Ethiopian Politicians Making the Rounds in the U.S.

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Also:
- Today's Top HEADLINES
- INTERNATIONAL news
- Picture of the Day - (millennium edition featuring Faces of Ethiopia)
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“For the sake of political stability and political dialogue we decided to accept the proposal from the elders” - Gizachew Shiferaw On signing the pardon letter

"U.S. government should do more to ensure human rights are protected in Ethiopia" - Hailu Shawel On U.S. foreign policy

"The ultimate desire is for all principles contained in the bill to be implemented" - Brook Kebede On HR 2003

Members of an Ethiopian opposition party who were jailed for 20 months in connection with a disputed election are lobbying the Bush administration and Congress to pressure Ethiopia to support a more open and democratic society.

Members of the CUD delegation also plan to travel to various U.S. cities in an effort to continue to organize Ethiopian Americans and to thank them for providing financial and political support during their incarceration.


The CUD members were among a group of 38 who were pardoned in July after being imprisoned since November 2005. They had been arrested after months of unrest in Ethiopia that followed elections in May of that year.

A report written by the European Union called the election the “most competitive” Ethiopia had ever held, but said it was “marred by irregular practices, confusion and lack of transparency.” The report credited the government for allowing relatively unbiased campaign coverage in the weeks before the election but said support of Democratic institutions waned in the weeks following the disputed vote.

Government police reportedly arrested as many as 30,000 people in the weeks after the elections. Most were released soon after, but around 70 top CUD members were kept in jail, drawing condemnations from human rights groups and foreign governments. Most were released in July and August after receiving pardons.

The pardons came after eight months of negotiations from a group of elders. CUD members said they signed the letters seeking the pardons, which included apologies to the government, even though they believed they had not committed any crimes.

“For the sake of political stability and political dialogue we decided to accept the proposal from the elders,” said CUD member Gizachew Shiferaw, who was elected to a seat in parliament but refused to accept it unless the government agreed to a list of eight conditions CUD members said would promote democracy.(More...)

Today's Top HEADLINES

-SOMALI OPPOSITION ALLIANCE BEGINS FIGHT AGAINST ETHIOPIA
-UN calls for Human rights probe in Ogaden
-O.N.L.F STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO UN REPORT
-ETHIOPIAN GOVT. STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO UN REPORT
-US endorses Arab-African peace force for Somalia
-Shabelle Media Network Closes Radio Station
-Envoy Cites 'Lack of Confidence’ in Somali Government

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"The Failure of 'Reconciliation' and 'Reconstitution' Opens Up a Political Vacuum

(Independent analysis by PINR)

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR) is an independent organization that utilizes open source intelligence to provide conflict analysis services in the context of international relations. PINR approaches a subject based upon the powers and interests involved, leaving the moral judgments to the reader.(More...)
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INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES

-Violence reignites in Sierra Leone
-Bin Laden to declare war on Musharraf, al-Qaida says
-BURMA monks escalate pressure on junta
-EU urges Israel to reconsider Gaza "enemy" status
-New York: Iran's leader can't visit ground zero
-Thousands rally in La. to support Jena 6

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LEBANON REACTS TO YET ANOTHER POLITICAL ASSASSINATION

[Audio Report]

Stores, banks and some government offices were closed in many parts of Beirut to mourn the slaying of Christian member of parliament Antoine Ghanem in a car bomb explosion, Wednesday. Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.(More..)

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PICTURE OF THE DAY - FACES OF ETHIOPIA^{Millennium edition}

(western Ethiopia, Anuak girl)

(The Anuak of Ethiopia reside in the Gambela Region. The Anuak live a tight-knit community life. The villages are run by headmen, but these can be removed if their behavior or judgment is considered unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactoriness includes being dictatorial, as according to Anuak philosophy there are no "God-men." All family and other disputes are resolved democratically within the village. The region is hot and tropical with rich, fertile, well-watered soil coming from the rivers originating in the mountains of the highlands where there is a much cooler, dryer climate.)

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