By ANDRIA SIMMONS | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Relatives have been visiting Tedla Lemma’s grave almost daily since he was killed in a home invasion four months ago.
Loran Zemedu Araya, suspect in the killing of Tedla Lemma
His sister-in-law, Rosemary Lemma, returned there Wednesday with newfound peace after learning police had captured the alleged killers.
“I know he is laughing, saying ‘You thought you would get away with it,’ ” Rosemary Lemma said. “I just can’t believe it’s finally coming to a close.”
Quincy Marcel Jackson, 27, of Riverdale, and Lorna Zemedu Araya, 25, of Atlanta, are being held without bond at the Gwinnett jail on murder charges related to the slaying of Lemma.
Araya was arrested on Monday. Jackson was taken into custody Tuesday night, Gwinnett Police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman said.
Police say the pair may also be responsible for two other home invasions in Gwinnett in 2007.
Lemma, an immigrant from Ethiopia, was found dead at the home he shared with family members on Kenion Forest Drive near Lilburn on March 25. Members of the tight-knit family grew increasingly worried when Lemma failed to answer the phone that day.
Lemma’s brother sent officers to check on his welfare, and Rosemary Lemma said she was on her way to check on him when police met her at the driveway. They told her Lemma was dead.
Police still aren’t saying how Lemma was killed.
Lemma worked at a family-owned liquor store off Memorial Drive in Atlanta and lived with his brother, sister-in-law and their three children. Police said Lemma was 51, but family members say he was 47.
He had been robbed twice before. On Nov. 7, 2007, he was robbed at home. Years ago, in July 1993, he had been robbed at a convenience store where he worked.
The robbers in the convenience store hold-up shot Lemma, a native of Ethiopia, twice in the head. One of the bullets remained lodged inside Lemma’s head, because doctors told the family it was too dangerous to remove it. The other bullet was removed, along with part of Lemma’s brain, Rosemary Lemma said.
Lemma suffered permanent paralysis to the left side of the body as a result. He had to walk with a cane most of the time, and he also lost some short-term memory function, relatives said.
Lemma looked at his survival with humor despite the setbacks. He referred to himself as a cockroach, laughingly telling relatives “I will never die,” because he had survived so much, Rosemary Lemma said.
Police believe Jackson and Araya are the same suspects who ambushed and robbed Lemma and his brother at their home on Nov. 7. His family was appalled that the robbers had targeted such a defenseless person not once, but twice.
He would not have been able to run or put up a fight, his brother, Sirak Lemma, said.
The same suspects may also be involved in an unrelated home invasion near Lilburn last year, Spellman said.
In that incident, a couple was kidnapped from their home and their 15-year-old son held hostage the day after Christmas. The robbers ordered the couple to take them to a jewelry store that the two own in downtown Atlanta.
One of the suspects stayed behind with the bound and gagged 15-year-old son.
At some point during the robbery, police said the husband escaped and managed to call 911. The robbers became worried and fled. The teen freed himself after realizing he was alone. No one was injured.
Police said Wednesday there could be more suspects in the home invasion cases, and more arrests could follow.
Ato Andargachew Tsege and Ato Muluneh Eyuel, officials of Ginbot 7 Movement, will hold a town hall meeting in Los Angeles on July 20 to discuss the organization’s objectives and program.
Place: Aroma Wilshire Center, Sky Hall
Address: 3680 Wilshire Blvd. #501, Los Angeles CA 90010
(Intersection of S. Sorrano Ave and Wilshire Blvd.)
Date/Time: Sunday, July 20, 2008, 2:00 PM
The Ethiopia-Sudan Border Affairs Committee has passed this resolution after holding a public meeting on July 2, 2008, in Washington DC. Click here to read [Amharic, pdf]
The Committee will hold a public meeting in San Jose, California, on Saturday, July 26
Guest speakers: Dr Daniel Kindie and Prof. Alemante Gebreselassie
Place: 2500 Massonic Drive, San Jose, CA 95125
Date/Time: Saturday, July 26, 2008, at 3:00 PM
More info: (408) 874-5168 or (408)719-0631
(Bloomberg) — Rebel fighters in Darfur said they’re planning a new attack on Sudan’s capital because the government isn’t committed to peace in the war-torn region.
The rebel faction known as the Justice and Equity Movement, led by Khalil Ibrahim, also welcomed the International Criminal Court’s announcement yesterday that it plans to indict Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir on war crimes charges. “It’s a great moment for the people of Darfur,” Tahir el Faki, the movement’s legislative commander, said in a phone interview from Darfur.
On May 10, JEM rebels entered the town of Omdurman, across the Nile river from Khartoum. Sudan’s official news agency said more than 200 people were killed in the assault, the Associated Press reported on May 13. At least 100 people were arrested after the attack, including Islamist opposition leader Hassan al- Turabi, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.
“We are going to pursue this criminal government militarily,” El Faki said today. “We are in Darfur right now. The commanders are here with Khalil Ibrahim discussing. We are coming back to Omdurman to finish the job.”
The war in Darfur, a region in western Sudan almost the size of France, has killed as many as 300,000 people and forced 2 million to flee their homes. The conflict began when rebels seeking a larger role in Sudan’s political life and bigger slice of the country’s expanding oil wealth attacked the government. The authorities in Khartoum responded by dispatching military forces and arming militias, commonly known as the Janjaweed, to attack areas accused of supporting the rebels.
UN Staff Relocated
Yesterday, the United Nations began relocating non-essential staff from Darfur to neighboring countries following an attack on a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force last week in which 7 soldiers died and 22 were injured.
The relocation “is due to the deteriorating security situation of the past month,” Josephine Guerrero, a spokeswoman for the force, known as Unamid, said in a telephone interview today from Khartoum. “All critical Unamid operations are ongoing and the forces are on the ground.”
The World Food Program has already relocated about 140 staff members from Darfur, said Emilia Casella, a spokeswoman for the UN agency.
“The vast majority of staff will remain to continue with the delivery of food to the people,” she said, adding that in June alone, WFP had delivered food aid to 3.3 million people, a figure she said will increase this month.
`Carry Out Mission’
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged “Sudan and the president to ensure that UN peacekeeping operations are able to carry out their mission.” Speaking in Berlin today at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ban added, “Peace and justice are both very important principles and they should go hand in hand.”
Al-Bashir’s indictment on any of the 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes would be the ICC’s first involving a sitting head of state. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court in The Hague yesterday to issue a warrant for al- Bashir, 64, whose government vowed to oppose attempts to arrest him. It may take up to two months before the court decides on Moreno-Ocampo’s request, his spokeswoman, Florence Olara, said by phone today.
The African Union criticized the ICC’s announcement, saying an indictment won’t help resolve the crisis in Darfur.
The AU’s Peace and Security Council “expressed its strong conviction that the search for justice should be pursued in a way that does not impede or jeopardize efforts aimed at promoting lasting peace,” the Addis Ababa-based organization said in an e- mailed statement late yesterday.
`Fragile Peace’
AU Peace and Security Council Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra was due to arrive in Khartoum last night for consultations with al-Bashir and other Sudanese officials. Jean Ping, chairman of the AU commission, has held talks with the UN and the Arab League and called for an urgent meeting of African foreign ministers to discuss al-Bashir’s possible indictment.
An ICC indictment would pose “major risks for the fragile peace and security environment in Sudan, with a real chance of greatly increasing the suffering of very large numbers of its people,” the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based human rights group, said in an e-mailed statement.
Though the ICC was acting well within its mandate, its move could risk damaging the fragile peace agreement between north and south Sudan and hinder the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, the group said.
Yasir Arman, a spokesman for Southern Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, said a negotiated settlement between Bashir and rebels in Darfur may prevent the ICC from issuing the indictment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Benedict Moran in Khartoum via Johannesburg at [email protected]; Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at [email protected].
The top leadership of Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ), including the chairperson, Wzt. Birtukan Mideksa, went to the resort town of Sodore (130km southeast of Addis Ababa) on Monday to relax and also try bring harmony among the different factions of the leadership that are currently at loggerheads.
The Sodore retreat had often turned into series of heated debates particularly between those who believe that Kinijit made the right decision NOT to enter the rubber-stump parliament, and those who violated the party’s decision and resent that they are being looked down on by the others as untrustworthy.
Meanwhile, the top leaders of UDJ are currently being courted by the American Ambassador Donald Yamamoto and other Western ambassadors to take part in the 2010 elections without any preconditions.
As we reported last week, Ambassador Yamamoto invited Wzt. Birtukan and four other top leaders of UDJ to a lunch on July 8 to discuss elections.
According to Ethiopian Review sources, Yamamoto told the UDJ leaders that he will stay as ambassador until after the 2010 elections and has tried to assure them that the road will be paved for them to freely participate in the elections.
The ambassador admitted that there is a one-party system in Ethiopia, and the U.S. Government wants to movement toward a multi-party system, according to ER sources.
The American ambassador also told the UDJ officials that the U.S. policy towards Ethiopia is being transformed, in that terrorism is no longer a dominant factor in the decision making process. He advised Wzt. Birtukan and friends that the U.S. will start focusing on good governance and human rights, and that UDJ needs to take advantage of this transformation of U.S. policy.
The UDJ officials also met with French diplomats and held similar talks.
In all of this, the party seems to have forgotten about the people as if they have no say. Currently, UDJ is completely detached from the people of Ethiopia.
Helawi Yoseph, Demeke Mekonnen and other high ranking Woyanne officials who are currently touring the U.S. were seen entertaining themselves over the weekend at Maaza Ethiopian Restaurant in Arlington, Virginia.
Ironically, these Woyanne officials [Actually they are not real Woyannes. They are donkey Amharas carrying loads for Woyannes.] were being entertained by a group of recently defected Ethiopian artists who have sought political asylum in the United States.
The 17 artists came recently to the U.S. with the Minister of culture, Wzt. Tadelech Dalecho, to participate in some festival. The Minister returned to Ethiopia by herself.
It is these same artists the Woyanne donkeys were being entertained by at Maaza Restaurant last Saturday.
The Helawi group was sent by Meles and Sebhat to entice Ethiopians in the Diaspora to build houses and start businesses in Ethiopia in return for not opposing the fascist tribal regime.
ER’s Intelligence Unit has some photos. We’ll try to post them as soon as we fix some technical glitches with our high-tech camera that is not cooperating right now.
