Former high ranking TPLF official speaks out

Also in the news: [Assefa Abrha's emotional statement sends court attendants to tears], [International Human Rights Clinic: military commits atrocities against Anuak civilians], [Talibanism in ethiopia: EMF]

International: [Botswana Bushmen win court case over land][Saudis to back Sunnis if U.S. leaves Iraq] [Slip of the tongue or a nuclear warning?] and more of today's top stories

Former high ranking TPLF official speaks out

(Mahder)

Gebremedhin Araya the former treasurer of the organization (TPLF) Speaks out for the first time in 15 years in this interview with Addey Ababa Radio. Mr. Gebremedhin has very harsh words for his former colleagues . (Audio 2:34 Min)

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The views and opinions of Mr. Gebremedhin and Adeyabeba radio expressed herein do not necessarily reflect that of the ETP editors.

Assefa Abrha's emotional statement sends court attendants to tears

EZ - Assefa Abreha, the former general manager of Privatization Agency presented an eloquent but emotional closing argument in the farcical corruption trial which includes his brother, former defense minister Siye Abrha. Assefa passionately argued how the prosecution was politically motivated sending some of the court attendants to tears. Like the jailed CUD leaders, Siye Abrha's visitation hours on weekends are limited to an hour a day. He is not allowed to meet other political prisoners.

Ethiopia: military commits atrocities against Anuak civilians
press release from the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) at Harvard, Dec. 13

(Cambridge, MA, December 13, 2006) – Soldiers in the Ethiopian military have killed, raped, and otherwise abused hundreds of Anuak civilians in the Gambella region of the country, the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) of Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program said today.

The IHRC is releasing a report tomorrow entitled “We are now hoping for death”: Violence and Grave Human Rights Abuses in Gambella, Ethiopia. It documents potential war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF). It also examines retaliatory attacks by armed Anuaks on the non-indigenous “highlanders.”

“Life in Gambella has become unbearable for civilians—regardless of the color of their skin,” the report says. “The brutal treatment of Anuak and highlanders by both the military and rebel forces ignores the international law protecting those civilians, and subjects them to atrocious treatment accompanied of rape, killing, beating, and torture.”

The IHRC report comes out on the third anniversary of the December 13 to 15, 2003, massacre in Gambella town that sparked this ethnic conflict. That week an armed group of alleged Anuak rebels attacked a convoy of highlanders, killing eight and mutilating the bodies. The ENDF responded brutally to the attacks, killing more than 400 Anuak civilians and burning 400 homes to the ground in a period of 72 hours.

Since then, the violence has continued. Today, armed members of another ethnic group, the Nuer, reportedly beat and killed children at an elementary school in Gambella town, showing the spread of the conflict. The IHRC report focuses on events in 2005 and 2006.(More...)

Talibanism?
EMF

The government of Meles Zenawi has called on all internet users to be registered as of today, EMF source said. Although the motives behind the registration order is not yet clear, sources suspect that the regime is trying to harass and stop internet users. All free press journalists are put in jail, all pro-democracy websites are blocked, and the use text messages are prohibited. By blocking modern communication systems from the people, Meles Zenawi is turning the country to a Taliban rule, source added.

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