Ethiopian authorities lie about crackdown against free speech

April 29, 2014

AFP – Ethiopia said Tuesday several people had been arrested on charges of “serious criminal activities”, but rights groups identified those detained as journalists and bloggers targeted in a sweeping crackdown against free speech.

“They are suspected of some serious crimes, and the police are investigating,” government spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP, without providing details of the alleged crimes.

The journalists and a group of bloggers known as “Zone 9″ were arrested last week, prompting an outcry from rights groups.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called the arrests “one of the worst crackdowns against free expression” in the country, while Amnesty International said it was part of a “long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders, activists, journalists and political opponents.”

Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch said the “arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticises the Ethiopian government will be silenced”, and called for their immediate release.

The arrests come ahead of a visit this week by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

“The timing of the arrests — just days before the US Secretary of State’s visit — speaks volumes about Ethiopia’s disregard for free speech,” Lefkow added.

The bloggers Zone 9 website, reportedly named after the prison where political detainees are held, listed the names of nine people arrested, saying they were charged with having worked with foreign human rights activists to foment violence or instability.

But the government dismissed the rights groups, and said those arrested were not detained for their work as journalists.

“We don’t take orders from Human Rights Watch,” Getachew said.

- Free speech ‘a crime’ -

An opposition group staged a protest on Sunday following the arrests, calling for “greater liberties and a true democracy” in Ethiopia, but police shut the 200-person demonstration down soon after it started.

HRW said 20 members of the political opposition Semayawi or “Blue” party have also been arrested since Friday, although there has been no official confirmation of exact numbers.

“With the latest arrests, Ethiopian authorities are turning the peaceful exercise of free expression into a crime,” the CPJ’s Tom Rhodes said in a statement.

Amnesty said the group had only restarted blogging last week after suspending their work for the past six months, accusing the government of harassment.

Ethiopia has been accused of cracking down on independent media and has doled out several heavy sentences for journalists charged under the controversial anti-terror legislation, which rights groups have called vague and far-reaching.

“With still a year to go before the general elections, the Ethiopian government is closing any remaining holes in its iron grip on freedom of speech, opinion and thought in the country,” said Amnesty’s Claire Beston.

In 2011, two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years in jail under the law, but were later pardoned after serving 15 months.

Ethiopia has one of the most closed press environments in the world, the CPJ says. It calculates that at least 49 journalists have been forced into exile, the third worst after Somalia and Iran.

source ECADF

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Ethiopia: Semayawai(Blue) Party members are being arrested ahead of Sunday’s (April 27, 2014) Protest Rally

April 26, 2014

Today April 25th and over the last few days, the TPLF lead government has arrested over 30 Semayawi ( Blue) Party members ahead of a protest rally organized by the Party, scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 27, 2014. The protest rally is being organized fully in compliance with the law.

The police arrested several of the Party’s leadership team and several dozen members. As of today, the Vice-Chairperson, several executive committee members and at least 30 other members have been arrested and being held at several police stations in Addis Ababa. Semayawi Party Chairperson, Eng. Yilkal Getnet was also detained but has been released soon after he was taken to the Police station.

We will update as we learn more about this spiteful action against peaceful and legal political opposition members.

Semayawi Support-North America

source ECADF

የሠማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት መታሰር

ሠማያዊ ፓርቲ በቅስቀሳ ላይ የነበሩ 25 ወጣት አባላቴ ታስረውብኛል፣ ፓርቲው ሥራውን በአግባቡ እንዳያካሂድም መሰናክል እየደረሰበት ነው ሲል አስታወቀ።

በአዲስ አበባ አስተዳደር የሠላማዊ ሠልፍ ማሳወቂያ ክፍል ለፊታችን እሁድ ዕለት ሠልፍ ለማድረግ አሳውቀን ሠልፉን የምናደርግበት ቦታ ቢነገረንም፤ ፖሊስ ግን በሥራችን ላይ እንቅፋት እየፈጠረ ነው ሲል ፓርቲው ወቅሷል። ዘጋቢያችን ዮሐንስ ገብረእግዚአብሔር ስለሁኔታዉ የፓርቲዉን ሊቀመንበር አነጋግሮ ተከታዩን ዘገባ ልኮልናል። ይህ ዘገባ ከተጠናቀረ በኋላ የደረሰን ዜና እንደሚያመለክተዉ ደግሞ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ፕሬዚደንት ኢንጂነር ይልቃል ጌትነት፤ ምክትል ፕሬዚደንቱ አቶ ስለሺ ፈይሳ እንዲሁም የፓርቲዉ የሕዝብ ግንኙነት አቶ ብርሃኑ ተክለ ያሬድ ለቅስቀሳ ከፓርቲዉ ጽህፈት ቤት ሲወጡ በፖሊስ ተይዘዉ ተወስደዋል።

ዮሐንስ ገ/እግዚአብሔር

ማንተጋፍቶት ስለሺ

ሸዋዬ ለገሰ

source DW

Afar Forum condemns killings of innocent civilians

April 22, 2014

Press Release

The Afar Forum strongly condemns the indiscriminate and extra judiciary killings of innocent civilians on April 19, 2014 near the Awash city. The federal police of EPRDF/TPLF killed 12 innocent civilian indiscriminately including a pregnant woman who was crying on the dead body of child who gunned down by the brutal federal force. This blatant disregard for human life is the hallmark of the ERPRD/TPLF military force trained to kill rather than to protect. It’s indisputable fact that these kind brutal military actions have previously been reported from all regions throughout Ethiopia. Particularly, the victims of the aggression in Ogaden, Oromia, Gambela, Amhara and the 2005 massacre in Addis Ababa and elsewhere in the country are still fresh in our memories.

The statement from the federal police spokesperson Ato Abebe Worku, who even do not know how to pronounce the name and the location where the incident took place, down played and denied the killing of innocent civilians. However, eyewitnesses confirmed the indiscriminate killings of unarmed civilians by the brutal federal police. As a result, the people who live in the area closed the Djibouti –Addis Ababa road to show their frustration, continued harassment and indiscriminate killings of unarmed Afars by the brutal EPRDF/TPLF forces. The government has threatened the civilians from further demonstration in Afar region and warned, those who demonstrate would be convicted as terrorists.

Under the rule of EPRDF/TPLF the Afars are subjected to continued killings and detention for opposing eviction from their ancestral land, displacement from water points along the Awash River, for crossing the Djibouti-Addis Ababa road without causing interruption. Since April 1991 the EPRDF/TPLF forces have killed countless innocent Afars without due process. There is an ongoing displacement of the Afars from the fertile Awash River basin to more hostile areas where there is no water and grazing for their cattle. Attempts by Afar elders from all the five Zones to appeal their situation, lack of justice and due process to the so called federal authorities has fail on deaf ears.

The continued inter ethnic conflict between the Afars and Somali/Issa/Hawiya which is often instigated by the federal forces has claimed hundreds of lives in the last decays and continues to harm both the communities. The EPRDF/TPLF government has totally failed to bring a lasting solution to the conflict and to secure the security and safety to the people of the Afar region.

We call upon the Ethiopian people, political organizations and the international community to condemn the continued incriminated killings of the Afar by EPRDF/TPLF forces and advocate for the right of indigenous Afar people who are endangered nationality within the areas they live.

Afar Forum

Stuttgart, Germany, April 21, 2014       

source ECADF 

Part 1: The End is in Sight - Lifelines - Al Jazeera English

Dark secrets of foreign investment in Ethiopia and tears of the poor

April 22, 2014

by Nathnael Abate (Norway)

The rapid growth of world economy has resulted in strong partnership between countries, multinational companies and cooperates. This made the greatest gateway for international companies directly to involve in foreign investment process in the labor cheap countries. Since cheap labor forces produce very high profits. In most developing countries the priority of government is self-enrichment by all possible means but not fulfilling the interest of public. For sake of their own benefits both government and foreign cooperates increase the bond between them overtime. Eventually these foreign companies become the head masters of government because they nurture government with a lot of cash and the corrupted regimes are happy to have it in their pockets. Now the government is spokesman and servant of the companies or cooperatives rather than being the protectors of citizens. Cooperates controlled government will take all the measures against its own citizens in order to protect the interest and benefits of the foreign corporates, specially the dictator regimes such as the regime of Ethiopia.

Foreign investment by itself has no adverse impact on any society as long as it does not harm or violate the interests and tradition of locals, indigenous and citizens of the country where the investment takes place. But in most cases foreign investments in developing countries have suppressive, exploitative and long lasting impacts on the lives of local people. For example, foreign investments are highly destroying lives of indigenous people in western and southern Ethiopia. The Government is forcibly displacing the indigenous communities from their ancestral lands in order to supply land for foreign and local investors. These areas were rapidly being converted into commercial agricultural investment centers. The government is depriving small scale farming, pastoralists, fishing grounds and other life sustaining activities of indigenous people in the area.

The corrupted TPLF regime backed transnational cooperatives in Ethiopia indirectly confiscating the land and other natural resources that have been home and food source for indigenous community for thousands of years. Interlocked partnership among the regime of Ethiopia and transnational companies have no short or long term benefits to the local community or the country. Industrial and agricultural products produced by these firms will be exported to other countries and profits will be transferred to home of their origin. Money from land lease or sell, tax and other sort of shares will furnish the pockets of dictator juntas. It will not benefit by any means the local communities. There are also violent tactics used against the locals (including rapes, intimidation, murder, harassment) as well as lack of consultation, compensation, legal redress and derogation of national and international laws intended to protect indigenous and pastoralists communities’ rights to own and use resources. In south Omo valley about 86% of land was occupied by the investors which used to be farming, hunting, fishing and grazing ground for natives. The successive Ethiopian regime has never cared for dark skinned Ethiopian indigenous people in south Omo valley and in Gambella (west Ethiopia) rather they were all referred as a second citizens and sub humans.

The selling and leasing of land that is home for native tribes in Gambella and South omo had severe consequences on locals. Many families were scattered searching for food, water and graze land and these interdependent tribes become hopeless and helpless. In the name of investment hidden corruption chain has taken newest paths in Ethiopia since recent years. In this corruption chain some participated directly and others indirectly. For instance the fertilizer potash company called YARA which is owned by Norwegians gives about 30% of its profit to Ethiopian regime. The interplay between the Yara and the Ethiopian Regime is that, YARA supplies the fertilizer to the regime and Ethiopian Government force farmers to use the fertilizer and pay for it. If the farmer is not willing to use the fertilizer soon he loses his land. Improper use of fertilizer could permanently damage the soil and the current use of fertilizer in most part of Ethiopia is improper. Government only focuses on selling large quantity of fertilizer and gaining profit from it but not the future severe consequences.

The symbolic human right guardian western rich countries which are also political, economic and social partners of dictator regimes increased and continued their aid for further deterioration of poor lives. Western foreign aid budgets are used as a driving force of human right violations in Africa particularly in Ethiopia. This devastating hidden exploitative system is wiping out poor, indigenous people, local communities, peasants, pastoralists and is causing permanent damage to land and other natural environment in the area. For large scale agriculture wide area of forest is cleared and which in turn increases massive emission of Co2 in to local climate. In addition to forest clearing also Ethiopia regimes main strategy of renewable energy source what is so called hydroelectric dams (“Reservoirs [created by large dam projects] are a significant contributor to climate change, and that hydropower schemes in some cases may have a greater impact on global warming than fossil fuel power stations.” ) . In South Omo, Gilgil Gibe and some other parts of the country many people were displaced without any compensation from their homes and property for dams’ construction. Research suggests that organic matter, decomposing vegetation and soil, in shallow reservoirs in warm tropical areas emits large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere and that even after the vegetation is fully decomposed, gases continue to be released. And yet hydro development is promoted as a ‘green’ alternative to fossil fuel.

The south and west Ethiopia natives are paying price for non-self-benefiting and biased development policy of the government. They are forcibly displaced from their ancestor’s grave land or possessions. This people have very little employment room to be employed in newly introduced sectors and sometimes may have access to physical labor with very low payments and bad treatments .Those employed in the sector are from Tigray and other regions. These communities are plunged further into poverty, environments are destroyed and irreparable harm is caused to this indigenous community.

There are also many houses of poor and shelters being demolished and demolishing going on in bigger cities(In Addis Ababa and regional cities) to sell the land without compensation for those who owns the land or shelter on the place. According to the December 26, 2013 report of Zegabi, people whose houses got demolished in capital Addis Ababa said “They (government officials ) did not even [allow] us enough time for [the] evacuation” with sorrow in their eyes and extreme fatigue on their face. “They immediately started to plow down all the houses with bulldozers for no consideration. All the houses turned into dust and rubble right there in front of our eyes. The place we used to call home was no more, a barren land in its place.” I enquired if they were given prior notice of the demolition.

Their heartfelt and emotional answer was “They had told us that this place was going to be removed and plowed down three or four months ago. But there was no legal notice. It was just word of the mouth. And we were always asking for places to be given to us. And the people at the concerned offices always said that at one time one of the officials wasn’t around to decide or at another time the map for the place was not prepared. And now they are telling us to wait for our answers living outside. What kind of justice is that? There is no where we can apply to to get justice. The Sub city administration will not do anything for us and we have been trying to ask the Red Cross for help but it’s all bureaucratic.”

The land which is taken away either from the indigenous people of far rural area or poor of the cities will be sold to foreign investors or domestic riches. The money from selling and leasing land will be in the pockets of woyane officials to make their life joyful while leaving behind tears, sorrows, homelessness and poverty to the indigenous and poor people. They (our rulers) made us poor. We are crying and they are laughing.

Writer`s contact nathanialoret@gmail.com
Tweeter @nathysaint and facebook nathy de saint.

God bless Ethiopia

source ECADF 

በስደትም መሰለል – በኖርዌይ ኢትዮጵያውያን ተቃውሞ አሰሙ

“እነሱ ሁለት አገር አላቸው፤ እኛ አገር አልባ ሆነናል”

April 14, 2014 08:37 pm By Editor 1 Comment

የኢህአዴግን የስለላ መዋቅርና አካሄድ አስመልክቶ እየወጡ ያሉ መረጃዎች ተበራክተዋል። ኢህአዴግ ራሱን እንደሚስለው ዓይነት ድርጅት ሳይሆን በሰብዓዊ መብት አያያዝ ጉድለት ያለበት፣ በሚዲያ ነጻነት ኋላ ቀር፣ የተቃዋሚ ፖለቲከኞችን በማሳደድ ግንባር ቀደም፣ አፋኝ ህግ በማውጣትና በማሸማቀቅ ወደር የማይገኝለት፣ ለሚያወጣው ህግና ደንብ የማይገዛ፣ የውስጥ ችግሩ ታይቶ በማይታወቅ መጠን ዜጎችን ለስደት እየዳረገ እንደሆነ እየተመሰከረበት ነው።

ኦባንግ ሜቶ

ኢህአዴግን ሸሽተው አገር ለቀው የተሰደዱ በስደት ምድርም ኢህአዴግ እየተፈታተናቸው እንደሆነ መግለጽ ከሰነበቱ ቆይቷል። በአሜሪካ፣ በካናዳ፣ በጀርመን፣ በስዊድንና በእንግሊዝ አገር ስደተኞችን በመሰለል ተግባር ላይ የተሰማሩ “የስደተኛ ሰላዮች” በስፋት ስለመኖራቸው መረጃ ማቅረብ እንደሚችሉ የሚገልጹ ጥቂት አይደሉም። የተለያዩ ድርጅቶች በዚህ ጉዳይ ምን ያህል እንደገፉበት መረጃ ባይወጣም አቶ ኦባንግ ሜቶ የሚመሩት የአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ ስራውን ያገባቸዋል ከሚላቸው ክፍሎች ጋር እየሰራ እንደሆነ በዚሁ መድረክ መገለጹ ይታወሳል። በወቅቱ አቶ ኦባንግ “ስደተኛ ሆኖ ስደተኛን መሰለል በህግ የተከለከለ ወንጀል ነውና በዚህ ጉዳይ ርህራሄ ሊኖር አይችልም” ነበር ያሉት።

ማርች 11 ቀን በኖርዌይ የኢትዮጵያ ስደተኞች ማህበር አስተባባሪነት ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ተካሂዶ ነበር። በሰላማዊ ሰልፉ ላይ የፓርላማ ተወካይ፣ የኖአስና/NOASና ዘረኝነትን የሚቃወመው ድርጅት መሪ ተገኝተው ነበር። በሰላማዊ ሰልፉ ተገኝተው ንግግር ካደረጉት መካከል ወ/ት የሺሃረግ በቀለ ይጠቀሳሉ። በኖርዌይ የኢትዮጵያ ስደተኞች ማህበር ጸሐፊ ወ/ት የሺሃረግ በቀለ “እነሱ አገር ቤትም አገር አላቸው፤ በስደትም አገር አላቸው” በማለት ነበር ለጎልጉል አስተያየታቸውን መስጠት የጀመሩት።

የሺሃረግ በቀለ

በሰልፉ ላይ ካቀረቡት ንግግር በተጨማሪ ለጎልጉል አስተያየታቸውን የሰጡት ጸሐፊዋ፣ ስደተኞች ሁሉ አንድ አይደሉም። “ሆን ተብሎ የስደት መረጃና ማስረጃ ማመልከቻው ተመቻችቶላቸው የሚላኩ የወያኔ ቅጥረኛ ሰላዮች አሉ። እነሱ ባለሁለት አገር ናቸው። እኛ አንድም አገር የለንም” ብለዋል። ይህንን ጉዳይ አቅም በፈቀደ ሁሉ ማህበሩ ከአባላቱና ድጋፍ ከሚሰጡት ሁሉ ጋር በመሆን ከዳር እንደሚያደርሰው ገልጸዋል።

“ልብ እንበል” በማለት አስረግጠው የገለጹት ስለ ሁለተኞቹ ስደተኞች ነው። ስርዓቱ ባለው የግፈኛነት፣ የዘረኛነት፣ የከፋፋይነት፣ የዴሞክራሲና የነጻነት እጦት የገፋቸው እውነተኛ ስደተኞች ባግባቡ መልስ ያለማግኘታቸው ጉዳይ ነው። “እነዚህ እውነተኛ ስደተኞች እኔን ጨምሮ አገር የለንም” ሲሉ አገር አልባ የመሆንን ስሜት ይገልጻሉ። ወ/ት የሺሃረግ የኖርዌይ ሚዲያዎችና በስለላ ተግባር የተሰማሩ “ስደተኞች” እንዳሉ በይፋ ቢናገሩም መንግሥት መልስ አለመስጠቱ ቢያሳዝናቸውም ማህበራቸው ትግሉን ይበልጥ እንዲገፋበት እንዳደረገው ነው የሚናገሩት።

የዲሞክራሲ ለውጥ ድጋፍ ሰጪ በኖርዌይ ተወካይ በሰላማዊ ሰልፉ ላይ ያረጋገጡትን በመጥቀስ ወ/ት የሺሃረግ የትግሉን መደጋገፍ አመላክተዋል። ድጋፍ ሰጪው መረጃ የማሰባሰብ ስራውን ማጠናቀቁን ማረጋገጡ፣ የስደት ከለላ ካገኙ በኋላ በስለላ የተሰማሩትን ክፍሎች አደባባይ ለማውጣት የሚደረገውን ትግል እንደሚያፋጥነው ከምስጋና ጋር እምነታቸውን ገልጸዋል።

ማህበራቸው ኢትዮጵያውያን ስደተኞች ባሉበት ሁሉ ወኪሎችን በመሰየም የግንኙነት መረብ መፍጠሩን ያመለከቱት ጸሐፊዋ፣ የግንኙነት ሰንሰለቱ መረጃዎችን በቅርብ ለመሰብሰብ እንደሚረዳ አስታውቀዋል። ላለፉት ሰባት ዓመታት የስደት ማመልከቻቸው አዎንታዊ መልስ እንዳላስገኘላቸው የጠቆሙት ወ/ት የሺሃረግ፣ “እንደ እኔ አይነቶች ብዙ ነን። ከኔም የሚብሱ አሉ። ከሚደርስብን የማህበራዊ ችግር በተደራቢ ካገራችን እንድንባረር ያደረጉን ሰዎች እዚህም እረፍት ሊነሱን አይገባም። አገር አልባ መሆን ያሳዝናል። እዚህ ኖርዌይ የተወለዳችሁ ወገኖችም ብትሆኑ ስደተኞች ናችሁና በመረጃ ማሰባሰቡ ስራ ተባበሩን” ሲሉ ጥሪ አስተላልፈዋል። ቀደም ሲል ለተባበሩትም ምስጋና አቅርበዋል። ከጉዳዩ ጋር በተያያዘ ሙያዊ ምክርም ሆነ አግባብነት ያለው አስተዋጽዖ ለማበርከት ለሚፈልጉ ሁሉ ማህበራቸው በሩ ክፍት እንደሆነም ተናግረዋል።

በኖርዌይ የኢትዮጵያዊ ኮሚኒቲ ሊቀመንበር አቶ ፋሲል አለባቸው በበኩላቸው በተጠቀሰው ቀን ለተደረገው ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ሙሉ ድጋፍ እንደሚሰጡ ገልጸዋል። “ሆን ተብሎ የስደት መረጃና ማስረጃ ተመቻችቶላቸው የሚመጡት ሰላዮች የስደት ሂደቱን በማበላሸት እውነተኛ ስደተኞች የከለላ ምላሽ እንዳይሰጣቸው ያደርጋሉ። በዚህ ዜጎች ተጎድተዋል” ሲሉ ለጎልጉል ገልጸዋል።

“እነዚሁ የተመቻቸላቸው ስደተኞች መልስ ካገኙ በኋላ ሆን ብለው ወደ አገራችን መመለስ እንፈልጋለን በማለት የስደተኛ ጉዳይ ለሚያስተናግዱት ክፍሎች የተሳሳተ መረጃ በመስጠት የሌሎች ስደተኞችን ጉዳይ በማበላሸት ስራ ይሳተፋሉ” የሚሉት አቶ ፋሲል አንዳንዴም የተሳሳተ መረጃና የተሳሳተ ምክንያት እንዳቀረቡ በመግለጽ እውነተኛ ስደተኞች ላይ ተጽዕኖ ሊያሳርፍ የሚችል ተግባር እንደሚፈጽሙ አመልክተዋል።

ከዚህ በተለየ መልኩ ገንዘብ በመላክ /በሃዋላ/ ስራ የተሰማሩ ሰዎች እንዳሏቸው የሚገልጹት አቶ ፋሲል፣ “ወያኔዎቹ ገንዘብ በመላክ ስራ ባሰማሯቸው ሰዎች አማካይነት አገር ቤት ያሉትን ቤተሰቦች በመለየት እንደሚያስፈራሩ ይታወቃል” ሲሉ የትግሉን አስፈላጊነትና ከስደተኞች ማህበር ጥሪ ጎን ስለመቆም ይናገራሉ።

ኮሚኒቲው ለወገኖቹ ጉዳይ ዘወትር እንደሚያደርገው ሁሉ አሁን ለሚደረገው ትግል ከድጋፍ መስጠት ባለፈ አብሮ ለመስራት ዝግጁ እንደሆነ ያሳሰቡት አቶ ፋሲል፣ ማንም ቢሆን ለህግ ሊገዛ እንደሚገባ በሚያስገድድ ስራ ላይ መሰማራት እንደሚኖርበት አመላክተዋል። በማያያዝም አሁን ወደ ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች፣ ወደ ማህበረሰቡ፣ ወደ አክቲቪስቶችና አቅም ያላቸውን ክፍሎች ግንዛቤ የማስጨበትና ጉዳዩን አጀንዳ አድርጎ የመትከል ስራ ላይ ትኩረት ተደርጎ ስራው እንደሚሰራ አስረድተዋል።

ወ/ት የሺሃረግ የመረጃ ማሰባሰቡ ስራ ሲጠናቀቅ ጉዳዩን ከኖርዌይ የፍትህ ተሟጋች አካላት ጋር በመሆን አስቀድሞ ለፍትህ ሚኒስትር፣ በመቀጠልም በየደረጃው ለሚመለከታቸው ክፍሎችና ለዓለም አቀፍ ተቋማት የማሳወቁ ስራ ተጠናክሮ እንደሚቀጥል ለጎልጉል ተናግረዋል።

በሰላማዊ ሰልፉ የተለያዩ ከተሞች የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያዊያንና ሃሳቡን የደገፉ ተገኝተዋል። አቶ መለስ ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ ኖርዌይ በመጡ ጊዜ የተፈጠረውን ጉዳይ በማስታወስ የስደተኞች ማህበር ቢዘገይም አሁን የደረሰበት ደረጃ ሊበረታታ እንደሚገባ የጠቆሙ አሉ። ስቴንሻዬር የስደተኞች ካምፕ “ስደተኛ” ተብሎ ተመዝግቦ የነበረ እብድ ወጣት አብረውት ካምፕ የሚኖሩ አገር ቤት ያለውን ስርዓት በመቃወም ለህዝብ ግንዛቤ የማስጨበጥ ስራ ሲሰሩ አብሯቸው ይሳተፍ ነበር። ሲሰለፉና ህወሃትን ሲያወግዙ፣ ኢህአዴግን ሲቃወሙ፣ አብሮ በመሆን እየተቃወመ ቪዲዮ ይቀርጽ ነበር። በመጨረሻ በድንገት ተነስቶ አገር ቤት ተመለሰ።

የልጁ በድንገት መሰወር ያሳባቸው የካምፑ ነዋሪዎች ሲያጣሩ በስም የጠቀሱት ሰው አዲስ አበባ መመለሱ ተረጋገጠ። ከወራት በኋላ አቶ መለስ ኦስሎ ሲመጡ ይኸው ሰው ኦስሎ ተገኘ። በማለት የጠቆሙት ክፍሎች ይህንን ጉዳይ ፖሊስ እንደሚያወቀው፣ ማመልከቻ እንደገባለት አብረውት የነበሩት አሁን ድረስ በስጋት ላይ እንዳሉ ይገልጻሉ። source Golgul

ethiopian protest at oslo april 11 2014

የኢትዮጵያን ወቅታዊ የፖለቲካ ሁኔታ እና የዲያስፖራውን ሚና በተመለከተ በኖርዌይ ኦስሎ ሕዝባዊ ውይይት ተካሄደ

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በዲምክራሲያዊ ለውጥ በኢትዮጵያ  የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ አዘጋጅነት አፕሪል ቅዳሜ 12/2014  በኖርዌይ ኦስሎ ከተማ  የኢትዮጵያን ወቅታዊ የፖለቲካ ሁኔታ እና የዲያስፖራውን ተሳትፎ በተመለከተ ታላቅ ሕዝባዊ ስብሰባ ተካሄደ:: በሕዝባዊ ስብሰባው ላይ ቁጥራቸው ወደ ሁለት መቶ የሚጠጉ በኖርዌይ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያኖች ከኦስሎ እና ከተለያየ ከተማ  በመምጣት በስብሰባው ላይ የተገኙ ሲሆን  የግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነት እና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ አመራር አባል አቶ ቡዙነህ ፅጌ የስብሰባው ተጋባዥ እንግዳ በመሆን ሰፋ ያለ ንግግር አድርገዋል::
ሕዝባዊ ስብሠባው በኖሬጅያውያን የሰአተ አቆጣጠር ከቀኑ 15:00 እስከ ምሽቱ 21:00 ሰዓት የተካሄደ ሲሆን የዲሞክራሲያዊ ለለውጥ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ ሕዝብ ግንኙነት ሀላፊ  አቶ አቢ አማረ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በወያኔ አረመናዊ ስርአት በጭካኔ በግፍ ለተገደሉ እና በተለያዩ አስር ቤቶች በፖለቲካ ኣስተሳስባችው ምክንያት ያለወንጀላች የሚስቃዩ ውድ ኢትዮጵያዊን ወገኖቻችን በማስብ  በዚሁ ዘረኛ ቡድን አስቃቂ የኣካል ጉዳት ለተፈጸባቸው ኢትዮጵያዊን  የአንድ ደቂቃ የህሊና ጸሎት በማስደረግ ስብሰባውን አስጀምረውታል::

በመቀጠለም አቶ ዮሀንስ አለሙ የዴምክራሲያዊ ለውጥ በኢትዮጵያ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ ሊቀመንበር የመግቢያ ንግግር ያደረጉ ሲሆን በንግግራቸው ስለ ዲምክራሲያዌ ለውጥ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ አመሰራረት እና ስለ ድጋፍ ድርጅቱ አላማ በማብራራት የድጋፍ ድርጅቱ በአሁኑ ሰአት በሀገር ቤት በሰላማዊ ትግል የወያኔን መንግስት ለመጣል እየታገሉ ያሉትን የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶችን እየረዳ እንደሚገኝ እና ከሀገር ውጭ ደግሞ የወያኔን መንግስት  በሁለገብ ትግል  ለማስወገድ እየሰራ ያለውን የግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነት እና የዲሞክራሴ ንቅናቄ የፖለቲካ ድርጅትን በግንባር ቀደምነት እየረዳ እንዳለ በመግለጽ  የወያኔን ዘረኛ ስርአት ለመጣል ሁሉም ሰው አስተዋጿ ማድረግ እንደሚጠበቅበት እና ማንኛውም  ኢትዮጵያዌ ዜጋ በሀገራችን የጋራ ጉዳይ ስለሆነው  የኢትዮጵያ ወቅታዊ የፖለቲካ ሁኔታ ሀሳብ በመለዋወጥ ፣በመካከላችን ያሉትን ማንኛውንም የሃሳብ ልዩነቶች ወደ ኋላ በመጣል ፣ በመቻቻል፣ ሀገር እያፈረሰ እና ሕዝብ እያዋረደ ያለውን የዘረኛውን የወያኔን መንግስት ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ በሁለገብ ትግል ለማስወገድ መረባረብ እንዳለበት አጽኖት ሰተው ንግግር አድርገዋል::
በመቀጠለም ዲምክራሲያዊ ለውጥ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ ድጋፍ ከሚሰጣቸው ድርጅቶች መካከል አንዱ የግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነት እና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ አመራር አባል የሆኑት አቶ ቡዙነህ ፅጌ የስብሰባው ተጋባዥ እንግዳ ሰፊውን ጊዜ በመውሰድ ከንጉሱ ስርአት ጀምሮ በደርግ መንግስት ዘመንም በሀገራችን የተደረጉ የፖለቲካ ንቅናቄዎችንና ለውጦችን አንድ በአንድ በመዘርዘር አሁን ካለው የወያኔ ኢህአዲግ መንግስት ጋር በማነጻጸር ሰፋ ያለ ትንታኔ ያቀረቡ ሲሆን አሁን ላይ ሀገሪቱን እየመራው ነው የሚለው የወያኔ መንግስት ከዚህ ቀድሞ ኢትዮጵያን ከመሩት ከሁለቱ መንግስታቶች ማለትም ከንጉሱም ከደርግም መንግስት ጋር ሲነጻጸር ፈጽሞ እንደማይገናኝ የወያኔ መንግስት ዘረኛና የዘረኝነት ፖለቲካ እያራመደ ያለ አረመናዊ መንግስት እንደሆነ አብራርተዋል::
የግንቦት 7  የፍትህ የነፃነት እና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ አመራር አባል አቶ ቡዙነህ ፅጌ አክለውም ከወያኔ በፊት የነበሩ ሁለቱ መንግስታቶች ለውድቀት የዳረጓቸውን ምክንያቶች በመጥቀስ የወያኔን አንባ ገነናዊ መንግስት ለአፋጣኝ ውድቀት ሊዳርጉት ይችላሉ የሚሉትን ግልጽ ምክንያቶች በመዘርዘር አስቀምጠዋል:: አቶ ቡዙነህ በሁለት የኢትዮጵያ ወቅታዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ በማንሳት እና በማብራራ ከሕዝብ ውይይት እንዲያደርጉበት ለመወያያ ያቀረቡ ሲሆን እነዚህም
1, በሙስሊሙ ማህበረሰብ እና በወያኔ መካከል ያለው ግጭት
2, የህዳሴ ግድብን  በማስመልከት ያለው ተቃውሞ
ስለሙስሊሙ ማህበረሰብ ተቃውሞ ሲናገሩ የሙስሊሙ ትግል በሁለት አመታት ውስጥ የተደረገው ሰላማዊ ትግል በጣም የተሳካና ወያኔ በቀላሉ ሊያዳፍነው ያልቻለው ሰላማዊ መብትን የመጠየቅ ትግል እንደሚያደንቁ በመናገር ነገር ይህ በሙስሊም ማህበረሰብ በኩል እየተደረገ ያለው ትግል እስከ አሁን ድረስ ከመንግስት በኩል ምንም አይነት መልስ ሊያገኝ እንዳልቻለ እና ወደፊትም ከወያኔ መንግስት በኩል ምንም አይነት መልስ ያገኛል የሚል እምነት እንደሌላቸው ተናግረዋል:: ለዚህም ማስረጃው የኢትዮጵያ ሙስሊሞች ከጠየቋቸው አራት የመብት ጥያቄዎች አንዱም ካለመመለሱ በተጨማሪ እስካሁን መሪዎቻቸውም በሃሰት ውንጀላ በእስር እየማቀቁ ያለፍርድ እየተንገላቱ መሆናቸው ነው፥፥
ነገር ገን አሁን እየሆነው ባለው ሁኔታ በእንደዚህ አይነት መንገድ እስከመቼ ድረስ የሙስሌሙ ትግል ይቀጥላል በማለት የተናገሩ ሲሆን አሁን እየሄደ ባለው አካሄድ የሙስሊሙ ተቃውሞ የትግል አቅጣጫውን እስካልቀየረ ድረስ ረጅም ርቀትን ትግሉ ሊቀጥል ይችላል የሚል እምነት እንደሌላቸው እና ነግር ግን የሙስሊሙ ጥያቄ ከእምነት መብት ጥያቄ ባሻገር ወደ የዜግነትን መብት ወደ ማስከበር መለወጥና መሸጋገር  እናደለበት በመናገር የሙስሊሙ ማእበረሰብ ጥያቄ ፍሬ ሊያፈራ የሚችለው  ትግሉ በዚህ መልኩ ሲቀጥል እንደሆነ ሰፋ ያለ ማብራሪያ ሰተዋል:

በሁለተኛም የህዳሴ ግድብ በሚመለከት  ያቀረቡት ሀሳብ ወያኔ የራሱን የፖለቲካ ኪሳራና በህዝቡ ላይ እያደረሰ ያለዉን ግፍ በዕድገት ስም ለመሸፈን ያመጣዉ እንጂ ታቅዶበትና ለህዝቡ በማሰብ እንዳልሆነ በኢትዮጵያና በህዝቡ ላይ እያደረሰ ያለዉ ግፍ እንደ ማስረጃነት በማቅረብ ያብራሩ ሲሆን እንደ ምሳሌም ወያኔ ሃገራዊ የሆነ አላማ ይዞ ካለመነሳቱ አንፃር የሃገርን ድንበር አሳልፎ እስከመስጠት እየሄደ ያለበትን ሁኔታ ጠቅሰው ይህ አሰራር ደግሞ የዲክታተሮች ባህሪ እንደሆነ አብራርተዋል፥፥

የወያኔ መንግስት በህዳሴ ግድብ ሰበብ ምክንያት በማድረግ በመላው አለም ኢትዮጵያኖች በሚኖሩበት ሀገሮች በመዞር የዲያስፖራውን ቀልብ ለመውሰድ የሚያደርገው የአባይ ቦንድ ሽያጭ ሩጫ በዲያስፖራ ተቃዋሚዎች አማካኝነት በፍጹም እንዳልተሳካለት ይህንንም የወያኔ በአባይ ቦንድ ሽያጭ ስም ገንዘብ ዘረፋ በመቃወም ወያኔን አሳፍረው ከመለሱት መካከል በኖርዌይ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያኖች እንደሆኑ በማስታወስ  የዚህ የህዳሴ ግድብ ግንባታ ሰበብ የወያኔን መንግስት ወደ መጥፎ ውድቀት ላይ ሊጥለው እንደሚችል በማመን የወያኔ መንግስት በአሁን ሰአት ከግብጽ መንግስት ጋር እየገባ ያለው ሰጣ ገባ ለኢትዮጵያ መጥፎ ሊሆን እንደሚችል በመግለጽ ንግግራቸውን አጠቃለዋል፥፥

በመቀጠልም አቶ ብዙነህ ባነሷቸው ነጥቦችና እና በሌሎችም ጉዳዮች ላይ ከስብሰባው ተሳታፊዎች ለቀረበላቸው በርካታ ጥያቄዎች ማብራሪያ የሰጡ ሲሆን ሰፋ ያለ ውይይትም ተደርጓል፥፥ ከውይይቱም በማስቀጠል የዲምክራሲያዊ ለውጥ በኢትዮጵያ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ ምክትል ሊቀመንበር አቶ ዳንሄል አበበ የዲምክራሲያዌ ለውጥ በኢትዮጵያ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ የአቋም መግለጫ ንግግር ያደረጉ ሲሆን ድርጅታቸው ወያኔ በኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ላይ እያደረሰ ያለውን ግፍና በደል ፈጽመው እንደሚያወግዙ እና ዴምክራሲያዌ ለለውጥ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ ሁል ጊዜ ከግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነፃነት እና የዲሞክራሴ ንቅናቄ ጎን እንደሚቆም ቃል በመግባት የአቶ ቡዙነህ ፅጌን በኖርዌይ በመገኛት ለህዝቡ ለሰጡት ገለጻ አመስግነዋል፥፥
በዝግጅቱ መጀመሪያና ማጠቃለያ ላይ የግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ሃይል መዝሙር በመዘምራን የተዘመረ ሲሆን በየጣልቃው የተለያዩ የባህል ዘፈኖች በተወዛዋዦች ታጅቦ የቀረበ ሲሆን ጣእም ያለው ባህላዊ ምግብም በዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጥ በኢትዮጵያ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ የሴቶች ክፍል ተስተናግዷል፥፥ ስብሰባውን ተጀምሮ እስኪያልቅ አቶ ፍቅሬ አሰፋ መርተውታል::

በመጨረሻም የዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጥ በኢትዮጵያ የድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌይ ለዝግጅቱ መሳካት የበኩላችሁን ላበረከታችሁና ከተለያዩ የኖርዌይ ከተሞች ረዥም ርቀት በመጓዝ የዝግጅቱ ታዳሚ ለነበራችሁ ውድ ኢትዮጵያውያን እና እንዲሁም የድርጅቱ አባላቶች ታላቅ ምስጋና እናቀርባለን፥፥


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በኖርዌ ያሉ ኢትዮዽያውያን የወያኔን የስለላ መረብ በመቃወም ታላቅ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ አደረጉ

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በ11-4-2014 በኖርዌ ያሉ ኢትዮዽያውያን የወያኔን የስለላ መረብና ኖርዌ በስደተኛው ላይ ያላትን ፖሊሲ በመቃወም    የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ አረጉ።  23 ዓመት እራሱ መራጭ እራሱ ተመራጭ ሆኖ በጠመንጃ አፈሙዝ ህዝቡን እያንቀጠቀጠ የኖረው ወያኔ
አንድ ቀን ሕዝብ በቃኝ ብሎ አንቅሮ እንደሚተፋውና ንብ ሆኖ ለነፃነቱ እንደሚነሳ ማወቅ ነበረበት።
ግን አልሆነም ዜጎች እንደዜጋ በሐገራቸው መኖር ቀርቶ በስደትም ሰላማቸውን ማግኘት አልቻሉም።
እስርና እንግልት፣ረሐብና ሰቆቃ፣ስደት የእያንዳንዱ እጣ ፋንታ ሆነ፤በወያኔ ዘመን ሰው ብቻ አይደለም መሬትም መሰደድ ጀምሮ የግል ጥቅሙን ለማስጠበቅ ሲል የኢትዮዽያን ለም መሬት ለሱዳን በመሸጥ ላይ ይገኛል
ኢትዮዽያንና ኢትዽያዊነትን ያሉ ሁሉ አሸባሪ እየተባሉ በየእስርቤቱ ታጉረው እጣ ፈንታቸው እስርና እንግልት ሆነ
ሐገራቸውን ጥለው በባሕርና በየብስ አቆራርጠው የሞተው ሞቶ የተረፈው በአለም ዙሪያ ተበትኖ ጥገኝነት  በመጠየቅ ይኖራል.
በዚሕም የተሳካላቸው ጥቂቶች ሲሆኑ ባብዛኛው ወያኔ ለውጩ አለማት በሚያሳየው ሁለተኛው ፊቱ ምክንያትና ምእራባውያን ከሐገሪቱ ከሚያገኙት ጥቅም የተነሳ ሐገርህ ዲምክራሲ ነው እየተባለ ፍትሀዊ ያልሆነ መልስ እየተሰጠው በመጉላላት ላይ ይገኛል።
ያም ሆኖ የሐገሩ ጉዳይ በደም ስሩ ሰርጎ የገባው ኢትዮዽያዊ ሁሉ ጠዋት ማታ ኢትዮዽያዬ እያለ ይጮሀል። ይህ የህዝብ ቁጣ ያስፈራው ወያኔ ያለ የሌለ የሐገሪቱን ኢኮኖሚ እየመዘበረ ዜጎችን ይሰልላል ያሰልላል፣አልፎ ተርፎም ዜጎችን ከመሰሎቹ ጎረቤት ሐገሮች ድረስ በመሄድ ጎትተው እስርቤት ያስገባሉ።
ይህንን ለመቃወምና ለማውገዝ ነበር የኢትዮዽያ ስደትኞች ማህበር በኖርዌ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ አዘጋጅቶ ኢትዮዽያውይኑ ዛሬም ስለ ሐገራቸው ሊጮሁ የወጡት፤ ሰልፈኞቹ ድምፃቸውን እንዲህ በማለት ነበር ድምፃቸውን ያሰሙት እኛ ስደተኞች እንጅ ወንጀለኛ አይደለንም፣ኖርዌ ለማፊያው ወያኔ የምታደርጊውን እርዳታ አቁመሽ ከኢትዮዽያ ሕዝብ ጋር ቁሚ፣ወያኔ የሚያደርገውን ተግባር እናወግዛለን፣ሼም ኦን ዩ ሳውዝ ሱዳን ኦኬሎን አሳልፈሽ የሰጠሽ፣ወያኔ አሸባሪ ነው፣ለውጥ እንፈልጋለን፣ኖርዌ የዩኤንን ህግ ታክብር የሚሉትን የመሳሰሉ ሲሆን
በሰልፉ ላይ የተለያዩ የፖለቲካ ድርጅት ተወካዮች መልክታቸውን ያስተላለፉ ሲሆን የኢትዮዽያ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጥ ድጋፍ ድርጅት ኖርዌ ተወካይ አቶ ዳንኤል የወያኔን ጀሌዎች የማጋለጡ ስራ በሚገባ እየተሰራበት መሆኑን ሲገልጡ ሰልፈኛው በጭብጨባ የተቀበላቸው ሲሆን የስደተኛ ማህበሩም ተወካይ ኖርዌ ነፃ እንድታወጣን ሳይሆን ለወያኔ የምትሰጠውን እርዳታ አቁማ ድጋፍ እንድትሰጠን ነው፤ በተጨማሪም ኖርዌ አቶ ኦኬሎን ታስለቅቅ በማለት  ተጠይቃለች። በሰልፉ ላይ የኖርዌ ሊብራል ፓርቲ ተወካይ ከሰልፈኛው ደብዳቤ ተቀብለው መልክታቸውን ያስተላለፉ ሲሆን
የኖዋስ ፣አንቲረሲስት ተወካዮችም እንዲሁ ይዘውት የመጡትን መልክት ለሰልፈኛው አስተላልፈዋል።
ከዚያ በቀጥታ ወደሶፊን በርግ ሎካል አዳራሽ ሰልፈኛው አምርቶ ምሳ  ከተበላ በሁዋላ ኮሚቴው ካባላቱ ጋር ሰፊ ዉይይት ያደረገ ሲሆን የ፫ወር የስራ ሪፖርትም አቅርቦአል።
የኢትዮዽያ ስደትኞች ማህበር በኖርዌ      source zehabesha

Hiber Radio: የኖርዌይ አምባሳደር ማዕከላዊ በመሄድ ከደቡብ ሱዳን ታፍነው የተወሰዱትን የቀድሞ የጋምቤላ ፕ/ት ለማየት ጥያቄ ማቅረባቸው ተገለጸ

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ጋዜጠኛ ሃብታሙ አሰፋ

የህብር ሬዲዮ መጋቢት 28 ቀን 2006 ፕሮግራም
<…አቶ ኦኬሎ አኳይ ከጁባ ታፍኖ ማዕከላዊ ነው።…አኪልዳማ አይነት ድራማ ሊሰራበት ይችላል።የወያኔ እሱን መያዝ በጋምቤላ ተፈጽሞ ለዓለም አቀፉ ፍ/ቤት ማስረጃው የቀረበውን የዘር ጭፍጨፋ ወደሁዋላ አያስቀርም። ማስረጃው ወጥቷል … >
አቶ ኦባንግ ሜቶ በወቅታዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ ተጠይቀው ለህብር ከሰጡት (ሙሉውን ያዳምጡ)
<… አሁን ያሉት ሰዎች የደገሱልን የእርስ በእርስ እልቂት ነበር። የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ጨዋ ሕዝብ በመሆኑ ያንን የደገሱለትን እልቂት አክሽፎታል።…አሁንም እነዚህ ሰዎች ያዋረዱትን የአገራችንን ባንዲራ በጋራ ሙስሊምም ሆነ ሙስሊም ያልሆነው በጋራ ለመብቱ መቆም ባንዲራዋን ነጻ ማውጣት አለበት …> ሐጂ ነጂብ መሐመድ የፈርስ ሒጅራ ፕሬዝዳንት በቬጋስ በኢሳት ገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ላይ ካደረጉት ንግግር መሐከል ቀሪውን ያዳምጡት
የሩዋንዳ ጭፍጨፋ ሃያኛ ዓመትን የተመለከተ ወቅታዊ ዘገባ
የህወሃት መሪዎች ሱዳንን ከህልውናቸው ጋር በማያያዛቸው ስለ ሱዳን ህልውና ለአሜሪካ ዲፒሎማቶች የተናገሩበትን የዊክሊክስ ያጋለጣቸውን የምስጢ ር መልዕክቶች (ልዩ ዘገባ )

ሌሎችም ዝግጅቶች
ዜናዎቻችን
የኖርዌይ አምባሳደር ማዕከላዊ በመሄድ ከደቡብ ሱዳን ታፍነው የተወሰዱትን የቀድሞ የጋምቤላ ፕ/ት ለማየት ጥያቄ ማቅረባቸው ተገለጸ
አሜሪካ ለግብጽ የምትሰጠው ዕርዳታ በተዘዋዋሪ ኢትዮጵያን ለማፈራረስ እየዋለነው ሲሉ ብቸኛው የተቃዋሚ የፓርላማ አባል ወቀሳ አቀረቡ
ታንዛኒያ 43 ኢትዮጵያውያን ስደተኞችን አሳልፋ ሰጠች
የአረና አመራሮችና አባላት ዛሬም ትግራይ ውስጥ ተደበደቡ
የታሰሩም አሉ
አንድነት በጠራው የዛሬው የደሴ የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ ከ60 ሺህ በላይ ሕዝብ አደባባይ ወጥቶ ቁጣውን ገለጸ
ጋዜጠኛ ነብዩ ሲራክ ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ ታሰረ
የጀርመን ድምጽ ራዲዮ ለማስፈታት እንዳልተሳካለት ገልጾ ለሱ ደህንነት ሲባል ሁኔታው እንዳይጋጋል ጠየቀ
አትሌት ቀነኒሳ በቀለ በፓሪስ የማራቶንን ሪኮርድ ሰበረ
ሌሎችም ዜናዎች አሉ
                                     source zehabesha 

EU Parliament holds discussion

EU Parliament holds discussion on Ethiopian human rights in Ogaden and Kality Prison

Monday, April, 07 2014
By Ahmed Abdi

Marita Ulvskog,MEP,in her part first thanked Abdullahi Hussein and Swedish Journalist,Martin Schibbye speaking about the steps needed to be taken in order to stop the human rights abuses that is being committed against Ethiopian and Ogaden civilians

European Parliament opened hearing about the Ogaden Human Rights violations and the Ethiopian prisons in Addis Ababa. The hearing,which was invited to participate in the Ogadenwhistle-blower ,Abdullahi Hussein, and Swedish Journalist,Martin Schibbye,was held on April 2nd by the group the progressive Alliance of Socialist and Democrats in European Parliament andCommitteeto Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Waagacusub.net – “Ethiopia is one of the largest humanitarian and developmentaidreceiver yet thesedonations are used incorrectly and corruptly.Western governmental Organizations and WesternEmbassies to Addis ababa ignored the stolen donations and humanitarian aid that are being used as a political tool by the Ethiopian regime,which is contrary to EU rules on the funding”,saidAnna Gomes,MEPHead of international Unit party Socialist democrat.

Marita Ulvskog,MEP,in her part first thanked Abdullahi Hussein and Swedish Journalist,Martin Schibbye speaking about the steps needed to be taken in order to stop the human rights abuses that is being committed against Ethiopian and Ogaden civilians,she said that the EU could use sanctions or words against Ethiopia or follow up documents andinformationlike the one provided by AbdullahiHussein to show the reality in the ground.

Abdullahi Hussein,who is the former regional Presidential adviser and head of the media in Ogaden presented a shocking footage that changed the EU’s view towards Ethiopia.

Abdullahi Hussein,who gained the title of “brave man” and nominated of the prize of Sweden’s civil courage of the year 2014, “Antigone award”, after he had put himself at risk for smuggling out over 100 hours of footage from the Ogaden Province requested the EU to put their words into action as the killing,gang-raping,andextrajudicial arresting still continues.

Speaking with Ogaden diaspora owned TV service of Ilaystv, Martin Schibbye stated that inconjunctionwith Abdullahi Hussein their purpose to reset was to tell the World what they had seen which is to fulfill a promise that he made to many people from Ogaden region,but also their co-prisonersin Kality Prison of Addis Ababa.Members of European Parliament,CPJ’s Jean Paul Marthoz and Human Rights’s Leslie Lefkow have also explained the human rights situation in Ethiopia in details to the EU Parliament.

Anna Lindy,chair of the hearing, presented the human rights situation in Ogaden and Ethiopia at the opening time of the session.

Ze-Habesha Website may contain advice, opinions, and statements of various information and content providers. The Website neither represents nor endorses the accuracy of information or endorses the contents provided by external sources. All blog posts and comments are the opinion of the authors.

   source zehabesha

The Ethiopian government uses spyware

Chinese- and European-made spyware is enabling Ethiopia to silence dissent

April 7, 2014

by Felix Horne

I met Abdi (not his real name), a 32-year-old primary school teacher from Ethiopia’s Oromia region, last July while in Nairobi. Abdi had been arrested a year earlier in his hometown for organizing a protest against local government corruption. He was already under the eye of Ethiopian security officials because he refused to provide information on the activities of his students to local authorities.

Over the course of two weeks in detention, Abdi was repeatedly beaten and accused of belonging to the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which originated in nationalist movements fighting for increased autonomy in the 1960s. The Ethiopian government considers the OLF a terrorist organization and uses the threat of an armed struggle to justify repression of ordinary Oromos, who constitute Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

The harassment continued after Abdi was released. Eventually, like thousands of other Ethiopians, he felt compelled to flee to Kenya, leaving behind his wife and two children. After some time in Kenya he called home and spoke to his wife, who told him that security officials had been harassing her since he left. That was the last time he spoke to her.

Abdi later learned from neighbors that security officials came to their house hours after his call, demanding to know who was calling her from Kenya and accusing her of being in contact with rebel operatives there. He no longer calls Ethiopia and does not know the whereabouts of his family.

Abdi’s story is not unique. In the last two decades, tens of thousands of Ethiopians have fled their country because of government repression or limited economic opportunities. Most of these migrants, especially those living in neighboring African countries, fear that if they communicate with their families back home, their calls will be traced and their relatives will face repercussions. As new research by Human Rights Watch shows, their fears are well founded. The fear that permeates the lives of many inside Ethiopia has been successfully exported to other countries.

Ethiopian expats, including those living in the United States, have become targets of Addis Ababa’s global espionage.

The state-run Ethio Telecom is the sole provider of phone and Internet services in Ethiopia. The Chinese telecom equipment and systems company ZTE is helping Ethiopia modernize its telecommunications infrastructure. The Ethiopian government uses a Chinese-developed telecom system to monitor and control the communications of its citizens and to silence dissenters both in Ethiopia and abroad. Security officials have unlimited access to the phone records of everyone in the country who owns a phone. During abusive interrogations, security officials often play back recorded phone calls to people in their custody. Those calling or receiving calls from foreign numbers are particularly at risk of reprisals by a government keen to punish those it considers a threat.

But Ethiopia goes even further to monitor dissenting voices outside its borders. The government has acquired and is using commercially available European-made spyware — namely the U.K.- and Germany-based Gamma International’s FinFisher and the Italy-based Hacking Team’s Remote Control System — to monitor dissenters in other countries, effectively extending its surveillance capabilities far beyond its borders. These tools provide security and intelligence agencies with full access to files and activity on an infected target’s computer. They can log keystrokes and passwords and switch on a device’s webcam and microphone, turning a computer anywhere in the world into a listening device. Ethiopian expats, including those living in the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland, have become targets of this global espionage.

In late 2012, security officials detained the wife of Yohannes Alemu, a Norwegian citizen and member of a banned opposition group, as she was visiting family in Addis Ababa. They questioned her about her husband’s political connections. Then the security officials demanded information from Yohannes via phone and email about his opposition party colleagues. He refused; after 20 days his wife was finally released and returned to Norway.

But the incident did not end there.

One of the emails he received contained an attachment infected with FinFisher spyware. Once he had downloaded this spyware, the Ethiopian security agencies had unfettered access to all the information on his computer.

While people around the world are right to be shocked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations of mass surveillance by the U.S. government, they should also be concerned that repressive governments such as Ethiopia’s are purchasing and using advanced technologies to target independent voices beyond their borders. The export and use of these European-made commercial products remains virtually unregulated. This is particularly worrying given that evidence exists that similar technologies may be in the hands of authoritarian regimes throughout the world.

These technologies enable repressive governments to monitor dissenting voices in other countries — even in countries where privacy rights are stronger and legal protections are in place to limit state-sponsored surveillance.

The United States, European Union and other donors that together provide an estimated $4 billion in annual aid to Ethiopia should take concerted steps to stop this abuse. They should support global efforts to regulate the export and use of such technologies to governments with poor human rights records. African governments should also speak out and make it clear to Ethiopia that it is an infringement on basic rights to use these technologies to spy on citizens outside of Ethiopia’s borders — people who are all too often seeking protection from repression back home.

Felix Horne is an Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of a new report, “‘They Know Everything We Do’: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia.”

Source: Al Jazeera

Ethiopian Muslims protested in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

TPLF tapping your phone & internet

March 26, 2014

Ethiopia uses foreign kit to spy on opponents – HRW

Ethiopia’s government is using imported technology to spy on the phones and computers of its perceived opponents, a Human Rights Watch report says.

The New York-based rights group accuses the government of trying to silence dissent, using software and kit sold by European and Chinese firms.

The report says the firms may be guilty of colluding in oppression.

An Ethiopian government spokesman, quoted by AFP, dismissed the report as a part of a smear campaign.

“There is nothing new to respond to,” Ethiopian Information Minister Redwan Hussein told the agency.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says its report is based on more than 100 interviews with victims of abuses and former intelligence officials, conducted between September 2012 and February this year.

Rights groups frequently accuse the Ethiopian government of cracking down on opposition activists and journalists.

The government denies the claims.

‘Overseas surveillance’

All phone and internet connections in Ethiopia are provided by a state-owned company. According to HRW, this has given the government unchecked power to monitor communications.

“Security officials have virtually unlimited access to the call records of all telephone users in Ethiopia,” the report said. “They regularly and easily record phone calls without any legal process or oversight.”

Recorded conversations are also alleged to have featured in abusive interrogations of suspected dissidents.

The technology used by to monitor the communications is said to have been provided by companies based in China, the UK, Italy and Germany.

“The foreign firms that are providing products and services that facilitate Ethiopia’s illegal surveillance are risking complicity in rights abuses,” HRW’s business and human rights director, Arvind Ganesan, said.

According to the report, the government has extended its surveillance to Ethiopians living overseas.

Ethiopians living in the UK and the US have accused the authorities in Addis Ababa of planting spy software on their computers.

Both countries have been urged to investigate the claims, on the grounds that they may have violated domestic laws against invasions of privacy.

HRW says the firms that sell surveillance technology to governments also have a duty to ensure that their products are not helping to suppress human rights.

“The makers of these tools should take immediate steps to address their misuse,” Mr Ganesan said.

Source: BBC 

የሚሊዮኖች ድምፅ ለመሬት ባለቤትነት” በሚል መሪቃል በደሴ የተደረገው የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ በተሳካ ሁኔታ ተጠናቋል

Millions of voices for freedom – UD

የሚሊዮኖች ድምፅ ለመሬት ባለቤትነት” በሚል መሪቃል በደሴ የተደረገው የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ በተሳካ ሁኔታ ተጠናቋል፡፡ በስፍራው የሚገኙት የአንድነት ፓርቲ ከፍተና አመራሮችና የዞን አመራሮች በሰልፉ ለተሳተፈው የደሴ ህዝብ ምስጋና አቅርበዋል፡፡ #Dese #UDJ “እድሜ ለአንድነት አስተነፈሰን” የደሴ ነዋሪ.

የደሴው ሰልፍ በተሳካ ሁኔታ እየተካሔደ ቢሆንም የአዲስ አበባው ዋና ጽ/ቤት ከፍተኛ በሆነ የፖሊስ ሀይል ተከቧል፡፡

ተቃውሞ ሰልፍ ላይ ከሚስተጋቡ መፈክሮች ውስጥ
- መሬት ለህዝብ ይመለስ
- ጭቆና በቃን
- ድል የህዝብ ነው
- በግፍ የታሰሩ ይፈቱ

- አንድነት ኃይል ነው
- የፖለቲካ እስረኞች ይፈቱ

source zehabesha 

The Double Digit Growth Miracle in Ethiopia

April 4, 2014

Dear Greg Toulmin
Country Program Coordinator for Ethiopia
World Bank

Greg Toulmin

I heard a clip of a panel discussion you participated hosted by Woman’s National Club on April 1 in Washington D.C. The discussion was about strategic importance of Ethiopia in Africa. Your claim of an economic miracle under the current regime of Ethiopia compared to the previous regimes of Haile Selassie and Mengistu is nonsense to say the least.

The current regime has been showered with foreign aids yearly of 2 billion alone from USA and from other donors close to the same amount yearly. That is 1000 times of that Haile Selassie/Mengistu. The remittance is close to 3 billion yearly. Therefore comparing the current regime with the previous is inaccurate.

Capital estimated around 12 billion has left Ethiopia illegally in the last decade alone according to independent investigators. The 99 percent of Ethiopians are still living under one dollar a day. So much for the growth.

Food, water, sanitation, electricity, transportation and health for the majority is impossible to get. Addis Ababa residents are coming out this coming Sunday for the day of rage, “YeErita Ken” demanding the basics of life. The double digit miracle is going to be challenged in public.

Your defense of World Bank for its role in Ethiopia is understandable. The good thing is Ethiopia has many capable “Ambassadors” to challenge those like you who underestimate our people or take us as “stupid” as one of the panelists correctly put it.There is no miracle of growth in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Diaspora has grown one million times in the last two decades alone. Educated and uneducated are living legally or illegally because there is No Miracle of Growth to be part of. The Growth is Stupid !!!!

                                                 source ECADF 

የሰው ለሰው ድራማ 6 ሚሊዮን ብር የት ደረሰ? * በአካውንቱ ውስጥ 78 ብር ብቻ ነው የተገኘው

በርናባስ
(ለሎሚ መጽሔት እንደጻፈው)
በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ጥበብ በሁለት አደገኛ ሁኔታ ውስጥ ትገኛለች፡፡ የመጀመሪያው በአሁን ሰዓት ደራሲዎችም ሆኑ የጥበብ ባለሙያዎች አዲስ ነገር ይዘው መምጣት ካለመቻላቸው ጋር በተያያዘ በህብረተሰቡ ዘንድ ቦታ እያጣ መምጣቱ ሲሆን፣ ሁለተኛው ደረጃ ደግሞ ጥበብን ንግድ ያደረጉ አርቲስቶች መበራከት በራሳቸው አንገት ላይ ሸምቀቆ በማሰር ጥበቡን እየገደሉት ይገኛሉ፡፡ በአሁን ወቅት ምናልባትም ጥበብ ያለ ንግድ የታባቱ ያለ የጥበብ ሥራን ከተመለከትን ያለምንም ጥርጥር ‹‹ሠው ለሠው›› ድራማን በግንባር ቀደምትነት ማየት ይቻላል፡፡ ሲጀመር በርካቶች ለመመልከት የተሻሙበት ዛሬ ላይ ግን ‹‹ይህ ነገር አያልቅም እንዴ?›› ተብሎ የተለያየ ሂስ እየተሰጠበት ይገኛል፡፡ በኢትዮጵያ የቴሌቪዥን ድራማ ታሪክ ውስጥ እንደ ሠው ለሠው የዘመኑ ማለቂያ አጥቶና የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥንም መረን የለቀቀ ዕድል የሰጠው የለም፡፡
መቼም በየሣምንቱ እንደምንመለከተው ከሆነ የሠው ለሠው ድራማ ሃሣብ አልቆበት እዛው በዛው መዳከሩ ብቻ ሣይሆን፣ ገንዘብ የማባከንና የመዝናናትንም ነገር እየተመለከትን ነው፡፡ ከድራማው መውረድ ጐን ለጐን ካላስፈላጊ ታሪኮችም ጋር ተደማምሮ አሁን በተለይ ተዋናዮቹ እራስን የማዝናናት ጊዜ ላይ የደረሱ ይመስላል፡፡ ይህ ለምን እንደሆነ ምናልባትም ለሌሎች ባይገባም መስፍን ጌታቸውና ሠለሞን አለሙ ግን ይህ ለምን እንደሚደረግ ልባቸው ያውቃል፡፡
የሠው ለሠው ድራማ ሲጠናቀቅ ፋይሉ ያልተዘጋ የክስ ሂደት ከመኖሩም በላይ በእነርሱ ላይ ክስ የመሠረቱት ወገኖች ሂሳብ ሊካፈሉ የሚችሉበት ሁኔታ በመኖሩ ከወዲሁ ብሩን በተለያየ ምክንያት በማባከን ‹‹የለንም›› ካሉ የከሳሾቻቸውን አንጀት የማሳረርና በዚህ መልኩ የማምለጥ አጋጣሚም እያመቻቹ ነው፡፡ አንድ በውጭ ሃገር የዳይሬክትንግ ትምህርት የተከታተለ ባለሙያ ሠው ለሠው ድራማን አብረን ስናይ፣ ‹‹ይህ ድራማ ማስታወቂያ ባይኖረው እኔ ዳይሬክት ባደርገው በአንድ ምሽት ላይ የሚታየው ከሰባት ደቂቃ አያልፍም ነበር›› ሲል አስገርሞኛል፡፡ በዚህ መልኩ በባለሙያ ሳይቀር የተገመገመው ሠው ለሠው አሁን በባንክ ውስጥ ምን ያህል ገንዘብ የተገኘበት ይመስላችኋል?
78 ብር /ሠባ ስምንት ብር/ ምናልባት ዓይናችሁን እያሻችሁ ደግማችሁ ደጋግማችሁ ልታነቡና ልታስቡት ትችሉ ይሆናል፡፡ ብዙም ሩቅ መሄድ የሚያስፈልገው አይደለም ወይም የጽህፈት ስህተትም አይደለም፡፡ ባለፈው ሠሞን የፊልሙ ዳይሬክተር በአጋጣሚ ባገኛቸው ሚዲያዎች ላይ ሁሉ ‹‹ሠው ለሠው አትራፊ አይደለም›› እያለ ሲባዝን ነበር፡፡ ይህ የእርሱ ድርጊት ወይም አባባል ግን ምናልባትም በሂደት የሠው ለሠው አካውንት ሲታይ ይህ 78 ብር ይፋ ይሆንና ከመጋለጥና ህዝቡንም ግራ ማጋባቱ ስለማይቀር ሳልቀደም ልቅደም በሚል መልኩ የህብረተሰቡን አዕምሮ ለመለወጥ ወይም ተጠቃሚው እነርሱ ሳይሆኑ የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌብዥን ነው የሚለው ግንዛቤ ለማዘጋጀት ሆን ብሎ ያደረገው ነው፡፡
እንደ መረጃዎቹ ጠቋሚነት ከሆነ የሠው ለሠው ድራማ ዳይሬክተሮች ባለፉት ሦስት ዓመታት እንዲሁም ወራትም ተጨምሮበት ከኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥን ከ6 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ ወስደዋል፡፡ ይህ ብቻም አይደለም፤ በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ድራማው ሲቀረጽ ወደ ክልሎችም የሚወጣበት አጋጣሚም ነበር፡፡ በዚህ ምክንያትም የክልሉ መስተዳድር ለሠው ለሠው ዳይሬክተሮች በስፖንሰር መልክ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ያደርጋሉ፡፡ ከዛም ሌላ ከዋሪት ቁሳቁሶች /ፈርኒቸርም/ ተበርክቶላቸዋል፡፡
በዚህ መልኩ ታላቅ ገቢ ማግኘት የቻለው ድራማ እንዴት በባንክ ሂሣብ ውስጥ 78 ብር ሊገኝ ቻለ? ከተባለ ግን ከዚህ ጀርባ ከድራማው መጠናቀቅ በኋላ ካለው ክስ ጋር ተያይዞ ምንም ገንዘብ ባለማስቀረት ወይም እነርሱ ተጠቃሚ ላለማድረግ ሲባል ዳይሬክተሮቹ ገንዘቦቹን በተለያዩ ባንኮች ውስጥ እንዲቀመጥ አድርገዋል፡፡ እንደሚታወቀው የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥን ለአንድ ድራማ ከዚህ ቀደም ከአንድ ዓመት በላይ እንዲጓዝ ዕድሉን የሰጠበት ሁኔታ አጋጥሞ አይታወቅም፡፡ የሰው ለሠው የዚህን ያህል ዓመት እንዲጓዝ የተፈቀደው በምን ምክንያት ነው? ይህ ብቻም አይደለም፡፡ ኢ.ቲ.ቪ ከዚህ ቀደም በድራማዎች ላይ የተለያዩ የመጠጥ ምርቶችን በምስል ተቀርጸው ተካተው ሲመጡ በግምገማ እንዲወጡ አሊያም ምርቶቹ ሳይታዩ መቀረጽ አለባቸው የሚል ፖሊሲ ነበረው፡፡ አሁን በሰው ለሠው ድራማ ግን ሁሉም ምርቶች እንደልብ እየተቀረጹው ይገባሉ፡፡ ምናልባት በኢቲቪ በኩልም ከነመስፍንና ሠለሞን ጋር በጋራ በመሆን የሚቀጠቀም አለ፡፡ የሠው ለሠው የዳይሬክተሮች የአስናቀን መረን የለቀቀ የዘራፊ ተግባር እያሳዩን ነው፡፡ በኢትዮጵያ ድራማ ታሪክ ውስጥ የድራማ ተዋናይ ለመመረጥ ‹‹በጡት ማስያዣና ፓንት ፎቶ ተነስታችሁ አምጡ›› ብለው የጠየቁት መስፍንና ሠለሞን በመሆን በግንባር ቀደምትነት ይጠቀሳሉ፡፡ አንዱ ለድራማ መመዘኛ ዲያሎግ በቃል የመያዝ ብቃት የመጀመሪያው መመዘኛ ሊሆን ይችላል፡፡ ለሚፈለገው ገጸ ባህሪም የምትሆነውን ተዋንያን በርካታ ገምጋሚዎች ባሉበት ይመረጣል እንጂ ‹‹በፓንትና ጡት ማስያዣ የተነሣችሁትን ፎቶ አምጡ›› ብሎ መጠየቅ ምናልባት ‹‹ምን እየተሰራ ነው?›› ብሎ የሚያስጠይቅም ነው፡፡ በዚህ ጉዳይ ዙሪያም ፎቶ ከተጠየቁት ሴቶች መካከል ወደፊት በስፋት የምናየው ነጥቦች ይኖራል፡፡ የሠው ለሠው ድራማ ከተጀመረ በኋላ ሁለት ዓመታት ያህል ‹‹ሎሚ ፒክቸርስ በሚል ሲሰራ የቆየው ባልታደሰ ፈቃድ ነው›› ቢባልም በኋላ ላይ ነገሮች እየከረሩና በህግ የተያዘ በመሆኑ ለውጥ ተደረገ፡፡ የሠው ለሠው የዳይሬክተሮች በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ከራሳቸው ተዋናዮች ጋር የሚጋጩበትም አጋጣሚ ተፈጥሮ ነበር፡፡ ከዚህም ከፍ ሲል ከተዋንያኖቹ ጋር በፍርድ ቤት ድረስ እስከመካሰስ ተዳርሰው ነበር፡፡ የክሳቸው መጠን ከመብዛቱ የተነሳ በሣምንት አንድ ቀን የግድ ችሎት ላይ ለመገኘት ተገደዋል፡፡
ባለፈው ሠሞን የኢትዮጵያ ቴሌብዥን ‹‹የሠው ለሠው ድራማ እስከ መጋቢት 30/2006 መጠናቀቅ አለበት›› በሚል ማሳሰቢያ የሰጠ ሲሆን፣ ዳይሬክተሮቹ ግን ‹‹ይህ የጊዜ ገደብ ፈጽሞ ሊጨመርልን ይገባል›› ሲሉ ጠይቀዋል፡፡ በርግጥ አሁን የድራማው ታሪክ ቢያልቅም ዳይሬክተሮቹ በግድ ታሪኩን እየለጠጡ የአንድ ሰው መጨረሻ የማታይበት እንጂ የዚህን ያህል የተለየ ነገር ታይቶበት አይደለም፡፡ ዳይሬክተሮቹን ከአስናቀ መጨረሻ ይልቅ ያጓጓውና ድራማው ባለለቀ እያሰኘ ያለው ዋናው ጉዳይ ከሠው ለሠው የሚገኘው ደለብ ያለ ጥቅም ነው፡፡ ለተዋናዮቹ አንድም ልብስ የማይገዛውና የተለየ ክፍያ የማያደርጉት የሠው ለሠው ዳይሬክተሮች ይህንን ድራማ ለማቆየት ሲሉ አሁን ደግሞ ወደ ‹‹ልማታዊ ቋንቋዎች›› ገብተዋል፡፡ ገንዘብ ይገኛል፤ ገንዘቡ ግን የት እንደሚገባ የሚታወቅ ነገር የለም፡፡ ሠው ለሠው በክብር ተጀምሮ በውርደት ሊጠናቀቅ የቀረው ጊዜም ቢኖር የቀናት ጊዜ ብቻ ነው፡፡ ከዛ በኋላ ግን ከቴሌቪዥን ጀርባ የተፈፀመው የመስፍንና የሠለሞን ተግባር ይበልጥ ትኩረት የሚስብ ይሆናል፡፡ በርካቶች ያዘኑባቸውንና ያለቀሱባቸው ዳይሬክተሮች ዛሬ ላይ የደለበውን ገንዘብ ይዘው የተወሰኑትን በጥቅም ለመግዛት ቢሞክሩም፣ ይህ ነገር ያለቀለትና ምናልባትም ሠው ለሠው ከዚህ በላይ እንዳይዘልቅ የሚል ውሳኔ እስከመስጠት ተደርሷል፡፡ እናም 78 ብር አካውንቱ ላይ የተገኘውን ከ6 ሚሊየን ብር በላይ ያሸሹት የሠው ለሠው የዳይሬክተሮችን መጨረሻ በቅርብ የምናየው ይሆናል፡፡    source ZEHABESHA  

How Ethiopia Spies on Its Diaspora Abroad

April 1, 2014

European companies sell surveillance technologies to abusive foreign regimes.

The Wall Street Journal

Many Europeans are upset over revelations that the United States government spies on them. But European companies are selling surveillance tools and know-how to other governments, allowing them to spy abroad. Their customers include some of the world’s most abusive governments and at least one of them—Ethiopia—is targeting its diaspora population in Europe. The results extend beyond outrage over privacy violations: They put people in danger.

The global trade in this powerful “spyware” is virtually unregulated and that needs to change. Using digital technology to monitor the Ethiopian diaspora in Europe, the regime in Addis Ababa has brought its abuses right into Europe’s midst. The EU needs to regulate the sale of such technology, at least to governments with such questionable human-rights records.

Inside Ethiopia, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s government abuses mobile and Internet networks to monitor opposition groups and journalists, and to silence dissenting voices. Using Chinese-made telecom equipment, the Ethiopian security agencies have nearly unfettered access to civilians’ phone records and recorded calls. Taped calls have been played back to people being interrogated by security officials and used against them in trials under the government’s deeply flawed antiterrorism law.

For mobile or Internet users in Ethiopia, the violation of the right to privacy is not an abstract harm. One Ethiopian man, who asked only to be identified as “Jirata,” was once a member of a registered political party; he now struggles to survive as a refugee in Kenya.

“I was becoming well known and respected in my political party and one day security officials came and arrested me and showed me list of phone calls I had made,” Jirata recalled to me in a recent interview. “They demanded to know who the foreign numbers were. I told them everything—I had nothing to hide. They began to beat me with a rubber whip, demanding I confess to belonging to the [banned] Oromo Liberation Front. I was kept in solitary confinement for three months and pulled out each night to be beaten.”

His story is too common. Thousands of Ethiopians have fled threats to their lives and security, and many have found asylum in Europe. Now Ethiopian spy agencies are trying to silence any independent criticism of government policy by extending their reach abroad, with the aid of advanced surveillance tools designed and sold by several European companies. These tools give intelligence officials access to files, emails and activity on a target’s computer. They can log keystrokes and passwords and remotely turn on a device’s webcam and microphone—effectively turning a computer into a listening device.

Yohannes Alemu, a former refugee and now a Norwegian citizen who supports an Ethiopian opposition party that the government has banned, found out too late about the spyware. In late 2012, when Mr. Alemu’s wife and two children were visiting family in Ethiopia, security officials detained and questioned her about her husband’s political connections. They sent Mr. Alemu emails demanding more information about his opposition-party associates. He refused, and after 20 days his wife was finally released and returned to Norway.

That was not the end of the incident.

One of the government emails Mr. Alemu received contained an attachment infected with spyware known as FinFisher. FinFisher GmbH, based in Munich, did not respond to Human Rights Watch’s requests for comment regarding the use of its product by Ethiopian authorities.

Once Mr. Alamu’s computer was secretly infected, the Ethiopian security agencies had unfettered access to it. After Mr. Alemu unwittingly forwarded the infected emails to other people, the spyware gave Ethiopian security agencies potentially unfettered access to their computers, too. Researchers at Citizen Lab, a Toronto-based center focused on security and human rights online, confirms that at least one of Mr. Alamu’s contacts’ computers was monitored as a result. Different spyware developed in Italy has been used to target the computers of others in the diaspora.

Such sales are currently perfectly legal, but European companies nonetheless risk complicity in human-rights abuses when they provide products and services that facilitate Ethiopia’s surveillance. Ethiopians living in the U.K., the U.S., Norway, and Switzerland are among those known to have been targeted with Addis Ababa’s spyware. Citizen Lab has documented evidence of use of these tools in over 25 countries.

In December, the 41 member states participating in the Wassenaar Arrangement—a multilateral export-control regime for dual-use technologies—agreed to regulate the export of “intrusion software” and “IP network surveillance systems.” This development signals growing consensus that the trade in powerful surveillance tools being used to violate rights should be reined in.

But much more is needed. The European Commission should lead efforts to regulate the export of such technology to governments with poor human rights records, and to implement the new Wassenaar controls without delay. Until then, Yohannes Alemu will not be the last victim of Ethiopian cyber-surveillance.

Mr. Horne is an Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of a new report, “‘They Know Everything We Do’: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia.”

source .... ECADF