U.S. Deeply Concerned by Sentence of Ethiopian Journalist

Press Statement
Jen Psaki
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
October 30, 2014

The United States is deeply concerned by the October 27 sentencing of Ethiopian journalist Temesgen Desalegn to three years in prison for “provocation and dissemination of inaccurate information.” Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are fundamental elements of a democratic society, and the promotion and protection of these rights and freedoms are basic responsibilities of democratic governments.

As President Obama stated during his meeting in September with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam, it is important that Ethiopia’s progress and positive example on economic development and regional conflict resolution extends to civil society as well. We urge Ethiopia to make similar progress with regard to respect for press freedom and the free flow of ideas and reiterate our call for the Ethiopian government to release journalists imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

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አንድነት በፖለቲካ እስረኞች ላይ እየተፈጸመ ያለውን ኢ-ሰብአዊ ድርጊት አወገዘ

• ‹‹ማዕከላዊ የታሰሩት የፓርቲው አመራሮች መጸዳጃ ቤት ተከልክለዋል››

አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ (አንድነት) ጥቅምት 20/2007 ዓ.ም በጽ/ቤቱ በሰጠው ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ በፖለቲካ እስረኞች ላይ እየተፈጸመ ያለውን ኢ-ሰአብአዊ ድርጊት አወገዘ፡፡ ‹‹የኢህአዴግ አገዛዝ ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ ሰብአዊ መብት በመጣስና ዜጎችን በማሰቃየት ወደር የሌለው ሆኗል›› ያለው መግለጫው፣ ስርዓቱ ለስልጣኑ ያሰጉኛል ያላቸውን የፖለቲካ አመራሮች፣ ጦማሪያንና ጋዜጠኞችን ህገ-ወጥ በሆነ መንገድ ክስ በመመስረት ማሰሩ ሳያንስ እነዚህን ዜጎች ሰብአዊ ክብራቸውን በመድፈር ኢ-ሰብአዊ ድርጊት እየፈጸመ ይገኛል ብሏል፡፡

መግለጫው አክሎም የፓርቲው የህዝብ ግንኙነት አቶ ሀብታሙ አያሌውና ም/ድርጅት ጉዳይ ኃላፊው አቶ ዳንኤል ሺበሺ በማዕከላዊ እስር ቤት አንድ ሰው ይፈጽመዋል ተብሎ የማይጠበቅ ኢሰብአዊ ድርጊት እየተፈጸመባቸው ነው ሲል ስርዓቱን ወቅሷል፡፡

‹‹ሀብታሙ አያሌው ለአንድ ሳምንት የታሰረበት ክፍል ውስጥ እንዲጸዳዳ በማድረግና ለሶስት ቀን ጨለማ ክፍል ውስጥ በማሰር የበቀል በትራቸውን እያሳረፉበት እንደሆነ አውቀናል፡፡ ....አቶ ዳንኤል ሺበሺ ከከፍተኛ ዛቻና ስድብ በተጨማሪ የታፈነ ክፍል ውስጥ እንዲቀመጥ በመደረጉ ለተቅማጥና ለሌሎች በሽታዎች መዳረጉ፣ ወደ መጸዳጃ ቤት እንዳይሄድ›› መከልከሉን በመግለጽ ማዕከላዊ ታስረው የሚገኙ የአንድነት አመራሮች እየደረሰባቸው ያለውን በደል አስረድቷል፡፡

አዲሱ የአንድነት ፕሬዝዳንት አቶ በላይ ፍቃዱ ይህ በእስረኞቹ ላይ እየተወሰደ ያለው እርምጃ በጥላቻ የሚፈጸምና ትውልዱ ሊወርሰው የማይገባ ነው ብለዋል፡፡ ‹‹ይህን የበደል ዘመን ለማሳጠር እንዲቻል ህዝቡ በቁጭት ለለውጥ እንዲነሳ›› ሲልም ፓርቲው ጥሪ አቅርቧል፡፡

Thousands of Ethiopians tortured by brutal government security forces... while Britain hands over almost £1 BILLION in aid money

• .Amnesty International says 5,000 people tortured, raped and 'disappeared'
• .Over the last three years the UK Government has given Ethiopia £1 billion
• .It pocketed £261.5 million in 2012 and £284.4 million in 2013

By VANESSA ALLEN 

Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Dessalegn, has rejected accusations that his government tortures its own people

More than £1billion from taxpayers was given in aid to Ethiopia while its security forces tortured, killed and raped, campaigners claimed yesterday.

Amnesty International has documented thousands of shockingly brutal abuses against citizens suspected of political opposition.

The human rights group’s report follows calls for greater scrutiny by Britain and other donors to ensure their money does not support state-sanctioned killings and brutality.

Amnesty warned that thousands have faced repeated torture while unlawful state killings have been carried out in a ‘relentless crackdown on real or imagined dissent’.

Horrors inflicted on ordinary Ethiopians include women being gang-raped and tortured by prison guards. Amnesty’s report also tells how a teacher was stabbed in the eye with a bayonet after refusing to teach pro-government propaganda to his students.

Entire families were arrested with parents and siblings ‘disappearing’ after they were taken to army camps, said Amnesty.

Britain has donated more than £1billion to Ethiopia in the last five years alone. The Government has denied funding security forces in the autocratic one-party state.

But Britain’s relationship with the East African country is likely to come under scrutiny in a judicial review into claims made by a Ethiopian farmer.

He has been given legal aid in this country to pursue allegations that UK aid supported the regime while it forced thousands of villagers like him from their land using murder, torture and rape.

Ethiopia remains one of the world’s poorest countries following decades of drought and famine, suffering highlighted by the 1984 Band Aid fundraising appeal.

The West has been accused of turning a blind eye to human rights abuse and effectively propping up the regime because of its support for the so-called war on terror.

Ethiopia has given support to combat radical groups such as Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa and Al Shabaab in neighbouring Somalia. Last year, an independent analysis accused countries giving aid of not stopping the hardline Addis Ababa regime from abusing its citizens.

It said donors had ‘failed to take decisive action to prevent policies that deny the basic human rights of some of the poorest and most marginalised people of Ethiopia’.

The US report went on: ‘Donor organisations have failed to hold the Ethiopian government to standards of human and political rights, a neglect principally illustrated by the accounts of the forced relocations of entire communities in the name of development.

It should be no surprise that unchecked assistance to a hegemonic political party gets diverted to efforts to maintain political control,’ it added.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening is under pressure to investigate allegations that major recipients of British aid are guilty of torture state-sanctioned murder

The Oakland Institute, of California, added that the Department for International Development was the third biggest donor to the country after the US and the World Bank.

Questions have been raised over the value of some of the projects funded by the DfID in Ethiopia.

Last year, the Daily Mail told how £4million of taxpayers’ money paid for an Ethiopian version of the Spice Girls to spread a message of empowerment to women.

The DfID denies that aid money is used to force people from their homes or to fund security forces.

A spokesman said Britain gave £261.5million to Ethiopia last year. This was used to provide clean drinking water for more than 250,000 people, send 1.6million children to primary school and ensure 110,000 mothers gave birth safely.

‘Not a penny goes to Ethiopia’s police or security sector,’ he said. ‘We work with independent agencies like Unicef to make the security and justice sector fairer and more accountable, eg helping women and girls get better access to justice.

‘The UK provides targeted funding for health, education and sanitation, not to the central Ethiopian treasury. We have robust legal and accounting checks to ensure UK aid is spent where it is intended.

‘We regularly raise human rights with the relevant authorities, including at the highest level of the government.’

A spokesman for the regime ‘categorically denied’ Amnesty International’s claims. Redwan Hussein also accused the campaigners of being ‘hellbent on tarnishing Ethiopia’s image again and again’.

'They put hot coals on us. We screamed as our clothes melted' 

Harrowing accounts of rape and brutality were highlighted by Amnesty International.

In one case, three teenage girls arrested with their parents were tortured with hot coals by soldiers at a military camp where they were held for years.

One sister, named only as Nooria, said the soldiers came to her family’s home when she was 14 or 15, after her father was arrested on suspicion of political dissent.

She said she was interrogated and beaten, and still carried horrific physical scars from when she and her sisters were burned.

‘Two soldiers did this to me. They came into the room, tied up our hands and made us lie down on our backs. They put hot coals on my stomach. They didn’t just burn me; they also burned my two sisters.

‘Our clothes melted on us. We screamed but the soldiers didn’t care, they’re accustomed to screaming.’

Nooria was later released with one of her sisters but has not seen her parents or eldest sister since.

Other detainees told the campaigners how molten plastic was poured onto their legs. There were also shocking accounts of captors cutting off the ears and fingers of prisoners.

A 33-year-old woman told Amnesty she was detained without charge for nine months in a military camp.

‘I was thoroughly beaten,’ she said. ‘I cried for help saying that I was not guilty and should not be killed.

‘One night, three men came to my cell and said that I was being taken for interrogating but they just took me to a room and raped me.

‘After that, they just threw me back into the cell. I was not the only one –they would do the same to the other women there.’

A second woman said: ‘I was raped by three men – one after the other. I remember them very clearly and can identify them. Rape happened several times. This was not unique to me, the other women in the cell had the same experience.’

A midwife said he was beaten and punished after delivering the baby of the wife of a member of the banned Oromo Liberation Front.

A university student told how he was arrested at gunpoint after winning a competition to produce a business plan because security forces said it was political.

The student was beaten, starved and endured months of interrogation, including a mock execution.

Source: dailymail

አዲስ አበባ ውስጥ ሌሊት የሚለጠፉ ወረቀቶችን ተከትሎ ውጥረት ነግሷል

• ‹‹መውጫና መግቢያ ሰዓታችሁ መመዝገብ ይጀመራል ተብለናል›› ነዋሪዎቹ

ከትናንት በስቲያ በጨርቆስ አካባቢ አንድ ሰው በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ተገድሎ መገኘቱን እና ሌሊት ላይ በቦሌ አካባቢ የተለያዩ የመብት ጥያቄዎችን የሚያስተጋቡ ወረቀቶች በየግድግዳውና የኤሌክትሪክ ፖሉ ላይ ተለጥፈው መገኘታቸውን ተከትሎ በከተማዋ ውጥረት መንገሱን የነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ምንጮች ገልጸዋል፡፡

‹‹አንድ የጨርቆስ አካባቢ ነዋሪ ተገድሎ መገኘቱን ተከትሎ ‹የጨርቆስ ወጣቶች› ተሰባስበው ይህን ድርጊት ይፈጽሙ ይሆናል ብለው በገመቱት ላይ ቁጣቸውን ገልጸው ነበር፡፡ በተለምዶ ካታንጋ ወደሚባል ስፍራ ሄደው ገዳዩን አውጡ ብለዋል፡፡ መኪኖችን ሰባብረዋል፡፡ ካታንጋ ምንም ፍንጭ ሲያጡ ወደ ፊላሚንጎ አምርተዋል፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ ፖሊስ የተወሰኑትን ይዟል፤ ያመለጡም አሉ፡፡ እስካሁንም ውጥረቱ አለ›› ስትል አንዲት የአካባቢው ነዋሪ ለነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ተናግራለች፡፡

ቀደም ብሎ ተለጥፎ በተገኘው ወረቀትና በሟቹ ምክንያትም ፖሊስና የኢህአዴግ ካድሬዎች የተለያዩ ጫናዎችን በነዋሪዎች ላይ ማሳደር መጀመራቸው ታውቋል፡፡ ‹‹ለስድስት ወራት ችላ ብለውት የነበረው የአንድ ለአምስት አደረጃጀት ስብሰባ አሁን እንደገና ጀምረውታል፡፡ አደረጃጀቱ ስራውን ካቆመና ስብሰባ ካደረግን 6 ወራት አልፈውት ነበር፡፡ ከትላንት ጀምሮ ግን በግዳጅ ጀምረውታል›› ሲሉ ምንጮች አስታውቀዋል፡፡

ምንጮች አክለው እንዳስታወቁት ነዋሪዎችን ፖሊስና ካድሬዎች በስብሰባ በመያዝ የተለያዩ የማሳመኛ ሰበቦችን እንደሚያነሱ ተገልጾአል፡፡ ‹‹ምርጫ ደርሷልና አብረን እንስራ፡፡ 97 የሆነውን ታውቃላችሁ፡፡ ያ እንዲሆን አንፈልግም፡፡ ስለሆነም ሙሉ ሌሊቱን በራችሁ ላይ መብራት ማብራት አለባችሁ፤ የተከራይ መታወቂያ ማየት አለባችሁ፡፡ እያንዳንዷን መረጃ ለፖሊስና ለአንድ ለአምስት አደረጃጀቱ ማቀበል አለባችሁ›› እንዳሏቸውም ለነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ገልጸዋል፡፡

በየስብሰባዎቹ በአብዛኛው የሚገኙት ሴቶች መሆናቸው የተገለጸ ሲሆን፣ ነዋሪዎች በግዳጅ በተፈጠሩት የአንድ ለአምስቱ አደረጃጀቶች መሪ ለመሆን የሚፈልግ አለመኖሩንም ምንጮች ተናግረዋል፡፡

‹‹እያንዳንዱ ሰው የሚወጣ የሚገባበትን ሰዓት መመዝገብ ይጀመራል ተብለናል›› የሚሉት ነዋሪዎቹ፣ ‹‹አከራዮች ተከራዮቻችሁ የሚገቡበትን ሰዓት ገደብ ማስቀመጥ አለባችሁ፤ የበር መብራቱንም ማጥፋት ክልክል ነው፡፡ ሌሊቱን ሙሉ መብራት ያላበራ ይቀጣል፤ ፍርድ ቤት ሁሉ ሊቀርብ ይችላል›› ተብሎ በየስብሰባዎቹ እንደተነገራቸው የነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ምንጮች ጨምረው አስረድተዋል፡፡

ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ህዝቡ በብሔራዊ ደረጃ የሚደረገው ትግል አካል እንዲሆን ጥሪ አቀረበ

ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጥቅምት 18/2007 ዓ.ም በሰጠው መግለጫ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ አፋኙን ስርዓት በመቃወምና ከስርዓቱ ጋር ባለመተባበር በብሔራዊ ደረጃ የሚደረገው ትግል አካል እንዲሆን ጥሪ አቀረበ፡፡

‹‹የሀገራችን አስተዳደራዊና ፖለቲካዊ ችግሮች ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ እየተባባሱና እየከፉ የመምጣታቸውን ያህል ገዢው ፓርቲ ቆም ብሎ ከማሰብ ይልቅ ወደ ማይወጣው አዘቅት ውስጥ ሀገሪቷን ጭምር እያንደረደራት ይገኛል›› ያለው የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ መግለጫ ገዥው ፓርቲ ከዴሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት ግንባታ ሂደት ፍፁም በማይጣጣም መልኩ አፋኝ መዋቅሩን በማናለብኝነት እያስፋፋ እንደሚገኝ አብራርቷል፡፡ ከዚህም በተጨማሪ ለማናቸውም አስተዳደራዊም ይሁን ፖለቲካዊ ጥያቄዎች ሀይልን በመጠቀም ለመደፍጠጥና ለማጥፋት ቆርጦ በመነሳት ፍፁም አምባገነንነቱን ገፍቶበት የበርካቶች ህይወት እየቀጠፈ እንደሆነ ገልጾአል፡፡

መግለጫው ለስርዓቱ አፋኝነት በምሳሌነት ካነሳቸው መካከል በአለፈው ክረምት ወራት ጀምሮ ለተለያዩ የማህበረሰብ ክፍሎች የሚሰጠው የግዳጅ ስልጠና የሚገኝበት ሲሆን በስልጠናው ስነ ምግባር በጎደለው መልኩ የጥላቻ ዘመቻ በማካሄድ የሃሳብ ልዩነትን የማስተናገድ ፍላጎቱ ሙሉ ለሙሉ እንደተዳፈነ ያሳየ ነው ብሎታል፡፡ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ እነዚህን ስልጠናዎች እጅግ በቅርበት ሲከታተላቸው የቆየ መሆኑንና ከጅማሬውም ተቃውሞውን በይፋ መግለጹንም መግለጫው አውስቷል፡፡

ፓርቲው በጋዜጠኞች ላይ የተወሰደው የማሳደድ እርምጃ፣ በነጻው ፕሬስ ላይ የተፈጸመው አፈና የስርዓቱን መበስበስ እና አፋኝ አምባገነንነትን ብቸኛ አማራጭ አድርጎ መቀጠል መምረጡን ግልጽ አመላካች ነው ብሏል፡፡

‹‹እጅግ የከፋውና እየተባባሰ የመጣው ከፍተኛ አደጋ ያዘለ ችግር ያለው አስተዳደራዊ እና ፖለቲካዊ ጥያቄ እያነሱ ያሉ የሕብረተሰብ ክፍሎችን በሀይል ለመግዛት ቆርጦ መነሳቱ ነው›› ያለው መግለጫው በተለይ በኦጋዴን በርካታ ዜጎች በመንግስት ሀይሎች ህይወታቸው መቀጠፉ ሳያንስ ሬሳቸው እንኳን ክብር በሌለው ሁኔታ መሬት ለመሬት እየተጓተተ ባደባባይ ሰብአዊ መብት ሙሉ ለሙሉ መጣሱን አውስቷል፡፡ በተጨማሪም በጋምቤላም የህወሓት ሰዎች መሬት በሕገ-ወጥ መንገድ መቀራመታቸውን የተቃወሙ በርካታ የሰው ህይወት የተቀጠፈበት ሁነት ሀገሪቱ ወደ ከፋ ሁኔታ እያመራች ለመሆኑ አመላካች ነው ሲል ገልጾአል፡፡

ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ገዥው ፓርቲ በህዝብ ላይ የሚፈጽመውን በደል በቅርበት እየተከታተለ መሆኑን ያስታወቀው መግለጫው ‹‹የሀገሪቱን ወቅታዊ ሁኔታ ከግምት በማስገባት መላው የሀገሪቱ ህዝብ፣ በውጪ የምትኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን እና ለሀገር ተቆርቋሪ ተቋማት እንዲሁም በገዢው ፓርቲ ኢህአዴግ ስር ሆናችሁ ለውጥን የምትሹ ወገኖች ሀገራችንን ወደ አደጋ እየወሰዳት ያለውን አፋኝ ስርዓት በቻላችሁት ሁሉ በመቃወምና ከስርዓቱ ጋር ባለመተባበር በብሔራዊ ደረጃ የሚደረገው ትግል አካል እንድትሆኑ›› ሲል ጥሪ አቅርቧል፡፡

Court sentences journalist to three years in prison

Nairobi, October 27, 2014– (CPJ) The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s sentencing of Ethiopian journalist Temesghen Desalegn to three years’imprisonment on charges of defamation and incitement that date back to 2012. A court in Addis Ababa, the capital, convictedTemesgen on October 13 in connection with opinion pieces published in the now-defunct Fetehnews magazine, according to news reports. He was arrested the same day. Authorities have routinely targeted Temesghen for his writing. Temesghen’s lawyer said he plans to appeal the ruling, according to local journalists.

“With each journalist sentenced to prison, Ethiopia takes another step further from freedom of the press and democratic society,” said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. “We urge Ethiopian authorities to overturn Temesghen’s conviction on appeal and release him and all other journalists jailed for doing their jobs.”

A state crackdown on independent publications and bloggers has taken place in Ethiopia this year, prompting several Ethiopian journalists to flee into exile, according to CPJ research. With at least 17 journalists in jail, Ethiopia is the second worst jailer of journalists in Africa, second only to its neighbor Eritrea, CPJ research shows.

Response to References made about Ginbot 7 in the Report of the Monitoring Group of Somalia and Eritrea (here after SEMG), Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2111 (2013).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEMORANDUM

TO: The United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee

FROM: Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy.

DATE: October 27, 2014

SUBJECT: Response to References made about Ginbot 7 in the Report of the Monitoring Group of Somalia and Eritrea (here after SEMG), Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2111 (2013).

Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy expresses its high regards to The United Nations Security Council, and would like to use this opportunity and bring to the attention its reservations regarding some references made about it in SEMG report of October 13, 2014.

1. The SEMG report states that “Ginbot 7 is a banned opposition group”. We would like to call the attention of the International Community to the infamous “Anti-Terrorism Proclamation” promulgated by the TPLF/EPRDF regime of Ethiopia with the aim of stifling political dissent. The dictatorial regime has used this proclamation as an instrument to label and criminalize Ginbot 7, as well as other political opposition organizations, human rights advocacy groups, civil society, journalists and bloggers inside and outside of Ethiopia.

2. Let alone the claim in the report that Ginbot 7 was established in 2005, which is categorically false, even the so-called Anti-Terrorism Proclamation was not promulgated until 2009.

Ginbot 7 was formed in 2008 after few members among its leadership spent almost two years in prison in the aftermath of the ill-fated election of May 15, 2005. As well known by the International community, the regime overturned the election results that clearly showed the opposition party Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) has won the majority throughout the country. This is a fact corroborated by international election observes such as the European Union’s Election Monitoring Group that was present in Ethiopia to observe the election in 2005. Those who formed Ginbot7, then leaders of the CUD, were among the leaders thrown in prison on trumped up charges.

Ginbot 7 was formed as a political movement in order to advance justice, freedom, and liberal democracy in Ethiopia. Ginbot 7 believes that no meaningful and genuinely competitive elections can take place in the country due to the prevailing and ever worsening egregious human rights violations, the closing of political space, the harassment and persecution of members of the legal and peaceful political opposition. Furthermore, an entrenched minority ethnocratic dictatorship in Ethiopia has determined to perpetuate its hold on power by all and any means necessary.

3. SEMG’s claim in the report that Ginbot 7 was established by “Amhara elites” is grossly erroneous given the ethno-religious mix of its leadership and membership. The report’s characterization of Ginbot 7 as an organization established by “Amhara elites” is not only factually inaccurate, but a clear indication of the bias of the report. It seems like SEMG has bought lock, stock and barrel the dictatorial regime’s fabricated story of Ethiopian politics as an entirely ethnic based phenomena.

The SEMG could have easily established the facts by taking a cursory look at Ginbot 7′s website rather than unquestioningly accepting the regime’s characterization with regard to Ginbot 7′s multi ethnic membership and leadership, its organizational principle and its well established position on ethnic based politics in Ethiopia. No effort seems to have been made by the SEMG to balance its report by counterchecking its claims from Ginbot 7 or other sources instead of recycling the minority regime’s long standing targeting and demonization of the Amharas, the second largest ethnic group in Ethiopia.

4. The SEMG, despite its familiarity with political conditions in the Horn of Africa, fails to realize what is very obvious to all regarding the TPLF/EPRDF regime’s agitation, use of threat, torture and at times bribery when presenting helpless prisoners under its custody to echo unfounded guilt they are coerced to rehearse for interviews and media presentations. Hence, presenting forced confessions and unreliable information from such prisoners as evidence is beyond comprehension.

5. The SEMG’s claim to have retrieved information from an alleged Ginbot 7 fighter captured in Gonder is no different from what is explained above.

6. SEMG’s reference in its report to weapons’ serial numbers to suggest the source of certain weapons as being from Eritrea, clearly neglects the fact that numerous prisoners of war, weapons and ammunitions have exchanged hands between Ethiopian and Eritrean forces during their numerous wars.

7. Needless to say that the SEMG has been manipulated to construe that Ginbot 7 needs to extend its recruitment to the southern tip of Africa, while what Ginbot 7 objectively faces is the capacity to accommodate the tens of thousands forcing their ways into its fold from amongst the millions who support it. These are Ethiopians from very diverse backgrounds seeking a genuinely liberal democratic and just order, freedom and equality which have been denied to them by the brutal dictatorial regime of the TPLF/EPRDF.

8. It is unfortunate to note that the SEMG has been misguided to misrepresent Ginbot 7’s prevailing organizational reality that clearly demarcates boundary between its own political bodies from that of other organizations that may have opted to attain their objectives by any other means they deem appropriate.

9. Ginbot 7 found the claim in the report regarding persons SEMG suggests were received by Andargachew Tsege upon their arrival in Asmara and who have “joined a group of 30 to 60 Ginbot 7 fighters at Harena Military Camp” comical, simply because the arithmetic percentile between 30 and 60 is 100% and hence too large a difference for any wrong guessing.

10. The SEMG clearly states in its report that it was unable to verify the claims of the alleged Ginbot 7 fighters, which begs the question, then, as to why the SEMG had to dwell in its defamatory claims and tarnish the image of Ginbot 7.

11. The same can be said about SEMG’s statement in its report regarding its inability to assess the extent of this unsubstantiated support as compared with Asmara’s support of Ginbot 7 in the past.

12. The SEMG seems to be deliberately overlooking or otherwise incognizant of TPLF/EPRDF regime’s well recorded expertise in passport, travel document, and other forms of forgeries going back to its days as a guerrilla force. Had this not been the case, understanding the nature of documents presented to it by the regime’s security officials, should not have been beyond the comprehension of the SEMG.

The allegations by SEMG may be well calculated and deliberate distortions aimed at upholding the sanctions imposed on Eritrea. However, we fail to comprehend why Ginbot 7, or the Ethiopian people for whose rights our organization is struggling for, is interjected in these maneuvers.

Ginbot 7, however, would like to use this opportunity to assure all concerned, including the United Nation’s Security Council, that it is ready to give freely and candidly tangible explanations related to its mission and the achievements in the process of registering its just struggle.

Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy would like to respectfully conclude its MEMORANDUM by strongly affirming that it stands ready and willing to cooperate with the International Community, in good faith, and contribute everything within its capacity for sustainable regional peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.

We look forward to your timely reply.

ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ 3 አመት ጽኑ እስራት ተፈረደበት

የፍትህ ጋዜጣ ዋና አዘጋጅ የነበረው ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ በዛሬው ቀን በዋለው ችሎት 3 አመት ጽኑ እስራት ተፈረደበት፡፡ ፍትህን ሲያሳትም የነበረውና ሁለተኛ ተከሳሽ የሆነው ማስተዋል ህትመትና ማስታወቂያ በ10 ሺህ ብር ቅጣት ተጥሎበታል፡፡ 

ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ ጥቅም 3/2007 ዓ.ም የመንግስትን ስም ማጥፋት፣ ህዝብን ማነሳሳትና የህዝብን አመለካከት ማናወጽ በሚሉ ሶስት ክሶች ጥፋተኛ የተባለ ሲሆን አሁን የተፈረደበት በትኛው እንደሆነ ባይታወቅም በአንደኛው ክስ ነው ተብሏል፡፡ የጥፋነኝነት ክሱ በተነበበት ወቅት ግን ‹‹መንግስት ይገድላል፣ ያፍናል፣ ይጨቁናል ብሎ ጽፏል፡፡›› በሚል ጥፋተኝ ነው ተብሏል፡፡

አቃቢ ህግ የቅጣት ማክበጃ ያላቀረበ ሲሆን ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝም ሆነ ጠበቃው የቅጣት ማቅለያ አላቀረቡም፡፡ በሌላ በኩል የጋዜጠኛው ጠበቃ አምሃ መኮንን ይግባኝ እንደሚጠይቁ አስታውቀዋል፡፡

ህወሃትና የጦር አበጋዞቹ እሴቶች

ህወሃት የትግሬ ተወካይ ብቻ ሳልሆን ለትግራይ ህዝብ የሚያመልከውን አምላክም ጭምር የምመርጥለት እኔ ነኝ በሚል እብሪት ውስጥ ይገኛል። በዚህ እብሪቱም እየተመራ የምታመልኩትን ልመርጥላችሁ ብሎ አጠቃላይ ሙስሊሙንም ክርስትያኑንም እያመሰው እንደሆነ እያየን ነው። እኔን የማይቀበል እጣ ፈንታው ከመታመስ በላይ የሆነ ወዮታ ነው የሚል ያልተፃፈ አዋጅም አለው። ህወሃት በትግራይ ትከሻ ላይ ተፈናጦ፤ ትግራይን ምርጫ አሳጥቶ እኔን እምኑ መንገዳችሁም ህይወታችሁም እኔ ብቻ ነኝ ብሎ ራሱን የትግራይ ጣዖት አድርጎ ሹሟል። ይሄን ጣዖት አንቀበልም፤ እኛ የራሳችን ሂሊና ያለን እንደ ሰው ማሰብ የምንችል ነን ያሉ ብዙ የኢትዮጵያ ልጆች ባልታወጀው አዋጅ መሠረት አብዮታዊ ፀሎት እየተፀለየላቸው አፈር ለብሰው ቀርተዋል።የህወሃት የእብሪቱ መጀመሪያ “እኔ ያልኩት ካልሆነ ሁሉም ገደል ይግባ” ማለቱ ነው። የትግራይ ተወካይ እኔ ብቻ ነኝ ሌላው ሁሉ የትግራይ ህዝብ ጠላት ነው የሚል እምነቱ የድርጅቱን ሥር የሰደደ መሠሪነትና እብሪት የሚያሳይ ነው።

ብዙ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ህወሃት የቆመው ለትግራይ ህዝብ ነው የሚል ዕምነት አሳድረዋል። ይሄን አስተሳሰብ መቀበል የሚጠቅመው ለህወሃት ብቻ ነው።ህወሃት ለትግራይ ህዝብ ክብርም ፍቅርም ያለው ቡድን አይደለም። ለትግራይ ህዝብ በጎ ምኞት እና ክብር ያለው ቢሆን ኑሮ የትግራይ ህዝብ የወደደውን እንዲመርጥ፤ ያልወደደውን እንዲተው ያልተሸራረፈ ነፃነት እንዲኖረው ያደርግ ነበር። እኛ እንደምናየው ግን የትግራይ ህዝብ የወደደውን ለመምረጥ፤የጠላውን ለመተው እንዲችል ነፃነትያለው ህዝብ አይደለም። የትግራይ ህዝብ ነፃነቱን በነፃነት ሥም ያጣ ህዝብ ሁኗል። ህወሃቶች የትግራይን ህዝብ ነፃነት ሸራርፈው ሸራርፈው ህዝቡን በሙሉ መያዣ አድርገውና ከወገኑ ለይተውት እየገዙት ይገኛሉ። የትግራይም ህዝብ ሳይወድ በግዱ ህወሃቶችን ተሸክሞ መከራው በዝቶ እየተገዛ ይገኛል።

ህወሃት መራሽ በሆነው መከላከያ ድህረ-ገፅ ላይ “ያልተሸራረፈ ዲሞክራሲያዊ አስተሳሰብ ማስረፅ” እሴታችን ነው የሚል መፈክር በጉልህ ተፅፏል። ህወሃቶች መከላከያ ኃይሉ የቆመው የህዝቡን ያልተሸራረፈ ዲሞክራሲዊያ አስተሳሰብ ለመንከባከብ ነው እያሉን ነው። የህዝቡ ዲሞክራሲያዊ መብት ሳይሸራረፍ ተከብሮ ቢሆን ኑሮ ጋዜጠኛ ሚሊዮን ሹርቤ ተሰዶ ሂዶ በባዕድ አገር ባልሞተ ነበር። ህዝቡ በኑሮ ውድነት ባልተሰቃየ ነበር፤ አገሪቷ ሠላም ርቋት እዚህም እዚያም የዜጎች ደም በከንቱ ባልፈሰሰ ነበር፤ የአገሪቷ ብሄራዊ አንድነት ላልቶ ዜጎች ይሄ ክልል አገራችሁ አይደለም እየተባሉ ከኖሩበት መንደር ውጡ ባልተባሉ ነበር፤ ዜጎቿ አገር ውስጥ ከመኖር ይልቅ በባህር ውስጥ አዞ መበላትን ምርጫቸው ባላደረጉ ነበር። አገሪቷ እንዲህ ምስቅልቅሏ ወጥቶ ባለበት ሁኔታ ህወሃቶች ያልተሸራረፈ ዴሞክራሲያዊ አስተሳሰብን መንከባከብ የሚችል ሠራዊት ገንብተናል እያሉ እያላዘኑ ይገኛሉ። ይሄንንም ለማጠናከር ስንል የጦር አበጋዞችን መሾም አስፈልጎናል ብለው የአንደኛ ደረጃ ፊደል ቆጥረው ያልዘለቁ ሽፍቶችን ሹመት በሹት እያደረጓቸው ነው።

“ዘላለማዊ ክብር” በሰይጣን መንፈስ ሲመራ ለነበረው ለመለስ ዜናዊ ይገባል ብሎ የሚያመነው “ክርስትያኑ” ደሳለኝ ኃ/ማሪያም በመለስ ዜናዊ መንፈስ እየተመራ ስልጣኑን ከያዘ ግዜ ጀምሮ 4 ሌተናል ጄኔራሎች፤ 9 ሜጄር ጄኔራሎች፤ 28 ብርጋዴር ጄኔራሎችን ሹሟል። ብዙ ሰዎች ግን ደሳለኝ ኃ/ማሪያም በዚህ ሹመት ውስጥ የመወሰን ድምፅ የለውም ይላሉ። እንዲያውም ደሳለኝ የነብሩን ጭራ ይዞ እንዳይለቀው ጭንቅ ሆኖበት የሚኖር ብኩን ግለሰብ ነው ሲሉም ያክላሉ። ያም ሆነ ይህ ደሳለኝ ኃ/ማሪያም የመለስ ዜናዊን ራዕይ ሊያስፈፅም በትር ስልጣኑን ጨብጧልና በእርሱ ዘመን ለሚሆነው ሁሉ ኃላፊነት ይወስዳል።

ወደ ጦር አበጋዞቹ እንመለስ ከእነዚህ የጦር አበጋዞች መካከል አብዛኞቹ የህወሃት አባሎች መሆናቸው የታወቀ ነው። በዚህ ጥቅምት ወር ብቻ 3 ሌተናል ጄኔራሎች እና 3 ሜጄር ጄኔራሎች ተሹመዋል። እነዚህ የጦር አበጋዞች በየትኛው መደበኛ ጦር አውድማ ላይ ውለው ለዚህ ማዕረግ የሚያበቃቸውን ምግባር እንደፈፀሙ የሚያውቅ የለም። ሽፍቶች እና ጎሬላ ተዋጊዎች መሆናቸው ግን የሚካድ አይደለም። የሽፍትነትና የጎሬላ ውጊያ ልምድ ግን ለዚህ ማዕረግ የሚያበቃቸው ሊሆን እንደማይችል የታወቀ ነው።

ሌተናል ጄኔራል ሁነው ከተሾሙት መካከል

1ኛ. አብርሃም ወ/ማሪያም

2ኛ. አደም መሃመድ

3ኛ. ብርሃኑ ጁላ

ሲሆኑ ወደ ሜጀር ጄኔራልነት ያደጉት ደግሞ

1ኛ. ክንፈ ዳኘ

2ኛ. ተክለብርሃን ወ/አርጋይ

3ኛ. ዘውዱ እሸቴ ይባላሉ።

የእነዚህ የጦር አበጋዞች ሹመት ባላቸው የትምህርት ደረጃ፤ ለህዝባቸው ባላቸው ክብር፤ ለአገራቸው ባላቸው ፍቅር ሳይሆን ለጣዖቱ ህወሃት ያላቸው ታማኝነት ሚዛን ደፍቶ በመገኘቱ ነው።

ከስድስቱ የጦር አበጋዞች መካከል የአራቱ ሹመት ቤተሰባዊ ዝምድናን መሠረት ያደረገ ስለመሆኑ የሚከተለውን ትሥሥር እንድትመለከቱ እንጋብዛላእን።

1ኛ. በሌተናል ጄኔራልነት ማዕረግ የተሾመው አብርሃም ወ/ማሪያም የመለስ ዜናዊ የሥጋ ዘመድ ነው። የመለስ ዜናዊ ቅደመ አያት በጎን ከሌላ ሴት የወለዷቸው ሴት ልጅ ልጅ ነው።

2ኛ. ሜጄር ጄኔራል ክንፈ ዳኜ ደግሞ አባቱ አቶ ዳኜ ገ/ስላሴና የመለስ አባት የአቶ ዜናዊ እናቶች እህትማማቾች ናቸው።

3ኛ. ሜጄር ጄኔራል ዘውዱ እሸቴ ደግሞ የመለስ ዜናዊን የቅርብ ዘመድ አግብቶ በጋብቻ ተሳስሯል። ሚስቱ ደግሞ በ18 ዓመት ታንሰዋለች።

4ኛ. ሜጀር ጄኔራል ተክለብርሃን ወ/አረጋይ የመለስ ዜናዊ የአክስት ልጅ ነው።

ይህ መከላከያ ኃይል ተብሎ የአንድን ጎጠኛ ድርጅት ህልውና ለመጠበቅ የቆመውን ቡድን የሚመሩት የጦር አበጋዞች በትምህርት ደረጃቸው ከሚያዟቸው ተራ ወታደሮች የማይሻሉ፤ ከራሳቸው ወዲያ ህዝብና አገር የሚባል ነገር የማያውቁ፤ በአገኙት አጋጣሚ ሁሉ የአገሪቷን ሃብት ለመዝረፍ የሚሸቀዳደሙ እና ራሳቸውን እንደ ኢንቨሰተር የሚቆጥሩ፤ የውትድርናን ሙያ ከነፍስ ግዲያና ከጭካኔ ለይተው የማያዩ እና ርህራሄ የሌላቸው ስለመሆናቸው የህወሃት ድርሳናት ይመሰክራሉ።

ህወሃት ርህራሄን የማያውቁ ጭካኞችን የጀግንነት ማዕረግ እየሰጠ በአገሪቷ ላይ እያሰማራ ይገኛል። የህወሃቶች ስነ-ምግባርም ሆነ ስነ-ልቦና ለጀግንነት የሚያበቃቸው አይደለም። በህወሃት መንደር ጀግናና ጀግንነት አይታወቁም። ጀግና እውነትን አይፈራም። ህወሃት እውነትን ስለሚፈራ ገና ድክ ድክ የሚሉ ነፃ ሚዲያዎችን ያለ ምንም ማወላወል ሊደመስሱ የሚሸቀዳደሙትን ይሾማል። ጀግና ነፃ ሚዲያን የሚፈራበት ምንም ምክንያት አይኖረውም። ጀግና ነፍሰ ገዳይ አይደለም። ህወሃት ህፃን ነብዩን የመሰሉ እንቦቀቅላዎችን ግንባር ግንባራቸውን ብለው ለመግደል የማይራሩ ጨካኞችን ይሾማል። ጀግና ሌብነትን ከልቡ ይፀየፋል። ህወሃት ግን ሌብነትን የሚፀየፉትን ሳይሆን የድሃ ንብረት ሰርቆ ሃብት ማካበትን እንደ ብልጠት የሚቆጥሩ ደካሞችን ጄኔራል እያለ ያሰማራል።

በዚህ በጥቅምት ወር የተሾሙት 6 የጦር አበጋዞች ለሹመት ሲታጩ የትምህርት ዝግጅታቸውና ብቃታቸው፤ ለአገራቸው ያደረጉት የላቀ አስተዋፅዖ፤በውጊያ አውድማ ያሳዩት ጀግንነት ታይቶ ነው የሚል ወሬ ከህወሃት መንደር ተሰምቷል። ህወሃቶች እና ደጋፊዎቻቸው ይሄን ለማመን አይቸገሩም። የእነዚህ ቡድኖች ዋና መለያ የገዛ ውሸታቸውን እውነት ነው ብለው አምነው ጥሩ እንቅልፍ መተኛት የሚችሉ መሆናቸው ነው። የገዛ ውሸቱን እውነት ነው ብሎ የሚያምን ግለሰብ ብርቱ የሆነ የስነ-ልቦና ቀውስ ውስጥ የወደቀ መሆንኑ የስነ-አዕምሮ ተማራማሪዎች ይናገራሉ። ህወሃቶችም ብርቱ በሆነ የስነ-ልቦና ቀውስ ውስጥ እንደሚገኙ ለማየት የዕለት ተዕለት ውሸቶቻቸውን እና የሚፈፀሙትን ፀያፍ ድርጊቶች ማየት በቂ ይሆናል።

የኢትዮጵያ መከላከያ ኃይል በጥቂት በዘረ ሃረጋቸውና በቤተሰብ ክር በተሳሰሩ ወንበዴዎች እጅ ወድቋል። በእነዚህ ዘራፊዎች የሚመራ የሠራዊት ኃይል የህዝቡን ዲሞክራሲያዊ መብት ማስከበር አይቻለውም። የጦር አበጋዞቹ የአገሪቷን አንጡራ ሃብት እየዘረፉ ከገነቧቸው ህንፃዎች በየወሩ የሚሰበስቡትን ገንዘብ የሚጠይቅ ለህዝብ ወገንተኛ የሆነ መንግስት እንዲመሰረት ምንም ፍላጎት አይኖራቸውም። ለእነዚህ ጦር አበጋዞች ነፃነት፤ ፍትህ፤ እኩልነት እና እውነተኛ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት የሚባሉ ነገሮች ያሸብሯቸዋል። እነዚህንም ጥያቄዎች ያነሳ አሸባሪ ተብሎ የዚህን ምድር ሥቃይ እንዲያይ ይደረጋል።ይሄ ቡድን ሥልጣን ላይ እስከቆየ ድረስ ነፃነት ፤የህግ የበላይነት፤ እኩልነት የሚባሉ እሴቶች በኢትዮጵያ ይሰፍናሉ ብሎ ማሰብ ሞኝነት ነው።

በመጨረሻም ተራው ወታደር እንደማንኛውም ኢትዮጵያዊ ነፃነቱን ተገፎ ለምንና ለማን እንደሚገልና እንደሚሞት ሳያውቅ በገዛ ወገኖቹ ላይ እየተኮሰና የንፁህ ደም እያፈሰሰ እንደሚኖር እያየን ነው። ተራው ወታደር ጋምቤላ ሂዶ ያገኘውን ሁሉ የሚገድለው ለምንድ ነው? ኦጋዴን ሂዶ የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል የሚፈፅመው ለምንድ ነው? ጉራፋርዳ ወርዶ የመዥንግሮችን ደም የሚያፈሰው በምን ምክንያት ነው? ያልተሸራረፈ ዲሞክራሲን አስፍነናል ከተባለ ይሄ ሁሉ ውጊያ ምንጩ ምንድ ነው? ሠራዊቱ ለእነዚህና ለመሰል ጥያቄዎች በቂ መልስ መፈለግ ይኖርበታል።ምንም ትርጉም በሌለው ውጊያ ውስጥ እየሄደ የንፁህ ደም ማፍሰሱን ለማቆምና ነገ በወንጀል ከመጠየቅ ራስንም ለማዳን ሠራዊቱ ራሱን ከዘረኞቹና ከዘራፊዎቹ የጦር አበጋዞች መለየት ይኖርበታል።ከእርሱ በሞራልም ሆነ በትምህርት ደርጃቸው ከማይሻሉ ጄኔራል ተብየዎች ራሱን ለይቶ ለነፃነት፤ ለፍትህ እና ለእኩልነት ከሚታገሉ ኃይሎች ጎን እንዲሰለፍ ጥሪያችንን አሁንም እናስተላልፋለን።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ !

ከምርጫ ’97 ‹የተማረው› ኢህአዴግና የሚጠበቀው ሀገራዊ ምርጫ

በላይ ማናዬ

የኢትዮጵያ ብሄራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድ የ2007 ዓ.ም ጠቅላላ ምርጫን በተመለከተ ከሰሞኑ ለመነሻ ያህል የቀረበ ነው በሚል ረቂቅ የጊዜ ሰሌዳ ለፓርቲዎቹ ለማስተዋወቅ ሞክሮ ነበር፡፡ ይህን የጊዜ ሰሌዳና ሌሎች ተያያዥ ጉዳዮችን በተመለከተ ከፓርቲዎቹ ጋር ለመምከር በሶስት ዋና ዋና ከተሞች (አዲስ አበባ፣ አዳማ እና ሀዋሳ) ፓርቲዎቹን ከፋፍሎ ለውይይት ጠርቶ የነበረ ቢሆንም ጥቂት የማይባሉ ፓርቲዎች መድረኩን ጥለው መውጣታቸው የሚታወስ ነው፡፡

ፓርቲዎቹ የምርጫ ጊዜውን በተመለከተ ከመነጋገራችን በፊት በርካታ ልንነጋገርባቸውና ሊስተካከሉ የሚገቡና በደብዳቤ ለምርጫ ቦርድ የገለጽናቸው ጉዳዮች ስላለሉ ለእነዚያ ጉዳዮች ቅድሚያ መሰጠት ይገባዋል ከሚል መነሻ ነበር፡፡ ምንም እንኳ ቦርዱ የዝሆን ጆሮ ይስጠኝ እንዳለ የቀጠለ ቢሆንም፡፡

ያም ሆነ ይህ ምርጫ ቦርድ ለውይይት ያቀረበው ረቂቅ የምርጫ ጊዜ ሰሌዳን ስንመለከት አንድ ነገር እንድንገነዘብ ያደረገ ሆኗል፡፡ ይኸውም ቦርዱ ቅድመ ምርጫ ዝግጅቶችን በተመለከተ ለሚሰሩ ስራዎች በቂ ጊዜ ያለመመደቡን ነው፡፡ ለፓርቲዎቹ የክርክርና የቅስቀሳ ጊዜ የተመደበውን ስናይ ፕሮግራሙ በእጅጉ ወደፊት የተገፋ መሆኑንና በቂ ጊዜ ያለመስጠቱን መመልከት ይቻላል፡፡ ይህም በተለይ ለገዥው ፓርቲ በብዙ መልኩ ጠቃሚ ሆኖ ይስተዋላል፡፡ ገዥው ፓርቲ፣ አንድም ልክ እንደ 97 ምርጫ ከተቃዋሚዎቹ ጋር በግልጽ የክርክር መድረክ ሀሳቦቹን ማቅረብ አለመሻቱን (የደረሰበትን ሁሉ ስለማይዘነጋ)፣ ሁለትም ህዝብ በቂ የቅስቀሳ ጊዜ ተመድቦ አማራጮችን በሚገባ ለማየት እድል እንዳይኖረው መፈለጉን በገደምዳሜ በቦርዱ ረቂቅ የጊዜ ሰሌዳ በኩል ያንጸባረቀ ይመስላል፡፡

በእርግጥ መንግስት/ገዥው ፓርቲ ከምርጫው በፊት ‹የቤት ስራዎችን› በሚገባ ሰርቷል ለማለት ያስደፍራል፡፡ ነጻውን ፕሬስ አፍኗል፣ የህዝብ ልሳኖችን ዘግቷል፣ ጋዜጠኞችን፣ ጦማሪዎችን፣ ተቀናቃኝ ፖለቲከኞችን አስሯል፤ እንዲሰደዱም አድርጓል፡፡ ስለሆነም በምርጫው መድረክ ኢህአዴግን ሊያጋልጡት የሚችሉ አካላት ላይ ሁሉ የማሳደድ ስራውን ሰርቷል፡፡ በመሆኑም ገዥው ፓርቲ የዘንድሮውን ምርጫ ደካማ የህዝብ ተቀባይነቱን በመገምገም በህዝብ እንደማይመረጥ በመገንዘቡ አፈናውን ቀድሞ ጀምሮታል፡፡ በዚህም ልክ እንደ ምርጫ 97 አንጻራዊ ነጻነትን በመስጠት በህዝብ መድረክ ሽንፈትን ከመከናነብ ይልቅ ጭል ጭል የምትለውን ነጻነት ማፈንን ምርጫው አድርጎ ይታያል፣ ከ97 ምርጫ ‹የተማረው› ትምህርት መሆኑ ነው፡፡

ወደ ምርጫ የጊዜ ሰሌዳው ስንመለስ ፕሮግራሙ ረቂቅ የመነሻ ሰሌዳ ነው ቢባልም እምብዛም ለውጥ እንደማይደረግበት መገመት ይቻላል፡፡ ለማነኛውም በፕሮግራሙ መሰረት ‹ከህዳር 15-30/2007 ዓ.ም በምርጫ የሚወዳደሩ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች በኢትዮጵያ ምርጫ ቦርድ ተገኝተው የመወዳደሪያ ምልክታቸውን ይመርጣሉ› ሲል ያስቀምጣል፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ ሰሌዳ መሰረትም ፓርቲዎቹ እስከ ህዳር አጋማሽ ድረስ የመወዳደሪያ ምልክታቸውን አያውቁም/ይፋ አያደርጉም ማለት ነው፤ ምንም አይነት የምርጫ ክርክርም ይኖራል ተብሎ አይጠበቅም፡፡ በምርጫ 97 ወቅት በዚህ ወር (ህዳር) በፓርቲዎች መካከል የምርጫ ክርክር ተጀምሮ እንደነበር ይታወሳል፡፡

ዘንድሮ በሚጠበቀው ሀገራዊ ምርጫ ታህሳስ 1/2007 ዓ.ም የምርጫ ክልል ጽ/ቤቶች ተከፍተው በይፋ ስራ የሚጀምሩበት እንደሚሆን የጊዜ ሰሌዳው ላይ ሰፍሯል፡፡ ታህሳስ 12/2007 ዓ.ም ደግሞ መራጩ ህዝብ ‹በይፋ በሚደረግለት ጥሪ መሰረት በሚካሄደው የአንድ ቀን ስብሰባ የምርጫ ጣቢያ የህዝብ ታዛቢዎችን የሚመርጥበት› እንደሆነ ያስረዳል፡፡ በቀናት ልዩነት ውስጥ ደግሞ፣ ከታህሳስ 16/2007 እስከ ጥር 25 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም የፖለቲካ ፓርቲ ዕጩዎች ምዝገባ በየምርጫ ክልሉ ጽ/ቤት የሚካሄድበት ይሆናል ይላል፡፡ በመሆኑም ምርጫው አራት ወራት ያልሞላ ጊዜ እስኪቀረው ድረስ እጩዎቹ ምዝገባ አያከናውኑም ማለት ነው፡፡ ይህም የእጩዎቹን የምረጡኝ ቅስቀሳ ጊዜ ያሳጠረ ይሆናል፡፡

በሌላ በኩል ታህሳስ 30 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም የምርጫ ጣቢያዎች ተከፍተው፣ ከጥር 1 ቀን እስከ የካቲት 10 ቀን ድረስ የመራጮች ምዝገባ በየምርጫ ጣቢያው እንደሚካሄድ የጊዜ ሰሌዳው ላይ ሰፍሯል፡፡ በነገራችን ላይ እጩዎች የእጩነት ማረጋገጫ መታወቂያ ካርድ የሚሰጣቸው ከየካቲት 2-7/2007 ዓ.ም ባሉት ቀናት መሆኑ ተመልክቷል፡፡ ይህም ለምርጫው ሶስት ወራት ብቻ ሲቀረው መሆኑን ልብ ይሏል፡፡ ስለሆነም እስከ የካቲት 7 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም ድረስ ምንም አይነት ይፋዊ የምርጫ ውድድር እንቅስቃሴ አይኖርም እንደማለት ነው፡፡ ምክንያቱም በጊዜ ሰሌዳው መሰረት የካቲት 7 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም የዕጩዎች የምርጫ ውድድር እንቅስቃሴ በይፋ የሚጀመርበት መሆንን አስቀምጧል እና ነው፡፡

በዚህ መልኩ ለሶስት ወራት ያህል ክፍት ሆኖ የሚቆየው የምረጡኝ ቅስቀሳ እንቅስቃሴ ግንቦት 13 ቀን ከምሽቱ 12፡00 በይፋ የሚጠናቀቅ ይሆናል፣ በፕሮግራሙ መሰረት፡፡ ግንቦት 16 ከጠዋቱ 12፡00 እስከ ምሽቱ 12፡00 ደግሞ የሚጠበቀው ምርጫ የድምጽ መስጫ ዕለት እንደሚሆን ይጠበቃል፡፡

የምርጫ ውጤት ይፋ ስለማድረግ በተቀመጠው የጊዜ ሰሌዳ መሰረት ደግሞ ጊዜያዊ ውጤት ግንቦት 21 የሚገለጽ ሲሆን፣ አጠቃላይ ውጤቱ ደግሞ ሰኔ 15 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም ይፋ እንደሚደረግ የምርጫ ቦርድ ጊዜያዊ የምርጫ ጊዜ ሰሌዳ ያመለክታል፡፡ በዚህ መሰረት ይፋዊ የምርጫ ውጤትን ለማወቅ አንድ ወር ሙሉ መጠበቅ ግድ ሊል ነው ማለት ነው፡፡

በዚህ ጊዜ ውስጥ በርካታ ጉዳዮች የታሰቡ ይመስላል፡፡ በተለይም ኢህአዴግ ለተቃውሞ አደባባይ እንዳይወጡ የሚፈራቸው ተማሪዎች ትምህርት ቤቶች ስለሚዘጉ ይበተናሉ፡፡ ሰኔ ላይ ገበሬው ስራ የሚበዛበት ወቅት ይሆናል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ክረምት በመሆኑ የምርጫ ታዛቢዎች በገጠር አካባቢ እንዳሻቸው ተዘዋውረው ስራቸውን ለማከናወን ዝናብና ጭቃ ይፈትናቸዋል፡፡ ይህ ሁሉ ግን ማንን ሊጠቅመው እንደሚችል ሳይታለም የተፈታ ነው፤ እሱም በምርጫ 97 ‹ትምህርት የቀሰመው› ኢህአዴግ ይሆናል፡፡

Is Nonviolent or armed struggle for bringing democrcy in Ethiopia?

By Yibeltal Gashu

As we know, Ethiopia is a home to  golden diversty of peoples, cultures, religions and langudges.  Ethiopia is as the origin of humanity that has a unique cultural heritage, own alpthabet, calander and where it has preserved its long independence through the patriotic struggle of its citizens. We shall remember that Ethiopia served as a symbol of African independence throughout the colonial period, and was a founder member of the United Nations and the African base for many international organizations and country that possesses a long history ranking among the great civilizations of the world.

But currently, it has not been possible to have human and democratic rights guaranteed by the Constitution fully respected. The question of nations and nationalities is not properly addressed and resolved. In fact, the issue is presently being used as a tool for dividing and ruling the people. Citizens are being deprived of the opportunity to live, work and to do any kind of activities in the country whether socially, economically and politically. The integration process among the nation, nationalities and peoples are being disrupted. Now a day’s, Ethiopia is among the most backward countries in the world in three aspects which is political, economical and social growth because of the TPLF dictatorship.

It’s known that TPLF is a dictatorship ruling party and has never showed let down peacefully, and Woyane is doing shameful activities throughout the country since they took power through armed struggle. Such as, many journalists, politicians, activists, bloggers, religious have been imprison, thousands of peoples are dying and many people’s migrating every day, no single human right respected by TPLF. As the nature of TPLF I have doubt that nonviolent struggle would be successful in Ethiopia. I never shared the illusion that the TPLF will accept the verdict of the ballot-box and step down from power peacefully rather the TPLF play the democratic game under the name of democracy. Murdering, genocide, criminal, dictatorship, corrupting, selfishness, futureless, narrow thinking and no need solid unitary as a country (means follow dividing ruling system) are the main Characteristics of TPLF.

Due to the nature of TPLF, I just to reflect a few points of view on the question of peaceful or armed struggle as methods of achieving a political goal like to bring freedom, justice and democracy in Ethiopia.  In other words, the very challenging question is whether to apply peaceful or armed; or the combination of the two based on a given internal political reality, and external circumstance to bring sustainable democracy. Needless to say, this had been and continues to be an unavoidable challenge in a country like ours which has never experienced a political transformation characterized by a well- thought, well-planned, well-organized and persistent popular uprising and disobedience in line with the fulfillment of the interests of the general public.

I sincerely believe that we should be seriously concerned about our tendency of approaching the question of which method of political struggle should we apply in a very categorically defined fashion. Although raising the question of how to approach a given political struggle that aims at the realization of a democratic political system has never been uncommon, its intensity and urgency varies from time to time, and from situation to situation.  Because of our political culture which is characterized by mere inheritance, conspiracy within royal families and a bloody fight between or among groups (civil war), we are not yet fortunate enough to listen to each other’s arguments and counter- arguments in such a way that our differences on using not the same tactics or methods should not hamper our journey toward the same goal.

I strongly believe that it is absolutely necessary to seriously consider the advantages and disadvantages of a given method of getting the goals and strategies we set accomplished in a real sense of constructive way of doing things accordingly the Ethiopian political situation.  In other words, it is imperative to make sure that the methods being used by various political groupings (surprisingly there are more than 90 national and regional political parties) which are engaged in the struggle for the realization of a truly democratic society complement each other in pursuing for mutually respectful and shared prosperity.  Is this line of thinking as easy as anything? Absolutely not! And this is mainly because of our political history and which has been and still is characterized either by very deceptive monarchial rulers or get it at a bloody gunpoint like TPLF.  And this very unfortunate political culture of ours has a lot of to do with the argument that it is nonviolent/peaceful resistance not armed struggle that is ideal to bring about sustainable democratic change. Yes, there is no doubt peaceful public struggle is so desirable. The very challenging issue is when it comes to the question of what kind of ruling power we face – with a sense of civility and responsibility or otherwise? How the people are ready and determined to pay the sacrifices required forcing the brutal responses by the ruling elite even in the process of peaceful struggle; how various opposition political forces are willing and able to pull their efforts together and shake the balance of the existing political power?  Are the foreign powers (governments) interested and courageous enough to abandon “their bad guys “and choosing people’s interests over dictatorial regimes? To my understanding, the responses to these and all other critical questions are not encouraging at all.

Unless we want to remain wishfully optimistic, it is very unwise to waste our energy and time by continuing arguments and counter arguments to the extent of condemning each other’s tactics applied to get the same goal done. I am not saying debating or arguing on the prospective and consecutive of peaceful resistance and armed struggle or on how to effectively use both of them is a bad idea. What I am trying to say is that it is critically desirable to focus on how to make those methods of struggle vibrant forces toward achieving the same goal – the realization of genuine democratic society and fundamental human dignity. I understand that opposition political parties which are operating legally and pursuing peaceful resistance cannot openly recognize the use of armed struggle. I know very well that doing so is suicidal as far as the very behavior and practice of the illegitimate ruling circle is concerned. Yes, in a truly democratic system expressing one’s idea freely is a not only a political freedom but it is also fundamental human freedom. Sadly enough, it is a crime (terrorism) in our country, and we are witnessing the untold sufferings of innocent journalists and members /supporters of political opposition parties. But, I strongly believe that  although it is suicidal for those political parties  to openly  recognize those political  forces which believe in the use of both methods of struggle ,they should not undermine ,if not condemn each other .

Indeed, I have fully agreed with the nonviolent struggle because of the merits of it. Whatever it is your argument, Ethiopia is required a systematic and friutfull struggle to bring freedom, justice, democracy and all human rights respected. What is needed is political work to influence the army and bureaucracy to make them less obedient instruments of repression, or to become sympathizers of civil disobedience.

The peaceful struggle may be painfully slow for the impatient. Yet, it is may or may not  the only choice which truly induces the utilization of untapped artistic, cultural and intellectual wealth of the nation for the material and political maturity of citizens, essential elements for a successful establishment of a dynamic and democratic social order.

Nonviolent action used to:

• Dismantle dictatorships
  • Defend against foreign invasions
  • Expel foreign occupation
  • Provide an alternative to violence in extreme ethnic conflicts
  • Challenge unjust social and economic systems
  • Develop, preserve and extend democratic practices, human rights, civil liberties and freedom of religion
  • Resist genocide since carefully applied the methods of nonviolent action or “nonviolent weapons.” The Albert Instinet institution has recommended almost nearly two hundred methods of nonviolent struggle. (See on aeinstein.org, list of 198 methods of nonviolent action and also The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Vol. 2)

Three broad classes of nonviolent methods are:

1. Nonviolent protest and persuasion, (like formal statements, wider audience, symbolic public acts)
   2. Noncooperation and, (social, economic boycotts & strike, political noncoorperation)
   3. Nonviolent intervention, (physiological, physical, social, economic and political intervention)

Like others, Ethiopia has tried to bring freedom, justice, democracy and human rights respected by nonviolent struggle in different time but could not successful due to our politics nature as I mentioned above . For example, different kinds of revolution, during 2005 election, the movement of Muslims, many opposition parties doing that still now.

Finally, I recommend that calling and wake upping the peoples, farmers, workers, business men, students, teachers, polices and defense force to struggle for themselves that freedom and justice, education and health, academic and political freedom, pursuit of prosperity and other rights are our rights that we are entitled to as citizens. They are by no means any acts of generosity given to us by the rulers who have imposed their will on us. These are rights that we should never relinquish to anyone. And I encourage values such as civil dialogue, tolerance, understanding and respect for competing views not only to narrow differences but also to nurture and sustain the unity of shared purpose to bring freedom and democracy in Ethiopia by choosing the most convenient struggle methods.

Source: zehabesha

ዘጠኝ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች የትብብር ስምምነት ተፈራረሙ

ዘጠኝ የኢትዮጵያ የተቃዋሚ ፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች ዛሬ ጥቅምት 11/2007 ዓ.ም በሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጽ/ቤት የትብብር ስምምነት ተፈራረሙ፡፡
ፓርቲዎቹ ለረዥም ጊዜ ስለ ትብብር ሲመካከሩ የቆዩ መሆኑ የታወቀ ሲሆን፣ ዛሬ ሰባት ገጽ ያለው ሰነድ ላይ የትብብር ፊርማቸውን በማኖር ትብብሩን ሊመሩ የሚችሉ አመራሮችንም መምረጣቸው ታውቋል፡፡
ዘጠኙ ፓርቲዎች የትብብር ስምምነቱ ያስፈለገበትን ምክንያት በሰነዱ ላይ ገልጸዋል፤ በዚህም ‹‹ነጻ አሳታፊና ታአማኒ ምርጫ እንዲካሄድ በትብብር ለመስራት፣ የፖለቲካ ምህዳሩን ለማስፋትና የዜጎችን ሰብአዊና ዴሞክራሲያዊ መብቶች እንዲከበሩ በጋራ መታገል››ን በተመለከተ በጋራ ለመስራት ተስማምተዋል፡፡

በዚህም መሰረት ፈራሚዎቹ ፓርቲዎች የሚከተሉትን አመራሮች ትብብሩን እንዲመሩ መርጠዋል፡-

1. ሊቀመንበር ኢንጅነር ይልቃል ጌትነት ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ
2. ምክትል ሊቀመንበር አቶ ኤርጫፎ ኤርጌሎ ከከንባታ ህዝቦች ኮንግረንስ
3 ዋና ፀኃፊ አቶ ግርማ በቀለ ከኦሞ ህዝቦች ዴሞክራሲያዊ ድርጅት
4. ምክትል ፀኃፊ አቶ ካሳሁን አበባው ከመኢአድ
5. ገንዘብ ያዥ አቶ ኑሪ ሙደሂር ከመኢዴፓ ሆነው ተመርጠዋል፡፡

በትብብር ለመስራት ሲወያዩ ከነበሩት 14 ፓርቲዎች መካከል አንድነትና መድረክ ውስጥ የታቀፉት ፓርቲዎች ትብብሩን ለመፈረም በየ ድርጅቶቻቸው ውሳኔ ባለመተላለፉ ያልፈረሙ ሲሆን ትብብሩ እስከ ቅዳሜ እንዲጠብቃቸው ጠይቀዋል፡፡ በመሆኑም በተጠቀሰው ጊዜ ውስጥ ይፈርማሉ ተብሎ ይጠበቃል፡፡

ትብብሩ ስለ ቀጣይ የትግል ሂደትና ስለ ትብብሩ አጠቃላይ ሂደት ላይ ነገ ጥቅምት 12/2007 ዓ.ም ከጠዋቱ አራት ሰዓት በሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጽ/ቤት መግለጫ ይሰጣል ተብሎ ይጠበቃል፡፡

Journal from an Ethiopian Prison: The Maekelawi Ceremony

This testimony was written by blogger and human rights advocate Befeqadu Hailu in late August 2014. A founding member of the Zone9 blogging collective and a Global Voices community member, he was arrested and imprisoned on April 25, 2014 along with five fellow members of Zone9 and three journalist colleagues. On July 17, 2014, all nine detainees were charged under the Terrorism Proclamation of 2009. 

This is the second of two installments of an abridged version of Befeqadu’s testimony. The first installment in this series recounts the activities of the Zone9 bloggers and the short history of their collaboration prior to their arrest. Read part one.

The second installment was translated from Amharic to English by Endalk Chala and edited for clarity and context by Ellery Roberts Biddle. In it, Befeqadu describes the interrogation process at Maekelawi detention center, where he and his fellow bloggers were held following their arrest. The full, unabridged testimony is available in PDF form here.

The Standard Maekelawi Interrogation

The standard Maekalawi interrogation methods are more about dominance and submission than confidence or creativity. Instead of extracting information from “suspects”, the police officers usually fool around. They spend a great deal of time pretending that they already know the evils you’ve committed. If they cannot successfully extract information from you in this way, they force confessions by punching, beating, extended physical exercise and flogging.

I have concluded that this is the standard interrogation routine at Maekalawi since I have endured it from five different police officers. Other detainees tell me that they have gone through the same procedures. I spoke with some detainees who had undergone even more wicked procedures that were clear violations of their privacy. Some detainees were forced to strip naked and asked to stand or perform sit-ups until dawn.

I met people who suffered from medieval types of torture in an unnamed detention center before they were brought to their pre-trial detention at Maekalawi. These detainees suffered from diabolical barbarity such as forcible extraction of their nails from their fingers, flogging, and hooding. Among them are students from Haramaya University.[1] The information extracted from detainees in the unnamed detention center is then verified through more interrogation at the pre-trial detention center. Detainees never know where they were taken for this brutal investigation because they are hooded throughout. The unnamed detention centers are like black holes. It turns out that the anguish of Ethiopian prisoners, something that appeared to be so distant in memory, is not that far off after all.[2] 

Befeqadu Hailu. Global Voices profile image.

In our case, finally we were made to plead guilty. We confessed under duress. We could not bear the ceaseless brutal and psychologically degrading pressure. We could not carry on surviving the hell of Maeklawi. We ended up telling our interrogators what they wanted to hear. To their delight, we added as many self-incriminating phrases as possible. But phrases like “yes, we wanted to incite violence” never pleased them. So they rewrote our confessions to fit their frame. Some of us tried to explain. Others had to endure beatings. But at last we succumbed to the pressure and signed the carefully scripted confession pages, with the exception of our colleague Abel, who refused to sign at that time. He has survived the pain he has endured since, and his confession, when finally extracted, is completely untrue, to say nothing of ours.

Read: Journal From an Ethiopian Prison, Part 1

Now we know that torture is the part of the Maekelawi ceremony that reveals the “truth” of a crime. I had long thought police interrogations were complex, involving sophisticated skills, knowledge and psychological tactics to establish facts. I now know that police interrogations in Maekelawi are not so elaborate. In fact they are simple. They are like machines that produce guilt in the detainees.

At Maekelawi, the driving principle of police interrogations is that you are guilty unless proven otherwise. Your pleas for innocence – or even for explanation – fall on deaf ears. Interrogators will cook up a crime for you.

The evidence for each of the confessions to which our guilty pleas were attached include our online campaigns, our plans, the articles we wrote, the trainings we attended, the training manuals, the skills we attempted to impart.

Selected documents presented by the public prosecutor as evidence against the Zone9 bloggers:

• Stop censorship online campaign
• “Had Wael Ghonim been an Ethiopian” [an imaginary interview with Egyptian Internet activist] – 18 pages
• Training manual for defenders of civil liberties
• “The role of social media in the 2015 Ethiopia election” – 9 pages
• Digital security manual for human rights defenders – 18 pages
• Security-in-a-Box book [developed by Tactical Technology Collective]

These and many other documents were confiscated from the bloggers’ homes and computers, all of which were searched by authorities in the months leading up to their trial. Read the full list.

We all expected that their plan was to indict us with the charge of provoking public disorder. We thought the ceiling for our “crime” would be accusing us of violating Article 257/8 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. But no. We were formally charged under Ethiopia’s Terrorism Proclamation, particularly with violating Article 4, which can result in severe punishment of 15 years to life imprisonment.

A Bad Excuse Is Better Than None?

I think our story can be best explained by an Ethiopian folk tale about a hyena and a donkey.

Once upon a time a donkey and a hyena were drinking from the same stream of water. The belligerent hyena whined to the donkey that she was making his water filthy despite the fact that the hyena was drinking upstream. The donkey told the hyena, “stop looking for a reason to prey on me.” This too is our story: we are the donkey.

They arrested us without knowing anything other than our names. We genuinely believed that if they knew what we were doing, they might understand us. In that spirit, we even passed some of our writings to them through one of their agents prior to our detention. But I don’t think they read our writings. Our interrogators just desperately wanted us to plead guilty. Why would they do that? Maybe they want to keep us away from Ethiopian social media until after the upcoming national election in May 2015. 

For now, let me ponder our future. Will they release us? I will not dwell on the legal possibilities of our “acquittal”, but I will examine our hypothetical chances. Even though the Ethiopian Federal Police, which is an apparatus of the government, arrested us without having probable cause, they still thought they would find some sort of transgression.

As a matter of fact, they could not find anything incriminating even in the wildest interpretation of Ethiopia’s already broad anti-terrorism proclamation. But this did not prevent them from using it. The fact that they did not even deliver a coherent statement of our offenses when they appeared in court to charge us demonstrates that they do not have valid suspicion or evidence. Yet I do not believe that they will release us soon.

EPRDF (the ruling party) is bull-headed.[3] When they see that detainees have generated significant outside support and are critical of their governance, they will not release them, at least not without dehumanizing them. EPRDF is foolish like a child. Note that I am not saying the global support we received is not helping us. Your support is our daily bread. It is warming us like sunshine. I am sure the day shall come in which we say thank you. 

They are fearful. In the weeks leading up to our arrest, they accused us of planning a color revolution following the national election using their media. Though they must know our innocence regarding their fear of inciting violence after the upcoming election, they do not want to risk that there will be a backlash from their actions.

And they want us suffer. They want us to spend our time jail because we are strong critics of their policies. They do not have a sense of decency that would prevent them from handing down judgment on innocent people.

Read: Journal From an Ethiopian Prison, Part 1Learn more about the Zone9 case at the Trial Tracker Blog.

The six Zone9 bloggers in Addis Ababa, prior to their arrest. Befeqadu is third from left. Photo used with permission.

[1] Haramaya University in Ethiopia is an independent institution of higher education focused on economic development. More: http://www.haramaya.edu.et/about/ 

[2] Prison conditions were notoriously inhumane during the rule of Mengistu Haile Mariam, the former leader of Ethiopia who was ousted by the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front in 1991.]

[3] The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is an alliance of political parties that formed a join party coalition during the 1970s and 1980s.  The EPRDF has maintained power in Ethiopia’s Congress and Executive branches since 1991.