Ethiopia transfers editor Woubshet Taye to remote prison (CPJ)

New York, April 22, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists protests Ethiopian authorities’ transfer of independent newspaper editor Woubshet Taye to a remote prison several hours away from his family’s home. Woubshet has been imprisoned since June 2011 on vague terrorism charges that CPJ has determined to be unsubstantiated.

Woubshet Taye

“Moving detainees to prisons far from their families is a tactic long used by governments that wish to not only further penalize the individuals but to punish their loved ones as well,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Woubshet Taye should not be in prison at all, never mind held in one so far from his family. We call on Ethiopian authorities to return him to a facility closer to his home, and to reconsider the unjust conviction that put him behind bars in the first place.”

Authorities on Friday transferred Woubshet from Kilinto Prison, outside Addis Ababa, to a detention facility in the town of Ziway, about 83 miles southeast of the capital, according to local journalists and the U.S.-based exile-runAwrambaTimes.com. The authorities did not provide a reason for the transfer. Local journalists told CPJ that Woubshet’s wife and four-year-old son would now have to travel more than four hours to reach the prison to visit the journalist.

Woubshet, former deputy editor of the now-defunct independent weekly Awramba Times and a recipient of Human Rights Watch’s Hellman/Hammett Award, was sentenced in January 2012 to a 14-year prison sentence on charges lodged under Ethiopia’s broad anti-terrorism law. The journalist was arrested a couple of weeks after he published a column in Awramba Times that critically assessed the ruling party’s performance in its two decades of rule. The paper was known for its bold coverage of local issues.

The U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said last month that Ethiopia had violated Woubshet’s rights by failing to address his allegations of being tortured in custody, despite Ethiopia’s commitment to “uphold the highest standard of human rights.”

CPJ research shows that other states that have imprisoned journalists have used the tactic of moving journalists to prisons far from their homes as a means of punishing them and their families. Cuba, for example, placed journalists in prisons hundreds of miles from their families at the height of the Black Spring crackdown in 2003, according to CPJ research.

Ethiopia: Jailed hero journalist Woubshet Taye off to Zeway death camp

The Horn Times News 20 April 2013
by Getahune Bekele, South Africa

As the unpopular, corrupt and  inefficient   minority  junta continues to govern the police state Ethiopia with brute iron hand, dealing ruthlessly with political prisoners and jailed journalists whom it blames for causing  the late despot Meles Zenawi’s “ untimely” death; Ethiopian political prisoners have fallen on hard times filled with dread and terror.

The former Editor of Awramba Times, Wubeshet Taye is the latest Prisoner to be sent to Zeway death camp to serve the remaining time  of his 14 years sentence away from his family, with the likes of Bekele Gerba, Albana Lelisa and several others who are already condemned to the notorious facility.

Chained in leg iron and carrying his belongings in tiny bag, hundreds of curios inmates at Kilinto prison watched the young scribe taken away by more than 20 TPLF soldiers on Tuesday morning April 16 2013.

A friend of the terrorized journalist confirmed to the Horn Times that Woubshet Taye is currently in Zeway, still in leg iron like all political prisoners.

The 2011 trial of Woubshet Taye was at the time described unfair and was way below the international fair trial standard under the controversial and draconian anti-terrorism law designed to persecute and silence dissenting voices.

The Horn Times franticly tried to talk to TPLF officials in charge of prison administration to find out the reason behind sending opposition prisoners particularly Ethnic Oromos and the Amharas to Zeway during the known malaria season, but none of them were willing to reply including the office of the man himself, warlord Berket Simeon

I am an Amara “ene Amara negne”

by Yilma Bekele

“Ich bin ein Berliner.”  - “I am a Berliner” Those words were spoken by President John F. Kennedy on June 26, 1963 in West Berlin. He said that to show solidarity with the people of Berlin after the East Germans with the approval of the Soviet Union erected the Berlin Wall to prevent their captive citizens from fleeing to the west.

The passage I like the most is when he said “Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was civis romanus sum ["I am a Roman citizen"]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is “Ich bin ein Berliner!”… All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner!”

Tell me my fellow Ethiopian. What do you see in the picture?

Today it feels me with so much pride to say all Ethiopians where ever we live say in unison “ene Amara negene”Injustice against any of Ethiopia’s children is injustice to all of her children. We feel each other’s pain. When one Ethiopian is marginalized, when a single Ethiopian is put in harm’s way it is an affront to each one of us and we all suffer. It was none other than Martin Luther King Jr. who took injustice to heart when he declared “he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

Tell me my fellow Ethiopian. What do you see in the picture? It is a picture of people huddled together. It must be night time, what are they doing outside in the cold? Why are they sad? There is no mistaking that they are our people. I can tell that Ethiopian face from a mile away. Look at that slender chiseled face, kind eyes and welcome demeanor. They are our sisters, brothers, mothers or fathers sitting on bare soil, with no chairs and it is difficult to tell whether it is outdoors or inside. There is no question they seem to be confused, tired, and sad. Notices the young girl on the left with barefoot and looking resigned and observe the father on top right holding his chin and just seeming to wonder about the dire situation. I want you to see  the child on his mother’s lap looking sad and his mother looking straight at the photographer not for pity but seems to be saying  ‘take a good look, don’t forget my ace!’  I cried because I am human, I hurt because I cannot be there to hold their hand, rub their shoulders and ‘whisper it is ok, I am here to help.’ Oh my God the pain is killing me; it is tearing my soul apart. Why is this happening to my people? Why am I witnessing this suffering?

They are not just numbers. They are not statistics we refer to from some paper. They are living, breathing human beings. There is no Ethiopia without them. A house cannot stand without a foundation and a country does not exist without people. The people you see above are Amaras from the region referred to as  Beneshangul/Gumuzl Kilil in Western Ethiopian that were deported from their own land to places they don’t even know. They are the homeless Ethiopians. They are stateless people within a country called Ethiopia. They are the surplus Ethiopians. How does such calamity happen? Was there an invasion by a foreign forcer? Was there some kind of natural disaster? Was there a civil war?

Ethiopia: Where are Bekele Gerba and Olbana Lelisa?

The Horn Times News April 13, 2013,,by Getahune Bekele, South Africa

Ethiopia in distress as the TPLF junta begins sending key political prisoners to remote jails

*where are Bekele Gerba and Albana Lelisa?

Despite holding thousands political prisoners in  dungeons of the reclusive iron curtain province of Tigre where the ruling Tigre People Liberation Front, TPLF reigns supreme, the minority junta is currently going ahead with its evil plan of dispatching key political prisoners to remote jails where torture and execution is prevalent.

Some well known Oromo and Amhara political prisoners accused of having links to Ginbot-7 and OLF have been violently taken from Klinto prison in Addis Ababa to malaria and bubonic plague infested seaside concentration camp of Zeway, near the rift valley in southern Ethiopia.

Regarding the reason for this disturbing move, the only thing clear is that at least overcrowding for common offenders, but for political prisoners, there was no prior pretext to justify their clandestine departure from Addis Ababa.

Jailed Ethiopian female journalist Reeyot Alemu in critical condition

The Horn Times Newsletter 13 April 2013
by Getahune Bekele, South Africa

*spare Reeyot, CPJ pleads with Berhan Hailu

Her predicament touched millions of hearts around the world in 2012 when it was established that she had a malignant tumor in her breast which prompted her lawyer father and others to plead with the late Ethiopian despot Meles Zenawi for clemency on humanitarian grounds.

However, the fiend fuehrer refused to pardon Reeyot, an iconic figure in Ethiopian free media fraternity and she went under the knife, and rushed back to jail in most brutal show of barbarity by the hateful prison authorities.

But against all odds, even after being forced to recuperate in filthy cell, the courageous Reeyot survived.

Held since 2011 on trumped up terrorism charge alongside blogger Eskinder Nega and young politicians Andualem Aragie and Natinael Mekonnen, in the past two weeks there were reports of heated exchanges between Reeyot and the extremely rigid wardens who threatened to put her in solitary confinement for two months.

Then those reports were followed by yesterday’s disturbing news of her illness, appeared on moonofthesouth BlogSpot written by renowned African journalist Issa Sikiti Da Silva.

According to Da Silva who lamented the terrible state of journalism in countries like Djibouti, Somalia and Ethiopia; CPJ, a New York based media watchdog has written an open letter to Ethiopian justice minister Berhan Hailu, pleading with him to spare the already ailing Reeyot and relax her tight prison condition.

“Prison authorities have threatened Reeyot with two months of solitary confinement as punishment for alleged bad behavior toward them and threatening to publicize human rights violations by prison guards, according to sources close to the journalist who spoke to the international women’s media foundation on condition of anonymity. CPJ has independently verified the information. Reeyot has also been denied access to adequate medical treatment after she was diagnosed with a tumor in her breast” CPJ’s letter sent to Birhan Hailu by its executive director Joel Simon reads.

“We would like to draw your attention to 2011 report by Juan E Mendez, the United Nations special rapporture on torture, in which he urged the prohibition of ‘the imposition of solitary confinement as punishment- either as judicially imposed sentence or a disciplinary measure.’ We would also remind you that Ethiopia is a signatory to the United Nations convention against Torture and other cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or punishment and is legally bound to uphold these principles.” The letter which was distributed to diplomats and various human rights institutions says.

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how warlord Berhan Hailu, a Meles Zenawi loyalist who is well aware of the plight of more than 56,000 political prisoners would respond to CPJ’s plea.

How Can You Make A Deal With A Power Hungry Priest Who Is Driven By The Devil?

The Devil’s Shepherd and Advocate, Aba Girma Kebede

“He either miscalculated a failure of judgement or he underestimated the churchgoers of Reese Adbarat, London”.

“Having never had any modern education in theology and mental vision too, he has now lost his bodily sight, a

Aba Girma Kebede

silly coxcomb, farcifying himself as a beastly priest/leader, with nothing more human about him than his guttering eyelids”. He is a creator of wicked plans and schemes and a self-made man who worships his creator: himself. Truly too, he is not at all a normal church leader too, but a broken down peddler, a notorious liar and disturber of the public mind. His supporters are hard-core thugs bent on destruction. They are indeed nothing more than original baboons in foreign animal zoos looking & communicating as intelligent as human-beings: specimen to have been at the head of our church.

by Dr G Bekele, 12 April 2013 – London, England

The troubled Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church of St Mary of London Debre Tsion, that was meant to preach the true Gospel of God and also provide spiritual services to the Orthodox Christians and of the practice of Ethiopian Orthodox religion, further provide Christian counseling, encouraging the community, teaching the young religious education, promoting understanding and harmony within our community, the society and in general, supporting humanitarian and disaster relief in our beloved country Ethiopia and all around the world has unbelievably, embarrassingly and annoyingly too, turned out to be the very few shameless Woyanes’, their TPLF recruits’ and some rude children’s ugly private circus.

Why? The emotionally unbalanced sick Priest who was and still is unable to control his temper, his desire and urge for power andmoney and also his blinded, brainwashed idiots and screaming woyane bimbos has gone bonkers in a country where medication and hospital treatments are virtually free. Perhaps he had no close friends and or family and relatives to help him seek medical help before he sadly lost his marbles and faculties. This was a Priest who Wondimu Mekonnen eloquently described in his recent article, saying he was not that bad until now. But years ago, Aba Girma Kebede was rewarded with a higher Priesthood position by the new TPLF Patriarch: Dagmawi Aba Diablos, after he went to Jerusalem to be ascribed to a higher rank in the Orthodox Tewahdo religion by the then Aba Mathias (The New TPLF Patriarch) and is now alleged to be a TPLF Agent not only to return the favour he received in Jerusalem, but also to be appointed as a Bishop at a high cost of making most Ethiopian Christians cry and making us a laughing stoke with his brainwashed and underage teenagers whose defence knowledge has been only screaming and the elders too barking with his other few Mindless Disciples like Qes Dawit, Qes Abate, Mengesha, illegally named trustee: ex-Deacon Dawit, his wife Meseret & Mergeta Alemayehu, who all seemed to have worshiped a sinful priest than the Almighty God?

The sudden running away of Aba Girma: with the keys of the Reese Adbarat London Debre Tsion Church, has made it too difficult to

Ethiopia: Bereket Simeon’s mother lavish funeral

The Horn Times Newsletter April 8, 2013
by Getahune Bekele, South Africa

Demeke Mekonen stole the show at the lavish state funeral accorded to Bereket’s Mum

Is he eying the PM’s post?

One of the main collaborators and loyal disciples of the genocidal minority Tigre Junta, Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime minister Demeke Mekonen was among thousands of mourners descended on the northern historic city of Gonder for the lavish funeral of top TPLF warlord and undisputed king maker Bereket Simeon’s late mother.

The old lady, said to be in her late 80s died in Bereket’s mansion next to Tewodros square in Addis Ababa on March28 2013, after long battle with cancer.

Appreciated for her blandishments and duality, She was described by legions of Tigre warlords as “lioness” who fearlessly spied for the two main rebel groups, Tigre People Liberation Front (TPLF) and Eritrean People Liberation Front (Shabia) in the 80s and 90s until the Durg regime succumbed in May 1991.

Hence she was accorded state funeral which angered and irritated the residents of Gonder city, further exasperating the growing resentment towards the ruling Tigre gang.

But the most inauspicious moment occurred Monday morning before the funeral procession began, when a federal police band attempted to march through the streets of the city playing the so- called liberation songs such as “Tigrai Adi Weyanay”, Tigrai land of bandits, a song regarded as profane and ethnocentric by Ethiopians.

Sensing trouble as angry crowd began to assemble the band was hurriedly removed from the streets.

Moreover, according to eye witnesses from Gonder, the city was completely shut down from Saturday until late Monday where a detachment of the TPLF army from the Tigre town of Adigrat and the federal police took control of every intersection and key installations including strategic surrounding hills and villages.

The road from the city center leading up to the Gonder St Gabriel Orthodox Church was also completely cordoned off to insure the safety of the grieving warlords.

Among the mourners were Tigrai republic God mother Azeb Mesfin, Tigrai republic’s multi-million Dollar brewery Raya beer co-owner Gen Tsadkan Gebretinsay and his business partner former TPLF spin doctor Salome Taddese, the retard Tigre warlord Sibehat Nega, feared Tigrai republic president Abby Woldu, former Marxist Leninist League Tigrai political commissar Tagay Tekestebirhan, today known as his Holiness Abune Samuel, Tigrai republic Mufti Elias Redman and Tigrai high priest, pastor Daniel Gebresilassie.

Warlord turned citizen journalist and owner of Reporter newspaper Amare Aregawi was also there to mourn the passing of his boss’s mother.

As it is the norm in the world’s unofficial apartheid state, non-Tigre mourners were kept away from the elite by security officers in plain clothing.

However, it was the performance of Deputy PM Demeke Mekonen that caused beards to wag and jaws to drop.
Moving around the TPLF flag draped coffin in labored manner, gliding backwards and forwards like a moonwalker, Demeke lamented the death of the woman he barely knew in traditional Amharic mourning poems using a strangely sonorous voice.

Although some mourners gave a smirk, according to our reliable sources, others were spellbound by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen’s wailing skills and sheer display of loyalty, whispering ‘is he eying the post of the Prime Minister?

“Look, all non-Tigres who were given key positions in the past had to use TPLF functions such as this to show their loyalty- Demeke was simply following suit. But am not so sure how that exaggerated false sorrow is going to lacerate the cold hearts the Tigre coterie and propel him to new heights. I don’t see him gaining any kudos.” A former non-Tigre TPLF politician who attended the funeral told the Horn Times magazine from Addis Ababa.

In additional news, after the funeral at St Gabriel church, mourners were treated to scrumptious after tears provided by the dream liner owner captain Mulatu where liquor was made available with gay abandon.