BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR
2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Report. February 27, 2014

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ethiopia is a federal republic. The ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four ethnically based parties, controls the government. In September 2012, following the death of former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, parliament elected Hailemariam Desalegn as prime minister. In national parliamentary elections in 2010, the EPRDF and affiliated parties won 545 of 547 seats to remain in power for a fourth consecutive five-year term. Although the relatively few international officials allowed to observe the elections concluded that technical aspects of the vote were handled competently, some also noted that an environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place prior to the election. Authorities generally maintained control over the security forces, although Somali Region Special Police and local militias sometimes acted independently. Security forces committed human rights abuses.

The most significant human rights problems included: restrictions on freedom of expression and association, including through arrests; detention; politically motivated trials; harassment; and intimidation of opposition members and journalists, as well as continued restrictions on print media. On August 8, during Eid al-Fitr celebrations, security forces temporarily detained more than one thousand persons in Addis Ababa. The government continued restrictions on activities of civil society and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) imposed by the Charities and Societies Proclamation (the CSO law).

Other human rights problems included arbitrary killings; allegations of torture, beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees by security forces; reports of harsh and, at times, life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; a weak, overburdened judiciary subject to political influence; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights, including illegal searches; allegations of abuses in the implementation of the government’s “villagization” program; restrictions on academic freedom; restrictions on freedom of assembly, association, and movement; alleged interference in religious affairs; limits on citizens’ ability to change their government; police, administrative, and judicial corruption; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities; clashes between ethnic minorities; discrimination against persons based on their sexual orientation and against persons with HIV/AIDS; limits on worker rights; forced labor; and child labor, including forced child labor.

Impunity was a problem. The government, with some reported exceptions, usually did not take steps to prosecute or otherwise punish officials who committed abuses other than corruption.

Factions of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an ethnically based, violent, and fragmented separatist group operating in the Somali Region, were responsible for abuses.

http://www.ethiotube.net/play/u-s-department-of-state-2013-human-rights-reports-ethiopia/

Ethiopians in Dallas Raise $ 31,000 to Assist Saudi Victims

February 26, 2014

Ato Birhan Mekonnen, chairman of the MAAEC(second from right), handing the check over to USAIM representative, at the USAIM’s office in Washington DC.

Under the leadership of The Mutual Assistance Association for the Ethiopian Community (MAAEC), we Ethiopians living in the Dallas Fort Worth area have come together to assist our brothers and sisters who are victims of the violent crackdown and deportation in Saudi Arabia. As a result, $31,000 has so far been raised for the cause. Ato Birhan Mekonnen, chairman of the MAAEC, handed over the check ($31,000) to the representatives of United States Association for International Migration (USAIM) in a ceremony conducted on Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 at the latter’s office, in Washington DC. The remaining uncollected fund will be delivered in due time. USAIM is an organization engaged on providing the much-needed humanitarian assistance for the vulnerable Ethiopians returning from Saudi Arabia.

Following the news of the inhuman and horrible Saudi crack down on Ethiopians living in the kingdom couple of months ago, the Ethiopian community in Dallas Fort Worth joined hands with the world wide campaign to stand for the human rights of our Ethiopian sisters and brothers. MAAEC had issued a press release condemning the act, organized a historic protest demonstration at the Federal building in Dallas, and conducted a candle vigil night to memorize in memory of those died in the violence. Once again we reaffirm our solidarity with our brothers and sisters and pledge to continue to do all we can to help them in the future.

Aircraft hijacker for exiled Ethiopians a hero

The co-pilot , who last week kidnapped a plane , will be released. The request multiple exiled Ethiopians . He was a " hero of human rights ," they argue .

In Geneva on Monday of the last week has landed an aircraft that had been kidnapped by his co-pilot , the 30-year Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn . It turned out that the Ethiopians wanted to apply for asylum in Switzerland because he felt threatened in his country. The man was arrested then . If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for hostage-taking . A group of exiled Ethiopians has therefore launched a number of protests in cities around the globe to secure the release of the hijacker .

On Monday, the supporters of Free Hailemedhin Abera demonstrated in front of the Swiss Embassy in Washington, on Tuesday they went to Frankfurt on the road. Next Friday they will gather in front of the Federal Palace in Bern and demonstrate against the deportation . Because in their eyes Abera is a " hero of human rights " , such as " Le Matin " writes .

"Must be immediately released »

On the specially bridged site Abera is referred to as a human rights activist. The authors write that the co-pilot would have had plenty of opportunities to emigrate to the West. For this he would have had to kidnap no plane . But him , the aim was to make people aware of the precarious situation in Ethiopia. Also Aberas sister announced shortly after the hijacking on Twitter that behind her brother's action would put more . He loved working at Ethiopian Airlines .

Aberas afraid to be in his country in danger , according to the activist group is entirely justified. "He is a victim of the Ethiopian dictatorship and must be immediately released from prison. "

Currently Abera is based in Switzerland in custody. The criminal case against him was taken over by the Federal Prosecutor. Ethiopia may wish to apply for a delivery.

የባህር ዳር ሰልፍ በአስደናቂ ሁኔታ በሰላም ተጠናቋል። ሕዝቡ ከፍተኛ አፈናን ተቋቁሞ፣ ፍርሃትን አዉልቆ የነጻነትን ደዉል አውጇል። ሕዝብ በባህር ዳር ተናግሯል። በዚህ በባህር ዳር ሰልፍ፣ መኢአድ እና አንድነት ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ስለጠሩ ብቻ አይደለም ሕዝብ የተሰባሰበው። ዉስጥ ዉስጡን ከፍተኛ ድርጅታዊ ሥራ ስለተሰራ፣ ሕዝቡን በወረዳና በቀበሌ ደረጃ ማንቀሳቀስ ስለተቻለ ነው። ድርጅቶች (መኢአድ፣ አድንነት እና ትብብር) በተናጥል ሳይሆን በትብብርና አብሮ በመስራት ስለመሩት ነዉ።

ይህ የባህር ዳር ሰልፍ በየቤታችን ትልቅ ደስታን እንደፈጠረ ይገባናል። ዜጎች በድፍረትና በነጻነት ድምጻቸዉን ሲያሰሙ የመሰለ ደስታ የለም። ሁላችንም ተደስተናል፣ በባህር ዳር ሕዝብም ኮርተናል።

የባህር ዳሩ ሰልፍ ግን ጅማሬ እንጂ ፍጻሜ መሆን የለበትም። ተመሳሳይ እንቅስቃሴዎች እየተደጋገሙ፣ በጥራትና በብቃት፣ በመቀሌ፣ በአዋሳ፣ በድሬደዋ፣ በጂማ፣ በጎንደር፣ በአዲስ አበባ በመሳሰሉ ሌሎች ከተሞች መደረግ አለባቸው። የነጻነት፣ የሰላም፣ የኢትዮጵያዊነት እሳት መቀጣጠል አለበት።

አንድነት/መኢአድ በፊታቸው ከፍተኛ ሥራ አለባቸው። ድጋፍ ያስፈልጋቸዋል። በባህር ዳር የታየዉን አይነት ሥራ ለመስራት ትልቅ ወጭ አለው። ኢትዮጵያዊ ሁሉ ቀበቶዉን እንዲታጠቅ፣ ትግሉን እንዲቀላቀል፣ የድርሻዉን እንዲወጣ ያስፈልጋል። ከአሁን በኋላ ወደ ኃላ መመለስ የለም። ሰላማዊ በሆነ መንገድ፣ በባህር ዳር እንደተደረገዉ፣ በአገራችን ግዛቶች ሁሉ ሕዝቡን ማደራጀትና ማንቀሳቀስ ያስፈልጋል፤ የግድ ነው። ይቻላልምም።

በባህር ዳር ሁኔታዎች ስለተመቻቹ አልነበረም። የፖለቲካ ምህዳሩ ስለተከፈተ አልነበረም። የመኢአድ እና አንድነት አባላት፣ ደጋፊዎች፣ ታስረዋል፣ ተዋክበዋል ከሥራ ተባረዋል፣ የግድያ ዛቻ ደርሶባቸዋል። ትልቅ ዋጋ ከፍለዋል፤ እየከፈሉም ነዉ። ነገር ግን የተዘጋዉን በር በትግላቸው አስከፍተው ነዉ በባህር ዳር እንዳየነው ሕዝቡን ያንቀሳቀሱት።

በአገር ቤት ያለን ምሁራን፣ ተማሪዎች፣ ሴቶች ፣ ወንዶች ፣ ወጣቶች አረጋዉያን፣ ክርስቲያኑ ፣ ሙስሊሙ፣ ትግሬው፣ አማራዉ፣ ኦሮሞዉ፣ ቅልቅሉ … ሁሉን ኢትዮጵያዊ ከአንድነት ጎን እንዲሰለፍ እንጠይቃለን። አንድነት እንደ ሌሎች ጠመንጃ የለውም። አንድነት የፈረንጆችን ጥቅም እንደሚያስጠብቁት እንደ ሌሎች የዉጭ መንግስታት ድጋፍ የለዉም። የአንድነት ኃይልና መተማመኛ ሕዝብ ብቻ ነው።

እንግዲህ

1. አገር ቤት ያለን በአካባቢያችን ወዳሉ የአንድነት ጽ/ቤቶች፣ በዉጭ ደግሞ ያለን የአንድነት ድጋፍ ድርጅቶች በመሄድ እንዴት መርዳትና መተባበር እንዳለብን እንጠይቅ።

2. http://www.andinet.org በመሄድ በክሬዲት ካርድ ወይንም ፔይ ፓል የገንዘብ ድጋፍ እናድርግ።

3. የሚሊየነም ድምጽ ለነጻነት ፌስ ቡክ እና የፍኖተ ነጻነት ገጽ ላይክ በማድረግ እየተሰሩ ያሉትን እንከታተል። መልእክቶችን በማስተላለፍ የቅስቀሳቅዎች አካል እንሁን::

https://www.facebook.com/FinoteNestanet https://www.facebook.com/MillionsOfVoicesForFreedomUdj

4. አገር ዉስጥ ላለን በአካባቢያችን የአንድነት መዋቅር ከሌለ፣ በዉጭ ደግሞ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ከሌሉ፣ ሁለት ሶስት ፣ ሆነን እራሳችንን አደራጅተን፣ ፓርቲዉን ፓርቲዉን በማሳወቅ ትግሉን እንቀላቀል። የድጋፍ ድርጅቶች ከሌሉ፣ የአገር ቤቱን ትግሉ የሚደገፉ ሌሎች የሲቪክ ድርጅቶች ሊኖሩ ስለሚችሉ፣ በነርሱ በኩል ድጋፍ ማድረግ ይቻላል።

5. በግለሰብ ደረጃም በጽሁፍ፣ በሃሳብ መርዳት ከፈለግን organizingethiopia@gmail.com በሚለው ኢሜል አድራሻ ያሳውቁን።

ወ/ት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ አንድ ወቅት እንዳለችዉ፣ ፀሐይ ለኢትዮጵያ ወጥቶላታል። ከአሁን በኋላ አይጨልምም::

አራት ኢትዮጵያውያን በኬንያ የጸረ ሽብር ግብረሃይል ተያዙ

ጥር ፳፱ (ሃያ ዘጠኝ) ቀን ፳፻፮ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :-የምስራቅ አፍሪካ ሰብአዊ መብቶች ሊግ ለኢሳት በላከው መግለጫ  የኦሮሞ ተወላጅ የሆኑት አራቱ ኢትዮጵያውያን በኬንያ የጸረ ሽብር ግብረሃይል የታየዙት በተለያዩ ቀናት ነው።

ቱምሳ ሮባ ካቲሶ የተያዘው ኢስሊ እየተባለ በሚጠራው የገበያ ስፍራ ሲሆን፣ በሁለት መኪኖች የመጡ የጸጥታ ሃይሎች በፈረንጆች አቆጣጠር ፌብሩዋሪ 1፣ አፍነው ወዳልታወቀ ስፍራ ወስደውታል።

ጫላ አብደላ፣ ናሚ አብደላ፣ እንዲሁም ስሙ በውል ያልታወቀው ሶስተኛው ሰው ደግሞ ፌብሩዋሪ ሶስት በተመሳሳይ ሰዎች ታፍነው ተወስደዋል።

ሊጉ ለኬንያ መንግስት በጻፈው ደብዳቤ፣ ኢትየጵያውያኑ ወደ አገራቸው ሳይላኩ አይቀርም ብሎአል። የኬንያ መንግስትም በአለማቀፍ ህግ መሰረት የሰዎችን አድራሻ ይፋ እንዲያደርግ ጠይቋል።

የኢትዮጵያ ደህንነቶች በቅርቡ 2 የኦጋዴን መሪዎችን ኬንያ ውስጥ አፍነው መውሰዳቸው ይታወቃል። ቢቢሲ ዛሬ ባወጣው ዘገባ ተደራዳሪዎችን አሳልፈው ሰጥተዋል የተባሉት የኬንያ ፖሊሶች ጥፋተኞች አለመሆናቸውን ገልጿል።

የሶማሊ ክልል ፕሬዚዳንት የጸጥታ አማካሪ በበኩላቸው ባለስልጣኖቹ ታፍነው ሳይሆን ራሳቸውን ለመንግስት አሳልፈው መስጠታቸውን ተናግረዋል።

Ethiopia - Land for Sale

As the economy thrives, we examine the plight of Ethiopians forced from their land to make way for foreign investors.

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Just a few decades ago, Ethiopia was a country defined by its famines, particularly between 1983-1985 when in excess of half a million people starved to death as a consequence of drought, crop failure and a brutal civil war.

Against this backdrop, it is impressive that in recent years, Ethiopia has been experiencing stellar economic growth. The headline statistics are certainly remarkable: the country is creating millionaires faster than any other in Africa; output from farming, Ethiopia’s dominant industry, has tripled in a decade; the capital Addis Ababa is experiencing a massive construction boom; and the last six years have seen the nation’s GDP grow by a staggering 108 percent.

But it is not all positive news, because for all the good figures there are still plenty of bad ones.

Around 90 percent of the population of 87 million still suffers from numerous deprivations, ranging from insufficient access to education to inadequate health care; average incomes are still well below $1500 a year; and more than 30 million people still face chronic food shortages.

And while there are a number of positive and genuine reasons for the growth spurt - business and legislative reforms, more professional governance, the achievements of a thriving service sector - many critics say that the growth seen in agriculture, which accounts for almost half of Ethiopia’s economic activity and a great deal of its recent success, is actually being driven by an out of control ‘land grab', as  multinational companies and private speculators vie to lease millions of acres of the country’s most fertile territory from the government at bargain basement prices. 

At the ministry of agriculture in Addis Ababa, this land-lease programme is often described as a "win-win" because it brings in new technologies and employment and, supposedly, makes it easier to improve health care, education and other services in rural areas. 

"Ethiopia needs to develop to fight poverty, increase food supplies and improve livelihoods and is doing so in a sustainable way," said one official.

But according to a host of NGO’s and policy advocates, including Oxfam, Human Rights Watch and the Oakland Institute, the true consequences of the land grabs are almost all negative. They say that in order to make such huge areas available for foreign investors to grow foodstuffs and bio-fuels for export - and in direct contravention of Ethiopia’s obligations under international law - the authorities are displacing hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples, abusing their human rights, destroying their traditions, trashing the environment, and making them more dependent on food aid  than ever before.

"The benefits for the local populations are very little," said renowned Ethiopian sociologist Dessalegn Rahmato. "They’ve taken away their land. They’ve taken away their natural resource, because these investors are clearing the land, destroying the forest, cutting down the trees. The government claims that one of the aims of this investment was to enable local areas to benefit by investing in infrastructure, social services … but these benefits are not included in the contract. It's only left up to the magnanimity of the investor."

And those investors, he continued, are simply not interested in anything other than serving their own needs: "They can grow any crop they want, when they want it, they can sell in any market they want, whether it’s a global market or a local market. In fact most of them are not interested in the local markets.” 

He cited as an example a massive Saudi-owned plantation in the fertile Gambella region of south west Ethiopia, a prime target area for investors: "They have 10,000 hectares and they are producing rice. This rice is going to be exported to the Middle East, to Saudi Arabia and other places. The local people in that area don’t eat rice."

But the most controversial element of the government’s programme is known as 'villagisation' - the displacement of people from land they have occupied for generations and their subsequent resettlement in artificial communities.

In Gambella, where two ethnic groups, the Anuaks and the Nuers, predominate, it has meant tens of thousands of people have been forced to abandon a traditional way of life. One such is Moot, an Anuak farmer who now lives in a government village far from his home.

"When investors showed up, we were told to pack up our things and to go to the village. If we had decided not to go, they would have destroyed our crops, our houses and our belongings. We couldn't even claim compensation because the government decided that those lands belonged to the investors. We were scared … if you get upset and say that someone stole your land, you are put in prison. If you complain about being arrested, they will kill you. It's not our land anymore; we have been deprived of our rights."

Despite growing internal opposition and international criticism, the Ethiopian government shows no sign of scaling the programme back. According to the Oakland Institute, since 2008, an area the size of France has already been handed over to foreign corporations. Over the next few years an area twice that size is thought to be earmarked for leasing to investors.

So what does all this mean for the people on the ground? In Ethiopia – Land for Sale, filmmakers Veronique Mauduy and Romain Pelleray try and find out.

People & Power can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Wednesday: 2230; Thursday: 0930; Friday: 0330; Saturday: 1630; Sunday: 2230; Monday: 0930.

የአንድነት ለዲሞክራሲና ለፍትሕ ፓርቲ አቶ አስራት ጣሴ ፍርድ ቤትን መዝለፍ በሚል ፍርድ ቤት ሊቀርቡ ነው

የአንድነት ለዲሞክራሲና ለፍትሕ ፓርቲ አቶ አስራት ጣሴ ፍርድ ቤትን መዝለፍ በሚል ፍርድ ቤት ሊቀርቡ ነው

February 5/2014

-ጉዳዩ ከአኬልዳማ ዶክመንተሪ ጋር የተያያዘ ነው

የአንድነት ለዲሞክራሲና ለፍትሕ ፓርቲ (አንድነት) የምክር ቤት አባል አቶ አስራት ጣሴ፣ ፍርድ ቤት ፍትሕ የማይሰጥ አካል መሆኑን የሚገልጽ ዘለፋ አዘል ጽሑፍ ጽፈዋል በሚል ፍርድ ቤት ቀርበው እንዲያስረዱ ትዕዛዝ ተላለፈ፡፡ 

የፌዴራል የመጀመርያ ደረጃ ፍርድ ቤት ዘጠነኛ ፍትሐ ብሔር ሁለተኛ የቤተሰብ ችሎት ጥር 21 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም. ወጪ ያደረገው የትዕዛዝ ደብዳቤ እንደሚያስረዳው፣ አቶ አስራት ጣሴ በአዲስ ጉዳይ ሳምንታዊ መጽሔት ቅጽ 7 ቁጥር 198 የጥር ወር 2006 ዓ.ም. ዕትም አንድ መጣጥፍ አቅርበዋል፡፡ ‹‹… አሁን ደግሞ ከሰሞኑ ‘አኬልዳማ’ ድራማ በድጋሚ በተከታታይ እየቀረበና እየታየ ነው፡፡ ይህ እየሆነ ያለው አንድነት ፓርቲ የኢትዮጵያ ሬዲዮና ቴሌቪዥን ድርጅትን በስም ማጥፋት ወንጀል በፍርድ ቤት ከሶ ገና ውጤት ባልተገኘበት ወቅት ነው፡፡ እሱም ፍትሕ ከኢሕአዴግ ፍርድ ቤቶች ይገኛል ተብሎ ሳይሆን፣ በታሪክ ምስክርነት እንዲመዘገብ ሲባል ነው፤›› የሚል ጽሑፍ ማቅረባቸውን ፍርድ ቤቱ በፖሊስ በኩል ለአቶ አስራት እንዲደርሳቸው ባስተላለፈው የትዕዛዝ ደብዳቤ ላይ ሰፍሯል፡፡

ፍርድ ቤቱ ከላይ በትዕዛዝ ደብዳቤው ላይ ያሰፈረውንና አቶ አስራት በአዲስ ጉዳይ መጽሔት ላይ ጽፈውታል የተባለውን ጽሑፍ ‹‹ፍርድ ቤት ፍትሕ የማይሰጥ አካል መሆኑን የሚገልጽ ዘለፋ አዘል ጽሑፍ›› ሲል ገልጾታል፡፡

በመሆኑም መዝገቡ ከመመርመሩና ማለትም አንድነት ለዲሞክራሲና ለፍትሕ ፓርቲ ከሳሽ ሆኖ የቀረበበትንና የኢትዮጵያ ሬዲዮና ቴሌቪዥን ድርጅትና የድርጅቱ ሠራተኛ የሆነው ጋዜጠኛ አብዲ ከማል ተከሳሾች የሆኑበት መዝገብ ከመመርመሩ በፊት፣ የአቶ አስራትን ጉዳይ ማጣራት አስፈላጊ ሆኖ ማግኘቱን አስታውቋል፡፡ በመሆኑም አቶ አስራት ጣሴ ጥር 30 ቀን 2006 ዓ.ም. ፍርድ ቤት ቀርበው እንዲያስረዱ በአዲስ አበባ ፖሊስ ኮሚሽን በኩል ደብዳቤው እንዲደርሳቸው ትዕዛዝ ተላልፏል፡፡