Ethiopians are crying out for Freedom and Justice

Now is the Time for change 

by Graham Peebles / September 23rd, 2016

Usually September 11th, or 1st of Meskerem on the Ethiopian calendar, is a day of celebration. It is the Ethiopian new-year. However, this year there was a distinct shortage of happy gatherings or collective jubilation to mark the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, either inside the country or amongst the diaspora.

The country is in crisis and the majority of Ethiopians believe there is little to celebrate; instead many people spent the day in quiet reflection, dressed in black. Prayers were said at church services in Ethiopia and abroad for those who have been killed protesting (a constitutional right), by security forces of the ruling regime.

As the movement for democratic change grows, the government continues to try to put it down by violent means. Security forces indiscriminately shoot peaceful protestors in the streets, beat and intimidate others. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says they receive “daily accounts of killings and arbitrary arrests”, and estimate that up to 500 protestors have been killed since November 2015, although many inside the country put the figure higher.

ግፍ አመጽን ይወልዳል፤ የጸናም ጎሕን ያያል!!!

 ቅጽ 42 ቁጥር 9                                                                                         ሐምሌ/ነሐሴ 2008 ዓ.ም
                                                                                                        
ነሐሴ 26/ 1967 ዓ.ም የሀገራችን የመጀመሪያው ዘመናዊ ፓርቲ/ድርጅት የሆነው ኢሕአፓ፤ ለሦስት ዓመት በህቡዕ ድርጅታዊ ሥራ ሲሠራ ቆይቶ ራሱን በሚያስደንቅ ሁኔታ ይፋ አደረገ። መርሃ ግብሩን/ፕሮግራሙን በልዩ ልዩ የኢትዮጵያ ቋንቋዎች (በእንግሊዝኛ ጭምር) በአንድ ቀን በመላ ሀገሪቷ ሲያሰራጭ አንድም አባል አልተያዘም ነበር። ያ ቀን የጭቁኖች ፈንጠዝያ ቀን ተብሎ ቢወራ ኋላ እንዳየነው ማጋነን አልነበረም። ኢሕአፓ ዛሬም በትግል ላይ ነው። ነሐሴ 2008 ደግሞ ጭቁኑ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በስፋትና በጥልቀት በወያኔ ላይ አምጾ ተነስቶ ወሳኝ ፍልሚያ እያካሄደ የወያኔን የቀብር ደወል በማጮህ ላይ ይገኛል። በአካባቢ የተወሰኑና መለስተኛ ጥያቄዎች እየተካሄደ ላለው ሕዝብ አመጽ አቀጣጣይ ክብሪት የነበሩ ቢሆንም ዋናው መሰረታዊ ምክንያት ግን ኢሕአፓ ለትግል ሲነሳ አንግቦ የታገለላቸው ቋሚ የሆኑት የሕዝብ መብትና ዴሞክራሲያዊ ጥያቄዎች ምላሽ ሊያገኙ አለመቻላቸው ነው።

Ethiopian activists disrupt mining conference in Perth, Western Australia

By Mareshet Meshesha
September 13, 2016

Ethiopians representing different civic and community groups disrupted Africa Down Under Mining Conference held at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Perth, Western Australia. The activists patiently waited for the conference delegate Mr Jemal Bekir, representing Tolessa Shagi, the mining minister finish his presentation in which he told the conference that Ethiopia has a democratic government and that the country was not land-locked as it has access to the Indian ocean through Djibouti and Kenya, both countries including South Sudan and Uganda, with which he claims Ethiopia to have an economic cooperation. Also present in the venue was the tplf ambassador in Australia, Tirfe Kidane.

To Permanent Representatives of Members and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council

By Worldwide Movement for Human Rights (WMHR)
September 13, 2016

RE: Addressing the escalating human rights crisis in Ethiopia
Your Excellency,
The undersigned civil society organisations write to draw your attention to grave violations of human rights in Ethiopia, including the recent crackdown on largely peaceful protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.
As the UN Human Rights Council prepares to convene for its 33rd session between 13 – 30 September 2016, we urge your delegation to prioritise and address through joint and individual statements the escalating human rights crisis in Ethiopia.

AN ESCALATING HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS IN OROMIA AND AMHARA REGIONS

The situation in Ethiopia has become increasingly unstable since security forces repeatedly fired upon protests in the Amhara and Oromia regions in August 2016. On 6 and 7 August alone, Amnesty International reported at least 100 killings and scores of arrests during protests that took place across multiple towns in both regions. Protesters had taken to the streets throughout the Amhara and Oromia regions to express discontent over the ruling party’s dominance in government affairs, the lack of rule of law, and grave human rights violations for which there has been no accountability.

What is behind Ethiopia's wave of protests?

• 22 August 2016
 
• From the sectionAfrica

Image copyrightAFP

Ethiopia's Olympic marathon silver medallist Feyisa Lilesa crossed his hands above his head as he finished the race in Rio - bringing the world's attention to a wave of protests in his home country.

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President Obama recently visited Ethiopia, the first sitting U.S. president to do so. Near the end of his trip, Obama spoke at a press conference and, when asked whether the U.S. would assist Ethiopia combat dissenting political groups, said: " "Our policy is that we oppose terrorism wherever it may occur. And we are opposed to any group that is promoting the violent overthrow of a government, including the government of Ethiopia, that has been democratically elected."