VZCZCXRO0337
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #0667/01 0660851
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070851Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9440
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000667 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF DAS YAMAMOTO, AF/E, AND AF/PD:S.WESTGATE 
DRL FOR K.GILBRIDE 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KJUS ET
SUBJECT: JUDGE ENTERS "NOT GUILTY" PLEA FOR SILENT 
ETHIOPIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS 
 
REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 49 
     ¶B. 05 ADDIS ABABA 4202 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Four months after their arrest, nearly 90 
Ethiopian opposition leaders, rank-and-file supporters, 
independent journalists, and NGO representatives remain in 
detention, awaiting prosecution on capital charges ranging 
from "outrages against the constitution" to high treason and 
genocide.  Government prosecutors have given some defendants 
a list of evidence to be presented against them (comprising 
alleged internal party documents, medical certificates, press 
clippings, and both audio and video cassettes of meetings), 
but have yet to present any evidence formally in court.  The 
defendants most recently appeared in court as a group on 
February 23, just days after lead defendant Hailu Shawel 
underwent emergency eye surgery.  Asked to enter pleas, most 
defendants chose to remain silent rather than acknowledge the 
charges against them.  The presiding judge refused to allow 
Hailu Shawel and other detained CUD opposition leaders to 
make what he considered to be political statements in court. 
On March 1, the High Court rejected a defense motion to have 
three detained representatives of civil society NGOs tried 
separately from CUD party leaders, arguing that separate 
trials would create difficulties for witnesses.  Sources 
confirm that some detained CUD party leaders have been 
categorized as "criminally dangerous" and placed in detention 
with common criminals; mayor-elect Berhanu Nega complained in 
court that he now shares quarters with 300 other "dangerous" 
inmates.  The next court appearance is scheduled for March 
¶22.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
JUDGE TAKES SILENCE AS "NOT GUILTY" PLEA 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On February 23, nearly 90 defendants made their first 
appearance in court since being denied bail seven weeks 
earlier on January 4.  Those appearing in court included: 
former Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) party chairman 
Hailu Shawel; CUD vice chairman and former high court judge 
Bertukan Mideksa; Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, who is age 75 
and has apparently now ended the liquids-only hunger strike 
that resulted in his losing "half his body weight" (according 
to his daughter); Dr. Yacob Hailemariam; and Addis Ababa 
mayor-elect Berhanu Nega, whose wife is a U.S. citizen. 
During the three-hour-long proceedings, the court asked each 
defendant to acknowledge whether they had committed the 
crimes they were charged with, and to state any objections. 
After the presiding judge stopped Hailu Shawel and other 
defendants, stating that they could not make political 
statements but only enter a plea, defendants largely chose to 
remain silent, prompting the judge to declare that the court 
would declare silence as a plea of "not guilty."  CUD 
vice-chairman Bertukkan Medeksa attempted to make a statement 
at the end of the proceeding, declaring that defendants did 
not want to appear in court nor to defend themselves, as the 
trial was a political one.  The presiding judge interrupted 
her, stating that he would follow court procedure, rather 
than allow political speeches. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
CIVIL SOCIETY NGOS PROTEST LACK OF EVIDENCE 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Rather than remain silent, three representatives of 
civil society NGOs (Daniel Bekele, of ActionAid Ethiopia; 
Netsanet Demissie of the Organization for Social Justice in 
Ethiopia; and Kassahun Kebede, leader of a teachers' 
association), acknowledged the authority of the court, but 
vocally objected to the charges, declaring their innocence 
and decrying the lack of evidence against them.  Seeking to 
be tried separately from CUD leaders and detained 
journalists, these NGO representatives unsuccessfully argued 
that the prosecution's charges against them lacked specific 
detail, and therefore should be dismissed.  On March 1, in a 
separate hearing attended only by the three NGO 
representatives and two defendants who had not already 
entered pleas (a teen-age boy whose claim to be 14 years old 
and thus under-age was rejected by the court, and a man from 
Gojjam who had been arrested recently), the High Court ruled 
that the prosecutors' charges against the NGO representatives 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00000667  002 OF 003 
 
 
were proper, and agreed with the prosecutors' argument that 
sufficient evidence existed and would be presented at trial 
in the future.  The court deferred decision on whether 
defendants should be provided with a list of prosecution 
witnesses and the testimony such witnesses were expected to 
provide, citing prosecution concerns about witness protection 
as defendants being tried in absentia remained at large. 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to a visiting ActionAid executive from 
London who is observing the trial, the NGO representatives 
received "empty" dossiers from prosecutors when formal 
charges were announced in court on December 21.  In contrast, 
39 detained CUD leaders each received a "list of evidence" 
from prosecutors that named 91 documents and 35 audio or 
video cassettes to be presented by prosecutors; these CUD 
defendants also each received photocopies of the 91 documents 
listed.  The ActionAid executive decried the political nature 
of the charges against Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie, 
whom he underscored were not members of the opposition CUD 
party, but had been active in civil society programs, 
including monitoring the 2005 national elections; they also 
constituted Ethiopia's secretariat for the G-8 Global Call to 
Action Against Poverty.  He said they faced prosecution 
solely for issuing official statements on behalf of 
ActionAid, and cited a public statement by the Ministry of 
Justice critical of ActionAid. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The ActionAid executive, a UK national, reported 
that authorities had allowed him to visit only the detained 
NGO representatives in Kaliti prison.  (NOTE: Visiting U.S. 
academic Donald Levine was allowed to visit the detained CUD 
leadership for three hours; EU development commissioner Louis 
Michel also obtained access separately.  The head of 
delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC) confirms, however, that ICRC has not been allowed 
access to Kaliti prison since CUD leaders were transferred 
there in December.  Similarly, ICRC has not been allowed to 
visit Ziway prison since detainees from Dedessa military camp 
were moved there at the end of 2005.  Previously, ICRC had 
regular access to both facilities.  END NOTE.)  The ActionAid 
executive noted that Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie had 
each been kept isolated from each other. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
SOME CUD LEADERS HELD WITH "DANGEROUS CRIMINALS" 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6. (U) The ActionAid executive reported that prison 
authorities had divided all the nearly 90 political detainees 
into three segregated groups.  He confirmed that some 
detained CUD leaders, including mayor-elect Berhanu Nega, had 
been identified as "criminally dangerous" and placed with 
violent criminals; as a result, they were shackled when 
transported to court and generally faced harsher treatment. 
During the February 23 proceeding, Berhanu Nega complained 
that he now shared overcrowded quarters with 300 other 
inmates, that certain reading material was not allowed, and 
that he was shackled when brought to court; a prison official 
testified that the prison was doing "the best with what we 
have" and denied that reading material was suppressed. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The appearance in court on February 23 of CUD 
chairman Hailu Shawel came only three days earlier he had 
received emergency eye surgery for a detached retina, 
performed at a local hospital in Addis Ababa by a visiting 
South African surgeon.  According to family members, while 
the surgery reattached the retina and prevented likely 
blindness, Hailu was discovered to have a hole in the macula 
of the eye, a condition which could require additional eye 
surgery in the future.  Post's regional medical officer, 
reviewing medical conditions reported by Hailu's personal 
physician (forwarded to AF/E), notes that Hailu displays 
symptoms of untreated diabetes. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
COURTS CITE "LACK OF JUDGES" IN DEFERRING RULINGS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶8. (U) Although the high court ruled on January 4 that none 
of the 131 defendants (including nearly 40 to be tried in 
absentia) were eligible for bail, NGO representatives Daniel 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00000667  003 OF 003 
 
 
Bekele and Netsanet Demissie have appealed the High Court's 
decision to the Supreme Court, which was to have ruled on 
their motion on March 6.  However, the Supreme Court failed 
to convene, citing lack of judges as an excuse.  Similarly, 
Berhanu Mogesse, a defense attorney who had been representing 
Hailu Shawel and other detained CUD defendants, was to have 
made a second appearance in court on March 6, after being 
arrested and remanded into custody two weeks earlier 
following a meeting with visiting EU commissioner for 
development Louis Michel.  However, the Court of First 
Instance also failed to convene March 6 to consider Berhanu 
Mogesse's case, again citing lack of judges. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
TRIAL CONTINUES TO INFLAME PUBLIC OPINION 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) In deciding to transfer selected CUD leaders to the 
general prison population and to identify some as "criminally 
dangerous," prison officials are imposing harsher treatment 
on defendants, a possible reaction to public statements 
attributed to CUD vice chairman Bertukan Mideksa that have 
been smuggled out of prison and subsequently posted on 
diaspora websites.  The ongoing trial continues to inflame 
public opinion; several clashes occurred last week between 
police and secondary or high school students reportedly 
protesting the outcome of the March 1 hearing.  The court has 
imposed new restrictions on those observing the trial: for 
example, issuing only a single court pass to each defendant's 
family.  Post continues to send observers (consular chief, 
deputy pol/econ counselor, and an Amcit FSN to assist in 
interpretation of the Amharic-language proceedings) to the 
court proceedings, as do nearly a dozen foreign diplomatic 
missions.  Ethiopian officials are giving mixed signals about 
the future course of the trial: on March 1, prosecutors 
sought a one-month delay in proceedings, citing the need to 
issue a public summons for 37 defendants at large through 
publication in local newspapers; however, the presiding judge 
asked that this be accelerated, and has called for the High 
Court to convene next on March 22.  A parliamentary 
commission headed by a Supreme Court judge, tasked with 
determining whether the GOE reacted to June and November 2005 
anti-government protests with appropriate force, is also 
expected to issue its findings soon. 
HUDDLESTON