"I was called a terrorist yesterday "

Terrorism by “Anti-terrorism Law"

Lately, Meles Zenawi, the dictator in Ethiopia, has been rounding up dissidents, journalists, opposition party political leaders and members under a diktat known as “Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009”. This diktat approved on a 286-91 vote of the rubberstamp parliament is so arbitrary and capricious that Human Rights Watch concluded “the law could provide a new and potent tool for suppressing political opposition and independent criticism of government policy.”

The “anti-terrorism law” is a masterpiece of ambiguity, unintelligibility, obscurity, superficiality, unclarity, uncertainty, inanity and vacuity. It defines “terrorism” with such vagueness and overbreadth that any act, speech, statement, and even thought, could be punished under its sweeping provisions. Anyone who commits a “terrorist act” with the aim of "advancing a political, religious or ideological cause” and intending to “influence the government”, “intimidate the public”, “destabilize or destroy the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social institutions of the country” could be condemned to long imprisonment or suffer the death penalty. Making or publishing statements “likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts” is a punishable offense under the “law”.

Anyone who provides “moral support or advice” or has any contact with an individual accused of a terrorist act is presumed to be a terrorist supporter. Anyone who “writes, edits, prints, publishes, publicizes, disseminates, shows, makes to be heard any promotional statements encouraging, supporting or advancing terrorist acts” is deemed a “terrorist”. Peaceful protesters who carry banners critical of the regime could be charged for "promotional statements encouraging" terrorist acts. Anyone who “disrupts any public service” is considered a “terrorist”; and workers who may legitimately grieve working conditions by work stoppages could be charged with "terrorism" for disruption. Young demonstrators who break windows in a public building by throwing rocks could be jailed as “terrorists” for "causuing serious damage to property." A person who "fails to immediately inform or give information or evidence to the police" on a neighbor, co-worker or others s/he may suspect of "terrorism" could face upto 10 years for failure to report. Two or more persons who have contact with a "terror" suspect could be charged with conspiracy to commit "terrorism"

The procedural due process rights (fair trial) of suspects and the accused guaranteed under the Ethiopian Constitution and international human rights conventions are ignored, evaded, overlooked and disregarded by the “law”. "The police may arrest without court warrant any person whom he reasonably suspects to have committed or is committing a terrorism" and hold that person in incommunicado detention. The police can engage in random and “sudden search and seizure” of the person, place or personal effects of anyone suspected of “terrorism”. The police can “intercept, install or conduct surveillance on the telephone, fax, radio, internet, electronic, postal, and similar communications” of a person suspected of terrorism. The police can order “any government institution, official, bank, or a private organization or an individual" to turn over documents, evidence and information on a “terror” suspect.

A “terror” suspect can be held in custody without charge for up to "four months". Any “evidence” presented by the regime's prosecutor against a "terror" suspect in "court" is admissible, including "confessions" (extracted by torture), "hearsay", “indirect, digital and electronic evidences” and "intelligence reports even if the report does not disclose the source or the method it was gathered (including evidence obtained by torture). The “law” presumes the “terror” suspect to be guilty and puts the burden of proof on the suspect/defendant in violation of the universal principle that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Such is the “anti-terrorism law” that was used to arrest and jail Eskinder Nega, Debebe Eshetu, Andualem Aragie, Woubshet Taye, Zemenu Molla, Nathnael Makonnen, Asaminaw Birhanu, and Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye and thousands of others over the past few months and years. In any country where the rule of law prevails and an independent judiciary thrives, such a “law” would not pass the smell test let alone a constitutional one. But in a world of kangaroo courts, rubberstamp parliaments and halls of vengance and injustice, the diktat of one man is the law of the land. So, 2011 Ethiopia has become George Orwell’s 1984: Thinking is terrorism. Dissent is terrorism. Speaking truth to power is terrorism. Having a conscience is terrorism. Peaceful protest is terrorism. Refusing to sell out one’s soul is terrorism. Standing up for democracy and human rights is terrorism. Defending the rule of law is terrorism. Peaceful resistance of state terrorism is terrorism.

Dictatorship is State Terrorism

Zenawi’s “anti-terrorism" diktat is intended to muzzle journalists from criticizing, youths from peaceably demonstrating, opposition parties from political organizing, ordinary citizens from speaking, civic leaders from mobilizing, teachers from imparting knowledge, lawyers from advocating scholars from analyzing and the entire nation from questioning his dictatorial rule. It is a “law” singularly intended to criminalize speech, police thought, outlaw critical publications, intimidate hearts, crush spirits, terrorize minds and shred constitutional and internationally-guaranteed human rights. When the State uses the “law” to silence and violently stamp out dissent, jail and keep in solitary confinement dissenters, opposition leaders and members, suppress the press and arbitrarily arrest journalists, trash human rights with impunity, trample upon the rule of law and scoff at constitutional accountability, does it not become a terrorist state?

"Softness to traitors will destroy us all,” said Maximilien Robespierre, the mastermind and architect of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution. Robespierre justified the use of terror by the state to crush all opposition and those he considered enemies of the state: “Are the enemies within not the allies of the enemies without? The assassins who tear our country apart, the intriguers who buy the consciences that hold the people's mandate; the traitors who sell them; the mercenary pamphleteers hired to dishonor the people's cause, to kill public virtue, to stir up the fire of civil discord, and to prepare political counterrevolution by moral counterrevolution-are all those men less guilty or less dangerous than the tyrants whom they serve?” asked Robespierre rhetorically as he rounded up tens of thousands of innocent French citizens for the guillotine.

አሳዛኙ የወገናችን ኅልፈት! "ህይወት እንደዋዛ"

      September 20, 2013

ዲፕሎማቱ እጅ ላይ ያረፈችው ኢትዮጵያዊት ወጣት ሬሳ ትላንት ከሪያድ የኢትዮጵያ ኮሚኒቲ ግቢ ወዳልታወቀ ስፍራ ተወሰደ ።

ቀን መስከረም 8: 2006 ለ5ኛ ግዜ በሪያድ የኢትዮጵያ ኮሚኒቲ ግዜያዊ መጠለያ ኮኔትነር ውስጥ፡ የአንዲት ኢትዮጵያዊት አስዛኝ፡ ህልፈተ ህይወት የአካባቢውን ማህበረሰብ እምባ ሲያራጭ፡ ደረት ሲያዳቃ መዋሉን የአይን ምስክሮች ገለጹ። ወጣቷ በቤት ሰራተኝነት ኮንትራት የመጣች የክርስትና እምነት ተከታይ መሆኗን የሚናገሩት እነዚህ የአይን እማኞች የወጣቷ ሬሳ እስካሁን በውል ወዳልታወቀ ስፍራ መወሰዱን አረጋግጠዋል።

የእህቶቻችን ሞት ከሚፈበረክበት በሪያድ የኢትዮጵያ ኮሚኒቲ ማህበር የስደተኞች ጊዜ ያዊ መጠለያ ኮንቴነር፡ ያለምንም ህክምና እና በቂ መሰረታዊ ፍጆታ በለሌለበት ሁኔታ እንደ ወንጀለኛ የኮንቴነር የብረት በር ተከርችሞባቸው ከሚገኙ እህቶቻችን መሃከል አንድ ወር ባልሞላ ግዜ ውስጥ በተከታታይ የሁለት ኢትዮጵያውያን ህልፈተ ህይወት መሰማቱ የአካባቢውን ማህበረሰብ አስደንግጦል።

በተለይ ትላንት ማለዳ በኢትዮጵያ ሰዓት አቆጣጠር ከጠዋቱ 3 አካባቢ አስከሬንዋ ጊዜያዊ መጠለያ ኮንቴነር ውስጥ ሞታ የተገኘችው ኢትዮጵያዊት ወጣት ህመሙ አገርሽቶባት ስታቃስት «ጣዕረሞት ስታሰማ»፡ እንደ ነበር የሚናገሩ ወገኖች ዲፕሎማቱ ትብብር እንዲያደርጉላት ስልክ ቢደወልላቸውም በወቅቱ ፈቃደኛ ባለመሆናቸው የወጣቷ ህይወት በሚያሳዝን ሁኔታ ማለፉን ይገልጻሉ።

ሟች እዚህ ደረጃ ላይ ከመድረሷ በፊት ዲፕሎማቱ በኤምባሲው ሃላፊነት ወደ ሆስፒታል ወስደው ማስመርመር እና ህይወቷን ከሞት መታደግ ሲችሉ ባሳዩት ግዴለሽነት እና ወገናዊ ርህራሄ የጎደለው አሰራር የወጣቷ ህይወት እዚህ በረሃ ላይ ቀርቷል ብለዋል። ወጣቷን ወደዚህ ግዜያዊ መጠለያ ግቢ ዲፕሎማቱ ከአሰሪዎችዋ ተረክበው ሲያመጧት “ሃኪም ቤት ውሰዱኝ ህይወቴን አጣሁ!! አድኑኝ ኧረ የወገን ያለህ!! ኧረ ያህገር ያለህ!! አናቴ ድረሺልኝ!!” እያለች ትማጸናቸው እንደነበረ በአካባቢው የነበሩ የአይን ምስክሮች አክለው ገልጸዋል። የወጣቷ የሰውነት አቋም እና አጠቃላይ ሁኔታ ያዩ አንዳንድ ታዛቢዎች በውስጥዋ የቆየ በሽታ እንደሌለባት እና ወጣቷ አንጀቴ ተቃጠለ ውሃ ውሃ ስትል እንደነበር እና ሃኪም ቤት ውሰዱኝ እያለች ልብ በሚነካ ሁኔታ ስትማፀን የታዘቡ ወገኖች ምናልባትም ከምግብ ጋር የተቀልላቀለ መርዝ ነክ ነገር በልታ ሊሆን እንደሚችል ጥርጣሬያቸውን ያጎላሉ።

በማያያዝ ዲፕሎማቱ ወጣቷን ከአሰሪዎቾ ተቀበለው ወደ መጠለያ ሲያመጧት ለአመታት የደከመኩበትን የወር ደሞዜን እባካቹ ከአስሪዪ ላይ ተቀበሉልኝ እያለች ትጮህ እንደ ነበረ እና ወደ መጨረሻ አካባቢ እየደከመች ስትመጣ ሟች በሚያሳዝን አንደበት ሆስፒታል በር ላይ ወስዳችሁ ጣሉኝ፡ የወግን ያለህ እያለች እስከ ዕለት ሞቷ ታለቅስ እንደ ነበረ እና ይህንንም ተማጽኖ ዲፕሎማቶቹ «የመንፈስ ጭንቀት ነው» ፡ «ስራ በዝቷባት ነው» ፡«ሃገር መግባት ፈልጋ ነው» ስታጭበረብር ነው» ወዘተ . . . በሚል ፌዝ በጭካኔ ሌሎችን ሰላም ትነሳለች በሚል ለብቻዋ ኮንቴነር ውስጥ፡ አስገብተው እንደቆለፉባት እና በነጋታው ወጣቷ ሞታ ማደሯን አንዳንድ የኮሚኒቲው አባላት እንባ እየተናነቃቸው ገልጸዋል ።

ይህ በዚህ እንዳለ ትላንት 4 ሰዓት ከ15 ደቂቃ አካባቢ በዲፕሎማቱ ትዕዛዝ የወጣቷ አስከሬን በሳውዲ የማዘጋጃ ሰራተኞች ተነስቶ ወደ አልታወቀ ስፍራ እንደተወሰደ እነዚህ የአይን ምስክሮች አክለው ገልጸዋል።

ጎልጉል

ብሶት የወለደው ጀግናው የግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ታጣቂ ሀይል

አምባገነኑ የወያኔ መንግስት የኢትዮጲያን ህዝቦች በግዴታና ፍትህ በተጕዋደለ ግዞት ረግጦ ሲገዛ  22ኛ አመቱን አስቆጥሮ አሁንም የሰባዊ መብት ረገጣን እለት ከእለት እያባባሰ አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ እንዳገር የመቀጠሉዋን ዋስትና ከጥርጣሬም ባሻገር ከፍተኛ ስጋት ውስጥ ከቷታል ፣ አገዛዙ የፈጠራቸው የእርስ በርስ የዘር ክፍፍል እና ጥላቻ ፣ የሰባዊ መብት አፈና እና የእስር ቤቶች በንጿሃን ዜጎች ለእውነት በቆሙ እና ላገር ለወገን ተቆርቋሪ ግለሰብ ጋዜጠኞች እንዲሁም የተቃዋሚ ድርጂት አባላት እና መሪዎች ማጎሪያ መሆን፣ በገዛ አገራቸው በልማት ሰበብ እና ስም ዜጎችን ከቀያቸው  ያለአግባብ በማፍናቀል ህገ ወጥ ድርጊት እየፈጸመ እንዳሻው ከህግ እና ደምብ በላይ መሆኑን  ቀጥሎል።

ስለሆነም ለአመታቶች በገዠው መንግስት ሲጭቆን እና ሲረገጥ የኖረው ህዝብ በቃኝ ብሎ ተነስቱዋል። ህዝቡ ብሶቱን በተለያየ የሰላማዌ ህዝባዊ አምጽ ከማሰማቱም ባሻገር በዚሁም ምክንያት በሚደርስበት እስር እና እንግልት እንዲሁም የማስፈራራት ዛቻ ሳየበገር አሁንም የግፍ አገዛዙ በቃን መረረን የወያኔ እንደገዠነት የመቀጠል ህልውና ሊያበቃለት ግድ ይላል ብሎ ቆርጦ ተነስቱዋል ።
ህዝባዊ የሰላም አመጻን በዷላ እና በእስተኛር ስቃይ ሊያቆም ያልቻለው ወያኔ አሁን ደሞ ከጎኑ ብሶት የወለዳቸው የኢትዮጲያ የቊርጥ ቀን ልጆች ግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ታጣቂ ሀይል ተነስቶበታል ። ትጥቄን የሚያስፈታኝ የታጠቀ ብቻ ነው አለያ ስልጣኔን በሰላም እና በምርጫ  አለቅም ያለው  እምቢተኛው ገዢ ሌላ ጉድ እና ውርደት እንዲሁም የስልጣን ኪሳራ ሊደርስበት ነው።

ይህንኑ አዲስ የሆነውን የግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ታጣቂ ሀይል፡ የተማሩ ሀይሎች ፡ ድፍረትና ቁርጠኝነትን የተላበሱ ወጣቶች የተሰባሰቡበት ሲሆን፡ እንዲሁ ከአገር ቤት እና ከተያዩ የውጭ አገራት፡  በገዢው አገዛዝ ግፍ ተማረው ሸሽተው የተሰደዱ ኢትዮጲያዊያኖች እየተቀላቀሉዋቸው ይገኛሉ።

እንዲሁም በቅርቡ በኢትዮጵያ አየር ሀይል ውስጥ በማገልገል ላይ የሚገኙ አራት አብራሪዎች ፣ የበረራ አስተማሪዎች ስርአቱን ከድተው ግንቦት7ትን መቀላቀላቸው ታውቋል።
ከኢትዮጵያ አየር ሀይል በመለየት ግንቦት 7ትን መቀላቀላቸውን ለኢሳት ያረጋገጡት የበረራ ባለሙያዎች በአየር ሀይል ውስጥ የተንሰራፋውን ዘረኝነትና አድሮ ለርምጃው እንደገፋፋቸው አመልክተዋል።

በኢትዮጵያ አየር ሀይል ውስጥ ከዘረኝነትና አድሎው ባሻገር በሰራዊቱ ውስጥ የተስፋፋው ሙስና ተቋሙን ለቀው የነጻነት ታጋዮችን ለመቀላቀል እንዳስወሰናቸው ገልጸዋል።
በኢትዮጵያ አየር ሀይል ውስጥ በአብራሪትና በበረራ አስተማሪነት ሲያገለግሉ ቆይተው ስርአቱን የተለዩት አራቱ የበረራ ባለሙያዎች ካፒቴን አክሊሉ መዘነ፣ ካፒቴን ጥላሁን ቱፋ፣ ካፒቴን ጌቱ ወርቁና ካፒቴን ቢንአም ግዛው ናቸው።

በ1998 ኣም በሶማሊያ ከእስላማዊ ህብረት ሀይሎች ጋር በተደረገው ውጊያ ተሰታፊ እንዲሁም በዳርፉር የሰራዊት ማስከበር ተልእኮ የዘመቱት እነዚህ የበረራ ባለሙያዎች ሁለቱ ለከፍተኛ ትምህርት ከተላኩት ቻይና ተመልሰው ትግሉን መቀላቀላቸውን ሲገልጹ ሁለቱ ደግሞ ከሳምንት በፊት ድሬዳዋ ከሚገኘው የአየር ሀይል ምድብ ተነስተው ስርአቱን መክዳታቸው ተመልክቷል። በቅርቡ የመረጃ መኮንን የነበረው ሻለቃ መሳፍንት ጥጋቡ ግንቦት7ትን ተቀላቅሏል።
በአሁኑ ጊዜ በርካታ ወጣቶች ንቅናቄውን እየተቀላቀሉ መሆኑን ብዙ መረጃዎች ያመለክታሉ።

በተጨማሪም በመላው አለም የሚገኙ አገር ወዳድ ኢትዮጲያውያኖች እና ትግሉን የሚደግፉ ግለሰቦች በሚችሉት ሁሉ የገንዘብ እርዳታ ድጋፋቸውን እየለገሱ ሲሆን በቅርቡ መስከረም 28፣2013 በኖርዌይ ኦስሎ የሚደረገው ታላቅ የግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ታጣቂ ሀይል  የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ማሰባሰቢያ ከወዲሁ ስኬታማ እየሆነ ነው።

ስለሆነም አገር ወዳድ የሆናችሁ ውድ የኢትዮጵያ ልጆች ሆይ የበኩላችሁን አስተዋጾ ለቁርጠኛው ግንቦት 7 ህዝባዊ ሀይል ድጋፍችሁን አበርክቱ እላለሁ

Ethiopian journalist on hunger strike over mistreatment in prison

IMWF calls for reinstatement of visitation privileges

September 13, 2013 -- As stories about the political crisis in Cairo have been dominating the news from Egypt, there has been limited coverage on a brewing international conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia – two countries that do not share a border but are indivisibly connected by the Nile, the world's longest river.

Amid works to construct a giant hydro-electric dam, and much to the anger of the Egyptian government, Ethiopia has started diverting the Blue Nile, a tributary of the Nile, prompting a furious debate about if and how the “Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” will affect Egypt's water security.

While there may not be a definite answer anytime soon on whether this dam will have any impact on water security in Egypt, there is no doubt that it has already negatively impacted press freedom in Ethiopia. Earlier this summer, for instance, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Ethiopian officials arrested a reporter seeking to interview people evicted from their homes in the region where the contentious hydro-electric dam is being built. More notable, however, was the arrest of Ethiopian columnist Reeyot Alemu more than two years ago.

A critic of the government writing for the now-defunct newspaper Feteh, Alemu had raised questions about the funding and merits of the dam shortly before she was arrested on bogus terrorism charges and sentenced to 14 years in jail.

Although two of the three terrorism charges against her were later dropped on appeal and her sentence reduced to five years, Alemu continues to suffer from her government's efforts to silence dissenting voices and scare independent journalists into self-censorship. A tumor in Alemu's breast remains untreated as she is denied access to medical care, and threats of solitary confinement linger over her every move in Ethiopia's notoriously ill-maintained Kaliti prison.

While the Ethiopian leadership insists on the country's adherence to the rule of law, there seems to be little doubt in the international community that Alemu's arrest and conviction was politically motivated: The International Women's Media Foundation honored Alemu with its Courage in Journalism Award last year, and in May 2013, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized her “commitment to freedom of expression” with itsGuillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. In July, a delegation of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights, scheduled to meet with Alemu, was denied access to Kaliti prison, prompting questions by members of the European Parliament over Ethiopia's commitment to human rights.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Ethiopia jailed more journalists than any other country in Africa in 2012 (with the exception of Eritrea), and 45 Ethiopian journalists have been forced into exile since 2008. Swedish journalist Martin Schibbye who gained first-hand experience with Ethiopia's crackdown on press freedom after being arrested there himself in June 2011, delivers a damning verdict on the rule of law in Ethiopia: "There is no such thing as an independent justice system, it's completely politicized. If the order comes from the federal level that Reeyot is to let go, she will be free. But if they feel that they gain more from keeping her in prison, they will keep her locked up. This decision lies entirely in the hands of the Ethiopian government," he said.

But the Ethiopian authorities seem to be determined to keep Alemu silenced. Earlier this week, as Ethiopians were preparing for their New Year's celebration, prison officials denied Alemu visits from anyone but her parents. It remains unclear whether the decision to keep her separated from her friends, siblings, and fiance is in response to an open letter Alemu wrote in August, criticizing Ethiopia's Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, but it appears to be unlikely that the timing of the new restrictions is coincidence.

Protesting the prison's decision to deny her visits from friends and relatives, Alemu has gone on hunger strike. The IWMF is deeply concerned about Alemu's health and well-being, and calls on the decision-makers at Kaliti prison to re-instate Alemu's full visitation privileges immediately.