Obama criticised for scheduling visit to ‘oppressive’ Ethiopia

June 30, 2015 | By KEVIN J KELLEY

In summery:- Some analysts suggest that the US leader’s decision to meet with Ethiopia’s rulers reflects the overriding priority that Washington assigns to counter-terrorism initiatives in East Africa.

Human rights groups and a leading US newspaper are criticising President Barack Obama’s planned visit next month to Ethiopia.
 

“It’s almost unfathomable that he would make time for an entrenched human-rights abuser such as Ethiopia while cold-shouldering the nation that just witnessed a historic, peaceful, democratic change of power: Nigeria,” the Washington Post declared in a June 24 editorial.
 

The Obama administration has previously rebuked Ethiopian authorities for repressive practices. But the US also recently praised Ethiopia for “strengthening its democracy” and has remained silent on the results of elections last month that saw the ruling party, in power for nearly 25 years, capture every seat in the 547-member parliament. 

Ethiopia mulls tough trafficking law, including death penalty

June 30, 2015 | Source: Reuters | Author: Reuters | By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, June 30 (Reuters) - Human traffickers in Ethiopia could face life in jail or the death penalty under a bill presented to parliament on Tuesday aimed at curbing the illegal flow of people in and out of the Horn of Africa country.

The move comes two months after at least 30 Ethiopian migrants were shot and killed by Islamic State militants in Libya and after others have died while heading to Europe on rickety boats across the Mediterranean.

The legislation, proposed by the Ministry of Justice, contains a range of penalties for trafficking and smuggling including fines of up to 500,000 birr ($7,500) and the death penalty in cases where victims suffer severe injury or death.

Oromooti Sagal Hidhaa Hiikaman

Waxabajjii 30, 2015 | Oromedia

Sabboontoti Oromoo Oromummaa isaaniitiin yakkamanii wagoota turban darbaniif manneen hidhaa Itoophiyaa keessatti gidirfamaa bahan sagal hidhaa waggaa torbaa booda hiikaman.

Raadiyoon Sagalee Oromoo (OVR) akka gabaasetti, hidhamtooti siyaasaa Oromoo salgan kunneen bara 2008 keessa sababa Oromummaa isaaniitiin yakkamaniii hidhaatti kanneen guuraman turan.
Akka odeessa nu gaheetti, sabboontoti hiikaman kunneen kanneen galmee Ob. Tasfaahuun Camadaa fa’aa jalatti himatamnii turanii murtiin dabaa irratti darbee ture ta’uun beekameera.
Kanneen yeroo amma hiikaman saglan,

በ2007 በኢትዮጵያ የተካሄደውን ምርጫ በሚመለከት ከመድረክ የተሰጠ መግለጫ:- ሕገ-መንግሥታዊና ሕጋዊ የምርጫ ሥርዓት በተጣሰበት ሂደት የተከናወነው ሕገ ወጥ የምርጫ ድራማ ተቀባይነት ሊኖረው አይችልም!

June 29, 2015

ሕገ-መንግሥታዊና ሕጋዊ የምርጫ ሥርዓት በተጣሰበት ሂደት የተከናወነው ሕገ ወጥ የምርጫ ድራማ ተቀባይነት ሊኖረው አይችልም!

በሀገራችን ኢትዮጵያ የመድበለ ፓርቲ ሥርዓት እውን ሆኖ በነፃና ፍትሐዊ ምርጫ አማካይነት የሕዝባችን የሥልጣን ባለቤትነት የሚረጋገጥበት ሁኔታ በሕገ-መንግስቱ እውቅና ተሰጥቶት በይፋ ተደንግጎአል፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ ኢህአዴግ ሕገመንግሥቱንና የምርጫ ሕጎችን የጣሰ የምርጫ ድራማ በየ5 ዓመቱ በመቶ ሚሊዮኖች የሀገር ገንዘብ እያባከነ ያካሂዳል፡፡ ኢህአዴግ ይህንን የምርጫ ድራማ የሚያከሂደው፣ ወቅቱን የጠበቀ ምርጫ ማካሄድ በዓለም አቀፍ ለጋሽ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሀገሮች ዘንድ እውቅና የስገኝልኛል በሚል ተስፋ ነው፡፡ ተጨባጩ እውነታ የሚያሳየው ግን ኢህአዴግ በሥልጣን ላይ በቆየባቸው 24 ዓመታት ራሱ ያጸደቃቸውን ሕጋዊና ሕገመንግሥታዊ ድንጋጌዎችን በመርገጥ የራሱን አምባገነናዊ ገዥነት ለማስቀጠል እንዲያስችለው የሕዝብ ድምፅ መንጠቂያና ማፈኛ ሕገወጥ የምርጫ ስትራቴጂዎችን እያወጣና ሥራ ላይ እያዋለ መሆኑን ነው፡፡ የሕዝባችንን ድምፅ መቀማቱንና ማፈኑን በየምርጫ ዙሮቹ እያባባሰ መሄዱን ቀጥሎበት አሁን ለደረስንበት የ100 ፐርሰንት ቅሚያም ደርሶአል፡፡ በተለይም በ2007 ዓም በተካሄደው የ5ኛ ዙር ሀገር አቀፍ ምርጫ ሕጋዊና ሕገመንግሥታዊ ድንጋጌዎችን በማንአለብኝነት በመጣስ በአጋርነት የፈረጃቸውን ፓርቲዎች አስከትሎና ሕዝቡንና ሐቀኛ ሰላማዊ ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎችን በኃይል አፍኖ ምርጫውን በሕገወጥ መንገድ መቶ በመቶ ለመቆጣጠርና ጠቅልሎ ለመውሰድ የፈጸማቸው አስነዋሪ ተግባራት ከአንድ በመንግሥት ኃላፊነት ላይ ከሚገኝ ፓርቲ የማይጠበቁ ናቸው፡፡ አገዛዙ በዚሁ ምርጫ ከመራጮች ምዝገባ ጀምሮ ከፈጸማቸው ሕገወጥ ተግባራት ዋና ዋናዎቹ የሚከተሉት ናቸው፡፡

Goobanaa Daaccee Keenya? – A New Picture of Ras Gobana Dache Emerges; Interviews with Ob. Edao Boru, & Aad. Elizabeth Bereded, a Descendant of Ras Gobana (Via Finfinne Radio)

   PART ONE                                                                              PART TWO
    

Amnesty International Asks Ethiopia to Investigate Suspicious Murders and Human Rights Violations

June 24, 2015 | Amnesty International

The suspicious murder of opposition leaders and wide-spread human rights violations against opposition party members over the past few weeks raises questions about Ethiopia’s elections, said Amnesty International as the parliamentary poll results were announced yesterday.

The organization has also expressed concerns about the failure of the Africa Union Elections Observer Mission (AUEOM) and the National Elections Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) to properly monitor and report on allegations of wide-spread abuses before, during and after the election.

Dispatches: Alarm Bells for Ethiopia’s 100% Election Victory

June 24, 2015 | Felix Horne | Human Rights Watch

Elections where a ruling party wins 100 percent of the seats in parliament should always ring alarm bells. Results in Ethiopia from the May 24 general election, released yesterday, are no exception. According to Ethiopia’s National Electoral Board, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition won 546 parliamentary seats (with the 547th seat still to be announced).

The results shouldn’t be seen as a stamp of approval for Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s government – rather they are the inevitable outcome of a political system in which opposition parties face extraordinary challenges and nearly all avenues for citizens to engage in political debate are closed.

The seeds for this situation were sown years ago. Since the last election in 2010, in which the EPRDF won a mere 99.6 percent of parliamentary seats, political space has been further restricted: the independent media has been decimated, civil society groups virtually eliminated, and peaceful public demonstrations quelled, sometimes by force.

Author Gadaa/Tesfaye Gebre-ab on History of Macha-Tulama Association, including the Gen. Tadesse Birru vs. Prime Minister Aklilu Habtewold Confrontation

The video was previously recorded by Lagatafo Studio during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Macha-Tulama Association (and movement) in August 2014.
               

The poetics and politics of Oromo resistance

June 23, 2015 | By Awol Allo*

Oromo music has played a central role in providing alternative spaces for enunciating ‘the Oromo question’.

 

[Open Democracy]— On June 4, 2015, renowned Oromo artist Haacaaluu Hundeessaa released an intoxicating single track, Maalan Jiraa. The song condenses within itself the story of the Oromo people with impeccable acuity, waltzing between stories of pain and pride, hope and despair. Full of anguish and self-doubt, Maalan Jira is a powerful probe into the modern Oromo condition and illustrated the complex dilemma facing the Oromo nation and its struggle for political emancipation.

The Oromo are the single largest ethnic group in East Africa, comprising well over a third of Ethiopia’s 99 million people. For generations, Oromos have been relegated to the periphery of Ethiopian politics, not in spite of their numerical majority, but because of it. What makes the Oromo experience so incomprehensible is the fact that they remained one of the last oppressed majority groups of the world in a country in which identity is both the constitutive and regulative principle of political life.

Minister for Africa expresses concern over Ethiopian elections

June 23, 2015 | Press release From:Foreign & Commonwealth Office and James Duddridge MP

Minister for Africa James Duddridge calls on Ethiopian government to increase diversity in parliament and ensure the voices of all citizens are heard.