DADAAB, KENYA -- The bullet tore through Ibrahim Hamad's torso and lodged in his hip. The 26-year-old teacher was at home with his elderly father when government forces swept through his town in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, burning huts and killing civilians. "The young girls were the first to die. The soldiers shot them and gathered the bodies and burned them," he said. The troops demanded that surviving men join their ranks, threatening those who refused with torture, imprisonment and death.
"When they came to my home, I told them, 'I am just a schoolteacher, I will not leave my family,' " said Hamad. In a bleak whisper, he recounted the ordeal that followed. "They strangled my father with a wire and hung his body in a tree. Then they shot me and left me for dead."
Hamad now struggles to survive in this remote refugee camp in northern Kenya, joining thousands who have fled a reign of terror by the Ethiopian army. Little noticed by the world, Ethiopia is waging war against its own people in the Ogaden desert. Long-simmering tensions erupted last April when separatist rebels attacked a Chinese-run oil field. The Ethiopian government responded by ejecting humanitarian agencies and launching a scorched-earth campaign in the region.
The targeting of the predominantly ethnic-Somali Ogaden population has led to accusations of ethnic cleansing. In October, Human Rights Watch warned that events in Ogaden were following a "frighteningly familiar pattern" to those in Somalia's Darfur region, noting "ethnic overtones" to attacks and accusing Ethiopia of "displac[ing] large populations" and "deliberately attack[ing] civilians." Government forces have been implicated in escalating looting, burnings and atrocities. Recently, soldiers have begun a brutal campaign of forced conscription, often torturing or killing those who refuse to join.
The Ethiopian government has suppressed most news from the region, sealing Ogaden's borders and denying access to the media. Last May, three New York Times reporters researching the crisis were held for five days and had their equipment confiscated. Ethiopian officials have been quick to dismiss mounting reports of bloodshed as propaganda. But in this camp, refugees fleeing Ogaden tell stories of rape, torture and mass murder perpetrated against civilian villages by Ethiopia's military.
However, it is the U.S. government, not Ethiopia's, that elicits the most anger from Hamad and the other Ogadenis seeking shelter in Dadaab. The bullet that shattered Hamad's hip, and the gun that fired it, were likely supplied by the United States. The soldier who pulled the trigger was almost certainly compensated with U.S. military aid.
The U.S. has historically provided Ethiopian forces with arms, funding and training. In recent years, the bond has deepened, with Ethiopia's military serving as a proxy for American interests in a region increasingly viewed as a crucial front in the war on terrorism. Since 9/11, military aid to Ethiopia has soared, growing at least 2 1/2 times by 2006. A close intelligence-sharing relationship between the governments has burgeoned.
In the face of mounting evidence of atrocities, some U.S. officials are questioning the no-strings-attached backing of Ethiopia's army. "This is a country that is abusing its own people," said Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.), chairman of the House subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, accusing the Bush administration of "look[ing] the other way" as Ethiopia's abuses worsen. Last fall, the House passed the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act, sponsored by Payne, to limit military aid to Ethiopia. It awaits action by the Senate. "The United States cannot afford to allow cooperation on the war on terror," Payne said, "to prevent us from taking a principled stance on democracy and human rights issues."
Ironically, unbridled support of Ethiopia's army in the interest of combating terrorism may serve as a powerful catalyst for anti-U.S. sentiment. "We hate the U.S.A. more than the Ethiopians," one Ogadeni told me. "It is guns and money from the U.S.A. that are killing our people."
If Washington wants to fight the rising tide of terrorism in the Horn of Africa, it cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the abuses of its closest ally in the region. The U.S. wields unique influence over Ethiopia; how it uses that influence will determine Ogaden's future. Legislators should continue to press the Bush administration to help stop the bloodshed. Current levels of U.S. aid should be made contingent on Ethiopia halting its attacks on civilians. That might sacrifice some goodwill with Ethiopian officials -- but it could save the people of the Ogaden.
Ronan Farrow, a student at Yale Law School, has worked on human rights issues for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and recently accompanied a congressional delegation to the Horn of Africa. Read more!

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By untouchable_9
American government policies on Ethiopia and the rest of African countries have been a disaster even to implement to what they have been pin-pointed at their meetings and discussions in the fancy offices of Washington DC. The American National interest in Africa is not about the changes that the people of Africa would like to have on freedom of movement, expression, and participating in resolving the political crisis within their own countries.
White House is a place where the decision-making is taking place on the policies of US of America on Africa. The Intention of the US of America leaders makes the difference in the policies on which each department of the US government determines either to pass the “life-and-death” decision on the “undemocratically elected” regimes of African countries whether the citizens of Africans like it or not, or to undermine the regime while holding it as America’s own personal property. State Department may have the power to make the call on the road of diplomacy. Pentagon may have the power to look at the geopolitics of the strategic position of the American logistical coordination of its Army, Navy, and Air force, and National Security Council, as a closer advisor of the President, to authorize the resolutions made by the white house. The last one that has to be not forgotten is the congress, which is the medium between the people of America and the American government that plays the political flip-flops in the Capitol Hill Halls.
The US role in Africa is played only in these departments by the African power-mongers living in exile and their embassies, and some political researchers from School of Kennedy who are working as advisors for the White House, and the American decision makers. The United States of America should have been an example to install the respect for human rights of the people of Africa even though the people are poor and cannot determine the plight of the political process, which is made on them.
The US should have had the desire to involve the people of Ethiopia directly on the political process since the effort the US has produced in changing the political environment put the US-policy in a great trouble. The overarching goal of US policy is blankly limited and not even spread conclusively to involve the natives in general without creating a big hole in the differences of culture and language that Marxism played in its doctrine. I hope Marx is not laughing at the US political players from his grave.
The American public may not have a clue or don’t have the energy to even check the policies themselves to what extent the people in Ethiopia would gain on how American policy-makers decide on the plight of the country, Ethiopia. US-policy represents the citizens, Americans, and the policies should really act like their mirrors in looking at their outlook in ones eyes. This same ideology must be performed when the American policy makers deal with a country like Ethiopia. Ethiopians represent Ethiopia and Ethiopians should be advised on the changes that are made on behalf of them before any decision-making. Isn’t why congress is the pole of politics representing American constituents?
The regime change by another regime in Ethiopia is the pain that Ethiopians are going through and still the suffering never ends from the day the installment of the Meles Zenawi Regime. It is now the time for questions to be answered, and American-policy makers should prepare their plain answers to the very important questions the people of Ethiopia would like to hear from them. Preparing “cover-up” stories for diplomatic purposes on the poorest people in the world would never give any impression of the modern democratic country, the US. Why does the US allow the people of Ethiopia to suffer under the Meles Regime? Read more!

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By Shashank Bengali McClatchy Newspapers
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.
Over the past year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has emerged as the Bush administration's staunchest African ally in the war on terrorism, sending troops into neighboring Somalia to topple a hard-line Islamist regime and cooperating with the U.S. military in a hunt for al Qaida suspects that so far has been unsuccessful.
But Rice's arrival Wednesday comes as Ethiopian troops are bogged down against Islamist-led insurgents in Somalia and face a growing outcry over alleged human rights abuses against Muslims in the restive Ogaden region — two conflicts that experts believe could serve as a rallying cry for Islamic fundamentalists.
While Rice is expected to focus on other African hot spots — Sudan, Somalia, Congo — when she arrives, experts say that the visit will serve as a diplomatic pat on the back for Meles.
"It's clearly an indication of support for the government in Ethiopia and an acknowledgement of their support on issues related to counterterrorism," said David Shinn, an ambassador to Ethiopia during the Clinton administration.
That support looks increasingly problematic.
Last December, Ethiopian forces, backed by U.S. military intelligence, ousted an Islamist regime in Somalia that the Bush administration said had ties to al Qaida. The U.S. military launched airstrikes in Somalia this year on suspected terrorists, including three men wanted for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, but none of the leading suspects is believed to have been killed.
Meanwhile, one of the targets, Aden Hashi Ayro, an Afghanistan-trained jihadist who is on U.S. terror lists, has returned to Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. At the helm of a militant group known as the Shabaab, Ayro has called for holy war against Ethiopian and Somali government forces.
Facing near-daily attacks, Ethiopia recently sent in reinforcement troops, boosting its occupation force to perhaps as many as 10,000, say security analysts.
Some experts believe that Ethiopia, with its heritage of Christianity, is proving to be a magnet for foreign jihadists. Somalia's U.S.-backed president, Abdullahi Yusuf, has said that Shabaab has an "international wing" that includes fighters from foreign countries, while the proliferation of remote-controlled roadside bombs — a new tactic in Somalia — suggests a more sophisticated insurgency.
Foreign fighters "have been in Somalia in small, modest numbers for some time," Shinn said. "The longer the Ethiopian presence remains, it's likely to increase, even if not in large numbers."
New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Ethiopian forces of violating the laws of war by indiscriminately bombing densely populated parts of Mogadishu and deliberately shooting civilians. The U.N. estimates that 215,000 people fled their homes over the past six weeks, and relief agencies are struggling to deliver food and medical supplies to refugee encampments along a dusty highway leading away from Mogadishu.
"There is no solution to the humanitarian crisis with the presence of Ethiopian troops," Georges-Marc Andre, the European Union's special envoy to Somalia, said recently.
In Ethiopia, clashes have escalated between government troops and a separatist group known as the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which is made up of ethnic Somali Muslims in the desert-like eastern region bordering Somalia. Ogaden refugees have accused Ethiopian forces of blocking all commercial trucks, commandeering food and water supplies and executing civilians accused of supporting the rebel group.
Some Somalis are now fighting alongside the Ogaden insurgents, according to a Somali Islamist leader who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.
Analysts believe that Ethiopia, which has one of the best equipped armies in Africa, will continue to fight on both fronts, raising the possibility of even worse conflict.
"Ethiopia at the end won't lose," said a senior Western diplomat who follows Somalia, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to journalists. "They will throw men and money at the problem until they lick it."
Meanwhile, Meles faces trouble on the home front as international observers voice concerns about the lack of political freedom ahead of local elections next year.
In July, Ethiopia freed 38 opposition leaders who'd spent nearly two years in prison for allegedly fomenting unrest following disputed elections in 2005. But opponents say that the government continues to stifle their activities, preventing them even from opening offices.
Andargachew Tsege, a leader of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy, said that Rice's visit could overshadow the problems in Ethiopia, where four out of five people live on less than $2 per day.
"Simply her presence there would give an impression that everything is well," he said by phone from London, where he lives in exile. "That is a diplomatic bonus for Meles."

(A McClatchy special correspondent, who cannot be named due to safety concerns, contributed to this report from Mogadishu.) Read more!

By ERIC LIPTON and RUSS BUETTNER
Published: December 4, 2007
The Newyork Times
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 — Although Rudolph W. Giuliani is campaigning as President Bush’s staunch ally in the war on terror, his law office has lobbied Congress on behalf of legislation that the Bush administration calls a threat to antiterrorism efforts in the Horn of Africa.
Mr. Giuliani was not personally involved in the lobbying last year on behalf of the company’s client, the American wing of a dissident Ethiopian political party known as the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, leaders of the group said.
But the firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, used Mr. Giuliani’s name in its pitch to win the assignment, and his clout was a reason it landed the job, said Seyoum Solomon, an Ethiopian-American from Maryland who helped negotiate the deal.
“He is a popular Republican, a good friend of the president and he might have some influence on the State Department,” Mr. Solomon said to explain the hiring decision.

The legislation sought by the dissidents proposes restrictions in American aid if Ethiopia does not agree to share power with opposition parties and take other steps promoting democracy. As part of its work, the Giuliani group set up a meeting at the White House last year at which the administration was urged to consider the viewpoint of a consortium of Ethiopian political parties that included Mr. Solomon’s group, as well as a more militant rebel organization.
The Ethiopian effort demonstrates the complications Mr. Giuliani confronts as he simultaneously runs for president and remains a name partner in a law firm that lobbies in Washington. He is the only Republican candidate who remains engaged in business pursuits.
The Bush administration supports the government in Ethiopia as a bulwark against terrorism and has characterized the legislation as a liability in that effort.
A White House spokesman declined comment on Bracewell & Giuliani’s role. A State Department official described the legislation that the firm helped to push as detrimental. “The reality is, in fact, it does harm a relationship” with an ally, the official said.
The Ethiopian opposition has many supporters in Congress, in part because of concerns about the existing government’s reputation for repression. Even the Bush administration is not critical of the coalition as an organization and has refrained from classifying as terrorists the more militant opposition parties in the consortium that some coalition leaders helped establish.
But the administration believes, said one State Department official who was not authorized to speak on the record about the matter, that the existing government is making progress toward creating a democratic government and has helped to combat an extremist Islamic insurgency in neighboring Somalia, where it has sent troops and worked to aid American operations against Qaeda suspects.
Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for the Giuliani campaign, said Mr. Giuliani’s views were not necessarily consistent with the lobbying stands taken in Washington by Bracewell & Giuliani.
“At the end of the day, the mayor’s position and ideas on the campaign trail are his own,” Ms. Comella said.
Scott H. Segal, a lobbyist for Mr. Giuliani’s firm, said its primary mission had been to secure American support for the release of jailed Ethiopian opposition leaders, not to promote the legislation. He said Mr. Giuliani’s firm primarily sought to use the legislation to draw attention to those disenfranchised in Ethiopia.
“Not everything we did on behalf of the client was 100 percent consistent with United States foreign policy at the time,” he said. “Our job was to cajole the U.S. foreign policy establishment into taking a principled stand in Ethiopia.”
The lobbying contract, signed in January 2006, is one of the few that Mr. Giuliani’s firm, based in Houston, has had with clients looking to influence United States foreign policy.
The law firm, which Mr. Giuliani joined in 2005 and which pays him more than $1 million a year, specializes in corporate finance and energy matters. But several years ago, the firm was approached by an Ethiopian-American who knew Marc F. Racicot, the former Montana governor and Republican Party leader who once worked at Bracewell as a lobbyist.
“We did not go to the firm because of Giuliani,” said Solomon Bekele, an leader of the American affiliate of the coalition who was involved in the hiring decision. “It was a plus.”
When the contract was signed, the country had suffered through a bloody few months after a May 2005 federal election that was first heralded as the most democratic in the country’s history. Soon, protests organized in part by the Coalition of Unity and Democracy turned violent as demonstrators began to complain about election fraud. The government claimed some protesters were armed, while observers said the police and armed forces had overreacted, sparking conflicts in June and November of 2005 in which 199 people were killed, including six police officers.
The government arrested thousands, including coalition leaders who had just been elected to Parliament, including Hailu Shawul, the chairman, and Birtukan Midekssa, a vice president.
Last year, the firm was able to persuade the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa to insert language into a bill that condemned the violence and the arrests. One new provision in the bill, introduced by Representative Christopher H. Smith, Republican of New Jersey, demanded that the country reconfigure its national election board to include representation by opposition parties.
Members of Mr. Smith’s staff said they had received advice on the bill from many parties, including Bracewell & Giuliani and a lobbying firm hired by the Ethiopian government, DLA Piper. The Ethiopian government position is that the legislation is being pushed by “extremists in Ethiopian politics who reject peaceful and legal avenues of political participation,” according to a statement issued by its embassy in Washington.
Mr. Smith said support for the bill hardly constituted weakness toward terrorism. “The war on terror is very, very important,” he said in a speech in October about the proposal. “But no regime that terrorizes its own citizens can be a reliable ally in the war on terror.”
In June 2006, the Giuliani firm set up a meeting for coalition leaders with Michael J. Gerson, at the time one of Mr. Bush’s senior policy advisers.
At the meeting, coalition leaders asked the United States to put pressure on Ethiopia to negotiate with a new consortium of opposition parties that included both the coalition and more militant members like the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a separatist group, according to a written account of the meeting provided by coalition party officials.
About a year after the meeting, the Ogaden group was involved in an attack on a Chinese-run oil field in which more than 70 people were killed.
Mr. Solomon said the coalition had always been a peaceful party and did not condone the attacks. But he would not condemn what he called “freedom fighters.”
Mr. Segal said his firm had lobbied the administration only on behalf of the coalition, not the larger alliance of opposition groups.
A White House spokesman, Scott M. Stanzel, said Mr. Gerson could not recall details of the meeting but described it as merely informational.
Last summer, the administration worked behind the scenes to win the release of the jailed opposition leaders, as the coalition had urged. But the administration has consistently opposed the legislation in letters written to the House sponsors.
The lobbying contract between Bracewell & Giuliani and the American affiliate of the coalition ended last year. Mr. Solomon said the coalition’s affiliate had terminated the deal because the firm had not lined up more news coverage and never delivered on a promised meeting with Mr. Giuliani. The law firm said a meeting had never been promised.
Lobbying disclosure records indicate the firm was paid $210,000 in 2006, but Mr. Solomon said his group had actually paid $90,000.
Nonetheless, the legislation that the firm helped push has moved forward and passed by a voice vote in the House of Representatives in October.
Though Bracewell & Giuliani is no longer employed by the Ethiopian dissidents, its communications director, Frank Maisano, arranged a news conference in October on the topic at the National Press Club. Mr. Segal said that Mr. Maisano had been involved in that function as a member of the press club and that his help was not related to the former Bracewell contract.

Jeffrey Gettleman contributed reporting from Kenya. Read more!

By Chris Casteel
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Andrew Rice was only six months into his new life as a Democratic state senator when people started urging him into the ring with Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe.
It was this past summer, and no viable candidates had emerged to challenge Inhofe, of Tulsa, who has been in the Senate since 1994.
Rice, of Oklahoma City, traveled around the state for a few weeks and decided to go for it. He filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in early August and, by the end of September, had raised more than $300,000.
It is an ambitious quest for Rice, a 34-year-old political neophyte taking on the 73-year-old Inhofe, who has spent most of the last 40 years in politics.
"I feel like this is an anti-incumbent year,” Rice said in a recent interview.
Rice will be running against an incumbent with a long record, who has made some enemies in Washington, particularly in the environmental community.
The League of Conservation Voters, a national environmental group that has targeted its "Dirty Dozen” list of candidates in previous elections, has its sights on Inhofe.
But the group targeted Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, in the last election cycle and didn't follow through with any money or effort since Boren didn't appear vulnerable.
Whether that group and others, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, ultimately decide Inhofe is vulnerable — and Rice viable — remains to be seen.
"State Senator Rice in Oklahoma is a good candidate,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the chairman of the senatorial campaign committee, told reporters recently. "He's going to surprise people.”
What would be a surprise in Oklahoma is a Democrat getting more than 41 percent of the vote in a U.S. Senate race.
That hasn't happened since 1990, when former Sen. David Boren won his final race. Inhofe was elected in 1994 to fill Boren's last two years; his Democratic opponent, former U.S. Rep. Dave McCurdy got 40 percent of the vote. Neither of Inhofe's last two opponents have topped that. Nor did either of the Democratic opponents of former Sen. Don Nickles, in 1992 and 1998.
In 2004, former U.S. Rep. Brad Carson, a Democrat, got 41 percent of the vote — in the race to replace Nickles — against Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee.
If he is ultimately the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat, Rice, like Carson, will be on the ticket in a presidential year, in a red state that hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since 1964.
But Rice sees an opening for a new face, at a time when, he said, voters are tired of partisan gridlock in Washington and nasty campaigns.
"They want competent and responsible government,” he said. "I think sometimes (political) races are portrayed as people are looking for the ideal candidate.
"People are pretty down-to-earth and realistic about what they expect. People want you to pay attention to what they're saying. They want immigration reform. They want affordable health care.”
Religion and politicsBy now, Rice's connection to the 9/11 attacks is fairly well known, at least in Oklahoma City, where he won a state Senate seat vacated by a term-limited Democrat: Rice's brother, David, was killed in the World Trade Center; he was 31.
At the time, Rice was working as a documentary filmmaker and living in New York. Soon after, he moved to Texas and worked for a group called the Texas Freedom Network, which, he said, organized religious leaders to give an alternative take on issues from those he referred to as "religious extremists.”
He later moved back to Oklahoma and started his own group, called the Progressive Alliance Foundation, which aimed at encouraging discussion about political issues.
He considers abortion and gay marriage to be religious issues, he said, and "government doesn't have a role there.”
Rice favors abortion rights and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.
He said he tends toward Libertarian views of limited government on many issues and that Oklahomans also have been historically suspicious of government intrusion. He said he didn't get into public service to legislate on personal decisions.
Rice's views didn't prevent him from winning a Senate district that is among the most Democratic in the state and supported Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., for president in 2004.
But running statewide, against an incumbent who declared in 1994 that "God, gays and guns” would decide his race, may be a different story.
"I'm fully supportive of gun rights,” Rice said when asked about Inhofe's oft-repeated comment.
Then he added, of Inhofe, "I feel like he's still stuck campaignwise in 1994.”
Opposition to Iraq war Rice opposes the war, saying that al-Qaida and religious extremism was the real threat to national security. Inhofe is one of the most outspoken supporters of the war.
"Al-Qaida are the ones we need to get smart about,” he said. "We've got to find a way to defuse their ability to recruit people and cut off their funding. We can't be at the forefront of changing hearts and minds (among Muslims). We have to rely on moderate Muslims to do it. You don't want to create a new generation of radicalized Muslims. We've got to be tough and smart.”
He said it isn't feasible or responsible to withdraw all of the troops out of Iraq immediately. He favors a phased withdrawal.
"I don't think it's realistic to expect the majority of the troops to be out in a year,” he said.
Rice voted for the state immigration bill, parts of which recently went into effect in Oklahoma. And his views on the subject have no obvious differences from those of Inhofe. Rice said the most urgent need is border security. Only when that's accomplished, he said, lawmakers should tackle the issue of what to do with people who are here illegally.
"I'm not an advocate of blanket amnesty,” he said.
Critical of global warmingThere are, however, plenty of issues on which Inhofe and Rice disagree, including global warming. Rice has been critical of Inhofe's efforts to discredit scientific studies about global warming and to block legislation aimed at curbing emissions of greenhouse gases.
Inhofe, the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, is the most outspoken skeptic of global warming and has called it a hoax.
Should outside groups decide to get involved in the Oklahoma Senate race next year, Inhofe's views on global warming will no doubt be a major focus.
Rice said he can't control what outside groups do or say, but that he would set some limits on his own campaign rhetoric.
"Demonizing, smearing — (Voters) really have no appetite for it,” he said. "It doesn't mean I'm not going to be critical. But it's going to be done with decency, not character assassinations. And it's going to be accurate.
"Oklahomans like mavericks, but they don't like rudeness.” Read more!

IPI Watch List Report

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Ethiopia
Ethiopia was placed on the IPI Watch List at a board meeting on 15 May 2004. A press release announcing the decision quoted IPI Director Johann P. Fritz as saying, "While I acknowledge the severe problems in the areas of poverty, education, health and food production in Ethiopia and the pressures these place on the government, the IPI Executive Board felt that the forthcoming elections could lead to greater difficulties for press freedom and access to information and, with this in mind, it was decided that IPI should pay careful attention to the Ethiopia media environment in order to support journalists."
November 2007 Update
Although some journalists were released from prison this year, the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi continues to prosecute and jail members of the media profession. The independent media in Ethiopia is slowly disappearing: newspapers have been banned, Websites have been blocked and the only television broadcaster is the state-run Ethiopian Television. As a result, in the latter part of 2007, there was a continuing decline in press freedom.
In June, four journalists, Andualem Ayele Legesse of the Ethiop newspaper, Mesfin Tesfaye Gobena of Abay, Wonakseged Zeleke Tessema of Asqual and Dawit Fasil Woldeselassie of Satenaw were convicted of charges carrying life imprisonment or death.
The journalists were arrested after the government carried out a crackdown on the media and opposition groups in November 2005 following post-election protests. The Addis Ababa court also convicted three publishers on related charges. Two months before these convictions, the Ethiopian government had released eight journalists.
Following their convictions, the prosecutor in the cases demanded the death penalty for the journalists. The decision led to strong criticism from the international community, including the International Federation of Journalists, which stated, "sadly Ethiopia has a long history of trampling press freedom but sentencing these journalists to death would push the country to a new low for human rights and freedom of expression." Based on reports, a negotiated deal was discussed whereby the prisoners would recognise their culpability in return for a pardon.
On 27 July, the four editors, and two academics sentenced alongside them, were released following a presidential pardon. In early August, four more journalists received heavy jail sentences. Editors Dawit Kebede of Hadar and Wosonseged Gebrekidan of Addis Zena were sentenced to four years in prison each on charges of "inciting and conspiring to commit outrages to the constitutional order," while editor Goshu Moges of Lisane Hezeb and freelance columnist Tadios Tantu were convicted on similar charges. On 20 August, the journalists were released on a conditional pardon. The Ethiopian government said they could continue their media activities, but were forbidden from engaging in "any subversive action against the Constitution." A spokesperson also said they could return to criticising the government and denied that guilty confessions were obtained from the journalists through duress.
In September, there were attempts to force the Ethiopian government to provide information about detained Eritrean journalists, Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi and Saleh Idris Gama form the Eritrean state broadcaster Eri-TV.
During April, a video trilogy titled "The Strategy of Sowing Discord by Isaias [Afewerki's] Eritrean Clique," which appeared on an Ethiopian government Website Waltainfo, suggested the journalists were involved in military activities in Somalia. The journalists had been sent to Mogadishu by the Eritrean government, but later went towards Kenya, reaching the border, before Kenyan forces intercepted them. They were held for three weeks and then handed over to the Ethiopian authorities. According to the video testimony, the journalists have admitted their connection to the Eritrean military. In response, the Ethiopian government refused to comment on the whereabouts of the two journalists. Read more!

By DAVE FORSTER, The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH
Yacob Hailemariam is thankful he is no longer a political prisoner, but he is far from satisfied.
Hailemariam, 63, spoke Wednesday night at an interfaith Thanksgiving service of about 100 people at Congregation Beth Chaverim and thanked the community for its support for him while he was behind bars.
The former Norfolk State University professor was freed in July after 21 months of imprisonment in Ethiopia after he advocated for democratic change and won a parliamentary seat there in 2005.
Hailemariam wants to return to his homeland and continue the push for democratic reforms.
"Ethiopia hasn't moved an inch" toward democracy and human rights, he said. "The fight has to go on."
He has said that the support he received from Norfolk State and the Hampton Roads community boosted his morale while he was in prison.
"I really don't deserve such an outpouring of love," he said. "It was really humbling what Hampton Roads did for me."
Hailemariam and about three dozen other opposition leaders were convicted earlier this year of crimes against the government.
The human-rights group Amnesty International called the defendants "prisoners of conscience." They were sentenced in July to life in prison, but the Ethiopian government pardoned them days later and released them.
Hailemariam taught business law for nearly 20 years at Norfolk State but retired to return to Ethiopia when the country announced it would hold democratic elections in 2005.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com Read more!

Written By: Moneer Al-Omari (YEMEN POST STAFF)
Article Date: November 19, 2007
It's been over two years and about 100 Ethiopian newspaper editors and journalists are still trying to find a stable and peaceful life. Their only crime is that they helped spread public awareness in their country at a time of dictatorship and army ruled government. They kept fleeing their country over the last few years, especially following the general Ethiopian elections conducted in May 15, 2005, according to Daniel Gezahegen, who was the editor-in-chief of the Addis Ababa-based Mogad newspaper. Further, over 20 opposition editors are still in prison.
Several international human rights and press organizations have criticized Ethiopia for its low record in this respect and asked the government to stop its suppression against editors and journalists and to respect human rights.
To escape the regime's further suppression and prison, Ethiopian editors have sought refugee status in different countries and some of them have been accepted and resettled in their hosting countries; while others have not or they are in the process.
Along with Gezahegen, another journalist who chose Yemen to host them was Tamrat Serbessa. He left behind his own families and people. They risked their lives in a hazardous journey heading to Yemen as they reached Aden earlier this year.
Gezahegen was the editor-in-chief of Addis Ababa-based Mogad, an Amharic language newspaper and Serbesa was editor-in-chief of the private Amharic-language weekly Satanaw.
He was arrested several times over writings criticizing the regime and outspoken articles published in his news paper, the last of which was in 2005 over covering the post-elections unrest and the alleged defamation of the Ethiopian Air force affiliates as well as defying the ruling system. He was set free after he paid a bail mounting to $ 114.
His fellow editor Serbesa was arrested as well over defaming the ruling system and contesting the legality of the May 15 elections. He was jailed on July 8, 2005 for one day and released on bail.
Both editors complain their life is difficult in Yemen and they cannot do anything about it, especially when Gezahegen is diabetic and Serbesa is partially paralyzed. They further note the have spent over two years in Yemen and applied to UNHCR for refugee status; however, they are not accepted until now.
"We have suffered a lot and we lead a very awful life since our arrival in Aden early in 2006. We spent few months in an Aden's old and open building, which used to be an Indian hotel in the past. We lived on people's help. Later police raided the place and forced them out the building," Gezahegen narrated.
He went on to say that a fellow Ethiopian journalist offered him to reside with him in Sana'a and thus he shifted to Sana'a along with Serbesa. However, his living in Sana'a is no better than Aden and Gezahesgen alleges his life is not safe and the Sana'a-based Ethiopian Embassy affiliates chase him and his friend.
Now, he wishes the UNHCR would accept his application or work to relocate him in the US.
"We want nothing just to be granted refugee status by the UNHCR here in Yemen or to be relocated somewhere. About two years have elapsed since we arrived in Yemen and our case has not changed," maintained.
The two journalists are now in Yemen, only hoping that their long patience is worth the wait. "We have lived in Yemen for nearly one year, and we still await justice as well as support from our colleague journalists," concluded Gezahegen.
The journalist complain the lack of support they have received CPJ. They claim that their last release of CPJ was months ago, but did not help at all.
Today they live a life of unemployment and count on their friends and colleagues to support them financially. "Our friends and colleagues who where lucky enough to be exiled to the United States are the ones who support us with the little they have. We appreciate their efforts and support."
The suffering will continue for the Ethiopian journalist until; a final destination is found for them. It has been years since they have seen their wife and children, but they continue to be hopeful. "One day will come when we will get our right. With patience their will always be prosperity, Gezahegen concluded. Read more!

(CIVICUS) Anti-poverty activists Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie are due to hear their verdict on treason related charges on Thursday, 22 November, after numerous judicial delays. If found guilty, they could face life imprisonment or death sentences.
Daniel and Netsanet, coordinators of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in Ethiopia, are the last two accused in the high profile Ethiopian treason trial that originally charged 131 politicians, journalists, organisations and civil society leaders. Daniel and Netsanet assisted in monitoring the May 2005 election – peaceful and legitimate civil society work for which they have been detained since November 2005 on allegations of conspiracy to overthrow the government.
Thousands were detained following protests accusing the government of rigging the 15 May 2005 parliamentary elections. Many of the accused were acquitted during the course of the trial. Others were convicted but pardoned in July and August 2007 – all of whom had allegedly signed a confession. Although Daniel and Netsanet they were asked to sign a similar statement, declined. They argue that their activities in 2005 were entirely legal and did not serve to undermine, but rather to protect and promote Ethiopia’s constitutional order.
“Civil society around the world is standing by Daniel and Netsanet in solidarity until they are found innocent of these unfounded treason charges. If monitoring elections is treason, then what is left to remain patriotic about? Our friends have been loyal the constitution of Ethiopia in that they stand for truth and for the upliftment of Ethiopia and its citizens.” said Kumi Naidoo, Chair of GCAP and Secretary General of CIVICUS, who will be in Addis Ababa to support the men in court on Thursday.
Background Notes on trial of Netsanet Demissie and Daniel Bekele
19 November 2007
How are CIVICUS and GCAP active in Ethiopia?
CIVICUS and GCAP have been actively rallying support and solidarity around their case since their arrest in November 2005.
In April 2006, a group of prominent civil society leaders – Kumi Naidoo; Archbishop Ndungane of Cape Town; Salil Shetty, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign and Henry Malumo of GCAP Africa – visited Ethiopia and met with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to express their concern about the case. Prime Minister Zenawi reassured the team that the trial would be fair and swift, but that they must let justice system proceed without interference. The Prime Minister also agreed to allow the re-establishment of GCAP in Ethiopia.
Aside from this high level action, CIVICUS has organised many appeal campaigns, reminding the Ethiopian government that civil society activists around the world continue to watch the case.
Most recently, CIVICUS and GCAP organised an International Day of Solidarity with Daniel and Netsanet on 28 June 2007. Organisations and individuals in more than 10 countries wrote letters and organised events supporting Daniel and Netsanet.

What are CIVICUS and GCAP asking for?
We are asking for the swift completion of the trial, and the acquittal of Daniel and Netsanet.
We are also asking the government of Ethiopia to respect the rights of civil society organisations and actors in Ethiopia to freely associate, assemble and express themselves without fear. These rights are enshrined in the constitution of Ethiopia, as well as the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Since the arrest and detention of Daniel and Netsanet, as well as political opposition leaders, journalists and trade unionists in Ethiopia, civil society has been plunged into a state of paralysis, where they are afraid to be publicly critical of government policy. We ask that the government support the vital work of civil society, and reassure activists that they can peacefully engage with the government, without fear of harassment, arrest and detention.

What are Daniel and Netsanet accused of?
Netsanet Demissie and Daniel Bekele are two civil society activists, who have no political connection, and appear to have been arrested solely on the basis of their legitimate critique of the government during their anti-poverty and human rights work. They were both organizers and members of the executive committee of the Network of Ethiopian NGO's and CSOs that monitored the 15 May 2005 election. They are also both coordinators of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in Ethiopia.
Both have been detained since November 2005 and their case began on 2 May 2006. They were charged alongside around 131 others, who were political opposition members and journalists, facing charges including treason and genocide.
Daniel and Netsanet are being charged with criminal conspiracy with the intention of overthrowing the constitution or constitutional order. This charge carries a possible sentence of life imprisonment or death. They have been consistently denied bail, even upon appeal. Both Daniel and Netsanet are recognised as Amnesty International Prisoners of Conscience.

Could you tell me about the trial’s background, and its current status?
At the start of the trial in May 2006, 131 opposition politicians, journalists and civil society leaders stood accused of a range of charges from genocide to treason. They were among thousands who were detained following protests accusing the government of rigging the 15 May 2005 presidential elections.
In April 2007, the charges of high treason and genocide were dropped against all the defendants, leaving them accused of charges including “outrage against the constitution or constitutional order;” “obstruction of the exercise of constitutional powers;” “inciting, organising and leading armed rebellion,” and “impairing the defence power of the state.”
On 11 June 2007, in the trial’s first verdicts, 38 journalists and opposition politicians were found guilty. The Prime Minister pardoned this 38 on 20 July. Another 33 others were later sentenced and pardoned on 18 August. Altogether, approximately 61 were sentenced and then pardoned.
Prior to their sentencing and pardon, these approximately 61 reportedly signed an undisclosed statement, admitting that they used "unconstitutional means to change the constitutionally established government functions” following the 2005 elections.
Although they were asked to sign a similar statement, Daniel and Netsanet declined. They argue that their activities in 2005 were entirely legal and did not serve to undermine, but rather to protect and promote Ethiopia’s constitutional order. They wish to establish this in court and secure their acquittal. Had they agreed to sign the statement, it would have undermined civil society in Ethiopia.
Daniel and Netsanet presented their defence from 27 July until 2 August, calling 29 witnesses and presenting 300 pages of documentary evidence. Their witnesses included members of the opposition party CUD and a UN election observer, all who pointed to Daniel and Netsanet’s innocence.
Both the prosecution and the defence have now submitted their final statements (albeit 5 weeks later than expected).
Their verdict was originally set for Tuesday, 9 October 2007 at 9am in Addis, however judges have delayed giving the verdict until 22 November 2007. Because the final statements were submitted later than expected, giving the judges less time to deliberate, they said they needed more time to decide.

What are the possible outcomes of the case?
Whenever the judgment is given there are obviously two possible verdicts – innocent or guilty; but more importantly there are three possible outcomes:-

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Washington, Oct 22 - U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Africa, Global Health and International Operations Subcommittee, today delivered the following remarks at a "Newsmakers" event at that National Press Club:
Human rights in Ethiopia is not a burning question in Washington today. It ought to be. We don’t read, or hear, or talk much about it. That has to change, and