Worancha ወራንቻ

African Union's (AU) high level panel on illicit financial flows (IFF) from Africa ranked Ethiopia ninth from the top 10 African countries with high illicit financial flows from 1970 to 2008 next to Côte d'Ivoire and Sudan. The panel, which was chaired by Thabo Mbeki, former South African president and comprised nine other members, released its report at Hilton Hotel on February 1, 2015. The high level panel is the first African initiative mandated to be established after the fourth joint annual meeting of the AU/ECA conference of ministers of finance, planning and economic development adopted a resolution to establish the level of IFF from the continent, to asses its long term impacts and to propose policies in reversing the illegal outflows. The Report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, used estimates by various researches on illicit financial flows from Africa, adding that a significant amount was from sources such as bribing and traffi

The 1994 constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia provides in its fundamental rights and freedoms section, specifically under Article 21, the following regarding the rights of persons held in custody and convicted prisoners: 1. All persons held in custody and persons imprisoned upon conviction and sentencing have the right to treatments respecting their human dignity; 2. All persons shall have the opportunity to communicate with, and to be visited by their spouses or partners, close relatives, friends, religious councilors, medical doctors and their legal counsel. The responsibility of ensuring that the rights set out under Article 21 are fully respected primarily lies on the government. Several prisoners and their families have claimed over the years that these rights are routinely violated. These claims have received extensive coverage even by international human rights activists. This week saw yet another claim lodged by the mother of TemesgenDessaleg

Daren Wendell has embarked on a daunting journey — running the equivalent of 100 marathons in 100 days. The Canton South High School graduate is testing his physical limits to raise money to provide safe drinking water for 2,500 people in Ethiopia. See more at: http://www.indeonline.com/article/20150216/NEWS/150219427/1994/NEWS/?Start=2#sthash.h1qiH9Gj.dpuf

On Tuesday, February 17 at 19:30 GMT:  Ethiopia's jailed Zone 9 bloggers are on trial this week for terrorism and treason, charges facing more than two dozen journalists, bloggers and publishers. To avoid arrest, 30 journalists fled the country in the past year. The government says they’re criminals, destabilising Ethiopia's fragile democracy in the name of “press freedom.” Rights groups say they’re victims of repression. Join us at 1930GMT. Read more:  Ethiopia’s stifled press -  The Washington Post Could Kenya learn from Ethiopia's anti-terror strategy? -  Voice of America http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201502171427-0024564

Last April, nine writers were arrested and imprisoned in association with Ethiopia's Zone 9 blogging collective. Eleven weeks later, they were charged under the nation's Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. Since their arrest, Soleyana Gebremicheal and Endalk Chala, two members of the collective who now live in the United States, have advocated tirelessly for their colleagues’ release. Global Voices is honored to publish this original contribution by Soleyana and her colleague, Patrick Griffith, who are now petitioning the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to intervene on the bloggers’ behalf. By  Soleyana S. Gebremicheal  and  Patrick Griffith  Despite early, high-level condemnation of the arrests of independent journalists and bloggers in Ethiopia nine months ago, international attention has waned as the pre-trial proceedings have dragged-on. The government’s continued detention of three independent journalists and six members of the Zone 9 blogging collective is not only