August five a booming noise was heard throughout Ethiopia and the source of the loud roar was none other than from the lion’s lair, the ancient city of Gondar. The brave people of Gondar lifted the smoke veal that has been blurring our vision. They just did not demand justice for themselves. They demanded justice for all of Ethiopia’s children. What less do you expect from a real Lion?

They demanded the release of Bekele Gerba the brave son of Oromia. They applauded our gallant Muslim citizens and raised their voice against the injustice done to them. The fire that has been smoldering all over Ethiopia the last twenty five years exploded in Gondar, appeared in Bahr Dar, moved to Dire Dawa, went East to Nekemte, was felt in Addis and is expected in Shashemene and further south.

The people of Gondar in one bold stroke undid what Weyane has been trying to erase for over the last thirty years. They told Woyane in no uncertain voice ‘we are children of the same mother’ and no amount of hate will come between us! It might appear strange to some but most people knew trying to break Ethiopia apart is not a winning idea. There is always a fool that has to try. Woyane is the latest fool that tried that. They are falling like autumn leaves right in front of our eyes.

I know their fall has been predicted many times before but it never happened. It has been eleven long years since Kinijit. The struggle never stopped. Woyane under Meles reset their agenda and embarked on selling all of Ethiopia’s assets. The opposition with its limited resources continued to shine a bright light on the bankruptcy of the system and the dangers associated with such greed to stay in power. Our people organized inside the belly of the enemy.

Gondar is the culmination of years of pent up rage against Woyane injustice. The solidarity by Bahir Dar, Dire Dawa, Nekemte, Ambo, Shashemene is a crowning moment in our history and a new chapter in our attempt to form a just and free Ethiopia. Our people are confirming what we have all been saying all along. We are one people and that is what has made our country free and strong ever since time immemorial.

What we see in Ethiopia today is that we are all united against injustice. From Gondar to Dire Dawa to Nekemte we all want one thing – to live free as one people. There is only one organization that is denying us our freedom. It is Tigrai people Liberation Front (TPLF – ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ-ሕ ወ ሓ ት) The Organization does not represent the dreams and aspirations of the people of Tigrai. At the same time it is people of Tigrean origin that have greatly benefited from the tribal system. It is this system Ethiopians have come together to destroy once and for all.

The Tigray Liberation Front is trying to paint this either an attempt by Shabia G7, OLF or the good old charge of Interahamwe and other enemies. This time it is not going to work. The discontent is too wide spread. The crime by the Tigray regime is too blatant and obvious not to be noticed by all Ethiopians. The economy is hitting bottom and foreign enablers are having second thought about the mafia group that is refusing to act grown up. There is no section of the society that has not felt Woyane injustice.

The last week Tigrai Woyane troops have killed over ninety Ethiopians that were peacefully marching to show their discontent. Thirty three were from Ormia and twenty from Gondar  as reported by Reuters and ESAT. Ethiopians of Oromia region have lost over three hundred people the last year and murder has not slowed their resolve to bring justice.

In twenty sixteen  it is a little strange and depressing to witness a Government sending professional soldiers trained for war to stifle dissent and gives the order to shoot to kill. We, living in the outside should appeal to our family and friends to make our soldiers see the big picture and understand the consequences of obeying illegal order. It is heartwarming to see Federal Police and local Forces refusing to obey the regime and the news from Godar and vicinity where our soldiers joined the population with their weapons as a gift is the best of them all.

If you are an Ethiopian with any sense of dignity you can not fail to notice the highly offensive system being built by Tigrai Woyane in Ethiopia. It shows utter disrespect to all other Ethiopians. It is not healthy and that is not the way forward. History tells us about the early years of the United States and the consequences of slavery that is still being felt today. It is taking a long time to correct that major mistake. The protest by the children of Ethiopia is proof that we have learnt a valuable lesson and we know a solid foundation is a must to build a just and equal society.

Who would argue with that except Woyane. That is understandable because the few are causing pain to the many while they are living life to the fullest so they think. The people of Ethiopia have embarked on a final battle against injustice as exemplified by ugly Woyane. The death toll is bound to go higher. It is sad but that is the way of war. What makes war happen is when the many sit and allow the few to bully. What makes a short war is when the many unite and put the bully in his place. This is where the individual Ethiopian count. We in the Diaspora count big.
Are you with the Ethiopian people or are you with Tigrai Woyane. It is a very simple questio. Are you feeding or starving the enemy is what we all want to know. Please this is no time to be dancing around. Whatever you have been doing in the past, tomorrow our people ask you to give it a second thought and see if you by any chance have been feeding the monster and if you are stop it!

Our people from Gondar and all their allies have shown the way. The level of organization, the discipline of the Freedom March, the super heartwarming presence of our flag looking more beautiful than ever before has become an occasion for a grown up to cry with delight. No need to mention the wide grin on everyones face to see the picture of Bekele Gerba in Gondar! It is obvious the people of Gondar and Welkait are up to something. It is more than clear our gallant freedom fighters have finally laid a beautiful foundation for the children of Ethiopia confront the enemy on all four corners of our ancient land. It is no secret the sweat and labor invested in Eritrea is finally coming home to protect the peace, defend our family and serve our people.
Our sons and daughters are paying a price with their life asking for our freedom and equality. The war has started and there is no going back. It is freedom or slavery. The Tigrai Woyane government is skilled at killing its own people. Killing unarmed civilians it that what they are good at. They did not fair good in Somalia. Shabia made their Lt. General and his staff weep with fear and shame. The crime they have committed the last twenty five years, the hate they have developed to the rest of us has sapped all the humanity out of them. Yesterday we are told they fought to bring justice and today they are fighting to deny justice but they don’t see it that way. The spark that ignited in Gondar with our help and our peoples boundless courage is going to make them see it is not a good idea to mess with a sleeping Lion

It has been more than  ten days since my article entitled “The Necessity of Cultural Reform: Working with time, not against” has been posted on some Ethiopian websites. Some readers reached out to me via email and expressed their appreciation for taking the bold move to talk about a well-known challenge of our community. They’re right. It’s a known issue and, at the same time, a taboo where we don’t complain about it, let alone do something to change it. However, a couple of them suggested for me to continue educate our people about the necessity of time management. I didn’t promise them a lot except to indicate my willingness to continue talking about it. This is mainly because I planned to write one article per month on different themes, and I really wanted to move on to my next topic.

However, after a couple of days later, I thought they were right. This long-standing challenge of ours doesn’t go away with just one article. My initial thought, however, was that I’ll keep posting blogs about time on the Facebook page that I created a couple of months ago called Standing for Ethiopia. It has over two hundred fifty people as fans, and on average, more than 150 people read each post. I thought that isn’t so bad until I shared this idea to one of my colleagues who encouraged me to open this page. He was disappointed. He argued, “You’re undermining our people. There are many Ethiopians who could lend their hands and take this and other important messages that are aimed at empowering our community leaders, professionals, and business owners. Don’t limit your ideas just on a fan page. Share your challenges. You’ve great contents. There’re others who have platforms and resources to compliment your efforts.”

Well, he was persuasive. That is why I’m talking about it here and decided to become vulnerable. Normally, I don’t want to sound in my writings as desperate or preachy or needy. But, it’s not about my ego, right? Here is what happened when I made that decision: My mind opened up and I could see some possibilities. The first thing I told my colleague was that I work with world class training companies and I’ve trainer colleagues so if I get some financial supports, I could bring many trainings to our community. And, we could empower our leaders and transform our people, and turn around our destiny. Again, he found me shortsighted. He intervened and said, “Why don’t you start first with our own resources and people.” He was right, again. For that matter, it occurred to me that I’ve great partnering human resources development companies owned by Ethiopians, and I’ve also some well skilled Ethiopian trainer friends. My friend added that I could also approach our community organizations, which have conference rooms, training infrastructures, and some funding. Well, if you read this article and think that you could be helpful in this endeavor, you may please contact me and let’s do something about it. For now, I would like to share with you my recent conversation with a friend, and a follow up blog that I posted on Standing for Ethiopia Facebook page. Please note that I made some editing to the original post.

Yesterday (this was a couple of days ago), a good friend of mine asked me why I’m not talking about the ongoing uprisings in the different parts of our country, and the brutality of the regime in killing civilians. He wondered why I rather talk about time management in the midst of this challenging TIME. Some of you my friends here on FB  (now the readers of my articles around the world) may ask the same question. Therefore, let me spend some time and talk about it. Yes, I admit that our people, mainly out of despair are fighting with their bare hands (recently, we start to see some with guns) against a well-armed brutal state. It’s sad and shame at the same time to witness the irresponsible acts of a government while the international community is watching from a distance.

When are we going to sit down and talk like civilized people, and work together without resorting to violence? I know the current regime takes the lion share of the blame and responsible for where we are right now. It could have facilitated a smooth and non-violent transition to democracy. Understandably, the people of Ethiopia around the country are forced to resort to uprisings and violence. We all know where this road leads, don’t we? Isn’t it a deja vu? I don’t want to go in detail and analyze the situation and predict what is going to happen. TIME will soon tell how this recent movement ends.

Call me skeptic, however, that we’ve had almost similar protests in our recent past. Our Muslim and Oromo brothers and sisters have been protesting for a couple of years now. What has changed? Don’t get me wrong. I admire their courage and also honor the sacrifices they’re paying. As I indicated in one of my recent articles, lack of leadership was the main reason why the commitment of these great people hasn’t been able to produce any meaningful fruit yet. If we had strong leadership that strategizes, plans, executes, and evaluates its progress and make amends and continues to lead toward the GRAND goal- which is establishing democracy, the rule of law, and freedom, and making the country a free and equitable land for all its people, by now, we would have been talking something else 🙂 lol

Our leaders should stop FOLLOWING (and watching from the sidelines as the youth is trying its best regardless of the lack of well coordinated, strategic, proactive, and smart leadership) and begin LEADING. Otherwise, we end up having the same old results: Tyranny continues. Even if this tyrant regime goes away by failing to sustain the continual assaults from our youth, another one substitutes it and we don’t have any clue whether the latter would be any better than the current. As you all know, many hoped the Mengistu regime would be better than Haileselassie. In the late 60’s and early 70’s, the then youth and students continually demonstrated and opposed the regime, and finally played a major role in overthrowing the regime. What were the end results? The outcomes were big disappointments and disenchantments when a more brutal killing machine took power. Again, we didn’t learn, we thought the current regime would be better than the military junta. Many fought against the regime while others watched its demise from the sidelines. Again, after more than a quarter of a century, we remained stunned and found ourselves disappointed badly as the rebels who fought for freedom and democracy turned killers, jailers, and tortures. Let me ask those of us, who keep raising our hope and expect better outcomes than what we’ve had in the past, every time we hear rumors of war and revolts. What makes you think, unless we work with TIME and learn from our past, and change course by being proactive and SMARTER, we get a better government this time or in the future? I may be cynical here but when are we going to learn from past TIME? Why we keep on doing the same things and expect a different result? That was why I recently wrote an article on the theme ‘Our Insanity: Doing the same thing again and again expecting different outcomes.’ Are we mastering insanity? 🙂

Maybe I am tired or missed something here. What do we expect from chaos, spontaneity, and any movement that doesn’t have clear strategies, contingencies, plan, and outline of the future? We don’t have any control of such a future. Therefore, are we just hoping to have a bright future somehow and in some ways from this and future uprisings and protests? We can only have a future that we DESERVE. The ways things have been going on thus far, we don’t seem deserve a better future. We need to earn it. That is why I’ve been calling for a reform in our culture- that is the root cause. We need the right environment to develop the right mindset so as to achieve different results than what we’ve accomplished so far. As a society, when it comes to establishing a government that is accountable to its people, we failed miserably, and more than once. We couldn’t be able to form a government that is elected democratically- a government that serves as far as it earns the confidence of Ethiopians. We have been restless, anxious, and doing everything we could for decades now regardless of disappointing results. We should stop acting like fire extinguishing brigades 🙂 chasing flames, as they break loose. It’s great we care, we cry for our people, and it’s also admirable for some of us doing what we could to help. Please note, nonetheless, that this approach doesn’t change the underlining situation. We’re just reacting! We’re not being proactive. Understand that this takes to work with TIME and become proactive… That is why my recent appeal was let’s work with time to strategize, prioritize, and plan, not against it.

Let’s stop talking, talking, and arranging events to rebroadcast the same things we already know. We know the regime is bad. We know we need to come together. We know things must change. We know this and that. What we need isn’t news, talk, and complaining alone. Good to be informed but we need to go beyond that and this is the responsibility of our leaders. But wait, our leaders are the products of our CULTURE. I’m ready to be corrected, many of our leaders too are talking, complaining, and hoping- like the general public – things may change for good this time without playing their unique parts. They forgot their critical role. Of course, I’m well aware of the sacrifices some leaders have been already paying, especially those that are back home who have already died, and those who are currently fighting on the ground, and those that are in prison. My hat is off to these heroic and heroine leaders. The question is when are we going to harvest their sacrifices? Should we just keep feeding our leaders to death row, prisons, and also watch our innocent youth who have a great future ahead of them die and get injured just because our leaders couldn’t come together to strategize and plan, and put in place contingencies if the former don’t work as expected? This CULTURE must change if our desire is to see true and lasting change. We cannot just gamble with people’s lives and future. We should clearly see our future ahead, identify smart strategies that are pathways to lead us to our future, and come up with short and long term plans that would help us tap into TIME and other resources wisely, monitor our progress, and if necessary, make changes as things on the ground change.

I presume, some people may counter my argument above by saying that they already know the importance of this approach and also they may claim that they already have strategies and plans in place. They may think that the problem is somewhere and someone except their inability to outsmart the regime in power by coming up with better strategies than the regime already has that helped the latter withstand the constant revolt and opposition from our people. As I indicated in one of my previous articles, the regime had, for that matter well before they came to power more than two decades ago, a 40-year strategic document. Can you imagine what they could do now while they have state power, tones of money, and western allies in their disposal? The regime hires strategists, planners, and advisors (and of course on top of lobbying).

Unlike the oppositions who have good intentions, the regime’s leadership doesn’t depend on their own competency alone, they seek help from experts including from outside of the country and invest on things that give them advantages. They’re proactive, and that is why they’ve been surviving. Please wakeup. Don’t assume that the regime’s leadership depends only on their guns and money. They depend on time, use latest technologies, process, and work with time very well, of course, to do bad things that don’t contribute toward our long term national interests, and of course, to harm innocent people. Even if I don’t like the outcomes, unfortunately, we cannot do anything about it; they tapped into a principle that works.

Any ways, for those who think the problem isn’t being proactive and the lack of using time ahead to strategize, and those who may think that they have covered this part and the problem isn’t a lack of PROACTIVENESS and STRATEGIC leadership, well, the true test of any strategy is: Is it working? What are the results you could show to us?

Leaders of political parties, community organizations, youth associations, journalists, academicians, and other stakeholders should understand that they need to be a little ORGANIZED (this takes change in mindset that has been nurtured by our culture not to be friendly with time) to make sure they tap into the enthusiasm, zeal, and commitment of their followers. Turing our people’s anger into useful outcomes requires having well thought-out strategies, contingencies, and effective planning. Please work with time, use latest approaches, tools, methods, and CREATE circumstances that change the destiny of our country and its people. It’s possible! It doesn’t cost that much except humility to admit that what we have tried so far didn’t work and the boldness to try a new approach, and creativity! Admitting something doesn’t work and adopting new approaches isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s rather wisdom, and humility.

Remember this: When we fail to make TIME our friend, CHANCE rules us and the latter is a bad master 🙂

Here is my short answer to my friend and to you if you are also wondering why I keep writing about cultural reforms (right now about time management, in the future, some more reform suggestions) while there are many burning issues at hand including the current protests and killings. Well, everybody knows about what is going on wrong, and we’ve hundreds of platforms to talk about it. There’re great organizations and media outlets that provide these services. I don’t want to duplicate their efforts. I rather want to focus on addressing the root cause. I’m well aware that I won’t be popular for poking at our culture and its weaknesses. But, that is what we need (a little motivation to change) while doing what we could to redirect the current anger, unhappiness, frustration and determination of our people into something that brings lasting change… Let me stop it here and look forward to hear your perspectives…

[1] Dr. Assegid Habtewold is a leadership expert at Success Pathways, LLC. Assegid can be reached at ahabtewold@yahoo.com

U.S Embassy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 

The statement issued by the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, unusual to American diplomacy, has a mix of condolences and condemnations. The statement is meticulously worded both not to offend EPRDF and  at the same time not to lose public trust. It has neither the American virtues of siding with the people nor defending democratic values which long have been considered as part of their core national interest and esteem.

The statement is prompted  by the present situation in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, a country considered as a gatekeeper to detain terrorism in East Africa, is usually quick to capitalize on regional instabilities; It is part of its foreign policy. The “anchor state”, as most policy analyst and western medias often refers, is in fact an anchor  in which western interests are maintained at the expense of its own national interest. Of course, as the recent statement reveals, what EPRDF have been doing in the region helped them to secure the most covetous and envied support of the west. The statement definitely supports the regime than the public. Therefore, Ethiopian foreign policy and the regime’s subservient attitude has achieved its goals of securing tacit support for its existential dilemma.

The time in which the statement comes out has reveled the nature of political support the regime has from the west and, the frustrating but apparent truth of the weakness of oppositions, is also another factor that led them to issue such discouraging statement.  Americans are highly realist and pragmatic; in the name of vague and rhetoric discourse of Democracy they don’t want to jeopardize either their immediate or long term  interest in the Horn of Africa. The crisis in Yemen, the hostilities in the Sudan and the most pressing demands to contain Alshabab and stabilizing South Sudan all rests in the shoulders of the Ethiopian regime. Antagonizing Ethiopia, certainly affects their interest in the region. Moreover, EPRDF is a master of bulling, it repeatedly frustrates western countries. The stubbornness of EPRDF goes to the extent of downgrading  Embassies to consular status, declaring persona no grants to Ambassadors as it happened to Sweden and Qatar. When they feel the need to bully countries that are critical to their appalling human and democratic rights record they never hesitate to did that.

The facts on the United Nation’s peacekeeping mission data clearly shows how the regime is so important to western donors. EPRDF is so indispensable  to donors and International Organizations. The numbers shows Ethiopia had a total of 8332 peacekeepers under the United Nations and 4395 under the African Union in Somalia. Most missions Ethiopia have peacekeepers are highly volatile and dangerous war zones that no countries had dared to sent soldiers. UNISFA, an unilateral mission in the contested Abye region is an economic and political enclave to Ethiopia. The other dangerous mission  is in Somalia, and yet paradoxically enough, Ethiopia sent thousands to fight not keep a non-existent peace but also to establish it through enforcement. Still a week before that have successfully lobbied to deploy another military contingent to juba, South Sudan through IGAD which it chairs since 2010.

It is clear that the United States at this particular time don’t want to offend a regime which takes any friendly advice as an insult. So people should understand the statements made by the America Embassy are unduly American and unusually not-diplomatic to say the least.

It exposed their unconscious fear if the regime overthrown suddenly or to withdrew  its contingents. Perhaps if Americans put pressure, EPRDF will   blackmail by withdrawing troops like Uganda is trying to gain attention. Who is going to replace all those vacuums in the regions forced them to tolerate to appease it. That is the reason behind the softly worded and heavily edited statement. The equation is so simple: as long as Alshaba is there and instability continues in the region, and there is no viable oppositions in Ethiopia EPRDF will guarantee its security by capitalizing on the weakness of the west.

All political parties in opposition, civil society and other associations must coordinate to bridge their gaps in a bid to make them a viable alternative if the need arises. EPRDF’s undoing only achieved through the consolidation of political parties. It is a must for parties to reorganize and resize their stature to challenge as well as to gain confidence in the eyes of donors who out of lack of choice perpetuate the regime despite its brutality.

By AFP

Regional protests that began last year in Ethiopia have spread across the country, and despite successive crackdowns analysts say dissatisfaction with the authoritarian government is driving ever greater unrest.

Demonstrations began popping up in November 2015 in the Oromia region, which surrounds the capital, due to a government plan to expand the boundaries of Addis Ababa.

The region’s Oromo people feared their farmland would be seized, and though the authorities soon dropped the urban enlargement project and brutally suppressed the protests, they badly misjudged the anger it triggered.

Demonstrations began popping up in Ethiopia in November 2015 in the Oromia region, which surrounds the capital, due to a government plan to expand the boundaries of Addis Ababa ©Lea-Lisa Westerhoff (AFP/File)

Protests have since swept other parts of Oromia, and more recently to the northern Amhara region, causing disquiet in the corridors of power of a key US ally and crucial partner in east Africa’s fight against terrorism.

“Since it came to power in 1991, the regime has never witnessed such a bad stretch… Ethiopia resembles a plane going through a zone of extreme turbulence,” independent Horn of Africa researcher Rene Lafort told AFP.

Despite what he described as the “state of siege” imposed on the Oromia region in recent weeks, the protests have refused to die down, and demonstrators have been challenging government more and more openly.

– Minority rule –

One rally was even held in Addis Ababa on Saturday, a rare event for the seat of power of a nation ruled by a regime considered among the most repressive in Africa.

More than 140 people were killed when security forces put down the original Oromia land protests, shot or tortured to death, according to rights groups.

A fresh crackdown over the weekend led to the deaths of almost 100 more, according to an Amnesty International toll, with live fire used on the crowds.

“This crisis is systemic because it shakes the foundations of the model of government put into place 25 years ago, which is authoritarian and centralised,” Lafort explained.

The protesters have different grievances but are united by their disaffection with the country’s leaders, who largely hail from the northern Tigray region and represent less than 10 percent of the population.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn heads the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which won all the seats in parliament in elections last year.

Although he comes from the minority Wolayta people, he is surrounded in government by Tigreans, who also dominate the security forces and positions of economic power.

Getachew Metaferia, professor of political science at Morgan State University in the United States, described the state as “controlled by an ethnic minority imposing its will on the majority,” a crucial factor in understanding the protests.

More than 60 percent of the country’s almost 100 million people are either Amhara or Oromo.

“There is no fundamental discussion with the people, no dialogue… the level of frustration is increasing. I don’t think there will be a return back to normal,” the professor added.

The country’s rulers have cultivated the skyrocketing growth and rapidly improving health outcomes that have changed the face of a nation whose famines weighed on the world’s conscience in 1980s.

But their grip on civil liberties has tightened: Ethiopia ranked 142 of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index this year, and social media used to organise rallies is regularly blocked by the authorities.

The use of anti-terror laws to jail opposition critics has also provoked ire, combined with more local issues such as the targeting of Amharan politicians campaigning for a referendum on a district absorbed into Tigrean territory.

– Reclaiming freedoms –

The West has largely avoided direct criticism of the country’s rights record because Ethiopia is credited with beating back Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab militants in Somalia, but the protests put its allies in an awkward spot.

“Ethiopia’s leaders have lost the vision of Meles. They are showing signs of nervousness and don’t place trust in their own people,” said one European diplomat on condition of anonymity.

After toppling dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, Meles Zenawi ruled with an iron fist until he died in 2012, and Hailemariam took over.

More used to its image as an oasis of calm in a troubled region, the government is swift to blame foreign “terrorist groups” for the unrest, usually pointing the finger at neighbouring Eritrea.

Hailemariam last Friday announced a ban on demonstrations which “threaten national unity” and called on police to use all means at their disposal to prevent them.

Merera Gudina, leader of the opposition Oromo People’s Congress, said the nebulous movements were not affiliated with traditional political parties and were focused above all on claiming back freedoms the government has long denied.

“We are nine months into this protest. I don’t think it will stop,” he told AFP. “This is an intifada,” he said, using a term which means uprising.

P.O. Box  643

Washington D.C. 20044

Tel 240-473-3235

office@advocacyethiopia.org

www.advocacyethiopia.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 10, 2016

The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) controlled regime in power for the last 25 years is now on the verge of collapse. Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians across religious and ethnic lines have been protesting demanding for the ouster of the tribal regime. The response of the regime, as usual, has been brutal and indiscriminate killing which has further strengthened the resolve of the people to fight back. Despite the pretention to be a coalition of various ethnic-based political groups, the regime is completely controlled by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) claiming to represent 6% of the minority Tigrean ethnic group.

The situation has become increasingly volatile with protesters calling for the removal of the regime and demanding accountability for atrocities committed by the regime’s security forces. While the protests have been directed at the regime, the possibility of intra-ethnic violence looms over the current situation mainly due to the highly inflammatory and irresponsible rhetoric of the ruling party. Should this happen, the scale of the ensuing genocide will dwarf the horrible genocide in Rwanda.

The immense discontent and resistance are widespread. The pent-up frustration and anger due to years of autocratic rule is bursting at the seams in all regions of the country and particularly in areas inhabited by the Oromifa and Amharic speaking Ethiopians constituting 70% of the population. According to eyewitness reports, the regime’s forces have used heavy machine guns and sniper rifles to kill unarmed civilians causing hundreds of deaths and injuries, according to international media sources.

The obsessive focus of the West on the “War on Terror” and the unconditional support for repressive regimes maintaining ‘political stability’ at the expense of human rights, democracy, and fundamental freedoms, has never produced security and stability. Ethiopia is the latest, and possibly the most dangerous example of this utterly misguided and counterproductive policy. Considering Ethiopia’s 100 million population, its geo-political importance and strategic location in Africa failure to act now can have dire consequences for regional stability and global security

Ethiopian Advocacy Network (EAN) and many rights groups (i.e. Human Right Watch, Amnesty International, Genocide Watch, etc.) have been sounding the alarm bells about the long simmering tension and the chasm that exists between the people and the regime. Despite the egregious human right violations well documented by various rights groups, the international community particularly the US and EU as well as multilateral agencies such as the World Bank have been providing more political, military and financial support to the TPLF regime.

On August 8, 2016 the US Embassy in Addis Ababa put out a tepid statement devoid of any substance. The statement incredibly assigns blames on the unarmed victims of the regime’s violence. Far from calling the regime to rein in its security forces in order to de-escalate the situation, the embassy seems to condone the shoot-to-kill order of peaceful protesters. This raises the disturbing question whether the real purpose of the security partnership agreement signed between the US government and the TPLF regime is to ensure the security of the TPLF criminals at the expense of the Ethiopian people. One wonders if all the extra judicial killings by the security forces might trigger the Leahy Law.

As the second most populous country in Africa and the regional power in the Horn of Africa, it is imprudent to underestimate the catastrophic impact that civil strife could create inside Ethiopia and in the volatile region as a whole. The longer the political turmoil continues unabated, the greater the risk of humanitarian disaster with millions of lives at risk, millions others fleeing the conflict.

It is in the vital security interest of the West, particularly the US, UK and EU, to exert their influence to demand accountability for the crimes committed by the regime’s security forces against peaceful protesters with legitimate grievances.  The regime’s all-too-familiar response of using lethal force to quash dissent will only exacerbate the situation. The patience of the Ethiopian people has run out and they are saying enough.

If the current stand- off continues it is not hard to fathom a horrific scenario of civil war with all its catastrophic consequences for Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. U.S. silence or inaction in the face of the regime’s brutal repression in Ethiopia would be perceived as meddling in favor of the rule breakers.  It is time for the US, in particular, and the West in general to re-examine its short-sighted and misguided policy that has emboldened the minority regime. Make no mistake, the brutal ethnic dictatorship is taking Ethiopia down a dark path.

Ethiopian Advocacy Network is a grassroots organization that was formed in January 2015 by Ethiopian-Americans, Ethiopian activists and community organizers to promote democracy, human rights, and justice in Ethiopia through advocacy, civic education and grass roots mobilization. EAN has a global presence with members in USA, Africa, Canada and Europe.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Right Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein said “The use of live ammunition against protesters in Oromiya and Amhara, the towns there of course would be a very serious concern for the UN.”

Zeid urged the Ethiopian killing machine to allow access for international observers into the Amhara and Oromiya regions so that they can establish what has happened and that the security forces, if it is the case that they have been using excessive force, that they do not do so and promptly investigate of course these allegations.

Zeid also said that any detainee who had been peacefully protesting should be released promptly.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein gestures during an interview with Reuters in Geneva, Switzerland, August 10, 2016. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

GENEVA | BY STEPHANIE NEBEHAY

The U.N. human rights chief urged Ethiopia on Wednesday to allow international observers into restive regions where residents and opposition officials say 90 protesters were shot dead by security forces at the weekend.

In his first comments on the incident, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that allegations of excessive use of force across the Oromiya and Amhara regions must be investigated and that his office was in discussions with Ethiopian authorities.

Since January, when he said the killings of protesters first began, his office had “not seen seen any genuine attempt at investigation and accountability”.

“The use of live ammunition against protesters in Oromiya and Amhara, the towns there of course would be a very serious concern for us,” Zeid told Reuters in an interview in Geneva.

Unrest flared in Oromiya for several months until early this year over plans to allocate farmland surrounding the regional capital for development. Authorities in the Horn of Africa state scrapped the scheme in January, but protests flared again over the continued detention of opposition demonstrators.

At the weekend, protesters chanted anti-government slogans and waved dissident flags. Some demanded the release of jailed opposition politicians. Information on the reported killings has been difficult to obtain, Zeid said.

“So I do urge the government to allow access for international observers into the Amhara and Oromiya regions so that we can establish what has happened and that the security forces, if it is the case that they have been using excessive force, that they do not do so and promptly investigate of course these allegations.”

Zeid said that any detainee who had been peacefully protesting should be released promptly.

The state-run Ethiopian News Agency said on Monday that “illegal protests” by “anti-peace forces” had been brought under control. It did not mention casualties.

As in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which Zeid visited last month, it is vital that security forces employ non-lethal means during peaceful protests, he said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Mark Heinrich)

GREGORY WARNER/ NPR

In Ethiopia, activists and witnesses say nearly 100 people were killed by security forces cracking down on anti-government protests over the weekend. The protests began late last year over a government plan to lease a forest to private foreign developers. Ethiopia’s authoritarian government is a key U.S. ally in East Africa.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

In Ethiopia, the government is cracking down on dissidents with deadly force. This past weekend was one of the most violent. Witnesses say security forces killed nearly 100 people. But skirmishes continued today in parts of the country. NPR’s East Africa correspondent Gregory Warner is based in Nairobi. He’s been watching what’s going on. And, Gregory, to start, what happened this weekend to provoke this level of response from the Ethiopian government?

GREGORY WARNER, BYLINE: Well, these protests had been going on for almost a year. The response by the government has always been a military one. There are often reports of shootings, killings, mass arrests. I think the high death toll this weekend – there are reports of more than 90 people killed. Again, those are numbers from activists. We don’t have official tallies from the government. But I think it shows just how widespread these demonstrations have become.

CORNISH: Tell us more about these dissidents and what they’re calling for.

WARNER: Well, I think the key thing one needs to know about Ethiopian politics is that last year in the election the ruling party, called the EPRDF, won 100 percent of seats in parliament – so clean sweep. Opposition politicians are harassed, jailed, tortured. Journalists can find themselves in jail just for the crime of criticizing the government. I spent a lot of today calling up people in the capital, Addis Ababa, just to find out what was going on. And I should say that I could not even call my sources in the other regions where the protests were actually happening. The phones were cut off. People really have no news, and so they’re just getting all these rumors, these reports from those regions about bodies found or door-to-door police searches, arrests, disappearances.

Meanwhile, on state television, you have these choreographed denunciations of the protest, denunciations of Facebook and Twitter are seen as instigators. That is the backdrop, I think, for all these various protests and why all these local grievances have no space to be discussed and can spill out into the street.

CORNISH: You talked about the difficulty in reaching out to these areas. Where are we talking about? Where is this happening?

WARNER: Well, up until recently, this has mostly been happening in one region of the country, which is actually all around the capital, Addis Ababa. And that’s a region called Oromia, it’s mostly ethnic Oromo. Now it’s spread north to a region called the Amhara region, and that is actually mostly ethnic Amhara. These are the two largest ethnicities in Ethiopia.

CORNISH: So help us understand how ethnicity comes into play here.

WARNER: Well, so in Ethiopia, geography is ethnicity. And the country’s actually divided. The regions are literally organized by ethnic regions. So ethnicity is politics. Political parties are organized along ethnic lines. There’s definitely an ethnic element, then, to these protests. But ethnicity in Ethiopia is really complicated. And there’s been a lot of efforts by activists at least to call for ethnic tolerance to say these are political protests. These are not expressions of ethnic hatred.

But the government definitely wants to characterize these protests as the work of ethnic separatists and ethnic terrorists that would justify the military response. And there have been very disturbing reports of some ethnic-based violence, so we’ll see what these protests turn into.

CORNISH: Before I let you go, Ethiopia is a key U.S. ally in East Africa. Is that relationship being complicated by the government’s response here?

WARNER: Well, I last visited in Ethiopia in May, and the protests were still going on then. I had a not – a lot of conversations with people about the U.S. support for Ethiopia, which has continued robustly despite the lack of democratic freedoms there. Ethiopia’s a large recipient of foreign aid. The military gets a lot of training and resources to fight terrorism. Again, this is the same military cracking down on the people. In those conversations, though, people were fairly realistic about the United States. People said of course America supports the ruling government. It’s up to us to figure out how to change that regime.

CORNISH: That’s NPR’s Gregory Warner. He spoke to us from Nairobi, Kenya. Thank you, Gregory.

WARNER: Thanks, Audie.

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The so called Ethiopia’s communication minister Getachew Reda trying to defend the repressive regime on Al Jazeera, toasted by Merera Gudina a professor and politician currently the leader of the Oromo People’s Congress (OPC)

• Simon Allison
• Africa
• 11 Aug 2016 03:23 (South Africa)

Esat Radio Thr 11 Aug 2016

Washington Post

 

Robel Kiros Habte gets ready for his race. (Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters)

By Cindy Boren August 11

Washington Post

People are being downright unkind to an Ethiopian swimmer, body-shaming him for having what, in one of the more charitable comments, is called a dad bod.Robel Kiros Habte competed in the men’s 100-meter freestyle heats on Tuesday and finished last in the three-swimmer heat.

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Darren Rovell

✔@darrenrovell

In yesterday’s 100m freestyle prelims, Ethiopia’s Robel Habte swam so slow he slipped off the screen

6:19 AM – 10 Aug 2016

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Overall, he finished last among the 59 competitors in the eight heats with a time of 1 minute 4.95 seconds. Habte confessed that his personal best was 59.08 seconds; Australia’s Kyle Chalmers won his heat with a time of 47.9 seconds.

Ecadf, an Ethiopian news site, called him “out of shape.” Others coldly called him “Robel the Whale.” Habte is 5 feet 9 and weighs 179 pounds. Chalmers, for instance, is 6-4 and weighs 194.

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Jai Bednall

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First cheer at the #Rio2016 pool goes to Ethiopia’s Robel Habte. Not quite Eric the Eel but close.

9:09 AM – 9 Aug 2016

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(Eric “the Eel” Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea completed the 100-meter freestyle in 1:52.72 during the Sydney Games.)

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gang gang @wokesharkboy

ROBEL THE WHALE HOW CAN THEY SLANDER MY PPL LIKE THIS https://twitter.com/bunatime/status/763122029033771008 …

5:11 PM – 9 Aug 2016

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And they’re off. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

And still others noted that Habte is the, ahem, son of the president of the country’s swimming federation.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem

#Ethiopia ‘s #RobelHabte. 59th place at #Rio2016 . With him is the #ETH swim federation president who’s HIS DAD.

10:20 PM – 9 Aug 2016

• 1212 Retweets

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Whatever brought him to Rio, the 24-year-old college student was a crowd favorite and was pretty happy just to be there.

“I wanted to do something different for my country, that’s why I chose swimming,” he told Reuters. “Everybody, every day you wake up in Ethiopia, you run. Not swimming. But I didn’t want to run, I wanted to be a swimmer. It didn’t matter where I finished.”

After spending most of her career in traditional print sports journalism, Cindy began blogging and tweeting, first as NFL/Redskins editor, and, since August 2010, at The Early Lead. She also is the social media editor for Sports.

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A 179-pound Ethiopian Olympic swimmer defended by own father and Federation President Kiros Habte

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Assassination threats against Ato Gedu Andargachew