By LJDemissie
 
October 11, 2016
 
From an experience, I know this to be true: “It takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, and a day to love them, but it takes an entire lifetime to forget them.”  Anonymous
 
I am an Ethiopian who is deeply saddened by a tragic death of Sharon Gray, a thirty-one year old scientist at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). Though I don’t know Gray, her friends or families, I want to extend my deepest condolences to them.
 
It was with great sorrow that I read the news on the internet about your tragic loss. Gray’s heartbreaking death in Ethiopia by an injury from a rock thrown by protesters that was aimed at a vehicle she was traveling in with her colleagues.

The first thing that came to me when I heard about your loss was that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then, I thought she wouldn’t die if the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front’s (TPLF’s) elite didn’t provoke the hundreds of death and/or injuries at an Ireecha festival in Bishoftu, Oromiya a few days prior to her death. I also reflected on the Obama administration and the United Nations, and I contemplated that she wouldn’t have died if they didn’t unconditionally support Ethiopia’s fascist regime, the TPLF.

Later on, to try to find comfort, in the sad loss of your loved one, I daydreamed. In my dreamland, I saw Gray in a middle of nice vegetables and fruits gardens which have all kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuces oranges, peaches, watermelons… I also saw different colors of doves flying over the gardens under pitch-black skies.

Then I heard a whisper that came out from the darkness … It is too dark here. But you can see. Just try to relax and look around. Check it out. Isn’t it pretty? I have everything and more I loved in life except for my friends and families.

I had a great time in Ethiopia. I liked it there. I enjoyed the people, the foods and the cultures.  I planned to go back. One of the things that caught me by surprise was the natural resources were barely touched. And almost everything they built and/or they are building in the city need to be rebuilt because they are below par. Whole lots of cars in the city have to be replaced; their carbon dioxide emission is out of control. Absolutely, the people need and deserve new leaders with better visions and mentality for their people and country. The current regime is infested with suspicious and narrow minded former guerilla fighters. They still think they are on the mountains. They followed us every were we went.

I tell you Ethiopians cannot blame the white race for being impoverished.  However, they should blame the black race, the Ethiopian elite, those who are leading them with the barrel of a gun without having leadership wisdom and/or skills. They should blame their elite those who went to school but came out without learning how to collaborate. They should blame them for their inability to work together and to form formidable opposition parties, which is a basic ingredient to create an accountable and a transparent government. Lack of an accountable and a transparent government is the root cause of the Ethiopians’ plight for decades. For instance, the TPLF overtook power by force. Soon after it got a grip on power it was hated. It would be history shortly. Another powerful group would come and the vicious circle would continue, which is depressing.

They also should blame the most powerful black man, Barack Obama, of the world. Do you remember what he told the world when he was in Ethiopia last year, in July 2015? He told the world that the TPLF, one of the most tyrant regimes the world has seen to date, was elected democratically by 100% of the vote.

A year later I understand that he lied, look what happened to me? Protesters who were demanding to elect their government democratically were throwing rocks at cars passing by them. I happened to be there, and I got hit by one of the rocks a protester threw at my vehicle. I immediately lost my consciousness, and I died shortly without suffering.  For no reason, I lost my life at a very young age though I loved to live. I worked hard throughout my life. I planned and hoped to raise a family of two or three children. I lost all my hope and dream in Ethiopia for nothing. I cannot see my husband, mom, dad, sister and her children, godchild, friends … until they make it here, and get their own gardens. Isn’t it that sad?

Then I saw a white dove carrying an olive branch attempting to place it on Gray’s forehead. While I was looking at the dove, I heard another whisper from behind me. When I turned around, it was a stranger … you are loudly daydreaming; people heard everything you said.

With an embarrassment, I looked around. I saw everybody staring at me. In a whisper, I replied to the stranger that daydreaming isn’t a bad thing as long as it isn’t out of control. I talked it out loud to try to figure it all out.

Oh! I see …Anyhow … there are other better ways of brain storming such as writing … or being ready to tolerate other views and getting organized and discussing issues with a group of people. Before you try to do that, you must know that it isn’t your way or the highway; it isn’t everybody’s way either, but it is finding a middle ground. And remember to listen to other views more than you talk about your views.

From Gray’s facial expression and the way she let a wind blew through her hair in the above picture, I thought she had a joyful personality. Tributes of her friends at UC Davis which I watched on various media, I believed that she had a mind that sought knowledge and a wisdom to spread awareness about what she knows across the world. A simple proof is she went to Ethiopia, the world’s most impoverished nation, from California, the most developed and prettiest place on earth, “to study how growing levels of carbon dioxide affect plants.”

Please accept my condolences.

The writer LJDemissie can be reached at LJDemissie@yahoo.com

Press Release
 
August 10, 2016
 
On October 08, 20016, a week after the horrific killings at the Irrecha holiday in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, the Ethiopian Council of Ministers has decreed a six month state of emergency that gives ultimate power to the authority to suspend basic and fundamental political and democratic rights granted under the constitution of the country, the African Charter on Human and People Rights and international standards of human rights. For many years in the past, the Ethiopian government has used laws, judicial processes, national institutions and its security forces to suppress its own people, to stifle political dissent, to harass and incriminate journalists, human rights defenders, opposition party leaders and their members, as well as peaceful protestors in a way that fails to meet those regional and international human rights standards.
 
AHRE is extremely worried that the decreed state of emergency could be also used by the authority as a pretext for escalating grave human rights violations and a political crackdown in the country. In the last 25 years the ruling party, the Ethiopian People Democratic Front (EPRDF), has been accused by rights groups of a poor record on the protection and respect of human rights. Since the taking power by the party, thousands have been killed by security officials. It is documented and reported by local and international human rights organization that hundreds were abducted, tens of thousands were arbitrarily detained and arrested without charge, many have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment, many others forced into internal displacement and eviction from their land.

Despite all these gross human rights violations in the country that have been also reported and documented by human rights groups there is no as such a strong condemnation and pressure from the international community against the Ethiopian government to improve the situation and encourage the state to respect its obligation to uphold the highest standards of human rights.

“The international community should stop pretending and staying blindfolded on the critical human rights situation of Ethiopia” said Yared Hailemariam, Director of the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE).  “In the last ten months, the response of the international community has not been adequate especially as the number of causalities is rising daily. There has not been any strong pressure on the Ethiopian government to stop the excessive use of force against protesters. The international community should do much more to stop the continuing violation of human rights in Ethiopia before the situation gets out of control and leads to political instability in the country, and as well in region of horn of Africa”.

In its recent press release, AHRE expressed its deep concern about the escalating human right abuses and mass killings in various parts of the country. It mentioned that also in the last eleven months since the beginning of the protest in the Oromia region more than 700 protestors advocating rights based issues have been killed by security forces routinely using excessive and unnecessary lethal force to disperse peaceful protestors. Also more than ten thousand people including community leaders, journalists, opposition leaders and human rights defenders have been arbitrarily arrested, many of them being held in various military centers without medical treatment and without access to family members and legal representation. This reputation and track record of the Ethiopian authority of mishandling protests and public grievance by using unnecessary and excessive force possibly will continue in a violent and reckless way during the state emergency in order to disperse protestors and to suppress any political dissent.

AHRE is also deeply concerned about the repercussion of the decreed state of emergency possibly leading the country into civil war and further bloodshed. According to our sources, in some parts of the Oromia and Amhara regions protests have turned into armed clashes. It is reported that many causalities have been observed on both sides, by the security forces and by the protesters as a result of the ongoing violent clashes which irrupted in both regions. Especially after the mass killing at the Irreecha festival more protests broke out in many areas of the Oromia region, and again dozens were killed, while many others sustained serious injuries. Properties were destroyed and fire was set to government owned factories and vehicles, as has been reported during the week.

AHRE has no doubt that the decreed state of emergency will lead to an escalation of the existing problem and a crackdown of peaceful protests. AHRE urges the Ethiopian authority to lift its decree as soon as possible, and to give proper response to the demands of the Ethiopian people raised during the protest. It also urges the Ethiopian government to:

• Immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners;
• Immediately cease the use of excessive and unnecessary lethal force by security forces against peaceful protestors;
• Invites all stockholders to national dialog and reconciliation.

For further information, please contact:

yaredh@ahrethio.org, +32 486 336 367, Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE)

www.ahrethio.org

https://www.facebook.com/AHREthio.org/?fref=nf

ESAT News
Mr Herman Cohen Photo -File / Source: Tesfanews

“In 1991 a system of states was established based on ethnic groups. But this was a fake system because none of the states that had ethnic groups different from the Tigrians had any voice what their government should be and what they should have. So it is strictly a one party state, which most African governments had abandoned long time ago,” he noted in an exclusive interview with ESAT.

“It looks to me that the government does not understand there are major grievances among large groups of people especially younger people who graduated from the university and unable to find unemployment. Also the fact that members of the TPLF dominate the economy, have monopoly over economic activity. So there is major frustration there.”

He pointed out that TPLF regime failed to deliver economic benefits to the vast majority of the population. “The benefits come mainly to Tigrians,” he asserted.

Cohen said it was unfortunate that the TPLF had used lethal force against unarmed demonstrators.

The Ambassador said the TPLF will have the fate of Mengistu regime if it continues to use lethal force to stay in power. “ If things continue as they are now, it will be very very difficult for the government to remain in power with any sort of legitimacy. So it is time for them to stop using lethal force and to start political discussions. If they continue to use lethal force, they will become just like the Mengistu regime that they fought for so many years.”

Asked why the US government still allied itself with the TPLF regime despite gross human rights violations, the Ambassador said it is a “dilemma” for the US government. “There is a dilemma for the US government because there are geo strategic interests. Al Shabaab in Somalia next door is a great danger to the entire Horn of Africa. It is a danger to the US and all of its interest.”

“Our interest is fighting Al Shabaab, let’s be frank about it. Al Shabaab is very dangerous. It is part of the Islamic State. But also human rights and democracy is important. And I think the weight of the US government in the Horn of Africa is moving more and more to human rights and democracy. And I think the TPLF is feeling that,” the Ambassador said.

Cohen, who was the US Assistant Secretary of State during the Bush administration, from 1989 to 1993, played a key role in negotiating the departure of Mengistu Hailemariam and is said to have given blessing for the TPLF to assume power in 1991.

He is currently President of the Cohen and Woods International, his consulting firm. He is also a registered lobbyist for the Coalition for a Democratic Congo.

Mr Herman Cohen Photo -File / Source: Tesfanews

Ethiopia must allow protests, police must be measured – Angela Merkel

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has asked the Ethiopian government to allow protests and that police response to these protests should be proportionate.

She also called on the government to include opposition groups in the political process. Merkel is currently in Ethiopia on the last leg of her historic African tour. Her trip started in Mali on Sunday, before she went to Niger on Monday.

There was pressure by rights groups tasking the German leader to speak on human rights in the country. Ethiopia over the weekend imposed a 6-month state of emergency in a bid to quell anti-government protests. The United Nations and other bodies have charged the government to desist from mass arrests and the partial internet shutdown.

Africanews.com

READ MORE Internet cut, arrest of bloggers, mass arrests not the solution – UN tells Ethiopia

ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled support for protesters demanding wider freedoms in Ethiopia during a visit to the country on Tuesday, saying “a vibrant civil society is part and parcel of a developing country.”
 
Merkel’s meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn had been expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency and other issues including migration.
 
Merkel also said Germany has offered to train policemen in Ethiopia to deal with the demonstrations that have caused this East African country, one of Africa’s best-performing economies, to declare its first state of emergency in 25 years.

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-left, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, center-right, inspect the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

“We are already working in Oromia to de-escalate the situation there by offering mediation between groups,” she said.

“I would always argue for allowing people of a different political opinion … to engage with them and allow them to express their views because, after all, a democratic experience shows that out of these discussions good solutions usually come,” Merkel said.

The Ethiopian prime minister responded to Merkel by suggesting his government may increase dialogue. “We have shortcomings in our fledgling democracy, so we want to go further in opening up the political space and engagement with different groups of the society,” he said.

Merkel also said the German business community has criticized the business climate in Ethiopia and added she hopes the Ethiopian government will discuss the criticism openly.

Merkel’s African tour, with stops earlier this week in Mali and Niger, highlights the global migration crisis and security issues. Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest hosts of refugees, with hundreds of thousands arriving from nearby Somalia, South Sudan and elsewhere.

The Ethiopian leader appealed for German support to help the refugees. “Ethiopia is one of the global hosts of refugees … the first in Africa, with 780,000 refugees here. I think Germany can support us on this,” Hailemariam said.

Merkel also inaugurated the new African Union Peace and Security Council building that was constructed with German funding of 27 million euros.

The head of the continental body’s Peace and Security Council, Ismael Chergui, said during the inauguration ceremony in Addis Ababa that the new building will provide a base for the operation of a continental early warning system and the coordination of peacekeeping missions.

The Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency Sunday, faced with widespread anti-government protests. More than 50 people died last week in a stampede after police tried to disperse protesters. The incident set off a week of demonstrations in other parts of the country. One American was killed in a rock attack.

At least 400 people have been killed in anti-government protests over the past year, according to human rights groups and opposition activists. The protesters demand more freedoms from the government accused of being increasingly authoritarian.

On Monday, a day after the government declared the six-month state of emergency, Ethiopia’s president announced during a Parliament session that the country’s election law would be amended to accommodate more political parties and opposing views.

But the country’s internet service continues to be largely blacked out after last week’s unrest, which included the targeting and burning of both foreign and local businesses over suspected ties to the government.

The United States and others have called on the government to use restraint against protesters, and the U.N. human rights office has asked for access to allow independent observers into the troubled Oromia region.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, is welcomed by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-left, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, center-right, inspect the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, is welcomed by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, center-left, as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/ Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, inspects the honor guard as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, right, inspect the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

FILE – In this Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 file photo, Ethiopian soldiers try to stop protesters in Bishoftu, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting Ethiopia on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo, File)

FILE – In this Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 file photo, protesters chant slogans against the government during a march in Bishoftu, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting Ethiopia on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo, File)

Youths play football at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia’s government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country’s first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

Ethiopian men read newspapers and drink coffee at a cafe in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia’s government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country’s first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

A security guard sits near a gate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia’s government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country’s first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

A woman walks on bridge to a station of the city’s light railway, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia’s government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country’s first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

 

 

My contention in this paper is simple and straightforward. Despite the challenges Ethiopia faces, we have failed to unite on the fundamental principles of Ethiopia as an independent, free and sovereign country; and expressing the notion that we are Ethiopians first. My other identities as an Ethiopian from Gondar, an Amhara by virtue of ethnic affinity imposed on me by the TPLF/EPRDF constitution, an Orthodox Christian by faith, a political economist by profession, a human rights activist and writer by vocation etc. are all a given. No one can deny me these identities and rights regardless of his or her power. The identity that has defined all my life is being accepted as an individual from a proud and independent country called Ethiopia. It is this country that I do not wish to lose.

Sadly, the ethnic and linguistic federal constitution imposed by the TPLF, EPLF, OLF and others on the Ethiopian people undermined both the country as a durable entity and the honor of calling oneself Ethiopian instead of Amhara, Tigre, Gurage, Oromo etc. Tragically and consequentially, Article 39 offered ethnic elites a way out of the larger tent of Ethiopia if and when they choose. This is where we are today. Ethiopia faces the greatest danger in its history. This is because of the weaknesses, partisanship, hidden agendas, egos and fragmentation of pro-Ethiopian political, civic, religious, professional, academic and other circles; and because of narrow ethnic elites who assumed power and acquired wealth undeservedly.

The pendulum has swung in favor of ethnic elite based political and social groups; and against those who hold strong affinity to Ethiopia as a historical and geopolitical entity. I do not wish to dwell why the later failed to meet the country’s urgent needs beyond the paper mill of churning ideas. I admit that I admire the systematic organization and leadership of political parties and groups whose visions, roadmaps and alternative political programs for their own nations, nationalities and people’s drive their day-to-day operations. Illustrative of this transformative development is the popular struggle of the Oromo people. They possess the most integrated, most proactive and results-oriented lobbying and diplomatic talent pool of any Ethiopian. Their civic organization is highly integrated and mimics TPLF’s REST.

Count the number of groups with the Ethiopian label and ask yourself if there is any coherence and collaboration among them? Ask yourself how many political parties with the Ethiopian label exist everywhere on this planet and query them why they do not unite and offer Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people a more compelling and better roadmap and political alternative than the regime they oppose?

An emerging transformative generation

Ethiopia’s greatest hope resides in the young generation of Ethiopians who are sacrificing their lives to advance freedom, justice, genuine equality, representative democracy; and a commitment to preserve Ethiopia as a country. Their grassroots based, indigenous and creative struggle has no parallel in our country’s history. The regime’s response has been cruel and unforgiving. Nevertheless, the state of siege of the TPLF/EPRDF state and government, the killings, maiming, wounding, tortures of hundreds and the “enforced disappearances” and incarcerations of thousands have not deterred them from continuing the popular resistance. Their determination, willingness to sacrifice their lives for a better tomorrow, their ability to conquer fear, ethnic bigotry and division; and to embrace collaboration and humanity across ethnic lines is the most gratifying development that I have seen since the Yekatit revolution! It is this internally generated and led resistance that has stunned and frightened the TPLF/EPRDF regime.

Why so? Because it is people anchored and led. Large numbers of EPRDF members either identify with the resistance or have jointed it. The resistance is indigenous and creative. It adopts and adjusts in response to needs. It draws on a cross section of the population. Unlike the past, the rural population including farmers, are involved in the struggle. Spiritual leaders of all faiths are involved giving the resistance moral grounding and legitimacy. It is largely self-reliant.

The wrong response

Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn’s declaration of a State of Emergency on Sunday, October 9, 2016 did not come as a surprise to me.  An undeclared state of emergency of sorts was imposed on the Oromia region a few months ago. This was followed by an identical measure in the entire Amhara region.

Let us first agree on terminology and narratives concerning the resistance. I find it disingenuous and rather divisive on the part of some commentators when they call the resistance in the Amhara region as one confined to Gondar, Debre Tabor, Bahir Dar, Debre Marcos etc. The resistance is hardly local. The narrative is Amhara wide and national, that is, Ethiopian. Therefore, why not narrate it the same way as the resistance in Oromia is narrated. Accept it for what it is; it is an Amhara resistance that is similar to the resistance in Oromia. I won’t dwell on the differences in terms of strategic direction. Census matters.  Remember the numbers. Not only do the vast majority of Amhara live in Gondar, Wollo and Gojjam; but it is also here where Amhara resistance is intense, profoundly creative and grassroots based and led. It is here where hundreds of Amhara youth were summarily executed in broad daylight, others wounded and maimed; and still other thousands evicted from their homes and “enforced to disappear” to unknown destinations. It is here where the TPLF/EPRDF is disarming the population.

A few weeks before the recent intense popular resistance, Debretsion Gebremikael, Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Deputy Prime Minister had opined that the “TPLF possessed one of the strongest security and defense establishments with the capability not only to crush 30 million Amhara but also” to exercise similar ventures in Africa. Following this threat, the TPLF deployed Agazi, sharpshooters, helicopter guns ships, special armored vehicles with machine guns to critical towns in the Amhara region. It gunned down hundreds the same way it did in Oromia. It used the special order from Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn to reign “terror” on innocent people. It imposed military administration the same way it had done in Oromia a few months earlier.

So, the current State of Emergency is the continuation, deepening and broadening (nationwide) of an already established state and government assault on dissent. I have no doubt this state of emergency is intended to crush dissent and any form of opposition; to arrest and jail prominent leaders. This is already happening. The arrest of Engineer Yilkal Getinet, leader of the Blue or Semayawi Party is illustrative. Sources inform me that other members of this and other parties are being “hunted” and arrested. No doubt they will be accused of different crimes!

Other immediate targets would include disarming the Amhara population first, followed by a similar and intense exercise in Oromia and other parts of the country.  The regime knows well that it is incapable and unwilling to address the root causes of the popular resistance. As expected, it continues to resort to repressive and violent means to crush the resistance. Simply put, the state of emergency is a license to take any measure against any opponent and to try to crush the popular resistance by providing a rationale that the global community would buy. For example, investors and governments such as the United States that place a huge premium on stability and the containment of terrorism at an enormous cost to civil liberties and human life are among the clients. The license to take any measure goes beyond arrests and tortures. It includes extrajudicial killings, maiming and other types of inhumane treatment. Brace yourselves for an unimaginable human tragedy.

Would this solve the crisis? Not at all. In fact it will worsen it; and Ethiopia’s foreign enemies would have a field day. On the positive side, those within the country who face immediate danger from the state of emergency will no doubt be more determined than ever to bring down the cruel and callous regime. Someone told me today that the regime will produce more heroes and heroines. It will solidify the opposition. It will force those of us outside to unite and put more pressure and offer alternative sooner than later.

What is a state of emergency anyway?

Wikipedia defines a state of emergency as follows. “A government or division of government may declare that this or that area or the entire country is in a state of emergency. This means that the government can suspend and/or change some functions of the executive, the legislative and/or the judiciary during this period of time. It alerts citizens to change their normal behavior and orders government agencies to implement emergency plans. A government can declare a state of emergency during a time of natural or human-made disaster, during a period of civil unrest, or following a declaration of war or situation of international/internal armed conflict.” In the case of Ethiopia, the state of emergency refers to “civil unrest and armed conflict.” The measure will be used as a legal foundation to suspend the rights and freedoms of individuals or groups.

A Washington Post’s October 11, 2016 piece, “Ethiopia imposes state of emergency amid unrest” captures the essence and rationale behind this draconian action. “The Ethiopian government painted a grim picture of a country under siege by foreign-backed gangs as it justified its newly announced six-month state of emergency Monday.” Getachew Reda well-known for make-believe stories explained the measure as follows:

1. The violence is “the work of foreign-funded groups,” meaning such countries as Egypt and Eritrea and Ethiopian activists in the Diaspora. Imagine telling poor young people in the Amhara or Oromia region that they are motivated and supported by foreign agencies or agents. It is absurd and untrue. No amount of money would lead youth to die. The motivating factor is state and government instigated repression. This is why the resistance won’t stop.

2. “You have motorbike gangs carrying petrol bombs, carrying firearms in groups of 10 going from place to place, terrorizing the public.” Research and video clips show that the protestors are a cross-section of ordinary people appalled by their dire conditions and resentful of the regime that suppressed them. Can Reda attribute boycotts, sit-in and other forms of peaceful resistance to foreign financing and to “gangsters?” Can he provide concrete evidence that shows that foreign governments and groups are involved directly? Can he explain the root causes of the revolt rather than justifying the unjustifiable?

3. As indicated earlier, the state of emergency strengthens the TPLF. Why? Because the security and military establishments are dominated, controlled and commanded by TPLF generals and other high ranking officers. The victims of the campaign will be Amhara and Oromo dissenters, activists and political leaders. As the Post article shows, “Ethiopian military (TPLF) will take over security across the country.” This is the reason why I suggest that the measure is a license to arrest, torture and kill. The regime would have all the options it needs to do what it wishes to do under the cover of a Proclamation. This will operate the same way or worse as the draconian anti-Terrorism Proclamation.

4. Remember that it is the TPLF security, federal police and defense, especially the notorious Agazi that inflicted pain and agony by killing hundreds in response to anti-government protests. So, the Prime Minister’s rationale that the emergency measure is justified because it is intended to “protect citizens” is untrue. A regime that kills its own citizens when and if they protest cannot turn around and argue that the emergency is for their own benefit. The benefit resides somewhere else.

5. The TPLF/EPRDF places enormous and singular premium on property owned by the TPLF and its cohort of ethnic elites and foreign investors. Human life is secondary. The governing elite has a stake in these investments. There is direct correlation between graft, corruption and illicit outflow of funds and trade, remittances, foreign aid and investments. There is ample evidence to show that ordinary people, especially youth have not benefitted from these investments or from the country’s growth.

6. “The kind of threats we are facing targeting infrastructure, targeting civilians, cannot be handled through ordinary law enforcement procedures” says Reda to the Post. He justifies the unjustifiable this way. What does anyone expect from a representative of a crushing regime that does not imagine the implications of the measure on the country and its people? The same security, federal police and defense forces directly involved in the deaths of hundreds are now in charge of killing more. In Gondar, Agazi killed a mother accusing her of feeding the hungry. Imagine that and think what the license to kill will do to innocent people!

7. The regime is incapable and unwilling to address grievances peacefully. It reverts to emergency measures as a solution to systemic problems. While I do not condone targeting economic and physical infrastructure—the costs of these investments are huge for the society– I understand the reasons behind them. The regime failed to conduct serious dialogue and consultation with its own citizens and with the opposition, virtually closing the door for peaceful options.

8. While I do not condone targeting individuals and property I understand that economic measures such as withholding taxes, remittances and boycotts are effective. When I think of victims of the regime, their outrage is understandable. For example, their argument that targeting economic infrastructure offers a window to weaken the system and alienate it from the population. Investors become weary of being targeted and leave. Growth stalls; FDI and government taxes decrease etc. The opportunity to steal decreases. The Post quotes Emma Gordon, Senior Analyst with Verisk Maple croft who says. “The attacks on the economy are an effective way to pressure the government…..The scale and frequency of the attacks on foreign assets has already rocked confidence in Ethiopia…In both Amhara and Oromia, some assets have been near-totally destroyed despite having government sanctioned security on site. As a result, some investors are pulling out of the country.” It is arguable that the state of emergency would mitigate the risk.

9. Property and prolonging power are the lead reasons why Ethiopia declared a state of emergency. The TPLF/EPRDF elite has argued for decades that it is transforming the national economy and tackling endemic poverty. Facts on the ground say otherwise. Ethiopia is still one of the poorest countries on the planet. Per capita income per annum is a third of the African average. More than 18 million people depend on some form of food aid. Yet, it has numerous millionaires who made their fortunes under the current regime. People are resentful that a tiny pool of government elites and their allies live a luxury beyond belief while the vast majority cannot afford three meals a day. The emergency declaration won’t solve this structural and policy problem.

10. In short, in my view the license to kill aggravates the social and political situation and endangers the country’s future. This is a reality and the regime needs to deal with it through dialogue and consultation and not through sharpshooters, machine guns and helicopter gunships. Think of what happened in Syria. One of the most developed countries in the Middle East is destroyed. Rebuilding it will take several generations. The Ethiopian regime should be weary that its prescription may lead to the undoing of Ethiopia as we know it. The rest of us should do our level best to avert the next Syria in the Horn of Africa.

What I propose we should do

1. First and foremost let those of us who care reject the current State of Emergency. It fails to address the root causes that led to popular resistance. The Prime Minister’s contention that his government wants to ensure “the safety of citizens first” is deceptive and cunning.  The TPLF/EPRDF government killed hundreds of innocent people. It cannot, therefore, argue that it will “safeguard the lives of citizens.”
2. I urge all Ethiopian political, civic, professional, religious and other groups and individuals to unite in saving Ethiopia from further Balkanization by making an unreserved commitment to uphold the country as a unified, free, independent and sovereign multinational and multicultural state.
3. I urge us to advance a representative democracy based on the rights of individual citizens, majority rule and the protection of the rights of minorities under the law.
4. I urge that us to push for the formation of a state and government that ensure social and economic justice, human worth and dignity, respect for human rights, people’s unique cultures, languages, history, religion and equality under the law as the foundation of future governance.
5. I urge all of us to support the grassroots resistance that is struggling to free the society from oppression, massive displacement, killings and enforced disappearances.
6. I urge each and every one of us to push for an All-Stakeholders Conference and provide inputs for a compelling roadmap and the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity.
7. I urge all Ethiopian civic organizations to form a consortium for active diplomacy.
8. I urge each and every one of us to withhold remittances for the next 6 months.

OromoRevolution #AmharaResistance Global Solidarity Rally in London

• By ELIAS MESERET, ASSOCIATED PRESS

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Oct 11, 2016, 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled support for protesters demanding wider freedoms in Ethiopia during a visit to the country on Tuesday, saying “a vibrant civil society is part and parcel of a developing country.”

After meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Merkel said Germany has offered to train Ethiopia’s police to deal with the sometimes deadly demonstrations that have caused one of Africa’s best-performing economies to declare its first state of emergency in 25 years.

“We are already working in Oromia to de-escalate the situation there by offering mediation between groups,” she said, referring to the region where protests have simmered for nearly a year.

“I would always argue for allowing people of a different political opinion … to engage with them and allow them to express their views because, after all, a democratic experience shows that out of these discussions good solutions usually come,” Merkel said.

The Ethiopian prime minister responded by suggesting his government may increase dialogue. “We have shortcomings in our fledgling democracy, so we want to go further in opening up the political space and engagement with different groups of the society,” he said, noting that the East African country’s huge youth population has created “dissatisfaction and desperation.”

But the prime minister also sounded a note of defiance. “Ethiopia is committed to have a multi-party democracy as per our constitution. And Ethiopia is committed to have human rights observed. … But Ethiopia is also against any violent extremist armed struggling groups,” he said.

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency Sunday, faced with widespread anti-government protests. More than 50 people died last week in a stampede after police tried to disperse protesters. The incident set off a week of demonstrations in which both foreign and local businesses with suspected government ties were burned, and one American was killed in a rock attack.

Merkel said the German business community has criticized the business climate in Ethiopia, and she expressed hope that the government will discuss the criticism openly.

At least 500 people have been killed in anti-government protests over the past year, according to Human Rights Watch. The protesters demand more freedoms from a government accused of being increasingly authoritarian.

The United States and others have called on the government to use restraint against protesters, and the U.N. human rights office has asked for access to allow independent observers into the troubled Oromia region.

On Monday, Ethiopia’s president announced during a Parliament session that the country’s election law would be amended to accommodate more political parties and opposing views.

But the country’s internet service continues to be largely blacked out after last week’s unrest.

Merkel’s African tour, with stops earlier this week in Mali and Niger, is also meant to highlight the global migration crisis and security issues. Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest hosts of refugees, with an estimated 780,000 from nearby Somalia, South Sudan and elsewhere.

Ethiopia’s prime minister appealed for German support.

Merkel also inaugurated the new African Union Peace and Security Council building in the capital, Addis Ababa, constructed with German funding of 27 million euros. It is expected to be the base for coordination of peacekeeping missions.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 11 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Ethiopia on Tuesday to open up its politics and ensure police do not use heavy-handed tactics against protesters, after more than a year of unrest that rights groups say has led to about 500 deaths.

Merkel, who spoke at a news conference with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, arrived in Ethiopia after a fresh flare-up near the capital of the clashes that have cast a shadow over a nation with one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.

The violence prompted the government to declare a nationwide state of emergency on Sunday. It says the death toll cited by rights groups is exaggerated and blames the wave of violence on “armed gangs” backed by foreigners.

Western states, which are among the biggest donors to what is still a poor nation, want their companies to win deals in Ethiopia but have become increasingly concerned by the government’s authoritarian approach to development.

“I made the case that you should have open talks with people who have problems,” Merkel told Hailemariam, adding that police should respond proportionately to protests.

Last week, protesters ransacked or torched about a dozen mostly foreign-owned factories, flower farms and other sites, accusing the government of building on seized land and stifling opposition.

Opponents blamed police for provoking a stampede at a festival in Oromiya that killed at least 55 people on Oct. 2.

“In a democracy there always needs to be an opposition that has a voice – in the best case in parliament,” Merkel added.

Opposition parties failed to win a single seat in parliament in the 2015 election, accusing the government of rigging the vote – charges which it denies. There was just one opposition lawmaker in the previous assembly.

“The government is not using extreme violence. If it happened, we will investigate the units involved,” the prime minister responded.

DEMAND FOR DIALOGUE

Addressing parliament the day before Merkel arrived, Ethiopia’s president called for an amendment to the election law to allow “alternative voices” to be heard – an offer that senior opposition figure Merera Gudina said was “too little, too late”.

Merera, chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress, from a region where protests have raged, said Merkel should push for the release of political prisoners and a national dialogue.

The government denies it detains people for their politics.

In another show of German discontent, a diplomat said Addis Ababa had proposed that Merkel address parliament, but Berlin refused because it lacked any opposition members.

The diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the message being sent was that there was “no business as usual”.

The international community has praised Ethiopia for its economic achievements and development strategy. Under this, healthcare and other types of social support have spread across a country where most people rely on subsistence farming that has been hit by severe drought in the past two years or more.

A nation still renowned in the West for a devastating 1984 famine exacerbated by the policies of the then Marxist government, Ethiopia has been one of Africa’s fastest-expanding economies for the past 15 years of so. In 2015, growth was 10 percent.

But the lack of public space for criticism has risen up the agenda for Western powers. U.S. President Barack Obama told his Ethiopian hosts in Addis Ababa last year that greater political openness would “strengthen rather than inhibit” development.

The government said at the time it ensured political freedoms but differed over the pace of reforms that Washington wanted.

Till now, Chinese firms and financing have been a major driver of growth, building high-rise towers and a metro system in Addis Abba, and constructing a new railway that links the capital of the land-locked nation to Djibouti port.

Western investors have also secured deals. Britain’s Diageo and Heineken of the Netherlands have bought breweries, Dutch and Belgian firms run flower farms and companies such as Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) are starting to source clothes from Ethiopian plants.

Merkel also visited the headquarters of the African Union, which are in Addis Ababa. She called for the body to try to solve the conflict in Libya and also urged African states to increase efforts to fight Islamist militants.

Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban with HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
 
Human Rights Watch (HRW) have added their voice to calls especially by the Office of the United Nations (UN) Commissioner on Human Rights, for an independent inquiry into deaths at an Ethiopian festival last week.
 
The Irreecha festival turned chaotic and led to death of over 50 people. The incident according to government was cause by anti-peace groups. But opposition insists it was as a result of police having fired tear gas on peaceful celebrants.
 
“The world should be carefully watching what is happening in Ethiopia,” said Felix Horne, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “As more and more people are killed in protests this year, the government should urgently change course to prevent more bloodshed.”
 
The government has a history of resisting outside scrutiny of its rights record. Access has been requested by 11 special procedures of the UN HRC since 2007, and all were refused except for the special rapporteur on Eritrea.
HRW said it was important for the Ethiopian government to allow an independent, international investigation to determine how scores of people were killed on October 2, 2016.

The rights group, expressed its concerns in a question-and-answer document about the issue.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights late last week, renewed a request to the Ethiopian government seeking access to the country to conduct an independent assessment of continuing protests.

A statement issued in Geneva on Friday, by the commission’s spokesperson, Rupert Colville, said, ‘‘There is clearly a need for an independent investigation into what exactly transpired last Sunday, and to ensure accountability for this and several other incidents since last November involving protests that have ended violently.’‘

On their part, the HRW statement said, ‘‘The government has a history of resisting outside scrutiny of its rights record. Access has been requested by 11 special procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council since 2007, and all were refused except for the special rapporteur on Eritrea.

‘‘On one hand the government wants to play a leadership role on the world stage, as seen in its membership on the Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council; but on the other it has resisted any international involvement in its own affairs,’‘ HRW bemoaned.

Large-scale anti-government protests have been sweeping through Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region, since November 2015, and the Amhara region since July 2016.

On October 2, in Bishoftu, a town 40 kilometers southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, tensions ignited at the annual Irreecha festival – an important cultural event that draws millions of people each year.

In the last week, continued protests have resulted in attacks on several foreign companies and on other government installations and properties. The government also cut off mobile internet whiles fixed line service was reportedly erratic.

Ethiopians should be able to criticize their government without fear of arrest, Human Rights Watch said. Security forces should exercise restraint and be held accountable for abuses.

ESAT Daily News DC 11 Oct 2016

Ethiopian Prime Minister, Desalegn Hailemariam has for the first time admitted that the number of deaths from anti-government protests in the country could be more than 500.
Africa News
 
He however reiterated the commitment of the government to probe any excesses on the part of security forces whiles dealing with protesters.
‘‘This government will do everything in its disposal to investigate any unproportional and excessive use of force by our security operators.”
Media in the country had the rare opportunity of asking him about the casualty figures in protests in the Amhara and Oromia regions during a joint press conference in Addis Ababa during the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The prime minister told the media that there were at least 170 deaths in the Oromo region and more than 120 in Amhara but admitted that “when you add it up it could be more than 500”.

According to him, the death toll was not the issue: ‘‘The point is not the number, the point is [that] we should engage with extremist violent groups in a proportionate manner,’‘ he said in justification of the security crackdown.

The African economic rising star has over the last 11 months experienced anti-government protest, that has often turned bloody as protesters clashed with security forces.

Rights groups put the figure of killed protesters at over 500. The latest clash happened two Sundays ago (October 2) when police reportedly fired tear gas to disperse protesters at a Thanksgiving festival – the Irreecha – in the Oromia region.

The Woyane Government owes an apology to the people of Ethiopia – Artist Hailu Tsegaye

For the  last 25 years, Ethiopia has been  ruled  by people of the darkness, the Thieves and the Demons. The TPLF’s  dark era is getting darker recently as it is soon to end once and for all.
TPLF, the minority anti-democratic elite group is exhausting all its tricks to stifle the Ethiopian people struggle for their freedom. The new generation is resisting it fiercely. The regime’s  final  means to survive long and  to dampen the struggle  is  State of Emergency, which it  declared recently. This is further to intensify its brutal suppression  and engage in  killing spree; but this will rather fasten its death.
 
There are palpable lies coming out from its propaganda outlets.  There are numerous pseudo promises emerging  out from the regime’s parliament to calm down the heat it is feeling. TPLF is known for  lying and breaking promises.
 
In 2005 TPLF  begged EU representatives for meditation  with  Kinijit  (CDU ) and  Hibret (UEDF) with a promise anything under the sun is possible. The mediators and the oppositions accepted the offer.   In the next few days, TPLF arrested all the opposition leader of CDU. TPLF presented itself  as wounded Tiger for the next 11 years. It destroyed all press, legitimate opposition parties and non governmental agencies which would contribute in the mass teaching on personal, democratic right and good governance. TPLF used its rubber stamped parliament law to stifle any form of democratic exercise in the country  using its famous Anti-terrorist law/ Proclamations.

This is a lesson the new generation has to take. The phantom promises are just to buy time, then to lead  its brutal regime and darkness. The only guarantee for the  freedom  is to get rid of TPLF.

Ethiopians, TPLF is wounded and it is on death bed gasping for air, it is using emergency oxygen. It is on last oxygen tank.  Even at its bed, it is not willing for peaceful transition and reconciliation. It  is in grandiose and paranoid delusion of  power.  It has no insight of the Ethiopian people sufferings and quest for freedom.

<strong>The Ethiopian people</strong> should continue and intensify the struggle against the TPLF regime. TPLF is on cliff edge. A popular well organised and united push from Ethiopians of different nationalities, faiths, educational status, ability, income, gender and  age  will bring the demise of TPLF.

<strong>The Civil servants:</strong> Rise up, take part in  industrial action and strikes  to fracture TPLF’s spine.

<strong>The Students and Teachers:</strong>  Demand your right and demonstrate for  equal citizenship and opportunity which TPLF denied you  and  gave it for “The special citizen and its supporters”

<strong>The Diplomats</strong>: Give up the TPLF missionaries and join the people. Inform the world the crime  and atrocities of TPLF against Ethiopians.

<strong>The Business people</strong>: Demand for change and fairness in the competition against  TPLF companies which owns more than 70% of nation wealth which  controlled all the playing field.

<strong>The Police: </strong>Rise up against TPLF which  used you as a tool for TPLF to criminalise, arrest and even kill innocent brothers and sisters of your own.

<strong>The Army:</strong> Demand your  role is not to kill your own people but protect Ethiopian territory against invading foreign army. Point your gun against the TPLF generals and senior officers who are “herding” the army for killing against its own people.

<strong>The Religious leaders of all faith</strong>:  Stand up against the TPLF’s disunity, merciless killing, torture and  imprisonment. Stand up for truth!  Stand up for your “lambs”! Denounce the suffering! Stand up  for your God’s given right for your followers.

<strong>The Farmers</strong>: Rise up against TPLF. The TPLF owns all land in Ethiopia. TPLF  sells your land  anytime to highest bidder, to foreigners. On your land, you will be  a slave for the “investor”. Your land is all yours where you labour on and harvest under God’s will. Protect your land from TPLF.

<strong>The Journalists, writers, bloggers, media experts</strong>: Stand up against TPLF which denied your God given rights  to express yourself and the world around.  Stand up  for your people. Stand up for your country which is under  TPLF internal colonization.

<strong>Intellectuals</strong>: Support your fellow citizens in the struggle against TPLF. Provide them the knowhow, the skill, the knowledge, the wisdom to destroy TPLF and build bright future for Ethiopians.

<strong>The Opposition Political parties</strong>: Narrow your differences and  unite against TPLF oppression.   Don’t fragment by TPLF wicked drama. Stand up for your people and country! Guide and direct the oppressed people.

<strong>Ethiopians of all  ethnicity and nationalities</strong>: Rise up  against TPLF as our forefathers done to all invaders!  Mothers are crying, young people are deprived of their future, our country has become land of woes and death.  Rise up against TPLF!

Yes we are in dead dark era of TPLF regime, but the torches launched by the new generation is a beacon to freedom.

After TPLF’s  long dark era, a Freedom Sun is to Rise.

&nbsp;

ESAT Radio 30min Oct 12 2016

MG Africa

The longest mobile Internet service shutdown follows escalating protests which began in November last year, with the Oromo people calling for freedom.

All mobile internet services have been shut down in Ethiopia for the last seven days, amid increasingly violent protest scenes and a recently declared “state of emergency”.

Demonstrations have taken place with regular frequency in Ethiopia’s Oromia region since November 2015, with protesters demanding greater self-rule, freedom and respect for the ethnic identity of the Oromo people, who have experienced systematic marginalisation and persecution over the last quarter century.

Authorities have used deadly force against the protesters on more than one occasion. On October 2 alone, 52 people were killed. The Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), an opposition party, has reported a death toll of nearly 600 people.

While select social media and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp have been shut down sporadically as protests have grown more intense, in Addis Ababa, the capital, this is the longest sustained mobile Internet service shutdown that has taken place since they began.

The sudden silence of the protests on social media has left those tracking the movement over Facebook and Twitter worried.

The mobile Internet blackout is also likely resulting in a decrease in online news about the protests. Activists fear that the protest movement, which has relied on social media both for coordination and for circulating their message to international audiences, will be severed from their primary means of communication. Despite low Internet penetration in Ethiopia, social media is becoming essential – especially for the protest movements in Oromia and Amhara regional states. Newsfeeds from Facebook pages and Twitter feeds from Ethiopia are not showing the same abundance of posts as they were a week ago.

The government has been cutting off connectivity and blocking social media in Oromia and Amhara regions over the past 12 months. In June they blocked social media in the name of preventing exam leaks, but now it is not clear whether the government is switching off all mobile internet services as a precursor to the ongoing protest, or if the measure is intended as a reaction to protests. Those close to the situation fear this may be the beginning of a dangerous new phase after 12 months of protests. – Globalvoices.org

IT IS A SELF-SERVING TACTIC TO PROLONG THEIR OPPRESSIVE RULE OVER THE PEOPLE
 
SMNE Press Release.
 
On October 9, 2016, Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of the TPLF-controlled regime of Ethiopia, declared a state of emergency in Ethiopia, to be put into effect immediately and last for six months.
 
The people of Ethiopia have questions. What is the state of emergency meant to do? The prime minister claimed in a televised address, that the primary reason it was done was for the people. He said, “We put our citizens’ safety first. Besides, we want to put an end to the damage that is being carried out against infrastructure projects, education institutions, health centers, administration and justice buildings.”
 
We in the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) strongly challenge the sincerity of the prime minister’s claim; believing the state of emergency would never have been necessary had this regime put the safety of its citizens first and not so severely violated every human and civil right of the people of Ethiopia.
 
There is righteous anger against evil and deep injustice, the killing of unarmed civilians, the imprisonment of journalists, activists and democratic voices, the closure of any political space, the shut down of the Internet, social media, and mobile phone communication and the wide scale robbery of land, resources and lives. However, we should not become like the one’s we condemn, namely the ethnic apartheid regime of the TPLF/EPRDF. Instead, we call on any who are involved in any violence or destruction of any property to stop; and those who are considering doing so, to not. 

We call for calm, wisdom, patience and restraint. More violence and destruction is not the answer, but could ignite a cycle of bloodshed we would all regret. The destruction of businesses, manufacturing companies, vehicles, equipment, and other infrastructure in a rampage of anger is wrong and it will make recovery all the more difficult.

For example, the sixty or more regime vehicles destroyed in one day do not belong to the TPLF, but to the people of Ethiopia. The businesses may never recover; and in the future, our economy, which is critically important to our future, will be seriously set back. If these businesses were established due to cooperation with the TPLF and the wrongful misappropriation of land and resources; that can and should be settled in a just court of law in the future. Keep in mind: it is easier to destroy than to rebuild.

We in the SMNE challenge PM Hailemariam’s claim to care about the people of Ethiopia. We all know he is the spokesman for the TPLF in a public lie, which has no evidence to support it on the ground. Instead, it is a stalling tactic by an increasingly vulnerable regime that fear the growing push back from Ethiopians who can no longer tolerate the two decades of oppression. Additionally, with the shut down of nearly all means of communication, we fear the TPLF is looking for darkness to cover up plans for a punishing crack down on the people. They hope to stop the protests by crushing dissenters; however, the people of Ethiopia have been living in a state of emergency ever since the TPLF came to power, especially in more recent years.

If you need witnesses, ask the people of Ethiopia, like the Sidamo, the Oromo, the Somali Ethiopian, the Amhara, the Afar, the people of Benishangul-Gumuz, the Harere, the people of Southern Nations, the dissenters from Tigray or the people of Gambella. Then look at documented reports from Genocide Watch, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oakland Institute, Freedom House, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, the US State Department’s Human Rights Report and more recently, the UN.

Ask the political prisoners and thousands of Ethiopians in refugee camps and who have sought asylum in countries all over the world. Ask the tens of thousands displaced from their homes. Ask them whether or not the state of emergency is for the people or for the regrouping of power by the regime. Observe whether a new wave of refugees attempt to enter Europe or other destinations.

PM Hailemariam asserts: “The state of emergency will not breach basic human rights enshrined under the Ethiopian constitution and won’t also affect diplomatic rights listed under the Vienna Convention.”

Really? Since when has the TPLF followed the Ethiopian constitution or upheld international human rights laws? Instead, the TPLF have threatened, intimidated and imprisoned those who publicly point out their flaws and inconsistencies. They have brutally beaten, tortured and killed citizens, especially leaders, who objected to the eviction of people from their homes and land. They have closed everything down that makes a society function in a healthy, free, just and democratic way.

In terms of resources; the TPLF have given everything to themselves; leaving the people with little, but the will to resist. As the TPLF witness the strengthening will of the people, they are panicking. The state of emergency is for themselves. They need stalling time to find a means to prolong their rule. They also will use it as a ruse to convince investors and donors that they are looking out for them; presenting themselves as the protectors of the interests of these investors instead of admitting the problem is of their own making and the result of years of TPLF oppression.

The regime also want to do public damage control due to recent international condemnation of the TPLF killing of nearly two thousand peaceful protestors in the last eleven months in the regions of Oromia, Amhara and beyond. Only a week ago, on October 2, nearly 700 persons who were celebrating the Irreecha thanksgiving festival in Bishopftu, were either killed or so threatened by tear gas, gunfire, helicopters and tanks, that it ignited a deadly stampede as people raced for safety. Many of the casualties are said to be victims of suffocation when bodies fell in ditches, suffocating as others fell on top of each other. Yet, in a typical pattern of lies, this regime claims the number was in the dozens and blames the people.

As a result of closing down communication lines, including the social media, the TPLF are hoping to block efforts of the people to organize peaceful protests as well as to block information from coming out to the world that would make the regime more accountable for their own criminal actions. Under this cloak, the TPLF has been known to incite violence or to even foment killing between ethnicities to achieve various economic, political and control objectives. 

We want to warn the public and international community to exercise caution regarding all information provided originating from the TPLF; particularly, the possible scenario where the TPLF would self-appoint themselves as the necessary peacekeepers so they can claim to be needed. We can see them taking the position that without them, the people would destroy each other and the country will fall into genocide, chaos and disintegration that will affect the whole Horn of Africa. We can also see them claim there is no viable alternative; that the opposition is too divided and that only they, the TPLF, can maintain the stability that will protect the interests of donor countries and other stakeholders. We strongly disagree; instead, prolonging the TPLF is prolonging the suppression of Ethiopians, something that will deepen the opposition to their continued rule.

TPLF options are dwindling and their current hard-nosed actions could create more unity and resolve among the people rather than give the TPLF the return to the former status-quo they seem to want— a false hope on their part. Refusing to listen to the public will lead them to their downfall, just like the previous autocratic regime who refused to come to their senses.

In the past, groups made demands on the TPLF regime, but they did not listen. For example, two years ago, Ethiopian Muslims peacefully protested against regime interference in their religious affairs— a direct violation of the Ethiopian constitution. The TPLF did not want to hear of it; instead, they imprisoned the leaders and only recently released some of them.

In November 2015, the Oromo rose up with a ten-point list of demands. One of these demands was their rejection of the Addis Ababa Master plan that confiscated land in Addis Ababa and displaced 30,000 Ethiopians from their homes. They stopped the plan only after everyone was evicted from their homes and land.

More recently in the Amhara region, the people stood up against a plan to take over indigenous Amhara land and claim it as part of the Tigray region. The Amhara region’s demand was to respect their territorial claim to that land. The TPLF did not listen, once again.

Now, all of these groups have one demand in common and it resonates loudly and strongly with all the people in the country. That demand is for this regime to step down. TPLF autocratic rule has not worked for the majority of the people of Ethiopia; only for the few in power, and it must go. The peoples’ demand is for the establishment of a caretaker government that is inclusive and democratic. 

Until the regime answers to the people, nothing will work, including declaring a state of emergency. It is a bandage and a stalling tactic. It is not a feasible or workable solution.

We in the SMNE call on the TPLF regime to listen to the demands of the people and to not use the state of emergency or the blocks on communication as an opportunity to commit crimes and destruction behind the scenes— and then turn around to blame the people for it. If you do this, you will be held accountable.

Recommendations:

1. To the people of Ethiopia:

We call on the people of Ethiopia to be calm and to absolutely NOT commit crimes against each other or destroy any property, no matter who it belongs to. Do not listen to the regime’s attempts to incite you and your fellow Ethiopians to commit ethnic-based violence or any other kind of violence against others. If you participate in violence and destruction; they will try to use it to defeat you and the rest of us— to justify themselves and to prolong their survival. They want to blame others. We must be better than they are or the people will end up as the losers, along with the victims of violence and destruction. We want a different Ethiopia than that of the past; which means, we must rise to become people who are called to a higher standard of morality. Without such people; we have no New Ethiopia.

2. To the international community, especially the donor countries:

The TPLF regime has lost the confidence of the people and it is time to strongly condemn their actions and; to instead, support the people. We call for your support in our process to establish a transitional government.  Also, we call on you to warn the regime of actions to be taken if they commit more egregious human rights crimes: the freezing of assets, travel restrictions on them and their family members and other similar consequences. We would call on you to pressure the TPLF/EPRDF regime to stop the killing, to release all the political prisoners, to open up all the means of communications, and to accept a process leading to a transitional government.

We believe the interests of donor countries, investors and other stakeholders will be better assured, protected, and preserved by the restoration of justice and the rule of law; upholding contracts and agreements instead of changing them on a whim like the TPLF has done. Additionally, the War on Terror cannot be successful under the TPLF, only exploited, particularly while those appointed and equipped to fight terrorism are terrorizing their own people. A more transparent, accountable and reformed government could improve the outcome.

The freedom of people cannot be denied without some eventual backlash. This is what we are seeing today in Ethiopia. Without caution and a timely response, it may become unmanageable. Others agree with this premise. In a recent article by William Davison, Ethiopia Losing Foreign-Investment Appeal as Attacks Spread, he quotes Jared Jeffrey, a political analyst at NKC Africa Economics, who said by e-mail:

“The issues that need to be resolved are big, and investors will be wary as to whether the current government will be able to address them,” “The longer it takes for the necessary reforms to be made the more fragile the state will become and the higher the risk to investors.”

3. To Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn: 

You need to step out of this. You could play a bigger role. People know you are stuck in a role where you are being exploited. What are you really sacrificing? Is what you are getting out of it of any lasting worth?

It is said you are a Christian, believing in Jesus. What would happen if you sided, not with the TPLF, but with what Jesus taught in Scripture? God hates injustice because He cares about the people.  You could make a big impact if you considered what is at stake, not only for others, but also for yourself.

Think of what Jesus said in Mark 8:36-37 (NIV): “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Will you consider this? You could come out now and say: “I am not willing to lie or cover up for the TPLF.  No longer will I agree to be used by them to exploit and brutalize the people. I will no longer help legitimize something that is so evil and wrong. The TPLF is ruling, but using you to claim that they are inclusive of others when they are not. Tell the truth!

Be on the side of the peoples’ hunger for justice. If you so chose to do so, a caretaker government could be set up to avert the possibility of greater bloodshed and destruction.  It would be a game changer.  Be strong and of good courage; however, if you refuse, God can raise up others.

For this task, we believe you need God’s hand of wisdom, strength, courage, boldness and protection for you and your family. There are surely others among you in leadership among the TPLF Central Committee, among the TPLF, cronies, members of the EPRDF, members of Parliament, regional governors and leaders, members of the judicial system, ministers and their staff, members of the military, security agents, Agazi forces, and many others unmentioned, who need the same, particularly those who are sustaining this regime. There are no winners if Ethiopia crumbles. 

May God help and guide the people of Ethiopia to also acknowledge their own failings and responsibilities so as to boldly take a stand against the destruction of life and property and to choose righteousness, compassion and morality as the way to bring reconciliation, justice and meaningful reforms to Ethiopia.

______________________________________________________________

Please do not hesitate to email me if you have comments to: Obang@solidaritymovement.org

In Summary
Ethiopia declared an emergency on Sunday after six months of anti-government protests, but on Tuesday Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn promised that opposition voices would be heard.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby welcomed this offer from the government “to address some of the grievances raised by protesters.

The United States warned its African ally Ethiopia on Tuesday not to abuse the state of emergency it declared this week to suppress dissent and welcomed talk of political reform.

At a European Parliament subcommittee meeting on human rights and development, Human Rights Watch called on the European Union and international community to take strong action against Ethiopia.

The international community has largely looked the other way when it comes to human rights abuses and limits to the freedom of expression in Ethiopia, according to international human rights groups.

HRW senior researcher Felix Horne says he believes there is an unwillingness to address hard issues with Ethiopia because it has strong relationships with its international allies on development, migration and security.

“The European Union should be taking much stronger action on Ethiopia, should be pushing for an international investigation; it should be pushing for special U.N. investigators to be allowed into the country – 11 of which have outstanding invites,” Horne said. ” And it should be pushing Ethiopia to release all of those arbitrarily detained during the protests.”

Protests for wider political freedoms have been ongoing and led to the Ethiopian government’s recent declaration of a six-month state of emergency for the first time in more than 20 years. Ethiopia is the largest recipient of EU assistance. The European Union adopted a resolution last January condemning violence used by Ethiopian security forces.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, is welcomed by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Oct. 11, 2016.

Merkel visit criticized

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Ethiopia this week. Although she refused to speak at the Ethiopian parliament for its lack of opposition members, she urged the government to open up the political space.

EU Parliament member Ana Gomes led an observer mission during Ethiopia’s contested and bloody 2005 elections. She describes Merkel’s decision to go to Ethiopia as regrettable.

“It was important the message she passed that indeed there must be dialogue and open space for opposition and activists and critics of the government to exist,” Gomes said. ” That is a weak message nevertheless, because of course Germany has tremendous responsibilities in the position of the EU toward Ethiopia.”

People in Ethiopia’s Oromia region started protesting an urban expansion plan last year.

The demonstrations have spread across the country and led to more than 500 deaths, according to rights groups. Ethiopia said this week foreign groups are stoking unrest in an attempt to overthrow the government.

The jig is up for the T-TPLF! Game over!
 
Did the T-TPLF just pull off a publicity stunt by declaring a “state of emergency”?
 
Or was it a big distress signal the T-TPLF sent out, “Save Our Souls/Save Our Ship”?
 
I enjoy  T-TPLF scams, disinformation, hypes and con games.
I really do. I even grudgingly admire them T-TPLF dudes on how they use their weapons of mass distraction. Ain’t they slicker than a can of grease?
The thing I don’t like about them is that they believe they can roll out one scam after another and pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.

The latest T-TPLF scam and con game is “state of emergency” (SoE).

On October 9, 2016, T-TPLF puppet prime minister (PPM) Hailemariam (more appropriately crime minister) declared a “state of emergency”.

Big deal!

With T-TPLF boots one their necks, Ethiopians have been under an undeclared state of emergency for the past 25 years.

For crying out loud! Ethiopia has been in a de facto state of emergency — a police state — for the last 25 years.

When Erin Burnett of CNN visited Ethiopia in July 2012, she described what she saw in stark terms:

We saw what an African police state looked like when I was in Ethiopia last month… At the airport, it took an hour to clear customs – not because of lines, but because of checks and questioning. Officials tried multiple times to take us to government cars so they’d know where we went. They only relented after forcing us to leave hundreds of thousands of dollars of TV gear in the airport…

Now, the T-TPLF wants to make its police state official in a “state of emergency decree”?

I don’t buy any of the T-TPLF’s “state of emergency” rubbish.

But the Western media bought all of the hoopla (more accurately crapola) hook, line and sinker.

On October 9, 2016, the mighty New York Times (and many others including the BBC) headlined its  report, “Ethiopia Declares State of Emergency to Stop Protests.”

No kidding?

Well, I don’t pay much attention to the mindless Western press (I did not say Western parrots) reiterating the official T-TPLF disinformation and passing it on to the world as news.

Call me “curmudgeon” if you like. But my view on much of what passes as journalism today is the same as H.L. Mencken’s who said, “American journalism (like the journalism of any other country) is predominantly paltry and worthless. Its pretensions are enormous, but its achievements are insignificant.” Touche!

The whole “state of emergency” declaration by the T-TPLF sounded to me as though it is the T-TPLF itself that in a state of emergency. It’s more like the T-TPLF is on life support in the ICU.

On October 9, the T-TPLF did not declare a state of emergency for the Ethiopia. It declared an emergency S.O.S. for the “S.S. T-TPLF”.

There is no question about it. The T-TPLF Ship of State is sinking, and sinking fast.

The S.S. T-TPLF has been struck by a tsunami of the Ethiopian peoples’ anger, frustration and outrage.

The S.S. T-TPLF is going DOWN! DOWN! DOWN!  (Did someone say, “Down, down, Woyane!?”)

Flying the “State of Emergency” flag on the “S.S. T-TPLF” is not going to save it.

In a 20-minute television statement, a gaunt, haggard and sallow (I did not say shriveled) PPM flew the “state of emergency flag” and blathered about the reasons for declaring the SoE.

In delivering “his” statement, the PPM looked unsure of himself. His words lacked conviction. He looked robotic reciting some programmed words on a screen. His usual swagger and bluster was completely gone. His body language showed extreme tension, anxiety and stress. He clasped his hands tightly  for the entire 20 minutes. His body posture remained stiff for the entire time; he barely bobbed his head. He seemed almost impaled to the television screen. His facial expression was blank. He seemed to have dry mouth. His eyes flitted but his gaze was fixed on the screen from which he was reading. The pitch, intonation and volume of his voice dissipated into tedious monotony. He sounded to me like the class monitor in high school telling everybody what the teacher said.

Was PPM Hailemariam the messenger boy for someone else sitting in the dark behind the throne?

The PPM in “his” statement repeated himself like a broken record (possibly for emphasis but more likely to captivate his audience and keep them glued to his message since most Ethiopians would naturally walk away in disgust after listening to a few seconds of his drivel). The gist of the PPM’s statement is summarized as follows:

First, anti-peace elements (does that mean terrorists? Does it mean pro-war? If so, why not call them “pro-war?) allied with foreigners have undermined the peace and stability of the people (of Ethiopia);

Second, the regular process of pacifying (suppressing) actions (by anti-peace elements) has proven ineffective and as a result people are dying including foreign citizens and ethnic and sectarian strife is increasing. The only  way to return to peace and stability fast is through the SoE.

Third, Ethiopia is a country where local capitalists and foreign investors have created great wealth  (Could he be referring to T-TPLF crony capitalists?) and many development projects supported by taxes and foreign loans are in place. The (anti-peace elements) are destroying these projects and government offices and have caused economic retaliation (boycotts?) by persuading store keepers to shut down their stores. Unless swift action is taken, these problems will continue.

Fourth, the SoE is constitutional and authorized by Article 93.

Fifth, emphatically,  fundamental human rights will not be violated or trampled under the SoE. Rights secured under the “Vienna Convention” will be protected and observed. A parliamentary oversight body will ensure human rights violations are not caused by the SoE.

Sixth, the governance system needs deep and extensive reforms. There are practices in  (the T-TPLF) regime that reveal democratic deficits, which will be identified (extracted) and corrected. Reforming the “democratic structure” is a big job (for the T-TPLF).  There is a need for legislative oversight of executive branch activities.

Seventh, the (T-TPLF) is ready to engage civic and professional organizations in discussions and dialogue to expand and deepen our democracy. It is vital to make our democracy deep and wide.

Eight, the (T-TPLF) is ready to engage political parties on different agendas and discuss political reform with them.

Ninth, Ethiopia’s development and progress is at extreme peril as a result of the (mass uprisings). The (T-TPLF) pleads with the people not throw out the baby (development)  with the dirty  bathwater (the T-TPLF). We need to correct mistakes very fast.

Tenth, all Ethiopians must come together and fight against an (unidentified) foreign enemy.

The T-TPLF’s dour-faced prosecutor provided a rambling explanation of the SoE reading from what appeared to be talking points.

The T-TPLF prosecutor mantra was “Command Post”. He talked about how the SoE will be implemented by the “Command Post”. He was so cryptic about the “Command Post”, I thought he was talking about the Boogey Man coming after anyone violating the SoE.

The gist of the “prosecutor’s” statement is summarized as follows:

First, the “Command Post” will implement the state of emergency order. (He offered no explanation what the so-called command post is.)

Second, the “Command Post” is responsible for the investigation and apprehension of anyone engaged the following activities and take action:

Suspicion of inciting any kind of chaos, strife, mistrust and misunderstanding among  peoples in public or covertly;

Preparing, writing,  publishing  and disseminating writings, putting on  dramatic shows, using  symbols (such as crossed hands at the wrist over one’s head) or making  any kind of public message and

Engaging in public gathering or assembly.

The “Command Post” has the power to:

Close all communications means (internet and telephone?);

Arrest without a court order anyone suspected of incitement;

Search any home or vehicle and stop and frisk of any person without probable cause or reasonable suspicion.

Impose curfew.

According to the T-TPLF prosecutor, the “command post” has the power to

Require all citizens to obey and cooperate with the SoE.

Impose a sentence of  5 year at hard labor for those found guilty of suspected involvement in the vague . Those who fail to cooperate  get 3 years.

T-TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said the “state of emergency” will last for 6 months.

The SoE is UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Under the T-TPLF constitution a “state of emergency can be declared if authorized by the “council of ministers” (Art. 93(a)). If the House of Peoples’ Representatives is in session, the decree shall be submitted to the House within forty-eight hours of its declaration for approval by “two-thirds majority vote”. (Art. 93, 2(a).) However, “a state of emergency decreed by the Council of Ministers,  if approved by the House of Peoples’ Representatives, can remain in effect up to six months.”

In other words, for the Declaration to be effective for a period of 6 months, it is  mandatory that the “House of Peoples’ Representatives” approve it by at least “two-thirds majority vote”. There is no evidence that the constitutionally required approval has been obtained to implement the SoE declared  by the “Council of Ministers”  for six months.

There is no evidence the so-called House of Peoples’ Representatives (of which all 547 members belong to the T-TPLF party) actually acted, even on a pro forma basis, on the state of emergency declaration. There is no evidence “two-thirds of the House” voted to approve any  declaration of a state of emergency.

By failing to comply with the prescribed constitutional process, the T-TPLF once again trashed its own constitution.

PPM Hailemariam talking about the status of human rights during the SoE said, “In this regard, as set forth in the constitution, there are two things, rights that cannot be violated or trampled or splintered (under the SoE). The first is, as set forth in the constitution, fundamental human rights will be observed without violation under no circumstances. Under the state of emergency, human rights will be given a big focus. I want to make it public that there will be no violation of human rights under the emergency declaration.”

It seems the PPM is totally clueless of what human rights are; or he has no idea what his chief prosecutor is saying about arbitrary arrests, detentions and the rest of it.

Arresting  anyone without probable cause or reasonable suspicion (arbitrary detention) is a violation of human rights. Denial of due process (denial of regular judicial proceedings and a fair trial to suspects) is a violation of human rights.  Searching a person’s home or vehicle or stopping and frisking anyone without probable cause or reasonable suspicion is a violation of human rights. (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 17.)  Blanket censorship is a violation of human rights.

Both the PPM the T-TPLF attorney general made references to certain “human rights” (without explicitly stating them) as completely off-limits under the SoE declaration; but those references are principally  concerned with the use of torture.  The fact of the matter is that the T-TPLF regularly uses torture on detainees under its so-called anti-terrorism act. In its 2013 report, Human Rights Watch stated, “Ethiopian authorities have subjected political detainees to torture and other ill-treatment at the main detention center in Addis Ababa.”

It seems the SoE is not only unconstitutional but also in violation of well-established human rights treaties and convention to which Ethiopia is a part.

Since the SoE is manifestly unconstitutional, could it be deemed a de facto declaration of martial law?

The T-TPLF prosecutor stated the SoE will be implemented by a “Command Post”.

The T-TPLF prosecutor did not say a “civilian command post”.  Did he intentionally omit the word “civilian”  because he wanted to fudge the nature of the “command post”, or thought it is reasonably obvious that it will be  a military command post.

I am puzzled by the T-TPLF prosecutor’s references to “command post” as the enforcement agency for the SoE.

I am aware of two general types of “command posts” in operation in most places in the world. One is an “emergency command post” that oversees operations post-natural disasters or other man-made events of extreme urgency. The other is a military “command post” where a commander and his staff at a particular headquarters operate the command post.

Given the nature of the tasks of the T-TPLF’s SoE “command post”, it is clear to me that the “command post” will be a military one without explicitly stating so.

Supporting the foregoing interpretation are the following factors:

1) The specific tasks delegated to the “Command Post” can be carried out most effectively by a military force unaccountable to any civilian authority.

2) The constitution has been suspended for all intents and purposes.

3) The courts are prohibited from exercising judicial review over the actions of the “Command Post”. Instead, the courts are replaced by a military or quasi-military authority to determine guilt.

3) Those detained by the “Command Post” will not have the right to legal representation, nor the legal capacity to challenge their detention through their lawyers.

4) The “Command Post” has plenary powers. That means absolute power. Such power exists only under martial law and in complete disregard for civilian judicial or political institutions.

Declaration of State of Emergency is common in dictatorships

Most dictatorships at one point or another declare states of emergency.

On May 16, 2005, one day after the parliamentary election, Meles Zenawi declared a state of emergency, outlawed all public gatherings and placed under his direct personal command and control all police, security and military forces, and replaced the capital city police with federal police and special forces.

In the coming weeks, Meles’ forces went on a killing rampage slaughtering nearly 200 innocent protesters and severely wounding nearly 800 others. The unarmed protesters were hunted down and shot in the streets and in their homes simply because they chose to exercise their right to peaceably protest that rigged election.

In its November 2010 report Human Rights Watch reported, “In November 2005, nearly 200 people were killed by security forces in Addis Ababa, and an estimated 30,000 people in Addis Ababa and other towns were arrested and transported to military camps outside of Addis Ababa.”

In July 2016, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency following an alleged coup attempt. According to Reuters, more than 100,000 public officials, including members of the police, civil service and military, have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs in the ensuing crackdown. About 40,000 people have been detained. The Turkish justice minister a couple of weeks ago announced that some 32,000 people have been formally arrested as part of the investigation into the suspected Gulenist network.

Egyptians lived under an Emergency Law (Law No. 162 of 1958) from 1967 to 2012 (Arab Spring). (See my May 2011 commentary, “Africa’s Youth United Can Never be Defeated”.)

In May 2013, Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria declared a state of emergency for the entire northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

Many Latin American and East Asian countries have toyed with states of emergency.

The current T-TPLF declaration of state of emergency is very similar to Apartheid South Africa’s

In 1960, the apartheid for the first time faced widespread revolt throughout South Africa particularly against the pass laws. As the revolt began to spread, the white minority regime was alarmed and threatened by popular revolt.  (See my May 2015 commentary, “Remembering the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa”.)

On March 21, 1960, unarmed black South African went to a police station to peacefully protest.  The police fired on the crowd killing 69 people and injuring 180. Strikes and other labor actions  followed and the apartheid state declared a State of Emergency for the first time. The apartheid regime passed other measures and  banned both the African National Congress and other organizations. Over 25 thousand people were arrested within less than two months of the Declaration. Detainees were held without access to lawyers and family and even placed in solitary confinement.

The T-TPLF declaration in much the same way as the 1960 apartheid state emergency declaration prohibits all protest and demonstrations, authorizes  arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions and extrajudicial actions by any authority of the government.  The T-TPLF declaration also prohibits judicial review and bans all expressive freedoms including speech and assembly.  (See my May 2016 commentary, “The “Law” as State Terrorism in Apartheid Ethiopia”.)

In July 1985, the apartheid white minority regime declared another State of Emergency. The Declaration granted wide powers to police, soldiers and other authorities.  Under the 1985 state of emergency declaration, the police and any other state authority: 1) can search anyone’s (black people) house and take away anything they want; 2) stop any meeting, 3) arrest anyone and keep them in jail for as long as they like; 4) the head of police can stop the newspapers from writing anything about the State of Emergency. 5)  newspapers cannot give the names of people in jail without reporting their names; police have the power to impose curfews; 6) the police cannot be challenged in court, 7) detainees can have any visit, including family visits, only if the police approve, 8) the police can impose solitary confinement for any detainee, 9) a sick detainee does not have a right to medical care.

Following both declarations, the apartheid regime was able to detain not only thousands of political activists within a short time but also minor children and old people suspected of not cooperating.  Ironically, the state of emergency and other repressive measures intensified and expanded the opposition to apartheid, ushering in three decades of resistance and protest in the country and increasing condemnation by world leaders.

That is exactly what the T-TPLF “state of emergency” decree does today!!!

The T-TPLF declaration of “state of emergency” is a publicity stunt: Here is the evidence

Using its so-called anti-terrorism law (Proclamation No. 652/2009),  the T-TPLF has been doing everything it says it wants to do under the declaration of state of emergency.

There are two differences. First, in the SoE  the targets are “anti-peace elements”. In the “antiterrorsim law”, the the targets are “terrorists”. Second, terrorism suspects at least get kangaroo (monkey) court trials. Anti-peace elements do not.

Section (5) of  the T-TPLF anti-terrorism proclamation condemns as “terrorist” anyone who “provides a skill, expertise or moral support or gives advice… makes available any property in any manner… monetary, financial or other related services … provides any training or instruction or directive”. Section (6) criminalizes as a terrorist act publication of “a statement that is likely to be understood by some or all of the members of the public as a direct or indirect encouragement… of an act of terrorism…” Section (7) criminalizes the “recruitment” of any person “for the purpose of a terrorist organization or committing a terrorist act.”

The T-TPLF anti-terrorism proclamation authorizes warrantless searches and seizure. Section (14) allows warrantless “interception and surveillance on the telephone, fax, radio, internet, electronic, postal and similar communications of a person suspected of terrorism”, “enter into any premise in secret to enforce the interception” or “install or remove instruments enabling the interception.”  It further allows any “police officer who has reasonable suspicion that a terrorist act may be committed and deems it necessary to make a sudden search…, stop vehicle and pedestrian in an area and conduct sudden search at any time, and seize relevant evidences.”

Section (19) of the T-TPLF Proclamation authorizes any police officer to “arrest without court warrant any person whom he reasonably suspects of terrorism.” Section (20) allows the court to grant endless continuances and postponements so that the police/prosecutor “for sufficient period to complete the investigation.” Section (23) allows the admission of unverified intelligence reports, hearsay or indirect surveillance evidence including those gathered by “foreign law enforcement bodies” and “confessions of suspects, including coerced confessions. Section (25) authorizes the “House of Peoples’ Representatives” the power to list and de-list an organization as terrorist organization. Section (37) allows the “Council of Ministers” to issue “regulations necessary for the implementation of this proclamation.

Under the ambiguous, vague, sweeping and overbroad language of the T-TPLF proclamation, any act, speech, statement, and even thought, could be punished. Anyone the T-TPLF prosecutor/police believe or make-believe is engaged in “advancing a political, religious or ideological cause” and intending to “influence the government”, “intimidate the public”, “destabilize or destroy the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social institutions of the country” could be condemned to long imprisonment or suffer the death penalty. The T-TPLF police and prosecutors could charge anyone they wanted without so much as a scintilla of evidence of wrongdoing. Making or publishing statements “likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts” is a punishable offense. Anyone alleged to have provided “moral support or advice” or has had any contact with an individual accused of a terrorist act is presumed to be a terrorist supporter.

Under the T-TPLF proclamation, anyone who “writes, edits, prints, publishes, publicizes, disseminates, shows, makes to be heard any promotional statements encouraging, supporting or advancing terrorist acts” is deemed a “terrorist”. Peaceful protesters who carry banners critical of the regime could be charged for “promotional statements encouraging” terrorist acts. Anyone who “disrupts any public service” is considered a “terrorist” (Section 3); and workers who may legitimately grieve working conditions by work stoppages could be charged with “terrorism” for disruption.

Under the T-TPLF Proclamation, a person who “fails to immediately inform or give information or evidence to the police” on a neighbor, co-worker or others s/he may suspect of “terrorism” could face up to 10 years for failure to report. Two or more persons who have contact with a “terror” suspect could be charged with conspiracy to commit “terrorism”.

The procedural due process rights (fair trial) of suspects and the accused guaranteed under the T-TPLF constitution and international human rights conventions are ignored, evaded, overlooked and disregarded by the proclamation.  “The police may arrest without court warrant any person whom he reasonably suspects to have committed or is committing a terrorism” and hold that person in incommunicado detention. The police can engage in random and “sudden search and seizure” of the person, place or personal effects of anyone suspected of “terrorism”. The police can “intercept, install or conduct surveillance on the telephone, fax, radio, internet, electronic, postal, and similar communications” of a person suspected of terrorism. The police can order “any government institution, official, bank, or a private organization or an individual” to turn over documents, evidence and information on a “terror” suspect.

A “terror” suspect can be held in custody without charge for up to “28 days” with unlimited renewals. Any “evidence” presented by the regime’s prosecutor against a “terror” suspect in “court” is admissible, including “confessions” (extracted by torture), “hearsay”, “indirect, digital and electronic evidences” and “intelligence reports even if the report does not disclose the source or the method it was gathered (including evidence obtained by torture). The “law” presumes the “terror” suspect to be guilty and puts the burden of proof on the suspect/defendant in violation of the universal principle that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.  Any evidence including involuntary confessions and hearsay could be used in court as evidence. The T-TPLF proclamation bars habeas review or pretrial judicial intervention even to adjudicate detainee allegations of abuse and torture.

In the police state Ethiopia has become, opposition political and civic leaders and dissidents are kept under 24/7 surveillance, and the ordinary people they meet in the street are intimidated, harassed and persecuted. The climate of fear that permeates every aspect of urban and rural society is reinforced and maintained by a structure of repression that is vertically integrated from the very top to the local (kebele) level making impossible dissent or peaceful opposition political activity. As former president under the T-TPLF and currently an opposition leader Dr. Negasso Gidada hasdocumented, the structure of state terrorism in Ethiopia is so horrific one can only find parallels for it in Stalin-era Soviet Union. According to Negasso, “The police and security offices and personnel collect information on each household through other means. One of these methods involves the use of organizations or structures called “shane”, which in Oromo means “the five”.   THE T-TPLF STATE OF EMERGENCY DECREE IS A PUBLICITY STUNT!!!

The State of Emergency declaration is another T-TPLF disinformation con job

The T-TPLF state of emergency decree is another disinformation campaign. The T-TPLF hopes to achieve three objectives.

First, The T-TPLF hopes the SoE will create a Fear Factor in the population at large. When people are being massacred by the thousands, they fear nothing. The people of Ethiopia have reached a defining Shakespearean moment: “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”

Second, the T-TPLF hopes to steal the headlines from the Irreecha Massacre. The T-TPLF hopes to change the subject from the Irreecha Massacre to their silly emergency declaration. To a limited extent, they have succeeded in this at least in the Diaspora Ethiopia. As I scour social media and the websites, the talk seems to have changed from the Irreecha Massacre to the emergency declaration.

Third, the T-TPLF hopes its declaration will be a game changer. They hope the people of Ethiopia and the Western donors, loaners and international poverty pimps will use the declaration as a basis for some sort of a negotiated settlement. The fact of the matter is that the declaration is not a game changer; it is just a T-TPLF game of disinformation. It is nothing more than  a T-TPLF publicity stunt.

Fourth, the T-TPLF hopes the declaration will help it regain the illusion of invincibility it had created over the past 25 years. In practical terms what the T-TPLF is saying with its declaration of a state of emergency is that they can massacre, kill, jail, persecute, prosecute their way back to business as usual. It ain’t happening!

Reality check: Is it not true that the T-TPLF has been massacring, jailing, killing, persecuting and prosecuting anyone they pleased over the past 25 years? What else is new? Has any T-TPLF official ever been brought to justice in the last 25 years for crimes against humanity?

Fifth, the T-TPLF wants to send the message to its loaners and donors that it is still in control of the country.  The declaration gives T-TPLF leaders the opportunity to publicly claim that they have the military and civil administrative capacity to enforce their  political will. The fact is the T-TPLF’s administrative offices in the rural areas are going up in smoke and the T-TPLF lackeys are abandoning their posts and joining the people  or just beating feet. The fact is that the T-TPLF administrative structure has disintegrated completely except perhaps in the capital and its own stronghold.

Sixth, the T-TPLF aims to scare the people that it can jail everyone it does not like. How much prison capacity does the T-TPLF have left to add more prisoners and detainees?  I guess it could be limitless since the T-TPLF is burning its prisons to reduce overcrowding by claiming the inmates died from a “stampede” . There have been at least 3 major fires in T-TPLF prisons over the past three years with hundred burned to death.

I believe the T-TPLF state of emergency declaration is a form of psychological warfare being waged on the people. It is the T-TPLF’s last ditch effort to inspire fear in the population and suppressing the uprising that is spreading like wildfire.

But it is an empty threat. There is nothing more the T-TPLF can do with its emergency declaration that it has not been able to do over the last 25 years.But they still believe  they can outsmart and outfox the people and get them back in the state of fear through a state of emergency.

Still the T-TPLF hope against hope that the silly declaration will crush the peoples’ spirit, erode the peoples’ will to resist, disrupt their networks, confuse their thinking process and destroy their will to fight and resist. They hope to be able to destroy the morale of the popular resistance. They hope to create  dissension among the opposition, ultimately leading to a surrender.

Sorry, T-TPLF. Those days are over!

The real reason for the state of emergency: T-TPLF is crying out, “Save Our Souls”, Save our Ship (of State)

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. What’s all this state of emergency crap about?

Just one thing. The T-TPLF is trying to get its behind out of the ringer in an “honorable” way. The PPM spent nearly half of his speech pleading for another chance. Pleeese, pleeese Ethiopian people, give us one more chance to get it right….

The WHOLE purpose of the state of emergency declaration is to get the people’s attention so that the T-TPLF can get down on its knees and beg for one more chance to do it right.

This is what the PPM said:

In this regard, as set forth in the constitution, our aim is to continue the work started by the people and the government . Our government’s system of governance needs to be renewed (rehabilitated). We have started a competent mobilization process. We will reshape our (administration) from top to bottom and address the questions raised by the people and their complaints about the services the government should give them. This is one of our biggest goals. Second, the governance process must be rehabilitated. We have to do deep reforms. In so doing, we will extract those things that are democratic deficits and correct them. Reforming our democratic structure is another one of the big jobs we have to do. That means increasing executive accountability to the legislature. It is also necessary to engage civic and professional organizations in discussion with the government and widen our democracy. Also to broaden and deepen our democracy, it is very necessary to engage the legal parties in discussion with the government on various agendas…

The people of Ethiopia have spoken: DOWN, DOWN, WOYANE!

Post Script: What I do not understand about the T-TPLF is this: When 20 million people were facing famine and starvation, they did not declare a state of emergency. When they “won” one hundred percent of the seats in their rubber stamp parliament and stole the peoples voices, they did not declare a state of emergency. When the hundreds of people in Gambella were massacred, and tens of thousands forcibly removed from their land so foreign investors could take it,  they did not declare a state of emergency. When the people of the Ogaden were subjected to genocide, they did not declare a state of emergency.

But when a few pieces of property belonging to foreign investors and their own cronies and supporters are destroyed, the declare a state of emergency.

The SoE is ultimately about T-TPLF clinging to power and ensuring the economic dominance its partners and supporters.