Ethiopian activists protest Zenawi rule in demonstration near Camp David G-8 summit


THURMONT, Md. — Dozens of police officers in riot gear contained more than 200 Ethiopian activists who jammed a small Maryland town’s square Saturday to protest their prime minister’s involvement in a global economic summit at nearby Camp David.

Authorities reported no arrests during the three-hour demonstration that shut down the intersection of two state highways through the center of town. The commotion drew scores of spectators, many using cameras to document their town’s latest role in world affairs.

The flag-waving Ethiopian immigrants, mainly residents of the Baltimore-Washington area, were protesting the rule of Meles Zenawi, who was invited along with the heads of Benin, Ghana and Tanzania to discuss food security with leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations. On Friday, President Barack Obama announced $3 billion in private-sector pledges to help boost agriculture and food production in Africa.

The United States is a major contributor of aid to Ethiopia, whose longtime leader has been accused of restricting freedoms and news media. Some in Ethiopia see him as a dictator.

“Shame on you!” chanted the protesters, many waving their country’s red, green and yellow flag.

Some held a banner reading, “Zenawi: brutal dictator, pathological liar, mass murderer.”

Police restricted demonstrators to Thurmont, a town of 6,200 several miles from the presidential retreat.

Demonstrator Woni Hailesilassi, a 33-year-old cab driver from Falls Church, Va., said he and four companions tried to drive their car to Camp David but were turned away after 25 minutes of police questioning.

“We need for the people to understand who is the president,” he said, referring to Zenawi. “We know him very well. We want to show that to the world.”

Local resident Cheryl Magers watched the demonstration from the front steps of Thurmont Barber & Styling, across the street from barricades.

“This is quite a commotion,” she said. “And it’s going to be a part of history. That’s why we’re here.”

A few doors down, Christina Spain sold $15 t-shirts reading, “I survived G-8 Summit 2012,” from a sidewalk table. She said she and her boyfriend had 84 of the shirts printed overnight to sell as souvenirs.

“This is not going to happen again,” she said.

Police said there were no arrests or other problems with the protesters.

“Everybody got to come and demonstrate peacefully. There were no issues and that’s what we were hoping for,” said Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Jason West, a spokesman for a combined local and state police force.

A handful of demonstrators from Occupy movements in Baltimore, Washington and New Haven, Conn., joined in. Occupy Baltimore member Richard Ochs said many others from the group went to Chicago to join demonstrations against a meeting there of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, starting Sunday.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Ethiopia: Presence of Ethiopia Contradicts Goal of G-8 Talks


press release

Washington, DC — Friday the G-8 leaders will begin a summit at Camp David, MD, with discussions focusing on the global economic recovery and food security in the developing world, with President Obama having invited the leaders of Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania to discuss food security, but the presence of Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is causing growing concern because of the land grab issue in his country and unaddressed human rights abuses there.

"Several years ago, I introduced legislation to sanction the Ethiopian government for the killing of peaceful protesters in 2005 and its broader violations of human rights," said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights. "Not only do human rights violations continue in Ethiopia, but the government has now added the element of displacing their own people in favor of foreign interests farming Ethiopian land instead of their own citizens. Having Ethiopia at the table to discuss food security is counter-productive based on their land policies.

"The only way the inclusion of Ethiopia at the G-8 summit makes sense is if this forum provides an occasion to have a serious discussion with Meles about his unacceptable treatment of Ethiopian citizens, including policies that have made more of his people's food insecure," Smith said.

According to recent human rights reports, the Ethiopian government is forcibly relocating 70,000 people from the Gambella region in the southwestern part of the country to make land available for foreign investment in agriculture. Those displaced Ethiopians now face a lack of food, new farmland or available health and education services for their families. An estimated 5,000 Anuak people has been forced to flee to Kenya and 8,000 Anuak are now refugees in South Sudan.

Previous State Department human rights reports have consistently cited Ethiopia for such human rights violations as unlawful killings, torture and other abuse of detainees, arbitrary arrest and detention, illegal searches and the use of excessive force by security services in counterinsurgency operations. The new State Department human rights report will be released shortly and is not expected to indicate a reduction of human rights violations in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012, convicted three Ethiopian journalists, an opposition leader, and a fifth person under an anti-terrorism law that one human rights organization claims violates free expression and due process rights. The ruling comes one month after two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of "rendering support to terrorism," based on their having illegally entered Ethiopia to investigate and report on abuses in the country's Ogaden area.

This time around, Ethiopians have successfully used the presence of Chenawi in G8 summit to make their voice heard. Job well done!

Man! Ethiopians are doing a good job in exposing the tyrant!