Ethiopia government intensified its crackdown on dissent ahead of the May 2015 elections – HRW

January 29, 2015 | Filed underHuman Rights | Posted by admin

Hopes that Ethiopia’s government would ease its crackdown on dissent ahead of the May 2015 elections were dashed in 2014.

Instead the government continued to use arbitrary arrests and prosecutions to silence journalists, bloggers, protesters, and supporters of opposition political parties; police responded to peaceful protests with excessive force; and there was no indication of any government willingness to amend repressive legislation that was increasingly condemned for violating international standards, including at Ethiopia’s Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

Security forces have harassed and detained leaders and supporters of Ethiopian opposition parties. In July, leaders of the Semawayi (“Blue”) Party, the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), and the Arena Tigray Party were arrested. At time of writing, they had not been charged but remained in detention.

The Semawayi Party’s attempts to hold protests were regularly blocked in 2014. Its applications to hold demonstrations were denied at least three times and organizers were arrested. Over the course of the year, authorities repeatedly harassed, threatened, and detained party leaders.

In June, Andargachew Tsige, a British citizen and secretary general of the Ginbot 7 organization, a group banned for advocating armed overthrow of the government, was deported to Ethiopia from Yemen while in transit. The transfer violated international law prohibitions against sending someone to a country where they are likely to face torture or other mistreatment. Tsige had twice been sentenced to death in absentia for his involvement with Ginbot 7. He was detained incommunicado in Ethiopia without access to family members, legal counsel, or United Kingdom consular officials for more than six weeks. He remains in detention in an unknown location.

Protests by members of some Muslim communities against perceived government interference in their religious affairs continued in 2014, albeit with less frequency. As in 2013, these protests were met by excessive force and arbitrary arrests from security forces. The trials continue of the 29 protest leaders who were arrested and charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation in July 2012.

In April and May, protests erupted in towns throughout the region of Oromia against the planned expansion of Addis Ababa’s municipal boundary into Oromia. Security personnel used excessive force, including live ammunition, against protesters in several cities. At least several dozen people were confirmed dead and hundreds were arrested. Many of them remain in custody without charge.

Restrictions on human rights monitoring and on independent media make it difficult to ascertain the precise extent of casualties and arrests. Foreign journalists who attempted to reach the demonstrations were turned away or detained by security personnel. Ethnic Oromos make up approximately 45 percent of Ethiopia’s population and are often arbitrarily arrested and accused of belonging to the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

Freedom of Association

The Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO law), enacted in 2009, has severely curtailed the ability of independent nongovernmental organizations to work on human rights. The law bars work on human rights, good governance, conflict resolution, and advocacy on the rights of women, children and people with disabilities if organizations receive more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign sources. The law was more rigorously enforced in 2014.

In March, Ethiopia was approved for membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which promotes transparency on oil, gas, and mining revenues, despite the requirement for candidate countries to make a commitment to meaningful participation of independent groups in public debate on natural resource management. Ethiopia’s previous application was denied in 2010 based on concerns over the CSO law.

Freedom of Expression

Media remain under a government stranglehold, with many journalists having to choose between self-censorship, harassment and arrest, or exile. In 2014, dozens of journalists and bloggers fled the country following threats. In August 2014, the owners of six private newspapers were charged following a lengthy campaign of threats and harassment against their publications. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Ethiopia is one of three countries in the world with the highest number of journalists in exile.

Since 2009, the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation has been used to target political opponents, stifle dissent, and silence journalists. In July, Ethiopia charged 10 bloggers and journalists known as the Zone 9 Collective under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation after they spent over 80 days in pre-charge detention. The charges included having links to banned opposition groups and trying to violently overthrow the government. The bloggers regularly wrote about current events in Ethiopia. Among the evidence cited was attending a digital security training course in Kenya and the use of “security in-a-box”–a publicly available training tool used by advocates and human rights defenders. Due process concerns have marred the court proceedings.

Other journalists convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation-including Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, and Woubshet Taye-remain in prison.

The government continues to block even mildly critical web pages and blogs. The majority of opposition media websites are blocked and media outlets regularly limit their criticism of government in order to be able to work in the country.

The government regularly monitors and records telephone calls, particularly international calls, among family members and friends. Such recordings are often played during interrogations in which detainees are accused of belonging to banned organizations. Mobile networks have been shut down during peaceful protests and protesters’ locations identified using information from their mobile phones. The government has monitored digital communications using highly intrusive spyware that monitors all activity on an individual’s computer, including logging of keystrokes and recording of skype calls. The government’s monopoly over all mobile and Internet services through its sole, state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, facilitates abuse of surveillance powers.

Abuses of Migrant Workers

Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians continue to pursue economic opportunities in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, and other Gulf countries, risking mistreatment from human traffickers along the migration routes. In Yemen, migrants have been taken captive by traffickers in order to extort large sums of money from their family members. In late 2013 and early 2014, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, mainly Ethiopians, were detained and deported from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia. Saudi security forces and civilians attacked Ethiopians, prompting restrictions on migration to certain countries.

Forced Displacement

Both the government of Ethiopia and the donor community failed to adequately investigate allegations of abuses associated with Ethiopia’s “villagization program.” Under this program, 1.5 million rural people were planned to be relocated, ostensibly to improve their access to basic services. Some relocations during the program’s first year in Gambella region were accompanied by violence, including beatings, arbitrary arrests, and insufficient consultation and compensation.

A 2013 complaint to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel from Ethiopian refugees, the institution’s independent accountability mechanism, continues to be investigated. Ethiopian refugees alleged that the bank violated its own policies on indigenous people and involuntary resettlement in the manner a national program was implemented in Gambella. In July, a UK court ruled that allegations that the UK Department for International Development (DFID) did not adequately assess evidence of human rights violations in the villagization program deserved a full judicial review. The judicial review had yet to be heard at time of writing.

Ethiopia is continuing to develop sugar plantations in the Lower Omo Valley, clearing 245,000 hectares of land that is home to 200,000 indigenous people. Indigenous people continue to be displaced without appropriate consultation or compensation. Households have found their grazing land cleared to make way for state-run sugar plantations, and access to the Omo River, used for growing food, restricted. Individuals who have questioned the development plans face arrest and harassment. Local and foreign journalists have been restricted from accessing the Omo Valley to cover these issues.

LGBT Rights

Ethiopia’s criminal code punishes consensual adult same-sex relations with up to 15 years in prison. In March, Ethiopia’s lawmakers proposed legislation that would make same-sex conduct a non-pardonable offense, thereby ensuring that LGBT people convicted under the law could not be granted early leave from prison. However, in April the government dropped the proposed legislation.

Ethiopia came for Universal Periodic Review in May 2014, and they rejected all recommendations to decriminalize same-sex conduct and to take measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Key International Actors

Ethiopia continues to enjoy unquestioned support from foreign donors and most of its regional neighbors, based on its role as host of the African Union (AU); its contribution to UN peacekeeping, security and aid partnerships with Western countries; and its stated progress on development indicators.

Its relations with Egypt are strained due to Ethiopia’s construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam, which will divert water from the Nile and is due to be completed in 2018. In 2014, Ethiopia negotiated between warring parties in South Sudan, and its troops maintained calm in the disputed Abyei Region. Ethiopia continues to deploy its troops inside Somalia; they were included in the AU mission as of January.

Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of donor aid in Africa, receiving almost US$4 billion in 2014, which amounted to approximately 45 percent of its budget. Donors remain muted in their criticism of Ethiopia’s human rights record and took little meaningful action to investigate allegations of abuses. Donors, including the World Bank, have yet to take the necessary measures to ensure that their development aid does not contribute to or exacerbate human rights problems in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia rejected recommendations to amend the CSO law and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation that several countries made during the examination of its rights record under the Universal Periodic Review in May.

Source: http://www.hrw.org/

Andargachew Tsige and the struggle for freedom

January 15, 2015 | Filed underEnglish | Posted by admin

(By Yilma Bekele)

Political refugee Andy Tsege ‘kidnapped’ by Ethopia and possibly facing torture

Andargachew Tsige was taken prisoner by the TPLF Woyane regime on June 24/’13 while on transit at Sana, Yemen International Airport. He was removed from the airplane and flown to
Ethiopia. What was done was against all international conventions and is considered illegal. Ever since then he has been held in secret locations being interrogated as stated by the Ethiopian regime.

The illegal act has been condemned by most Ethiopian Opposition groups, the British Government, EU Parliamentarian Ana Gomez, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Ethiopians both at home and in the Diaspora. As usual the Ethiopian government choose to ignore the concerns of all that care about the rule of law.

We Ethiopians are not surprised by the actions of the regime. It is just another illegal act by the few in a long procession of criminal acts committed against the people of Ethiopia. As a matter of fact we have become numb to the atrocities by the minority ethnic group in power. As far as Ethiopians are concerned it is just another abuse. We have been programed to shrug it off.

Arresting or taking the opposition member and painting the individual as a criminal element is not an act invented by the Ethiopian regime. Capitalist, Communist, Socialist, Monarchist or Fascist as the case may be always find some sort of justification to abuse the power they have and use negative labels to neutralize their opponents.

The Ethiopian regime has raised this act to higher level. In fact in the aftermath of the general elections in 2005, the late dictator put the whole opposition in prison for two years and released
them by forcing them to sign a fake apology. Since the emergence of TPLF as the victorious group and assuming power there is not one Ethiopian opposition group that has not sacrificed a leader to the Woyane Party. There is no need to mention names because this was not done in secret or under the cover of darkness but in broad daylight for the people to see and learn.

Ato Andargachew is just one additional victim. Ato Andargachew is viewed by the TPLF regime as the ultimate prisoner because he emphatically stated that the TPLF regime can only be brought down using violence as a means. He was not shy about it nor did he go underground. He did not just talk about it but went one step further and organized a group to practice what he preached. That was what the regime feared most and that is why they spent millions to follow all his movements and commit the ultimate crime of kidnapping.

I, with clear conscience cannot fault them for that. He was doing what he has to do to bring freedom and justice to our country. They did what they have to do to protect the power they have amassed the last twenty years knowing full well any change that comes to Ethiopia would ultimately end with those that committed the many crimes have to answer to a real court of law. It is a life or death struggle to TPLF politburo members and their underlings. It is a life and death struggle to my friend Andargachew and his comrades.

As we begin the New Year with hopes for the future and good will to all the TPLF regime commemorated this joyous event by releasing a video meant to discourage us from the struggle, show how powerful the regime is and warn all others not to dare be involved in the quest for freedom and democracy. I have not watched the video. I have no intention of watching it either. My curiosity does not include being made sad, angry or lose hope and contemplate about man’s inhumanity to man. This is not the first time the regime has used poorly made video to convince us of their methods of interrogation. A few weeks after his arrest they released one poorly edited video and it was rejected by all for its simplicity and shameless pandering. They have tried the same trick with our brave friend Abubaker from the Muslim peaceful movement that is demanding non-interference in their religion. No one paid attention and all they harvested was more despise.

Why are they doing such inhuman deed? The simple answer is because they do not know any better. They seem to think we lack a sliver of intelligence and are unable to differentiate wrong from right. They treat each other in such ways and they think it is natural. The TPLF is a party that does not tolerate dissent, believes in black and white with no gray in between and resort to violence at a drop of a hat. Because they follow without question, because they are void of trust in anything and anyone, because they have no respect except instill fear they logically assume we are all like that. They want to scare us because they are afraid. They want us to hate them because there is no love in their life. They want to degrade us because they have no selfrespect.

So what do we do with the video they so happily released in this time of holiday, hope and good will to all mankind? We ignore it. We do not allow them to come between us and our hope and dreams to our ancient land. What is done is despicable and reprehensive. It is a gross violation of ethics, morals and basic human decency. We tell such people we are not like that. We would not tolerate the use of a human being to score a cheap point.

They want publicity and we ignore them. They want to plant fear and we turn their own weapon on them and shame them. We ask all decent Ethiopian Web sites not to display the awful video and do TPLF’s dirty job. Let them wallow in their own degradation. We beg all not to succumb low to gain a few extra page view at the expense of my brother. There is nothing to be gained from such theatrics except doing exactly what TPLF plan for us. Posting such a video is being an accessory to a criminal act. Any decent Ethiopian knows the TPLF is a criminal organization with no redeeming value thus one additional criminal act will not make us any more knowledgeable about the mafia group. Let the Awramba Time, The Reporter and other trolls do the regimes dirty job.

I have known my brother Andargachew since 2006. He was a frequent visitor to our city on behalf of Knijit. The last time I saw my fiend was in 2012 in Seattle Washington. He was still tirelessly traveling the globe on behalf of our people. He is a kind and warm gentleman that speaks softly and listen before talking, make his point without shouting and instill the value of love to country and people. He only wanted what is good for all of us without regard for himself.

He did not own a house, a big car or dress fancy because that was not what he stood for. He was taken prisoner when going to some far of place for relaxation and fun but he was on his way to the arid area of Northern Ethiopia and Southern Eritrea where he was doing what he liked most-teaching his troops the value of sacrifice on our behalf.

I am sad my brother have to go through such inhuman treatment. I am angry because today we do not have a force that would smash the prison walls and free my brother. I am sorry that we are not at a point where we would take one of the politburo members and trade him for my brother. That is my wish. But I also understand good things come out of a bad situation. The idiot act by the TPLF Woyane would also convince my people that the enemy in front of us is void of human values and no amount of peaceful dialogue would work with such animals. They are incapable of reason and take silence for weakness. They came by force and the only language they understand is when spoken to by force. Their aggression is born out of cowardice.

It is not difficult to take a human being keep him in isolation, starve him, deny him daylight and sleep and pump him with chemicals to make him confess to any and all crime. Cowards do that
because they miscalculate the intelligence of the rest of us. Today my brother Andargachew is a free person. He has done all he could on our behalf. Nothing they say he did or said is going to convince us to see him in a different light. Nothing they do to him or make him say is going to lower his dignity in our eyes. It only make him bigger than life. His family, comrades and friends will always remember the gentle loving Andargachew. No amount of propaganda would ever change that

የሰላም በሮች ሲዘጉ የሁለገብ ትግል ስልት በሮች ይከፈታሉ!!!

January 27, 2015 | Filed underG7 Editorial,Slider Post | Posted by admin

አንድነት ለዲሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ በምርጫ ቦርድ አማካይነት እየደረሰበት ያለውን በደል ለሕዝብ ለማሰማት ጥር 17 ቀን 2007 ዓም በአዲስ አበባ፣ ደብረ ማርቆስ፣ ጂንካና ሸዋ ሮቢት የተቃውሞ ሰልፎችን ጠርቶ ነበር። በተለይ በአዲስ አበባው ሰልፍ ላይ የተገኙ ወገኖቻችን ለህወሓት ፍጹም ታማኝ በሆነው የፓሊስ ክፍል ያለርህራሄ መደብደባቸው እና የተቃውሞ ሰልፉም በጉልበት መበተኑ ነፃነትና ፍትህ ናፋቂውን የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ያሳዘነ ብቻ ሳይሆነ ያስቆጨ ጉዳይ ነው። በመላው ዓለም በሚደረጉ የተቃውሞ ሰልፎች ላይ የተለመደውን ድንጋይ ውርወራ እንኳን ሳይከጅሉ፤ የፓሊሶችን ሰብዓዊ ርህራሄ ለማግኘት “ፓሊስ የኛ ነው” እያሉ እየዘመሩ በፓሊስ ተደበደቡ። ሴቶችና አዛውንት ብቻ ሳይሆን ተላላፊ መንገደኞች እንኳን ከፓሊስ ዱላ አላመለጡም። ከሁሉም በላይ የሚዘገንነው ደግሞ የ 7 ወራት ነብሰ ጡር ሴትም በፓሊስ መመታትዋና ሆዷ መረገጡ ነው። ይህ እኩይ ተግባር የሚፈጥረው ቁጭት በህወሓት ላይ ብቻ አያበቃም። ትዝብቱ ለፓሊስም ተርፏል። ይህ የጭካኔ ተግባር ለፍትህና ለነፃነት በሚደረገው ትግል የሕዝብ አጋር ይሆናል ተብሎ ተስፋ የተጣለበት የፓሊስ ሠራዊትን የሚያዋርድ ነው። ደካማ እናቶችን፣ አረጋዊያንን፣ ባዶ እጃቸውን ተቃውሞ እያሰሙ ያሉትን ወጣቶችንና ነፍሰጡሮችን በጭካኔ መደብደብ ለራሱና ለሥራው ክብር ለሚሰማው ፓሊስ ውርደት ነው፤ የሞት ሞት ነው። የኢትዮጵያ የፓሊስ ሠራዊት አባላት ተግባራቸው ያሳፍራቸዋል፣ ይቆጫቸዋል፤ ቁጭታቸውንም ይህን ትዕዛዝ በሰጡ አለቆቻቸው ላይ በግልም ሆነ በተደራጀ መንገድ በሚወስዱት እርምጃ እናያለን ብሎ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ተስፋ ያደርጋል።

የጥር 17 ቀን 2007ቱ ሽብር በአንድ ወቅት የተፈጠረ፤ በአንድነት ፓርቲ ላይ ብቻ ያነጣጠረ፣ የተናጠል ክስተት ሳይሆን ህወሓት ደግሞ ደጋግሞ ሲፈጽመው የነበረ ነው። ከዚህ በፊት በሙስሊም ወገኖቻችን ላይ ፈጽሞታል። የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ማስተር ፕላንን በተቃወሙ የተለያዩ ዩንቨርስቲዎች ተማሪዎች በተለይም በአምቦ ላይ የብዙዎችን ሕይወት የቀጠፈ ሽብር ነዝቷል። በቅርቡ ደግሞ በሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት ላይ ተመሳሳይ አረመናዊ ድርጊት ፈጽሟል።

አርበኞች ግንቦት 7: ለአንድነትና ዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ፣ የህወሓት ታጣቂዎች በወገኖቻችን ላይ ያደረሱትን ድብደባ፣ ህገወጥ እስር፣ እና የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ ክልከላን አጥብቆ ይቃወማል። አርበኞች ግንቦት 7፣ በወገኖቻችን ላይ የደረሰው ህመም ህመሙ፣ ቁስላቸው ቁስሉ ነው።

ባለፉት ሃያ ሶስት ተከታታይ ዓመታት፣ በአምቦ፣ በጅማና በኦሮሚያ የተለያዩ ከተሞችና ገጠሮች፣ በባህዳር፣በጎንደርና በበርካታ የአማራ ከተሞችና ገጠሮች፣ በጋምቤላ፣ በሶማሊ፣ በአፋር፤ በአጠቃላይ በመላው ኢትዮጵያ በየአስፋልቱ፣ በየሜዳውና በየጥሻው በህወሓትና ተላላኪዎቻቸው የፈሰሰው የኢትዮጵያውያን ደም በከንቱ ፈሶ መቅረት የለበትም ብሎ አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 በጽኑ ያምናል። አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ከሌሎች መሰል ድርጅቶች ጋር በመተባበር የህወሓትን እድሜ በማሳጠር የእናቶቻችን እምባ ሊያብስ ዝግጁ ነው። አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ኢትዮጵዊያን እንደከብት እየተደበደቡ ወደ ማጎሪያ የሚያጋዙበት እና በጠገቡ ሰላዮችና ፓሊሶች እየታነቁ የሚታረዱበት ጊዜ ማብቃት አለበት ይላል።

የቱን ያህል ቢለመንም ሆነ ቢወገዝ ህወሓት ለነፃ፣ ፍትሃዊና ተዓማኒን ምርጫ ዝግጁ ሊሆን ቀርቶ በምርጫ የሚወዳደሩት ፓርቲዎች እነማን እንደሆኑና እነማን በእጩ ተወዳደሪነት መቅረብ እንዳለባቸው ሳይቀር የሚወስን ዓይን አውጣ አጭበርባሪ ድርጅት ነው። ይህንን ከዚህ በፊት አይተነዋል፤ አሁንም በአንድነትና በመኢአድ ላይ እየተደገመ ነው። ህወሓት፣ በየአምስቱ ዓመታቱ በሚያደርጋቸው የሴራ ምርጫዎች በሚቀጥሉት አርባና ከዚያም በላይ ለሆኑ ዓመታት በሥልጣን ላይ የሚቆይበትን ስልት ቀይሶ የሚንቀሳቀስ፤ ኢትዮጵያን ለብዙ ዓመታት ለመግዛት ማድረግ የሚችለውን ክፋት ሁሉ ከማድረግ የማይመለስ አገር በቀል ቅኝ ገዥ ነው። ህወሓት የዘረጋው ሥርዓት ህገ-አልባነት፣ ፀረ-ሕዝብነት እና አምባገንነት ለማጋለጥ በሚል ርህራሄን በማያውቁ የሥርዓቱ አገልጋዮች ፊት ባዶ እጅ መጋፈጥ የሚፈጥረው የሞራል የበላይነትና የመንፈስ ጀግንነት ባያጠራጥርም የሚያስከፍለው ዋጋ ከሚገኘው ውጤት ጋር ማመዛዘን ግን እጅግ ተገቢ የሆነ የማይታለፍ ሥራ ነው ብሎ አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ያምናል።

የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ከህወሓት የሴራ ምርጫ ፋይዳ ያለው ውጤት ይገኛል ብሎ አይጠብቅም። ከምርጫው የሚፈልገው ውጤት አንድ ነገር ብቻ ነው፤ እሱም የመንግሥት ለውጥ ነው። ምርጫው በምርጫነቱ ወደ መንግሥት ለውጥ አያደርስም፤ ወደ መንግሥት ለውጥ ወደሚያመራ ሕዝባዊ አብዮት ሊያሸጋግር ግን ይችላል። ይህም ቢሆን የኢትዮጵያን ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ በተለይም የሠራዊቱን ዓይነትና አደራጀጀት እግምት ውስጥ ባስገባ ሁኔታ መታቀድ ይኖርበታል።

አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 የራሱን ጥናት አድርጎ ለኛ አገር ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ እና ህወሓትን ለመሰለ ጠላት የሚመጥን የትግል ስልት ሁሉንም የትግል ስልቶች እንደሁኔታው ያዳቀለ – ሁለገብ – መሆን ይኖርበታል ብሎ ወስኖ ለተግባራዊነቱ እየተንቀሳቀሰ ነው። ሁለገብ የትግል ስልት ሕዝባዊ ተቃውሞን፣ ሕዝባዊ እምቢተኝነትንና ሕዝባዊ አመጽን እንደወቅቱ ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ ማፈራረቅና ማደባለቅን ይፈልጋል። ሰላማዊ ትግል በተለይም ሕዝባዊ እምቢተኝነት ሲባል ደግሞ ህወሓት ያወጣቸው አፋኝ ህጎች እያከበሩ የሚደረግ አለመሆኑም የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ይረዳል። ሁለገብ ትግል በተቻለ መጠን የወገን ኃይል ራሱን ፈጽሞ መከላከል በማይችልበት ሁኔታ እንዳይገኝ ለማድረግ ይጥራል። በአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 እምነት ሁለገብ የትግል ስልት ሰፊ ተቀባይነት የሚያገኝበት ወቅት ደርሷል። ከዚህ በፊት “የሰላም በሮች ሲዘጉ የአመጽ በሮች ይከፈታሉ” ተብሎ በአንድ ታዋቂ ኢትዮጵያዊ ታጋይ የተነገረው “የሰላም በሮች ሲዘጉ የሁለገብ ትግል ስልት በሮች ይከፈታሉ” በሚል እንዲሻሻልና በዚህ ወለል ብሎ በተከፈተው በር ሁላችንም እንድንገባ አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ያሳስባል። በሁለገብ የትግል ስልት በሰላማዊ መንገድ የሚደረጉ የትግል ዓይነቶች አሉ፤ በሌላም መንገድ የሚደረጉ አሉ። ስለሆነም በሁለገብ ትግል እያንዳንዳችን እንደየዝንባሌዓችንና እንደየችሎታዎቻችን አስተዋጽኦ ልናበረክት የምንችልበት ሰፊ እድል ይከፍትልናል።

ስለሆነም፣ በዚህ አጋጣሚ አርበኞች ግንቦት 7፣ ለመላው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ፣ ለጦር ሠራዊትና ፓሊስ አባላት ወገናዊ ጥሪ ያደርጋል።

በህወሓት ዘረኛ አገዛዝ በሚደርስብን ውርደት፣ እንግልት፣ ስደት፣ ሥራ አጥነትና ድህነት የተማረራችሁ እና እኩልነቷ የተረጋገጠ፣ የበለፀገች ኢትዮጵያን ማየት የምትመኙ ሁሉ የሁለገብ የትግል ስልትን አዋጪነት እንድታጤኑ የዚሁ ስልት አካል ሆናችሁ እንድትታገሉ አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ጥሪ ያደርጋል።

የኢትዮጵያ የጦርና የፓሊስ ሠራዊት አባላት በግል ከሚደርስባችሁ ግፍ በተጨማሪ የገዛ ራሳችሁን ወገኖች መግደላችሁ፣ ማቁሰላችሁ፣ ማድማታችሁና መደብደባችሁ የህሊና እረፍት ሊነሳችሁ ይገባል። ህሊናችሁ እረፍት የሚያገኘው የሥርዓቱ እድሜ ሲያጥር መሆኑን በመገንዘብ ለገዛ ራሳችሁ ክብር፣ ለወገናችሁና ለአገራችሁ ስትሉ ፋሽስቱን ወያኔ ከድታችሁ ከአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ኃይል ጋር ተቀላቀሉ።

እነዚህን ጥሪዎች ተግባራዊ ካደረግን ወገኖቻችን መሠረታዊ መብቶቻቸውን በመጠየቃቸው በመወደስ ፋንታ በፓሊስ ዱላ ሲደበደቡ የማናይበት ዘመን ይመጣል። ይህ ካልሆነ ግን “ውሀና መብራት አጣን” ብሎ አቤቱታ ማሰማት እንኳን በጥይት የሚያስገድልበት ቀን ይመጣል። ያ ከመሆኑ በፊት እንወስን፤ ራሳችንና አገራችን ከህወሓት ዘረኛ አገዛዝ ነፃ እናውጣ።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ!!!

UK diplomats clash over Briton on death row in Ethiopia: Officials’ fury after Foreign Secretary claims he couldn’t ‘find time’ to help father-of-three facing execution

January 25, 2015 | Filed underEnglish | Posted by admin

• Andargachew Tsege was snatched by officials at Yemen airport last June
• The 59-year-old was transferred to Ethiopia where he is thought to remain
• Father-of-three moved to London in 1979 from native African country
• He was dubbed ‘Ethiopian Mandela’ after exposing government corruption
• Leaked emails revealed British officials’ frustration at political inaction
• Philip Hammond said he could not ‘find time’ for phone call on issue

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he could not ‘find time’ for a phone call to raise the issue and did not want to send a ‘negative’ letter

An explosive row has erupted between diplomats and Ministers over their reluctance to help a British man on death row in Ethiopia.

A series of extraordinary emails, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, reveal officials’ increasing frustration at political inaction over Andargachew Tsege.

Tsege, 59, a father-of-three from London, was snatched at an airport in Yemen last June and illegally rendered to Ethiopia. There are concerns he may have been tortured.

Yet Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he could not ‘find time’ for a phone call to raise the issue and did not want to send a ‘negative’ letter.

In one email, an exasperated official asks: ‘Don’t we need to do more than give them a stern talking to?’

Tsege, who has lived in the UK since 1979, has been called Ethiopia’s Nelson Mandela. Tsege fell out with his university friend ex-Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, after he exposed government corruption and helped establish a pro-democracy party.

In 2009, he was sentenced to death in his absence for allegedly plotting a coup and planning to kill Ethiopian officials – claims he denies.

He was abducted on June 23 while en route to Eritrea, emerging two weeks later in Ethiopia, where he has since been paraded on TV. It is not known where he is being held.

The diplomatic exchanges disclose how officials were dismayed when British Ministers rejected requests to raise the case with Ethiopia.

‘I feel so shocked and let down,’ said Tsege’s wife Yemi Hailemariam. ‘I thought Britain was a nation driven by fairness but it seems my husband’s life is simply not valued.’

The series of emails begins on July 1, with Foreign Office officials confirming his capture: ‘His detention in Yemen is significant news, and could get complicated for the UK.’

Diplomats noted that neither Yemen nor Ethiopia informed Britain about the rendition of its citizen. ‘It feels a bit like I’m throwing the kitchen sink at the Yemenis but I want them to think twice before they do this again,’ wrote one senior figure at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa. 

He also noted that a prominent Ethiopian minister had given assurances over Tsege’s treatment –‘but I wouldn’t take them with complete confidence’.

Ethiopia has claimed Tsege tried to recruit other Britons to become involved in terrorism. But the regime has used anti-terror laws to jail journalists and silence political rivals, and UK officials had not seen credible evidence. 

One diplomatic cable says: ‘All we have seen are a few pictures of him standing in an Eritrean village – hardly proof that he was engaged in terrorist training.’

Three weeks after Tsege’s kidnap, the Foreign Office’s Africa director wrote that Ministers ‘have so far shied away from talking about consequences… their tone has been relatively comfortable’.

On July 21, Hammond’s office was still reluctant to talk to his Ethiopian counterpart on the phone.

‘I don’t think we are going to be able to find time for that at the moment,’ wrote his private secretary. He also turned down sending a ‘negative’ letter, asking for it to be rewritten ‘setting out areas of co-operation. It can end with a paragraph on the Tsege case.’

Despite concerns over Ethiopia’s human rights record, the nation receives £376 million a year in UK aid. One farmer there is suing Britain, claiming the money was used to usurp him from his land.

Hammond is believed to have finally called his counterpart at the end of July, one month after the kidnap. It is understood he focused on requesting consular access rather than condemning the capture.

Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty said: ‘These shocking emails show the Foreign Secretary appears to have blocked any meaningful action that could potentially bring this British father home to his family, unharmed.’

The Foreign Office said they were ‘deeply concerned’ by Tsege’s detention and were lobbying for further consular access as well as seeking confirmation the death penalty would not be carried out.