DEATH TOLL, TENSION RISE FOLLOWING PM HAILEMARIAM’S ORDERS FOR MILITARY TO TAKE MEASURES IN AMHARA REGION

Several people are reported to have been killed in various parts of the Amhara regional state in Northern Ethiopia, where an ongoing protest by the people is intensifying. The VOA Amharic service quoted a resident in Debarq yesterday that four people were when security officers fired live bullets at protesting civilians.

Over the last few days several reports on social media indicated a rising death toll following security crackdown against a stay-at-home protests in Bahir Dar and Gonder, the region’s capital and a historic city visited by thousands of tourists respectively.  Pictures coming from many cities and towns in the region also show protesting citizens, burning tyres and roadblocks.  Reports also indicate that up to 50 civilians were killed in the past one week only.

Tensions are on the rise following a statement given to state owned media by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in which he announced that he has ordered the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) to intervene to control the situation in the region, home to the second largest ethnic group in the country. In his speech PM Hailemariam blamed Ethiopia’s “outside enemies” for being the instigators to disrupt the country by providing “radicals with sacks full of money.” He further stated that the government will use “its full forces to bring the rule of law” into the region.

A day prior to PM Hailemariam’s statement, Sheger FM, a private radio based in Addis Abeba, reported that the regional state has requested a military intervention by the Federal government. Talking to the station, Nigusu Tilahun, the regional government’s Chief spokesperson, conceded that lives were lost in the recent protests but declined to give numbers. As a result of intensifying protests, the regional government requested the intervention of the federal army, Sheger FM quoted the spokesperson.

Accordingly reports indicate that the region is now divided into five zones and is placed under a military command.

Pictures circulating around social media show heavy artillery moving towards the state capital Bahir Dar, 550 North of Addis Abeba, and the nearby town of Gondar where the recent wave of #Amharaprotests originated late last month. Addis Standard could not independently verify the authenticity of those pictures. Internet is shut off in the whole region while locals fear government sanctioned phone call monitoring.

The #Amharaprotests began in late July when security forces tried to arrest leaders of the Wolkayit committee, a committee formed by the people of Wokayit to find solutions related to the border and identity questions of the Wolkayit community.

In the last few days tens of thousands of citizens in several cities and towns in Gojam and Gonder areas of the region have come out to the streets to protest the government. In what many see as the ultimate test of the ruling EPRDF protesters are also showing solidarity with the #Oromoprotests which began in Nov. 2015.

In the weekend of 6-7 August region wide protests both in Amhara and Oromia regions were met by violent crackdown by security forces. It’s reported that more than 100 civilians were killed in that weekend only, according to Amnesty International. In Bahir Dar only, more than 30 people were killed when a security guard opened fire at protesters. The government disputes that number. The stay-at-home protests in Bahir and Gonder followed the deadliest weekend, however in the last few days that too turned violent when security forces began breaking into houses in an attempt to force citizens and businesses to stop the stay-at-home protests.

Roadblock in Bahir Dar. Photo: Social Media 

Some reports claim that attacks against government institutions and party owned and affiliated businesses were witnessed in some cities and towns. There are also reports that young men and women are being arrested en mass by security forces.

Source: addisstandard

Boris Johnson refuses to seek the release of Brit kidnapped for 800 days in Ethiopia

The Foreign Secretary has refused to request the release of a British father who will today spend his 800^th day in unlawful detention in Ethiopia, after being kidnapped and rendered to the country by Ethiopian forces in 2014.

Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege, a father of three from London, disappeared in June 2014 while transiting though an international airport. Weeks later, Ethiopian officials admitted to the UK Foreign Office that they had illegally ‘rendered’ him to a secret prison in Ethiopia, in a process the UK Foreign Office has described in internal emails as “completely unacceptable”.

Mr Tsege appears to be being held under an illegal death sentence imposed in absentia in 2009 by the Ethiopian authorities when he was living in Islington with his family. There is no evidence that Ethiopia sought Mr Tsege’s extradition to Ethiopia when he was living in the UK.

In June 2016, then-Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond announced that he had raised the case during a visit to Ethiopia and “received a commitment from the Prime Minister that Mr Tsege will be allowed access to independent legal advice”.

However, international human rights charity Reprieve, which is assisting Mr Tsege, has informed the new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson that, three months later, legal access has still not taken place and that prison authorities have not yet provided him with a pen and paper he needs to write to a lawyer.

Last week, Mr Johnson published an open letter in response to the large number of people contacting the FCO about Mr Tsege’s case. He indicated that he would follow his predecessor’s approach to the case and said, “We will continue to press the Ethiopian Government as necessary to ensure that Mr Tsege has access to the promised legal representation.” He refused to call for Mr Tsege’s release, claiming that “Britain does not interfere in the legal systems of other countries by challenging convictions.”

Since Mr Tsege’s kidnap, the UK Foreign Office has given various reasons for refusing to request his release, despite having done so in comparable consular cases and in cases of non-British nationals. In September 2014, Philip Hammond claimed he was “not entitled” to demand Mr Tsege’s release, and in December 2014 that “seeking Mr Tsege’s release would be counterproductive”.

Mr Tsege’s in absentia death sentence was imposed following a trial which was widely criticized and described by attending US diplomats as “lacking in basic elements of due process” and a form of “political retaliation”. The Ethiopian Government has previously stated that “there is no appeal process” available for Mr Tsege, and it is “not possible” for him to challenge his death sentence.

UN experts have said that he was sentenced to death “without due process” and in violation of his rights under the Convention Against Torture. Experts from the UN’s Human Rights Council and the European Parliament have both called for Mr Tsege to be released.

Commenting, Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said:

“Boris Johnson has missed a golden opportunity to make a fresh start on Andy Tsege’s case. His approach, and Philip Hammond’s before him, ignores the fact that Andy is a victim of a series of crimes, not a criminal. Andy has been subjected to a catalogue of illegal acts – from an in absentia death sentence to kidnap, rendition, torture, televised interrogation and continued arbitrary detention – all without access to a lawyer, proper consular visits or contact with his family in London. 800 days after his kidnap, enough is enough – the FCO must get him back home to his children.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Reprieve is an international human rights organization. Reprieve’s London office can be contacted on: communications [at] reprieve.org.uk / +44 (0) 207 553 8140. Reprieve US, based in New York City, can be contacted on Katherine [dot] oshea [at] reprieve.org / +1 917 855 8064.

2. Further detail on Mr Tsege’s case can be found on the Reprieve website, here.

Source: reprieve.org.uk

ዘመኑ የኛ ነው፣ የነርሱ ዘመን አልፏል - ( የሚሊዮኖች ድምጽ)

ለስሙ ሕገ መንግስት አለን ይባላል። ሆኖም ሕግ መንግስቱ ወረቀት ብቻ ነው። ገዢዎች፣ በጠራራ ጸሐይ በተግባር ሕገ መንግስቱን ቀዳደው ጥለዉታል። ዳኞች ሕግን አጣቅሰው ሳይሆን የሚፈርዱት፣ ከደህንነት ጽ/ቤት የተሰጣቸውን መመሪያ ነው የሚያነቡት። ዜጎች ሕግ መንግስቱ የሚፈቅድላቸውን የመጻፍ፣ የመናገር የመደራጀት የሃይማኖት ነጻነታቸውን በመጠቀማቸው ፣ ሽብርተኞች እየተባሉ በገፍ እየታሰሩ ነው። ዜጎችን በወህኒ ቤቶች አሰቃቂ ድብደባና ቶርቸር ይፈጸምባቸዋል።

አዎን ለነጻነትና ለፍትህ ብዙ ወገኖቻችን ትልቅ ዋጋ እየከፈሉ ነው። ሆኖም በጥቂቶች መስዋትነት ብቻ ለዉጥ አይመጣም። ትግል የሁላችንም አስተዋጾን ይጠይቃል። ትግል የወደቁትን ማንሳት፣ የተበተኑትን መሰብሰብ፣ የተጎዱት መርዳት፣ የታሰሩትን ማሰብና መደገፉን ይጠይቃል። ትግል ቅብብሎሽ ነው። አንዱ ሲደክምና ሲታሰር ሌላው ከተዘናጋና ተስፋ ከቆረጠ፣ ዉጤት አያመጣም። ሆኖም እንደ ዱላ ቅብብሎሽ፣ አንዲ ሲታሰር ፣ አንዱ ሲዝል ሌላው ዱላዉን ተቀብሎ የሚቀጥል ከሆነ፣ ያኔ የአምባገነኖች ፍጻሜ ነው የሚሆነው።

እነ ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ ሲታስሩ፣ እነ እስክንደር ነጋ ፣ እነ አንዱዋለም፣ እነ ኦልባና ለሌሳ፣ እነ አንድዱዋለም አራጌ ተነሱ። እነ አንዱዋለም ሲታሰሩ እነ አብርሃ ደስታ፣ እነ ሃብታሙ አያሌው፣ እነ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ፣ እነ ዘመነ ምህረት፣ እነ ዞን ዘጠኞች ተነሱ። እነ ሃብታሙ፣ እነ የሺዋስ እነ ዘመነ ምህረት ሲታሰሩ፣ ሌሎች ተነሱ። በአሁኑ ጊዜ በኦሮሚያ እና በአማራው ክልል በተነሳው ተቃዉሞ በሺሆች የሚቆጠሩ ወደ ወህኒ ወየወረዱ ነው። ዮናትን ተስፋዬ፣ ጌታቸው ሽፈራው፣ በቀለ ገርባ፣ ስንታየሁ ቸኮል፣ መርቱ ጉቱ፣ ዘሩሁን ገሰሰ ..እያልን ቆጥረን ልኝቸርሳቸው አንችልም።

ህወሃት የሕዝብ ጥያቄ ከማክበር ይልቅ ማሰር አባዜው ሆኗል። ሆኖም ግን ዜጎንች በማሰር አገዛዙ ፋታ አላገኘም። የለዉጥ ጥያቄም አልተዳፈነም።

ሚሊዮኖች ነን። ሕወሃቶች ሚሊዮኖችን ሊያስሩ አይችሉም። እኛ ከተነቃነቅን ፣ አገዛዙ የበሰበሰ ፣ በሕዝብ በጣም የተጠላ፣ በስለላ መረብና በአሜሪካኖችን ቻይናዎች ድጋፍ ላይ ብቻ የተመሰረተ በመሆኑ፣ እፍ ተብሎ በቀላሉ የሚወድቅ አገዛዝ ነው። የስርዓቱ ጥንካሬ እኛን መበታተኑና እና ተስፋ ማስቆረጡ ነው።

ህዝብ በድፍን ጎንደር እና ድፍን ጎጃም፣ በወለጋ፣ በምሀራብ ሸዋ፣ በምእራብ አርሲ፣ በሃረረጌና በባሌ ድምጹን እያሰማ ነው። ተቃዉሞን በነቂስ ወጥቶ በአገዛዙ ላይ እያቀረበ ነው። ኢትዮጵያዉይን በአጋዚ ጦር ጭካኔያዊ እርምጃ በመቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ ሕይወታቸው እየተቀጠፈ ነው።

በተቀረው የኢትዮጵያ ግዛት ያለን ሁሉ የምንነሳበት ጊዜ አሁን ነው። በአሁኑ ጊዜ በጎንደር እና በጎጃም የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል ለመፈጸም፣ ህወሃቶች ታንኮችንና ከባባድ መሳሪያዎችን እያጓጓዙ ነው። በአዲስ አበባ፣ በአዳማ፣ በጂማ፣ በደሴ፣ በድረዳዋ፣ በአዋሳ፣ በአርባ ምንጭ፣ በደብረ ብርሃን ሌሎች የኢትዮጵያ ከተሞች የምንኖር ይሄ በአቶ ሃይለማሪያም ተእዛዝ እየተደረገ ሕዝብን በጅምላ መጨረሽ በአስቸኳይ እንዲቆም ማድረግ እንችላለን። እኛ እያለን ወገኖቻችንን ሲያርዱ ዝም ብለን ማየት የለብንም። ልናስቆማቸው ያስፈልጋል።

እነርሱ ጥቂቶች ናቸው። እኛ ሚሊዮኖች ነን። እነርሱ በጥላቻና በክፋት የተሞሉ ናቸው። እኛ ፍቅርና ምህረትን እንሰብካለን። እነርሱ በዘረኝነት የተለከፉ ናቸው። እኛ ሁሉንም በስብእናዉና በኢትዮጵያዊነቱ እናሰባስባለን። እንነሳ። እንቀሳቀስ። እግዚአብሄር የሰጠንን አገራችንን ከጨለማ ነጻ እናውጣ። ከሚሊዮኖች አንዱ እንሁን !!!!