The decision is yours (EMF)

A form of government in which one person or an oligarchy possesses absolute power without effective constitutional checks is a short definition of dictatorship. Modern dictators usually use force or fraudulent elections to gain power and then keep it through intimidation, terror, suppression of civil liberties, and control of the mass media...read more..

Ethiopian media gagged by anti-terror laws (The Bureau of investigation journal)

Many independent publications were shut down and 13 editors imprisoned. Today most of the media in Ethiopia is state owned. Even the international media are not immune to political interference...read more..

A tightening noose (The Economist)

Take the case of Eskinder Nega, an Ethiopian journalist who has been imprisoned on anti-terrorism charges for his criticism of the government following the Arab uprisings. Mr Nega and his wife, Serkalim Fasil, were jailed for 17 months for their reporting following Ethiopia's disputed 2005 elections, in which the government arrested thousands of students and opposition supporters and was responsible for at least some of the post-election violence. The Negas' newspapers were among dozens later closed by the government...read more..

The compass fails (The Economist)

When outsiders do bring up such issues, Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s prime minister, responds tartly that, with famine again stalking the Horn of Africa, the right of people to food, shelter, a job and indeed to life itself depends on the stability of the state. To challenge this is sabotage. ..read more.

WikiLeaks - Privatization or Monopolization by Al Amoudi in Ethiopia ? (Ethiomedia)

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Latest Wikileaks releases of U.S. diplomatic cables from Ethiopia(Ethiopian review)

Unity of purpose (EMF)

In our past history, Ethiopians in general and minority ethnic groups in particular, have suffered and are still suffering under brutal regimes. To change the system of government and replace it with a government elected by the people, by forming political parties (national, multi-ethnic & ethnic based), we went through enormous protests, uprisings and revolution. Unfortunately, all of those efforts were hijacked by few and led us where we are today, dictatorial regime. read more..

Mengistu Haile Mariam Former Ethiopian President said “Ethiopians must free their country”(AbugidaInfo)

Ethiopia 'using aid as weapon of oppression' (BBC)

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In Addis Ababa poverty pushes girls to the streets (Daily Nation)

The streets of Addis Ababa are deceptively languid by day, the slow pace of life probably a manifestation of Ethiopia’s socialism and the attendant intolerance of capitalistic “rot”. Read more

Voice of America: Do Not Censor the Voiceless! (Addis Voice)

Alemayehu G. Mariam

The record will show that I have been an unapologetic defender of the Voice of America. A couple of weeks ago, I defended the VOA as the Voice of the Voiceless. When Zenawi lambasted the VOA for being the flipside of the VOI (Voice of Interhamwe-Rwanda), I rose to its defense. When Zenawi jammed the broadcasts of the VOA to Ethiopia in 2010, I defended the right of the VOA to broadcast to Ethiopians and the right of Ethiopians to receive VOA broadcasts. I am the #1 fan of the VOA. Read more...

Ethiopia: Oromo opposition officials detained by Zenawi Govt (Jimma Times)

This week, a blacklist written by Prime Minister Zenawi given to Voice of America (VOA) radio included nearly the whole Medrek top leadership. Zenawi demanded that the Washington DC based VOA media forbid dozens of Ethiopians from appearing in its radio programs. Some of these Ethiopians banned include the main MEDREK executive officials Dr. Merera Gudina (OPC), Professor Beyene Petros (UEDF), Dr. Negasso Gidada (UDJ), Bekele Gerba (OFDM) and Dr. Hailu Araya (UDJ). In a press statement this week, Medrek accused Meles Zenawi of using its “draconian laws” to criminalize the opposition and restrict freedom of expression. Reed more..

VOA and Ethiopia: Challenges and Danger By Eskinder Nega (Abugidainfo)

Berket is notably incapable of either dialogue or negotiation. He instinctively lectures or demands. And had it not been for the extraordinary courage of David Abnor, then VOA’s horn of Africa chief and one of four media officials traveling with the board members, Berket’s bizarre demands and complaints would never have seen light of day. Reed more..

They chased me out, and now are chasing my idea (Abugidainfo)

Even though it is obvious that the probability for opposition messages to reach the Ethiopian population is very slim due to lack of free press and freedom of expression, EPRDF/TPFL government worry about opposition influence on the western donors to loosen or eventually cuts the life support of the regime. Without the support of western donor the existence of the EPRDF regime even for a single day is unthinkable. That is why the regime intensifies “officially” to chase the idea of people, who were chased from their country of origin by the same regime ..read more..

Ethiopia: Apocalypse Now or in 40 Years?(IndepthAfrica)

Will There Be Ethiopia in 2050?

Whether Ethiopia survives as a viable nation in 2050 free of war, disease, pestilence and famine will not depend on an imaginary 15 percent economic growth or a ludicrous 99.6 percent election victory. It will depend on what is done to deal with the little big 3 percent problem. In other words, overpopulation poses the single most critical problem and decisve issue in Ethiopia today and the years to come...read more..

Walk of horror: Hungry Somalis endure death in weeks-long walk to find food at camps (Lethbridge)

The U.N. expects at least 10 million people will need food aid, and a U.S. aid official said Monday he believes the situation in Ethiopia is even worse than the government acknowledges.

The Ethiopian government announced Monday that 4.5 million people need food aid there, 40 per cent more than last year. Jason Frasier, mission director of USAID in Ethiopia, the U.S. government aid arm, suggested that Ethiopia might even be under-counting those who need help.... read more

[Video] New African State of South Sudan born (Jimma Times)

On Saturday, South Sudan becomes a free and independent country. It is a well-deserved victory for its people. Under a 2005 American-backed political accord that ended two decades of civil war, the people of the mainly Christian territory voted overwhelmingly in January to secede from the Arab Muslim north....Reade more

VOA censored itself after fallout with Ethiopian gov’t (Addis Voice)

-Horn of Africa chief suspended over critical comments

By Abebe Gellaw

The Voice of America (VOA) has been accused of censoring itself and suspending its Horn of Africa Chief, David Arnold, over fallout with the Ethiopian government. The suspension of Mr. Arnold was directly related to his comments in a news report that was broadcast on VOA Amharic service on June 23^rd, informed sources told Addis Voice...read more..

Radio interviews on Ethiopian Review Anniversary (Ethiopian reveiw)

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ዲሲ እና አትላንታ፡ እኛ እና እነርሱ፡ ስፖርት እና ትውፊት (Ethiopia Zare)

Fitawrary Tekle (Ottawa-Canada)...Read more

Journalist Abebe Gellaw versus EPRDF supporter Mekonnen Kassa (Ethiomedia)

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የአሜሪካ ድምጽ የስርጭቱን ይዞታ እስኪያሻሽል የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ትብብር አላደርግም አለ (VOA)

"It in not posible not to bradcast the Idea that the government doen't like " VOA Read more

The failed states index 2011 ( FP)

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U.S. Underwrites Internet Detour Around Censors ( The New York Time)

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Ghana : George Ayittey’s War on African Dictatorships (Africa Indepth)

Those genuinely in the opposition must accept responsibility for their inability to come together and articulate a vision for the country. They deserve blame for squandering valuable opportunities to build organizational alliances, develop alternative policies and train young leaders… But that is no excuse for not closing ranks against dictatorship now, and presenting a united front in support of democracy, freedom and human rights...Read more..

Updated: Saturday, 11 Jun 2011, 1:30 PM CDT
Published : Saturday, 11 Jun 2011, 7:01 AM CDT

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday warned Africa of a creeping "new colonialism" from foreign investors and governments interested only in extracting the continent's natural resources to enrich themselves and not the African people. ..Read more..

Ethiopia May Charge More Oromo Rebels, After Fighters Sentenced Over Plot (Bloomberg)

“Generally the government’s strategy is the marginalization of the opposition using the anti-terrorism law. They use it against the opposition whether they are legal like us or operating outside the legal framework,” Merera Gudina, chairman of the Oromo People’s Congress, said in a phone interview from Addis Ababa yesterday. “For sure I know the members have nothing to do with Eritrea or illegal activities.”.. Read more..

ኢትዮጵያ/አፍሪቃ | 09.06.2011 የአፋጻጸም ችግርና የገንዘብ ብክነት በኢትዮጵያ ( DW)

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News (ESAT)

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Land Grab: are Indian investors misled or collaborators in crime against Ethiopians(ECAD)F

Despites revolutions engulfing North Africa and the Middle East against dictatorship it is not likely Indian investors are that stupid to throw their money on the word of the tyrant Melse Zenawi and his disciples and expect the contract they signed will be honored and binding on the people of Ethiopia. Indeed, at this day in time it is troubling to see the largest democracy in the world is coddling-up with a small-time depot of Africa and expect to earn profit or goodwill from the people of Ethiopia. ..Read more..

George Ayittey - Oslo Freedom Forum 2011 (You tube)

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http://www.ethiomedia.com/andnen/2556.html (Ethiomrdia)

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The Unconquered Nation, Crippled By Bureaucrats (Tech Crunch)

It’s not just the censorship, though that’s bad enough: the entire blogspot.com domain is blocked, along with various Facebook pages and newspapers. But it’s not what most angers the people here at iceAddis, the new “innovation/collaboration/entrepeneurship” space modelled after Nairobi’s legendary iHub. (I’ll tell you more about it in a separate post.) What upsets this crowd is ETC’s sheer incompetence. ..Read more..

Protesters Absent as Ethiopia Marks Anniversary of Meles Rule (VOA)

The turnout at Addis Ababa’s Meskel Square was a fraction of the one million predicted. And with thunder clouds hanging overhead, a scheduled four-hour event was cut in half.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s nationally televised anniversary address lasted little more than five minutes. It was largely a patriotic appeal for support of construction of a massive dam that is challenging Egypt’s long-standing monopoly over the Nile River waters...read more..

Inspired by the Arab Spring, Ethiopians gear up for ‘day of rage’ (Al Arabiya)

Much of their frustration is similar to what other Arab nations protested: unemployment, increasing cost of living, charges of mismanagement in governance and poor records of human rights. There is also frustration at the ethnic divisions that they say plague the nation. ..read more..

Ethiopians Celebrate 20 Years of Meles Zenawi Rule(VOA)

Meskel Square is empty on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the bloodless coup that brought a band of Marxist Tigrayan rebels to power in Ethiopia. Only a few workers are here setting up the sound system and stage. ..Read more..

"Beka!" ("enough"). Will Ethiopia be next?( Opend Democracy)

Did Meles Zenawi over-react, as usual, by proving, for the nth time that, in his heart of hearts, he is less confident about the durability of his regime? Does he feel his regime is much more fragile than he proclaims in public or even than most observers assess? In other words, should he be taking these measures at all, even more so when they have largely been counter-productive?..Read more..

Ethiopian Activists Opposed to Meles Claim Power-Cable Sabotage Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/23/bloomberg1376-

Tinsae said it and other groups are planning a cam paign of "peaceful civil resistance" to bring about "multiparty Western- style democracy where government exists to serve the people" in Ethiopia. A Facebook group calling for protests on May 28 against the rule of Meles's Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front said 3,112 people had confirmed they would attend. The date is the 20th anniversary of when rebels marched into Addis Ababa to remove Mengistu Haile Mariam's Marxist military junta from power.read more

Jailed journalist: 'I will never hesitate from criticizing'(CNN)

"It's my belief that getting outside or preferring exile and living under such repressive situations are the same form, because as far as I go in exercising my professional duty abroad, that doesn't replace the ultimate freedom that I need in my entire life," says Kebede. Read more.

ደርግ የተወገደበት ሃያኛ ዓመት (DW)

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ESAT interview dr Getachew Begashaw may 2011

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በአዲስ አበባ የታክሲዎች ከፊል የስራ ማቆም አድማ (DW)

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An Imaginary Conversation with Nelson Mandela – Alemayehu G. Mariam (ANAASO)

Q. Do you believe an election is a contract between Africa’s iron-fisted rulers and the people?

A. “Only free men can negotiate, prisoners can’t enter in contracts.” .. read more

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Ethiopia censors UNESCO World Press Freedom Day event (CPJ)

New York, May 5, 2011--Officials in Ethiopia hijacked a local UNESCO-sponsored World Press Freedom Day event, installing government-backed journalists as speakers and nixing independent journalists slated to speak. There was no discussion, as originally planned, of this year's global theme on new media and the Internet at the Tuesday forum, according to local sources and news reports...more...

The Mega Nile Dam and the Millennium Bond: Redemption or Deception of the TPLF Government? (Ethiomedia)

Many Ethiopians are wondering why Zenawi’s regime decided to embark on this huge project that could have serious impact on peace, stability, and development of the country and the region. The general sentiment is captured in a paragraph of an article by an anonymous writer that appeared on Ethiomedia, May April 26, 2001:

Undoubtedly, given the topography of the Blue Nile valley, constructing a hydroelectric dam on it requires a high-level engineering technology not to speak of the billions of Birr it requires. Has Meles acquired donor funding for it? We know he hasn’t and in the deputy prime minister’s own admission they have not secured any funding; and it is highly unlikely that donors will ever fund it because of political reasons that can trigger the wrath of Egypt thereby affecting the Middle East peace process. Why choosing this risky business at this time? No funding, political risks: why risk it now? Is it really possible to build a dam of such scale without donors’ grants or loans from them but with contributions from the most impoverished people in the world and by selling bonds to them? We can discern from this that the purpose of the millennium project rhetoric is not development as it is neither serious nor feasible. By now, we can see the dominant feature of the political aspect in this project. It is indeed a political project aimed at deceiving the public and diverting their attention from a possible uprising....more..

TPLF and the art of reverse engineering (Zikkir)

By Yilma Bekele

When you take an object apart to see how it works, or take software and disassemble it to locate the source code it is referred to as reverse engineering. Basically what you are doing is inverting the system by going back wards the developmental cycle all the way to conception. Reverse engineering begins with a final product and works backwards...read more..

Journalists: Ethiopia Hijacked Press Freedom Day Conference (VOA)

Conference co-organizer Argaw Ashine called the incident "embarrassing” "The problem is mistrust between the media and the government. It’s very sad because we had a lot of issues to be discussed during this event," Argaw said....more..

The 10 Tools of Online Oppressors (CJP)

The world’s worst online oppressors are using an array of tactics, some reflecting astonishing levels of sophistication, others reminiscent of old-school techniques. From China’s high-level malware attacks to Syria’s brute-force imprisonments, this may be only the dawn of online oppression. A CPJ special report by Danny O’Brien. ...Read more

Uganda unrest gathers pace despite bloody government crackdown (Guardian.co.uk)

"We know they are going to arrest many people and put them in torture chambers. We know this regime has expired. These are the signs." ...read more..

ANALYSIS : Ethiopia’s usefulness eclipses its repressiveness (The New age)

This close relationship with Ethiopia is coming under the spotlight as the wave of people power in North Africa and the Middle East has inspired Ethiopian opposition movements to follow suit. In March, the Ethiopian Americans Council wrote to US President Barak Obama about the political situation in Ethiopia and the growing political suppression by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). They claim the punitive legislation such as the Civil Society Law, Anti-Terror Law and Press Law hamper the ability to organise public meetings and rallies, and to raise funds. They have warned that Ethiopians are organizing strikes and demonstrations for the coming months, and claim that an uprising has already begun in the southern region. It is alleged that security forces used deadly force against peaceful protestors on March 7 and 9 in the Gamgofa zone. The Council is seeking US support for the opposition’s campaign.....

Compared to Egypt and Tunisia, Ethiopia has a much smaller, less educated middle class, with less access to the internet. Internet connection in Ethiopia is 0.5% compared to 21.2% in Egypt. Somalia, which has not had a stable government for more than 20 years, has a higher internet connection rate than Ethiopia.....read more.

Ethiopia Declines to Respond to US Rights Charges (VOA)

It depicts a state with a widespread system of paid informants reporting on people’s activities, where criminal courts are subject to significant political intervention and influence, and where non-governmental organizations say hundreds of political prisoners are being held.
The 56-page report documents restrictions on academic and press freedoms, including intimidation and detention of journalists, jamming foreign broadcasts, blocking internet websites, and prohibiting political activity on college campuses. ...more..

Click here to read USA State Department Human right report.
Click here to read Freedom House 2010 rep0rt on Ethiopia.

Tamagn & Woyene Representative (VOA)

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ANALYSIS : Ethiopia’s usefulness eclipses its repressiveness (The New Age)

Zenawi presided over what were regarded as fraudulent elections in both 2005 and 2010, and in an attempt to maintain his regime’s grip on power, detained tens of thousands of opposition supporters, imprisoned opposition leaders and executed demonstrators. The US State Department acknowledged in its human rights reports the “numerous credible reports of unlawful detention of opposition candidates in Ethiopia, and the politically motivated killings committed by the security forces”. Despite this, Ethiopia remains a top US client state in the East African region and has not been subjected to official public criticism for the ruthlessness with which it deals with its detractors...read more

Ethiopia : Open letter to Ambassador Girma Birru ( Nazret)

I was formally invited by an embassy staffer, a decent Ethiopian, who happens to know me and my views and who, on more than one occasion, had a civil discussion and debate with me. When I drove 20 miles from my home that morning to Howard University, the only preparation I made was read the 158-page document entitled: “The Growth and Transformation Plan.” I was not prepared for what I was going to face at the entrance of the hall. I believed the messages you put out on the media that all of us, irrespective of our views, were welcome to the meeting. How can I suspect that a person of your position could give out a false public announcement? First, I faced the wrath of the protestors as I was crossing their picket lines. Then I met the people who were deployed by the embassy to man the gate, and do the sad job of screening participants and deciding what type of Ethiopian should be let in and what type should be kept out. I was told I was ineligible to enter and saw many people being returned from entering. One screener told me in the face that he reads my writings on the Internet and that the meeting is not for my kind of people. I asked him if this was the policy of the embassy and he told me yes. He further told me, and I quote him verbatim: “ante Tigre Titela Yelem ende min litisera Metah” (አንተ ትግሬ ትጠላ የለም እንዴ? ምን ልትሰራ መጣህ?)...read more..

Ethioipan Oppositon protest against Woyane in USA & Canada (Updated)

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The Poverty of Dictatorship (Project syndicate)

Despite the economic advances they registered, Tunisia, Egypt, and many other Middle Eastern countries remained authoritarian countries ruled by a narrow group of cronies, with corruption, clientelism, and nepotism running rife. These countries’ rankings on political freedoms and corruption stand in glaring contrast to their rankings on development indicators. Read more...

Group plans to beam free Internet across the globe from space (Raw Story)

"We believe that Internet access is a tool that allows people to help themselves - a tool so vital that it should be considered a universal human right," the website for Buy This Satellite stated. "Imagine your digital life disconnected. Without access to the 100 million man-hours that have been put into Wikipedia, how much do you actually know?".Read more...

How to bring down Meles Zenawi (Addis Voice)

By Abebe Gellaw

TPLF is a house of cards. It is fundamentally weak as it is founded on the ideologies of oppression, injustice, exploitation, domination, discrimination, corruption, thievery and fraud driven by a greedy colonialist mindset. The only reason why it is still riding roughshod over our people is because those who have stepped forward to be leaders of the freedom march have been preoccupied with their own infighting.

The time for self-promotion, empty promises and bravados must come to an end. Leaders as well as followers must focus on the real issues that really matter to ordinary Ethiopians. People who have resolved to change their destiny no longer need undemocratic leaders that preach about democracy and freedom. It is impossible to bring liberation without a clear vision. To be free of tyranny and oppression is a simple and powerful vision that can mobilize anyone suffering under the boots of Meles Zenawi and his cronies. Read more...

A Declaration in Defense of Human Rights in Ethiopia (Huffington Post)

In the history of oppression, tyrants have spared no effort to erode the natural courage of their people and force upon them a life of cowardice and submission, debilitate their natural instincts for bravery and valor and intimidate them into accepting servility, replace their yearning for liberty with false hopes and pretensions of freedom, trick them into bartering their desire to live in dignity for a life of shame and fear, subvert their natural sense of honor, duty and patriotism for vulgar materialism, and corrupt them into selling their fidelity to truth at the altar of falsehood....Read more..

RSS Feeds RSS Feed Ethiopia Says 2.8 Million People Need Emergency Food Aid (VOA)

"Two-point-eight-million still require relief food assistance," said Owusu. "And we also know an additional 956,000 require targeted supplementary feeding. An estimated 107,000 children may continue to require treatment for severe acute malnutrition, and 3.3 million people will require screening for more nutrition and Vitamin A supplementation."...Read more..

What about farting to protest? (Afrik)

A wind of change is blowing in many countries and encouraging a real people’s Revolution that augurs badly for tyrants. The fall of Saleh as well as the separation of South Yemen could be in the making. But above all, one hopes that whole process educates the oppressed African about the power of her or his voice. This is an opportunity to take our destiny into our own hands, rather than allowing those autocratic leaders the luxury of taking time off their plundering sessions to enact pathetic laws and edicts that compromise our self respect as individuals, nations and continent....read more..

America's Other Most Embarrassing Allies (FP)

Hosni Mubarak has plenty of company.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JANUARY 31, 2011

ETHIOPIA

Leader: Meles Zenawi

Record: The 2010 election, in which Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's party won a remarkable 99.6 percent of the vote, was the culmination of what Human Rights Watch called "the government's five-year strategy of systematically closing down space for political dissent and independent criticism." This included attacks and arrests of prominent opposition figures, the shutting down of newspapers and assaults on journalists critical of the government, and doling out international food aid as an incentive to get poor Ethiopians to join the ruling party.

In addition to attacks on domestic media and NGOs, the government also jammed broadcasts by Voice of America and Deutsche Welle in the run-up to the elections. The U.S. NGO Freedom House downgraded Ethiopia to "Not Free" for the first time in its annual Freedom in the World survey this year.more....

Aid Should Not Sustain Repression in Ethiopia (Indepthnews)

Ethiopia is in fact one of the most aid-dependant countries in the world and received more than US$2 billion in 2009, but its major donors have been unwilling to confront the government over its worsening human rights record.Two months after the HRW report was released, executive director Kenneth Roth admonished the Addis Ababa based Development Assistance Group (DAG) -- comprising 26 bilateral and multilateral development agencies -- for its failure to "initiate a credible and independent inquiry" into "serious allegations about the misuse of donor-supported programs for repressive purposes by the government of Ethiopia".Also the European Union team, monitoring the May 2010 polls, criticized in its November report the ruling party's misuse of state resources during the election campaign. Ethiopia's ruling party won more than 99.6 percent of parliamentary seats in an election that, according to European observers, "fell short of international standards". Following are extracts from the interview: Read more...

Human rights group says democracies ignore abuses, opt for dialogue (Macleans)

Human Rights Watch's list of most abusive countries included Belarus, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. Without outside pressure, Roth said, the list will grow.
"A dictator will weigh this cost-benefit analysis and decide that repression pays. The aim of the international community is to make repression not pay," he said.
The group also complained about what it called the West's "soft reaction to certain favoured African autocrats, such as Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia." ..read more..