Development without freedom: how aid underwrites repression in Ethiopia

Donor strategy toward Ethiopia needs fundamental rethinking

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Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and is also one of the world’s largest recipients of foreign development aid. Foreign donors insist that their support underwrites agricultural growth, food security, and other non-political programmes. However, Human Rights Watch research shows that development aid flows through, and directly supports, a virtual one-party state with a highly questionable human rights record.

The paper states that Ethiopia’s practices include jailing political oppositionists, silencing critics and media, and enacting laws to undermine human rights activity. This politicisation has a direct impact on the livelihoods of people for whom access to agricultural inputs – the intended use of aid –  is a matter of survival.

The author underlines that Ethiopia’s foreign donors are aware of this discrimination, but have done little to address the problem or tackle their own role in underwriting government repression. In this sense, donor policy has been remarkably unaffected by Ethiopia’s deteriorating human rights situation.

The document concludes that the Ethiopian population pays a heavy price for this approach to development. Accordingly, it draws the following recommendations:

• donor strategy toward Ethiopia needs fundamental rethinking
• in light of the government’s human rights violations, direct budget support to the government should not even be considered
• programs supported by international funds should be independently monitored
• credible audit institutions should examine aid to Ethiopia in the context of whether it contributes to political repression
• external donors must be more vocal about the steps Ethiopia should take to ensure that its citizens enjoy the rights to which they are entitled under the country’s constitution and international human rights law
• donor countries will exert far more influence on the government if they act together rather than separately.

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After Meles – implications for Ethiopia’s development

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The death of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi in August 2012 has raised serious questions about Ethiopia’s political stability and development trajectory. Meles built up a complex web of relationships that conjoined domestic political forces with foreign investors, leading the country towards impressive rates of growth and substantial achievement of some development indicators. Indeed under his rule Ethiopia’s national image began a slow transformation from famine-plagued nation to a fast-growing country which was at the heart of a new global realpolitik in Africa.

This briefing considers the development prospects of the country following the death of Meles, who was at the centre of all state activities and the leader of the dominant political party in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). Indeed as the authors assert, the challenge now is whether Ethiopia’s institutions, dominated at all levels by a single party, can transition to greater pluralism and, if so, enable the country to approach middle-income status by 2025. Furthermore, the authors ask whether there will be a resurgence of ethnic regional violence – in such a large diverse state – against central authority and the continued dominance of the EPRDF.

The document provides a succinct overview of the current political/ development environment in Ethiopia. Important points raised include:

•  Will his successor, Hailemariam Dessalegn, be able to manage the EPRDF machine? Members of competing elites may fight for its control and ethnic movements on the periphery could be emboldened to exploit a perceived power vacuum
•  Will perceived economic development and prosperity will willingly be traded for political instability – even by those at loggerheads with the central state?
• China was seen as an important donor, but there are questions being raised within Ethiopian circles – the country has also reached out to other non-conventional donors such as Turkey, Brazil and India and opened its doors to U.S. geostrategic interests
• Although Ethiopia has made important progress in reducing poverty its economic challenges are dominated by the need to find secure livelihoods for what is now the second largest population in Africa and by the acute vulnerability of its major economic sector, rain-fed agriculture.

The authors conclude by highlighting a number of key factors for post-Meles Ethiopia:

• With the appointment of Hailemariam, the EPRDF regime remains entrenched and the current opposition is too divided, disorganised and lacking its own clear objectives to pose a credible challenge
• A new political pluralism would challenge the current system to the core – if this is what is seen as needed for the ruling elites to hold on to power – forcing change or retrenchment based on whether they can hold onto the economic reins whilst loosening their grip on the political sphere
• A shift to greater economic liberalisation and political ‘glasnost’ may not be in the offing but the EPRDF may come to appreciate that its survival will increasingly rest in detaching the economy from political interests that capture benefits and control access to the economic levers.

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Ethiopian government to bring criminal charges against six weeklies

Ethiopia’s justice ministry has announced that it is bringing criminal charges ranging from “dissemination of false rumours with the intent of overthrowing the government” to “undermining public trust in the government and attempts at fostering ethnic and religious divisions” against six news weeklies.

In a communiqué released on 5 August, the ministry accused the six weeklies – Lomi, Enqu, Fact, Jano, Addis Guday and Afro-Times – of “encouraging terrorism, endangering national security, repeated incitement of ethnic and religious hate, and smears against officials and public institutions.”

Two of the weeklies, Addis Guday and Fact, are among Ethiopia’s leading privately-owned newspapers and have often covered events or published stories that have generated political controversy. One of Addis Guday’s journalists, Asmamaw Hailegiorgis, has been held on a terrorism charge since 25 April.

The ministry said it had been “patient” with the six weeklies but had finally decided to bring charges in response to public pressure for corrective action. It also warned that it was ready to bring charges against other publications engaging in similar “subversive” activity.

“Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s government must end the harassment of independent media that it has been orchestrating for the past few months,” said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire.

“With the 10 journalists and bloggers already accused of terrorism and now this prosecution threat, the government is sending a much tougher message to news providers. Prosecuting journalists for ‘undermining public trust in the government’ is totally illegitimate.”

Ethiopia is ranked 143rd out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Source: REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, FOR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

The VOA-Amharic Program Needs To Get It’s Act Together

by Fanta Kiros

The main objective of the VOA, according to the US government, is to promote freedom and democracy, and to enhance understanding through multimedia communication. It aims to accomplish its objective by disseminating accurate, objective, and balanced news, information and other programming about America and the world to audiences overseas.

The VOA is a branch of the US Information Agency (USIA), which is dealt an annual budget of $ 1.1 billion. The USIA’s main aim is to support American foreign policy and promote US national interest. Having established that, the VOA Amharic program is required to produce an objective and balance news to serve the interest of the US government and US tax payers, not the interest of a foreign government.

An alternate media, ESAT (Ethiopian Satellite Television) http://ethsat.com/new/esat-radio-aug-13-2014/ financed by the Ethiopian diaspora community- reported yesterday that the VOA Amharic program have made “inaccurate and unverified politically motivated reporting by Mr. Henok Semaegzer, 15 days after the cancellation of the honoring program for the Prime Minster of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, by Azusa Pacific University in California.” http://ecadforum.com/2014/07/23/hailemariam-desalegn-humiliated/

In the VOA Amharic program on Tuesday, reporter Semaegzer, stated that “Azusa Pacific University has announced that the prime minster of Ethiopia, Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, had canceled the honoring program with Azusa Pacific University because had to travel back to Ethiopia.” Semaegzer also reported that the spokesperson of the university, Rachel White, had admitted that she has spoken to Journalist and Activist, Abebe Gelaw, and she accuses him of drawing his own conclusions on the matter, and presenting the university as defeated.

The Prime Minster of Ethiopia was scheduled to attend the US Africa Leader Summit held in Washington DC from August 4-6, and the honoring ceremony by Azusa University, was scheduled for July 31 in Los Angles, California. The university was notified prior to the ceremony- by Abebe Gellaw, and the Global Alliance for Rights of Ethiopia- of planned demonstrations in Los Angeles by opposition parties. Reportedly, the university officials opted to cancel the award program in order to avoid negative publicity. http://ecadforum.com/2014/07/28/call-for-action-confront-hailemariam-desalegn-in-houston/

ESAT interviewed, Mr. Abebe Gellaw on August 13 stating that he had contacted VOA to produce the voice recording on the alleged interview between Rachel White and VOA. However, so far, the VOA Amharic program has been unable to produce any voice recordings pertaining to the interview with Rachel White. ESAT is also claiming to have attempted to contact the reporter Henok Semaegzer and his supervisor Peter Heinlein- the chief of Horn of Africa VOA- with no success.

Based on the recent interviews on ESAT with the former Deputy Minister of Communication of Ethiopia, Ermias Legesse, most of the Ethiopian government officials, including the Prime Minster of Ethiopia, were awarded dubious correspondence masters degrees from Azusa Pacific University. http://www.apu.edu/about/

Both ESAT and Mr. Ermias Legesse are accusing VOA that -since Peter Heinlein took charge of the VOA Amharic program- the broadcast is conducting its publication in the interest of the Ethiopian government, making unverified and one-sided narratives on controversial topics.

Two weeks ago, the Ethiopian opposition activist and journalist, Abebe Gellaw, made a voice recording when he spoke with Rachel White, and released the recording to ESAT on August 13th. In the recording, White states that “the University had in fact canceled the award program intended for the prime minster of Ethiopia based on information gathered from the US State Department’s Human Rights Reporthttp://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2013/af/220113.htm, and other news coming out of Ethiopia.” The voice recording also reaffirms that the university canceled the program because human rights are very important to Azusa Pacific University, and that “God is first” in their establishment.

The Ethiopian tax-paying, diaspora, listeners have every right to demand that the VOA-Amharic program produce the interview recordings with Rachel White of Azusa Pacific University. If unable to produce the recordings, the VOA-Amharic program should make an immediate statement that it has made unverified and unconfirmed reporting 15 days after the fact, about the cancellation of the honoring ceremony for the Prime Minster of Ethiopia, by the Azusa Pacific University.

Moving forward, it is also the responsibility of the Ethiopian diaspora to demand that VOA release unbiased reports that serve the interest of the United States government and the Interests of the US tax payers (i.e. Ethiopian Americans).

አሸባሪነት” በወያኔ አገዛዝ ሥር ባለችው ኢትዮጵያ

በአገራችን፣ በወያኔ አገዛዝ መደበኛ ትርጉማቸውን ከሳቱ በርካታ ቃላት መካከል “የሽብር ድርጊት“ እና ”አሸባሪ“ የሚሉት ግንባር ቀደሞቹ ናቸው። ሰፊ ተቀባይነት ያለው የአሸባሪ ትርጉም “የሽብር ድርጊቶችን የሚፈጽም ሰው ወይም ድርጅት” ማለት ነው። “የሽብር ድርጊቶች” የሚባሉት ደግሞ የተለመዱ ጥቃቶችን ሳይሆን የሀይማኖት፣ የፓለቲካ ወይም የርዕዮተዓለም ግብ ለማሳካት ሲባል በሰዎች ላይ ፍርሀትን ለማንገስ፤ በሰላማዊ ዜጎች ላይ የሚደርሱ አስከፊ ጥቃቶችን ነው። የሽብር ድርጊቶችን ሰላማዊውን ሕዝብ ጭዳ የሚያደርጉ በመሆኑ በጥብቅ ሊወገዙ ይገባል። ዓላማን በሽብር ድርጊቶች ማስፈፀም ተቀባይነት የሌለው ተግባር ነው።

በወያኔ መዝገበ ቃላት ግን “ሽብርተኛ” እና “የሽብር ድርጊቶች” በዘፈቀደ የሚነገሩ ተራ ቃላት ሆነዋል። ስለአገራቸው እና ስለትውልድ የሚጨነቁ፤ ሀሳባቸው በነፃነት የሚያራምዱ፤ የወያኔን ፕሮፖጋንዳ እንደ በቀቀን የማይደግሙ ዜጎች “አሸባሪዎች” እየተባሉ ወደ እስር ቤቶች እየተወረወሩ ነው። ጋዜጠኞች፣ ጦማርተኞች፣ ፍጹም ሰላምተኛ አማኞች እና ሰላማዊ ፓለቲከኞች በሽብርተኞች ዝርዝር ውስጥ ቀዳሚውን ሥፍራ የያዙ ናቸው።

በአንፃሩ ደግሞ እውነተኛው አሸባሪ ህወሓት፣ የመንግሥትን ሥልጣን ይዞ መላውን የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ማሸበሩን በስፋት ተያይዞታል። ህወሓት ዘረኛ ርዕዮተ ዓለሙን ለማስፈፀም ሲል ባለፉት ሠላሳ አምስት ዓመታት ውስጥ የፈፀማቸው የሽብር ድርጊቶች ተዘርዝረው አያልቁም። የህወሓት የሽብር ድርጊቶች ዓላማ የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ በፍርሀት አደንዝዞ መግዛት ነው። ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ደግሞ “አሸባሪ” የሚለውን ቃል ራሱ በማሸበሪያ መሣሪያነት እያዋለው ነው። ይህ የውስጥም የውጭም ታዛቢዎችን የሚያሳስት በመሆኑ ትኩረት የሚያሻው ጉዳይ ነው።

“የፀረ-ሽብር አዋጅ” የሚባለው ህገ-አልባነትን ህጋዊ ያደረገው ሰነድ የመንደር ካድሬዎች ሳይቀሩ አንድን ሰው በሽብርተኝነት “ጠርጥረው” ማሳሰርና ማስደብደብ አስችሏቸዋል። የአስተሳሰብ ድህነት ያጠቃቸው የህወሓት ካድሬዎች ብቻ ሳይሆኑ ኃላፊነት የጎደላቸው ፓሊሶችም የፀረ-ሽብር ህጉን ጉልበታቸውን ማሳያ እና ተፎካካሪዎቻቸውን ማጥቂያ አድርገውታል። በፀረ-ሽብር ህጉ ተከስሰው ወህኒ የወረዱ ዜጎችን ያጤነ ማንኛውም ሰው ኢትዮጵያ አገራችን በዚህ ህግ ሰበብ ምርጥ ዜጎቿን እያጣች እንደሆነ ይገነዘባል።

በሽብርተኝነት ለመጠርጠር የሚያበቁ ምክንያቶች እጅግ አሳዛኝ ናቸው። ለካድሬ ሰበካ እውነተኛነት ጥርጣሬውን የገለፀ አስተዋይ ሰው መሆን ብቻውን እንኳን በሽብርተነት ያስጠረጥራል። በዚህም ምክንያት ነው በእውቀትም በአስተሳሰብም የበሰሉ ዜጎቻን በአሸባሪነት የመፈረጅ እድላቸው ከፍተኛ የሆነው። የንቅናቄዓችን ዋና ፀሐፊ አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን ጨምሮ በርካታ የሀገራችን ምርጥ ዜጎች የዚህ የተዛነፈ ትርጓሜ ሰለባ ሆነዋል። ተስፋ የሚጣልባቸው በርካታ ወጣቶች በዚህ ህገ-ወጥ ህግ እና የተሳሳተ ትርጓሜ ምክንያት የወጣትነት እድሜዓቸውን በእስር ቤት እንዲያሳፉ ተገደዋል። ከዚያ የበዙት ደግሞ በቃሉ ተሸማቀው፤ በሚያስከፍለው ዋጋ ተሸብረው ራሳቸውን እንዲደብቁ ተደርገዋል።

ለመሆኑ ኢትዮጵያ ያፈራቻቸው ምርጥ ዜጓቿ በአሸባሪነት ስም ወህኒ እየተወረወሩ ሲሰቃዩ ምላሻችን ምን ሊሆን ይገባል? እስከመቼ አስተዋይ፣ አርቆ አሳቢና አመዛዛኝ የሆኑ መሪዎቻችንን ለወያኔ ፋሽቶች እየገበርን እንኖራለን? ሀገራችን ይህን ኪሳራ የመሸከም አቅም አላት?

ግንቦት 7: የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ወያኔን ለማስወገድ የተሻለ ነው ብሎ ያመነበት የትግል ስልት – ሁለገብ የትግል ስልት ነው። በዚህ የትግል ስልት መሠረት ሕዝባዊ ተቃውሞ፣ ሕዝባዊ እምቢተኝነት እና ሕዝባዊ አመጽ ተደጋግፈውና ተናበው መሄድ አለባቸው ብሎ ያምናል። ስለሆነም እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ በአመቸውና በሚያምንበት መንገድ ለትግሉ አስተዋጽኦ የማበርከት እድል አለው።

በዚህም መሠረት ለሀገር፣ ለትውልድ ድህንነት ዋጋ ለመክፈል እና ለገዛ ራሳችን ህሊና ታማኝ ለመሆን በወያኔ “አሸባሪ” ለመባል መድፈር የትግላችን አንዱ አካል አድርገን መቁጠር ይኖርብናል። በወያኔ “አሸባሪ” መባል የሚያሸማቅቅ ሳይሆን የሚያኮራ፤ ለታላቅ ኃላፊነት እና ሕዝባዊ አደራ በእጩነት የሚያቀርብ መሆኑን በራሳችንም በማኅበረሰባችንም ውስጥ ማስረጽ ይኖርብናል። “አሸባሪ” የሚለው ቃል በወያኔ ተግባር መሠረት ሲተረጎም “ለሀገርና ለትውልድ ደህነት የሚጨነቅ ምርጥ ዜጋ“ ማለት እንደሆነ ማስተማር ይገባናል።

ወያኔ ወደ ሕዝብ የሚወረውረውን ጦር መልሰን ወደ ራሱ መወርወር ይኖርብናል። ወያኔ አሸባሪነት ዜጎችን ለማጥቂያ እያዋለው መሆኑ ተረድተን እኛ በዚህ ስያሜ መሸማቀቅ ሳይሆን፣ መኩራትና መልሰን ወያኔን ማሸማቀቅ ይኖርብናል። በውጭ አገራት እየተስፋፋ የመጣው የወያኔ ሹማምንትን የማሸማቀቅ ዘመቻ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥም መጀመር ይኖርበታል።

ሕዝባዊ ተቃውሞ፣ ሕዝባዊ እምቢተኝነትና ሕዝባዊ አመጽ ሲቀናጁ ድላችንን ያፈጥናሉ። በወያኔ “አሸባሪ” መባል የመልካም ዜግነት ምስክርነት እንደሆነ በሙሉ ልባችን እንቀበል።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ！！！