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FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8416
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 004202 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF DAS YAMAMOTO, AF/E, AND DRL:K.GILBRIDE 
ROME, PARIS, LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/23/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KJUS KDEM ET
SUBJECT: JAILED ETHIOPIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS AWAIT TRIAL ON 
TREASON CHARGES 
 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES VICKI HUDDLESTON.  REASON: 1.4 (D). 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  On December 21, seven weeks after being 
detained by the Government as anti-government demonstrations 
rocked the capital, senior leadership of the opposition 
Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), along with 
independent journalists and members of civil society 
organizations, finally received formal charges.  As the 
presiding judge refused defense requests to read the charges 
against each defendant in the courtroom, and defense counsels 
have limited access to detainees, specific charges facing 
individual defendants remain unknown.  However, the 
Government states that the 57 defendants in custody, who the 
Government alleges are part of a larger group of 131 
individuals wanted for prosecution, face varying counts of 
treason, armed uprising, attacking the integrity of the 
state, and even genocide, all of which are capital crimes 
that could result in either life imprisonment or the death 
penalty.  The defendants remain in custody; several have 
serious health conditions, but none appear to be 
life-threatening.  Those named by the Government as remaining 
at large include several Voice of America (VOA) 
correspondents and cultural performers, most of whom live 
abroad.  Despite five appearances in court over the last 
seven weeks, defendants remain in custody without bail.  CUD 
leaders are held in individual cells (while others are held 
with numerous other detainees) at a special detention 
facility.  Although ICRC has not had access to them or this 
facility, family members, lawyuers, and an Ethiopian human 
rights group have been in continued contact.  So far, the 
Government has not formally presented evidence against the 
defendants.  Defense counsels believe that the court lacks 
independence and has prejudged the outcome of what they 
allege are politically motivated charges against a peaceful 
opposition movement; the defense counsels also cite the lack 
of precedence for any type of plea bargain, and the court's 
continued delays in ruling on bail.  International observers, 
including USG representatives, have been present at recent 
court proceedings.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
CUD LEADERS, JOURNALISTS, NGO REPS MAY FACE TREASON 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (U) Detainees include prominent members of the opposition 
CUD party, including:  CUD chairman Hailu Shawel; CUD vice 
chair Bertukan Mideksa; CUD secretary general Muluneh Eyoel; 
CUD executive committee members Dr. Yacob Hailemariam, Dr. 
Befekadu Degfe, Gizachew Sheferaw, and Mayor Getachew 
Mengiste; Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam and Addis Ababa 
mayor-elect Dr. Berhanu Nega, who faced treason charges in 
2001 after establishing the Ethiopian Human Rights Council; 
and numerous members of the CUD's supreme council.  The 
detainees also include at least four newspaper editors or 
owners (Andualem Eyele of "Ethop," Nardos Meaza of "Satenaw," 
and Dawit Kebede and Feleke Tibebe of "Hadar"); Netsanet 
Demissie, Executive Director of the Organization for Social 
Justice in Ethiopia, who also served as Chairman of the 
Consortium of Civil Society Organizations to Monitor (the 
June 2005) elections; and Daniel Bekele, Policy Director of 
the NGO, ActionAid Ethiopia, which receives funding for civic 
education from the UK Embassy.  (NOTE: In a December 21 
statement, the NGO Reporters Without Borders reports that 13 
journalists are among the defendants, and that Ethiopia has 
more imprisoned journalists (17) than any other country in 
Africa.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶3. (U) On December 21, some 57 defendants appeared for the 
fifth time in court.  Many have been held in solitary 
confinement since being detained in early November.  Earlier 
court decisions gave the police 14 days to gather additional 
evidence, then another 10 days to gather evidence, then 
instructed prosecutors to formally present charges in 14 
days; formal charges were therefore expected to be announced 
December 16.  On December 21, the court proceedings 
focused on whether defendants would be given the names and 
addresses of the 367 witnesses whom prosecutors said they 
would call; prosecutors argued that witnesses' identities 
needed to be protected, in order to shield them from 
retribution.  Defense counsel and defendants themselves 
(including Bertukan Mideksa, a judge and CUD vice chair) 
argued that witnesses should be identified, but even if there 
were not, the issue should not be an excuse for prosecutors 
to delay presenting defendants with formal charges 
(prosecutors questioned whether the names of witnesses should 
 
be appended to the individual dossiers that were to be given 
to each defendant).  The December 21 court session concluded 
with court officials handing each of the 57 defendants 
individual dossiers specifying what charges they faced.  The 
presiding judge rejected defense requests to have the charges 
formally read in court, but said defendants faced the 
following counts under the Ethiopian penal code (some face 
all seven counts, some face fewer): 
-- Article 237:  Revocation of the Decision (which specifies 
conditions for a "fresh sentence to capital punishment or 
rigorous punishment"); 
-- Article 238:  Outrages against the Constitution or the 
Constitutional Order (punishable by 3-25 years, or "in 
serious crises against public security or life," by "life 
imprisonment or death"); 
-- Article 239: Obstruction of the exercise of Constitutional 
Powers (punishable by no more than 15 years imprisonment); 
-- Article 240 (2): Armed Rising (sic) or Civil War 
(punishable by life imprisonment or death); 
-- Article 241:  Attack on the Political or Territorial 
Integrity of the State (punishable by 10-25 years "or in 
cases of exceptional gravity, life imprisonment or death"); 
-- Article 248:  High Treason (punishable by 5-25 years 
imprisonment, "or in cases of exceptional gravity, with life 
imprisonment or death"); 
-- Article 269:  Genocide (punishable by 5-25 years 
imprisonment, "or in more seious cases, with life 
imprisonment or death"). 
 
¶4. (U) Prosecutors in the December 21 proceeding stated that 
the 57 defendants were part of a larger group of 131, some of 
whom were abroad.  Among those named as being sought by the 
Government were at least 2 VOA correspondents believed to be 
in the United States (Solomon Kifle and Tiza Belachew), 
author Negebe Goeze (believed to reside in Europe), actor 
Tamgne Beyene, and Aregawi Berhe (former chairman of the TPLF 
in the 1970s, and now a political scientist in the 
Netherlands).  Prosecutors also said legal entities accused 
of crimes include the CUD, the Rainbow party, constituent 
parties of the CUD, and several publishing companies 
(presumably publishers of anti-government newspapers); 
prosecutors did not provide additional details.  In court 
sessions to date, prosecutors have not yet presented any 
evidence or made any arguments about specific criminal acts 
the defendants are alleged to have committed; a dossier held 
by court officials and reviewed by diplomatic observers on 
December 21 appeared to be comprised primarily of internal 
CUD documents (such as minutes of meetings), and a 
compilation of newspaper articles from local media, all in 
Amharic.  In other contacts with Embassy officials, however, 
the Government contends it has hundred of video tapes as well 
as other evidence of insurrection. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
DEFENSE ATTORNEYS FEAR DEATH PENALTY MAY BE IMPOSED 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶5. (C) While noting that Ethiopia's last execution occurred 
two to three years ago (of a man convicted of murdering a 
senior government official), lead attorneys for the detained 
opposition members have expressed concerns that the 
Government may seek the death penalty (we believe this 
unlikely).  In a November 28 meeting with Charge and visiting 
AF DAS Amb. Donald Yamamoto, lead defense counsel Teshome 
Gabre-Mariam Bokan said that statements made by the GOE's 
criminal investigator during earlier remand hearings, as well 
as reports in state-run media, suggested that those detained 
would likely face prosecution under the articles named above 
(NOTE: Teshome correctly predicted all the charges, except 
for "revocation" and genocide.  Genocide charges may apply to 
defendants the Government contends are associated with the 
Derg, e.g., Hailu Shawel and Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, 
and their activities at that time.  END NOTE.)  Teshome 
underscored the need for a political, rather than legal, 
solution to the GOE's detention of CUD leaders and other 
opposition members  "It would be a mockery of justice to 
think they would get a fair trial," he said, asserting 
further that "the judges are hand-picked party cadres" and 
expressing concerns that "evidence can be manufactured." 
Fellow defense attorney Getachew Kitaw noted that the GOE and 
ruling EPRDF party had already (i.e., in November) begun 
denouncing the defendants in state-run media, and that the 
House of People's Representatives had already received a 
report from the Federal Police declaring them criminals. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
GOVERNMENT RESTRICTS ACCESS TO DETAINED OPPOSITION LEADERS 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Both defense attorneys and immediate family members 
complain that they have had limited access to the detainees, 
who are not being held in a regular detention facility. 
Family are allowed regular visits several times a week, but 
the number who may visit at one time is restricted.  Defense 
attorneys are allowed to visit the detention center two days 
a week (Wednesdays and Fridays), and have been confined to a 
single room where only one attorney is allowed to meet with 
one defendant at a time (authorities have recently decided to 
allow two attorneys to meet with two defendants at any given 
time).  Individual meetings are limited to 30 minutes 
duration.  As court proceedings occur during the morning, 
defense attorneys are effectively limited to visiting for 
three hours in the afternoon, two days a week, and, at most, 
can see 12 detainees a week.  Defense attorneys have 
therefore had difficulty ensuring that each of the dozens of 
detainees have had the opportunity to consult with legal 
counsel.  On December 16, the presiding judge recommended 
that detainees be given additional access by defense counsel 
and family members. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Post has made three formal requests via note verbale 
to Foreign Minister Seyoum, requesting access to detainees. 
One requested consular access to detainees that are legal 
permanent residents of the United States.  (NOTE: Despite 
strong ties to the United States, e.g., Berhanu Nega's wife 
is an Amcit and several detainees were prominent academics at 
U.S. universities, none of the detainees are U.S. citizens. 
Ethiopia does not allow dual citizenship; Ethiopians, if they 
accepted U.S. citizenship, would not be allowed to hold 
political office in Ethiopia.  END NOTE.)  Another request 
sought access to detained CUD leaders for visiting AF DAS. 
On November 18, Charge, as chair of the Ambassadors' Donors 
Group, formally requested that the Government allow 
representatives of the international community to visit 
Dedessa, a Derg-era military facility where at least 18,000 
individuals seized during mass arrests in Addis Ababa were 
being detained.  While the Government has provided no formal 
written response to any of these requests, Grum Abay, the 
MFA's director for North America and Europe, informed Charge 
and DAS Yamamoto that all such requests went to Prime 
Minister Meles, and that he had denied them.  The Government 
states that detainees at Dedessa have been released or 
transferred, and that 3,000 remain jailed for minor offenses 
(e.g., rock throwing) and will be released within a few 
months. 
 
¶8. (C) As of one week ago, ICRC Head of Delegation reported 
that ICRC had not had access to the detention facility (where 
Berhanu Nega and other CUD leaders are being detained) in 
Addis Ababa for the last 16 months; ICRC has also not been 
allowed access to Dedessa, although the Government does grant 
ICRC access to approximately 250 other prison facilities 
throughout the country.  Ethiopian religious leaders, 
including the director of the Ethiopian NGO Prison 
Fellowship, have visited both facilities; lawyers and family 
members have visited the facility in Addis Ababa. 
 
9.(U) On December 21, the presiding judge reiterated his 
recommendation that the 57 defendants be transferred to a 
different facility; however, previous recommendations have 
been ignored by the federal police.  During the December 21 
proceedings, police officals only announced that the 
defendants would be moved to an undisclosed location; 
defendants complained that their personal belongings had 
already been transferred without their consent.  Family 
members later learned that the 57 defendants may be moved to 
Kerchele, an Italian-built facility used as Addis Ababa's 
main prison from the 1930s to 2004.  The Government was to 
vacate Kerchele and hand over the facility to the AU, but has 
continued to use Kerchele, following the mass arrests 
conducted after November anti-government disturbances in 
Addis Ababa.  Another possible site is Kaliti, located on the 
outskirts of Addis Ababa: built by the Communist Derg regime 
as a food processing facility for the army, and now used as a 
prison for Derg and other former high officials. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
SELF-IMPOSED HUNGER STRIKE HARMING HEALTH OF OLDEST DETAINEE 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶10. (C) At age 75 (DOB: April 1930), Professor Mesfin 
Woldemariam, a former professor of geography at Addis Ababa 
University, ex-Derg official, and founder of a prominent 
human rights organization, is the oldest of the CUD and 
opposition leaders detained by the Government in Addis Ababa 
in early November.  His daughter Zesimieyit Mesfin, reported 
that as of November 30 Prof. Mesfin had "lost half of his 
body weight," due to his refusal to eat anything except 
coffee, water, and an apple a day, since his November 1 
arrest.  She said she was "shocked" at his appearance, when 
she was allowed a 45-minute meeting with him on November 26. 
Asked whether Prof. Mesfin would accept a hypothetical 
amnesty or pardon, Zesimieyit said her father would not, as 
it would be an acknowledgement of guilt.  "He would never 
leave this country, even for medical reasons," she said, 
noting that her father suffered a collapsed spinal disk in 
January, had been bedridden since July, and now walks with a 
cane, but refuses to take any medication. 
 
¶11. (C) According to his daughter, Prof. Mesfin "fasted" in 
2001 as well, when he was detained for 1 month with Dr. 
Berhanu Nega on charges of treason, following daily 
denunciations in state-run media related to his role in 
establishing the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO). 
Shawel Hailu, the adult son of CUD chairman Hailu Shawel, 
asserted that the 2001 treason charges were part of a 
Government strategy to keep both Mesfin and Berhanu out of 
politics.  In 2001, the Government released Mesfin and 
Berhanu Nega on bail, following pleas from the USG, relatives 
say, citing a phone call from then AF A/S to Prime Minister 
Meles.  Neither Mesfin nor Berhanu faced trial for the 2001 
treason charges, although the Government held proceedings on 
the 2001 charges two weeks ago.  Family members do not 
believe release on bail will be allowed now, however, as they 
likely face aggravated charges of treason for which 
prosecutors may seek the death penalty. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Zesimieyit underscored that her father, while long 
a human rights activist and an outspoken critic of the GOE, 
was not a member of the executive committee of the opposition 
CUD party.  She also refuted allegations that he had worked 
with the former Marxist Derg regime, claining instead that he 
had actually contributed to the Derg's fall by presenting a 
document on reconciliation to the Institute of Ethiopian 
Studies that later became a petition signed by many opposed 
to the Derg. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Prof. Mesfin appeared in court on December 21, 
delivering a brief statement complaining that the court's 
refusal to identify the 367 prosecution witnesses it said it 
would present, constituted a violation of human rights. 
Mesfin also criticized the court's repeated delays in ruling 
on bail, and asserted that if the court continued to violate 
its own procedure, then defendants would have no need for 
defense counsel, as they were not being permitted to do 
anything.  Mesfin appeared frail; it is not clear whether he 
has continued or limited his hunger strike.  Hailu Shawel 
also suffers from serious health conditions; according to his 
son, he suffers from diabetes, a sciatic nerve, and high 
blood pressure.  Hailu Shawel was hospitalized and did not 
appear in court on December 16, but did appear in court on 
December 21. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
FAMILY MEMBERS CITE IMPORTANCE OF USG INTERVENTION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Immediate family members of prominent CUD detainees 
hail the importance of USG intervention in freeing Professor 
Mesfin Woldemariam and Dr. Berhanu Nega when they faced 
treason charges in 2001.  They also seek assistance from 
international human rights groups, stating that Western 
attorneys could provide information on international human 
rights standards to the Ethiopian defense counsels.  Lead 
defense counsel Teshome Gabre-Mariam Bokan notes that defense 
counsels (16 were present on December 21) had been working 
pro bono until now, as the defendants were held 
"incommunicado".  Now that the 57 defendants are formally 
charged, and face different counts, defending them 
individually will be more challenging.  Teshome asid that the 
defense attorneys are demoralized, unsure how they mount a 
defense, and question the independence of the three-judge 
panel hearing the case.  Attorneys question what their 
purpose is, nothing there there is neither any incentive nor 
any precedent in Ethiopia to plea bargain. 
 
 
¶15. (C) COMMENT: Recent proceedings, although conducted 
entirely in Amharic, have been open to the public and print 
media, and observed by several dozen representatives of 
foreign diplomatic missions.  However, observers and defense 
counsels alike are concerned that the court may not be 
observing even Ethiopia's own criminal procedure:  defendants 
have been held for seven weeks before receiving formal 
charges, and that the court has continually delayed 
consideration of bail.  The prosecutors' announcement that 
the 57 defendants will be charged individually, that they are 
part of a larger group of 131 sought for prosecution, and 
that the Government will call 367 witnesses, suggests that 
final resolution of this trial could take years.  Public 
agitation with the Government's case against the CUD leaders 
and others is growing:  approximately 1,000 family members 
and students from nearby Addis Ababa University demonstrated 
at the entrance to the court compound on December 21; the 
following day, police dispersed rock-throwing high school 
students protesting against the opposition's detention.  END 
COMMENT. 
HUDDLESTON