From: Jerry Levy (Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Thu Nov 03 2005 - 08:15:42 EST
----- Original Message ----- From: "Dean Baker" <dean.baker1@verizon.net> To: <urpe-announcements@lists.econ.utah.edu> Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 4:58 AM Subject: [URPE] Urgent -- Arrest of Berhanu Nega (former URPE person) inEthiopia *Urgent: Arrest of Berhanu Nega In Ethiopia – including * * * <>The government of Ethiopia arrested 7 leaders of the political opposition following a series of protests over election irregularities. One of the leaders arrested following the protests was Berhanu Nega. URPE types may know Berhanu either from his days as a grad student at New School in the eighties or as a professor at Bucknell University in the nineties. Police fired on the protests, killing at least 30 and wounding 50 others. A fuller description of the situation can be found on Amnesty International’s website [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR250162005]. At the bottom of this message there is a short note prepared by his former colleagues at Bucknell University when he was arrested by the Ethiopian government in 2001. (He was released and the government never tried him on the crimes with which he was charged at the time of his arrest.) It is essential for Berhanu’s life and freedom (as well as the well-being of the others being detained) that people let the Ethiopian government know that they are monitoring the situation. Please contact your representatives in Congress and ask that they contact the State Department and express their concern about the human rights situation in Ethiopia. Also contact the State Department and ask them to express their concern over the imprisonment of the political opposition’s leadership. Send your letters to: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 You can also call the State Department at 202-647-4000. Short simple notes along the lines of the following are fine: Dear Secretary Rice: I am contacting to you to express my concern about recent events in Ethiopia. After a protest over election regularities in which 30 people were killed, the government arrested Dr. Berhanu Nega and 6 other leaders of the political opposition. This is not the first time that the Ethiopian government has arrested Dr. Nega and other leaders of the political opposition during periods of crisis. I hope that you will express your concern to the Ethiopian government and insist that they release these 7 political prisoners. Sincerely, Please also contact the Ethiopian Embassy to let them know that you are following the situation and expect them to respect the rights of the opposition political leaders. It is also helpful to copy them on any correspondence with your representatives in Congress or the State Department. Ambassador Kassahun Ayele Embassy of Ethiopia 3506 International Dr. NW Washington, DC 20008 Tel (202)364-1200 *info@ethiopianembassy.org <mailto:info@ethiopianembassy.org>* *PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTE WIDELY.* Berhanu joined the Bucknell faculty in the fall of 1990 and remained until his return to Ethiopia in 1994. He completed his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York where he won the Frieda Wunderlich Memorial Award for the outstanding dissertation. He completed his undergraduate studies at SUNY-New Palz. Prior to pursuing his graduate degree he was a research consultant at CitiBank. Professor Nega is a recognized scholar both in the U.S. and in Ethiopia. Last year (2000) he served as president of the Ethiopian Economics Society and in January presented a widely circulated paper dealing with "The Role of the Business Community in National Development," to the General Assembly of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce. He is a co-author of the first annual report on the Ethiopian Economy. Professor Nega, his wife and two children returned to Ethiopia after the coup in the early 1990s made it possible for intellectuals to again work in the country. His goal there, as it was here, was to work with and educate students. In addition to challenging students desperate for advanced education he worked to move his country's economic development process forward. -- Dean Baker (baker@cepr.net) Co-Director Center for Economic and Policy Research 1611 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, DC 20009 202-293-5380 (ext 114) 202-332-5218 (H) www.cepr.net
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