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Summary & Updates:
On January 6, the State Department urged that those charged be given a fair opportunity to defend themselves and that the other thousands of people who were arrested either be released or charged. The South African Legalbrief Today reported on January 9 that defense lawyers boycotted proceedings in which bail was denied to the 131 defendants accused of treason and planning to commit genocide on the grounds that their limited access to the defendants was in violation of the Ethiopian constitution. Among the accused are five Ethiopian Voice of America reporters, who have been charged in absentia.
Human Rights Watch, on January 13, released a report identifying abuses not just in the capital of Addis Ababa, but in more rural areas, where opposition members have been intimidated, subjected to violence, and detained. The report also noted that seeds and fertilizer have been withheld from farmers supporting the opposition. Peter Takirambudde, director of Human Right’s Watch’s Africa Division, observed that in order to make sure that precedent of detaining individuals is not allowed to develop, “Donor governments should call on the Ethiopian government to ensure that all detainees are either promptly charged and given fair trials, or released.” In addition, Takirambudde called for “donor governments [to] insist on an independent, credible investigation into abuses by federal police and local officials in rural as well as urban areas.” Ten percent of Ethiopia’s federal budget consists of foreign assistance.
Timeline:
- The military government was thrown out of power in 1991
- Constitution was written in 1994
- Elections followed for the first time in 1995
- Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came into power in 1995
- Ethiopia and Eritrea engaged in a border war from 1998-2000
- In May of 2005, parliamentary elections were deemed flawed by outside observers. Over 40 people were killed in ensuing protests in June.
- In November of 2005, 46 were killed in renewed protests over the May elections. Up to 8,000 people were arrested. Thousands are still being detained without having been charged.
- On December 21, 2005, 131 people, many of them arrested after the November riots were charged; among those charged were journalists and opposition leaders. They stand accused of treason for attempting to overthrow the government in the November riots.
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