Friday, February 17, 2017

በህዝብ ለመታመን፣ የተግባር ሰው መሆን

ጸጋየ ገብረመድህን አርአያ በሚለው የብዕር ስሙ የምናውቀው  አቶ ሙሉጌታ ሉሌ (ነብሱን ይማረውና ) በጦቢያ መጽሄት የሀምሌ 1998 እትም ላይ ባስነበበን ጽሁፍ “ በአስራ ስድስተኛው ክፍለ ዘመን ጭንቅላት የሀያ አንደኛውን ክፍለ ዘመን መግቢያ ችግሮቻችንን ለመፍታት የምንደፋደፍበትም ሁኔታ አለ ለማለት እደፈርለሁ፡፡ በዚህ የተነሳም ነው በዘመናችን የሀሳብ ትግልና የሰከነ ውይይት ብሔራዊ  ርዕይ ሊሰርጽ ያልቻለው፣በ16ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን ጭንቅላት ማሰብ በዚህ የተነሳ በዚህ ሀገር በራሳችንም በመንግሥታችንም መተማመን እንደጠፋ እንኖራለን፡ የምናምንበትና ህሊናችንን የሚኮረኩር አንዳች ኃይል በማጣትም የመንፈስ ሽባነት ያደረብን ይመስላል፡፡ ”ብሎ ነበር፡፡
ይህ ጽሁፍ ለንባብ  ከበቃ ዘጠኝ አመታትን ያስቆጠረ ቢሆንም ዛሬም በትናንት አስተሳሰብ ስሜትና ፍላጎት በዛሬ ላይ ሽምጥ መጋለብ የሚቃጣቸው አሉና መልእክቱ አዲስ በመሆኑ ነው የታወሰኝና የጠቀስኩት፡፡በትናትት አስተሳሰብ ሲባል እድሜ አይወስነውም የ“ያ ” ወይም የ “ይህ” ትውልድ አባል መሆን አለመሆንም አይገድበውም፡፡ እድሜአቸው የትናንት አስተሳሰበቸው ከዘመኑ ጋር የሚዘምን የመኖራቸውን ያህል እድሜአቸው የዛሬ ሆኖ አስተሳሰባቸውም ሆነ ድርጊታቸው ከአባት አያቶቻቸው ዘመን ነቅነቅ ያላለ  መኖራቸውን ራሳቸው ከሚናገሩት ከሚጽፉትና ቢችሉም ሊያደርጉ ከሚሞክሩት መረዳት ለይቶ ማወቅም ይቻላል፡፡
እንዲህ አይነቶቹ ሰዉን ሁሉ በእነርሱ የአስተሳሰብ መጠን የሚያዩ በመሆናቸው እነርሱ ወደ ብዙሀኑ በመምጣት ከዘመኑ ጋር ለመዘመን አይጣጣሩም፡፡እንደውም ራሳቸውን የሁሉ ነገር አዋቂና መፍትሄ አምጪ አድርገው በመውሰድ ሌሎች የሚያራምዱትን አስተሳሰብ ያጣጥላሉ፣እነርሱ ከሳሎናቸው ሳይወጡ በለውጡ መንገድ ክንድም ሆነ ርምጃ እየተጓዙ ያሉትን ይኮንናሉ፡፡ ከእነዚህ ጎን መሰለፍ ጅልነት በገንዘብ መርዳትም አላዋቂነት አንደሆነ አድርገው ይጮኸሉ፡፡
ከዚህ ሁሉ በላይ አሳዛኙ ቢቻልም አጠያያቂው እነዚህ በአብዛኛው ከሀገር አወጣጣቸው በምንም ይሁን በየት ኑሮአቸውን ከሀገር ውጪ ያደረጉ በቀጥታም ይሁን በተዘዋዋሪ የወያኔ በትር የማያርፍባቸው ወገኖች ሀገር ቤት እለት በእለት ፍዳ መከራውን እያ ባለው ህዝብ የፖለቲካ ቁማር ለመጫወት መከጀላቸው ነው፡፡ ህዝቡ የወያኔን ገዛዝ የተሸከመበት ጫንቃው ተልጦ፣ እህህ እያለ ኑሩ ቆሽቱን አሳርሮት፣ ሁሉ  ነገር ከሚችለው በላይ ሆኖበት በቃኝ ብሎ አደባባይ ወጥቶ ጠመንጃ ከወደረ ኃይል ጋር በባዶ እጁ እየተጋፈጠ መስዋዕት ሲሆን የቁስለኛና የሙት ፎቶ በመለጠፍ ለሸቅል ሲጣደፉ ታዝበናል፡፡ የትግሉ አነሳሽ፣ የጉዞውም መንገድ ቀያሽ እነርሱ እንደሆኑ አድርገው ፕሮፓጋንዳ ሲነዙ በዚህም እኔ ነኝ እኔ ነኝ ሲወዛገቡ ሰምተን አጀኢብ ብለናል፡፡ ነገሩ “ሽልም ከሆነ ይገፋል ቦርጭም ከሆነ ይጠፋል” እንዲሉ ሆነና የህዝቡ ትግል ጋብ ሲል እነርሱም ድራሻቸው ጠፋ፡፡
ህዝቡ ሁሉንም  ይታዘባል፣ ንግግርን ከተግባር እያነጻጸረ ይመዝናል፡፡ እነርሱ ግን በትናንት አስተሳሰብ ተጋርደው ዛሬም እንደ ትናንቱ በፕሮፓጋንዳ የህዝብን ድጋፍ ማግኘት ይቻል መስሎአቸው፣ ወያኔን መስደብና በአየር ላይ መፎከር  ተቀዋሚ ያሰኝ መስሎአቸው፣በዘር መደራጀትና የጥላቻ ስብከት ደጋፊ የሚያበዛ መስሎአቸው የህዝቡን የማስተዋል ብቃት ከቁብ ባለመቁጠርና ትናንት ዛሬ አለመሆኑን ለመገንዘብ የሚያስችል አስተውሎት በማጣት በጀመሩት መንገድ ቀጥለዋል፡፡በቃልም ሆነ በጽሁፍ ከሚለገሳቸው ህዝቡም በተግባር ከሚያሳያቸው ለመማር የሚፈቅዱም አልሆኑ፡፡
ለማናቸውም አንቅሰቃሴ ውጤታማነት ጅምሩ ራስን፣ ጠላትን ሕዝቡን በሚገባ ማወቅ ላይ የተመሰረተ መሆን እንዳለበት ባለሙያዎች ይመክራሉ፡፡ የራስን ትክክለኛውን ወርድና ቁመት፣አቅምና ብቃት፣ወዘተ ማወቅ ካልተቻለ መነሻ ዓላማ፣ መድረሻ ግብ፣ ወደ ግቡ ማቅኛው መንገድ/የትግል አይነትና ሰልት፣ ተብሎ የሚዘጋጀው መነሻው ከራስ ትክክለኛ ማንነት የመነጨ ባለመሆኑ ከንቱ ነው ፡፡ ለዚህም ነው እንዳንዶች ወዴት እንደሚያመሩ ብቻ ሳይሆን ማንንና ለምን እንደሚታገሉ  ለዳር ተመልካች ቀርቶ ለራሳቸው ግራ ሲጋቡ የሚታዩት፡፡
በአንጻሩ ከመነሻቸው ራሳቸውን በሚገባ አውቀው፣ ጠላታቸውን በቅጡ መዝነው፣ ህዝቡንም ተረድተው ትግሉን የጀመሩት ወገኖች የወያኔ አገዛዝ ያስመረረውና የድሉ ቀን የናፈቀው ሕዝብ በሚመኘው መጠን መንቀሳቀስ ባይችሉም የጉዞአቸው መስመር ለሁሉም በግልጽ ታውቋል ፣ ባቡሩሀዲዱን ተቆናጧል፣ አሽከርካሪው መሪውን ጨብጧል፡፡ ፍጥነት መዘግየቱን የሚወስኑ ውስጣዊም ውጫዊም ሁኔታዎች መኖራቸው አሌ የማይባል በመሆኑ የእውነተኛ ሀገር ወዳድ ነጻነት ናፋቄና ኢትዮጵያ ዴሞክራሲያዊት ሀገር ሆና ለማየት የሚጓጓ ወይንም ለልጆቹ የሚመኝ  ፍጥነቱን የሚያዘገዩ ነገሮችን ለማስወገድ በየሚችለው አቅም መረባረብ ነው ቅዱሱ ተግባር፡፡
በሰራተኝነት ቀርቶ በተጓዥነት እንኳን ባቡሩ ላይ ሳይሳፈሩ አረ እንደውም ባቡሩ የሚጓዝበት ሀዲድ የተዘረጋበትን መስመር አንኳን ሳያውቁ ( ለማዘግም ለመፍጠኑ አስተዋጽኦ አለውና) በርቀት ተቀምጦ ባቡሩ ለምን አይፈጥንም እያሉ መጠየቅ፣ ከዚህ አልፎም ለባበሩ ፍጥነት አንቅፋት ሊሆኑ የሚችሉ ተግባራትን ለመፈጸም መቃተት በምንም መመዘኛ ጤናማ ተግባር ሊሆን አይችልም፡፡ የግንቦት ሰባት አባል ነህ የሚል ከቁብ የማልቆጥረው ውርጅብኝ እንደሚገጥመኝ ባውቅም እዚህ ጋር  አንድ ጥያቄ ልጠይቅ፣ ከሚስቱ እቅፍ ውስጥ ያልወጣ ወንድ ግንቦት ሰባቶች ለምን ውጊያ ገጥመው አያሳዩንም? ለምን አንድ ከተማ፣መንደር ኮረብታ ተቆጣጥረው የድል ከበሮ አይደልቁም? ወዘተ እያለ  ጩኸት ሲያሰማ የወዳጅ ወይንስ የጠላት?
አብዛኛው ሰው ግን ባቡሩ ሀዲዱን መያዙን ጉዞም መጀመሩን በሚገባ ተረድቷል፡፡ወደ መዳረሻ ግቡ የሚደርሰበት የጉዞ ግዜ ማጠር መርዘም የሚወሰነውም በአሽከርካሪውና በሌሎቹ ሰራተኞች እንዲሁም በተሳፋሪዎቹ ትጋትና ፍላጎት ብቻ አለመሆኑን አውቋል፡፡ በመሆኑም ነው ለጉዞው አለመፍጠን ምክንያት ሊሆኑ የሚችሉ ነገሮችን  ለማስወገድ  በሚችለው አቅም በእውቀቱ፣ በገንዘቡ፣ በጉልበቱ  ወዘተ የተሰለፈው፡፡ እግረ መንገድ እዚህ ጋር አንድ ነገር ልበል፣  በማወቅም ሆነ ባለማወቅ  ሕዝቡ ትብብሩን እያሳየ ነው፣ እየተባበረ ነው፣ ወዘተ የሚለው አገላለጽ የትግሉን  ባለቤት ሌላ ስለሚያደርገው ተገቢ ሆኖ አልታየኝም፡፡ የተሳትፎው ደረጃ ምንም ይሁን ምን የነጻነት ትግሉ ዋንኛ ባለቤት ህዝቡ ነው፡፡
ሰሞኑን በ42 የተለያዩ የዓለማችን ክፍሎች የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን በአንድ ቀን ለአርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት  ያካሄዱት የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ፕሮግራም አንደም ህዝቡ የትግሉ ባለቤት መሆኑን፣ ሁለትም ባቡሩ ጉዞ መጀመሩንና ለፍጥነቱ የእነርሱ አስተዋጽኦ አስፈላጊ እና ምን መሆኑን መገንዘባቸውን፣ ሶስተኛም መጽሀፍ ቅዱስ ከፍሬአቸው ታውቁአቸዋላችሁ እንዳለው  ህዝቡ አርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባትን በተግባሩ መዝኖ አውቆ የተቀበለው እና አመኔታውን የቸረው መሆኑን ያረጋገጠ ነው፡፡
ይህ የህዝብ አመኔታ ለአርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት አመራርና አባላት አንቅልፍ ነሺ አደራ ይመስለኛል፡፡ ድርጅቱ የሰው ስብስብ እንደመሆኑ መሪም ተመሪም ሁሉም እኩል የዓላማ ጽናት፣ የትግል ቁርጠኝነት ከራስ በላይ የማሰብ ብቃት በእኩል ባይሆንም በተመጣጠነ ደረጃ ይኖራቸዋል ብሎ ማሰብ አይቻልም፡፡ ነገር ግን በየግዜው ህዝቡ የሚያሳየው አመኔታና የሚያደርገው የትግል  አስተዋጽኦ ለሁሉም በእኩል የሚታይና የሚሰማ እንደመሆኑ የድርጅቱ አባላት በተለይ በመጀመሪያው የትል ምዕራፍ ላይ የሚገኙት  አደራውን በእኩል ስሜት መቀበልና ከዓላማየ ብዛነፍ፣  በአለማዊ ነገር ከጉዞየ ብደናቀፍ…..ብለው ለየራሳቸው ቃል ኪዳን በመግባት ተከባብረውና ተደጋግፈው ወደ ፊት በመጓዝ የህዝቡን የነጻነት ቀን ለማፋጠን መጣር ይገባቸዋል፡፡
በአንጻሩ ግልጽ የሆነ መነሻ ዓላማ፣ መድረሻ ግብ፣ የትግል ምንነትና እንዴትነት የሌላቸውና ታጋይነታቸውን ወደ አርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት የቃላት አረር በመተኮስ እያሳዩ ያሉ ወገኖች የህዝብ ድጋፍ እንዴትና በምን ሁኔታ አንደሚገኝ ከዚህ ከሰሞኑ ተግባር ቢማሩ የሚበጀው ለራሳቸው ነው፡፡ “ጨው ለራስህ ብለህ ጣፍጥ” እንደሚባለው ማለት ነው፡፡  እነርሱ  በይህን ያህል ከተማ  ቀርቶ በአንድ ከተማ አንኳን ስብሰባ ለመጥራት ምን ያህል እንደሚቸገሩ ከተሳካላቸውም ምን ያህል ሰው እንደሚገኝላቸው የሚያውቁት ነው፡፡ እድሜ ለዘመኑ የመገናኛ ቴክኖሎጂ በቅርብም በሩቅም ያለነውም ምስል ከድምጽ በተቀናበረ መረጃ ይደርሰናልና እናውቃለን፡፡
ቀና ልቡና ካለ፣ እውነተኛ ዓላማ ካለ፣ በርግጥ የሚታገሉት ለዴሞክራሲ ከሆነ፣ ይህ ራስን ለመፈተሽና አካሄድን ለማስተካከል ጥሩ ማሳያ ነው፡፡ ከዚህ በተቃራኒ ግን የተሳካውን በሰይጣናዊ ቅናት ማየት፣ ላልተሳካው ሰበብ ምክንያት መደርደር ለማንም ሳይሆን ለራሳቸው ለባለቤቶቹ አይበጅም፡፡ ስኬት የተግባራዊ ሥራ ውጤት ነው፡፡ በቅስቀሳ ብቻ ህዝብን ማነሳሳት፣ በፕሮፓጋንዳ  ብቻ ድጋፍ ማግኘት፣ ወያኔን በማውገዝና በመስደብ ብቻ ተቀዋሚ መባል ዛሬ ግዜው አይደለም፡፡
ህዝቡ በዚህ መንገድ ብዙዎቹን አምኖ ተከትሎአቸው መሀል መንገድ ጥለውት ተቀይሰዋል፣ ኪሱን እያራቆተ ረድቷቸው በየመድረኩ እየተገኘ አጨብጭቦላቸውና ከእናንት ወዲያ ታጋይ ለአሳር ብሎ አሞግሶ አክብሮአቸው የተናገሩትን ሆነው ሊያገኛቸው አልቻለም፡፡እናም ሕዝቡ ከትናንት በበቂ ተምሯልና  ዛሬ መመዘኛው ቃል ሳይሆን ተግባር ነው፡፡ እናም የህዝቡን ድጋፍ ለማግኘት ወሳኙ ነገር በተግባር መገኘት ነው፡፡ አርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባትም  ይህ የህዝብ አመኔታ እየጠነከረ እንጂ እየላላ እንዳይሄድ አሜኔታ ያተረፈበትን ምክንያት መረዳትና አጥብቆ መቀጠል ይኖርበታል፡፡
በመጨረሻም፣ከምር ለዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት እውን መሆን የምትታገሉ ወገኖች ከትናንት በስቲያና ትናንት እናንተም ሆናችሁ የቀደመው ትውልድ ያራመዳችሁት አስተሳሰብም ሆነ የሄዳችሁበት መንገድ ወደ ግባችሁ ማድረስ ቀርቶ በትክክለኛው መቃረቢያ መንገድ ላይ እንዳላቆማችሁ ተገንዛባችሁ የዛሬ ችግር በትናንት አስተሳሰብ፣ የዛሬ ጉዙ በትናንት ማጓጓዣ አንደማይሳካም ከራሳችሁ ልምድ ተምራችሁ ከዘመኑ ጋር ለመዘመን ነገ ሳይሆን ዛሬ፣ በዝግታ ሳይሆን በፍትነት መለወጥ ጀምሩ፡፡ ያ ሲሆን ለምንና ማንን አንደምትታገሉ፣ጥርት ብሎ ይታያችኋል፣ከራስ በላይ በማሰብም በሀገር ጉዳይ በዴሞክራሲ ጉዳይ ከማንም በተግባር ከሚንቀሳቀስ ጋር ሁሉ ለመተባበር የሚገዳችሁ አትሆኑም፡፡ ይሄ ሆነ ማለት ደግሞ የነጻነታችን ቀን ቀረበ ማለት ነው፡፡ ፈጣሪ ለዚህ ይርዳን፡፡
በጥቅስ እንደገባሁ ሁሉ በጥቅስ ልውጣ፣ አብርሀም ሊንከን ናቸው አሉ የተናገሩት  አንድ ዛፍ ለመቁረጥ 6 ሰአት ብትሰጠኝ 4ቱን ሰአት መጥረቢያ በመሳል አሳልፋለሁ፣2ቱን ሰአት ለመቁረጥ፡፡ መጥረቢያ ሳትይዙ ዛፍ መቁረጥ የሚያምራችሁም ሆናችሁ  የዶለዶመ መጥረቢያ ይዛችሁ እየደከማችሁ ያላችሁ  ይህች የአብርሀም ሊንከን የተሞክሮ ውጤት የሆነችውን አጭር አባባል በአንክሮ ብታጤኗት፡፡

Ethiopia: Dominic Grieve leads cross party call for death row Brit’s return

— A former Attorney General, Lord Chancellor and Director of Public Prosecutions have written to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urging him to reconsider his approach to a British father on death row in Ethiopia.
Conservative MP Dominic Grieve
Conservative MP Dominic Grieve
Conservative MP Dominic Grieve, Labour’s Lord Falconer and Lib Dem peer Ken MacDonald have signed a joint letter raising concerns about Andy Tsege, a British father of three from London.
Mr Tsege has been held under sentence of death since he was kidnapped and illegally rendered to Ethiopia by the country’s forces in 2014.
The trio of QCs criticise the Foreign Office’s approach to Mr Tsege’s case, which has focused on requesting a lawyer for Mr Tsege rather than seeking his return to the UK.
In the letter, the authors said that “The British Government’s emphasis on securing Mr Tsege a lawyer ignores statements by the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister confirming that ‘there is no appeal process’ available to Mr Tsege”.
“If there is no legal remedy available to Mr Tsege, it is hard to see how legal representation will help him in any way”, they add.
Mr Johnson has refused to call for Mr Tsege’s release, claiming that the British government does not interfere in foreign judicial proceedings.
UK “stands shoulder to shoulder” with Ethiopia
Andargachew Tsege and his family
However, the letter points out that “there are several recent examples in which the Government has intervened and sometimes been able to secure the release of British nationals arbitrarily detained abroad”, citing cases in China and Saudi Arabia.
The authors go on to highlight the importance of Mr Tsege’s case to the “rules-based international system”. They argue that “To not interfere on Mr Tsege’s behalf would be to permit an impermissible abuse of the international system and the flagrant circumvention of the UK legal system, which occurred when the Ethiopians failed to request Mr Tsege’s extradition.”
The letter concludes by asking Boris Johnson to “call for Mr Tsege’s immediate release to his family in London”.
Harriet McCulloch, deputy director of Reprieve’s death penalty team, said: “This is a wake up call for Boris Johnson to step up and start negotiating Andy Tsege’s return to the UK. Boris Johnson must listen to warnings from a former Attorney General, Lord Chancellor and DPP that Ethiopia has broken British law by snatching Andy abroad and locking him on death row. After three years in terrible conditions on Ethiopia’s death row it is high time Andy is reunited with his family in London.”
- See more at: http://ecadforum.com/2017/02/17/ethiopia-dominic-grieve-leads-cross-party-call-for-death-row-brits-return/#sthash.RZ2WgaBk.dpuf

Ethiopia: Peaceful Protest to Armed Uprising

What began as a regional protest movement in November 2015, is in danger of becoming a fully-fledged armed uprising in Ethiopia.
Robles in Northern Ethiopia
Robles in Northern Ethiopia
Angered and exasperated by the governments intransigence and duplicity, small guerrilla groups made up of local armed people have formed in Amhara and elsewhere, and are conducting hit and run attacks on security forces. Fighting at the beginning of January in the North West region of Benishangul Gumuz saw 51 regime soldiers killed, ESAT News reported, and in the Amhara region a spate of incidents has occurred, notably a grenade attack on a hotel in Gondar and an explosion in Bahir-Dah.
In what appears to be an escalation in violence, in Belesa, an area north of Gondar, a firefight between ‘freedom fighters’, as they are calling themselves, and the military resulted in deaths on both sides. There have also been incidents in Afar, where people are suffering the effects of drought; two people were recently killed by security personnel, others arrested. The Afar Human Rights Organization told ESAT that the government has stationed up to 6000 troops in the region, which has heightened tensions and fuelled resentment.
Given the government’s obduracy, the troubling turn of events was perhaps to be expected. However, such developments do not bode well for stability in the country or the wider regionand enable the ruling regime to slander opposition groups as ‘terrorists’, and implement more extreme measures to clamp down on public assembly in the name of ‘national security’.
Until recently those calling for change had done so in a peaceful manner; security in the country – the security of the people – is threatened not by opposition groups demanding human rights be observed and the constitution be upheld, but by acts of State Terrorism, the real and pervasive menace in Ethiopia.
Oppressive State of Emergency
Oromia and Amhara are homelands to the country’s two biggest ethnic groups, together comprising around 65% of the population. Demonstrations began in Oromia: thousands took to the streets over a government scheme to expand Addis Ababa onto Oromo farmland (plans later dropped), and complaints that the Oromo people had been politically marginalised. Protests expanded into the Amhara region in July 2016, concerning the appropriation of fertile land in the region by the authorities in Tigray – a largely arid area.
The regime’s response has been consistently violent and has fuelled more protests, motivated more people to take part, and brought supressed anger towards the ruling EPRDF to the surface. Regional, issue-based actions, quickly turned into a nationwide protest movement calling for the ruling party, which many view as a dictatorship, to step down, and for democratic elections to be held.
Unwilling to enter into dialogue with opposition groups, and unable to contain the movement that swept through the country, in October 2016 the government imposed a six-month ‘State of Emergency’. This was necessary, the Prime Minister claimed, because, “we want to put an end to the damage that is being carried out against infrastructure projects, education institutions, health centers, administration and justice buildings,” and claimed, that “we put our citizens’ safety first”.
The extraordinary directive, which has dramatically increased tensions in the country, allows for even tighter restrictions to be applied – post an update on Facebook about the unrest and face five years imprisonment – and is further evidence of both the government’s resistance to reform and its disregard for the views of large sections of the population.
The directive places stifling restrictions of basic human rights, and as Human Rights Watch (HRW) states, goes “far beyond what is permissible under international law and signals an increased militarized response to the situation.”
Among the 31 Articles in the directive, ‘Communication instigating Protest and Unrest’ is banned, which includes using social media to organize public gatherings; so too is ‘Communication with Terrorist Groups’, this doesn’t mean the likes of ISIS, which would be reasonable, but relates to any individual or group who the regime themselves define as ‘terrorists’; i.e., anyone who publicly disagrees with them.
The independent radio/TV channel, ESAT (based in Europe and America) as well as Oromia Media meet the terrorist criteria and are high up the excluded list. Public assembly without authorization from the ‘Command Post’ is not allowed; there is even a ban on making certain gestures, “without permission”. Specifically crossing arms above the head to form an ‘X’, which has become a sign of national unity against the regime, and was bravely displayed by Ethiopian marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa, at the Rio Olympics (where he won a silver medal).
If anyone is found to have violated any of the draconian articles they can be arrested without charge and imprisoned without due process. The ruling regime, which repeatedly blames so called ‘outside forces’ for fueling the uprising – Eritrea and Egypt are cited – says the new laws will be used to coordinate the security forces against what it ambiguously calls “anti-peace elements”, that want to “destabilize the country”.
Shortly after the directive was passed, the government arrested “1,645 people”, the New York Times reported, of which an astonishing 1,220 “were described as ringleaders, the rest coordinators, suspects and bandits.”
All of this is taking place in what the ruling regime and their international benefactors laughably describe as a democracy. Ethiopia is not, nor has it even been, a democratic country. The ruling EPRDF party, which, like the military, is dominated by men from the small Tigray region (6% of the population) in the North of the country, came to power in the traditional manner – by force; since its accession in 1992 it has stolen every ‘election’.
No party anywhere legitimately wins 100% of the parliamentary seats in an election, but the EPRDF, knowing their principle donors – the USA and UK – would sanction the result anyway, claimed to do so in 2015. The European Union, also a major benefactor, did, criticise the result; however, much to the fury of Ethiopians around the world, President Obama speaking after the whitewash, declared that the “elections put forward a democratically elected government.”
Government Reaction
Since the start of the protests the Government has responded with forceNobody knows the exact number of people killed, hundreds certainly (HRW say around 500), thousands possibly. Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, probably tortured, definitely mistreated; family members of protestors, journalists and opposition politicians, are intimidated and routinely persecuted. And whilst 10,000 people have recently been released, local groups estimate a further 70,000 remain incarcerated and the government has initiated a new wave of arrests in which young people have been specifically targeted.
Amongst the list of violent state actions – none of which have been independently investigated – the incident at Bishoftu, which many Ethiopians describe as a massacre, stands out. On October 2nd millions of ethnic Oromos gathered to celebrate at the annual Irreecha cultural festival. There was a heavy, intimidating military presence including an army helicopter; anti-government chants broke out, people took to the stage and crossed their arms in unity. At this democratic act, security forces responded by firing live ammunition and teargas into the crowd.
The number of casualties varies depending on the source; the government would have us believe 55 people died, though local people and opposition groups claim 250 people were killed by security forces. The ruling regime makes it impossible to independently investigate such incidences or to verify those killed and injured, but HRW states that, “based on the information from witnesses and hospital staff…it is clear that the number of dead is much higher than government estimates.”
A week after the Nightmare at Bishoftu, the ruling party enforced its State of Emergency. Another ill-judged pronouncement that has entrenched divisions, strengthened resolve and plunged the country into deeper chaos. Such actions reveal a level of paranoia, and a failure to understand the impact of repressive rule. With every controlling violent action the Government takes, with every innocent person that it kills or maims, opposition spreads, resistance intensifies, resolve grows stronger.
Enough!
The Ethiopian revolt comes after over two decades of rule by the EPRDF, a party whose approach, despite its democratic persona, has been intensely autocratic. Human rights declared in the liberally worded constitution are totally ignored: dissent is not allowed nor is political debate or regional secession – a major issue for the Ogaden region, which is under military control.
There is no independent media – it is all state owned or controlled, as is access to the Internet; journalists who express any criticism of the ruling regime are routinely arrested, and the only truly autonomous media group, ESAT is now classed as a terrorist organization. Add to this list the displacement of indigenous people to make way for international industrial farms; the partisan distribution of aid, employment opportunities and higher education places; the promulgation of ethnic politics in schools, plus the soaring cost of living, and a different, less polished Ethiopian picture begins to surface of life than the one painted by the regime and donor nations – benefactors who, by their silence and duplicity, are complicit in the actions of the EPRDF government.
People have had enough of such injustices. Inhibited and contained for so long, they have now found the strength to demand their rights and stand up to the bully enthroned in Addis Ababa. The hope must be that change can be brought about by peaceful means and not descend into a bloody conflict. For this to happen the government needs to adopt a more conciliatory position and listen to the people’s legitimate concerns.
This unprecedented uprising may be held at bay for a time, restrained by force and unjust legislation, but people rightly sense this is the moment for change; they will no longer cower and be silenced for too much has been sacrificed by too many.
- See more at: http://ecadforum.com/2017/02/17/ethiopia-peaceful-protest-to-armed-uprising/#sthash.Sca6eNGw.dpuf