• On Tuesday this week, President Issayas wrote to the President of the Security Council accusing the United States of a series of acts of destabilization in the Horn of Africa. President Issayas alleged the US had misused its leverage in the UN Security Council to paralyze implementation of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission for the last six years. He claimed that the US was continuing unabated in its objective: “we are fully aware of the ‘game plan’ that is being contrived as well as the overt campaign that is already underway”. The letter concluded by reiterating a call to the UN Security Council “to seriously examine the acts of destabilization that the US Administration is fomenting day and night in our region and to seek appropriate remedies to the dangerous trend.” Of course, all this is rubbish, but it raises the question of why Eritrea has continued its absurd attacks on the US. Is it because the present US administration only has a few months left and Eritrea wishes to establish credentials for the next administration? Or is it a further attempt to try and ingratiate itself with the critics of US policy in Iraq and elsewhere? 

President Issayas’ letter also referred to an earlier Eritrean claim that Ethiopia had recently occupied Eritrean and Djiboutian territory at Musa Ali, a point where the borders of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti meet. Eritrea has alleged that what it calls Djibouti’s false claims of an Eritrean invasion of Djibouti have been designed to distract from Ethiopian actions at Musa Ali. Yesterday, Foreign Minister Seyoum also wrote to the President of the Security Council emphasizing the absurdity of this fabrication. There had, he said, been no military takeover of any Eritrean or Djiboutian territory at Musa Ali, a mountain peak a long way inland from Ras Doumeira the point of Eritrean aggression against Djibouti last April. It would, of course, be easy for the UNMEE forces that have been deployed at Bure, close to Musa Ali, to verify the situation there. Minister Seyoum, who noted that the US Government was fully able to reply on its own account to the wild and extraordinary attacks on it, went on suggest that even the most diehard friends and supporters of Eritrea could no longer hide the fact that Eritrea had become a major liability to peace and security in the region.  It had gone to war with almost all its neighbours, with Yemen, Ethiopia and Djibouti. It has continuously supported armed opposition movements, even terrorist organizations, in the region, suspended its membership of IGAD, and consistently defied numerous Security Council resolutions and forced out a UN Mission from the border with Ethiopia. Nor did it make any secret of this activity. Minister Seyoum concluded by repeating that Ethiopia believed the Security Council should now take the challenge posed by Eritrea very seriously, and that it should no longer continue to shirk its responsibility for peace and security in the sub-region.

Yesterday, the Eritrean Foreign Ministry launched into a new attack on Ethiopia and on Prime Minister Meles claiming Ethiopia had breached the Algiers Agreement. With perhaps unintended irony, Eritrea criticized what it called the “US-led international community’s refusal to shoulder its moral and legal obligations under the Algiers Agreements” and its continued “appeasement” of Ethiopia. In fact, of course, Eritrea has long been in fundamental breach of the Algiers Agreements by its total violation of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) and its enforced removal of UNMEE, both central elements in the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities, without which the Algiers Agreements collapse and demarcation cannot proceed. Eritrea’s own actions have deliberately and specifically torn up the Algiers Agreements. As Foreign Minister Seyoum noted in his letter to the Security Council President on Tuesday: “Eritrea must fulfil the international obligations to which it committed itself in 2000 and its regional obligations to peace and stability”. It is these, and these only which allow for the real possibility of peace in Somalia, the  restoration of security and the much needed normalization of relations throughout the region.   

• Meanwhile, at an event marking France’s National Day, on Monday, at Mouhoule, the French Defence Attaché in Djibouti, General Philippe Lefort, pledged France’s full support to Djibouti in the border dispute with Eritrea. “Our Djibouti friends know well”, he said, that “that we will participate unhesitatingly at their side if circumstances require it.” France has now established a base at Mouhoule for support of the Djibouti army. Mouhoule is some 30 kilometres from the border at Ras Doumeira. The French Ambassador to Djibouti, Ambassador Dominique Decherf, who was also present along with Djibouti’s Chief of Staff, General Zakaria Cheikh Ibrahim, took the opportunity to underline that cooperation between France and Djibouti had been consolidated further since the outbreak of the conflict with Eritrea. He emphasized that bilateral defence ties would now be strengthened further. France has 2,900 troops based in Djibouti as well as naval units and air squadrons. Ambassador Decherf called on Eritrea to withdraw from the areas it had occupied and to return to the status quo ante. The African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) at an extraordinary meeting in Brussels this week commended Djibouti for the restraint it has shown, and announced their intention to send a fact-finding mission to the disputed area. So far none of the missions sent to the region, by the Arab League, the African Union or the UN have been able to visit Eritrea, though all have been welcomed in Djibouti. The situation along the Djibouti-Eritrea border is currently calm. The Government of Somaliland has sent 2000 sheep and goats to the Djibouti army at the warfront, as a gesture of solidarity. Meanwhile, the Government of Djibouti has banned one of the main opposition parties, the Movement pour le Renouveau Démocratique (MRD). This is not the first time the MRD has been in trouble with the authorities. On this occasion it has been accused of treason after an alleged statement in which the MRD apparently urged Eritrea to invade Djibouti.
   

• The Transitional Federal Parliament in Somalia has now endorsed the Djibouti agreement of June 9 between the TFG and ARS. The head of the TFG delegation to the peace process tabled a resolution in support of the agreement which was adopted without opposition and no abstentions. In the process, parliament underlined its commitment to support the peace process in full and agreed to support the committee mandated to follow this up until peace and reconciliation was achieved with the full implementation of the agreement. The Parliament also debated on how the Government should sustain its security forces. All members of parliament agreed to contribute 100 USD each to assist TFG security. Parliament decided to establish a nine member parliamentary task force to check whether all the necessary support to the security forces was being provided. This week, more than 2,300 newly trained TFG forces arrived in Baidoa after completing their training in Ethiopia. The Parliamentary leadership held discussions with the new forces, who expressed their readiness to defend the country and the Government from any and all anti-peace elements. While en route to Baidoa, Al-Shabaab forces led by a non-Somali tried an ambush. The Al-Shabaab unit was heavily defeated, losing its leader and seven others killed, and 13 wounded. Two RPG and other weapons were captured as well as remote controlled explosives, radio equipment, training manuals and operational plans. Al-Shabaab also suffered another defeat in the Arafat area of Mogadishu yesterday, losing 31 fighters led by an ex-colonel and former head of the Special Guard unit of President Abdikassim Salad Hassan, president of the previous Transitional National Government. TFG forces again captured a number of weapons as well as a minibus being used to transport the fighters.

Meanwhile, the UN Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah noted on Wednesday that the progress made to advance the Djibouti Agreement was encouraging. He described the Agreement as a courageous step forward by Somali leaders, and welcomed the mobilization of significant resources for the implementation of the Agreement by the EU, Norway and the US. He said that the UN Security Council would be meeting to discuss Somalia shortly, and hoped a joint Somali delegation would undertake a mission to the Security Council and go on to meet the Somali Diaspora in the US and elsewhere. Mr. Ould-Abdallah said the period since the signing had allowed those Somalis uncomfortable with the idea of a reborn Somalia, time to adjust adding that “as peace calls for courage, patriotism and firm determination, it always has many enemies”. The UN Special Representative appealed to all Somali patriots to unite their ranks, defend their dignity and come together for peace and justice. He strongly condemned the senseless killings of innocent Somalis. In the last few weeks there have been a string of kidnappings and targeted killings of aid workers in an apparently deliberate attempt to interrupt the flow of humanitarian aid into Somalia. The killings have included Osman Ali Ahmed, head of the UNDP’s operations in Somalia. A number of international and local aid agencies have suspended operations intensifying an already serious humanitarian situation. Leaflets threatening local aid workers with death if they continue operating have been distributed in Mogadishu. Suspicion for these attacks has largely fallen on Al-Shabaab, and although Al-Shabaab has denied responsibility for the killing of Osman Ali, it has a long record of committing similar murders and assassinations. 

• The passing of the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation, the new Press Law, and the discussions on the Charities and Societies Bill, have led to claims, particularly by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI), and by opposition groups that the political space in Ethiopia is “ever diminishing”. These allegations have been made on any number of occasions by opposition parties since the 2005 election, notably by the various fragments of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD). The CUD performed strongly in the 2005 election, and the number of opposition MPs increased from 12 to 172, 109 from the CUD, but despite its claims it did not win. Following its defeat and its leadership's vain efforts to keep its elected members out of Parliament, the CUD broke into fractions. Originally a coalition of four parties, it appears to have fractured into at least six groups. Its supporters’ groups in the Diaspora appear to be equally divided. One faction, the UEDF-MEDHIN, is firmly in Parliament under the leadership of Lidetu Ayalew. Two factions continue to wrangle over the name, and other elements have set up a new party, Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), which has elected Birtukan Mideksa as its chairperson. It is the first time any political party in Ethiopia has chosen to be led by a woman. The UDJ was not registered in time to participate in April’s local elections but can be expected to have built up significant momentum by 2010. The former CUD chairman, Hailu Shawal, has returned to Ethiopia and also appears to be setting up yet another separate party. One other element of the former CUD, headed by Berhanu Nega, has created a new party, the Movement for Justice and Democracy or Gimbot 7, in the Diaspora and appears to have rejected democratic activities entirely, apparently planning to go into a coalition with various opposition groups which have devoted themselves to armed struggle, and in some cases are now based in Eritrea. None of this needed any help from the ruling EPRDF or the Government and splits within opposition parties cannot be blamed on reduced political space. Indeed, despite all efforts by former CUD members to blame their own divisions on pressure from government, none of this suggests any diminishing political space; rather a constantly expanding one. At the beginning of this month, four opposition parties, two of whom are represented in Parliament, and two leading political personalities came together to form the Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia. They included the UEDF, the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, the Somali Democratic Alliance Forces and the Union of Tigrians for Democracy and Sovereignty (ARENA), together with former President Dr. Negasso Gidada and former Minister of Defence, Siye Abraha. In fact, following the successful kebele and woreda elections in April, all parties are beginning to gear up for the federal and regional state elections in 2010. There is no justification to suggest that there is insufficient ‘political space’ for these parties. There are currently nearly 70 parties registered for state and local elections and some 8 parties registered as national organizations.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) have also related ‘political space’ to the Press Law and most recently to the draft Charities and Societies bill. Referring to the latter, AI claims that the restrictions on the activities of foreign NGOs in areas such as citizenship, human rights, and conflict resolution and justice are inexplicable. Not everybody would agree. AI might take another look at its own output and that of HRW, and the criticisms of both, for an explanation as to why the Government wishes NGOs to operate under proper supervision. No one suggests that the right to defend human rights should be subject to geographical restrictions, but such organizations do not need to be externally based. Nor indeed are they all. The point of the draft proclamation on Charities and Societies is that it allows for increased supervision of NGOs. The NGOs claim this means strict government control and interference. They reject any suggestion that they might need such supervision or that they themselves should demonstrate proper responsibility for their own activities.

In fact, it should hardly be a problem for most international or national NGOs to be registered, or in this case re-registered. Nor should the creation of a government organization, the Charities and Societies Agency (CSA) to oversee NGO operations cause any difficulty. There is hardly any country in the world without a similar organization. It is true that the creation of the CSA will make it easier to monitor NGO activity. Another, equally accurate way of putting it would be to say that the legislation will regulate a situation which had got way out of control as NGO's have demonstrated by their objections to regulation, indeed to any limitation of their activities or even to being held accountable in any way. Last year the government was forced to close down 17 NGOs, and others have been found usurping UN privileges, failing to pay tax and breaking the law in numerous ways. There is no doubt that a number of NGOs could improve the quality and capacity of their delivery. This is why the Government wishes to have clearly defined rules and regulations which will allow NGOs to operate freely and smoothly. This is why Prime Minister Meles had two meetings with the NGOs to discuss their concerns. To claim that this is narrowing ‘political space’, threatening to silence the “few remaining independent civil society voices”, is insulting to the many civil society organizations that operate freely. Given the total lack of monitoring in the past, it is no surprise that international NGOs have been nervous about something that subjects them to closer scrutiny and control and which demands greater transparency. Indeed, the government bears some responsibility for failing to monitor the activities of NGOs sufficiently and for not establishing the necessary mechanisms to do so. In fact, there is no reason that closer scrutiny of NGOs should be a problem, nor the establishment of control of external funding for political parties. This is something that all democratic countries do. There is no doubt that NGOs sometimes face cumbersome bureaucratic hurdles. The Charities and Societies Bill will provide the means to improve this as well as improve accountability, and ensure all funds go where intended, whether for aid, development or the furtherance of other causes.

Complaints over the new Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation, usually referred to as the Press Law, have a somewhat similar ring. Its critics include both HRW and AI. The Proclamation was finally passed on July 1^st by the House of Peoples Representatives after six years of discussion and consideration by various consultants, stakeholders and journalists to frame provisions that safeguard the right of self-expression and the freedom of the press as laid down in the Constitution. As even its critics admit, with an extremely liberal introduction and preamble, the Proclamation aims to implement values of accountability and transparency for government activities. It allows for improved facilitation of public discussion on issues of common interest and obliges government officials to make available necessary information to individuals and the media. It is now obligatory for office holders to respect the public right to information, and officials are duty bound to report on their activities and make information available upon demand by journalists and the public. Attempts to classify as confidential any documents revealing illicit or corrupt practices, inefficiency, or scandalous actions by individuals or organizations, is forbidden. In fact, incorporated into the Proclamation is what amounts to a Freedom of Information Act though there are, as is usual, some exceptions, as stated by law, covering national trade secrets or defence and intelligence reports. Any form of prior censorship is forbidden and the police cannot detain journalists. The Ministry of Information has the power to register and license media organizations, and limitations remain on cross-media ownership. The Government, however, is given the right to prosecute cases of defamation of officials even where those defamed might choose not to press charges; and there is a significant increase in the scale of compensation for ‘moral’ damage by the media.   In fact, the Proclamation encourages “developmental journalism”, underlining the need for responsibility and professionalism in the media. This became necessary after the independent media failed to put its own house in order in the last few years. Like many in the NGO community, the media largely failed to realize the need for responsibility, and failed to take advantage of the long series of consultations over the bill. Indeed, few have demonstrated any interest in creating a platform for continued engagement with the government. Despite this the Proclamation is very clear in its aim to leave the business of self-discipline largely to the media. The complaints that the Government retains too much power over the private media come from those who have clearly shown over many years that they do not want to engage with the Government. It is a position that has been loudly supported by HRW and other similar, externally-based, organizations.

The law will now bring about a fundamental change in the way information is accessed and disseminated. It will help provide for a responsible and accurate press and media. It is, however, a process which does depend upon the full engagement of all stakeholders, media, public and government agencies alike, and the demonstration of a responsible attitude by all involved. The Proclamation has been described by one newspaper as “improved but imperfect”. On the contrary, in fact, it will open up government and officialdom to much greater transparency and accountability and greatly expand the political space available. The Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation passed the House of Peoples Representatives by 291 to 77 votes with nine abstentions.

• Last week an article in the Irish Independent (“Africa is giving nothing to anyone – apart from AIDS” by Kevin Myers) hit a new low in Irish journalism. It was racist, offensive and deliberately intended to cause outrage and to provoke, and Mr. Myers' admission that his article would win no friends did nothing to moderate the disgust anyone would feel on reading such rubbish. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech or expression. It is a classic case of total irresponsibility, calculated to give journalism a bad name. It is no surprise that the Immigrant Council of Ireland is planning to make an official complaint about its publication which clearly appears to breach Irish law under which it is an offence to publish or distribute written material if it is threatening, abusive or insulting and intended to, or is likely to, stir up hatred. This is in fact an article that might, indeed should be ignored. It deserves to be buried. However, in its accusations that Africa only survives by help from the outside world and then wastes it on increasing its population, it does use Ethiopia as an example. Mr. Myers claims that Ethiopia is “vastly over-populated, environmentally devastated and economically dependant”, aligning himself with those who have been trying to get restrictions on aid to Ethiopia. He refers to the “self-serving generosity” that has been one of the curses of Africa, sustaining political systems that would otherwise have collapsed  and has been inspiring Bill Gates programme to rid Africa of malaria, which he describes as “one of the most efficacious forms of population control now operating.” Evil is not a word to be used lightly but it seems appropriate here.

It is also appropriate to note that Africa, and Ethiopia, bears little relationship to the continent Mr. Myers portrays. In the last five years, Africa as a whole has achieved over 5% average growth, and last year, ten African states had a growth rate of over 7%. Ethiopia at 9.5% had the highest rate of any non-oil economy. In fact, over the last five years Ethiopia has averaged double figure growth, and despite the problems of this year, caused by drought coupled with the sharp international rises in oil and food prices, will still manage nearly 11% growth this year. A joint UN/African Development Bank statement in June noted that industry grew at 11% of GDP in 2006-07 and manufacturing at 10.5%; agriculture at 9.4% in real terms. Last year saw the fifth good harvest in a row. Exports increased by over 18% in 2006-07 to $1.2 billion, and are expected to rise to $1.8 billion this year. Growth has benefited from investment in infrastructure supported by donor funding, and paradoxically electricity shortages in May and June (due to shortages of water) underlined the enormous increase in demand produced by development. All these are not merely abstract figures in government or donor balance sheets. Subsistence farmers are being drawn into the commercial economy. The agriculture sector, helped by institutional reforms and increased infrastructure is becoming more resilient, even though this year there has been an increase in numbers needing food aid following poor belg rains. In the Amhara Regional State, for example, there has been a 25% increase in land under cultivation, from 2,900 to 3,700 hectares in the five years to 2006. Since 2002, the number of jobs in the region has risen by nearly half a million, 52,000 in industry last year alone. 45% of the region now has access to pure water, 1645 villages have telephone links and there are some 80,000 mobiles in the region. Primary school enrolment reached over 90% two years ago, and the region now has five universities, five agricultural colleges, five teacher training colleges and three technical colleges. There are 2283 health clinics (up from 421 in 1991), 168 health centres (39 in 1991) and 17 hospitals (9 in 1991). The Somali Regional State has some 1,000 primary and secondary schools, five colleges and a university. There are six hospitals and over 250 clinics and health centres. It, too, is benefiting from the substantial investment in telecommunications infrastructure; one recent project has been the connection of more than 600 secondary schools to the Internet. Similar statistics could be adduced with respect to all other regional states.

The Government’s primary concern remains the war on poverty, and the key objectives of the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP), covering the period 2005/06-2009/10, to achieve sustained, robust and pro-poor economic growth to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, one of which is to halve poverty by 2015. This is showing positive results. The proportion of people living in poverty declined from 44% in 2000 to 39% in 2005, and both urban and rural poverty indices have fallen. PASDEP aims to reduce this proportion to 29% by 2010. It is undeniable that a great deal remains to be done. Ethiopia is deeply appreciative of the generosity of donors. It does, however, put aid to good use. It is on track to achieve most MDGs and to lift Ethiopia into the ranks of middle-income countries within the next two or three decades.