Seyoum Teshome is a professor at a university in Ethiopia and writes to fight the spread of fear that has engulfed his country as a result of an increasingly repressive administration. In September 2016, Seyoum was arrested and charged with incitement to violence against the state. In this blog, he describes the treatment of prisoners in one of Ethiopia’s rehabilitation centres, where he was detained further to his arrest.

Thousands of Ethiopians like Seyoum have been arrested and tortured in rehabilitation centres since the state of emergency was imposed in October 2016.

Seyoum Teshome

It was around 6:30 am on 30 September 2016 when I was rudely awakened by loud knocks on my door and someone shouting out my name. Peeping through the keyhole, I saw around 10 local police officers. Some of them were staring at the door while others were guarding the corridor.

I said to myself, “Yap! At last…here you go, they have come for you!”

One of them asked if I was Mr Seyoum Teshome to which I replied in the affirmative. They said they wanted to talk to me for a moment, so I opened the door. They showed me a court warrant which gave them permission to search my house. The warrant indicated that I had illegal weapons and pamphlets to incite violence against the government.

Accused without evidence

After searching my entire house and despite finding no signs of the said items, they arrested and took me to a local police station. They also carried off my laptop, smartphone, notebooks and some papers. Confident that they hadn’t found the items mentioned in the court warrant, I was certain of my release. However, three hours later, I found myself being interrogated by a local public prosecutor and two police investigators. The interrogation eventually led to the commencement of a legal charge.

I was scheduled to sit a PhD entry exam on 2 October 2017 at Addis Ababa University, something I had been working towards for a very long time. Throughout the interrogation, my pleas for the case to be hastened so that I wouldn’t miss the rare opportunity to pursue a PhD course fell on deaf ears. My colleagues had provided a car and allowance fee for a police officer to go with me to the university so that I could sit the exam. This is a standard procedure. Yet on that day, they were not willing to lend me a hand. I was stuck in pre-trial detention due to Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and missed my chance.

Little did I know that, in just 12 hours, I would be the state’s guest for merely expressing my opinion.

The day before my arrest, I had given an interview to Deutche Welle-Amharic radio station about the nation-wide teachers meeting where I commented that, in Ethiopia, expressing one’s own opinion could lead to arrest, exile or possibly death. Little did I know that, in just 12 hours, I would be the state’s guest for merely expressing my opinion.

On 3 October 2016, I was presented in court. I was accused of writing articles and posts on social media sites aiming to incite violence against the government. In addition to the two notebooks and papers they had taken from my house, the investigator had also printed 61 pages of the 58 articles I posted on the Horn Affairs website that year. In total, they brought more than 200 pages of written and printed writings as evidence to support their allegations. I denied all the charges.

Another court session was scheduled in 10 days to allow the police to conclude their investigations. The 10 days lapsed and the police requested an additional seven days to complete their investigations on me while denying me bail.

On 20 October 2016, a jury found there was no evidence to support the police department’s claims. I thought the matter was over but I was immediately accused of contravening the State of Emergency that had been declared on 9 October 2017. A piece of paper with some writing on it was presented as evidence to support the charge.

Barely survived

The Police initially took me to Tolay Military Camp and later transferred me, together with others arrested, to Woliso Woreda Police Station in central Ethiopia, outside Addis Ababa.  We were shoved into a 3×5 metres squared detention room where we joined more than 45 other people already there. It was very hard to find a place to sit. I survived suffocation by breathing through a hole beneath the door. After that terrible night, I was taken back to Tolay where I stayed until 21 December, 2016 – 56 days after my arrest.

Access to food in the first 20 days was limited. We were made to walk while crouching with our hands behind our heads. We also walked barefoot to and from the toilet and dining areas. Due to this treatment, three of my fellow detainees suffered cardiac arrest. I don’t know whether or not they survived. I also heard that a woman’s pregnancy was terminated.

Every day, a police officer came to our room and called out the names of detainees to be taken for the so-called “investigation.”  When they returned, the detainees had downtrodden faces and horrible wounds on their backs and legs.  Waiting for one’s name to be called was agony.

It took eight days before my name was finally called. I sat in front of five investigators flanked on either side by two others. While I was being interrogated, detainees in another room were being beaten. I could hear them crying and begging their torturers to stop.

Moved by what I had witnessed, I decided to secretly gather the detainees’ information. It didn’t take long before I was discovered by the authorities. On a hot afternoon, they came to my room and called my name. A group of investigators ruthlessly began beating me, to the point where I fainted three times. The beatings were unbearable so I finally confessed to collecting information in the camp. The chief investigator was then called in so that I could also confess to him.

Undeterred

By then, I had gained enough strength to renounce my earlier confessions which angered   the Chief Investigator very much. He drew a pistol and threatened to kill me for making a fool out of them. I stretched turned around and spread my arms wide.  Then, I said, “Fear of death doesn’t make me confess against myself! Go ahead, shoot!”

Amazingly, the commander ordered me to go to my room and take a shower. I didn’t believe it. I still don’t. I quickly ran off. I was released a little over two weeks later.

Though I finally left Tolay, those memories and emotions are still with me. Though I am still afraid of another arbitrary arrest and being sent back to prison, what I fear more is the totalitarian state that complete denies freedom. . While there, I told myself that, if I made it out, I would raise international awareness on the government’s outrageous treatment of prisoners.

I will continue to do so as long as Tolay exists.

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Professor Haile Larebo’s Wife Mrs Eskedar Awelachew talks about the sad situation her family faces

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Does the famous Ark of the Covenant actually reside in Africa?

By Bill Wiatrak 3/29/2017

The Chapel of the Tablet in Aksum, Ethiopia claims to be the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant.
IMAGE: FLICKR / ALAN DAVEY

SOME OF MY FRIENDS CHIDE ME ABOUT MY WORLD TRAVELS and jokingly refer to me as Indiana Jones. Maybe it’s the hat I wear when I’m traveling, my bizarre adventures or the seemingly near-death experiences I always seem to escape from unscathed. If you saw Raiders of the Lost Ark, you probably know Indiana Jones had to journey across the world to get near the Ark of the Covenant, and still never really saw it. Well, that’s now one more thing we have in common!

Ethiopians claim that the ark was never lost, as is believed by most historians, but has been in their country for centuries. Whether that’s true or not is a matter of great speculation. According to legend and many historical records, the Queen of Sheba journeyed from Ethiopia to Jerusalem where she met King Solomon. One thing led to another and after Sheba returned to her country, their son Menelik I was born.

Menelik traveled back to Jerusalem to meet his father some years later and was accompanied on his return journey to Ethiopia by some Israelite “first born” escorts. Unbeknownst to Menelik, his traveling companions “borrowed” the sacred Ark of the Covenant from Solomon’s temple. Menelik’s initial anger transformed into a resolution that this was all a part of God’s plan, or otherwise such a thing would not have been possible.

Ethiopians claim that for thousands of years, the ancient vessel containing the “First Edition” of the Ten Commandments has been carefully guarded by the descendants of Menelik. The successive kings were all descended from the same lineage of Solomon and Menelik until the last king of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, who met his demise at the hands of the Derg in 1975. The capital of the kingdom has moved to several cities since, and the ark followed—until it was moved to its present location of Aksum in the northern highlands of the country.

No one is allowed to see the ark except for the sole guardian and protector of the holy relic. Even the leader of the Ethiopian church is not allowed admission. One person is appointed to guard the ark and stays within its shrine until his death. Sound familiar? Maybe a little like the Indiana Jones movie where the one knight is guarding the Holy Grail? I’m not saying Steven Spielberg borrowed an idea or two from Ethiopian history, but rather he might have just stolen that whole bit.

So, how do you get close to the ark of the covenant? First, you’ve got to fly to Ethiopia. It’s easier than you think, with a stopover in Germany or Paris and then on to the capital, Addis Ababa. Even though Ethiopia is situated in the most volatile region of the planet, next to countries such as Yemen, Somalia and Eritrea, the country is very stable, the people are extremely peaceful, and Christians make up nearly two-thirds of the population.

That statistic might come as a surprise for many, but Ethiopia was the second country to adopt Christianity and is today one of the most devoutly Christian countries in the world. Many of the ancient temples are still in use and biblical verses painted on goat skins centuries ago are still read by the devout.

You could begin your journey in Bahir Dar, on Lake Tana. It’s an hour flight from Addis or a grueling 10-hour bus ride. Take the plane: Flights with Ethiopian Airlines are relatively inexpensive and much more pleasant than overland travel. Lake Tana is one of the two sources of the Nile, so theoretically, you could get in a boat and sail all the way to the Mediterranean, if not for the borders and dams in your way.

What’s also special about Lake Tana is that the ark was supposedly hidden on one of the islands for 400 years. It was moved hundreds of years ago, but you can visit the monastery island of Tana Qirqos (as long as you’re not a woman) and walk the grounds where the holy object was allegedly kept from would-be marauders. You can hire a boat and visit several of the monasteries on the various islands, see a few hippos, and buy some interesting souvenirs. You won’t see the ark, but you’ll see many stories painted centuries ago adorning the walls that recount biblical and mythological stories from the past.

From Bahir Dar, you fly to Aksum. Aksum is the northernmost city in Ethiopia. It was the center of the Ethiopian kingdom between 100 and 940 A.D. and has several worthwhile places to visit. The monolithic stelae are reminiscent of Egyptian obelisks. You’ll also find a natural pool where Sheba supposedly swam and King Ezana’s tablet, the Ethiopian equivalent of the Rosetta stone.

Taking up the main center of town is St. Mary of Zion, a church built in the 1960s that seems much older. It’s made up of several buildings, the most famous of which never gets visited by anyone. It’s a small chapel surrounded by barbed wire and security. Only one man is allowed in The Chapel of the Tablet and he is not allowed to leave the grounds until his death. And that’s where your journey ends. You’ll never get any closer to the Ark of the Covenant than this, so enjoy!

You can stand in front of the building, take a selfie with the famous chapel, and hope that the Ark doesn’t melt your face like the Nazi bad guy in Indiana Jones. Is it really in there? Who knows? No one will be able to dispute your claim because there is no proof that it’s there and there’s no proof that it’s not there. I suppose if enough Ethiopians believe in it, however, you may as well believe in it too.

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By Aaron Hilf January 30, 2017

Credit: UNM Newsroom
Assistant Professor Terefe Habteyes of UNM’s Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Growing up in rural Ethiopia, in a village with no running water or electricity, University of New Mexico Assistant Professor Terefe Habteyes says he was always fascinated by light. Now, as a faculty member in UNM’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, his research into the interaction between light and material has earned him one of the most celebrated science awards for junior faculty in the nation.

Habteyes is the recipient of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. The accolade is considered to be one of the most competitive and prominent programs in the country and is designed to help early-career faculty get strong starts in their academic careers.

“I was very excited to hear that we were receiving this award,” said Habteyes, who conducts his research at UNM’s Center for High Technology Materials. “This is an extremely important award for me and my research group. Without this support, our work wouldn’t be able to progress and we wouldn’t have the resources to develop these new techniques.”

Habteyes’ proposal, “Near-Field Imaging for Nanoscale Visualization of Exciton-Plasmon Energy Transfer” was awarded $600,000 over five years. The money will help him and his team of graduate and undergraduate researchers continue to develop a new microscopy technique with the potential to revolutionize basic understanding of nanoscale interaction that is relevant for a variety of applications including solar cells, sensing, catalysis, spectroscopy and microscopic imaging.

The CAREER award will also allow Habteyes to reach out into the community and work with local high school students and teachers.

“As part of the NSF proposal, we are going to train one teacher in the first two summers and one student every summer from Highland High School during the duration of the award, teaching them integration and characterization of nanomaterials,” he said. “Then, hopefully, they can take what they learn back to the high school and teach other students.”

Habteyes says the hope is to create a sort of cascading effect, where they can pass knowledge to key people who will then spread that knowledge to more and more people – increasing the number of students interested in science.

Habteyes began as an assistant professor at UNM in 2012 after completing a Ph.D. at the University of Arizona and postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

Near-Field Imaging for Nanoscale Visualization of Exciton-Plasmon Energy Transfer
The project being funded by the NSF CAREER award is aimed at developing a new type of super-resolution microscope capable of imaging nanoscale materials and the energy transfers between different nanomaterials.

For scale, a human hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide, while the materials that Habteyes and his group are working to image can be as small as 5 nanometers – about 20,000 times smaller than a strand of human hair.

The microscope utilizes an extremely sharp probe that serves as an optical antenna to receive and transmit light energy. It is ideally suited for imaging optical effect called localized surface plasmon resonance – where laser light is introduced to metal nanostructures smaller than the wavelength of the light, causing a concentrated electrical field.

“These plasmonic nanoparticles allow us to squeeze light to a very, very small dimension, one or two nanometers,” explained Habteyes. “When other organic and inorganic semiconductor materials are combined with these plasmonic nanoparticles, their interaction with light increases dramatically. The microscope allows us to investigate the interaction between the plasmonic and semiconductor materials by imaging the plasmonic nanostructures and their surface optical properties with spatial resolution on the order of 10 nm or better.”

Having the ability to visualize those nanostructures as well as the interactions happening between the complementary materials will give scientists all over the world a greater understanding of how to improve the interaction of semiconductor materials with light, which is critically important for solar cells, catalysis and spectroscopy applications.

“Our primary goal is to gain a basic understanding of the interaction between plasmonic and semiconductor materials,” he said. “Once we understand that interaction, we can apply that knowledge to different applications. In the case of photovoltaic cells, this basic understanding could lead to dramatic improvement of efficiency.”

Source:unm.edu

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Interview with Ephrem Madebo

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Opposition parties complain that the emergency is being used to clamp down on their members and activities.

The country’s ruling coalition is controlled primarily by the Tigray ethnic group, who accounts for only 6 percent of the population [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]

The widely expected extension comes amid reports of continued violence and anti-government activities in some rural areas.

At least 500 people were killed by security forces during the year of protests, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch group – a figure the government later echoed.

“We still have some anti-peace elements that are active and want to capitalise on disputes that arise among regional states in the country,” Ethiopia’s defence minister, Siraj Fegessa, told MPs when he called on them to approve the extension on Thursday.

“In addition, some leaders of the violent acts that we witnessed before are still at large and are disseminating wrong information to incite violence.”

Opposition parties complain that the emergency powers are being used to clamp down on their members and activities, especially in rural regions far from the capital, Addis Ababa.

The state of emergency, declared on October 9, was a reaction to protests that were especially persistent in the Oromia region. Many members of the Oromo ethnic group say they are marginalised and that they do not have access to political power, something the government denies.

OPINION: The Oromo protests have changed Ethiopia

A wave of anger was triggered by a development scheme for Addis Ababa, which would have seen its boundaries extended into Oromia. Demonstrators saw it as a land grab that would force farmers off their land.

The protests soon spread to the Amhara region in the north, where locals argued that decades-old federal boundaries had cut off many ethnic Amharas from the region.

Crushed to death

Map of Oromia region in Ethiopia [Al Jazeera]

The Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups together make up about 60 percent of Ethiopia’s population.

The country’s ruling coalition, which has been in power for a quarter of a century, is controlled primarily by the Tigray ethnic group, who make up six percent of the population.

Tensions reached an all-time high after a stampede in which at least 52 people were crushed to death fleeing security forces at a protest that grew out of a religious festival in the town of Bishoftu on October 2nd.

In the following days, rioters torched several mostly foreign-owned factories and other buildings that they claimed were built on seized land.

The government, though, blamed rebel groups and foreign-based dissidents for stoking the violence.

The state of emergency initially included curfews, social media blocks, restrictions on opposition party activity and a ban on diplomats traveling more than 40 kilometres outside the capital without approval.

Authorities arrested over 11,000 people during its first month.

Some provisions of the state of emergency were relaxed on March 15th, two weeks prior to Thursday’s announced extension. Arrests and searches without court orders were stopped, and restrictions on radio, television and theatre were dropped.

Protesters run from tear gas being fired by police during Irreecha, the religious festival in Bishoftu where at least 52 people died [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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BY ALEXIA FERNANDEZ•@ALEXIAFEDZ

POSTED ON MARCH 30, 2017

LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 02: Actor Michael J. Fox attends the SHOWTIME And HBO VIP Pre-Fight Party for “Mayweather VS Pacquiao” at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on May 2, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for SHOWTIME)

The Back to the Future icon, who battles the disease, tells AARP The Magazine for their April/May cover story that most days he’ll laugh nonstop at himself, particularly when trying to deliver a cup of coffee to his wife of almost 30 years, Tracy Pollan.

“The truth is that on most days, there comes a point where I literally can’t stop laughing at my own symptoms,” he says.

“Just the other morning I come into the kitchen,” he says. “I pour a cup — a little trouble there. Then I put both hands around the cup. She’s watching. ‘Can I get that for you, dear?’ ‘Nah, I got it!’ Then I begin this trek across the kitchen. It starts off bad. Only gets worse. Hot java’s sloshing onto my hands, onto the floor.”

He continues, “But the thing that makes it hilarious to me is when I think of someone else watching all this and thinking, ‘Poor Michael can’t even get the coffee — it’s so sad!’ ”

Along with facing the difficulties of the disease, Fox, 55, also realized that he had to deal with people’s perception of the condition after he went public with his diagnosis in 1998.

“It was easy for me to tune in to the way other people were looking into my eyes and seeing their own fear reflected back,” he recalls. “I’d assure them that ‘I’m doing great’ — because I was. After a while, the disconnect between the way I felt and the dread people were projecting just seemed, you know, funny.”

After years of coping with Parkinson’s disease, Fox says his visible symptoms are distracting — but “none of them hurt.”

“The only real pain I get is in my feet, which sometimes shuffle and curl up in cramps when I’m sleeping,” he says. “Which is why I keep a very stiff pair of shoes on the floor next to my bed.”

Despite the challenges, he was reminded that he was not alone in his battle when legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease for three decades, called him.

Fox remembers that moment with clarity, saying, “In this raspy, paper-thin voice, he said, ‘Aahhhhh … Michael, now that you’re in it, we’ll win this fight.’”

“What could I say?” adds Fox. “Sitting there alone listening to Muhammad Ali, this giant — I was welling up, almost openly weeping.”

Source – http://people.com

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Public Meeting on the State of Human Rights in Ethiopia with Habtamu Ayalew – Washington DC

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Stratfor

Forecast

• Throughout its history, Ethiopia’s geography has enabled it to consistently assert power beyond its borders, no matter who its leaders have been.
• The loss of direct access to the sea after Eritrea seceded hampered Ethiopia’s economic development; regaining control of that coastline will continue to be part of its long-term strategy.
• The geographic potential for agricultural development, as well as the densely populated Ethiopian Highlands, provide the cornerstones of Ethiopia’s ability to create wealth and wield power in the future.

Analysis

Among its African contemporaries, Ethiopia stands out as one of the few countries that has existed in essentially the same form since antiquity, albeit under different names. Its geographic position at the heart of the Horn of Africa has made it a crossroads for trade, helping it to maintain a continuity that has lasted from ancient times through the colonial era to today. While modern Ethiopia’s interests are much more tightly focused on its core than the far-flung reach its ancient predecessors commanded, its geography still makes it a key player in global trade and regional politics. Although its importance in international trade has diminished with technological advances in transport and a shift away from the resources it provides or conveys, exports are still a focus of its economy.

Ethiopia rose to prominence as a regional empire known as the Kingdom of Aksum in the first century A.D. The kingdom had existed for centuries prior, but it began to flourish thanks to trade between the Roman Empire and ancient India. But its growing wealth and influence wasn’t solely a function of its position along vital coastal trade routes. Rather, the core of present-day Ethiopia, and its historic predecessors, has always been the Ethiopian Highlands. The large protected area of fertile lands and major rivers became the seat of a power that would hold sway in its nearby region and beyond the continent.

Unlike other African empires of old, which in their pre-colonial histories enjoyed similar prominence in trade with Europe but were unable to expand their activities much beyond generating wealth through that trade, the Kingdom of Aksum parlayed its economic success into political power. It emerged as a regional force that established hegemony over significant portions of the continent and extended its reach across the Red Sea. Within Africa, the Kingdom of Aksum captured the Kingdom of Kush, which corresponds more or less with today’s Sudan. In doing so it seized control of trade from the African interior, as well as caravan routes from the Middle East. In a geopolitical sense, overcoming the dominance of powers along the Nile River corridor was no small feat.

By the sixth century, the kingdom was sending its armies beyond Africa. Having adopted Christianity as its official religion, the empire embarked on an expedition against Jewish persecution of Christians in modern-day Yemen. But the rise of Islam in the seventh century led to the economic isolation of the Kingdom of Aksum as its neighbors embraced the new religion. While Aksum remained a center of Christianity, its power waned, and the land now known as Ethiopia has not since managed to reclaim the mantle of a true trade empire.

Steering Clear of Colonialism

Ethiopian power waxed again through its embrace of modernity. During the Middle Ages, Ethiopia (known as Abyssinia) harnessed new technologies — particularly agricultural techniques such as terrace farming and water resource management with dams and cisterns — to help it thrive as a local feudal empire. Ethiopia also attempted to overcome its isolation by interacting closely with foreign powers. In the 16th century, the kingdom’s leaders persuaded Portugal to send its troops to help defeat a Muslim army that had overrun it. In the 19th century, under Emperor Tewodros II, Ethiopia forged an alliance with Great Britain. At the same time, it developed a modern centralized legal and administrative system. The kingdom’s relationship with the British Empire turned sour, however, when Queen Victoria failed to respond to a request for military assistance. Instead, Tewodros II took several British citizens hostage. When a British punitive expedition laid siege to the capital in response, Tewodros II killed himself with a pistol that had been a gift from the queen.

In 1893, Italy attempted to invade Ethiopia from what was then Italian Eritrea. By that time, Ethiopia had fostered a close relationship with another orthodox Christian nation, Russia, which provided it with military training and arms. The threat of invasion also attracted the attention of France and Britain, which both wanted to protect their own colonial interests by thwarting Italy’s expansion. Though they didn’t go so far as to support Ethiopia in battle, they did lend diplomatic aid. But there was another reason for the eventual defeat of the Italian campaign — a development showcasing Ethiopia’s potential for empire. Instead of succumbing to competition with rival African kingdoms and tribes, as Italy had expected, Ethiopia forged a pragmatic alliance, leaving the Italians to face a more significant force than they had expected, and their invasion eventually was beaten back.

With the victory, Ethiopia preserved its status as the sole African power that was never subjected to colonialism. Four decades later, hostilities between Ethiopia and Italy resumed after Italy built a fortress inside Ethiopian territory. This time, Italy won the clash, and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War ended with Italian forces occupying Ethiopia until 1941, when Allied troops drove them out. Emperor Haile Selassie, who had fled into exile when the Italians seized Addis Ababa in 1936, returned to power and continued to modernize the imperial monarchy. Under his rule, however, Ethiopia came to face one of its most significant challenges, and its failure continues to call into question Ethiopia’s true capabilities as a state.

The Critical Loss of Sea Access

In the 1960s, Eritrea — by then a province of Ethiopia — rebelled against rule by Addis Ababa, depriving the country of its entire coastline. This has prevented Ethiopia from having full control over its exports and reviving its historical role as a trade hub. The unpopularity of the war against the Eritrean separatists also eventually led to the emergence of an Ethiopian Marxist movement, which gained the support of the Soviet Union and brought Mengistu Haile Mariam to power after a coup toppled Selassie and ended the imperial monarchy in 1974. It was replaced by the Dergue, the communist committee that ruled the country until 1991, when an alliance of rebel groups brought it down. But the same rebel struggle that defeated the Dergue also led to Eritrea’s independence, and left Ethiopia without direct access to the Red Sea.

These developments transformed Ethiopia into its current political and geographic form. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia continues to exert considerable regional influence, although its lack of coastal access has dampened its economic potential. Ethiopia, however, has retained the ability to shape its region to its own advantage. Ethiopian forces have eliminated any opportunity for Somalia to re-emerge as a threat, as it did in the late 1970s when the two countries fought a war, while keeping Somali instability at bay. Ethiopia has also employed the help of rebel factions in South Sudan and Somalia as a means to limit the expansion of those countries’ influence in East Africa.

Economically, Ethiopia heavily depends on foreign investment, particularly from China and the Gulf states. It has used those funds to develop its infrastructure with an eye toward unlocking even greater potential within the country. Among those projects is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which when completed will provide capacity for power generation to support industry and investment. Transportation has been another focus of the Ethiopian government, and the opening of a railway connecting Addis Ababa with the port city of Djbouti will increase its access to the outside world. Right now, the country’s economy is oriented toward the development of agricultural exports, but infrastructure improvements and a large population should also enable Ethiopia to create a low-end manufacturing base.

To fulfill its potential, Ethiopia will still have to overcome several hurdles, including enduring internal frictions. So far the minority government that came to power after the overthrow of the Dergue has kept low-intensity rebellions at bay, but it has recently had to contend with a wider insurrection by its two largest ethnicities. The Oromo and Amhara revolts in the country have damaged Ethiopia’s reputation as a stable destination for investment, causing trade to decline.

In the longer term, though,  Ethiopia will continue to enjoy the inherent advantages accorded by its geographic position, no matter who rules it. After all, despite its history of political upheaval, it has maintained considerable strength and resilience, especially compared with its East African neighbors.

Stratfor provides global awareness and guidance to individuals, governments and businesses around the world. We use a unique, intel-based approach to analyze world affairs.

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Public Meeting on the State of Human Rights in Ethiopia with Habtamu Ayalew – Washington DC

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Note: Ethiopia is a current non-permanent member of UN security council

and a member of UN human rights council 

VOA Interview: Part-1 (23 March 2017) + Part-2 (25 March 2017):

Habtamu Ayalew: Former spokesman of Andenet Party (Ethiopia)

VOA Introducer, Alula Kebede: Today’s guest for democracy in action program is Mr. Habtamu Ayalew, former spokesperson of the opposition, Andenet Party (unity party) in Ethiopia.  Mr. Habtamu was subjected to two years of imprisonment, waiting for trial after being accused of terrorism by the regime.  He says his health crisis is the result of the inhumane treatment, torture and extreme abuse he endured while in prison.  Based on his discussions, not only do the harsh and cruel torture techniques on prisoners result in health crisis, but also the deaths of many prisoners. He explains how he and others have suffered in prison under the current TPLF regime.

Prior to broadcasting the program, Solomon Kifle (VOA program producer and interviewer) requests parents to exclude children from listening to this gruesome and extremely shocking torture story.

Ato Habtamu starts his interview by saying you know In Ethiopia under the current regime if you ask or advocate for democratic rights, freedom and equality, your fate is one of the following 1. You End up in prison 2. You get killed or 3. You end up as a refugee in another country

Once I was taken to the central prison (Maekelawi in Amharic) I was subjected to excessive torture that caused me physical and psychological trauma.  Extreme physical and mental scar have been inflicted on me by the regime.

Question-1: Were there times when you were subjected to solitary confinement in a dark room

Answer: The central prison has eight sections, sections one to eight

Section seven and eight are by far the most atrocious.  Section eight is built underground with no windows and natural light so it is complete darkness. It is also extremely cold in there.  It has four cells; the cells can sometimes be filled with cold water to make you even colder.  Furthermore, the cells are standing or sleeping cells so if you stand you have no room to stretch hands and legs and if you sleep on one side you have no room to change positions.

The second section is section seven where I spent most of the four months when I was at central prison.  Here the cells are very small but they purposely stuff people over capacity forcing you to basically pile on one another. The cell is right between two toilet rooms called “tawla” and “Siberia” toilet rooms, both toilets have intolerable stench, and below the cells a built-in big water tank.  Early on we were like thirteen to fifteen in one cell then after a while they took some people out and five of us remained.

Question-2: We hear the major problem in Ethiopian prisons being toilet deprivation.   How many times a day, were you allowed to use toilet rooms with in a day.

Answer: In my four months in Siberia, we could use toilets two times in twenty-four hours. One was very early in the morning at 6:00 AM then the next one was at 6:00 PM. Whether you are ready or not that is your only chance and you must train your body to urinate and excrete with in assigned time.  There were three toilets, and despite how many people are in the cell, you are given fixed time as a group. If you are ten you are given ten minutes which means each person has an average of say one minute to relieve himself. You have no chance to go to toilet for another twelve hours, between those hours you are back into an extremely cold and very dark cell, the only cloth you have is the one you came to prison with, you are not given any additional cloth.

As we are deprived of toilet use we were allowed a one-liter plastic bottle for emergency purposes.  Using the bottle, we are always mindful not to fill it up, if that happens you are in big trouble and most of the time you must force yourself to hold it until your assigned toilet time and that is extremely painful.  Because of that your bladder could be out of use very easily, so developing a bladder issue is very common.  In addition to getting interrogated and being subjected to different torture techniques daily, I had to always use my plastic bottle very carefully to urinate and hold on to my urine.  Thus, I have suffered excruciating pain and damage to my bladder.

The only other time you get out of the cell is when they take you out for interrogation. Even then you will be taken through a very dark tunnel.  When you are interrogated, unless you tell them what they want you to say they have several heinous and extremely harsh techniques to make you suffer.

Question-3: In your opinion, among all the horrible torture techniques used on you can you describe one to three that are the most extreme.

Answer: It is difficult for me or anyone else to understand the level of cruelty practiced in that place.

(a) Crucifixion Room: They have a room where they have a hanger to crucify you like Jesus Christ.  Whenever one of us are taken for interrogation the first question posed to you when you come back to the cell is, were you crucified?

(b) Forearm Hanger: They also have a room with a setup where you are hanged by your forearms.  Then a two-liter plastic bag filled with water will be tied to your testicles. I do know people who had to endure that kind of torture and have suffered complete testicular damage.  Due to privacy reasons, I will not name those guys but I wouldn’t mind discussing names and addresses of those people who suffered such inhumane treatment to those who are interested in collecting evidence.

(c) Swollen testicles: Another technique they use for interrogation is where the interrogator sits directly in front of you. Your legs are cuffed and your hands are cuffed behind then they tie strings on your testicles and pull the strings and due to the intolerable pain, you will be forced to lean towards the interrogator.  At that time, they will hit you hard with a rubber/wood baton or copper rods and push you back.  Then, they will ask you to admit you are collaborating with a group, will ask you confess to anything they want.  Due to the above-mentioned torture techniques, some people end up with swollen testicles, then walking or sleeping, any movement including closing your legs becomes extreme painful, thus people scream all day and night.

(d) Making You Unconscious: There is a small and very cold instrument they put in the middle of your head they kind of slap you with it from the back at which point you completely lose consciousness. If you are lucky to wake up, you will not remember what is done to you or things you have said.  You will have no recollection whatsoever and takes a long time to recover, there are some people who never had a chance to wake up.

(e) Forcing You to Urinate on yourself: They also do finger or sharp pinching on your kidneys on the left and right side to make you urinate on yourself.

(f) Interrogators urinate and defecate on prisoners: When some people were put under control prior to coming to the central prison, their face is completely covered and they were taken to an unknown location. This happened to some of the guys, they were tied to a chair and left in a dark room and interrogators urinate and defecate on them from top. The place is filled with urine and feces and has unbearable stench.  They put protective clothing including masks to protect themselves but they humiliate and mentally and physically torture you.  Those guys were then asked to sign statements prepared by the interrogators after which they were brought to the central prison.  Some who were forced to sign after being subjected to that cruel, inhuman and horrifying experience include, Abebe Wergesa, Lenjisa Alemayehu and some people from Gonder area including Angaw Tegegne, Abaye Zewdu, Engida Awayehu.  There are also some air force members that I know who were subjected to that horrible treatment.

There are other horrible and despicable things done to me in that place that my Ethiopian background will not allow me to discuss in public.  Those are taboo for anyone be it Christian or Muslim or any other religion who grew up in my culture.

In addition to all the other happenings I told you, I will give you one example of what people were going through.  One among nine of us accused, was a guy named Bahiru Degu.  Bahiru did bravely testify the situation we were in to the Judge. Here is some of what he said

(a) He told the Judge, the fact that some of us are being tortured and accused of being from Gonder area, we were told by the interrogators that they are from Tigray and they tell us in our face they have and will continue humiliating us because of where we are from.  People from Gonder were told their belts and pants are taken by the regime (which means they have taken their manness).  For people like me they question since when did we Gurages care and get involved in a struggle.  In simple words, we are all being tortured not only as individuals but we are being tortured, humiliated and mistreated as representatives of an ethnic group.

Same thing was done to all of us in prison:

Basically, they want us to believe that all Tigress hate us and they want to install that hatred in our minds and they are doing it with clear purpose. While there are a lot of other despicable things they say, I will not belittle myself by even repeating some of those things.  While I do understand the difference between the ruling party they belong to and the people, the hatred they preach in the name of Tigrians is so difficult to understand and accept, and they clearly challenge your core believes.

He also told the Judge about other horrendous crimes perpetrated on him including

(b) One day he was being tortured so much, his body couldn’t take it, and he couldn’t hold on to his urine anymore which resulted in him urinating on the carpet.  TPLF interrogators made him kneel and lick his urine.

(c) And the fact that they pulled his nails with a rench, and extracted his nails.

When we heard that cruelty from Bahiru in court we were all questioning what an era we are living in?

One thing all of us who went through the central prison experience agree upon is that the TPLF regime in Ethiopia has abused our body with batons beyond belief and used demoralizing and psychologically damaging humiliation techniques to hurt and damage our brains and crush our bones.  The very sad thing to me is the fact that our forefathers have fought to keep the freedom of this country, the country that these criminals are leading now from foreign invaders, however while their grand children deserve to be treated as descendants of hero’s we are being punished by the current government as if we are criminals that don’t belong to that land, and that is a very pathetic situation.

Question-4: How did you come to America

Answer: When I was in the central prison I developed a lot of medical problems, mainly because of toilet deprivation.  There was a point when I was deprived of even the two times a day privilege, after that when I sit in the bathroom I started to notice heavy bleeding.   Then I developed swelling issues, and it became very difficult for me to move around.  Because of all the torture I suffered, I had difficulty moving my legs.  I couldn’t stand properly, thus whenever I had to go to court I needed others to support me as it was impossible for me to walk or stand on my own.

I was then taken to Zewditu Hospital where I gave blood and urine samples for checkup.  Three times my blood and urine test results could not be located, thus I couldn’t get proper treatment.  No one ever took responsibility for misplacing my results.  I then told the judge about my grave health situation and the mysterious disappearance of my hospital tests.  The judge gave me a final chance to submit samples.  That time my results were found, the doctors who then reviewed my results understood I was in grave danger and recommended immediate hospitalization.  However, prison officials denied me that right to be hospitalized, thus my health condition further deteriorated.

When I was released from prison I had a third-grade hemorrhoid, a lot of veins in my leg were damaged.  I also had kidney stones on both sides plus a bladder stone.  I did seek immediate medical treatment in Addis Ababa, doctors did try but they decided they cannot do anything for my hemorrhoid problem so they were only trying to alleviate my pain with painkillers.  I was taking a very strong pain killer, much more than what is normally allowed (was taking 16 ampules injection when the maximum allowed was only 2 ampules).  After going through that treatment over four months the doctors told me the hemorrhoid may be developing to cancer

People back home and some Ethiopians abroad were trying hard for me to get better treatment outside the country.  However, the government repeatedly denied me permission to travel and the court case was still active.  However, at some point they were convinced that I will not make it and they decided to end the court case.  That is when I filed up my request for visa at the US embassy to come here for treatment.

At the same time, Ethiopians in the US were collecting money for me to cover my medical bills.  The US embassy gave me a visa and my wife was also issued a visa as a care giver, as both parents are traveling my daughter was also qualified for a visa.

After we got the visa and ready to travel sitting with our suit cases at the airport I was harassed one more time.  I was sitting with my wife and my daughter at the airport when security forces encircled us, then they took me to a private room with my bags.  They took most of the documents I was carrying.  They kept asking me, how I was able to get a visa.  They seem to be upset and puzzled by the fact that I was able to get a visa, they kept posing the same question.  I explained the fact that did everything through proper channels, and did not do anything illegal.  They wanted to show me they have the power to do anything they desire to me and my family, they wanted me to feel like I don’t belong there, and they wanted me to believe Ethiopia is not my country anymore.

Qustion-5: For people who say well whatever happened, at the end of the day he did ask to go outside the country for treatment and they were nice enough to allow him go out for treatment, what would you say to those people

Answer: Well remember the late Professor Asrat Weldeyes, who said TPLF has labeled the Amhara as its enemy so Amhara’s should organize and fight for their rights.  Because of what he said he was imprisoned and mistreated and abused by the same TPLF regime.  However, when they felt like he will not make it they released him from prison and even gave him permissions to travel, unfortunately they were right and he did not make it. So, the only reason they allowed me to get out is because they taught I will not make it to tell my story.

Let me be clear, I am here now not because the regime wanted me to recover, I am only alive by the grace of God.  God’s plan for me was greater than their evil deeds.

In addition to listening to the cries of so many Ethiopians that love me, God was looking after my young daughter who suffered too much with me and never had a chance to have fun with her dad.  So, I would like to thank all Ethiopians who prayed for me despite their religious affiliations.  Most of all I would like to thank the God I always believe in and my savior Jesus Christ who is the son of God and beloved Merry.  There is no reason for me to thank the regime.

Question-6: How is your health now

Answer: As I said I was treated for a third-grade hemorrhoid. My surgery was successfully done at the colorectal center of George Town medical university.  Based on what I was told I am the first case where they witnessed hemorrhoid developing this far and damaging so many veins. In that regard, I was a unique case for the medical community there. I am referred to another medical center for my legs and will be starting that treatment soon.

I would like to thank all members of the hospital staff and the Ethiopian community who helped me to recover

Question-7: So, after you get better do you have a plan to go back and rejoin the peaceful struggle

Answer: I do believe in the fact that I am born to help and struggle for Ethiopia and Ethiopians. However, my health conditions will determine how I could be of help.  If I go home and end up in prison like Dr. Merera, that will not be helpful to the struggle and I prefer not to do that.  From what I see the peaceful struggle in Ethiopia is in grave danger and we should look in to what we can do to change that.  I will see how I can help my country as soon as I am back on my feet.

Ato Habtamu, I would like to thank you for sharing your story

Thank you

Interview Translated to English: by Ethiopian Task Force NY/NJ

If you have questions on the translation, please contact us with the following e-mail address

ethionynjgibrehail@gmail.com

Link to VOA Amharic Interview

Part-1:

Part-2:

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Interview with Prof Dejenie Alemayehu – SBS Amharic

The post Interview with Prof Dejenie Alemayehu – SBS Amharic appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian news | Breaking News 24/7: Your right to know!.

Author’s Note: Following is my translation of the Amharic interview given by Habtamu Ayalew to the Voice of America (VOA), Amharic Program on March 15, 2017 and broadcast on the same day and on March 18 on “Democracy in Action” program. Translation of speech or text often presents some technical problems. Some of them are lexical-semantic; others are grammatical and syntactic. Even more difficult to translate are rhetorical ones involving metaphors and figures of speech. I have aimed for accuracy and meaning in this translation of Habtamu’s words. I have also confirmed with Habtamu and made necessary clarifications to certain statements he made in the interview to ensure the translation accurately represents his intended sense and meaning. Any errors and inaccuracies in translation are exclusively mine. (Full audio of Amharic interview is available HERE.)

This translation and commentary herein have two purposes. First and foremost, my effort here is  aimed at helping Habtamu Ayalew communicate his story and harrowing experiences of torture, humiliation, degradation and all manners of abuse he suffered at the hands of the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean Peoples’ Liberation Front (T-TPLF) to international English-speaking and –reading audience. I hasten to add that Habtamu’s story of personal (and family) suffering is neither unique nor personal. Habtamu speaks, and speaks convincingly and powerfully on behalf of the tens of thousands of political prisoners held by the T-TPLF whose names are known only to their families (if the families are lucky enough not to be told the usual T-TPLF lie, “No such person is held in this prison.”) and God. I discuss the second reason for my effort here in the “Post Script” following the translated text of the interview below.

Among the thousands of torture victims in the hands of the T-TPLF today include: Journalists Eskinder Nega, Temesgen Desalegn, Woubshet Taye, Anania Sorri (recently released) and  political leaders Dr. Merra Gudina, Andualem Aragie, Bekele Gerba and so many others.  A partial list of T-TPLF political prisoners and torture victims with long prison sentences is available HERE.

Who is Ethiopian Patriot Habtamu Ayalew?

Much can be said of the young, brilliant and dynamic Ethiopia opposition leader Habtamu Ayalew. Suffice it to present his “biography” as stated concisely by Amnesty International:

Habtamu Ayalew, the former spokesman for the opposition Andenet (Unity) party was arrested on July 8, 2014 and charged with terrorism for allegedly collaborating with the opposition Ginbot 7, which the Ethiopian government has designated a terrorist group. He was detained at the notorious Maekelawi and Qilinto Prisons, where he was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment through denial of access to toilet facilities, a situation that led to him to develop excruciatingly painful hemorrhoids.

Habtamu is one of the few T-TPLF prison torture victims to ever leave Ethiopia alive. He barely managed to survive and tell the harrowing accounts of the horrific torture chambers of the T-TPLF’s notorious Maekelawi and Qilinto Prisons. (For a comprehensive report on the infamous torture chambers of Maekelawi Prison,  see Human Rights Watch report, “They Want a Confession”]. In August 2016, a massive fire broke out at Qilinto Prison, a few kilometers south of the capital, where hundreds of political prisoners are held, killing dozens of prisoners. According to a report in Addis Standard, an eyewitness stated that he saw “armed prison guards shooting indiscriminately at prisoners [in Qilinto Prison] [as] most of them were running frantically to extinguish the fire”. Similarly, 0n November 3, 2005, during an alleged disturbance in Kality prison, another prison a few kilometers south of the capital, which lasted 15 minutes, prison guards fired more than 1500 bullets into inmate housing units leaving 17 dead, and 53 severely wounded.)

Voice of America, Amharic Program interview of Habtamu Ayalew first (part 1) broadcast on March 15, 2017 and (part 2) and on March 18 on “Democracy in Action” program.

Segment introduction by VOA Amharic Program radio journalist Alula Kebede: As we noted earlier in the introduction of this broadcast [of Democracy in Action Program], our guest today is Mr. Habtamu Ayalew. He is the former spokesperson for Andenet (Unity) Party. We will be discussing his 2 years in prison in Ethiopia awaiting trial accused of terrorism and listen to his story of the inhumane treatment, suffering and extreme abuse he suffered during his imprisonment and the present health impact of his abuse in prison. He also explains how the inhumane treatment in prison and during interrogation has resulted in the deaths of  many prisoners and caused extreme health consequences for others who survived.

The program producer and presenter [interviewer] Solomon Kifle requests parental cooperation in keeping children away from listening to this broadcast because of the  extremely shocking revelations in the interview.

PART I OF INTERVIEW AIRED ON MARCH 15, 2017

Solomon Kifle: Begins with Mr. Habtamu’s account of how his abuse in prison began.

Habtamu: So in Ethiopia, it has become a badge of citizenship, a sign of the [civically] aware citizen, the distinctive character of the innocent citizen, to be arbitrarily jailed and killed [by the T-TPLF]. For the longest time, from the beginning of EPRDF [“Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front”] rule [the shell front organization for the T-TPLF], it is well known that being jailed has become a badge of citizenship. For me, since I was held at Maekelawi Prison [July 2014] that notorious and ugly place even to the present day, I was subjected to extremely inhumane treatment and abuse which has wounded not only my body but also my conscience [soul]. (For a comprehensive report on the infamous torture chambers of Maekelawi Prions see Human Rights Watch report, “The Want a Confession].)

Solomon Kifle: Was there a time when you were held alone in solitary confinement? For instance, in total darkness?

Habtamu: Well, at Maekelawi, there are eight holding areas [cell blocks] for prisoners. There are empty basements [under the holding areas] that are extremely cold.  And the person the interrogators select to put in there, they first douse him with water and lock him up in the extreme cold. The cold inflicts extreme injury to your body. Among these awful rooms [cells], there are two that are regarded as extremely horrible. They are particularly considered to be extremely horrible compared to the others. One is No. 7 and the second is No. 8. No. 8 has four separate rooms [cells] to hold one person each. It is so small that you can only stand. There is no room to stretch your hands or legs. It is so narrow, except for sleeping on your back, there is no space to turn to one side or the other. [Habtamu told me the cells in no. 8 were “like a coffin”.] These are extremely hard dark rooms. I was held in cell no. 7. It is a cell where there are between 13-15 prisoners held piled up on each other. The two walls of the cell are next to the latrine that smelled awful. I was in that extremely awful cell for all four months at Maekelawi. The basement of cell no. 7 is flooded [a water tanker] with water [as Habtamu told me the water reaches the ceiling of the basement when flooded and wets the floor and the prisoner’s mattresses and mats in cell no. 7.] On the left and on the right of cell no. 7 and 8 are latrines. On one side is a latrine called “Tawla” and on the other side is a latrine called “Siberia”, both of which share the basement that is flooded with water to torture prisoners. (For a description of “Tawla”, “Siberia” and “Sheraton” cell blocks, click on link HERE.) During the whole time I was there, I remember quite a number of prisoners who were placed in the cold basements for up to 15 days. After prisoners are held in the flooded cold basement for a period of time, they were taken away. I and five others were held in cell no. 7 during the 4 months I was held [at Maekalawi].

Solomon Kifle: There are reports that prisoners have problems accessing toilet facilities. Could you explain to me how many times you and the other prisoners were allowed to use the toilet facilities?

Habtamu: Well, when I was at Maekelawi for four months, we were  allowed to use the latrines twice a day, once in the morning and evening. It starts at 6 am. It does not matter if there are 5 prisoners or 10 in one cell. They are allowed a total of only 10 minutes for all of them. There are only three latrines at the prison. In 10 minutes, for instance, in a cell where there are 10 prisoners, each person has one minute, and by chance at most 2 minutes each. So by 6 am, whether nature calls or not, whether you want to use the latrine or not, since there is no chance at all to go to the latrine until 6 pm, the only choice we have is to hurriedly try and relieve ourselves regardless. Other than that, from 6 am to 6 pm, the doors of our cells are locked. There are no windows. No natural light comes in. It is very cold as ice. You sit there covered with whatever clothing you have. Unless you are taken out for interrogation, beaten and returned to the cell, you don’t get out of your cell [all day]. And when they take you out, you are taken through an underground access. So there is no chance for you to see sunlight. If you have to urinate during the day, you use a one-liter water bottle that is called “Highland” in Ethiopia and you urinate in it. If it fills up, there is no place to dump it out. So you try to urinate as little as possible each time so the water bottle does not fill up quickly. So you have to hold your urine all day and that puts your bladder and kidneys out of action. A lot of time, we faced such abuse. For me, after a certain period of time —  without talking about the  beatings I was subjected to — because I was denied the chance to use the latrine, I would collect my excrement in a grocery bag [in my cell]. I would urinate very sparingly in the water bottle. That was all I could use [for toilet services]. That is how I managed during my time at [Maekelawi]. Such was the fate of all prisoners there with me.

Solomon: Let me return to the issue of interrogation, Mr. Habtamu. In your view, could you tell me what you consider to be  extremely brutal torture techniques that were used? If you could tell me about 2 or 3 of them?

Habtamu: Quite awful. Among the most extreme forms of torture [practiced at Maekelawi], something that is impossible to believe, is where a human being [prisoners] is crucified like Jesus Christ. They have crosses [with foot pads and loops at cross ends Habtamu told me] where they hang prisoners. When a prisoner returns from interrogation, the first question we  asked was, “Were you hanged on the cross?” And the prisoner would answer, “Today I was hanged, or today I was not hanged.” That is what he would tell us.

On the cross, the prisoner is stretched arm to arm tied on the cross. As the prisoner hangs, they tie a 2 liter plastic bottle of water to his penis and let it dangle. That causes extreme pain. Because of this, there are many individuals, whose penis has been destroyed. It is out of respect for human decency and their privacy that I have difficulty giving out their names in public. But because it is vitally important, and because it is valuable evidence, I can give their identities, addresses and names to any investigative agency to contact them at any time. I am ready to do that. If there is anyone who wants to meet these people in person, the individuals who suffered these injuries, I am ready to provide information.

It is shocking to the conscience to punish a man in such a way.

[Another technique they use is] the interrogator sits on his chair. The prisoner’s hands are handcuffed, both his hands and legs are handcuffed, and on his penis they tie [a bottle of water]  with cord and pull him to and fro towards the interrogator as they whip him with sticks and electric cables. He is asked, “Tell us, with whom have you been in contact?”

As a result of this, there are many who are no longer able to walk. There were prisoners whose penises were swollen to the extreme and were unable to close their legs. They spent all night crying out in pain.

The interrogators also used a torture technique that makes a prisoner lose all consciousness. They did this to me. They placed a small extremely cold object in the center of my head. They suddenly hit me sharply with the object on my head. At that point, you lose all consciousness and you have no idea what has happened to you. When you regain consciousness after a few minutes or hours, you ask yourself, “What happened to me?” You don’t know what happened. You don’t know if you were unconscious for minutes or hours. You don’t know what they did to you. You don’t know if you talked or did not talk. This is harrowing. You have no understanding what happened to you. If later you get a chance to get medical treatment, if you can recover from your injury, you may be able to understand what happened to you. But there were many prisoners who did not survive and died.

Another technique is they use their fingers to poke you on your kidneys. They force you to urinate on yourself. Especially when they first take you into custody, the faces of those [arresting you] are covered; and they [cover your face] and take you to an unknown secret prison. In the secret prison, the arrested person is tied to a chair and the interrogators relieve themselves [urinate and defecate] on him; they relieve themselves on him. So that they do not smell the urine and excrement, they cover their noses with cloth and mask. Then they conduct torture.  They also write whatever they want and force the detainee to agree and sign a confession. After that, they bring him over to Maekelawi.

Among those who were tortured in this way to make a confession, I can mention individuals like Abebe Ourgessa. Among those who suffered such abuse, I can mention Lengisa Alemayheu. Among those who faced such extreme torture, I can mention those from Gonder such as Angaw Tegne, Agbaw Setegn, Engedaw Wegnew, Abay Zewdu and others like them. They all suffered such torture, we can all remember them.

I remember there were also Air Force officers who suffered similar torture.

These are among some of the most extreme and severe torture techniques used [at Maekelawi]. But there are many other torture techniques they used I cannot talk about because they are extremely difficult [vile] for me to talk about them as an Ethiopian. Human decency prevents me from talking about them. I cannot mention the other [utterly degrading] torture techniques because they are so, so inhuman [bestial]. They are  beyond all human compassion. They are things that are, as an Ethiopian of religious faith, as a  Muslim or Christian, or just as an ordinary Ethiopian, I cannot speak about those shameful and degrading torture techniques that are committed in there [Maekelawi].

Those of us held in the torture chambers [at Maekelaw], those of us who suffered so much, we all agree on one thing. “This regime has inflicted extreme suffering on our bodies and our consciences. And when we consider it, their beatings, their humiliations and insults have crushed our bones. They have been  extremely damaging to our consciences.”

The [Ethiopian] society in which we live, to free this Ethiopia they [T-TPLF] rule today, to make her free, all [Ethiopians] from every corner of Ethiopia, from every part of the country, without limitation, must remember what  [the great traditions and honor] we got from our forefathers. Today, [the rulers of Ethiopia] call us “their children” [children of those oppressors]. That we suffer [for the greatness of all our forefathers today] is indeed tragic. The grievous abuses [this regime] that have been committed will always be remembered in Ethiopian history, even after this regime is long gone.

Solomon: Our heartfelt thanks for the explanation you gave me.

Habtamu: I thank you also.

END OF PART I OF INTERVIEW 

                                                            Part II of Interview aired on March 18, 2017

Solomon: We ended the first part of the interview with a discussion of the extreme interrogation techniques used in [Maekelawi] prison and the damage resulting to prisoners’ health. [Solomon recaps highlights from the first interview.] In the next segment, Mr. Habtamu discussed in detail the extreme torture techniques he said were used on prisoners. 

Habtamu: Without getting into the details of the torture techniques I said I could not talk about because of human decency, I will tell you about Berhanu Degu. [Berhanu] was a co-defendant with us on the 9^th charge. (See April 2016 U.S. Human Rights Report for a list of defendants held with Habatamu.)  Berhanu came before the court and clearly explained the situation [the torture that was taking place at Maekelawi]. To those prisoners who came from Gonder, the interrogators would mention the social group [ethnic  affiliation] of the prisoners. As they tortured us, they said, “We have done things [torture] to you. We have taken not only your belts but also your pants [taken your manhood].”

I was tortured not as an individual but because I belong to a particular ethnic group. I was told I represented not just myself but my ethnic group. I was told, “You came from this ethnic group. That’s why you are being tortured.” I will not mention their other evil deeds they have done because it is not helpful. Even though I could say a lot about that.

Berhanu was told mockingly, “You, the Gurage engaged in ‘struggle’ [freedom fighter]”, as he was being tortured. As I was being beaten, I was told, “We have forced the Amhara to remove his pants.” When they were torturing prisoners from Gonder and Gojam, they were saying these things to us. They did it to create  great hatred in us. The things [they said and did] tested our mental capacity extremely. They bragged to us, “We [Tigreans] are like this.” They named the places of their birth [in Tigray] as [they tortured us]. They were trying to put us all  into a bitter collective hatred. I could not believe [my ears] when they said as they tortured us,  “This is what it means to be Tigrean.” [When you hear this] you question if there are people who are evil, born to torture others. When they commit such cruel acts on you, there is nothing more you expect to see beyond this.

Berhanu also suffered in this way. When he once urinated on the floor from the extreme beating, they forced him to get down to the floor and lick his urine on the floor like an animal. He appeared in court and told the judges this story.

They pulled out the finger nails of Abebe Kase using pincers, completely pulled out all of his toenails and inflicted such suffering on him. It was something that made me question in what time [century] I am living in. These were extremely shocking abuses.

There are others I mentioned earlier, about which I won’t talk about because of human decency. But the torture which inflicted bodily injuries and injuries to the conscience were all very extreme.

Those of us held in the torture chambers, those of us who suffered so much, we agree on one thing. “This regime has inflicted extreme suffering on our bodies and our consciences. And when we consider it, their beatings, their humiliations and insults have crushed our bones. They have been  extremely damaging to our consciences.”

Solomon: Mr. Habtamu, You endured a very extreme situation. How did you come to America? Your wife and daughter are with you?

Habtamu: That is correct. I began suffering extreme illness after I got into Maekelawi as I told you earlier. After I was denied the ten-minute morning and evening toilet allowance in such an extreme way, I suffered rupture and swelling of my [hemorrhoids] veins and bled a great deal.  Due to the [hemorrhoids] swelling, I could not move at all. One of my legs was injured during torture committed on me. I got to the point where I could not even step on my leg. Even when I was going to court, I was being assisted. While in prison, after all this illness, I was taken to Zewditu Hospital 2 or 3 times.

Whenever I went to the hospital, they took blood samples to do blood tests. When I return for my results in the next appointment with prison escort, they say they have lost my test results. Nobody there takes responsibility. I tried like this 3 or 4 times. After that, I figured out that I was never going to get medical care. I informed the court of my situation. For the last time the court ordered and said I have a critical emergency condition and I should be admitted immediately. I have that court order in hand. But the prison officials were not willing to let me be admitted to hospital for care. As a result, I did not get medical care.

My situation worsened and when I got out of prison, I had developed third level hemorrhoids.  My veins in my legs had been extremely damaged. I had stones in both kidneys. I had stones in my bladder too. I was in extreme pain and suffering. After I got out, I tried to get medical care in the country but I was told the stage of my hemorrhoids could not be treated in the country. Tragically, I was given pain killers for four months. I was given extreme doses of a highly addictive drug [pain medication]. The [drug I was taking] most that is allowed to be given to a patient is 2 ampules [single dose prepackaged medication] at a time. I was given 16 ampules overdose [at a time] injection during the four months.

The conclusion of the doctors in the country, those I saw in private and others I consulted, was that they all told me the next stage for my hemorrhoids was that it would turn into cancer. They said my situation is terminal.

In the end, the people of Ethiopia and the Ethiopians living abroad, begging [the T-TPLF] on my behalf, international organizations begging for me, made it possible [for me to leave the country]. The Ethiopian government was not willing to let me get medical care. Finally, when the government was convinced that I was terminal and unlikely to live long, the court case against me was ended. Then I asked the U.S. Embassy for a visa to go to the U.S. for medical care. Ethiopians in America raised money for my medical expenses. The American Embassy gave my wife a visa to come along and help care for me. Since we had no one to take care of our daughter, she also came with us.

Even after we found a way out [of the country], after their immigration office stamped our exit visas, we were sitting in the waiting area [at the airport]. The same security members who never tire of torturing people came to where I was sitting with my wife and daughter and surrounded us. They took me to a separate room. They rummaged through my bags and took whatever documents they wanted. They took video cassettes that were in my luggage from the aircraft cargo hold. In an incredible way, they asked me, “How did you manage to get a visa? Who gave you the visa?” I showed them the visa. It’s signed by the border control authorities.  I told them that is how I got it. I told them I did not get it from the sky. I told them I was waiting for my flight to depart. In this way, they abused me extremely to a point where I was forced to question [in my mind] if Ethiopia is mine. They abused me extremely so that I will never turn my face to my country. They did such things to me. That is how I left my country in general.

Solomon: This way or that way, there may be some who say you were allowed to leave the country to get medical care abroad. That itself shows the good will and nature of the government. What do you say to that?

Habtamu: To such people, I give them a short answer. Prof. Asrat Weldeyes [Ethiopia’s foremost surgeon and founder and leader of the All-Amhara People’s Organization] stood up because he believed the [T-TPLF] government had isolated and deemed Amhara people as the “enemy”. They [T-TPLF] declared Amhara as the enemy in their Manifesto. They declared they are going to destroy [commit genocide on] the Amharas. Because Prof. Asrat said Amharas must organize and defend themselves, because of this position, he became a political prisoner and subjected to extreme torture and abuse. When they determined his medical condition was terminal and he was not going to live much longer, they gave him permission to leave the country for medical care. But by that time everything was hopeless for Prof. Asrat. The Professor did not survive and in fact died as a result of his torture.

Therefore, my release has nothing to do with the “goodness” of the government. They let me go because they were convinced I was terminal and was going to die from my illness. But it was not the evil they designed for me that prevailed but the good things designed for me by the Creator. God was with me, the God of Ethiopia was with me. God, having heard the tearful prayers of the Ethiopian people, the tearful prayers of everyone in their own faiths, God willing, for the sake of this little girl who has never seen a happy day in her life from the time she was a baby to be consoled, it is God who willed that my life be spared. So the one I thank are the Ethiopian people who cried out to God, and the One I believe in wholeheartedly, the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, [Egziabher] Jesus Christ, for saving me. I have no reasons to thank the Ethiopian government.

Solomon: How is your health now? We have heard that you underwent surgery and it was successful. We offer you our congratulations at this opportunity.

Habtamu: Thank you very much. I had third stage hemorrhoids. I was treated at Georgetown University Hospital colorectal center in Washington, D.C. It went very well. The university doctors said I was their first experience ever to see what extensively damaged hemorrhoids could do. It is registered as a first experience of such kind ]for their medical records]. Many of my veins are damaged. The surgeon in the presence of many Ethiopians said what I just told you. At the University hospital, this is the first time such extreme hemorrhoid condition has ever been treated. This was the first time they saw what such extensive damage to veins and the body. This shows how extreme my situation was. Like the Georgetown  doctors, the Ethiopian doctors who helped me also told me how extreme my situation was. It was extreme. The [Georgetown] doctors used the best technique in the world and were able to successfully treat me. I am now recovering from the surgery. For the damage that was done to my leg, Georgetown Hospital referred me to George Washington hospital. My leg treatment will continue there. My kidney treatment will also continue at George Washington Hospital. I am waiting for an appointment. My health situation now, may God be praised, is very good. To all those people everywhere who contributed to help me regain my health, I would like to thank them at this opportunity.

Solomon: Lastly, I would like to raise one question. After you went through this situation, in the future do you have any desire to return to your country and continue the struggle?

Habtamu: For me, I take [pride] in Ethiopia as a country and a people for their honor and greatness.  I believe I will make the ultimate sacrifice. To help in the Ethiopian struggle, I will do whatever additional sacrifice is required of me. I am ready to pay the price. The Ethiopian situation, the party politics in which I struggled, is all getting worse and getting into a more dangerous situation. Regardless, I will make whatever contributions I can.  When I say contributions, exactly what kind of contributions will be determined by my health situation. I can decide that after I get well.  If there is a possibility for me to participate in the struggle, I am ready to participate. But going back to my country like Dr. Merara [Gudina, chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress opposition party], to fall into their [T-TPLF] hands and be imprisoned and allow them to commit other torture on me is not an appropriate political decision. Regardless, it is not a good reason for me to stay out of my country just because they will do this [jail and torture]. [I am not sure] what kind of service must I give for my country, but I am sure I will do everything I can. The political situation I observe now does not allow for that. I realize the peaceful struggle is in extreme danger. The “negotiations” that are said to be going on now [with opposition parties] is what that shows [the extreme danger posed to peaceful change].

Solomon: Mr. Habtamu, thank you for the extensive explanation you gave me.

Habtamu: I also thank you.

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

T-TPLF torture victim chronicles, to be continued…. 

Post Script

For other documented stories of torture at Meakelwi, see Addis Standard’s, “Tales from Chambers of Torture” and “My Experience of the Ethiopian Investigation Centre: Maekelawi” by Caalaa Hayiluu Abaataa.  For an anonymous torture and abuse report (in Amharic) by Maekelawi police officials who had moral objections to torture, click HERE.

The second reason for my effort here is to make good on my promise to provide “civic education” to my readers who may not be familiar with the applicable laws and legal principles on human rights matters in general. I believe Ethiopians suffer from two tyrannies: 1) the tyranny of ignorant tyrants and 2) the tyranny of ignorance. In T-TPLF’s 2017 “State of Emergency Ethiopia”, “War is peace. Ignorance is strength. Slavery is freedom.” It has been said that, “Ignorance has always been the weapon of tyrants; enlightenment the salvation of the free.” Nowhere is “ignoro-tyranny” practiced with wanton impunity and reckless abandon  than in Ethiopia. The  tyranny of ignorance strikes a double whammy on Ethiopians.

In order to meaningfully defend human rights and the victims of torture, one must have basic familiarity and understanding of applicable international laws and conventions. This is imperative particularly on the issue of torture. With my commentaries, I hope to empower my readers so that they can participate and help in the struggle for Ethiopian – bust also African and global — human rights, not just to be academically informed and lulled into passivity. The struggle for human rights is a relentless ideological struggle between the forces of freedom and the gangsters of tyranny fought in the hearts and minds of each and every citizen. It is a struggle waged with the weapons of law and morality. It is fundamentally different from an armed struggle. As human rights warriors, we fight our battles armed to the teeth with the law,  national and international law. We fight the villainous and wicked abusers of human rights in every legal and political forum, including the kangaroo and monkey courts of the T-TPLF.

Torture is a crime under customary international law (international customary practice accepted as law) and treaties and conventions. The universal prohibition against torture is what is generally referred to as “jus cogens” (“compelling law”) in international law  from which no derogation (violation) is permitted under any circumstances.

The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (commonly known as the U.N. Convention against Torture) is a treaty specifically designed to prevent torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment around the world. The Convention requires states to take effective measures to prevent torture in any territory under their jurisdiction, and forbids states to transport people to any country where there is reason to believe they will be tortured.

Ethiopia adopted the Convention Against Torture by accession on March 14, 1994.

Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) prohibits “All forms of exploitation and degradation of man, particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment.”

Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) commands, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002) classifies “torture” as one of the seven recognized crimes against humanity.

A special notice to those who have committed torture in Ethiopia or anywhere in the world and plan to come to the U.S. and retire comfortably enjoying their stolen loot.  18 U.S.C. sec. 2340 (a) provides: “Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life. There is jurisdiction over the activity prohibited in subsection (a) if— (2) the alleged offender is present in the United States, irrespective of the nationality of the victim or alleged offender.” T-TPLF torturers should also learn from the case of Kefelgn Alemu Worku, the torturer from Ethiopia who was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison in 2014.

For my readers in the United States, I ask them to finger every single torturer from Ethiopia, who is currently living in the United States. It is as easy as contacting any field office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or any U.S. Attorney’s office.

On the application of the Convention Against Torture in the U.S., a report by the Congressional Research Service is quite useful.

I tell my readers throughout the world that the only way we can help victims of torture and human rights abuses like Habtamu Ayalew is by preparing ourselves to wage the struggle in  the town halls and in the International Criminal Court and everywhere in between.

They say knowledge is power; I say actionable knowledge – truth-based, evidence-based, fact-based– is power.  Knowledge of the truth sets the individual and society free!

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.

The post The Torture Chronicles of Ethiopian Patriot Habtamu Ayalew (in His Own Words) – Al Mariam appeared first on Satenaw: Ethiopian news | Breaking News 24/7: Your right to know!.

Compiled By Zerihun Engidashet zerihunengidashet@gmail.com

On Sunday 2.00PM, the 26^th of March 2017, at the meeting halls of The Ethiopian Community Association In Amsterdam City, a new book on the Ethiopian Revolution was launched to guests that were invited by the Association through an email sent to hundreds of members and supporters. The book entitled Revolution Love and growing up stories from Ethiopia and the UK was written by Worku Lakew a former founding  member of the USUAA Congress, and also a member of EPRP and EPRA and was available on paper back  and Hard back editions. Later the author informed the meeting that an Amharic edition is in the works and should be hopefully available in the next two years.

Accompanied by a specially printed poster for the occasion, the launch was chaired and opened by the Chairman of the Association. In his introductory remarks he described the significance of the book as an original testimony based on the memoirs of the author Worku Lakew, as an original contribution to the modern history of Ethiopia covering the period since the February Revolution up to the closing stages of the 20^th Century.

Focussing on the role of the EPRP, The EPRA, The University Students Union of Addis Abeba (USUAA), and the Dergue, with all of which, the author had direct and personal involvement, it was billed as a very fresh and personal contribution to large sections of modern Ethiopian Revolutionary History, that are still in the dark and are waiting for light to be shone on the period.

The chairman welcomed the launch and publishing of the book as an encouragement for all Ethiopians to make their own contributions by recording their memoirs,  so that the jigsaw  puzzle which forms our history could be completed through our collective efforts.

He specially welcomed the fact the book contained material that had not been in the public domain about the relationship between the Dergue and EPRP as  the author was one of the leading members of the party in relation to this work, being responsible for some of the key party members and party work between the Dergue and EPRP which came directly under the control of leading members of the political bureau of  EPRP and commended that a light was being shone on this unknown facet of the Ethiopian Revolution and enable us to fill gaps in our knowledge of the history of this period.

He emphasized the originality of this contribution as the author was in the unique position of having participated to a greater or lesser degree in the founding  days and  epic activities of the University Students Union of Addis Abeba as well as taking part in the EPRP organisational activities  in the capital where he was a member of the party Zonal committee of Zone 4 as well as the Addis Abeba party inter-zone committee on  intelligence which as is well known were key organs of the party during the urban phase of the revolution.

In addition the Author had also been an active member of the party in the liberated areas of Bellessa Zone in Gondar Region where he served as party Secretary for the region for several years as well as in the fighting wing of the party, The EPRA, in its closing stages od the struggle where he served as apolitical Commissar of a new unit under formation.

This wide span of experience provided the author a vantage point to write and comment on this period of the revolution. Quite uniquely, the experience of running a branch of the party organisation within the Ruling Dergue establishment which included among its members key officers of the Dergue could only awaken our expectation of what great secrets are contained in this book and brought to light for the first time.

The chairman then introduced the author to the audience and took the stage and expanded on his perspective on writing the book, after thanking the chairman, the association and the event organisers for inviting him to launch the book.

He started by saying that it all started as a journey of  keeping a promise that he had made to his children, three girls,  to write down bedtime stories that he had been telling them orally  while they were growing up, some of whom were now attending the launch as grown-ups and were among the audience.

He stated that one of his fundamental aims is to encourage other people to record their own experiences so that the mosaic of our history could be completed by the combined efforts of the all the people of the country. He also reiterated his hopes that such efforts of recording past events will become an important part of passing our accumulated and unique experience to the next generation. He felt that his generation was unique to have been called to the barricades of history to stand guard at the epic moments in which our country was going through radical and generational change, something that happens very rarely in the life of a nation. He stated that it is equivalent to the birth, wedding and death moments of a family and individuals in it, to take part in these inflection points when a nation is forced to undergo change with the entire trauma that is associated with it and the moments of heroism and sacrifice as well as the tragedy that goes with it. These impacts live with us for generations to come and the repair of our collective psychosis requires such reflection by all those witnesses from the barricades.

The author also shared his view that Ethiopian History has been truncated and chopped into small segments due to the experiences of different generations , different regions, nations  and peoples, and this has made  a consensus difficult among the people . In this epoch of contested history and experiences, the author believes that an honest and personal testimony is one of the best ways forward in order to reconstruct our fragmented history.

Personal experiences have the status of a start witness for the prosecution in a murder case. If it involves eyewitness statements from the scene of the crime including the murder weapon, it can act as an invaluable source of evidence for our history for future generations.

The author stressed that he is not writing a justification for or a defence of EPRP, EPRA or the USUAA Congress but providing a direct and first-hand account of what happened, where, by who and why things turned up the way they did as well as occasionally offering his own opinion of what the explanation is , even if it is critical of EPRP and its role I the revolution.

As the chairman stated in his introductory remarks , and interventions, , honesty and frankness must start at home and in this regard the author doesn’t spare us the intimate details of his early childhood , his family life  and the complexities of growing up in Gondar and later in Addis including what happens in one of the most privileged boarding schools in the country, The General Wingate, which is the playground of the sons of the privileged, the rich and the powerful or the poor but talented who arrive on the back of  special competitive scholarships, as the author did. The book then frogmarches us through the pre-revolutionary  situation in Ethiopia, the birth and development of the revolutionary student union of Addis Abeba  University ( USUAA congress), the February Revolution of 1974 , the coming to power  of the Dergue, followed by the red terror , the revolutionary armed struggle of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Army (EPRA), and life in the liberated areas. It surveys the final days of this epic armed struggle where the author together with hundreds of others ends up in exile in the Sudan as a refugee and later in London in the UK.

In between there are arresting insights into the history of Ethiopia, the great philosophical and political theories of humanity, further insights into economics, banking theory and practise and revolutionary struggles of the 20^th century. There are also adventures of a rebel under fascist occupied parts of northern Ethiopia. All in all it is an epic journey that the author is inviting us explore in his company.

The format of short stories that the author adopted ( there are about 30+ short stories in the book) made the business of getting into the book man easier task so that one could get in and out at ones leisure  and convenience  without losing the thread of the whole story.

The author then went on to describe, as part of his introduction to the writing of the book and its contents, the following facts and observations. The first of these was focussed on the character and impact of the Ethiopian revolution.

The Ethiopian Revolution, about which little of great significance  is known either in the West or East, is one of the epic revolutions of humanity on a par with the French Revolution of 1789,  the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia and the Chinese Revolution of 1949 in terms of its consequences for humanity. However, very little of these consequences are known and even stranger, hardly any of these consequences are associated with Ethiopia or its revolution. The huge impact of the revolution was both positive  in the main internally and negative , especially in terms of its impact externally on the rest of humanity.

An established state and polity which had existed continuously for over two thousand years and had become frozen in relation to the needs of the people and the nation had suddenly exploded overthrowing the established order. It took the culmination of a raging famine , unlimited corruption and exploitation by the old and new elites of society, huge inflationary pressures on the urban poor and lower middle classes  both from oil crisis of the 1970’s and the hoarding of staple grains from unscrupulous merchants  betting on getting rich from the devastating famine of 1972/74. Bankrupt economic policies that led to huge unemployment among the poor, peasants expropriated of their ancestral lands from an expanding feudal centre, to the periphery of other nations in the empire,  as well as no prospects for the hundreds of thousands of educated young people were combined with an insurrectionary movement fomented by radical students now turned into organised revolutionaries  and a four day general strike  that culminated in the overthrow of the monarchy and the feudal order.

Sections of the military composed of NCO’s and lower officers seized the opportunity of an insurrectionary population to intervene and stop the crumbling of the ancient state and the pressures from a still un-pacified and restive population forced the young Turks of the military to decapitate the leading lights and mainstay of power of the ruling class in a rerun of events in the French Revolution of 1789.

The author identified the impact of the revolution internally as follows.

1. The complete incapacitation and neutralising of the old ruling class through arrests, decapitations, expropriations and the spread of a reign of terror on the upper classes through the media
2. The launch of a red terror campaign that killed , imprisoned and exiled   a whole generation of youth, intellectuals, workers  and oppressed nations that set back the country by several generations  as well as weakening and decimating left wing parties like the EPRP and  its army the EPRA,  by the fascist military.
3. The worsening of conflict within the empire among the oppressed nations by the brutal attacks of the fascist military
4. The wipe out of a landed gentry and nobility through land expropriations and the expropriation of all urban housing, industry, banking and financial services and industrial and financial capital
5. The establishment of a large class of state bureaucrats and apparatchiks as well as state capitalism , who like in the days of the USSR thrive and feast on the coffers of the nationalised state  , industry, agriculture  and trade
6. The eclipse of the national democratic revolution as the main task and agenda of the Ethiopian peoples and The Ethiopian Revolution and its replacement by the national question and empire as the main preoccupation of all the struggling forces
7. The emergence of a very heightened and real risk to the over two thousand year old sovereign and independent existence of Ethiopia and its peoples and for the first time in the nation’s history the national subjugation of the country first by the USSR briefly and now by the USA.

The author then went on to expand on the international impact of the Ethiopian Revolution above and beyond most revolutions that had occurred before or after the rise of political struggles of humanity.

In order to understand this incredible, international impact, the author drew the attention of this invited audience to the prevailing conditions of the time just before the 1974 revolution.

He started by pointing out that the entire post Second World War order was under the grip of a cold war raging between the two camps of east and west, the latter now under the leadership of the United States as the pre-eminent super power of the late 20^th Century.

The mid 1970’s was arguably the most intense and critical phase of the cold war, that transformed every single incident of local conflict into a critical event of showdown between the super powers.

Secondly, Africa had been thrust as the greatest space of contention between the superpowers and as Ethiopia was the most significant diplomatic space of Africa at the time it was unavoidable that it emerged as the eye of the cold war storm that was raging globally. The new wave of decolonisation had led to many independent African countries which had come together in Addis Ababa to found the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now based in the capital.  All the UN regional offices including the Regional Office for Africa, The UNDP and others were now based in Addis Ababa. In short Addis was the diplomatic capital for Africa; it was the meeting point between Arab Africa to the North and Black Africa to the South, West and Centre. Its two thousand years of uninterrupted existence and independence had given it the status of a peer group’s leader among the 52 African countries and nations of the OAU. And its Red Sea port of Assab and Massawa had the strategic function of being the meeting point between the Red Sea and The Indian Ocean acting as a southern counterpart to the Suez Canal through which the overwhelming part of global maritime trade passed through. So whatever happened in Ethiopia was bound to have a huge impact on the two super powers and their global alliance partners.

Because of these unique set of factors and circumstances, the US was bound to and did get deeply involved with the Ethiopian Revolution to an extent that it had never done before in any other revolution in its history. That included the Chilean, The Argentinian and The Cuban Revolutions where US involvement was well known and well documented. In Ethiopia, US involvement was not well known at all and wasn’t documented in any accessible way.

It is a little known fact that US involvement in the Ethiopian Revolution changed Ethiopia dramatically, and for many years to come. It also changed the US itself, especially its foreign policy drastically, like no other event in world history has done since the formation of the young republic. Its impact is arguably even greater than the rise of communism and the February Revolution of 1917 and the experience of US involvement in the Second World War that shaped US foreign policy for a long time to come.

More important than anything else changes that took place in US foreign policy as a direct result of the US experience in the Ethiopian Revolution led to a dramatic impact on world politics for the closing quarter of the 20^th century and are still continuing their dramatic impact on world politics to the present day.

For the first time in its history, the US was confronted by an old style revolution  against an ancient Regime that it had supported led by an ageing Emperor who had grown to be out of touch with his people, in the manner of the French Revolution of 1789, but this time led by a new left movement that was in turn led by a new left organisation , a development that complicated the process of getting a handle on the situation for desperate US foreign policy executives that needed to formulate credible and deliverable policy options.

US intervention in the Ethiopian Revolution couldn’t stop the storming of the Bastille by a highly incensed insurgent population railing against the old order and the emperor. The insurgents had undertaken a four day general strike in Addis Abeba in 1974; the US couldn’t protect the Emperor or the ruling nobility or stop the insurrectionists from guillotining the entire leading lights of the ruling class using a firing squad. The traditional levers that State Mandarins are used to operate, the institutions through which US foreign policy executives intervene and influence  such as the army, the police, the security forces , the Navy , the air force, the intelligence branches and apparatuses were not accessible in a rapidly escalating revolutionary situation. By the same token the local media, the bureaucracy, the public opinion formers of the intelligentsia were also off limits. Such was the frenetic pace of the revolution and public disgust and mobilisation about the corruption of the ruling class while Rome was burning and the hunger and famine of the population while the nobility had wedding cakes flown in by chartered jet transport from Paris that even the option of slowing down the process while options were being developed was not possible. All known policy options were still born as they had to be discarded no sooner than they were formulated to keep up with the fast pace of unfolding events.

Even worse was to come. The US could only look on as the young Turk’s of the military ( yesterday’s WestPoint graduates,  now metamorphosed overnight to Nasserite revolutionaries), now in a clumsy alliance with left leaning civilian supporters  who demanded as the price of getting into bed , an unholy tripartite alliance with the USSR , something unheard of since the Cuban Revolution.

The US tried to stop the haemorrhage to its old cold warrior adversary, the USSR, by desperately backing a Trojan horse attack of foreign Somali invaders from the East of the Horn of Africa fortified with US intelligence, weapons supplies and strategic advice in a blitzkrieg attack on these unholy intruders in the diplomatic capital of Africa. The attack nearly succeeded coming within 100 Kms of Addis Abeba before the USSR mobilised the Cubans in solidarity and organised the largest and longest airlift in military history of equipment, suppliers and manpower to try and repulse this external invasion. As soon as the US saw that its name was being tarnished in the eyes of the general public as public enemy number one (which by now has been galvanised into fervent nationalism and patriotism thanks to the age old trick of an attack by a foreign enemy) it stopped supporting this zero sum game that was born out of desperation for any policy options.

The US came to a sudden awakening that for the first time since the Second World War it had no policy options left, when faced by an adversary that combined old and new in the way it was not supposed to be. All the traditional levers of foreign policy had been closed by the ferocity of a grass roots based movement from below that washed like a tsunami over all the actors in the political space narrowing the options for them as well. The tsunami ensured that the theology of the time for all participants had in the minimum to appear in the form of left ideology and left policy options. Both the Young Turk’s of the military and the opportunist civilians that had taken shelter under its tent to get a breathing space from the onslaught of the tsunami were victims of this tectonic shift of the political discourse of the nation.

Once again, for the first time in its history, the US realised it had to start working with forces that it had never worked with before to any significant degree; forces that are working to undermine its local interests and allies that it is protecting which had now become a liability to its global interests. These included insurgent forces, mass organisations, now suitably christened as NGO’s, nationalist forces fighting for secession in Eritrea, Somalia Tigray and in Oromia . It even got to bed for the first time in its history with explicitly self-declared communist forces (these one’s saw themselves as the followers of the Albanian Communist Party and its totalitarian leader Enver Hoxa) fighting for the independence of Tigray- in short really anyone that was opposed to these new left forces the likes of which the US has never come across before.

Thanks to the Ethiopian Revolution, the US foreign policy executives learnt that in the interest of US foreign policy objectives of containing the Soviet Union, the US has to work with the government in power as well as the forces that are fighting to destroy it, all at the same time. Machiavelli, The prince, has risen from his grave gratis of the little known left wing party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary party. The US’s newly cast policy of working with mass movements that are directed at fighting governments in power, gradually metamorphosed into the policy of staging colour revolutions from below.

All of this happenstance was a direct result of the only choice available for the US in the heyday of global confrontation and containment of the USSR in the cold war: US defeat in the eye of the storm, Ethiopia, was not simply an option.

For the US, as well as for their new found nationalist allies, the defeat of these new left insurgent forces through encirclement, blockade and proxy wars was not enough in itself. Even the disorganised, confused and option less survivors nor congregating in the Sudan had to be physically removed from the vicinity of the Horn of Africa by being airlifted in chartered jets from Khartoum and other places directly to the US in order to ensure that they couldn’t  reorganise and emerge as a local or regional movement in the future. US immigration policy and rules which specifically barred communists from entering the US had to be clandestinely broken by the high powered CIA operatives who had set up base in Khartoum to sift through and organise the airlift that lasted for over a year until the overwhelming majority of the Ethiopian new left had been relocated to the US. Nationalist Eritreans who were told that they couldn’t qualify for resettlement because they were not communists couldn’t make any sense of US policy much like the Ethiopian left itself.

After his comments on the impact of the Ethiopian Revolution on the US foreign policy te author then turned his attention to the question of the relationship between the Dergue and EPRA, a subject that is also described in some detail in the book.

He stated that the party treated the Dergue just as one section of the army and the state apparatus and undertook party work of mobilising support, recruitment and democratisation activities within the Dergue, just as it did in other parts of the state apparatus. Dergue members were recruited as individual members into the party structures or other mass organisations   such as the movement of soldiers; NCO’s and lower officers or their equivalent in the air force and the police forces. They had to accept the party programme, abide by the constitution and rules of the party and had to be free from having committed any crimes against the people and the revolution and be willing to oppose the fascist rule imposed by the Dergue.

Gradually, due to the persistence of the struggle of the Ethiopian people’s against the fascist rule of the Dergue led by colonel Mengistu, and the hard work of party supporters and sympathisers and other democrats within its midst, a movement emerged within the Dergue, to form a united front with the party  on a handful of issues: to establish a political front  that included the EPRP and the democratic forces in the Dergue that will take  the Ethiopian Re3volution  forward to achieve the New Democratic Revolution, to resolve the Eritrean question and other national questions of self-determination  on the basis of a peaceful discussion and negotiation  and declare a ceasefire  and an end to military conflict and lastly  to set up an 18 member committee elected directly by Dergue members  that will help implement  this decision  and get in touch  with all relevant parties.

The author stated that his brother in law was elected as the head of this 18 member committee and 16 of the 18 members of the committee were definite supporters of this new programme and approach of the Dergue special General Assembly. A huge majority of Dergue members voted to support this policy. There were also several party members who were elected to this new committee  as well as several key people in the Dergue who openly supported the new direction  including general Teferi Banti , the Head of State, and Colonel Atnafu Abate , the vice chair of the Dergue, Captain Moges Woldemichael , who was the chair of the economic policy committee now reorganised by the special assembly as the economic and political committee of the Dergue with special responsibility for the resolution of the Eritrean question. It also included Captain Alemayehu another progressive officer now moved to work with Captain Moges in the political and economic committee.

This new approach was interrupted and decimated by the brutal coup d’état launched by Mengistu and his civilian counter parts now organised under Woz League and Meisson. It massacred 16 of the 18 members of the executive while they were in a special meeting called by Mengistu ostensibly to apologise to his colleagues for his past behaviour. This was communicated to the author by Captain Moges a few hours before the meeting.

The author went on to explain that the party had a pragmatic as well a revolutionary attitude both to the situation and to the Dergue or in this case the state. For example party members in all institutions, took advantage of opportunities that arose in the course of their own jobs, to advance the democratic agenda of the new democratic revolution, in such areas as drawing up the land reform bill, the urban land and housing nationalisation bill, the industry and finance sector nationalisation bill, etc. which accounts for the fact that some of the bills turned out to have enormous revolutionary scope like the equal and independent property rights for women in rural and urban land ownership, and the formation  of mass organisations and unionisation in all social economic and political spaces  ( peasants , workers, urban communities etc. ) to safeguard and deepen the revolution.

The author concluded his remarks by stating that if it hadn’t been for the overwhelming imperative of US foreign policy to achieve a win over the Soviet Union in Ethiopia, the new democratic revolution would still have been successful even after the launch of the Red Terror and he considered that this line of argument and thinking to be the biggest contribution of the book to a discussion on the history of the Ethiopia Revolution.

The chairman then opened the meeting for questions from the invited guests attending the launch. One of the questions was inviting the author to reflect on whether the Ethiopian Revolution had gone off course and missed its historical goals. The author referred to a similar question posed about the French Revolution of 1789 to Prime Minister Chou en lai  of China by a French journalist in the 1960’s ( it was too early to tell!) based on the fact that it had only been 165 years since the revolution. He added that a new democratic revolution takes place through a long period of time and takes many directions before it reaches its goals. For example the Chinese new democratic revolution started in 1905, picked up steam around 1912 and got huge momentum in 1949 and is still not concluded yet, although it has entered its final stage since 2016.

Another questioner wanted to know if EPRP destroyed most of its own leaders and if so what use would it have been to the Ethiopia people if it succeeded? The author replied that in the realm of leadership, the party was unique in that 65 % of the leadership that were in the central committee (24 members)  died in the process of struggle against the enemies of the Ethiopian Revolution, and only two of these are known to have died in the process of internal conflict in the party. No other political party known to us in history has paid so much sacrifice from its leadership wing rather than its middle and base cohorts which showed that the leaders were more focussed on the success of the revolution and to serve the country rather than personal considerations such as power and privilege.

Another contributor wanted to know how much research had gone into the question of the characterisation of the Dergue as a fascist state and movement? The author replied that he personally had spent two years after the revolution studying the question as it was one of the requests that he had received from his good friend Zeru Kihshen while they were both still in the underground struggle before end of 1975. He had no time to look into great detail at the question but had written several papers on the subject since then and had no hesitation on labelling the Dergue as a fascist state. He added that Fascism is misunderstood by some people and those who take Marxism as an orthodox framework, as a political phenomenon that only takes place under conditions of advanced capitalism thus excluding countries like Ethiopia. In reality, it can arise and occur anywhere, where the balance of power between the people and the ruling class that controls the state is highly contested and has broken down   and neither side could impose its will on society. It requires a crisis of the society and economy, where the ruling classes cannot run things in the form of business as usual, and on the other hand the people are not strong enough in their organisational and mobilisational journey to overwhelm the ruling class and its organ of power. In this kind of crisis situation, sections of the army at different levels and at different times would intervene to preserve the status quo of the state and impose order, even if they had to appear as change agents in the process of imposing their will.  One must remember that the Dergue was the last of four waves of the old ruling class that still tried to maintain state rule in the old form after the fall of the Emperor (a reformed Aklilou Habte Wold cabinet under Ras Asrate Kassa as the behind the scene strong man, Lidge Endalkatchew Mekonnen cabinet that lasted two weeks, and Dejasmatch Amha Desta cabinet that was short lived).

Some questioners felt that EPRP was a party that was unpatriotic and led to the division of the Ethiopian people along ethnic lines and differed from the author’s viewpoint about its significance and relevance but this line of argument didn’t attract a lot of support from the assembled guests.

Other contributors wanted to know what the book had done to encourage dialogue among discordant viewpoints rather than dredge old wounds and saw discord. The author replied that he had chosen to be personal and truthful even if he had to be critical of the party at times  and he hoped that this would  encourage others to listen  to the arguments that he is making rather than dig into their old positions.

One of the guests wanted to know if the author had achieved catharsis and healing as a result of the process of writing the book. The author agreed that writing can be a form of therapy and that writing the book had been helpful to him in his personal journey.

Another contributor wanted to know if revolution required too much price to be paid by the people and the country leading to death, suffering, exile, trauma and genocide and whether the price which lasted for generations outweighed the damage that they do and should be avoided. The author replied that nations chose revolution as a last resort and most often revolutions are imposed on countries by a set of circumstances beyond their control. The Ethiopia Revolution started as a peaceful protest and a demand of the age old cry for land to the tiller but no one can control the direction of events when necessary change has been postponed for so long that the pressure cooker has to explode to relieve the pressure in society.

The meeting was concluded by the author signing books that guests had purchased earlier followed by a photo shoot and the organisers of the meeting also made announcements that similar launches were planned to take place in other world cities and that books could be purchased from five restaurants in Amsterdam and Utrecht had agreed to stock the books including

1. Sunshine Ethiopian Restaurant
2. Amsterdam Ethiopian Restaurant
3. Taytu Ethiopian Restaurant
4. Addis Ababa Restaurant
5. Rotterdam Sirah Asfaw Restaurant .

And why critics think it an odd use of scarce resources

THE ancient holy town of Lalibela, perched some 2,500 metres above sea-level in Ethiopia’s northern highlands, boasts some of the clearest night skies imaginable. Ethiopian stargazers dream that the mountains around Lalibela may one day host a world-class observatory to rival the big ones in Chile and Hawaii. And in time Ethiopia hopes to do more than just gaze at the stars. It would like to launch its own satellites, too.

Middle East and Africa
Apr 4th 2017 | ADDIS ABABA

In January the government said it would launch a Chinese-built civilian satellite from an overseas rocket pad within the next five years. It would be designed to Ethiopian specifications and used to monitor crops and the weather, and doubtless to spy on neighbours, too. The government also wants to reduce reliance on foreign telecoms by launching its own communications satellite.

In putting its own satellites into orbit Ethiopia would join the select club of African nations that have already done so. Nigeria has paid for the launch of five since 2003, some of which it says have helped fight terrorism. South Africa has also put several home-built satellites into space. Egypt launched two earth-observation ones, both of which have since failed; a private company, Nilesat, successfully operates communications ones. Kenya, Angola and Ghana are eager to join them.

Being able to beam communications or take photos from space offers some economic benefits. Ethiopia’s government hopes that mapping the country to help resolve land disputes, for instance, could boost agricultural productivity. And it could help with planning cities better. Investment in space science might also help speed up industrialisation, the government hopes.

But do countries like Ethiopia need to own, build, or launch their own satellites to reap these benefits? Constellations of satellites constantly float above Africa today, providing the signals used for global positioning services and, for a fee, pictures that can be used to assess droughts and other natural disasters. Gabon aims to manage its vast forests with the help of a satellite receiving station, not by building a satellite. High-resolution, tailored imagery is still costly, but the sort that can be used for most development purposes, such as monitoring crop yields, is now cheap or even free. And many functions of satellites, such as resource mapping, are increasingly being replaced by drones.

The case for communication satellites, which are much more expensive, is weaker still. Keith Gottschalk of the University of the Western Cape notes that a single communications satellite can broadcast to the entire continent. Nigeria, meanwhile, spent $300m on a Chinese communication satellite which failed in little over a year. Its successor struggles to compete with commercial providers: its annual revenue in 2015 was a measly $3.3m.

Africa is entering the space race at a time when the cost of satellite technology is falling fast. Tiny “cubesats” can be made by private firms for just a few hundred thousand dollars each and launched just as cheaply. For Ethiopia, where few scientists have the expertise to make use of the flood of cheap data, perhaps the best argument for a modest space programme is that it might help the country develop its human capital. But at a time when 5.6m Ethiopians need emergency food aid because of a drought, it seems an odd priority.

Correction (April 4th): A previous version of this story mistakenly referred to Planet, an aerospace firm, as a supplier of cubesats. This has been removed. We regret the error.

http://www.economist.com

Sudanese president visits Ethiopia amid tensions with Egypt

By Seleshi Tessema

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia 

Ethiopia and Sudan on Tuesday agreed to launch a free trade zone, a railway line and to promote equitable use of the water of the Nile.

The announcement came at joint press conference following a meeting between the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Al-Bashir, who is on a three-day visit to the eastern African country, said the two countries agreed to forge closer ties and bolster cooperation in the political, economic, social and cultural areas.

“The security of Sudan and Ethiopia are the existential foundation of both countries. Therefore, we will coordinate our security, police and army to maintain peace and stability in both countries,” he said.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, for his part, said that the two countries “will launch very soon a free economic zone”.

“A new railway line will also be built between the two countries,” he added.

According to a joint press statement issued on the occasion, the two countries also “appreciated the existing understanding and cooperation and coordination between them on equitable use of the waters of the Nile and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)”.

Sudan supports Ethiopia in the latter’s multibillion dollar dam project that will generate 6000MW electricity upon completion. Egypt has been apprehensive of the dam which it fears will minimize water flowing downstream.

Relations between Egypt and Sudan have also come under strain recently, as both claim ownership of the Halaib Triangle region, located in the borderland between the two neighbors.

According to Taffese Huluka, professor of political science and international relations at Addis Ababa University, in addition to helping cement the bilateral relations, the visit by President al-Bashir to Ethiopia may be used by the two countries to consolidate their common stand against Egyptian hegemony on the Nile.

“It may be a sort of ‘scratch my back, and I will scratch yours’ between the two countries,” he said, adding Ethiopia in return may use its international standing to support the cause of Sudan.

As a member of the Arab League, Sudan would be willing, in return, to promote Ethiopia’s interests among the Arab world, Huluka said.

Sudan would also be instrumental in easing tensions that may arise due to military build-up of some Gulf countries along the Red Sea, he added.

Last week, the Sudanese and Saudi air forces conducted joint military exercises in northern Sudan near the border with Egypt.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA ADVISORY

Spokespeople available

The torture of two journalists abducted en route to Jebel Marra, in Sudan’s Darfur region, is not only a grave affront to press freedom, but also proof the Sudanese authorities have something to hide in the region, said Amnesty International today ahead of the airing of a film detailing their harrowing six-week ordeal.

Phil Cox, a British national, and Daoud Hari, a Darfuri translator and author, had been commissioned by the UK’s Channel4 TV to investigate reports by Amnesty International that Sudanese security forces had used chemical weapons against civilians in Jebel Marra between January and August 2016.

“For nearly two months, the two journalists were locked up in a prison and tortured, simply for doing their job. They were beaten, subjected to electric shocks, deliberately deprived of oxygen and subjected to mock executions,” said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

“The lengths to which the Sudanese government went to keep the two journalists out of Jebel Marra, including acts of torture, only suggests one thing: that it has something to hide. If no chemical weapons were used, then why not let the journalists get on with their job?

“This is one more reason, if any were needed, why the alleged chemical attacks which killed an estimated 200 to 250 people, must be thoroughly and independently investigated.”

While in Darfur, the two filmmakers were abducted by members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are part of the military and a central element in the Sudanese government efforts to stem the flow of refugees to Europe under the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, also known as the Khartoum Process. Amnesty International has expressedconcern that EU funds to Sudan under the Khartoum Process maybe inadvertently financing the RSF, a group accused of egregious human rights violations.

After a week spent chained to a tree in North Darfur, the two filmmakers were transferred to other Sudanese government forces and moved to Kober Prison in the capital, Khartoum, where they were held for six weeks with other detainees, including human rights defenders, dozens of whom were being held without charge.

“Now that a pattern of arbitrary detention and torture at Kober has been exposed, the international community must take action. They must insist that all detainees still held there be either released, or charged with a recognized offence in an ordinary and civilian court of law,” said Muthoni Wanyeki.

Background

Sudanese government forces that participated in chemical attacks in Jebel Marra, committed numerous crimes under international law and human rights violations, including unlawful killings, indiscriminate aerial bombings, forced displacement, rape and pillage.

Over the last few years many opposition activists, students and human rights defenders have been arbitrarily arrested, tortured and forcibly disappeared by agents of the National Intelligence Security Service (NISS).

The NISS has also been used to gag the press by harassing and arresting journalists. Newspapers are also heavily censored and sometimes entire print runs confiscated if they criticize the government.

Although the majority of cases of arbitrary arrests have been by NISS agents, there have been multiple reports of such arrests carried out by Military Intelligence officers.

“Hunted in Sudan,” a documentary on the journalists’ ordeal, will be broadcast on Channel 4 News on 5 and 6 April 2017 at 7pm in the UK.

Public document

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For more information or to arrange an interview, please call Amnesty International’s press office in Nairobi on +254 788 343897 or +254 20 428 3020, or email seif.magango@amnesty.org

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The scale of the current drought ‘s too giant for Ogaden people, while they dying of hunger and diseases because the international community has responded too late and the regional puppet administration is taking pictures of the dying children and elders for a show off to post on social media instead of helping the needy citizens.

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