አዲሱ የኢህአዴግ አሰላለፍ (ተመስገን ደሳለኝ)

ኢህአዴግ ከቀድሞ ሊቀ-መንበሩ አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ ህልፈት በኋላ በተከሰተበት ውስጣዊ ልዩነት በተለዋዋጭ የኃይል ሚዛን ሥር ለማደር በመገደዱ የስልጣኑን መዘውር የሚያሽከረክረውን አካል ለመለየት አዳጋች ነበር፡፡ ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ግን ይህ ሽኩቻ መፍትሄ ማግኘቱን የሚያመላክቱ ሁናቴዎች መፈጠራቸውን የውስጥ አወቅ መረጃዎች ጠቁመዋል፡፡

እንደ መግቢያ

ድንገቴው የመለስ ህልፈት ህወሓትን ቢከፍለውም፣ ብአዴን ራሱን እንዲያጠናክር መደላድል ፈጥሮለታል፡፡ ይህ የሆነበት ምክንያት መለስ ዘመኑን ሙሉ በብአዴን ታማኝነት ላይ ጥርጣሬ ስላልነበረው ቀድሞውንም እንዲዳከም ባለማድረጉ ይመስለኛል፡፡ እርሱ በአይነ ቁራኛ ይጠብቀው የነበረው ህወሓትን ነበር፤ በተለይም በሠራዊቱ እና በደህንነቱ ውስጥ ‹‹ተፅእኖ መፍጠር ይችላሉ›› የሚባሉት አቦይ ስብሃት ነጋ እና የትግራይን መዋቅር በእጁ ያደረገው የቀድሞ የክልሉ አስተዳዳሪ ፀጋዬ በርሄ በጥርጣሬ ዓይን የሚታዩ ሆነው ቆይተዋል፡፡ በምርጫ 2002ቱ ማግስትም ድርጅቱ አቦይን ‹‹በክብር›› እንዲሸኝ ሲደረግ፣ ፀጋዬ በርሄን ደግሞ ‹‹አማካሪ›› በሚል ሽፋን ከመቀሌ ወደ ቤተ-መንግስት (ጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ ቢሮ) አዛውሮ በቅርብ እይታ ስር በማዋሉ ሁለቱንም ከጨዋታ ውጪ አድርጓቸዋል፡፡ በግልባጩ አዜብ መስፍንና ‹የመለስ ታማኞች› የሚባሉት እነአባይ ወልዱና ቴዎድሮስ ሀጎስ የፖሊት ቢሮውን ተቀላቅለዋል፡፡ ሁነቱም ከእነአቦይ ጋር በስጋ ዝምድናና በጋብቻ የተሳሰሩ ባለስልጣናትን በማስከፋቱ በድርጅቱ ውስጥ ብቻ የሚታወቅ (አደባባይ ያልወጣ) ልዩነት ፈጥሮ እንደነበረ ይታወሳል (በነገራችን ላይ ኦህዴድ የማዳከሙ ሴራ ሰለባ ነው፡፡ ይህ ሁናቴ ከመለስ ህልፈትም በኋላ ቀጥሏል፤ ለምሳሌ ባለፈው ዓመት የግንባሩ አባል ድርጅቶች፣ የየራሳቸውን ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ ባካሄዱበት ወቅት ብአዴን በ‹ክብር› ካሰናበተው ሁለት ዓመት ያለፈውን መሪውን አዲሱ ለገሰን ወደ ቦታው መልሶ ራሱን ሲያጠናክር፣ በተቃራኒው ኦህዴድ አንጋፋ አመራሮቹን፡- አባዱላ ገመዳ፣ ኩማ ደመቅሳና ግርማ ብሩን ከስራ አስፈፃሚነታቸው እንዲያነሳ ተገድዷል፡፡ ይህንን ነው መተካካት የሚሉትም፡፡

ህወሓት

የመለስን ህልፈት ተከትሎ በውስጡ ያደፈጠው ቅራኔ ፈንቅሎ በመውጣቱ ህወሓትን የ‹መቀሌው› እና የ‹አዲስ አበባው› በሚል ለሁለት ከፍሎት ነበር፤ ይህ ግን የመቀሌው-በአዲስ አበባ፤ የአዲስ አበባው-በመቀሌ ደጋፊ አልነበረውም እንደማለት አይደለም (የመቀሌውን አዜብ መስፍን፣ አባይ ወልዱ፣ ቴዎድሮስ ሀጎስ… መርተውታል፤ የአዲስ አበባውን ደግሞ አቦይ ስብሃት ነጋ፣ አባይ ፀሃዬ፣ ደብረፅዮን ገ/ሚካኤል እና ጌታቸው አሰፋን ጨምሮ በርካታ አንጋፋ ታጋዮች ዘውረውታል)፡፡ ይህ አጋጣሚም ከእነ አዜብ ቡድን ጋር ትብብር የፈጠረውን ብአዴንን ለጊዜያዊ ድል አብቅቶት ነበር (በ93ቱ ክፍፍልም የብአዴን ድጋፍ መለስ በአሸናፊነት እንዲወጣ ጉልህ ድርሻ ማበርከቱ ይታወሳል)፡፡ አቦይ ስብሃት ነጋ በትግርኛ ቋንቋ በሚታተመው ‹‹ውራይና›› መፅሄት ላይ ‹‹ህዝቢ ትግራይ ዘቃልሶ ኣቃሊሱ ዝጠቕሞ ወያናይ ውድብ ይግብኦ›› (የትግራይ ህዝብ የሚያታግለው፣ ታግሎም የሚጠቅመው ወያኔያዊ ድርጅት ይገባዋል) በሚል ርዕስ በፃፉት ፅሁፍ ችግሩን እንዲህ ሲሉ ገልፀውታል፡-

‹‹አባይ ወልዱም ባለፈው የህወሓት ጉባኤ ላይ በተደጋጋሚ ‹ህወሓት ውስጥ ማጠለሻሸትና (የሥልጣን) ሽኩቻ በስፋት እየተስተዋለ ነው› በማለት ሁኔታውን ገልፆታል፡፡ ከዚህ በላይ ማረጋገጫ ደግሞ የለም፡፡ እንዲህ ያለ በኃይል አሰላለፍ ደረጃ ሊታይ የሚችል የአንድን የፖለቲካ ድርጅት አቅም ከማዳከምና መርሀ-ግብሩን ከማሰናከል አልፎ ተርፎም ድርጅቱን ለአስከፊ ውድቀት ሊጥል ከሚችል አደገኛ ሁኔታ የበለጠ አደጋ ያለ አይመስለኝም፡፡›› (‹ውራይና› ቁጥር 4 ነሐሴ 2005 ዓ.ም)

ከኃይለማርያም ጀርባ

ኃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ የግንባሩ ሊቀ-መንበር በመሆኑ ጉዳይ ላይ ብአዴንም ሆነ ሁለቱ የህወሓት ቡድኖች ቅሬታ አልነበራቸውም፤ ምክንያቱም እርሱም ሆነ ‹ደቡብን እወክላለሁ› የሚለው ድርጅቱ ለአሸናፊ ኃይል ከማገልገል አልፈው የፖለቲካ አመፅ ሊያስነሱ እንደማይችሉ ይታወቃልና፡፡ ይሁንና በወቅቱ ኃይለማርያም ሰልፉን በ‹መለስ ባርኔጣ› ከሚንቀሳቀሰው ከመቀሌው ህወሓትና ብአዴን ጋር ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝበማስተካከሉ የኃይል ሚዛኑ በአንፃራዊነት ወደእነርሱ እንዲያጋድል አድርጓል፡፡ በግልባጩ ለእነ አቦይ እና ደጋፊዎቻቸው የመሸነፍ መገለጫ ተደርጎ ተወስዷል፡፡ እንግዲህ እስከ ዘጠነኛው የኢህአዴግ ጉባኤ ድረስ ‹መልከ-ኢህአዴግ› በዚህ መልኩ ነበር የቀጠለው፡፡

‹መፈንቅለ-ህወሓት›

ብአዴኖች፣ ከመቀሌው ህወሓት ጋር የፈጠሩትን ግንባር፣ ከአዲሱ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መንበር ካገኙት ድጋፍ ጋር በማዋሀድ፡- የአዲስ አበባውን ህወሓት የአመራር አባላት ሙሉ በሙሉ፣ የደህንነት ሀላፊው ጌታቸው አሰፋን እና አንጋፋ የህወሓት ታማኝ ጄነራሎችን ከመንግስታዊውም ሆነ ከፓርቲው ኃላፊነታቸው በማንሳት በአሸናፊነት ለመወጣት ስልታዊ እንቅስቃሴ አድርገው እንደነበር ለድርጅቱ ቅርብ ከሆነ ሰው አረጋግጫለሁ፡፡ በባህርዳሩ ጉባኤ ላይም መላኩ ፈንቴ ‹አላሰራ አሉኝ› ብሎ በአደባባይ እንዲያጋልጣቸው ከተደረጉት የንግድ ደርጅቶችና ሀብታም ነጋዴዎች አብዛኞቹ ከአዲስ አበባው ህወሓት ጋር የተሳሰሩ እንደነበረ ይታወቃል፡፡ እነዚህን ኩነቶችም ነው ‹መፈንቅለ-ህወሓት› ለማለት የተገደድኩት፡፡ ሴራው የከሸፈው በሁለት ምክንያቶች ይመስለኛል፤ የመጀመሪያው በሰውየው ህልፈት ማግስት (ተተኪው ጠቅላይ ሚንስትር ገና ባልተመረጠበት) እነአባይ ፀሀዬ ሶስት ሜጀር ጄነራል እና ሰላሳ አራት ብርጋዴር ጄነራሎች (አብዛኞቹ የህወሓት ሰዎች ናቸው) መሾማቸው ኃይላቸውን ሲያጠናክርላቸው፣ በአንፃሩ የመቀሌውን ህወሓትና ብአዴንን በሠራዊቱ ውስጥ የነበራቸውን ተፅእኖ ከማዳከሙም በላይ ኃይል የማሰባሰብ ሩጫቸውንም ገትቶታል፡፡ ሁለተኛው ምክንያት ደግሞ በደህንነት
መስሪያ ቤቱ አቀናባሪነት በ‹ፀረ ሙስና› ሽፋን የተከፈተው ዘመቻ ነው፤ እነበረከትንም ስልታቸውን መልሰው እንዲያጤኑ ያስገደዳቸው ይህ አይነቱ አስደንጋጭ እርምጃ ይመስለኛል፡፡

የህወሓት ‹ቆሌ›

የኢትዮጵያን ልማዳዊ ፖለቲካ ከነሴራው ጠንቅቀው ከተረዱት ጥቂት ሰዎች መሀል አቦይ ስብሃት ነጋ አንዱ መሆናቸው ተደጋግሞ ተነግሯል፡፡ አቦይ ህወሓትን ጠፍጥፎ በመስራቱም ሆነ በስልጣን ለማቆየት የመለስን ያህል (ሊበልጥም ይችላል) ለፍተዋል፡፡ ዛሬም ተፈጥሮ ላመጣባቸው እርጅና እጅ ሳይሰጡ በህወሓት ላይ የሚሴረውን-ለመበጣጠስና ለተቀናቃኞቻቸው-ጉድጓድ ለመቆፈር እንደማይሳናቸው አሳይተዋል፡፡ ይህ ሁኔታም ነው ‹የህወሓት ቆሌ› የሚል ቅጥያ ያሰጣቸው፡፡

ከመለስ ዜናዊ ጋር የነበራቸው ጥብቅ የመተባበር መንፈስም ከጓዳዊነትም በላይ እንደነበር የቅርብ ሰዎቻቸው ይመሰክራሉ፡፡ ግና ይህ የጦፈ ፍቅራቸው ከ2000 ዓ.ም ወዲህ መደብዘዝ ጀምሮ ነበር፤ ልዩነታቸውም ቅስ በቀስ እየሰፋ ለመምጣቱ ብዙ ማሳያዎች አሉ፡፡ አንዱ መለስ፣ ለአዜብ መስፍን እየሰጠ የነበረውን የፖለቲካ ጉልበት፣ አቦይ ‹ህወሓትን በሴት ቀሚስ እንደማሳደር› አድርገው መውሰዳቸው ነበር፡፡ ሌላው የሴቲቱ ኃይለኝነት የአቦይን የተሰሚነት ክልል ከመፈታተን አልፎ በአደባባይ ክብራቸውን እስከ መዳፈር መድረሱ ይመስለኛል፡፡ ችግሩን ለመፍታትም ከመለስ ጋር ተገናኝተው መነጋገር አልቻሉም፤ ለህወሓት ቅርብ የሆኑ ወዳጄ እንደነገሩኝ መለስ ህይወቱ ሲያልፍ አቦይን ካገኛቸው ከሁለት ዓመት በላይ ሆኖታል፤ ምክንያቱ ደግሞ እርሱ ማግኘት ባለመፈለጉ ነበር፤ ይህም ሆኖ አቦይ ተደጋጋሚ ጥረት ቢያደርጉም በልዩ ረዳቱ አማካኝነት ‹አስቸኳይ ጉዳይ ላይ ነው› እያስባለ መልሷቸዋል፤ በስራ አጋጣሚ ከቢሮ ውጪ ሲገናኙም ‹አጣዳፊ ስራ ስለተደራረበብኝ ነው፤ እኔ ራሴ አስጠራሀለሁ› እያለ ለሁለት ዓመት ያህል ሲርቃቸው ከቆየ በኋላ ነበር ድንገት ህይወቱ ያለፈው፡፡

አቦይ ወደ ህወሓት ተመልሰው በንቃት መሳተፍ የጀመሩት የመለስን ጤንነት ሲከታተሉ የነበሩ ሐኪሞች ‹ተስፋ የለውም› ባሉበት ማግስት ነበር፤ እንደምክንያት ያስቀመጡት ህወሓት ከድህረ-መለስ በኋላ፣ የብአዴንን የትከሻ ግፊያ መቋቋም አይችልም የሚል ስጋትን ነው፡፡ የሰውየው መጨረሻ ከታወቀ በኋላም የተፈጠረውን ክፍፍል ተከትሎ የታየው የኃይል ሚዛን ይህንኑ የሚያረጋግጥ ነበር፡፡ በወቅቱም አቦይ ‹መፍትሄ› ብለው ያቀረቡት ‹ብአዴንና ከጎኑ የተሰለፉትን የህወሓት የአመራር አባላትን ማሸነፍ ስለማንችል፣ አንጃው (የእነ ስዬ ተወልደ ቡድን) ተመልሶ ያጠናክረን› የሚል ነበር፤ በስማቸውም ‹‹ውራይና›› መፅሄት ላይ በፃፉት (ርዕሱ ከላይ በተጠቀሰው) ፅሁፍ ጉዳዩን እንዲህ በማለት ገልፀውት ነበር፡-

‹‹…ሁላችንም ህወሓት ውስጥ እያለን እኮ አንጃው ድርጅቱን ተቆጣጥሮት በትረ-መንግስቱንም ሊጨብጥ ተቃርቦ ነበር፡፡ በአንጃው የመዋጥ አደጋ ጊዜ ሁላችንም ተኝተን ነበር፡፡ እነዚያ የተሰናበቱት ሰዎች በማዕከላዊ ኮሚቴው ውስጥ ቢቆዩ ኖሮ ይተኙ ነበር ማለት ግን አይደለም፡፡ አሁን ላለው አመራር ይደግፉት ነበር ይሆን ማለቴ ነው እንጂ፡፡ …ከዚህ ቀደምም ሆነ አሁን ከህወሓት ማዕከላዊ ኮሚቴ የወጣ ሁሉ እንደአዲስ ተደራጅቶ አሁን ላለው ማ/ኮሚቴ እገዛ የሚያደርግበትን መንገድ ማፈላለግ አለበት፡፡…›› (‹ውራይና› ቁጥር 4 ነሀሴ 2005 ዓ.ም)

ሆኖም አባይ ፀሀዬ፣ አርከበ እቁባይ፣ ፀጋዬ በርሄ፣ ጌታቸው አሰፋን የመሳሰሉት ‹በጭራሽ አይሆንም! የእነርሱ መመለስ ያውከናል› የሚል አቋም በመያዛቸው ሃሳቡ ተፈፃሚ ሳይሆን ቀርቷል፡፡

ከዚህ በኋላ የእነ አቦይና አባይ ቡድን ‹ህወሓትን ማዳኛ› ያለውን ሁለት ወሳኝ እርምጃ ወስዷል፤ ከህግ ውጪ ሶስት ሜጀር እና ሰላሳ አራት ብርጋዴር ጄነራሎችን ሲሾም፣ በደህንነት መስሪያ ቤት ውስጥ ቁልፍ ሰው የነበረውን ወ/ስላሴ ወ/ሚካኤልን ከየትኛውም አይነት ‹ኦፕሬሽን› እንዲገለል አደረገው፤ ቀጥሎ ደግሞ ሙሉ በሙሉ ከሀላፊነቱ አነስቶታል፡፡ በዚህ በኩል ያገኙትን የፖለቲካ ጉልበት በመመንዘር ከህገ-መንግስቱም ሆነ ከተለምዶአዊው አሰራር በማፈንገጥ ተጨማሪ ሁለት ም/ጠቅላይ ሚንስትሮች እንዲሾሙ ጫና ፈጥረው ደብረፅዮን ገ/ሚካኤል፣ ኃ/ማርያም ደሳለኝን በቅርብ ርቀት እንዲከተል አድርገዋል (በነገራችን ላይ ባለፈው ዓመት አጋማሽ ህወሓት የማዕከላዊ ኮሚቴ አባላትን በመረጠበት ወቅት ወልደስላሴ ሲጠቆም፣ ጠንካራ ተቃውሞ አቅርቦ እንዳይመርጡት ያነሳሳበት የደህንነቱ ሀላፊ ጌታቸው አሰፋ ሲሆን፣ በአንፃሩ ጌታቸው የተጠቆመ ጊዜ ወልደስላሴ እና ገብረሃዋድ ተቃውሞውን ቢያስተባብሩም ታናሽ ወንድሙ በላይ አሰፋን ጨምሮ ከመመረጥ ማደናቀፍ አልቻሉም፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅት ደግሞ ወልደስለሴና ገብረሃውድ በሙስና ተጠርጥረው በእስር ላይ ይገኛሉ)፡፡

ሌላኛው የህወሓት ‹ጠባቂ መልአክ› አባይ ፀሀዬ ነው (በ2005 ዓ.ም ወርሃ ጥቅምት በታተመችው ‹አዲስ ታይምስ› መፅሄት ላይ አባይ፣ መለስ ያደረገውን ማድረግ የሚችል /ከንግግር ችሎታ በቀር/ አደገኛ ሰው መሆኑን መግለፄ ይታወሳል) ዘግይቶም ቢሆን ቡድኑን የበላይ ባደረገው የ‹ፖለቲካ ጨዋታ› እርሱም የአንበሳውን ድርሻ እንደሚወስድ ታይቷል፡፡ ደብረፅዮንም ቢሆን ከህወሓት ጋር ባሳለፈው ዘመን ‹ትጉህ ደቀ-መዝሙር› ስለነበር ያካበተው ልምድ ህወሓትን በታደገው ንቅናቄ ላይ አስተዋጽኦ አድርጓል፡፡ የሆነው ሆኖ እነ አባይ ከባህርዳሩ ጉባኤ በኋላ ነው ‹ከመከላከል ወደ ማጥቃት› ተሸጋግረው ብአዴንንና የመቀሌውን ህወሓት በ‹ሙስና› ስም ሰለባ ያደረጉት፡፡ ይህንን እውነታም የሚያጠናክርልን አቦይ ስብሃት ‹‹ውራይና›› መፅሄት ስለ ጉዳዩ ጠይቋቸው የሰጡት ምላሽ ነው፡-

‹‹አሁን በእስር የሚገኙት [እነመላኩ ፈንቴን ማለታቸው ነው] ሙሰኞች ብቻ አልነበሩም፡፡ የፖለቲካዊ ኃይል አሰላለፍንም ሲለውጡ የነበሩ ናቸው፤ ያስፈራሩም ነበር፤ ‹የስልጣን ሹዋሚም ሻሪም እኛ ነን› አስከማለትም ደርሰው ነበር፡፡›› (‹ውራይና› ቁጥር 2 ሠኔ 2005 ዓ.ም)

የብአዴን የአመራር አባል የሆነ አንድ ሚንስትር ለእስር ሲዳረግ፣ ሌላ ሚንስትር ደግሞ ከኃላፊነቱ መነሳቱ ይታወቃል፡፡

አዲሱ ግንባር

ብአዴን የአዲስ አበባው ህወሓት ክንደ-ብርቱ እየሆነ በመምጣቱ፣ የእነ አዜብን ቡድን አውላላ ሜዳ ላይ ትቶ አብሮ ለመስራት ተደራድሯል፡፡ እነ አባይም ‹ከብአዴን ተሻርኮ ሊያስበላን ነበር› ያሉትን የመቀሌውን የህወሓት ኃይል ከሞላ ጎደል ሲያስገብሩት፣ የቡድኑ መሪን አዜብ መስፍንን ደግሞ ከኤፈርት ከማሰናበታቸውም በላይ የፓርላማ ወንበሯን የሰዋችለትን የአዲስ አበባ የከንቲባነት ምኞቷን አጨልመው፣ በመለስ ፋውንዴሽን ገድበዋታል (የመለስ ሙት ዓመት በተከበረበት ወቅት የትግሉን ዘመንና የመለስን ገድል በኢቲቪ ሲተርኩልን የነበሩት የታሪኩ ዋና ተዋንያን አቦይ ስብሃት ነጋ፣ አባይ ፀሀዬ፣ ሳሞራ የኑስ…ሲሆኑ፣ በህልፈቱ ሰሞን ግን መድረኩን ተቆጣጥረውት የነበሩት ብአዴኖች፣ እነኩማ ደመቅሳ እና ትግሉን በመፅሀፍትና በቴሌቪዥን የሚያውቁት እነ ሬድዋን ሁሴን መሆናቸውን ስናስታውስ የእነ አባይ ፀሀዬ ህወሓት ምን ያህል ተገፍቶ እንደነበረ እንረዳለን፡፡)

በአናቱም ብአዴን የበላይነቱን በጨበጠበት ወቅት እንደ ስጋት ቆጥሮት ‹ሊፐውዘው› አስቦ የነበረውን መከላከያም፣ ከድርድሩ በኋላ በሁለቱ ኃይሎች ስምምነት ለአምስት ቀናት ኪራይ ሰብሳቢነትን እና ሙሰናን በተመለከተ ብቻ ተገማግሞ እንዲታለፍ ተደርጓል፡፡ ከኃላፊነታቸው ለማንሳት የታሰቡት ጄነራሎች ጉዳይም ‹ያልታሰበ አደጋ ሊያመጣ ይችላል› በሚል ለጊዜው ተዘሏል፡፡ ይሁንና ኤታማዦር ሹሙን ጄነራል ሳሞራ የኑስን በዚሁ ዓመት መጨረሻ በ‹ክብር› ሸኝቶ፣ ጄነራል አበባው ታደሰን የመተካት ዕቅድ መኖሩን ምንጮች ጠቁመዋል (ከዚህ በኋላ በጡረታ የሚሰናበቱ ጄነራሎች ‹መከላከያ ቴክኖሎጂ› /መቴክ/ በሚመራውና ወደፊት በሚያቋቁማቸው ኢንዱስትሪዎች ውስጥ በስራ-አስኪያጅነት ወይም በቦርድ አባልነት እንደሚመደቡ ቃል ተገብቶላቸዋል)

ከኃ/ማርያም ጀርባ ያደፈጠ-ስውር እጅ

በሁለቱም ቡድን ካሉ ምንጮቼ ‹‹ኃ/ማርያም ስራው ከብዶታል›› የሚል ቅሬታ እንደነበራቸው ሰምቻለሁ፤ ይሁንና መፍትሄ ተደርጎ የተወሰደው በረከት ስምዖንን የጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ ‹የፖሊሲና ጥናት ምርምር› አማካሪ በሚል ሹመት በጽ/ቤቱ ማስቀመጥን ነው፤ እርሱሁሉንም ነገር ከጀርባ ሆኖ እንዲያከናውን ወስነዋል፡፡ በረከት የተመረጠው ‹ከመለስ ጋር በቅርብ ስርቷል፣ መለስ ያነበበውን አንባቧል፣ የመለስን የዕለት ተዕለት ሥራ በቅርብ ተከታትሏልና መንገድ ይመራል› በሚል እንደሆነ ምንጮቼ ነግረውኛል (በነገራችን ላይ መለስ ሞት ባይቀድመው ኖሮ የወደፊት ዕቅዱ ቤተ-መንግስቱ ውስጥ ጀምሮት የነበረውን ግንባታ አጠናቅቆ፣ ከ2007ቱ ምርጫ በኋላ ስልጣኑን፣ ከአሻንጉሊቶቹ ለአንዱ አስረክቦ፣ መኖሪያውንም ወደ አዲሱ ህንፃ አዛውሮ፣ በለቀቀው ቤት ውስጥ የሚያስገባውን ጠቅላይ ሚንስትር ከጀርባ ሆኖ መዘወር ነበር፡፡ ለዚህም ይመስለኛል ህልፈቱን ተከትሎ ግንባታውም የተቋረጠው፡፡ ሰሞኑን ደግሞ ግንባታው ሊቀጥል እንደሆነ ሰምቻለሁ፡፡ በረከት ስምዖን እንዲገባበት ታስቦ ይሆን? …አባይ ፀሀዬም ከሚቀጥለው ወር ጀምሮ የጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ ‹አማክሪ› ሆኖ እንደሚሾም ‹ፎርቹን› ጋዜጣ በ‹ጎሲፕ› አምዱ አትቷል፡፡ መቼም ኃ/ማርያም ‹‹ሰርክ ‹እኔም አንደ ዳዊት ጨርቄን ልጣልለት› እያልኩ እዘምርለታለሁ›› ያለን አምላኩ ካልታደገው በቀር፣ ከእነዚህ ጉልበታም ሰዎች በጤና መውጣቱን እንጃ!)

ህወሓትና ብአዴን ልዩነታቸው መፈታቱን ለማሳየት፣ በረከት ስምዖን ከአዲሱ ሹመት በኋላ በሃያ ሁለት ዓመታት የስልጣን ዘመኑ አድርጎት የማያውቀውን መንግስትን ወክሎ (በግሉ ሄዶ ሊሆን ይችላል) በትግራይ ክልል በሚገኙ የተለያዩ ከተሞች የስራ ጉብኝት አካሄዷል፡፡ ‹ድምፀ ወያኔ› የተባለው የክልሉ ሬዲዮ ጣቢያም ጉብኝቱን ሳምንት ሙሉ ሳይታክት ደጋግሞ አስተላልፎታል፡፡

ሽራፊ-መረጃ

የአቦይ ስብሃት ነጋ ቡድን በኢህአዴግ ውስጥ ተከስቶ ከነበረው ክፍፍል በአሸናፊነት መውጣቱ ከተረጋገጠ በኋላ አዲስ ወሬ እየተሰማ ነው፡፡ ይኸውም ‹ህወሓት የጠቅላይ ሚንስትርነት ቦታውን በመልቀቁ፣ ፕሬዚዳንት ግርማ ወ/ጊዮርጊስ የሚያስረክቡትን ወንበር አቦይ ስብሃት መያዝ አለባቸው› የሚል ነው፤ ምንም እንኳ ሃሳቡ ተፈፃሚነት ባይኖረውም፣ ምንጮቼ አቦይ ራሳቸው በዘወርዋራ መንገድ ያሰራጩት ወሬ ሊሆን ይችላል ብለው ያምናሉ፡፡ አዜብ መስፍንም ቦታውን የመያዝ ፍላጎት ያላት ይመስለኛል፡፡

ብዙ ሲባልለት የቆየው የድህረ-መለስ ኢህአዴግ ከላይ ለማቅረብ በሞከርኩት መንገድ ግራና ቀኝ ሲዋልል፣ የመከፋፈል ተግዳሮትን ሲሻገርና እንደገና እየተመለሰ ሲሰባሰብ እዚህ ደርሷል፡፡ በዚህ ኮሮንኮቻማ ሂደት ውስጥ የጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ ሚና ‹እዚህ ግባ› የምንለው እንዳይመስለን ሆኗል፡፡ ኃይለማርያም መንግስታዊ ብቻ ሳይሆን የፓርቲው ሊቀ-መንበርነትን የመሰለ ጠንካራ ፖለቲካዊ ስልጣን መያዙ ይህ ሰው የሚባለውን ያህል የዳር ተመልካች ሆኖስ ይቆያልን? ለሚለው ጥያቄ ቀጣይ ጊዜያቶች ብቻ መልስ ይኖራቸዋል፡፡ የጠቀስኳቸው የስርዓቱ ጉምቱ ሰዎች በዚህ መልኩ እየተንቀሳቀሱም ቢሆን፣ ይህን የኃይል መገዳደር እያደረጉ ያሉት በስልጣን ሞኖፖሊ ላይ ተቀምጠው መሆኑን ልብ ይሏል፡፡ እናም ባቀረብኳቸው ሂደቶች እያለፉም ይሁን አይሁን ለስልጣናቸው የሚያሰጋ ጠንካራ የታቃውሞ ስብስብ አለመኖሩን ማመናቸው ይመስለኛል፣ የኃይል ትንቅንቁን ‹ግዜው አይደለም› ብለው ለማራዘም ሳይጠነቀቁ በግላጭ እርስ በእርስ የተፋለሙት፡፡

የሆነው ሆኖ የፓርቲው የታሪክ ድርሳን እንደሚነግረን ‹ይሆናሉ› የተባሉት ተቀልብሰው፣ ባልተጠበቁ ሁነቶች (የኃይል መገለባበጥ ተከስቶ) ፖለቲካው የሚመራበት አጋጣሚ ሊፈጠር የሚችልበት ዕድል ሊኖር እንደሚችልም መዘንጋት አያስፈለግም፡፡

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ሰበር ዜና፣ የግንቦት ሰባት ህዝባዊ ኃይል የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ በተሳካ ሁኔታ ተጠናቀቀ!

ዛሬ ሴፕቴምበር 28 በኦስሎ ኖርዌይ ለግንቦት ሰባት ህዝባዊ ኃይል የታሳካ የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ተደረገ። በገቢ ማሰባሰቢያው ላይ በስጦታ እና ጨረታ ብቻ 408 ,633.85 የኖርዌጅያን ክሮነር የተገኘ ሲሆን ። ይህ ገቢ ከምግብ ሺያጭ ፣ ከመግቢያ ትኬት፣ ከቲሸርት ሺያጭ እንዲሁም ከተለያዩ ባህላዊ ቁሳቁሶች ሺያጭ ሳይጭምር መሆኑ ወዳጆችን ሲያስፈነድቅ ጠላቶችንን አንገት አስደፍቷል ። በፕሮግራሙ ላይ አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ እና ኮማንደር አሰፋ ማሩ በመገኘት ከሃገር ወዳድ ኢትዮጵያዊያኖች ጋር ምክክር አድርገዋል። ሙሉ ዘገባውን በቅርብ ይዘን እንቀርባለን ።

ኢትዮጵያ በክብር ለዘላለም ትኑር !
ከኖርዌይ

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Millions of Voices for Freedom march starts – update with photos

11:30 AM ADDIS ABABA Time: The UDJ leadership is considering to prematurely end the march because the security forces are making it impossible to proceed. Kebena neighborhood is flooded with tens of thousands of protesters.

11:00 AM ADDIS ABABA Time: Most of the roads and bridges to Meskel Square are now blocked by heavily armed police. Most of the marchers are still in the Kebena neighborhood. It seems the regime is determined not to allow the march to take place.

10:35 AM ADDIS ABABA Time: UDJ leaders are still unable to march toward Meskel Square. The police are saying that the UDJ leaders and the marchers can only go to Jan Meda. This is just one more proof that Ethiopia is ruled by thugs. [Watch videos here]

10:20 AM ADDIS ABABA Time: The UDJ leaders are unable to leave the Kebena neighborhood where their office is located. They are being blocked by police. Police have blocked main roads to Meskel Squre.

10:05 AM ADDIS ABABA Time: The security forces are now blocking the roads to Meskel Square. They are trying to force marchers not to arrive at Meskel Square. UDJ leaders are negotiating with the police.

9:50 AM ADDIS ABABA Time: The marchers are arriving at Meskel Square. The security forces are being hostile as expected. There is a massive security presence. The marchers are avoiding confrontations with police, even as they are provoked. The police are acting like thugs. Watch latest video here.

9:00 AM ADDIS ABABA Time: Thousands of Addis Ababa residents are currently gathering at the headquarters of Union for Democracy and Justice party in Ethiopia’s capital. See photos below. Click here for video.

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The Oromo National Liberation Movement Shooting From Its Three Ideological Positions

by ODFist

There was a time, when the Oromo freedom fighters wanted to liberate the Oromo people from any sort of subjugation in Ethiopian empire (potentially future Great Oromia) without trying to demarcate a national area called Oromia; for instance, we can mention the movements like the Raayya Oromo revolt, the Bale Oromo resistance, the initiation of Maccaa Tulama Association, the Oromo struggle led by ME’ISON and IC’AT as well as the formation of ENLF (Ethiopian National Liberation Front), which was the forerunner of the OLF. Then, we came into a situation, which helped some Oromo nationals perceive, accept and respect the existence of an Oromo national area (Golden Oromia) in the Ethiopian empire, but yet without an attempt to separate this area from Ethiopia, the empire, which is said to be build by the blood and bone of the Oromo people. Now, we are in the era, when we started to think, not only about the existence of the Oromo national area, but also about the necessity of liberating this region in a form of an independent Gadaa republic of Golden Oromia. These three visions (Great Oromia is the whole Ethiopia, Golden Oromia within Great Oromia, and an independent Golden Oromia without Great Oromia) as well as the respective political movements are still entertained in the Oromo society at large; the common denominator of the three forces being the struggle for an unconditional bilisummaa/freedom of the Oromo people from any sort of political domination, economic exploitation and cultural suppression.

That is why I do now think that the Oromo liberation movement has one wing, the middle-body and another wing as three important positions shooting at the enemy. One wing wants to change the whole Ethiopia, name the country as Great Oromia and promote Afaan Oromo to a federal/national language of the country; the middle-body wants to establish an independent Gadaa republic of Golden Oromia, which will have the influential position in the whole region of the Horn of Africa; another wing wants to liberate Golden Oromia within Great Oromia and make it be the leading nation-state of the whole country. These three parts of the Oromo national liberation movement are now trying to harmonize their moves against our common current enemy, i.e. against the fascist, Abyssinianist and racist Woyane. Accordingly, we do now find the Oromo national liberation movement in all the spectrum of the opposition parties and liberation fronts against the oppressive regime. Surprisingly there is no organization on the ground to represent the whole national liberation movement coordinating and accommodating all the three parts. This reality persuades us to think that the Oromo liberation is inevitable, and the possible future three types of our sovereignty are not as such disadvantageous for the Oromo people.

The three parts of our liberation movement are the results of the three approaches we, the Oromo nationals, do have towards our history. As once written on Gadaa.com, it seems that we are treating our history in three dimensions: (1) as only a common proud history of Golden Oromia and Abyssinia, such as the Adwa Battle; (2) as only a conflicting parallel history of Golden Oromia and Abyssinia, such as the Minilik invasion and the so-called Oromo expansion; (3) as both common proud history and conflicting parallel history of Golden Oromia and Abyssinia. Now, we do see that the consequences of the above three approaches are the three possible destinies regarding future Oromian sovereignty. If we want to achieve our bilisummaa efficiently, despite these different views, we have to firstly try to fight together for our common freedom from the Abyssinianist elites’ system of domination, and then settle to choose one of the following styles/types of sovereignty based on the version of Oromo history we respectively do have in mind. It is clear that:

- those, who tend to accept both the common proud part and the conflicting parallel part of our history, opt for the liberation in the English style. The English people liberated themselves from the 700 years rule of the Roman empire, forged England as an autonomous region and united it with the neighboring others to form the British United Kingdom’ they also made English the working language of the Kingdom. Can’t Golden Oromia, being autonomous, free and independent from alien forces, be united with the neighboring autonomous regions to forge a Great Oromian union, similar to that of the British United Kingdom and promote Afaan Oromo to a working language of the union? 

- those, who do perceive only the conflicting parallel history, prefer liberation in the Russian style. The Russian elites dismantled the Soviet union and established the Russian federation, which uses the Russian national language, the federation which still does have an influence on its neighboring nations, because of its economic and military strength. Does this way of dismantling the Ethiopian empire and fostering the highly wished independent Gadaa republic of Oromia to have a further influence over the other liberated neighboring countries more advantageous than the first two types of sovereignty? Moreover, this type of sovereignty looks like favoring a national independence without envisioning the possible regional integration.

- those, who do believe in only the common proud history, tend to choose the liberation of Great Oromia in the Indian style. The Hindi people liberated all nations and nationalities in their region and named the whole country as India, made Hindi the working language of the Indian federation and, of course, divided the national area of Hindi into multiple federal regions. Why not we, the Oromo people, liberate the whole nations and nationalities in the Ethiopian empire, call the whole country ‘Great Oromia’ and promote Afaan Oromo to the working language of the federation, with the historical local Odaa’s of Oromia (Odaa-Bisil, -Bulluqi, -Bultum, -Gaarres, -Makodi, -Nabee and -Roobaa) being the future separate federal regions of the country? 

We, all Oromo nationals, are entitled to choose, what we do believe is the best for our nation; what matters, at last, is, of course, the voice of the Oromo majority. I think Golden Oromian self-rule and/or Great Oromian shared rule should be the agenda of the Oromo people, in contrast to the federation or separation goal of the Tigrayan elites. Interestingly, the three Abyssinianist groups (the elites of Amhara, Tigrai and Eritrea) have got only one option respectively in their political struggle: the Amhara elites still can only sing about the Indian-style for they know that Amharinya has got the privilege to be the federal language of the empire; the Eritrean elites, as a minority at the periphery, were so insecure to live within Ethiopia so that they had only the alternative of separation (the Russian-style); the Tigrayan elites can neither have the language privilege to opt for the Indian-style nor the capacity to live alone as an independent nation in order to choose the Russian-style, so they do stick to the English-style. But, the Oromo and Golden Oromia, being the majority at the center, can play all the three cards (the English-, the Russian- and the Indian-style) as long as the rule of the game in the region will be freedom and democracy. So, let us, the Oromo people, use our advantage and struggle with all the pro-freedom and pro-democracy forces of the Empire against the Woyane to come to the position of voting for one of these three options we do have.

As far as I am concerned, all the three ways are not harmful, but the decision must be made by the politically-conscious Oromo polity and Oromo public per referendum, when the time comes. This short essay is a bitter pill I wanted to present to the Oromo foes, who are nowadays delighted by observing a division of the Oromo liberation vanguard (the OLF) into three. For their information, OLF has got in its pocket, from the very beginning, only one kaayyoo (goal) of bilisummaa/freedom, which, at the same time, can be interpreted as three kaayyoo’s of walabummaa (three types of sovereignty), and it plays with these three cards of walabummaa based on the objective reality it is in, i.e. according to the “here and now” of the situations. Even though the one kaayyoo of bilisummaa is the Oromo national self-determination, the three interpretations of the kaayyoo of walabummaa are:

“- self-rule of Golden Oromia within a shared rule of Great Oromia = internal self-determination of the nation,

- self-rule of Golden Oromia without shared rule of Great Oromia = external self-determination of the Oromo), and

- Oromian citizens’ freedom to have a referendum on this issue of external self-determination Vs. internal self-determination.

We know that OLF permanently advocates for all the three: the independence of Golden Oromia, the Oromos’ right to self-determination, and the union of nations in Great Oromia. It emphasizes one of these three interpretations according to the condition of the time (according to the Zeitgeist). Whenever Abyssinianist elites become arrogant and start to sing about the unconditional unity of their empire with suppression of Oromos’ national rights, it stresses the necessity of an independent republic of Golden Oromia, of course, undermining the possible union. The logic behind this position is that whenever there is suppression, there will be a move for separation. When some reasonable politicians from different nations in the empire start to recognize the God-given right of the Oromo nation to self-determination, the OLF starts to play the card of self-determination, i.e. an appropriate decision per referendum either for external sel-determination or for internal self-determination. Now, the one structural OLF, which we, Oromo nationals, have believed to own, has been divided into three, each of the factions just taking as a goal one of the three interpretations of the kaayyoo regarding walabummaa of Oromia:

- OLF1 of Ob. Daud appears to have the Oromo national self-determination as its goal, being open for both an external self-determination and an internal self-dtermination as far as the Oromo majority will decide for one of the two.

- OLF2 of Ob. Dhugaasaa seems to make no compromise on an external self-determination.

- OLF3 of Gn. Kamal looks like having a decision, which favors an internal self-determination of nations in Great Oromia so that it tries to seek a cooperation with the Oromo nationals in the ruling party and at the same time, it strives for a possible alliance with the reasonable “pro-unity and democratic” Habesha opposition forces.

Anyways, a merdo (bad news) to the foes of the Oromo liberation movement is that the one/three OLF(s) will never give up the struggle for the right of the Oromo nation to self-determination until we, the Oromo people, become the determiners of our own destiny, be it within the Great Oromian union or without the union. Otherwise, let’s differentiate the ongoing rhetoric from the real conviction. We have heard certain Oromo politicians talking about the “fact” that the Oromo people do not want “secession.” But, I do consider that such talking about the Oromo wanting independence or not is a wrong generalization. One thing we need to know as a fact is that almost all Oromo politicians (including those who do make the above mentioned rhetoric), deep in their hearts, believe in the right of the Oromo nation to self-determination. This is the hallmark of Oromo nationalists, and it is the aim of our mindset (that of our spiritual organization, the OLF). This mindset, the OLF, has got only one kaayyoo of bilisummaa with the three interpretations regarding walabummaa, but it also does pursue the following three karaa’s (strategies) with their respective rhetoric:

“- OLF mindset in the rebel organizations has got an explicit rhetoric of self-determination, i.e. in a form of a national freedom, be it within or without a union, and it fights for this kaayyoo by all means,

- OLF mindset in the opposition organizations has got the rhetoric of struggling for liberation in only Great Oromian context, but it covertly struggles for the same kaayyoo of self-determination,

- OLF mindset in the ruling organization has got the rhetoric, which says: “we have already achieved the liberation,” but yet it also covertly pushes for the same and similar kaayyoo.

So, our fellow Oromo nationals, let’s allow this mindset move to the kaayyoo of bilisummaa in all the three karaa’s, despite the rhetoric of some Oromo nationalists in the opposition and in the ruling Oromo organizations. Let our foes know exactly that, despite the different rhetoric, the Oromo national liberation movement can never be stopped till it achieves the kaayyoo of bilisummaa Oromo, and walabummaa Oromia of any type. We only need to motivate ourselves just to make our respective rhetoric and to do our practice in the liberation movement on the karaa each of us chooses in order to come to the only one kaayyoo of self-determination. We have to forget the rhetoric of Oromo politicians in the ruling party and in the opposition parties, who are doing their talks under the gunpoint of Woyane (they are just denying the right of Oromo people to self-determination at gunpoint), and let’s strive to achieve our kaayyoo, which is already determined by our mindset, the OLF.

I am personally against any sort of dictatorial unity, and I am a supporter of a possible union of free nations in Great Oromia based on the free will of the respective peoples. Any unity without Oromo’s public verdict will fail, take it only 1 year, about 10 years or as long as 100 years. That is why I do advocate for a lasting solution based on the free will of all the stakeholders, instead of the temporary hoyaa-hoyee of unity as a wishy-washy solution. Some organizations seem to have chosen unconditional Great Oromian unity as a precondition for the alliance against Woyane, but the unity they do strive for will surely never last long, because it is not based on accepting the self-determination of peoples, but based on a predetermination of the future fate of peoples by only few elites. The future possible alliance against the Woyane, which may be forged by the OLF et al. must be based on a solid ground by taking the self-determination of nations, rather than the unconditional unity of Great Oromia, as the precondition for an alliance.

This way or that way, our foes need to know that, they can only manipulate and delay the realization of Oromo’s right to self-determination, but they can never hinder it. Oromo’s mindset is leading us to our only one kaayyoo, i.e. to the self-determination of the Oromo people, however long it may take. Our enemies like it or not, in reality almost all Oromo nationalists are led in our liberation struggle by this mindset. That is why the International Crisis Group (ICG) wrote: “despite its organizational flaws and divisions, many ordinary Oromos retain an almost messianic belief in the OLF as the major nationalist organization.” So, I would like to say: long live the OLF as a trinity (the OLF with only one kaayyoo of self-determination, but with the three possible types of sovereignty to be achieved through the three karaa’s accompanied by the three rhetoric).

Just regarding some politically vigilant Oromo nationalists, I personally can understand when they do refuse accepting the name Cush/Ethiopia/Great Oromia as belonging to the Oromo people, but we need to dig deep to come to the facts that the name Cush/Ethiopia/Great Oromia is not far from the history of the Oromo people in particular, and from that of the Cush in general. To illustrate this fact with a concrete example, who was the warrior named Abraham Ashine (ashine means in Afaan Oromo: ‘we have begotten a child’), the man who bravely conquered and ruled certain parts of Arabia as the ancient Cushitic Ethiopia used to include, not only the areas in the north eastern Africa, but also some regions in Arabia? The issue of this hero, Abraham Ashine, must be researched and the role of the Oromo in ruling even this part of Arabia, including Yemen, must be rightly interpreted. Fact on the ground seems to show that the Yemenites and some other Asians themselves were/are Cushites and their tricolors, similar to that of Abbaa-Gadaa’s faajjii, show it all. Simply put, the Oromo people can win only when we do understand our lost and real history. The Oromo people now fighting against our own history of the Cushites (Ethiopiawinet in its true sense = Cushnet = Oromummaa) is not as such constructive. The Agew dynasty of Elalibela and even the Aksum history is not that of the “Semitic” as usually told, but part and parcel of the Cushitic kingdoms. Can we really find ancient history that the Tigrayans did build in Aksum, which is not part of the Cushitic civilization? Let alone Abyssinian history, we can further say that parts of the Arabian history are based mainly on the Oromo’s (Cushitic) culture, because of the fact that Abraham Ashine, the king who conquered and ruled Arabia seems to be an Oromo in particular, and a Cushite in general. Interestingly, even the name of the continent Asia is said to be derived from this Oromo name Ashine, according to some recorded histories, legends or stories.

The more we dig deep, the better we know our real history and the best we can be in a position to charter our future beneficial destiny. So let’s, Oromo nationalists, be sure that we are on the right line of understanding and interpreting our history and let’s look at the fact that, not only an independent Golden Oromia of the Russian-style, but also an integrative Great Oromia in a form of either the English-style or the Indian-style can be the right kaayyoo, for which we, the Oromo nationalists, can fight. In summary, we can shoot from our three positions to attack our main enemy, the oppressive Abyssinianist elites’ system of domination, which still acts against our Oromummaa by targeting specially Aadaa-, Afaan-, Biyya-, Alaabaa-, and Amanti-Oromo (Waaqeffanna). Now, the very conscious harmonization of the three ideological positions in targeting our enemy in unison is the alpha-and-omega of the Oromo liberation movement in order to be successful in our struggle. As an effective and efficient symbol of this action in unity towards the common purpose of bilisummaa Oromoo in a form of self-determination, the Alaabaa of TQO (Tokkummaa Qabsaa’ota Oromoo), which I already once proposed, is the neutral banner, behind which we all can rally. May Rabbi/Waaqa help us, all the Oromo nationalists, to cooperate with each other, to coordinate our efforts and to move in unison towards our kaayyoo of bilisummaa Oromoo and walabummaa Oromia, be it in the form of an independent Golden Oromia or an integrative Great Oromia. May HE bless Oromia and the Oromo people!

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በማሰርና ማደናቀፍ የታጀበው ሰላማዊ ሰልፋችን በታቀደለት ዕለት በድምቀት ይካሄዳል!!! – በአንድነትና በ33ቱ ፓርቲዎች በጋራ የተሠጠ ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ

አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ ለሶስት ወራት የሚቆይ ህዝባዊ ንቅናቄ በስትራቴጅው መሰረት በመጀመር፤ በመላው አገሪቱ የሚገኙ አባላቶቹንና ደጋፊዎቹን በማንቀሳቀስ ሕዝቡን ያሳተፈ ትግል በአዲስ አበባና ከአዲስ አበባ ውጭ በሚገኙ ዋና ዋና ከተሞች የተቃውሞ ሰልፎችንና ህዝባዊ ስብሰባዎችን ማከናወኑ የሚታወቅ ነው፡፡ የሚልዮኖች ድምጽ ለነፃነት በሚል መሪ ቃል የተጀመረው ይህ ህዝባዊ ንቅናቄ አራት መሰረታዊ ጥያቄዎችንና ወቅታዊ ጉዳዮችን ያነገበ ሲሆን እንደ ሁልጊዜውም ፓርቲው ሰላማዊነቱን በጠበቀ መልኩ ነገር ግን ሕጋዊ መብቱን ሳያስነካ፤ መከፈል የሚገባውን መስዋዕትነት በመክፈልና በቁርጠኝነት ንቅናቄውን በታቀደለት መሰረት ከአባላቱና አመራሩ ጋር በመሆን ለማከናወን ችሏል፡፡

አገሪቱን በማስተዳደር ላይ የሚገኘው ገዥ ሀይል በሰላማዊ ህዝባዊ ንቅናቄዎች ለሚነሱ ጥያቄዎች አፋጣኝ ምላሽ ከመስጠትና በተነሱ ጉዳዮች ዙሪያ ለመነጋገር በርን ከመክፈት ይልቅ ዙሪያ ጥምጥም በመሄድ ለጥያቄዎቹ አስተጋቢዎች የተለየ መልክ ለመፍጠር የሚያደርገው ሩጫ እንደተጠበቀ ሆኖ በህገ መንግስቱ በግልጽ የተቀመጡ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ የማድረግ፣ የመሰብሰብና አቤቱታ የማቅረብ መብትን በአደባባይ እየጨፈለቀና እነዚህ መብቶች ይከበሩ ዘንድ የሚጠይቁ አባላቶቻችንን ከህግ አግባብ ውጪ በገፍ እያሰረም ቢሆን ህዝባችን ጋር ለመድረስና ተቃውሞ ድምፃችንን ከፍ አድርገን ማሰማት ችለናል፡፡

በጎንደርና ደሴ ከተማ በ7/11/2005 የጀመርናቸው የተቀውሞ ሰልፎች በባህርዳር፣ በአርባምንጭ፣ በጅንካ፣ በአዳማ፣ በፍቼ በተሳካ ሁኔታ የተካሄዱ ሲሆን በመቀሌና ባሌ ሮቤ በከፍተኛ ጫናና ህገወትነት ሳካሄዱ ቀርተዋል፡፡ በወላይታ ሶዶና አዲስ አበባ ህዝባዊ ስብሰባዎች ተከናውነዋል፡፡

ከላይ በጠቀስናቸው ከተሚች ሰላማዊ ሰልፎቹን ለማሰናከል ሃላፊዎቹ የየአካባቢዎቹን ሚሊሻዎች፣ የደንነት ሰዎች፣ ታጣቂዎችና ፖሊሶች በመጠቀም አባላቶቻችንን አስረዋል፣ አስፈራርተዋል፣ ደብድበዋል፣ አዋክበዋል፡፡ ከአንድ የመንግስት አካል በማይጠበቅ መልኩም አመራሮቻችንን አግተዋል፣ የተለጠፉ የሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ጥሪ ወረቀቶችን እንዲቀደዱ በማድረግና ህዝቡ በሰልፎቹ እንዳይገኝ በካድሬዎች አማካኝነት የቤት ለቤት ቅስቀሳ ከማካሄዳቸው በተጨማሪ የትራንስፖርት እንቅስቃሴ እንዳይኖር በማድረግ ከየከተሞቹ አቅራቢያ ከሚገኙ ወረዳዎች ዜጎች ድምጻቸውን ለማሰማት እንዳይመጡ እንቅፋት ፈጥረዋል፡፡ በተንቀሳቀስንባቸው አካባቢዎች ሁሉ ገዢው ፓርቲ ከህዝብ የተነጠለ መሆኑንና ህዝቡን እየመራሁ ነው የሚለው ህዝብን በማሸማቀቅ እንደሆነ መገንዘብ ችለናል፡፡

የመጀመሪው ዙር የሶስት ወር ሕዝባዊ ንቅናቄችን ከ33ቱ ፓርቲዎች ጋር በመሆን በአዲስ አበባ እንደሚጠናቀቅ በገለፅነው መሰረትም የተለያዩ እንቅስቃሴዎችንና ዝግጅቶቸን ስናደርግ ቆይተናል፡፡ በሕገ-መንግሥቱ አንቀጽ 3ዐ ተራ ቁጥር (1) መሰረት ዜጎች የመሰብሰብና በጋራ ሠላማዊ ሠልፍ ማድረግ እንደሚችሉ በተደነገገው መሠረት አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትሕ ፓርቲ (አንድነት) በ24/12/2ዐዐ5 በተፃፈ ደብዳቤ ሕጉ የሚጠይቀውን አሟልቶ የተቃውሞ ሠላማዊ ሠልፍ መስከረም 5 ቀን 2ዐዐ6 ዓ.ም በመስቀል አደባባይ ለማድረግ መወሰናችንን ለአዲስ አበባ ከተማ አስተዳደር የሠላማዊ ሠልፍ ማሳወቂያ ክፍል አሳውቀናል፡፡ ሆኖም በ12 ሰዓት ውስጥ መልስ ባለማግኘታችን ስለ ጉዳዩ ለማጣራት ከመስተዳድሩ የከንቲባው ጽ/ቤት ኃላፊ ጋር ተገናኝተን ሠፊ ውይይት ካደረግን በኋላ የጽሕፈት ቤቱ ኃላፊ በወቅቱ በመስቀል አደባባይ ለግንባታ ሥራ ተብሎ አካባቢው በቆርቆሮ የታጠረ ስለሆነ ጊዜ ተገኝቶ ቆርቆሮዎቹ ተነስተው ለጥበቃ አመቺ እስከሚሆን ድረስ የሠላማዊ ሠልፉ ከመስቀል በዓል በኋላ እንዲደረግ ስለጠየቁንና እንዲሁም የትምህርት ቤቶች መክፈቻ ወቅት ከመሆኑም በተጨማሪ በአካባቢውም ከአዲስ ዘመን መለወጫ ጋር በተያያዘ ብዙ ባዛሮች የሚስተናገዱበት ጊዜ በመሆኑ ጊዜው እንዲለወጥ የሚሉ ምክንያቶች በመቅረባቸው በመስቀል አደባባይ ለማድረግ የማንችል መሆኑን ቢነግሩንም በአደባባዩ ግን፡-

1ኛ. ነሐሴ 19 ቀን 2ዐዐ5 ዓ.ም የቀድሞ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ ሙት ዓመት ምክንያት በማድረግ ሕዝባዊ ስብሰባና ሠላማዊ ሠልፍ የተካሄደበት መሆኑ፤

2ኛ. ነሐሴ 26 ቀን 2ዐዐ5 ዓ.ም የኢትዮጵያ የኃይማኖቶች ተቋማት ጉባኤ ሠላማዊ ሠልፍ እንዳካሄዱበት እየታወቀ የተሰጡን ምክንያቶች ውሃ የማይቋጥሩና አድሏዊ መሆናቸውን ብናምንም ሆደ ሰፊ በመሆንና እስከመጨረሻው ለመሄድ በማሰብ ሠላማዊ ሠልፉ ወደ መስከረም 19 ቀን 2ዐዐ6 ዓ.ም እንዲተላለፍ አድርገናል፡፡

የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ መስተዳድር የከንቲባው ጽ/ቤት መስከረም 3 ቀን 2ዐዐ6 ዓ.ም ሠላማዊ ሠልፉን መስከረም 19 ቀን ማድረግ እንደምንችል ለዚሁ ተግባር በተዘጋጀው ቅጽ ሲያሳውቀን በቅፁ ላይ መሠረታዊ የሆነውን የሠላማዊ ሠልፉን የመዳረሻ ቦታ ክፍት (ዳሽ) በማድረግ ቀደም ስንል የተስማማንበት ቦታ መስቀል አደባባይን ሳይጠቀስ ቀረ፡፡ ፓርቲያችንም ይህ ተገቢ ያለመሆኑንና የመስተዳድሩን ተዓማኒነት የሚያሳጣው ስለሆነ ሠላማዊ ሠልፉን በመስቀል አደባባይ እንድናደርግ እንዲወሰንልን በተደጋጋሚ ብናሳስብም ተወያይተን መፍትሔ እንሰጣለን በማለት መልሱን በአስር ቀናት ከአዘገዩ በኋላ በቁ.አ.አ/ከጽ/1ዐ/3ዐ.4/12 ሠላማዊ ሠልፉን በጃንሜዳ እንድናደርግ መወሰኑን ገለፁልን፡፡ ሆኖም በዚህ ደበዳቤ መጨረሻ ላይ ‹‹… ከመስቀል አደባባይ ውጭ ሌላ አማራጭ ካላችሁ ማቅረብ እንደሚቻል እናሳስባለን›› ባሉት መሠረት የፓርቲው አመራር በጉዳዩ ላይ ሠፋ ያለ ውይይት ከአደረገ በኋላ ከላይ በጠቀስናቸው ምክንያቶች የተሰጠን መልስ በመስቀል አደባባይ ሠላማዊ ሠልፍ የማድረግ መብታችንን የጣሰ፣ የደፈጠጠ፣ ኢ-ፍትሓዊና አድሎአዊ መሆኑን ሙሉ በሙሉ ብናምንም አሁንም መስተዳድሩ እውነት ልማት አስጨንቆት ነው ወይስ ሰላማዊ ሰልፎችን በወረቀት ብቻ ዕውቅና በመስጠት ሌሎችን የማፈን ተግባር የሚለውን በተጨባጭ ለመፈተሽ የተፈቀደልን ጃንሜዳ በአዋጅ ቁጥር 3/1983 ዓ.ም ለሠላማዊ ሠልፍና የተከለከሉ ሥፍራዎች በሚለው አንቀጽ ሥር ‹‹ማንኛውም ሠላማዊ ሠልፍ ወይም ሕዝባዊ የፖለቲካ ስብሰባ በጦር ኃይሎች፣ በጥበቃና የሕዝብን ሠላምና ደህንነት በሚቆጣጠሩ የመንግሥት የሥራ ክፍሎች አካባቢ 5ዐዐ ሜትር ርቀት ውስጥ ሊደረግ አይችልም›› የሚለውን በመጥቀስ ጃንሜዳን የማንቀበልበትን ምክንያቶች አቅርበናል፡፡ በዚህም መሰረት፡-

ሀ) በጃን ሜዳ ዋና መግቢያ በር ፊት ለፊት የመከላከያ ዩኒቨርስቲ በመኖሩ፤
ለ) በጃን ሜዳ ሁለተኛ በር የቀድሞ 3ኛ ሻለቃ ማዕከላዊ እዝ በመኖሩ፤
ሐ) በጃን ሜዳ 3ኛ በር የአራዳና የየካ ክፍለ ከተማ የፌዴራል መምሪያ የሚገኙ ስለሆነ ይህን ሥፍራ ለሠላሚዊ ሠልፍ መፍቀድ አዋጅን የሚጥስ በመሆኑ ትክክል እንዳልሆነ እና እኛም የሕግ ጥሰት ተባባሪ መሆን ስለማንፈቅድ መስከረም 13 ቀን በተፃፈ ደብዳቤ አማራጭ ይሆናሉ ያልናቸውን፡-
• ኢትዮ ኩባ አደባባይ ፊት ለፊት
• አራት ኪሎ አደባባይን
• ስድስት ኪሎ አደባባይ
• ቴዎድሮስ አደባባይ
• አብነት ሆቴል ፊት ለፊት ያለው አደባባይ
• ሳርቤት አካባቢ ያለው ፑሽኪን አደባባይ
• ብሔር-ብሔረሰቦች አደባባይ
• አዲስ አበባ ስቴድዩም
• በቦሌ ድልድይና በኢምፔሪያል ሆቴል መካከል ከቀለበት መንገድ ግራና ቀኝ ያለው ሜዳ መሆናቸውን በመግለጽ ምላሽ በመጠባበቅ የቅስቀሳ ስራችንን በከፍተኛ ጫና ውስጥ ሆነን እያከናወንን እንገኛለን፡፡

በቅስቀሳ ወቅትም ከማክሰኞ መስከረም 15 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ በእቅዳችን መሰረት ከ 33ቱ ፓርቲ አመራሮችና አባላት ጋር በመሆን የመኪና ላይ ቅስቀሳ፣ በራሪ ወረቀ፣ ፖስተር መለጠፍ የጀመርን ቢሆንም የከተማው መስተዳድር ህግ በተላለፈ ሁኔታ ነሐሴ 10 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም የሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ቅስቀሳ የሚከለክል የውስጥ መመሪያ በማውጣት ፓርቲዎች፣ ምርጫ ቦርድና ሚደዲው ሳያውቅ በድብቅ ለአዲስ አበባ ፖሊስና ክፍለ ከተሞች በማሰራጨት አባሎቻችንና አመራሩ ለቅስቀሳ ሲወጡ እንዲታሰሩ አድርጓል፡፡

በዚህ ህገ-ወጥ መመሪያ የተነሳም ማክሰኞ መስከረም 15 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም ሦስት መኪናና አጠቃላይ 30 ቀስቃሽ አባላት ከቀኑ 5 ሰዓት ጀምሮ ታስረው ከምሽቱ 1 ሰዓት ተለቅቀዋል፤ ዕሮብ መስከረም 16 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም ሦስት መኪናና 28 ቀስቃሽ አባላት በተመሳሳይ ታስረው ማታ ተለቅቀዋል፤ ሐሙስ መስከረም 17 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም ሁለት መኪናና 16 ቀስቃሽ አባላት የታሰሩ ሲሆን የፓርቲያችን ሊቀ መንበር ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ የታሰሩትን ለማስፈታ ወደ ሽሮ ሜዳ ፖሊስ መምሪያ ቢሄዱም የታሰሩ አባላት ካልተለቀቁ አልሄድም በማለት አብረው ታግተው ውለዋል፡፡ መስከረም 18 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም የፓርቲው መሪ፣ የስራ አስፈፃሚ አባላትና አመራሩ በሁለት መኪና በመሆን አንደኛውን መኪና ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ እየመሩት፣ ሁለተኛውን መኪና የተከበሩ አቶ ግርማ ሰይፉ እየመሩት ቅስቀሳ ቢጀመርም አጠቃላይ 26 አመራሮች በቁጥጥር ስር ውለው እንዳይቀሰቅሱ ተደርጓል፡፡ ፓርቲያችን በተለያዩ መንገዶች ቅስቀሳውን ማድረግ አጠናክሮ በመቀጠል ሁለት መቶ ሺ በራሪ ወረቀቶች ተሰራጭተዋል፤ አስር ሺ ፖስተሮች ተለጥፈዋል፡፡ ሕዝቡም በነቂስ ወጥቶ ሰላማዊ ሰልፉን በመቀላቀል በሰላማዊ መንገድ የተቃውሞ ድምፁን እንዲያሰማ በአክብሮት ሀገራዊ ጥሪ እናቀርባለን፡፡

በዚህም መሰረት መንግስት በወረቀት ብቻ እውቅና ሰጥቶ በተግባር ቅስቀሳ የከለከለ ቢሆንም የተቃውሞ ሰልፋችን በታቀደለት ዕለት ሠልፉ በምንም አይነት ጫና የማይሰረዝ መሆኑን እያረጋገጥን መነሻውን ከፓርቲያችን ፅ/ቤት በማድረግ የሚካሄድ መሆኑን እየገለጽን፤ አንድነት ለሠላማዊ ትግል የሚከፈሉ መስዋትነቶችንን ከፍሎ የትግላችንን ፍሬ እንደምናረጋግጥ እርግጠኛ ብንሆንም በአሁኑ ወቅት መንግሥት በማከናወን ላይ ያለው ተግባር ከሠላማዊ ትግል ውጭ ያሉ አማራጮችን በቀጥታ እያበረታታና እየደገፈ መሆኑን ማስገንዘብ እንወዳልን፡፡ በመጨረሻም የመንግሥት ተግባር መሠረታዊ የሆነ የዜግነትና የአገራዊ ባለቤትነት ጥያቄን ስለሚያስነሳ፤ አፈናው እንዲቆም በአገርና በሕዝብ ስም እየጠየቅን ይህን ፍርደ ገምድልና ኢ-ፍትሓዊ ውሳኔን ተከትሎ ለሚደርሱ ችግሮች ተጠያቂው መስተዳድሩና መንግሥት መሆኑ እንዲታወቅ አበክረን እንገልፃለን፡፡
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ዘላለማዊ ክብር ለኢትዮጵያ!!!
የአንድነት ፓርቲና የ33ቱ ፓርቲዎች
መስከረም 18 ቀን 2006
አዲስ አበባ

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ሰበር ዜና ከአዲስ አበባ፤ ፖሊስ የቀድሞውን የኢትዮጵያ ፕሬዘዳንት አሰረ – ፍኖተ ነጻነት

የአንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ ፕሬዘዳንት ዶክተር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ የታሰሩ የፓርቲውን የቅስቀሳ ቡድን አባላት ለማስፈታትወደ ጉለሌ ክፍለ ከተማ የሽሮ ሜዳ ፖሊስ ማዘዣ ጣብያ በማምራት ለፖሊሶቹ ‹‹ልጆቹ የፈጸሙት ህገ ወጥ ድርጊት የለም፣ሲቀሰቅሱ የነበሩትም እውቅና የተሰጠውን ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ነው፡፡ቅስቀሳው ህገ ወጥ ነው የምትሉም ከሆነ እነርሱን የላኳቸው እኔ በመሆኔ እኔን ልታስሩኝ ትችላላችሁ ››ብለዋል፡፡
ፖሊስ የቀድሞውን የኢትዮጵያ ፕሬዘዳንት ዶክተር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳን በማሰር ወጣቶቹን ለቅቋቸዋል፡፡

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15 የሚሆኑ የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባለት ዛሬ ህገወጥ እስር ተፈፀመባቸው የተቀሩት ስኬታማ ቅስቀሳ በማድረግ ላይ ናቸው -

አንድነት ፓርቲ በመጪው እሁድ መስከረም 19 ከ33ቱ ፓርቲዎች ጋር ለሚያደርገው ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ የመኪና ላይ ቅስቀሳ ሲያደርጉ የነበሩ 15 አባላቱ ህገወጥ እስር ተፈፀመባቸው፡፡ አባላቱ ከስድስት ኪሎ ወደ አራት ኪሎ በሚወስደው ጎዳና በመኪና ላይ እየቀሰቀሱ ባለበት ወቅት ሚኒሊክ ት/ቤት ፊትለፊት የፖሊስና የደህንነት ኃይሎች የሚተላለፈውን መኪና መንገድ በመዝጋት ቅስቀሳውን አደናቅፈዋል፡፡
በስፍራው የነበሩ በርካታ ሰዎች “ቀስቃሾቹ ህጋዊ ወረቀት ይዘዋል፤ልቀቋቸው” በማለት ተቃውሞ አሰምተዋል ከአንድነት ፓርቲ ጎን እንደሚቆሙም ተናግረዋል፡፡ ፖሊስ 15 የሚሆኑትን የቅስቀሳ ቡድን አባላት ወደ ሁለተኛ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ ወስደዋቸዋል፡፡ የአንድነት ፓርቲ ከፍተኛ አመራሮች አባላቱ ወደ ታሰሩበት 2ኛ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ በመሄድ ረ/ኢ መንግስቱ ለማ የተባሉትን የፖሊስ ጣቢያው ኃላፊ የታሰሩት አባላት እንዲለቀቁ ጠይቀዋል፡፡ ኃላፊውም “ህጋዊ ሰልፍ እንደምታደርጉ እናውቃለን ይቀስቅሱ የሚል መመሪያ አልደረሰንም ብለዋል፡፡ አመራሮቹ የአዲስ አበባ ፖሊስ ኮሚሽነርንና የከተማዋን መስተዳድር ሃላፊዎች ለማነጋገር ተንቀሳቅሰዋል፡፡
በተለያየ አቅጣጫ የተሰማሩት ሌሎቹ የአንድነት ፓርቲ ቅስቀሳ ቡድን አባላት ስኬታማ የመኪና ላይ ቅስቀሳ በማደረግ ላይ ናቸው፡፡

 #m

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Ethiopian regime's repression By Graham Peebles

They speak of democracy but act violently to suppress dissenting voices and control the people through the inculcation of fear. They ignore human rights and trample on the people. They are tyrannical wolves in democratic sheep’s clothing, causing suffering and misery to thousands of people throughout Ethiopia.

The right to protest

The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government repeatedly scoffs at international law and consistently acts in violation of its own federal constitution – a liberal document written by the regime to please and deceive its foreign supporters. It has enacted laws of repression: the widely condemned Charities and Societies Law and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation – the main tool of political control – together with the Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation form a formidable and unjust arsenal of government control. Freedom of the media (which is largely “state-owned”) is denied and political dissent is all but outlawed.
Against this repressive backdrop, the Semayawi (Blue) Party, a new opposition group, organized peaceful protests on 2 June in Addis Ababa. Ten thousand or so people marched through the capital demanding the release of political prisoners, “respect for the constitution” and justice. It was, Reuters news agency reported, an “anti-government procession… the first large-scale protest since a disputed 2005 election ended in street violence that killed 200 people” – a “disputed election” result that was discredited totally by European Union observers and denounced by opposition groups and large swathes of the population.
The chairman of the Semayawi Party, Yilekal Getachew, told Reuters: “We have repeatedly asked the government to release political leaders, journalists and those who asked the government not to intervene in religious affairs.” In keeping with the recent worldwide movement for freedom and social justice, he stated that, “if these questions are not resolved and no progress is made in the next three months, we will organize more protests. It is the beginning of our struggle.”
To the disappointment of many and the surprise of nobody, the government has made no attempt to resolve the questions raised and, true to their word, a second demonstration was planned for 1 September in Addis Ababa. In the event, as the BBC reported, around “100 members of Ethiopia’s opposition Semayawi Party were arrested and some badly beaten”, and “equipment such as sound systems were confiscated”, ahead of the planned rally, which was banned by the EPRDF. A government cock-and-bull story was duly constructed with Communication Minister Shimeles Kemal stating: “The venue [for Semayawi’s event] had already been booked by a pro-government group condemning religious extremism.”
Non-interference in religious affairs is one of the key demands of the Semayawi Party, a demand based on the constitutional commitment of religious independence from the state, which Muslim groups claim the government has violated. Enraged by government interference in all matters religious, the Muslim community has organized regular small-scale protests and sit-ins in the capital for the last two years. In early August, Reuters reported that demonstrators chanted God is great and hoisted banners that read “Respect the constitution”, referring to allegations that the government has tried to influence the highest Muslim affairs body, the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council.
Around 40 per cent of Ethiopia’s population (about 85 million) are Muslim. For generations they have lived amicably with their Orthodox Christian neighbours, who make up the majority of the population. The Muslim community is generally regarded as moderate in its beliefs and peaceful in its ways. The EPRDF, in contrast, is violent, intolerant and ideologically driven, “Revolutionary Democracy” being the particular tune to which the democratic dictatorship hums and drums its partisan rule.

Name calling

The government’s response to the peaceful demonstrations has been intolerant and dismissive, describing the demonstrators as foreign-funded Muslim extremists seeking to set up an Islamic state.
Characteristically, it has also imprisoned Muslims, prompting Amnesty International to voice extreme concern and to demand an end to the widespread arrest of Muslim protesters and the repressive crackdown on freedom of speech and the right to peacefully protest.
Meanwhile, protests in Kofele in the Oromia region on 8 August ended in “the deaths of an unconfirmed number”. There have also been reports of large numbers of people being arrested in Kofele and Addis Ababa, including two journalists.
The EPRDF does not tolerate any independent media coverage within the country. It does all it can to control the flow of information out of Ethiopia and restricts totally dissenting voices.
Nor does the EPRDF care who the journalists it represses work for. In October 2012 a reporter from the Voice of America (VOA) covering a protest in Anwar Mosque in Addis was arrested and told to erase her recorded interviews, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported. This was not the first time a VOA journalist had been detained. “They are criminalizing journalism,” said Martin Schibbye, a Swedish freelance journalist who, together with another colleague, was jailed for more than 14 months in 2011 for entering the Ogaden region.
The Ogaden is a heavily militarized area where wide ranging human rights violations constituting crimes against humanity are taking place – violations which have been hidden from the international media and aid organizations since 2007.

Unjust laws of control

In July last year, hundreds of protesting Muslims peacefully demanding that the government stop interfering in their religious affairs and allow them to vote freely for representatives on the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council were arrested. Most were released, but 29 members of the protest committee were charged on 29October under the universally criticized Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, accused of “intending to advance a political, religious or ideological cause” by force, and of the “planning, preparation, conspiracy, incitement and attempt of terrorist acts”. Their arrest has been slammed by human rights groups as well as by the United States Commission on Religious Freedom, which said it was “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”. Those detained claim to have been tortured and experienced other ill-treatment in detention.
The ambiguous Anti-Terrorism Proclamation was introduced in 2009 and has been used by the Ethiopian government “to severely restrict basic rights of freedom of expression, association and assembly”, Human Rights Watch  states. It violates dues process which, like a raft of other internationally recognized and legally binding rights, is enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution.
The proclamation allows for long-term imprisonment and the death penalty for so-called crimes that meet the EPRDF’s definition of terrorism, and in some cases it denies a defendant’s right to be presumed innocent – the bedrock of the international judicial system. Torture is used without restraint by the military and police. Under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation evidence obtained while a prisoner is being beaten, hanged, whipped or drowned is admissible in court, which contravenes Article 15 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture (ratified by Ethiopia in 1994).
Ethiopia’s donors and international friends – primarily the US and Britain – have other, larger fish on their minds. Even though they give the country over a third of its federal budget, they seem unconcerned by the criminality being committed by the regime, much of which is taking place under the cloak of development.
Violent rule, however, is a storm that is imploding throughout the world. The people who have suffered long enough are sensing their collective strength and are awakening.

Need for unity

Contrary to the EPRDF’s pledge of ethical federalism, divide-and-rule is its methodology of choice. In a country with dozens of tribal and ethnic groups, and different religious beliefs, unity is the key to any popular social revolution. We are witnessing a worldwide protest movement for change. Age-old values of freedom, equality and social justice, brotherhood and peace are the clarion call of many marching and protesting people.
And so it is in Ethiopia. The Semayawi Party and other opposition groups, the Muslim community and the students are on the street demanding justice. Out of step and blind to the needs of the people and their rightful demands, the ruling party acts with violence to drown out their voices and suppress their rights: in Addis Ababa, where thousands marched in June; in Oromia and the Ogaden, where the people seek autonomy; in Amhara, where thousands have been displaced; and in Gambella and the Lower Omo Valley, where native people are being driven off their ancestral land into state-created villages, women raped and men beaten.
Unity is the song of the day. All steps need to be taken to remove the obstacle to the realization of unity throughout the country – ethnic prejudices and tribal differences must be laid aside. The Ethiopian regime may succeed in subduing the movement for change that is simmering throughout the country,  but with sustained, unified action, peacefully undertaken and relentlessly expressed, freedom and social justice will surely come.

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A Journalist kidnapped, Threatened, and Beaten by Intelligence and Security Agents in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian journalist Bisrat Woldemichael was kidnapped, threatened, humiliated, and beaten by the Ethiopian intelligence and security agents on 28 August, 2013. He has reported this incident today to journalists.
Bisrat reported that the dreadful incident took place at Gotera, a place in the capital Addis Ababa as he was walking home from work. He said he was victimized for exercising his right to free expression in conjunction with the related right to press freedom.

Bisrat Woldemichael works for a magazine, Ebony, as Editor in Chief, and writes political articles on different Ethiopian private press outlets. He also blogs at www.addismedia.wordpress.com and www.ethiopiahot.wordpress.com. The journalist is known for his outspoken articles focused on the poor governance and pervasive human right violation, which are turning the oldest East African nation, Ethiopia, into a hall.

Violence against journalists is a common practice in Ethiopia, a country generally regarded as one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist. According to Amnesty International, during the past three years only, over 100 prominent journalists were brutally prosecuted on fabricated charges, and too many others were also subjected to harassment, intimidation, and other violence.

“It was 3:30 AM in the evening, and I was returning home from my workplace. 4 people came to me and said: ‘we need to ask you some questions. Two of them were dressed in black and their faces were almost covered with their caps”, Bisrat said, while narrating his ordeal to journalists.

“I first didn’t understand what was going on. I realized that I was in danger just when one of them put a knife on my stomach”, he noted. “When I saw the knife, I asked them: ‘Who are you? What do you need? But none of them gave me an answer, instead they warned me just to keep walking forward,” he explained.

“I didn’t do anything but followed them, because I was surrounded, and the guy also clearly told me he would stab me with the knife if I tried to challenge them. In addition, one of them had a gun”, Bisrat said.

From there Bisrat was taken to a place far away from the main road. The place he was taken to was quite dark and out of public sight.

“As soon as we reached there they told me they were disappointed at my articles I had recently written, particularly at the one which dealt about the wealth of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ”, Bisrat said.

“They said: ‘Who are you to count the wealth of Meles Zenawi? Who are you to write about his family’s wealth? You have passed the red line!’ ” he explained.

The journalist said that the kidnappers violently interrogated him at length, for almost one hour, and threatened him to stop writing.

“They said: ‘here we are giving you a last warning. If you write any more for any media (or if you keep blogging), the consequence will be worse for you. If you need your life, stop wiring. Remember! It is a last warning’ ”, Bisrat explained.

The journalist said that this was not the end of the drama but the beginning. “They also insulted and humiliated me, and finally began to beat me.

Right after the incident, Bisrat was able to go to a nearby police station, to report the case. But, according to him, having heard the case, the police officers simply gave him an appointment for the coming mooring and let him go. Bisrat said that it took him several days to get the case registered.

“They are Watching Me”

Bisrat Woldemichael said since the day he experienced the violence he has been under surveillance. “Few days ago, I saw them following me behind”, he explained adding “I know they are watching me very closely.”

But, in the face of such grave threats, Bisrat, a journalist who is committed to freedom of speech, has continued doing his job with courage. He continues writing about the political crisis, poor governance, and human right violation worsening in Ethiopia.

“I don’t have a choice. I am a journalist. There is nothing to do except writing what I see, hear, and feel.” Bisrat explained. He again and again made clear that no threats and tortures would make him stop writing

The paper Tigers

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, guarantees the right to freedom of expression saying that: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers. Likewise, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Ethiopia ratified in 1993, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights guarantee the right in a very clear way. They even impose formal legal obligations on state parties to insure this fundamental right is protected.

But, sadly, even in the presence of all these legal documents, Enjoyment of press freedom and freedom of expression still continue to be a far cry for Ethiopian journalists and bloggers as they experience violence while doing their job. They are harassed, threatened, humiliated, and arbitrary jailed.

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የአንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ ለሚሊዮኖች ድምፅ ለነፃነት የበይነ መረብ ዘመቻ መግለጫ – አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ

ላለፉት ሶስት ወራት ስኬታማ ህዝባዊ ንቅናቄ ሲያደርግ የቆየው አንድነት ፓርቲ የመጀመሪያውን ዙር ለሚሊዮኖች ድምፅ ለነፃነት ህዝባዊ ንቅናቄ መስከረም 19 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ከሰላሳ ሶስቱ ፓርቲዎች ጋር በሚያደርገው ታላቅ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ያጠናቅቃል፡፡ የህዝባዊ ንቅናቄው አካል የሆነው የበይነ መረብ ዘመቻ(online social media campaign) ከመስከረም 14-18 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም ይደረጋል፡፡ ዘመቻው ትኩረት የሚያደርገው የሚሊዮኖች ድምፅ ለነፃነት ህዝባዊ ንቅናቄ ቀዳሚ አጀንዳ በሆነውና የፀረ ሽብር ህጉ እንዲሰረዝ በሚጠይቀው የትኩረት ነጥብ ላይ ነው፡፡

ለአምስት ቀናት የሚቆየው የበይነ መረብ ዘመቻ አንድነት ፓርቲ የጸረ ሽብር ህጉ እንዲሰረዝ የጠየቀባቸውን ጉልህ ህገ መንግስታዊ መሰረታዊያን በማብራራት ህዝባዊ ንቅናቄውን በበይነ መረብ (online social media campaign) የሚያቀጣጥል ነው፡፡ የበይነ መረብ ዘመቻው የፖለቲካ አስተሳሰብ ልዩነቶችን ወደ ጎን በመተው መሰረታዊ ህገ መንግስታዊ መብቶችን የሚደፈጥጠው የፀረ ሽብር ህግ እንዲሰረዝና መንግስት ህገ መንግስቱን እንዲያከብር የሚጠይቅ ነው፡፡

በዚህ ዘመቻ የተለያየ ርዕዮተ አለም የሚከተሉ ሆኖም ህገ መንግስቱ እንዲከበር የሚጠይቁ የዴሞክራሲያዊ ኃይሎች አባላት፣ ነፃ የሲቪክ ማህበረሰብ አባላት፣ የሀገሬ ጉዳይ ይመለከተኛል ለሚሉ ዜጎች፣ የመብት አራማጆች(አክቲቪስቶች) እና ህገ መንግስቱ እንዳይሸራረፍ የሚፈልጉ የኢህአዴግ አባላት እንደሚሳተፉበት ይጠበቃል፡፡

ለበይነ መረብ ዘመቻው የተዘጋጁ የፕሮፋይል ምስሎችና የከቨር ምስሎችን በመቀየር እንዲሁም #millionsofvoices የሚለውን ሀሽ ታግ በመጠቀም የሚተላለፉ መልዕክቶቻችንን በማሰራጨት ለህገ መንግስት የበላይነት እንዲቆሙ በአክብሮት ይጠየቃሉ፡፡

አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ
ለሚሊዮኖች ድምፅ ለነፃነት
ግብረ ኃይል

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Ethiopia: Beyond the Hubris of Evil 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).

Hubris is a malignancy of the heart and depravity of the mind. The hubristically evil have two basic characteristics. First, they believe they are untouchable and accountable to no one. They have a sociopathic personality which prevents them from maintaining a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience. For them, there is no law to curtail their excesses because they believe their words and acts are ipso facto law. Feeding at the trough of moral nihilism (whatever they say is right or wrong), they are driven by a deep psychological need to degrade, humiliate, demean, brutalize and dehumanize their victims as a means to self-respect and personal empowerment. When they degrade and humiliate their defenseless and helpless victims, the derive a perverse pleasure of omnipotence, superiority and self-affirmation. For the hubristically evil, indifference is their modus vivendi (way of life) and cruelty their modus operandi (way of doing things).  

Second, the hubristically evil are incapable of admitting wrong or accepting responsibility for their wrongful actions. Rather, they take cover in a perverted morality of blaming the victim. Instead of atoning for their misdeeds and accepting responsibility, they demand that the very victims they have humiliated, brutalized and abused get on their knees apologize to them and beg forgiveness. They have the brazen audacity to insist that their victims must take full responsibility for the abuse they have received from their abusers. 

The political sadism of the regime in Ethiopia

As I seek to understand the hubris of the ruling regime in Ethiopia, I ask some simple questions. Why do those in power in Ethiopia want to torment and humiliate Reeyot (and the other political prisoners)? Isn’t a 14 year sentence enough punishment for a young woman who committed NO crime? Is the regime punishing her with solitary confinement, visitor restrictions, denial of medical care and subjecting her to daily degradation and humiliation because of her defiance and outright refusal to beg for a pardon to get out of prison? Do they take her defiance as her ultimate expression of contempt and lack of fear of them? What do they gain by locking her up in solitary confinement, an administrative action reserved only for the most violent inmates in any prison in the world? Does the regime resent Reeyot (and the other high profile political prisoners) because she is a shining star of press freedom not only for Ethiopia but also for women journalists in Africa, Latin America and Asia?

Those who insist on tormenting Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other high profile political prisoners do so to force them to make a public confession of guilt for their “crimes” and beg for a pardon. The “pardon” trick was “invented” by the late honcho of the regime. After warehousing dozens of opposition leaders who won the May 2005 parliamentary election, the late regime leader set up an “elders committee” to facilitate a pardon process for them. To get out of prison, the opposition leaders had to sign a confession (“a pardon application”) which stated: “We, leaders of CUD, have accepted our mistake committed following the election disagreement of May 2005 in which we tried to change unconstitutionally various bodies of the government. We will take the responsibility in person and in group for these mistakes.” They signed the “confession” and were pardoned and released!

In December 2008, the late regime leader railroaded opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa, the first female political party leader in Ethiopian history, to prison on the bogus charge that she had “denied receiving a pardon”. After spending months in solitary confinement and suffering humiliation and degradation for nearly two years, Bitrukan “confessed” and “submitted a second application for pardon” stating: “I express my deep regret for deceiving the Ethiopian people and government by denying my release on pardon. Pledging not to ever resort to such fraudulent and deceptive acts I beg the Ethiopian people and government to grant me pardon.” She was “pardoned” in October 2010 and released!

In October 2011, Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye were sentenced to eleven years as “terrorists”.  At the time, I predicted that soon enough the late leader  “will grandstand and declare the two journalists have been pardoned and released after they admitted guilt, expressed remorse and so on.” In September 2012, the two journalists were released after they submitted an “application for pardon”.  The regime put the two journalists on regime-owned television and forced them to confess that they “regretted entering the country with armed separatists of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and without documentation.”

There is no question that Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other political prisoners can walk out of prison at any time if they “confess” wrongdoing and "submit a pardon application."  All Reeyot has to do to walk out of prison at any time is to get down on her knees, bow down her head, confess her political transgressions and beg to be “pardoned”. But Reeyot refuses to beg a “pardon” because she has done nothing wrong for which she needs to be pardoned. Following her sentence, Reeyot’s father, responding to a reporter’s question on whether he would advise his daughter to apologize and beg for a pardon, replied:

This is perhaps one of the most difficult questions a parent can face. As any one of us who are parents would readily admit,   there is an innate biological chord that attaches us to our kids. We wish nothing but the best for them. We try as much as humanly possible to keep them from harm…. Whether or not to beg for clemency is her right and her decision. I would honor and respect whatever decision she makes… To answer your specific question regarding my position on the issue by the fact of being her father, I would rather have her not plead for clemency, for she has not committed any crime.

The same goes for Eskinder Nega and Woubshet Taye. They have done nothing wrong so they shall ask for no pardon!

On another level, I also believe that the regime leaders deeply resent Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other high profile political prisoners for the international attention and support they have been able to command. In many ways, these “bothersome” journalists have created a public relations nightmare for the regime. As I understand, many of the regime leaders believe these journalists have not only discredited them internationally but also taken the international recognition they feel they deserve.

In a comedic way, the regime leaders in Ethiopia remind me of the American comedian and actor, Rodney Dangerfield, known for the catchphrase “I don’t get no respect!” Regardless of what they do, they “don’t get no respect.” They sought world recognition for their single minded determination to build the “largest dam in Africa”, the so-called Renaissance Dam. That fantasy dam has become a potential casus belli (war justification) for Egypt. I called it dam of the damned. The regime trumpeted its 11 percent annual economic growth for the past decade, a canard mindlessly bandied about  by many of the world’s respected news organizations and even U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. I totally debunked that bold-faced lie in my commentary “Kerry-ing on With African Dictators”. For two decades, the regime proclaimed a warped doctrine of ethnic federalism as a political panacea for Ethiopia, but it was shown to be nothing more than a kinder and gentler form of Bantustans (kilils) under Apartheid South Africa. The regime and its late honcho sought domestic and international respectability for their “historic” and “monumental” achievements. Regardless of what they did or said, like Rodney Dangerfield, they just “don’t get no respect.”

A win-win proposal for the release of Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and other political prisoners

I believe there is a legal way out of the “pardon” dilemma. Let’s be perfectly honest! We all know what the problem is:  The regime needs to save face for imprisoning Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other political prisoners without just cause. Their signature way of saving face -- namely having the victims confess their guilt in public and apply for a pardon -- is not a workable political solution with these young journalists. But a legal solution is what is needed; and the dispositive question is whether the approval of Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other political prisoners  is a necessary legal precondition for granting them pardon. It is not!

The regime can legally pardon the imprisoned journalists and others suo motu (a fancy legal word which means an act of authority taken without formal prompting from another party). Article 11 of Proclamation No. 395/2004 (“A Proclamation to Provide for the Procedure of Granting Pardon”) provides, “The main purpose of granting pardon is to ensure the welfare and interest of the public.” Article 12 provides that “…  the Ministry of Justice and the Federal prison commission may apply for pardon for persons entitled to it. Where the offices (sic) decides to apply for pardon, it shall deliver a copy of the application letter to the person in whose favour it is to be made.” The “person in whose favour a petition for pardon has been submitted pursuant to Sub-Article 2 of this Article declines it, he shall notify, the same to the Board in writing within fifteen consecutive working days.” Unless the prospective recipient of a pardon expressly refuses the pardon, “the acceptance of the pardon shall be presumed.”

Simply stated, the regime can declare that it has granted pardon and released Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other political prisoners “to ensure the welfare and interest of the public” and in proper exercise of its prerogative under the Proclamation. I cannot imagine any reasonable person challenging or criticizing the regime for exercising its discretionary legal pardon authority on its own. The simple fact is that the regime does not need the request or approval of Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other political prisoners to grant them pardon. The regim can simply issue the pardon and tell them they are free to go. No “muss, no fuss”! 

My own studies of pardon powers in other societies have led me to the conclusion that pardon is a prerogative of mercy exercised by state authorities to mitigate the severity of the law. It is a discretionary power  that can be exercised at any time to temper retribution with mercy,  correct a miscarriage of justice or reconcile the ends of justice with compelling social and political needs. U.S. presidents have granted amnesties after the Civil War to the Southern rebels and to those who avoided the draft during the Vietnam War. President Bill Clinton granted pardon to Patricia Hearst who committed horrendous “terrorist acts” as a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.

I harbor no illusions that the regime will pay any attention to my “win-win” proposal for the release of Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other political prisoners. How could they possibly even consider a proposal from their severest and most relentless critic? They will no doubt dismiss anything I have to say because they probably believe I am proposing it to make them look bad or inflexible or show them to be obdurate. But this is not about my personal feelings or attitudes towards them or their governance style. It is all about their own pardon law and what they can do legally, immune from criticism or condemnation by anyone.  

All I am proposing is use of the regime's own pardon law to face a critical human rights problem in such a way that they will not lose face or face criticism; and in fact by courageously facing the issue, they can gain universal approbation and admiration. The power of “pardon” is not in the hands of Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet and the other political prisoners. It is totally in the hands of the regime; and it can be exercised at will and at any time. Why not right a wrong when one has the unquestioned legal power to right a wrong and do the right thing?   

“I believe that I must contribute something to bring a better future in Ethiopia.” Reeyot Alemu

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