News
Supreme Court Adjourns Corruption Case Hearing for Three Days The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
July 17, 2001
Addis Ababa: "....Ato Seye Abraha said, "My case has nothing to do with corruption. It is purely political. I am kept here because the people who put me behind bars are people who have power. They want me behind bars because if I am set free, I will use my constitutional right to speak and write freely, I will use my right to assemble, to unite. I am a politician. And if I am set free I will exercise this right, because this is what my country needs. My country is at a time when it needs consultation, reconciliation and free discussion. If I am set free I will do that. This is the right that I fought for for a quarter of a century of my life. And it is precisely this that my captors want to prevent. The Police are troubled because they cannot find a case of corruption against me. This is my 49th day in prison and 8th appearance before the court. My captors' problem should not be the problem of the court. The Supreme Court should give me justice. This is a question of justice. Will my country's judges give me justice or not? That is the question. What the court will decide and this case-being watched by many-will create a precedence. The precedence is "will my country's judges serve justice irrespective of politics?" More arguments were heard for the other detainees."
Purge intensifies through army
INDIAN OCEAN NEWSLETTER (July 17, 2001)
"Since the ouster of General Tsadkan Gebre Tensaye, the purge is spreading to the deputies of the former chief of staff in the Ethiopian army. Colonel Aregawi, the head of his secretariat better known as Goliath, has been dismissed and is said to be behind bars, as is Colonel Eleni Meles, the wife of the ruling Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) dissident, Solomon Tesfaye "Timmo"".
Ethiopia spent $3 billion on war with Eritrea
CNN (July 17, 2001)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters) -- Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in the world, spent some $3 billion in its two-year war with Ethiopia, an official said on Tuesday. The border dispute ended last year after tens of thousands of deaths.
Ethiopia Considers Leasing Eritrea Port
Xinhua News Service
ADDIS ABABA, July 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The Ethiopian government has been studying the possibility of leasing the Eritrean port of Assab for export and import, the local media reported here Friday. There have been efforts to normalize the relations between the two countries after the end of a two-year border conflict which claimed thousands of soldiers lives, the media said.
Ethiopia to Lease-Hold the Port of Asab
Reports say studies are being finalized to lease the Ertirean port of Asab to Ethiopia. Ze-Press, the Amharic weekly quoted sources as saying that the American government, as part of its effort to bring normalization between the two countries has planned to pay for the thirty year lease period. The money would be given to Ethiopia as a loan, the newspaper reported.

Fossils From Ethiopia May Be Earliest Human Ancestor
National Geography News
David Perlman
San Francisco Chronicle
July 12, 2001
A team of scientists led by an anthropologist at the University of California-Berkeley has discovered the fossilized remains of what they believe is humanity's earliest known ancestor, a creature that walked the wooded highlands of East Africa nearly 6 million years ago.
Fossils may be oldest link to humans Old evolutionary theory challenged
By MARK EVANS-- The Associated Press
Scientists working in Ethiopia have found what may be the oldest known traces of human-like life -- teeth and bones from up to 5.8 million years ago -- in a discovery that challenges the long-held belief that man's earliest ancestors first emerged on the grassy plains.
Thousands 'languish' in Ethiopian camp
BBC NEWS (07/12/01)
Amidst the breathtaking scenery of mountains and forests surrounding the town of Robit, 200 km north-east of Addis Ababa, there is something much more sinister. Hidden from the main road, behind the dense bush and scrub land, lies Shoa Robit Detention Camp, where for more than three months, thousands have been imprisoned without charges.
ETHIOPIA-KENYA: Students to move to Kakuma camp
NAIROBI, 12 July (IRIN) - Ethiopian students who fled their country seeking asylum are being moved to Kakuma refugee camp, Kenyan KTN television reported on Wednesday. However, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Thursday afternoon that none of the students had left yet. The first batch was expected to leave for Kakuma on Friday, the source said. Students staged a hunger strike this month in protest over the decision to move them to Kakuma, where they say they fear their lives will be at risk from Ethiopian "hit squads". The Ethiopian embassy in Nairobi has denied the existence of "hit squads" and have encouraged the students to return home.
Three Journalists Flee the Country
Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (Addis Ababa)
July 11, 2001
Toronto
Updates IFEX alerts of 23, 17 and 14 May and 27 February 2001, 10 January 2000, 1 November and 7 July 1999 and 13 November 1997. Three leading Ethiopian journalists have fled the country and taken refuge in neighbouring Kenya.
A New Wave of Arrests Among Private-Owned Press
Reporters Sans Frontieres
July 11, 2001
In a letter to Wolde Michael Chamo, the Ethiopian Information Minister, Reporters sans frontières (RSF - Reporters Without Borders) protested against the remaining in detention of Merid Zelleke and Mengistu Wolde Selassie, editors-in-chief of the weeklies Satanaw and Moged, respectively, published in amharic and against the recent wave of arrests among the privately-owned press.
Ethiopia: Paper says about 400 military officers arrested BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jul 11, 2001
Wegahta [an independent Tigrinya newspaper] has said that some military officers, who refused to attend political meetings and who are suspected of being involved in the current political feud [words not legible], have been arrested.
Wegaheta, the Tigrinya newspaper, which is said to be well informed, in its recent edition said about 400 military officers, from the 102 (division), which is led by Brig-Gen Tadese Worede, have been arrested.
Ethiopia daily reports assassination attempt against premier
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jul 8, 2001
The independent Ethiopian newspaper Moged said on Saturday that there had been an assassination attempt against the prime minister.
Weghatas's chief in editor Berhan Hailu has been arrested.

Row with Ethiopia's PM denied
BBC - July 04, 2001
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin is taking legal action against journalists who have been reporting a political falling out between him and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Ethiopian State Deputy Speaker Sacked
Xinhua News Agency (July 05, 2001)
ADDIS ABABA, July 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The People's Representative Council of Ethiopian Harar state Thursday dismissed its deputy speaker at its 5th regular meeting, the Ethiopian News Agency reported. Redwan Adus, according to the council, was accused of failing to discharge his responsibilities effectively.
Ethiopia: Twenty-three reportedly dead as commandos clash one another in South
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jul 3, 2001
Army commandos being trained by Koreans at the Bilate military training camp [southwestern Ethiopia] have clashed one another, insiders have said. The sources said the soldiers were deployed along the border with Kenya on completion of their training and 23 soldiers were killed and 37 others wounded and admitted to the Armed Forces Hospital after they clashed one another
Our Lives In Danger, Claim Ethiopian Students
The Nation (Nairobi)
July 2, 2001
Ethiopian university students seeking asylum in the country yesterday claimed their lives are in danger. The students, who fled their country last month, claimed that hit squads had been sent to eliminate them.
Re-Arrest of Opposition Party Members Raises Concern
Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa)
July 2, 2001
Only two weeks after the release of leaders and some members of the Ethiopians' Democratic Party (EDP), government security forces on Sunday (June 24,2001) re-arrested Ato Lidetu Ayalew, General Secretary of EDP, Ato Tadewos Tantu, Central Committee member, Ato Daniel Demisie and Ato Sebsibie Yimer, Woreda 24 executive committee members.
Open letter to OPDO by President Negasso Gidada
ADDIS ZEMEN – Amharic news paper (June 29/2001)
Ethiopian president on offensive BBC - Friday, 29 June, 2001, 16:14 GMT 17:14 UK
Ethiopia's president has accused the government of embarking on a campaign of propaganda against him.
Ethiopia's Negaso to Stay On, Hits at Government
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian President Negaso Gidada said on Friday he planned to see out his term of office despite quitting the ruling coalition last week in a move widely seen as his effective resignation.
President Negasso Gidada under house arrest
Threat to Ethiopian opposition
BBC - Wednesday, 27 June, 2001, 13:29 GMT 14:29 UK
The opposition Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) says four of its members, who had been detained for 50 days and then released have been re-arrested by the police.
President Censored: Defiant Negasso warns the Eritrean agent of a timebomb
By Sophia (from Deki-Alula Staff) : June 30, 2001
"Ethiopian politics is like an onion; when you peel one cover off, you get another layer. And another. And another. Surprises never end in Ethiopia, and more so under the unfortunate rule of Meles Zenawi. President Negasso Gidada, simply dismissed as a symbolic figure by ill-informed reporters, is, for those who know him closely, a hard nut to crack in matters of principle. No other public figure has attacked the ruthless Eritrean agent in power, Meles Zenawi, with a stunning vigor as did Dr. Negasso."
Ethiopia: The political Economy of Transition (University Press of America, 1995) by Dr. Ghelawdewos Araia.
A book review By Dr. Teodros Kiros
Bonaparte's Broom: House Cleaning Politics Ethiopian Style (Bonapartism vs Ethiopia – Must read)
By Dr. Ghelawdewos Araia (June 8, 2001)
The most recent catchword in contemporary Ethiopian politics is 'Bonapartism' which was conjured up by Meles himself in an effort to promote his ideas vis-a-vis his opponents within the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front [TPLF]. Henceforth, many Ethiopians have used the concept without defining or ever attempting to relate it to the current Ethiopian crisis.
What a shameful decision! The Reporter
by Befiridu Tessema "It seems that the First Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court has lots of surprises in store. Last year, I criticized the court's decision to apply a law retroactively. That, I said, was an assault on a pillar of law - nulla poena sine liege. A couple of days ago, another fundamental legal principle was once again attacked by the same court. By suspending the decision of a lower court to grant bail to Ato Siye Abraha, who was arrested on suspicion of corruption, until it makes a ruling on the appeal of the police, the court not only made a serious error of interpretation, it also paved smooth the protective moat of individual liberty- the presumption of innocence.
Part two
Two groups of the TPLF and two issues of Ethiopia By Kahsay Berhe, and Tesfay Atsbeha, (June 12, 2001)
"The TPLF had experienced some major internal crises prior to the current one in its history. The assertion that the TPLF had democratically solved previous crises, whereas Meles has resorted to undemocratic measures in the present crisis does not correspond to the truth and leads to the confusion of the root-cause of the present crisis. Surveying the crises can enrich our knowledge of the character of the TPLF, if and only if our analysis is based on facts. For us, as eyewitnesses of the events, the solutions to the real, imagined or fabricated crises show an identical pattern of behaviour of their protagonists. The so called solutions in all the cases ended up producing incriminated victims, intimidated, uncritical and opportunist members and the corresponding aggravation of tyranny."
Part one
Two groups of the TPLF and two issues of Ethiopia By Kahsay Berhe, and Tesfay Atsbeha,
"Ethiopia is for the first time in her history under the control of a tyrant who started with an open anit Ethiopian program. All Ethiopian rulers before Meles, including colonel Mengistu, whatever mistakes they might have made, were committed to the cause of Ethiopia."