Month: May 2015
- Africa
Donald N. Levine: A sociologist at work and in love
Andrew DeCort Professor Donald N. Levine (June 16, 1931 – April 4, 2015), affectionately known to the greater Ethiopian community as Gash Liben Gebre Etyopiya, was a man I was graced to call my professor, and then also a mentor, and finally also a cherished father-friend. It is with immense gratitude and admiration that I offer these reflections on the…
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The tragedy of Ethiopian migrants: This is no ‘get rich or die trying’
Editorial In mid April this year, a group of militants belonging to the Islamic State (IS) released a sickening video of pure brutality: the mass beheading and execution of 30 Ethiopian (and possibly Eritrean) citizens. Now, Ethiopia is mourning and no amount of comfort seems to surmount the sheer grief. Without a doubt IS’s sadistic killing of these…
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Election and the Political Class: Beyond Winning (or Losing) Elections in Ethiopia: Part IV
Tsegaye R. Ararssa 1. Introduction In the last instalments, I have charted out the ‘mood’ in order for us to assess whether there is, in Ethiopia today, the required ‘democratic ambience’ within the context of which Election 2015 is taking place. I have also sought to consider the factors that indicate more despair than hope, more anxiety than anticipation.…
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Court sentenced five individuals in the gang rape & subsequent death of Hana Lalango
Mahlet Fasil The Third Criminal Bench of the Lideta Federal High Court sentenced five individuals found guilty of the gang rape and subsequent death in September last year of Hana Lalango. Accordingly the court sentenced the first and second defendants Samson Sileshi and Bezabhi G. Mariam to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The 3rd, 4th and 5th…
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Elections in Ethiopia: Beyond Winning (and Losing), Part III
In an attempt to make sense of beyond winning (and losing) elections in Ethiopia, in the last two pieces, Tsegaye R. Ararssa of the University of Melbourne Law School embarked on the exploration of the growing pulse of societal disenchantment with the imperial system, especially in the 1960s. This disenchantment reached its climax and eventually found its expression through the…
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Boston bombing trial and America’s death sentence dilemma
When a horrific crime or act of terrorism occurs in America, it is often a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction for Americans to want the person or persons put to death, says Addis Standard’s U.S. correspondent Tomas Mega, but America’s system of justice allows for seemingly endless appeals for those sentenced to death, requiring families and loved ones of the victims to relive…
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Bekele Gerba speaks!
Born in 1961 in West Wollega region of western Ethiopia, Bekele Gerba went to elementary school in Boji Dirmaji and completed his high school in Gimbi senior secondary school. Bekele was graduated with BA degree in foreign language and literature from the Addis Abeba University (AAU) and taught in Dembi Dolo and Nejo high schools in western Ethiopia, among others.…
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Elections in Ethiopia: Beyond winning (and losing) Part II
Ed’s Note: In the first part of this series of reflections on elections in Ethiopia, Tsegaye R. Ararsa of the University of Melbourne Law School described the current politico-legal context in which Ethiopia’s election 2015 takes place. The goal was to explore the ‘mood’ so that we can say there is a generally ‘democratic ambience’ within the context of which…
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Elections in Ethiopia: Beyond winning (and losing)
Tsegaye R Ararssa* Part I 1 . Introduction Election fever is gaining momentum in Ethiopia. It is ‘Election 2015’, the 5th general election since Ethiopia’s formal adoption of the more (or less) liberal constitution of 1995 that ended the hesitant ‘transition’ from the Derg’s military rule to a western-style representative democracy[1]. The projected aim of the transition was to…
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