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Viewing cable 06ADDISABABA1402, TRIAL OF ETHIOPIAN OPPOSITION BEGINS WITH VIDEOS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06ADDISABABA1402 2006-05-19 15:00 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Addis Ababa
VZCZCXRO1027
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #1402/01 1391500
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191500Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0665
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 001402 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF DAS YAMAMOTO, AF/E, AND DRL:K.GILBRIDE 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM KJUS ET
SUBJECT: TRIAL OF ETHIOPIAN OPPOSITION BEGINS WITH VIDEOS 
OF PUBLIC CAMPAIGN SPEECHES 
 
REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 1231 (AND PREVIOUS) 
 
     B. ADDIS ABABA 49 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  Six months after arrest, federal 
prosecutors began presenting the High Court with evidence it 
said would substantiate capital charges ranging from treason 
and attempted genocide against CUD chairman Hailu Shawel and 
other opposition members, independent journalists, and civil 
society representatives.  The first two weeks of prosecution 
arguments have been underwhelming: more than 20 hours of 
seized CUD videotapes have shown public campaign speeches by 
opposition leaders mobilizing voters to participate in 
national elections, as well as town hall meetings in which 
local residents throughout the country discuss a littany of 
human rights abuses (including detentions, intimidation, and 
arbitrary killings of opposition supporters by security 
forces).  While showing public criticism of the government's 
policies, in none of the evidence presented thus far has 
there been any call for violence or genocide.  Notably, much 
of the video evidence features individuals who are not 
defendants.  Some of the most virulent, anti-government 
statements are speeches by opposition leaders who have since 
decided to engage the GOE (e.g., Beyene Petros and Lidetu 
Ayalew) and who have not been detained or charged with 
treason.  Prosecutors' arguments are perfunctory, with no 
comments or explanation other than a five-minute introduction 
before each two-hour-long videotape.  Two defense counsels 
are representing three civil society representatives, but the 
remainder of nearly 90 defendants, who have chosen not to 
have counsel, remain unrepresented during proceedings.  There 
is no cross-examination or rebuttal.  So far, the court has 
only watched one-third of the 24 videos prosecutors intend to 
present; prosecutors have yet to call any of the 367 
prosecution witnesses to testify.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
SECURITY CONCERNS MAY HAVE PROMPTED CHANGE OF VENUE 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
2. (U) The case of "Federal Prosecutors against Hailu Shawel 
et al" formally began its evidentiary phase on May 8, one 
week after the court agreed to an amended charge of 
"attempted genocide" against the defendants (ref A).  Nearing 
the one-year anniversary of disputed parliamentary elections 
in which Hailu Shawel and other defendants played a prominent 
role, prosecutors moved the trial's venue from central Addis 
Ababa (adjacent to Addis Ababa University, where student 
protests have occurred in the past) to a remote area near 
Kaliti prison, where most detainees are currently being held. 
 One notable exception is CUD secretary-general Muluneh 
Eyoel, listed sixth on the GOE's original list of 131 
defendants, who prison officials acknowledge has been 
transferred to an isolation cell at Kerchele.  Kerchele is 
the former central prison that was to have been closed last 
year, so its site could be transferred to the African Union 
for office space, but which has remained open to house 
Muluneh as well as 33 other opposition supporters facing 
similar charges in a separate treason trial.  Prison 
officials acknowledged his separate detention before the High 
Court, asserting that Muluneh sought to incite other 
detainees and therefore posed a public hazard. 
 
3. (U) Diplomatic observers have resorted to a rotation to 
cover what has become daily proceedings; in addition to 
family members and local print journalists, an independent 
observer from the American NGO Lawyers Without Borders has 
also been granted permission to attend the trial, which 
remains closed to the general public.  A human rights 
attorney from the Paris-based International Federation for 
Human Rights (FIDH) is also observing the trial for the 
European Commission, under terms of reference agreed to with 
the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
VIDEOS SHOWN WITH NO COMMENTARY OR EXPLANATION 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
4. (U) Prior to this evidentiary phase, the case had faced 
several lengthy pre-trial delays, including: a nine-week 
delay before a bail hearing; and a seven-week hiatus between 
the denial of bail and the entry of pleas.  On May 8, 
prosecutors announced the submission of 24 videotapes into 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00001402  002 OF 003 
 
 
evidence, each approximately two hours long.  Following the 
insistence of defense counsels that any video evidence 
submitted be shown to defendants and the court, prosecutors 
decided to show each videotape in its entirety, rather than 
submit excerpts.  The result has been nearly two weeks of 
daily video screenings of CUD campaign rallies and/or press 
conferences, with only brief introductory remarks by 
prosecutors, who simply state that the evidence presented 
will substantiate the charges made.  Once the videotape is 
played, prosecutors do not explain the events shown, nor do 
they even identify defendants who appear in the tape; in 
fact, prosecutors make no remarks at all, other than at the 
beginning of each day's screening. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
CRITICISM OF GOVERNMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
5. (U) The first video shown as evidence was a 90-minute tape 
of a December 2004 CUD press conference, opened by Lidetu 
Ayalew (who has been neither charged nor detained) 
criticizing Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's proposed five-point 
peace plan for the Ethiopia-Eritrea border dispute. 
Defendants Hailu Shawel and mayor-elect Berhanu Nega 
criticize lack of consultation with parliament or the public 
prior to the introduction of the peace plan; they also 
criticize Meles's statement that "any attempt to implement 
this (boundary commission) decision would lead to conflict," 
and specifically underscore the need for "a durable peace." 
 
6. (U) The second video featured a 90-minute CUD press 
conference from January 2005, in which CUD spokesman Seleshi 
Andange reads a written statement detailing harassment, 
detention, and arbitary killing of CUD supporters, as well as 
voting card irregularities and alleged inaction by the 
National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to complaints made by 
the CUD.  Defendant Hailu Shawel discusses intimidation of 
opposition supporters; co-defendant Mesfin Woldemariam 
complains of opposition supporters "being hit, being 
imprisoned, and being killed," and states that a people under 
an "unjust" government must struggle against it.  Comparing 
the struggle for human rights to that against apartheid, 
Hailu states, "South Africa struggled between white and 
black; here the struggle is between racists and the people. 
The time has come for this government to leave."  Hailu then 
declares that the CUD will not back out of the upcoming May 
2005 elections. 
 
7. (U) The third video presented as evidence consisted of a 
140-minute tape of a January 2005 rally protesting the 
five-point peace plan.  Performances of traditional songs, 
dances, and poetry dominate much of the tape; lead defendant 
Hailu Shawel speaks for only 10 minutes.  Hailu criticizes 
the government for lack of consultation with the public, for 
dependency on foreign aid, and for ignoring starvation. 
Selected remarks in Amharic (translated into English by court 
interpreter) include the following: 
-- "We must unite to overcome slavery." 
-- "Just as you overcame fear to come here (i.e., to the 
public rally), I encourage your friends and family to join 
you." 
--"If the people make peaceful movement, this government will 
fall in four months' time." 
-- "We are the ones who can give a solution to the 
government's inconsistent policies; you should speak out." 
-- "You should peacefully demonstrate and call for power.  We 
are saying you should go fom a backwards system to a 
progressive one." 
-- "We cannot rectify the mistakes of this government; we 
must remove it from power." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
DEBATE ON DIALOGUE WITH EPRDF PRESENTED AS EVIDENCE OF TREASON 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
8. (U) The most recent videos presented as evidence have been 
tapes of CUD supreme council meetings from September 2005, 
which prosecutors asserted would show that defendants 1 
through 39 (i.e., Hailu Shawel, Yacob Hailemariam, and other 
CUD senior leadership) were responsible for provoking 
strikes; ending peaceful negotiations with the ruling EPRDF 
party; labeling the elections as neither free nor fair; 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00001402  003 OF 003 
 
 
advocating political change through violence; and asserting 
that neither the judiciary nor the National Electoral Board 
were impartial.  In one two-hour long video, mayor-elect 
Berhanu Nega explains to the CUD council that the EPRDF has 
presented an eight-point agenda for dialogue with a "take it 
or leave it attitude" and has refused to entertain any 
additions to the agenda.  The video captures a contentious 
debate among 43 CUD members over whether to continue dialogue 
with the government, culminating in a vote in which 32 
members voted against continuing dialogue, three voted in 
favor, and eight abstained.  Following the vote, the issue of 
joining parliament is raised.  A majority, including Berhanu 
Nega, do not want to discuss the issue, but a small minority 
persists: recommending that the CUD not join parliament, and 
citing the government's ultimatum regarding the dialogue 
agenda as evidence the EPRDF is unwilling to enter into a 
cooperative relationship.  Several members speak out on the 
need to join parliament as the only peaceful, democratic way 
to move the CUD agenda forward.  The meeting concludes with 
reading a letter from Hailu Shawel, asking that all decision 
regarding the party's next moves await his return the next 
day from the United States.  CUD members agree to the request 
and conclude the meeting. 
 
9. (U) A three-hour video presented on May 17 shows a 
subsequent CUD supreme council meeting in which members 
debate whether to join parliament.  In response to a remark 
that change can only be brought about by struggle, which 
could endanger one's life, Hailu Shawel states that the CUD 
is afraid of firearms, and is capable of a peaceful struggle. 
 
 
10. (U) Notably, in several videos presented as evidence of 
defendants' guilt, some of the remarks that are the most 
critical of the government are made by individuals who have 
not been detained or charged, including:  Dr. Merera Gudina; 
former president of Tigray region and ex-TPLF leader Gebru 
Asrat; then-UEDF vice chair Beyene Petros; and former 
president of Ethiopia (and now an independent member of 
parliament) Negasso Gidada.  The vast majority of the 
approximately 90 defendants do not appear at all in the video 
evidence presented thus far. 
 
11. (U) On May 17, the lead prosecutor complained of a news 
report on state-run Ethiopian Television that allegedly 
stated that the video evidence presented so far was not very 
relevant to the charges, causing a delay of the trial.  The 
presiding judge ordered that a copy of the news broadcast be 
delivered to him. 
 
12. (SBU) COMMENT:  Observers from foreign diplomatic 
missions and NGOs, including ActionAid London (whose country 
representative is among the three defendants being 
represented by legal counsel), generally share the 
observation of state-run Ethiopian Television that the 
evidence presented thus far has not substantiated the serious 
capital charges against the nearly 90 defendants. 
Prosecutors are correct that the videos show opposition 
leaders and residents criticizing the government, urging its 
removal, questioning the impartiality of state institutions 
such as the judiciary and electoral board, and doubting 
whether the 2005 national elections would be free and fair; 
however, no advocacy of violence, treason, or genocide, can 
be found in the evidence presented in nearly three weeks of 
evidentiary proceedings.  In addition to the 24 videotapes, 
prosecutors have listed documentary evidence and audiotapes 
(none of which have been presented so far), and could call up 
to 367 prosecution witnesses.  There remains a large body of 
"evidence" that may or may not back up the government's case; 
so far, the evidence has not been compelling.  END COMMENT. 
HUDDLESTON