War Crimes: Crimes Against Humanity: Fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s militarism and its Janjaweed style Liyu Police continue with genocide mass killings in Oromia. #Cinaaqsan #Baatee May 27, 2018

(OPride)—At least four people were killed and five others wounded in renewed cross-border attacks this week by the Ethiopian Somali State Liyu Police in Oromia’s East Hararghe zone. More than 250 houses were razed to the ground and hundreds of civilians are internally displaced, according to locals and media reports.

Oromia and the Somali state share a nearly 900 miles-long porous border. The latest incursions by the Somali paramilitary force into the Cinaksan district, which straddles the common border, is testing Ethiopia’s uneasy calm.

Local residents say the highly coördinated attacks are part of a territorial expansion policy by the president of Somali regional state, Abdi Mohamud Omar, better known as Abdi Illey.

Nearly 30 schools remain closed since the attacks began on May 23 and the learning and teaching process has been disrupted, according to the Voice of America’s Afaan Oromoo program.

Last year, similar raids and cross-border attacks along the Oromia-Somali border by the Liyu police led to the displacement of more than 1.6 million people, mostly ethnic Oromos. Ethiopian authorities blamed the unprecedented violence on rent-seekers and corrupt officials involved in a lucrative contraband trade.

Ethiopia is under a six-month-long state of emergency, which was declared in February ostensibly due to fear of inter-ethnic clashes. The emergency decree was supposed to protect civilians and restore peace and stability following years of unrest. The measure specifically called for the deployment of the federal army in conflict hotspots along the Somali-Oromia border. It also forbids local police and armed militias from operating near the common border.

The ongoing Liyu police attacks inside Oromia are in clear violation of the martial law. However, residents of the Cinaksan district say the military Command Post has failed to stop the attacks by Liyu Police. In an interview with the state-run Oromia Broadcasting Network on Saturday, Dr. Negeri Lencho, the spokesperson for Oromia State, acknowledged the ongoing conflict, as well as the loss of lives on both sides and the destruction of properties.

He lamented that the attackers continue to regroup and rearm themselves even after they are demobilized. He also noted that certain forces continue to secretly supply the Liyu police with weapons reinforcement without specifying.

Lencho said Oromia is monitoring the armed incursion closely and have raised concerns with relevant authorities. He vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and alluded to plans for people-to-people dialogue to maintain cordial and longstanding Oromo-Somali bonds.

Cinaksan district official, Abdulqadir Dasi, on Friday told VOA the situation is “beyond the control of local authorities” and that his office is appealing to Oromia and federal officials for intervention. People in the affected areas voted to be in Oromia in the 2004 referendum and the counties have been under Oromia’s administration for more than ten years, according to Dasi.

Despite public appeals for peace and reconciliation from Oromia State president Lemma Megersa and Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the Liyu Police continues to attack Oromo civilians. In his first official act following with his inauguration on April 2, Abiy traveled to Jijiga, the Somali state capital, to defuse ethnic tensions and confer with Abdi Illey. The leaders vowed to end the attack on civilians, initiate communal dialogue and help resettle those displaced in the 2017 violence. Yet armed incursions and cross-border raids continue to occur in many parts of Oromia, most recently in southern Ethiopia’s Moyale district.

Activists now say Abiy’s gesture to prioritize peace and reconciliation was misunderstood and that it is time for the prime minister to pursue “justice” in order to tame Abdi Illey and the Liyu police. The former intelligence officer, Abdi Illey, is implicated in egregious human rights violations in the Somali region, where he has ruled with an iron-fist as the quintessential Big Man since 2010.

Oromo and Somali activists say the renewed Liyu Police attacks led by Abdi Illey and his associates in the military-security apparatus or the deep state are meant to undermine the new prime minister. Regional officials say, unless it is quickly contained, the attacks will used to create a pretext for the extension of the emergency decree in August. Somali activists calling for the removal of Abdi Illey from power have been protesting for weeks.

Similar attacks on civilians and episodes of violence have been reported in the Wollo zone of Oromia region as well. Oromo activists allege the attack is being launched by the Afar State’s police forces.
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More (Oromian Economist sources):

OMN: Weera Baatee, Wallo ( Caamsaa 26, 2018)

Ethiopia’s Liyyu Police – Devils on Armored Vehicles

IHS Jane’s Country Risk Daily Report: War Crimes: Crimes Against Humanity: The genocide against Oromo people involving Ethiopia’s Somali region police (Liyu Police), a segment of fascist TPLF’s Agazi forces

Under heavy pressure from growing protest movement in Somali region, Abdi Illey has opened a renewed and coordinated cross boarder attack on Oromia. He is hoping to deflect attention. The only solution both for Oromos and Somali’s is to get rid off Illey.

— Jawar Mohammed (@Jawar_Mohammed) May 26, 2018

"dubbiin naannoo daangaa mns fi mno irraa KM 50 qaama hidhate fageessine jettu dhara tapha siyaasa tplf ti. ani somaalee keessan jiraadha km 50 mitii liyyuu poolisiin km 5 iyyuu daangaa irraa hin fagaanne"

— Girma Gutema (@Abbaacabsa) May 26, 2018

"Hidhattooni Affaar haalkan har'aa sa'aati 7 i rraa eegalee daandi guddicha Harar paarki Hawaasitti cufaniiru;konkolaatootni hundi dhabbataniiru."

— Jawar Mohammed (@Jawar_Mohammed) May 27, 2018

Just a few months after 1.2M #Oromo civilians were forcibly displaced from Somali state, as of 5/24/2018 Liyu Police is conducting fresh cross-border attacks in Eastern Oromia killing over four civilians and torching over 500 Oromo homes. Mass killings ongoing #Ethiopia

— Oromo Press (@oromopress) May 27, 2018

#AbdiIlleyMustGo

Abdi Illey's days should be numbered! For the best interest and long enduring peaceful co-existence of the brotherly Oromo and Somali people, this chronic criminal and his mafia establishments… https://t.co/CNt7PFLv2M

— Girma Gutema (@Abbaacabsa) May 26, 2018

Cinaaqsan Xumura Gaafata!
Aanaa Cinaaqsan bara dheeraaf rakkoon ture. Lubbuu lammiilee hedduutu bade. Madaa san hin irraanfanne. Kan caalatti nama gubu dubbichi ammas xumura dhabuu isaa ti. Obsi daangaa qaba. Bakka ta’etti dhaabuun dirqama. Amma gatiin barbaachisu kanfalamee dubbiin sun xumura argatuu qaba!
Gama biraatin dubbii ballisanii laaluu barbaachisa. Gaafa dubbiin tokko ka’u nami cufti isuma qofa dhaadhessuun hin ta’u. Waa baayyee wal faana hoofuu barbaachisa. Namooti gariin “otoo ummati cinaaqsan dhumaa jiruu waan faalama naannoo dubbatuun hin ta’u” jedhu. Kun sirrii miti. Hojiin abbaa qabaatuu qaba. Namuu waan itti bobba’e raawwatuu qaba. Dubbii faalama naannoo xinneessuun hin ta’u. Rasaasi nama har’a jiru ajjeesa. Faalami naannoo garuu dhaloota ajjeesee sanyii balleessa. Kanaaf rakkoo har’aa qolataa rakkoo boruufis yaaduun dirqama. Wal hubatuu barbaachisa! – Taye Dendea

MIDROC Gold Mine in Southern Oromia, Guji zone, uses Hydrogen Cyanide and other highly toxic chemicals and caused serious damage to environment and human life with no economic benefits to the people of the area May 1, 2018

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Extractive industries are perceived as pathways to accelerated development particularly in developing countries for their contribution to earning foreign currency. During the colonial period in Africa, these industries remained the bases of colonial economy and at the same time symbols of labor exploitation, displacement, and oppression of native people. While these industries were long established in central and southern Africa, it is an emerging sector in Eastern Africa. The discovery of oil in the Turkana region of Northern Kenya and the prospect of oil/gas in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo belt and Ogaden region in addition to the extensive gold mining, renders an analysis of the policy dimension of extractive industries critical. This paper, therefore, assesses some controversial dimensions of extractive industries by taking the case of Adola gold mining in southern Ethiopia. The data for this brief paper was mainly drawn from the personal observations and interviews with local communities and some online resources.[1]

Adola gold mining and its exclusionist approaches

Adola gold mine that is currently owned by the MIDROC PLC through concession is the largest gold mine in Ethiopia with an average annual production of 4.5 tones of gold.[2] After getting the concession from Ethiopian Mineral Resources Development Corporation (EMRDC) in 1997, the MIDROC Gold PLC has expanded at the expense of artisanal miners and local Guji Oromo through its ever-expanding enclosures. Enclosures often entail exclusion of certain group not only from physical access to resources but also by limiting their ability to use the resources. That means, enclosures disempower groups who previously been using the resources by disconnecting them from their economic, socio-cultural and spiritual ties to the land. Although the private conglomerate company operates the enclosure for the Adola gold mining, there are much in common with the previous regimes as far as exclusion and displacement of local communities is concerned.

According to local informants, the Adola gold mining belt, which consists of several mining sites was first discovered in 1930s but was not fully developed until the Italian invasion (1936-1941). The Italians pursued the exploration of new sites and expanded the existing mining sites during the five years period and laid a strong foundation for the imperial regime which aggressively embarked on gold mining as the main source of revenue after 1941.

Since its inception in the 1930s and continuing under the imperial and military regimes, the gold mine was operated through a harsh approach of labor conscription, displacement of local communities and expropriation of artisanal miners. In reminisces about the harshness of the work environment, elders in Shakiso refer to instances where people convicted of crimes and resistance against the imperial and military regimes were used as laborers in the mine as a form of punishment. Likewise, the indigenous Guji Oromo were displaced from the area and their lands would be claimed by the state and later the conglomerate company as a mining frontier.

Exclusion and grievances

As indicated earlier, the Adola gold mine was established in the absence of consultation of local communities and without any compensation for the loss of their livelihoods and their ancestral lands. Local communities complain that despite the change in regimes, Adola gold mine has functioned through coercive and exploitative methods with no significant difference between the Italian invaders and the successive Ethiopian regimes when it comes to exclusion and restriction of the people from their customary lands.

However, popular uprisings and protests were infrequent during the previous regimes perhaps for different reasons. First, the level of political consciousness of the local communities in claiming for their entitlement to the resources had not been strong until 1990s. The political transformation in the country in the post-1991 period coupled with the massive expansion of the gold mine following its transfer to the private company have raised the awareness and grievances of the local Guji Oromo on the basis of claim of entitlement to the natural resource and discontent towards the impacts of the mining industry.

Recently, the activities of the MIDROC Gold mine led to popular protests in Guji zone that became part of the large scale protests that broke out in 2015. Local communities claim that despite being the country’s largest gold mine, the contribution of MIDROC Gold in Adola (or commonly called Laga Dambi gold mine) has been insignificant to the economic and social developments of the local people. Rather, they claim that the toxic chemicals from the project pollute their water grounds and also the displacement of local people and artisanal miners is another aspect of local discontent. As a result, protest erupted in 2009 in few secondary schools in Guji zone and soon spread to many schools in the zone.

According to a report from US embassy leaked to Wikileaks, the protest initially erupted when residents of Shakiso district in Guji Zone accused Laga Dembi Mine, of releasing toxic chemical waste into a nearby river, causing illness to people and animals in the area.[3] The local people tried to seek administrative solution to the problem by submitting petition to local government arguing that a second gold mine should not be given to MIDROC before it cleans the toxic waste that it has released from Lega Dembi, and the company compensates the community. Nevertheless, according to local informants and the source from Wikileaks, the local government authorities resorted to mass arrests of protesters and halted the ongoing investigation into the toxic dumping. The incident resulted in the detention of hundreds of students, and members of opposition parties.

The government and the conglomerate company used strategy of appeasement by promising different social services and financial gift to the local people. In January 2010, Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi, owner of MIDROC, Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister of Mines and Energy, and Aba Dula Gemeda, President of Oromiya Region visited Shakiso to appease the community. Sheikh Al Amoudi granted 15 million Birr (USD 1,125,000) for the 15 Weredas (districts) in Guji Zone to be used for community development.[4] According to local residents, the meeting was not open to all residents of the area; rather, handpicked residents attended and thanked the visitors for the attention they gave to their community. Although the protest was put down through a combination of force and the promised remuneration from the owner of MIDROC Gold mine, the underlying grievances never went away and meshed into the protests that broke out in November 2015.

Environmental pollution was not the only source of discontent of the local communities. Since its inception in 1930s, the bulk of the employees of the gold mine are from other regions. While lack of education was used as pretext for exclusion of the Guji Oromo from employment under the previous regimes, the MIDROC gold mine uses “security” to rationalize its preference for non-indigenous labour. In any case however, the exclusion of local communities from different levels of employment is evident.

Moreover, discontent also arose from unfulfilled promises from the government and the MIRDOC Gold Mine owner in terms of provision of social services such as road, schools, hospitals and drinking water for the community. In over 80 years of gold mining in the region, no investments in significant social services have been made to either compensate locals for the loss of their livelihoods or as a trickledown effect of the revenue from mining activities, the figure that is not very clear to many stakeholders. The town of Adola, which the imperial regime re-named as Kibre-Mengist for its source of gold, did not have tap water and electricity until a few years ago. Still today, the town and its surrounding community suffer from access to basic social services such as hospitals.

The continued displacement and encroachment on the livelihoods of artisanal miners is also another source of discontent that has fed into recent protests. For example, the MIDROC Gold mine “discovered” new gold deposit in Sakaro area, only 3km from Laga Dambi site in 2009.[5] In the same year, it signed a ten-years concession agreement with the Ministry of Mines and Energy to utilize the deposit and continued further explorations.[6] MIDROC’s concessions for further exploration led to the increased enclosure of grazing lands, farmlands and artisanal mining sites leading to displacement and restriction of access rights for local communities. Accordingly, the massive land appropriation by the company, lack of transparency in the revenue, absence of clear corporate social responsibility, continued environmental pollution from the toxic dumping into rivers, and exclusion of local community from employment became rallying points in the protests that broke out here in 2015.

Conclusion

Ethiopia has recently embarked on a program of economic diversification to transform itself into a middle-income economy. In this regard, extractive industries such as gold and other minerals, and gas and oil explorations have received growing attention from the government. The privatization of gold mining, particularly the transfer of the Laga Dambi (Adola) gold mine to the MIDROC Gold Mine could be viewed as a component of the economic liberalization since the 1990s. However, there are concerns on the part of local government authorities, members of opposition and the local community at large that the right to mine gold has been granted to MIDROC without clearly stipulating corporate social responsibility guidelines. In addition, the company’s mining activities have led to the dumping of toxic chemicals and the lack of compensation for the local community. Therefore, the existing pattern of resource extraction, exclusion of local communities and absence of positive trickledown effects is potentially conflict prone and bodes ill for the future, unless appropriate policy frameworks are put in place and genuinely implemented.

Policy recommendations 

The following policy recommendations can be used as entry points:

• Institutionalizing corporate social responsibility: Ethiopia lacks clear policy and guidelines for holding investors accountable with regards to what they ought to provide to local communities who might be directly or indirectly affected by their companies. Investors often promise some social services as a form of humanitarian or charity provision rather than as part of their responsibility. Therefore, the government should make it clear that the MIDROC Gold Mine has such social responsibilities and the company should be held accountable. For example, the 15 million birr promised (“given”) to the 15 districts was only a symbolic gesture probably intended to appease the people, and was not a fulfillment company’s social responsibility.
• Participatory approaches: The Adola gold mine was exclusionist from its inception. Nominal participation that involves the cooptation of local elites will not guarantee sustainable peace and harmonious co-existence between the company and local communities. The youth is much more conscious of its rights and not easily coopted. Therefore consultations and participation of the affected communities should be taken seriously.
• Transparency in revenue: The federal government should work towards formulating and implementing clear and transparent guidelines governing how revenue from mining operations are to be shared between different tiers of government. These policies should ensure that a part of the revenue is utilized to provide social services to local communities.
• MIDROC Gold Mine should prioritize employment opportunities of local communities and also empower them through trainings so that they would be competent enough to work in the company.
• Environmental protection protocol: Environmental pollution is emerging as a major issue in the country. The MIDROC Gold Mine is not an exception. There are reports that its toxic chemicals have polluted rivers and claimed the lives of hundreds of cattle and caused health problems to humans.[7] Therefore, the federal government, Oromia regional state and MIDROC should work together to alleviate pollution effects.
• Compensation: The establishment of Adola Gold mining has led to the displacement of local communities, restriction of access to their ancestral lands and changes in their livelihoods. Affected people were not compensated. Therefore, proper compensation mechanism should be put in place for the affected people. These mechanisms should be implemented before providing further concessions to MIDR.

Asebe Regassa Debelo is Assistant Professor of Development Studies at Institute of Indigenous Studies, Dilla University, Ethiopia. He may be reached at  aseberegassa@yahoo.com

Sources

[1] The fieldwork which this article draws on was carried out between October 2014 and June 2015. Interviews and observations were carried out in this period of time.

[2] http://allafrica.com/stories/201405260440.html

[3]Oromia-Ethiopia: Wikileaks – Govt’s Crackdown on Oromo on Behalf of MIDROC Gold During Shakiso/Guji Protests of 2009 (first posted on Finfinne Tribune and Gadaa.com on September 15, 2011).

[4] Ibid

[5] http://allafrica.com/stories/201405260440.html

[6] Ibid.

[7] Oromia-Ethiopia: Wikileaks – Govt’s Crackdown on Oromo on Behalf of MIDROC Gold During Shakiso/Guji Protests of 2009 (first posted on Finfinne Tribune and Gadaa.com on September 15, 2011).

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Click here to read OROMIA’s MINERAL WEALTH: A BLESSING OR A CURSE?

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በኦሮሚያ ክልል ጉጂ ዞን ለገ-ደንቢ (Lege Dembi) እና ሳካሮ (Sakaro) በሚባሉ አከባቢዎች ከሚገኙት የሜድሮክ (MIDROC) ወርቅ ማውጫዎች የሚወጣው መርዛማ የሆነ ኬሚካል በአከባቢው ነዋሪዎች፣ እንስሳት እና ስነ-ምህዳር ላይ የከፋ ጉዳት እያስከተለ ይገኛል፡፡

ፎቶ፦ በመንገዱ በስተግራ ያለው ውሃ በኬሚካል የተበከለ ነው! Photo Credit ©Gaurdian

የአዶላ ሆስፒታል ሜዲካል ዳይሬክተር የሆኑት ዶ/ር ቡሻ ባላኮ ለOBN በሰጡት አስተያየት ከፋብሪካው የሚወጣው መርዛማ ኬሚካል በሰውና እንስሳት ፅንስና አወላለድ ላይ ከፍተኛ ጉዳት አስከትሏል፡፡ ለምሳሌ ባሳለፍነው የፈረንጆች አመት (2017) ብቻ ከ157 በላይ ህፃናት ገና በእናታቸው ማህፀን ውስጥ (በፅንስ) እንዳሉ መሞታቸውን ዳይሬክተሩ ገልፀዋል፡፡ በተለይ የአከባቢው እናቶች ከፅንስ ማስወረድ ጋር ተያይዞ ባጋጠማቸው የስነ-ልቦና ችግር ምክንያት እስከሚወልዱ ድረስ እርግዝናቸውን እንደሚደብቁ ተገልጿል፡፡

Photo Credit: ©Social Media

በተመሣሣይ አንድ በቢቢሲ የቀረበ ጥናታዊ ዘገባ የተጠቀሰው መርዜማ ኬሚካል በቤት እንስሳት ፅንስና አወላለድ ላይ ከፍተኛ ጉዳት እያስከተለ መሆኑን ገልጿል፡፡ ይህ የሜድሮክ የወርቅ ማውጫ ባለፈው አመት ኮንትራቱ የተጠናቀቀ ቢሆንም ሰሞኑን ውሉን በአስር (10) ዓመት እንዲያራዝም ተፈቅዶለታል፡፡ በመሆኑም በአከባቢው ማህብረሰብ፣ እንስሳትና ስነ-ምህዳር ላይ ሲደርስ የነበረው ጉዳት ለአስር አመት እንዲቀጥል ተወስኗል፡፡ በዛሬው ዕለት የአከባቢው ነዋሪዎች ይህን ሃላፊነት የጎደለው ውሳኔ በመቃውም የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ አድርገዋል፡፡ ጥያቄው በአስቸኳይ ምላሽ የማያገኝ ከሆነ የነዋሪዎቹ ተቃውሞ የሚቀጥል ይሆናል፡፡

የሜድሮክ (MIDROC) ወርቅ ማውጫዎች ኮንትራት መራዘምን በመቃወም የተካሄደ የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ Photo Credit @ Social Media

የልማት፥ ዴሞክራሲ፥ ሀገር ሆነ መንግስት ትርጉምና ፋይዳ ሰውና ሰው ብቻ ነው፡፡ የሰው ልጅን ሰብዓዊ መብትና ክብር የሚፃረር ተቋም ሆነ አሰራር ትርጉም-አልባ፥ ፋይዳ-ቢስ ነው፡፡ የወርቅ ማዕድኑን ለማውጣት ጥቅም ላይ የሚውለው መርዛማ ኬሚካል በለገ-ደንቢ እና ሳካሮ የሚገኙ እናቶችን ፅንስ እያስወረደ ነው፡፡ በእርግጥ ወርቅ ውድ ማዕድን ነው! ነገር ግን፣ ምንም ያህል ውድ ቢሆን ከሰው ልጅ ህይወት አይበልጥም፡፡ ያለ ምንም ለውጥ የድርጅቱን ኮንትራት በአስር አመት እንዲራዘም የፈቀደው የመንግስት አካል ከሰው ይልቅ ለወርቅ ዋጋ መስጠቱን በግልፅ ይጠቁማል፡፡ ሆኖም ግን፣ ለአከባቢው ወላጆች ልጆቻቸው ከወርቅ በላይ ውድ ናቸው፡፡ በመሆኑም በኬሚካሉ ምክንያት የእናቶች መሃፀን ከሚዘጋ ወርቅ ማውጫው ቢዘጋ ይመርጣሉ፡፡

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Does z 2nd post mean “I poisoned it & therefore don’t drink it”? Does this notice also applicable 2 animals? @addisu_arega @hrw @FelixHorne1 @soil4climate @UNFCCC @ClimateReality @UNDPClimate @UNEnvironment @AnaGomesMEP @margotwallstrom @vastgotapower @SweMFA @antonioguterres pic.twitter.com/uMwGQz80cb

— Asnaketch Woldetensa (@AWoldetensa) April 30, 2018

OMN : Gabaasa addaa : Hayyama Albuudaa Dhaabbata MIDROC Gold haaromsuuf murteerra gahamuu laalchisee..Mud 1/2018

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The US State Department has accused Ethiopia of serious violations of human rights April 20, 2018

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Breaking/Ethiopia Latest: The US State Department has accused Ethiopia of serious violations of human rights

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(OiPlatform, April 20, 2018): The United States State Department report has accused Ethiopia of serious violations of human rights.  According to the report, “arbitrary deprivation of life, disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention by security forces; denial of a fair public trial; infringement of privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, internet, assembly, association, and movement are some of the most significant human rights issues in the country. The report underlines that human rights violators act with impunity: “The government generally did not take steps to prosecute or otherwise punish officials who committed human rights abuses…. Impunity was a problem; there was an extremely limited number of prosecutions of security force members or officials for human rights abuses during the year.”

The Department had also accused Ethiopia of similar violations in its report published in March 2017. In that report, it was indicated that Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and other unlawful or politically motivated killings, disappearance, torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary arrest or detention, denial of fair public trial, arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, freedom of speech and press, freedom of movement, internally displaced persons, protection of refugees, and stateless persons, corruption and lack of transparency in government etc were some of the major problems in the country.

 

On April 10, 2018, the US Congress passed a resolution (Resolution 128) without objections calling for respect for human rights, rule of law and democracy in Ethiopia.  In summary, the resolution calls for “lifting of the state of emergency; ending the use of excessive force by security forces; investigating the killings and excessive use of force that took place as a result of protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions; releasing dissidents, activists, and journalists who have been imprisoned for exercising constitutional rights;…” The resolution also calls on the government “to repeal proclamations that can be used to harass or prohibit funding for organizations that investigate human rights violations, engage in peaceful political dissent, or advocate for greater political freedoms; prohibit those displaced from their land from seeking judicial redress; permit the detention of peaceful protesters and political opponents who legally exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association; and limit peaceful nonprofit operations in Ethiopia.” The resolution also urges: “(1) protesters in Ethiopia to refrain from violence and from encouragement or acceptance of violence in demonstrations, and (2) all armed factions to cease their conflict with the Ethiopian government and engage in peaceful negotiations.”

 

Human Rights groups have been highlighting the dire human rights conditions in Ethiopia. In its 2017/2018 report Amnesty International found out that Torture and other ill-treatment, Arbitrary arrests and detentions, Unfair trials, restriction on Freedom of expression, Extrajudicial executions, Impunity of the police and army.

 

Human Rights Watch also, said, the brutality of security forces, forced displacement, lack of freedom of expression and association, the prevalence of torture and arbitrary detention, are some of the major problems that Ethiopians face in the hand of their own government.

 

Ethiopia has just elected a new prime minister who is from Oromo, the hotbed of the protests in the past three years. The new prime minister promised change. On April 19, 2018, the prime minister nominated his new cabinet members who were confirmed by the parliament. Six ministers from the predecessor have kept their ministerial positions, even though some of them were moved to another department.

World Food Program fears more refugee inflow from Ethiopia. #MoyaleMassacre March 19, 2018

Source : DW Amharic

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The number of Ethiopians who fled to Kenya following the killings of 10 civilians in the border town of Moyale has reached 9,600 according to the organization’s Kenya Branch Office spokes person, Peter Smerdon, as cited by DW Amharic. The spokesperson added that most of the refugees are women and children.

The refugees are in need of food aid and housing. Some are said to be in need of medical assistance as well. Kenyan Red Cross distributed some food yesterday.

Kenya Red Cross

✔@KenyaRedCross

Our team distributing food to displaced persons from Ethiopia in Moyale sub-county.

17:46 – 17 Mar 2018 · Nairobi, Kenya

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“The number could rise,” says Peter, “due to the situation in Ethiopia.” UNHCR is poised to send a mission to Moyale to assess the situation.

On the other hand, Ethiopian authorities claim that effort is underway to return the thousands of Ethiopians who fled to Kenya after what government claimed was an accidental killings of civilians.

Government disclosed that yesterday when Federal Police Commissioner, General Assefa Abiyu, appeared on state Television,Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, “to share update on the state of emergency.” It is,however, unclear as to how the government is coordinating the matter with the government of Kenya, which reportedly closed the border with Ethiopia after Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebel groups attacked military convoy.

The Command Post arrested Oromo regional state Justice department spokesperson, Taye Denea, for remarking, during an interview with DW Amharic, that the killing in Moyale does not seem to be accidental based on information he has.

Days after the Ethiopian government claimed the killing in Moyale as a “mistake”, a ten years old boy was killed which some understood it to be a reckless and deliberate killing. In view of that, doubts are surfacing if the regime in power would be able to secure the repatriation of Ethiopians who fled to Kenya since last Friday.

Fascist Ethiopia’s regime arrests critical blogger and professor of Ambo University, Seyoum Teshome. #FreeSeyoumTeshome March 10, 2018