The Ethiopian government is waging "a co-ordinated and sustained attack" against its opponents ahead of May elections and countries like Canada that send aid to Ethiopia should condemn it, a new report says.
"Ethiopians, millions of them, are unable to speak freely, organize political activities, challenge their government's policies, either through peaceful protest, voting, or publicizing their views without fear of reprisal," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), speaking at the report's release in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday.
She slammed the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) for having "systematically punished opposition supporters" since it was elected in 2005 and called on foreign governments to step up and voice their concern.
If foreign governments do not speak before the May 23 elections, "election day is likely to be ... a veneer of democratic pretension hiding a repressive state apparatus," the report said.
Canada is 4th-largest donor
Canada contributed up $132 million in aid to Ethiopia in 2007-2008, according to the Canadian International Development Agency, or CIDA, making it the fourth-largest donor to the eastern African nation. One-third of Ethiopia's government expenditures comes from foreign assistance, according to HRW.
Much of that aid is being used by the government to oppress, rather than help, the Ethiopian people, alleged HRW, which is a non-profit organization that investigates human rights abuses worldwide.
The government has used "the full weight of its power" to silence its critics, the group said, including closing an independent newspaper in December and jamming the local language programming of Voice of America in February. In 2008, it also imprisoned opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa, of the Unity for Justice and Democracy Party.
Activists and other journalists have fled the country as a result, it said.
Call to action for foreign donors
Despite such actions, the country's principal foreign donors, including the World Bank, United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada, have been "very timid in their criticisms of Ethiopia's deteriorating human rights situation," HRW claimed.
"Ethiopia's foreign backers should break their silence and condemn the climate of fear in Ethiopia," said Gagnon.
The group also called on the Ethiopian government to release all political prisoners, including Midekssa, end attacks against opposition members, journalists and civil society, and allow independent groups to investigate and report abuses publicly.
The EPRDF came to power in 2005, when it won 327 seats in the country's 547-seat House of People's Representatives. It went on to win 99.9 per cent in local elections in April 2008, a landslide that allowed it to consolidate its control over local administrations and rule "with an iron grip," according to HRW.
HRW interviewed more than 200 people during 15 weeks of research in Ethiopia for its report, entitled One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure: Violations of Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia.
They spoke with farmers, teachers, civil servants, activists, opposition, and government officials, as well as foreign diplomats and aid officials.
Ethiopia's elections will be held May 23.
CBC News
