Why Ethiopians Don’t Trust the TPLF (Aklog Birara) 6

The regime breeds enemies rather than friends

Ethiopia is most likely to face immense challenges in the years ahead from a man-made governance hurdle of ethnic and religious divisions, a regime that is unwilling to change and an opposition that lacks a national purpose and suffers from fragmentation and wise leadership. “It is probable that the new government will be more fragile, the security forces more influential and internal stability endangered,” says ICG. This is generally true in the Ogaden, Gambella, the Omo Valley, Oromia and pockets of the Amhara and Beni-Shangul regions. In its 2013 report to the UN, the Ethiopian Women’s Human Rights Alliance (EWHRA) points out that “The Anti-Terrorist Law allows the government to promote policies which foster ethnic and religious hostilities and to label opposition groups as terrorist organizations, thereby eliminating all dissent and creating an environment of fear of reprisals for challenging the government.” Especially worrisome is deliberate provocation of ethnic conflict that pities one group against another; and ethnic cleansing and displacement that forces people to revolt. “Ethnicity permeates politics of the country and the ruling party has been unable and unwilling to create a broader political base in this complex and diverse country. The current party dominates the political scene and governs through limited popular participation.”

In short, for Ethiopia to protect its national unity and territorial integrity, the TPLF/EPRDF has no other choice but embrace Ethiopian nationalism and Ethiopian long-term interest. It must recognize that trust of the vast majority won’t occur without genuine reform. The history of the core group, the TPLF, which commands political and economic power will not happen through fear and repression. It facilitated the secession of Eritrea and made Ethiopia land-locked. It mobilized Ethiopians, sacrificed the lives of 70,000 to 100,000 lives and squandered billions of Birr for a war whose end game proved to be a disaster. I should like to ask the reader a simple question. If the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his cohort had the resolve to defend Badme, an Ethiopian territory in the Tigray Region, what motivated his successor, Prime Minister Haile Mariam Dessalegn to cede Ethiopian territory that previous governments defended to the Sudan? I refer to the secret deal of transferring Ethiopian territory to the Sudan and by offering the false argument that it was simply “implementing agreements reached by previous governments.” The new PM offers no credible evidence.

Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam, former President of Ethiopia and the only surviving head of state rejected the story and asked the ruling party to provide concrete evidence. Therefore, the ruling party has no integrity. In the later example, it decided to take the Sudanese position rather than siding with the Ethiopian people and defending Ethiopia’s national interests. Ironically and regardless of the rhetoric the Sudanese Government has close military ties with Egypt. Given looming dangers, especially threats from the Arab World (Egypt is the leader), the governing party must change its ways now. It must listen to dissenting voices and accommodate all stakeholders in order to survive and to gain legitimacy. Ethiopia possesses untapped resources and deserves to join breakout nations that are on the way to prosperity. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Sub-Saharan Africa was considered a “basket case.” Today, the region is home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world. Ethiopia is included in this newly emerging club. However, as the above analysis shows, it lags behind in numerous critical areas, freedom, political pluralism, the use of information technology for development, per capita income, etc. Ninety percent of the population is poor. Thousands of young people leave the country each year. This in itself shows that the foundation of its growth is shallow. “A nation can climb the ladder (of growth) for a decade, two decades, three decades, only to hit a snake and fall back to the bottom, where it must start over again, and may be again and again.” There is no doubt that quantitatively, Ethiopia grew fast in the late 1960s and fell in the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. It began to climb up again since 2005. There is no certainty that growth will continue at the same level unless fundamental reforms are carried-out.

Commentary Part III will focus on why squandering Ethiopia’s natural resources is dangerous for the governing party.

Witness - the Price of Mass Surveillance

PRESS RELEASE

Photo: http://www.ericsson.com/

Millenium Villages Project, Deritu, Kenya

Abeba, a 31-year-old Muslim woman who worked for a local government branch of Ethiopia's youth and sports office, was at work when Ethiopian security officials detained her and took her to a military camp.

The authorities accused her of mobilizing Ethiopian Muslims - often ethnic Oromos like herself - against the government, Abeba said. When Abeba denied the allegation, the officers played a recording of a phone conversation she had with her sister, who lives in Yemen. The conversation was about day-to-day matters, Abeba said, but the authorities insisted that Abeba was talking in code, which peaceful Ethiopian activists often do to stay out of jail.

Abeba said she was locked in a small cell. That night, she was raped four times - she doesn't know by whom. It was dark, and she couldn't see.

A year ago, the world was rocked by revelations of massive spying by the United States National Security Agency. While few in the US worry that the surveillance will result in threats to their lives or their families, that's not true in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia - one of the world's most repressive countries - has virtually unlimited access to its citizens' phone records, thanks to China-made surveillance technology. A new Human Rights Watch report, "They Know Everything We Do': Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia, based on more than 100 interviews with victims of abuse and former intelligence officials, shows how authorities use access to mobile data and call recordings to harass and arrest people they believe oppose the government. This knowledge is even more disturbing given that torture of political prisoners happens all too often in Ethiopia's prisons.

Recorded phone calls with family members and friends - particularly those with foreign phone numbers-are played during abusive interrogations in which people are often accused of belonging to banned organizations.

Phone networks have been shut down during peaceful protests and protesters' locations have been pinpointed using information from their mobile phones. Intercepted emails and phone calls have been submitted as evidence in trials under the country's flawed anti-terrorism law, although it seems no warrants were obtained to collect this information.

Spyware developed by British, German, and Italian companies has also been used to target Ethiopians living abroad. Once a person's computer is infected by such spyware, security and intelligence agencies have nearly unfettered access to files, information, and activity on the target's computer. They can log keystrokes and passwords and turn on a device's webcam and the microphone, effectively turning a computer into a listening device. This software, used to target Ethiopians living in the United Kingdom, the United States, Norway and Switzerland, has been used to capture Skype conversations that have appeared on pro-government websites.

This spyware can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ethiopia is an impoverished country with chronic food shortages, and received over $4 billion in development assistance in 2013 alone. Efforts should be directed at improving the rights of its population, not at using the latest technology to undermine those rights.

In late 2011, Ethiopia's government began interfering with the rights of the country's Muslim minority by meddling in the activities of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. In response, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopia's Muslims, who make up about 40 to 45 percent of the population, took to the streets in protest. It was these protests that authorities accused Abeba of helping to organize.

Abeba believes she was arrested because she received emails from Yemen. The security officials had printed out the emails but couldn't read Abeba's native Afan Oromo language and even asked her what was written, Abeba said. The fact that the e-mails came from an Arab country might have been enough for them. The officials also used her Facebook activity as evidence against her: Abeba had posted an Al Jazeera article about the Muslim protests in Ethiopia.

That time, she said, they beat her and let her go.

The second time, she was arrested after speaking on the phone with her sister in Yemen, she believes. Officials listened to her ring tone, which was religious, and called it "illegal." Then the officers examined her phone and said her many contacts in Arab countries -- her sister in Yemen, a brother in Oman and cousins in Saudi Arabia -- were further evidence of her guilt. But having relatives abroad is common for Ethiopian Muslims because so many flee their country's poverty for potential work in Arab lands.

The officials didn't consider that Abeba lived in a region of Ethiopia where few protests had occurred. They detained her for three months. Shortly after her release, she fled to Kenya.

Abeba seems lost and helpless; her family doesn't even know she fled to Kenya. She is all alone there. She would very much like to call home to let them know she is okay, but she won't. She's afraid the call will be traced.

HRW - Ethiopia Eavesdrops On Phone Calls, E-Mail

Addis Ababa — A new report from Human Rights Watch says Ethiopia is using some of the world's most advanced surveillance software to monitor communications from Ethiopians at home and abroad.

Human Rights Watch says that the Ethiopian government is spying on its citizens and monitoring the activities of Ethiopians in the diaspora by using high tech software from China, Italy and Germany.

Felix Horne is the Horn of Africa researcher with the international human rights organization. He says the Ethiopian government has unlimited access to records of phone calls and emails of Ethiopians at home and abroad:

"Inside Ethiopia, its control of its Chinese developed telecom system results in having unfettered access to phone records and metadata of all phone calls in the country," he said. "Outside the country, they are using western-made technology to target the activities of very specific members of the diaspora. These technologies are being provided by a company in Italy, called HackingTeam and a company in Germany called Gamma."

Ethiopia's telecommunication is monopolized by the state-owned Ethio Telecom. A sim card can only be obtained in Ethiopia after registering personal details, making it easy for the government to identify domestic callers, according to Human Rights Watch.

A U.S. citizen of Ethiopian origin filed a lawsuit against the Ethiopian government last month, saying his computer had been hacked and he had been spied on for more than four months.

Horne says that certain ethnic groups feel particularly at risk when answering phone calls from abroad.

He says, "One of the things that we found in our research is that individuals that receive phone calls from abroad are often targeted and accused of talking to banned organizations or of plotting something against the government, despite there being little evidence to that effect."

Getachew Redda, an adviser to Ethiopia's prime minister, denies the Human Rights Watch report. He says the group has "made it a habit to accuse Ethiopia of almost everything that goes wrong in the region" and it has a "negative knee-jerk reaction about any developments in the country."

He adds that the government "would not waste resources in eavesdropping conversations of opposition figures" and that the accusations are "pure hogwash

With new Chinese cyber-tools, Ethiopia more easily spies on its people

Human rights advocates worry that powerful surveillance technology is spreading in Africa, where many countries are becoming more authoritarian.

March 26, 2014 by Mark Clayton

BOSTON

Ethiopia’s government is deploying cutting-edge cyber and phone surveillance technologies from China and other nations to conduct widespread spying aimed at suppressing political dissent, according to a new report.

Using modern technology from Chinese telecom giant ZTE, Ethiopia’s state telecom company has spent the last five years meshing that gear with additional spy software from European suppliers to create government surveillance tools spanning social media, phone, and Internet communications, says the report by New-York based Human Rights Watch.

With that powerful system now in place, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition is using its new capacities to ferret out and harass its political opponents, according to the report titled “They Know Everything We Do: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia.”

Ethiopia’s authoritarian regime has long watched its people. But the new technology allows it to far more easily spy on citizens, business people, politicians, journalists, and others – including, as it appears, the vast network of Ethiopians living abroad.

In the past year, a swath of East African nations from Ethiopia to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have been under criticism for tougher policies on free expression and for cracking down on multifarious civil society and NGO groups. Human rights monitors are concerned that new cheap and powerful spyware is already starting to be acquired and used by more African governments.

Internet usage in Ethiopia is still in its infancy with less than 1.5 percent of Ethiopians connected to the Internet and fewer than 27,000 broadband subscribers countrywide.

By contrast, neighboring Kenya has close to 40 percent access, the report notes. Only about a quarter of Ethiopia’s population has cell phones compared to 72 percent in Kenya.

Yet the chilling effect of surveillance on free speech is most significant in Ethiopia, an essentially one-party state where many now live in fear of answering any phone call from overseas – or expressing their true feelings on the phone. Many worry they will be hauled in to a police station and accused of affiliation with banned groups, according to the HRW report, which was based on 100 interviews with Ethiopians.

“One day they arrested me and they showed me everything. They showed me a list of all my phone calls and they played a conversation I had with my brother,” a former member of an Oromo opposition party, who is now a refugee in Kenya, told interviewers in May 2013.

“They arrested me because we talked about politics on the phone. It was the first phone I ever owned, and I thought I could finally talk freely,” the man said.

Governments around the world engage in surveillance, but in most countries judicial and legislative mechanisms are in place to protect privacy and other rights, the report found. Yet in Ethiopia “these mechanisms are largely absent,” HRW said.

Most of the technologies used to monitor telecom activity in Ethiopia have been provided since 2003 by ZTE, the report says. The company did not respond to HRW inquiries about steps it might be taking to address and prevent Ethiopian human rights abuses linked to unlawful mobile surveillance.

“Some of these Chinese and other companies have been complicit in the worst human rights abuses in Iran and Syria by providing these regimes with all too often hidden [cyber-surveillance] tools of oppression,” says Toby Dershowitz, vice president at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington advocacy group in an e-mail interview.

At the same time, the report identifies some European companies as having supplied Ethiopia with advanced cyber surveillance technology used to target Ethiopians at home and abroad.

Indeed, Ethiopia appears to have acquired FinFisher surveillance software from the United Kingdom and German-based Gamma International – as well as Italy-based Hacking Team’s Remote Control System.

Such tools provide security and intelligence agencies with access to files, information, and activity on the infected target’s computer. They can log keystrokes, passwords, and turn on a webcam or microphone, essentially converting a personal computer into a microphone or other monitoring device.

Yet Ethiopia is just one among many nations deploying such technology, says Eva Galperin, a global policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights organization in San Francisco.

“It’s important to understand that Hacking Team and FinFisher are not the only players in this game,” Ms. Galperin says. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

John Bumgarner, a former intelligence officer and cyber conflict expert, agrees. He says that US companies are part of the pattern, too.

“This report points a finger at the Chinese companies selling this hardware,” Mr. Bumgarner says. “But all they’re really doing is taking a page from the playbook of US companies that sell similar kinds of software.”

Powerful spyware is proliferating and is “virtually unregulated at the global level and there are insufficient national controls or limits on their export,” Human Rights Watch said. Rights groups last year filed a complaint at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development alleging such technologies have been deployed to target activists in Bahrain, for instance.

Researchers at Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto-based cyber research group, say they have identified FinFisher command and control servers in over 30 countries and have analyzed malware samples that appear to target users in places like Vietnam and Malaysia. Gamma has stated that it only sells its software to select countries for law enforcement purposes.

Human Rights Watch letters to the Addis Ababa government received no response. In response to Citizen Lab research and inquiry about the Ethiopian government’s use of FinSpy, an Ethiopian government spokesperson said in a statement to media, “I cannot tell you what type of instruments we’re going to use or not. I’ve no idea, and even if I did, I wouldn’t talk to you about it.”

Hacking Team, in public statements, says that it only sells its software to government law enforcement or intelligence agencies, not individuals or businesses. Governments can even monitor the use of the software via an “audit trail,” allowing government officials to monitor how employees are using the software so as to identify any “abuse” of the technology.

Yet Ethiopians living in the UK, United States, Norway, and Switzerland are among those known to have been infected with spyware. Lawsuits have been filed in the US and UK alleging illegal wiretapping, the report says.

Just last month, a Washington man with links to Ethiopia’s opposition party sued the Ethiopian government in US federal court, claiming government agents deployed espionage software to hack his personal computer and spy for months on his private communications.

The suit claims it found on his computer some 2,000 files linked to spyware called FinSpy, as well as signs his Skype calls, web-browsing history, and e-mails had been spied on in violation of US law.

“The Ethiopian government is using control of its telecom system as a tool to silence dissenting voices,” said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The foreign firms that are providing products and services that facilitate Ethiopia’s illegal surveillance are risking complicity in rights abuses.”

The Internet, Twitter, Facebook and other social media services figured prominently in the uprisings in Arab countries from Tunisia to Libya, and Egypt to Syria. But autocratic regimes are increasingly using them not to empower citizens, but instead build “electronic curtains” to repress their own populations, the report said.

In Syria, the government has waged a cyber battle against its own citizens and media beyond its borders, utilizing advanced cyber attack and surveillance techniques to identify and sometimes torture or kill dissidents.

The surveillance technologies “are not only used to stifle debate but to surveil, hunt down and even torture those whose views differ from these governments,” Mr. Dershowitz writes. “Those who don’t like this preview won’t like the movie to come if these companies and countries are not held accountable.”

HRW: Foreign Technology Used to Spy on Ethiopian Opposition inside Country, Abroad

HRW: Foreign Technology Used to Spy on Ethiopian Opposition inside Country, Abroad

Ethiopia: Telecom Surveillance Chills Rights
Foreign Technology Used to Spy on Opposition inside Country, Abroad

(Berlin, March 25, 2014) – The Ethiopian government is using foreign technology to bolster its widespread telecom surveillance of opposition activists and journalists both in Ethiopia and abroad, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 100-page report, “‘They Know Everything We Do’: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia,” details the technologies the Ethiopian government has acquired from several countries and uses to facilitate surveillance of perceived political opponents inside the country and among the diaspora. The government’s surveillance practices violate the rights to freedom of expression, association, and access to information. The government’s monopoly over all mobile and Internet services through its sole, state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, facilitates abuse of surveillance powers.

“The Ethiopian government is using control of its telecom system as a tool to silence dissenting voices,” said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The foreign firms that are providing products and services that facilitate Ethiopia’s illegal surveillance are risking complicity in rights abuses.”

The report draws on more than 100 interviews with victims of abuses and former intelligence officials in Ethiopia and 10 other countries between September 2012 and February 2014. Because of the government’s complete control over the telecom system, Ethiopian security officials have virtually unlimited access to the call records of all telephone users in Ethiopia. They regularly and easily record phone calls without any legal process or oversight.

Recorded phone calls with family members and friends – particularly those with foreign phone numbers – are often played during abusive interrogations in which people who have been arbitrarily detained are accused of belonging to banned organizations. Mobile networks have been shut down during peaceful protests and protesters’ locations have been identified using information from their mobile phones.

A former opposition party member told Human Rights Watch: “One day they arrested me and they showed me everything. They showed me a list of all my phone calls and they played a conversation I had with my brother. They arrested me because we talked about politics on the phone. It was the first phone I ever owned, and I thought I could finally talk freely.”

The government has curtailed access to information by blocking websites that offer any independent or critical analysis of political events in Ethiopia. In-country testing that Human Rights Watch and Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto research center focusing on internet security and rights, carried out in 2013 showed that Ethiopia continues to block websites of opposition groups, media sites, and bloggers. In a country where there is little in the way of an independent media, access to such information is critical.

Ethiopian authorities using mobile surveillance have frequently targeted the ethnic Oromo population. Taped phone calls have been used to compel people in custody to confess to being part of banned groups, such as the Oromo Liberation Front, which seeks greater autonomy for the Oromo people, or to provide information about members of these groups. Intercepted emails and phone calls have been submitted as evidence in trials under the country’s flawed anti-terrorism law, without indication that judicial warrants were obtained.

The authorities have also detained and interrogated people who received calls from phone numbers outside of Ethiopia that may not be in Ethio Telecom databases. As a result, many Ethiopians, particularly in rural areas, are afraid to call or receive phone calls from abroad, a particular problem for a country that has many nationals working in foreign countries.

Most of the technologies used to monitor telecom activity in Ethiopia have been provided by the Chinese telecom giant ZTE, which has been in the country since at least 2000 and was its exclusive supplier of telecom equipment from 2006 to 2009. ZTE is a major player in the African and global telecom industry, and continues to have a key role in the development of Ethiopia’s fledgling telecom network. ZTE has not responded to Human Rights Watch inquiries about whether it is taking steps to address and prevent human rights abuses linked to unlawful mobile surveillance in Ethiopia.

Several European companies have also provided advanced surveillance technology to Ethiopia, which have been used to target members of the diaspora. Ethiopia appears to have acquired and used United Kingdom and Germany-based Gamma International’s FinFisher and Italy-based Hacking Team’s Remote Control System. These tools give security and intelligence agencies access to files, information, and activity on the infected target’s computer. They can log keystrokes and passwords and turn on a device’s webcam and microphone, effectively turning a computer into a listening device. Ethiopians living in the UK, United States, Norway, and Switzerland are among those known to have been infected with this software, and cases have been brought in the US and UK alleging illegal wiretapping. One Skype conversation gleaned from the computers of infected Ethiopians has appeared on pro-government websites.

Gamma has not responded to Human Rights Watch inquiries as to whether it has any meaningful process in place to restrict the use or sale of these products to governments with poor human rights records. While Hacking Team applies certain precautions to limit abuse of its products, it has not confirmed whether and how those precautions applied to sales to the Ethiopian government.

“Ethiopia’s use of foreign technologies to target opposition members abroad is a deeply troubling example of this unregulated global trade, creating serious risks of abuse,” Ganesan said. “The makers of these tools should take immediate steps to address their misuse; including investigating the use of these tools to target the Ethiopian diaspora and addressing the human rights impact of their Ethiopia operations.”

Such powerful spyware remains virtually unregulated at the global level and there are insufficient national controls or limits on their export, Human Rights Watch said. In 2013, rights groups filed a complaint at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development alleging such technologies had been deployed to target activists in Bahrain, and Citizen Lab has found evidence of use of these tools in over 25 countries.

The internationally protected rights to privacy, and freedom of expression, information, and association are enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution. However, Ethiopia either lacks or ignores judicial and legislative mechanisms to protect people from unlawful government surveillance. This danger is made worse by the widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment against political detainees in Ethiopian detention centers.

The extent of Ethiopia’s use of surveillance technologies may be limited by capacity issues and a lack of trust among key government ministries, Human Rights Watch said. But as capacity increases, Ethiopians may increasingly see far more pervasive unlawful use of mobile and email surveillance.

The government’s actual control is exacerbated by the perception among many Ethiopians that government surveillance is omnipresent, resulting in considerable self-censorship, with Ethiopians refraining from openly communicating on a variety of topics across telecom networks. Self-censorship is especially common in rural Ethiopia, where mobile phone coverage and access to the Internet is very limited. The main mode of government control is through extensive networks of informants and a grassroots system of surveillance. This rural legacy means that many rural Ethiopians view mobile phones and other telecommunications technologies as just another tool to monitor them, Human Rights Watch found.

“As Ethiopia’s telecom system grows, there is an increasing need to ensure that proper legal protections are followed and that security officials don’t have unfettered access to people’s private communications,” Ganesan said. “Adoption of Internet and mobile technologies should support democracy, facilitating the spread of ideas and opinions and access to information, rather than being used to stifle people’s rights.”

“‘They Know Everything We Do’: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia,” is available at:
http://hrw.org/node/123977

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Ethiopia and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/ethiopia

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Internet freedom, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/topic/free-speech/internet-freedom

ሃያ ሦስት የስቃይ፤ የሰቆቃና የእልቂትና ዓመታት

የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በፋሽስቱ ህወሓት ብልሹ አስተዳደርና አምባገነናዊ አገዛዝ ስር ወድቆ በኑሮ ውድነትና በረሃብ አለንጋ እየተገረፈ፣ ሰብኣዊና ዲሞክራሲያዊ መብቱ ተነጥቆ ለአፈናና ለእስራት እየተዳረገ፣ ሉዓላዊ ክብሩ ተደፍሮ ለም መሬቱንና አንጡራ ሃብቱን እየተሸነሸነና እየተቦረቦረ ለባዕድ እየተሸጠ፣ በገዛ ሀገሩ ተፈናቃይና የውጭ እጅ ተመልካች ሆኖ ለስደትና ለእንግልት እየተዳረገ እነሆ ዛሬ ከ23 ዓመት በላይ የሰቆቃ፣ የእልቂትና የመከራ ዓመታት ተቆጠሩ።

ለአለፉት 23 ዓመታት የደፈረሰው ፖለቲካችን ወደ ጭቃነት እየተቀየረ ስለመሆኑም ምንም ምስክር አያሻውም።ፋሽስቱ ወያኔ ከሀገር ሉዓላዊነት እስከ ታሪካችን፣ ከባንዲራችን እስከ እንደ ሕዝብና እንደ ሀገር ያለን ደረጃ መቀመቅ አውርዶታል። አንዳንዶቻችን እንደዚህ ዘመን ትውልድ አባልነታችን ያለፈውን መለወጥ፣ ዛሬን የሰውነት ደረጀችን በጠበቀ ሁኔታ መኖርና ነገንም ላልተወለዱ ልጆቻችን መልክ አስይዞ ለማውረስ ከቁጥጥራችን እየወጣ መሆኑን በግልጽ እንመለከታለን። በሌላ ወገን ወያኔዎቹ የአለፉት 23 ዓመታት የአንድ ጀምበር ያህል አጥረውባቸው፤ ተጨማሪ 40 አመታትን ለመግዛት በማለም ሲንፈራገጡና በቀቢጸ ተስፋ ህዝብን ለማማለል ሲሞክሩ እያየንና እየሰማን ነው። ስንራብ መጥገባችንን ይነግሩናል። ስንታረዝ ደራርበን መጎናፀፋችን ይታያቸዋል። ሀገራችን ከአለም ሀገሮች ተርታ በሁሉም መስኮች ለማለት በሚያስደፍር ደረጃ በማይታመን ፍጥነት እየወጣች ወደ ግርጌ ስትወረወር፤ ወንበዴዎቹ ወያኔወች ግን ሀገራችን ተሞሸረች አማራች ይሉናል። የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ሲረግጡት የሚደቅን ቅጠል ያህል በመቁጠር ከህግና ከአመክንዮ ውጭ በማን አለብኝነት ሕዝባችንን በንግድ ድርጅቶቻቸው እየገፈፉ እርቃኑን አስቀርተውታል።

ጉጅሌው ወያኔ ሥልጣን ሲይዝ፣ ከፎከረባቸው አንዱ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በቀን ሶስቴ የሚበላበትን ሁኔት ፈጥሮ ከረሀብ በአጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ የሚገላገልበትን ባዶ ቃል ኪዳን ገብቶ ነበር። ነገር ግን ዛሬ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በቀን ሶስቴ አበሳውን እየበላ ይገኛል። ምግብማ ከየት ተገኝቶ! ረሀቡ፣ ጠኔው ከዛሬ ሀያ ዓመት ሁኔታ በሶስት ዕጥፍ ጨምሮ፣ ዛሬ እስከ 25 ሚሊዮን ሕዝብ ጦሙን የሚያድርባት አገር ስለሆነች በየጊዜው የተባበሩት መንግስታትና የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቶች ከሚያወጡት መግለጫ መረዳት ይቻላል። ዛሬማ፣ ነጻ ገበያ ብሎ የፎከረብን ነጻነት ተረስቶ የዘይትና የስኳር ዋጋ እስከመቆጣጠር ገብቷል። ከመብራት፣ ውሃና ኔትዎርክም ብሶ ህዝብ በእጦት ከፍተኛ ስቃይ ውስጥ ይገኛል። በቅርቡም በመላ ሃገሪቱ መብራት፣ ውሃና ኔትዎርክ እጦትን አስመልክቶ ሰልፍ ሊወጣ ቅድመ ዝግጅቶች እየተገባደዱ እንደሆነም እየተሰማ ነው። ከዚህ በላይ የጨለማ ጊዜ የለም።

የወያኔ አገዛዝ ለአለፉት 23 ዓመታት የሀገሪቱን ብሄራዊ ጥቅም አሳልፎ በመስጠትም በተደጋጋሚ ብሄራዊ ክህደት ሲፈጽም የቆየ ቡድን ነው። ይህንን ብሄራዊ ክህደት ሲፈጽም ካለማወቅ፤ ከችኮላ ወይም በደመነፍስ ከመጓዝ የተሠራ ስህተት አይደለም። ከአጠቃላይ የፓለቲካ ስትራተጂውና ግብ ጋር የተያያዘ አካሄድ ስለመሆኑ መስካሪ አያሻም። ፋሽስቱ ህወሓት በህዝብ የተተፋ ቡድን በመሆኑ የሀገሪቱን ፓለቲካና ኤኮኖሚ ለመቆጣጠር የውጭ ኃይሎችን የገንዘብ፤ የወታደራዊና የዲፕሎማሲያዊ ድጋፍ ስለሚሻ ነው የሀገሪቷን ብሄራዊ ጥቅሞች መረን በለቀቀና ድፍረት በተሞላበት መልክ ለውጭ ኃይሎች በየጊዜው አሳልፎ የሚሰጠው።ለዚህም ነው የምግብ እጥረት ያለባት የሀገራችንን ሰፋፊ ድንግል መሬቶቿን ለሀገሪቷ ዜጎች ከልክሎና አፈናቅሎ ለመካከለኛው ምሥራቅና ለእስያ ሀገሮች ልማታዊ ድርጅቶች በነፃ በሚባል ደረጃ እስከ 99 ዓመት በሚደርስ ውል ፈርሞ እየሸጠ የሚገኘው። ሰፊ ለም የድንበር መሬታችንንም ቆርሶ ለባዕዳን በመሸጥ ላይም ለመሆኑ ከሰሞኑ ለሱዳን ተላልፎ የተሰጠው መሬት ማስረጃ ነው።

በርግጥ የተደራረበ ጭቆናና መከራ ያንገሸገሸውና በልቡ የሸፈተው ህዝብ የጥቂት አምባገነኖችና ሰው በላ መሪዎች የባርነት ቀንበር ተሸክሞ ዘላለም መኖር እንደማይችል ግልፅ እየሆነ መጥቷል። በመሆኑም እንደ እሳተ ጎመራ ውስጡ ውስጡን እየተብላላ ቆይቶ ዛሬ ሊፈነዳ የተቀራበውን የህዝብ ዓመፅ መለብለብ የማይቀርላቸው መሆኑን በውል የተረዳው የጉጅሌው ወያኔ ቡድን ከመቼውም በላይ በፍርሃትና በጭንቀት ተውጠው እንዳበደ ውሻ መቅበዝበዝ፣ መወራጨት፣ መናከስና መተራመስ እንደ ጀመሩ በጋሃድ እየታየ ነው። ባለፈው ሳምንት በሰማያዊ ፖርቲ ሴት አመራርና አባላት መሪነት የታየውን አመጽ ተከትሎ ፋሽስቱ ወያኔ የወሰደው እርምጃ ለዚህ በቂ ማሳያ ነው። ሌላው የአዋጅ ጋጋታ፣ የዉሸት እምብልታ፣ ዜጎችን ያላንዳች ምክንያት ማስፈራራት፣ እስር ቤት ማጎር፣ ማሳደድ፣ መግረፍና ማፍን የመሳሰሉ የቀቢፀ ተስፋ እርምጃዎች በግልፅ የሚያሳዩን የስርዓቱን መፈረካከስና የውድቀቱን ዋዜማ መቃረቡን ነው።

ስለዚህ ግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነትና ዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ይህንን በሞት ጣር ላይ ሆኖ እያቃሰተ የሚገኘውን አገዛዝ ለአንዴና ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ ለመቅበር መፍትሄው በእጃችን ነው ይላል። ግንቦት 7 መፍትሔው ስለጨቀየው ፖለቲካ እያወሩ ፈጣሪ ባመጣው ይመልሰው ማለት አይደለም ብሎ በፅኑ ያምናል። መፍትሔው እርስ በእርሳችን ስንወጋገዝ መኖርም ሳይሆን ልዩነቶቻችን በማጥበብ፤ ጠብታዎች ባህር እዲሆኑ ማድረግ ነው። መፍትሔው እጅን አጣምሮ ጥቂቶች ታምር እንዲሰሩ መጠበቅም አይደለም። መፍትሔው ከያንዳንዳችን የሚጠበቀውን ሌላውን ሳንጠበቅ መወጣት እንጂ። ስለዚህ አምባገነኖችን መካብ ዙፋናቸውን አግዝፎ በመመልከት ከትግል መሸሽ የችግሩ መፍትሔ በጭራሽ ስለማይሆን ኑ! ግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ አገዛዙን ከህዝብ ጫንቃ ለማውረድና ሃገርን ለማዳን እያደረገ ያለውን ትግል ይቀላቀሉ በማለት ሃገራዊ ጥሪውን በድጋሚ ያቀርባል።

“ውሃ፣ መብራት፣ ኔትዎርክ የለም ፤ ኑሮ ከበደን” ሰሚ ጆሮ ያጣ የሕዝብ እሮሮ

“ውሃ የለም፤ መብራት፤ ኔትዎርክ የለም፤ መብት የለም፤ ፍትህ የለም፤ ኑሮ ከበደን” እያሉ ስለኑሮዓቸው የተሰማቸውን በሀቅ የተናገሩ ልጃገረዶች በጋጠወጥ የህወሓት ካድሬዎችና ታጣቂዎች እጅ መከራና ስቃይ እየደረሰባቸው ነው። የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በእነዚህ ለጋ ወጣቶች ላይ የሚደርሰው ሰቆቃ በዝምታ ያልፋል ተብሎ አይታመንም።

የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥንና ሬዲዮን ጨምሮ በወያኔና የጥቅም ተጋሪዎቹ ሥር የሚተዳደሩ መገናኛ ብዙሃን በየዕለቱ ያለማቋረጥ ከሚዘገቡት የልማትና የዕድገት ዘገባዎች ከፍተኛውን ስፍራ የሚይዘው በአገራችን ውስጥ እየተሠሩ ስላሉ ትላልቅ የሃይድሮ ኤለክትሪክ ማመንጫ ግንባታዎች፤ በየከተማው ስለተዘረጉ የውሃ መስመሮች፤ የስልክ አገልግሎት ለማዳረስ ስለተወሰዱ እርምጃዎች፤ ስለ ረጃጅም የባቡር መስመሮች ግንባታ እና ስለ አገር አቋራጭ የመንገድ ሥራዎች የሚቀርቡ የተጋነኑ ዘገባዎች ናቸው።

እነዚህ የልማት አውታሮች ግንባታ በአብዛኛው የሚካሄዱት ከምዕራባዊያን መንግሥታት በሚሰጡ የገንዘብ እርዳታና ዕዳው ለልጅ ልጆቻችን በሚተርፍ አለም አቀፍ የገንዘብ አበዳሪ ድርጅቶች ወለድ እያስከፈሉ በሚሰጡት የረጅም ጊዜ ክፍያ ብድር እንደሆነ ግልጽ ነው።

ወያኔ ሥልጣን ከተቆጣጠረበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ ላለፉት 23 አመታት በድህነት ቅነሳና የልማት ማስፋፊያ ስም ከአለም አቀፍ ኅብረተሰብ የተቀበለው የገንዘብ መጠን ሲሰላ ኢትዮጵያ አገራችን እንደ አገር ከተመሰረተችበት ዘመን ጀምሮ በብድርም ሆነ በእርዳታ ስም ይህንን ያህል መጠን ገንዘብ አግኝታ እንደማታውቅ የኢኮኖሚ ባለሙያዎች ይናገራሉ ። በዚህም መሠረት ገንዘቡ በአግባብ ሥራ ላይ ውሎ ቢሆን ኖሮ ዛሬ አገራችን የትና የት በደርሰች ነበር እያሉ የሚቆጩ የአገሪቱ ልሂቃንና ቅን አሳቢ ዜጎች ቁጥር ቀላል አይደለም ።

የተባበሩት መንግሥታት የልማት ድርጅት ከ3 አመት ገደማ በፊት ይፋ ባደረገው አንድ መረጃ ወያኔ ሥልጣን በተቆጣጠረባቸው የመጀመሪያዎቹ 9 አመታት ብቻ ከ11.5 (አሥራ አንድ ነጥብ አምስት ) ቢሊዮን የአሜሪካ ዶላር በላይ በህገወጥ መንገድ ከአገር አሽሽቶ በምዕራባዊያን አገሮች ባንኮች ደብቆአል ። ይህ ከደሃው ጉሮሮ ተቀምቶ በባለሥልጣናቱ የተዘረፈና በህገወጥ መንገድ ከአገር የሸሸው 11.5 ቢሊዮን ዶላር በትክክል ልማት ላይ ውሎ ቢሆን ኖሮ ወያኔዎች “ባለ ራዕዩ መሪያቸን” በሚሉት ዘረኛው መለስ ዜናዊ ሥም ለመሰየም ደፋ ቀና የሚሉትን ጅምር “የህዳሴ ግድብ” አይነቱን ሁለት ግዙፍ ግድቦችን በመገንባት የአገሪቷን ገጽታ አበላሽቶ የኖረውን ረሃብ ከምንጩ ማጥፋት ይቻል ነበር።

ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ከአገሪቱ የሰሜን ጫፍ እስከ ደቡብ፤ ከምዕራብ እስከ ምስራቅ “ውሃ የለም፣ መብራት የለም፣ ኔትዎርክ የለም። የሚላስ የሚቀመስ ነገር ማግኘት ተስኖናል፤ ኑሮ ከአቅማችን በላይ ሆኖአል። ትዳር መስርተንና ልጆች ወልደን እያሳደግንበት ካለው የደሃ ጎጆዎቻችን በቀበሌ ካድሬዎች ትዕዛዝ ቤቶቻችን በዶዘር ላያችን ላይ እንዲፈርስ ተደርጎ ሜዳ ላይ ተበትነናል። ከአያት ቅድመ አያቶቻችን ጊዜ ጀምሮ እንገለገልበት ከነበረው የእርሻ ማሳችንና የግጦሽ መሬታችን ተነቅለን ዓይኖቻችን እያዩ ከህንድ፣ ከቻይናና ከአረብ አገር የመጡ ከበርቴዎች መሬታችንን ተቀራምተውታል። አቤት የምንልበት አጣን። ኑሮ መሮናል!!!” የሚሉ እሮሮዎች የወያኔ አፈና የፈጠረውን የፍርሃት ዝምታን ሰብሮ ከአጥናፍ አጥናፍ እየተሰማ ነው።

ይህንን ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ እየጨመረና እየከረረ የመጣውን የሕዝብ እሮሮ ለማዳመጥ ጆሮ ያልፈጠረበት የዘረኛው ህወሓት አገዛዝ ግን “ነጋ ጠባ የሚደሰኮረው ልማት ምድር ላይ ጠብ አላለልንም፤ መሠረታዊ ችግሮቻችን ከመፍታት ይልቅ እያባባሰ ያለው ምን የሚሉት ልማት ነው?” ብሎ የጠየቀውን ሁሉ “ፀረ-ልማት፣ ፀረ-ሰላም፣ ሽብርተኞ” የሚል ስም እየለጠፈበት ማሰር ማዋከብና ማሳደድ የዘወትር ተግባሩ አድርጎታል።

በቅርቡ አዲስ አበባ ላይ አለም አቀፍ የሴቶች በዓል ሲከበር ይኸው የሕዝብን ብሶት ባስተጋቡት ወጣት እህቶቻችን ላይ እየደረሰ ያለው ግፍ የዚህ የወያኔ አፈና እርምጃ ማሳያ ነው። “ብሶት የፈጠረኝ ነኝ” የሚለው ህወሓት፤ ብሶት እሱን ብቻ ፈጥሮ የመከነ ይመስለዋል።

ግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ወያኔ እያካሄድኩ ነው በሚላቸው ትላልቅና ትናንሽ ግንባታዎች መጠነ ሰፊ ብዝበዛና ዘረፋ እያካሄደ መሆኑን የሚያጋልጡ በቂ መረጃዎች አሉት። የወያኔ ልማትና እድገት ማሳያ ተደርጎ ከሚጠቀሱ የኮንዶሚኒዬም ቤቶች ግንባታ አንስቶ በመላው አገሪቱ ለሚሠሩ የኮንስትራክሽን ሥራዎች በሙሉ የሚያስፈልጉ የግንባታ ዕቃዎች ስምንቶ፤ አሸዋና ብረታ ብረት የመሳሰሉትን የሚያቀርቡት በባለሥልጣናቱ ንብረትነት የሚታወቁና በቤተሰቦቻቸው ወይም የቅርብ ዘመዶቻቸው ስም የሚተዳደሩ የግል ድርጅቶች ናቸው። የግንባታዎቹን ሥራ ደግሞ የሚያካሂዱት በወያኔ ንብረትነት የሚታወቁ የኢፈርት ሥራ ተቋራጭ ድርጅቶች ናቸው። በዚህ አይነት ኮንትራት ሰጪ፤ ኮንትራት ተቀባይና ዕቃ አቅራቢ በመሆን በሚበዘበዘውና በሚዘረፈው የሕዝብ ሃብት የወያኔ ሹማምንትና ግብረ አበሮቹ እስከ ልጅ ልጆቻቸው በልተው የማይጨርሱትን ሃብት አግበስብሰዋል።

ይህ አልበቃ ብሎአቸውም አይናቸው ያረፈባቸው ቁልፍ የከተማ ቦታዎች ላይ የሰፈረውን ደሃ ሕዝብ በማፈናቀልና ጎዳና ላይ በመበተን ረጃጅም ፎቆችን እየሰሩ በማከራየት ሥራ ላይ ተጠምደዋል። ከአመታት በፊት አዲስ አበባ ከተማ ውስጥ በአነስተኛ ንግድ የተሰማሩ በርካታ ዜጎች የያዙትን ቦታ ለማስለቀቅ ሆን ተብሎ ንብረታቸው በእሳት እንዲወድም ተደርጎአል። በሕይወት ዘመናቸው ያፈሯት ሃብት በእሳት እንዲጋይባቸው የተደረጉ ዜጎች አቤት የሚሉበት ስላልነበራቸው ሥራ አጥና የጎዳና ተዳዳሪ ለመሆን ተገደዋል። ባለፈው ሁለት ሳምንት ተመሳሳይ እርምጃ ሀረር ከተማ ውስጥ በአነስተኛ ንግድ በተሰማሩት ወገኖቻችን ላይ ደርሶ እንባ ሲራጩ ተመልክተናል።

ግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ወያኔ በልማት ስም በወገኖቻችን ላይ የሚፈጽመውን የማፈናቀል ዘመቻ ማስቆም የእያንዳንዳችን ግዴታ ነው ብሎ ያምናል። ሕዝባችን በጨለማ እየተሰቃዬ ከደጃችን የሚመረት የመብራት ኃይል ወደ ጎረቤት አገር እየተላከ ለማይጠረቃው የወያኔ ሃብት የማጋበስ ጥማት ማርኪያ መሆን ማስቆም የምንችለው እኛው ብቻ ነን። ወገኖቻችን በረሃብ አለንጋ እየረገፉና ነፍሰ አድን የምግብ እርዳታ ከፈረንጅ በምጽዋት እየተቸረን በምድራችን የሚመረት እህል ባህር አቋርጦ ለባለጸጋ አገሮች ገቢያ ሲውል አይተን እንዳላየን ማለፉን ማስቆም የኛ ተግባር ነው። ዕዳው ለልጅ ልጆቻችን የሚተርፍ የብድር ገንዘብ በየአመቱ አገር ውስጥ በገፍ እየገባ እናቶችና ህፃናት በንጹህ መጠጥ ውሃ እጥረት መሰቃየታቸውን ማስቆም የምንችለው እኛው ነን። በሚሊዮን የሚቆጠሩ ህፃናት በቂ የትምህርት እድልና የጤና አገልግሎት የሚያገኙበት ገንዘብ በሙስናና በሌብነት በተጨማለቁ የአገዛዙ ሹመኞች መዘረፉን ማስቆም ያለብን እኛው ነን።

“ውሃ የለም መብራት የለም ኑሮ ከአቅማችን በላይ ሆኖ መኖር አቅቶናል” የሚለውን የወገን እሮሮ ያሰሙ ልጃገረዶችን ድምጽ መስማት ግዴታችን ነው። የእነዚህ ወጣቶች አርዓያነትን በመቀበል ዛሬውኑ የትግሉን ጎራ በመቀላቀል እብሪተኛውንና ዘረኛውን የወያኔ አገዛዝ ፍጻሜ በማፋጠን ነፃነታችንን እንድንጎናጽፍ ግንቦት 7 የትግል ጥሪውን ያቀርባል።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ!!!