‘Asii fi Achi’ Archive

Dictatorship and its Evolution: Contrasting Burma with Ethiopia

By Messay Kebede: 

Since the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the iconic leader of the opposition to the military rule, Burma’s (Myanmar) political evolution has become an important discussion topic for political observers and analysts. Detecting a promising shift toward democratic opening, Hillary Clinton recently visited Burma and held talks with political leaders. The hope is that, after decades of a dictatorial military rule and deferred promises of democratization, Burma is finally engaging in the serious path of political reforms and transition to democratic government. On the other hand, Ethiopia, which had a fleeting experiment with free and fair elections in 2005, is going through the reverse process of a repressive and dictatorial government whose notable outcome was the holding of an election in 2010 that was anything but fair and free and resulted in the regime claiming 99.66 % of parliamentary seats. The purpose of my analysis is to compare the two countries with the hope of clarifying the reasons why they took divergent political paths and assessing the implications of Ethiopia’s democratic retreat, together with the political options offered to opposition forces as well as to the ruling party.

Many Similitudes

Lest of being accused of comparing oranges with apples, I must begin by showing that the two countries are indeed comparable. Notably, one immediate and weighty counterargument would be to say that the Ethiopian regime has all the characteristics of a civilian government while that of Burma is a military rule, itself the result of a coup in 1958 against the then legitimate civilian government. I grant the difference but also remind that, while open military regimes indeed materialize the hegemony of military elites in the form of a direct or indirect rule––the latter often done through the conversion of military rulers to civilian politicians––there is an intermediate form in which the military elite forms a tight coalition with a ruling civilian elite. My contention is that the latter applies to Ethiopia, there being no doubt that both the history of the TPLF as a guerrilla organization and the privileged treatment that the Meles’s government accords to the military produce a de facto alliance between the civilian leadership and the repressive apparatus of the regime. Since the regime has lost any legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of Ethiopians, the use of military and police forces alone ensures its survival.

There is more to the matter than the above similarity. Though belonging to different continents and histories, Ethiopia and Burma share many striking similarities. To begin with, not only in a way similar to Burma Ethiopia was subjected to a repressive military rule for an extended period subsequent to a coup that overthrew a civilian government, but also the military rule in both countries was coupled with the implementation of a socialist policy. Just as the Derg traded its initial nationalist platform for a socialist agenda, so too the military junta that ruled Burma announced in 1974 the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma.

As a result, both countries suffer from a legacy of economic mismanagement imparted by the nationalization of the means of production and the subsequent spread of corruption and lack of accountability. What is more, after the disavowal of socialism, a skewed policy of privatization of state-owned enterprises has led in both countries to the formation of conglomerates owned by ramifications of the ruling parties or their closest cronies. Just as in Ethiopia privatization meant the corrupt practices of passing ownership to extended organs of the TPLF, in Burma, too, denationalization changed state property into the private property of generals or their cronies. Unsurprisingly, the prevention of a healthy and open competition and the drainage of the financial resources by the monopolistic and corrupt practices of the conglomerates failed to improve economic outputs so that real economic progress has remained elusive in both countries.

Another noticeable similitude is that both countries have suffered and still suffer from ethnic quarrels and insurgencies. Like Burma, Ethiopia is an ethnically diverse country with a history of armed insurgencies fuelled by a longstanding grudge against a dominant ethnic group. In Burma, ethnic groups have complained about the dominance of Burmans, who constitute 60% of the population, and the policy of Burmanization that resulted in minority groups being economically and culturally marginalized. We know that the source of ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia is the complaint about the dominance of the Amhara and the policy of Amharization. In the face of ethnic insurgencies, the central state in both countries has assumed the responsibility of defending national unity through the formation of a strong military force.

In terms of ethnic conflicts and their outcomes, there are, however, notable differences. Contrary to Burma, the Amhara dominance was not the hegemony of a majority, since the Oromo ethnic group can claim to be as populous (if not more) as the Amhara, not to mention that today’s dominance of a Tigrean group has plunged Ethiopia into the uncharted course of the ascendency of a minority group. Above all, the military in Burma were able to contain ethnic insurgencies, whereas armed insurgent groups defeated and destroyed the Ethiopian army. The clear outcome of this was that in Ethiopia the military junta lost power and was replaced by a guerrilla elite while Eritrea became independent. But as stated earlier, some such difference does not remove the fact that the TPLF’s rule is the result of one military force replacing another military force.

Most characteristically, the existing regimes in Burma and Ethiopia are similar in the way they react to electoral defeats. Both like to brag about the opening of the political field, which however they are quick to repudiate at the slightest challenge. Thus, in 1990 the military regime in Burma announced the holding of the long promised free election whose outcome was that the opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory. The reaction of the military leaders was typical: they refused to hand over power to the victorious party and put Suu Kyi and other leaders under house arrest.

Restarting the opening process, Burma’s military rulers announced in 2003 a seven-step roadmap to democracy that would culminate in the holding of free elections. The promised elections were held in 2010, but which were far from being free and fair since, in addition to the electoral process being marred with widespread frauds and irregularities, the National League for Democracy was banned from participating and its leader still under house arrest. Even so, the ruling junta announced a complete victory by stating that the party representing it, the Union
Solidarity and Development Party, had won 80% of the votes.

We remember a similar scenario in Ethiopia. The relatively free and fair election held in 2005 resulted in the opposition gaining a substantial victory. The reaction of the TPLF was the rejection of the results, the imprisonment of the main leaders of the opposition, and the violent crackdown on protesters. A blatant intensification of repression followed, even as the holding of free elections in 2010 was reaffirmed. The promised elections were held amidst intimidation, repression, and restrictive rules. The ruling party unashamedly claimed to have won 99.66 % of parliamentary seats even if opposition parties and external observers spoke of votes being rigged and voters and candidates being intimidated and harassed.

It should be noted that the upgrading of repressive policy had comparable effects on the opposition forces. In both countries, opposition groups have failed to either force the existing ruling elites into dialogue or ease in any way the repressive policy. This failure has led to fragmentations over the right approach, some opposition groups turning more and more to armed struggles while others prefer to rely on the likelihood of a popular uprising. Thus, powerlessness has resulted in the split within the National League for Democracy, some groups having decided not to boycott the elections and work with the ruling party. Though Ethiopian opposition groups present a different aspect, still the inability to force change on the regime has caused splits and strategic reassessments.

Main Differences

As concerns differences, a notable factor appears in the relations of both countries with the West. Since 1996, Burma is under international sanctions organized by Western countries, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Such is not the case with Ethiopia, since despite widespread violations of human rights, Western governments have been reluctant to economically punish the Woyanne regime, mainly because the regime is considered as an ally in the fight against terrorism and appears as the only stable state in a highly volatile region. However, the difference is somewhat decreased when we note that the international sanctions against the Burmese regime are far from being efficient, given that the sanctions were not strictly enforced and that the two neighboring countries, namely, China and India as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, proved reluctant to support Burma’s economic and political isolation.

Where the difference becomes major is that the military regime in Burma, admitting its undemocratic nature, proposed in 2003 a roadmap that traces out a step-by-step progression to democratic government, which, it is true, many observers found painstakingly slow and unreliable. By contrast, the Woyanne regime has never been sincere enough to recognize its lack in democratic credentials, and so never offered any transitional arrangement on the grounds that Ethiopia is provided with a blossoming democracy since the overthrow of the Derg and the capture of state power by the TPLF. Some such attitude allows the holding of a bizarre discourse in which the regime interprets its crackdown on political dissents, not as an opposition to democracy, but as the defense of the democratic order against nondemocratic forces.

From the above disparity follows the Ethiopian regime’s constant game of deception, which blocks the need for a transitional process and whose consequence is the establishment of a political deadlock cornering many Ethiopians into rejecting the idea of evolution of the regime, thereby giving them no other choice than passivity or the resource to violent methods. Needless to say, to the extent that the impasse deprecates nonviolent opposition, it promises nothing but uncertain outcomes for Ethiopia as well as for those who control power.

Burma’s Incentives for Change

To understand why Burma engaged into a transitional process, it is necessary that we delve into the reasons why the military junta thought that gradual democratization is the best option for all. I have already indicated that the decision to open the political competition was not caused by the pressure of opposition forces. Then, what could impel a well-established dictatorship to open a political system that so durably and efficiently defended its hegemony? It must be said here that analysts differ in their explanation of the change of political direction.
Many observers maintain that the planned democratization is simply a fake promise designed to perpetuate military rule under civilian disguises. Others, however, are more cautious, arguing that there are some compelling reasons for democratization, however slow and unsteady the process may be. For such commentators, economic interests are the driving force behind the timid push for democratization. The first commanding point is the geographical situation of Burma, notably that it is part of a region that is going through an unprecedented economic boom. The realization that Burma, far from participating in the boom, is falling behind is incentive enough for the military to think about change.

The awakening includes the recognition that the dictatorial system in place stifles free and fair competition and encourages corruption and embezzlement, and so stands in the way of economic improvement. A dynamic market economy requires that the political apparatus be unlocked so that excluded and educated people inject their expertise, their dream of prosperity, and their social ambition into the economic system. In other words, political opening became appealing to the ruling junta in Burma, not because of internal threats to the dictatorial system, but because of the understanding that economic progress is conditional on political reforms.

A related incentive to political change toward democratization is the need to lift the economic sanctions imposed by Western countries and international financial institutions. What this means is that, once the military junta had decided to engage the country in the path of economic development, the lifting of international sanctions through slow but palpable political changes became an integral part of the new direction of the country.

Political opening became all the more attractive because of the involvement of many army generals in the sector of private business following the privatization of state-owned enterprises. The corrupt practice of privatization, which favored senior officers, had the unintended consequences of creating a business-military group with some leaning for a healthy private economy. This group of generals, retired or not, was likely to use its influence and power to bring about those changes necessary to accelerate the pace of personal enrichment. Stated otherwise, the fact that many generals privately owned businesses encouraged the gradual shift of their interests from political power to the management of their businesses.

One other reason for political overture advanced by some observers is the development of a generational conflict within the military. As the senior officers who established the dictatorial system became old, younger officers aspired to replace them. The best way to avoid generational conflicts that would undermine the unity of the armed forces is to transit to a civilian government, while protecting the interests of the military as well as of the old and retiring guard. A civilian government friendly to the military could be established if the military initiate and control the democratization process. Since the people owe democratization to the military, they would express their gratitude and their recognition of the military as the protector of democracy by favoring the party representing military interests.

Meles’s Kryptonite

Insofar as the Burmese evolution is triggered by the understanding that the establishment of a free market economy cannot come about without political reforms, it provides an important lesson for Ethiopia’s ruling clique. Meles’s government survival depends on its ability to control the repressive forces of the state. This ability, in turn, depends on Meles’s success in keeping the repressive forces materially satisfied and using them in a moderate way, given that an excessive recourse to the violent means of the state to suppress recurring riots caused by economic crises would be troubling to them. These two conditions point to nothing else but the need to realize a steady economic growth in the country. Meles understands this quite well, as evidenced by his flirtation with the idea of developmental state. To quote Addis Fortune, “having rejected democracy, the Revolutionary Democrats only have their ability to deliver economic growth as their source of legitimacy.”

Meles’s dream to bring about a developmental state must confront one undeniable fact: neither the pursuit of one’s interests nor the gratitude and the loyalty or fear of clients, still less moral exhortations, can nurture a sustained achieving drive, alone able to launch Ethiopia in a real path of economic development. A sustained productive appetite requires the challenge of a social system rejecting the ascriptive protection of clients, cronies, and ethnic associates, that is, it demands the exposure of the business community to the constant challenge of a competitive market. And since economic progress is necessary to remove the threat of popular uprisings, it springs to mind that political reforms should be an essential component of the survival strategy of the Woyanne regime.

My guess is that Meles dismisses the idea of political opening because he has in mind the Chinese model of economic growth without democratic opening. Yet, he should realize that the Chinese model is off the table for Ethiopia. To start with, Ethiopia is saddled with conflicts of all kinds, especially with ethnic rivalries, mostly nurtured by the TPLF itself. The proliferation of competing elites representing various ethnic groups places Ethiopia far away from the homogeneous nature of the Chinese elite. One of the consequences of the Maoist class war has been the elimination of elite diversity in favor of a uniformized leadership structure. Such is not the case in Ethiopia where elites have tended to disperse around competing interests, made particularly exclusive by identity politics. Witness even the EPRDF is a coalition of diverse ethnic groups, and so has nothing to do with the monolithic character of Chinese political elite fashioned by decades of ideological uniformity, Spartan alignment, and an internalized sense of hierarchical discipline.

Nothing that resembles even remotely the Chinese uniformization characterizes the formation of modern elites in Ethiopia. The Chinese characteristic of the political class, the military elite, and the bureaucracy being for decades under the control of a disciplined, united, and omnipresent political party is to be found nowhere in Ethiopia. Again, take the EPRDF. In addition to being an alliance of disparate groups, the main uniting force of the political front, namely, the TPLF, assuming that it has been somewhat disciplined, fragmented in 2001. The split and its subsequent developments opened the door to an influx of arrivistes, yes-men, and opportunists of all varieties. The consequence was that recruitments into the political, economic, and bureaucratic elites were based more on loyalty to Meles and his close associates than on ideological commitment and competence. All these people associated with the ruling clan for the unique purpose of personal enrichment through political protection and illicit means. It is therefore a divagation to assume that economic progress can be achieved with so many corrupt, incompetent, and self-serving people infecting the entire political and economic apparatuses.

The Transitional Process

However compelling the need for political opening has become to accelerate Burma’s economic progress and the very interests of the Burmese military, it must not be made to seem that the military are ready to hand over power to an elected body. As already indicated, the democratization process must promote their long-interests, and so must remain under their control for a foreseeable future. How could it be otherwise when we know the corrupt source of their enrichment and the absence of a serious threat to their continued rule? For them, democratization must guarantee, not their marginalization, but their integration into the emerging system and the preservation of their privileged place.

The means to ensure the above result is to place restrictions on the democratization process such that the military still command a political leverage that gives them assurance against political exclusion. In effect, the 2008 Constitution reserves 25 percent of legislative seats and all government posts associated with defense and security to the members of the military. In addition, the Constitution allows autonomy to the military in their own affairs, just as it puts them in charge of the protection of the Constitution, security, and unity of the country.
No mistake about it, the military still have extensive power and the political opening allows anything but a fair and free contest. Nonetheless, compared to the Woyanne regime, it has the advantages of clarity and the avoidance of deception and betrayal of one’s own Constitution, such as it happens to Meles’s government every time it transgresses the promised respect of the democratic rights of all Ethiopians. Above all, the Burmese Constitution has the advantage of promising a gradual democratization while the Woyanne’s attitude of denying rights permitted by the Constitution blocks political evolution, giving Ethiopians no other option than violent uprisings.
Granted that good reasons exist to characterize the transition process set by the military as nothing but a sham, a disguised means to preserve the status quo, the fact remains that other Asian countries have progressed into multiparty systems after decades of military or civilian dictatorships. All these countries have started with slow and incremental reforms whose effect was to create a growing middle class that became interested in supporting deeper economic reforms and political changes.

It is worth noticing here that opposition forces in Burma have evolved toward the acceptance of a transitional phase and abandoned their “full democracy now or nothing” approach by participating in the electoral contest of 2010, despite the many restrictions imposed by the military. Most significantly, after her release, Suu Kyi admitted the need for a transitional phase when she said: “I don’t want to see the military falling. . . . I want to see the military rising to dignified heights of professionalism and true patriotism.” Even if we assume that the military want to consolidate their power rather than to support democratization, it is undeniable that the opening of the political system and the participation of opposition forces can lead to gradual change reconciling the interests of the military with those of the nation.

Contrary to what is in gestation in Burma, the Woyanne retractions of democratic rights as a result of election defeat in 2005 creates nothing but a deadlock and a further deterioration of the political and economic life of the country. The only way out is political opening, as shown by the evolution of the Burmese military rulers, who came back to political opening after effecting a similar crackdown on the winning opposition party. The lesson that the Woyanne should learn is that the retraction of democratic rights is a recipe for economic mismanagement and stagnation and hence is not even in line with their own long-term interests.

The initiation of political opening is, moreover, the best way to argue for and make acceptable the setting of some rules to avoid a total loss of power. The deal should be the opening of the political system in exchange for some guarantees against marginalization, which is exactly what the military in Burma have proposed. Everything is possible in due time, and the Woyanne regime should use its hegemony to do what is possible instead of using its power to repress the opposition. The good usage of power is not repression, but the implementation of reforms that have the long-term outcome of integrating its own sectarian interests into the national interests. Since this process of integration is the sure way of avoiding revolutionary uprisings, which sound the end of reformism in favor of the overthrow of the existing regime, my question is: Why wait until things get out of hands with animosity reaches a boiling point even as solutions able to reconcile all interests can be worked out?

Opposition parties as well as the ruling party should know that their goals must be based on what is achievable. To do otherwise is to raise problems that they cannot solve for the simple reason that solvable problems are those that already implicitly contain their solutions. To project goals that do not contain their solutions is to plunge into a destructive utopianism, as illustrated by the mistakes and subsequent demise of the Ethiopian leftist forces after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1974. Meles’s government cannot stifle the deep discontent of Ethiopians and the challenge of opposition parties; as things stand now, the latter (I am speaking of those committed to a nonviolent strategy) cannot force the ruling party to play the game of fair and free election. What remains but that which protrudes as reasonable and feasible by default, namely, the path of mutual accommodation.

Source;   http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2011/12/22/dictatorship-and-its-evolution-contrasting-burma-with-ethiopia?blog=15

Category Asii fi Achi, News |

Ethiopia – Appeal to the Development Assistance Group (DAG) from Oromo community of South Rogaland, Norway

                        Postboks 638,

 4305 Sandnes, Norway                                                                              Email: oromorogaland@oromain.net

 URGENT ACTIONS | EDIT

Category Asii fi Achi, News |

Ethiopia – Appeal to HRLHA, From Oromo community of South Rogaland, Norway

4305 Sandnes, Norway  

                                                                            Email: oromorogaland@oromain.net

Category Asii fi Achi, News |

Thousands of Eritreans flee forced conscription

URJII 26 September, 2011

Eritrean soldiers. File photo.

Image by: AFP

For 12-year-old Eritrean refugee Ablel, the decision to flee his country was relatively simple.

“I didn’t want to be a soldier,” he says with a shy smile, revealing a mouthful of crooked teeth.

Getting out, however, was a harder challenge. He is one of thousands of youngsters risking death to sneak across Eritrea’s heavily militarized border every month into neighbouring Sudan and Ethiopia.

Most, like Ablel, are running from open-ended military conscription imposed by the autocratic, isolated and impoverished government of the Red Sea state.

“The ones who become soldiers, even they are escaping, so why would I want to be in military service?” Ablel said, sitting in Ethiopia’s Endabaguna refugee camp.

He escaped Eritrea on foot in June, leaving without telling his family — a common practice in a country where family members are reportedly often jailed after a relative leaves, accused of involvement in helping their escape.

Ablel said he left because authorities closed his school to use the land for military training, with a new school not due to open for two years.

“I couldn’t wait,” he said.

This month marks the tenth anniversary of mass arrests of hundreds of politicians, journalists and suspected spies by Asmara. Experts say the country’s human rights record has deteriorated in the past decade.

The United Nations refugee agency said nearly 3,000 Eritreans flood into Sudan and Ethiopia every month from Eritrea, a country of some five million people and about the size of England.

“(They’re escaping) gross human rights violations, including forced conscription into the army,” UN spokesperson Kisut Gebre Egziabher told AFP.

National service is compulsory for all citizens — male and female — at the age of 16, completing their final year of school in military camp.

Conscripts earn about $3 per month for the first 18 months and the service can last for decades. Many end up working as indentured labourers building roads or in the country’s newly opened foreign-run mines.

Amanuel Giorgio, Eritrea’s first secretary to the UN, said national service is an obligation and denied the program is connected to human rights abuses.

“I don’t know how national service is in any way related to human rights,” he told AFP.

Eritrea is one of the least developed countries in Africa, with a per capita GDP of $369 and one of the worst human rights records in the world, according to the UN.

The regime of former rebel Issaias Afewoki is propped up by a compulsory two percent remittance tax extracted from Eritreans living abroad, which the UN estimates to be 1.2 million people.

Newly arrived refugees in Ethiopia’s north say there is little industry and therefore few jobs available. The country’s only university was shut down in 2006, with military-run colleges opening instead.

“The only option for a farmer, for a soldier or for a student is to leave the country,” said Eritrean refugee Isaak. “If you are lucky you will make it across. If not they will shoot you.”

Fellow refugee, 18-year-old Samson, said he was frightened of dying at the border, but said he had no choice but to leave Eritrea.

“I didn’t want to join the military service,” the acne-riddled teenager said. “When I heard the rumour that some people were killed by soldiers (at the border) I was so scared. Still, when I reached the border I could not believe it, I feel so lucky.”

The effect of losing so many young men is far-reaching, according to Human Rights Watch Africa researcher Ben Rawlings.

“The best brains are leaving,” he said. “I think it’s having a terrible effect on Eritrea.”

Last month, Eritrea applied to rejoin the East African peacekeeping bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development and Afewoki visited Uganda, suggesting that the closed country is trying to end its regional isolation.

But author Michela Wrong says the move is not likely improve relations for the country viewed as a “troublemaker” in the region.

“It’s too little, too late,” said Wrong, who wrote a book about Eritrea’s 30-year long war for independence with Ethiopia.

The UN recently called for tighter economic sanctions after releasing a report linking Eritrea to a failed bomb plot at the African Union and of supporting Somalia’s extremist Shebab rebels, claims Asmara rejects.

Eritrea became “very alarmed at the level of hostility that is being shown in the international community and also in the region,” Wrong said.

A former colony of Italy and then part of Ethiopia, Eritrea fought a 30-year war with Ethiopia and only gained independence in 1991.

A subsequent border conflict with Ethiopia from 1998-2000 still simmers, which analysts say Asmara uses as an excuse for its continued iron-rule.

“There’s no sign of any improvement of basic freedoms in the country,” Rawlings added. “At the moment, the future looks bleak.”

Category Asii fi Achi, News |

UNHCHR Grills Ethiopia on Anti-Terror Law

URJII, July 16, 2011.

This week, the Human Rights Committee of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reviewed Ethiopia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including its press freedom record. Peppered with questions about an indefensible record of abuse–jailing the second largest number of journalists in Africa and leading the continent in Internet censorship–representatives of the Ethiopian government responded with cursory talking points and bold denials in contradiction of the facts.

Several committee members raised concerns about Ethiopia’s detention of several journalists on suspicion of terrorism, which is broadly defined in the country’s far-reaching antiterrorism law. (CPJ research shows a total of six journalists are being held.) “When we get reports that journalists get themselves arrested on grounds of violation of this particular proclamation, when seeking to enter the Ogaden or, even perhaps more recently, when engaging in Internet blogs purporting to criticize potential contributory responsibility of the government to the current drought,” said Sir Niger Rodley, “there does seem to be real problems of sweep and scope in that legislation.” Under the law, journalists risk lengthy prison sentences if the government deems their work favorable to groups and causes labeled as terrorists, including armed rebellions and banned opposition party Ginbot 7.

The government’s high-profile imprisonment of Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, two Swedish journalists arrested in eastern Ethiopia while covering the activities of the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front, which the government designated as a terrorist group, drew a lot of questions, particularly from committee member Krister Thelin. After being repeatedly pressed about the fate of the journalists and details of the legal procedures following their arrests, a flustered Ambassador Fisseha Yimer Aboye, head of the Ethiopian delegation, told the committee that no further information would be provided. Rodley pressed the delegation to explain the legal procedures surrounding the arrests of two other journalists, Woubshet Taye and Reeyot Alemu, on suspicions of terrorism.

Christine Chanet, another committee member, told the Ethiopian delegation: “It’s a very vague definition that you have of terrorism. It seems the definition of terrorism is too vague, which allows the criminalization of acts that are not really acts of terrorism.” Chanet described the Ethiopian anti-terrorism legislation as “an issue of particular concern” because it “opened the door” to potential violations of rights under the International Covenant.

Then came the Ethiopian response. “Now, the fact that we have an anti-terrorist law, I can’t see how that could have a chilling effect on the media because the United Kingdom has an anti-terror law. I don’t think that has any chilling effect on the British reporters,” said Genenew Assefa, a senior political advisor with the Ethiopian Office of Government Communication Affairs. “The mere fact that we have such laws does not necessarily imply that it would somehow curtail our liberties that are guaranteed under our constitution.” Assefa added: “From the outset, my government and I share the view that without an independent media, citizens cannot make informed decisions.” In fact, the May 1991 words of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi reflected this thinking as Zenawi, then a victorious guerrilla leader, chased from power the brutal Marxist Derg junta. “Now is the beginning of a new chapter. It is an era of unfettered freedom,” Zenawi promised Ethiopians.  In 1992, a new law allowed for a free press for the first time in the nation’s history.

Then, Assefa lashed words of contempt at Ethiopia’s independent private press. “Unfortunately, for a good 10 years, in our democratic experience, the media did not, the private media that is, did not play such a role. There were serious problems of inaccuracy, irresponsibility, and shared naked political advocacy,” he said. “For 10 years, my government tolerated this because it was the beginning democracy.” In fact it was far from “tolerance.” In 1994, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that “for the second year running, Ethiopia held more journalists in prison than any other country in Africa.”  A March 1995 CPJ report noted that while the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) had “substantially  increased press freedom and improved the human rights situation shortly after coming to power,” the government had also “detained, imprisoned, and fined dozens of journalists” to silence critical reporting.

Referring to the more than 20 Amharic-language newspapers that authorities shut in 2005 for editorials criticizing the government’s brutal crackdown on post-election protests, Assefa said he challenged the committee members review the papers’ headlines. “They would not be tolerated to operate in any democratic country,” he asserted. “Citizens were not being informed. They were being almost forced to rise up and tear up the system.”

In fact, during the protracted politicized trials of 15 editors of the Amharic press, Ethiopian public prosecutors failed in their attempt to link newspapers headlines and editorials, strident as they were, to any violence, obtaining convictions only after the journalists waived defense and pleaded guilty to anti-state charges in anticipation of a conditional pardons. With videos of the sessions available on the Internet, Committee Vice Chairman Yuji Iwasawa expressed concern about Ethiopia possibly preventing domestic Web users from accessing the recordings. “We have allegations that the broadcasting of Voice of America and Deutsche Welle is jammed in Ethiopia. Let’s hope that our webcast is available in Ethiopia to the viewers, not only the live webcast but the video archives.”

Article: By Mohamed Keita (CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator)

Source: CPJ Website

Category Asii fi Achi, News, News Briefs, News Stories |

WikiLeaks: Meles Zenawi Attempts to Assassinate the Eritrean President

URJII 17,Dece 2010

• Afeworki ‘cheated death after aircraft that was offered by Ethiopian president to fly him back to Asmara burst into flames’. Eritrea’s strongman Isaias Afeworki was nearly assassinated while on his way back to Asmara after a family holiday in Kenya, WikiLeaks reported, quoting secret American diplomatic cables.

The secret cables posted online by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks accuse Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi, a one time ally of Afeworki in Addis Ababa’s struggle to overthrow Mengistu Haile Mariam’s dictatorial rule, for the failed assassination attempt. The classified cables, attributed to American ambassador to Asmara, Ronald McMullen, claim the 62-year-old Afeworki is an “austere and narcissistic” dictator who believes Addis Ababa and Washington  harbour a plot to assassinate him and hardly travels in a motorcade.

“He is paranoid and believes Ethiopian PM Meles tried to kill him and that the United States will attempt to assassinate him,” McMullen wrote to his superiors in Washington on November 5, last year. The cables revisit an incident in 1996 when President Zenawi offered one of his helicopters to fly President Afeworki to Asmara, only for it to burst into flames shortly after take off from Addis Ababa. Fortunately, the pilot was able to turn back and land safely in the Ethiopian capital, where a livid Afeworki told Zenawi to his face that he had plotted to kill him.

“Isaias and Meles, brothers in arms during the 1980s, are now blood enemies. Why? In 1996, while returning from a vacation in Kenya, Isaias, his family and his inner entourage stopped in Addis, where Meles offered to fly them back to Asmara in one of his aircraft,” the cables report. “Isaias accepted the offer; en route the aircraft caught fire, but managed to turn back and land safely in Addis. According to someone who was on the aircraft, an infuriated Isaias accused Meles to his face of trying to kill him and his family. Isaias has not trusted Meles since, according to this source,” the story goes. The Eritrean leader also believes the Americans are out to kill him by bombing his residence. “Isaias thinks the United States will attempt to kill him by missile strike at his residence in the city of Massawa, according to late 2007 information from the Force Commander of UNMEE (United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea),” the US envoy told his bosses in Washington. Afeworki’s paranoia is further demonstrated in his habits and mannerisms.

“Isaias has an aversion to talking on the telephone and frequently sleeps in different locations to foil a coup or assassination attempt,” the cables note. “During the winter months he spends most of his time in Massawa rather than in Asmara. When dining in restaurants, Isaias will often switch plates with a subordinate, apparently to avoid being poisoned,” the report quotes the Qatari ambassador to Asmara. The cables describe the Eritrean leader as a man who keeps grudges and hardly forgives those who cross his path. They report an incident when he had a spat with Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh and has since declined to take part in efforts to end a border dispute between the two nations.

“A senior party official said Isaias and Djibouti President Guelleh had agreed during a 2008 telephone conversation to try to resolve at the presidential level issues related to the June border clash,” the cables state. “According to this senior Eritrean official, Isaias was livid when Guelleh supposedly shortly thereafter lambasted Eritrean aggression in a media interview. Isaias reportedly felt personally betrayed by President Guelleh, and has been obstinate about resolving the Djibouti-Eritrea border dispute ever since.”

According to Mr McMullen, President Afeworki is just another African despot who detests democracy and is hell-bent on ruling the volatile horn of Africa nation for life. “Isaias, 62, told a visiting German parliamentarian in late 2008 that he is healthy and expects to live another 40 or 50 years,” the cables reveal.

Category Asii fi Achi, News |

Egypt “Amazed” by Ethiopia’s Nile Remarks

Urjii- Nov 24, 2010,

ABU DHABI/CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt said it was “amazed” by Ethiopia’s suggestion on Tuesday that Cairo might turn to military action in a row over the Nile waters, saying it did not want confrontation and was not backing rebels.

Egypt, Ethiopia and seven other countries through which the river passes have been locked in more than a decade of contentious talks driven by anger over the perceived injustice of a previous Nile water treaty signed in 1929.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Reuters on Tuesday that Egypt could not win a war with Ethiopia over the River Nile and that Cairo was supporting rebel groups in an attempt to destabilise the Horn of Africa nation.

“I’m amazed … by the language that was used. We are not seeking war and there will not be war,” Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Reuters during a visit to Abu Dhabi.

His ministry said in a statement issued in Cairo: “The charges that Egypt .. is exploiting rebel groups against the ruling regime in Ethiopia are completely devoid of truth.”

Egypt, almost totally dependent on the Nile and threatened by climate change, says the Nile waters feed a farm sector accounting for a third of all jobs. Cairo is wary of dam construction in upstream countries that could affect flows.

Ethiopia has built five huge dams on the Nile in the last decade and has begun work on a $1.4 billion hydropower facility.

Under the original pact Egypt is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic metres of water a year, the lion’s share of the Nile’s total flow of around 84 billion cubic metres, despite the fact that some 85 percent of the water originates in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya signed a new deal to share the waters in May.

In the statement that was e-mailed to Reuters, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said it was “regrettable” that Ethiopia and other states had sought a new agreement.

“Egypt is firmly behind its legal and political positions on the issue of the Nile water,” Zaki said, adding that Egypt had pursued dialogue and cooperation on the use of the Nile’s water.

The five signatories of the new deal have given the other Nile Basin countries one year to join the pact before putting it into action. Sudan has backed Egypt while Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi have so far refused to sign.

The Egyptian spokesman added “We understand the frustrations of the Ethiopian party over the difficulties facing the Nile Basin agreement and initiative.”

Egyptian Water Minister Mohamed Nasreddin Allam held talks in Cairo on Tuesday with Burundi officials on irrigation and other cooperation, his ministry said in a statement.

The Arab world’s most populous nation fears population growth may outstrip water resources as early as 2017.

Category Asii fi Achi, News |

Ethiopian PM Warns Egypt off Nile War

Urjii Nov 23, 2010,

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Egypt could not win a war with Ethiopia over the River Nile and is also supporting rebel groups in an attempt to destabilise the Horn of Africa nation, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in an interview.

Egypt, Ethiopia and seven other countries through which the river passes have been locked in more than a decade of contentious talks driven by anger over the perceived injustice of a previous Nile water treaty signed in 1929.

Under the original pact Egypt is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic metres a year, the lion’s share of the Nile’s total flow of around 84 billion cubic metres, despite the fact some 85 percent of the water originates in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya signed a new deal to share the waters in May, provoking Egypt to call it a “national security” issue.

Meles said he was not happy with the rhetoric coming from the Egyptians but dismissed the claims of some analysts that war could eventually erupt.

“I am not worried that the Egyptians will suddenly invade Ethiopia,” Meles told Reuters in an interview. “Nobody who has tried that has lived to tell the story. I don’t think the Egyptians will be any different and I think they know that.”

The five signatories of the new deal have given the other Nile Basin countries one year to join the pact before putting it into action. Sudan has backed Egypt while Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi have so far refused to sign.

“The Egyptians have yet to make up their minds as to whether they want to live in the 21st or the 19th century,” Meles told Reuters in an interview, referring to the fact the original treaty was negotiated by colonial administrators

“So the process appears to be stuck.”

“FISH IN TROUBLED WATERS”

Stretching more than 6,600 km (4,100 miles) from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean, the Nile is a vital water and energy source for the nine countries through which it flows.

Egypt, almost totally dependent on the Nile and threatened by climate change, is closely watching hydroelectric dam construction in the upstream countries.

Ethiopia has built five huge dams over the last decade and has begun construction on a new $1.4 billion hydropower facility — the biggest in Africa.

Meles accused Egypt of trying to destabilise his country by supporting several small rebel groups but said it was a tactic that would no longer work.

“If we address the issues around which the rebel groups are mobilised then we can neutralise them and therefore make it impossible for the Egyptians to fish in troubled waters because there won’t be any,” he said.

“Hopefully that should convince the Egyptians that, as direct conflict will not work, and as the indirect approach is not as effective as it used to be, the only sane option will be civil dialogue.”

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in July called for a scheduled November meeting of the nine countries to be attended by heads of state. Meles said that would not happen now.

The last meeting of all sides ended in stalemate and angry exchanges between water ministers at a news conference in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

“Ask the Egyptians to leave their culture and go and live in the desert because you need to take this water and to add it to other countries? No,” Egyptian Water Minister Mohamed Nasreddin Allam told Reuters at that meeting.

Category Asii fi Achi, News, News Briefs |

Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa/HRLHA Reports Torture in Ethiopia

Urjii Nov.06, 2010

HRLHA’s Torture report was submitted to the 45^th Session of the UN Committee Against Torture meeting from November 1-19, 2010 in Geneva Switzerland. The report over sited Torture  and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments against people in Oromia since 1991 the TPLF/EPRDF came in to power.

Follow the link to see other Torture Reports .http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/cats45.htm

Read the full report

www.humanrightsleague.com

Submission from

Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA)

Committee Against Torture (CAT) on its 45^th Session

(1 – 19 November, 2010, Geneva)

Related to the discussion of the country situation in Ethiopia,

Submitted in October 2010

Profile – HRLHA

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) was originally founded in Ethiopia in 1996 by the name “Human Rights League (HRL)”; but silenced from the outset by the Country’s authoritarian regime. It was then re-launched from Diaspora in 2007 by exiled founders and members of HRL.  It was then re-named as Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA); and registered as a non- profit and non-political organization in Ontario, Canada on the 14th of June 2007.

HRLHA is aimed at defending fundamental human rights including freedoms of thought, expression and assembly or organization. It is also aimed at raising the awareness of individuals regarding their own basic human rights and that of others. It has intended to work on the observances of international and regional treaties, protocols, covenants, instruments, agreements, et cetera on human rights as well as due processes of related laws. It promotes the growth and development of free and vigorous civil societies.

The major objectives of HRLHA are to:

1. Endeavor to enlighten citizens of the Horn of Africa on their fundamental human rights;

2. Detect, monitor, investigate, verify and report on human rights violations;

3. Conduct researches on human rights issues with a view to disseminating their findings and/or conclusions, as well as making them available for further researches;

4. Promote the basic concepts and principles of human rights;

5. Lobby the governments of the Horn of Africa to ratify the basic international treaties on human rights;

6. Organize and offer trainings, workshops and seminars on the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms as well as other relevant issues;

7. Work closely with other humanitarian organizations, educational and media agencies especially regarding the promotion of the basic concepts and principles of human rights.

Physical Address:- 210-761 Jane Street, M6N 4B4

Toronto Ontario, Canada

Tel ; (647) 280 7062 or  (416) 767 8784

Fax;  (416) 767 7223

Email;   hrldirector@mail.org

Web site: www.humanrightsleague.com

Introduction

Ethiopia has been a member of the United Nations since the UN adopted its charter in 1945. Three years later, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international system aimed at facilitating the of protection of human rights, was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on the 10^th of December, 1948. Yet, the General Assembly in its resolution didn’t include the formal binding force for the system. However, the UDHR remained an important document and reference on human rights and international relations. The binding documents were prepared simultaneously by experts and adopted as of 1948.

As most of you are well aware, there are ten human rights covenants/conventions adopted by the United Nations, among which seven are known with their additional optional protocols as the core international human rights instruments since 2006. Once a state has ratified or acceded those covenants/conventions, it assumes the obligation to submit initial and periodic reports to the relevant committee within one to two, and within two to five years respectively concerning the measures taken towards implementation. The government of Ethiopia’s failure starts here. As the UN human rights committee documents indicate, Ethiopia has a huge reporting deficit with a long delay or not reporting at all regarding the practicality of the human rights instruments it has ratified. One of the human rights instruments ratified by the Ethiopian Government but with no submission of initial and periodic reports is the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), adopted December 10, 1984. Ethiopia has been a signatory to this convention since 1994. However, it has failed to fulfill its obligation by not filing either the initial or periodic report for more than 14 years. This conscious silence of the Ethiopian Government for this all time was not without reasons. It was to hide from international attention the inhuman and degrading acts committed against ordinary citizens of the Country by its security agents in breach of those international treaties.

Today, nineteen years after the end of the military regime, we observe with concern the continuation of widespread human rights abuses, unnecessary use of force and brutality including torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of persons by the TPLF/EPRDF government security agents and police forces. Such situations have been affecting various sectors of the general population; particularly the relatively educated peoples, students, civil servants, advocates of democracy and human rights activists, supporters and/or members of opposition political organization who attempted to simply exercise their fundamental democratic rights. These all fundamental rights are recognized not only by international covenants that Ethiopia has ratified, but also in Ethiopia’s Constitution and other legal documents.

When the EPRDF/TPLF Government took power in 1991, there had been very high expectations from both local and international communities that there would be a drastic change in regards to human rights situations compared to the previous Dergue regime. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, human rights violations continued not only to occur but also to worsen from time to time. As has been being documented and reported by local, regional and international human rights organizations as well as some Western governmental agencies, political extra-judicial killings, kidnappings and disappearances, mass arrests  without court warrants and extended imprisonments without trials even in unofficial and secret prisons, tortures, very poor and torturous prison situations, denials and delaying of justice, etc became rampant. In addition to extra-judicial killings, many innocent Ethiopians became victims of tortures, a good case in point being that of Mrs. Qamariya Shabbo of Robe Town in Bale Zone, a then eight-month expecting mother who was arbitrarily arrested in exchange of her allegedly wanted husband and tortured to death. Her baby son, who was born immaturely due to the beatings inflicted on his mother, also died instantly. Although Mrs. Qamariya’s case was widely reported on both locally and international, no single EPRDF/TPLF official of any rank was made accountable. According to a local newspaper called URJII, EPRDF/TPLD security agents tortured Mrs. Qamariya in order to coerce her into confessing the whereabouts of her allegedly wanted husband.

A. Ethiopian Constitution and Other Documents about Corporal Punishment

In principle, torture as well as inhuman or cruel and degrading treatments and punishments have been banned by virtue of the laws of the State. The Criminal Procedure Code, the FDRE Constitution and the recently enacted criminal code prohibit the practice of any kind of corporal punishment.

I.The 1994 Constitution

The following declarations have been made under various sections in the Constitution:

Article 9 – Supremacy of the Constitution

All international agreements ratified by Ethiopia are integral parts of the laws of the land.

Article 28 – Crimes against Humanity

1. Criminal liability of persons who commit crimes against humanity, so defined by international agreements ratified by Ethiopia and by other laws of Ethiopia, such as genocide, summary executions, forcible disappearances or torture shall not be barred by statute of limitation. Such offences may not be commuted by amnesty or pardon of the legislature or any other state organ.
2. 2. In the case of persons convicted of any crime stated in sub-Article 1 of this Article and sentenced with the death penalty, the head of state may, without prejudice to the provisions herein above, commute the punishment to life imprisonment.

II. Criminal Code of May 2005

Article 270 – War Crimes against the Civilian Population

Whoever, in time of war, armed conflict or occupation organises, orders or engages in, against the civilian population and in violation of the rules of domestic and international laws and of international humanitarian conventions:

a)      killings, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments or any other acts involving dire suffering or bodily harm, or injury to mental or physical health

b)      is punishable with rigorous imprisonment from five years to twenty-five years, or, in more serious cases, with life imprisonment or death.

Article 271 – War Crimes against Wounded, Sick or Shipwrecked Persons or Medical Services

(1)   Whoever, in the circumstances defined above, organizes, orders or engages in:

(a)                killings, torture, withholding medical care and attention required by their condition or inhuman treatment or other acts entailing direct suffering or physical or mental injury to wounded, sick or shipwrecked persons, or to members of the medical or first aid service;

(b)   is punishable in accordance with Article 270

Article 272 – War Crimes against Prisoners and Interned Persons

Whoever, in the circumstances defined above: a) organizes, orders or engages in killings, acts of torture or inhuman treatment or acts entailing dire suffering or injury to prisoners of war or interned persons;

b..is punishable in accordance with Article 270.

Article 424 – Use of Improper Methods

1) Any public servant charged with the arrest, custody, supervision, escort or interrogation of a person who is under suspicion, under arrest, summoned to appear before a Court of justice, detained or serving a sentence, who, in the performance of his duties, improperly induces or gives a promise, threatens or treats the person concerned in an improper or brutal manner, or in a manner which is incompatible with human dignity or his office, especially by the use of blows, cruelty or physical or mental torture, be it to obtain a statement or a confession, or to any other similar end, or to make him give a testimony in a favorable manner, is punishable with simple imprisonment or fine, or, in serious cases, with rigorous imprisonment not exceeding ten years and fine. Nothing in this Article shall affect the concurrent application of the relevant provision where the act constitutes an additional crime.

(2) Where the crime is committed by the order of an official, such official shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment not exceeding fifteen years and fine.

III Criminal Procedures Code of 1961 (Proclamation No. 185, 2 November 1961

Article 31 – No inducement to-be offered

(1) No police officer or person in authority shall offer or use or make or cause to be offered, made or used any inducement, threat, promise or any other improper method to any person examined by the police

2) No police officer or other person shall prevent or discourage by whatever means any person from making or from requiring to be recorded in the course of the police investigation any statement relating to such investigation which he may be disposed to make of his own free will.

B. International Instrument

The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (10 December 1984), one of the international document that Ethiopia has ratified, under article 2 clearly states the absolute prohibition of torture, and requires parties to take effective measures to prevent it in any territory under its jurisdiction. Although this prohibition is absolute, “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever”.

Despite these all facts, hundreds of thousands of civilian Ethiopians have been subjected to torture; and hundreds have fallen victims. The Ethiopian Government, by ignoring laws that it has enacted and international conventions that it has ratified, widely practices deliberate and well planned acts of torture that are causing losses of lives as well as extreme physical sufferings on non-consenting defenseless citizens.

Tortures and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishments practiced in Ethiopia

• Credible domestic and international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as national and regional governmental agencies like the US state department and EU member countries, have witnessed, and in different ways at different times given their confirmations that the Ethiopian Government is one of the top  few countries who, in contrary to the UN convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, uses torture for the purpose of coercing its own citizens into confessions to obtaining information or a confession from her/him or a third person.

Summary of Torture Reports on Ethiopia

Notes:

-          Details could be offered on these figures, if need be.

-          Documents could not be obtained on situations between the years 1998 and 2006

-          The above data is obtained only from two sources, URJII News Paper and HRLHA

Some of the very common ways of the commission of tortures

• Continuous and strenuous involuntary physical exercises.
• Locking in in isolated, usually underground, dark rooms.
• Suspending from the ceiling while handcuffed on the back.
• And many others.

• Sleep deprivation by forcing to stay in standing position for extended hours until the person faints and/or loses consciousness.
• Forcing to walk barefooted on smashed bottle/glass pieces.
• Prolonged solitary CONFINMENT and interrogation
• Inserting needle in to fingers under the nails.
• Extracting finger nails by pliers.
• Electronic shock all over the body, especially on fingers, legs, buttock, and ears
• Threatening at gun point by taking the person to top of a cliff and telling them that they would be thrown off.
• Shaving hair dry with broken sharp glass/bottle or razor.
• Forcing to drink or lick one’s own blood after causing to bleed by beating
• Tying/Suspending water-filled bottle on testicles (males).
• Inserting water bottle in to genitals (female).
• Forcing to consume one’s own waste products. stool or drink own urine

Reasons for the Torture

• Being a member and/or supporter of any opposition party.
• Advocating freedom of speech and opinions as well as other fundamental human and democratic rights such as that of assembly and organization.

When and where torturing takes place

• In Ethiopia, there are only few prison facilities known to the public. More than half of the total detainees in the country are kept in military camps, prison-turned public offices and/or institutions such as schools and health centres in rural areas, underground buildings, etc. Detainees held in such places are always at risk of being tortured or even killed any time,
• Maikelawwi – the well known detention center is the center for the torture. In Maikelawi torturing usually take place after mid night after every detainee lies down to sleep.

Recommendations

§  The Ethiopian Government should respect Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984, which it ratified in 1994

• The government of Ethiopia should respect what is written in the nation Constitution, in its penal code for all forms of torture, fully incorporating all elements of the definition
• We recommend that the government of Ethiopia establish machinery for a systematic review of interrogation rules, methods and practices, particularly in police premises, in order to honor its commitments under article 11 of the   Convention.
• We recommend that, while paying particular attention to the protection of the rights of persons arrested and detained, state party intensify the educational, training and information programmes provided for in article 10 of the Convention, for all concerned officials and other stakeholders.
• We recommend that the Ethiopian authorities undertake and expedite serious investigations into the conducts of the police forces in order to establish the truth of the many allegations and/or f acts of torture and, if the results of the investigation are positive, bring the persons responsible before justice; and give the police
  specific and clear instructions designed to prohibit any act of torture.
  • We recommend that the government allowed a neutral human right committee to make random visits to jails, custodies, detention centers and any other places where the authorities keep detainees.
  • We recommend that the government of Ethiopia give full statistical information about the number of detainees from the 1991 until 2010 as well as the number of those killed under torture.
  • We recommend that the government of Ethiopia compensate those families who lost their relatives under torture or through excessive force used by the police or security agents
• Source  www.humanrightsleague.com

Category Asii fi Achi, News, News Briefs |

Diiganii Ijaaruun Kan Irra fooya’etti Bahuuf Ta’uu Qaba

Urjii Onkololeessa 10, 2010; Yeroo dhihoo kana keessa sab – qunnamtiilee mooraa fira Qabsoo Oromoo keessaas ta’e kan fira qabsoo Oromoo hin taane keessaa bal’inaan oduun tamsa’aa jiru waa’ee wal-ta’insa Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo ti. Waa’ee kana illaalichisee wal-dhabnee  ture, amma garuu wal-ta’uuf waliin marihachaa jirra jechuun ABO lamaan ofiin jedhan irraa bakka bu’ootni isaanii sab-qunnamtiilee adda-addaa irratti yeroo ibsa kennaan dhagahamee jira.

Moraan qabsoo Oromoo biffa ijaarmaatiin soso’uu eega eegalee gannoottan afurtamaa ol akka dabran seenaan ABO ni mul’isa. Waggoottan dheera dabran kana keessatti uummata jaarraa tokkoo fi walakkaa dura diina jalatti kufee ture bilisoomsuuf yaaliin taasifamaa ture keessatti lubbuun qabsaawota hedduu dabree jira. Ilmaan Oromoo lubbuu isaanii iratti murteeffatanii diina uummata isaanii irra wggoota dheeraaf ture  kaasuuf qasoo adeemsisaa turan keessatti wal-dhabdeen yoo turte illee hanga danda’ametti diina irratti tarkaanfileen fudhatamaa tutran hedduu kana abdii namaa kennan turanii fii bu’aalee hedduu argamsisan dha.

Mootummaan Habashaa Uummaatoota Kibbaa fi Biyyaa Oromiyaa weeraruuf barra 1884 keessa hirmattota wal-gahii biyyotni Awuroophaa magalaa Barlin keessatti  Biyyota Afrikaa qircachuuf waliin kan mallatteese ta’uu isaa seenaan raga ni baha.

Haa ta’u malee bara  1960tti labsiin sirna koloneeffataa dhabamsiiu bahe irratti hunda’ee  biyyootni Afrikaa, Kaaba Ameerikaa fi Asia bilsummaa yeroo itti argatan waa’ee biyyoota Kibba  Itoophiyaa keessaa Mootummaa Habashaatiin koloneefatamanii turan kan maqaa dhahe hin turre. Uummatni gurraacchi koleneeffataa gurraaccha birootiin koloneeffatamuun isaa biyyoota biroo irraa kan adda isa taasise ta’uu ni mala. Kuni dhiibbaa mataa isaa kan ta’e yoo qabaate illee qabsaaotni ilmaan Oromoo bittaa diinaa jalaa uummata isaanii baasuuf hanga ammaatti qabsoon deemsisaa jiran injifatnooleen argaman akka laayyootti kan ilaalamu miti. Adeemsa qabsoo keessa du’aa fi jereenya, beelaa fi dheebuu, toltuu fi hamtuun akka nama qunnamu beekamaa dha. Kana hunda ciminaan bira dabranii kaayyoo fiinxaan baasuuf diina irratti injifatnoo galmeessuu tu qbsaa’ota irraa eegama. Kan dabre irraa barachuu dhaan rakkooleen qabsaawota gidduutti uumaman yeroo dhaan furmataa argatanii gara fuula duraatti mooraa qabsoo ciminaan eeguun hojii hooganoota qabsoo keessaa isa duraa ti.

Yeroo dheeraa dura rakkinooleen dhaaba ABO keessatii uumamani turaniin  qaawwa banamee ture deebisanii yeroo sanatti duucchuu dhabuu irraa kan ka’e hanga ammaatti ABOn mooraa ititaa  ta’uu hin daneenye. Qabsaa’onni akka dhuunfaattis ta’e gartuudhaan dhaaba kana keessa yeroo heedduuf yoo bahan argamee jira. Namootni akka dhuunfaatti dhaaba kana keessaa bahuu isaanii himattan hedduun isaanii jireenya mataa isaanii jiraacchuu irra walitti funaanamanii dhaabbole maqaa Oromootiin yeroo ijaaran mul’ateera. Gama birootiin ammo akka gartuutti bara 2001 fi 2008 kan fottoqan maqaa ABO jedhutti qincaabbii foowuu dhaan ABOn kan isaan keessa jiran malee kan biro akka hin jirre    uummata qabsaa’aa jiraniifis ta’e uummata addunyaaf labsani. Yeroo kana irraa eegalee moraan qabsoo Oromoo  caalaa laaffataa deeme. Qabsaa’otaa fi deeggartoota dhaabicchaa afaan faajjessuu irra dabree haala qabsoo uummatoota biroo keessatti mul’atee kan hin beekne tu dhaaba kana keessatti mul’ate. Maqaa ABO jedhuun gartuuleen sadii of himachuun isaanii hangam dhaabni kun namoota boodatti hafoodhaan gaggeeffamaa akka ture mirkaneesse. Bara 2008 keessa fottoqinsi taasifame bara 2001 keessa kan taasifame iirraa adda kan isa baasuu waan heeduun jira natti hin fakkaatu. Fottoqnsi bara 2001 keessa ta’e bu’aa tokko illee akka hin fidne ifatti osoo mul’ataa jiru gartuun bara 2008 keessa fottoqinsa adeemsise gaga’umsa gartuun  isaan dura dhaqqabsiise irraa barnoota argacchuu dhabuun isaa hangam namootni hedduun dhaaba kana keessa turan fedhii uummataa irraa fedhii mataa isaanii kan dursan ta’uu  kan saaxil isaan  baase dha. Badii qaamni biroo geessise irraa barnoota argacchuu irra ofiif badii geessisanii irraa baracchuu flatan.  Dhuguma dha namootni qabsoo keessa jiran uummataan kan filataman miti.

Qabsoo eegaluuf kan of irratti murteeffatu namuma sana dha. Gara qabsootti uummataan filamee kan dabalame hin jiru, ta’us hin danda’u. Haa ta’u malee wareegamni kaffalamu dhimma dhuunfaa nama tokkoo qofaaf osoo hin taane fedhii uummata cunqurfamee guutuuf akka ta’e kan hubatamu dha. Kana waan ta’eefi uumatni mootummaa koloneefataa jala jiran qaama ofiin hin filanne cinaa hiriiranii qabsoof deeggarsa kan gumaacchan.

Yeroo ammaa kana uummatni Oromoo bara kam irra caalaa yeroo gabrummaan bifa jijjiirrate irratti diriree jiru dha. Gabroomfataan Mootummaa Habashaa qabeenya uummata Oromootiin  michuu hedduu horachaa jira. Qabeenyi Oromoo inni guddaan lafa  akaakilee  isaa irraa dhaale of harkaa qabu dha. Yeroo ammaa kana lafti Oromoo irraa fuudhamee biyyootaa fi Kaampaniilee biyya alaatti gurguramaa jira. Gocchaan  yeroo ammaa uummata kana  irratti raawatammaa jiru guddaa uulfaataa dha. Weerarri Mooticha Minilik bara 1900 kessa  biyya Oromiyaa cabsuuf taasise irra kan hamaate ta’uu isaa hubachuu qabna. Ummata lafa isaa irraa buqqasuu jechuun beelessuu fi, maatii facaasuu qofa osoo hin taane abbaa biyyummaa isa dhabsiisuu  dha. Haalli hamaan yeroo ammaa kana Mootummaa Itoophiyaatiin gaggeefamaa jiru Oromotaaf boqonnaa kan kennu ta’uu hin danda’u. Adeemsa Mootummaa gabroomfataa kana dura dhaabbacchuuf mooraan qabsoo Oromoo daran soso’uu qaba. Haalli moraa ABO keessaatti argamaa jiru garuu kan kana mul’isaa jiru hin fakkaatu. Qabsoon qbeenya Oromoo tiksuu fi biyya Oromiyaa walaba taasisuu danda’u dacchee Oromiyaa irra kan soso’u ta’uu qaba. Biyya halagaa keessa jiraachaa mooraa qabsoo Oromoo jabsuudhaan Oromiyaa walaboomsuuf waa’ee wal- ta’insaa dubbachuun uummata jireenyaa gadadoo keessa jiru irratti qoosuu ta’a.  Dhaabboleen maqaa Oromoo ofitti maxxansanii maagaalota durooman biyyoota Awuroophaa fi Ameerkaa keesa akka soso’aa jira himatan marti osoo walitti dhufanii dhimma uummata irratti waliigalanii bu’aa guddaa qaba. Kuni hanga ammaatti ta’ee hin argamne , gara fuula duraattis ta’uuf deemaa kan jiru hin fakkaatu. Ummata Oromoo Salphina guddaa kana irraa baraaruuf yeroo fuudhacchuun itti fufuu hin qabu.

ABOn har’a karaa maqa dallaa lama gidduu irra ijaajjaa jira.  Maqni dhaabni kun irraa gahee jiru inni tokko  ciminaan uummata dhaabateef salphina yeroo ammaa keessa seenee jiru jalaa baraaruuf tarkaanfii atattamman  fudhachuuf itti seenuu qabu dha. Inni lammaffaa ammo moora qabsoo cimsuuf hojjechaa jirra jechuun rakkinni uummata irra gahaa jiru akka daran bal’atu carraa kennuu dha.

Gartuulee fi namoota kaleessaa fedhii uummataa gara cinaatti dhiisanii fehii dhuunfaa isaanii faana bahan gara mooraa qabsootti deebssuuf yaaliin taasifamaa jiru tarkaanfiilee diina irratti fudhatamuu qabu laaffachuu isaaf akka sababa guddaatti dhihaachuu hin qabu. Qaamoni  akkasii kun gara mooraa qabsoo irraa fottoqaniitti deebi’uuf yeroo isaanitti fudhachuun irra hin jiru dhuguma qophii qabu tanaan. Yeroo fi qabeenyi waa’ee araara jedhamu kanaaf oola jiru hubatnoo keessa bu’uu qaba.

Xumura irratti  mooraa qabsoo ture diiguudhaan  deebisanii mooraa qabsoo wal-fakkaatu ijaaruuf tattaaffiin taasifamaa jiru hangam bu’aa akka fidu  walumaan ilaluuf deemna.

Nagaan,

Mirgoo Jabeessaa irraa

Category Asii fi Achi, News |