Friday, December 13, 2013
Ogaden, a region of Defence officials’ affluence: Sources
December 10, 2013
Top placed sources within the Somali Regional State Administration of Ethiopia in Jijiga have told our reporter that when top officials of the Ethiopian Defense Forces come to the Region, they engage in a large scale wealth accrual together with the officials of the Regional State.
Currently, one of the richest people in the region and based in Jijiga, Miss Hawa, is the second wife of Major General Yohannes Gebremeskel, a top official of the Ethiopian Defense Force, and the mother of his child. Credit goes to her lover Yohannes; the lady has been able to change from being an ordinary Khat trader to amassing hundreds of millions in wealth, the sources added. General Yohannes came to know Miss Hawa when he was a Colonel as the Head the Western Gode Zone. Yohnnes had helped Hawa amass over 100million birr by letting her company subcontract the Canal Cleaning bid that the National Defense Force was made to win.
As the love affair between the General and Hawa grew, she even went to the extent of harassing and threatening the Region’s tax officers and clearing herself from taxation.
Hawa has built two big buildings in Jijiga with her lover, General Yohannes. In addition to this, she has been allowed to handle other projects in the Region that are worth hundreds of millions. Some of the projects include the Kabri Dehar Water Provision, Degehabur Water Provision, Jijiga Teachers Training Expansion, Regional Education Bureau Project, Modern Meeting Hall, and other expensive buildings. Although Hawa is at the forefront of managing the wealth, sources say, it is General Yohannes who controls the construction of the region’s projects.
General Yohannes has built a very modern apartment building in Bole Medhanealem area in Addis Abeba.
In a related report, a drinking water project in the birthplace of the Region’s President has reportedly failed after a colonel of the Ethiopian Defense forces, also a member of the TPLF, signed a 120 million birr contract and started the project. Sources said the Colonel was paid 22 million birr from the Regional Administration’s account.
Staff members of the Regional Administration also said that people that have direct connection to the Regional Administration have been the main profiteers during the recent the 8th Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Day celebrated last week in Jigjiga winning most of the contracts.
Our efforts to get the responses of the Regional President, Abdi Mohammed, have been unsuccessful.
Posted By Samuale Tewelde
Ogaden, a region of Defence officials’ affluence: Sources
December 10, 2013
Top placed sources within the Somali Regional State Administration of Ethiopia in Jijiga have told our reporter that when top officials of the Ethiopian Defense Forces come to the Region, they engage in a large scale wealth accrual together with the officials of the Regional State.
Currently, one of the richest people in the region and based in Jijiga, Miss Hawa, is the second wife of Major General Yohannes Gebremeskel, a top official of the Ethiopian Defense Force, and the mother of his child. Credit goes to her lover Yohannes; the lady has been able to change from being an ordinary Khat trader to amassing hundreds of millions in wealth, the sources added. General Yohannes came to know Miss Hawa when he was a Colonel as the Head the Western Gode Zone. Yohnnes had helped Hawa amass over 100million birr by letting her company subcontract the Canal Cleaning bid that the National Defense Force was made to win.
As the love affair between the General and Hawa grew, she even went to the extent of harassing and threatening the Region’s tax officers and clearing herself from taxation.
Hawa has built two big buildings in Jijiga with her lover, General Yohannes. In addition to this, she has been allowed to handle other projects in the Region that are worth hundreds of millions. Some of the projects include the Kabri Dehar Water Provision, Degehabur Water Provision, Jijiga Teachers Training Expansion, Regional Education Bureau Project, Modern Meeting Hall, and other expensive buildings. Although Hawa is at the forefront of managing the wealth, sources say, it is General Yohannes who controls the construction of the region’s projects.
General Yohannes has built a very modern apartment building in Bole Medhanealem area in Addis Abeba.
In a related report, a drinking water project in the birthplace of the Region’s President has reportedly failed after a colonel of the Ethiopian Defense forces, also a member of the TPLF, signed a 120 million birr contract and started the project. Sources said the Colonel was paid 22 million birr from the Regional Administration’s account.
Staff members of the Regional Administration also said that people that have direct connection to the Regional Administration have been the main profiteers during the recent the 8th Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Day celebrated last week in Jigjiga winning most of the contracts.
Our efforts to get the responses of the Regional President, Abdi Mohammed, have been unsuccessful.
Posted By samuale Tewelde
የችግሮቻችን የመፍትሔ ቁልፍ – ወያኔን አስወግዶ ፍትህን ማስፈን
ሁንም በሳውዲ አረቢያ እና አካባቢው አገሮች የሚገኙ ወገኖቻችን የድረሱን ጥሪዎች እያሰሙ ነው። የወገኖቻችን ዋይታና ሰቆቃ አልበረደም። ዛሬም እህቶቻን እየተደፈሩ፣ እየተዋረዱ፣ እየተገደሉ ናቸው። በጥጋብ አገር ውስጥ ሆነው ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሕፃናት በረሀብና በጥም እየሞቱ ነው። በርካታ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ለከፋ የአዕምሮ ህመም እየተዳረጉ ነው።
በተለያዩ የዓለም አገራት የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያዊያን በመካከለኛው ምሥራቅ የሚገኙ ወገኖቻቸውን ሕመም እየታመሙ፤ ስቃያቸውን እየተሰቃዩ ይገኛሉ። አስቸኳይ እርዳታ ለማድረስም አቅማቸው የቻለውን ሁሉ ለማድረግ በመረባረብ ላይ ናቸው።
ባለፉት ጥቂት ሣምንታት ኢትዮጵያዊያን ባደረጓቸው ብርቱ ጥረቶች ጥቂት አበረታች ውጤቶች ተገኝተዋል። ከደረሰባቸው የመብት ረገጣ ጋር ፈጽሞ ተመጣጣኝ ባይሆንም ቢቢሲን ጨምሮ አንዳንድ የዓለም ዓቀፍ የዜና አውታሮች በወገኖቻችን ላይ ስለሚደርሰው በደል እንዲዘግቡ ማድረግ ተችሏል። እስካሁን ምን ያህል ወገኖቻችን እድሉን እንዳገኙ ማረጋገጥ ባይቻልም የሳውዲ መንግሥት ሙሉ የትራንስፓርት ወጪ ችሎ ወገኖቻችን ማጓጓዝ ጀምሯል። ዓለም ዓቀፍ የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥበቃ ድርጅቶች ለኢትዮጵያዊያን መብት መከራከር ጀምረዋል።
በአንፃሩ ግን አሁንም ሕሊናን የሚረብሹ ነገሮች እየተሰሙ ነው።
ከሳውዲ እየታፈሱ የመን ድንበር ላይ የተጣሉ፤ የደረሱበት የማይታወቁ ኢትዮጵያን ቁጥር በየእለቱ እየጨመረ ነው። እነዚህ ወገኖቻችን በየመን በረሀ ላይ የሚደርስባቸው ሰቆቃ ሳውዲ ውስጥ ከነበረው የባሰ ነው።
አሁንም በሳውዲ ተደብቀው የሚገኙ፤ “እጃቸውን ለመንግሥት ሰጥተው” እንደ ወንጀለኛ በእስር ቤቶች የሚማቅቁ በአስር ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵያዊያን አሉ። እነዚህ ወገኖቻችን ያሉበት ሁኔታ ሕሊና ሊሸከመው ከሚችል በላይ ነው።
ከዚህ ሁሉ በላይ ኢትዮጵያዊያንን እየረበሸ ያለው የወያኔ ባህርይ ነው።
ወያኔ በእንዲህ ዓይነት የመከራ ወቅትም በወገኖቻችን ላይ ዘርፈ ብዙ ንግድ እያጧጧፈ ነው። በሳውዲ አረቢያ መንግሥት ወጪ የተመለሰሉትን ወገኖቻችን ለምርጫ ቅሰቀሳ ፕሮፖጋንዳ ሥራ እየተጠቀሙባቸው መሆኑ ሳያንስ ለእለት ጉርስ የሚሰጣቸው የእርዳታ ገንዘብ በወያኔ እየተዘረፉ ነው። ገንዘብ ባለበት ሁሉ ወያኔ አለ። ወያኔ ለተመላሽ ስደተኞች የእለት ጉርስ የተሰጠውንም እርዳታ እየቀማ የሚበላ እኩይ ኃይል ነው።
ድሆች ኢትዮጵያዊያን ወደ አረብ አገራት ሲሰደዱ ለወያኔ ድርጅቶች ገንዘብ ከፍለው ነው። እዚያ በነበሩበት ጊዜም ለወያኔ ገንዘብ እንዲከፍሉ ይደረግ ነበር። በግፍ ተፈናቅለው፤ ሀብታቸው ተዘርፎ ባዶ እጃቸውን ሲመለሱም ለወያኔ የእርዳታ ገንዘብ መለመኛ ሆነዋል። ወያኔ በድሆች ኢትዮጵያዊያን ድህነት የሚከብር በታሪካችን ውስጥ ታይቶ የማይታወቅ ስግብግብ ነው። ወያኔ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ፈጽሞ ሊጠየፉት የሚገባ ነው ስብስብ ነው።
ግንቦት 7: የፍትህ፣ የነፃነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ በችግር ላይ የሚገኙ ወገኖቻችንን ከመርዳት ጎን ዓይኖቻችንን ከወያኔ እንዳንነቅል በአጽንዖት ያሳስባል። ወያኔ ከሥልጣን ሳይወገድ ችግሮቻችንን መፍታት አንችልም። የኢትዮጵያዊያን ችግሮች ለወያኔ የገቢ ምንጮች ናቸና ወያኔ እስካለ ድረስ ችግሮችን መፍጠሩና ማስፋፋቱ አይቀርም።
የኛ የኢትዮጵያዊያን ችግሮች የመፍትሔ ቁልፍ ያለው ወያኔን በማስወገድ ፍትሀዊ አመራር ማስፈን ላይ በመሆኑ የጋራ ትኩረታችን እዚያ ላይ እንዲሆን ግንቦት 7 ያሳስባል።
ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ!!!
POSTED BY SAMUALE TEWELDE
HRC confirms Human Rights abuses in Benishangul-Gumuz
ESAT News
December 11, 2013
The Human Rights Congress (HRC) of Ethiopia has confirmed that human rights and physical abuses have been committed against thousands of Ethiopians who have been evicted from different zones of the Benishangul-Gumuz region for belonging to the “Amhara ethnic origin”.
HRC also stated that around 10, 000 citizens residing in the region have been told that they were not “natives of the region” and were forcefully evicted from the region as of April 23, 2013.
The Congress has also stated that it has confirmed from the complaints and testimonies of the representatives of the evictees that children and women, females and the helpless have been going through enormous predicament due to lack of adequate food and drink.
It also stated that it had been able to investigate the scale of the problem and the general situation of the evictees. The report states that the evictees are currently in a difficult situation and for example in some areas such as the Kamashe Zone; the properties of the returnees have been confiscated making it impossible for the returnees to restart their life.
HRC’s investigators have been able to confirm from the words of the victims that their ethnic origin has been mentioned as a reason and they have been refused and discriminated access to credits, seeds and fertilisers.
The number of evictees from the Baruda Kebele and its environs of the Bulen Woreda in Metekel Zone were around 5000 that were later spread out in Chagni town of the Amhara region. During their investigation, HRC’s researchers have found that there were over 500 people who were dispersed in different areas of the town.
The victims also told the Human Rights organisation that they have harassed, threatened and arrested for telling the abuses and hardships they have sustained during the eviction.
An application letter signed by over 140 evictees and other documents sent to the Congress reveal that they have went through a lot of suffering, abuse and discrimination at the hands of regional officials and local populace.
Evictees from Baruda Kebele have told the Congress that their properties have not yet been returned to them, they are being attacked, have got no support, are denied access to agricultural inputs for originating from “that ethnic group”.
ESAT’s reporter has also confirmed that although Ethiopians of the Amhara ethnic origin that have been evicted from the Benishangul-Gumuz region have been returned back to the region last year, they still have not received any form of help from the government and are even facing different forms of administrative abuses.
POSTED BY SAMUALE TEWELDE
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
US admits helping Mengistu escape
| Mengistu was in power for 17 years The United States embassy in Zimbabwe has confirmed the US was involved in finding a safe haven for the former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. The embassy said in a statement that then Assistant Secretary of State Hank Cohen had been involved in negotiations which resulted in Mengistu coming to Harare in 1991. While the US recognises that Mengistu's military regime - the Dergue - was involved in crimes and atrocities, it argues that the leader's departure from Addis Ababa was necessary to end the civil war and bring peace to Ethiopia Up to 500 000 people were killed during Mengistu's so-called red terror, according to Amnesty International. Notoriously, soldiers of the Dergue would not release a victim's body for burial until the victim's family had paid back the cost of the bullet used in the killing. Thousands of members of the Dergue regime are currently in prison awaiting trial in Ethiopia. Deflecting criticism Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe first mentioned US involvement in Mengistu's escape to try to deflect criticism that Zimbabwe was harbouring a dictator who deserved to be judged for his crimes Mengistu is accommodated in a luxury mansion in Harare and some Zimbabweans are outraged that their taxes are being spent in this way. Mr Mugabe said with some pride that the Americans had offered financial assistance, but that this had not been necessary. The current Ethiopian Government is keen to have Mengistu arrested, and requested his extradition when he visited South Africa recently for medical treatment. South Africa said eventually that it would consider extradition, but Mengistu returned to Zimbabwe before procedures could begin. Mengistu said he had helped Southern African freedom fighters, and that this was one reason why he did not think South Africa's ANC government would send him back to Ethiopia. POSTED BY SAMUALE TEWELDE |
Monday, December 9, 2013
STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST ETHIOPIANS IN SAUDI
10.12.13
Ethiopia is
a country located in the horn of Africa. Its population is around 90 million.
There are more than 80 different ethnics in the country.
The main
agenda I raising Now is the violation of human rights in the country.
Unfortunately, the country has never had democratic regime for the last 40
years. In addition to the fact that the former regime was dictatorial and
military government, the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) who overthrew
it after 17 years of war, has continued violation of human rights to the worst
stage for the past 22 years. So the Ethiopian people are currently under the
worst dictatorial rule in their history. Under this regime, all parts of the
society have been victimized. However, the youth, who have the responsibility
for tomorrow’s Ethiopia, have been victimized to the worst. Because the youth
do not have freedom of speech and the power lays in the hands of one ethnic
group, particularly called the Tigrayans, the people could not find political
and social justice.
The youth
have tried to peacefully bring an end to this dictatorship. The regime replied
to the peaceful struggle by killing and imprisoning those who opposed it. This has resulted in the persecution of the
young Ethiopians. So they are migrating to Europe, North America, and the
middle east countries such as Saudi Arabia.
Currently,
there are around a million immigrants in Saudi Arabia from different countries
including Ethiopia. The government has given a time of 7 months for the
immigrants to contact their respective embassies, bring passports, and to be
legalized by bringing in addition contracts of jobs if any. By doing so, many
were legalized at the end of these 7 months. However, considerably many
Ethiopians could not get passports from the Ethiopian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
The Embassy, thinking that those immigrants in Saudi Arabia are opponents to
the regime, did only issue passports to few who are loyal to the TPLF and
rejected the applications of the majority. At the end of this 7 months period
of pardon, the method of deportation used by the Saudi Arabian government
lacked humanity to the worst. The police and other voluntary young Saudi
Arabians broke and entered the homes of the Ethiopians by force. The police
took the Ethiopian males with them and left the Ethiopian women to be gang raped
and robbed by those Saudi voluntary workers. What happened is impossible to
believe that it occurred in this 21st century.
The
Ethiopian male immigrants said that they had the right to return in peace back
to their home country. They also protested that the Saudis should stop the gang
rapes and robberies against the Ethiopian females. This resulted in the killing
and physical abuse of a number of Ethiopians.
This
irresponsible act of violence taken by the Saudi police and people, enraged all
Ethiopians around the world. Consequently, the diaspora Ethiopians have been
continuously protesting at the Saudi Arabian Embassies.
The Human
Rights Watch (HRW) has also a report on this issue. Please refer to the
following webpage.
After this
terrible violence, an organization struggling for the rights of the Ethiopian
victims in Saudi Arabia has been established. It is called Global Alliance for the Rights of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia. The organization has also prepared
a petition. So any person who feels with us about this violation of human
rights in Saudi Arabia, can sign on the following webpage. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-violence-against-5
In memory
of those who have been killed and physically abused and for the women who have
been gang raped in Saudi Arabia, we Ethiopians who live in Harstad and the
nearby towns will light candles in Harstad sentrum Tuesday, 10 December 2013 at
3 PM (15:00).
With kind
regards,
posted by Samuale Tewelde
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