European Union funding Ethiopia’s repression of rights 

Ethiopian farmers Mandefro Tesfaye and Tayto Mesfin grow wheat in their field in Abay, north of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. For centuries, farmers like Berhanu Gudina have eked out a living in Ethiopia's central lowlands, tending tiny plots of maize, wheat or barley amid the vastness of the lush green plains. Now, they find themselves working cheek by jowl with high-tech commercial farms stretching over thousands of hectares tilled by state-of-the-art tractors and owned and operated by foreigners.

On July 15, the EU and the German government announced the agreement of providing the Government of Ethiopia with 3.8 million euro for a project to facilitate large-scale commercial land deals amid widespread human rights abuses and brutal repression of its opponents. The EU and German government state that the project will “support responsible agricultural investment in Ethiopia” and establish “mechanisms to facilitate productive investments in agriculture by national and international private investors.”

The launch of the 3.8 million euro project to “support agricultural investments in Ethiopia” comes exactly one year and four months after the government arrested seven community activists to block their participation in a workshop on food and land issues in Nairobi, Kenya. Three of these activists continue to languish in an Ethiopian jail, under the spurious charge of “terrorism.”

Ethiopia is among African countries promoting large-scale commercial agricultural investments that deny the right of the affected communities for active involvement and free, prior and informed consent. In past few years, the government policy has received strong criticism from journalists and activists leading to the government suspending the implementation of its land deal policy in March 2016.

Despite great concerns for its human rights records against Ethiopian food, land rights and human rights defenders and journalists, Ethiopian government remains to be strongly supported by major donor countries and institutions. The World Bank that funded the Ethiopian controversial villagisation programme and facilitated major development projects in the country has been heavily criticised for ignoring the arrest of food and land rights activists Pastor Omot Agwa Okwoy who was World Bank Inspection Panel translator in 2014, Ashinie Astin and Jemal Oumar for their effort to attend a food security workshop in Nairobi in March 2015.

The three activists remain behind bars, charged under Ethiopian controversial counter-terrorism law. The government persecution has failed to present any evidence to support the counter-terrorism charges brought against them. They were denied legal representation and detained without charges for six months. The three activists are scheduled to appear again in court this Tuesday, July 19, 2016.

The organisations listed below, as well as the EU Addis delegation, have been closely following the case. The organisations are Anywaa Survival Organisation, GRAIN, Oakland Institute, Bread for All, etc. In recent years, numerous opponents of the Ethiopian government’s land policies have been arrested, beaten and even killed, while many communities have been forcefully evicted from their lands to make way for large scale agricultural projects.

There can be no responsible investment in large-scale agricultural projects when communities do not have the right to freely express and assert their opposition to projects affecting their lands. The announcement by the EU and German government, who not only are well aware of the Ethiopian government’s repression of opponents to its land policies but also have been following up the court hearings, are sending a message that the lives of Ethiopians can be sacrificed for the profits of their corporations.

By Nyikaw Ochalla