አይሲስ በኢትዮጵያውያን ክርስቲያኖች ላይ የፈፀመው ግድያ ከፍተኛ ተቃውሞ አስነሳ

በአዲስ አበባ ኀዘኑን ለመግለጽ የወጣው ህዝብ ድብደባ ደረሰበት

Ethiopia Zare (ማክሰኞ ሚያዝያ 13 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም. April 21, 2015)፡- ሚያዝያ 11 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም. በሊቢያ የሚኖሩ 30 ኢትዮጵያውያንን በጥይት በመደብደብ እና በካራ በማረድ አይሲስ (ISIS) የተባለው አሸባሪ ቡድን በፈፀመው ግድያ በሀገር ቤትና በውጪ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሁሉ ከፍተኛ ኀዘን ላይ ወድቀዋል። ይህንን ግድያ አስመልክቶ የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ዘግይቶ የኀዘን መግለጫ ያወጣ ሲሆን፣ በመግለጫውም በመላው ሀገሪቱ ለሦስት ቀናት ብሔራዊ ኀዘን ሆኖ እንዲቆይ እንዲሁም በኢትዮጵያና በኤምባሲዎች ጭምር የሚገኙ ባንዲራዎች ዝቅ ብለው እንዲውለበለቡ አዟል።

ይህ ከፍተኛ ኀዘን ያደረሰው አሰቃቂ ግድያ የተፈጸመው በደቡብ አፍሪካ በኢትዮጵያውያን ላይ የተፈጸመው የቃጠሎ ግድያ፣ የንብረት ማውደም ጥቃት ውሎ ሳያድር በመሆኑ ለሀገራችን ህዝብ ተደራራቢ ኀዘን ሆኖበታል።

በሊቢያ አሸባሪ ቡድኑ በሚንቀሳቀስበት አቅራቢያ የቤታቸውን በር ዘግተው የሚገኙት ሌሎች ከ90 በላይ ኢትዮጵያውያን መጨረሻቸው ምን እንደሚሆን ሊታወቅ ባለመቻሉ ሌላው አሳሳቢ ችግር መሆኑ ታውቋል። እነዚሁ ከአይሲስ ተደብቀው የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን የድረሱልኝ ጥሪ እያቀረቡም ይገኛሉ። እነዚሁ ሴቶችና ወንዶች ሆነው በተለያየ ክፍል ተደብቀው የሚገኙ ወገኖች ላለፉት ሦስት ቀናት ምግብ ማግኘት እንዳልቻሉ ለመረዳት ተችሏል።

ዛሬ ረፋዱ ላይ ብሶትና ኀዘን የፈነቀለው የአዲስ አበባ ነዋሪ ድንገተኛ ሰልፍ አድርጎ ወደ መስቀል አደባባይ ተሟል። ሰልፈኛው የሟች ልጆቹንና ወገኖቹን ፎቶ በመያዝ ጩኸቱን እያሰማ የወጣ ሲሆን፣ በዚህ ባልታሰበ ሰልፍ ያልተደሰቱት የመንግሥት ባለሥልጣናት የፖሊስ ኃይል በማሰማራት አደባባይ የወጣውን ህዝብ በዱላ እየደበደቡ በመኪና ሲጭኑት ተስተውለዋል። እስካሁን ድረስ ሰልፈኛውን ለመበተን በተደረገው እርምጃ የቆሰለውንና ታፍሶ የተወሰደውን ቁጥር ለማወቅ አልተቻለም።

ከዚህ ጋር ተያይዞ በተለያዩ የውጪ አገር ከተሞች ኢትዮጵያውያን በየአካባቢያቸው ቤተክርስቲያናት በመሰብሰብ ወገኖቻቸውን በጸሎት አስበዋል። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ የዋሽንግተን ነዋሪዎችን ጨምሮ በግሪክና በሌሎችም አገሮች የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን በሳውዲ ዐረቢያና በደቡብ አፍሪካ ኤምባሲ ጽ/ቤቶች በመሰለፍ የተደረገውን ግድያ በማውገዝ፤ በጭፍጨፋው የተሰማሩት ለፍርድ እንዲቀርቡ እና እርምጃም እንዲወሰድ ጠይቀዋል።

ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያን ግድያውን በማውገዝ መግለጫ አውጥታለች። ቤተክርስቲያኗ በማንኛውም የሰው ልጅ ላይ የሚደርስን ጥቃት እንደማትፈቅድና እንደምትቃወም ገልጻ፤ ይህ የአሸባሪዎች እርምጃም ማንኛውንም ኃይማኖት የማይወክል በመሆኑ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሁሉ በአንድነት ማውገዝ ይገባቸዋል ብላለች። ከዚህም ሌላ ይኸው በሀገር ውስጥ የሚገኘው የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቅዱስ ሲኖዶሱ ከነገ ሚያዝያ 14 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ ለሰባት ቀናት ፀሎተ ምህላ እንዲደረግ አዝዟል።

”ድምጻችን ይሰማ!” በሚል የሚታወቁትና በአገር ውስጥ ያሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች፣ ”በክርስቲያን ወገኖቻችን ላይ በደረሰው ጭካኔ የተመላበት ግድያ አዝነናል” የሚል መግለጫ በማውጣት ድርጊቱን ማውገዛቸው ታውቋል። በተለያዩ አገራት በስደት የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞችም በተለያዩ የማኅበራዊ ድረገጾች በወገኖቻቸው ላይ በደረሰው አሰቃቂ ግድያ የተሰማቸውን ጥልቅ ኀዘን ከመግለጻቸውም ባሻገር፤ አይሲስ እስልምናን አይወክልም ሲሉ ተደምጠዋል።

የአሜሪካ መንግሥት ይንንኑ ግድያ በማውገዝ መግለጫ ያወጣ ሲሆን፣ በሀገር ውስጥና በውጪ የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያዊ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች የተቃውሞ መግለጫ አውጥተዋል። በአውሮፓና በአሜሪካ የተለያዩ ከተሞች ከሐሙስ ጀምሮ የተቃውሞ ሰልፎች ለማድረግ ጥሪ ተላልፏል።

ከዚሁ ጋር በተያያዘ፣ ኢትዮጵያ በዜጎቿ ላይ ለደረሰው ጥቃት የአፀፋ እርምጃ በአሸባሪው ቡድን ላይ የምትወስድ ከሆነ ግብጽ ለእርምጃው ተባባሪ እንደምትሆን በኢትዮጵያ የግብጽ አምባሳደር መሐመድ ኢድሪስ አሳውቀዋል። ከደቡብ አፍሪካና ከሊቢያ ግድያ ውጭ በየመን ከፍተኛ አደጋ እያንዣበበባቸው የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያንም እንዳሉ አይዘነጋም። ይህ ሣምንት በኢትዮጵያውያን ዘንድ ጭለማው ሣምንት የሚል ስያሜ ተሰጥቶታል።

መንግስት እራሱ በጠራው ሰልፍ ያሰራቸውን ፍርድ ቤት አቀረበ

በነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ሪፖርተር

• ‹‹የታሰርነው የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባል በመሆናችን ብቻ ነው›› የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት
• ‹‹የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባል መሆን ሊያሳስር አይገባም›› ዳኛው

መንግስት አይ ኤስ አይ ኤስ ሊቢያ ውስጥ በኢትዮጵያውያን ላይ የፈፀመውን የጭካኔ እርምጃ ለመቃወም በጠራው ሰልፍ ላይ ፖሊስ ‹‹ሁከትና ብጥብጥ ፈጥረዋል›› በሚል የያዛቸውን የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላትና ሌሎችም በርካታ ኢትዮጵያውያን ዛሬ ሚያዝያ 16/2007 ዓ.ም አዲስ አበባ ውስጥ በሚገኙ የተለያዩ ፍርድ ቤቶች አቀረበ፡፡ ከእነዚህ መካከል ቄራ የፌደራል የመጀመሪያ ፍርድ ቤት በርካት ያሉት ታሳሪዎች ቀርበዋል፡፡ በነ ወይንሸት ሞላ የምርመራ መዝገብ 12 ታሳሪዎች የቀረቡ ሲሆን ከእነዚህ መካከል ዳንኤል ተስፋዬና ኤርሚያስ ጸጋዬ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት ናቸው፡፡ በተጨማሪም በእነ ወይንሸት የምርመራ መዝገብ ከቀረቡት 12 ታሳሪዎች መካከል 7ቱ ሴቶች ሲሆን በሌሎች ተናጠል መዝገቦችም ሴቶች ቀርበዋል፡፡ በቄራ የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ፍርድ ከቀረቡት መካከል 5ቱ የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ተማሪዎች መሆናቸው ታውቋል፡፡

በታሳሪዎቹ ላይ ‹‹ሁከትና ብጥብጥ ማነሳሳት›› የሚል ክስ ያቀረበው ፖሊስ ምርመራዬን አልጨርስኩም በሚል 14 ቀን ቀጠሮ እንዲሰጠው ጠይቆ የነበር ቢሆንም ዳኛው በበኩላቸው ‹‹14 ቀን ብዙ ነው፡፡ ለምርመራ 6 ቀን ይበቃል፡፡ በመሆኑም በ6 ቀን ውስጥ የምትመረምሩትን መርምራችሁ የምትለቁትን መልቀቅ አለባችሁ›› በሚል 6 ቀን ቀጠሮ ሰጥተዋል፡፡ ወይንሸት ሞላ ‹‹የተቃዋሚ ፖለቲካ ፓርቲ አባል ስለሆንኩ ብቻ ነው የተያዝኩት፡፡ ሰልፍ ሳይጀመር ነው የተያዝኩት፡፡›› ስትል ፖሊስ ያቀረበውን ክስ ስትቃወም በተመሳሳይ ዳንኤል ተስፋዬ ‹‹ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባል ስለሆንኩ ብቻ ሰልፉ ካበቃ በኋላ ነው ታድኜ የተያዝኩት›› ሲል ክሱን ተቃውሟል፡፡ ዳኛው በበኩላቸው ‹‹ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባል በመሆናችሁ የታሰራችሁ ካላችሁ የሚጣራ ይሆናል፡፡ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባል መሆን ሊያሳስር አይገባም፡፡ ይህን ፖሊስ መመርመር አለበት›› ብለዋል፡፡

ከእነ ወይንሸት በተለየ መዝገብ ነገር ግን በተመሳሳይ ክስ የቀረበበትና የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባል የሆነው ማስተዋል ፈቃዱ 10 ቀን ተቀጥሮበታል፡፡ በመሆኑም እነ ወይንሸት ሚያዚያ 22 ቀን እንዲሁም ማስተዋል ፈቃዱ ሚያዚያ 26 ቀን ፍርድ ቤት ይቀርባሉ ተብሎ ይጠበቃል፡፡ ከተከሳሾቹ መካከል ኢንጅነር አምሃ ታደሰ የተባለ ግለሰብ ቪዲዮ ሲያነሳ እንደተያዘ ቢገልጽም ፖሊስ ‹‹ሁከትና ብጥብጥ በማስነሳት›› የሚል ክስ አቅርቦበታል፡፡ በቄራ የፌደራል የመጀመሪያ ፍርድ ቤት ከሰዓትም የሚቀርቡ ታሳሪዎች እንዳሉ ታውቋል፡፡
በሌላ የፍርድ ቤት ዜና ሰልፉ ካለቀ በኋላ ከምሽቱ 12 ሰዓት አካባቢ በፖሊስ ታድኖ የተያዘው ብሩክ የኔነህ የተባለው የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባል ዛሬ አራዳ የፌደራል ምድብ ችሎት ቀርቦ 12 ቀን የተቀጠረበት ሲሆን ሚያዝያ 28/2007 ዓ.ም ፍርድ ቤት ይቀርባል ተብሎ ይጠበቃል፡፡

የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት ቤት ተበረበረ፡፡አራት ኪሎ አካባቢ የሚኖሩ ወጣቶች ‹‹ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጋር ግንኙነት አላችሁ›› በሚል መታፈሳቸውን ገለጹ

MINILIK SALSAWI

ሰልፍ ሳይጀመርና ከሰልፉ በኋላ ተይዘው የታሰሩት የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት ቤት ተበረበረ፡፡

አራት ኪሎ አካባቢ የሚኖሩ ወጣቶች ትናንት ሚያዝያ 22/2007 ዓ.ም ‹‹ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጋር ግንኙነት አላችሁ›› በሚል ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ መታፈሳቸውን ወጣቶቹ ለነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ገለጹ፡፡ 

ሚያዝያ 14 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም መንግስት አይ.ኤስ.አይ.ኤስ ሊቢያ በሚገኙ ንጹሃን ኢትዮጵያውያን ላይ የፈጸመውን አሰቃቂ የሽብር ድርጊት ለማውገዝ ጠርቶት በነበረው ሰልፍ ሳይጀመርና ከሰልፉ በኋላ ተይዘው የታሰሩት የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት ቤት ተበረበረ፡፡ ካሳንቺስ 6ኛ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ ታስረው የሚገኙት የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት ትናንት ሚያዝያ 22 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም በቄራ የፌደራል የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ፍርድ ቤት ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ ቀርበው የ6 ቀን ቀጠሮ ከተሰጠባቸው በኋላ ምሽት ላይ ቤታቸው መበርበሩንና ንብረቶቻቸው መወሰዳቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡

በብርበራው ወቅት የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ መተዳደሪያ ደንብ፣ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላት በሰላማዊ ሰልፍና በሌሎች አጋጣሚዎች የሚለብሱት የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አርማ ያለበት ቲሸርት፣ የምርጫና ሌሎች ቅስቀሳ ወረቀቶችም ለ‹ምርመራ› ተወስደዋል፡፡
ቤታቸው ለሰዓታት የተበረበረባቸው ወይንሸት ሞላ፣ ኤርሚያስ ጸጋዬ፣ ዳንኤል ተስፋዬና ማስተዋል ፍቃዱ ሲሆኑ ወይንሸት ሞላ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ መተዳደሪያ ደንብ፣ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የቅስቀሳ ወረቀቶች፣ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አርማ ያለበት ቲሸርት፣ ሲዲዎች፣ አርማ የሌለው የኢትዮጵያ ሰንደቅ አላማ (በተናጠል አረንጓዴ፣ ቢጫ፣ ቀይ የሆነ)፣መጽሐፎች እና ሌሎችም ህጋዊ ሰነዶች እንደተወሰዱባት ገልጻለች፡፡ ዳንኤል ተስፋዬ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ መተዳደሪያ ደንብ፣ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አርማ ያለበት ቲሸርት፣ በአንድ ላይ ያስጠረዛቸው የፋክትና የአዲስ ጉዳይ እትሞች፣ ሲዲዎችና ካሴቶች ተወስደውበታል፡፡ በተመሳሳይ ኤርሚያስ ጸጋዬ ዴስክ ቶፕ ኮምፒውተር፣ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ሰነዶች፣ ሲዲዎች፣ ማስታወሻ ደብተሮችና ሌሎችም ህጋዊ ሰነዶች ተወስደውብኛል ብሏል፡፡

አራት ኪሎ አካባቢ የሚኖሩ ወጣቶች ትናንት ሚያዝያ 22/2007 ዓ.ም ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ መታፈሳቸውን ወጣቶቹ ለነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ገለጹ፡፡ ከአንድ ወር በፊት ፖሊስ ወጣቶቹን ቪዲዮና ኳስ የሚታይባቸው ቤቶች ውስጥ እያሉ ‹‹ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጋር ግንኙነት አላችሁ›› በሚል ካሰረ በኋላ አስፈርሞና አሻራ ወስዶ እንደለቀቃቸው ገልጸዋል፡፡
በትናንትናው ዕለትም ፖሊስ በርከት ያሉ ወጣቶችን አስሮ የነበር ሲሆን ‹‹ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ እንድትበጠብጡለት ምን ያህል ብር ይከፍላችኋል? ማን ነው ያደራጃችሁ? ደንጋይ ለመወርወር ምን ያህል ብር ይከፈላችኋል?›› በሚል ምርመራ እንደተደረገባቸው ገልጸዋል፡፡ በስተመጨረሻም ምሽት ላይ አስፈርሞና አሻራ ወስዶ ከእስር ተለቀዋል፡፡ ወጣቶቹን ‹‹ከአሁን በኋላ ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጋር ግንኙነት እንዳላችሁ ካወቅን በሽብር ነው የምንከሳችሁ፡፡›› የሚል ማስጠንቀቂያ እንደተሰጣቸው ገልጸዋል፡፡

Gambella opposition condemns Ethiopia’s double standard over South Sudan

GPDAM Press Release

The Gambella People’s Democratic Alliance Moment (GPDAM) strongly condemned the double standard of Ethiopian government in negotiating peace deal between the government of Republic of South Sudan and SPLM-IO. The Addis Ababa regime is no longer neutral in mediating between the warring parties to South Sudan conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousand innocent civilians into Gambela region. GPDAM is deeply concerned for Ethiopian military training, logistics and military support to SPLM-IO and the impact to regional stability and security.

The senseless political upheaval that broke out in December 2013 displace hundreds of thousands civilians across international border into Gambela region for international protection and safety. The conflict has drawn some regional powers to play key destabilising factors in already troubled and instable horn of Africa region. In particular, the arrival of mainly Nuer ethnic, a major source of military and political support to former South Sudan vice president-Riek Machar rebellion, into impoverished and troubled region has increased tension and security concerns among local communities.

The conflict has brought huge impacts on the regional security structure and economy of the remote Ethiopian border region due to the government in Addis Ababa failure to control arms trafficking and its direct link and open support to SPLM-IO. The Ethiopian government support to rebellion further fuel the conflict in an independent state in the horn of Africa. As a result, the Gambela region is now awash with small arms and Ethiopian government backed militant freely moving within the region and crossing into South Sudan exposing civilians to unnecessary suffering.

GPDAM is further greatly concerned for Addis Ababa regime ineffective, lack of international border control and mushrooming of refugee camps in the Gambela region to accommodate hundreds of thousands refugees to areas predominately inhabited by local population. GPDAM continues to be troubled by uncontrolled and unmanaged refugee influx both within the Ethiopian troubled region and across the international border.

As the government continues to pursue the implementation of its unpopular land deal policy, villagization programme, and the influx of refugees plays great role into local politics. South Sudan civil war always has negative consequences that could engulfed the Gambela region into serious political unrest and regional instability.

Despite the newly African nation that drifted into political instability efforts to engage into rounds of diplomatic shuttles to find amicable political solutions and restore peace and security to thousands internally displaced persons trapped and entirely dependent on humanitarian food aid, the Ethiopian government military and logistics support to Riek Machar rebellion continue to undermine IGAD brokered peace deal effort.

This is contrary to the IGAD peace and conflict resolution mission that made Ethiopian government to appoint the former Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Ambassador Seyoum Mesfin to mediate a political settlement through roundtable discussion between the conflicting parties, The Ethiopian government interference in political affairs of a sovereign nation is counter-productive and has a regional destabilising factors in a already troubled region of the Ethiopia. Ethiopia double standard should be condemned in strong terms.

Though the root causes of political instability and social unrest remain a stumbling block for the parties to each diplomatic settlement, GPDAM urges all those involved to narrow their differences and accept peace proposals in the interest of internally displaced persons and refugees across the eastern Africa and in Gambela region in particular.

GPDAM, in the interest of regional political stability and peaceful dispute settlement, calls upon the international community, organisations and individuals to put arms embargo on Ethiopian government and other parties that continues to fuel political turmoil so that the parties could negotiate in good faith to reach to compromise and the return of normality and continue reconstruction efforts.

Ironically, SPLM-IO alleged that the Republic of South is helping rebel groups from Gambella region. This is baseless allegations and based on hypocritical nature of SPLM-IO politics. SPLM-IO is the one receiving both logistics and military assistance from Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) regime. According to our reliable sources, Ethiopia has set up numerous military training camps around Gambella’s region.

The Impact of Sudan Civil Wars on the Anyuaks’ Society

The Anyuak communities in both Ethiopia and Sudan (now South Sudan) are bordering to the most hostile communities in Africa. Since 1955 until 2005, Sudan, like most African countries, has experienced three consecutive civil wars. The first civil war (Anyanya/Anya-Nya) erupted in 1955 and ended in 1972. The peace agreement which was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1972 did last long. The discontented former Anyanya I leaders took up arm again in 1975 and formed Anyanya II.

However, after seven years, the Anyanya I was hijacked and was converted to South Sudan Liberation Army/Moment (SPLA/M) in 1983. The liberation moment waged civil war against North Sudan government until comprehensive agreement was signed in Kenya in 2005. All these civil wars were furnished by the Anyauks and they were carried out in the Anyuaks’ lands. Regrettably, the Anyuaks in both Ethiopia and South Sudan have not benefited from these two civil wars. Instead, they lost their livelihood, lives, lands, culture, and etc. Even though the author of this article did not witness the suffering of the Anyuaks in the hand of Anyanya I, it is rational to assert that the Anyuaks must have suffered in the hand of Anyanya I as well. During the 39 years of the civil wars, the Anyuaks’ land and natural resources had been used up. Their wives were gang raped, their children were kidnaped, killed, their foods were robbed, and their cattle were raid.

When South Sudan Liberation Army/Moment (SPLA/M) was waging civil war against the Northern government in the 1980s, the Anyuaks were very hospitable to the South Sudanese refugees who came to their land. The Anyuaks would share whatever they have with the refugees; the Anyuaks would give the freedom fighters benign passages to wherever they were going; and some of the refugees were even integrated into the Anyuaks’ communities.

On the other hand, the SPLA/M and South Sudanese refugees alike were very hostile to the Anyuak communities. Both SPLA/M and the refugees had hatred toward the Anyuaks. When Sudanese refugees were residing in Itang, one of the cities in Gambella, Ethiopia, the refugees would go outside the city and hideout to wait for women to gang raped them or waited for someone who had something of value to rob. During 39 years of Sudan civil war both SPLA/M and refugees had done vices things to the Anyuaks and the Anyuaks will never forget. The SPLA/M hostility even went further when they opened fire on the unarmed civilians in Pnyodo, one of the cities in Gambella, Ethiopia and killed a numbers of people.

When the SPLA/M was evicted in 1991, they dismantled all the houses or any building in Itang and other areas they were residing. The rationale behind the destruction of the properties was that they do not want the inhabitants to use the buildings or houses that were built for SPLA/M or refugees. This is just to mention few of the immoralities things the SPLA/M and South Sudanese refugees have done to the Anyuaks.

After 22 years of civil war, the SPLA/M and Khartoum government signed comprehensive peace agreement in Kenya in 2005 that led to South Sudan’s independent in 2011. In December 2013, South Sudan was engulfed with civil war again and the Southern Sudanese refugees are pouring into Gambella, Ethiopia.

These refugees are not mere refugees but they are from the Ethnic Nuers who were briefly trained in South Sudan border with Gambella and sent to South Sudan major cities to fight the incumbent President Salva Kirr’s government. When the Nuers were badly defeated, they came back to Gambella and seek refuge in the region. These refugees are also heavily armed. Gambella region is facing anarchism again because these refugees are the Nuers ethnic groups who claimed to have dual citizens. They claimed they are Ethiopians but at the same time they believe they are Southern Sudanese.

The Anyuaks border with some of the wildest people in the world, and the governments in both Ethiopia and South Sudan do not provide them with the needed protections. During Col. Mingestu Hallemaraim’s government, farmer association used to have militias and those militias somehow protected the Anyuaks’ lives. However, the current government not only disarmed the Anyuaks but it also criminalized gun ownership. Therefore, if the federal and regional governments do not take major steps to protect the Anyuaks’ land and lives, we will lose one of the best lands in Ethiopia to the aliens.

ታሪክ ይፋረደናል!

አንዱዓለም ተፈራ

እንደ እውነቱ ከሆነ፤ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ያለው ገዥ ቡድን በእብሪት ተወጥሮ ሀገራችንን ሲጫወትባት፤ እኛ “የኔ ድርጅት! የለም የኔ ድርጅት!” “እኔ ልምራ እናንተ ተከተሉኝ! የለም እኔ ልምራ እናንተ ተከተሉኝ!” “እኔ እበልጣለሁ! የለም እኔ እበልጣለሁ!” እየተባባልን፤ በሌለ ሥልጣን ሽሚያ ልባችን አብጦ፤ ዛሬ ትናንት፤ ነገ ደግሞ ዛሬ እየሆነ ዓመታትን አስቆጠርን። ለምን? የሀገር ጉዳይ እያንዳንዳችንን የሀገሯ ተወላጆች እኩል አይሸነቅጠንም? ምን እስኪሆን ድረስ ነው የምንጠብቀው? በየድረገጹ የማነበው፣ በየፓልቶኩ ክፍል የማዳምጠው፣ በየሬዲዮኖች የሚተላለፈው፤ በአንድነት እስካልተነሳን ድረስ፤ ትግሉ አይሳካም! የነገውም ሂደት አያስተማምንም! ነው። ለምን በዚህ አውቶቡስ ሁላችን አንሳፈርም? ኧረ ተው! ታሪክ ይፋረደናል!

አሜሪካ ፈልጌውና ጓጉቼለት የመጣሁበት ሀገር አይደለም። የዴሞክራሲ ሥርዓቱ ናፍቆኝም አይደለም የመጣሁት። የተሰማራሁበት ትግል ሂደት ተሰናክሎ፣ ቀኑ ጨልሞብኝ፣ በሰደት ከነበርኩበት የኑሮ ዝግመት ማምለጫ ስለሆነልኝ ነበር። መጥቼ ደግሞ በአድናቆት ተውጬ ማንነቴን ረስቼ አልቧረቅሁበትም። ያገኘሁትን ዕድል በመጠቀም ኑሮዬን ገፍቻለሁ። ይኼው ከመጣሁ ሰላሳ ዓመታት አልፈዉኛል። የሀገሬ የፖለቲካ ሀቅና በስደት ነዋሪ መሆኔ፤ የፖለቲካ ጥንዚዛ አድርጎኛል። የአሜሪካን የዴሞክራሲ ሥርዓት አካሄድ ስገነዘብ፤ ያላቸውን ድክመት ደግሞ በዚያው ጎን ለጎን አጤናለሁ። ለሀገሬ ከማደርገው መሯሯጥ ጋር፤ በአሜሪካ ሀገር ያለሁበትን ሀገር የፖለቲካ ሀቅ ለማስተካከል፤ እንዲህ መሆን ሲገባው ለምን አልሆነም? እያልኩ ከማንጠርጠር አልቦዘንኩም። አሜሪካኖች የራሳቸውን የዴሞክራሲ አካሄድ “ፍጹም ወደ መሆን እያዘገምን ነው።” ብለው ነው የሚያምኑት። “ፍጹም ነው!” አይሉም። በምችለውና ባጋጠመኝ መንገድ ሁሉ፤ ይኼን ፍጹም ወደመሆን የሚጓዘውን ሂደታቸውን፤ በንቃት በመሳተፍ እየረዳሁ ነው።

አሁን በሀገራችን የኑሮ ሀቅ፤ የወሃ ጥማት፣ የምግብ ማጣት፣ የሰላም የገበያ አገልግሎት፣ የመንገድ አለመሠራት፣ የትምህርትና ሕክምና አለመስፋፋት፣ የመናገርና የመጻፍ፣ የመሰባሰብና ተቃውሞን የመግለጽ፣ የአድልዖና ሙስና መንገሥ፤ መሠረታዊ የኅብረተሰቡ ጥያቄዎች፤ የፖለቲካውን መድረክ ማዕከላዊ ቦታ አልያዙም። ለዚህ ተጠያቂ የሆነውን መንግሥት በመወንጀል ባንድነት የመነሳት ግዴታችንን በውል አልጨበጥነውም። በርግጥ ከአሜሪካ ጋር የኛን ሀገርና የኛን ሁኔታ እያወዳደርኩ አይደለም። አዎ እንደነሱ በሀብት የበለጸግን አይደለንም። ግን ይኼ ላለንበት ሁኔታ ወሳኝነት የለውም።
የሀብት ጉዳይ ከተነሳ፤ በሀብት ያልበለጸግን መሆናችን አዲስ አይደለም። ከሕዝቡ ጥቅምና ከሀገሪቱ ዕድገት ይልቅ የሥልጣን ዘመናቸውን ለማራዘም ቅድሚያ የሠጡ ገዥዎች በነበሩበት ዘመን፤ አጠቃላይ የሀገሪቱን እውነታ ፈትሸው፤ ለረጅሙ የወደፊት ብልጽግና በማቀድ እርምጃ ስላልወሰዱ፤ ድኅነቱ አብሮን ኖሯል። እዚህ ላይ አንዳንዶቹ ያደረጉትን ከልብ የመነጨ አስተዋፅዖ በምንም መንገድ ልስት አልችልም። በታሪካችን፤ ባገኘሁት ዕድል ሁሉ፤ መጽሐፍትን በማገላበጥ ለማወቅ ጥረት ከማደርጋቸው መሪዎች መካከል፤ አፄ ዘርዓ ያዕቆብንና አፄ ቴዎድሮስን እጠቅሳለሁ። በአፄ ቴዎድሮስ ዘመን ምን ነበር? ያሁኑስ ዘመን ከዚያ ዘመን በምን ይለያል?

ከአፄ ቴዎድሮስ ዘመን የአሁኑ ዘመን የሚለየው፤ ያኔ ኢትዮጵያዊነትና ኢትዮጵያ፤ በኢትዮጵያዊያን ዘንድ ትልቅ ክብር የነበራቸው ሲሆን፤ አፈሩ እንኳ ሳይቀር የተከበረበት ዘመን ነበር። አፄ ቴዎድሮስ፤ ከሕዝቡ በመጠቀ ደረጃ፤ ከራሳቸው የወቅቱ ክብር ይልቅ፤ የሀገራቸው እድገትና በአካባቢያቸው የተኮለኮሉት የውጭ ጠላቶች እንቅስቃሴ፤ የዕለት ተዕለት ጭንቀታቸው ነበር። የተበታተነች ኢትዮጵያን ለመመለስና የቀድሞ ቦታዋን ለማስያዝ የሕይወታቸው ዋና ማዕከላዊ ትርጉም አድርገው ጣሩ። ለራሳቸው የስም ማስጠሪያ ግንብ ወይንም ቤተክርስትያን ከማሠራት ይልቅ፤ ለሀገራቸው መጠበቂያ የጦር መሣሪያ እንዲያበጁላቸው ነበር የውጭ ሀገር ሰዎችን የጠየቋቸው። ምንም እንኳ አሁን ምሁር ነን ባዮች፤ የአፄ ቴዎድሮስ ጠላቶች በውጭም ሆነ በውስጥ የነበሩት የጻፉትንና ያሉትን ተሸክመው ቢያጥላሏቸውም፤ እኒህ መሪ በተወለዱበት ዘመንና በቦታው የነበራቸውን የፖለቲካ ድርሻ አጢነው ቢመረምሩ፤ ከማንም መሪ የበለጠ ሊያደንቋቸው በተገባ ነበር።

የበዕደ ማርያም መምህሬ ዶክተር ገብሩ ታረቀኝ ለቀረበላቸው ጥያቄ የሠጡት መልስ እጅግ በጣም አርክቶኛል። ከነበሩት መሪዎች ሁሉ አንደኛ አድርገው የሚያደንቁትን ቃለ መጠይቅ አቅራቢዋ እንድትነግራቸው ስትጠይቃቸው፤ ያለምንም ማመናታት “አፄ ቴዎድሮስ ናቸው!” በማለት በኩራት አስቀምጠውላታል። ልክ ድሮ ሲያስተምሩኝ እንዳደነቅኋቸው ሁሉ፤ አሁንም የማደንቃቸው መምህሬ ሆነው አገኘኋቸው። ከመሬት ተነስተው፤ ኢትዮጵያ አሁን ላለችበት ሀገራዊ ሕልውና፤ የመሠረቱን ደንጋይ ያስቀመጡ አፄ ቴዎድሮስ ናቸው። ከግለሰብ ማንነታቸው ይልቅ፤ የሀገራቸው መሪነታቸው ነበር ልባቸውን የሞላው። ያኔ በሕዝቡም መካከል፤ ከግለሰብ ምንነታችን ይልቅ የስብስብ ማንነታችን ማዕከላዊ ቦታውን የያዘ ነበር። ዛሬ በኢትዮጵያ፤ ኢትዮጵያዊነት አፈር የተንከባለለበት፤ ከኢትዮጵያዊነት ይልቅ ኢትዮጵያዊ አለመሆን የተወደደበት፣ ከኢትዮጵያዊያን ስም ይልቅ የውጪ ሀገር ስሞች የተመረጡበት፣ ከራሳችን ቋንቋ ይልቅ የውጪ ቋንቋ፣ ከራሳችን እምነት ይልቅ የውጪ እምነት፣ ከራሳችን ምግብ ይልቅ የውጪ፤ ባጠቃላይም ከራሳችን ማንነት ይልቅ የውጪውን መቅዳትና መስሎ መገኘት የጎላበት ክስተት፤ ሀቅ ሆኖ ይታያል። ለምን? ዋናውን ማዕከላዊ ቦታ ይዞ በተጠያቂነት የቆመው ያለው ገዥ ቡድን ነው። ይህ ገዢ ቡድን ዋና ሥራዬ ብሎ የያዘው፤ ኢትዮጵያና ኢትዮጵያዊነትን ማጥፋት ነው። ይኼንንም በትውልድ ማንነት ተክቶታል። እናም “ከራሱ የገማን አሣ! . . .” እንደሚባለው ተቆርጦ መጣል ያለበት፤ ይኼው ገዥ ክፍል ነው።

አሁንም ያኔም ኢትዮጵያዊነት፤ ኢትዮጵያዊነት ነው። አሁን ግንዛቤያችን ፈሩን ለቋል። የብሔር ብሔረሰብ ጥያቄ የፖለቲካውን ማኅደር አጥለቅልቆታል። ምኑም ሆነ ምኑ የሀገራችን ሀቅ፤ ከዚህና ከዚህ ብቻ እንዲታይ ተደርጓል። ይህ ደግሞ በገዥው ክፍል ብቻ ሳይሆን በታጋዩም ወገን ያለ እውነታ ነው። በዚህ ተለጉመን፤ መሠረታዊ የመኖርና ያለመኖር የሕልውና አምዶች፤ ቦታ ተነፍገዋል። የፍትኅ መጓደል፣ የትምህርት ጥራትና ዕድገት ወደ ታች ማሽቆልቆል፣ የሕክምና አለመሟላት፣ የምግብ እጥረትና ረሃብን የመቋቋም ዕቅዶች አለመኖር፣ የሴቶችን እኩልነት አለመቀበልና ተሳትፏቸውን አለማሳደግ፣ አድልዖና ሙስና፤ እነዚህ መሠረታዊ የሕልውና ጥያቄ ተጎትተዋል። መስመሩ የተዘጋበት የውሃ ፈሰስ፤ ዙሪያውን ይቃኛል። የተገደበበትን መዝጊያ መጋፋቱን፤ በጎን መፋሰሻ ከመፈለግ ጋር በእኩል ይዳስሳል። ተገድቤያለሁ ብሎ ተስፋ በመቁረጥ አይረካም። ከግድቡ ጋር ብቻም አይታገልም። ዙሪያውን በሙሉ ነው ጥረት የሚያደርገው። በግድቡ አናት፣ በግድቡ ሥር፣ ከታቆረበት ክብ ዙሪያ ይውዘገዘጋል። የታፈነ በመሆኑ ቦርቅቆ ለመውጣት ይፍጨረጨራል።

ወገኖቻችን በየበረሃው መንገላታታቸው፣ እህቶቻችን በአረብ ሀገሮች መጎሳቆላቸው፣ በገዛ ሀገራቸው ወገኖቻችን መፈናቀላቸው፣ በገዛ ሀገራቸው ወንድምና እህቶቻችን በረሃብ ተጠምደው ለማኝና፤ ሀገሪቱ በሞላ የውጭ ሀገር ምጽዋተኛ መሆናቸው፤ አእምሯችንን በማስጨነቅ የፖለቲካ ምኅዳሩን ሊያናጉት ይገባል። በርግጥ በአሁኑ ሰዓት የፖለቲካ ውይይቱ ተጧጡፏል። ይህ ውጥረት ላይ መሆናችንን አመልካች ነው። ነገር ግን መፍትሔ አፈላለጉ ላይ ለየብቻ እየሮጥን ነው። ለየብቻ ሮጦ፤ የግብ መሰመሩ ላይ ለየብቻ ነው የሚደረሰው። ታዲያ ምን ዋጋ አለው? ግቡ የማንም ግለሰብ ወይንም ቡድን የግል መኖሪያ አይደለም። የሁላችንም ነው። ባንድ ላይ መሯሯጥ አለብን። የተጎተቱ ካሉ፤ አብረን መሳብና መሳሳብ እንጂ፤ እኔ ቀድሜ ሄጄ እሸለማለሁ ወይንም ሌሎችን እጎትታለሁ የሚባልበት አይደለም። አብረን ስንነሳ፤ ቀዳሚ ሆነው የቆሙት ሲመሩ፤ የተጎተቱት ደግሞ ሲከተሉ፤ ባንድነት ከግባችን እንደርሳለን። ታሪክ ደግሞ ከኛ ጋር አብሮ ይኖራል። ታሪክ ተወቃሽ አያደርገንም። ከታሪክ ተወቃሽነት መዳን አለብን። በሕይወት እስካለን ድረስ፤ ሆዳችን መሙላቱን ብቻ ሳይሆን፤ በሕይወት የኖርንበትን ወቅትም ትርጉም መሥጠቱ ላይ ማተኮርና መጣር የኛ ኃላፊነት ነው። ቆመን እንቆጠር።
አብረን በአንድ እንሰለፍ።

Ethiopia denies Temesghen Desalegn access to medical care in jail

March 16, 2015

(CPJ) Nairobi, March 16, 2015–Authorities in Ethiopia have denied medical attention to Ethiopian journalist Temesghen Desalegn, who has been imprisoned since October, according to sources close to the journalist.

The health of Temesghen Desalegn has deteriorated in prison, but he has been denied medical care.

Temesghen Desalegn, owner of thenow-defunct newsmagazine Feteh (Justice), is serving a three-year termin Ziway Prison, outside Addis Ababa, on charges of defamation, incitement, and false publication in connection with a series of opinion pieces he wrote in Feteh in 2012, according to news reports and a translation of the charge sheet that CPJ reviewed.

Sources close to Temesghen, including two who visit him in prison, told CPJ that Temesghen suffers from stomach and back pain for which he used to receive weekly medical support before he was jailed. The sources said that Temesghen has been denied medical access since he was imprisoned and that his back pain has worsened to the point that walking is difficult for him.

The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, to which Ethiopia is a signatory, states that authorities are obligated to ensure that its citizens receive medical attention when necessary.

CPJ’s calls to the Ethiopian justice ministry in Addis Ababa, and CPJ’s calls and emails to the Ethiopian embassy in Washington, were not answered.

Earlier this year, prison authorities denied Temesghen prison visits from friends and family for more than a month, according to a public letter by Temesghen’s mother, Fanaye Irdachew. Authorities did not provide an explanation, but local journalists told CPJ they suspected Temesghen had been denied prison visits after an article he wrote from prison was published in several Ethiopia news websites. The articles detailed the mistreatment of prisoners at Ziway Prison.

Temesghen often criticized the authorities in his articles. In 2012, he wrote two articles that discussed the peaceful struggles of Ethiopian youth movements for political change, according to the charge sheet that CPJ reviewed. He also wrote two columns that criticized alleged government efforts to violently suppress student protesters and ethnic minorities reviewed.

“Temesghen Desalegn has not committed any crime. He is being punished for his criticism of the Ethiopian government,” said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes. “We call on authorities to stop harassing Temesghen and allow him immediate access to medical care.”

Ethiopian authorities were holding at least 17 journalists in jail–more than twice the number as the year before–when CPJ conducted its annual prison census on December 1. Dozens of journalists fled Ethiopia in 2014 fearing arrest, CPJ research shows. Local journalists said they suspect authorities had cracked down on the press in order to silence critical voices ahead of May 2015 legislative elections.

የወያኔ የቤት ስራ ክመስራት ይልቅ ወደ ትግላችን ማተኮር አንገብጋቢ ጉዳይ ነው

ሕወሓት/ኢሕአዴግ ላለፉት 24 አመታት ሃገርን እና ሕዝብን በማጭበርበር በጎሳ ፖለቲካ ወገንን በውጭና በውስጥ እያመሰ ይገኛል::ይህ የወያኔ የከፋፋይነት እና የዘረኝነት ፖሊሲ በራሱ ላይ እዳ ይዞበት እየመጣ መሆኑን በገሃድ እያየነው ነው::ወያኔ ስልጣኑን ለማስረዘም የተለያየ የማዘናጊያ ስልቶችን በመንደፍ ለለውጥ ሃይሎች የቤት ስራ በመስጠት አትኩሮትን ለመስረቅ እየተራወጠ ይገኛል::በልማት እና በተለያዩ የሃሰት ንግግሮች ሕዝቡን ወደ ትግሉ እንዳያተኩር በስፋት እየተራወጠ በወንበሩ ላይ ለመቆየት በሚያደርገው ጥረት ሃገር ወዳዶችን ለማዘናጋት እና ለማደናበር የሚደረገውን ጥረት ልንዋጋው የሚገባ እና የለውጥ ሃይል የሆነው ህዝብ ለታላቅ ድል እንዲበቃ ሚናችንን መጫወት ያለበት ወሳኝ ወቅት ላይ ነን::

በሃገር ቤት እና በውጪው አለም በተሰራጩ የወያኔ ሆዳም ካድሬዎች እና ቅጥረኞች የዘረኝነት የግንጠላ የኢኮኖሚ እና የፖለቲካ ወዘተ ጉዳዮችን በፈጠራ ወሬ ሕዝብን አደናብሮ ከትግሉ ጋር የማይያያዙ እና ትግሉን የሚያዘናጉ አሊያም የሚያስረሱ ሲሻም የሚጎትቱ የውይይት ነጥቦችን በማንሳት ወደ ተነሳንበት አላማ እንዳንሄድ እና እንዳንገሰግስ አከራካሪ የቤት ስራዎችን በመፍጠር እኛ በተሰጠን የቤት ስራ ስንሽከረከር ወያኔ ስልጣኑን የሚጠግንበትን መንገድ ለመቀየስ እየሮጠ ነው::ይህንን በመረዳት ወያኔ የሚሰራውን የተንኮል ሴራ በመረዳት ከሚረጫቸው መርዞች በነጠንቀቅ ከፈጠራ አከራካሪ የቤት ስራዎች ሳንታለል/ሳንዘናጋ ወደ ትግላችን በማተኮር የትግሉ አውራ አላማ የሆነውን ወያኔን የመደምሰሱን ስራ ላይ ልንፈጥንበት እና ልናተኩርበት ይገባል::የወያኔ የቤት ስራ ከመስራት ይልቅ ወደ ትግላችን ማተኮር እና ስለ ትግላችን ብቻ መወያየት እና ለተግባራዊ ሂደት መስራት ችላ የማንለው ጉዳይ መሆኑን ልብ ልንለው ይገባል::‪#‎ምንሊክሳልሳዊ‬

ዛሬም ታጥቦ ጭቃ ... !!!! ወያኔም የሚፈልገው ይህንን እኮ ነው

ትላንትና የአንድነት ሃይል ነን ሁላችን ለኢትዮጵያችን ሲሉን የነበረ ስለኦሮሞ ሕዝብ መበደል አቤት ሲባል ኦሮሞ መሆኔን ወደ ኢትዮጵያዊ መሆኔ/ሰው መሆኔ ይቀየር ብለው የሰብዐዊነት ዘመቻዎችን በጥፊ ለማላጋት የተንደረደሩ ኦሮሞ አሊያም ሌላው ብሄር ሲጠራ ጀመሩ ዘረኝነት የሚሉ አተፍታፊዎች ኢትዮጵያ ብለው በስሟ የሚነግዱ ጥቂቶች ዛሬ ላይ አማራው ይደራጅ አሊያም ይገንጠል እያሉ ማራገባቸው የፖለቲካ ስትራቴጂ አይሉት የድል ግብ ምን ያህል ማንነታቸውን ገልጸው እንዳወጡ በይፋ አይተናል::በእምነቶች ዙሪያ የሚደረጉ ትግሎችን ውስጥ ውስጡን ለማክሰም ሲራወጡ ያየናቸው አዛኝ ቂቤ አንጓቾች ድፍርስ የፖለቲካ ባህሪያቸውን አደባባይ ላይ እያስነበቡን መሆኑ ለሽሙጥ ዳርጓቸዋል::

ራሳችንን ወደ አንድነት እንምራ አምባገነኖችን ታግለን ሕዝቦችን እይመራን ነጻ እንውጣ...መስመራችን ለአንዲት ኢትዮጵያ እና ለኢትዮጵያውያን ጥርጊያ እያበጀን እሾህ እና አሜኬላ እየነቀልን ወያኔን ከነግሳንግሱ በጋራ ተባብረል በአንድነት ሃይላችን እናስወግድ የጎሳ ፖለቲካ ከቅኝ ገዢዎች የተወረሰ የመከፋፈያ እና ሕዝቦችን የመርገጫ መሳሪያ ነው እያልን ባለንበት ሰአት እየተወያየን ለትግላችን በምንተባበርበት እና የዳበረ የሰለጠነ ሃሳብ በምናፈልቅበት ወሳኝ ወቅት ላይ የወያኔን የጎሳ ፖለቲካ ልዩ መርዛዊነት ታከን ለመደራጀት ሲከፋም ለመገንተል ማሰባችን የምንሄድበት መንገድ አለማወቅ ብቻ ሳይሆን ከጭቃ ወደ እሾሃማ ሽቃ እያዘነበልል መሆኑን ልንረዳው ግድ ይላል:: ትላንት የአንድነት ሃይል ነን የሚሉ ግሳንግሶች ዛሬን ስለመገንጠል እና ስለ ጎሳዊ መደራጀት ሊሰብኩን ሲሞክሩ ምሞከራቸው ጤነኝነታቸውን እንድንጥራጠር አድርጎናል::

ወያኔ የሚፈልገው እኮ የታገለለትም አላማ እኮ ይህ ነው:: በጎሳ ምከፋፈል ማደራጀት ማስገንጠል ማገነጣጠል በይፋ በፖለቲካ ፕሮግራሙ እና ግልባጩ በሆነው ህገመንግስቱ ላይ በግልጽ ሰፍሮ ከመታየቱም በላይ ከአመት እስከ አመት የሚሰበከው በውጪም በሃገር ውስጥም ለኢትዮጵያውያን የተሰጠው የቤት ስራ ይሕው በጎሳ እንደራጅ ንገንተል የሚለው መርዘኛ ፕሮፓጋንዳ ሲሆን ህዝብንም እየለያየ የሚያፋጀው የሚያፈናቅለው የሚያሰድደው መኖሪያ አሳጥቶ የሚያንከራትተው የሚያሳስረው የሚያስገድለው ወዘተ ይኸው ከይሲ አስተሳሰብ ነው::ኢትዮጵያውያን በጋራ በአንድነት ተያይዘን የወያኔን አምባገነን ዘረኛ መንግስት እናስወግድ ብለን ከዳር እስከዳር እያስተባበርን እየቀሰቀስን ባለንበት ወቅት ላይ አደፍራሽ ሃሳቦችን በማራገብ የወያኔን የቤት ስራ ለመስራት መራወጥ ወንጀለኝነት እና የትግል አደፍራሽነት ቢሆንም የዚህ ሃሳብ ባለቤቶች ሩጫ ወንዝ እንዳማያሻግራቸው እና እንደማይሳካላቸው አስረግጠን ልንነግራቸው ይገባል::የወያኔ መደምሰስ በቀጥታም ሆነ በተዘዋዋሪ የወያኔ ሃሳቦችን ሆኖ ቦምቦች አብረው የሚከሽፉበት ጊዜ ሩቅ አይደለም:: ድል የሕዝብ ነው::መነጣተል አሊያም መገነጣጠል ብሎም በጎሳ ፖለቲካ መደራጀት የምትሉ እናንተ በፖለቲካ እና በኢኮኖሚ እየተበደለ በገዢዎች አለንጋ ለሚገረፈው ደሃው ወገናችን እዘኑለት:: ‪#‎ምንሊክሳልሳዊ‬

ወይንሸት ሞላን ጨምሮ ሌሎች የሰማያዊ ዕጩዎች ‹‹አትወዳደሩም›› ተባሉ

‹‹12 ፓርቲዎችን በዕጣ አልፋችኋል ለማለት ለ80 ፓርቲ ፈቃድ መስጠት ለምን አስፈለገ?›› ወይንሸት ሞላ

‹‹ከምርጫ ቦርድ የመጣ ትዕዛዝ ነው፡፡ መዝግቡ የተባልነውን መዝግበናል›› የምርጫ አስፈጻሚዎች

በአዲስ ክፍለ ከተማ ወረዳ 7 ሰማያዊ ፓርቲን ወክላ ለተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በዕጩነት ቀርባ የነበረችው ወይንሸት ሞላን ጨምሮ ሌሎችም አዲስ አበባ ውስጥ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲን ወክለው ለተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በዕጩነት የቀረቡ ዕጩዎች ‹‹ዕጣው ስላልደረሳችሁ አትወዳደሩም›› መባላቸውን ለነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ገልጸዋል፡፡ ከወይንሸት ሞላ በተጨማሪ ብሌን መስፍንና አማኑኤል አዱኛ የተባሉ የሰማያዊ ዕጩዎች ‹‹ዕጣው አልደረሳችሁም›› ተብለው ከዕጩነት ውጭ ሆነዋል፡፡

ወይንሸት ሞላ ‹‹ዕጣው አልደረሰሽም›› በተባለችበት የምርጫ ጣቢያ የክልል ፓርቲዎችን የወከሉ ዕጩዎች አልፈዋል የተባሉ ሲሆን ወይንሸት ‹‹የክልል ፓርቲዎች ድምጽ ያሰባሰቡት በየክልሉ እንጅ አዲስ አበባ አይደለም፡፡ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ደግሞ ሐገራዊ ፓርቲ ነው፡፡ አዲስ አበባ ውስጥ መራጭ የሌላቸው ፓርቲው በዕጣ አለፉ ተብሎ ሐገራዊ ፓርቲ የሆነው ሰማያዊ ወድቋል መባሉ ያለንበትን ስርዓት በድንብ የሚያጋልጥ ነው፡፡›› ስትል ለነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ገልጻለች፡፡

በወረዳ 7 17 ፓርቲዎችን የወከሉ ዕጩዎች የቀረቡ ሲሆን 12 ያለፉ ሲሆን ሰማያዊን ጨምሮ ሌሎች አምስት ፓርቲዎች ‹‹ዕጣው አልደረሳችሁም›› ተብለዋል፡፡ በወቅቱ ወይንሸት ሞላ ለምርጫ አስፈጻሚዎች ‹‹12 ፓርቲዎችን በዕጣ አልፋችኋል ለማለት ለ80 ፓርቲ ፈቃድ መስጠት ለምን አስፈለገ?›› የሚል ጥያቄ ያቀረበች ሲሆን የምርጫ አስፈጻሚዎችም ‹‹ይህ ከምርጫ ቦርድ የመጣ ትዕዛዝ ነው፡፡ መዝግቡ የተባልነውን ነው የመዘገብነው›› የሚል መልስ እንደተሰጣት ገልጻለች፡፡

ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ከ200 በላይ ዕጩዎች የታገዱበት ሲሆን በዛሬው ዕለት ሊቀመንበሩ ኢ/ር ይልቃል ጌትነትም ‹‹ዕጣው አልደረሰህም›› ተብለው በዕጩነት እንዳይቀርቡ መደረጋቸው ይታወቃል፡፡

Liberation and Democratization of Biyya-Oromo in Particular and Biyya-Kush in General

Why couldn't the Oromo liberation forces come to terms and cooperate in building at least an alliance based on common denominator of freedom (bilisummaa), which we can call Tumsa Bilisummaa Oromoo (TBO)/Alliance for Freedom of the Oromo (AFO)? Is it really because of the supposed ideological difference? Our common sense dictates that if we want to prevent the reversal of the victories we achieved up to now, to keep the status quo and to move forwards, we have to come together and build a strong liberation force. It is only in this way that we can defeat the currently ruling hegemonist Tigrean Nafxanya (the TN) and can hinder the possible coming of the backward looking Habesha unitarists to power.

It is the fact on the ground that both our foes and our misguided friends still do intensify the instrumentalization of the minor ideological conflict we do have for their mission of dividing and weakening the Oromo liberation camp. They continuously accuse certain part of the Oromo nationalists (the federalists) as being Ethiopianists (as if they are fighting only to democratize New Ethiopia/Biyya-Kush, but not to liberate Biyya-Oromo as illustrated here:http://finfinnetribune.com/Gadaa/2015/0 ... -ethiopia/ ). Is this true or is it only an allegation? Is it wrong if some Oromo nationalists do apply different rhetorics (if they are double-tongued) as they are sometimes accused to be? What is wrong if these forces of ours talk about Biyya-Kush's democratization (genuine union/true federation) and about Biyya-Oromo's independence, both tactically and strategically, based on the political contexts and situations? Didn’t the Eritrean and South Sudan nationalists move the same way at different times before they could liberate their respective nations and bring them to the level of referendum on: independence vs. union?

To my information, there was a time when the Eritrean liberation forces talked about and almost agreed to settle for federation within Biyya-Kush union, but the move had consequently failed because of the stubborn position of the Biyya-Kush's government at that time, which refused to accept this option. South Sudan nationalists also used to talk about autonomy within a united Sudan, to just not lose the support of Biyya-Kush's government, which wanted Sudan not to be disintegrated. Simply put, the elites of these two nations did use different rhetorics during their struggles. What is wrong if the Oromo nationalists do the same? Why do our foes and our misguided friends blame these Oromo nationals as if they are deceitful? After all, who is an Ethiopianist Oromo in the true sense of the word? Does it include the federalists, who tactically talk about Biyya-Oromo's autonomy within Biyya-Kush's union as their goal? How can Oromo nationalists, who want to bring the nation to the status of exercising self-determination per referendum, be designated as Ethiopianists?

Specially at this moment, it seems that the Oromo are asking about the feasibility of our own movement for independence. Why did two of our neighbours, Eritrea and South Sudan, succeed, whereas our movement is still suffering from the ongoing disintegration and division of our liberation camp? Is it because of only our mistakes or are there some other external factors, which have made the difference? Surely, there are many other factors, one of the major ones being the the support the two liberation movements of Eritrea and South Sudan had got from the Arab world (in case of Eritrea) and the Western world, in contrast to the support the Oromo movement is lacking. There is even a strong opposition from the Western world, which our Oromo liberation movement faces. We all know how the Eritrean liberation movement had been supported by the Arabs, the Italians and by other Western regimes. They had also had a very secure sanctuary in the neighbouring countries like the Sudan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. We also know how South Sudan had been supported by the regimes of America, Britain and other Western countries. South Sudan liberation forces had also had a relatively secure sanctuary in Kenya, Uganda and Zaire. On the contrary, are not the Western forces the supporters of our Abyssinian colonizers, who are working continuously to divide and disintegrate the Oromo liberation camp? Are not the Oromo liberation forces denied any sort of sanctuary in the neighbouring countries?

Unfortunately, the Oromo liberation movement, not only lacks such regional sanctuary and international support, but even both our neighbouring countries and the Western friends of Abyssinia do oppose the attempt of the Oromo to liberate from Abyssinian colonization. Specially, the Western world seems to have an opposite policy in comparison to the policy they had towards South Sudan. In the case of South Sudan, they supported the “Christian” south to be free from the influence of the Arabinized north, whereas in the case of Biyya-Oromo they tend to support the domination by the Abyssinized (Christian) north on the mainly traditional south, including the Oromo. If they had had no such double standard as usual, they should have supported the liberation movement of the Oromo from the domination of the Abyssinized north, just as they have done to protect the South Sudan from the Arabinized north.

Despite such lack of consistency in the policy of the Western world, no question that the Oromo nation is one of the biggest African nations – which should be liberated from any sort of colonization or domination. This nation has been under the colonial rule since the conference of the European colonialists in Berlin at the end of the nineteenth century, when they planned the Scramble for Africa. The Habeshanized king Minilik was treated by the European Christians benevolently to have his share of the colony and “to civilize as well as to christanize” the Oromo and the other non-Christian nations in the southern part of the present Abyssinian empire. Since then, the Oromo and the other occupied nations in the region have been struggling for their national freedom. Particularly, the Oromo are now at the worst colonial situation; we are not only occupied and oppressed, but also our colonizers are selling our land and our labour to international capitalists for the very dirty cheap price.

Being in such dire situation, Oromo nationalists still seem to enjoy a luxury of quarrelling on minor issues like discussing on the conflict ‘Biyya-Kush's democratization vs. Biyya-Oromo's liberation,’ be it that we use both concepts as a means or as an end of our struggle. It is not surprising when we do observe Woyane cadres persuading us to dwell on such debates and discussions, for they know very well that it is a good way to hinder unity of Oromo liberation forces from being realized. But interesting is also to observe few of our politicians making the same rhetoric by antagonizing the two concepts again and again. Some of them like to talk and write about this antagony; some of them want to make the conflict be seen as an irreconcilable, also at this first phase of the liberation struggle. Considering the two phases of our struggle (the first freedom phase and the second referendum phase), we can see that the two concepts will be irreconcilable only during the second phase, in the time of the future voting on them. It seems that we have not yet come to our senses and look at the two concepts, as either a means or an end, that they are not contradictory, but complementary to each other at this moment of the first phase, until we come to the status of exercising our self-determination per referendum.

This difference of outlook regarding the Biyya-Kush's democratization and Biyya-Oromo's liberation in the process of the Oromo national struggle had been there from the very beginning of our struggle. Some Oromo nationalists wanted to liberate Oromo from oppression within the Biyya-Kush's context; the others wanted a separate and independent republic of Biyya-Oromo. Regarding this outlook, it seems that we do now have three political movements in Oromo society:

- the movement of the pro-unity Oromo, who are interested in liberating the Oromo in a sense of democratizing the empire and achieving individual liberty for all citizens, including the Oromo people, disregarding the existence and the necessary emancipation of Biyya-Oromo. They are not necessarily against the right of the Oromo people to self-determination through referendum, but their wish is to keep the territorial integrity of the empire intact and, if possible, foster a country lead by the Oromo. This is the group whom I consider as classical Ethiopianists.

- the pro-federation Oromo, for whom liberation can be the same as Biyya-Oromo's autonomy within the Biyya-Kush union (true killil-federation). I think we can designate this group as loyal to Biyya-Oromo, thus they are not classical Ethiopianists, but they merely use the name Ethiopia for tactical reason as far as they are operating “legally” under the gunpoint of the Abyssinian colonizers or getting support from other non-Oromo forces.

- the pro-independence Oromo, who do believe in and advocate for Biyya-Oromo's independence. To my understanding, many members of the Oromo rebel organizations belong here, even though they may have different rhetorics based on the contexts and situations for tactical reasons. All Oromo nationalists in this group can be considered as Oromianists.

The common denominator for these three movements is freedom of the Oromo people or self-determination of the Oromo people per referendum. Any Oromo individual or group against this right to self-determination can be considered as part and parcel of our colonizers, who do deny us this right; they are simply collaborators. So, we need to differentiate Oromo politicians, who want to have liberated Oromo people within the Biyya-Kush context from the Abyssinian colonists and their collaborators, who want to oppose our right to self-determination with a pretext of unconditional "Ethiopian unity", an euphemism to keep the system of colonization intact. Even Abyssinian forces can be divided into two, based on their position regarding our right to self-determination: Abyssinian democrats, who in principle accept and respect our right to self-determination; and Abyssinian colonialists, who do oppose our right with a pretext of unconditional "Ethiopian unity".

So, our enemies are those, who are against our right to self-determination, whereas the above mentioned three Oromo movements and the Abyssinian democrats are not necessarily enemies to each other, as long as they want to liberate Oromo, i.e. as long as they want to bring the Oromo people to the level of exercising self-determination per referendum, making Oromo free from any external influence. After liberating Oromo and bringing us to the status of voting in referendum, be it they achieve that per ballot or by bullet/force, they can agitate for their preferred visions. That means, they can campaign respectively for only democratic Biyya-Kush, disregarding Biyya-Oromo (the vision of the pro-unity Oromo); for Biyya-Oromo's autonomy within the Biyya-Kush union (internal self-determination), which is the vision of Oromo federalists; and for the Biyya-Oromo's independence within the African union (external self-determination), which is the goal of the pro-independence Oromo. But now, all the three Oromo groups can and should work together in order to get rid of the occupying and oppressing forces of the colonizers. Here, we can also have the empowering alliance with the Abyssinian democrats, specially with the Amhara democrats, whereas I do advise for a caution in trying to work with Tigrean democrats. Such Tigreans may claim to oppose the present regime, but surely they can have a loyality conflict, when it comes to the domination by their kins.

For the pro-unity Oromo democrats, ‘Biyya-Kush's democratization’ is both a means and an end to realize their vision; whereas for the pro-federation Oromo it is more a means to their end for they seem to use their explicit objective (Biyya-Oromo's autonomy) as a prelude for the bigger goal (Biyya-Oromo's independence). Despite the fact that democracy under Tigrean Nafxanya's (the TN's) rule is practically impossible, these two Oromo groups just try to instrumentalize the democratization process in order to put pressure on the Tigrean rulers. But, pro-independence Oromo's explicit goal is crystal clear, even though it seems there is a division on the route (the strategy) they try to take to reach at the goal. This taking different routes is the main area of discord between the different factions of our rebelling liberation fronts. The difference is not necessarily based on the conflict, ‘Biyya-Kush's democratization vs. Biyya-Oromo's liberation,’ but on the variety of rhetorics they do use at different times for tactical reasons.

Thus, the difference between Oromo federalists, which are usually painted as “Ethiopianists” by their rivals, and those which are considered as Oromianists, is not as such the matter of being Ethiopianist or Oromianist as our foes and our misguided friends try to convince us. The difference here is that of the evolutionary approach of some nationalists (including their acceptance of Biyya-Oromo's autonomy within Biyya-Kush's union as a prelude to Biyya-Oromo's independence) and the revolutionary way of the others in trying to achieve the same goal of Oromian liberation (tendency to advocate independence without a necessary prelude of autonomy within the union). That is why, calling any of such federalists as Ethiopianist is morally and truly wrong. They only differ in a strategy they have chosen towards the same goal. This makes us to hope that all will join certain possible unity of Oromo freedom fighters in due time for the liberation of Biyya-Oromo, so that at the end of the day, we will only have one strong and efficient alliance, which can lead us to the promised land. I don’t see any reason why this artificial difference of goal between the Oromo liberation forces can be the cause of division. Not only the pro-independence Oromo, but also all the other groups, i.e. the anti-independence and the Oromo who now want to stay neutral till the day of the referendum can now agree on the common purpose of freedom of the Oromo (to liberate the Oromo and bring the nation to the level of referendum).

To fulfill this purpose, I still believe that we have to forge not only unity of the Oromo liberation forces, but also an all-inclusive alliance, in order to get rid of the currently ruling fascists and racists. Of course, the alliance can happen only with the liberation forces of other oppressed nations and with the Amhara democrats, not with the Amhara colonialists, who still salivate to replace the Tigrean colonialists and bring back their own colonial rule. Let’s think at the following metaphor, which I repeatedly used to describe our liberation journey: we all are now living in Djibouti (under slavery); both the Amhara people and the Oromo people, including all the other minority nationalities are suffering under Woyane’s tyranny. The liberation journey from Djibouti to Diredawa (to freedom from the fascist Woyane) is the common route for both the Amhara democratic forces and the Oromo liberation fronts. So, there is nothing which can hinder the alliance of these forces from happening at the moment. The smart politicians from both the Amhara democratic bloc and the Oromo liberation camp should support such an alliance to get rid of the slavery under the Tigrean colonialists and fascists. 

After arriving at Diredawa, the member organizations of the alliance can have either a polity consensus or a public referendum in order to live together in Diredawa (Biyya-Kush's union with Biyya-Oromo's autonomy). If they may not agree on such consensus or referendum, any move to Adama (Biyya-Oromo's independence = getting rid of Ethiopia) and a further move to Finfinne (a union of independent nations) requires that the Oromo forces be stronger, to be in a position to either compel or convince the Amhara elites. Such the same move to the other direction, i.e. to Debremariqos (geography based federation = getting rid of Biyya-Oromo) and a further move to Bahirdar (a unitary Ethiopia = even getting rid of federation) needs that the Amhara forces be stronger, so that they can either compel or convince the Oromo elites. But, sure is that choosing the alternative of living under the ongoing slavery in Djibouti for both big nations (for the Amhara and the Oromo) is foolishness par excellence. Only the fools of both nations or the smarts of the ruling TN fascists do want to keep this status quo by opposing an all-inclusive alliance and by sabotaging the possible unity in respective camps (by sabotaging the respective unity in both the Amhara bloc and the Oromo camp). As far as Oromo nation is concerned, we need the alliance with the Amhara bloc to move to Diredawa; and we should have the unity of the Oromo liberation forces to be stronger and move further to Adama as well as to Finfinne.

By being stronger and moving to Adama, we can surely make the colonial Abyssinian rulers sing like Al-Bashir, who said: “the ball is in your (in South Sudan’s) court and the decision is yours. If you say unity, welcome; if you also say secession, you are also welcome; and I would like to say: welcome to a new brotherly state. The preferred choice for us is unity but in the end we will respect the choice of the southern citizens; one would be sad that Sudan has split but also pleased because we witnessed peace.” To come to this level and compel the Abyssinian colonizers to sing like this, the Oromo people have to now concentrate on the burning issue of the liberation struggle, i.e. on fighting for freedom from the fascists by any means possible, for which both the unity and the alliance are mandatory. I hope that at least Abyssinian democrats will be ready to say: “the preferred choice for us is unity, but at the end, we will accept and respect the choice of Oromian citizens,” unless otherwise their version of democracy excludes the right of big nations, like the Oromo, to self-determination. Of course, we don’t expect such reaction from the Abyssinian colonialists or from the colonial-minded elites.

The way forward from the status quo is thus firstly empowering our Oromo camp, which comprises all the three groups of movements (the pro-independence, the pro-federation and the pro-unity). Now, in the first phase of our liberation struggle, they all can fight together against the colonialists, and then after the liberation, in the second phase, they can agitate for their respective vision in order to win in the possible public referendum. That is why the conflict, ‘Biyya-Kush's democratization vs. Biyya-Oromo's liberation’ at the first phase is not as such irreconcilable. We do surely have irreconcilable conflict with our colonizers and with their collaborators, who are against our right to self-determination, but not with pro-unity Oromo, not with pro-federation Oromo or not even with Amhara democrats. Let alone the mentioned different Oromo forces, even other organizations, including the currently oppressed Amhara democratic forces, which do accept and respect our right to self-determination, are welcome to foster alliance with us to compel the Woyane fascists to leave power in Finfinne palace. 

The difference between Oromo nationalists, who do oppose the alliance with Amhara forces and those who do support the alliance, is because of the tendency of those who oppose the alliance to concentrate only on the Amhara colonizers’ rejection of our right to self-determination, whereas those who support the alliance do look at the chance of the alliance with the Amhara democrats’ support of our right. But, both the anti-alliance Oromo nationalists and the pro-alliance Oromo nationalists should try to make a consensus and have the same and similar stand, i.e. they have to say ‘no’ to the alliance with the colonial forces, but say ‘yes’ to the one with the democratic forces. That means, we have to be able to discern between the two Amhara forces (between the colonizers and the democrats), instead of quarreling on this issue of opposing or supporting the alliance with the Amhara forces.

I think the future decolonized and democratized Biyya-Oromo, with its tradition of Gadaa democracy, will be the center of an emission for a radiation of the bright light of democracy in the future United States of Africa (USA) based on the mere fact that Finfinne will be the seat of the upcoming Union Government of Africa (UGA). On the contrary, any attempt of keeping this great nation of Africa under Abyssinian occupation and oppression will continue to be a curse for the Horn region in particular, and for the African continent in general. That is why I want to encourage all Oromo liberation movements (the pro-independence, the pro-federation and the pro-unity) to work together now, in order to liberate the Oromo nation from the occupying forces and bring the nation to the state of exercising self-determination per referendum, which can result into one of the three goals of the three movements: to the democratic Ethiopia devoid of Oromia as the pro-unity Oromo wish, to the federated and democratic Biyya-Kush with Biyya-Oromo's autonomy as the pro-federation Oromo want, and to an independent democratic republic of Biyya-Oromo as the pro-independence Oromo envision. But, when I see the tendency of the Oromo community now, I am almost certain that the majority of the Oromo people will vote for Biyya-Oromo's independence.

That is why, I do see no reason for these Oromo groups to attack each other at this first phase of our struggle – where we need, not only the alliance/unity of the Oromo forces, but also seek the alliance with other forces. Let those Oromo groups which believe in the unity forge it; let those which think the alliance is advantageous also do it; and let those which oppose either of the two or reject both of them also move forward against the colonizers without antagonizing the other Oromo liberation forces, but by organizing a supportive tandem activity against our archenemy, i.e. against the Abyssinian colonizers. We need to see the fact that, until we come to the level of exercising our self-determination per referendum, both concepts (Biyya-Kushe's democratization and Biyya-Oromo's liberation), as a means and/or as an end, are not irreconcilable and contradictory to each other as our foes want to convince us, but they are complementary to each other. There is nothing wrong if our liberation forces talk about the two concepts for tactical reason under different contexts and situations. The two concepts are irreconcilable only in the second phase, i.e. during the referendum, where we have to vote on them, but not now when we are fighting for our freedom. May our Waaqa help us to understand this fact that the conflict is reconcilable in the first liberation phase, but not to believe the fancy that it is irreconcilable also in this phase, the fiction which is created and transmitted by our foes just to divide and rule us. May He help all the Oromo liberation forces to foster at least the beneficial Alliance for Freedom of the Oromo (AFO)/Tumsa Bilisummaa Oromo (TBO) in order to make the Oromo camp forceful and competent to deal with the current challeges.

UK government accused of sponsoring human rights abuses in Ethiopia

A development project funded by the UK government and run by the World Bank could be facilitating a violent resettlement program in Ethiopia that has been dogged by allegations of forced displacement, physical assaults and rape, a leaked report suggests.

Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) is the primary sponsor of the World Bank’s foreign aid initiative, supposedly set up to improve basic health, education and public services in Ethiopia. It has attracted over £388 million in UK taxpayer’s money to date.

According to a leaked report, obtained by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists, the seemingly benign aid program is facilitating a controversial resettlement scheme driven by the Ethiopian government. 

The scathing report, carried out by the Bank’s in-house watchdog, warns of poor oversight, inadequate auditing and a failure to adhere to its own regulations which has bred links between the development program and the forced displacement of the Anuak people.

The Anuaks are a marginalized minority Christian group in Ethiopia.
Severe human rights abuses

The Ethiopian government’s resettlement program has been condemned by human rights groups worldwide who warn it has led to the destruction of thousands of Ethiopians' livelihoods.

The initiative, known as ‘villagization’, aims to relocate 1.5 million rural families from their homesteads to villages across Ethiopia.

Since its launch in 2010, the program has been the centre of allegations of rape, physical assaults, forced evictions and disappearances. 

Many of those who are uprooted from their homes and resettled elsewhere are forced to reside in substandard living conditions in refugee camps in Southern Sudan.

While the World Bank’s top brass have long denied any links to the Ethiopian government’s villagization program, an inquiry conducted by the Bank’s internal watchdog indicates otherwise.

The inquiry’s leaked findings, which surfaced this week, said the Bank’s inadequate auditing controls created a situation whereby over £300m of the DfID’s foreign aid funding could have been siphoned directly into the contentious resettlement scheme.

The report did not examine allegations the resettlement program is responsible for human rights abuses in Ethiopia, however, stressing that such an inquiry was not within its remit.

Nevertheless, it uncovered a slew of failures in the planning and implementation of the World Bank’s foreign aid program, particularly the Bank’s failure to carry out risk assessments.

The watchdog also found the Bank did not adopt necessary safeguards to protect marginalized indigenous peoples.
Uneven economic development

Anuradha Mittal, founder of the Oakland Institute, a Californian development NGO that is active in Ethiopia, said the DfID participated in the World Bank’s development initiative, and should therefore take responsibility for the scheme’s failings.

“Along with the World Bank and other donors, DfID support constitutes not only financial support but a nod of approval for the Ethiopian regime to bring about ‘economic development’ for the few at the expense of basic human rights and livelihoods of its economically and politically most marginalized ethnic groups,” she told The Guardian.

David Pred of Inclusive Development International, an NGO that works to defend the rights of the Anuak people, said the World Bank has facilitated the forced displacement of “tens of thousands of indigenous people from their ancestral lands.”

“The Bank today just doesn’t want to see human rights violations, much less accept that it bears some responsibility when it finances those violations,” he told the Guardian.

A spokesman for the World Bank declined to comment on its internal watchdog’s leaked report.

Probed on the watchdog’s findings, the DfID also declined to comment.
A marriage of convenience?

In March 2014, an Ethiopian farmer secured legal aid to sue the British government following his claim UK taxpayers' funds were sponsoring Ethiopia's resettlement scheme.

He said murder, rape and torture were employed by Ethiopian authorities, as part of the forced displacement program.

The 34 year-old farmer, known as Mr. O, had been forced to flee Ethiopia after he was tortured and beaten for trying to protect his land.

He said the British government were contributing to the devastation of some of Ethiopia’s poorest people rather than assisting them.

In June, Britain’s DfID faced a judicial inquiry over its alleged funding of human rights abuses in Ethiopia.

A High Court judge ruled at the time that Mr. O had a case against the British government, and his legal challenge was upheld. His lawsuit is still ongoing.

Ethiopia's single-party government is a core ally in the West’s war on terror.

It is also a leading recipient of UK aid, despite human rights groups' repeated allegations the funding is used to crush dissent in the troubled state.