Oromo nationalism on the rise in Ethiopia

By William Davidson

Protests and online activism in recent months have brought a resurgence of ethnic Oromo nationalism in Ethiopia.

July 29, 2014,  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Al Jazeera) - Aslan Hasan, a student belonging to the Oromo ethnic group in Ethiopia, was called either a guilt-ridden terrorist who committed suicide or an innocent victim of brutal state repression, depending on who you listen to.

His death came following a bout of violence in May, when Oromo students in several towns protested against a government plan for the capital Addis Ababa to expand into Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia’s largest and most populous federal region with around one-third of the nation’s over 90 million people.

“ዶ/ር ኢንጂነር” ሳሙኤል ዘሚካኤል ኬኒያ ላይ ተይዞ ወደ ሃገር ሊመለስ ነው ተባለ

(ዘ-ሐበሻ) አነጋጋሪው ‘ዶ/ር ኢንጂነር ሳሙኤል ዘሚካኤል’ ኬንያ ውስጥ በቁጥጥር ስር መዋሉን እና ወደሃገር ቤትም እንደሚመለስ ኢቶሚካሊንክ የተባለው የራድዮ ፕሮግራም ከአዲስ አበባ አስታወቀ።

በከተማው ውስጥ የማይገባውን የትምህርት ደረጃና ማዕረግ ጭኖ ሕዝብን ሲያታልል ነበር የተባለው ሳሙኤል ዘሚካኤል በመገናኛ ብዙሃን ድርጊቱ ከተጋለጠ በኋላ በርካታ ነጋዴዎች እና ግለሰቦች በዚህ ሰው ተጭበርብረናል በሚል ክስ መመስረታቸው የታወቀ ሲሆን በኢንተርፖል አማካኝነት ከኬንያ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ተላልፎ እንደሚመጣ ይጠበቃል።

ራድዮው እንደዘገበው ዶ/ር ኢንጂነር ሳሙኤል ዘሚካኤል ዛሬ ማምሻውን አዲስ አበባ ይገባል ተብሎ ይጠበቃል።

Anger over 'violent crackdown' at protest in Ethiopia

July 28, 2014 (BBC News) — A plan by the Ethiopian government to expand the capital’s administrative control into neighbouring states has sparked months of student protests.

Security forces have been accused of cracking down on demonstrators in the region of Oromia.

The government says 17 people died in the violence, but human rights groups say that number is much higher.

The BBC’s Emmanuel Igunza has gained rare access to the town of Ambo where the protests took place.

Source: BBC News

Ethiopian runners: 3 found, but question of asylum still unanswered

Police found three of the four missing Ethiopian athletes in Beaverton on Monday afternoon, saying they're safe and staying with acquaintances. A fourth remained missing.

The University of Oregon Police Department said police had found Amanuel Abebe Atibeha, a 17-year-old boy, and Dureti Edao and Meaza Kebede, two 18-year-old women.

Zeyituna Mohammed, 18, remained missing, but she was not believed to be in danger, department spokesman Kelly McIver said in an email. "We need to have positive confirmation of her safety in order to clear the missing-persons case," he said. 

The four runners were reported missing Saturday morning from the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene. Though speculation swirled that they intend to seek asylum, the UO could not confirm that. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services office in San Francisco said the agency does not identify asylum-seekers.

ከድምፃችን ይሰማ የተላለፈ ጥሪ፦ “መንግስታዊው ‘ጥቁር ሽብር’ የህዝብን የድል ችቦ አያጠፋውም!”

ሰኞ ሐምሌ 14/2006 ከቀናት በፊት በእለተ ጁምአ በታላቁ አንዋር መስጂድ በመንግስት ታጣቂዎች የተወሰደው ድንበር የለሽ ጭፍጨፋ የሙስሊሙ ህብረሰተብ ሰላማዊ ትግል በታሪኩ ሌላ መጠምዘዣ ውስጥ እንዲገባ ምክንያት እንዲሆን የሚያስገድድ ነው፡፡ በዚህ በመንግስት የደህንነት ኃይሎችና በፖሊስ ሀላፊዎች ከቀናት በፊት ታቅዶ በተወሰደ እርምጃ ከ6 ሺ በላይ የመንግስት ቅጥረኛ ሲቪል ለባሾች እንደተሳተፉበት መገለጹ ይታወሳል፡፡ ቅጥረኞቹ የተከበረው የረመዳን ወር የጁምአ ሰላት ከመሰገዱ በፊት በመስጊዱ ውጫዊ ሰሜናዊ አቅጣጫ ግርግር በማስነሳትና ከፖሊሶች ጋር ከሁለቱም አቅጣጫ ድንጋይ በመወራወር የታለመውን ውጤት ለማምጣት ሞክረዋል፡፡ በዚህም በአካባቢው የነበሩትን ጨምሮ በሁሉም አቅጣጫ የነበሩና በአስር ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ሙስሊሞች የጁምአ ሰላታቸውን እንዳይፈጽሙ እክል ከመሆናቸውም በላይ እጅግ በርካታ ጾመኛ ሙስሊሞች ላይ እጅግ አሰቃቂ ጭፍጨፋ ፈጽመዋል፡፡

ጅምላ ጨራሽ ተውሳክ (Biological Weapons) በድብቅ ወደ ትግራይ ተወሰደ

(ኢ.ኤም.ኤፍ) በመሰረቱ ጅምላ ጨራሽ ተውሳክ ወይም ባዮሎጂካል መርዝ በሰው ልጅ ላይ መጠቀም በተባበሩት መንግስታት የተከለከለ ነው። ሆኖም ይህንን የሰውን ልጅ በጅምላ የሚጨርስ ተውሳክ በህወሃት ጄነራሎች የሚመራው የኢትዮጵያ መከላከያ ሚንስትር በድብቅ ወደ አገር ውስጥ አስገብቶ ነበር። “ለምን እና በማን ላይ ግድያውን ለመፈጸም ነው?” የሚለው ጥያቄ እንዳለ ሆኖ፤ የተባበሩት መንግስታት የጸጥታ ክፍልም ቢሆን እንደዚህ አይነት ጥቆማ ቢደርሰው እርምጃ ለመውሰድ ይችላልና ኢትዮጵያውያን አክቲቪስቶችን ይህንን ጉዳይ ልብ ሊሉት ይገባል። እናም ዛሬ የደረሰን ዘገባ እንዳመለከተው ከሆነ፤የዛሬ ዓመት በድብቅ ተጭነው ወደ አገር ቤት ውስጥ የገቡትን አንትራክስ ስፓርስ (anthrax spores )፥ ብሩሲሎሲስ (brucellosis)፣ እና ቦቱሊስም (botulism) የሚባሉ ጅምላ ጨራሽ ባዮሎጂካል መርዞች ታሽገው ከተቀመጡበት ደብረዘይት መከላከያ ኮሌጅ ላቦራቶሪ ውስጥ ወደ መቀሌ ዛሬ ሌሊት በኮንቴነር ተጭነው እንደተወሰዱ ለማወቅ ተችሏል።

Ethiopia: Drop Case Against Bloggers, Journalists

Politically Motivated Charges Show Misuse of Terrorism Law

(Nairobi, July 19, 2014) – The Ethiopian government should immediately drop politically motivated charges brought against 10 bloggers and journalists on July 17, 2014, under the country’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law, Human Rights Watch said today.

 The Ethiopian authorities arrested six of the bloggers and three journalists on April 25 and 26. They have been detained in Maekelawi, the Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector in Addis Ababa. The court charged the nine with having links to banned opposition groups and trying to violently overthrow the government, local media reported. A tenth blogger, who was not in Ethiopia at the time of the arrests, was charged in absentia.

CPJ condemns closed court hearings for nine Ethiopian journalists

CPJ 

The Zone 9 Bloggers

NAIROBI - The Ethiopian government should end its politicized prosecution of nine Ethiopian journalists arrested in April. The journalists and their lawyers were shut out of court room hearings in recent days.In hearings at the Arada First Instance Court in the capital Addis Ababa on Saturday and Monday, police said that they had wrapped up their investigation into the nine journalists--who were arrested on April 25 and 26--and referred the case for trial to the Federal High Court, according to local journalists, who spoke to the detective leading the investigation. Neither the defendants nor their lawyers were present.
Authorities have held the journalists without informing them of any charges for 80 days at Maekelawi Prison, and only recently allowed family to visit, local journalists told CPJ.

ሰበር ዜና - የእንግሊዝ ከፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት ከእንግሊዝ ለኢትዮጵያ ዕርዳታ የሚሰጡ ድርጅቶች በሙሉ (የእንግሊዝ መንግሥትንም ጨምሮ) ለኢትዮጵያ የሰብዓዊ መብት ይዞታ ቅድምያ መስጠታቸውን እና አለመስጠታቸውን በሚያጣራ መልኩ ሕጋዊ ምርመራ እንዲደረግ አዘዘ

ዓለም አቀፉ የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅት (ሁማን ራይት) ዛሬ ከጥቂት ሰዓታት በፊት ባሰራጨው ዜና  የእንግሊዝ ከፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት ከእንግሊዝ ለኢትዮጵያ  ዕርዳታ የሚሰጡ ድርጅቶች በሙሉ (የእንግሊዝ መንግሥትንም ጨምሮ) ለኢትዮጵያ የሰብዓዊ  መብት ይዞታ ቅድምያ መስጠታቸውን እና አለመስጠታቸውን በሚያጣራ መልኩ ሕጋዊ ምርመራ እንዲደረግ ያሳለፈውን ውሳኔ  ''ጠቃሚ እርምጃ'' በማለት አሞካሽቶታል።
ውሳኔው በተለይ በቅርቡ ከአርበኛ አንዳርጋቸው ፅጌ መታገት በኃላ የእንግሊዝ መንግስት  ''የባህር ማዶ የልማት ትብብር ድርጅት'' (UK Department for INTERNATIONAL Development (DFID) ) ለኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የገንዘብ ድጎማ ሊያደርግ የነበረ ከመሆኑ አንፃር የዛሬው ውሳኔ ከፍተኛ መልዕክት ማስተላለፉ አይቀርም።በሌላ በኩል የዛሬው የፍርድቤቱ ውሳኔ ይሄው የልማት ድርጅት (DFID) በበቂ ሁኔታ የኢትዮጵያን የሰብዓዊ ይዞታ ጉዳይ አለመመርመሩን ጠቁሞ በእዚሁ አዲሱ የፍርድ ቤት ውሳኔ መሰረት ሕጋዊ ምርመራ እንዲደረግበት ማዘዙን ያብራራል።
የዓለም አቀፉ የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅት የእርምጃውን ፋይዳ ሲያስረዳ  የድርጅቱ የአፍሪካ ክፍል ተጠሪ የተናገሩትን በመጥቀስ ነው።እንዲህ ይነበባል -

Justice and politics in Ethiopia: Snatched

July 9, 2014 (The Economist) — ANDARGACHEW TSIGE, an exiled Ethiopian opposition leader with British nationality, could be facing the death penalty after apparently being arrested and sent back to his country of origin while on a trip to the Gulf. While transiting in Yemen on June 23rd, during a journey from Dubai to Eritrea, Andargachew mysteriously ended up on a plane to Ethiopia. It is believed that he was detained by Yemeni officials and handed over to members of Ethiopia’s security apparatus.

A Summary of Oromos Killed, Beaten and Detained by the TPLF Armed Forces during the 2014 Oromo Protest Against The Addis Ababa (Finfinne) Master Plan

Compiled by: National Youth Movement for Freedom and Democracy (NYMFD) aka Qeerroo Bilisummaa

July 05, 2014

Background

It is a well-documented and established fact that the Oromo people in general and Oromo students and youth in particular have been in constant and continuous protest ever since the current TPLF led Ethiopian government came to power. The current protest which started late April 2014 on a large scale in all universities and colleges in Oromia and also spread to several high schools and middle schools begun as opposition to the so called “Integrated Developmental Master Plan” or simply “the Master Plan”. 

Ethiopia: Fears for Safety of Returned Opposition Leader

Yemen Unlawfully Deported Andargachew Tsige, Concerns over Possible Mistreatment

July 7, 2014, London (hrw) – An exiled Ethiopian opposition leader unlawfully deported by Yemen back to Ethiopia is at risk of mistreatment including torture. Andargachew Tsige is secretary-general of Ginbot 7, a banned Ethiopian opposition organization, and was convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in separate trials in Ethiopia in 2009 and 2012.

UK stands accused over extradition of Ethiopian opposition leader

Andargachew Tsige, a British national, may face death penalty after extradition from Yemen

Addis Ababa: Tsige was accused of attempting to overthrow the Ethiopian government and sentenced to death in absentia. Photograph: Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

The Foreign Office has been accused of failing to act to prevent theextradition to Ethiopia of an opposition leader facing the death penalty.

Andargachew Tsige, a British national, is secretary general of an exiled Ethiopian opposition movement, Ginbot 7. He was arrested at Sana'a airport on 23 June by the Yemeni security services while in transit between the United Arab Emirates and Eritrea.

"The British knew he was being held in Yemen for almost a week but they did nothing," said Ephrem Madebo, a spokesman for Ginbot 7. "We are extremely worried about Mr Andargachew, because the Ethiopians kill at will."

The Foreign Office, which called in the Yemeni ambassador earlier this week, said it was urgently seeking confirmation that Andargachew was in Ethiopia.

(ሰበር ዜና) የየመን መንግስት አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን አሳልፎ ሰጠ

የግንቦት ሰባቱ ዋና ጸሃፊና የድርጅቱ ሞተር የሚባሉት አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ  ለኢትዮጵያ መንግስት አሳልፈው ተሰጥተዋል። አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ለትራንዚት ሰንዓ የመን በቆዩበት ጊዜ በየመን ደህንነት ሃላፊዎች  ከአሥር ቀናት በፊት የታገቱ ሲሆን፣ ድርጅታቸው ግንቦት ሰባት እርሳቸዉን ለማስፈታት ዉስጥ ዉስጡን በርካታ ጥረቶች ሲያደርግ እንደቆየም ከድርጅቱ የወጣዉ መግለጫ ይጠቁማል።
አቶ አንዳርጋቸውን ለመጎብኘት ጥረት ያደረገው የእንግሊዝ ኤምባሲ፣ በየመን አቶ አንዳርጋቸውን ለማግኘት እንዳልቻለ የገለጸዉ የደረሰን ዘገባ፣ አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ለኢትዮጵያ መንግስት አሳልፈው የተሰጡት፣ በየመን መንግስት መያዛቸው በድርጅታቸው ለሕዝብ ይፋ ከመሆኑ በፊት እንደሆነም ለማረጋገጥ ችለናል።

አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ከግንቦት ሰባት አባላት ዉጭ በበርካታ ኢትዮጵያዉያን ዘንድ በቆራጥነታቸውና ሐሳብ አመንጪነታቸው የሚታወቁ ናቸው። በምርጫ ዘጠና ሰባት ወቅት ፣ በቅንጅት ዉስጥ ትልቅ ተሳትፎ ያደርጉ የነበሩት አቶ አንዳርጋቸው፣ ለሰላማዊ ትግሉም መጽሃፍ ጽፈው ያበረከቱ አገር ወዳድ ሰው ናቸው። በወቅቱ የኢሕአዴግ መንግስት አቶ አንዳርጋቸውን በዝዋይ አስሮ የነበረ ሲሆን፣ በዚያም በደረስባቸው ድብደባ አይናቸው ላይ ጉዳት እንደደረሰም በወቅቱ መዘገቡ ይታወሳል። አቶ አንዳርጋቸው አገዛዙ በሰላም አይወርድም በሚል ሁለገብ ትግል አደርጋለውሁ የሚለው የግንቦት ሰባት ከፍተኛ አመራር አባል ሆነው ሲሰሩ የነበሩ ታጋይ ናቸው።

በረመዳን ጾም ወቅት በስፋት የሚበላው ቴምር ለጤና ያለው 10 በረከቶች

በዚህ የረመዳን ወር፣ ቴምር ይታወሳል። እስቲ ቴምር የሚከተሉት ጥቅሞች አሉትና ተገባበዙ። እኛም ምክሩን ጋበዝናችሁ።

ቴምር በቫይታሚን፣ ማዕድናትና በተለያዩ ንጥረ ነገሮች የበለጸገ መሆኑ በርካታ የጤና ጠቀሜታዎች እንዲኖሩት አስችሎታል፡፡

1) ስብና ኮልስትሮል፦ ከየትኛውም የኮልስትሮል ዓይነቶች የጸዳና በጣም አነስተኛ የስብ መጠን ያለው መሆኑ ክብደት መቀነስ ለሚፈልጉ ተመራጭ ነው፡፡
2) ፕሮቲን፦ ቴምር በፕሮቲንና አስፈላጊ ማዕድናት የበለጸገ መሆኑ ለሰውነት እጅጉን ጠቃሚ ያደርገዋል፡፡
3) ቫይታሚን፡ በቫይታሚን የበለጸገ ሲሆን ፥ ከቫይታሚን ዓይነቶች ቢ1፣ ቢ2፣ ቢ3፣ ቢ5፣ ኤ1 ን አካትቶ ይዟል፡፡
4) ሀይል እና ጉልበት፦ ቴምር ቀላል የማይባል የሀይል ክምችት ስላለውም ንቁና በሀይል የተሞላን እንድንሆን ያስችለናል፡፡
5) ፖታሲየምና ካልሲየም፦ ቴምር የፖታሲየም ክምችቱ ከፍተኛ በመሆኑ በልብ በሽታ እንዳንጠቃና አካላችን ውስጥ ያለው የኮልስትሮል መጠን እንዲቀንስ ከመርዳቱም በላይ ፥ በአንጻሩ አነስተኛ የሶዲየም መጠንና ከፍተኛ ፖታሲየም መጠን በመያዙ ለጤናማ የነርቭ ስርዐት ወሳኝ ያደርገዋል ፡፡
6) ብረት፥ ቴምር በብረትና በፍሎሪን የበለጸገ መሆኑ ደግሞ ብረቱ የብረት ማዕድን እጥረት ላለባቸው ፍሎሪኑ ደግሞ ጥርስን ከመበስበስ ለመታደግ ይረዳል።
7) ድርቀት፦ ለድርቀትም ቢሆን ውሀ ውስጥ የተነከረ ቴምር መመገብ ፍቱን እንደሆነ ይታወቃል፡፡
8) ሰውነትን ማጽዳት፦ በአልኮል መጠጣት ሳቢያ ሰውነት ውስጥ የሚከማቸውን መርዛማ ኬሚካል ከሰውነታችን ውስጥ በማስወገድም ይረዳል – ቴምር !
9) ካንሰርና የዓይን ችግር፦ የዓይን ህመም ችግርንና የሆድ ካንሰርን ለማከምም ተመራጭ ነው – ቴምር!
10) ቆዳ ችግር፦ ቴምር የቆዳ ችግሮችን በማስወገድም መልካም ዝና ያለው ሲሆን ፥ ጸጉርን በማፋፋት የጸጉር መሳሳትንም ይከላከላል፡፡

Source: Admass Radio Atlanta

Source: Zehabesha

Reporters Without Borders condemns last week’s politically-motivated dismissal of 20 journalists

Reporters Without Borders

(photo : Muktar Kedir, President of the Oromia regional state)

The 20 journalists were denied entry to ORTO headquarter on 25 June and were effectively dismissed without any explanations other than their alleged “narrow political views,” an assessment the management reached at the end of a workshop for journalists and regional government officials that included discussions on the controversial Master Plan of Addis that many activists believe is aimed at incorporating parts of Oromia into the federal city of Addis Ababa.

The journalists had reportedly expressed their disagreement with the violence used by the police in May to disperse student protests against the plan, resulting in many deaths.

It is not yet clear whether the journalists may also be subjected to other administrative or judicial proceedings.

“How can you fire journalists for their political views?” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk. “The government must provide proper reasons for such a dismissal. Does it mean that Ethiopia has officially criminalized political opinion ?

“In our view, this development must be seen as an attempt by the authorities to marginalize and supress all potential critiques ahead of the national elections scheduled for 2015 in Ethiopia. These journalists must be allowed to return to work and must not be subjected to any threats or obstruction.”

Ethiopia is ranked 143rd out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.