By Bilal Derso

Photo: Ethiopian Herald

The two consulting firms chosen to conduct studies on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have been carrying out their operations as per schedule, according to Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity.

Water, Irrigation and Electricity Minister Dr. Eng. Sileshi Bekele stated that the firms have been conducting their studies since last month and the study is progressing according to schedule.

“The three countries would meet soon to monitor the progress of the study,” the minister said, adding that the two firms are expected to complete their studies and submit the report within 11 months.

The Tripartite National Technical Committee of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt agreed the French BRL, the main firm to conduct 70% of the study, while the other France-based Artelia sub-contracting 30 % of the task.

The consulting firms were selected to conduct two studies on the possible socio-economic impact of the dam on lower riparian countries.

Meanwhile, Office of the National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of GERD announced its plan to collect 1.8 billion Birr from various fund raising programs as part of the 6th anniversary of the commencement of the dam.

The office noted that the stated sum would be secured from bond sells, GERD trophy tours, SMS, lottery sale, among others.

Ethiopians home and abroad have so far made a 9.6-billion Birr contribution for the 6,450MW hydro-power project, the office stated.

Voice of Amhara Daily News March 21, 2017

Mr Manafort worked as Mr Trump’s unpaid campaign chairman from March until August last year

US President Donald Trump’s one-time campaign chairman secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to assist President Vladimir Putin, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports.

Paul Manafort is said to have proposed a strategy to nullify anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics a decade ago.

AP says documents and interviews support its claims about Mr Manafort.

Mr Manafort has insisted that he never worked for Russian interests.

He worked as Mr Trump’s unpaid campaign chairman from March until August last year, including the period during which the flamboyant New York billionaire clinched the Republican nomination.

He resigned after AP revealed that he had co-ordinated a secret Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling pro-Russian political party until 2014.

Newly obtained business records link Mr Manafort more directly to Mr Putin’s interests in the region, AP says.

It comes as Trump campaign advisers are the subject of an FBI investigation and two congressional inquiries.

Investigators are reviewing whether the Trump campaign and its associates co-ordinated with Moscow to interfere in the 2016 presidential election campaign to damage Mr Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, a stern critic of Mr Putin.

Mr Manafort is said to have pitched the plans to aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Putin.

Image copyrightAP

In a confidential strategy plan in 2005, AP reports, Mr Manafort proposed to influence politics, business dealings and news coverage in the US, Europe and the ex-Soviet republics to advance the interests of the Putin government.

At this time, US-Russia relations were deteriorating.

“We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success,” Mr Manafort is said to have written, adding that it would be offering “a great service that can refocus, both internally and externally, the policies of the Putin government”.

Mr Manafort signed a $10m-a-year contract beginning in 2006, AP reports. How much work he did under this contract was unclear.

Mr Manafort and Mr Deripaska reportedly maintained a business relationship until at least 2009.

Analysis: BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher

Image copyrightEPA

When Donald Trump picked Paul Manafort to be his campaign chair last March, the political operative was a relatively minor player in Washington, consigned to working for deep-pocketed foreign benefactors. That those benefactors have turned out to include Russian oligarchs and Ukrainian politicians with ties to Vladimir Putin is sure to cause growing concern in the Trump White House.

Now it appears increasingly likely that Mr Manafort is one of the “individuals associated with the Trump campaign”, in Director James Comey’s words, at the heart of an ongoing FBI investigation.

This would explain why White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer recently downplayed Mr Manafort’s connections to the Trump team, saying he “played a very limited role” in the campaign for “a very limited amount of time”.

Mr Manafort could face legal consequences if the FBI concludes that he did not properly disclose his work for foreign leaders. That would at the very least prove embarrassing for Mr Trump, given the power he delegated to Mr Manafort last summer.

If it turns out that Mr Manafort’s contacts with foreign interests continued during his time at the top of the Trump campaign, the situation for the White House could go from embarrassing to full-blown scandal.

In a statement to AP, Mr Manafort confirmed that he had worked for Mr Deripaska in several countries but insisted the work was being unfairly cast as “inappropriate or nefarious” as part of a “smear campaign”.

“I worked with Oleg Deripaska almost a decade ago representing him on business and personal matters in countries where he had investments,” Mr Manafort said in the statement.

“My work for Mr Deripaska did not involve representing Russian political interests.”

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY

A spokesman for Mr Deripaska in Moscow declined to answer questions from AP.

Further allegations have been made in Ukraine about secret funds said to have been paid to Mr Manafort.

Lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko said he had evidence that Mr Manafort had tried to hide a payment of $750,000 (£600,800) by a pro-Russian party in 2009.

Mr Manafort’s spokesman said the claim was “baseless”.

Mr Manafort was an adviser to Ukraine’s ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, but denies receiving any cash payments.

Ethiopian Innovators stopod 2nd place on the World Summit Youth Award, Education for All category with a project named Siree: which is a portable solar powered Wi-Fi enabled device to help schools and other institutions deliver up-to-date learning resources for disadvantaged students residing in areas with no internet access by bringing the power of online learning to the offline world.Siree is a portable solar powered Wi-Fi enabled device loaded with over 7000 videos, 20,000 interactive exercises, offline educational materials like Encyclopedia and thousands of free eBooks to help schools and other institutions deliver up-to-date learning resources for disadvantaged students residing on areas with no internet access and no electric supply by bringing the power of online learning to the offline worldWSYA has gathered over 451 unique digital projects worldwide in 2016 and an especially assembled multi-professional Jury has selected 16 WSYA winning applications from eight categories for 2016 with eight local impact to be presented to the world.

Yonas Mebrahtu / Germany

A thorough analysis of the Ethiopian criminal justice system succinctly reveals that torture- an internationally outlawed crime- appears to be a countenanced and patronized act in almost every criminal investigation process. From Meakelawi in Addis Ababa – commonly referred as a torture Chamber –to ordinary detention centers in various regions, torture is a principal investigation and interrogation tools. The ruling regime in Addis Ababa has successfully maintained Derg’s Legacy of Torture but with the most furtive and sophisticated techniques and tools. In many occasions, inflicting serious physical and mental pain on suspects regarded as a sole means of securing confession or means of extracting information for the barbarian -trial by ordeal’ system of the country.

As of 1994, Ethiopia is a party to the convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or punishment (CAT) though still remains an abyssal decision why the country failed to ratify the optional protocol to CAT which is considered to be the most important platform in the prevention of Torture. Torture, a grave and an absolutely prohibited crime under the international law, is the most underrated and tolerated crime in Ethiopian criminal system. The Constitution of the 1995 -the supreme law of the land, for instance, contrary to Ethiopia’s commitment under international law, deliberately made no mention of Torture under Article 18 – though prohibited other forms of ill-treatments that have less threshold of gravity than torture. Ditto to the 2005 revised criminal code of Ethiopia. Ironically, the criminal law has provided fine or simple imprisonment as a standard punishment for torture except rigorous imprisonment not exceeding ten years for very serious cases.( Article 424 of the  criminal code ).

A research by Association for the Prevention of Torture(APT) in 2015, whom the writer of this piece had involved( https://liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/products/80890),depicted that the rate of prosecution of Torturers in Ethiopia is close to zero despite the fact that at its UN Universal Periodic Review in 2014, Ethiopia accepted a recommendation to “adopt measures which guarantee the non-occurrence of cases of torture and ill-treatment in places of detention,”. What is so surprising is that Torture in Ethiopia is committed in a subterranean and systematic way even hidden to the ‘loyal’ public prosecutors. In one of my discussion with a former public prosecutor at the ‘Federal anti-terrorism force ‘ -that dealt with all terrorism cases’ in 2014, he informed me that there is an underground secret torturing center inside Meakelawi where avowed similarly by many complaints. Yet the veterans of the TPLF, whom in charge of administering the center, have beguiled him repeatedly.

Alas, an effort to lodge a complaint at the Ethiopian human rights commission or Ombudsman by the survivors of torture and ill-treatment is nothing but a caricature – a travesty of justice. A self-ridiculed human rights commission has frequently made an insolence claim that Ethiopia is a ‘torture free country’. To this end, the Commission has rejected many allegations of torture and ill-treatment including the allegation by the dauntless journalist Reeyot Alemu when she was denied an access to medical treatment during her illness.

As an infamous attacking technique against the political prisoners and prisoners of consciousness, the Ethiopian Government has repeatedly and with impunity denied detainees an access to medical treatment- which amounts to gross violation of the right to life and of the right to health by virtue of Human rights instruments. Including the untimely death of the gallant politician and most distinguished surgeon, Professor Asrat Woldeyes in 1999 and other numerous former Derg officials in prison are mainly attributed to lack of adequate and timely medical treatment. Politicians such Habtamu Ayalew, journalist Reeyot Alemu and other thousands of detainees have once suffered from the lack of better medical treatment and poor standard of accommodation.

Recently I have learned that a revered and humble journalist Elias Gebru Godena is suffering from smelling disorder inside the detention center. It has been more than four months since he has been illegally detained and purportedly the poor accommodation of the detention center and the excessive congestion  has exacerbated his illness. Not surprisingly that like other thousands of victims of the unlawfully declared state of emergency, he is behind the bar through extrajudicial means without any formal accusation or charge.

What is worsening is that against the principles of international human rights instruments   such as international Covenant  on civil and political rights(ICCPR), international Covenant on social, economic and cultural rights (ICESCR), and CAT, which Ethiopia is a party and entails an obligation to respect thereof, he is blatantly  denied an access to  better medical treatment . Medical reports claimed that he is suffering from a serious problem of a sinus which would lead him to an anosmia-a health problem that makes him lose his sense of smell permanently. This act of dereliction on the side of the government is also a violation of the constitutional right of the detainee as provided under Article 41 of the 1995 Ethiopian Constitution.

Hence I appeal to the Ethiopian Government that all detainees including political prisoners such as Elias Gebru and others shall be provided with adequate and standard medical treatment including an overseas treatment and an unrestricted access to medicine.

E-mail- reachyonas@gmail.com

March,2017

Nashville restaurant owner Gitem Demissie, age 41, was fatally shot about midnight last Saturday as he was preparing to close his business. (Photo: News Channel5)

AP

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Members of Nashville’s Ethiopian community remain puzzled as to why someone would kill a beloved restaurant owner who was shot to death last weekend.

The Tennessean reports (http://tnne.ws/2nLCR5B ) that friends of Gitem Demissie were still grappling with his violent death. Those who knew him described him as a good man and a hardworking immigrant.

Demissie was the owner of Ibex Ethiopian Bar & Restaurant in south Nashville.

Authorities have said that the 41-year-old was preparing to close his restaurant about midnight Saturday night when he was shot. Police say a masked gunman wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and black jeans approached Demissie and shot him multiple times. Investigators have called it a targeted killing but are still searching for a motive as well as the gunman.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Workneh Gebeyehu,

Ethiopia’s foreign policy is shaped by the unique circumstances and the geopolitical landscape of the region. A home for more than 100 million people with abundant natural resources put the nation into advantageous position to gear towards economic growth hence, the foreign policy should go in line with meeting the nation’s socio-economic demand.

To cope up with the globalized economic reality, the prevalence of peaceful and stable regional environment is vital. To that end the diplomatic ties with neighbouring and other countries should consider fostering business and trade. It is obvious that Ethiopian diplomats assigned in those countries play crucial role in facilitating economic ties. So far encouraging results are registered. As mentioned above, Ethiopia has huge population, an asset both to provide labour to any type of business. At the same time it could be a consumer which could create market for investors. The abundant natural resources can also lend impetus for rapid economic growth. However, due to lack of the necessary finance, technology, and knowledge all the resources are under or not utilized. As a result, the nation has still remained one of the most pauperised countries in the world. According to the recent United Nations study in Ethiopia, 8 in 10 people reside in the rural part of the country and earn their living from subsistence farming. When extreme weather conditions occur the livelihood will be put under pressure and face uncertainty. To reverse the situation, mobilizing foreign and domestic resources for igniting growth is vital. For that strengthening trade and business with neighbouring countries, attracting investment is key and to meet these objective the role of diplomats is immense.

Yes, many leaders from neighbouring countries and from other African countries such as South Sudan, Liberia and Djibouti had visited Ethiopia. Leaders also had visited various developmental projects of the nation in which they are extremely impressed.

Frankly speaking, Ethiopia’s foreign policy clearly stipulates that the major focus of the country’s diplomatic activity mainly target on economic ties with neighbouring countries and Africa as whole.

Commenting on the visit incidences observed, Africa Affairs Director-General at the Ministry, Metasebia Tadesse noted that, “In order to implement this foreign policy, we have to have close consultation, visit exchange programmes and close relations with African countries.”

“The reason is that when it comes to African countries, we have common problems, issues to discus, visions and aspirations. That is why we are having more and more visits from African countries as well as visit from Ethiopia to other countries as well,” he said.

In addition to the foreign policy, the fast record of rapid economic growth that Ethiopia is registering over the past years is another factor for the leaders to come to the country.

Generally, the practical engagement testifies that the nation is pulling its leg out of poverty.

As our economic growth is broad-based and multi-sectoral, it can as well serve a lesson for other developing countries. That various countries want to share the experience of Ethiopia with regard to having fast economic growth in different areas.

The prime focus of close consultation and cooperation with African countries should pave ways enabling access to market destination. It as well attracts investment and other business opportunities.

It is clearly known that there are untouched opportunities of cooperation among African countries, especially in the economic and trade areas, where all African countries should work on.

As Ethiopia is a non-permanent member at the UN Security Council, close consultation is needed with African countries, in order to raise and promote issues related to the interest of Africa in UN or any other international platforms.

Africa Affairs Director-General at the Ministry said, “Our engagement in the affairs of Africa is highly welcomed and we reflect the interest of Africa in various international forums, so that African interest can be promoted on the international arena.”

Yes, nation’s diplomatic effort to have a peaceful, stable region in the Horn of Africa is part of our development effort with in the country, so our foreign policy is definitely the reflection of the domestic policy that we have.

With no doubt the peace and stability, fast economic growth registered in Ethiopia highly encourages other African countries to come to Ethiopia to see the scope of development and to learn from Ethiopian experience.

Diplomacy remains the primary tool to maintain and strengthen Ethiopia’s bilateral and multilateral relationships, which are critical to Ethiopia’s national security. Forging ties with local and international institutions based on the nation’s prime agenda should be framed in better ways than ever before.

Finally, the blueprint of the nation document clearly links the nation’s domestic policies with its foreign policy objectives of national development, peace and democracy.

Yes nation has a comprehensive document of foreign policy but still implementing proactively keeping national interest could be upheld.

In this regard, diplomatic corps in various parts of Africa and beyond are doing well but still reinforcing efforts should be strengthened.

By Ermias Hailu 22/03/2017

1. Background

Following to the end of the second world war Egypt’s failure to integrate Eritrea to its territories, due to Emperor Haile Selassie’s superior diplomatic skills, the then Pan- Arab nationalistic President Nasser’s government turned to ethnic and religious subversion against Ethiopia. In 1955 Egypt began working for the instigation of an “Arab” revolution in the then autonomous Ethiopian province Eritrea, to that effect, hundreds of young Muslims from Eritrea, were invited to Cairo to study and enjoy special benefits.  Although they were not native Arabic speakers, they absorbed the spirit of Arab revolution and adopted a modern Arab identity. There they also learned how to set up a modern guerrilla ‘liberation front’ and by 1959 they had finalized their training in Egypt and were ready to establish the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and they returned to the Sudanese town of Kassela and become connected to the pro- Egypt Sudanese Al-Mirghaniyya movement. More concretely the ELF launched an open anti-Ethiopian revolt in Eritrea in 1961, claiming and propagating a fake Arab Eritrean identity.

“The Arabism of Eritrean People” remained one slogan of Nasserism to its end and to promote Eritrea’s liberation from Ethiopia, Nasser was also ready to help local Eritrean Christian Tigrians who resisted reunification with Ethiopia. In 1955, the prominent leader of Christian Tigreans in Eritrea, WaldeAb WeldeMariam, was invited to broadcast daily anti-Ethiopian propaganda on Radio Cairo and the Nasserist regime remained the main pillar of support for the Eritrean separatist movement until 1963. The myth of Eritrea’s Arabism, adopted and advanced by Eritrean Muslims, was to survive until 1980’s and the war in Eritrea that was instigated by Egypt lasted 30 years and caused untold human and financial loss both to Ethiopia and Eritrea. As of today, Eritrea is a de facto colony of Egypt and is being utilized as a proxy war front against Ethiopia and it is also the command post of those Ethiopian political groups who opted to ally with Egypt. Hundreds of Eritreans’ industries, hardworking and proud citizens and their children escape the prison and pariah government of Eritrea on daily basis facing any risk on their way.

No less significant was the issue of Nasserist influence on the Somali nationalists and beginning in the mid-1950s Nasserist policy, literature, and agents worked to enhance the anti-Ethiopian dimension of Somali nationalism branded it as “Greater Somalia”.  The Somalis encouraged by the potential Egypt backing, claimed about one third of Ethiopia’s territory and when they united and received their independence in July 1960 and joined the Arab League 1974, they continued to present a serious on-going challenge (two wars fought) to the integrity of the Ethiopian sovereignty until Somalia was disintegrated and engulfed by civil war in 1991. The disintegration of Somalia which has caused the scatter of Somalis throughout the world and death of millions of Somalis by war and famine and wastage of decades of nation building opportunity was a byproduct of the failed Egyptians destabilization strategy of Ethiopia.

Similarly, after Egypt failed to stop the British from allowing Sudan to declare its independence from Egypt in 1956, it  has been constantly interfering into  the internal affairs of Sudan including the Sudanese army staged coup d’état in November 1958, overthrowing the civilian government of Abdullah Khalil which had uncompromised and hard negotiation position on the Nile river, in which Egypt friendly  Gen. Ibrahim Abboud led the new military government.

The 1959 Nile water share agreement signed between Egypt and Sudan which gave the lion share to Egypt (78% to Egypt and 22% to Sudan on the net annual flow after deducting 10 billion cubic meter for evaporation loss) was agreed with Gen Abboud. Considering the fact that, the flow measuring point is deep in Egypt at the Aswan High dam and the annual hypothetical evaporation loss of 10 billion cubic meter, the share for Sudan is substantially lower than 22%.  If the water share allocation was done taking into account “population size and arable land area” as factors, Sudan’s share should have been not less than 40%.

Though Egypt opposed the split of South Sudan from Sudan during the pre-independence conflict time, currently it is the main sponsor of the fragile and corrupt President Kiir government and is prolonging the suffering of the South Sudan people with the objective of getting a foot hold near to Ethiopian border to sabotage Ethiopia.

We are also hearing saber-rattling of few bribed government officials from   South Sudan and Uganda trying to finger point at Ethiopia in relation to its decision to build the GERD and the speedy ratification of the “The Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement” by its parliament.

2. Discussion

The Zero-Sum game that have been played by Egypt to ensure its water security has become unsustainable, out of dated and irrelevant (it is a myth) for the following reasons:

• Creating jobs and feeding the rapidly growing population in the Horn of Africa and in the countries of the Nile Basin demands governments to generate power for industrialization and mechanized farming and produce sufficient food to ensure food security which require more consumption of water. The domestic consumption of water also increases in proportion to the population growth.
• The Aswan High dam only stores one year flow of the Nile water, whereas, global warming and other unpredictable climate changes could result in drought that lasts to the biblical-proportion of up to seven years. In that case the Aswan dam could dry with unimaginable consequences on Egypt’s 94 million growing population and makes Egypt’s water security strategy null and void.
• The growing population of Egypt also requires more water than the storage capacity of the High Aswan dam. That necessitates the construction of additional reservoir dams either in Ethiopia and/or Sudan (building additional dam in Egypt looks not practical).
• The Aswan high dam may be filled by silt within the next 300 to 500 years. How will Egypt manage such unavoidable fact with huge population that is 95% dependent on the Nile water?

Considering the above points, it is expected that Egyptian water security strategists and the Egyptians government covertly want the construction of more dams in Sudan and Ethiopia as far as their historical share is not significantly affected. They also know that dams built in Ethiopia along the deep Abbay River Gorge could only be mainly used for hydroelectric power generation with lower evaporation loss and lower construction cost per volume. Egyptians are also considering others sources of water such us linking the Congo River with the White Nile and digging the Jonglei Canal in South Sudan which are good ideas but difficult to implement.

Then what is the reason that Egypt has been too nervous and trying to destabilize Ethiopia and sabotage the completion of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance dam(GERD)?

The following could be the main reasons:

• Fear of the unknown which is a natural reaction considering the historical facts and the strategic importance of the Nile to Egypt’s future survival
• Fear that Sudan (the potential main Nile water consumer) could use more than its agreed share of the 1959 agreement. This fear is reasonable as any dam built in Ethiopia will regulate the seasonal flow of water in Sudan which will enable Sudan to access more and steady flow of water year-round. This may call for a new Nile water share agreement between the two countries and I do not think Sudan will allow itself to be manipulated by Egypt for a second time.
• Since Egypt has no water share agreement with Ethiopia, Egypt wants that agreement to be negotiated and agreed with a weak destabilized Ethiopia (exactly what they did to Sudan in 1959). By now Egypt should know “how Ethiopia is strongly founded “and its resilience to come out of crises. Despite the sudden and untimely death of PM Meles Zenawi who championed the concept of Ethiopian Renaissance and started the GERD and the internal instabilities that Ethiopia faced during the last year, the construction of the dam was not stooped for a fraction of a second. Now Ethiopia is already stable and is getting prepared for more rapid economic growth.
• Egypt’s concern of loss of ground as main historical geopolitical player in the region to Ethiopia both from Africa, Middle East and Global perspective is also a bitter bill for Egypt to sallow and digest. I do not think Egypt should be emotional and concerned about the rising of Ethiopia which is one of the old civilizations that rivals Egypt and kept its independence and uniqueness during good and bad time. It is always going to be true that both Egypt and Ethiopia have an irreplaceable and complementary role to play for peace, security, economic integration and social development of the region.

3. Conclusion

Due to Egypt’s standing strategy of securing the lion share of the water from the  Nile river( under the pretext of  ensuring water security) at the expense of more than 300 million people  around the Horn of Africa, it has been  obsessed  in sabotaging the peace and stability of Ethiopia and Sudan over the years and as the result the whole of Horn/East of Africa has been unstable   and remained one of the poorest regions in the world and major source of migrants to Europe and elsewhere. Since the mid of 20^th century, this region has witnessed death of millions of people, both because of war and famine, aggravation of poverty and wastage of scarce billions of dollars for war that could have been used for development.

Egypt’s strategy of sustaining its water security through sabotaging and destabilizing Ethiopia and Sudan is no more a relevant strategy for Egypt (it is a myth).  Egypt needs more water reservoirs to be build both in Sudan and Ethiopia for sustaining its water security. Storing water in the deep Abbay Gorge is the most attractive option as it could store more water at lower cost and less evaporation loss and lower usage of water other than generating hydroelectric power by Ethiopia. However, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt should negotiate and agree a win-win water share tripartite and bilateral agreements. Of course, all other Nile Basin countries like Uganda, Kenya, and South Sudan etc. should also agree with both Sudan and Egypt on how to share the White Nile water.

Whatever plot Egypt may try to sabotage and destabilize the main water supplier to the Nile “Ethiopia “and the main potential Nile water Consumer” Sudan” may not be effective now as Egypt is currently economically weak and facing serious external and internal terrorism and war threats. In addition, the main neighbors of Ethiopia, except Eritrea, that Egypt had been historically using as a proxy to destabilize Ethiopia are currently allied with Ethiopia as they are fully aware of the consequences of being manipulated and used by Egypt to conspire against their strategic neighbor. The Eritrean government that has made Eritrea an open-air prison for its citizens is also increasingly being rejected by its people and it will collapse in the very near future. Therefore, Egypt should be ready for a realistic negotiation based on mutual respect and sustainable peaceful co-existence with Sudan and Ethiopia.

It is expected that Ethiopia and Sudan are jointly ready to counter and defend themselves from any uncalled aggression from Egypt!

4. Recommendations

• For Egypt
• Stop destabilizing Ethiopia and Sudan as a confidence building measure
• Be transparent and open-minded for discussion and be ready to negotiate a win-win water share agreement with both Ethiopia and Sudan
• Ethiopia and Sudan
• Create a united front to counter and defend Egypt’s bad behavior and habit (I think this is already in place)
• Negotiate with Egypt united and from strength knowing the fact that Egypt badly needs more down- stream dams for water reservoir for its future survival.

(iii) Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt

• Work on a strategy to build more dams on the Abbay Gorge that could be used mainly as reservoir and hydroelectric power generation, except for emergency cases.
• If the Abbay Gorge alone could store seven years of Nile annual flow volume-go for it– but share the costs.

Of course, including the cost of GERD.

Long live the Ethiopian, Sudan and Egyptian People!

Image copyrightAP Image captionA man believed to be the suspect received medical treatment

A police officer and a woman have been killed near Parliament in central London in what Scotland Yard are treating as a terrorist incident.

The woman was among several pedestrians struck by a car on Westminster bridge, before it crashed into railings.

An officer was stabbed in the Houses of Parliament by an attacker, who was shot by police.

Police said there were “a number of casualties” and a “full counter-terrorism inquiry” was under way.

Prime Minister Theresa May is to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee later.

Met Police Commander BJ Harrington said he was unable to confirm details of casualties.

Speaking outside Scotland Yard, he urged the public to stay away from the area around Westminster to allow emergency services access.

London Ambulance said it had treated at least 10 people on Westminster Bridge.

The Port of London Authority said a woman has been pulled alive from the River Thames near the bridge and was being treated for serious injuries.

The French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said three French school pupils were among the injured and offered “solidarity with our British friends, and full support” for the wounded students and their families.

Junior doctor Colleen Anderson from St Thomas’ Hospital confirmed the death of the woman and said a number of other people were hurt – some with “catastrophic” injuries.

She said she also treated a police officer in his 30s with a head injury, who had been taken to King’s College Hospital.

She said the woman had died at the scene.

Analysis

Image copyrightPA

By Dominic Casciani, home affairs correspondent

The incident outside Westminster is exactly the kind of scenario that security chiefs have been planning for.

It looks like the type of attack that jihadis have wanted to carry out in Britain – mainly attacking people with a vehicle and taking on the security forces with knives.

But the fact that the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism armed response swung into action so quickly indicates how much work has been done since the killing of Lee Rigby in 2013.

Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, MI5 and, where relevant, other major agencies, will now throw absolutely everything at trying to establish the background of the suspects – whether they were working alone or whether there could be more of the same on the way.

At the same time, while they are treating this as a terrorist incident, they will know full well that they will have to test the evidence to ensure that this theory is correct.

MPs said they had heard three or four gunshots and staff inside Parliament were told to stay inside their offices.

Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs the “alleged assailant was shot by armed police”.

Shortly after the incident, a Downing Street source confirmed that Mrs May was safe.

The prime minister was seen being ushered into a silver Jaguar car as what sounded like gunfire rang out at Parliament during the incident.

The White House said later that Mrs May had spoken to President Donald Trump about the attack.

‘Screams and commotion’

Parliament was put into lockdown shortly after the incident at about 14:40 GMT.

Tom Peck, political editor for the Independent, tweeted: “There was a loud bang. Screams. Commotion. Then the sound of gunshots. Armed police everywhere.”

Press Association political editor Andrew Woodcock witnessed the scenes unfolding from his office window overlooking New Palace Yard.

“I heard shouts and screams from outside and looked out, and there was a group of maybe 40 or 50 people running round the corner from Bridge Street into Parliament Square.

“They appeared to be running away from something.

“As the group arrived at the Carriage Gates, where policemen are posted at the security entrance, a man suddenly ran out of the crowd and into the yard.

“He seemed to be holding up a long kitchen knife.

“I heard what sounded like shots – I think about three of them – and then the next thing I knew there were two people lying on the ground and others running to help them.

“Armed police were quickly on the scene and I heard them shouting to people to get out of the yard.”

‘Mowed down’

An eye witness, Radoslaw Sikorski, a senior fellow at Harvard’s Centre for European Studies, posted a video to Twitter showing people lying injured in the road on Westminster Bridge.

Image copyrightALISON BASKERVILLE

Image copyrightAP

Image copyrightAP

He wrote: “A car on Westminster Bridge has just mowed down at least 5 people.”

Scotland Yard said it was called to a firearms incident on the bridge amid reports of several people injured.

Transport for London said Westminster underground station has been shut at the police’s request, and buses diverted.

Mr Lidington said: “It seems that a police officer has been stabbed, that the alleged assailant was shot by armed police.

“An air ambulance is currently attending the scene to remove the casualties.

“There are also reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster but I hope colleagues on all sides will appreciate that it’d be wrong of me to go into further details until we have confirmation from the police and from the House security authorities about what is going on.”

Update: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect report that it was understood from multiple sources that two people were in the vehicle on the bridge.

Press Release from the International Unity of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Faith Followers Concerning the Abduction of the Waldba Monk Aba Gebre Eyesus by Armed EPRDF Government Agents

March 22, 2017

“… But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10: 26-28

In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church were and are fathers who hold fast their Christian faith, who offer their lives to it, who live the Gospel and demonstrate it in their daily lives.  With neither fear nor apathy, these fathers nobly stood in boldness and confronted godless rulers who oppressed people, who miscarried justice, who assailed the Church. In so doing they suffered in the flesh but received a crown of honor from the Lord.  To have an understanding of this a glimpse at the documented acts and homilies of the martyrs and the saints will be enough of a testimony.

Even today, there are chosen fathers who are blameless in character who follow the footsteps of the saints and the martyrs of old, who bear the brunt of tribulation and lay down their lives for their faith, upholding the letters of the Gospel. Among these pristine fathers the Waldba Monastery monk Aba Gebre Eyesus, who is also the reason for this missive, is one.

In 2012, when the EPRDF government in Ethiopia violated the sanctity of the Waldba Monastery and desecrated the bones of saints from their graves by excavation, Aba Gebre Eyesus conveyed the petition of the monastic community to the EPRDF government and to the patriarchate in Addis Ababa. When the monastic community’s cries were ignored, Aba Gebre Eyesus, being diligent and earnest in manner, relayed the message to the larger populace through Voice of America radio. For voicing his compliant against the EPRDF government’s desecration of the ancient and historic Waldba Monastery, which the government did in the name of “development,” and for exposing the heinous act to the public, Aba Gebre Eyesus was banished from his long Waldba monastic habitation and was relentlessly chased from monastery to monastery for more than five years. After such merciless hunt, the EPRDF government apprehended him in one monastery in Gondar this last January. The fathers who witnessed his capture reported that he received serious physical affliction in the hands of his captors.  After his capture his whereabouts and the condition of his health remain unknown.

For this reason, to find out the whereabouts of this upright father and defender of the faith, we, the International Unity of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Faith Followers, have been following up the matter closely. Unfortunately however, we have not been able to locate him and so, to place a more extensive effort, we are persuaded to make the matter known to the clergy and to the laity at large.  We therefore call upon the fathers, the government bodies and all the Christian faithful to the following entreaties:

1. Since the principal weapon we Christians have to overcome adversity and to cross the span of tribulation is prayer, we implore that all of us think of this brave spiritual father in our prayers.

2. The monastic father Aba Gebre Eyesus went through such ordeal not for any material desire but to protect the monastery from damaging desecration. We therefore request every person to whom the Waldba Monastery is a concern to petition the matter to the holy synod, to the populace, to international bodies and religious organizations until Aba Gebre Eyesus is freed.

3. Aba Gebre Eyesus was abducted by armed government agents and therefore, we would like to make it clear that any physical injury or harm to his life will be the sole responsibility of the EPRDF government. We would also like to remind the EPRDF government that such harm can result in an irreconcilable antagonism between Christians and the monastic community on the one hand and the EPRDF government on the other.

4. Apart from using his natural right of speech to meet his spiritual duty, this father did not commit any crime or offense against anyone. We therefore firmly request the government to release Aba Gebre Eyesus and to let him return to his monastery.

5. By desecrating the sacred land of the Waldba Monstrey, the EPRDF government cannot develop a valid project that is even a tiny bit beneficial. There is no headway to meaningful prosperity by demolishing Churches and monasteries, especially in Ethiopia. We, therefore, once again, request the EPRDF government to think again and to discontinue its defiling activity in the Waldba enclave.

6. As no other society knows the sanctity of the Waldba Monastery better, we beseech the Christians of Tigray, Gondar and Wollo to confront and urge the EPRDF government to stop playing with fire, and if the words fall on deaf ears then to pray for it.

7. At this time, when the truthful and those passionate about the Orthodox Tewahedo Christian faith are being locked, banished and scattered, the holy synod cannot abandon the matter and forsake the flock. We humbly request the holy synod to place emphasis on the suffering of Aba Gebre Eyesus and to follow up on his condition and to make it known to all the children of the Church.

With Spiritual Salutation,

International Unity of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Faith Followers

email: savewaldba@gmail.com

website: http://www.savewaldba.org/

The irresponsible TPLF led government, in this 21^st century, has quietly watched when its citizens pick garbage for living and make a living out of it. As if that wasn’t enough, on March 11 2017 around 8pm local time, Koshe, a land fill in Addis Ababa collapsed in a land slide bringing with it a mountain of debris that destroyed adjacent make shift homes and killed more than 113 citizens. This has prompted a huge outcry from the city’s residents for immediate response and actions. Following this tragic event, the population of Addis and Ethiopia as a whole has shown big support for the affected families by donating clothes and other necessities that could help them.

The koshe land fill had been in use for more than 50 years and has surpassed its capacity a long time ago. Koshe was just a wide expanse of land to begin with and it was not designed to be a landfill for the capital with more than 4 million people. But koshe was being used way after it has surpassed its capacity until it closed in early 2016. It was replaced by a supposedly “well designed” Sendafa landfill.

Mahlet Fasil, in her article In Depth Analysis: Qoshe Garbage Dump Collapse, details about the government receiving huge amount of funds in relation to cleaning up Koshe and constructing a modern landfill in Sendafa in deals much of the public was left in the dark. Mahlet further describes how the cities official and high ranking government officials in a trail of corruption have inaugurated the Sendafa landfill project, which has already missed several deadlines, without it being complete. This has resulted in waste seeping through the land and polluting a nearby river and completely polluting the atmosphere with strong odor. Sendafa in simple words turned into another koshe as opposed to being a sustainable waste treatment and recycling plant. Locals were forced to stop drivers from dumping in the area. This meant that Koshe was back online only after six months of closure further adding to the ever-increasing mountain of garbage.

Operations of an already over capacitated landfill was allowed to continue, with complete disregard to consequences of the people around it. The land fill not only posed a physical threat but also a health risk to the surroundings area as foul odor and various gases were emitted.

Mahlet further continues to point out that most of the residents of the make shift homes that were built near the koshe land site were not out there voluntarily. They were mostly relocated from other parts of the city for developmental projects. These are the people which basically the city rejected to make place for high rise buildings that were mostly owned by the inner circles of the ruling government. Most of the relocated residents did not even receive enough compensation to afford to live somewhere safer. The people were herded like sheep for slaughter.

The devastating landslide happened three weeks after a government mandated construction effort was bulldozing and excavating the base of the mountain of garbage where the land slide happened for “important government project”. Residents in the area asked municipal officials to stop the construction works which would destabilize the whole area andendanger their homes. Some rumbling sounds were also being reported by the residents following the construction works before the landslide.

The land slide occurred at around 8 pm that fateful night but emergency response was no where to be found until early morning and has resulted in many more deaths. Excavating machines only arrived a full 10 hours after the landslide and has reduced the chance of finding survivors. The meagerly resources sent to the scene by the government was far from enough. The families of victims had no choice but to rent machineries at their expense to recover the bodies of their families.The death toll so far has reached 113 people and counting. 113. This is not just a number on a screen. These are lives, souls, human beings, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children. These are our people that were killed by severe negligence on the part of the government. This is infuriating as this was a simple matter that was visible to the naked eye. Instead of relocating people out of this area, the government is doing the exact opposite.. In countries like Canada, where a citizen’s life is valued, serious lawsuits can occur if a man-made structure collapsed and caused human injury or damage including property damage. In the Elliot Lake mall collapse case in June 2012, two people lost their lives and about 20 suffered non-lifethreatening injuries and the Engineer responsible faced a serious law suit and could have faced life imprisonment.

The people of Koshe do not deserve death. The TPLF led government of Ethiopia declares a mourning day on Wednesday, a full three days after the landslides. This comes after other countries have lowered their flag in honor of the lives lost. Looks like other countries care more for the victims of Koshe. It is horrific that all these lives are lost and the government barely shows any effort of emergency response. Three days later and officials are blaming residents of the area for “living near an accident waiting to happen”. What???????

This begs the question: Does the government even care for its people? Shouldn’t a government stand for more than just a minority ethnic group? Do the people need to be from a specific ethnic background to receive help from the government they elected?

The mayor of Addis DiribaKumsa should resign from his post for allowing this to happen in his watch. Concerned officials at the Addis Ababa Waste Recycling & Disposal Project Office should face trial. The city of Addis should also learn lessons from this and take steps to make sure this never happens again.

1. Aklilu, Toronto, Canada

The Lives and Times of Patriots Asfaw Feleke and Ejigayehu Yalew – SBS Amhraic

Fadila Bargicho believes divine intervention saved the life of one of his two sons when a landfill site collapsed near Addis Ababa. The reality is more prosaic

William Davison in Addis Ababa

The Guardian

A rescue worker holds a photo of missing children following the fatal landslide at the Reppi rubbish dump on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Photograph: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters

It was only a misplaced shoe that prevented Fadila Bargicho from losing a second child when an avalanche of rubbish crushed makeshift houses, killing at least 113 people in Addis Ababa earlier this month.

An impatient Ayider Habesha, nine, had left his older brother searching for his footwear. He headed to religious lessons in a hut next to the towering dump. Ayider was buried alive with his six classmates and teacher when a chunk of the open landfill gave way on the evening of 11 March. His body was recovered two days later.

“He could not find his shoe and that was God’s way of saving one of my children,” Bargicho says of her 16-year-old son, Abdurahim, who usually attended the classes with his brother.

While Bargicho sees divine intervention at play in the incident, the collapse at Reppi landfill was an avoidable, manmade disaster.

In 2013, the French development agency (AFD) gave Addis Ababa’s government 20 million euros (£17.3m) to close and rehabilitate Reppi and build a new landfill site at Sendafa, about 25 miles outside the capital in Oromia state.

Oromia has been engulfed by violence since November 2015. The unrest has been fuelled by concerns over a masterplan to integrate the development of Addis Ababa – a metropolis of about 5 million people – with surrounding Oromo areas. While federal officials insist the blueprint would mean harmonious progress, activists cast it as another land grab that would mean the eviction of thousands more Oromo farmers as the capital expands.

The AFD funding also covers retraining for the hundreds of people who picked through the waste at Reppi for valuable items, some of whom died in the landslide.

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When Reppi was established in the 1960s, it was in the countryside. Now it is surrounded by shops and houses, which have encroached on an expanding rubbish mountain.

Rubbish started being sent to Sendafa, rather than Reppi, in January last year. But operations were suspended seven months later after protests by local farmers, who said the Sendafa site was poisoning water and killing livestock.

The trucks returned to Reppi, where rubbish had been dumped without being treated, compacted or otherwise managed for half a century. Authorities knew Reppi was unstable and over capacity when they resumed operations, according to Nega Fantahun, the head of the city government’s solid waste recycling and disposal project office, the responsible agency.

“One cause is the return to Reppi. It’s not the only reason, but it’s one cause, one reason, it aggravates it,” he says of the landslide.

The government hasn’t given up on Sendafa, a joint initiative of the city and Oromia region. But activity at the fenced-off site is limited to work on buildings and other infrastructure. Black sheeting covers a shallow bulge of rubbish to try to reduce the smell. An eight-metre high net was constructed to prevent waste blowing on to adjacent farmland but, when a gust of wind arrives, several plastic scraps soar into the air and tumble over the fence into the fields.

In rolling farmland next to the landfill, local opposition to the project is fierce. Gemechu Tefera, 40, a farmer, says maggots from the landfill have ruined food, cattle have died from toxic water, and a dog brought a human hand back from the site. Consultation was so inadequate that residents thought the site would become an airport, the group claims. “If they come again they will have to go through us. We will continue protesting. They will have to kill us first,” says Tefera.

The French financing included Sendafa’s construction and the closure of 19 hectares (about 47 acres) of Reppi’s 36 hectares between 2011 and 2013. Eventually, the plan is to transform the toxic site into a park. Seven hectares have been set aside for a separately funded $120m (£96m) waste-to energy plantowned by the state electricity company, which could deal with 75% of the city’s rubbish when it becomes operational later this year.

The AFD is waiting for notification from the city government to begin rehabilitating the remaining section of Reppi. That will only begin once the site is no longer being used for dumping, says Shayan Kassim, project manager at the French agency’s Addis Ababa regional office.

According to Kassim, consultants reported that the performance at Sendafa of the city’s contractor, Vinci Construction Grands Projets, was satisfactory and there were no irregularities in dealing with the impact on the community. Vinci worked with AFD and the authorities on improving Sendafa for a year after completion, and the government is undertaking more work following storms that caused some leakage into the nearby environment, he says.

“We know the municipality has had some problems with the landfill during the rainy season and we hope the additional works will correct them.”

The local administration responsible for the new landfill’s location supports the farmers’ pollution claims. Shimallis Abbabaa Jimaa took over as head of Bereke district government last year after the protests. He produced an October 2016 report from Oromia’s government that concluded water in a local well was not potable and the cause could be a river polluted by seepage from Sendafa. The area had been earmarked by the region as a productive cropping area and should not have been selected for waste disposal, says Jimaa.

The promised improvements could mean local acceptance of Sendafa but, given the strength of the resistance, that seems unlikely, he says. “No one agreed with the project so they rose in revolt.”

Federica Mogherini

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs /
Vice-President of the European Commission
Rue de la Loi, Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels

Brussels, March 23, 2017

Dear High Representative Mogherini,

Human Rights Watch wishes to express our deep disappointment over the one-sided statement issued by your office during your official visit to Ethiopia last week. In the public statement of March 17, 2017, you focus only on the important European Union partnerships with Ethiopia on humanitarian assistance, migration, refugees, and economic growth, and reiterate your support for the dialogue with the political opposition currently underway.

Armed security officials watch as protesters stage a protest against government during the Irreechaa cultural festival in Bishoftu, Ethiopia on October 02, 2016.
© 2016 Getty Images

In our view the statement was a missed opportunity to state publicly and unequivocally that Ethiopia’s repressive response to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly –  illustrated by the government’s brutal crackdown on protests– is not conducive to Ethiopia’s long-term stability or the EU’s ability to partner with Ethiopia on areas of mutual interest.

As you are aware, Ethiopia’s widespread human rights violations against its citizens means that Ethiopia is a country producing refugees and asylum seekers seeking safety.

Since November 2015 state security forces have killed hundreds and arrested tens of thousands of protesters, plunging Ethiopia into a human rights crisis. A state of emergency, called in October 2016, prescribes sweeping restrictions that go far beyond what is permissible under international law, eliminating what little space there was for the peaceful expression of critical views. The government has detained over 20,000 in “rehabilitation camps” since the state of emergency was declared, according to official figures. Widespread and long-standing restrictions on media and civil society groups continue to be enforced. Opposition leaders remain in detention on politically motivated charges, including Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) leader Dr. Merera Gudina, who was arrested following his attendance at a briefing on November 9 in Brussels organized by an MEP. Just three weeks before your visit, he was charged with “outrages against the constitution” and faces up to life in imprisonment.

Harassment through criminal charges, arbitrary detention of political opposition members and supporters, restrictions on financing, and registration problems have decimated opposition parties since the 2010 election. Actual or perceived members of opposition parties have difficulty accessing the benefits of development and humanitarian assistance, including that provided by the EU and its member states. This partisan system ensures that Ethiopians in rural or drought-vulnerable areas of the country are dependent on the government, bolstered by EU support, for their livelihoods, food aid, employment, and health care. This further constricts the space for political expression, dialogue and further undermines the effectiveness of opposition parties. From the government’s perspective, the strategy has been successful — the ruling party and its affiliates won 100 percent of the seats in federal parliament in 2015 despite strong anti-government sentiments in many parts of the country as the protests would later illustrate.

Dismantling opposition parties, imprisoning critical opposition voices, and then inviting whomever remains to engage in a dialogue is not the “right direction,” as your statement said. Nor is having such a dialogue in the shadow of a state of emergency with wide-ranging restrictions on free expression rights. Moderate, yet still critical opposition voices, including Dr. Merera, should be part of any credible dialogue with the opposition, and this should have been stressed privately and publicly to the prime minister as critical for any meaningful dialogue. Your expression of support for political dialogue without acknowledging the systematic destruction of legally registered opposition parties and the suppression of basic human rights is not constructive to the EU’s partnership with Ethiopia.

Discussing economic partnerships during the state of emergency that followed 18 months of brutality partly triggered by the government’s abusive economic development approach illustrates our concern with your recent statement. The Ethiopian government has ignored the rights of those displaced by investment projects, failing to properly consult and compensate them. It begs the question: what polices or safeguards is the EU insisting are in place to ensure that economic development occurs with professed EU commitments to human rights respected?

In this light, the EU-Ethiopia Business Forum should be postponed until the abusive provisions of the state of emergency are lifted. Moreover, the government should make progress on implementing reforms that are crucial for a rights-respecting business environment, such as the repeal or substantial amendment of the Charities and Societies Proclamation.

The contrast between recent statements by the European parliament and the European Union could not be more stark. Parliament has consistently issued strong statements about the government’s brutal crackdown, including a resolution adopted in January 2016 that stated “respect for human rights and the rule of law are crucial to the EU’s policies to promote development in Ethiopia.” The resolution also stressed that the “EU should measure its financial support according to the country’s human rights record and the degree to which the Ethiopian Government promotes reforms towards democratization.” Parliamentary subcommittee hearings on Ethiopia followed in October. European Parliament actions signaled to the Ethiopian government and its people that there are repercussions for brutality against their own citizens – brutality that undermines European priorities in the Horn of Africa.

In contrast, the EU’s tepid approach, epitomized by your recent statement merely sends the message to the Ethiopian government that its repression and brutality carries no consequences or public condemnation from its most trusted friends, donors, and partners.

As all recognize, Ethiopia is an important partner of the EU in the areas of migration, development and economic growth. But these partnerships are dependent on long-term stability in Ethiopia and, thus, should be dependent on respect for basic human rights.

A further downward spiral in the human rights situation in this country of 100 million people could lead to dramatically increased humanitarian needs and out-migration from Ethiopia, all of which would contravene European and Ethiopian interests. This is where the EU’s focus should be.

We strongly urge you to use future meetings with Ethiopia’s leadership to publicly and unequivocally call for the release of key opposition leaders such as Dr. Merera and Bekele Gerba, the lifting of abusive provisions of the state of emergency, an international investigation into the crackdown on government protests, and the repeal of longstanding restrictions on media and civil society. And as stated in the European parliament resolution, it would be beneficial to clarify what progress on human rights you expect from Ethiopia to maintain ongoing EU support. The European Union’s interests in Ethiopia are best served by taking a principled stance on the importance of human rights protections.

Kind regards,

Lotte Leicht
EU Director
Human Rights Watch
CC:

Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Ms Helga Schmid
Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs, EEAS, Mr Jean-Christophe Belliard
Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues, EEAS, Mr Christian Leffler
Chair of the EU’s Political and Security Committee, Ambassador Walter Stevens
Managing Director for Africa, EEAS, Mr Koen Vervaeke
Director, Deputy Managing Director for Africa, EEAS, Ms Birgitte Markussen
Head of Division, Horn of Africa, East Africa and Indian Ocean, EEAS, Ms Claudia Wiedey
Managing Director for Human Rights, Global and Multilateral Issues, EEAS, Ms Lotte Knudsen
Director, Deputy managing Director for Human Rights, Global and Multilateral Issues, EEAS, Mr Marc Giacomini
Head of Human Rights Division, EEAS, Ms Mercedes Garcia Perez
Chair of the Council’s Africa Working Party, Mr Riccardo Villa
Head of the EU Delegation to Ethiopia, Ambassador Chantal Hebberecht
EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Mr Stavros Lambrinidis
Head of Cabinet of the High Representative / Vice-President Mogherini, Ms Fabrizia Panzetti
Deputy Head of Cabinet of the High Representative / Vice-President Mogherini, Mr Oliver Rentschler

Author’s Note: In my March 19, 2017 commentary,  I indicated that I will be contacting the President and Board Chairman of the Tampere University of Technology to withdraw or rescind the offer of an honorary doctoral degree to Hailemariam Desalegn, the putative leader of the T-TPLF regime in Ethiopia. Below is a copy of the letter sent to the aforementioned individuals.

I know that members of the Ethiopian community in Finland have been actively engaged in advocacy to get Tampere University to withdraw its offer. I urge them to continue in their advocacy efforts by mobilizing a broader segment of  Finnish society and human rights organizations.  I specifically urge Ethiopians in Finland and their Finnish friends to use the print and electronic media, including radio and television and social media to get the message out. I urge them to consider and use the evidence I have presented in this letter and raise the questions I have raised with Tampere University officials.

Section 12 of the Finnish Constitution guarantees, “Everyone has the freedom of expression. Freedom of expression entails the right to express, disseminate and receive information, opinions and other communications without prior prevention by anyone.” I urge Ethiopians in Finland to vigorously exercise their right to freedom of expression in making their views public concerning Desalegn’s invitation to receive an honorary degree at Tampere University of Technology.

=======================================================

March 22, 2017

Mika Hanula, Ph.D.
President
Tampere University of Technology
Korkeakoulunkatu 10
FI-33720 Tampere, FINLAND

Dear Dr. Hanula:

I am informed and believe that you have plans to confer an honorary doctoral degree upon Hailemariam Desalegn, the leader of the ruling regime in Ethiopia, on May 20, 2017.

I am writing to lodge an academic note of protest and to strongly urge you to rescind  your offer of an honorary doctoral degree to Hailemariam Desalegn.

I have carefully reviewed[1] the list of all individuals upon whom your university has conferred an honorary degree since 1982. Some 73 distinguished individuals have been privileged to receive such a degree from your institution.[2] The vast majority of your honorary degree recipients have been university professors, researchers, scientists, academicians and business leaders.

Since 1982, you have awarded an honorary degree to only on six political leaders  including two mayors of the City of Tampere, Timo P. Nieminen (2012) and Jarmo  Rantanen (1997);  two prime ministers of Finland including Paavo Lipponen (2002) and Kalevi Sorsa(1987) and Ilkka Suominen, a Speaker of the Parliament of Finland.

Your University’s policy on honorary doctorates states, “Tampere University of Technology invites persons from Finland and abroad to accept honorary doctorates in recognition of excellence in fields represented at the University and other exceptional scientific, artistic or social merits.”[3]

It is my understanding that Desalegn is the first and only foreign political leader upon whom you intend to confer an honorary doctoral degree in University’s history.

I am appalled and dismayed by your decision to award Hailemariam Desalegn  the same honorary degree you have bestowed to the various illustrious and exceptional Finnish political leaders.

Your selection is both shocking and manifestly and conspicuously inconsistent with your stated policy and the universal principles of honorary degrees (honoris causa) recognizing an individual’s contributions to a specific field of human endeavor or highly meritorious service to the national or global community.

Although my knowledge of Finnish politics and political leaders is admittedly limited, I am informed and believe that all of Finnish leaders your University has recognized in the past with an honorary degree have demonstrated exemplary and highly meritorious service to Finnish democracy and society. I am informed and believe that all of them  have a substantial and praiseworthy record of dedicated public service, high standards of personal and professional integrity, demonstrated adherence to constitutional principles and respect for the rule of law,  documented practice of good governance, and exhibited respect for constitutional and human rights and commitment to transparency and accountability in government.

Hailemariam Desalegn could not be more different from the political leaders you have honored over the last four decades.

I submit the following evidence for your review and consideration as I exhort you to rescind and withdraw your offer of an honorary degree to Desalegn:

Desalegn is the head of a regime that controls 100 percent of the legislative seats in the Ethiopian “parliament”[4]. In 2010, Desalegn’s regime won 99.6 percent of the legislative seats.[5] The late Saddam Hussein is the only leader in the world to have claimed victory by 100 percent until Desalegn repeated the claim in 2015.[6]

Since October 2016, Desalegn’s regime has ruled by martial law described as a “state of emergency” and suspended the Ethiopian “constitution”.[7] Human Rights Watch has provided a complete legal analysis of that expansively arbitrary “state of emergency” declaration.[8]

Since the declaration of the “state of emergency”, Desalegn’s regime has imprisoned, by its own admission, 11,000 persons.[9]

In December 2016, Desalegn ordered the imprisonment  of a major opposition leader, Dr. Merera Gudina, for attending a European Union-organized seminar and participating in discussions on the situation in Ethiopia.[10]

Desalegn and his regime have “criminalized” journalism in Ethiopia through his “Anti-Terrorism Proclamation” and managed to decimate all peaceful democratic opposition in Ethiopia.[11]

Desalegn’s regime has a well-documented record of committing murders and massacres. Herman Cohen, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the first Bush Administration declared: “I fail to understand why the Ethiopian regime feels it necessary to exercise such extreme control to the point of committing murder periodically against their own citizens.”[12]

Under Desalegn’s regime, Ethiopia has been named the “fourth worst offender” of press rights in the world[13], and the second worst jailer of journalists in Africa for the past several years under the leadership of Desalegn.[14]

Desalegn’s regime is currently spending nearly USD$2 million dollars to lobby, wine and dine American politicians while 5 million Ethiopians remain at high risk of death  from famine.[15]

Under Desalegn’s regime, Ethiopia has been rated 123 out of 125 worst fed countries in the world.[16]

Under the regime of Desalegn and his predecessor, “Ethiopia has lost US$11.7 billion to illicit financial outflows between 2000 and 2009.”[17]  Global Financial Integrity concluded, “The people of Ethiopia are being bled dry.  No matter how hard they try to fight their way out of absolute destitution and poverty, they will be swimming upstream against the current of illicit capital leakage.[18]

Desalegn’s regime was ordered to pay USD$6.5 million for illegally selling unregistered bonds in the United States.[19] Selling unregistered bonds in the U.S. is a crime under the “Securities Act of 1933”, sec. 20 (b)).

Desalegn’s regime operates a police state in Ethiopia with informants and spies infiltrating the household level as documented by Dr. Negasso Gidada, former President of Ethiopia[20] and others.[21]

Desalegn’s regime operates an ethnic apartheid system called kilils (kililistans that are similar to apartheid South Africa’s Bantustans) in Ethiopia.[22]

Desalegn and his regime have a long and infamous record of human rights violations as documented by Human Rights Watch in 2016, and in numerous other reports.[23]

Desalegn’s regime practices torture and other forms of abuses against detainees and prisoners as documented in the January 2017 Human Rights Watch report.[24]

In September 2016, security forces loyal to Desalegn’s regime gunned down prisoners as they fled a burning jail.[25]

Desalegn and his regime have refused to investigate the killings of over 500 celebrants by security forces at the Irrecha Festival in October 2016 or any other massive human rights violations committed under his rule.[26]

Desalegn’s regime “has refused entry to all UN special rapporteurs since 2007. Among the outstanding requests are from the special rapporteurs on torture, freedom of opinion and expression, and peaceful assembly.”[27]

Desalegn’s regime has used the power of eminent domain to displace urban residents and force them into homelessness and makeshift accommodations.[28]

Desalegn and his regime have allowed land grabs[29]  that have resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people from Gambella, Omo and other regions in Ethiopia.[30]

Desalegn’s regime is so corrupt that the World Bank issued a 417-page report, the only one of its kind, entitled “Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia”.[31]

Desalegn’s regime has plunged Ethiopia into a bottomless ocean of debt. The African Development Bank in its “Country Strategy Paper for 2016-2020” reported that Ethiopia is  drowning  in debt. “Ethiopia’s external debt stock has soared fivefold, from USD 2.8 billion in 2008/09 to USD 19 billion in 2014/15, up from 12.1% of GDP in 2009/10 to 26.2% in 2014/15.[32]

In the past week, Desalegn reported to his parliament that 100 million birr allocated for development had been lost to corruption and used for private purposes by local and ethnic leaders. Desalegn refused to neither name the corruption suspects to “parliament” nor discuss what actions, if any, he planned to take to bring the offenders to justice.[33]

Under Desalegn’s regime, Ethiopia has become the second poorest country[34] in the world and the beggar nation of Africa panhandling for handouts year after year after year.[35]

On March 9, 2017, “a mountain of trash” in Addis Ababa collapsed on a neighborhood resulting in hundreds of deaths. Such a tragedy occurred under Desalegn’s nose right in the capital city. The man who earned a graduate degree from Tampere in Sanitary Engineering did nothing to prevent the collapse of “trash mountain” even though he knew about the imminent danger since he took over power in 2012.[36]

I could go on for many more pages documenting the high crimes, crimes against humanity, corruption and abuse of power of Desalegn and his regime. I should be glad to provide voluminous information and evidence if requested.

I wish to underscore my perplexity in trying to decipher the selection criteria you employed to award Desalegn  an honorary doctorate. At the risk of sounding repetitive, your policy statement declares your institution confers honorary degrees upon those who have demonstrated “excellence in fields represented at the University and other exceptional scientific, artistic or social merits.”

I am certain that you are not awarding Desalegn an honorary degree for his academic or literary scholarship or his contributions to science and technology.

I am also certain that you did not select him by the same criteria and standards you have used to select the political leaders you have honored in the past.

I cannot imagine you selected him because he was just another alumnus of your university.

Therefore, I am at a complete loss trying to figure out how you selected Desalegn.

Perhaps  you could explain the basis for your selection of Desalegn to receive an honorary degree to the millions of Ethiopians who are just as perplexed as I am.

On the other hand, if I am to understand that you are offering Desalegn, and implicitly his regime, for what he has done and not done during his term of political office, then I can only throw my hands in the air and shake my head in resignation.

I regret to say that you have made a travesty, a mockery, of the honorary degree institution of your University by offering it to Desalegn.

It is your privilege and prerogative to confer an honorary doctoral degree to an individual for exceptionally egregious conduct and actions resulting in the diminution and destruction of human rights, disregard and contempt for the rule of law and entrenchment of a police state in Ethiopia.

It is your privilege and prerogative to confer an honorary doctoral degree to a leader of a  brutal and ruthless dictatorship that has been in power in Ethiopia for over 25 years.

Your exercise of that solemn privilege and prerogative speaks more about your institution than Hailemariam and his regime. You have publicly betrayed your values of “excellence and  exceptional scientific, artistic or social merits” that you so nobly profess by awarding Desalegn an honorary degree.

Be assured that no one, but no one, has illusions about Desalegn and his regime, and his atrocious and flagrant record of human rights violations. Except perhaps, just one?

I wonder if you have thought about the implications of your decision to award ab honorary degree for the people of Ethiopia.

Did you consider how Desalegn will distort, twist, slant, mold and shape his honorary degree from your institution in his state-controlled media?

Allow me to share with you some insights:

Desalegn will use your honorary degree as a political diversion and distraction.

He will use video footage of the award ceremony at on state-controlled television to tell the Ethiopian public that he was honored with a doctoral degree (conveniently omitting the fact that it is honorary) for his good governance and global leadership.

All state-controlled media will be singing Desalegn’s praise for weeks to come as urgent political and social issues are ignored in the media.

Desalegn’s predecessor cleverly used such symbolic events to gain political mileage.

In 2005, the Yara Foundation Board in Norway awarded its prize “recognizing Prime Minister Meles’ [for his] decisive steps towards increasing food production and reducing poverty in one of the poorest countries of the developing world. He has brought about political change in Ethiopia, and placed the rural poor first in the country’s development strategies.” [37]

The Board’s assertions justifying the award were simply not true.

In June 2005, the Guardian reported, “21 years on, fear of famine still stalks Ethiopia.”[38] Yet Zenawi used the award to boast that “he received from the YARA Foundation for his outstanding contribution for enhancing green revolution is the outcome of the struggle of the Ethiopian farmers.”[39]

Like his predecessor, Desalegn will no doubt use this opportunity to launch a self-aggrandizing public relations extravaganza exploiting the honorary degree to legitimize his ruthless dictatorship. The media cacophony of Desalegn’s panegyrics over his honorary degree will whitewash his state of emergency declaration. He will use it to divert attention from the ongoing human rights abuses of his “state of emergency” decree, the need for immediate and full restoration of constitutional governance.

Questions about his dictatorial rule will be drowned in a congratulatory media circus.

Stated simply, Desalegn will use the honorary degree you plan to give him as a PR prop in a video production of “Desalegn, the great leader” recognized by a world-class university.

I ask you if you have considered the fact that your institution will be a “movie prop”. Does it bother you that your university will be used as a propaganda prop to justify the regime of a ruthless dictator? Do you find it embarrassing in the slightest to honor a man who presides over the most repressive African regime, a regime that rules by martial law? Do you care at all?

Tampere University of Technology will have been an unwitting partner in a sophisticated public relations campaign to legitimize, democratize, glamourize, mythologize and romanticize a ruthless and brutal dictator and his regime.

To be perfectly candid, your decision to award Desalegn an honorary degree does not make moral or rational sense to me. Is it moral to honor an individual with a certified record of human rights atrocities? Is it rational to betray one’s cherished academic values with reckless abandon on the world stage?

I regret to inform you that by conferring an honorary degree on Desalegn, you will have disgraced and dishonored your university. You will expose and invite public ridicule, contempt and infamy to your institution, and bring lasting shame upon your institution, students and faculty. You will also incur the eternal enmity of the people of Ethiopia.

I am glad to inform you that there is an honorable way out for you.

In July 2014, Azusa Pacific University in Southern California withdrew an honorary degree it had offered Desalegn after that university learned of his egregious human rights record.  In explaining the withdrawal of the offer of an honorary degree, Azusa’s Director of External Relations stated, “I can confirm that the event has been canceled.[40]  The university evaluated current developments in Ethiopia including the latest U.S State Department Human Rights Report”.[41] The 2016 version of that report  released earlier this month concluded, “Security forces [in Ethiopia] used excessive force against protesters throughout the year, killing hundreds and injuring many more. The protests were mainly in Oromia and Amhara regions. At year’s end more than 10,000 persons were believed still to be detained.”[42]

I hope you too will read the 2016 U.S State Department Human Rights Report and act out, not just profess in a policy statement, the true meaning of the courage of your convictions and values and do the right thing.

A Special Request:

In the event that you decide to confer the honorary doctoral degree on Desalegn, I respectfully request that you do it without the necessity of his travel to Finland.

I am informed and believe that Desalegn’s trip to Finland to receive the honorary degree could cost Ethiopia in excess of USD$1.5 million taking into account the cost of jet fuel for a 20-hour round trip flight, preparation of jetliner for a VIP trip, meals and accommodations for Desalegn’s entourage, cost of jetliner crew and ground support, cost of maintenance and removal of jetliner from commercial service for the trip, among other costs.

I do not know if Tampere University is paying for all of the costs of logistical support to transport Desalegn. Regardless, my request is a simple one: If you must, mail or otherwise arrange to have the honorary degree delivered to Desalegn in Addis Ababa and save the hundreds of thousands (possibly exceeding $USD1 million) to help Ethiopian famine victims. Every penny counts when it comes to saving the lives of starving Ethiopians!

I trust you will seriously consider the facts and evidence I have presented in this letter and do the right thing.

I have attached a copy of my recent commentary[43] (available at almariam.com) regarding the tragic deaths from the collapse of the “trash mountain” in Addis
Ababa.

I hope you will pay me the academic courtesy of a reply. I should be glad to receive a reasonable explanation for your decision to confer an honorary degree on Hailemariam Desalegn, but I will settle for a plausible one. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Alemayehu (Al) Mariam, Ph.D., J.D., Esq.
Professor & Attorney at Law

C.c. Tero Ojanperä, Ph.D., Board Chairman, Tampere University of Technology Foundation

Others.

=======================================================

[1] http://www.tut.fi/en/conferment-ceremony/honorary-doctorates/previous-honorary-doctors/index.htm

[2] http://www.tut.fi/en/conferment-ceremony/honorary-doctorates/previous-honorary-doctors/index.htm

[3] http://www.tut.fi/en/conferment-ceremony/honorary-doctorates/

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/world/africa/ethiopia-state-of-emergency.html

[5] https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2011/country-chapters/ethiopia

[6] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/saddam-hussein-wins-one-man-race/

[7] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/ethiopia-state-emergency-arrests-top-11000-161112191919319.html

[8] https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/10/30/legal-analysis-ethiopias-state-emergency

[9] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/ethiopia-state-emergency-arrests-top-11000-161112191919319.html

[10] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/ethiopia-oromo-opposition-leader-arrested-161201105801067.html

[11] https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/01/21/journalism-not-crime/violations-media-freedoms-ethiopia

[12] http://www.cohenonafrica.com/homepage/2015/12/18/on-ethiopia

[13] https://www.cpj.org/reports/2016/12/journalists-jailed-record-high-turkey-crackdown.php

[14] h http://ecadforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/tplf-Lobbying-Agreement.pdf?x71823ttps://cpj.org/2016/03/in-ethiopia-journalist-detained-since-2013-handed-.php

[15] http://ecadforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/tplf-Lobbying-Agreement.pdf?x71823

[16] https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2014-01-15/dutch-beat-french-and-swiss-top-oxfams-new-global-food-table

[17] http://www.gfintegrity.org/press-release/illicit-financial-outflows-ethiopia-nearly-doubled-2009-us3-26-bln-says-new-gfi-report/

[18] http://www.gfintegrity.org/press-release/illicit-financial-outflows-ethiopia-nearly-doubled-2009-us3-26-bln-says-new-gfi-report/

[19] https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2016-113.html

[20] http://www.ethiomedia.com/adroit/4222.html

[21] http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/285060-ethiopia-it-is-time-to-stop-the-reign-of-terror-of-the

[22] http://almariam.com/2016/04/03/the-bantustanization-kililistanization-of-ethiopia/

[23] https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/06/16/such-brutal-crackdown/killings-and-arrests-response-ethiopias-oromo-protests

[24] https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/12/ethiopia-year-brutality-restrictions

[25] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kilinto-fire-ethiopian-government-accused-of-gunning-down-political-prisoners-as-they-flee-burning-a7228756.html

[26] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/08/ethiopia-civil-society-groups-urge-international-investigation-into-ongoing-human-rights-violations/

[27] https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/18/ethiopias-bloody-crackdown-case-international-justice

[28] https://www.opendemocracy.net/graham-peebles/displacement-intimidation-and-abuse-land-loyalties-in-ethiopia

[29] http://genocidewatch.net/2016/02/01/land-grabbing-in-ethiopia/

[30] https://www.hrw.org/report/2012/01/16/waiting-here-death/forced-displacement-and-villagization-ethiopias-gambella-region

[31] http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/210171468024611636/pdf/699430PUB0Publ067869B09780821395318.pdf

[32] https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/ETHIOPIA_CSP_BPPS_EN.pdf

[33] https://goo.gl/yVO5Wn

[34] http://ecadforum.com/2014/06/30/why-is-ethiopia-the-second-poorest-country-on-the-planet/

[35] http://almariam.com/2017/01/22/traiding-in-misery-the-t-tplf-its-partners-and-famine-in-ethiopia/

[36] http://almariam.com/2017/03/19/trashin-addis-ababa-new-flower/

[37] http://yara.com/media/press_releases/1002979/press_release/200507/ethiopian-prime-minister-meles-zenawi-awarded-the-first-african-green-revolution-yara-prize/

[38] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/30/g8.internationalaidanddevelopment

[39]  http://allafrica.com/stories/200509060397.html

[40] http://ecadforum.com/2014/07/23/hailemariam-desalegn-humiliated/

[41] http://ecadforum.com/2014/07/23/hailemariam-desalegn-humiliated/

[42] https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2016/af/265254.htm

[43] http://almariam.com/2017/03/19/trashin-addis-ababa-new-flower/

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino. His teaching areas include American constitutional law, civil rights law, judicial process, American and California state governments, and African politics. He has published two volumes on American constitutional law, including American Constitutional Law: Structures and Process (1994) and American Constitutional Law: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights (1998). He is the Senior Editor of the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, a leading scholarly journal on Ethiopia. For the last several years, Prof. Mariam has written weekly web commentaries on Ethiopian human rights and African issues that are widely read online. He blogged on the Huffington post at  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ and later on open.salon until that blogsite shut down in March 2015.

Prof. Mariam played a central advocacy role in the passage of H.R. 2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007)  in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007. Prof. Mariam also practices in the areas of criminal defense and civil litigation. In 1998, he argued a major case in the California Supreme Court involving the right against self-incrimination in People v. Peevy, 17 Cal. 4th 1184, cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1042 (1998)  which helped clarify longstanding Miranda rights issues in California criminal procedure. For several years, Prof. Mariam had a weekly public channel public affairs television show in Southern California called “In the Public Interest”. Prof. Mariam received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1984, and his J.D. from the University of Maryland in 1988.

A Shocking Report on the Pervasive Use of Torture by Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)

ESAT News in Brief Thur 23 Mar 2017

Torture in Ethiopia: The Countenanced Crime!!! – by Yonas Mebrahtu

By Bill Wiatrak

Emperor Menelik Photo

I KNOW ALL THE SCAMS. I see them coming a mile away and am often amused that people fall for them in their travels. There’s a million of them, but they’re all centered around separating a tourist from his money. I’d been taken years ago in Thailand in a gemstone con and have made a point since then to distrust most any stranger I meet. There’ve been a dozen attempts to trick me over the years, with most going south for the scammers.

I’d had an amazing first day in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. I was sitting with some locals in a corrugated metal shack in the back of a ramshackle shop where women were making injera, a flatbread that’s a local staple. We were drinking coffee and talking about how it is to live in Ethiopia, deep in our ninth bag of chat, a mild stimulant leaf that is slowly chewed on the side of your mouth with a handful of peanuts. As we sipped down the last drop of coffee and tossed away the empty stalks, a bill was placed in front of me. It was for nearly $100. A hundred American dollars for some Ethiopian coffee and a few bags of leaves? It couldn’t have cost more than $10 to buy something like this in a poverty-stricken country. I had to laugh; I’d never seen the scam coming.

I had just arrived in Addis Ababa and did what I normally do when I don’t want to embark on a lot of research: look on Trip Advisor and see what all the tourists like the most. It was the Red Terror Martyrs’ Memorial Museum. Catchy name; sounded fun. I decided I would go to the Red Martyrs Museum and then walk from there to some of the other sights.

The Martyrs’ museum was very dimly lit and mostly a collection of enlarged photos, guns, and clothing from the Russian-backed military coup in the 1970s that wiped out over half a million people. It was a little difficult to navigate because of bad or no translations on many exhibits, but the pictures told their own tales of the hundreds of victims, starving children, dead animals and other atrocities that occurred following the deposition of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. The most photographed room contains a couple of walls of glass cases filled with human skulls and other skeleton parts. Why human beings are so fascinated with seeing dead people is beyond me, but I was snapping away with everyone else.

I decided to make my way to the Mausoleum of Menelik II, now also a museum, and started to cross the road when I was approached by two 20-something men commenting about my cowboy hat and asking where my horse was. As a Texan, I get that a lot, so I always point behind them, they look, and then I laugh as the joke is on them. They continued talking to me and didn’t seem threatening or like they wanted anything, so I just went with it. I was told that it was a holiday and that they weren’t busy with school so they’d walk with me. We talked about Ethiopia, music, drugs, Bob Marley…the normal stuff 20-year-olds like to converse about. They spoke pretty good English, so I let them do some camera intros for my video series. We arrived at the museum, took off our shoes, and entered what looked to be a church.

It was a church—the Ta’eka Negest (Resting Place of Kings) Ba’eta Le Mariam Monastery to be exact. Women clothed in white with scarves lined the halls burning incense and chanting. There was almost a Buddhist feel to it, or possibly Turkish with carpets piled the floor, and the smell of smoke and myrrh surrounded us. We entered the main chapel with its ceiling paintings featuring camels and men with umbrellas. I was asked if I’d like to see the underground tombs. Of course I would!

The guide rolled back one of the carpets and pulled up a trap door. No one would have ever guessed that there was something below. At the bottom of the stairs were three giant marble tombs: those of Menelik II, his wife and his daughter. Menelik, who reigned from 1889 until his death in 1913, is considered to be the father of Ethiopia—the equivalent of our George Washington, if not greater. He modernized the country, united various tribes throughout the nation which had previously warred with each other, successfully defended Ethiopia’s independence in a war with Italy, and is widely regarded to have restored the ancient kingdom’s power. Even George didn’t do that.

When my new friends walked back up the stairs, I thought they were heading out for a smoke break—but when I walked outside the church, they were nowhere to be found. Maybe they were scammers and had seen my small wad of bills that I purposely kept in a different place than my wallet. Maybe there was a family emergency. As I looked around, I heard a strange grunting found behind me. I looked to see a giant tortoise, as big as a Galapagos turtle, making his way across the lawn. The source of the noise was two more of the creatures locked in conjugal embrace. The male was on top and was obviously enjoying himself. The female maybe not so much. She had her head inside the shell, perhaps embarrassed about the public display. I counted half a dozen more of the giant tortoises and, figuring my friends had left, moved on.

I started walking toward what I thought was the famed Holy Trinity Cathedral and ended up in a few back alleyways full of Ethiopian Orthodox devotees. Eventually I had enough of the rocky paths and I hailed a taxi to take me to the National Museum of Ethiopia, the current resting place of Lucy, the world’s oldest and most famous and humanoid skeleton. As I walked toward the entrance, my friends suddenly reappeared. By their account I had exited through the back of the church and missed them completely. The museum was three levels of dusty glass cabinets with some interesting clothing and furniture of former rulers, some ceramics and mediocre art work.

Lucy was found on the lower level, inside a glass display case housing bones considerably smaller than any modern-day person. The tiny Australopithecus skeleton is often considered the missing link—evidence to support that humans evolved from apes. It was quite a leap of faith in my opinion, and a little disappointing compared to seeing a T. Rex or mastodon skeleton.

After we left, my friends handed me a Coke they’d bought for me. Rule No. 1: Never take a drink from a stranger that has been opened or you haven’t seen prepared. There was clearly a broken seal and two inches of soft drink missing. I didn’t want to wake up the next day with no money and a missing kidney, so I passed.

They insisted, however, on showing me the old train station which hadn’t worked in years and some weed-covered statues. The sidewalk was full of deals being made on skinny religious candles and bright red umbrellas. I was visiting during the Ethiopian Orthodox Holy Lent fast, which lasts 55 days; this means many Ethiopians eat strictly vegan meals, and not until 3 p.m. It’s enough of a lifestyle during the lead-up to Easter that most restaurant menus have a fasting or non-fasting section to choose from.

We ended up at a little ramshackle spot where my friends ordered two meals: one fasting version, the other with lamb. It turns out one was Christian and two weeks into his fast. The other was, in his words, a part-time Muslim who only drank beer when everyone else was having one. It was every man for himself as we scooped up the meat and vegetables with the hunks of spongy, sour injera. There are no forks, spoons or napkins—injera does it all.

Injera, which is only made by women, is a big deal here—and not just because it functions as every eating utensil. It’s also consumed at each meal, including breakfast. No one seems to ever tire of it and, as far as I know, there’s no one else in the world that eats it other than Ethiopians and Eritreans. It’s made of an incredibly nutritious grass called teff, which is grown only in this part of the world and was one of the first plants to be domesticated, around 6,000 years ago. As the women continued to work, some Cokes appeared, some coffee, some bottled water and the real reason we had stopped, some bags of chat.

I must admit, it was pretty good for such a dive, and the cold Ethiopian beer took off the edge. After eating, we walked to a back alleyway and then down what seemed to be a dead-end dirt road between shacks. There, at the end of the road, was a room with wooden stools and plastic bags concealing the corrugated metal material that made up the walls. It was a kitchen of sorts, with three women making giant, 24-inch injeras and stacking them in piles to sell to restaurants and individuals.

Chat, also called khat, is a mildly narcotic leaf that is chewed socially by the people that live on the Horn of Africa. You pluck a few leaves, fold them into a small packet and chew them on the side of your mouth with a small handful of peanuts to cut the bitterness. It’s not terribly exciting and takes a while to feel a buzz, but after a while you sort of feel like you’ve taken a Ritalin.

I noticed a bit of uneasiness as my hosts took turns leaving and coming back. They had been very friendly, but suddenly seemed troubled. They started explaining how they had been sleeping in a church because they couldn’t pay their rent and that the place where they had been staying had all their possessions. Bottom line: They wanted a loan and would pay me back when I returned to Addis. They wanted about $150 to fix everything. That was never going to happen. Were they telling the truth? Who knows? I had had a wonderful day with them, they had paid for my lunch, transport and spent hours of their day hanging out with me. I could part with $50 and just consider it the price of my tour. But no, they needed it all. I wasn’t budging because I wasn’t getting scammed. This was on my terms, not theirs. And then the bill came.

I looked at the bill and had two reactions. First, shock. Second, I had to laugh. They were running two scams on me and I’d never seen the second one coming. It was a variation of the famous Chinese Tea House Scam—but with chat instead of tea.

In the Chinese tea house scam, you’re approached by two pretty Chinese girls in a place like Tiananmen Square who are students and wish to practice English. They engage you, entertain you, and invite you for tea. You don’t see the prices until you’ve ordered and they have snuck out the back. Your tea ends up being as much as $100 a cup—and you have to pay for theirs as well. There’s usually a big guy there to make sure you settle your bill; either way, you’re outnumbered, so you pay up.

Here, there were no pretty girls, no tea, no big guy—just overpriced chat leaves. They had ordered nine bags as well as drinks and the tab had soared to over $100! For leaves! No one in Ethiopia spends that kind of money for anything, least of all chat. The whole reason anyone does chat at all is that they can’t afford other types of stimulants like alcohol, hookahs or drugs. My friends had also forgotten to mention that I’d be the one paying as they kept ordering things. When the bill came, they seemed as surprised as I was. They were extra-special-reserved-for-special-occasions leaves they explained. Not those cheap ones everyone else chews. Oh … yeah; that makes sense.

Arguing in these cases rarely does any good. The best strategy is to just not have enough money. I purposely had a pocket of “small money”—about $25 in birr—and everything else tucked away. I pulled it out, pocketed $4 for the taxi to my hotel, and gave the owner the rest while explaining to him that though I appreciated the fine acting on everyone’s part, this was the last of my birr and I had no intentions of walking home. It was apparently enough to cover expenses, but not enough to pay off the men who’d brought me here. The scammers work with the owner, you see, and then get a large portion of the “dumb tax” the victim has paid.

I explained to them that I had a wonderful time, and that I wasn’t mad, but their hopes of getting the $50 from me was forever lost, because I no longer trusted them. They followed me, insisting on their innocence. I walked back to the main square where I’d met them and when they realized I was about to leave, that’s when they decided to come clean. They apologized and said they had mixed feelings about scamming me, because I had been resistant to the normal dialogue they used and seemed to be a little more aware than most of their victims. They’d really liked being in my videos and were sorry about everything, but that is just how they made a living.

Honesty goes a long way with me (or at least improv scamming) and I was extremely curious to learn how all of this worked anyway, so I came up with a proposal: If they wanted to meet for dinner, I’d buy and then give them some money in exchange for their secrets. I felt like I was paying off an FBI informant. They reluctantly agreed.

At 7 p.m., they were skulking outside my hotel. Ethiopians are very polite, well-mannered and typically reluctant to engage in confrontations. We walked down the street to a tourist restaurant and I could feel their nervousness increase. A meal at such a place is very reasonable by Western standards but expensive for locals. We sat down and ordered some beer, some local spirits and a giant plate of injera and stews to share. After they’d had a few drinks, they spilled their guts.

I felt like a priest at confession as they explained the steps they use to build confidence with a potential victim. The first scam involves taking the mark to a music store where they sell bootlegged CDs for 10 times what it costs them. Okay, no big deal. That’s how the music industry works everywhere else. Then there’s the travel agent referral, wherein they take you to one of their friends who helps you book some things for a premium price and then shares the proceeds. They confessed that when we’d gotten separated at the church, they were running to borrow some birr. Otherwise they couldn’t pay for lunch and museum entry, and then they’d never get me to the last place so they might finally make some money.

I had asked them about chat when we had first met, so they thought I might know their plan and just be toying with them. After all, most tourists have never heard of it. Later, when I paid the owner, they explained that what I paid was almost exactly the real price before they marked it up; the fact that I pulled out the right amount made them think I was playing them, not the other way around. They shared a few stories about other people they’d conned and how much money they usually got. On a good day, they could usually make $100 to $150 between the two of them if the tourist was compliant. With me, they had lost money because they paid for everything.

The whole experience was very entertaining, especially since I had come out ahead. Hanging out with suspicious con men is like visiting a casino. You expect to lose money and you justify it as entertainment, but this time I hadn’t lost. I was only out $20 for the whole day and it had been chock-full of great places and fun times with my grifter friends. They had bought lunch, paid for transport, shown me the sights and that was worth something!

I gave them $60 for their time and true confessions and paid for our dinner. It was a good day for me and although it wasn’t quite they’d been hoping for, we bonded in spite of it all—no one here really lost out. And that’s as happy an ending as you can expect in Ethiopia.

 Source – https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2017/3/23/ethiopia-chat-scam

ESAT Radio 24 Tue Mar 2017

hoto: Kirby Lee – USA TODAY Sport

The IAAF World Cross Country Championships are in Kampala, Uganda, beginning with the mixed relay at 7:00 AM Central on Sunday. We preview the senior races below. Here are the IAAF previews of the men’s and women’s junior races.

Women’s Senior Race (10K, 8:55 AM ET Sunday)

How much have Kenya and Ethiopia historically dominated this race? ​Every ​individual gold since 2008, every team gold since 1995.  Ethiopia is the defending team champion, and has 11 titles to Kenya’s eight.

Will a Kenyan or Ethiopian win? Yes, though there is a small chance that the Kenyan-born Bahraini Ruth Jebet wins in an upset. Jebet is not a particularly credentialed cross country runner–according to Tilastopaja, she hasn’t won any of the nine cross country races that she’s competed in since 2013. But Jebet’s transformation in 2016 was so dramatic that you can’t rule her out in any race. While still 19 (she turned 20 in November), Jebet cut 28 seconds from her steeple PB and six seconds from the world record. As she enters her twenties, Jebet will probably only get better at longer distances, and an 8:52 female steeplechaser can’t be counted out from any cross country race.

But probably, one of the six women competing for the Kenyan team will win. More on them right below. If it isn’t a Kenyan or a Bahraini Kenyan, though, it’ll likely be Senbere Teferi. The 21-year-old Ethiopian has been dialed into cross country since the track season ended. After finishing fifth in the Olympic 5K–making her the top finisher from that race entered in this one–Teferi ran a 14:29 5K, a 52:51 ten-mile, then nothing but cross country races since November. She handily beat Jebet in an XC 8.2K in Seville in January, and followed that up with an 11-second win over Jebet in a 6.6K a week later. She also beat Tirop (by four seconds) and Aprot (by ten) in an 8K in Spain in mid-November, though that was four months ago at this point.

​Will Kenya or Ethiopia win the team race? ​​Let’s go a step further than that–Kenya will win the team race. Their team is incredible. Look at their credentials:

-Agnes Tirop, defending world cross country champion
-Faith Kipyegon, 1500m Olympic champion and 14:31 5K runner.
-Alice Aprot, top finisher (fourth) at the Olympic 10K that’s entered in this race. (Reminder: this is the first year that the race is switching to a 10K.)
-Hyven Kiyeng, steeplechase Olympic silver medalist
-Irene Cheptai and Lilian Rengeruk (2014 3K world junior silver medalist), beat all of those women at the Kenyan champs last month

And 800m Olympic bronze medalist Margaret Wambui is also listed on their roster, though she is likely an alternate. Only six women start the race and those were the top six at the Kenyan trials.

That’s a dream team! No one is beating that.

How will the Americans do? ​They won’t contend for a team medal. If any of them is to contend for an individual medal, it will be Aliphine Tuliamuk, who won the U.S. cross country championships by a whopping 48 seconds. The last American woman to win an individual medal at world cross was Shalane Flanagan in 2011. But we’re sending a fun group over to Uganda! Read all about them.  And watch Stephanie Bruce and Scott Fauble do one of their final workouts before leaving the country for the race:​

Men’s Senior Race (10K, 9:55 AM ET Sunday)

How much have Kenya and Ethiopia historically dominated this race? Someone from one of those two countries has won every gold since 2008, and all but three since 1992. Those two countries have won every team gold since 1981. Kenya has 24, while Ethiopia has nine–but the last two. The new biennial format means that Kenya hasn’t won since 2011.

Will a Kenyan or Ethiopian ​win? ​Yes. Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya) is the defending champion and one of the best long-distance runners in the world. The 24-year-old won half marathon world titles in 2014 and 2016, and was second in the world over 10K behind Mo Farah in 2015. He had a rough end to 2016, though, only racing once between Prefontaine and the end of the year. That race was an 11th-place finish in the Olympic 10K.

If Kamworor isn’t in his late-2015/early-2016 form, then the guy to watch has to be Leonard Barsoton, who won the Kenyan cross country championship on February 18. That isn’t necessarily a good sign–the winner of the Kenyan trials hasn’t been the top Kenyan finisher at world cross in ten years. But it’s clear Barsoton is prioritizing this race. He’s never run insanely fast on the track–his PRs are 13:16 and 27:20–and he doesn’t pursue the lucrative marathons and half marathons that most of his competitors do. Most of his road results are from ekidens in Japan, where he trains and lives.

Barsoton was fifth in China two years ago after finishing third at the Kenyan trials. By definition of beating the rest of the Kenyans, he’s among the favorites. The same is true for Ethiopia’s Getaneh Molla, who won his country’s trials. Even though Molla has won Ethiopian nationals four times–twice in cross, twice in the 5K, per the IAAF–this is his first time wearing the Ethiopian jersey. It could be a coming-out party for Molla on Sunday.

Will Kenya or Ethiopia win the team race? ​Almost definitely, though Gordon is predicting Bahrain wins. It’s not a trash take, as five of their six entrants–Albert Rop, El-Hassan Elabbassi, Abraham Cheroben, Hassan Chani, and Birhanu Balew–made the Olympics this summer in the 10K and 5K. Chani beat Leonard Korir and Shadrack Kipchirchir in the 10K, and Rop and Balew made the 5K final, where they finished seventh and ninth.

That would break a 36-year Ethiopian/Kenyan duopoly, though, so don’t bet on it. (Also: if you can find betting odds for Sunday’s race, please email me.)

​How will the Americans do? ​Pretty well, probably! Medaling will be hard, but if a team led by Chris Derrick or Ben True could get silver on a great day in 2013, a team led by Leonard Korir and Sam Chelanga can do it this year. It will be a true team out there, as Kenyan-Americans Korir, Chelanga, Shadrack Kipchirchir, and Stanley Kebenei are all training partners in Scott Simmons’s American Distance Project. They’ll be joined by Scott Fauble and Trevor Dunbar in Kampala.​

No American man has medalled in 35 years. But Korir has been one of the best runners in the world this year, outkicking Feyisa Lilesa in Houston and Callum Hawkins in Edinburgh for major wins. If he can hang around the top five for six miles, he has a shot at a medal.

​What has been the best burn in pre-race coverage​​? ​That comes from Kenyan newspaper editor Elias Makori, who says that “Kenyans welcome the ‘export’ of stars to countries such as Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey and the US, who have injected some iota of competitiveness outside the Kenya against Ethiopia duel. These are seen as Kenya ‘B’, Kenya ‘C’ sides.”