s rights art. 7 (b), Awramba Times, Birtukan Midekssa, Bulcha Demeksa, diktat, dr. negasso gidada president, Eskinder Nega, Ethiopia 2005 Elections, ethiopia constitution art. 13 (2), ethiopia crimes against humanity, ethiopia cud, ethiopia geneva convention, Ethiopia Human Rights Watch, ethiopia lundin petroleum, ethiopia terrorism, ethiopia u.s. state department country reports on human rights practices, ethiopia war crimes, ethiopian constitution under art. 20 (3), freelance journalism, freelance swedish journalists, Ginbot 7, international covenant on civil and political rights art. 14 (2), johan persson, Kangaroo Court, martin schibbye, ogaden national liberation front, ONLF, politics, presumption of innocence, reeyot alemu, shimeles kemal, sweden ethiopia, swedish foreign minister carl bildt, universal declaration of human rights art. 11, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
What Should Starving Ethiopians do to Help Themselves?
Alemayehu G. Mariam
In 1987 when Time Magazine featured a famine-stricken Ethiopian mother on its cover page, it failed to ask the most important question of all: What should Ethiopians do and not do to help themselves?
It is the …
Tagged with: 2000 human rights country report on ethiopia, 2010 us. human rights country report ethiopia, Addis Ababa, aid dambissa moyo, alemayehu g mariam, article 55 (4) of the ghanaian constitution, bashir al-assad syria, Ben Ali Tunisia, Birtukan Midekssa, Dictator Meles Zenawi, donalad yamamoto ethiopia, ethio, ethiopia assistant secretary of treasury andy baukol, ethiopia business environment, ethiopia child malnutrition, Ethiopia Democracy, ethiopia domestic violence, Ethiopia Ethnic Politics, Ethiopia famine, ethiopia gender discrimination, Ethiopia Inflation, Ethiopia News, Ethiopia Starvation, ethiopia universal declaration of human rights, ethiopia urban youth, Ethiopia Wikileaks, ethiopia women rights, ethiopia youth unemployment, ethiopian diaspora, Ethiopian Youth, gandhi tyrants fall, hosni mubarak trial, imf ethiopia, martin l. king darkest hour, Moammar Gadhafi, Western Donors Ethiopia
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia’s ruling junta ramps up the fear machine
By Yilma Bekele
…… within an established totalitarian regime the purpose of propaganda is not to persuade, much less to inform, but to humiliate. From this point of view, propaganda should not approximate to the truth as closely as possible:
Tagged with: Birtukan Midekssa, dictatorship, Ethiopia Corruption, Ethiopia Democracy, Ethiopia Economy, Meles Zenawi
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Thugtatorship: The Highest Stage of African Dictatorship
Alemayehu G. Mariam
Thugogracy in Africa
If democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, a thugogracy is a government of thieves, for thieves, by thieves. Simply stated, a thugtatorship is rule by a gang …
Tagged with: Africa Thugtators, Africa Youth, Alassane Ouattara, Birtukan Midekssa, Blaise Campore, Daniel Arap Moi, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Effort, Endowment Fund For The Rehabilitation Of Tigray, Eprdf, Ethiopia European Union Election Observer Team, Ethiopia Inquiry Commission, Ethiopia Wikileaks, Gnassingbe Eyadema, Grace Mugabe, Ibrahim Babangida, India Thugees, Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo, Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Program, Kroll Report, Lansana Conte, Libyan Sovereign Wealth Fund, Mamadou Tandja, Meles Zenawi, Morgan Tsvangirai, Muammar Gaddafi Assets Frozen, Mugabe Hitler, Mwai Kibaki, Obiang Nguema, Omar Al-Bashir, Omar Bongo, Robert Mugabe, Saif Al-Islam, Sani Abacha, Sudan Wikileaks, Thugogracy Africa, Thugtatorship Africa, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Africa, VOA amharic, WikiLeaks Zimbabwe
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
The Ghost and the Spirit
Alemayehu G. Mariam
After the Dust Settled
After the dust settled following Meles Zenawi’s speech at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum, a dark shadow and glowing light were visible on stage to behold. The dark shadow was cast by the …
Tagged with: Birtukan Midekssa, Birtukan Pardon, ethio, Ethiopia News, Ethiopia Pardon Law, Meles Zenawi, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Proclamation No. 395/2004, World News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Mr. Zenawi Goes to College!
Alemayehu G. Mariam
Zenawi’s Charm Offensive in America?
Fresh on the heels of shutting down all private distance education, including distance higher education, and “winning” the parliamentary election in May by 99.6 percent, dictator-in-chief Meles Zenawi is scheduled to speak …
Tagged with: Article 19 Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Birtukan Midekssa, ethio, Ethiopia Double Digit Growth, Ethiopia Free Speech, Ethiopia News, Ethiopian Satellite Service, Joseph Stiglitz, Meles Zenawi, Nelson Mandela, Noam Chomsky, Voice of America, World News, Zenawi-Columbia-University
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Open Letter to President Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia University
Alemayehu G. Mariam
September 17, 2010
President Lee C. Bollinger
Office of the President
Columbia University
202 Low Library
535 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027
By Fax: (212) 854-9973 and
Email: [email protected]
Dear President Bollinger:
On September 22, …
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Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Happy New Year Birtukan Invictus (Unconquered)!
Alemayehu G. Mariam
The great Nelson Mandela said, “In my country we go to prison first and then become President.” He assured the masters of the apartheid system, “You may succeed in delaying, but never in preventing the transition of …
Tagged with: Birtukan Midekssa, Dictator Meles Zenawi, ethio, Ethiopia Kangaroo Court, Ethiopia News, Ethiopia Political Prisoner, Meles Zenawi, Nelson Mandela
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: Indoctri-Nation
By Alemayehu G. Mariam
The Ministry of Indoctrination
This past week Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education issued a “directive” effectively outlawing distance learning (or education programs that are not delivered in the traditional university classroom or campus) throughout the country. According …
Tagged with: Abigail Salisbury, Birtukan Midekssa, Carter Woodson, ethio, Ethiopia Distance Learning, Ethiopia Education Relevance and Quality Agency HERQA, Ethiopia Higher Education, Ethiopia Indoctrination, Ethiopia Ministry of Education, Ethiopia News, Higher Education Proclamation No. 650/2009, Mekelle University, Meles Zenawi, Mihreteab Workineh, Molla Tsegaye Admas University College, Politicization Higher Education in Ethiopia, Wondwosen Tamrat St. Mary’s College, Zenawi Zerihun W. Yohannes
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: Why Can’t We Just Get Along?
Alemayehu G. Mariam
A Comedy of Errors: (Act I)
Rodney King’s videotaped brutal beating by members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) eventually triggered the L.A. riots of 1992. Rodney made a public appearance on the third day of …
Tagged with: Andenet, Birtukan Midekssa, Criminal Charges Andenet, ethio, Ethiopia News, Ethiopia Stolen Elections, Ethiopian Opposition, EU EOM Ethiopia Report, European Commission Ethiopia Election Observer Team 2010 Report, Kangaroo Court, Meles Zenawi, UDJ, Unity and Justice Party, Zenawi Dictatorship
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Steel Vises, Clenched Fists and Closing Walls, (Part II)
Note: This is the second installment in a series of commentaries I intend to offer on U.S. foreign policy (or lack thereof as some would argue) in Ethiopia. In this piece, I argue that the price of U.S. lip service …
Tagged with: Birtukan Midekssa, Ethiopia 2005 Elections, Ethiopia Democracy Before Democracy, Ethiopia Economic Democracy, Ethiopia Human Rights Heroes, Ethiopia Stability, Hilary Clinton Ethiopia, Obama Ethiopia, Politics of Belly Ethiopia, U.S. Aid Ethiopia, U.S. Challenge Horn of Africa, U.S. Human Rights Rhetoric Ethiopia, Yared Hailemariam ERCHO
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopian and Californian elections
By Yilma Bekele
It is election season in California. Two positions are open. The governorship and Federal Senate positions are up for grabs. Both parties, that is the Democrats and Republicans are going thru the primary process to nominate their …
Tagged with: Birtukan Midekssa, Ethiopia News, failed state, Meles Zenawi, TPLF, VOA amharic, Woyanne
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: Happy Mother’s Day, Birtukan!
Alemayehu G. Mariam
Happy Mother’s Day, Birtukan (Invictus) Midekssa !
As Mother’s Day is celebrated in Ethiopia on the second Sunday in May, I feel privileged to share with my readers a testimonial tribute honoring Birtukan Midekssa, the first female …
The Raw Machismo of Dictatorship
By Alemayehu G. Mariam
It was a remarkable display of raw machismo: “My way or the highway… or jail!” It was a one-man political theatre, a monologue about absolute power, domination, toughness, brawn and pugnacity. It was a demonstration of …