2012 Survivor Week a Success!
July 20, 2012 (TASSC International) – Additional panels featured immigration attorney Alan Parra and survivors from Ethiopia, hundreds of whom have come to the TASSC offices in recent years, victims of a military regime that has ruled Ethiopia with an iron rule and cracked down on tens of thousands who protested fraudulent elections in 2005 and 2010.
Ethiopia is a major ally of the U.S. in its global war on terror, despite the fact that, in the words of survivors, “the government is terrorizing its own people.”
Speaking to an audience of survivors at Catholic University during the TASSC forum, “Justice for Survivors: Ending Torture, Disappearance, and Impunity,” UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez, himself a survivor of torture from Argentina, acknowledged the crucial and important role that survivors and their families play in the global movement to end torture.
More than 30,000 people were disappeared – and presumably tortured and executed – during the “dirty war” in Argentina. Read more…
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U.S. Abandoning its Role as Champion of Human Rights
July 20, 2012 (Ayyaantuu.com)
Op-Ed Contributor
By JIMMY CARTER, 39th President of the United States and 2002 Nobel Peace Laureate.
Published: June 25, 2012 in The New York Times.
THE United States is abandoning its role as the global champion of human rights.
Revelations that top officials are targeting people to be assassinated abroad, including American citizens, are only the most recent, disturbing proof of how far our nation’s violation of human rights has extended. This development began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has been sanctioned and escalated by bipartisan executive and legislative actions, without dissent from the general public. As a result, our country can no longer speak with moral authority on these critical issues. Read more…
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YEROON ISAA AMMAA WAL BUKKEE DHAABADHU!
Kumsaa irraa | Adoolessa 20, 2012
Yaa Oromoo, ka’ii wal bukkee dhaabadhu,
gantuu, gunamtuu of keessaa balleessii
diina kee kuffisuuf harka wal-qabadhu!
Ilmaan kee keessaa ishiin kaan gowwoomtee,
diina sitti fiddee ijoollee kee harmaa fi harka irraa mursiiftee,
qabeenya kee hundaa heddu si saamsfitee,
‘aadaa kee, seera kee, GADAA kee balleesiftee,
kan diinatti akka bultu si dirqamsiiftee,
yeroo dheeraf si garboomsiftee,
yaa ilmaan Oromoo, dogoggora durii irraa
baradhuu,
ka’ii wal bukkee dhaabadhuu,
yeroon isaa gayee mirga kee falmadhu! Read more…
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The Zenawi Paradox: An Ethiopian Leader’s Good and Terrible Legacy
Shrewd, brutal, and a master at soliciting and spending aid money, Prime Minister Zenawi’s 20 years of rule could be nearing its end.
Zenawi at the World Economic Forum in Addis Ababa.(Reuters)
July 20, 2012 (The Atlantic) – Following the news of the past few years, you might get the impression that flamboyance and bellicosity are signature traits of any long-tenured dictator. But for every Muammar Qaddafi there’s a Meles Zenawi, the shrewd, technocratic Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Inside of the country, he’s known for imprisoning his political opponents, withholding development assistance from restive areas, stealing elections, and cracking down on civil society NGOs. In the rest of the world, he’s often praised for his impressive economic record, though not for his human rights. Zenawi has attracted Western support by being a responsible steward of aid money, a security partner in a rough region, and a G20 summit invitee. Read more…
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Ethiopia Arrests Muslim Leaders After Unrest in Addis Ababa
By William Davison
July 20 (Bloomberg)– Ethiopian police yesterday arrested an unspecified number of Muslim leaders involved in last week’s unrest in the capital, Addis Ababa, Communications Minister Bereket Simon said.
The arrest of members of a committee from Awalia Mosque in Addis Ababa and others was made after obtaining a court order, he said.
“Those arrested are people who instigated the violence,” he said by phone from the city today. “They were trying to undermine the constitution under the guise of religion.”
A group of Ethiopian Muslims, who make up 34 percent of a population of 94 million according to the CIA World Factbook, have been protesting for eight months at mosques about alleged government interference in elections of Islamic leaders. Ethiopian authorities have accused protesters of including extremists who want to turn Ethiopia into an Islamic state.
A minimum of three members of the 17-person committee and three others were arrested yesterday, group spokesman Ahmedin Jebel said. Read more…
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Ethiopia’s Intellectual Leader Meles Zenawi
July 20, 2012, ADDIS ABABA, (AFP) – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, an intellectual ex-rebel vilified by some as a dictator but praised by others as a visionary, has dominated politics at home and in the region for over two decades.
The Ethiopian government said Thursday that Meles, a sharp-witted and charismatic player in the volatile Horn of Africa region, is in ”stable” health but has been told to take a leave of absence.
Iron-fisted and austere, Meles was propelled into the club of African rulers in power for more than 20 years by a landslide victory in 2010 elections, where he won 99 percent of the vote.
From the revolutionary who fought to topple Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, the 57-year-old leader has created a new persona for himself as the champion of Africa’s economic and environmental rights on the international scene. Read more…
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Oromo – Seife Nebelbal Radio Program, July 20, 2012
Interview with Asli Oromo and Boru Baraqa
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Folkfest welcomes new Oromo pavilions
Reported by Ashley Wills
July 20, 2012, Sasktoon, Canada (cjme) — In less than a month, thousands of passports will be filled with stamps from travelling around Saskatoon.
“When you come to Folkfest it’s like visiting your neighbour, you’re going to see the diversity here in this city,” said executive director, Terry Rau.
From Ukrainian perogies to Caribbean dancing, it takes more than 5,000 volunteers to make Folkfest possible each year. Read more…
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