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s watchdog organizations but little has been written on the shameful contributions made by ethiopia s foreign correspondents i am continually amazed by what i have observed here among this small circle of journalists at the perpetual politicization of the news and appalling distortions of the truth so easily excused by self interested editors and comfortable journalists to shed some light on the workings of the addis foreign press corps to secure accreditation certain leading wire correspondents are encouraged by their editors to assure the appropriate ministers of their intentions to write exclusively happy stories which portray the country in a favourable light despite the blatantly inappropriate nature of such negotiations these correspondents have nevertheless proven willing to go to great lengths to uphold this ludicrous promise to the ethiopian government the current social and political climate notwithstanding scrambling to uncover the happy stories in a place where for so many true happiness is found only in precious fleeting moments development in a land where economic growth is virtually stagnant and isolated incidents of political leniency in one of the world s most repressive regimes consequently in ethiopia stories are routinely ignored or intentionally killed by the international wire services whose journalists are even on occasion encouraged by bureau chiefs to re interpret or contextualize the more inflammatory responses of government spokesman with a suggestive surely that is not what he actually meant even more worrying is that ambassadors and state department officials also influence which events ultimately make it to print ordering correspondents into silence or spinning stories for diplomatic advantage recent examples being the arrest of ny times reporter jeffrey gettleman in the ogeden region which was deliberately suppressed by ambassador yamamoto for nearly a week before finally being reported by blogger ethio zagol and the premature leaking of the ongoing political negotiations between the government and political prisoners perhaps i am merely naïve but something seems intrinsically wrong when major news outlets are encouraging their journalists to perpetually wine and dine government officials on the company expense account while strictly advising them to avoid socializing with known opposition members and supporters whose activities are to be regarded as automatically subversive it is simply unfathomable to me that the few foreign correspondents granted permission to work at length within the country all citizens of free and democratic societies lest they forget could somehow begin with a necessary temporary effort to placate a hostile government and in only a few months time end up functioning as government stooges consciously neglecting subjects certain to upset the ruling party and reluctantly investigating instances of widespread government brutality only upon official approval with state sponsored escorts the most popular justification amongst african press circles is clearly the claim that their organization would otherwise be expelled from the country but it seems to me that if their primary agenda is actually to deliver unbiased regional news to their readers the expulsion of their organization for merely documenting events as they unfold is also in itself a strikingly accurate indication of national conditions regardless since when did tailoring the news to suit the temperament of a brutal dictator become an acceptable compromise yet this has become more than acceptable practice here in addis in fact it has become routine and naturally when other publications such as the economist new york times or the washington post break a controversial story first the local correspondents can usually be found grumbling over drinks at the sheraton office bar berating said papers unethical means of gathering information and the dangerous community of in country fixers stringers freelancers and bloggers on which they rely posted by mengedegna at 3 37 pm 17 comments tuesday september 11 melkam millenium a friend pointed out this morning that this actually doesn t make much sense as it literally means i am wishing someone 1 000 happy years so rather that is what i wish for the country today today i am celebrating all that i have found unexpectedly here the warmth the courage the peace the potential the sacrifice melkam millenium posted by mengedegna at 4 41 pm 10 comments friday august 17 blood for oil i wonder if the government s field trip to the ogeden has anything to do with the sudden increased interest in the region by multi national oil companies it seems the recent onlf attack on the chinese petroleum company and widespread reports of human rights abuses and war crimes committed by government forces in the region have served to pique foreign interest in regional oil exploration with more than one large international company quietly negotiating the preliminary stages of such a project at present it is clear that the government is doing everything in their power to suppress and deny the truth at great cost to the civilians there but i wonder do such multinationals stand to benefit more from reports by the likes of ny times jeffrey gettlemen or the carefully supervised output of bbc s elizabeth blunt if a stable local environment in which to conduct exploration operations is what they are seeking does that mean they stand in silent or even direct financial support of the severe regional government brutality posted by mengedegna at 8 43 am 3 comments friday august 10 media field trip to the ogeden just heard that the government is organizing a trip for foreign correspondents to the ogeden region and thus begins their latest disinformation campaign i wonder who will have the courage to ask what happened to the men since tortured and murdered by government forces interviewed for the times article i also wonder if they will invite ny times stringer will connors along oh wait he was essentially expelled last month for helping to expose the atrocities occuring there only beneign journalists allowed i suppose posted by mengedegna at 11 25 am 4 comments thursday august 9 oppression here there and everywhere i am extremely concerned about what is happening in the ogeden region even from within the country it is difficult to obtain concrete information which generally means things are far worse than we know however it is clear the ethiopian government is once again demonstrating their appalling preference for violence destruction of property and aid restriction as a means of applying political pressure the truly terrifying thing is while today the focus may be on the ogeden such reports could just as easily apply to most other regions in the country when i was last in awasa for example i shown file after file of those in the snnp region who had suffered similar human rights abuses over the past two years murders mostly students shot in the head or from behind horrific pictures of torture victims houses and property ransacked destroyed and burned and a list of ngos that had been shut down and their aid channels blocked effectively causing a concentrated federally inflicted and therefore unreported famine most of these victims brave enough to come forward and report these crimes to human rights organizations were unable to read or write and confirmed their statements only with a thumbprint yet they are speaking out at great personal risk nonetheless they are among millions of nameless victims who continue to suffer at the hands of the eprdf regime and are the ones to whom we must listen there are hundreds of thousands of us both here and abroad who are aware and claim to care about this all encompassing oppression and so only a simple question remains what are we going to do about it in my opinion now is hardly the time for bitter party politics and internal corruption and division far too much is at stake instead now is the time to focus on what unites us all the desire to see a free and prosperous ethiopia and act immediately and accordingly and so i ask again what are we going to do about it posted by mengedegna at 12 58 pm 3 comments monday august 6 coming soon hello i am still around and will be back blogging again next week i agree with ethio zagol now is the time for genuine dialogue for solutions and unity i hope that this site can also be a forum for such discussion posted by mengedegna at 1 15 pm 2 comments friday july 20 countdown i never thought i d say this but what a wonderful time to be in ethiopia the transformation in the spirit of the people over the past few days is incredible everyone is talking about their coming release and newpapers are printing their photos again i wish i could scan and attach tuesday s copy of abbi weekly featuring dr berhanu flashing the double v sign and the faces of the other leaders on a background of the national colors but of course these sold out by noon in the city what a joy to overhear political discussions in the streets of addis posted by mengedegna at 4 55 am 15 comments wednesday july 18 the things they can t suppress everyone in addis is talking about yesterday s article in the ethiopian herald in which a letter admitting guilt for the post election violence and supposedly signed by the prisoners was printed i was initially worried that people would believe these lies but was instead pleasantly suprised on the streets and in taxis and cafes people are emphatically denying that the leaders would ever admit to crimes not committed it seems these latest attempts to defame the characters of those in prison has only served to boost public support and admiration opps also they may be able to silence us over here but the international bloggers are busy the huffington post mydd and daily kos have all posted a story by blogger robert naiman encouraging people to take action here posted by mengedegna at 4 40 am 7 comments tuesday july 17 disinformation wow it is not often that i am shocked by the workings of this government anymore but today they have managed to do it again today they have launched a massive disinformation campaign with the intent of discrediting the prisoners before they are released bereket ena and the ethiopian herald have been suprisingly busy since yesterday s sentences were handed down unfortunately for them there are too many of us who know the truth and are determined to make it known posted by mengedegna at 2 10 pm 4 comments monday july 16 life in prison the courtroom was packed once again and there seemed to be even more ferenji observers than usual it seemed especially cruel to keep everyone in suspense for hours considering the nature of the session but wait we did though the delay was not without its comic moments when for example the phones of the plainclothes spies rang repeatedly exposing them at once since the rest of us had to leave our phones keys etc with the guards at the door the prisoners were finally brought in after a 2 5 hour delay and the judges arrived a few minutes before noon all defendants and judges were present the judges concluded that because most of the defendants are well educated and therefore able to identify the legal consequences of their actions their sentence must reflect the severity of their decisions and actions however as the defendants are charged with attempt to overthrow the constitution rather than completion of the act which would permit the sentence of capital punishment the 38 defendants including those tried in absentia were sentenced to life in prison of the 9 who had chosen to defend it was announced that their defense attorney had not proven relevant extenuating circumstances berhanu alemayou wedneh jedi melaku oncha and mesfin jabesa received 18 years imprisonment abiyot wekjira ad daniel berihun received 15 years wenaksegad zeleke was handed a 3 year sentence and dawit fasil was sentenced to 1 year and six months all defendants who received a lesser sentence were also denied the right to participate in politics for 5 years both of the agencies charged were order to cease all operations serkalim publishing agency was ordered to pay a fine of etb 120 000 and sisaye publishing etb 100 000 dr berhanu appeared particularly disgusted with the sentences and got up to leave the courtroom but for the most part the prisoners and family members seemed to be expecting nothing less and took the news accordingly the prisoners left with their usual courage and deliberate cheer exchanging grins and the v sign with friends and family members as they passed the road back from kaliti to the city center was lined with more police than usual and some were in full riot gear masks and shields ________________________________ today s session was nothing less than infuriating to hear each article of the penal code invoked as if it actually had meaning in this country and to have to listen to the descriptions of post election violence as if the independent commission itself hadn t ruled that government forces were responsible for the excessive force that lead to the deaths of 193 innocent civilians was too much it makes one ill to witness such blatant manipulation of the truth and mockery of justice in a federal institution how long can this go on posted by mengedegna at 2 23 pm 7 comments saturday july 14 antethesis of justice diplomatic etiquette more than two weeks ago human rights bill hr2003 was postponed for mark up the result of dubious american attempts at negotiation with one of the world s most brutal dictators the us state department has since further neutralized their language and the press is treating the negotiations as nothing more than the claims of those in captivity despite the fact that the initial leak to the washington post was reported to have come from us state officials the momentum that was building over the past month seems to have come to a complete standstill yet today the prisoners remain in kaliti while the prosecution demands their execution of course there are rumors swirling meles is trying to preserve the independence of the court and the us is giving him the space to do so provided the prisoners are released immediately following the sentencing fine however it is my opinion that even if this is true it does not excuse their shamefully submissive conduct in the meantime why the tiptoeing around since when has it become the responsibility of a free and democratic nation to cater to the sensibilities of such a wanton violator of human rights regardless of what is being negotiated in private bewteen these two countries i am appalled by the continued public observance of the diplomatic etiquette that enables oppressors to escape the consequences of their actions ___________________________________________________________________________________ on monday we will enter the courtroom clinging to the hope that the sentencing is all part of the larger geopolitical game but mele...
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