A plan by the Ethiopian government to expand the capital's administrative control into neighbouring states has sparked months of student protests.
Security forces have been accused of cracking down on demonstrators in the region of Oromia. The government says 17 people died in the violence, but human rights groups say that number is much higher. The BBC's Emmanuel Igunza has gained rare access to the town of Ambo where the protests took place. "Yeshi" is still trying to come to terms with the trauma of discovering the body of her son being carried through the streets of the Ethiopian city of Ambo.
A 27-year-old rickshaw driver, he had been caught up in deadly protests between the police and students in the city in April. They were demonstrating about plans to extend the administrative control of the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia state. Oromia is the country's largest region and completely surrounds Addis Ababa - and some people feared they would be forced off their land and lose their regional and cultural identity if the plans went ahead. BBC Africa ![]() July 24, 2014 (Addis Voice) – Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn faced a stinging humiliation as Azusa Pacific University (APU), whose motto is “God First”, has withdrawn an honor it had already bestowed on him. The university administration had to reverse its decision to honor Mr. Desalegn in light of gross human rights violations in Ethiopia being perpetrated by the regime he serves.The administration of the American evangelical university made the decision in an emergency meeting last Friday after this reporter raised a number of critical questions on whether honoring a human rights violator was consistent with APU’s core values and motto. The Global Alliance for the Rights of Ethiopians (GARE) also wrote a letter highlighting gross human rights violations being perpetrated by Mr. Desalegn and the TPLF-led regime he is serving. The honoring ceremony, which was slated for July 31 at the university’s Los Angeles campus, was expected to be attended by the PM and his family, foreign diplomats, the university faculty, senior U.S. and Ethiopian government officials including Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom and other ministers. ![]() Ethiopia has been a threat to the peace and stability of the Horn of Africa , the north of Africa as well as Nilotic peoples since the creation of this strange nation of Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia) .The nations of the Horn of Africa have been facing maltreatment from the successive fake regimes of Abyssinia that have been exercising a policy based on bloody-wars- the same war that the merciless TPLF-junta came to power in 1991. Abyssinia (Ethiopia) availed the competitions between European colonial powers in the black Continent,Africa. Specially the rivals of France and Italy that had been competing against each other to gain Ethiopia as their main outsourcing or to find a place for marketing for their goods; therefore, Menelik II received enormous support from Italy’s rival, France. France had been advising Ethiopian Empire of Menelik II both militarily and politically to confront Italian invasion on Abyssinia (Ethiopia) until it reached a military triumph over Italian troops. After Abyssinia (Ethiopia) gained victory over Italian forces in 1896 it had a chance to have a say among the colonial powers, which it participated in the scrambling of Horn of Africa. Menelik II started his expansionist campaign against all nations-that are now under its occupation-including : The nation of Sidama, The nation of Oromia, The nation of Afar land ,the nation of Ogaden, the nations of Gambella and Benishangul whom still resist its identity-to establish a new Empire of his own ,which was not exist before by means of extrajudicial killings and exterminating whoever dared to resist his grasping way of imperialistic attitude. ![]() Document - Ethiopia: Release prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT AI Index: AFR 25/004/2014 21 July 2014 Ethiopia: Release Prisoners of Conscience Immediately and Unconditionally On 17 July 2014, seven members of the Zone 9 blogging collective and three independent journalists were formally charged with terrorism offences and ‘Outrages against the Constitution’. Amnesty International considers the detained bloggers and journalists to be prisoners of conscience, imprisoned for peacefully exercising their freedom of expression without using or advocating violence or hatred, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release, and for the charges to be dropped against all of the accused. One of the bloggers was charged in absentia, while the remaining nine have been in detention since their arrests on 25 and 26 April 2014. At remand hearings for the detained, police were repeatedly granted additional time to conclude their investigations. Full report Three journalists and seven bloggers, in prison since April, accused of plotting “to destablize the nation”. ![]() July 18, 2014 (Al Jazeera) — A group of Ethiopian bloggers and journalists held in jail for nearly three months have been charged with terrorism for having links to an outlawed group and for planning attacks,a judge said. The seven members of the blogging collective Zone Nine and three journalists were arrested in April, prompting an outcry from rights groups who said the case was an assault on press freedom. “They took training in how to make explosives and planned to train others,” Judge Tareke Alemayehu told the court on Friday. The judge said their work was a cover for “clandestine” activities and accused them of plotting “to destabilise the nation”. Al jazeera ![]() July 10, 2014 (OgadenToday Press)- Ethiopian Ogaden’n region Rebel Group, ONLF fighting for self-determination of Ogaden Region in eastern Ethiopia steps up the attack on government Troops, a source confirmed to OgadenToday Press.A source close to regional administration confirmed to OgadenToday Press that almost 150 pro Ethiopian military militia under the command of Regional administration has been killed in the attacks. Locals see ONLF has gained some control despite the government repeatedly airs local TV, ESTV that ONLF Ogaden National Liberation Front has been weakened, a move that ONLF officials consider as a propaganda. (London) – An exiled Ethiopian opposition leader unlawfully deported by Yemen back to Ethiopia is at risk of mistreatment including torture. Andargachew Tsige is secretary-general of Ginbot 7, a banned Ethiopian opposition organization, and was convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in separate trials in Ethiopia in 2009 and 2012.
The current whereabouts of Andargachew, a British national, is unknown, raising concerns for his safety. The Ethiopian government should take all necessary steps to ensure Andargachew’s safety and his right to a fair trial. Many individuals arrested in politically related cases in Ethiopia are detained in Addis Ababa’s Maekelawi prison. In an October 2013 report, Human Rights Watch documented the use of torture by authorities against detainees in Maekelawi, including members of opposition political parties and organizations, as well as journalists. |
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October 2015
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