Ethiopian-American Communities Must Be More Visible

Where Were You Last Election Day?

December 1, 2012Deportation Set for All Persons of Ethiopian Extraction

How would you react if you were greeted one morning with the words above, either as the top story on the TV morning news, or as headlines on the front-page of all the newspapers? Despite the fact that as a nation Americans are proud of their immigrant heritage, those words could be made into law by the U.S. Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives), or the President could issue an executive order that would have nearly the same effect as a law. Although highly unlikely, it has happened in the past.

During World War II Japanese-Americans Faced Internment

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, President Roosevelt issued an executive order that all people – even citizens – of Japanese extraction were to be rounded up and sent to concentration camps far from the Pacific Coast. The order was prompted by fear that among this population of nearly 120,000 people some Japanese sympathizers could be found.  About two-thirds of that population was natural-born American citizens. The President used special “war-time powers” to make the internment official despite the fact that it was clearly unconstitutional.

The United States of America Is Not a Democracy

The U.S. is a republic based on the rule of law (the Constitution). Immigrants or members of any particular minority

 should be glad of that fact. Although American government does hold to the democratic principle of one individual with one vote, the rule of law prevents any tyranny of the majority. As the Constitution now stands, the majority does not always rule. No law can say which religion is best, no law can rule which life-style is best, no law can determine which political party is best, no law may say which skin color is best.

You Are the Government

In America the people determine how the government should operate according to the individuals that they vote into office, or expel from office. People are more or less allowed to do as they please as long as they don’t hurt others or go against the public welfare. However, in this lively political country, there are many battles regarding what is good and what is bad. As a voting citizen, you will often be called upon to help government decide what is best for your city, your state, and your nation. Use that vote thoughtfully, because you as a citizen are determining your government.

Ethiopian-Americans Careless with Their Voting Powers

The number of Ethiopian-American voters participating in the recent presidential election was disappointing. Poor turnout of voters is a sacrifice of much grass-roots power and could easily be remedied, since many Ethiopian-Americans fall into one of these groups:

• Those eligible for naturalization but haven’t claimed citizenship.
• Those who choose to become naturalized but never register to vote.
• Those who are naturalized and then choose not to exercise their right to vote.

Potential voters who fall into any of these groups usually explain away not voting with the flimsiest of excuses.

Ethiopian-American Communities Must Be More Visible

Ethiopian-Americans should find local candidates with the same political goals and support them as volunteers. This would ensure them taking notice of our fast-growing population and will make them more likely to consider their Ethiopian-American communities when setting policy. These leaders would be more likely to make appointments from among our community. They would mentor our voters on the sometimes-messy business of American politics.

This mentoring could pave the way for the development of our own political candidates. We are reaching second and third generations of Ethiopian-Americans in this country and it is important for our community to be active and visible on the local, state, and national political scenes.

Grass Roots Organizing is the Best Place to Start

American political figures often use the phrase: “All politics is [sic] local.” Local or community organizations are venues where the political power of American citizens starts. One important way to begin using political power is with the local boards of education. At these fundamental organizations citizens have a lot of clout in many ways. They can:

• Help develop local education policies.
• Become advocates for universal education of high quality.
• Help determine the most efficient uses of public education funds.
• Become leaders on issues of citizenship.
• Mobilize to increase voter registration and attendance at the polls.
• Invite elected officials of the city, county, state, and federal levels to attend events in the local Ethiopian-American communities.

Political Power Is Not Realized with Grip-and-Grin Photos

Being aware of the political clout of Ethiopian-Americans, and exercising it, is not just about getting a grip-and-grin photo with an elected official to hang on an office wall. Ethiopian-Americans need to get involved in main stream politics and Ethiopian-Americans need to run for office. Both Republican and Democrats candidates need to see that our vote is something worth earning. But we have to prove we vote.

The Ethiopian-American communities benefited to a degree that Obama was re-elected. Romney’s lack of sympathy for any immigrant community could have easily resulted in some rather draconian measures taken on any immigrant group in the U.S. By voting for candidates who are supportive of our communities, we can forestall any horrific actions such as that which befell the Japanese-American communities during World War II. So, where were you last election day?

May God bless the United States of America!

The Ethiopian American Council (EAC)

The Ethiopian American Council is a grassroots policy advocacy organization.

የጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ ክስ እንደገና ተቀሰቀሰ

የፍትህ ጋዜጣ ዋና አዘጋጅ ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ ከዚህ ቀደም በፌዴራል ዐቃቤ- ሕግ ቀርቦበት የነበረው ክስ እንደገነ ተቀሰቀሰ፤

ትላንት ሃሙስ ህዳር 20 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም ከቀትር በኋላ ወደ ጋዜጣው ቢሮ የፍርድ ቤት መጥሪያ ይዘው የመጡት የፖሊስ አባላት ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ከአዲስ አበባ ውጪ መሆኑ ተነግሯቸው ተመልሰዋል ።

ዓርብ ህዳር 21 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም ከሰሃት በኋላ የፌዴራል ፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ 16ተኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን በሌለበት ችሎት የሰየመ ሲሆን የፍርድ ቤት መጥሪያ ለጋዜጠኛው ሊያደርሱ የሄዱት ፖሊሶች በጊዜው ሊያገኙት አለመቻላቸውንና ለሥራ ባልደረቦቹ ግን መንገራቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡

ቀደም ሲል የጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝን የዋስትና መብት የነፈጉት ዳኛ መጥሪያው እንዳልደረሰው ካረጋገጡ በኋላ ዐቃቤ- ሕግን የውሳኔ አስተያየት የጠየቁ ሲሆን ዐቃቤ- ሕግ በበኩሉ በቀጣይ እንዲቀርቡልኝ ማዘዣ ይጣፍልኝና አጭር ቀጠሮ ይሰጠኝ ብሏል፡፡

የችሎቱ ዳኛ በበኩላቸው የፍርድ ቤት መጥሪያ ለፍትህ ጋዜጣ ዋና አዘጋጅ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ እና ለድርጅቱ ጠበቃ እንዲደርስ ማዘዣ እንዲወጣ አዘው ቀጣይ ቀጠሮውንም ለታህሳስ 2 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም ጊዜ ቀጠሮ ሰጥተዋል፡፡

ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ  ከጤናው ጋር በተያያዘ ወደ አዋሳ መጓዙን ተከትሎ መጥሪያ እንደደረሰው ለኢሳት ገልጿል።

የፕሬስ አፈናው በአቶ ሀይለማርያም የስልጣን ዘመንም ተጠናክሮ መቀጠሉን ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ በአዲስ ታይምስ መጽሄት ላይ ሲሰራ የገጠመውን ችግር በመዘርዝር ገልጿል

ተመስገን ፍትህ ጋዜጣን ሲያሳትም በነበረበት ወቅት ከ39 ባላነሱ እንያንዳንዳቸው ከ106 በላይ ዝርዝር ክሶችን በያዙ ወንጀሎች መከሰሱ ይታወቃል።

ከታዋቂው ጋዜጠኛ ተመስገን ደሳለኝ ጋር በፕሬስና በወቅታዊ የአገራች ፖለቲካ ዙሪያ ያደረግነውን ቃለምልልስ ከዜናው በሁዋላ በትኩረት ክፍለ ጊዜ የምናቀርብ መሆኑን ለመግለጽ እንወዳለን።

ከፍተኛ ሙስና ፈጽመዋል የተባሉት ግለሰብ የኦሮምያ ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት ፕሬዚዳንት ሆነው ተሾሙ

የኦሮሚያ ክልል ምክር ቤት ዛሬ ጉባኤውን ሲያጠናቅቅ የ77 ዳኞችን ሹመት አጽድቋል።የክልሉ ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት ፕሬዚዳንት ሆነው የተሾሙት አቶ ፍቅሩ አያና ከምክር ቤት አባላቱ ከፍተኛ የሆነ ተቃውሞ ቢቀርብባቸውም፣ ከፍተኛ አመራሮች ስለፈለጉዋቸው ብቻ እንዲሾሙ መደረጉን የኦህዴድ ምንጮች ገልጸዋል።

የምክር ቤት አባላት በአቶ ፍቅሩ ላይ ካቀረቡዋቸው የመቃወሚያ ሀሳቦች መካከል ግለሰቡ በሙስና የተዘፈቁ ናቸው፣ በዞናቸው ዳኛ ሆነው በሰሩበት ወቅት በህዝብ የተጠሉና ህዝብን ያንገላቱ ናቸው፣ የስነምግባር ችግር አለባቸው፣ በህብረተሰቡ ዘንድ ተቀባይነት የላቸውም የሚሉት ይገኙበታል። የክልሉ ባለስልጣናት ከምክር ቤት አባላት ለቀረበባቸው ተቃውሞ አጣርተን መልስ እንሰጣለን የሚል ድፍንፍን ያለመልስ በመስጠት ሹመቱ እንዲጸድቅ አድርገዋል።

የምክር ቤት አባላቱ በባለስልጣኑ አሰራር ላይ ነቀፌታ ሲያቀርቡ እንደነበር ታውቋል።

በጉባኤው ማጠናቀቂያ ላይ ክልሉን ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ አለማየሁ አቶምሳን ጨምሮ የስራ አስፈጻሚዎች የስልጣን ሹም ሽር ይኖራል የሚል አጀንዳ ተይዞ የነበረ ቢሆንም ምክንያቱ በውል ባልታወቀ ሁኔታ አጀንዳው እንዲሰረዝ ተድርጓል። መረጃዎች እንደሚያመለክቱት አቶ አለማየሁን ለመተካት ሀሳብ ቢቀርብም በሚተካው ሰው ላይ የስራ አስፈጻሚዎች ለመስማማት ባለመቻላቸው እንዲቀር ተድርጓል። አንዳንድ የስራ አስፈጻሚ  አባላት ስብሰባ ረግጠው እስከመውጣት መድረሳቸውን ለማወቅተ ችሎአል።

በሰሞኑ የምክር ቤት ስብሰባ ላይ አርብ እለት ከተገኙት ከምክትል ፕሬዚዳንቱ ከአቶ አብዱላዚዝ በስተቀር ፕሬዚዳንቱን ጨምሮ ሌሎች ከፍተኛ ባለስልጣናት በማጠቃለያው ጉባኤ ላይ አልተገኙም።

ሰሞኑን ለአቶ ሙክታር ከድር የተሰጠው የምክትል ጠቅላይ ሚኒሰትርነት ቦታ በተወሰነ መጠን በምክር ቤቱ ውስጥ ይነሳል ተብሎ የተጠበቀውን ተቃውሞ ማብረዱ ታውቋል።

በሌላ ዜና ደግሞ አዳማ 5ኛውን ከንቲባ ሾማለች። ከሙስና ጋር በተያያዘ ከህዝብ በቀረበ ተቃውሞ ከስልጣን እንዲባረሩ በተደረጉት የተወካዮች ምክር ቤት አባሉ በአቶ ጉታ ላንጮሬ በአቶ ባካር ሻሌ ተተክተዋል። አቶ ባካር ሻሌ አቶ በረከት የሚመሩት የኮሚኒኬሽን ጽህፈት ቤት ምክት ሃላፊ የነበሩ ናቸው።

አንዳንድ ወገኖች ግለሰቡ በእርግጥም ከሙስናና ከአስተዳደር ብቃት ጋር በተያያዘ በከተማው ህዝብ ዘንድ ተቃውሞ ተነስቶባቸው የነበረ ቢሆንም፣ አሁን ከስልጣናን የተባረሩት ግን ምናልባትም በኦህዴድ ውስጥ ከተፈጠረውን ችግር ጋር ተያይዞ ሊሆን እንደሚችል ይናገራሉ።

ኢሳት የከንቲባውንና የከተማ ልማት ቢሮ ሀላፊውን ከስልጣን መባረር መዘገቡ ይታወሳል።

የሁለቱ ም/ጠቅላይ ሚኒሰትሮች ሹመት ህገመንግስታዊ ድጋፍ የለውም ሲሉ አንድ ታዋቂ የህግ ባለሙያ ገለጹ

በሩዋንዳ ተቋቁሞ በነበረው የተበባሩት መንግስታት ድርጅት አለማቀፍ የወንጀለኞች ፍርድ ቤት ዋና አቃቢ ህግ በመሆን ያገለገሉት እና በህግ የማስተማር ሙያ ላይ ለረጅም ጊዜ አገልግሎት የሰጡት ዶ/ር ያቆብ ሀይለማርያም ለኢሳት እንደተናገሩት የሁለቱ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሮች ሹመት ህገመንግስታዊ ድጋፍ የለውም። ዶ/ር ያቆብ ” የህገመንግስቱ አንቀጽ 75 ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ በማይኖሩበት ጊዜ ምክትል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ተክቶ እንደሚሰራ ይደነግጋል  እንጅ ከሁለት ወይም ሶስት ምክትል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሮች መካከል ተመርጦ አንዱ ይተካቸዋል አይልም” ብለዋል

ዶ/ር ያቆብ ሹመቱ ከመሰጠቱ በፊት የተወካዮች ምክር ቤትና የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤቶች በጋራ  ተስማምተው ህጉን ማሻሻል ይችሉ እንደነበር ገልጸዋል።

ምናልባት ሌሎች ያልታዩ የህግ ድንጋጌዎች በመኖራቸው በነዚያ ድንጋጌዎች መሰረት የተደረገ ሹመት ሊሆን አይችሉም ወይ ተብለው ለተጠየቁት ዶ/ር ያቆም ፣ ምንም የሚያሻማ ነገር ነገር የለም በማለት መልሰዋል

ኢህአዴግ ስለ ህገመንግስት  መታስ በተደጋጋሚ ይናገራል፣ በዚህ ድንጋጌ ላይ ህገመንግስቱ በግልጽ እንደተጣሰ ተናግረዋል፣ ኢህአዴግ እሞትለታለሁ የሚለውን ህገመንግስት ለምን በአደባባይ ለመጣስ የፈለገ የመስልዎታል በሚል ለቀረበላቸው ጥያቄ ደግሞ፣ ዶ/ር ያቆም ኢህአዴግን በመሰረቱ 4 ድርጅቶች መካከል ያለውን የስልጣን ሽኩቻ ለማብረድ ታስቦ ሊሆን ይችላል ብለዋል

አቶ ሀይለማርያም ደሳለኝ የህወሀቱን ዶ/ር ደብረጺዮን ገብረሚካኤልንና የኦህዴዱን አቶ ሙክታር ከድርን ምክትል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር በማድረግ መሾማቸው ይታወሳል።

Young Ethiopian Human Rights activist Mekonnen Workineh, exposing the TPLF regime in Norway

Journalism is Not Terrorism: Calling on Ethiopia to Free Eskinder Nega

By Rainey Reitman

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Eskinder Nega, an award-winning journalist who has been imprisoned for over a year, appeared briefly in court to appeal

 the terrorism charges levied against him. Eskinder has unwaveringly denied the charges, maintaining that blogging about human rights abuses and democracy is not a form of terrorism. In July, Eskinder was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his reporting. In court this week, his appeal was cut short: according to one report EFF received from partners working on his case, Eskinder was not allowed to read his defense statement and the appeal was rescheduled to November 22. We are continuing to seek confirmation about the status of the trial. For now, we’re asking concerned individuals to join us in calling on the Ethiopian government to live up to the promises in their own Constitution and free Eskinder Nega.

While many journalists have either fled Ethiopia or been silenced by repressive policies, Eskinder Nega has become a national symbol for press freedom. Educated in the United States in the 1980s, Nega studied political science and economics at American University. He subsequently returned to Ethiopia where he has worked as a journalist for over twenty years. Nega founded 4 newspapers –all of which were shut down by the Ethiopian government –and has been jailed 9 times in the last two decades for his outspoken articles.

Upon his release from prison in 2007, Nega’s journalism license was revoked and he was banned from working on newspapers. He immediately turned to the Internet and began using blogs to speak out. Some of his work has been published on Ethiomedia, a blog that is inaccessible from inside Ethiopia.

Four years later in 2011, Nega was the recipient of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Peter Godwin, President on the PEN American Center, noted that Eskinder understood the risks of continuing to speak out publicly:

He went back into the breach knowing full well what the risks were for doing so. He had a number of other options. He grew up in the DC area. He could have left the country, but he chose to stay. He’d been arrested 6 or 7 times before, he’s had newspapers closed down. He’s really been hounded by the Ethiopian regime.

Birtukan Midekssa, a former federal judge and opposition leader in Ethiopia, says Nega has been unwavering even in the face of death threats from the police. Midekssa said: “At some point, they told him that, you know, they are tired of arresting him. And they said, this time around, we are not going to arrest you, we are going to kill you. Better stop it. But he can’t, you know. He can’t stop. That’s him.”

Already targeted by police, Eskinder Nega drew even more ire from the Ethiopian government when he continued to blog about the Arab Spring uprisings. Through articles like As Egypt and Yemen protest, wither Ethiopia’s opposition? and Egypt’s and General Tsadkan’s lesson to Ethiopian Generals, Nega discussed the implications of the pro-democracy movements in North Africa and the Middle East on Ethiopia. Nega was picked up by the police in February 2011. According to a harrowing account Nega wrote afterwards, he was interrogated at length about his journalism, and the police threatened to seek retribution against him if protests broke out in Ethiopia.

A few months later, he was arrested again. This time, Eskinder Nega was charged with terrorism.

Where are all the Newspapers? The Plight of Independent Press and Ethiopia’s Internet Access

To understand the risk –and importance—of Nega’s work, one must first understand the status of independent media in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Constitution promises to uphold freedom of expression, stating: “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression without any interference. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice.” But Ethiopia has a dark history of shutting down newspapers and imprisoning journalists.

Immediately prior to the 1990s, there was no independent media to speak of in Ethiopia as the country struggled under a Communist regime and devastating famines. The early 1990s saw major political change in the country. Communism was ousted, a bicameral legislature and judicial system were created, and a new Constitution was written and enacted. Meles Zenawi, who would prove himself deeply aligned with U.S. interests, governed—initially as President, then as Prime Minister. While in some way Zenawi helped Ethiopia to recover after many difficult years of conflict and depravation, his government was marked by an intractable disrespect for human rights and press freedom.

In 1992, Ethiopia issued a Press Proclamation that, in addition to other restrictions on free expression, gave the government the ability to shut down publications that printed “false” information. Ethiopia became one of the leading countries in imprisoning journalists during the 1990s, trailing only Cuba and China.

In the lead up to the 2005 election, there was a brief period of improved journalistic freedom in Ethiopia. However, the aftermath of the controversial election brought a severe crack down on independent media. Even as clashes between government troops and protesters left dozens of civilians dead, law enforcement began a witch-hunt for journalists. Dozens of journalists were arrested and charged with serious crimes such as treason and even genocide. Some of these journalists faced decades in prison or even the death sentence.

The Committee to Protect Journalists described the crackdown:

Azeb Mesfin relative in most wanted list

Do you know anything about those individuals? Call Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477

Former Ethiopian first lady Azeb Mesfin relative, Bineam Gola is in most wanted list in Canada according to “Crime Stoppers”.