Ethiopia

Abebe Gellaw a journalist from Ethiopia, protests against Meles Zenawi

May 18, 2012 – Abebe Gellaw a journalist from Ethiopia, protests against Meles Zenawi during the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security May 18, 2012 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. Yahoo Photo

Abebe Gellaw says very loud “Meles Zenawi is a murderer!”

Institutions Urge Obama to Address ‘Land Grabbing’ Issue in Ethiopia

May 17 (New Business Ethiopia) – The united States-based Oakland Institute and the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SNME) call up oon President Obama to talk on the issue with Ethiopian prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who is expected to arrive Washington today.

The two institutions argue that large-scale land investments, which is often characterized as land grabbing, are violating human rights and undermining food security in Ethiopia. In an Open Letter to President Obama, the Oakland Institute and SMNE are delivering a petition signed by over 8,000 supporters of the indigenous and local communities of Gambella, Ethiopia – 70,000 people in all – who are being forcibly relocated to make land available for investment in agriculture.

Prime Minister Meles with four African leaders are set to discuss food security issues with president Obama in Camp David on May 19, 2012. Read more…

Trials of Politicians, Journalists Test Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Law

May 17, ADDIS ABABA (VOA News) - In Ethiopia, a series of high-profile trials is being closely watched as a test of recently-enacted anti-terrorism legislation. A three-judge federal panel is hearing the trials of as many as 150 people arrested on terrorism-related charges last year, including prominent politicians and journalists.

Almost every week for the past few months, a small group of journalists and diplomats has  gathered at Addis Ababa’s Lideta federal court complex to attend terrorism trials.

The most high-profile is the case of journalist Eskinder Nega, recent winner of the PEN America “Freedom to Write” Award, and Andualem Arage, who had been one of the rising stars in Ethiopia’s political opposition.  They are accused of collaborating with the outlawed Ginbot Seven (May 15th) political party to carry out terrorist attacks.

U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Booth was in the courtroom last week when a verdict in the case was due, but the judges postponed the announcement till mid-June, saying they needed more time.

Among the other trials before the court was the case of two Swedish journalists captured in the restive Ogaden region in the company of members of the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front, or ONLF.  The journalists were convicted of supporting terrorism, and given 11-year prison terms. Read more…

Ethiopia, Sudan extradition agreement condemned

May 17 (The Africa Report) – Ethiopia and Sudan on Wednesday signed an extradition agreement in Addis Ababa but there are fears that this may be a ploy to persecute Ethiopian opposition exiles in the neighbouring country.

The agreement is a follow up to another one between the two countries in December 2011 in which it was agreed not to host opposition figures from their respective countries.

Thousands of Ethiopian opposition members sought refuge in Sudan following the 2005 election, which was characterised by violence, which claimed almost 200 lives.

At the beginning of 2012, the international community criticised Sudan after it deported hundreds of Ethiopian opposition figures.

The Berlin-based Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP) alleged in March 2012 that Sudanese police had raided houses and rounded up Ethiopians in Omdurman and many parts of the capital, Khartoum, for forcible deportation. Read more…

Ethiopia to export half a million maids annually to Saudi Arabia

May 16, 2012 (Durame) — Ethiopia commenced sending 45,000 Ethiopian housemaids per month to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), an Ethiopian official said by phone today.

The controversial recruitment strategy will send 500,000 Ethiopian women annually to a country long known for abusing housemaids and foreign nationals in the strict Sharia-governed Kingdom.

Amid tougher restrictions for housemaids working in KSA by the Philippines, Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian and Kenyan governments, Ethiopian housemaids have been in high demand by families in Saudi Arabia.

With little to no support from the Government of Ethiopia, many Ethiopian women are often exploited by Saudi families, working grueling 16-hour days and having their passports and earnings withheld to prevent them from running away. Read more…

Another Indian horticulture farm to sprout in Ethiopia this year

Addis Ababa, May 17 (NY Daily News) — A second Indian company, Esimo Flower & Agro Industries Plc, is investing $100 million in Ethiopia to produce flowers, fruits, and vegetables for the European, Russian and Middle Eastern markets.

The company has acquired a 71-hectare farm in Debre Brehan, northeast of capital Addis Ababa. It will start planting flowers in July and has constructed a pack house, where harvested flowers are to be processed for export in 2012, according to Sanjaye Bangali, owner and general manager of Esimo.

Debre Berhan Mayor Getaneh Zeke also confirmed this. Esimo is set to become the second flower farm in Debre Brehan after ASK Flowers and Greens Plc, run by another Indian, Shahab Khan.

Producing flowers is a high-risk but high-profit business and Bengali thinks his company has a good opportunity to succeed within a few years. Read more…

Ethiopia charges 10 suspected ‘al-Qaeda’ members

Note: The Meles regime is known to bomb itself and blame on others. To extend its life in power, specially at this time, it is doing every thing it can to get support from the West.  This allegation cannot be different. It is very hard to trust the Meles regime at all.   It needs independent and neutral investigation to justify the truth.

Ten suspected Al Qaeda members were on Tuesday been charged for plotting to carry out terror attacks in Ethiopia.

A Kenyan citizen was charged along with 9 Ethiopians after they were arrested last month in the southern parts of Ethiopia on allegations of “organising, providing training and educating recruits with assistance from a East Africa Al-Qaeda group”.

The group were also allegedly in contact with Al-Qaeda militant cells in Kenya, Sudan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

Police recovered email exchanges between the group and the external bodies and this will be used as evidence against them.

Only four of the suspected terrorists appeared in front of the Federal High Court on Tuesday, facing 11 counts of espionage, while the others were charged in absentia. Read more…

Ethiopia denies Anuak are fleeing violence into South Sudan

May 15, 2012, ADDIS ABABA (Sudan Tribune) – The Ethiopian government has dismissed reports of violence in the country’s South Western region that allegedly forced civilians flee into South Sudan’s Jonglei State.

A new humanitarian report released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that hundreds of ethnic Anuak Ethiopians have crossed into South Sudan to escape an alleged hostility between the government forces and little known Anuak opposition forces in the horn of Africa country’s Gambella region.

The Ethiopian government has dismissed the reported clashes between government forces and Anuak insurgents that allegedly occurred during the past few weeks.

“There wasn’t such an incident. Our forces didn’t engage in any clash with whatsoever opposition force in the reported vicinity” Ethiopian government spokesperson, Shimeles Kemal, told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

Kemal said the reports – which originally were published in OCHA’s Weekly Humanitarian Bulletin 4-10 May 2012 – are “unfounded” and further termed them as “white propaganda”. Read more…

Jennifer Lopez wants to adopt twin babies from Ethiopia

DNA | May 15, 2012

Background

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969) is an American actress, businesswoman, dancer and recording artist. Often referred to by her moniker J.Lo, Lopez is recognized as the most successful entertainer of Latin descent. Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, she enrolled in singing and dancing classes as a child before starting her career as a fly girl on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller Money Train. Her first leading role was in the biographical film Selena (1997), in which she earned an ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress. She earned her second ALMA Award for her performance in Out of Sight (1998). She has since starred in various films, including The Cell (2000), The Wedding Planner (2001), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Shall We Dance? (2004), Monster-in-Law (2005) and The Back-up Plan (2010). Read more…

African Hunger Games at Camp David

Alemayehu G Mariam | May 15, 2012

White House spokesman Jay Carney announced last week that President Obama has invited the presidents of Ghana, Tanzania, Benin and Meles Zenawi to attend the G8 Summit (the forum for the governments of eight of the world’s largest economies) for a discussion of food security on May 19 at Camp David (Presidential retreat) in Maryland. The U.S. has been handing out food aid to the African continent for decades. Now President Obama says there is another looming “food crises” in Africa. Oxfam says, “All signs point to a drought becoming a catastrophe if nothing is done soon.” The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has issued appeals for an extra $70 million to aid some 800,000 households in the drought-hit Sahel region in West Africa. Ethiopia and Somalia are expected to be ground zero for the anticipated famine. According to the April 25, 2012 report of the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), southern Ethiopia will most likely experience famine: “The anticipated below-average rains will have significant negative impact on crop production, pasture regeneration, and the replenishment of water resources throughout the region, with the most severe and immediate impactin belg-dependent areas of southern Ethiopia.” Over the past couple or so years, I have written over one-half dozen commentaries on famine and food shortages in Ethiopia. (See links below.) Read more…

Growing Oromo community celebrates annual picnic

Rachael Gray/Telegram Guests fill their plates with a variety of fare Saturday in Finnup Park during the second annual Oromo picnic. Since their first picnic last year, Garden City's Oromo community has nearly quadrupled in size.

Rachael Gray/Telegram Members of the Oromo community dance Saturday in Finnup Park during the second annual Oromo picnic. The picnic was free and open to the public.

May 14, 2012 (Garden City Telegram) — Muna Ibrahim says she loves living in Garden City.

32-year-old mother of six, Ibrahim said the quality of education has  improved for her children. Four out of six of them attend Florence Wilson  Elementary School.

Before she and her husband, Mamfoud Mohamed, moved to Garden City in 2008,  Ibrahim lived in Kansas City, Mo.

The community has been welcoming and has given the family many opportunities,  Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim and Mohamed are members of the Oromo community, made up mostly of  refugees from the east African countries of Ethiopia and Kenya. Read more…

Violent and Deadly Crackdowns Against Worshipers In Ethiopia

Ethiopia: HRLHA Urgent Action and Appeal,

             PUBLIC 13 May, 2012

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) strongly condemns the Ethiopian Government’s interference into religious affairs and its heavy-handedness against Muslim communities in various parts of the country.

In this religion-based and allegedly government-sponsored violence that openly started around the beginning of February, 2012 and has widespread particularly in the central and southern parts of the country, four people have been confirmed to have been killed by armed government forces,(Musa Gabi 13, student of local madrasa (religious) school, Kamal Irena 60, tailor, Aliyi Waqo 40, peasant, and Shafi Jano Tufa 40; daily laborer)  while hundreds of others have ended up in prisons. The four dead, who were from the Gadab Asasa locality of Arsi Zone in Southern Oromia Region, and the killing happened on the 6^th of April, 2012 when a very huge crowd of Muslim worshipers where met with well-armed government security forces in front of a local mosque following a Friday “Jum’a” prayer. Read more…

Buze Driba and Muktar Endris impress at Ethiopian Champs

Muktar Endris takes the Ethiopian national 5000m title

May 14, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (IAAF) – Newcomers Buze Driba and Muktar Endris were among the impressive winners in the women’s and men’s 5000m as the 41st Ethiopian Athletics Championships (May 9th-13th 2012) came to a close on Sunday (13) at the Addis Ababa stadium.

Despite the absence of Ethiopia’s more illustrious track runners, the championships saw the rise of young stars in the middle and long distance events as the battle to earn qualification to Ethiopia’s London 2012 team gathered momentum.

Driba, Endris take 5000m crowns

While Ethiopia does not use trials to determine the composition of its Olympic team, the championships in Addis Ababa were an opportunity for upcoming runners to make a good impression of their credentials in order to earn invitation to compete in the international track season. Read more…

The End of TPLF

by Amanuel Biedemariam | May 14, 2012

March 23, 2012, Ethiomedia (former TPLF supporter ), posted a Press Release, “TPLF down-sized to a single-family party,” and quoted a former TPLF Seeye Abraha saying, “That TPLF no more exists today in the fashion that we used to know it years ago.” Seeye, further noted, “ The present socio-economic situation in Ethiopia is in the same state of expose with the final days of the military government of Colonel Mengistu Haile-Mariam, characterized by exorbitant cost of living and deepening public discontent. In a country where inflation is soaring over 30%, corruption has become the order of the day.”

Seeye’s admission, “That TPLF no more exists today in the fashion that we used to know it years ago” is a clear evidence that the criminal mercenary clique, that he was once a part of, has dissipated as organization and replaced, as the headline suggested, by a single family party of Meles and Azieb, his wife.

The original mission of the organization was not clear to the Ethiopian people outside Tigray because the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was an ethnic based organization that sought for autonomous rights or, as the TPLF Manifesto exposed, an independent Greater Tigray. However, the power vacuum of 1991 invited the minority clique to power and, once in power it appears as though, the underlined mission became murky or, as Seeye claims, nonexistent. Read more…

Racialized Geography of Food Insecurity in Ethiopia, and G8 Summit

Oromo Press | May 13, 2012

From an insider’s point of view, two patterns are  most salient about the unfolding threat of food insecurity in Ethiopia:

• That the geography of life-threatening food insecurity canvasses the peripheral southern regional states such as, the Southern Nations and Nationalities, Oromia, Ogaden-Somali. Ironically these south Ethiopia’s regions are the greenest and the most fertile. They are simultaneously the scenes of ongoing low-intensity armed conflicts between Meles Zenawi’s government of Ethiopia and the Oromo Liberation Front in Oromia, the Sidama Liberation Front in the SNNP, the Ogaden Liberation Front in Ogaden and the Afar Liberation Front in Afar. We see clearly that the maps of famine follow the maps of conflict and instability. Showing that famine is used as a weapon of collectively punishing ethnic groups in the non-ruling geographic areas, whereas the same levels of food insecurity are not observable in Tigray region ( the homeland of the Prime Minster of Ethiopia).

• The second pattern is that benevolent Western aid organizations involved in helping systematic famine victims and Western reporters blame (frame) the cause of this large-scale famine in the south exclusively on the shortage of rainfall and population growth. No Western media cites war as a primary cause of food insecurity in Ethiopia. Resettling and urbanization are erroneously suggested as solutions for those superficial causative factors. Read more…