Ethiopia's Capital City, Addis Ababa, is under seige

Ethio-Zagol
The Paranoid TPLF government has ordered prison officials to restrict the visitation rights of the CUD leaders, Civil society members and journalists who have been in jail for the last ten months.
Today, hundreds of friends and family members of the prisoners who went to visit them were turned back at the gate of the Kaliti jail if they didn't prove that they were either the spouses or the children of the prisoners. Some spouses were asked to show marriage certificates to enter the compound. The prisoners returned back to their cells in protest after they learnt that their families and friends were not allowed to visit them.
Top TPLF members were said to be very angry after a local newspaper, Addis Admas, published the story of the prisoner's new year message, according to sources.
Addis Ababa is a city under seige. The three thousand newly recruited policemen and hundreds of soldiers roam around the city. Random Car stop and check searches are being conducted in some places. There is a sense of anticipation amongst the populace as the the Kinijit movement is slowly reviving and gaining momentum.

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Spate of defections continues

Indian Ocean Newsletter N° 1193 09/09/2006

The Ethiopian army, judiciary and diplomatic corps are still subject to numerous defections of employees and officials who go into exile to the United States.
After the defection at the beginning of August of the Oromo General Kemal Gelchu, more departures into exile have followed among Ethiopian diplomats and other top officials in the government of Addis Ababa. A Deputy Attorney General Alemayehu Zemedkun thus fled to the United States at the beginning of August where he asked for political asylum. Zemedkun, 41, left his wife and two children in Addis Ababa and fled to the USA after the Ethiopian authorities had asked him to take over the case of the charges against the leaders of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP, opposition) imprisoned in Addis Ababa. He had attempted to convince his superiors, including the Minister of Justice Shemeles Kemale, that there was no case to answer, but to no avail. He then decided to go into exile. Since then, his testimony on Internet web sites and Ethiopian opposition blogs has shed a blunt light on the actions and attitudes of the Ethiopian executives, such as the minister of justice.
Some tens of defections have taken place lately in Ethiopian diplomatic circles. Meanwhile, suspicion has gone up a notch inside the ministry for foreign affairs about diplomats not felt to be sufficiently docile with the regime in place in Addis Ababa. Matters got even worse after revelations in the international media of confidential documents written by a foreign affairs ministry high official on its propaganda strategy. Some Ethiopian opponents have been able to draw up a list of 59 names of diplomats who have defected these last few months. They include two former Ambassadors (Yohanes Genda and Fleshes Adugna Wordofa) a few ministerial counsellor and a large number of junior diplomats. Among the latest defections to date are those of a diplomat in the Ethiopian embassy to India, of Biruk Hailu plenipotentiary minister to the embassy in Paris and Gizachew Bizuayehu, counsellor. The wife of the former Ambassador Kassahun Ayele is also believed to be filing her request for political asylum in the United States.
The majority of these diplomats complain about the management methods of their hierarchical superiors, of the generalised climate of suspicion that reins in the Ethiopian embassies and the obscure role of certain Tigrayan diplomats of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF, hard core of the EPRDF in power in Addis Ababa) operating as true political commissionaires. General Kemal Gelchu, who fled to Eritrea along with twenty other Ethiopian servicemen, is for his part expected to join the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF, armed opposition). He accuses the actions of the Tigrayan hierarchy in the Ethiopian army and has revealed the growing level of discontent among non-Tigrayan soldiers.

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Ethiopia Inquiry commission members defected to Germany

Ethio-Zagol
Inquiry commission decides that the government used excessive force against demonstrators.
Two commission members leave to Germany with the report.
Woldemichael Meshesha, the Vice president of the Ethiopia Federal First Instance Court was one of the most loyal servants of the TPLF regime in Ethiopia. In May last year, he made a decision in favor of Meles Zenawi in the case of Kinijit v. Meles Zenawi where CUD represented by Birtukan Midekisa and Yeneneh Mulat contended that the PM's ban of demonstrations was contrary to the constitution. A month latter, he sent a pro-CUD lawyer to jail for criticizing the PM's decision. But even for a loyal judge like Woldemichael, what Meles Zenawi did in June and November when he ordered the killing of scores of demonstrators was an assault to conscience.
At the end of November last year, the Parliament established the commission of inquiry which was entrusted with the investigation of the June 8 and November 1 killings. It was thought that the investigation would be a white wash. The commission was carefully constituted with members who were supposed to be loyal to the Meles Zenawi government. Woldemichael was one of the ten members of the commission. Three months into the the investigation, five members resigned from the commission citing conditions of their health. They were immediately replaced and the commission went on with its work.
In May, it finalized the investigation. The result was shocking to the government. Eight of the commission members including Woldemichael decided that the government had used excessive force to quell the June and November demonstrations. Meles Zenawi personally asked the commission to reconsider its decision. The members refused. One member of the commission said he better die than play with the blood of innocent victims.Wolde's passport was confiscated. He was also watched very closely by the government.
In Mid August, Wolde left Ethiopia to a neighbor country and then to Germany with the help of active Kinijit International Members, carrying the report of the commission in his hands, where he joined another of the commission members, Firehiwot Samuel, the president of the Supreme Court of SNNP.
Firhewot's story is as epic as Wolde's. Although ever willing to work in the system, Firhewot was known for his compassion and morality as a judge. Midway into the investigation, he got three scholarships from three different universities in Europe. After the decision of the commission where Firehiwot sided with the majority, the government disrupted his plan for study. Newly married to a beautiful fresh graduate from Awassa University, Firehiwot's stable life was turning upside down.
The government assigned him a driver who he thought was spying on him. His movements were carefully scrutinized. He decided he had to leave the country quickly. With utmost secrecy, Firehiwot arranged his travel and left to Germany in July. He was soon to be followed by his wife.
The result of the investigation was supposed to be presented to the Parliament and published before its summer recession but the PM prohibited the commission from publishing it. It was feared that it would never see daylight unless Meles Zenawi lost power. Yet the defections of two of the commission's most important members have given hope that the world will see the truth through the report.

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Six Ethiopian soldiers defected to Eritrea

Asmara, 7 September 2006 - Six Ethiopian soldiers who arrived here opposing the racist policy of the TPLF regime disclosed that at a time when resistance is gaining momentum within the Army, the regime is resorting to increased atrocities by imprisoning members of different ethnic groups.

They noted that many Ethiopian soldiers are defecting to different opposition organizations and fleeing to neighboring countries opposing the brutal and harsh measures the TPLF regime is taking against members of the Army.

The soldiers who arrived in Eritrea are Neguse Araya Tsadik and Gebreal Abraha Sebhat, both Tigrayans, Mohammed Adem Abdu from the Somali ethnic group, Tedros Zeleke Kasahun and Siyum Tesfayu Freisa, both of them Oromos, and Samsom Alemayehu who came from Birsheleko Training Camp.

Source: hornofafrica

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Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam, Pagels Human Rights Award Recipients, to be Honored

New York Academy of Sciences
by Jennifer Tang
Meeting Inaugurates Historic Move to New Headquarters at 7 WTC
This year's recipients of the Heinz R. Pagels Award bestowed annually by the New York Academy of Sciences in recognition of services on behalf of the Human Rights of Scientists, will be honored as part of the Academys 188th Annual Business Meeting on September 28.
The meeting will be the organizations first event in its new headquarters at 7 World Trade Center, one block from where the Academy was founded in 1817. More than 200 Academy members and other guests will be in attendance at the meeting, set to begin at 6:30 pm in the Academys 40th floor quarters.
Pagels Awards
The 2006 winners of the Pagels Award:

Mesfin Woldemariam, Ethiopian geographer and prominent human rights defender. Professor Mesfin, who taught from many years at Addis Adaba University, is well known for bringing the widespread famine in Ethiopia to the worlds attention in the early 1970s, and he has continued to do research on the causes and consequences of famine. His work has led to his arrest several times. After peacefully expressing his political opinions on the contested elections in Ethiopia in 2005, he was arrested and charged with crimes that carry the death penalty. Although seriously ill with a pulmonary condition (for which he was recently hospitalized for several days), he has been in confinement since November 2005 and has been denied legal counsel for his trial.
Prof. Mesfin is being honored by the Academy for his leadership in advocating for the disadvantaged and in promoting human rights, civil society, and a peaceful transition to democracy.

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Increasing Tensions in Ethiopia: Police also put on high alert

Ethiotribune
Addis Ababa Patrolled by Heavily-armed troops
Thousands of heavily armed troops on pick up trucks mounted with machine guns patrolled all major roads and intersections in Addis today. The police was also put on high alert throughout the day. The dawn to dusk patrol was particularly different in the sense that highly agitated soldiers with looks of nervousness on their faces were looking passerby in the eye as if looking for specific individuals. Such levels of troop presence were not seen after the disturbances following the botched elections of May 2005 were put down with a heavy-handed security crackdown.
The immediate cause for the heavy troop presence in the capital is not known. However, observers of the situation point that it has something to do with increasing tension within the armed forces following the defection of Brigadier General Kemal Galchu.
Tension has been rising lately in Ethiopia, especially in Oromia. In a mood reminiscent of the last days of the imperial and military regimes, there is a general and visible sense of uneasiness and anxiousness among the population, most notably among the youth.
Clashes between security forces and students at three universities in the regional state led to the dismissal, arrest, wounding and killing of scores of students. Opposition groups have accused the ruling party for deliberately sowing discord between students from different ethnic groups. There were also unconfirmed reports of rancor between the local Oromia police and federal security forces.
Schools are not officially open until after October. However, the disturbances in the various universities during the summer season, where the number of students attending school is relatively small and where students tend to be older elementary school teachers attending continuing education, is a harbinger of what is most likely to come when the regular school season starts in earnest later in October.
According to analysts observing the situation for a long time, this coming year could be a turning point in the rocky relationship between a highly unpopular regime and a population anxious for change. As Ryszard Kapuscinski wrote in “The Emperor, Downfall of an Autocrat”, Addis is a city of rumors, rumors which usually turn out to be true. Rumors are flying throughout the city that the tension within the army is almost out of control. In a manner indicative of serious trouble for the regime, the loyalty of the bureaucracy to the regime is declining as evidenced by the increasing number of incidents where a number of those closest to government funds have been missing with large amounts of money. There are also unconfirmed reports of mounting contradiction within the top echelon of OPDO, one of the satellite organs of the EPRDF regime.
In addition, EthioTribune has just received a report that over fifty cars and trucks traveling from Addama to Addis have stopped at Kalitti and prevented from interring Addis and forced to go back to Adama.

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Anti-poverty campaigners on trial in Ethiopia

Actionaid

Daniel Bekele, a policy manager at ActionAid Ethiopia was arrested on November 1 2005 along with a close colleague Netsanet Demissie, the head of the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia, which works closely with ActionAid. Denied bail they have been charged with 'the crime of outrage against the Constitution and the constitutional order.' Their trial is adjourned until the court returns from vacation on October 5.
Daniel Bekele is policy manager at ActionAid Ethiopia. He is a lawyer with a masters degree from Oxford University.
During 2005 he was active in the Global Call to Action against Poverty, the worldwide movement of which Make Poverty History was a part.
2005 was a year of political conflict in Ethiopia. The opposition contested the result of the May 15 parliamentary election and there were some violent clashes. Violence flared up again in October. The authorities responded by arresting demonstrators, opposition political activists and their leaders, journalists and a number of key civil society figures.
Arrested
Daniel was arrested on 1 November. A colleague, Netsanet Demissie, handed himself in to the police when he heard they were searching for him. Netsanet is head of the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia, which works closely with ActionAid.
Both men were refused bail and have been in prison since November. Attempts to secure their release on bail, including an appeal to the Supreme Court, have so far been unsuccessful.
In January 2006 serious charges were laid against four organisations and 127 people, including Daniel and Netsanet. They were charged with 'the crime of outrage against the Constitution and the constitutional order'. Other defendants are facing charges of treason and attempted genocide.
Although most defendants do not recognise the court and have refused to plead, Daniel and Netsanet entered pleas of 'not guilty'. ActionAid is doing everything it can to support their defence. We hope to see them freed after a fair trial.
Trial begins with video evidence
During a short session of the Federal High Court on 22 March, the prosecution withdrew its charges against 18 people. Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demessie were not among them.
The court announced that it would reconvene on 2 May and sit continuously from then onwards.

Daniel and Netsanet were told that they will be allowed to hear the evidence given by witnesses, and then prepare their defence on those areas where they are implicated. Their lawyer will be allowed to cross-examine witnesses who refer to them.
On 8 May the Federal High Court reconvened. Since then, the court has met on most weekdays, and the prosecution has been presenting video evidence.
On 24 July the prosecution sought to introduce 900 pages of new documentary evidence, a move which was still being contested by defence lawyers when the court adjourned on 4 August for the two-month legal vacation. No witnesses have yet been called. The number and identity of witnesses are still unknown.

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Civilian Detentions and Lootings

Ethiopian military and its associated militias are reported to have detained many civilians in many parts of Ogaden. The military and its militias are accused of looting public property in broad daylight as well in the city of Qabri Dahar.
The latest illegal, civilian detentions took place on August 27th in the town of Dhagaxle. Some of the names of the detained civilians that have reached our service desk include:
1- Sh. C/llaahi Axmed Deeq
2- Haaruun Cabdi Xasan
3- Ismaaciil-dheere and
4- Xasan-Golay

Ogaden Online and Radio Xoriyo reporters in Jig Jiga report the sightings of some of the people detained in Dhagaxle in the main military garrison known as Garab Case in Jig Jiga.
In related news, in the town of Higlooleey about five civilians were detained illegally by the Ethiopian military. The illegal detentions took place on August 28th, 2006. The names of the five are:
1- Maxamuud Xuseen (Awr-liqe)
2- Maxamed Mahdi
3- Axmed Naasir
4- Mukhtaar C/llaahi Cabdi iyo
5- Yuusuf Maxamuud Caynaashe

In the most blatant attack on civilians and their property, the Ethiopian military looted the pharmacy of one doctor Cabdi Naasir Axmed Gamaadiid. The looting was witnessed by many civilians who could not understand why the military will loot of all things drugs.
Local sources that requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the positions they hold within the military confided to our reporter in Qabri Dahar that the reason for the looting of the pharmacy was to get drugs to treat many wounded soldiers.
The same sources add that many of the wounded were neither allowed to fly to Jig Jiga or other places to get proper treatment nor authorized to seek treatment locally since their injuries were not publicized earlier.

Source: Oganden online

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Ethiopian journalist attacked in Nairobi

Ethiomedia
NAIROBI, Kenya - An Ethiopian journalist living in exile in Kenya was admitted to hospital Monday night after he was attacked by a gang of six men.
Yidnekachew Chane, who was a reporter for Maebel, an Amharic weekly based in Addis ababa, was severely beaten by two undercover agents of the Meles Zenawi regime. The spies were assisted by four Kenyans to carry out the attack.
Friends of the victim said they would file a lawsuit against the two attackers whom they identified as 'spies' of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Yidnekachew and other journalists from the independent press have either ended up in jail or in exile following a nationwide crackdown on dissent that erupted after the ruling party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi rigged the elections in May 2005.
The government uses various brutal methods, including physical beatings, to intimidate reporters into submission. On October 1, 2003, a reporter for the Amharic weekly Etiop was left for dead after assailants left him with severe injuries to his skull, hands and legs.
The Meles government is long known for smuggling its securitymen into other countries - mainly Kenya and Sudan - to carry out attacks on members of the opposition and the media.
In November 2005, Eight security agents savagely attacked Ahmed Ali, a disabled Ethiopian journalist living in Stockholm, Sweden for being critical of the repressive regime in Addis.

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Ethiopian prosecutor seeks asylum in US

Sudan Tribune
An Ethiopian prosecutor who said the government forced him to pursue opposition leaders has requested asylum in the United States, he said Tuesday.
"I have been ordered by the government to institute charges on CUDP leaders," said Alemayehu Zemedkun, referring to Ethiopia’s opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party.
"I have tried to show them the legal impediments. There is not enough evidence ... But they insisted," he said by telephone from Washington, where he has sought refuge.
Zemedekun, 41, whose wife and two children remain in Addis Ababa, arrived in the United States on August 2 after the government realised he was not going to launch a judicial attack on the opposition, and considered him sympathetic to them.
He was a deputy general prosecutor when the government urged him to set charges against opposition leaders it alleged had plotted to overthrow the government after the May 2005 elections.
Arguing that there was no evidence against the opposition leaders, Zemedekun said he had written a report to the government to convince them to abandon the effort, but that he failed. He subsequently offered his resignation but was refused.
A US State Department spokesman declined to confirm the case, noting they never comment on asylum requests.

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Ethiopia holding 250 members of Oromo ethnic group without charge, officials say

The Associated Press
The Ethiopian government has detained without charge more than 250 members of the Oromo ethnic group, including teachers, high school students and politicians, Oromo officials said Monday.
The Oromo make up a third of Ethiopia's 75 million people, and it have been the center of dissent against the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front.
"The government claims that there are some people in the area conducting illegal activity," Merera Gudina, head of the Oromo National Congress, told The Associated Press.
Officials at Ethiopia's Ministry of Information declined to comment.
Human rights group Amnesty International said Monday it feared the detainees were taken into custody last week "because they are members of the Oromo ethnic group."
In early August, an Ethiopian army officer of Oromo descent, Brig. Gen. Kemal Geltu, defected to traditional enemy Eritrea with more than 100 Ethiopian troops under his command. He said he was unhappy with the Ethiopian government's treatment of the Oromo.
There was no indication that those arrested were members of the Oromo Liberation Front, an insurgent group that has been fighting for greater autonomy in southern Ethiopia.
"These people are not connected to the OLF," Merera said.
Also Monday, police said a grenade struck a recreation center in eastern Ethiopia, killing one person and wounding seven on Sunday.
Police had few other details on the attack in Jijiga, a mostly ethnic Somali region some 700 kilometers (435 miles) east of Addis Ababa, said federal police spokesman, Cmd. Demsash Hailu.
"The owner was killed during the attack and the perpetrators tried to explode another bomb, but failed," he said.
Nobody claimed responsibility.

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Mystery blasts rock Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA - At least one person has been killed and seven wounded in a weekend grenade attack in southeast Ethiopia in the latest in a string of deadly mystery blasts across the nation, police said.
Another grenade, apparently intended to target regional officials, was thrown shortly after the first hit a bar late Sunday in the town of Jijiga, about 720 kilometres from the capital, but failed to detonate, they said.
Jijiga police commander Mohammed Hussein told the state-run Ethiopian News Agency that the bar blast killed the pub owner, who died en route to a local hospital where the seven injured customers were being treated.
"A hand grenade thrown into a public pub-recreational quarter by unidentified people exploded," ENA quoted Mohammed as saying.
"We have arrested some people who tried to run away after the incident and an investigation is under way to establish the identity of the people and their motives," he said, according to the agency.
The death brings to at least 12 the number of people killed in a series of explosions that have rocked Addis Ababa and provincial towns, including Jijiga, where three blasts in late May wounded 42 people, since the start of the year.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, although government officials have variously blamed Ethiopia's arch-foe Eritrea, separatist rebels, Somali Muslim extremists and opposition groups.
On May 12, nine blasts at apparently random targets, including a crowded cafe, a bus station and buses, killed at least four people and wounded more than 40 in Addis Ababa. Political tension has been high in Ethiopia since disputed elections last year led to opposition protests that twice turned violent.
At least 84 people were killed - many shot dead by police - during demonstrations against alleged fraud in the May 2005 polls.
The protests resulted in the imprisonment of the entire leadership of the main opposition party and more than a dozen journalists on a wide range of charges including genocide, treason and conspiracy to overthrow the government. Sapa-AFP

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Ethiopian soldiers defected

Reports from Fiiq confirm the defection of thirty-four members of the Ethiopian military stationed in and around Fiiq. The latest defections took place on September 1st, 2006.
Ogaden Online and Radio Xoriyo reporters in Nogob province indicate that the defecting members escaped with all their military gear some of which were hand-held anti-tank weapons.
The latest defection follows that of over thirty soldiers who deserted their positions at the end of August. Latest reports indicate that Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) army welcomed the new defections. Many of the defecting soldiers are now reported to be with ONLF.
Reliable sources that requested anonymity said that the latest defections have created a state of apprehension within the Ethiopian military stationed in Fiiq. The same sources add that it is possible the head of the Ethiopian military in Fiiq may himself be contemplating defection but he is said to be unsure how ONLF will treat him.

Source: Ogaden Online News

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Civil Rights leader calls for release of all political prisoners

By Atlanta Rally Organizers
ATLANTA, Georgia - The President of the Association of Black Elected Officials and State Representative Tyron Brook, called for the release of "all elected officials and political prisoners" now languishing in the hands of the EPRDF regime in Ethiopia.
Speaking at the rally held last Tuesday at the Atlanta Marriot Century Hotel protesting against the foiled meeting targeting the Amhara ethnic group, Mr. Brook reiterated that "we want to end this tyranny and harassment" and demanded the release of "the Martin Luther King Juniors of Ethiopia".
The renowned Human Rights leader, who took one of the front seats inside the assembly hall, before the meeting was called off by gutless Deputy Premier Addissu Legesse, congratulated the protestors for barring the premier "from using this opportunity to propagate an agenda that is not supported by you."
He further noted that "there will not be any support from the American people, in spite of the fact; he may have support from George Bush and the White House."
Asked why President Bush supports the totalitarian regime in Ethiopia, the Human Rights leader replied: "unfortunately the United States government supports too many dictators around the world. We support democracy and people to demonstrate without being incarcerated for opposing a regime."
Members of the police force were taken by surprise to witness a well disciplined behavior by the protestors who handed them flyers and photos of innocent victims of last year's elections. Some of them were seen expressing sympathy and disbelief that such inhuman acts would have taken place in this modern era.
Along with Mr. Brook, Reverend James Orange, a contemporary of the late Martin Luther King Jr. of 1960s and other members of civil rights movement in Atlanta were at hand to express solidarity with the Ethiopians and Ethio-Americans in their struggle for democracy and the rule of law in Ethiopia.
A local Woyane agent had in the past made a repeated fruitless attempts to win the support of the Association of Black Elected Officials or at least neutralize its stand against the dictatorial regime of Meles Zenawi. Leaders of the Human Rights movements declined full-board offers by the agent to visit Ethiopia and make them "friends" of the tyrannical regime.
The successful and vibrant protest of last Tuesday was organized by Mahidere-Andinet Ethiopian Civic Association in close cooperation with the newly formed members of the local Alliance for Freedom and Democracy, UEDF, ENUPF and peace-loving individuals.
In a related development, Addissu Legesse and his entrouge faced a similar protest a day earlier, where they met with a handful of sell- outs at Four Seasons Hotel in Midtown.
The protestors withstanding the heavy downpour accompanied by gusty wind, jeered the local Woyane breeds and tagged them as Hodams and neo-bandas.
One of the invitees was later quoted as saying that she had no knowledge as to who the guest was and hinted that she had been misguided by certain individuals.
The Atlanta protest was seen by many observers as the most successful and energetic rally against the Deputy Prime Minister who faced humiliation after humiliation.

Source: Ethiomedia

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Meles Zenawi's advisor, Bereket Simon, suffers a second stroke

Ethio-Zagol
Bereket Simon, the PM's advisor, had a second stroke in the Israeli hospital he was being threated.
Family and friend fear the worst for the man who was one of the leaders who tried to thwart Ethiopia's democratic revolution which was sparked by the events of last year's election. Almost all of his famil and some top TPLF members are at his bed side in Israel.