16 July 2009 | EthioPolitics.com |

Far Eastern Economic Review
By Abebe Gellaw

World leaders, including President Barack Obama, have called for the immediate release of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But how many of them have even heard of Ethiopia’s pro-democracy leader Birtukan Mideksa, the 36-year-old politician and mother who is being held in solitary confinement, condemned to life in prison without due process?

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been brutally efficient in eliminating his political rivals by killing, jailing or forcing them into exile. But because Ethiopia is seen as a “strategic ally” by the U.S., Mr. Obama failed to publicly speak out against human-rights violation by the Zenawi regime on his recent trip to Africa or even mention Ms. Mideksa’s name.

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AP Photo/Esteban Felix

Morgan Lee: Zelaya briefly steps into Honduras _ now what?

Honduras’ ousted President Manuel Zelaya, right, arrives surrounded by supporters at the Nicaragua-Honduras border in Las Manos, Nicaragua, Friday, July 24, 2009. Thousands of Hondurans traveled to the remote border between Honduras and Nicaragua to support Manuel Zelaya’s bid to reclaim the presidency from the government that ousted him in a June 28 coup.

Related:
Eva Golinger: UPDATE: ZELAYA ENTERED HONDURAS AND HAS RETURNED TO THE NICARAGUAN SIDE IN LOS MANOS

Nina Donaghy: Clinton Calls Zelaya ‘Reckless’ for Trying to Return to Honduras

IRmep on PressTV
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PressTV: According to a petition filed by the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy [IRmep] to the US Trade Representative, Israel has violated important provisions of the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement for years. The bilateral trade agreement signed in 1985 gave Israel privileged market access to the United States.  The [IRmep] petition cites a number of trade violations focused on intellectual property theft over a period of twenty years.

Grant Smith: The ability of Israel to benefit from access to the US market without tariffs has been immense.  It’s created a gem diamond industry for them, it’s created a massive military industrial export capacity for them, it’s creating a massive pharmaceutical business.

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Honduras: Alarming Human Rights Report

Tegucigalpa/Heidelberg –  24.7.2009 –  Since the coup d’état in Honduras, there have been grave and systematic human rights violations. This comes from the report of an international human rights delegation that was presented yesterday in Tegucigalpa. “The curfew and the abolition of fundamental rights, issued by the coup government, led to massive and unlawful infringements against the civilian population,” criticized Martin Wolpold-Bosien, who is representing FIAN International in the mission.

The human rights delegation confirmed that at least five people have been killed so far in connection with the coup d’état; among them, a 19 year old demonstrator, Isis Obed Murillo Mencias, a journalist, Gabriel Fino Noriega, the chairman of the opposition democratic union party, Ramon Garcia, and the former trade union leader, Ivan Roger Bados. David Murillo, a well-known environmental activist, minister, and father of Isis Murillo Mencias, was arrested after his testimony and has been detained ever since. According to information from the general director of the national police, 1,275 people have been arrested so far due to violations of the night curfew.

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Richard Pithouse

DU NOON, Diepsloot, Dinokana, Khayelitsha, KwaZakhele, Masiphumelele, Lindelani, Piet Retief and Samora Machel. We are back, after a brief lull during the election, to road blockades, burnt-out police cars and the whole sorry mess of tear gas, stun grenades and mass arrests. Already this month, a girl has been shot in the head in KwaZakhele, three men have been shot dead in Piet Retief, and a man from Khayelitsha is in a critical condition.

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