the International Development Economics Associates in support of Dr. Berhanu Nega

This letter is officially emailed to the Minister and it is also sent by fax and post.

25 July 2006

The Minister of Justice
Mr. Assefa Kesito,
Ministry of Justice,
PO Box 1370, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Fax: + 251 11 552 0874
Email: ministry-justice@telecom.net.et

Dear Minister,

We, the International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs), a network of progressive economists across the world engaged in research, teaching, and dissemination of critical analyses of economic policy and development, appeal to you to urgently provide adequate medical treatment for Dr Berhanu Nega, Professor of Economics of the Addis Ababa University, who is currently a prisoner at the Kaliti prison near Addis Ababa.
IDEAs is a non-profit research organisation led by economists based in several developing countries as well as developed countries. We are headquartered at New Delhi, India, with financial support from the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), the Ford Foundation and others. IDEAs has been formally associated with Dr. Berhanu Nega as a respected Ethiopian Economist and in his earlier capacity as the Director of the Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA), Addis Ababa.
We are all shocked and deeply concerned that Dr. Berhanu Nega’s health condition has deteriorated because he is reportedly not receiving adequate medical attention in the Kaliti prison, even when he is known to be suffering from the potentially life-threatening health conditions of high blood pressure and cardiomyopathy. As has been pointed out by Amnesty International, this is absolutely against regional and international standards for the treatment of prisoners, such as the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
We therefore urge you and appeal to you to take immediate action to provide adequate medical treatment for him and all the other prisoners in this trial, in accordance with regional and international standards for the treatment of prisoners. We call upon you to use your high offices to ensure that he is given access to a trained cardiologist immediately for a full assessment of his heart condition and medical treatment as needed; and that he is transferred to better conditions in Kaliti prison in accordance with the medical recommendations.

Sincerely,

1. Professor Pasuk Phongpaichit, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (Chairperson, IDEAs Executive Committee)
2. Dr. Thandika Mkandawire, UNRISD, Geneva (Chairperson, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
3. Professor C. P. Chandrasekhar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India (Member, IDEAs Executive Committee)
4. Professor Erinc Yeldan, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey (Member, IDEAs Executive Committee)
5. Professor Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India (Member, IDEAs Executive Committee)
6. Professor K. S. Jomo, Assistant Secretary General, United Nations, New York (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
7. Professor Samir Amin, Dakar, Senegal and Forum du Tiers Monde (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
8. Professor Maria da Conceicao Tavares, UFRJ, Brazil (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
9. Professor Kari Polanyi Levitt, Canada (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
10. Professor Diane Elson, University of Essex, United Kingdom (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
11. Professor Korkut Boratav, Ankara University, Turkey (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
12. Dr. Arturo O'Connell, Director of Central Bank of Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
13. Professor Prabhat Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
14. Professor Dani Rodrik, Harvard University, USA (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
15. Professor Amartya Sen, Harvard University, USA (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
16. Professor Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University, USA (Member, Advisory Board of IDEAs)
17. Mr. Anilkumar Mani, Administrative Manager, IDEAs Secretariat, C/O Economic Research Foundation, New Delhi.
18. Dr. Ranja Sengupta, Senior Economist, IDEAs Secretariat, New Delhi.
19. Dr. Smitha Francis, Senior Economist, IDEAs Secretariat, New Delhi.
20. Dr. Sukanya Bose, Senior Economist, IDEAs Secretariat, New Delhi.
21. Ms. Shipra Nigam, Economist, IDEAs Secretariat, New Delhi.
22. Mr. Anamitra Roychowdhury, Economist, IDEAs Secretariat, New Delhi.
23. Mr. Shouvik Chakraborty, Economist, IDEAs Secretariat, New Delhi.
24. Mr. Amitayu Sen Gupta, Economist, IDEAs Secretariat, New Delhi.
25. Dr. Murali Kallummal, Centre for WTO Studies, IIFT, New Delhi.
26. Prof. Madhura Swaminathan, Indian Institute of Statistics, Kolkatta.
27. Prof. V.K. Ramchandran, Indian Institute of Statistics, Kolkatta.

posted by Ethiounited Moderator at5:40 PM

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