Ethiopians on Terror Charges Over Food Security Meet, Groups Say

by William Davison

(Bloomberg) — Six human-rights groups urged Ethiopia’s government to free three citizens charged with terrorism after trying to attend a Kenyan food-security workshop.

Pastor Omot Agwa was charged by Ethiopian authorities under the anti-terrorism law after being detained for nearly six months.

The Sept. 7 charges against Omot Agwa, Ashinie Astin and Jamal Oumar Hojele include trying to attend a “terrorist group meeting,” according to a statement e-mailed by Human Rights Watch, the New York-based advocacy group. The workshop was organized by Bread for All, the development wing of Swiss protestant churches; GRAIN, a Barcelona-based non-profit organization; and the Anywaa Survival Organisation, based in Reading, U.K., which campaigns for the rights of the Anuak people who live in Ethiopia’s western Gambella region.

“Ethiopia should be encouraging debate about its development and food security challenges, not charging people with terrorism for attending a workshop organized by respected international organizations,” said Miges Baumann, deputy director at Bread for All, which also signed the petition. “These absurd charges should be dropped immediately.”

The U.S., European Union and United Nations have criticized Ethiopia’s frequent use of a 2009 anti-terrorism law to criminalize dissent by politicians, journalists and activists. Four bloggers from the Zone 9 group face their 37th hearing next month on charges of supporting terrorism, while a group of Muslim protest leaders were sentenced to between seven and 22 years last month, according to the statement.

Communications Minister Redwan Hussien’s mobile phone was switched off when Bloomberg called seeking comment and State Minister of Communications Shimeles Kemal wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Surging Growth

Economic growth in Ethiopia has surpassed every other sub- Saharan country over the past decade and is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to exceed an annual rate of 8 percent over the next two years. The state-planned economy may be opening up to foreign investors following its sale of $1 billion of Eurobonds last year and plans to start an equities and secondary debt market, London-based Exotix Ltd. said in May.

Gambella is a low-lying, impoverished and unstable Ethiopian region that borders South Sudan. Sporadic clashes occur between the indigenous Anuak and other communities, including migrants from Ethiopia’s highlands. Recent commercial-farming and resettlement programs in the region were the latest federal government interventions criticized by advocacy organizations for violating the rights of local groups.

In February 2014, Omot, an Anuak, worked as a translator for World Bank officials looking into allegations the lender broke its own laws by financing resettlements, according to the statement. He was charged with being a leader of the rebel Gambella People’s Liberation Movement, it said.

Senior administrators from the ethnic Mazinger zone in Gambella were among 46 people charged with inciting violence over the past two years that led to the death of 126 people and displacement of 7,000, Addis Ababa-based Fana Broadcasting Corp. said on its website on Sept. 19.

Source: ecadforum