Olaria Mosseti, the special envoy of the European Union leadership met with Andinet/UDJ leaders Dr. Yacob Hailemariam and Temesgen Zewde to look in to ways of securing Birtukan Mideksa. The two sides deliberated on the illegal imprisonment and inhuman treatment of Birtukan. The chairwoman of the main opposition political party (Andinet/UDJ) in Ethiopia was arbitrarily arrested on December 29, 2008 and has been in solitary confinement at the notorious Kaliti Prison since then. The UDJ leaders expressed their grave concern on the limited pressure from the European Union and called up on the organization for meaningful and effective measures.
Special Envoy Olaria Mosseti promised to conduct a multi-faceted approach to secure the release of Ms. Birtukan. The Special Envoy raised the importance of coordinating efforts with the American government. Olaria indicated that the Ethiopian government is set to report human rights condition at the Geneva based Human Rights Commission this coming April. The EU representative underlined that the Ethiopian government is expected to send a representative and give answers to the human rights violations reported in Ethiopia. It is worthwhile to remember that the Meles Zenawi regime refused to send a delegate to a similar invitation in a previous year when they knew the EU election observer mission chief in the 2005 controversial Ethiopian Election, Ana Gomes, was scheduled to be one of the speakers. To the embarrassment of the regime, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister blatantly accused the Honorable Ana Gomes of working to topple down his government. It is to be seen if the regime is going to apply the same lame excuse.
Local Non-Governmental human rights organizations and international human rights savvy organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International repeatedly accused the Ethiopian government for gross human rights violations, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
February 19, 2009
