Stop violations of human rights in ethiopia

Monday, 3 October 2016

Ethiopian forces 'killed 400 Oromo protesters'

People mourn the death a man who was shot dead by the Ethiopian forces the day earlier, in the Yubdo Village, about 100km from Addis Ababa in the Oromia region, on 17 December 2015 — Image captionOfficials have acknowledged that more than 170 people were killed during the protests

Ethiopian security forces killed more than 400 people in the recent wave of anti-government demonstrations, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

In its most comprehensive report into the Oromo protests, HRW lists the names of more than 300 it says were killed.

The government has acknowledged that protesters have died but said HRW was "very generous with numbers".

Protests were sparked by fears that a plan to expand the capital into Oromia region would displace Oromo farmers.

They began in November last year, but the government dropped the proposal to enlarge Addis Ababa's administrative boundaries in January.

Africa Live: BBC news updates

The Oromo protests and Ethiopian unity

Why Ethiopia made ‘master plan’ U-turn

Oromia is Ethiopia's largest region, completely surrounding the city.

The change of policy has not stopped the demonstrations, but they have reduced in their intensity.

At the last census in 2007, the Oromo made up Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, at about 25 million people out of a population at the time of nearly 74 million.

An investigation, released last week, by the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission, appointed by parliament, found that 173 people had died during the unrest.

It said the dead included 28 security officers and local government officials.

Information Minister Getachew Reda said that in the main the security forces conducted themselves "in a very professional and responsible manner".

He put the killings down to "a few bad apples".

The government has said that it will investigate and deal with those responsible.

Analysis: Emmanuel Igunza, BBC Ethiopia correspondent

Ethiopian protesters with a barricade — Image captionThe protests began in November last year

In March, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn apologised for the death and destruction of property caused by protests in Oromia region.

While his statement was bold, and came as a surprise, some protesters said it was a case of too little, too late.

The acknowledgment by the country's information minister that deaths had occurred is not different.

There will also be questions about the sincerity of investigating police officers who used unnecessary force.

Can it really do that while dozens of protesters are still being detained and are yet to be charged?

While the protests have died down recently, they remain significant as some believe they are highlighting the alleged marginalisation of the Oromo people.

'Electric shocks'

The HRW report is based on interviews with more than 100 victims and witnesses and accuses the police and army of using excessive force, reports the BBC's Ethiopia correspondent Emmanuel Igunza.

Some of those interviewed allege they were hung by their ankles and beaten while others described having electric shocks applied to their feet while in detention.

Several women also claim to have been raped and sexually assaulted.

HRW also says that tens of thousands of people were arrested and hundreds have disappeared.

'Fell from a cliff'

Police say they fired tear gas after anti-government protesters threw stones and bottles, but others said demonstrators were entirely peaceful.

The national flag is flying at half-mast at all government buildings while regular programmes on state radio have been replaced with music, AFP reports.

Police fire tear gas to disperse protesters during Irreecha, the thanks giving festival of the Oromo people in Bishoftu town of Oromia region, Ethiopia, October 2 — Image captionSecurity forces said they were responding to protesters throwing bottles and stones

Demonstrators chant slogans while flashing the Oromo protest gesture during Irreecha, the thanksgiving festival of the Oromo people, in Bishoftu town, Oromia region, Ethiopia, 2 October 2016. — Image captionBut many said the demonstrators were protesting peacefully about political and economic marginalisation

Oromo woman crying — Image captionThe current unrest if the worst to hit Ethiopia in more than two decades

Injured protesters in Bishoftu town, Oromia region, Ethiopia, October 2 — Image captionThe US had already expressed concern about excessive use of force against protesters before Sunday's violence

Witnesses said the stampede started after police fired tear gas.

One protester told Associated Press he almost died after falling into a deep ditch as he was trying to flee. He was pulled out but the first people who fell into it had suffocated, he said.

An Oromo activist, Jawar Mohamed, was quoted as saying that nearly 300 people had been killed and many more injured.

He said troops and a helicopter gunship had opened fire, driving people off a cliff and into a lake.

The government-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) reported that people died falling from the cliff around the lake but it made no mention of a helicopter opening fire.

There has been a series of deadly clashes in Ethiopia in recent months.

People in Oromia and Amhara, two of Ethiopia's most populous regions, have complained about political and economic marginalisation.

The US has expressed concern about what it termed the excessive use of force against protesters.

The unrest was sparked last November by a plan to expand the capital into Oromia. This led to fears that farmers from the Oromo ethnic group, the largest in Ethiopia, would be displaced.

The plan was later dropped but protests continued, highlighting issues such as marginalisation and human rights.

በህዝባችን የነጻነት ተጋድሎ እየኮራን ለመጨረሻው ድል ታጥቀን እንነሳ!

October 1, 2016

በኦሮምያ እና በአማራ የተለያዩ ከተሞች የሚካሄደው የነጻነት ትግል በእጅጉ አስደማሚ ነው። ባለፉት ሳምንታት በጎንደርና በባህርዳር ለስድስት ቀናት እንዲሁም በተለያዩ የሰሜን ጎንደርና የምዕራብ ጎጃም ከተሞች የተደረገው የስራ ማቆም አድማ በአገራችን የቅርብ ጊዜ ታሪክ ያልታየ ወደር የለሽ ተግባር ነው። ህዝቡ የስራ ማቆም አድማ ያደረገው የሚበላውና የሚጠጣው ተርፎት እንዳልሆነ ይታወቃል። እንዲያውም በአገሪቱ የሰፈነው አስከፊ ድህነትና የኑሮ ውድነት እንኳንስ ስራ ተፈትቶ፣ 24 ሰአታት ቢሰራም የሚቋቋሙት እንዳልሆነ እናውቃለን። ነገር ግን ህዝቡ፣ ረሃቡንና ጥማቱን ለሳምንታት ችሎ የአድማውን ጥሪ ተግባራዊ አድርጓል። ይህ ምን ይነግረናል? በቅድሚያ ከዚህ ቀደም በተደጋጋሚ እንዳልነው ህዝቡ በዚህ ዘረኛና አፋኝ አገዛዝ መንገሽገሹን ያሳየበት ነው፤ “ልማቱ ተስፋፍቷል፣ ህዝቡም የደስታና የምቾች ኑሮ መኖር ጀምሯል” እያሉ በድህነቱና በብሶቱ ሲሳለቁበት ለቆዩት እውነተኛ ኑሮውን አሳይቷቸዋል። ይህንኑ ፕሮፓጋንዳ አምነው በመቀበል ወሬውን ሲያራግቡ ለነበሩ የአገር ውስጥና የውጭ የአገዛዙ ጠበቃዎች ግልጽ መልዕክት አስተላልፏል ።

እንዲሁም አገዛዙን ለማስወገድ ህዝቡ ማንኛውንም አይነት መስዋትነት ለመክፈል ዝግጁ መሆኑን ያሳየበት ነው። ረሃብና ጥማቱን ችሎ ከውስጡ የተጣበቀውን አለቅት ለማስወገድ መወሰኑን አሳይቷል። “ሩጥ ስንለው የሚሮጥ፣ ተቀመጥ ስንለው የሚቀመጥ ህዝብ ፈጥረናል” በማለት ሲሳለቁበት በነበረቡት ገዢዎች ላይ እየጠራ ተሳልቆባቸዋል። ከእንግዲህም እሱ በፈለገው እንጅ እነሱ በፈለጉት መንገድ እንደማይገዛላቸው ነግሯቸዋል። ከዚህ በተጨማሪ አድማው ከፍተኛ የህይወት መስዋትነት ሳያስከፍል በሌሎችም አካባቢዎች ሊተገበር የሚችል መሆኑን አሳይቷል። ህዝብ ቆርጦ ከወሰነ ምንም ነገር ለማድረግ የማይሳነው መሆኑንም እንዲሁ መስክረናል። ድርጅታችን አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ህዝቡ ባደረገው ጠንካራ የስራ ማቆም አድማ የተሰማውን ኩራት ለመግለጽ ቃላት ያጥረዋል።

የህዝባቸውን ብሶት ብሶታቸው አድርገው፣ ህዝባቸውን በተሻለ ጎዳና ለመምራት የሚያስችል እውቀትና ክህሎት ያላቸው መምህራንም የትግሉ መሪ መሆን በመጀመራቸው በእጅጉ ኮርተናል። የዩኒቨርስቲ እና የሁለተኛ ደረጃ መምህራን ካድሬዎችን እያሳፈሩ የሸኙበት መንገድ አኩሪና በሁሉም ቦታ ሊተገበር የሚገባው ምርጥ የትግል ስልት ነው። ምሁራን ለዲሞክራሲ፣ ፍትሃና ነጻነት የሚደረገውን ትግል በመምራት በኩል ከፍተኛ አስተዋጽዎ እንዳላቸው ድርጅታችን በተደጋጋሚ ሲገልጽ ቆይቷል። ምሁራን ትግሉ ሳይንሳዊ በሆነ መንገድ እንዲመራ እንደሚራ ብቻ ሳይሆን ከነጻነት በሁዋላ ለሚመሰረተው ዲሞክራሲያዊና ፍትሃዊ ስርዓት ዋስትና በመሆናቸው የጀመሩትን ትግል እስከመጨረሻው መርተው ዳር ያደርሱታል ብለን እናምናለን። በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች ትግሉን ያልተቀላቀላችሁ ምሁራን በፍጥነት ትግሉን ተቀላቅላችሁ ህዝባችሁን በመምራት አካባቢያችሁን ነጻ እንድታወጡ በድጋሜ ጥሪ እናቀርባለን።

ለህዝባዊ ጥሪው ፈጣን ምላሽ የሰጣችሁ ነጋዴዎች፣ የባጃጅና ታክሲ አሽከርካሪዎች እንዲሁም የመንግስት ሰራተኞች፣ ድርጅታችን እየከፈላችሁ ላለው ወደር የለሽ መስዋትነት ከፍተኛ አክብሮት አለው። ግብር ባለመክፈል እንዲሁም የተለያዩ የትግል ስልቶችን እንደያካባቢያችሁ ሁኔታ በመጠቀም ትግላችሁን ከቀጠላችሁ፣ አገዛዙ እናንተን ለመግደል ለተሰለፉት ጥቂት የአገዛዙ ወታደሮች፣ የደህንነት እና የፖሊስ ተቋማት የሚከፍለው ገንዘብ ስለማያገኝ በመጨረሻ እጁን እንዲሰጥ ማድረግ ይቻላል። አሁንም ትግሉን ዳር የማድረስ ታሪካዊ አደራ ተጥሎባችሁዋል እና ትግላችሁን ቀጥሎ እንላለን።

ከንቱ ለሆነ አላማ የህዝባችሁ መጨፍጨፍ እረፍት ነስቷችሁ የጠመንጃችሁን አፈሙዝ በአፋኙ አገዛዝ ላይ ያዞራችሁ ፣ መሳሪያችሁን አስረክባችሁ ከህዝባችሁ ጋር የተቀላቀላችሁ ወይም በውስጥ ሆናችሁ በተለያዩ መንገዶች ለምትታገሉ የስራዊቱ አባላትም እንዲሁ ከፍ ያለ አክብሮታችን ይድረሳችሁ። ከህዝቡ ጎን ለመቆም ያልወሰናችሁ ዛሬውኑ ወስናችሁ ከነጻነት ትግሉ ጎን ተሰለፉ። ለህዝብ ያልሆነ አገዛዝ ለእናንተ ሊሆን አይችልም። እናንተ ምን አይነት ህይወት እንደምትገፉ እናውቃለንና ከዚህ የስቃይ ህይወት ለመውጣት ብቸኛው መንገድ የስቃዮች ሁሉ ምንጭ የሆነውን የወያኔን አገዛዝ ማስወገድ በመሆኑ ጥሪያችንን እንደሰማችሁ የነጻነት ሃይሎችን ለመቀላቀል ወስኑ።

አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 እንደትናንቱ ሁሉ ዛሬም ባለው አቅም ሁሉ ህዝባዊ ትግሉን እየደገፈ ይገኛል። የመጨረሻው የነጻነት ደወል እሰከሚደወል ድረስም ትግሉን ከህዝቡ ጋር ሆኖ ይቀጥላል።