Arrests headline Ethiopia press freedom fears

Arrests of Ethiopian journalists and bloggers are part of what critics say is a ‘shocking’ crackdown.

ወያኔ የዘረው የዘር መርዝ የማደጉ ምስክር "የድሬደዋ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ባለቤትነት የሶማሌ ክልልንና የከተማዋ አስተዳደርን አወዛገበ"

•  የፌደራል ባለስልጣናት ጣልቃ ገብተው ሲያረጋጉ ሰንብተዋልየድሬደዋ ዩኒቨርስቲ የሶማሌ ክልል መስተዳድር የባለቤትነት ጥያቄ ተነስቶበት ካለፈው ቅዳሜ ጀምሮ በሚሊሻ ተቆጣጥሮት የነበረ ሲሆን የፌደራል ጉዳዮች ሚኒስትር ዶ/ር ሽፈራው ተ/ማርያም፣ የቀድሞ ምክትል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር አቶ አዲሱ ለገሠ፣ የግብርና ሚኒስትሩ አቶ ተፈራ ደርበውን ጨምሮ ሌሎች የፌደራል ባለስልጣናት በጉዳዩ ጣልቃ ገብተው ማረጋጋታቸውን ምንጮች ጠቁመዋል፡፡የዩኒቨርስቲው ባለቤት እኔ ነኝ የሚል ጥያቄ ያነሣው ሶማሌ ክልል ቦታውን በክልሉ ሚሊሻዎች አስከብቦ የክልሉን ባንዲራ ሰቅሎ የነበረ ሲሆን፣ የፌደራል ባለስልጣናቱ በጉዳዩ ጣልቃ መግባታቸውን ተከትሎ ክልሉ ሐሙስ እለት ሚሊሻዎቹን ከአካባቢው ቢያስወጣም የክልሉ ባንዲራ አሁንም በዩኒቨርስቲው አካባቢ እየተውለበለበ መሆኑ ተጠቁሟል፡፡

የድሬደዋ ዩኒቨርስቲ የሚገኘው በድሬደዋ አስተዳደር በኩል “ቀበሌ 02” ተብሎ የሚጠራ ሲሆን፤ የሶማሌ ክልል መስተዳድር በበኩሉ፤ ዩኒቨርስቲው አጠገብ “በሶማሌ ብሔራዊ ክልላዊ መንግስት ቦረን ገጠር አስተዳደር” የሚል ታፔላ እንደተከለ ምንጮች ገልፀዋል፡፡ በአካባቢው የሚገኙ መኖሪያ ቤቶችም ባለሁለት ካርታ መሆናቸውን የገለፁት ነዋሪዎች፣ በሶማሌ ክልል እና በድሬደዋ ከተማ አስተዳደር ካርታ የወጣላቸው እንደሆኑ ጠቁመዋል፡፡ እንዲሁም ዩኒቨርስቲው ጀርባ የሚገኙ ገበሬዎች ባነሱት የመሬት ጥያቄ ምክንያት ያለ አጥር ክፍቱን የተቀመጠ መሆኑንም ምንጮች ገልፀዋል፡፡ 

AN URGENT APPEAL – From Mesfin Wolde-Mariam

The UN Human Rights Commission

The African Union Human Rights Commission

The International Red Cross

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

And

All Men and Women of GOOD WILL

Reeyot Alemu is a budding Ethiopian poet, essayist, and journalist. There are not many Ethiopians of her caliber inside the country. She has been languishing in the famous Ethiopian Prison in Qalliti for almost three years. She was charged of terrorism, a crime she totally abhors. She was sentenced first for eighteen years but later reduced to three.

With the exception of her mother and father, she is not allowed to communicate with anyone, including her sisters, brothers as well as her fiancée.

Reeyot, although constantly in agonizing pain and in need of help, is held in solitary confinement with a very old and sickly foreign woman who herself requires assistance.

Reeyot is suffering from some growth in her breasts. The prison authorities have been reluctant to take her to hospital for medical checkup, even when her parents were prepared to pay the bill. When she became seriously ill she was allowed to see a doctor as a result of which

Dam! White Elephants in Ethiopia?

April 21, 2014

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Last week, in a bizarre display of faux outrage and indignation, the regime in Ethiopia unleashed its big “experts” to go after International Rivers, an organization that has been leading the global struggle to protect rivers and the rights of indigenous communities that depend on them for nearly three decades. International Rivers, headquartered in Berkeley, CA.,  is committed to promoting sustainable use of water and rivers throughout the world. The organization has done extraordinary work in Africa, Asia and Latin America to “prevent destructive dam development, promote effective flood management practices,

Gunmen kill nine in western Ethiopia bus attack: state media

ADDIS ABABA Wed Apr 16, 2014 4:40am EDT

(Reuters) – Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying dozens of people in western Ethiopia near the Sudanese border, killing nine and wounding six others, state-run media said on Wednesday.

There was no claim of responsibility and no group was blamed for the attack, but Ethiopia says it has thwarted several plots in recent years by Ethiopian insurgents as well as Somali al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab Islamist militants.

A handful of rebel groups are waging low-level separatist insurgencies in Ethiopia, while Ethiopian troops are part of an offensive against al Shabaab in neighboring Somalia.

The bus ambush on Tuesday evening – near the $4 billion-Grand Renaissance Dam – was the second attack on public transportation in the Benishangul Gumuz region in five months. Four people were killed by a bomb on a minibus in November.

The Long Shadow of Rwanda on (Central) Africa

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

Déjà vu 1994 Rwanda in 2014 Central African Republic

Last week, the people of Rwanda began a solemn week of official mourning to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide. On April 6, 1994, Hutu extremist leaders in government, their political supporters and organized militiamen coordinated a systematic killing spree, which lasted over 100 days and consumed the lives of more than 800,000 mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In 1994, Rwanda had a population of  5.5 million, of which 14 percent were Tutsi. Today Rwanda has a population of 11.5 million, of which the Tutsi population is less than 10 percent.