Ethiopians concerned by government’s terror-alert

Ethiopians are deeply concerned by Ethiopian government’s recent terror-alert and possible government planned false flag attacks.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
by Nejashi Justice Council
For the past 18 months, tens of thousands of Muslims have participated in regular peaceful protests, opposing blatant government interference in Islamic affairs and in elections for the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, and government attempts to impose the teachings of violent, pro-Syrian, Lebanese based Al Ahbash sect on the Muslim community.
Ethiopian government’s response to the peaceful protests was violent crackdowns – AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL and Human Rights Watch issued press release detailing instances of the violence: “Ethiopia: Widespread violations feared in clampdown on Muslim protests.”, “Ethiopia: Prominent Muslims Detained in Crackdown – Security Forces Arrest Hundreds of Peaceful Protesters; Detainees at Risk”, respectively.
Failing to provoke Ethiopian Muslims into violence, the government resorted to attempting to provoke violence among Muslims and Christians – It hasn’t worked. Ethiopian Muslims and Christians, and secular human rights defenders have joined in rejecting regime’s irresponsible incitement. The underlying truth about the peaceful movement is, as testified by Helen Epstein “It has no hint of terrorist influence, and its leaders are calling for a secular government under the slogan “We have a cause worth dying for, but not worth killing for.” Indeed, the Ethiopian protesters may be leading Africa’s most promising and important nonviolent human rights campaign since the anti-apartheid struggle.”
Ethiopia’s Constitution prohibits state involvement in religious affairs, including a provision on the right to peacefully protest, which is routinely flouted by the authorities. To circumvent the constitution, the Ethiopian government introduced anti-terror law which has been used to target dissent, rather than to stop terrorism. On July 22, 2013, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a press release on “We are deeply concerned that Ethiopia’s government is seeking to silence peaceful religious freedom proponents by detaining and trying them in secret under trumped-up terrorism charges. They should be released now and their trials halted,” said USCIRF Chair Katrina Lantos Swett.
It is in this context of the Ethiopian regime’s blatant attempts to Manufacturing Terrorists and Terrorism that Ethiopians of all faith were alarmed when the Ethiopian foreign ministry recently issued a terror alert; advising Embassy’s of an imminent terror attacks involving Ethiopian Muslims. Given the Ethiopian regime’s violent history, the recent terror alert is a strong indicator that the Ethiopian government is looking for a pretext for a violent crackdown. We call upon the International Community to urge the government of Ethiopia to refrain from committing irresponsible actions against its own citizens for the purpose of political goals.
Washington,DC
Cc: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ethiopia)
Nejashi Justice Council is a not-for-profit, independent organization with a mission to promote justice and equality, and raise awareness about human right abuse in Ethiopia. Currently the Council registered in District of Columbia. www.nejashijustice.org

Dimtsachin Yisema Washington, DC Condemn the Indiscriminate Killing

Dimtsachin Yisema washington DC support committee
Press Release
Washington DC, Aug 06, 2013
Dimtsachin Yisema Washington, DC strongly denounces the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians in  and around Kofele town.
 The TPLF/EPRDF régime in its latest attempt to squash the peaceful demand of the Ethiopian Muslims to stop interfering in their religious affairs, gunned down more than 20 people and wounded dozens. Among the dead were a mother with a child on her back and people seeking shelter in a mosque. Thousands of people are arbitrarily detained in a makeshift prisons and the whole area is surrounded by heavy military, preventing humanitarian and other access. the area spanning from western Arsi all the way to Bale region is virtually shut down as a war zone; even relatives are unable to claim the bodies of their loved ones.  Such attacks on civilians are a violation of international humanitarian law and contrary to human rights and cannot be justified in anyway. These deliberate atrocities by the government came at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a time when people were busy preparing for the upcoming Eid celebrations.
The attack in Kofele area came two days after the regime announced the use of force to intimidate  Muslims from demanding for their God given rights – the right for religious freedom. Sensing the government’s desire for violent confrontation, the Muslims cancelled the demonstrations and mosque sit-ins planned for previous day. Yet this decision did not stop the regime to unleash the mayhem as it was a preplanned massacre of innocent civilians. These recent killings are yet another episode in the ongoing attack of Ethiopian Muslims for opposing the takeover of their institutions. Last year four people were killed  and dozens were wounded in Asasa town by the security forces, followed by another attack on civilians in town of Gerba where two people were killed.

Ginbot 7 Democratic (Ginbot7d.org) Daniel Assefa explained

 

Who is Ginbot 7 Democratic or Ginbot7d? Ato Daniel Assefa explained about the two former Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy members who claimed to be (teletafi G7). ECADF Ethiopian Current Affairs Discussion Forum.

US embassy cables: US urges Ethiopia to back Copenhagen climate accord

Source: The Guardian

LONDON - On 2 February 2009, a cable from Addis Ababa reports a meeting between the US undersecretary of state Maria Otero and the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, who leads the African Union's climate change negotiations.The confidential cable records a blunt US threat to Zenawi: sign the accord or discussion ends now. Zenawi responds that Ethiopia will support the accord, but has a concern of his own: that a personal assurance from Barack Obama on delivering the promised aid finance is not being honoured.
The failed Copenhagen climate change summit produced only a non-binding Accord, but the agreement suits US interests as it presents more chance of forcing China to act. US diplomats campaign hard around the world for support for the Accord. Here, the US bluntly urges Ethiopia, whose Prime Minister leads the African Union's climate negotiations. By November 2010, 140 nations have backed the Accord, at the upper end of the US target.(Source: Damian Carrington; The Guardian)
 The full text follows here:

1. (SBU) January 31, 2010; 4:15 p.m.; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2. (SBU) Participants:
U.S. Under Secretary Otero Assistant Secretary Carson NSC Senior Director for African Affairs Michelle Gavin PolOff Skye Justice (notetaker)
Ethiopia Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Special Assistant Gebretensae Gebremichael
Summary
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3. (C) Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero his government placed no restrictions on its citizens' democratic and civil rights, only the right of foreign entities to fund them. Foreign funding of civil society organizations (CSOs) is antithetical to democratization, he said, as it makes civil society leaders accountable to foreign entities rather than their own members, turning the concept of democratic accountability on its head. Democracy in Ethiopia must develop organically, and Ethiopians must organize and fund themselves and defend their own rights. Meles assured U/S Otero that Ethiopia's upcoming elections will be free, fair, transparent, and peaceful, and elaborated steps his government has taken to ensure this. While opposition groups may resort to violence in an attempt to discredit the election, the GoE will enforce the recently enacted Electoral Code of Conduct and its existing election laws without regard to party affiliation. Meles said he has warned opposition leaders that the international community will not be able to save them should they violate Ethiopian law, but rather if they do so they will face the same fate as opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa, who will "vegetate in jail forever." The U.S. delegation noted that Ethiopia's forthcoming elections would be closely watched in the U.S., and urged Meles to exercise wise judgment and leadership, give the opposition more political space, and consider the release of Birtukan Midekssa.
4. (C) Meles said the GoE is not enthusiastic about Kenya's Jubaland initiative, but is sharing intelligence with Kenya and hoping for success. In the event the initiative is not successful, the GoE has plans in place to limit the destabilizing impacts on Ethiopia. On climate change, Meles said the GoE fully supports the Copenhagen accord, but is disappointed with signs the U.S. may not support his proposed panel to monitor international financial contributions under the accord. Meles made no substantive comment on inquiries regarding the liberalization of banking and telecommunications in Ethiopia. End summary.
Foreign Funding of CSOs Antithetical to Democratization
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5. (C) Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told U/S Otero the development of a strong democracy and civil society is the only way Ethiopia can ensure peace and unity among an ethnically and religiously divided population. He noted that the Government of Ethiopia's (GoE) commitment to democracy is directly related to stability, adding that for Ethiopia, "democratization is a matter of survival." Responding to U/S Otero's concern that Ethiopia's recently-enacted CSO law threatened the role of civil society, Meles said while the GoE welcomes foreign funding of charities, those Ethiopians who want to engage in political activity should organize and fund themselves. The leaders of CSOs that receive foreign funding are not accountable to their organizations, he said, but rather to the sources of their funding, turning the concept of democratic accountability on its head. Meles asserted that Ethiopians were not too poor to organize themselves and establish their own democratic traditions, recalling that within his lifetime illiterate peasants and poor students had overthrown an ancient imperial dynasty.
6. (C) Meles said his country's inability to develop a strong democracy was not due to insufficient understanding of democratic principles, but rather because Ethiopians had not internalized those principles. Ethiopia should follow the example of the U.S. and European countries, he said, where democracy developed organically and citizens had a stake in its establishment. When people are committed to democracy and forced to make sacrifices for it, Meles said, "they won't let any leader take it away from them." But "when they are spoon-fed democracy, they will give it up when their source of funding and encouragement is removed." Referencing his own struggle against the Derg regime, Meles said he and his compatriots received no foreign funding, but were willing to sacrifice and die for their cause, and Ethiopians today must take ownership of their democratic development, be willing to sacrifice for it, and defend their own rights.
7. (C) Meles drew a clear distinction between Ethiopians' democratic and civil rights on the one hand, and the right of foreign entities to fund those rights on the other. There is no restriction on Ethiopians' rights, he asserted, merely on foreign funding, adding that the U.S. has similar laws. U/S Otero countered that while the U.S. does not allow foreign funding of political campaigns, there is no restriction on foreign funding of NGOs. Ms. Gavin noted the examples of foreign support for the abolitionist movement in the U.S. and for the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa as positive examples of foreign engagement of civil society, and expressed that aside from the issue of foreign funding, the ability of local organizations to legally register, operate, and contribute to democratic discourse was of tantamount importance.
GoE Will Hold Free and Fair Elections, Despite Opposition
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8. (C) Meles assured U/S Otero that Ethiopia's upcoming electoral process will be free, fair, transparent, and peaceful. The GoE has learned from the violence that followed the 2005 elections, he said, and taken action to ensure that violence is not repeated. Meles said the recently signed Electoral Code of Conduct (CoC) was not done for the benefit of political parties, but for the Ethiopian people. The people will ultimately judge political actors, he said, and they must have parameters agreed to by the parties by which they will judge those actors. After the CoC was passed, Meles noted, the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) gathered over 1,300 of its senior leaders to discuss party strategy and train all leaders on the CoC. The EPRDF knows violations of the CoC by its members will hurt the party and provide a rallying cry for the opposition. This message will flow down to all EPRDF members, he said, so that they know what is expected of them, and know both the courts and the party will hold them accountable to the CoC.
9. (C) Meles told U/S Otero he feared a repeat of the 2005 violence, and that many opposition members were not interested in peaceful elections, but would rather discredit the electoral process. As such, the EPRDF cannot give them any excuse to resort to violence. Meles noted that in addition to opposition political parties, the GoE had intelligence that the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki were all directly or indirectly involved in plots to discredit the elections. The EPRDF, he said, would "let them be" to show the population that even though their opponents' goal is not peace, the EPRDF will abide by the law.
10. (C) Meles recalled that in 2005, he had told opposition leaders in the presence of the diplomatic corps that they should not believe foreign allies would protect them if they violated the laws of Ethiopia. Opposition leaders were right to believe the diplomatic corps would try to protect them, he said, as evidenced by the statement they issued demanding the release of opposition politicians upon their arrest in 2005. Today, Meles said, foreign embassies are inadvertently conveying the same message, that they will protest the jailing of opposition leaders and potentially take action against Ethiopia to secure their release. However, the GoE has made clear to both opposition and EPRDF leaders that nothing can protect them except the laws and constitution of Ethiopia, and the GoE will clamp down on anyone who violates those laws. "We will crush them with our full force," Meles said, and "they will vegetate like Birtukan (Midekssa) in jail forever."
ADDIS ABAB 00000163 003 OF 003
11. (C) In an extended discussion in response to Meles' comments, U/S Otero, A/S Carson, and Ms. Gavin noted that Ethiopia's forthcoming elections would be closely watched in the U.S. and that the GoE's treatment of the opposition would be subject to public criticism by the Ethiopian diaspora and U.S. political figures. The U.S. delegation urged Meles to exercise wise judgment and leadership, give the opposition more political space, and consider the release of Birtukan Midekssa. A/S Carson stressed the importance of putting Ethiopia's democracy on an upward and positive trajectory, and not letting it atrophy or slide backward, using the suffrage and civil rights movements in the U.S. as an illustration of challenges the U.S. has faced as it improved its own democratic system. (Note: Three quarters of the nearly two-hour meeting focused on democracy. End note.)
Ethiopia Not Enthusiastic About Jubaland Initiative
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12. (C) Meles said he had been briefed extensively regarding Kenya's Jubaland initiative. Because Ethiopia had previously intervened in Somalia without seeking Kenyan approval, he said, the GoE would not presume to analyze the Kenyans' chances for success in their own intervention. The GoE is sharing intelligence with Kenya, but Meles expressed a lack of confidence in Kenya's capacity to pull off a tactical success, which he feared could have negative regional impacts. The GoE is therefore working to minimize the likelihood of a spillover effect in Ethiopia's Somali Regional State. Noting that Ethiopia might have underestimated Kenya, Meles said, "We are not enthusiastic, but we are hoping for success."
GoE Prepared to Move Forward from Copenhagen
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13. (C) U/S Otero urged Meles to sign the Copenhagen accord on climate change and explained that it is a point of departure for further discussion and movement forward on the topic. She noted that while the agreement has its limitations, it has the international community moving in the right direction. Meles responded that the GoE supported the accord in Copenhagen and would support it at the AU Summit. However, he expressed his disappointment that despite President Obama's personal assurance to him that finances committed in Copenhagen would be made available, he had received word from contacts at the UN that the U.S. was not supportive of Ethiopia's proposal for a panel to monitor financial pledges regarding climate change. Ms. Gavin assured the Prime Minister that she would look into his concerns.
No Promises on Liberalizing Telecoms, Banking
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14. (C) U/S Otero and A/S Carson encouraged Meles to hasten steps to liberalize the telecommunications and banking industries in Ethiopia, and highlighted both the micro- and macroeconomic benefits of liberalization. Meles offered no substantive response to A/S Carson's query whether any progress had been made toward liberalizing or otherwise improving telecommunications, joking that Americans' concept of time was much faster than Ethiopians'. In response to U/S Otero's recognition of the important role of private banks in microfinance projects that directly benefit the poor, and assurance that private and state-owned banks could thrive side-by-side, Meles said he would be happy to discuss the issue in the future.

Sudan’s Bashir sets out his vision for Africa through a council of African political parties

by Keffyalew Gebremedhin – The Ethiopia Observatory

Sudan’s al Beshir

This Monday, August 5, 2013, Government Spokesperson Redwan Hussein, vice-president of the newly formed Council of African Political Parties (CAPP), signed at the African Union (AU) a memorandum of understanding on behalf of the Ethiopian ruling party – not that there is any difference between the party and government in that country.
It is not clear what this memorandum and CAPP is all about. Everyone seems to have his/her own ideas and they say about it whatever comes to their mind. It was established in Khartoum on 13 May 2013 and is reported to have 35 members.
On the lighter side, CAPP is better defined, as duplicator of whatever the AU does – since it neither has any clear vision nor a mission, in its gentler sense. This can be seen from last June statement by AU delegation leader Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture Tumusiime Rhoda, who was on a mission to the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) in Khartoum to secure funding for Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC).
She spoke at the conference, attended by ministers, where she praised her hosts for their brainchild, the CAPP, as the only thing she could possibly lavish on her hosts. To the best of my efforts, this also happens to be the only AU official paper, her statement, that mentions CAPP this far, as sign of the seriousness it has been held in the Union. Not even AU press release mentions Redwan Hussein’s visit to the last Monday to sign the memorandum of understanding.
Anyways, we cannot blame Ms Rhoda for what she said, since she cannot create personality or mission to a pet project designed to keep an ICC indictee in the limelight. Nevertheless, under Khartoum’s hot weather she flatteringly says in assigning tasks to CAPP:

“The audience accorded to us by Dr. Nafi of the Office of the President [Sudan's] was instructive in forging the ideal of African Renaissance and Pan Africanism in the spirit that Sudan hosted the 35 African political parties in Khartoum that established a Council of African Political Parties to fast-track Africa’s political and economic integration, as the continent marks 50 years since the founding of the Organization of African Unity, predecessor to the African Union.”

What has so far been understood about CAPP is that it is an initiative of the Sudan’s ruling party, the National Congress Party (NCP). CAPP is also headquartered in Khartoum. Its objective seems to be broad enough to fit everyone’s intentions. Given the isolation the Sudanese president has been suffering, as an ICC indictee, he may have wanted cheerleaders and reason to travel from place to place, possibly before his 100 day stay in power expires by September, after which the opposition vowed to overthrow him.

Preying and Praying: A Day and Night with the EPRDF

by Faysal Qassim
During the day on August 3, 2013, the Ethiopian government was unusually busy in its anti-Muslim operations. As night time came, however, the government immediately took a likewise unusual pro-Islam face. The Ethiopian state TV aired a special congregational Muslim ritual held on the 27^th of the Holy Month of Ramadan. This abrupt shift in the regime’s apparent behavior may surprise some, amuse others, but surely shock many.
It is striking to note that the live broadcast took place by the end of that same day when the government went crazy with its killing spree and massive arrests. According to many credible sources, the government had by then killed at least 11 people in Oromia region of Ethiopia, and arrested thousands for no apparent reason other than their assertiveness in demanding their constitutional rights. The aim of the uncanny night-time transmission is thus obvious: neutralizing the fast developing anti-Islam and anti-Muslim image of the ruling party in the eyes of its Muslim citizens.
This attempt at revamping public image is both bizarre and shocking. How would any government truly believe in the efficacy of an arbitrary, ephemeral and cosmetic measure as a panacea to the awful damage it perpetrated on its people? The government’s reasoning is not just quite amazing, however, but also utterly shocking. It lays bare the deeply condescending attitude of the EPRDF towards its Muslims citizens. If it really expected such a TV transmission would amount to anything positive politically, then it would be one more clear proof that the core of the party is infested with a chronic illness of toxic contempt for people.
But it is shocking also because the transmission was meant for those same people who have recently demonstrated, as a people, perhaps the highest level of political maturity and determination in current Ethiopia. Ethiopian Muslims have been protesting government policies for about a year and a half—having managed to escape the worst through their skillful and novel mechanisms of resistance. Their struggle has been an exemplary case of non-violent struggle against state tyranny, demonstrating utmost far-sightedness and fortitude. To expect such a daring and mature group of people to yield into so petty a propaganda work as the government is indulged in at present would manifest nothing but the paramount idiocy that the Ethiopian regime suffers from as it stands now.
Rather expectedly, the production of Muslim preys by EPRDF gangs could not be atoned by the TV transmission of Muslim prayers. As it is being exhibited widely on diverse fora, Ethiopian Muslims are actually more infuriated by the dirty works of the government, and are betraying even stronger determination to stage more protests in the near future. But more immediately, during that same holy night of Ramadan (the 27^th) and in the ones that followed, very emotional supplications were being heard in different mosques across Addis Ababa, cursing the EPRDF regime and imploring Allah to bring down justice in the country. When people are preyed upon by tyrants, prayers do not serve the oppressive agenda of the oppressors, but the noble cause of the oppressed.

ECADF: On The Massacre of Ethiopian Muslims

ON THE MASSACRE OF ETHIOPIAN MUSLIMS IN THE TOWNS OF KOFALE AND TATOLAMO BY THE DICTATORIAL TPLF LEAD REGIME ARMED FORCES

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
ETHIOPIAN CURRENT AFFAIRS DISCUSSION FORUM (ECADF)
We Ethiopians, members of the Ethiopian Current Affairs Discussion Forum (ECADF) from all over the world condemn in extreme terms the massacre committed by armed forces of the brutal TPLF/EPRDF regime on innocent Ethiopian Muslim in the towns of Kofale and Totalamo, Arsi region on August 3, 2013. The death toll stands over 25 – including a child, four teenagers and a spiritual leader. In addition scores suffered critical and light endures from live bullets and beatings, as a result death toll may rise even higher. Information reveals that thousands have been detained in both Kofale, Totalamo and other part of the country’s prisons.
Extrajudicial killing, torture, mass arrest and disappearance of citizens are ritual for the dictatorial TPLF lead regime. One cannot forget the massacre of innocent Muslim brothers and sisters in the town of Assasa on April 27, 2012, while they were attending Friday Prayer, mass murder and arrest following the disputed 2005 election, genocide crime committed on Anuak, Ogaden and the rest of the country and forced eviction of Amharas from their home and birth place.
There is as such, no stone left unturned by this dictatorial regime to create rift and distrust among Ethiopians and to deceive its Western donors to stay in power. Its agents burned down churches and tried to put blames on Muslims; burned down mosques and tried to put blames Christians, placed and detonated explosive bombs and tried to put blames on opposition parties like OLF.
We members of the Ethiopian Current Affairs Discussion Forum, therefore:

1. Condemn the TPLF lead dictatorial regime in its extreme form, the massacre of innocent Ethiopian Muslims in the towns of Kofale and Totalamo.

2. We call upon Christians and non-Christian Ethiopians in Ethiopia to stand in unison, and be part of the protest.

3. We call upon political parties, movements, civic and religious organization to rise up and tell this murderer regime that enough is enough.

4. We call upon Ethiopians in the Diaspora to expose the evil doing of this regime to their representatives of parliaments or congress, and to the community they are residing in.

We members of the Ethiopian Current Affairs Discussion Forum would like to express our condolences’ to the families of those citizens massacred by the regime in Kofale and Totalamo village of Arsi zone,
Long Live Ethiopia! Ethiopia and Her Children Shall Prevail!!!