Jawar Mohamed is taken away by The Stream

June 26, 2013

by Tedla Asfaw

The Stream, Al Jazeera’s show, “Oromos Seek Justice in Ethiopia” of June 25, 2013, on the persecution of Oromos hosting my friend Jawar Mohamed at their studio in D.C. including two “Oromo Ethiopians” appearing on Skype. My good Oromo friend Jawar ignored deliberately the Ethiopian Muslims more than one and half year struggle for religious freedom in this discussion. This was well calculated because it will totally disprove Jawar and the others claim of the Oromos as the only victims of Woyane persecution.

Jawar Mohamed who has been sharing a stage with the Ethiopian Muslim Activists and other Ethiopians in the Diaspora many times is now considered himself First Oromo and declared for the first time in public that Ethiopian identity was imposed on him. My friend Jawar if he wants to be known as Oromo First good for him we should call him as such. The problem I have with Jawar is why he then very much involved on the Ethiopian Muslims issue rather than concentrating on “Oromo Muslims” issue.

Stand with Them and Help Them! The People Will Make It Happen!

June 26, 2013

by T.Goshu

Change happens and will continue to happen, and the real question is: Will we fear it or will we welcome it?

(The Leaderless Revolution: How Ordinary people will take Power and Change Politics in the 21^st Century, Carne Ross- 2011)

On the second half of May of this year, Semayawi (Blue) Party took lawful, peaceful and legitimate demands of  millions of victims of dehumanizing political agenda and practice for the last two decades straight to appropriate offices and let them be informed that they (the people) were ready to take their voices to the streets of Addis.  They unequivocally made clear that legitimate voices of millions for political freedom and human rights should not merely be heard but seriously listened to.  They also made clear that the powerfully echoing innocent voices desperately deserve a timely and appropriate response. Although the ruling party tried to play its very ugly political drama, the patriotic young Ethiopians kept the momentum going in a much more determined and wise manner thanks to the very courageous and firm leadership. Yes, it was the Blue (Semayawi) Party that has broken the silence of eight years ruthlessly imposed by the ruling party with the order of the late dictatorial Prime Minister, Ato Meles Zenawi. Yes, a greatly reinvigorated move for change was enthusiastically organized and launched on June 2, 2013. Needless to say, the move has been welcomed with a great deal courage by the people who cannot afford to continue being captives of the fear that has been used by the ruling party as the main instrument to perpetuate its dirty, if not deadly political game.

Now, Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ-Andinet) has come up with very legitimate, well-focused and well-targeted issues to be echoed throughout the country and beyond under the theme “MILLINS OF VOICES FOR FREEDOM!” It goes without saying that these kinds of moves for the prevalence of genuine freedom, justice, and respect for fundamental human dignity are profoundly serious. Yes, not only the moves but how  those genuinely concerned political opposition forces are trying to move in a relatively well-coordinated and mutual understanding sounds very good. Yes, the trends being developed and the directions being taken by those opposition parties (Semayawi and Andnet), and of course in collaboration with all other genuinely concerned parties/movements are encouraging as far as the question of how to deal with the issue of healing from a very painful political agenda and practice being carried on by the ruling party is concerned.    I strongly believe that the author I cited earlier (Crane Ross) is absolutely right when he argues, “When one hand is hurt, the entire body feels the pain. Our neighbor is part of us. When any human being suffers, it should be a source of pain to all of us .We should fell pain, not pity.” I want to believe that that is the sense of the move we are witnessing in our country. Well, I am well aware that there may be many fellow Ethiopians who may still genuinely be doubtful about the desirable trend I am talking about. Given the repeatedly failed attempts of getting  and walking together and registering meaningful difference in our political journey (past and current), it is not surprising to see and experience kind of pessimism lingering. On the other side of the story, it has to be admitted that the failures we suffered from is not only because of the weaknesses of the leadership or membership of opposition political parties. It has been and it is also the lack of active and persistent participation by the people themselves that has contributed to our failures. Yes, individuals and organizations have their own huge impact on any societal endeavor let alone in a political arena that deeply touches every aspect of life like ours.   But, there is no any historical evidence showing a political success story (I am talking about changes for good) without an intensive and extensive participation by the people themselves.  I have never come across any plausible evidence that justifies the successful political story that has been achieved by a society that has never been in a position to break the fear and terror imposed by tyrannical regimes. Harold S. Kushner (Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World, 2009) argues, “… hope and courage, not fear and timorous obedience, are the will of God. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the overcoming of fear. Courage is looking fear in the face and refusing to be intimidated. …. Courage is the young mother crippled in an accident or diagnosed with a degenerative disease who continues to raise her children and tend to her husband instead of dissolving into self-pity.”

ግንቦት 20 ቀን 1983 ዓ.ም. እና ኢትዮጵያ (ገብረመድህን አርአያ)

June 22, 2013

አቶ ገብረመድህን አርአያ*
ከአውስትራሊያ

ወደ ግንቦት 20ቀን, 1983 ዓ.ም. ከመግባታችን በፊት ትንሽ ወደ ኋላ መለስ በማለት የደርግ ስርዓትን በትንሹ እንቃኘው::

ደርግ

የካቲት ወር 1966 ዓ.ም. የዘውድ አገዛዙን ስርዓት በመቃወም በአርሶ አደሩ ፣ በተማሪው ፣ በአስተማሪው ፣ በመንግስት ሰራተኛው ፣ በወዛደሩ ፣ በነጋዴው እና በመለዮ ለባሹ ወዘተ ፣ ወዘተ የተቀጣጠለው ህዝባዊ አመጽ ጊዜ ሳይወስድበት በ6 ወራት ውስጥ የተነሳው ህዝባዊ አመጽ ግቡን መታ::

ህዝባዊ አመጹን የሚመራው የተደረጀ ፓርቲ ባለመኖሩ በር የተከፈተለት መለዮ ለባሽ አመቺ ሁኔታ በማግኘቱ በፍጥነት ተደራጅቶ ከተራ ወታደር ጀምሮ የተለያዩ ማእረግ ያላቸው አባላቱን አስመርጦ ወደ 120 የሚጠጉ ተወካዮቹን አዲስ አበባ በሚገኘው አራተኛ ክፍለጦር አሰባሰበ::

ከጦር ሃይሎች ፣ ከክቡር ዘበኛ እና ከፖሊስ የተውጣጡት እንኚሁ መለዮ ለባሾች በሰኔ ወር 1966 ዓ.ም. ተሰብስበው ብሄራዊ አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ መስርተው “ኢትዮጵያ ትቅደም ፣ አቆርቋዥ ይውደም” በሚል መርህ ስር ሰፊ ሊባል የሚችል የህዝብ ድጋፍም አግኝተው ነበር::

አቶ ገብረመድህን እርአያ

መስከረም 2 ቀን 1967 ዓ.ም. የተመሰረተው አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ ንጉሱን ከስልጣን አውርዶ “ጊዜያዊ ወታደራዊ አስተዳደር ደርግ” የሚል ስም በመያዝ ኢትዮጵያን ማስተዳደር ጀመረ:: ቀስ በቀስም ደርግ የስልጣን ወንበሩን በማመቻቸት የሃገሪቷ መንግስት ለመሆን ቻለ::

በወቅቱ በኢትዮጵያም ሆነ በሌሎች ሃገራት ሶሻሊዝም ወይም ህብረተሰባዊነት በሚባል ርዕዮተ አለም እድገት እና ብልጽግና የማይገኝበት “ላም አለኝ በሰማይ ወተቷን የማላይ” ስርዓት በቀድሞዋ ሶቭየት ህብረት እና ቻይና ፕሮፖጋንዳ አለምን እንደማዕበል ሲወዘውዛት የነበረበው ሁኔታ ሆኖ በደርግ የተመሰረተው መንግስት ግራና ቀኙን ሳይመለከት ሶሻሊዝም በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ የሚፈጥረውን ቀውስ እና ችግር ሳያጤን እና ኢትዮጵያውያን ሊቃውንትን ሳያማክር በ1972 ዓ.ም. ኢሰፓአኮን(የኢትዮጵያ ሰራተኞች ፓርቲ አደራጅ ኮሚሽን) መሰረተ:: ይህንን ምስረታ ተከትሎም ደርግ አንድ እግሩን ገደል ከተተው::

በዚህ ጽሁፍ ሁለት ነገሮችን ለያይቼ በማሳየት ለማለፍ እሞክራለሁኝ፤

1) ደርግ እንደ ፖለቲካ ተቋም እና ስርዓት

2) መለዮ ለባሹ እንደ አገር መከላከያ ሰራዊት

ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ እንደሚያውቀው የኢትዮጵያ መከላከያ ሰራዊት ኢትዮጵያዊ የሆነ እና በዘመናዊነቱ በአፍሪካ ጭምር ተወዳዳሪ ያልነበረው እንደነበር ነው:: የደርግ ስርዓት ከወታደሩ በወጡ ሰዎች ቢመሰረትም ሰራዊቱ ግን በየትኛውም መለኪያ የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት ለመሆኑ ከጥያቄ ውስጥ ሊያስግባው የሚችል አንዳችም መከራከሪያ ሊቀርብ አይችልም:: አገራችን ዘመናዊ ጦር ማደረጀት ከጀመረችበት ከሃያኛው ክፍለዘመን መባቻ ጀምሮ በስንት ወጪ እና ጥረት የገነባችውን ጦር የ “ደርግ ጦር” የሚል ቅጽል በመስጠት ከፍተኛ የሆነ የስም እና የሞራል ማጥፋት ዘመቻ የፈጸሙበት ጸረ ኢትዮጵያ የሆኑት ወያኔ እና ሻዕቢያ ናቸው::

ይህ ጦር ደሙን አፍስሶ ፣ አጥንቱን ከስክሶ ፤ ራበኝ ፣ ደክመኝ ሳይል ወያኔ እና ሻዕቢያን እግር እግራቸውን እየተከታተለ ሲደመሥሳቸው እና ሲያጠፋቸው የነበረ የኢትዮጵያ ብርቅ ልጅ ነው:: የዛሬው የወያኔ ዘረኛ ሰራዊት ግን እንኳን ስለኢትዮጵያ ሉዓላዊነት ሊከላከል ይቅርና ራሱ የወያኔ ሰራዊት ጸረ ኢትዮጵያና ጸረ ህዝብ የአንድ ጎጠኛና ዘረኛ ታጣቂ ቡድን ነው:: አሁን ያለው በዘር የተደራጀው ቅጥረኛ እና ባንዳ ሰራዊት በየትኛውም መለኪያ የኢትዮጵያ መከላከያ ሰራዊት ተብሎ ሊወሰድ የሚችልበት ሁኔታ የለም::

የደርግ መንግስት በስልጣን በቆየበት 17 አመት ውስጥ የኢትዮጵያን ዳር ድንበር ቀይ ባህርን የጠበቀ ፤ ከገንጣይ እና አስገንጣዮች አገሪቷን እየተከላከለ ሉዓላዊነትን የጠበቀ የኢትዮጵያ ስርዓት ነበር::

በሚከተለው ርዕዮተ አለም ቀስ በቀስ እየተዳከመ በመሄድ እንደነበረው አገርና ህዝብ ለማዳን አልቻለም:: ደርግ በተዳከመ ጊዜም ሰራዊቱ ይዳከማል:: አንድ የሃገር መከላከያ ሰራዊት ከመንግስት የሚቀርብለት ነገሮች ብዙ ናቸው:: ይህ አልሆነም:: ሰራዊቱም መንግስት በመዳከሙ ምክንያት የነበረው አልበገር ባይነት ስሜቱ እና ጀግንነቱ የውጊያ ብቃቱ ተስፋ በመቁረጡ ችግር እየፈጠረለት ሄደ ቢሆንም ግን ወያኔም ሆነ ሻዕቢያ አሁንም ፈቀቅ ሊሉ አልቻሉም:: የማይበገር የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት መሆኑን ያውቁታል እና::

ይህ በዚሁ እንዳለ የሃገሪቱ ፕሬዚደንት መንግስቱ ሃይለማሪያም ግንቦት 13 ቀን 1983 ዓ.ም. ኢትዮጵያን ለቀው ዚምባብዌ ሃራሬ ገቡ:: እዛም ጥገኝነት ጠየቁ:: መሆን የማይገባውን ስራ ሰሩ:: በኢትዮጵያ ሃገራቸው ሰርተው ሂወታቸው ቢያልፍ ታላቅ ስምና ክብር ያገኙ ነበር:: ግን አላደረጉትም:: ይህን ተከትሎም የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት ተበተነ::

ግንቦት 15 ቀን 1983 ዓ.ም. በፕሬዚደንት መንግስቱ እግር የተተኩት ጀነራል ተስፋዬ ገብረኪዳን በዜና እወጃ የኢትዮጵያ ሰራዊት የነበርከው በያለህበት ቦታ መሳሪያህን ለህወሃት(ኢህአዴግ) እና ለሻዕቢያ እያስረከብክ ወደ ምትፈልግበት ሂድ፤ ሻዕቢያም ኤርትራን ህወሃትም ኢትዮጵያን እንዲቆጣጠሩ ፈቅደናል በማለት ፍጹም ክህደት በሆነ መንገድ ኢትዮጵያ እና ህዝብዋን ለደመኛ ጠላቶች አሳልፈው ሰጡ::

The Humanitarian Aid-Corruption Nexus in Ethiopia

June 21, 2013

Seid Hassan- Murray State University

A. Introduction

The Amharic version of the Voice of America (journalist Solomon Abate serving as moderator) entertained a discussion on corruption which was broadcast on May 17 and 18, 2013. Participants included Messrs. Mulugeta Aragawi of Addis Ababa University, Abebe Gutta (attorney at law in Addis Ababa), Berhanu Assefa (Ethical Education and Communication Affairs Director of the Federal Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission-FEACC) and I. The first two gentlemen who really knew the sources, extent and potential solution to the rampant Ethiopian corruption politely provided their views, including the approaches that the government has to take to fight the corruption that the government has admitted to be rampant. As expected and is customary of the members of the EPRDF, Mr. Berhanu Assefa of the FEACC was on the defensive and mostly on the attack mode, instead of listening to the complaints and suggestions of the two citizens.  As those who listened to the debate can easily attest, Mr. Assefa spent most of his time talking about unrelated to the topic of discussion –yes, you guessed it right: the same old and tired double digit growth rates that all EPRDFites like to parrot each other ad nauseam.  He also suggested that the current decision to fight against corruption is for real and the arrest of Minister Melaku Fenta, director general of the revenue and customs authority and his deputy Gebrewahed Woldegiorgis along with several officials and businessmen merchants should serve as proof and we ought not to discourage it.  I partially agreed with Mr. Assefa’s suggestion in that all of us have to encourage the fight against corruption, if indeed it is for real while at the same time expressing my serious doubts.

The Woyane Fan Club in Diaspora: Fools, ignorant and the corrupt

by Teshome Debalke

In the wake of the news this week EPRDF/TPLF stooges in Diaspora are on the way to Addis Ababa to rescue the brazen Ethiopian ethnic tyranny from taking beatings from Ethiopians in Diaspora I can’t help but want to tell them how stupid can they be to even entertain the idea of meeting the regime let alone waste time and money to travel to help preserve a pathetic ethnic Apartheid tyranny.

It struck me; what happened to some of us Ethiopians we are willing voluntarily sell our soul for brazen ethnic tyranny for cheap? What happen to our dignity, pride and all to stoop below a regime that can’t tell; Ethiopians aren’t a collection of ethnicities and religions for the benefit of ethnic warlords’ corruption. But again, since they are stupid enough not to understand it for 22 long years I figured I will share it with the rest of my fellow Ethiopians how being stupid, ignorant and corrupt can delay our people’s freedom and democracy and costs lives and resources.

First of all, there is no whatsoever excuse for anyone that tasted freedom and democracy to voluntarily go back into servitude of tyranny. Therefore, Woyane stooges in Diaspora broke the record of stupidity, ignorance and corruption of the millennium. That isn’t all; they willingly insult the people of free world that gave them the privilege to be free they don’t deserve. I can only say stupidity, ignorance and corruption isn’t a virtue; as the Woyane stooges think.

My fear is, they are stupid, ignorant and corrupt enough to comeback and demand to dissolve the US voting right, reinstate slavery, strip freedom of speech as luxury they can’t stand and insist one government run Media is sufficient to tell us growth and development. Also, don’t be surprise if they demand the US Election Commission select the US President and the Representatives by 99.9% to bring about Revolutionary Democracy in the free world. Oh yes, I forgot the main reason they traveled; the US government to label the ‘extremist Diaspora’ terrorists and lock them up.

Seriously, the stooges in Diaspora honestly believe Woyane brought good governance and democracy. Haven’t you noticed some of the stooges in the Diaspora comparing Woyane rule with the US?  I vividly remember a few years back a stooge that came on Voice of America claiming the 99.64% selection of Woyane in the 2010 election as ‘the people has spoken’. I was stunned with the statement of the individual the reporter referred as Doctor… mad at the reporter not to follow up-asking him what kind of Doctor he was to accept such statistic.

Voices in Danger: Jailed for 18 years for criticizing Ethiopia’s government, journalist Eskinder Nega vows to keep fighting

The Independent has seen a defiant letter smuggled out of jail by a man who pines for democracy

Source: The Independent

An Ethiopian journalist who was jailed after publishing a series of articles calling for democratic reforms has penned a letter from prison, seen exclusively by The Independent, in which he decries the “human rights crisis” unfolding in Ethiopia and describes the personal toll of facing 18 years behind bars.

The call to action: You can help Eskinder’s case. Please share these stories, his journalism, and his prison letter, as widely as you can through social media. Wherever you are in the world, please raise his case with your elected officials and governmental foreign ministers.

Eskinder Nega, 45, was sentenced last year under a broad 2009 anti-terrorism law which freedom of speech activists, the United Nations and various members of the US congress and European Parliament say effectively ban independent journalism in Ethiopia. At trial, Mr Nega admitted he had criticised the government, but said he had only ever called for peaceful steps towards democratic reforms.

A copy of Mr Nega’s letter, smuggled out of his cell in Addis Ababa’s notorious Kality Prison, was passed to The Independent for publication as part of its Voices in Danger campaign, which is aimed at publicising the plight of jailed, attacked or harassed reporters around the world.

Under the headline “I shall persevere!”, Mr Nega’s letter is a reaction to a ruling handed down by the Ethiopian Supreme Court on 3 May, which rejected his appeal and upheld his 18-year jail sentence. In it, Mr Nega vows to continue his fight for freedom of speech in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia Has Arisen!

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

On Ginbot 20,  1983 (Ethiopian calendar; [5/28/1991]), Meles Zenawi and thousands of his guerilla fighters marched into Addis Ababa toting AK-47s, RPGs and hand grenades. They marched into the capital promising democracy, freedom and liberation from a brutal military dictatorship. The people of the capital welcomed them with some anxiety; but they were greatly relieved to see a regime that had brutalized them for 17 years finally consigned to the dustbin of history.

On Ginbot 25, 2005 (Ethiopian calendar; [6/1/2013]), over one hundred thousand young men and women marched in the streets of Addis Ababa demanding the release of political prisoners, religious freedom, respect for human rights and the Constitution and public accountability.  They demanded action on youth unemployment, inflation and corruption. They marched armed with cell phones, placards and banners. They cried out for justice.  They sang songs of unity: “Ethiopia! Our Country!” They marched for their rights and the rights of their brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers. What a sight to behold! Tens of thousands of young people demanding their rights in a peaceful demonstration.

The long youth march to freedom and dignity has begun in Ethiopia. It is beautiful. It is beautiful because it is peaceful. It is beautiful because it is motivated by love of country and love of each other as children of one Mother Ethiopia. It is beautiful because Ethiopia’s youth in unison are shouting out loud, “We can’t take anymore! We need change!” History shall record that on Ginbot 25, 2005 Ethiopia rose from the pit she has fallen into on the wings of her youth.