በኩዌት በሳዑዲ ዓረቢያና ጅዳ የኢትዮጵያ ኤምባሲ የሰው ኃይልን በርካሽ ዋጋ ሊያቀርብ እንደሚችል በአገሪቱ መገናኛ ብዙኃን ማስታወቂያው እያስነገረ ነው፡፡

by Hellen Zewdu Ayele 

ሰው በፈለገበት ቦታና አገር የመዘዋወር መብቱ በሕገ መንግሥቱ ተረጋግጦለታል፡፡ በኮንትራት በቤት ሠራተኝነት ወደ አረብ አገሮች የሚሄዱ ኢትዮጵያዉያን የሚደርስባቸዉ በደል ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ መባባሱ ይሰማል። ኢትዮጵያውያኑ ላይ ከፍተኛ የሆነ አካላዊና ሥነ ልቦናዊ ጉዳት እየደረሰ ነው። ለዚህም በዋነኛነት ማሳያ የሚሆነው በተለያዩ የዓረብ አገሮች በቤት ሠራተኛነት በሚሄዱት እህቶቻችን ላይ የሚታየው የሞት፣ የአካል መጉደል፣ የመደፈርና ያለደመወዝ ማባረር ጥቂቶች ናቸው፡፡ በዚህ ዓመት እንኳን ከዓለም ደቻሳ ጀምሮ በድብደባ ህይወታቸውን ያጡትን ለከፍተኛ የአካል ጉዳት የተዳረጉትን የተደፈሩትን ከፎቅ የተወረወሩትን ለአእምሮ መቃወስ የተዳረጉት የትየለሌ ናቸው ኢትዮጵያዉያን የኮንትራት ሰራተኞች በአሰሪወቻቸው የሚደርስባቸውን ጥቃት ታዋቂ የሳዉዲ ጋዜጦች ሳይቀሩ በዝርዝር እየዘገቡት ነው፡፡

የወገኖቻችን እንግልት የሚጀምረው አገራቸው ላይ ነው፡፡ የሳዑዲ ዓረቢያ ዜግነት ያላቸው ኢትዮጵያውያንም በዜጎቻችን ላይ ክብራቸውን ጭምር የሚነካ ተግባር የሚፈጽሙ አሉ፡፡ በተለያዩ የአገሪቱ ክልሎች በደላላዎች እየተደለሉ ከየቀያቸው እየተፈናቀሉ ዜጎቻችን ለጉዳት እየተዳረጉ ነው፡፡ ሁሉም ነገር አልጋ ባልጋ እንደሆነና ወርቅ ተነጥፎ እንደሚጠብቃቸው በመስበክ ወጎኖቻችንን እያስጨረሱ ነው፡፡ ከእነዚህ ደላሎች በስተጀርባ የመንግስት እጅ አለበት መንግሥት ዜጎችን ከመጠበቅና ካለበት ኃላፊነት አንጻር እሱም ተጠያቂ ነው፡፡ ዕድሜያቸው እንዳልሞላ እየታወቀ ከ13-15 ዓመትን ልጅን 23-26 ዓመት በማለት በማጣራትና አይቶም መገመት ሲቻል ፓስፖርት ይሰጧቸዋል የሚያስደነግጥ ነው፡፡ በአሁኑ ጊዜ ወደ ሳዑዲና ኩዌት ለመሄድ የሚመጡት መጻፍ፣ ማንበብ የማይችሉና መታወቂያና ፓስፖርት መሆኑን መለየት የማይችሉ ናቸው፡፡ ፓስፖርት እስከሚያወጡና የሕክምና ምርመራ እስከሚደረግላቸው ድረስ ብዙ ችግሮችን ያሳልፋሉ ሁሉም ነገር ተሳክቶላቸው እስከሚሄዱ ድረስ የደላሎቹ የወሲብ መፈጸሚያ ይሆናሉ፡፡ የጤና ምርመራ ሲደረግላቸውም የHIV ተጠቂ ሆነው ይገኛሉ ውጤታቸው ሲነገራቸው እንደ ውርደት ስለሚቆጥሩት ተመልሰው ወደቀያቸው መግባትን ይተዉና ራሳቸውን በመሸጥ ለመተዳደር ይሞክራሉ፡፡ በሽታውንም ያስተላልፋሉ ላልተፈለገ እርግዝና ለ አደንዛዥ ዕፆች ተጋላጭ እየሆኑ ነው፡፡

Sebhat Nega: Can You Hear Me Now?

 

by Msmaku Asrat

Can you hear me now? is a familiar question posed by a series of advertisements for Verizon wireless. I am using it here

Sebhat Negga

as a metaphor for a series of lofty pronouncements made by Sebhat Negga – the High Priest, the Gate keeper, the Philosophical Guru, the Intellectual Fountain Head of TPLF and above all the mentor of the late PM Melese Zenawi and the dedicated stooge of  Isayas Afwerki of Eritrea.  He is the know it all who periodically makes definite and unshakable pronouncements just like the Oracle of Delphi, the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.  Her generic name was Pythia.  She was a deity of ancient Greece who, beginning 1600 B.C., was giving all sorts of predictions until her demise with the rise of Christianity.

Recently Sebhat, Pythia’s modern equivalent in Ethiopia, has asserted with supreme arrogance that the TPLF has broken the backbone of the Amara and Orthodox Christianity and predicted that they are finished. He made this deliberately poisonous statement after the “election” of Haile Mariam Desalegn as the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.  Desalegn is neither an Amara nor Orthodox Christian. We know that the ancient Oracle disappeared with the rise of Christianity. Would Orthodox Christianity in Ethiopia disappear the way the present Godless Oracle Sebhat Negga predicted? and would the Amara wither away or disappear like a puff of smoke as well? During the Second World War  the defeated Field Marshall Petain of France was overwhelmed by the might of Hitler and declared that “in three weeks England would have her neck wrung like a chicken.”  In his speech in 1941 the defiant British PM, Winston Churchill, recounted this episode and said “some chicken some neck” to his delighted audience.  Orthodox Christians and Amaras have you heard what Sebhat said?  How would you respond?

Dead Darfur peacekeepers ‘all Ethiopian’

Three peacekeepers shot dead by one of their comrades in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region were all Ethiopian, a source familiar with the incident told AFP on Saturday.
The shooter, who subsequently killed himself, was also from the East African country, the source said, asking for anonymity.
“All of them are Ethiopian,” said the source.
The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has not released the nationalities of the dead or details of what led to the shooting.
While UNAMID is investigating circumstances surrounding the incident, the source told AFP that the peacekeepers are in a stressful environment, “all the time in a dangerous place and all the time away from families.”
In October five peacekeepers died in hostile action.
A South African member of the force was killed during an ambush en route to the Hashaba area of North Darfur, and four Nigerians lost their lives in an attack near El-Geneina, West Darfur.
The attack on the Nigerians was the deadliest in UNAMID history, according to U.N. sources.
The October killings brought to 43 the number of UNAMID troops killed in hostile action in the nearly five-year history of the world’s largest peacekeeping mission.
UNAMID has a mandate to protect civilians in Sudan’s far-west region, where rebels began an uprising against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government almost a decade ago.

Source: Agence France Presse

Leveling the playing field in Ethiopia

by Yilma Bekele

The press release was short and to the point. It was only six paragraphs long and was written in a matter of fact way. There were no trumpets blaring, no press conference with TV lights and no lavish dinner to commemorate the event. The announcement reminded me of the proverb ‘best things come in small packages.’ So it was without much fanfare I read the most important announcement on Abbay Media and Quatero. Tucked among the news was the announcement regarding the formation of Ginbot 7 Popular Force (GPF)

It is vintage G7. Doing what needs to be done in a deliberate and intelligent manner. Since their inception the folks of G7 have gone about building their organization, finding common ground with others and laying a firm and solid foundation to move our quest for freedom and dignity in a purposeful manner. Their accomplishment the last four years speaks volumes to their ability as leaders of a new style of struggle that is beginning to bear fruit.

Civilized people uncivilized regime: how did it happen?

by Teshome Debalke

Everybody is wondering how did such civilized people as Ethiopians ended up under the rule of uncivilized regime like Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) “Woyane”?

Before I go on exploring about how the uncivilized regime remained in power it is appropriate to explain what civilized society means, so that the ‘uncivilized’ understand not to divert us from the main question.

Free Dictionary defines civilized society:

• Having a highly developed society and culture.
• Showing evidence of moral and intellectual advancement; humane, ethical, and reasonable:
• Marked by refinement in taste and manners; cultured; polished

Contrast that with the Woyane regime’s culture, moral, intellect, ethics, and manner, noting come close to what Ethiopians are all about.

Even Woyane supporters attest to that fact by remaining silent and covering up the atrocities and corruptions of their favorite regime for so long confirming their uncivilized behavior. The evidence is overwhelming to justify their behavior. For example, they never demand independent inquiry on all the accusation of genocide, human right violation, corruption, force resettlement, human trafficking, money laundering, extortion, land grabbing…and more. They simply take the word of Woyane at face value and defend it tooth-and-nail while attacking the innocent and everyone else. If that is not uncivilized behavior colluding with an offending party we don’t know what could be.

It goes much further; as blind following the blind, they go along with organized robbery of a nation without blinking an eye. To make matter worst, they sit by; when Woyane reduce the nation to the lowest internet penetration in the world, not to mention jamming and blocking independent Medias just because it doesn’t want anyone to know its atrocity and robbery of the people and the nation. Again, if that isn’t uncivilized behavior of a Stone Age proportion we don’t know what it is.

EUFF Rebels kill 17 prison guards, free five comrades from Markos Prison

DEBRE MARKOS, Northern Ethiopia - Rebels on December 22 killed 17 prison guards, wounded at least 13 members of the security personnel and freed five of their comrades who have been languishing behind bars for several months, a source told Ethiomedia by phone on Tuesday.

 The attack was carried out by combatants of the Ethiopian Unity and Freedom Force (EUFF).

The report couldn't be verified by an independent source. If proven true, however, the latest attack constitutes the third major offensive after operations on Adigrat Prison in November and Metema town in May in which several business units belonging to ruling party officials were razed to the ground (See details below).

የግንቦት 7 ሕዝባዊ ኃይል ተመሰረተ (ግንቦት 7 ዜና)

ከዚህ በታች የሰፈረው ዜና ሙሉ ለሙሉ ከግንቦት 7 ድረ-ገጽ ላይ የተወሰደ ነው። ብዙዎች አዲስ በተመሰረተው “የግንቦት ሰባት ህዝባዊ ሀይል” (Ginbot 7 Popular Force) እና “የግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነትና የዴሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ” (Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy) መካከል ያለው ልዩነት ምንድነው እያሉ ለሚጠይቁት መልስ ይሆናል ብለን እናምናለን።

www.ginbot7pf.org በሚል ድረ ገጽ ላይ የወጣው መግለጫ እንደሚያመለክተው የግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ሃይል የሚባል ድርጅት መመስረቱ ተገለጸ ።  መግለጫውን ያወጣው የግንቦት ሰባት ህዝባዊ ሃይል እንዳብራራው ታህሳስ 11 ቀን 2012 ዓም ” የወያኔን ዘረኛና አምባገነን አገዛዝ ከኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ጫንቃ ላይ በትጥቅ ትግል ለማስወገድ “የግንቦት7 ሕዝባዊ ኃይል” የሚል ስያሜ የሰጠነውን፣ በሃገር ወዳድና ለህዝብ ተቆርቋሪ በሆኑ ወጣቶች፣ ምሁራንና ዜጎች የተሞላውን ድርጅት መመሥረታችን በዛሬው እለት ለመላው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በይፋ እናበስራልን” ብሎአል።

“የሕዝብ ሉዓላዊ የሥልጣን ባለቤትነት የተረጋገጠባት፤ የዜጎች መብቶች፣ ሃገራዊ አንድነት፣ ደህንነትና ጥቅም የተከበሩባት ጠንካራና ዲሞክራሲያዊት ኢትዮጵያ እውን ሆኖ የማየትን ራዕይ የሰነቀ ድርጅት መሆኑን” የገለጸው ህዝባዊ ሀይሉ፣ መንግስትን በኃይል የማስወገድ፤ ሰላማዊና ዲሞክራሲ የሥልጣን ሽግግር በሃገሪቱ እንዲኖር የማስቻል እና ከማንኛዉም የፓለቲካ ድርጅት ጋር ያልወገኑ ነፃ፣ ጠንካራና ብቃት ያላቸው ህገ-መንግሥታዊ የመከላከያ፣ የፓሊስና የደህንነት ተቋማት እንዲኖሩ አስተዋጽዖ የማድረግ ተልዕኮ” ይዞ መነሳቱን ገልጿል።

ህዝባዊ ሀይሉ “በሃገራችን በወያኔ አምባገነናዊ እብሪት ያልታፈነ፣ ያልተዋረደና ያልተዘረፈ የሃገሪቱ ዜጋ እንደማይገኝ ገልጾ፣ ሹማምንቱ በሃብት ላይ ሃብት፤ በድሎት ላይ ድሎት ሲጨምሩ፣ የአብዛኛው ኢትዮጵያዊ እጣ ፈንታ ግን መፈናቀል፣ መሰደድ፣ መንገላታት፣ መታሰር፣ መደብደብና መገደል ሆኗል” ብሎአል። “የወያኔ  የአመጽ እብሪት በሕዝባዊ አመጽ የሚተነፍስበት ሁኔታ  እስካልመጣ ድረስ፣ ወያኔ መብታቸውን ከመጠየቅ ውጭ ምንም እንከን የሌለባቸውን ንጹሃን ዜጎች ከማሰር፣ ሰቆቃ ከመፈጸም፣ ከመግደል ከማሳደድና  ከማፈናቀል” እንደማይቦዝን ህዝባዊ ሐይሉ ገልጿል።

Ethiopia 2012: Human Rights and Government Wrongs

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Another Groundhog Year

In December 2008, I wrote a weekly commentary lamenting the fact that 2008 was “Groundhog Year” in Ethiopia:

It was a repetition of 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004… Everyday millions of Ethiopians woke up only to find themselves trapped in a time loop where their lives replayed like a broken record. Each “new” day is the same as the one before it: Repression, intimidation, corruption, incarceration, deception, brutalization and human rights violation… They have no idea how to get out of this awful cycle of misery, agony, despair and tribulation. So, they pray and pray and pray and pray… for deliverance from Evil!

It is December 2012. Are Ethiopians better off today than they were in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011? 

Does bread (teff) cost more today than it did in 2008…, a year ago? Cooking oil, produce, basic staples, beef, poultry, housing, water, electricity, household fuel, gasoline…?