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Crackdown on Dissent in Ethiopia
South African Activist Dennis Brutus Calls on Barclays Bank
to Pay Reparations for Apartheid Profits
As CPB Faces Massive Funding Cuts, A Look Back at the National
Media Reform Conference
Crackdown on Dissent in Ethiopia
Following last month's elections, Ethiopian security forces
are cracking down on protests against alleged fraud. We speak
to Human Rights Watch about police violence and a peace agreement
that aims to address election-related complaints.
The Ethiopian government is cracking down on protests against
possible fraud in the May 15 parliamentary elections. Human
Rights Watch reported yesterday that police have arrested
several thousand people in the capital, Addis Ababa, and nine
other cities.
Last Wednesday, government security forces responded to rock-throwing
protesters by opening fire on large crowds, killing at least
36 people and wounding more than 100. The Ethiopian government
blames the opposition group Coalition for Unity and Democracy
for fomenting the unrest. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi justified
the decision to monitor opposition leaders
- Prime Minister Meles Zenawi:
"When these people incited the violence and had their
tickets ready to leave the country, that I think its stretching
too far, so we have said you are not leaving while you are
inciting violence and stoking fires here, they have been
under police surveillance just in case we need to detain
them, if things get hotter they will be detained without
any question, if that is intimidation so be it but I think
we have bent back more than any country I know of would
be willing to do."
On Sunday, police shot dead newly-elected opposition lawmaker
Tesfaye Aden Jara. Officials said six police officers have
been arrested in connection with the killing. The European
Union mediated an agreement Tuesday between the main political
parties so that all parties can play a role in the investigation
of election complaints. Following the agreement, opposition
leader Hailu Shawel was released from house arrest.
- Chris Albin-Lackey, researcher in the Africa division
of Human
Rights Watch. He was in Ethiopia leading up to the May
15 elections.
South African Activist Dennis Brutus Calls on Barclays
Bank to Pay Reparations for Apartheid Profits
We speak with South African poet and activist Dennis Brutus
who recently initiated the launch of a campaign against Barclays
Bank, demanding reparations for vast apartheid profits.
In apartheid South Africa of the 1960s, Dennis Brutus was
an outspoken activist against the racist state. He helped
secure South Africa’s suspension from the Olympics,
eventually forcing the country to be expelled from the games
in 1970. He was arrested in 1963 and sentenced to 18 months
of hard labor on Robben Island off Capetown, with Nelson Mandela.
Brutus was banned from teaching, writing, and publishing
in South Africa. His first collection of poetry, "Sirens,
Knuckles and Boots" was published in Nigeria while he
was in prison. After he was released, Brutus fled South Africa
on a Rhodesian passport. In 1983, after a protracted legal
struggle, Brutus won the right to stay in the United States
as a political refugee. He is now a professor at the University
of Pittsburgh.
Dennis Brutus recently initiated the launch of a campaign
against Barclays Bank, demanding reparations for vast apartheid
profits. He joined us in our studio last week and begins by
talking about his most recent campaign.
- Dennis
Brutus, South African poet, activist and Professor Emeritus
in the Department of Africana Studies at the University
of Pittsburgh.
As CPB Faces Massive Funding Cuts, A Look Back at
the National Media Reform Conference
The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote
today on drastic cuts to both the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Representative Ralph Regula's proposal would eliminate $100
million in federal funding to CPB and phase out the existance
of PBS. For a look at media under fire, we turn to the National
Conference on Media Reform.
We turn to the continuing fight over public broadcasting
in this country. Today, the House Appropriations Committee
is scheduled to vote on drastic cuts to both the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting. CPB is the US-tax payer funded agency
that funds public media in this country. The proposal to cut
funding was authored by Ohio Republican Representative Ralph
Regula and would eliminate $100 million in federal funding
to CPB. Regula’s proposal also calls for all federal
funding for PBS to be eliminated in two years. A House appropriations
subcommittee already approved the bill last Thursday.
The Association of Public Television Stations has termed
the cuts "so drastic that they will severely impact every
public television and radio station’s ability to provide
educational, cultural and informational programming in local
communities and throughout the nation." Regula has defended
the cuts as necessary to avoid reductions in federal support
for vocational education, job and medical training.
Also, last week, it was reported that a former co-chair of
the Republican National Committee is the leading candidate
to take over the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Patricia
de Stacy Harrison is reportedly the favored candidate of the
CPB’s Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson. Harrison is currently
a high-ranking official at the State Department. She was co-chair
of the RNC from 1997 until January 2001, helping to raise
money for Republican candidates, including George W. Bush.
For more on the state of media, we turn to the National Conference
on Media Reform. More than 2,000 people converged on St. Louis
to discuss media and democracy in a time of crisis. We go
to two guests at the conference who spoke at the opening session.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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