‘Freedom on the Net’ report says Ethiopia among the least free

October 16, 2013

According to the ‘Freedom on the Net 2013′ report, Ethiopia has been labeled as “least free” and ranked 79 from 100; 1 being the most free and 100 the least free. The report states that Ethiopia has one of the lowest internet and mobile telephone penetrations in the world as inadequate infrastructure, government monopoly over the telecom sector, and obstructive telecom policies have notably hindered the growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

The report further reads “Despite low access, the government maintains a strict system of control over digital media, making Ethiopia the only country in Sub Sahara Africa to implement nationwide internet filtering.”Ethiopia’s telecommunication

The AU’s Mass Treaty-cide Brinksmanship

October 13, 2013

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Charge of the light brigade

The African Union’s threatened “mass treaty-cide” (a phrase I am compelled to coin to describe the bizarre threatened walkout on the Rome Statute) fizzled out. Those who predicted the “extraordinary  summit” on the “AU’s relation with the International Criminal Court” (ICC) would end in a big bang were pleasantly amused to see it wrap up with a whimper about “undertaking consultation with members of the UN Security Council” to seek “deferral of proceedings against the President and Deputy President of Kenya as well as the President of the Sudan in conformity with Article 16 of the Rome Statute.” After all, October 11-12, 2013 will not live in infamy as I had feared. The scheme to convince the 34 Rome Statute signatory African states to commit “mass treaty-cide” was a total flop.

Witness for the International Criminal Court

Alemayehu G Mariam

On October 11-12, 2013, the African Union (AU) will gather in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to formally withdraw from the Rome Statute in supremely dramatic form. The world for the first time will witness a choreographed denunciation (announcement of termination) of an international treaty by an entire continent. This act of collective abrogation will be the greatest affront to the rule of international law since the end of World War II.

I write these words not to defend the Rome Statute (which created and authorized the International Criminal Court (ICC)  to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide) or fend off attacks on the integrity and professionalism of the ICC and the Office of the Prosecutor [OTP] (a branch of the ICC that investigates, and prosecutes such crimes).  I have attempted to do just that over the past two weeks. As a defense lawyer, I know all too well that there is no possible defense against ghostly lies and malicious falsehoods. I know there is no antidote to the poisonous accusation of racism leveled against those who seek to expose the truth and challenge those who abuse their powers. There is no defense when unfounded allegations of racism are used as gaudy wrappers for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

Ethiopian Government Choking Muslim Unrest

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 10 (IPS) – The refusal by the Ethiopian government to redress grievances harboured by the Muslim community here, which comprises about 34 percent of the country’s 91 million people makes this Horn of African nation vulnerable to extremism.

“If legitimate grievances are not met there is a risk that extremist violent elements will exploit those grievances to further their own aim,” Mehari Taddele Maru, head of the African Conflict Prevention Programme at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, told IPS.

Ethiopia’s Muslim community has been taking part in major demonstrations over the last two years against the country’s ruling regime for alleged interference in its religious affairs. The majority of Ethiopians are Christian.

The mass protests have been non-violent but the Sep. 21 terror attack by the Somali extremist group Al-Shabaab on Kenya’s Westgate

Saving African dictators from ICC by Alemayehu G.Mariam

Alemayehu G Mariam

Note to the reader: In my commentary last week, I defended the International Criminal Court (ICC) against accusations of “race hunting”, selective and arbitrary prosecution and abuse of power by certain African leaders.  This week I continue my defense, in a rather lengthy commentary, by exposing and scrupulously refuting the bogus arguments articulated  by these leaders and their minions to evade accountability for crimes committed in violation of international humanitarian law.

I defend the ICC not because it is a perfect judicial institution or system but because it is an imperfect one that can be perfected over time with the support and cooperation of the community of nations. I also defend the ICC because cunning race-baiters have used their poison-tipped spear of “race hunting” accusations to disarm, impale and render it defenseless. It is conventional wisdom

Ethiopian Hydropower Dam Assessment Warns of Structural Weakness

Bloomberg News

By William Davison, October 03, 2013

Ethiopia’s plan to build Africa’s biggest hydropower dam on the main tributary of the Nile River must address concerns that there may be flaws in the design of its foundations, a group of international experts said.

They also called for further studies on what impact the 6,000-megawatt, $4.7 billion project may have on the downstream nations of Sudan and Egypt, the International Panel of Experts said in a report e-mailed to Bloomberg News and verified by Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry. Egypt, which relies on the Nile for almost all of its water, expressed alarm about the dam when Ethiopia in May diverted the Blue Nile as part of the construction process.

“Structural measures might be needed to stabilize the foundation to achieve the required safety against sliding” of the main dam, according to the report. There are also “weak zones” in the rock that will support an auxiliary dam that need to be studied, it said.

Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is part of a government plan to spend 569 billion birr ($30 billion) on infrastructure in the five years through mid-2015. The country,