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Ethiopia’s land reform battle could lead to civil war – opposition leader

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By Sally Hayden
Reuters
Published on August 11,2016

Mass street protests that saw dozens of people shot by Ethiopian security forces over the weekend could spill into civil war if the government fails to reform land use policies, a veteran Ethiopian opposition politician has warned.

Merera Gudina, leader of the Oromo People’s Congress, said the East African country was at a “crossroads”.

“People are demanding their rights,” he said. “People are fed up with what the regime has been doing for a quarter of a century. They’re protesting against land grabs, reparations, stolen elections, the rising cost of living, many things.

“If the government continue to repress while the people are demanding their rights in the millions that (civil war) is one of the likely scenarios,” Gudina said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Washington DC.

More than 90 people were shot dead by security forces in protests across Ethiopia’s central-western Oromiya and northern Amhara regions at the weekend, according to opposition officials and residents.

Gudina said thousands of people were arrested in Addis Ababa, after the government used “massive and excessive force” to shut down demonstrations that had spread there. Other activists estimated that 3,000 protesters had been detained.

“There have been no attempts at negotiation from the government, no engagement with the opposition or the people. So far, their only response is bullets,” Gudina said.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged Ethiopia on Wednesday to allow international observers into Oromiya and Amhara. He also said allegations of excessive use of force across the two restive regions must be investigated and that his office was in discussions with Ethiopian authorities.

POLL IGNITES FIRST FLAMES

Protests began in November in the town of Ginchi in Oromiya over a government plan to allocate farmland to Addis Ababa for development, potentially displacing large numbers of Oromo farmers, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia.

The plan was scrapped but protests flared again over the continued detention of opposition demonstrators.

On May 24 the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government had won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, which critics and the opposition said were rigged.

Human Rights Watch estimated that 400 demonstrators were killed by security forces between November and June. Several prominent figures were arrested during that period, including the Oromo activist Bekele Gerba, who was taken from his home in December.

The protests have spread to other areas and people were now organizing and co-operating across ethnic lines,” Gudina said.

“That is what we have been waiting for,” he said.

“The regime could not contain the protests to only one region: all along, we have been expecting that others have their own issues.”

Government officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The state-owned Ethiopian News Agency reported that “illegal protests” by “anti-peace forces” had been brought under control. It did not mention casualties.

Gudina, who was part of the student movement involved in overthrowing Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 and subsequently spent seven years in prison under the communist Derg government, said he has no power to stop the demonstrations.

“How on earth do you tell people not to demand their rights? The only advice I give is to make their protests as much as possible peacefully and legally.”

He said land policies needed to be reformed to ensure that land acquisition was fair, transparent and properly managed.

“When land is taken for real development, there needs to be proper compensation, [an] alternative livelihood should be arranged for the farmers,” he said.

Many farmers who have been moved from their land already are now living in poverty, with some women forced to turn to prostitution, Gudina said.

In a statement released on Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa said it was “deeply concerned with the extensive violence that occurred during protests across Ethiopia” at the weekend.

It said it had noted that protesters and security officials had been killed but that confirmed numbers were not available.

Gudina also criticized foreign investors in Ethiopia. “Investing when such governments are at war with their people is not helping. There’s no guarantee, no security for their investment until the politics is getting better and the country is stabilized,” he said.

“They know that the country is going in a bad direction.”

(Reporting by Sally Hayden, Editing by Paola Totaro and Jo Griffin. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

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Cover Photo : Bahir Dar protest/ file

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Despite a 1-shoe finish, Ethiopian steeplechaser into final

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By GERALD IMRAY (AP Sports Writer)
The Associated Press
Published on August 13,2016

Etenesh Diro  Source:  Rio2016.com
Etenesh Diro
Source: Rio2016.com

RIO DE JANEIRO – With one shoe on and one shoe off, Etenesh Diro raised a big cheer at the Olympics on Saturday with a gutsy finish in her 3,000-meters steeplechase heat.

Initially outside the qualifying places, the Ethiopian was rewarded – following a protest by three teams, including her own – with a place in Monday’s final.

This is what happened:

Diro was cruising along comfortably in the pack with a couple of laps to go when she got tangled up with some other competitors and her right shoe came half-off. For precious seconds, the Ethiopian athlete knelt on the track and tried to pull the shoe back on.

It just wouldn’t go and runner after runner passed her. Finally giving up on it, Diro ripped the shoe off completely and threw it away, took a few steps, then removed her right sock, too.

She ran the rest of the grueling race, the best part of three laps, with just one shoe on and her right foot bare, negotiating the barriers and the water jump, and overtaking a number of rivals as the crowd urged her on.

She finished seventh and fell to the track, exhausted and clutching her foot. She’d thought she’d missed out.

But following protests by the Ethiopia, Ireland and Jamaica teams, Diro, Ireland’s Sara Treacy and Jamaica’s Aisha Praught were advanced to the final.

Diro was clipped from behind, but her shoe issue also caused a pile up of runners behind her, with Praught taking a tumble because of it.

”I went down pretty hard. You brace because you don’t expect that,” Praught said. ”All I know is the girl in front of me stopped to put on her shoe. She stopped right in front of me. That’s when I fell … You don’t expect that.”

Praught said ”brake lights” on the runners ahead of her would have been helpful.

As for her own shoes, Praught said: ”I tie them very tightly.”

Read full storyhere

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Author and Ethiopian cab driver killed in Hollywood

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August 15,2016

Ethiopian cab driver is California killed after he was attacked by a passenger, reported NBC yesterday.

Alemseged Asfawosen Photo : From his facebook page
Alemseged Asfawosen
Photo : From his facebook page

According to the report which cited police sources, the attack happened in a gas station parking lot located on Franklin and Bronson avenues in Hollywood, CA.

The victim is identified as Asfawosen Alemseged, 47. He was pronounced dead in a hospital. The attack happened early in the morning around 3:00 a.m.

Los Angeles Police Department seem to have stated that Asfawosen was found unconscious in the gas station.

NBC report added that Asfawosen was an employee of Yellow cab company.

Police is said to be searching for the suspect passenger.

Alemseged was very active in social media and Ethiopians know him as an author of poetry book entitled ” Tsehay tiwotalech” an Amharic which translates to “The Sun will rise.”

His friends described him as a very nice person. The sad news shocked his friends and Ethiopians as well.

borkena

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Ethiopia : Wazema ’s Call for Action on the Current Ethiopian Crisis

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Wazema
August 15,2016

Ethiopia is currently facing a monumental crisis freighted with grave risks and political calamities.

Gone are the days where one could sweep under the internal fault lines of the Ethiopian state as setbacks that have to do with “lack of good governance” or “lack of progress in democratization”.

Such cavalier statements ignore the fact that:

a) one needs a stable and orderly state to democratize,

b) people need to be citizens of such a state with the basic human, civil and political rights,

c) institutions of representation and participation are imperative to govern.

For all the rhetoric of the incumbent regime, these mechanisms do NOT exist in present day Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s current predicament entails:

1. A regime that has lost popular support and legitimacy throughout the nation.

2. The ruling party (TPLF/EPRDF) has failed to address the fundamental political plights and demands of the public. It has also failed to offer what could be modest confidence building measures. The future of the country is therefore hanging in the balance.

3. The ruling regime employs indiscriminate and excessive violence against civilian protestors and private citizens who attempted to air out their grievances in peaceful demonstrations.

4. For over a decade, the ruling party has silenced dissenting voices and undermined the legal, and constitutional course for a free and democratic order. It has deeply narrowed the political sphere where peaceful, non-violent and democratic forces found it almost impossible to operate under.

5. Much of the loose rhetoric about past grievances and the discourse about guaranteeing equality between various ethnic groups (“nations” and “nationalities” in the Ethiopian parlance) had the consequence of heightening up tension and mistrust between the various ethnic groups. Inter-ethnic coalitions and civic forms of solidarity that transcend linguistic and ethnic affiliations waned by design.

6. Much of the “labelling” done by the ruling elite of the TPLF and its indiscriminate use of force against others has now backfired. The level of resentment and anger the Tigrians elite and, in some circles, Tigrians in general, is on the uptick. The TPLF elite, on its part, has labored to cultivate suspicion and distrust between the Amhara and the Oromo elite.

7. The lack of political good will on TPLF’s part to resolve the country’s problem has a lot to do with denial. All forces should, therefore, muster their voice and influence to pressure the TPLF to recognize Ethiopia’s tragic state of affairs and force it to be a part of a genuine, inclusive effort for a negotiated political outcome.

8. True, opposition party leaders, civil society organizations, the independent media and others do play a critical and constructive role when a nation arrives at such a critical and historic juncture. But history is also replete with examples of how the ruling elite of authoritarian regimes have played a key and constructive role for negotiated political outcomes if the ultimate goal is genuine democratization. With this in mind, focus should also be given to approach, dialogue, and bear upon the leadership corps of the TPLF/EPRDF.

To underestimate how dire our circumstance as a nation is foolhardy and irresponsible. The Ethiopian state does risk total state collapse, ethnic strife or a full blown civil war.

It is therefore incumbent upon every Ethiopian to act with a sense of urgency and resolve to: 1) make sure these calamities do not come to pass, and 2) a free, and democratic society that guarantees the rule of law and equality for all is ushered in Ethiopia.

It is with that sense of urgency and mission that Wazema Radio puts forth the following Call for Action to all concerned Ethiopians.

A. It is incumbent upon each and every one of us to approach, dialogue and persuade members of EPRDF and the TPLF, in particular, that the status quo is untenable and that violence is not the answer.

B. We need to approach, dialogue, and lobby to persuade individual members of the federal and regional police force members, the Federal Army, and the intelligence to stop summary arrests, detentions, torture and imprisonment. The lower ranks of these forces should be encouraged and urged not to cooperate in such illegal and immoral acts.

C. Wazema Radio believes that the fundamental solution out of Ethiopia’s present political crisis is, i) when opposition party leaders from all political dispensations come together to dialogue and forge a common front, ii) develop a minimum political program that charts out a political roadmap for democratic transition and, iii) build a national consensus on the program.

D) Wazema Radio believes that such an undertaking should factor in the following caveats. First, we do not have to reinvent the wheel when such negotiations are held. Second, the next political order should be a democratic one with firm constitutional checks and balances. Third, a Federal arrangement is inescapable and indispensable for Ethiopia’s political prospect.

E) Both private citizens, and civil society organizations play an indispensable role if we are to ensure genuine democratization in Ethiopia. We also urge such initiatives to resist the temptation of peddling the interest and voice of political parties but hold the latter accountable. In fact, the political elite and their establishments should be constantly scrutinized, critiqued, and consulted by a wider critical mass.

Here, Wazema is referring to the broad gamut of associational practices and networks inside Ethiopia and abroad such as Idirs, Mahibers, Religious Foundations and Associations, Trade Unions, Professional Groups, and Chambers of Commerce. Private Citizens should begin to play an active role in these networks for genuine democratization to take place.

F) We urge all Ethiopians to show solidarity and togetherness across religious, ethnic, class or other differences. This is time to build bridges, to start dialogue, to strengthen our social ties and rekindle neighborliness. Such “organic” communities, we believe, guarantee us order and civility even if the formal institutions of law and order break down following tensions and conflict.

G) Ordinary Ethiopians yearn for a nation where their dignity is respected, their rights are protected and their dreams are validated. Each citizen needs a reassuring voice that one cares for another; that one’s pain is the other’s; that we have more in common than how different we are. Each citizen yearns to hear that what holds us together as ordinary Ethiopians is far stronger than what drives us apart. Wazema pleads every Ethiopian man and woman to be that voice of hope, trust and optimism for fellow other Ethiopians.

H) We cannot drive out hate with hate. We need to be vigilant against words and narratives that invoke hatred and violence against a specific ethnic group, religion or person. In fact, the biggest challenge for progressive forces of change in Ethiopia is, to make sure we do not fall in the same cycle of ethnic stereotyping, scapegoating and demagogy as our detractors. We urge every Ethiopian to uphold these values even when passions run high and injustice glares.

I) The International Community is better served to realize that Ethiopia is on an inflection point. The government has lost its legitimacy. Unleashing sheer violence against its own citizens has now become its only modus operandi. The status quo is simply untenable. Ethiopians in the Diaspora should constantly remind their host governments that silence and inaction on the part of the international community means bracing for a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions in the Horn of Africa.

J) We hope and expect that Ethiopian journalists in the country and abroad to join us in our call for action and also telegraph similar messages at this critical juncture in our history.

Wazema Editorial Team.

August 2016
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For more information about this statement, click here

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Yemi Hailemariam: Wife of Andargachew Tsege ‘doesn’t want to see people die in the streets’

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International Business Times
August 16,2016

EXCLUSIVE: IBTimes UK interviews wife of opposition figure Tsege, on death row in Ethiopia.

By Ludovica Iaccino, Video by Sho Murakoshi

A recent crackdown on anti-government protests in Ethiopia has sparked fears for the fate of arrested activists and political opponents including prominent opposition member Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege, currently on death row in the African nation. The British-Ethiopian citizen is the founder of the Ginbot 7 political party, which Ethiopia classified as a terrorist organisation.

Tsege moved to the UK in 1979 and was later granted asylum as a political refugee. In 2009, he was tried in absentia and sentenced to death by the Ethiopian government for an alleged coup attempt. Tsege continued to live in London with his family until 2014, when he was arrested by Yemeni authorities in collaboration with Ethiopian intelligence at Yemen’s Sana’a airport. He was then subsequently deported to Ethiopia.

IBTimes UK interviewed Tsege’s wife, Yemi Hailemariam, who lives in London with the couple’s three children. Hailemariam has been campaigning for the release of her husband, who some believe was arrested as part of a wider crackdown the government carried out on opposition members ahead of the 2015 general election.

“We are one of the possible ways that he can be able to get out of the situation that he is in. So that burden of trying to bring about his release is time-consuming and very distracting,” Hailemariam told IBTimes UK. “My husband will come out and he should always think it is a very short time before he is going to be free.”

Read full story on IBT

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Cover Photo : Yemi Hailemariam
Source: Screenshot from IBT video

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Debremarkos goes on strike, Gondar shuts down for the third day

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ESAT News
Published

Residents of the town of Debremarkos in Gijam went on strike on Tuesday after a meeting between their representatives and local authorities went sour. The residents demanded at the meeting for the release of their compatriots detained on Saturday’s protests, to which the officials responded in the negative.

The representatives, having been told by the officials that the detainees would not be released, called on the residents of the town to go on strike. Government offices and businesses were closed after lunch on Tuesday and the protesters vowed to continue with their strike till their demands were met, according to residents of the town who spoke to ESAT. Transportation in the town was also brought to a halt.

Several people were detained by the regime’s security forces following last Saturday’s protest demonstration in the town that called for the end of the despotic regime.

Meanwhile, the stay at home protest in Gondar continued for the third day on Tuesday. Government offices and businesses remained closed and people in general stayed home; but few were seen heading to Churches and Mosques clad in black attires to mourn those killed by security forces.

Over one hundred people were shot and killed by security forces in just one week alone in protests in the Oromo and Amhara regions demanding the removal of the despotic TPLF regime.

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Ethiopian Immigrants March Against Brutal Regime : Seattle Weekly

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Seattle Weekly
CASEY JAYWORK
Published on August 16,2016

Ethiopian Immigrant March in Seattle - Soure Seattle Weekly
Ethiopian Immigrant March in Seattle – Soure Seattle Weekly

A couple hundred members of Seattle’s Ethiopian immigrant community marched through downtown’s streets Tuesday afternoon in protest against U.S. support for the brutal Ethiopian regime.

“Back in Ethiopia, we have a dictatorial regime which has committed mass crimes against some people,” said attorney Daniel Ajema, a marcher who identified himself as an organizer. “We’re here in solidarity with the people back home, and would like to support them and show our support.”

He’s not exaggerating. In their “Democracy Index” last year, the Economist gave Ethiopia’s government their lowest classification: an authoritarian regime, with an “Electoral Process and Pluralism” score of zero out of ten. Since November, according to the Human Rights Watch, government forces have killed hundreds of largely peaceful protesters and “disappeared” hundreds more.

Read full story on Seattle Weekly

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TPLF to stage-manage and carry out a “terrorist” attack, intelligence sources warn

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ESAT News
August 18, 2016
By Engidu Woldie

Sources close to ESAT disclosed that the TPLF regime in Ethiopia is prepared to carry out deadly attacks that mimics the work of terrorists in cities across the nation and use that as an excuse to squash the growing popular resistance against the regime in the name of fighting Al Shabaab terrorists.

The sources said the TPLF intelligence and security has selected five locations – Adama, Dire Dawa, Gondar, Bahir Dar and Shashemene – to target public places and higher institutions of learning. The plan was to use Somali speaking individuals from the Ethiopian Somali region to carry out attacks at the selected locations, according to the sources.

The sources also said the regime hopes to garner support from Western allies posing as a regional peacekeeper and fighter of terrorism in the Horn of Africa.

Last year there were a number of explosions at colleges in the Oromo region during ongoing protests in the region and at the Grand Anwar Mosque in Addis Ababa as the Ethiopian Muslims staged a protest rally. The government had blamed what it called terrorist elements but failed to corroborate its claims. A bomb blast in the Bole area of the capital killed two in 2013. In 2011 the regime said it had foiled a planned bomb attack by Eritrea at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.

Its past records show that the Ethiopian regime has a habit of using deadly tricks of throwing grenades at public gatherings and institutions and put the blame on resistance groups and neighboring Eritrea, in a futile scheme to get them labeled terrorists.

Regarding the 2006 explosion in Addis, the Wikileaks Ethiopia file exposed the diplomatic cable from the US Embassy in Addis reported that “The GoE announced that the bombs went off while being assembled, and that the three dead were terrorists from the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) with links to the Oromo National Congress (ONC). An embassy source, as well as clandestine reporting, suggests that the bombing may have in fact been the work of GoE security forces.”

The regime at the time reported that “the bombs were part of a coordinated terror attack by the OLF and Sha’abiya (Eritrea) aimed at disrupting democratic development,” according to the cable.
The cable published by the Wikileaks at the time quoted Dr. Merara Gudina as saying that “the deceased had not died while constructing a bomb, but rather at the hands of GoE cadres. Dr. Merera said that the men had been picked up by police a week prior, kept in detention and tortured. He said police then left the men in a house and detonated explosives nearby, killing 3 of them.”

Not coincidentally, political observers believe, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) issued a report on Monday warning that terrorist attacks from Al Shabaab were not just confined to Somalia but also threatens neighboring countries.

It should be noted that the regime in Ethiopia is a leading member of the regional body, IGAD and the Security
Sector Program that launched the 53 page report is led by Ethiopian regime officials.

It remains to be seen if the regime, which is hit hard by ongoing public resistance all across the nation calling for its demise, would once again use its deadly trickeries knowing that its deceits in the past were exposed widely.

(Photo: Protest in Gondar early this month. Source: Social media)

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Key Western Ally Ethiopia Descends into Violence

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Geopolitical Monitor
Malik Ibrahim
August 18, 2016

It has now been just over three months since Abdirahman Mahdi warned al-Jazeera that “Ethiopia is now boiling.” A founding member of the Ethiopian Somali rebel group known as the Ogaden National Liberation Front, Mahdi described an Ethiopian government in disarray as its citizens – divided among 80 different ethnic groups – rose up against the country’s Tigrayan minority rulers in what he saw as a new Arab Spring.

Ethiopia’s longstanding political tensions have been boiling over since late last year, as escalating violence has claimed nearly 100 lives in the latest round of protests. Even so, it’s been difficult for Western observers and Ethiopians alike to understand the extent of the upheaval. Despite the frequent portrayal of Ethiopia as a reliable (and critically, stable) partner in one of the most turbulent regions in Africa, Ethiopians live in one of the continent’s most repressive states and contend with draconian laws that curtail a free press and limit digital access. Now, United Nations officials are demanding entry for international observers to assess the mounting evidence of human rights violations, including the government’s use of lethal force against its citizens. According to Amnesty International, hundreds of protesters have been detained.

Separate protests in Ethiopia’s Oromia and Amhara regions come after months of simmering frustrations among the two ethnic groups, who together account for more than 60 percent of a population of 100 million. The proximal causes of their grievances – including a failed attempt to annex land the Oromo claim as their own to the Addis Ababa capital region – have triggered an outpouring of anger which had been pent up since 1991, when the current regime came to power. Fueling that anger are underlying ethnic tensions and the dominant power of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) at the heart of the regime.

Ethnic divisions at the root of the crisis

The Tigray elites, representing just six percent of the population, hail from a small northern territory that shares its border with Eritrea. Their role in the overthrow of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, the former ethnic Amhara dictator whose political career spanned decades of internal violence, positioned them atop Ethiopia’s ruling class. That has left the Oromo, the largest ethnic group, oppressed and discriminated against for decades by successive governments. Their longstanding lack of civic and economic opportunity has fueled the current upheaval, an unprecedented challenge to TPLF leadership.

The spark came in April 2014, when the Ethiopian government announced its Addis Ababa Integrated Master Plan. The urban plan required the annexation of Oromo territory and the forced removal of Oromo farmers from precious arable land. The first protests came soon afterward, as did the first reported deaths at the hands of the Ethiopian military. Because the Ethiopian government tends to punish dissent under laws that interpret activism as a threat to peace and even as terrorism, officials blamed the bloodshed on protesting students and citizens.

The current anti-government protests have spread across the Oromia region since November 2015, stoked by outrage over the previous killings and detained protesters who are still missing. Even though the plans for Addis Ababa’s expansion were shelved in January, the crackdown on the Oromo continued. As their protests persisted, the show of defiance motivated the Amhara (who have their own longstanding disputes with the Tigray) as well as ethnic Somalis in their own long and bloody civil conflicts.

Implications for the U.S. and the Horn of Africa

Despite a track record of human rights abuses that include lengthy sentences for journalists, police-state surveillance strategies, torture, and extrajudicial killings, the United States and other Western partners consider Ethiopia a valuable partner in the war on terror. Geopolitical realities, and the strategic interests of the U.S. in particular, make financial and diplomatic investment in Ethiopia an ugly expedient. For its part, Ethiopia’s merciless repression – even if partially masked by intense censorship – fits neatly into the counterterrorism narrative it presents to the global community. The security rationale serves as an excuse for the repression of ethnic minorities like the Somalis, while the United States continues to provide material support to a regime that violates democratic principles on nearly every measure. In the midst of the current upheaval, this has gone so far as shutting off state-controlled Internet access to those few citizens who have it.

The U.S. has been circumspect in its concern over the escalating violence in Ethiopia, a cautious approach informed by the breakdown of state structures in neighboring South Sudan and Somalia. American officials have taken a similar approach in dealing with neighboring Djibouti, where strongman Ismail Omar Guelleh’s controversial re-election to a fourth term this year followed a violent crackdown on opposition groups. Security forces loyal to Guelleh killed 19 people in an attack on a religious gathering and a meeting of political opponents last December, and opposition parties boycotted the presidential contest after the Djiboutian leader broke the terms of a previous settlement. The American response to the tainted elections reflected the security relationship between the two countries, including the American lease on Camp Lemonnier and Djibouti’s role as a staging ground in the regional war on terrorism.

That political developments in Ethiopia and Djibouti so closely align should come as little surprise, given their close relationship; Guelleh has even floated the idea of a political union in the past. In addition to the United States, China also has a vested interest in the maintenance of the status quo in both countries. Beijing recently began building its first overseas base in Djibouti, and a spate of Chinese infrastructure investments in both Ethiopia and Djibouti are aimed at integrating the two and facilitating Chinese access to the landlocked Ethiopian market. Unfortunately for dissidents and rights activists on the ground, the world’s two most powerful states have little incentive to upset a fragile applecart in either of these repressive states.

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For more information about this story, check Geopolitical Monitor

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Ethiopian police detain journalists reporting on drought, escort them back to capital : CPJ

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CPJ
Published on August 17,2016

Ethiopian police on August 8, 2016, detained three journalists reporting on the effects of a severe drought in the country before escorting them back to Addis Ababa with a warning not to work outside the capital, the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Ethiopia said in a statement.

Fred de Sam Lazaro and Thomas Adair from the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and Africa News Agency (ANA) correspondent Hadra Ahmed, who was working as a fixer and translator, were told by the police to report to the Shashemene town police station, about 240km from the capital.

Police confiscated their passports and their equipment and offered no reason for their detention. The team was taken back to Addis Ababa the next day under police escort, interrogated for a further six hours and then released with a warning not to report outside the capital.

“Hadra and her colleagues’ ordeal is the latest example in a long trend of the government preventing journalists from doing their work,” William Davison, the FCAE’s chairman, said in the statement. In March 16, police detained Davison and a translator in the eastern town of Awash, confiscated their equipment, and escorted them back to the capital, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported at the time.

Ethiopia is the third worst jailer of journalists on the African continent, with at least 10 behind bars on December 1, CPJ’s 2015 prison census shows.

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Colonel Demeke Zewdu to appear in Gonder court again

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borkena
August 18,2016

Colonel Demeke Zewdu Source ; Social Media
Colonel Demeke Zewdu
Source ; Social Media

Colonel Demeke Zewdu is appearing in court in Gonder tomorrow, according to social media sources. Demeke Zewudu is under arrest in Gonder following fateful incident involving him and security forces who were believed to have come from Tigray regions with what appeared to be illegitimate arrest warrant.

Exchange of fire between the security forces and Colonel Demeke left at least two security forces dead.

When more reinforcement was sent to Gonder to capture Colonel Demeke Zewdu, people in Gonder came in defense of the colonel to protect him from being taken to outside of Gonder for a “trail”

The incident caused outbreak of popular uprising in Gonder. So far, Colonel Demeke Zewdu is still in Gonder despite pressures that seemed to have emerged in the guise of “Federal government.”

Region three government to which Gonder is a part came under immense pressure from the people in Gonder and beyond not to handover him,whom now millions hail as a hero for refusing to surrender, to TPLF forces and fight them. Left with no option, government in the region seemed to have come to a collision course with the “Federal government” – which is rather TPLF in actual fact.

Colonel Demeke is appearing in court for a second time. Not enough is known regarding the charge laid against him.

Announcement by an activist on social media claims that TPLF has a plan in place to stage violence by causing grenade attack when residents in Gonder show up in court tomorrow.

Check back for more updates on this story.

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The United States Announces Additional Humanitarian Assistance for Ethiopia

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August 19,2016
Posted on EINNEWS

The United States announced nearly $35 million in additional humanitarian assistance to help the people of Ethiopia face the impacts of the worst drought in fifty years.

Triggered by El Niño, the drought follows successive poor rainy seasons and has exceeded many people’s ability to cope. Today’s funding announcement will support USAID’s UN and NGO partners in providing humanitarian aid, including more than 6,000 metric tons of supplementary and therapeutic foods to help an estimated one million people suffering from moderate and severe acute malnutrition. The new funding will also increase access to safe water and sanitation facilities and promote hygienic practices to drought-affected communities.

To get communities back on their feet, USAID partners are providing seeds to farmers and assistance to protect their livestock and other assets. We are also helping to train health workers, expand programs that address gender-based violence in drought-affected areas, and augment logistics capacities so that critical supplies get to people most in need. These efforts will help Ethiopians meet immediate needs, protect development gains made, and complement long-term efforts to build resilience to future disasters.

With this announcement, the United States is providing nearly $774 million since FY 2015 in humanitarian assistance and continues to be the single largest humanitarian donor to the people of Ethiopia.

USAID’s Mission Director in Ethiopia Leslie Reed announced the new funding in Addis Ababa during an event commemorating World Humanitarian Day, which was designated by the United Nations in memory of the 22 UN and relief agency staff who lost their lives in a bombing in Baghdad 13 years ago. With this year’s theme being One Humanity, USAID stands in solidarity with the people of Ethiopia, to help them mitigate the worst impacts of the drought.

The United States commends other donors who have contributed to the Ethiopia drought response, and encourages others to join this international effort. Mobilizing a robust and coordinated global response will be critical to protect the country’s development gains and ensure early recovery.

Distributed by APO on behalf of U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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For more information about this report, please click here

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Ethiopia Travel Alert

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U.S Passports and International Travel
August 19,2016

The State Department alerts U.S. citizens of the risks of traveling in certain regions of Ethiopia due to anti-government protests, some of which have involved violence. Associated disruptions in telephone and internet services have hampered the U.S. Embassy’s ability to communicate with U.S. citizens in Ethiopia. This Travel Alert expires on February 18, 2017.

Since November 2015, anti-government protests, mainly in the regional states of Amhara and Oromia, have resulted in violent clashes between demonstrators and government security forces. Internet, cellular data, and phone service have been sporadically restricted or completely cut off prior to and during some of the protests, impeding the U.S. Embassy’s ability to communicate with U.S. citizens.

Protests are likely to continue, and could spread to other parts of the country, including the capital, Addis Ababa. U.S. citizens in Ethiopia should increase their level of situational awareness, continuously assess their surroundings, evaluate their personal level of safety, and avoid demonstrations and large gatherings.

For more information, refer to Passports and International Travel

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Seattle Ethiopians march in solidarity with protests back home

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Seattle Globalist
August 20,2016

Hundreds of Ethiopian-Americans marched together on Tuesday in protest against the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) party in their home country — and the U.S.’s lack of response to political repression in Ethiopia.

“Please listen to our voice…Our blood counts,” chanted hundreds as they marched down Marion Street to the Federal Building Downtown in 82-degree weather.

Marchers wore everything from street clothes to Ethiopian traditional outfits, and some wrapped U.S, Oromo and Ethiopian flags around their shoulders like capes.

“My dad is Oromo, my mother is Amhara, so who I am is Ethiopia,” said Kebede Abate, Ethiopian-Canadian Human Rights Chairman in British Columbia, as he stood under the towering Federal Building. “We must show the Oromo and Amhara as one…for that reason I drove 200 km early this morning to get here.”

The TPLF is the Tigray party within Ethiopia’s ethnically-based federalist government. It officially shares power with other ethnic parties in the the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), but has long dominated the government. The EPRDF won a landslide victory in elections last year that were condemned by democracy watchdog groups.

The protest on Tuesday was organized by the Ethiopian Community in Seattle, and called for solidarity among the different ethnic groups of Ethiopians living here in the Seattle area.
More than 80 ethnic groups call Ethiopia home and ethnic division has long been part of the country’s story, though recent protests have forged alliances across ethnic lines.

In the face of graphic images of political violence around the country, nation’s people in both the homeland and the diaspora are slowly coming together.

“I came down here because I’m sick and tired of seeing all of my people dying,” says Turu Godana, a young Oromo woman who brought her younger sister and cousins to the Tuesday protest. “I don’t think this dictatorship should be in power and I don’t agree with the U.S. government supporting any of them. They’re living off of blood money, basically.”

“USA stop financing the dictatorship in Ethiopia” and “Stop terrorism in our country” were among signs criticizing the mass crackdown by the Ethiopian government and a silent response in the West. The Ethiopian and U.S. governments are longstanding allies.

Ethiopians Americans marched downtown Tuesday in a solidarity protest of the Ethiopian government’s oppression — and the lack of attention that it gets in Western countries. (Photo by Damme Getachew)
Ethiopians Americans marched downtown Tuesday in a solidarity protest of the Ethiopian government’s oppression — and the lack of attention that it gets in Western countries. (Photo by Damme Getachew)

Chants were repeated over and over on the long and sweaty trek: “We the people of Ethiopia are united,” “All the tribes are united,” “TPLF stop killing innocent Ethiopia,” “Free political prisoners,” “Stop supporting TPLF,” “Free our students,” “Journalism is not terrorism,” and more.

Despite the declarations of solidarity, the number of Oromos who turned out for Tuesday’s protest was noticeably smaller. When an Oromo man took the megaphone, the response to his call was not as loud as the Amharic exclamations that had met other speakers.

Two days later, Oromos held another protest, traveling a similar but slightly longer route to reach the Federal Building. They called for the freedom of students, women, men and children.

Though the flyer announcement for Tuesday’s march said it was for all Ethiopians, regardless of tribe, some Oromos who gathered on Thursday did not feel that their tribe was adequately represented.

Long a marginalized group in Ethiopia, Oromos on Thursday called for major U.S. intervention against the “killer” Ethiopian “dictatorship.” Harsh words described the pain of those who have family back home in Ethiopia who experiencing the government’s enforcement firsthand.

“The message I have is that it’s OK to go with Amharas or with any tribe in Ethiopia,” explained Endale Bogale, an Oromo father, at the start of the Thursday protest. “My dream is that we come together as one body, under one umbrella, so we can support our students and our children who are dying back home.”

For more, check Seattle Globalist

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Hagos Gebrehiwot won Silver Medal for Ethiopia

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August 20,2016

Hagos Gebrehiwot competing Farah at Rio
Hagos Gebrehiwot competing Farah at Rio

Hagos Gebrehiwot won a silver medal in men’s 5000 meters final at Rio Olympic. Hagos finished the race in bronze medal position. He was given a silver position after the American Athlete, Chelimo, was disqualified from a silver medal position.

Kenya’s Bernard Lagat took finished in an adjusted bronze medal position.

Mo Farah won the Gold medal as expected making his dream of Olympic double gold medal a reality. he finished the distance in 13:03.30 minutes. He finished his final lap in a time of 52.83 seconds.

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Ethiopia : What happened to the planned protest in Addis Ababa Yesterday?

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August 22,2016

priests and deacons randomly checked  ,apparently on grounds of suspicion for possession of arms  in the Capital Addis Ababa yesterday  Source : Social Media
priests and deacons randomly checked ,apparently on grounds of suspicion for possession of arms in the Capital Addis Ababa yesterday
Source : Social Media

The planned massive peaceful protest didn’t happen yesterday. Reason behind it is huge deployment of defense and security forces in the capital Addis Ababa on the night before protest day which was yesterday.

According to informants from Addis Ababa, forces were deployed in neighborhoods in Addis Ababa and house to house searched conducted overnight. Consequently, thousands of young people in the capital are reportedly detained in undisclosed location.

As shown in the picture above, people who were on their way to churches were randomly stopped and searched on grounds of suspicion of fire arms.

Observers say that the number of security forces including plain cloth security was exceptionally high.

A report by Ethiopian Satellite Television,which sites insiders sources within the ruling party, indicated that the country’s air force was mobilized and put on high alert.

The United States of America issued travel advisory days before the planned protest in Addis Ababa. From social media sources, diplomats in Addis Ababa were keenly following the development in the capital.

Regime in power managed to stile the protest in Addis Ababa. Does it mean that it simply postponed it probably paving the way for the movement to evolve in the direction of defensive capabilities as was seen in North Western Ethiopia in some cases? It remains to be seen.

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Almaz Ayana seeks apology from Ethiopians for not winning gold in 5000m at Rio

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August 22,2016

Almaz Ayana  Source ; Herald Sun
Almaz Ayana
Source ; Herald Sun

Almaz Ayana made history at Rio Olympic by shattering world record in 10,000 meters distance when she finished the distance in 29:17:45 minutes slicing off 14:33 seconds from the world record set in 1993 by a Chinese athlete.

Many Ethiopians expected that Almaz Ayana will do same in the 5000 meters distance. Almaz herself expected to win gold medal. In some cases, the talk was whether Almaz could break world record in 5000 meters as well or not. The result turned out to be different.

Two laps into the finishing line Almaz Ayana could no longer maintain her lead, it was about 50 meters ahead of the rest of the athletes, and was passed by Kenaya athlete Vician Cheriout who claimed gold in the distance.

Almaz had to settle for Bronze medal in the distance which many Ethiopians rather consider it to be decent performance owing to her exhausting races in the 10,000 meters final and 5,000 meters preliminary heat. She dominated most of the laps by leading even the leading athletes during the 5000 meters event at Rio.

Almaz felt somewhat guilty for not winning gold in the 5000 meters and asked apology from Ethiopians. She’s already very respected. And her apology got Ethiopians talking about her humility and sense of responsibility. Response of Ethiopians? “No Almaz, you actually did everything you could and made history; we love you.” Indeed, Ethiopia seem to be happy about her performance.

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US Ambassador in Ethiopia completed term

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August 24,2016

Leaving US Ambassador to Ethiopia - Patricia Haslach Source : - US Embassy in Ethopia website
Leaving US Ambassador to Ethiopia – Patricia Haslach
Source : – US Embassy in Ethopia website

US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Patricia M. Haslach,completed her term in office- according to report by government affiliated broadcaster -FANA. She was appointed as Ambassador to Ethiopia in 2013.

She reportedly met with Ethiopia’s ceremonial president, Mulatu Teshome, in the occasion of completion of her term.

No word as to who is taking over the Ambassadorial post in Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly met with Kenya’s president – Uhuru Kenyatta- yesterday. South Sudan, Somalia and the fight against terrorism are among the items that Kerry is discussing with Kenyatta.

John Kerry visited Ethiopia in 2014. It doesn’t look like he is stopping over Ethipoia.

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Attempt by TPLF forces to take custody of a leader of the Amhara resistance fail : ESAT

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ESAT News
By Engidu Woldie
August 25, 2016

Aided by ground forces and helicopters, the TPLF regime forces approached the Angereb jail in the city of Gondar on Wednesday to take custody of Col. Demeke Zewdu, the symbol of the revolt in the Amhara region. The local defense forces however refused to transfer his custody.

Regime security forces in plain cloth but armed, who managed to sneak into the jail to whisk away the Colonel, were arrested and their weapons confiscated by the local forces.

Residents of Gondar, who were holding a stay at home protest on Wednesday were irate over the news and repeated attempt by the TPLF forces to take Colonel Demeke.

The Colonel, a leader of the movement against Tigrayan oppression in Amhara, had reportedly killed three TPLF forces last month as they attempted to arrest him at his residence. Since then, Gondar has seen one protest after another demanding an end to TPLF rule. The protest in Gondar was joined by Bahir Dar and other major towns and even smaller localities lately. 150 people were killed by security forces two weeks ago when residents of Gondar and Bahir Dar held a peaceful demonstration.

The revolt in the Amhara region was sparked when TPLF forces arrested members of a committee that spearheads the demand by the people of Wolkait, Tgede and Telemt to reclaim a territory that was forcefully incorporated into the Tigray region by the TPLF and against the false Tigrayan identity imposed on them by the regime.

In Finote Selam, West Gojam, residents blocked a highway to Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa keeping regime forces at bay. The people then marched to the central square of the town, burnt the flag of the TPLF and hoisted the original Ethiopian flag, a significant sign of freedom from TPLF rule.

New rounds of stay at home protest began on Wednesday in Gondar as the protest in Bahir Dar entered its fourth day.

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For more information about this report, check ESAT

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Ethiopia could lead to civil war says former president Negaso Gidada

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August 26,2016

Negaso Gidada Source : VOA Amharic
Negaso Gidada
Source : VOA Amharic

Former president of Federal Republic of Ethiopia, Negaso Gidada, concerned that Ethiopia could lead to civil war unless popular demands in different parts of the country are urgently and positively addressed.

In an interview with Voice of America Amharic service, Negaso was explicit enough that situations in countries like Yemen,Syria,Somalia and South Sudan could unfold in Ethiopia. Fighting between peoples and between opposition and government is likely to happen unless demands related to democratic and human rights are addressed in the short term rather than clinging to violent and brutal measures on the part of government to suppress popular demands.

Negasso Gidada was the first president of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and resigned after he opposed undemocratic political moves by the ruling party in Ethiopia.As president, he signed the current controversial constitution. Now,in his interview with VOA Amharic, he sees merit in opening discussion on the constitution again to address controversial issues like Article 39 which stipulates “self-determination up to and including secession.”

Many analysts argue that the Article 39 of the constitution is reminiscent of Marxist world view which was meant to be applicable for nations under conditions of colonial administration.

The issue of flag is also controversial, he seem to suggest, that needs open discussion. During the course of protests in Ethiopia and abroad, Ethiopians reject the flag the ruling party introduced after taking power following the fall of military regime. Contentious point regarding flad is addition of pentagram with blue color on Ethiopian flag which was otherwise plain green,yello and red horizontal stripes.

Negaso sees ongoing popular demands in different parts of Ethiopia as manifestations of problems related to democratic rights and human rights. And the solution in the short term,he added,is to revoke new legislation introduced recently that severely restricts freedom of expression and other democratic rights.

Anti-terrorism legislation, for example, has been criticized by political and human rights activists as many journalists and opposition figures are thrown to prison with trumped up charges of terror.

Negaso also noted that questions of identity surfaced in the ongoing movement including Wolqaite question in Amhara region as matters that needs urgent solution. He tends to think that addressing them positively and urgently could avert disastrous political and security consequences.

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