NEWS
05.15.2012
በኢትዮጵያ መብታችን ይከበር ብለው ሙስሊሞች ከተነሱ ወዲህ ከመለስ ዜናዊ ፋሽስት ስርዓት የሚደርስባቸው በደል እየጨመረ መሄዱ ታወቀ። በሰሞኑ ብቻ በጎንደር ከሃያ በላይ ሙስሊሞች ሲታሰሩ በአሰሳ እንዲሁ በየጨለማው እየታደኑ ወደ እስር ቤት እየተወረወሩ ነው። በአርሲ ዞን አሰሳ ከተማ ነዋሪ የሆኑ ሙስሊም የሕብረተሰብ ክፍሎች ሰዎች እየታሰሩ መሆኑን አጋልጠዋል።
According to the Emergency Nutrition Coordination Unit (ENCU), admissions of severely malnourished children continue to increase, with earlier and greater increases than in 2011.
Admissions increased by 15.3 per cent from January to February and by a further 27 per cent from February to March.
Crying onstage in front of a crowd is not my thing, but a few days ago, as I stood next to Serkalem Fasil, I couldn't hold back my tears. It was a bittersweet moment because Fasil had just received the prestigiousPEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award on behalf of her husband, Eskinder Nega.
05.10.12
Meles denied accusations by advocacy groups including the California-based Oakland Institutethat communities in western Ethiopia are being forcibly evicted to make way for investors. But yet makes 4million hectares (9.9 million acres) of “fertile and unutilized” land available for sale.
10.1. The printer has the right to refuse to print any written script that the publisher submitted for printing should it have adequate reason to judge that the script breaches the law. Now Printers are the ones that judge if there are breaches of law not court? hmmm what was the word "censorship"
Since March, in fact, some Ethiopian opposition networks, led by the Ethiopian Heritage Society of North America (EHSNA), have denounced attacks by the Ethiopian government against some areas of the country through the creation of infrastructure projects and business activities that entail the destruction of about eighteen places of worship, including ancient monasteries and churches, some of which have already been included on the UN list of World Heritage Sites.
05.06.12
Ethiopian rebels in Gambella repulsed an attack by government soldiers who gave up the fight after about half an hour, rebel sources said on May 1st.
Arrested, jailed and beaten, tortured and imprisoned, this is the recipe for justice that the Ethiopian government serves up to dissenting voices. Men and women peacefully exercising their democratic right, demanding their human rights, crying out for their moral rights.
Ethiopian cyber-space under attack, so far the official website of Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) and theOffice of Federal Auditor General(OFAG) get hacked. According to resources his is the second attack on ENA since last March
Ethiopia's government has expelled two Arabs who flew in from the Middle East after the pair went to a mosque and tried to incite violence, an official said Saturday.
Zenawi will attend the session along with three other African leaders – Benin’s president Boni Yayi, Ghanaian president and current AU chairman, John Atta-Millis and Tanzanian president Jakaye Kikwete.
04.30.2012
ትናንት በአርሲ ዞን በአሳሳ ከተማ ትልቁ መስጊድ ውስጥ የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ ባደረጉ ሙስሊሞች ላይ የፌዴራል ፖሊስ አባላት በከፈቱት ተኩስ የ 6 ዓመት ታዳጊ ህፃንን ጨምሮ ሰባት ሰዎች መገደላቸውና በርካቶች መቁሰላቸው ተዘግቧል።
ቢላል ራዲዮ ግጭቱ በተከሰተ ጊዜ ከስፍራው ባስተላለፈው ዘገባ በሰልፈኞቹ ላይ ከየአቅጣጫው በተከፈተው የተኩስ እሩምታ ሰባት ሰዎች ወዲያውኑ ሲሞቱ በርካታዎች ከባድና ቀላል የመቁሰል አደጋ ደርሶባቸዋል።
04.29.2012
Members of the Federal Police have reportedly opened fire at a protest rally at the grand mosque in Asosa, Arsi Zone, killing seven people,including a six year old child, and injuring several others.
gunmen attacked a commercial farm in Ethiopia's western Gambella region and killed five workers.
04.27.2012
In Ethiopia, the Bank recognized the potential for "political capture" of its and other donor funds as early as 2006, after security forces killed 200 protesters and detained more than 30,000 people in the aftermath of the 2005 elections. But when its prediction came true, and Human Rights Watch provided the Bank with documentation in 2010 that the government was denying real or perceived political opponents access to services in programs funded by the Bank, the Bank did little other than a desk-based study to investigate those claims.
“I think it was a huge factor in getting attention to this case,” McLure said. “Mark’s [Hamrick] signature on the letter really gave Eskinder’s cause a big stamp of legitimacy.”
04.25.2012
የተወሰኑ የዩኒቨርስቲው ተማሪዎችም ተጎጂው በትላንትናው እለት ለህክምና ተኝቶበታል በተባለው የካቲት 12 ሆስፒታል ተሰብስበው ለመግባት ያደረጉት ሙከራም በፖሊስ ተበትኗል ።
Ethiopia's government has held one United Nations employee in jail without charges for well over a year, while another is facing prosecution under a notorious anti-terrorism law.
Maar, who is also the state minister of Information and Communication, revealed that on a short visit to Ethiopia earlier this month the government complained about the huge number of armed youth escaping disarmament from Jonglei.
04.23.2012
About a week ago EthiopianReview.com posted a news claiming that rebels in the Ethiopia has burned down 1 hotel and over 20 stores in the northern Ethiopian border town of Metemma.
Control flows from fear. The greater the dishonesty, corruption and greed, the more extreme the controls become. Under the EPRDF governance, Ethiopians are subjected to a range of human rights abuses and violations.
04.20.2012
On-the-ground reports from Ethiopia reveal the government is stepping up its violence against Indigenous Anuak people. In the past week, sources say the military has attacked civilians in the Gambella region and poisoned water sources, forcing thousands of Indigenous people to leave their homelands. Wild animals are dying as they drink the poisoned water.
William Easterly, Mark Hamrick, Aryeh Neier, Kenneth Roth, and Joel Simon
We also urge the US to ensure that our more than $600 million in aid to Ethiopia is not used to foster repression.
The State Department and key members of Congress have been briefed on the brutal treatment of innocent Ethiopians by their government. State Department officials report that they have privately informed the Meles regime that its activities are unacceptable violations of human rights, but so far there have been no public statements from the State Department, and there certainly has been no action taken.
04.18.2012
China and African governments tend to agree that the press should focus on collective achievements and mobilize public support for the state, rather than report on divisive issues or so-called negative news.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Ethiopia, which remains one of the West’s foremost recipients of development assistance and whose largest trading partner and main source of foreign investment is China. The prisons in Ethiopia, like those in China, are now filled with journalists and dissidents, and critical Web sites are blocked.
Ethiopia has failed to bring its inflation down to the targeted single digit figures from the present 32.5 percent.
At the same time, the government on Wednesday sought explanation from Ethiopian authorities over the raid at Todonyang Rapid Deployment Unit (RPD) camp by more than 300 militia.
04.12.2012
New York City, April 12, 2012—PEN American Center today named Eskinder Nega, a journalist and dissident blogger in Ethiopia, as the recipient of its 2012 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
In light of the ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign in Ethiopia against the Amhara, Oromo, Ogaden, Gambella, Afar and other Ethiopians, several Ethiopian media will come together on Saturday, April 14, at 1 PM, to propose a worldwide economic boycott campaign against the Woyanne junta.
Now Mugabe is in poor health and speculation is that if he dies Mengistu could be in trouble...An official and the Foreign Affairs ministry told The Africa Report that Mengistu and his government played a pivotal role during and after the liberation struggle and extraditing him “would be a betrayal”.
But civic society has a firm view on Mengistu, they want him out of Zimbabwe dead or alive.
04.11.2012
“. . . የጉዳታችንን መጠን እናውቀዋለን። የሃዘናችንም ጥልቀት
እናስተውለዋለን፡፡ . . . በመሬታችሁ ላይ ሙቱ፤ በመሬታችን ላይ እንሙት፤ ሁላችንም እናልቃለን
እንጂ መሬታችንን ለቀን ወዴትም አንሄድም፤ አትፍሩ፤ መንፈሰ ጠንካራ ሁኑ፤ የበቀል መልዕከተኛ
አትሁኑ፤ ለፍትህ ግን ቁሙ። ረዳት እንደሌለን አንሁን። ልጃችን የሰላም እረፍት ላይ ነው . . .”
Abbas was on his way to the neighboring Amhara Region of Ethiopia for a meeting with its governor when he stopped in Um Dabalo after spotting an Ethiopian farmer working in the area.
An Ethiopian national working for the United Nations in the restive Ogaden region is being tried on terrorism charges for allegedly having links with an outlawed rebel group. The defendant was arrested last year after helping to negotiate the release of two kidnapped U.N. aid workers.
04.05.2012
A starting teacher in Ethiopia earns approximately $90 a month which is scarcely enough for one person to live on. The government had promised a pay rise which would honour their professionalism, so teachers were hoping that their situation would be improved. However when the increase came it was only 4.5% – as little as $4.5 a month for some teachers which with inflation at 36.3% made no difference to their situation.
When the Ethiopian government asked Thwol Othoy if he wanted to be resettled, he agreed, attracted by promises of a better life – a clinic, school for his children and land to farm.
But he now struggles to feed his family. After moving from western Ethiopia to the tiny town of Abobo in the Gambella region, he was allocated less than half his previous two acres on which he used to grow maize.
"Right now, the Ethiopian government is forcing 200,000 indigenous Anuak people off their ancestral farmlands, grazing lands, and forests in the Gambella region," says Paula Palmer, director of the Ethiopia Campaign at Cultural Survival, a non-profit that defends the rights of indigenous people worldwide.
“Around four weeks ago we bought a quintal of processed teff at the millers for 1,250 Br,” Mesfin, who is nicknamed Vendi by his colleagues, explained. “The price increased to 1,332 Br a quintal last week and even further to 1,495 Br in two days’ time.”
03.29.2012
New photographic evidence proves Ethiopia’s controversial plantations scheme is killing the Lower Omo River, a lifeline for 100,000 tribal people.
A dissident Ethiopian journalist on trial for terrorism has categorically denied the charges and warned the court that history would judge its verdict.
According to witnesses from Gambella, in the last few weeks, two to three thousand TPLF/EPRDF defense troops have been sent to the area following the ambush of a passenger bus on March 4, 2012 where 19 innocent people—mostly young students returning from school—were killed.
Lucy, it turns out, had company—another prehuman that also walked but spent more of its time in trees.
Until now, there was no proof of another human relative living around the same time as the species made famous by the Lucy skeleton.
03.27.2012
listen to German Radio report about the Ethiopians Woyane displaced from Southern Ethiopia, Bench Maji Zone.
In Gambella, 228,000 hectares have been leased and another 877,000 earmarked for investors, he said. The total area to be farmed is 42 percent of region. In Benishangul-Gumuz, the directorate has transferred 100,000 hectares and is marketing a further 981,000 hectares, which is equivalent to about one-fifth of the state.
03.16.2012
Woyanne forces entered Eritrea on Thursday and carried out what a regime spokesman described as “a successful attack” against military posts.
It has been confirmed from different source this week that the Eritrean government and the Ethiopian government are going to have preliminary meeting in Germany on March the 20th, already some representatives of both countries arrived in Germany.
There has been much anger at the government as people are evicted from their land that is being sold to wealthy foreigners. The most recent killings took place as calls have increased for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to justice for the massacre of over 425 people in Gambella in 2003
Ethiopia's year-on-year rate of inflation rose in February to 36.3 percent from 32 percent a month ago, official data showed on Monday.
03.13.2012
The group said that $US1 million ($A950,661) worth of assets from two leading rights groups has already been frozen under the legislation.
This all started a few months ago. I was in the Gambella region of western Ethiopia bouncing down a road to visit a Nuer village, one of the indigenous tribes of the area. For miles, all along the newly graded road, the forest was being enthusiastically dragged down, piled up, and burnt.
03.09.2012
...to raise these issues at every meeting with Ethiopian officials. The regime has demonstrated that such words will have no effect. In fact, the Meles regime acts as if its collaboration with the U.S. in the war on terror gives it a blank check to repress its own people with impunity.
we must remain mindful to explain our common stability objectives clearly to the GoE and EPRDF and to avoid over-reaching for too drastic of reforms lest the ruling party opt to choose survival over engagement. End Comment.
03.07.2012
U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, the first black elected to represent New Jersey in Congress, died Tuesday. He was 77.
Payne's brother, William, said he died at St. Barnabas Hospital.
The two were handed over to German embassy officials and local elders in the desolate northern Ethiopian region on Monday, the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF) said in a statement.
Leikun Berhanu, former Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), and more markedly founding president of Awash International Bank, began serving earlier this week his 15 month jail sentence. Leikun was convicted over foreign exchange mismanagement offense.
Last week, several Yemen government sources close to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced that the fallen autocrat had decided to go into exile in nearby Ethiopia...
03.05.2012
IPI Sends Public Appeal to U.N. Secretary General Highlighting Continuing Press Freedom Concerns
02.27.2012
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Aides to Ali Abdullah Saleh said Monday that the ousted Yemeni president plans to go into exile in Ethiopia, as pressures mounted on him to depart the country for fear of sparking new cycles of violence.
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- An imprisoned Ethiopian opposition leader needs urgent medical attention 12 days after being assaulted in his cell, former President Negasso Gidada said.
The last few months have seen a return of sporadic attacks on government institutions in Gambela, such as an attack on the police station at the Gog and Abwod checkpoints, Pinyudo town, in the Jor district, 30 km from Gambela town.
02.22.2012
በአማራ ክልል ሰሜን ሸዋ በሚገኘው
ኤፈራታ ግድም ወረዳ ልዩ ስሙ አመቦ
በርና ወታጋ ፈብጫ በሚባል ቦታ
ተገዳ ለእርከን ስራ ዘመቻ የወጣች
አንዲት ነፍሰጡር ከዳገት ላይ በድንገት
በመውደቋ የ9ኝ ወር ፅንጽ እንዳስወረዳት
የዜና ምንጮቻችን ገለፁ፡፡
Survival has uncovered shocking new evidence of human rights abuses against tribes in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, as government efforts to develop lucrative sugar cane plantations in the region intensify.
Stop land grabbing and restore indigenous peoples’ lands
But Ethiopia’s policies are deliberately making some of its citizens poorer and hungrier. The government is forcing the Indigenous Peoples of the southwest off their ancestral lands and leasing these lands to foreign companies.
02.19.2012
“[The] government brought the Anuak people here to die. They brought us no food, they gave away our land to the foreigners so we can’t even move back.” – Anuak elder forcibly moved to a state village (from the Human Rights Watch report, “Waiting Here for Death.”
UDJ Party official Andualem Aragie has been beaten up in jail and his captors refused him medical tratement, according to Dr Negasso Giddada. The following is a letter that is sent out on 17th of February by Dr Negasso:
"In the last couple of days, we have been discussing with Ethiopian officials and we hope to secure the release of the two reporters," said a high-ranking EU official who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. "Aid suspension is the last option."
02.13.2012
A local prospector led British archaeologist Dr. Louise Schofield to a mysterious mine in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region. Schofield believes that this was the source of the Queen of Sheba's fabulous gold, a large pile of which she gave to King Solomon when she visited the Holy Land, as is reported in the Old Testament, the Koran, and the Kebra Nagast, one of the holy books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
02.12.2012
Ethiopia's recent prosecution of opponents under an antiterror law has attracted widespread condemnation. But with its regional role as crucial as ever and donors still impressed by the government's antipoverty measures, the criticism is unlikely to result in significant changes.
Last week, at least 5 of the replaced Tigrean bodyguards have been arrested and taken to an unknown location, according to Ethiopian Review Intelligence Unit Sources.
It is for many familiar with Ethiopian politics an almost unimaginable prospect, while skeptics will point out that Meles has repeatedly promised to step down.
02.09.2012
Kwame Nkrumah's statue, which was recently unveiled at the African Union (AU) headquarters, has sparked anger amongst Ethiopian scholars, historians and politicians, who feel the country's former leader Haile Selassie deserved the honour
Ethiopia's longtime dictator Meles Zenawi is feeling the heat from the international community, after jailing one of theirs, on a trumped up charge of terrorism
Ethiopia’s regime has allocated 5,130 hectares of land to foreign investors interested in industrial zones and aims to generate over $500 million in revenue. The industrial zones are located in various parts of the Horn of Africa country including Dire Dawa city, Amhara, Southern and Somali regional states.
02.08.2012
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday Ethiopia could pardon politicians and journalists arrested under a 2009 anti-terrorism law, but dismissed opposition criticism he was using the law to clamp down on dissent.
Rich soil, a tropical climate, and an abundance of water: the region of Gambela in the west of the country is fertile. Foreign investors are renting thousands of hectares of it to develop intensive agriculture without regard for the environment and the population.
2 February 2012
GENEVA– A number of UN human rights experts on Thursday expressed their dismay at the continuing abuse of anti-terrorism legislation to curb freedom of expression in Ethiopia.
02.02.2012
A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today spoke out against the ongoing use of anti-terrorism laws to curb freedom of expression in Ethiopia, where several journalists were recently given prison sentences under such legislation.
On February 3, 2012, the Cassation Bench of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia will hear a petition by the Human Rights Council (HRCO), Ethiopia’s oldest human rights organization, to admit an appeal against the freezing of its bank accounts.
01.30.2012
The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing tens of thousands of indigenous people, with the apparent aim of leasing some of the vacated land to an India-based flower exporter, Human Rights Watch charges.
In a filthy Ethiopian prison that is overridden with lice, fleas and huge rats, two Swedes are serving an 11-year prison sentence for committing journalism.
Getachew Reda -
The second critiques are from group members of OLF/Ginbot 7 (The Pal Talk guerrilla fighters) and EPLF agents wearing Ethiopian opposition garb to cover themselves assigned from EPLF for different agendas.
01.25.2012
An Ethiopian rebel group has taken responsibility over a deadliest attack last week in a remote area of Ethiopians north east Afar region.
Islamist militants have launched a suicide truck bomb attack on an Ethiopian military base in central Somalia, witnesses say.Al-Shabab says it killed 10 Ethiopian soldiers in the attack in the town of Beledweyne but this has not been confirmed.
“Our message that the Swedes should be freed immediately will be conveyed by commissioner Andris Piebalg,” said Maja Kocilancic, spokesperson for Catherine Ashton to daily Dagens Nyheter (DN)
01.20.2012
"The convictions are yet another sign that individuals who hold different opinions are no longer tolerated in Ethiopia."
Claire Beston, Amnesty Internationa's Ethiopia researcher
Authorities in Ethiopia's northern Afar region have sent elders to try to secure the release of two German tourists and two Ethiopians kidnapped by gunmen and who the government believes are now inside Eritrea, officials said on Thursday.
Already, 20,000 families have moved from areas they have roamed for centuries in a "vil-lagization" program.
Researchers claim that inter-national donors, including Brit-ain, have inadvertently helped to pay for it.
01.18.2012
Canada’s aid agency says it will look into how Ethiopia spends the assistance after publication of a report that accuses the African country of an abusive and systematic practice of forcing rural villagers off their land.
Ethiopia accused neighboring Eritrea of backing gunmen who killed five European tourists yesterday in the northeastern region of Afar. Eritrea’s ambassador to the African Union rejected the accusation as an “absolute lie.”
01.17.2012
“We were told, ‘If somebody refuses, the government will take action’ – so the people went to the new village – by force.”
–Villager in Abobo woreda (district), May 2011
“Farmers in our woreda did not want to go. The woreda reported to the region that farmers are refusing to accept. The governor asked the woreda chairman to investigate. He did – ‘Yes, they are resisting. What shall we do?’ he asked the governor. The governor told him that five development agents should be suspended from their job, and that he would bring in the soldiers. So that is what happened.”
A report released Tuesday by New York-based Human Rights Watch blasts the Horn of Africa country for its "villagization" program that it says has forcibly relocated 70,000 indigenous people, and aims to move 1.5 million by next year.
The forced expulsions have cut villagers off from food sources, basic health services while forcing them to endure abuse from the Ethiopian army, the report alleges.
The president of a volatile Ethiopian regional state has been fired from his party leadership position after reportedly admitting involvement in a 2003 ethnic massacre. The leadership of the southern Gambella region is coming under increasing scrutiny for corruption and abusing the rule of law.
01.15.12
Increasing human rights violations and deaths from careless state-owned sugar plantation trucks could trigger violence in the Omo Valley as the TPLF/EPRDF seizes indigenous land and water sources!
It would be hard to find a better symbol of media repression in Africa than Eskinder Nega. The veteran Ethiopian journalist and dissident blogger has been detained at least seven times by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government over the past two decades, and was put back in jail on September 14, 2011, after he published a column calling for the government to respect freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and to end torture in prisons.
01.11.12
We brought to the State Department's attention credible media reports indicating that the Ethiopian regime has used food aid as a tool to reward its supporters and punish opponents.
Two Swedish journalists convicted of supporting terrorism in Ethiopia say they will seek a pardon from the African country's government instead of appealing their 11-year prison terms.
East African foreign ministers warned Tuesday they could invoke regional sanctions against some Somali parliamentarians for attempting to “destroy the foundations of Somalia’s political stability”. The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Council of Ministers said Tuesday the nomination of a new Somali parliamentary speaker was likely to lead to sanctions against the “spoilers” of the country’s peace process.
01.10.12
Two politicians who had been rising stars in Ethiopia's ethnic Oromo opposition movement have pleaded “not guilty” to terrorism charges in Addis Ababa on Monday.
01.06.12
America’s top diplomat for Africa under George H.W. Bush has said that the hegemonic minority rule of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is difficult to sustain as Ethiopians are demanding freedom and democracy. Former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Cohen, played a key role in Ethiopia’s transition from the military junta of Mengistu Hailemariam to the minority rule of Meles Zenawi in 1991
On December 27, 2011, they were sentenced to 11 years imprisonment in Ethiopia for having illegally entered the country and allegedly promoting terrorism.
Now they have two choices: Take up to two years to appeal the verdict to a court that is not independent from the regime, as Ethiopia is a one party-state.
01.05.12
I have no intention of reading it either. Judging from the inaugural ceremony when the book was made public I figured reading is not a requirement to talk or write about it. I am not going against convention here and read the damn book. My sincere hope is Ato Bereket himself has read the book...The dilemma faced by librarians all over is which category to file the book under. Fact or fiction is a valid question...
01.04.12
an article posted on Gaadaa.com- what's going on?
01/03/12
Land in Ethiopia is being leased to agro-industry investors on very long terms and below market rates. The beneficiaries have good political connections. But then land has been the play-thing of centralising authoritarians throughout Ethiopia's recent history.
01/02/12
Washington DC (ESAT)–The Oromo Liberation Front has announced its historic decision to drop its long-held secessionist agenda and to embrace the unity of Ethiopia under a genuine federal arrangement that must guarantee the rights, equality and liberty of all Ethiopians.
According to ancient Ethiopians writings it has been claimed that their are 16 planets in our solar system. The problem is ancient Ethiopian writing whether scientific or historic in nature has been largely ignored and never been investigated. Even us Ethiopians, we did not have the chance to appreciate our forefathers for leaving us such writings. As we grew up we were thought that there are only nine planets in our solar system and that the Ethiopian version that claimed there are sixteen were either unknown to most of us or out right refuted. Now hearing that the western scientists are finding more and more planets, makes us rethink about the ancient writings berried and forgotten in Ethiopia.
12/27/11
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Swedish foreign ministry says the sentence is not fair
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The judge says the two failed to prove their innocence
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Human rights groups say Ethiopia failed to provide justice
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The two were embedded with a rebel group in eastern Ethiopia, press freedom groups say
Meles Zenawi and Co. has gotten reed of more than 300 senior military officers from the TPLF military. Why? Its anybody's guess. The official reason given for their dismissal was retirement which doesn't make sense given the fact that all 300 were not of the same age and could not turn retirement age the same day. Why? DID these military members perhaps started questioning Meles's rule? DID they... anyhow its the biggest shake up its kind every in the history of TPLF and the real reason behind this reshuffle is yet to be discovered. See below the official version of the news posted by the capital.
Egyptian border police have detained 52 African migrants in the past 24 hours after they attempted to cross into southern Israel from the Sinai Peninsula, security officials said Monday.
12/23/11
DISMANTLING
DISSENT
INTENSIFIED CRACKDOWN
ON FREE SPEECH IN
ETHIOPIA (Amnesty International Report)
Amnesty International believes that the prolonged series of arrests and prosecutions indicates
systematic use of the law and the pretext of counter-terrorism by the Ethiopian government to
silence people who criticise or question their actions and policies, especially opposition
politicians and the independent media. Whilst these groups have often been arrested and
prosecuted in the past, the large numbers of arrests indicates an intensified crackdown on
freedom of expression in 2011.
MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA — Twelve Ethiopians believed to have been illegally crossing into the country via Lake Malawi from Tanzania were dumped in the lake after dying of hunger, police have said quoting the other immigrants.
Judge Shemsu Sirgaga found photojournalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson guiltyof supporting terrorism and entering the country illegally, local journalists told CPJ. The convictions could lead to a sentence of up to 18 years. They are expected to be sentenced on December 27.
The sham convictions of two Swedish journalists confirm that the chief purpose of the anti-terrorism law’s clause on ‘supporting terrorism’ is to suppress the legitimate work of the media. The vague and broad anti-terrorism law was open to abuse and it is being abused.
NAIROBI — Ethiopian rebels said on Thursday the conviction of two Swedish journalists on terrorism charges for supporting the group was "unjust" as they were innocent and called for their release.
12/21/11
An Ethiopian court has convicted two Swedish journalists of supporting terrorism.
Ethiopian troops captured Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye six months ago during a clash with rebels in the East African state's Somali region.
December 20, 2011 (ADDIS ABABA) - An exiled Muslim organisation, Badar Ethiopia, has called on Ethiopian authorities to immediately release jailed Muslim journalists who published a local magazine on the affairs of country’s Muslims.
According to some Ethiopian opposition websites, the three journalists Ahmed Din Jebel, Akmel Negash, and Ishaq Eshetu were arrested on 16 December.
The International Organization for Migration says it is concerned and fearful about the fate of thousands of Ethiopian migrants stranded in deplorable conditions for many months in northern Yemen. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from IOM headquarters in Geneva the organization says it has run out of funds to repatriate the migrants.
12/18/11
New laws by the Meles government and incompetent Addis Ababa city officials has slowed down the construction sector in Addis Ababa and other cities, the last remaining promising sector in an otherwise disastrous economic situation in the country, according to a report by Addis Fortune Newspaper.
Heads of overseas missions of Ethiopia across the world appear to be in a hushed competition to mobilize as many resources in the form of bonds to support the Great Renaissance Dam, as they can get, gossip observed. Neither is the pressure from Menelik II Avenue easy on them.
12/17/11
It gives the Pentagon authority to "enhance the capacity of the national military forces, security agencies serving a similar defense function, and border security forces of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya to conduct counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda affiliates, and al Shabaab."
ADDIS ABABA - Security men in civilian clothes on December 16 abudcted three journalists who have been running the Ye Moslimoch Gudai,a monthly publication covering the affairs of the Muslim society in Ethiopia.
And in East Africa and the Horn of Africa, few have been able to return to their home countries.
CPJ's Journalist Assistance program has provided help to more than 100 journalists in the region in the past 18 months, to cover medical expenses and other urgent needs.
In a report released Friday, the human rights group said at least 114 opposition politicians and six journalists have been arrested since March.
France and the United States have special operations forces (commandos and special aircraft) stationed in Djibouti, which is next to northern Somalia.
12/16/11
To Yared’s shock and surprise, the CBE management told him that the bank doesn’t have the money to give him and that he has to wait. When Yared asked how long he has to wait, the managers told him they don’t know.
12/13/11
The following is a list of 20 richest Ethiopians in 2011. The list is compiled by Ethiopian Review Intelligence Unit. Except for a few of the individuals in the list, most of them, particularly the TPLF members, have enriched themselves through corruption and outright thievery.
Headlines last week declared: “Meles Zenawi cries foul over climate money pledges”. Well, that’s rich.
Leading Africa’s heads of state and government panel at the COP17 climate talks in Durban, the Ethiopian prime minister’s biggest emphasis was on the Green Climate Fund
The press freedom campaigner group says Ethiopia has seen the highest exodus of journalists over the last decade and the number of journalists jailed would have now been even higher if so many journalists hadn’t chosen to flee their native country.
Since 2001, some 79 Ethiopian journalists have fled home in protest to growing crackdown on critical voices, according to CPJ research.
Ethiopia and Sudan have agreed not to receive rebel figures or host each other’s rebel forces in their territory, the Sudanese Media Center (SMC) reported last week.
12/10/11
A couple of weeks ago, newspaper editor Dawit Kebede, an International Press Freedom award winner, fled Ethiopia. Sadly, Dawit's Awramba Times is the latest in a long list of Amharic-language private publications to vanish from the market following the incarceration or flight into exile of their editors.
12/09/11
Three years ago, I met Minister Bereket Simon at his office at the center of Addis Ababa. I was with my colleague Abiye Teklemariam -- who was recently charged with terrorism, treason and espionage along with five other journalists, including myself.
Washington, D.C. (December 8, 2011) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on November 29 more than 500 Muslim students, accompanied by Muslim police officials, burned down a church in the village of Qoto Baloso, Silte province, Ethiopia.
12/08/11
The Ethiopian government led by prime minister Meles Zenawi uses charges of terrorism to silence and intimidate its domestic critics. The political technique is now being extended by accusing independent journalists of conspiracy. One of his targets, Abiye Teklemariam Megenta, responds.
Little is known about Azeb Mesfin Haile’s journey to the heart of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and by extension the pinnacle of power in Ethiopia. She rarely gives interviews unless it is about scripted matters such as her “humanitarian” work.
The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide shot up more than 20 percent to its highest level since the mid-1990s, an increase driven largely by widespread jailings across the Middle East and North Africa, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, CPJ identified 179 writers, editors, and photojournalists behind bars on December 1, an increase of 34 over its 2010 tally.
12/07/11
Ethiopia lost $11.7 billion to outflows of ill-gotten gains between 2000 and 2009, according to a coming report by Global Financial Integrity. That’s a lot of money...
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Evidence in Ethiopia trial 'faked': lawyer (5 Dec 11)
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Court amends charges against jailed Swedes (3 Nov 11)
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Lundin Petroleum reports bumper profits (2 Nov 11)
12/05/11
According to the Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Zenawi’s Ethiopia ranks 120 out of 182 countries and territories in the world, a significant drop from last year’s ranking of 116.
The Anuak Justice Council (AJC) shares in the profound grief of all Anuak and friends of the Anuak throughout the world upon the loss of the king of the Anuak, His Majesty King Adongo Agada Akwai Cham, who died on November 30, 2011 following a serious illness.
12/04/11
Yenesew was said to be exceptionally well-rounded. Close friends and relatives unanimously say that he was a highly intelligent, conscientious, articulate and well-read young man.
That's because the claimed home of the iconic relic - a small chapel in Ethiopia - has sprung a leak and so the Ark could now be on the move.
12/02/11
It is expected that 103 items of a total of 184 surveyed will increase in price in the next three months according to the survey results. Amongst items expected to increase in price are all types of meat, house rentals and construction.
12/01/11
"The sheer numbers of arrests and prosecutions this year indicate a systematic crackdown, a systematic dismantling of the last few independent voices," said Amnesty International's Ethiopia researcher Claire Beston.
11/30/11
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The managing editor of one of Ethiopia's few remaining independent Amharic-language newspapers publishing critical analysis of local politics said he left the country last week for fear of arrest, a U.S.-based press freedom group said.
Reuters) - New convoys of heavily-armed Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia and are heading for central areas, residents said Sunday, days after Addis Ababa said it planned to send troops to help Somali and Kenya forces fighting Islamist insurgents.
The Somali Region court has sentenced 57 elders of being accused of killing seven people in the Somali region of Ethiopia in the first week of November.
Ahlusunna Waljama’a warned that the recent Ethiopian army entrance into Somali territory, saying it could bring regrouping of Al-shabab militants.
11/28/11
Breaking news
Gondar University has been in chaos in the last three days due to protests that was triggered by food poisoning, which has reportedly affected nearly 1000 students.
11/26/11
Ethiopia seemed offended by the United States recent decision to turn to Kenya. Zenawi’s displeasure is motivated by two main concerns.
His Holiness Archbishop of the legitimate Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahodo Church has called on Ethiopians across the world to hold memorial services and prayers to commemorate the self-immolation of Yenesew Gebre, who died Monday after he set himself on fire last Friday.
The cable is about an attack on media freedom. In that context, the lack of freedom of media in that country is more important. The USA are sternly protecting the Ethiopian government and even giving them military aid. That seems to be entirely forgotten.
The United Nations is working to address some of the economic problems driving large numbers of people to seek better lives for themselves outside Ethiopia, but the question of political reform remains unanswered.
The United Nations refugee agency voiced concern today over the movement of large numbers of people from Sudan into Ethiopia and South Sudan, saying that an estimated 76,000 people have moved since August, mainly as a result of conflicts.
The UN refugees agency UNHCR said on Friday that there are currently 950,000 registered Somali refugees in neighbouring countries, with Kenya, Yemen, Ethiopia and Djibouti hosting more than 90 percent of them.
11/23/11
The State Department's top Africa policymaker on Tuesday warned Ethiopia not to invade Somalia, but the warning came too late, with Somalis claiming that Ethiopian troops were already rolling through their villages in trucks.
The statement from Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs...
Ethiopia’s first invasion of Somalia was the major contributing factor in causing the complete breakdown of government in Somalia. It also helped to create Al Shabaab.
11/22/11
Dawit Kebede, managing editor of Awramba Times, one of Ethiopia's two remaining independent Amharic-language newspapers offering critical analysis of local politics, announced today that he was forced to leave the country after he received a tip last week about alleged government plans to re-imprison him.
“The Ethiopian government is exploiting its vaguely worded anti-terror law to crush peaceful dissent,” said Rona Peligal, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
Abdirahman Omar Osman said Ethiopian troops would only be welcome if they had an international mandate or a bilateral agreement with the Somali government, but there is currently no such agreement.
11/21/11
the allegation by the BBC that “currently, Ethiopia is one of the FOUR world countries which are growing faster than all other states.
11/20/11
The playboy son of Colonel Gaddafi could face a firing squad after the Libyan government yesterday refused to hand him over to the International Criminal Court.
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