Ethiopian Bloggers, Journalists Charged with 'Terrorism' .....AFP

Addis Ababa:  A group of Ethiopian bloggers and journalists detained for nearly three months have been charged with terrorism for having links to an outlawed group and for planning attacks, a judge said Friday.

The seven members of the blogging collective Zone Nine and three journalists were arrested in April, prompting an outcry from rights groups who said the case was an assault on press freedom.

The group is accused of planning attacks in Ethiopia and working in collusion with the US-based opposition group Ginbot 7, labelled by Ethiopian authorities as a terrorist organisation.

"They took training in how to make explosives and planned to train others," Judge Tareke Alemayehu told the court.

The Zone Nine website, proclaiming "we blog because we care!" features mostly social and political commentary, often critical of the government.

Ethiopia: UK Aid Should Respect Rights

Ruling Permits Review of Development Agency’s Compliance

JULY 14, 2014

(London) – A UK High Court ruling allowing judicial review of the UK aid agency’s compliance with its own human rights policies in Ethiopia is an important step toward greater accountability in development assistance.

In its decision of July 14, 2014, the High Court ruled that allegations that the UK Department for International Development (DFID) did not adequately assess evidence of human rights violations in Ethiopia deserve a full judicial review.

“The UK high court ruling is just a first step, but it should be a wake-up call for the government and other donors that they need rigorous monitoring to make sure their development programs are upholding their commitments to human rights,”

The Great Honor of Being Andargachew Tsige

July 10, 2014

by Alem Mamo

The path of struggle for justice, democracy, and freedom has been and always will be tough and full of up and downs. This is simply because those who want to remain at the helm of power will never relinquish their brutal machinery of oppression voluntarily. In fact, they will do whatever they can to continue torturing, killing, pillaging, and looting their country. These are bandits turned into ‘governments’; there is no discernable difference between them and organized crime or mafia. They kidnap, murder, torture, and steal. The only difference is that they have self-serving laws and kangaroo courts where they can display some kind of political drama to play the fictional act of ‘national security’ or, in the language of TPLF/”E” PRDF, ‘anti-peace forces’.

The illegal abduction of Andargachew Tisge: Ginbot7 Europe Network

July 6, 2014

Call to the International Community on Andargachew Tisge

by Ginbot7 Europe Network

The illegal abduction of Andargachew Tisge, Secretary General of Ginbot7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy and his extradition by Yemen Security forces to the brutal totalitarian regime in Ethiopia violates international law and principle of Non-refoulement. The people of Ethiopia indeed considers the illegal actions of Yemen Security forces on detaining and transferring Mr. Andargachew to the dictatorial regime in Ethiopia as direct attack on its long aspiration and struggle for genuine democracy in the nation.

Why is Ethiopia the second poorest country on the planet? By Prof. Al Mariam

Recently, a well-known correspondent for one of the major American media outlets stationed in Ethiopia sent me an email grousing about my article urging boycott of Coca Cola in Ethiopia. He wrote, “I’m sorry to be blunt, but I don’t understand the thrust of this article [on boycotting Coca Cola]. You seem intent on misleading at least some of your ‘millions’ of readers that Ethiopian politics is simply evil regime vs angelic (and united) opponents.”

My response to the befuddled foreign correspondent was terse, swift and unapologetic. “It is. Deal with it! I am not sorry to be blunt. It is your right to mindlessly parrot the regime’s line!!!” When one’s journalistic accreditation and privileged existence in Ethiopia depends on one’s choice of words and reportorial insipidity, timidity masquerading as integrity and neutrality becomes a journalistic virtue.

No Country for Ethiopian Human Rights Abusers

June 23, 2014

by Alemayehu G. Mariam*

The U.S. Justice Department encourages Ethiopians to report human-rights abusers hiding in plain view in America

They are hidden in plain view. They have been hiding in plain view in the U.S. for over 30 years. They have been hiding in plain view in the U.S. for just three years.

They skulk around most of the major urban centers from New York City to Los Angeles. They swagger about in public places and places of worship in designer suits with an air of untouchability. They slither in and out of popular coffee shops.