Does British aid to Africa help the powerful more than the poor?

As Ethiopia’s regime is accused of atrocities, David Blair asks whether British aid might – inadvertently and indirectly – be subsidising repression

British aid to Ethiopia amounted to £329m last year

October 30, 2014 (The Telegraph) — Ethiopia’s security forces have carried out terrible atrocities during a brutal campaign against rebels from the Oromo Liberation Front. So reports Amnesty International in ahorrifying investigationwhich concludes that at least 5,000 people from the Oromo ethnic group have suffered torture, abduction or worse in the last three years alone.

Sadly, anyone familiar with Ethiopia will not be surprised. With a long record of suppressing dissent, its government is one of the most authoritarian in Africa. Yet Ethiopia also benefits handsomely from British aid, receiving £329 million last year, making it the biggest recipient of UK development assistance in Africa – and the second biggest in the world.

Thousands of Ethiopians tortured by brutal government security forces… while Britain hands over almost £1 BILLION in aid money

• Amnesty International says 5,000 people tortured, raped and ‘disappeared’
• Over the last three years the UK Government has given Ethiopia £1 billion
• It pocketed £261.5 million in 2012 and £284.4 million in 2013

Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Dessalegn, has rejected accusations that his government tortures its own people

October 29, 2014 (The Daily Mail) — More than £1billion from taxpayers was given in aid to Ethiopia while its security forces tortured, killed and raped, campaigners claimed yesterday.

Amnesty International has documented thousands of shockingly brutal abuses against citizens suspected of political opposition.

The human rights group’s report follows calls for greater scrutiny by Britain and other donors to ensure their money does not support state-sanctioned killings and brutality.

Amnesty warned that thousands have faced repeated torture while unlawful state killings have been carried out in a ‘relentless crackdown on real or imagined dissent’.

Horrors inflicted on ordinary Ethiopians include women being gang-raped and tortured by prison guards. Amnesty’s report also tells how a teacher was stabbed in the eye with a bayonet after refusing to teach pro-government propaganda to his students.

Entire families were arrested with parents and siblings ‘disappearing’ after they were taken to army camps, said Amnesty.

Britain has donated more than £1billion to Ethiopia in the last five years alone. The Government has denied funding security forces in the autocratic one-party state.

But Britain’s relationship with the East African country is likely to come under scrutiny in a judicial review into claims made by a Ethiopian farmer.

STATEMENTS ON PLIGHT OF OROMO REFUGEE COMMUNITY IN CAIRO

October 29, 2014

Today on 28th October 2014, the Oromo community in Egypt protested in front of UNHCR office to denounce in response to the Ethiopian community allegation during the protest on 19th October 2014, supported by the Ethiopian Embassy in Egypt, to denigrates Oromo refugees in Cairo. On behalf of Oromo Refugees Community in Cairo, we want to express our serious concerns with the treatment of our community by the Ethiopian government allied Ethiopian community in Egypt.

As it is well known, Oromos have been oppressed in the Horn of Africa region over the past 120 years. Oromos still strive to save their lives in many ways, and often escape from Ethiopia, eventually crossing many borders until they find a peaceful place to definitely settle.

We, the Oromo community in Cairo in exile, would humbly forward our letter of complaints to your honored office concerning the above matter hoping for a timely intervention.

Ethiopian court sentences journalist to three years in prison

October 29, 2014, Nairobi (CPJ)–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s sentencing of Ethiopian journalist Temesghen Desalegn to three years’imprisonmenton charges of defamation and incitement that date back to 2012. A court in Addis Ababa, the capital,convicted Temesgen on October 13 in connection with opinion pieces published in the now-defunct Fetehnews magazine, according to news reports. He was arrested the same day. Authorities have routinely targeted Temesghen for his writing. Temesghen’s lawyer said he plans to appeal the ruling, according to local journalists.

BBC interviewing torture survivor and Dr Awol K on Amnestry rep

Amnesty: Ethiopia Systematically Repressing Oromo

FILE – Ethiopian migrants, all members of the Oromo community of Ethiopia living in Malta, protest against the Ethiopian regime.

October 28, 2014, ADDIS ABABA(VOA News) — Amnesty International has issued anew report claiming that the Ethiopian government is systematically repressing the country’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo.

ETHIOPIA: ‘BECAUSE I AM OROMO’: SWEEPING REPRESSION IN THE OROMIA REGION OF ETHIOPIA

October 28, 2014

Amnesty International released a-166 page report on the repression committed against Oromo by the TPLF. Please find the report in PDF herewith.

“I was arrested for about eight months. Some school students had been arrested, so their classmates had a demonstration to ask where they were and for them to be released. I was accused of organising the demonstration because the government said my father supported the OLF so I did too and therefore I must be the one who is organising the students.” Young man from Dodola Woreda, Bale Zone.

The anticipation and repression of dissent in Oromia manifests in many ways. The below are some of the numerous and varied individual stories contained in this report:

Oromo Community in Norway Protest against Ethiopian Forigen Affairs Minster Tedros Adhanom On 16th October 2014 in Oslo

Is that coup d’etat on Kamal Galchuu, African way?

October 23, 2014

By a statement released from OLF for change, popularly known as OLF-Kamal Gelchu, the chairman Brigadier General Kamal Galchuu has been removed from his position effective immediately.

Three names were given for contact (1) Dr. Nuro Dedefo (2) Brigadier General Hailu Gonfa and (3) Dhaabaa Gutamaa. There is no substitute named for the General.

The statement raises a number of questions. Anyway have your say!!!

To read the whole statement Click HER

Onkoloolessa 22, 2014

Qabsooftuu Oromoo fi Wallistuu Halloo Daawwee gargaaruu irratti mirmachuu qabna

Lakkoofsa mana Baankii:-
Baankii Internaashinaalii Oromiyaa Damee Magaalaa-152154955 ykn
Baankii daldala Itoopiyaa Damee Magaalaa-1000063900568.
Bilbiluus yoo feetan 0937513560 irratti bilbiluu dhaan karaa Ilma ishee Guutamaa argachuu ni dandeessu!!
“Lammiin Gaaddisa Waliiti!!

Oromia International Bank  –  152154955 or
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia – 1000063900568

To talk to Guutamaa, Halloo’s son, call:  + 251 9 375 13560

Ethiopian tribes’ ancient ways threatened by UK-backed sugar project

A massive sugar plantation and up to 700,000 migrant workers will occupy almost 2,000 sq.km of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, with the help of British aid finance. But the valley’s native inhabitants have been given no choice in the matter, and are being forced to abandon their homes, lands, cattle, and entire way of life, or go to jail.

Commercial agriculture is creating an uncertain future for tribes like the ancient Hamer. Photo: Matthew Newsome.

October 22, 2014 (The Ecologist) — In the late afternoon sun, Longoko Loktoy, positions his traditionally engraved stool on parched earth and brushes the dust off his Kalashnikov while children close-by pursue small birds with bows and arrows.

Keeping a diligent eye on the movement of his goat herd he says he is unaware of large scale infrastructure projects that will soon encroach on his life and livelihood as an agro-pastoralist. “I haven’t heard of any government plan for a dam or a sugar project. All I have heard is that we will have to move.”

Longoko is a member of the Nyangatom tribe, one of twelve ethnic groups living in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site celebrated for being one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world.

“I am leading two lives. I have children who take care of herds and I have children who are at school. When drought comes my family will depend on my children working in the town.”

Gabaasa Hiriira Nagayaa Hawaasa Oromoo Cairo

Onkoloolesaa 20, 2014
Hiriirri nagayaa miseensota hawaasa Oromoo biyya Masrtiin magaalaa Cairo fuuldura waajjira UNHCR irratti geggeeffame milkiin xumuramee jira. Akkuma durfamee hubachiifame kaayyoon hiriira kanaa ilmaan Habashaa biyya Masr jiran case baqatummaa Oromoo fudhatama dhabsiisuuf jecha Dilbata ganama saáa 8pm irratti hiriira waamanii turan fashalsiisuu ture.

Hiriira Mormii Hawaasa Oromo Osloon Qopha’ee

Sources: Ethiopian Government Plan to bomb Addis Ababa

October 16, 2014 (Hara Ethiopia) — Hara Ethiopian has confirmed from multiple sources that the alleged an imminent terrorist attack in Addis Ababa, Bole area is planted by the regime and intentionally leaked the information to U.S. officials through its Somali national double agents.

Hara Ethiopia sources have revealed that Tigray People’s Liberation Front’s National Intelligence head Getachew Assefa and General Gebre Adhana meet with Gen. Mohammed Sheikh Hassan, Gen. Abdirahman Abdi Hussein and Farah Sheikh Abdiqadir of Somalia nationals in Dire Dawa in October 10, 2014 to fabricate terrorist attack plot.

TPLF junta were intentionally exploded bombs on several occasions in the past and blamed it on its enemies. A diplomatic dispatch sent to Washington DC by American diplomats in Addis Ababa confirms (in a Wikileaks release below) that the regime in Ethiopia is known to fabricate bombing incidents.

Ethiopian Editor Convicted for Inciting Public With Articles

By William Davison, Oct 15, 2014

Temesgen Desalegn

An Ethiopian editor is facing as many as 10 years in prison after being convicted of inciting the public against the government through his newspaper articles, his lawyer said.

Temesgen Desalegn, the former editor of Feteh, a defunct weekly newspaper, was convicted yesterday by the Federal High Court on charges that also included defaming the government and distorting public opinion, after a case that lasted about two years, lawyer Ameha Mekonnen said. He will be sentenced on Oct. 27.

“Temesgen becomes the first journalist who’s accused and found guilty only for what he’s written in a newspaper,” Ameha said by phone today from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. “The evidence was only his writing, nothing else.”

Communications Minister Redwan Hussien said that the conviction was for articles Temesgen wrote for Feteh about two years ago. The case concerned “incitement and misinforming the public,” he said by phone.
Ethiopia is Africa’s second-biggest jailer of journalists after neighboring Eritrea as of Dec. 2013, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Government officials say journalists are not above the law and aren’t prosecuted because of their profession.

ETHIOPIA: A Minor Gets Prison Terms for Alleged Instigation

HRLHA – URGENT ACTION                               October 14, 2014

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) strongly condemns the sentencing of Abde Jemal, a fourteen-year old minor, in adults’ court to four years in prison and $700.00 Birr fine for allegedly inciting people to political violence. According to HRLHA’s correspondents, Abde Jemal was arrested by the security agents while tending his parents’ cattle out in the field. HRLHA has learnt that Abde Jemal was severely beaten up (in other words, physically tortured) following his arrest by members of the security force in order to coerce him into confessing in court to the alleged crime. To begin with, this was allowed to happen despite the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1990, to which Ethiopia is a signatory, and which clearly states under Article 37(a) that State Parties shall ensure that “No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”; and additionally guarantees under article 40, sub-article 2(a) that every child alleged as or accused of having infringed the penal law should … “Not be compelled to give testimony or to confess guilt.”

MARCH FOR OROMIA: HIRIIRA NAGAYAA MAGALAA NEW YORK

THE TIME HAS COME! SAY NO TO ETHIOPIAN APARTHEID

Okok Ojulu’s Speech Delivered at the World Bank Panel Discussion | October 11, 2014

Honorable Panelists, Distinguish invited guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honored and privileged to represent the voice of millions of indigenous populations of the Southwestern regions in particular, and many other oppressed groups elsewhere in Ethiopia. My speech echoes a big “No To Ethiopian Apartheid” and presents the anguish and death of the voiceless indigenous populations, languishing in blood, suffering insecurity, torture, and life imprisonment in Ethiopia. It also presents the voice of many refugees in the neighboring countries from Gambella, Lower Omo Valley area, and Beneshangul/Gumuz regions of Ethiopia who are living under difficult conditions facing threats to their lives; insecurity, cross border killings, and deportations from the neighboring countries.

Founding Congress of the Oromo Abbaa Gadaa’s Council

Ethiopian President: Gov’t Will Take Appropriate Measures Against Eritrea, Oppositions

October 9, 2014 (East Afro) — During the opening session of the Ethiopian parliament and the House of Federation today in Addis Abeba, Ethiopian President Dr. Mulatu Teshome, has said that the “Ethiopian government will take an appropriate measure against any aggression from the Eritrean government like it did last year.”

Mulatu said that the government had defended attacks by rebel groups that are armed by the Eritreangovernment such as Ginbot 7, ONLF and OLF. He said similar measures would also be taken this year.

Sadaasa 9 Guyyaa Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa Waggaa 9ffaa, 2014

Onkoloolessa 7, 2014

Bara 2005 waamicha ABOn ummata bal’aa Oromoof haaromseen Fincilli Diddaa Gabrummaa (FDG)n guutuu Oromiyaa keessatti erga bifa ho’aan qabsiifamee haga har’aatti bifa adda addaan mootummaa gabroomfattuu wayyaanee akka guggubaa jiru eenyullee haaluu hin danda’u.

Haala Yeroo biyyattiin Keessa jirtuu

fi Kasaaraa siyaasaa Mootummaa EPRDF mudatee jiru irratti Ibsa barsiisota Oromoo dhaabbilee barnoota Olaanoo Yuunibarsiitota garaagaraa irratti maqaa walga’ii tarsiimoo Siyaasaa jechuun wayyaaneen walitti qabde irraa kenname.

Onkoloolessa 7, 2014

1. Sirni TPLF/EPRDF bulchiinsa Dimookiraasii Warraqaan kakatuu fi sirna Federaalizimii daheeffachuun yakka raawwatuun Impaayera Itophiyaa waggoota 23 oliif bitaa jiru, ummata guddaa biyyatti keessatti argamuu uummata Oromoo irratti yakka dugugginsa sanyii rawwaachaa as gahe. Sabaaf sablamoota biyyatti tapha siyaasaan ala godhee qoddanna angoo ala taasisuun fallaa federaliizimii fi dimookiraasii dhaabbatee, mirgoota siyaasaa, namummaa, amantaa, walgahuu, ijaaramuu fi kkf ugguraa fi dhiitaa jira.

2. Jarraan amma keessa jirru biyyattii keessatti bara mirgi uummata Oromoo ugguramee dhiitamee, Oromoon balleessa malee qe’ee fi qabeenya isaa irratti gara laafina tokko malee ajjeefamaa, hidhamaa, qe’ee fi qabeenyaa isaa irra buqqa’aa jiruu dha. Bara nagaan ba’ee nagaan galuu itti dadhabe, ilmaan isaa barsiisee yeroo itti eebisifachuu hin dandeenye, bara mirgi Dimookiraasii fi namummaa caalmaatti irraa mulqame, bara Oromummaa fi Oromoo ta’uu ibsachuun yakka itti ta’ee dha.

Adeola: Can somebody tell this guy this is not Ethiopia!

Manneen Murtii Mootummaa Wayyaanee Federaalaa fi Manneen Mutii Oromiyaa Sadarkaa Garagaraa ilaalchisuun Ibsa Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo

Ibsa Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo
Onkoloolessa 04,2014 
Finfinnee

Mootummaan abbaa irree Wayyaanee manneen murtii Oromiyaa sadarkaa olaanoo irraa hanga gadaanaatti jiran harka isaa keessa galchuun mirgaa fi haqaa ummataa awwaaluu itti fufee jira. Ilmaan Oromoo gaaffii mirgaa fi dimookiraasii karaa nagaa gaafatanitti humna waraana isaa bobbaasuun qe’ee fi mooraa barnootaa keessatti jumlaan ajjeeseera. Kaan immoo qe’ee fi barnoota isaanii irra ukkamsee jumlaan hidhee jira. Mootummaan wayyaanee ilmaan Oromoo bal’eessaa tokko malee hidhee dararaa jiru ofumaaf himatee karaa dabballoota isaanis dharaan ragaa  itti bahuun murtii sobaa irratti muraa jira. Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo gochaa diinummaa wayyaanee kana gadi jabeessee balaaleffata.

Ethiopian diplomat flees US to dodge prosecution

October 2, 2014 (Time Hill) — An Ethiopian diplomat, Solomon Tadesse aka Wedi Weynie,  who allegedly fired a gun during a protest this week at his country’s embassy in Washington, D.C., has left the United States to escape prosecution.

The State Department on Thursday confirmed that it had asked Ethiopia to waive the diplomat’s immunity so he could be prosecuted in U.S. courts, which was refused.

“In this case, we requested a waiver of immunity to permit prosecution of the individual involved in that incident,” State Department press secretary Jen Psaki said. “The request was declined and the individual involved has now left the country.”

Diplomats are expelled from the United States when their host country declines to waive diplomatic immunity.  

Video explores land grabs, development in Ethiopia

Triangle between corporations, government and farmers. LAND GRABBING OR LAND TO INVESTORS ?

By Alfredo Bini

October 2, 2014 (Farmlandgrab) — In Ethiopia, more than six million people survive because of UN food aid, while agricultural products cultivated on land leased to foreign investors are exported. A paradox. These land use decisions are made far from the land itself, and far from the people whose lives are rooted in it.

The video below explores the phenomenon of land grabs through the eyes of foreign investors, governments and the people on the land. Images from this video also appeared at the Photoville Festival in Brooklyn, NY. There Grassroots International and allies participated in a panel discussion “Land Grabbing: Raising Awareness with Multimedia” on September 21, 2014.

Land Grabbing is not new. Companies from wealthy countries have always sought low-cost land for agricultural production. Today, governments allocate funds to domestic companies that wish to invest in land overseas. Governments did not provide this type of financial support for much of the last century, but are doing so now in manner reminiscent of colonial practices.