Human Rights Watch: Transparency Group Should Reject Ethiopias Membership

Repression of Civil Society Contravenes Organization’s Rules

(New York, March 14, 2014) – A major global initiative to encourage governments to better manage natural resource revenues should reject Ethiopia’s bid for membership due to its harsh restrictions on civil society, Human Rights Watch said today.

The governing board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is expected to make a decision about Ethiopia’s candidacy at its next meeting, on March 18 and 19, 2014, in Oslo. EITI was founded in 2003 to strengthen governance by increasing transparency over revenues from the oil, gas, and mining industries. Its members include countries, companies, and civil society representatives.

“The Ethiopian government has crushed activist groups and muzzled the media,” said Lisa Misol, senior business and human rightsresearcher at Human Rights Watch. “Ethiopia’s harsh repression of independent voices is utterly incompatible with this global effort to increase public oversight over government.”

An earlier effort by Ethiopia to join the transparency group was rebuffed in 2010 out of concerns over a draconian 2009 law, still in effect, that sharply limits the activities of independent groups. Civil society representatives on EITI’s board said that the law contravened the initiative’s standards that make the free and active participation of independent organizations a requirement for a country to join.

The board deferred the decision, and suggested that it would not reconsider “until the Proclamation on Charities and Society Law is no longer in place.”

Supporters of Ethiopia’s membership, including Clare Short, the former United Kingdom minister who has been the group’s chair since 2011, have recently pressed the board to overturn its 2010 decision. On February 28, Short publicly endorsed Ethiopia’s candidacy and criticized those who opposed its membership in an unprecedented open letter to civil society members of the board. She argued for loosening the group’s rules and claimed that civil society in Ethiopia favored her position, even though nongovernmental organizations in the country cannot risk criticizing the government.

“It’s absurd to suggest that Ethiopia deserves to join EITI because it has civil society support after the government has systematically intimidated groups into submission,” Misol said. “EITI would become a reward for Ethiopia’s effort to dismantle and silence civil society, providing a perverse incentive for other governments to do the same thing.”

Ethiopia’s repressive laws and policies have severely undermined independent activists and organizations in the country. Many organizations have been forced to greatly reduce their activities, others engage in self-censorship, and still others have had to close down. Several of the country’s leading activists have fled the country due to threats. New government-backed nongovernmental organizations have formed. One group that supports the government’s drive to join EITI is a journalism union described as “government-controlled” by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The 2009 Proclamation on Charities and Society Law curtails the independence of nongovernmental organizations in Ethiopia, particularly groups that scrutinize the government. It forbids national organizations from receiving more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign donors if they engage in human rights, advocacy, conflict resolution, or governance activities. The law also bars organizations from activities related to state policy, functioning, and accountability.

It established a regulatory body, the Charities and Societies Agency, with broad discretion to arbitrarily cancel organizations’ registration and to levy fines and criminal charges against their personnel.

To join EITI, Ethiopia should be required to repeal or substantially amend the 2009 proclamation to eliminate problematic clauses that limit foreign funding, restrict certain types of activities, and grant far-reaching powers to a government agency to regulate activities of independent groups, Human Rights Watch said. Additional preconditions should be tied to media freedom and respect for otherfundamental rights necessary for open public debate on natural resource topics.

“Admitting Ethiopia into EITI now would send a terrible signal about the initiative’s commitment to core principles about the participation of civil society,” Misol said. “The board should insist on meaningful reforms in Ethiopia so that the government demonstrates its commitment to the initiative’s principles and rules before it is admitted.”

For more information about EITI and Ethiopia’s bid for EITI membership, please visit:

• “Extractive Industries: A New Accountability Agenda”: 
  http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/21/extractive-industries-new-accountability-agenda
• “Ethiopia, Aspiring EITI Candidate”: http://www.hrw.org/node/123802

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Ethiopia, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/ethiopia

የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አመራሮችና አባላት ተጨማሪ አራት ቀን እስር ቤት እንዲቆዩ ተደረገ

Semayawi Party- Ethiopia

ባለፈው ሰኞ ፖሊስ መረጃ ለማሰባሰብ በሚል ፍርድ ቤት የ14 ቀን ጊዜ ጠይቆ 5 ቀናት እንደተፈቀደለት ይታወቃል፡፡ ዛሬ መጋቢት 5 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ የመጀመሪያ ፍርድ ቤት የካ ምድብ ችሎት ቢቀርቡም ፖሊስ አሁንም ‹‹ምርምራውን አልጨረስኩም፣ ተጨማሪ የምይዛቸው ሰዎች አሉ፣ የተያዙትም ቢለቀቁ ሌላ ወንጀል ይሰራሉ›› በሚል ሰባት ተጨማሪ ቀናት እንዲሰጡት ጠይቋል፡፡

በአንጻሩ የታሳሪዎቹ ጠበቃ ሆነው የቀረቡት የጋዜጠኛ ርዕት አለሙ አባት አቶ አለሙ ጌደቦ በበኩላቸው ፖሊስ ተሰጥቶት የነበሩት ሰባት ቀናት መረጃ ለማሰባሰብም ሆነ ሌሎች የምይዛቸው ተጨማሪ ሰዎች አሉ ያላቸውን ቢኖሩ ኖሮ ለመያዝ በቂ እንደነበር አስረድተዋል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ታሳሪዎቹ በኃላፊነት ቦታ ላይ የሚሰሩና ቋሚ አድራሻ ያላቸው በመሆኑ በዋስ ተለቀው ጉዳያቸውን መከታተል ስለሚችሉ የዋስትና መብታቸው እንዲጠበቅላቸው ተከራክረዋል፡፡

በሌላ በኩል ታሳሪዎቹ በምርመራ ወቅት በፖሊስና ‹በደህንነቶች› እየተፈጸመብን ነው ያሉትን በደል ለፍርድ ቤቱ አቅርበዋል፡፡ ‹‹የታሰርነው በያዝነው አስተሳሰባችን ምክንያት ነው›› ያለው የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የህዝብ ግንኙነት ኃላፊ አቶ ብርሃኑ ተክለያሬድ መታወቂያ ለማሳየት ፈቃደኛ ያልሆኑ ሲቪል የለበሱ ግለሰቦች ‹‹ሰማያዊ ከሚባል አሸባሪ ወጥታችሁ ከእኛ ጋር ካልሰራችሁ መቼ እንደምንገላችሁ አታውቁም፡፡›› በሚል እንዳስፈራሩዋቸው ገልጸዋል፡፡ በተመሳሳይ ወንድ ፖሊሶች ሌሊት ሴቶች እስር ቤት ውስጥ በመግባት እንደሚያስፈራሩዋቸውም ተገልጻል፡፡ ሴቶቹ ታሳሪዎች ከሌሊቱ ሰባት ሰዓት ላይ ወንድ ፖሊሶች ከታሰሩበት እያስወጡ እንደሚያስፈራሩዋቸውም የየራሳቸውን አጋጣሚዎች ለፍርድ ቤት አቅርበዋል፡፡ ወጣት አቤል ‹‹ከእኛ ጋር ከሰራህ የተሻለ እንከፍልሃለን›› ብለውኝ አልፈልግም በማለቴ እንገልሃለን ብለውኛል በማለት ገልጹዋል፡፡

በተቃራኒው ፖሊስ ተጠርጣሪዎቹ ሌሎች ታሳሪዎች ላይ ቅስቀሳ እያደረጉ መሆኑን፣ በጋራ እንደሚዘምሩ፣ ቃል ለመስጠት ፈቃደኛ እንደማይሆኑ በመግለጽ ተጨማሪ 7 ቀን እንዲሰጠው በድጋሜ ጠይቋል፡፡ ዛሬ ጠዋት ወደ ችሎት ሲመጡ የታላቁን ሩጫ ቲሸርት ካለበስን አንሄድም ማለታቸውንም ታሳሪዎቹ በቀጣይነትም ወንጀል ሊሰሩ ይችላሉ ለሚለው መከራከሪያው እንደ ማስረጃ አቅርቧል፡፡ ዳኛው ፖሊስ በታሳሪዎቹ ላይ እንዳደረሰው የተገለጸውንና ታሳሪዎቹ ሌሎች ታሳሪዎችን በማቀስቀስና በመረበሽ ያቀረበውን ክስ ላይ ምክር አዘል መልዕክት ካስተላለፈ በኋላ ተጨማሪ 4 ቀን የምርመራ ጊዜ ሰጥቷል፡፡

ችሎቱ መደበኛ ስራውን ይጀምራል ከተባለበት አንድ ሰዓት ዘግይቶ ሊጀምር ችሏል፡፡ በክርክሩ ወቅት መረዳት እንደተቻለውም ጠዋት ታሳሪዎቹ ወደ ፍርድ ቤት በሚመጡበት ጊዜ በሩጫው ዕለት ለብሰውት የነበረውን የታላቁን ሩጫ ቲሸርት መልበሳቸውን ፖሊስ በመቃወሙ በነበረው አለመግባባት መዘግየቱ እንደተከሰተ ታውቋል፡፡

ፖሊስ ሰኞ ዕለት ያስመዘገበው የክስ ጭብጥ እንደሚያመለክተው ተጠርጣሪዎቹን በቁጥጥር ስር ያዋለው ሁከትና ብጥብጥ ለመፍጠር ተንቀሳቅሰዋል፣ የጣይቱ ልጆች ነን፣ የምኒልክ ልጆች ነን፣ ዳቦ ራበን፣ ብለዋል በሚል ነው፡፡ በዛሬው የክርክር ሂደት እንደተስተዋለው ግን ፖሊስ የመጀመሪያዋን ጭብጥ ብቻ መዝዞ ተከራክሯል፡፡ መርማሪ ፖሊሱ በወቅቱ አሉኝ ያላቸውን የክርክር ነጥቦች በሚያስረዳበት ወቅት አለመረጋጋት ጎልቶ ይታይበት እንደነበር ተስተውሏል፡፡

SMNE’s Open Letter to EITI & PWYP

An Open Letter to African Steering Committee Members for Publish What You Pay (PWYP) & Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Board Members from PWYP

You can also read the open letter in PDF

Dear Ali Idrissa, Jean-Claude Katende and Faith Nwadishi, and other members of the EITI Board:

We in the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) are contacting you in regards to the upcoming Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) board review concerning Ethiopia’s reapplication for membership in the EITI. The outcome of your decision related to this case will either help or hinder Ethiopians both now and in the future so it is critically important that you hear a representative voice from the people.

For your information, the SMNE, of which I am the executive director, is a non-political and non-violent social justice movement of diverse people that advocates for freedom, justice, good governance and upholding the civil, human and economic rights of the people of Ethiopia, without regard to ethnicity, religion, political affiliation or other differences. The SMNE believes a more open, transparent and competitive market economy, supported by viable institutions and reasonable protections, which provides equal opportunity, will result in greater prosperity to the people rather than keeping it in the hands of a few political elites as is the case today.

We also contend that the future wellbeing of our global society rests in the hands of those among us who can put “humanity before ethnicity,” religion or any other distinctions that divide and dehumanize other human beings from ourselves; inspiring us to care about these “others”; not only because of the intrinsic God-given value of each life, but also because “none of us is free until all are free.”

As you know, Ethiopia’s application for membership in 2010 was rejected based on its systemic repression of Ethiopian civil society; in particular, its implementation of a draconian law, the Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO), which essentially eliminated Ethiopian civil society from functioning independently of government control. As of 2014, the situation has only worsened.

It is our understanding that each of you is a member of the African Steering Committee of Publish What You Pay (PWYP), an organization that was founded following the 40-year civil war in Angola, when the call for transparency—Publish What You Pay—was made in a report from Global Witness alleging that elites from the country had worked in secretive complicity with multi-national oil companies in the mismanagement and embezzlement of oil revenues. This is similar to what is going on today in Ethiopia.

It is also our understanding that you were appointed by the PWYP to assume the role asCivil Society Representatives on the EITI International Board 2013-2015.  We are aware of your mandated obligation to represent the interests of civil society on that board. Recently, it has come to our attention that while operating in that capacity, you have received a strongletter from the EITI chairperson, Clare Short, in support of Ethiopia’s admission to the EITI.(See a copy of that letter in the endnotes.)

That letter has been made public and we find it highly offensive, inaccurate and a blatant attempt to lobby other board members towards a pro-Ethiopian government position despite the fact that abundant evidence indicates that independent civil society cannot exist in Ethiopia.

Chairperson Short also attempts to discredit the entirety of the Ethiopian Diaspora, presuming to better know the state of civil society than do they. She also strongly opposes the inclusion of human rights violations in considering this case, discounting the seriousness of such by comparing widespread perpetration of crimes against humanity and other egregious human rights violations to removing protestors by force in her own country (the United Kingdom). In doing so, she is dismissing the seriousness and pervasiveness of those human rights crimes, ignoring the vast amount of documentation, and minimizing the personal experiences of refugees outside of Ethiopia and the close connections they maintain with family and communities on the ground that attest to the connection between the Government of Ethiopia’s (GOE) serial violation of human rights in Ethiopia and the exploitation of its natural resources.

She also appears to invalidate the many contributions of international advocates, calling them “campaigners” and seeing them as less relevant because they convey “north telling the south” dictates. At the same time, she is prescribing to you, as African members of the African Steering Committee of the PWYP and members of the EITI Board, as well as to Ethiopians within and outside of the country, her own “north to south” position. It also appears that she has directed a veiled threat that the failure of EITI to accept Ethiopia may have ramifications on the status of “Niger and the Congo B”, two of the countries two of you personally represent. This kind of approach by the chairperson appears to be intentionally intimidating and is very disturbing to those seeking a transparent and fair approach.

Next Pages: 1 2

Blue Party’s executives and female members are being accused of freedom of expression!

BlueParty Ethiopia

Early in the morning many gathered at the compound of the court house. The appearance was expected to be held at 10:00AM yet only the men arrived. It took the police about an hour after to bring the girls. Most were worried. Then we heard they were being forced to change their shirts that they put on. But they refused to change. After some quarrel at the police station finally they arrived at the court house at 11:08AM.

The court house was full of people, some even stood and it was quite humid. After the judge took his place the ones stood were much in number than those who sat. The attorney of the suspected and The Inspector how is handling the case stood by the sides; amid was Blue Party’s young members and leaders of high position.

The case was of course presented 5 days ago and ended with denying a bail for the young activists and members of the party because they were believed to terrorize and as well suspected of disturbance on Women’s Great Run which ended way peacefully.

In fact, the detail of the charge was literally mentioned and most find it funny and confusing at the time. The inspector namely Yemata said they were followed and caught saying out loud that: “they are daughters of Tayitu(Minillik’s II wife), they are daughters of Emeye Minillik, they are hungry, they demand political prisoners and jailed journalists like Reeyot, Eskinder, Andualam and others to be free, and they opposed the conspiracy of 5 to 1 policy which suppress women from expressing them selves freely and put them in fear”… these were the lists of slogans presented to be provocative and terrorizing. The men arrested with the girls suspected of supporting their deeds for they were found at the scene carrying their bags and materials.

Of this charge the police demanded 14 days to investigate deep while they must remain in prison. The motive was that the police fears they would destroy evidences which already are held by the police. Another silly reason was that the police fears if they bailed out they would scare the witnesses. Sadly the judge denied their freedom over such ridiculous matter and ordered their case to be presented on March 14. Of all the drama that happened on March 9 first day in court was that the police held their guns in the court house and none said anything.

Well today after 6 days in jail the police inspector, Yemata, with his mate still insists on denying bail for the same reason that they gave the first appearance. And this time they inquired 7 days for more inspection on the matter. Perhaps the addition accusation was that the police worry if they are able to be bailed out they would cause harm on the peace of the state in addition to that it was said the suspected doesn’t have a permanent address.
However, their attorney, Ato Alemu Gobebo (Father of Celebrated yet jailed journalist Reeyot Alemu), explained for the court that the accused members of the Blue Party are responsible citizens that works in different positions and each has a family that they live with which enables them to appear anytime they are wanted for further questioning. Ato Alemu farther explained that 10 of them are well disciplined and a committed party members that they struggle for a democratic and peaceful Ethiopia for that the allegation against bail is totally baseless and he added it was a conspiracy to keep them behind bars so that the assault continues.

In fact the victims were happened to be the arrested ones. Some of them put in plain words that they were threatened of their lives, and asked to work with EPRDF they are even offered a large amount of money if they work with the spy organization of EPRDF INSA. All stood still and resisted the intimidating of the so called interrogators who they said doesn’t even have an ID or a uniform on them. One of the incriminated, Nigest Wondifraw, told the court that the previous night three male police came to their cell at mid night and commanded them to go out and ordered her to go with them, and one of the three held a sweeping-stick like a cane and warned her he will beat her to death if she doesn’t cooperate with them. The others as well (specially the females) were separately called out in the late night the day before and threatened and assaulted. Two of them were even crying. The reason they said was that the police insulted them and added the insult is not that simple to tell, “it hurts, all they want is embarrass us so that we back down, they tried to hit us for they want us to stop our active membership and fellowship at the Blue Party.”

The judge was quite unsure of what to do. We believe he was trying to counsel everyone there instead of exercising his mandate. Seems he cannot do or say more than he was told to. Even the inspectors could not say more except denying all that has been said and dramatically insisted on the enquiry that they exact, more seven days.

Finally after a long talk the judge ordered the police officers to complete all that they are doing/interrogating and bring the case on March 18 and today again denied their freedom; no bail. No justice. We as a blue party members and leaders in general will not be demoralized or won’t back down for we precisely know the character of the dictatorial rule. The scenario which is taking place even showed us a glimpse of the sacrifices we must go through. One of the girls has two daughters; the others are very young and enthusiastically want to contribute their best to the country. All they did was exercising their freedom; they stood and voiced the voice of million women who live in fear. The women of the Blue Party on women’s freedom day demanded FREEDOM, JUSTICE and EQUALITY exceptionally for all the women in Ethiopia and through that for their brothers and fathers as well. Where are they now? In prison! We demanded their freedom for they are freedom fighters.