If Ethiopia’s state of emergency is over, will Merera be released?

by Africa Times Editor

Dr. Merera Gudina briefing the European parliament about the crisis in Ethiopia on November 9, 2016.

Ethiopia lifted last week the state of emergency imposed since October 2016, but the decision has raised questions about what happens to those detained during mass arrests on politically motivated charges during that time.

Among them is Merera Gudina, the academic and longtime opposition leader whose arrest was – according to Ethiopian officials – specifically based on a violation of state of emergency provisions.

The head of the Oromo Federalist Congress was detained November 30 after returning from Brussels, where he delivered a speech to members of the European Union Parliament and testified on the Ethiopian human rights crisis along with Berhanu Nega and Olympic athlete Feyisa Lilesa. He was subsequently charged with terrorism in a case that continues to work its way through Ethiopian courts and was most recently adjourned until October.

Merera remains in prison, and remains firm in refuting the terrorism charge while testifying that his life’s work and teaching always has been to oppose violence.

In a statement issued on December 20, in response to the international community’s concern over Merera’s arrest, the Ethiopian government clarified that it was not because of his appearance at the European parliament, but because he violated the emergency laws.

“Despite his awareness of these provisions, Dr. Merera Gudina allegedly met and discussed with the leader of a group listed as terrorist in Brussels,” the government said. “If this meeting is confirmed by the investigation, this would have to be considered as a clear and deliberate violation of the state of emergency.”

With the emergency over, however, come calls for his immediate release and that of other detainees.

“The government should release those arbitrarily detained or subject to politically motivated charges, including opposition politicians like Dr. Merera Gudina,” the Human Rights Watch said Monday. The statement also called for meaningful reforms that address the issues on which protests are centered.

Apartheid on the rise in Ethiopia says American economist and civil resistance expert

In an exclusive interview with ESAT, David Steinman, a Wharton-educated economist and expert in civil resistance, accuses the TPLF regime of replicating the policies of the defunct Apartheid regime in South Africa. He says the rise of a highly discriminatory minority regime of the TPLF in Ethiopia was not a coincidence but a deliberate scheme to exploit and oppress the majority of Ethiopians. Steinman asserted that opposition groups have no choice but to unite against such a divisive and corrupt regime to pave the way for radical political and economic changes.

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Open letter on behalf of Dr. Tadesse Biru Kersmo to Alison Saunders

Alison Saunders
Director Public Prosecution
Crown Prosecution Service
Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge
London

Dear Alison Saunders,

Ethiopian Advocacy Network, a grass roots organization committed to promoting respect for human rights and the rule of law, is deeply concerned and disturbed by the news that Dr. Tadesse Biru Kersmo, a well-known dissident and pro-democracy activist was briefly detained by UK authorities on terrorism charges and later released on bail pending appearance in court. Dr. Kersmo is a permanent resident of UK and has been living in London with his British wife for quite sometime now. The case against Dr. Kersmo is based solely on circumstantial evidence and the result of worrisome and growing reliance on roundly criticized intrusive and overreaching laws.

Dr. Tadesse Biru Kersmo

Dr. Kersmo, a scholar, researcher, and God-fearing Christian believes only a genuine democratic system will bring peace and stability in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. Dr. Kersmo is a passionate defender of human rights and a dedicated advocate for social justice. His well-known activism has made him an implacable enemy and a prime target of the Ethiopian regime.

In 2014, Dr. Kersmo was the victim of a high-profile cyber attack by the Ethiopian regime against Ethiopian exile community activists residing in the UK and in the US. The attack specifically targeted computer systems belonging to senior officials of dissident organizations.

Examinations undertaken by Privacy International in collaboration with Citizen’s Lab confirmed the detection of the surveillance software FinSpy on Dr. Kersmo’s computer. This illegal espionage and intrusion into Dr. Kersmo’s privacy on British soil was facilitated by the use of software developed and produced by the British-German company Gamma International.

This active surveillance by a foreign regime beyond its borders and within UK jurisdictions is obviously a grave violation of privacy, freedom and human rights. By engaging in these unlawful activities on UK soil, the Ethiopian regime demonstrated its total disregard for UK laws and its willingness to go to great lengths (using unlawful practices) to stifle dissenting voices and to create an environment of fear among the Ethiopian exile community members who have been granted protection in UK.

Despite these flagrant violations of international and British laws, the UK government has taken no action against the Ethiopian regime, or held Gamma International accountable for the illegal export of software to one of the most repressive regimes in Africa.

We strongly believe that the charges brought against Dr. Kersmo by UK government, a very strong supporter and major financier of the Ethiopian regime, is a politically motivated witch hunt that charts a frightening future for freedom of speech and privacy in the UK. Despite repeated condemnation of the regime led by the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF – an organization listed in the Global Terrorism Database) by various human rights organizations, the EU and the UN, the UK administration continues to pour scarce resources into the coffers of the Ethiopian regime in spite of its deplorable human rights record.

In fact, the UK’s government unconditional support has emboldened the Ethiopian regime to escalate its brutal crackdown inside Ethiopia and to continue to take a belligerent stance against neighboring countries, further destabilizing an already fragile region. Since the 1998 border conflict, Ethiopia and Eritrea have been in a state of war, a situation so precarious it made these two nations a leading source of refugees that are currently engulfing Europe.

The authoritarian regime in Ethiopia and its declaration of a state of emergency in October 2016 has stripped the basic rights and dignity of citizens at times forcing them to change their ethnic identity. The state of emergency that has allowed the regime to rule by fear and terror for 9 months is fueling extremism and risks the disintegration of the 2nd most populous country in Africa.

Dr. Kersmo has been quite open regarding his political activities in general and his support for legally operating dissenting organizations in defense of constitutional freedom and basic rights. One of the organizations he has been supporting is Ginbot 7, Movement for Justice Freedom and Democracy- a secular and non-sectarian organization striving for liberal democracy, and arguably a widely recognized movement with huge following across regional and ethnic divide.

Dr. Kersmo was charged with several counts of violation of section 58 of the U.K. “Terrorism Act 2000”. Civil liberties groups were outraged when the law was first enacted. They had argued that the law could be used against legitimate opposition groups of exiled dissidents who, having no legitimate avenue for dissent under oppressive regimes have fled their country and found safe haven in the United Kingdom.

This is what, Liberty, also known as the National Council for Civil Liberties, had to say on the Act:

“There is a real danger that refugees and others who have fled repressive regimes to the safety of this country will become a legitimate target of the police merely because they support the overthrow of that regime, even if they themselves are opposed to violence.”  (Emphasis added).

The charges against Dr. Kersmo are exactly what civil rights groups feared and anticipated will happen and what a California State University Constitutional law professor calls: “Prosecution by Proxy”.

We the undersigned call on UK government:

• To drop this politically motivated charge against Dr. Kersmo and to review and amend “Terrorism Act 2000” particularly section 58 of the act to prevent the misuse and the infringement of basic rights. The Act has sweeping power and far too broadly defined provision and that as a result it has been abused to intimidate and persecute law abiding and upstanding individuals such as Dr. Kersmo. The act makes it possible for UK-based activists campaigning for change to be labelled terrorists. Legal experts argue that had the Act been in place during the Thatcher government, they could have made supporting Nelson Mandela illegal.
• We ask the UK administration to put forward a legislation that will suspend all manner of support to the Ethiopian regime until it is willing to enact credible reforms and to comply with internationally recognized democratic norms. UK taxpayer’s money should not be used to sustain one of the most deplorable and authoritarian regimes in Africa.
• We also urge the UK to use its leverage to pressure the Ethiopian regime to open the political space, respect universally guaranteed human rights and release all political prisoners including Mr. Andargachew Tsege, a British citizen who was secretly kidnapped in Yemen and renditioned to Ethiopia where he had been sentenced to death, in absentia, in 2009.

Yours sincerely

Ethiopian Advocacy Network is a grassroots organization that was formed in January 2015 by Ethiopian-Americans, Ethiopian activists and community organizers to promote democracy, human rights, and justice in Ethiopia through advocacy, civic education and grass roots mobilization. EAN has a global presence with members in the USA, Africa, Canada and Europe.

Ethiopia: Five killed in flooding in Addis Ababa

Five people have lost their lives to flash flooding in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa while several others sustained serious injuries.

Anadolu news agency quoted emergency officials as saying that four people were intercepted by a heavy flood while crossing a river and the fifth fell into a river and taken by a raging flood.

An emergency official was quoted as saying that a father and son are still missing while seven people were saved from near death situation. Two bodies were recovered.

Addis Ababa has been hit with heavy rain and flash flooding in recent weeks causing the destruction of property and the loss of lives.

Officials boast of a developing city but a little rain enough to cause the loss of lives and damages to property in capital with sub standard roads and drainage systems.  

በቢሊዮን የሚቆጠር ብር የወጣባቸውና 25ሺ ያህል እስረኞችን የሚይዙ አዳዲስ ወህኒ ቤቶች በአራት ክልሎች ተገነቡ

ኢሳት (ሰኔ 20 ፥2009)

በቢሊዮን ብሮች ወጪ 25 ሺህ ያህል እስረኞችን የሚይዙ ወህኒ ቤቶች በአዲስ አበባ፣ በድሬዳዋ፣ በዝዋይና በሸዋሮቢት መገንባታቸው ታወቀ። አዲስ ፎርቹን የእንግሊዘኛ ጋዜጣ ከአዲስ አበባ እንደዘገበው የአዲስ አበባ እስር ቤት 900 ሚሊዮን ብር የወጣበት ሲሆን በአንድ ጊዜ 6 ሺህ እስረኞችን የመያዝ አቅም አለው።

በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ በአቃቂ ቃሊቲ ክፍለ ከተማ አባሳሙኤል ወንዝ አቅራቢያ በ5ሺህ ስኩዌር ኪሎሜትር ላይ የተዘረጋው ይህ ወህኒ ቤት ስራው የተጀመረው በሰኔ ወር 2006 መሆኑም ተመልክቷል።

የእስረኞቹ ማቆያ እያንዳንዳቸው ሁለት ፎቅ ያላቸው 5 ብሎኮች ሲሆኑ እያንዳንዱ ብሎክ 1ሺህ 200 እስረኛ እንደሚይዝም ተመልክቷል።

ግንባታው 95 በመቶ ተጠናቋል የተባለውና 6ሺህ እስረኞችን የመያዝ አቅም ያለው ወህኒ ቤት CCTV  ካሜራዎችን ጨምሮ የምስጢር የድምጽና የምስል መቅረጫዎች የተገጠሙበት እንደሆነም ተገልጿል። በሕወሃቱ የጦር ጀኔራል ሜ/ጀኔራል ተክለብርሃን ወልደ አረጋይ የሚመራው ኢንሳ ወይንም የመረጃ መረብ ደህንነት ኤጀንሲ የስራው መሳሪያዎቹን የመትከሉን ሃላፊነት እንደወሰደም መረዳት ተችሏል።

የፌደራሉን መንግስት እስር ቤቶች የመገንባቱ ስራ ከአዲስ አበባ ባሻገር በድሬዳዋ፣ በሸዋሮቢትና በዝዋይ መቀጠሉና መጠናቀቁም ታውቋል።

በሸዋሮቢት 4ሺህ 800 እስረኞችን የሚይዝ ወህኒ ቤት የተገነባ ሲሆን በድሬዳዋም በተመሳሳይም 5ሺህ ያህል እስረኞችን የሚይዝ ወህኒ ቤት መሰራቱም ተመልክቷል።

በዝዋይ የተገነባው ወህኒ ቤት ከአዲስ አበባው ጋር በተመሳሳይ መጠን 6ሺህ ያህል እስረኞችን የሚይዝ መሆኑን ከአዲስ ፎርቹን ዝርዝር ዘገባ መረዳት ተችሏል።

Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians face deportation in Saudi Arabia

ESAT News (June 26, 2017)

Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia face monetary penalty and imprisonment as the Kingdom’s amnesty for undocumented workers expired on June 25.

Ethiopian government spokesperson, Negere Lencho told local media that of the 85,000 who took travel documents, only about 35,000 have returned home. It is estimated that about 700,000 Ethiopians live in the Kingdom and a great majority of them are undocumented.

The government of Saudi Arabia in March decreed a 90 day amnesty for undocumented workers to leave the Kingdom and legally return if they wish to.

The hundreds of Ethiopians who haven’t obtained their travel documents now face penalty and imprisonment which will be followed by deportation. The Ethiopians in the Kingdom have been accusing their government of not facilitating their return. They said while citizens of other countries have been provided by their government free transportations, ticket prices from the Ethiopian airlines have become unaffordable for them.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Meles Alem said his Ministry has requested Saudi Arabia for an extension of the amnesty;but it is not yet known if Kingdom responds positively.

Maj Gen Sulaiman Al-Yahya, director general of passports in Saudi Arabia, said last week more than 400,000 foreigners completed final exit procedures by taking advantage of the three-month amnesty, according to Saudi Gazette.
He warned that there won’t be any leniency towards those violators who failed to benefit from the amnesty.

ናታችን እና የቁርጠኝነታችን ዓርማ ነው!!

June 24, 2017 

አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ

የንቅናቄያችን መስራችና ዋና ጸሀፊ የነበረው ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ በዘረኛው የህወአት አገዛዝ ከየመን አየር ማረፊያ ታግቶ እስር ቤት ከተወረወረ እነሆ ጁን 23 2017 ዓም 3 አመት ሞላው።

ህወአት አንዳርጋቸውን ባገተበት ወቅት የንቅናቄያችን እንቅስቃሴ ሙሉ በሙሉ ይሽመደመዳል የሚል ተስፋና እምነት ነበረው። ይህንን እምነቱን ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ በሚፈጸምበት ሰቆቃ ውስጥ ሆኖ እንዲያረጋግጥለትና ነጻነት ናፋቂ የሆነው ህዝባችን ተስፋ እንዲቆርጥ ብዙ ጥሯል፣ ደክሟል።

የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በሚከፍለው ግብር የሚተዳደረው የአገራችን ዋናው ቴለቪዥን ጣቢያና ህወሃት ህዝባችንን በፕሮፖጋንዳ ለማደንዘዝ ያቋቋማቸው ሌሎች ሚዲያዎ በሙሉ በመረባረብ ከጓዳችን መታገት ጋር ተያይዞ ግንቦት 7 አከርካሪውን ተመቶአል፤ ሌሎች የንቅናቄው አመራሮች የአውሮጳና የአሜሪካ የምቾት ኑሮዋቸውን ትተው ወደ በረሃ የመሄዳቸው ጉዳይ የማይታሰብ ነው የሚል ከንቱ ትንበያ ከማራገብ አልፈው የህዝባችንን ቅስም ለመስበር ያመቸናል የሚሉትን የፈጠራ ድራማዎችን በማቀነባበርና በማሰራጨት ጊዜያቸውንና ጉልበታቸውን ብቻ ሳይሆን ግምቱ የማይታወቅ የአገራችንን ሃብትም አባክነዋል።

ህወሃት ከህዝብ በተዘረፈ ገንዘብና በጠመንጃ ሃይል በተያዘ ሥልጣን ልቡ ያበጠ እብሪተኛ ድርጅት መሆኑን በገሃድ ያስመሰከረው ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን ለማገት ከተጓዘው ርቀት እና ከወሰደው የድፍረት እርምጃ በተጨማሪ ለነጻነት የሚደረገው ትግል አብቅቶለታል ብሎ ለመደምደም ያሳየው ጥድፊያ ነው። የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የነጻነት ትግል ፤ ለፍትህ ለእኩል ነትና ለአገር ባለቤትነት የሚደረግ ትግል መሆኑ መረዳት ያልቻለው የህወሃት አገዛዝ ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ከአፍላ የወጣትነት ዕድሜው ጀምሮ የቆመለትና ዋጋ እየከፈለለት ያለው ይህ ክቡር አላማ ከግለሰብ ተክለ ሰውነት በላይ ግዙፍ እንደሆነ አንዳርጋቸውና የትግል ጓዶቹ ጠንቅቀን እናውቃለን።

ወያኔ አገር ውስጥ ያሉትን ተቃዋሚዎች እግር በእግር እየተከተለ ለማዳከም በየቀኑ የሚወስደው የእስር፤ የእንግልትና የግዲያ እርምጃ አልበቃ ብሎት ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌን ከባህር ማዶ አግቶ ለመውሰድ ለየመን ጸጥታ ሃይል በብዙ ሚሊዮን የሚቆጠር ገንዘብ ከፍሎአል። በዚህ የወያኒ የእብሪት እርምጃ የተበሳጨው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ዘር፤ ቋንቋና ሃይማኖት ልዩነት ሳያከፋፍለው ‘”እኔም አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ነኝ” በሚል ቁጣ ተነስቶ በአምባገነንነትና በዘረኝነት ላይ የሚደረገውን ትግል ወደ ሌላ ምዕራፍ እንዲሸጋገር አድርጎታል። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ ህወሃት ከአንዳርጋቸው መታገት በኋላ በአመራር እጦት ይበተናል ያለው የነጻነት ትግል ከኢትዮጵያ አርበኞች ግንባር ጋር በተደረገው ውህደትና ከሌሎች ድርጅቶች ጋር በጋራ ለመታገል በተፈጠረው ጥምረት መክሸፉን አስመስክሯል።

ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ በታገተ ሰሞን የንቅናቄያችን አመራር ወደ ምድር ወርዶ ትግሉን ለመምራትና ለመታገል ያስተላለፈውና እየተገበረው ያለው ውሳኔ በጠላት ካምፕ ከፍተኛ መደናገጥን ሲፈጥር በወገን ካምፕ በኩል ከፍተኛ ተስፋንና አለኝታነትን የጫረ ሆኖአል።

የንቅናቄያችን አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 አባላት እና ደጋፊዎች በየምንሰበሰብባቸው የስብሰባ አዳራሾችና በየምንሰማራባቸው የትግል መስኮች እየዘመርነው ያለው የ”ላንቺው ነው አገሬ” ግጥም ደራሲ የሆነው ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ የምንታገልለትን አላማ በአጭሩ እንዲህ ሲል በስንኞቹ አስቀምጦአል።

በባርነት ሸክም ጀርባሽ የጎበጠው፣
በባለጌ መዳፍ ክብርሽ የጎደፈው፣
የስቃይሽ ስቃይ ሰማይ የነደለው፣
ዓይንሽ እስኪጠፋ ደም ለምታነቢው፣
ላንቺ ነው ሀገሬ ህይወት የገበርነው፣
ላንቺው ነው ሀገሬ እኛ የምንሞተው።

ለናዱት አንድነት ላረከሱት ሀገር፣
ለቀሙን ነጻነት ለጫኑብን ቀንበር፣
መልሱ ሆኖ መጥቷል ደረትን ለአረር፣ እያለ ይቀጥላል።

ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ይህንን ግጥም በደረሰበት ወቅት በእአምሮ ውስጥ ይመላለስ የነበረው አገራችን የገባችበት አዘቅትና የህዝቦቿ ጉስቁልና እንደሆነ መገንዘብ ከባድ አይሆንም። ይህንን ለመለወጥ ደግሞ ትግሉ የሚጠይቀው ቁርጠኝነትና የመንፈስ ጽናት ደረጃ እስከምን እንደሆነ በግልጽ አስቀምጦአል።

መላው የንቅናቄያችን አባላትና ደጋፊዎች መሪያችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ በጠላት እጅ የወደቀበትን ሶስተኛ አመት ስናስታውስ እርሱና ሌሎች በመቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ አባላቶቻችን እስከዛሬ የከፈሉትንና በመክፈል ላይ የሚገኙትን መስዋዕትነት እያሰብን ይህ ሁሉ ዋጋ የተከፈለለትን የነጻነት ትግል ከዳር ለማድረስ ያለንን ቁርጠኝነት በድጋሚ በመግለጽ ነው ።

ዛሬ በየእስር ቤት ውስጥ ሆነው በንቅናቄያችን አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ሥም የተለያየ መከራና ስቃይ በመቀበል ላይ ያሉትም ሆኑ በትግሉ ላይ እያሉ ውድ ህይወታቸውን ለዚህ ክቡር ዓላማ የገበሩ ወገኖቻችን የሚካሱት እነርሱ ዋጋ የከፈሉለትን አላማ ከግብ ለማድረስ ባለን ጽናትና ቁርጠኝነት ብቻ ነው።

የጀመርነው ትግል ምንም አይነት ዋጋ ቢያስከፍለን የኋላ ኋላ በአሸናፊነት እንደሚደመደም ምንም አይነት ጥርጣሬ የለንም። መታሠር፣ መገረፍና መገደል የነጻነት ትግል ማደናቀፍ የሚችል ቢሆን ኖሮ የህወሃት የመንፈስ አባት የሆነው ፋሽስት ጣሊያን እስከዛሬዋ ደቂቃ ድረስ በባርነት ሲገዛን ይኖር ነበር።

ውድ ጓዳችን አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ እና በተለያየ የወያኔ ማጎሪያ ቤቶች ውስጥ ፍዳችሁን እያያችሁ ያላችሁ ወገኖቻችን ሆይ! የታሠራችሁበት የብረት ሰንሰለትና የታገታችሁበት የእስር ቤት በሮች የሚበረገዱበት ቀን ሩቅ እንደማይሆን እኛ የትግል ጓዶቻችሁ እናረጋግጣለን። በአረአያነት ያስተማራችሁን ጽናታችሁና ቆራጥነታችሁ በደማችን ውስጥ ነፍስ እንደዘራ አትጠራጠሩ።

ዘለአለማዊ ክብር ለነጻነት ስሉ መስዋዕትነት ለከፈሉ ጀግኖቻችን ሁሉ!

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ!!!