JUSTICE!! JUSTICE!! JUSTICE!!

JUSTICE!!
JUSTICE!!
JUSTICE!!

Ethiopia: Dozens of journalists forced into exile, report shows

Dozens of journalists have been forced into exile in the last 12 months, fearing imprisonment or death at the hands of their own governments, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued its “Journalists in Exile” study on Wednesday, showing that at least 82 reporters were forced to flee to another country between May 2014 and June of this year.

According to CPJ figures, that number is the smallest since the press freedom advocacy group started keeping figures in 2010-2011, when 84 journalists went into exile. In 2012-2013, a record 97 journalists were forced out ot their home countries.

In the last five years, according to CPJ, at least 452 writers and photographers were exiled, mostly from Syria, Cuba, Mexico, Iran and Ethiopia.

The real figure is likely higher as the CPJ number represents only the reporters the organization tried to help through its Journalist Assistance Program, which finds refuge and funds for journalists in danger.

The report revealed about 50 percent of journalists exiled since May 2014 said the likelihood of imprisonment was the primary reason they fled with another 28 percent blaming threats of violence.

But the problems don’t end at the border, said Nicole Schilit, the author of the report.

“The best possible circumstance for journalists forced to flee is that they are able to, if they wish to, continue practicing journalism,” Schilit said. “It’s very difficult to do.”

Of the journalists who fled over the last year, only two are currently working in their chosen field, according to the CPJ.

In addition, intimidation by their persecutors doesn’t always stop. “They’re also afraid their family is at risk, if they left their family at home,” she added.

Kenya, Turkey and the United States rank as the top three destinations for exiled journalists. Since May of last year, Ethiopia forced 34 journalists into exile, more than twice as many as the country that produced the second most exiles, Syria with 16.

Ethiopia’s place at the top of the list comes amid deteriorating conditions for their local press, with the ruling party using harsh laws to throw dissident writers into jail, the report said. The forced departures of journalists were concentrated in the run up to Ethiopia’s election in May, which the ruling party swept, as expected.

According to Human Rights Watch, since 2010, 60 Ethiopian journalists have “fled into exile, including 30 in 2014 alone. Another 19 or more journalists languish in prison. Government harassment and intimidation caused at least six independent publications to close in 2014.”

Syria, the number two exile-producing country, is perhaps the most dangerous country in the world for newsgathering. Schilit said that while international journalists have the choice of whether or not to accept risky assignments in the country, some native Syrian journalists wake up every morning under threat.

“When it became too dangerous, they had the option to not go into Syria, whereas the Syrian journalists, when they were being individually targeted by hostile militias, their only option was to flee their home. They can’t turn around and go back. They don’t have the luxury of not entering,” she said.

The report provides accounts from four exiled Syrian journalists. Although they succeeded in escaping the groups bent on stopping their reports, the journalists, three of whom made it to Western Europe and one to Turkey, now have to endure being a refugee in an often expensive and unwelcoming environments.

Awad Alali, a dissident Syrian journalist who filmed the 2011 Arab Spring protests, was forced to escape to Jordan and then eventually to Germany, where he told CPJ he was safe but that life wasn’t easy.

“In exile, with regards to living in Germany, I am very thankful,” Alali said. “However, being far from your country is hard. We are alone. There are a number of refugees, but no real community.”

Andy Tsege: Fears grow over state of mind of British activist who languishes in Ethiopian jail

Exclusive: 60-year-old reportedly said he sees no reason to stay alive

Fears are growing for the state of mind of a British father of three who has languished in a secret jail in Ethiopia for almost a year.

Andargachew “Andy” Tsege, who has been sentenced to death, reportedly told the British ambassador during a rare visit: “Seriously, I am happy to go – it would be preferable and more humane.”

Next week marks the first anniversary of Mr Tsege, a leading opponent of the Ethiopian regime, being imprisoned during a trip to Africa.

Amid growing concerns for the 60-year-old Briton’s well-being, he was visited by ambassador Greg Dorey on in April.

A report of the ambassador’s visit was sent to Mr Tsege’s partner, Yemi Hailemariam, the mother of their three children.

Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has written to his Ethiopian counterpart (Getty)

Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has written to his Ethiopian counterpart (Getty)
The details it contains, combined with a lack of any progress since the visit was made, have left her at “breaking point” she told The Independent yesterday.

Ms Hailemariam was warned by Sarah Winter, head of country casework at the Foreign Office: “Some bits of this report will be distressing. Please make sure you read it when you’ve got good support around you.”

The visit was not held in the jail where Mr Tsege is being kept in solitary confinement, and took place in front of security officials. “Andargachew looks physically in reasonable shape but has health concerns. And he appears in a bad place psychologically. No evidence of mistreatment, other than the solitary nature of his confinement,” states the report.

Mr Dorey recalls Mr Tsege commenting: “Seriously, I am happy to go – it would be preferable and more humane. I said I doubted the government would wish to execute him and that in any event we would lobby strongly against this as a matter of principle.”

Mr Tsege saw no reason to stay alive, according to the report. “He was aware of the wider debate on euthanasia and could ask for this: it would relieve the pain,” it adds.

Mr Tsege, who is in solitary confinement, also told the ambassador that prison guards feared he might harm himself but he had not attempted this.

Mr Tsege’s partner Yemi, who lives in north London, described her shock at seeing the report: “The FCO had told me the content of the readout, I was sad but it does not compare to how I felt when I saw it in black and white. I was very devastated.”

Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has written to his Ethiopian counterpart to warn that relations between Britain and Ethiopia would be jeopardised if anything happened to Mr Tsege. He is understood to have called for the Briton to be transferred to a normal prison, be allowed regular visits and be treated by a doctor.

But Ms Hailemariam said: “Now we are two months later and nothing has changed. I am at a breaking point… What is it about this case that does not make the ambassador be absolutely outraged that he is being treated the way he is by the Ethiopian government? What is it about us as a family that makes it so not worth it for the Foreign Secretary to change tack and just ‘keep raising it’ without any substantive result?”

Pressure is building on the Government to demand the release of Mr Tsege. The case is being looked at by Juan Mendez, the UN special rapporteur on torture. And Reprieve is calling for the Briton to be freed and returned to the UK.

- See more at: http://www.zehabesha.com/andy-tsege-fears-grow-over-state-of-mind-of-british-activist-who-languishes-in-ethiopian-jail/#sthash.0Fx8EEhp.dpuf

Ethiopia Opposition Candidate Dies After Attack in Northwest

Samuel Awoke

An Ethiopian parliamentary candidate for the opposition Blue Party died after being assaulted in Debre Markos, a town in the country’s northwest, the group said.

Two people attacked Samuel Awoke, 28, with a club and knife as he returned home alone from a night out with friends, spokesman Yonatan Tesfaye said by phone Tuesday from the capital, Addis Ababa.

“We are trying to figure out who are the killers and the reasons,” he said, citing suspicions it was politically motivated. Ethiopian Communications Minister Redwan Hussien said in a text message that a suspect has been apprehended and the attack may have stemmed from a legal dispute.

Samuel reported previous death threats and a beating during campaigning for the polls that were held May 24, Yonatan said. The lawyer had been active in challenging election procedures and results in the Amhara region town, 295 kilometers (183 miles) northwest of the capital, he said.

All 442 of 547 federal seats announced so far were captured by the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front and allied parties.

- See more at: http://www.zehabesha.com/ethiopia-opposition-candidate-dies-after-attack-in-northwest/#sthash.ywgOGPLe.dpuf

Ethiopia: When Peace Wreckers Become Peacekeepers

Why Do Authoritarian Regimes Make Their Armies Readily Available to Participate in International Peacekeeping?

by Alem Mamo

“Peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, of law, of order – in general of government.” —Albert Einstein

When the first United Nations Peacekeeping force was proposed by the Canadian Foreign Minister Lester B. Pearson in 1956 in response to the Suez Crisis the idea was received with a mixed reaction in the international diplomatic and policy circles. Some welcomed it as a ground breaking and watershed moment for global peace and security while others viewed it as a strange and impossible idea to build consensus from all member states. Whatever the initial reaction, establishing an international peacekeeping force eventually won the support of the majority, and Lester B. Pearson who subsequently became the Prime Minister of Canada won a Noble Peace Prize for his contribution in proposing and designing and building consensus to the establishment of UN peacekeeping force.

Since its founding UN Peacekeeping has come a long way in scope, mandate, mission and size. The traditional peacekeeping force contributors, such as Canada, have significantly reduced their participation to peacekeeping and moved into combat and combat related missions, creating a gap in troop contribution. As a result, nations from the global south are filling this void. This shift, in return, has raised the question of the human rights record of regimes, their armies and policies participating in peacekeeping missions in different parts of the world.

Over the last six decades UN peacekeeping operations led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) have played an irreplaceable role in maintaining peace and stabilization in countries facing inter-state and intra-state conflict. This general achievement record, however, is not without a history of spectacular failure resulting in a tragic consequences. The slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis in1994 by Hutu extremists and the failure of the UN to prevent the genocide remains one of the darkest chapters of the UN and international diplomacy and multilateral response to crisis.

In the recent years UN peacekeeping operations ushered in new guidelines, frameworks and mandates to respond to each conflict dynamic effectively. Alluding to this point the United States Ambassador to the UN Samantha Powers was quoted as saying “This is not your mother’s, or your grandmother’s, peacekeeping.”1 Indeed, most of the changes that have taken place over the last decade or so are commendable and they could significantly strengthen the capacity of the UN peacekeeping missions and their effectiveness. However, some of the changes, particularly the expansion of the pool where the uniformed and civilian peacekeepers comes from, is a case for concern both for the reputation and prestige of UN peacekeeping missions and for upholding the principles of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

In this regard, one particular case among many others stands out. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)-led authoritarian regime in Addis Ababa has significantly accelerated its contribution to international peacekeeping, and currently there are 37 police, 113 military experts, and 7712 troops volunteered by the TPLF regime serving in peacekeeping missions in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, the Sudan regions of Darfur and Abeyi, and South Sudan.2 The basic question to be asked here is why would the TPLF regime in Addis Ababa be interested in participating in international peacekeeping? Is it driven and motivated by world peace? World peace as a motivation certainly is a noble cause, however, the fact is world peace and regional stability are not TPLF’s primary concerns. Peace is the least defining characteristics of the regime. In fact, since its inception the TPLF has exploited conflict and directly and indirectly manufactured national and regional conflicts to advance its political and economic agenda.

So, why get involved in international peacekeeping? There are four key motivations for the regime to jump on the bandwagon of international peacekeeping. Money, international prestige, creating an illusion of peace at home, projecting military capacity and preparedness. Let’s review each one of these rationales separately.

First, TPLF sees international peacekeeping as lucrative business/money making opportunity. According to the UN’s publicly available information “countries volunteering uniformed personnel to peacekeeping operations are reimbursed by the UN at a standard rate, approved by the General Assembly, of a little over US$1,028 per soldier per month.”3 Which means based on the current troop contribution TPLF pockets close to a million US dollar a year (7862 x $1028= $80,811.36 x 12 =$969856.32). How much of this fund is allocated to the participating troops or police officers is not disclosed and there is no system of accountability or audit.

Second, the regime’s eagerness to dispatch troops to international peacekeeping is motivated by gaining some level of international prestige/recognition, which it often propagates for a local audience, as well as the outside observer. This allows it to project an image of internationally responsible regime. In doing so the regime believes it can harvest legitimacy to govern, which it has lost from the citizens of the country it rules with an iron fist.

Third, participating in international peacekeeping helps the regime create an illusion of ‘peace’ and ‘stability’ at home. Although, there is no full scale inter or intra-state conflict at the moment, sporadic and low-level conflict in different parts of the country continues. Most importantly, the undemocratic and authoritarian nature of the regime has led some groups to consider challenging the regime through armed resistance.

While the primary objective of this article is to highlight the deceptive nature of the TPLF regime and its selfish motivation for participating in international peacekeeping, it is also worth noting that other authoritarian undemocratic regimes marred in internal conflict and violated the rights of citizens are participating in international peacekeeping. It is an open secret that TPLF treats the army and police as its own private force instead of a national force that protects its citizens from any harm. In fact the biggest harm inflicted upon the people of Ethiopia comes from the police, Special Forces, and the army that the regime dispatches to squash any peaceful dissent or opposition to the regime. Structurally, the army and police senior ranking positions are reserved for members of a particular group instead of merit based representation of the all members.

Authoritarian regimes such as the TPLF use their military and police to silence dissent, torture citizens, and murder peaceful protesters, as has been the case in Ethiopia over the last two decades. How it is morally and ethically acceptable that members of the same police and army are welcomed the fold of international peacekeeping? Doesn’t this contradict the very values and principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)? The UN must uphold its own values and principles and hold those who violate the rights of citizens accountable instead of allowing them to participate in international peacekeeping. It is also worth noting that regimes known for violating citizen’s rights, such as Burundi, D.R. Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), and Yemen among others are participating in the UN peacekeeping missions. More significantly, these are regimes year after year failed to provide political, social and economic leadership that are vital for building sustainable peace in the countries they rule and yet they are part of the UN peace keeping missions.

‘Positive peace’ is not the absence of war, it is rather the presence of economic, political, social and cultural structures that promote, enhance and strengthen justice, inclusive economic growth free and fair political participation and promotion and protection of human rights. In the absence of these, one cannot claim sustainable peace in its complete form.

Ethiopian Ruling Party Claims Absurd Election Victories Once Again

Ethiopian American Council | ethioamericans@gmail.com | www.eacouncil.org

San Jose CA June 12, 2015 – The ruling Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF)/ Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has once again pulled off one of the more spectacular scams on the global political scene – the Ethiopian national elections. In elections held on May 24, it has claimed landslides, near-100-percent victories, throughout the country, allowing it to seat party members in every single parliamentary seat. In the 2000 elections EPRDF allowed the opposition to occupy at least one seat in the parliament.

No Western Observers

Western nations were not invited to attend or, more probably, did not wish to be associated with what has become a delirious attempt by the TPLF/EPRDF to convince the world and the Ethiopian people that the government is loved by one and all. The African Union Election Observation Mission, the only international organization present to observe the elections, did point out some areas needing improvement, but the mission receives support money from the TPLF/EPRDF government. They observed erratic opening times and failure to display some ballot boxes. The elections were peaceful and organized, but there were reports of harassment, intimidation, and fraud.

Election Results Humanly Impossible

Democratic nations that truly ensure free speech and open elections for their citizens never deign to report landslide victories approaching 100 percent during national voting. Results like that are humanly impossible in a truly democratic society. Does the TPLF/EPRDF want the world to believe that they have perfected human governance almost to the ultimate degree, that they have won the hearts and minds of all the Ethiopian people? A column in International Business Times quoted a 28-year-old student at Addis Ababa University as saying, “This election is just so we can tell Western governments we are a democratic country.”

Opposition Voices

Preliminary results (final results will be released later in June) had TPLF/EPRDF Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn declaring party victory for all of the 442 parliamentary seats up for grabs. The AFP, reporting from Addis Ababa, quoted a spokesman from the Blue Party, the nation’s foremost opposition party. Yonatan Tesfaye told reporters, “”We don’t think there is an independent justice system to deal with our complaints. We’ll continue our peaceful struggle. The Blue Party does not accept the process as free and fair and does not accept the outcome of unhealthy and undemocratic elections. This 100-percent win by the regime is a message of disgrace” and indicates that a “multi-party system is over in Ethiopia.”

Enigmatic Election

The landslide election results favoring the ruling TPLF/EPRDF and its allies may not be a true indicator of the voices of the Ethiopian people, but they are indicative of something. Landslides of this magnitude can only be engineered by intimidating voters and stifling opposition voices. The elections were not free and fair and votes were stolen or discarded. It could even be a message to the people telling them that if they don’t like the government, there is nothing they can do about it. Columnist Messay Kebede calls Ethiopian national elections “periodical rituals displaying the submission of the people.”

Population Control

In rural areas where the majority of the population resides, dissent is dealt with using a 5:1 system of grassroots surveillance whereby one individual is responsible for monitoring the activities of five households. This allows officials to clamp down on dissent before it spreads. Also, government cadre are in rural areas implementing modern farming techniques so most villagers only see government officials at work in the community. Cadre also teach “voting classes” for the people.

“Oppositions are not getting a fair proportion of time and location, financing, things like that. Not only that, there are tremendous repressions,” said Yonatan Tesfaye, a Blue Party spokesman, indicating that about 50 party members had been arrested in Addis Ababa alone. Telephone surveillance is commonplace, and the ongoing trial of a group of bloggers called Zone 9 has resulted in online users facing self-censorship or arrest.

Merara Gudina, deputy chairperson of the opposition Medrek coalition told Reuters that security personnel had launched a “witch-hunt” on the eve of the vote by arresting his group’s observers. He also said ballot boxes had been stolen in his constituency. Protesters and organizers have frequently been arrested and harassed, their equipment has been confiscated, and permits unfairly denied. One Blue Party leader is on trial on trumped-up terrorism charges.

American Hypocrisy

The United States government, in a tepid letter from the State Department, congratulated the Ethiopians on a peaceful election. The American government has many agreements with the present Ethiopian government. However, the lavish praise for the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi by a State Department spokesperson at his funeral services was embarrassing. Columnist Messay Kebede, mentioned earlier, called to task Wendy Sherman, State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs (since resigned), for her endorsement of the Ethiopian election results.

It’s odd to consider that the American government, renowned for its war on terror, could look the other way while a partner nation proceeds to terrorize its own citizens. It’s odd to consider that the American president, himself an African-American, could be so innocuous about the human rights violations of the people of Africa’s second most populous nation. It’s no secret that U.S. military allies in Africa have often used security forces, pumped with American hardware and other support, against their own critics at home.

Deplorable Future

Unless true political expression is allowed, the Ethiopian people face two sad prospects. These trumped-up elections will continue to raise the hope for change and then pull them down with unbelievable election results, and the people’s resignation will deepen. The other alternative is open rebellion and armed conflict.

The TPLF/EPRDF credits it electoral success with the economic progress and Ethiopia’s economy has been one of the fastest growing in Africa and beyond. But the people experience no benefit. The TPLF/EPRDF will not be able to manage a surging economy resting on a populace that is a hotbed of discontent. The TPLF/EPRDF has been inflating election returns since 1995, when it did at least allow a good number of opposition members to be seated. Results have only worsened, culminating in this election with the TPLF/EPRDF sweeping the entire parliament. Fake elections only turn up the heat.

Police make arrest in journalists' kidnapping in Somalia

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian police have arrested a Somali man they say was involved in the kidnapping of two foreign journalists who were held in Somalia for more than 15 months before being freed nearly seven years ago.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner James Malizia announced the arrest Friday of Ali Omar Ader.
Canadian freelancer Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan were kidnapped by gunmen on Aug. 23, 2008. They were released in November 2009 after a reported $700,000 ransom was paid, some of it by Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith.
Malizia said Ader, arrested Thursday in Ottawa, was one of the main negotiators within the group that carried out the kidnapping.
Malizia suggested that Ader was lured to Canada before being arrested. He declined to reveal how he arrived in Canada but said the suspect was first targeted in Somalia.
He said the arrest was the result of an undercover operation in Somalia that posed significant challenges and included surveillance and wire taps.
"It was carried out in an extremely high risk environment in a country plagued with political instability," Malizia said.
He said the details will come out in court and declined further comment. He also declined to say whether the Somalia government was aware of the investigation.
The RCMP acknowledged the help of the Canada Border Services Agency, Foreign Affairs and the Australian Federal Police throughout the process.
Ader stood emotionless with his arms behind his back during a brief court appearance by video link Friday. The matter was adjourned until next Friday. His lawyer, Samir Adam, said he had little information and it was too early to comment.
The two journalists were kept apart from each other, beaten and tortured during their ordeal. Lindhout also reported being raped.
"Amazing news of news of the arrest of Ali Omar Ader, AKA Adan the Somali criminal involved in my kidnapping. Finally Justice will be served!" Brennan tweeted.
He later tweeted that the Canadian government and police in Canada and Australia did incredible work and that he couldn't do interviews because of the ongoing investigation.
A spokeswoman for Lindhout said she was travelling and not immediately available to comment. Malizia thanked Lindhout, Brennan and their families for providing witness statements that assisted the police investigation.
Journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently abducted for ransom in Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries, mired in anarchy since 1991 when warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

"This operation was mounted following the kidnapping and sexual abuse of Amanda Lindhout, a young, very courageous Canadian," Canadian Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said. "Now she can say that justice is being done in Canada."

Ethiopian Ruling Party Claims Absurd Election Victories Once Again

San Jose CA June 12, 2015 – The ruling Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF)/ Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has once again pulled off one of the more spectacular scams on the global political scene – the Ethiopian national elections. In elections held on May 24, it has claimed landslides, near-100-percent victories, throughout the country, allowing it to seat party members in every single parliamentary seat. In the 2000 elections EPRDF allowed the opposition to occupy at least one seat in the parliament.
No Western Observers
Western nations were not invited to attend or, more probably, did not wish to be associated with what has become a delirious attempt by the TPLF/EPRDF to convince the world and the Ethiopian people that the government is loved by one and all. The African Union Election Observation Mission, the only international organization present to observe the elections, did point out some areas needing improvement, but the mission receives support money from the TPLF/EPRDF government. They observed erratic opening times and failure to display some ballot boxes. The elections were peaceful and organized, but there were reports of harassment, intimidation, and fraud.
Election Results Humanly Impossible
Democratic nations that truly ensure free speech and open elections for their citizens never deign to report landslide victories approaching 100 percent during national voting. Results like that are humanly impossible in a truly democratic society. Does the TPLF/EPRDF want the world to believe that they have perfected human governance almost to the ultimate degree, that they have won the hearts and minds of all the Ethiopian people? A column in International Business Times quoted a 28-year-old student at Addis Ababa University as saying, “This election is just so we can tell Western governments we are a democratic country.”
Opposition Voices
Preliminary results (final results will be released later in June) had TPLF/EPRDF Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn declaring party victory for all of the 442 parliamentary seats up for grabs. The AFP, reporting from Addis Ababa, quoted a spokesman from the Blue Party, the nation’s foremost opposition party. Yonatan Tesfaye told reporters, “"We don't think there is an independent justice system to deal with our complaints. We'll continue our peaceful struggle. The Blue Party does not accept the process as free and fair and does not accept the outcome of unhealthy and undemocratic elections. This 100-percent win by the regime is a message of disgrace" and indicates that a "multi-party system is over in Ethiopia."
Enigmatic Election
The landslide election results favoring the ruling TPLF/EPRDF and its allies may not be a true indicator of the voices of the Ethiopian people, but they are indicative of something. Landslides of this magnitude can only be engineered by intimidating voters and stifling opposition voices. The elections were not free and fair and votes were stolen or discarded. It could even be a message to the people telling them that if they don’t like the government, there is nothing they can do about it. Columnist Messay Kebede calls Ethiopian national elections “periodical rituals displaying the submission of the people.”
Population Control
In rural areas where the majority of the population resides, dissent is dealt with using a 5:1 system of grassroots surveillance whereby one individual is responsible for monitoring the activities of five households. This allows officials to clamp down on dissent before it spreads. Also, government cadre are in rural areas implementing modern farming techniques so most villagers only see government officials at work in the community. Cadre also teach “voting classes” for the people.
“Oppositions are not getting a fair proportion of time and location, financing, things like that. Not only that, there are tremendous repressions,” said Yonatan Tesfaye, a Blue Party spokesman, indicating that about 50 party members had been arrested in Addis Ababa alone. Telephone surveillance is commonplace, and the ongoing trial of a group of bloggers called Zone 9 has resulted in online users facing self-censorship or arrest.
Merara Gudina, deputy chairperson of the opposition Medrek coalition told Reuters that security personnel had launched a "witch-hunt" on the eve of the vote by arresting his group's observers. He also said ballot boxes had been stolen in his constituency. Protesters and organizers have frequently been arrested and harassed, their equipment has been confiscated, and permits unfairly denied. One Blue Party leader is on trial on trumped-up terrorism charges.
American Hypocrisy
The United States government, in a tepid letter from the State Department, congratulated the Ethiopians on a peaceful election. The American government has many agreements with the present Ethiopian government. However, the lavish praise for the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi by a State Department spokesperson at his funeral services was embarrassing. Columnist Messay Kebede, mentioned earlier, called to task Wendy Sherman, State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs (since resigned), for her endorsement of the Ethiopian election results.
It’s odd to consider that the American government, renowned for its war on terror, could look the other way while a partner nation proceeds to terrorize its own citizens. It’s odd to consider that the American president, himself an African-American, could be so innocuous about the human rights violations of the people of Africa’s second most populous nation. It’s no secret that U.S. military allies in Africa have often used security forces, pumped with American hardware and other support, against their own critics at home.
Deplorable Future
Unless true political expression is allowed, the Ethiopian people face two sad prospects. These trumped-up elections will continue to raise the hope for change and then pull them down with unbelievable election results, and the people’s resignation will deepen. The other alternative is open rebellion and armed conflict.

The TPLF/EPRDF credits it electoral success with the economic progress and Ethiopia's economy has been one of the fastest growing in Africa and beyond. But the people experience no benefit. The TPLF/EPRDF will not be able to manage a surging economy resting on a populace that is a hotbed of discontent. The TPLF/EPRDF has been inflating election returns since 1995, when it did at least allow a good number of opposition members to be seated. Results have only worsened, culminating in this election with the TPLF/EPRDF sweeping the entire parliament. Fake elections only turn up the heat.

TPLF’s Deformed Democracy: Competing with Themselves and Winning

“If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” — Abraham Maslow When you only have a gun in your tool box, you tend to see everyone and everything as a threat to your very existence. The May 24, 2015, “election” was a giant step backward for the development of electoral democracy in Ethiopia. The election drama concocted by the TPLF is nothing more than a fraudulent and futile exercise to legitimize the illegitimate. It was an endeavor marred by gross violations of citizens’ rights and doesn’t even stand the scrutiny of bare minimum benchmark of electoral process. By its very nature, the TPLF stands in stark contradiction with the basic tenants of democracy, which include freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and respect for the rule of law. How can one expect the political space to be open and fair under such circumstances? Throughout its existence, the TPLF has broken all the sacred tenants of democracy and freedom. Exclusive, extremely violent, and relentlessly committed to dividing and polarizing the public, it has neither the aspiration nor the principled interest to foster democracy in Ethiopia.

The TPLF’s election drama is in the same league with North Korea’s “election” fiasco: one party rule, one candidate, an electoral body created and run by loyal party cadres. When one combines all of these elements, the result is a twisted and deformed version of democracy.

Naturally, authoritarian regimes are no friends of democracy. In fact, they loathe and fear it. Guaranteeing citizens the right to choose their government in a free and fair political competition is against their political agenda and vision. Most importantly, ethnic political parties, like the TPLF, see the emergence of inclusive democracy as an existential threat to the very agenda they promote, which is polarization and division. Their insular and exclusive political consciousness lacks both the intellectual and emotional knowledge to critically understand the nature of broad-based, inclusive democracy, let alone to implement it. In their deformed political world, they develop a narrative that only satisfies their own minimum understanding of freedom and democracy.

Electoral democracy in its actual form is rooted in a competition whereby all competing parties have a level playing field. They have unrestricted and equal access to inform the public about their platform and vision with no harassment or intimidation from anyone. Such transparent political space guarantees, ultimately, that it’s the electorate that decides who should govern. Under the TPLF’s “election”, however, this fundamental principle is non-existent. The TPLF, like many other guerrilla groups who came to power through the barrel of a gun, see their battlefield victory as a permanent and transferable asset that applies to every form of competition, be it political or economic. Admitting defeat in a peaceful and non-violent political competition is considered a denigrating loss to the distant past military victory. The only lens for accessing and evaluating all completion is a through the binary lens of military loss and defeat. It is for this primary reason (mind set) that the TPLF refused to accept the result of the 2005 election, when it was widely defeated. In the end, it declared a state of emergency and deployed a deadly force, killing hundreds and arresting tens of thousands of citizens.

This mindset is clearly demonstrated in the re-enactment of past military victory during the recent election campaign (as reported by Ethiomedia). This enactment has multiple purposes and implicit and explicit messages. First, it is to communicate/remind the public that they are not willing to relinquish power through the electoral process. “Anyone who is thinking otherwise must think again.” Second, for the TPLF and the likes, there is no difference between military victory and electoral victory. The first reinforces the latter. Political psychoanalysts call it “time collapse”: the idea of reactivating and projecting past events into the present such as battlefield or war. In these circumstances the primary objective is not necessarily for the purpose of memorializing or remembrance. Instead the underlying motivation is to blur the time line between the present and the past and to reinstate the past anger and hate against some groups. The other reason for reactivating the past is to play the role of ‘victim’ and ‘hero’ characters. In the reactivation both the ‘victim’ and the hero appear simultaneously. Each side however is exploited for different purposes, the ‘victim’ is played to garner sympathy and support while the ‘hero’ is played to project strength and power. The third objective is to hypnotize the public through the blurred lens of the past and the present so that their woe’s and injustice suffered under TPLF appear in the past.

To embrace electoral democracy, a significant shift in consciousness is required. First and foremost the ability and willingness to play by the rules is a prerequisite. One cannot be a neighborhood bully and embrace a free and fair electoral completion. Accepting a defeat in a peaceful and non-violent arena is the highest form of political maturity and growth. At this stage TPLF doesn’t have either of those qualities. TPLF has grown vertically and horizontally, but it spectacularly failed to grow-up.

Washington enables authoritarianism in Ethiopia

Blanket US support for the Ethiopian regime risks dismantling the country’s already beleaguered opposition

by Awol Allo | Al Jazeera

It was only two months ago during the Israeli election that the White House was scrambling to convince the American public that the United States does not intervene in the electoral processes of other democracies.

“This administration goes to great lengths to ensure that we don’t give even the appearance of interfering or attempting to influence the outcome of a democratically held election in another country,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in defense of President Barack Obama’s refusal to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But the U.S. makes no apologies for its interventions on behalf of autocratic regimes elsewhere. For example, during a recent visit to Ethiopia, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman praised Ethiopia as a vibrant and progressive democracy.

“Ethiopia is a democracy that is moving forward in an election that we expect to be free, fair, credible, open and inclusive,” she said. “Every time there is an election, it gets better and better.”

Sherman’s remarks drew the ire of activists and human rights organizations. Daniel Calingaert, the executive vice president of Freedom House, dismissed her praise as “woefully ignorant” and at odds with the reality of life as lived by ordinary Ethiopians. Not only were her claims inconsistent with human rights reports, but they also fly in the face of her department’s annual country reports, which tell a radically different story.

In its latest Ethiopia report, for example, the State Department identifiedsignificant human rights violations, including restrictions on freedom of speech, Stalinist-style show trials, and crackdowns on free press, opposition leaders, activists and critical journalists. The report and others by human rights groups reveal a consistent and widespread pattern of abuse, including torture, arbitrary killings, restrictions on freedom of association, interference in freedom of religion and the politicized use of the country’s anti-terrorism proclamation.

Defending status quo

Sherman’s comment was not an isolated gaffe. Since the death in 2012 of Ethiopian strongman Meles Zenawi, the U.S. government has moved from tacit support to publicly defending the regime in Addis Ababa, concocting irresponsible, make-believe stories. After Zenawi’s death, Susan Rice, then the top U.S. diplomat at the United Nations and Obama’s current national security adviser, eulogized Zenawi as a selfless and tireless leader “totally dedicated” to his people. She praised his intellectual prowess and called him “uncommonly wise, a man able to see the big picture and the long game.” She ended her tribute by calling for the continuity of his legacy.

Contrary to Sherman’s claims, Ethiopia is an authoritarian state. Instead of getting better and better at strengthening democratic institutions and opening up democratic spaces for free and fair elections, it got better at building surveillance structures that allow the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), now in power for nearly 24 years, to exercise total control over the population.

With a general election set for Sunday, EPRDF retains a monopoly over politics and has the technical and institutional capabilities to monitor and intimidate individuals. The government allegedly monitors exiled journalists and activistsusing Chinese- and European-made spyware.

Over the last 10 years, Ethiopia has fostered an increasingly invasive technical capacity and a bureaucracy that enabled authorities to conceal and hide its oppressive profile. Since 2005, the country has adopted a slew of draconian laws with the aim of restricting democratic politics. This includes the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and the Charities and Societies Proclamation, which effectively destroyed the conditions necessary for credible, free and fair elections. Together, the two laws allowed the government to circumvent or indefinitely suspend basic guarantees of the constitution. Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, the regime exiled, prosecuted and convicted several opposition leaders, journalists, community leaders and activists.

This and many other instruments of control enabled the EPRDF to win 99.6 percent of the votes in the 2010 elections, losing only two of the 547 seats in the federal Parliament and one seat out of the 1,900 in the regional assemblies. Five years of intimidation and harassment of the opposition and war against free press means that Sunday’s voting will be anything but fair and free.

Ethiopia is the fourth-most-censored country in the world. Journalists are among the collateral damage of Ethiopia’s ever widening counterterrorism dragnet, with several reporters exiled or prosecuted and convicted on trumped-up charges under the country’s anti-terrorism law. At least 60 journalists have been forced into exile since 2010, and at least 19 have been imprisoned, according to Human Rights Watch. In 2014 alone, 30 journalists were forced to leave the country, 22 were charged with crimes, and five magazines and one newspaper were closed. The State Department has on several occasions called on Ethiopia to refrain from using its anti-terrorism proclamation “as a mechanism to curb the free exchange of ideas.”

The Ethiopian government has proved adept at creating facts, stories and images that imply an imminent disintegration of the country and destabilization of an already volatile region. Zenawi was successful in casting himself and his party as the best hope for a united Ethiopia and a stable Horn of Africa as well as a bulwark against Islamic extremism in an increasingly volatile region. With that, he drove a wedge between the pan-Ethiopian nationalists committed to the continuity of a unitary and centralized state and ethno-national forces pursuing ethno-cultural and linguistic justice for those on the periphery of Ethiopian politics.

This image of the EPRDF as the only guarantor of stability and continuity captured the imagination of Western diplomats whose fears of rampaging terrorism in East Africa trumped their objections to dictatorship.

Their endorsements are not merely influential but also consequential. For one, such blanket support bolsters the government, giving it license to silence and paralyze the already fragile opposition and disgruntled activists. It also risks encouraging the regime to perpetuate violence.

For most Western diplomats, Ethiopia offers what they want: the best chance at providing stability in the troubled Horn of Africa. However, propping up a minority regime and enabling the oppression of one ethnic group by another in a country where ethnic identity is the basic form of political expression and recognition is no way of guaranteeing stability. It is a principal marker of long-term instability and perhaps one of the many ticking time bombs threatening Ethiopia’s integrity.

Ethiopia: Remembering Dennis Hastert

Today, Dennis Hastert, the former Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1999-2007) and lobbyist appears in U.S. federal court for arraignment (enter a plea of guilty or not guilty) on charges that he broke federal law by withdrawing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and lying about the use of the money when questioned by the FBI.

The indictment alleges that Hastert “agreed to provide known as  individual A $3.5 million in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against Individual A.” Simply stated, Hastert allegedly paid hush money to conceal claims that he sexually molested a student when he was a wrestling coach in a high school some 50 miles southwest of Chicago.

Hastert is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Back in 2006, I had the displeasure of “crossing swords” with Dennis Hastert. It was in the early months of my accidental career as an Ethiopian human rights advocate following the Meles Massacres in the aftermath of the 2005 election. Outraged by the massacre, I had transformed myself from an armchair academic and defense lawyer into a neophyte human rights advocate.

I “signed” up to mobilize and advocate for H.R. 5680 (Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006, sponsored by Representative Christopher Smith, D-N.J). Along the way, I crossed paths with Dennis Hastert who had used his Speaker’s privilege to keep that bill from a floor vote.

It was my very first contentious encounter with a high level American policy maker on human rights violations in Ethiopia. I mounted a mass mobilization campaign in Hastert’s (Illinois’s 14th Congressional District) district in late 2006. I gave radio interviews to various local stations in Hastert’s hometown and Chicago Public Radio.

It was my first experience in direct grassroots political mobilization. This was how I described it at the time:

… We did not take it lying down. We went directly to Hastert’s constituents and made our case. They listened to us, and in less than a week we were able to enlist the support of local evangelical, civic and media leaders. The heat was on! Hundreds of telephone calls poured into Hastert’s Hill office from the 14th Congressional district. His staffers were amazed, but not amused, by the ferocity of our grassroots efforts.

Hastert heard us loud and clear but he did not listen to us.

Despite our best efforts, we did not succeed in getting him to relent and let the bill come for floor consideration. The fact of the matter was that we simply could not compete with the late Meles Zenawi’s $50,000-per-month lobbyist. (Let me say in passing that not long after crossing swords with Hastert over H.R. 5680, I locked horns with Meles’ lobbyists at DLA Piper. DLA Piper would not take my challenge.)

I re-post my “Open Letter” here for four reasons. First, I “cut my teeth” in Ethiopian human rights advocacy by mobilizing and coordinating support for H.R. 5680.  A substantial part of my initial efforts in Ethiopian human rights advocacy had to do with mobilization of support for  H.R. 5680, particularly mobilizing Hastert’s constituents to pressure Hastert to support that bill. Second, I learned a great deal about human rights advocacy with the American public from my mobilization efforts in Hastert’s district. Third, Hastert’s troubles brought home to me the fact that I have been in the trenches of Ethiopian human rights advocacy for nine years and still going strong. Most importantly, I re-post the “Letter” with the the hope the younger generation of Ethiopians will read it and appreciate what we all tried to do in mobilizing for and advocating passage of a human rights bill in the U.S. Congress. 

It gives me no pleasure to see Dennis Hastert haled into court to answer the vilest of all criminal offenses known to civilization. But his circumstances prove to me that in the end even the most mighty and powerful have feet of clay.

As I reflect back on Dennis Hastert and what he did and did not do to H.R. 5680, I am reminded of a sermon given by the abolitionist Unitarian minister Theodore Parker a decade before the American Civil War.  “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”

I believe the arc of justice shall bend towards justice for the untold number of victims of Ethiopian human rights abuses.

I also trust the arc of justice shall become a dragnet for predators who abuse the human rights of the most vulnerable members of society.