Some people prefer to hand control of their lives over to the regime. They may feel inadequate to make their own decisions. After decades of authoritarian rule or other forms of oppression, people may lack self-confidence in their ability to make change. This develops mainly from a lack of decision-making experience and limited opportunities for developing alternative leadership… [read more]
PRESS STATEMENT
September 18, 2011
CONCERNED by the recent wave of arrests of political leaders, men and women of the Arts, journalists and human rights activists; We concerned Ethiopians and members of various support groups of Ethiopian civic and political organizations in the United States and Canada, having attended the emergency meeting organized by the BEKA MOVEMENT;
HAVING EXAMINED the root causes of the wave of arrests and TPLF/EPRDF’s nervousness about the Arab revolution, and the recent promulgation of a draconian and poorly drafted anti-terrorism law that criminalizes almost every form of dissent;
DEEPLY CONCERNED by the dismal state of the Ethiopian economy, which is characterized by rampant youth unemployment, poor education, endemic rural and urban poverty, migration, eviction from ancestral lands, hyperinflation, land grab at unbelievable prices, corruption, the creation of a tiny super-rich elite that is subservient to the minority regime, and the unfortunate prospects of the so called Growth and Transformation Plan and its delusional statistics;
ALARMED by the scale of the famine in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, and TPLF/EPRF’s denial of the existence of widespread hunger in Southern and Eastern Ethiopia, and the ongoing cover-up of the starvation and conflict, harassment of those who exposed the cover up to the international media, including the propaganda against the BBC’s investigative journalists and the deliberate wounding and imprisonment of Swedish journalists;
COGNIZANT of the fact that the Unity for Democracy and Justice’s (UDJ’s) New Year call to the Ethiopian people to stand up together to regain their stolen freedom and this call is being adopted by the main opposition groups in side Ethiopia;
NOTING the call for protest demonstration in Addis Abeba on October 2, 2011 and TPLF’s denial of permit, is yet another indication of the fact that the revolution that engulfed several North African and Middle East countries is slowly coming to Ethiopia;
NOTING with dismay some of the recent trivial arguments about collaboration among political parties, and its lack of relevance to defending the revolution that is already at the door steps of the country;
We have resolved:
(1) To adopt in full the NEW YEAR’S call of the UDJ to the Ethiopian people to stand up together to regain their stolen freedom, and concur with the view that the people of Ethiopia, like the 1974 revolution, cannot wait for political parties to stage the struggle. Details of the UDJ’s statement is available at http://andinet.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Unity-for-Democracy-and-Justice-Party-New-Year-Press-Release_Amharic__090911.pdf
(2) To support the call for protest demonstration in Addis Ababa on October 2, 2011, in provincial cities and throughout the world where Ethiopians are residing;
(3) To call upon all Ethiopians inside Ethiopia and in the Diaspora to isolate the TPLF/EPRDF leadership and its foot-solders. Ethiopians in the Diaspora must make every effort to boycott TPLF/EPRDF’s embassies, TPLF/EPRDF affiliated business enterprises, community associations, clubs and societies and places of worships; with a view to put pressure on the minority regime to listen to the voices of the Ethiopian people;
(4) To call upon the Government of the United States and Canada to revise their policies towards the minority regime in Ethiopia. We call upon the White House to listen to its diplomats who are calling for change of the United States’ policy towards Ethiopia. We request the White House to target TPLF’s bosses like Bereket Simon, Shimeles Kemal, Dina Mufti, Redwan Hussen, Berhane Gebre Kristos and HaileMariam Dessalegn. There is enough prima facie evidence which shows that these individuals, together with Meles Zenawi, Azeb Gola, Sebhat Nega, Seyoum Mesfin, Addisu Legesse, Abay Tsehaye, Getachew Assefa and Samora Yunus, jointly and severally, are responsible for the tens of thousands of lives that were lost during the last 35 years;
(5) To condemn in the strongest possible terms the imprisonment of Olbana Lelisa, Bekele Gerba, Andualem Arage, Zemenu Molla, Nathnael Mekonnen, Eskender Nega, Debebe Eshetu, Riyot Alemu and Woubshet Taye. The allegation against these individuals is preposterous. The basis is the draconian and poorly drafted law. Its purpose is to suppress democracy. Ethiopians must refuse to observe this law. The above individuals are not terrorists as TPLF alleges. They are journalists, men and women of the Pen, artists and political leaders. We therefore demand the immediate and unconditional release of ALL political prisoners and prisoners of conscience;
(6) To call upon civic and political organizations to rise up to the challenge and immediately form a broad based National Council so that the revolution in Ethiopia is fast tracked and coordinated. This revolution must lead to the formation of a popular and prudent care taker administration that maintains law and order, defends the interests and territorial integrity of the country, while preparing the nation for peace, reconciliation and an unfettered free and fair election;
(7) To renew our commitment to continue our unwavering support to the struggle of the Ethiopian people for freedom, Justice and the Rule of Law. To this end, we have resolved to immediately start extensive world wide campaign to mobilize moral, material and diplomatic support for a united action to replace the dictatorial regime with a truly democratic system of governance that can bring freedom, peace and prosperity for the people of Ethiopia. We call upon all democratic forces to support the revolution that is at the doorsteps of the minority tyrannical regime.
People power shall end minority rule in Ethiopia!
Victory to the people of Ethiopia
Beka! Geye! Enough is Engough!
For more information contact: [email protected]
Patriotic Ethiopians in Los Angeles confronted and chased away the Woyanne ambassador and cadres during the Fairfax Little Ethiopia Street Festival on September 4. Read the report in Amharic below from the anti-Woyanne action organizers. Woyanne junta members and supporters must be confronted every where around the world in a similar manner by patriotic Ethiopians.
እንደሚታወቀው በ9/4/2011 በሎስ አንጀለስ ከተማ የሊትል ኢትዮጵያን አመታዊ በዓል ለማክበር ዝግጅት ሲደረግ ከርሞ ነበር። በዚህ በዓል ላይ ወያኔ ድንኳን ሊከራይ አይችልም በሚል አገር ወዳድ ኢትዮጵያዊያንና የበዓሉ አዘጋጅ ኮሚቴ ሲከራከሩ ነበር የሰነበቱት ሆኖም ግን እስካሁን በሚሰራበት ህግ ማንንም መከልከል አይቻልም ፤ ሁላችሁም ተሳተፉ፤ ተቃውሟችሁንም በሰላማዊ መንገድ እስከሆነ ድረስ የማቅረብ መብታችሁ የተጠበቀ ነው በሚል ስምምነት ተደርጎ እኛም በቂ ዝግጅት አድርገን ትናንትና በቦታው ተገኘን። በነገራችን ላይ፤ የበዓሉን አዘጋጅ ኮሚቴ በስራ በማገዝም ትብብር አድርገናል
የድንኳን ምደባው በእጣ ነበር። እጣው ያለምንም አድሎና ግልጽና ለቁጥጥር አመች በሆነ መንገድ ነበር የተዝጋጀው።
የድንኳኑ አመዳደብ ጎደሎ ቁጥር በአንድ በኩል፤ ሙሉ ቁጥር በሌላ በኩል እንዲሆን ተደርጎ ነበር የታሰበው፤ በዚህ መሰረት እጣው ሲመዘዝ ለኛ የደረስን 6 ቁጥር ሲሆን ለወያኔ የደረሰው 8 ቁጥር ነበር። ስለዚ የእኛና የወያኔ ድንኳን ምሰሶው በአንድላይ የታሰር ነበር። ይህ አጋጣሚ ብዙውን ህዝብ፤ ፍረንጆችን ሁሉ ሳይቀር ያስደነቅ ነበር። እኛን ደግሞ እጅግ ያሰደሰተ አጋጣሚ ነበር። አምባሳደር ተብየው ዘሪሁን ረታ አበደ፤ ስማይ ሊነካ ደረሰ፤ የአዘጋጅ ኮሚቴው እኛን እንዲያስነሳለት ጠየቀ አልሆነም፤ ፖሊስ ጠራ፤ አልሆነም። ያለው አማራጭ የሚደርስበትን የውግዘት ናዳ ተቀብሎ መቀመጥ አለበለዚያ ጥሎ መሄድ ነበር።
እኛ ድንኳናችን ወያኔ ከዚህ በፊት በገደላችው ስዎች ምስልና አሁን በርሐብ ምክንያት አጽማቸው ገጦ በወጣ ህጻናት ሸበብነው። በአሁኑ ሰዓት ያለውን ርሐብ የሚያጋልጥ የቪዲዮ ክሊፕ በፕላዝማ ስክሪን ደቅነን ነበር።
በርካታ ስለርሐቡ ምክንያት የሚግልጹ ጽሁፎች ነበሩን። ልዩ ልዩ ወያኔንና ስርዓቱን የሚያጋልጡ መፈክሮች ተዝጋጅተው በአርበኞች እጅ ተይዘው ነበር። የዚህ ግሩፕ ሎጎ በአዋቂዎች ተሰርቶ በድንኳኑ ውስጥ ተገትሮ ነበር። ምድረ ጨሰች፤ ወያኔ ጥጥ አጥቶ እንጅ ጀሮውን በጥጥ መድፈን ይፈልግ ነበር።
እኛ ቀደም ብለን ደህንነታችን እንዲጠበቅልን ለፖሊስ አመልክተን ስለነበር አንድ ፖሊስ የኛን ድህንነት እንዲጠብቀ ተመድቦ አይዟችሁ እያለ በአካባቢው ያንዣብብ ነበር። እኛም ጨዋነት በሞላው አንድበት ወያኔን ልክ ልኩን መንገራችን ቀጠልን። በወያኔ ድንኳን አካባቢ አንድም ስወ ተውር ማለት አልቻለም። አንዳንድ ፈረንጆች ሂደው አነጋግረው ወደኛ ዘወር ሲሉ ፊታቸው በሐዝን ይዋጣል ምክንያቱም ወያኔ የሚያሳያቸው የትዋበ ህንጻ፤ የአባይ ፏፏቴና የቱሪስት ቦታዎችን ሲሆን እኛ ደግሞ አሁን በተጨባች ኢትዮጵያ ወስጥ ምን እየሆነ እንድሆን ነበር። ተኩረት በሚስብ አቀራረብ አርበኞች እየተባበሩ ባደረጉት ቅስቀሳ የበዓሉን ተሳታፊ አይን ስቧል።
ወያኔ ከዉኃ የገባች አይጥ መስሎ ሲንቆራጠጥ ነበር የዋለው። ቦንድም አልተሸጠ፤ ብሮሸርም አልታደለ። አራት ስዎች ብቻ ነበሩ አምባሳደር ተብዬውን አጅበው የዋሉ። ከአጃቢዎች ውስጥ ሁለቱ ከዚህ በፊት ከነበሩበት ድርጅት ወንጅል ሰርተው የሄዱ ናቸው። መቸም ወያኔ ውንጀለኛና የወንጀለኛ ዋሻ ነው፤ እውነተኛ ቦታቸውን አግኝተዋል።
በመጨረሻም ወያኔ ድንኳኑን ዘግቶ ለመሄድ ወሰነ። እቃውን ጠቅልሎ ሲወጣ ጉዳት እንዳይደርስበት ስለሰጋ በአካባቢው ያሉ ፖሊሶችን ጠርቶ ተጠብቆ ወጣ። እኛም መፈክራችን እያቀለጥን፤ ወያኔና ውሻ ወደ ቤት እያልን ሽኜናቸው።
የማቻል ሆኖ ነው እንጅ “ክቡር አምባሳደሩ” በመትረየስ ቢያስጨርሱን በወደዱ ነበር ነገር ግን ሎስ አንጀለስ 6 ኪሎ ባለመሆኑ ተርፈናል።
የተቃውሞው ተሳታፊዎች በሎስ አንጀለስ ኗሪ የሆኑና በሳንዲያጎ የሚገኙ የኦጋዴን ተወላጆች ኢትይዮጵያዊያዊያንና አሜሪካዊያን ለፍትህና ለዴሞክራሲ በሚል ጥላ ስር ነበር።
ኢትዮጵያ ለዘላለም ትኑር
STATEMENT from the Alliance for Liberty, Equality, and Justice in Ethiopia (ALEJE)
The latest round of repression by a desperate dictatorial regime cannot deter our resolve to struggle our freedom
The political behavior of Ethiopia’s ethnic minority regime and the economic and social stability of Ethiopia have been continuously deteriorating after the infamous May 2005 election. After yet another staged election in 2010, and especially after waves of demonstrations and protests rooted out dictators in North Africa, PM Meles Zenawi’s ethnic regime reduced itself into a small group of outlaws that use the legal system as a coer to round up dissenters and ship them to prison camps. In its futile attempt to prevent the inevitable, PM Zenawi’s dictatorial regime has literally stopped functioning as a state and has devoted the bulk of its time to evesdropping harassing, arresting, and killing otherwise law abiding citizens in the name of ‘terrorism’.
In the last two months, the brutal regime in Addis Ababa has detained and falsely charged foreign and domestic journalists, civil right activists, political party leaders and nationally notable individuals. For example, Woubshet Taye of the Awramba Times, Reeyot Alemu of Feteh newspaper, Bekele Gerba of the Oromo Federal Democratic Movement, Oblana Lelisa of the Oromo People’s Congress and the two Swedish journalists from the Kontinent News Agency are some but few of the recent victims of Ethiopia’s restrictive and equivocal counterterrorism law. All of the above individuals including the two Swedish journalists were detained and condemned with fabricated charges and under the pretext of working with or for ‘terrorist’ organizations.
Alliance for Liberty, Equality, and Justice in Ethiopia (ALEJE) has been closely following political developments in Ethiopia, and political and economic conditions in Ethiopia have never been as scandalous and as hostile as they are now. Last week Ethiopia’s panicky regime took its absurdity one step further to the edge and arrested Ethiopia’s most talented actor and political activist Debebe Eshetu on allegations of link to ‘terrorist’ organizations. Arresting and torturing citizens in Ethiopia is a normal business of Meles Zenawi’s regime. Few days ago the regime has also arrested Eskinder Nega, the prominent journalist, Andualem Aragie, UDJ Vice President and Head of Public Relations , Zemenu Molla, VP of AEDP, Natnaiel Mekonnen, Asaminew Berhanu , Council members of UDJ. However, in the case of the recent mass arrest of political leaders and distinguished individuals, more than the arrest itself, the charges brought against them and the reasons behind the arrest are surprising, baseless, and ludicrous.
ALEJE strongly believes that the Tunisian street vendor who burned himself to death is not that different from millions of young Ethiopians that endure daily humiliations of ethnic slurs, extreme poverty, soring food prices, and mental and physical abuse. ALEJE together with other political parties and civic organization urges the Ethiopian people to rise against Zenawi’s dictatorship and stop the humiliation of citizens and the bleeding of our nation.
The purpose of the politically motivated arrests and false accusations of the last few months is clear and simple; it is to instill fear in the mind of change seeking Ethiopians. In fact, fear has always been the driving force behind everything the TPLF regime does. However, regardless of what the regime does at this point of time; ALEJE strongly believes that the days of ethnic supremacy and domination in Ethiopia are numbered, and the people of Ethiopia have determined to make 2004 the last year of dictatorship in Ethiopia. At this historical juncture and decisive moment, ALEJE wants to remind the Ethiopian people that the desperate attempt of Zenawi’s regime to bid for time is no different from Mubarak’s and Gaddafi’s last minute cry and machinations to extend their grip on power. After more than 20 years of living under one of Africa’s worst dictator, ALEJE believes that now it is about time for all democratic forces to stand together and bring and end to Zenawi’s ethnic dictatorship.
Let us rise up in unison to win our freedom!
Victory for the people of Ethiopia!
ALEJE Member Organizations:
Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy
Afar People’s Party (APP)
Ethiopian Unity and Justice Movement (EUJM)
Contact address: [email protected]
The Woyanne junta in Ethiopia continues to commit gross injustice against Ethiopians with {www:impunity}. Meles and gang are not paying any price for their crimes. That must stop, and it can be stopped only when a large number of Ethiopians say enough. Woubshet Taye, Debebe Eshetu, Andualem Arage, Eskinder Nega and all the others who have been arrested had the opportunity to go into exile like the rest of us. But they chose to stay in the country and scarify themselves for the freedom of all Ethiopians, as did thousands before them. Their sacrifices need to be shared by the rest of us. All Ethiopians have the moral obligation to join them in solidarity and say BEKA (enough).
Suggested immediate actions for Ethiopians inside the country:
1. Boycott Woyanne-owned businesses
2. Take your money out of Woyanne-owned banks
3. Disable Woyanne-owned buildings and factories
4. Get organized and be prepared for tougher actions
Those of us in the Diaspora can take the following actions immediately:
1. Declare a general economic boycott against the Woyanne regime, including the boycott of Ethiopian Airlines.
2. Isolate, {www:ostracize} and confront all Woyanne cadres and their hodam supporters we find at social events, restaurants, places of worship, etc.
3. Stop fighting each other and focus on Woyanne and only on Woyanne.
We owe it to heroic Ethiopians like Debebe Eshetu, Andualem Aragie and others to take action. It’s morally {www:reprehensible} to keep silent in the face of such injustice.