ESAT News (April 8, 2016)

The Board of the Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (ESAT) announced that it has appointed journalist and activist Abebe Gellaw as the new executive director. Abebe will fill in the position vacated by Neamin Zeleke who resigned few months ago due to other responsibilities and commitments.

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Britain is giving more than £1m to train security forces who kidnapped Ethiopia’s ‘Mandela’ as EU envoy to Rwanda admits: ‘I am proud to fund a dictator’

• Britain is giving over a million pounds to train Ethiopia’s security forces
• Country’s regime abducted a Briton and holds him under sentence of death
• Foreign Office is spending £500,000 on a master’s programme in ‘security sector management’ run by Cranfield University in Ethiopia
• £546,500 is being spent on the Ethiopian Peace Support Training Centre 

By Ian Birrell for The Mail on Sunday

Britain is giving more than a million pounds to train Ethiopia’s security forces – even though the country’s repressive regime abducted a British citizen and holds him under sentence of death.

Andargachew Tsege, a father of three from North London, was snatched almost two years ago while travelling through an airport in Yemen. After being forced on to a plane to Ethiopia, he was paraded on television and held for months in secret detention.

Yet the Foreign Office is spending £500,000 on a master’s programme in ‘security sector management’ run by Cranfield University in Ethiopia – a one-party state accused of horrific human rights abuses. Another £546,500 is being spent by the Ministry of Defence to help support the Ethiopian Peace Support Training Centre, which opened last year.

‘I am furious,’ said Yemi Hailemariam, Mr Tsege’s partner and mother of their children.

‘It’s crazy that we’re giving aid like this. They say it is to improve human rights there but then they go and help the security apparatus detaining Andy.’

The funding – made through the £1 billion Conflict, Security and Stabilisation Fund – emerged in a Freedom of Information request to the Foreign Office, although it declined to detail a human rights assessment on the grounds that it might ‘prejudice relations’.

There are 35 students on the security management course, which includes modules on intelligence operations.

They include officials from Djibouti and Rwanda, another repressive state, as well as Ethiopia.

‘It is deeply alarming that UK taxpayers appear to be funding the very Ethiopian security forces responsible for the kidnap and rendition of British citizen,’ said Maya Foa, from campaign group Reprieve.

Eighteen months ago, International Development Secretary Justine Greening suspended a similar programme ‘because of concerns about risk and value for money’. 

This followed the seizure of Mr Tsege, 61, who has lived in Britain since 1979 and been called his nation’s Nelson Mandela.

His case was highlighted last month by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee in a report condemning the Ethiopian government for back-pedalling on human rights.

Internal emails obtained by The Mail on Sunday show that shortly after Mr Tsege’s kidnapping, the Foreign Office’s Africa director complained that a British Minister had raised the case with the Ethiopian Prime Minister ‘but in the same week that DFID announced lots of extra aid, which rather mixes messages’.

Mr Tsege fled Ethiopia after falling out with then-president Meles Zenawi for exposing corruption and later establishing a pro-democracy party.

Seven years ago he was branded a terrorist and sentenced to death in absentia for allegedly preparing a coup, which he denies strongly.

He was abducted in June 2014 while travelling to Eritrea. After a year in solitary, he was moved to a prison near Addis Abba called a ‘gulag’ by human rights groups.

He had a broken thumb when he last met British diplomats, and there have been fears of torture.

Ethiopia, seen as an important ally in the war on terrorism, is the second biggest recipient of British aid, receiving £277 million in direct donations this year.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘Ethiopia is heavily engaged in the fight against Al Shabaab in neighbouring Somalia, which is vital to build stability in the region and to UK interests.’

EU envoy told me: ‘I am proud to fund a dictator’

By Anjan Sundaram

Eyewitness account 

‘I have no problem giving money to a dictator,’ a European ambassador to Rwanda told me.

The ambassador had just promised about £200 million of European taxpayer money to the Rwandan government, whose repressive ways he was familiar with.

He said Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame ran one of the most ‘effective’ governments in Africa.

‘I’m proud to be giving him money,’ he said. ‘We will influence the government in the right direction.’

Over the last decade the world, including the United Kingdom, has financed Paul Kagame’s government while watching Rwandan politicians, military figures, journalists and civil society activists one by one be killed, imprisoned, or flee the country, fearing for their lives.

Independent institutions have been all but stamped out. The parliament, the courts and the media are all under Kagame’s control. Even Kagame’s admirers admit that his power is almost absolute.

Kagame announced this New Year’s day that he would seek a third term in power, breaking previous promises to respect what had been a two-term constitutional limit.

Kagame had once claimed he would have failed should he not find a successor at the end of his terms as president.

On New Year’s day, after a referendum on a constitutional change specifically designed to allow Kagame to remain president until 2034, he addressed the Rwandan population, ‘You requested me to lead the country again… I can only accept.’

It was a classic dictator’s speech, and it revealed just how small Kagame’s circle of trust has become.

Many observers had expected him to at least engineer a Putin-style cosmetic transfer of titles; a few truly believed he would step down. But Kagame has made sure that there are no alternatives to him in Rwanda.

Most of his political opponents are either dead, languishing in Rwandan prisons, or living in exile, having been forced to flee Rwanda.

The United Kingdom has been one of the staunchest supporters of Kagame’s government through this repression.

Dfid gave £76m in aid to Rwanda last year, money that strengthens Kagame’s systems of mass control as it goes through government agencies and to government-approved projects.

Kagame also enjoys political friendships across the British political spectrum. Tony Blair’s Africa Governance Initiative places British consultants at the heart of Kagame’s presidential office.

Cherie Blair is a lawyer for the Rwandan government, recently defending the head of Rwanda’s intelligence in a British court on alleged war crimes. And the Tory party’s runs ‘Project Umubano’ in partnership with Kagame’s government, sending MPs to Rwanda for social work each year.

I lived in Rwanda for nearly five years between 2009 and 2013, training some of the last independent journalists working in the country.

I watched as even benign criticisms of Kagame were met with the closure of newspapers and the harassment of journalists.

One journalist who brought up the attacks on the press at a conference in front of Kagame was beaten into a coma. Another colleague of mine was shot dead on the day he criticised Kagame.

Two young women were sentenced to several years in prison for insulting Kagame. Others fled to Europe, fearing they would be killed.

Many journalists either began writing up propaganda in favor of Kagame or simply abandoned journalism as it was too dangerous. In my book I list more than 60 journalists who faced harassment, leading to the country’s current state: a place where the government’s voice dominates.

None of this is news to the Western governments that finance Kagame’s government and other repressive states like Ethiopia.

Western aid has reinforced Kagame’s regime – it has helped him build a highly efficient state that can produce far-reaching changes on a whim, because people will not resist government orders.

When Kagame orders plastic bags to be eradicated from the country – a benefit to the country – the bags disappear overnight. When he orders people to wear slippers they comply.

Western donors, including the United Kingdom, have helped Kagame build this powerful system but they cannot control how he uses it.

When the Rwandan government tells people to come out and vote for Kagame they comply in huge numbers: participation rates are regularly above to 95%. Kagame won 93% of the vote in the 2010 presidential election.

I witnessed thousands of people who had done themselves harm, tearing down their roofs and living in the open in the rainy season, contracting pneumonia and malaria, because Kagame had called the grass roofs primitive, and local officials had insisted that people tear down their roofs.

The people complied without asking whether replacement housing had been built. Who would they speak out to? There was no one who would listen. A small town pastor, one of the few to protest, was imprisoned for threatening state security.

When people cannot speak, harm becomes possible on a massive scale, and much of it goes unreported: newspapers and radios in Rwanda dared not shed light on the government’s repression.

Western financing for repressive states like Rwanda and Ethiopia has meant people in those countries have to choose to give into repression in order to receive state benefits – in ways that we would never accept for ourselves, our families or our societies.

Many Rwandans are silent about family members who have disappeared or been killed because they fear the repercussions, which include losing access to Western-financed welfare programs.

It is presumptuous to claim to be able to measure progress in places like Rwanda when the very people participating in that progress cannot speak freely about their experience of it.

Researchers from the World Bank who surveyed Rwandans, questioning the government’s narrative of poverty reduction and increasing freedoms, had their data destroyed and project cancelled. Participants in the survey were questioned by the Rwandan police.

A UN report that highlighted increasing poverty by certain measures was retracted after the Rwandan government protested, and the researchers were blacklisted.

Subsequent research teams, at the government’s invitation, have found that life is improving and poverty decreasing, supporting the government’s narrative.

Western donors have developed a perverse relationship with autocrats. The more repression there is in places like Rwanda, the less criticism there is of Western aid programs. This silence benefits donors.

I’ve seen more than one aid official obtain promotions on the back of their alleged successes in Rwanda.

Donors are eager to talk about the good they are doing, but they are silent about the harms their aid inflicts on people, and it is quite convenient for them that the people themselves cannot speak up.

• Anjan Sundaram is author of Bad News: Last Journalists In A Dictatorship (Bloomsbury).

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Press Release

April 26, 2016

Putting humanity before ethnicity or other differences and caring about the freedom of others— for no one is free until all are free— could have created a different ending for each of the tragic stories affecting Ethiopians that have unfolded in the last weeks. These incidents did not have to happen, but in each case, could have been avoided or lessened in severity. Much of the pain, suffering, death and loss of countless people and their loved ones could have been avoided had those involved simply put these God-given principles into practice.

Each incident has an overwhelming component of tribalism gone wrong. How unjust is it to kill, rob and steal from another collective group, dehumanizing them as the other simply because of their ethnicity or the way they look? How wrong is it to commit crimes without any compassion because the other(s) are not part of your own group? How immoral is it to take revenge against some random person, who has done nothing but be of the same ethnicity as the person inflicting harm to some within your own collective group?  

Recurring and avoidable tragedies result when the worst of tribalism is carried out against the collective other; whether on a small-scale, institutionalized into systems like Ethnic Federalism of the TPLF/EPRDF or mixed together and exploited, usually for the benefit of the dominant partner.

Unfortunately, the consequences of these tragedies are now serious and far-reaching. To further complicate matters, they must be dealt with in an environment entirely lacking the supports for success. Collective punishment flourishes in environments where there is a failure of justice. It shows a weak rule of law that is ineffective in ensuring protection for the innocent from collective attacks and hindering those impacted from taking collective revenge. One person can kill another without any consequences. Ethnic federalism of the TPLF/EPRDF and its policies that capitalize on ethnic differences or other distinctions actually promotes this. 

When a ruling party of the TPLF/EPRDF uses ethnicity, religion, political viewpoint, activism, region or other factors to divide people, to protect self-interest, to play favorites with opportunity, to repress legitimate rights and to cover-up needs or complaints rather than dealing with the real problems; the results are what we have recently seen in exploding ethnic-based violence, hunger, and death encountered by the thousands fleeing the country.

Gambella has become the site of increasing ethnic-based violence and killing. On April 21, 2016, two Nuer girls, refugees from South Sudan who were living in the Jewi refugee camp in Gambella, Ethiopia, were hit and killed by a car driven by a highlander associated with a humanitarian group, Action Against Hunger (ACF). The term Highlander refers to a lighter-skinned person originally from the highlands of Ethiopia, rather than indigenous to the region).

In response, some Nuer refugees sought retaliation for their deaths by killing ten or more highlanders, who lived or worked in Gambella. None of those killed were driving the car involved in the accident. The only thing they had in common was their skin-color. Now, highlanders have organized and are retaliating against innocent Nuer, killing three persons. Of the three already killed; none are refugees, but instead are Ethiopian citizens who had nothing to do with the murder of the highlanders.

The highlanders also carried out a protest followed by the attempt by some of them to go to the refugee camp and Nuer areas, but regional and federal security forces prevented them from doing so. Some highlanders threw rocks at the vehicle of the governor of the region, a Nuer, and broke the windshield. Protestors shouted that they did not want to be led by a refugee, claiming the current governor was a refugee from South Sudan rather than a citizen of Ethiopia. Protestors also attacked the vehicle belonging to Riek Machar, the Vice President designate for South Sudan and leader of the SPLA-In Opposition, himself a Nuer, who was preparing to return to Juba to assume his new position there. He condemned the killings by all groups, including the Nuer.

In another incident, occurring a week ago, many were shocked to hear the heart-breaking news of the murder of over 200 Nuer, local citizens of Gambella, who were attacked by approximately 300 armed Murle tribesman who are said to have crossed the Ethiopian border from South Sudan to carry out a simultaneous attack on thirteen Nuer villages in the early morning hours of April 15, 2016. During that attack, mostly unarmed Nuer desperately fought to protect their families against the heavily armed Murle. In addition to the killings, over a hundred children and some women were abducted and two thousand head of livestock taken. It is said that the Murle then returned to South Sudan. These Nuer were not involved in the later attack on the highlanders this past week.

What happened to the Nuer impacted other Ethiopians as can be seen from the many messages of sympathy and support in the social media. Public sentiment was strong; not only because of the great loss of life and the abduction of the women and children, but also because these were foreign aggressors, entering across Ethiopia’s porous borders to attack a vulnerable people who were unable to defend themselves due to the lack of security forces and their disarmament.

We in the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) express our deepest sympathy to those who lost their loved ones and pray that the wounded will soon recover and that those who have been abducted will quickly be returned to their homes and families. These are egregious crimes, piercing the hearts of many caring people; not only within the Nuer community, but far beyond.

Sadly, the numbers of tragic reports affecting the people of Ethiopia and in the Horn of Africa have become almost a weekly occurrence. It overwhelms our emotions. It is almost too much to emotionally deal with when we think of these tragedies being followed by two separate incidents where approximately 500 people from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia were drowned crossing the Mediterranean in overcrowded ships in search of freedom and opportunity. This means 1,000 people— men, women and children. The stories from survivors who watched their loved ones drown, unable to save them, are appalling.

We also grieve for these precious lives and extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of those who so tragically drowned. According to reports, the majority of people who lost their lives, in both incidents, were Oromo, many of them young people escaping the recent violence and government-sponsored killing in Ethiopia. We have heard that some of these victims were activists in the peaceful demonstrations against the regime’s plan to take over indigenous Oromo land as part of the Addis Ababa Master Plan. Fearing arrest, torture or deadly repercussions, they fled Ethiopia, never expecting to lose their lives on the way. 

We deeply feel the pain of these lost lives. These young people were committed to building a better future within the country; but for some, it became too difficult, if not impossible, to do so. Those lost in the sea were also victims of human traffickers who exploited the desperation of those fleeing their countries; however, most of these victims may never have left the country except for the government-sponsored killing of peaceful protestors— over 600 since last November.

Added to the tragedy of these events is the worsening starvation among Ethiopians, especially impacting the people of the Afar and Somali regions of the country. Unfortunately, the peace, security and one-mindedness necessary to better deal with such a deepening food crisis are missing.

Additionally, ESAT News report sources have told them that the Ethiopian Special Envoy for the Prime Minister, Ambassador Berhane Gebrekiristos, had asked the Addis Ababa representative to the UN to stop fundraising efforts being carried out by OCHA, USAID, Save the Children, UNICEF and others since it would “tarnish the image of the country.” Where is the concern for the people who will starve as a result? That story would also “tarnish the image of the country” if it were allowed to surface in the media. Yet, new measures are further restricting the social media in Ethiopia; which, is now the most expensive country in the world for Internet among 120 countries in the study, limiting the number of users in this poor country. (See price rankings by country for the Internet.)

On the other hand, the TPLF/EPRDF government appears to be more proactive in their response to the case involving the Nuer killed by the Murle, possibly because the aggressors came from outside the country. We hope a strategy can be developed to bring the perpetrators to justice, to return those abducted as well as the cattle; however, it is also important to understand how it happened in the first place so it is not repeated.

According to reports coming out of Gambella, the deaths could have been avoided. The Murle alleged to have committed the killings, came from another country. Had there been more security at the borders to protect the citizens; they could have been stopped at the border by Ethiopian security forces whose job it was to protect the borders. However, they were not present to do their job, leaving the border open without any supervision. 

Up until recently, there had been indigenous security forces at the border, consisting of members of the local ethnic communities. However, in February, ethnic violence had erupted between the Nuer and Anuak. These security forces, whose job it was to protect the people of Gambella without bias; instead, turned on each other.

We can blame the TPLF/EPRDF regime, known for using ethnic apartheid divide and conquer politics to maintain tight control over the region, as well as throughout the country. We can also point to years of regional political decisions that were used as tools to alienate one group from another; but yet, the bottom line is that members of both the Nuer and Anuak communities fell into their trap and became complicit in carrying out acts of violence against the other.

This is at a time when reconciliation among the people is of utmost importance. Instead, the situation went out of control without anything to stop it. Rather than dealing with the conflict and crimes committed by various players; the indigenous security forces, as a whole, were disarmed and moved from the border, leaving the country and people vulnerable to attacks such as this one. This provided an open door to groups like the Murle who had committed nearly the same acts against three Anuak villages several weeks ago. At that time, sixteen people were killed, including children and women, and eight children were abducted. Three Anuak villages were burned down. Following this incident, the TPLF/EPRDF regime took no action, essentially giving the opportunity for it to be repeated. This is now the second time. Had the authorities responded as they should have done the first time; it is unlikely that this most recent incident would have been repeated.

Following the latest incident where 200 Nuer were killed, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn made a public statement; but what the country needs is more than a statement. It will require action. If the regime really cares for the Ethiopian people, someone should be held accountable for this. One of those in such a position of responsibility is the Defense Minister who should explain why there was such a lack of security when the risk of guns, violence and further killing was so strong. What is the purpose of defense forces and the legal system when they are not put into action? Again, its a failure of the rule of law.

People agree that a tragedy has happened to the Nuer, but the response of the TPLF/EPRDF should be in a mature, responsible way that will not lead to losing more lives. Reportedly, Ethiopian troops have been given permission by President Salva Kiir to enter South Sudan to find the perpetrators; but it is imperative that an outcome would include a plan to address the security issues.

Simply pursuing the Murle as a whole, instead of the actual perpetrators may be used as a shortcut, but it presents the risk of worsening the outcome, especially if innocent Murle are targeted rather than bringing the real criminals to justice. A meaningful and sustainable solution should be found where the responsibility of the government to protect its own citizens is carried out in actuality, not just in a superficial way in order to look good to outsiders. 

Concern for the safety of the borders should encompass all our borders since it is not only a problem in Gambella, but also in other places, like the border of Kenya. If the government is not willing to secure these borders; they should arm the citizens so they can protect themselves from exactly these kinds of attacks in the future.

These crises in the country signal an opportunity for the TPLF/EPRDF to act for the good of the people; changing their focus from self-preservation and self-interest to acting as a government for the people. In doing so, it may be the best opportunity to help avert a larger crisis that could lead to greater instability. This may be the right time for the TPLF/EPRDF to come to their senses to change the course both they and Ethiopians are on that could lead to an escalation of widespread ethnic violence— a place none of us want to go. 

Instead, it is a chance to bring lasting change that could save everybody— including them. An example of such change would be to open up political space instead of repressing and cracking down on citizens, which includes opening up the media and the exchange of information via technology. Another example would be to release opposition leaders and political prisoners from prisons and jails, and to start a genuine dialogue with the opposition within the country. Still another example would be to revoke the anti-terrorism law used to repress free speech and political activism and also the Charities and Societies Proclamation that has decimated civil society.

The TPLF/EPRDF should listen to the demands of the people. At such a time as this, people are losing hope and these crises that are rising up from every corner of the country will only make it worse, as will the increasing starvation. When people warn about ethnic-based violence exploding, these reported incidents are signs of what could happen on a larger scale without change. Already many Ethiopians— as well as the ruling regime— see themselves first as a collective group where their own survival is seen as primary. The result is the dangerous dehumanization of others that could easily explode under existing conditions. This shows how vitally important it is to embrace a worldview that puts humanity before ethnicity or other differences and protects the rights and freedom of others so that one’s own freedom and rights are upheld; both for practical reasons as well as moral reasons.

The forces of change are already crouching at our door. Those forces could push us towards positive change or result in negative actions leading to an escalation of the consequences we have been seeing. Would it not be better to realize change will come, one way or another, and to embrace the opportunity to bring it in the right way? May God help Ethiopians come to their senses so as to avoid the collision course we are on now.

In closing, we are heartbroken by what has been happening and believe we can find a genuine solution if we are willing to embrace values that support not only our own collective group, but all our people— putting humanity before ethnicity, or any other difference. Human life is precious and as a society, when these lives are lost, we grieve together regardless of ethnicity, religion, regional background, political view or any other differences.

Until we are all free, no one will be free and secure. These principles, upheld by individuals, communities and the rule of law, could have stopped all of these tragedies from occurring and could even minimize the effects of the famine. With God’s help, they could equip Ethiopia for a future beyond what we could ask or imagine.

May God strengthen the families of those who have lost loved ones as they go through this difficult time and may He lead us from the edge of danger to a more compassionate, just and free Ethiopia for all.

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

For more information, contact Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the SMNE. Email: Obang@solidaritymovement.org

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April 27, William Davison

South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar returned to the capital of the world’s newest nation to rejoin the government and end a two-year civil war. An economic crisis caused by the conflict and a plunge in oil prices could derail everything.

The government is almost bankrupt due to sliding crude revenue, while inflation in the city, Juba, is raging at more than 240 percent, the economy shrank 5.3 percent last year and millions of people face starvation. If the state can’t find the cash to pay the thousands of government soldiers and rebel fighters, violence could flare again.

“Power-sharing needs a rapidly expanding budget,” Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, Massachusetts, said in a interview in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. “The same formula is unworkable at a time of extreme austerity.”

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million have fled their homes since the war began. Repeated regional efforts to broker peace finally led to an August agreement between Machar and President Salva Kiir to form a transitional administration to prepare the country for elections within 30 months.

Resume Role

Machar took an oath to resume the vice presidency on Tuesday before members of his group assume 10 of the 30 ministerial positions. Parliament will be expanded to 400 lawmakers by adding 50 Machar allies and 18 from other factions, with the new administration set to review the constitution and military, and improve economic management.

The government, which relies on oil for almost all its revenue, has seen crude production fall by at least a third to 160,000 barrels per day since the war began. The slump in global oil prices and the fees South Sudan pays neighboring Sudan for its transfer by pipeline mean Juba may be earning just $5 per barrel, according to Luke Patey, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen.

The government “will have a more difficult time paying its army plus the militias integrated from the opposition,” he said by e-mail. “This alone may not spark a renewed conflict, but it does not bode well for stability as fighters on both sides expect a peace dividend.”

Party Split

The transitional government’s success will depend on its approach to the economic crisis, according to Marial Awou Yol, dean of the College of Social and Economic Studies at Juba University.

Kiir and Machar need to agree on a budget that cuts government spending and imposes fiscal discipline, he said in an April 15 interview. “If they work together, put forward a constructive economic plan, they can move the country out of the crisis it is in.”

Machar was fired as vice president in July 2013 and announced he would challenge Kiir for the presidency. That split the ruling party, leading to fighting within the army that evolved into civil war. Some clashes were between the nation’s two most populous ethnic groups — the Dinka, to which Kiir belongs, and Machar’s Nuer.

‘Remilitarizing Juba’

Rebel fighters began returning to Juba in March and number about 1,370, while the government said last week it withdrew all but 3,300 soldiers to sites about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the city. A neutral force should be securing Juba during the transition rather than the former warring parties, according to De Waal.

“Remilitarizing Juba — having the armed forces of the two contending parties in the city — is insane,” he said.

A decree by Kiir to increase the number of regional states from 10 to 28 changes the power-sharing allocations, which was based on the original number of regions. Rebels say the regional structure must be renegotiated for the transition to be successful.

Another sticking point could be the continued rejection by Kiir loyalists of Machar’s presidential ambitions, according to Harry Verhoeven, who teaches African politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

“Machar wants to become president and lots of people will never accept that,” he said.

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For Immediate Release:

April 27, 2016

Contact:
Colin Milligan (Klobuchar), 202-228-6317
Michael Dale-Stein (Franken), 202-224-2916

The bipartisan resolution calls for the Secretary of State to conduct a review of U.S. security assistance to Ethiopia in light of allegations that Ethiopian security forces have killed civilians;it also calls upon the government of Ethiopia to halt violent crackdowns, conduct a credible investigation into the killing of protesters, and hold perpetrators of such violence accountable

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken today condemned the lethal violence used by the government of Ethiopia against hundreds of Oromo protesters. The bipartisan Senate resolution calls for the Secretary of State to conduct a review of U.S. security assistance to Ethiopia in light of allegations that Ethiopian security forces have killed civilians. It also calls upon the government of Ethiopia to halt violent crackdowns, conduct a credible investigation into the killing of protesters, and hold perpetrators of such violence accountable.

“I am deeply concerned by continuing reports of violence and restrictions on civil liberties perpetrated by Ethiopian security forces in the Oromia region of Ethiopia,” said Klobuchar. “Minnesota is proud to be home to the largest Oromo community in the United States. My thoughts are with the families of those who have been victims of violence in Ethiopia. I call on Prime Minister Desalgen to restore confidence in the government by putting an end to the violence and intimidation from Ethiopian security forces against peaceful protestors.”
“Around 40,000 Oromo people live in Minnesota, and I’m proud that our state is home to so many vibrant immigrant families,” said Franken. “I stand with our local Oromo community against the terrible violence that’s affected their loved ones who are still in Ethiopia. For years, the Ethiopian government has been accused of serious human rights violations—unprovoked arrests, torture, and oppression—and in recent months, reports indicate that at least 200 people have been killed by Ethiopian security forces. Our bipartisan resolution will help bring much-needed awareness to a terrible tragedy that can no longer go overlooked.”

The protests in Ethiopia, which began last November, were prompted by concerns about lack of grassroots consultation with affected communities in advance of the Ethiopian government’s plan to expand the capital, Addis Ababa.  At least 200 people are believed to have died at the hands of security forces during the course of the protests, and hundreds more have been jailed, including journalists reporting on the demonstrations. In February, Klobuchar and Franken sent a letter to Secretary Kerry urging the administration take action to address escalating violence against civilians in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Minnesota is home to the largest Oromo population in the United States.

The United States works closely with Ethiopia on Administration initiatives including Feed the Future and the African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Partnership.

The full text of the resolution supported by Klobuchar and Franken is attached

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ESAT DC Morning News April 27 2016

The post ESAT DC Morning News April 27 2016 appeared first on Satenaw.

First and foremost I would like to send my deepest and sincerest condolences to everyone( Ethiopians and South Sudanese) who lost their loved ones during these rampages that have befallen the people of Gambella right from the onset of this year up to date.

We all know, it’s not unusual for these unfortunate events to take place in the region. The only thing unique about these consecutive deaths is the brutal murder of Ethiopian workers by refugee in Jewi refugee camp and maybe the number of people that lost their lives during the raid by murle tribesmen from South Sudan. The latter, eventually, got international media’s attention.

Following a post that I came across that was shared on Facebook about five “Ethiopian nuers” that were murdered in Gambella town by highlanders as a revenge to what happened in Jewi refugee camp recently, I am compelled to write this in order to shed light on a few things that the writer( a Nuer) failed to acknowledge in his work.
In the article “highlanders killed 5 Nuer Ethiopians in Gambella town”, the writer tries to blame the highlanders for the murder of five Nuers that he claims to be Ethiopians. The Nuers are killed in revenge to Jewi brutal killing of eight highlanders by Nuer refugees.

Sometime it’s important to tell the fact the way it appears. The “Nuers of Ethiopia” and Nuers of South Sudan issue is a confusing one. Simply, because the hosts themselves do not let this fact out of their mouth unless or otherwise they are fighting among themselves over something or in a case that involve deaths like what happened in Jewi refugee camp.

This matter could have been dealt and do away with long ago by the Ethiopian government(EPRDF) were it not for the fact that the government is more interested in the land rather than inhabitants. The Nuers have been causing problems for years now mainly to the Anywaa(Anuaks)people of Gambella. And whenever a fight erupted between Anywaa and Nuers in areas like Gambella town or Itang, their fellow people in the refugee camps in either Pinyudo or Dimma camps tend to support and join the fight.

This makes it very hard to differentiate between Nuers as to who is from where. As far as I know, Nuers don’t care which part of the world they belong. As long as they have their people in one place, all of them want to be considered as part of that area too just because of the general name, NUER. And that’s one aspect that makes their population grow at the fastest rate in every place they go to.

That’s not all. Nuers tend to be very secretive and protective when it comes to something that benefits their community. It’s not strange that they do almost everything together. I personally do not believe in the differences between these people when it comes to the international boundaries. They have minimal respect for the international boundaries and non at all for local ones. And that’s why there’s problem where ever Nuers set foot on.
Looking at the problems that are happening in South Sudan and Ethiopia, Gamblella region, one can tell who is the main cause for lack of peace between communities in these particular areas.

I am sure that all those people residing in the refugee camps across Gambella are not only South Sudanese Nuers. They are mixed up with those who claim to be Ethiopians. The same case applies to South Sudan. There are a huge number of Nuers  who work with the Government of South Sudan( GoSS) as citizens of South Sudan but they were former employees of Gambella regional state government as Ethiopia citizens. Some members of the Nuer community whom I know to be Ethiopians go from western countries all the way to Pagak( SPLA-IO base in Gambella)to offer support in form of donation of non food items to their fellow Nuers who are fighting SPLA.
We have many youth who join SPLA-IO as  fighters and movement officials but are citizens of Gambella by birth. In fact, some officials used to work for the Gambella regional state government. I do not quite comprehend the implication beneath the complaint of “Ethiopian citizens” paying for a crime committed by refugees.
All these mess would not have occurred if residents of Gambella are aware of the differences, I suppose. We have learnt that even the current governor of Gambella regional state Mr. Tut is a South Sudanese. But, this truth is buried because of the benefits of Nuers tribe in general.

The influx of Nuer refugee in to Gambella region has led to closure of issuance of regional Identification cards. This is one of the reasons that contradict with what the writer is saying. The government would not have gone that far suppose the Nuers in the government stand with the government and put measures in place that makes it easy to identify who is from where. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

The recent fight between Anywaa and Nuers that started over disputed ownership of piece of land between two citizens featured South Sudanese white army members. That is why it reached to a point where hand grenades are involved as well as breaking in to Gambella correctional facility by some Nuer men to kill Anywaa prisoners.
That’s not all, the South Sudanese flag was erected on Ethiopian soil as indication that this fight is much more than usual ones that we all know. The killing of highlanders in the camp is not by accident. It’s part of the plan of Gambella becoming part of the Republic of South Sudan . We are not too deaf to hear the song that was sang by Nuers that they are going to chase Anywaa out of Gambella all the way to pochalla(South Sudan). That they are going to finish the Anywaa because the Nuers out numbered the population of Anywaa by far. That they are going to make Gambella one of their states.

The pioneer and designers of this unrealistic plan come from both Ethiopia and South Sudan. In fact, the governor of Gambella, Gatluak Tut was part of the meeting that was held in Nairobi, Kenya about this matter. Maybe the main objective behind the agenda of South Sudanese Nuers and Ethiopian Nuers coming out now is because the highlanders reacted in away Nuers never expected. I am not sure the writer who can not even spell right the name of the refugee camp “Jewi” is a real son of Gambella.

The Ethiopian government should consider all these events as threat and act accordingly. Because, if these people are not stopped now, it will be too late in the future. Many Nuers of South Sudan have used Ethiopian resources like free education and every other opportunity that they could come by. Now, the same people are planning to go against the people of Ethiopia.

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East African Aviation, a private company, has inaugurated Ethiopia’s first ambulance transportation service.

The Company owned by Captain Mulat Lemlemayehu, a former commercial pilot at the Ethiopian airlines,  also inaugurated its newly established aviation school and air charter service at a ceremony later Thursday in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.

East African Aviation has become the first aviation company in East African region to provide air ambulance transportation, flight training and private charter services all in one place.

Officials of the company have told reporters that East African Aviation has introduced the first air ambulance service in Ethiopia with aircrafts that are equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and licensed medically trained personnel to provide a safe and efficient air transportation for those requiring prompt medical attention in East Africa.

The inaugural ceremony has taken place in the presence of senior government officials of Ethiopia, diplomats, and other prominent personalities among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia, has hailed the air ambulance service introduced by East African Aviation.

The deputy prime minister noted that new investments are being introduced in Ethiopia due to the economic growth witnessed in the country.

Speaking during the inaugural ceremony, Mulat Lemlemayehu, Owner and CEO of East African Aviation, said,:

“With the state-of-the-art medical equipment fitted in the air ambulance, we specialize in transporting patients with the same level of care that would be expected from a hospital ICU.”

“Air ambulance has been non-existent in our country Ethiopia with over 90 million people, a tourist hub in the whole region of Africa and, above all, with a city like Addis Ababa that is the diplomatic capital of Africa where we have a big international community,” he noted.

He told reporters that East African Aviation has a team composed of accomplished, knowledgeable, and qualified pilots who have served Ethiopian Airlines for many years.

East African Aviation flight school has the first full motion simulation for a private school in Ethiopia, he said, the trainer aircrafts such as the Cessna 172 Sky Hawk glass cockpit are well tailored providing user friendly interface for the student and are known to be the best trainer aircrafts in its class.

Captain Mulat Lemlemayehu

East African Aviation said its aircraft for private charter, is the King Air 350 which is one of the most durable and comfortable aircrafts in its class.

With its capability of landing on short and gravel runway, the aircraft reaches cruise speeds of up to 578 km per hour and will get passengers to their destinations quickly and efficiently, according to the company.

Lemlemayehu has founded the company after having served the Ethiopian Airlines commercial pilot for 39 years.

With over 27,000 flight hours, Captain Mulat has the experience of flying aircraft ranging from DC-3, DH-6, ATR 42, Boeing 707, 720 upto to Boeing 777 and 787.

Source -afkinsider.com

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ESAT Radio 28 Thu Apr 2016

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Hiber Radio Interview with Befekadu Moreda and Sadik Ahemed

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Rivlin reportedly raised Syrian border incidents on Moscow trip last month; Netanyahu said to discuss them with Putin on Thursday

BY Breaking Israel News

Rssian forces fired on Israeli Air Force planes at least twice in recent weeks, according to a Friday morning report in the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The paper said that President Reuven Rivlin brought up the issue with President Vladimir Putin during his visit last month to Moscow, and that Putin said it was the first he’d heard of the incidents, despite coordination between the two militaries.

The paper said that President Reuven Rivlin brought up the issue with President Vladimir Putin during his visit last month to Moscow, and that Putin said it was the first he’d heard of the incidents, despite coordination between the two militaries.
Israel and Russia established a mechanism meant to coordinate between their air forces in Syria after Russia began carrying out airstrikes to help Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has said his forces are battling Islamic militants and other “terrorists.” Assad’s government often refers to all opposition fighters as terrorists.

There was no indication from the unsourced report that any Israeli planes were hit, nor were any dates given for the incidents in question.

The report said that the incidents were the reason behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Moscow Thursday to meet with Putin and Russia’s defense minister.

Hebrew media on Tuesday also reported an irregular aerial incident that occurred in recent days when Israeli fighter jets encountered Russian warplanes along the Syrian frontier.

Information regarding the alleged incident was limited, and reports Thursday were conflicting.

According to one account on the Ynet news website, a single Russian jet was scrambled to meet an Israeli military aircraft operating along the northern border. The report stated that it was unclear why the Russian fighter was launched. It noted that the two planes did not make contact and that the Israeli fighter continued on its course unobstructed.

A second report on Channel 2 news claimed that the incident occurred between Russian and Israeli squadrons, as Israeli jets flew along the Syrian coastline. The two fighter groups reportedly approached each other, and very nearly confronted each other. However, contacts between Israeli and Russian officials — through a coordination body set up last year — prevented a more serious incident.

Finally, Channel 10 military reporter Alon Ben-David appeared to combine the two accounts, tweeting Thursday that a single Russian jet was scrambled to meet an Israeli squadron over the Syrian coast. He too noted that the incident never became a full-blown confrontation, and that none of the planes had locked onto each other throughout the event.

Whatever the details of the occurrence, it appeared to have taken place several days before Thursday’s meeting between Netanyahu and Putin, which focused in part on coordination between the two militaries along the Syrian border, and which the Israeli premier called “very successful.”

Netanyahu said the two countries reached understandings over issues that had previously not been sufficiently clarified.

“I set the goal of the meeting as strengthening coordination between Russia and Israel to prevent mishaps,” Netanyahu said. “I think we clarified some matters, and that is very important.”

The issues of the Syrian civil war and the ownership of the Golan had been expected to top the agenda at the meeting. Russia has been carrying out air raids in Syria in support of Assad since September of last year. And although Moscow recently announced it would withdraw many of its troops from the war-torn country, Russian planes still regularly fly sorties there.

In November, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said a Russian jet had breached Israeli airspace, and that the matter was “immediately fixed through communications channels” between the two countries. And late last month King Abdullah of Jordan told American lawmakers that Israeli and Jordanian jets together confronted Russian warplanes in January over southern Syria and warned them away from crossing their shared border.

Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli and Russian military officials had discussed coordination between their armies.

“I think [such coordination] is crucial because we have to keep the freedom of movement for the army and the air force in the places that are important to us in terms of our security, and I think that this essential,” he said.

Israeli airstrikes in Syria have also been the topic of previous high-level meetings between Moscow and Jerusalem. A number of airstrikes in Syria have been attributed to Israeli efforts to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah.

The prime minister announced he will return to Russia on June 7.

During the meeting, Netanyahu informed Putin of his “red lines” regarding the security of Israel’s northern borders, and stressed that the Jewish state was determined to maintain its control of the Golan Heights.

“I have come to Russia to step up coordination on security matters, to prevent mistakes, misunderstandings,” Netanyahu said as the two leaders met. “We are not going back to the days when rockets were fired at our communities and our children from the top of the Golan… and so, with an agreement or without, the Golan Heights will remain part of [Israel’s] sovereign territory.”

The prime minister stressed that Israel would do “everything” in its power to block Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah from obtaining advanced weapons, and was working to assure that no new “terror front” appeared on the Golan Heights.

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ESAT Daily News Amsterdam April 29, 2016

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Press Statement

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Interview with Dr Getachew Begashaw

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By Tsegaye R Ararssa

A lot is happening in our part of the world. The last five months have been immensely eventful. We witnessed a series of tragic events unfolding successively one after the other, each more saddening than the one preceding it. These are truly hard times. Such times signal the urgency of prudent action. Reflexive action is the imperative of the time.

Over the weekend, when I was asked to comment on the ongoing Oromo protest in Ethiopia, I chose to reflect on the Oromo pursuit of social justice and political freedom, the pursuit of what Etienne Balibar calls ‘Equaliberty.'[1] In particular, I chose to reflect on the four critical phases of the Oromo struggle for national emancipation in order to express, if I can, solidarity with the national awakening we see in Oromia today. Specifically, I focused on the phases of survivance,[2] resistance, recovery, and reconstruction.

The primary aim for me personally is to pay attention and to remember and re-member. It is to pay tribute to the people, young and old, who have given and are giving their all in this most recent iteration of the Oromo national struggle for emancipation. The broader aim is to encourage all of us to look ahead into the future, where the Oromo will build walls of connection serving as a force for good in the region.

It is aimed at encouraging us into the redemptive work of transformation of the entire Horn of Africa Region through a just peace, a peace that honours the ideals of Equality and Liberty (social justice and freedom). It is directed towards invoking what Ruti Teitel calls ‘Humanity’s Law,'[3] the law that emerged in consideration of the global inter-connectedness in the 21st century – and the law that enhances accountability for one’s actions in all corners of the world.

I will argue that the success of this ongoing resistance, which some rightly call ‘Oromo National Awakening,'[4] depends on its capacity to engage with the world responsibly and re-constructively within the framework of Humanity’s Law.

Phases of the struggle for National Emancipation

Since the time of their incorporation into Ethiopia in the 19th century, the Oromo have undergone four phases in their expression of indignation and resentment to the hegemony of the Ethiopian state nationalism. These phases can be summarized as follows: a) Survivance; b) Resistance; c) Recovery; d) Reconstruction. I hasten to add that there is hardly a clear demarcation between these phases as they not only flow into one another but also overlap. At times, they occur simultaneously.

When they do so, or whenever any two of these happen together, as in the current Oromo awakening, the more successful they become, the more explosive in their intensity, the more powerful in their impact. When they come coevally, they tend to birth a rupture, even a revolution.

Let us have a quick look at what each stage involves.

Survivance: Insisting on Presence

At this stage of reckoning with loss and lamenting humiliation, the Oromo was engaged in a quiet performance of Oromumma in the privacy of their homes and/or in the non-penetrated spaces of the rural environment. Among other things, this stage is marked by a quiet resistance to cultural and physical extermination. It was a season of adaptation and adjustment, a season of quiet retreat into one’s own way of life. It is a season of practising Oromumma in the non-public space (in the privacy of the home and in the isolated corners of unpenetrated Oromo hinterland).

In urban areas, the Oromo tried to resist assimilation even as they performed a politics of passing and invisibility, making a gesture towards assimilation. In the rural areas, where the State was unable to penetrate the society, the resistance took the form of distancing oneself from the state.

A typical practice in this regard is avoiding state schools for fear of being subjected to a repressive pedagogy of assimilation and erasure of their Oromo identity. The time from incorporation into the Ethiopian imperial state in the late 19thcentury to the 1960s can be characterized as a time of survival and of practising survivance.[5]

Resistance

This is the stage of refusal to be governed. This is the stage of saying NO, overtly and covertly. In its covert form, it sought to disperse the benefits of modern education and basic infrastructure among the Oromo without calling it an Oromo movement. This is what one sees in the early activities of the self-help association known as the Matcha-Tulama Association (MTA). Of course, this kind of covert resistance is undergirded by a keen sense of awareness of oneself as an Oromo and of appreciating the uneven distribution of basic social services in the empire.

The most overt form of resistance started in the acts of rebellion and organized armed resistance in the 1960s. The age of resistance that started with the MTA movement in urban areas of the centre was corroborated by the Bale Oromo resistance also charting out the route (also in part contributing) to the subsequent Ethiopia-wide social upheaval and revolution of 1974. The more mature phase of resistance, of course, took shape only after the formation of the Oromo Liberation Front in 1974 to launch an armed struggle.

Fast forward, when the military regime was eventually toppled by forces of the periphery in 1991, this phase of overt resistance came to a close only to start after a season of recovery.

The Oromo self-assertion as a self-determining agent to have a role in the reconstitution of the Ethiopian state as a democratic, human rights-sensitive, caring and compassionate polity committed to multi-foundationalism, plurinationalism, and just peace[6] was met by a military reprisal under an insecure Ethiopian regime that was reluctant to lose power for the sake of transforming the polity on democratic and humanitarian bases. The transition to democracy faltered and ultimately got derailed altogether. The politics remained militarized. The state crisis continued to deepen. When the OLF left the transition, the transitional pact signed among various liberation fronts collapsed. The hope of transformation was deferred.

The Oromo self-assertion came to be viewed as a threat to the national security of Ethiopia. Oromumma became a securitized identity. The Ethiopian prisons and detention centres started to be congested byOromos charged with the non-existent crime of being ‘anti-peace elements’ (the incipient form of what later became the discourse of terrorism).

The politics of co-optation and patronage had led to the creation of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO) to rule Oromia on behalf of the Ethiopian regime, which was now under the tight grip of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). In order to secure a semblance of legitimacy in Oromia, however, the regime adopted the OLF’s program of recovering the Oromo language (Afaan Oromo), Oromo identity, Oromo culture, Oromo history, and all there is in between.

The seeds of recovery were already in the phase of resistance. However, the actual work of recovery started to bear fruit as it was intensified even in the midst of a violent repression unprecedented in a long time.

While the Ethiopian regime utilized its good relations with the international community to malign the Oromos as terrorists and to exclude them from the public space, the Oromo took solace in the possibility of using their language, practising their culture, and manifesting their identity in public – albeit only to a limited extent. Later on, this act of taking comfort and pride in using language, expressing culture, and manifesting identitycame to express itself in the cultural turn the Oromo resistance took in the face of the increasing closure of the public (political) space.[7]

Recovery

This phase was a stage of ‘drawing breath.'[8] Although at first it appeared a moment of loss and defeat, it actually became a moment of recovery. It is amoment of finding our way back to our Oromo selves. It proved to be a moment of experiencing resilience in its full bloom. Almost like a national recess, it served as a season of rehabilitating the Oromo self, recovering and projecting Oromo subjectivity. It was a moment of reclamation of voice for the Oromo.

In particular, it was a season of recovering the language, the identity, the history (the narrative, the memories, and the stories), the culture, and the cultural institutions of the Oromo. It was a season of refurbishing our way of being in the world, a moment of re-presenting ourselves, counteracting the forced absence of the Oromo from the Ethiopian public scene. It was a moment of imagining home from exile. In short, it was a season of restoring dignity to the Oromo (even in the darkness of the unprecedented state terror from 1992-todate).

Reconstruction

The fourth phase is probably the most critical of all. This stage marks the season for the Oromo to take their legitimate place in the world. It is a stage of reconstituting the Oromo self in the context of a globalized world infinitely interconnected with other peoples. It is a season of reconfiguring the Ethiopian state. The work at this stage can be nothing but transformative. It is a work of engaging with Ethiopia, the horn region, the African Union, the middle-east, and the wider world. It is a moment of projecting an Oromo self that intervenes in the world as a force for good, as a responsible regional actor, as a responsible ‘international citizen.’

At this stage, as a people, the Oromo shall hopefully overcome the brokenness of our past, the deep fractures in our relations with the other peoples of Ethiopia and the Horn. In particular, the Oromo must pay attention to the Ethiopian State with a view to engagement for its genuine transformation. The Oromo pursuit of justice must be complemented by a responsible pursuit of democracy, if only to harness the political power needed to transform the state. Oromo pursuit of equality in citizenship can be a rallying point for all of the ‘other’ peoples (who inhabit the Southern and the peripheral half of Ethiopia).

This demand for equality is at its root a question of justice, but we have now learnt the bitter lesson that justice is the function of (mainly legislative and judicial) power. The task of reconstruction cannot be done without pursuing some form of transformative power. The Oromo quest for equaliberty becomes a synthesis of individual rights on the one hand and the right of collectivities (as well as classes and other categories) to universal social equality. In a sense, this self-conscious and reflexive pursuit of power is a pursuit of a ‘strong democracy.'[9]

Pursuing a strong democracy in a country such as Ethiopia, pursuing transformative power in this context, requires a huge sense of responsibility to reckon with the other (all the Ethiopian others) with an eye on reconfiguring the terms of citizenship, to reconstruct the state, and to transfigure the state-society relationship. This process of pursuing and achieving transformative power is an engagement in the task of redemption (a process of turning the essentially illegitimate into legitimate). [10]

Granted, it is a painful task. It requires looking at historical evil squarely in the eye, reckoning with its impacts, accounting for it, remembering it, but choosing to forgive. [11]It requires an agonistic engagement with our plurinationality and the complexity thereof. It comes with cost and sacrifice. For the Oromo, the price of equaliberty is a sense of national responsibility.

This is because the work of reconstruction in Ethiopia demands nothing less than redemption. From theological discourses, we know that redemption requires sacrifice that invests in the belief that the future will be different from the past. It is a process that unleashes anguish as we try to undo injustices of the past and hope for a fairer and more just future.

Transformative engagement with Ethiopia requires consideration of several concrete political realities such as international debts, borders, and military engagements in the neighbouring countries and in the UN Peace-keeping mission fields. More importantly, it requires a serious look into the trade, investment, and development partnerships that Ethiopia has gone into and the obligations that flow therefrom.

The Oromo also needs to engage creatively and imaginatively with the institutions of the Ethiopian empire. One has to have a clear idea of what to do with its repressive security, intelligence, military, police, and prison institutions.

One also needs to have a clear idea of what to do with abused constitutional institutions and arrangements (parliaments, elections, federalism, self-determination rules, constitutions, ‘rule of law,’ etc). The most urgent and pressing challenge that the Oromo needs to counter directly is the arrest and eradication of the intermittent famine that is caused and mismanaged by successive Ethiopian regimes.

In the endeavour to transform the state-society relation, the Oromo needs to change the hierarchic, centralized, and authoritarian political culture of the country. When it comes to the issue of handling plurinationality and the demand for ethno-cultural justice, the Oromo needs to appreciate that there will be no post-EPRDF moment in some ways and find more practical and just ways of satisfying legitimate national aspirations at all levels.

For this, the Oromo needs to empower citizens, preparing them for the democracy to come both within Oromia and in the wider Ethiopia. One needs to prepare people for making an informed sovereign choice in the deliberations on sensitive issues of self-determination and constitutional secession.

Throughout, one needs to beware of what we inherit: huge amounts of international debts; an interlocked and inter-dependent but conflicting and volatile neighbourhood; chronic poverty; malfunctioning institutions; budding corruption in a bubble economy;a generally neo-liberal-capitalist global society; a US-driven civilizational cleavage in the ‘war against terrorism’; a deeply divided society; a society that is traumatized by decades of state terrorism; etc.

In the work of reconstruction, the Oromo ought to enact wholeness, connectedness, into the future. The Oromo now ought to become the people of promise, the people of hope. The Oromo ought to draw on their traditional values and institutions to actively pursue justice.

They only need to remember that they are a people of legality (seera and safuu), a people of egalitarian rule (Gadaa), a people of peace (nagaa), a people of substantive justice (sirna dhugaa fi haaqaa), and a people of reconciliation (araara).

In all this, they act from the space of brokenness they inhabit as a people who know, from lived experience, what it means to be oppressed. In engaging with the world from the position of brokenness and suffering helps the Oromo create that moment of inter-subjectivity, the space in-between, born out of the historic vulnerability.As Hannah Arendt reminds us, this place in-between is where the world is constituted. “The world is between people,”[12] she once said.

At this stage of the national struggle, the Oromo engage in the act of rebuilding. We build walls of connection, solidarity, humanity, and co-equal/human responsibility. It is at this historical stage that the Oromo takes advantage of the contemporary world’s law.

Ruti Teitel calls this body of global law ‘humanity’s law.'[13] It is composed of the trinity of international human rights law, the law of war (humanitarian law), and international criminal justice. The first is chiefly a protective body of law (firmly rooted in the fundamental human dignity and worth). The second is more a remedial type of law that gets activated in times of crisis as people conflict (going to war or engaging in other forms of political violence) and mistreat each other (in the context of war).

The third is focused on ensuring responsibility for atrocities beyond one’s national borders. In this third category of law, the Oromo sees the International community as a truth bearing witness and a potential ally in the pursuit of their equaliberty.

The third category, being mainly a post-sovereignty regime of law, also helps us overcome the weaknesses of traditional state-centred institutions of human rights and humanitarian law. It is this nature that makes it suitable to the concerns of sub-national entities that were routinely ignored or abused by the complicity of the national and the international actors whose conducts are anchored in the notion of sovereignty.

The Oromo of the 21st century, the brave new generation that is living this moment of awakening, has the task of reconstruction by paying attention to and taking advantage of the contemporary humanity’s law. Humanity’s law helps us achieve human rights, peace, and justice, all three of them together.

This in turn consolidates just peace in the entire region. For the Oromo, apart from allowing us to engage the international (which was often neglected in the struggle although the latter was always attendant to our oppression from colonial times to cold war, and further on to this neo-liberal ‘global-capitalist’ age), helps us pursue equaliberty, i.e., both equality and liberty. The historic Oromo quest for freedom and social justice will then be achieved within this framework.

In the course of reconstruction, the Oromo engage in self-transcendence. They live out the imperative of paying attention as an act of solidarity with all oppressed people around them.

They reach out to all their neighbours, especially the humble and the lowly. And these are in abundance in the region, be it in Ethiopia or in the wider Horn region. Without reaching out to these and working together with them, Oromia can hardly achieve freedom, justice, or peace.

Pursuing Equaliberty: The Imperative of Resistance, Recovery, and Reconstruction

The Oromo pursuit of equaliberty in the framework of humanity’s law, unlike what its detractors maintain, is not a quest for power.

Nor is it just a quest for thin democracy as experienced in electoral practices. It is primarily a quest for social justice in a democratic environment that is grounded in a sense of responsibility for the protection and elevation of human dignity. In this process, the Oromo is going to go beyond resistance and self-recovery to achieve reconstruction with an eye on reconciliation.

This is necessitated by the fact that both freedom and justice, both liberty and equality, are intensely relational. No time is more suited than now for us to proclaim, in the spirit of Ubuntu, that “I am because we are.” No place needs this spirit in abundance more than do Oromia and its neighbourhood.

After the Oromo Protest: the Imperative of Reconstruction

In the past few years, we have witnessed among the Oromo the simultaneous operation of the logic of recovery and resistance-sometimes alternately, sometimes simultaneously. The stronger the repression, the more powerful the momentum of the resistance.

The generation that benefitted from the cultural rehabilitation has come of age to demand their right in their own terms. In the last five months we have become fortunate to see a generation that is mentally emancipated, a populace that knows how to conduct itself in the face of adversity, a people who act cohesively with a unity of purpose. We have seen the persistence in resistance.

We have seen a people determined to insist on justice. A people who turned (economic and electoral) despair into hope, loss (of land and livelihood) into gain, (electoral and military) defeat into (a genuinely substantive political) victory.

We have witnessed a people who, with their resilience, exposed the moral and political bankruptcy of a conceited regime. We observed a self-mobilized, self-directed, grassroots movement that virtually shamed and humiliated a seemingly invincible regime.

We have seen people expose the limits of deceptive politics whose legitimacy is shored up through using election as a war by other means. We have seen a people who tested the limits of political double-speak. We have seen a people who exposed the true nature of the regime. They have rendered a region totally ungovernable. They have forced the regime to impose a military rule.[14]

We have seen a movement that conducted itself responsibly vis-à-vis other peoples even in the face of provocation and manipulation by the regime to foment horizontal conflicts.

This is an indication of the fact that the Oromo public is now ready to engage the wider Ethiopia, the entire region, and the world re-constructively, transformationally, redemptively within the framework of humanity’s law. The success of this National Awakening is to be completed when its leaders demonstrate thecapacity to make the generation to begin again, to start afresh, to remake the neighbourhood, to build new walls of interdependence, even from the ravages of our oppressed Oromo lives.

The success is said to be complete when the Qubee Generation demonstrates its capacity to write a new history by emulating the Phoenix that “rises out of the ashes”, to go beyond the ruins imposed on it by a century of injustice to make a difference in the region.

For this, we need to start paying attention to connectedness, inter-dependence, and the need for acting in solidarity with others. After all, as Simone Weil reminds us, paying attention is an act of grace, the ultimate expression of solidarity. Like all the other peoples in Ethiopia, the Oromo ought to start learning to see through others’ lens. We have a fear to dispel. We have a trust to build. We have the responsibility to enchant the generation into hope and a better future.

Conclusion

The current Oromo awakening reminds us that the Oromo have survived. The age of being seen as an unwanted presence, as a vestige of a regrettable past in Ethiopia, is substantially on the decline. The work of national self-recovery has borne fruits.

The Qubee generation is already here to make a difference.The children have arrived. Resistance has matured, especially in the way it conducts itself horizontally. But in the main, it has restored agency to the Oromo public, who in turn have made Oromia totally ungovernable to the regime. Mental emancipation has been achieved.

People now know how to act, and can act, even in desperate conditions. What remains now is to start engaging wisely with the world around us in the task of reconstruction.

Prudence suggests that we can take advantage of humanity’s law. Prudence also suggests that we be mindful of the fact that in our times, lawful engagement is a necessity. Yes, law, too, can be effectively–albeit discerningly–be used as a spectre of resistance and a useful means of reconstruction.

We need to remember that more often than not, law is deployed as ‘war by other means.’ It is this interlocked deployment of law in/and war that David Kennedy calls lawfare[15] (war by legal means), and perhaps rightly so. The flip side of this is that law can be deployed to build connections, relations, and peace thereof. I hope the Oromo national awakening will make optimal use of this lawful form of engagement with the world.

ED’s Note: Tsegaye Ararssa is from Melbourne Law School. He can be reached at: tsegayenz@gmail.com. The article was prepared as a remark for the ‘RIGHT TO FREEDOM’ event organized by Oromo Support Group Australia, 16-17 April 2016, Melbourne Australia

End Notes:

[1] Etienne Balibar, Equaliberty:Political Essays, Tr. James Ingram. (Duke University Press, 2014).

[2] The term ‘surv

ivance’ is used among scholars working on the issues of First Nations (also known as indigenous peoples). I came across the term for the first time in the work of Gerald Vizenor, Manifest Manners: Narratives on Postindian Survivance (Nebraska, 1999). The term means a lot more than mere survival. According to Vizenor, “Survivance is an active sense of presence, the continuance of native stories, not a mere reaction, or a survivable name. Native survivance stories are renunciations of dominance, tragedy and victimry.” In Derridan sense, survivance of course refers to “a spectral existence that would be neither life nor death.” The Oromo struggle in its first iteration soon after the conquest was more like survivance, especially in its quest for active presence in the Ethiopian polity.

[3] Ruti Teitel, Humanity’s Law (Oxford University Press, 2011). Teitel identifies three important components that constitute ‘Humanity’s Law’: International Human Rights Law; Laws of war (traditionally known as humanitarian law, i.e., the law IN war and the law OF war); and International Criminal Justice (following the creation of the International Criminal Court via the Rome Statute). Humanity’s Law, Teitel argues, is the new framework of understanding ‘transitional justice’ in the context of changing global relations. I follow her tack and suggest that this law lays the framework for solidarity and responsibility in an increasingly interdependent world.

[4] I am indebted to Nageessaa Oddo Dube for this phrase. Nageessaa used the phrase in his recent speech televised by Oromo TV on 16 April 2016, also available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF4SskY660A.

[5] One notes, however, that the formation of the Western Oromo Confederation in 1936 and its act of approaching the League of Nations for membership, or alternatively seeking a British Protectorate instead of submitting to the Italian invaders, was an early and short-lived expression of overt resistance to the hegemony of the Ethiopian empire and an assertion of Oromo subjectivity in the international system of the time. See Ezikiel Gebissa’s ‘The Italian Invasion, the Ethiopian Empire, and Oromo Nationalism: The Significance of the Western Oromo Confederation of 1936,’ 9 Northeast African Studies 3 (2002), 75.

[6] A commitment also inscribed in the 1991 Transitional Charter of Ethiopia and later in the preamble of the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia. To an extent, this undelivered promise of the constitution was what made the political elite of Ethiopia’s South (including the Oromo) ambivalent in their reaction to the constitution. It was also this promise that TPLF used to co-opt several Southern nationalists.

[7] This increasing use of songs, cultural events (such as Irrecha), exhibitions, etc to express political disaffection is recently referred to as the ‘cultural turn’ in the trajectory of Oromo national struggle. See Ezekiel Gebissa, “Land, Life, and Leadership” [?] (Dec 2015, OSA Extraordinary conference on the Master Plan).

[8] Alison Phipps, ‘Drawing Breath: Creative Elements and their Exile from Higher Education’ Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 9(1) (2010), 43.

[9] Benjamin Barber, Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age (20th anniversary ed) (University of California Press, 2004).

[10]This is inspired by a thought in Richard Dehmel’s poem, Transfigured Night (Verklarte Nacht) (1998) in which the conception of a child by an adulterous wife is transfigured by the light of love, also represented by the moonlit night, to bring infinitely more joy and rejuvenation to the husband. I like to suggest that this kind of redemptive transfiguration helps us overcome ‘constitutional original sins’ in order for us to go beyond the original constitutive wrong.

[11] An imperfect but useful institutional model in this regard is presented to us in the example of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

[12] Hannah Arendt, Men in Dark Times (Harvest Publishers, 1970).

[13] Ruti Teitel, Humanity’s Law (Oxford University Press, 2011). See also her ‘Humanity’s Law: Rule of Law for the New Global Politics,’ (2002) 35 Cornell Journal International of Law(2), 356. Teitel tries to work out a new framework of accountability at the global level by going beyond her earlier work on Transitional Justice (Oxford 2000). This framework, I hope, will be useful for the Oromo both to pursue justice for the atrocities experienced and to engage with their neighbours responsibly. Coming as they do out of a long and deep crisis situation, the Oromo can also use this framework for building a sustainable peace grounded in justice and truth.

[14] Contrary to what many people assume, what exists in Oromia now is not Martial Law. It is a pure military rule devoid of any semblance of legality that one sees even in Martial law (a rule under the command of the highest military official that suspends or deposes political leaders because of a constitutional crisis or utter incompetence on the part of civilian political governance). In Ethiopia, what we see is an illegal dismissal of the state’s civilian administration by a Command Post chaired by the Federal Prime Minister who ordered, again illegally, eight divisions of the Army to “take a merciless and final measure” on protestors.

[15]David Kennedy, ‘Laware and Warfare’ in Cambridge Handbook of International Law, eds. James Crawford and Martti Koskenniemi (2012), 159, and David Kennedy,Of War and Law (Princeton University Press, 2006).

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In American legal lore, there is the Scopes Monkey Trial.

In 1925, a high school teacher named John Scopes was prosecuted in Tennessee for teaching human evolution in a public school [violating the Butler Act]. Throughout the U.S., the Scopes trial was widely seen as a struggle between the “ignorati” who fought to keep their children in a state of benighted bliss and the “cognoscente” who sought to enlighten American children with modern science.

In April 2016, the Thugtatorship of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front  (T-TPLF) is prosecuting Bekele Gerba and 21 other individuals on trumped up  charges of terrorism under its “Anti-terrorism Proclamation 652/2001” .

Bekele Gerba is also a teacher, actually a professor of foreign languages at Addis Ababa University. But he is not charged with enlightening benighted children. His crimes are 1) enlightening the people of Ethiopia on the heinous crimes against humanity committed by the T-TPLF,  2) exposing the wanton T-TPLF massacres in Oromia region of Ethiopia, and 3) publicly testifying about the T-TPLF’s bottomless the corruption in land, cold-blooded atrocities and never-ending abuse of power by the T-TPLF.

Bekele’s co-defendants in the bogus terrorism charges include: Gurmesa Ayano Weyissa, Dejene Tafa Geleta, Adisu Bulala Abawalta, Abdeta Negassa Feye, Gelana Negera Jima, Chimsa Abdisa Jafaro, Getu Girma Tolossa, Fraol Tola Dadi, Getachew Dereje Tujuba,Beyene Ruda Deju, Tesfaye Liben Tolossa, Ashebir Desalegn Beri, Dereje Nerga Debelo, Yusef Alemayheu Herega, Hika Teklu Kutu, Gemechu Shanko Gedi, Megersa Asfaw Feyissa, Lemi Edeto Geremew, Abdi Tamrat Desisa, Abdisa Kumesa Heesa, Halkeno Qonchora Goro.

Last week, as trumped up charges were brought against Bekele and his co-defendants, a T-TPLF monkey kourt sentenced Okello Akway Ochalla, an indigenous land rights leader from the Gambella region of Ethiopia, to a 9-year prison term on bogus chargesof terrorism.  Okello was  a former governor of Gambella region in western Ethiopia and went into exile in Norway in 2004 to protest T-TPLF crimes against humanity. In March 2014, the T-TPLF arranged Okello’s illegal rendition (kidnapping) with elements of South Sudan’s military during Okello’s visit in South Sudan.   (To read Okello’s “Defense Statement” in Amharic and English, click HERE.)

In July 2014, the T-TPLF arranged the abduction and illegal rendition of Andargachew Tsigie, a human rights activist and General Secretary of the Ethiopian opposition group known as Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy  Ginbot 7, with elements of the Yemeni government.

T-TPLF’s trumped up terrorism charges against Bekele Gerba and 21 others

The allegations of “terrorism” against Bekele and the 21 individuals are straight out of Kafka’s, “The Trial”.  That novel begins with the following sentence: “Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested.”

Someone must have been lying about Bekele and the 21 co-defendants for they knew they had done nothing wrong when they were arrested by the T-TPLF.

The T-TPLF’s convoluted and haphazard allegations of terrorism under the so-called “Anti-terrorism Proclamation 652/2001”  boil down to the following: Bekele traveled to the U.S. as an executive of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) following his release from T-TPLF prison in July 2015 and met with Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) leaders. He returned to Ethiopia and with his alleged co-conspirators began spreading OLF’s terrorist messages of insurrection and violence. He allegedly traveled to certain cities and towns in Ethiopia with others  defendants and gave instructions to carry out terrorist acts. Bekele allegedly organized OFC members to carry out terrorist acts on behalf of the OLF causing destruction of government institutions, closure of roads and damage to security forces. Bekele is further alleged to have visited various universities to incite violence causing loss of life and destruction of property. The cookie-cutter allegations against the other defendants harp on the same message of carrying out “terrorist” activities on behalf of the OLF.

“Terrorism” trials in T-TPLF kangaroo/monkey Kourts

I have long  caricatured the T-TPLF’s “justice sector” as a “justice” system founded on a sham, corrupt and whimsical legal process.

In my December 2007 commentary, “Monkey Trial in Kangaroo Court”, I demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt that the T-TPLF “justice” system was in fact an injustice system designed to victimize the innocent.

My use of the proverbial kangaroo/monkey kourt to characterize the T-TPLF justice system may be  obscure to some of my readers.

Kangaroo courts have nothing to do with Australia or marsupials. The phrase is used to signify judicial tribunals that blatantly disregard  recognized standards of law or justice. Kangaroo courts are make-believe courts  in which 1) a court purporting to be legitimate intentionally disregards or misapplies and distorts legal and ethical obligations and 2) an ad hoc “court” is established to dispense extrajudicial  vigilante “justice”.

I coined the corollary phrase “monkey kourt” to describe the perversion of established judicial institutions for political purposes in Africa, particularly Ethiopia. During their years in the bush, T-TPLF leaders administered “bush justice” in their own bush “kourts”.

As I have learned from those with firsthand knowledge, in the bush days key T-TPLF leaders would systematically identify potential opponents, dissidents, challengers, potential adversaries, rivals, those suspected of disloyalty or perceived as enemies and secretly make decisions to liquidate, neutralize or subject them to other sanctions. (See a revealing discussion of T-TPLF bush court proceedings in Aregawi Berhe’s [former founding member of the TPLF), “A Political History of the TPLF”, Tsehai Pubs. (2009), pp. 182-3.)

What the T-TPLF did after it seized power in Ethiopia in 1991 was simply reproduce and expand its bush kourt system on a national scale. The nationalization of T-TPLF’s bush justice is what I now call a monkey kourt system.

A 2012 U.S. State Department Human Rights report on Ethiopia concluded: “The law provides for an independent judiciary. Although the civil courts operated with a large degree of independence, the criminal courts remained weak, overburdened, and subject to political influence.”  According  to Human Rights Watch, “The judiciary in Ethiopia lacks independence and has in fact been used on numerous recent occasions as a tool with which to implement flawed legislation and to crack down on peaceful dissent. The Ethiopian Federal High Court has passed rulings reinforcing an ad-hoc and arbitrary implementation of the CSO law and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.”  (Emphasis added.)

The T-TPLF uses its kourt system and judicial process to give the appearance and illusion of due process, fair and just trial, even though the verdict on any T-TPLF adversary in reality is a foregone conclusion. Reeyot Alemu, the heroine of Ethiopian press freedom and a  victim of T-TPLF bogus terrorism prosecution reported that T-TPLF bosses Hassan Shiffa and Leiku Gebreegziaber threatened  to get her the death penalty, and nothing less than life, if she did not lie and incriminate innocent people.

What passes off as a “justice system” in Ethiopia today is little more than a marketplace where “justice” is bought and sold in a monopoly controlled by T-TPLF leaders and cronies supported by a bureaucracy of  nameless, faceless and clueless men who skulk in the shadows of power. In the T-TPLF “justice” system universal principles of law, justice and due process are disregarded, subverted, perverted and mocked. It is a system where the poor, the marginalized, the audacious journalists, dissidents, opposition and civic society leaders are legally lynched in plain view of the stony silence of the international community. It is a “justice” system in which T-TPLF regime leaders, their families, friends and cronies are all above the law and spell justice “JUST US”.

U.S. expressed “concern”

On April 29, 2016, the U.S. State Department did what it does best. “The United States is deeply concerned by the Government of Ethiopia’s recent decision to file terrorism charges against Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) First Vice-Chairman Bekele Gerba and others in the Oromia region who were arrested in late 2015.”

Whoopty doo!

If I counted the number of times the U.S. State Department has expressed “concern” over human rights violations in Ethiopia, I could publish a a book entitled, “U.S. Concerns in Ethiopia’s Spring of Discontent”.

After the T-TPLF claimed 100 percent victory in May 2015 elektions, The White House issued a statement: “We are concerned that international observers found that the elections fell short of international commitments.”

In 2010, after the T-TPLF declared victory by 99.6 percent, the White House issued a statement and expressed “concern that international observers found that the elections fell short of international commitments.”

In 201o and 2015, the U.S. expressed the same exact “concern that international observers found that the elections fell short of international commitments.”

In May 2014, U.S. Secretary of State John  Kerry said  he “shared his concerns” with T-TPLF officials about the arrest of young Ethiopian [Zone 9] bloggers”.

In July 2015, just before Barack Obama declared the T-TPLF regime democratic, Susan Rice said the U.S. has “consistently expressed concern about the treatment of journalists and human rights.”

Every time the T-TPLF commits an outrage, crimes against humanity, steals elections and flouts international law, the U.S. expresses “concern.”

For crying out loud, what does it mean to express “concern”?

Is “concern” diplomatese (diplomatic-speak) for, “We are so ashamed of ourselves for getting in in bed with killer thugs so we want to hoodwink the world into believing that we are not in bed with killer thugs.”

To me, a concerned person takes action about the the thing  s/he is concerned about.

When people are concerned about the welfare and safety of others, they don’t sit on their duffs and mope around claiming they are “concerned”, they do something.

Who cares if the U.S. is “concerned”?  Does U.S. “concern” stop T-TPLF massacres and human rights violations?

“Concern” is a cop out word the U.S. uses to convince itself that it is doing something. The fact of the matter is that being “concerned” is doing NOTHING.

If the U.S. is really concerned about T-TPLF crimes against humanity, it should do something concrete to about its concerns such as leveraging its billion dollar plus annual handout program.

“Concern” is a word found only in the lexicon of American  diplocrisy  (American human rights diplomacy by hypocrisy).

Who is Bekele Gerba?

Bekele Gerba is a leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress.

Bekele “describes himself as a Christian who believes in nonviolence and says he spent his four years in prison pouring over the sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King and translating them into the Oromo language for a book that he hopes to see published. The title: ‘I Had A Dream.’”

In 2011, the T-TPLF charged Bekele with “terrorism” after meeting with Amnesty International investigators.

During his sentencing in December 2012, Bekele told  a T-TPLF monkey kourt,

In my life time, I have opposed injustice, discrimination, ethnic favoritism, and oppression. I am honored to learn that my non-violent struggles and humble sacrifices for the democratic and human rights of the Oromo people, to whom I was born without a wish on my part […], have been considered a crime and to be unjustly convicted. If apology was warranted, I would seek it not from the court that found me guilty of a crime I did not commit but rather from my people […] for failing to fully speak to the depth of their suffering in the interest of the co-existence of peoples…

I don’t need to tell my readers who Bekele Gerba is or is not.

Even if I wanted, I could not. “Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you” what an extraordinary young man of courage, integrity and character Bekele Gerba is.

Bekele is anything but a “radical” or “terrorist” of any sort.

Calling Bekele Gerba a “terrorist” is as true as calling the T-TPLF “democratic”. (Barack Obama said what?!)

If the T-TPLF is democratic, then Bekele is a “terrorist”.  Period!

What is extraordinary is the fact that Bekele is not even a harsh critic of the T-TPLF as are many others.

Bekele’s views are expressed in balanced, reasoned, well-considered and factually accurate way. He is not the provocative and relentless pamphleteer who rages against the T-TPLF tyrannical machine.

Bekele does not have an axe to grind. He just tells the truth as it is, unvarnished and raw!

Here is Bekele Gerba in his own words from a speech he made on the land grab in Ethiopia in 2010.

I ask my readers to judge if the man speaking in the video (translation below) is anything other than a thoughtful, deliberate, brilliant, knowledgeable, perceptive, discerning and profoundly compassionate human being. (To view the video, clickHERE; translation below.)

In 2010, Bekele showed the T-TPLF and world the kind of man he is:

… We don’t say that the EPRDF [the ‘Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front’ the shell political “corporation”  through which the T-TPLF operates to give the illusion of a multi-party alliance]  has not done anything. It is our belief that it has; it is because it has done [things] that the country has chosen it. We know it is not easy to lead a country. But from year to year, the EPRDF has not listened to the people’s pleas, [it has not] tried to improve or learn from its experience [and] move the people and country forward as it should. Day to day, [the EPRDF] it is going backwards. It has reached a point [now] where it cannot lead the country. But we have never said the EPRDF has not done or offered anything to the country.

…

I want to focus [in my presentation] on land ownership, proper use of land and development  outcomes.

According to the federal constitution and as the ruling party’s [“EPRDF”] documents reveal, land belongs to the people and government. But really, does land belong to the people? Does it belong to the government? [Does it belong to] both?

In our estimation, land does not belong to anyone. Land is the private property of the ruling authorities. Land is something they sell and exchange. It is a means for them to make friends and something they distribute among relatives; a thing they give to their party members and a[tool] they use to recruit [party members].

Land has become a [tool] to even blind the educated people.  Today when we look at the educated people in certain places, they have come to a point where they don’t talk about justice, equality [and] rights.  That is because [land] has blinded them.

Today, in the cities and areas surrounding Addis Ababa, they [the educated people] are given land and their mouths have been sealed shut. Thus, land is a tool for sealing mouths. Land has become a magnet  for purposes of [attracting] Ethiopians abroad.  They call them “Diaspora”. And at one time they swarmed here to get land. They [got the land] sold it and went back [to their homes abroad].  [At the same time] our people were scattered  in the streets and they did not have [centimeters] of land.

That is why we call [land] a magnet. Land today for some is a light speed rocket ship to accumulate incredible wealth. If we see some of the wealthy, if we ask them and tell them they are called ‘my short history [in being rich]’ [nouveau riche?] in society, when they are asked “How did you get all this wealth?”, they cannot even explain [by saying] ‘This is how hard we worked to get it.’ They don’t even know how they amassed so much money.

That is how land is used today. This is what we are trying to improve.  What we are saying is [land] has to be wealth that can be divided among citizens with equality. We know that land is a critical resource.

I believe we Ethiopians, because our relationship to this wealth [land] have been divided [categorized] into four levels. Our citizenship [status] has four classes. There are the first-class citizens who are in power to give away land. The second-class citizens are those who receive land. It does not mean today everyone gets land. The third-class citizens are those who are spectators watching the theaters of land transactions. People who are watching as others are eating. The fourth-class are those whose land is taken away, the land where they are born and their umbilical cord is buried; those who are  dispossessed and expelled and their land given to others and there are those farmers who are victims of such dispossession. That is the reason we are struggling. The national wealth that has been divided up by them [rulers of Ethiopia], the way in which they have determined our nation’s citizenship, our nations peoples,  it is our aim  to redistribute the wealth [consistent with the principles] of equality. That is why we are struggling. We want to struggle peacefully and change this system and play a leadership role.

Proper use of the land is another appropriate question. We know each piece of land, each meter of land  must be put to proper use. But what used to be good harvest land yesterday, what does it look like today? Today some of [that land] it is a pile of rocks, half of it is enclosed by a fence with a guard sitting by looking after it. Perhaps that guard, his relatives or family  who have been displaced may have been the owners of the land at some time. That is what we generally understand. Therefore, once land has given the appropriate service, in some areas the land is left [to deteriorate]. For example, where there are mines, after the mining extraction has been done, the land is left [without environmental reclamation or remediation].  As a result, there is a chance that will be turned into unusable [damaged] land. Thus, there has to be  a way to properly reclaim [and remediate] the land. We do not know what will happen [at various mining locations] in a few years. But there has to be a way to properly reclaim [remediate] the land.

The other issue is the health of the environment… Flowing rivers, there are many dead rivers [from pollution] in our country. Without going too far, there are [lifeless] dead rivers because of pollution. Then there are people who live a few meters away and drink the [polluted] water. There are animals  who are a few meters away and drink the [polluted] water. They are citizens and national resources.  We should be concerned about that. Why is it that conditions are not created so that the pollution can be controlled? Those who are profiting from their factories, why are they not concerned about the health of our citizens, our farmers? Why is it that the government is not asking [and requiring] [environmental safety]?

The other question is about fertilizers.  The government does not talk about that. We have no idea if the government has plans to start fertilizer production in the country. Why is that? It is not that complicated or require that much money… [comment cut off by moderator due to expiration of allotted time].

To read an extraordinarily  revealing and riveting interview of Bekele Gerba (May 2015) on Addis Standard, click HERE.

The World Bank and monkey business of justice in T-TPLF monkey kourt

My first critique of the T-TPLF bush justice system  appeared in 2006 when I wrote a32-page analysis titled, “Keystone Cops, Prosecutors and Judges in a Police State.” It was written in the first year of what became my long day’s journey into the dark night of advocacy against human rights violations in Ethiopia and Africa. That piece was intended to be a critical analysis of the trial of the so-called Kality defendants consisting of some 130 or so major opposition leaders, human rights advocates, civic society activists, journalists and others in the aftermath of the 2005 election. I tried to demonstrate that the show trial of those defendants was little more than a third-rate theatrical production staged to dupe the international community. I also tried to show how a dysfunctional and bankrupt judicial system was used to destroy political opposition and dissent in Ethiopia.  I described the “judicial proceedings” of the Kality defendants as “an elaborate hoax, a make-believe tribunal complete with hand-picked judges, trumped up charges, witless prosecutors, no procedures and predetermined outcomes set up to produce only one thing: a  monumental miscarriage of justice.” 

The perversion of the “justice sector” by the T-TPLF in Ethiopia has been well-documented in the World Bank’s 448-page report, “Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia”.  (The Ethiopian “justice sector” examined by the World Bank includes, among others, the “courts, police, prosecutors, administrative agencies with quasi-judicial powers, and public and private attorneys, prisons, and those in the executive and legislative branches responsible for enacting the laws and regulations governing their operations”.)

According to the World Bank study, corruption in the Ethiopian justice sector “takes one of two forms: political interference with the independent actions of courts or other sector agencies, payment or solicitation of bribes or other considerations to alter a decision or action.” The World Bank study offered critical insights into a justice system rife with corruption, systemic failures of judicial institutions, lack of political will and the lack of capacity to manage judicial resources and maintain integrity of institutions.

Grand corruption in the T-TPLF justice sector stems from the fact that political officials have wide authority over judicial officials (from appointment to management of judicial functions); and political officials have little accountability and incentive to maintain the integrity of the justice sector. There are few functional formal systems of control in the relationship between the judicial and political processes in Ethiopia. If there ever were control systems, they have been broken for a long time making it nearly impossible to administer fairly the laws while maintaining accountability in the form of a robust reporting system and transparency in the form of robust management practices. Such institutional decay has promoted the growth of a culture of corruption in the T-TPLF justice sector and continues to undermine not only the broad adjudicatory role of justice sector institutions but also public confidence in the integrity of the justice system itself.

Justice in a police state?

Expecting justice in a police state is like expecting a tropical paradise in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

The great Groucho Marx is reported to have said, “Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.”

It could equally be said that justice in a T-TPLF monkey kourt is like justice under martial (military) law. No reasonable person would consider martial law to produce justice. By the same token, no reasonable person could expect justice from a dictatorship in which a demonic clique of  crooks wields absolute power.

In July 2015, Barack Obama stood up in Addis Ababa and proclaimed the T-TPLF is a “democratic government.”

Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn if Barack Obama believes the T-TPLF is democratic.

I say the T-TPLF runs a police state in Ethiopia.

As I argued in my February 2012 commentary, “The Prototype African Police State”, the T-TPLF is an assemblage of bush thugs whose mission in life is thugging.  A pig in lipstick at the end of the day is still a pig. A thug in a 3-piece Versace suit with millions stashed in off shore accounts at the end of the day is still a thug. There!

I will never forget a T-TPLF “police chief” thug in February 2013 who threatened to arrest a Voice of America reporter stationed in Washington, D.C. simply because that reporter asked him for his full name during a telephone interview.  That police thug told the VOA reporter, “I don’t care if you live in Washington or in Heaven. I don’t give a damn! But I will arrest you and take you. You should know that!!”

If a two-bit T-TPLF policeman can feel emboldened to exercise such absolute power over an employee of the United States  Government doing his job as a journalist, what can be expected of the thugs at the apex of the T-TPLF food chain?

The T-TPLF regime is the petri dish of corruption and living proof  that power corrupts and an absolute power corrupts absolutely.

T-TPLF legal lynching: The fate of Bekele Gerba and his co-defendants in T-TPLF monkey kourt is sealed

Is there anyone in Ethiopia who believes Bekele Gerba and his co-defendants will get a fair trial or not be convicted of the bogus terrorism charges in T-TPLF monkey kourt?

Is there anyone in the diplomatic community in Ethiopia who believes Bekele Gerba and his co-defendants will get a fair trial or not be convicted of the bogus terrorism charges in T-TPLF monkey kourt?

Is there anyone in the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia or at the U.S. State Department  who believes Bekele Gerba and his co-defendants will get a fair trial or not be convicted of the bogus terrorism charges in T-TPLF monkey kourt?

Is there anyone in the African Union who believes Bekele Gerba and his co-defendants will get a fair trial or not be convicted of the bogus terrorism charges in T-TPLF monkey kourt?

Is there anyone in the Ethiopian Diaspora who believes Bekele Gerba and his co-defendants will get a fair trial or not be convicted of the bogus terrorism charges in T-TPLF monkey kourt?

Is there anyone in the international human rights and press rights community who believes Bekele Gerba and his co-defendants will get a fair trial or not be convicted of the bogus terrorism charges in T-TPLF monkey kourt?

I will bet my bottom dollar, there is not!

Why do some of us pretend that there is a real judicial process to adjudicate the bogus trials of the Bekele Gerba and the 21 co-defendants?

As I read statements and comments online about Bekele Gerba and the others facing trumped up charges of  terrorism, I shake my head. Those who talk about T-TPLF political kourts as courts are legitimizing the very idea that the T-TPLF operates a court system. We should call a spade, a spade. The T-TPLF does not operate a “court” system; it operates a monkey kourt system.

The T-TPLF has long embarked on a mission of legal lynching of its opponents and critics. The T-TPLF pretrial process is perverted. The presumption of innocence (Eth. Const. Art. 20(3)) is openly flouted. The late T-TPLF leader Meles Zenawi in 2011 made a public statement in Norway and proclaimed the guilt of freelance Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye as they were on trial on charges of “terrorism”. Meles emphatically declared the duo “are, at the very least, messenger boys of a terrorist organization. They are not journalists.” Persson and Schibbye were “convicted” and sentenced to long prison terms.

In August 2005, Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) met with the late Meles Zenawi. On October 22, 2007, Smith (R-NJ) summarized  his conversation with Meles Zenawi at that time:

…I also had a lengthy meeting with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. I urged him to investigate the slaughter of the pro-democracy demonstrators, to punish those responsible, and to release all political prisoners…

Finally, when I asked the Prime Minister to work with the opposition and show respect and tolerance for those with differing views on the challenges facing Ethiopia he said, “I have a file on all of them; they are all guilty of treason.”

I was struck by his all-knowing tone. Guilty! They’re all guilty simply because Meles says so? No trial? Not even a Kangaroo court?…

I urged Prime Minister Meles not to take that route. (Emphasis added.)

That was exactly what Meles and his buddies did in the bush. They would “have files” on their  opponents and mete out justice bush style. Not even a kangaroo court!

In December 2008, Meles railroaded Birtukan Midekssa, the first female political party leader in Ethiopian history, without so much as a hearing let alone a trial. Not even a monkey trial! Meles personally ordered that Birtukan be kept in solitary confinement straight from the street. Later, he  declared  “There will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan. Ever. Full stop. That’s a dead issue.” In making his statement, the late T-TPLF leader proclaimed to the world that he is the law and the ultimate source of justice in Ethiopia. His words trump the country’s Constitution!

In 2009, one of the top leaders of the regime labeled 40 defendants awaiting trial as “desperadoes” who planned to “assassinate high ranking government officials and destroying telecommunication services and electricity utilities and create conducive conditions for large scale chaos and havoc.” They were all “convicted” and given long prison sentences.

Internationally celebrated Ethiopian journalists including  Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye and many others were denied access to legal counsel for months in pretrial detention in violation of Article 20 (2) of the T-TPLF constitution.

Ethiopian Muslim activists who demanded an end to religious interference are jailed on “terrorism” charges and denied access to counsel.  They were mistreated and abused in pretrial detention. Scores of journalists, opposition members and activists arrested and prosecuted (persecuted) under the so-called anti-terrorism proclamation were also denied counsel and speedy trials and have languished in prison for long periods. Suspects in T-TPLF custody are interrogated without the presence of counsel and coerced confessions extracted. Yet, Article 19 (5) of the T-TPLF constitution provides, “Everyone shall have the right not to be forced to make any confessions or admissions of any evidence that may be brought against him during the trial.”

The trial of the Zone 9 Bloggers was adjourned 34 times for ridiculous reasons resulting in prolonged illegal pretrial detention.  In anticipation of Barack Obama’s visit in July, 2015, the T-TPLF released two bloggers and 3 journalists. “When the government decided to suddenly discontinue the case against five of the writers and let them walk free, the judges did not know about it.”

Yes, the judges did not know about it!!!

The T-TPLF judicial system is the only one in the world  where suspects are arrested of committing crimes after being investigated for 2 years and then the prosecution asks for endless continuances to gather additional evidence.

The “Minijust” of T-TPLF monkey kourts

Talking about corruption in the Ethiopian “justice sector” is like talking about truth in Orwell’s 1984 Ministry of Truth (“Minitrue”).

In Orwell’s “1984”, the purpose of “Minitrue” is to create and maintain the illusion that the Party is absolute, all knowing, all-powerful and infallible.

The purpose of the “Ministry of Justice” in Ethiopia is to create the illusion that the T-TPLF is absolute, all knowing, all-powerful and infallible.

There can be no justice in a judicial system where there is a complete absence of  the rule of law, due process and an independent  and impartial and judiciary.

In a recent monkey kourt hearing, Bekele reportedly told  a T-TPLF monkey kourt,  “I prefer death to detention at Maekelawi [a/k/a “Torture Central” police station in Addis Ababa]].”

My brother Bekele! Hold on! Don’t give up. Scripture teaches, “Evil people will surely be punished, but the children of the godly will go free.”

Bekele Gerba, Eskinder Nega and the rest of the political prisoners will  go free. No question about that!

On a lighter note, I have always claimed that the T-TPLF leadership by and large consists of ignoramuses.

I am pleased to produce conclusive evidence to support my claim.

In the image above, extracted from the charging document  alleging the commission of terrorism by Bekele Gerba and the 21 co-defendants, the assistant T-TPLF federal prosecutor Fekadu Tsega has affixed his thumbprint as his legal signature on the charging document.

Yes, thumbprint!

In Ethiopia and most of Africa, ONLY persons who can neither read nor write use their thumbprints as their signatures.

Only in T-TPLF’s Ethiopia is an illiterate “federal” prosecutor allowed to charge citizens with crimes against the state.

How can a prosecutor sign charges that he cannot read?

In as much as I despise the criminal military Derg regime, I will give it credit for compulsory literacy program (Meserete Timhirt [basic literacy]) throughout the country guaranteeing at a minimum that every citizen is able to sign his/her name in Amharic script and never use thumbprints for signatures.

Today, illiterate T-TPLF “federal” prosecutors sign the criminal charges they file with thumbprints.

Only in a monkey kourt would criminal charges verified by an illiterate prosecutor be accepted as legitimate.

I am speechless!!!  For crying out loud, what can I say!?

But there you have it in black and white (I mean in thumbprint).

The defense rests!

But we should not be surprised. Many of the functionally illiterate T-TPLF leaders fare no better. There are amply documented cases in which top T-TPLF leaders have purchased fake degrees from online diploma mills to prove they are “educated”.

In May 2015, Bekele Gerba said:

There is a challenge. But I think there is still hope. I always believe that things can change gradually. Because of the culture we were in for hundreds, or may be thousands of years, we used to think changing a government is only possible by violence, or armed struggle. But I think that time has passed now; it is possible to change regimes and to confront governments by peaceful means of struggle. If people are very much committed to peaceful struggle, I think the situation will change and the government must exploit this situation – meaning that, as an opposition, we are very helpful, we can contribute much.

In August 2015, Bekele said, “Nobody is actually sure in Ethiopia what will happen to him anytime.  Anytime, people can be arrested, harassed or killed or disappeared.”

Bekele Gerba is in jail because he advocated peaceful change in Ethiopia!

Bekele Gerba is in jail because he advocated justice, equality and fairness for ALL Ethiopians!

When the sword of justice is beaten into a sledgehammer of injustice, it is the supreme duty of ordinary citizens to expose it!

FREE BEKELE GERBA AND HIS 21 CO-DEFENDANTS!!!

The post Bekele Gerba’s Trial in T-TPLF Monkey Kourt (Al Mariam) appeared first on Satenaw.

On April 15, 2016, the Ethiopian Federal High Court acquitted two netizens, Yoantan Wolde and Bahiru Degu, who spent more than 600 days incarcerated on terrorism charges that critics allege were politically motivated. Zelalem Workagenehu, a third man, was not so lucky. He was convicted and will be sentenced on May 10. (On April 26, the public prosecutor submitted a sentence aggravation statement to the court, and Zelalem Workagenehu was asked to file a sentence mitigation letter on his part.) Zelalem is a human rights advocate and a scholar, who regularly contributed to the diaspora-run website DeBirhan.

All three were accused under Ethiopia’s Anti-Terror Proclamation, which was adopted in July 2009. State officials defend the law, saying it is modeled on existing legislation in countries such as the United Kingdom.

Yonatan and Bahiru were released after spending 647 days—almost two years—in prison, demonstrating a disturbing trend in Ethiopia where prisoners of conscience are locked away for long periods without a trial and then acquitted.

In what seemed to be a show of brute force, plainclothes security officers re-arrested Yonatan and Bahiru shortly after they left prison on April 18. The two men were held overnight at Maekelawi (Central) Prison, before being released again and warned that they’re still under observation. They were also told by the securities “They would be killed if they made any moves,” their relatives say.

Zelalem was initially charged in October 2014, along with a group of nine other defendants that included Internet users, opposition politicians, and activists. So far, seven people in this group have been acquitted after spending more than a year in jail, after which they signed what they now say were false confessions, in order to escape further torture.

The charges against Workagenehu include leading a terrorist organization (which is how the government came to define Ginbot 7, a pro-democracy political party founded by Berhanu Nega), conspiring to overthrow the government, and disseminating false information through reports on websites run by the diaspora. For instance, one of Workagenehu’s coauthors on the De Birhan Blog was also implicated in the case.

The case was later reduced to two charges: recruiting members to start an Arab-Spring-like revolution in Ethiopia and co-facilitating what the government says was a “training operation to terrorize the country.” (Zelalem says it was actually a training Course to build their digital communication, social media, and leadership skills)

Yonatan and Bahiru were charged with applying to the participate in the Course, and suspected of joining Ginbot 7. (They denied these accusations.)

In his ruling, the judge reportedly said that applying to or participating in such training programs was not illegal and so Yonatan Wolde and Bahiru Degu should be acquitted. Despite their two years behind bars, Yonatan and Bahiru aren’t entitled to any form of compensation. It’s not year clear if they intend to press the matter in court.

Bahiru Degu, who attended his former co-defendant’s trial this week, struggles the most among the three men. He told the court he experienced extensive torture during the first three months of his detention:

I was forced to get naked and was regularly beaten. Due to the severity of the beating, I was unable to control my bowels [sic]. I was forced to drink my own urine.

Like Bahiru, Zelalem and Yonatan also told the court about the severity of the torture committed against them in prison, saying guards were trying to force them to sign false confessions. A recent report published by Human Rights Watch revealed that Ethiopian investigators and police do abuse journalists and opposition activists, in order to extract confessions:

Police investigators at Maekelawi use coercive methods on detainees amounting to torture or other ill-treatment to extract confessions, statements, and other information from detainees. Detainees are often denied access to lawyers and family members. Depending on their compliance with the demands of investigators, detainees are punished or rewarded with denial or access to water, food, light, and other basic needs.

 

Source – globalvoices.org

The post ‘I Was Forced to Drink My Own Urine’: Freedom For Netizens After 647 Days Locked Up, But Not For All appeared first on Satenaw.

By Okech Francis/bloomberg

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