Ethiopian Activists in Facebook protest for Birtukan Mideksa

Ethiopian Activists in Facebook protest for
Birtukan Mideksa
party leader was sentenced to life in prison after disputed
elections in 2005

8 September, 2010 | By Mark Tran (The Guardian)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activists have urged people to

change their

Facebook profile

to that

of Birtukan Mideksa, 35,

Ethiopa's

most prominent political prisoner

for the Ethiopian new year, which

starts on 11 September.

The opposition party leader is an

Amnesty International prisoner of

conscience,

serving a life sentence

in Kaliti prison in Addis Ababa. A

single mother and former judge, she

was among dozens arrested after the

disputed 2005 elections, freed, and

then re-arrested for saying her

release had been due to opposition

pressure on the government rather than a request by her for pardon.

Mideksa and others arrested in 2005 were pardoned after spending
nearly two years in jail. In November 2008 she spoke at a public
meeting in Sweden about her pardon, attributing her release and that of
others to political negotiations between the opposition and the
government rather than an official request made through legal channels.

While people who were in jail with her the first time say this reflected
the truth, the government said it equated to denying asking for a
pardon. When she returned to Ethiopia, authorities asked her to retract
her statement, failing which she would be re-arrested. She refused and
was re-arrested in December 2008, when the ministry of justice
revoked her pardon and re-imposed her life sentence.

Since a court ruling on a complaint she filed against the prison, Mideksa
- the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa - has been
allowed more regular visits from her immediate family, including her
mother and her five-year-old daughter. However, she has reportedly
had only intermittent access to legal representation.

Mideksa's imprisonment has garnered increasing public attention. Her
supporters are planning a run for her in Turbingen, Germany on 19
September.

In its annual report on human rights around the world, the US state
department's section on Ethiopia said: "Human rights abuses reported
during the year included unlawful killings, torture, beating, abuse and
mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces,
often acting with evident impunity; poor prison conditions; arbitrary
arrest and detention, particularly of suspected sympathisers or members
of opposition or insurgent groups..."

Opposition parties and human rights groups say Mideksa's case is stark
evidence of the authoritarian tendencies of Meles Zenawi, the prime
minister, a major recipient of western aid.

Courtesy