Ethiopian Muslims Protest Again Over Government Interference

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By William Davison   Oct. 5 (Bloomberg)

Several thousand Ethiopian Muslims protested in the capital, Addis Ababa, against what they say is government interference in the election of Islamic council
leaders, a participant said.
An election for the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council is scheduled to be held on Oct. 7, for the first time in 12 years. Some Muslims will boycott the elections, which the government is trying to force them to vote in, demonstrator
Mudessa Omar said.
“Let us vote for our own people,” Mudessa said in an interview outside Anwar Mosque, the capital’s largest and site of the demonstration. “The government has candidates that don’t represent the people.”
Some Muslims in Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation, have been objecting to alleged government interference in religious affairs for a year. The government has said the movement is led by extremists who want to create an Islamic
state in the nation of 94 million people. About a third of them are Muslims, according to the C.I.A World Factbook.

Muslims cast their vote “en masse” in a first round of voting to choose electoral officers on Sept. 30 and are registered to vote on Oct. 7, State Minister of Communications Shimeles Kemal said.
“This is a last desperate attempt to prevent people from casting their vote,” he said by phone from the capital today. “The vast majority have rejected extremism.”
Police on July 19 arrested some Muslim leaders they accused of sparking violent demonstrations in the capital. Some demonstrators today chanted to demand their release, protester Nuru Maradi said in an interview outside the mosque.

Reeyot Alemu: 2012 Courage in Journalism Award winner

The International Women’s Media Foundation Announces Winners of Its 2012 Courage in Journalism and Lifetime Achievement Awards:

Women from Ethiopia, Palestine and Azerbaijan and Pakistan Honored

Reeyot Alemu

WASHINGTON – Each year, the IWMF honors women journalists who have shown extraordinary strength of character and integrity while reporting the news under dangerous or difficult circumstances.

This year’s winners are:

Reeyot Alemu, 31, an Ethiopian columnist currently imprisoned on charges of terrorism after writing critiques of her country’s government; Asmaa al-Ghoul, 30, a Palestinian blogger and freelance writer who has received death threats for her commentary on the culture and politics of Gaza; Khadija Ismayilova, 35, a radio reporter from Azerbaijan who was blackmailed and threatened after her investigation into charges of malfeasance against members of the Azerbaijani president’s family. These are the International Women’s Media Foundation’s 2012 Courage in Journalism Award winners.

“I am humbled to work in the same profession as these heroic women,” said Katty Kay, co-chair of the IWMF. “It is my honor to be involved with the IWMF as it recognizes their dedication and bravery. It is journalists like Reeyot, Asmaa and Khadija who set an example for all of us.”

The IWMF’s 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to Zubeida Mustafa, 70, a Pakistani journalist who has worked for three decades at Dawn, one her country’s oldest and most widely circulated English-language newspapers.

Theodore Boutrous, Jr., IWMF co-chair, said “A free and independent press is vital to freedom and liberty. The IWMF believes that no press is truly fee if women do not share an equal voice. As the first woman to work at Dawn, Zubeida blazed a trail for women journalists in Pakistan, changing hiring policies and mentoring young women. She showed that women journalists can cover serious topics such as healthcare and economic inequality.”

The 2012 awards will be presented during ceremonies in New York on October 24 and in Los Angeles on October 29.

“The IWMF is grateful to the Bank of America, National Presenting Sponsor of the Courage in Journalism Awards for the seventh year and steadfast supporter of heroic women journalists around the world,” said Elisa Lees Munoz, Acting Executive Director of the IWMF.

About the IWMF

Founded in 1990, the International Women’s Media Foundation is a vibrant global network dedicated to strengthening the role of women in the news media worldwide as a means to further freedom of the press. The IWMF network includes women and men in the media in more than 130 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.iwmf.org.

About the 2012 Courage in Journalism Award Winners

Reeyot Alemu, 31, worked as a columnist for independent Ethiopian newspaper Feteh until her arrest in June 2011. She was held without charge until September of that year, when she was accused of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and participation in a terrorist organization. The Ethiopian government presented articles Alemu wrote criticizing its actions as evidence at her trial, as well as telephone conversations she had regarding strictly peaceful protests. Based on these materials alone, a judge sentenced Alemu to 14 years in prison. Prior to these events, Alemu was one of her country’s only female reporters who wrote critically about the political climate in Ethiopia, including analysis of government figures. Now, Alemu has fallen ill in prison. Her associates suffer harassment because of their connections with her. Despite this, Alemu has rejected offers of clemency in return for information about her colleagues.

Asmaa al-Ghoul, 30, is a blogger and freelance writer working in Gaza. Her stories analyze social and political life in the Middle East, focusing on the ongoing divisions among Palestinians and abuses of civil rights by both internal and external forces in Gaza. In 2007, al-Ghoul wrote an article in the form of an open letter to her uncle, a Hamas commander, questioning the methods of certain entities claiming to seek peace for Palestine. The article resulted in al-Ghoul’s uncle threatening to kill her. This is not uncommon: al-Ghoul regularly receives death threats against her own life and that of her young son. She has been beaten by Hamas security forces while covering popular protests and went through a period of sleeping in her office for fear of being killed on her way home.

Khadija Ismayilova, 35, is a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service. She investigates corruption and power abuse among her country’s elite. In May of 2012, Ismayilova became the target of a massive smear campaign threatening to defame her and put her life at risk unless she stopped reporting. This included an anonymous letter with photos from surveillance cameras planted in Ismayilova’s apartment, depicting her in an intimate situation with her boyfriend. It was made clear that she would stop her reporting, or risk having the photos made public. In the largely Muslim country of Azerbaijan, “honor killings” still occur. This is not the first time Ismayilova has been the subject of attempts to silence her. She is the victim of regular slander campaigns in pro-government media. The Azerbaijani president has personally tried to have her fired. During the many attempts to discredit her, Ismayilova has refused to stop working and has publicly denounced her accusers.

About the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Zubeida Mustafa, 70, is a Pakistani journalist who has worked for more than three decades at Dawn, one of Pakistan’s oldest and most widely circulated English-language newspapers. She was the first woman to work at the paper, which she did in the capacity of assistant editor and columnist. She helped to enact hiring policies favorable to women and promoted women’s equality in the newsroom. She has mentored dozens of young women in media and has spent her career writing serious and in-depth stories on issues including health care, economic inequality and political agency for women. Today, despite weakened eyesight, she continues to write prolifically and regularly contributes columns to Dawn.

About the Awards

The IWMF Courage in Journalism Awards honor women journalists who have shown extraordinary strength of character and integrity while reporting the news under dangerous or difficult circumstances.

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a woman journalist who has a pioneering spirit and whose determination has paved the way for women in the news media.

Including this year’s award winners, 75 journalists have won Courage Awards and 21 journalists have been honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

የኤፈርት ምክትል ዋና ሥራ አስፈጻሚ አቶ ጌታቸው በላይ ከአገር እንደወጡ አልተመለሱም

 የግል ተቋማት ሠራተኞች የማኅበራዊ ዋስትና ኤጀንሲ ዋና ዳይሬክተር አቶ ጌታቸው በላይ ከአገር
እንደወጡ አለመመለሳቸውን ምንጮች ገለጹ፣ ኤጀንሲው በሥራ ገበታቸው ላይ በአጭር ቀን ውስጥ ካልተመለሱ
ዕርምጃ እወስዳለሁ ብሏል፡፡
የቀድሞ የገቢዎች ሚኒስትር በመሆን ሲያገለግሉ የነበሩት አቶ ጌታቸው በላይ፣ በመቀጠልም የሕዝባዊ ወያኔ
ሓርነት ትግራይ (ሕውሓት) ኢንዶውመንት የሆነው ኤፈርት ምክትል ሥራ አስፈጻሚ በመሆን እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ
አገልግለዋል፡፡ ከዓመት በፊት ደግሞ የግል ተቋማት ሠራተኞች የማኅበራዊ ዋስትና ኤጀንሲ ዋና ዳይሬክተር
በመሆን ተሾመው ነበር፡፡
በዚህ መሥሪያ ቤት ባደረጉት የአንድ ዓመት ቆይታ ከ800 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ ከግል ተቋማት ሠራተኞች
እንዲሰበሰብ ያደረጉ ሲሆን፣ ድርጅቱን በሚገባ በማዋቀርና በአጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ ውጤታማ እንዲሆን በማድረግም
ይታወቃሉ፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ ባልታወቀ ወይም ለጊዜው ግልጽ ባልሆነ ምክንያት ልጆቻቸውንና ባለቤታቸውን ይዘው
አሜሪካ መግባታቸውን ምንጮች ለሪፖርተር ገልጸዋል፡፡
በአሁኑ ወቅት ፍሎሪዳ ውስጥ በመኖር ላይ እንደሚገኙ የሚናገሩት የቅርብ ምንጮች፣ ከዚህ በኋላ ወደ አገር ቤት
በመመለስ በሥራ ገበታቸው ላይ የመገኘት ፍላጎት እንደሌላቸው ገልጸዋል፡፡

በአሁኑ ወቅት ፍሎሪዳ ውስጥ በመኖር ላይ እንደሚገኙ የሚናገሩት የቅርብ ምንጮች፣ ከዚህ በኋላ ወደ አገር ቤት
በመመለስ በሥራ ገበታቸው ላይ የመገኘት ፍላጎት እንደሌላቸው ገልጸዋል፡፡
በጉዳዩ ላይ የሚያውቁትን እንዲገልጹልን ያነጋገርናቸው የኤጀንሲው ምክትል ዳይሬክተር አቶ ደረጀ ውቤ፣
‹‹የማውቀው በእረፍት ላይ መሆናቸውን ነው›› ብለዋል፡፡
አቶ ጌታቸው የወሰዱት የዓመት እረፍታቸውን ሲሆን የተሰጣቸው የእረፍት ጊዜ ከተጠናቀቅ ከወር በላይ
ሆኖታል፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ ከድርጅቱ ኃላፊነታቸው በፈቃዳቸው መልቀቃቸውን ወይም ወደ ሥራ ገበታቸው
ያልተመለሱበት ምክንያት እስካሁን አለመግለጻቸውን ለመረዳት ተችሏል፡፡
‹‹እስካሁን ወደ ሥራ ገበታቸው ያልተመለሱበት ምክንያት ግልጽ ባይሆንም፣ በአጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ ይመለሳሉ ብለን
እናምናለን፡፡ ይህ ካልሆነ ግን አስፈላጊውን አስተዳደራዊ ዕርምጃ ለመውሰድ እንገደዳለን፤›› ሲሉ አቶ ደረጀ
ለሪፖርተር ገልጸዋል፡፡
ኤጀንሲው ተጠሪነቱ ለጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ሲሆን፣ በዚህ ጉዳይ ላይ ከጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ወይም ከጽሕፈት
ቤታቸው ለኤጀንሲው የተላከ ነገር እንደሌለ አቶ ደረጀ ተናግረዋል፡፡
አቶ ጌታቸው በላይ ከአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የመጀመርያ ዲግሪያቸውን ሲያገኙ ከኦስትሪያ ቪዬና በስታትስቲክስና
በኢኮኖሚክስ የማስትሬት ዲግሪያቸውን ይዘዋል፡፡
ላለፉት 16 ዓመታትም በተለያዩ የመንግሥት መሥሪያ ቤቶች በማገልገል ልምድ ሲያካብቱ፣ ለአምስት ዓመታት
የገቢዎች ሚኒስትር በመሆን ሠርተዋል፡፡

ተዋርዶ ከማዋረድ መላቀቂያችሁ አሁን ነው!!!

ተዋርዶ ከማዋረድ መላቀቂያችሁ አሁን ነው!!!

የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ድርጅት (ኦሕዴድ) ታላቁን የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ እወክላለሁ ይላል። ኦሮሞ ደግሞ የኢትዮጵያ ምሰሶ ነው። ከዚህ ታላቅ ሕዝብ ወጣሁ የሚለው ኦሕዴድ ግን እወክለዋለሁ የሚለውን ሕዝብ ጥቅም ሊጠብቅና ሊያስጠብቅ ቀርቶ ለራሱ እንኳን መሆን ያልቻለ፤ የተናቀና የተዋረደ የወያኔ ሎሌ ሆኖ ድፍን 21 አመት አስቆጠሮአል። ወያኔ ደግሞ ስሙ እንደሚያለክተው ከውልደቱ ጀምሮ የትግራይ ነፃ አውጭ ድርጅት ነው።

ወያኔ ትግራይን “ነፃ” ካወጣ በኋላ ለመቋቋሚያ የሚሆነው ግዛት አስፈለገው። ወያኔ ኦሮሚያን መግዛትና መበዝበዝ ለሕልውናው አስፈላጊ እንደሆነ ተገነዘበ፤ ለዚህም ተንቀሳቀሰ። በኦሕዴድ ሎሌነት የኦሮሚያን ሕዝብና መሬት በቁጥጥሩ ሥር አደረገ። “ሆድ ሲያውቅ ዶሮ ማታ” እንዲሉ በዘር ፊደራሊዝም ስም የኦሕዴድ ካድሬዎች ኦሮሚያን ለወያኔ ዘረኞች አሳልፈው ሰጧት። ኦሕዴድ ባይኖር ኖሮ ኦሮሚያ የወያኔ መፈንጫ ባልሆነችም ነበር። የኦሕዴድ ክህደት ግን በዚህ አላበቃም። የወያኔ ሹማምንት በኦሮሞ ለም መሬት፣ ደን፣ ማዕድንና ውሃ ሲከብሩ የኦሕዴድ ሎሌዎች ለፍርፋሪ ሲሉ ብዘበዛውን ማሳለጥ ጀመሩ። የኦሕዴድ ካድሬዎች የገዛ ወገናቸውን አሳረዱ፤ ያደጉበትን መንደር፤ የሮጡበትን ሜዳ አዘረፉ።

በኦሕዴድ ሎሌነት ሳቢያ ዛሬ በመላው ኢትዮጵያ የሚገኙ እስር ቤቶች በኦሮሞዎች ተሞልተዋል። የኦሮሞ ለም መሬቶች ለወያኔና የወያኔ ወዳጆች ለሆኑ ባዕዳን በብላሽ ታድሏል። የኦሮሞ ደኖች ተመንጥረዋል። የኦሮሞ ማዕድናት ወያኔ እንዳሻው የሚያፍሰው ባላቤት ያጣ ንብረት ሆኗል። በኦሕዴድ ሎሌነት ሳቢያ ዛሬ የኦሮሞ ገበሬ ብቻ ሳይሆን የዱር አራዊቱም ተሰደዋል። ይህ ሁሉ የሆነው የኦሮሞ ልጆች ነን በሚሉ የኦሕዴድ ካድሬዎች ሎሌነት መሆኑ እጅግ የሚያስቆጭና የሚያንገበግብ ነገር ነው።

አሁን ደግሞ የባሰ አሳፋሪ ነገር እየታዘብን ነው።

ዘረኛውና አምባገነኑ መለስ ዜናዊ በመሞቱ በረከት ስምኦንና ግንባር ቀደም ወያኔ ደቀመዛሙርቱ የወታደሩንም የሲቪሉንም ሥልጣን እየተቀራመቱ ነው። እስቲ እንጠይቅ።
•ከዚህ ቅርምት ለኦሕዴድ ምን ደረሰው? ምንም።
•የጄኔራልነት ማዕረግ ለሕወሓት ሰዎች ሲታደል ኦሕዴድ ምን አደረገ? ምንም።
•የአገሪቱ የደህንነት መዋቅር ሙሉ በሙሉ በወያኔ ሲያዝ ኦሕዴድ ምን አለ? ምንም።
•የአገሪቷ ንብረት በሙሉ ወያኔ በፈለፈላቸው ድርጅቶች ሲያዝ ኦሕዴድ ምን አለ? ምንም።
•ሟቹን መለስ ዜናዊን ለመተካት በነበረው ሽኩታ የኦሕዴድ ሚና ምን ነበር? ምንም።

ይህ ከምር ያሳፍራል።

አሳፋሪነቱ ደግሞ ለኦሕዴድ አባላት ብቻ ሳይሆን ለመላው የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ከዚያም አልፎ ለመላው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ተርፎአል ። የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ኦሕዴድን የመሰለ አሳፋሪና ከሃዲ ድርጅት በታሪኩ ገጥሞት አያውቅም።
የኦሕዴድ አባላት ሆይ!

ከወያኔ ዘረኛ አምባገነን አገዛዝ ሎሌነት ነፃ ለመውጣት መንገድ መሻት የራሳችሁ ኃላፊነት ነው። የገዛ ራሳችሁን፣ ቤተሰቦቻችሁን፣ የኦሮሞን ሕዝብ እና ኢትዮጵያን እያዋረደ፤ ሃብቷን እያዘረፈ ካለው ወያኔያዊ ኦሕዴድ ተላቀቁ። አሊያም እውስጡ ሆናችሁ ድርጅቱን ግደሉት። የኦሕዴድ መኖር ለወያኔ ካልሆነ በስተቀር ለእናንተ፣ ለቤሰቦቻችሁ፣ ለክልላችሁ ለኦሮሚያና ፣ ለኢትዮጵያ አይበጅም። በአሁኑ ሰዓት የወያኔን እድሜ እያራዘማችሁ ያላችሁ እናንተ ናችሁ። በፓርላማው ሳይቀር ለወያኔ የማሳሳቻ ጭንብል የሆናችሁለት እናንተ ናችሁ። ተዋርዳችሁ ሕዝባችሁን አታዋርዱ። ይልቁንስ ታሪክ ሥሩ። ዛሬውኑ የነፃነት ትግሉን ተቀላቀሉ።

አለበለዚያ ወያኔ ያለበሳችሁን የውርደት ካባ ለማውለቅ እንኳን ጊዜ አይኖራችሁም።

All Oromo Nationals Arrested on Irreecha Carnival Should be Released Immediately

All Oromo Nationals Arrested on Irreecha Carnival Should be Released Immediately

OLF Press Release  October 1, 2012  Oromos have been annually celebrating Irreecha festival, one of the pillars of Oromo cultural identity, at Harsadee in Bishoftu Central Oromia in millions for past years. Even spectators from Europe and America have observed this celebration as the only one of its kind in Africa involving such a huge participant. This has been going on despite sustained attempt of regimes to suppress and erase it.  However, this event is never recognized as a national event in Ethiopia. The consecutive regimes in Ethiopia and some aspirants of the ancient regime, who have been doing their best to erase the Oromo identity and forcefully assimilateinto the Ethiopian one, have worked hard to suppress this event. The perpetuation of this policy sharply contradicts with the declared policy of the current regime that boasts of accepting the identity and cultural rights of all the nations and nationalities in Ethiopia.This policy has glaringly manifested itself during the current year festivity on September 30, 2012.  --Full Document - English --Full Document - Afaan Oromo --Full Document - Amharic

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Statement of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) Executive Committee

Oromo Liberation  Front (OLF)  Spetember 10, 2012

The OLF Executive Committee (OLF-EC) has successfully concluded its regular meeting held from 4-9 September, 2012 in a time when the opportunities for and challenges to the struggle is heightened and the  situation of the region of the Horn of Africa is farther from stability. The executive committee has intensively deliberated on the relevant issues in Oromia, the Empire of Ethiopia and the region in general and concluded by passing the following relevant resolutions.

The situation of the Oromo people at home has been progressively deteriorating. The widespread criminal eviction of farmers, high unemployment of the urban dwellers accompanied by hyper inflation has reduced our people to life style of beggars. The reckless policy of illegal enrichment of the regime’s cronies has caused unprecedented pollution of the environment to the detriment of high human and animal lives and natural vegetation. Consistent with the regime’s categorization of the Oromo people as its enemy, the killings, maiming, imprisonment and torture of the Oromo individuals has been intensified. The OLF-EC therefore calls upon the Oromo people to intensify the ongoing resistance and uprising as the only way out of this predicament and renews the organization’s commitment of full engagement in this effort.

Neither did the Oromos who fled the TPLF regime fare better. The regime has pursued them to their destination countries and secured forceful repatriation in cooperation with the countries concerned, which in some cases; commit acts of the categories of crime against humanity on our people. The recent acts of the regime in Somaliland of enticing their people against defenseless refugees and burning humans, including children, alive are the case in point. The regime seems to overlook the fact that relation between the peoples out lasts the regimes and crime of this magnitude will go down in the history of the peoples with a long term effect. Therefore we call upon all the countries where the Oromo individuals sought refuge and the UNHCR to shoulder their responsibilities in protecting these refugees in accordance to the international conventions.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) regime, besides its policy of pitting peoples against each other, is engaged in interference in the internal affairs of religious communities, especially Muslims, causing chaos. The OLF- EC condemns such interference in the religious affairs of the peoples and reaffirms its full support for the struggle of the Muslim community to regain their right to freely exercise their religion.

The recently intensified activities of different OLF cells and other movements like the Youth Movement “Qeerroo” is indicative of the heightened consciousness of the Oromo people. They have opted for these as the only means of getting out of the predicament stated above. This is a fact and the OLF- EC calls upon our people to raise the level of support and participation especially the fast expanding energetic youth movement.

The death of the late head of the Ethiopian totalitarian regime, the way it was handled and the uncertainty of succession has created suspense for all concerned parties and optimism for the victimized peoples and others. The removal of the head of a totalitarian regime is conducive to change of the system to a better or worse. However, it is the belief of the OLF- EC that, only the concerted and coordinated struggle of the victimized peoples and sectors’ aspiring for genuine freedom and democracy will influence the direction of the change of the system. Therefore the OLF- EC calls upon all the concerned parties in general and the Oromo people in particular not to be misled by false optimistic rhetoric but instead double their effort to unseat the oppressive system by all means possible.

The OLF- EC noticed that, despite increased consciousness of the people and the encouraging situation of the struggle underway inside our country, the situation of political groups in the Diaspora is less than encouraging. To influence the direction of change, it is the belief of the OLF-EC that coordination of the effort of all forces of genuine freedom and democratic organizations in general and Oromo forces in particular are a decisive factor. The OLF has taken the first step towards realization of this goal by issuing a separate statement and calls upon the Oromo people to play their role in realizing this objective.

The cooperation of the organizations struggling for the right to self-determination of the oppressed peoples is crucial. The OLF will intensify its cooperation with such organizations and calls upon our people to consciously play their role towards realizing this goal.

We also call upon organizations that refuse to recognize the rights of peoples to selfdetermination in order to maintain the imperial nature of Ethiopia to understand that their objective will end up turning people against each other and instead work for the realization of a system that will promote freedom, equality and genuine democracy.

The TPLF regime has been sustained by the unconditional military, economic and diplomatic support by external powers like the USA, UK, EU and China. There are plenty of evidences that such massive support has been used by the regime to grossly violate human rights. We call upon these governments to reconsider their position of backing this regime and play a positive role geared towards the wellbeing of the peoples.

Victory to the Oromo People!

OLF – Executive Committee

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