Why is the Ethiopian diaspora so influential?

During a year of anti-government protests throughout Ethiopia, its global diaspora, particularly that in the US, has been deeply involved - and not just vocally, writes Addis Ababa-based journalist James Jeffrey.

Twitter and Facebook have been blocked since a six-month state of emergency was imposed last month as the government tries to restore order across the country's two most populous regions of Oromia and Amhara.

There are also internet blackouts, primarily targeting mobile phone data, which is how most Ethiopians get online - and is for many residents of the capital, Addis Ababa, the most frustrating effect of the security clamp down.

The Oromo protests have changed Ethiopia

The struggle of the Oromo people has finally come to the attention of the global public conscience.

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Demonstrators chant slogans while flashing the Oromo protest gesture during Irreecha, the thanksgiving festival of the Oromo people, in Bishoftu town, Oromia region, Ethiopia [Reuters

November 12 marked the first anniversary of the Oromo Protests, a non-institutional and anti-authoritarian movement calling for an end to decades of systemic exclusion and subordination of the Oromo.

Although the protests were sparked by a government plan to expand the territorial and administrative limits of Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, into neighbouring Oromo towns and villages, they were manifestations of long-simmering ethnic discontents buried beneath the surface.

Ethiopia’s internet crackdown hurts everyone

James Jeffrey

Freelance journalist based in Addis Ababa and regular contributor to IRIN

Ethiopia has never been an easy place to operate. But a six-month state of emergency, combined with internet and travel restrictions imposed in response to a wave of anti-government protests, means it just got a whole lot harder.
The government has targeted the mobile data connections that the majority of Ethiopians use to get online. Internet users have also been unable to access Facebook Messenger and Twitter, with a host of other services also rendered unreliable.
This has impacted everyone: from local businesses, to foreign embassies, to families, as well as the extensive and vital international aid community.
“Non-governmental organisations play crucial roles in developing countries, often with country offices in the capitals, satellite offices across remote regions, and parent organisations in foreign countries,” said Moses Karanja, an internet policy researcher at Strathmore University in Nairobi.  “They need access to the internet if their operations are to be efficiently coordinated.”

A political decision

The Ethiopian government has been candid about the restrictions being in response to year-long anti-government protests in which hundreds of people have died.
It has singled out social media as a key factor in driving unrest. Since the beginning of October, there has been a spike in violence resulting in millions of dollars’ worth of damage to foreign-owned factories, government buildings and tourist lodges across Oromia Region, initially ground zero for the dissent.

Will Ethiopia’s Year-Long Crackdown End?

Need for Meaningful Reforms, Accountability

Felix Horne

Senior Researcher, Horn of Africa@felixhorne1

When I met 15-year-old “Meti” (not her real name), she felt her dream of becoming a nurse was over. In February, Meti and her classmates joined a protest in East Hararghe, in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, against the government’s displacement of farmers around Addis Ababa, security force abuses, and the repression of opposition voices. When security forces started shooting, she and her classmates ran; she turned to see her brother shot dead. Later that night, security forces arrested her father and two of her brothers. Then school officials informed her they were suspending her from school for her participation in the protest.

Australia: Protests Prompt Ethiopia Reprisals

Visa for Abusive Ethiopian Official Raises Concerns

 

(Sydney) – The Ethiopian government has arrested and detained dozens of relatives of Ethiopians who participated in a Melbourne protest in June, 2016, and is still holding many of them four months later, Human Rights Watch said today.

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Ethiopian Australians protest against an Ethiopian government delegation visiting Melbourne, Australia, June 2016.

© 2016 Private

On June 12, members of Australia’s Ethiopian community who are from Somali Regional State protested the visit to Australia of an Ethiopian regional government delegation that included Abdi Mohamoud Omar, known as Abdi Iley, the president of Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State. They were also protesting Australia’s support for the Ethiopian government. The Ethiopian delegation did not appear, and after several hours the event was cancelled. The protesters later learned that several dozen of their relatives in Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State had been arrested and detained due to their involvement in the Melbourne protest.

Ethiopia charges 22 over terror plot instigated by opposition in the diaspora

The Federal High Court in Ethiopia on Monday charged 22 individuals for terror related offences. According to the state affiliated FANA Broadcasting Corporate, the charges were in respect of ‘‘causing damage by inciting violence in schools.’‘

‘‘The 22 individuals, including 1st defendant Dereje Alemu Desta, 2nd defendant Teshome Diribsa and 3rd defendant Behiru Lucho, were charged for damaging government and public properties as well as plotting to carry out terror acts,’‘ FBC said.

The report further states that the accused persons were receiving instructions from leaders of the Oromo Liberation Front based in Kenya and Norway

Ethiopian blogger-activist re-arrested

• AFRICA
• Sunday 13 November 2016 - 8:58am

File: Protesters in Addis Ababa chant slogans against what they say is unfair distribution of wealth in Ethiopia. Police have again arrested human rights activist Befeqadu Hailu.

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian police have re-arrested a blogger and human rights activist who criticised the government, especially its handling of the ongoing protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.

Befeqadu Hailu, who is also a member of the Zone9 blogging collective and one of seven bloggers – one in absentia – and three independent journalists arrested in April last year. Three months after their arrest all 10 were charged in terms of Ethiopia’s infamous Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.

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Ethiopian intellectuals submit a petition to the U.N. Secretary General

Press Release 
November 1, 2016
 
His Excellency Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
Dear Mr. Secretary-General:
We concerned academics and scholars of Ethiopian origin,
APPALLED and TERRIFIED by the violent crackdown of dissent and the ongoing massacre of peaceful demonstrators by the security forces of the regime in Ethiopia, controlled by the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), which hails from and claims to represent the Tigray region whose inhabitants account for not more than 6% of Ethiopia’s population;
HAVING witnessed the gross human and democratic rights violations committed by the regime since it came to power in 1991, proving itself to be increasingly totalitarian and brutally repressive against its own people;
HAVING read the damning periodic reports of Freedom House, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United States Department of State Human Rights Report on Ethiopia, the European Parliament (Joint) Motion for a Resolution of the Situation in Ethiopia, among others, concerning the atrocities committed by the regime;