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Monday 23 January 2012 Ethiopia: Copyrights and CopyCrimes By Alemayehu G. Mariam, Crimes Against the Mind If a person were to maliciously burn or vandalize another’s house, it would be regarded as a serious property crime under the laws of any nation. If one were to walk into a bookstore and steal thousands of books and give them away to any passerby, that would also be a major property crime. How about taking a copyrighted book, scanning it and making it available to anyone in digital form online? Is that a serious criminal act? Is it also an immoral and depraved act? Is it fair? When a publisher, author or artist produces a book, a piece of music, a painting or other similar work, s/he is creating intellectual property which is as valuable as any other kind of property recognized by law. Just as doctors, lawyers, engineers and others make a living by practicing their professions, those in the literary, artistic and publishing communities make their living from marketing their intellectual creations. But the total disrespect and contempt shown by some individuals to the intellectual property rights of Ethiopian musicians, artists and authors is downright sickening and maddening. [ Read the rest... ]
Ethiopia: Ethiopia rebels say holding two Germans after attack By Reuters, ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - An Ethiopian rebel group said at the weekend it had kidnapped two German tourists and two Ethiopians, adding that they were safe, in good health and could be released unharmed. The four were part of a group of 27 tourists attacked on Tuesday in the remote region of Afar in Ethiopia. Two Germans, two Hungarians and an Austrian were killed in the ambush. "We can ... confirm that those German nationals who were taken together with the Ethiopian soldiers are safe and in good health," the rebel Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF) said in a statement dated January 21. "We can ensure that their peaceful release will be granted through peaceful negotiation ... through the Afar elders in the region." [ Read the rest... ]
Friday 20 January 2012 Ethiopia: Terrorism verdict quashes free speech Drop Case and Free Five Convicted after Unfair Trial Human Rights Watch (HRW) The Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012, convicted three Ethiopian journalists, an opposition leader, and a fifth person under an anti-terrorism law that violates free expression and due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The Ethiopian government should immediately drop the case, release the defendants, and investigate their allegations of torture in detention. The journalists are Woubshet Taye Abebe of the now-closed weekly newspaper Awramba Times, Reeyot Alemu Gobebo of the weekly newspaper Feteh, and Elias Kifle, editor of the online Ethiopian Review, who was tried in absentia. [ Read the rest... ]
Thursday 19 January 2012 Ethiopia: Eritrea: Attack Stirs Ethiopia, Eritrea Tensions By SOLOMON MOORE, NAIROBI—Tensions rose between Ethiopia and Eritrea on Wednesday, after officials from the two hostile east African neighbors blamed each other for the killing of five European tourists along their border. Ethiopian spokesman Bereket Simon said gunmen who carried out Monday's attack in the Afar region of northeastern Ethiopia, about 25 kilometers from the Eritrean border, near the active Erta Ale volcano, were members of "subversive groups trained and armed by the Eritrean government." He didn't offer evidence to support his claim. Eritrea's foreign ministry called the accusation a "ludicrous" smear campaign, saying in a statement that Ethiopia has long been host to home-grown, armed opposition groups. Eritrean officials said the attack took place in Ethiopian territory, and is an Ethiopian matter. [ Read the rest... ]
Ethiopia: Journalists, politician found guilty (AP) ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A lawyer in Ethiopia says that a judge has found a group of three journalists, a politician and one other person guilty of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. The five were arrested in June under Ethiopia's controversial anti-terrorism laws. Ethiopian government spokesman Shimeles Kemal had said the five were involved in planning attacks on infrastructure, telecommunications and power lines. Alemu Gobebo, a private lawyer and a father of one of the defendants, said Thursday that the five were found guilty. They could face the death sentence. Sentencing is Jan. 26. Alemu called the trial politically motivated. Rights groups have been calling for the release of the journalists.
Wednesday 18 January 2012 Ethiopia: Tourists kidnapped after deadly Afar attack By BBC, At least four people have been kidnapped and five foreign tourists killed in an attack near the Eritrean border, the Ethiopian government says. German, Hungarian and Austrian nationals were killed in Monday's attack in the remote Afar region, official spokesman Bereket Simon said. Two German tourists and an Ethiopian policeman and driver were then abducted, he said. Eritrea has denied the accusation by Ethiopia that it was behind the attack. The tourists are believed to have been visiting a volcanic region in Afar - which correspondents describe as extremely hot and inhospitable - when they were attacked late on Monday. [ Read the rest... ]
Tuesday 17 January 2012 Ethiopia: Forced Relocations Bring Hunger, Hardship  By HRW | January 17, 2012 Donor Funds Should Not Facilitate Abuse of Indigenous Groups (London, January 17, 2012) – The Ethiopian government under its “villagization” program is forcibly relocating approximately 70,000 indigenous people from the western Gambella region to new villages that lack adequate food, farmland, healthcare, and educational facilities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. State security forces have repeatedly threatened, assaulted, and arbitrarily arrested villagers who resist the transfers. The report, “‘Waiting Here for Death’: Forced Displacement and ‘Villagization’ in Ethiopia’s Gambella Region,” examines the first year of Gambella’s villagization program. It details the involuntary nature of the transfers, the loss of livelihoods, the deteriorating food situation, and ongoing abuses by the armed forces against the affected people. Many of the areas from which people are being moved are slated for leasing by the government for commercial agricultural development. [ Read the rest... ]
Monday 16 January 2012 Ethiopia: The OLF New Mission  Our vision: 1.To see New Federal Republic of Ethiopia where the Oromo people contiguously live in freedom, peace, prosperity, and the Country where individuals rights and group rights are respected and protected. 2.To see the Country where all nations and nationalities’ languages and customs are equally respected and protected, and where the Oromo language and Amharic languages equally serve as official language of New Democratic Federal Republic of Ethiopia. 3.To see a Country where all of its people are equally benefited from the system, live with a national pride, and contribute to its welfare with a clear vision and trustful belongings. 4.To see a Country where its people can live and prosper together peacefully and respectfully without fear, hate and despise one another. [ Read the rest... ]
Ethiopia: Middle Passage to the Middle East By Alemayehu G/mariam From the International Slave Trade to the International Maid Trade In the days of the Atlantic slave trade, the Middle Passage was the journey of slave trading ships from the west coast of Africa to the New World. Portuguese, British, French, Spanish, Dutch and other slave traders maintained outposts along the African coast to transact their business with their local slave raiding partners. Millions of African slaves were sold or traded for manufactured goods or raw materials. In the grueling journey, the slaves were often shackled and chained to the floor to gain maximum cargo capacity. Many died from disease, starvation, dehydration and suffocation. Many also committed suicide by jumping overboard. Those who resisted their masters were beaten and even killed. Plantation owners treated the slaves like cattle; and those working in the fields were often flogged and beaten. Female slaves were the objects of sexual desire and abuse by their masters. The law required runaway slaves (“fugitive slaves”) who escaped their bondage to be returned to their masters who punished them severely. [ Read the rest... ]
Ethiopia: The integrity of public writing By Ephrem Madebo, The recent land mark program change decision by one of the OLF factions has created a political wave that rocked political actors, civic society leaders and everyday Ethiopians from San Francesco to London, from Norway to Down Under and in all localities of Ethiopia. As important and as bold the decision was, the seemingly seismic waves it created should never be a surprise. In fact, the shocking surprise would have been if it didn’t. The news of the event was reported and repeatedly sliced and diced by radio stations, writers, paltlak rooms, bloggers, websites and social media within the Ethiopian community. The purpose of this article is not to add on what has already been said. The focus of this paper is to have a closer look at Jawar Mohamed’s most recent article - Much ado about nothing - and to emphasize that, as important as writing is in any society, it is equally rather more important that writers check and cross check their facts and hold themselves accountable for every fact that they feed the public. Jawar concluded his article with the following Amharic proverb: “alebabsew biyarsu barem yimelsu”. Well, please allow me to start mine with another proverb: “Be afe yetefu belefelefu” [ Read the rest... ]
Ethiopia: Standing with Ethiopia's tenacious blogger, Eskinder Nega By Jason McLure It would be hard to find a better symbol of media repression in Africa than Eskinder Nega. The veteran Ethiopian journalist and dissident blogger has been detained at least seven times by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government over the past two decades, and was put back in jail on September 14, 2011, after he published a column calling for the government to respect freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and to end torture in prisons. Eskinder now faces terrorism charges, and if convicted could face the death sentence. He's not alone: Ethiopia currently has seven journalists behind bars. More journalists have fled Ethiopia over the past decade than any other country in the world, according to CPJ. [ Read the rest... ]
Wednesday 11 January 2012 Ethiopia: Why ethnic-federalism deters people-centered, equitable and integrated development: commentary part one of ten By Aklog Birara, PhD “Hunger is actually the worst of all weapons of mass destruction, claiming millions of victims every year. Fighting hunger and poverty and promoting development are the truly sustainable way to achieve world peace. There will be no peace without development, and there will be neither peace nor development without justice.” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva “In a country well governed poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed wealth is something to be ashamed of.” Confucius, Chinese Philosopher Whether it is a country that is well governed such as the United States where the middle class is squeezed by the one percent rich in whose hands incomes and wealth are concentrated; or in a poorly governed country such as Ethiopia where corruption and illicit outflow from one of the two poorest countries in Africa, is now endemic, the impacts are the same. Repressive and corrupt governance entails injustice and shame for those who are left out. Poverty and injustice are sources of shame and agony, especially when these are induced by minority ethnic elite that extract billions of dollars each year from the poor, the society and country. Economic plunder is injustice; and where it exists, peace is inconceivable in the long-run. The Oxford University Multidimensional Index identifies Ethiopia as among the two poorest countries in Africa. If one gauges poverty using the African Development measurement of US$2 dollars per capita per day, ninety percent of the Ethiopian people are poor. Poverty affects all segments of society. It is perhaps the one shame that all ethnic and religious groups have in common. [ Read the rest... ]
Ethiopia: Abusive old OLF leaders short of new ideas By Robele Ababya, 11 January 2012 The new OLF’s reversal of its secession policy has no doubt sent a shockwave in the camp of Old OLF’s faction linked to the pariah dictator of Eritrea supporting the terrorist Al Shabab. The outpouring support to the new OLF has eclipsed the cry in the wilderness of the few abusive remnant disciples of the bankrupt political premise which was wrong from the start. Forty years have been wasted and precious lives have been lost all owing to intransigence to change course. Inflation is at 39.8% in Ethiopia where the TPLF propaganda machine is deafening the people by its power of monopoly over the media that the country is ranked as one of the five fastest growing economies in the world – which makes no sense to the increasingly hungry and angry masses. Therefore addressing the multiple plights of the Ethiopian people is top priority. But few turncoat Oromos, having run out of ideas, are greeting progressive options with insults. [ Read the rest... ]
Tuesday 10 January 2012 Ethiopia: Swedish journalists jailed in Ethiopia on terror charges to seek pardon By Washingtonpost.com, STOCKHOLM — Two Swedish journalists convicted of supporting terrorism in Ethiopia say they will seek a pardon from the African country’s government instead of appealing their 11-year prison terms. In a brief statement emailed Tuesday to The Associated Press by their spokeswoman Anna Roxvall, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson said “there’s a tradition of pardoning and forgiving in Ethiopia and we choose to trust in this tradition.” [ Read the rest... ]
Monday 09 January 2012 Ethiopia: OLF: Ethiopians Unite! By Alemayehu G Mariam, The great Bob Marley always sang songs of African unity and liberation: How good and how pleasant it would be before God and man, To see the unification of all Africans. Africans unite for the benefit of your people! As it's been said a'ready, let it be done! “How good and how pleasant it would be before God and man, to see unity among all Ethiopians!” This past October, I wrote a commentary encouraging all Ethiopians to use the shield of unity against the swords of those who toil to slice, dice, divide and rule them. But that commentary was intended to be not only an exhortation to all Ethiopians to unite around a common purpose and destiny, but equally, a celebration of the very idea of unity among peoples of a nation. I believe unity is the most powerful gravitational force in the life of any people or nation. [ Read the rest... ]
Saturday 07 January 2012 Oromia-Ethiopia: The ‘new’ OLF program: much ado about nothing By Jawar Mohammed, Earlier this week, one of the several OLF factions announced that it had adapted a new political program that apparently drops the ‘secessionist’ agenda. This announcement was preceded and followed by hyped fanfare by Ginbot 7 and its affiliates. The news had excited a segment of Ethiopia’s political community, long haunted by the prospect of an independent Oromia state and those democracy activists who wish to see cooperation among the opposition forces. Unfortunately, even for a casual observer of Ethiopian politics, the content of the new program does not show any substantive change nor the serious reflection the issue demands. What’s more, the exciting narrative employed to sell the supposed change to the public is at best disingenuous, misleading and distracting in the long run. [ Read the rest... ]
Thursday 05 January 2012 Ethiopia: Ethiopians Can Indeed Unite if they are Willing Part Six (e) By Aklog Birara (Ph.D.) In Part Six (d) of this last of thirteen commentaries and viewpoints, I suggested that the cry of the young woman at a large meeting of Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle with a TPLF/EPRDF delegation is a watershed event to which we all need to respond in a purposeful, coordinated and sustained manner. I continue to be struck by the question she posed not only to TPLF/EPRDF officials who were there to solicit monies but to the rest of us as well. This question is, “Where is the Ethiopian flag?” A country’s flag is not just a piece of cloth as claimed by the Ethiopian Prime Minister. It represents the country’s history, national independence and territorial integrity and the unity in diversity of its population. The minority ethnic elite that sponsored the secession of Eritrea actively, and made the country landlocked; and that incorporated Article 39 into its Constitution is wedded to a colonial type of divide and rule policy. Unfortunately, numerous ethnic based political elites subscribe to this divide and rule philosophy that works against the interests of the people they contend to represent. [ Read the rest... ]
Ethiopia: OLF - A bold move! By Robele Ababya, It was like I was hit by a thunderbolt when I heard the long yearned news that the OLF has reversed and discarded its secessionist policy at last affirming its commitment to the unity of Ethiopia and vowing to fully participate in coordinated struggles to stem tyranny in Ethiopia. I was numb for a moment and then held my breath thinking what to do. It dawned on me that I should share the stunning news with my colleagues, which I did. My friends and I unanimously agreed it was a historic moment of vital paradigm shift in view of our long held belief given that the Oromos were one of the first ethnic groups of the culturally diverse Ethiopian people from time immemorial. With that holy act of courage the new leaders of OLF have come to the fold of the majority of heroic Oromo Ethiopians with a proud history of gallantry. These leaders have bravely detached themselves from the iron grip of Isaias Afeworqi’s ruthless regime condemned by the United Nations for colluding with and helping the Al Shabab – a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda bent on destabilizing the region. [ Read the rest... ]
Wednesday 04 January 2012 Ethiopia: Army retires hundreds in major military shakeup By Tesfa-Alem Tekle, January 3, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) - The Ethiopian military has retired over three hundred long serving senior military officers, according to country’s Ministry of Defense. The Army has cut-back a total of 316 senior military officials, including 13 Generals, as part of the plans set out in Army’s leadership succession plan. This it the first major restructuring since 1991, a year which saw the brutal communist Derg regime overthrown by a coalition of rebel forces, who now make up the current ruling party, Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). Speaking to a local newspaper, The Capital, the minister of National Defense, Siraj Fegisa, said that the shake-up was well planned to avoid risks of a leadership gap. [ Read the rest... ]
2011: What a year! By Ayal-Sew Dessye Throughout human history, every year brings memorable moments, leaves unforgettable, consequential and history making events. It can be remembered for things both good and bad. Some years are remembered for destructive wars, human tragedies and miseries or environmental catastrophes; whereas remarkable human triumphs over both manmade and natural hurdles are achieved in others. From devastating earthquakes and tsunamis to draughts, hurricanes and floods; from dreadful mass starvations to ruinous and destructive wars; from continued massive human rights abuses to world-wide mass movements; from economic downturns and world-wide recession to financial crises and ensuing economic meltdown; from new scientific and outer space discoveries to incredible triumphs over long reigning dictators, etc,. 2011 has been an eventfully memorable year and one for the history books. [ Read the rest... ]
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