Free Birtukan and All Political Prisoners in Ethiopia! (Click here)

An opposition rally May 2005 in the Ethiopian capital was unprecedented in the history of the country. Over 3 million people flooded the entire city, conveying the message the time is over for the mercenary and tyrannical regime of Legese Zenawi.

Whatever they claim, there is enough evidence to boldly claim that EFFORT, backed up by Tigray Development Association [TDA] and the Relief Society of Tigray [REST] which are also involved in businesses though not as large scale as EFFORT, is nothing but the ugly face of gangster capitalism whose foundations are thievery, cronyism, nepotism, discrimination, grand corruption, tax evasion and unbridled greed. And yet EFFORT is being promoted as the property of Tigray with a view to further alienating and smearing Ethiopians of Tigrian origin, the majority of whom are obviously as outraged as the rest of the nation.!"Abebe Gelaw

Kehadiw Sebhat Nega's interview with Adissu Abebe of VOA Amharic

The naked lies of Sebhat Nega

By Robele Ababya / July 2, 2009
Ethiopia is a museum of ancient history characterized by uniquely diverse cultures. All that one has to do is delve into this rich history made by multiple ethnic groups over several centuries to find answers to ones questions or solutions to ones problems. We need no outsider to tell us who we are!......full text

Hero vs. Zero

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / July 1, 2009
George Orwell may have understated the situation in the Big Brother totalitarian state of Nineteen Eighty-Four: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” He would be amused to learn that in the police state of Two Thousand and Nine Ethiopia, Big Brother has been unceremoniously replaced by THE P-R-O-C-E-S-S!......full text

Seizing the moment to end TPLF misrule

Robele Ababya / June 25, 2009
The acronym TPLF is a trade mark that Meles uses to plunder and destroy Ethiopia. The valiant people of Tigrai will not fall prey to his deception; they realize the urgency to act in earnest to defeat his evil deeds hidden under the canopy of “Revolutionary Democracy”......full text

Ethiopia and Zenawi's gangaster capitalism

Abebe Gelaw / June 23, 2009
A couple of weeks ago, Sebhat Nega, the man who is credited to be the father of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, flew to Washington DC to inspect whether the VOA Amharic service can join the self-congratulatory band of the tyrannical regime. In the course of his mission, he told VOA Amharic listeners that he was disappointed with the performance of VOA Amharic section which he referred to as a stable for dissidents......full text

In Defense of Classical Ethiopianity and against Ethnocentricity

By Teodros Kiros (Ph.D.) / June 18, 2009
Guided by the Transcendent, proud of my Ethiopianity, motivated by the thinking heart, and seasoned by the teaching of time, lately, I have been quietly consuming the massive literature produced by our able scholars, our committed columnists, our rightly embittered politicians, and the reading public- and I have come to the inescapable conclusion that, however, incorrect I may be, we are agonizing about the paths that our country must take, as the next election looms large, and Ethiopians will once again either perish by the votes that they make, or flourish precisely because they have deliberated carefully, uncontaminated by prejudice, unaffected by fear, and un weakened by the fact that they will have choose between bread and freedom. Ethiopians must choose freedom against bread, and dignity over servitude. ......full text

Echo Chamber for Dictatorship?

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / June 15, 2009
Are we becoming an echo chamber for the dictatorship in Ethiopia by repeating its never-ending political babble and lies?......full text

An open letter to my fellow Tigrians supporting the TPLF

By Obang Metho / June 12, 2009
Anyone who says that Tigrayans, not all, but many, have not benefited under Meles, are lying to themselves. We all know that the key positions in the government, in the military, in the economy, in the judicial system, on the national election board, in banking and finance, in education and in any other sector of society are mostly held by Tigrayans who are loyal to Meles. For the most part, those from other ethnic groups are given certain positions by the TPLF only to fool the outsiders so they can look better......full text

Sebhat Nega's capitalism and power

By Tedla Asfaw / June 11, 2009
Ato Sebhat Nega's thirty minutes interview (June 9 and 10) with Adissu Abebe of VOA Amharic was much informative than the recent one we heard on Hagerfiker radio and the paltalk room. The questions were short followed by short answers on many categories and the follow up questions also helped us to learn from the interview. Sebhat Nega and his multimillionaire Woyane clique were trying their best to build "capitalism" on backward Ethiopia......full text

Inside the barley republic

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / June 8, 2009
A while back, the capo di tutti capi (the “boss of bosses”) of the dictatorship in Ethiopia rebuked Congressman Donald Payne for pushing H.R. 2003 (“Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act”). He quipped with his signature sarcasm, “Ethiopia, this government and this country, are incapable, unwilling and unable to be run like some kind of banana republic from Capitol Hill or anywhere else.” That is not exactly true today. The evidence shows that “Ethiopia and this government” are “capable, willing and able to be run like some barley republic from Jeddah or any of the other Gulf states.” It has been widely reported that Saudi and other Gulf “investors” have spent over two hundred million U.S. dollars to buy (“lease”) fertile Ethiopian farmland free of local taxes and other requirements to supply themselves with a cornucopia of agricultural commodities which, oddly enough, they could purchase on the world market at competitive prices. It seems the desert sand has trumped the fertile land in the barley republic.......full text

Endgame!

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / June 2, 2009
For the past several weeks, the noise machine of the dictatorship in Ethiopia has been in overdrive reacting to human rights findings made against it in the February 29, 2009 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report.......full text

Minority ethnic domination of the military in Ethiopia

By Neamin Zeleke / May 28, 2009
Several Ethiopian scholars and political commentators alike have argued in the past that the TPLF regime in Ethiopia has been promoting the domination of a minority ethnic elite, i.e., the Tigreans, in all spheres of the nation’s life — economy, military, intelligence and security services, foreign affairs, etc. Much has been said and many have commented upon the blatant nature of the drive to ensure the domination of Tigrean elites who claim to represent only 6% of close to 80 million Ethiopians.......full text

Ending the culture of impunity

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / May 26, 2009
David Dadge, Director of the Vienna-based International Press Institute, the oldest press freedom organization in the world, recently wrote a compelling commentary in The Guardian which should be of special interest to all Ethiopian human rights advocates.1 He suggested that the current dictatorship in Ethiopia operates in an entrenched culture of impunity (not to be confused with the equally gripping culture of corruption that afflicts it) in which gross human rights abuses are committed routinely without legal accountability of the abusers and active complicity of officials. He argued that this culture could be brought to an end or significantly curtailed by donor countries and international lending institutions......full text

TPLF cannot be reformed; like apartheid, it should be dismantled

Ethiomedia / May 24, 2009
...Well, what about those Ethiopians who lost their property in Eritrea? At the port of Assab? What happened to the brave Ethiopian soldiers who pre- and post-1991 Shaebia took as POWs to the Sahel, and have never been heard from? What about the fate of those over 100 Ethiopian citizens who were abducted by Shaebia from Irob Alitena, and have never been seen again? What happened to the ruling of the Claims Commission at The Hague? Well, this is a difficult question to answer, and we've to wait until Ethiopia falls into the hands of an Ethiopian.Here it should be noted that we have no qualms against Eritreans who rebuild their lives through just hardwork. What we are opposed is the time-bomb Mr. Meles is burying between Eritreans and Ethiopians. His strategy to build a privileged class of Eritreans over the ruins of Ethiopia should be condemned not only by Ethiopians but also fair-minded Eritreans. ......full text

Ethiopia's new climate of fear

By David Dadge / May 19, 2009
...But for all this generosity, an authoritarian government rules Ethiopia with virtual impunity. Prime minister Meles Zenawi, in power for 18 years, has crushed the opposition. His ruling party dominates public institutions. Worse still, in a vast and predominantly rural country, the prime minister's underlings control broadcasting and maintain a choke-hold on other media......full text

Crimes of willful ignorance

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / May 18, 2009
This past week, the attack dogs of the dictatorship in Ethiopia were unleashed against Amnesty International (AI) because that organization had requested publication of the names of suspects arrested for allegedly conspiring to assassinate high officials and blow up government buildings......full text

Democracy at bay!

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / May 12, 2009
“When the people fear the government, you have tyranny. When the government fears the people, you have freedom,” said Thomas Paine, one of the inspiring figures of the American revolution. On May 15, 2005, for the first time and for a fleeting moment in Ethiopia’s millennial history, government was forced to kneel down before the people, bow its head in trepidation and submit to their will and awesome power......full text

Meles Zenawi's regime recent panic is not without cause

Ginbot 7 Press Release/ May 7, 2009
The recent accusation by Meles Zenawi's clique of an alleged “coup” attempt led by Ginbot 7, which in a matter of days, was revised and heralded as an “assassination” attempt is a vivid indication of a very serious internal danger that the regime has begun to face. The only objective of the confusing and the constantly changing statements coming from the Prime Minster’s office is to distract Ethiopians and the international community from seeing the real crisis engulfing the regime.......full text

Terminal Paranoia!

By Alemayehu G. Mariam | May 5, 2009
The latest saga of brutal repression in Ethiopia comes in the form of an alleged “desperado” conspiracy to “overthrow” the dictatorial regime. Leading the phalanx of “desperadoes” include an 80-year old grandfather, a young man and an active duty officer.......full text

Woyane/EPRDF tightening grip on Ethiopia ahead of poll

By Fred Oluoch, The East African | May 5, 2009
The government has closed all democratic space by monitoring and intimidating the media and civil society.It has tightened its control on free speech, forcing observers to question whether it will be possible to hold a free and fair election under the prevailing circumstances .......full text

Ethiopia Denies Coup Plot, Calls 40 Detainees 'Desperadoes'

By Peter Heinlein, VOA / May 3, 2009
EPRDF/Woyane officials say 40 people arrested over the past week had been plotting a campaign of assassinations and strategic bombings aimed at disrupting public order. Most of the suspects are said to be current or former army officers.......full text

The pathology of the dictator's mind (Part I & II)

By Girma Tassew (MD) / May 3, 2009
Let me first recap the Malign narcissistic grandiosity that is characteristic of all dictators and tyrants. Typical symptoms of grandiosity that can be observed in your typical autocratic ruler/megalomaniac like Meles Zenawi are: .......full text

Canada has officially expressed concerns to the Government of Ethiopia

SOCEPP-Canada / April 30, 2009
In a response to SOCEPP-Canada, dated April 23, 2009, the Honorable Lawrence Cannon wrote “The Government of Canada shares your concerns as regards to increasing restrictions being placed on political space and reports of worsening human rights conditions”. He further stated that “the recently passed Charities and Societies Proclamation may hamper the participation of independent civil society organizations in promoting human and democratic rights, conflict prevention, and the rights of vulnerable groups in society”. .......full text

Message in a Bottle

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / April 27, 2009
Dr. Hailu Araya: Ethiopian patriot. Political prisoner. Educator. Poet. I am not writing to talk about Dr. Hailu, the Ethiopian patriot, the man who gave the brutal former military dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam a passionate six-minute discourse on democracy, freedom and human rights 18 years ago to the month.1 Who would forget that historic showdown between the patriot and the tyrant. Thus spoke Dr. Hailu: .......full text

Ethiopia bids farewell to legendary singer

Millions of Ethiopians on Thursday paid their last respects as the flag-draped casket of legendary singer Tilahun Gessesse lowered into the cemetery of the Trinity Cathedral here in the Ethiopian capital. ............full text

The popular Ethiopian singer, Tilahun Gessesse, has died at the age of 68.

BBC , April 20, 2009
He had been the most dominant figure in Ethiopian music for more than half a century ............full text

The Arc of Justice

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / April 20, 2009
In 1965, in a commencement address at Oberlin College, Ohio, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King spoke about the ultimate victory of good over evil, justice over injustice, right over might, truth over lies and human rights over government wrongs. “We shall overcome,” he said “because the arc of a moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice… No lie can live forever…. Truth crushed to earth will rise again…. ‘Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the demon known, stands a God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.’” .......full text

Ethiopians rally in rare protest

BBC / April 16, 2009
Ms Birtukan is a former judge and was one of the younger and more charismatic leaders of the coalition which did well against the ruling party in the 2005 elections.Our correspondent says that while in jail facing charges of treason, she became even more of a heroine, attracting widespread sympathy as a single mother separated from her baby daughter. ...........full text

With a friend like this

By Jonathan Tepperman / April 11, 2009
Few people outside Ethiopia have ever heard of Birtukan Mideksa. And that's just how the government wants it. Since December, Birtukan has been kept in solitary confinement, one of hundreds of political prisoners there. Her apparent crime? Organizing a democratic challenge to the increasingly iron-fisted rule of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi...........full text

The lion of Aiga too scared to roar at G20

By Abebe Gellaw / April 4, 2009
It may be too disappointing for some folks to be told that a hyena or a fox is not expected to behave and act like a lion. If a poor hyena gets a chance to mix up with decent lions, the hyena may get puffed up and try to roar and walk like a lion. But all the effort is futile as no great cosmetic surgeon or a revered magician can do a miracle of transforming the poor beast into the king of the jungle. This is a reality of life that even the most ardent admirers of the hyena, those like the silly cheerleaders and propagandists blowing trumpets from mount Aiga, should live with...........full text

Fleecing the G-20

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / April 3, 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants the G-20 (or Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the world’s largest economies) to help cash-strapped African countries manage their balance of payments (money going from one country to all others) as their incomes from foreign investments and aid, remittances and commodities prices vanish in with the collapsing global economy. In mid-March, Brown invited a number of African leaders to meet with him in anticipation of the scheduled G-20 meeting in London on April 2. The hype preceding the G-20 meeting was full of hectoring moralism by the designated panhandler-for-Africa, the dictator in Ethiopia: .............full text

Ethiopia's famine: deny and delay

By Rene Lefort / March 25, 2009
In 2008 famine struck Ethiopia. Now, at the start of 2009 it is looming again. According to the “Humanitarian Requirements” released on 30 January 2009 by the government in Addis Ababa and their “Humanitarian Partners”, 13 million Ethiopians - one-sixth of the population - are in need of aid.............full text

E-20

By By Golto Ayla / March 24, 2009
It is now about three years since I first started making public, my opinions about politics in our motherland. Politics has never been my cup of tea, and the decision to make my views public was out of pure frustration. Now, three years later, the sense of disillusionment and frustration is only worse. I have read the profound observations by Dr Maru Gubena; Dr. Messay Kebede; the many profoundly insightful and analytical articles by Prof. Seid Hassan; and today, an even more emotional write-up by Dr. Daniel Kendie. The common sentiment by all, in addition to the statements of facts, is that of anger, frustration, and even despair. Comforting is not the right word, but I feel the sense of companionship with them! .............full text

The accounting and accountability of Ethiopia's dictators

By Fekade Shewakena / March 19, 2009
MELES ZENAWI's economic statistics and the platitude with which he presents it remind me of the statistician who puts your head in the oven and your legs in the ice and conveniently tells you that you are fine on the average. At a time when Nobel prize-winning and top-notch economists around the world are unable to tell what the world’s economy would look like in two months, Meles Zenawi boldly declared that the Ethiopian economy will grow by a fantastic 11.2% this year. This is only slightly less than the phantom number given to us for the past year............full text

For Whom The Bell Tolls

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / March 10, 2009
.....Last July, in one of my weekly commentaries I wrote, “For as long as there are determined and unrelenting prosecutors like Moreno-Ocampo, the likes of al-Bashir, Zenawi and Mengistu can be sure that one day the long arm of international law will catch them and bring them to kneel down before the altar of justice...........full text

ICC warrant raises questions on leaders targeted

Michelle Faul, AP / March 8, 2009
In Africa, those considered possible targets of the court are leaders in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Central African Republic.........full text

ICC: Bashir Warrant Is Warning to Abusive Leaders

Human Rights Watch / March 5, 2009
The International Criminal Court's (ICC) issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan signals that even those at the top may be held to account for mass murder, rape and torture, Human Rights Watch said today. ICC judges granted the warrant for Bashir, its first for a sitting head of state, on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in orchestrating Sudan's abusive counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur. ...........full text

Remembering Adwa: The Decisive Ethiopian Victory on March 1, 1896, Halted Italy’s Imperial Ambitions in Africa

By Ayele Bekerie / March 2, 2009
On March 1, 1896, eleven years after the Berlin Conference or what historians call ‘the Scramble for Africa’, the Ethiopian army led by Emperor Menelik II decisively defeated the Italian army at the Battle of Adwa. Adwa is a town located in the northern part of Ethiopia, near the Ethiopian and Eritrean border. Virtually all the regions, religions, linguistic groups, aristocrats and peasants pulled their resources together to formulate and execute a strategy of victory. By their actions the Ethiopians were not only affirming the power and immense possibilities of unity in diversity, but they were placing issues of freedom and internal reform at the top of the national agenda...........full text

Birtu-Can! Yes, We Can!

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / March 2, 2009
Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia throughout the world are taking to the streets today to protest human rights violations by the ruling regime, and to demand the release of all political prisoners. The preeminent political prisoner and the undisputed symbol of democratic resistance in Ethiopia today is Birtukan Mideksa, chairperson of Andenet party (Unity for Democracy and Justice party). Over two months ago, Birtukan was strong-armed, manhandled and whisked away to the infamous Kaliti Prison by armed thugs..........full text

Wiring the Ethiopian Diaspora through civic dialogue and consultation

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / February 24, 2009
At the beginning of the year, we pledged to help initiate and sustain an Ethiopian Diaspora dialogue and consultation process with the aim of building broad consensus for collective action. We expressed our hope that with the proper groundwork it is possible to clearly identifying a set of issues over which pro-democracy Diaspora Ethiopians could take a unified position and speak in one thundering voice. We boldly proclaimed the inspirational theme, “Ethiopian united can never be defeated!” ..........full text

EU should not tolerate Ethiopia's repression

By Lotte Leicht / February 19, 2009
On 30 January, European Union policymakers sent a clear signal to Ethiopia: no matter how repressive the government becomes, vast sums of aid will continue to flow. This is emerging as a case study in bad donor policy..........full text

Attacks on the Press in 2008: Ethiopia

CPJ / February 16, 2009
The small vanguard of independent media that emerged from a brutal 2005 crackdown struggled in the face of continuing government harassment. Although authorities issued licenses allowing a handful of independent political newspapers to operate, they continued to use imprisonment, threats, and legal and administrative restrictions to suppress coverage of sensitive issues.........full text

Morgan Tsvangirai’s “Fierce Urgency of Now”!

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / February 15, 2009
A year ago, Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round of presidential elections in Zimbabwe. He refused to participate in the run-off calling it a “violent sham” for which his supporters risked death by voting for him. Last week, Tsvangirai became prime minister in a power sharing agreement fabricated by southern African regional leaders. In his inauguration speech, Prime Minster Tsvangirai spoke of the fierce urgency of now for the people of Zimbabwe: ........full text

AEthiopians united can never be defeated!

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / February 10, 2009
There are some who are working double overtime to make sure Ethiopia is strewn across the African continent like shards of broken ethnic glass. They have spent the last 18 years sleepless devising ways of defeating the people by separating them along ethnic, religious, cultural, regional and class lines. Now, we say emphatically: “Enough! Not This Time!” This is our time to come together and unite against a divisive, dastardly and devilish dictatorship. This is the time to stand up and declare: “Ethiopians united can never be defeated!” ........full text

A row over human rights

The Economist / February 6, 2009
INDEPENDENT voices in Ethiopia are finding it ever harder to be heard. Suffocated by an irascible government, the country’s newspapers are now the least informative in east Africa. Journalists deemed critical of the prime minister, Meles Zenawi, are pilloried. And they are not alone. ........full text

Ethiopian Border Affairs Committee Press Release --( January ,2009 )

Jailed – judge who refused to say sorry

By Daniel Howden, The Independent / February 4, 2009
Birtukan Mideksa has been sentenced to life in prison. She spends her days and nights in solitary confinement in a two-metre by two-metre cell. She cannot leave it to see daylight or even to receive visitors. Previous inmates say the prison is often unbearably hot. .......full text

The right and wrong sides of history

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / January 26, 2009
History has two sides. A right and a wrong side. Barack Obama is on the right side of history. He is on the right side of history because he was elected rightfully by the American people and became president in a peaceful constitutional transfer of power.......full text

Ethiopia curb on charities alarms human rights activists

By Mark Tran,The Guardian / January 26, 2009
Human rights activists have accused the Ethiopian government of tightening its grip on power through a new law on charity funding that they claim will criminalise human rights work and clamp down on political debate ahead of next year's elections........full text

Canadian party calls for Birtukan's unconditional release

By Socepp Canada / January 26, 2009
The New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada calls for the Immediate and Unconditional release of Miss Birtukan Mideksa In his January 15, 2009 letter addressed to Hon. Lawrence Cannon, Canada?s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paul Dewar, MP, Ottawa Centre and the NDP?s Foreign Affairs Critic, stated that: ?NDP believes that the Government of Canada must call on the Ethiopian authorities to release Birtukan Mideksa immediately and unconditionally, unless she is charged with a recognizable criminal offence?. ........full text

Close Ranks, Open Hearts and Minds, Shake Hands and Get Busy!

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / January 20, 2009
It is time to close ranks against an arrogant and abusive dictatorship in Ethiopia! It is time for all Ethiopians in the Diaspora to come together and stand up against Evil. As the old saying goes, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men and women do nothing." ......full text

Human Rights Watch 2008 Report

By Chris Albin-Lackey, Senior Researcher / January 15, 2009
The Ethiopian government’s human rights record remains poor, marked by an ever-hardening intolerance towards meaningful political dissent or independent criticism. Ethiopian military forces have continued to commit war crimes and other serious abuses with impunity in the course of counterinsurgency campaigns in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali Region and in neighboring Somalia........full text

US warns Ethiopia new law could curtail aid

AFP / January 11, 2009
ADDIS ABABA – The United States, Ethiopia's main donor, warned Friday that a new law adopted by Addis Ababa restricting foreign-funded aid groups may curtail its assistance........full text

In defense of Birtukan Mideksa

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / January 5, 2009
If you can’t beat up the big boys in Mogadishu, beat on the woman and the old man in Addis Ababa!That happened last week in Ethiopia. Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJP) President Ms. Bertukan Mideksa was strong-armed, manhandled and whisked away to the infamous Kality prison. In a VOA interview, Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, the aging human rights lion of Ethiopia, gave eyewitness testimony.......full text

Will 2009 be our year of independence from dictatorship?

Obang Metho - SMNE / January 4, 2009
Will 2009 be different from 2008 -- a year filled with increasing misery, repression and violence in Ethiopia and of apathy, disillusionment and division in the Diaspora? I say, yes, but only if we Ethiopians now demonstrate that we are prepared for new solidarity around shared goals, principles and values so we can speak with “one voice” that Congressman Chris Smith says has been missing!......full text

Ginbot 7: on the withdrawal of Meles Zenawi's troops from Somalia

Press Release / January 4, 2009
After 2 years of wreaking havoc in Somalia and suffering a humiliating defeat, the Meles regime in Ethiopia this week is forced to withdraw its invading army.......full text

Ethiopia's main opposition leader jailed

BBC / December 30, 2008
Ethiopia's main opposition leader has been sent to prison to serve a life sentence, after a pardon granted to her last year was revoked......full text

2008: Ethiopian Groundhog Year!

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / December 29, 2008
2008 in Ethiopia was Groundhog Year! It was a repetition of 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004… Everyday millions of Ethiopians woke up only to find themselves trapped in a time loop where their lives replayed like a broken record. Each “new” day is the same as the one before it: Repression, intimidation, corruption, incarceration, deception, brutalization and human rights violation. Everything that happened to them the previous day, the previous week, the previous month, the previous 18 years happens to them today. They are resigned to the fact that they are doomed to spend the rest of their lives asphyxiated in a Prison Nation. They have no idea how to get out of this awful cycle of misery, agony, despair and tribulation. So, they pray and pray and pray and pray… for deliverance from Evil!.......full text

The rise of the Shabab

Economist / December 21, 2008
FOR all its paradisal waters, golden dunes and swanky “eco-lodges”, life in Kenya’s coastal district of Kiunga, just a few miles from the border with Somalia, is hard. The place is remote, hungry and thirsty. The harvest and the wells have failed again. Fishermen have no boats, only frayed nets cast from shore. Their catch rots for want of refrigeration. But what makes the village elders more nervous than anything is their proximity to Somalia......full text

The Horn of Fear

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / December 16, 2008
What a difference two years make! In December 2006, Zenawi invaded Somalia to save it from the “terrorist axis of evil” -- Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab and the Islamic Courts Union........full text

War crimes and the devastation of Somalia

Human Rights Watch (HRW) / December 10, 2008
...Beyond its own borders Somalia has had a reputation for violent chaos since the collapse of its last central government in 1991. When Ethiopian military forces intervened there in late 2006 the country already bore the scars of 16 conflict-ridden years without a government.But the last two years are not just another typical chapter in Somalia's troubled history. The human rights and humanitarian catastrophe facing Somalia today threatens the lives and livelihoods of millions of Somalis on a scale not witnessed since the early 1990s.......full text

The unintended consequences of the ordeals of Teddy Afro

By Selam Beyene (Ph.D.) / December 9, 2008
If there were any doubters about the viciousness and callousness of Zenawi's dictatorship, those doubts must now be dispelled by the recent conviction of Tewodros Kassahun (aka Teddy Afro) in the kangaroo court of the despot.........full text

Analyst Not Surprised by Ethiopia's Troop Pull Out From Somalia

By James Butty , VOA/ December 3, 2008
.....“In a normal political environment where there is checks and balances, where the media has a say, where civic organizations do have a say, it could have some negative impact on the prime minister. But the prime minister controls every aspect of life in Ethiopia. He can silence political parties and he can silence the media. So I don’t see an immediate threat to the prime minister. In other democratic societies, that could have called for a vote of no confidence and he could have been removed from office,” ..........full text

Other criminals behind the curtain

By Alemayehu Zemedkun / December 2, 2008
On November 26, 2008 I was amazed to learn the Ethiopian Television Amharic service dismissing the recent detailed Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the atrocities committed by the government of Ethiopia on the people of Ogaden.........full text

The link between ethno-centric minority rule and corruption

By Professor Seid Hassan / November 26, 2008
Many observers, including those members of the Diaspora community who visit their homeland, Ethiopia, have observed that the level of corruption in Ethiopia is so unprecedented that it defies common sense. The outright theft that is going on in the country has many dimensions, which are:...........full text

The Second American Revolution

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / November 24, 2008
In the first American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson declared to a “candid world” that “when in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” That revolution was against King George III............full text

Angels in November!

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / November 17, 2008
I remember November. And June, too. I remember 2005. It was our season of hope and redemption. As Shakespeare might have put it, 2005 was “the winter of our discontent/ Made glorious summer by the victory of Kinijit. And all the clouds that low'r'd upon our country/ In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.” Today, it is still winter in Ethiopia............full text

Time's up for dictators

By Joe Michael / November 13, 2008
The historical U.S. election is now over by electing Barack Obama as the 44th President. The landslide victory goes beyond making history. Obama’s administration is set to bring definite change for the entire world. It is a dream come true for millions of Americans who have never thought to see this day. It is also a hope for so many people and governments around the world who have been devastated by the wars and the economic crisis. ...........full text

Ethiopian Border Affairs Committee, Press Release, Nov. 12,2008 (Click Here)

The genius of America

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / November 10, 2008
The Barack Obama story can be told only in America. Nowhere else. He said it himself, “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.” But the struggle for equality, justice and freedom for African Americans spans centuries. In 1822, ...........full text

Hundreds of Thousands Cheer Obama's Presidential Victory in Chicago

VOA , November 05, 2008
Senator Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election was celebrated in his home town of Chicago by hundreds-of-thousands of supporters who reveled in the history-making moment. In a large, open-air park, Obama thanked his supporters, and outlined the change he hopes to make as president. VOA's Kane Farabaugh has followed Obama's campaign, and files this report from Chicago............full text

Third anniversary of the suppression of Ethiopia's free press

By Eskinder Nega , Addis Ababa / October 31, 2008
am writing from the designated seat of the African Union, AddisAbaba, home to the headquarters of that prized ideal of ours: Africa Union. Because of the inimitable standing of Addis Ababa as the political capital of Africa, and thus a beacon of hope and all that is best in us as Africans, it will hardly be too much to expect this city to be a center of learning, culture, cosmopolitanism, tolerance, arts, innovation and creativity, equality, rule of law, democracy and freedom of expression. In other words, a city suited for the twenty-first century that all Africans could like, live in, identify with and be proud of. ...........full text

Biting the hands that feed millions

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / October 27, 2008
If you can’t feed your people, bite the hands that feed them. That seems to be the metaphysics (first principles that define reality) of the Zenawi regime. Oxfam, Save the Children, Food for the Hungry International, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, Medecins Sans Frontieres, the International Islamic Relief Organization, and hundreds of other non-governmental organizations will soon be out of business in Ethiopia or submit to one of the most repressive and anti-non-governmental (NGO) laws in the world............full text

Quiet riot in Ethiopia

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / October 22, 2008
This past week an official report on riot control entitled “Modernizing Internal Security in Ethiopia” was posted online1. The report, prepared for the ruling regime in Ethiopia in July 2008 by retired British colonel Michael Dewars, summarizes findings and recommendations of an “assessment” study completed under the auspices of an Anglo-Ethiopian “think tank”. According to Col. Dewars a “number of experts on Ethiopia, including HE the Ethiopian Ambassador in London and an ex-British Ambassador to Ethiopia” had been meeting on the subject at the Ethiopian embassy in London beginning in May, 2007. Regime official Tefera Waluwa, in a letter dated January 2, 2008, instructed Col. Dewars to “complete an initial assessment” and “make recommendations designed to create a modern security force that will function effectively by using strategies designed to pre-empt civil unrest which threatens the security of the State of Ethiopia and its People,… and on the equipping and training of such a Security force.”............full text

Sending Cash Home: The Political Economy of Remittances in Ethiopia

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / October 14, 2008
It is gratifying to know that Ethiopian Americans are carrying their fair share of the load in helping the economy of their homeland. It was an eye-opening revelation to learn that Ethiopian Americans contributed a cool $1.2 billion to the Ethiopian economy this past year. That is “only second to the amount generated by Ethiopia’s exports.” Last week Elias Loha, Manager of Reserve Management and Foreign Exchange Market of Ethiopian National Bank, fretting over “a cut in vital remittances from Ethiopians in the United States” told Reuters: “We are concerned and worried that as a result of the financial crisis... some of the Ethiopians may loose their jobs and as a result they may stop sending money to help their families back home.” Could that be a backhanded way of giving us teeny-weeny credit for the much vaunted stratospheric “10 percent a year economic growth” Zenawi gasbags about? Regardless, there seems to be manifest alarm in Zenawi’s officialdom that the Ethiopian-American goose may not be laying as many golden eggs as it has been previously because of the sub-prime mortgage debacle............full text

The End of Pax Zenawi in Somalia

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / October 6, 2008
The situation in Somalia has turned Code Red. Things are deteriorating very fast for Zenawi’s troops. The Al-Shabaab “jihadists” have taken over southern Somalia, and are ravenously eyeing Mogadishu. It is no longer “hit-and-run” guerrilla warfare. It is capture-and-stay. They have captured Kisimayo, a southern port town. They are staying. They are being “flooded with money” from supporters and backers throughout the Middle East. They have shut down the Mogadishu airport. Now they are vowing to do the same with the sea ports. The 2500 or so African Union peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are holed up in their garrisons in Mogadishu as the insurgents rain rocket-propelled grenades on them at will. Bombings, assassinations, piracy, kidnappings and hostage-taking are a daily fact of life in Somalia...........full text

Woyane/EPRDF accused of hiding famine as millions starve

Jonathan Rugman / The Times / September 18, 2008
JIJIGA - Ethiopia has been accused of deliberately underestimating the scale of a deadly drought facing millions of its people, some of whom are being deprived of emergency food aid by the country’s military.........full text

Democracy key to furthering peace, rights and development, says Ban

UN / September 17, 2008
In an address to a General Assembly event marking the inaugural Day, Mr. Ban noted that democracy has its detractors, who believe that it has failed to help people or that it is propelled by interfering foreign influences........full text

Feingold introduces Ethiopia act in Senate

Press Release / September 12, 2008
The Coalition for HR 2003 has learned that Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on African Affairs, introduced a bill entitled “Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008”. We are grateful to Senator Feingold and his staff for introducing this legislation in the Senate.......full text

Millennium on ice: reflections on promises deferred

September 8, 2008
What a difference a year makes in a Millennium! A year ago, almost to the day, we celebrated a moment of triumph. It was the 9th of September. A day I will always remember. It was our day of jubilation. A day of pride. It was a day that embodied the strivings of the millions of Ethiopians who came out to vote in May 2005, hoping to build a free and democratic Ethiopia for the first time in history. It was also a solemn day of remembrance of the sacrifices of the innocent sons and daughters of Ethiopia who were cut down like blades of grass protesting stolen elections. It was a day unlike any other in the history of Ethiopians in America. On that glorious September day, we mustered a mighty force of humanity in a caravan of freedom riders that stretched from Dulles Airport in Virginia to Washington, D.C...........full text

Obang prayer at the Solidarity Symposium

September 2, 2008
We call on you today because you are our only hope for the future. We come to you as people you have created, but who have failed you. Yet, only because of your greatness, love, mercy and goodness have you continued to stretch out your arms to us, urging us to seek you and to turn from our destructive ways...........full text

The Artist as Hero: The Ballad of Teddy Afro

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / September 2, 2008
The great Tewodros Kassahun (Teddy Afro) is Zenawi’s most famous political prisoner in Ethiopia today. Zenawi jacked Teddy on bogus charges of vehicular manslaughter, failure to assist the injured and driving without a license. Teddy was out on “bail” until April 2008, when his bail was revoked for no good cause and taken to the lice-infested Kality prison...........full text

Gotta know when to fold'em

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / August 26, 2008
Pakistan and Ethiopia are sisters in misfortune. First, for much of their modern political history, they have been the playgrounds of autocrats and tinhorn dictators. For over one-half of its 61 year existence as a state, Pakistan has been ruled by iron-fisted generals, including Mohammad Ayub Khan (1958-1969), Mohammad Ziaul Haq (1977-1988), Yahya Khan (1969-1971) and Pervez Mushrraf (1999-2008). Ethiopia languished long under the autocratic regime of Emperor Haile Selassie, followed by the murderous rule of a communist military junta. For the last 17 years, she has been plundered by a bloodthirsty dictatorship of thugs. Second, Pakistan and Ethiopia have two of the most corrupt governments in the world..........full text

The grammar of dictators

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / August 18, 2008
On August 7, 2008, Zenawi gave an interview to Time Magazine in which he flatly denied the existence of famine in Ethiopia: “We have pockets of severe malnutrition in some districts in the south and an emergency situation in the Somali region,” he explained, “but it is a manageable problem.” Zenawi said Ethiopia has not seen famine during his 17 years at the helm of power: “Famine has wreaked havoc in Ethiopia for so long, it would be stupid not to be sensitive to the risk of such things occurring.........full text

Save Addis Dimts Radio Broadcast to Ethiopia (Abbay Media Report ) ( August 03 ,2008 )

We've met the enemy!

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / July 29, 2008
Lately, there has been talk about “The Enemy." Some say, the Woyane regime of Zenawi is “The Enemy.” Others say it is not. If woyane is the “The Enemy," what to do? If it is not, then what? Does it matter whether one calls Zenawi's regime “The Enemy”?.......full text

What price have you and your motherland paid?

By Golto Aila / July 26, 2008
You may be an architect of the political order of the day, a professor of political science, an elementary school teacher, an administrator, a resident of another country, or an ordinary citizen living in Ethiopia, but you cannot escape the impact and consequences of the politics of your motherland!.......full text

" Bad Boys, What You Gonna Do When the ICC Catches You?”

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / July 21, 2008
In September, 2004 President George W. Bush lamented, “The world is witnessing terrible suffering and horrible crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan, crimes my government has concluded are genocide.” In July, 2008, President Omar al-Bashir officially became the numero uno wanted man for orchestrating genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and murder in the Darfur region of the Sudan.......full text

Why is "Ethiopia a failed state?"

By Prof Alemayehu Gebremariam / July 15, 2008
The Failed States Index for 2008 is out; and the Land of Famine, Gross Human Rights Violations, Stolen Elections and Poverty is re-certified as a “Failed State”, again! We have Zenawi and his corrupt regime to thank for this dubious honor. But there is a simple formula that can predict the evolution of a failed state in Ethiopia: FL+FR(k)/time =FS. Simply stated, Zenawi (FL) and his TPLF-EPDRF syndicate (FR(k)) operating a kleptocracy (government of thieves) over a period of 17 years (/time) have produced a failed state in Ethiopia (FS) ......full text

Martyrs are eternal treasures

By Robele Ababya , July 07, 2008
Exemplary sacrifices of our martyrs and patriots: lift us up when our apathy to burning national is intolerable; invigorate our spirit to fight back when our freedoms are abused; remind us of our duties as citizens to spur into action when our core common values are violated; appeal to our conscience to act in the defense of those values; urge us to retaliate in kind when armed aggressors cross into our land and persecute our fellow citizens on silent watch of their government; compel us to confront the government of the day that fails to defend the territorial integrity of our country and protect our fellow citizens. Above all, martyrs are credible evidence of who we are; they are an open book in which to read the noble causes for which our heroes and heroines sacrificed their precious lives. It should therefore infuriate us when traitors in the top echelon of the TPLF leadership ride roughshod on the fundamental value of independence bequeathed to us by martyrs who had made the ultimate sacrifice. ......full text

We must stand with the people of Ethiopia

Sen. Russell Feingold statement on Ethiopia /June 23, 2008
Over the past year, I have become increasingly concerned by reports coming out of the Ogadan region of Ethiopia regarding military attacks on civilians and Government blockades of essential humanitarian and commercial supplies. National and international aid organizations with field missions in the area describe security forces burning villages and Government officials ordering entire village populations to move to specific “resettlement” locations that lack sufficient......full text

Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) (Andenet) - Formed (click here)

June 18, 2008

Ginbot 7, strongly Condemns the Appalling Crime against humanity Perpetrated by the Meles Zenawi Dictatorial Regime in the Ogaden region.

June 17, 2008
Human Rights Watch, the most respected and credible human rights advocacy group, in its well documented and evidenced report has accused the tyrannical regime of Meles Zenawi to have had been committed crime against humanity in the region of Ogaden on a report issued June the 12th 2008......full text

Group accuses Ethiopia of war crimes in Ogaden

By Elizabeth A.Kennedy , AP/ June 17, 2008
Ethiopia's government is committing war crimes in its military campaign against rebels in the Ogaden region, a rights group charged Thursday in a report that complained the U.S. and other Western governments willfully ignored abuses.............full text

Letter to President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan

Ethiopian organizations / June 6, 2008
.....We wish to register our protest in the strongest possible terms that any attempted boundary settlement your government reaches with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), will neither bind the rest of the country, nor achieve a stable or durable settlement of whatever outstanding differences might exist between our countries regarding the location of our common boundary. On the contrary, any such settlement is bound to be a continuing source of friction and an unnecessary obstacle to furthering and deepening the economic cooperation and cultural exchanges that currently exist between our two countries.......full text

Border Demarcation with Sudan Causes Anger in Ethiopia

VOA , June 5, 2008
Residents and community leaders in western Ethiopia say thousands of people in several border regions have been displaced by Sudanese troops in recent weeks, following what they describe as a secret, illegal deal between the governments in Addis Ababa and Khartoum. Critics say the secret deal to demarcate the border gives Sudan the right to occupy areas Ethiopians historically consider sacrosanct. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi........full text

Death by kangaroo court

Editorial , Ethiomedia / June 02, 2008
What a mockery of justice! Meles Zenawi sending Mengistu Hailemariam and his lieutenants to the gallows for “serious crimes against humanity”! Imagine Adolf Hitler condemning Benito Mousollini to death for “war crimes against Ethiopians." Imagine the pot calling the kettle black! .......full text

Ethiopia’s humanitarian situation rapidly deteriorating – UN

May 25, 2008
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today that it is concerned by conditions in Ethiopia and that the situation will deteriorate further without an immediate infusion of resources to carry out life-saving interventions.......full text

Meles admits the secret handing over of Ethiopian land to sudan

APA, May 21, 2008
Recent reports said that Ethiopian farmers were displaced by Sudanese troops at two border areas......full text

Worldwide Ethiopian march for freedom and democracy May 15-18,2008

May 13, 2008
The third anniversary of the failed Ethiopian National Election is a day away. Accordingly, worldwide events are on schedule to kick off in cities across North America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Israel.These events will publicly demonstrate that the Ethiopian peoples’ thirst for freedom, human rights, justice and democracy will not die despite the hijacking of the last election and the increasing repression within the country. This has been a huge organizational task and will not be perfect, but it is the beginning. Let the sleeping giant—the freedom loving people of Ethiopia—awaken and rise up for truth and right!.......full text

Something is rotten in the state of Ethiopia!

Ethiomedia/ May 11, 2008
First, it was access to the Red Sea. Meles handed over the Port of Assab, along with everything else, to secessionist Eritrea, permanently landlocking Ethiopia. Next came Badme and all the areas we lost along the northeastern part of the country. Meles set the country up for a total diplomatic defeat from the jaws of absolute Ethiopian military victory, and delivered Badme over to Eritrea (after turning over documents weakening Ethiopia’s claim) in binding international arbitration. Then Meles invaded Somalia, a stateless country long in the throes of clan warfare. In just over a year, Meles created one million internally displaced people and the second most desperate humanitarian crises in the world today. Now, from all indications, it appears Meles has done it again! He has delivered Tach Armacho, Quara, Metema and Abdris on a silver platter to none other than the Butcher of Darfur, Omar Al-Bashir. Would somebody please tell us what in God’s name Meles is doing to Ethiopia? .......full text

Amnesty International accuses Ethiopian troops in Somalia of war atrocities

The Associated Press / May 06, 2008
Amnesty International said Tuesday that Ethiopian troops who support Somalia's UN-backed government are killing civilians, slitting people's throats and gang-raping women.The human rights group called on the international community to intervene to halt the bloodshed. It released a report Tuesday containing chilling witness accounts of indiscriminate killings - and even the intentional targeting of civilians - in the Horn of Africa nation. The accounts single out Ethiopian troops for some of the worst violations. .......full text

To be or not to be

Editorial , Ethiomedia / April 30, 2008
To be or not to be prime minister in 2010? That was the question put to Meles Zenawi by Newsweek a couple of weeks ago: “Will you stay as prime minister after your term expires in 2010? Meles: “This is likely to be my last term.” Such was the pithy and cryptic response of the normally pompous and bombastic dictator. “Likely”? What does that mean? Used as an adverb, the word “likely” is commonly preceded by a modifier such as “very”, “most” or “quite” as in “This is (most) likely to be my last term.” So used, the word conveys a measure of sincerity, good faith and certitude about one’s intentions, if not actual plans. Used in its adjectival form, the word “likely” could mean “probable” or “possible”, as in “It is probable or possible this could be my last term.” .......full text

Government's PR machine hides many brutal truths

By Dula Abdu ,Houston Chronicle / April 26, 2008
.....The concerns of Ethiopians in diaspora and at home have been marginalized by the PR machine of the regime in Addis Ababa, which denies the existence of human rights violations and record famine.While the Ethiopian government is spending millions in lobbying, American tax dollars are being used to prop up the regime and to ship weapons. At the same time, almost a quarter of the Ethiopian population is facing starvation. The United States is about to send more grain, but not as much as it once did.......full text

Ethiopians choose local officials in vote marred by opposition boycott

By Anita Powell, AP / April 20, 2008
Ethiopians chose local representatives Sunday in nationwide elections marred by a boycott by the two largest opposition parties and criticized by a prominent international human rights group.Government officials in the key U.S. ally touted the polls as a sign of Ethiopia's commitment to democracy after the bloody aftermath of the 2005 general elections, but opposition parties said a systematic campaign of beatings, arrests and intimidation forced out more than 17,000 of their candidates.. .......full text

Ethiopia's Election Panel, Opposition Trade Accusations

VOA / April 17, 2008
.............“As far as the board is concerned, it is just a fabrication,” said Merga. “There is no evidence for that. We have thoroughly discussed about the issue together with his excellency, Ato [[Mr.] Bulcha. We have attempted to solve the problems, and we have solved many of the problems. But when there is no evidence, it is very difficult for the board to solve what they are claiming, so we consider as fabrication.”..........full text

Power Politics Trumps Democracy in U.S.-backed Ethiopia

By Alex Stonehill and Sarah Stuteville / April 13, 2008
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—Dawn in the Merkato breaks over a tangle of streets jammed with shouting hawkers and towering pyramids of ripe produce from Ethiopia’s fertile countryside. Today it is a popular destination for sunburnt foreign tourists, expensive cameras poised to capture lively scenes from one of Africa’s largest open-air markets.Few of them, unloading from tour buses today, know that less then three years ago these bustling streets were stained with the blood of murdered citizens who had flooded into the center of Ethiopia’s capital city to protest the contested re-election of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi..........full text

Etiopia: War crimes tribunal violated human rights

Appolon / April 08, 2008
The Ethiopian legal system has accused several thousands of brutal war crimes. Now the war crimes tribunal has itself violated fundamental human rights.........full text

Ethiopia and the United States - A loveless liaison

The Economist / April 04, 2008
THE alliance between the United States and Ethiopia was born of pragmatism. In another time, they might have been enemies. Ethiopians do not like American soldiers tramping on their soil. Americans dislike Ethiopia's bad human-rights record. Local elections due this month are a case in point. Ethiopia's opposition, emasculated by the long imprisonment of its leaders (most of whom were pardoned last year) and weakened by its own divisions, will almost certainly be crushed in an unfair contest. “It's going to be a stitch-up,” says a Western diplomat. “Control is what this government is all about.”.........full text

Zimbabwe Opposition Claims Victory in Presidential, Parliamentary Elections

VOA / April 02, 2008
The Secretary-General of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Tendai Biti, said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential election with more than 50 percent (50.3) of the vote, while President Robert Mugabe received 43 percent.........full text

The folly of dubbing Ethiopia "black colonizer

Robele Ababya / March 27, 2008
”Land to the tiller” was a passion - a darling slogan for those of us involved in the period of the struggle leading to the outbreak of the Ethiopian revolution of 1974 G.C. In the aftermath of the revolution, various political orientations emerged including copycats of the works of Marx, Engel, Lenin, Stalin, Mao et al. The copycats made a mess of applying the works of Marx to the socio-economic conditions of technologically, scientifically and industrially backward Ethiopia. Self-styled ‘paragons’ of the communist ideology including EPRP (old) and TPLF ardently supported the ill-conceived theory that the Eritrean question is a colonial issue which must therefore be resolved in that context........full text

The black and white of civil disobedience and armed struggle

By Afura Burtukana / March 20, 2008
Despotic governments all over the world almost always face resistance. The forms of resistance range from civil disobedience to armed struggle. Philosophers and activists have argued for and against both kind of resistance. Their bases for the argument are the severity of casualties, the length of time elapse, and requirement of resources among others. The objective is the effectiveness of the resistance which by itself is a base for the argument.......full text

The Absent Media

By Mikael Deribe / March 15, 2008
I am among the thousands of Ethiopians who were astonished after reading an article entitled “33 years of TPLF and 32 years of Meles Zenawi: Suppression in the name of Liberation” posted on Ethiomedia.com on February 23, 2008 co-authored by Tesfay Atsbeha, and Kahsay Berhe who regret to have been members of TPLF before it was taken over by anti-Ethiopian elements. These two genuine Ethiopians have once again exposed the mobsters who have so far gotten away working in the name of Tigrayans, all out against the rest of the Ethiopian people. This well written and astounding article has hopefully re-stimulated our senses to the nature and daily actions of the clique in power. ......full text

U.S. DEPARTMENT of STASE - 2007 Human Rights Report: Ethiopia

March 12, 2008
Human rights abuses reported during the year included: limitation on citizens' right to change their government during the most recent elections; unlawful killings, and beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of those suspected of sympathizing with or being members of the opposition or insurgent groups; detention of thousands without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; ......full text

UN policy in Horn of Africa questioned

By Cindy Saine, VOA / March 12, 2008
WASHINGTON - Democratic Senator Russ Feingold Tuesday delivered a scathing criticism of the U.S. policy in the Horn of Africa. At a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, he called on the Bush administration to do more to address the worsening security, political and humanitarian conditions in the region, especially in Somalia. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.........full text

Key leaders absent from Ethiopian elections

By Elizabeth Blunt,BBC News, Addis Ababa / March 3, 2008
Ethiopians will soon be getting their first chance to vote since the general election in 2005, which ended with violent protests and the jailing of most of the leaders of the opposition.The opposition CUD coalition won far more seats than any opposition party had ever won before, but they were convinced that the true result should have been even more in their favour. ........full text

Adwa’s Lessons to the Democratic Opposition

Maimire Mennasemay,Ph.D/ Feb.28, 2008
On March 1st, 2008, Ethiopians commemorate the 112th anniversary of the Adwa victory. Adwa is one of those historical events that tears apart the fog of politics and unveils a new horizon that reveals a people’s capability to become a master of its own destiny. But our rulers have reduced Adwa to a drum-and-trumpet event and emptied it of its liberating spirit. However, there is a living Adwa, critical of the mummified Adwa our rulers celebrate, which dwells in our history as an unfinished task that urges Ethiopians to complete the struggle for freedom their ancestors started in 1896. Openness to Adwa as a living experience could disclose a historical compass that could help the democratic opposition find its way out from its current disarray........full text

Solidarity Forum of Ethiopia

Press Release / Feb.28, 2008
Dear Fellow Ethiopians and Friends of Ethiopia: After working behind the scene and contacting various distinguished and ordinary individuals in our community (both for support and ideas) we, the coordinating committee of concerned Ethiopians, are pleased to formally announce the birth of the Solidarity Forum of Ethiopia. Although not finalized yet, the Forum’s Mission and its Bylaws are being drafted and nearing completion.........full text

33 years of TPLF and 32 years of Meles Zenawi

Suppression in the name of Liberation

By Kahsay Berhe and Tesfay Atsbeha / Feb.27, 2008
On the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the TPLF, we pay our sincere and due respect to the tens of thousands of TPLF fighters, including our brothers, sisters, friends, schoolmates, neighbours and comrades-in-arms, who gave theirs lives, so that their remaining compatriots may lead a better life. To these fallen belong also fighters, militias and civilians murdered by Meles Zenawi and his collaborators. According to our information so far, the number of innocent people murdered by the TPLF in Tigray (with the exception of Hawzien and Wuqro) is more than those murdered by the Dergue in Tigray.........full text

US policy on African faulted on priorities

Security Is Stressed Over Democracy

By Stephanie McCrummen , Washington Post Foreign Service / Feb.22, 2008
NAIROBI -- In his tour of Africa, President Bush steered clear of countries where stability, human rights and progress toward democracy have degenerated during his tenure, among them Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Uganda and Kenya. In those countries, Bush's focus on counterterrorism has overtaken his other stated foreign policy goals of promoting democracy and human rights, according to analysts."While democratization has clearly been one of the three major stated objectives of the Bush administration -- the others being security and development -- democratization probably ranks third," said Joel Barkan, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "You can see it in several ways, but it's mainly the subordination of democratization to the so-called war on terror." .......full text

The Roosters are Crowing : It’s Time for Africans to Sweep Our Huts Clean of Dirty Politics

By Obang Metho / Feb.20, 2008
The African roosters are crowing from the north to the south to the east and to the west as the first rays of dawn’s light are cracking through the darkness hanging over Africa. From all over the continent, Africans are awakening to a new understanding of their God-given rights, their democratic rights and with them, to the desire to rule themselves. No longer are they willing to put up with a legacy of corrupt, greedy and power-hungry dictators, no different from the colonizers, who controlled the continent for years with their evil policies of divide and conquer.The people of Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Chad, Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, the Congo - too many places to name, are challenging the status quo of dirty politics and dirty politicians, not with guns, but with their brooms! We are entering a new era and it is time to clean our huts of corrupt leaders who refuse to give up power while robbing and oppressing the people they are supposed to serve! This is the root of our suffering, misery and pain. .......full text

The ethiopianization of Kenya

Ethiomedia , Editorial / Feb.20, 2008
A few days ago the New York Times reported that Kenya is in the "throes of ethnic segregation." Following the highly disputed presidential elections there, hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced, resulting in a massive flight of Kenyans of all ethnic backgrounds to their "ancestral homelands." No one could have seriously predicted such decomposition of Kenyan society a few months ago.......full text

Who is in power? --(Ethiomedia)

Military, Diplomatic Tensions Peak as UN Peacekeepers Withdraw From Eritrea

VOA / Feb.16, 2008
The United Nations is halting peacekeeping operations in Eritrea, and closing its mission headquarters in Asmara. The pullout comes two months after the Eritrean government cut off vital fuel supplies and ordered the peacekeepers out. The entire operation is being relocated to the Ethiopian side of the two countries' disputed border. From the Ethiopian town of Mekele, VOA's Peter Heinlein reports the pullout points up the world body's impotence in the face of a tiny country determined to expel its blue-helmeted peacekeepers.........full text

China 'toxic for Africa freedom'

BBC / Feb.13, 2008
The increase in the arrest and imprisonment of journalists in Africa in the last year has been partly blamed on China by Reporters Without Borders. "The influence of China in African affairs has been very toxic for democracy," the media watchdog's Leonard Vincent told the BBC........full text

American law professor fired from Ethiopian university

The Sub-Saharan Informer / Feb.10, 2008
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – An American law professor, teaching at the Ethiopian Ministry of Education’s Mekelle University in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, had her contract terminated last week by university officials.The administration claims “incompetence” was the reason for her termination. But Professor Abigail Salisbury claims that her public voicing of alternative views on the U.S. House of Representative’s Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007 (HR2003) got her fired.......full text

The Political Crisis in Kenya: A Call for Justice and Peaceful Resolution

Chairman Donald M. Payne / Feb.09, 2008
..........Remember the 2005 elections in Ethiopia? Did we condemn the abuses and killings of innocent civilians in Ethiopia after the elections? And where are those elected members of parliament and the mayor of the capital? Not in parliament. They were imprisoned for two years. The thinking may be: if Prime Minister Meles can get away with a stolen election and still remain a friend of Washington, why not Kibaki?......full text

Ogaden Crackdown Carries High Cost

By Jim Lobe, IPS / Feb.07, 2008
An intensified counter-insurgency campaign against Somali rebels and their suspected civilian supporters in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region is drawing growing criticism by human rights groups and concern from the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, a staunch ally of Addis Ababa.The campaign, which some experts date to an April attack by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) on a Chinese oil installation in which 74 people were killed, including nine Chinese, is causing immense suffering by the local Somali population, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) which released a statement on the situation Wednesday..........full text

Tyranny in the Academy

By Prof Alemayehu G. Mariam / Feb.04, 2008
Welcome to higher education in the Land of Absurd-istan! In an incisive article posted on the web-based legal research service, Jurist, Abigail Salisbury, a law professor at Mekelle University recently painted a chilling and naked portrait of a university in a police state.........full text

Ethiopia: Human Rights Watch 2008 Report

HRW / Feb 01, 2008
The Ethiopian government’s human rights record remains poor, both within the country and in neighboring Somalia, where since early 2007 thousands of Ethiopian troops have been fighting an insurgency alongside the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.........full text

Making exceptions for Ethiopia

The Guardian / Feb 01, 2008
Western policy towards Africa is ill-informed and inconsistent. That's the message of Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, in his interview in the Guardian last week. And there's some truth in what he says. But Meles should be careful what he wishes for.If the west was better informed about the war crimes and human rights abuses committed by Meles' military forces in Somalia and Ogaden, western taxpayers might balk at the thought that their governments are providing Ethiopia with hundreds of millions of dollars of military and economic aid........full text

In southeastern Ethiopia, war leaves civilians dying, hungry in the middle

By Anita Powell , AP / Jan 29, 2008
DEGAHABUR, Ethiopia - In this remote Ethiopian trading town, people speak of the fight between the government and separatists furtively, in snatches. They are trapped in the middle, silence and anonymity their only shield.“We have problems with the (rebels) and the government, both of them,” said a woman crouched in a tailor’s shop, mending a pair of trousers. “They harm us. People have run away from the city because of the clashes between the two parties.”........full text

Ask now; praise later. What's the motive of Seye Abraha?

By Ebissa Ragassa / Jan 26, 2008
Modern Ethiopian politics is an illusion created to confuse and fool the mass through many possible ways of event control. This is a new method that the public has not been aware of yet; it is through controlling events (from the local to the national levels) that the TPLF employees manipulate the Ethiopian peoples. A false event is implanted by the government to create a chaotic state; when the public gets confused and becomes desperate for help, it runs back to the government and accepts any deals the government slaps on the table. In the process, freedom, progress and critical thinking are sacrificed, and the citizens become blind followers.........full text

Seeye Abraha's new thinking travels to Denver, Seattle

By Teodros Kiros (Ph.D.) / Jan 26, 2008
The melodic voice of Seeye travels nationally, and wherever he goes the Ethiopian people are embracing his call for the unconditional release of the prisoners of conscience, the majority of whom speak Oromiffa. Seeye is being embraced by the young and old, men and women, across the vast stretch of the Diaspora arena and beyond it to the heart of the interiors of Ethiopia.Some reputable journalists are reporting that Seeye’s New thinking is giving the prevailing regime massive headaches.........full text

Ethiopia’s Dirty War

By Jason McLure | Newsweek / Jan 23, 2008
It was early one morning in July when 400 Ethiopian soldiers came to Ridwan Hassan Zahid's village of Qorile, 120 miles southeast of Degehebur, Ethiopia, a dusty market town. The small settlement of ethnic Somalis in eastern Ethiopia was suspected of supporting separatist rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), and the government troops were out to exact revenge. They took Zahid, another woman, and eight men to the nearby village of Babase, where, she says, the soldiers chased away residents and burned the village to the ground. "I became like plastic," she says. "I couldn't feel a thing." ........full text

A Message of Hope for the New Year from the Anuak Justice Council

By Obang O. Metho,AJC / Jan 21, 2008
In the year 2007, the Anuak Justice Council has come closer to many Ethiopians from all over the country. This was not by accident. Despite the great marginalization and discrimination of the people of Gambella and despite the massacre of the Anuak people who have never really recovered from the losses from one of the worst atrocities planned and carried out by the EPRDF government and despite the indifference that kept most Ethiopians silent following these acts, we were convinced that we must reach out to other Ethiopians.........full text

The prison speaks Oromiffa

By Fekade Shewakena/ Jan 18, 2008
The phrase I used for the title of this article would pass for simple ethnic politicking if it was not spoken by a founder and former politburo member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and a former Defense Minister of the regime now ruling Ethiopia with an iron fist.The headline is a direct quote of Mr. Seye Abraha, who was released recently after serving six years at the Qaliti dungeon on trumped-up charges of corruption for which his accuser, Mr. Meles Zenawi, could not produce any credible evidence. ...........full text

Stealing elections in Ethiopia casts bad omen over Kenya

By Robele Ababya / Jan 16, 2008
When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Ethiopia last year, public expectations were she would rebuke the dictator, Meles Zeanwi, over his dismal record for violating human rights since he came to power in 1991. Instead, Secretary Rice took everyone one of us by surprise because she denounced HR 2003, the human rights and democracy act that was adopted unanimously by the House of Representatives. Why was Rice opposed to a bill that would only promote human rights, democracy and government accountability, among others? ...........full text

Bloggers are Africa's new rebels

By Paul Salopek, Chicago Tribune / Jan 14, 2008
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The man was nervous. He was afraid, he said, of the secret police. So he advised me to hire a random taxi. I was to park at a certain church. And there, I was to wait. A few minutes later he called again, this time on a different cell phone. He gave me directions to a nondescript house with an iron gate.“Sorry about these procedures,” he apologized, tapping away at a laptop in a shuttered room. “But I could spend years in prison for what I do.”............full text

Secretary Rice’s rebuff of HR2003 in Menelik’s City lacks decorum

By Robele Ababya / Jan 10, 2008
Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice made her maiden visit to Addis Ababa late last year, although the tyrant Meles Zenawi has since 11 September 2001 been a coalition partner on the war against terrorism as a matter of political expediency over principle. Her denouncing of HR2003 in Addis Ababa - lacked statesmanship and decorum and exposed her insensitivity to the agony, grief and wailing of mothers of the martyrs of June and November 2005 in the aftermath of the historic election decisively won by the opposition and ruthlessly stolen by the ruling party of the despotic ruler............full text

Kenyan vote exposes Africa's weak democracy

By By Leon Louw (Business Daily)/ Jan 10, 2008
January 10, 2008: I have been reading many contributions on the unfortunate developments in Kenya. Some addressed the fundamental issue of what could be done to enhance democracy as a peaceful process in Africa . The problem, as I see it, is a lack of appreciation for the fact that democracy not so much “fails” in Africa as that it hasn’t really been tried............full text

HR stands for human rights; let's stand up for HR 2003 in 2008

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / Jan 08, 2008
The truth is finally out! The H.R. in H.R. 2003 stands for Human Rights! H.R. has become the special code for the Ethiopian people whenever they want to talk about the rule of law and due process and freedom of expression and association. It has become their special lingo to talk about the need for an independent press and an independent judiciary and for clean elections and the rest of it. And human rights were the rage in Ethiopia in the third quarter of 2007. From the barstools of the Sheraton and Hilton hotels to the tattered wooden benches of the tej, tella and katikalla bets, the talk was H.R. Farmers, day laborers and even listros (shoeshiners) wistfully talked about H.R. “This H.R. We need her! If only we had HeR., …” they’d pine away............full text

U.S. Engagement in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa

By Lahra Smith (CSIS)/ Jan 07, 2008
A reassessment of U.S. policy toward Ethiopia is very much in order. A year has passed since Ethiopia intervened in Somalia, and its troops are bogged down there in an ongoing low-intensity conflict that has created a grave humanitarian crisis. The invasion appears deeply unpopular with the Somali people, and the tide of battle could yet turn decisively against the Ethiopians. Meanwhile, the December 1, 2007 deadline set by the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) for demarcation of the border between the two countries has passed without implementation by either party. Troops are massing on both sides of the border, and a renewal of the 1998-2000 border war is entirely possible. Finally, the human rights situation within Ethiopia remains poor, and the country’s long-term political stability is uncertain – prompting the U.S. House of Representatives to pass legislation intended to strengthen U.S. democracy programs in Ethiopia and ban “nonessential assistance” to the Ethiopian government...........full text

Ethiopia Denies Independent Newspaper Licenses

VOA News/ January 3, 2008
Ethiopia has denied licenses to three independent newspaper publishers who were jailed for 17 months in connection with media coverage of the country's 2005 post-election unrest. VOA's Peter Heinlein has details from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.Journalists and newspaper publishers Eskinder Nega, Serkalim Fasil, and Sisay Agena say they were notified by an Ethiopian information ministry official Monday that their applications for permits to practice journalism were denied. No reasons for the rejections were given."...........full text

'Genocide on a grand scale' in Kenya, opposition leader says

CNN / January 3, 2008
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Children's bodies were piled in a Nairobi morgue, churches burned and police on horseback chased pedestrians through the streets as Kenya's political crisis stretched into a fifth day Thursday.Meanwhile, the country's attorney general called for a recount and independent investigation into the December 27 election in which incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the victor over opposition candidate Raila Odinga...........full text

Who is in power? --( Ethiomedia,2007 )

HR 2003 is a bill of the decade with global ramification

By Dagnea Teshome / December 27, 2007
Dear Friends:We are writing this letter to inform you about what may well be the most important Human Rights bill of the decade – a single bill, specific to one country but with global implications. Once enacted in to law, this bill will have sweeping and global ramification in the exercise of United States Foreign Policy.The bill in question, H.R. 2003 - Ethiopia Democracy & Accountability Act Of 2007, was passed by the House of Representatives on October 2, 2007. The vote was unanimous! Now, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations must approve it.........full text

East Africa awaits historic Kenyan election

Daily Nation / December 27, 2007
THE EAST AFRICAN COUNTRIES ARE WATCHing the Kenyan general election very keenly, as it is expected to have a major impact on the growth of democracy in the region.Particularly under scrutiny is the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), which has grown to be one of the most important institution of governance in East Africa..........full text

What's wrong with Ethiopia?

By Maimire Mennasemay/ December 23, 2007
Ethiopia was not made in a day; nor democracy. I would like to look at the Kinijit split from a historical and philosophical perspective. The birth of Kinijit in 2005 was a political earthquake of the like Ethiopia has never known. Its eruption surprised both its enemies and friends. It revealed to all that powerful democratic forces inhabit the interstices of Ethiopian society. And the surprise that is Kinijit is not yet over, for even its internal problems and splits are laying a solid foundation for the emergence, for the first time in the history of Ethiopia, of that indispensable condition without which democracy cannot exist – the public sphere.........full text

What's wrong with Ethiopia?

By Obang Metho / December 20, 2007
What is wrong with Ethiopia? What is becoming very obvious is that it all depends on who you ask. We speak to many Ethiopians every day who tell us about the desperate conditions of the people within Ethiopia. From Ogadenis and reporters like Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times, we hear of the horrific human rights abuses and an increasingly worsening humanitarian crisis surpassing that of Darfur in the Ogaden........full text

Democracy in Africa: For all its flaws, an example to others

The Economist / December 20, 2007
IN AFRICA, a hard-fought but fair election in a pivotal country is an example-setting event. No, this is not South Africa, where the election of Jacob Zuma as president of the ruling African National Congress on December 18th dealt a shattering blow to his rival, Thabo Mbeki. Although this puts Mr Zuma in a strong position to lead South Africa when Mr Mbeki's second term as president ends in April 2009, his succession is far from certain (see article). In Kenya on December 27th, however, power may very well change hands after the tightest electoral contest in the country's history.........full text

Military build-up heightens Ethiopia-Eritrea Border tensions in 2007

By Peter Heinlein , VOA / December 18, 2007
Tensions rose along the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea during the year in advance of a November 30 settlement deadline set by an international boundary commission. At year's end, the Horn of Africa rivals had a combined total of nearly a quarter of a million troops facing each other across the disputed frontier. VOA's Peter Heinlein in Addis Ababa reports the boundary commission deadline passed without incident, but the danger of war remains high........full text

In Rebel Region, Ethiopia Turns to Civilian Patrols

By Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times / December 14, 2007
NAIROBI, Kenya — The Ethiopian government, one of America’s top allies in Africa, is forcing untrained civilians — including doctors, teachers, office clerks and employees of development programs financed by the World Bank and United Nations — to fight rebels in the desolate Ogaden region, according to Western officials, refugees and Ethiopian administrators who recently defected to avoid being conscripted. . .......full text

Remembering December 13th: A day for all of us!

AJC press release / December 13, 2007
The anniversary of the December 13, 2003 Anuak massacre is here again. Four years have now passed since the Anuak witnessed a horrific slaughter of their loved ones by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s military forces and some other pro-EPRDF government militia groups. The painful wounds from those losses will be reopened as many Anuak throughout Ethiopia and in the Diaspora observe the fourth memorial of this genocide that took place in Gambella. .......full text

Why does HR 2003 scare Meles Zenawi?

By Robele Ababya / December 8, 2007
The Meles Zenawi regime continues to intensify its last-ditch desperate effort to kill HR2003. It is doing so against the backdrop of mounting international demand for justice and respect for human rights. Meles is incessantly lamenting that the Bill will undermine his cooperation in the fight against terrorism if and when it becomes law. This brings to light that his jump into the bandwagon of coalition of the willing in the war on terrorism was not as a matter of principle but solely a calculated stratagem to be kept in power in exchange. He has unwittingly exposed his true nature of a thug who cares least about principles.......full text

Impossible to Rescue Ethiopia from Eritrea

EPPF News / December 6, 2007
Any Ethiopian group or organization with the good intention at heart and struggling to bring about positive changes to our nation, have the responsibility of protecting the interest of our nation, as well as exposing harmful situations which could be avoided if known in advance.We, EPPF International have been following developments which if not exposed and consequently halted could lead to be another damaging situation to our fight for democracy in Ethiopia.Below are facts, which we believe are crucial for all Ethiopians to be aware of. We ask all concerned media owners to use their medium and help us inform other concerned Ethiopians........full text

Addis Dimts Radio’s new website www.addisdimts.com

Rice's visit to Ethiopia puts focus on ally accused of human rights abuses

By Shashank Bengali | McClatchy Newspapers / December 6, 2007
NAIROBI, Kenya — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Ethiopia this week puts a spotlight on the tight but troubled relationship between the United States and the volatile Horn of Africa nation........full text

Rice tells Ethiopia to ease tensions with Eritrea

By Sue Pleming, Reuters / December 5, 2007
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Ethiopia on Wednesday to avoid acts that would raise tensions with Eritrea but got new promises from Africa's Great Lakes nations to end fighting in eastern Congo.In a rare public foray into African diplomacy, Rice spent a day in the Ethiopian capital shuttling between meetings with African leaders and ministers with the goal of tackling conflicts in eastern Congo, Somalia and Sudan and preventing a border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.In a swipe at her Ethiopian hosts, Rice pressed Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to reduce tensions with Eritrea.......full text

Beggars and choosers

Ethiomedia Editorial/ December 3, 2007
Last week, Meles Zenawi explained to his parliament that the U.S. Congress bundled H.R. 2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007) with the “wheat we beg from them” thinking that “it may be a good thing to tell us how to administer our affairs.” He added, “If this is what the U.S. Congress intended, it would be an expression of its arrogance and hubris.” ......full text

Rice to Tackle African Conflicts

By MATTHEW LEE , AP / December 1, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hopes to try to cool several explosive African conflicts and shore up faltering peace deals when she travels next week to Ethiopia, headquarters of the African Union, the State Department said Friday.In meetings in Addis Ababa, Rice plans to explore prospects for peace in the Horn of Africa, where Somalia is ravaged by violence and humanitarian crises and fresh tensions between Ethiopia and arch-foe neighbor Eritrea threaten a 2000 peace pact that closed a bloody two-year border war, a senior official said...............full text

One people, one nation, one Ethiopia

By Zerihun Gebre-Meskel / November 28, 2007
November 17, 2007 marked the Ethiopian Millennium for some of us at the Anuak Justice Council Human Rights Conference. It resonated, the same hope felt by many during the months leading up to the historic May 2005 election. How is one left to feel when representatives of human rights activists under the leadership of Mr. Obang Metho himself sat side by side at the panelist table covered with the majestic green, yellow, red. It was an amazing sight that easily fed the soul. This memorable visual alone was the beacon of hope for those of us who had the privilege of witnessing this historical moment..............full text

Internet in Ethiopia - Is Ethiopia Off-line or Wired to the Rim?

By Samuel Kinde / November 28, 2007
Few things in Ethiopia cause as much frustration and despair than the ongoing and deteriorating dismal state of Internet connectivity in the country. Given how the country continues to struggle with fundamental issues of development for its 80 million people, this lack of progress - and in some cases complete reversal of earlier growth - tests the hope of the most optimist observers and stake-holders....................full text

The devil quotes Scripture

Ethiomedia / November 26, 2007
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek.” So wrote Shakespeare in the Merchant of Venice. Today, the villainous merchants of tyranny and dictatorship in Ethiopia quote the Treaty of Wuchale (Ucciale) to oppose a human rights bill (H.R. 2003) in the U.S. Congress..................full text

HR 2003 benefits all and sundry

By Fekade Shewakena /November 25, 2007
HR 2003 was conceived and developed in the aftermath of the historic Ethiopian election of 15 May 2005 that culminated in the unexpected decisive victory of opposition forces over the brutal regime of Woyanne, which in its 16 years of repressive rule, had betrayed vital national interests of Ethiopia, including rendering her the largest land-locked country on the globe...................full text

The difference between HR 2003 and Wuchale Treaty for dummies

By Fekade Shewakena /November 22, 2007
Obviously the TPLF and its cronies have realized that they have no merit based argument to make against the substance contained in HR2003, the Ethiopian Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007, that passed the US House with a unanimous vote and stands pending passage in the Senate. The substance of the bill is clear to anyone who can read it and I know translations of the bill in Ethiopian languages have now percolated to the hands of enthusiastic Ethiopians on the streets who write their Diaspora compatriots to work harder to have the bill become law. Many Ethiopians are waiting to see if America lives up to the ideals it preaches by passing this bill and help them in their fight to restore their humanity and dignity that is being violated with impunity by their brutal rulers. ..................full text

As Somali Crisis Swells, Experts See a Void in Aid

By Jeffrey Gettleman / The New York Times /November 20, 2007
AFGOOYE, Somalia — The worst humanitarian crisis in Africa may not be unfolding in Darfur, but here, along a 20-mile strip of busted-up asphalt, several top United Nations officials said.A year ago, the road between the market town of Afgooye and the capital of Mogadishu was just another typical Somali byway, lined with overgrown cactuses and the occasional bullet-riddled building. Now it is a corridor teeming with misery, with 200,000 recently displaced people crammed into swelling camps that are rapidly running out of food.....................full text

Remember, the Ethiopian martyrs of June and November 2005

By Prof. Al Mariam / November 16, 2007
The documented facts of the June and November, 2005 massacres are shocking to the conscience as they are incontrovertible.1 The Commission examined 16,990 documents, and received testimony form 1,300 witnesses. After analyzing this mountain of evidence, the Commission concluded that none of the protesters possessed, used or attempted to use firearms against the paramilitary forces. None of them possessed, used or attempted to use any type of explosives. No protester was observed carrying a stick or a club to use as a weapon. No protester set or attempted to set fire to public or private property. No protester robbed or attempted to rob a bank....................full text

First-week protest in Oklahoma City successful

By Ethiopians and Friends for HR 2003/ November 15, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY - Ethiopians and their friends campaigning for the promotion of the human rights bill HR 2003 held a demonstration in Oklahoma City on Tuesday and protested against Senator James Inhofe's reported move to block the Bill. Local TV and international media such as Associated Press covered the peaceful demonstration.The purpose of the demonstration was to protest Senator James Inhofe's opposition to H.R.2003, the "Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007." In a statement that Senator James Inhofe made on the Senate floor on October 17, 2007, he stated;...................full text

UN envoy says Somali war crime suspects should face ICC

AFP/ November 13, 2007
NAIROBI (AFP) - A United Nations envoy on Tuesday said Somali war crimes suspects should be prosecuted at the international Criminal Court in order to end impunity in the lawless African nation. "People perpetuating crimes and violence are not being challenged before the International Criminal Court," said Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN secretary general's special envoy to Somalia...................full text

Sovereignty vs democracy

By Solomon Terfa (Ph.D.) / November 12, 2007
In the last few months, there has been a vociferous call for democracy in Ethiopia. This call for democracy seems to give the impression that democracy is what will cure the problems that exist in the country. The denial of democratic rights by the authoritarian regime seems to have relegated the right of the people as the repository of power to a secondary importance. “Popular sovereignty” of the people has been downgraded and or shelved. In this short paper I argue that the paramount demand of the Ethiopian people should be their right to sovereignty. Towards that end, a short historical and theoretical survey is in order..................full text

Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Tensions Raise New International Alert (By Howard Lesser , VOA) --( November 7, 2007 )

A brittle Western ally in the Horn of Africa

The Economist / November 1, 2007
AS AMERICA surveys the map of eastern Africa, it finds little to take comfort from. Somalia is in anarchy, riven by competing warlords and a haven for Islamist militants. Sudan is involved in the bloody suppression of blacks in its western region, Darfur. Both countries are deaf to outside complaints and seem chronically unstable. America is thinking of putting Eritrea, briefly a beacon of hope after it split from Ethiopia in 1993, on its list of countries that sponsor terrorism. But between that grim trio stands Ethiopia, America’s hope..................full text

A farewell to champions (By Prof. AL Mariam ) --( Oct. 30 ,2007 )

Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of plotting to invade --( Oct. 27 ,2007 )

Excerpts from Rep. Smith's Newmakers Speech on Ethiopia and Human Rights --( Oct. 23 ,2007 )

We demand an apology, Senator Inhofe

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam / October 22, 2007
am writing to demand an apology for the racist, scurrilous, truculent, degrading, offensive and manifestly untruthful statements you made on the floor of the Senate on October 17, 2007.I. Ethiopians Demand An Apology For Your Racist, Slanderous and Defamatory Statement That They Are Baby Killers, Child Abusers and Immoral People..................full text

The beginning of the end of a brutal dictatorship(By Selam Beyene) --( Oct. 19 ,2007 )

Oklahoma Senator threatens to kill HR 2003(Coalition for HR 2003 )- Watch Video here

--( Oct. 18 ,2007 )

War on terror trumps promoting Ethiopian democracy(By Janine Zacharia - BN ) --( Oct. 16 ,2007 )

One small step for the U.S. Congress, one giant leap for Ethiopian human rights (By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam ) --( Oct. 15 ,2007 )

Dismissive Ethiopia tests US indulgence (By Barney Jobson - FT) --( Oct. 11 ,2007 )

Intervene to save lives of Ethiopian Refugees in Sudan (SOCEPP-CAN) --( Oct. 10 ,2007 )

Thank You , Donald Payne and Chris Smith( By Aie Zi Guo ) --( Oct. 10 ,2007 )

US targets Ethiopia for sanctions (BBC) --( Oct. 04 ,2007 )

Payne Ethiopian Democracy Bill Passes House (Congressman Donald M.Payne) --( Oct.04 ,2007 )

Thank You, Congress for Passing HR 2003 (EAC) --( Oct. 03 ,2007 )

EACA Applauds the House of Representatives for Passing the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007 (H.R. 2003) --( Oct. 03 ,2007 )

US House of Representatives Passes Ethiopia Human Rights Bill (VOA) --( Oct. 02 ,2007 )

Act Now to Stop U.S. Support for Human Rights Violations in Ethiopia (Coalition for HR 2003) --( Sep. 30 ,2007 )

Ethiopia Legislation Moves Forward in US House of Representatives (VOA) --( Sep. 27 ,2007 )

In politics, crisis is an opportunity

By Abebe Gelaw / September 26, 2007
The Vice President of Kinijit has shamed her critics with an extraordinary display of humility, magnanimity, maturity and wisdom in her very touching appeal to Engineer Hailu Shawel. Judge Bertukan Mideksa's appeal to the Honourable Hailu Shawel to heal the festering wounds, which has attracted all sorts of opportunists, fifth columnists, infiltrators, myopic extremists, conspiracy theorists and wolves in sheep's skin, just to mention a few among so many, is testimony to the fact that the leader has to rise up to the challenge of leading the most popular but vulnerable political party in Ethiopian history out of the terrible storms. Her words were measured; her voice unfaltering, her composure unfailing and above all her appeal came from the bottom of her heart..................full text

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee to mark-up H.R. 2003 --( Sep.26 ,2007 )

Ethiopian political dispute comes to United States

By Jim Snyder , The Hill / September 21, 2007
Members of an Ethiopian opposition party who were jailed for 20 months in connection with a disputed election are lobbying the Bush administration and Congress to pressure Ethiopia to support a more open and democratic society. Members of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) delegation also plan to travel to various U.S. cities in an effort to continue to organize Ethiopian-Americans and to thank them for providing financial and political support during their incarceration..................full text

UN seeks Ethiopia abuses inquiry (BBC) --( Sep.20 ,2007 )

Ethiopia's Opposition Wants US Support for Democracy Struggle(James Butty, VOA) --( Sep.19 ,2007 )

Dr.Hailu Araya - on VOA

Woizerit Bertukan Mideksa and Dr.Hailu Araya on NPR

Ethiopia detains 3 men linked to top opposition politician

AP/ September 14, 2007
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Authorities have detained three Ethiopians linked to a top opposition politician, accusing them of trying to create a disturbance during the country's millennium celebrations, a fourth man who was released said Friday..................full text

Ethiomedia Editor on ETN

Support H.R.2003 by Asking Your Representative to Send it for Mark-up ...Sign the petition !

US recognises Ethiopian crisis

Financial Times / September 10, 2007
A senior US official has said for the first time that a “humanitarian crisis” is unfolding in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region, putting Washington at odds with the Addis Ababa government, which has rejected similar claims from aid organisations.

Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, made the comment on Saturday following a trip to the region, where government forces are fighting rebels who this year stepped up a violent campaign for self-determination.................full text

Millennium celebrations fall flat

AP / September 7, 2007
(ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia): As Ethiopia approaches its third millennium, the most popular joke in the capital city goes like this: How do you say "millennium" in Amharic? ...The pun of an answer — "menem yellum," which means "there is nothing" — sums up how many in Ethiopia's largest city feel about the festivities for Ethiopia's 2,000th year, which begins Tuesday on Ethiopia's Coptic calendar.................full text

Ethiopian opposition leader takes fight abroad

By Timothy Gardner / September 6, 2007
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The man who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa said he is not sure whether he can hold public demonstrations there, so he is visiting the United States and Europe seeking support for a new era of democracy in Ethiopia. "It is very difficult to know what it means to be engaged in political struggles in Ethiopia," Berhanu Nega, deputy chairman of Ethiopian opposition party Coalition for Unity and Democracy, or CUD, told Reuters in an interview in New York. "Can you organize demonstrations, can you organize discussions? All this is not answered." ................full text

Humanitarian crisis hits Ethiopia

By Xan Rice, The Guardian / September 5, 2007
A humanitarian crisis has developed in Ethiopia's remote Ogaden region, where government forces are trying to quell a rebel insurgency, according to a leading international aid agency.Médecins Sans Frontières said 400,000 people, including thousands forcibly displaced when their villages were burned down, had little or no access to medicine due to a government-installed blockade. ................full text

Meles regime welcomes millennium, not its homeless

By Anita Powell / August 30, 2007
(Addis Ababa) - Thousands of homeless people will be moved from the capital to the countryside before next month's millennium celebration and provided help with food, shelter and medicine, a development group said on Tuesday. Homelessness is a huge problem in Addis Ababa, a city of five million where an estimated 90 000 live on the streets. Beggars are a common sight, with everyone from young children to the elderly seeking money or scraps of food.....The group said most are from the northern Tigray region and that Elshadai is simply sending them back home................full text

Norway to cut aid to Ethiopia

Aftenposten / August 30, 2007
Ethiopia's decision to expel six of nine Norwegian diplomats from the country means Ethiopia will lose around NOK 30 million in Norwegian development aid................full text

Norway to withdraw six diplomats from Ethiopia

AFP / August 28, 2007
Norway is to reduce its diplomatic presence in Ethiopia after Addis Ababa expressed "dissatisfaction" with Oslo's policies in the Horn of Africa, the foreign ministry announced Monday...............full text

Addis Ababa neighborhood honors Bertukan Mideksa....(pdf) / August 26, 2007

Ethiopia upset by U.S. bill

By Brian Blackwell
Washington Times / August 23, 2007
WASHINGTON DC - Ethiopian officials are disturbed by legislation pending in Congress that would restrict military assistance and travel to the United States by certain Ethiopian officials unless President Bush certifies that the Addis Ababa government is acting to address specific human rights concerns. The Ethiopians argue that it is unfair to lump them in with countries like North Korea and Iran at a time when their troops are acting as allies in the war on terrorism, defending an interim government in neighboring Somalia against Islamist extremists..............full text

Gasha and ITDA host a meeting in Washington, DC

Gasha-ITDA PR / August 19, 2007
Gasha and ITDA - on DW Radio with Abebe Feleke (Amharic)

WASHINGTON DC – The sovereign territory of Ethiopia was violated in 1991 when the current regime came to power, and handed over Ethiopia’s sovereign territories to Eritrea in violation of the legal and historical rights of Ethiopia, a noted Ethiopian scholar has told a meeting in Washington, DC. Organized by Gasha for Ethiopians and International Tigrian Democratic Association (ITDA) on August 11, Professor Negussay Ayele deliberated on how the Meles Zenawi regime dug up colonial treaties of the early 1900s and used them to violate the sovereignty of the country and reduce it to its current landlocked status. .............full text

U.S. considers putting Eritrea on terrorism list

By Arshad Mohammed
Reuters / August 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - The United States said on Friday it was considering putting Eritrea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism for allegedly funneling weapons to insurgents fighting the Ethiopian-backed government in Somalia.Putting Eritrea on the list would impose sanctions on the Horn of Africa nation, including a ban on arms-related sales, prohibitions on some U.S. aid and U.S. opposition to International Monetary Fund and World Bank loans to Eritrea.............full text

U.S. Policy in the Horn of Africa

James Swan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs
August 14, 2007

As all of you know, the Horn of Africa is a rough neighborhood. At least one conflict – and frequently more – has raged in the region continuously since 1960. Inter-state conventional wars. Guerrilla-style liberation struggles. Coups. Revolutions. The Horn has seen them all.It is also a region that has suffered historically from poor governance -- from the brutal excesses of Ethiopia’s Derg, to authoritarian one-party systems in much of the region until the 1990s, to the lawlessness of the failed state of Somalia after the fall of Siad Barre. Winner-take-all politics and violent regime change have been the norm. And this historically unstable political and security climate has been a profound impediment to economic development.”............full text

Lies, promised joy, shimagles, pardons and bananas

By Prof. Al Mariam
August 6, 2007
Meles Zenawi was once the darling of Tony Bliar and Bill Clinton. He was lionized as one of the “new breed of African leaders.” There was boundless hope that Zenawi and a menagerie of other anointed African “new breeders” would lead the continent out of the darkness of authoritarian rule into the sunshine of freedom, democracy and human rights.But something went terribly wrong with the Blair/Clinton “African Renaisance”. In the poetic words of Robert Burns: “The best laid schemes of mice and men/Go often askew,/And leaves us nothing but grief and pain,/ For promised joy!”............full text

Obang Metho addresses Oromo Community in Minnesota

August 4, 2007
I was invited by our Oromo brothers and sisters through the Oromo-American Citizens Council to speak at the Second Annual International Oromo Human Rights Conference on “Conflict in East Africa and the Current Human Rights Situation.” I was to address the subject of human rights violations in Ethiopia with a special focus on the Anuak as well as to assess the risk of genocide and further human rights violations against other ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa.............full text

Senator Patrick Leahy on Assistance for Ethiopia

Statement
August 3, 2007
After the overthrow of Ethiopia's brutal former Prime Minister Mengistu, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ushered in a period of hope and optimism. On May 15, 2005, Ethiopia held its first open multi-party elections. The international community praised the people of Ethiopia for an astounding 90 percent voter participation rate, an encouraging beginning to a new political process. The Ethiopian people deserve a democratic process in which opposition parties can organize and participate, and journalists can publish freely, without fear of arrest or retribution. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the 2005 election was not the turning point many had hoped for............full text

US Senators protest over human rights abuses in Ogaden

August 2, 2007
Washington, D.C. - The following is a letter sent by United States Senator Russ Feingold, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, and a bipartisan group of his senate colleagues to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding reports of human rights abuses committed by the Ethiopian military in the country's Ogaden region. The senators are urging Secretary Rice to intensify pressure on the Ethiopian government to respect fundamental human rights............full text

A New Battle in Congress: Lobbyists v Human Rights

Scott A. Morgan / August 1, 2007
WASHINGTON DC - We all noticed last fall when the American Voters decidely threw out an Incompetent Republican Congress and replaced them with the Democrats. But it is becoming clear that if WE expected a change in how things are run in Washington we were sadly mistaken.:...........full text

City Council of Takoma Park, Maryland passed resolution ,urging support of HR 2003...pdf) --( July 31,2007 )

ZENAWI TAKES MORE POLITICAL PRISONERS HOSTAGE IN H.R. 2003 MARK-UP BATTLE --(Coalition for HR 2003/July 31,2007 )

Fax letter to Majority Speaker Steny H. Hoyer --(Coalition for HR 2003/July 31,2007 )

Fax letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi --(Coalition for HR 2003/July 29,2007 )

Addis Dimts Radio with Prof. Ephrem Isaac and Prof. Al Mariam (Amharic)

Siye Abraha - 2nd Part with DW's Negash Mohammed (Amharic)
Siye Abraha - 1st Part with DW's Negash Mohammed (Amharic)
Kibrt Woizerit Bertukan Mideksa on DW Radio with Negash Mohammed (Amharic)

Lantos directed not to mark up HR 2003

Coalition for HR 2003 / July 27, 2007
WASHINGTON DC - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Maryland) on Friday directed Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Lantos not to mark-up H.R. 2003 on July 31, 2007, the Coalition for HR 2003 disclosed today. Preliminary investigations suggest that neither Chairman Lantos nor Chairman Payne were consulted prior to issuance of the directive...........full text

CUD leaders issue statement

CUD Press Release / JuLy 26, 2007
."...........full text(pdf)

Dr Yacob Hailemariam vows to finish what he started

By MATTHEW BOWERS, The Virginian-Pilot / July 26, 2007
Despite spending 21 months in prison with a life sentence looming, former Norfolk State University professor Yacob Hailemariam said Wednesday he has no regrets about his activism in his home country Ethiopia."Believe me, it is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life," Hailemariam said in a telephone interview from his apartment in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital."...........full text

Ex-Congressional Heavyweights Blocking Action Against Ethiopia

By Ken Silverstein, Harper's Magazine / July 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC - There have been a series of accounts out of Ethiopia recently that describe a nasty situation there, including a Human Rights Watch report earlier this month that said the Ethiopian military had ¡§forcibly displaced thousands of civilians in the country¡¦s eastern Somali . . . while escalating its campaign against a separatist insurgency movement.¡¨ Government troops were ¡§destroying villages and property, confiscating livestock, and forcing civilians to relocate,¡¨ according to Peter Takirambudde, Africa director of Human Rights Watch. ¡§Whatever the military strategy behind them, these abuses violate the laws of war.¡¨ Eyewitness accounts offered to Human Rights Watch said Ethiopian troops had been ¡§burning homes and property, including the recent harvest and other food stocks intended for the civilian population, confiscating livestock and, in a few cases, firing upon and killing fleeing civilians.¡¨ "...........full text

Problematic Ally : The moral hazards of dealing with Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi

Washington Post Editorial / July 24, 2007
MORE THAN once during the Cold War, the united states aligned itself with dictatorial or corrupt, but anticommunist, foreign governments, compromising democratic principles for perceived advantage against the Soviet Union. These choices were not necessarily wrong, but each one put the U.S. on a slippery slope, at the bottom of which lay a completely amoral foreign policy.

Chairman Donald M. Payne Welcomes Release of Prisoners in Ethiopia

Press Release/ July 21, 2007

U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos Welcomes News of the Release of 38 Political Prisoners in Ethiopia Ethiopia

Press Release/ July 21, 2007

A Call for Renewed Vigor in the March towards Democracy and the Rule of Law

Kinijit / July 20, 2007
...........for more info visit kinijitethiopia.org

Release all Political Prisoners! Account for the ¡§disappeared¡¨.!

(SOCEPP - CAN)/ July 20, 2007
SOCEPP Canada applauds the release of the 38 CUDP leaders, journalists of the free press, and others. It congratulates the ¡§freed¡¨, their families and friends.

Congressional Ethiopian American Caucus Celebrates the Ethiopian Millennium upon release of Political Prisoners

July 20, 2007

Washington, DC ¡V Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA), Members of the Congressional Ethiopian American Caucus celebrate the release today of 38 Ethiopian political opposition leaders, most recently sentenced to life in prison, and now fully pardoned. This news comes after H.R.2003 the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act (Payne) House mark up on Wednesday, July 18th. Caucus Members have traditionally supported legislation that reaffirms Ethiopia¡¦s role on the world stage. From H.R.935 Free and Fair Elections in Ethiopia Act (Honda), to monitoring negotiations between Starbucks and the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO), the Ethiopia Caucus is based on the principle that if given the necessary tools, Ethiopia can truly be a lighthouse for Africa. Rep. Honda, Founder and Chair of the Ethiopia Caucus stated that, ¡§It is important, now more than ever, to celebrate Ethiopia with vigilance and genuine partnership.¡¨ "...........full text

Ethiopia's freed leader defiant

BBC
July 20, 2007

Ethiopia's opposition leader has hit out at the government just hours after being pardoned and released from a life sentence in jail.Hailu Shawel said he had signed a document admitting to organising violent election protests in 2005 and asking for clemency "under duress"...........full text

H.R. 2003 MARK-UP VOTE UNANIMOUS!

Coalition for HR 2003
July 18, 2007

On July 18, 2007, HR 2003, ¡§Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007¡¨, authored by Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ), unanimously passed the Subcommittee on Africa and is forwarded to the Foreign Affairs Committee.A truly bipartisan bill (all members of the Subcommittee on Africa voted for the bill, 7 Democrats and 6 Republicans), H.R. 2003, is expected to be presented to the entire Foreign Affairs Committee for a vote before Congress recesses for the summer in early August, 2007....¡¨.......full text

U.S. Congress, Bush administration exasperated by Ethiopian backsliding on democracy

July 18, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - Both the Bush administration and Congress are growing exasperated over Ethiopia's backsliding from democracy but are wary of applying too much pressure against a country that has become an important anti-terror ally in East Africa.Members of the Democratic-controlled Congress are under fewer restraints than President George W. Bush's administration, which has relied on the help of Ethiopian troops in ousting Islamic militants from power in parts of neighboring Somalia...¡¨.......full text

Commentary on Siye Abraha's post-release interview

By Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam
July 16, 2007
Ato Seye Abraha was a former defense minister in Zenawi¡¦s regime. He was ¡§convicted¡¨ on ¡§corruption charges¡¨ in 2002, along with other officials. Informed sources say his ¡§conviction¡¨ had the usual fabrication stamp all over it: ¡§Made in Kangaroo Kourt....¡¨.......full text

75 HOUSE CO-SPONSORS AND STILL COUNTING¡K

Coalition for HR 2003
July 14, 2007
We have to continue to Call, Fax and visit our congressional representatives to enlist more co-sponsors for H.R. 2003, and to guarantee its ultimate passage once it is presented to the floor for final action..¡¨.......full text

Time to mark-up HR 2003!

Coalition for HR 2003
July 13, 2007
Congressman Donald Payne has re-scheduled mark-up of H.R. 2003 for July 18, 2007, at 10:15 a.m. We thank Don Payne for his commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia. The Kality prisoners were supposed to have been released on or before July 9, 2007, the date set for their ¡§sentencing¡¨ by Zenawi¡¦s Kangaroo Kourt. That date, as usual was continued to July 16. With the rescheduled mark-up date, it appears crystal clear that both Payne and the numerous co-sponsors of the bill are no longer willing to put up with Zenawi¡¦s ¡§horsefeathers.¡¨.......full text

Siye Abraha released after six harrowing years

Ethiomedia
July 12, 2007
ADDIS ABABA - Siye Abraha, a former defense minister many observers credit as the architect of the 1998-2000 War whose battle successes had brought Ethiopian forces closer to storming the Eritrean capital of Asmara, was set free on Wednesday after six years in jail. Siye and his four family members were charged with 13 cases of corruption but many agree his crime was to try to punish Eritrea for its aggression while leaving Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in power in Addis.......full text

Prisoners of conscience face death penalty, a call for immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Ethiopia

(SOCEPP - CAN)/ July 10, 2007

Time to mark-up HR 2003!

Coalition for HR 2003
July 9, 2007

(Coalition for H.R. 2003) -- On June 26, 2007, supporters of H.R. 2003 (Ethiopia Freedom and Accountability Act) were told that the House Foreign Affairs Committee will delay mark-up of H.R. 2003 by two weeks because of threats to prolong the detention of the Kaliti prisoners of conscience if the mark-up had proceeded on that date. The two-week delay expires in the next day, and we must demand the immediate scheduling of H.R. 2003 for committee mark-up.................full text

Ethiopian call for death penalty

BBC
July 9, 2007

An Ethiopian prosecutor has demanded the death penalty for a group of 38 opposition leaders found guilty of links to violent election protests. Prosecutor Abraham Tetemke said they had tried to bring down the government. Among them are several of the capital's elected MPs and city councillors, including Berhanu Negga, mayor-elect of Addis Ababa..........full text

Declaration to defend democracy, freedom and human rights in Ethiopia

July 4, 2007

In the history of all great nations, there comes a moment when the people must make a choice that will define them in their own time, vindicate the enormous sacrifices of their ancestors and enable them to bequeath an enduring legacy for generations yet unborn. They are often forced to make that choice by arrogant tyrants who use brute force to entrench and perpetuate their dictatorial rule, and unabashedly proclaim to the world their contempt for the rule of law, democratic principles and civil liberties...full text

Meles Zenawi tries to hold US elected officials hostage, too

By Keif Schleifer, Executive Director, The Empowerment Inititative
June 28, 2007

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has issued a threat. If pushed to comply with human rights based financial assistance from the United States, he will hold hostage the already imprisoned democratically-elected opposition leaders. Perhaps that could be restated as:Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will continue to hold democratically-elected officials hostage, along with tens of thousands of innocent civilians, in direct defiance of basic respect for human rights....................full text

Zenawi holds prisoners hostage over pending US Congress bill

Coalition for HR 2003
June 26, 2007

But Caution, If It Becomes fanatical, Can Destroy the Trust

By Getachew Reda(Respond To Professor Tecola W/Hagos)
June 15, 2007

I don¡¦t know when the Professor will stop being too suspicious to every decent Ethiopian opposition leaders that comes out voluntary to lead the country out of the quagmire, but I found it very distractive, at times his critique is worst than that of the Banda in power when it come to the Kinijjit leaders currently in jail illegally.....................full text

Jailed Ethiopians 'to be freed'

BBC
June 25, 2007

A group of 38 Ethiopian opposition leaders found guilty of links to violent election protests is to be freed, they have told their families. They say they have signed a document to secure their release but it is not clear what this is....................full text

Dissenting a constitution that makes the prime minister a monster and emperor

By Berhanu G. Balcha
June 22, 2007

Meles Zenawi was elected from a district from which he has never lived for the last 30 years. It is clear that he has no legitimacy even from his own electoral district. However, the 1995 constitution in Ethiopia has made him a vicious emperor whose brutality has been ubiquitous, not only throughout the nation, but also expanding to the neighbouring countries. The constitution was drafted and ratified by a total control of Meles zenawi¡¦s party. Thus, it makes the power of the prime minister unrestrained or unchecked by the executive, legislative, judiciary and other federal or regional institutions in Ethiopia...................full text

ONLF Response To Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Release

ONLF Press Statement
June 21, 2007

ETHIOPIA HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION PASSES

Coalition for HR 2003
June 21, 2007

The Coalition for H.R. 2003 is proud to congratulate the Ethiopian American Association of Oregon, Ethiopians, Ethiopian Americans and friends of Ethiopiain the Great State of Oregon for their successful efforts in passing Senate Joint Memorial 3 in the Oregon Legislative Assembly..................full text

Stand up Ethiopians! Each one of us is now a leader against state terror

By Obang Metho
June 21, 2007

We come out in condemnation of the unjust guilty verdict against our opposition leaders, journalists and human rights defenders! Yet, instead of it being a deathblow to our movement for freedom and democracy, we have now received our marching orders! We are declaring a new ¡§War on Terror: Ethiopia!¡¨ We Ethiopians are outraged with the injustice and brutal repression of the Ethiopian people, made more dramatically clear after the events of the last week! We are saying, ¡§Enough is enough! The terrorists in our midst must be stopped!¡¨ Stand up Ethiopians! Each one of you is needed in our war against terrorism being carried out against the people of Ethiopia by its own government!..................full text


Radio Interview with Tesfay Atsbeha and Abraha Belai of Ethiomedia - Amharic)

In Ethiopia's Ogaden desert, horrors of a hidden war

By Jeffrey Gettleman
June 17, 2007

IN THE OGADEN DESERT, Ethiopia: The rebels march 300 strong across the crunchy earth, young men with dreadlocks and AK-47s slung over their shoulders.Often when they pass through a village, the entire village lines up, one sunken cheekbone to the next, to squint at them.¡§May Allah bring you victory,¡¨ one woman whispered.This is the Ogaden, a corner of Ethiopia that the urbane officials in Addis Ababa, the capital, would rather outsiders never see. It is the epicenter of a separatist war in which impoverished nomads are fighting one of the biggest armies in Africa...............full text


Prof. Al Mariam interview on Chicago Public Radio


Lynn fredriksson - The leonard Lopate Show - NY

Regarding the Eritrean Che Guevara/s in Tigray

By Getachew Reda
June 15, 2007

As you now the innocent leaders from Kinijit, and other opposition group, individuals and media people are currently at the hands of the ¡§Eritrean Che Guevara/s¡¨ controlling the Ethiopian court of justice that found them guilty without any justification of legal or moral authority to judge them. Such shocking news is what all Ethiopians discussing on media currently. Our hearts and minds go to those our brothers/sisters/fathers who are currently languishing in jail unfairly, their only crime for being ¡§Ethiopians at Herat¡¨. That too should have been our first priority and condemned it in our Tigrayan community press releases for the historical records..............full text

Thank You, Great Patriots!

By Prof. Al Mariam
June 14, 2007

When I learned of the expected news of the ¡§conviction¡¨ of the Great Patriots in Zenawi¡¦s kangaroo court this morning, my initial reaction was not disappointment or sadness. It was a deep and overwhelming sense of pride in the personal sacrifices and extraordinary courage shown by these Great Patriots for their country and people.............full text

Joint Statement by Congressman Donald M Payne and European Parliament Member Ana Gomes on Yesterdays verdict

June 12, 2007

We are deeply shocked and dismayed to hear the guilty verdict of the 38 courageous human rights advocates, elected parliamentarians, and opposition leaders. This decision clearly demonstrates that the judicial process is controlled and managed by the ruling party in Ethiopia.The verdict by the Court also proves beyond doubt that the Courts lack the necessary and required independence from political influence. These prisoners were deliberately and systematically misled by the Prime Minster¡¦s office that a peaceful resolution was possible. In fact, on a number of occasions we were led to believe that an agreement between the prisoners and the Prime Minister was reached............full text

The viciousness of the rogue regime should be stopped

Kinijit Press Release
June 12, 2007

June 11, 2007 once again marks another episode, in a series of excessive lawlessness and brutality that had been the order of the day in Ethiopia, ever since the domination of the nation by the illegitimate regime of Meles Zenawi. It is on this day that the judiciary, known for being infested by the puppets of the brutal regime, handed down its guilty verdict on the democratically elected and popularly cherished heroes of the nation. These heroes of the Ethiopian democratic movement have genuinely and tirelessly charted a course that would have made repression and lawlessness on the one hand, disease, hunger, and poverty on the other, a thing of the past in our beloved Motherland...........full text

The verdict - BBC

June 12, 2007

.......Andargachew Tsege, convicted in absentia as he is in exile in London, told the BBC he fears that his colleagues could be sentenced to "the most extreme" sentence."This government... has no notion of the implications of its actions - it's very vindictive, it has no sense of the sanctity of law, with all the various atrocities it has committed," he said. ..........full text

Where are the TPLF dissidents?

By Getachew Reda
June 8, 2007

........ Alemseged, Gebru, Aregash, Tewelde¡K and the rest of the dissident group had a relatively better image than the Meles-Sebhat camp which is generally seen as inimical to Ethiopia. The dissidents were expected they would mobilize their comrades within TPLF and struggle come out of in defense of Ethiopia. But, that didn¡¦t happen.Not only their rhetoric gave the false hope limited in Tigray, but they pumped up the entire nation into euphoria when they asserted publicly on media saying: ¡§We have to struggle to reverse the trend¡¨. ..........full text

A historic Transatlantic legislative summit on human rights

Coalition for H.R. 2003
June 8, 2007

WASHINGTON DC - Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health and author of H.R. 2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007) and Ms. Ana Gomes, Member, European Parliament and Head of the European Union¡¦s Observer Mission to Ethiopia (2005) an extraordinary woman of courage, who has been at the forefront of the struggle for democracy and human rights in Ethiopia are among the scheduled speakers at the Joint Summit on June 8, 2007 in Washington, DC.Over the years, Congressman Payne, considered by his colleagues in Congress as one of the leading experts on Africa, has made several trips to Ethiopia to study and discuss improvements to the human rights situation there. He has extensive knowledge of human rights violations not only in Ethiopia, but also Darfur and Rwanda..........full text

Congessman Chris Smith Re-Introduces Human Rights Bill

By Coalition for HR 2003
May 15, 2007

On May 9, 2007, Republican Congressman Christopher Smith introduced H.R. 2228 (¡§Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2007¡¨) in the House of Representatives. H.R. 2228 effectively replaces H.R. 5680, which was prevented from getting to the House floor by then-Speaker Dennis Hastert. Introduction of H.R 2228 by Cong. Smith is significant because it demonstrates the extraordinary importance of human rights in Ethiopia not only for the Democrats in congress but also for Republican members of the House. Such extraordinary bi-partisan interest and support for human rights is a rare event in the U.S. Congress.......full text

Obang Metho addresses Gasha for Ethiopians conf. in DC

Director of International Advocacy, AJC
May 6, 2007

.....Consider this - Ethiopia would not be Ethiopia without the Tigray. Ethiopia would not be Ethiopia without the Oromo, the Amhara or any of the numerous tiny minority groups of which you may never have heard. What Ethiopia needs is to respect each other and to love each other, including those who have hurt us. We need to love them as God has intended us to do and as He commanded us to do. He loved us first, before we ever knew Him. Anything less than this will not get us out of the cycle of injustice. Anything less will be passing on the curse, not the blessing, to the next generation. Anything less will keep our whole country in prison. Anything less will put us in bondage to the evil one rather than free to be who God intended us to be......full text

Ethiopia human rights bill re-introduced in the house: a preliminary analysis of an advance copy of the new bill

Coalition for HR 5680
April 22, 2007

The Coalition for H.R. 5680 is informed and believes that Congressman Donald Payne (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, introduced the ¡§Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007¡¨ in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, April 20, 2007.....full text

A New Ethiopia: Calling All Youth to Join the Struggle for Freedom, Morality and the Fear of God in Ethiopia¡XYou are Needed!

By Obang Metho, AJC Director
April 22, 2007

A new Ethiopia is needed! We call on our youth to join us in our struggle for freedom, morality and the fear of God in Ethiopia! We have come a long ways towards achieving our goals in Ethiopia, but the last part of that struggle may be the hardest and things may get worse before they get better! Despite this, we must push through to the next level and it may be our youth who bring it about! When so many of our young people were killed during the student protests of 2005, the Prime Minister referred to those who died as ¡§unemployed youth¡¨ as if they were unimportant to the future of Ethiopia. We need a new Ethiopia where youth are recognized and accepted as precious human beings and potential leaders of the country! They are someone else¡¦s children, our students and the fathers and mothers of everyone¡¦s future....full text

Buyer beware: recovering our stolen identity

By Obang Metho, AJC Director
April 3, 2007

Don¡¦t think! Ignore your conscience! Invest with quick approval- purchase land or property in Ethiopia with one simple condition ¡V refrain from speaking against EPDRF! Help us suppress the restless poor! Forget about their rights! It¡¦s easy- just invest your money and get rich! We will even displace the poor to help you find the perfect location for you to build your new home. Feel free to invest in your homeland at your own risk. Join EPDRF¡¦S staunch supporters at the Millennium as they help us celebrate our 17 years of dictatorship! We¡¦ll even buy your air ticket to Addis. But hurry - this is a limited time offer! The cost to you? Just your soul! And as for those who may call you ¡§Hodam¡¨, pay no mind for they know not what they¡¦re missing! Your safe return, not guaranteed; We reserve the right to revoke any and all offers at our discretion; currently, no warrantees available. Don¡¦t think about it - just do it! You¡¦re well on your way to becoming one of us! Does this give you an idea of how clever and calculating opportunists, with evil intent, might seduce civilized and decent people to join together with them in bringing death to a nation - one soul at a time? Take warning - this is now happening and we are the people and Ethiopia is the nation!

The Humming Bird and the Forest fire

By Alemayehu G. Mariam
April 3, 2007

Nine members of the U.S. Congress call for release of political prisoners

Mar 21, 2007

We are writing to you to express our strong concern about the continued detention of elected parliamentarians, human rights advocates, and independent journalists in Ethiopia. It has been reported that thousands of prisoners languish in prison across the country and many prisoners have been tortured. Some of these prisoners are senior citizens and are sick. We encourage you to use all means available to ensure that the Ethiopian government is participating fully in active negotiations for the prisoners' release....full text

Ex-TPLF fighter and spy exposes TPLF crimes; how Prof. Asrat Woldeyes was falsely incriminated and subjected to slow death in prison. (Source: EPPF; March 18, 2007)

The fued between Meles and Isaias

By Martin Plaut and Sally Healy | March 13, 2007


Message from Ethiopian Radio in Toronto

The White House letter writing campaign will continue

Coalition for HR 5680
Press Release : Mar 12, 2007
The Coalition for H.R. 5680 is pleased to provide the following update on the international Ethiopian Diaspora response to the campaign to deliver 100,000 letters-in-ten-days to President Bush......

Here We Go Again, This Time In The Name of Terrorism

By David Mixner
Mar 3, 2007

........Meles Zenawi is evolving into a brutal dictator and political opposition to his government is vanishing. Terrorized into silence, opponents are often tortured and imprisoned. The United States and Britain, however, are thrilled that Zenawi sent troops into Somalia to thwart Islamic extremists. However, while military action has blunted the impact of terrorists operating in Somalia, they may quickly reconstitute and threaten the country again now that Ethiopia has withdrawn its troops.

Should the West go on helping a repressive Ethiopia?

The Economist
February 22, 2007

THE second most populous country in Africa and one of the poorest, Ethiopia is a test case for the West in its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty on the continent. But its government's undemocratic leanings have presented donor countries with a dilemma. Should they continue to funnel their taxpayers' money to a country that routinely jails and tortures its critics or should they turn off the tap and thereby hurt the blameless poor?

Ethiopia is accused of 'torturing and illegally jailing opponents of regime'

Steve Bloomfield in Addis Ababa
February 09, 2007

Ethiopia is conducting a systematic campaign of intimidation, detention and torture against political opponents of its increasingly autocratic government, human rights groups have alleged.Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a celebrated ally of the US administration in its "war on terror" and previously invited to sit on Tony Blair's Africa Commission, has become increasingly blatant in his suppression of opposition.

Tigrinya song to the Enemy of Ethiopia. To read song in Tigrinya and Amharic, click here.

A new website for Kinijit North America www.kinijitethiopia.org

Political dissident shot to death

January 20, 2007

Police shot dead a young political dissident on Wednesday at Rufael, one of the northern suburbs of Addis Ababa.

It's time we say "Thank You!" (By Prof. Al Mariam)

Inquiry Commission West Coast Tour Schedule


Meles Zenawi's invasion of Somalia: A serious long term foreign policy blunder

By Fekade Shewakena
January 20, 2007

The discussion among Ethiopians on what to make of the invasion of Somalia by Meles Zenawi¡¦s government, although important and inescapable, is anything but dispassionate. A lot of the political discord gets in the way and buries the most important arguments. Some of the most virulent attack on people who questioned the wisdom of this invasion was authored and pioneered by Meles Zenawi himself. Both Meles Zenawi, the media he controls, and his supporters have shut down any useful multi-angular discussion when they began attacking and accusing even loyal parliamentary opponents that were not convinced of the need for military intervention in Somalia. Almost anyone that raised questions before the declaration of war and after is attacked and considered a traitor to Ethiopia¡¦s ¡§national interest¡¨.

Poof! The Magic Jihadist!

By Alemayehu G. Mariam
January 1, 2007

The truth of the matter is that the whole jihadist menace in the Horn of Africa -- the ¡§New Talibans¡¨ -- is a figment of Zenawi¡¦s imagination. The jihadist bogeyman was invented to divert international attention from Zenawi¡¦s massive and gross violations of human rights in Ethiopia. But nobody bought it, except perhaps Jendayi Fraser, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, who seems to share Zenawi¡¦s hallucinations about wild-eyed and fire-breathing terrorists lurking behind every desert rock in the Ogaden.

You can not be Neutral When Your Country Is Falling Apart!!

By Hagos Mekonen
December 28, 2006

We all know what our people¡¦s everyday life look like and what the government is doing since it came to power especially before and after the election. So many people were killed in the Ethio-Eritrean war for nothing, instead it changed the shape of our country¡¦s map for the price our soldiers paid in fighting and left us with wounds that never healed. Now the government placed all opposition leaders in jail for no reason not to mention those who got murdered. It is disappointing and unacceptable where we find ourselves at present. There is an urgent need for the unfolding human rights situation. We must be primary models and totally supportive to our people and work closely with any resistance movement against the government. When the government places itself above the law, many innocent people have become sufferers.


Interview with David Shinn - VOA

Meles Zenawi: A Terrorist Fighting War on Terror???

By Anuak Justice
December 28, 2006

Who is Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia? Is he the free world¡¦s partner in the War on Terror or is he a terrorist? The answer might depend upon whom you ask. To his own people of Ethiopia, you might hear stories of human rights abuses, political prisoners, Internet censorship and suppression of freedom, but he is representing himself quite differently to outsiders, especially now that he has diverted the attention of the international community from his own serious political problems to his new war with Somalia, assisted by the United States. Full Text

Radical Journeys


According to recent global governance indicators, the Ethiopian People¡¦s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), under the leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, ranks among the most corrupt in the world¡Xinternationally condemned for escalating government-led human rights abuses and ongoing suppression of legitimate political activities. Following the widely disputed elections of last year, the government launched a massive campaign against freedom of expression--banning all independent media and expelling a foreign correspondent from the country. During demonstrations in both June and November 2005, police opened fire on the unarmed protesters, killing over 193 men, women and children and wounding hundreds more. An estimated 30, 000 citizens were subsequently rounded up and imprisoned throughout the country¡Xscholars, professors, civil service workers, students, prominent social leaders and the majority of the CUDP leadership.

Ethiopia admits Somalia offensive

BBC
December 23, 2006

"The other butcher of Addis"

By Haile-Gabir Sibhatu
December 23, 2006

Pinochet of Chile died recently. For many, he escaped justice. And yet, he was buried with full military honors. Pinochet was a good friend of America. And that may have earned him a descent funeral ceremony. From my reading, Col. Mengistu¡¦s crime pales when compared with Pinoche¡¦s crimes committed in the run-up to and in the wake of the September 9, 1973 coup.A documentary film - ¡§The Other 9/11¡¨ ¡V shows the heinous crimes of General Pinoche. The documentary film took the title from the fact the coup that ousted the democratically elected socialist government of Chile was staged on the 9th day of the 11th month, September 9, 1973. A few days after Pinochet¡¦s death, BBC reported that Mengistu Hailemariam is convicted of genocided. BBC didn¡¦t stop there. BBC called Mengistu ¡§the butcher of Addis Ababa¡¨. I said to myself, what is Meles Zenawi to be called? By any indices, Meles Zenawi¡¦s crime is no less than Mengistu Hailemariam. It is a very perplexing question. After some thinking, I decided to give my article the title, ¡§The Other Butcher of Addis Ababa¡¨.

Petition: Human Rights in Ethiopia

A new website for Kinijit www.kinijitethiopia.org

NPR Radio on somalia

Suppressed U.N. report focuses on persecution in Gambella

Harvard Law School Report
December 15, 2006

MASSACHUSETTS - The government of Ethiopia continues to persecute minority people in southwest Ethiopia, a newly released United Nations report shows. The 96-page UN report*, titled Livelihoods and Vulnerabilities Study, Gambella Region of Ethiopia, is being released in an effort to raise the profile of the security situation in the Gambella state.

An EU that received babtism of the highest order

By Aie Zi Guo
Novemeber 22, 2006

As always I fail to understand the type of language that sinks into the mind of diplomats. Against this suspicion please allow me to be straight forward. Writing course language has not been my inner self. However, appeasing the European Union (EU) is being hypocritical, hence my deliberate choice to write this harsh note. Nevertheless bound by the curtsey of civilization, I apologize in advance.

Sanctions on Ethiopia Stalled in Congress

New America Media, News Analysis, Donal Brown
Novemeber 7, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO ¡V Politicans in Washington are balking on legislation to promote political justice in Ethiopia out of concerns over terrorists finding haven in the horn of Africa.Sanctions on Ethiopia's government over harsh treatment of political opposition are being sacrified in hopes that Ethiopia will carry the torch in stemming the rise of terrorists in its neighboring country of Somalia.

Remembering the massacre in Ethiopia

SOCEPP press release
Novemeber 1, 2006

On November 1, 2005, the ruling group in Ethiopia led by the Prime Minister Meles Zelawi, ordered its security forces to shoot on unarmed civilian demonstrators eventually murdering close to 200 and wounding over 700 individuals. According to eyewitnesses and the recently released reports of the government¡¦s own Inquiry Commission, of the 193 murdered, there were children as young as 10 and seniors as old as 70 years of age.

A day of sorrow; a day of solidarity, a day of renewed commitment

Kinijit Press Release
Novemeber 1, 2006

Ethiopian American Lawyers strongly condemn the regime of Meles Zenawi

PRESS RELEASE
October 24, 2006

Ethiopia repression worsens

Author: Don Baseman - Portland
October 20, 2006

A wave of political oppression in Ethiopia has resulted in the arbitrary arrests and torture involving hundreds of political prisoners, journalists, and human rights acivists.

Rep. Smith: Calls for Immediate Passage of H.R.6880

October 20, 2006

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on Friday expressed outrage at the Ethiopian government's continued silence about the report linking their security forces to nearly 200 deaths during two waves of protests over election results in 2005, and called for immediate passage of his bill to promote human rights and democracy in Ethiopia when Congress reconvenes.

Ethiopia row over 'massacre' leak (BBC)

October 19, 2006

Judge says Ethiopia forces killed 193

ANTHONY MITCHELL, Associated Press Writer
October 18, 2006

Ethiopian security forces massacred 193 people _triple the official death toll ¡X during anti-government protests following elections last year, a senior judge appointed to investigate the violence said Wednesday.Unarmed protesters were shot, beaten and strangled to death, said Wolde-Michael Meshesha, who was vice chairman of a government-backed inquiry but said he has fled the country after receiving threats. He said he believed the Ethiopian government was trying to cover up the findings.

Voter registration Announcement



ETHIOPIA: Let the healing start with reconciliation

By Aie Zi Guo
October 4, 2006

Ethiopia is a land of contrast where war and peace, poverty and abundance, highland and lowland, Islam and Christianity, nationalism and heroism, traditionalism and modernity coexist in all its forms. It is unique with its alphabet and manuscripts, 13 months calendar, unique cuisine, rich Orthodox with Yared¡¦s lyrics, original immigrants of Islam, ancient civilization amid poverty, flora and fauna as divers as its ecology. This complex metamorphosis of the country remained an enigma to outsiders from biblical times of queen Sheba to the first immigrants of Islam.

It is harvesting time for TPLF spy "diplomats"

By Workie Briye
August 29, 2006

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the TPLF Government has recently distributed a circular for its Embassies and Consular Affairs throughout the world. The circular, which is a follow-up of a previous ¡§Strategic Plan¡¨ which was sent to Embassies earlier this year, orders all Embassies to prepare a comprehensive report on the implementation of the ¡§Strategic Plan¡¨ that was targeted against opposition leaders, popular Ethiopians, former diplomats and all Ethiopians in the Diaspora who are active in the struggle against the regime.

US policy threatens war in Horn of Africa

By Brian Smith and Chris Talbot
August 23, 2006

The threat of a full-scale war erupting in Somalia is now a real possibility. Ethiopian troops are congregating along the Somali border, amid allegations that the so-called Union of Islamic Courts, which now controls the capital city of Mogadishu and a growing part of the country, is being armed by Eritrea. Ethiopia and Eritrea, headed by nationalist regimes that were originally allies, fought a bloody war in 1998-2000 in which tens of thousands died. Although Washington led the United Nations diplomacy that brought the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea to an end, the Bush administration has since boosted Ethiopia as a regional power, conveniently ignoring violations of human rights committed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi¡¦s regime.

A further blow for a beleaguered leader

The Economist
August 17, 2006

Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, now spends most of his time heading off his enemies. In the capital, Addis Ababa, the government's response to its defeat in last year's contested general election was to shoot scores of opposition protesters and imprison the city's elected mayor. This led to the suspension of aid from his previously loyal Western backers.

Could the Somali crisis affect HR 5680? ... (pdf)

Prof. Al Mariam
July 31, 2006

Can Meles fight corruption?

By Wolde S. Asfaw
July 16, 2006

There are many on going tragic stories in Ethiopia that most of us are not aware of or prefer to simply gloss over. I will try to give two paradigm of how people both collectively and individually are being mistreated by the system set up by the current government. In any case, I hope this will amplify how the people of Tigray endured 26 years of brutality and terror in the name of "National Self-Determination", "National Struggle", "People¡¦s Revolution", "Peace & Democracy", etc, high sounding words but essentially hollow and meaningless.

The international community must act before the beast

By Aie Zi Guo
July 14, 2006

After Auschwitz the international community made a collective promise to defend humanity. Fifty years after the community witnessed multiple madness and abuse of humanity by mindless dictators from Rwanda to Srebrenica, Darfur to Chile, Ethiopia to Cambodia, and Iraq to Chad. The ghosts of dictators haunt millions of children. Their names have become scarecrow for school age children allover the world.Yet again in the 21st century where fiber optics and internet technology transformed our lives, we continue witnessing the proliferation of new breeds of ruthless dictators like Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Mouseveni of Uganda, Isayas of Eritrea, Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and General Than Shwe of Myanmar.

Awakening giant!

By Prof. Al Mariam
July 4, 2006

¡§We can not turn our backs on the history of the past year. We can not sit silent when freedom is rooted out, democracy hijacked in broad daylight, our brothers and sisters butchered in the streets, human rights trampled and the innocent languish away in overcrowded and unsanitary jails.¡¨ We can¡¦t. We won¡¦t!! We insist on a forward course, the only course. We have no avenue of retreat from our present struggle for human rights, democracy and freedom in our homeland. And so, I told the young man what I believed to be the truth....

Ana Gomes speech at US Congress and at Capital Hilton in Washington, DC (VOA) June 27, 2006

Ethiopia Human Rights Bill Advances

June 27, 2006

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