Ethnic clashes in Gambella region of Ethiopia between Nuer and Anyuak communities

 (GAMBELLA) – Deadly clashes occurred on Thursday and continued on Friday in the Ethiopian region of Gambella between the two majority communities of Nuer and Anyuak in the area.

Tens of thousands gathered at Gambella regional stadium celebrating cultural event of all tribes in Ethiopia, Gambella, 9 December 2015 (ST Photo)Multiple sources told Sudan Tribunethat dozens of people have been killed on both sides and many more wounded when members of Nuer and Anyuak, the two ethnic groups which constitute the first and second largest, respectively, in Gambella region, clashed in the outskirts regional capital, Gambella, and spread to the center of the town.

The cause of the fighting between the two dominant ethnic groups who have been living peacefully for many years has remained unclear with conflicting explanations.

A resident in Gambella town told Sudan Tribune that the Anyuak attempted to revenge for one of their members who got killed by Nuer village warriors in October last year in a Nuer village, about 40km away from Gambella town on Gambella-Nyinenyang road. The Anyuak victim was allegedly attempting to steal Nuer cows in the village where he met his fate, but his colleagues escaped unharmed and reported his death to their community members back home.

On Thursday, a Nuer government official in Gambella who was sent for official mission to Abobo, an Anyuak county headquarters, was killed by a mob of Anyuak warriors in the town, allegedly for revenge.

An eye witness who spoke on condition of anonymity however told Sudan Tribune on Friday that the latest clashes inside the town started when a member of the Anyuak community threw a hand grenade [bomb] at seated Nuer college students in an Anyuak neighborhood, south of the town, across the Gambella bridge, resulting to response by Nuer students and the clashes ensued.

The clashes lasted for hours inside the regional capital resulting to killing of unspecified number, but an eyewitness said dozens of bodies were found on the ground and many more unaccounted for.

The whole Anyuak population which resided in areas inside the main town have fled across the river, southwards, as their houses were reportedly set on fire by angry Nuer youth members.

There are reports that the fighting also escalated to nearby villages inhabited by the two ethnic groups in the region.

Government officials said the situation was arrested, but remained tense as the Anyuak could be returning for further attacks.

An official, who preferred to be referred to as Bol, said the state government has deployed police forces throughout the town to restore calm and allow the Anyuak population that fled the town to return.

“We have deployed police forces in the town and the situation is now calm,” he said.

He said he suspected that a long time militia group from the Anyuak, who have been against the Ethiopian government and allegedly supported by the South Sudanese government could be behind the instigation.

He however said an investigation was being carried out to ascertain the cause of the renewed enmity between the two communities, who despite being foes in the past, had successfully mended their relations for many years.

President [governor] of Gambella region, Gatluak Tut Khot, a Nuer, is said to have gone on a peace mission outside the capital to the areas inhabited by the two ethnic groups in order to reconcile them and restore peace and stability.

Gambella region is located west of Ethiopia, and it is 777km from Addis Ababa, the national capital. It is close to the South Sudanese border.

The two ethnic groups also share languages and cultures with their neighbouring communities across the border in Jonglei and Upper Nile states of South Sudan.

http://ethioforum.org/ethnic-clashes-in-gambella-region-of-ethiopia-between-nuer-and-anyuak-communities/

Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Law: A Tool to Stifle Dissent | A Legal Analysis by International Lawyers

“While legitimate anti-terrorism laws exist, Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation criminalizes basic human rights, especially freedom of speech and assembly. The law defines terrorism in an extremely broad and vague way so as to give the government enormous leeway to punish words and acts that would be perfectly legal in a democracy,” said Lewis Gordon, editor of the report and Executive Director of the Environmental Defender Law Center. “It also gives thepolice and security services unprecedented new powers, and shifts the burden of proof to the accused. Worse still, many of those charged report having been tortured, and the so-called confessions thathave been obtained as a result have been used against them at trial,” he continued.

“Through our extensive work on land related issues in Ethiopia, we have witnessed firsthand how the anti-terrorism law has been misused to curb peoples’ opposition to forced land evictions and land grabbing by domestic and foreign investors,” said Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of The Oakland Institute.“We are grateful to the legal community for providing this essential analysis of the dire situation in Ethiopia. It is timefor the international community and donor countries to demand that this law, used to oppress and intimidate political speech and freedom is struck down immediately,” Mittal continued.

“The conclusions reached in this report are not those of a few fringe lawyers or policy organizations,” said Lewis Gordon. “This law has been harshly criticized by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, numerous UN Special Rapporteurs, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, the governments of the US and UK, and the EU. Given our findings, we must, as an international community, demand that until such time as Ethiopia revises this law to bring it into conformity with international standards, it repeal or suspend the use of this repressive piece of legislation.”
Those who have been charged as terrorists under the law include newspaper editors, indigenous leaders, land rights activists, bloggers, political opposition members, and students.

About the report’s authors& contributor:

Lewis Gordon, Editor & Author: A Harvard graduate, Mr. Gordonhas been a lawyer for over 35 years and is the Executive Director of the Environmental Defender Law Center (EDLC). Mr. Gordon has worked on numerous high-profile environmental and human rights cases on behalf of thousands of victims, as well as a host of international prize-winning activists, in dozens of countries around the world.

Sean Sullivan, Author:J.D., University of Southern California. Mr. Sullivan is a lawyerat the Los Angeles office of Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, and focuses his practice on intellectual property and complex class action litigation. He has assisted EDLC on a number of projects in the past, including obtaining freedom for an international prize-winning Mexican activist wrongfully charged with murder, and obtaining political asylum for another imprisoned Mexican activist who had received an international prize delivered to him in his jail cell by the widow of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
Sonal Mittal, Author: J.D. Harvard Law School. Ms. Mittal is an associate at the San Francisco office of Wilson SonsiniGoodrich &Rosati where she focuses her practice on privacy, data protection, and Internet law.
Kate Stone, Contributor.International Human Rights Law, University of Oxford.Kate Stone is a barrister specializing in international human rights law at Garden Court North Chambers, Manchester, UK.

- See more at: http://www.zehabesha.com/ethiopias-anti-terrorism-law-a-tool-to-stifle-dissent-a-legal-analysis-by-international-lawyers/#sthash.tcO4zJDV.dpuf
http://www.zehabesha.com/ethiopias-anti-terrorism-law-a-tool-to-stifle-dissent-a-legal-analysis-by-international-lawyers/

EU: Press Ethiopia on Protester Killings (HRW)

Meeting With Foreign Minister in Brussels

(Brussels, January 12, 2016) – European Union officials should convey serious concerns about Ethiopian security forces’ use of excessive lethal force against protesters when meeting with Ethiopia’s foreign minister, Human Rights Watch said today. The foreign minister, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, will meet with EU officials on January 12 and13, 2016, in Brussels.

Ethiopian security forces have engaged in a violent crackdown against protesters in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, killing scores of protesters and arresting many others. The protests began in mid-November 2015, in response to plans to expand the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia farmland, but have expanded in response to other longstanding concerns as well as the crackdown on protesters.

“The European Union should break its silence and condemn Ethiopia’s brutal use of force to quell the Oromo protests,” said Lotte Leicht, EU advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “The EU, which is among Ethiopia’s biggest donors, should press the Ethiopian government to respond with talks rather than gunfire to the protesters’ grievances.”

The Ethiopian government has frequently used arbitrary arrests and politically motivated prosecutions to silence journalists, bloggers, protesters, and political opponents.

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Ethiopia, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/ethiopia

http://ethioforum.org/eu-press-ethiopia-on-protester-killings-hrw/

European Parliament debated on motion for resolution in Ethiopia (video)

Below is a video over European Parliament Plenary Session Debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Ethiopia.

http://ethioforum.org/european-parliament-debated-on-motion-for-resolution-in-ethiopia-video/

የሰሞኑ “የኦሮምያ ግርግር” ግራ ገብቶኛል

የሕመሙን መርዝ እየተጎነጩ ከሕመሙ ፈውስ ለማግኘት አይቻልም

January 7, 2016 05:43 am By Editor Leave a Comment

በሁለት ደረጃ የሚቀርቡ ጥያቄዎች አሉኝ፤–

አንድ፡– ግርግሩ የኦሮምያ ነው? ወይስ የኢትዮጵያ? ወይስ ኦሮምያ ከኢትዮጵያ ተለይቷል?

ሁለት፡– የኢትዮጵያ የመሬት ጉዳይ ኦሮሞዎችን ብቻ የሚመለከት ነው? ወይስ የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ በሙሉ?

አንደኛ፣ ግልጽ ከሆነው እውነት እንነሣ፤ ኦሮምያ ከኢትዮጵያ አልተለየም፤ ስለዚህም ግርግሩ የኢትዮጵያ ነው እንጂ የኦሮምያ አይደለም፤ ጥንቱኑ ለማጋጨት የተሰጠውን ስያሜ በስምነቱ ከማጽደቅ በላይ ለታቀደው ዓላማ አመቺ መሣሪያ ማድረግ ነው፤ ይህ ደግሞ በቅድሚያ መሸነፍን የሚያረጋግጥ በመሆኑ ከወያኔ በቀር ደጋፊ ያለው አይመስለኝም፤ ቁርጠኛ ትግል ቁርጠኛ ዓለማና ቁርጠኛ ስልት ያስፈልገዋል፤ ስለዚህም ቁርጠኛ መሪ ያስፈልገዋል፤ የሕመሙን መርዝ እየተጎነጩ ከሕመሙ ፈውስ ለማግኘት አይቻልም፤

ግርግሩ የኦሮሞ ከተባለ ሁለት ውጤቶች ይከተላሉ፤

አንዱ ውጤት ከኦሮሞ በቀር ሌላውን ሕዝብ አያገባውም ማለት ይሆናል፤

ሁለተኛው ውጤት የልዩነቱ ባለቤቶችና ተፋላሚዎች ኦሮሞዎችና ወያኔዎች ብቻ ናቸው ማለት ነው፤ ይህ ትልቅ አደጋ አለበት፡፡

አደጋው ወደሁለተኛው ጥያቄ ይመራናል፤ ገብቶኝ እንደሆነ የግርግሩ ምክንያት ሁለት ናቸው፤ አንዱ ከቤት-ንብረት መፈናቀል ነው፤ የዜግነት መብትና መገለጫ የሆነውን መሬት ማጣት ነው፤ ሁለቱም መሰረታዊ የሆኑ የኢትዮጵያዊነትን የዜግነት መብቶች ሚደፈጥጡ ናቸው፤ ልብ በሉ የኦሮሞን የዜግነት መብቶች ይደፈጥጣል አላልኩም፤ የኢትዮጵያውያንን ሁሉ መሠረታዊ መብቶች የሚደፈጥጥ ነው፤ ይህ የማያጠራጥር እውነት ነው፤ ይህንን ከተቀበልን ጉዳዩ የኦሮሞ ብቻ አይደለም፤ ግርግሩም የኦሮሞ ብቻ አይደለም፡፡

ትልቁ አደጋ ያሁንን ግርግር የኦሮምያ ብቻ ካደረግነው ወደፊት ያው ጉዳይ በሌሎች ጎሣዎች መሀከል ሊነሣ ነው፤ ሌሎች ግርግሮች ሊያስፈልጉ ነው፡፡

ጉዳዩ የመላው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ከሆነ ትግሉም የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ በሙሉ ነው፡፡

ፕ/ር መስፍን ወልደ ማርያም
ታኅሣሥ 2008

(ምንጭ: Mesfin Wolde-Mariam Blog)

http://www.goolgule.com/confused-about-the-current-oromo-protest/

Decades Worth Of Fear Has Turned Into Anger In Ethiopia

Decades Worth Of Fear Has Turned Into Anger In Ethiopia As The Youth Seek Change In Government

by Mike A.

As protests in the Oromia region intensify, TPLF has turned to its security forces once again to silence peaceful citizens. Unlike the uprising that followed the stolen 2005 Ethiopian elections, brute force seems not sufficient to crush the Oromo protests once and for all this time. Initially, the protests started over the “master plan”, which the protesters assure will displace millions of Oromo farmers. Throughout the peaceful protests thus far, there have been over 150 Ethiopians massacred by TPLF forces. These massacres took the forms of: indiscriminate shootings into peaceful demonstrators, bombings of Universities, and individually targeted killings perpetrated by ethnically loyal cadres of the TPLF- the core leading party of the so called “EPRDF” coalition. Throughout the continuing protests of Ethiopians in the Oromia region, chants against the undemocratic, minority ethnic apartheid of TPLF have been widely heard. These protests are tantamount to the quest towards change, democracy and justice sought during the Arab Spring and it is the moral duty of the West, mainly the United States to support the aspirations of the Ethiopian people as they are intertwined with the values of America.

Since the inception of the protests in the Oromia region, TPLF has intensified arrests of prominent opposition leaders and journalists and has revived its subtle killings and mass disappearance. Recently, the government has antagonized the Oromo Federalist Congress (Opposition) and has begun arresting, killing, intimidating, and making their members disappear. During such times of despair, TPLF is infamous in creating imagined enemies, which it uses to create and broadcast propaganda through the government controlled national TV station, which is the only option for many in Ethiopia. TPLF then attempts to justify the arrests of opposition members and independent journalists as those working with the Eritrean government and armed opposition groups based in Eritrea. Since the two-year border war with Eritrea in 1998-2000, TPLF has painted Eritrea as an “arch enemy” and has used that card to support and justify its dictatorial rule and suppression of dissent.

The fact remains that there are many Ethiopian armed opposition groups based in Eritrea. Some of these armed groups are led by those who have exhausted all peaceful means for change and democracy such as professor Berhanu Nega at one hand and defected military officials such as General Kemal Gelchu at another who has witnessed ethnic prejudice within the army. Patriotic Ginbot 7, the armed opposition group that professor Berhanu Nega leads has been a focal target of the TPLF led government by the mere fact that it has garnered the support of countless Ethiopians at home and in the diaspora. Reason being, the government works tirelessly to transmit baseless propaganda against this armed opposition group. Through inhumane detention and torture, opposition leaders and journalists are made to “admit” and “confess” to working with Patriotic Ginbot 7 and the Eritrean government to terrorize Ethiopians and destroy infrastructure on national TV. However, if there is one thing that Ethiopians have learned through the 24 years under such deceptive dictatorship, it is not to believe anything told by this notoriously deceptive government. To Ethiopians, the debate of whether this regime is democratic or not, elected or not or has the potential to be is tantamount, to a certain degree, of an absurd debate on whether Hitler killed millions of Jews or not. That debate is finished. The Ethiopian people have already solidified their stance against this regime time and time again.

Western powers, without closely understanding the then political organizations led by Meles Zenawi, Yoweri Museveni and their likes began praising and calling them “brand of new generation leaders.” In 1991 TPLF, a minority party that stood for Tigrayan ethnic supremacy seized power in Ethiopia through an armed struggle. Such ethnic supremacy is exemplified by the fact that from a genitor high up to Meles Zenawi, to key military leaders, all Agazi Special Forces, judges, prosecutors, most leaders of the Federal Police and at least half of the bureaucracy are ethnic Tigrayan who are members of TPLF. The bureaucracy operates with a remote control under such ethno-fascist minority brute party members. Ethiopia today has no justice in absolute terms. There is no formal, reliable, and trustworthy petitioning to government officials since all are partisan to the minority party.

One can easily lose ones life by extrajudicial killing, either through abduction or via daylight execution. Tesfaye Tadesse, a lawyer, opposition, and former member of the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Party (EPRP) is one such example. Tesfaye was slaughtered by TPLF members in front of his home in Gerji, Ethiopia. Others, such as Assefa Maru, former secretary general of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council was shot multiple times by TPLF security forces while on his way home. This does not include the countless of massacres they conducted even before seizing power, while in armed struggle, which includes members of EPRP. Inhumane torture is the order of day under this regime. Arbitrary detention is frequent. One can lose his property in a very simple mechanism; ones business license is revoked under any pretext. The TPLF led EPRDF government did not only kill humans, but also Ethiopia. They have committed treasonable acts by dismembering the country and recently by secretly paving the way to grant Ethiopian territory to the Sudan as a reward.

Amidst their Albanian type communist inclination and glaring crimes of genocide and generally against humanity, their pseudo elections and general mockery of Ethiopians and the international community have all resulted in Tony Blair to regret having supported such an organization. Others also have followed suit but failed to force such a fascist establishment to relinquish authority. Similarly, the leader they praised in Uganda then is still in power heading an authoritarian regime.

Today, as we are witnessing the struggle for change in the Oromia region, decades worth of silence through fear has turned into anger and this anger has completely lost its fear of arrest, torture, and even death. Millions of Ethiopians are seeking change; millions of Ethiopians are asking the United States, Great Britain and other European Union members to stand firmly to support the Ethiopian people unconditionally as they struggle towards building a democratic, just, stable and united Ethiopia. This Ethiopia is one that will continue to play a key role in stabilizing the East African region. This new Ethiopia will work closely with any party to fight terrorism, especially that found in its neighbor- Somalia. The fear of losing a key ally in the region has been the base in which America and the West stood on to support such a repressive regime; the time is near for this regime to be thrown out of power through an armed struggle and civil disobedience and thus the time has come for the west to switch its support in favor of the Ethiopian people publicly.

http://ecadforum.com/2016/01/07/decades-worth-of-fear-has-turned-into-anger-in-ethiopia/