2016-04-04

Before proceeding to suggesting solutions I find it important to clarify misunderstandings on the goals and functions of ethnic federalism and decentralization in Ethiopia. First, in the Ethiopian context ethnically based self-rule does not necessarily mean hate to other ethnic groups. In Ethiopia the idea of ethnic based self-rule came as a result of mistrust of central government. I think it is high time now to recognize the limits of the central government in economic development and changing the material conditions of the Ethiopian people. Whatever name given to itself, centralist, unionist, federalist, majority, etc. the historical records and economic theory show that the central government is not meant for fostering economic development in the country. The current protest in Oromo, and before that the Tigray popular movement, the session of Eritrea, the massive out migration of the Ethiopian youth, the suffering of our sisters in Arab countries, the nationwide hunger, extreme poverty in urban and rural areas, etc., shows the limited role of the central government in bringing development, peace and stability in Ethiopia. History and practice shows that the central government in Ethiopia cares for itself and its clients. Time and gain it has proved to be an extractive institutions despite changes in ideology and name. In 1991 the EPRDF government declared self-governing principle and conferred ethnic groups with power to be used as mechanism development and wellbeing. But using the ideology of developmental state and GTP (growth and transformation plan), EPRDF centralized power thus slipped back into the same tradition of unitarist or centralist. It seems that whatever mantle it wears, unitarist or federalist, the central Ethiopian state is true to its tradition: very much elitist and extractivist. Irrespective of time and place, in the eyes of the regional and local people, it always cared for itself. The bottom line is that ethnically organized groups do not trust the Ethiopian central government through no fault of their own and this does not mean hatred to other ethnic groups.

Second, the ethnic Federal Government and the ethnic regional states are not one and the same, and one is not the extension of the other. Even if there is a convergence between the Federal Government and the ethnic regional states, since both make up the strategic components of solving ethnic conflicts on a permanent basis, there are fundamental differences in the power, functions and purposes of ethnic federation and ethnic regions. The fundamental purpose of ethnic Federal Government is to achieve unity and understanding among the constituent ethnic groups (for details see my article The Model and Making of Ethnic Federalism: Problems for Consideration). On the other hand, the regional ethno-linguistically defined states are the focal points where one locates primarily the contradiction between competing political and economic interest groups belonging to the same ethnic group (see below).

Third, it is wrong to consider the ethnic based self-rule as if they do not have an economic objectives. Considering the essence of the political ideology of ethnicity, one can systematize and classify eight sets of objectives of ethnic based regional sates. These are i) Ethnic group empowerment, ii) Ethnic group protection, iii) Ethnic group cohesion, iv) Promoting ethnic group identity, v) Empowering civil society, vi) Promoting economic and social welfare of the ethnic group, vii) Capacity development, and viii) Conservation and management of natural resources. These objectives basically refer to the concept of autonomy, public service provisions and sustainable development. (For detailed case study see Tsegaye Tegenu (2006), Evaluation of the Operation and Performance of Ethnic Decentralization System in Ethiopia: A Case Study of the Gurage People, 1992-2000. Addis Ababa University Press).

Proposing Solutions

 Consociationalism at Federal Level

There are practical problems in solving the above mentioned conflicts on a permanent basis. One can fix temporary solutions to the problems by devising mechanisms that may contain or arrest negative developments that threaten the unity of the groups. One way is the monopolization of power both at the federal and regional level through the formation of a coalition of parties or a front. Using the centralised structure of the party command, it might be possible to mitigate the conflicts between the actors. But this type of political solution is fragile and it may collapse if and when the coalition splits or as some members of it withdraw from it feeling marginalized. Another method can be the search for or use of a unifying ideological formula such as the Marxist-Leninist ideology which underlines the invariable significance of class struggle rather than cultural demands of ethnic groups. By definition, a worker or a peasant from one ethnic group cannot have a different interest from the other. However, this ideology has no future as it basically sweeps the ethnic issue under the carpet, for which purpose the regions were set up in the first instance. One may as well try to maintain internal unity of the regional states by emphasising some kind of an overarching assimilationist or integrationist supra nationalist identity named, for instance, after the name of the country. But this type of identity is only acceptable to those people particularly coming from mixed marriages, but not to proponents of the ethnic movements.

Ethnic federation is apparently dependent on democratic rules and it requires democracy for its successful accomplishment. It is advocated that consociationalism is the type of democracy (decision making process and mechanism) which fits the kind of constitutional structure of ethnic federation. The consociational approach places greater faith in the assurance of ethnic group rights and a belief in coalescent democracy (decision).  According to Lijphart, consociationalism relies on four basic principles: a broad-based or grand coalition executive, minority veto, proportionality in the allocation of civil service positions and public funds, and group autonomy.  The dominant feature of the consociational mode is the elite accommodation reached by a discussion going on “until a solution is found that is acceptable to all participants in the decision-making process, that is keep on talking until you agree.

At the federal level, the political relationship among the ethno-territorial regions can be organized according to consociational principles. In principle, federation implies the co-existence of a set of political groupings that interact as autonomous entities, united in a common order with autonomy of its own. It is a kind of contractual agreement (consent) which represents a balance between centralism and decentralization. The promotion of balance, contractualism, and compromise does not only lead to ideological notions. It involves some give and take, some reciprocity and consent. Federation has to protect the hard core interests and rights of the groups which agreed to the contract. Ethnic federation is thus meant as a respect for and management of political pluralism both within and among the territorial components of the multi-nationality state. Therefore, it does not accommodate authoritarian rule. If ethnic federation is not based on the culture of consociational democracy, it promotes republicanisation and secessionism, eventually leading to a collapse of the federation as happened in the former Yugoslavia. One of the major reasons for the breakdown of Yugoslavian federation was the absence of democratic governance at the center. Tito created the Yugoslavian federation after W.W.II and it remained for long under communist government. Tito and his followers in stead of adopting democracy they came up with an idea of what has come to be called a national communism not dependent on Soviet Union. This idea was used as legitimacy of communist rule. So long as the federation was under one communist party control committed to proletarian internationalism, there was no break down problem. But the absence of democracy made it difficult for the ethnic groups to genuinely understand each other’s perspectives, interests or aspirations. It rather fostered ethnic nationalism. When an incipient democracy began to emerge after the death of Tito, the problems were further exacerbated. The attempt even to circulate the state leadership democratically at the later stage among the constituent members did not save the system from collapse. By then the federal government was weak and nobody came to its aid. Everyone resorted to the ethnic groups and the regions. Yugoslavia is a best example of collapse of federalism not founded on democratic governance at the center. See Schöpflin, G. (1991), “The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia”, in McGrry, J. And O´Leary, B. (eds.), The Politics of Ethnic Conflict Regulation. London. Pp. 172-203.    It is the promotion of a consociational type of democracy that breeds and sustains ethnic federation.

Democratic Governance at Regional Level

Devolution of power does not by itself mean self-governance. In practice what has been changed is the locus of public decision making, from the centre to the sub-national levels (regions, districts and locals). Just because a governmental unit is smaller in scope does not necessarily mean that the people are going to be involved in governing their own affairs. Regional and local governors may be unresponsive to the needs and demands of the people. The decision making may not be transparent and predictable. If there is no local people participation, accountability may not be achieved as a powerful local elite may make it difficult despite a formal election system. Devolution can only be a real self-governing exercise if it is based on the principles of democratic governance.

Governance has been defined in different ways by looking at its different aspects. There are those who define governance by looking at its domain (the activities of the stakeholders).  In this category there are those who define governance as the function and exercise of power of government. This definition restricts governance to mean as government and leadership. But this definition is being criticised as limited since it conceptualises only one type (class) of people. But governance concerns more than just interactions between systems of government and the governed. Governance includes the ways that peoples and civil society engage and overlap. There are, therefore, those who define governance in a broader way including the civil society. They hold that civil society defines the principles by which a people are governed — not the other way around– therefore, “governance” is the result of the members of society working in association with each other.

There is still another category that defines governance by looking at its function. It views governance as the autonomy of the state, as the management of conflicts, as the management of developments. There is also another group that defines governance by looking at the institutions and mechanisms working in the society. This includes those who identify governance with democratic processes and institutions. According to this group, the term describes the means by which citizens and groups in any society voice their interests, mediate their differences and exercise their legal rights and obligations. Governance discusses how parts of the system—the government, civic groups, private sector, etc—relate to each other.

UNDP defines governance by looking at the process. Accordingly, governance is “the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels  it comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences”.  In this study governance is defined and understood as a process of decision-making. What are the criteria for measuring a good political decision making process? UNDP has a list of characteristics that make for good governance. These include participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity, effectiveness and efficiency, accountability, and strategic vision.

The characteristics of good governance outlined above are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. Transparency requires that governments consult broadly to ascertain citizen interests, publicize plans and decisions, share information widely and in good time, and consistently act in an open manner. Accountability depends on governments taking full cognizance of responding to, and being monitored by, organized public opinions. Transparency and accountability encompass the concept of responsiveness, and are served by sharing decision making with local government entities.

What I tried to highlight in this paper and in my previous posting is the problems and solutions to ethnic federalism. Profound problems related to ethnic federation must be properly identified to find solutions. The problems at federal and regional levels are systematic in nature that they cannot be solved by ad hoc measures. What is required as solution is elite cooperation (consociationalism) at the federal level and democratic governance at regional level for the purpose of regional economic development.

For comments the author can be reached at tsegaye.tegenu@epmc.se

[1] Tsegaye Tegenu is senior lecturer at the Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University

The post Suggesting Solutions to Problems of Ethnic Federalism in Ethiopia – Tsegaye Tegenu, PhD appeared first on Satenaw.

Hiber Radio’s interview with Journalist Muluken Tesefaw about Welkait March 13 2016

The post Hiber Radio’s interview with Journalist Muluken Tesefaw about Welkait March 13 2016 appeared first on Satenaw.

Lt. Col. Avi Yitzhak, head of the Combat Medical Branch, is the first Ethiopian Israeli to graduate the army’s prestigious course for brigade commanders. “The sky is the limit. In my community, people need to understand this,” Yitzhak tells Israel Hayom.

Lt. Col. Avi Yitzhak has become the first Ethiopian Israeli to graduate the Israel Defense Forces’ prestigious course for brigade commanders, which ended last week. Yitzhak is a doctor who heads the Combat Medical Branch in the Medical Corps.

Yitzhak will soon vie for a promotion to full colonel, making him the first Ethiopian in IDF history to earn such a rank.

After immigrating to Israel in 1991 at the age of 19 and studying Hebrew for a year at an absorption center, Yitzhak began his path in the IDF in the Medical Corps. He became the first Ethiopian Israeli to serve as a combat doctor, with both the Paratrooper Brigade and the elite Maglan unit. He later gained expertise as a surgeon. Yitzhak was also chief medical officer for the Gaza Division during Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, during which he saved the life of a lieutenant colonel in the reserves who had been hit in the chest by shrapnel from a mortar round.

“I always felt the responsibility of representing the Ethiopian community,” Yitzhak told Israel Hayom. “I was the first student from the community to study medicine in Israel and I believe, ultimately, that everything is dependent on the individual and the sky is the limit. In my community, people need to understand this.”

Among the other course graduates were Paratrooper Brigade deputy commander Lt. Col. Kobi Weller, who is slated to assume command of the brigade, and Lt. Col. Avi Rahamim, who commanded the Sagi Territorial Brigade.

Source: Israel Hayom

The post Ethiopian brigade commander makes IDF history appeared first on Satenaw.

By William Davison

• Tariffs revised, committee set up as part of March 31st deal
• Ethiopia struggling to feed drought victims due to congestion

Ethiopia signed a deal to boost trade through Somaliland’s Berbera port amid congestion at a facility in neighboring Djibouti, officials said.

Tariffs have been revised and a committee established to manage joint operations as part of the agreement signed on March 31, Sharmarke Jama, an economy and trade adviser for the foreign ministry in the semi-autonomous Somali region, said on Monday.

The committee will work on the “smooth implementation of the bilateral agreement and for improved facilitation of transit trade along the corridor,” he said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Landlocked Ethiopia more than doubled its cereal imports in the last 12 moths as a drought left almost one-fifth of its population of around 100 million people needing food aid. On March 24 there were 10 ships waiting to unload 450,000 tons of wheat at Djibouti.

Ethiopia wanted 30 percent of its trade to go via Berbera by July last year, according to a five-year growth plan published in 2010. As much as 97 percent of shipments are still going through Djibouti because of problems with the capacity and condition of Berbera’s port, the poor state of roads to Ethiopia and the lack of international recognition for Somaliland’s statehood claims, said Ethiopia’s Transport Minister Workneh Gebeyehu.

“Now we have really negotiated the issue and decided to go very fast to use Berbera port,” he said by phone. “The only thing that is left is the operational issues.”

It isn’t clear how many ships carrying Ethiopian cargo Berbera will be able to deal with, although there is a plan for coal imports to go through the port, Workneh said. Port Sudan is already receiving fertilizer for northern areas of Ethiopia, he said.

The Berbera Port Authority held discussions with U.S. Agency for International Development officials about aid imports, Jama said. The facility delivered 40,000 metric tons of wheat in February through Berbera for the UN World Food Programme to distribute to Ethiopians, according to the UN.

Somaliland’s government has shortlisted Bollore SA, P&O, which is owned by DP World, MSC Group’s Terminal Investment Ltd, and Prime Africa for a Berbera renovation project, Jama said.

The post Ethiopia, Somaliland Sign Accord to Boost Use of Berbera Port appeared first on Satenaw.

ESAT DC Daily News April 4, 2016

The post ESAT DC Daily News April 4, 2016 appeared first on Satenaw.

April 4, 2016

Temesegen Desalegn is a prominent young Ethiopian journalist born on this day, 1971 (EthC.). It means he is 37 years old.
At this young age his untiring efforts to establish a creditable news magazine in Ethiopia is indefatigable and admirable. When the regime blocks one he opens another. He has managed at least four news magazines one after another. He exhausted the patience of our tormentors completely. Finally they resorted to the only thing they know: jail and torment.

In any other country, Temesgen would have been a recipient of many awards for his steadfastness as a journalist, for his loyalty to truth and for his commitment to Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people. Under the present regime in Ethiopia all these virtues are crimes punishable by inhumanly harsh treatment in jail. Iskindir Nega is another of the many journalists that is suffering in jail.
When they feel like it they place him in solitary confinement, in effect a form of psychological torture. His jailors have persistently refused to take him to a doctor, tantamount to physical torture. It is with him under such conditions that we are celebrating his birthday.
Now I hear another bad news: Temesgen’s mother who has suffered with him for so long is sick. Let us, those of us who can, help her to reduce her physical and psychological pain. May God visit the family with his mercy.

The post Temesgen Desalegn – By Prof Mesfin Wolde-Mariam appeared first on Satenaw.

ESAT Special Daily News DC April 05 2016

The post ESAT Special Daily News DC April 05 2016 appeared first on Satenaw.

By agency reporter
APRIL 5, 2016

Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) has said it will monitor the case of a British father held in Ethiopia, among other cases, amid concerns that the government has lessened its commitment to ending human rights abuses abroad.

In an interim report released today (5 April 2016) on the UK’s overseas human rights work, the FAC said that there was “plainly a perception” that the government had recently downgraded its commitment to the promotion of human rights. The FAC’s inquiry follows the news, in August last year, that the Foreign Office would no longer use the longstanding designation ‘countries of concern’ to denote countries associated with human rights abuses. An FCO official subsequently remarked to the Committee that human rights were “not one of our [the government’s] top priorities”.

The FAC – which today launches a wider inquiry into the government’s human rights work – revealed it would monitor the situation of several individuals facing abuses abroad, and use these as benchmarks to measure the Foreign Office’s commitment to protecting human rights. They include Andy Tsege, a British father of three who was kidnapped at an airport in June 2014 and rendered to Ethiopia. Mr Tsege is held under a sentence of death imposed in absentia in 2009. Mr Tsege and his family in London are assisted by the human rights organisation Reprieve.

While the UN and the European Parliament have called on Ethiopia release Mr Tsege, the British government has not issued a similar request. Last year, while hosting an event for the Ethiopian government in London, then-Africa Minister Grant Shapps said the UK stood ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the country. More recently, it has emerged that the UK is providing funding for the country’s security forces. (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/22883)

Another case the FAC has said it will follow is that of Ibrahim Halawa – an Irish teenager who faces a death sentence in a mass trial in Egypt, after his arrest at a protest in 2013. Egypt remains a close UK ally, and MPs on the Committee raised particular concerns over the UK’s failure to include the country, as well as Bahrain, among its current list of Human Rights Priority Countries. They said the designation “sends an important message to the country concerned”, and that the omission of Egypt and Bahrain “contributes to the perception that the FCO has become more hesitant in promoting and defending international human rights”.

Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: “MPs are right to raise these concerns. In recent months we’ve seen a steady downgrading of the government’s commitment to human rights, even as our allies – the likes of Bahrain, Egypt and Ethiopia – crack down ever harder on peaceful dissenters, such as British dad Andy Tsege. As the FAC says, promises of private diplomacy are not enough – the Foreign Office must make be unequivocally clear that it is committed to ending human rights abuses, by our allies and others.”

* Reprieve http://www.reprieve.org.uk/

The post Foreign Affairs Committee to monitor Briton held in Ethiopia appeared first on Satenaw.

By Tomi Oladipo
BBC Monitoring Africa security correspondent

Djibouti is clearly a little nervous about democracy, as within 48 hours of arriving to report on the forthcoming elections, I was among a three-man BBC team detained and expelled without explanation.

The Red Sea nation is an important security hub, hosting military bases from the US and France.

It was my first visit and I was most looking forward to seeing how the country operated with so many military personnel representing different interests.

As well as focusing on the election and its attraction to the world’s military powers, we wanted to see how its economy was developing.

The heavy military presence is a win-win situation, Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told me a few hours after our arrival.

Djibouti, which borders Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, gains revenue and expertise from some of the best military forces the world had to offer as well as also enjoying good security, he said.

• Read more about Djibouti
• Tomi Oladipo: Why are there so many military bases in Djibouti?

Later that evening, we went out for dinner to have a feel of Djiboutian life and a taste of the election fever.

Equipment seized

Our team included a cameraman and producer, and as we weaved through several narrow streets, at one point a group of children ran past chanting: “I-O-G! I-O-G!”

We had seen these initials, referring to President Ismail Omar Guelleh, on buildings and vehicles everywhere – and on a brief drive out of the capital city the next day we noticed that they had even been painted in white on the hills in the distance.

It was a strong reminder of the dominance of the man who has led Djibouti for 16 years – and looks likely to defeat any opposition challenge in this week’s elections.

Image copyrightAFP

Omar Elmi Khaireh is one of two candidates actually running against the president, with three of the country’s seven opposition parties choosing to boycott the poll entirely.

Mr Khaireh is no stranger to confronting authority, having got into trouble with French colonialists during the struggle for Djibouti’s independence.

‘Threat to the president’

On the day after our arrival, we interviewed him just before he set out for a rally.

With a yellow sash draped around his neck, he complained that the government was not providing a good atmosphere for opposition parties to operate.

Djibouti is not generally considered a safe haven for dissent.

It ranked 170 out of 180 on last year’s World Press Freedom Index by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, with reports that legal and illegal means have been used to stifle journalists.

So we were not surprised to see the silver Suzuki car trailing us as we moved around the city, or the man secretly filming us on his mobile phone when we stopped outside a shop.

But we didn’t anticipate what happened next: A group of at least six men approached us in a tranquil cafe where we were having lunch.

They flashed green ID cards and said they were from “national security”.

Their leader, a tall man, possibly in his mid-thirties, announced they were taking us back to our hotel to get our equipment.

Our hotel was just across the street, but bizarrely, they tried to force us into a minivan with blacked out windows to get there.

Image copyrightAFP

We refused and eventually they agreed to walk with us, having confiscated our mobile phones.

The receptionist at our hotel tried to stick up for us, protesting at the aggressive behaviour of the men as they crowded the entrance to the hotel, demanding we hand over our cameras.

But his attempts only brought trouble on himself, and soon two men with “Police” spelled out in bold on the back of their polo shirts descended on him and bundled him into another vehicle.

They drove our team away in the first minivan, forcing us to put our heads down unless we wanted to be blindfolded.

No outside contact allowed

We headed east from our hotel, stopping at a building where we were held for most of the next 19 hours.

We met a man who hesitantly identified himself as Abdi. He appeared to be the person in charge and said this was a matter of national security. He offered us coffee and water.

We were interrogated for about eight hours in total, sometimes as a group, but mostly individually.

Why were we interviewing an opposition candidate?

Why had we chosen this specific time to be in Djibouti?

At times, their questions made me wonder if we had got the election dates wrong.

They also accused us of posing a threat to the president and of being sponsored by the opposition.

Image copyrightGetty Images

They scanned and photocopied our passports.

It was almost laughable how they could not even decide what they wanted to charge us with.

Eventually Abdi, the man in charge, said the decision had been made from higher up to expel us from the country.

At this point in our detention, we had still not been allowed to communicate with anyone in the outside world.

The people holding us left for the day and handed us over to another bunch.

These ones were younger, mostly in their twenties and appeared less willing to reason with us, preferring to focus on chewing mouthfuls of khat, the plant traditionally used as a stimulant in the region.

Image copyrightAFP

At one point they told us it was time to leave. They took us to the airport but they could not get us on the 23:30 GMT Kenya Airways flight, so we were taken back to the national security building.

This time we were shown a room, which I suppose was for security guards. In it there were mattresses on the floor for us.

As the three of us lay there, we thought and talked about our loved ones and colleagues who would be trying to reach us.

We barely slept until daylight. Later in the morning we were taken to the airport again.

We rushed to the plane, which had been delayed for us.

This time we had our mobile phones in hand and were able to announce that we were safe.

The post Djibouti’s thin-skinned democracy – (Tomi Oladipo-BBC) appeared first on Satenaw.

Date: April 05, 2016

MW-EXT-0030-2016

To: United Nations Human Rights

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

From : Moresh Wegenie Amhara Organization (MWAO)

8221 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring, Maryland, MD 20901 USA

A Study Summary on the Crime of Ethnic Cleansing Perpetrated on the Amhara of Ethiopia, 1991-2016

Moresh Wogenie Amara Organization

(MWAO), which sponsored the study on the Crime of Ethnic Cleansing Perpetrated on the Amhara of Ethiopia, 1991-2016, is an Amhara Organization based in America. It is legally registered in Maryland, USA, as a civic society and has branches all over the world. The Amhara is one of the two major ethnic groups in Ethiopia. MWAO aspires to share the plight of the Amhara with nations who stand for justice in general and with concerned human rights organizations in particular.

The aim of the study is to collect tangible evidence on the magnitude of the genocide and ethnic cleansing perpetrated on ethnic groups, especially the Amhara, for the last twenty-five years. The study hopes to expose the perpetrators living in Ethiopia and abroad (including European countries and North America) to demand that the perpetrators face trial, and that the survivors be adequately compensated.

The study methods included professionally prepared questionnaires answered by surviving victims of the crimes and documents including pictures and videos. Participants who have provided the sample information have understandably requested their identity to remain undisclosed.

Regions where the study was conducted:

Harar, Arsi, Bench Maji, Jimma, Wellegga, Kemash, Metekkel, Affar (Abbay Neges), and the cities of Bahr Dar and Gonder.

Source Documents

include

 Reports of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO);

 Letters written by Professor Asrat Woldeyes, the former president of All Amhara People Organization (AAPO);

 Letters written in Amharic and Oromigna to the regional administration and the Federal Government by residents of the regions where the crimes were committed;

 A document which lists the names, addresses, and workplaces of people who directly or instrumentally decimated the Amhara, especially in the region of Harar and are now living outside Ethiopia, especially the USA;

 The study has documented names, addresses, and workplaces of some of people who committed major crimes and are now living in Ethiopia;

 A document which lists part of the names of people killed, the place they were killed, and the manner of their execution.

 Reports by international media sources; for example Sum Sahara TV reports that over 12,000 from Gumuz and 22,000 Amhara from Gura Farda have been displaced.

Photographic evidence includes documentation of:

 Properties, including confiscated buildings whose Amhara owners were killed;

 Amharas mentally affected as a result of the loss of their relatives by execution;

 A few of the murders;

 A murderer mentally affected for killing innocent Amaras (he has slaughtered 20 Amharas);

 Monasteries and churches destroyed;

 Remains of Amharas killed as ethnic cleansing;

 Rivers and precipices to which Amharas were hurled alive; one of them is Titso Gedel from which about twenty sack of skulls were collected;

 Amharas displaced and victims of ethnic cleansing;

 Burnt Amhara houses;

 Closed houses to which their displaced Amhara owners have not returned;

 As well as other pictures are included with this study.

Findings:

This study has gathered information about inhuman acts unimaginable that they would ever be committed in Ethiopia. It is difficult to document the exact extent of the injustices committed on the Amhara. However, the evidence gathered testifies that the number is very high. The brunt of the destruction has fallen on peasants who strive to live by farming or trading, young men, women, children, and the old. It has taken place across similar regions regularly as well as sporadically and has remained actively covered up.

Harar

The study shows that Harar is where the highest number of crimes committed on the Amhara and the most gruesome manners of execution have taken place. In West Harar only, (Gelemso, Anchar, Daro Lebbu Wofi, and Danse,) 10,000 to 15,000 Amharas have been annihilated.

During the rainy season of 1991 (1999 AD), 16 monks and disciples of the monastery of Asebot, were hurled into a precipice with their hands and legs bound. In the city of Dire Dawa a large number of Amharas have been killed since 1992 (2000 AD), accused of being members of the legally registered All Ethiopia Organization (MEAD).

The manner of the crime:

The crime of ethnic elimination was at times committed against individuals and at times against groups. For example, in Gelemo, 21 Amharas were killed together. In the steep of Jilleta 32 Amharas were shot with their hands chained in the back and their eyes covered. Among the dead were sons, fathers, and brothers. 40 Amharas were slain with a dagger.

The ways the crimes were committed:

Hurling people live down precipices: In one example, a high number of Amharas were hurled down the precipice of Enquftu, at the edge of Bedenno. So many people were murdered that their remains were gathered one whole week later, identified by the stench in the surrounding area that had been treated with

some kind of chemical. In addition to victims drawn from the local Amhara residents, many Christians who came from the different parts of the country to celebrate the Archangel Gabriel at Qullubbi were also victimized.

Another way members of the Amhara ethnic group have been murdered, especially in the region of Gelemso, West Harar, is by dismembering their bodies bit by bit and forcing the victims to eat their own flesh. Since the number of the victims is so high, many of the 25 survivors are without relatives.

Regarding mutilation and dismemberment of bodies, Mrs. Etaferrahu Dejene, a business woman in Gara Mulleta, who was killed in this manner, can be taken as an example. Her murderers were attracted to her initially by her property. Her murderers first stripped her clothes, severed parts of her body, starting with her breast that they forced her to eat, and killed her. To save bullets, they hack people with daggers and pierce them with spears. As they were taking the beautiful lady, Mrs. Almaz, to the precipice where they would hurl her down, they killed her by opening her belly with a bayonet because she was too heavy for them to drag up the hill. The researchers were unable to reach the fourteen women in Feddisa and Burqa alive whose breasts were cut off. Many Amharas were slaughtered by kitchen knives. About 100 Amharas were killed on the road as they came from Ambossa to Nazareth to report on their plight to the Federal Government.

 Outside of Harar, the murderers tied the hands of two Amharas to their backs, stripped their clothes, cut off their male organs, and put the pieces in the victims’ mouths.

 One body found in the woods was that of an Amhara woman who had been gang rapped, taken to the woods, and killed by nailing her with wooden nails.

 There is a famous example of a Amhara woman in Gelemso. They killed her beloved son and confiscated her trucks. As a result, her mind was affected, and she is suffering, living in the streets as homeless.

 The horrendous manner the murderers killed the monks of the Monastery of Asebo and Christians who served in that church: in: They tied their eyes and told them to run to escape death by shooting off the precipice of Jerti.

 The criminals accused many Amharas of murder, put them in jail, and confiscated their properties. This crime has been widely practiced. One group of events precipitating the crime committed in Harar are the provocative speeches made by the then Prime Minister, Mr. Tamrat Layne, in Yekkatit 1985 EC (1992 AD) at Chat exporters’ hall, on 1 street, in Dire Dawa, and in Miyazya (of the same year) at the Jijjiga Squire. He encouraged the trouble makers among the ethnic groups of Somali, Issa, Affar, the mixed Gorgora, and Oromo to commit crimes against the Amhara by saying, “Why do you keep silent against the Neftegna (code name for Amhara) who used to despise you as camel driver and ones who were skirt (like women)?”

 A few Oromo who opposed the crimes committed against the Amharas have also been victimized. For example, there was a resident of Weter Lange, called Mr. Amdish Mume whose business was transportation. Because he opposed the crime committed on the Amhara, they accused him of giving rides to the Amhara to safety, and killed him with Amharas. The other Oromo is the Muslim Mr. Kemal Genna. Because he opposed the crime committed on the Amhara, they falsely accused him of giving information to the Amharas and he was killed on Tiqimt 17, 1984 EC (10/28/1991AD) in the region of Worenso by the command of the army commander.

Arsi

As the study shows, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Oromo People Democratic Organization, EPDF’s affiliate (OPDO), have incited the Oromo people of Arsi to kill the Amharas among them and loot their properties. They have succeeded in inflicting heinous destructions.

In West Arsi, several thousands of Anharas have lost their lives in an untold manner and several thousands of houses have been set on fire. In Jejju 6,000 houses were set ablaze, and a huge amount of property has been looted. In the region of Asensabo Weshabo 1115 cows were looted.

The number of ethnic Amharas who resided in six districts of Arbagugu was very high. While many have died in a fight in self-defense, the remaining have been scattered in different directions. In Arba Gugu, in Guna region, at least 500 Amharas were hurled alive down the precipice of Mosa Giyorgis.

The type of sufferings inflicted on the Amharas include:

 Displacement;

 Slaying with any sharp weapon;

 Forcing to abandon their ancestral religion;

 Disarming;

 Looting private properties and setting houses on fire;

 Assaulting Christian girls sexually, forcing them to embrace Islam and marry a Muslim.

In West Arsi, two waves of destruction have been inflicted on the Amharas since 1983 (1991 AD). The first took place in 1983/4 (1991 AD), and the second in 1998 (2005/6 AD). An attempt to interview survivors failed because the survivors feared retaliations. But, it was possible to verify from EHRCO’s report that a high number of Amharas have suffered destruction.

Jimma

It has been very difficult to record the appalling sufferings inflicted on the Amharas in 1999 (2006/7AD). It happened while they had gathered together in Beshasha to celebrate the annual Tiqimt feast of St. Gebre Menfes Qiddus. At dawn a group armed with daggers attacked and chopped to pieces children, women, men, the elderly, and the clergy. Many were annihilated, as there was no force to control the criminals.

In the district of Shebe, in Jimma zone, about 400 heads of families have been displace with 2,000 of their household members. The district of Shebe is 83 KM from the city of Jimma on the road to Bonga and Mizan. Not one single Amhara is now to be found in this district to report the details of the destruction. Falsely accused of destroying the woods, they were driven out and their properties destroyed. According to witnesses, the number of the Amharas displaced in 2004 (2011/2 AD) and 2005 (2012/3 AD) is as high as 20,000.

Gurra Ferda

Gurra Ferda is a district located in Bench Maji zone in South Killil. It is the major district responsible for spilled Amhara blood while inflicting ethnic cleansing on the local residents of the Amhara.

 Even according to the report of the Office of Women and Children Affairs, in 2007 (2014/5 AD), over 33764 children and women, some of whom were pregnant, were displace within one month. 860 children less than 5 years old were left on the streets.

 In 2004 and 2005 (2012 and 2012/3 AD), over 20, 000 Amharas were displaced. The Sub-Sahara TV reported that the number was over 22,000.

 Another well-orchestrated mass killing and mass displacement of the Amhara took place in 2007 (2015/5 AD). First, the regional administration confiscated arms owned by the Amhara. Second, it armed the tribes of Mejenger, Men’it, and Sheko with the confiscated arms. During the assault that took place on that date at least 600 Amharas were murdered. It is common and allowed for members of the tribes Mejenger, Men’it and Sheko to carry a dagger, but not so for the Amharas from whom it would be confiscated if found and sometimes returned to them if they pay 100 Birr. There are many local officials who enrich themselves by selling to the Amharas properties they confiscated from the Amharas. This way the Amharas live as second class citizens in their own country.

Wellegga

The sufferings inflicted on the Amharas in Wellegga might be more severe than in other regions but certainly not less in their frequency.

 40 children carried on someone’s back have perished by bullets and fire. In the district of Gidda-Kiramo, 11110 Amharas were executed by a special police force of Oromia in collaboration with the Defense force. In total over 25,000 Amhara have been displaced from their life in Wellegga.

 In Abidengoro, four Amhara family women have been sexually assaulted. Amhara property, which includes houses, was distributed to Oromos of the region. In addition to previously planned arrangements as to who whose wife should get assulted, they opened fire on the Amharas, indiscriminately, with the notion that there is no difference between Amhara individuals. Many have

perished. Some were burnt along with their houses, locked in and unable to escape the fire. This crime includes the burning, in Garero, of a frail Amhara woman who just gave birth to a child, and her child. In Sane of 1992 EC (2000 AD), there were, in the above-mentioned districts, official calls made by the local authorities, stating: “Go home, Amhara!” Many were beaten up. The church in Garero, dedicated to Mary, was burned down. Its holy articles were looted. Cattle owned by the Amharas were looted. A 45 year old pregnant woman was gunned down.

Affar

It is clear that there is hardly any ethnic group, even the Amhara, who has not risen against the Amhara. The great affliction borne by the Amharas in the region of Affar is incredible. Abbay Negisso was initially part of Amhara Killil. Because of an undisclosed reason, it was later declared part of Affar although its residents are all Amhara. As soon as the district was incorporated into the Affar, the area occupied by the Amharas was given to a developer. The Amhara whose land properties were given to the developer tried to support their families employed by the new owner as his daily laborers. But, the developer left, unable to withstand the difficulties he faced in the environment. The farm lands that were initially Amhara’s, were given to 44 Affars and 16 Amharas. Yet, starting in 2000 EC (2007/8 AD), the Affars confiscated the few remaining lands of the Amharas and distribute them among themselves. When the Amharas asked why this was happening, the answer they got is that this is the country of the Affars. Mrs Beriye Negash was supposed to receive 246,000 Birr for her land and the property on it. But, the money was stolen by Colonel Abdu Ahmad, the commander of the local police force.

The number of Amharas residing in Abbay Negisso diminished due to ethnic cleansing by murder and deportation. At the time the study was conducted, this big Amhara hamlet had less than 250 heads of families. 52 have been murdered by the Affar, and 96 had to flee to Saudi Arabia and other countries. In the Affar region, an average of 20 Amharas are killed annually. Their daily life is struggling with death.

In the so-called Amhara Region

The other evil face of the crime is the genocide conducted in the so called Amhara region. In the Metekkel zone where the majority of the residents are Amharas, over 10,000 Amhara have been murdered. A young man who was born and raised in Bulen has stated the following:

“The number of the Amharas annihilated by Metekkel cruel people is very high; over 10, 000 people were decimated. Without any exaggerations, one was able to find a body or more with every 50 to 100 meters. The bad smell emanating from the rotten corpses was intolerable. I believe the local officials of the time have aggravated the crime. Everyone in the region knows that Demeke Mekonnen, the present Vice Prime Minister, was the major player of the attack mobilizing the people around Menta Wiha.”

 Of the Amharas residing in Awi zone, in the district of Jawa, about 1,000 died within a year of Malaria due to the government’s reluctance to provide adequate medical protection. In addition, 7,000 cows died of rinderpest. The people’s cry for government help was to no avail.

 60,000 Amharas were displaced from their ancestral land due to an assault in 1983 EC (1991 AD), when the TPLF took power, and again in 2004 EC (2012 AD).

 Many were burnt to ashes alive trapped in their houses that were set on fire. Many were murdered and their sex organs were taken as trophies. 270 people, men and women, old and young, were executed. 6,833 houses were set on fire within nine farmers associations, and their residents were displaced. 60,000 Amharas had to flee from their residences fearing for their lives.

 On Sene 12, 2004 (6/19/2016 AD), officials of two districts gathered the Amhara peasants and told them to pay for the price of the fertilizer they receive from the government, repay their micro finance loan, and leave their ancestral land. The victims pleaded to be given time to 30 Tirr 2005 (2/7/2013 AD) until they harvested their field. They were allowed, after complying and they signing as requested that they would leave on that date.

Ben Shangul/Gumuz

Taking the elections of 2007 (2015 AD) as an excuse, many of the special police force were transferred to Metekkel Zone. The police force stationed in Bulen and Wenbera started immediately arresting Amharas and imprisoning them at the police stations. The given excuse was that the Amharas had arms with which they

would disrupt the elections. Many were tortured in the name of submitting the arms they did not have. The horrendous incitement of the officials was to annihilate the Amharas rather than displace them, because if they were displaced they would live to expose the criminals and crimes committed against them.

A Gumuz man was found dead in the district of Wenbera. No one knew who or what killed him. Though in Wenbera, the site was in the neighborhood of Bulen. In a way that appears preplanned, the officials separately assembled the ethnic groups of the two districts. When the came to the Amharas, they asked them to expose the murderer as if they hid him. The Amharas responded that the do not know who killed him or why. The officials who came from the two districts, handed over the forum to the Gumuz people to force the Amharas to tell the killer.

Amhara blood spilled on this occasion looked like rain of blood. On Ginbot 7, 2007 (5/15/2015 AD) death was crowned king. Up to 160 people were slaughtered with daggers and kitchen knives. Those who tried to escape by running away were gunned down. Families who were home were slaughtered to a man. Their beds were drenched with blood. Pregnant women had no chance to give birth. There were forced abortions; some fetuses were brought out with Gumuz knives from the wombs of their mothers. Arms and palms of the dead were used for beating drums. Over 10,000 Amhara living in Ben Shangul/Gumuz were murdered and over 10,000 Amharas were displaced from their ancestral land in this region.

West Shoa

In the district of Nonno, in West Shoa, officials of Oromia, incited people to rise against other people. They have become direct responsible for the loss of lives. On Meggabit 27, 2007 (4/5/2015 SAD), someone announced that Ato Zewdu Endale, an Oromo, was found dead. Assuming the death was executed by an Amhara, the Police commissioner of the district of Nonno, Inspector Hailu Diriba; the chairman of the district of Nonno Alo, Ato Gosaye Gech, and Lieutenant Gennene Beyene, of the police force, coordinated the district and regional police forces to incite the public to attack the local Amhara and on Miyazya 9, 2007 (4/17/1015 AD), imprisoned 85 peasant heads of families; and on the next day, Miyazya 10, 2007 (4/18/1015 AD), they set the houses and other properties belonging to the Amharas on fire. The reports that reached EHRCO states that the imprisoned were released to go to their burned down houses after each paying 300 Bir for the fuel used to burn their houses. EHRCO’s professional representatives have gone to the place to assure the veracity of the report, and the Council has submitted its report to concerned officials. Because of the exposure, more crimes were committed, including setting more houses on fire.

Invented Incitements to Mow the Amharas

The TPLF and its collaborators, the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO=OHDD) and the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), have inflicted the loss of untold lives, looted properties, and displacements on the Amhara people through invented incitements they widely distributed to incite ethnic groups to wage war against each other. The method has been used in every region where the Amharas have suffered.

 The criminal ethicists have inflicted heavy sufferings on the Amharas by spreading false accusations that the Amharas are culpable for people who have died from various incidents. The case of businessman Ato Dereje Bekele of Harar can be taken as an example. This owner of a hotel in Harar was tortured to confess a crime he never committed. They exhumed a dead body to prove the alleged crime and confiscated this innocent man’s property. But, the man presumed killed was found alive in Addis Ababa. However, the confiscated property was not returned to its rightful owner. At least his life was saved since many people knew what has really happened.

 In West Shoa, Amhara peasants were imprisoned, asked to leave the region, and had their properties confiscated by their Oromo neighbors who were told by local officials that these Amharas enriched themselves on farmlands that should be theirs. This hate propaganda has been widely disseminated.

 During the 1992 (2000 AD) election, pamphlets of inflammatory false accusations against the Amhara people were distributed in the region of Kofile. These pamphlets stated that the Amharas have destroyed the country of the Oromo. Because of this wicked propaganda many Amharas were put to death by the dagger. To add insult to injury, the investigation of the incident by the officials put the blame squarely on the Amhara residents. The surviving residents were sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment.

 In West Ari, in a scheming design to eliminate the Amhara people, officials incited the Oromo people at the occasion of the 97 (2015 AD) election with the statement “Kinijjit (=CUD) Party is the race of Menelik. The Amhara are coming back to subjugate you. The Oromo people should not fall again under the Amhara feudal system.” This propaganda has resulted in the death of many Amhara people. At the end of the election, they distributed another pamphlet at market places, but this time in the name of the Amhara people, stating, “Rise, O race of Menelik, the bones of Solomon will pierce you; do not hand over your authority to the Oromo people. Authority belongs to the Amhara people.” This resulted in the spilling of more Amhara people’s blood.

 In Jimma, Amharas in many thousands were annihilated with the pretext that they had destroyed forests.

 In East Wellegga, the Oromos authorities who came from different regions have forced the Amharas to leave the entire Oromia by Sene 8 to 16, 1992 (6/15-23/2000 AD) and go to the region designated for them and from which they came to avoid paying for the fertilizer they took from the government and with which are now destroying this region’s forest.

 In the region designated for the Amhara people, farmland has been denied to a number of Amharas under the pretext that they are remnants of the feudal class.

 In Wellega one still hears OPDO (=OHDD) officials crying, “Amhara, go home.”

 Pamphlets filled with slurs denigrating the dignity of the Amhara people were sent out in all Oromo regions.

 In Metekkel, an official of the district was heard saying, “You, Amhara people, are about to destroy our people by multiplying yourselves like fleas. The flow of the waters of Abbay (River Nile) has been stopped by a dam, but when and how will your migration stop?”

 In Benji, it is customary that people burn the forest during the month of Tirr (January-February). The herds do so for new grass to grow for their cattle. At one of these occasions, the local official divided the Amhara residents into three: (1) illegal settlers; (2) settles who came to the region without permit; and (3) settlers who do not live peacefully with the indigenous people.

The Psychological Impact of the Persecution

The psychological impact of assault inflicted on the surviving Amhara people is witnessed by the following list of evidence:

 In a place called Weter, in Harar, when a man whose father and brothers were killed by assailants was interviewed about the incident, he denied knowledge of the incident because of the enormity of fear that fell on him by saying, “I have never heared what you are talking about even in the radio, let alone that I have ever seen it.”

 Another gentleman said, “But I am still amongst them. Please do not record my voice and image. Just write my words on paper.”

 There was another 80 years old man who survived when many perished. He could not move because of the severity of the torture he suffered. When the researcher asked him why he did not want his voice to recorded, he expressed his fear as follows, “But what would I do if I met the calamity that fell on Abebe Mitikie?” Abebe Mitikie was an Amhara resident of the city of Beddenno who gave information concerning the annihilation of the Amhara people in his region to journalists during the Meggabit 1984 (May 1992 AD) elections. When the OLF officials heard this, they took nine members of Abebe Mitikie’s household and hurled them alive down the Enquftu precipice. He could not go on any longer. He killed himself.

In Summary

Reading the report summarized here affects the felling of any human being. It shows what unimaginable damage hatred combined with ignorance can do to others. This unequalled crime has to stop. The criminals must face justice. The responsibility of a government is to safeguard the life and human rights of its citizens. It does not have to be inevitably democratic to do this. It is the minimum expected of government traditionally and historically. However, the major activity of the TPLF is centered in ethnic cleansing and the annihilation of the Amhara people with a plan put in place before it took power. These governors do not have what it takes to be leaders, let alone what it takes to stop this crime. Therefore, making an end to this crime is the

responsibility of peace loving Ethiopians in general and Amhara people in particular.

Moresh Wogenie Amhara Organization invites all to support its efforts to be well organized to defend the victims by all means and to bring the criminals to the court of law.

Respectfully,

Tekle Yeshaw Mekonnen

Chairman/Moresh Wegenie Amara Organization

The post A Study Summary on the Crime of Ethnic Cleansing Perpetrated on the Amhara of Ethiopia, 1991-2016 appeared first on Satenaw.

Mogachoch Part 66 (ሞጋቾች ክፍል 66) New Ethiopian Drama

The post Mogachoch Part 66 – New Ethiopian Drama appeared first on Satenaw.

BY ELIAS MESERET
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia must carry out mass doping tests on up to 200 athletes by November or be the latest to face further action by the World Anti-Doping Agency and a possible ban by the IAAF, track and field officials in the country said Thursday.

Ethiopia will attempt to test between 150 and 200 athletes over the next seven months and will start as soon as next week, national track team doctor Ayalew Tilahun said.

“We are told that we could be banned from the IAAF if we don’t comply with the request,” Ayalew said at a news conference in Addis Ababa.

Results of the drug tests must be provided to WADA and the IAAF, he said. The government has provided $300,000 to fund the testing.

Ayalew told The Associated Press in a separate interview that Ethiopia could be banned from all sports if its doping program is not significantly improved.

“The struggle is critical,” he said.

WADA officials will visit Ethiopia to assess the progress on June 3 and IAAF President Sebastian Coe is also expected to visit around that time, Ayalew said.

Ethiopian Athletics Federation head Alebachew Nigussie said there was no threat of a ban from this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, adding “but that doesn’t also mean we need to relax.”

Ethiopia is the latest country to face sanctions following major doping scandals in Russia and Kenya.

Russia was banned from international track and field competition by the IAAF after a WADA-commissioned investigation found serious problems with its anti-doping controls. Kenya has missed two deadlines to put its program in order and faces being declared non-compliant by WADA at its board meeting in Montreal on May 12.

That could also prompt the IAAF, under pressure to act after a string of corruption scandals related to doping, to consider a ban for Kenya, the world’s top distance-running nation and where 40 athletes have been banned since the 2012 Olympics.

The demand for extensive testing now confirms major problems in Ethiopia, which finished fifth in the medals table at last year’s world track championships with three golds and eight medals overall. Ethiopia was second behind the United States in the medals table at last month’s world indoor championships.

Coe previously identified Ethiopia as one of five countries with an anti-doping program in “critical care.” Kenya, Morocco, Belarus and Ukraine were also named as problem countries by the head of world athletics.

Ethiopia last month suspended three runners for doping and is investigating at least another three. In total, at least nine Ethiopians are currently under suspicion, with an undisclosed number being investigated separately by the IAAF.

Also, Ethiopia-born former 1,500-meter world champion Abeba Aregawi, who now competes for Sweden, tested positive for meldonium and faces a ban. Aregawi reportedly failed the test in Ethiopia, where she spends much of her time.

Kenya faced similar problems over the ease with which banned substances could be obtained because of its weak anti-doping controls.

Failure to carry out the extensive testing and bring other parts of the anti-doping program up to scratch could lead to Ethiopia being declared non-compliant with WADA’s code, bringing in play a possible sterner punishment from the IAAF.

Ethiopia also needs to urgently upgrade its national anti-doping office. Ayalew told the AP that when WADA officials came to assess the office in December they were shocked by the poor standard of the facilities and gave it a rating of “zero.”

The post ETHIOPIA TOLD TO DO MASS DOPING TESTS OR FACE IAAF BAN appeared first on Satenaw.

9000 Ethiopian immigrants to be brought to israelover 5years time.

The post Alemneh Wassie: 9000 Ethiopian immigrants to be brought to israelover 5years time. appeared first on Satenaw.

Noting many disturbing events taking place today in Ethiopia, particularly in the Oromia Region, Vision Ethiopia, an independent network of Ethiopian academics and professionals, in collaboration with Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (ESAT) is convening a two-day long conference in Georgetown Marriot Hotel, Washington, D.C., March 26 and 27, 2016 under the topic and theme of “Transition, Democracy, and National Unity”.

The goal of the conference is to open a forum for reflection and bring together different political and civic organizations, religious and community leaders, and activists as well as independent scholars and professionals to deliberate on the critical themes of ways and means of resolving conflict and maintaining the national unity of Ethiopia.

The conference is divided in to six sessions addressing six different questions.

1. How could faith institutions, civic movements, and social organizations help in conflict resolutions and facilitating democracy, unity and transition to a peaceful and democratic post-conflict Ethiopia?

1. What could Ethiopians learn from the US policy towards Africa and the experiences of African countries in transitions to democracy?

1. How should Ethiopian political organizations be understood? What are their roles and contributions in shaping the democratic struggle of the Ethiopian people and assuring peace and unity of the country in post-conflict Ethiopia?

1. What is expected of Ethiopian women in the struggle and conflict resolutions to facilitate democracy and unity during the transition to a post-conflict Ethiopia?

1. How should the current    economic, political, and social turmoil in Ethiopia be conceptualized, explained, and synthesized, and what are the most important ideas for shaping the future of Ethiopia?

1. Quo Vadis? Where are we going? Who should do what to guarantee democracy, transition, and unity in post-conflict Ethiopia?

THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Saturday, March 26, 2016

9:00: Welcome Coffee and Registration

9:30: Welcome by MC

Ms. Birtawit Girmaye: Studio Manager, Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (ESAT), Washington, D.C.

9:45: Opening Remarks

Vision Ethiopia: Professor Getachew Begashaw, Chairman

ESAT: Mr. Gizaw Legesse, Producer of “Ethiopia Nege” Show

10:00: Session A

The Roles of Faith Institutions, Civic Movements, and Social Organizations in Conflict Resolutions and Facilitating Democracy, Unity and Transition to Post Conflict Ethiopia

Moderator: Dr. Ashenafi Gossaye: Former Asst. Professor at Addis Ababa University, Fulbright Fellow and Faculty, University of Washington, Seattle, and Professional Urban Planner.

Blessings:Faith Organizations (Orthodox, Protestant, and Muslim)

Panelists: Dr. Assegid Habtewold: Coach, Consultant, Trainer, and Speaker and Former President of Addis Ababa University Students Union and EDP Leadership.

Mr Obang Metho: Executive Director, Solidarity Movement of New Ethiopia, and Human Rights Advocate.

Mr. Gashaw Gebre: Human Rights Advocate and Researcher, Virginia

Mr. Abiye Yassin Ibrahim: Activist and Coordinator, Addis Mieraf Team, Belgium.

Dr. Erku Yimer: Former Executive Director of Ethiopian Community Association in Chicago and Human Rights Advocate, Chicago, Illinois.

1:00 Lunch

2:00 Session B

The Role of the US Policy Towards Africa and the Experiences of African Countries in Transitions to Democracy: The Lessons for Ethiopia

Moderator:Professor Minga Negash: Professor of Accounting, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Panelists: Professor George Ayittey: Professor of Economics, American University, Washington DC, and President of African Freedom Foundation.

Dr. Anuradha Mittal: Executive Director, The Oakland Institute,

Oakland, California.

Professor John Harbeson: Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Graduate Center, City College of New York in CUNY and Professorial Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

3:30 Coffee Break

4:00 Session C

Understanding Political Organizations: Roles and Contributions of Political Organizations in Shaping the Democratic Struggle of the Ethiopian People and Assuring Peace and Unity of the Country in Post Conflict Ethiopia. 

Moderator: Professor Getachew Begashaw: Professor of Economics, Harper College, Chicago, Illinois.

Panelists: Mr. Aklilu Wendaferew: Member of the Executive Committee of Shengo,

Mr. Lencho Bati: Memebr of Executive Committee, Oromo Democratic Front

Mr. Neanin Zeleke: Foreign Relations Officer and Member of the Leadership Committee, Patriotic Ginbot 7.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

9:00: Welcome Coffee and Registration

9:30 Session D

Women’s Voice: Women’s Share in the Struggle and Conflict Resolutions to Facilitate Democracy, Unity, and Transition to Post Conflict Ethiopia.

Moderator: Ms. Lulit Mesfin

Panelists: Ms. Elsabeth Lakew:  Political Science Student, Howard University and Organizer at Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition

Ms. Sewasew S.Johannessen: Manager, The Ark of The New Covenant Healing Ministry, Norway.

Ms. Asayesh Tamiru: Human Rights Advocate, Frankfurt, Germany.

Ms. Wessen Debela: Human Rights Advocate and member of Center for Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW), Washington, DC and

11:30 Panel E

Ethiopian Scholars Forum 1: Conceptualizing, Explaining, and Synthesizing the Current    Economic, Political, and Social Situations, and Ideas for Shaping the Future of Ethiopia.

Moderator: Mr. Gizaw Legesse: Manager, IT Division, Department of Labor, Washington, DC

Panelists: Mr. Ermias Legesse: Former Deputy Minister of Government Communication, Author, and Human Rights Advocate.

Dr. Mesfin Abdi: Former Lecturer at Addis Ababa University and Researcher.

Professor Seid Hassan:  Professor of Economics, Murray State University, Kentucky

Professor Ezkiel Gebissa:  Professor of History, Kettering University, Michigan, President Elect, Oromo Studies Association

1:30:  Lunch Break

2:30: Session F

Ethiopian Scholars Forum 2: Quo Vadis? Where are we going to? 

The Un-Answered Questions: Who Should Do What to Guarantee Democracy, Transition, and Unity in Post Conflict Ethiopia?

Moderator:Professor Minga Negash: Professor of Accounting, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Panelists: Professor Teshome Abebe: Former Provost and Academic Vice President, Eastern Illinois University and Professor of Economics, Illinois.

Dr. Beyan Asoba: Lawyer and Human Rights Advocate and Member of the Oromo Democratic Front.

Professor Alemayehu Gebremariam (Al Mariam): Professor of Political Science, California State University, San Bernardino, Attorney at Law, and weekly blogger on Huffington Post.

Professor Messay Kebede: Professor of Philosophy, University of Dayton, Ohio.

Closing Remarks on behalf of Vision Ethiopia

Dr. Ashenafi Gossaye

The post Conference on the Future of Ethiopia: Transition, Democracy, and National Unity appeared first on Satenaw.

March 17, 2016

David Cameron has intervened twice to secure UK access to a Briton who was kidnapped by Ethiopian forces in 2014, it’s emerged, amid Foreign Office concerns that there has been “no substantive progress” on the case.

The government has confirmed to Buzzfeed News that, since 2014, the Prime Minister has written twice to his Ethiopian counterpart to ask for regular British consular access to Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege. Mr Tsege is a British father of three who was kidnapped and rendered to Ethiopia by the country’s security forces in June 2014. Mr Tsege, a political activist who has called for reform in Ethiopia, appears to be held under a sentence of death that was imposed in absentia in 2009. British officials have asked the Ethiopian government for regular consular access to Mr Tsege, and for a ‘legal process’ for him in Ethiopia, but have stopped short of requesting his release.

News of the Prime Minister’s interventions came as a July 2015 briefing from the Foreign Secretary’s office to Downing Street emerged. In the briefing, officials note that the UK’s strategy on Mr Tsege’s case had achieved “no substantive progress” since 2014, and that “our repeated requests for regularised consular access have not been granted” by Ethiopia; “despite multiple assurances given to the foreign secretary by the Ethiopian foreign minister.” The briefing concludes by describing the UK’s relationship with Ethiopia as an “otherwise successful partnership.”

The news follows the recent voicing of concerns for Mr Tsege by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Méndez. In his annual report to the UN’s Human Rights Council, which meets this month, Mr Mendez said there was “substantial” evidence that the Ethiopian government had subjected Mr Tsege to “torture, ill-treatment, prolonged solitary confinement and incommunicado detention.”

Calls for Mr Tsege’s release have already been made by the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the European Parliament, and human rights organization Reprieve, which is assisting his family in London.

Commenting, Harriet McCulloch, deputy director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said:

“Andy Tsege was unlawfully sentenced to death in absentia by Ethiopia’s government, and has since suffered a series of terrible abuses – including kidnap, rendition and torture. Yet, nearly two years on from Andy’s disappearance, it appears even David Cameron’s interventions aren’t moving Ethiopia to grant the UK’s basic requests. Britain must take a much firmer line, and ask Ethiopia to release Andy – as the UN and others have done.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Reprieve is an international human rights organization. Reprieve’s London office can be contacted on: communications [at] reprieve.org.uk / +44 (0) 207 553 8140. Reprieve US, based in New York City, can be contacted on Katherine [dot] oshea [at] reprieve.org / +1 917 855 8064.

2. The Foreign Office’s comments on Mr Tsege’s case were revealed by the Times,here.

3. Confirmation of the Prime Minister’s most recent intervention was given to Buzzfeed, here.

4. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture’s report is available here (under reference A/HRC/31/57/Add.1; reference to Mr Tsege is made from page 28).

5. Further detail on Mr Tsege’s case can be found on the Reprieve website, here.

http://www.reprieve.org.uk

The post PM writes to Ethiopia amid fears for death-row Brit appeared first on Satenaw.

By Soka25east On March 16, 2016,

Well-travelled  Ethiopia Walia ibex striker Saladin Said is itching and yearning to get his form back and nothing could provide that better than the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifer against Algeria the same country he last played in club duty before returning back to his former club St.George.

Its been a trying moment for Sala as he is popularly know with injuries and lack of playing time the soft spoken striker still belives he has better years ahead both for club and country just after coach Yohannes Sahle recalled him back    to Ethiopia’s senior national team ahead of their 2017 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) double header with Algeria.

Salhadin Said The  last played for the Walias of Ethiopia against Lesotho in the 2017 AFCON qualifier nine months ago but feels it would be the best time to reclaim his position and confidence.

“As a footballers injuries are not the best moments because they mean long recuperation hence longer time to gell with other players but that’s life.It was a tough moment in Algeria having suffered an early injury but now that is water under the bridge i want to regain my mojo back and playing for my beloved country Ethiopia will sure spur and help inspire me once again in a great way”Salhadin Said told Soka25east.com

“We have a tough game against Algeria which has been rising but it will not be the first time we are playing them we just need to focus as a team and train effectively”he added

The Walia Ibex  squad  includes another experienced striker Getaneh Kebede who currently plies his trade in South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) for University of Pretoria.

Algeria will host Ethiopia in the Group J encounter on the 25th of March 2016 and the return leg is scheduled to take place four days later in Addis Ababa.

Salhadin Said Club Career:

In 2010, Salhadin was on trial with, but the transfer failed. Subsequently, he trialled with FK Vojvodina , but didn’t manage to go further than gaining good wishes and complements from coach Zoran Milinković.

In 2011, Salhadin scored in the 2011 Kagame Cecafa Club Cup game against AS Port from Djibouti scoring five goals in one game.^[

On 9 October 2011, Salhadin got transferred to Egyptian club Wadi Degla FC who paid 2,040,000 Ethiopian birr , ($240,000 US), at the time the highest sum ever paid for an Ethiopian footballer.

Lierse

Salhadin said ahead of Ethiopia’s game against Burkina Faso in 2013 Africa Cup of Nations that he was moving to Belgium club Lierse SK after the Africa Cup.

Al-Ahly

On 23 April 2014, Saladin moved from Wadi Degla to the league rivals Al –Ahly where they had captured 2015 CAF Champions League title

MC Alger

In 2015 Sala crossed over and joined Algerian side MC Alger but things did not turn as rosy as expected as he struggled to get playing opportunity finally the club terminated his contract on mutual consent.’

2016 Return to Sanjaw (St.George)

Sala’s return to Sanjaw was greeted with pomp and colour in his unveiling that was marked by huge celebeations as he returned back home in 2016 to reignite his career.

International career

Saladin Said debuted for the Ethiopian national team in 2005. Since then he has been Ethiopia’s top scorer in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Squad named by coach Yohannes Sahle

Goalkeepers: Abele Mamo (Mugher Ciminto), Lealem Birhanu (Sidama
Bunna), Tarik Getenet (Dedebit)

Defenders: Seyoum Tesfaye (Dedebit), Alula Girma (Saint George), Tekalegn Dejene (Dedebit), Souliman Mohammed (Adama Ketema), Asechalew Tamene (Saint George), Anteneh Tesfaye (Sidama Bunna), Yared Bayeh (Dashen Bira), Wendifraw Getahun (Ethiopia Bunna)

Midfielders: Gatoch Panom (Ethiopia Bunna), Asrat Megeressa (DashenBira), Biniam Belay (Ethiopia Nigd Bank), Tadele Mengesha (ArbaMinch Ketema), Behailu Assefa (Saint George), Shemeles Bekele (Petrojet/Egypt), Elias Mamo (Ethiopia Bunna), Ramkel Lok (Saint George)

Forwards: Dawit Fikadu (Dedebit), Getaneh Kebede (University Pretoria/South Africa), Tafesse Tesfaye (Adama Ketema), Mulualem Tilahun (Mekelakeya), Salahdin Said (Saint George)

The post Ethiopia’s great son Salhadin Said ready to rumble once again for Walia Ibex appeared first on Satenaw.

Sadik Ahemed Presents Engineer Yilikal Getnet

The post Sadik Ahemed Presents Engineer Yilikal Getnet appeared first on Satenaw.

Interview with Dr Shimelis Bonsa – “City as Nation: Imagining and Practicing Addis Ababa as a Modern and National Space” (SBS Amharic)

The post Interview with Dr Shimelis Bonsa – “City as Nation: Imagining and Practicing Addis Ababa as a Modern and National Space” (SBS Amharic) appeared first on Satenaw.

March 3, 2016

As a result of the popular unrest engulfed the Oromia kilil, it appears an interesting debate resurfaced among Ethiopian intellectuals of late. The long held consensus among the mainstream intellectuals that TPLF instituted ethnic based politics disintegrates the country, deprives the citizens to exercise individual freedom, restricts citizens movements to enclosed ethnic enclave, and encourages ethnic discrimination is challenged.  What makes the current debate interesting is that it didn’t come from the usual quarter of ill wishers of Ethiopia.  It came from good wishing intellectuals, notably Dr. Messay Kebede and Dr. Minga Negash (Unity Overrides Everything! – Messay Kebede January 20, 2016; Ethiopia Understanding the current protests in Ethiopia: A rejoinder By Minga Negash, February 24, 2016).  In their articles the two advocated to consider ethnic based resistance as means of democratizing Ethiopia.  We now found ourselves back to square one, the ways and means to create a just and fair society in Ethiopia have not drawn consensus among intellectuals.

Dr. Messay argued that ethnicity is already institutionalized in the last twenty-five years and will be difficult to go back to the ‘liberal’ type democratic systems. While, Dr. Minga argued that ethnic parties can serve as one of the civic-like institutions for safe guarding democracy as in liberal democracy civic institutions. Neither of them explained in any detail what mechanism will be implemented to shape the state of Ethiopia, if the country decided to institutionalize ethnic based administration. Without a suggested mechanism to democratically implement the recommendation, peaceful coexistence can only be assumed not assured.  Drs Messay and Minga grossly underestimated the transformative power of democratic process.  Both have ignored the fact that the current structural systems is a consequence of dictatorship not a process of democratization.  They also ignored the fact that the Ethiopians struggle is not limited to removing TPLF but also includes removing the destructive institutions TPLF created to subvert democracy.

Ethiopia is a country with over 80 ethnic groups in varying population sizes and geographic settlements. To create the current ethnic administrative kilil, it has taken the brutal dictatorship of TPLF that would not have been created in democratic process. Without their consents, some ethnic groups have been lumped together and others have been split. To make the matter worst, resources have been unfairly divided among the killils.  When ethnic killil have been created, a time bomb has been planted.  By embracing the process that planted the time bomb and keeping the ethnic administrative structure that keeps the time bomb ticking will even more threatens the existence of Ethiopia.

Modern democracy has been around for long time. We should not be confused what democracy is and what it is not. Similarly, we know what democratic countries have accomplished and could accomplish. For properly functioning democracy, free civil institutions, the rule of law and democratic government are essential ingredients.  All these institutions are grounded on individual rights.  A step out of these principles, a democratic system simply ceases to exist and function. What Drs Messay and Minga offered Ethiopians for choices are false choices among dictatorships of one ethnic group over the other, not a true choice between democracy and dictatorship.  Choosing among various dictatorships is far from reaching peaceful coexistence among ethnic groups.

For the very few who have access to the Internet, it is easy to notice that the Ethiopian social media has been manipulated by the few who mastered to exaggerate and deceive segment of population with less information supply.  The few fanatics who dominated the social media solicited public support with multi-tiered of falsehood and coordinated deceit.  Even the learned citizens are victims of misinformation.  To counter this misinformation, the public has to liberate itself from manipulation and perversion.  The capacity of various independent media outlets for collecting information from the ground is yet to be developed. The mobilization of ethnicity for taking social and political action has been effective among few ethnic groups.  By any imagination, these few incidences should not have president to turn the struggle to democratize Ethiopia to different direction.

From the experience of other countries who established long term peace, the lessons to learn is that the long process of educating and rousing the public to the truth will provide the people knowledge of the true liberty and expose the myths and illusions spread by ethnic demagogues. Ethiopians should not forget, for a moment, the timelessness of liberal democracy and espouse to create institutions that protect the rights of all citizens and make them available for future generations of Ethiopia.  At this critical period, what Ethiopians need is far-sighted leaders who will deliver the country from TPLF evil hands.

e-mail: ethio_nation@yahoo.com

The post Commentary: The Democratization Struggle of Ethiopia     (Dubale Tariku) appeared first on Satenaw.

Mahlet Fasil

The federal high court Arada branch 19th criminal bench has today granted the police investigating senior opposition figure Bekele Gerba and 22 others additional 28 days and adjourned the next hearing until April 15th 2016. The police were given the additional 28 days at a closed hearing this afternoon.

The same court has also adjourned the case for Getachew Shiferaw, Editor-in-Chief of Negere Ethiopia, the opposition’s Blue party newspaper, and two others in his case until April 15th. Getachew Shiferaw et al were detained in January this year. No charges are brought against both cases.

Bekele Gerba, who is the first secretary general of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), was arrested on Dec. 23 2015 following the initial weeks of the Oromo protests that gripped Ethiopia since Nov. 2015. Other 22 members of the OFC were also arrested in what many say was the heaviest crackdown against the party.

Bekele Gerba et al have already appeared in court three times and today’s was the fourth and would have been the last appearance for the police to request additional days. Boontu Bekele, Bekele’s daughter, told Addis Standard this afternoon that since the last three days his families were allowed regular visits for the first time because the ”police said they have finished their investigations,” Boontu said.

In January Bekele Gerba et al went on a hunger strike protesting against inhuman treatments in the hands of the police including denial of family visits at the notorious prison ward called Ma’ekelawi. The families of all the detainees were then briefly allowed to visit. But the situation didn’t seem to have improved.

Wondmu Ebbissa, the lawyer representing Bekele Gerba et al, told Addis Standard this afternoon that Bekele and the 22 others with him are kept in a cell of 4 X 5 m that includes a toilet and beds for all.

Today’s grant by the court of the additional 28 days is against Art 20 sub article 3 of Ethiopia’s infamous Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP), which allows police investigating detainees to request only four appointments of 28 days each from a presiding court. After that the proclamation allows detainees the right to a bail.

The post Ethiopia court grants police investigating Bekele Gerba et al …Additional 28 days appeared first on Satenaw.