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July 20, 2005 PROTEST AGAINST THE YARA NORWEGIAN PRIZE FOR MELES ZENAWI
Just a month after Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ordered his police and special commandos to shoot down peaceful demonstrators in Addis Ababa (with more than sixty dead and over a hundred wounded) and as the whole world observes the level of corruption, misrule and human rights violation that characterize his regime, the Yara International Asa has now publicly awarded the same Meles a US $ 200,000 prize for good governance and development. Shame on the Yara group that is a fertilizer producing company. Shame on the UN for being connected to this prize as it is none other than Jeffrey Sachs, the advisor of Secretary General Annan, who is handing out the prize in Oslo on September 3. SOCEPP strongly objects to this callous position of the Yara group and all those associated with the prize or award. The justification for the prize is that the human rights violator in Addis Ababa has "brought political change, assured food security, protected the environment, contributed to human nutrition and placed the rural poor first". It is hard to believe that the prize givers are talking of Meles Zenawi and Ethiopia unless the criteria is commercial and the usual official Norwegian disdain for the welfare of the Ethiopian people. Meles Zenawi ordered the killing of scores of people just a month ago, jailed thousands, declared a virtual emergency law, committed fraud in a general election and this is the "political change" that deserves a prize? Meles Zenawi has established an ethnic discriminatory political and divisive system that has wreaked havoc in Ethiopia, holds some 15,000 political prisoners in official and ghost prisons and camps, has disappeared dozens of political prisoners. Millions of Ethiopians are starving and dependent on food aid: is this assuring food security and taking care of human nutrition? The Meles Zenawi regime has been condemned as one of the worst dangers to the environment (burning forests, licensing foreign hunters without control, approving the use of damaging fertilizers, approving the use of genetically modified seeds, etc.) and it is not surprising that Yara International, which sells fertilizers to more than 120 countries, finds it pro-environment. SOCEPP notes also that none other than Mr. Jeffrey Sachs had declared some times ago that the agricultural policy of Meles Zenawi needs to be copied by other African countries so that millions can be struck by famine and rendered landless! It is sad to note that the Yara International based in Oslo has opted to insult the Ethiopian people by awarding good governance and not a killers' prize to Meles Zenawi. It is sad to observe again and again that officials in Norway have consistently chosen to side with the tormentors of the Ethiopian people. SOCEPP condemns the Yara International for committing such an injustice on the people of Ethiopia. SOCEPP calls on Secretary General Kofi Annan to disassociate the UN from this injustice and callous parody. SOCEPP calls on Norwegians and other peace loving people who are friends of Ethiopia to denounce the Yara and its prize. SOCEPP calls on Ethiopians (specially those in Oslo and Norway as a whole) to stage protest demonstrations against this injustice.
Shame on Yara!! Shame on Norway!!
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