Is Zenawi Running a Repressive Regime in Ethiopia? (1)

Lagos — Parts of southern Ethiopia resemble the scenery in a Tarzan movie. When I was there last fall, the green forested hills were blanketed in white mist and rain poured down on the small farms and homesteads. In the towns, slabs of meat hung in the butchers' shops and donkeys hauled huge sacks of coffee beans, Ethiopia's major export, along the stony dirt roads. So I was surprised to see the signs of hunger everywhere. There were babies with kwashiorkor, a disease caused by malnutrition, which I'd assumed occurred only in war zones. Many of the older children were clearly stunted and some women were so deficient in iodine they had goiters the size of cannonballs.

This East African nation, famous for its ancient rock-hewn churches, Solomonic emperors, and seemingly intractable poverty, has a long history of famine. But I had always assumed that food shortages were more common in the much drier north of the country than in the relatively fertile south. Although rainfall throughout Ethiopia had been erratic in 2008 and 2009, the stunting and goiter I saw were signs of chronic malnutrition, which had clearly existed for many years.

What was causing it? Ethiopia's long history of food crises is shrouded in myths and political intrigue. In 1984, famine killed hundreds of thousands of people and left millions destitute. At the time, the UN attributed the famine to drought. But most witnesses knew it had far more to do with a military campaign launched by Ethiopia's then-Soviet-backed dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam against a rebel group based in the northern province of Tigray, known as the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Government forces isolated the peasantry, destroyed trade and markets, and diverted food aid to their own troops.

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Jamming in Ethiopia Virtually Silences Free Voice, Experts SayJamming in Ethiopia Virtually Silences Free Voice, Experts Say

Technology experts in Washington, DC say the recent blocking of Voice of America radio and Internet broadcasts by the Ethiopian government is likely to have a negative long term impact.

The Ethiopian government recently began jamming VOA radio and Internet broadcasts in the lead up to the 23 May national elections."If the government wants to remain accountable to its people, it has to lift its hand from suppressing independent media outlets," said Getachew Gebretsadiq, a software engineer from Emerging Media Group.

The prime minster of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, accuses VOA of broadcasting destabilizing propaganda and he has said publicly he is seeking ways to completely block it.

Voice of America recently invited a panel of technology experts to discuss the jamming of VOA broadcasts. Tigrigna`s People to People program host Tewelde Weldegebriel asked them to explain how Internet blocking and radio jamming works.

"Nowadays, there are expensive softwares that can prevent internet blockage, but big organizations like VOA may not want to engage in such war games," said Semere Taezaz, a former private newspaper editor in Eritrea, now a senior IT technician in Washington DC area.

The panelists agreed jamming radio broadcasts by Ethiopian government is "a severe act of censorship" which can only serve to increase the outrage of people in that country.

Ethiopian Opposition Confront PM in Parliament

Ethiopia's heated election campaign has spilled onto the floor of parliament, with bitter and at times personal exchanges between Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and opposition leaders. The prime minister was forced onto the defensive on issues from the economy to allegations of political dirty tricks.
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