Officials say over 11,000 arrested after state of emergency, opposition says figure much higher

A board entrusted with overseeing the martial law declared by the repressive regime in Ethiopia says over 11,000 people were arrested since the state of emergency was declared in early October, according to the state media. 

But opposition political parties say the figure is much higher than what the government bodies report. Dr. Merara Gudina, who gave his testimony at the European parliament on Wednesday put the number of arrested at 60,000.

The statement by the government says a total of 11,607 people have been detained at six detention centers across the country. The detainees were accused of inciting violence, destroying government properties and carrying flags of political parties outlawed by the regime as terrorist groups.

Dr. Gudina reported at a European Parliament hearing that at least 1500 people were killed in the last one year of protests by security forces while 60,000 were detained without due process of law. He also reported that up to 600 people lost their lives at the Ireecha religious festival in October when regime forces fired shots and used teargas at the millions of party goers resulting in deadly stampede. Ethiopian regime officials insist only 55 people lost their lives at the festival.

Ethiopia is hit by a wave of deadly protests against a repressive regime for the last one year resulting in the death of hundreds of people in the hands of security forces. In a frantic reaction to the protest, the regime declared a state of emergency last month and shutdown the Internet.

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እነ በቀለ ገርባ ላይ የአቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮች አልተሰሙም፤ የቂሊንጦ ማ/ቤት ተጠርጣሪዎችን አሟልቶ አላቀረበም

‹‹እሰነጥቅሃለሁ ተብያለሁ›› አቶ በቀለ ገርባ

በኢትዮጵያ ኦሮሚያ ክልል ውስጥ የተቀሰቀሰውን ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞ ተከትሎ ለእስር ተዳርገው የሽብር ክስ የቀረበባቸው የኦፌኮ ከፍተኛ አመራሮችና አባላት ከሦስት ወራት በኋላ እንደገና ወደ ችሎት ሲመለሱ የአቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮችን ለመስማት ቀጠሮ በመያዝ የነበር ቢሆንም፣ በእስር የሚገኙበት የቂሊንጦ ማረሚያ ቤት አስተዳደር ተጠርጣሪዎችን አሟልቶ ባለማቅረቡ ምክንያት ምስክሮቹ ሳይሰሙ ተለዋጭ ቀጠሮ ተሰጥቷል፡፡

የፌደራል ከፍተኛ ፍ/ቤት ልደታ ምድብ 4ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ዛሬ ህዳር 2/2009 ዓ.ም በዋለው ችሎት ላይ እንደተመለከተው በእነ ጉርሜሳ አያኖ የክስ መዝገብ ከተካተቱት ተጠርጣሪዎች (22 ሰዎች) መካከል 5ቱን ማ/ቤቱ አላቀረባቸውም፡፡ የቂሊንጦ ማ/ቤት አስተዳደር ህዳር 2/2009 ዓ.ም ለፍርድ ቤቱ በጻፈው ደብዳቤ እንደገለጸው ‹4ቱ ተጠርጣሪዎች በቂሊንጦ የደረሰውን የእሳት ቃጠሎ አደጋ ተከትሎ ሸዋሮቢት ማ/ቤት ተወስደው ስላልተመለሱ› ማቅረብ አልቻለም፡፡ ማ/ቤቱ ሸዋሮቢት እንደሚገኙ ያመለከታቸው ተጠርጣሪዎች ገላና ነጋሪ፣ ገመቹ ሻንቆ፣ ደረጀ መርጋ እና ቶምሳ አብዲሳ ናቸው፡፡

ሆኖም ግን ማ/ቤቱ በስም ጠቅሶ ሸዋሮቢት ስለሆኑ ማቅረብ አለመቻሉን ከጠቀሰው ሌላ አንድ ተጠርጣሪ ችሎት አለመገኘቱን በማጣራት ፍ/ቤቱ ተጠርጣሪውን ለምን እንዳላቀረበ የማ/ቤቱን ተወካይ ጠይቋል፡፡ ሆኖም የዕለቱ ጉዳይ አስፈጻሚ ም/ሰርጀንት ዘውዱ ወልደማርያም ተጠርጣሪው በእርግጥ የት እንደሚገኝ እንደማያውቁ ተናግረዋል፡፡ ይህ የት እንዳለ ያልታወቀው ተጠርጣሪ ጭምሳ አብዲሳ ይባላል፡፡

በዛሬው የችሎት ውሎ ተጠርጣሪዎች ብቻ ሳይሆኑ ጠበቆችም ተሟልተው አለመቅረባቸው ታውቋል፡፡ የብዙዎቹ ተጠርጣሪዎች ጠበቃ የሆኑት አቶ ወንድሙ ኢብሳ አልቀረቡም፡፡ ተከሳሾችም ጠበቃቸው ከቀጠሮ በፊት ደንበኞቻቸውን ለማነጋገር ወደቂሊንጦ ሄደው ማግኘት እንደማይችሉ ተነገሯቸው መመለሳቸውን ከማወቃቸው ውጭ በዛሬው ችሎት ለምን እንዳልቀረቡ እንደማያውቁ ለችሎቱ ተናግረዋል፡፡ በችሎት የቀረቡት ሌሎች ጠበቆችም ቢሆን ቂሊንጦ ማ/ቤት ደንበኞቻቸውን በነጻነት ስለጉዳያቸው ለማነጋገር እንዳይችሉ እንቅፋት እየፈጠረባቸው መሆኑን አመልክተዋል፡፡

ችሎቱ ዛሬ የተሰየመው የአቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮችን ለመስማት መሆኑን በመጥቀስ አቃቤ ህግ ከአጠቃላይ 42 ምስክሮቹ መካከል አምስቱ መቅረባቸውን በመግለጽ ምስክሮቹ ቀርበው እንዲሰሙለት ጠይቋል፡፡ ሆኖም ግን ተከሳሾቹ ሁሉም ተሟልተው ባልተገኙበት ሁኔታ ምስክር ሊሰማ እንደማይገባ ጠቅሰው ተቃውመዋል፡፡ ተከሳሾቹ በክሱ ላይ በጋራ የቀረበባቸው ፍሬ ነገር ስላለ በተናጠል ምስክሮች ቢደመጡ መብታችንን ይነካል በሚል በጠበቆቻቸው አማካኝነት አስረድተዋል፡፡

በሌላ በኩል አቶ በቀለ ገርባ አሁን ጉዳያቸውን እየየ የሚገኘው ችሎት በክስ መቃወሚያቸው ላይ ጉዳያቸው በፌደራል ፍ/ቤት ሳይሆን በኦሮሚያ ክልል ፍ/ቤቶች ሊታይ ይገባል በሚል ያነሱትን ህገ-መንግስታዊ የመብት ጥያቄ በጣሰ መልኩ ሐምሌ 25/2008 ዓ.ም መቃወሚያቸውን ውድቅ ማድረጉን በማስታወስ፣ በፍ/ቤቱ ገለልተኝነት ላይ ጥያቄ ስላላቸው ችሎት ቀርበው ክርክር ለማድረግ እንደማይፈልጉ ቀደም ብለውም ገልተጸው እንደነበር ጠቅሰው በዛሬው ችሎት ላይም ፖሊስ በጉልበት እየደበደበ እንዳቀረባቸው አስረድተዋል፡፡

አቶ በቀለ ሌሎችንም ተከሳሾች በመወከል እንዳስረዱት ከዚህም በኋላ ችሎት የሚቀርቡ ከሆነ ተገደው እየቀረቡ እንዳሉ ችሎቱ እንዲያውቅላቸው ጠይቀዋል፡፡ ፍ/ቤቱ ውድቅ ያደረገባቸውንና በክስ መቃወሚያ የጠቀሱትን ይህንኑ የህገ-መንግስት ጉዳይ ከጠበቆቻቸው ጋር ተመካክረው ወደ ፌደሬሽን ም/ቤት የመውሰድ ሀሳብ እንዳላቸውም ጠቅሰዋል፡፡

ፖሊስ በጉልበት መኪና ውስጥ ካስገባን በኋላ ‹‹እሰነጥቅሃለሁ›› የሚል ዛቻ እንደደረሰባቸው፣ ይህን የተናገረውን ፖሊስ ችሎት ፊት ጠቁመው በማሳየት ጭምር ገልጸዋል፡፡ ሆኖም ግን ይህን ዛቻ ያደረሰውን ፖሊስ ችሎቱ አንድም ጥያቄ ሳያቀርብለት አልፎታል፡፡
በመጨረሻም ፍ/ቤቱ በዛሬው ውሎ ያልቀረቡ ተከሳሾችን ማ/ቤት እንዲያቀርብ፣ 7ኛ ተከሳሽ ጭምሳ አብዲሳን ማ/ቤት ለምን እንዳላቀረባቸው ምክንያት እንዲያስረዳ እንዲሁም የኦሮምኛና ስዋህሊ ቋንቋዎች አስተርጓሚዎች እንዲመደቡ ትዕዛዝ በመስጠት ተከሳሾቹ ተሟልተው ሲቀርቡ የአቃቤ ህግ ምስክሮችን ለመስማት ለህዳር 6/2009 ዓ.ም ተለዋጭ ቀጠሮ ሰጥቷል፡፡ ፍ/ቤት ማንኛውም ተከሳሽ በቀጠሮው ዕለት የፍ/ቤቱን ትዕዛዝ አክብሮ መገኘት እንዳለበትም ማሳሰቢያ ሰጥቷል፡፡

በዛሬው የችሎት ውሎ የኦሮምኛ ቋንቋ አስተርጓሚ ችሎቱ ባለማቅረቡ ከተከሳሾች መካከል አቶ በቀለ ገርባ በአጋዥነት ሲያስተረጉሙ ውለዋል፡፡ የዛሬውን ችሎት ከተከሳሽ ቤተሰቦች በተጨማሪ የዲፕሎማቲክ ኮሚኒቲ ተወካዮችና ጋዜጠኞች ተከታትለውታል፡፡

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Ethiopian opposition briefs members of EU Parliament

Ethiopian opposition party representatives and marathon star Feyissa Lelisa  on Wednesday briefed members of the European Parliament on the crises in Ethiopia urging EU member states to stop financing a brutal regime in Ethiopia.

The delegation includes Prof. Berhnu Nega, Chairman of Patriotic Ginbot 7, Merara Gudina, Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress, as well as Feyisa Lilesa, Rio Olympic silver medalist known worldwide for showing a protest gesture at the Olympic.

Prof. Berhanu Nega, who on the occasion said Ethiopia is at the crossroads, cautioned that there were only two options: resolve the crises in a peaceful manner or engage in full scale war with the regime.

Nega, who described the situation in Ethiopia as deeply troubling even to foreign observers, warned that unless a solution is sought immediately, the cises in the country could reach a point of no return.
He said the uprising in the Oromo and Amhara regions as well as the Ogaden, which he said was a war zone, is leading the country into a deep crises. 

“What Ethiopians demand is the same peace, security and democracy that is being enjoyed by the people of Europe,” Nega said and added it was ironical that countries who are watchdogs of democracy were also allies of the tyrannical regime in Ethiopia in the name of geo politics and fighting terrorism. “Tyranny is the source of terrorism,” Nega said.

Merara Gudina on his part called for the rubber stamp parliament in Addis Ababa to be dissolved and for the establishment of a transitional government.

Feyisa Lelisa, who said the suffering of Ethiopians under a brutal regime still continues called on the European countries to stop financing tyranny in Ethiopia.

Up to 1500 people were killed and close to 60,000 detained in the last one year of protests, according to Merara. About 600 were also killed in one day in October as millions gathered for a religious ceremony. Security forces shot at party goers creating a massive stampede. Some of the protesters died from gunshot wounds.

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80 Members of Blue Party are in prison

Blue Party indicated 80 of its members, including executive members, are being detained in various Addis Ababa police stations.

An executive member of the Party has also revealed, amongst the 80 prisoners, only three have appeared in court. It is also known that, one of the party’s executive members who were ordered to be released by the court is still in prison. It has proved to be difficult to get the response of the police regarding the matter.

Public Relations officer, Mr. Solomon Tesema, in his interview with VOA revealed, at present numerous party members and loyalist are kept in prison throughout the country.

In continuing, the Public Relations Officer stated, in Addis Ababa alone, in Yeka Sub-city, Bela police station; in Gulele Sub-city, Lazarit police station; in Arada Sub-city, Gedam Sefer police station;  as well as in Addis Ketema Sub-city, Quas Meda police station; there are over 85 Blue Party members and supporters in detention. Amongst these are found, the Party’s foreign relations officer, Mr. Abebe Akalu and the party’s Women’s Affairs officer Mrs. Belen Mesfin as well as the Party’s Chairperson of the council, Mr. Yidnekachew Kebede.

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Ethiopia: After a year of protests, time to address grave human rights concerns

(Amnesty international) Nearly one year on from the start of a wave of protests that has left at least 800 people dead at the hands of security forces, the Ethiopian government must take concrete steps to address grave human rights concerns in the country, Amnesty International said today.

The protests began in the central Oromia region on 12 November 2015, in opposition to the Addis Ababa Masterplan, a government plan to extend the capital Addis Ababa’s administrative control into parts of the Oromia.

“A year after these deadly protests began, tensions in Ethiopia remain high and the human rights situation dire, with mass arrests internet shutdowns and sporadic clashes between the security forces and local communities, especially in the north of the country,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

“It’s high time the Ethiopian authorities stopped paying lip service to reform and instead took concrete steps to embrace it, including by releasing the myriad political prisoners it is holding merely for expressing their opinions. They should also repeal the repressive laws that imprisoned them in the first place, including the draconian Anti-Terrorism Proclamation that has also contributed to the unrest.”

Even after the Addis Ababa Masterplan was scrapped in January 2016, protests continued with demonstrators demanding an end to human rights violations, ethnic marginalization and the continued detention of Oromo leaders.

The protests later expanded into the Amhara region with demands for an end to arbitrary arrests and ethnic marginalization. They were triggered by attempts by the security forces to arrest Colonel Demeka Zewdu, one of the leaders of the Wolqait Identity and Self-Determination Committee, on alleged terrorism offences. Wolqait, an administrative district in the Tigray region, has been campaigning for reintegration into the Amhara region, to which it belonged until 1991.

Just as in Oromia, security forces responded with excessive and lethal force in their efforts to quell the protests. Amnesty International estimates that at least 800 people have been killed since the protests began, most of them in the two regions.

One of the worst single incidents took place on 2 October 2016 when at least 55 people were trampled to death in a stampede during the Oromo religious festival of Irrecha, held in the town of Bishoftu, about 45 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa. Oromo activists blamed the stampede on the security forces who they said fired live rounds and tear gas into the crowd causing a panic. The authorities deny any wrongdoing.

No protests have been observed since a state of emergency was declared on 9 October, but this has come at the steep price of increased human rights violations, including mass arbitrary arrests and media restrictions, including internet blockages.

“The Ethiopian government’s heavy-handed response to largely peaceful protests started a vicious cycle of protests and totally avoidable bloodshed. If it does not address the protesters’ grievances, we are concerned that it is only a matter of time before another round of unrest erupts,” said Michelle Kagari.

“The restrictive measures imposed as part of the state of emergency only sweeps the underlying issues under the carpet. To fully address the situation, the government must genuinely commit to human rights, including by amending legislation like the anti-terrorism proclamation to bring it fully in line with Ethiopia’s human rights obligations; and ensure its people can enjoy their right to express their opinions including those which criticise government policy and action; and their right to peaceful assembly.”

 

Background

Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009 includes an overly broad and vague definition of terrorist acts and a definition of “encouragement of terrorism” that makes the publication of statements “likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts” punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.

The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has repeatedly promised to undertake fundamental reform in governance, but has shown no overt sign of genuine commitment to reform. It continues to use excessive force against largely peaceful protesters, labelling them as anti-peace forces, instead of acknowledging and addressing their legitimate grievances.

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Relatives of Ethiopian Australians arrested in Retaliation for Protest

The Ethiopian government has arrested and detained dozens of relatives of Ethiopians who participated in a Melbourne protest in June, 2016, and is still holding many of them four months later, Human Rights Watch said today.

On June 12, members of Australia’s Ethiopian community who are from Somali Regional State protested the visit to Australia of an Ethiopian regional government delegation that included Abdi Mohamoud Omar, known as Abdi Iley, the president of Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State. They were also protesting Australia’s support for the Ethiopian government. The Ethiopian delegation did not appear, and after several hours the event was cancelled. The protesters later learned that several dozen of their relatives in Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State had been arrested and detained due to their involvement in the Melbourne protest.

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Congressman Urges State Department to Boldly Address Ethiopian Violence

Representative Mike Coffman of the Colorado 6th District today sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging “bold” action to address issues associated with the Ethiopian government’s excessive use of force against anti-government protesters in the Oromo and Amhara regions of Ethiopia.

“On behalf of the Ethiopian-American community in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, we are deeply concerned over the continued violence in the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia,” Coffman said in a letter to Kerry.

“The Ethiopian government’s excessive use of force during early protests against the government has led to a much broader response as a large number of Ethiopian citizens question their diminishing freedoms under what the State Department has indicated is an increasingly authoritarian Ethiopian government.”

The Congressman further writes “It is clearly in the best interests of the United States and the Ethiopian people to work to ensure the Ethiopian government promotes basic freedoms and does not sponsor, condone, or tolerate the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters,”

“I also urge the State Department to closely scrutinize U.S. humanitarian and economic aid provided to Ethiopia,” representative Coffman said in the letter.

                                                      Rep. Mike Coffman

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