AN URGENT APPEAL – From Mesfin Wolde-Mariam

The UN Human Rights Commission

The African Union Human Rights Commission

The International Red Cross

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

And

All Men and Women of GOOD WILL

Reeyot Alemu is a budding Ethiopian poet, essayist, and journalist. There are not many Ethiopians of her caliber inside the country. She has been languishing in the famous Ethiopian Prison in Qalliti for almost three years. She was charged of terrorism, a crime she totally abhors. She was sentenced first for eighteen years but later reduced to three.

With the exception of her mother and father, she is not allowed to communicate with anyone, including her sisters, brothers as well as her fiancée.

Reeyot, although constantly in agonizing pain and in need of help, is held in solitary confinement with a very old and sickly foreign woman who herself requires assistance.

Reeyot is suffering from some growth in her breasts. The prison authorities have been reluctant to take her to hospital for medical checkup, even when her parents were prepared to pay the bill. When she became seriously ill she was allowed to see a doctor as a result of which

Dam! White Elephants in Ethiopia?

April 21, 2014

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Last week, in a bizarre display of faux outrage and indignation, the regime in Ethiopia unleashed its big “experts” to go after International Rivers, an organization that has been leading the global struggle to protect rivers and the rights of indigenous communities that depend on them for nearly three decades. International Rivers, headquartered in Berkeley, CA.,  is committed to promoting sustainable use of water and rivers throughout the world. The organization has done extraordinary work in Africa, Asia and Latin America to “prevent destructive dam development, promote effective flood management practices,