This is subtle totalitarianism, dubbed ‘Authoritarian Developmentalism’ by some. If you do what the government says, you get assistance – land, water, services. If you don’t, you get nothing. The basic principles of political freedom enshrined in the constitution are frequently undermined by subtle edicts from government departments. Press freedom is clearly spelt out and recently a minor ruling stated that printers must take responsibility for everything they publish and can refuse to print anything the government might consider illegal. Hardly a devastating blow to press freedom you might think until you discover that the only presses in Ethiopia capable of printing newspapers are government-owned........full text
I doubt there is an Ethiopian in the Diaspora not familiar with what happened last Friday. As they say the video has gone viral. The act has brought deep satisfaction to the psych of the oppressed and left the evildoers in disarray. Abebe took less than one minute to do what has been tried for over twenty years.His heroic act will be remembered in the history books like that other important event in the annals of our
glorious past. ......full text
My view is that there is no direct relationship between economic growth and democracy historically or theoretically. But my view is that democracy is a good thing in and of itself irrespective of its impact on economic growth......full text
In my social life, political or any, I don’t remember to have seen any movement that captivated the imagination of the entire segments of a society like the 2008 Obama presidential campaign did......full text
The Tigrean ruling elites are in power for two decades now, and it looks as if they will be staying in power for more years to come. How do we explain their longevity in power? They represent a minority constituency in the country (six percent of the total population)
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If there is a terrorist organisation flourishing in Ethiopia, committing crimes against humanity and violating the human rights of the people it is State terrorism delivered by the EPRDF government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi......full text
After 420 days of trial (over nearly four years), 115 witness, over 50,000 pages of testimony, and 1,520 exhibits, Charles Taylor, warlord-turned-president of Liberia, was found guilty on 11 counts by the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone......full text
On May 1, 2012, Eskinder Nega, Ethiopia’s foremost journalist and political prisoner, will be awarded the “Freedom to Write Award”, the highest honor given out by Pen America, one of the great international free press institutions that has been in continuous operation since 1922......full text
The ethnic cleansing that is being waged has become an international knowledge. This is not the first time the TPLF regime has practiced such crime against humanity. This is the first time it has been exposed for all to see......full text
Last week, dictator Meles Zenawi hectored his rubberstamp parliament in Ethiopia about the forced expulsion (or as some have described it “ethnic cleansing”) of Amharas from southern Ethiopia and zapped his critics for their irresponsibility in reporting and publicizing it.......full text
The ethnic cleansing that is being waged has become an international knowledge. This is not the first time the TPLF regime has practiced such crime against humanity. This is the first time it has been exposed for all to see.......full text
By Graham Peebles (Counter Currents) / April 21, 2012
Meles Zenawi Asres of Ethiopia knows little of democracy, human rights or the manifestation of democratic principles and much of repression and intimidation.
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Ethiopia was betrayed by the League of Nations (LoN) and the Fascist Italian Forces unleashed a naked aggression replete with grave violation of human rights, war crimes,
crimes against humanity including genocide......full text
Last week I had an opportunity to address a town hall meeting in Seattle sponsored by the Ethiopian Public Forum in Seattle (EPFS), a civil society organization dedicated to promoting broad dialogue, debate and discussion on Ethiopia’s future. I was asked to articulate my views on Ethiopia’s transition from dictatorships to democracy in light of my recent emphatic commentaries on the subject.
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By Tesfay Atsbeha and Kahsay Berhe / April 15, 2012
The inhuman measures of expelling Ethiopians from their own country in the district of Gura Ferda should outrage all
Ethiopians. How can hardworking innocent farmers, women and children who were living legally be deprived of their houses,
farmland and belongings and evicted by force, simply because they are ethnic Amharas? The root cause of this crime is the
backward and divisive ethnic politics of Meles Zenawi.......full text
When I recently heard the sickening news of mass deportation of ethnic Amharas form the southern regional state, my stomach flipped and somehow I was catapulted back to my boyhood when I was a student in Awassa Comboni Elementary School......full text
How long ago was is it since us Ethiopians said ENOUGH! of TPLF regime’s multiple cruelties amounting to those of the ruthless invader Mussolini? When is the intense hatred for the Amharas, contempt for the Oromos and other ethnic groups going to end? When is trading in the name of the valiant people of Tigray going to end? Why has the Zenawi regime adopted Mussolini’s strategy of total subjugation of the Amharas and the Oromos in particular? ......full text
For the past two decades, Zenawi has been repackaging an atavistic style of tribal politics in a fancy wrapper called “ethnic federalism.” He has managed to segregate the Ethiopian people by ethno-tribal classifications and
corralled them like cattle into grotesque regional political units called “kilils” (literally means “reservation”; semantically, the word also suggests the notion of an exclusion zone, an enclave)......full text
On November 11, 2011 Yenesew Gebre was driven to kill himself on behalf of all suffering Ethiopians.He killed himself out of love for his people and country. He made the ultimate sacrifice to wake us up so we can see what it means to be humiliated in your own home......full text
Ethiopian ethnic-based political elites, most prominently, the champion of ethnic politics and business,TPLF Inc., were always bent on shredding to pieces our commonalities, shared history and common identity as Ethiopians of all shades, colors, languages and faiths, from their inception......full text
On a windy Saturday afternoon at a small Petworth cafe, Taha Tuko orders a round of celebratory macchiatos for three of his countrymen and tells them their 38-year armed struggle for secession from Ethiopia is over — fighters back in Africa have laid down their arms......full text
All of the weekly commentaries I have written over the years have been structured on a single fundamental principle: the rule of law. What is it? How does it configure in Ethiopia’s transition from dictatorship to democracy?......full text
In yet another egregious assault on its own Ethiopian citizens, the regime of Prime Minister Melees Zenawi and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) are preparing to raze 18 ancient churches, to bulldoze the surrounding forests and pastures, and to force the indigenous people to relocate to substandard environs far from their heritage homelands.....full text
Three years ago to the week, I wrote a weekly commentary entitled, “Cry Me a Lake: Crime Against Nature”. That commentary focused on the plight of tens of thousands of Ethiopians who are sick and dying from drinking the polluted waters of Lake Koka, once a pristine lake, located some 50km south of Addis Ababa......full text
Atlanta (Gerogia) -- After the 2005 farce election, the Tigray People's Liberation Front(TPLF), has been downsized to a single family party, namely that of Melez Zenawi and Azeb Mesfin, Seeye Abarha senior member of Unity for Democracy and Peace Party said last Saturday while addressing a public gathering in Atlanta......full text
So, in all cases the fault lies with societies that allow dictators on the loose to exploit their silence. We ought to be ashamed for letting Meles Zenawi in power for the last twenty years. As the popular saying goes “Every nation deserves the government it deserves”. I believe that we deserve far better if we Ethiopians unite and act together......full text
By Tesfay Atsbeha and Kahsay Berhe / March 21, 2012
Why are we writing about Meles? Meles has absolute power as all his predecessors. He can decide the fate of more than 80 Million Ethiopians and probably the coming generations. As every major aspect of life of all Ethiopians is controlled by Meles, there is no possibility for Ethiopians to take their own destiny into their own hands without removing Meles. Since Meles, more than anybody else, has been committing so many crimes with impunity, it is Imperative to deal with the worst enemy of the people before everything else and hence expose his crimes. ......full text
Three years ago to the week, I wrote a weekly commentary entitled, “Cry Me a Lake: Crime Against Nature”. That commentary focused on the plight of tens of thousands of Ethiopians who are sick and dying from drinking the polluted waters of Lake Koka, once a pristine lake, located some 50km south of Addis Ababa......full text
Grassroots Ethiopian human rights groups and activists have been stunned by the death last week of Donald Payne, our strongest ally and advocate in the U.S. Congress. His passing marks a major setback to the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia and Africa. But Don Payne has left us a rich legacy of human rights advocacy and legislative action spanning over two decades. It is now our burden -- indeed our moral duty -- to build, to expand and to deliver on that legacy.
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How does one say farewell to a great friend of Ethiopia and Africa? Representative Donald Payne, the dean of New Jersey’s House delegation and the first black congressman elected to represent New Jersey, died at age 77 from colon cancer on Tuesday. He was elected to 12 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and served on various committees including Education and Workforce and Foreign Affairs committees. He chaired the Subcommittee on Africa for a number of years. His passing marks a great loss for the cause of democracy and human rights in Ethiopia and Africa.......full text
The road from dictatorship to democracy in Ethiopia will be challenging but not impossible. What will the transition to democracy look like? When the mud walls of dictatorship crumble in Ethiopia and the veil of secrecy and hype is lifted, two facts will stand stark naked......full text
By Tesfay Atsbeha and Kahsay Berhe / February 27, 2012
On 19 February 2012, the official 37th birthday of the TPLF, many people in Tigray have to think of their loved ones as martyrs as every year; it is a day for remembering the loss of about 60 000 young women and men; as well as thousands of civilians killed in the country side and urban centres by the TPLF and the Derg respectively. The only act of paying respect to the martyrs would have been the prevalence of justice, the rule of law and democracy for all Ethiopians. But this is not the case and therefore the day is a day of sorrow for the overwhelming majority of oppressed and hungry Ethiopians
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The “Gulag” prison system in the old Soviet Union was infamous for warehousing and persecuting dissidents and opponetns. The gulags were used effectively to weed out and neutralize opposition to the Soviet state......full text
The debate on whether Emperor Hailesilassie’s statue deserves to stand along with that of Kwame Nkrumah in front of the newly inaugurated AU headquarters in Addis Ababa built by the government of China as a “gift” to the AU misses a lot of big points. In my view, and I am sure in the views of many observers of Africa, the entire building itself is one giant statue of shame for Africa......full text
Why is Schadomsky bent out of shape over “ethiomedia and similar sites by extension”? Apparently, he had been chewed out, tongue-lashed, dressed down, squeezed, badgered, blackmailed and “monitored” by none other than dictator Meles Zenawi’s doppelganger in charge of information. Schadomsky explained to his staff:......full text
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Al Jazeera)– The Lower Omo Valley in south-western Ethiopia is a vast and rugged region of mountains and valleys, inhabited largely by nomadic agro-pastoralist tribes numbering some 200,000 people......full text
The Chinese Dragon is dancing the Watusi shuffle with African Hyenas. Things could not be better for the Dragon in Africa. In the middle of what once used to be the African Pride Land now stands a brand-spanking new hyenas’ den called the African Union Hall (AU)......full text
By Janice Winter, Daily Maverick / February 10, 2012
What confounds me is why the international community continues to accept Zenawi’s claims about the regime’s economic record, while taking for granted that he has lied repeatedly on human rights issues and consequently rejecting his official line on Ethiopia’s human rights record. That his statements on human rights, democracy, foreign threats, opposition groups, journalists and a host of other topics and issues are manifestly and consistently false should indicate that other information taken from the same source also has a high likelihood of being untrue......full text
An open panel discussion on American policy in Africa was hosted at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Student Union Building, as part of an ongoing lecture series about the continent......full text
The new African Union (AU) headquarters was inaugurated last week. It was “China’s gift to Africa.” China picked the entire USD$200 million tab for the building, fixtures and furniture......full text
Mr. Fisher’s description fits most successful dictators. Admit it you thought he was talking about ours, didn’t’ you? It is all right, no need to worry; he was actually talking about the late Colonel Gaddafi. The Leader got away with just doing that for over forty years. Libya lost a generation. That is what failed leaders do to a country. After they are gone they leave a mess behind
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A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today spoke out against the ongoing use of anti-terrorism laws to curb freedom of expression in Ethiopia, where several journalists were recently given prison sentences under such legislation......full text
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is on the chase; and over the past few months, things have taken a slow turn for the worse for African dictators and human rights violators. They are finding out that they can’t run and they can’t hide......full text
By by Nicholas D. Kristof,The New York Times / January 30, 2012
Meles has criminalized dissent, with a blogger named Eskinder Nega now facing terrorism charges, which could mean a death sentence. His true crime was calling on the government to allow free speech and end torture......full text
If a person were to maliciously burn or vandalize another’s house, it would be regarded as a serious property crime under the laws of any nation. If one were to walk into a bookstore and steal thousands of books and give them away to any passerby, that would also be a major property crime. How about taking a copyrighted book, scanning it and making it available to anyone in digital form online? Is that a serious criminal act? Is it also an immoral and depraved act? ......full text
The Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012, convicted three Ethiopian journalists, an opposition leader, and a fifth person under an anti-terrorism law that violates free expression and due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The Ethiopian government should immediately drop the case, release the defendants, and investigate their allegations of torture in detention......full text
Middle Passage” of Middle East “contract slavery” for the young Ethiopian women is unspeakably harrowing. Their working conditions are described as slave-like, except, as Beydoun argues, “Shackles and whips have been replaced by more inventive designs to dehumanize, suppress, and subsequently enslave persons for economic or sexual purposes......full text
(Gebremedhne Araya on ESAT(unearthed once again TPLF buried secrets )PART I PART II
It was like I was hit by a thunderbolt when I heard the long yearned news that the OLF has reversed and discarded its secessionist policy at last affirming its commitment to the unity of Ethiopia and vowing to fully participate in coordinated struggles to stem tyranny in Ethiopia. I was numb for a moment and then held my breath thinking what to do......full text
Washington DC (ESAT)–The Oromo Liberation Front has announced its historic decision to drop its long-held secessionist agenda and to embrace the unity of Ethiopia under a genuine federal arrangement that must guarantee the rights, equality and liberty of all Ethiopians......full text
This economic logic fits completely with the prevailing political logic. The radical Marxist “revolutionary elite” made a complete U-turn when it came to power in 1991, promising democratisation and a free market economy. In fact, using the same mechanisms of “communist engineering” based on “democratic centralism” that had been so useful for sizing power, this elite continued to consolidate their control to the point of achieving a monopoly. Today, due to ‘the effective “fusion” of party and state’,[xviii] Ethiopia is de facto ruled by a ‘monolithic party-state,’[xiv] dominated by a handful of leaders where Tigreans – 6% of the population – are over-represented.......full text
The following is an extract from my letter to the editors of pro-democracy websites written in appreciation of Dr. Negasso Gidada’s apology for his past political mistakes before he made the noble decision to join the UDJP......full text
American Journalist Jason McLure worked in Ethiopia as a foreign correspondent for Bloomberg from 2007 to 2010. McLure left Ethiopia on his own volition after his difficult assignment in Ethiopia, where he, along was a translator, was even detained by security agents in Mekele for two days. He was investigating allegations of food aid misuse for political ends in Ethiopia......full text
Yenesew saw beyond himself. He felt the pain and sorrow of his neighbor. What he was about to do goes against his religion, his value system and his culture but the importance and timeliness of the message must have outweighed all other considerations......full text
In December 2008, I wrote a weekly column entitled “Groundhog Year in Prison Nation” summarizing some of my weekly columns for that year. I used the “groundhog” metaphor from a popular motion picture in which a hapless television weatherman is trapped in a time warp and finds himself reliving the same day over and over......full text
Washington DC (ESAT)-- Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense for Africa in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense, has said that Ethiopians have to move beyond the aftermath of elections 2005, which she referred to as a tragic time....”...full text
The fact of the matter is that every major international human rights and other independent organizations dedicated to good governance has condemned Zenawi’s regime for gross human rights violations, corruption, lack of transparency and accountability and suppression of press freedoms......full text
Gebremedhin Araya unearthed once again TPLF buried secrets by articulating on various issues. If reconstruction of history is to fail, one of the preconditions is to muzzle and discourage all those who are living testimonies and by discrediting and linking them as terrorists than admitting ones own guilt. ...”...full text
The newly elected leader of Ethiopia's largest opposition group says his party faces a monumental task in trying to unseat what he calls "dictators" bent on silencing dissent. The party held leadership elections even as some of its top officials are being tried on terrorism charges......full text
The cancer of corruption is deeply embedded in the marrow of the Ethiopian body politic. The recently released Transparency International (TI) 2011
Corruption Perception Index report on Ethiopia confirms the findings of GFI and other anti-corruption international organizations. For the past decade,
TI has ranked Ethiopia at the bottom of the barrel of countries ruled by the most corrupt governments......full text
The Arab Spring’s effects continue to ripple outward. As Tahrir Square fills once more, it gains new momentum. For months now, the autocrats of Africa have feared it would move south, infecting their youth in often-unemployed, restless areas......full text
Little is known about Azeb Mesfin Haile’s journey to the heart of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and by extension the pinnacle of power in Ethiopia. She rarely gives interviews unless it is about scripted matters such as her “humanitarian” work...”...full text
Needless to say, all dictators and tyrants in history have feared the enlightening powers of the independent press. Total control of the media remains the wicked obsession of all modern day dictators who believe that by controlling the flow of information, they can control the hearts and minds of their citizens. But that is only wishful thinking......full text
ADDIS ABABA — A spate of arrests and terrorism charges leveled against opposition politicians and journalists in Ethiopia this year
raises fears of a government slide away from democracy, analysts warn......full text
...Few should be surprised by LPI’s conclusions that the “levels of confidence in the military and judiciary are both very low” and “Ethiopia is the country where expression of political views is perceived by the population to be most restricted.” None of the facts above matter to the dictators in Ethiopia because they are ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to cling to power.......full text
To help boost the economies of low income countries a development strategy named unbalanced growth theory was introduced by development theorists. With the use of this strategy select economic zones grow at rapid rates, while other economic zones experience stagnation or reduced growth as a result......full text
ESAT News -- The renowned Ghanaian economist Prof. George Ayittey, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of African dictators, has said that the politics of exclusion, which is reminiscent of Apartheid era South Africa, should come to an end in Ethiopia......full text
In the previous five commentaries, I provided compelling evidence that Ethiopia’s governance is repressive, exclusionary, discriminatory and essentially rent-seeking. The system reinforces itself and keeps most Ethiopians among the poorest people on the planet......full text
On 11/11/11, Yenesew Gebre, a 29-year-old Ethiopian school teacher and human rights activist set himself ablaze outside a public meeting hall in the town of Tarcha located in Dawro Zone in Southern Ethiopia......full text
ESAT Radio Daily Broadcast to Ethiopia
We have heard the gruesome news that our heroes leading peaceful struggle have been brought in chains to the Kangaroo Court in Addis Ababa. Zenawi controls all pillars of democracy as well as the armed forces, security services, law enforcement and the prison administration. ......full text
First of all, I would like to thank you profusely for including me in the latest roll call of patriots and freedom fighters. I am extremely humbled for the honor. ......full text
For the past four decades, a plague of cold-blooded thieves has descended upon Africa like a swarm of blood sucking ticks. These thieves masquerading as leaders have been trafficking in Africa’s natural resources and trading in the wealth created by the blood, tears and sweat of African peoples......full text
Ethiopian Border Affairs Committee / November 4, 2011
The Ethiopian Border Affairs Committee recalls its letter of June 2, 2008 addressed to Your Excellency concerning the border situation between Ethiopia and the Sudan. ......full text
I’m Eskinder Nega – I am Voice of the Voiceless. I open my mouth for those who are left desolate and I seek justice for the poor and powerless.......full text
Washington DC (ESAT News)--The Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) held a successful fundraiser on Sunday, October 30, in the presence of guests of honor and members of the Ethiopian community in Washington Metropolitan Area and nearby states...”...full text
Gebremedhin Araya unearthed once again TPLF buried secrets by articulating on various issues. If reconstruction of history is to fail, one of the preconditions is to muzzle and discourage all those who are living testimonies and by discrediting and linking them as terrorists than admitting ones own guilt. ...”...full text
...African dictators who make peaceful change impossible will make vigilante justice possible as they peek straight through the barrel of a gun whimpering, “Don’t shoot me! Please don’t shoot me!” African dictators, there is a better way. Show your people some love. LEAVE THEM!
....”...full text
There are new breed of historians in town that are endorsed by the TPLF to rewrite and narrate Ethiopian history. A “professor” from America is the late arrival to launch a book recently at Axum Hotel, Addis Ababa. The book, Finote Gedil, is not an ordinary book....”...full text
I salute with all humility and candor all suffering ladies – among them Serkalem Fasil and Dr. Selam Aschalew who are dearly missing their spouses languishing in prison and Reeyot Alemu – the trio and other illustrious heroines are making heavy sacrifices on behalf of all their fellow citizens; they and other ladies in similar hardship are bearers of our hope for dignity, liberty, freedom, prosperity, democracy and justice in our Motherland, Ethiopia....”...full text
The old adage is that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Could it be said equally that arrogance excuses ignorance of the law? Dictator-in-chief Meles Zenawi....”...full text
Washington DC (ESAT News)--Renowned American Professor Theodore Vestal, who has been keenly studying and following Ethiopian affairs since the early 1960s, said that the domination of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) poses a threat to greater Ethiopia. Prof Vestal also indicated that the government may implode if the current conditions get worse and the people say enough is enough...”...full text
“Karuturi’s First Corn Crop in Ethiopia Destroyed,” announced the headline. Karuturi Global Ltd., is the Indian multinational agro company that has been gobbling up large chunks of Ethiopia over the past few years. This time, Mother Nature gobbled up Karuturi. The company reported last week that its 30,000 acre corn crop in Gambella in western Ethopia was wiped out when the Baro and Alwero rivers overflowed their banks and overwhelmed Karuturi’s 80km long system of protective dikes....”...full text
We Tigreans, the price of not speaking up have been huge against TPLF leaders. Many innocent lives are lost and huge sacrifices are paid. The struggle for accountability has been replaced by fear, reprisal and loyalty to muzzle the untold brutality...”...full text
Unity is the most powerful gravitational force in the life of any people or nation. When the Americans founded their Republic, they were driven to transform their colonial identity by creating unity in a new American community...”...full text
The Ethiopian Awakening re-inspired by the Arab Spring has now scared Zenawi and Co to death. Zenawi hates to see the Ethiopian people exposed to what is going on in North Africa and the Middle East...”...full text
Criminal records rarely go unnoticed wherever they are meticulously archived and preserved. Let alone leaders that hold state power, ordinary people are even required to go through criminal background checks for jobs that require high level of trustworthiness. Today one of the most serious criminal offenses in the world is quite obviously terrorism...”...full text
Lately, Meles Zenawi, the dictator in Ethiopia, has been rounding up dissidents, journalists, opposition party political leaders and members under a diktat known as “Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009”...”...full text
I am Eskinder Nega. I am not one person. I am eighty million strong. I will let one of my voices speak for me because today I am locked up in Makelawi prison. Those who are in power in Ethiopia have tried to silence my voice. They want to shut me up by locking me up......full text
In November 2006, in her farewell cable to her replacement Donald Yamamoto and the Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Fraser, former Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Vicky Huddleston warned: “It is time to stop hating Ethiopia.”
...”...full text
Six years ago – a predisposed Ethiopian prosecutor accused journalist Eskinder Nega and his wife, Serkalem Fasil, and charged them with treason. The young couples who love their country and profession were expecting their first child when they were sent to the notorious Kality prison...”
...full text
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism / September 21, 2011
Evidence has emerged that the Ethiopian government has launched a renewed crackdown on opposition members, less than two months after a joint investigation by the Bureau and Newsnight revealed allegations of torture, repression and the political manipulation of foreign aid......full text
The old saying is that there is no honor among thieves. Is it also true that there is no honor among dictators? Perhaps that is a distinction without a difference. But Meles Zenawi, the dictator in Ethiopia and Omar Bashir, the dictator of Sudan seemed to be good longtime friends. At least Bashir thought so....”
...full text
They can jail Eskinder Nega, but they can’t jail the tens of millions of Eskinder Negas. They can’t jail freedom. No man can jail a man who is the voice of freedom because the voice of freedom is the voice of the people; and the voice of the people is the voice of God. (Vox populi, vox Dei.)
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The Vice President of Unity for Democracy and Justice Party, Andulalem Andargie, and journalist Enskinder Nega have reportedly
been detained by security agents in Addis Ababa.Andulam was picked up late afternoon at UDJ’s headquarters while Eskinder was
reportedly arrested at the same time but at a different location. .....full text
The past few weeks have been tough going for dictator Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia. Secret cables released by Wikileaks provided stunning revelations on Zenawi’s secret world. The U.S. believes Zenawi’s security forces staged a bomb explosion in 2008 and blamed an opposition group for committing terrorism...”
...full text
Debebe’s infectious smile sustained prisoners’ spirit in those difficult times. Of all the prisoners, his easy smile, authentic and warm, gave us reason to hope against hope. He somehow made the prospect of long prison sentences bearable. There was no gloom where Debebe tread and naturally prisoners clamored for his company......full text
It is the privilege of those who give to pity those who receive. One of the great indignities of being a perennial object of charity and handouts is the perception by those lending a hand that handout recipients are not only moneyless and helpless but also hopeless and clueless about what they need to do to help themselves...”
...full text
The missing ingredient, I believe, is neither weak opposition nor absence of political and economic push factors. The shortcoming lies in absence of people who have so far failed to hazard the first steps. Ordinary citizens took the initiative all over North Africa and the Middle East. The results made history. They are powerful precedents for the rest of humanity......full text
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, Time Magazine on its cover page asked two weighty questions about recurrent famines in Ethiopia: “Why are Ethiopians starving again? What should the world do and not do” to help them?...”
...full text
Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi, who now leads Africa’s largest dictatorship, and who many suspect is calculating as Gaddafi did at first, should take serious note
......full text
On behalf of the Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners Canada (SOCEPP CANADA) , we are writing to express our deep condolences to you, the family and friends of the Honorable Jack Layton who passed away on August 22, 2011......full text
In 2011, Ethiopia is the second poorest country in the world despite fanciful claims of 15 a percent annual economic growth and fantasies of building the largest hydroelectric dams in all of Africa by dictator Meles Zenawi...”
...full text
How to manage and resolve conflict has always been our Achilles Heel. That is part of the reason why we stumble from one crisis to another. Last week was a perfect example of an attempt to try to find out a reasonable solution to a problem that arose in our region here in Northern California. I hope it will give us an insight into an exercise in positive behavior that will probably end up in a win-win situation...”
...full text
This was a bitter sweet visit for Ethiopia’s increasingly precarious PM, Meles Zenawi. It was obvious he traveled to the Orient savoring the ensuing headlines. His cheerful mood was apparent as he boarded the chartered Boeing that was to ferry him to the Middle Kingdom. He was mysteriously all smiles......full text
Had it transpired anywhere in the US, home to world-famous Uzi-brandishing street gangs, hardly any other person but victim and family would have paused to take notice. But fatal police shootings are still rare in the UK. They tend to raise many eyebrows......full text
The bottom line from Meles Inc. is: There is no famine in Ethiopia. Just millions of Ethiopians who can’t afford to buy food because it is damn too expensive! But Meles runs a pretty slick disinformation campaign: Blame the international commodities markets for high food prices in Ethiopia, and demonize the foreign media and aid organizations for ruining Ethiopia’s image. Then dish out boldfaced lies to distract public attention from the raging famine, and promptly declare victory: “The country has registered during the last five consecutive years rapid double digit economic growth...”
...full text
Once again, millions of Ethiopians are starving while agonizing on the loss of personal and political freedom. After 20 years in power, the ruling group in Addis Ababa - the TPLF/EPRDF regime, has persistently failed its basic responsibility as a government to provide the basic necessities of life to its citizens. Instead of taking responsibility, the regime is now resorting to the same approach that has repeatedly failed – reliance and dependency on foreign aid......full text
Thirty years in the limelight and yet Mubarak seldom smiled. Arab leaders rarely do. Perhaps it’s the 600 years under the Ottomans. But the last time he appeared on television, February 10, 2011, there was more than the customary solemnity. The sneer was manifestly apparent......full text
A joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that the Ethiopian government is using billions of dollars of development aid as a tool for political oppression......full text
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and BBC Newsnight has found that as Ethiopia is hit by drought and famine, communities are being denied basic food, seed and fertiliser for failing to support Meles Zenawi, the country's authoritarian leader......full text
VOA is the Voice of America. It is emphatically not the VOZ (Voice of Zenawi) or anyone else. Thus spoke VOA Acting Director Steve Redisch responding to the firestorm of controversy surrounding revelations of a blacklist of critics drawn up by the über-dictator Meles Zenawi......full text
The Ethiopian government should stop using a restrictive and vague counterterrorism law to repress free speech and due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. An Ethiopian court ruled the week of July 17, 2011, that under this law, two Ethiopian journalists – already held for over a month without being charged or given access to counsel – will remain imprisoned for another 28 days......full text
Zenawi: Ten years from now (laughter). Let me start with ten years from now. One big thing I think will happen and dream about is that all Ethiopians will get three meals a day (applause). After that may be, if everything works out well, my hope is that Ethiopians will have two or three changes of clothes. If everything works out, all Ethiopians will live within two hours of a paved road......full text
Come Monday, July 25, 2011, a protest rally by Ethiopians on 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC will most likely draw the keen interest of a southern Republican Senator, Tom Coburn. Here at last is the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the US government agency which has oversight authority over the VOA, at the center of a brewing controversy......full text
The long march of democracy in West Africa seems to be well underway. In July 2009, I wrote a weekly commentary marveling about Ghana’s multiparty democracy. Wistfully, I asked the rhetorical question: “Why is democracy in motion in Ghana, and on life-support in Ethiopia?” ......full text
The Voice of America (VOA) has reversed its decision to suspend its Horn of Africa chief, David Arnold. After Addis Voice published a disturbing story on censorship and questionable actions taken against Mr. Arnold for comments he made recently in a June 23rd VOA report, VOA bosses held a series of crisis meetings and decided to reinstate him, sources disclosed......full text
Ethiopia: Apocalypse Now or in 40 Years?
How does one say farewell to a great friend of Ethiopia and Africa? Representative Donald Payne, the dean of New Jersey’s House delegation and the first black congressman elected to represent New Jersey, died at age 77 from colon cancer on Tuesday. He was elected to 12 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and served on various committees including Education and Workforce and Foreign Affairs committees. He chaired the Subcommittee on Africa for a number of years. His passing marks a great loss for the cause of democracy and human rights in Ethiopia and Africa....
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Al Jazeera)– The Lower Omo Valley in south-western Ethiopia is a vast and rugged region of mountains and valleys, inhabited largely by nomadic agro-pastoralist tribes numbering some 200,000 people...
The Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012, convicted three Ethiopian journalists, an opposition leader, and a fifth person under an anti-terrorism law that violates free expression and due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The Ethiopian government should immediately drop the case, release the defendants, and investigate their allegations of torture in detention...
(Gebremedhne Araya on ESAT(unearthed once again TPLF buried secrets )
