“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”, decreed Maya Angelou, the great African American author, poet, dancer, actress and singer.
“I shall persevere!” wrote Eskinder Nega, the imprisoned and preeminent …
Blog Archives
“We Shall Persevere, Ethiopia!”
Tagged with: abel wabela, abraha desta blogger, abubekar ahmed, alfred dreyfus france, andualem aragie, asmamaw hailegeorgis, befeqadu hailu, bekele gerba, bulwer-lytton pen, edom kassaye, Eskinder Nega, eskinder nega nafkot, eskinder serkalem nega, great ethiopian run to freedom, i shall persevere eskinder nega, joseph campbell power myth, kangaroo monkey court ethiopia, mahlet fantahun, meles zenawi prison kality, natnael feleke, politics, reeyot alemu, robert f. kennedy moral courage, shakespeare greatness, she-ro maya angelou, swedish journalists johan persson martin schibbye ethiopia, tesfalem waldyes, the zone nine bloggers” including atnaf berahane, tigrean people’s liberation front tplf, william ernest henley poem invictus, woubshet taye, woubshet taye journalist, zelalem kibret, Zone Nine bloggers
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Who is afraid of the E(thiopian) bloggers?
Who is afraid of Eskinder Nega, Reeyout Alemu, Woubshet Taye, Zone Nine bloggers…?
The “dean” of independent Ethiopian journalists and blogger extraordinaire, Eskinder Nega, is serving an 18 year sentence for blogging. The late Meles Zenawi personally ordered Eskinder’s arrest …
Tagged with: Eskinder Nega, ethiopian bloggers, free press ethiopia, jailed ethiopian journalists, Reeyout Alemu, woubshet taye, Zone Nine bloggers
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
EITI or Clare’s Corruption Club?
Clare Short has won! Congratulations, Clare! Brava!
Last week, Clare Short, Chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), succeeded in bullying the EITI Board members into voting to admit the ruling regime in Ethiopia into her Club. She did …
Tagged with: african thugtators, clare avenger, clare short eiti open letter, clare short guantanamo. clare short iraq, david cameron, ed milliband, eiti, eiti corruption club central, eiti idrissa nwadishi katende, eiti member countries, eiti pwyp, Eskinder Nega, Ethiopia Free Press, ethiopia human rights council, ethiopia proclamation charities society, Ethiopia World Bank, ethiopian women lawyers association, ethiopian young women protest, gordon brown, harriet harman, international monetary fund ethiopia, john major, jonas moberg eiti, maggie thatcher, politics, reyot alemu, richard dowden clare short british journalist, Thugtatorship Africa, tony blair, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: Beyond the Hubris of Evil
When I wrote a commentary on the plight of the imprisoned 32-year old Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu last April, I titled it “The Audacity of Evil in Ethiopia.” At the time, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had
Tagged with: Eskinder Nega, Ethiopia News, reeyot alemu, reeyot alemu courage journalism award, reeyot alemu ethiopia, reeyot alemu free press, reeyot alemu hellman hammett award, reeyot alemu hunger strike, reeyot alemu international women’s media foundation, reeyot alemu iwmf, reeyot alemu jailed journalist, reeyot alemu political prisoner, reeyot alemu sakharov prize freedom thought, reeyot alemu world press freedom prize award, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Corruption in the Ethiopian JUST US Sector
For the past several months, I have been commenting on the findings of the World Bank’s “Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia”, a 448-page report covering eight sectors (health, education, rural water supply, justice, construction, land, telecommunications and mining). In …
Tagged with: alemayehu mariam, corruption world bank ethiopia justice sector, Eskinder Nega, ethiopia birtukan midekssa, ethiopia bribes, ethiopia cud kinijit, Ethiopia due process, Ethiopia Human Rights Violations, ethiopia independence judiciary, ethiopia justice system, Ethiopia Kangaroo Court, ethiopia muslim activists, ethiopia petty corruption ethiopia grand corruption, ethiopia police corruption, ethiopia police state, ethiopia terrorism, Ethiopia World Bank, orwell 1984 ministry of truth, reeyot alemu, tigrean people’s liberation front, TPLF ethiopia, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Power Africa? Empower Africans!
Power, power, power…
When President Obama recently visited Africa, he announced a “Power Africa” initiative. In his Cape Town University speech, he proclaimed, “I am proud to announce a new initiative. We’ve been dealing with agriculture. We’ve been dealing with …
Tagged with: abubekar ahmed, africa power $7 billion, africa power outages blackouts, ahmedin jebel, alemayehu g mariam, america sanctions zimbabwe, andualem aragie, bekele gerba, corruption africa, corruption ethiopia, eskinder nega new york times, ethiopia nile dam, Ethiopian Political Prisoners, imani ghanaian center for policy and education, obama africa visit, obama cape town speech, obama power africa, olbana lelisa, politics, power problem africa, reeyot alemu, washington fellowship for young african leaders, woubshet taye, young african leaders initiative
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: Shadowboxing Smoke and Mirrors
Meles Zenawi when he was alive and his apostles today (“Melesistas”) keep playing us in the Diaspora like a cheap fiddle. They make us screech, shriek, scream and shout by simply showing their mugs in our cities. How do they …
Tagged with: (b) (d), 15 u.s.c. 78o–5(a), 17 cfr 401.9, california corporations code section 25540, california corporations code sections 25110-25118, Eskinder Nega, ethiopia blue nile dam, Ethiopia Committee to Protect Journalists, ethiopia dams, Ethiopia Human Rights, Ethiopia Human Rights Watch, ethiopia power production, ethiopia selling unregistered securities, ethiopia villagization, Ethiopia World Bank, ethiopia world bank corruption, ethiopia zombies, ethiopian diaspora, ethiopian diaspora activists, fela kuti zombie, gene from dictatorship democracy, grand meles dam, melesistas meles, politics, reeyot alemu, section 20(b) securities act 1933, section 20(d) securities act 1933, section 8a securities act 1933, subd. (a), Water War Egypt Ethiopia, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
The Audacity of Evil in Ethiopia
Triumph of Evil?
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”, said Edmund Burke. But what happens when evil triumphs over a good young woman journalist named Reeyot Alemu in Ethiopia? Do good …
Tagged with: albert camus evil, alemayehu mariam, andualem aragie, aristotle nicomachean ethics, Birtukan Midekssa, Eskinder Nega, ethiopia berhan hailu, ethiopia committee protect journalists, ethiopia grand renaissance dam, evil edmund burke, holocaust, martin luther king evil, Meles Zenawi, meles zenawi prison kality, pen american center reeyot alemu, politics, questions 48 summa theologica, reeyot alemu, reeyot alemu amnesty international, reeyot alemu courage journalism, reeyot alemu international women media foundation, reeyot alemu unesco guillermo cano world press freedom prize 2013, rwanda genocide, rwandan gacaca courts, Serkalem Fasil, south africa truth and reconciliation commission, van allen radiation belt, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: Right in Prison, Wrong on the Throne
Last April, I wrote a “Special Tribute to My Personal Hero Eskinder Nega”. In that tribute, I groped for words as I tried to describe this common Ethiopian man of uncommon valor, an ordinary journalist of extraordinary integrity …
Tagged with: andualem aragie, anudalem aragie ethiopia political prisoner, birtukan mideksa al jazeera, birtukan mideksa political prisoner, charlayne hunter-gault eskinder nega, Eskinder Nega, eskinder nega carl bernstein, eskinder nega committee protect journalists, eskinder nega hellman hammet award, eskinder nega pen award, Ethiopia News, Ethiopia Political Prisoners, ethiopia ppress freedo, ethiopian government terrorism, evil wolf, good wolf, james russell lowell crisis, meles zenawi bank robber, meles zenawi prison kality, nelson mandela ethiopia, politics, reeyot alemu, reeyot alemu courage journalism award, reeyot alemu international women’s media foundation, senator patrick leahy eskinder nega, serkalem faisl ethiopia press, Serkalem Fasil, Temesgen Desalegn, temesgen desalegn ethiopia press, temesgen desalegn ethiopia press freedom, tigrayan peoples liberation movement terrorist organization, tribute eskinder nega, world press heroes eskinder nega, woubshet taye, woubshet taye ethiopia press freedom
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: The Prototype African Police State
The sights and sounds of an African police state
When Erin Burnett of CNN visited Ethiopia in July 2012, she came face-to-face with the ugly face of an African police state:
…We saw what an African police state looked like
Tagged with: 2011 u.s. state department country reports on human rights practices ethiopia, 2013 world report, alan paton cry beloved country, alemayehu g mariam, Andualem Arage, andualem ayalew, Article 12 Ethiopia constitution, article 17 ethiopian constitution, article 7 (e) (g) rome statute, article 9 1948 universal declaration of human rights, article 9 international covenant on civil and political rights, Birtukan Judge, Birtukan Midekssa, birtukan prison, congressman christopher smith ethiopia, erin burnett cnn ethiopia, Eskinder Nega, Ethiopia accountability, ethiopia african police state, Ethiopia Apartheid, ethiopia arbitrary arrest detention, Ethiopia Corruption, ethiopia european union election observer group, ethiopia federal police, ethiopia hadid shafi ousman, ethiopia massacre 193, ethiopia meles radio mille collines, Ethiopia News, ethiopia police state, ethiopia robocops, ethiopia thug state, ethiopia zemedkun police chief, ethiopian muslims illegal search homes, international criminal court fatou b. bensouda, ken ohashi ethiopia, kinfemichael debebe, meles mel-welliana, meles police state, mitiku damte, nathnael mekonnen, politics, reeyot alemu, solomon kifle voice of america, voice of america ethiopia, woubshet taye, yeshiwas yehunalem, yohannes terefe, zerihun gebre-egziabher
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
The Free Press in Ethiopia’s Kangaroo Kourts
Alemayehu G Mariam
The Triumph of Lies
Over the past six years, I have written numerous columns defending press freedom in Ethiopia. In a 2009 commentary entitled, “The Art of War on Ethiopia’s Independent Press”, I expressed …
Tagged with: al shebab, Andualem Arage, andualem aragie, andualem aragie. convicted, debebe bereded, donald booth us ambassador ethiopia, Eskinder Nega, eskinder nega ethiopia, ethio, ethiopia amnesty international, ethiopia anti-terrorism law, Ethiopia Committee to Protect Journalists, ethiopia journalsits, ethiopia kangaroo courts, ethiopia martin schibbye johan persson, Ethiopia News, hirut kifle, kafkaesque kangaroo kourts ethiopia, kinfemichael, Meles Zenawi, meles zenawi zenawi war free press, nathnael mekonnen, nathnael mekonnen gebre kidan, political prisoner ethiopia, reeyot alemu, senator patrick leahy ethiopia, temesgen desalegn feteh, woubshet taye, zerihun gebre-egziabher
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: The Sky(pe) is Falling!
Alemayehu G. Mariam
The Sky is Falling!
Most of my readers know how much I enjoy “bedtime stories”. Recently, I wrote about my favortie bedtime story of Pinocchio in Africa. Ever heard of the story of Chicken Little? One …
Ethiopia’s Awramba Times: More Powerful Than…
Alemayehu G. Mariam
Awramba Times: More Powerful Than Ten Thousand Bayonets
“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets,” fretted Napoleon Bonaparte, dictator of France, as he summed up his determination to crush that country’s independent
…
Tagged with: abé tokichaw, abe tokichaw and mehret tadesse, abel alemayehu, Awramba Times, benjamin franklin, Dawit Kebede, dawit kebede awramba times, elias gebru, Ethiopia Committee to Protect Journalists, Ethiopia Economist Magazine, ethiopia foreign correspondents, ethiopia swedish journalists, ethiopia terror law, ethiopian reporters exiled, first amendment, fitsum mammo, george washington free press, gizaw legesse, mekdes fisseha, Meles Zenawi Dictator, meles zenawi ethiopia, moges tikuye, nafkot yoseph, napoleon press freedom, nebyou mesfin, politics, satirist abebe tolla, team awramba times, teshale seifu, there is my country, thomas jefferson free press, tigist wondimu, tribute awramba times, where liberty is, wosenseged g kidan, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News
Ethiopia: Kangaroo Justice for Two Swedish Journalists
Alemayehu G. Mariam
Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye in Kangaroo Court
The old adage is that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Could it be said equally that arrogance excuses ignorance of the law? Dictator-in-chief Meles Zenawi recently proclaimed …
Tagged with: african charter on human and people’s rights art. 7 (b), Awramba Times, Birtukan Midekssa, Bulcha Demeksa, diktat, dr. negasso gidada president, Eskinder Nega, Ethiopia 2005 Elections, ethiopia constitution art. 13 (2), ethiopia crimes against humanity, ethiopia cud, ethiopia geneva convention, Ethiopia Human Rights Watch, ethiopia lundin petroleum, ethiopia terrorism, ethiopia u.s. state department country reports on human rights practices, ethiopia war crimes, ethiopian constitution under art. 20 (3), freelance journalism, freelance swedish journalists, Ginbot 7, international covenant on civil and political rights art. 14 (2), johan persson, Kangaroo Court, martin schibbye, ogaden national liberation front, ONLF, politics, presumption of innocence, reeyot alemu, shimeles kemal, sweden ethiopia, swedish foreign minister carl bildt, universal declaration of human rights art. 11, woubshet taye
Posted in Ethiopia News
Posted in Ethiopia News