Ethiopia to allow observers to attend trial of opposition leaders – EU
Feb 20, 2006 (NAIROBI) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will allow international observers to attend the trial of detained opposition leaders set to begin in Addis Ababa on Thursday, a senior European Commission official said.
Louis Michel, commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, told reporters on Friday after meeting Meles during a two-day visit to Ethiopia, that the decision to allow him access to jailed members of the opposition and journalists was a “significant step in the direction of constructive political dialogue”.
The jailed opposition leaders were arrested in a crackdown following the disputed 15 May elections that returned the prime minister’s party to power. During violent demonstrations in Addis Ababa in June and December 2005, 88 protesters were killed by security forces and thousands of people were arrested.
Some 131 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers are currently being detained. They face charges of treason, planning to commit genocide and other crimes, some of which carry the maximum sentence of the death penalty.
“There are signs of flexibility on the part of the government,” Michel said. “Prime Minister Meles confirmed to me that international legal observers would be welcome at the trial against leaders of the opposition, members of the civil society and journalists.”
The detentions have sparked international concern about the state of democracy in Ethiopia. In December 2005, the EU announced it would redirect US $375 million in multilateral aid to humanitarian projects. Britain announced in January that it would withhold 50 million pounds sterling ($88 million) in direct budgetary support to the government.
“I urged all the parties to deepen political dialogue and foster the process of democratization,” Michel said. “I think that there is still a room to break the current deadlock.”
Michel urged the government to put in place confidence-building measures and made clear he wanted to see parliamentary, judicial and media reforms.
Meanwhile, Japan announced on Thursday that it would give $60 million to Africa by the end of March to support post-conflict peace building and the reconstruction of war-torn African countries.
Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki announced the donation at the opening of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Addis Ababa. The two-day meeting, which aims to find strategies to sustain peace in Africa, is co-chaired by Japan, the United Nations, the World Bank and the Washington-based Global Coalition for Africa.
“As we believe there will not be stability in the world in the twenty-first century unless the issues in Africa are resolved, Japan is committed to African development, with peace consolidation being one of the fundamental bases,” Shiozaki said.
Since 2003, Japan has given more than $350 million in assistance for peace consolidation on the continent.
In a message read at the opening of the conference, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that too many countries revert to violence when efforts to consolidate peace or create stability are not sustained.
“Conflict resolution calls for a comprehensive approach in which parties emerging from conflict require assistance not only in negotiating peace agreements, but also in building and consolidating peace,” he told representatives of the 53 African countries and international groups.
(IRIN)