From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Mar 24 2010 - 14:43:34 EST
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/24/ethiopia-human-rights-watch.html
Ethiopia's donors asked to condemn 'attack' *Last Updated: Wednesday, March
24, 2010 | 1:28 PM ET *Comments*22* Recommend*33* CBC News
The Ethiopian government is waging "a co-ordinated and sustained attack"
against its opponents ahead of May elections and countries like Canada that
send aid to Ethiopia should condemn it, a new report says.
*Georgette Gagnon, the executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa
division, released her group's report in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday.* *(Human
Rights Watch)*
"Ethiopians, millions of them, are unable to speak freely, organize
political activities, challenge their government's policies, either through
peaceful protest, voting, or publicizing their views without fear of
reprisal," said Georgette Gagnon, the executive director of the Africa
division of Human Rights Watch, speaking at the report's release in Nairobi,
Kenya, on Wednesday.
She slammed the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front for
having "systematically punished opposition supporters" since it was elected
in 2005 and called on foreign governments to step up and voice their
concern.
If foreign governments do not speak before the May 23 elections, "election
day is likely to be ... a veneer of democratic pretension hiding a
repressive state apparatus," the report said.
Canada is 4th-largest donor
Canada contributed up $132 million in aid to Ethiopia in 2007-2008,
according to the Canadian International Development Agency, or CIDA, making
it the fourth-largest donor to the eastern African nation. One-third of
Ethiopia's government expenditures come from foreign assistance, according
to Human Rights Watch.
[image: The Canadian International Development Agency provided aid to
Ethiopia worth $132 million in 2007-2008.]*The Canadian International
Development Agency provided aid to Ethiopia worth $132 million in 2007-2008.
* *(Patti Gower/ACDI-CIDA)*
Much of that aid is being used by the government to oppress, rather than
help, the Ethiopian people, said the non-profit organization, which
investigates human rights abuses worldwide.
The government has used "the full weight of its power" to silence its
critics, the group said, including closing an independent newspaper in
December and jamming the local language programming of Voice of America in
February. In 2008, it also imprisoned opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa,
of the Unity for Justice and Democracy Party.
Activists and other journalists have fled the country as a result, it said.
Call to action for foreign donors
Despite such actions, the country's principal foreign donors, including the
World Bank, United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada, have
been "very timid in their criticisms of Ethiopia's deteriorating human
rights situation," Human Rights Watch said.
"Ethiopia's foreign backers should break their silence and condemn the
climate of fear in Ethiopia," Gagnon said.
The group also called on the Ethiopian government to release all political
prisoners, including Midekssa, end attacks against opposition members,
journalists and civil society, and allow independent groups to investigate
and report abuses publicly.
Ethiopia's ruling party came to power in 2005, when it won 327 seats in the
country's 547-seat house. The party went on to win 99.9 per cent of the vote
in local elections in April 2008, a landslide that allowed it to consolidate
its control over local administrations and rule "with an iron grip,"
according to Human Rights Watch.
The group interviewed more than 200 people during 15 weeks of research in
Ethiopia for its report, entitled One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure:
Violations of Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia.
Interviews were conducted with farmers, teachers, civil servants, activists,
opposition and government officials, as well as foreign diplomats and aid
officials.
Ethiopia's elections will be held May 23.
Read more:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/24/ethiopia-human-rights-watch.html#ixzz0j7o2aXxy
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