Amsterdam, Washington DC, Minnesota – December 29, 2016
Dr. Merera Gudina
Top opposition leader, Dr. Merera Gudina, was arrested on October 30, 2016 upon his return from a trip to Brussels where he spoke to members of the European Parliament about the human rights situation in Ethiopia. Since his arrest, Dr. Merera has been brought to court twice but only to prolong his incarceration in both cases. The fact that he has not been officially charged yet is a tactic of the government to keep credible opposition members in suspense.
Currently, Dr. Merera Gudina is being held in solitary confinement at the notorious Maekelawi prison, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. According to his lawyer, Wondimu Ibsa, the peaceful professor is handcuffed and being held 24 hours a day in a dark room with no window.
The arbitrary arrest and solitary confinement of Dr. Merera Gudina is just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Thousands are languishing in awful prison conditions, many have been assassinated in broad daylight and still more are declared “disappeared” since the EPRDF seized power. At least 1,000 people have been killed since the popular uprising began in November last year. After the declaration of the “State of Emergency” on October 9, 2016, tens of thousands of individuals have been arbitrarily arrested, some have even vanished without a trace. Among them are journalists, bloggers, human rights activists, leaders and members of opposition parties. Though the ruling party released 10,000 from concentration camps, 50,000 are still languishing in different camps. Making matters worse, 12,500 more individuals were arrested the same week that the 10,000 were released. We are deeply concerned by the wide-ranging human rights abuses throughout the country.
We, members of the Free Merera Taskforce, demand a prompt and unconditional release of Dr. Merera Gudina and all political prisoners, journalists, bloggers and human rights advocates in Ethiopia. We also call on the international community, the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and all human rights organizations to put pressure on the regime in Ethiopia to respect basic human rights and democratic rights of the citizens of the country.
About the task force
We are a group of individuals worldwide. We are compatriots and friends of Dr. Merera Gudina from various civic and political organization who have joined together to advocate for the freedom of Dr. Merera and all political prisoners.
Companies halt expansion amid fears state is not addressing protesters’ grievances
29 Dec. 2016: John Aglionby in Addis Ababa –
The construction cranes towering above the building sites on Ras Abebe Aragay Street in central Addis Ababa are tangible evidence of Ethiopia’s lofty ambitions to transform its capital into a modern hub.
In two years’ time this should become a boulevard of gleaming skyscrapers, home to leading banks and others attracted by Ethiopia’s state-led development model. And with sub-Saharan Africa’s only electric light rail network outside South Africa passing nearby, Addis Ababa will be able to project a much more developed image than any of its regional rivals.
Foreign investors, notably from China, have this year ploughed $2.5bn into an economy that has experienced double-digit annual growth over most of the past decade. But behind the façade, cracks are appearing in the model that helped Ethiopia become one of Africa’s star economic performers.
The consequence for the authoritarian government, which derives much of its legitimacy since taking power 25 years ago from delivering development in the absence of many basic freedoms, is unprecedented uncertainty, analysts say.
Ethiopia is in the third month of a state of emergency imposed to quell demonstrations against the regime, with hundreds of people killed in a brutal crackdown on protests that began more than a year ago. Foreign-owned businesses, particularly in textiles and flower farming, have been targeted in attacks that have caused tens of millions of dollars of damage.
By sacrificing rule-of-law and predictability to achieve short-term stability, the Ethiopian government has damaged its reputation
A few companies have left while others have put expansion plans on hold. Government promises of compensation for the damage have been extremely slow to materialise, adding to investors’ wariness.
Diplomats warn that the government, dominated by the Tigray ethnic group which comprise just 6 per cent of the population, is not addressing the protesters’ underlying grievances of inequitable growth, lack of democracy and perceived rampant nepotism.
“By sacrificing rule-of-law and predictability to achieve short-term stability, the Ethiopian government has damaged its reputation by reinforcing the perception that it is more authoritarian than democratic,” said a western diplomat who engages with foreign companies.
For visitors to Addis Ababa, the most noticeable impact of the crackdown is the complete lack of mobile internet and severe disruption to online services. Deloitte, the global advisory firm, has estimated the shutdown is costing the economy $500,000 a day.
“It has become more than annoying, my business is suffering,” says an engine oil salesman in Addis Ababa, who asked not to be named because of his criticisms of the government. “I like to do a lot of sales on the move, but it’s now very inconvenient. Does the government realise the effect of what it’s doing?”
The country’s growing tourism industry has also been hit, with tour operators reporting lost earnings of $7m in the weeks after the state of emergency was imposed in October. Western governments have lifted travel advisories for most of the country but people in the hospitality industry predict it will take time for visitors to return.
“We have some foreign tourists staying but far fewer than usual,” says the manager at an Addis Ababa hotel who asked not to be named. “And there are practically no western business travellers. The Chinese are still coming though.”
Roger Lee, chief executive of TAL, a Hong Kong-based company which produces clothes for brands such as Banana Republic, says despite the unrest, he would not be reversing the decision to open a factory in Hawassa, 275km south of Addis Ababa.
“It’s not the first time it’s happened in a country we work in,” he says, adding: “It’s very hard to find a developing country with no issues.”
The Ethiopian economy is still growing strongly — by 8 per cent this financial year according to official data. Although three percentage points lower than previously forecast it has come against the backdrop of a bad drought.
The International Monetary Fund also predicts continued robust growth, driven by an industrial base that is set to expand as more infrastructure and low-cost manufacturing, much of it financed by China, come on stream.
But there are also myriad worrying signs. The IMF warned in October that Ethiopia’s current account deficit, the amount by which imports exceed exports, “is not sustainable” at more than 10 per cent of gross domestic product for a second successive year. The resulting pressure on foreign exchange availability is adding to investors’ concerns.
David Cowan, Citi’s chief Africa economist, believes the reality is worse and questions an IMF prediction that foreign direct investment will be $4.45bn in 2016-17, nearly $1bn more than its previous estimate.
“I don’t see where the increase in FDI is going to come from,” he says. “I don’t see it from the multinationals, many of which are in a consolidating mode.”
Many are also pessimistic about how the country can create enough jobs when non-Ethiopians continue to be banned from investing in the banking, telecom and retail sectors.
“Successful economies have deep and diverse private sectors and Ethiopia’s just isn’t there,” said one investor, who asked not to be named. “It’s doing some things well but the gaps in its strategy — both economic and political — are glaring and I don’t see any inclination to address them.”
Ethiopia has officially written to the Egyptian government with the request for Cairo to stop the activities of dissident groups fueling anti-government sentiments in the Horn of Africa country.
According to the Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, who was speaking to the Middle East news website, even though his government maintains cordial relations with Egypt, they have yet to get a response to their request.
‘‘We informed our Egyptian friends about the activities of some hostile groups that are working against the Ethiopian government in Cairo, and we requested that Egypt stops the activities of these hostile groups,’‘ he said.
We informed our Egyptian friends about the activities of some hostile groups that are working against the Ethiopian government in Cairo, and we requested that Egypt stops the activities of these hostile groups. High ranking members in Addis Ababa including Prime Minister Desalegn, President Teshome and former information minister, Getachew Reda have at a point or the other accused Egypt of bearing some of the blame in protests in the country.
Ethiopia has also accused Eritrea of accommodating persons behind the Amhara and Oromia protests that has swept through the country since November last year. The country is currently under a 6-month state of emergency which was imposed to quell the unrest.
People from the Oromo group block a road in Ethiopia after protesters were shot dead by security forces in Wolenkomi, about 35 miles west of Addis Ababa in December 2015. (AFP/Getty Images)
By Paul Schemm December 24 at 5:48 PM
METI, Ethiopia — Earlier this month, hundreds of high school students in the small Ethiopian town of Meti gathered for a demonstration.
They were supposed to be celebrating the country’s Nations and Nationalities day, which commemorates the much-vaunted equality of Ethiopia’s 80 ethnic groups. Instead, they defied a two-month-old state of emergency to voice their anger over stalled political reforms and endemic corruption.
The protest was quickly dispersed and arrests were made, locals said, and calm returned to the village. But the incident is a sign of the simmering resentment that threatens to shatter Ethiopia’s enforced quiet.
The United States, one of Ethiopia’s biggest backers, is urging the government to address the widespread dissatisfaction and open up the country’s politics before it is too late.
“We feel it has reached an inflection point where some hard decisions are going to have to be made,” said Tom Malinowski, the assistant secretary of state for human rights, in an interview during a recent visit to the capital, Addis Ababa. “Otherwise, a lot of the achievements could be jeopardized, and we know from the country’s history what a true crisis could look like.”
[A year after Obama’s visit, Ethiopia is in turmoil]
It is difficult to overstate the importance of Ethiopia to Africa’s stability. It has the continent’s second-largest population — nearly 100 million people — one of its fastest growing economies and a powerful military that helps stabilize a string of troubled countries around it.
The United States — and many other countries — have invested extensively in aid programs to help the Ethiopian government wrest the country out of poverty and bring it to middle-income status. If it succeeds — and becomes a democracy as well — it could be a model for developing nations everywhere.
Ethiopia has witnessed double-digit growth in the past decade. But this rapid economic expansion has resulted in strains, especially when new factories and commercial farms are being built on land taken from farmers. The central Oromo region, which has historically felt marginalized — despite having the largest segment of the population and some of the richest farmland — has been particularly hard hit.
Protests erupted there in November 2015 over the land grabs, corruption in the local government and lack of services such as running water, electricity and roads. The demonstrations later spread to the northern Amhara region, which has grievances of its own with a government that residents maintain is dominated by the Tigrayan minority group.
It has been the worst unrest in Ethiopia since Tigrayan-led rebels overthrew the Marxist government in 1991. Amnesty International estimates at least 800 people have died in the suppression of protests over the past year.
People have also increasingly singled out Tigrayans for their woes, accusing them of getting the best jobs and dominating the economy. There have been cases of attacks on Tigrayans in the north of the country, and there are fears the unrest could take on a more ethnic dimension.
After dozens were killed during a botched attempt to disperse a crowd at an Oromo religious festival in October, mobs attacked factories and commercial farms across the country and the government declared a state of emergency. Violence has since dropped off, and the government has said it is addressing grievances and has already made significant progress, especially in the Oromo region.
“The reform in Oromia has been far ahead when compared to other regions,” insisted government spokesman Negeri Lencho in a recent news conference. “Ethiopia is in a state of reform — the reform began at the cabinet level . . . and is now continuing at other government levels to the lowest levels.”
But a dozen people interviewed by The Washington Post in the Oromo region said there have been no changes.
“The previous officials are still in office,” complained an old man walking with a cane from a weekend market in the town of Ejere. Like everyone else interviewed, he spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns for his safety.
He paused under an acacia tree overlooking his village to complain how nothing had improved. There had been no effort to address calls for paved roads and the installation of electricity, he said.
The government may be starting to respond. Following Malinowski’s visit in mid-December, it released 9,800 of the nearly 25,000 people detained during the state of emergency.
But years of overwhelming election victories by the ruling party and its allies have left people deeply cynical about the possibility of change.
“During the past elections, those that came to power were not the ones chosen by the people,” said a 32-year-old farmer standing by the side of the highway near the town of Ambo. “We don’t know where the ballots of the people go.”
With opposition groups in the Ethiopian diaspora often preaching violence, Malinowski said the people must be shown that peaceful change within the political system is still possible.
“If they lose faith in that, they are not going to stop asking for change; they will just be more likely to listen to people who seek more extreme goals by more extreme means,” he warned.
The brutal and inhuman treatment of Ethiopians by the ruling clique, the TPLF/EPRDF over the last 25 years has been met by little challenges or any serious question by the donor governments of the West who provide the regime with lavish aid. The West in general and the United States government in particular chose to ignore the widespread human rights violations by the regime. The Ethiopian ruling clique rode the international antiterrorism bandwagon and is effectively using it to shield itself from questions and accountability for the terrorism it commits against the people it rules. Ethiopia continues to become the destination of the largest Western aid in sub-Sahara Africa in spite of continuous reports by human rights organizations about widespread violations of human rights. In all its annual country reports, the US State Department human rights section has also reported grave violations of human rights in the country. The only reactions to note from the West, particularly the US, are the numerous and repeated expressions of “concern” over incidents of human rights violations. There has never been any practical and meaningful action taken to pressure the government to change its course behavior. The sad result of these consistent appeasement has been the emboldening of the regime to continue with its grave violations of human rights that in many instances included genocidal massacres of citizens.
The much talked about recent visit by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Affairs, Mr. Tom Malinowski, to Ethiopia is reported to have raised some of the concerns of the US government regarding human rights violations that the regime executes using the current state of emergency as a
cover. Sadly, Ethiopians expect that this visit and the talks with regime officials would not be any different from the previous ones and think that it would bring no significant changes to the deteriorating and dangerous conditions in the country. The West has completely failed to understand that the regime has made a final decision on using force as the only choice to stay in power. Any observer of conditions in Ethiopia clearly notes a growing pattern of repression, use of force and closure of political space for the opposition after the 2005 election where the ruling clique lost and recovered its power by repression and force. From these experiences the regime learnt that democracy and free and fair elections, freedom of expression, independent media, and civil society are its enemies. The regime decreed its antiterrorism law with the objective of accusing and eliminating peacefully working leaders of the opposition and journalists as well as potential political leaders. There have been numerous human rights reports that can be cited to show that the antiterrorism law has been extensively used to quell opposition activities. By so doing the regime has succeeded in closing all political space so much that, during the last national election in 2015, it succeeded in “winning” all the seats in the national parliament.
From their repeated agonizing experiences, the Ethiopian people too have learnt their lessons. They have concluded that the West has almost become an accomplice of the regime in their suffering. They are tired of the lip service given by Westerners about democracy and human rights. Ethiopians, particularly young people, are increasingly leaving the peaceful political discourse in droves and choosing the use of force as the only option left for them to change the government and their dire circumstances. More and more young people are raising arms and organizing protests that sometimes turn out violent. Meanwhile the repression by the regime intensifies and feeds this general public resolve.
Understandably the west does this appeasement for its objective of building its antiterrorism block. While this may be useful to the West temporarily, the gradual deterioration of the human conditions in Ethiopia is heading to the collapse of the system leading to a dangerous destabilization that could pose serious danger, not only to the country, but to the entire region. Patriotic Ginbot 7 movement for unity and democracy would like to We warn the West that the Ethiopia policy it currently pursues and the toothless talks with the regime are leading the country to a dangerous end. The only way the West can avoid a dangerous situation Ethiopia is currently facing we believe, is by resorting to using meaningful and coercive tools to change the behavior of the regime and force it to introduce fundamental changes in the country without further delay. Ethiopia shall prevail
In Gondar, a city in Ethiopia’s northern highlands, a lone tourist pauses to take a photo of a fortress built more than two centuries ago. Nearby, past a row of gift shops, lies the wreck of a coach torched during unrest in August.
Gondar, known as “Africa’s Camelot”, was once the centre of the Ethiopian empire – at a time when that empire was defined mainly by Amhara traditions.
Today, the city is facing new tensions that have a complex history. A territorial dispute between elites here in the Amhara region and those in neighbouring Tigray has been simmering for at least 25 years.
Tigrayans have been accused by opponents of wielding undue influence over Ethiopia’s government and security agencies since 1991. In recent months, these and other grievances have led to protests, strikes, vandalism and killings in Gondar, causing a drastic reduction in foreign visitors to the tourism-dependent city and an exodus of fearful Tigrayans.
Shops and schools have reopened in Gondar, after the authorities reasserted control in urban areas by declaring a state of emergency on 8 October. But sporadic clashes with the military continue in the countryside.
“We don’t feel like it is our country. We feel like it is the time when the Italians invaded. We are like second-class citizens,” says a prosperous local businessman. Like all interviewees, he requested anonymity due to fear of reprisals from the authorities. Europeans never colonised Ethiopia, but Mussolini’s army occupied the country from 1936 to 1941.
Gondar’s predicament is a microcosm of Ethiopia’s: a toxic brew of uneven development, polarised debate amid a virtual media vacuum, contested history, ethnic tensions, a fragmented opposition and an authoritarian government. Ethiopia’s rulers show few signs of being able to solve the morass of problems, which many believe the government itself caused.
Trouble began in Gondar in July 2015, when word went around that the authorities intended to arrest Col Demeke Zewdu, a former rebel and retired military officer.When security forces tried to arrest Zewdu, who is a member of a committee campaigning over the contested Wolkait territory, armed Amharas protected him and several people, including security officers, were killed.
Wolkait is an administrative district in Tigray that borders Amhara. The committee says Wolkait and others areas were taken out of Gondar’s control by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front in 1992, when Ethiopia was divided into a federation along ethno-linguistic lines. Allied rebels led by the TPLF, who unseated a military regime in 1991, introduced the system and still monopolise power.
Critics of the committee point out that a 1994 census found more than 96% of the people of Wolkait were Tigrayan , and that the complaints of annexation stem from the town of Gondar, not the district itself. The activists say the TPLF moved Tigrayans into the area during the rebellion.
The issue struck a chord in Gondar. After Demeke’s arrest, rural militiamen paraded through the city on 31 July, firing bullets into the air during a large, peaceful demonstration. It is thought that the demonstration was facilitated by the Amhara wing of the TPLF-founded Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) – a four-party coalition that, along with allied organisations, controls all the country’s legislative seats.
A Tigrayan lecturer at Gondar University said he abhors Ethiopia’s ethnicised politics and believes jostling between the Amhara and Tigrayan EPRDF wings lay behind the Gondar violence. The TPLF is the predominant party in the EPRDF, and Amhara National Democratic Movement politicians are seeking greater power, he said. “I don’t believe in parties which are organised on ethnicity. I prefer it to be based on the individual.” An end to ethnic politics would make a resolution of the Wolkait issue possible, he believes.
Among activists from Amhara, disavowal of the ethnicity-based system is at the crux of disagreements over how to oppose the EPRDF. Because federalism formally protects the rights of communities marginalised during previous eras, when Ethiopia was a unitary state, promoting national unity at the expense of ethnic autonomy is often cast as regressive.
Groups promoting Amhara identity within a democratised federation are therefore at odds with those focused on national cohesion, according to Wondwesen Tafesse, a commentator on Amhara issues. “Since most diaspora Amharas support Ethiopianist political parties, they seem to have this fear in the back of their mind that a resurgent Amhara nationalism, and the possible emergence of a strong Amhara political organisation, might undermine their political designs,” said Wondwesen.
In the weeks after Demeke’s detainment, there was more unrest, amid allegations that Tigrayan businesses were being targeted and Tigrayans attacked. People in Gondar say the companies were targeted because of their connections with the regime, rather than the owners’ ethnicity.
Amba Giorgis town in the North Gondar district of Ethiopia’s Amhara region. A territorial dispute has recently caused clashes between farmers and the military
Unrest in Amhara was preceded by protests by the Oromo, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, who also complain of marginalisation and repression. In response, the government has reshuffled officials – and intensified repression. During the state of emergency, the government has sent at least 24,000 people to camps for indoctrination under rules that allow the suspension of due process. According to the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia, security forces killed some 600 demonstrators over the past year.
Since the beginning of November, a new federal cabinet has been announced and similar changes made in the Amhara government. But while maladministration and corruption were tagged as the pre-eminent problems, there is little evidence of officials being punished, or of policy reforms. An Amhara government spokesman said systemic changes were not required.
In August, on the outskirts of Gondar near Demeke’s neighbourhood, a crowd looted Baher Selam hotel. It was targeted following a rumour that the Tigrayan security officers allegedly involved in the operation to arrest the colonel were staying there.
Near the wrecked hotel, an elderly lady was roasting coffee beans. On the morning of the incident she was coming home from church when she heard gunshots.Business has since declined and large numbers of unemployed young people have been mobilised against the government, she said.
People here believe Wolkait was part of Gondar throughout history. “If they take that place, where else are they going to take?” the woman asked. “The situation is not going to go back to normal. If you light a match, it’s small – but it can burn a whole area.
