Saturday, May 4, 2013

Human right before Millinium Dam demonstration in Oslo, Norway


TPLF sentenced Eskinder Nega and Andualem Arage


ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — An Ethiopian court on Thursday dismissed the appeal of blogger Eskinder Nega and opposition leader Andualem Arage who were jailed last year for terror-related offences.

Serkalem Fasil Eskinder Nega's Wife
“I am very sad, I am very angry, I cannot talk rationally,” Eskinder’s wife Serkalem Fasil told AFP after the decision.
“The sentencing is still correct so there is no reduction,” said Supreme Court judge Dagne Melaku, confirming Eskinder’s jail term of 18 years and Andualem’s life sentence.
One of the charges — serving as a leader of a terrorist organisation — was dropped, but had no effect on sentencing.
After the ruling, Eskinder made an emotional appeal to the court which was crowded with family, friends and diplomats.
“The truth will set us free,” he said. “We want the Ethiopian public to know that the truth will reveal itself, it’s only a matter of time.”
Both men are accused of links to the outlawed opposition group Ginbot 7.
“The walls of justice will be demolished,” Andualem told AFP.
Four other men also jailed for terror-related charges had their appeal quashed.
One other defendant, however, Kinfe Michael, had his sentence reduced from 25 years to 16 years.
Rights groups have called Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism legislation vague and accuse the government of using the law to stifle peaceful dissent.
“I am very sad, I am very angry, I cannot talk rationally,” Eskinder’s wife Serkalem Fasil told AFP after the decision.
Defence lawyer Abebe Guta said that justice had not been served, and that if his clients agreed, they would appeal to court of cassation, Ethiopia’s highest court.
Who jailed Eskinder and the rest?
From left: Journalist Eskinder Nega and opposition leader Andualem Arage
Ethiopia has one of the most restricted media in the world and the highest number of journalists living in exile, according to US-based press watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Last year Eskinder was awarded the prestigious PEN America’s “Freedom to Write” annual prize.
Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the initial conviction of the Eskinder in July 2012.

Ethiopia: Terrorism Law Decimates Media


 

Woubshet Taye and Reeyot Alemu behind bars as terrorists 




(Nairobi) – The Ethiopian government should mark World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, 2013, by immediately releasing all journalists jailed under the country’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law. On May 2, 2013, the Supreme Court upheld an 18-year sentence under the anti-terrorism law for Eskinder Nega Fenta, a journalist and blogger who received the 2012 PEN Freedom to Write Award.

Eleven journalists have been convicted and sentenced since 2011 under Ethiopia’s repressive anti-terrorism law, including six in absentia. Three of the eleven are currently in prison. Two other journalists are currently on trial under the anti-terrorism law. Another journalist, Temesgen Desalegn, the editor of the now defunct independent magazine Feteh, is on trial for three offenses under the criminal code.

“Ethiopia’s journalists shouldn’t be spending World Press Freedom Day in jail on trumped-up terrorism charges,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Freeing these journalists would be an important step toward improving Ethiopia’s deteriorating record on press freedom.”

Since Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law was adopted in 2009, the independent media have been decimated by politically motivated prosecutions under the law. The government has systematically thwarted attempts by journalists to establish new publications. Blogs and Internet pages critical of the government are regularly blocked, and in 2012 printing houses came under threat for printing publications that criticized the authorities. Mastewal Birhanu, the manager of Mastewal Publishing, for example, was charged under the criminal code for printing the editions of Feteh that were the basis for the charges against Temesgen.

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly raised concerns about the anti-terrorism law’s overly broad definition of “terrorist acts.” The law’s provisions on support for terrorism contain a vague prohibition on “moral support” under which only journalists have been convicted.

One of the three journalists sentenced under the law who remain in prison is Eskinder Nega Fenta, a veteran Ethiopian journalist. He had been detained numerous times, and was sentenced in July 2012 to 18 years in prison for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, as well as participation in a terrorist organization. Eskinder’s sentence was upheld on appeal on May 2, 2013. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a panel of independent experts, concluded in November that Eskinder’s imprisonment was arbitrary and “a result of his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression.”

Woubshet Taye Abebe, who is serving a 14-year sentence under the anti-terrorism law, was a winner of the 2012 Hellman-Hammett Award, administered by Human Rights Watch. Woubshet was the deputy editor of the Awramba Times prior to his arrest in 2011.He alleged in court that he was tortured in pretrial detention, as have other defendants detained on terrorism charges. The court did not investigate his complaint.

Reeyot Alemu Gobebo, a journalist for Feteh, was convicted on three counts under the terrorism law for her writings. Her sentence was reduced from 14 years to 5 years on appeal, and she remains in prison. Reeyot was recently awarded the prestigious 2013 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. She will miss the May 3 award ceremony in Costa Rica.

Members of the international media have also been charged under the anti-terrorism law. In December 2009, two Swedish journalists, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson, were convicted for “rendering support to terrorism” and entering the country illegally “to commit an act that is a threat to the well-being of the people of Ethiopia.” They had entered the country without a visa and were arrested while investigating the situation in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region, site of a longstanding insurgency. They were pardoned and released in September 2012 after more than a year in prison.

“The journalists who have been detained and convicted have one thing in common – they were all exercising their right to freedom of expression, a right guaranteed by the Ethiopian constitution and international law,” Lefkow said.

In 2012 Hailemariam Desalegn became Ethiopia’s prime minister following the death of Meles Zenawi, under whose leadership the country experienced a sharp decline in civil and political rights – including freedom of expression. Hopes that Hailemariam’s government would improve Ethiopia’s record on free expression have been dashed by ongoingarbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists and others.

Since January 2012, members of Ethiopia’s Muslim community have held regular protests in the capital, Addis Ababa, and other towns over alleged government interference in religious affairs. The government has harassed and detained journalists who have reported on these protests. Yusuf Getachew, former editor of the now-defunct Islamic magazine Yemuslimoch Guday, was charged under the anti-terrorism law and is on trial, though the trial is closed to the public. Solomon Kebede, Getachew’s successor at the magazine, was arrested on January 17 and has also been charged under the anti-terrorism law. Prior to charges being bought, Solomon spent more than two months in pre-trial detention at Maekelawi prison in Addis Ababa, which is notorious for torture, without access to legal counsel.

The right to freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Ethiopian constitution, and in numerous African and international conventions, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Ethiopia has ratified. In November, Ethiopia was appointed to the United Nations Human Rights Council and as such has made a commitment to uphold “the highest standards of human rights as enshrined in the constitution of the country and in the international and regional human rights treaties that Ethiopia has ratified” – including rights to freedom of expression.

“As a recently appointed member of the UN’s Human Rights Council, Ethiopia should take swift steps to improve the media environment in the country,” Lefkow said. “These include immediately releasing all journalists imprisoned under the anti-terrorism law, amending the law’s worst provisions, and ending the harassment of what little independent media remains in the country.”

Monday, April 29, 2013

The Agenda of Nile Dam Fundraising Event organized by TPLF, In Oslo Norway has failed again

By Eden Abera: Sunday, 28 April 2013

On April 28,2013 The Agenda of Nile Dam Fundraising Event organized by TPLF, In Oslo Norway has failed again.

Oslo Norway April 28,2013
It was almost intolerable and angry to know and see TPLF's own agenda to bring back again the propaganda of Fundraising event for the so called development for Ethiopians in Norway when there is total ignorance of hearing the voice of the people for Justice. What comes first ? Human rights of the people in one country or construction of Dam under injustice ?

It is really a big ignorance of TPLF's to come repeatedly in Norway and announce a fundraising event for angry Ethiopians who are tired of being victims of TPLF's, hearing news of injustice all the times, who have family prisoned in Homeland , who loses a freedom of religion, who is being victimised because of Ethnicity, and with all Human right violation in Ethiopia. TPLFs came in Norway to collect a fund raising money from this Ethiopians.

They have planned to raise money again in Oslo after they failed to do it in Stavanger Norway on 20 of April 2013. It is obviously known that they are not after the money but their own propaganda of making up story how they have supporters and the same all 11% economy growth talk, they dare to do it again in Oslo but could't make it at all, it was even worse of humiliation to run away chased by the people, they changed the place of where the fundraising event will take place what they first announced ,because they were afraid what they will face again for sure but then their tactic of changing place was known immediately by the organized group of Ethiopians. So the people have got in to the place before anything has begun. It was more than three hundred people demonstrated against TPLF'S agenda. All the people who have been in the place were angry and impatient to see them and were shouting TPLF is thief,killer, we need justice,and so many slogans written like free prisoners of conscience, Free Oromo student prisoners and picture of innocent prisoners who are suffering in Ethiopia,and also demand of freedom of religion.

The united demonstration of Ethiopians in Norway could not give a breath to TPLF representatives to forward one step ahead, so that the Norwegian police were forced to stop the program and it was not possible for the representatives to make it even look like close to what they have planned to do so.
 
Finally the voice of the people for justices was louder, for there is so much injustice going on in Homeland.

The video says it all.

 
 

Sunday, April 21, 2013

ኢህአዲግ (ወያኔ) የአባይን ግድብ የቦንድ ሽያጭ በባህር ማዶ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያንን መተንኮሻ አድርጎታል

ጌታችው  ከኦስሎ


ዛሬ እነሆ በኖርዌይ እንዲህ ሆነ

Ethiopians in Norway protest, April 2013


ቪዲዮ



ከኖርዌይ ከተሞች ውስጥ በደቡባዊ ክፍል የምትገኘው ስታቫንገር ከተማ ዛሬ ሚያዝያ 12/2005 ዓም በስዊድን የኢትዮጵያ አምባሳደር ወ/ሮ መብራት በተገኙበት ለአባይ ግድብ ቦንድ ሽያጭ የተዘጋጀው ዝግጅት ከኦስሎ ከ ስምንት ሰዓታት በላይ በአውቶቡስ ተጉዘው በስብሰባው በተገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን በገጠመው ከፍተኛ ተቃውሞ ሙሉ በሙሉ ዝግጅቱ ተሰርዞ አምባሳደሯ በፖሊስ ቦታውን ለቀው እንዲሄዱ ተመክረው አዳራሹን ለቀው ወጥተዋል።

በመርሃግብሩ መክፈቻ ላይ በሥርዓት ተቀምጠው የተገኙት ኢትዮጵያውያን መርሃግብሩ ከመጀመሩ በፊት ”በዘመነ ኢህአዲግ የተገድሉትን ኢትዮጵያውያን በቅድሚያ በህሊና ፀሎት እናስብ ይህንንም ለማድረግ ሁላችንም ከተቀመጥንበት እንነሳ” በማለት አምባሳደሯም እንዲነሱ እና አብረው በፀሎት እንዲያስቡ ይጠይቃሉ።አምባሳደሯም ሆኑ አብረዋቸው የመጡት ፈቃደኛ አልሆኑም። በመቀጠል ኢትዮጵያውያኑ እንግዲያው ስለ አባይግድብ አሁን ልንነጋገር አንችልም በማለት ያስታውቃሉ።በእዚህ መሃል ከፍተኛ የተቃውሞ ድምፅ መሰማት ይጀምራል።

”ከአባይ በፊት የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰት ይገደብ!”

”የሙስሊሙ ድምፅ ይሰማ!”

”የኢትዮጵያውያን ድምፅ ይሰማ!”

”የዘር መድሎ ይቁም!” (stop apartheid in Ethiopia!”

ወዘተ… የሚሉ መፈክሮችን በማሰማት ላይ ሳሉ የኖርዌይ ፖሊስ ሁኔታውን ለማረጋጋት ሁሉም እንዲቀመጡ ይነገራቸዋል። በእዚህን ጊዜ ግን ኢትዮጵያውያኑ የኮኮብ ምልክት ያለበትን ከአምባሳደሯ ጀርባ ባለው ግድግዳ ላይ የተለጠፈውን ባንዲራ የኢህአዲግ አርማ ኮኮብ በሌለበት በኢትዮጵያ ባንዲራ ሸፍነው ጨርሰው ነበር።

Ethiopians in Norway raised Ethiopian flag

ፖሊሱ ኢትዮጵያውያንን ካስቀመጠ በኃላ ቀጥሎም ሁኔታው ደህና መሆኑን ለማስረዳት ይሞክራል። በእዚህ መሃል ኢትዮጵያውያኑ ይብሱን ቁጣቸውን በዜማ ይቀጥላሉ።

”ተከብረሽ የኖርሽው ባባቶቻችን ደም

እናት ኢትዮጵያ የደፈረሽ ይውደም የደፈረሽ ይውደም”

ይህን የተመለከቱት ፖሊሶች ኢትዮጵያውያኑን ከማስወጣት አምባሳደሯን ማስወጣት ትክክለኛ እርምጃ እንደሆነ ስለተረዱ አንዱ ፖሊስ ወደ አምባሳደሯ ቀርቦ አዳራሹን ለቀው እንዲወጡ በቃልም በእጁም መውጣት እንዴት እንደሆነ እያሳየ ይነገራቸውል።

አምባሳደር መብራት ቦርሳቸውን አንስተው ወደ አዳራሹ ዘወር እያሉ እየተመለከቱ ወደ በሩ አዘገሙ። ኢትዮጵያውያኑ ቀጠሉ።

”ተከብረሽ የኖርሽው ባባቶቻችን ደም

እናት ኢትዮጵያ የደፈረሽ ይውደም የደፈረሽ ይውደም”’

”ሌባ ሌባ አለ ገና አለ ገና!”

አምባሳደሯ ፈጠን ባለ እርምጃ በፖሊስ ታጅበው ወደ መኪናቸው ሄዱ።

ኢህአዲግ የአባይን ግድብ የቦንድ ሽያጭ በባህር ማዶ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያንን መተንኮሻ አድርጎታል።

ማንም ኢትዮጵያዊ አባይ ቢገደብ ኢትዮጵያ ከድህነት ብትወጣ አይጠላም። ዛሬም ተቃውሟቸውን የገለፁት ኢትይጵያውያን ለኢትዮጵያ ሞት የሚመኙ ሆነው አይድለም። ኢህአዲግ ግን በውጭ የሚኖረውን ኢትዮጵያዊ ያሳጣ እየመሰለው ብዙ ተቃዋሚ አለ ብሎ የሚያስበበት ቦታ ሁሉ የአባይ ግድብ ቦንድን ካርድ እየመዘዘ የልዩነት መስመር በኢትዮጵያውያን መሃከል ይፈጠራል ብሎ ያስባል። ለእዚህም አይነተኛ ማስረጃው የመጀመርያው የአባይ ቦንድ ሽያጭ ዝግጅት በዋሽግተን ዲሲ ሲዘጋጅ ብዙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ካርድ ወስደው አክትቪስት ታማኝ በየነን ጨምሮ ወደ ስብሰባው ቦታ ሲሄዱ ”የእንጀራ ልጅ እና የቤት ልጅ” በሚል መለያ አድርጎት ”አንተ አትገባም አንተ ግባ” እያለ መለየት ጀመረ።

”በሀገራችን ጉዳይ ያለንን ሃሳብ መስጠት እንፈልጋለን ካርድ ይዘናል” ያሉ ታማኝንም ጨምሮ እንዳይገቡ ተከለከሉ።

በወቅቱ የሚገቡት ኢትዮጵያውያን ምንም አይነት ሃሳብ ቢኖራቸው ሃሳባቸውን መስማት እና ምላሽ መስጠት ያን ቀን መግባባት ባይቻል ለቀጣይ ሌላ ስብሰባ አድርጎ መመካከር የጤነኛ መንግስት ልዑክ አሰራር ነበር።ኢህአዲግ ግን ከመጀመርያው የአባይ ግድብን ሲያነሳ በባህርማዶ ያለው ሕዝብ ሲቃወም በሀገር በት ያለው መደገፉ ስለማይቀር ይለያያል። በውጭ ያለውም ብሔራዊ ስሜቱ አይሎ እርስ በርሱ ይከራከራርል የሚል ታሳቢ ያደርገ አቀራረብ ስለነበረው በዋሽግተኑ ስብስባ ላይ እራሱ ኤምባሲው በድብዳቤ የጠራቸውን ሁሉ ተምታተውበት አላስገባም አለ።ኢትዮጵያውያን በገዛ የሀገራቸው ጉዳይ ባይተዋር ሆኑ።

በእንደዚህ አይነት የተጀመረው የ አባይ ጉዳይ ይሄው ኢህአዲግ እስካሁን ድረስ እንደማስይሳካ እያወቀ በባህር ማዶ የሚኖሩ ተቃዋሚዎች እና የሀገራቸው ጉዳይ የእግር እሳት የሆነባቸውን ኢትዮጵያውይንን መተንኮሻ አድርጎ ይጠቀምበታል።በነገራችን ላይ ይሄው ተመሳሳይ መርሃግብር በኦስሎ ለ አፕሪል 23/2013 መርሃግብር መያዙን ከአምባሲው ድህረገፅ ላይ የተለጠፈው ማስታወቂያ ያስነብባል። ሃገራዊ ህብረት ሳይፈጠር፣ዜጎች ከአንድ ክልል ወደ አንድክልል ካልፈቃድ ለምን ገባችሁ ተብለው እየታሰሩ(የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አመራሮች በ ቤንሻንጉል ክልል ለመታሰር ያበቃቸው)፣ በሺዎች መሬት እና ንብረታቸውን ተነጥቀው ሲንከራተቱ አንዳች ያልተናገረው መንግስት ይህም ከፍተኛ ተቃውሞ በኢትዮጵያውያን ዘንድ በፈጠረበት በእዚህ ጊዜ ስለ አባይ ግድብ ቦንድ ግዙ ብሎ መጠየቅን ምን ስም እንስጠው?

ESAT Daily News

Amsterdam: April 20, 2013


                 
Norway Police intervened and stopped the planned TPLF meeting when activists disrupted TPLF meeting in Stavanger, Norway.


                                     
                      Ethiopia: Norway Police Stopped TPLF meeting

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Politiet stoppet møte i Tasta bydelshus


Politiet rykket ut med tre biler og seks politimenn og stoppet et møte i Tasta bydelshus der stemninga var i ferd med å bli svært så amper blant de vel 300 frammøtte.




Video


Politiet stoppet møte


Et møte med 300 etiopiere i Tasta bydelshus ble stoppet av politiet.
De rundt 300 frammøtte var etiopiske asylsøkere eller folk med etiopisk bakgrunn. Politiet fryktet at det skulle komme helt ut av kontroll da folk i salen gikk til hard verbal konfrontasjon mot to representanter fra den etiopiske ambassaden i Stockholm som hadde innkalt til og ledet møtet.
Politiet ga først beskjed om at alle demonstrantene måtte forlate møtet, mens de to ambassadefolkene og deres eventuelle støttespillere kunne bli sittende. Dette nektet de frammøtte demonstrantene, og flere fryktet at det skulle komme til åpen konfrontasjon mellom politiet og folk i salen. Deretter bestemte innsatslederen Øyvind Sveinsvoll ved Rogaland politidistrikt seg for å stoppe hele møtet og rydde hele salen.
Det var en klok avgjørelse, mente flere av de frammøtte demonstrantene. De ville ikke at de to ambassadefolkene skulle bli sittende igjen som «seiersherrer» mens de selv ble kastet ut.
- Målet vårt var å stoppe møtet. Det klarte vi, sier en av dem til Aftenbladet.

ARTIKKELEN FORTSETTER UNDER BILDET


Mange av dem i salen tok ordet og fortalte om slektninger som var blitt fengslet, drept eller som hadde forsvunnet i politiets varetekt.

Mange av dem i salen tok ordet og fortalte om slektninger som var blitt fengslet, drept eller som hadde forsvunnet i politiets varetekt.
FOTO:Jarle Aasland

Måtte isolere ambassadefolkene

Stemningen ble spent at politiet valgte å isolere de to ambassadefolkene fra resten av møtedeltakerne. De eskorterte dem ut til en privat bil som fraktet dem vekk fra området. De 300 frammøtte fikk deretter slippe ut av salen.
Det var generalkonsul ved den etiopiske ambassaden, Mebrat Beyene Abay, som skulle lede møtet sammen med ambassade-sekretæren. Hovedtemaet var innsamling av penger i det etiopiske eksilmiljøet til et meget omstridt oppdemningsprosjekt - et prestisjeprosjekt for regimet i Etiopia.

Massedemonstrasjoner i utlandet

De etiopiske myndighetene har forsøkt å holde lignende "innsamlingsmøter" både i Sør-Afrika, Saudi Arabia, USA og Tyskland, og hver gang har møtene endt i svære demonstrasjoner mot brudd på menneskerettighetene i Etiopia. Folk fengsles uten lov og dom, frie valg er avskaffet, ytringsfriheten likeså, avisene er statskontrollert og mange journalister sitter fengslet.

Ikke frivillig betaling

Flere tok til ordet under møtet på Tasta bydelshus og sa dette ikke var en frivillig innsamlingsaksjon. De som ikke betalte inn penger, kunne forvente seg problemer når de henvendte seg til ambassaden for å få pass eller id-papirer.

Ruster seg til Oslo-opprør

Lørdagsmøtet var det første i sitt slag i Norge. Og eksil-etiopierne kom i egne busser fra Oslo, andre kom fra Steinkjær, Otta, Stord og Bergen for å demonstrere i Tasta bydelshus mot det sittende regimet i Etiopia.

28. april skal den etiopiske ambassaden i Stockholm holde et lignende møte i Oslo.

- Vi kommer til å fylle hele busser med demonstranter, sa flere av de frammøtte til Aftenbladet.



Innsatsleder Øyvind Sveinsvoll ved Rogaland politidistrikt i samtale med en av demonstrantene. I forgrunnen sitter generalkonsulen ved den etiopiske ambassaden i Stockholm.

FOTO: Jarle Aasland
  • Hele salen kokte av demonstrasjoner i Tasta bydelshus lørdag ettermiddag

  • De to ambassadefolkene som skulle lede møtet, måtte finne seg i at folk fra salen dekket til regimets flagg.
    FOTO: Jarle Aasland


  • Rundt 300 fylte salen, mange av etiopierne var tilreisende fra andre byer.
    FOTO: Jarle Aasland


  • Stort engasjement da det ble diskutert med politiet.
    FOTO: Jarle Aasland


  • FOTO: Jarle Aasland


  • De to representantene fra ambassaden fikk høre mange historier fra hjemlandet.
    FOTO: Jarle Aasland


  • Engasjementet var altså så stort av møtet ble stoppet av politiet.
    FOTO: Jarle Aasland


  • Her viser demonstrantene fram noen av slagordene sine.
    FOTO: Jarle Aasland