Andenat Ethiopia

Friday, January 5, 2018

Ethiopia govt’s political turnaround has many unanswered questions – HRW

nternational rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the Ethiopian government has to immediately give clarifications to a bold political announcement made on earlier this week.

According to HRW, whiles the decision to release ‘political prisoners’ and to close down a notorious prison facility, the Maekelawi detention center, is welcome news, there was the need for core clarifications and on timelines on execution of the reforms.

The views were contained in a press release titled ‘Ethiopia to Free Political Prisoners, Close Prison – Important Steps, But More Rights Reforms Needed,’ issued by the group’s Senior Researcher in the Horn of Africa, Felix Horne.

“While the government did not say how and when (the release and closure) will occur, doing so would be an important step towards ending longstanding political repression and human rights abuse in the country.

“Numerous questions remain regarding timelines for implementation, who qualifies as a ‘political prisoner,’ and how many detainees will be freed,” the statement said.

HRW asked if leading opposition figures – specifically mentioning Bekele Gerba, will be released along with thousand other protesters held across facilities in the country.

“What, if any, conditions will be placed on those released,” the stated quizzed.

Horne said the motives behind the current move remained unclear but that international partners should pile pressure on Ethiopia to make concrete commitments to the announcement of January 3, 2018.

On the Maekelawi center closure, he recalled how a HRW report years back had brought to light issues of torture and mistreatment of detainees held there.

“While Maekelawi’s announced closure is good news, it will mean nothing if prisoners are simply relocated to another facility to face the same abuses,” he added.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

"የራሱን ህዝብ የሚያሸብር መንግስት ከአሜሪካ ጎን ሆኖ የዓለም ሽብርተኛነት የሚዋጋ አይሆንም"

"የራሱን ህዝብ የሚያሸብር መንግስት ከአሜሪካ ጎን ሆኖ የዓለም ሽብርተኛነት የሚዋጋ አይሆንም" ሪፑብሊካዊው ማይክ ካፍማን ፤የኮ፤ኦራዶ ስቴት ተወካይ በአሜሪካ ምክር ቤት።
ዳያስፖራው በኢትዮጵያ ያለውን የሰባዊ ምብት ጥሰት ያጋልጣል።ይታገላል።ህወሃት እና ደጋፊዎች እርር ድብን ብትሉም የሚቆም ሂደት አይደለም።የወገን የአገር ጉዳይ ነው።እስረኞችን ፍቱ! መግደል አቁሙ!የዘር ግጭት አትቆስቁሱ! ሰው ክብር እንዳለው የዜግነት መብትም እዳለው እወቁ! የሚሻላችሁ ይህ ነው። እንድታውቁ የሚያደርጋችሁ ሀይል አፍጥጦ እየመጣባችሁ ነው! ህወሃቶች ጊዜውን ተጠቀሙበት።አመራሮቻችሁ ገደል እየሰደዷችሁ ነው። እነሱ ገንዘባቸው ወጥቷል ሸሽተው ይሄዳሉ።እናንተ ተጋፍጣችሁ ከምትቀሩ ዛሬ ከህዝብ ወግናችሁ መሪዎቻችሁን አጋፍቷቸው!

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

በተቀነባብረ ሁኔታ በጅምላ እየተገደለ ስላለው ህዝባችን

በተቀነባብረ ሁኔታ በጅምላ እየተገደለ ስላለው ህዝባችን ለፓርላማ ቀርቦ ማብራራያ እንዲሰጥ ተይጠይቆ መቅረብ ያልቻለው ልፍስፍስ ጠቅላይ ሚንስትር እና ግብረ አበሮቹ የሁለቱን የህዝቦች መቀራረብ ያደፈሪሳል ብለው ያሰቡትን አጃንዳ ለማጦዝ እየተፍጨረጨሩ ይገኛሉ።

ይህንን የመንግስት መሰሪነት ከማለት ሌላ ምንም ልባል አይችልም። አሁን ያለውን አንገብጋቢ ጉዳይ ትቶ የነሱ ወጥመድ ውስጥ የሚገባ ካለ መቼም የፖለቲካ መሃይም ብቻ ነው። ለሁሉም አጀንዳ ጊዜ አለው።

ትኩረታችንን በጊዜው ዋና ጉዳይ ላይ ብቻ እናድርግ።

TPLF is getting naive this time.

TPLF is getting naive this time. It is using the issue of Finfinnee as a last card to play game against Oromara co-operation. Well, TPLF should know the co-existences of the two big nations Oromo and Amhara is beyond Finfinnee and even much bigger than Oromia and Amhara regions. The co-operation between these two communities is about re-inventing Ethiopia as a a prosperous and democratic country for all of its citizens.

EPRDF SAYS MISTRUST AND SUSPICION RIFE WITHIN PARTY; CURRENT CRISIS DUE TO WEAKNESS OF THE EXECUTIVE

A statement released from Ethiopia’s ruling party EPRDF ongoing executive committee meeting admitted that the party was facing a gradual & widening “mistrust” & “suspicion” among the four major parties that make up the EPRDF.

The statement further said that although the executive recognizes the reform it has taken in the last two years as encouraging, it admits that it was insufficient and reached at a consensus that the incomplete journey to reform has forced the party to start “sinking” together.

It also said the party has accepted that the recent violence in different parts of the country that claimed the lives of hundreds and left close to 700, 000 Ethiopians internally displaced, bringing the country to a brink of security crisis, was due to the “weakness of the executive” and that the contribution of this weakness was “significant” in the current crisis that plagued the country.

A consensus was also reached among the members of the executive committee that although there were blames to be shared among the different hierarchies of the ruling party, the executive takes the lion’s share of blame for having gradually lost the public’s trust, focusing instead on “internal bickering”.

The statement affirms that a consensus was reached among the executive on future guideline to resolve the current crisis facing the country as a unified front and to “work hard together” to respond to the public’s demand for peace & democracy and to safeguard the federal arrangement of the country, which is under threat due to the recent crisis.

The executive meeting will go on discussing all these pressing issues and will bring its gathering to a “victorious end”, the statement claimed, adding the results of the meeting will be made public subsequently. AS

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Political Uncertainty as Protests Spread in Ethiopia

At least 15 people were killed on December 11, 2017, when members of the Ethiopian Defense Force fired on peaceful protesters. The demonstration was prompted by the killing of an individual by members of security forces of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, in the latest chapter of a longstanding border dispute between Ethiopia’s two largest states — Oromia and Ethiopian Somali in Eastern Ethiopia.

According to reports from local authorities, one person died after being transferred to the hospital following the attack, and more than 12 were injured in the violence which began in Chelenko, a district town in eastern Oromia:

Reports on social media said that members of the Ethiopian Defense Force fired live bullets on peaceful demonstrators. The Ethiopian government has released a belated statement on the incident, but in an unusual move, the party governing Oromia — the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), a member of Ethiopia's governing coalition, the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) — released a strong statement accusing members of the Ethiopian Defense Force of violating the Ethiopian Constitution and vowing to investigate the killing of peaceful protesters:

Some suggested that the statement is merely a symbolic initiative. Others considered it as a signal of the power struggle raging within the multi-ethnic governing coalition, the EPRDF, which comprises four ethnic-based parties: the Tigrayan People Liberation Front (TPLF), the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM):

The power struggle involving the four EPRDF parties has been simmering since last summer. The row between the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO) and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), was exposed when Abdula, the speaker of the Ethiopian Parliament and a prominent member of the OPDO, resigned from his position in October:

Power is heavily concentrated among members of the TPLF. However, there is some fear that if the OPDO continues down this road, it will be looking to defend itself using weapons, which could plunge Ethiopia into a civil war that will make the current conflict seem like just fisticuffs:

Despite the fact that the Oromo and Somali people who live along the border of Oromia and the Ethiopian Somali regions share close familial, religious and cultural ties, tensions are high along most of the disputed 1,000 km border. A brutal crackdown on the Oromo community living in Ethiopia’s Somali region has triggered a massive humanitarian catastrophe in eastern Ethiopia. By now, roughly 50,000 Oromos have fled into Ethiopia’s historical town, Harar, since last August.

Protests raged elsewhere in Ethiopia as well. A clash between followers of two football clubs from Ethiopia's northern states, Amhara and Tigray, led to the death of a football fan from Tigray, which in turn caused episodes of violence in three universities located in the Amhara, Oromia and Tigray regional states. Last week saw one particularly violent night at Adigrat University (situated in the Tigray region), where a student from the Amhara region was killed. Gruesome images of the victim subsequently went viral on social media:

In what appears to be reprisals, two students from Tigray were reportedly killed at Welega University, located in the Oromia region. The number of incidents and casualties, as well as the number of people involved and the ethnic tone of the conflict over the past few days, has raised the prospect of even greater violence in Ethiopia, according to analysts. The Ethiopian government grudgingly characterizes the recent unrest as ethnic conflict, but also points the finger at diaspora-based activists and social media. However, opposition groups argue that Tigrayan politicians instigatedthe violence as a tool to maintain the status quo:

15 Dec

Addis Standard@addisstandard

Replying to @addisstandard

He also said that the national security council will be investigating the killings and "appropriate measures will be taken." The public should also not reflect on such incidents emotionally. He added that legal measures will be taken based on the findings of the security council pic.twitter.com/TuYYYJ3xvJ

Addis Standard@addisstandard

Commenting on the recent clashes inside univ. campuses he said they were different from previous demands of univ students that were attended to by the gov. The recent clashes have taken a clear ethnic dynamics & have resulted in the killings of students, Dr. Negeri further said. pic.twitter.com/GCtAeQiNJs

6:31 PM - Dec 15, 2017

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On December 13, mobile internet services and social media services were cut off in most parts of the country in an attempt to avert the deepening crisis.