በኢትዮጵያ ዩኒቨርስቲ ተማሪዎች ላይ የሚፈፀመው ኢሰብአዊ ወንጀል

May 27, 2014

ከፕሮፌሰር አለማየሁ ገብረማርያም

ትርጉም በነጻነት ለሀገሬ

እ.ኤ.አ ሜይ 2/2014 ቢቢሲ/BBC እንደዘገበው በኢትዮጵያ በስልጣን ላይ እንደመዥገር ተጣብቆ የሚገኘው ገዥ አካል የጸጥታ ኃይሎች ከመናገሻ ከተማዋ ከአዲስ አበባ በስተምዕራብ በኩል በ80 ማይሎች ርቀት ላይ በምትገኘው የአምቦ ከተማ ላይ ቢያንስ 47 የዩኒቨርስቲ እና የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤቶች ተማሪዎችን በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ በጥይት ኢሰብአዊ በሆነ መንገድ ረሽነዋል፡፡ ስብዕናው በውሸት እና በሀሰት ውንጀላ የበከተው ገዥ አካል ይህንን እልቂት እንደተለመደው ሽምጥጥ አድርጎ በመካድ “ጥቂት ጸረ ሰላም ኃይሎች በቆሰቆሱት እና በአስተባበሩት አመጽ“ ምክንያት የሚል የሀሰት ፍረጃ በመስጠት በግፍ የተገደሉትን ወገኖቻችንን ቁጥር ለማሳነስ ጥረት አድርጓል፡፡ ይህ በወጣት ተማሪዎች እና ህጻናት ላይ የተፈጸመው የማንአለብኝነት የእብደት አሰቃቂ እልቂት በዓለም አቀፍ የዜና አውታሮች ዘንድ ሰፊ ሽፋን አልተሰጠውም፡፡

ሂዩማን ራይትስ ዎች/HRW የተባለው ዓለም አቀፍ የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅት “በአምቦ፣ በነቀምት፣ በጅማ እና በሌሎች ከተሞች በሰላማዊ መንገድ ተቃውሟቸውን ባሰሙት ንጹሀን ዜጎች ላይ እየተፈጸመ ያለው ግድያ እና ድብደባ ይቁም“ የሚል መግለጫ በማውጣት እኩይ ድርጊቱን አውግዟል፡፡ እንደ ሂዩማን ራይትስ ዎች ዘገባ “በኦሮሚያ የሚገኙ ከ15 በላይ የሚሆኑ ህብረተሰብ አቀፍ ገጠራማ እና ከተማ ቀመስ አካባቢዎችን ወደ አዲስ አበባ ማዘጋጃ ቤት የወሰን ክልል የሚያካትተው እና የኦሮሞ አርሶ አደሮችን እንዲሁም ሌሎች ኗሪዎችን የሚያፈናቅለው የአዲስ አበባ የተቀናጀ መሪ የልማት ዕቅድ ሀሳብ ተዘጋጅቶ ይፋ መሆኑን ተከትሎ የተማሪዎች የተቃውሞ አመጽ ገነፈለ“ ብሏል፡፡ በማስከተልም ሂዩማን ራይትስ ዎች በሰላማዊ መንገድ ተቃውሟቸውን ባሰሙት ተማሪዎች ላይ የገዥው አካል የጸጥታ ኃይሎች እየወሰዱ ያሉትን የኃይል እርምጃ በአስቸኳይ እንዲያቆሙ ጠይቋል፡፡

በዚህ መረን በለቀቀ ዕኩይ ድርጊት የተሰማኝን ሀዘን በቃላት ለመግለጽ ተስኖኛል ምክንያቱም ልብን ሰብሮ የሚገባው ይህ የአሰቃቂ እልቂት ሀዘን ልሸከመው ከምችለው ከአቅሜ በላይ ሆኖብኛልና፡፡ የብሩህ አዕምሮ ባለቤት እና የነገይቱ ኢትዮጵያ ተረካቢ የሆኑት እምቦቀቅላ ተማሪዎች ገና በወጣትነት ለጋ እድሚያቸው ኃላፊነት በማይሰማው መንግስት ነኝ ባይ የወሮበላ ቡድን ስብስብ በጥይት ውርጅብኝ በመጨፍጨፋቸው ታላቅ ሀዘን ተሰምቶኛል፣ እንዲሁም ቀጣይነት ባለው መልኩ ስሜቴን እየቆጠቆጠኝ ይገኛል፡፡ ተማሪዎቹ የሚሰማቸውን ቅሬታ በሰላማዊ መንገድ ለማቅረብ ህገመንግስታዊ ያልተገደበ መብት ነበራቸው፡፡ ያንን መብት በመጠቀም በሰላማዊ መንገድ ወደ አደባባይ በመውጣት ተቃውሟቸውን በማሰማታቸው ምክንያት ብቻ የጥይት በረዶ ተርከፍክፎባቸዋል፡፡ እናም ሁላችንም ልናዝንላቸው ይገባል፡፡ ኃላፊነት በጎደለው ገዥ አካል በተፈጸመው እልቂት ምክንያት የምርጥ እና የባለብሩህ አእምሮ ባለቤት የነበሩትን ወጣቶች ኢትዮጵያ በማጣቷ አጅግ በጣም ለኢትዮጵያ አዝናለሁ፡፡ የእልቂቱ ሰለባ ለሆኑት ወጣቶች ወላጆች እና ጓደኞች የተሰማኝን ጥልቅ ሀዘን መግለጽ እፈልጋለሁ፡፡ መጽናናትን እንዲሰጣቸውም ለኃያሉ አምላክ ጸሎቴን አደርሳለሁ፡፡

Ethiopia: Mr. Obang Metho Accepted Annual SEED Award

May 27, 2014

Mr. Obang Metho’s Acceptance Speech: “The Journey to a New Vision for Ethiopia” At the 22nd SEED Annual Award ceremony

May 25, 2014

Washington DC.

I would like to deeply thank distinguished members of the Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora (SEED) and my fellows’ citizens of Ethiopia for this recognition. I am both humbled and honored to be here tonight as a recipient of this award. I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. I want to acknowledge others who have helped make this possible because, although I am accepting this award, this is not only about me. I did not come to this point alone, but must recognize the countless individuals, too many to name, who have contributed to this work along the way. Without them there would not be anything to acknowledge, just like the African proverb that says, “If you want to go faster, go alone, but if you want to go further, go together.” My thanks and appreciation goes to all of these people who have helped us go further. Our journey together has been one of many challenges, but because it has been shared, it has brought unexpected friendships, joys and fruit.

I was told that this award was in appreciation for the work done in defense of the freedom and civil rights of our people, especially, the under-represented Anuak. I am very emotionally touched by this statement, especially the inclusive phrase, “our people,” which embraces Anuak, as well as other Ethiopians, both mainstream and minorities, as part of the whole of people of Ethiopia. Do you realize how revolutionary this is? Ten years ago this never would have happened. It is an indication of a major paradigm shift in our thinking. It is a cornerstone of a New Ethiopia where humanity comes before ethnicity or other identity factors and where we care about our Ethiopian brothers and sisters because no one will be free until all are free! The journey has not been easy, nor is the journey over, but if we travel together, we will go further and possibly faster, than any of us expected.

Rise up People of Ethiopia

May 23, 2014

by GRAHAM PEEBLES

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.

After 23 years of suppression at the hands of the EPRDF, simmering discontent and anger appears to finally be spilling over onto the streets. Robbed of hope, the people have had enough, enough of the wide-ranging human rights abuses. The denial of constitutional rights, the arbitrary imprisonments and torture, regime violence, the displacement of people from ancestral land, the partisan distribution of aid, and the rising cost of living.

The right to peaceful protest

Like many democratic principles, the right to protest is enshrined in Ethiopia’s constitution. Written in 1991 by the EPRDF, the legally binding document of liberal correctness is routinely ignored by the regime, whose response to public protests has been consistently violent.

ተቃውሞ እና ጭፍጨፋ በኦሮሚያ (ተመስገን ደሳለኝ)

May 13, 2014

ተመስገን ደሳለኝ (አዲስ አበባ)

ዕለተ-ሐሙስ፤ ሚያዚያ 23 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም የታሪካዊቷ አምቦ ከተማ ጀንበር አዘቅዝቃ ሰማዩ መቅላት ሲጀምር፣ ከወትሮው ለየት ያለ ጉዳይ በሰደድ እሳት ፍጥነት ጠቅላላ የዩንቨርስቲ ግቢውን አዳርሶ ተማሪውን ከባድ ሃሳብ ላይ ጣለው፡፡ ሌሊቱ ዕኩሌታ ላይ የግቢው ኦሮምኛ ተናጋሪ ተማሪ በሙሉ ስለጉዳዩ መረጃው እንደደረሰው ያረጋገጡ ጥቂት አስተባባሪዎች በተረፈችዋ ሰዓት ቢያንስ ጎናቸውን ለማሳረፍ ወደየመኝታቸው ሲያዘግሙ ተስተዋሉ፡፡ …ነገስ ምን ይዞ ይመጣ ይሆን? አንዳቸውም ይህን አስቀድመው የማወቅ መለኮታዊ ፀጋ አልነበራቸውም፤ የሚያውቁት በግቢው ስታዲዮም ለመሰብሰብ ቀጠሮ መያዛቸውን ብቻ ነው፡፡ ከዚያስ? አንድ ስሙን መናገር ያልፈለገ የዩኒቨርስቲው ሁለተኛ ዓመት ተማሪ እና የተቃውሞው አስተባባሪ ክስተቱን በእኔ ብዕር እንዲህ ይተርክልናል፡-

አርብ

የንጋት ፀሐይ ዓይኗን ከመግለጧ በፊት ተማሪው አንድ፣ ሁለት… እያለ በቀጠሮው ቦታ መሰባሰብ ጀመረ፡፡ ረፋዱ ላይም ምልአተ ጉባኤው የተሟላ መሰለ፤ ኦሮሞ ያልሆኑ ተማሪዎችም አብረውን ነበሩ፡፡ ከዚያም ‹በፊንፊኔ ዙሪያ የሚገኙት ሱሉልታ፣ ቡራዩ፣ መናጋሻ፣ ለገጣፎ፣ ለገዳዲ፣ ገላን፣ ዱከም እና ሰበታ ከኦሮሚያ ክልል ተወስደው ከአዲስ አበባ ጋር ሊቀላቀሉ ነው› ስለሚባለው ጉዳይ፣ ፍፁም ሰላማዊ በሆነ መንገድ በቦታው የተገኙት የዩኒቨርስቲው ፕሬዚዳንት ዶ/ር ምትኩ ቴሶ ማብራሪያ እንዲሰጡን ጠየቅን፡፡ ፕሬዚዳንቱም በቂ ምላሽ ሊሰጡን አልቻሉም፡፡ ግና፣ እንቅስቃሴያችን እምብዛም ጠንካራ አልነበረምና ተከታዮቹ ሶስት ቀናት ያለፉት የጎላ ድምጽ ሳይሰማ በተለመደው ፀጥታ ውስጥ ነበር፡፡

Ethiopians should stand together to replace TPLF

May 7, 2014

Obang Metho’s message

To the Ethiopian people, this is now a call to all of us, to not lose our focus. That means we must refuse to feed on these ethnic or religious problems or we will helped them achieve their goal. Do not be tricked into hating your neighbors–whom we are to love– in order to keep the ethnic apartheid regime of the TPLF in perpetual power. Instead, the rights we all have wanted for the last 23 years are truth, freedom, justice, equality, accountability and prosperity. This is not the right of one ethnic group, but the right of everyone in the country, including those who are not part of the TPLF/EPRDF.

All of us Ethiopians should try to stand together to replace this ethnic hatred regime with a better system where neither the Oromo or the Afar or anyone else is excluded from the benefits of citizenship. Now is not the time to lose sight of the bigger goals, which is a free Ethiopia for all. Because of this, other groups cannot stay on the sidelines. We should have learned how to defeat their favorite manipulative tactics by now, since they use them repeatedly.

We know our beautiful country of Ethiopia is not perfect and we know many of our problems are not only recent, but go back much further than the last 23 years of TPLF/EPRDF rule. To resolve these problems, we must do it as a family. In any family with a conflict, they must come together and talk about the pain, reconcile and make meaningful changes so they can forgive each other and move their family on to a better future. These issues should not be passed on, but resolved by the present, not next, generation.

Whether we Ethiopians agree or not with many issues, our ancestors have given us much in common. They lived together, intermarried and passed on their blood to those now living. This mixture of blood, which runs through the veins of each one of our ethnic groups, gives us life and nourishment to carry on as a one people. Even more importantly, we Ethiopians do not only share the land, language, and customs, but what we really share is the same Maker of our lives, a Holy God who views his children equally, regardless of ethnicity. With God there is no favoritism.

AFP 

May 4, 2014

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Geneva (AFP) - UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Friday condemned the arrest of nine bloggers and journalists in Ethiopia, warning that the country increasingly was muzzling freedom of expression under the guise of fighting terrorism.

"I am deeply concerned by this recent wave of arrests and the increasing climate of intimidation against journalists and bloggers prevailing in Ethiopia," Pillay said in a statement.

On April 25 and 26, six members of the blogging collective Zone Nine and three journalists were arrested by police in Addis Ababa, and reportedly are still being held incommunicado.

On Tuesday, Ethiopian authorities denied that the individuals had been arrested because of their media activities, saying they had been detained because they were accused of serious crimes.

Although the exact charges against each of them remain unclear, Pillay's office said it had received information that they were arrested for "working with foreign human rights organisations and inciting violence through social media to create instability in the country."

Since January 2012, at least eight journalists have been convicted under Ethiopia's anti-terrorism measures to sentences ranging from five years to life in prison.

Two others, not including the latest detainees, are behind bars awaiting trial.

"The fight against terrorism cannot serve as an excuse to intimidate and silence journalists, bloggers, human rights activists and members of civil society organisations," said Pillay.

"And working with foreign human rights organisations cannot be considered a crime. Over the past few years, the space for dissenting voices has been shrinking dramatically in Ethiopia," she warned.

Pillay repeatedly has warned Ethiopia that its 2009 anti-terrorism legislation is too vague, saying it evokes a climate of fear and criminalises legitimate human rights activity.

"In its efforts to combat terrorism, the Ethiopian government must comply at all times with its human rights obligations under international law," she said Friday.

Human rights campaigners accuse Ethiopia of being one of the most restrictive nations in the world when it comes to journalists exercising their profession.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry also called Ethiopia to account during a visit to Addis Ababa.

"They need to create greater opportunities for citizens to be able to engage with their fellow citizens and with their government by opening up more space for civil society," Kerry told reporters.

Washington is one of Ethiopia's largest donors, and Kerry urged the government to support a free press to give "greater voice to democracy".

UDJ Andinet Party Protest Rally in Addis Ababa

Ethiomedia
May 4, 2014

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Andinet's Habtamu Ayalew Fires Up Pro-Democracy Activists

Pro-democracy and freedom rally in Addis

ADDIS ABABA - Thousands of supporters of Ethiopia's leading opposition party Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) or Andinet called for the unity of the Ethiopian people in a bid to remove the despotic and anti-Ethiopia ruling party.Leading the crowd with slogans is vocal opposition figure Habtamu Ayalew, foreign relations chief of UDJ. The charismatic Habtamu has been a fearless force whose inspiring messages unify the youth by transcending ethnic and religious lines. Protesters called for the release of all political prisoners, journalists as well as prisoners of conscience, a call that has so far fallen on deaf ears of the highly corrupt and hopelessly brutal regime that has misruled Ethiopia for the last 23 years (Better video clips pending).

Arrests headline Ethiopia press freedom fears

May 2, 2014

Arrests of Ethiopian journalists and bloggers are part of what critics say is a ‘shocking’ crackdown.

by William Davison

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The arrest of six bloggers and three journalists by Ethiopia’s government last week, has led to widespread outcry in the Horn of Africa nation – even among those generally supportive of the ruling party’s policies.

The detainees were unusually brought to court on Sunday, April 27 in the capital Addis Ababa where judges granted investigators more time to make their case. Authorities suspect the nine of working with foreign advocacy groups to try to create unrest using social media, according to local media reports. The next court hearings are May 7 and 8, when formal charges may be brought.

Ethiopia’s government, a staunch Western ally in a poor and violent region, has a track record of jailing journalists and political activists, often using a 2009 anti-terrorism law. While officials say no one has ever been imprisoned for expressing their opinion, rights groups accuse authorities of using the broad terms of the law to crush legitimate dissent.

Friends and readers portray the Zone 9 bloggers as young and principled activists pressuring Ethiopia’s government to respect the country’s liberal 1995 constitution.

“Most of the time they’re engaged in advocating freedom of expression and what they call Dreaming of a Better Ethiopia,” says Merkeb Negash, a politics lecturer from Jimma University in Ethiopia’s southwest. The group had recently started blogging again after a 7-month break and complaints of surveillance and harassment by security forces.