The Situation in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government arrested Dr. Berhanu Nega and other leaders of the Ethiopian political opposition (CUD) after a protest over election irregularities on 1 November, 2005 in which 193 people were killed, and hundreds were wounded. Dr. Nega and his colleagues were held for almost two years on charges of treason, punishable by death under Ethiopian law. While Berhanu Nega has been released, many are still being held. Amnesty International regards them as "Prisoners of conscience, arrested solely for the non-violent expression of their political beliefs."

Berhanu Nega received his Ph.D., from The New School for Social Research in 1991. He is a leading member of the CUD, Ethiopia’s main opposition party. He is Mayor of Addis Ababa, has served as president of the Ethiopian Economic Association, founded the Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute, and served as a consultant for the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

He is part of a group trying to bring democracy to his country. We are trying to help him by stopping the blind support and aid the U.S. has been giving the Ethiopian government.