Unity Overrides Everything!

Posted by: Messay Kebede January 20, 2016 0

Those who closely follow current events in Ethiopia, especially those who honestly wonder, like me, why other ethnic groups, especially the Amhara who are the number one target and victim of the TPLF since it seized power in 1992, are not joining the Oromo uprisings, cannot but feel that a crucial ingredient of the whole situation is eluding their grasp. How otherwise could one explain the hesitation of other ethnic groups when it is but obvious that (1) the TPLF would lose control of the situation if the protest spreads and takes a national dimension; (2) without a national expansion of the protests, the TPLF will end up by violently crushing the Oromo rebellion, the outcome of which will lead to a tightening of control and repression? In other words, it is of no interest to any ethic group that the Oromo uprising be defeated. Why, then, are other ethnic groups going against their own interest by their reluctance to join the ongoing Oromo protests?

Only one answer seems to make sense, namely, that other ethnic groups see some kind of threat in the Oromo uprisings. By threat I mean that other ethnic groups fear the possibility of a generalized unrest leading to ethnic conflicts, which can easily turn into civil war. The fear is legitimate: anyone who underestimates the possibility of ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia subsequent to a weakening of the central power is either an enemy of Ethiopia or a fool. But the tragedy of the situation is that, even if one is perfectly aware of the danger of ethnic conflicts, one cannot also miss the fact that Ethiopia does not have much choice.

Indeed, the continuation of the TPLF’s rule does not decrease the danger. On the contrary, it makes conflicts inevitable: as people lose all faith in the possibility of change in Ethiopia, they perforce begin to think exclusively in terms of ethnic solidarity, if not of secession. The TPLF’s constant political and economic hegemony and its ingrained policy of undermining Ethiopian legacy can only cement the drift toward ethnic fragmentation and animosity. The best and only policy to counter the trend of fragmentation is democratic change: only the sharing of economic and political power through real decentralization and self-rule can create a common interest and turn secessionist tendency into an irrational and self-damaging option, obvious as it is that prosperity and democracy are better achieved with larger entities that harbor diversity in addition to offering more material and human resources.

The current events and the absence of any other choice than democratic change make one thing perfectly clear, namely, that the most important issue is no longer how to get rid of the TPLF, but how to forge the unity of opposition forces. The overthrow of the TPLF has become a secondary issue in that it is still an issue because divisions of opposition forces persist, and not because of the strength of the TPLF. Let there be no misunderstanding: I am not saying that removing the TPLF no longer requires sustained and bloody confrontations with many ups and downs and huge sacrifices. According to me, those who think that the TPLF is on its last legs are mistaken. Instead, what I maintain is that the primary condition of a successful fight against the TPLF is unity. What the current situation demonstrates is that the TPLF prevail because it does not encounter a national opposition. It draws its main strength from the fragmentation of opposition forces, which therefore should become the primary concern.

I know that since the TPLF seized power, most of us have been preaching unity as the sine qua non for defeating it. Nothing is therefore new in what I am saying. Yet, it is one thing to advocate unity, quite another to see with our own eyes how disunity makes us all powerless and victims. The daily sight of the repressive machine of the regime charging on peaceful Oromo protesters shows that unity is no longer a political choice; it has become a necessity. That for which we are fighting, to wit, the recognition of ethnic identity and self-rule, has turned into the very reason of our submission to the hegemonic power of the TPLF. This inversion of our legitimate aspiration into self-imprisonment requires that we transit to unity as a necessary step to realize our aspiration. For unity has indeed become the condition by which we get rid of hegemonic rule, the very rule that antagonizes our aspiration toward self-rule. From unity to regionalism and back again to unity that integrates regionalism: such seems to be the ideal path awaiting Ethiopia.

This much is then absolutely true: unless we remove the TPLF and replace it by a democratic system, which, in turn, requires unity, whatever we want is unachievable. National unity has changed into the very condition that we need to implement our goals, be they national or ethnic. Since both self-rule and national integration are impossible under a dictatorial rule, unity emerges as the condition by which alone we can remove that rule. As the above image shows, unless the one hand grabs the other, both individuals will fall. So that, the only thing that matters now is what we need to do for the peoples of Ethiopia to grab each other’s hands, and the rest will follow.             source http://ecadforum.com/ 

Government Backs Down, But Will Protests End in Ethiopia?

Felix Horne | Human Rights Watch

Nine weeks after bloody protests broke out in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, the government has made a major concession to the protestors – halting a plan to expand the municipal boundary of Addis Ababa, the issue that sparked the crisis.

The announcement January 12 by the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO), the ruling party’s local affiliate in Oromia region, is a rare concession from the government and a hard fought victory for protesters. But it may be too late to calm Oromia.

Initially the protesters said they feared the expansion of Addis Ababa would result in forced displacement of Oromo farmers without adequate compensation. But as security forces responded to the protests with mass arrests, use of live ammunition, and other brutality, the protests have become about so much more. While there have been some violent incidents, most of the protests have reportedly been peaceful. But the government’s heavy handed approach has shifted the focus of the protests towards the brutal crackdown and inflamed historical grievances against the government.

Despite the announcement, the security forces don’t seem to have changed their approach. The daily reports of killings by security forces and mass arrests continue, particularly of university students.

Many protesters say they are skeptical that the government will follow through and halt the plan. But with or without the plan, the displacement of farmers is likely to continue as it has in many parts of Ethiopia, unless the government fundamentally changes its approach to development. Until the government involves communities as meaningful partners in development, respecting their land and other rights, rather than just an obstacle to be removed, protest movements like this are likely to continue to flare up.

In the short term, if the government wants to calm the situation it should start by releasing those arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned. It should commit to establishing a credible, independent investigation into the killings and other violations that have taken place. And last but not least, it needs to listen to and begin to address the longer list of rights violations against Oromo that have fueled these tragic protests.                                                                                                                                  sourse  ecadforum January 15, 2016 0

በኦሮሚያ ክልል አሁንም ግድያና እስራት እየተካሄደ ነዉ ሲሉ የኦሮሞ ፌዴራሊስት ኮንግረስ ሊቀመንበር ተናገሩ

January 13, 2016 – VOA — 4

በኦሮሚያ ክልል አሁንም ግድያና እስራት እየተካሄደ ነዉ ሲሉ የኦሮሞ ፌዴራሊስት ኮንግረስ ሊቀመንበር ተናገሩ። በኦሮሚያ በሚገኙ የዩኒቨርሲቲ ቅጥር ጊቢ ወታደሮች መስፈራቸዉንም አስታወቁ።

መንግስት በበኩሉ በአሁኑ ወቅት በኦሮሚያ ሰላም ሰፍኗል፥ ጸረ ሰላም ናቸው፤ የሚላቸዉንም ሃይሎች ህዝቡ እየታገላቸዉ ነዉ ይላል። መለስካቸዉ አመሃ ዝርዝሩን ከአዲስ አበባ ዘገባ ልኳል -ያዳምጡ → 

Funeral of Samson Ketema, who have been murdered in Madda Walabu University

Posted by: ecadforum January 12, 2016 0

Friends say Samson Ketema was friendly and polite person who served in the church as a deacon, days ago two individuals showed up in his dormitory and ordered other students to leave the dormitory, later on he was found dead.

Most people suspected government security personals may killed Samson to insist violence between the Oromo Students and non-Oromo students. Oromo students are protesting against the regime’s plan to expand Addis Ababa’s master plan to the neighboring Oromia region villages.

Right groups are saying the Ethiopian regime soldiers killed more than 140 protesters so far.

Ethiopia's crackdown on dissent takes rising toll

የነጻነት ቀን ቀርባለችና ጸንታችሁ ቁሙ! (እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው — ከቃሊቲ ማጎሪያ ቤት፣ አዲስ አበባ)

እየሩሳሌም ተስፋው (ከቃሊቲ ማጎሪያ ቤት፣ አዲስ አበባ)

እነሆ በጨለማ ቤት ውስጥ ከታጎርን 311 ቀናት ሞሉን፡፡ ጊዜው እንዴት ይሮጣል ባካችሁ? የዛሬ አመት በዚህ ወቅት ከጓደኞቼ ጋር በዝዋይ እስር ቤት የሚገኙትን ጀግኖቻችንን ለመጠየቅና እንኳን አደረሳችሁ ለማለት የገና ዋዜማን በዝዋይ ወህኒ ቤት ተገኝተን ነበር፡፡ ግን ምኞታችን ቅዠት ሆኖ ያሰብነው ሳይሳካ አንድም የፖለቲካ እስረኛ ማግኘት ሳንችል በሩን ተሳልመን ተመለስን፤ መጠየቅ አትችሉም ተብለን፡፡

የገና ዕለትም እንደለመድነው ከጀግኖቻችን ጋር ለማሳለፍ መጀመሪያ በቂሊንጦ ወህኒ ቤት፣ ቀጥሎ የስድስት ሰዓት ተጠያቂዎች ናቸውና የቃሊቲ ጀግኖቻችን ከእነሱ ጋር በማሳለፍ ለማስታወሻ ይሆነን ዘንድ እዚሁ ቃሊቲ በር ላይ ተሰባስበን ፎቶ ተነሳን፡፡ ያ በዓል ለእኔ እና ለአባሪዎቼ የመጨረሻ በዓላችን ነበር፡፡ ሆኖም በዓሁኑ ሰዓት በዚያ ፎቶ ላይ ተሰባስበን ከተነሳነው ስንት ሰው እንደሆነ በሰፊው እስር ቤት የቀረው እናንተው ማየት ትችላላችሁ፡፡ (ፎቶ ከተገኘ ማለቴ ነው)

ግማሾቻችን ቃሊቲ፣ ግማሾቹ ቂሊንጦ፣ ግማሾቹ ማዕከላዊ፣ ግማሾቹ ሸዋሮቢት ታጉረዋል፤ የቀሩትም ከሀገር ተሰደዋል፣ አንድ ሁለት ቆራጦች ደግሞ በፈታኝ ሁኔታ ውስጥ ሀገር ቤት ሊኖሩ ይችላሉ፡፡ ይህ ነው የኢትዮጵያ ፖለቲካ መጨረሻ! መታሰር አልያም ከሀገር መሰደድ! በቅርቡ የማደንቃቸውና የማከብራቸው ጓደኞቼ ወደ ማዕከላዊ መግባታቸውን ስሰማ በጣም አመመኝ፡፡ በእርግጥ ወያኔ በስልጣን ላይ እስካለ ድረስ መታሰር አዲስ አይደለም፡፡ ከመታሰርም በላይ ወንድማችን ሳሙኤል አወቀ በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ተገድሏል፤ በኦሮሚያ ያለውን ግድያ የምናውቀው ነው፡፡ ግን እስከመቼ ግፉ ይቀጥላል? እስከመቼስ በዚህ ሁኔታ ጀግኖቻችንን እያስበላን እንቀጠላለን? እስከመቼስ መረጃ ምንጮቻችን የሆኑት ሚዲያዎች ሲታገዱ እንታገሳለን? እስከመቼ በፍርሃት ቆፈን ተቀፍድደን እንቀመጣለን? እስከመቼ እስሩና ግድያው የእኛን ቤት እስኪያንኳኳ እንጠብቃለን?

ለመሆኑ ቆርጠን ተነስተን ወያኔን ታግለን እንዳንጥል ያደረገን ምንድነው? ከአፍሪካ የስልጣኔ እና የነጻነት ፈር ቀዳጅ ተምሳሌት እንዳልነበርን ዛሬ ከጎረቤት ኬንያ እንኳን አንሰን ስንገኝ ምን ይባላል? አዎ በረባ ባረባው ለራሳችን የምንሰጠው ምክንያት ወደኋላ እየጎተተን ይገኛል፡፡ ልጄ፣ ሚስቴ፣ ባሌ፣ ልጄ፣ እናቴ፣ አባቴ…ስንል ኢትዮጵያ የምትባል ሀገር ከካርታ ላይ እንዳትጠፋብን እሰጋለሁ፡፡ የኢትዮጵያዊነት የጀግንነት ስሜቱ ወዴት ገባ? እድሜ ልክ በፍርሃት ከመኖር አንድ ቀን በጀግንነት መኖር አይሻልምን? ኸረ ንቃ ወገኔ…ተነስ! በቃ እኔ የምልህ ንቃ ነው!

ይህን የምልህ አንዳንድ የአዲስ አበባ ካድሬዎች በወያኔ ቴሌቪዥን እንደሚሉት አውሮፓ ተቀምጬ አይደለም፡፡ እዚሁ በግፍ እስር ላይ ሆኜ እንጂ! ተነስ የምልህ ፈርቼ በማፈግፈግ ሳይሆን ደፍሬ ከፊት በመቆም ነው፡፡ የጀመርኩት የነጻነት ትግል፣ የነጻነት መንገድ አለና ከዳር አድርስልኝ ነው የምልህ! በአንድ ወቅት የዛን ዘመኑ አሸባሪና የአሁን ዘመኑ የሰላም ኖቬል ተሸላሚ ኔልሰን ማንዴላ (ነፍሳቸውን በገነት ያኑርልንና) እንዲህ ብለው ነበር፤ ‹‹ማንኛውም ህዝብ ሁለት ምርጫ ፊቱ ላይ የሚደቀንበት ጊዜ ይመጣል፡፡ እጅ መስጠት ወይም መሳሪያ ማንሳት? እኛም ሁለተኛውን ምርጫ እንድንመርጥ ተገድደናል›› ብለው ነበር፡፡ እኔም ኢትዮጵያዊነት አልደፈርም፣ አትንኩኝ ባይነት መሆኑን ተረድቼዋለሁና፣ እጅ መስጠት እንኳን ለእኔ ኢትዮጵያዊነት ገብቶኛል ለምለው ይቅርና ለአንድ ጨቅላ ህጻን ልጅ እጅ መስጠት ማለት ሞት ነውና ልክ እንደ ማንዴላ ሁለተኛውን ምርጫ እንድመርጥ ተገድጃለሁ፣…መሳሪያ ማንሳት!

ምንም እንኳ አሁን ላይ በወያኔ እጅ ወድቄ በዚህ ጨለማ ወህኒ ቤት ብገኝም ራዕዬ ትልቅ ነውና ብዙ በመንገዴ እየሄደበት ይገኛል፡፡ አዎ ዛሬ አካሌ እዚህ ቢገኝም ልቤ ባህርን ተሻግሮ ኤርትራ በርሃ ውስጥ ከጀግኖቹ መንደር ይገኛል፤ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ከሚገሰግሱት ከነዚያ ልበ-ሙሉዎች ጋር የእኔ ልብ!

በመጨረሻም፣ ማንም ሰው ጀግና ነሽ፣ ጎበዝ ነሽ አይበለኝ! እኔ በሴትነቴ የጀመርኩትን እናንተም ተከተሉኝ፡፡ ልብ ከቆረጠ ሊገታው የሚችለው ምንም ኃይል የለምና! በዚያ በስቃይ ቤት ከማንም ሳትገናኙ መምሸቱንም መንጋቱንም ለምርመራ ስትወጡ ብቻ እያያችሁ በዓሉን የምታሳልፉት የምወዳችሁ ጓደኞቼ አይዟችሁ በርቱልኝ እላለሁ! የማያልፍ የለም!! የነጻነት ጊዜ ቀርባለችና ጸንታችሁ በአቋም ቁሙ! የኢትዮጵያ አምላክ ከእናንተ ጋራ ይሁን!!                              source ecdeff

Human Rights Watch calls on Ethiopia to release unjustly detained opposition figures

ESAT News (January 07, 2016)

The Human Rights Watch called on the Ethiopian government on Thursday to release all political prisoners and stop the use of lethal force against protesters. It also demanded the regime to allow peaceful protest.

“The Ethiopian government should release unjustly detained opposition figures including Bekele Gerba, deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), and rein in the excessive use of lethal force by the security forces. They should also allow people to peacefully protest and to express dissent and ensure that farmers and pastoralists are protected from arbitrary or forced displacement without consultation and adequate compensation,” HRW said in a dispatch by Felix Horne, researcher for the Horn of Africa.

“These steps would be an important way to show Oromo protesters that the government is changing tack and is genuinely committed to respecting rights. Without this kind of policy shift, desperate citizens will widen their search for other options for addressing grievances,” the dispatch said.

The report recalled that over the past eight weeks, Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, has been hit by a wave of mass protests over the expansion of the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa. The generally peaceful protests were sparked by fears the expansion will displace ethnic Oromo farmers from their land, the latest in a long list of Oromo grievances against the government.

It said the crisis has taken another worrying turn: on December 23, the authorities arrested Bekele Gerba, deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Oromia’s largest legally registered political party. There had been fears he would be re-arrested as the government targets prominent Oromo intellectuals who they feel have influence over the population. He was first taken to the notorious Maekalawi prison, where torture and other ill-treatment are routine. The 54-year-old foreign language professor was reportedly hospitalized shortly after his arrest but his whereabouts are now unknown, raising concerns of an enforced disappearance. Other senior OFC leaders have been arbitrarily arrested in recent weeks or are said to be under virtual house arrest.

This is not the first time Bekele has been arrested. In 2011, he was convicted under Ethiopia’s draconian counterterrorism law of being a member of the banned Oromo Liberation Front – a charge often used to silence politically engaged ethnic Oromos who oppose the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). He spent four years in prison and was only released shortly before the elections last May. The OFC ran candidates but the EPRDF coalition won all 547 parliamentary seats, a stark reflection of the unfair electoral playing field.

Bekele is deeply committed to nonviolence and has consistently advocated that the OFC participate in future elections, despite the EPRDF’s stranglehold on the political landscape.

By treating both opposition politicians and peaceful protesters with an iron fist, the government is closing off ways for Ethiopians to nonviolently express legitimate grievances. This is a dangerous trajectory that could put Ethiopia’s long-term stability at risk, the report said.

Security forces have killed at least 140 protesters and injured many more, according to activists, in what may be the biggest crisis to hit Ethiopia since the 2005 election violence.