1.
National Assembly (Eritrea)
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According to the IPU, parliament has 150 indirectly elected members. The National Assembly was composed in February 1992, AFP reported that Eritreans have elected 399 representatives in the countrys six regions in a lengthy process that will lead to the formation of a constituent assembly. The regional elections began on 4 January 1997 in some parts of the country and were completed in others by 1 March 1997, the National Assembly is located in the capital Asmara. While Eritrea was federated to Ethiopia, and later annexed from 1952-1962, Eritrea has a one party national Assembly governed by Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice. From the time of independence since May 1991, the country has been continuing with a government elected during the elections in June 1993. The scheduled elections in 2001 has been postponed indefinitely, the regional and local elections are conducted on a periodic basis on a restricted framework. All men and women of any ethnic or religious background are eligible to vote, only individuals, not parties, are allowed to contest and the elections are presided by representatives from PDFJ. Policy decisions should be centered around the party mandate and opposition, the composition of the 150 members of the National Assembly is members from the Central Committee members of the ruling PFDJ and 75 others elected from the 527 member Constituent Assembly in 1997. The elections were held for a government to discuss and ratify the new constitution. The stipulation set for the 75 elected members were, a minimum of 11 women members, the President is elected by the members of the National Assembly for a five-year term and a maximum of two terms. The members of the National Assembly are elected directly by popular vote, in May 1997, a new constitution was adopted, which enabled only the 75 elected members needed in the Assembly, while 75 others from the PFDJ were nominated from Central Committee. The members of the assembly were allowed to continue until next elections were held. The National Assembly is scheduled to meet six months or at points of emergency at the behest of President. The Council of State reports to the Assembly, Assembly is set as the top most legislative body of the Constitution of Eritrea that needs to assure the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country and to ensure justice, peace and stability. The National Assembly was also set to oversee the Executive branch of the constitution during the regime of the transitional government, the other major functions of the National Assembly include approval of budgets, governing domestic and foreign policies, and regulating the policies of the council. Politics of Eritrea List of legislatures by country Legislative branch
2.
People's Front for Democracy and Justice
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The Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice is the current ruling political party in Eritrea. Successor to the formerly left-wing nationalist and African socialist Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front, the historical region of Eritrea had joined Ethiopia as an autonomous unit in 1952. The Eritrean Liberation Movement was founded in 1958 and was succeeded by the Eritrean Liberation Front in 1961, the ELF grew in membership when the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie abolished Eritrea’s autonomous status, annexing it as a province in 1962. In the 1960s and ’70s the ELF undertook a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Ethiopian government. A faction of the ELF broke away in 1970 to form the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, the EPLF managed to secure control of much of the Eritrean countryside and build effective administrations in the areas it controlled. Fighting that broke out between the EPLF, ELF, and other Eritrean rebel groups in 1981 prevented further military gains, after the holding of a United Nations-supervised referendum on independence there in April 1993, the EPLF declared the new nation of Eritrea the following month. In February 1994 the EPLF renamed itself the People’s Front for Democracy, the leader of the PFDJ party and current President of Eritrea is Isaias Afewerki. Currently the Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice is the legal party in Eritrea. There is some debate as to whether PFDJ is a political party or whether it is a broad governing association in transition. However, local elections continued in Eritrea, the most recent round of local government elections were held in May 2004
3.
Eritrean People's Liberation Front
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The Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front was an armed organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1970 as an intellectual left-wing group that split from the Eritrean Liberation Front, after achieving Eritrean independence in 1991, it transformed into the Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice, which serves as Eritreas only legal political organisation. The EPLF was a movement in which 30% of the fighters were women. The women fighters influence in the patriarchal and quite conservative Eritrean society was significant, EPLF and Eritrean Liberation Front first struggled during the Eritrean Civil War. In the early 1980s, new armed conflicts between the rival Eritrean Liberation Front led to the front being marginalized and pushed into neighboring Sudan, the EPLF remained the only relevant opposition to Ethiopian occupation in Eritrea. The EPLF captured many Ethiopian soldiers during the war for independence and kept them in prisoner of war camps. Due to the ethic of the EPLF however, these POWs were not harmed by their captors. Some segments of the EPLF went as far as teaching prisoners of war some trades, during its protracted struggle the EPLF constructed an underground hospital. In these hospitals surgeries were conducted as well as the production of various pharmaceuticals, the front also constructed schools in the liberated areas, as well as underground and partially outdoor schools for the children of the EPLF. In 1988, the EPLF started an attack from the province of Sahel towards the south. The EPLF emerged as the dominant rebel force as early as 1977, in 1991 the EPLF succeeded in liberating Eritrea on May 24,1991. At this first meeting a Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General were elected and this program specifically targeted a liberalization of womens rights as well as a broad educational policy for maintaining every language and improving literacy. It was also set out that the boundaries of a liberated Eritrean state would be based on the treaties of Italy. The Second Congress in 1987 brought together the EPLF and the Eritrean Liberation Front/Central Leadership in what was called the Unity Congress and this was the culmination of negotiations over three years which had brought together the two fighting forces in October 1986 under a unified command. On this congress, Isaias Afewerki replaced secretary-general Ramadan Nur, the Third and last Congress of the EPLF was held in 1994 in Asmara. It was important as it converted the Front from an organization to a purely political movement. At this Congress, the name of the organization was changed to the Peoples Front for Democracy, Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice Official Website List of incidents attributed to the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front on the START database
4.
Sebhat Ephrem
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Sebhat Ephrem is the Minister of Energy and Mines for Eritrea, a former Minister of Defence and former Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front commander during the Eritrean War of Independence. Sebhat completed high school at the Evangelical Lutheran High School in Asmara and he later attended Addis Ababa University for two years before joining the EPLF in 1972. As a fighter, he rose up the ranks from a political commissar to becoming part of the executive committee. Sebhat Ephrem served from June 1992 to March 1994 as the Governor of Asmara, from March 1994 to May 1995 he served as the Minister of Health. In both positions he brought structure and reorganization to these offices, after leaving the military in June 1992, he returned to the army in May 1995 with the rank of general and was appointed and confirmed as Minister of Defense. It is believed that he is the only 4-star general in the Eritrean defence forces thus far
5.
Asmara
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Asmara, known locally as Asmera, is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea. Home to a population of just over 1,000,000 inhabitants, the city is located at the tip of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Eritrean highlands and the Great Rift Valley in neighbouring Ethiopia. Asmara is situated in Eritreas central Maekel Region and it is known for its well-preserved colonial Italian modernist architecture. These towns were attacked by clans from the low land. Until the women of each clan decided that to defeat their common enemy, the men accepted, hence the name Arbate Asmera. Arbate Asmara literally means, in the Tigrinya language, the four made them unite, eventually Arbate was dropped and it has been called Asmara which means they made them unite. There is still a district called Arbaete Asmara in the Administrations of Asmara and it is now called the Italianized version of the word Asmara. The westernized version of the name is used by a majority of non-Eritreans, while the inhabitants of Eritrea and neighboring peoples remain loyal to the original pronunciation. The missionary Remedius Prutky passed through Asmara in 1751, and described in his memoirs that a church there by Jesuit priests 130 years before was still intact. Asmara started to grow in a way when it was occupied by Italy in 1889 and was made the capital city of Italian Eritrea in preference to Massawa by Governor Martini in 1897. In the early 20th century, a line was built to the coast, passing through the town of Ghinda. In both 1913 and 1915 the city suffered only slight damage in large earthquakes, in the late 1930s the Italians changed the face of the town, with a new structure and new buildings, Asmara was called Piccola Roma. Asmara was populated by a large Italian community and consequently the city acquired an Italian architectural look, the city of Asmara had a population of 98,000, of which 53,000 were Italian according to the Italian census of 1939. This fact made Asmara the main Italian town of the Italian empire in Africa, in all of Eritrea the population of Italians was only 75,000 in total in that year, making Asmara by far their largest centre. Many industrial investments were made by Italy in Asmara, but the beginning of World War II stopped the blossoming industrialization of the area, in 1952, the United Nations resolved to federate the former colony under Ethiopian rule. During the federation, Asmara was no longer the capital city, the capital was now Addis Ababa, over 1,000 kilometres to the south. The national language of the city was replaced from Tigrinya language to the Ethiopian Amharic language. In 1961, emperor Haile Selassie I ended the federal arrangement, ethiopias biggest ally was the United States
6.
Italian Eritrea
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Italian Eritrea was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. Although it was created in 1890, the first Italian settlements in the area were established in 1882 around Assab. The colony officially lasted until 1947, ignoring their treaty with Ethiopia, they openly encouraged Italy to expand north into Massawa, which was taken without a shot from its Egyptian garrison. Located on an island surrounded by lucrative pearl-fishing grounds, the superior port was fortified. Assab, meanwhile, continued to service as a coaling station. As they were not a party to the Hewett Treaty, the Italians began restricting access to arms shipments and imposing customs duties on Ethiopian goods immediately. In the disorder that followed the 1889 death of Emperor Yohannes IV, Gen. Oreste Baratieri occupied the highlands along the Eritrean coast and his subsequent victory over his rival kings and enthronement as Emperor Menelek II made the treaty formally binding upon the entire country. Secure both domestically and militarily, Menelik denounced the treaty in whole and the war, culminating in Italys disastrous defeat at Adwa. Massawa remained the primary port for most of northern Ethiopia, but its relatively high customs dues, dependence on caravans, seeking to develop their own lands, the Italian government launched the first development projects in the new colony in the late 1880s. The Eritrean Railway was completed to Saati in 1888 and reached Asmara in the highlands in 1911, the Asmara–Massawa Cableway was the longest line in the world during its time. Italian administration of Eritrea also brought improvements in the medical and agricultural sectors of Eritrean society, despite an imposition of racial laws, all urban Eritreans had access to modern sanitation and hospital services. The Italians also employed local Eritreans in public service, particularly the police, in a region marked by cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity, a succession of Italian governors maintained a notable degree of unity and public order. Nicknamed Colonia Primogenita in contrast to the newer and less-developed territories of Italian Somaliland and Libya, the first few dozen families were sponsored by the Italian government around the start of the 20th century and settled around Asmara and Massawa. The Italian-Eritrean community then grew from around 4,000 during World War I to nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II, by the early 1940s, Catholicism was the declared religion of around 28% of the colonys population. Benito Mussolinis rise to power in Italy in 1922 brought profound changes to the government in Eritrea. This Fascist period was characterized by expansion in the name of a new Roman Empire. Historian Gian Luca Podesta wrote that practically Asmara has become an Italian city, the newly opened factories produced buttons, cooking oil, and pasta, construction materials, packing meat, tobacco, hide and other household commodities. The Italian government continued to implement agricultural reforms but primarily on farms owned by Italian colonists, consequently, the standard of living in Eritrea in 1939 was considered among the best on the continent for both the local Eritreans and the Italian settlers
7.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
8.
Addis Ababa University
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Addis Ababa University is a state university in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Originally called the University College of Addis Ababa at its establishment in 1950, the institution received its current name in 1975. Addis Ababa University was founded as a college in 1950 by a Canadian Jesuit, Dr Lucien Matte. It began operations the following year, over the following two years an affiliation with the University of London was developed. The writer and theorist Richard Cummings served as a member of the Faculty of Law in the 1960s, the university offered its first Masters programs in 1979 and its first PhD programs in 1987. Three top university administrators resigned their posts in December 2002 in protest against increasing government interference in internal university matters, government officials wanted the University to change its system of student evaluations to conform to a gemgema system favored by the ruling party. In 2013/2014, there were 33,940 enrolled undergraduate students,13,000 graduate students and 1733 PhD students, Addis Ababa University has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, and one is located in Bishoftu and it also maintains branches in many cities throughout Ethiopia. The government assigns qualified students to these universities upon completion of secondary school, associated institutions include the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, founded by Richard Pankhurst. The Development of Higher Education and Social Change, an Ethiopian Experience
9.
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
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The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church is an Oriental Orthodox church with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. Its autocephaly was recognised by Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria after Eritrea gained its independence in 1993, tewaḥido is a Geez word meaning being made one, cognate to Arabic tawhid. This separate Christian communion came to be known as Oriental Orthodoxy and these Churches themselves describe their Christology as miaphysite, but outsiders often incorrectly describe them as monophysite. Tewahedo Orthodoxy is an ethnoreligious group in Eritrea and the largest Christian group there. Christianity has been the majority religion since the 4th century and remains still the largest population, historically, they spoke Geez, which belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family. However, the language is now almost extinct, and has been limited to liturgical use since the 10th century. Most also adhere to the Tewahdo Orthodox Church, Tewahdo is an identity and a religion as well for the adherent of Eritrean Tewahdos. The Eritrean Orthodox Church claims its origins from Philip the Evangelist and it became the state church of the Kingdom of Aksum under Ezana in the 4th century through the efforts of a Syrian Greek named Frumentius, known in the church as Abba Selama, Kesate Birhan. As a boy, Frumentius had been shipwrecked with his brother Aedesius on the Eritrean coast, the brothers managed to be brought to the royal court, where they rose to positions of influence and converted Emperor Ezana to Christianity, causing him to be baptised. Ezana sent Frumentius to Alexandria to ask the Patriarch, Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius appointed Frumentius himself, who returned to Axum as Bishop with the name of Abune Selama. For fifteen centuries afterward, the pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria always named a Copt to be Abuna metropolitan bishop of the Ethiopian Church, little else is known of church history down to the period of Jesuit influence, which broke the connection with Egypt. Union with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria continued even after Arab conquests in Egypt, abu Saleh records in the 12th century that the patriarch sent letters twice a year to the kings of Abyssinia and Nubia, until Al Hakim stopped the practice. Coptic patriarch Cyril II sent Severus as bishop, with orders to suppress the practice of polygamy and these examples show the close relations of the two churches concurrent with the Middle Ages. Early in the 16th century the church was brought under the influence of a Portuguese mission, in 1507 Matthew, an Armenian, had been sent as Ethiopian envoy to Portugal to ask aid against the Adal Sultanate. In 1520 an embassy under Rodrigo de Lima landed in Ethiopia, an account of the Portuguese mission, which remained for several years, was written by the chaplain, Francisco Álvares. Later, Ignatius of Loyola wished to essay the task of conversion, instead, the pope sent out João Nunes Barreto as Patriarch of the East Indies, with Andrés de Oviedo as bishop, and from Goa envoys went to Ethiopia. After repeated failures, some measure of success was achieved under Susenyos I and he then expelled the Society of Jesus in 1633, and in 1665 Fasilides ordered all Jesuit books be burned. In the 1920s the Italian colonial power in Eritrea started the first attempts to found a separate Eritrean Orthodox Church
10.
Eritrea
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Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. With its capital at Asmara, it is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, the northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea. The nation has an area of approximately 117,600 km2. Its toponym Eritrea is based on the Greek name for the Red Sea, Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country, with nine recognized ethnic groups in its population of around six million. Most residents speak languages from the Afroasiatic family, either of the Ethiopian Semitic languages or Cushitic branches, among these communities, the Tigrinya make up about 55% of the population, with the Tigre people constituting around 30% of inhabitants. In addition, there are a number of Nilo-Saharan-speaking Nilotic ethnic minorities, most people in the territory adhere to Christianity or Islam. In medieval times much of Eritrea fell under the Medri Bahri kingdom, the creation of modern-day Eritrea is a result of the incorporation of independent, distinct kingdoms and sultanates eventually resulting in the formation of Italian Eritrea. In 1947 Eritrea became part of a federation with Ethiopia, the Federation of Ethiopia, subsequent annexation into Ethiopia led to the Eritrean War of Independence, ending with Eritrean independence following a referendum in April 1993. Hostilities between Eritrea and Ethiopia persisted, leading to the Eritrean–Ethiopian War of 1998–2000 and further skirmishes with both Djibouti and Ethiopia, Eritrea is a one-party state in which national legislative elections have been repeatedly postponed. According to Human Rights Watch, the Eritrean governments human rights record is considered among the worst in the world, the Eritrean government has dismissed these allegations as politically motivated. The compulsory military service requires lengthy, indefinite conscription periods, which some Eritreans leave the country in order to avoid, since all local media is state-owned, Eritrea was also ranked as having the least press freedom in the global Press Freedom Index. Eritrea is a member of the African Union, the United Nations, and IGAD, during the Middle Ages, the Eritrea region was known as Medri Bahri. The name Eritrea is derived from the ancient Greek name for the Red Sea and it was first formally adopted in 1890, with the formation of Italian Eritrea. The territory became the Eritrea Governorate within Italian East Africa in 1936, Eritrea was annexed by Ethiopia in 1953 and an Eritrean Liberation Front formed in 1960. Eritrea gained independence following the 1993 referendum, and the name of the new state was defined as State of Eritrea in the 1997 constitution. At Buya in Eritrea, one of the oldest hominids representing a link between Homo erectus and an archaic Homo sapiens was found by Italian scientists. Dated to over 1 million years old, it is the oldest skeletal find of its kind, during the last interglacial period, the Red Sea coast of Eritrea was occupied by early anatomically modern humans. It is believed that the area was on the out of Africa that some scholars suggest was used by early humans to colonize the rest of the Old World
11.
Eritrean War of Independence
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The Eritrean War for Independence was a conflict fought between the Ethiopian government and Eritrean separatists, both before and during the Ethiopian Civil War. The war started when Eritreas autonomy within Ethiopia, where troops were stationed, was revoked. Eritrea had become part of Ethiopia after World War II, when both territories were liberated from Italian occupation, Ethiopia claimed that Eritrea was part of their country. Ethiopias wishes were fulfilled after the United Nations General Assembly federated Eritrea to Ethiopia as a province as early as 1950, in April 1993, in a referendum supported by Ethiopia, the Eritrean people voted almost unanimously in favour of independence. Formal international recognition of an independent, sovereign Eritrea followed later the same year, the two main rebel groups, the Eritrean Liberation Front and the EPLF, fought the two Eritrean Civil Wars during the war of liberation. The Italians colonised Eritrea in 1890, in 1936, Italy invaded Ethiopia and declared it part of their colonial empire, which they called Italian East Africa. Italian Somaliland was also part of that entity, there was a unified Italian administration. Conquered by the Allies in 1941, Italian East Africa was sub-divided, Ethiopia reoccupied its formerly Italian occupied lands in 1941. Eritrea was made a British protectorate from the end of World War II until 1951, however, there was debate as to what should happen with Eritrea after the British left. The British proposed that Eritrea be divided along religious lines with the Christians to Ethiopia, then, in 1952, the UN decided to federate Eritrea to Ethiopia, hoping to reconcile Ethiopian claims of sovereignty and Eritrean aspirations for independence. About nine years later, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie dissolved the federation and annexed Eritrea, during the 1960s, the Eritrean independence struggle was led by the Eritrean Liberation Front. The independence struggle can properly be understood as the resistance to the annexation of Eritrea by Ethiopia long after the Italians left the territory, at first, this group factionalized the liberation movement along ethnic and geographic lines. The initial four zonal commands of the ELF were all lowland areas, few Christians joined the organization in the beginning, fearing Muslim domination. After growing disenfranchisement with Ethiopian occupation, highland Christians began joining the ELF, typically these Christians were part of the upper class or university-educated. This growing influx of Christian volunteers prompted the opening of the fifth command, internal struggles within the ELF command coupled with sectarian violence among the various zonal groups splintered the organization. The war started on 1 September 1961 when Hamid Idris Awate and his companions fired the first shots against the occupying Ethiopian Army, in 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia unilaterally dissolved the federation and the Eritrean parliament and annexed the country. In 1970 members of the group had an out. During this time, the ELF and the groups later joined together to form the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front fought a bitter civil war
12.
Tigrinyas
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The Tigrinyas are an ethnic group inhabiting central Eritrea, an area spanning the Southern and Central, as well as the Northern Red Sea and Anseba Regions - mostly part of the Eritrean highlands. Ethnolinguistically, Tigrinyas are related to the Tigrayans of Ethiopia, both of whom speak Tigrinya, an Ethiopian Semitic language belonging to the Afroasiatic family, most are followers of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. They make up roughly 55% of Eritreas population numbering 3.4 million people and they are not to be confused with the Tigre people who speak Tigre, a closely related Afroasiatic language. Native Tigrinya speakers in Eritrea are known as Bihére-Tigrinya, while in Ethiopia, tigray-Tigrinyas of Muslim faith are commonly referred to as Jeberti. Historically, the people who live in the highlands found between Red Sea and Tekezé River were referred as Tigré people by foreign scholars who traveled in the region like James Bruce and Henry Salt. The explorer James Bruce reported in 1770 that the Medri Bahri kingdom centered in Eritrea was a political entity from Abyssinia. The Bahre-Nagassi alternately fought with or against the Abyssinians and the neighbouring Muslim Adal Sultanate depending on the geopolitical circumstances and that 16th century also marked the arrival of the Ottomans, who began making inroads in the Red Sea area. Bruce noted They next passed the Mareb, which is the boundary between Tigre and the Baharnagash. In his book published in 1805, he reported that Hadawi. The officer in Hadawi watches over the Naybe of Masawa, and starve him into obedience by intercepting his provisions, whenever the governor of Tigré and the officer in Hadawi find it necessary. Bruce also located Tigré between Red Sea and the river Tekezé and stated many large governments, such as Enderta and Antalow, Tigrinyas predominately belong to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. However, a minority are members of the Catholic Church or go to Pentay churches, there also is a Muslim minority. The majority of Tigrinyas speak the dialect of Tigrinya as their first language. A minority in the Anseba and Northern Red Sea Regions speak Tigre as a second language
13.
Addis Ababa
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Addis Ababa or Addis Abeba, is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It has a population of 3,384,569 according to the 2007 population census and this number has been increased from the originally published 2,738,248 figure and appears to be still largely underestimated. As a chartered city, Addis Ababa has the status of both a city and a state and it is where the African Union is and its predecessor the OAU was based. It also hosts the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa is therefore often referred to as the political capital of Africa for its historical, diplomatic and political significance for the continent. The city is populated by people from different regions of Ethiopia and it is home to Addis Ababa University. The Federation of African Societies of Chemistry and Horn of Africa Press Institute are also headquartered in Addis Ababa, Entoto is one of a handful of sites put forward as a possible location for a medieval imperial capital known as Barara. Dubbed the Pentagon, the 30 hecatre site incorporates a castle with 12 towers, the site of Addis Ababa was chosen by Empress Taytu Betul and the city was founded in 1886 by Emperor Menelik II. His interest in the area grew when his wife Taytu began work on a church on Mount Entoto, and Menelik endowed a second church in the area. However, the area did not encourage the founding of a town for lack of firewood and water. Initially, Taytu built a house for herself near the Filwoha hot mineral springs, other nobility and their staff and households settled in the vicinity, and Menelik expanded his wifes house to become the Imperial Palace which remains the seat of government in Addis Ababa today. The name changed to Addis Ababa and became Ethiopias capital when Menelik II became Emperor of Ethiopia, the town grew by leaps and bounds. One of Emperor Meneliks contributions that is visible today is the planting of numerous eucalyptus trees along the city streets. Following all the engagements of their invasion, Italian troops from the colony of Eritrea entered Addis Ababa on 5 May 1936. Along with Dire Dawa, the city had been spared the aerial bombardment practiced elsewhere, the city was liberated by Major Orde Wingates Sudanese and Ethiopian Gideon Force in time to permit Emperor Haile Selassies return on 5 May 1941, five years to the day after he had left. Following reconstruction, Haile Selassie helped form the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, the OAU was dissolved in 2002 and replaced by the African Union, also headquartered in Addis Ababa. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa also has its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa was also the site of the Council of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in 1965. Ethiopia has often called the original home of mankind because of various humanoid fossil discoveries like the Australopithecine Lucy. After analysing the DNA of almost 1,000 people around the world, geneticists, the research indicated that genetic diversity decreases steadily the farther ones ancestors traveled from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
14.
Kassala
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Kassala is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030, built on the banks of the Gash River, it is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. Many of its inhabitants are from the Hadendoa group, with others being of Rashaida origin. It was formerly a hub, however, as of 2006 there was no operational railway station in Kassala and much of the track leading to. Kassalas location along the main Khartoum-Port Sudan highway makes it an important trade center, the city was originally created as a military camp for the Ottoman soldiers of Egyptian viceroy Muhammad Ali in 1840 during his military offensive into Sudan. In 1885, Kassala was subsequently captured by the Mahdists, in 1894, after the Battle of Kassala the Italians captured the city. In 1897, the Kingdom of Italy returned Kassala to the Kingdom of Egypt, in 1899, Kassala fell under the purview of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan until Sudanese independence in 1956. In July 1940, during the East African Campaign, Italian forces advancing from Italian East Africa forced a small British garrison to withdraw from Kassala, the Italians then occupied the city with a brigade-sized unit. In mid-January 1941, the Italians withdrew from the city and a British garrison returned, in 1956, the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan became the Republic of the Sudan. Since the 1960s, the city has been the destination of large numbers of Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees fleeing conflict and war. Since the beginning of the Second Sudanese Civil War in the 1980s, it has also been refuge of internally displaced Sudanese fleeing conflicts in the Nuba Mountains, about 160,000 of these IDPs settled on the outskirts of the town. The Kassala region now has a mortality rate twice that of the Darfur region. The city is home to Kassala University, a university established in 1990 to replace the East University. Asmara, Eritrea Keren, Eritrea 2007 Sudan floods Railway stations in Sudan Kassala program, Ockenden International
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Sudan
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Sudan, also known as North Sudan since South Sudans independence and officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northern Africa. It is the third largest country in Africa, the River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. Before the Sudanese Civil War, South Sudan was part of Sudan, Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroë and others, most of which flourished along the Nile. During the pre-dynastic period Nubia and Nagadan Upper Egypt were identical, by virtue of its proximity to Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East inasmuch as it was Christianized by the 6th century, and Islamized in the 15th. As a result of Christianization, the Old Nubian language stands as the oldest recorded Nilo-Saharan language, Sudan was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum. Sudan is now the third largest country in Africa and also the third largest country in the Arab world and its capital is Khartoum, the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation. It is a representative democratic federal republic. The politics of Sudan are regulated by an organization called the National Assembly. The Sudanese legal system is based on Islamic law, the countrys place name Sudan is a name given to a geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to eastern Central Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān, or the lands of the Blacks, during the fifth millennium BC migrations from the drying Sahara brought neolithic people into the Nile Valley along with agriculture. The population that resulted from this cultural and genetic mixing developed social hierarchy over the centuries become the Kingdom of Kush at 1700 BC. The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient Nubian state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile and White Nile, and the Atbarah River and it was established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, centered at Napata in its early phase. After King Kashta invaded Egypt in the eighth century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt for a century before being defeated and driven out by the Assyrians. At the height of their glory, the Kushites conquered an empire that stretched from what is now known as South Kordofan all the way to the Sinai, pharaoh Piye attempted to expand the empire into the Near East, but was thwarted by the Assyrian king Sargon II. Sennacheribs successor Esarhaddon went further, and invaded Egypt itself, deposing Taharqa, Taharqa fled back to his homeland where he died two years later. Egypt became an Assyrian colony, however, king Tantamani, after succeeding Taharqa, Esarhaddon died while preparing to leave the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in order to eject him. However, his successor Ashurbanipal sent an army into southern Egypt and routed Tantamani. During Classical Antiquity, the Nubian capital was at Meroë, in ancient Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Ethiopia
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Eritrean Liberation Front
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The Eritrean Liberation Front was the main independence movement in Eritrea which sought Eritreas independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and 1970s. In the late 1950s, unorganized political movement seeking independence was secretly active as small cells, and in July 1960, the ELF was openly established in Cairo by Idris Muhammad Adam and other Eritrean intellectuals and students. In 1961 Hamid Idris Awate formed the wing of the ELF. Led by Awate, the ELF came into violent conflict with the government on September 1,1961, though the movement posed great problems for the Ethiopian government and army, it was also facing internal political conflicts in the very late 1960s. In the 1970s, a group of its members split the movement and formed the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front, by the 1980s, the Peoples Liberation Front had replaced the original Eritrean Liberation Front as the main rebel group. The contemporary ELF is a member of the opposition alliance in Eritrea. They are apparently now receiving military support from Ethiopia and from the government of Somalia based at Baidoa. The Eritrean Liberation Front-Popular liberation forces was organized around Osman Saleh Sappe, Romedan Mohammed Nur, another split affected within the organization with the emergence of Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front in 1970. The 1982 Rasai Incident led to a split between the Abdellah Idris faction and Ahmed Mohammed Nassers Eritrean Liberation Front-Revolutionnary Council, ahmeds group was then affected by another split with the creation of Eritrean Liberation Front-Central Leadership around Ibrahim Toteel and Zemheret Yohannes
17.
Sahel
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The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. Having a semi-arid climate, it stretches across the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, the Arabic word sāḥil literally means shore, coast, while the word Sahara is derived from the Arabic word for desert. Together, these names evoke an image of the Sahels vegetation as a coastline on the Saharas ocean of sand, historically, the western part of the Sahel was sometimes known as the Sudan region. This belt was roughly located between the Sahara and the areas of West Africa. It is an ecoregion of semi-arid grasslands, savannas, steppes. The topography of the Sahel is mainly flat, most of the region lies between 200 and 400 meters in elevation, several isolated plateaus and mountain ranges rise from the Sahel, but are designated as separate ecoregions because their flora and fauna are distinct from the surrounding lowlands. Annual rainfall varies from around 100–200 mm in the north of the Sahel to around 600 mm in the south, the Sahel is mostly covered in grassland and savanna, with areas of woodland and shrubland. Grass cover is continuous across the region, dominated by annual grass species such as Cenchrus biflorus, Schoenefeldia gracilis. Species of acacia are the dominant trees, with Acacia tortilis the most common, along with Acacia senegal, other tree species include Commiphora africana, Balanites aegyptiaca, Faidherbia albida, and Boscia senegalensis. In the northern part of the Sahel, areas of shrub, including Panicum turgidum and Aristida sieberana, alternate with areas of grassland. During the long dry season, many lose their leaves. The larger species have greatly reduced in number by over-hunting and competition with livestock. The seasonal wetlands of the Sahel are important for birds moving within Africa. The Sahel has a tropical, hot steppe climate, the climate is typically hot, sunny, dry and somewhat windy all year long. The Sahels climate is similar to, but less extreme than, the Sahel mainly receives a low to a very low amount of precipitation annually. The steppe has a long, prevailing dry season and a short rainy season. The precipitation is extremely irregular, and varies considerably from season to season. Most of the rain falls during only one or two months, while the other months may remain absolutely dry
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Aden
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Aden is a port city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea, some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people, Adens ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of a dormant volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. This harbour, Front Bay, was first used by the ancient Kingdom of Awsan between the 5th and 7th centuries BC, the modern harbour is on the other side of the peninsula. Aden gives its name to the Gulf of Aden, Aden consists of a number of distinct sub-centres, Crater, the original port city, Maalla, the modern port, Tawahi, known as Steamer Point in the colonial period, and the resorts of Gold Mohur. Aden encloses the eastern side of a vast, natural harbour that comprises the modern port, the volcanic peninsula of Little Aden forms a near-mirror image, enclosing the harbour and port on the western side. Little Aden became the site of the oil refinery and tanker port, both were established and operated by British Petroleum until they were turned over to Yemeni government ownership and control in 1978. From March to July 2015, the Battle of Aden raged between Houthis and loyalists to President Hadi, water, food, and medical supplies ran short in the city. On 14 July, the Saudi Army launched an offensive to retake Aden for Hadis government, within three days the Houthis had been removed from the city. A local legend in Yemen states that Aden may be as old as human history itself, some also believe that Cain and Abel are buried somewhere in the city. The ports convenient position on the sea route between India and Europe has made Aden desirable to rulers who sought to possess it at times throughout history. The same work describes Aden as a village by the shore, there is no mention of fortification at this stage, Aden was more an island than a peninsula as the isthmus was not then so developed as it is today. Although the pre-Islamic Himyar civilization was capable of building large structures, fortifications at Mareb and other places in Yemen and the Hadhramaut make it clear that both the Himyar and the Sabean cultures were well capable of it. Thus, watch towers, since destroyed, are possible, however, the Arab historians Ibn al Mojawir and Abu Makhramah attribute the first fortification of Aden to Beni Zureea. Abu Makhramah has also included a biography of Muhammad Azim Sultan Qamarbandi Naqsh in his work. The aim seems to have been twofold, to hostile forces out and to maintain revenue by controlling the movement of goods. In its original form, some of work was relatively feeble. After 1175 AD, rebuilding in a solid form began. According to Muqaddasi, Persians formed the majority of Adens population in the 10th century, the envoys boarded three treasure ships and set sail from Sumatra to the port of Aden
19.
Politics of Eritrea
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The popularly elected National Assembly of 150 seats, formed in 1993 shortly after independence, elected the current president, Isaias Afewerki. There have been no elections since its official rise to power in 1993. They are governed under the constitution of 1993, a new constitution was ratified in 1997, but has not been implemented. Commission members have traveled throughout the country and to Eritrean communities abroad holding meetings to explain constitutional options to the people, a new constitution was promulgated in 1997 but has not yet been implemented, and general elections have been postponed. A National Assembly, composed entirely of the PFDJ, was established as a transitional legislature, in 2004 the U. S. State Department declared Eritrea a Country of Particular Concern for its alleged record of religious persecution. At independence, the government faced formidable challenges, beginning with a nascent judicial system, and an education system in shambles, it has attempted to build the institutions of government from scratch, with varying success. Since then, the impact of the war with Ethiopia. The present government includes legislative, executive, and judicial bodies, the President nominates individuals to head the various ministries, authorities, commissions, and offices, and the National Assembly ratifies those nominations. The cabinet is the executive branch. It is composed of 18 ministries and chaired by the president and it implements policies, regulations, and laws and is, in theory, accountable to the National Assembly. The Ministries are, The legislature, the National Assembly appointed in 1993, includes 75 members of the Peoples Front for Democracy, the National Assembly is the highest legal power in the government until the establishment of a democratic, constitutional government. Within the Eritrean Constitution the Legislature would remain the strongest arm of the government, the legislature sets the internal and external policies of the government, regulates implementation of those policies, approves the budget, and elects the president of the country. Its membership has not been renewed through national elections, lower Regional Assemblies are also in each of Eritreas six zones. These Assemblies are responsible setting an agenda in the case that they are not overruled by the National Assembly. These Regional Assemblies are popularly elected within each region, unlike the National Assembly however, the Regional administrator is not selected by the Regional Assembly. Eritrea is a single-party state, run by the Peoples Front for Democracy, no other political groups are allowed to organize, although the non-implemented Constitution of 1997 provided for the existence of multi-party politics. Local elections have continued in Eritrea, the most recent round of local government elections were held in May 2003. On further elections, the Presidents Chief of Staff, Yemane Ghebremeskel said, the national assembly has also mandated the electoral commission to set the date for national elections, so whenever the electoral commission sets the date there will be national elections
20.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Donald Henry Don Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford and he is both the youngest and the second oldest person to have served as Secretary of Defense. Additionally, Rumsfeld was a three-term U. S, Congressman from Illinois, Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Counsellor to the President, the United States Permanent Representative to NATO, and White House Chief of Staff. Born in Illinois, Rumsfeld attended Princeton University, graduating in 1954 with a degree in political science, after serving in the Navy for three years, he mounted a campaign for Congress in Illinois 13th Congressional District, winning in 1962 at the age of 30. He was a leading co-sponsor of the Freedom of Information Act, called back to Washington in August 1974, Rumsfeld was appointed Chief of Staff by President Ford. Rumsfeld recruited a young one-time staffer of his, Dick Cheney, when Ford lost the 1976 election, Rumsfeld returned to private business life, and was named president and CEO of the pharmaceutical corporation G. D. Searle & Company. He was later named CEO of General Instrument from 1990 to 1993, Rumsfeld was appointed Secretary of Defense for a second time in January 2001 by President George W. Bush. During his tenure he was one of the key responsible for the restructuring of the military in the new 21st century. Rumsfeld was crucial in planning the United States response to the September 11 attacks, Known in media circles for his outspokenness and candor, he gradually lost political support as the wars continued, and he resigned in late 2006. In his retirement years, he published an autobiography Known and Unknown, A Memoir as well as Rumsfelds Rules, Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life. He is involved with the Rumsfeld Foundations Fellowship program, which has advisors at dozens of universities across the United States, Donald Henry Rumsfeld was born on July 9,1932, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Jeannette Kearsley and George Donald Rumsfeld. His father came from a German-American family that had emigrated in the 1870s, Living in Winnetka, his family attended a Congregational Church. From 1943–1945, Rumsfeld lived in Coronado, California while his father was stationed on a carrier in the Pacific in World War II. He was a ranger at Philmont Scout Ranch in 1949, Rumsfeld attended Baker Demonstration School, and later graduated from New Trier High School. He attended Princeton University on academic and NROTC partial scholarships and he graduated in 1954 with an A. B. in Political Science. During his time at Princeton, he was an amateur wrestler, becoming captain of the varsity wrestling team. His Princeton University senior thesis was titled The Steel Seizure Case of 1952, while at Princeton he was friends with another future Secretary of Defense, Frank Carlucci. Rumsfeld married Joyce P. Pierson on December 27,1954 and they have three children, six grandchildren, and one great grandchild
21.
United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
22.
Head of state
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A head of state is the public persona that officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state. In some countries, the head of state is a figurehead with limited or no executive power, while in others. Former French president Charles de Gaulle, while developing the current Constitution of France, some academic writers discuss states and governments in terms of models. An independent nation state normally has a head of state, the non-executive model, in which the head of state has either none or very limited executive powers, and mainly has a ceremonial and symbolic role. In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the chief executive officer, heading the executive branch of the state. This accountability and legitimacy requires that someone be chosen who has a majority support in the legislature and it also gives the legislature the right to vote down the head of government and their cabinet, forcing it either to resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution. In parliamentary constitutional monarchies, the legitimacy of the head of state typically derives from the tacit approval of the people via the elected representatives. In reality, numerous variants exist to the position of a head of state within a parliamentary system, usually, the king had the power of declaring war without previous consent of the parliament. For example, under the 1848 constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, the Statuto Albertino—the parliamentary approval to the government appointed by the king—was customary, so, Italy had a de facto parliamentarian system, but a de jure presidential system. These officials are excluded completely from the executive, they do not possess even theoretical executive powers or any role, even formal, hence their states governments are not referred to by the traditional parliamentary model head of state styles of His/Her Majestys Government or His/Her Excellencys Government. Within this general category, variants in terms of powers and functions may exist, the constitution explicitly vests all executive power in the Cabinet, who is chaired by the prime minister and responsible to the Diet. The emperor is defined in the constitution as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people and he is a ceremonial figurehead with no independent discretionary powers related to the governance of Japan. Today, the Speaker of the Riksdag appoints the prime minister, Cabinet members are appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the prime minister. In contrast, the contact the President of Ireland has with the Irish government is through a formal briefing session given by the taoiseach to the president. However, he or she has no access to documentation and all access to ministers goes through the Department of the Taoiseach. The president does, however, hold limited reserve powers, such as referring a bill to the court to test its constitutionality. The most extreme non-executive republican Head of State is the President of Israel, semi-presidential systems combine features of presidential and parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to both the president and the legislature. The constitution of the Fifth French Republic provides for a minister who is chosen by the president
23.
Community Courts of Eritrea
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The Community Courts of Eritrea are the foundation of the judicial system in Eritrea. The courts typically hear cases regarding minor infractions, typically involving sums of less than approximately $7,300, individual cases are heard by an individual magistrate. Defense counsels are permitted to present cases but are appointed by the court because defendants are rarely able to meet the cost of private representation. Community magistrates are elected from the communities which they will serve and these courts are supervised by the Ministry of Justice. The community courts tend to promote out-of-court settlements and have a small appeal rate
24.
Amnesty International
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Amnesty International is a non-governmental organisation focused on human rights that claims to have over 7 million members and supporters around the world. The stated objective of the organisation is to research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights. Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of the article The Forgotten Prisoners in The Observer on 28 May 1961, Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to public opinion to put pressure on governments that let abuse take place. Amnesty considers capital punishment to be the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights, the organisation was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its campaign against torture, and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978. Amnesty International was founded in London in July 1961 by English labour lawyer Peter Benenson, researchers have never traced the alleged newspaper article in question. In 1960, Portugal was ruled by the Estado Novo government of António de Oliveira Salazar, the government was authoritarian in nature and strongly anti-communist, suppressing enemies of the state as anti-Portuguese. The newspaper reader feels a sense of impotence. Yet if these feelings of disgust could be united into common action, Benenson worked with friend Eric Baker. It marked the launch of Appeal for Amnesty,1961, the aim of which was to mobilise public opinion, quickly and widely, in defence of these individuals, the Appeal for Amnesty was reprinted by a large number of international newspapers. In the same year, Benenson had a published, Persecution 1961. In July 1961 the leadership had decided that the appeal would form the basis of a permanent organisation, Amnesty, Benenson ensured that all three major political parties were represented, enlisting members of parliament from the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Party. On 30 September 1962, it was officially named Amnesty International, between the Appeal for Amnesty,1961 and September 1962 the organisation had been known simply as Amnesty. From the very beginning, research and campaigning were present in Amnesty Internationals work, a library was established for information about prisoners of conscience and a network of local groups, called THREES groups, was started. Each group worked on behalf of three prisoners, one each of the then three main ideological regions of the world, communist, capitalist and developing. The international movement was starting to agree on its principles and techniques. In 1967 Peter Benenson resigned after an independent inquiry did not support his claims that AI had been infiltrated by British agents, later he claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency had become involved in Amnesty. Leading Amnesty International in the 1970s were key figures Seán MacBride, Amnesty International believed that the reasons underlying torture of prisoners by governments, were either to acquire and obtain information or to quell opposition by the use of terror, or both
25.
Reporters Without Borders
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Reporters Without Borders, or Reporters Sans Frontières, is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes and defends freedom of information and freedom of the press. The organization, with an office in Paris, France, has consultant status at the United Nations. Reporters Without Borders was founded in 1985 by Robert Ménard, Rémy Loury, Jacques Molénat and Émilien Jubineau, in Montpellier and its head office is in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. RWB also maintains offices in Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Madrid, Rome, Stockholm, Tunis, Vienna, at first, the association worked to promote alternative journalism, but there were disagreements between the founders. Finally, only Ménard stayed and he changed the direction towards promoting freedom of the press. Ménard was RWBs first Secretary General, jean-François Julliard succeeded Ménard in 2008. Christophe Deloire succeeded Julliard in July 2012 when he became Director General, Reporters Without Borders primary means of direct action are appeals to government authorities through letters or petitions, as well as frequent press releases. Through its world-wide network of roughly 150 correspondents, RWB gathers information, if necessary, it will send a team of its own to assess working conditions for journalists in a specific country. It releases annual reports on countries as well as the Press Freedom Index, RWB also provides assistance for journalists and media who are either in danger or are having difficulty subsisting. 2013, received the Freedom of Speech Award from the International Association of Press Clubs,2012, received the Club Internacional de Prensa Award, in Madrid. 2009, shared the Roland Berger Human Dignity Award with Iranian human rights lawyer,2009, received the Médaille Charlemagne for European Media. 2008, received the Kahlil Gibran Award for Institutional Excellence from the Arab American Institute Foundation,2007, received the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award from Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and the Dawit Isaak Prize from Swedish Publicists Association. 2006, received an International Emmy Award from the International Academy of Television Arts,2005, shared the European Parliaments Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought with Nigerian human rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim and Cubas Ladies in White movement. 1997, received the Journalism and Democracy Prize from the Parliament Assembly of the Organization for Security,1992, received the Lorenzo Natali Prize from the European Commission for defending human rights and democracy. Reporters Without Borders issues press releases, fact finding reports, and it publishes periodic mission reports on developments in individual countries or regions or on a specific topic. Each December it publishes an overview of events related to freedom of information. It maintains a web site accessible in six languages, RWB compiles and publishes an annual ranking of countries based upon the organizations assessment of their press freedom records. Small countries, such as Andorra, are excluded from this report, the survey asks questions about direct attacks on journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of pressure against the free press
26.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
27.
Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
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