Democracy is founded on principles of freedom, justice, social inclusion and participation in civil society. Where these qualities of fairness are absent so too is democracy...

On 23rd June 2014 Andergachew Tsige was illegally detained at Sana’a airport in Yemen whilst travelling from Dubai to Eritrea on his British passport. He was swiftly handed over to the Ethiopian authorities, who had for years posted his name at the top of the regime’s most wanted list...

As the Ethiopian government intensifies its violent suppression of the populace in the lead up to the illusion of national elections in May, there are many within the country and the diaspora who believe a popular armed uprising is the only way to bring about change in the country...

Nobody trusts politicians, but some governments are more despicable than others. The brutal gang ruling Ethiopia are especially nasty. They claim to govern in a democratic pluralistic manner, they say they observe human rights and the rule of law, that the judiciary is independent, the media open and free and public assembly permitted as laid out in the constitution...

Faced with a brutal repressive regime, the people of Ethiopia inside the country and within the worldwide diaspora – frustrated, angry and desperate – are considering all options to elicit fundamental change in the country....

There are tentative signs that the people of Ethiopia are beginning to organise themselves and stand up against the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government, a brutal dictatorship, albeit one dressed in democratic western garb...

In the last 10 days persecution of Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia has escalated. Men and women are forced from their homes by mobs of civilians and dragged through the streets of Riyadh and Jeddah. Distressing videos of Ethiopian men being mercilessly beaten, kicked and punched....

They speak of democracy, but act violently to suppress dissenting voices and control the people through the inculcation of fear: they ignore human rights and trample on the people, they are a tyrannical wolf in democratic sheep’s clothing, causing suffering and misery to thousands of people throughout Ethiopia...

In many parts of the world development has become an invisible cloak under which all manner of “state sponsored” atrocities and human rights violations are being committed. Married to growth, development has been (largely) reduced to economic advancement – meaning maximizing Gross National Product (GNP) figures....

To many people land is much more than a resource or corporate commodity to be bought, developed and sold for a profit. Identity, cultural history and livelihood are all connected to ‘place’. The erosion of traditional values and morality (which include the observation of human rights and environmental responsibility) are some of the many negative effects...