Libya: Thousands of Refugees in Life-Threatening

HRLHA Urgent Action

September 24, 2013

For Immediate Release

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) has learnt through its correspondents that hundreds of thousands of refugees in Libya, most of whom were from the Horn of African countries such as Ethiopian and Eritrea, are in a very dangerous situation after they were evicted from their original refugee camps in Benghazi, Libya where they stayed for the past three years. The eviction took place following the infiltration and assault of the refugees by who were described as workers of the Libyan Red Crescent on the 13^th of September, 2013. The assault included beating and stabbings by knives. Those who broke out of the shelters to run away from the assaults were met with Libyan armed forces that were stationed around the camps prior to the starting of the assault. Then, the refugees were forced out of the camp on allegations that they attempted to instigate disturbances in the city, and taken to remote area known as Alshatti.

According to HRLHA correspondents, about 500 refugees are now held in what was known to be a private detention centre in Alshatti located on Sahara Desert border with no adequate supply of basic necessities. HRLHA has also learnt that the very adverse weather condition at Alshatti has worsened the situation to the refugees. Even two expecting women who delivered after arriving in Alshatti and their newly born infants were not treated differently. The fact that the refugees are now held in isolation where they are not visited by international agencies like the UN High Commission for Refugees and the ICRC until this Urgent Action is documented,  as they used to when they were sheltered in Benghazi, added to the very unfriendly living condition has raised their frustrations. The refugees who were contacted by HRLHA also mention that there have been detachments and disconnections among refugees who had acquaintances and/or relationships with each other. Most of the refugees who were taken to Alshatti are originally from Ethiopia and Eritrea, HRLHA correspondents have added.

The HRLHA managed to obtain the names of the following 33 refugees:

No	Name	Country of origin
1	Foad Kasim	Ethiopian, Oromo,
2	Abdi Nagassa	Ethiopia, Oromo
3	Derje Gezahegn	Ethiopia, Amhara
4	Dereje Tefera	Ethiopia, Amhara
5	Abdulhamid Abdurahiman	Ethiopia, Oromo
6	Nuredin Haji	Ethiopia, Oromo
7	Mulatu Kassa	Ethiopia, Amhara
8	Abdurahiman Jailan	Ethiopia, Oromo
9	Aman Amid	Ethiopia, Oromo
10	Nahom Gebre Mariam	Eritrea
11	Hani Gebre Nugus	Ertrea
12	Umar Mohamed	Ertrea
13	Wubshet Tesfaye	Ethiopia, Amhara
14	Abdi Husein	Ethiopia, Oromo
15	Mohamed Lencho	Ethiopia, Oromo
16	Husein Abdulkadir	Ethiopia, Oromo
17	Wazir Awol	Ethiopia, Oromo
18	Husein Ahmed	Ethiopia, Oromo
19	Amadu Tesema	Ethiopia. Amhara
20	Tekie Girmay	Eritrea
21	Abdulmohamed Nur	Ertirea
22	Naigzi Goyitom	Eritrea
23	Nigusu Abriham	Eritrea
24	Saladin Mohamed	Eritrea
25	Mohamed Sale	Eritrea
26	Abel Tadesse	Ethiopia, Amhara
27	Gemed Fikadu	Ethiopia,Amhara
28	Yusuf Tahir	Ethiopia, Oromo
29	Abduzamed Mohamed	Ethiopia, Oromo
30	Aliyi Haji	Ethiopia, Oromo
31	Awol Adam	Ethiopia, Oromo
32	Selemon Desta	Ethiopia, Amhara
33	Kedir Mohamed	Ethiopia, Oromo

HRLHA is highly concerned about the safety and future fates of those asylum seekers and refugees in such an isolated and disconnected socio-political environment. Therefore, HRLHA calls up on the Libyan Government, first of all to ensure the safety and well being of the refugees and asylum seekers by providing full protection against any kind of attacks from any side or angle and allow access to the new location to the representatives of regional and international UN and humanitarian agencies as well as media organizations so that they could receive all the supports they need especially to bring their refugee lives to an end.

The HRLHA also urges all national, regional and international human rights groups, donor countries and organizations to join hands in putting pressure on the Libyan   government so that it abides by the international norms, the 1951 International Convention of the refugees and asylum seekers and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 14 (1) “ Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”

Recommendation:

Please send appeals to the Libyan Government, concerned Libyan officials and to diplomatic representatives of Libya who are accredited to your country as swiftly as possible, in English, in Berber or Libyan Arabic Language, or in your own language expressing:

Your concern regarding the mistreatment of asylum seekers and refugees in Libya and they should be treated according to the 1951 International Convention of the refugees and asylum seekers and other international norms of refugee and asylum seekers rights.

Appeal to:

1. His Excellency Dr. Ali Zidan Prime Minster of Libya
Tel: +218(21) 444 3700, Fax: +218 (21) 360 0889

2. His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Abdul-Aziz
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Libya
Tel: 22 – 2921 340 21 218

Copied To:

UNHCR main office Geneva, Switzerland.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Suisse.  telephone number: +41 22 739 8111

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson , 52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland Telephone: +41 22 917 9656
Mail: civilsocietyunit@ohchr.org

African Commission on Human and Peoples‘ Rights (ACHPR) 
48 Kairaba Avenue, P.O.Box 673, Banjul, The Gambia.
Tel: (220) 4392 962 , 4372070, 4377721 – 23
Fax: (220) 4390 764
 E-mail: achpr@achpr.org

Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE
Tel: + 33 (0)3 88 41 34 21
Fax: + 33 (0)3 90 21 50 53

U.S. Department of State
Laura Hruby
Ethiopia Desk Officer
U.S. State Department
HrubyLP@state.gov
Tel: (202) 647-6473

Amnesty International Secretariat – London
Telephone: 44 20 74135500
Fax: 44 20 79561157
1Easton Street
London, WC1X0DW, UK

Human Rights Watch – New York, Tel: +1-212-290-4700
Fax:+1-212-736-1300
Email: hrwnyc@hrw.org

Keeping up with the forgotten “guests”

By Hindessa Abdul   
As the new Ethiopian year 2006 dawned, the president of the country - weeks before his final days in office - pardoned about 400 prisoners. Hopes of the release of journalists and activists who could use his gestures evaporated in to thin air when family members told the media that their loved ones will not be joining them for the new year. It was not only the journalists’ request for pardon that was left unanswered, there were some two other “guests” who were mentioned as a footnote in the clemency story. They were told to surrender before requesting forgiveness.
The two former Dergue officials who are believed to be in their 70s caged in the Italian Embassy in Addis Ababa have long been forgotten by local and international community. For those who care to check: Addis Tedla and Berhanu Bayeh might have broken the world record for staying longer than anybody else in an embassy compound: 22 years and counting. You are not alone
The idea of seeking protection in diplomatic missions is not new. Many politicians and even ordinary people have tried to use embassies to evade threats to their life.
In 1989 the Panamanian leader General Manuel Noriega picked a fight with his mighty former sponsors. When the U.S. invaded his country to arrest him, Noriega fled to the Vatican Embassy in Panama City.He only lasted ten days before surrendering. When the Berlin Wall was torn down and the days of reckoning set in, the East Germany leader Erich Honecker flew to Moscow to seek refuge in the Chilean embassy there. He spent about three months before being handed over to German authorities to have his days in court. The whistle blower website WikiLeaks founder, who is hold up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, is a present day example. The Australian born Julian Assange sought for extradition to Sweden on sexual misconduct charges has been sheltered in the embassy for over a year now. The Four Tops Nothing is known about what a typical day looks like for the former Ethiopian officials who are sheltered in the Italian embassy in the Ethiopian capital. Italians rarely divulge information about their ‘‘guests.” If and when they have something to say, it usually culminates in recrimination with the Ethiopian foreign affairs ministry who accuses Italy of ‘harbouring criminals.’ Ethiopia and Italy had sometimes tense relationships. For long time the return of the Axum obelisk was a bone of contention between the two countries. That problem has since been resolved with the return of the monument. Ethiopia has also been accusing Italy of sympathizing with Eritrea when war broke out between the neighboring countries in 1998. And of course the case of the four “guests”, who short of being flown out of the country managed to secure a save haven, have also been a source of tension. The Italians have refused to hand over the suspects citing the use of death penalty in the country that contravenes the Italian law which has long abolished capital punishment. Italy so far has stood firm on its principles by keeping the suspects in its embassy with all the ensuing burden. While no solution to the impasse insight, the possibility of a safe transit out of the country is faint. The fate of their two colleagues only makes for the worst case scenario. From the original four, half have left the compound - deceased. The officials who entered the embassy in the last days of May 1991are:

Police block Blue Party opposition rally

Press TV    

ADDIS ABABA - Police on Sunday blocked Blue Party from staging a rally at Meskel Square. Police also threatened to use force against the activists who are staunch proponents of a non-violent struggle to bring about regime change, and establish the rule of law in the country.

Ethiopia: Beyond the Hubris of Evil

Ethiopia: Beyond the Hubris of Evil September 22, 2013

by Alemayehu G. Mariam
When I wrote a commentary on the plight of the imprisoned 32-year old Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu last April, I titled it “The Audacity of Evil in Ethiopia.” At the time, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had sent a letter to the “Minister of Justice” of the ruling regime in Ethiopia pleading medical care for Reeyot and urging them to spare her from a threatened solitary confinement. In that commentary, I explained why I was compelled to “stray from my professional fields of law and politics” to moral philosophy.
In this commentary, I am again compelled to indulge in philosophical musings on the hubris of evil. I am prompted once again by a statement of the Committee to Protect Journalists issued last week protesting the decision by the ruling regime to impose severe visitor restrictions on Reeyot.  CPJ “called upon the Ethiopian authorities to lift these latest restrictions and allow Reeyot Alemu to receive all visitors… She is a journalist, not a criminal, and should not be behind bars.”
Reeyot began a hunger strike to protest an order by regime officials to pre-clear a list of her prison visitors. “In retaliation for the hunger strike, authorities forbade her from having any visitors excluding her parents and priest.” She was subsequently told that “she could receive any visitors except for her younger sister and her fiancé, journalist Sileshi Hagos [who had spoken publicly about the visitor exclusion order]… Sileshi was detained for four hours at the prison later that day when he attempted to visit Reeyot.”
On a number of occasions, I have written about Reeyot’s plight, courage and fearless advocacy of press independence and public accountability in Ethiopia. In the last two years, she has become a heroine of press freedom not only in Ethiopia and Africa but the world. The prestigious international press awards she has received speak volumes on her ferocious defense of press freedom in Ethiopia. Reeyot was the recipient of the  International Women’s Media Foundation 2012 Courage in Journalism Award for “her refusal to self-censor in a place where that practice is standard, and her unwillingness to apologize for truth-telling, even though contrition could win her freedom.” She received the 2012 Hellman/Hammett award administered by Human Rights Watch “in recognition of her efforts to promote free expression in Ethiopia.” She also received the 2013 World Press Freedom Prize awarded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for “exceptional courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression”. She and co-political prisoner Eskinder Nega are two of seven journalists and human rights activists nominated for the European Parliament’s 2013 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Virtually every major international human rights and press organization has come to Reeyot’s defense since her arrest in 2011. Human Rights Watch challenged the legal validity of the “terrorism” allegations against her and noted that “the descriptions of the charges [against Reeyot] in the initial charge sheet did not contain even the basic elements of the crimes of which the defendants are accused….”Amnesty International declared that “There is no evidence that [Reeyot and the other independent journalists] are guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. We believe that they are prisoners of conscience, prosecuted because of their legitimate criticism of the government. They must be released immediately and unconditionally.” PEN American Center “protested the harsh punishment handed down to” Reeyot and fellow political prisoner Woubshet Taye and demanded their “immediate and unconditional release.” The International Women’s Media Foundation saw Reeyot’s “trial” as an intimidation tactic against all independent women journalists: “The fact that the Ethiopian Government pursues and persecutes courageous, brave and professional women journalists does not bode well particularly for young women who may be interested in journalism. As a result, women’s voices (as reporters, editors, journalists, decision-making chambers) are rarely heard and women’s  issues are often relegated to secondary position.” CPJ demanded, “Writing critical columns about the government is not a criminal offense and is certainly not a terrorist act–Reeyot should be released immediately.” Many other organizations including Reporters Without Borders have expressed similar views and made demands for her immediate release.
Hubris of evil
When I wrote about the audacity of evil last April, I was philosophically concerned about the evils of ordinary human wickedness and bestial human behavior. I was concerned about gratuitous evil (pointless evil from which no greater good can be derived) committed by ordinary and sub-ordinary wicked people whose intellect is corrupted and are bereft of moral discernment and judgment. Here I write about the hubris of evil. In ancient Greece, hubris was the most heinous of crimes. Aristotle described hubris as an abusive act intended to shame and humiliate the victim, not because of anything the victim has done or might do but merely for the gratification and pleasure of the abuser. He wrote that the insolently hubristic “man thinks himself greatly superior to others when ill-treating them. That is why youths and rich men are insolent; they think themselves superior when they show insolence” (Rhetoric 1378b).

The Fake ‘Amharas’ – To milk “Lamie Bora – ላሜ ቦራ”

Wondimu Mekonnen, LondonRecently, someone one visited Britain from home on business tour and entertained us with an amusing story of Lamie Bora, the fictional character in the children’s stoy. Woyyane officials call us, Diaspora Lamie Bora (ላሜ ቦራ)።Are we really that “milka-cow?”

I am sure everyone who went to school in Ethiopia at my age knows the children story of Lamie Bora. Lamie Bora is a very touching story. The story goes like this. A dying mother entrusts her two children unto a cow, called “Lamie Bora.”Just before she died, she sung to the cow: “Lamie Bora! Lamie Bora! I leave my children’s wellbeing to you” (ላሜ ቦራ! ላሜ ቦራ! የልጆቼን ነገር አደራ). After a while the children’s father remarried another woman, whoturned out to be acruel stepmother. Every time she denied them food, the two children would go to Lamie Bora and sing “Lame bora! Lamie Bora! Don’t forget Mammie’s plea (ላሜ ቦራ! ላሜ ቦራ የእማምዬን አደራ!) Then Lamie bora would let the children suckle directly from the tits on her breast. Lamie Bora is supposed never to stop giving milk all year round.

This story is now retold among Woyyane agents referring to Diaspora as Lamie Bora, for the simple reason that whenever Woyyane runs out foreign currency it runs to the Diaspora – a cow full of milk all the year round. Every year, Woyyane officials fly to London, Washington and other major cities of the world, where exiled Ethiopians live in abundance with the hope of harvesting cash from the unsuspecting Diaspora – the cash cow. Their embassies have been instructed to implement the design for the purpose using various tactics. One such means is the Millennium Dum, (sorry I meant Dam), development associations, “Investors” and the recent 40/60 formula to own a house in Ethiopia! Recently, one of our church clergy renegades went for it, but fell out with the guys doing the business on some procedural grounds.

A good way of milking the milka-cow is to organise the Lamie Bora’s along their ethnic blood lines – such as the ‘Amhara’ Development Association, the Guragea Development Association, etc. This time, it is the ‘Amhara’ Lamie Bora’s turn to be milked in Queens capital city. The fake ‘Amhara’s (ቁጩ አማሮች)[1], are used as tools for the purpose. You rarely find any ‘Amhara’ among their leaders. Their organisation, The ‘Amhara’ National Democratic Movement (ANDM) was found in November 1980 in Tigray, at a place known as Tekrarwuha. The mission of ANDM – It’s all about shutting down the ‘Amhara’ threat. ANDM was the favoured puppet organization. They leadership was made up of various ethnic groups, but ‘Amhara’! They were then and are now actually predominantly Woyyanes disguised as Amaras. They are all fake-fake-fake to the root third rated ‘Amharas’. Take for Example, Bereket Simon. He is a Shabbo-banda whose mother and father hail from Eritrea.  Hilawi Yosef is either a Tigre or a Shabo-Banda like Bereket, but has no drop of ‘Amhara’ blood in him. Tefera Walwa is a Gimira. Well at least Gimira sounds like ‘Amhara’. The only ‘Amhara’ thing in Addisu Legesse is his name. He is an Oromo from Harar. Did you know who Tamirat Layne was before he became Tamirat Layne? His real name was Getachew Mamo Waqkenie. Go and figure out that. Tadesse Tinqishu, regardless of his beautiful name, is a Tigre? Is Kassu Ilalla sound ‘Amhara’? Give me a break! All the ethnic based organisations, except the TPLF were formed using the same formula. Their extensions in the Diaspora are called “development associations” followed by the appropriate suffixes. The “associations” are kind of support groups for the “forged” ethnic groups.

Coming back to the Lamie Bora story, the fake ‘Amharas’ in London are organised under “‘Amhara’ Development Association – UK”. Do you want to see, who they are exactly, from their 2011 fund raising event? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fmeHCLPgpU. Those of you who reside in London should be able to tell who is who in that video. The majority are Tigres, followed by Jamaicans and then some hod-aders like Yalew Kebede. Gondares have yet to tell us about the ethnic background of Yalew Kebede. Could he be another fake ‘Amhara’ like Bereket from Gondar?

This year, Lamie Bora – Diaspora is planned to be milked on 28 September 2013 at the Ethiopian Embassy. The entrance fee is free. Why not invite ourselves to the abundant food and drink? Oh, one more thing. Where are they advertising their event? Not of course mainstream websites, but Tigrai Online. This is yet another proof that this is another Woyyane organisation camouflaged as ‘Amhara’s! See for yourself. http://www.tigraionline.com/’Amhara’-ada-event-uk.html

 The forged Amaras are disgusting who trade in the name of ‘Amhara’ to milk the Diaspora, to fill in the never quenching thirst of Woyyane for hard currency. It looks like its recent attempt to milk Lamie Bora did not work at fund raising events for the millennium dam, so they are punishing their Ambassadors for failing to trap Lamie Bora – the milka-cow. Many lost their jobs this week. May be the 40/60 formula for owning a house in Addis might attract some fools to sacrifice their hard earned currency. The idea is the Diaspora would pay 40% down payment in hard currency. The 60% would be lent in birr by the TPLF. Don’t you even think of owning the land on which the house is going to be built. It belongs to the TPLF. Whenever the TPLF wants the land, it will ask you to carry away your bricks and mortars as the land is needed by the landlord to be sold to foreign investors!

The Diaspora has to cease being treated like Lamie Bora. It has to distance itself from these corrupt and human rights abusers. Whenever one needs to do business with the TPLF, it is that person’s morale obligation to remember prisoners like Reyyot Alemu, Andualem Arage, Eskinder Nega, Nathnael Mekonen, Kinfemichael Debebe, Yohannes Terefe, Shambel Yeshewas Yehunealem and Andualem Ayalew, tens of thousands of members of the Oromo ethnic group and the illegally imprisoned Muslim leaders.

The Woyyane is a No. 1 corrupt regime in Africa. One would better avoid dealing with Woyyane at all levels unless that person wants to be milked dry. One can invest his/her money elsewhere, where a good return is expected without risk of being fleeced. The least, if you don’t want to invest, just drink your own milk rather than giving it to the Woyyane. Even some cows have become smarter and drinking their own milk rather than giving it away. Don’t you believe me? Watch the next clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5DDT5qdHDE&feature=related

Good for you, cow! Well done! You are much better than some Ethiopians that are regularly milked dry by the Woyyane!