Free at Last: Charges Against Indigenous Land Rights Defender & Former World Bank Inspection Panel Translator Dropped
Today, charges against Pastor Omot Agwa, an indigenous land rights defender from the Gambella region of Ethiopia, were finally dropped by an Ethiopian court. In March 2015, Pastor Omot was arrested in Addis Ababa while attempting to travel to Kenya to attend a food security conference. For six months, he was detained without charge, denied access to […]
Joint Statement on the One Year Anniversary of Ethiopia’s Arrest of Omot Agwa Okwoy, Ashinie Astin, and Jamal Oumar Hojele
Stop the Criminalization of Environmental and Human Rights Defenders! Free Ethiopian Political Prisoners! One year after their arrest on March 15, 2015, three food, land, and human rights defenders continue to languish in an Ethiopian jail. After several court hearings, the prosecution has yet to present any evidence to support the spurious charge of “terrorism” […]
International organizations launch petition in support of jailed Ethiopian activists as court date approaches
(Reading, UK) – Five international organizations—Anywaa Survival Organisation (ASO), GRAIN, Inclusive Development International, Bread for All, and Oakland Institute—have launched a petition asking supporters to denounce the Ethiopian government and its financial backers for the arrest of three Ethiopian food, land, and indigenous rights activists. The three activists, who face terrorism charges for attempting to […]
Ethiopia: World Bank Translator, Activists Face Trial – Activists Heading for Food Workshop Charged with Terrorism
(Nairobi) – Ethiopian authorities should immediately drop all charges and release a former World Bank translator and two other local activists charged under Ethiopia’s repressive anti-terrorism law after trying to attend a workshop on food security in Nairobi, six international development and human rights groups said today. On September 7, 2015, the authorities charged Pastor […]
World Bank chief vows stronger oversight of resettlement policies, Bank’s new ‘action plan’ follows allegations of human-rights abuses
By IAN TALLEY – The WALL STREET JOURNAL (March 4, 2015) – The World Bank is bolstering its safeguards against human-rights abuses in bank-funded projects after a scathing internal review found major failures in the development institution’s oversight of land resettlements. A yearslong review of hundreds of bank-financed infrastructure and agriculture projects in the world’s poorest […]
World Bank whitewashes Ethiopia human rights scandal
The World Bank has whitewashed damning evidence of widespread human rights abuses in connection with its flagship program in Ethiopia, Inclusive Development International said today. The evidence, obtained during the course of an internal investigation, appears to have been shelved in order to exonerate the bank and one of it biggest clients of responsibility for […]
Open Letter from Anuak Ethiopian Refugees to the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim
Dear Mr. President, We are the Requesters, Anuak refugees and asylum seekers based in Kenya (Dadaab, Kakuma and Nairobi) and South Sudan (Gorom), who submitted a complaint to the World Bank Inspection Panel in September 2012. We have written to you twice before but we have never received a response. This is our final appeal […]
World Bank Board approves investigation into allegations of bankrolling human rights abuses in Ethiopia
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a full investigation into whether the Bank has breached its policies in Ethiopia and contributed to a government program of forced population transfers known as ‘villagization.’ The Bank’s move follows the resolution of a five-month standoff with the Ethiopian government, which had publicly threatened in May […]
World Bank Must End its Support for Human Rights Abuses in Ethiopia, By David Pred
A multi-billion dollar aid program administered by the World Bank is underwriting systematic human rights abuses in Ethiopia. Last September, Ethiopian victims submitted a complaint about the program to the World Bank Inspection Panel, which is tasked with investigating whether or not the Bank complies with its own policies to prevent social and environmental harm. […]
Ethiopian Indigenous People Demand Accountability from World Bank for Contributing to Grave Human Rights Abuses
Anuak indigenous people from Ethiopia’s Gambella region submitted a complaint today to the World Bank Inspection Panel implicating the Bank in grave human rights abuses perpetrated by the Ethiopian Government. The complaint alleges that the Anuak people have been severely harmed by the World Bank-financed and administered Protection of Basic Services Project (PBS), which has […]