Support Ethiopian PP Daniel Bekele
From: merone <labella929@yahoo.com>
Date: September 12, 2007 10:34:38 AM EDT
Dear friends,
On October 8 2007, less than a month from today, my cousin Daniel Bekele will be judged by an Ethiopian court on charges of treason. As you know, Daniel has been a political prisoner for the past two years. If he is found guilty, he could receive the death penalty or life imprisonment.
We want to thank you for all of the support, hard work and incredible attention that you have helped to bring to Daniel's case! We have come this far and we want to ask you once again to help us to ensure that on October 8th, justice prevails and Daniel is released from prison.
Let us honor the resilience and the courage of the 80 million Ethiopians, including Daniel, who suffer daily under the current regime by calling for the respect of human rights and the release of all political prisoners.
Attached and enclosed is a letter about Daniel and his case. Please read it, forward it to your contacts and ask people to get involved!
This past June, 38 other political prisoners were released. It is imperative to understand that it was the constant attention on the gross human rights violations committed by Meles Zenawi and pressure from the Diaspora, from the Continent and from people just like you from around the world that compelled the regime in Ethiopia to release the opposition members.
Let us do the same for Daniel! Write, call and fax and demand that Daniel be released!
On October 8 2007, less than a month from today, my cousin Daniel Bekele will be judged by an Ethiopian court on charges of treason. As you know, Daniel has been a political prisoner for the past two years. If he is found guilty, he could receive the death penalty or life imprisonment.
We want to thank you for all of the support, hard work and incredible attention that you have helped to bring to Daniel's case! We have come this far and we want to ask you once again to help us to ensure that on October 8th, justice prevails and Daniel is released from prison.
Let us honor the resilience and the courage of the 80 million Ethiopians, including Daniel, who suffer daily under the current regime by calling for the respect of human rights and the release of all political prisoners.
Attached and enclosed is a letter about Daniel and his case. Please read it, forward it to your contacts and ask people to get involved!
This past June, 38 other political prisoners were released. It is imperative to understand that it was the constant attention on the gross human rights violations committed by Meles Zenawi and pressure from the Diaspora, from the Continent and from people just like you from around the world that compelled the regime in Ethiopia to release the opposition members.
Let us do the same for Daniel! Write, call and fax and demand that Daniel be released!
Below is some contact information.
His Excellency Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi
P.O. Box 1031, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
Tel. 251 11 552044 or 251 11 113241
Fax. 251 11 552020
cc: Hon. Ato. Assefa Kessito Minister of Justice,
P.O. Box 1370, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
Tel. 251 51 515099/ 251 51 157950,
Fax: 251 51 517755,
E-mail: justice@ethionet.et
His Excellency Seyoum Mesfin,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia
Email: mfa.press@ethionet.et
His Excellency Kemal Bedri,
President of the Federal Supreme Court and Chairman of the National
Election Board
Email: nebe@ethionet.et
Be sure to also contact your representative in congress! Meles Zenawi's regime receives billions in aid from the U.S. and they should be held accountable for supporting his atrocities.
Go to www.justforeignpolicy.org or
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/justforeignpolicy.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=11855
Join Daniel's family and friends as we call for the end of political incarceration and to a new millennium where human rights and freedoms are respected in Ethiopia.
Free them all,
His Excellency Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi
P.O. Box 1031, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
Tel. 251 11 552044 or 251 11 113241
Fax. 251 11 552020
cc: Hon. Ato. Assefa Kessito Minister of Justice,
P.O. Box 1370, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
Tel. 251 51 515099/ 251 51 157950,
Fax: 251 51 517755,
E-mail: justice@ethionet.
His Excellency Seyoum Mesfin,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia
Email: mfa.press@ethionet.
His Excellency Kemal Bedri,
President of the Federal Supreme Court and Chairman of the National
Election Board
Email: nebe@ethionet.
Be sure to also contact your representative in congress! Meles Zenawi's regime receives billions in aid from the U.S. and they should be held accountable for supporting his atrocities.
Go to www.justforeignpoli
http://www.democrac
Join Daniel's family and friends as we call for the end of political incarceration and to a new millennium where human rights and freedoms are respected in Ethiopia.
Free them all,
Meron Wondwosen
__________________________________________________________________________
THE DANIEL BEKELE PROJECT
October 8, 2007. To many, that day holds no particular meaning or
significance. On that day, many people will go on with their daily
lives. They will go to work and spend time with family and friends.
Some may celebrate a special event, such as a birthday or an
anniversary. However, in an Ethiopian court on October 8th, it will
be a somber day where judges will determine the future of Daniel
Bekele, a human rights attorney, activist, scholar and a Prisoner of
Conscience who has been incarcerated in an Ethiopian jail for two
years. We are writing to request your legal, social and political
intervention to secure his freedom so we may memorialize that date as
the day justice prevailed for not only Daniel and Prisoners of
Conscience throughout the world, but for a society that values human
rights for all.
At the University of Oxford, Daniel is a Ph.D. candidate with a
Masters Degree in Legal Research, in addition to a L.L.B. in Law and a
Masters Degree in Development Studies from Addis Ababa University. As
an attorney, Daniel's fields of expertise are in Public International
Law, Human Rights Law and Law in Development. Daniel actively
participated in the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and he
worked as a policy and advocate manager at ActionAid Ethiopia, the
South Africa-based international development organization, where he
pushed for civic engagement in Ethiopian society. He also published
papers with a focus on the freedom of _expression and the application
of international human rights law in his homeland of Ethiopia.
Daniel's contributions and his passion for peace illustrate dedication
to his belief in a peaceful and democratic change in Ethiopia.
In the May 2005 national election, although ninety percent of
Ethiopians voted for the opposition party, Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi's ruling party rigged the election in its favor. Leading
members of the opposition party, Coalition for Unity and Democracy,
protested the electoral fraud. Clashes with Zenawi's ruling party led
to the murder of 86 protesters and the wounding and illegal jailing of
tens of thousands of civilians in the June 8th and November 1st Addis
Ababa massacres. Ethiopians faced displacement and the
destabilization of the country at the hands of the Zenawi regime,
while it seemed that the international community turned a deaf ear to
Ethiopians' cries for help.
Those who are entrusted with the force of governmental power should
apply that power with justice and equity, not to silence those
individuals who express views contradictory of the government's
stance. Many Ethiopians chose to oppose the repression of the Zenawi
regime through political activism, peaceful protests and strikes. The
regime retaliated with the arrest of thousands. Ethiopian Security
Forces brutally pistol-whipped Daniel two weeks prior to his arrest.
His sole crime was allegedly making statements critical of the regime.
Daniel and others who did not participate in the demonstrations were
later arrested on the suspicion that they had fomented the alleged
civil unrest. On November 1st 2005, Daniel, with 128 people and four
organizations, was officially charged with the 'crime of outrage
against the Constitution and the constitutional order'.
Individuals, such as Daniel, should not be condemned to harassment,
intimidation, unlawful imprisonment and death for expressing their
beliefs in a lawful manner against the Zenawi regime. Amnesty
International believes that Daniel is a Prisoner of Conscience who
should not be facing charges carrying possible death sentences.
Capital punishment or the threat of death should not be used as
vengeance against the opposition and those unpopular with a
government.
The Zenawi regime proclaimed that Daniel and others have received a
fair trial. Yet they have denied Ethiopia's citizens the freedom of
assembly and _expression while simultaneously replacing human rights
with systematic murder, repression and brutality. Although the Zenawi
government claimed that all defendants were treated properly, Daniel
was subjected to continuous psychological and physical torture. He
faced sleep deprivation and officers forced him to sleep in a shipping
container. He was ultimately moved into a crowded cell with more than
250 inmates. As a result, it was exceptionally difficult for him to
adequately prepare for his trial.
On July 20, 2007, 38 prisoners were released only after they signed a
document asking for clemency for crimes they did not commit. The
Zenawi government came under strong international pressure to release
these prisoners. However, the prisoners were freed only after signing
an apology admitting to organizing violent election protests. Zenawi
stated that these pardons proved 'that the sorry saga was now fully
behind us". However, Daniel remains in prison due to his refusal to
sign the government's document because of his belief that justice
would prevail and that he will not be found guilty for crimes he did
not commit.
A fair and just government should correct social and political
injustices. It should advocate a humanitarian sensibility, not
degrade and undermine the humanity of an individual and society as a
whole. The Zenawi regime raises crucial questions of freedom, liberty
and justice. The injustices committed in Ethiopia should shock the
conscience of the global community so as to propel it into action to
end the massive violations of human rights by the Zenawi regime. We
must safeguard fundamental principles and human rights regardless of
an individual's nationality.
The internalization of human rights sets in motion a legal and moral
obligation not to disregard the gross human rights violations in
Ethiopia because these violations are outside our borders. We cannot
condone human atrocities in the mistaken belief that those actions
committed beyond our borders do not involve us because they do not
occur in our backyard. Democracy and the belief that every being has
the inalienable right to justice and freedom requires us to accept
that the world is our backyard and we must protect it against the
injustices and inhumanity perpetrated by any government against its
citizens.
Silence is not golden. It is non-reactive, unproductive and inhumane.
We risk our humanity by allowing ourselves to close our eyes to the
atrocities that are committed by the Ethiopian regime. Moreover we
share in the complicity of a government's crimes against humanity if
we do not speak out on behalf of those who have fought for the human
rights of others. It is crucial, not only for Ethiopians, but for us
as an international community to recapture the moral authority that
vanished in the wake of the Zenawi regime. The evil is not that the
laws are wanting, but that they cannot or will not be enforced. We
must regain a commitment to redress the wrongs against humanity and
justice. To paraphrase Jean Jacques Rousseau, to renounce liberty is
to renounce one's humanity and such a renunciation is incompatible
with the nature of humankind.
Today, Daniel Bekele's future, and most importantly, his life hangs in
the balance. We can no longer dismiss or disregard the emotional and
mental violence that he has succumbed to during his imprisonment. We
can never erase the imprint of this violence on his life, but we can
end his suffering by making sure that justice prevails in his case.
We seek your help in addressing the human rights violations already
committed by the Zenawi regime. It is imperative, however, that
Daniel's future path is a freedom from imprisonment and not a path to
the death chambers of Ethiopia. We must not only save Daniel, but
save the principles of humanity and justice for all.
October 8, 2007. To many, that day holds no particular meaning or
significance. On that day, many people will go on with their daily
lives. They will go to work and spend time with family and friends.
Some may celebrate a special event, such as a birthday or an
anniversary. However, in an Ethiopian court on October 8th, it will
be a somber day where judges will determine the future of Daniel
Bekele, a human rights attorney, activist, scholar and a Prisoner of
Conscience who has been incarcerated in an Ethiopian jail for two
years. We are writing to request your legal, social and political
intervention to secure his freedom so we may memorialize that date as
the day justice prevailed for not only Daniel and Prisoners of
Conscience throughout the world, but for a society that values human
rights for all.
At the University of Oxford, Daniel is a Ph.D. candidate with a
Masters Degree in Legal Research, in addition to a L.L.B. in Law and a
Masters Degree in Development Studies from Addis Ababa University. As
an attorney, Daniel's fields of expertise are in Public International
Law, Human Rights Law and Law in Development. Daniel actively
participated in the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and he
worked as a policy and advocate manager at ActionAid Ethiopia, the
South Africa-based international development organization, where he
pushed for civic engagement in Ethiopian society. He also published
papers with a focus on the freedom of _expression and the application
of international human rights law in his homeland of Ethiopia.
Daniel's contributions and his passion for peace illustrate dedication
to his belief in a peaceful and democratic change in Ethiopia.
In the May 2005 national election, although ninety percent of
Ethiopians voted for the opposition party, Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi's ruling party rigged the election in its favor. Leading
members of the opposition party, Coalition for Unity and Democracy,
protested the electoral fraud. Clashes with Zenawi's ruling party led
to the murder of 86 protesters and the wounding and illegal jailing of
tens of thousands of civilians in the June 8th and November 1st Addis
Ababa massacres. Ethiopians faced displacement and the
destabilization of the country at the hands of the Zenawi regime,
while it seemed that the international community turned a deaf ear to
Ethiopians' cries for help.
Those who are entrusted with the force of governmental power should
apply that power with justice and equity, not to silence those
individuals who express views contradictory of the government's
stance. Many Ethiopians chose to oppose the repression of the Zenawi
regime through political activism, peaceful protests and strikes. The
regime retaliated with the arrest of thousands. Ethiopian Security
Forces brutally pistol-whipped Daniel two weeks prior to his arrest.
His sole crime was allegedly making statements critical of the regime.
Daniel and others who did not participate in the demonstrations were
later arrested on the suspicion that they had fomented the alleged
civil unrest. On November 1st 2005, Daniel, with 128 people and four
organizations, was officially charged with the 'crime of outrage
against the Constitution and the constitutional order'.
Individuals, such as Daniel, should not be condemned to harassment,
intimidation, unlawful imprisonment and death for expressing their
beliefs in a lawful manner against the Zenawi regime. Amnesty
International believes that Daniel is a Prisoner of Conscience who
should not be facing charges carrying possible death sentences.
Capital punishment or the threat of death should not be used as
vengeance against the opposition and those unpopular with a
government.
The Zenawi regime proclaimed that Daniel and others have received a
fair trial. Yet they have denied Ethiopia's citizens the freedom of
assembly and _expression while simultaneously replacing human rights
with systematic murder, repression and brutality. Although the Zenawi
government claimed that all defendants were treated properly, Daniel
was subjected to continuous psychological and physical torture. He
faced sleep deprivation and officers forced him to sleep in a shipping
container. He was ultimately moved into a crowded cell with more than
250 inmates. As a result, it was exceptionally difficult for him to
adequately prepare for his trial.
On July 20, 2007, 38 prisoners were released only after they signed a
document asking for clemency for crimes they did not commit. The
Zenawi government came under strong international pressure to release
these prisoners. However, the prisoners were freed only after signing
an apology admitting to organizing violent election protests. Zenawi
stated that these pardons proved 'that the sorry saga was now fully
behind us". However, Daniel remains in prison due to his refusal to
sign the government's document because of his belief that justice
would prevail and that he will not be found guilty for crimes he did
not commit.
A fair and just government should correct social and political
injustices. It should advocate a humanitarian sensibility, not
degrade and undermine the humanity of an individual and society as a
whole. The Zenawi regime raises crucial questions of freedom, liberty
and justice. The injustices committed in Ethiopia should shock the
conscience of the global community so as to propel it into action to
end the massive violations of human rights by the Zenawi regime. We
must safeguard fundamental principles and human rights regardless of
an individual's nationality.
The internalization of human rights sets in motion a legal and moral
obligation not to disregard the gross human rights violations in
Ethiopia because these violations are outside our borders. We cannot
condone human atrocities in the mistaken belief that those actions
committed beyond our borders do not involve us because they do not
occur in our backyard. Democracy and the belief that every being has
the inalienable right to justice and freedom requires us to accept
that the world is our backyard and we must protect it against the
injustices and inhumanity perpetrated by any government against its
citizens.
Silence is not golden. It is non-reactive, unproductive and inhumane.
We risk our humanity by allowing ourselves to close our eyes to the
atrocities that are committed by the Ethiopian regime. Moreover we
share in the complicity of a government's crimes against humanity if
we do not speak out on behalf of those who have fought for the human
rights of others. It is crucial, not only for Ethiopians, but for us
as an international community to recapture the moral authority that
vanished in the wake of the Zenawi regime. The evil is not that the
laws are wanting, but that they cannot or will not be enforced. We
must regain a commitment to redress the wrongs against humanity and
justice. To paraphrase Jean Jacques Rousseau, to renounce liberty is
to renounce one's humanity and such a renunciation is incompatible
with the nature of humankind.
Today, Daniel Bekele's future, and most importantly, his life hangs in
the balance. We can no longer dismiss or disregard the emotional and
mental violence that he has succumbed to during his imprisonment. We
can never erase the imprint of this violence on his life, but we can
end his suffering by making sure that justice prevails in his case.
We seek your help in addressing the human rights violations already
committed by the Zenawi regime. It is imperative, however, that
Daniel's future path is a freedom from imprisonment and not a path to
the death chambers of Ethiopia. We must not only save Daniel, but
save the principles of humanity and justice for all.
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