Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) Urges Secretary Kerry to speak out on behalf of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, an  independent judiciary and open political space in Ethiopia

May 21, 2013

Secretary of State John F. Kerry,

US Department of State

2201 C Street NW

Washington, DC 20520

VIA FACSIMILE

Dear Secretary Kerry,

We are pleased to know you will be one of the distinguished guests at the 50th anniversary of the African Union. This is a celebration not for Africans alone, but for the world. Sadly, the progress made over the last half-century falls substantially short of what could have been possible.

The formation of the African Union (AU) followed the liberation of many African countries from the minority rule exercised during the colonization of Africa. At the AU’s inception, the hope for Africa was that it become a continent where freedom of expression, freedom of belief, freedom of assembly, equality, impartial justice, and the rule of law would undergird all aspects of African life—just the same as what America’s founding fathers had envisioned for the United States. However, if the founders of the AU were alive today, would they be celebrating?

 Today, most African leaders on the continent have not been elected through free and fair elections and their countries do not allow basic freedoms, independent judiciaries, open political space and multi-ethnic governments. Instead, corruption is rampant, the human and civil rights of the people are violated and ethnic and religious based conflicts have caused untold suffering in places like Darfur, South Sudan, the Congo, and Rwanda. The daily struggle for survival, the dislocation of the people, cronyism, ethnic favoritism and strong-armed leaders trump the maximization of human potential on the continent for all but a few. Yet, Africans have not given up their hope for the continent and continue to strive towards progress despite these obstacles. 

The organization I lead, the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), is an example of the desire of Ethiopians for such progress. The SMNE is a non-political, non-violent grassroots social justice movement of diverse Ethiopians whose mission is to advance the freedom, justice, human rights, equality, and reconciliation of all the people of Ethiopia, regardless of ethnicity, religion, political view or other differences.

The SMNE formed in response to the widespread human rights violations, injustice and repression perpetrated against the Ethiopian people by the TPLF/EPRDF an ethnic-based minority regime in power now for over 20 years. Instead, we seek a New Ethiopia where humanity comes before ethnicity or any other identity differences that can diminish the value of another human being. This is one of the SMNE’s core principles. Although you are celebrating the anniversary of the African Union at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; ironically, Ethiopia is one of the most repressive and undemocratic countries on the African continent. Ethiopia is an example of the failure of the implementation of the goals of the AU and its partners.

For example, in the last national election of 2010, the unpopular ruling party claimed a 99.6% victory after using an assortment of repressive methods to block political opponents, including imprisonment and misuse of foreign humanitarian aid to bribe voters and punish those who resisted. A few blocks away from the front door of the beautiful new building housing the African Union are journalists, political leaders, religious leaders and human rights activists who were convicted of terrorism and other crimes for simply exercising rights of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion and thought as enshrined in Article 30 of the Ethiopian Constitution. As this day is celebrated, there are those who have been taken away from their families and imprisoned just because they are asking for their God-given rights. Others have been shot and killed, tortured or driven from the country for doing this.

Mr. Secretary,

You should be aware that a protest is planned for May 25, 2013. Leaders of the Semayawi (Blue) Party, the Ethiopian opposition is calling for their supporters to come out on the anniversary of the AU to peacefully protest. Some will be wearing black as a symbol of their mourning for the lack of freedom, the criminalization of political expression, government interference in religious organizations, government control of Ethiopian institutions and its control of all aspects of life in the country—the media, the courts, the economy, the military, telecommunications, national resources, banking, the educational system and opportunities. 

These protestors seek to show African observers of the AU’s celebration that they, Ethiopians of diverse ethnicity, region, gender and religion, are under tyranny. They hope it will inspire the Obama administration and others present to not overlook what is going on in reality on the ground. The protestors seek the release of all political prisoners, the restoration of freedom of expression, an independent judiciary, opening up of political space, halting the displacement of the people from their land and the rescinding of the Charities and Society Proclamation and the Anti-Terrorism laws, which both are used to silence civil society.

We are unsure about what the autocratic regime in Ethiopia will do in response. Some, especially the leaders of the protest, may be beaten, arrested and locked up in jail. The potential also exists for violence, particularly at the hands of the current government. This was the case in 2005 when Ethiopian government security forces shot and killed 197 peaceful protestors and detained tens of thousands of others. The opposition leaders were then imprisoned for 18 months.

We in the SMNE support the people and their demands for freedom, justice and meaningful reforms. We hope that the U.S., as one of the key donors to the TPLF/EPRDF regime, will not overlook this cry from the people, but instead will speak out on behalf of freedom and justice and against the use of any violence or other punitive repercussions against the people for simply exercising their God-given rights.

Mr. Secretary,

We understand the importance the US places on maintaining a relationship with Ethiopia, but it should be on the side of the people, not in support of a dictatorship. Following the Arab Spring, the people remained but the dictators were no longer in power. We call on Obama administration to side with the Ethiopian people who simply want the same freedoms Americans enjoy.

Lack of African progress cannot only be blamed on the dictatorships, but also on those who shore up their power. Some of the most democratic countries in our world should not settle for shortsighted goals—advancing their own interests. Instead, they should seek long-term goals and relationships, which must include the people. Relationships between countries, like between the US and Ethiopia, will always be most sustainable when national interests coincide with the human interests of the people.

Mr. Secretary,

This is not the first time we have approached you. We, the SMNE, sent a letter to you when you were the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. We also sent letters to: President Obama, Robert Gates, as Secretary of Defense, and to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State. If we want a freer, more vibrant, more peaceful and stable world, it cannot be done without including Africa. Our human value should rise above national boundaries for no one is free until all are free—one of our foundational principles. When this principle is followed, it will bring greater harmony between people, communities and nations.

Mr. Secretary,

We should not feed the African people rhetoric of words while feeding the dictators with aid money. This kind of thing is unhealthy and will backfire. Will President Obama now choose to side with the democratic movement of the Ethiopian people or will he continue with the status quo, supporting a dictator who has stolen the votes of the people?

If President Obama wants to work on the side of the Ethiopian people towards peace, stability and prosperity in Ethiopia and in the Horn of Africa, now is the time to show such readiness. We are extending our hand to work with you Mr. Secretary, but leave the decision up to you.

We call on the Obama administration to speak out about the injustice in Ethiopia. As for us, we will carry on our struggle until we free ourselves. We are not asking anyone else to do it—the US, the EU, or others—but, we do ask the Obama administration to not be a roadblock to our freedom. It is time for Africa to progress and thrive! That would be cause for real celebration!

Sincerely yours,

Obang Metho,

Executive Director

Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE)

910- 17th St. NW, Suite 419.

Washington, DC 20006 USA

Email:Obang@solidaritymovement.org.

Website:www.solidaritymovement.org

___________________________________

This letter has been CC to:

President Barack Obama

Vice President, Joseph Biden

Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Mr. Donald Yamamoto

U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Mr. Donald Boothe

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, Ranking Member of Committee on Foreign Relations Committee

U.S. Sen. Christopher Coons,  Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs

House of Representatives, Mr. Christopher Smith, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa

UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,

German Minister of Foreign Affairs

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

European Union Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

This letter has also been CC to major news media outlets such as BBC, the Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post etc, 

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

የቀዩ መስመር ሰላባዎች?

By Goolgule.com

May 20, 2013

መለስ ህይወታቸው እንዳለፈ ከተሰጡት አስተያየቶችና ትንቢቶች መካከል ቀዳሚው የመለስ ሞት ለህወሃት ጊዜውን ጠብቆ የሚፈነዳ ፈንጂ መሆኑ ነበር። በዚሁ በጎልጉል የድረገጽ ጋዜጣ በስልጣን ላይ ያሉ የኢህአዴግ ዲፕሎማት “መለስ የቆፈሩት ጉድጓድ” በሚል ርዕስ በሰጡት ቃለ ምልልስ ይህ እንደሚከሰት ቁልጭ አድርገው ተናግረው ነበር።

መለስ አፍነው የያዟቸው የፖለቲካ ችግሮች ጊዜያቸውን እየጠበቁ የሚፈነዱና በመጨረሻም ፓርቲውን እንደሚፈረካክሰው የተገለጸው በየደረጃ የሚፈነዱት ችግሮች እየበረከቱ በመሄዳቸው ነበር። መለስ አፍነው የያዟቸው ችግሮች የእርስ በርስ መበላላት ደረጃ እንደሚያደርሱ በርካታ ወገኖችና መገናኛዎች ጎልጉልን ጨምሮ አመላክተዋል። አሁን አሁን ትንቢቱ የፍጻሜው ጅማሬ ላይ እንደሚገኝ የሚናገሩም አሉ።

የፖለቲካ አቋም ልዩነት ሳይኖር የአስተሳሰብ ልዩነት ማራመድ በህወሃት ዘንድ አይቻልም። ከተሞከረም ክህደት ነው፤ መፈንቅለ መንግስት የማካሄድ ያህል ነው። የርዕዮተ ዓለም ለውጥ የማቀጣጠል ያህል ያስፈርጃል። ሽብርተኛ ያስብላል። ከቶውንም ተቀባይነት ስለሌለው ድንበር ተበጅቶለታል። ድንበሩም “ቀይ መስመር” በመባል ይታወቃል። የ”ቀይ መስመር” ሃሳብ አመንጪና ደራሲ አቶ መለስ ናቸው። “በጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርነት ማዕረግ የቀድሞው ፕሬዚዳንት ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ” በሚል የምጸት ስም የሚጠሩት አቶ ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝም ይህንን የቀይ መስመር ጽንሰ ሃሳብ ለንግግር ያህል ይጠቀሙበታል።

ቀይ መስመር የሚሰመርበት በውል ተለይቶ የተቀመጠ ውስን ጊዜ የለውም። መስመሩ ሁሌም አለ። ሁሉም ቆመውበታል። ከልምድ እንደሚታየው በህወሃት ህመም ኢህአዴግ ሲያተኩሰው በድንገት መስመሩ በደማቁ እንዲቀባ ይደረጋል። መስመሩ የሚቀባበት ደማቅ ቀለም የሚቀዳው አቶ መለስ አፈር ሳይልሱ “በስብሰናል” ሲሉ ከሰየሙት የኢህአዴግ የ”ማበስበሻ” ባህር ውስጥ ነው።

በኢህአዴግ የ”ማበስበሻ” ባህር ውስጥ ያልተነከረ የለም። በዚህ ባህር ውስጥ ሆነው የሚንቦጫረቁት ተቆጥረው አይሰፈሩም። አዲስ አበባ በአራቱም ማዕዘን፣ በክልልና በክልል ዋና ዋና ከተሞች፣ እንዲሁም በተለያዩ አገራት የሚሰነፍጠው የባህሩ “ግልማት” የዜጎችን የመኖር ህልውና ከተፈታተነ ቆይቷል።

በባህሩ ውስጥ በመርከብ ሆነው በጀልባ የሚቀዝፉትን የሚመለከቱ አሉ። ጀልባ የሚቀዝፉት ጌቶቻቸውንና “ልዕልቷን” እያዩ ሽታውን በለመዱት ባህር ውስጥ ይምነሸነሻሉ። በዛው ባህር ውስጥ በደረታቸው እየዋኙና እየተንቦጫረቁ ግብር የሚያስገቡ አሉ። “ዲጂታል” የሚባሉትና “ምስለኔዎቹ” ደሞ የማበስበሻውን “መረቅ የማቅለሚያ ማዕድን” ይዘው አራት ኪሎ የባህሩ አናትና ማማ ላይ ሆነው ሁሉንም ይመራሉ። የባህሩን የመጫወቻ ህግ የሚበላቸውና ከበሰበሰው ባህር ወደ እቶን የሚወረወሩት “የቀይ መስመር ሰለባዎች ” ይለያሉ። ለይተው ሲጨርሱ ለባህሩ ካፒቴን የፌዴራል የስነ ምግባርና ጸረ ሙስና ኮሚሽን ያቀብሉታል። በዚሁ ሂደት ይቀጥላል። አዲስ ነገር የለም። ሊኖርም አይችልም። ይህ መነሻ ነው። ወደ ጉዳዩ እናምራ።

የሰሞኑ ወግ – ኢህአዴግ አመረረ ወይስ ቀለደ?

ሰሞኑን ኢህአዴግ “ሙስና ላይ ዘመትኩ። በህዝብ ጥቆማና ትብበር ሙስና የተንሰራፋበትን ተቋም አበራየሁት። የህዝብ ትብብር አይለየኝ …” በማለት የፍርድ ቤት አሰራርና ህጋዊ የፍርድ አካሄድ እያስኮመኮመ የሚያውጀው አዋጅ ያስገረማቸው ክፍሎች “እንዴት እንመን? እንዴት እንቀበል? ማን ያልተነካካ አለ?” እያሉ ነው። ከተለያዩ አቅጣጫ “ኢህአዴግ አመረረ ወይስ ቀለደ” በሚል ክርክርም እያስነሳ ነው።

የፌዴራል ስነ ምግባርና ጸረ ሙስና ኮሚሽን ኮሚሽነር አሊ ሱሌማን ፓርላማ ቀርበው “ጥናቱ የተጀመረው በአቶ መለስ ትዕዛዝ ከዓመት ከአስር ወር በፊት ነበር” በማለት ምስክርነታቸውን የሰጡበት ዘመቻ አቶ መለስ በህይወት እያሉ ያልተጠናቀቀው በድንገት በመታመማቸው፣ ከዛም በመሞታቸው፣ ከዛም በላይ የሽግግር ወቅት በመሆኑ እንደሆነ አስረድተዋል። መለስ ሲሞቱ ሃይለማርያም ሙስና ላይ ዘመቱ በሚል ስባሪ ታሪክ እንዳያተርፉ፣ ከዚያም አልፎ ዘመቻው የፖለቲካ ልዩነቱ የፈጠረው “የአራግፍ፣ የመንጥር ዘመቻ” እንዳይመስል አቶ አሊ መለስን የዘመቻው “አባትና ባለታሪክ” አድርገው እንዲያቀርቡ መታዘዛቸው ዘመቻው የተለመደው የኢህአዴግ ቀልድ እንደሆነ አመላካች ስለመሆኑ በስፋት አስተያየት የሚሰነዘርበት ጉዳይ ነው።

ምንም ሆነ ምንም ኢህአዴግ ለጀመረው የሙስና ዘመቻ ሊመሰገን ይገባዋል የሚሉ ወገኖች ዘመቻው እንደ ሰደድ እሳት ተያይዞ የሚነድ ስለመሆኑ ሲናገሩ ይሰማል። የኢህአዴግ ደቀ መዝሙር በመሆን የሚታወቁ ድርጅታቸው “የመለስ ቦናፓርቲ” የተሃድሶ ዘመን ተመልሶ እንደመጣ፣ የዚህ ተሃድሶ ፊት አውራሪ ደግሞ እጩ ጠ/ሚኒስትሩ ዶ/ር ደብረጽዮን ገ/ሚካኤል እንደሆኑ በኩራት እየተናገሩ ነው።

ከደህንነቱ ራዳር የተሰወረ አለ?

በብሔራዊ መረጃና ደህንነት አገልግሎት የማናቸውም ባለሃብቶችና ባለስልጣናት እለታዊና አጠቃላይ የክትትል መረጃ ተመዝግቦ የተቀመጠ ነው። ዋናው ደህንነት የማበስበሻው ባህር ቁልፍ እጁ ላይ ነው። ሲፈለግ ከዋናው ባህር መዝገብ የሚፈልጋቸው ነቅሶ በስሩ ላላው የኢኮኖሚ ደህንነት ዘርፍ ያቀብላል። ለስራው ቅርብ የነበሩና በቅርቡ አገር ለቀው ናይሮቢ የሚገኙ እንዳሉት በዚሁ አሰራር መሰረት አሁን የታሰሩት ሰዎች ሪፖርት ተጠናቆ የቀረበው የዛሬ አምስት ወር ግድም ነው።

ደህንነቱ ማን ከማን ጋር እንደሚሰራ፣ የትኞቹ ባለስልጣናት ከየትኛው “ባለሃብት” ጋር አብረው እንደሚሰሩ፣ በየትኛው ወገኖቻቸውና ዘመዶቻቸው ስም እንደሚነግዱ፣ የኤክስፖርትና ኢምፖርት ስራ እንደሚሰሩ፣ ያለ ማስያዣ ብድር እንደሚፈቅዱና እንዲፈቀድ መመሪያ የሚሰጡ፣ ወዘተ ሙሉ መረጃ እንዳለው የሚጠቁሙት እኚሁ ሰው “ሙስና ከግል፣ ከድርጅትና ከተቋማት አልፎ በመንግስት ደረጃ የተዘረጋ ነውና ማን ማንን ይወነጅላል?” የሚል ጥያቄ ያነሳሉ። አያይዘውም “አገራችን ውስጥ ሙስና በግለሰብ ደረጃ ሳይሆን በመንግስት ደረጃ የተቋቋመ ነው” ብለዋል።

ሌሎችም እንደሚሉት ሙስናው ሊደበቅ በማይችል ደረጃ አገሪቱን እንደ ወባ ወረርሽኝ ሲያጥለቀልቃት፣ በየአቅጣጫው ሙስናና የመልካም አስተዳደር ችግር ህዝብን ሲያንገሸግሸው ለምን ዝምታ ተመረጠ? የሚለው አንኳር ጉዳይ ብዙ ከመላምትነት የዘለሉ ምክንያቶች እየቀረቡበት ነው። በተለያዩ ደረጃ የኢህአዴግን የመበስበስና የእድገት ደረጃ የማሟጠጥ ጉዳይ አንተርሰው አስተያየት የሚሰጡ ቅድሚያ አጀንዳ የሚያደርጓቸው አቶ መለስን ነው።

መለስ ዝምታን ለምን መረጡ?

እርሳቸው ምን ያህል ተዋናይ እንደሆኑ አሃዝ ጠቅሶ መናገር ባይቻልም አቶ መለስ አገሪቱ በሙስና መንቀዟን እያወቁ ዝም ማለታቸው ከተባባሪነት እንደማያሸሻቸው ስምምነት አለ። በፓርላማ፤ ከነጋዴዎችና ከኢንቨስትመንት ማህበረሰብ ጋርና ከተለያዩ አካላት ጋር ሲነጋገሩ ሙስናን አስመልክቶ አስገራሚ ዲስኩር ሲያሰሙ ኖረው ያለፉት አቶ መለስ፣ ሙስናን ተሸክመው የኖሩት በፍርሃቻ እንደሆነ የአብዛኞች ማጠቃለያ ነው። አቶ መለስ ሙስናን እንደ ስልት በመጠቀም በዙሪያቸው ያሉትን “በማበስበስ” እንዳሻቸው ይነዱዋቸዋል።

በሙስና የተጨማለቁና በሙስናው ባህር ውስጥ የሚዋኙትን ባለስልጣናት፣ ካድሬዎች፣ ባለሃብቶች፣ የጊዜው ሰዎችና ዘመዶቻቸው ቢታወቁም አቶ መለስ በመፈክር አብረዋቸው ለመኖር የወሰኑትና በዚያው ይህችን ዓለም ባላሰቡበት መንገድ የተለዩት በጡረታና “ያለህን ብላ” በሚል አካባቢያቸውን ለማጽዳት የሞከሩት ሙስናው ውስን አድራሻና መንደር ስለሌለው ነው። ዛሬ ምን አዲስ ነገር ተገኘና መለስ የፈሩት ሙስና እንዴት ተደፈረ?

መለስ በህይወት እያሉ ሙስናውን ዝም አሉ የሚሉትን ክፍሎች አጥብቀው የሚቃወሙ ቡድኖች ደግሞ “አቶ መለስ የሙስናው አውራ ናቸው። በመንግስት ደረጃ ለተገነባው የሙስና መንደር ፊታውራሪና ይለፍ ሰጪ ናቸው” ሲሉ ይከራከራሉ። የሙስናውን አዝመራ የዘሩ፣ ኮትኩተው ያለመለሙት፣ መጨረሻ ላይም ባህር አዘጋጅተው የማበስበሻ አረንቋ የተከሉት አቶ መለስ በመሆናቸው ርምጃ ለመውሰድ እንደማይቻላቸው፣ ርምጃ ልውሰድ ቢሉም ሁሉም ስለተበከሉ “በአገሪቱ የጦር አዛዥ፣ የፖሊስ አለቃ፣ የደህንነት ሹም፣ የሚኒስትሮች ምክር ቤት፣ ፓርላማ፣ ቀበሌ፣ ክፍለ ከተማ፣ ከንቲባ፣ መሃንዲስ፣ ሆስፒታል … የሚቀር ስለማይኖር በቅድሚያ በአገሪቱ የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ ሊታወጅ ይገባል” ሲሉ የሙስናውን አደገኛነትና መንግስታዊ መዋቅር ያለው ስለመሆኑ ይከራከራሉ።

ለማስረጃ ከሚያነሱት መከራከሪያ መካከል “ዋናው የሙስና ሻርክ” በሚል ስያሜ የሚጠሩት ባለሃብትና በሳቸው መዋቅር ውስጥ ሆነው ከተራ ወንጀል እስከ አገር አቀፍና ድንበር ዘለል ዝርፊያ የሚፈጽሙ “ማፍያዎች”፣ በፌስታል ብር የሚያቀባብሉ ምስለኔዎች፣ የባለስልጣናትን ሚስቶችና ዘመዶች በንግድ ተቋሞቻቸው በመሰግሰግ የአገሪቱን ህግና ህገመንግስት እንዳሻቸው የሚጋልቡ  ማጅራት መቺዎች፣ የአገሪቱን ባንኮችና የንግድ ስርዓት በማዛባት ሰርተው የሚበሉ ዜጎችን አሟምተው የጨረሱ፣ የራሳቸው ፖሊስና የደኅንነት ሃይል በመገንባት እንደ መንግስት ያቆጠቆጡ ወዘተ በህዝብ ይታወቃሉ። እኒህ ክፍሎች የአቶ መለስን ኮሪዶርና ማረፊያ ቤት ሲመላለሱበት መለስ ዝም ማለታቸው ከምን የመነጨ ሊሆን ይችላል? የሚል ጥያቄ ለሚያነሱ መልሱ አንድ ነው። እሳቸውም፣ ባለቤታቸውም፣ ዘመዶቻቸውም፣ ወገኖቻቸውም፣ የትልቁ “የማበስበሻው ባህር” አባል በመሆናቸው ነው። ከዚያም በላይ ደግሞ ልንካው ካሉ የመገንደስ አደጋ ስለሚከተል ነው። በሌላ አነጋገር ከስር እስከ አናት በተለያየ ደረጃ በህገወጥ የበለጸጉና የትንንሽ መንግስታት መሪዎች የሆኑ ስለበዙ አቶ መለስም ሆኑ እሳቸው የሚመሩት ህወሃት መራሹ አስተዳደር የመከልበስ አደጋ እንዳያጋጥመው በመፍራት እንደሆነ ከውስጥም ከውጪም በስፋት የሚታመንበት እውነታ ነው።

ደብረጽዮን “የጎበዝ አለቃ”!!

መለስ ሲያልፉ ሃላፊነቱን ጠቅልለው የተረከቡት መለስ በመተካካት ሰበብ ያዘጋጇቸው ሰዎች ናቸው። ከነዚህ አዲስ አመራሮች መካከል ዶ/ር ደብረጽዮን ዋናው መሃንዲስ ናቸው። መለስ የፈሩትን ጉድ እሳቸው እንዴት ደፈሩት ለሚለው የሰሞኑ ጥያቄ ምላሽ የሚሰጡ ለጉዳዩ ቅርበት ያላቸው ክፍሎች ዶ/ር ደብረጽዮንን ከፊት ለፊት ያስቀምጣሉ።

ከደህንነት መዋቅር ቁንጮ ላይ እንዳሉና መለስ ከሞቱ በኋላ ህወሃት ፊትለፊት ያወጣቸው ደብረጽዮን ከዋናው ስራቸው በተጨማሪ በምክትል ጠ/ሚኒስትር ማዕረግ የኢኮኖሚና የፋይናንስ ክላስተር የሚመሩ ናቸው። ጉዳዩን የሚከታተሉ እንደሚሉት እንደ እሳቸው ፍላጎት ቢሆን አሁን የተወሰደው ርምጃ ከአምስት ወር በፊት መከናወን የነበረበት ጉዳይ ነበር።

አሁን በቁጥጥር ስር የነበሩት ሰዎች ከአምስት ወር በፊት በቁጥጥር ስር እንደሚውሉ ይታወቅ እንደነበር የሚናገሩት የደህንነት ሰዎች “ከመለስ ህልፈት በኋላ በተፈጠረው የሃይል ክፍፍል  አሸናፊ ሆነው የወጡት ክፍሎች ቅርንጫፍ መቆራረጥ ጀመሩ እንጂ ርምጃው የጸረ ሙስና ዘመቻ አይደለም” ባይ ናቸው። የእነ በረከት ስምዓንና የወ/ሮ አዜብን ቡድን በመጻረር በመለስ ሞት ማግስት ዘመቻ የጀመሩት ቡድኖች ከሙስናው ባህር ውስጥ ተጨልፈው ወደ እቶን ውስጥ እንዲጣሉ ሲወሰን ደረጃ ተዘጋጅቶ እንደሆነ አንዳንድ መረጃዎች ያመለክታሉ።

መለስ አፍነው የያዙት የህወሃት “የመበስበስ” ችግር ገሃድ ከሆነ በኋላ አቶ ስብሃት ነጋ ግንባር ሆነው የወጡ ቢሆንም ለምን ታለፉ? የሚል ጥያቄ ስለመነሳቱ አስተያየታቸውን የሚሰጡት እኒሁ የደህንነት ሰዎች እንደሚሉት “አሁን የተጀመረው ኦፕሬሽን አሸናፊዎቹ ሃይሎች ጉልበታቸውን የሚያሳዩበትና የተጻራሪውን ቅርንጫፍ በመቆራረጥ ዋናውን ግንዶች ማድረቅና ለማገዶ የማዘጋጀት የታሰበ ነው” ዘመቻው በቀጣይነት በጡረታ ስም የሚያስወግዳቸው አውራ ሃይሎች እንዳሉት የሚናገሩት ክፍሎች አቶ አርከበ እቁባይና አምባሳደር ብርሃነ ገ/ ክርስቶስ  በዚህ የማጥራት ቀመር ውስጥ እንዳሉበት ይጠቁማሉ።

ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍንና አቶ በረከት ስምዖን ላይ ያነጣጠረ ዘመቻ ጀምረው የነበሩት አቶ ስብሃት  ነጋ ምንም ዓይነት ርምጃ እንደማይወሰድባቸው ያመለከቱት ውስጥ አዋቂዎች “ስብሃት ግን ቅርንጫፎቻቸው በሙሉ ተመልምለው ብቻቸውን ይቀራሉ። በመጨረሻም እንዲደርቁ ይደረጋል” ሲሉ ስለ ስሌቱ የሚያውቁትን ይናገራሉ።

“አቶ ስብሃት ላይ ርምጃ ከተወሰደ የባህሩ ዋና ተዋናዮች በሙሉ ርቃናቸውን ይቀራሉ። ሁሉም መረጃዎች ከወጡ ህወሃት ራሱ ባሰመረው የሞት መስመር ላይ ግንባር ቀደም ተሰላፊ እንዲሆን ያደርገዋል” የሚሉት የመረጃው ሰዎች፣ ለጊዜው አሸናፊ የሆኑት ክፍሎች የተነፈሱ ቢመስላቸውም ውስጥ ውስጡን የጋመ ጉዳይ ስለመኖሩም አመልክተዋል።

የሙስና ፋይል!! የህወሃት ፓናዶል!!

የፌዴራል የስነ ምግባርና የጸረ ሙስና ኮሚሽን ከበቂ በላይ ጥቆማ እንደሚደርሰው፣ በሚደርሰው ጥቆማ መሰረት የማጣራት ስራ ባከናወነባቸው ተቋማት ላይ ርምጃ ለመውሰድ ሲጠይቅ ማዕቀብ እንደሚደረግበት ሰራተኞቹ ውስጥ ውስጡን የሚነጋገሩበት ጉዳይ ነው። ከደህንነት ጋር በቁርኝት የሚሰራው ይህ ተቋም ሳንጃ የሚሰጠው ህወሃት ሲታመም ነው። ኢህአዴግ ውስጥ ግለት ሲጨምር ሳንጃው ድንበር ተበጅቶ ይታዘዛል። ሰሞኑን የሆነውና ከዚህ ቀደም የተደረጉት ሁሉ የዚሁ አሰራር ነጻብራቆች ናቸው።

“ቴሌ በሙስና ገልምቷል” ከተባለና ዋናው ተፈላጊዎች እንዲሸሹ ከተደረገ ከአራት ዓመት በኋላ  ኮሚሽኑ “ሳንጃህን ካፎቱ አውጣው ተባለ” መባሉን የሚያስታውሱ ክፍሎች፣ በህወሃት ክፍፍል ወቅት በአንድ ጀንበር የተሰራውን የማራገፍ ድራማ ያጣቅሳሉ። አሁን በቅርቡ ኦህዴድ ውስጥ የህወሃትን የበላይነት ለመሸርሸር በተነሱ ወጣት አመራሮች ላይ ሙስናን ተንተርሶ የተወሰደውን የማጥራት ዘመቻ ያክላሉ። አሁንም በተመሳሳይ ሰሞኑን የተወሰደውን ርምጃ ከዚሁ ከኖረው የህወሃት “የመበላላት” ታሪክ ጋር የሚያገናኙት ክፍሎች፣ በግልጽ አሁን አሸናፊ ሆኖ ከወጣው ቡድን ቁንጮና “ልዕልት” ጋር አብረው የሚሰሩ ግለሰብና፣ ባለስልጣን መታሰራቸው ቢድበሰበስም የክስ ሂደቱ እየጠና ሲሄድ ምን ሊፈጠር እንደሚችል አሁን ለመገመት የሚችግር እንደሚሆን ይናገራሉ።

ህወሃት በተለይም ተሹለክልከው መሪ የሆኑት አቶ መለስ ከበረሃ ጀምሮ ተቀናቃኞችን እንዴት ይበሉዋቸው እንደነበር ያጋለጡት የቀድሞው የህወሃት የገንዘብ ቤት ኃላፊ አቶ ገ/መድህን አርአያ የሃሳብ ልዩነት አስመልክቶ ውይይት ተደርጎ መስማማት ባለመቻሉ በጣም ሲመሽ  “አሁን እንረፍ፣ እንተኛ” ከተባለ በኋላ በተኙበት በዛው እንዲቀሩ የተደረጉ ስለመኖራቸው ተናገረው እንደነበር በማስታወስ “የአሁኑ ህወሃት ውሳኔውን ተቋማዊ ለማስመሰል። ተቋሙም በህግ፣ በፍርድ ቤት ችሎት፣ በዳኞችና ራሱ መርማሪ፣ ራሱ ከሳሽ በሆነው የፌዴራል የጸረ ሙስና ኮሚሽን የሚመራ በማስመሰል መበላላቱን “ዲጂታል” አድርጎ እየሰራበት ይገኛል።

ለማጠቃለል

የድሃ ልጆች ቦዘኔ ተብለው ሲታሰሩ አገሪቱ ውስጥ የተዛባ ነገር አልነበረም። በፖለቲካ አመለካከታቸው ዜጎች እስር ቤት ሲጣሉ ህግ የተከበረ ነበር። ንጹሃኖች በፈጠራ ወንጀል ሲገረፉና በስቃይ ሲዘለዘሉ ፍትህ አልጎደለም ነበር። እናት በችግር ልጇን ለገበያ ዝሙት ስትልክ ሃፍረት አልነበረም። በዝርፊያ ገንዘብ አዲስ አበባ በህንጻ ስታብድ አግባብነት አይታይም ነበር። ህዝብ በኑሮ ግለት ሌማቱ ሲደርቅና ገንዳ ላይ ምግብ ፍለጋ ህጻናት ሲባትቱ ችግር ሆኖ አይቆጠርም ነበር። አለፍርድ ቤት ትዕዛዝ ሰዎች እንደ ከብት በየአቅጣጫው ሲታጎሩ የፍትህ ስርዓቱ አልተዛባም ነበር … ሰሞኑን እስር ቤት የተወረወሩት አቶ ገብረዋህድ ፍርድ ቤት ቀርበው ስለ ባለቤታቸውና ልጃቸው ሲናገሩ “አገሪቱ ምን እየሆነች ነው” አሉ። ከኮብራ ወርደው ወህኒ ቤት ሲገቡ የአገሪቱ የፍትህ ስርዓትና የህግ የበላይነት እንደ ደቀቀ ታያቸው። የባለቤታቸው ከስርዓት ውጪ መታሰር አንገበገባቸው። የልጃቸው መታሰር አቃጠላቸው። ሌሎች ምን ይበሉ? የፕሮፌሰር አስራት ቤተሰቦችና ወዳጆች ምን ይበሉ? የእስክንድር ነጋ ልጅና ባለቤት ምን ይናገሩ? የነበቀለ ገርባ፣ የነ ኦልባና ለሊሳ፣ የነ ሌሊሴ ወዳጆ በኦሮሞነታቸው ብቻ ለስቃይ የተዳረጉና የመከራው ተካፋይ የሆኑት ቤተሰቦቻቸው ይህን ያህል ዓመት ችግሩን እንዴት ተሸከሙት?

የአቶ መለስ ባለቤት ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍን የቅርብ ባልደረባና የስራ አጋር የሆኑት የአቶ ገ/ዋህድ ባለቤትና ልጃቸው መታሰር ጥፋት ከሌለባቸው የሚደገፍ ባይሆንም ለሌሎች ባለስልጣናትና የህወሃት አለቅላቂዎች ታላቅ ትምህርት የሚሰጥ እንደሆነ በተለያዩ የማህበራዊ ድረአውዶች መነጋገሪያ ሆኗል።

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

የኦክላንድ ተቋምና ለአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ

ለአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ

May 14, 2013

በኢንቨስትመንት ስም የአገር ሃብትና ትውልድን እየበላ ስላለው የመሬት ነጠቃ አስመልክቶ የኦክላንድ ተቋምና ድርጅታችን ለአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ በጋራ ያዘጋጁት ጥናታዊ ዘገባ ይፋ ሆነ። የጋራ ንቅናቄያችን ዋና ዳይሬክተር ጥናቱ በትክክለኛ ጭብጥ ላይ ተመስርቶ እንዲዘጋጅ ለህይወታቸው ሳይሳሱ መረጃ በመስጠት ለተባበሩ ዜጎች “ታላቅ ክብር ይሁንላችሁ። አሁን አትታወቁም። ግን ከቶውንም አትረሱም። ክብር ለማትታወቁት ግን ለማትረሱት የአገር ጀግኖች” በማለት ምስጋና አቅርበዋል።

ኢህአዴግን በደፈናው መቃወምን ዓላማው ያላደረገው ይህ ጥናታዊ ዘገባ ዜጎችን ካደጉበት፣ ከኖሩበት፣ ከቀያቸው፣ ከህልውናቸው፣ ከርስታቸው፣ ወዘተ ያለ አንዳች ውይይት፣ ምክክርና ንግግር በማፈናቀል ለውጪ ኩባንያዎችና ለራሱ ለባለጠመንጃው አገዛዝ ሰዎችና ባለሟሎች መሬት ማከፋፈሉን በማስረጃ ያሳያል። የራሱ የኢህአዴግ አካላትም በሪፖርቱ ውስጥ በአግባቡ ድምጻቸው ተካትቷል። የሚጠቀሙባቸው አዋጆችና ህጎችም አልተዘለሉም።

“የውጪ ባለሃብቶችና ኩባንያዎች ወደ አገር ውስጥ መግባታቸው ለቴክኖሎጂ ዝውውር፣ በአገሪቱ ያለውን የምግብ እጥረት ለማስወገድ ይረዳል” የሚሉ ምክንያቶች እያቀረበ ያለው ኢህአዴግ በተግባር ሲፈተሽ ተግባሩና ዓላማው ምን እንደሆነ የሚያመለክተው ጥናቱ የስርዓቱ ሰለባዎች፣ የኢህአዴግ ባለስልጣናት፣ ኢንቨስተሮች፣ ጉዳዩ የሚመለከታቸው ክፍሎች፣ የቅርብ ምስክሮች፣ የተለያዩ ከዓለምአቀፍ ተቋማት የተገኙ መረጃዎች፣ አገዛዙ ራሱ ይፋ ያደረጋቸው መረጃዎችና ለጥናቱ አስፈላጊ የተባሉ አኻዞች የተካተቱበት በመሆኑ እውነታውን ህዝብና ማናቸውም ወገኖች እውነቱን ለመረዳት ያስችላቸዋል ተብሎ በጉልህ ታምኖበታል።

በምሳሌ ለማሳያነት የተጠቀሰው የሳዑዲ ስታር ኩባንያ የሚያመርተውን ሩዝ ደብረዘይት በገነባው ተቋሙ አማካይነት ሩዙን የመለየትና ለኤክስፖርት የማዘጋጀት ስራ ይሰራል። የተመረጠውና መለኪያውን የሚያሟላው ሩዝ ኤክስፖርት የሚደረግ ሲሆን፣ ደቃቃውና በሚሊሜትር ተለክቶ ለኤክስፖርት ደረጃ የማይበቃው አገር ቤት እንዲቀር ይደረጋል። ከዚህ አንጻር እንኳ ቢታይ የመሬት ኢንቨስትመንት የተባለው ዓለም ጠንቅቆ ለሚያውቀው የአገራችን የምግብ እጥረት ችግር መፍትሄ ሊሆን አይችልም። በጥናቱ ዝርዝር ጉዳዩ አለ።

ኢህአዴግ በፖለቲካው ውድማ ላይ ቆሞ የሚያወራውና በተግባር የሚሆነውን እውነት ከሰለባዎቹ አንደበት በመቅዳት ሊስተባበል በማይችልበት ደረጃ ያቀረበው ጥናት፣ ዜጎች ከቀያቸው  ከመፈናቀላቸው በፊት ምክክርና የስነልቦና ዘግጅት እንዲደረግ ጊዜ እንደሚሰጥ በህግ የተደነገገ ስለመሆኑ፣ ነግር ግን እውነታው የተገላቢጦሽ መሆኑንን ጥናቱ በማስረጃ ያትታል። ዜጎች ነገ ስለሚሆነው እንኳ ሊያውቁ በማይችሉበት ደረጃ ማለዳ ካረፉበት ሲነቁ ዶዘር ማሳቸውን፣ የጓሮ አትክልታቸውን፣ የኑሯቸው መሰረት የሆነውን ደናቸውን፣ ቤታቸውን ሲጠርግ እንደሚያዩ እነዚሁ መከረኞች ለህይወታቸው ሳይሳሱ መናገራቸውን ጥናቱ ትኩረት ሰጥቶ አቅርቦታል።

የመሬት ካሳ እንኳ ባግባቡ የማያገኙት ወገኖች በራሳቸው አንደበት፣ በግብር የደረሰባቸውንና ከፊት ለፊታቸው ያለውን አደጋ አስመልክቶ በዝርዝር ሚዛናዊ በማድረግ ያቀረበው ጥናት ኢህአዴግ ለማስተባበል ከፈለገ በዜናና በተራ ጩኸት ሳይሆን በመረጃ የተደገፈ፣ ሁሉንም ወገኖች ያካተተ  ሚዛናዊ ሪፖርት ካቀረበ ብቻ ለአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ (አኢጋን) በማስተባበያነት እንደሚቀበለው አስቀድሞ ለመግለጽ ይወዳል።

በአገርና በግለሰብ ደረጃ መረጃ ለማዳረስ፣ በተመሳሳይ ኢህአዴግ የሚያሰራጨውን የሃሰት ፕሮፓጋንዳ ማጋለጥ፣ የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቱን ማሳየት፣ የተሳሳተውን ፖሊሲ ማስቀየር ዋናው የጥናቱ ዓላማ ነው። በጥናቱ በቀረበው ጭብጥ መሰረት የዓለም ባንክ፣ ወዳጅ አገሮች፣ አበዳሪ አገሮች ፖሊሲ አውጪዎች ወዘተ አካሄዳቸውን እንዲመረምሩ ለማስቻል ሰፊ ስራ የተሰራ መሆኑንን በዚህ አጋጣሚ እንጠቁማለን። በተለያዩ አጋጣሚዎች የተለያዩ የውጪና የአገር ውስጥ ሚዲያዎች እንደዘገቡት ሰፊ ስራ የተሰራ ቢሆንም፣ በዋናነት የጉዳዩ ባለቤት የሆነው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ምን እየተሰራ እንደሆነ ሲረዳ ትግሉን ማቅለል፤ ውጤቱንም ማቅረብ ይቻላል የሚል እምነት አለን።

በዚህና በሌሎችም ተዛማጅ ምክንያቶች በከፍተኛ የሃላፊነት ስሜት፣ ረዥም ጊዜ ተወስዶ የተሰራው የትርጉም ሰራ ሰውን የሚያክል ክቡር ፍጥረት ከማደሪያው እንዲወጣ ተደርጎ እንዴት ወደ ጉድጓድ እንደሚወረወር ለመጪው ትውልድ በታሪክነት፣ አሁን ላለነው በመረጃነት፣ ከሁሉም በላይ ከጩኸትና ከመረጃ አልባ ክስ የምናገኘው ጥቅም አለመኖሩን በመረዳት አቋቋምን ለማስተካከል ይረዳል፣ ታላቅ ምሳሌም ይሆናል ብለን እናምናለን።

ጥናቱን በማሰራጨትና ዜጎች እጅ እንዲደርስ በማድረጉ በኩል የሁሉም ወገኖች ያልተቆጠበ ጥረት እጅግ አስፈላጊ እንደሆነ ለመግለጽ እንወዳለን። በዚህ አጋጣሚ እናወጣዋለን ብለን ካሰብንበት ጊዜ በማለፍ ተጨማሪ ሳምንታት በማዘግየታችን ታላቅ ይቅርታ እንጠይቃለን፡፡ በአገራችን ካለው የመረጃ አፈና አኳያ የጥናቱ መጠን ሰብሰብና አጠር ባለ መጠን በኢሜይል እንደሚሰራጭ ሆኖ በአዲስ መልክ ሲቀናበር ተጨማሪ ሳምንታትን መውሰዱ የግድ ሆኗል፡፡

የጋራ ንቅናቄያችን ጽሁፉን የማሰራጨቱ ስራ በጨዋነት፣ ለጽሁፉ ባለቤቶች (ለእንግሊዝኛው የኦክላንድ ተቋም ለአማርኛው ደግሞ አኢጋን) አስፈላጊውን እውቅና በመስጠት እንዲሆን በዚህ አጋጣሚ አበክረን እንሳስባለን። ከመሬት ነጠቃ በላይ የከፋ ወንጀል የለም። ዜጎችን በምድራቸው ወደ ባርነት የሚያሸጋግረው የመሬት ነጠቃ የአገሪቱን ሃብትና ንብረት እየበላ ነው። ይህንን ወደር የሌለው ወንጀል ለማጋለጥ፣ ለመታገል፣ ለመቃወምም ሆነ ተዛማጅነት ያላቸው ተግባራት ለማከናወን ለሚፈልጉ ተቋማት፣ ግለሰቦችና ሚዲያዎች ይረዳ ዘንድ (Land Grab – http://landgrabsmne.wordpress.com) የሚባል ብሎግ እንዲሁም በፌስቡክ Land Grab/መሬት ነጠቃ መከፈቱን ለማሳወቅ እንወዳለን። በቅርቡ የሚሻሻለው ይህ ብሎግና የፌስቡክ ገጽ ከመሬት ወረራ ጋር በተያያዘ ሁሉም ዓይነት ማስረጃዎች የሚታተሙበት ስለሚሆን መረጃ ለሚፈልጉ ወገኖች ሁሉ መልካም አጋጣሚ ይሆናል። ጥናታዊ ዘገባውን ከድረገጻችን ላይ ለማግኘት እዚህ ላይ ይጫኑ፡፡ በኢሜይል ለማግኘት የሚፈልጉ በሙሉ በሚከተለው አድራሻ (media@solidaritymovement.org) ቢጠይቁን በቀጥታ የምንልክ መሆናችንን እናሳውቃለን፡፡

በመጨረሻም የጋራ ንቅናቄያችን ዋና ዳይሬክተር ለተርጓሚው ከሁሉም በላይ ግን የስርዓቱ ላንቃ ስር ሆነው የህይወት ዋጋ በመክፈል መረጃ ለሰጡት ወገኖች የአክብሮት ምስጋና አቅርበዋል። አቶ ኦባንግ በመልዕክታቸው “በቦታው ላይ ሆናችሁ ለህይወታችሁ ሳትፈሩ ይህንን መረጃ የሰጣችሁ ሁሉ የአገር ጀግኖች ናችሁ፤ አሁን አትታወቁም። አሁን ልንገልጻችሁ አንችልም። ጊዜና ወቅት ጀግንነታችሁን እስኪገልጹት ግን አትረሱም። ልትረሱም አትችሉም። ብዙ ባይነገርላችሁና ባይዘመርላችሁም ታላቅ ስራ ሰርታችሁዋልና ክብር ይሁንላችሁ” ብለዋል፡፡

ለአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ

የሚዲያና ሕዝብ ግንኙነት ግብረኃይል

የ ሙሉውን ጥናት ትርጉም በአማርኛ ለማንበብ እዚህ ይጫኑ Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa (Ethiopia)

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ለዚህ ደብዳቤ ምላሽም ሆነ ለተጨማሪ መረጃ ዋና ዳይሬክተሩን ለሚዲያ ክፍሉ (media@solidaritymovement.org) በመጻፍ ወይም ድረገጻችንን (www.solidaritymovement.org) በመጎብኘት ለመረዳት ይችላሉ፡፡

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

U.S. State Department 2012 Report

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

Under Darkness in the Somali Region of Ethiopia

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

April 15, 2013

I would like to thank Congressman Christopher Smith, Chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations and members of the subcommittees for making this briefing on land grabs in Africa possible.

I am honored to be among those invited to talk about the impact of these land and resource grabs on the people of Africa. It is a vitally important issue that needs to be confronted. To me, this is not just about land grabs, but it is inherently about life grabs. In Africa, as well as in many other places, when you take someone’s land, you take away the means to an entire family’s livelihood, wellbeing and future. I am thrilled that the World Bank is also addressing this issue and hope it will soon lead to concrete action that saves lives.  

To me and the organization I lead, the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), the problem of land grabs is not new. We have been actively working to expose and find solutions to these land grabs since they began in 2008 and partnered with the Oakland Institute in 2011 in a comprehensive in-country study on: Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa: Ethiopia.[1] What is going on today is an immoral and predatory practice by African strongmen and their powerful partners that is targeting the most vulnerable people on the continent. 

When I speak today, my testimony will not be as an outsider, but as a witness. When I talk about the people being displaced from the land grabs, in many cases I am speaking about people whose names I know. They include my uncle, my cousins, my nephews, my extended family, my community and my people—the people of Gambella, the people of Ethiopia, the people of Africa and the people of the world. We the people of Africa must be able to feed ourselves, but when the powerful take the food and land we have to sustain ourselves, leaving little behind for the indigenous, it is unconscionable and should be challenged. I welcome the opportunity we have to talk about this today. I request that my statement be submitted into the record in its entirety.

Introduction:

When the global food crisis of 2008 struck, with its food shortages, sky-rocketing food prices and widespread riots, it sounded an alarm that began the global race for fertile agricultural land, particularly land with access to water. Asian countries in the global south, like India, China, and South Korea, simply did not have enough unused, suitable land to meet the increasing need for food for their people. Some European countries were in the same position. Arid countries in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, may have wealth from oil, but they were large importers of food and have little or diminishing arable land. Underground water aquifers were already being depleted in efforts to irrigate existing food crops.

Soaring populations, decreasing available land, environmental degradation and lessening confidence in access to adequate imports caused many governments to search beyond their borders for new ways to ensure a supply of food for the future. At the same time, speculators, investors and multinational agri-businesses began to see food as a high-profit commodity which could be profitable like oil, minerals and other natural resources.

So began the second scramble for African land that has led to massive land grabs of land already occupied by the people of Africa. For most of those affected, it has led to widespread displacement and to greater, rather than less, food insecurity. This abuse of land rights has happened most easily in nations where authoritarian regimes maintain their control over the people through suppression of basic freedoms, human rights abuses, fraudulent elections, corruption and military power. Unfortunately, many of these foreign investors become complicit as they partner with Africa’s strongmen.

World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim said at their annual meeting last week, “Usable land is in short supply, and there are too many instances of speculators and unscrupulous investors exploiting smallholder farmers, herders, and others who lack the power to stand up for their rights. This is particularly true in countries with weak land governance systems.”[2]

In many countries in Africa freedom does not exist. Freedom House in their Freedom in the World Study for 2012 ranked Sub-Saharan Africa as 82% un-free or only partially free. People who dare to demand their rights or who expose the dark side of those in power, do so at risk to their lives and futures. Those in power do not represent the best interests of their people, but instead represent their own interests. With the search for agricultural land, authoritarian governments with weak adherence to laws and few protections for the people are making secretive deals to lease both small and large swathes of some of the prime agricultural land to foreign and crony investors for negligible amounts (e.g. $1.19 per hectare in parts of Ethiopia) for up to 99 years. Equivalent land reportedly brings $350 per hectare in places like Indonesia and Malaysia and thousands in the farm belt of the US.

Much of the food is destined for export or wherever it can bring the highest price. Most Africans are small farmers; though poor, they have been able to sustain themselves because of their land; however, the displaced will no longer be able to be self-reliant and may easily end up hungry or in need of food aid. Although some of the food produced will end up locally, food prices may well be beyond their ability to pay. The displaced are mostly in the rural regions where education and training have been lacking, leaving most ill-equipped to find other jobs. Institutions, meant to strengthen civil society, often do not exist or are under government control. Because there is little accountability or transparency, it has opened the doors to high-level corruption, crony favoritism and illicit transactions as secretive deals, with vague contracts, are negotiated by regime power-holders. 

A Focus on the Gambella region of Ethiopia, my birthplace and the epicenter of land grabs in Africa:

Ethiopia is one of the leading examples on the continent where large scale land grabs are going on. Gambella region, considered to have the potential for becoming the breadbasket of Ethiopia or the Horn of Africa, may now fail to feed its own. The region has some of the richest, most fertile land and abundant water in the country. My own ethnic group, the Anuak—as well as other indigenous groups like the Nuer, the Mazengir, the Komo and the Opo—consider Gambella their ancestral home, but little investment has been directed towards this marginalized and undeveloped region. Now, Gambella is the region most significantly targeted for land grabs.

In 2003, related to natural resources, the current government of Ethiopia massacred 424 Anuak leaders within three days and went on to commit many more crimes against humanity directed towards this one ethnic group in the following three years. It was related to natural resources at the time and now, their land is being grabbed.

It is happening in other regions as well. Already, an estimated 200,000 small farmers and pastoralists in the rural areas have been displaced from their land in order to free it up for investors. Recently, thousands of people of Amhara ethnicity were forcibly evicted from the region of Benishangul. A year ago, 70,000 other Amhara were evicted from land in the Southern Nation’s region. In 2011-2012, 70,000 small farmers from the Gambella region were forced off their land. Many more will be moved to resettlement areas in the next year. In Gambella, a region with a total population of about 300,000, this means nearly three-quarters of the people will be affected. 

In the vague contracts, previously made available on the government’s website, investors are promised land “free of impediments.” Impediments, a description which refers to the people now living on the land, are citizens of Ethiopia, but instead of their own government protecting their rights, they are seen as obstacles to be “cleared from their land” as if they were squatters or intruders in their own homes. Even though the government claims the local people are choosing to leave voluntarily in order to access better services, resistance is met with human rights abuses.

This is most often occurring in rural areas among indigenous people who have no established land rights even though they and their families or communities have lived on the land for generations. Neither do they have the power to resist the regime’s security forces as many are forcibly evicted from their land and moved to resettlement areas where they are promised improved access to services; however, most often, those services do not exist and the land is inferior with less access to water sources. Some end up homeless, in refugee camps in neighboring countries or working for slave wages on land they used to own. In most cases those affected have neither been consulted nor compensated for their losses, in contradiction to national and international laws.

The government claims there is no relationship between the resettlements and land leases; however, as soon as they are pushed off their land, the investors or agricultural companies move in to clear the land. For example, land grabs from small farmers have opened up 100,000 hectares—nearly 250,000 acres—for large agricultural farms like Karuturi Global Limited of India. Karuturi has been promised a total of 300,000 hectares—nearly 750,000 acres, which will require the expropriation of the vast majority of the best agricultural land in Gambella. Water for irrigation from this Upper Nile region is not being regulated and could greatly impact water availability elsewhere, including down river in other parts of Gambella, as well as in South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.

Another agricultural company, Saudi Star, owned by the second richest man in Africa, multi-billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi has been given 10,000 hectares to lease in Gambella. As part of his Derba Group, he plans to lease another 290,000 hectares in the same region. He also allegedly has intentions to lease 300,000 hectares in Benishangul, another marginalized region, north of Gambella, and recently purchased three other farms in the country. There has been violent conflict related to Saudi Star. Within Gambella, smaller sized sections of land have been leased to regime cronies. In fact, it is estimated that nearly 70% of the domestic lessees of land in Gambella are either regime supporters or members of the ruling party’s own ethnic group.

Some real life stories from the ground:

Case Study #1: Mr. Okok Ojulu: Okok is an Anuak smallholder farmer who was educated in the UK in sustainable development.  In 2002, he led the World Bank’s project in the Gambella region. His work was very effective in utilizing the bank’s development funds to build schools, clinics and to dig water wells for the region. The funds were given to all other regions in Ethiopia as well. After the World Bank assessed the outcomes, Okok was given an award of excellence for how the funds were used and how the services were implemented. One of the rewards received from the bank was a car for his work. Shortly thereafter he was imprisoned for several years in Addis Ababa by the federal government because he had become a threat to the government, having become so popular and influential in the community. In 2007 he was released and returned to his family and region.

Shortly after his release and prior to the land rush in the Gambella, Okok, a man of considerable vision and ability, began plans to form an agricultural cooperative that would benefit the community. He began to grow food himself and when he had grown enough food to make a profit, he began hiring local people. He also began negotiating for the purchase of a tractor that could be leased out during planting and harvesting. Those using it would help pay for the cost of the tractor with their crops when they were successfully harvested. The cooperative would then market the produce to the local people.

The initial success of the venture inspired the young people to see farming as a viable opportunity for their future livelihoods. It was also seen as a way to eradicate poverty and to become more self-reliant; however, the TPLF/EPRDF saw it as a threat, in direct opposition to the foreign investment model they were selling to the people. They intimidated him and after finding out he was again going to be arrested, he had to flee the country. He had been supporting his own children’s school fees as well as fees of other relatives, which he could no longer do. His vision was killed and the people he had hired no longer had jobs. In doing this, the regime further disempowered the small holder farmers, the backbone of solving food insecurity.

The farmland he had used in this project was instead given to Saudi Star. When we talk about local small farmers being pushed off their land and impoverished by it, we have names for you of many more examples. Mr. Okok is now in Kenya as a refugee because it is no longer safe for him to live in Ethiopia.

Case Study #2: WorOwar: A second case example is a local business man, WorOwar, who invested all the money he had from his business to lease agricultural land when he noted how foreigners were coming to take the land. However, because he was not a government supporter, a regime crony nor a TPLF/ERPDF party member, the government authorities ended up harassing, threatening, and torturing him. He lost the land to the government who made it so difficult for him and his family that they were forced to flee the country for safety in 2010. Some regime crony now has possession of his land.

Case Study #3: Gambellans in the Diaspora: There are Anuak, now living in the Diaspora, who took the initiative to attempt to lease land in the Abobo District of Gambella. They had heard that the area where they had grown up and where family members still lived was on the list to be leased. This was an effort to ensure that these family members would not be displaced and that the land would continue to be theirs; however, the regime authorities refused to lease it to them. Instead, an Indian company took over the land.

Case Study #4: Mazenger community leaders: In 2011, community leaders of the Mazenger people took the initiative to go to Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis to seek help to stop the clearing of their virgin forests for an Indian company to grow spices.

The president agreed with the local people and advocated on their behalf by writing a letter to the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture, the former Prime Minister, and the Minister of Environment, saying it would hurt rather than help the country in the long run; but his efforts were ignored. Instead, those community leaders who initiated this ended up losing their jobs and some were even put in jail. This is impact of the land grab investment on the people even while the government denies it all. This is why I call it not only a land grab, but a life and future grab from these innocent people. There are too many other examples to tell; not only in Gambella, Ethiopia or Africa but throughout the world

What Undergirds Land Grabbing?

• Lack of freedom:

Out of five countries in the world showing the greatest aggregate declines in freedom from 2007-2011, Ethiopia was fifth according to the previously mentioned 2012 study by Freedom House. In the case of Ethiopia, it is well known within the country that the ethnic-based Tigrayan Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) not only controls the ruling party, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), but it also controls every sector of society and every facet of life from the federal level to the kebele (neighborhood levels). This includes the parliament, civil service, the judiciary, the military, security forces, civic institutions, religious institutions, the economic system, the educational system and the administration of developmental aid; including the dispensation of food aid, fertilizers, seed and other developmental aid. 

• Lack of justice and equality

Most benefits are directed to the TPLF’s own region or supporters. For example, in their own region of Tigray, there are five hospitals and four universities whereas in a region like Gambella, there are no universities and only one hospital without running water. Party membership is necessary to get into schools, to get jobs and to access most any opportunities. If you are not part of the inner circle, you stand no chance of moving ahead. Conversely, if you challenge the system, you could face harassment, higher taxes, loss of property, intimidation or rights violations. The judiciary and the land appeal process are not independent but are controlled by the top regime power-holders. The number one interest of the regime is the resources but not the people whose freedom they must restrict in order to have free reign of benefiting from the nation’s resources.

• Lack of political space: 

Opposition groups are threatened and undermined and opposition leaders and activists are imprisoned on charges of terrorism. There is only one opposition member in Parliament out of 547 members. He is only given 3 minutes to speak at any session.

• Lack of freedom of religion:

The TPLF/ERPDF interferes in the religious affairs of both Christians and Muslims, for example, forcing regime-selected, pro-government religious leaders into top positions to undermine their influence on society. It has caused church divisions among Christians and caused thousands of Muslims to peacefully protest against religious control. Muslim leaders have been arrested and are in prison despite committing no crimes.

• Lack of independent institutions:

Civic institutions, which are crucial in healthy societies, are under the control of the regime. Even the laws undermine civil society by prohibiting significant parts of their work, with criminal penalties for infractions, if they receive more than 10% of their funding from foreign sources. For example, human rights organizations have had to close and instead, the government has created their own.

• Lack of Communication and technology

Communication and technology, on every level, is controlled. Here are some examples:

• Telecommunication: the government is the only provider and most Ethiopians have limited access; for example, the rate of mobile phone usage in Ethiopia (5%) is one of the lowest in Africa; the rate of fixed land phones is only 1%; again, among the lowest. Ethiopia has invested in sophisticated spyware equipment to monitor users.
• Internet: the government is the only provider; they actively control opposition websites and closely monitor use[3] through various techniques, including spyware. Access to the Internet is one of the lowest rates in the world at 0.5%, seven times behind the African average.
• There is only one government-run television station and radio station. Voice of America (VOA) and Deustche Welle (DW) have both been jammed in the past. Newspapers are self-censoring or government –controlled. Journalists and editors have been imprisoned as terrorists or have fled the country. Printing shops have been threatened not to print any material that reflects poorly on the TPLF/ERPDF.
• The government disseminates propaganda internally and internationally; for example, claiming that resettlement is voluntary, by denying human rights abuses, by denying personal gain by regime power-holders, and by using democratic, developmental and war on terror rhetoric to dupe outsiders and to gain political, financial and military support.

• Lack of land tenure undergirds poverty and land grabs:

In Ethiopia, all land is owned by the state; essentially banning private ownership. This has made it impossible for farmers, who use their land as collateral, to buy and sell land. It also gives them uncertain rights to that land since the government has reserved the their own right to redistribute the land if they see fit to do so.

In regards to how this creates or mitigates food insecurity, the SMNE worked with the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota on the completion of a study, Land Reform in Ethiopia: Recommendations for Reform, focusing on the role of land tenure policy and poverty in Ethiopia. That report will be released this week and will be available on our website. http://www.solidaritymovement.org/

The team of researchers found evidence that a lack of land tenure contributes to the vulnerability of the people; particularly in regions where they have no certificates giving the people individual or customary/community rights to utilize the land. Small and marginalized tribes have the fewest rights. The TPLF/ERPDF uses the lack of certification to redistribute land on whim.

Only four regions now have partial certification: Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and parts of Southern Nations. No one is safe, but those with certification are safer. Lack of mapping boundaries of properties also exacerbates the problem.

City dwellers also are at risk. Even though many hold certificates; urban certificates are inviolable only as long as no one wants the land underneath your home, condominium or business. If it is strategically located or sought after by an investor or someone from the inner circle of regime, the land can be expropriated. New laws are on the books that can demand eviction from urban land sites if the lessees fail to build a two or three story structure on the site. Many find it financially impossible to do so and end up on the streets, homeless.

The study found that land appeals are oftentimes heard by the same people and authorities who made the decisions on the expropriation of the land involved. There is obviously an inherent conflict of interest. [More information on Ethiopia’s certification program can also be found from the World Bank’s document: the Land Governance Assessment Framework: Identifying and Monitoring Good Practice in the Land Sector.][4]

Some observations:

• High rates of rural landlessness and land poverty already exist; challenging the government’s argument that there is abundant excess land. Much of that land is less arable than what is being forcibly vacated. Forty three percent of rural Ethiopians have no access to land and fully 60% lack sufficient land to grow enough food for a family of five. (Please see Humphrey Institute’s Executive Summary).
• Land grabs can be linked to increasing corruption, but not to decreasing hunger.
• Land grabs, which are resulting in increased food insecurity and dispossessing the small farmers of their livelihoods, are exactly contrary to goals expressed by the World Bank, the IMF, USAID, development groups like the Gates foundation and others who say they want to support smallholder farmers.
• Most every voluntary guideline of the FAO is not being followed in Ethiopia.[5] [Please see: Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security for further information].

Some conclusions regarding the TPLF/EPRDF’s Control of Ethiopia:

• Government ownership of land is equivalent to TPLF ownership of land, to be used as they choose. The TPLF strategic plan for hegemony of all of Ethiopia, including exploiting its resources for its own interests, will actively war against reversing poverty and conflict in the country. [Please see the link here http://www.enufforethiopia.net/pdf/Revolutionary_Democracy_EthRev_96.pdf to: TPLF/ERFDF’s Strategies for Establishing its Hegemony & Perpetuating its Rule.[6]]

This is a disturbing plan for one, ethnic-based party, the TPLF, to gain permanent control of Ethiopia and its resources that few insiders and even fewer outsiders have seen. A government that in and of itself has a policy that views any outside its party as enemies or people to be exploited, has egregiously failed to perform its duty to protect the rights of the people and must be reformed.

• A regime that actively promotes division, controls religious expression, criminalizes dissent and perpetrates robbery and violence against its own people has egregiously failed to perform its basic duties and should not be supported by international groups.
• A regime that lacks accountability and transparency and where corruption is rampant should not be supported by the international donors, the World Bank, the IMF, USAID, development groups like the Gates foundation. Ethiopia lost US11.7 billion in illegal capital flight from 2000-2009 and in the year following the beginning of the land leasing program in Ethiopia, the Task Force for Financial Integrity and Economic Development [7] (FTFP) reported that the amount doubled to $3.26 million (USD)—with the majority of that increase coming from corruption, kickbacks and bribery. 
• International Developmental organizations, like World Bank, the IMF, USAID, development groups like the Gates foundation, report success in helping small farmers in Ethiopia, but the majority of that aid is directed by the TPLF/ERPDF to one region—the TPLF’s own region of Tigray. Financial support to institutions, economic enhancement programs and democracy-building are directed to pseudo-institutions run by the TPFL/ERPDF.
• Military support received from donor countries is believed to have been used to perpetrate human rights crimes. This autocratic regime, with a documented history of human rights crimes, should not be the recipient of such support until a full and independent investigation is conducted.

Solutions:

The solution to this burgeoning problems of land and natural resource grabs is to have a government where the law can protect the people and where the law is not only limited to the elite, its cronies and partners. For positive change to come, citizens must be able to claim their rights—human, civil, land and religious. Until there is such a government to protect the rights of the people, which upholds democratic principles of free speech, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, freedom in the media, an independent judiciary and institutions, an independent appeal process, a non-politicalized military and similar aspects of free and open societies, the people will be seen as impediments to whatever the government wants for its own interests. No one is safe in such a political climate. This is where donor countries like the US can become involved in pressuring these governments to be accountable to the people; not supporting autocratic regimes that are creating poverty by pushing people off their land. Africans who used to feed themselves from farming their own land are now hungry and needing food aid. Some who have been hired to work on these agricultural farms, are often working for wages below the World Bank’s minimum wage standards.

Overall, the donor countries, like the US, should try to side with the people, supporting them in having the freedom to elect their own government. If land grabs, human rights abuses and increased resulting food insecurity continue, it could create conflict, displacement and instability. This is not just about a land grab but is a life-grab which will affect the lives of Africans for generations to come. The multi-dimensional impacts are broad, long-lasting and difficult to measure. Environmental impacts are frighteningly inadequate. Sometimes the environmental assessments have not been done or when done, are voluntary or simply not enforced. Few controls are put on users of water and few, if any, studies have been done on the impact of water use on the lives of people in the surrounding areas or downstream. This is about human rights and human freedom. The donors and investors should look into this and take it seriously. The donors should think beyond themselves and about the people to whom the land belongs.

The following recommendations are for the US and other donor countries:

• Put pressure on the Ethiopian government to recognize human rights and provide social and environmental safeguards in land investment practices. Ethiopia is dependent on international aid and as such, donors are in a powerful position to demand that Ethiopia lives up to its international obligations and implements the above recommendations. Aid flows should be restricted if Ethiopia is not living up to international human rights, good governance, and indigenous rights standards.
• Ensure that not aid monies are going into any project that will be involved in land investment in its present form. Aid monies should not be funnelled towards projects that will make it easier for land investment in its present form to continue to take place.
• Aid flows be considered to aid and assist Ethiopian government in achieving the above goals. Many of the above recommendations will more easily be implemented if the financial support is available to support them.

In conclusion:

By 2025, nine billion people are expected to be in the world and these people will need food. The search for this food has fueled the land grabs in Africa. The exploration for suitable agricultural land and water sources has gone to where the most vulnerable people live and these are the people who are the victims. The weakest and most vulnerable populations of the world, already deprived of their rights and freedom are like these people in Africa. The focus has gone to the places where there is no rule of law, where people are not valued and where there is no participation in the decision-making by the people. 

Africans lack human freedom. They live on one of the poorest and most hungry continents, but not because they do not have arable land or water. What they lack are governments and strong institutions that protect the people. This is why unscrupulous investors are robbing the weak and the vulnerable. The need for food, water and shelter is not only critical to the more developed nations or the powerful, but the same needs exist for the weak and the vulnerable in Africa. 

You do not see it happening in the most agriculturally productive countries in the world, like in Saskatchewan, Canada, America’s Midwest or other free countries because there is a rule of law that is followed, but you can see it in a place like Ethiopia and in other parts of Africa.  This is what I call robbing the innocent. It is a daylight robbery and must stop. We are not against investment but it is immoral and wrong to rob the most vulnerable in our global society. It demands that free, conscience-minded people speak up. For some of the more powerful and wealthy to unjustly take the resources from these people will create conflict and instability in our global world.

As World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim states, “Securing access to land is critical for millions of poor people. Modern, efficient, and transparent policies on land rights are vital to reducing poverty and promoting growth, agriculture production, better nutrition, and sustainable development.” But he also presents one of the most crucial challenges as he warns, “Additional efforts must be made to build capacity and safeguards related to land rights – and to empower civil society to hold governments accountable.”

The core principles of the SMNE are about sharing and caring about others. What this means to us is that humanity should be valued above our diverse identity factors—putting humanity before ethnicity.

The dehumanization of others precedes most every act of injustice and evil; meaning that lasting peace and the prosperity of others can only come to our world if we care about the freedom, justice and well being of others for “no one is free until all are free.” Our humanity has no ethnic, national, gender, political or religious boundaries.

Until Africans are free; the world will not be free. We can build a better, more humane, more just and more harmonious world than this by simply recognizing the face of our Creator in every one of our global brothers and sisters! Will you not be a bystander and help create a better world for all of us?
Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

Please do not hesitate to e-mail your comments to Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the SMNE at: Obang@solidaritymovement.org. 

[1] http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/understanding-land-investment-deals-africa-ethiopia

[2] http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/21922

[3] http://www.freedomhouse.org/images/File/FotN/Ethiopia2011.pdf; Freedom on the Net

[4] https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/2376/657430PUB0EPI1065724B09780821387580.pdf?sequence=1

[5] http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2801e/i2801e.pdf

[6] http://www.enufforethiopia.net/pdf/Revolutionary_Democracy_EthRev_96.pdf

[7] http://www.financialtaskforce.org/2011/12/05/illicit-financial-outflows-from-ethiopia-nearly-doubled-in-2009-to-us3-26-billion-reveals-new-global-financial-integrity-report/

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

By Goolgule.com

April 15, 20013

አማርኛ ተናጋሪዎችን የማመናመን፣ የማደህየት፣ የማራቆትና ክልላቸውን እያሳነሱ የማጥፋት እቅድ በህወሃት መርሃግብር ውስጥ የተካተተ ዋና ተግባር እንደሆነ ተገለጸ። አማርኛ ቋንቋንም ማሽመድመድ የዚሁ እቅድ አካል መሆኑ ተዘግቧል።

አቶ ገ/መድህን አርአያ ከኢሳት ሬዲዮ ጋር ባካሄዱት ቃለ ምልልስ በህወሃት ፕሮግራም ገጽ 18 አካባቢ “አማራ የትግራይና የኤርትራ ህዝብ ጠላት እንደሆነ ተመልክቷል” ብለዋል፡፡ አያይዘውም አማራ ማጥፋት የቅስቀሳው ዋና መሳሪያ ቢሆንም የትግራይ ህዝብ አልተቀበለም ብለዋል። ቅስቀሳውን አንቀበልም ያሉ “የትግራይ ሸዋ” ተብለው መገደላቸውን ይፋ አድርገዋል።

በተለይ የድርጊቱ ዋና አስተባባሪ በማለት የጠቀሷቸው አቶ መለስ ዜናዊ፣ አቶ ስብሃት፣ አቶ ስዩም መስፍን፣ አቶ አባይ ጸሐዬን የጠቀሱት አቶ ገ/መድህን፣ በ1972 በሰሜን ጎንደር የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል መፈጸሙን አጋልጠዋል። በወቅቱ የተካሄደው ጭፍጨፋ ከፍተኛ የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል እንደሆነም አመልክተዋል። “በሰላም እጃቸውን የሚሰጡ ወታደሮች እንኳ አማርኛ የሚናገሩ ከሆነ ይረሸኑ ነበር” ሲሉ እነ መለስ ያለቸውን በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተ ቆሻሻ አመለካከት አጋልጠዋል።

“ኢትዮጵያ የምትበተነው አማራ ሲጠፋ ነው” በሚለው የነመለስ ሃሳብ መተግበር የጀመረው ህወሃት አዲስ አበባ ከገባበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ መሆኑንን ያወሱት አቶ ገ/መድህን፣ ህወሃት ያሰማራቸው ከ350ሺህ በላይ ካድሬዎች ቁጥራቸው በውል የማይታወቅ አማራዎች በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች እንዲጨፈጨፉ ማድረጋቸውን አመልክተዋል።

ብአዴንን “አማራን ለማጥፋት የተፈጠረ፣ ጸረ አማራ ድርጀት” ሲሉ የሰየሙት አቶ ገ/መድህን፣ አመራሮቹ የኤርትራና የትግራይ ተወላጆች መሆናቸውን በርግጠኛነት ተናግረዋል። የትግራይ ህዝብ የተወከለው “በባንዳ ልጆችና የኤርትራ ተወላጆች ነው” ሲሉም ህዝቡ አደጋ ላይ እንደሚገኝ ጠቁመዋል። የክልሉ ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ አባይ ወልዱን “የባሻ ወልዱ ልጅ ነው” በማለት የትግራይ ህዝብ በባንዳ ኤርትራዊ ልጅ እንደሚመራ ያመለከቱት አቶ ገ/መድህን፤ ብርሀነ ገብረክርስቶስ፣ ቴድሮስ ሃጎስ፣ ቴድሮስ አድሃኖም፣ በማለት በመዘርዘር የባንዳ ልጆች መሆናቸውን ይፋ አድርገዋል።

“አማራው የሚኖርበትን መሬት በመውሰድ መሬቱን ያጠቡበታል፣ ከሌላው ክልል በማባረር የሚኖርበትን ክልል ያጠቡታል” ያሉት አቶ ገ/መድህን፣ ይህ የሚደረገው ከመጀመሪያው እንዲጠፋ የተወሰነበትን ህዝብ አጥብቦ በማፈን በችግር ለመግረፍና ለመቆጣጠር ተብሎ እንደሆነ ገልጸዋል።

ዘር የማጥራት የህወሃት የቀደመ ድርጅታዊ መዋቅር እንደሆነ በማመልከት መለስን የጠቀሱት አቶ ገ/መድህን፣ “አማራውን ዝም ካልነው አያስቀምጠንም” የሚለው የመለስ መፈክር አካል የሆነው የቤኒሻንጉል ክልል ርምጃ የህወሃት ቤት ስራ እንደሆነ አረጋግጠዋል። አማራውን ፋታ ማሳጣት፣ ማንገላታት፣ ስነልቦናውን መግፈፍ ህወሃት በፕሮግራም ደረጃ የያዘው እቅድ ስለሆነ ወደፊትም እንደሚቀጥል አቶ ገ/መድህን ተናግረዋል።

“ሞት መፍራት አያስፈልግም። የተቀደሰ ሞት መሞት ክብር ነው” ሲሉ በቃለ ምልልሳቸው መጨረሻ የተናገሩት የቀድሞው የህወሃት የፋይናንስ ሃላፊ ህዝቡ ተባብሮ ህወሃትን ማስወገድ ካልቻለ ማፈናቀሉና መሰደዱ ተጠናክሮ እንደሚቀጥል አስጠንቅቀዋል።

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu wins 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

By UnescoPress
April 16, 2013

Reeyot Alemu

Imprisoned Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu is the winner of the 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. Ms Alemu was recommended by an independent international jury of media professionals in recognition of her “exceptional courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression.”

The Jury took note of Reeyot Alemu’s contribution to numerous and independent publications. She wrote critically about political and social issues, focusing on the root causes of poverty, and gender equality. She worked for several independent media. In 2010 she founded her own publishing house and a monthly magazine called Change, both of which were subsequently closed. In June 2011, while working as a regular columnist for Feteh, a national weekly newspaper, Ms Alemu was arrested. She is currently serving a five year sentence in Kality prison.

The UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was created in 1997 by UNESCO’s Executive Board. It is awarded annually during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, which will take place this year in Costa Rica.

The Prize honours the work of an individual or an organization which has made a notable contribution to the defence and /or promotion of freedom of expression anywhere in the world, especially if risks have been involved. Candidates are proposed by UNESCO Member States, and regional or international organizations active in the fields of journalism and freedom of expression. Laureates are chosen by a jury whose members are appointed for a once renewable three-year term by the Director-General of UNESCO.

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

TPLF appears to be buckling under international pressure:  it is backpedaling the racist and criminal deportation of Amharas from the Benishangul-Gumuz regional state.  Media outlets such as the Voice of America and Diaspora Ethiopians have been exposing this diabolical act. 

Ato Ahmed Nasser, the president of the so-called Benishangul-Gumuz regional state, has apparently been ordered to issue a hastily-drafted letter (see Amharic text below) blaming the deportation on low-level cadres.

የቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆች እንዲመለሱ ጥሪ አቀረበ

By Tamru Tsige and Wudineh Zenebe | Ethiopian Reporter.com

April 10, 2013

Ato Ahmed Nasser, president of the so-called Benishangul-Gumuz regional state

ከቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል ካማሽ ዞን ያሶ ወረዳ የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ክልል ተወላጆች ከመኖሪያ ቀያቸው የተፈናቀሉት በበታች አመራሮች ግብታዊ ዕርምጃ በመሆኑ፣ ወደነበሩበት እንዲመለሱ የክልሉ መንግሥት ጥሪ አቀረበ፡፡

የቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ አህመድ ናስር ለሪፖርተር እንደገለጹት፣ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢ ያሉዋቸው የበታች አመራሮች በፈጠሩት ችግር የተፈናቀሉ 1,346 አባወራዎች ወደ ስፍራው እንዲመለሱ ጥሪ ቀርቧል፡፡

የተንጣለለ መሬትና የአምስት ብሔረሰቦች ክልል የሆነው ቤኒሻንጉል ክልል፣ በተለይ ከአማራና ከኦሮሚያ ክልል የመጡ በርካታ ሰፋሪዎች ይኖሩበታል፡፡ ከእነዚህ ክልሎች ከመጡ ዜጎች መካከል የእኩል እያረሱ የሚኖሩም በርካቶች ናቸው፡፡ ከዛሬ 28 ዓመት በፊት በክልሉ ውስጥ መኖር የጀመሩ ዜጎችም ተፈናቅለዋል፡፡ እነዚህ በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ተፈናቃዮች ያለመጠለያ ከመቅረታቸውም በላይ ለልመና መዳረጋቸው ሲነገር፣ ዘመድ ያላቸው በየዘመዶቻቸው መጠለላቸው ታውቋል፡፡ በዚህ የማፈናቀል ዘመቻ ለበርካታ ዓመታት የኖሩና መታወቂያ ያላቸው ዜጎች መፈናቀላቸውን ከተፈናቃዮች ለመረዳት ተችሏል፡፡

የክልሉ መንግሥት ባወጣው የመሬት ፖሊሲ መሠረት ሕገወጥ ሰፋሪዎችን በአግባቡ ለማስፈር ዕቅድ የያዘ ቢሆንም፣ ይህ ዕቅዱ ባልተጠበቀ ሁኔታ መመርያ ሳይሰጥበት በበታች የወረዳና የቀበሌ ካድሬዎች ያልተገባ ተግባር የተፈጸመ መሆኑን ፕሬዚዳንቱ ለሪፖርተር አስረድተዋል፡፡

የአመራሮቹና የካድሬዎቹ ያልተገባ ውሳኔ 1,346 አባወራዎችን ጨምሮ 3,240 ቤተሰቦቻቸው እንዲፈናቀሉ መደረጉንም አምነዋል፡፡ ተፈናቃዮቹ ግን ብዛታችን ከ5,000 ይበልጣል ይላሉ፡፡

ጉዳዩ ያሳሰበው የአማራ ክልል መንግሥት ከቤንሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል መንግሥት ጋር ውይይት ማድረጉን ለማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡ በውይይቱ ወቅት የቤንሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል በተፈጠረው ስህተት ማዘኑን መግለጹን አቶ አህመድም ገልጸዋል፡፡ ዜጎችን በማፈናቀል ስህተት በፈጠሩ አመራሮች ላይ ግምገማ ተካሂዶ ዕርምጃ እንደሚወሰድና ሕገወጥ የሰዎች ፍልሰትን ለማስቀረት የተቀናጀና ዘላቂነት ያለው ሥራ እንደሚሠራ አቶ አህመድ አስረድተዋል፡፡

አቶ አህመድ በክልላቸው በርካታ የአማራ ተወላጆች እንደሚኖሩና ሥልጣን ይዘው የሚገኙ በተለያዩ የአመራር እርከኖች ላይ ያሉ መኖራቸውን አስረድተዋል፡፡ ክልሉ ዜጎችን የማፈናቀል ሐሳብ እንደሌለውና የክልሉን የተፈጥሮ ሀብት ከውድመት ለመከላከል የግድ ሕገወጥ ሠፈራ አደብ መግዛት እንዳለበት ግን አስታውቀዋል፡፡ ይህንንም ለማድረግ ክልሉ ባወጣው የመሬት አጠቃቀም ፖሊሲ መሠረት ተግባራዊ እንደሚደረግ አስታውቀው፣ በሰሞኑ ሕገወጥ ዘመቻ የተፈናቀሉ ዜጎች ግን ተመልሰው ሰላማዊ ሕይወታቸውን መምራት እንደሚችሉ አረጋግጠዋል፡፡

በተያያዘ ዜና የኢትዮጵያውያን ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ (ኢዴፓ) እና የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ከቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝና ከሌሎችም ክልሎች የአማራ ብሔራ ተወላጆች መፈናቀላቸውን አስመልክቶ ባስተላለፉት የተቃውሞ መግለጫ፣ እስከ አሥር ዓመታትና ከዚያም በላይ ከኖሩበት ቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆች፣ በአማራ ክልል በተለያዩ መጠለያ ጣቢያዎች መሆናቸው እጅግ በጣም አሳሳቢ በመሆኑ መንግሥት ሊያስብበት እንደሚገባ አሳስበዋል፡፡

ሁለቱም ፓርቲዎች በሰጡት ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ እንዳስታወቁት፣ ከአንድ ዓመት በፊት ከደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል ከጉራፈርዳ ወረዳ በሺሕዎች የሚቆጠሩ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆች መፈናቀላቸውን፣ እንዲሁም በቅርቡ ደግሞ በሶማሌ ክልላዊ መንግሥት ከጅጅጋ ከተማ በሺሕዎች የሚቆጠሩ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆች ከኖሩበትና ንብረት ካፈሩበት ቀያቸው መፈናቀላቸውን ያስታወሱት ፓርቲዎቹ፣ አሁን መታሰብ ያለበት ነገሮች ወዴት እያመሩ መሆኑንና በቀጣይ ሊፈጠር የሚችለውን ሁኔታ መሆኑን አስረድተዋል፡፡

ዜጎች የሚፈናቀሉበት ምክንያት ፖለቲካዊም ሆነ ኢኮኖሚያዊ ወይም ብሔርተኝነት፣ የሚፈናቀሉበትም መንገድ ኢትዮጵያ በዓለም አቀፍ  ደረጃ የተቀበለቻቸውንና ስምምነት ያደረገችባቸውን የሰብዓዊ መብት ድንጋጌዎችን ያላከበረ መሆኑን ፓርቲዎቹ ገልጸዋል፡፡ በሕገ መንግሥቱ አንቀጽ 14 ስለሰብዓዊ መብቶች የሰፈረውን ድንጋጌና በአንቀጽ 25 የእኩልነት መብትን አስመልክቶ የተቀመጠውን መብት የሚፃረር ድርጊት እየተፈጸመ መሆኑን የገለጹት ፓርቲዎቹ፣ ዜጎች በአስገዳጅ ሁኔታ የተፈናቀሉት በአንድ ሕገ መንግሥትና ሉዓላዊነት አገር ማዕቀፍ ውስጥ መሆኑን፣ መፈናቀላቸውንና ስደታቸውን ተከትሎ እየተከሰተባቸው ያለው ማዋከብና ድብደባ አሳሳቢና አነጋጋሪ እንደሆነ ገልጸዋል፡፡

በደቡብ ክልል በጉራፈርዳ ወረዳ፣ በሶማሌ ክልል በጅጅጋ ከተማ፣ በቤኒሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል ያሶ ወረዳ የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆችና በኦሮሚያ፣ በጋምቤላ፣ በሶማሌና በሌሎችም ክልሎች የተፈናቀሉ ዜጎች ጉዳይ ያስከተለው የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰት፣ ማኅበራዊ ቀውስ፣ በየክልሉ በሚኖሩ ቀሪዎቹ ዜጎች ላይ በሰላም ሠርተው የመኖር ፍላጎትና ሀብት ባፈሩበት ቀዬ የመኖር ጥያቄ ላይ ሥጋት እየፈጠረ መሆኑን መንግሥት ልብ ሊለውና ሊያስብበት እንደሚገባ አሳስበዋል፡፡ በመሆኑም መንግሥት በዜጎች ላይ እያደረሰ ያለውን መፈናቀል በአስቸኳይ እንዲያቆም፣ የቤኒሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል መንግሥት እያካሄደ ያለውን ኢሰብዓዊና ሕገወጥ ተግባር እንዲያቆምና እንዲታቀብ፣ የአማራ ብሔራዊ ክልላዊ መንግሥት ለተፈናቃዮቹ ዜጎች ጊዜያዊ መጠለያ፣ አልባሳትና ምግብ እንዲያገኙ እንዲያደርግ፣ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በሕዝብ ላይ እየተፈጸመ ያለው ማፈናቀል ሕገ መንግሥቱን የጣሰና ኢትዮጵያን የሚጎዳ ተግባር በመሆኑ፣ ድርጊቱን የፈጸሙ ክልሎችም ሆኑ ግለሰቦች በሕግ እንዲጠየቁ እንዲያደርግ ፓርቲዎቹ ጠይቀዋል፡፡

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

LAND-GRAB IN AFRICA
A Discussion with Advocates & Policymakers

Monday, April 15 at 2:00PM
U.S. CONGRESS: Rayburn House Office Building
(45 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC)

A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ON LAND GRABBING WILL BE SCREENED
Land grabbing is becoming the single most combative issue in Africa. It involves large-scale land acquisitions by foreign countries and corporations for farming, biofuels, logging and minerals. Unlike land acquisitions in the United States and Europe where purchasers pay the fair market values for land, in Africa unscrupulous deals are displacing thousands of farmers and leaving local communities in abject poverty, while government officials benefit from land sales and leases.

PANELISTS

BINTA TERRIER
Ms. Terrier is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Partnership League for Africa’s Development (PLAD). PLAD was created to focus on education, health, land-rights and agriculture as the cornerstone to address the human rights problem in Africa. Educated as an economist she is becoming a leading female voice for Africa’s development and governance.

DR. GEORGE AYITTEY
Dr. Ayittey is a distinguished Economist and Professor at the American University, Washington, DC. He is the founder and chair of the Free Africa Foundation and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Dr. Ayittey has championed the argument that: Africa is poor because she is not free, that the primary cause of African poverty is less a result of the oppression and mismanagement by colonial powers, but rather a result of modern oppressive native autocrats.

OBANG METHO

Mr. Metho is Executive Director of the SMNE (www.solidaritymovement.org), a social justice movement of diverse Ethiopians that joint-sponsored with the think tank, Oakland Institute, to produce the Ethiopian portion of the comprehensive investigative report, Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa, published in June 2011. Mr. Obang is a human rights activist who tirelessly advocates for human rights, justice, freedom and environment, enhanced accountability in politics and peace in Africa for over 10 years.
RICK JACOBSON
Mr. Jacobson works on land grab issues in Africa as a Team Leader for International Forest Policy and Environmental Governance for Global Witness.

MODERATOR: GREGORY SIMPKINS

Mr. Simpkins is an Africa Expert and Senior Advisor, to Congressman Chris Smith the Chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.
Questions: please contact: Binta@allafr.org or kwame@rebeccaproject.org

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

April 9, 2013

A multi-billion dollar aid program administered by the World Bank is underwriting systematic human rights abuses in Ethiopia. Last September, Ethiopian victims submitted a complaint about the program to the World Bank Inspection Panel, which is tasked with investigating whether or not the Bank complies with its own policies to prevent social and environmental harm.  A meeting of the Bank’s board of directors to discuss the Panel’s preliminary findings was postponed on March 19th due to objections from the Ethiopian government.

Ethiopia is one the largest aid recipients in the world, receiving approximately US$3 billion annually from external donors. The largest aid program, financed by the World Bank, the UK, the European Commission and other Western governments, is called Promotion of Basic Services (PBS).  It aims to expand access to services in five sectors: education, health, agriculture, water supply and sanitation, and rural roads. The PBS program objectives are indisputably laudable and aim to meet a number of dire needs of the Ethiopian population. There is evidence, however, that it is contributing to a government campaign to forcibly resettle an estimated 1.5 million people.

In the lowland region of Gambella, the government’s principle means of delivering basic services is through the implementation of the “Villagization Program”. The government claims that “villagization” is a voluntary process, which aims to “bring socioeconomic and cultural transformation of the people” through the resettlement of “scattered” families into new villages.  The services and facilities supported by PBS are precisely the services and facilities that are supposed to be provided at new settlement sites under the Villagization Program.

However, Gambellans, now amassing in refugee camps in Kenya and South Sudan, report that the program has been far from voluntary.  When I visited the camps last fall, the refugees reported a process involving intimidation, beatings, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture in military custody and extra-judicial killing.  Dispossessed of their fertile ancestral lands and displaced from their livelihoods, Gambella’s indigenous communities have been forced into villages with few of the promised basic services and little access to food or land suitable for farming.  Meanwhile, many of the areas from which people have been forcibly removed have been awarded to domestic and foreign investors for large-scale agro-industrial plantations.

In September, Human Rights Watch and my organization, Inclusive Development International, arranged a meeting with the World Bank and five newly arrived refugees in Nairobi.  One by one, they gave chilling testimony of the abuses that they and their families have experienced under the Villagization Program.  Their testimony corroborated detailed reports about the program by Human Rights Watch and the Oakland Institute.

Yet, despite these credible reports and first-hand accounts that Bank staff heard in Nairobi, the Bank has continued to deny the forcible nature of villagization. The Bank also insists that its project is not linked to the Villagization Program, despite its acknowledgement that it finances the salaries of public servants who are tasked with implementing villagization.  These arguments are wholly disingenuous.
Donors must accept responsibility for human rights abuses they help make possible and do everything in their power to prevent them.  There are ways the Bank can support critical investments in human development while ensuring that it is not underwriting human rights violations. It could, for example, require that the Villagization Program comply with its safeguard policy on resettlement as a condition of its $600 million concessional loan for the latest phase of PBS.  If this policy were applied, the government would have to ensure, and the Bank would have to verify, that resettlement is truly voluntary and that the program improves people’s lives.

Yet the Bank and bi-lateral donors have instead chosen a strategy of denial. They have invested too much for too long in Ethiopia to admit that things have gone horribly wrong, and they are too worried about upsetting a critical military ally in a volatile part of the world to start attaching human rights conditions to aid packages.

That is why the World Bank Inspection Panel is so important.  After undertaking a preliminary assessment, the Panel determined that the link between PBS and villagization was plausible and it recommended to the Board a full investigation in order to make definitive findings.  However, Ethiopia’s representative on the Board has stymied approval of the investigation.  A meeting to discuss the Panel’s report scheduled on March 19 was postponed due to resistance from the Ethiopian government, which is vying to set the terms of the investigation.

The Inspection Panel was established as an independent body that people harmed by World Bank lending practices can access in order to hold the Bank to account.  Bank managers and member states are not supposed to interfere in the process.  The Bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, should stand up for accountability and tell the Board to let the Panel do its job.  The truth that will come out of this investigation may be inconvenient for the Bank and an important client government, but it will be a rare measure of justice for the Ethiopian people.
_______________

David Pred is Founder and Director of Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia (BABSEA), an international grassroots organization working to bring

people together to overcome poverty, injustice and inequity in the Southeast Asia region.

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

Oromo Democratic Front (ODF) Declares Commitment to Work with Others towards a Democratic, Multi-national Ethiopia:

Is this the Same New Ethiopia  We in the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) Envision?

April 6, 2013

On March 30, 2013 I had the privilege of watching history in progress while attending the first meeting of the newly formed Oromo Democratic Front (ODF) as an observer. Those involved included most of the founding leaders of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). As they announced their new vision, direction and organization to more than 500 people attending the meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota, I was deeply struck with the vastly different message I was hearing that day—calling Oromo to work together for one Ethiopia—from what I had heard at their 2006 OLF meeting where their secessionist goals and strictly Oromo agenda dominated every aim. I can only think that this transformation has been brought about by a renewed hope among its leadership that the great people of Oromia can contribute to the creation of an Ethiopia for all its precious people.

I believe the ODF, and its new vision, could be part of the answer to the serious division among the Ethiopian opposition groups. This is a good beginning and worth applauding. During the meeting, ODF leadership clearly explained their objectives as advocates not only for the Oromo, but also for the “freedom and justice for all individuals and nations.” They explained that the change in focus was “motivated by the universal principle that struggling for justice for oneself alone without advocating justice for all could ultimately prove futile because ‘“injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”’

I do believe it is legitimate to protect the rights of your own ethnic people; exposing injustices and working towards the resolution of these grievances, especially in a country where no one speaks on behalf of others; however, we will know we have a much healthier society when we advocate for the rights of others and readily correct wrongs. These others can be from tiny subgroups of people or from large majority groups. They can be fellow members of our society that agree with us or those who dispute our positions. In a free society, those unlike us still deserve respect and equal rights. This is why it was so gratifying to hear Oromo leaders say they will not be speaking only for Oromo, but for everybody; and that from here on, the ODF will be a body that will work with others to bring lasting change to all Ethiopians.

Some in the audience challenged this new position. One man summed up the opinion of a number of attendees as they sought to better understand the change of direction. The man asked, “For the last 40 years, we’ve been told that Ethiopians in power were colonizers and imperialists and we have been dreaming about having our own country, but now you are saying we can work from within? Why the change the course we have been on?”

One of the leaders, Mr. Leenco Lata, respectfully explained, “I cannot preach what is unachievable. It cannot work in Ethiopia. If Oromia was to become a country, the entire region would be in chaos. Oromia is everywhere.  What are you going to do with Gambella, Southern Nations and Benishangul? 

It will be best to fix the country from within so we all have a democratic country in which to live. The Oromo don’t have to think like we are a victim or act like we are a minority. We are not a minority but a majority. We will not forget the historical chapter, but we have to start a new chapter where we work together with everybody to create an Ethiopia for everybody.” 

Mr. Leenco explained to the audience that all Oromo might not be convinced of the need to change directions, but that the leadership planned on talking with those holding different opinions in order to hopefully convince them to come on board. If convinced, they could go forward to start reaching out to other Ethiopian groups with the goal of coming together so all stakeholders could be party to formulating a plan that would work for everyone.

Another leader Mr. Dima, explained that in the previous Ethiopia, as well as under the TPLF/EPRDF, one group defined the direction of the country for everyone else and that this was wrong. He called the EPRDF a façade because although it is a large group of people that pretended to be for everyone, others outside the TPLF were never consulted. He said that Ethiopians should not make the same mistake, but instead must reach out to stakeholders so all could be involved in forming a plan as to how to bring about a more democratic Ethiopia for everybody. He emphasized the need to gain the consensus of the people to form a movement from within the country—not from a neighboring or other country—which would bring the heart of the struggle to Ethiopia so that change could come from within.

Following the presentation, I came forward to give a response during the question and answer period. I enthusiastically complimented the leadership who were presenting this new direction as well as the way the entire discussion was conducted. The leadership and the public had shown real respect towards each other even as questions were asked, positions challenged and explanations given. It was very encouraging. I wish I could have understood the language, (Afaan Oromo/Oromiffa) but thankfully, I found an Oromo brother from Melbourne, Australia who translated the entire discussion for me.

I told them what began there in this room as a dialogue should be demonstrated in action by talking with others. Other groups should follow suit—regional groups, women, religious groups and youth representing diverse groups. The time to start talking is long overdue no one should wait for an invitation. Be the one to start the conversation. For example, even though I was invited to this meeting; even without an invitation I still would have come had it been possible because this was such an important meeting. Its outcome would affect me as an Ethiopian. I called on them to think out of the box; realizing no one has to stay in their ethnic enclaves. I encouraged them to not wait for an invitation to enter the discussion.

I suggested, “The next step would be to have a workshop—a national level dialogue—where representatives from different groups could carry on a dialogue. Those speaking from the podium should share the same stage. Let the people have a debate where disagreements can be respectfully voiced, like what just took place at this meeting. This is something the SMNE and others willing to work in collaboration, like the ODF, can pursue.”

As the ODF leaders continue to meet with others to explain their new direction, they are well aware that there may be skeptics among the public or those among the Oromo who do not agree with them; however, as this new vision is practically enacted, it can become a model for other ethnic-based groups, also struggling for freedom and justice, who might be willing to join together if they had a voice.

When this happens, a New Ethiopia for all Ethiopians will be the mindset of a country that, with God’s help, will mobilize an inclusive peoples’ movement. This also means that ethnic-based groups will become civic groups rather than political parties, competing for dominance against other ethnic groups. 

Freedom and justice can never be accomplished through one ethnic group, even a large one. Neither can it be achieved through multiple factions working on their own goals, independent of others. Instead, meaningful change will require the improved collaboration between the many diverse groups seeking an inclusive democratic state. Even though we are diverse people, we Ethiopians have more in common than our differences. Not only do we share the land, we share the same blood through our ancestors who have lived in this land for millenniums. The diversity of Ethiopians in terms of ethnicity, culture, language, history, religion and language is what I call the garden of Ethiopia and what we hold in common is a desire for one healthy family of Ethiopians.

THE TPLF/EPRDF and other narrow-minded, ethnic-centered politicians have tried to overlook the value of all the people of Ethiopia, whether intentionally, for their own self-interests, or because they feared there was no future for them unless they were in power; however the world is changing. People are able to come together in ways never before possible. Improved technology and communication help, but collaboration, undergirded with respect towards others, brings about a better outcome, greater harmony and more sustainable relationships.

The TPLF/EPRDF’s whole system of ethnic-based hegemony cannot survive when groups such as the ODF refuse to play by those rules any longer. The TPLF/EPRDF’s apartheid model is dependent on division, suspicion and tribal competition and it will take a blow as the Oromo, Amhara, Ogadeni and other Ethiopians begin to advocate for the rights of the other. The people of Gambella as well as the people of Afar are said to be holding dialogues within their own communities regarding similar initiatives to advocate for the rights and inclusion of all Ethiopians, including the minorities and marginalized. This is a movement of thought and it now includes many in the Ethiopian religious communities.

Diverse religious groups have been the target of regime control for years, but now there are strong indicators that the TPLF/EPRDF’s control is faltering. Muslims are joining together with Christians to find a way to work together for the common good. This includes freedom of religion and expression for all Ethiopians. Civic organizations are also trying to create bonds with each other to advance shared goals. These developments should be a strong sign to regime power-holders that change is coming. The TPLF/EPRDF supporters are indeed on the wrong side unless they join with others in the transformation of Ethiopia into a “genuinely democratic multinational federation” that the ODF is talking about.

This new ODF initiative is what was envisioned four years ago when the SMNE was established. Our history of having an Ethiopia for only one or a few tribes—while all the rest struggle—must be ended. The only Ethiopia that will bring sustainable peace and prosperity is one where the humanity of each and every person, regardless of any differences, is not only valued, but also cared for, nurtured and protected. One’s own freedom, justice and empowerment are only sustainable when the same is given to others for “no one is free until all are free.”

The widespread application of these principles will make Ethiopia a home rather than the prison described by the ODF that makes us hunger for personal and collective freedom. Lasting change requires much dialogue, acknowledging the grievances of other people, the restoration of justice, the empowerment of our citizens at every level and reconciliation. Our goal is not to defeat, crush or root out the enemy as was said during the Dergue, but we must work to find ways to transform our country.

Through such dialogue we can talk about why the majority of various ethnic groups will not end up having their particular language as one of the national languages of the country because we have over 80 different languages. In the case of the Oromo language, it makes strong sense that it becomes a second national language because forty million of our people speak it. English may become another of its languages. There are examples of some countries functioning well with more than one language, like Canada or Switzerland; however, it is important to keep in mind that language is meant to be an instrument to advance communication. Through dialogue we can find ways to figure this all out, including how to bring new inclusion to the minorities and to the marginalized—like Ethiopian women, the disabled, the uneducated and others whose voices must be included.

With respectful dialogue, we can find workable solutions to our differences and grievances rather than dividing the country or seeing other people as our enemies. This is the time to talk to each other rather than talking about each other. In the last 20 years the only thing we have done, which was also advanced by the TPLF/EPRDF, was for some Oromo to talk about the Amhara and what they have done and for some Amhara to talk about the Oromo, decrying them as refusing to let go of what Menelik had done to them. In other cases, some Ethiopians do not openly say it, but they discriminate against some they do not consider to be “real Ethiopians” by not giving them opportunity. The people of the Omo Valley are good examples of that discrimination. Fortunately, more of us are realizing that there is no 99% Ethiopian; but instead that every one of us is fully Ethiopian.

We also must realize that there is no ethnic group that cannot claim being oppressed at some time; however, the name “Ethiopia” and the flag of Ethiopia have never oppressed the people. It has been the few elite in power and the dictatorial systems they set up which have oppressed us. There is no “us” and “them” in this land for we are one people. There is no need to separate the country when we can solve our differences through a genuine dialogue.  The ODF are now promising to do this.

From the very beginning, the SMNE has always sought to work with anyone and any group who honestly was willing to advance the betterment of humanity rather than using these principles disingenuously while holding onto a hidden agenda. As the ODF begins to advocate for all Ethiopians, they are “putting humanity before ethnicity” and endorsing the belief that sustainable freedom will never come to the Oromo until it comes to all Ethiopians. I enthusiastically commend them on a job well done and look forward to the fruit of this contribution. We in the SMNE will do whatever we can to work with them and hope that others, including the TPLF, will come to the realization that this is the only way forward that gives us all a future.

To accomplish these goals, we must acknowledge the historical past with its injustice towards different groups of people, but we must also look forward to building a better future. We should also be willing to give up something for a bigger cause.

There is a price to be paid for a better future. It will cost us something which may include forgiveness, humility, compromise, and putting behind us some of our past grievances.

The Ethiopia we have now is not good for anyone; for example: the unemployment, the locking up of Oromo and many others, the displacement of the people like the Amhara and others from their land, the outflow of Ethiopian women to the Middle East as maids, the lack of a future with hope in Ethiopia which should make us think about why we are choosing to work as factions rather than together. We must ask why we are settling for so little when we could collaborate by doing our share rather than giving the burden to only a few. Together we could create a better country—more unified than divided, more livable than inhospitable and more caring about others than selfish about our own interests.

If each of us really took the initiative and was willing to commit to doing our share, we could be able to create a better Ethiopia rather than a beggar Ethiopia. Imagine if the two major ethnic groups, the Oromo and the Amhara, would stand together as one people for the future of all of us! Imagine if the Ethiopian youth saw themselves as human beings first rather than as a tribe and could stand together as future leaders of one Ethiopia rather than as one tribe making Ethiopia their own playground for their own tribal interests. Imagine all the Ethiopian women reconciling and working together as mothers who do not favor one child over another. Imagine Ethiopia’s religious leaders, like the Ethiopian Orthodox, the Evangelical Christians, the Ethiopian Muslims, Ethiopian Jews, animists and non-believers coming together as people of moral character to promote love, compassion, peace, honesty, integrity, good relations and respect for freedom and justice. 

The evidence that the ODF and others are genuine will be seen in how they embrace others. Imagine an Oromo speaking up on behalf of the displaced Amhara, condemning it. Imagine an Amhara speaking up on behalf of the Oromo who have been unjustly imprisoned just for being Oromo. Imagine a Christian condemning the mistreatment of the Muslim. Imagine the Muslim doing the same thing on behalf of the Christians. Imagine if every group did this for others. Who would not want to live in such a country? This kind of Ethiopia would be much better than some of the countries where so many of our young people are running to in hopes of finding a better life, but too often are suffering or dying on the way.

The hope for a better future is within each of us. With God’s help, He can transform us and use us as tools to transform our country. It is a matter of putting these hopes and dreams into action. May God help more of us to realize, like the ODF, that we are one family, the Ethiopian family. May God help us not to be so judgmental and stubbornly fixed in our prejudices, but instead to open our hearts to accept each other; helping us to break down the barriers of suspicion that have kept us fighting each other and struggling to survive while a tiny minority has taken the power and are thriving at the expense of all of us.

May God help us to find a way to also embrace them, not excluding them either for they are a product of past mistakes and thinking.  If they change, we need to accept them as well for no one is free until we all are free. May the God who loves each of us, help us to see the beauty He created in our Ethiopian brothers and sisters.  ==============================

Please do not hesitate to e-mail your comments to Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the SMNE at: Obang@solidaritymovement.org.

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

Open Hearings to Family, Independent Monitors, Media

By Human Rights Watch

April 2, 2013

(Nairobi) – The prosecution of 29 Muslim protest leaders and others charged under Ethiopia’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law raises serious fair trial concerns. The trial is scheduled to resume in Addis Ababa on April 2, 2013, after a 40-day postponement.

The case has already had major due process problems. Some defendants have alleged ill-treatment in pre-trial detention. The government has provided defendants limited access to legal counsel and has taken actions that undermined their presumption of innocence. Since January 22 the High Court has closed the hearings to the public, including the media, diplomats, and family members of defendants.

“There seems to be no limit to the Ethiopian government’s use of its anti-terrorism law and unfair trials to stop peaceful dissent,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director. “The government’s treatment of these Muslim leaders bears the hallmarks of a politically motivated prosecution.”

The defendants include Muslim leaders and activists arrested and detained in July 2012 following six months of public protests in Addis Ababa and other towns by Ethiopia’s Muslim community over alleged government interference in religious affairs. Others on trial include Yusuf Getachew, former managing editor of the now defunct Islamic magazine Yemuslimoch Guday, and two Muslim nongovernmental organizations, allegedly managed by three of the defendants. Solomon Kebede was arrested and is being held under the anti-terrorism law.

According to official figures, Muslims make up approximately 30 percent of Ethiopia’s population. The protest movement began after the government insisted that the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs accept members from an Islamic sect known as al Ahbash and tried to impose its teachings on the Muslim community. The government also sought to influence the operations of the Awalia mosque in Addis Ababa.

In January 2012 the Muslim community created a committee to represent it in discussions with the government. Nine of the 17 members of this committee are among those on trial: Abubekar Ahmed, Ahmedin Jebel, Ahmed Mustafa, Kamil Shemsu, Jemal Yassin, Yassin Nuru, Sheikh Sultan Aman, Sheikh Mekete Muhe, and Sheikh Tahir Abdulkadir. They were arrested as the Ethiopian security forces began a major crackdown on the protests at Awalia and Anwar mosques in Addis Ababa and on protests in other cities as well, arresting and assaulting hundreds of protesters. Although the government has not released numbers, credible sources told Human Rights Watch that as many as 1,000 people were arrested in July alone.

Journalists attempting to cover or report on the protests were also detained or intimidated. Despite these arrests, weekly protests have continued throughout the country.

As in Ethiopia’s earlier terrorism trials of journalists and opposition leaders, the current trial has been marred by serious due process violations.Defendants have had erratic access to lawyers and relatives, and a number of the defendants were initially held for almost two months without access to legal counsel.

Lawyers for the defendants have repeatedly complained to the courts about the treatment of their clients, and alleged that the Muslim committee members and Getachew were mistreated during their pre-trial detention at the Federal Police Crime Investigation Department, known as Maekelawi prison, in Addis Ababa, which is notorious for torture. The complaints do not appear to have been appropriately investigated. Both the first instance court and the higher court have claimed not to have the jurisdiction over these matters.

The defendants have all been charged with “terrorist acts” under article 3 of Ethiopia’s 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, and with planning and conspiracy to commit terrorist acts under article 4. Descriptions of the charges in the initial charge sheet do not contain the basic elements of the crimes that the defendants are alleged to have committed.

Human Rights Watch, other human rights organizations, and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have repeatedly raised concerns about the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation’s overly broad provisions, which have been used to criminalize legitimate free expression and peaceful dissent. Thirty-four people, including eleven journalists and at least four opposition supporters, are known to have been sentenced under the law between late 2011 and mid-2012 in apparently politically motivated trials.

The government has also undermined the defendants’ presumption of innocence by broadcasting inflammatory material and accusations against them on state television. In February state-run Ethiopian Television (ETV) broadcast a program called “Jihadawi Harakat” (“Jihad War”) that included footage of at least five of the defendants filmed in pre-trial detention, including Muslim committee members Kamil Shemsu, Ahmed Mustafa, Abubekar Ahmed, and Yassin Nuru, and the activist Nuru Turki. The program equates the Muslim protest movement in Ethiopia with Islamist extremist groups such as Somalia’s armed al-Shabaab militants, and casts the Muslim protest leaders as terrorists. The High Court granted an injunction prohibiting the broadcast but ETV ignored the court order.

The ETV broadcast was the latest in a series of television programs – many of them produced by the government’s Communications Ministry in collaboration with police or security services –that try to smear the defendants in terrorism trials. In November 2011, ETV broadcast “Akeldama” (“Land of Blood”) during the terrorism trial of 24 people, including prominent members of the political opposition and journalists. The program, which included film of several of the defendants in pre-trial detention, apparently under duress, described the defendants’ alleged involvement in a “terrorist plot.”

Two Swedish journalists were the subject of another similar piece in 2011 after they were arrested in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region. They were subjected to a mock execution during the filming.

“The unfair trial of the Muslim activists is compounded by the government’s TV program that demonizes them as ‘terrorists’ and threatens to raise suspicion of all Muslims and their ongoing protests,” Lefkow said. “The Ethiopian government is prosecuting people who are simply trying to protect their rights to religious freedom and free speech.”

The government has also continued to use the anti-terrorism law to silence the media.

Kebede, Getachew’s successor at Yemuslimoch Guday, has been held for more than two months in pre-trial detention without charges. Heis being held in Maekelawi prison, withoutaccess to legal counsel, which heightens concerns about his treatment and safety.

On March 15 the first instance court granted the police an additional 28 days for further investigation in Kebede’s case. The Anti-Terrorism Proclamation permits pre-trial detention for up to four months without charge, one of the longest periods in anti-terrorism legislation worldwide,in violation of Ethiopia’s international legal obligations. Under the Ethiopian constitution detainees must be charged or released within 48 hours.

“Rather than jailing peaceful protesters and critical journalists, the government should amend the anti-terrorism law and stop these politically motivated trials,” Lefkow said. “The government should be reaching out to the Muslim community and discussing their grievances rather than silencing their voices and leaders.”

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

The Ethiopian government has launched a comprehensive campaign to stamp out the year-long Muslim protests against government interference in religious affairs.

According to the website Tigraionline, the government has deployed an array of potent weapons against the Muslim community.  These weapons include:  tax collection as a pretext to harass Muslim businesses, denial of bank loans and access to land.

Tigraionline is a website closely affiliated with the ruling Tigre liberation front and Ethiopia’s intelligence services.

“Over 50% of Mercato traders are Muslims and they have made huge amounts of money over the years but paid very little tax, “ writes Tigraionline.  Denying new bank loans and harshly enforcing existing ones are among the array of weapons the government is using.  Denying Muslims access to land is also yet another tool the government has actively pursued.

According to Tigraionline, “the government has been taking strong measures …. [against Muslims] and the actions are bearing results.”

The crackdown against Muslim merchants may also be used as an excuse to transfer businesses to a minority ethnic group that controls Ethiopia’s government.

Although the Ethiopian Muslim protest is home-grown, the Tigraionline article entitled “Who is Goading Ethiopian Islamic Militants,” desperately tries to link the movement to violent overseas groups

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

(Yemen Post) – An investigation conducted by al-Wethaq a couple of months ago – a right group organization based in Yemen – revealed that two years in its post revolution era Yemen is still home to hundreds of slaves.

Despite its many promises to address all grave human rights violations such as slavery, the central government has proven unable, or politically unwilling to impose its human rights agenda to Yemen, barely controlling its institutions.

Because of Yemen tribal structure and an overlapping of influences in between the state institutions and tribal leaders, Yemen’s government can often only “advice” Sheikhs, encouraging them to follow their directives rather than impose the rule of law.

It is this conflict of power and political authority which is preventing issues such as slavery, child labor and under-age marriages to be properly addressed and rooted out from society.

Yemen will have at one point or another to reconcile its desire for democracy and its tribal tradition, as both as they currently stand now cannot cohabit.

Al-Wethaq established in its six-months field study that slavery mostly persists in three north western provinces — Hodeidah , Hajjah and al-Mahwit –

UNHCR wrote in its 2012 report “while no official statistics exist detailing this practice, sources report that there could be 300 to 500 men, women, and children sold or inherited as slaves in Yemen, including in the al-Zohrah district of al-Hodeidah Governorate and the Kuaidinah and Khairan al-Muharraq districts of the Hajjah Governorate, north of the capital.”

In all three provinces slave markets are being operated by human traffickers and smugglers.

Most incredibly, deeds of ownership are exchanged between slave traders and the slave owners upon completion of the trade with a price tag running at around $2500 per person at any given moment.

The idea that “legal papers” are being exchanged warned activists is proof slavery in those areas has been standardized.

An activist in Hodeidah said under cover of anonymity he had himself witness slave trading. “Traffickers are operating quite freely in the region, slave trading has been normalized here. Given the economic difficulties Yemen is going through right now the government needs to put an immediate stop to such practices or more people will fall victims to slavery.

Farmers are always looking for cheap labor and nothing is as cheap as slaves. This is a dangerous situation as minority groups and African refugees are at great risk here.

Al-Wethaq recorded 190 cases of slavery so far which as far the foundation is concerned is 190 too many.
Human rights activists working for al-Wethaq have complained that despite their many pleas and reports to the government, officials had so far “politely” ignored their calls, only half-heatedly committing to support their anti-slavery campaign efforts.
While Human Rights Minister Hooria Mashour has been active in promoting anti-slavery and other human rights violations, her ministry alone cannot possibly hope to eradicate slavery on its own.

Activists made clear that unless the government as a whole is willing to actively pursue traffickers and hand out hefty prison sentences while rehabilitating slaves back into society, they had little hope things will ever get better.

“Yemen slavery problem is an economic one. People needs to make money, hence traffickers and others, buyers, are looking for cheap labor. The equation is really simple and there is plenty of money to be made on the misery of others,” said Ahmed an activist in Hodeida.

He added that while buyers were often local land owners, many were also acting on behalf of Gulf nationals — Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE and Qatar. And if some rich families are only buying the slaves to free them later on as an act of charity others will arrange for their smuggling over the border and use them as domestic help or some instances sex workers. A link has been made in between slave trading and prostitution, where women and sadly even children were sold into prostitution abroad.

Ethiopian and Somali women and children travel voluntarily to Yemen with the hope of working in other Gulf countries, but some are subjected to sex trafficking or domestic servitude in Yemen. Others migrate based on fraudulent offers of employment as domestic servants in Yemen, but upon arrival are subjected to sex trafficking or forced labor. Some female Somali refugees are forced into prostitution in Aden and Lahj governorates, and Yemeni and Saudi gangs traffic African children to Saudi Arabia. Smugglers capitalize on the instability in the Horn of Africa to subject Africans to forced labor and prostitution in Yemen,” read UHCR 2012 trafficking in person report.

Mohammed Naji Allaw a former member of parliament explained while most slaves in Yemen were freed after September 26 Revolution – 1962 – the practice had somehow survived through the decades, the remnants of Yemen old feudal system.

Najeeb al-Saadi, an activist working for al-Wethaq noted the government had tried on many instances to quiet his organization, denying slavery was an issue in Yemen as to avoid answering embarrassing questions.

Back in 2010 HOOD, – most prominent rights organization in Yemen – launched an anti-slavery campaign calling on the country’s general prosecutor to pursue all slave masters and for the government to build housing complexes on fertile plots of land to help those emancipated from slavery get a new start.

“We asked the government to look into the problem and the general prosecutor to investigate,” said Khaled al-Anesi, a lawyer with the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms in 2010.

Despite the campaign and calls from local and international rights organizations nothing of consequence was ever achieved. Slavery continues to be an issue in modern Yemen.

Activists now hope that the momentum created by 2011 revolution and a sense of civic duties will mean the government will eventually come through and devise a plan action which will translate into real change. Because beyond being set free Yemen’ slaves need to be given a chance to re-integrate society as well as receive compensations for their suffering.

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

By Graham Peebles | Counterpunch.com

March 8, 2013

Ancestral land that for generations has served as home and livelihood for hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in Ethiopia is being leased out, on 99-year renewable contracts at nominal sums to foreign corporations. The land giveaway or agrarian reforms as the government would prefer to present them began in 2008 when the Ethiopian government, under the brutal suppressive Premiership of Meles Zenawi invited foreign countries/corporation to take up highly attractive deals and turn large areas of land over to industrial farming for the export of crops. India, China and Saudi Arabia were all courted and along with wealthy Ethiopians have eagerly grabbed large pieces of land at basement prices; rates vary from $1.10 to $6.05 per hectare (HA), comparable land in India would set you back $600 per ha.

A total of 3,619,509 ha, the Oakland Institute (OI), a US based think tank, estimate has been leased out. Land made available by the forced re-location of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people under the government’s universally condemned Villagization progamme, which aims to forcibly re-locate over 1.5 million people from their homes.

India corporations have taken the lion’s share, acquiring around 600,000 ha concentrated in Gambella and Afar, split between 10 investing companies. The term ‘investing’ implies benefits for Ethiopia, which is misleading; ‘profiteering’, or ‘exploiting’ sits closer to the truth of these land deals, as the OI make clear, “taking over land and natural resources from rural Ethiopians, is resulting in a massive destruction of livelihoods and making millions of locals [farmers and pastoralist communities] dependent on food handouts”. With small scale farmers being evicted from their land, prices of staples such as Teff, used by millions throughout Ethiopia to make Injera (bread), has rocketed in price, according to Ethiotribune 22/5/2012, increasing fourfold since 2008.

Corporate expansionism: small change big profits

In line with its ambitions of diversity and world food dominance – Karuturi Global, the world’s largest grower of roses, leads the Indian charge, leasing 311,700 ha in Gambella. Not satisfied with this, GRAIN (an international NGO, working to support small farmers) report Mr.Karuturi “wants to set up farming operations [throughout Eastern and Southern Africa] on more than 1 million [ha]” – too much never enough in corporate expansionism.

Almost a quarter of Gambella’s 25 million ha has been earmarked by the federal government for agricultural ‘development’. Karuturi, whose profits “rose 55.13% to Rs 1.21 crore [10 million] in the quarter ended June 2012”, took their chunk without even seeing it, paying only $1.10 per ha. For the Indian giant it is, John Vidal in ‘Land Grab Ethiopia (LGE)’ says, “the sale of the century”. ‘Green Gold’ is how Mr. Karuturi in GRAIN (‘Who’s Behind the Land Deals’), describes his 300,000 ha of Ethiopian soil, “for which he pays $46 per ha per year including water and labour and expects at least $660 [per ha] in profit per year”. (Ibid)

In addition to paddy, Indian farmers are being sub-contracted to grow maize, cereals, palm oil and sugarcane amongst others. All of which are destined for export, either to India or Europe, where companies farming in Ethiopia (and other Sub-Saharan African nations), benefit from lower import duties applied to developing countries, notwithstanding the fact that the land is leased to, and the crops produced and sold by, multi million-rupee rich companies.

Another major Indian company leasing land in Gambella is the decidedly green sounding BHO Bioproducts. Following the corporate rhetoric, BHO Chief Operating Officer Sunny Maker told Bloomberg in 2010 that, they have “plans to invest more than $120 million in rice and cotton production”, which, by 2017, should “generate about $135 million a year from sales divided equally between domestic [Indian] and international markets.” He added that the “incredibly rich fertile land”, will all be “cleared within the next three years”. Cleared yes, violently, indiscriminately and totally; villages, people, forests, woodland, all destroyed, burnt, relocated, displaced, desecrated. The governments promise to such prized investors is that the land is handed over stripped of everything and everyone. Dissent is not allowed and dealt with brutally should it occur, as Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of OI makes clear. “The repression of social resistance to land investments is even stipulated in land lease contracts, [it is the] state’s obligation to ‘deliver and hand over the vacant possession of leased land free of impediments’ and to provide free security ‘against any riot, disturbance or any turbulent time.”

The ‘rich fertile land’, lovingly cultivated at the hands of the men and women who have farmed it for generations, is unlikely to be nurtured so carefully by Indian (or indeed Chinese or Saudi Arabian) corporations with their thirsty ‘GM seeds’ (Ibid). For as Oxfam in their detailed report ‘Land and Power’ diplomatically point out, “investors short time scales may tempt them into unsustainable cultivation, undermining agricultural production.”

The devolution of development

Land is a prime cut asset in the commercialisation of everything, everywhere, and the “rich fertile land” in Ethiopia is cheap, even by Sub-Saharan African standards. Along with long-term leases, the government offers a neat bundle of carrots, including tax incentives and unrestricted export clauses, incentives that the OI state “deny African countries economic benefits” from land deals that the Ethiopian regime wraps up neatly in its complete disregard for the human rights of the indigenous people. Government indifference encouraging corporate irresponsibility – and they need little encouragement. Businesses hardly seem to be grabbing the land, so much as accepting it as a gift, parceled up and ready to be torn open.

In exchange for such attractive deals, the Ethiopian government has been extended, the OI reports “a $640 million line of credit… over five years to boost sugar production in the country’s Lower Omo region”. Not a philanthropic gesture, more a sales trap by India’s EXIM (export and import) Bank, who stipulate, “Ethiopia must import 75% of the value of the credit line in the form of Indian goods and services.”

The government-owned sugar plantations in the Lower Omo are themselves attracting a great deal of concern and criticism from human rights groups, who highlight the environmental and human damage being perpetrated. Government acts of violence and abuse, in the various land deal regions, are justified under the overused and misleading title of ‘development’; a term appropriated by the international monetary machine – the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) primarily – misunderstood and distorted by government development agencies, acting in line with foreign affairs policies by promoting national self interest and perverted by the corrupt ideologically-blinkered governments of developing nations.

An undeveloped ideological trinity whose actions have drained the 21st century sacred cow and its stable mate ‘growth’ – dry of any true and relevant meaning. Far from supporting human and or social development the “unfair terms and near give-away prices [of land deals]… are hindering development…. Foreign corporations and the World Bank are pressuring African leaders to give them exemptions from taxes, import and export duties, and local labor laws – not to mention water and mineral rights that could be worth billions”, the OI confirm.

More concerned with sitting at the top table and cultivating the right international allies than with doing their constitutional duty and serving the needs of the people, the Ethiopian government is in danger of giving away, and for peanuts, it’s ‘rich and fertile’ land to overseas companies who have no interest in Ethiopia, it’s environment, its culture and even less in its people.

Increasing hunger

Hunger and poverty stalk the land of both Ethiopia and India. 12 – 15 million people survive on food aid in Ethiopia, which ranks bottom of the World Hunger Index at 76. India, with the highest rate of malnourished children in the world, where 25% (around 270 million) of the world’s hungry live, despite the fact that, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), “the country grows enough food for its people”, it comes in 65th of the hungriest nations, below Niger and the Sudan – neither of which, to my knowledge, boast 61 billionaires and 200,000 dollar millionaires unlike India. And whereas “most countries have made consistent progress in reducing hunger, India has seen hunger rise over the last decade compared with the late 1990s.”(Ibid) This so-called economic miracle nation refuses to feed it’s own people.

Food insecurity, the WFP makes clear is caused not by lack of produce, but by an unwillingness to share the Earths bounty equitably. The states in India with the greatest numbers suffering from hunger and malnutrition, WFP records “include Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh”; these are the states where the poorest (Adivasi – indigenous and Dalit) people in the country and quite possibly in the World happen to live. The poor are dying of hunger not because India cannot feeed everyone, as the United Nations report on regional cooperation makes crystal clear, “the root cause of hunger across the sub-region and the world today is not a lack of food. It is the economic and social distribution of that food which leaves populations undernourished and hungry.”

Men women and children living in dire poverty starve to death, in India, Ethiopia and throughout the world. They starve and die for want of the food that is rotting in warehouses, food served up to rats or destroyed by the Indian government, because it is cheaper to burn it than to distribute it to those in need. As Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (26/01/13) said, “globally, a third of all food produced is wasted, and… if one could avoid this waste it would be possible to feed all the hungry people [in the world] and have food to spare.” Food to spare!Such is the inhumane ethos that underpins market fundamentalism, that allows men women and children, young and old to starve – simply because the do not have the financial means to feed themselves. Shame on governments Indian and the rest, that allow such inhumane injustice to prevail, as a wise teacher said, “throughout the world there are men, women and little children who have not even the essentials to stay alive; they crowd the cities of many of the poorest countries in the world… My brothers, how can you watch these people die before your eyes and call yourselves men”.

The commercialization of the countryside in India and Ethiopia, which is displacing large numbers of small-scale farmers and concentrating crop production in the hands of multi-nationals, is intensifying existing levels of hunger. Substantive agricultural reform and real development would see the army of skilled small scale producers, with generations of local knowledge and love of the land, supported with the needed capital and technology, given access to markets that corporations bring. Such an agrarian revolution, ethically founded, environmentally healthy and socially sustained, would build long-term food security and feed the hungry.

Soft targets easy profits

India as the WFP makes clear, has no domestic need for food produced by the overseas industrial farms that are causing such far-reaching damage, to the hundreds of thousands of displaced people of Ethiopia as well as the natural environment. The movement in Ethiopia mirrors what is taking place to a much greater degree in India. The government has shifted all support away from Indian farmers and is supporting the transfer of land from the rural poor to large companies – wealthy government benefactors, causing the displacement of millions (60 million to date, according to Arundhati Roy) of indigenous people.

Corporations are targeting countries Oxfam 7/02/2013 makes clear, with “poor governance”, that “allow investors to secure land quickly and cheaply…. [They] “Seem to be cherry picking countries with weak rules and regulations”. Needy nations like hungry people make easy targets for multi-national man, whose pockets governments are desperate to nestle inside. The driving force behind such destructive land developments, undertaken by corporations obsessed by an insatiable desire for growth and world leading economic development, is, as Oxfam suggests, profit and profit alone.

Graham Peebles is director of the Create Trust. He can be reached at: graham@thecreatetrust.org

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

By Graham Peebles | counterpunch.org

March 1, 2013

With the coming of industrial-size farms in Ethiopia, local people, villagers and pastoralists (deemed irrelevant to the Government’s, economically-driven development plans) are being threatened, and intimidated by the military; forcibly displaced and herded into camps, their homes destroyed. Along with vast agricultural complexes, dams are planned and constructed, water supplies re-directed to irrigate crops, forests burnt, natural habitats destroyed. Dissenting voices are brutally silenced – men beaten, children frightened, women raped, so too the land.

Over 80% of the 85 million population of Ethiopia live in rural areas, in settlements and villages, and work in agriculture. Many are small-scale farmers who, according to government figures, farm “eight percent (about 10,000,000 ha) of the national land area”, and traditional pastoralists who have, for generations, lived simple lives, culture, nature and livelihood entwined.

Huge tracts of agricultural land with water supplies are being leased to foreign companies for food export. The Oakland Institute (OI), a US- based policy think-tank and leader in the field, have produced in-depth reports on worldwide land sales stating that, between 2008 and 2011, “3,619,509 hectares (ha) were transferred to domestic investors, state-owned enterprises and foreign companies”. Amounting to a third, if government figures are correct, of the land farmed by Ethiopians themselves, an area the size of a small country, e.g. Holland.

Government Genocide

Land grab (and associated water appropriation), Oxfam states, occurs when “governments, banks or private investors buy up huge plots of land to make equally huge profits”. Since 2008 such speculation has vastly expanded; in 2009 alone the OI recorded that “foreign investors acquired 60 million ha of land [worldwide] – the size of France – through purchases or leases of land for commercial farming,” up from an annual average, pre-2008, of 4 million ha. Three quarters of all land deals take place in sub-Saharan Africa, in some of the most food-insecure, economically vulnerable, politically repressive countries in the world; precisely, some say, because of such advantageous commercial factors.

In Ethiopia, land sales are occurring in six key areas. Oromia and Gambella in the south, Amhara, Beneshangul, Gumuz, the Sidaama zone, or SNNP and the Lower Omo Valley – an area of outstanding natural beauty with acclaimed UNESCO World heritage status. The Ethiopian government’s conduct in Omo and Oromia, Genocide Watch (GW) considers “to have already reached stage 7 [of 8], genocidal massacres”. A statement that shocks us all, and casts shame upon the government and indeed slumbering donor nations, who act not, who speak not, but know well the cruel methods, which violate a plethora of human rights laws, employed by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). A regime whose loyalties, it seems, rest firmly with investors, corporations, multi-nationals and the like, and who cares little for the people living upon the land, or indeed in the cities.

Forced from Home

Conditional within land lease agreements is the requirement that the government will clear the area of ‘encumbrances’, meaning indigenous people – families, children, pastoralists, cattle, wildlife, forests, anything in fact that will interfere with the leveling of the land, building of [foreign] workers’ accommodation, roads and the eventual sowing of crops.

The national three-year Villagisation program, initiated in 1985, aims to move 1.5 million people from their ancestral homes, over four states, into large settlements. The process is well under way, as these 2010 figures from Cultural Survival show, “by February 1987, 5.7 million people (15 percent of the rural population) had been moved into 11,000 new villages. By the end of this year, 10 million rural inhabitants (25 percent of the population) are expected to be villagized in 12 of Ethiopia’s 13 provinces.” Government propaganda justifying the policy states these new village centers will, “facilitate the provision of human social services by concentrating scattered homesteaders into central communities”, and facilitate ‘agrarian socialism’ – hence the leasing of mega chunks of land to multi-national corporations, without the participation of local people, whose land is being taken from them: a totalitarian version of socialism then.

Contrary to federal and international law, which requires the free, informed and prior consent of the people, this mass movement is being carried out without consultation or compensation, no matter the official claims to the contrary. Human Rights Watch (HRW) (28/08/12) reports how “Villagers who have been unwilling to move, or who refuse to mobilise others to do so, have been arrested and mistreated by the soldiers.” Once forcibly emptied, villages are destroyed and cattle killed or confiscated, the OI state, by government troops. Along with pastoralists, who number around 300,000 in Gambella alone, villagers are herded, sometimes literally, always metaphorically at the end of rifle, into Villagisation camps. And these, despite Government promises to, “provide basic resources and infrastructure, the new villages”, HRW found “have inadequate food, agricultural support, and health and education facilities”.

Resistance to moving is met with abuse and violence. HRW’s detailed report “Waiting for Death”, found that in Gambella, where the government plans to ‘relocate’ 225,000 people, “soldiers frequently beat or arrested individuals who questioned the motives of the program or refuse to move to the new villages [Villagisations]. Community leaders and young men are targeted [scores are arrested without due process]. There have also been credible allegations of rape and sexual assault by government soldiers. Fear and intimidation was widespread.” In a disturbing account of life within and without the Villagisation centers, the OI discovered, most disturbingly, that pastoralists (whose lifestyle and nature is to wander) if “encountered [by the military] outside of villages are told to relocate to the villages immediately”. Such restrictions conjure images of prison life rather than a peaceful, communal village, and contradict the government’s message of willing relocation, good community relations, participation and social harmony.

A Culture of Fear

Such abuse is not limited to Gambella – in the Lower Omo region, where huge, state-owned sugar plantations and the massive Gibe III Dam project are being developed, dissenting voices are, the OI report, subjected to “beatings, abuse and general intimidation”, in addition to extra-judicial prison sentencing.

“Fear and intimidation” is endemic, not just in areas associated with land sales, but throughout the country; suppression is common and freedom of expression greatly restricted. The media – TV, radio, press as well as print companies, are state-owned, so too the sole telecommunication company, restricting access to the internet, which is monitored. The judiciary is simply an extension of government, lacking credible independence, the political opposition marginalised and completely ineffective. International media are frowned upon and, in some areas (e.g. Ogaden) completely banned, such are the paranoid actions of the ruling EPRDF, which, it would seem, has much to hide.

Resentment and anger simmers amongst many displaced oppressed villagers. In April 2012 a group of men attacked the Saudi Star compound in Gambella and killed four employees. The men were quickly labeled ‘rebels’ and a military manhunt was instigated. The criminal act should be treated as such and the men brought to justice, however government forces have reacted with unwarranted unjustifiable violence and aggression to innocent civilians, as HRW (28/08/12) reported: “Ethiopian soldiers went house to house… arbitrarily arresting and beating young men and raping female relatives of suspects”. Any excuse, it seems, to unleash state violence, perpetrated by a regime that mistrusts even it’s own people. After the attack on Saudi Star, a company that has leased some 10,000 ha of prime Gambella land, the Ethiopian military accused four Anuak guards on duty at the time, of involvement in the attack and carried out extra- judicial killings (murder) on them all. Local villagers “alleged they were tortured”, and “women and girls raped either in their homes or in detention” (ibid). Illegal acts by the Ethiopian State that by any reasonable reading fits the definition of terrorism stated by the US military as, “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” Terrifying tactics employed by the military in the search for information about ‘the rebels’ – a meaningless term evoking negative stereotypes, used alongside the ‘T’ word (terrorist) to demonise anyone who disagrees with disagreeable government policies and justify all violent measures by the benevolent regime – such is the perverse and dangerous use of language, facilitated by the international mainstream media that has infiltrated our imaginations.

The Myth of Development

The government proclaims land sales are part of a strategic, long-term approach to agriculture reforms and economic development, that foreign investment will fund infrastructure projects, create employment opportunities, help to eradicate hunger and poverty and benefit the community, local and national. The term development is itself an interesting one; distorted, linked and commonly limited almost exclusively to economic targets, meaning growth of GDP, established principally by the World Bank, whose policies and practices in relation to land sales, the OI discovered, “have glossed over critical issues such as human rights, food security and human dignity for local populations”, and its philanthropic sister, the International Monetary Fund; market fundamentalism driving the exported (one size fits all) policies, of both ideologically entrenched organisations, that promote models of development that seek to fulfill corporate interests first middle and last.

Defined in such limited ways, Ethiopia, having somehow achieved impressive GDP growth figures since 2004, (with a dizzy 9.8%, average, similar to that of India) would seem to be in the premiership of development. Inflation, though, sits at 30% and, whilst unemployment in urban areas has dropped to around 20%, over a quarter of young people aged 18-24 remain out of work; high unemployment in urban areas means young women are often forced into commercial sex work or domestic servitude.

Statistics compiled by The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), provide a broader, less GDP-rosy picture of the country. They place Ethiopia 174th (from 187 nations) on the Human development index (HDI), with average life expectancy of 59 years and 40% of people living in poverty (on less than $1.25 a day). The 2012 Global Hunger Index makes Ethiopia the 5th hungriest country in the world (IFPRI), with between 12 and 15 million people a year relying on food aid to keep them alive. What growth there is benefits the rich, privileged minority. There is a growing divide between the 99.9% and the small number of wealthy Ethiopians – who, coincidentally, are mainly members of the ruling party trickle down, gushing up’, concentrating wealth with the wealthy; as the Inter Press Service (IPS) 22/08/12 reports, “development has yet to reach the vast majority of the country’s population. Instead, much of this wealth – and political power – has been retained by the ruling party and, particularly, by the tiny Tigrayan minority community to which [former Prime Minister] Meles belonged.”

“Protect, Respect and Remedy”

Protagonists laying claim to the all-inclusive healing powers of agriculture and agro-industrial projects, contradict, the OI states, “the basic facts and evidence showing growing impoverishment experienced on the ground”. What about the bumper benefits promised, particularly the numerous employment opportunities? It turns out industrialised farming is highly mechanised and offers few jobs; overseas companies are not concerned with providing employment for local people and care little for their well-being, making good bedmates for the ruling party. They bring the workers they need, and are allowed to do so by the Ethiopian government, which places no constraints on their operations.

Such shameful indifference contravenes the letter and spirit of the United Nations (UN) “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework. Endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council on 16th June 2011, the guiding principles outlined, “provide an authoritative global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity.” Corporations have a duty under the framework to “prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations… even if they have not contributed to their impacts”i Although not legally enforceable, these principles of decency offer recourse to human rights organisations and community groups, and should be morally binding for multinationals, whose profit-driven activities in Ethiopia, facilitated by a brutal regime that ignores fundamental human rights, are causing intense suffering to hundreds of thousands of indigenous people.

Graham Peebles is director of the Create Trust. He can be reached at: graham@thecreatetrust.org

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

Cover of 1898 edition of the Paris weekly, Le Petit Journal. Europe was stunned by the Italian defeat. Courtesy of private collector, New York.

Ethiopian forces led by Emperor Menelik annihilated invading Italian colonial troops on March 2, 1896 at the Battle of Adwa.  Ethiopians killed over 6,000,  wounded and captured thousands more in a mere eight hours.

The Ethiopian camp was ably led by Menelik  & Taytu, Rases Mekonnen, Takle Haymanot, Mikael, Mengesha  and Alula.  The self-confident Italians were led by generals Oreste Baratieri, Guisseppe Arimondi, Guisseppe Ellena, Mateo Albertone and Vittorio Dabromida

The myth of invincibility of white colonial troops was forever shattered in the valleys and hills of Adowa.  Likewise, Adwa shattered the myth of Africans as helpless victims of colonial aggression.  Adwa was an affront to white supremacy, giving rise to black self-confidence, pride and Pan-Africanism.

Menelik. From a private collection in New York

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

By Anuradha Mittal | Guardian

February 25, 2013

Farm workers remove weeds from young plants at the palm oil plantation owned by Karuturi Global, near the town of Bako, in Ethiopia.

The idea of south-south co-operation evokes a positive image of solidarity between developing countries through the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge. It’s an attractive proposition, intended to shift the international balance of power and help developing nations break away from aid dependence and achieve true emancipation from former colonial powers. However, the discourse of south-south co-operation has become a cover for human rights violations involving southern governments and companies.

A case in point is the land grab by Indian corporations in Ethiopia, facilitated by the governments of both countries, which use development rhetoric while further marginalising the indigenous communities that bear the pain of the resulting social, economic and environmental devastation. It is against this scenario that international solidarity between communities affected by the insanity of a development model that prefers profits over people is reclaiming the principles of south-south co-operation.

Ethiopia’s late prime minister, Meles Zenawi, welcomed India‘s expanding footprint in Africa as essential for his country’s wellbeing, a vision shared by his successor, Hailemariam Desalegn. The Export-Import Bank, India’s premier export finance institution, gave the Ethiopian government a $640m (£412m) line of credit to develop the controversial sugar sector in lower Omo. Indian companies are the largest investors in the country, having acquired more than 600,000 hectares (1.5m acres) of land for agro-industrial projects.

With 80% of its population engaged in agriculture, Ethiopia is home to more than 34 million chronically hungry people. Every year, millions depend on aid (pdf) for their survival. Amid such hunger, large-scale land deals with Indian investors are portrayed as a win-win situation, modernising agriculture, bringing new technologies and creating employment.

Research by the Oakland Institute, however, contradicts such claims. Most of what is produced is non-food export crops while tax incentives offered to foreign investors deprive Ethiopia of valuable earnings. The promises of job creation remain unfulfilled as plantation work at best offers menial low-paid jobs.

Worse still, the Ethiopian government is using its villagisation programme to forcibly relocate (pdf) about 1.5 million indigenous people from their homes, farms and grazing lands to make way for agricultural plantations. Those who refuse face intimidation, beatings, rapes, arbitrary detention and imprisonment, and even death. The repression of social resistance to land investments is even stipulated in some land lease contracts: “[it is the] state’s obligation to ‘deliver and hand over the vacant possession of leased land free of impediments’ and to provide free security ‘against any riot, disturbance or any turbulent time.’”

It was to challenge this form of south-south co-operation that the Oakland Institute, in partnership with Indian civil society groups the Indian Social Action Forum (Insaf), Kalpavriksh and Peace, organised an Indian-Ethiopian summit on land investments in New Delhi in February. Obang Metho of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia and Nyikaw Ochalla from the Anywaa Survival Organisation, members of the Anuak community of Gambela, Ethiopia, travelled to India with shocking testimonies of how their community has been dispossessed of livelihoods, ill-treated and subjected to misery while the Ethiopian government leases land to Indian corporations at giveaway prices.

This coming together of Indian and Ethiopian civil society groups marks a turning point in the struggle for land rights and livelihoods in the two countries and beyond. For the first time, the agony of communities who face human rights abuses as their lands are taken over has reached the investors’ doorstep, sending a powerful message to the investors and governments of Ethiopia and India. At the same time, it initiated a rewriting of south-south co-operation where the takeover of communal lands that have been homes, grazing grounds and water sources for generations, by corporations – even if they are from the global south – is being recognised as a new form of colonisation. It was a starting point, and plans for further collaboration are under way.

Unlike the Ethiopian leaders who met the Indian business delegations in person, Metho and Ochalla did not get a hearing with Indian government officials, despite several requests. Instead, it was activists who are challenging land grabs across India who travelled to New Delhi to meet them. They told how control over land and natural resources is spurring violent clashes in nearly 130 districts of India. Meanwhile, reports came in that 12 platoons of police had moved in on villagers in Govindpur and Nuagaon in Odisha, to forcibly clear lands for the Korean Steel Posco project. Women and children were beaten indiscriminately and people were arrested as they tried to prevent the demolition of their betel vineyards – one of the most viable local livelihoods.

We need to challenge the paradigm of development that trivialises and ignores the human consequences of these land acquisitions by corporate investors and governments. The idea that “some have to be sacrificed” for the “larger national good”, which is nothing more than the double-digit economic growth that benefits a few, must be rejected – even if the deals are between developing countries and framed by the rhetoric of south-south co-operation.

• Anuradha Mittal is founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute, an independent policy thinktank based in Oakland, California

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

The Economist

February 16, 2013

DURING his two decades running Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi almost single-handedly engineered its rise from lost cause to model pupil. Even his enemies admit he was both popular and competent. Often working around the clock, he could make complex policy choices and then explain them to ordinary people. He planned meticulously for everything—from road building to oppressing the opposition—except, that is, for his own demise.

It came six months ago on August 20th, following illness at the age of 57, and left the state reeling. Meles, as he is known, had grabbed so much power that many feared his death would spark political chaos and an economic downturn. He alone had the trust of the soldiers, the financiers, the Ethiopian people and the West.

Instead of chaos, an eerie calm now hangs over the country. The old guard that once surrounded Meles, who hailed from the northern region of Tigray, remains in power. Winners of a 1980s civil war that toppled the dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, the Tigrayans have held on to top security jobs. Meles’s widow, Azeb Mesfin, who for a few months refused to move out of the prime ministerial palace, still controls a state-affiliated conglomerate, EFFORT. The number of Tigrayans in the cabinet has shrunk but key posts remain in the hands of ageing loyalists, many of whom fought alongside Meles. Talk of “generational change” over the past few years was seemingly a charade.

One of the few exceptions is the relatively young prime minister, Mr Desalegn. The 47-year-old is an articulate and experienced administrator as well as a former water engineer who studied in Finland. But he lacks his predecessor’s charisma and shrewd policy instincts. Though a former deputy prime minister (and former foreign minister) he is not an insider. He is a Protestant in a predominantly Orthodox Christian nation (his first name means “the power of Mary”). He is also an ethnic Wolaytan in a government dominated by Tigrayans. Meles, his mentor, may have chosen him for that reason, either to weaken ethnic divisions or perhaps to guarantee that ultimate power remains with his northern brothers-in-arms.

As the new chairman of the EPRDF, Mr Desalegn may eventually attain sufficient control to reshape the ruling party, but only if he survives long enough. For the moment he seems to have little room to manoeuvre, lacking his own power base in the security forces. He has publicly pledged to continue his predecessor’s work “without any changes”.

Those who know him say he is more comfortable with capitalism than many of the leftists around him. He was never a Marxist, but nor does he have an alternative vision for the country. Few Ethiopians know his name, though he does well internationally; he was recently elected chairman of the African Union. “We want him to be a leader not a follower,” says a progressive Ethiopian who occasionally meets him, but doubts his authority.

In his first six months in power, the prime minister has announced few new policies. Reform efforts are frozen. Economic liberalisation has been postponed at least until after elections in 2015. Party leaders seem unsure how to survive without Meles. They govern on autopilot, following the blueprints he left behind. Conformity of thought is common and new ideas are seemingly unwelcome.

Meles was so central to the Ethiopian state that his followers are trying to keep him alive with a Mao-style cult of personality. Even months after his death, Addis Ababa is still plastered with bereavement posters. They cover entire sides of buildings and run for hundreds of metres along fences. Banners declare “we will continue your work” and “we will never forget you”. The body of the former prime minister is buried under a tall granite arch next to Holy Trinity Cathedral where Haile Selassie, the last Ethiopian emperor, is entombed. New propaganda tracts depict Meles as a selfless leader who sacrificed his life for his country. His party is trying to wring as much legitimacy as possible from his legacy. It may be too early to speak of a post-Meles era—even in death he is the country’s most visible politician.

The future could yet be difficult. Without the former prime minister’s zeal, authority and attention to detail, the system he created could founder. Vested interests once kept at bay may reassert themselves. Reform projects could not just stall but break down irreparably. The fight against corruption and for economic progress will slow. Officialdom is already adrift, unsure of which way to turn. Only when the grizzled Tigrayan bosses at last step down might a new generation of leaders return to the ambitious experimentation that was an essential ingredient in Meles’s success. A move to genuine democracy, which he talked about but never dared to try, remains far off.

Ethiopia’s leaders are confused. They hail Meles as their country’s uniquely brilliant leader but act as if they can govern just as he did.

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

An exhibit at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York

Ethiopian were warriors and traders, trading directly with ports in the Indian Ocean, as far away as Malacca in Malaysia

Over the centuries, East Africans have greatly distinguished themselves in India as generals, commanders, admirals, architects, prime ministers, and rulers. They have written a story unparalleled in the rest of the world: that of enslaved Africans attaining the pinnacle of military and political authority.

Known as Habshis (Abyssinians) and Sidis, they have left an impressive historical and architectural legacy that attest to their determination, skills, and intellectual, cultural, military and political savvy.

Open to the pubic, Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM; through July 6, 2013

Curated by Dr. Sylviane A. Diouf and Dr. Kenneth X. Robbins.

Those of you who can’t make it to New York, please go to url below to see online exhibit.

http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africansindianocean/

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

January 22, 2013

A ‘villagisation’ programme has left many people from Ethiopia’s Gambella region bereft of land and loved ones, casting donor support in an unflattering light

A family in Kir, Gambella. Ethiopia’s controversial resettlement programme has forced people to leave their villages.

[Source: Ethiopian Review]