Friday, August 05, 2011

Britain and EU increase aid to Ethiopia while ignoring human rights warnings

(July 04, 2011, By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels)--Britain and the EU have increased aid to Ethiopia while ignoring repeated diplomatic warnings of human rights abuse and concerns that Western funding is being used as a tool of repression by the country's regime.

An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and BBC Newsnight has found that as Ethiopia is hit by drought and famine, communities are being denied basic food, seed and fertiliser for failing to support Meles Zenawi, the country's authoritarian leader.

Senior Brussels officials ignored 61 email warnings from its EU ambassador in Ethiopia about human rights abuses, evidence that European governments, including Britain, were prepared to turn a blind eye to repression in order to woo a key African ally.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism investigation has also gathered evidence of continuing ethnic cleansing, mass detentions, the widespread use of torture and extra-judicial killings by Ethiopian government forces.

The Daily Telegraph understands that last summer the EU failed to condemn crack downs on opposition politicians and journalists in return for Ethiopian support in critical climate change negotiations in December 2009.

Ethiopia receives £1.8 billion in development aid every year, with Britain the second largest donor after the US. Read More from telegraph.co.uk »

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