Ethiopia arrests 29 over bomb plots
ADDIS ABABA, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Ethiopia has arrested 29 people, including nine opposition party members, for plotting to carry out bomb attacks in the Horn of Africa nation, a senior security official said Monday.
Demelash Woldemikael, deputy commissioner of federal police, said the individuals had been rounded up since August 27 and all had links with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a secessionist group Addis Ababa blacklisted as terrorists last year.
“They were all trained by the OLF and we’ve found plenty of evidence proving that they plotted to bomb targets,” Demelash told Reuters.
Seven of the suspects are members of the opposition Oromo People’s Congress party, while two are from the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, Demelash said.
He said the suspects had appeared in court and been remanded in custody to enable police to carry out further investigations.
Opposition politicians and rights group Human Rights Watch have accused Ethiopia of cracking down on opposition campaigners from the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia’s biggest with 27 million people out of a population of 80 million.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is Washington’s closest ally in the Horn of Africa but has been criticised by rights groups for crushing dissent. Meles says “terrorists” are using political party membership to hide their activities.
The government said it had arrested 121 Oromos in March after accusing them of being OLF members.
Two opposition leaders from the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement and the Oromo People’s Congress were detained late last month on suspicion of OLF links. The two men were included in the nine party members mentioned by Demelash.
Ethiopia’s main opposition coalition, Medrek, said the two had been detained after meeting a delegation from international rights group Amnesty International, which confirmed it had met the two leaders.
The government said last week claims there was a link between the meeting and the arrests was “unfounded fabrication.”
Demelash rejected the idea there were any political motives behind the arrests of the 29 suspects.
“We have the evidence to prove against that. Their political activity had nothing to do with their incarceration,” he said.
“They were posing as peaceful activists but were in fact operating with the OLF, which is responsible for past killings of innocent civilians,” Demelash said.
Oromia produces most of the coffee in Africa’s biggest grower, along with oil seeds, sesame and livestock, all of which are major exports.
This is typically similar to what Woyane did in 2007. In Feb. 2007 a group of ETV ‘journalists’ visited the Qallitti cocentration camp. Their plan was to prepare a fictitious report on 17 peaceful Oromo youngesers who were put under controll by TPLF security in Sep. 2006 from South Western Oromia, tortured in Maikalawi and later transfered to Qallitti. One day the 17 Oromos were called to the commander’s office (Zonal commander) and were told that they are needed to get a picture (photo) as their former pictures were lost or damaged. The ‘senior’ Oromo prisoners heard this incident later as Oromos most of the time meet informally, discuss and take action on hidden/subtel issues that affect them. The 17 Prisoners diagreed to the reason mentioned by the prison officilas to get a new picture/photo. They resisted the order given by the Kalitti officials saying that the damage caused to the pictur/photo film was not their fault and asked how their pictures are separatelly damaged out of over 10,000 prisonres. However, the Kalitti Tigree officials used force to get the picture. When they start taking pictures another disagreement arose between Oromos and the officilas. Oromos said that if it a picture for the prison record they should take the pictures individually the way the prisopn took picture the first day of imprisonment. But, the Woyanes again forced them to stand in line and get the pictures. The young and heros of Oromia persisted in their opposition. The Woyanes were forced to take their pictures individually but again told the prisoners to stand in one place after the picture taking. Immidiatly after the last prisoner’s picture was taken a videao camera man came and quickly recorded the Oromos while they were gathered in line. This time the prisoners specially the young ones got mad and even tried to use force to stop the video man. But, as they were already under controll they were again coerced to be video recorded. As mentioned earlier, Other Oromo prisoners heard this happening after wards.
Surprisingly, that video record was transmitted as a breaking news in that night’s ETV News program under the title ’17 Oromo terrorists were caught red handed while trying to conduct meeting for their next terrirism plan against the government’. They tried to connect these 17 prisoners with one ‘Eritrean’ that the TPLF claimed to have captured in Finfinnee that week. Their plan was to substantiate the alleged capture of the ‘Eritrean’. The TPLF’s night mare has been the movement of any organized Oromo youth and they planned as usual to instill fear in the mindes of Oromo youth as if they know everything and they are everywhere. They are few in number but invest much in the security. As a result, they pay any sacrifice to get information on any planned or actual anti TPLF movement and at the same time fear, as death, any popular rebellion or uppraising. TPLF prefers face to face military confrontation to popular movements like FDG (Fincilaa Didda Gabrummaa) as they use the life of innocent people of other nations and nationalities for the war. but, if a popular uppraising starts nationa wide, it would be the duty of few Tigree/TPLF security to handle and they will be the ones to be targeted by the people. For your surprise, the Maikelawi interrogators fear Oromo prisoners more than any other prisoners and they used acronym FDG while interrogating and torturing Oromos.
Any ways, after through discussion among Oromo prisoners, the 17 managed to bring the fictitious News of the ETV to the attention of the Federal High Court second bench. Eventhough, the news was a complete fiction, false and was accusing Oromos who were already in prison as if they were caught anew, the court superficially orderd the Head of the Ethiopian Television to appear to court and clarify or give answer to the appeal of the 17 Oromo prisoners about the news. That appeal, infact, put the TPLF organs-the security, court and Television Agency in trouble as they couldn’t justify their fabricated allegatiions and false news. Tho 17 Oromos and all Oromo prisoners were doing on the case relentlessly even if they all were under controll. At that time, Oromos in Kalitti came to understand another fact related with this fabricated news i.e the stand or attitude of other non-Oromo prisoners (specially CUD members) after seeing the false allegation of TPLF on Oromo youth.
Last, the Oromo youth has been proving that they don’t fear any power and has showen readiness to regain their land and resources. The TPLF knows very well that had it not been for few/some missing links (confidential network), it would be a matter of months to turn the center, Finfinnee, into a boarder for Woyanes as that of 2005.
What a nice job done by these resistant heroes. Their persistence and unity for a common goal, liberty for their people, independence of their nation(OM) and greater humiliation to their false accuser/enemy are the lessons I would learn from these nationalists and the report about the arrests.Cruelty of a regime against the people it purports to represent is the symptom of its end.
Yes, freedom and justice costs a lot and dedication.And let people who love freedom and who feel the suffering of these 17 youth and others more in thousands, remember them and their nation.
Who would have thought that Ian Smith’s Apartaid regime in Zimbabwe will colapse until Eric Smith, the prime minister’s son got crazy and went into Black’s gheto to survive and that turned instrumental in uniting people for liberation to the extent that the mighty regime brock its back on its own.
Abdi Gammada