Saturday, October 5, 2013

Anti-terrorism law among targets of Addis Ababa protest

Reporters Without Borders
A major street protest took place in Addis Ababa on 29 September in response to a call from Unity for Democracy and Justice, an opposition political party headed by the previous president, Dr. Negasso Gidada.
The demonstrators protested against the arbitrary detention of journalists, human rights activists and dissidents, which is made possible by the 2009 anti-terrorist law. Independent estimates put the number of demonstrators at between 12,000 and 15,000 while government sources said they were a few hundred. The urgent need to amend this repressive law was of one of the recommendations that Reporters Without Borders included in its submission on Ethiopia to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 19th Universal Periodic Review session to be held between April and May next year. “The anti-terrorism law is one of the most serious obstacles to the promotion and protection of freedom of information in Ethiopia,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Ever since its adoption, the government has used it as a legal tool to clamp down on dissidents and create a cloud of fear that limits the ambition and activity of the media.
“Without taking any position on the politics of the demonstrators, we urge the government to respond to the widespread demand by concerned citizens and activists for immediate and participatory reform of the anti-terrorism law. We also call on the government to respect the freedom of expression of all news and information providers, regardless of their political views.” According to the organizers, the demonstration’s aim was not only to condemn the law but also to demand the release of opposition members and journalists who have been jailed under it. They include activist Eskinder Nega, detained since 15 September 2011 for alleged "links with terrorist organizations and conspiracy to harm national security". Journalists Reyot Alemu, winner of the 2013 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano press freedom prize, and Woubeshet Taye, the deputy editor of the Amharic-language weekly Awramba Times, have been detained under this law since June 2011. Reyot Alemu has been reportedly subjected to mistreatment including solitary confinement, minimal access to medical care and restricted visits from family and friends. They are serving jail terms of five and 14 years respectively, on charges of “conspiring with a terrorist organization and taking part in planning terror attacks".
Two Swedish journalists working for the Kontinent news agency, reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson, were arrested on 1 July 2011 after illegally entering Ethiopia’s southeastern Ogaden region from Somalia with members of the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) with the aim of investigating human rights violations in the region. Sentenced to 11 years in prison on a charge of "terrorist activities", they were released after 450 days in detention thanks to pressure from the international community. In an interview for Reporters Without Borders, Schibbye said: “The mere fact that these protests are taking place is a positive sign in Ethiopia. This shows the growing implication of the youth, namely through social networks, and their refusal to live in a society where journalists and dissidents can be jailed arbitrarily." Ethiopia is ranked 137th out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Ethiopian Hydropower Dam Assessment Warns of Structural Weakness

By William Davison, Bloomberg  
Ethiopia’s plan to build Africa’s biggest hydropower dam on the main tributary of the Nile River must address concerns that there may be flaws in the design of its foundations, a group of international experts said.
They also called for further studies on what impact the 6,000-megawatt, $4.7 billion project may have on the downstream nations of Sudan and Egypt, the International Panel of Experts said in a report e-mailed to Bloomberg News and verified by Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry. Egypt, which relies on the Nile for almost all of its water, expressed alarm about the dam when Ethiopia in May diverted the Blue Nile as part of the construction process. “Structural measures might be needed to stabilize the foundation to achieve the required safety against sliding” of the main dam, according to the report. There are also “weak zones” in the rock that will support an auxiliary dam that need to be studied, it said.Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is part of a government plan to spend 569 billion birr ($30 billion) on infrastructure in the five years through mid-2015. The country, Africa’s second-most populous nation, targets becoming an industrialized middle-income nation by 2025.
Ethiopia is the source of 86 percent of the water that flows into the Nile, the world’s longest river that runs 4,160 miles through 11 countries from Burundi in the south to Egypt, where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Ethiopia has said it will take five to six years to fill the 74 billion cubic-meter (2.6 trillion cubic-feet) reservoir created by the dam. Regional Specialists The panel, which held its first meeting in May last year, was formed at the suggestion of Ethiopia’s government. It comprised two specialists each from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan and four from other nations. The report, which hasn’t been made public, was submitted to the three governments in June. Ethiopia said the report found the project to be of international standard and won’t cause “significant harm” to downstream countries, while Egypt said it was inconclusive. Ethiopia delivered a hydrological study to the panel that analyzed the downstream impact of the reservoir-filling period given low, average or high rainfall. The project document concluded that Egypt faces a 6 percent reduction in the High Aswan Dam’s electricity-generating capacity and no water loss if the reservoir was filled during years of average or high rainfall. If the reservoir was filled in a dry year it would “significantly impact on water supply to Egypt and cause the loss of power generation at High Aswan Dam for extended periods,” according to the document. A “comprehensive” additional study of the dam’s impact on water resources should be conducted, the panel said after reviewing the document. “The analysis presented is very basic, and not yet at a level of detail, sophistication and reliability that would befit a development of this magnitude, importance and with such regional impact.” Ethiopia is working with Sudan and Egypt to enact the panel’s recommendations, Dina Mufti, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said in an interview today in the capital, Addis Ababa.

ወዮዉልህ ወያኔ የፍርድ ቀን ቀርቦልሃል


           መስከረም 05/2013
            ናትናኤል አባተ(nathy de saint)

  የግንቦት7 ህዝባዊ ሃይል ገቢማሰባሰቢያ ዝግጅት ወቅት የወያኔ ተላላኪ ቡችላዎች ባሉበት መንጫጫታቸዉና፣ የተለያዩ ቦታዎች ስለዝግጅቱ አሉባልታ ወሬዎችን ስያናፍሱ ስለነበር ዝግጅቱ ከመጀመሩ በፍት ሁለት ነገሮች ትኩረቴን ስቦው ነበር ፣፣ አንደኛዉ ምክንያት ዝግጅቱ ቢሳካ ወያኔ ምን እንደምሆንና ሁለተኛዉ እነሱ እንደተመኙት ዝግጅቱ ባይሳካስ የሚሉ ሃሳቦች ነበሩ፣፣ ምኞታቸው ከስሞ ሴራቸዉ ከሽፎ  ዝግጅቱ ከተጠበቀዉ በላይ በከፍተኛ ስኬት መጠናቀቁ ምን ያህል እንቅልፍ እንደነሳቸዉ ለማወቅ ፈለኩ፣፣ የዛን ቀን ማለትም ሴፕቴምበር 28 የስብሰባው ቀን ማታ እርስበርስ እንደተደባደቡ ሰማሁ፣፣ ከአካላዊ ጉዳታቸዉ በላይ ከፍተኛ የስነልቦና ጉዳትና የወደፍት ተስፋ ማጣት ክስረት እንደደረሰባቸው የተከሰተዉ ነገር ያሳያል፣፣ ይህም እርስ በርስ የምለያይ መንግስት ይጠፋል የምለዉን የመጻፍ ቅዱስ ቃል አስታዎሰኝ፣፣

ወያኔ የምተማመንበት የስለላዉ መሃረብ የቱንም ያህል ጠንካራ ቢሆን፣እስከ የትም ድረስ ብዘረጋ እዉነተኛ እትዮጵያዊነትን፣የነጻነት ታጋይነትን ከታጋዮች ዉስጥ ማጥፋት ወይም ማቆም አልቻለም፣፣ በአሁኑ ሰአት ቃልቲና ለሎች ወህኒ ቤቶች ዉስጥ ከምገኙ ታጋዮች ጀምሮ በዱር እስከሚገኙ ተዋግዎች ድረስ የተለያዩ የነጻነት ታጋዮች በየሃገሩ በየቦታዉ አሉ፣፣ ከስሩ የበሰበሰ ከላዩ የቆመ የሚመስል የወያኔ መንግስት ይሄ ሁላ ተቃዉሞን መቋቋም ስለማይችልና መዉደቅያዉ እንደደረሰ ስለሚያዉቅ ባለበት ለመቆየት የማያፈናቅለዉ ድንጋይ የለም፣፣ የነጻነት ጎህ ለሃገራችን መቅደድ ጀምሯል፣፣ስቃያችን አብቅቶ በሃገራችን ተከብረን የምንኖርበት ጊዜ ፣በገዛ ሃገራችን እንደሁለተኛ ዜጋ የማንታይበት፣ መሬታችን ለባዕዳን የማይስጥበት፣ዜጎች የማይፈናቀሉበት፣ እኩልነት፣ፍትህ፣ነጻነት የሰፈነባት ሃገር እንድትኖረን ወያኔን የሚንዋጋበት ሰዓት አሁን ነዉ፣፣ ያለምንም ማመንታት እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ እጅ ለእጅ ተያይዞ የወያኔን እድሜ ማሳጠር ያስፈልጋል፣፣ በተለያዩ ቦታ ያሉ ኢትዮጵያዉያን የተለያዩ አጥጋቢ ገንቢና ወቅታዊ መረጃዎችን በመስጠት፣በማስተላለፍ ድጋፉን ማሳየት አለበት፣፣ የነጻነት ትግል ጉዞ ከባድ ሊሆን ይችላል ግን እያንዳንዳችን የየበኩላችን ብናደርግ ይበልጥ ይቀላል አንድነት ሃይል ነዉ ባንድነት እንገንባ ሃገራችንን፣፣ የየበኩል ትግል ከትንሹዋ ብዕርና ወረቀት አንስቶ ፣ጊዜ ገንዘብ ጉልበትና እስከ ህይዎት መስዋዕትነት ሊጠይቅ ይችላል፣፣ አፋኙ የወያኔ ስርአት ሃገር ዉስጥ ያሉ ትግሎችን ለማፈን ቢሞክርም ትግሉን መግታት አልቻለም ለወደፍትም አይችልም የማይችልበት ምክንያት ኢትዮጵያዊነት የላያችን ሽፋን ሳይሆን የዉስጣችን የስጋና ነፍስ ጉዳይ ነው፣፣ አባቶቻችን በኢትዮጵያዊት መንፈስ ጥንካሬ ነው ጣሊያኖችን ከአፈር የቀላቀሏቸዉ፣፣ወያኔ በመግደል በማሰር በማስፈራራትና የተለያዩ ስቃይና እንግልት ብያደርስም እዉነተኞቹ ኢትዮጵያዉን ባሉበት በሄዱበት ትግላቸዉን አላቁዋረጡም፣፣ የትግላቸዉን ፍሬም ማየት ጀምሯሉ፣፣

     የአምባገነኑ ወያኔ መንግስት ስም አጥፍዎቹ ተላላኪ ቡችሎቹ በተቻላቸዉ አቅምና መልኩ የግንቦት7 ህዝባዊ ሃይል የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ዝግጅት ስም ሲያጠፉና የሀሰት እምቢልታቸዉን ሲነፉ ነበሩ፣፣ የሃሰት ነጋሪት ከጎሰሙት መሃከል http://www.abesha.no/P%C3%A5-Amharisk/1372 ይሄ ድህረ ገጽ አንዱ ነዉ፣፣ባለቤቱ Av Girmay Assemahegn እንደሆነ የሚገምተው ይህ ድህረ ገጽና ባለቤቱ ታማኝ የወያኔ ቡችሎች ናቸዉ፣፣ታድያ የጮሄ ዉሻ ሁሉ አይናከስም እንደሚባለዉ ወያኔዎች ተንጫጩ እንጅ ዝግጅቱን ማቆም ወይም ማስተጓጎል አልቻሉም፣፣ ሴፕተምበር 28 ቀን ማታ እኛ የኢትዮጵያዉያን ቤት የደስታና የሃሴት ከበሮ ሲመታ የወያኔዎች ቤት ደግሞ ታላቅ ለቅሶ ሆኖ የሃዘን ድንኳን ተተክሎ ነበር፣፣  ወዳጆቼ ዉድ የኢትዮጵያ ልጆች እኔን ከምንም በላይ የምገርመኝ እነኝህ ወያኔዎች የሃሰት ዉንጀላና የዉሸት መንፈስ ተጠናዉተባቸዉ ከሃገር ርቀዉ ድንበር ተሻግረዉ መተዉ እንድህ አይነት የሀሰት ብዜቶችን ማናፈሳቸዉ፣ እኩይ ተግባራቸዉን በገሃድ የሚያሳይ ከመሆኑም በተጨማሪ ይህ ወያኔ የሚሉት ነገር በማፈንና በጉልበት ሃሰትን እዉነት አድርጎ የሚገዛ፣ እውነት የሚባል ነገር  በዉስጡ የለሌ ሃሰታዊ ገዥና የሀሰት ስርዓተኛ ነው ነው፣፣ የግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ሃይል ይህንን ያህል ተቀባይነት ማግኘቱንና፥ ስብሰባው በሰላምና በስኬት መጠናቀቁን ሲያዉቅስ ዎያኔ ምን ይሆን? እንግዲህ በሰላማዊ ትግል ማመን ያልቻለ ወያኔ በሚገባዉ ቌንቌ ምላሽ እየተሰጠዉ መሆኑንና ምላሹም በጅማረው ይሄን ያህል ድል ማግኝቱ ራስምታት እንደሚሆንበት እርግጠኛ ነኝ፣፣ ዘርን ከዘር፥ ሃይማኖትን ከሃይማኖት ጋር ሲያባላ የኖረ ኢ_ሰብአዊዉ ወያኔ የመጨረሻ ቀናቶቹ እንደቀረቡለት ያዉቃል፣፣ ወያኔ በሄደበት ሁላ እንደ እብድ ዉሻ መጮሁና ለመናከስ ጥርሶቹን ማሾሉ ሃገር ጉድ የሚያብስል  ሌላኛው ባህሪዉ ነው፣፣ለነገሩ ወያኔና እብድ ዉሻ አንድ ናቸዉ አንድነታቸዉም ሁለቱም ከዱር መሆናቸዉና አራዊታዊነታቸዉ ነዉ፣፣

ያም ሆነ ይህ አንድ ወያኔ ማወቅ ያለበት ነገር ግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ሃይል ከወያኔ ጋር በሚያደርገው የትግል ጉዞ እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ከግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ሃይል ጋር መሆኑን እንድሁም ህዝባዊ ሃይሉ ድል እንደምቀዳጅ ማወቅ አለበት፣፣የንጹሃን ደም የድሃዎች እምባ የሚስኪኖች ጩሄት የእናት ኢትዮጵያ እሮሮ ፍትህ የሚያገኝበት ጊዜ ደርሱዋል፣፣ታፍኖ ቁጣውን በትዕግስት ሸሽጎ የኖረ ህዝብ፣ በአያት ቅድመአያት ተከብሮ የኖረዉ ማንነቱ የተዋረደበት ያ ያገረ ሰው ተነስቱዋልና ወዮለት ለወያኔ!!  ታላቁ የፍርድ ቀን በወያኔ ላይ ደርሷል የፍርድ ቀን ዳኞቹ የእትዮጵያ ህዝቦች ናቸዉ፣፣ ክብሩን የተገፈፈው፣ማንነቱን ያጣዉ፣የወላድ መካን የሆነዉ ህዝብ፣አርሰዉና አርብተዉ የተራበ ያ ህዝብ ይፈርድበታል ወያኔ ላይ፣ ፍርዱም ይሄዉ ተጀመረ፣፣                                      

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                                                                                   ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ!!!!!
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Ethiopian National Defense Forces Kill 6 Civilians, including US citizen in the Gambella region of Ethiopia


Ethiopian National Defense Forces Kill 6 Civilians, including US citizen in the Gambella region of Ethiopia
On March 2, 2013, seventeen Anuak men were ambushed by Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), as they were sitting under a tree near Gilo river in a rural area in the Gambella region of southwestern Ethiopia. Six men were killed. Among those killed was a 33-year old American citizen, Omot Ojulu Odol, [B.D. 2/2/1978] who came to the U.S. as a teenager more than fifteen years ago. Mr. Odol had been visiting his homeland.    read...
October 9, 2012
Request for Inspection to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
On September 24, 2012, the Inspection Panel (the "Panel") received a Request for
Inspection (the "Request") related to "the World Bank-financed Ethiopia Protection of
Basic Services Project"1 in support of the Government's Promoting Basic Services
Program (hereinafter referred to as the "PBS Program" or "PBS").Z The Request was
submitted by "two local representatives" on behalf of 26 Anuak people from the Gambella
region of Ethiopia (the "Requesters"). The representatives have been authorized by two
groups of Anuak living in different locations to submit the Request. The representatives
and the Requesters have asked the Panel to keep their identities confidential "due to grave
concerns about our personal security and that of our relatives ."   read... (pdf)

Anuak refugees waiting for water    Photo: Obang Metho
The Anuak Justice Council, a 501(c)(3) organization, is a representative voice for the Anuak community worldwide. Our mission is to advocate peacefully for the rights and security of the Anuak wherever they live.
The Anuak are a small minority group in Ethiopia and Sudan, residing mainly in the Gambella region of southwestern Ethiopia. They have been the predominant landowners in the region for several generations, enjoying relative peace and coexisting with other minority groups, although tensions with the Ethiopian government over land ownership have existed for decades. The current regime in Ethiopia has not acted favorably toward the Anuak and over the last decade has become an increasingly oppressive reality for the Anuak.
On December 13, 2003, members of the Ethiopian military and other ethnic groups massacred more than 400 people in the town of Gambella. Since that time, the Anuak have continued to suffer genocide and other on-going crimes against humanity.
In the months following the December 2003 massacre, many Anuak expatriates felt scattered and powerless in their efforts to raise awareness of the oppression against their people and to help family members in immediate danger. Compounding this frustration was the lack of coverage of this tragedy by the international press.
As the atrocities continued, the urgent need for an organized voice for the Anuak became apparent, and in response to that need the Anuak Justice Council was formed. Representatives from the AJC have presented testimony to governmental bodies in the UN, the US, Canada and the European Union.
The AJC has also formed partnerships with international law groups to bring legal pressure to bear against the current Ethiopian regime in international court, and through contacts with other human rights organizations has been instrumental in initiating extensive investigations into the alleged crimes of genocide. Noteworthy among those investigations is the report by Human Rights Watch, a report that strongly implicates the Ethiopian government as a perpetrator of genocide.
The hope of the Anuak Justice Council is that with the help of pressure from the international community, a process of negotiation with the Ethiopian government can begin that would lead to a peaceful solution to the violence in Gambella, and ultimately to a safe and secure homeland to which the scattered Anuak can return.