Prominent Opposition Leader Habtamu Ayalew is In Critical Condition

Habtamu Ayalew was known to the public as a young, charismatic and articulate opposition leader of the former Andenet Party. He was chief of the Public Relations of Andenet when he was thrown into prison and faced terrorism charges. During his prison time from July 8, 2014 to February 16, 2016, Habtamu endured a severe form of torture whose details would be too graphic to write it down here. Nonetheless, the once robust activist was subjected to severe forms of torture he became a patient who needs the support of others whether to sit or stand. He began to suffer from hemorrhoids and kidney stones. Doctors have privately told Habtamu that his case is critical and needs treatment overseas.

Here's a short summary of what Habtam Ayalew said during an interview with Habtamu Assefa, host of Hiber Radio.

"My condition during the first four months of my imprisonment was awful. I would say the worst form of degrading punishment is to deny a fellow human being the right to use the toilet. "I was denied the twice-a-day, 10-minute break to use the toilet."
So, if any person is denied to respond to nature's call, what can one do? When other inmates were out to use the toilet, I use a plastic bag to relieve myself. Severe constipation coupled with the pain of being denied to use the toilet resulted in tearing up my blood veins.
"My legs were numb from sleeping on very cold floors for a long time. So, I couldn't sit on my feet by myself. I needed the support of other inmates. That lasted four painful months
"I preferred to eat very small amount of food only for the sake of survival. However, I was severely constipated, resulting in first-degree hemorrhoids which, in the shortest time, degenerated into third-degree hemorrhoids (where punctured veins ooze blood).
"While the hemorrhoids pain prevents me from standing or sitting, the kidney stone pain deprives me to sleep on my side."

Doctors have told Habtamu to seek treatment overseas because he was suffering from 4th degree hemorrhoids for which surgery could be painful and prolonged if done in Ethiopia.

To help cover the huge medical bills and as a show of solidarity with Habtamu, activists among the Ethiopian diaspora recently raised about $20,000 online.

Right at this moment a social media campaign has been launched demanding for Habtamu travel ban to be lifted and to enable him get a medication.

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አቶ ሀብታሙ አያሌው አስቸኳይ የዉጭ አገር ሕክምና እንዲያገኙ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ለጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ፅ/ቤት በላከው ደብዳቤ አሳሰበ

ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ለጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ፅ/ቤት በላከው ደብዳቤ የቀድሞ አንድነት ፓርቲ ሕዝብ ጉዳይ ሃላፊ አቶ ሀብታሙ አያሌው ወደ ውጭ ሀገር ሄደው ሕክምና እንዲያገኙና ከሀገር እንዳይወጡ የተጣለባቸው ማእቀብ በአስቸኳይ እንዲነሳ አሳስቧል። አያይዞም ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ በላከው ደብዳቢ እንዳሳሰበው “አቶ ሀብታሙ አያሌው በፍርድ ቤት ከሀገር እንዳይወጡ የተጣለባቸው እግድ ተነስቶ ወደ ውጭ ሀገር ሄደው ሳይታከሙ ቢቀሩ በግለሰቡ ሕይወት ላይ ለሚደርሰው አደጋ መንግስት (ሕወሃት) ሃላፊነቱን እንደሚወስድ እናሳስባለን ብሏል”።

አቶ ሀብታሙ አያሌው በድንገት እራሳቸውን ስተው ሆስፒታል የገቡ ሲሆን እስካሁን ከሁለት በላይ ሆስፒታሎች ከአቅማቸው በላይ እንደሆነ በመግለጽ ወደ ሌሎች ሆስፒታሎች ልከዋቸዋል። አቶ ሀብታሙ አሁንም እራሳቸውን እንደሳቱ ይገኛሉ።

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“አርበኞች ግንቦት 7ትን ለመቀላቀል ወደ ኤርትራ የደረግነው ጉዞ የሃገር ወዳድነት መለኪያ እንጂ ወንጀል አይደለም” ብርሃኑ ተክለያሬድና እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው

ወደ ኤርትራ ያደረግነው ጉዞ የሃገር ወዳድነት መለኪያ እንጂ ወንጀል አይደለም ሲሉ እነብርሃኑ ተክለያሬድ ለፍርድ ቤት የተከሳሽነት ቃላቸውን ሰጡ። አርበኞች ግንቦት 7ትን ለመቀላቀል ወደ ኤርትራ ሊሻገሩ ሲሉ ተይዘው በወህኔ ቤት የሚገኙት የቀድሞ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አመራርና አባላት የነበሩ ወጣት ብርሃኑ ተክለያሬድና ወጣት እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው ለፌዴራሉ ከፍተኛ ፍ/ቤት 14ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ይህንን ያቀረቡት በጽሁፍ ሲሆን፣ እንዳያነቡ መከልከላቸውም ተመልክቷል።

የሰላማዊ ትግል ጥረታቸው ባለመሳካቱ የመብትና የነጻነት ጥያቄ አንግበው ግንቦት 7ትን ለመቀላቀል ሲሉ መያዛቸውን የዘረዘሩት ብርሃኑ ተክለያሬድና እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው ወደዚህ ሁኔታ የገፋቸው የሃገሪቱን ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ ባቀረቡት ጽሁፍ ገምግመዋል። ከምርጫ 97 በፊት እንዲሁም በምርጫ 97 እና በኋላ ሰላማዊ ትግል በኢትዮጵያ ያለበትን ሁኔታ ገምግመው በውጤቱ 14 ጊዜያት ለእስር መዳረጋቸውን አስታውሰዋል።

በሃገሪቱ አሉ የተባሉ አፈናዎችን ዘርዝረው በዜጎች ላይ የሚደርሱ ሰቆቃዎችን አስታውሰው “ሰላማዊ ትግል ማድረግ ይቻላል ብለው የሚያምኑ የዋህ ወገኖቻችን ዕውነቱን ይገነዘቡት ዘንድ እንዲሁም ለከሳሾቻቸን ንጹህነታችንን እናስታውሳቸው ዘንድ ካደረሱብን ነገሮችን ጥቂቶችን ብቻ ለማንሳት እንሞክራለን” በማለት ለፍርድ ቤቱ በጽሁፍ ባቀረቡትና እንዳያነቡ በተከለከሉት የተከሳሽነት ቃላቸው ላይ ከራዕይ ወጣቶች ምስረታ ጀምሮ ያለፉበት ሂደትና እስከ 14 ጊዜያት የታሰሩበትን ዘርዝረዋል።

በሰላማዊ ትግል ያደርጉትን ጥረትና ያለፉበትን መሰናክል በተከሳሽነት ቃላቸው ላይ ያመለከቱት ብርሃኑ ተክለያሬድና እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው የመብትና የነጻነት ጥያቄዎች በጉልበት እየጨፈለቁ ያለው ስልጣን ላይ ያለው ቡድን ሌሎችን አሸባሪ ብሎ መፈረጅ አይልችልም፣ ይልቁንም በጸረሽብር ህጉ ለመጠየቅ የሚገባው እሱ ነው ሲሉ በጽሁፋቸው ተሟግተዋል።

ድምጻቸውን በጠመንጃ ተነጥቀው ሃገራቸውን ለማዳን ተገደው ነፍጥ ያነሱት የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ንቅናቄ አባላት አሸባሪዎች አይደሉም ይልቁንም ሽብርተኛ ተብሎ ሊጠቀስ የሚገባው ህወሃት ነው ያሉት ብርሃኑ ተክለ ያሬድ እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው “በዚህ ህዝባዊ ድርጅት አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ሆነን ሽብርተኝነትን ለመከላከል የወሰንን ሽብርንና ሽብርተኝነትን የምንጸየፍ ንጹሃን ወጣቶችን ነን፣ በሽብር ቡድን አባል ለመሆንም ሆነ ሽብር ለመፈጸም አላሰብንም አልወሰንም አልተንቀሳቀስንም” ሲሉ ተከራክረዋል።

በሰላማዊ ትግል በኢትዮጵያ ለውጥ ማምጣት የማይቻልበት ደረጃ ላይ ተደርሷል በሚል አርበኞች ግንቦት 7ትን ለመቀላቀል ወደ ኤርትራ ሲያቀኑ ተይዘው በወህኔ ቤት የሚገኙት ብርሃኑ ተክለያሬድ እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው ለፍርድ ቤቱ ባቀረቡት የተከሳሽነት ቃላቸው መጨረሻ ላይ “ለዚህ ችሎትና ለከሳሾቻችንን በአጽንዖት ልናስገነዝብ የምንፈልገው ነገር የፈጸምነው ድርጊት ከአንድ ኢትዮጵያዊ የሚጠበቅ የሃገር ወዳጅነት መለኪያ እንጂ ወንጀል ሆኖ የሚያስከስሰን ባለመሆኑ በእስር ቤት ውስጥ ሆነን እንኳን ከምንጊዜውም በላይ ፍጹም ነጻነት ይሰማናል” ካሉ በኋላ አሳሪዎቻችንም ይኸው ነጻነት ይሰማቸው ዘንድ የቂም ፖለቲካን በመተው የታሰሩትን ፈትተው ለኢትዮጵያውያን ሁሉ የሰላም ጥሪ በማድረግ ስልጣን ለህዝብ እንዲያስረክቡ ጠይቀዋል። ይህን ካልፈጸሙ መጪውን ጊዜና ታሪክ ምላሽ ይሰጠዋል ሲሉ የተከሳሽነት ቃላቸውን አጠናቀዋል።

 ኢሳት

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Bekele Gerba, et al, still locked up in a dark room, denied medications

A prominent leader of an Oromo opposition party, Bekele Gerba and his codefendants were still held in dark rooms and they were allowed visitations by family for only less than 15 minutes a week.

The defendants appeared before a court in Addis Ababa yesterday with the court further adjourning their case to decide on whether they would be charged under the country’s infamous anti-terrorism law that the regime uses to stifle dissent.

One of the defendants, Dereje Fita said they were locked in a dark room since June 3, 2016 with the toilet that doubles as a shower in the same room with no doors.

Defense lawyer Amha Mekonnen also told the court that his client Bekele Gerba was denied his medications and prison officials have repeatedly confiscated his notebooks.

The political prisoners were put in jail following the start of protests in the country’s Oromo region six months ago against the tyrannical regime. The protest began as an objection to plans by the government to expand the city limits of the capital Addis Ababa into the surrounding communities who are predominantly Oromo farmers.

                                                                    Bekele Gerba

                                                                   

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እነ አቶ በቀለ ገርባ ጨለማ ቤት ታስረው ተፅዕኖ እየተደረገባቸው መሆኑ ተገለጸ

በፌዴራሉ ከፍተኛ ፍ/ቤት 19ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ትናንት ሰኞ ዕለት የቀረቡት እነ አቶ በቀለ ገርባ አሁንም በጨለማ ቤት እንደሚገኙና ተፅዕኖች እንደቀጠሉባቸው ተገለጸ። ፍርድ ቤቱም ክሱ በሽብር ያስከስሳል አያስከስስም በሚል ውሳኔ ለመስጠት ከሃምሌ 25 ቀጠሮ በመስጠት መነሳቱም ታውቋል።

በኦሮሚያ ክልል የተቀሰቀሰን ከመንፈቅ በላይ የቀጠለውን ተቃውሞ ተከትሎ በቁጥጥር ስር የዋሉት የኦፌኮ ምክትል ፕሬዚደንት አቶ በቀለ ገርባና ሌሎች አመራሮች ከግንቦት 26 ፥ 2008 ጀምሮ በጨለማ ቤት ውስጥ መቀጠላቸውን ለችሎቱ የገለጹት አቶ ደረጀ ፊጣ ገለታ ሲሆኑ፣ እርሳቸውን ጨምሮ አራቱ ተከሳሾች ያሉበት ጨለማ ቤት መታጠቢያ/መጸዳጃ ቤቱ ውስጥ እንደሚገኝና ክፍት መሆኑን ገልጸዋል።

ከቤተሰቦቻቸው ጋር እንዲገናኙ የሚፈቀደው ከአምስት እስከ 15 ደቂቃ ባለው ጊዜ ውስጥ ብቻ መሆኑን በማብራራት በጨለማ ቤት በሚገኙት አራት እስረኞች የሚደረገውን ጫና ዘርዝረዋል።

የተከሳሾች ጠበቃ የሆኑት አቶ አምሃ መኮንን በበኩላቸው የእስር ቤቱ አስተዳደር አደረሰ ያሉትን ጫና ዘርዝረዋል።
በተለይ ደንበኛው አቶ በቀለ ገርባ ተገቢውን መድሃኒት እንዳያገኙ መደረጉን፣ ተከሳሾችን አነጋግረው ሲወጡ ማስታወሻቸው በእስር ቤቱ ሃላፊዎች እንደሚወሰድባቸው ለችሎቱ አስረድተዋል። ፍ/ቤቱም የእስር ቤቱ ሃላፊዎች በጉዳዩ ላይ ምላሽ እንዲሰጡ ለሰኔ 27 ፥ 2008 ቀጠሮ ሰጥቷል።

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Demonstration in Rotterdam against genocide in ‪‎Ethiopia‬

Hundreds of Ethiopian protesters blocked a meeting hall Saturday (june 25,2016) in Rotterdam. The atmosphere during the protest was tense. The activists pelted a bus with departing embassy employees with eggs. The departure of the Ethiopian (TPLF) officials accompanied by much protest and shouting.

Dutch media covers the rally that forced the cancellation of TPLF's meeting in Rotterdam

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አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ የታገተበትን ሁለተኛ አመት ስናስታውስ ለነጻነት ትግሉ ያለንን ቁርጠኝነት በማደስ ነው!!

የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 መግለጫ

የወያኔ አገዛዝ በአቡደራቡህ መንሱር ሃዲ ይመራ ከነበረው የየመን መንግሥት ጸጥታ ሃይል ጋር በመመሳጠር አንጋፋውን መሪያችንንና የትግል ጓዳችንን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን ከሰነዓ አውሮፕላን ማረፊያ አግቶ በቁጥጥሩ ስር ካስገባ እነሆ ዛሬ ሁለት አመት ሞላው።

የአለም አቀፉን ህግ በመተላለፍ ህወሃት ድንበር ተሻግሮና ባህር አቁርጦ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን ከየመን ሲያግት ቢያንስ ሁለት ውጤቶችን ለማግኘት አሰፍስፎ እንደነበር መገመት አያስቸግርም። አንደኛው ሥልጣን ላይ ተደላድሎ ለብዙ አመታት የመቆየት ምኞቱን አደጋ ላይ የጣለበትን የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 እንቅስቃሴ አከርካሪ በመምታት ትግሉን አሽመደምደዋለሁ የሚል የተሳሳተ ስሌት ሲሆን ሁለተኛው ደግሞ ህወሃትን የሚግደራደር ሃይል የትም ቢሆን ሊያመልጥ እንደማይችል በማሳየት የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ አንገት ለማስደፋትና በፍርሃት አንቀጥቅጦ ለመግዛት የታለመ የእብሪት ውሳኔ ነው።

በዚህም ስሌት ህወሃት አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን በእጁ ለማስገባት በአፈናው ተግባር ተባባሪ ለሆነው ለመንሱር ሃዲ መንግሥት ዘጠኝ ሚሊዮን የአሜሪካን ዶላር እንደከፈለ በራሱ አንደበት ሳይደብቅ ለደህንነት አባላቶቹ ሲናገር ተደምጧል። ዘጠኝ ሚሊዮን ዶላር ከድህነት ወለል በታች ላለቺው አገራችንና የዕለት ህይወቱን ከአለም አቀፍ ህብረተሰብ በሚለገስ የምግብ ዕርዳታ ለሚገፋው ህዝባችን ምን ማለት እንደሆነ ግልጽ ነው። በግዜያዊ ጥቅም አይናቸው የታወረዉ የየመን መንግሥት ባለስልጣኖችም ቢሆኑ ለፍትህ፥ ለእኩልነትና ለነጻነት የሚታገልን አንድ ኢትዮጵያዊ በአገሩ አየር መንገድ ሲጓዝ አግተዉ ለወያኔ ሲያስረክቡ ለረጅም አመታት በዘለቀዉና ለወደፊትም ጸንቶ በሚቆየዉ የሁለቱ አገሮች ወዳጅነት ላይ ጥሎት የሚያልፈዉ መጥፎ ጠባሳ የታያቸዉ አይመስልም። የሰነዓውን ኦፕሬሽን በህወሃት በኩል የመራውና አንዳርጋቸዉ ጽጌ እጆች ላይ ካቴና አጥልቆ ለወያኔ ያስረከበው አብረሃም መንጁስም ቢሆን በስልጣን ሽኩቻ ከነበረበት ሃላፊነት ተፈንግሎ ዛሬ የት እንዳለ ከሱ ከራሱ ዉጭ ሌላ ሰዉ የሚያዉቅ አይመስለንም።

የህወሃት አፈናና ጭቆና የመረረው ህዝባችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን ለማገት የተሄደበት ርቀትና የተከፈለው ዋጋ በነጻነቱ ላይ የተቃጣ ድፍረት መሆኑን ያሳየው “እኔም አንዳርጋቸው ነኝ” በሚል ቁጣ ሆ ብሎ በመነሳት ነው። አገር ውስጥና ከአገር ውጪ የተቀጣጠለው ይህ ህዝባዊ ቁጣ በአንድ አንዳርጋቸው መታገት እልፍ አእላፍ አንዳርጋቸውን ከማፍራቱም በላይ የህወሃት መሪዎችንና ጋሻ ጃግሬዎቻቸው እንደለመዱት ደረታቸውን ነፍተው በሠላም እንዳይወጡና እንዳይገቡ ወደ ሚያሸማቅቃቸው የተግባር እርምጃ ተሸጋግሯል።

አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ከአንዳርጋቸው መታገት በኋላ የተቀጣጠለው ህዝባዊ ቁጣ የአንዳርጋቸዉ የረጅም ጊዜ ምኞትና ትግል ላይ በነበረባቸዉ አመታት በከፍተኛ ደረጃ የደከመበት የልፋቱ ዉጤት ነው ብሎ ያምናል። አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ይህንን ህዝባዊ ቁጣና ህዝባዊ መነቃቃት አስተባብሮና የሚያስፈልገውን አመራር ሰጥቶ ትግሉን ከዳር ለማድረስ በሙሉ ሃይሉና ጉልበቱ እየተንቀሳቀሰ መሆኑን በዚህ አጋጣሚ ለወዳጅም ለጠላትም ይገልጻል።

የምንወደውና የምናፈቅረው የትግል ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ የታገተበትን ሁለተኛ አመት ስናስታውስ ይህ ጀግና ሰዉ የጀመረውን ትግል ከዳር ለማድረስ ያለንን ቁርጠኝነት በማረጋገጥ ነው። ለፍትህ ለእኩልነትና ለነጻነት ሲታገሉ የወያኔ ሠለባ የሆኑ ወገኖቻችንን በፍጹም እንደማንረሳቸዉና በየዕስር ቤቱ በዘረኞች እብሪት እየተሰቃዩ ያሉ ወገኖቻችን ሁሉ ነጻ እስኪወጡ ድረስ እነሱ አንግበው የተነሱትን ዓላማ ከግብ ለማድረስ ቆራጥነት ትግሉን እንደምንቀጥል ቃል እንገባለን።

የትግል ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸዉ ሆይ ! ያንተና እንዳንተ በወያኔ ሰቆቃ የሚፈጸምባቸው ጓዶቻችን ሁሉ የመከራ ዘመን የሚያበቃው የወያኔ የሥልጣን ዕድሜ ለማሳጠር የጀመርከውን ትግል ከዳር ስናደርስ መሆኑን አንተም ታውቀዋለህና እንደምንታደግህ አትጠራጠር።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ !

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Ethiopia: Free blogger Zelalem Workagegnehu

Zelalem Workagegnehu (also known as Zola) is an Ethiopian blogger who contributed to the independent diaspora-based blog, De Birhan, which covers news related to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, as well as other news sites. Before his arrest he was preparing to launch a blog with his friends and was also studying for his Master’s degree.

He was arrested on 8 July 2014, during what the Committee to Protect Journalists described as a ‘mass crackdown on opposition leaders and social media activists ahead of the 2015 elections.’ He was held without charge until October 2014 when he was finally charged under the ATP (Anti terrorism proclamation) with terrorism-related offences. His alleged activities included facilitating and organising a digital security training in order to terrorize the country, being a member of the diaspora-based opposition group Ginbot 7 (which the government has designated a terrorist group) and using social media to recruit members for Ginbot 7, allegedly to bring about an Arab Spring-style revolution and violently dismantle the Ethiopian constitution. He was charged alongside a group of nine other defendants that included a number of active politicians and social media activists.

According to news reports, the digital security training that Workagegnehu organized did not end up taking place. Reports also indicated that no evidence was provided regarding his alleged links to Ginbot 7. Zelalem himself denied being affiliated with any political party and stated that he believes in non-violent change. According to a news report, one of the defendants that had originally been charged alongside Workagegnehu testified at a hearing that he had advised Workagegnehu to ‘confess’ in order to avoid being beaten, as he himself was. Zelalem also suggested that the witness used by the prosecution was released after agreeing with the police to testify against him. According to reports, Workagegnehu’s lawyer was disqualified in June 2015 for one year and six months for ‘ethical issues’ leading Workagegnehu to represent himself during the rest of his trial.

During his trial Workagegnehu claimed that he was kept in custody in an extremely cold room called “Siberia” in the notorious Maekelawi Detention Centre, where detainees are known to be tortured and otherwise ill-treated, and stated that his ‘confessions’ were taken under duress and torture. News reports suggest that Workagegnehu suffers from severe eye pain due to the beatings he underwent. His friend and one of his co-defendants, Bahiru Degu, also claimed that he was beaten and forced to strip naked.

The charges against Zelalem Workagegnehu were eventually changed from article 4 to article 7 of the ATP and some of the accusations dropped, and he was found "guilty" on 15 April 2016 of violating article 7(1), in relation to allegedly recruiting members for Ginbot 7. He was sentenced to five years and two months in prison on 10 May 2016 by the Lideta Federal High Court. Yoantan Wolde and Bahiru Degu, two of his friends and aspiring bloggers who were charged under his case file with applying to participate in Workagegnehu’s training, were acquitted on 15 April 2016 after spending more than 600 days in prison on terrorism-related charges. Two others were sentenced alongside Workagegnehu, and the other five were acquitted in August 2015.

Workagegnehu was originally held in Kilinto prison but has reportedly been transferred to Zeway Prison, 140 km South of Addis Ababa. His appeal hearing is scheduled for 6 July 2016 and will be heard via TeleCourt, a videoconferencing and satellite internet remote trial system.

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Britain Government Failed to Help the Londoner “Andy” Tsege Jailed in Ethiopia

ETHIOPIAN authorities have fooled Britain’s Foreign Office again and again in the case of opposition leader Andy Tsege, human rights charity Reprieve warned yesterday.

Newly released documents show that Ethiopian officials have done everything possible to frustrate attempts by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond to rescue Londoner Andargachew “Andy” Tsege.
The father of three was taken forcibly to Ethiopia in the summer of 2014 and has been held on death row ever since.

Foreign Office documents from 2015 show Mr Hammond complaining about Ethiopia’s “repeated failure to deliver on our basic requests,” adding: “People were asking why we had a substantial bilateral relationship but were not able to resolve this.”

Other files show how the Ethiopian authorities refused to say where Mr Tsege was locked up, cancelled planned consular visits and ignored simple questions on the legal basis for his detention.
Reprieve, which has been campaigning for Mr Tsege’s release, said it feared for his mental and physical well-being as torture of political prisoners is not uncommon in Ethiopia.

The group’s death penalty team director Maya Foa said: “Throughout Andy’s two-year ordeal, Ethiopian officials have repeatedly run rings around the Foreign Office — making and breaking the most basic of assurances, and insisting, again and again, that Andy has no legal rights in Ethiopia.
“By relying on the latest empty promise of ‘legal access,’ Philip Hammond is only compounding the abuses Andy has suffered in illegal Ethiopian detention.

“Enough is enough — the Foreign Secretary must call for Andy’s release, so he can return to his family in the UK.”

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የተባበበሩት መንግስታት የሰብዓዊ መብት ምክር ቤት የኢትዮጵያን ጭፍጨፋ ጨምሮ በአራት አገራት ላይ የተወሰዱ የጅምላ ግድያዎችን እንዲያጣራ ሂውማን ራይትስ ወች ጥሪ አቀረበ

እስካሁን ድረስ በገለልተኛ የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅቶች ማጣራት መሰረት ቁጥራቸው ከ400 በላይ የሚሆኑ ንጹሃን ዜጎች መገደላቸውንና ከ10 ሽህ በላይ የሚሆኑ ሰላማዊ ዜጎች በእስርቤት ሰቆቃ ዘግናኝ ግፍ እየተፈጸመባቸው እንደሚገኙ ሂውማን ራይትስ ወች ለተ መ ድ የሰብዓዊ መብት ምክር ቤት በሪፓርቱ ገልጿል። የጸጥታው ምክር ቤት በጉዳዩ ላይ ትኩረት በመስጠት ካለምንም ቅድመ ሁኔታዎች በፋጣኝ ሁኔታ በገለልተኛ አካል ማጣራት እንዲያደርግ ሲል ጥሪውን አቅርቧል። ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በተለይ በኦሮሚያ ክልል እስካሁን ድረስ በቀጠለው ግድያ፣ የጅምላ እስራት፣ አካላዊ ጥቃት፣ ከትውልድ ቦታ ማፈናቀልን የመሳሰሉ ዘግናኝ የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰቶች ተፈጽመዋል።

ሂውማን ራይትስ ወች በኢትዮጵያ የመንግስት ታጣቂዎች በወሰዱት የኃይል እርምጃ ሰለባ በሆኑ ሰላማዊ ዜጎች ግድያ ላይ የተሳተፉት ተለይተው በሕግ እንዲጠየቁ ሊደረግ እንደሚገባና ገለልተኛ የምርመራ አጣሪ ቡድን ይቋቋም ዘንድ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ባለስልጣናት እንዲተባበሩ ድርጅቱ ግፊቱን እንዲያደርግ አሳስብዋል።

ከኢትዮጵያ በተጨማሪ በባንግላዲሽ፣ ታይላንድና በየመን በሳኡዲ መራሹ ጦር የተፈፀመው እልቂት በገለልተኛ አጣሪ ኮሚሽን እንዲመረመር ሲል ሂውማን ራይትስ ወች ለምክር ቤቱ ጠይቋል።

ለዝርዝሩ የሚቀጥለዉን ሊንክ ይጫኑ

Human Rights situations that require the Council's attention

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Ethiopian Advocacy Network’s Letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Dear High Commissioner:

We, members of the Ethiopian Advocacy Network (EAN), are writing to implore the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to open an investigation into the massive human rights violations against peaceful protesters committed by the current Ethiopian regime. Specifically, we strongly advocate the appointment of a Special Rapporteur to investigate the ongoing egregious human rights violations in Ethiopia, similar to the inquiry conducted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary or Summary Executions in Kenya following the post-election violence in December 2007 and January 2008.

While the abuses and flagrant human rights violations committed by the Ethiopian government have been well documented by independent and respected human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Committee to Protect Journalists, there has been no concerted international action to hold the regime accountable for the systematic and widespread extrajudicial killings and politically motivated arrests and imprisonments undertaken on a regular basis by the Ethiopian security forces. Some of these actions are widely considered crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

The following evidences reiterate some of the few government sanctioned killings:

• 100 Sidamos were massacred in 2001
• 200 Mazengers were killed in Gambella in July 2002
• 424 Anukas in Gambella were massacred in December 2003
• 193 Ethiopians ranging in age from 14-75 were brutally killed during civil
  demonstrations and 30,000 civilians were arrested between June & November
  2005, according to the final report of the independent Inquiry Commission set by
  the Ethiopian Parliament
• Thousands of ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia have been killed by
  Ethiopian security forces and the Liyu Police, a rogue group, similar to the
  Sudanese Janjaweed militia

On June 15, 2016 Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a 6o page report on the recent protests in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The report meticulously describes how state security forces have used excessive and lethal force to respond to the roughly 500 protests, killing an estimated 400 people and injuring thousands, many of them young students. Security forces have also arrested tens of thousands of people, some for short periods.

The Ethiopian regime continues to act with impunity because it rightly believes that it faces no accountability from both its repressed citizens and the international community. It is our opinion that the intervention of a highly regarded and influential office such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is critical towards ensuring that the causes of justice and respect for international human rights laws are not disregarded when it comes to Ethiopia.

We understand that the Special Rapporteur on The Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Maina Kiai has sent request letters to Ethiopia in 2011 and 2013. We are also cognizant of the fact that the government refuses to extend an official invitation for obvious reasons.

In light of the facts detailed in the report from HRW, we are requesting an immediate investigation into the gross and persistent violence against citizens committed by the Ethiopian government. We urge you to take up this matter with the utmost seriousness and urgency that it deserves and act on our request to appoint a Special Rapporteur to investigate the deliberate and reckless use of citizen abuse as an institutionalized method of governance.

At the Opening of the 4th Human Rights Council Session on March 12, 2007 Ban Kimoon, UN Secretary-General noted, “All victims of human rights abuses should be able to look to the Human Rights Council as a forum and a springboard for action.”
It is time for the global community to respond with a formal investigation on behalf of these victims and their families.

We thank you for your immediate attention to this urgent matter.

Click here for original statement (PDF file)

Ethiopian Advocacy Network is a grassroots organization that was formed in January 2015 by Ethiopian-Americans, Ethiopian activists and community organizers to promote democracy, human rights, and justice in Ethiopia through advocacy, civic education and grass roots mobilization. EAN has a global presence with members in the USA, Africa, Canada and Europe.

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Protests in East Hararghe following the killing of a young woman

Anti TPLF protests have gotten momentum in East Hararghe following the brutal killing of a young female student, Sabrina Abdella.

Sabrina had just left a mosque where she was praying in this holly month of Ramadan when a thuggish officer of the regime shot and killed her. Police said the officer fired the shot to break a fight but residents of Chelenko did not buy the story. They took to the streets in protest and blocked the highway connecting Harar to the capital Addis.

The tenth grade student was helping herself and her family as a street vendor, selling tea and snacks.
Sabrina’s funeral on Tuesday drew more spontaneous protests as police shot indiscriminately wounding several people.

Anti-regime protests were still continuing in the vast Oromo region of Ethiopia where regime forces killed at least 400 people in the last six months, according to conservative estimates by rights groups.

                                                        Sabrina Abdella

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ዮናታን ተስፋዬ ያቀረበው መቃወሚያ ውድቅ ተደርጎ የእምነት ክህደት ቃል ሰጥቷል

‹‹ሀሳብን በነጻነት የመግለጽ መብቴን ተጠቅሜ ጽፌያለሁ›› ዮናታን

 

በኦሮምያ ክልል የተቀሰቀሰውን ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞ ለማስቀጠል ተንቀሳቅሰሃል በሚል በፌደራል አቃቤ ህግ የሽብር ክስ የቀረበበት የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የቀድሞው ህዝብ ግንኙነት ኃላፊና የሰብዓዊ መብት አራማጅ አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ ግንቦት 15/2008 ዓ.ም ያቀረበው የክስ መቃወሚያ ሙሉ ለሙሉ ውድቅ ተደርጓል፡፡

ዛሬ ሰኔ 14/2008 ዓ.ም ተከሳሹ ያቀረበውን የክስ መቃወሚያና አቃቤ ህግ ግንቦት 25/2008 ዓ.ም የሰጠውን መልስ መርምሮ ብይኑን ያሰማው ፌደራል ከፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ 19ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት በተከሳሽ የቀረበውን መቃወሚያ ውድቅ በማድረግ የተከሳሹን የእምነት ክህደት ቃል ተቀብሏል፡፡

አቶ ዮናታን የቀረበበት የሽብር ክስ ተሰርዞ በነጻ እንዲሰናበት በክስ መቃወሚያው መጠየቁ ይታወሳል፡፡ አቃቤ ህግ በበኩሉ በተከሳሹ ለቀረበው መቃወሚያ መልስ ሰጥቷል፡፡ ግራ ቀኙን ፍርድ ቤቱ እንደመረመረው የገለጹት የችሎቱ ሰብሳቢ ዳኛ ታረቀኝ አማረ የተሰጠውን ብይን በንባብ አሰምተዋል፡፡

ተከሳሹ ‹‹….አመጽና ብጥብጥ ለማስቀጠልና ለማነሳሳት በፌስቡክ ድረ ገጽ ቀስቃሽ ጽሁፎችን መጻፍ ድርጊት›› በተከሳሹ ላይ ከተጠቀሰው የጸረ ሽብርተኝነት አዋጅ አንቀጽ 4 ጋር የተቀራረበ አለመሆኑን የወ/መ/ሕግ/ሥ/ሥ/ቁ.112 ጠቅሶ፣ ከድንጋጌው ውጭ የቀረበና ‹‹የሽብርተኝነት ተግባር›› ስላለመሆኑ ያቀረበውን መቃወሚያ ፍርድ ቤቱ ‹‹የተመለከተውን ድንጋጌ አያሟላም ያሟላል የሚለው በማስረጃ ምዘና የሚታይ ይሆናል›› በማለት ውድቅ አድርጎታል፡፡

ተከሳሹ የቀረበበት አመጽና ብጥብጥ ‹‹….የመልካም አስተዳደር እጦት ችግር….›› እንጂ የኦ.ነ.ግ ተግባር ያለመሆኑ የህግ ግምት ሊወሰድበት የሚገባ መሆኑን ጠቅሶ ያቀረበው መቃወሚያ ‹‹ክሱ ተቃውሞውን ስለማስቀጠል በተመለከተ የቀረበ በመሆኑ መቃወሚያውን አልተቀበልነውም›› በሚል ፍ/ቤቱ ውድቅ አድርጎታል፡፡

አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ ጽፎታል ተብሎ በማስረጃነት የቀረበው ጽሁፍና ፈጽሞታል ተብሎ የቀረበበት ድርጊት የወንጀል ኃላፊነትን የማያስከትልና ህገ-መንግስታዊ ጥበቃ የተደረገለት ሀሳብን በነጻነት የመግለጽ መብት መሆኑን በማስመልከት ክሱ እንዲሰረዝና በነጻ እንዲሰናበት ያቀረበውን ተቃውሞ ደግሞ ‹‹ህገ መንግስቱ አንቀጽ 29(6) ገደቦችንም ያስቀመጠ በመሆኑና አቃቤ ህግ በክሱ ላይ ንብረት ማውደምን ጠቅሶ ያቀረበው ክስ የተሟላ ስለሆነ በማስረጃ የሚታይ ይሆናል›› በማለት ተቃውሞውን ፍርድ ቤቱ አልተቀበለውም፡፡

ተከሳሹ የቀረበበት ክስ ግልጽ ያለመሆኑንና የቀረበበት የማስረጃ ዝርዝር ግልጽ አለመደረጉን በተመለከተ ላቀረበው መቃወሚያ በጸረ-ሽብር አዋጁ ላይ የተመለከተውን የምስክሮች ደህንነት ጥበቃ በመጥቀስ ማስረጃ ዝርዝሩ (ምስክሮቹ) እንዲገለጹ የቀረበውን መቃወሚያ ፍርድ ቤቱ ውድቅ አድርጎታል፡፡

በአጠቃላይ ፍርድ ቤቱ የተከሳሹን መቃወሚያ ሙሉ ለሙሉ ውድቅ አድርጓል፡፡ በዚህም ተከሳሹ የእምነት ክህደት ቃሉን ለመስጠት ዝግጁ ስለመሆኑ ጠይቆ ተከሳሹ ቃሉን ለመስጠት ዝግጁ መሆኑን ገልጾ ቃሉን ሰጥቷል፡፡ አቶ ዮናታን የቀረበበት ክስ ላይ የተመለከተውን የወንጀል ድርጊት ስለመፈጸም አለመፈጸሙና ጥፋተኛ ስለመሆን አለመሆኑ ተጠይቆ ‹‹ክሱ በቀረበበት መንገድ የተገለጸውን የሽብር ተግባር አልፈጸምኩም፡፡ ሀሳቤን በነጻነት የመግለጽ መብቴን ተጠቅሜ ግን ጽፌያለሁ፡፡ በመሆኑም የሽብር ተግባር አልፈጸምኩም፤ ጥፋተኛ አይደለሁም›› ብሏል፡፡

ተከሳሹ በክሱ ላይ የተመለከተውን ድርጊት አልፈጸምኩም በማለቱ አቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮቹ ቀርበው እንዲሰሙ እንዲታዘዝለት የጠየቀ ሲሆን፣ ተከሳሹ በበኩሉ ፌስቡክ ላይ ጽፏቸው ከኮምፒውተር ሲገለበጡ አይቻለሁ የሚሉ የደረጃ ምስክሮች ከሆኑ ባልተካደ ጉዳይ ላይ ፍትህን ማጓተት እንዳይሆን ግንዛቤ ይያዝልኝ ሲል ጠይቋል፡፡ አቃቤ ህግ በበኩሉ ምስክር የማሰማት መብቱ የእኔ ነው በማለት ምስክሮቹ እንዲሰሙለት አመልክቷል፡፡ ፍርድ ቤቱም የአቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮች ቀርበው እንዲሰሙ ለሀምሌ 20/2008 ዓ.ም ቀጠሮ ሰጥቷል፡፡

በሌላ በኩል አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ ለሁለት ሳምንታት በጨለማ ቤት ታስሮ እንደሚገኝና ዛሬም ከጨለማ ክፍል እንደሚገኝ ጠቅሶ አያያዙ እንዲሻሻልለት ማመልከቻ አስገብቷል፡፡ ተከሳሹ በማመልከቻው ላይ አጭር ቀጠሮ ተሰጥቶ መፍትሄ እንዲበጅለት ቢጠይቅም ፍርድ ቤቱ ግን በተሰጠው ቀጠሮ (ሐምሌ 20/2008) ማረሚያ ቤቱ ምላሽ እንዲሰጥበት እናዝዛለን በማለት አልፎታል፡፡

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እነ አቶ አባይ ወልዱ ከአውስትራሊያዋ ታስማኒያ ግዛት ለቀው እንዲወጡ ተደረገ

ሰኔ ፲(አሥር) ቀን ፳፻፰ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :- ለገንዘብ ማሰባሰብና ለቅስቀሳ ስራ በአውስትራሊያ የተገኙት የትግራይ ክልል ፕሬዚዳንት አባይ ወልዱና የኦሮምያ ክልል ፕሬዚዳንት ሙክታር ከድር እና ሶማሊ ክልል ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ አብዲ መሃመድ በአካባቢው ከሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያን ያጋጣመቻውን ተቃውሞ ተከትሎ የአገሪቱ ፖሊስ ዋና ከተማዋን ሆባርትን ለቀው እንዲወጡ በማዘዝ፣  በመጡበት አውሮፕላን ተመልሰዋል።

ሶስቱ ባለስልጣኖች ቀደም ብሎ በካምቤራና በሜልበርን የደረሰባቸውን ተቃውሞ ተከትሎ ደጋፊዎቻቸውን ኢትዮጵያውያን በብዛት አይገኙበትም ተብሎ በሚታሰበው የታስማኒያ ግዛት ለመሰብሰብ አስቀድመው ቢገኝም፣ በአካባቢው የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን በአጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ ተሰባስበው ተቃውሞ በማሰማታቸው ፖሊስ ለጸጥታ አስቸገሪ ነው ከተማዋውን ለቀው እንዲወጡ አድርጓል።

በታስማኒያ የኢትዮጵያውያን ማህበረሰብ ሰብሳቢ አቶ ደሴ አሰፋ ሰዎቹ እንዲወጡ ለፖሊስ ማመልከታቸውንና ፖሊስም ሁኔታውን በመረዳት እንዲወጡ አድርጓል ብለዋል። የኦሮሞ ኮሚኒቲ ሰብሳቢ አቶ ዘይድ ሙሃመድም በበኩላቸው በአውስትራሊያ በሶስት ግዛቶች ለማድረግ ያቀዱት ስብሰባ ከተጨናገፈ በሁዋላ ወደ አካባቢያቸው እንደሚመጡ መረጃ ሲደርሳቸው ሌሊቱን በሙሉ በአየር ማረፊያ ሲጠብቁዋቸው ማደራቸውን ገልጸዋል። በመጨረሻም ያረፉበትን ሁቴል እንዳገኙ የኦሮሞ ኮሚኒቴ አመራሮችና የኢትዮጵያ ኮሚኒቲ አባላት በጋራ በመጠራራት ተቃውሞአቸውን አሰምተዋል። ኢትዮጵያውያን ስራቸውን እየተው በመምጣት ተቃውሞአቸውን ሲያሰሙ ፖሊስ የህዝቡን ጥያቄ በመስማት ከከተማዋ እንዲወጡ አድርጓል።  በከፍተኛ ድንጋጤና ፍርሃት በፖሊስ ታጅበው ወደ አየር ማርፊያ ከሄዱም በሁዋላ ተከታትለው ተቃውሞአቸውን መግለጻቸውን ተናግረዋል።

በሌላ በኩል በቤልጂየም የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ትናንት በአውሮፓ ህብረት ፊት ለፊት ተቃውሞ አሰምተዋል።  አቶ ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ከአውሮፓ ህብረት ጋር የልማት ትብብር ለመፈራረም በቤልጂየም መገኘታቸውን የተቃወሙት ኢትዮጵያውያኑ ፣ ወያኔ ከኦሮምያ፣ አማራ፣ አፋር፣ ኦጋዴን፣ ጋምቤላ ለቀህ ውጣ፣ ሰላማዊ ዜጎችን መግደል አቁም ፣ የአውሮፓ ህብረት የወያኔን ገዳዮችና ወንጀለኞችን መደገፍ አቁም የሚሉና ሌሎችንም መፈክሮች አሰምተዋል።

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በመፈንቅለ መንግስት በተከሰሱት በጄነራል ተፈራ ማሞና በጀነራል አሳምነው ጽጌ ላይ ከፍተኛ ድብደባ ተፈጽሞባቸው ሆስፒታል ገቡ

ከግንቦት 7 ጋር በማበር መፈንቅለ መንግስት ልታደርጉ ነው በሚል ምክንያት ከሚያዚያ 16 ቀን 2001 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ እድሜ ልክ እስራት ተፈርዶባቸው ላለፉት ስምንት ዓመታት በጨለማ እስር ቤት ውስጥ ሰቆቃ ሲፈጸምባቸው የቆዩት ጄነራል ተፈራ ማሞና ጄነራል አሳምነው ጽጌ እስርቤት ውስጥ ተንቀሳቃሽ ስልክ አስገብታችኋል በሚል ምክንያት በደረሰባቸው አሰቃቂ ድብደባ ምክንያት ጉዳት ደርሶባቸው እራሳቸውን በመሳታቸው ሆስፒታል ገብተዋል።

በተጨማሪም የጄኔራል አሳምነው ጽጌ አክስት ከ14 ዓመት ልጃቸው ጋር ለአንድ ቀን ታስረው ከሕግ ውጪ ምርመራ ተደርጎባቸዋል። ከጄኔራሎቹ ጋር አብሮ የታሰረ አንድ የኦሮሞኛ ቋንቋ ጋዜጠኛም በጨለማ ክፍል ውስጥ ታስሮ አሰቃቂ የሆነ ድብደባ እየተፈጸመበት መሆኑንምንጮችአስታውቀዋል።

ጄኔራሎቹና አብረዋቸው የተከሰሱት ከፍተኛ ወታደራዊ መኮንኖች ላይ እጃቸው ከተያዘበት እለት ጀምሮ ዓይናቸው በጨርቅ እየተሸፈነ አካላዊ ጥቃቶች ሲፈጸምባቸው እንደቆየ በተደጋጋሚ መዘገቡ ይታወቃል።

ከተከሳሹቹ አብዛሃኞቹ ካለ ፍርድ ቤት ትእዛዝ በህወሃት ልዩ የደኅንነት ኃይሎች በምርመራ ሰበብ በየጊዜው ልብሳቸውን እያወለቁ ከመገረፋቸውም በላይ እስካሁን ድረስ ሕጋዊ መብታቸው ሳይከበር በጨለማ ቤት ተጥለው ከቤተሰቦቻቸው፣ ከጠበቆቻቸውና ከሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጓቾችጋር እንዳይገናኙ ተደርገዋል።

ኢሳት ዜና

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Ethiopia Protest Crackdown Killed Hundreds (HRW)

Free Wrongfully Held Detainees, Independent Inquiry Needed

Ethiopian security forces have killed more than 400 protesters, and arrested tens of thousands more during widespread protests in the Oromia region since November 2015. The Ethiopian government should urgently support a credible, independent investigation into the killings, arbitrary arrests, and other abuses.

The 61-page report. “‘Such a Brutal Crackdown’: Killings and Arrests in Response to Ethiopia’s Oromo Protests,” details the Ethiopian government’s use of excessive and unnecessary lethal force and mass arrests, mistreatment in detention, and restrictions on access to information to quash the protest movement. Human Rights Watch interviews in Ethiopia and abroad with more than 125 protesters, bystanders, and victims of abuse documented serious violations of the rights to free expression and peaceful assembly by security forces against protesters and others from the beginning of the protests in November 2015 through May 2016.

“Ethiopian security forces have fired on and killed hundreds of students, farmers, and other peaceful protesters with blatant disregard for human life,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should immediately free those wrongfully detained, support a credible, independent investigation, and hold security force members accountable for abuses.”
Human Rights Watch found that security forces used live ammunition for crowd control repeatedly, killing one or more protesters at many of the hundreds of protests over several months. Human Rights Watch and other organizations have identified more than 300 of those killed by name and, in some cases, with photos.

The November protests were triggered by concerns about the government’s proposed expansion of the capital’s municipal boundary through the Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan. Protesters feared that the Master Plan would displace Oromo farmers, as has increasingly occurred over the past decade, resulting in a negative impact on farm communities while benefiting a small elite.

As protests continued into December, the government deployed military forces for crowd-control throughout Oromia. Security forces repeatedly fired live ammunition into crowds with little or no warning or use of non-lethal crowd-control measures. Many of those killed have been students, including children under 18.

The federal police and military have also arrested tens of thousands of students, teachers, musicians, opposition politicians, health workers, and people who provided assistance or shelter to fleeing students. While many detainees have been released, an unknown number remain in detention without charge and without access to legal counsel or family members.

Witnesses described the scale of the arrests as unprecedented. Yoseph, 52, from the Wollega zone, said: “I’ve lived here for my whole life, and I’ve never seen such a brutal crackdown. There are regular arrests and killings of our people, but every family here has had at least one child arrested.”
Former detainees told Human Rights Watch that they were tortured or mistreated in detention, including in military camps, and several women alleged that they were raped or sexually assaulted. Some said they were hung by their ankles and beaten; others described having electric shocks applied to their feet, or weights tied to their testicles. Video footage shows students being beaten on university campuses.

Despite the large number of arrests, the authorities have charged few individuals with any offenses. Several dozen opposition party members and journalists have been charged under Ethiopia’s draconian anti-terrorism law, while 20 students who protested in front of the United States embassy in Addis Ababa in March were charged with various offenses under the criminal code.

Access to education – from primary school to university – has been disrupted in many locations because of the presence of security forces in and around schools, the arrest of teachers and students, and many students’ fear of attending class. Authorities temporarily closed schools for weeks in some locations to deter protests. Many students told Human Rights Watch that the military and other security forces were occupying campuses and monitoring and harassing ethnic Oromo students.
There have been some credible reports of violence by protesters, including the destruction of foreign-owned farms, looting of government buildings, and other destruction of government property. However, the Human Rights Watch investigations into 62 of the more than 500 protests since November found that most have been peaceful.

The Ethiopian government’s pervasive restrictions on independent human rights investigations and media have meant that very little information is coming from affected areas. The Ethiopian government has also increased its efforts to restrict media freedom. Since mid-March it has restricted access to Facebook and other social media. It has also restricted access to diaspora television stations.
In January, the government announced the cancellation of the Master Plan. By then, however, protester grievances had widened due to the brutality of the government response.

While the protests have largely subsided since April, the government crackdown has continued, Human Rights Watch found. Many of those arrested over the past seven months remain in detention, and hundreds have not been located and are feared to have been forcibly disappeared. The government has not conducted a credible investigation into alleged abuses. Soldiers still occupy some university campuses and tensions remain high. The protests echo similar though smaller protests in Oromia in 2014, and the government’s response could be a catalyst for future dissent, Human Rights Watch said.

Ethiopia’s brutal crackdown warrants a much stronger, united response from concerned governments and intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch said. While the European Parliament has passed a strong resolution condemning the crackdown and a resolution has been introduced in the United States Senate, these are exceptions in an otherwise severely muted international response to the crackdown in Oromia. The UN Human Rights Council should address these serious abuses, call for the release of those arbitrarily detained and support an independent investigation.

“Ethiopia’s foreign supporters have largely remained silent during the government’s bloody crackdown in Oromia,” Lefkow said. “Countries promoting Ethiopia’s development should press for progress in all areas, notably the right to free speech, and justice for victims of abuse.”

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ወያኔ ከገባበት ውጥረት ለመውጣት በከፈተው ጦርነት ትኩረታችን አይቀለበስም !! አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 መግለጫ

በጥጋብና እብሪት የተወጠረው የህወሃት አገዛዝ በትናንትናው ዕለት ዕሁድ ሰኔ 5 ቀን 2008 በሰሜኑ የአገራችን ክፍል በኩል ከኤርትራ ጋር በሚያዋስኑ የድንበር ቦታዎች ላይ ጦርነት ጀምራል፤ ዓለም አቀፍ መገናኛ ብዙሃንም ይህን ዜና አረጋግጠው ዘግበዋል። ይህ መግለጫ እስከወጣበት ጊዜ ድረስ በወያኔ በኩል ስለጦርነቱ ምንም የተሰጠ መግለጫ ባይኖርም የኤርትራ መንግሥት በጾረና ግንባር በኩል ጥቃት እንደተፈጸመበት ትናንት ማምሻውን ይፋ ባደረገ መግለጫ አረጋግጦአል።

የህወሃት ዘረኝነት በፈጠረው ኢፍትሃዊነትና አፈና የተማረረው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በሁሉም የአገራችን ክፍሎች በአገዛዙ ላይ ተቃውሞውን እያጠናከረ ባለበት በዚህን ሰዓት በሙስና የተጨማለቁ የህወሃት የጦር ጀነራሎችና በሲቪል ማዕረግ አስተዳደሩን ሙሉ በሙሉ የተቆጣጠሩ ሃይሎች ለምን ይህንን ጦርነት መጫር እንደፈለጉ ግልጽ ነው። በኦሮሚያ የተነሳውን የመብት ጥያቄ ለማፈን ከ400 በላይ ሕዝብ መጨፍጨፉና በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ እስር ቤት መታጎራቸው የህወሃትን ዕድሜ ለማራዘም እንደ አንድ መሣሪያ ሆኖ ላለፉት 25 አመታት ሲያገለግል በኖረው ኦህዲድ ውስጥ እንኳን ከከፍተኛ አመራር እስከ ተራ ካድሬ ያሉትን አስኮርፎአል። የወልቃይት ህዝብ ያነሳው የማንነት ጥያቄ ሌላኛው የህወሃት አጋር በሆነው ብአዴን ውስጥ የማያባራ ክፍፍል ፈጥሮአል። የነጻነት ታጋዮች በቅርቡ አርባምንጭ ከተማ አቅራቢያ የፈጸሙት የጀግንነት ገድል የደቡብ ኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ የሚያንቃቃና ለትግል የሚያነሳሳ አርአያነት እንደፈጠረ የህወሃት አገዛዝ ተረድቶአል። በቤኔሻንጉል፣ በጋምቤላ፣ በአፋርና በሱማሌ ከመሬት ንጥቂያ ጋር በተያያዘ ወንጀል ህወሃት ከህዝቡ ጋር አይጥና ድመት ድብብቆሽ ውስጥ ከገባ አመታትን አስቆጥሮአል። በአዲስ አበባና ሌሎች ትላልቅ ከተሞች ቀድሞውኑም የድጋፍ መሠረት እንደሌለው ማወቁ ብቻ ሳይሆን ይኩራራበት የነበረው የትግራይ ምሽግነትም ከእጁ ሙሉ በሙሉ እያፈተለከ መምጣቱን ተገንዝቧል። በዚህም ምክንያት ፊቱን ወደሰሜን በማዞር የሕዝቡን ትኩረት አስታለሁ ብሎ ወያኔ አምኖአል። አባይ ጸሃይዬና ሳሞራ ዩኑስ መቀሌ ላይ በቅርቡ ባደረጉት የህወሃት ስብሰባ ላይ “ህወሃት ከሌለ የትግራይ ህዝብ አይኖርም፤ ኢህአደግ ከሌለ ኢትዮጵያ አትኖርም” ማለታቸው ኤርትራን በመውረር በተለይም የትግራይን ህዝብ ድጋፍ መልሶ ያስገኛል የሚል እምነት በአገዛዙ መሪዎች ውስጥ መፈጠሩን ያመለክታል።

ሌላው ህወሃትን ወደ ጦር አጫሪነት እየነዳው ያለው እብደት መለስ ዜናዊ ከሞተ ወዲህ ድርጅቱ ውስጥ የነገሰው የእርስ በርስ የሥልጣን ሹኩቻ የፈጠረው ውጥረት እንደሆነ መገመት አያዳግትም። አንዱን ውጥረት ለማርገብ ሌላ የውጥረት ግንባር በመክፈት ለሚታወቀው ህወሃት ይህ የተለመደ ስትራቴጂ ነው።

አርበኞች ግንቦት7 ህወሃት የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ ትኩረት ለመቀየር የሚያደርገው ማንኛውም አይነት ጥረት እንዳይሳካለትና የጀመረው ይህ የትኩረት ማስቀየሻ ስትራቴጂ የህወሃትን ውድቀት አፍጣኝ እንዲሆኑ ለማድረግ የተቻለውን ሁሉ ያደርጋል። ካሁን ቀደም ለአገራችን ኢትዮጵያ ብሄራዊ ጥቅም የሚሰጠው ፋይዳ ሳይመከርበትና ሕዝባዊ ስምምነት ሳይኖር ከአሥራ አንድ አመት በፊት ሱማሌ ውስጥ ዘፍ ተብሎ የተገባበት ጦርነት በየቀኑ የስንት ወንድሞቻችንን ህይወት እየቀጠፈ እንደሆነ እያየነው ነው። ቁጥራቸው ከ60 በላይ የሆኑ ወገኖቻችን ሰሞኑ በሽብርተኛው አልሸባብ ሲጨፈጨፉ የወያኔ መሪዎች አንዲትም ወፍ የሞተቺባቸው ያህል እንኳ አልተሰማቸውም ። ይህንን ሁሉም ያገራችን ህዝብ ያውቃል። እስከዛሬ በሰላም አስከባሪነት ስም ወደ ሰው አገር እየተላኩ ደመ ከልብ እየሆኑ ያሉ ወገኖቻችን ህይወት እያንገበገበን ባለበት በዚህን ሰዓት ለወያኔ የሥልጣን ዕድሜ ማራዘሚያ እንደ አገር የምንዋጋው ሌላ ጦርነት እንደሌለ ሊታወቅ ይገባል። በ1998ቱ የባድሜ ጦርነት ወቅት ህዝባችን የከፈለው ዋጋና ከባድሜ ጦርነት መልስ ጉልበቱን አጠናክሮ ለመውጣት ዕድል ያገኘው የህወሃት በህዝባችንና በአገራችን ላይ እስከዛሬ እየፈጸመው ያለው አፈናና ጭፍጨፋ ተረስቶ ሌላ ዕድል ለመስጠት ዳግም መሳሪያ የምንሆንበት ምክንያት የለም።

አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ከአሁን ቦኋላ ወያኔ የሥልጣን ዕድሜውን ለማራዘምና የተዘፈቀበትን የሃብት ዘረፋ አጠናክሮ ለመቀጠል የሚያደርገውን የሞት ሽረት ትግል የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በምንም አይነት ሁኔታ ማስተናገድ የለበትም ብሎ ያምናል። በዚህም ምክንያት በመላው አገራችን የተጀመረው ሕዝባዊ እንቅስቃሴ ተጠናክሮ እንዲቀጥልና ለፍትህ ለእኩልነትና ለነጻነት የሚደረገው ትግል ከግቡ እንዲደርስ የአገሬ ጉዳይ ያገባኛል የሚል ሁሉ ትግሉን ለማጠናከር እንዲረባረብ አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 የትግል ጥሪውን ያቀርባል ። በመካሄድ ላይ ያለውን የነጻነት ትግል አቅጣጫ ለማስለወጥ ወያኔ የሚያደርገውን የጦርነት እንቅስቃሴ እንደ መልካም አጋጣሚ በመጠቀም የነጻነት ቀናችንን እንድናፋጥን ሁላችንም እንነሳ ።

አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ወያኔ በሰሜን በኩል የጀመረውን ትንኮሳ እየተከታተለ ለህዝባችን ወቅታዊ መረጃ ይሰጣል።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ!
አርበኞች ግንቦት 7

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የፓለቲካ እስረኞች በቂሊንጦ በጨለማ ቤት ለብቻቸው እንዲቀመጡ ተደረጉ

በቂሊንጦ የቀጠሮ እስረኞች ማቆያ የፓለቲካ እስረኞችን ጨለማ ክፍል ለይቶ በማስቀመጥ መቅጣት የተለመደ አሰራር ነው። በተለይ ደግሞ እስረኞች በእስር ቤቱ አስተዳደር የሚደርስባቸውን በደል እና መድሎ ለፍርድ ቤት ወይም ለሚዲያ እንዲደርስ ካደረጉ ወይም የተለያዩ የመብት ጥያቄዎችን ከጠየቁ ወደ ጨለማ ቤት ለቅጣት መላካቸው አይቀሬ እንደሆነ ይነገራል።

በ28/9/2008 አቶ በቀለ ገርባን ጨምሮ ሌሎች የኦፌኮ አመራር አባላት ኦሮሚያ ክልል ላይ በተነሳው ተቃውሞ ህይወታቸውን ላጡ ዜጎች የተሰማቸውን ሃዘን ለመግለፅ ጥቁር ልብስ ለብሰው ወደ ፍርድ ቤት ለመሄድ መውጣታቸውን ተከትሎ የቂሊንጦ እስር ቤት አስተዳደር ጥቁር ልብስ ለብሰው ፍርድ ቤት አይሄዱም በማለት ከችሎት እንዳስቀሯቸው ይታወቃል፡፡ በተከታዩ ቀጠሮም ጥቁር ልብሳቸውና ሌሎች ልብሶቻቸው በብርበራ ወቅት በመቀማታቸው በፓካውት እና በቁምጣ ፍርድ ቤት መቅረባቸው ይታወሳል። ከፍርድቤት ሲመለሱም አራቱን ከፍተኛ የኦፌኮ አመራሮች ጨለማ ቤት በመግባታቸው ቤተሰብ ሳያገኛቸው ተመልሰዋል።

በተመሳሳይ ቀን ቀጠሮ የነበራቸው ከኦሮሚያ ክልል ህዝባዊ አመጽ (#OromoProtests) ጋር በተያያዘ የሽብር ክስ የተመሰረተባቸው 16 ሰዎች ከአምቦ ተይዘው የመጡ እና 11 የመድወላቡ ዩንቨርስቲ ተማሪዎች ጥቁር ልብስ በመልበሳቸው ምክንያት በቀጠሯቸው ቀን ፍርድ ቤት ሳይወሰዱ ቀርተዋል። ይህ በሆነ በማግስቱ (29/9/2008) በግቢው ከሚገኙ ሶስት ዞኖች ውስጥ ከሁለቱ ስድስት የፓለቲካ እስረኞች አስተዳደር ቢሮ እንደሚፈለጉ ከተነገራቸው በኋላ እነ በቀለ የሚገኙበት ጨለማ ክፍል እንዲገቡ ተደርጓል። የተሰጣቸው ምክንያት "እስረኞችን እያሳመፃችሁ እና እያደራጃችሁ ነው" የሚል ነው። አስሩ የፓለቲካ እስረኞች ብቻ ተዘግቶ የሚውል እና የሚያድር አንድ ጨለማ ክፍል ውስጥ እንዲኖሩ ከተደረጉ ብዙ ቀናት ተቆጥረዋል። በቀን ለ2ት እና 3ት ደቂቃ ለምታክል ጊዜ ምግብ ከሚያቀብሉ ቤተሰቦች ጋር ብቻ ነው ለመገናኘት የሚፈቀድላቸው ሲሆን ከቤተሰብ ውጪ የሚመጡ ጠያቂዎች በእስር ቤቱ ፓሊሶች " የት/መቼ/እንዴት ነው ምታቀው/ቂው? " ፣"ምንሽ/ህ ነው?" እና መሰል የምርመራ ጥያቄዎችን ያቀርቡላቸውና እንደሁኔታው ለ2 ደቂቃ ለመገናኘት ሊፈቀድላቸውም ላይፈቀድላቸው ይችላል። " ለብቻችሁ ያደረግናችሁ ሆን ብለን ከሌሎች እስረኞች ልናገላችሁ ስለፈለግን ነው" የተባሉ ሲሆን
አስሩ የፓለቲካ እስረኞች ፤
1. በቀለ ገርባ ፣
2. ጉርሜሳ አያና፣
3. ደጀኔ ጣፋ፣
4. አዲሱ ቡላላ፣
5. ዮናታን ተስፋዬ፣
6. አበበ ኡርጌሳ፣
7. ፍቅረማርያም አስማማው፣
8. ብርሃኑ ተ/ ያሬድ፣
9. ማስረሻ ታፈረ እና
10. መሰለ መሸሻ ናቸው።

በተመሳሳይ መልኩ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የጎንደር አስተባባሪ የነበረው አግባው ሰጠኝ በታሰረበት ቂሊንጦ ግንቦት 9/2008 ዓ.ም ‹‹ዘረኞች›› ብለህ ሰድበኸናል በሚል የሁለት ወር የጨለማ ክፍል እስር በእስር ቤቱ አስተዳደር ተፈርዶበት ከግንቦት 17/2008 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ ለብቻው ጨለማ ክፍል ውስጥ ይገኛል። አግባው ግንቦት 11/2008 ፍርድ ቤት በቀረበበት ጊዜ የቂሊንጦ እስር ቤት አስተዳደር ግፍ እያደረሰብኝ ነው ሲል አቤቱታ አሰምቶ የነበረ ሲሆን ‹‹ጨለማ ቤት እናስገባሃለን›› እያሉ እንደዛቱበትም በወቅቱ ገልጾ ነበር፡፡

★ማንኛውም አይነት ጥቁር ልብስ ለማንኛውም እስረኛ እንዳይገባ የተከለከለ ሲሆን ቀደም ብሎ የገባም ተሰብስቦ እንዲወጣ እየተደረገ ነው።

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The US SEC forced TPLF to pay $6.5 million

SEC: Ethiopia’s Electric Utility Sold Unregistered Bonds In U.S.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Ethiopia’s electric utility has agreed to pay nearly $6.5 million to settle charges that it violated U.S. securities laws by failing to register bonds it offered and sold to U.S residents of Ethiopian descent.



According to the SEC’s order instituting a settled administrative proceeding:

• Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) conducted the unregistered bond offering to help finance the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Abay River in Ethiopia.
• EEP held a series of public road shows in major cities across the U.S. and marketed the bonds on the website of the U.S. Embassy of Ethiopia as well as through radio and television advertising aimed at Ethiopians living in the U.S.
• EEP raised approximately $5.8 million from more than 3,100 U.S. residents from 2011 to 2014 without ever registering the bond offering with the SEC.

“Foreign governments are welcome to raise money in the U.S. capital markets so long as they comply with the federal securities laws, including registration provisions designed to ensure that investors receive important information about prospective investments,” said Stephen L. Cohen, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “This settlement ensures that investors get all of their money back plus interest.”

The SEC’s order finds that EEP violated Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933. EEP admitted the registration violations and agreed to pay $5,847,804 in disgorgement and $601,050.87 in prejudgment interest. The distribution of money back to investors is subject to the SEC’s review and approval. Investors seeking more information should contact the administrator of the distribution, Gilardi & Co. LLC, at 844-851-4591.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Carolyn Kurr and Daniel Rubenstein and supervised by C. Joshua Felker. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Department of State.

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Ethiopia’s New Cybercrime Law Allows for More Efficient and Systematic Prosecution of Online Speech

(ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION)— The Ethiopian government has passed a dangerous cybercrime law that criminalizes an array of substantive computer activities including the distribution of defamatory speech, spam, and pornography online among others offenses. The law, dubbed the “Computer Crime Proclamation,” was passed, the government says, in an effort to more accurately attune the country’s laws to technological advances and provide the government better mechanisms and procedures to “prevent, control, investigate, and prosecute the suspects of computer crimes.”




While the law aims to facilitate and accelerate the way in which the country penalizes computer crimes, it criminalizes legitimate forms of online speech. Based on the law’s exhaustive list of offenses and penalties that are grossly disproportionate to the outlined crimes, it will undoubtedly have a chilling effect and could serve as a tool for silencing political opposition, which relies heavily on online publishing since the government has cracked down on traditional media.
EFF is all too familiar with Ethiopia’s track record of silencing bloggers, human rights defenders, political dissenters, journalists, and activists. Endalk Chala, a founding member of the Zone9 blogging collective, former EFF Google Policy fellow, and Global Voices contributor has firsthand knowledge of the Ethiopian government’s M.O. in exerting control over its people online.

"The Ethiopian government considers access to Internet an exclusive right of a chosen few—the people who are running the government and their friends. The new computer crime law is the latest legal mechanism set to be used to limit access to Internet services for the majority. The government is attempting to make blogging, content sharing, and even liking critical comments on social media all crimes.

Take, for example, the particularly egregious article 13, related to Crimes Against Liberty and Reputation of Persons. Those convicted of disseminating defamatory content, as defined by the law, face up to 10 years in prison.

The law also targets service providers; if they fail to remove or disable access to illegal content data that has been disseminated through their computer systems by third parties they will be held criminally liable. The law requires service providers to report any knowledge of the commission of any of the crimes stipulated in the law. Protection for intermediaries in the US (under CDA 230) has been essential to the growth of social media and blogging platforms. If Ethiopian intermediaries lack that protection, it will have a strong chilling effect on free speech—few intermediaries will risk hosting content the government may find controversial.

Ethiopia’s prosecutors have long demonized legitimate uses of technology, claiming in court that the use of encryption, and knowledge of privacy-protecting tools is a sign of support for terrorists. Ethiopia’s new cybercrime law takes that a step further. By criminalizing everyday actions it ensures that anyone who speaks online, or supports online free expression, might one day be targeted by the law. This regulation doesn’t bring Ethiopian law up-to-date with the latest technology: instead, it will intimidate ordinary Ethiopian citizens into staying offline, and further alienate Ethiopia’s technological progress from its African neighbors and the rest of the world.

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Arbegnoch Ginbot 7 Fundraising in Norway and Switzerland June 2016

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ኢትዮጵያ ያጸደቀችው የኢንተርኔት አጠቃቀም ህግ ተቃውሞ ገጠመው

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የኢንተርኔት አጠቃቀም ላይ የሚፈጸሙ ወንጀሎችን ለመከላከል በሚል ማክሰኞ የጸደቀውን አዋጅ ተከትሎ አለም አቀፍ የሰብዓዊ መብት ተቋማት በህጉ ላይ ቅሬታ ማቅረብ መጀመራቸውን አለም አቀፉ መገናኛ ብዙሃን ረቡዕ ዘገቡ።
እስከ 10 አመት የሚደርስ ቅጣትን ያስተላልፋል የተባለው ይኸው አዲስ ህግ፣ በሃገሪቱ ሃሳብን ለመግለጽ በሚደረገው ጥረት ላይ ተጨማሪ ቁጥጥርን እንደሚያጠናክር የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች አካላት በመግለጽ ላይ መሆናቸው ፎክስ ኒውስ አስነብቧል።

አዲሱ አዋጅ የሃገሪቱ ዜጎች ሃሳባቸውን በተለያዩ ድረ-ገጾች ላይ ለመግለፅና ለመወያየት በሚያደርጉት እንቅስቃሴ ላይ ጥብቅ ክትትልንና ቁጥጥርን የሚያደርግ ሲሆን፣ ስም የሚያጠፉ ጽሁፍንና መልዕክትን አስተላልፈዋል የተባሉ ግለሰቦች በትንሹ በሶስት አመት እስራት እንደሚቀጡ በህጉ ተደንግጓል። ይሁንና፣ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ህጉን ያፀደቀው ዜጎች ሃሳባቸውን በነጻነት በመግለጽ በሚያደርጉት ትግል ላይ ቁጥጥርን ለመዘርጋት ያለመ መሆኑን ሂውማን ራይትስ ዎችና በርካታ ድርጅቶች ይገልጻሉ።
መንግስት የረቀቁ የኢንተርኔትና የስለላ መፈጸሚያ አገልግሎቶችን በውድ ዋጋ በመግዛት በመጠቀም ላይ መሆኑ በተለያዩ አካላት ይፋ ቢደረገም ባለስልጣናት በየዕለቱ ከ1ሺ የሚበልጡ የኢንተርኔት የስለላ ጥቃቶች በመንግስታዊ ተቋማት ይፋጸማሉ ሲሉ አስታውቀዋል። ይሁንና ጥቃቱ በማን አካልና እንደተፈጸመና ስለደረሰው ጉዳት የተሰጠ ዝርዝር መርጃ የለም።

በአዲሱ አዋጅ ላይ ቅሬታን እያቀረቡ ያሉት የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች ተቋማት ግለሰቦች ድርጊቱ በሃገሪቱ ያለውን የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰት ሊያባብሰው እንደሚችል ስጋታቸውን በመግለጽ ላይ መሆናቸው ይታወቃል።
ኒውስ 24 የተሰኘ የደቡብ አፍሪካ ታዋቂ ጋዜጣ በበኩሉ የአዋጁ መፅደቅን ተከትሎ ከበርካታ አካላት ተቃውሞና ትችቶች እየቀረቡ እንደሚገኝ ረቡዕ ለንባብ ባበቃው እትሙ አስፍሯል።

የዚህኑ ረቂቅ አዋጅ መዘጋጀት ተከትሎ ኢትዮ-ቴሌኮም በሃገሪቱ ውስጥ ያሉ ተንቀሳቃሽ ስልኮች ለመመዝገብ መመሪያ አውጥቶ ለሚመለከተው አካል ማስተላለፉ ይታወሳል።

በኩባንያው ያልተመዘገቡ የእጅ ስልኮች አገልግሎት እንዳይሰጡ የሚደረግ አሰራርን ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ አስፈላጊው ቁሳቁስ መሟላቱን የኢትዮ-ቴሌኮም ባለስልጣናት ይፋ ማድረጋቸውን መዘገባችን ይታወቃል።

ኢሳት

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Ethiopian Parliament passes computer crime law further restricting freedom of speech

The rubber stamp parliament in Addis Ababa passed a computer crime law on Tuesday that’s intended to further stifle freedom of speech.

The law, which has come under a damning scrutiny from all sides, makes punishable the exchange of any information that’s deemed antigovernment.

The law makes it illegal the exchange of emails, audiovisuals and pictures that encourage people to criticize, protest and rise against the regime.

Human rights organizations say the law tramples on human rights and the right to information. The rights groups also said the law is intended to spy on the exchange of information among people.

Rights groups have accused the East African country of restricting freedom of expression and using spyware against dissidents living overseas. An Ethiopian court last month charged an opposition activist over his Facebook posts.

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እነ ብርሃኑ ተ/ያሬድ መከላከል አትችሉም ተባሉ

የካቲት 4/2008 ዓ.ም ፌደራል ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ 14ኛ ወንጀል በዋለው ችሎት እነ ብርሃኑ ተ/ያሬድ ( ብርሃኑ ተ/ያሬድ፣ እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው፣ ፍቅረማርያም አስማማው እና ደሴ ካህሳይ) አቃቢ ህግ ያቀረበባቸውን ክስ በሰነድና በአንድ የሰው ምስክር ማስረጃዎች አስረድቷል በሚል ተከሳሾች መከላከል ይገባቸዋል ሲል ፍርድ ቤቱ መወሰኑ ይታወሳል፡፡ ውሳኔውን ተከትሎም መከላከያ ማስረጃዎች ያቀርቡ ከሆነ በሚል ፍርድ ቤቱ ጠይቆ፣ ተከሳሾች 200 የሰው ምስክሮችና የሰነድ ማስረጃዎች በጋራ እንደሚያቀርቡ አሳውቀው ነበር፡፡ ከዛ በኋላ በነበሩ ቀጠሮዎችም ምስክሮቻቸውን በዝርዝር ያስገቡ ሲሆን ከዛሬ ግንቦት 30 እስከ ሰኔ 8 , 2008 ድረስ ምስክሮቻቸውን እንዲያሰሙ ቀጠሮ ተሰጥቷቸው የነበረ ቢሆንም የቀጠሯቸው ቀን ሳይደርስ ባለፈው ሳምንት ፍርድ ቤት ቀርበው ጭብጥ እንዲያሲዙ ተጠይቀዋል። እነሱም የምስክርነት ጭብጥ ምስክሮች መሃላ ሳይፈፅሙ መያዝ እንደሌለበት ለፍቤቱ አስረድተው ውሳኔውን ለመስማት ለዛሬ ተቀጥረው ነበር።

የዛሬው ውሳኔ ግን በጣም የሚደንቅ ነው። አራት ወር ሙሉ ፍርድ ቤቱ ሲሰጥ የነበረውን ትእዛዝ ይቃረናል። “መከላከያ ምስክር ማሰማት የለባችሁም ስለዚህ ለፍርድ ብይን ሃምሌ 13, 2008 ቅረቡ” የሚል ውሳኔ አስተላልፋለች ዳኛዋ።
 
 

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የኖርዲክ ሃገራት ለአርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት 2.42 ሚሊዮን ብር ለገሱ!!

በትላንትናዉ ለት 04/06/2016 በኖርዌይ ኦስሎ ከተማ በስካንዲክ ሃገራት የሚኖሩ የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 አባላት ግብረሃይል አስተባባሪነት የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ለፍትህ፣ ለዲሞክራሲና፣ ለነፃነት በተደረገዉ የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ዝግጅት 800 ሺ የኖርዌጅያን ገንዘብ (2.42 ሚሊዮን ብር) ገቢ ተሰበሰበ። በዕለቱ ዝግጅት ፕሮፌሰር ብርሃኑ ነጋ ከኤርትራ ግንባር እንዲሁም ፕሮፌሰር ጌታቸዉ ኃይሌ በክብር እንግድነት የተገኙ ሲሆን የግንቦት 7 አመራር የነበረዉና በኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ከየመን ታፍኖ የተወሰደዉ አቶ አንድአርጋቸዉ ፅጌ እህት ወ/ሮ ብዙአየሁ ፅጌ ባልተጠበቀ ሁኔታ ከቦታዉ መገኘት ታዳሚዉን ከፍተኛ ስሜት ዉስጥ የከተተ ነበረ። በተለይም ወ/ሮ ብዙአየሁ በቦታዉ ላይ በመገኘት ያደረጉት ንግግርና ያቀረቡት ግጥም ታዳሚዉን በስሜት የናጠና አብዛኛዉን የእልህ እንባ ያስነባ ነበረ። የገቢ ማሰባሰብያዉን ዝግጅት ለመሳተፍ ከስዊድን የመጡ የድርጅቱ አባሎችና ደጋፊዎች ያቀረቡት በዝሙሮችና ጭፈራዎች የታዳሚዉን ቀልብ የሳቡ ነበሩ።

በዝግጅቱ መጀመሪያ ወደ መድረክ የተጋበዙት የስዊድን የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ሥራ አስፈፃሚ ሰብሳቢ የሆኑት አቶ ዘለሌ ሲሆኑ ለዝግጅቱ መሳካት የስዊድን ሥራ አስፍፃሚ አመራር ከኖርዌይ ግብረሃይል ጋር በመተባበር በጥምረት እንደሰሩት ገለፃ ያደረጉ ሲሆን አያይዘዉም በስዊድን ስቶክሆልም ለኢሳት ገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ዝግጅት ላይ በተደረገዉ የስነፅሁፍ ዉድድር አሸናፊ በመሆን የሜዳሊያ ተሸላሚ የሆነዉ ወጣት ሜዳሊያዉን በኤርትራና በኢትዮጵያ ድንበር ለሀገራቸዉ ነፃነት ለሚታገሉ አርበኞች በስጦታነት እንዲረከብለት በአደራ የላከዉን የሜዳሊያ ሽልማት ለፕሮፌሰር ብርሃኑ ነጋ አስረክበዋል። በመቀጠል ወደመድረኩ የተጋበዙት ለፕሮፌሰር ጌታችዉ እስካሁን በኢትዮጵያዉስጥ ያለዉ አፈናና የኢኮኖሚ ዉድቀት ሂደት አደገኛና አስጊ ሁኔታ ዉስጥ መሆኑን በመግለፅ የወያኔን ስርዓት ማስወገድ አማራጭ የሌለዉ መፍትሄ መሆኑና በአሁን ሰዓት አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 እያደረገ ያለዉ ስልታዊ ትግል ትክክለኛ መፍትሄ መሆኑን በመግለፅ ሆሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ይህንን ሃገርን የማዳን ጥሪ በመቀበል ወደ ትግበራ እንዲያመራ ጥሪያቸዉን አስተላልፈዋል በማያያዝም በኦሮሚያ እየተካሄደ ያለዉ ሕዝባዊ አንቢተኝነት የወያኔ አስከፊና ቅጥ የለሺ አገዛዝ ዉጤት መሆኑን በመግለፅ በአፀፋዉ ወያኔ አየወሰደ ያለዉን ኢሰብአዊ የኃይል እርምጃ ኮንነዋል የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ጥያቄ ሁሉንም ኢትዮጵያዊ እንደሚያካትትም አያይዘዉ ገልፀዋል።

በመቀጠል ወደመድረክ የተጋበዙት በጉጉት ሲጠበቁ የነበሩት ፕሮፌሰር ብርሃኑ ነጋ ባደረጉት ንግግር በሚያደርጉት የትግል ሂደት ዉስጥ እንደ ፕሮፌሰር ጌታቸዉ አይነት ሰዉ ያለዉን የሞያና የእዉቀት ግብአት መሰረታዊ መሆናቸዉን ገልፀዉ የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ለፍትህ፣ ለዲሞክራሲና፣ ለነፃነት እየተከተለ ያለዉ የትግል ስርዓት የደቡብ አፍሪካ ጥቁሮች የአፓርታይድ ስርዓትን ለመደምሰስ የሄዱበት መንገድን እንደሚከተል በመግለፅ የአፓርታይድ ሰርዓት አሁን በኢትዮጵያ ካለዉ አገዛዝ ጋር የሚመሳሰልበትን ነጥቦች በመዘረዘር በጥልቀት ለታዳሚዉ አስረድተዋል በመቀጠልም የትግል ስልቱ ከዉጪ ሃገራት በሚደረግለት ተፋሰስ የሚደጎምና በዛ ላይ መሰረት ያደረገ ሳይሆን ከእያንዳንዱ ሃገር ወዳድ ኢትዮጵያዊ በሚደርግ ድጋፍ ትግሉ የዉጤት በር ድረስ የሚቀጥል መሆኑንም አበክረዉ ተናግረዋል አያይዘዉም ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ከአስከፊዉ የወያኔ ስርዓት በቶሎ ለመላቀቅ ከመቸዉም ግዜ በበለጠ መልኩ አብዝቶና አምርሮ እንዲታገል ጥሪአቸዉን አቅርበዋል።

የምግብ እረፍት በመስጠት የተጀመረዉ የጨረታ ዝግጅት ከፍተኛ ፉክክር የተካሄደበት ሲሆን ነዋሪነታቸዉን በኖርዌይ በርገን ከተማ ያደረጉ አርበኞች ከስዊድን የግንባሩ አባላት ጋር ያደረጉት ፉክክር ቀልብን የሳበ ነበረ፤ በመቀጠልም ኢካደፍ(ኢትዮጵያን ከረንት አፌርስ)በኩል ጨረታዉን ለመዉሰድ የተደረገዉ ዉድድር እጅግ በጣም አስደሳች የነበረ ሲሆን ሌላዉ ማህበረሰብም የነበረዉ ተሳትፎ እጅግ የሚያኮራ ነበረ በስተመጨረሻም የአቶ አንድአርጋቸዉ ፅጌ እህት ወ/ሮ ብዙአየሁ ፅጌ ለጨረታ የቀረበዉን ምስል በ ከፍተኛዉን ገንዘብ በግለሰብ በመክፈል በማሸነፍ ሽልማቱን ለኖርዌይ የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 አባላት ያበረከቱ ሲሆን የኖርዌይ የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ተወካይ ስእሉን ለስዊድን ግንቦት 7 አባላት በስጦታነት አስረክበዋል።

በስተመጨርሻም ዝግጅቱ ሰፋ ላለ የዉይይት መድረክ ክፍት በማደረግ በዝግጅቱ ላይ የታደሙት ማህበረሰቦች ፕሮፌሰር ብርሃኑ ነጋ ጋር በአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ለፍትህ ለዲሞክራሲና ለነፃነት የትግል ስርዓትና ሂደት በዝርዝር በመወያየት ዝግጅቱ ተጠናቋል።

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Ethiopia: Detainees beaten and forced to appear before court inadequately dressed

(Amnesty International)— Authorities in Ethiopia should immediately stop the ill treatment of political opposition members and human rights defenders who were beaten in detention and then forced to appear before the court inadequately dressed, Amnesty International said today.



The 22 defendants, including political opposition leaders Gurmesa Ayano and Beqele Gerba, Deputy Chief of the Oromo Federalist Congress, were brought today before the court inadequately dressed. According to complaints lodged with the court by Beqele Gerba, some defendants were beaten while in detention, and prison officials confiscated all the defendant’s black suits, which they intended to wear to court. The rest of their clothes were taken by other prisoners.

“Aside from the beatings they suffered in detention, degrading the defendants by making them attend court in their underpants is a new low in the behavior of the prison authorities and a total outrage,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Africa and the Great Lakes.

“The Ethiopian authorities and the Court cannot let this ill-treatment go unanswered. They must ensure a prompt credible investigations and that those responsible are held accountable.”

The 22 defendants were charged under the Anti-terrorism Proclamation law for organizing the November 2015 Oromia protest. On April 26, 2016 the court adjourned their hearing for May 11, 2016. However on May 11 the prison authorities failed to present the defendants in court. The defendants all wore black suits in mourning for those killed during the protests, which apparently caused the prison authorities to refuse to take them to court.

“Ethiopia’s long time muzzling of dissent has had a devastating effect on opposition members and human rights defenders who are completely prevented from exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” said Kagari.

Beqele Gerba and the co-defendants in the case were arbitrarily arrested following the largely peaceful protests which began in November 2015 against the dispossession of land without adequate compensation in Ethiopia’s Oromo region.

In response to the protests, the authorities arbitrarily arrested thousands of people, and several hundreds of people participating in the protests have been unlawfully killed by the security services.

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Police brings Bekele Gerba et.al to court barefoot, wearing only shorts and t-shirts

The Addis Abeba prison administration Qilinto prison police have this morning brought prominent opposition figure Bekele Gerba and the 21 others in the same file for a hearing at a court all barefoot. The detainees were also wearing mere shorts and t-shirts when they appeared at the Federal High Court 19^th Criminal Bench here in the capital.

Bekele Gerba

Once inside the court room the detainees, through Bekele Gerba, first secretary general of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), told the judges that the police have come to their cells in Qilinto, a prison in the outskirt of south of Addis Abeba, yesterday and stripped them all of their clothes and shoes to prevent them from wearing black upon appearing in court this morning.

On May 11 the police have failed to bring the 22 detainees, all charged with Ethiopia’s infamous Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, ATP, to the court because all them were wearing black to protest their arrest.  However, the police have told the court this morning that they didn’t bring defendants during the last hearing because they have not received a letter from the court.  The judge told the police at the court this morning that the police officers on duty on May 11 must appear in court to explain the real reason.

Bekele also told the court that he and his co-defendants were subjected to torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuses inside the prison and requested the judge for a change of prison. But the judge denied the request.

The 22 defendants were all arrested between November and December 2015, shortly after the start (and in connection with) Oromo protests in November that gripped the nation for the next five months. Defendants include several members of OFC, students and civil servants who came from various parts of the Oromia regional state.

Prosecutors have charged the 22 with various articles of the ATP. The charges include, but not limited to, alleged membership of the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), public incitement, encouraging violence, as well as causing the death of innocent civilians and property destructions in cities such as Ambo and Adama, 120km west and 100km east of Addis Abeba during the recent Oromo protests in Ethiopia. This morning all of the defendants have presented a written defense statement. The court adjourned the next hearing until June 27.

In a related development, the police at Qilinto have failed to bring this morning 16 other individuals, all from the Oromia regional state and were detained in connection with the #OromoProtests, to the court.  The 16 detainees, under the file name of Tesema Regasa were first brought to the court on April 26. They were subsequently charged with the ATP and have, last month, presented their defense statements to the court. Today’s court appearance was adjourned to hear prosecutors’ counter response for the defense statements. The court re-adjourned the next hearing until June 15.
Wondimu Ebbissa, who is representing Bekele Gerba et.al, said last month that more than 80 defendants, including Bekele Gerba et al, were held in Qilinto and a further 97 were believed to be either at  the Ethiopian Federal Polcie Force Central Bureau of Criminal Investigation, known in Amharic as Ma’ekelawi,  or the Addis Abeba police prison facility near it. All of them are detained in connection with #OromoProtests.

In a separate development, the Federal High Court 19^th Criminal Bench yesterday adjourned the hearing for Yonatan Tesfaye, former spokesman of the opposition Semayawi (Blue) Party, until June 21. The court received Yonatan’s defense statement in its hearing and adjourned the next hearing to receive prosecutor’s counter statement.



Last month prosecutors have charged Yonatan with ATP and have presented as evidence the defendant’s Facebook status updates during the #OromoProtests. The charges against Yonatan allege that he was posting inciting message on his Facebook, encouraging protesters to loot and destruct properties. Charges also allege Yonatan was calling for regime change  through violence.

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Ethiopia: End use of counter-terrorism law to persecute dissenters and opposition members

The Ethiopian Government must end its escalating crackdown on human rights defenders, independent media, peaceful protestors as well as members and leaders of the political opposition through the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP) says a group of civil society organisations (CSOs).

“The government’s repression of independent voices has significantly worsened as the Oromo protest movement has grown,” said Yared Hailemariam, Director of the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE). “The international community should demand the end of this state-orchestrated clampdown and the immediate release of peaceful critics to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.”

The recent escalation in the use of the ATP to prosecute peaceful protesters, journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, and opposition leaders and members is indicative of the Ethiopian Government’s growing intolerance of dissent. Largely peaceful protests began in November 2015 against the dispossession of land without adequate compensation in the Oromia region. In response to the protests, the Ethiopian authorities have arbitrarily arrested thousands of people and several hundred people have been summarily killed by the security services while participating in the protests.

While the bulk of those arrested since February 2016 have not been charged, several are currently being prosecuted under the ATP. These include Getachew Shiferaw (Editor-in-Chief of the online newspaper Negere Ethiopia), Yonathan Tesfaye Regassa (former head of public relations for the opposition Semayawi Party), Bekele Gerba (Deputy Chair, Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC)) and Dejene Tufa (Deputy General Secretary, OFC) and Gurmesa Ayana (secretary, OFC). Fikadu Mirkana, (news editor and a reporter with the public Oromia Radio and TV), was arrested on 19 December 2015, charged under the ATP and released five months later in April 2016.

Getachew was held in Maekelawi Detention Centre after his arrest on 25 December 2015. On 22 April 2016, upon reaching the four-month limit for investigations permissible under the ATP, the court ordered the Federal Police to close the investigation. Yet Getachew remained in police custody and on 23 May was charged under the ATP. He has since been moved to the Kilinto detention centre.

“The Ethiopian government is using laws and judicial processes that fail to meet international human rights standards to harass and stifle dissent, targeting activists, human rights defenders, opposition party leaders and journalists ” said Haben Fecadu, Campaigner at Amnesty International.

Despite repeated calls from CSOs, independent UN experts, the European Parliament, and numerous governments, including the United States, the Ethiopian authorities continue to arbitrarily detain and prosecute scores of peaceful protestors for exercising their rights, using the broad provisions of the ATP to criminalise peaceful expressions of dissent. Since the enactment of the ATP in 2009, human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and peaceful protestors have been prosecuted and convicted under its provisions.

“The international community – including the United Nations – should unconditionally condemn the arbitrary arrest and detention of human rights defenders in Ethiopia,” said Hassan Shire, Executive Director of DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project). “The Ethiopian government’s use of counter-terrorism as a smokescreen to target the peaceful work of human rights defenders is an affront to its regional and international obligations.”

Most recently, on 10 May 2016, blogger Zelalem Workagenehu was sentenced to five years and four months in prison under the ATP. Zelalem, who works for the independent diaspora blog, De Birhan, was convicted under charges of conspiring to overthrow the government and supporting terrorism under the ATP. The activities on which these charges were based included organising a digital security training course and reporting on the peaceful protest movements in the country. Though the Federal High Court acquitted some of his co-defendants on 15 April 2016, the police re-arrested two of them only hours after they were released from Kilinto Prison on 17 April 2016 and detained them at Maekelawi Prison for a night. Yonathan Wolde and Bahiru Degu were charged with applying to participate in the same training, described by the government as “training to terrorise the country,” and of being members of Ginbot 7, a banned Ethiopian opposition party, which they deny.

Zelalem and Bahiru described for the trial court their conditions of and treatment in detention. Zelalem said he was detained in “Siberia” in the central Maekelawi Prison in Addis Ababa and was tortured by interrogators.

“Independent civil society and media is being quashed out of existence in Ethiopia,” said Tor Hodenfield, Policy and Advocacy Officer at CIVICUS. “The international community must call for more than tokenistic releases of human rights defenders and encourage the Ethiopian government to support avenues of peaceful dissent.”

Several members and leaders of opposition political parties have also been targeted under the ATP. Bekele Gerba and 21 other individuals were arrested on 23 December 2016, and charged under the ATP. They were then held for a four-month long investigation without access to their lawyer. Authorities transferred them to Kilinto Detention Centre on 22 April 2016. On 11 May 2016, the Prison Administration declined to bring the defendants to Lideta Federal High Court since all the defendants wore black suits, in expression of their mourning for the people killed during the protests. On 4 May 2016, former Spokesperson of the opposition Semayawi (Blue) Party, Yonathan Tesfaye Regassa, was charged with “incitement, planning, preparation, conspiracy and attempt” to commit a terrorism related act under the ATP.

On 25 April 2016, the Federal High Court sentenced the former Governor of Gambella Region, Okello Akway Ochalla, to nine years imprisonment under the ATP. Okello fled Ethiopia after the 2003 massacre in the region, and obtained Norwegian citizenship. He was arbitrarily arrested in South Sudan in March 2014 and handed over to Ethiopian security forces. He was originally charged under the ATP. The trial of Okello and his co-defendants was marred by violations of fair trial guarantees and including the use of witness testimonies in exchange for non-prosecution under the ATP.

The undersigned CSOs demand the competent Ethiopian authorities to take the necessary steps to bring the ATP in line with its international, regional and constitutional human rights obligations and immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and opposition party leaders and members imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights.

• Amnesty International
• Article 19
• Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE)
• CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
• Civil Rights Defenders
• Defend Defenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Right Defenders Project)
• Ethiopia Human Rights Project (EHRP)
• Front Line Defenders
• International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

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Petition launched against Tedros Adhanom’s WHO candidacy

Oppose Tedros Adhanom’s candidacy for Director-General of WHO

Click here to sign the Petition 

Tedros Adhanom, a politburo member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that has been ruling Ethiopia for the last 25 years is in the inner circle of the regime well known for its systematic patterns of political repression and egregious human rights violations against Ethiopian citizens. The abysmal human rights record of the Ethiopian regime is very well documented by all the major international rights groups (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Freedom House) as well as by the U.S. State Department in its annual human rights report.

In 2008, under his watch at the Federal Ministry of Health (2005-2012) there was a major cholera outbreak in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region. As a result of the deliberate inaction of Dr. Adhanom, the preventable and treatable outbreak tragically claimed many lives. Dr. Adhanom’s tenure as head of the Federal Ministry of Health was fraught with mismanagement and gross incompetence particularly as it relates to the monies (USD 1,306,035,989) granted from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM).

The audit by the Office of the Inspector General into the USD 1,306,035,989 allocated to Ethiopia found: 1) misappropriation of funds and use of donor funds for unsound and politically motivated programs, 2) substandard quality of constructed health facilities and 3) ineligible expenditures. It was the recommendation of the OIG that the Ethiopian government should refund USD 7,026,929 to the Global Fund.  To this day, no action  has been taken  by the Ethiopian government to refund the money.

The candidate for Director General of a prestigious organization such as the WHO should not only be a person of high personal achievement but should also embody the highest adherence to internationally recognized human rights standards. Dr. Adhanom’s record as one of the leaders of the ruling party in Ethiopia and specifically his record as Minister of Health does not meet the exceedingly high standards required for a Director General of the WHO.

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እነብርሀኑ ተ/ያሬድ ያለቀጠሮአቸው ተገደው ፍርድ ቤት ቀረቡ

--ፍርድ ቤቱ የተከሳሾችን የመከላኪያ ምስክሮች በምን ጭብጥ የሚሉትን እንዲናገሩ ከምስክሮቹ ቀጠሮ አስቀድሞ እንዲገለፁ ጠይቋል፡፡
--ተከሳሾቹ ፍርድ ቤቱ እና ማረሚያ ቤት ህገወጥ ጫናና ወከባ እየፈጠሩብን ይገኛል ብለዋል፡፡

የክስ መዝገባቸው በከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ 14ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት በመታየት ላይ የሚገኘው 4 ተከሳሾች ብርሀኑ ተ/ያሬድ እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው-ፍቅረማርያም አስማማው እና አቶ ደሴ ፍርድ ቤቱ እንዲከላከሉ ብይን በመስጠት የመከላከያ ምስክር ለማቅረብ ከግንቦት 30-ሰኔ 8 ቀጠሮ ተይዞላቸው የነበረ ቢሆንም ዛሬ ግንቦት 23 ቀን 2008ዓም ያለቀጠሮአቸው ፍርድ ቤት እንዲቀርቡ ተደርገዋል፡፡

ተከሳሾቹ ዛሬ የፍርድ ቤት ቀጠሮ እንደሌላቸው ለማረሚያ ቤቱ ሀላፊዎች ቀድመው ከግቢ የገለፁ ቢሆንም ማረሚያ ቤቱ የጥበቃ ሃላፊዎች መቅረብ አለባችሁ በሚል ግዳጅ ወከባና ግፍተራ እንዲቀርቡ መገደዳቸው ለፍ/ቤቱ ሲገልፁ ለማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡ ተከሳሾቹ ፍርድ ቤት ከቀረቡ በኃላ የፍርድ ቤቱም ዳኛም “ዛሬ ቀጠሮ ባይኖራችሁም ፍርድ ቤቱ ማጣራት ያለበት ጉዳይ ስላለ ነው የጠራናችሁ”በማለት የተከሳሾቹ መከላከያ ምስክሮች የሚመሰክሩበትን ጭብጥ ተከሳሾቹ ለፍርድ ቤቱ እንዲያስረዱ ተጠይቀዋል፡፡ 

ቀደም ሲል ተከሳሾቹ ካስብት የመከላኪያ ምስክሮች ከ1-10 ከፍተኛ የመንግስት ኃላፊዎች መሆናቸው ይታወቃል፡፡የምስክሮቹ ጭብጥ ማሳወቅ የሚገባን ምስክረነት በሚሰጥበት ዕለት እንጂ ምስክሮቹ ከመቅረባቸው አስቀድሞ ለፍርድ ቤቱ የማሳወቅ ህጋዊ ግዴታ የሌለባቸው መሆኑን ተከሳሾቹ የገለፁ ሲሆን ፍርድ ቤቱ እየጠየቀ ያለው ቅድመ ሁኔታ ግን ህጋዊ መሰረት የሌለው እና የፍርድ ቤቱም ተኃማኒነት የት ድረስ እንደሆነ ያሳያል፡፡ የፍትህ ስርዓቱ አይን ያወጣ የገዢው ፓርቲ የአፈና መዋቅር ተፅኖ እንዳረፈበት በግልፅ የሚያሳይ ብለውታል፡፡.ተከሳሾቹ አያይዘው እንደገለፁት ለምስክሮች የተዘጋጀው መጥሪያ በፍርድ ቤቱ ዳኛ ተፈርሞ ለምስክሮቻቸው እንዲሰጥ ማረሚያ ቤቱ ለሚገኙ ተከሳሾች ከደረሳቸው በኃላ በድጋሚ “በፍርድ ቤት ትእዛዝ ነው” በሚል ምክንያት መጥሪያዎቹ የተነጠቁ መሆኑ በማረሚያ ቤቱ ሀላፊዎች በኩልም መከላከያ ምስክሮቻቸው እንዳይቀርቡ እየተደረገ ሲሆን
የገዢው ፓርቲ ከፍተኛ ባለስልጣናት ለምስክርነት ማስጠራታቸውን ተከትሎ እንዲሰርዙ ማስፈራርያና ወከባ እየደረሰባቸው መሆኑ አያይዘው ገልፀዋል፡፡ 

በመጨረሻም ተከሳሾቹ የምስክሮቻቸውን ጭብጥ ለፍርድ ቤቱ እንደማያሳውቁ በአፅኖት የገለፁ ቢሆንም የፍርድ ቤቱ ዳኛ “ከአነጋገራችሁ የምስክሮቹን ጭብጥ ለመረዳት ችለናል በመሆኑም ይህንኑ ጉዳይ መርምረን ለግንቦት 30-2008 ብይን እንሰጥበታለን “ በማለት ለተከሳሾቹ በደፈናው ትህዛዝ በመስጠት ተመልሰዋል።

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