ActionAid urges release of anti-poverty campaigners

The international charity ActionAid has urged the Ethiopian government to release two anti-poverty activists who are facing possible treason charges. Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demessie had done nothing illegal, nor were they involved in any unconstitutional activities, ActionAid said on Friday. The two are among at least 57 opposition leaders, journalists, trade unionists and civil society members seized days after appearing on a government wanted list in November. "They have worked to improve the lives of Ethiopia's poorest people through legitimate social activism," said Fikre Zewdie, director of ActionAid Ethiopia. "This kind of activity is protected by the constitution and cannot be characterised as anti-state." The men attracted the attention of the Ethiopian authorities by campaigning for civil society monitoring of the national elections in May, said the UK-based charity. "Daniel and Netsanet have now been detained without charge for more than 40 days. Their continued detention is causing untold psychological suffering for the detained men, their families and fellow ActionAid staff," Fikre added. The move comes as the European Parliament issued a stern warning to the country. "The House calls for the immediate establishment of an independent international commission of inquiry, optimally under UN responsibility, to investigate the human rights abuses and to identify and bring to justice those responsible," it said in a statement issued from Strasbourg. "The House calls on the Ethiopian government to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and journalists and fulfil its obligations with respect to human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law." Lawyers said the opposition leaders had lost considerable weight, as they were 18 days into a hunger strike to protest their imprisonment. Among them are 10 elected members of parliament and leader of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) leader, Hailu Shawel, 70, mayor of Addis Ababa, Berhanu Nega and human rights activist Mesfin Wolde Mariam, 75. During the last hearing on 1 December, police said they had completed their investigations, and prosecutors were given 15 days to file charges. It is expected that charges will be filed late Friday. Mass arrests occurred during political unrest that claimed the lives of at least 46 people in November. Another 42 died in June in similar protests over the country's disputed May 15 elections. The CUD has accused authorities of rigging the polls that returned the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front to power. On Tuesday Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament that around 3,000 people would face charges for the civil unrest.