Dear Mr. G. Brown; Prime Minster,

We hope all is well with you and your family. British Citizens of Ethiopian origin and Ethiopians around the world, who trust Britain to adopt a foreign policy based on universal values of freedom and democracy, read the Human Rights Report 2009 with profound disappointment. More on Please fax the bellow letter to Prime Minster Gordon Brown . The Fax Number is +442079250918

It is a staple of the criminal defense bar to represent thieves, robbers, burglars, muggers, pickpockets, shoplifters, embezzlers, con men, fraudsters and swindlers. It is also the ineluctable lot of the defense lawyer to learn about the M.O. (modus operandi, techniques) of the criminal classes with professional detachment. But few defense lawyers could claim the dubious honor of representing criminals that specialize in election heists. More on Ethiopia: The A B C’s of Stealing an Election

NAIROBI, Kenya — Ethiopia’s government is waging a coordinated attack on rights activists, journalists and political opponents ahead of the country’s national elections in May, a leading human rights group said Wednesday. More on Rights group: Ethiopia cracks down before May vote

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The Ethiopian government is ramping up a campaign of intimidation against opposition politicians, journalists and rights activists ahead of national elections in May, a rights group said Wednesday. More on Ethiopia opposition stifled before election: rights group

Meles Zenawi seems to have a morbid fascination with genocide. Whenever the going gets tough — bad news, tightening election campaigns, stiffening political opposition — he whips out the specter of Rwandan-style “interhamwe” (which in Kinyarwanda or Rwanda means “those who stand, work, fight, attack together”) in Ethiopia to change the subject. Predictably, as recent news of his rebel group’s use of famine aid money in 1984 for weapons purchases received massive international coverage, the opposition stepped up its campaign for the so-called May elections, the U.S. State Department issued its condemnatory human rights report on his regime and Bob Geldof went bananas, Zenawi resurrected his favorite “interhamwe” bogeyman to justify his decision to jam the Voice of America: More on Ethiopia: In Defense of the Voice of America

Sir Bob Geldof told Meles Zenawi to “Grow up!” when he found out that security forces directly under the control and command of Zenawi had massacred hundreds of unarmed protesters following the 2005 elections. More on Ethiopia: “Grow up!” Bob Geldof

 (BBC) — Ethiopia’s ruling junta, Woyanne, has admitted it is jamming the Voice of America’s (VOA) broadcasts in Amharic, accusing the radio station of engaging in “destabilising propaganda”. More on Woyanne admits jamming VOA (BBC)

 Advocacy for Ethiopia (AFE) and Ethiopian National Priorities Consultative Process (ENPCP) are pleased to announce the convening of a historic three-day conference on good governance, peace, security, and sustainable development in Washington, D.C, and April 9-11, 2010, at the Double Tree Hotel, Crystal City, VA. More on Conference on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa

As much as half the food aid sent to Somalia is diverted from needy people to a web of corrupt contractors, radical Islamist militants and local United Nations staff, according to a new Security Council report.

The report, which has not yet been made public but was shown to The New York Times, outlines a host of problems so grave that it recommends Secretary General Ban Ki-moon open an independent investigation into the World Food Program there. It suggests that the program rebuild the food distribution system — which serves at least 2.5 million people — from scratch to break what it describes as a corrupt cartel of Somali distributors. More on Half of food aid to Somalia diverted

If democracy is a government of the people, kleptocracy is a government of thieves. Last week the secret world of Meles Zenawi’s kleptocracy, famine aid-sharking and money laundering in Ethiopia was exposed by two of his former comrades-in-arms in the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Gebremedhin Araya, a former treasurer and TPLF co-founder Dr. Aregawi Berhe, detailed the scam used to swindle, hustle and con millions of dollars from international famine relief organizations in the mid-1980s. More on Ethiopia: Licensed to Steal