Heavily Armed ENDF Soldiers Deployed In Amhara Region To Crash Protesters: Radio, Activists

According to sources in Addis Abeba and Amhara Regional cities, and Addis Abeba based Sheger Radio, thousands of heavily armed members of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) along with the special squad of Agazi Force, have been deployed to the Gojjam and Gonder provinces of the Amhara regional state.

Images also appeared on social media showing heavy army vehicles being transported, in what appears to be the two regional towns.

Several protesters have also reportedly been killed today. ESAT reported that farmers freed hundreds of protesters, who were detained in the Sabatamit prison in the outskirts of Bahir Dar city.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn said the current level of protest in Ethiopia is containable but blamed foreign countries that do not want Ethiopia to benefit using its resources, who are now “funding extreme Diaspora forces.”

Hailemariam said he ordered security forces to take “any & all” forms of measures against protesters across Ethiopia.

The Amhara Regional Administration today announced on the regional television that it has started arresting key figures suspected of leading the ant-government protests

Source:http://debirhan.com/?p=10342

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) minority brutal regime has officially declared war on the people of Amhara.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) minority brutal regime has officially declared war on the people of Amhara. The statement that declared war on the innocent civilians underlies that the entire State of Amhara is “out of control” of the “government,” a provocative statement that puts a pretentious reason to massacre the people. It is to be recalled that TPLF, in its 1975 political program, documented that the Amhara are “historic enemy of the people of Tigray” that they should be wiped out of the face of the earth. Ever since, TPLF, both as a guerrilla fighter and as a ruling junta of Ethiopia, committed heinous crimes against the people of Amhara, the harshest one being genocide that even the parliament admitted about 2.5 million Amhara have disappeared in the 2007 census. The racist and fascist policy of TPLF discriminated, harassed, torched, arrested en mass, and displaced Amhara for such a long time. And this time this criminal junta seemed to have got a great opportunity to kill as much Amhara as it can as the Amhara are found to be demonstrating against brutality and genocide, not mentioning an all embracing suffering in all walks of life.

In order to facilitate the massacre, TPLF has deployed its Agazi Commando (known as the most butcher unit of the entire armed force), the regional special forces, the national army, the regional police, and the federal police. Eye witnesses say that it seemed that in some towns and cities the number of the military is close to proportion to the residents. Internet is shut down in most places of the State of Amhara. Telecommunications systems are blocked as well. The ruling junta shut down internet and telecommunications in order to hide the killings from the sight of the international community and Ethiopians abroad. It is also targeting to disrupt communications through social media.

We are, therefore, telling the world that TPLF is committing crimes against humanity of the highest form, genocide, in a broad day light.

TO:

Amnesty International Genocide Watch Adeola Fayehun BBC News BBC World Service Al Jazeera English Washington Post Daily Mail Human Rights Watch United Nations Human Rights European Union in EthiopiaEuropean Union United Nations

Dear all Amhara, 
Let us send our concerns to the following organizations.

Amnesty International East Africa +254-20-42-83000, United Kingdom contactus@amnesty.org, USA aimember@aiusa.org New York - 212-807-8400 DC- 202-544-0200 Canada Ottawa 613-744-7667 Genocide Watch Washington 1-202-643-1404, communications@genocidewatch.org UN-OHCHR +41-22-917-9220, +41-22-917-9656 infodesk@ohchr.org civilsociety@ohchr.org

Feyisa Lilesa sheds light on abuses in Ethiopia

Gloria Nafziger: Refugee and Migrant Rights Coodinator

On August 21, as Silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa finished a marathon at the Rio Olympics, he crossed his arms above his head in a gesture of solidarity with the Oromo people in Ethiopia. He is reported as saying, “The Ethiopian government is killing my people so I stand with all protests anywhere as Oromo is my tribe. My relatives are in prison and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed.”

He did not return to Ethiopia, and is reported to be seeking asylum in either Brazil or the United States.

Feyisa Lilesa is right to be concerned about human rights violations targeting the Oromo in Ethiopia.

Early in August of this year, at least 97 people were killed and hundreds more injured when Ethiopian security forces fired live bullets at peaceful protesters across Oromia region and in parts of Amhara. A disproportionate violent police response to protests has resulted in over 500 protestors’ deaths recorded in Oromia region since November 2015 and over 100 others in the Amhara and Oromia region in the month of August.

Many others, like Feyisa Lilesa have fled Ethiopia and sought safety in other countries. The violent police response to protests has caused a massive movement of Oromos out of Ethiopia. Unlike Feyisa Lilesa, their stories remain untold, and the places where they have sought protection are not so welcoming.

In the past month, Amnesty International has been receiving credible reports that Djiboutian police have been rounding up and detaining hundreds of Amhara and Oromo Ethiopian asylum seekers and refugees with the aim of deporting them back to Ethiopia. Summary deportations of Ethiopian asylum seekers and refugees from Djibouti occur on a daily basis.   The number of deportations to Ethiopia escalated after the weekend of 7-8 August, the same weekend that large protests in both Oromo and Amhara regions of Ethiopia occurred. The Ethiopian government has often accused Ethiopians outside the country of planning these protests.

The asylum seekers and refugees in Djibouti face a real risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment upon their return to Ethiopia. Their deportations violate not only their rights to non-refoulement (the right not to be transferred to a place where the individual would be at real risk of persecution or other serious human rights violations), but also their procedural rights to oppose the deportations on human rights grounds.

Through crowd funding initiatives it is reported that more than $100,000 has been raised to assist Olympic champion Feyisa Lilesa in his efforts to obtain safety. A sign once again that when their story is told, the public is willing and able to show compassion and support towards refugees who need protection.

The Ethiopian refugees in Djibouti also need your support. Please respond Amnesty International’s recent urgent action on behalf of Ethiopians facing removal from Djibouti to Ethiopia.

Source: amnesty.ca/blog

Ethiopia’s Regime Prioritizes Power Over Reform as Ethnic Protests Continue

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—In Ethiopia’s two most-populous ethnic regions, anti-government rallies turned into a bloodbath in early August as security forces again used live ammunition against protesters. In the western part of Oromia, the largest of Ethiopia’s nine ethnically based states, the town of Nekempte looked like a “war zone,” according to a protester. An opposition party said almost 100 people were killed and thousands arrested after demonstrations across the sprawling Oromia region, which encircles the capital, Addis Ababa, and borders Kenya in the south and South Sudan in the west. A day later in Bahir Dar, the capital of Amhara state, Amnesty International said police killed as many as 30 people. The government said a protest descended into a riot. Historic Gondar city to the north also saw more demonstrations, vandalism and repression. 

The sustained discontent in Oromia, which began after unrest erupted last November, presents a major challenge to the country’s government, which came to power in 1991 when an insurgency led by the minority Tigrayan ethnic group overthrew a military regime. Having been granted autonomy in a federal system, the Oromo, who number around 35 million as Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, are asserting their rights. ...

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http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/19769/ethiopia-s-regime-prioritizes-power-over-reform-as-ethnic-protests-continue

Ethiopia: Civil society groups urge international investigation into ongoing human rights violations

A group of civil society organizations are calling for an independent and impartial international investigation into human rights violations in Ethiopia, including the unlawful killing of peaceful protesters and a recent spate of arrests of civil society members documenting this crackdown.

DefendDefenders (East and Horn of African Human Rights Defenders Project), the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE), Amnesty International, the Ethiopia Human Rights Project (EHRP), Front Line Defenders, and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), are concerned about the levels of persecution and detention of civil society members in the country. Since last month, four members of one of Ethiopia’s most prominent human rights organizations, the Human Rights Council (HRCO), were arrested and detained in the Amhara and Oromia regions. HRCO believes these arrests are related to the members’ monitoring and documentation of the crackdown of on-going protests in these regions.

On 14 August, authorities arrested Tesfa Burayu, Chairperson of HRCO’s West Ethiopian Regional Executive Committee at his home in Nekemte, Oromia.  Tesfa, who had been monitoring the protests for the organization, was denied access to his family and his lawyer, and released on 16 August without charge. Two days earlier on 12 August, Abebe Wakene, also a member of HRCO, was arrested and taken to the Diga district police station in Oromia. Abebe Wakene remains in detention with no formal charges against him. In addition, on 13 August, Tesfaye Takele, a human rights monitor in the Amhara region, was arrested in the North Wollo zone and is still detained without charge.

On 8 July, Bulti Tesema – another active member of HRCO – was arrested in Nejo, Oromia. He had been working with HRCO to monitor and document violent repression of the protests. Sources told DefendDefenders that his whereabouts remained unknown for several weeks after his arrest, until they found out that he had been transferred to the capital’s Kilinto prison and charged with terrorist offences.  He has not been given access to either his family or his lawyer. The court has adjourned the hearing to 12 October.

“New levels of violence are being reported in the crackdown on the largely peaceful protests that have taken place across Oromia and Amhara regions in recent weeks,” said Hassan Shire, Executive Director of DefendDefenders. “Instead of investigating and holding accountable those responsible for rights violations, the government is jailing the few independent human rights defenders left working in the country.”

HRCO’s human rights monitors were arrested for attempting to document the large-scale pro-democracy protests and the following violent crackdown by the authorities in the Oromia and Amhara regions, as well as in the capital Addis Ababa on 6 and 7 August. Amnesty International reported that close to 100 protesters were killed and scores more arrested during the largely peaceful protests.

Three journalists were also arrested and detained by Ethiopian security officials for 24 hours on 8 August 2016 in the Shashemene area of the Oromo region. According to the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Ethiopia, Hadra Ahmed, a correspondent with Africa News Agency, was arrested along with Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) reporters Fred de Sam Lazaro and Thomas Adair, despite having proper accreditation. They were reporting on the government’s response to the drought in the Oromia region, where protests have been ongoing since November 2015. Their passports and equipment were confiscated and they were forced to return to Addis Ababa.

“Despite the systematic repression of peaceful protestors, political dissents, journalists and human rights defenders, the absence of efficient and effective grievance redress mechanisms risks plunging the country into further turmoil,” said Yared Hailemariam, Executive Director of AHRE.

In response to the on-going crackdown, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has called for “access for independent observers to the country to assess the human rights situation”. Ethiopia’s government, however, has rejected the call and promised to launch its own investigation.

Ethiopia’s National Human Rights Commission, which has the mandate to investigate rights violations in Ethiopia, has failed to make public its own June report on the Oromo protests, whileconcluding in its oral report to Parliament that the lethal force used by security forces in Oromia was proportionate to the risk they faced from the protesters. Since November 2015, at least 500 demonstrators have been killed and thousands of others arrested in largely peaceful protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions and other locations across the country.

“The lack of independent and transparent investigation of human rights violations in Ethiopia strongly implies that the Ethiopian government’s investigation of the ongoing human rights crisis will not be independent, impartial and transparent,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes. “It is time to step up efforts for an international and independent investigation in Ethiopia.”

DefendDefenders, AHRE, Amnesty International, EHRP, Front Line Defenders, and FIDH urge the Ethiopian authorities to (i) immediately and unconditionally release civil society members targeted for their work and (ii) facilitate access for international human rights monitoring bodies including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to conduct thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into the ongoing human rights violations in the Oromia, Amhara and Addis Ababa areas.

 defenddefenders.org

ትናንትና የኢህአደግ ሥ/አ ኮሚቴ ያወጣውን መግለጫ ተከትሎ ድርጅቱ ፍርክስክሱ መውጣቱ መታየት ጀምሯል

አገሪቱ ያለችበትን ውጥረት ተከትሎ ትናንትና የኢህአደግ ሥራ አስፈጻሚ ኮሚቴ የሚያወጣው መግለጫ በጉጉት ይጠበቅ የነበረ መሆኑ ብቻ ሳይሆን የአመራር ብቃት የሚፈተሽበት ነው ተብሎ ነበር፡፡ ነገር ግን የተሰጠው መግለጫ በአባላቱ ዘንድ ኢህአደግ ለመንኮታኮቱ ማረጋገጫ እንደሆነ ተደርጎ ተወስዷል፡፡

ከመግለጫው ይጠበቅ የነበረው በወልቃይት አማራ ማንነት በተመለከተ የሚወሰን ምን ይሆናል የሚለው ነበረ፡፡ አባላቱ የጠቁት
1. የአማራ ክልል ሕዝብ ጥያቄ ምለሽ ተሰጥቶበታል
2. የፈዴራል መንግስት ከትግራይ ክልልና ከአማራ ክልል መንግስታትን በመምራት የሚያስተካክለው ይሆናል
3. የወልቃይት አማራ ማንነት ኮሚቴ ከእስር እንዲፈቱ ተወስኗል
4. በወልቃይት አማራ ማንነት ጥያቄ ምክንያት የታሠሩት በሙሉ እንዲለቀቁ ተወስኗል
5. የሕዝቡን እንቅስቃሴ ተጠቅመው ሕገ ወጥ ድርጊት ላይ የተሠማሩ ግለሰቦችን ለመከላከል ሲባልበተወሰደው እርምጃ አንዳንድ ንጹሀን ሰዎች ላይ ስለደረሰው ሟቿች ቤተሰብ መንግስት መጽናናትን የሚመኝ ሲሆን እንደአስፈላጊነቱ የሚክስ ይሆናል፡፡
6. ከዚህ በኋላ መንግስት በወልቃይት ጉዳይ የሕዝቡን ይሁንታ ያገኘ ውሳኔ ይሰጣል የሚለውን ያካተተ ውሳኔ እንደሚገለጽ ከመጠበቁም በላይ እንዲህ ያለ ውሳኔ እንዲሰጥ ከፍተኛ ግፊት ሲደረግ ነበር፡፡ ነገር ግን ሥራ አስፈጻሚው የወልቃይትን ጥየቄ መፍታት ለትግራይ ክልል የሰጠ መግለጫ አውጥቷል፡፡

በመሆኑም በኢህአደግ አባላት የሚከተለው ታምኖበታል፡፡
1. ብአዴን በአማራ ክልል እግሩን የሚያሳርፍበትን ሥፍራ አጥቷል
2. ትግራይ ክልል አማራን በመውረር ማስተዳደር አትችልም
3. የአማራን ሕዝብ ገድሎ መጨረስ አይቻልም
4. የወልቃይት ጉዳይ ለዘላለም የማይፈወስ ካንሰር ነው
5. አማራ ክልል ለነፃነት ኃይል ነን ለሚሉት የጸዳ ነፃ ቀጠና ሆኗል
6. ኦሮሚያ በጥቂት ጊዜ የአማራን መንገድ ይዞ ነጻ ቀጠና ይሆናል
7.የመንግስት ባለሥልጣናት በየፊናው ለመሸሽ ተዘጋጅተዋል የሚል ታምኖበታል፡፡
በመሆኑም የኢህአደግ አባላት ወዴት እንደሚሸሹ ግራ ከመጋባቱም በላይ ፍርክስክሱ መውጣቱ መታየት ጀምሯል፡፡ የየአዲስ አበባ ሕዝብም ዘሎ ለመያዝ እንዳደፈጠ ነብር ተገምቷል፡፡ ይህ እንፎርሜሽን ከወደ ፓርላማ አባላት የተሰበሰበ ነው፡፡

Mereja

Ethiopia has to loosen its grip on the economy

The authoritarian development model is running up against limits

©AP

As Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa crossed the finishing line in his silver medal Olympic marathon run at Rio, he crossed his arms in protest against his government back home. It was a gesture of defiance that could, for transgressing Olympic rules, have cost him his medal and will cause him to live in exile. But it drew global attention to the brutal manner in which the government in Addis Ababa is handling the greatest challenge to the state since the end of the civil war in 1991.

Over the past nine months, hundreds have been killed and thousands incarcerated in a crackdown on protesters from the Oromo, the country’s largest ethnic group. Feyisa, like many of Ethiopia’s revered long-distance runners, is Oromo. The unrest among his people, which has spread to other groups, is symptomatic of a wider collision as the government seeks to transform a predominantly agrarian society through industrialisation, commercial farming and urbanisation.

Ethiopia has spurred some of the fastest economic growth in Africa while eschewing liberal market orthodoxy and giving the state a central role in development. It is an experiment keenly watched by other African governments more constrained by democratic process.

The protests suggest that this authoritarian development model is running up against its limits. They were originally sparked by federal government plans to extend administration of the overcrowded capital Addis Ababa into the surrounding region of Oromia. Those plans have since been shelved.

But what started as parochial opposition to corrupt land deals has conflated with broader grievances about political repression and the perceived dominance in federal institutions of the Tigray ethnic group. Tigrayans, who spearheaded the overthrow of the government in 1991, make up about 6 per cent of the population.

In theory Ethiopia has the wherewithal to deal with such tension. In practice there is a fundamental contradiction in the way it is governed: between the federal nature of the state as enshrined in the constitution and the reality of centralised, authoritarian power. The de facto one-party state may retain sufficient strength to maintain hegemony for now. But in reverting to such crude tactics to suppress dissent, the government has raised the risk that what started as peaceful protest will evolve into armed revolt.

It is a scenario familiar to many African states. What sets Ethiopia apart is the effectiveness with which the government has approached development. Allies in the US and Europe have come to rely on the country’s comparative stability in a strategically important region threatened by Islamist extremists. International donors have turned a blind eye to the excesses of the regime — as they do in Rwanda, which shares a similar profile — and helped bankroll the state in part because they have received value for their money.

This is short-sighted. To sustain investment in infrastructure, and accelerate export-led industrial and agricultural growth, the country will require greater amounts of foreign capital. That capital will shy away from a further breakdown in law and order.

The government could start by respecting the spirit of the constitution and ushering in more decentralised rule. It needs to loosen in parallel its grip on political and economic freedom if there is to be a chance of providing opportunities for the 100,000 students graduating every year. It will be a delicate process given how tightly controlled the country has been and how charged the climate is as a result. But it is a necessary one. Ethiopian exceptionalism has run its course.

FT View