Ethiopia: The Unfair Trial of Muslim Leaders

Why It Undermines Counter-terrorism in Ethiopia

by Abadir M. Ibrahim | Addis Standard (Addis Ababa)

Something was awry at a hearing of the High Court of Ethiopia on July 6, 2015. As the much anticipated conviction of Muslim civil society leaders (Abubaker Ahmed and 17 others) was underway, it was clear that this was no ordinary trial.

Security was beefed up, the public gallery was crowded and the atmosphere was tense. A significant amount of time was spent with the court presenting a detailed defense of the government’s policies on counterterrorism and Muslim-state relations.

የቃሊቲ ማረሚያ ቤት ለ3ኛ ጊዜ አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን አላቀረበም

August 5, 2015

“ቤተሰቦቼ አሸባሪ ተብለው ቤት የሚያከራያቸው አጥተዋል፤ ልጆቼ በረንዳ ላይ ወድቀዋል፤ ቤተሰባችን ተበትኗል” ም/ኢንስፔክተር ሙልዬ ማናዬ ረታ (7ኛ ተከሳሽ)

በነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ሪፖርተር

በዘመነ ካሴ የክስ መዝገብ ከ2ኛ እስከ 5ኛ ለተከሰሱት አቶ አሸናፊ አካሉ (2ኛ ተከሳሽ)፣ አቶ ደናሁን ቤዛ (3ኛ ተከሳሽ)፣ አቶ ምንዳዬ ጥላሁን (4ኛ ተከሳሽ) እና አቶ አንሙት የኔዋስ (5ኛ ተከሳሽ) ዋስ እንዲሆኑ ለዛሬ ሀምሌ 29/2007 ዓ.ም ፍርድ ቤት እንዲያቀርብ የፍርድ ቤት ትዕዛዝ የደረሰው የቃሊቲ ማረሚያ ቤት አቶ አንዳርጋቸውን ሳያቀርብ ቀርቷል፡፡

ተከሳሾቹ አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ፅጌን በመከላከያ ምስክርነት እንዲቀርቡላቸው የጠየቁት የፌደራል አቃቤ ህግ ‹‹ከአንዳርጋቸው ፅጌና ፋሲል የኔዓለም እንዲሁም ከሌሎቹ የአሸባሪው ድርጅት አመራሮች ጋር በአካልና በሌሎች የመገናኛ ዘዴዎች በመገናኘት ስለ ሽብር ተግባሩ አፈፃፀም በመግባባት፣ ኤርትራ ወደሚገኘው የግንቦት ሰባት ካምፕ ሄደው ስልጠና በመውሰድ፣ ተልዕኮ ተቀብሎ ወደ ሀገር ውስት በመመለስ፣ ….›› የሚል ክስ ስለመሰረተባቸው ነው፡፡

Ethiopia: Andargachew Tsige’s Painting Sold $35,000

August 15, 2015

This amazing painting of Andargachew Tsige by Alexis Franklin was auctioned today for $35,000 (US Dollars) in Dallas, TX. Serial bidder Abebe Negatu took it home with a big smile. Thank you Dallas for your enthusiastic support to just cause for freedom. (Abebe Gellaw)

Washington DC Patriotic Ginbot 7 Fundraise, August 16, 2015

Washington DC Patriotic Ginbot 7 Fundraise, August 16, 2015.

More than 40 members of Ethiopian Air Force fled the country

(TesfaNews) Sources closer to the Washington based Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) today reported that a number of staff members from the Debre Zeyit Air force headquarters along with 14 aircraft technicians and unspecified number of pilots didn’t show for work in the past one month.

The technicians were from the transport and tactical helicopter squadron unit, SU27 fighter jets units and Antonov 12 transporter units.

The search by the security organs to hunt down these fugitives was not successful. The sources believe they are already out of the country and more likely joined the opposition forces.

Humanity comes before “ethnicity”, “no one is free until we all are free”

August 7, 2015

Mr. Obang Metho

Obang Metho

We, the people of Ethiopia have been essentially fighting against the ethnic apartheid policy of the TPLF/EPRDF and injustices of the regime by separating into disjointed, divided, alienated and non-cohesive “self-interest groups.”

In Ethiopia of the TPLF/EPRDF we have become people separated by ethnicity, region, village and clan. If this is not enough, we are also sub-divided by political view, language, religion and skin color.

ከዋሽንግተን ዲሲ የጋራ ግብረሃይል የተሰጠ መግለጫ – ያለነጻነት ፍትሕ የለም

August 8, 2015

በኢትዮጵያ አገራችን ፍትሕ ትንሽ ትልቁ ሙስሊም ክርስቲያን ሳይል ጥማቱን ከንግግር አልፎ በየአብያተ ክርስቲያናት ጸሎታቸውን ፣በየመስጊዶች ሶላታቸውንና ጸሎታቸውን የሚያሳርጉት ስለ ፍትሕ በመጮህ ነው።የጥንቱን ታሪክ እንዳለ ብናቆየው እንኳ ባሳለፍነው ከሬት የመረረ ወያኔያዊ ስርዓት ፍትሕ በእውን ተከስታ ልትታይ ቀርቶ በዳሰሳና በሽታ እንኳ ደብዛዋ ጥፍቶ የ፺ ሚሊዮን ህዝብ የምኞት መዝሙር ሆና ፳፭ አመታትን አስቆጠረች። ዛሬም የፍትሕ ያለህ የሚለው የህዝባችን ጥያቄ ከዳር እስከ ዳር ቀጥሏል።

በርካቶች ህግ በማይከበርበት ፍርድ ቤት በወያኔ ተከሰው በወያኔ ተመስክሮባቸው በወያኔ ዳኛች፣ በወያኔ አቃቤ ህጎች፣ በወያኔ የግፍ ሰንሰለት አሳራቸውን የበሉ በዚያውም ያሸለቡ ደብዛቸው የጠፋ ቤቱ ይቁጠራቸው ለማለት ተገደናል። ለአሁኑ ግን በኢትዮጵያ ሙስሊሞች ላይ ሰሞኑን የተጠበቀ ምክንያቱም ወያኔ ከሚዘውረው ፍርድ ቤት ፍትህ ስለማይጠበቅ ነገር ግን የኮሚቴውን ንጹህነት የሚያውቅና ኮሚቴውን ነጻ ከማሰናበት ሌላ ላልጠበቀ ህዝብ በጣም አስደንጋጭ ነው።

US, EU, UK demand Ethiopia release Andy Tsege

August 10, 2015

Lawmakers from US, EU and UK demand release of death-row Brit in Ethiopia

(Reprieve) – A group of legislators from the US, UK and Europe have demanded the release of a British activist who has been held in a secret Ethiopian prison for over a year.

Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege, a prominent figure in the Ethiopian opposition, was abducted at a Yemeni airport in June 2014 and forcibly taken to Ethiopia. He has been held since in a secret location, and has been denied access to a lawyer, his family, proper consular visits and independent medical treatment. Andy was sentenced to death in absentia in 2009 on charges relating to his political activities. Torture of political prisoners in Ethiopia is common, and the UN and human rights organization Reprieve – which is assisting Mr Tsege’s family – have raised concerns that he is being mistreated.

Susan Rise lough at Woyane 100% win

July 29, 2015

Susan Rise lough at Woyane 100% win summed up, her puppies are funny but, they are ‘our puppies’

If Ethiopians want to be free from tyranny; as the legendary Ethiopian Human Right advocate Obang Metho of the Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia (SMNE) said ‘, we are on our own – no one is going to free us but ourselves’ Thus, we have been our own worst enemy to recognize — the problem of coming together for our freedom is within; so the solution. But, we first have to sort out the good, the bad and the ugly of those that disfranchise us posed as Ethiopian institutions from fighting back for our freedom.

Barack Obama! Tell the Truth About Ethiopia!

August 3, 2015

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Warning!  

Stop!

Do not read further if you can’t handle the truth about Barack Obama. “Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.”

“I speak my mind because it hurts to bite my tongue.”

Bite your tongue, Barack Obama!

When President Barack Obama visited Ethiopia last week, he shocked a lot of people by making the following  statement:

I don’t bite my tongue too much when it comes to these issues. We are opposed to any group that is promoting the violent overthrow of a government, including the government of Ethiopia, that has been democratically elected. We are very mindful of Ethiopia’s history – the hardships that this country has gone through. It has been relatively recently in which the constitution that was formed and the elections put forward ademocratically elected government.”

An Ethiopian court jailed Muslim leaders, activists to lengthy terms

August 3, 2015

by Mahlet Fasil | ADDIS STANDARD

Ethiopian Muslim protestors in solidarity with the accused carrying a placard that reads: “Justice”.

The Ethiopian federal high court fourth criminal bench today sentenced including four members of Ethiopian Muslim arbitration committee members, one journalist and thirteen others to a lengthy jail term between seven and 22 years. The eighteen Muslims were charged on counts that include attempted terrorism, conspiracy to establish an Islamic state, and public incitement.

በመጨረሻም ወያኔ በሙስሊሞች የመፍትሔ አፈላላጊ ኮሚቴ አባላት ላይ ፈረደ

August 3, 2015

ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች ለመሪዎቻቸው ያላቸውን አጋርነት ለማሳየት በብዛት በፍርድ ቤት ተገኝተው ነበር።

የኢትዮጵያ ሙስሊሞች የመፍትሔ አፈላላጊ ኮሚቴ አባላት ላይ ህወሀት/ወያኔ ዛሬ እንደፈረደባቸው ታውቋል፣ ከወደ አዲስ አበባ እንደተሰማው በአስራ ስምንቱ የሙስሊሞች መፍትሔ አፈላላጊ ኮሚቴ አባላት ላይ ከሰባት ዓመት እስከ 22 ዓመት የሚደርስ ብይን ተወስኖባቸዋል።

ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች “ከወያኔ የካንጋሮ ፍርድ ቤት ከዚህ የተለየ ነገር አልጠበቅንም ነበር” ብለዋል።

Obama’s Ethiopia visit legitimizes authoritarian government, critical expatriates say

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By Andrew Nachemson – The Washington Times – Tuesday, July 21, 2015

President Obama is poised to become the first sitting president to visit Ethiopia when he travels to Africa later this week, but the milestone is not a source of pride for Aklog Birara.

Like many Ethiopian-Americans, the economist and former adviser to the World Bank is expressing very mixed emotions about the trip and the symbolism it will have for Ethiopia’s authoritarian government. Mr. Birara fled his native country amid increased repression and is now an American citizen.

“Under normal circumstances I would not only admire but support a visit from a U.S. sitting president to Africa,” Mr. Birara said, but he added that the Ethiopian government is “one of the two worst jailers of journalists in Africa,” and the justice system is “practically nonexistent.”

His misgivings are shared by Lemlem Tsegaw, an Ethiopian-American poet and human rights activist.

AFP: Obama warns African leaders who refuse to step down

(AFP) Addis Ababa (AFP) – Barack Obama on Tuesday condemned African leaders who refuse to give up power and urged the continent to end “the cancer of corruption”, in the first ever address to the African Union by a US president.

But Obama said the rest of the world also needed to change its approach to Africa by boosting fair trade and not just providing aid handouts, and vowed that the United States stood with the region to defeat terrorism and end conflict.

The speech marked the end of a short tour that has seen Obama visit Kenya, his father’s birthplace, and Ethiopia, from where he flew out on Air Force One after the speech.

Both are key security allies in the fight against Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab militants, but they were also challenged on concerns over democracy, human rights and graft.

“Africa’s democratic progress is also at risk when leaders refuse to step aside when their terms end,” Obama said, drawing huge applause and cheers from some sections of the audience in the AU’s Nelson Mandela hall.

ትንሽ ስለ ፕሮፌሰር ብርሀኑ ነጋ (ይገረም አለሙ)

July 24, 2015

ይገረም አለሙ

ፕ/ር ብርሀኑ ነጋ ሰሞኑን የተናገሩትን ስሰማ አስር አመት ወደ ኋላ ተመልሼ አንዳስብ ግድ አለኝ፡፡ ፕ/ሩ ኢትዮጵያም ሆኑ አሜሪካ ወይንም አስመራ ሰላማዊ ተጋይም ሆኑ ሁሉን አቀፍ የትግል ስልት አራማጅ እምነት አስተሳሰባቸው የማይለዋወጥ መሆኑን ለመገንዘብ ቻልኩኝ፡፡

ጊዜው 1997 መጨረሻ ወቅቱ ሕዝብ ይመርጣል ጠመንጃ ያሸንፋል ሆኖ የፖለቲካው አየር የጋመበት ቅንጅትም ወያኔም በየራሳቸው በጭንቅ ውስጥ የነበሩበት ነው፡፡ የወያኔ ጭንቀት ሥልጣኑን ላለማጣት ሲሆን የቅንጅት ጭንቀት ደግሞ ሥልጣን ወይንም ሞት የሚለው ወያኔ ወንበሩን ከሚያጣ ሀገር ቢፈርስ ሕዝብ ቢጨራረስ ደንታ የሌለው በመሆኑ ነገሮች ወደዚህ አንዳያመሩ በማሰብ ነው፡፡

Obama Calls Ethiopian Government ‘Democratically Elected’: The elections were condemned as a sham

July 27, 2015

by Peter Baker and Jacey Portin| The New York Times

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — President Obama twice called the government of Ethiopia “democratically elected” on Monday as he stood by the country’s prime minister, two months after elections that handed every seat in Parliament to the governing party and its allies.

Though human rights groups had called on Mr. Obama to use his visit to press for change, the president took a mild tone in his public remarks. He gently urged the Ethiopian government to make room for opposition, while stressing his respect for the country and its challenges in emerging from a long era of monarchy and autocracy.

አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ሰራዊት በትግራይ ምዕራባዊ ዞን ማይ-ሰገን አካባቢ በሰነዘረው ጥቃት በርካታ የወያኔ ታጣቂዎችን ሙትና ቁስለኛ አድርጓል

July 26, 2015

በትግራይ ምዕራባዊ ዞን ማይ-ሰገን በተባለው አካባቢ የሚገኙትን የኢህአዴግ የሰራዊት አባላት በአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ሰራዊት በደረሰባቸው ድንገተኛ የማጥቃት እርምጃ ምክንያት ሙትና ቁስለኛ መሆናቸውን ተገለፀ።

ባለፈው ቀናት በሑመራ አካባቢ ማይ ሰገን በተባለው ቦታ ላይ የግንቦት 7 አርበኞች ግንባር ሰራዊት በኢህአዴግ ሰራዊት ላይ ባደረሱት ድንገተኛ የማጥቃት እርምጃ ብዛት ያላቸው ታጣቂዎች ከጥቅም ውጭ ማድረጋቸውን የገለጸው መረጃው በውጊያው ከተገደሉት ታጣቂ አመራሮችም መካከል፣

ኮማንደር ወልደሚካኤል ገብረእዝጊአብሄር የሃይል አዛዥ የነበረ፤ ካሕሳይ ነጋሽ በባዕኸር የሚልሻ አዛዥ የነበረ፤ ለግዜው ስሙ ያልታወቀው የሻምበል ማእርግ ያለው በ24ኛ ክፍለጦር የሓይል አዛዥ የሆነውና ሌሎች የሚገኙባቸው እንደሆኑ ለማወቅ ተችሏል።

እነዚህ የስርዓቱ ታጣቂዎች- በአካባቢው ሰላማዊ ህዝብ የተለያዩ ግፍ ሲፈፅሙ የቆዩ በመሆናቸው የተነሳ የግንቦት 7 አርበኞች ግንባር ሰራዊት በላያቸው ላይ እርምጃ መውሰዱን የተገኘው መረጃው አስረድቷል።

ምንጭ – ትህዴን

The Ethiopian regime not been elected through free and fair elections

July 27, 2015

by Obang Metho

President Obama knows very well that PM, HMD and the entire leadership of the ethnic apartheid regime of TPLF/EPRDF have not been elected through free and fair elections and the regime doesn’t allow basic freedoms, independent judiciaries, open political space and multi-ethnic governments. Instead, corruption is rampant, the human and civil rights of the Ethiopian people are violated and ethnic and religious based conflicts have caused untold suffering throughout Ethiopia.

Obama criticised for calling Ethiopia’s government ‘democratically elected’

July 27, 2015

While US president calls for end of crackdown on political and press freedom, his comments on Hailemariam administration are widely condemnded

(The Guardian) Barack Obama has been criticised by opposition groups and journalists in Ethiopia after referring to the country’s government as “democratically elected”, with one human rights watchdog describing the statement as “shocking”.

Barack Obama speaks on Monday as Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn looks on. Photograph: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters

The US president was speaking at a joint press conference with Hailemariam Desalegn, the Ethiopian prime minister, after the two leaders held talks in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Although Obama said he had raised issues of good governance – “I don’t bite my tongue too much when it comes to these issues” – he also insisted: “We are opposed to any group that is promoting the violent overthrow of a government, including the government of Ethiopia, that has been democratically elected.”

The sorry state of Woyane ethnic tyranny

February 17, 2015

Fake Medias, courts, parliament, Election Board, investments, diplomas…

Fundamentally tyranny is rotten to its bones and the principle reason why society under its rule is ill-governed; poor, without freedom and rights. Similarly, what TPLF led ethnic tyranny brought on the people of Ethiopia is a tragedy beyond comprehension that will have far more implication in the future over and above what we experienced in the past. Surprisingly, it managed to fake its stay by committing appalling atrocities and corruption and elaborately covered it up for far too long.

by Teshome Debalke

Enough is said about Woyane ethnic tyranny over two decades. Enough time elapsed for the dimwitted regime and its operatives to learn something better beyond faking, committing corruption and atrocities and covering it up with elaborate propaganda. 

ESAT’s Historic Journey to Eritrea

February 9, 2015

by Nahum Zemariam

A Historic Journey

ESAT once again did it in a big way. It proved to sceptics that ESAT has been making huge impacts in the media landscape unparalleled by any other Ethiopian media outlet. Since its formation more than four years ago, ESAT has been the largest alternative media organization to Ethiopians back home, and around the world. Despite a determined and pernicious jamming efforts by the regime in Ethiopia and other sabotages like cyberattacks targeting ESAT journalists, ESAT has accomplished many milestones as it serves the people of Ethiopia.

Sending journalists to Eritrea is ESAT’s latest ground breaking mediaperformance, and a historic accomplishment worth celebrating. This historic journey is indeed a turning point. It is a land mark event if seen from the perspective of the three decades war between Eritrean guerrilla fighters and the central governments in Ethiopia that ended in 1991 and the tragic war between the TPLF regime and Eritrea (1998-2000) that took the lives of tens of thousands. ESAT’s journey to Eritrea has effectively blunted years of negative propaganda and demonization the TPLF regime has waged against the government and the people of Eritrea in order to create deep animosity between Ethiopians and Eritreans.

Exposed: “Honorable” Speaker Abadula Gemeda has fake degrees

February 10, 2015

by Abebe Gella

Addis Voice can reveal that the 4th term speaker of the House of People’s Representatives has bought and used two fake degrees from a bogus university selling non-accredited diplomas online.

“Honorable” Abadula Gemeda, who is the chief “lawmaker” in Ethiopia as speaker of the lower house, bought Bachelor of Arts and Masters “degrees” in public administration in 2001 and 2004 respectively from American Century “University”.

The sorry state of Woyane ethnic tyranny: Fake Medias, courts, parliament, Election Board, investments, diplomas…

February 17, 2015

Fundamentally tyranny is rotten to its bones and the principle reason why society under its rule is ill-governed; poor, without freedom and rights. Similarly, what TPLF led ethnic tyranny brought on the people of Ethiopia is a tragedy beyond comprehension that will have far more implication in the future over and above what we experienced in the past. Surprisingly, it managed to fake its stay by committing appalling atrocities and corruption and elaborately covered it up for far too long.

by Teshome Debalke

Enough is said about Woyane ethnic tyranny over two decades. Enough time elapsed for the dimwitted regime and its operatives to learn something better beyond faking, committing corruption and atrocities and covering it up with elaborate propaganda. And, more tragically; enough lives were lost, livelihood ruined and resources squandered to fulfill the twisted ideology of the ethnic tyranny to teach the regime’s apologists and everyone else to wake up and smell the coffee.

Advocates Petition UN to Intervene on Jailed Ethiopian Bloggers’ Behalf

February 16, 2015

Last April, nine writers were arrested and imprisoned in association with Ethiopia’s Zone 9 blogging collective. Eleven weeks later, they were charged under the nation’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. Since their arrest, Soleyana Gebremicheal and Endalk Chala, two members of the collective who now live in the United States, have advocated tirelessly for their colleagues’ release. Global Voices is honored to publish this original contribution by Soleyana and her colleague, Patrick Griffith, who are now petitioning the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to intervene on the bloggers’ behalf.

by Soleyana S. Gebremicheal and Patrick Griffith | Global Voices ADVOCACY