Human Rights Watch – Fears for Safety of Returned Opposition Leader

(London) – An exiled Ethiopian opposition leader unlawfully deported by Yemen back to Ethiopia is at risk of mistreatment including torture. Andargachew Tsige is secretary-general of Ginbot 7, a banned Ethiopian opposition organization, and was convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in separate trials in Ethiopia in 2009 and 2012.

The current whereabouts of Andargachew, a British national, is unknown, raising concerns for his safety. The Ethiopian government should take all necessary steps to ensure Andargachew’s safety and his right to a fair trial. Many individuals arrested in politically related cases in Ethiopia are detained in Addis Ababa’s Maekelawi prison. In an October 2013 report, Human Rights Watch documented the use of torture by authorities against detainees in Maekelawi, including members of opposition political parties and organizations, as well as journalists.

We are deeply concerned for Andargachew Tsige’s safety,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director. “Ethiopia needs to demonstrate that it is holding Andargachew in accordance with its international obligations, and he should be allowed immediate access to a lawyer, his family, and to British consular officials.  Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director

Yemeni officials arrested Andargachew at El Rahaba Airport in Sanaa, Yemen, on June 23 or 24, 2014, while he was in transit on a flight from Dubai to Eritrea. They did not permit him consular access to UK embassy officials and summarily deported him to Ethiopia, credible sources told Human Rights Watch, despite his being at risk of mistreatment.

Yemeni authorities initially denied any knowledge of Andargachew’s detention and transfer to Ethiopia. Ethiopian government officials publicly called for his extradition from Yemen on July 3.

Under the Convention against Torture, which Yemen ratified in 1991, a government may not “expel, return (‘refouler’) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.” These protections override any extradition treaty or other security arrangement that may exist between Yemen and Ethiopia.

Trials in absentia generally violate the defendant’s right to present an adequate defense, concerns heightened in cases involving the death penalty.

“Yemen blatantly violated its international legal obligations by deporting someone to Ethiopia who not only is at serious risk of torture, but also faces the death sentence after being tried in absentia,” Lefkow said.

Ginbot 7, of which Andargachew is a founding member, was established in the aftermath of Ethiopia’s controversial May 2005 national elections. The Ethiopian government banned Ginbot 7, which has advocated the armed overthrow of the Ethiopian government, and officially considers it to be a terrorist organization.

The government has prosecuted Ginbot 7 members and leaders in trials that did not meet international fair trial standards. In November 2009, a court convicted Andargachew and 39 others under the criminal code on terrorism-related charges. Andargachew, who was tried in absentia, was sentenced to death. In June 2012, he was convicted again in absentia, this time under the abusive 2009 anti-terrorism law, along with 23 journalists, activists, and opposition members. Again, he was sentenced to death.

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly criticized provisions in Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law that violate due process rights guaranteed under Ethiopian and international law. At least 34 people, including 11 journalists and four Ginbot 7 leaders, are known to have been sentenced under the law since late 2011 in what appeared to be politically motivated trials; the real number is likely much higher. Suspects held under the law may be detained for up to four months without charge, among the longest periods under anti-terrorism legislation worldwide.

Ethiopian courts have shown little independence from the government in politically sensitive cases. Defendants have regularly been denied access to legal counsel during pretrial detention, and complaints from defendants of mistreatment and torture have not been appropriately investigated or addressed – even when defendants have complained in court.

The Ethiopian government routinely denies that torture and mistreatment occurs in detention. It restricts access to prisons for international observers, monitors, and consular officials, making it difficult to monitor the number and treatment of prisoners. In several cases documented by Human Rights Watch, Ethiopian security officials have arrested foreign nationals, denied knowledge of their whereabouts, and delayed access for consular officials for long periods.

In 2007 Human Rights Watch documented the forced transfer of scores of men, women, and children from Somalia and Kenya to Ethiopia. One of the men, Bashir Makhtal, a Canadian citizen of Ethiopian origin who was accused of membership of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a banned armed movement in Ethiopia, was denied consular access for 18 months. Meanwhile in 2010 and again in 2012, refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kenya were unlawfully returned to Ethiopia and told Human Rights Watch that they were subsequently tortured in detention. In all of these cases, the individuals were accused of belonging to groups that the Ethiopian government has designated as terrorist groups.

“Given its appalling track record of mistreating members and perceived supporters of banned groups, Ethiopia should know that the world will be watching how it treats Andargachew Tsige,” Lefkow said.

Source: http://www.hrw.org/

ፋሽስታዊ ፕሮፖጋንዳው እና ምላሻችን!

ፋሽስታዊ ፕሮፖጋንዳው እና ምላሻችን！( pdf )

ሐምሌ 3 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም.

ዘረኛውና ፋሽስታዊ ወያኔ፣ የኢትዮጵያዊያንን የትግል መንፈስ ለመስበር እና የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ለነፃነትና ለፍትህ የሚያደርገውን ትግል ወኔ ለመስለብ ያቀደበትን የመጀመሪያውን ፕሮፖጋንዳ ለቀቀ። የህግ ልጓም የማያውቀው ፋሽስት በግፍ የያዛቸውን ሰዎችን እይስሙላው ፍርድ ቤት እንኳን ከመቅረባቸው በፊት “ወንጀለኛ” እያለ እንዲህ ዓይነቱ ፕሮፖጋንዳ እንደሚነዛባቸው ተደጋግሞ የታየ በመሆኑ ይህ ፕሮፖጋንዳ የሚጠበቅ ነበር። ሆኖም ግን ፕሮፖጋንዳው ያዘጋጁ ሰዎች ተስፋ ያደረጉትን ውጤት ያመጣ አልሆነም። ወደፊት ደግሞ ሌሎች ሙከራዎች ይደረጉ ይሆናል፤ ውጤታቸው ግን ከዚህኛው የተለየ እንደማይሆን ይገመታል። የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ከኢቲቪ የእውነት ጥፍጣፊ እንኳን እንደማይገኝ ያውቃል።

በአሁኑ ተቆራርጦ በተለጣጠፈ ፊልም በታጀበው ፕሮፖጋንዳ ውስጥ፣ መሪያችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ በምግብና ውሀ እጦት ብቻ ሳይሆን በተፈጸመበት የተለያዩ የማሰቃያ ወንጀሎች ብዛት አካሉ መዳከሙ ይታያል። ያም ሆኖ ግን ከእሱ ወጥተው እንድንሰማቸው የተደረጉት ቃላት የመንፈሱን ጥንካሬ ገላጮች ናቸው። እሱ ሥራውን መጨረሱንና በዚህም ምክንያት ህሊናው የተረጋጋ መሆኑን ነው የሰማናቸው ቃላት የነገሩን። በዚህ አጭር አጋጣሚ እሱ ግዴታውን ማጠናቀቁ፤ ሀገራችን ከወያኔ ፋስሽቶች ነፃ የማውጣት ኃላፊነቱ በእኛ ትከሻ ላይ መውደቁን ነገረን። ለዜናው ማጀቢያነት የገቡት ፎቶግራፎችም መሪያችን ፈታኝ በሆነ የተፈጥሮ አካባቢ የከፈለውን መስዋዕትነት የሚመሰክሩ ሆነው ተገኙ።

ጀግናው አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን በተጎሳቆለ ሁኔታ ማየት ስሜትን የሚጎዳ ቢሆንም የመጀመሪያው ስሜት ካለፈ በኋላ ከፊልሙ በአዕምሮዓችን የሚቀረው ከላይ በአጭሩ የተገለፁት ጥንካሬውና ኃላፊነትን ወደ እኛ በይፋ ያስተላለፈበት አጋጣሚ መሆኑ ነው። በዚህም ምክንያት በአቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ላይ የተሠራው የመጀመሪያ በምስል የተደገፈ የወያኔ ፕሮፖጋንዳ ከታለበት ዓላማ በተፃራሪ የወያኔን ሹማምንት አውሬነትና የአቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን ትልቅነት አሳይቷል።

ይሁን እንጂ ከላይ እንደተገለፀው ይህ የመጀመሪያ የፕሮፖጋንዳ ሥራ እንጂ የመጨረሻው አይደለም። የማስተዋል ችሎታ ያነሳቸው የወያኔ ፕሮፖጋንዲስቶችም ፊልማቸው ቁጣን ማባባሱ ሲያዩ ፈጥነውም ይሁን ዘግይተው ከዚህ በተለየ አቀራረብ መመለሳቸው አይቀርም። ስለሆነም የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ከወያኔ የጅል ፕሮፖጋንዳ መንፈሱን እንዲጠብቅ ማሳሰብ አስፈላጊ ሆኖ አግኝተነዋል። የወያኔ ፕሮፖጋንዲስቶች አሁን የደረሰባቸውን ኪሳራ ለማካካስ አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ያላለውን አለ ይሉን ይሆናል፤ ቃላትን ፈጥረው እሱ የተናገራቸው ያስመስሉም ይሆናል። የቻይና ቴክኖሎጂ ከወያኔ ድድብና ጋር ሲደባለቅ ምን እንደሚያመጣ አስቀድሞ መገመት ያዳግታል። ኢቲቪ ለዘመናት የተካነበትን ውሸት የመፈብረክ ክህሎትን ወደ ላቀ ደረጃ የማሳደግያ አጋጣሚ አድርጎ ሊጠቀምበት ስለሚችል መንፈሳዊ ዝግጅት ማድረግ ተገቢ ነው።

ከዚህ በተረፈ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በጥብቅ ሊያስብበት የሚገባ ጉዳይ አለ።

ጀግናው፣ ብልሁና አስታራቂው አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ኢትዮጵያን በማጥፋት ዓላማ ባበሩ፤ ዘርፈውና በልተው በማይጠግቡ፤ የንፁሃንን ደም መጠጣት በለመዱ ዘረኞችና ፋሽስቶች መዳፍ ውስጥ ነው። ለዚህ ምላሻችን ምንድነው? ገና ከአሁኑ እንደታየው በሰላማዊ መንገድ ሥርዓቱን ለመገዳደር የደፈሩ ወጣቶችን ለማሰር አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን ሰበብ ሲያደርግ የኛ ምላሽ ምንድነው? አገራችን ያፈራቻቸው ምርጥ ዜጎች በሙሉ ወይ ታስረው አልያም ተሰደው ሲያልቁ እያየን ምን እየሠራን ነው? ነፃነታችንና አገራችን ለህወሓት ዘረኞች አስረክበን እንቀመጣለን? በጭራሽ！

አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ የተመቻቸ ኑሮዉንና ልጆቹን ጥሎ ለነፃነቱና ለሀገሩ የዘመተ ጀግና ነው። ከእኛም የሚፈለገው ይህንኑ ነው። ጀግናችንን ብቻ ሳይሆን አገራችንም ጭምር ከታሰረችበት ማስፈታት የምንችለው አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ በተጓዘበት መንገድ ስንጓዝ ነው። ለዚህ የተዘጋጀ ሁሉ “አለሁ!” ይበል።

ማንም ዝርዝር መመሪያ በሬድዮ ወይም በቴሌቪዥን እንዲነገረው አይጠብቅ። የቆረጠና የመረረው ጀግኖች የሚገኙበት ድረስ ሄዶ ይቀላቀል። ከልቡ የቆረጠና ጥቂት ፍለጋ ያደረገ ሁሉ መንገዱን አያጣም።

1. ቀደም ሲል ንቅናቄዓችን – ግንቦት 7: የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ – ያወጣውን የመጀመሪያ እርከን የትግል ጥሪ ተግባሪዊ ለማድረግ ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊያን በቁርጠኝነት በተግባራዊ ትግልቶች ይመንዘሩት፤
2. የተቆጣ፣ ጥቃት፤ ውርደት፤ ግፍ የመረረው ሁሉ፤ ለነፃነቱ ግድ ያለው ኢትዮጵያዊ ሁሉ የስነ ልቦና ዝግጅት ያድርግ፤ ከወያኔ ሰላዮች ራሱን ተከላክሎ በያለበት በጥብቅ ከሚያምናቸው ጋር በመሆን በየአካባቢው በቡድን በቡድን ይደራጅ፤ በወያኔ ቀንደኛ ሹሞችና ወንጀለኞች ላይ ይሰልል፤ መረጃዎችን ለንቅናቄዓችን ይላክ።
3. በየአካባቢያችን የወያኔን ፋሽስቶችን የሚያሸማቅቁ፣ በሁለተናዊ መልኩ (በስነልቦና፤ ማኅበራዊ ተጽዕኖ በመፍጠር፣ በኢኮኖሚ) ጉልበታቸውን የሚቦረቡሩ፣ የሚያድክማቸው፣ ውስጣቸውን የሚሸረሽራቸው ሥራዎችን በቁጭትና በእልህ ሳናሰልስ ተግባራዊ እናድርግ።
4. በሕዝብ ጎራ ሳይሆን በጥቂቶቹ በወያኔ ፋሽስቶች ጎራ ፍርሃትና ብርክ የሚፈጥሩ የጀግንነት ሥራዎችን በቡድን በመደራጀት በመላው ዓለምና በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በብልሃት፣ በጥናትና በስልት በመተግበር ሕዝባዊ እምቢተኝነት እሁን እናድርግ፡፡
5. ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊን የሚቻለውን ሁሉ ትንሿንም ጠጠር ብትሆን ወያኔና ጭፍሮቹ ላይ እንወርውር።
6. በደጀን የተሰለፈው ኃይል ደግሞ የዘማቹን ስንቅ በማዘጋጀት በገንዘቡ፤ በጉልበቱ፤ በመረጃ ይተባበር።

የአገር ማዳን የክተት ዘመቻ ላይ ነንና በእያንዳንዱ ጉዳይ ማብራሪያ እንዲሰጥ ሳንጠብቅ ቀበቶዓችንን አጠባብቀን እንነሳ። ድል እናደርጋለን!! አገራችን ከዘረኞችና ፋሽስቶች መንጋጋ መንጭቀን እናወጣታለን!!

ድል ለኢትጵያ ሕዝብ !!

ግንቦት 7: የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ

Ethiopian Opposition Leader, Andargachew Tsege, Faces Torture and Death by Ruling Regime

San Jose, California, July 11 – Ethiopian opposition leader, Andargachew Tsege, was kidnapped during a stopover at Sana’a airport in Yemen on June 23 as he was traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Eritrea. He had broken no Yemeni laws and presented no harm or threat whatsoever to Yemen or Yemeni authorities.

After being jailed in Yemen, the Yemeni authorities then extradited Mr. Tsege to Ethiopia in complete abrogation of the doctrine of non-refoulement, a recognized rule of international law. The rule prohibits handing over a person to an authority which may cause him or her harm or death.

Upon learning of Mr. Tsege’s kidnapping, the Ethiopian-American Council (EAC) wrote letters of concern to the United Kingdom Foreign Office and to the U.K. embassy in Washington D.C. Mr. Tsege, a U.K. national carrying a U.K. passport, is secretary general of an exiled Ethiopian opposition movement, Ginbot 7.

A response from Mr. Clive McGill of the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to EAC indicated that Mr. Tsege’s detention in Ethiopia is of great concern and that they have requested consular access to Mr. Tsege. He also said that Mr. Tsege’s detention is most worrisome to FCO because of the ruling regime’s complete disregard for the Vienna Convention articles against torture and execution.

Mr. Tsege was recently paraded across Ethiopia’s government-controlled television. Wearing blue sports attire, he complained of being tired and in need of rest. He has not been heard from since, nor has there been any report on his status or whereabouts from any source; just as there was very little information regarding his status since June 23.

In 2005, national elections were held in Ethiopia. The current regime was not happy with the results and nullified them. Rioting followed and hundreds of citizens were killed. The founding of the Ginbot 7 Party followed. Ginbot 7 Party, or May 15 Party, is named for the date of the 2005 elections.

In 2009, Ginbot 7 was outlawed and its leaders sentenced to death in absentia for treason, Mr. Tsege among them. The judgment was handed down from judges of the TPLF/EPRDFTigrayan , the corrupt and murderous minority party now ruling in Ethiopia. The regime considers Mr. Tsege its most wanted man. He had been in exile until his recent kidnapping by the Yemenis.

EAC has called for international service organizations – International Red Cross and Red Crescent, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch – to have access to the imprisoned Ethiopian patriot in order to monitor his legal situation and his physical wellbeing. Last week, Amnesty International warned that Mr. Tsege was at great risk of being tortured while in Ethiopian custody.

The the recent EAC letter to U.K. authorities read: “EAC implores you to do all in your power to free Mr. Andargachew Tsege as soon as possible, before he succumbs to vile mistreatment or a heinous death at the hands of the tyrannical and blood-soaked EPRDF/TPLF regime. We earnestly pray for your assistance. If Mr. Tsege is not freed, another true Ethiopian patriot will be tortured and then murdered.”

EAC will follow up with more informative press releases as the situation unfolds.

The Ethiopian American Council

Hailemariam Desalegn: Prime Minster or Prime Disaster?

Death most resembles a prophet who is without honor in his own land or a poet who is a stranger among his people. Khalil Gibran
by Teshome Debalke

My people, I don’t know about you but, everything the Woyane regime does makes me throw up or laugh hysterically depending the issue. IfHailemariam Desalegn with the BBC journalist Emmanuel Igunza listening to the recent interview of Hailemariam Desalegn with the BBC journalist Emmanuel Igunza didn’t flipped you over to say My Country is in a major crises in modern history ruled by the man in question, I can only say you need to see a mental doctor immediately…

This is the lowest the man came down yet by his own mediocre standard understanding governance since he was appointed by TPLF to do its dirty job. No wonder the clueless Prime Minster avoid real journalist all together.

I was surprised how Halimariam was allowed by his TPLF handlers to appear from all Medias on the BBC. It defiantly has something to do with to cover up Andargachew Tsege’s illegal abduction out of Yemen that brought unexpected reactions worldwide and the Media coverage the Gang worked so hard to avoid. The TPLF led regime’s kidnapping of a British Citizen from third country in partnership with the atrociously corrupt Yemeni security force exposed the capability of the rogue regime to violate every conceivable international law and diplomacy written to the world. The calculated risk the frighten Gangs took came right back to bit them.

But, what is not clear is why his TPLF handlers put an incoherent man on BBC that can’t put a good sentence together to respond to simple questions asked by real Media. What is even more tragedy is why the PM would make a jackass out of himself with his rambling response to the questions on the top on to self-incriminate himself for TPLF’s leaders that are responsible for so many atrocities, kidnapping, torture and corruption hiding behind him.

The higgledy-piggledy response to the interview speaks volume to the public suspicion that the country is run on autopilot for the lack of coherent regime to run her. The Prime Minster doesn’t appear to know the difference between the branches of government — wondering all over the place admitting; every branches of government and the Media are all under his TPLF’s handers hand — visibly amusing the BBC reporter afraid to ask hard follow up questions you expect from a typical BBC reporters known for hitting home. In fact, he showed he is the ‘elected’ head of state, a prosecutor, the judge and jailer on the top of Media regulator and election monitor in one interview — showing the out of control regime he preside terrorizing the population.

On the issue of his governments stifling the oppositions; he accuse them all working with terrorists groups to destabilize the country.

On the issue of terrorism laws and its misuse by his government; He said, it is copied from the British law but the interpretation is different depending on the judges.

On the issue of the abduction of Andagachew, a British citizen from Yemen, he said he is ‘a Trojan horse for the Eritrean government to destabilize the country and was convicted in absentia some years ago convicted of terrorism charge and he need no trial because he was not there when he was convicted.

On the issue of the high number of journalist in jail and the case of Zone 9 bloggers that were arrested without a formal charge for over 60 days. He turned around threatened to arrest him as well if he work or associate with the ‘terrorist groups’ without answering the question. The report appears amused of the out of control Prime Minster dancing around the question and threatening him to charge him with terrorism if he talk to the Zone 9 bloggers.

Not long ago the same PM was asked by a local government approved reporter;’ who is in charge of the government?’ After he marbled for a few minutes his response was some kind of ‘collective leadership’ that shocked many Ethiopians of the new form of government invented by TPLF to stick around. With unknown numbers of Deputy Prime Ministers never heard in the history of government the man doesn’t appear to know what his job description maybe beside entertain foreign leaders’ visiting the country.

At the meantime, TPLF’s apologist posed as journalist is parading him as Prime Minster for the sole purpose of showing the Gangs of Adwa are not in charge. Recently the lone ranger and the ambulance journalist Binyam Kebde of EthiopiaFirst that usually get dispatch for emergency to rehabilitate TPLF sat down with the PM in an attempt to reinvent his image with not much success..

What is wrong with the blind apologist of TPLF regime?

Ethiopians are in a dilemma what to make of TPLF’s apologist no see, hear, speak of evil attitude when it comes to the regime that arrest teenage bloggers for expressing their feeling about visibly corrupt and atrocious regime. Are they in some kind of suicide mission or clueless to understand the rogue regime behavior is not acceptable for 19th century let alone for 21st? Could it be their economic benefits blinded everything else?

Whatever motivates them to stick around the regime knowing its crimes multiplying every day, Ethiopians should wait until they wake up from their sleepwalking.

Like I said over and over again Woyane will surrender one way or another. But it appear it choose to talk, jail and kill the unavoidable surrender.

For Halimariam that claim to be educator, family man, and a man of faith on the top of many other things, unless he lies to himself as he does to the rest of Ethiopians it doesn’t show. Whatever legacy he leaves behind, it wouldn’t be honor and honesty. Who ever said ‘a mind is a terrible thing to waste’ said it to the young men women who would forgo knowledge because no one is willing to invest on them. In contrast, our people wasted their investment on grown-ups wasting their mind babysitting and sustaining dictatorship. Where is the honor in that?

‘Death most resembles a prophet who is without honor in his own land or a poet who is a stranger among his people’. Khalil Gibran