Evige arv fra den store kejser Menilik II Af Robele Ababya
Ved Robele Ababya, 15 maj 2012
Grundlægger af Addis Ababa
Kejserinde Taytu Bitul sat øjnene på de smukke gule gulve breder sig som et tæppe på sletten bag hende, da hun var klatring Entoto Mountain til det kejserlige palads på toppen efter badning i den berømte varme kilder dernede. Hun besluttede at kalde det store sletten og dens omgivende Addis Ababa og hendes mand Monarch gav sit samtykke til at gøre det til hovedstaden og flyttede sit palads, hvor den er nu.
Det nye hovedkvarter AU bygget som en "gave" fra Kina til det afrikanske kontinent på bekostning af USD 200 millioner er nu skammeligt står i Addis Abeba som et øje-stige de fleste etiopierne. Det symboliserer den skam af lederne af 54 afrikanske stater, der har undladt at bidrage med USD 200 millioner at vælge at blive husket som korrupte og grådige tiggere blottet for den revolutionære iver Kwame Nkrumah i Ghana.
Den geniale ghanesiske Dr. George Ayittey er ganske ret i sin opfordring til at flytte AU fra Addis Ababa andre steder på grund af de grusomme ugerninger begået af tyran Zenawi for de sidste 21 år. Fellow etiopierne skal forpligte til indkaldelsen af vi ikke har råd til at stille op med den nye form for slaveri, afstemning røveri, grasserende jordhandler udløst af hævngerrig tyran Zenawi misruling Etiopien fra byen af vores elskede kejser Menilik II - den berømte forkæmper for enhed , frihed, frihed og værdighed etiopiske borgere. Hvad for er tyrannen inviteret til G8-topmødet i Camp David?
Den berømte Slaget ved Adwa
Den berømte sejrherre i det berømte Slaget ved Adwa kærligt kendt hans folk som Immye (Moder) Menilik tændte evigt uvurderlige værdier som frihed, frihed og værdighed i marts 1996. Den etiopiske flag og Arch af den ortodokse Tewahido kristne kirke oplevede den herlige sejr på slagmarken. Sejren: stod som et fyrtårn af håb til alle sorte mennesker i diasporaen kæmper for de samme grundlæggende værdier, der er nævnt ovenfor, indvarslede i en aura af respekt for Etiopien fra de europæiske kolonisatorer, og ydmyget de italienske angribere - tvinger dem til at sluge den bitre pille af den ødelæggende nederlag. De invaderende udløst en anden invasion i 1935 efter 40 års omhyggelig forberedelse.
De europæiske kolonisatorer indrømmes i forhold til den sorte kejser Menilik II for at forsvare jorden på sin forfædre, mens de var i snit halsen konkurrence om at få fat i større portioner i kapløbet om Afrika. Lignende kamp for den store rigdom af Afrika fortsat med voksende appetit lettes ved marionetter ligesom folkedrab tyran Zenawi i denne udnyttende scenario, som vi nu kalder neo-kolonialisme.
Amhara-Oromo samarbejde
- Yilma Deressa, tidligere finansminister under den kejserlige regime, i sin bog med titlen "የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ በአስራ ስድስተኛ ክፍለ ዘመን" på side 136 skriver, at invasion af Etiopien, som ጋሎች (Gallas) startende fra syd og bevæger sig nordpå var en familie fejde hævder, at de to etniske grupper forenet deres kræfter på et senere tidspunkt sammen om at udrydde muslimske og tyrkiske invasion og sikrede uafhængighed Etiopien, også, i samarbejde med de to ved at kæmpe side om side aktiveret i besejre de væbnede styrker i regeringen i Harrar sultanat og araberne Note: -. Kejserinde Mennen og minister Yilma var de mest magtfulde Oromos fra aristokratisk familie ii deres egen ret i Imperial regime.
- Under invasionen af Etiopien i 1977 af somaliske væbnede styrker det store flertal af medlemmerne af disse to etniske grupper i den etiopiske hær var uden tvivl afgørende faktor roller i expunging angriberne i ydmygelse i sidste ende fører til fald Ziad Barre efterlade en dysfunktionel stat op til nu.
- Den 1998 - 2000 Eritrea - Etiopien krig iværksat af den tidligere kostede 100, 100 på begge sider forholdsmæssigt de fleste af dem logisk Amharas og Oromos.
- Den italienske fascistiske Invasion: Det skal erindres, at bonde milits hær af Etiopien var nødt til at rejse til krigsfronten for seks til syv måneder fleste af dem på bare fods, andre til hest eller muldyr bærer deres bestemmelser af æsler eller på ryggen - klatring og nedstigende forrevne stejle bjerge. De fra syd, herunder 15.000 bonde militsen hær fra Kembatta er rapporteret at have nøje koordineres med Abichu og hans heroiske landsmænd i deres væbnede møde med fjenden. De har alle kærligt lovede i navnet på Immye Menilik II til at bekæmpe fjenden til den sidste dråbe af deres blod. Disse dyrebare børn i Etiopien, ukendte for hinanden og signalsystemet fra fjerne regioner og alle af dem unge, kunne danne deres egen kommando, som efter eget udsagn blev ulidelig torn i øjet af marskal Badoglio - øverstkommanderende for de invaderende italienske fascistiske hær. Kilde: Habešská Odyssea (YeHabesha Jebdu) የሃበሻ ጀብዱ af Adolf Parlesak glimrende oversat til amharisk ved Techane Jobre Mekonnen - side 274.
Etnisk oprindelse var næppe en faktor til at afskrække samarbejde til rebuff aggression. Så det er vigtigt på dette tidspunkt for de snæversynede opportunister at undskylde for deres tidligere politiske brølere og reagere på opfordringen til enhed med henblik på at fjerne Zenawi har stramme greb om magten ved hjælp af umoralsk neo-kolonialister.
Zenawi opfordring til Camp David
Slagteren af Addis Ababa er sandsynligvis indstillet til at deltage i G20-topmøde i Camp David. Han vil så lad være med at forlade indenlandske brændende spørgsmål uløste, nemlig: situationen for Waldeba Kloster & ortodokse Tewahido Kirker, forfatningsmæssige ret til at etiopiske muslimer til at vælge deres ledere og udøve deres religionsfrihed, folkedrab og udsættelse. Det bør være pinligt at værten for at se Midget dræber sammenblandingen blandt præsidentens indbudte honoratiores.
Præsident Obama skal disinvite morderisk tyran Zenawi fra G8-topmødet i Camp David og vise verden, samfundet: at moralske imperativer forrang for politisk hensigtsmæssighed, at han er værdig til Nobels Fredspris tildelt ham kort efter at han har aflagt ed Office of præsident for De Forenede Stater.
Konklusion
Den kloge kejser Menilik II er kendt for at advare sin omgivelser eller medlemmer af hans ekspedition sige "ዓመልክን በጉያ፣ ስንቅህን በአህያ" "- hvilket groft kan oversættes til" at holde din vane under din armhule og foretage dine bestemmelser på bagsiden af dit æsel ". Intet under, at Monarch fortjent ros Immye Menilik for Hans ekstraordinær evne til at holde hans emner af forskellig etnicitet i harmoni under samme telt. Dette er en af de vigtigste arv af endeared Monarch.
Vi er på tærsklen til en massiv protest. Derfor forlænger jeg den samme lidenskabelige appel til TPLF sikkerheds-og forsvarsstyrker, som jeg lavede til de mænd og kvinder i uniform af kujon Derg regimet ikke at forstyrre folkelige protester. Den vedholdende krav fremsættes skriftligt i 1974 og overgivet til Mengistu Hailemariam vist dyrt for mig og mine kolleger og i sidste ende førte til ydmygende fald af Derg regime. Er historien vil gentage sig?
Den Amharas og Oromos var Mussolini vigtigste mål for blodbad, de er nu Zenawi målsætninger alligevel. Historien gentog sig! Den igangværende stormløb på de to etniske grupper og de Anuak og Afar mennesker skal stoppes.
Den enhed Etiopien er ikke til forhandling, universelle værdier som frihed, frihed og den menneskelige værdighed skal forsvares som et spørgsmål om ret. United styrke de demokratiske oppositionskræfter skal vokse inden for rammerne af disse grundlæggende parametre for at smide den patologiske løgner Zenawi fra kontoret.
Lad os komme videre med den heroiske ånd af vore tapre forfædre og opretholde den evige arv testamenteret til os af kejser Menilik II. Lad os synge den revolutionære rally sang 1974 for ublodige ændring, som blev udsendt landsdækkende gnister patriotiske svar for sin involvering og passioneret opfordring til at udvikle vores land ved at udnytte sine floder; Lad os sværger at bringe morderen chef TPLF og hans kumpaner ned til deres knæ og opbygge et sandt demokrati på deres aske. Lad os gøre vores menneskerettigheder i selvforsvar og ydmyge tyran Zenawi, der har offentligt kaldt os sine fjender afvisende vores søgen efter fredelig forandring. Lad os resolut siger ikke mere samvittighedsfanger i Etiopien. Lad os fjerne øjet-svæve emblem sætte på vores flag, der står som et symbol på overlegenhed af den eksklusive minoritet regime. Lad os gøre alle disse i en ånd af selvtillid!
Lad os stoppe drøvtyggende på de onder Zenawi og bevæge sig med vores legitime kamp frem ved at implementere opkald "Pres AU fra Etiopien" lavet af Dr. George Ayittey. Som Dr. Ayittey udtrykte det, "Den udvisning af AU fra Etiopien vil være den største tjeneste etiopierne kan gøre for Afrika - kan sammenlignes med de store resultater af Nkrumah og Mandela." It "... vil ryste selve grundlaget for kleptokrati og . diktatur på tværs af Afrika og gnist ANDEN befrielsen af Afrika "Jeg vil tilføje, at etiopierne vil fryde sig over arven testamenteret til os og sorte mennesker i diasporaen af den store kejser Menilik II, og de sjæle i vores martyrer vil hvile i fred.
LÆNGE LEVE ETHIOPA!
Løslade alle politiske fanger i Etiopien, herunder Andualem Aragie, Iskinder Nega, Nathnael et al
Præsident Obama stod vi af dig i dit bud i løbet af din valget i 2008, nu skal vi bede dig om at stå ved os i at stoppe invitation fra tyrannen Meles Zenawi, der dræber vores folk hjem og begår alvorlige forbrydelser mod vores folk fra at blive inviteret til Camp David mødet den 19. maj 2012.
Vi påberåbe sig til dig på vegne af millioner, der lider hjem!
Tilmeld dig andragende før 9 maj 2012 så vi kan levere det til Det Hvide Hus og udenrigsministeriet
klik her t0 tegn
Fortsæt læsning ...
Pressemeddelelse 13 maj 2012
Send Meles til Guantanamo ikke at Camp David
Fordømmer præsident Obamas invitation af diktatorens Meles i Etiopien.
Præsident Obama nødt til at ophøre med at støtte afrikanske diktatorer. Obamas sejr rejst stor begejstring, håb og stolthed for befolkningen i Afrika. Desværre, hans opfordring af en af Afrikas værste diktator, Meles Zenawi i Etiopien til Camp David den 18 maj 2012 styrtede noget håb for Obamas frelse som en ven af Afrika eller pro menneskerettigheder står på kontinentet. Som modtager af Nobels fredspris, blev han skulle stå med de undertrykte ikke med undertrykkeren.
Ligesom de tidligere amerikanske præsidenter, at han har besluttet at vise det blinde øje mod afrikanske diktatorer i påskud af at bekæmpe terrorisme. I virkeligheden mange afrikanske diktatorer terroriserer deres eget folk, i særdeleshed, har diktator Meles Zenawi i Etiopien er kendt for at engagere sig i udenretslige drab, folkedrab, ulovlig fængsling af journalister som Eskinder Nega og andre politiske aktivister.
Ved at konfiskere alle land, internettet og store industrier, bogstaveligt talt diktator Zenawi ejer landet. Han ensidigt kasseret retsregler, ejendomsret og pressefrihed. Han har ødelagt økonomien og etiopiske nationalisme ved at indsprøjte stammekultur for at opdele og styre. Meles har magt til at tilgive, dræbe, fængsle eller gøre noget han ønsker, at 85 millioner fattige etiopiere med fuldstændig ustraffet.
Præsident Obama har besluttet at vin og spise med denne afrikanske diktator, mens modsatrettede andre diktatorer i Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Nordkorea og andre lande i demokratiets navn. Ud over at give moralsk støtte fra denne handling, er præsident Obama også kanalisere milliarder af amerikanske skatteydere midler til at afstive diktator Meles Zenawi. Vi etiopiere utvetydigt fordømmer denne politik dobbelthed, wining og spisestue og fraternizing med sådan brute afrikansk diktator.
Vi beder bevidst amerikansk at stå med det etiopiske folk i deres søgen efter frihed og retfærdighed ved at bede præsident Obama om at disinvite diktatorens Meles. Urge Præsident Obama stoppe med at lytte til Meles 'lejemordere som DLA Pipers, nogle Kongressens medlemmer og andre lobbyister, der er part i denne sammensværgelse, folkedrab og forbrydelser finder sted i Etiopien.
Trods det faktum, at Meles er blevet sammenlignet med Pol Pot, har Ivan den forfærdelige og Idi Amin eller andre brute diktatorer, præsident Obama har besluttet at vise det blinde øje til. Du må ikke lade ham. Lad os imod denne dobbelthed af hensyn til millioner af etiopiere lider under diktatorens Meles, og af hensyn til fred i Afrika.
Kræv USA straks ophøre medvirken Dictator Zenawi og kræve en ende på hans diktatoriske styre. Hjælp os med at genoprette demokratiet, fri presse, og løslade alle politiske fanger ved at stå med befolkningen i Etiopien. Støtte etableringen af en overgangsregering til at holde et frit og retfærdigt valg til gendanne den demokratiske stat.
Meles fortjener at være i Guantanamo ikke Camp David og spørg præsident Obama om at disinvite denne brutale afrikanske diktator. Ring til Det Hvide Hus Omstillingen på: 202-456-1414 at tale med en levende person eller 202-456-1111 at efterlade kommentarer.
Etiopierne for Demokrati og Retfærdighed (EDJ), http://: www.ethiodemocrat.com POBox 53573, Houston, TX 77052, Tlf. 713-396-2621
Fortsæt læsning ...
Ved Robele Ababya, 4 maj 2012
World of korruption domineret af banditter
Det er helt klart, at vi lever i en farlig og rådden multipolær magt verden uden en tydelig global leder. Så meget er anerkendt, men ingen har en løsning på det umoralske pervading vores planet og fathomless dybden af flere socio-økonomiske problemer i denne generation er sunket som følge af umættelige grådighed og uhæmmet korruption, som iniquitously uduelige ledere som Zenawi brødføde at tilfredsstille deres begær efter magt.
Så længe smerten forårsaget af tyrannen fortsætter og i stigende grad bliver akut, skal ægte demokrater bruge magt deres penne til at opfordre det tavse flertal til at deltage i kampen for at kæmpe tilbage.
Paranoid Zenawi hjemsøgt af had & forræderier reagerede med stor beredvillighed og grusomme ugerning, hvad der var en vidunderlig fredeligt valg, som kulminerede i ydmygende jordskred nederlag til hans TPLF part i 15 maj 2005 valget tvinger tyran at erklære den ulovlige undtagelsestilstand i panik. Som Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), siger engelsk logiker og filosof: "Hverken en mand eller en flok eller en nation kan have tillid til at handle humant eller at tænke sanely under indflydelse af en stor frygt." Zenawi var ingen tvivl i stor frygt og måtte løbe til sine umoralske tilhængere, han slap af sted med sine grusomheder, herunder folkedrab, forbrydelser mod menneskeheden og krigsforbrydelser i fuld visning af hans mestre.
Da han blev spurgt, hvilken juridisk autoritet, han var nødt til at by-passe-Parlamentet og erklære undtagelsestilstand, Meles reagerede ved at sige, at, trods alt, har donorerne ikke modsætte sig handling, han tog. Hans svar er solid dokumentation for, at den monstrøse morder er underordnet interesser donorer på bekostning af de vitale interesser fattige Etiopien. Donorerne er snedige aktører, der fremmedgøre afrikanske ledere fra deres befolkninger ved korrumperende, afpresning, og gøre dem til grådige diktatoriske marionetter, så de vil ikke have andet valg, men adlyde ordrer fra neocolonialists.
Zenawi fik røde løber behandling på G8-topmødet i umiddelbar kølvandet på hans bestilling udførelse af 40 uskyldige civile i koldt blod, kaster tusinder i fængsel under barske forhold, og gøre mange til at lide psykisk og fysisk tortur. Det vides ikke, om den tidligere premierminister Tony Blair havde endda privat fortrudt for at invitere tyran Zenawi til G8-topmødet, hvor morderen solede sig i de overdådige funktioner magtfulde verdensledere udveksle smil og champagne toasts, mens grusomheder i Etiopien tog deres vejafgifter. Skiftende britiske premierministre er blevet uddele direkte budgetstøtte til det brutale TPLF regime trods af den igangværende tyranni i Etiopien.
Sikke en skam folkedrab tyran Zenawi har netop angiveligt modtaget en invitation til Camp David for tilsvarende røde løber behandling på trods af: igangværende folkemord på Amhara og Anuak mennesker, bekræftede massakre på uskyldige Oromo mennesker i Asasa begået af Zenawi føderale politi, mens de deltog fredagsbønnen den 27. april, vanhelligelse af Waldeba Hellig Kloster; vore muslimske brødre lider under Zenawi har kløft og pålægge diktatoriske styre politikken, dislokation af Afar og Anuak folk fra deres forfædres land, ad infinitum. Spørgsmålet er, hvorfor han er sådan en skat til USA opsat på at bruge fødevarer-afhængighed som et potent våben med henblik på at bo på toppen af verden.
"At undersøge den amerikanske politiske reaktion på Indgroet afrikansk lederskab"
De citater nedenfor henviser til vidnesbyrd ved assisterende administrator af USAID Afrika, Earl Gast, at Underudvalget om afrikanske anliggender Senate Foreign Relations Committee den 18. april 2012 under titlen billedtekst om Etiopien; hvert citat er efterfulgt af mit korte kommentar: -
"Etiopien er en af de mest skarpt eksempler på de risici, der opstår når et land mangler tilstrækkelig demokratisk kontrol og balance. Gennem en betydelig begrænsende politisk tale, menneskerettigheder, og evnen af civilsamfundet og medierne til at holde embedsmænd til ansvar, den etiopiske regering at skabe et miljø, der er moden til ustabilitet, og som sender blandede budskaber om sin plads i det internationale samfund ".
Kommentar: Mr. Gast er rigtige. Men mangel på resolut handling på den del af den udøvende den amerikanske regering har gjort uoprettelig skade på Etiopien.
"På den ene side skal den amerikanske regering opretholde et tæt samarbejde med Etiopien som en af vores vigtigste afrikanske partnere i at bekæmpe terrorisme, at imødegå virkningerne af de globale klimaændringer, fremme fødevaresikkerhed, og udstyre de fredsbevarende styrker i nogle af de mest vanskelige steder i Afrika såsom Darfur. Faktisk, med undtagelse af opbygningen af demokrati USAID programmer i Etiopien er blandt de mest succesfulde overalt i Afrika. Etiopien beordrer en voksende tilstedeværelse i globale økonomi, og premierminister Meles Zenawi og hans kolleger i de etiopiske Peoples Democratic Revolutionære Front (EPRDF) kan tage æren for at løfte millioner ud af fattigdom og forbedring af levestandarden i Afrikas næstmest folkerige land. Som det ses i Afrikas Horn nylige fødevarekrise, millioner af etiopiere var i stand til at modstå de værste virkninger af tørke dels på grund af den etiopiske regering arbejde med det internationale samfund til at opbygge modstandskraft over for klimatiske chok ".
Kommentar: (?) En gennemsnitlig 5,5% økonomisk vækst på en tynd bund midt i ekstrem fattigdom er mere sandsynligt. Desuden ville det være katastrofalt, hvis tætte samarbejde med USA er at fortsætte på bekostning af etiopierne leve i terror totale fravær af demokrati.
"På den anden side viser erfaringerne fra Etiopien naboer i Afrika og den arabiske verden de langsigtede risici for ustabilitet, der kommer fra at undertrykke grundlæggende frihedsrettigheder. I 2005 afholdt Etiopien de mest frie og retfærdige valg i sin moderne historie, hvor oppositionspartierne synes at have vundet et betydeligt mindretal af pladserne i parlamentet. Dette resultat kunne have resulteret i en magtbalance mellem det regerende parti og oppositionen, og en reel mulighed for den politiske udvikling til at matche den økonomiske modernisering i gang i landet. I stedet herskende EPRDF forsøgte at ødelægge oppositionen eller tvinge den under jorden. Siden da, har en systematisk kampagne fastspændt ned på grundlæggende frihedsrettigheder. Disse aktioner, herunder dominans af valget i 2010 og passage af restriktive love som om velgørenhedsorganisationer og proklamation, har vundet EPRDF hidtil uset kontrol over det politiske liv i Etiopien og en skør form for stabilitet i den nærmeste fremtid. Men på lang sigt, er Etiopien nu i fare for at genopleve sin historie turbulent politisk overgang. Medmindre restriktioner på civile
Samfund og medier løftes og afvigende politiske holdninger er tilladt, vil landets store gevinster i den økonomiske udvikling og fattigdomsbekæmpelse blive truet ".
Kommentar: USA er bedst placeret til at udelukke denne dire scenario sker.
"Integration demokrati og god regeringsførelse arbejde i de betydelige investeringer i USA gør i andre sektorer, såsom fødevaresikkerhed og sundhed, vil give os gode muligheder for at støtte social og økonomisk robusthed i etiopisk samfund uden for det regerende parti strukturer og til omfang det er muligt, deltagerbaseret beslutningstagning. Til dette formål har USAID udviklet en strategi, der fremmer en tværgående tilgang, der bygger demokrati, menneskerettigheder, regeringsførelse og konflikter interesser i sin varierede portefølje. Strategien vil minimere investeringer i demokrati og god regeringsførelse, såsom menneskerettighedsforkæmpere og civilsamfundet støtte-indtil diplomatiske eller andre bestræbelser på at åbne det politiske rum til en mere robust engagement. USAID har også udviklet en tværgående mål i sin strategi for at fremme borgernes deltagelse og social ansvarlighed omkring service. "
Kommentar: Dette initiativ ville være for lidt for sent i at komme, hvis den nogensinde kommer. For USA kan ikke stole på grundlag af sine svigtede løfter om at trække med tyranner som og når dens nationale interesser dikterer.
Tiny gengæld for Etiopiens heftig offer
Lad mig fortælle at Mr. Gast fra mine optegnelser over, hvad Etiopien havde ofret og fik til gengæld fra de vestlige magter. Den amerikanske regering:
- var på et tidspunkt bedt om at give mere militært udstyr og sprænghoveder til at afskrække en voksende militær trussel fra Etiopien naboer. Anmodningen blev afvist med den begrundelse, at den etiopiske hær besad nok militært hardware og sprænghoveder i sit arsenal til at bekæmpe eller forhindre oprørere i landet;
- truede med at bestille luftbombardement fra sin Air Force Base i Dhahran, Saudi-Arabien, medmindre den etiopiske luftvåben overholdt for at bombe hovedkvarteret for den kejserlige Livvagt i Addis Abeba under forsøg brigadegeneral Mengistu Neway at omstyrte kejseren i december 1960. Den Carter administrationen i 1974 nægtede at levere kritisk nødvendig militært udstyr, som Etiopien havde betalt, og dermed tvinge den militære regime Mengistu Hailemariam at skaffe våben fra det tidligere USSR til at afvise aggression Somalia;
- gjort effektiv bistand til at sætte TPLF stalinistiske regime ved magten, og sammen med den britiske regering, gav det generøse diplomatisk og økonomisk støtte for dens overlevelse, mens vende det blinde øje til grasserende afskyelige forbrydelser af regimet, herunder folkedrab.
- var hurtig, og den første til at anerkende Eritreas uafhængighed, hvilket har efterladt Etiopien og hendes 82 millioner mennesker uden adgang til havet; dette tiltag fra USA resulterede i den alvorligste skader på den økonomiske livline Etiopien og hendes andre strategiske interesser;
- øjeblikket forfølger den politik at gøre Etiopien en af sine magtbaser i kampen mod Al Qaeda, det ville være en forkert politik for den amerikanske regering til at fortsætte en alliance med et undertrykkende regime Zenawi, der har mistet tillid til det etiopiske folk, som påvist i valget af 15. maj 2005.
Det er pinefulde at hjælpen stadig kommer fra vestlige donorer til at ændre plettet image Zenawi trods overvældende international fordømmelse af de grusomheder begået af Zenawi og hans bøller.
Twin hindringer for massive opstand
Frygt og uvidenhed som handler i forening har invaliderende effekt på et samfund. Da den engelske logiker og filosof, Benjamin Franklin, udtrykte det, ". Det eneste dyrere end uddannelse er uvidenhed" Og med hensyn til at frygte filosof sagde: "Frygt er den vigtigste kilde til overtro, og en af de vigtigste kilder til grusomhed. At overvinde frygt er begyndelsen til visdom "Selvfølgelig etiopiere er ofre for frygt og uvidenhed af to grunde:. (1) undladelse af at nedbryde barriererne af frygt, hvor de er vedlagt, og (2) manglende handling i fællesskab på grund af uvidenhed om deres gamle historie.
Etiopierne så ung som Abichu, Amdetsion, Gashu, Haptom, Worku og lederen af de 15.000 stærke militser fra Kembatta valgte at kæmpe fascistiske Italien stærkt med vilje til at dø end leve i slaveri. Fælles værdier bundet disse heroiske landsmænd sammen og tillid tog Haptom af Hamassein til Sellale på tilbagetog med Abichu af Oromo. Young Etiopierne bør følge deres eksempel at rive muren ned af frygt for at opbygge en atmosfære af tillid og tapperhed for at forjage Zenawi fra magten.
Derfor er en streng advarsel for vores overlevelse, fyr etiopiere, formuleret i dette citat af Benjamin Franklin: "Gør dig selv får og ulvene vil æde dig." Lad os bare indrømme de TPLF bøller er blevet fodring på os i de sidste 21 år; deres umættelige appetit er stadig voksende. Vi kan ikke regne med hjælp udefra for at frelse os. Glem den påståede nye Afrika-politik under behandling i den amerikanske Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Må ikke forvente, at Obama administrationen til at frigøre sig fra venskab med folkedrab tyran Zenawi. Lad os sætte vores tro på selvtillid!
Endelig vil jeg gerne slutte dette stykke på et positivt opmærksom på, at etiopierne overalt er på vej til at erobre frygt og uvidenhed med henblik på at afværge alvorlig fare for deres overlevelse, starten af massive opstand for at redde Etiopien er inspirerende, og vores beslutsomhed skal være irreversibel vores kamp for bare årsag er levedygtig og sejr er uundgåelig.
Amen til EYNM & NEC fremskridt!
LÆNGE LEVE ETIOPIEN!
Løslade alle politiske fanger i Etiopien, herunder Andualem Aragie, Iskinder Nega, Nathnael et al
Fortsæt læsning ...
Reeyot Alemu: unge heltinde af etiopisk pressefriheden. Ved Alemayehu G Mariam
5. maj 2012 Comments Off
[Caption id = "attachment_13849" align = "alignleft" width = "180" caption = "Reeyot Alemu"] 
[/ Caption] De sidste to uger har været herlige dage for afrikanere. Eskinder Nega, blev den heroiske etiopiske journalist hædret med Pen amerikanske Barbara Goldsmith friheden til at skrive Award. De hædrer forfattere i hele verden, som har kæmpet modigt i modgang for retten til ytringsfrihed. Charles Taylor, krigsherre-vendt-liberiansk-præsident, blev dømt for 11 tilfælde af krigsforbrydelser og forbrydelser mod menneskeheden fra FN særlige domstol for Sierra Leone. I går Reeyot Alemu, den unge etiopiske journalist, blev vinderen af Kvindernes Internationale Media Foundation 2012 Courage i journalistik Award.
Reeyot, 31, is a teacher and columnist for the independent Ethiopian newsweekly Feteh. When she and her co-defendant Woubshet Taye were arrested in June 2011, they were accused of plotting to sabotage telephone and electricity lines and held incommunicado. In a June 17 column in Feteh, Reeyot criticized Zenawi's harebrained public fundraising campaign for the so-called Grand Renaissance Dam on Abay River project. That column seemed to have gotten Zenawi's goat. But Reeyot has been persistent in her criticisms. She even had the audacity to nick Zenawi's scared cow, the half-baked so-called five-year growth and transformation plan. In September, Reeyot and Woubshet were charged with “conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and participation in a terrorist organization” under Meles Zenawi's cut-and-paste anti-terrorism law.
The so-called evidence of “conspiracy” against Reeyot in kangaroo court consisted of intercepted emails and wiretapped telephone conversations she had about peaceful protests and change with other journalists. Reeyot's articles in Feteh and other publications on the Ethiopian Review website on the activities of opposition groups were also introduced as evidence.
Reeyot and Woubshet had no access to legal counsel during their three months in pretrial detention. Both were denied counsel during interrogations. The kangaroo court refused to investigate their allegations of torture, mistreatment and denial of medical care in detention.
Regime mouthpiece Shimeles Kemal blathered in interviews about Reeyot and Woubshet's certain involvement in planning terrorist acts while the case was pending in court. He seemed totally clueless of Art. 20 (3) of the Ethiopian Constitution which guarantees: “During proceedings accused persons have a right to be presumed innocent.” The kangaroo court sentenced Reeyot to a 14 year prison term and fined her birr 33,000.
As to the judgment of the kangaroo court, Amnesty International was appalled: “There is no evidence that they are guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. There is no evidence that they are guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. We believe that they are prisoners of conscience, prosecuted because of their legitimate criticism of the government. They must be released immediately and unconditionally.” Human Rights Watch was confounded by the idiocy of the charges: “According to the charge sheet, the evidence consisted primarily of online articles critical of the government and telephone discussions notably regarding peaceful protest actions that do not amount to acts of terrorism. Furthermore, the descriptions of the charges in the initial charge sheet did not contain even the basic elements of the crimes of which the defendants are accused….”
In recognizing Reeyot for its Courage in Journalism Award, the IWMF's stated:
Women are grossly under-represented in journalism and the media in Ethiopia. There are few Ethiopian journalists in Ethiopia (state media), and even fewer in the independent media. Journalism in Ethiopia is traditionally dominated by males and societal and cultural expectations discourage women from choosing the field of journalism. Cultural stereotypes are particularly discouraging to young women interested in journalism. The fact that the Ethiopian Government pursues and persecutes courageous, brave and professional women journalists does not bode well particularly for young women who may be interested in journalism. As a result, women's voices (as reporters, editors, journalists, decision-making chambers) are rarely heard and women's issues are often relegated to secondary position.
Congratulations to Press Freedom Heroine Reeyot Alemu!
After her sentence, Reeyot's father, Ato Alemu, in an interview said that his daughter will not apologize, seek a pardon or apply for a clemency. “As a father, would you rather not advise your daughter to apologize?” Ato Alemu replied:
This is perhaps one of the most difficult questions a parent can face. As any one of us who are parents would readily admit, there is an innate biological chord that attaches us to our kids. We wish nothing but the best for them. We try as much as humanly possible to keep them from harm…. Whether or not to beg for clemency is her right and her decision. I would honor and respect whatever decision she makes… To answer your specific question regarding my position on the issue by the fact of being her father, I would rather have her not plead for clemency, for she has not committed any crime.
When Zenawi jailed Birtukan Midekssa in December 2008, he emphatically and sadistically guaranteed that “there will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan. Ever. Full stop. That's a dead issue.” No doubt Zenawi would like to make Reeyot, Eskinder, Woubshet, the Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson , the 193 unarmed protesters massacred in 2005…. a dead issue. But they shall live in our hearts, in our spirits and even our souls, for they are freedom of expression personified.
This past Monday I raised my pen to salute my hero Eskinder Nega. Today I rise up to salute my heroine Reeyot Alemu. In the face of the wicked enemies of press freedom, my cup runneth over! Two home runs in one week! It just doesn't get better than that!
FREE REEYOT ALEMU! FREEYOT ALEMU!
Amharisk oversættelser af de seneste kommentarer fra forfatteren kan findes på:
http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic
http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24
Tidligere kommentarer fra forfatteren findes på:
http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/ and
www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/
Fortsæt læsning ...
Eskinder Invictus!
Den 1. maj 2012, vil Eskinder Nega, Etiopien førende journalist og politisk fange, blive tildelt "friheden til at skrive Award", den højeste ære gives af Pen America, en af de store internationale frie presse institutioner, der har været i kontinuerlig drift siden 1922. De hædrer forfattere i hele verden, som har kæmpet modigt i modgang for retten til ytringsfrihed. Eskinder vil ikke være i stand til at modtage prisen personligt i NY City, fordi han er fængslet af arch diktator Meles Zenawi. Prisen bekræfter Eskinder er i sandhed en international helten af pressefriheden. Men han er også helten i den almindelige afrikaner, der er blevet nægtet menneskerettigheder og demokrati. Til sine landsmænd og kvinder, er Eskinder symbolet på absolut trods for tyranni, diktatur og despoti og et lys for pressefrihed, der skal aldrig flammen ud.
Eskinder Nega: The Heroes 'Hero
Eskinder Nega er blevet fængslet som en "terrorist" af statsterrorister siden september sidste år. Men han er en helt til så mange helte pressefrihed over hele verden. nylig verdenskendte journalister, der selv har lidt i hænderne på diktaturer og andre optrappet til at kræve Eskinder løsladelse. Blandt andragerne omfatter:
Kenneth Best, grundlægger af Daily Observer (Liberias første uafhængige dagligt), Lydia Cacho, Mexico, en af Mexicos mest berømte journalister og kendt forfatter, Juan Pablo Cardenas, Chile, chefredaktør for analisis under general Pinochets regime og professor i journalistik ved University of Chiles Journalisthøjskole; maj Chidiac grundlægger og præsident for maj Chidiac Foundation i Libanon, som næsten mistede livet i en bilbombe i 2005, Sir Harold Evans, en af Storbritanniens mest respekterede journalister og redaktør af The Sunday Times, Akbar Ganji, Irans førende systemkritiker, Amira Hass en af de førende uafhængige journalister i Israel, Daoud Kuttab, grundlægger af AmmanNet i Jordan, den arabiske verdens første Internet-radiostation, Gwen Lister, grundlægger og tidligere redaktør af den namibiske i Namibia Raymond Louw veteran forkæmper for pressefriheden og journalisternes rettigheder i Sydafrika og formand for den sydafrikanske Pressenævnet. Veran Matic, medstifter af Radio B92 i Serbien, som havde givet en korrekt og upartisk grund af begivenhederne i Serbien i 1990'erne, Adam Michnik, chefredaktør for den første uafhængige (og bestseller) Polsk daglig fremmest systemkritiker og polske menneskerettigheder taler; Fred M'membe, editor-in-chief for The Post in Zambia; Nizar Nayouf, chief editor of Syria Truth and Sawt Al Democratiyya; Pap Saine, Gambian publisher and editor Pap Saine and a Reuters correspondent for West and Central Africa; Faraj Sarkohi , a long time Iranian writer and journalist persecuted by both the Shah of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran; Nedim Sener investigative journalist with Turkish daily newspaper Posta; Arun Shourie, one of India's most renowned and controversial journalists and editor of the English-language daily Indian Express; Ricardo Uceda, one of Peru's most renowned investigative journalists and editor of newsweekly Sí, Ricardo Uceda; Jose Ruben Zamora, founder and former editor-in-chief of the independent daily Siglo Veintiuno….
These journalists in their letter to Zenawi
express[ed] [their] extremely strong condemnation of the Ethiopian government's decision to jail journalist Eskinder Nega on terrorism charges on September 14, 2011. We believe the government's decision to arrest him violates the rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press guaranteed by the Ethiopian Constitution, the United Nations' International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The imprisonment of Eskinder Nega and other journalists represents the criminalisation of investigation and criticism, which should be part and parcel of any democratic society.
In September 2011, William Easterly, Professor of Economics, New York University; Mark Hamrick, President, National Press Club, Washington, DC, Aryeh Neier, President, Open Society Foundations; Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch and Joel Simon, Executive Director, Committee to Protect Journalists called for US involvement in securing Eskinder's release and to “publicly repudiate Ethiopia's efforts to use terrorism laws to silence political dissent” and “ensure that our more than $600 million in aid to Ethiopia is not used to foster repression.”
What Makes Eskinder a Hero?
Der er alle mulige helte i myter og folklore. Some become heroes for showing moral excellence and martial courage in the face of danger and adversity. Others become heroes by fighting for honor and principles. Still others become heroes by slaying their enemies in the battlefield. There are romantic heroes and tragic heroes. There are traditional and modern heroes; and there are unsung heroes. But all heroes share some common virtues in one form another: sacrifice, integrity, courage, determination, conviction, perseverance, and so on.
Eskinder is a hero of a special kind. He is a hero who fights with nothing more than ideas and the truth. He slays falsehoods with the sword of truth. He chases bad ideas with good ones. Armed only with a pen, Eskinder fights despair with hope; fear with courage; anger with reason; arrogance with humility; ignorance with knowledge; intolerance with forbearance; oppression with perseverance; doubt with trust and cruelty with compassion. Above all, Eskinder speaks truth to power and to those who abuse, misuse, overuse and are corrupted by power. Eskinder is the one man who looked straight into the vengeful eyes of the Beast and said: “You can arrest and jail me for the eight time; you can beat, torture and throw me into solitary confinement; you can persecute and prosecute me; you can starve and deny me medical care in your stinking jail; you can scandalize my name and defame my character; you can even persecute and humiliate my wife and laugh at my child as he cries his eyes out when your goons manhandle me; and you can harass, intimidate and make life hell on earth for me and my family. But I will never, never, never bow down to your tyrannical rule, your corruption, your brutality, your sadistic cruelty and abysmal barbarity! For I am Eskinder Nega. I am the master of my fate and captain of my soul!”
Eskinder Nega: A Hero for All Seasons
Eskinder is a man of courage. Seven months before he was arrested, Eskinder was summoned by Zenawi's “police commissioner” and told to shut up or else:
Your writings on the Internet and the interviews with various media outlets were inflammatory. You write about General Tsadkan to undermine the army. But be assured that EPRDF is capable of defending the constitution. If anything happens, we will first come to you.” Eskinder asked, “Are you asking me to stop writing and giving interviews?” “No,” the police commissioner said. “But be warned that you have already crossed the boundary. We have enough to convict you already. I want you to understand that this is a serious warning.” Eskinder kept on writing until the day he was arrested vehicle picking up his son from school. (His official captors videotaped the arrest and laughed as the traumatized child cried out for his daddy.) Today Eskinder is facing “trial” in Zenawi's kangaroo court even though he was convicted long before he committed the alleged crime.
Eskinder is a man of integrity. When Zenawi came to Columbia University in September 2010 to speak, Eskinder, and his equally extraordinary journalist wife, Serkalem Fasil, wrote a letter to Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger to expose Zenawi's bottomless capacity for cruelty and inhumanity:
We are banned Ethiopian journalists who were charged with treason by the government of PM Meles Zenawi subsequent to disputed election results in 2005, incarcerated under deplorable circumstances, only to be acquitted sixteen months later; after Serkalem Fasil prematurely gave birth in prison.
Severely underweight at birth because Serkalem's physical and psychological privation in one of Africa's worst prisons, an incubator was deemed life-saving to the new-born child by prison doctors; which was, in an act of incomprehensible vindictiveness, denied by the authorities. (The child nevertheless survived miraculously. Thanks to God.)… While we acknowledge his right to express his views, it is an affront to his government's numerous victims of repression to grant him the privilege to do so on the notable premises of Columbia… Such is the government that PM Meles Zenawi leads.
Eskinder is a man of compassion and empathy. When Birtukan Midekssa, the first woman political party leader in Ethiopian history, was released from prison having served nearly two years (without trial) on the ridiculous charge of “denying a pardon”, Eskinder spoke with her:
'We are proud of you,' I told her. 'You are our hero.' There was pained expression on her face. Something is visibly bottled up in her, pushing to explode. But there were too many people in her living room for an intimate conversation. She nodded when I finished, her head slightly inclined downwards to avoid eye contact.” Thank you,” she finally said faintly. I could barely hear her. And suddenly I felt guilty. Though I meant what I said, I worried whether I was making things worse by sounding patronizing. This is not what Birtukan needs right now. Sitting next to me is a woman at what is one of her worst moments in her life. A woman suffering profoundly on the inside — exactly what coldhearted aging men, addicted to unaccountable power after two decades at the helm of a nation they have persistently pushed towards dysfunction (so far unsuccessfully), intended in their pitiless drive to destroy their 'enemies.'” (Ironically, today Eskinder has taken Birtukan's place in Zenawi's prison.)
Eskinder is a man of honor and dignity. When “abune” Paulos, the “patriarch” of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church commissioned a grandiose bronze statute of himself to commemorate his 18th year of papacy, Eskinder questioned:
Statuary was rejected by Orthodox Christianity because the dimensional representations were considered to glorify the human flesh rather than the divine spirit. Orthodox iconography, which has a rich history in Ethiopia, was alternatively developed to emphasize the spiritual holiness of figures rather than their humanity. And thus, no statues have ever been built for Abune Selema, who brought Christianity to Ethiopia; Yared, who developed the Church's sacred gospel music; Lalibela, who built the Church's greatest relic, the rock-hewn Churches in Lasta; and Abune Tekle-Haymanot, Ethiopia's greatest native-born Saint. But they have all been amply represented by Ethiopian iconography. Why is Orthodox tradition being uprooted?
Eskinder is a witness for the suffering people of Ethiopia.
The repression is as unrelenting as ever. Food inflation has reached the atrocious 50% mark. Unemployment shows no sign of declining. Small businesses, the backbone of the expanding service sector, are suffering perceptibly. The specter of famine dominates the headlines. Corruption is getting worse. There is growing tension within the ruling party.
Eskinder is a voice of hope.
…Hope not oppression that had made revolutions possible. Neither Egyptians nor Libyans had more reason to rebel in 2011 than they did for decades. Too few were any more capable of imagining life free from the oppressive status-quo. Too many had been co-opted; many more had simply learned how to muddle through. But events in Tunisia changed everything. Change was proved possible… Hope will come to sub-Sahara's remaining dictatorships, too. The Arab Spring has already brought it to their doorsteps. It will not wait forever to get in. No one knows which sub-Saharan dictatorship will relent first. But that is almost irrelevant. What matters is that its spread will be unavoidable once it begins. The triumph of hope in only one sub-Saharan dictatorship will beget a continent wide African Spring, hopefully all peaceful. And as Egypt, the Arab world's biggest dictatorship during Mubarak's reign, was the Arab Spring's golden prize, so will Ethiopia, sub-Sahara's biggest dictatorship, be the golden prize for an African Spring. There couldn't have been an Arab Spring without Egypt. There will be no African Spring without Ethiopia.
Eskinder is a man with a message .
Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi, who now leads Africa's largest dictatorship, and who many suspect is calculating as Gaddafi did at first, should take serious note. Killings enraged Libyans as it did Tunisians and Egyptians before them. Inexplicably and suddenly massacre failed to terrorize the young any more. Despite Gadhafi's assertion that only a drugged youth could have refused to succumb to live bullets, hope is really what had fueled the protests….
Hope is the greatest weapon against tyrants. Keep hope alive in Ethiopia!!!
I wish I had the eloquence of diction to express my deep sense of pride and respect for Eskinder Nega for he represents the quintessentially irrepressible impulse for freedom that inhabits the soul of every human being. On the occasion of the 2012 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, I rise to salute Eskinder Nega with William Ernest Henley (1875) poem “Invictus” (“unconquered”), a poem which sustained Nelson Mandela's spirit through the years in Apartheid South Africa's prisons.
Eskinder Invictus! Eskinder Aybegere!
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” Mahatma Gandhi
FREE ESKINDER NEGA!
Amharisk oversættelser af de seneste kommentarer fra forfatteren kan findes på:
http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic and
http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24
Tidligere kommentarer fra forfatteren findes på:
http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/ and
www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/
Fortsæt læsning ...
IPI World Press Freedom Heroes Condemn Imprisonment of Ethiopian Journalist Eskinder Nega
April 25, 2012 Comments Off
A Call for an End to the Persecution of Journalists in Ethiopia
By: Naomi Hunt, Press Freedom Adviser for Africa & the Middle East
[caption id="attachment_13784" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Eskinder Nega"]
[/ Caption] VIENNA, Apr. 23, 2012 – Twenty international journalists who have been recognised as World Press Freedom Heroes by the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) have condemned the Ethiopian government's decision to jail Eskinder Nega and other journalists on terrorism charges, and called for their immediate release.
Eskinder Nega, an online writer and critic of the current Ethiopian government, was arrested in September 2011 and is accused of supporting terrorism, for which he could face the death penalty if convicted. He was jailed shortly after having criticized the government's use of anti-terrorism laws to jail other journalists and opposition figures. This is hardly Eskinder's first brush with the authorites – he and his wife, also a journalist, were jailed for 17 months on treason charges in the aftermath of the disputed 2005 elections. Their son was born in prison. Since then, Eskinder has been banned from journalism but has continued to speak out and write.
Ethiopia, which is set to host the World Economic Forum on Africa in May 2012, jailed Eskinder and four other journalists on anti-terrorism charges over the past year. Woubshet Taye, deputy editor of the now-defunct Awramba Times , and Reyot Alemu of Feteh newspaper were convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison this January. In December, Swedish journalists Martin Schibbye and Johann Persson were sentenced to 11 years in prison for aiding terrorists. They had been arrested last year in the company of rebels in the Ogaden region.
Last month, IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie called on United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to speak out against Ethiopia's use of anti-terror laws to jail journalists, which IPI said “makes a mockery of the universal right to 'hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.'”
IPI noted that this practice also undermines “the fight against real terrorists, who use violence – and not words – to achieve their ends”.
Each of the men and women who signed this petition has been honoured for their contributions to freedom of the press in their home countries and around the world. Many have themselves been jailed for their work – indeed Turkish author and investigative reporter Nedim Şener's battle against terrorism charges, believed by observers to be designed to silence him as a journalist, is not over yet. Read their call for Ethiopia's journalists to be freed, below:
*******************************************************************************
HE Meles Zenawi
POBox 1031
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Via Fax: 2511-55-20-20
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to express our extremely strong condemnation of the Ethiopian government's decision to jail journalist Eskinder Nega on terrorism charges on Sep. 14, 2011. We believe the government's decision to arrest him violates the rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press guaranteed by the Ethiopian constitution, the United Nations' International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The imprisonment of Eskinder Nega and other journalists represents the criminalisation of investigation and criticism, which should be part and parcel of any democratic society.
We are particularly concerned by reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that Eskinder may be subject to torture during his imprisonment.
We call on the Ethiopian government to unconditionally release Eskinder and other journalists unjustly detained; to ensure that he and others are treated humanely; to halt the use of anti-terrorism laws to prosecute journalists; and to fully defend the rights of the press outlined by Ethiopia's constitution and international agreements.
Please note that we are sending this statement to the authorities of the African Union – including the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Jean Ping, and the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Catherine Dupe Atoki. We wish to draw their attention to the fact that the conduct of the Ethiopian Government is in conflict with the protocols of the African Union, the African Union Charter, and the guarantees of freedom of expression protected under various international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moreover, we find that the conduct of the Ethiopian government also brings the African Union into disrepute because its headquarters are in Addis Ababa.
Signed by:
Kenneth Best, Liberia – Kenneth Best founded The Daily Observer , Liberia's first independent daily, in 1981. As a result of its critical reporting of Samuel Doe's dictatorship, Kenneth Best was arrested on multiple occasions and the paper shut down four times, once for a period of two years. In 1990, when The Daily Observer facilities were burnt down, Kenneth Best and his family were exiled to The Gambia, where another newspaper of the same name was established.
Lydia Cacho, Mexico – One of Mexico's most famous journalists, reporting on organised crime, political corruption, domestic violence, and child prostitution, Lydia Cacho has raised awareness of serious issues facing women and children in Mexico. Lydia has written for Novedades de Cancún and Por Esto , as well as books including Los Demonios del Eden: El Poder Que Protege a la Pornografía Infantil (“The Demons of Eden: The Power That Protects Child Pornography”). Lydia Cacho remains committed to her work despite having been imprisoned and tortured.
Juan Pablo Cardenas, Chile – As chief editor of Análisis during General Pinochet's regime, Juan Pablo faced constant harassment and legal prosecution. Despite the murder of one of his journalists, Cardenas remained committed to reporting on government corruption and human rights abuses. He once endured a 541-night prison sentence for offending the armed forces in his editorials. Now, Juan Pablo continues to write for national and international publications and is currently a professor at the University of Chile's School of Journalism.
May Chidiac, Lebanon – Dr. May Chidiac is the founder and president of the May Chidiac Foundation. Known for her criticism of Syria's sway over Lebanon, an issue that was seldom critically discussed in the country, May Chidiac worked as the main anchor on political talk show Bi Kol Jor'a. May Chidiac nearly lost her life in a car bomb attack in 2005, which left her severely injured.
Sir Harold Evans, United Kingdom - One of Britain's most respected journalists and the crusading editor of The Sunday Times for 14 years, Sir Harold Evans brought a new style of investigative reporting to his country. He has authored and edited best-sellers and served as a contributor to various media houses including The Guardian and the BBC. In 2011, Sir Evans joined the Reuters news agency as editor-at-large.
Akbar Ganji, Iran – Often called 'Iran's most prominent political dissident', Akbar Ganji spent six years in Evin prison for a 1999 series of articles he wrote for Sobh Emrouz newspaper about Iran's notorious 'chain murders'. Akbar Ganji also wrote a number of articles accusing high level political figures and clerics of being involved in assassinations of dissidents and intellectuals. In 2000, Ganji was arrested for spreading propaganda and endangering national security. He spent six years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement. However he used this time to write his “Republican Manifesto”. After his release in 2006, Akbar Ganji left Iran and has been campaigning for democracy. He published his first book in English in 2008, entitled The Road to Democracy in Iran .
Amira Hass , Israel – As a journalist for Ha'aretz , Amira Hass has covered the Gaza strip and Palestinian affairs for years, becoming the first Israeli journalist to live in the Palestinian territories. Amira Hass was convinced that the Israelis needed to know the truth about the plight of the Palestinian people. Despite arrests and confrontations with the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian National Authority, she continues to report with independence.
Daoud Kuttab , Jordan – Daoud Kuttab is General Manager at the Community Media Network, Amman and Founder of AmmanNet, Amman, Jordan, the Arab world's first Internet radio station. One of the best known Palestinian journalists, Kuttab fought for a free media in the Palestinian Territories under both the Israelis and the Palestinian Authorit. He has worked for a number of publications including Al Fajr and Al Quds, but went on to help establish both the Arabic Media Internet Network in 1995 and the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University in 1996.
Gwen Lister, Namibia – As founder and former editor of The Namibian , Gwen Lister remained committed to reporting injustice and corruption both before and after Namibia's independence from apartheid South Africa, despite prosecutions, raids and violent attacks. She previously co-founded the Windhoek Observer and worked as a political editor. She is a founder of the Media Institute of Southern Africa.
Raymond Louw, South Africa – Raymond Louw is a veteran champion of press freedom and journalists' rights. Chairman of the South African Press Council and one of the founding members of the South African National Editors' Forum, until 2011 Louw also worked as the editor and publisher of Southern Africa Report , a private current affairs weekly. Raymond Louw previously worked for the Sunday Times and the Rand Daily Mail , which was renowned for its investigative journalism with regards to apartheid and other issues.
Veran Matić, Serbia – As co-founder of Radio B92, Veran Matic provided an accurate and impartial account of events in Serbia, whilst standing up to pressure from the authorities and withstanding multiple threats, physical attacks and arrests. B92 was banned in 1991 and again in 1996. The radio station was repeatedly jammed and then closed down, but it continued to operate via the Internet. Mass rallies and protests forced the authorities to open the station again. Matic established the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), a network of independent radio stations in Serbia and Montenegro, in an attempt to provide listeners with objective news. ANEM is still going strong today with more than 50 independent radio and television stations.
Adam Michnik, Poland – As a former dissident, writer, historian, lecturer and journalist, Adam Michnik is known for his defence of human rights. He spent a total of six years in prison between 1965 and 1986 for his opposition to communist rule in Poland. As editor in chief of the first independent Polish daily, Gazeta Wyborcza , Adam Michnik has remained committed to the paper's independence. Today, the newspaper remains the top-selling daily in Poland, and one of the most respected in Europe.
Fred M'membe, Zambia – Known for his outspoken defence of press freedom and his paper's exposés on government corruption and abuses of power, Frank M'membe is founder and editor-in-chief for The Post , Zambia's leading independent daily. Despite harassment, raids, multiple lawsuits including accusations of defamation and treason confiscation and censorship, Frank M'membe continues to uphold the principle of press freedom. Frank M'membe is also a founder of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, which fosters a free and independent media.
Nizar Nayouf , Syria – Nizar Nayouf repeatedly paid the price for his work. While working as editor in chief for Sawt Al Democratiyya , and because of his affiliation with the Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedom, Nayouf was sentenced in 1992 to ten years in prison. He spent most of this time in solitary confinement and was tortured, but still managed to write four books. Since his release from prison, Nizar Nayouf has left Syria and is chief editor of Syria Truth .
Pap Saine, The Gambia – Gambian publisher and editor Pap Saine is the publisher and editor of The Point and a Reuters correspondent for West and Central Africa. Pap Saine has faced imprisonment and harassment for his work, particularly for his commitment to press freedom and revealing the truth about Deyda Hydara, his co-founder who was murdered by unknown men in 2004.
Faraj Sarkohi , Iran – A writer and journalist, Faraj Sarkohi was persecuted by both the Shah of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a result of his work for Adineh , a literary monthly he founded and edited, Faraj Sarkohi faced imprisonment and torture before he was forced into exile. He continues to campaign for greater press freedom in Iran.
Nedim Şener, Turkey – After spending a year behind bars, Nedim Şener was recently released from prison pending trial. He faces allegations that his criticism of government investigations into alleged coup plots demonstrated support for those plots. Şener is an author and investigative journalist with Turkish daily newspaper Posta . His work includes publication of a book on the 2007 murder of his friend, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, which accused Turkish security agencies of failing to prevent Dink's murder.
Arun Shourie , India – One of India's most renowned and controversial journalists, Arun Shourie was the uncompromising editor of the English-language daily Indian Express , and introduced a new style of independent investigative journalism to India. At one stage, there were 300 cases filed against the Indian Express by the government but Shourie remained committed to press freedom, ensuring him a vast following, and many enemies, across India. Arun Shourie is now working in politics and previously was a Minister for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ricardo Uceda, Peru – Famous for his fearless reporting on government corruption and the military's abuse of human rights, Ricardo Uceda is one of Peru's most renowned investigative journalists. As editor of newsweekly Sí , Ricardo Uceda revealed military abuses and faced physical threats and censorship. Ricardo Uceda also founded the Investigative Unit of El Comercio , Peru's oldest daily, and previously he also worked for El Mundo , Expreso , El Diario , El Nacional , Canal 2 and La Razón , and is a founding member of Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (Press and Society Institute).
Jose Ruben Zamora, Guatemala – Founder and former editor-in-chief of the independent daily Siglo Veintiuno (21st Century), Jose Ruben Zamora has built up a reputation for reporting on taboo subjects and exposés covering corruption, drug trafficking and human rights violations. Zamora resigned as editor in chief of Siglo Veintiuno in 1996 and launched a new daily, El Periódico , which continues its critical coverage. Zamora has faced censorship, harassment, death threats, kidnapping and attacks for his work.
Fortsæt læsning ...
On A chilly spring Tuesday April 24 more than 1,000 pages of leaflet were distributed in front of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, New York for the passers as well as for the the three day conference participants who were willing to hear the other side of the story for free in contrast paying $3,000 not to miss the “Giant African Cake” to be cut at the end of their conference today. African Land Grab Protest i New York april, 2012
- http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=8260
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/freeourleaders/sets/72157629899438011/show/~~V
Fortsæt læsning ...
Åbent brev til etiopiske muslimer, kristne, jøder og alle troende - SMNE
April 25, 2012 Comments Off
An Open Letter to Ethiopian Muslims, Christians, Jews and all believers in freedom
Fortsæt læsning ...
At skyde skylden offeret
I sidste uge, hectored diktator Meles Zenawi sit gummistempel parlament i Etiopien om den tvungne udvisning (eller som nogle har beskrevet det "etnisk udrensning") af Amharas fra det sydlige Etiopien og zapped hans kritikere for deres uansvarlighed i rapportering og offentliggøre det. Zenawi denied any expulsion had taken place, but explained that some squatters (he described them as “sefaris from North Gojam”) had to be removed from their homesteads in the south purely out of environmental conservation concerns for the area's forestlands. In a broadside against organizations “that promote the view that our collective identity is Ethiopianity,” Zenawi harangued:
... Ved et tilfælde i historien, mange mennesker i løbet af de seneste ti år - omkring 30.000 sefaris (besættere) fra North Gojam - har slået sig ned i Benji Maji (BM) zone [i det sydlige Etiopien]. I Gura Ferda, er der nogle 24.000 sefaris. Because the area is forested, not too many people live there. For alle henseender, er Gura Ferda lille Nord Gojam komplet med besættere 'lokale administration. Det er ikke et problem: Der er jord til at dyrke [i BM zone], og der er folk, der ønsker at drive dem. Alle vinder, ingen taber. Der er kun ét problem: De besættere gjorde det på en uorganiseret måde. De besættere afvikles enkeltvis, og tilfældigt og på en miljømæssigt ødelæggende måde. Forliget var ikke baseret på en sund miljømæssig konsekvensanalyse af ødelæggelse af skoven. Den uberørt skov i området skal beskyttes. The squatters want land that can be easily developed and cultivated. They don't care if it is a forest or not. De skar skoven og brugte træet til at gøre kul til støtte i deres boplads. Som et resultat massiv ødelæggelse af miljøet er sket .... Settlers cannot move into the area and destroy the forest for settlement. It is illegal and must stop. De, der forsøger at fordreje dette faktum er uansvarlige. Det er nødvendigt at filtrere sandheden. The rights of all Ethiopians must be protected on equal footing. De, der påstår forfølgelse og fordrivelse af Amharas er engageret i uansvarlig agitation, som ikke er nyttige for nogen ...
Stated more simply, the “sefaris of North Gojam” are environmental criminals who deserved forcible expulsion; and they should thank they lucky stars they are not prosecuted criminally.
Afrikas CEO
When it comes to defending the African environment, no person has more expertise or passion than Zenawi who, after all, is the anointed CEO (Chief Environmental Officer) of Africa . In 2009, Zenawi headed a delegation of African negotiators to the Copenhagen Summit (2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen) to morally and financially hold accountable the wayward West for its environmental destruction, climate change, global warming and all the rest. I tiden op til topmødet, truede Zenawi at nedbringe topmødet, hvis Vesten ikke gøre det rigtige for Afrika og hoste op med $ 40bs:
We will use our numbers to de-legitimise any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position… If needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent… Africa's interest and position will not be muffled as has usually been the case… Africa will field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union…. The key thing for me is that Africa be compensated for the damage caused by global warming. Many institutions have tried to quantify that and they have come up with different figures. The sort of median figure would be in the range of 40 billion USD a year.
En dag i topmødet, Zenawi var klar til at klippe en aftale med "Afrikas voldtægtsforbrydere" for et køligt $ 10bs. Han fortalte sine afrikanske Brødre kolde kontanter er bedre end at tale trash:
Jeg kender mit forslag i dag vil skuffe dem, afrikanere, der fra det synspunkt retfærdighed har bedt om fuld erstatning for skaden på vores udviklingsmuligheder. Mit forslag dramatisk indskrænker vores forventning med hensyn til niveauet for finansiering til gengæld for mere pålidelig finansiering og en plads ved bordet i forvaltningen af disse midler.
I oktober 2011, i en tale, før den afrikanske oekonomiske konference Zenawi foredrag:
Meget af vores land er blevet ryddet for trædækket resulterer i massive jordforringelse, jorderosion og sårbarhed over for både oversvømmelser og tørke. As a result of the global warming that has already happened we have become more exposed to strange combinations of drought and flooding. Den ressource basis af vores landbrug er meget alvorligt truet.
Med andre ord har vi brug for at gå tilbage til de vestlige voldtægtsmændene og presse nogle flere penge ud af dem.
Zenawi har Stewardship af miljøet i Etiopien
Zenawi is manifestly the go-to expert on the impact of climate change and global warming on Africa. Men har han et fingerpeg om miljøødelæggelse, og især, at skovrydning i Etiopien? I 2020 er Etiopien forventes at miste alle sine skovressourcer i overensstemmelse med den etiopiske Agricultural Research Institute (den forreste landbrugs forskningsinstitut i landet):
Ethiopia's forest coverage by the turn of the last century was 40%. By 1987, under the military government, it went down to 5.5%. In 2003, it dropped down to 0.2%. The Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute says Ethiopia loses up to 200,000 hectares of forest every year. Between 1990 and 2005, Ethiopia lost 14.0% of its forest cover (2,114,000 hectares) and 3.6% of its forest and woodland habitat. If the trend continues, it is expected that Ethiopia could lose all of its forest resources in 11 years, by the year 2020.
According to a 2004 study, Ethiopia has some 60 million hectares of land covered by woody vegetation of which nearly 7 percent is forestland. Some 63 percent of the forestland is located in Oromiya, followed by Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region [SNNP] (19%) and Gambella (9%). Det er bemærkelsesværdigt, at Zenawi har besluttet at trække en streg på skovrydning i Benji Maji / Gura Ferda i 2012 givet den forværrede karakteren af problemet i denne region som et resultat af ukontrolleret udenlandsk kommerciel eksport landbrug. It is equally remarkable that he chose ethnic removal as a tool of reforestation and land reclamation.
But is Zenawi's claim of environmental concern and forest protection for the expulsion of the “North Gojam sefaris” supported by evidence? Or is he using an environmental subterfuge to evade controversy and withering criticism? Gennem de seneste fem år har Zenawi "udlejet" (solgt) nogle af de mest frugtbare jord (meget af det skovlandskab) i landet til saudierne, de Shiekdoms, indianerne, den kinesiske og koreanske (SSICKs) og alle andre sportslige en sprød dollarseddel. Ifølge respekteres Oakland Institute [OI], der begynder i 2008, Zenawi regime har
overføres mindst 3,619,509 hektar jord til udenlandske investorer, selv om det faktiske antal kan være højere ... Den etiopiske regering insisterer på, at for al jord tilbud høring bliver udført, ingen landmænd fordrevet, og Landet blev ydet, er "ubrugt." Men OI holdet kunne ikke finde en eneste forekomst af fællesskab høring ... Der er ingen begrænsninger for anvendelse af vand, ingen miljøvirkningsvurderingerne (VVM), og ingen miljømæssige kontroller. It is alarming that investors are free to use water with no restrictions. Investorerne underrettet OI team af den lethed, hvormed de planlagde at dam en lokal flod og af den virtuelle manglende kontrol og forordninger med miljøspørgsmål. På trods af forsikringer om, at VVM udføres, kunne ingen embedsmand producere en færdig VVM, ingen investor havde tegn af en færdig en, og ingen fællesskab havde set en .... Displacement fra landbrugsjord er udbredt, og langt størstedelen af lokalbefolkningen får ingen erstatning .... fordrevne landmænd er tvunget til at finde landbrugsjord andre steder, øget konkurrence og spændinger med andre landmænd over adgangen til jord og ressourcer.
Den nederste linje er, at de SSICKs der benhårdt uberørte skove til storstilet kommerciel eksport landbrug kaldes investorer. Ethiopians who clear small plots of land to feed themselves and their families are called “sefaris” (squatters). De SSICKs får 99-årige lejekontrakter til millioner af hektar, "udvikle". Etiopierne er magt skubbes ud fra deres forfædres jord og små gårde for at give plads til SSICKs. The SSICKs are allowed to grab as much land as they want for pennies; Ethiopians are grabbed and thrown off the land and lose every hard earnerd penny they have invested. De SSICKs bliver budt velkommen med åbne arme ved solopgang, etiopierne bliver smidt i den bageste ende og fortalte at komme ud af byen før solnedgang. De SSICKs har ejendomsret til jord; etiopierne ikke har ret til at eje jord. The SSICKs are treated like royalty; Ethiopians are given the shaft. Skammen af det hele: etiopiere er "jaget som dyr, hvor de er konstant spurgt, om de støtter disse [SSICK] plantager" i henhold til Oakland Institute undersøgelsen.
Velkommen til SSICKistan.
Are there Environmental Laws the “North Gojam Sefaris” Could Follow?
Zenawi claims that the expulsion was necessary because many of the “North Gojam sefaris” engaged in a pattern and practice of settlement that is disorganized, haphazard and environmentally destructive. But does Zenawi's regime have policies that would facilitate an orderly, systematic and organized settlement of rural areas or ensure sound forest conservation practices? For eksempel, den skelsættende lov om emne, " Rural Lands Administration og brug proklamation No.456/2005 tilladelse ", fri adgang til landdistrikterne jord til alle, som ønsker at deltage i landbrugsvirksomhed, men det giver ikke nogen klar retning på hvordan bosættelser skal etableres eller administreres. Det efterlader gennemførelsen af proklamation helt til de "regionale myndigheder", som ofte ikke har den ekspertise eller kapacitet til at gennemføre det. For at være sikker på, Proclamation nr. 456 er stort set tavs om brug, bevarelse eller forvaltning af skovområder. Faktisk gør det kun tre forbipasserende henvisninger til "skovbrug", "ødelæggelse af skove" og "skov".
Den reviderede SNNPRS Bestemmelse af udøvende organer beføjelser og ansvar proklamation nr. 106/2007 [Southern Nations, nationaliteter 'og folks Statsforvaltningen], der angiveligt har til formål at gennemføre Proclamation nr. 456, men regionen har ingen Miljøstyrelsen. Opgaven med at gennemføre proklamation 456 tilsyneladende givet til regionens Bureau for Landbrug og Udvikling af Landdistrikter, som angiveligt har tilsyn myndighed over bevarelse af naturressourcer og vilde liv, men intet særligt ansvar for at gennemføre skovbevarelse eller ledelse. Land use restrictions under SNNPRS Rural Land Administration and Use Regulation No 66/2007 does not deal with forestlands at all; it is principally concerned with the use of wetlands and sloping lands. Kort sagt, er der ingen regional lov, der beskæftiger sig med skovrydning og rydning af skov til bosættelser eller landbrug. What are the “sefaris” to do?
Similarly, the “federal” “ Forest Development, Conservation, and Utilization Proclamation No.542/2007 ” is so vague and general as to be nothing more than a statement of policy orientation. Proklamationen genkender "regering" og "privat" skove, men ikke giver nogen indikation om, hvordan skovene kan blive udviklet, eller hvor enkeltpersoner kunne anvendes til at få tilladelser. Incredibly, the Proclamation catalogues the obligations of private forest developers without enumerating any of their rights. Hovedparten af proklamation er ikke loven, men forhåbning politiske erklæringer om, hvad der bør gøres i fremtiden.
Zenawi sekundær argument er, at Amhara "sefaris" bosatte sig i Benji Maji / Gura Ferda uden den nødvendige miljøvurdering (VVM), formentlig i henhold til proklamation nr. 299/2002 ("Environmental Impact Assessment proklamation" [EIAP]) . Proklamationen kræver en vurdering for at "identificere og evaluere på forhånd nogen virkning, som skyldes gennemførelsen af en foreslåede projekt eller offentlig instrument". Som en teknisk juridisk spørgsmål, falder "sefari s" mønster af nybyggeri uden for EIAP foreskrevne definition af "foreslåede projekt" eller "offentlig instrument". Med andre ord, under den nuværende sprog og definitioner i proklamation nr. 299 ville "sefaris" fritages fra at udføre en miljøvurdering. Rather, they would be subject to Proclamation No. 456 (Rural Lands Administration and Use ).
But all of the technical legal analysis and arguments aside, the fact of the matter is that a tiny percentage of all private sector projects are subject to the EIAP because of exemption loopholes and political decisions that override the technical merits of such reports. Da OI rapport har vist, "på trods af forsikringer om, at miljøvurderinger [MKV] er udført, ingen embedsmand kunne producere en færdig VVM, ingen investor havde tegn på en færdig en, og ingen fællesskab havde set en ...." Regimets " miljøvurdering "på Gibe III Dam viser proforma karakteren af disse virksomheder , når det er politisk hensigtsmæssigt.
Etnisk udrensning eller Forest Conservation?
Der er ingen tvivl om, at titusinder af Amharas er blevet tvangsfjernet fra Benj Maji / Gura Ferda i det sydlige Etiopien, og ikke bare fra "North Gojam". Talrige interviews med ofre fra Voice of America giver betydelige beviser for tvungen udvisning. Så vi skal vende det uundgåelige spørgsmål: Er den tvungne udvisning af "sefaris" en form for etnisk udrensning eller konsekvensen af de utilsigtede virkninger af rutine økologisk oprydning? Beviset på dette spørgsmål fra de to personer, der er i den bedste position til at vide, er temmelig nysgerrig efter at sige det mildt. Zenawi siger "North Gojam sefaris" blev sat på gaden, udelukkende fordi de var at ødelægge skoven i deres tilfældige bebyggelsesmønstre. Men hans skriftlig ordre, Shiferaw Shigute, formand for SNNP ikke, ikke ikke nævne et ord om skovrydning eller skade på miljøet i udvisningen af Amhara "sefaris". Gud Fader, som at tro?
"Etnisk udrensning" ikke har en bestemt formel juridisk definition. A 1993 United Nations Commission defined the phrase as, “the planned deliberate removal from a specific territory, persons of a particular ethnic group, by force or intimidation, in order to render that area ethnically homogenous.” A UN Commission of Experts established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 held that the practices associated with ethnic cleansing “constitute crimes against humanity”. Andre har defineret "etnisk udrensning, som udvisningen af en 'uønsket' befolkning fra et bestemt geografisk område på grund af religiøs eller etnisk diskrimination, politiske, strategiske eller ideologiske grunde, eller en kombination af disse." Artikel 7 (d), i Rom-statutten erklærer at "deportation eller tvungen overførelse af befolkningen", (defineret som "tvungen fordrivelse af udvisning eller andre tvangsmidler handlinger fra det område, hvor de er lovligt til stede, uden begrundelse, uden grundlag tilladt i henhold til international lov") er en "forbrydelse mod menneskeheden". Om udvisningen af Amhara "sefaris" er en del af en bevidst og systematisk politik for "etnisk føderalisme", hvor etniske udrensninger af civilbefolkningen er forpligtet til at sikre den etniske homogenitet den sydlige del af landet på bekostning af andre etiopiere af en anden etnisk stribe vil have væsentlig betydning for spørgsmålet om etnisk udrensning.
Være fair over for folket!
Amharisk oversættelser af de seneste kommentarer fra forfatteren kan findes på:
http://www.ecadforum.com/ Amharic/archives/category/al- Mariam-amharisk og
Tidligere kommentarer fra forfatteren findes på:
http://open.salon.com/blog/ almariam/ og
www.huffingtonpost.com/ Alemayehu-g-Mariam /
Green Justice amharisk Oversættelse
ፍጥረታዊ ፍትሕ ወይስ ዘረኛ ፍርደገምድልነት?
ከፕሮፌሰር ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም
ትርጉም ከነጻነት ለሃገሬ
ተበዳዩን እንደ ወንጀለኛ!
ባለፈው ሳምንት በኢትዮጵያ የመርገጫ ማህተም የሆነውን ፓርላማ ግፈኛው ፈላጭ ቆራጭ መለስ ዜናዊ ተገደው ከደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ ‹‹የተፈናቀሉትን›› የአማራዎች (አንዳንዶች‹‹በተንኮል ዘዴ ዘር ማጥፋት›› ብለውታል) በተመለከተ፤ በጉዳዩ ላይ ተቃውሞ ያሰሙትንና ፤ ዜናውን እንዲሰራጭ ያደረጉትን፤ በደፈናው ሃላፊነት የሌላቸው በማለት በማዉገዝና እውነቱን ሸምጥጦ በመካድ ጨርሶ መፈናቀል እንዳልተካሄደ ለማሳመን ሲፈላሰፍ ታይቷል፡፡ መለስ ስለመፈናቀሉ ማሳሳቻውን ማስረጃ ሲያቀርብ አንዳችም መፈናቀል ያልተካሄደ በማስመሰል አንዳንድ ሕገወጥ ከሰሜን ጎጃም የፈለሱ (‹‹ሰፋሪዎች›› ይላቸዋል) ከደቡብ መኖርያቸው የተነሱበት ምክንያት ቦታው የአካባቢ ደንና ፊጥረታዊ ሃብት ጥበቃ ነው ሲል ሊሞግት ሞክሯል፡፡ እንዲያውም ለምን ያሉትንና የጋራነት መታወቂያችን ኢትዮጵያዊነት ነው በማለት የቆሙትን ድርጅቶች በተመለከተ፤ መለስ በጠራራ ጸሃይ ሲሰብክ:
….. ባለፉት አሰርት ዓመታት በታሪክ አጋጣሚ፤በርካታ ሰዎች፤… ወደ ሰላሳ ሺህ የሚጠጉ ሰፋሪዎች፤ ከሰሜን ጎጃም (የፈለሱ) በቤንጅ ማጂ ዞን (በደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ)ሰፍረዋል፡፡ በጉራ ፈርዳ 24.000 ሰፋሪዎች አሉ፡፡ ቦታው ጫካማ ስለሆነ ብዙ ሰው አይኖርበትም፡፡በተለያየ ሰበብና አጋጣሚ ሁሉም የድርሻውን ያገኛል የሚጎዳ አይኖርም፡፡እነዚህ ህገወጥ ሰፋሪዎች ባልተቀናጀ መልኩ ነው የሰፈሩት፡፡ እነዚህ ህገ ወጥ ሰፋሪዎች በተናጠልና በተመሰቃቀለ መንገድ፤ የአካባቢውንም የዓየር ሁኔታ በሚበክል መልኩነው የሰፈሩት፡፡ይህ ደሞ አጥፊና ጎጂ ነው፡፡
ሰፈራው የአካባቢውን ዓየር ሁኔታ ባገናዘበ፤ የጫካውን መጥፋት ከግንዛቤ ባስገባ መልኩ ታስቦ የተከናወነ አይደለም፡፡ድንግል የሆነው ጫካ መጠበቅ አለበት፡፡ሰፋሪዎቹበቀላሉ ሊለማ የሚችልና አፍሪ ቦታ ነው የፈለጉት፡፡ደን ሆነ አልሆነ ደንታ የላቸውም፡፡ደኑን እየጨፈጨፉ ለኑሮ የሚያስፈልጋቸውን ከሰል ያከስላሉ፡፡ በዚህ የተነሳም በርካታየአካባቢ ብክለትና ጉዳት ተፈጽሟል፡፡…… ሰፋሪዎች ወደፈለጉበት ቦታ ሄደው በመስፈር የአካባቢውን ደን በማጥፋት መኖር አይችሉም፡፡ሕገ ወጥ በመሆኑ ሊቆምይገባዋል፡፡ ይህን እውነታ ለማጭበርበር የሚጥሩ ሁሉ ሃላፊነት የጎደላቸው ናቸው፡፡ ዕውነትን አጥርቶ ማየት ያስፈልጋል፡፡የሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊያን መብት በእኩል ደረጃሊጠበቅ ይገባል፡፡ አማሮች ተፈናቀሉ ለስደት ተዳረጉ በማለት የሚጮሁት ማንንም የማይጠቅም ቅስቀሳ ነው በማድረግ ላይ ያሉት፡………..
መለስ በቀላሉ ሲያስቀምጠው፤ እነዚህ ‹‹የሰሜን ጎጃም ሰፋሪዎች›› የአካባቢውን የደን ሁኔታ ያጠፉ ወንጀለኞች ናቸውና ተገደው መነቀልና መሰደድ አለባቸው፤ እንዲያውም በወንጀል ባለመጠየቃቸው እድላቸውን ሊያመሰግኑ ይገባል፡፡
የአፍሪካ የከባቢ ዓየር ዋና ሹም
ስለአካባቢ ዓየር ሲነሳ በአፍሪካ ካሉት ከማንኛቸውም በበለጠ እውቀትና ችሎታ ያለው ሰው ቢፈለግ ከመለስ ሌላ ጨርሶ የት ሊገኝ?! ምንስ ቢሆን የአፍሪካ ዋና የከባቢ ዓየር መኮንን ተብሎ የለም እንዴ! በ 2009 መለስ በኮፕንሃገን በተካሄደው ስብሰባ ላይ የአፍሪካዊያንን ተደራዳሪዎች በመምራት ተገኝቶ ነበር፡፡ በዚህ ቦታ የአፍሪካ ተደራዳሪዎች መገኘት መንስኤውም፤የምእራቡ ዓለም እያጠፋና እያዛባ ያለውን የተፈጥሮ ዓየር፤ ደግሞም የተከተለውን የአየር ለውጥ፤በዓለም የሙቀት ሁኔታው መባባስን፤እና ሌላውንም በተመለከተ የሞራል ካሳና የገነዘብ መቀጫ ለመጠየቅ ነበር ዘራፍ ብሎ የተነሳው ፡፡ በዚህም 40 ቢሊዮን ዶላር ካልተፋ ስብሰባውን እንደሚያጨናግፈው ረግጦ እንደሚወጣ ደንፍቶ ነበር፡፡
እኛ በአናሳው የምናቀርበው ስምምነት ተቀባይነት ካጣ፤ ቁጥራችንን በመጠቀም ውሳኔው ውድቅ እንዲሆን እናደርጋለን…….እንዲያውም አካሄዳቸውና ውሳኔያቸውአህጉራችንን አስገድዶ የሚዳፈር ከሆነ ስብሰባውን ረግጠን እንወጣለን፡፡……..ከዚህ ቀደም ይደረግ እንደነበረው የአፍሪካ ፍላጎትና አቋም ሊታፈን አይችልም አይገባምም፡፡……. አፍሪካ፤የአፍሪካ ሕብረት አባላትን ሀገራት የሚወክልና ሙሉ ስልጣን ያለው አንድ ብቸኛ ተደራዳሪ ቡድን ትሰይማለች፤ .... ለኔ ዋነኛው ቁልፍ ጉዳይ፤አፍሪካ የዓለምን አየር መዛባት አስመልክቶ በተፈጠረው ጉዳት ልትካስ ተገቢ ነው፡፡ በርካታ ኢኒስቲቲዩሽኖች ይህን በቁጥር ለማስቀመጥ ሞክረው የተለያየ ተመን አስቀምጠዋል፡፡ከዚህ በመነሳትም ማእከላዊው ቀመር በዓመት 40 ቢሊዮን ዶላር ይሆናል፡፡
ስብሰባው በተጀመረ በማግስቱ ፤ መለስ ከ << አፍሪካ አስገድዶ ደፋሪዎች >> ጋር በ 10 ቢሊዮን ዶላር ውለታ ለመፈጸም ስምምነት ለማድረግ ዝግጁ ሆነ፡፡ አፍሪካውያን ወንድሞቹንም ጥሬ ብር ከአርቲ ቡርቲ ቃላት ይሻላል በማለት አሳመነ፡፡
……እርግጥ ይሄ የኔ ሃሳብ ምናልባትም ከሕግ አኳያ ለደረሰብን በደልና ጥፋት፤ በልማታችን ላይ ለደረሰብን በደል ሙሉ ካሳ ይገባናል በማለት ሃሳብ ያቀረቡትንአፍሪካውያንን ቅር ሊያሰኝ ይችላል፡፡ የኔ ሃሳብ ቀስ በቀስ ወደ ተነሳንበት ቁጥር ያደርሰናል፡፡ ይህን ፈንድ መቆጣጠርና በዚህም የአስተዳደር ስልጣን ማግኘትና በወሳኝነት መቀመጥ ዋነኛ መሳርያችንና አስተማማኝ የፋይናነስ ፍሰት ማግኛችን ነው፡፡
በኦክቶበር 2011 መለስ በአፍሪካ ኤኮኖሚ ኮንፍራንስ ላይ ተገኝቶ ባደረገው ንግግር፡-
……..በአህጉራችን ያለው መሬት፤ከመሬቱ መሳሳትና ከማለቁ የተነሳ ዛፎቹ ሁሉ ወድመዋል፤በአፈሩ መሸርሸር፤ለድርቅና ለጎርፍ፤በዓለም ላይ በመከሰት ላይ ባለው የዓየርመዛባት ሳቢያም ከዚህ ቀደም ታይቶ ወደማይታወቅ የጎርፍና የድርቅ ሁኔታ ተዳርገናል፡፡የአርሻዎቻችን መሰረትም እጅጉን አስፈሪ ሁኔታ ውስጥ ነው ያለው፡፡
ስለዚህም በመለስ አተማመን ወደ አውሮፓውያን አስገድዶ ደፋሪዎቻችን በመመለስ በድጋሚ ተጨማሪ የገንዘብ ካሳ ማግኘት ይኖርብናል፡፡
በኢትዮጵያ የመለስ ዜናዊ ፍጥረታዊ ተሰጥኦዎች i ተንከባካቢነት
በአፍሪካ የዓየር ለውጥና የዓለምን የሙቀት ሁኔታ በተመለከተ መለስ ዜናዊ አዋቂ የሚል የለበጣ ስያሜ አግኝቷል፡፡ ይሁንና ግን በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በመካ ሄድ ላይ ስለአለው የአካባቢ ብክለት፤በተለይም በኢትዮጵያ የደኖችን መጨፍጨፍና መጥፋት በተመለከተ ግንዛቤ አለውን? የኢትዮጵያ የእርሻ ምርምር ኢኒስቲቲዩት (በሃገሪቱ ያለው ግንባር ቀደም የእርሻ ኢኒስቲቲዩት) ዘገባ እንደሚያመላክተው በ2020 ኢትዮጵያ ጠቅላላ ደኖቿን ታጣለች ብሏል፡፡
ባለፈው የምዕተ ዓመት ለውጥ ላይ የኢትዮጵያ ደን 40 በመቶ ነበር፡፡ በወታደራዊው አገዛዝ ዘመን በ1987 ላይ ወደ 5.5 በመቶ አዘቀዘቀ፡፡ በ2003 ወደ 0.2 ወረደ፡፡የትዮጵያ የእርሻ ምርምር ኢኒስቲቲዩት ኢትዮጵያ በየዓመቱ 200.000 ሄክታር ደን እንደምታጣ ይናገራል፡፡ በ1990 እና በ2005 መሃል ኢትዮጵያ 14.0 በመቶ የደን ሽፋኗንአጥታለች፡፡(2.114.00 ሄክታር) በተጨማሪም 3.6 ከመቶ የዛፍ ተክሎችን አጥተናል፡፡ ሁኔታው በዚህ ከቀጠለ በመጪው 11 ዓመታት ኢትዮጵያ በ2020 ደን አልባ ሃገር ወደመሆኑ ትሸጋገራለች፡፡
በ 2004 የተደረገ ጥናት እንደሚያስረዳው፤ኢትዮጵያ 60 ሚሊዮን ሄክታር መሬቷ በደን በቀል ዛፎች የተሸፈነ ሲሆን ከዚህም ውስጥ 7 በመቶው የደን እርሻ ነው፡፡63 በመቶ ገደማው ጫካማው ቦታ ደሞ በኦሮሚያ ክልል ያለ ሲሆን የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦች ክልል ደግሞ በ19 በመቶ ተከታይ ሲሆን፤ጋምቤላ 9 በመቶውን ያካትታል፡፡ በጣም የሚያስገርመውታዲያ መለስ ዜናዊ የደን እንክብካቤን አስመልክቶ ትኩረት የሰጠው ለቤንች ማጂ/ ጉራ ፈርዳ መሆኑና፤ በ2012 በእጅጉ መጠን ያጣው ችግር፤ ስርአት አልባ የሆነው የውጪ የንግድሁኔታ በአካባቢው መዳበሩ መሆኑን ነው፡፡ ከዚሁ ጋርም የደኖችን መጨፍጨፍ ሰበብ ያደረገው እንቅስቃሴው በዘር ላይ የተመሰረተ ማሳደድና ነዋሪዎችን በትውልድ ሀረጋቸው ብቻ ለማፈናቀል መወሰኑ ነው፡፡ ያም ሆኖ ግን፤መለስ ለአካባቢ ደህንነት ተቆርቋሪ ለመምሰል ‹‹የሰሜን ጎጃሞችን ሰፋሪዎች›› በማስረጃ የተደገፈ መፈናቀል አወዛጋቢውን ርእስ ለመሸፈንና ከወቀሳና ከትችት ለመዳን በማታለያነት ተጠቀመበት?
መለስ ዜናዊ ስለአካባቢ ዓየር መቆርቆርን፤በሃሳብ መባዘንን ስለደኖች እንክብካቤ መቆጨትን፤ በማስመሰያነት ከመጠቀም ውጪ አንድም የእውነት ፍንጭ የሌለው ነው፡፡ ባለፉት አምስት ዓመታት፤መለስ ዜናዊ በጣም ፍሬያማ የሆኑትን ለም የደን መሬቶች ለሳውዲዎች ለሼሆቹ፤ለህንዶች፤ለቻይናዊያን፤ለኮርያውያኖችና የዶላርን ስም ለጠሩና ቁጥር ለጠቀሱ ሁሉ በሊዝ ስም ሸጦላቸዋል፡፡ እንደ የተከበረው የኦክላንድ ኢኒስቲቲዩት [OI] ግንዛቤ ከ2008 ጀምሮ የመለስ ዜናዊ አገዛዝ
በትንሹ 3.619.509 ሄክታር መሬት ለውጪ ኢንቬስተሮች (ቁጥሩ ሊበልጥም ይችላል) አስተላልፏል፡፡….የኢትዮጵያ ገዢ መንግስት በመሬቶች ላይ ስለተከናነው ድርድር ሁሉ በውይይት መግባባት ተደርሶበት ነው፡፡ አንድም የተፈናቀለ ነዋሪየለም፡፡ የተሰጠው መሬትም በጥቅም ያልዋለ ጦም አዳሪ የነበረ ነው በማለት ቀልመድመድ ቢያደርግም የኦክላንድ ኢንስቲቲዩት ግን ከነዋሪዎች ጋር ተካሄደ ስለተባለው ውይይትአንዳችም ማረጋገጫ አላገኘም፡፡ ………..በውሃ አጠቃቀም ላይ አንዳችም ገደብ አልተደረገም፤ በአካባቢው ዓየር ላይ ሊያደርስ ስለሚችለው ብክለት (EIA) ምንም የተወሰደ ጥናት አልነበረም፤ቁጥጥርም አልተደረገም ፡፡ ኢንቬስተሮች ውሃን ያላንዳች ገደብ እንዲጠቀሙበት መፍቀድ እጅጉን የሚያስገርምና አሳዛኝ ደንታ ቢስነት ነው፡፡ የኦክላንድ ኢንስቲቲዩት ከኢንቬስተሮች በተደረገት ገለጻ፤ ምንም አይነት ቁጥጥርና ገደብም ስለሌባቸው የአካባቢውን ወንዝ በመገደብ ሊገለገሉበት እንዳቀዱና በአካባቢ የዓየር ቁጥጥርም አንዳችም ችግር እንዳላጋጠማቸው ገልጸዋል፡፡ ምንም እንኳን ገዢው መንግስትና ባለስልጣኖቹ የአካባቢ ዓየር ጥበቃ ይደረጋል በማለት ቢናገሩም ከመንግስት በኩል አንድም የማስረጃ ማሳመኛ ሊያቀርቡ፤ ጥናትና ቁጥጥር ለመኖሩና ለመከበሩም ቢሆን አንድም የመንግስት ባለስልጣን ወይ ም የየአካባቢው ሹም በዚህ ጉዳይ ላይ ወደ ቦታው ደርሶ እንደማያውቅ ነዋሪዎች ሲመሰክሩ፤ ኢንቬስተሮችም ይህ ሁኔታ ለመከናወኑ አንዳችም ማስረጃ የላቸውም፤ የጠኝውም ሃገር ደግሞ ይህን አይነት ሁኔታ ተካሂዶበት አይውቅም፡፡………… ከአርሻ ይዞታ ላይ መፈናቀል በሰፊው የሚካሄድ የእለት ተእለት ሂደት ነው፤ አብዛኛዎቹ ተፈናቃዮችም ተገቢውን ማካካሻ አልተከፈላቸውም ፤ከመኖሪያና እርሻቸው ሲነቀሉም በሌላ አካባቢ የእርሻ ቦታ እንዲፈልጉ በመደረግ በመሆኑ ከሌሎች የአካባቢው አርሶ አደሮች ጋር በቦታ ሰበብ ውጥረት እንዲፈጠር እየተደረገ ነው፡፡
በመጨረሻውም ሼሆቹ፤ሳውዲዎች፤ህንዶች፤ቻይናዊያን፤ ኮርያዎች (ሼሳህቻኮ) ለሙን መሬት በማቃጠል ለውጭ ገበያ የሚሆን ምርት ለማብቀልና ለመክበር የተሰባሰቡትና መሬቱንም በሻጩ መንግስት የተከፋፈሉት ኢንቬስተሮች ሲባሉ፤ ለእለት ጉርስና ቤተሰቡን ለማኖር በማለት ኩራማን በምትሆን መሬት ላይ ኑሮውን ለማሸነፍ የሚጥረው ዜጋ ግን፤ ሕገወጥ ኗሪ (‹‹ሰፋሪ››) ይባላል፡፡ እነዚህ ስብስቦች (ሼሳህቻኮ) ለ‹‹ልማት›› በሚል የማደናገርያ ቃል፤በሚሊዮን ሄክታር የሚቆጠር መሬት ለ99 ዓመታት ተሰጥተዋል፡፡ ኢትዮጵያውያን ደግሞ ከሞነርያ ቀያቸው በጉልበት በመፈናቀል የእርሻና የመኖርያ ቦታቸውን ለነዚህ ሼሳህቻኮች እንዲያስረክቡ ተፈርዶባቸዋል፡፡ ሼሳህቻኮች ከግምት በማይገባ ገንዘብ ያሻቸውን ያህል የመሬት ባለቤት እንዲሆኑ ሲፈቀድላቸው፤ ኢትዮጵያውያን ግን የባለቤትነት ይዞታቸውን አንዳችም የገንዘብም ሆነ የቦታ ትክ ሳይደረግላቸው እንዲባረሩ ተፈርዶባቸዋል፡፡ ሼሳህቻኮ በብርሃን በግላጭ በአክብሮት የደስታ አቀባበል ሲደረግላቸው፤ ዜጎች ግን ጸሃይ ከመጥለቋ በፊት አካባቢውን ጥለው እንዲሰደዱ ይደረጋሉ፡፡ ሼሳህቻኮ የመሬት ባለቤትነት መብት ሲኖራቸው ኢትዮጵያውያን ደግሞ ለመሬት አልባነት ይዳረጋሉ፡፡ ሼሳህቻኮ የነገስታታነት ከበሬታ ሲሰጣቸው፤ ኢትዮጵያውያን ደግሞ በዱላ መባረርን ይቸራሉ፡፡ እንደ ኦክላንድ ኢኒስቲቲዩት ጥናት ከሁሉም በላይ የሚያሳፈረው በ ሼሳህቻኮ እርሻዎች ላይ ለመስራትና ኑሮን ለመታገል የፈቀዱትም ኢትዮጵያውያን በመጤዎቹ እንደ እንስሳ በመቆጠር ለግፍ መዳረጋቸው ነው፡፡
ወደ ሼሳህቻኮ ግዛት እንኳን በደህና መጣችሁ !
የ ‹‹ ሰሜን ጎጃም ሰፋሪዎች ›› ሊያከብሩትና ሊከተሉት የሚገባ የአካባቢ ዓየር ሕግ አለን ?
የ‹‹ሰሜን ጎጃም ሰፋሪዎች›› ከይዞታቸው መነቀል አስፈላጊ መሆኑን መለስ ሲያስረዳ፤ ‹‹ሰፋሪዎቹ›› ሕገወጥ፤በዘፈቀደ ቦታውን የያዙ፤ እና የአካባቢ ዓየርንም ደህንነት የሚያበላሹ ናቸው በማለት ይወነጅላቸዋል፡፡ ለመሆኑ የመለስ ገዢ መንግስት፤ሕጋዊነትን የሚጠይቅ፤ ስርአት የተቀመጠለት፤የገጠር አሰፋፈር ደንብ አለው? ለምሳሌ በጉዳዩ ላይ የተቀመጠው ወሳኙ ሕግ፤ ‹‹የገጠር መሬት አስተዳደርና አጣቃቀም አዋጅ ቁጥር 456/2005›› በእርሻ ለመሰማራት ለሚፈልጉ ሁሉ፤ መሬትን ያለምንም ገደብ ይፈቅዳል እንጂ አሰፋፈርን በተመለከተ እንዴት መከናወን እንደሚገባው የሚለው አንዳችም ነገር የለም፤ ስለአስተዳደሩም የሚገልጸው ስርአት የለም፡፡ አተገባበሩን በተመለተ ሙሉ መብቱን ሙያው፤ብቃቱ፤ችሎታውም ለሌላቸው ‹‹የአካባቢው ባስልጣናት›› ትቶታል፡፡ በእርግጠኝነት አዋጅ ቁጥር 456 ስለ ደን መሬት ጥበቃ፤አስተዳደር አንዳችም የሚለው ቃል የለውም፡፡በደፈናው የግብር ይውጣ ያህል፤ ደን፣የደን መመናመን፤እና የደን መሬት በማለት ይዘጋዋል፡፡
የተሸሻላና አዋጅ ቁጥር 456ን የተካውም አዋጅ ቁጥር 106/2007 ቢሆን፤ እንዲያው በይሆናል ግምት፤የታወጀ እንጂ ክልሉ የአካባቢ ዓየር ጥበቃ ኤጀንሲ የለውም፡፡ አዋጅ ቁጥር 456ን ተግባራዊ የማድረጉ ሃላፊነት በእርሻና የገጠር ልማት ቢሮ ስር የተጣለ ሚንቀሳቀሰው ግን የተፈጥሮ ሃብትንና የዱር አራዊትን በመጠበቁ ላይ እንጂ የደን ጥበቃውን በተመለከተ ጨርሶ የተጣለበትን ሃላፊነት አልተረዳውም ወይም ከጉዳይ አላስገባውም፡፡ የመሬት አጠቃቀም ገደብን በተመለከተ በገጠር መሬት አስተዳደርና አጠቃቀም ድንጋጌ ቁጥር 66/2007 ከጫካማ ቦታዎች ወይም ደኖች ጋር ምንም ግንኙነት የለውም፡፡ ግንኙነቱ ከውሃማ ቦታዎችን ከተንሸራታች መሬቶች ጋር ነው፡፡ በደፈናው ብቻ ደኖችን ስለማመናመን ወይም ስመጨፍጨፍና ለእርሻነት ስለማዋል የሚጠቅስ አንዳችም ክልላዊ ሕግ የለም፡፡ እና ታዲያ ‹‹ሰፋሪዎች›› ምን አድርጉ ነው የሚባሉት?
የፌዴራሉ ‹‹የደን ልማት ጥበቃና አጠቃቀም አዋጅ ቁጥር 542/2007›› ቢሆንም ዝም ብሎ የእቅድ አቅጣጫ ጠቋሚ እንጂ ሌላ አይደለም፡፡አዋጁ የመንግስትንና የግል ደኖችን ያከብራል ይላል እንጂ፤ደኖች እንዴት ሊለሙ እንደሚችሉ የሚየሳየው አካሄድ አለያም ደግሞ ግለሰቦች በስራው ለመሰማራት ፈቃዱን ከየት እንደሚያገኙ አይገልጽም፡፡ አዋጁ የግል ደኖች አልሚዎችን ግዴታ ሲደረድር ስለመብታቸው ግን ምንም አይልም፡፡ የአዋጁ ብዘው ቦታ የተሞላው ወደፊት ምን ሊደረግ ይገባል በሚል የምኞት እቅድ ላይ ነው፡፡
መለስ የቤንች ማጂ ‹‹ሰፋሪዎች›› ከአስፈላጊው የአካባቢ ዓየር መመርያ አዋጅ ቁጥር 299/2002 ጋር በሚጋጭ ሁኔታ ነው በማለት ሊያሳስት ይሞክራል፡፡ ይህ አዋጅ አስቀድሞ የተባለው ፕሮጄክት ተግባራዊ ከመሆኑ አስቀድሞ ሊጠናና ሊመረመር ይገባዋል፡፡ የዚህ አዋጅ ቁጥር 299 አባባልና አተረጓጎም ‹‹ሰፋሪዎቹ›› የአካባቢን ዓየር ሁኔታ ከሚመለከተው ሕግ ተጠያቂነት ውጪ ናቸው፡፡ከዚያ ይልቅ ለአዋጅ ቁጥር 456 (የገጠር መሬቶች አስተዳደርና ጥቅም) ተገዢ ይሆናሉ፡፡ይህ ሁሉ የሕጋ ቃልና የቴክኒክ አጠራርና አላስፈላጊው ክርክር ሁሉ ይቀርና ጉዳዩ በሙሉ የፖለቲካ ጥያቄና የፖለቲካ ፍላጎት ማስፈጸሚያ ይሆናል፡፡ በጊቤ ግድብ 3 ሂደት ላይ የቀረበው የከባቢ ዓየር አስተያየት በግልጽ የሚያሳየው ሁኔታ የፖለቲካ ጉዳይ ሲሆን የሚያስከትለውን ነው፡፡
የዘር ጥሰት ወይስ የደን እንክብካቤ ?
ከደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ ቤንች ማጂ/ጉራ ፈርዳ በአስር ሺህ የሚቆጠሩ አማራዎች በግዴታ መፈናቀላቸው አያጠያይቅም፡፡በአሜሪካ ድምጽ ላይ የተስተናገዱት ቃለ መጠይቆች፤ በግዳጅ መባረራቸውን በግልጽ ያስረዳል፡፡ስለዚህም ቸል የማይባለውንና ሊታለፍ የማይገባውን ጥያቄ ልንጋፈጠው የግድ ነው፡፡ይህ አስገድዶ ከቀዬ ማፈናቀል የዘር ጥላቻ ነው ወይስ የተለመደ የተፈጥሮ ሃብትን መጠበቅ ነው? መለስ ዜናዊ ይህን አስገድዶ ማፈናቀልን በተመለከተ ማሳመኛ አድርጎ የሚያቀርበው የ‹‹ሰሜን ጎጃም ሰፋሪዎች›› የተፈናቀሉበት ምክንያት ደኑን በማጥፋታቸውና አሰፋፈራቸውም በተለምዶ እንደሚያደርጉት ስርአት ያጣና ከህግ ውጪ በመሆኑ ነው ሲል፡ የደቡቡ ገዢ ሽፈራው ሽጉጤ በበኩሉ ደሞ መለስ ስላነሳው ‹‹ሰፋሪዎች›› ስላደረሱት የደን መጨፍጨፍ፤ አንድም ቃል አልወጣውም፡፡ የፈጣሪ ያለህ ታዲያ ማን ሊታመን ነው?
ዘር ማጥፋት እንዲህ ነው ሊባል የሚችል ህጋዊ ትርጉም የለውም፡፡በ1993 የተባበሩት መንግስታት ኮሚሽን ቃሉን ሲተነትነው ‹‹ሆን ተብሎ ታቅዶ ከተወሰነ አካባቢ የተወሰነ ዘር ተወላጆች የሆኑትን በጉልበት፤ በማስፈራራት አፈናቅሎ ቦታውን ለሌሎች ዘሮች ለመስጠት የሚፈጸም›› ይለዋል፡፡የተባበሩት መንግስታት ሴኪውሪቲ ካውንስል የባለሙያዎች ኮሚሽን ድንጋጌ 780 የዘር ማሳደድን ሲተነትንም በሰብዊ ፍጡሮች ላይ የሚፈጸም ወንጀል በመሆኑ እንደጦር ወንጀል ይቆጠራል ይላል፡፡የተለያዩ ድንጋጌዎችና ትንታኔዎች ወንጀልነቱን በተደጋጋሚና በተለያየ ጊዜ ያረጋገጡት ነው፡፡የነዚህም ‹‹ሰፋሪዎች›› መፈናቀል ሆን ተብሎ በተመረጡ ብሄሮች ላይ የተፈጸመ ነዋሪውን የማግለል ደባ መሆን አለመሆኑ በተጠናቀሩት ማስረጃዎች ሊረጋገጥ የሚችል፤ጉዳይ ነው፡፡
ማካካሻ አይገባምን ?
‹‹ሰፋሪዎቹ›› የተፈናቀሉት የሃገሪቱን ደን ከጥፋት ለማዳን ነው ተብሎል የሚለውን የመለስ ሰበብ አምነን የምንቀበል ከሆነ፣ የተፈናቀሉትና ርስታቸውን፤ መኖርያ መንደራቸውን፤ ንብረታቸውን ያጡት ከፍ ላለ የሀገር ጥቅም መሆኑን ያረጋግጣል፡፡ አባባሉ የሚታመን ሆኖ ፤በአዋጅ ቁጥር 456 ‹‹ሰፋሪዎቹ›› መሰረት መብታቸው ሊከበርላቸው የግድ ነው፡፡ በአዋጁ ላይ ‹‹የገጠር መሬት ይዞታው ለሕዝባዊ ጠቀሜታ የተወሰደበት ሰው፤ በነበረበት ቦታ ላይ ባለማውና ባፈራው ሃብት መሰረት ተመጣጣኝ ማካካሻ ሊያገኝ አለያም ተመጣጣኝ የሆነ ትክ ሊሰጠው ይገባል›› ይላል፡: እነዚህ ሰፋሪዎች ግን ለተዘረፉት ቦታ፤ እንስሳትና ንብረት እንዲሁም ላደረጉት የልማት ውጤት አንዳችም ማካካሻ አልተደረገላቸውም፡፡ ጸሃይ ስትጠልቅ በድቅድቅ ጨለማ አካባቢያቸውን ለቀው፤ በጀርባቸው የለበሱትን ጨርቅ ብቻ ይዘው: ሕጻናት ልጆቻቸውን አዝለው እንዲጠፉ ብቻ ነበር የተገደዱት፡፡ ሌላው ቢቀር ከሕጉ አባባል አኳያ ማካካሻ ሊደረግላቸው አይገባም?
እረ የህግ ያለህ! እረ የህግ ያለህ!
ካሁን በፊት የቀረቡ የጸሃፊው ጦማሮች ለማግኘት እዚህ ይጫኑ: http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic
Fortsæt læsning ...
TPLF/EPRDF Defense Forces Brazenly Murdering Innocent People in Gambella in Broad Daylight
April 17, 2012 Comments Off
Read:- SMNE Press Release
Fortsæt læsning ...
Top PEN-prisen til ære Eskinder Nega, fængslet etiopiske journalist og blogger
April 13, 2012 Comments Off
April 12, 2012:
Leading Free Expression Advocate on Trial for Terrorism
For more information contact:
Larry Siems , (212) 334-1660 ext. 105
Sarah Hoffman , (212) 334-1660 ext. 111
[/ Caption] 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 . Nega, a leading advocate for press freedom and freedom of expression in Ethiopia, was arrested on September 14, 2011, and is currently being tried under the country's sweeping anti-terror legislation, which criminalizes any reporting deemed to “encourage” or “provide moral support” to groups and causes which the government considers to be “terrorist.” He could face the death penalty if convicted.
The award, which honors international writers who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression, will be presented at PEN's Annual Gala on May 1, 2012, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
“The Ethiopian writer Eskinder Nega is that bravest and most admirable of writers, one who picked up his pen to write things that he knew would surely put him at grave risk,” said Peter Godwin, president of PEN American Center. “Yet he did so nonetheless. And indeed he fell victim to exactly the measures he was highlighting, Ethiopia's draconian ''anti terrorism' laws that criminalize critical commentary. This is at least the seventh time that the government of Meles Zenawi has detained Eskinder Nega in an effort to muzzle him. Yet Nega has continued his spirited pursuit of freedom of expression. Such humbling courage makes Nega a hugely deserving recipient of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award .”
Eskinder Nega has been publishing articles critical of the government since 1993, when he opened his first newspaper, Ethiopis , which was soon shut down by authorities. He was the general manager of Serkalem Publishing House, which published the newspapers Asqual , Satenaw , and Menelik , all of which are now banned in Ethiopia. He has also been a columnist for the monthly magazine Change and for the US-based news forum EthioMedia, which are also banned. He has been detained at least seven times under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, including in 2005, when he and his journalist wife Serkalem Fasil were imprisoned for 17 months on treason charges for their critical reporting on the government's violent crackdown of protests following disputed elections, and briefly in February 2011 for “attempts to incite Egyptian and Tunisian-like protests in Ethiopia” after he published articles on the Arab Spring. Their newspapers have been shut down and Nega has been denied a license to practice journalism since 2005, yet he has continued to publish columns critical of the government's human rights record and calling for an end to political repression and corruption.
Nega was again arrested on September 14, 2011, after he published a column questioning the government's claim that a number of journalists it had detained were suspected terrorists, and for criticizing the arrest of well-known Ethiopian actor and government critic Debebe Eshetu on terror charges earlier that week. Shortly after his arrest, Nega was charged with affiliation with the banned political party Ginbot 7, which the Ethiopian government considers a terrorist organization. On November 10, Nega was charged and further accused of plotting with and receiving weapons and explosives from neighboring Eritrea to carry out terrorist attacks in Ethiopia. State television portrayed Nega and other political prisoners as “spies for foreign forces.” He is currently being held in Maekelawi Prison in Addis Ababa, where detainees are reportedly often ill-treated and tortured.
PEN, Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and many other international organizations have long been concerned about Ethiopia's use of anti-terrorism legislation to justify the jailing of journalists and members of the political opposition. Eskinder Nega's trial on charges under the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, which covers the “planning preparation, conspiracy, incitement, and attempt” of terrorist acts, illustrates this trend. During his trial, which opened on March 6, 2012, the prosecution has presented evidence that consisted of nearly inaudible recordings of telephone conversations and other comments and a video of a town hall meeting in which Nega discusses the differences between Arab countries and Ethiopia. Nega took the stand on March 28 and denied all charges against him, saying he has never conspired to overthrow the government through violence and admitting only to reporting on the Arab Spring and speculating on whether a similar movement could take place in Ethiopia. Serkalem Fasil, who was the recipient of the 2007 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation, maintained that her husband is “a journalist, not a member of a political party.”
In announcing the award today in New York, Freedom to Write Program Director Larry Siems praised Eskinder Nega's “courageous use of the written word to advocate on behalf of his fellow journalists and citizens.”
“Nega's critiques of the Zenawi government go back two decades, and in recent years he has written fearlessly about the need for peaceful democratic transition and about the fate of other journalists unjustly silenced under the pretense of fighting terrorism,” Siems said. “Now as he faces the same fate, in no small part because he spoke out on their behalf, he continues to press for freedom of expression from behind bars. He is truly an extraordinary individual and we are proud to be able to award him this honor.”
Siems joined Godwin in urging the Obama administration to press Ethiopian authorities to halt the use of anti-terror legislation to target journalists for their legitimate work and release Eskinder Nega, one of the most visible symbols of the Ethiopian government's persistent press freedom violations, and all other journalists jailed under national security laws in violation of their right to freedom of expression.
Writer, historian and PEN Member Barbara Goldsmith underwrites the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. This is the 26th year the award has honored an international literary figure who has been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression. Candidates are nominated by PEN International and any of its 145 constituent PEN centers around the world, and screened by PEN American Center and an Advisory Board comprising some of the most distinguished experts in the field. The Advisory Board for the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award includes Carroll Bogert, Deputy Executive Director for External Relations at Human Rights Watch; Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation; Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, International Vice President of PEN International and PEN American Center Trustee; Aryeh Neier, former president of the Open Society Foundation; and Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The Freedom to Write Award is an extension of PEN's year-round advocacy on behalf of the more than 900 writers and journalists who are currently threatened or in prison. Forty-six women and men have received the award since 1987; 33 of the 37 honorees who were in prison at the time they were honored were subsequently released.
PEN American Center is the largest of the 145 centers of PEN International, the world's oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization. The Freedom to Write Program of PEN American Center works to protect the freedom of the written word wherever it is imperiled. It defends writers and journalists from all over the world who are imprisoned, threatened, persecuted, or attacked in the course of carrying out their profession. For more information on PEN's work, please visit www.pen.org
Related Articles
• Eskinder Nega's Case Page
• TAKE ACTION: Write a letter on behalf of Eskinder Nega
Source: http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/6494/prmID/172
Fortsæt læsning ...
BBC News
The UN special rapporteur on slavery has urged the Lebanese government to carry out a full investigation into the death of an Ethiopian domestic worker.
Alem Dechasa, 33, killed herself on 14 March, a few days after she was filmed being beaten by men and dragged into a car in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Gulnara Shahinian said the “cruel” images reminded her of the many migrant workers she met in Lebanon last year.
She urged the country to uncover the truth about such rights violations.
Last month, eight civil society groups called on the Lebanese authorities to reform restrictive visa regulations and adopt a labour law on domestic work to address high levels of abuse and deaths among migrant workers.
'End impunity'
On 8 March, the Lebanese television network LBCI released a video filmed on 24 February by an anonymous bystander in which a man physically abuses Ms Alem outside the Ethiopian consulate in Beirut.
As she tries to resist, he and another man drag her into a car.
LBCI later identified the man beating her as the brother of the head of the recruiting agency that brought her to Lebanon.
He alleged that his brother's agency had been trying to return her to Ethiopia because she had mental health problems.
Police later found Ms Alem and took her to a detention centre.
Following a request by the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, they transferred her to the Deir al-Saleeb psychiatric hospital two days later, but did not arrest those alleged to have carried out the beatings.
Ms Alem killed herself at the hospital on the morning of 14 March.
After the beating video was circulated, the labour and justice ministries began investigations, but their outcomes have not been made public.
On Tuesday, Ms Shahinian issued a statement strongly urging the Lebanese authorities to investigate the circumstances leading to Ms Alem's death and make public their findings.
“There are a number of reports circulating about the human rights violations Alem Dechasa experienced as a migrant domestic worker in Lebanon and the facts surrounding her death,” she said.
“States are under an obligation to ensure the realisation of the right to truth about violations in order to end impunity and promote and protect human rights and provide redress to victims and their families.”
Ethiopian migrant suicide: 'I can't tell my daughter that her mother is dead' – videoAlem Dechasa, an Ethiopian migrant, was beaten in the streets of Beirut by men who allegedly worked for the company that recruited her in Lebanon. Later she was found dead in hospital, having apparently killed herself. Alem's partner, Lemesa Ejeta, explains why he cannot bring himself to tell their two children that she is dead
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/apr/09/ethiopia-migrant-suicide-video
Fortsæt læsning ...
The expulsion of the Amharic speaking people from the South is a final blow to Ethiopiawinet. The masterminds of Ethiopia's demise have eventually succeeded in putting a death knell to what left of Ethiopia, complete segregation by tribe. By the way, according to the dictionary, a death knell is the ringing of a bell to announce a death. Literally speaking, the Woyanes are killing Ethiopia economically and as a nation.
All Ethiopians should have the freedom to live anywhere in Ethiopia . There are certain inalienable rights any government has to grant to its people, such as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, sense of security, jobs, property rights, and to live and work anywhere in your country. As many of us know, none of these rights exist in Ethiopia. The recent Woyane action on Amharic speaking people clearly demonstrates that. Thus, this is tantamount to ringing of a bell to announce a death of Ethiopia as a nation, the ultimate final plan of the Woyane regime.
Woyane have been planting the seeds of hate among all Ethiopians for a long time. They have succeeded to make most Woyanes to hate all Ethiopians, they have tried to pit Oromos against Amharas, now they are pitting the South against Amharas with the help of their lackeys, as usual.
At this point, the Woyanes have completed the circle or the strangulation of Ethiopia. This is the final blow in their attempt to undermine the very existence of Ethiopia as a nation. The Amharas are being used as their bogey man, but their aim is to destroy Ethiopia as a nation.
Now, they have completed the circle of pitting all Ethiopians against each other. There is no stone unturned in their attempt to destroy Ethiopia and to make Ethiopia none existent in the eyes of many Ethiopians. Now, the Amharas have to live in their tribal area and vice versa. Ethiopia is now a tribal state with little or no commonality just tribes existing to serve the interest of ruling TPLF and their agents.
Nothing left for Ethiopians in Ethiopia to call themselves Ethiopians. By driving the Amharic speaking Ethiopians from the south by calling them Amharas or Amharic speaking people, they have successfully destroyed whatever left of Ethiopia or the unity of Ethiopians. Of course, their aim is clearly to drive a wedge among all Ethiopians so that nobody is left to fight the Woyane oppression or to redirect the blame on each other instead of focusing the Woyanes who are the real culprit and who are destroying Ethiopia as a nation.
The Woyanes may be targeting one ethnic group, but they are targeting or setting up Ethiopia for genocide. For a while the Southern states resisted or were spared of Woyane driven ethnic politics to the extent the Woyanes tried to impose on Amharas and Oromos.
Until the Woyanes masterminded the split of the Gurages into two independent groups by absorbing the Siltes as their supporters or surrogates with the help of Hodam Siltes, the South stayed relatively calm and tried to avoid the idea of hyper gerrymandering to pit one group against another. Of course, the full power rested on Woyanes, but most of the leaders stayed in the opposition camps save Siltes, recently the Wolaytas.
CUD's spectacular failure has become a catalyst for the rise of Woyane influence in the South. With the miserable failure of CUD, and the price most of the smaller tribes paid for their support of CUD, and the quixotic and unprofessional behavior of some of the leaders exacerbated and accelerated the South acceptance of Woyane dominance and rule. .
Most leaders of the region turned pragmatic and decided to coexist or acquiesce to the inevitable subservient relationship to Woyanes.
The recent action by the leader of Benji Maji goes beyond coexistence with Woyanes, but completes the circle of capitulation to Woyane agenda, which is the destruction of Ethiopia, and Ethiopiawinet.
For a long time, the Woyanes worked hard to pit Oromos against Amharas, now, they are putting a final blow to the very remaining part of Ethiopia that refused so far to drop Amharic as its national language and to be ethnicized as anti-Ethiopia and anti-Amhara.
The question is what to do next to stop the Woyanes from creating not just eviction, but genocide throughout Ethiopia. We need to join national organization at the same time, resist the temptation of joining ethnic organizations, but keep fighting as a nation under siege and under the gun.
So far the opposition reaction has been to join chat room to discuss and to denounce Woyanes. This is not enough. Ethiopians need to resist eviction, and refuse to flee as refugees.
The Diaspora has to lead in this effort with resources and intellectual power. This is a declaration of war on our people. There has to be a commensurate response to this not just talk in the chat room.
We need to find friends who can align with us in times of need like George Clooney does for the Southern Sudan, we need to find Western politicians who can denounce Woyanes, we need to find African leaders who can stand for something and who can stand with Ethiopia. For God's sake, Ethiopia stood for African liberation and unity, now we have a force destroying Ethiopia, where are our friends and allies.
We need to find a way to get our messages out. Many countries, Woyanes and individual organizations have a PAC (political action Committee), Ethiopians needs to have one to get their messages out. Such an organization can articulate our concerns to the rest of the world, not just to Ethiopians.
We need to support organizations that stand for a democratic, non-ethnic and pluralistic Ethiopia. If there is none, create one. Time has passed to wait for another Woyane time bomb to destroy Ethiopia.
Ethiopian churches, mosques and other civic organizations need to take the lead and stand for something. Hope they rise to this clarion call before it is too late.
Dula Abdu writes from his blog http://www.ethiodemocrat.com
Fortsæt læsning ...
ከአዲስ አበባ
ይድረስ በውጪ ሀገራት ለምትኖሩ የሃይማኖት አባቶችና የማንኛውም ሃይማኖት ምዕመናን፣
ይህን የጭንቀት ደብዳቤ የምንጽፍላችሁ ወገኖቻችሁን በጥሞና አዳምጣችሁ የምንለውን በተግባር እንደምታውሉልን ተስፋ እናደርጋለን፡፡
በዛሬዋ ዕለት በተነበቡና በተደመጡ የሚዲያ ውጤቶች እንደተረዳነው የኢትጵያ ሕዝብ ከመቼውም ጊዜ በበለጠ ዛፍ ያጣ ጉሬዛ መሆኑን ልንረዳ ችለናል፡፡ በኢንተርኔት ከሚወጡ ዜናዎች እንደተረዳነው በሀገር ውስጥ በገዢው መደብ ድጋፍና ማበረታቻ የተነሳሱ ኃይሎች በተወሰኑ የሕዝብ ወገኖች ላይ እያደረሱት ያለው ከመኖሪያ ቦታ የማፈናቀልና ሀብት ንብረትን እየቀሙ በገዛ የጋራ ሀገራቸው እንደባዕድ ዜጋ ጓዜን ጨርቄን ሳይሉ እግር አውጪኛቸውን እንዲባረሩ እየተደረገ መሆኑን አውቀናል፡፡ ይህ ጉዳይ እንዲቆምና ችግሩ ዕልባት እንዲያገኝ ለገዢው መደብ አቤቱታ ቢቀርብም አቤቱታ ማቅረብ እንደኃጢያትና ወንጀል እየተቆጠረ ለአቤቱታ የተላኩ ወኪሎች ሳይቀሩ ደብዛቸው እየጠፋ እንደሆነ ሰምተናል፡፡ ይህ ዓይነት ፍርደ ገምድልነት ባለባት ሀገራችን ውስጥ እያንዳንዱ ዜጋ ቀኑ መሽቶ እሚነጋለት በተዓምር እንጂ በሕግና ሥርዓት የሚያስተዳድር መንግሥት ኖሮን እንዳልሆነ አረጋግጠናል፡፡ በዚህ ረገድ በሀገር ውስጥ ያሉት የማንኛውም ሃይማኖት አባቶች ይህን ሁሉ ግፍና በደል እያወቁ ለዓለማዊ የሰዎች ሥርዓት በማገብደድ ፈጣሪን ረስተውና ለምድራዊ ኑሯቸው ሳስተው የቆሙለትን የነፍስ መንገድ በመሳታቸው ሕዝቡ ከነሱ ምንም እንዳይጠብቅ ተስፋውን አመንምነውታል፡፡ ብዙ ጊዜም ታይተው በፈተና ወድቀዋል፡፡
በምሽቱ የአሜሪካ ድምፅ ደግሞ በየመን ሀገር 1500 የሚሆኑ ስደተኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን እየደረሰባቸው ያለውን ተደራራቢ ስቃይና እንግልት ያዳመጥነው በከፍተኛ ጭንቀት ውስጥ ገብተን በሃሳብ ነሁልለን ነው፡፡ እንዲህ ዓይነት በውስጥም በውጪም በዜጎች ላይ የተነጣጠረ ዋይታና ልቅሶ በተለይ በአሁኑ ወቅት እየደረሰ ያለው በኛ በኢትዮጵያውያን ላይ እንጂ በሌላ በማንም እንዳልሆነ ከነባራዊው የዓለም ሁኔታ መረዳት እንችላለን፡፡ አንድ ዜጋ በሀገሩም በተሰደደበትም ሥፍራ እንዲህ መፈጠሩን እስኪራገም መጨነቁና መጠበቡ በእጅጉ ያሳዝናል፤ ያስለቅሳልም፡፡
ይህን መሰሉን ተደራራቢ ችግር የምንጋፈጥ ኢትዮጵያውያን በሀገራችን ባሉ የአምልኮት ቤቶች ፈጣሪን በጸሎት እግዚኦ ብለን እንዳንጠይቅ በዬሃይማኖታችን የተሰገሰጉ የገዢው መደብ የሃይማኖት አባት ተብዬዎች አይፈቅዱልንም፡፤ ሕዝቡን ለምህላ የሚጠሩ በሕዝብ ችግር የሚያዝኑ የሃይማኖት አባቶች ይታሰራሉ፤ ከሥራ ቦታቸው ይባረራሉ በቀላሉ ከተማሩም ከፍተኛ ማስጠንቀቂያ ይሰጣቸውና ተራ የሠርክ ጸሎት ብቻ እንዲያደርሱ ይገደዳሉ፡፡ እንደሚታወቀው በችግር ጊዜ የሚደረግ የእግዚኦታ የምህላ ጸሎትና የዘወትር ቅዳሴና ጸሎት ይለያያሉ፡፡ እናም በሀገራችን በተለይ በኦርቶዶክሱ በኩል በፓትርያርኩ ልዩ ትዕዛዝ መሠረት እግዚኦ የሚባልበት ቤተ ክርስቲያን ወይም ደብር አለቃው ይቀጣል፤ ከሥራም ይታገዳል ወይም እንደግል ማኅደሩ ይዞታ ከዚያ ከፍ ያለ ቅጣትም ሊደርስበት ይችላል፡፡ በጭራሽ አይፈቀድም፡፡ ‹በሀገራችን ሰላምና ጥጋብ ሞልቶ የምን እግዚኦታ ነው› በሚል አመክንዮ፣ የተለዬ የምህላ ጸሎት እንዲደረግ የሚፈቅድ የሰበካ ጉባኤ ቆሞስ ይቀጣል፡፡
ስለዚህ በውጪ ሀገር ያላችሁ የሃይማኖት አባቶችና ምዕመናን – እስላሙም ክርስቲያኑም- በቅርቡ ተመካክራችሁ ከፍ ሲል የገለጽነውን በመሰለ የሰቆቃ ሕይወት ውስጥ ለሚገኙ የሀገራችን ዜጎችና በጠቅላላው ለሀገራችን ሰላም የአንድ ቀን ጸሎት በየአብያተ አምልኮዎቻችሁ እንዲደረግ ታሳስቡልን ዘንድ በእግዚአብሔር ስም እንማጸናለን፡፡ ጸላዮቹ በቋንቋ፣ በእምነት፣ በክልል፣ በወርድና በቁመት፣ በፆታና በመሳሰለው ሰውኛ ልዩነት ላንመሳሰል ብንችልም የጸሎታችን ሰሚ ግን አንድ ፈጣሪ በመሆኑ በአንድ ልብ ሆነን ለአንድ ፈጣሪ ከጸለይን ይሰማናልና አንድ ቀነ ቀጠሮ ይዘን ብንችል ጎን ለጎን ቆመን ወይ ተቀምጠን በየሃይማኖታችን እንጸልይ፡፡ ይህን የጸሎት ፕሮግራም ለማስተባበርም ከሁሉም ወገን የተውጣጣ አንድ ኮሚቴ ቢጤ እንዲኖር ቢደረግ አመቺ ይሆናል፡፡ የድረ ገጾችና የሌሎች ሚዲያ አካላት ሚናም በእጅጉ ወሳኝ ነውና ለዚህ ፕሮግራም ሁሉም ተረባርቦ የበኩሉን እንዲያደርግ በድጋሚ እንማጸናለን፡፡ ለስኬቱ እኛ በሀገር ውስጥ ያለነው በእሥር ላይ እንዳለን ስለምንቆጠር በውጪ ያላችሁት ተነሳሽነቱን ወስዳችሁ ብታስተባብሩ የተሻለ ነው፡፡ ጊዜው ኩዳዴ ሳያልቅ ቢሆን ጥሩ ሳይሆን አይቀርም፡፡ እኛም በድረ ገፆች እንከታተላለን፡፡
እግዚአብሔር ኢትዮጵያን ይባርክ፡፡ መልካሙን ሁሉ ያሰማን፡፡
Fortsæt læsning ...
The Rule of Law in Ethiopia's Democratic Transition. Ved Alemayehu G.Mariam
April 2, 2012 Comments Off
Rule of Law, Rule by Law, Rule by Unjust Law, Rule by Man
All of the weekly commentaries I have written over the years have been structured on a single fundamental principle: the rule of law. What is it? How does it configure in Ethiopia's transition from dictatorship to democracy?
The phrase “rule of law” is somewhat vague and much overused by scholars and advocates, and casually thrown around in general political conversation. The phrase is so popular that even dictators swear by it. In October 2011, Meles Zenawi told Aftenposten (Norway's largest paper): “We have reached a very advanced stage of rule of law and respect for human rights. Fundamentally, this is a country where democratic rights of people are respected.” (Ahem!!!)
For lawyers, “rule of law” is a term of art which generally signifies constitutional supremacy and adherence to principles of due process. Political scientists use the phrase to describe institutional mechanisms for policing the state and preventing abuse of power through established accountability procedures and guarantees of basic civil, human and substantive rights. The phrase is gaining popularity among economists who have come to realize that the rule of law is necessary to create a secure environment for business, investments, contracts and market transactions. Where there the rule of law prevails, good governance (accountability, transparency, free and fair elections, etc.) follows and economies grow. Since the 1990s, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, among others, have insisted on implementation of the “rule of law” as a condition of loans and assistance in Africa (largely without much success).
Dictators often jabber about the “rule of law” to shroud their “rule by law” of one man, one party. In a society under the “rule of men”, absolute power is exercised by the privileged few who are above the law. One man, one party, one select group decides for the whole society. That was what Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong and others did; and that is what Africa's dictators do today.
Rule of Law and Rule by Diktat
African dictators rule by diktat (arbitrary decrees issued by command of the dictator) which they try to palm off as “laws” (legislation enacted by a legitimately elected body engaged in deliberative process). They scribble down their diktats, have it approved by their rubberstamp parliaments and pronounce it “law” or “proclamation”. They use the diktat to play policeman, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. Under rule by diktat, dictators use the “law” as a bludgeon — a sledgehammer — to vanquish their opposition. On March 28, 2006, Congressman Christopher Smith, Chairman of House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations recounted a revealing conversation he had with Zenawi which demonstrates rule by diktat:
During my visit to Addis last August [2005], I met with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, and I asked him why he had not investigated the June shootings of demonstrators by agents of his government. His response was that the investigation might require the arrest of opposition leaders, and he didn't want to do that while by-elections were still scheduled. He went on to tell me that he had dossiers on all the opposition leaders and could arrest them for treason whenever he wanted. Thus, their arrests were all but certain even before the events that ostensibly led to their being incarcerated.
In a more recent example of rule by dictat, Zenawi visiting Norway in October 2011 proclaimed two freelance Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye awaiting trial were guilty of terrorism. He said the two journalists “are, at the very least, messenger boys of a terrorist organization. They are not journalists. Why would a journalist be involved with a terrorist organization and enter a country with that terrorist organization, escorted by armed terrorists, and participate in a fighting in which this terrorist organization was involved? If that is journalism, I don't know what terrorism is.” Zenawi seemed to be unfamiliar with Art. 20 (3) of the Ethiopian Constitution which guarantees: “During proceedings accused persons have the right to be presumed innocent.” In late February 2012, Zenawi made the following incredibly mindboggling statement about the same Swedish journalists:
The government gave a small statement that such people have been put [in] prison… The next day the campaign was launched, 'Free press, innocent people with no issue at all!' They just give pronouncements before the case has gone to court, before evidence has been heard. The pronouncement was there; the government is the criminal and the people are innocent. (Well, if the shoe fits, wear it!)
After declaring the two journlaists “terrorists” in October 2011, in February 2012, Zenawi has the audacity to criticize others for commenting on the journalsits' innocence “before the case has gone to court, before evidence has been heard.” Incredible!
A Practical Understanding of the Rule of Law
As the scholars and lawyers debate the finer points of the rule of law, it is possible to fashion a practical understanding of the principle which could be useful in the dialogue and debate over Ethiopia's transition from dictatorship to democracy. A practical lesson in the application of the rule of law principle could be learned by examining “anti-terrorism” laws in the US and Ethiopia.
In 2001, President Bush signed an executive order authorizing the creation of military tribunals for the detention, treatment and trial of certain non-citizens (“enemy combatants”) in the war against terrorism. In 2006 the US Supreme Court struck down the executive order and commissions as unconstitutional (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld) holding that the President lacks constitutional or statutory authority. Much to the great disappointment of the Bush Administration, the Court held that these terror suspects were entitled to the protection of the ordinary laws of the United States and the laws of war including the Geneva Convention, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In language that pays homage to deep-rooted American civil liberties, the Court wrote: “Assuming that Hamdan [terror suspect] is a dangerous individual who would cause great harm or death to innocent civilians given the opportunity, the Executive nevertheless must comply with the prevailing rule of law in undertaking to try him and subject him to criminal punishment.”
In 2004, in a similar case of a terror suspect (Rasul v. Bush), the US Supreme Court upheld the rule of law by requiring the President to honor the writ of habeas corpus (one of the greatest rights Americans have to challenge the government in court unlawful restraint on their liberties). The Court held that a terror suspect detainee may not be denied access to lawyers and civilians courts in violation of the due process guarantees of the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution. Simply stated, even wicked villains and evil-doers are shielded by the rule of law in the American Constitution.
In contrast, rule by law (rule by diktat) has made Zenawi's so-called anti-terrorism law (“Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009”) a sledgehammer to crush dissidents, journalists, opposition political leaders and anyone considered an enemy. In early February 2012, a group of independent United Nations human rights experts (UN Special Rapporteurs) made public statements condemning the ongoing use of anti-terrorism laws to curb a broad range of freedoms in Ethiopia. Ben Emmerson, the UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, said that “the anti-terrorism provisions should not be abused and need to be clearly defined in Ethiopian criminal law to ensure that they do not go counter to internationally guaranteed human rights.” Frank La Rue, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, said that “Journalists play a crucial role in promoting accountability of public officials by investigating and informing the public about human rights violations. They should not face criminal proceedings for carrying out their legitimate work, let alone be severely punished.” Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, stated that “journalists, bloggers and others advocating for increased respect for human rights should not be subject to pressure for the mere fact that their views are not in alignment with those of the Government [of Ethiopia].” Maina Kiai, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, said “The resort to anti-terrorism legislation is one of the many obstacles faced by associations today in Ethiopia. The Government must ensure protection across all areas involving the work of associations, especially in relation to human rights issues.” Gabriela Knaul, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said: “Defendants in a criminal process should be considered as innocent until proven guilty as enshrined in the Constitution of Ethiopia… And it is crucial that defendants have access to a lawyer during the pre-trial stage to safeguard their right to prepare their legal defence.”
The Essence of the Rule of Law
The essence of the rule of law can be summarized in the following simple proposition: Because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, the rule of law is essential to prevent power from corrupting and absolute power from corrupting absolutely. The UN Secretary-General in a report to the Security Council in 2004 prescribed implementation of the rule of law as “a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards.” In practice, it is necessary to have “measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency.” The World Bank says where the rule of law prevails government exercises self-restraint, treats its citizens justly and equally under the law and protects the dignity of each individual in society. Numerous other organizations and institutions involved in the rule of law movement have come to the same conclusion.
Rule of Law Cannot Be “Copycatted”
There are some who believe that blindly “copycatting” laws and regulations from other countries and incorporating them verbatim into their own laws somehow guarantees the existence and prevalence of the rule of law. In justifying his “anti-terrorism law” in February 2012, Zenawi offered the following mindboggling explanation to his rubberstamp parliament:
In drafting our anti-terrorism law, we copied word-for-word the very best anti-terrorism laws in the world. We took from America, England and the European model anti-terrorism laws. It is from these three sources that we have drafted our anti-terrorism law. From these, we have choses the better ones. For instance, in all of these laws, an organization is deemed to be terrorist by the executive branch. We improved it by saying it is not good for the executive to make that determination. We took the definition of terrorism word-by-word. Not one word was changed. Not even a comma. It is taken word-by-word. There is a reason why we took it word-by-word. First, these people have experience in democratic governance. Because they have experience, there is no shame if we learn or take from them. Learning from a good teacher is useful not harmful. Nothing embarrassing about it. The [antiterrorism] proclamation in every respect is flawless. It is better than the best anti-terrorism laws [in the world] but not less than any one of them in any way…
One cringes in total embarrassment at such a stunningly shallow understanding of jurisprudence, glib talk about the law and inattention to a glaring logical fallacy in one's argument. In seeking to establish that his anti-terrorism law is based on the rule of law, Zenawi commits a logical fallacy known as “argument from authority” (argumentum ad verecundiam). The logic of his argument is that America and Britain are democratic countries with a high degree of adherence to the rule of law principle; and they have anti-terrorism laws that are the “best” in the world. We have “copied word-for-word” the best elements of their anti-terrorism laws and put them to use. Therefore, our terrorism laws are “flawless” and singularly the very best in the world!
By invoking a fallacious authority and creating a manifestly false analogy, Zenawi aims to clothe his anti-terrorism diktat with moral legitimacy and legal respectability. One cannot create a lion by piecing together the sturdy long neck of the giraffe with the the strong jaws of a hyena, the fast limbs of the cheetah and the massive trunk of the elephant. The king of the jungle is an altogether different beast. In the same vein, one cannot clone pieces of anti-terrorism laws from everywhere onto a diktat and sanctify it as “flawless in every respect”.
Imitation may best the highest form of flattery, but to boldly claim that a mindlessly cloned diktat is “flawless” is just mindless. Beyond logical fallacy, Zenawi seems to be totally clueless about elementary principles of jurisprudence in the Anglo-American tradition. The American antiterrorism law (Zenawi does not specifically identify the American antiterrorism law he copied word-for-word, but one may reasonably assume he is referring to the “USA Patriot Act”), is not merely a collection of words, legal phrases, clauses, terms and paragraphs. The Patriot Act was drafted with intense debate and deliberation in the Congress (not scribbled down and sent for rubberstamping), contentious disputes in the media (in the US it not a crime to criticize a law in the media) and amidst outraged public dialogue and debate (not shoved down the public's throat). Above all, it was crafted within the known boundaries of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments and Article I, section 9 of the US Constitution. The legislative language in the Patriot Act derives its vitality not from glib semantic analysis of words and phrases, but from long and storied legal traditions that date back to the Magna Carta (Great Charter) in 1215, the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the vast body of Anglo-American common law. Most importantly, the Patriot Act is subject to the supreme law of the land– the US Constitution. Thomas Paine, one of the revolutionary “Founding Fathers of the United States” and the “voice of the common man” explained it best in Common Sense: “In America, the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.”
If Zenawi wants to copycat American and British anti-terrorism laws, he cannot cherry pick words, phrases, sentences and clauses. He has to take the whole package because those words, phrases and clauses he copied so proudly have complex histories, meanings, nuances and implications. Those blindly borrowed words and phrases have special meaning and application when they are considered, contextualized, synthesized and analyzed within the broader framework of Anglo-American common law, judicial precedents, legal principles and doctrines, rules of statutory construction, legal scholarship, legislative intent and numerous other factors. If Zenawi chooses to imitate and clone American law “word-for-word”, he is practically, logically and hermeneutically obliged to give meaning to those laws within the framework of the American Constitution and the body of constitutional law.
But Zenawi simply has no clue. The US “antiterrorism law” is not as perfect as he the thinks it is and may not be worthy of ultimate imitation. In fact, it is quite flawed. For instance, in 2004, a federal judge in New York ruled that a key component of the USA Patriot Act is unconstitutional because it allows the FBI to demand information from Internet service providers without judicial oversight or public review. Another federal judge in Oregon in 2007 ruled that crucial parts of the USA Patriot Act were unconstitutional because they allowed federal surveillance and searches of Americans without demonstrating probable cause required by the Fourth Amendment. The judge wrote, “For over 200 years, this Nation has adhered to the rule of law — with unparalleled success. A shift to a Nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill-advised.”
Unlike Zenawi's “anti-terrorism” diktat, the Patriot Act had significant limitations in itself, including sunset provisions (expiration dates) of December 31, 2005 on a number of issues including wiretapping, sharing foreign intelligence information, seizure of voice-mail emergency disclosure of electronic surveillance. When it was reauthorized, a new sunset of December 31, 2009 was established and significant amendments added to provide for greater congressional and judicial oversight of orders for roving wiretaps and enhanced procedural protections for “sneak and peek” search warrants, among many others.
Zenawi also fails to understand the power of judicial review and the resolute ferocity of American lawyers dedicated to civil liberties in challenging the government and stopping it from encroaching on the civil liberties of the people. In other words, in America, there are lawyers and judges who are willing, able and ready to hold the Congress' or the President's feet to the fire of the supreme law of the land. In Ethiopia, there are only dictators who hold the peoples' feet, hands and bodies to the fire.
But Zenawi is absolutely right in saying that “there is no shame if we learn or take from them [America, Britain, European model]”. Learning from a good teacher is useful not harmful.” But it is not enough to have good teachers, one must also be a good student and learn all of the substantive lessons, not just a word here, a phrase there and a clause somewhere else.
Do Ethiopians Want a Government of Laws and Not of Men?
The rule of law operates differently in different societies and there is no single “flawless” conception of the principle. I do believe there are some commonalities and universal elements of the rule of law principle that are applicable in all societies. To extract the most universal elements, it is necessary to learn from alternative conceptions and experiences in the application of the rule of law. But the learning process should not be robotic or involve the mindless aggregation of bits and fragments of information and analysis. It should be syncretic, synthesizing divergent and conflicting ideas and practices in the practical application of the rule of law.
The rule of law in Ethiopia, I believe, is an ancient ideal. Ordinary Ethiopians used to invoke the “divine power of the law” (ye heg amlak) against wrong-doers and abusers of power. That was when they could see the faint and distant image of justice painted on a canvas of autocratic rule. But it must also be pointed out that the Ethiopian civic culture has tolerated an insidious exception to the rule of law which persists to the present day. An old Ethiopia adage says, “One cannot plough (farm) the sky nor hold a king to account in court” (semai aye-tares, negus aye-keses). “Negus” Zenawi is the personification of that adage today. In the transition from dictatorship to democracy, Ethiopians will have an opportunity to choose between alternative conceptions of the rule of law.
My view is that rule of law is a quintessential principle of good democratic governance. It is a vital part of statecraft (the art of leading a country). It is a fundamental element in nation-building, state-building, peace-building, democracy-building, justice-building and truth and reconciliation. I do not equate the rule of law with democracy, but I believe it makes genuine multiparty democracy possible through institutional arrangements for conducting clean, free and fair elections. I do not think the rule of law by itself guarantees justice, but it will serve to facilitate the delivery of justice to citizens through an independent and transparent judicial process. It will not guarantee equality, human rights and the rest of it, but without the rule of law there can be no equality or human dignity. I believe respect for human rights is the single important manifestation of the prevalence of the rule of law in any society and the most persuasive evidence of good governance.
Rule of Unjust Laws?
I am persuaded by the works of the great philosophers, thinkers, theologians, theorists, revolutionaries and human and civil rights rights advocates — Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, Gandhi, King and even the framers of the US Constitution in their Declaration of Independence — who argued that an unjust law (diktat) is not really a law at all. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws… for an unjust law is no law at all.” So Ethiopia's transition from dictatorship to democracy will be a transition from rule by unjust laws to the rule of just laws, and an uprising from degradation to collective elevation. I believe the rule of law will take deep root in Ethiopia when government learns always to fear its citizens and citizens acquire the courage never to fear their government!
Amharisk oversættelser af de seneste kommentarer fra forfatteren kan findes på:
http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic and
http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24
Tidligere kommentarer fra forfatteren findes på:
http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/ and
www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/
Fortsæt læsning ...
BEIRUT (Daily Star): A crowd of Ethiopians gathered outside the Ethiopian Consulate in Badaro Sunday afternoon toprotest its neglect of their community in Lebanon.
Following a Sunday church service nearby, a few dozen women and one man walked to the consulate and demonstrated outside.
The assembled expressed their frustration with consular officials' perceived callousness, saying that when Ethiopians contact their consulate in Lebanon via telephone they are often ignored or hung up on.
“We are living here,” said a woman named Berti, adding that “the [consulate] should help us, but they only want money.”
Another woman, named Sarah, told The Daily Star that many Ethiopians travel to Lebanon illegally through Sudan. She said that if such an Ethiopian encounters trouble in Lebanon, the consulate will absolve itself of responsibility and refuse assistance, but if the same person should want to renew her passport, the consulate would help in the interest of making a profit.
The Ethiopian Consulate was unavailable for comment.
Another driving point of the protest was the consulate's recent mishandling of the situation involving Alem Dechasa-Desisa, an Ethiopian domestic worker who was videotaped outside the building being physically abused by a man later identified as Ali Mahfouz. Dechasa-Desisa was later taken to Deir al-Salib where doctors said she hanged herself on March 14, using strips of her bed sheets.
“Nobody helped her,” said another woman named Sarah, who wore a blue keffiyeh: “How did she die? She didn't kill herself. She's not crazy.”
She added that the group was angry that officials at the consulate saw Dechasa-Desisa being beaten, thrown on the ground and forced into Mahfouz's care, but failed to take action, instead remaining inside the consulate walls and watching the abuse.
Several protesters told The Daily Star that their group would have been larger had it not been for the consulate trying to prevent the demonstration.
“At church, the [consulate's] workers told us not to come here and said they called the police,” said Sarah with the blue keffiyeh, “but the police are here and they are keeping the peace. They aren't harming us.”
“We have no problem with the Lebanese government,” added another protestor named Lina. “We like them, but we have a problem with the consulate.”
“We don't have an embassy here,” said Sarah in the blue keffiyeh, “we only have our community.”
The group chanted slogans expressing their disdain for the consulate and their suspicion that it wanted Ethiopians out of the country.
The chants were followed by a short prayer before the group dispersed. A few people from the group expressed dismay that even though Sunday is their day off, their employers only give them a few hours in the morning before they must return to work.
A woman named Makdees said, “I come [to protest], I pray, now back to work.”
Before leaving the scene she added, “Please, from every country to Lebanon, help us.”
Source:
Fortsæt læsning ...
I am sure we are all familiar with what is known as the 'melting pot' concept when it comes to describing how America functions. The term is a metaphor 'for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous , the different elements “melting together” into a harmonious whole with one common culture.
The concept was popularized in the 1900 with the influx of immigrants from all over. It was challenged in 1970's with some questioning the idea of total meld and wanted to preserve cultural differences as valuable part of a civil society and proposed an alternative metaphor the 'mosaic or salad bowl' concept. This term has come to dominate the Canadian experience. It proposes the mix of ethnic groups, languages and cultures that can harmoniously co-exist. It advocates multiculturalism.
Both approaches have managed to build a robust and prosperous society. Over the weekend I had a medical issue and went to the hospital. I, the patient is an immigrant from Ethiopia. My admitting nurse was another Ethiopian. The nurse that took my vitals was from Nigeria. The person who took my x-ray was from Eritrea. My emergency room doctor was a white American. The individual who took me thru the discharge process was a female Hispanic immigrant. The hospital functioned like a well-oiled machine.
I was impressed. It made me see how the US has managed to become such a big powerhouse. There is plenty that needs to change but it is obvious the system is based on a solid ground of willingness to accommodate change while not losing a common vision of one country one people.
It did not take me long to come back to ground. My homeland came to jar me back to reality. The 'ethnic cleansing' in southern part of my country was a reminder that all is not well on the home front. The term 'ethnic cleansing' is a loaded term. I am not invoking it lightly. But it to so aptly describes the plight of our citizens that happen to be 'Amhara' and their current tribulations. The Benji Maji Zone Administration has seen it fit to expropriate their land and property and drive them out of their homes. Go back to your Kilil they said. Today they are refugees in their own country. The actual term is 'internally displaced.'
“Internally displaced” is a strange concept to grasp. How could you be a refugee in your own land? In an emerging Democracy like Ethiopia anything is possible. The government led by TPLF (Tigrai Peoples Liberation Movement) is the Party in charge. When they took power they were not into the concept a 'melting pot' nor did they appreciate the idea of a 'salad bowl.' Our ḥizbāwī weyānē ḥārinet tigrāy ሕዝባዊ ወያኔ ሓርነት ትግራይ leaders were enamored by the concept of 'Apartheid'. Building enclaves was their brilliant solution. The plight of the Amhara's is Apartheid in practice. That is what Meles Zenawi is constructing in Ethiopia. Separate disjointed entities at war with each other while his single ethnic based party fans the hate flame.
Do you think I am being an alarmist? Do you think I am falling into the trap of ethnic identification? I do not think so. If people are forced to flee due to their ethnicity be it in Benji Maji, Gambella, Sarajevo or Kigali you have to call it what it is 'ethnic cleansing.' The Serbian Military's attempt to drive Moslems out of Sarajevo was defined as practicing 'ethnic cleansing.' Hutus targeted Tutsis and the blood bath was judged as an ugly attempt at 'ethnic cleansing.' During the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea both countries carried out limited form of 'ethnic cleansing'. May I remind you some of us showed total indifference while a few cheered. Ethnic cleansing is an International crime. It is crime against humanity. What has happened to the Amhara's of Benji Maji Zone is 'ethnic cleansing.' Their only crime is being an Amhara and finding them selves in the wrong Apartheid designated 'Home Land”.
This abhorrent crime is committed by the TPLF party, which is led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. They set such system in place. They designed it. Some are claiming the TPLF party has gone rouge and become the party of one family. I beg to differ. The TPLF was born a monster, grew up to be a monster and will die as a monster. It has never ever done anything that could be seen as a positive contribution to the people of Tigrai in particular and the people of Ethiopia in general.
Kilil is not a new idea. It was copied from the book of the Nationalist Party of South Africa. The White people's party. Their creation of the 'Apartheid' system set up ten Bantustans or homeland for Black people. It kept the Blacks apart. It made them strangers to each other. There was no Black South African but an ethnic based homeland citizen. Leaders like Chief Buthelezi of the great nation of Kwa Zulu were reduced to serving the White masters at the expense of their people. Exile some, corrupt a few and bully the rest was the hallmark of Apartheid. Kilil is the son of Apartheid. In today's Ethiopia Kilil defines who you are and that of being an Ethiopian is secondary. Benji Maji is the outcome of Kilil at work. You area a citizen of your Kilil not your Country.
TPLF's system is working like a charm. The folks displaced from Benji Maji are living proof. The cultivation of hate has made us mistrust each other. The insistence on separate Kilil's has caused us plenty of civil strife. No place is immune from this sickness. Even places of higher learning such as the University and Kilil based Colleges are the hot bed of 'ethnic' clashes. I am writing about it. It has become our everyday experience. We are in the process of becoming strangers to each other. The meaning of being an Ethiopian is being deflated, downsized, given negative connotations and made something to hide out of shame.
Why some people in leadership do that should be left to psychologists, social scientists and historians to explain. Our problem is here and now. We are all affected by this devaluation of a beautiful proud country. We are not the first to be under this type of calamity. Look Iraq was once a proud nation. Today Iraqis avoid Iraq. Syria is entering that zone of madness on a national scale. Ethnic strife is the common thread between the two. Kilil is the breeding ground for 'ethnic strife'. The TPLF party is the fertilizer.
Are you inoculated against this virus? What do you think when you hear of Benji Maji? Upset? Depressed? Forvirret? Hope less? You see the current leaders of Ethiopia are free to do what they want. The only way to stop them is by showing them there are consequences to their action. There is a price to pay for bad deeds. The people organized around Timret are building an all-inclusive Front as a solid foundation for our future Ethiopia. ESAT has managed to be our voice. Andenet is still operating under dire circumstances. All these groups and organizations are helping the people of Benji Maji by doing their share so there will be no more Benji Maji's. Change will not happen with out involvement. We can work together as one to create a “melting Pot' or a 'Salad Bowl' or continue on building Apartheid. It is up to you. Show me rather than tell me.
Fortsæt læsning ...
Emergency Alert: Civilians Under Attack as Human Rights Violations Soar in Gambella
March 27, 2012 Comments Off Press Release Civilians Under Attack as Human Rights Violations Soar in Gambella.pdf
Fortsæt læsning ...
New York Tri State Ethiopians answered a call of our monks at Waldiba ancient Monastrey ! By Tedla Asfaw
March 27, 2012 Comments Off
[caption id="attachment_12538" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Tedla Asfaw"] 
[/ Caption] The NY tri State Ethiopians mostly of Christian Orthodox came out in huge number yesterday afternoon on what we call ” Lunch Rally ” and answered for a call of our monks to defend the Waldiba Monastery that includes 18 churches and sacred burial ground from the Sugar Lords destruction. Waldiba has been a place of education and worship since 1200s by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and many who were educated shared their personal experience at Waldiba on our rally in front of the “Ethiopian” Mission at Manhattan. Some called Waldiba the first University of Ethiopia. Many agree that there is hardly to find any of our religious holy fathers who has never been at Waldiba one time or the other.
Fortsæt læsning ...
የአንድነት ለዲሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ አቶ አንዱዋለም አራጌ ከቃሊት እሥር ቤት፣ ለፍትህና ለሪፖተር ጋዜጣ አዘጋጆች የላኩት ደብዳቤ
March 11, 2012 Comments Off
ለማንበብ እዚህ ይጫኑ
Fortsæt læsning ...
Seneste kommentarer