>From: "Dean Baker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "Jim Devine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Arrests in Ethiopia
>
>Jim,
>
>I had a note passed along to me (below) that Berhanu Nega, a friend of mine
>from Bucknell, has been arrested in Ethiopia, ostensibly for instigating a
>student strike at the national university. Berhanu was a New School alum and
>URPE member. (David Gordon was his dissertation advisor.) I've been trying
>to get people to write or call the Ethiopian embassy (ph 202-364-1200) to
>demand that Berhanu be released and that his rights be respected. (He still
>has not been allowed to see a lawyer.) It could make a big difference if
>they realize that people are watching....
>
>
>Colleagues,
>Please take note of the following information concerning the arrest in
>Ethiopia of former Bucknell Professor Berhanu Nega. We are advised that
>letters and messages may be helpful in securing his release. To cut to the
>chase, the most expeditious contacts appear to be the following:
> >
> >>His Excellency Meles Zenawi, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
> >>Via Fax: 2511-55-20-20
> >>
> >>Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
> >>U.S. Department of State
> >>Washington, DC 20520
> >>Fax: (202) 261-8577
> >>
> >>Ambassador Berhane Gebre-Christos
> >>Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States
> >>Embassy of Ethiopia
> >>3506 International Drive, NW
> >>Washington DC 20008
> >>Fax (202) 686-9551
> >>
> >International visibility may save lives here.
> >
> >John Peeler, President
> >Bucknell AAUP
>
>SUMMARY CONTENTS:
> >>
> >>This posting contains three documents concerning the recent arrests
> >>of human rights leaders Prof. Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Behanu
> >>Nega in Ethiopia and related repression of university students and
> >>other critics of the regime. The first two are statements from the
> >>Ethiopian Human Rights Council and from Human Rights Watch, both
> >>dated May 9. The third is a letter from the Association of Concerned
> >>Africa Scholars (ACAS).
> >>
> >>More recent reports say that Prof. Mesfin, the founder of the
> >>rights council who is 71 years old, is on a hunger strike, and that
> >>his health is weak. For an on-line petition organized by Ethiopian
> >>Scholars Network, see:
> >>http://www.PetitionOnline.com/EHR/petition.html
> >>For recent news, see
> >>http://allafrica.com/ethiopia
> >>and The Addis Tribune
> >>http://addistribune.ethiopiaonline.net/
> >>
> >>+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> >>
> >>Ethiopian Human Rights Council
> >>Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
> >>
> >>Call for the Immediate Release of Prof. Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr.
> >>Berhanu Nega
> >>
> >>Special Report No. 43/2001 9 May 2001
> >>
> >>EHRCO has an observer status in the African Commission on Human and
> >>People's Rights, is a member of World Organization Against Torture
> >>and is also a corresponding member of the International Federation
> >>of Human Rights.
> >>
> >>Contact: 2432 Addis Abeba, ETHIOPIA
> >>Tel: (00251 1) 51 44 89, 51 77 04
> >>Telefax: (00251 1) 51 45 39
> >>E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >>
> >>Since the time of its establishment, the Ethiopian Human Rights
> >>Council (EHRCO) has been striving to the best of its ability for
> >>
> >>the establishment of a democratic system, the respect of human
> >>rights, the prevalence of the rule of law and the exercise of due
> >>process in Ethiopia. In addition to the monitoring of human rights
> >>violations, EHRCO has been providing civic education to various
> >>members of the public, using such fora as seminars, workshops and
> >>panel discussions, to enhance awareness about human rights,
> >>democracy and the rule of law. EHRCO has been carrying out these
> >>activities as per its mandate in its constitution, especially as
> >>provided in its sub-article 4.2.4, which clearly states one of its
> >>tasks as being: "to organise seminars, workshops, panel
> >>discussions, and lectures in order to promote democracy, respect
> >>for human rights and the rule of law".
> >>
> >>It was on the bases of this mandate and its civic objectives that
> >>EHRCO organized a panel discussion on the topic of "human rights,
> >>the nature of a university, and academic freedom" for Addis Ababa
> >>University students. The topic was chosen by and the panel
> >>discussion was organized at the request of the former University
> >>Students Council, made in their letter of 6 February 2001.
> >>
> >>However, due to a number of logistical problems, the discussion was
> >>delayed until 8th April 2001 and held at the hall of the National
> >>Lottery. The two panelists at this day-long panel discussion were
> >>Prof. Mesfin Wolde Mariam, who dealt with the principles of human
> >>rights and the nature of a university, and Dr. Berhanu Nega, who
> >>spoke on the principles of academic freedom within a university. As
> >>EHRCO had repeatedly reported to the public, the discussion was
> >>held peacefully and the issues of democratic rights and academic
> >>freedom were discussed frankly, but responsibly.
> >>
> >>None of the speakers had said or done anything that could be
> >>construed as instigating the students to go on strike. That the
> >>panel discussion was held just one day before the university
> >>students met on campus and put forward their demands for the
> >>respect of their democratic rights and the exercise of academic
> >>freedom was a sheer coincidence since EHRCO did not have prior
> >>knowledge that the students would put to the government such
> >>demands, or that the subsequent class boycott would later be
> >>followed by the riot in Addis Ababa.
> >>
> >>However, following the riot in some parts of the city, various
> >>government officials have publicly been trying to put the blame for
>
> >>the riot on the opposition political parties and "some so-called
> >>human rights organizations". Despite the fact that the panelists
> >>dealt with a topic that was within the legitimate mandate of
> >>EHRCO's civic responsibilities, and in spite of the fact that the
> >>speakers, as usual in such cases, did not in any sense deviate from
> >>the panel discussion's objective of educating the students on
> >>fundamental democratic principles and universal human rights, the
> >>Federal Police arrested Prof. Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu
> >>Nega in the morning of 8th May 2001, the former from his home and
> >>the latter from his office, claiming that it had evidence "they had
> >>incited the students to riot".
> >>
> >>
> >>According to the statement of the Head of the Criminal
> >>Investigation Department of the Federal Investigation Coordination
> >>Bureau, the two individuals were put in detention pending further
> >>investigation (Addis Zemen, 9th May 2001). EHRCO has received
> >>information that indicates that the detainees were being held at
> >>the Central Investigation Bureau's prison. Eye witnesses have
> >>verified that the home of Prof. Mesfin and the office of Dr.
> >>Berhanu at the headquarters of the Ethiopian Economics Association
> >>are being guarded by armed policemen.
> >>
> >>The head office of EHRCO, too, has been put under police guard
> >>since 11.45 a.m. on the day of the arrest of the two people. The
> >>police are restricting everyone's movement in and out of these
> >>premises. Not only this, in the morning of 8th May, every activity
> >>of EHRCO's staff even within their offices was being closely
> >>checked by the security men, incoming calls monitored and outgoing
> >>calls restricted, the dispatch of documents and/or materials into
> >>and out of the office prohibited; the staff were frisked when they
> >>entered and left the office. From 4.00 p.m. on 8th May up to the
> >>time of issuing this Special Report, the staff were being prevented
> >>from entering their office by the policemen posted at the office,
> >>who have also been guarding it the whole night and thereafter.
> >>Under these restrictions, therefore, EHRCO was effectively being
> >>prevented from conducting its normal business within its head
> >>office.
> >>
> >>To date, all of EHRCO's activities have been legal, transparent,
> >>and peaceful. The panelists discussions on 8th April were also
> >>legitimate, constitutional and peaceful. Not only this, the two
> >>panelists were respectable citizens who have been providing
> >>commendable public services. Prof. Mesfin, a prominent founder of
> >>EHRCO, had been serving as the Council's Chairman from the time of
> >>its founding until a couple of years ago. He is still an active
> >>member of the Executive Committee. Dr. Berhanu, who was a former
> >>chairman of the Ethiopian Economics Association, is currently the
> >>Director of the Ethiopian Economic Research Institute. These are
> >>not the type of people who would be engaged in instigation of
> >>riots. The government, therefore, has no legal or moral ground
> >>whatsoever either to detain the two intellectuals or to impose
> >>restrictions on the normal activities at its head office.
>
> >>
> >>Consequently, EHRCO strongly urges the Ethiopian government to:
> >>
> >>* respect their right to bail and immediately release Prof. Mesfin
> >>Wolde Mariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega;
> >>
> >>* give their families and friends immediate access to the two
> >>detainees while they are in police custody;
> >>
> >>* allow representatives of the International Red Cross Committee
> >>and other international humanitarian organizations to have
> >>immediate access to the two detainees and to closely monitor their
> >>well-being;
> >>
> >>* stop the harassment of EHRCO's staff and lift the illegal
> >>restrictions imposed on the normal conduct of its business at its
> >>head office;
> >>
> >>
> >>EHRCO also calls on the Ethiopian public, private individuals,
> >>human rights organizations, international agencies and governments
> >>committed to the establishment of a democratic order in Ethiopia to
> >>use their influence and press the Ethiopian government to:
> >>
> >>o release without further delay Prof. Mesfin W/Mariam and Dr.
> >>Berhanu Nega;
> >>
> >>o ensure the well-being of the two detainees;
> >>
> >>o remove all the illegal restrictions on the legal and legitimate
> >>operations of EHRCO.
> >>
> >>Copy: H. E. Dr. Negaso Gidada, President of FDRE; H. E. Ato Meles
> >>Zenawi, Prime Minister of FDRE; House of Peoples' Representatives;
> >>House of Federation; H. E. Ato Woredewold Wolde, Minister of
> >>Justice; H.E. Ato Kemal Bedri, President of Federal Supreme Court;
> >>H. E. Ato Kinfe Gebre Medhin, Head, National Security, Immigration
> >>and Refugees Affairs Authority
> >>
> >>
> >>****************************************************************
> >>
> >>Government Attacks Universities, Civil Society
> >>
> >>Human Rights Watch (New York)
> >>http://www.hrw.org
> >>
> >>PRESS RELEASE
> >>
> >>May 9, 2001
> >>
> >>For More Information, Please Contact: In New York, Saman
> >>Zia-Zarifi: +1-212- 216-1213 SulimanAli Baldo: +1-212-216-1297 In
> >>London, Bronwen Manby: +44-207- 713-1995
> >>
> >>New York
> >>
> >>Ethiopian security forces have used excessive force in dealing with
> >>student protests and are using the protests as an excuse for
> >>cracking down on all government critics, Human Rights Watch charged
> >>today.
> >>
> >>Attacks by security forces on Addis Ababa University, in Ethiopia's
> >>capital, have led to forty-one deaths, hundreds of injuries, and
> >>the detention of over two thousand students and scores of
> >>government critics since April 17.
> >>
> >>"The government's heavy-handed tactics have enflamed what began as
> >>a peaceful local student protest into a violent national crisis,"
> >>said Saman Zia-Zarifi, Human Rights Watch's Academic Freedom
> >>Director.
> >>
> >>"The attacks on academic freedom have now degenerated into a
> >>wholesale assault on civil society in Ethiopia."
> >>
> >>On the morning of May 8, armed security forces arrested Prof.
> >>Mesfin Woldemariam and Berhanu Nega, both prominent academics and
> >>human rights activists. Prof. Mesfin, who was fired from his
> >>teaching position in 1991, was a founder of the Ethiopian Human
> >>Rights Council, a monitoring organization. His detention follows
> >>that of several dozen members of civil and political groups
> >>critical of the Ethiopian government. Authorities claim these
>
> >>opposition figures instigated the recent student protests.
> >>
> >>However, eyewitness testimony and information from local sources
> >>indicate that Ethiopian authorities responded with brutal violence
> >>to students demanding greater academic freedom, and are now using
> >>the ensuing crisis to justify a general crackdown on figures
> >>critical of the government.
> >>
> >>Security forces attacked students at Addis Ababa University on
> >>April 11, injuring more than fifty students. A week later, at least
> >>forty people were killed during raids at the university by heavily
> >>armed members of the Special Forces branch of the security forces.
> >>
> >>Eyewitnesses claim that the police raid on students escalated into
> >>widespread riots around Addis Ababa as protesters disaffected with
> >>government policies joined the clashes in support of the students.
> >>
> >>According to eyewitnesses, security forces fired live ammunition at
> >>protesters. Police reports stated that thirty-one people were
> >>killed in the raids, while hospital sources put the number of dead
> >>as at least forty-one. Some fifty-five people were hospitalized as
> >>a result of injuries sustained during the clashes. Witnesses state
> >>that the riot police beat civilians with batons though they offered
> >>no resistance, and then turned on bystanders, including women and
> >>children. Students were dragged out of local churches and mosques,
> >>where they had sought refuge, and taken into detention.
> >>
> >>More than two thousand students were detained during these raids.
> >>Most were released a few days later, but several who were suspected
> >>of being members of the university student council are still held
> >>incommunicado. The security forces have also rounded up nearly 150
> >>political activists and journalists critical of the government,
> >>many of whom are being held without any information as to their
> >>whereabouts.
> >>
> >>According to the testimony of newly released student detainees,
> >>they were taken to the Sendafa police training college outside
> >>Addis Ababa, where they received only bread and water once a day.
> >>Students were disciplined by being forced to run barefoot on stony
> >>ground, and were denied medical care or access to their families
> >>and lawyers. As a condition of release and readmission to the
> >>university, students said they were forced to sign a form admitting
> >>that they had participated in an illegal action and were
> >>responsible for the violence.
> >>
> >>Police again raided the Addis Ababa University campus on April 30,
> >>arresting several students suspected of playing leadership roles in
> >>the protests. Despite the police action, and contrary to the
> >>government's public statements, Addis Ababa University remains
> >>under a student boycott in support of the detained students. The
> >>unrest has spread to at least ten other universities and scores of
> >>high schools around the country, including Alemaya University of
> >>Agriculture and Bahir-Dar Polytechnic Institute.
> >>
> >>Academics interviewed by telephone by Human Rights Watch claim that
> >>security forces are blocking students at Addis Ababa from traveling
> >>to their home towns outside of the capital in order to prevent
>
> >>contact between protesters and sympathetic student groups around
> >>the country.
> >>
> >>Background At the root of the student protests are demands for
> >>greater academic freedom. Student groups at Addis Ababa University
> >>were engaged in ongoing negotiations with Minister of Education
> >>Genet Zewde over requests for decreased government controls over
> >>the campus. The students' main demands were permission to republish
> >>a banned student magazine, dismissal of two university
> >>administrators closely affiliated with the government, and removal
> >>of security troops stationed inside the campus.
> >>
> >>
> >>While the government initially conceded the first two demands, it
> >>did not commit to a schedule for removing security forces from the
> >>universities. When students continued to press their demands, the
> >>minister of education issued an ultimatum threatening students who
> >>did not return to classes with police force. The security forces'
> >>efforts to enforce the ultimatum, coming on the heels of continuing
> >>police use of violence to quash student protests, set off the
> >>clashes on April 17 and 18 at Addis Ababa University and the chain
> >>of events leading to the current crisis.
> >>
> >>The Human Rights Watch Academic Freedom program works with a
> >>committee prominent academic leaders and scholars, including the
> >>current and past presidents of Harvard University, Columbia
> >>University and more than a dozen other universities in the United
> >>States, as well as internationally prominent academics. Human
> >>Rights Watch urged the Ethiopian government to promptly investigate
> >>the conduct of security forces in causing the deaths during raids
> >>at Addis Ababa University; to release all students, government
> >>critics and human rights monitors still in detention, or promptly
> >>allow them the opportunity to defend themselves against formal
> >>charges in a proper court of law; and to honor academic freedom by
> >>allowing free expression at the universities.
> >>
> >>************************************************************
> >>
> >>May 11, 2001
> >>
> >>Dear ACAS members and friends,
> >>
> >>As many of you know, over the course of the last two months attacks
> >>by the Ethiopian government on students, scholars, and civil
> >>society activists have been accelerating. In addition we have been
> >>receving calls for assistance from Ethiopian colleagues.
> >>
> >>While we had hoped that the reopening of Addis Ababa university
> >>signalled a change for the better, the arrest this week of
> >>prominent academics and human rights scholars, among other similar
> >>measures, indicates otherwise.
> >>
> >>ACAS has thus written an appeal to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
> >>asking for him to reverse course, and assure once again free speech
> >>and academic freedom. This letter is immediately below.
> >>
> >>We would ask you to act as well, writing to:
> >>
> >>Prime Minister Meles: Fax: 251-1-55-2020
> >>
> >>US Secretary of State Colin Powell: Fax: (202) 261-8577
> >>Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >>
> >>Print addresses are on our letter below as well.
> >>
> >>We thank you for your assistance.
> >>
> >>Sincerely,
> >>
>
> >>Bill Martin, Merle Bowen Co-Chairs
> >>
> >>------------------------
> >>
> >>May 11, 2001
> >>
> >>His Excellency Meles Zenawi, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
> >>Via Fax: 2511-55-20-20
> >>
> >>Dear Prime Minister Meles,
> >>
> >>On behalf of the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (ACAS),
> >>a national organization of progressive scholars actively engaged
> >>with Africa, we write to urge that you take immediate steps to
> >>release detained students and scholars, and allow university
> >>communities to return to their work unhindered by state repression.
> >>
> >>ACAS and its members have a long history of respect and support for
> >>Ethiopian struggles for freedom; indeed Ethiopia has often been a
> >>
> >>source of inspiration for Americans. We are thus particularly
> >>disturbed by what can only be seen as a determined campaign to
> >>suppress free speech and academic freedom. Whatever the events and
> >>persons involved in the April disturbances in Addis Ababa, the
> >>subsequent attack on Addis Ababa University and other institutions
> >>of higher education shocked our members and many in the
> >>international academic community. The reports of subsequent summary
> >>arrests and the detention of thousands of students and
> >>scholars--without charges or trial--is of especially grave concern.
> >>The even more recent arrest of Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, the
> >>founding member of Ethiopian Human Rights Council, and Dr. Berhanu
> >>Nega, a prominent economist at Addis Ababa University, signals we
> >>fear an unrelenting campaign to eliminate all dissent, well beyond
> >>even the repression of those who work within the fields of higher
> >>education.
> >>
> >>We thus urge you to use your office to ensure the immediate release
> >>of all detained students, scholars, and related persons--or if
> >>evidence exists, their charge in public court. The continuation of
> >>sweeping arrests and detention without charges, the closure of
> >>universities and colleges, and the imposition of loyalty oaths as
> >>a condition of study and scholarship, gravely threatens Ethiopia's
> >>proud intellectual heritage, its continuation, and progressive
> >>relations between Ethiopia and the United States. We hope
> >>continuing repression can be reversed, and return Ethiopia to us as
> >>a signal beacon of the struggle for freedom for both Africa and
> >>America.
> >>
> >>Sincerely,
> >>
> >>Merle Bowen, Co-Chair
> >>William G. Martin, Co-Chair
> >>
> >> cc:
> >>Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
> >>U.S. Department of State
> >>Washington, DC 20520
> >>Fax: (202) 261-8577
> >>
> >>Ambassador Berhane Gebre-Christos
> >>Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States
> >>Embassy of Ethiopia
> >>3506 International Drive, NW
> >>Washington DC 20008
> >>Fax (202) 686-9551
> >>
> >>
> >>************************************************************
> >>This material is being reposted for wider distribution by
> >>Africa Action (incorporating the Africa Policy Information
> >>Center, The Africa Fund, and the American Committee on Africa).
> >>Africa Action's information services provide accessible
> >>information and analysis in order to promote U.S. and
> >>international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
> >>political and social justice and the full spectrum of human rights.
>
> >>
> >>Documents previously distributed, as well as a wide range of
> >>additional information, are also available on the Web at:
> >>http://www.africapolicy.org
> >>
> >>To be added to or dropped from the distribution list write to
> >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information about reposted material,
> >>please contact directly the source mentioned in the posting.
> >>
> >>Africa Action / Africa Policy Information Center (APIC)
> >>110 Maryland Ave. NE, #508, Washington, DC 20002.
> >>Phone: 202-546-7961. Fax: 202-546-1545.
> >>E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >>************************************************************
> >>
> >>
> >>_________________________________________________________________
> >>Jean Shackelford Department of Economics
> >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] Bucknell University
> >>570-577-3441 (O) Lewisburg, PA 17837
> >>570-577-3451 (FAX)
>http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/jshackel
> >>
> >
>Charles Sackrey
>Economics Department
>Bucknell University
>Lewisburg, Pa. 17837
>(570) 577-3085
>
>
>Dean Baker ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
>Co-Director
>Center for Economic and Policy Research
>1015 18th Street, NW Suite 200
>Washington, DC 20036
>202-332-5218
>
>
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
