The head of Ethiopia’s National Election Board (NEB) said on Monday that although over 25.6 million people had registered to vote in the country’s third-ever democratic ballot, some abuses of the registration process had occurred. Kemal Bedri, the NEB’s chairman, told reporters at the board’s headquarters in the capital, Addis Ababa, that irregularities had been reported in the south. Children had been registered to vote, and multiple ballots had been given to some people.

The Ethiopian military has committed widespread murder, rape and torture against the Anuak population in the remote southwestern region of Gambella since December 2003, Human Rights Watch said in a 64-page report released entitled "Targeting the Anuak: Human Rights Violations and Crimes against Humanity in Ethiopia's Gambella Region." Human Rights Watch said that the abuses detailed in the report could amount to crimes against humanity. Following the December 2003 massacre of some 400 Anuak civilians in a Gambella town by mobs and soldiers, the military launched a series of attacks on Anuak villages that destroyed well over 1000 homes and left several dozen villagers dead. In numerous smaller incidents, soldiers have severely beaten and sometimes killed Anuak men they encounter along roads or in sweeps of Anuak villages. These abuses have forced several thousand Anuak civilians to flee their homes for camps across the Sudanese border, while others have sought refuge with friends or family in the relative safety of Gambella's larger towns.

The European Union (EU) has fielded one of its largest ever teams of election observers to Ethiopia for the 15 May general polls, the mission chief, Ana Gomes, said. Gomes told reporters on Monday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that the forthcoming national elections could play a critical role in fostering democracy in Ethiopia and greater stability in the Horn of Africa. The 159-strong observer mission, which would cost about ?2.8 million (US $3.68 million), had some initial concerns over whether the elections would be free and fair, she added.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has voiced concern that, with general elections due to take place in just two months, on 15 May 2005, two journalists, Shiferraw Insermu and Dhabassa Wakjira, continue to be detained. Insermu and Wakjira, journalists for the Oromo-language service of the state-owned Ethiopian Television (ETV), are accused of having links with an Oromo separatist group. "As Ethiopians get ready to vote, two journalists continue to languish in a prison where cases of torture and mistreatment are regularly reported by international organisations," RSF said.

The military build-up on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea could "aggravate" simmering tensions, the president of the UN Security Council said. Ambassador Joel W. Adechi of Benin said the 15-member body was considering asking UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send either an envoy or a mission to defuse pressure, UN News reported on Tuesday. The envoy or mission would help push forward the "political dialogue" between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.

The women had gathered at a school near Dukem Town, 35 km east of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to wait for leaders of a local NGO working with the Inter-African Committee, a pan-African NGO dedicated to fighting female genital mutilation (FGM). The NGO leaders had travelled to conduct one of their routine community-awareness training programmes on reproductive health. The 80 or so women, aged 16 to mid-30s, included three girls who had just finished high school. All but five had been circumcised and organisers of the meeting said some were infected with HIV.

According to International Press Institute (IPI) sources, two journalists, Dhabassa Wakjira and Shiferaw Insarmu, who both worked for the Oromo-language television service, are currently being held by the Ethiopian authorities. The two journalists have been accused of passing information to the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Originally arrested by the Ethiopian authorities in late April 2004, the Federal High Court ordered the journalists released on bail. Shiferaw made bail and was released from detention on 9 August 2004. Regarding Dhabassa, the authorities ignored the court order and kept him in detention.

Ethiopia is one of eight pilot countries undergoing assessments by the UN's Millennium Task Force on achieving the eight goals. Next week the government will release its own MDG report spelling out it requirements if it is to achieve the targets. Ethiopia needs greater policy reform, particularly in the private sector, to help achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a senior UN official said on Tuesday.

There are 1.4 million blind children in the world today, of whom 320 000 live in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of the causes of childhood blindness are either preventable or treatable. The causes of sight loss in 44 percent of children attending schools for the blind in Ethiopia were vitamin A deficiency and measles. These two conditions can be avoided with widespread measles immunisation, vitamin A supplements and advice on nutrition.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has hailed a 24 December 2004 federal high court decision to reverse a 13-month-old government ban on the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA) as a "victory for the EFJA and a step forward for press freedom in Ethiopia." But the organisation warned that vigilance is still needed in Ethiopia as the situation of its news media continues to be very precarious. (Available in English and French)

Ethiopia is to begin free distribution of potentially lifesaving drugs next month for people living with HIV, US officials supporting the programme said last Thursday. The move is part of a US $43 million scheme from the US government of antiretroviral drugs for up to 15,000 people this year. "You can consider this the start of the treatment era, in which free treatment will be made available in increasing numbers over the years," Taddesse Wahub, head of the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in Ethiopia, said.

Vital food rations for 118,000 refugees in Ethiopia may be cut by 30 percent unless international donors supply 4.2 million dollars to buy cereal, the United Nations' food agency warned. Ethiopia's refugee population is almost entirely dependent upon food aid as people are unable to farm for themselves without angering the locals, who also rely heavily on international support to feed themselves.

The recent announcement by Ethiopia that it would accept "in principle" a ruling to end a simmering border dispute with Eritrea was broadly welcomed, but the complex issue of when and how the two countries can enter into dialogue to try and normalise relations still remains. Ethiopia had refused, until now, to respect an April 2002 ruling by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, part of the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague. UN special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Lloyd Axworthy believes the international community should work to build on the momentum generated by the new pledge by Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government is taking steps to prevent any abuses of opposition political supporters and has contacted all regions in the country to stress that forthcoming elections should be held in a fair and democratic manner, a spokesman told IRIN. "This is the period of preparation for the election," Zemedkun Teckle said on Tuesday. "Let me assure you, one commitment of the government is to ensure free and fair elections."

In March 2002, Equality Now launched its campaign against abduction and rape in Ethiopia, highlighting the case of Woineshet Zebene Negash, who at the age of 13 was abducted and raped by Aberew Jemma Negussie in the village where she lived with her mother and grandparents in the south-eastern part of Ethiopia. Two days later she was rescued. Both abduction and rape are criminal offences under Ethiopian law, but until recently, Articles 558 and 599 of the 1957 Ethiopian Penal Code provided that in the event of subsequent marriage to his victim, the perpetrator is exempt from criminal responsibility for these crimes. Read more from the November update of the campaign by clicking on the link provided.

Thousands of children’s lives could be saved each year simply by washing their hands, the government, the UN and other aid organisations said on Saturday. The organisations are aiming to bring about a massive behavioural change to cut sickness and death in the country by raising awareness about hygiene and water sanitation.

Armed opposition groups have been urged by the Ethiopian government to lay down their weapons and democratically contest the forthcoming national elections. The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) said that political power only "comes only from the ballot box". In a statement issued by the information ministry on Saturday, the government said "creating a democratic government by the people and for the people" fosters development.

Ethiopia's ruling party is imposing female quotas on candidates in a bid to have more women in parliament, officials said on Friday. Women are guaranteed up to 30 percent of seats in the national elections for the incumbent Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). Opposition groups have also taken up the "historic" move as political parities battle it out in the run up to the May 2005 federal and regional elections.

Violent treatment of women in Ethiopia and denial of development opportunities for them "is a national disgrace," World Bank chief James Wolfensohn said Sunday. Ethiopian women often are victims of female genital mutilation and bear the brunt of poverty, poor health care and lack of education. More than 70% of marriages in the country are by abduction, the National Committee on Traditional Practices of Ethiopia says.

The Paris Club of mainly western creditor nations have agreed to cancel US $758 million of Ethiopian debt to help cut poverty and stimulate growth. The debt write-off is part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC), launched in 1996 to ease the burden on the world's poorest countries. Ethiopia's external public sector debt was estimated in 2003 by the International Monetary Fund at $6.8 billion, of which the Paris Club nations were owed $1.89 billion as of April 2004. The write-off came as the Ethiopian government launched concerted efforts through its diplomats overseas to gain greater debt relief.