Ethiopian detentions target weak opposition
29 September, 2011 | DefenceWeb (press release)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the vote, Meles unveiled plans to turn Ethiopia into a middle
income nation and wean it off aid by 2015, Reuters reports.
But despite a seemingly unassailable position that should mean
Meles can see through a quarter of century in office with tangible
economic gains, some analysts say a string of recent arrests show he
may now be taking the second path to autocracy.
Since March, Ethiopia has detained more than 150 people, including
29 this month. Nine of the 29 were opposition party members and
others detained this year include local and foreign journalists, and
even one of Ethiopia's most famous actors.
Many have been charged with collaboration with terrorists,
espionage and plotting acts of sabotage and terrorism.
Members of Ethiopia's opposition say they are being unjustly
targeted in a crackdown designed to stifle any moves to more
democracy -- under the guise of a war against terrorism in a region
that faces genuine threats.
"Terrorism should never be condoned, but these measures show
there is no intention to establish a multi-party system in Ethiopia,"
said Gizachew Shiferaw, deputy head of the opposition Unity for
Democracy and Justice party.
The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) party has been accused of using state resources to skew
the political playing field in its favour.
EXPLOITING LAW
Although the European Union and the United States said the 2010
election fell short of international standards, they did not question the
result, which left the opposition just one seat in the 547-member
parliament.
Analysts say a combination of a weak and fractured opposition, the
harassment of voters in some areas and development work by the
Meles government in towns and villages led to such a crushing
victory.
But the increased use this year of anti-terrorism legislation,
introduced in 2009 to, jail some critics is starting to raise eyebrows
at home and among rights groups.
"Ethiopia's Anti-Terrorism Proclamation contains an overbroad and
vague definition of terrorist acts and makes the publication of
statements 'likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts'
punishable by imprisonment for 10 to 20 years," Aloys Habimana,
Deputy Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, wrote in a
commentary piece this week.
"The government is exploiting the law's overly broad language to
accuse peaceful critics, journalists, and political opponents of
encouraging terrorism," said the New York-based rights group.
Ethiopia passed an anti-terrorism law in 2009 that labelled five
groups as terrorist organisations and outlawed all contact with them.
Many of the arrests fall under this legislation.
Al Qaeda and Somalia's al Shabaab rebels are on the list, along with
two Ethiopian secessionist groups and a group of Ethiopian exiles
known as Ginbot 7, which is calling for the overthrow of the
government.
The list includes the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a
rebel group from the ethnic Somali dominated Ogaden province that
has been waging a low key insurgency since 1984.
The fifth group is the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebels from
the region of Oromia, home to Ethiopia's largest ethnic group and
the area that produces most of the country's coffee.
ATTACKS
On Sept. 14, the security forces arrested three officials from the
opposition UDJ and the general secretary of the Ethiopian National
Democratic Party.
This month, two Swedish journalists who illegally crossed into
Ethiopia with ONLF rebels were charged with promoting terrorism.
Three local reporters have also been arrested.
Some Ethiopian reporters now worry that even receiving regular
emailed statements from the ONLF could have them convicted of
terrorism.
"Rounding up and detaining people in this manner sends a chilling
warning to other opposition politicians and journalists to either cease
exercising their right to freedom of expression altogether, self-
censor, or risk arrest," said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director for
Africa at Amnesty International.
Amnesty said it had a delegation expelled from Ethiopa in August
after meeting opposition officials.
Ethiopian officials point to a series of attacks in the past few years to
explain the increase in arrests.
A bomb exploded in the capital in March this year wounding two
people, another hit a bus in northern Ethiopia in May last year and
there were several blasts in Addis Ababa in 2008.
Addis Ababa sentenced 14 suspected OLF members to lengthy jail
terms after a foiled attack on an African Union summit in January
and a United Nations monitoring group report pointed the finger at
neighbouring Eritrea for the plot.
"We have been victims to numerous terror attacks in the past that
resulted in the loss of innocent lives and property worth millions of
birr," Demelash Woldemikael, deputy commissioner of federal
police, told Reuters.
CLAIMS BASELESS
Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal dismissed the notion the
authorities had a hidden agenda to crush the opposition.
"We have more than 90 political parties operating in Ethiopia,"
Shimeles told Reuters. "These individuals operated under the guise
of political activity. Any claims that the anti-terror law is being
misused are baseless."
Horn of Africa analysts say Ethiopia has been no stranger to taming
dissent, in particular around elections, safe in the knowledge that it
was simply too important to Western powers as a bulwark of
stability in the Horn of Africa.
Dozens of senior politicians and some journalists were sentenced to
life behind bars after disputed elections in 2005.
All were pardoned after admitting responsibility for the chaos after
the polls in which 193 protesters and seven policemen died during
violence sparked by opposition claims of voting irregularities.
One Addis Ababa university lecturer said a number of exiled
politicians, once allied to the opposition, have called for an armed
struggle to overthrow Meles.
He said the government could be using those old ties as a pretext for
the detentions, intent on sidelining a severely fractured opposition for
good.
"Clearly there's no love lost towards the local-based opposition --
even if they have distanced themselves from that stance, and seek
democratic elevation to power," he said.
Courtesy
29 September, 2011 | DefenceWeb (press release)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- When Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi's ruling party was re-elected in
2010, analysts said he could take two
paths: give the opposition scope to grow
and secure a legacy of progress, or
sideline them once and for all and tarnish
his record.
- With a crushing parliamentary majority
and Washington's staunch backing in the
fight against Islamist militancy in the Horn
of Africa, the government's hold on
After the vote, Meles unveiled plans to turn Ethiopia into a middle
income nation and wean it off aid by 2015, Reuters reports.
But despite a seemingly unassailable position that should mean
Meles can see through a quarter of century in office with tangible
economic gains, some analysts say a string of recent arrests show he
may now be taking the second path to autocracy.
Since March, Ethiopia has detained more than 150 people, including
29 this month. Nine of the 29 were opposition party members and
others detained this year include local and foreign journalists, and
even one of Ethiopia's most famous actors.
Many have been charged with collaboration with terrorists,
espionage and plotting acts of sabotage and terrorism.
Members of Ethiopia's opposition say they are being unjustly
targeted in a crackdown designed to stifle any moves to more
democracy -- under the guise of a war against terrorism in a region
that faces genuine threats.
"Terrorism should never be condoned, but these measures show
there is no intention to establish a multi-party system in Ethiopia,"
said Gizachew Shiferaw, deputy head of the opposition Unity for
Democracy and Justice party.
The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) party has been accused of using state resources to skew
the political playing field in its favour.
EXPLOITING LAW
Although the European Union and the United States said the 2010
election fell short of international standards, they did not question the
result, which left the opposition just one seat in the 547-member
parliament.
Analysts say a combination of a weak and fractured opposition, the
harassment of voters in some areas and development work by the
Meles government in towns and villages led to such a crushing
victory.
But the increased use this year of anti-terrorism legislation,
introduced in 2009 to, jail some critics is starting to raise eyebrows
at home and among rights groups.
"Ethiopia's Anti-Terrorism Proclamation contains an overbroad and
vague definition of terrorist acts and makes the publication of
statements 'likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts'
punishable by imprisonment for 10 to 20 years," Aloys Habimana,
Deputy Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, wrote in a
commentary piece this week.
"The government is exploiting the law's overly broad language to
accuse peaceful critics, journalists, and political opponents of
encouraging terrorism," said the New York-based rights group.
Ethiopia passed an anti-terrorism law in 2009 that labelled five
groups as terrorist organisations and outlawed all contact with them.
Many of the arrests fall under this legislation.
Al Qaeda and Somalia's al Shabaab rebels are on the list, along with
two Ethiopian secessionist groups and a group of Ethiopian exiles
known as Ginbot 7, which is calling for the overthrow of the
government.
The list includes the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a
rebel group from the ethnic Somali dominated Ogaden province that
has been waging a low key insurgency since 1984.
The fifth group is the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebels from
the region of Oromia, home to Ethiopia's largest ethnic group and
the area that produces most of the country's coffee.
ATTACKS
On Sept. 14, the security forces arrested three officials from the
opposition UDJ and the general secretary of the Ethiopian National
Democratic Party.
This month, two Swedish journalists who illegally crossed into
Ethiopia with ONLF rebels were charged with promoting terrorism.
Three local reporters have also been arrested.
Some Ethiopian reporters now worry that even receiving regular
emailed statements from the ONLF could have them convicted of
terrorism.
"Rounding up and detaining people in this manner sends a chilling
warning to other opposition politicians and journalists to either cease
exercising their right to freedom of expression altogether, self-
censor, or risk arrest," said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director for
Africa at Amnesty International.
Amnesty said it had a delegation expelled from Ethiopa in August
after meeting opposition officials.
Ethiopian officials point to a series of attacks in the past few years to
explain the increase in arrests.
A bomb exploded in the capital in March this year wounding two
people, another hit a bus in northern Ethiopia in May last year and
there were several blasts in Addis Ababa in 2008.
Addis Ababa sentenced 14 suspected OLF members to lengthy jail
terms after a foiled attack on an African Union summit in January
and a United Nations monitoring group report pointed the finger at
neighbouring Eritrea for the plot.
"We have been victims to numerous terror attacks in the past that
resulted in the loss of innocent lives and property worth millions of
birr," Demelash Woldemikael, deputy commissioner of federal
police, told Reuters.
CLAIMS BASELESS
Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal dismissed the notion the
authorities had a hidden agenda to crush the opposition.
"We have more than 90 political parties operating in Ethiopia,"
Shimeles told Reuters. "These individuals operated under the guise
of political activity. Any claims that the anti-terror law is being
misused are baseless."
Horn of Africa analysts say Ethiopia has been no stranger to taming
dissent, in particular around elections, safe in the knowledge that it
was simply too important to Western powers as a bulwark of
stability in the Horn of Africa.
Dozens of senior politicians and some journalists were sentenced to
life behind bars after disputed elections in 2005.
All were pardoned after admitting responsibility for the chaos after
the polls in which 193 protesters and seven policemen died during
violence sparked by opposition claims of voting irregularities.
One Addis Ababa university lecturer said a number of exiled
politicians, once allied to the opposition, have called for an armed
struggle to overthrow Meles.
He said the government could be using those old ties as a pretext for
the detentions, intent on sidelining a severely fractured opposition for
good.
"Clearly there's no love lost towards the local-based opposition --
even if they have distanced themselves from that stance, and seek
democratic elevation to power," he said.
Courtesy
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