Ethiopia's 'homeless' Prime Minister - By Hama Tuma

Hama Tuma is an Ethiopian writer, poet and journalist who has been for long active in the struggle for democracy and human rights in Africa. His collection of satirical articles have appeared in four volumes of African Absurdities (the latest one titled Why Don't they eat Coltan?).Some of his books of fiction and satire have been translated into French,Italian and Hebrew.

                      Ethiopia's homeless Prime Minister

By Hama Tuma
 Source: Africa Report

Sometimes we Ethiopians like to boast. The first in everything! The cradle of mankind. The first bare foot runner to win the marathon...
... The first to claim an annual economic growth of 12% whilst begging for food aid for more than 12 million people. The first country since the 1970s to record a 99.9% win for the ruling party in a general election.
This year, we have done it again in grand style. We stunned the world with our first ever homeless prime minister. The first in History. Ever.

Not that the new power-less Prime Minster was evicted from his home, or has been made homeless for the same land grabbing reasons that have made more than a half million Ethiopians homeless. Oh no. He is "homeless" because the wife of the dead and departed (all believers can add here: praise is to God or Allah) Prime Minster has refused to evacuate the official residence.

Now, the former First Lady is no ordinary woman. After usurping the title of First Lady, she delicately dipped her hands into the national coffers and made away with a few cool dollars - 2 billion dollars according to those in the know, and lied with fewer blinks than her late husband, who was admiringly described by one American Ambassador as a professional liar.

To the point: she has refused to evacuate the official premises of the Ethiopian head of state. So, the PM, who says she can stay, has been left without an official home. The first prime minister without an official abode!

Ok, maybe I am not being fair. Azeb has made it clear that she will only leave the PM's palace if she can go instead to the palace of the president (a nominal appointee). We get it. What she wants is a big palace in Addis Ababa. Yes, she has visited a property near the Sidist Kilo University, but her security concerns could see her staying put for a while.

And why should the new PM object? Sure, she can stay.
Sadly, however, as Ethiopia achieves another first, only few people have noticed that the 540 plus seat parliament has only one opposition member.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister's recent situation has been challenged by a few unusual firsts among African leaders. After the controversial shooting of miners in South Africa, President Zuma tried to interest us on who among his four wives should get State subsidy. No one listened.

And then came the president of Benin who claimed three of his close fellows were trying to poison him. Unfortunately, this is far from being a first.

Mauritania's president got "accidentally" shot by a soldier. Not the first either. Ask the former erratic coup leader from Guinea, Moussa "Dadis" Camara.

Kenya's Mwai Kibaki shouting he is not a polygamist was a massive failure. Did he not know that that trick had been tried more than once? In fact, Kibaki's denial has tickled old memories back to life. It reminds me of that fateful day when Jomo Kenyatta publicly forced his wife, Mama Nigina, to deny his alleged impotence. Luckily, those blue pills were not yet on sale in pharmacies.

Yes, the same V1agra that sent Nigeria's Abacha on his final journey to meet with his maker, as he lay stiff on a bed among a bevy of European ladies he had handpicked from a red light district or lounge or... who knows where?

But far from Abacha's global taste, the King of Swaziland thinks local. Unfortunately, the novelty of marrying maidens at the annual Umhlanga or Reed ceremony has grown intensely boring, especially as King Mswati III struggles with a harsh economic meltdown.

And just when we thought our boredom was coming to a screeching halt, Uganda's Museveni gets re-elected and continues his decades-old search for his arch enemy, Joseph Kony, the man who wheeled him back into the Great Lakes' spotlight.

Kagame on the other hand has done all in his power to let the world know that he is not interested in the Great Lakes' spotlight, after he was accused of arming the M23 rebels of the Congo. If only we could read poor old Paul's mind: "Been there done that, anything new?"

Talking about new things. Why is no one reminding the world that the destruction of historical heritage sites in the northern Mali towns of Gao and Timbuktu by so-called Al Qaeda rebels and Islamists is not a first? The Taliban and Al Shabab have done more destruction on historical heritage sites. They even razed their countries to the ground, for crying out loud!

So you see, this is what makes the Ethiopian first experience so original. It is carefully planned. Let's admit it, a homeless Prime Minister is imaginative, ingenious and admirable. A real First!

However, competition is tight these days. Take the defeated Senegalese president (who wanted to pass the mantle on to his son like in Korea and Syria) declaring: "I am the only president in a perpetual state of grace. It is a special phenomenon linked to my personality.— probably, I am a man of action rather than just talk". The man of action was defeated and sent packing with his tail between his legs.

Chad's Idris Deby, with his 13 children and many wives, tried to become another first when he got married to the 21 year-old daughter of a Sudanese Janjaweed chief, paying a 27 million dollar-dowry (plus an extra million dollars for her jewelry).

Naturally, he became a laughing stock among the high-dowry society. Multi-million dowries are not new.
Back to the Ethiopian originality. Where corpses of Heads of State are moved out of presidential palaces militarily with families rushing out and thanking their stars for being spared, Azeb's plans of redecorating her humble abode remain unperturbed.

The palace is where she belongs and it is where she will stay, come what may! Delusion, illusion, desperation or an Ethiopian tragicomedy par excellence? A serious question.

That the answer is not yet in the hands of the Ethiopian people adds to the sorrow.
Though the situation is bleak and the future uncertain, we Ethiopians can snatch some comfort from the fact that we give the world surprises and we are unique. We still have the syndrome of the chosen people like the Israelis or the Chinese, among others. After all the very first human beings were Ethiopian, non?
We think we are neither black nor white but some special brand of brown or "red".

More questions: How many countries in the world can boast of tens of thousands of political prisoners and still get hailed as being democratic? How many are those who can slaughter hundreds, if not thousands, and still be pampered as democrats?

One is inclined to say none in this twenty first century we are living in. But, alas, Ethiopia has reversed the whole equation — you can imprison, kill, starve, impoverish millions and ruin and shame a country but you can still be admired and supported.

After all appearances do matter and we have to keep our first reputation in mint condition, even without having the original show of a homeless and puppet Prime Minster who fronts for the Tigrean rulers, controlling things behind the scenes.

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Ed's Note;
According to VOA Amharic service, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hilemariam Desalegn has now moved into the Palace, the official residence of the leader of the country.

http://amharic.voanews.com/content/ethiopia-pmhm-palace/1536322.html

ብርሃንና ሰላም = ጽልመትና ሽብር

“ብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት፣ ሳምንታዊውን የፍትሕ ጋዜጣ እንዳይሰራጭ አገደ፤” (www.fetehe.com እና በአዲስጉዳይ መጽሔት፣ ሐምሌ 2004 ዓ.ም)

“ብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት፣ ሳምንታዊው የፍኖተ ነፃነት ጋዜጣ እንዳይታተም ከለከለ፡፡” (www.fnotenetsanet.com እና amharic.voanews.com October 02, 2012/ መስከረም 22 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም)

“ብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት፣ የሪፖርተር ጋዜጣን ገጽ ቁጥር ገደበ፡፡” (ሪፖርተር ጋዜጣ፣ ጥቅምት 4 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም)

ብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት በሁሉም ዜናዎች በበጎ ጎኑ አልተነሳም፡፡ “እንዳይሰራጭ አገደ!” “እንዳይታተም ከለከለ!” እና “ቁጥር ገደበ!” የሚሉት ሃረጎች የማተሚያ ቤቱን ስምና ክብር የሚያጎድፉ ናቸው፡፡ ይህ ማተሚያ ተቋም፣ የዛሬዎቹ ሹመኞችና ባለሥላጣናቱ አወቁትም – አላወቁትም ትልቅ ራዕይና አላማዎችን አንግቦ የተነሳ ነበር፡፡ እነዚህን ተልዕኮዎቹን ለርካሽ የፖለቲካ ትርፍ ሲባል መስዋዕት ማድረግ ግን ከተጠያቂነትና ከታሪክ-ሕሊና ተወቃሽነት አያድንም፡፡

“ብርሃንና ሰላም የቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ማተሚያ ቤት” በመስከረም 3 ቀን 1914 ዓ.ም በአልጋ ወራሽ ተፈሪ መኮንን ተቋቋመ፡፡ ይህ ማተሚያ ቤት በጥቃቅን ፔዳሎች ማለትም በእግር በመርገጥ በሚንቀሳቀሱ የማተሚያ መኪናዎች ሥራውን የጀመረው ስድስት ኪሎ በሚገኘው የዛሬው የቋንቋዎች አካዳሚ ሕንፃ ውስጥ ነበር፡፡

በዚያ ሁናቴ የተጀመረው የብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት በ1958 ዓ.ም ሠላሳ ሺህ ጋዜጦችን በሰዓት ለማተም የሚችሉ ዘመናዊ የኦፍሴት ማተሚያ መኪናዎች ባለቤት ሆኗል (የዛሬይቱ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ቅዳሜ ኅዳር 18 ቀን 1958 ዓ.ም፤ ገጽ 3 ይመልከቱ)፡፡

በወቅቱ፣ የማተሚያ ቤቱ የቴክኒክና ፕሮዳክሽን ክፍል ኃላፊ የነበሩት አቶ አክሊሉ እንዳሉት፣ “ማተሚያ ቤቱ እየተሻሻለ በመሔዱ ባለፈው ዓመት እንድ ሚሊዮን አምስት መቶ ሺ መጽሐፍትን (1,500,000)፣ ከአስር ሚሊዮን በላይ ጋዜጦችን (10,000,000)፣ ሠላሳ ሚሊዮን (30,000,000) ቴምብሮችና ሃያ ሁለት ሚሊዮን (22,000,000) ሌብሎችን፣ አንድ ሚሊዮን ተኩል (1,500,000) የአውቶቡስ ካርኔና ቁጥራቸው ያልተገለጠ እጅግ ብዙ የምስጢር እትሞች እና የሎተሪ ትኬቶችንም አትሟል፡፡”

አቶ አክሊሉ ጨምረውም፣ “ማተሚያ ቤቱ ከሁለት ዓመታት በፊት ገዝቶ ያስመጣው ትልቁ ኦፍሴት፣ 32 ገጾች ያሉትን መጽሐፍ 18ሺ እትም በሰዓት፣ አጥፎና ቆርጦ ሲቆልላል፣ እንዲሁም በቀን አንድ መቶ ሺ ጋዜጦችን ለመሥራት እንደሚችል፣” አስታውቀዋል፡፡ ከሁለት ዓመት ወዲህም አድገቱ አርባ በመቶ (40%) ያህል ያደገ መሆኑን ገልጸዋል፡፡

ኃላፊው እንደገለጹት ከሆነ፣ በ1958 ዓ.ም እንኳን፣ ሮላንድ የተባለው ኦፍሴት መሳሪያ በልዩ ልዩ ሕብረ ቀለም አድርጎ ከሦስት ሺ እስከ አምስት ሺ ጋዜጦችን በአንድ ሰዓት ውስጥ ለማተም የሚችል ነበር፡፡ ትልቁ ኦፍሴት ደግሞ በሦስት ቀለማት አድርጎ በሰዓት ሠላሳ ሺ ጋዜጦችን ለማተም መቻሉን ገልጸዋል፡፡

“ብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት አምስት መቶ ስድሳ ሠራተኞች የሚሠሩ ሲሆን፣ አራቱ ብቻ የውጭ አገር ሰዎች ናቸው፡፡ ከጠቅላላው ሠራተኛ ውስጥ ስድሳ በመቶዎቹ (60%) ሴቶች ናቸው፡፡ ማተሚያ ቤቱ በሥራው ጥራትና በቀጠሮ አክባሪነቱ ብዙ ደንበኞችን ለመሳብ ይችላል፤” ይላሉ አቶ አክሊሉ፡፡

ዛሬ ደግሞ አቶ አክሊሉ ስለማተሚያ ቤቱ እንዲገልጹ ቢጠየቁ፣ እነዚህን ወርቃማ ቃላትና ሐሳቦች አፋቸውን ሞልተው እንደማይደግሙት እግጥ ነው፡፡ ዛሬ፣ ብርሃንና ሰላም በቀጠሮ አክባሪነቱና ደንበኞቹን በመሳብ በኩል ብዙ ርቀት ቁልቁለቱን ይዞ ተንሸራቷል፡፡ ይህ ቁልቁለት የተጀመረው ደግሞ የአራት ኪሎው ግርማ “ሽብር ነዝቶ” የማተሚያ ቤቱን ወዝአደሮች በ1970 ከፈጀና ካስፈጃቸው በኋላ እንደነበር ይታወሳል (ነበር፣ ቅጽ 1፣ ገጽ —)፡፡

ባለፈው ሰሞን አዲሱ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስቴር በፓርላማ ስለብርሃንና ሰላም ሲጠየቁ የመለሱት ነገርም በማተሚያ ቤቱ ላይ ሕዝባዊ ትኩረትን ስቧል፡፡ “የወረቀት ችግር የለብንም፡፡ … ማተሚያ ቤቱ አስተዳደራዊ ርምጃ የመውሰድ” መብት አለው፤ አይነት ነበር ንግግራቸው፡፡ ንግግራቸውን ለማመን ግን ያስቸግራል፡፡ ምክንያቱም፣ ማተሚያ ቤቱ ነፃና ገለልተኛ የንግድ ተቋም አለመሆኑን ስለምናውቅ ነው፡፡ ማለትም፣ በኮሚኒኬሽን ጉዳዮች ጽ/ቤት የዕዝ ትዕዛዝ ሥር እንደሚሰራም ግልጽ ነውና፡፡ ሁለተኛውም ምክንያት፣ የውጭ ምንዛሪው እጥረት ምን ያህል መንግሥትንና ባንኮቹን እግር ተወርች አሳስሮ እንደሚኮረኩዳቸው አብጠርጥረን ስለምናውቅ ነው፡፡

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በአገራችን የጽሕፈት መኪናዎች ከመምጣታቸው በፊት የነበረው ችግር ብዙ ህትመት እንዳይኖር አድርጓል፡፡ ብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት ሲቋቋም ጀምሮ ለበርካታ አመታት ያህል በቁም ጸኃፊነት የሠሩት አቶ ተክለ ጊዮርጊስ ናቄ የዛሬይቱ ኢትዮጵያ ጋዜጣ ሪፖርተር ጠይቋቸው ሲመልሱ እንዳሉት ከሆነ፣ “በአገራችን የቁም ጽሐፊ የሚባለው መንፈሳዊ መጽሐፍትንና ቁም ነገርነት ያላቸውን ጽሑፎች የሚጽፍ ፀሐፊ ናቸው፡፡ ክታቡን፣ አስማቱን፣ ድግምቱንና ሌላውን ተራ ነገር የሚጽፍ ቁም ጸሐፊ አይባልም፡፡ ሐዲሳትን፣ ድጓውን፣ ስንክሳሩን፣ መልኩን ለመጻፍ የሚያገለግለውን የኢትዮጵያውያን አበውን ከዚህኛው ለመለየት ጽሑፉ “ቁም ጽሕፈት” ተባለ፤” ሲሉ ስለሙያቸው ያስረዳሉ፡፡

አያይዘውም፣ “ቁም ጽሕፈትና ድርሰት በአገራችን ቀድሞ ያለ ቢሆንም፣ በአፄ ዘርዓ ያዕቆብ ዘመነ መንግሥት በጣም ተስፋፍቶ እንደነበር ይነገራል፡፡ ከዚህም ወዲህ በጎንደር ነገሥታት ዘመነ መንግሥት በተለይም በአፄ አድያም ሰገድ ኢያሱ ዘመነ መንግሥት መጽሐፍትን የሚጽፉና የሚያዘጋጁት ሊቃውንት ተመድበው ይሠሩ ነበር፡፡ እንዲያውም መለክዓ ፊደሉ የተጠነቀቀው በአፄ አድያም ሰገድ እያሱ ዘመን ነበር፡፡” ሆኖም፣ የጋዜጣና የኅትመት ጉዳይ ለብዙ ዘመናት ፈቅም አለማለቱን አቶ ተክል ጊዮርጊስ ያስረዳሉ (የዛሬይቱ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ኅዳር 18 ቀን 1958 ዓ.ም፤ ገጽ–)፡፡

ይኼው፣ በኅዳር 18 ቀን 1958 ዓ.ም የወጣው የዛሬይቱ ኢትዮጵያ ጋዜጣ በፊት ለፊት ገጹ ላይ ደግሞ እንዲህ የሚል ዜና አስነብቧል፡፡ “ግርማዊ ጃንሆይ 3,886,812 ብር የፈጀውን የብርሃንና ሰላም ሕንፃ መረቁ!” ከጋዜጣው ሐተታ ውስጥ የሚከተለው ዘገባ ቀልብን ይገዛል፡፡ እንዲህ ይላል ዝርዝሩ፡፡ “አዲሱ ማተሚያ ቤት ሕንፃ የፈጀው 1,385,581 ብር ከ36 ሳንቲም ሲሆን፣ ለሌሎች የሲቪል መሐንዲስ ሥራዎች 116,352 ብር ከ33 ሳንቲም ወጪ ሆኗል፡፡ እንዲሁም፣ ከፈረሳይ፣ ከእንግሊዝ፣ ከጀርመ፣ ከሲዊድንና ከጃፓን ተገዝተው የመጡት ለማተሚያ ቤቱ የሚያገለግሉ መሣሪያዎች ዋጋ 2,364,879 ብር ከ17 ሳንቲም ነው፡፡

በጠቅላላው ለሕንፃውና ለመሣሪያው የፈጀው 3,886,812 ብር ከ86 ሳንቲም መሆኑ ታውቋል፡፡” (በወቅቱ የነበረው የብር ምንዛሪ ከዶላር አንፃር ሲታይም አንድ ዶላር በሁለት የኢትዮጵያ ብር ነበር የሚመነዘረው፡፡ ስለዚህም፣ በወቅቱ የምንዛሬ ታሪፍ መሠረት $1,943,406.43 የአሜሪካን ዶላር ወጪ ተደርጎበታል፡፡)

በዕለቱ ተመርቆ ሥራውን የጀመረው ዌቭሴት የተባለው የማተሚያ መኪና፣ ባለ16 ገጽ የሆነውን A-2 size አዲስ ዘመን ጋዜጣ፣ በሰዓት 30,000 ኮፒ በስምንት ቀለማት አትሞና አጥፎ የሚያወጣ ነበር፡፡ ከዚህም በተጨማሪ አዲሱ ሕንፃ፣ 200,000 የተማሪዎች መማሪያ ደብተሮችን በ24 ሰዓት ውስጥ የሚያዘጋጅ መሣሪያ ያለው ሲሆን፤ 60,000 ኢንቨሎፖችን በአንድ ቀን አትመውና አዘጋጅተው የሚያወጡ መሳሪያዎችም አሉት፡፡ የተቀናጀው የኢንቨሎፖች መሥሪያ ክፍልም የተሟላ በመሆኑ፣ በልዩ ልዩ መጠንና ዓይነት በየቀኑ እስከ ስድሳ አምስት ሺ እንቨሎፖችን እያቀናበረ ያቀርባል፡፡ ባመት ሲታሰብም ደግሞ ከሠላሳ ሚሊዮን የማያንስ ኤንቨሎፖችን እያዘጋጀ ያትማል፤” ሲሉ ኃላፊው አቶ አክሊሉ ገልጸው ነበር፡፡ የጋዜጣው ሪፖርተር እንዳለው ከሆነ፣ “ብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤት አሁን (በ1958 ዓ.ም) ባለው አቋሙ መሠረት መጽሐፍትንና ጋዜጦችን በብዛት በመላ ሀገሪቱ ውስጥ ለማሰራጨት የሚችል ታላቅ ድርጅት ሆኗል” (የዛሬይቱ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ኅዳር 18 ቀን 1958 ዓ.ም፤ ገጽ–)፡፡


ከዛሬይቱ ኢትዮጵያ ጋዜጣ መውጣት አንድ ቀን ቀደም ብሎ፣ በዕለተ ዓርብ ኅዳር 17 ቀን 1958 ዓ.ም የወጣው አዲስ ዘመን ጋዜጣ በበኩሉ፣ ጃንሆይ ማተሚያ ቤቱን ሲመርቁ ያደረጉትን ንግግር ሙሉ ቃል ይዞ ነበር፡፡ በዕለቱም ባደረጉት ንግግራቸው እንዳወሱት ከሆነ፣ በሁለት ቁም ነገሮች ላይ አተኩረው ነበር (በገጽ 1 እና 3 ላይ ይመልከቱ)፡፡ እንዲህ አሉ፤ “ማተሚያ ቤቱ ሥራውን የጀመረው፣ የመጀመሪያውን ማተሚያ መሣሪያ በግል ገንዘባችን ገዝተን በቤተ መንግሥታችን ቅጥር ግቢ ውስጥ፣ አሁን ለዩኒቨርሲቲነት በሰጠነው የአባታችን ቦታ ላይ ነው፡፡ እንደምናስታውሰው ቁጥራቸው ከ15 በማይበልጡ ሠራተኞች ስናቋቁም በሁለት ዓይነተኛ ምክንያቶች በመመራት ነበር፡፡

“አንደኛ፣ የመጻሕፍተ ብሉያትና የመጻሕፍተ ሐዲሳት ንባባቸውና ትርጓሜያቸው በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በየስፍራው እንዲገኙና ክርስቲያን የሆነ ሁሉ እየተመለከተ እንዲጠቀምባቸው ለማድረግ በእጅ ጽሑፍ ተጽፎ በየገዳማቱና በየአድባራቱ፣ እንደዚሁም በየአውራጃው ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝበ ክርስቲያን ለማደል የሚቻል መሆኑን በማሰብና፤ ሁለተኛም፣ የአገራችን ሕዝብ በጽሑፎች ፍላጎት ረክቶ ርምጃው የተፋጠነ እንዲሆንና በዕለት ወሬም ያገሩንና የውጭውን ሁናቴ ማወቅ እንዲችል በመመኘት ነበር፤” ሲሉ ገልጸዋል፡፡

ጃንሆይ አክለውም፣ ሦስት አንኳር ጉዳዮች ላይ አጽንዖት ሰጥተው ነበር የተናገሩት፡፡ አንደኛ፣ “ማተሚያ ቤቱን በ1914 ዓ.ም ስናቋቁም በዚያን ጊዜ ከነበሩት ሰዎች መካከል አቶ ገብረ ክርስቶስ ተክለ ሃይማኖት ለስራው ሃሳባችንን ጥለንበት ስለነበር – የማቋቋም ሥራውን በእጅጉ ረድቷል፡፡ የመጀመሪያው ሥራ አስኪያጅም በመሆን ሠርቷል፡፡” ካሉ በኋላ፣ “ማተሚያ ቤቱ ሥራ እንዳይፈታም በማለት እንደብላቴን ጌታ ኅሩይ ያሉት ልዩ ልዩ ጽሑፎችን ለአገራችን በማበርከት ረገድ ረድተዋል፤” ሲሉ ምስጋናቸውን አቅርበዋል፡፡

ሁለተኛም፣ “ይህ ማተሚያ በልዩ ልዩ አውራጃዎች (ከተሞች) ‘ከሣቴ ብርሃን የልዑል ራስ መኮንን ማተሚያ ቤት’ ተብለው ሦስት ቅርንጫፎች በሐረር፣ በአሥመራና በጎንደር እንዲኖረው ማድረጋችንንም እናስታውሳለን፡፡ ፋሺስት ኢጣሊያ በግፍ ወረራዋ ጅምራችንን እስከምታደናቅፈን ድረስ ብዙ ጥረናል፡፡” በመጨረሻም አሉ ግርማዊነታቸው፣ “ከዚህ ማተሚያ ቤት የሚገኘውን ገቢ ሁሉ፣ ለቤተ ሳይዳ ሆስፒታል (የዛሬው የካቲት 12 ሆስፒታል ነው፤) እንዲረዳ ስለወሰንን፣ የተወዳጁ ሕዝባችንን ጤንነት በመጠበቅ በኩል እንዲያግዝልን ሰጥተናል፡፡ የማተሚያ ቤቱ ገቢ ለአካል ጉዳተኞች መርጃ እንዲሆንም አዘናል፤” በማለት ነበር ንግግራቸውን የቋጩት፡፡

ማሳረጊያ፤
ስለብርሃንና ሰላም አንድትና ጥምረት የሚያስረዱ አንድ ሦስት ጥቅሶችን ከመጽሐፍ ቅዱስ እንጥቀስ፡፡ ነቢዩ ኢሳያስ በትንቢቱ እንደተናገረው፣ “ንባብዋ ውስተ ልባ” (ለኢየሩሳሌም የልቦናዋን ተናገሩዋት) ሲል ስለሕዝቡም የተናገረው ቃል ነው (ምዕራፍ 40፣2)፡፡ ነቢዩ ሲራክም በ(ምዕራፍ 30፣13) ላይ በተመሳሳይ መልኩ፣ “ናዝዛ ለልብከ” (ልብህን አጥናናው) ሲል ምክሩን የሰጣል፡፡ ለሰብዓዊ ባሕሪያት በሞላ፣ የልቦናን መናገርና ልብንም ማጽናናት አስፈላጊዎች ናቸው፡፡ ሰው ብርሃንን ካገኘና ዕውቀትንም ከተመገበ፣ አእምሮውም እንደምኞቱ መጠን ይጎለብታል፡፡ አእምሮው የጎለበተም ሰው፣ ልቦናውን ስለሚያስደስት እዝነ-ልቡናው ዕረፍትንና መጽናናትን ያገኛል፡፡ ያን ጊዜም አእምሮው ሰላምን አገኘ ማለት ነው፡፡

በዮሐንስ ወንጌል (ምዕራፍ 4፣5) ላይ የተጠቀሰው የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ኃይለ-ቃልም፣ “እኔ የዓለም ብርሃን ነኝ!” ካለ በኋላ፣ ደቀመዛርቱን “እናንተም የዓለም ብርሃን ናችሁ!” ሲል ያውጃል፡፡ ይኼው የብርሃን አዋጅም ወደ ኦሪት ዘፍጥረት የመጀመሪያው ምዕራፍ ይወስደናል፡፡ ያኔ፣ ፈጣሪ “ብርሃን ይሁን” (ለይኩን ብርሃን) ነበር ያለው፡፡ ከምዕራፉ እንደምንማረው ከሆነ፣ የብርሃን ጉድለት (ጽልመት) የነገሰበት ወይም የሰፈነበት ዓለም፣ እርሱ ዕውቀት አልባም ነው፡፡ ያለብርሃን የመኖርን ባዶነት የምንረዳው፣ በብርሃነ-አእምሮአችን እንጂ በጽለመታዊው እእምሮአችን አይደለም፡፡ ብርሃን ሲጠፋ፣ ያኔ አእምሮም ወደ ጽልመቱ ተመልሶ ይገባል፡፡

ብርሃን ለሰው ልጆች ተፈጥሮአዊ ፀጋ ነው፡፡ “ሕፃን ልጅ ልክ እንደተወለደ ዓይኖቹን ወደ ብርሃነ ቀላይ በአራቱም ማዕዘናት እያዟዟረ ያቁለጭልጫል” ይባላል፡፡ በብርሃን ውቅያኖስ ውስጥ እንደፈለገው ለመዋኘት ያለውን ሰብዓዊ ናፍቆት በሕፃኑ ውስጥ እናያለን፡፡ ጨቅላው በብርሃኑ አማካይነት የሚያየው ነገር ውሱን ነው፡፡ ወሰኑም በአድማሳት አጥር/ኬላ መጠን የተከለለ ነው፡፡
ስለዚህ ሰው በዐይኑ ብርሃን ከሚያየው የበለጠ ረቂቅ የሆነ ብርሃን በአእምሮው ዐይኖች ያያል፡፡ ማየት የተሳነው ሰው ቢሆን እንኳን፣ በአእምሮው ብርሃንን ያያል፡፡ የአድማስ ጥጋት ከማየት አይከለክሉትም፡፡ ብርሃኑ በተለይም በትምህርትና በዕውቀት ከጎለበተማ የባሕር መቀመቅ፣ የምድርም ጥልቅ ውስጥ ዘልቆ ይገባል፡፡ ረቂቅ አቅምን የሚጋርደው ግንብም ሆነ ድንበር ስለሌለ ነው፡፡

ከዚህ የአእምሮ ብርሃንም ሰላመ ይወለዳል፡፡ ስጋት፣ ፍርሃት፣ ጭንቀትና ሽብር እንዲሁም “ምን ይመጣብኝ ይሆን?” የሚል ስሜት ሁሉ በብርሃን ይወገዳል፡፡ የሽብር ምንጩ ጽልመት ነው፡፡ ምን ይመጣብኝ ይሆን ብሎ መስጋት ከጭለማ የሚወለድ ጋኔል ነው፡፡ ጽልመቱ በብርሃን ጮራዎች ከተወገደ በኋላ ግን፣ ልብ ሰላምን ያገኛል፡፡ ሰላምም፣ ሰላማዊ መንግሥት እንዲመሠረት ያደርጋል፡፡ ለሰው ልጅ ሰላምን ከመስጠት የበለጠ ምን በጎ ምግባር አለ?

ብርሃንና ሰላም ማተሚያ ቤትም የያዘው ስያሜ ሞላው ዓለም የሚስማማበት ምኞት ነው፡፡ የብርሃንና የሰላም ምኞት ነው፡፡ ብርሃን ተፈጥሮአዊ ነው፡፡ ሰላምም ሰብዓዊ ነው፡፡ የመላው ዓለም ሕዝብ ለብርሃንና ለሰላም የጋለ መሻት፣ ጉጉትና ናፍቆት አለው፡፡ ዘላለማዊ መሻት ነው፡፡ ጊዜያዊ የፖለቲካ ሽቀላና ትርፍ አጋባሽነት ያንን ዘላለማዊ ናፍቆትና መሻት አያሰናክለውም፡፡ ከጽልመትና ከሽብር ይልቅ ብርሃንና ሰላም በመላው ዓለም እንዲነግስ፣ በተለይም በኢትዮጵያችን እንዲንሰራፋ ዘላለማዊ ጸሎታችንን እናድርስ!

Meles Zenawi Memorial Service: pros and cons (David Shinn & Tedla Asfaw)

Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York

“The event at the Abyssinian Baptist Church was not a political rally”

David Shinn
Together with three other former U.S. ambassadors to Ethiopia, I attended the memorial service for Meles Zenawi on 27 October 2012 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in the Harlem section of New York. Among the persons who made remarks were Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and Susan Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

I was saddened by some of the vituperative and just plain disrespectful remarks (usually by anonymous individuals) that subsequently appeared on Ethiopian websites in response to the remarks of Ambassador Rice. While I was not invited to make remarks, I have no doubt that whatever I might have said would also have been harshly criticized by these same individuals. Like Ambassador Rice, I have disagreed both as a representative of the U.S. government and as a private individual with some of the policies of Prime Minister Meles. But in spite of these disagreements, I always respected Meles as a person and the office that he held.

David Shinn, former US ambassador toEthiopia

The event at the Abyssinian Baptist Church was a memorial to a deceased person; it was not a political rally. It was the wrong time and place to express such hostility. But lest the readers of the hostile blog postings think this was a major protest rally, let me make one point crystal clear. I walked from my hotel in Harlem to the Church on Saturday morning and passed across the street from all SIX protestors at fifteen minutes before nine, when the service began.

 At the conclusion of the service I returned to my hotel at about noon. The number of protestors had grown to between ten and twelve. Perhaps there were several more present when the service was underway and they decided to leave before noon. But this was a very small group of protestors.
As for the remarks made by Ambassador Rice, I urge that you read them yourself and make up your own mind.
Source: Amb. David Shinn’s official blog

“Abyssinian Baptist Church was condemned by Abyssinians in Harlem”

Tedla Asfaw
“Pray for the Victims not for a killer “, this was the rallying cry for Saturday morning Oct. 27 rally in front of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York. The campaign against the Abyssinian Baptist Church has been going on in all fronts since last week. After the news of Woyane and Abyssinian Baptist Church collaboration to organize a memorial service for late Meles Zenawi was out patriot Ethiopians/Abyssinians in New York area mobilized Ethiopians in many fronts.

The telephone and the email campaign saturated the office of Dr. Calvin Butts the pastor of the church for a week and today was the final encounter face to face. The cloudy mild dark morning of Harlem was brightened by Harlem Hospital lights. Other than that most shops were not opened around 7am this morning. The police were in full force to control the protesters while Woyane cadres were jumping up and down to tell us that we have no permission to protest.

The police told the wild cadres to go to their place and leave alone those of us who come early to join the protest. Our designated area was just across the main entrance and later the police just moved us five feet from where we planned to confront all who came to join their memorial service for the late Meles Zenawi. Way before the starting of the service 8:30am the Woyane supporters were confronted by slogans shouted from close distance.
“Pray for Victims not for a killer”, we do not mean for Woyane supporters. This slogan is to challenge foreigners who came from UN invited by the regime cadres. ” Pray for Meles Zenawi is praying for Benito Mussolini”, this one really send a message directly to Dr. Calvin Butts and the Abyssinian Baptist Church establishment. Abyssinian Baptist Church was a historical church for black race..

The Abyssinian Baptist Church that took its name from proud “Abyssinians” has now come low by praying for Meles Zenawi a man who was in power for 21 years insulting Ethiopians who fought Mussolini. In 1808 merchant Ethiopians and African Americans established their own church naming it “Abyssinian” in honor fellow Ethiopians who said no to segregation in church. Unfortunately, Meles is the darling of Obama, Susan Rice, Dr. Calvin Butts and all who fell in love with him for twenty one years for their own selfish interest..
Susan Rice on her eulogy in Addis Ababa this past September had made herself the most hated woman in the Ethiopian Diaspora and in Ethiopia.

 The Ethiopian people gave her a “Yellow Card” in silence. We condemned her on Internet and CSPAN and educate the American people this person is not fit to be US Ambassador to the UN. No wonder the American people came to know her very well for lying fin public for the cause of the death of four Americans including the Ambassador in Benghazi on 9/11 of this year.

Her love and admiration for Meles Zenawi has once again brought her in Harlem this morning. She entered to the church hiding behind security but was out in front of the protesters to be exact 11:27am on her way home. The crowd shouted, “Shame on you Ambassador Susan Rice’, she stopped on her track. The shout continued for few minutes unstoppable. The crowd gave her the “Red Card” because of her unremorseful behavior.

Susan Rice was fired the day after the Ethiopian Muslims celebrating Eid-al-Adha gave a Yellow Card for Woyane in Addis Ababa on October 26, yesterday. Two weeks before the American election where Romney is leading in popular vote in polls and her boss is in trouble the Red Card is very significant. Susan Rice political life is dead whether Obama won or loss. She has no credibility at all. Denying the genocide in Rwanda, eulogizing the worst human rights abuser in the Horn of Africa, denying terrorism in Benghazi has put nail on her political career.

Tedla Asfaw, Ethiopian activist

Bye Bye Susan Rice we will never see you again. This was the highlight of our rally. She was the big catch in our mission today. We gave her a good lesson never to be forgotten. Another mission we accomplished is exposing Abyssinian Baptist Church. Its followers were handed more than two hundred copies of flyers exposing the brutality of Meles Zenawi and their own church condoning such actions last Sunday. It is up to them to ask Dr. Calvin what has happened to their historical church ?

“Shame on You Abyssinian Baptist Church praying for a killer”. Many Harlemites who woke up early got the list of those who were killed by direct order of Meles Zenawi. Abyssinian Baptist Church did not stand with the victims. Shame on them !!! We ended our rally 12:30pm after the last Woyane supporter left the Abyssinian Baptist Church. It is indeed Hurricane Sandy has arrived early in Harlem. Those of us who prayed for the victims were not hurt because we have millions of Ethiopians as protectors and those who pray for a killer will pay the price in one form or another

Obang speech about Ethiopian Asyleem seeker in Norway Apri 5 2011 oslo

 አቶ ኦባንግ በኖርዌይ ስለሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ወገኖች ለመነጋገር ወደ ኦስሎ ያመራሉ። በኖርዌይ የሚገኙ ስደተኞች ወደ አገራቸው እንዲመለሱ በየጊዜው የሚደረግባቸው ጫና እንዲቆም በየአቅጣጫው ጥረት ሲደረግ መቆየቱ በተለያዩ መገናኛዎች መገለጹ አይዘነጋም።ስለዚህም አቶ ኦባንግም የህዝባቸውን የይድረሱልኝ ጥሪን በደስተኝነት በመቀበል እና የሚቻላቸውን   ለማድረግ በመጪው ሳምንት እነደሚመጡ ይጠበቃል።

 

በ ሚያዚያ 5.2011 የተደረገ ውይይት  አቶ ኦባንግ ካደረጉት ንግግር

ካሜራ ማን እና አዘጋጅ  እስክንድር አሰፋ/ cameramen Esconder Asefa

28 10 2012    ኦስሎ

ከሲና የተረፉት የሲኦል ነዋሪዎች ጩኸት!!

“አሁን ጉዳያችን ለዓለም መድረሱን ሰማን” እስረኞቹ

“ላለፉት ሶስት ዓመታት ማንም ሳያውቀን ታስረናል። አሁን ጉዳያችን ለዓለም መድረሱን ሰማን።የተፈታን መስሎናል” የሚሉት እስራኤል ራምሌ በሚባ እስርቤት ከሶስት ዓመት በላይ ታስረው ያሉት ወገኖች ናቸው። ይህ የሆነው የአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ (አኢጋን) ዋና ዳይሬክተር በርዕስ ለእስራኤል ጠ/ሚኒስትር በግልባጭ ደግሞ ከጉዳዩ ጋር አግባብ ላላቸው ለተለያዩ የአገሪቱ ባለስልጣናት፣ ዓለም አቀፍ ድርጅቶች፣ ሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋቾችና የመገናኛዎች አውታሮች ያሰራጩትን ደብዳቤ ተከትሎ በእስር ላይ ያሉት ኢትዮጵያዊያን ጉዳይ በመንቀሳቀሱ ነው።

በእስራኤል የኢትዮጵያን እናድን አንድነት ማኅበር ሊቀመንበር አቶ ሳሙኤል አለባቸው አድማሱ ለጎልጉል እንዳስታወቁት ከእስር ቤት በስልክ ያነጋገሯቸው ወገኖች የደብዳቤውን መልዕክት ሰምተው አስታዋሽ በማግኘታቸው ደስታቸውን ገልጸዋል። አቶ ኦባንግ ሜቶ በበኩላቸው “ማድረግ የሚገባንን ማከናወን ጀምረናል የሚሆነውን እናያለን” በማለት በቅርቡ ከእስራኤል መንግስት ባለስልጣናት ጋር ለመነጋገር ወደ ስፍራው እንደሚያመሩና እስር ላይ የሚገኙትን ወገኖቻቸውን እንደሚጎበኙ አስታውቀዋል።

ኦክቶበር 16 ቀን 2012ዓም በኢትዮጵያ ወቅታዊ የመወያያ (ECADF) የፓልቶክ መድረክ አንድ እንግዳ ቀርቦ ነበር። ጠያቂዋ ሙያዬ ምስክር መናገርና መጠየቅ ተስኗት አምላኳን እየተማጸነች ድምጿ ጠፋ። በሱዳን በኩል በስደት ካገራቸው የሚወጡ ኢትዮጵያዊያን በሲና በረሃ የደረሰባቸውን አሰቃቂ ግፍ የሚናገረው ወጣት ፍቅሩ፣ በረሃ ላይ ስለሚደርስባቸው ዘግናኝ ግፍ ሶስት ዓመት ከሶስት ወር ከታሰረበት እስር ቤት ውስጥ የኑዛዜ ያህል የወገኖቹን ስቃይ አስተጋባ።

                ራምሌ እስር ቤት

በረሃ ውስጥ የሚያገኟቸው አረቦች ገንዘብ ሲያጡ ኩላሊታቸውን ይወስዳሉ። አንዳንዴም አራትና ሶስት በመሆን “የኔን ውሰደው እነሱን ተዋቸው” በማለት ራስን ለእርድ የሚያቀርቡ ወገኖች አሉ። ኩላሊትና ልብ ለመልቀም ከጎረቤት አካባቢ እንደሚመጡ የተቆሙት የህክምና ባለሙያዎች የአካል ክፍላቸውን አውልቀው የወሰዱባቸው ወገኖቻችንን አካላቸው ተወስዶ ሲያበቃ አምጥተው ይዘረግፏቸዋል። ከአስራ አራት እስከ አስራ ስድስት ዓመት የሚሆናቸውን ታዳጊ እህቶቻችንን ክብራቸውን በመከራ ውስጥ ተገስሰዋል። ከዚህ ሁሉ መከራና ሞት ተርፈው ከለላ ፍለጋ እስራኤል የገቡት ወገኖች የገጠማቸው ህይወት እጅግ አሳዛኝ ነው።

አቶ ሳሙኤል እንደሚሉት የኢትዮጵያውያኑ መታሰር እንዲታወቅ አይፈለግም ነበር። ተገደው ማመልከቻ በመጻፍ ወደ አገራቸው እንዲመለሱ ከተደረጉት ውጪ በእናታቸው እቅፍ ላይ ያሉትን ጨምሮ ከሶስት መቶ በላይ ወገኖች በጠረፍ ድንኳን ውስጥ ከታሰሩ አራትና ሶስት ዓመታትን አስቆጥረዋል።

አቶ ኦባንግ ከሁሉም በፊት የሚያነሱት ነጥብ “ለኢትዮጵያዊያን አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ ትሰራለች።አሁን ስደት ላይ ያሉት ወገኖች የጠየቁት ጊዜያዊ ከለላ ነው። በ1997 የጄኔቫ ኮንቬንሽን መሰረት ጉዳያቸው ሊጣራ ይገባል” የሚል የህግ ጥያቄ ነው። አቶ ሳሙኤልም አቶ ኦባንግ የሚሉትን ይጋራሉ።

በእስር የሚማቅቁት ወገኖች ድምጽ ይፋ መሆኑን ተከትሎ አቶ ኦባንግ የጻፉት ግልጽ ደብዳቤ ግልባጭ የተደረገላቸው ታዋቂ የሚዲያ አካላት ስፍራው ድረስ ይደርሳሉ፣ እስረኞቹን አነጋግረውና ጎብኝተው የደረሰባቸውን በደል ለዓለም ያጋልጣሉ የሚል ፍርሃት መፈጠሩን፣ ለዚህም አንዳንድ ምልክቶች መታየታቸውን አቶ ሳሙኤል አለባቸው ይናገራሉ። ለጉዳዩ ቅድሚያ የሰጡትን  

ሚዲያዎችና ተቋማት በማመስገን ጥሪ የሚያስተላልፉት አቶ ሳሙኤል “በኢትዮጵያ ጉዳይ የሚሰሩ ታዋቂ ግለሰቦች፣ ድርጅቶች፣ ተቋማት፣ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች፣የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋቾች፣ አገርና ወገን ወዳዶች…” ለአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ ያሰራጨውን ግልጽ ደብዳቤ በመደገፍ ጫናውን እንዲያበረቱ ጥሪ አቅርበዋል። አቶ ኦባንግ በጋራ ንቅናቄው በኩል አቤቱታ (ፒቴሽን) እንዲያስፈርሙም ተጠይቀዋል። በግል መልዕክት የላኩላቸው ክፍሎች እንዳሉም ጠቁመዋል።

ኢትዮጵያዊ ስደተኞች በኬንያ፣ በጃፓን፣ ደቡብ አፍሪካ፣ እስራኤል፣ ኖርዌይ፣ ስዊድን፣ … በመሳሰሉት አገሮች ለሚደርስባቸው በደል “አገራችሁ እንደ ሶማሊያና ኤርትራ አይደለችም እያሉ የተባበሩት መንግስታትን መመሪያ ይጠቅሳሉ” የሚሉት አቶ ኦባንግ ድርጅታቸው (አኢጋን) ወደ ጃፓን፣ ሜክሲኮ፣ ኖርዌይ፣ ማልታ፣ ስዊድን፣ ደቡብ አፍሪካ፣ … የተጓዘውና መልዕክተኛ የላከው ይህንን የተዛባ አመለካከት ለመቀየር እንደሆነ አመልክተዋል።

በሌሎች የዓለም ክፍሎች እንዳደረጉት ሁሉ በቅርቡ የጋራ ንቅናቄው በአካባቢው ከሚገኙ ቅርንጫፍ (ቻፕተር) አመራሮች ጋር በመነጋገር ወደ እስራኤል በመጓዝ ከሚመለከታቸው የእስራኤል ባለስልጣናት ጋር እንደሚነጋገሩ ያስታወቁት አቶ ኦባንግ “የትም ይሁን የትም፣ የየትኛውም ብሄር አባል ቢሆን፣ ህጻናትም ሆኑ አዋቂዎች ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሁላችንም አንድ አካል ነን። ከታሰሩ ሁላችንም ታስረናል፣ ከተገረፉ ሁላችም ያመናል፣ ከተራቡ ሁላችንም ይርበናል፣ ሲጠሙ ሁላችንም ይጠማናል። የአንድ ወገናችን ስቃይ የሁላችንም ስቃይ በመሆኑ አቅማችን በፈቀደ ሁሉ የሚቻለንን ለማድረግ ዝግጁ ነን” ብለዋል። ይህ አስተሳሰብ “ሁላችንም ነጻ ካልወጣን ማንም ነጻ አይወጣም” ከሚለው የአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ መሰረታዊ መርህ የሚነሳ መሆኑንም አመልክተዋል።

በተለያዩ የዓለማችን ክፍሎች ወገኖቻችን እየተሰቃዩ መሆኑን ያመለከቱት አቶ ኦባንግ በቅርቡ ታላላቅ የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች ተቋማት፤ ሂውማን ራይትስንም ጨምሮ ወደ እስራኤል፣ ሲና በረሃና ኬንያ እንደሚጓዙ አመልክተዋል፡፡ አቶ ኦባንግ ከተቋማቱ ጋር ድርጅታቸው በተለይ ስለሚሰራው ሥራ አላብራሩም።

 

የተጀመረውን ዘመቻ ተከትሎ “ትምህርት እናስተምራቸዋለን” በሚል ህጻናትን ወደ ሌላ ስፍራ ማዘዋወር መጀመሩን፣ የእስራኤል ባለስልጣናት የጉብኝት ቀጠሮ መያዛቸውን፣ ያመለከቱት አቶ ሳሙኤል፣ አቡነ መርቆሪዎስ ስደተኞቹን ባሉበት ቦታ በመገኘት ለመጎብኘት ጊዜ መያዛቸውን ተናግረዋል። በልዩ ሁኔታ ጉብኝታቸውን ለማዘጋጅት ሙከራ እያደረጉ መሆናቸውንም ገልጸዋል።

“በፍርድ ቤት የተፈረደበት እስረኛ ፍርዱን ሲጨርስ እንደሚለቀቅ ስለሚያውቅ ቀኑን ይጠብቃል። የእኛ አይታወቅም። እኛ ያለነው መደበኛ እስር ቤት አይደለም። ዓለም በቃኝ ነው…” ፍቅሩ ከሙያዬ ምስክር ጋር ባደረገው አሳዛኝ ቃለ መጠይቅ ወቅት የተናገረው ቃል ነው። ከሲና በረሃ ስቃይ በኋላ ሌላ ሲኦል!! ኦባንግ ሜቶ “ለሁላችንም መፍትሄ የምትሰጥ አገር አለችን። እሷም አዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ ናት። መሰረቷም ቅድሚያ ለሰብዓዊነት ይሆናል። አዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ እስክትሰራ ባለንበት ልንከበርና ችግራችንን ተገንዝበው ሊያስተናግዱን ይገባል” ይላሉ።

በተመሳሳይ ዜና አቶ ኦባንግ በኖርዌይ ስለሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ወገኖች ለመነጋገር ወደ ኦስሎ ያመራሉ። በኖርዌይ የሚገኙ ስደተኞች ወደ አገራቸው እንዲመለሱ በየጊዜው የሚደረግባቸው ጫና እንዲቆም በየአቅጣጫው ጥረት ሲደረግ መቆየቱ በተለያዩ መገናኛዎች መገለጹ አይዘነጋም።

Muslim Ethiopians continue protest after EID Salat today

Addis Ababa) Ethiopian Muslims continue protest in Addis Ababa today after EID Salat (in Picture & clip

 

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Tags: Anwar Mosque, Eid Al fatar, Eid Mubarak, Eid salat, Ethiopian Muslims, Ethiopian News, Ethiopian Politics, Mecca, Muslim Ethiopians, Muslim protest

Teddy Afro getting ready for his upcoming concert "Wede Fikir"

ወጣቱ ትውልድ በአንድነት ለሀገር እድገት እንዲቆም ጥሪ ቀረበ

አዲሡ ትውልድ ተቻችሎና ተከባብሮ ለሃገሩ በአንድነት እንዲቆምና እንዲሠራ አንጋፋው ኢትዮጲያዊ ዶክተር አክሊሉ ሐብቴ ጠሪ አቀረቡ።
በሐገር ቤትና በውጭ ሐገር የሚገኙ የኢትዮጲያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ቤተክርስቲያን አባቶችን ለመሸምገል የሚደረገው ጥረት ተጠናክሮ መቀጠሉንም ዶር አክሊሉ ሐብቴ አብራርተዋል።

በአፄ ኃይለ ስላሴ ዘመነ መንግስት የቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ስላሴ የዛሬው አዲስ አበባ ፕሬዝዳንት የነበሩት በኋላም በሚንስትርነት እንዲሁም በአለም ባንክና በዩኒሴፍ ውስጥ በከፍተኛ ሃላፊነት ያገለገሉት ዶር አክሊሉ ሐብቴ ለኢሳት በሰጡት ቃለምልልስ ይየአባቶቹን የሽምግልና ሂደት ለማሳካት መንግስት ከጉዞ ሰነድ ጋር በተያያዙ ጉዳዮች ላይ ድጋፉን እንዲሰጥም ጥሪ አቅርበዋል።

Addressing Assembly, UN expert urges States to do more to protect the right of religious conversion

Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Heiner Bielefeldt. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

 

25 October 2012 – A United Nations independent expert today urged the international community to consistently respect, protect and promote the human right to freedom of religion or belief in the area of conversion.

 

“The right of conversion and the right not to be forced to convert or reconvert belong to the internal dimension of a person’s religious or belief-related conviction, which is unconditionally protected under international human rights law,” the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, said in a news release, issued as he presented a report on his work to the UN General Assembly.

 

In his report, Mr. Bielefeldt analyses the patterns of abuses that are perpetrated in the name of religious or ideological truth claims in the interest of promoting national identity or protecting societal homogeneity, or under other pretexts such as maintaining political and national security.

“While some undue restrictions on the rights of converts or those trying non-coercively to convert others are undertaken by State agencies, other abuses, including acts of violence, stem from widespread societal prejudices,” the Special Rapporteur said.

“Violations in this sensitive area also include forced conversions or reconversions, again perpetrated either by the State or by non-State actors,” he added. “In addition, the rights of converts or those trying non-coercively to convert others are sometimes questioned in principle.”

In this context, he emphasized, the rights of the child and his or her parents must also be guaranteed.

On the issue of conversion, the independent expert noted that in addition to being exposed to manifestations of social pressure, public contempt and systematic discrimination, converts often face “insurmountable administrative obstacles” when trying to live in conformity with their convictions.

“In some States, converts may also face criminal prosecution, at times even including the death penalty, for such offences as ‘apostasy,’ ‘heresy,’ ‘blasphemy’ or ‘insult’ in respect of a religion or the country’s dominant tradition and values,” he said.”

On the matter of the right not to be forced to convert, Mr. Bielefeldt stated that converts are often exposed to pressure to reconverting to their previous religion. “Such pressure can be undertaken both by Government agencies and by non-State actors, including by directly linking humanitarian aid to an expectation of conversion,” he added.

He noted that he was particularly concerned about pressure or threats experienced by women, sometimes in the context of marriage or marriage negotiations, to convert to the religion of their husband or prospective husband.

On the topic of the right to try to convert others through non-coercive persuasion, Mr. Bielefeldt observed that many States impose tight legislative or administrative restrictions on communicative outreach activities, and that many such restrictions are conceptualised and implemented in a flagrantly discriminatory manner.

“For instance, in the interest of further strengthening the position of the official religion or dominant religion of the country while further marginalizing the situation of minorities,” he said.

He added, “Members of religious communities that have a reputation of being generally engaged in missionary activities may also face societal prejudices that can escalate into paranoia, sometimes even leading to acts of mob violence and killings.”

On the issue of the rights of the child and his or her parents, the Special Rapporteur said he had received reports of repressive measures targeting children of converts or members of religious minorities, including with the purpose of exercising pressure on them and their parents to reconvert to their previous religion or to coerce members of minorities to convert to more socially ‘accepted’ religions or beliefs.

“Such repressive activities may violate the child’s freedom of religion or belief and/or the parents’ right to ensure an education for their children in conformity with their own convictions and in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child,” he said.

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not United Nations staff, nor are they paid for their work

 

 

Ethiopia: Reeyot Alemu -- Courage in Journalism Award 2012

Journalist Reeyot Alemu

Reeyot Alemu has been imprisoned in Ethiopia for more than a year, branded as a terrorist. She is one of many journalists who have been arrested, interrogated and threatened in her country. What makes Alemu exceptional are her commitment to work for independent media when the prospect of doing so became increasingly dangerous, her refusal to self-censor in a place where that practice is standard, and her unwillingness to apologize for truth-telling, even though contrition could win her freedom.

In jail, Alemu was offered clemency if she agreed to testify against journalist colleagues. She refused and was sent to solitary confinement for 13 days as punishment for her failure to cooperate. She is currently being kept at Kality prison, which is known for its filthy conditions. Recently, she has fallen ill; in April of this year she underwent surgery at nearby hospital to remove a tumor from her breast, after which she was returned to jail with no recovery time.

 

“I believe that I must contribute something to bring a better future,” Alemu said in an earlier interview with the IWMF. “Since there are a lot of injustices and oppressions in Ethiopia, I must reveal and oppose them in my articles.” Alemu said one of her “principles” is “to stand for the truth, whether it is risky or not.”

To work for free media in Ethiopia is indeed a risk. The country has the second-highest number of imprisoned journalists in Africa, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, after notoriously oppressive Eritrea. Late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi publicly attacked non-state members of the press, calling them “messengers” of terrorist groups. Increasingly, “terrorist” is a label attached to any entity with an opinion on politics, social issues or human rights that does conform to government rhetoric. In the capital city of Addis Ababa, Alemu worked for numerous, often short-lived independent publications. At least four news outlets to which she contributed were forced out of business by the Ethiopian government. Her reporting explored the root causes of poverty, lack of balance in national politics and gender equality. In 2010, she founded her own publishing house and a monthly magazine called Change, both of which were shuttered.

 

In the months prior to her arrest, Alemu was slandered in government-run media for her reporting, a common tactic to intimidate journalists. According to a colleague, Alemu also received threatening phone calls. “Reeyot was able to speak about issues even the most mature and outspoken political opposition leaders were unable to voice,” said a friend of Alemu’s who works at an Addis University. “Until this day, she has…faced up to the challenges that many have bowed down to.”

 

Alemu taught English classes at an Addis high school. She gave part of her salary to her students from poor families. It was at the school that she was arrested in June 2011. Her home was raided by police and a number of her personal documents were seized. At the time, she was working as a columnist for independent daily newspaper Féteh.

(From L-R) Asmaa Al-Ghoul, Elias Wondimu [on behalf of Reeyot Alemu], Zubeida Mustafa and Khadija Ismayilova

For more than a week, Alemu was held with no indication as to why she was detained. Then, a government spokesman announced at a press conference that Alemu was one of nine people suspected of organizing terrorism. The terrorist group they were accused of abetting was unnamed and specific crimes were not cited. It was two months before Alemu and another journalist in the group of nine were formally charged.

Alemu is one in a number of journalists who have been prosecuted under the vaguely worded and broad-reaching anti-terrorism laws passed by the Ethiopian legislature in 2009. The laws allow for the arrest of anyone thought to “encourage” parties labeled as terrorists.

Under this law, Alemu was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined 33,000 birrs (about $1,850). Prior to her arrest, she made less than $100 per month at her teaching job and little more as a reporter. During her trial, government prosecutors presented articles Alemu had written criticizing the prime minister, as well as telephone conversations she had regarding peaceful protests, as evidence against her. In August 2012, an appeals court subsequently reduced the 14-year prison sentence to 5 years and dropped most of the terrorism charges against her.

The Ethiopian government has effectively limited media coverage to topics friendly to the ruling EPRDF (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front), which holds more than 99% of seats in parliament. It has done this through charges of treason and terrorism levied against reporters and free media, public criticism of journalists and passage of laws that punish sources of information about opposition political parties and questions of human rights.

Alemu was willing to risk her freedom to challenge the standard explanations, or failure to explain, the systemic decay in her country. According to her friends and colleagues, she thought she could make a difference in the trajectory of her people; she thought her work might make things better. And now she has been silenced, like so many others.

“She is a person who has a bright vision for her country,” said a friend and former colleague based in Addis. “But, she is in prison.”

The other three winners depicted in the photo are: Asmaa al-Ghoul, 30, is a blogger and freelance writer working in Gaza. Her stories analyze social and political life in the Middle East, focusing on the ongoing divisions among Palestinians and abuses of civil rights by both internal and external forces in Gaza. Zubeida Mustafa, 70, is a Pakistani journalist who has worked for more than three decades at Dawn, one of Pakistan’s oldest and most widely circulated English-language newspapers. Khadija Ismayilova, 35, is a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service. She investigates corruption and power abuse among her country’s elite.

To read Reeyot Alemu's hand-written letter of thanks, click here.
 

ጤና ጥበቃ ከታራሚዎች 62 በመቶዎቹ በአዕምሮ ጭንቀት በሽታ የሚሰቃዩ ናቸው አለ

:-የሚኒስቴር መስሪያ ቤቱ ሰሞኑን ብሔራዊ የአዕምሮ ጤና ስትራቴጂን ይፋ ባደረገበት ወቅት በለቀቀው መረጃ፤ በአዲስ አበባ፣ በቃሊቲና በተለያዩ ማረሚያ ቤቶች ከሚገኙት ታራሚዎች መካከል 61 ነጥብ 9 በመቶ የሚሆኑት በከፍተኛ የአዕምሮ ጭንቀት የተጠቁ መሆናቸውን ያመለክታል።
ታራሚዎቹን ለአዕምሮ ጭንቀት ከሚዳርጓቸው ምክንያቶች መካከል በጠባብ ክፍል ውስጥ መታፈግ፣ በግዳጅ ለብቻ እንዲገለሉ ማድረግ ፣ብዙም እንቅስቃሴ አለማድረግ፣ በቀጣይ ህይወት ላይ ተስፋቢስ መሆን፣ ከለመዱት ማኅበራዊ ህይወት መለየት፣ በቂ የሆነ የጤና አገልግሎትን በተለይም የአዕምሮ ጤንነተን የሚመለከት አገልግሎት በማረሚያ ቤቶቹ አለማግኘት በዋነኝነት ተጠቅሰዋል።

በማረሚያ ቤቶች ታራሚዎች ራሳቸውን የሚያጠፉበት ሁኔታ መኖሩን የገለፀው ይሄው መረጃ፤ ከተጠቀሱት ችግሮች ጋር በተያያዘ ታራሚዎች በድብርት (Depression) ውስጥ ይገባሉ ብሏል።

የእያንዳንዱን ታራሚ የአዕምሮ ችግር ለመፈተሽና ተጠቂዎቹን ለመከታተል የአቅም ውስንነት ያለ መሆኑን የገለፀው ይሄው የጤና ስትራቴጂ፤ በተመሳሳይ መልኩ ችግሩንም ለማቃለል የአቅም ውስንነት መኖሩን አስቀምጧል።

ዘላቂ መፍትሄ ለማፈላለግም የፌዴራሉ ጤና ጥበቃ ሚኒስቴር መስሪያ ቤት ከፍትህ ሚኒስቴር መሥሪያ ቤት ጋር በመተባበር በቀጣይ በጋራ የሚሰራ መሆኑን አስታውቋል።

በዚህም ሚኒስቴር መሥሪያ ቤቱ በቀጣይ በፍትህ ሥርዓቱ ውስጥ የሚያልፉትንና እስር ቤት ውስጥ ያሉት ታራሚዎችን የአዕምሮ ጤንነትን ለመከታተል የሚያስችለውን የመግባቢያ ስምምነት ከፍትህ ሚኒስቴር ጋር ለመፈራረም ሰነድ እያዘጋጀ መሆኑን የሰንደቅ ዘገባ ያመለክታል።

በጄኔራል ከማል ገልቹ የሚመራው ኦነግ በገርባ ህዝብ ላይ የተፈጸመውን ግድያ አወገዘ

ኦነግ “የህወሀት ሽብር ለእውነተኛ ዲሞክራሲ የሚደረገውን ትግል አይገታውም” በሚል ርእስ ባወጣው መግለጫ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች ለአለፉት 11 ወራት መንግስት በሀይማኖታችን ጣልቃ አይግባብን በማለት ተቃውሞ ሲያሰሙ መቆየታቸውን አስታውሷል። ሙስሊሞች ያቀረቡት ጥያቄ፣ የይስሙላው ህገመንግስት እንኳን የሚፈቅደው ነው የሚለው ኦነግ፣ ሰሞኑን በገርባ ህዝብ ላይ የተፈጸመው ግድያ ፣ ሌላው የህወሀት ጭካኔ ማሳያ ነው ብሎአል። አዲሱ የይስሙላ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር የህወሀትን የግድያ አጀንዳ በማስፈጸሙ ተጠያቂ እንደሚሆን ግንባሩ ጠቅሷል።
ኦነግ በገርባ ህዝብ ላይ የተፈጸመውን ግድያ በጥብቅ እንደሚያወግዝ ጠቅሶ፣ መላው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ አካባቢና ሀይማኖት ሳይገድበው ከሙስሊም ኢትዮጵያውያን ጎን እንዲቆም ጠይቀዋል።

ኦነግ አለማቀፉ ማህበረሰብም በገርባ ህዝብ ላይ የተወሰደውን እርምጃ በማውገዝ ተጨማሪ ደም መፋሰስ እንዳይከሰት እርምጃ እንዲወስድ ጠይቋል።

የግንባሩ ሊቀመንበር ጄ/ል ከማል ገልቹ የሙስሊሞችን ጥያቄ የሚደግፉት መንግስት እንደሚለው የሀይማኖት አክራሪነት እንዲስፋፋ ሳይሆን ሙስሊሙ የጠየቀው የመብት ጥያቄ በመሆኑ ነው ከኢሳት ጋር ባደረጉት አጭር ቃለምልልስ ገልጠዋል።

በጄኔራል ከማል ገልቹ የሚመራው ኦነግ የመገንጠል ጥያቄውን በመተው ከኢትዮጵያ ሀይሎች ጋር በጋራ ለመታገል መወሰኑ ይታወቃል።

ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ የ ሉቅማውያን ኢትዮጵያውያን ቤልጂየማውያን ሙስሊሞች ማህበር ሊቀመንበር የሆኑት አቶ አብየ ያሲን በገርባ ህዝብ ላይ የተፈጸመው ግድያ መንግስት በሙስሊሞች ላይ የሚያደርገውን አፈና አጠናክሮ ለመቀጠል የፈጠረው ነው ብለዋል

አቶ አብየ ንጹሀንን በጥይት እየቆሉ መግደል አሳዛዥ ቢሆንም፣ ሙስሊሙ ህብረተሰብ ሰላማዊ እርምጃ ከመውሰድ ውች አማራጭ አይኖርም ሲሉ ተናግረዋል

ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ በነገው የኢድ አል አደሀ በአል ላይ ሙስሊሙ ማህበረሰብ ከፍተኛ ተቃውሞ ያነሳል ተብሎ ይጠበቃል። የሙስሊሙ ኮሚቴ አመራሮች ክስ ውድቅ እንደተደረገ በአሜሪካ ድምጽ የአማርኛው ክፍል ቢዘገበም፣ በማህበራዊ ድረገጾች ላይ የወጡ ጽሁፎች እንዳመለከቱት ከሆነ ግን የኮሚቴ አመራሮች ክሳቸው ከአራዳ የመጀመሪያ ፍርድ ቤት ወደ ልደታ ከፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት ተዛውሯል።

በነገው እለት በሚኖረው ተቃውሞ ሙስሊሙ ማህበረሰብ ምርጫው ” ህገወጥ ነው፣ ምርጫው የካድሬ ነው፣ ምርጫችን በመስጊዳችን፣ ኮሚቴው ይፈታ፣ ስቃዩ በቃን፣ ጭቆናው በቃን ፣ ውሸት በቃን፣ ህገመንግስቱ ይከበር” የሚሉ መፈክሮችን በመላው አገሪቱ እንደሚያሰሙ ከሙስሊሙ አስተባበሪዎች የተገኘው መረጃ ያመለክታል፡፡

ውድ ተመልካቾቻችን ስቱዲዮ ከገባን በሁዋላ በእስር ላይ የሚገኙት የድምጻችን ከኮሚቴ አመራር አባላት ጠበቃ ከሆኑት ከአቶ ተማም አባ ቡልጋ ጋር አጭር ቃለምልልስ አድረገናል።

በኖርዌይ የሚኖሩ የኢትዮጵያውያ ስደተኞች ታላቅ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ አደረጉ

 በኖርዌይ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በህዝብ እያደረሰ ያለውን የሰብአዊ መብት ረገጣ በመቃወም ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ አደረጉ።

በሰልፉ ላይ ከተለያዩ የኖርዌይ ፓርቲዎች እና ድርጅቶች ተወክለው የመጡ እንግዶች በየተራ ባደረጉት ንግግር በሰብአዊ መብት ረገጣ የሚታወቀውን የኢህአዴግን መንግስት የኖርዌይ መንግስት መደገፉን እንዲያቆምና በስደተኞች ላይ ያለውን አቋም እንዲያስተካክል ጠይቀዋል ።

እንዲሁም በወቅቱ የነበረውን ዝናብና ቅዝቃዜ በመቋቋም ሰልፈኞቹ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስትን የሚያወግዝ መፈክር በማሰማት ክፍተኛ ተቃውሟቸውን  ገልጸዋል ።

 በዚው እለት ምሽትም የስደተኛው መሐበር  ኮሚቴ በጠራው ስብሰባ ላይ በመገኘት ሰደተኛው ወደፊት ስላለው ሁኔታና
መሐበሩን ለማጥናከር በሚያስችል ሁኔታ መክሮና ተጨማሪ የኮሚቴ አባል በመምረጥ ስብሰባውን በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ መዝሙር አጠናቋል።

Jailed Ethiopian columnist receives international award

By ALEXANDRA OLSON

Associated Press (NEW YORK ) – A columnist imprisoned under Ethiopia’s controversial anti-terrorism laws, an Azerbaijani investigative radio reporter who had surveillance cameras planted in her apartment and a Palestinian blogger who has been beaten and tortured for reporting on abuses and protests in Gaza each received Courage in Journalism awards Wednesday from a women’s media group.

The International Women’s Media Foundation also honored 70-year-old Pakistani journalist Zubeida Mustafa with its annual lifetime achievement award during a lunch in New York on Wednesday. Honored as the first woman in Pakistani mainstream media, Mustafa worked to enact hiring policies favorable to women during her 30 years at Dawn, a widely circulated English-language newspaper.

Khadija Ismayilova of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Azerbaijan, Asmaa al-Ghoul, a freelance journalist in the Gaza Strip, and Reeyot Alemu, who was a columnist for the independent Ethiopian newspaper Feteh until her arrest in June 2011, won the courage awards.

Alemu, 31, is serving a five-year-prison sentence in Ethiopia for the communication of a terrorist act. The IWMF said the only evidence presented against her at trial were articles she wrote criticizing the government and telephone conversations she had regarding peaceful protests. She was initially sentenced in January to 14 years in prison but the sentence was reduced later this year when most of the terrorism charges against her were dropped.

Describing her as one of Ethiopia’s only female reporters who criticized the country’s political establishment, the IWMF said Alemu has rejected offers of clemency in return for information about her colleagues. For that, she was sent to solitary confinement for two weeks, the organization said. The IWMF denounced conditions in the Kality prison where Alemu is being held, saying it is known for rodents and keeping political prisoners alongside violent offenders. The organization said Alemu recently underwent surgery to remove a tumor from her breast and was returned to prison with no recovery time.

Elias Wondimu, an exiled Ethiopian journalist, accepted the award on Alemu’s behalf and read a handwritten letter she penned from prison.

“When I became politically aware, I understood that being a supporter or member of the ruling party is a prerequisite to living safely and to get a job,” Alemu wrote in the letter. “I knew I would pay the price for my courage and was willing to pay the price.”

Analysis: Obama the aggressor in final debate

Washington — President Barack Obama came ready Monday for a fighting finish, deriding Mitt Romney as reckless and overmatched inn world affairs. Instead he found a subdued challenger who was eager to agree and determined to show he was not a warmonger. 

 

Romney starkly moderated his tone and his approach in the closing debate. He seemed determined not to unnerve undecided voters who are weary of another U.S.-led war, or to upend a race that remains remarkably tight.

No moment was more telling than when Romney had a clear opening to respond to Obama's lecture that he was wrong and irresponsible on foreign affairs. He responded by giving his five-point plan for fixing the economy, leading to a bizarre exchange that took the debate wildly off topic. It showed how much the commander in chief was in his comfort zone, where the challenger was not.

The last debate turned into a mirror of the first one, when Romney had been the aggressor and Obama was intent not to fiercely challenge him. Even in trying to outline differences with Obama, Romney often started by agreeing with him. Suddenly, it was Romney who was talking about supporting economies abroad, while Obama the Democrat warned against nation-building.

From drones to Afghanistan to Syria, Romney and Obama spoke in agreement on goals, if not strategy.
The president's biggest vulnerability — last month's deadly assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, and all the unanswered questions that surround it — barely surfaced. Romney seemed to pass on the opportunity to assail Obama's leadership on it.

Obama accomplished portraying himself as a world leader, facing a former governor who he said had offered positions that sent a mixed, and unsettling, message to allies and the American people.
He did so at times mockingly, but faced little fire in return.

"I know you haven't been in a position to actually execute foreign policy, but every time you've offered an opinion, you've been wrong," Obama told Romney. He later questioned Romney the businessman's ability to understand the Navy's needs, saying: "We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them."

Romney's clearest points were to try to turn Obama's most aggressive moments against him, and to outline a more comprehensive strategy for combatting the extremism that has roiled the Middle East and North Africa. Even then, his tone stood out. Politely.

"Well, of course I don't concur with what the president said about my own record and the things that I've said," he said. "They don't happen to be accurate. ... Attacking me is not an agenda."

With the race extremely tight and several states hanging in the balance, Romney sought to show he was reassuring, poised and in essence, presidential. Instead, he seemed to lose some of the edge that gave his campaign a bump in the first debate, where he aggressively challenged the president on economic issues
.
Trying to capitalize on the mood of voters, Obama has campaigned as the leader who ends the wars, not the guy who begins new ones. Romney tried to combat that by saying, for example, that he would not get the United States involved militarily in Syria even though he wants to find a way to arm the opposition.

Yet millions of viewers at home were often left to discern exactly how much Romney and Obama differ in a world of diplomacy that is enormously difficult and nuanced.

Before the debate, Romney aides said they believed viewers would, above all, be looking for Romney to demonstrate leadership and confidence. His answers often appeared driven to show he understand the regions, players and challenges at play instead of undermining the president's positions on them.

The moderate Romney was dominant. On Afghanistan, for example, he said he also would bring troops home by 2014. Often, though, Romney would agree in principle before saying he would have executed differently.
After a year in which foreign affairs has been the undercard of the campaign fight, it got its moment with the stakes right where they should be — high.

The presidency is about the world even during inward-looking times. Currency standoffs with China, nuclear showdowns with Iran and military tensions around the globe affect the economy and security of the United States.
The debate season ended with Romney looking like he wanted to get off the stage and back on the economy. That, ultimately, is where this election will be settled.

The Barbaric Torture of Ethiopians in the Middle East (Nebiyu Sirak)

 (Phoenix, Arizona) – Who is responsible for the barbaric torture and abuse of Ethiopian maids in the Middle East? Click here to read


Alarm Over Ethiopian Domestics


KUWAIT CITY, Oct 22: Owners of offices, which recruit housemaids from Ethiopia, have complained about the Ethiopian Embassy’s alleged failure to solve several issues concerning the housemaids, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources.

Sources revealed the embassy has closed its doors on housemaids who escaped from their sponsors; giving them no option but to roam around the streets. Sources said several domestic labor offices have expressed disappointment over the embassy’s inability to play its role efficiently; thereby, making the housemaids,

sponsors and offices lose their rights. Sources added the owners of domestic labor offices and the Kuwaiti sponsors often engage in heated arguments due to their failure to determine the whereabouts of absconding housemaids.

Sources said the absconding Ethiopian housemaids are often seen roaming around the streets in different parts of the country because their embassy does not provide them with a suitable shelter. Sources revealed more than 700 Ethiopian housemaids are said to be roaming around — a phenomenon which might spread contagious diseases and lead to dire consequences especially if some of them decide to return to their sponsors.

The owners of domestic labor offices called for the intervention of the embassy to address the problem and to protect the rights of all parties. They warned the embassy must take into consideration the rising rate of crimes committed against housemaids, in addition to the human rights issues raised against Kuwait due to this phenomenon which has tarnished the image of the country in the international community.
 
They argued the problem has worsened due to the absence of proper administration procedures in the embassy and its failure to abide by the stipulations of the contracts they signed with the domestic labor offices. They also urged the embassy to immediately take the necessary measures to protect the rights of all parties involved — the housemaids, their sponsors and the domestic labor offices.

Six Killed Hundreds Injured in Ethiopia as Muslim Protesters Clash with Police

Atleast Six people have been killed and hundreds wounded in South Wollo on Sunday when members of the federal police clashed with local ordinary Muslims, Awramba Times sources said.

Tags: Addis Ababa, Ahbash, Anwar Mosque, Awolia, Ethiopian Muslims, Ethiopian News, Ethiopian police, Federal Police, muslim Demonstrations, Muslim protest

ከሃገር ወዳድ የትግራይ ተወላጆች የተሰጠ ጥብቅ ማሳሰቢያ

መጽሐፈ ኢያሱ 3:9 “ለእስራኤል ልጆች የአምላካችሁን የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስሙ አለ” ሲል አውጇል::

ሕወሃት ከተመሠረተ ጀምሮ የትግራይን ሕዝብ ከእግዚአብሔርና ከኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ጋር ሲያጋጨው መቆየቱን: እኛ አገር ወዳድ የትግራይ ተወላጆች በየአጋጣሚው ስናስጠነቅቅ መቆየታችን ይታወሳል:: እግዚሃብሔር ግን ዛሬ በሕዝብና በቤተክርስቲያን ላይ ችግር ሲፈጥሩ የነበሩትን እርሱ ወስዷል::

ለቀሪዎቹ “ወደዚህ ቀርባችሁ የአምላካችሁን የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስሙ” ይላል::ስለዚህ የሕወሃት መሪዎች ካለፈው ጥፋታችሁ ተምራችሁ ወድ ሕዝባችሁና ወደ አገራችሁ እንድትመለሱ አጥብቀን እናሳስባለን::

ከዚህ በፊት በተለያዩ ዌብሳይቶች ላይ አንዲት ገጽ ጽሁፍ አስነብበን ነበር::ዛሬም የሕወሃት አባላትና ደጋፊዎች ልብ እንዲገዙ እንመክራለን::ምክንያቱም ሕወሃቶች በእድሜአቸው ትልቅ ቢሆኑም ከአለፈው ጥፋታቸው ሊማሩ አልቻሉም::

ይህን ጽሁፍ እንድናውጣ ያስገደደን ነገር ቢኖር ባለፈው አቶ ስብሃት ነጋ በተናገሩት ላይ ተንተርሰን ሲሆን እርሳቸው አሁንም ውጭ እንደሚመጡ ስላወቅን የሕወሃትን ደጋፊዎችና ሌሎች ኢትዮጵያውያንን ለማስጠንቀቅ ነው::

ለፈው አቦይ ስብሃት “ገዛ ተጋሩ” በተባለው ፓልቶክ “ሥልጣኑ ከአማራውና ከኦርቶዶክሱ በመራቁ ደስ ብሎናል::” ሲሉ መናገራቸው አንዳንድ የዋህ ወገኖች ምስጢሩ ሳይገባቸው ተደስተውበታል:: እኛ አገር ወዳድ የትግራይ ተወላጆች ግን በአንጋገራቸው በጣም አዝነናል::አሁንም ይህን የከፋፍለህ ዘዴአቸውን በሥራ ላይ ለማዋል ወደ አውሮፓ ሊመጡ መሆናቸውን ስምተናል::አሁንም የሕወሃት ደጋፊ የሆናችሁ ወገኖች የአቶ ስብሃት ነጋን የረቀቀ የከፋፍለህ ግዛ ሴረኝነት እንድትረዱ እናሳስባለን::ቢቻል በገማ እንቁላል ቲማቲም እንድንቀበላቸው አለያም ደግሞ አቶ ስብሃት የሚዘሩትን የከፋፍለህ መርዝ ለመስማት እንዳትሄዱ እናሳስባለን::

ሕወሃትና አቦይ ስብሃት እንኳን ለሌላው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ይቅርና ቁምንለታል ለሚሉት ለትግራይ ሕዝብ አይጨነቁም::በእነርሱ አባባል ዛሬ ትግራይ 57 ወረዳዎች ሲኖሩአት 38ቱን ወረዳዎች የሚያስተዳድሩት የአድዋ አውራጃ ተወላጆች ናቸው::ለምሳሌ ትግራይ አራት ዞኖች ሲኖራት የነዚህም አስተዳዳሪዎች የአድዋ ተወላጆች ናቸው::ታዲያ ለ17 ዓመታት አብረዋቸው ለታገሉ የትግራይ ልጆች ያልሆኑ እንዴት ለሌላው ኢትዮጵያዊ ሊቆረቆሩ ይችላሉ?

በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ለውድ ኢትዮጵያውያን በቅድሚያ አንድ ሃቅ እንድትረዱልን ለማሳሰብ እንወዳለን::የሕወሃት መሪዎች በሚፈጽሙት ሴራ የትግራይ ሕዝብ ያለፈለት የሚመስላችሁ ወገኖች ብዙ ናችሁ::የሕወሃት መሪዎች ነክተውና ነካክተው ሃገር ወዳድ ኢትዮጵያውያንን በቁጣና በስሜት እንድትናገሩና እንድትጽፉ ያደርጋሉ::ከዚያም ያንን እየጠቀሱ የትግራይ ሕዝብ ከነርሱ ጋር እንዲቆም ቅስቀሳ እያደረጉበት ነውና ሕዋሃቶች በሄዱበት ጎዳና እንዳትሄዱ ካለን ልምድና ተመክሮ ለማሳሰብ እንወዳለን::

በሕወሃት ወታደራዊ ተቋም ውስጥ ሲያገልግሉ የነበሩትን አባላቶቹን ወደ ውጭ አገር ለስለላ ልኳል::እነዚህ የሕወሃት ሰላዮች ባረፉበት ቦታ ሁሉ የመኖሪያ ፈቃድ እስኪያገኙ ድረስ ፀረ-ሕወሃት ወሬ ሲነፉ ይቆያሉ::ከዚያም ማን ሕወሃትን እንደሚጠላ ካወቁ በኋላ አንድ ባንድ የግለሰቦቹን ማንነት በያሉበት አገር ላለው የኢትዮጵያ ኤምባሲ ሪፖርት ያደርጋሉ::ዛሬ በዲያስፖራ የሚገኙትን ኢትዮጵያውያን አንድ እንዳይሆኑ የሚከፋፍሉና የሚለያዩ እንዚህ መንግሥት የላካቸው ሰላዮች ናቸው::ካስፈለገም ያሉበትን አገርና ስማቸውን ከነማዕረጋቸው ዘርዝረን ለማጋለጥ ዝግጁ ነን::

የሕወሃት አባላትና ደጋፊዎች ባለፈው ዓመት በአንድ ወር ውስጥ ሁለት አገርንና ቤተ ክርስቲያንን ያጠፉ ቀንደኛ ግለሰቦችን አምላክ ሲወስዳቸው አይተው ትምህርት ሊሆናቸው ይገባ ነበር:: ሕወሃቶች ግን ከጥፋታቸው መማር አልቻሉም:: አሁንም በኢትዮጵያውያን እስልምና ሃይማኖት ተከታዮች ላይ የምታደርጉትን ጫና እንድታቆሙ እናሳስባለን::አንዱን ሃይማኖት ከሌላ ሃይማኖት አንዱን ብሔር ከሌላው ብሔር ጋር ማጋጨቱን እንድታቆሙ በሰፊው የትግራይ ሕዝብ ስም እናሳስባለን::

የትግራይ ሕዝብ ከሌላው ኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ጋር አብሮ የኖረ ለወደፊቱም የሚኖር ሕዝብ ነው::ለዚህም ሻቢያ በአይደር ትምህርት ቤት ላይ ጥቃት ሲፈጽም የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በሕወሃት ላይ ያለውን ቂም ወደጎን በመተው ሰፊው የትግራይን ሕዝብ አክብሮ ገንዘብ ያለው በገንዘቡ ጉልበት ያለው በጉልበቱ መዝመት የሚችለው ዘምቶ አቅም የሌለው በቤተ ክርስቲያንና በመስጊድ አምላኩን ተማጽኗል::ሕወሓትን ግን ይህን አንድነቱንና አብሮነቱን ለመለያየት የምታደርጉትን ሴራ እናወግዛለን::

የትግራይ ሕዝብ የኢትዮጵያን ታሪክ አክባሪ እንጂ እናንተ እንደምትሉት የመቶ ዓመት ታሪክ አላት አይልም::የትግራይ ሕዝብ ኢትዮጵያ አገራችንን ሊወር የመጣን ጠላት ከሌላው ኢትዮጵያዊ ወገኑ ጋር ሁኖ ድባቅ የመታ ሕዝብ ነው::ይህ አኩሪ ታሪኩን ልታጠፉበት እየጣራችሁ መሆናቸውን ከተረዳን ውለን አድረናል::ከዛሬ ጀምሮ ይህን ሴራችሁን እንድታቆሙ በድጋሚ እናሳስባለን::
የትግራይ ሕዝብ ሆይ! ታሪክን እወቅ! አገርህን አክብር እንጂ የሕወሃትን ቅስቀሳ እንዳትሰማና ከሌላው ኢትዮጲያዊ ወገንህ ጋር እንዳትጋጭ እናሳስብሃለን::

ኢትዮጵያ ለዘላለም ትኑር!

በሲያትልና አካባቢዋ የምንኖር የትግራይ ተወላጆች ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሕብረት::

በኢትዮጵያ ለ14 ወራት ታስረው የተፈቱት ስዊድናዊ ጋዜጠኞች የመብት ረገጣ ደርሶብናል አሉ

ታስረው የተፈቱት ስዊድናዊ ጋዜጠኞች

በኢትዮጵያ ኦጋዴን ግዛት ከሚንቀሳቀሰው የኦጋዴን በሄራዊ ነጻ አውጭ ግንባር ታጣቂዎች ጋር ያለፈቃድ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ድንበር ተሻግረው የተያዙት ሁለት ስዊድናዊ ጋዜጦች፤ በከፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት የ11ዓመት እስራት ተበይኖባቸው፤ በይቅርታ በአዲሱ 2005 ዓ.ም መፈታታቸው ይታወሳል።

ጋዜጠኞቹ ዮሃን ፐርሽንና ማርትን ሽቢይ ከስዊድን ለቪኦኤ እንዴት እንደተያዙ፣ በቀጣይነት ደረሰብን ያሉትን ሰቆቃ፣ የፍርድ ሂደትና የኢትዮጵያ የጸረ-ሽብር ህግና የመናገር መብት ጥሰቶችን አስመልክቶ ዝርዝር ለቪኦኤ መግለጫ ሰጥተዋል።

እንደ ጋዜጠኞቹ አባባል በሰኔ ወር ማብቂያ 2003 ዓ.ም. ሁለቱ ስዊድናዊያን ማለትም የፎቶ ጋዜጠኛው ዮሃን ፐርሽን እና ዘጋቢው ማርትን ሸቢይ በሰሜናዊቷ የሶማሊያ ራስ ገዝ ፑንትላንድ በኩል ድንበር ተሻግረው ወደ ኢትዮጵያ የሶማሊ ክልል አቀኑ። ማርትን ሸቢይ አላማቸው በኦጋዴን ግዛት ያለውን ሁኔታ ለመመልከትና ለመዘገብ እንደነበር ያስረዳል።

“አካባቢውን ለቀው የተሰደዱ ሰዎችን በጎረቤት አገሮች አግኝተን አነጋግረን ነበር፤ ኢትዮጵያን ለቀው የወጡበትን ዘግናኝ ታሪክ በስደተኛ ጣቢያዎች ተገኝተን ዘግበናል፤ ስለዚህ ማጣራት ፈለግን” ይላል ማርትን ሽብይ።

“ከዚሁም ጋር ተያይዞ የስዊድን የሉንዲን የነዳጅ ዘይት ኩባንያ አፍሪካ ኦይል ከሚባል ሌላ ኩባንያ ጋር በኦጋዴን አካባቢ የነዳጅ ዘይት የማፈላለግ ስራ እየጀመረ ስለነበር፤ በዚህም ላይ መዘገብ ፈልገን ነው ወደዚያ የተጓዝንው” ይላል ማርትን፡፡

ኮንትነንት የፎቶ ጆርናሊስት ኤጀንሲ ለሚባል ድርጅት የሚሰሩት የ29 ዓመቱ ዮሃን ፐርሽንና የ30 ዓመቱ ማትን ሽቢይ ከዚህ በፊት በተለያዩ አስቸጋሪና ህይወታቸውን አደጋ ላይ የጣሉ አካባቢዎች እየተዘዋወሩ ዘገባዎችን ሲያቀርቡ ቆይተዋል። ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ከመሻገራቸው በፊት ከኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ጋር በመተባበር አልሸባብን የሚወጉት አህሉ ሱና ዋጀማዓ የተባሉ ማእከላዊ የሶማሊያ መንግስትን የሚደግፉ ታጣቂዎች ጋር ተገናኝተው ሲዘግቡ ነበር።

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ጋዜጠኞች ወደ ሶማሊ ክልል በተለይ ወደ ኦጋዴን እንዲገቡ አይፈቅድም።

ከሶስት አመት በፊት በወጣ ሪፖርት በሶማሊ ክልል የሚደርሱ የመብት ጥሰቶችን፣ የጦር ወንጀልና በሰው ዘር ላይ የሚፈጸሙ ግፎች ያላቸውን ሂውማን ራይትስ ወች ዘርዝሯል። የተቃጠሉ መንደሮችን፣ የተደፈኑ የውሃ ጉድጓዶችን ሁሉ የሳተላይት ምስልን አስደግፎ መረጃውን አቅርቧል።

በዚሁ ተመሳሳይ አመት የተባበሩት መንግስታት ድርጅት የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ወደ ኦጋዴን የሚላከውን እርዳታ ማገዱን እና አንዳንድ መንግስታዊ ያልሆኑ ድርጅቶች ስራ እንዲያቆሙ አስታውቋል።

እነዚህ ጋዜጠኞች ታዲያ ይሄንን ሁኔታ ማጣራት ፈለጉ። በአዲስ አበባ በኩል ፈቃድ ስለማይገኝ። እውነት ከሆነ ከራሳቸው ከተጠቂዎቹ ለመስማት በሶማሊያ በኩል ተሻግረው ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ኦጋዴን አቀኑ።

ማርቲን ሸቢይ ስለሁኔታው ሲያብራራ እንዲህ ይላል “ይሄንን ዜና መዘገባችን በጣም አስፈላጊ እንደሆነ በማመን፤ ከህጋዊ መንገድ ውጭ ያሉ አማራጮችን ማሰብ ጀመርን። ለዚህ ነው በሶማሊያ በኩል በህገ-ወጥ መንገድ ድንበር የተሻገርንው። ሰኔ 20 ቀን 2003 ዓም አመሻሹ ላይ ድንበሩን ተሻግረን ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ገባን። በዚያን ወቅት አብሮን የነበረው አንድ ድንበር አሻጋሪ ሹፌር ነበር”

በመቀጠልም ማርትን እንዲህ ይላል “ሰኔ 20 ቀን በሽላቦ አካባቢ ስንጓዝ ወዲያውኑ ነበር በሁለት የኢትዮጵያ ጦር የወታደር ጂፕ መኪናዎች የታየንው። ድንበሩን ያሻገረን ሹፌር ከወታደሮቹ መኪናዎች አቅጣጫ ቀይሮ አመለጣቸው። ከዚያ ከአማጺያኑ ጋር የምንገናኝበት የቀጠሮ ቦታ ነበረን እዚያ ትቶን ተመለሰ”

ቀጥሎ ስለሆነው ሁኔታ ማርቲን ሲያስረዱ እንዲህ ይላሉ “እኛም ከዚያ ወዲያ ያለው ጉዞ በእግር እንደሆነ ተነግሮን፤ ከአማጺያኑ ጋር ወደ በረሃው የእግር ጉዞ ጀመርን። ለሶስት ቀናብ በእግር ተጓዝን። ሰኔ 23 ቀን ማምሻው ላይ ግን በኢትዮጵያ ጦር ድንገተኛ የደፈጣ ጥቃት ተሰነዘረብን።”

በዚያች የሀሙስ-ምሽት የነበረውን ሁኔታ ያስረዱት የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ቃል አቀባይ አቶ በረከት ስምዖን የኢትዮጵያ የጸጥታ ሃይሎች ተኩስ ከፍተው 15 የኦብነግ አማጺያንን ገድለው ስድስቱን ሲማርኩ፤ ጋዜጠኞቹም ቆስለው መያዛቸውን ተናግረዋል።

አቶ በረከት ስምዖን በጀሌዎና በሊወርድ የአካባቢው ፖሊስና የጸጥታ ሃይሎች ደረሰ ያሉት ጥቃት በጋዜጠኞቹ እይታ ትክክል ነው ወይ ተብለው ለተጠየቁት ጥያቄ ጋዜጠኞቹ ሲመልሱ እንዲህ ነበር ያሉት፡፡ “አይደለም! በአንዲት ዛፍ ስር ተቀምጠን ትኩስ ሻይ እየጠጣን ነበር። አማጺያኑ ዳቦ ጋግረው ሰጥተውን እየበላን ነበር። አብረውን የነበሩት አንደኛው አስተርጓሚ ነው ሌላ አንድ ሰው ነበር። ከዚያ የማስጠንቀቂያ ተኩስ ተሰማ። ከጥቂት ሰከንዶች በኋላ ወደ 150 የሚሆኑ የኢትዮጵያ ወታደሮችና ልዩ የፖሊስ ሃይል ጥቃት አደረሱብን”

“ወዲያውኑ ሁለታችንም በጥይት ተመታን። የኢትዮጵያ ጦር መጥቶ ሲይዘን አብረውን የተማረኩ ወታደሮች አልነበሩም፤ ወደ ጫካ ሮጠው አመለጧቸው። የተገደለም ሰው አልነበረም” ብለዋል፡፡

አቶ በርከት ስምዖን የገለጿቸው 15 የተገደሉና 6 የተማረኩ የተባሉትም ሰዎች ጋዜጠኞቹ ሲያዙ እንዳልነበሩ ይናገራሉ። ከዚያ በኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥን የተላለፈና በፍርድ ቤትም እንደማስረጃ የቀረበ የቪዲዮ ምስልም፤ የሚያሳየው ሁለት ሰዎች ሲማረኩና አንድ የሰነበተ አስከሬን ብቻ ነው።

ስለቪዲዮ ቀረጻው ፎቶ አንሽው ዮሀን ፐርሽን ሲናገር “በቁጥጥር ስር በዋልን በሁለተኛው ቀን። ከኢትዮጵያ የመንግስት ቴሌቪዥን የፊልም አንሽ ቡድን መጥቶ ቃለ-መጠይቅ እናድርግ አሉ። በዚህ አልተስማማንም ነበር። አስራችሁናል፣ ፍርድ ቤት አቅርቡን፣ ጠበቃ ማነጋገር እንሻለን፣ ከአገራችን ኢምባሲም ጋር መነጋገር እንፈልጋለን አልናቸው። ህይወታችሁን ለማዳን ከፈለጋችሁ የምንጠይቃችሁን መልሱ አሉን።” ብሏል።

“በወቅቱ ከሶማሊ ክልል ፕሬዝደንት ጋር ህክምና የሚያገኙበት መንገድ እንዲመቻች በስልክ መጠየቅ ከጀመርን ብንቆይም በወቅቱ የክልሉ ባለስልጣናት ትኩረታቸው የፊልም ስራ ላይ ነበር” ብሏል ማርትን ሽቢይ፡፡

በተጨማሪም በናንተ ዙሪያ በቀረጽንው ቪዲዮ የፊልም ስራ ደስተኞች አይደለንም በሚል ሰበብ በሽሎቦና ዋርደር መካከል ወደሚገኝ በርሃ ተወስደው በዚያ እንደ ሆሊውድ የተቀነባበረ ፊልም መስራት እንደጀመሩ እና በኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥን የታየው ቪዲዮም ይሄንን ሁኔታ የሚያሳይ እንደነበረ ያብራል ማርትን ፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ባለስልጣናት ጋዜጠኞቹን በአደባባይና በሚቆጣጠሯቸው የዜና አውታሮች ወንጀለኛ አድርገው ማቅረባቸው የክሱን ሂደት ተቀባይነት የሌለው ያደርጉታል ሲሉ የጋዜጠኞች መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅቱ ሲ.ፒ.ጄ፣ አምነስቲ፣ ሂውማን ራይትስ ወችና ሌሎችም ተቃውመውታል። በተለይ የቀድሞው ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ በፓርላማ ጋዜጠኞቹ ሽብርተኛ ድርጅቶችን ያገዙ ናቸው፤ የጦር መሳሪያ አንግበውም ታይተዋል ሲሉ ማብራሪያ ሰጥተዋል። የመብት ድርጅቶቹ የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ንግግር አንድ ግለሰብ በፍርድ ቤት ጥፋተኛ ሳይባል ነጻነቱ እንዲታሰብለት የሚደነግገውን ህገመንግስታዊ መብት ይጻረራል፤ የአቶ መለስን ቃልም የሚቀለብስ ፍርድ ቤት አይኖርም በሚል ተቃውመውት ነበር።

ጋዜጠኞቹ ከሶማሊ ክልል ወደ አዲስ አበባ ከመጡ በኋላ ክስ ተመስረተባቸው። በህገወጥ መንገድ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ በመግባትና አሸባሪ ድርጅቶችን የመርዳት ወንጀሎች እያንዳንዳቸው በስተመጨረሻ የ11ዓመት እስራት ተበየነባቸው።

ስዊድናዊያኑ ለቪኦኤ ሲናገሩ፤ በተለይ በማእከላዊ በታሰሩበት ወቅት፤ ዙሪያቸውን የነበሩት ጋዜጠኞችና የፖለቲካ ተቃዋሚዎች በመሆናቸው፤ ችግሩ ከነሱ ጋር ሳይሆን፤ የትልቅ አፈና አካል መሆናቸውን እንደተገነዘቡ ይዘረዝራሉ።

ከቀረቡባቸው ክሶች በህገ-ወጥ መንገድ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ መግባታቸውን አምነው-ጥፋተኛነታቸውን ተቀብለዋል። አሸባሪዎችን በመርዳት ወንጀል ግን፤ ጥፋተኛ አለሆናቸውን ይናገራሉ።

ጋዜጠኞቹ በእስር በቆዩባቸው 14 ወራት መጀመሪያ በማእከላዊ፤ ከዚያ በቃሊቲ ታስረዋል። ስለቃሊቲ እስር ቤት አስከፊ የአያያዝ ሁኔታ እና ስለተመለከቱት የእስረኞች ሰቆቃ አብራርተዋል፡፡

“ዋናው ፈተና በጤና መቆየት ነው። በቅርበት ከምናውቃቸው ታሳሪ ጓዶቻችን ቃሊቲ ታመው የሞቱ አሉ። ስለዚህ ከታመምክ አለቀልህ። ስለዚህ ዋናው ነገር በደምብ መመገብ፣ የአካል ብቃት እንቅስቃሴ ማዘውተርና እራስን መጠበቅ ነው” ብሏል ማርትን ሽቢይ።

በዚህ ሁኔታ 11 ዓመት በቃሊቲ መቆይት እንደማይችሉ የተገነዘቡት ጋዜጠኞች፤ ከመሞት መሰንበት ብለው የይቅርታ ደብዳቤ መጻፍ መጀመራቸውን ይናገራሉ። የይቅርታ ደብዳቢያቸው አራት ነጥቦች የያዘ ነው።

1ኛ- ተግባራቸው የተሳሳተ እንደነበረ ማመንና በድርጊታቸው መጸጸታቸውን መግለጽ።

2ኛ ከኦብነግ ጋር ያደረጉት ትብብር ስህተት እንደነበረና መጸጸታቸውን።

3ኛ ሃላፊነት፣ ቤተሰብ፣ ወዳጅ ዘመድ ያላቸው መሆናቸውን ተመልክቶ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ይቅርታውን እንዲያወርድ መለመን

4ኛ ይሄንን ይቅርታ በጽሁፍና በቃልም በኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥን ቀርቦ ለመናገር ቃል መግባትን ያካትታል።

ስለ ውሳኔው ፈታኝነት ጋዜጠኞቹ ሲናገሩ “… ምን ለማለት ይቻላል…እጅግ ከባድ ውሳኔ ነው። አስገዳጅ ሁኔታዎች አሉ፤ በቃሊቲ እስር ቤት 11ዓመት አንኖርም፤ የሞት ፍርድ ማለት ነው፤ አስከሬናችን ነበር የሚወጣው። ስለዚህ መወሰን ነበረብን” ብለዋል፡፡

ከእስር ከወጡ በኋላ ጋዜጠኞቹ የሚሰጧቸው አስተያየቶች እንዳሳዘነው የገለጸው የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በአገሪቱ የተድረገላቸው እንክብካቤ፣ በርህራሄ ይቅርታ ከእስር ተፈተው ሳለ የተሳሳተ መረጃ መስጠታቸው ትልቅ ማጋነንና ይሉኝታ ቢስነት ነው ሲል በዚህ ሳምንት ምላሹን ሰጥቷል።

ካሸባሪዎች ጋር ተባብረው መስራታቸውን አምነዋል ያለው የኢትዮጵያ የውጭ ጉዳይ ምንስቴር መግለጫ፤ ከተፈቱ በኋላ የማናምንበትን ነገር ነው የተናገርንው ማለት “ተራ የጋዜጠኞች ማጋነን” ነው ብሏል።

ሁለቱ ስዊድናዊ ጋዜጠኞች በአሁኑ ወቅት በስቶክሆልም ከቤተሰቦቻቸውና ከስራ ባልደረቦቻቸው ጋር ኑሯቸውን ቀጥለዋል፤ ስራቸውንም እንዲሁ።

ኢትዮጵያ የነዳጅ ዘይትና የአማጺያን ቃለመጠይቅ ፍለጋ መሄዳቸውን አይሸሽጉም። “ዘይት ፍለጋ ሄደን ቀለም አግኝተን መጣን” ብለዋል። ወደፊት ቀለሙን ምን እንደሚያደርጉበትም ወስነዋል። ይጽፋሉ፣ ታሪካቸውን፣ ዘገባቸውን። ከዚያም አልፈው ግን ለአውሮፓ ህብረትና ለዩናይትድ ስቴይትስ መንግስት ባለስልጣናትም መጻፍ ጀምረዋል። “የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የመናገር ነጻነትን ያክብር! የታሰሩ ጋዜጠኞችን ይፍታ! አፋኙ የጸረ ሽብር ህጉን ይሰርዝ” እያሉ-ይጽፋሉ።

ቃሊቲ ትተዋቸው ለወጡ ጋዜጠኞች፣ የፖለቲካ እስረኞችና በክብር ለተቀበሏቸው ተራ ወንጀለኞችም አይዞህ ወንድሜ

Ethiopian Muslims Continue Protests, as New PM Continues the Legacy of Defiance

By Mohammed Osman
A couple of days after Ethiopia’ new Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn voiced his government’s stubborn stance towards the legitimate demands of the country’s Muslims, the faithful continued their nationwide protests against government interference in religious affairs.

The mosque-based protest was staged on Friday, October 19, at Anwar and Nur mosques, two major mosques in the capital Addis Ababa, as well as at mosques in a number of towns across the country.

Today’s protests took place in predominantly Muslim cities such as Harar, Dessie, Bati and Kemise, among others.

Muslim communities have been staging similar weekly peaceful protests for the last eleven months. The last of such massive protests was staged in Addis Ababa and several cities across the country on October 5, 2012.
The October 5 nationwide protest was meant to send a strong message to the government that Muslim communities all over the nation are not taking part in the ruling-party-orchestrated election of Majlis leadership that was slated for October 7.

The October 7 election was significantly boycotted by the country’s Muslims, but that did not prevent the ruling EPRDF from orchestrating a politico-farce drama employing every means, which included coercion, intimidation, involvement of non-Muslims as well as unwary Muslims, especially in rural areas.

The election drama was accentuated by the EPRDF-controlled TV station, which gave a 25-minute-long coverage for a selection of well-orchestrated election-proceedings and interviews.

With a carefully- framed close-ups and long shots, the TV report was “effective” in attaining its sole purpose – that of cheating the public. And, for a party that cherishes its own follies, that was sufficient to make the claim: “Ethiopian Muslims have elected their leaders in a free, fair and democratic election.”

Mockery at the Highest-level

What was screened on ETV was also sufficient for the newly appointed Prime Minister to “congratulate” Ethiopian Muslims for “electing their leaders democratically.”

In his first appearance at the Parliament after swearing in as Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, the successor of the late PM Meles Zenawi, Hailemariam appeared no less stubborn than his former boss did. “I would like to congratulate the Muslim population for being able to elect their leaders in a free and democratic election!”

For Ethiopian Muslims the Premier’s congratulatory remark is a mockery at the highest level. It is a mockery at democracy, the rule of law and, above all, the country’s constitution. If anything, Friday’s nationwide protest was a direct reaction to this mockery.

The popular Muslims’ movement was prompted by years of accumulated grievances over the failure of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, otherwise known as Majlis, to deliver meaningful services to the Muslim community.

In a clear violation of the country’s constitution, the Majlis has been under the full control of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) for the past 18 years. The Muslims’ accumulated grievances burst out in December last year after the government set out in a bold attempt to impose a Lebanese-born sect called al-Ahbash on the Muslim population.

The unconstitutional and adventurous project was jointly launched in July 2011 by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and the Majlis, whose leaders were followers of Ahbash, and appointed by the ruling party.

For Ethiopian Muslims, who continued their peaceful protests for the past eleven months, changing the Ahbash-dominated leadership of the Majlis through a truly democratic and free election is a matter not only of asserting constitutional rights, but also of defending their faith and unity. It is also about reclaiming and protecting their institution.

For EPRDF, analysts say, it is a matter of asserting its ideology of Revolutionary Democracy, which dictates full control of all mass-based institutions. This assertion puts the ruling-EPRDF in full collision with the constitution, which is regarded as the supreme law of the land. Over the years, this collision has manifested in several instances.

In this particular instance, EPRDF’s continued desire to control the Majlis is in clear contravention to Article 11, sub-Article 3 of the constitution, which stipulates non-interference of the state in religious matters, and that of religion in state affairs; as well as Article 27, sub-Article 2, which provides for the rights of believers “to establish institutions of religious education and administration in order to propagate and organize their religion.” Alas, that is how Ethiopian politics has been going since the constitution was endorsed 18 years ago, amidst jubilant “nations, nationalities and peoples.”

Nevertheless, EPRDF denies all accusations from every direction. In his last appearance at the Parliament, the late Prime Minister was asked by a fellow MP about the allegation of government interference in Muslim religious affairs. The late PM responded: “No, we did not interfere in religious affairs, and we cannot interfere in religion. … That is because the constitution does not allow us to do so.”

The new Prime Minister, in his first appearance to the parliament last Tuesday, repeated this statement verbatim. He not only repeated the statement, but also imitated the gestures of the late PM. That seems as per his promise “to continue the legacy of the great leader.”

Hailemariam Desalegn and his Eritrean wife

When Meles groomed Hailemariam Desalegn for over 10 years and pulled him in as his deputy, well, as his errand boy, to be more exact, Meles was killing two birds with one stone: owning a Wolaita and an Eritrean. How come, one may ask. Well, as they say, the devil lies in the details.

* * * * *

Hailemariam Desalegn gestures, pauses, frowns, and even touches his ears exactly the way his mentor, the late Meles Zenawi, did. Hailemariam, who could hail from Asmara through his Eritrean wife, Roman Tesfai, could definitely be commended as a trained parrot of the late dictator.

Hailemariam may set an EPRDF agenda for the parliament as Roman may set the agenda for Hailemariam. When Hailemariam and Roman had their first daughter, Ms. Roman called the baby girl Yohanna, a name Eritreans began to give in abundance to girls born around the time Shabiya [Eritrean gov't] came to power in 1991. ‘Yohanna’ means ‘congratulations!’ In her early 20s, Yohanna for that matter is a close friend of Semhal, the first daughter of Meles Zenawi.

So, when Meles picked up Hailemariam as his deputy, Meles was not only picking up the perfect mimic from Wolaita but also someone whose private or family life is already Eritrean. When sleepless Ethiopians once again raise the issue of the Red Sea and the Port of Assab to Hailemariam Desalegn, expect Meles coming back the grave and spitting obscenities. Forgetting the head of the state, President Girma, is in his 80s, Hailemariam tried to vilify the respected Medrek leaders as senile. He derided them as “aging zealots” who seek a shortcut to power. More surprises are in store.

Ethiopia: Supreme Court ruling marks a further erosion of human rights work in Ethiopia

PUBLIC STATEMENT

19 October 2012
AI Index: AFR 25/014/2012

Supreme Court ruling marks a further erosion of human rights work in Ethiopia Amnesty International, CIVICUS and Human Rights Watch are deeply concerned at the 19 October 2012 decision by Ethiopia’s Supreme Court to uphold the freezing of the assets of the Human Rights Council, Ethiopia’s leading, and oldest, human rights organization and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, a prominent women’s rights organization.

The decision is yet another blow to the work of these two organizations and to the promotion and protection of human rights throughout the country.

  The decision of the Supreme Court represents the acquiescence of the courts in the ongoing targeting of independent human rights organizations in Ethiopia, which has resulted in the near total demolition of human rights civil society in the country. The decision upholds the confiscation of substantial funding from the Human Rights Council (HRCO) – an organization with a strong track record of independent monitoring, documenting and advocacy on human rights issues; and from the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), an organization that was conducting significant levels of work on women’s rights issues, including in providing legal and other forms of assistance to thousands of women every year.

HRCO and EWLA’s bank accounts were frozen in December 2009 after the passing of the Charities and Societies Proclamation (the ‘CSO law’), in January of that year. The law, ostensibly aimed at regulating civil society, places excessive restrictions on the work, operations and funding of human rights organizations, including by prohibiting human rights organizations from receiving more than 10 percent of their funding from foreign sources.

The assets of both organizations were frozen on order of the Director of the governmental Charities and Societies Agency, a body created under the law. The order cost HRCO 9.5 million Birr (approximately US$566,000) and EWLA 10 million Birr (approximately US$595,000) in frozen funds.

The freezing of the assets of both organizations, and today’s upholding of this decision, includes a retroactive application of the CSO law to a large proportion of the funds of both organizations which were received before the law was passed, though the law does not provide for its retroactive application.

Both HRCO and EWLA appealed the decision, first to the Board of the Agency, and subsequently to the Federal High Court, which ruled to uphold the decision of the Board on 26 October 2011. Both cases were then referred to the Supreme Court, where they have been subject to several delays. The decision has been postponed twice.

As a result of the restrictions in the CSO law and the freezing of their accounts, HRCO has been forced to close nine of its twelve offices and cut 85 per cent of its staff. EWLA was forced to cut 70 per cent of their staff. In both organizations these cuts have resulted in very significant reductions in their human rights work.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is symptomatic of the wide and ever-increasing obstacles that human rights organisations face in attempting to continue their essential work in Ethiopia. The CSO law places undue restrictions on the rights to freedom of association and expression of human rights organisations in Ethiopia, in violation of Ethiopia’s Constitution and its international obligations. The law also contravenes the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which explicitly protects the right to access funding for the purpose of the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. A number of UN and regional human rights bodies including the UN Universal Periodic Review and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights have recommended that the law be amended or repealed.

The CSO law has had a devastating impact on human rights organizations. Following the passing of the law, the majority of independent civil society organizations working on human rights issues were forced to discontinue their work. Those who have attempted to continue their work are struggling to survive due to the funding restrictions contained in the law.

In addition to the already significant obstacles to human rights work contained in the law, the government has introduced additional implementing directives which place a bewildering array of bureaucratic requirements on organizations. Further, recent stipulations have required non- governmental organizations’ work to be overseen by a relevant government body, severely compromising the independence of those organizations.

As well as suffering from the international funding restrictions contained in the law and the freezing of its assets, HRCO has been subjected to discriminatory application of the CSO law. HRCO has been denied funding available from the government-allied Ethiopian Human Rights Commission despite the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to receive funding in August 2011. Other organisations have received funding under the same process. No explanation was provided to HRCO of why they did not receive funds. Further, in August 2012, the Charities and Societies Agency denied HRCO the fundraising permission which the law requires organizations to obtain before conducting any domestic fundraising activities.

A central intention of the introduction of the CSO law was undoubtedly to silence elements of civil society which scrutinise and report on the government’s human rights record.

The attempts to silence human rights civil society have been accompanied by a continued attack on the independent media, which has seen a number of journalists imprisoned in 2011 and 2012, and two of the last remaining independent newspapers forced out of circulation in the same period. This crackdown on the media severely reduces independent scrutiny of government actions. In this context, human rights violations remain widespread but are seriously under-reported, accountability for perpetrators of violations is rare, and victims of violations are deprived of assistance.

Amnesty International, CIVICUS and Human Rights Watch urge the Ethiopian authorities to immediately end their attack on Ethiopian human rights organizations and publicly recognize and protect the vital role that civil society has to play in the realization of the rights of all of the Ethiopian people.

As a candidate for election to the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, CIVICUS and Human Rights Watch urge the Ethiopian government to include among its election pledges a commitment to immediately remove the restrictions placed on human rights civil society in the country by amending the Charities and Societies Proclamation, and by ordering the release of the frozen assets of the country’s two leading human rights organizations.

HRCO, EWLA and all human rights organizations in Ethiopia must be allowed to conduct their work, including through unrestricted access to their funds. The Ethiopian government must abide by its obligations under the Ethiopian Constitution and international law to uphold the rights to freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.

Amnesty International