Ethiopian Action for Unity and Democracy

For immediate release
January 19, 2001

The regime of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is coming up with more excuses to attack and disqualify opposition candidates. Last week, the regime disqualified 700 of the 1,400 candidates representing the All Amara People Organization (AAPO) and accused Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) of deceiving individuals into becoming its candidates.

Yesterday, January 18, the government controlled news agency, ENA, reported accusations by officials of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a party created and led by Meles Zenawi’s TPLF, that “some political parties were engaged in collecting candidature endorsement signatures claiming that they belong to the EPRDF.”

“The parties were also registering citizens as their candidates without their will and knowledge,” ENA quoted the EPRDF statement as saying.

ENA also reported that “two candidates of EPRDF in Woreda Seven of the capital said they had been bullied and beaten by EDP candidates.”

Both EDP and AAPO strongly deny these accusations. As we stated in our January 8 press release, such accusations are pretexts for attacking the opposition candidates to make sure that they don’t win seats in the upcoming local election.

We once again call on the international community, particularly those countries and international institutions that are giving financial backing to Meles Zenawi’s regime in Ethiopia to suspend their support until the regime stops its anti-democratic practices, release all prisoners of conscience and improves its human rights condition in Ethiopia. The continued support to this dictatorial regime will only embolden it, leading Ethiopia into further political crises and economic decline.

ETHIOPIAN DEMOCRATIC ACTION LEAGUE
Spokesperson: Gashu Habte, Ph.D.

Jan. 2, 2001

Demonstration at the Embassy of Bahrain We held another demonstration at the embassy of Bahrain today to demand fair trial for Yeshiworq Desta Zewdu, and fair treatment for Ethiopian migrant workers in Bahrain. A representative of the demonstrators also went inside the embassy to present a letter and discuss the case with the embassy officials. Today’s demonstration was held from 12 noon until 1 PM. A large number of Ethiopians participated in the demonstration despite the terrible cold weather.

We have been informed by the embassy officials that Yeshiworq has appealed her conviction and that the execution will not be carried out on January 7, 2001. According to the embassy, the appeal process alone will take time. This means there is a breathing room to provide Yeshiwork with a better legal representation, while continuing to apply political pressure on officials of the government of Bahrain. We urge every one to support the effort being made by the Ethiopian Women Lawyers’ Association on Yeshiworq’s behalf.

We are contacting various international women’s rights and human rights groups to help us with Yeshiworq’s case and also look into the abuse against Ethiopian migrant workers in Bahrain and the other Middle Eastern states. We currently exchanging information with the Human Rights Watch’s Women Rights Division.

At the same time, we are trying to address the root cause of this problem. Yeshiworq and tens of thousands of fellow Ethiopians are fleeing the country because the ruling Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) has devastated our country’s economy through its ethnic apartheid politics. Half of our population is unemployed and millions of them live in extreme poverty. Meanwhile, TPLF officials, cadres and cronies are amassing incredible wealth. That is why we are confronting a high level TPLF trade delegation that is coming to the USA in two weeks to spread its deceitful propaganda. On Sunday, January 14, starting at 4 PM, the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC will host a reception and dinner for the TPLF trade delegation, U.S.

Government and World Bank officials, and opportunists. Let’s expose, confront, and challenge these blood suckers who are forcing our people, including teenage girls such as Yeshiwork Desta, into a life of exile, prostitution, slavery and destitution.

Join us on Sunday, January 14, 2001
Place: Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC
Time: 4:00 PM

ETHIOPIAN DEMOCRATIC ACTION LEAGUE
Spokesperson: Gashu Habte, Ph.D.

For Immediate Release
January 8, 2001

One day after Walta Information Center, a news agency associated with the ruling Tirgray People Liberation Front (TPLF) accused the All Amhara People Organization (AAPO) and Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) of deceiving ten individuals into representing them as candidates, AAPO announced that half of its 1400 candidates for the upcoming local elections have been disqualified by the TPLF regime.

In its January 6 press release, Ethiopian Democratic Action League has warned that Walta’s accusative report was a pretext by Meles Zenawi’s TPLF regime to attack the two opposition parties that are gaining popularity in the country. It didn’t take long for this prediction to come true. The mass disqualification of 700 AAPO candidates is a brazen act of lawlessness and overflowing arrogance on the part of Meles Zenawi’s dictatorial regime.

Meles Zenawi’s ethnic-apartheid dictatorship that is rulling at the barrel of the gun appears to believe that it has nothing to lose by engaging in such lawlessness and antidemocratic practices since it is getting all the financial backing it needs from the U.S. Government, the World Bank, the IMF and other international donners. Our repeated appeals to the interntainal community, particularly the financial backers of Meles Zenawi’s dictatorship have fallen on deaf ears. Recently, for example, the World Bank, has decided to give a $1.3 billion long-term loan to Meles Zenawi’s regime.

We resent this, and once again call on the U.S. Government, the World Bank and other international supporters of Meles Zenawi’s regime to suspend all supports until the regime stops its antidemocratic practices, releases all the prisoners of conscience and improves its human rights record in Ethiopia.

To make this point further, Ethiopian Democratic Action League, in collaboration with other civic and political organizations, is holding bi-weekly demonstrations a the Ethiopian embassy and U.S. Congress in Washington DC.

Next Sunday, January 14, the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC will host reception and dinner for a
high-level TPLF trade delegation. We will be at the embassy, too, to confront and challenge the TPLF officials, and urge every one in the Washington DC area who stands for justic and human rights to join us.

Join us at 4 PM next Sunday, January 14, 2001, at the Ethiopian embassy.

Give voice the the voiceless.

ETHIOPIAN DEMOCRATIC ACTION LEAGUE
Spokesperson: Gashu Habte, Ph.D.

For Immediate Release
January 6, 2001

A news agency owned and operated by the ruling Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) reported yesterday that the All Amhara People Organization (AAPO) and Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) have deceived ten individuals
into registering as candidates for woreda and kebele election representing them. “They said they were astonished and disappointed by AAPO and EDP’s deceitful acts of presenting persons as election candidates without their
will, consent and knowledge,” TPLF’s Walta Information Center wrote.

Walta also wrote yesterday: “Over 200 peasants in East Shoa Zone expressed disappointment at what they said was unethical conduct by three candidates of the Oromo National Congress (ONC ) in claiming to have won the peasants’ support for candidature without their consent.”

This has all the appearances of TPLF’s trickery and intimidation of candidates and voters. Such accusations appear to be excuses to throw in jail leaders of these opposition parties that are gaining popularity throughout the country. During the May 2000 general elections, TPLF cadres had engaged in a large scale campaign to discourage voters from voting for independent and opposition candidates. Thousands of voters of who ignored the threats and harassments launched against them and voted for non-TPLF candidates were arrested, fired from their jobs, and even murdered. Independent and opposition candidates had also been harassed, arrested and murdered. Despite all these election irregularities, lawlessness and antidemocratic practices on the part of the TPLF regime, some independent and opposition party candidates managed to win seats in the parliament.

The TPLF officials and cadres are engaged in similar antidemocratic practices again in preparation for the upcoming local elections. The story reported by TPLF’s Walta Information Center appears to be part of
the intimidation and obstructionist tactics directed against the opposition parties, candidates and voters.

We urge the international community, particularly those countries and institutions that are providing financial assistance to the TPLF regime, to suspend all support until the regime stops its overall antidemocratic
practices, release all prisoners of conscience, and improves its human rights record.

We also call on every Ethiopian and friends of human rights in the Washington DC area to join us on January 14 at 4 PM in front of the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC to expose, confront and challenge TPLF’s ministers, cadres and businessmen who will be attending a dinner party hosted by the embassy.

Confront the TPLF ministers for throwing in jail over 15,000 innocent Ethiopians who opposed the regime’s ethnic apartheid policies; for devastating Ethiopia’s economy making half of the population unemployed and extremely poor; for making our country landlocked; for leaving Afars and other Ethiopians under Issayas Afeworki’s occupation after tens of thousands of Ethiopians lost their lives to liberate a barren strip of land in norther Tigray; and for the overall mismanagement and total neglect of the country while focusing their development activities only in Tigray while at the same time amassing enormous personal wealth.

Join us on January 14, 2001, in front of the Ethiopian embassy at 4 PM.

Give voice to the voiceless.

NAIROBI, 4 January (IRIN) – The opposition Ethiopian Democratic Action League (EDAL, also called Tegbar) has described an upcoming Ethiopian trade mission to the US as a “mission of disinformation and deceit”. A high level trade delegation of the ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) will be in Washington later this month.

According to the EDAL statement, the mission’s aim “is to cover up the biased economic development activities in favour of the Tigray region of three million people…at the expense of the rest of the country”.

The EDAL statement said the TPLF “owns and operates a multitude of businesses in manufacturing, services, trade, information and transportation”. “These businesses compete and often put out of business private enterprises,” it said.

Ethiopian embassy spokesman in Nairobi Mengistu Ayalew told IRIN that if such organisations were serious about helping Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people “they should contribute to such efforts to promote the country”.

“The composition of such missions is diverse and generally include members of the chamber of commerce, the business community and concerned ministries,” he added.

Prepared by Cheru Terefe, Ethiopian Medhin Democratic Party

Jan. 2, 2001

Conference Chairman: Dr Desta Damtew
Conference Secretary: Ato Cheru Terefe

The teleconference started at 2:10 PM and ended at 3:16 PM Eastern U.S. Time.

Discussions and Decisions

1. The agenda presented was: Organizing worldwide demonstrations to express our solidarity with the opposition parties inside Ethiopia that are organizing a rally in Addis Abeba at the end of this month to protest the TPLF-EPLF peace treaty. A question was raised as to the certainty and type of activity planned in Addis Abeba. The conference appointed Ato Kedir, Ato Elias and Dr Gebeyehu to find out what exactly is being planned by the opposition parties inside Ethiopia and also the exact date of the planned activity. The three individuals have been asked to report their findings as soon as possible.

2. In the mean time, the conference has decided to call a public teleconference for next Saturday, January 13, 2001, at 2:00 PM Eastern U.S. Time. The public teleconference will include civic and political organizations that didn’t participate in today’s teleconference. The purpose of the public teleconference is to present the planned demonstration or what ever action decided by the opposition parties in Ethiopia, and ask the participants to help the United Action Team carry out similar activities worldwide, be it a demonstration, a public rally, or a public meeting.

3. SEPDC representatives asked for the United Action Team to call on the six opposition parties inside Ethiopia that are working together to include other parties such as SEPDC. The representatives informed the conference that negotiations are going on between the SEPDC and the six opposition parties to iron out some differences and come together, and suggested that United Action Team can play a role in its successful outcome.

4. TEGBAR League representatives urged all organizations that participated in today’s teleconference to take active part in next Sundays’ (Jan. 14) demonstration at the Ethiopian embassy. TEGBAR League also expressed disappointments at the lack of participation in the United Action Team’s meetings by some member organizations, and appealed to every one to show more commitment to unity in action.

Participants of today’s teleconference:

Ato Ayalsew Dessie, Hibre Hizb
Ato Cheru Terefe, MEDHIN
Dr Desta Damtew, Hibre Hizb
Ato Elias Kifle, TEGBAR
Dr Feleke Eshete, SEPDC
Dr Gebeyehu Ejigou, ENC
Ato Kedir Mohammed, SEPDC
Dr Mankelklot HaileSelassie, TEGBAR

After being reviewed and approved by participants of the conference, this will become an official document of the United Action Team.