Recent arrests show Ethiopia's sterner side

Recent arrests show Ethiopia's sterner side

05 July, 2011 | By William Davison
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From the arrest of more than 100 Ethiopian opposition
activists, journalists, and columnists, to the arrest of two
Swedish journalists, Ethiopia's government is showing its
intolerance of dissent.

The arrests of two Swedish journalists – captured by security forces
in early July after a firefight with ethnic Somali rebels – and the
detention of a long stream of local journalists with critical views of
the Ethiopian government is showing once again the ruthless streak
of America’s biggest friend in the Horn of Africa.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi – president

of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995, and

premier of Ethiopia ever since – is

praised for his economic vision in steering

the country toward a path of economic

growth and foreign investment, as well as

his cooperation with the US’s

counterterrorism efforts in Africa. But

Mr. Meles’ decisiveness and vision is

matched by an intolerance of dissent,

critics say.

Over the past year, more than 100 opposition activists, local
journalists and others have been detained under a catch-all anti-
terror law that can mean up to 20-year jail terms for those who
merely publish a statement that prosecutors believe could indirectly
encourage terrorism.

Former president of the republic Negasso Gidada, who left the
ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)
in 2001 to join the opposition, says that Meles and his followers still
hold a belief agreed a decade ago that they are the only ones
capable of leading the historically impoverished nation to prosperity.

"They decided then it is only the EPRDF which can lead the country
to middle-income level in 20 to 30 years' time," he says. "All other
organizations should to be brought on board or eliminated."

Little room for dissent

Meles' proven track record in overseeing economic growth and
stability lead some to praise his rule. Human rights groups and
journalist organizations complain that the government targets those
who simply disagree with the ruling party.

Senior government spokesman Shimeles Kemal rejects rights
groups’ claims that the pattern of arrests reveals an intolerance of
dissent. He says that those arrested for terrorism – including the two
Swedish journalists – have left behind evidence of links with banned
militant groups. Ethiopia’s concerns over terrorist threats were
bolstered recently by a recent UN report detailing an Eritrea-
backed plot by rebels aiming to cause carnage in downtown Addis
Ababa during an African Union summit in January this year.

Connections of some sort between opposition politicians and
outlawed organizations such as Ginbot 7 are possible. Ginbot 7’s
exiled leader, Berhanu Nega – sentenced to death in-absentia for
his role in a tumultuous 2005 election – was a former colleague in
the defunct Coalition for Unity and Democracy.

But while exploiting such connections to crush the opposition is a
predictable maneuver, the prosecution of the Swedish journalists
Johann Persson and Martin Schibbye is a departure for the
government.

Tougher line on foreign journalists?

Previously, foreign journalists who fell out of favor with the
Ethiopian authorities suffered only deportation. Mr. Persson and
Mr. Schibbye, detained after being captured with members of the
autonomy-seeking Ogaden National Liberation Front, have been
charged with supporting a terrorist group. Prosecutors say they
confiscated a video of the pair, which shows them handling
weapons.

Colleagues at Kontinent News Agency claim the pair were acting in
the finest tradition of the profession: having prepared for 6 months,
they covertly entered Ethiopia's closed Ogaden region with the
intention of investigating the human cost of the armed insurgency and
the state's response. The video, they say, is shot in Somalia and
shows the gun of a private guard, not a rebel.

Being captured with armed rebels, of course, is one thing. Some
Ethiopian opinion makers and politicians, like activist Andualem
Arage, and virulently anti-EPRDF columnist Eskinder Nega, were
arrested after calling for a year of non-violent action, similar to the
mass protests that swept North Africa.

Negasso says the arrest of Andualem was simply due to his bravery
and popularity, since Andualem is a pacifist, unlike former Addis
Ababa mayor-elect Berhanu Nega, who says if all else fails violence
may be used to achieve liberation. "He preaches love, tolerance and
a peaceful struggle," says Negasso, who scoffs at any possibility of
his involvement in terrorism. "If you hit him he would turn the other
cheek."

With larger projects like the historic dam on the Blue Nile River in
the works – a scheme that should make Ethiopia an electricity
provider for the region - Meles and his party have no time for such
insolence. In truth, they never have. While political pluralism peeped
round the door at a 2005 poll with historic opposition gains, it never
showed its face. When opposition supporters protested the official
results – which kept Meles in power – soldiers shot dead almost
200 of them. Leaders and activists were accused of treason,
imprisoned, and then many fled following pardons two years later.

Legitimate security concerns and the possibility of unrest may have
made a jittery government come down hard on the detractors.
However, it is a continued fervent belief in the virtue of the ruling
vanguard's mission that is likely to be the fundamental cause of the
current unforgiving approach.

The strong bonds forged with emerging giants like China means the
government is in position to achieve some of the ambitious goals set
out in a 5-year growth plan unveiled last year. New hydropower
plants will make it the power hub of Eastern Africa; deficiencies in
cement and sugar will become exported surpluses; a railway
network linking towns and industries is promised; an archaic
agricultural system will be transformed by irrigation.

Such lofty aspirations become more realizable considering that
Western largesse still pours forth, from the US and from others.
Ethiopia's role as regional enforcer and record of economic and
social development easily outweighs any quibbles in European and
American corridors of power about the revolutionary democrats'
reluctance to follow their liberal democratic model.

Given its uncompleted mission and the privileged geopolitical middle-
ground it still occupies, two decades after overthrowing
Hailemariam Mengistu's Marxist military junta, the EPRDF is not
about to allow itself to be dethroned.
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Courtesy