ኢትዮ አዲስ_Ethio Addis

Breaking News: Peaceful Political Environment in Ethiopia is About to End! The press conference held at Addis Ababa Hilton Hotel by Pro-TPLF (Tigray People Liberation Front) Electoral board chairman Prof. Merga, states as it has suspended two prominent strong opposition parties in Ethiopia. These are ”Unity party” (Unity) and ”All Ethiopian Unity party” (AUP). Addis Ababa Hilton’s press conference states as acknowledgement is given by the electoral board to operate legally with in the nation is taken by force and given to the regime’s ‘Poppets’ parties’. These two TPLF duplicated parties will get green light to operate with an identical name of the suspended ones. Police Attack Peaceful Protesters in Addis Ababa ahead of National Election It is quite clear that the two TPLF poppets parties, introduced by Electoral board, do not have even formal office, council and even members are not yet disclosed. Many believe TPLF is creating its own ‘loyal party’ in the name of

Boycotting Ethiopian National Elections: Damn if You Do, Damn if You Don’t! I maintain that the upcoming elections will be a turning point for Ethiopia, not because they will result in a major change of policy subsequent to a renovation of the ruling elite but because the absence of change will compel opposition groups to reassess their strategies and the country as a whole will plunge further into the abyss of despair. While most reasonable people and opposition parties never contemplated the possibility of wining the elections and becoming the new ruling majority, nevertheless the expectation was—since the death of Meles Zenawi—for some opening, however narrow, to accommodate opposition groups. In light of the prevailing heightened repression and disqualification of some opposition parties from the competition by concocting bogus charges, the expectation proved utterly naïve. It is now patently clear that the EPRDF will use all available means to preserve the status q

Breaking News: UK diplomats clash over Briton on death row in Ethiopia UK diplomats clash over Briton on death row in Ethiopia: Officials’ fury after Foreign Secretary claims he couldn’t ‘find time’ to help father-of-three facing execution Andargachew Tsege was snatched by officials at Yemen airport last June The 59-year-old was transferred to Ethiopia where he is thought to remain Father-of-three moved to London in 1979 from native African country He was dubbed ‘Ethiopian Mandela’ after exposing government corruption Leaked emails revealed British officials’ frustration at political inaction Philip Hammond said he could not ‘find time’ for phone call on issue From left Andargachew Tsige’s wife Yemi Hailemariam, Andargachew Tsige and UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. (Mail Online)  An explosive row has erupted between diplomats and Ministers over their reluctance to help a British man on death row in Ethiopia. A series of extraordinary emails, obtained by The M

                                        Ethiopia: Media Being Decimated                                                          Legal, Policy Reforms Crucial Prior to May Elections (Nairobi) – The Ethiopian government’s systematic repression of independent media has created a bleak landscape for free expression ahead of the May 2015 general elections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. In the past year, six privately owned publications closed after government harassment; at least 22 journalists, bloggers, and publishers were criminally charged, and more than 30 journalists fled the country in fear of being arrested under repressive laws. The 76-page report, “‘ Journalism is Not a Crime’: Violations of Media Freedom in Ethiopia ,” details how the Ethiopian government has curtailed independent reporting since 2010. Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 70 current and exiled journalists between May 2013 and December 2014, and found patterns of gove

Leaked World Bank report rejects claims from the Bank’s management that no link existed between their programme and villagisation A major UK- and World Bank-funded development programme in Ethiopia may have contributed to the violent resettlement of a minority ethnic group, a leaked report reveals. A traditional homestead in Gambela, Ethiopia. The country’s government denies driving indigenous people from their homes in order to make way for commercial projects. Photograph: Ariadne Van Zandbergen / Alamy/Alamy The UK’s Department for International Development was the primary funder of a World Bank-run development project aimed at improving health, education and public services in Ethiopia, contributing more than £388m of UK taxpayer funds to the project. However, a scathing draft report of the World Bank’s internal watchdog said that due to inadequate oversight, bad audit practices, and a failure to follow its own rules, the Bank has allowed operational links to form betw

Mission Journal: Ethiopian journalists must choose between being locked up or locked out By Nicole Schilit/Journalist Assistance Associate   Journalists who fled to Nairobi over security fears perform a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony in one of the cramped apartments they share. (CPJ/Nicole Schilit) A sharp increase in the number of Ethiopian journalists fleeing into exile has been recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists in the past 12 months. More than 30--twice the number of exiles CPJ documented in 2012 and 2013 combined--were forced to leave after the government began a campaign of arrests. In October, Nicole Schilit of CPJ's Journalist Assistance program and Martial Tourneur of partner group Reporters Without Borders traveled to Nairobi in Kenya to meet some of those forced to flee. The group of reporters, photographers, and editors we met had all been forced to make a tough decision that has affected them and their families--

British MPs to visit Ethiopia in bid to secure release of Andy Tsege January 16, 2015 (The Independent) A delegation of British MPs will visit Ethiopia next month in a bid to secure the release of Andargachew “Andy” Tsege, a British father of three who is under a death sentence. Mr Tsege, 59, a leading critic of the Ethiopian government who came to Britain as a political refugee more than 30 years ago, has been held in solitary confinement for the past six months. He vanished during a stopover in Yemen last June, during a trip from Dubai to Eritrea, in what campaigners say was a politically motivated kidnapping. Weeks later it emerged he had been imprisoned in Ethiopia. His precise whereabouts remain unknown. The Briton, who is the secretary-general of a banned Ethiopian opposition movement, is facing a death sentence imposed at a trial held in his absence in 2009. The announcement of the visit by British Parliamentarians, yesterday, is in stark contrast to the efforts o