Worancha ወራንቻ

 A grassroots surveillance network stretches even to remote rural areas (Adam Jones / Flickr) Last week Human Rights Watch  published a 100+ page report  on government surveillance in Ethiopia that explains how the authorities use technology from countries like China, Germany and Italy to spy on opposition members, dissidents and journalists,  even after they flee the country . Ethiopia's Information Minister, Redwan Hussein, dismissed the report. “There is nothing new to respond to,” Hussein  said , according to the AFP. Felix Horne, who co-authored the HRW report with Cynthia Wong, told techPresident that is simply not true. “[Ethiopian authorities] often castigate HRW for their coverage on Ethiopia,” Horne said. “There's always been a perception [in Ethiopia] that phone calls and email are monitored,” Horne explained, but they did not have the evidence until recently, or a good idea of how it was used. The government, Horne said, "has completely unfette

Mariano Barreto (Photo: ghanasoccernet.com) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  -  Mariano Barreto  has been appointed as the new  Ethiopian coach  with immediate effect. The Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF)  announced on Tuesday that the Portuguese will take over from Sewnet Bishaw  who was sacked in early February. EFF settled on the former Ghana coach from a shortlist of five coaches that had been drawn from the initial 27 who applied for the job. Barreto coached Ghana between 2003-2004 then coached  CS Maritimo  between 2004-2005. In 2005 he moved to Al Nasr, then moved on to Naval between 2006-2007. Mariano then moved to AL Qudisiyah in 2011. Sources at EFF intimated to supersport.com that should EFF fail to agree on the salary with Mariano, they would consider settling for  Serbian Zoran Pilipovic . Source: supersport.com

Man accuses Britain's Department of International Development, alleging its finances have abetted rights violations. An Ethiopian man is suing Britain's government alleging its aid money has funded human rights abuses. The man, known only as Mr O, accuses Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) of financially supporting a "villagisation" scheme in western Ethiopia, a government-led plan to settle pastoralists in sedentary communities, according to the AFP news agency. The case - itself funded by British legal aid - has been brought before London's High Court, but no trial date has yet been set. "Mr. O claims he suffered severe abuse and had to flee his home," in western Ethiopia's Gambella region under the villagisation programme, his British lawyers Leigh Day said in a statement. Under the scheme, the government plans to settle 1.5 million people across the country, which it says will improve access to key services

The commodity super-cycle – in which commodity prices reach ever-higher highs and fall only to higher lows – is not over. Despite the euphoria around shale gas – indeed, despite weak global growth – commodity prices have risen by as much as 150pc in the aftermath of the financial crisis. In the medium term, this trend will continue to pose an inflation risk and undermine living standards worldwide. For starters, there is the convergence argument. As China grows, its increasing size, wealth and urbanisation will continue to stoke demand for energy, grains, minerals and other resources. For example, the US consumes more than nine times as much oil as China on a per capita basis. As more of China’s population converges to Western standards of consumption, demand for commodities – and thus their prices – will remain on an upwards trajectory. Of course, not all commodities are equal. For example, although the case for copper seems straightforward – given that it is a key input for w

With European elections looming and a host of crises here at home dominating the political debate, there is the risk that challenges abroad - including Ethiopia’s disturbing treatment of journalists - will be swept under the carpet. It is vitally important that the current Parliament and Commission not let that happen as their mandates wind down, writes Alison Bethel McKenzie. Alison Bethel McKenzie is executive director of the International Press Institute in Vienna. When nominations for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought were announced last autumn, it was heartening to see that two imprisoned journalists in one of Africa’s most oppressed countries had made the list with the support of more than 40 lawmakers. Although the award ultimately went to the Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, the nomination of Ethiopian journalists Reeyot Alemu and Eskinder Nega marked important recognition of the appalling conditions that these brave people ha