British aid agency under fire for poor response to human rights concerns in Ethiopia

 

(Guardian) -- Britain's Department for International Development (DfID) is under fire for failing to adequately address allegations of human rights abuses in Ethiopia, a major recipient of UK aid.

During a trip to South Omo in January, officials from DfID and the US international aid agency, USAid, were told by men and women from the Mursi and Bodi ethnic groups of incidences of rape, arrests, withholding food aid, intimidation and threats as the Ethiopian government seeks to evict people from their land to make way for commercial investments.

Audio transcripts of meetings, seen by the Guardian, record the aid officials acknowledging the severity of the violence the farmers say they have experienced. "They [government soldiers] … took the wives of the Bodi and raped them … then they came and raped our wives, here," one Mursi farmer told the officials.

A DfID official promised to raise their complaints "very strongly with the [Ethiopian] government", according to the transcript, saying: "Obviously, we agree it's unacceptable, beating and rapes and lack of consultation or proper compensation."

From ethnic liberator to national atrocities: The tale of TPLF

From ethnic liberator to national atrocities and corruption: The tale of the late Ethiopian Dictator of TPLF

No one knows why Melse Zenawi, the late tyrant of Ethiopia decided to trash the image of the people of Tigray in the name of Ethnic Federalism. But, regardless of his motives the evidence shows not only he tarnished the image of the people beyond recognition his stooges attempt to glamorize his legacy want to continue associating Tigray with corruption, atrocity and treachery.  What went wrong with ethnic panhandlers?

by Teshome Debalke

The journey of late Melse Zenawi that creped out of the rocks of Dedebit, Tigray to end up in the grave of Addis Ababa is a fascinating tale in treachery. It says more about his delusional and corrupt Woyane stooges and apologists than the smalltime ethnic tyrant turn in to snake oil salesman.

Ethiopia: 4 journalists win free speech prize

(From top left clockwise)Eskinder Nega, Mesfin Negash, Reeyot Alemu and Woubshet Taye

(New York) - Four Ethiopian journalists have received the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award for 2012 in recognition of their efforts to promote free expression in Ethiopia, one of the world’s most restricted media environments.

Eskinder Nega Fenta, an independent journalist and blogger; Reeyot Alemu Gobebo of the disbanded weekly newspaper Feteh; Woubshet Taye Abebe of the now-closed weekly newspaper Awramba Times; and Mesfin Negash of Addis Neger Online were among a diverse group of 41 writers and journalists from 19 countries to receive the award in 2012. Eskinder, Reeyot, and Woubshet are imprisoned in Ethiopia; Mesfin fled in 2009. All four journalists were convicted in 2012 under Ethiopia’s draconian anti-terrorism law.

“The four jailed and exiled journalists exemplify the courage and dire situation of independent journalism in Ethiopia today,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Their ordeals illustrate the price of speaking freely in a country where free speech is no longer tolerated.”

The Hellman/Hammett grants, administered by Human Rights Watch, are awarded annually to writers and journalists around the world who have been targets of political persecution and human rights abuses. The prize is named after two American writers who were harassed during the 1950s anti-communism investigations. Lillian Hellman suffered professionally and had trouble finding work while Dashiell Hammett spent time in prison. A distinguished selection committee awards the grants to honor and support journalists whose work, activities, and lives are suppressed by repressive government action.

The journalistic work and liberty of the four Ethiopian award-winners has been suppressed by the Ethiopian government in its efforts to restrict free speech and peaceful dissent, clamp down on independent media, and limit access to and use of the internet. They represent a much larger group of journalists in Ethiopia forced to self-censor, face prosecution, or flee the country, Human Rights Watch said.

16 EU Parliamenterians sent a letter to PM Hailemairm Desalegn

Today, 16 members of the European Parliament issued a public letter to Ethiopian Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn expressing their grave concern regarding the continued detention of imprisoned journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega.

Arrested in 2011 and detained without access to an attorney for nearly two months, Mr. Nega was sentenced to 18 years in prison under the country’s broad 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation on July 13, 2012. Mr. Nega’s arrest and prosecution came after he 

                                        Ana Gomez

wrote online articles and spoke publicly about the possibility of an Arab Spring-like movement taking place in Ethiopia. After his sentencing, the government initiated proceedings to seize his assets, including the home still used by his wife and young son. An appeal hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday, December 19th.

The letter, notes that the Ethiopian government has an obligation to uphold the right to free expression and reminds the newly appointed Prime Minister that he has “the unique opportunity to lead Ethiopia forward on human rights and bring the country fully within the community of nations.” The letter closes by urging the Prime Minister to take all measures within his power “to facilitate the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Nega.”

ፓርላማው መደበኛ ስብሰባዎቹን እያካሄደ አይደለም

-    ከ18 መደበኛ ስብሰባዎች ስድስቱን ብቻ ተሰብስቧል

በዮሐንስ አንበርብር

በመስከረም ወር የመጨረሻ ሳምንት የሦስተኛ ዓመት የሥራ ዘመኑን የጀመረው የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት (ፓርላማ) በሳምንት ሁለት ጊዜ ማክሰኞና ሐሙስ ማካሄድ የሚገባውን መደበኛ ስብሰባዎች በአብዛኛው አላካሄደም፡፡ በምክር ቤቱ የአሠራር ሥነ ሥርዓት ደንብ መሠረት የምክር ቤቱ መደበኛ ስብሰባዎች በሳምንት ሁለት ጊዜ መካሄድ ይገባቸዋል፡፡ በዚህም መሠረት ምክር ቤቱ ሥራውን ከጀመረበት የመስከረም ወር መጨረሻ አንስቶ እስከ ታህሳስ ወር የመጀመሪያ ሳምንት ድረስ 18 መደበኛ ስብሰባዎች መካሄድ ነበረባቸው፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ እስካሁን ያደረገው ስድስት መደበኛ ስብሰባዎችን ብቻ ሲሆን፣ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኃይለ ማርያም ደሳለኝ በምክር ቤቱ ከሁለት ሳምንት በፊት ተገኝተው ያፀደቁት አዲስ የካቢኔ አወቃቀርና የሚኒስትሮች ሹመት የመጨረሻው ወይም ስድስተኛው መደበኛ ስብሰባው ነበር፡፡

ኅዳር 20 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም. ከተካሄደው ከዚህ መደበኛ ስብሰባ በኋላ እንኳን አራት የመደበኛ ስብሰባ ቀናት ቢኖሩትም፣ “ዛሬ ይካሄድ የነበረው መደበኛ ስብሰባ የማይካሄድ መሆኑን ከይቅርታ ጋር እንገልጻለን” የሚሉ ማስታወቂያዎችን የምክር ቤቱ አባላት መኖሪያዎች አካባቢ በሚገኙ የማስታወቂያ ሰሌዳዎች፣ እንዲሁም በምክር ቤቱ ሰሌዳዎች ላይ በመለጠፍ የመደበኛ ስብሰባ ፕሮግራሞቹን መዝለል የተለመደ እየሆነ መጥቷል፡፡

የምክር ቤቱ ዋና ሥልጣንና ተግባሮች የሚቀርቡለትን ረቂቅ አዋጆች ተወያይቶ ማፅደቅና አስፈጻሚውን ወይም ራሱ የሚያመነጫቸውን የመንግሥት አካላት መቆጣጠር ናቸው፡፡

እስካሁን ካካሄዳቸው ስድስት መደበኛ ስብሰባዎች መካከል የመጀመሪያው ፕሬዚዳንት ግርማ ወልደጊዮርጊስ የዚህን ምክር ቤትና የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት የሥራ ዘመን መጀመርን አስመልክተው መንግሥት በዓመቱ ትኩረት ሊያደርግባቸው ይገባል በሚል ያቀረቡት ንግግር ሲሆን፣ ሁለተኛው ስብሰባ በዚሁ የፕሬዚዳንቱ የመክፈቻ ንግግር ላይ የተነሱ ጥያቄዎችን ተንተርሶ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኃይለ ማርያም የመንግሥታቸውን አቋም ያብራሩበት ነው፡፡