By Charles Musonda | Daily Mail (Zambia)

June 9, 2013

Ethiopian women are truly among the most beautiful in Africa, so dazzling that few men suppress the urge to take a second look. But behind that beauty lies a barrage of miseries that force them to endure inhumane treatment both at home and abroad, CHARLES MUSONDA reports:

THE Boeing 787 majestically imposes its huge frame at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in readiness for take-off on a bright Sunday afternoon (May 19, 2013). Its immaculate design and gigantic stature give a sense of perfection and anticipation of a pleasant flight to the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
Alongside other passengers, colleagues and I in the Zambian media crew assigned to cover the recently held 21st African Union Heads of State and Government summit, jump on the Ethiopian Airlines plane dubbed ‘Dreamliner’.
After five hours in the air, the Dreamliner safely lands at Bole International Airport, one of the busiest, if not the busiest, airports in Africa. This is where, five days later, I would come face to face with appalling hardships Ethiopian women encounter in foreign lands, where they trek for greener pastures after failing to contain tormenting poverty at home.
May 20, 2013, was a non-working day but just for accreditation formalities for covering the summit and three days later, I again find myself at Bole International Airport. This time I am neither arriving nor departing but a fully accredited journalist plying my pen pushing trade in a foreign land, covering the arrival of President Sata, which took a bit longer than earlier expected.
The air around the airport is lively with restaurants and coffee cafes packed with local army and police officers, security personnel and delegates to the AU summit, and ordinary citizens munching a variety of traditional foods amid sweet melodies of Ethiopian music. Some local army officers are seen imbibing locally brewed lagers like Bedele, Meta, and Saint George.
While waiting for the President’s arrival, my colleague Kaiko Namusa from the Times of Zambia and I decided to take a stroll around the airport in the company of our shuttle driver identified as Yaled. But a few minutes later, the sight of a frail looking and wearied young woman, talking to officers from the National Intelligence Security Services (NISS), catches my attention.
Coming out of the arriving passengers’ terminal with a plastic bag containing only a half taken soft drink and damaged flip flops, passport in hand and without any footwear on, my journalistic instinct rings bells in me that something is definitely wrong with this poor woman. I then poke my nose for news into her conversation with the NISS officers.
With my little, if any, understanding of Amharic (Ethiopia’s official language), I decide to let her finish with the officers before quizzing her through my now freely acquired interpreter Yaled.
A peep into the tired and hungry lady’s passport reveals that her name is Aysha Aman Fata, born in 1987, and migrated to Saudi Arabia to work as a housemaid three years ago.
“All these years my boss was not paying me and at one time she burnt me with boiling water after I made some mistakes in the house work. She really abused me until she threw me out. Now I have been thrown out of Saudi Arabia, I don’t have relatives here (Addis Ababa), I haven’t eaten anything and I don’t have any money,” Aysha says as she struggles to hold back tears.
Being familiar with such incidences, Yaled asks Aysha if she has any contacts after which she unfolds a tattered piece of paper and gives him a certain number and after the call goes through, he hands her his mobile phone. After the phone conversation, she hands him back the phone with a tinge of a smile.
According to Yaled, Aysha has at least managed to contact her relatives but they are in the rural parts of the country and it would take some time before they meet and take her back to the village.
My ‘interpreter’ then tells me that if I am interested in such stories, it would take me one year to weave the information I can gather in one day because the number of deportees arriving from Saudi Arabia and the larger middle East fairly equates that of the women leaving the country to endure the same hardships.
“Most of these girls come from rural parts of the country, where there is extreme poverty and some of them have never seen electricity in their lives. The first time they see electricity is when they come to Addis Ababa…You find that even just switching on a bulb is a problem and so when they go to either Qatar or Saudi Arabia, the people who employ them as housemaids in those countries really get upset with their ignorance and this is why most of them end up being abused and later deported without anything,” he says adding “these who return are even lucky because others end up being killed.”
True to his word, a few minutes later, we meet another woman identified as Kemila Abe with tears streaming down her cheeks as she dashes to the departure terminal. Yaled stops and asks her what the matter is but she just mutters a few words in Amharic and proceeds.
“She is saying that she has missed her flight to Qatar after travelling over 400 kilometres from her home village to Addis Ababa.”
Asked how such women afford air tickets, my companion explains that most of them sell family livestock like cattle, sheep, and goats but that due to poor communication facilities in some rural parts of Ethiopia, they are not aware of the rough experience awaiting them until they get there. He says even the local media and authorities allegedly gloss over such stories.
Next, we meet an 18-year-old girl identified as Musi, from Hodia, also headed for Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Clutching only a passport and small bag, Musi is not interested in talking to us as she is busy looking for the right departure gate.
Just before going back to our waiting point, we meet another woman just deported from Saudi Arabia and she refuses to identify herself on grounds that she is confused by what she has gone through. Like many others, she has flown between four and six hours on an empty stomach without any money and she only has a small bag containing few personal effects.
However, she is lucky in that her relatives have already travelled from Arsi and are at Bole to welcome her from her misadventure.
Back home, stereotyped thinking, social taboos, and discriminatory laws are still haunting Ethiopian women with a number of them facing major obstacles.
This is why some scrupulous individuals have taken advantage of the situation to establish brothels and recruit young girls, mostly university and college students, who come from poor backgrounds in rural areas and face hurdles in making ends meet in Addis Ababa.
According to a source, one such individual operates right in the heart of Addis Ababa and dupes ‘clients’, especially foreigners, into parting away with huge sums of money by overpricing beverages and offering them girls for free upon footing the bill. This is because in Ethiopia, the common practice is to order the drink first and get the bill later.
Additionally, other women bear the brunt of poverty by selling coffee in the slums dotted in between modern buildings on the streets of Addis Ababa. Some survive on selling chat, a local stimulant plant that most men chew. Though this plant has drugging effects, it is legally recognised and considered a lesser evil than marijuana.
As for the young men and boys, their commonest way of survival is cleaning shoes at almost every corner of the city.
Most people do not polish shoes when leaving home and they rely on the services of the shoe cleaners, who move about with polish, brushes, and small pieces of cloth and water tins, which they expertly use to clean the shoes.
Before leaving for Addis Ababa, one of my colleagues at the office told me about the astonishing beauty of Ethiopian women and I zealously looked forward to meeting one of them but after learning of their plight, my zeal waned and before long I only thought of one thing about them – to bring out the hardships some of them go through.

“ጣና በለስን አፈራርሶ ያስዘረፈ ፓርቲና አመራሮቹ አሁን አባይን ለመገደብ የተነሱበት መነሻ ለአብዛኛው የኢህአዴግ አባላት እንቆቅልሽ ነው”

By Goolgule.com

June 7, 2013

በግብጽ ረዳትነት፣ በሱዳን መሪነት መንግስት ለመሆን የበቃው ህወሃት/ኢህአዴግ ግዙፉን የጣና በለስ ፕሮጀክትና ንብረቱ
እንዲዘረፍ ያደረገበትን ምክንያት በማንሳት መከራከር እንደሚያስፈልግ ተጠቆመ። የግብጽ ፕሬዚዳንት ሙርሲ እንዳደረጉት በአገር
ጉዳይ ሁሉንም ያሳተፈ ግልጽ አቋም እንዲያዝና አጋጣሚውን በመጠቀም ብሔራዊ ህብረት እንዲፈጠር ኢህአዴግ በሩን ሊከፍት
እንደሚገባ ተገለጸ።

በተለያዩ ጉዳዮች ምክንያት ስማቸው እንዳይጠቀስ በማሳሰብ ለጎልጉል አስተያየት የሚሰጡት የኢህአዴግ ሰው እንዳሉት በርካታ
ጉዶች ያሉበትን የአባይን ግድብ ተከትሎ ከግብጽ ጋር የተነሳው ውዝግብ አስቀድሞ የሚታወቅ የፕሮፓጋንዳ ዘመቻ ስልትና ውጤት
ነው።

አሁን ድረስ አገር እየመራ በነጻ አውጪ ስም የሚጠራው ህወሃት/ኢህአዴግ አዲስ አበባ ሲገባ “ዲሞክራሲ አመጣሁ” በማለት
ኢትዮጵያን መምራት እንደጀመረ የሚያወሱት የኢህአዴግ ሰው፤ አቶ መለስ ብቻቸውን ይነዱት የነበረው ኢህአዴግ እንደፈለገ ቆዳውን
እየቀያየረ የተጠቀመበትንና በእስስት በመመሰል “ከሽፏል የሚሉትን” ስልት ያብራራሉ።

በዲሞክራሲ ስም የተጀመረው የኢህአዴግ አገዛዝ ቆየት ብሎ “ልማታዊ ነኝ፣ ልማት ግቡን የሚመታው በአብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲ
ቀመር ነው” በማለት ፕሮፓጋንዳውን አሰፋ። የልማት ህልመኛነቱ ሲነቃበት “የትራንስፎርሜሽን ዘመቻ” በማለት አዲስ የፕሮፓጋንዳ
እቅድ ነድፎ ህዝብና አገር ሲያታልል ቆየ። ይህም አላራምድና በህዝብ የመታመን ድል ሊያስገኝለት እንደማይችል ሲታመን
“የህዳሴያችን ግድብ” ተብሎ አባይ አጀንዳ እንደተደረገ ያመለከቱት ዲፕሎማት፤ “ኢህአዴግ አገር ውስጥ የሚያምታታባቸው
መንገዶች ሲጠናቀቁበት የፕሮፓጋንዳውን ዘመቻ አንድ ደረጃ ከፍ አደርገው” በማለት አሁን ከግብጽ ጋር ስለተጀመረው ውዝግብ
አስተያየታቸውን ይጀምራሉ።

አባይን በመገደብ ኢትዮጵያን በልማት ለማሳደግ እየተጋ እንደሆነ የሚናገረው ኢህአዴግ፤ አስቀድሞ በመላው የብአዴን የበታች
አመራሮችና በመላው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ዘንድ ከፍተኛ ቅሬታና ቂም ስላስቋጠረው የጣና በለስ ሰፊ ፕሮጀክት ዝርፊያና ውድመት
የጠራ መልስ ሊሰጥ እንደሚገባ ዲፕሎማቱ ይናገራሉ።

በጣሊያን መንግስት ሙሉ ድጋፍ አባይ ወንዝን መሰረት አድርጎ የተገነባውን የጣና በለስ ፕሮጀክት ህዝብ እያየ አፈራርሰው
እንደወሰዱት፣ የተዘረፈው ንብረት ወደ ኤርትራ እንዲጓጓዝ መደረጉን ያመለከቱት እኚሁ ሰው፣ “ጣና በለስን አፈራርሶ ያስዘረፈ
ፓርቲና አመራሮቹ አሁን አባይን ለመገደብ የተነሱበት መነሻ ለአብዛኛው የኢህአዴግ አባላት እንቆቅልሽ ነው” ባይ ናቸው።
በማያያዝም በወቅቱ ዝርፊያው ሲካሄድ ህዝብ አካፋና ዶማ በመያዝ “ንብረቱ አይዘረፍም” በማለት መንገድ በመዝጋቱ ዝርፊያው
በሌሊት እንዲካሄድ ያደረገ ድርጅት እንዴትስ ይታመናል የሚል ጥያቄ ያነሳሉ።

“ኢህአዴግ የህይወት ዘመኑ የሚጠናቀቅበት ጠርዝ ላይ ስለሚገኝ፣ በአባይ ጉዳይ አመካኝቶ ህዝባዊ ማዕበል ለማቀጣጠል አቅዷል።
የአባይ ጉዳይ ከዚህ የተለየ ተግባርና ዓላማ የለውም” የሚሉት አስተያየት ሰጪ፣ የጣና በለስ ፕሮጀክት እንዲወድም መመሪያ
የተሰጠው ከግብጽ እንደነበር መረጃ እንዳላቸው አመልክተዋል። የኢትዮጵያ ቀንደኛ ታሪካዊ ጠላት የሆነችው ግብጽ አባይ ላይ
የሞትና የህይወት አቋም ቢኖራትም አሁን የተጀመረው ውዝግብ ከወሬ የዘለለ ግጭት እንደማያስነሳም ተናግረዋል።

በግብጽ አሁን ያለውን የፖለቲካ ትኩሳት ለማስቀየር እየሰሩ ያሉት ፕሬዚዳንት ሙርሲ፣ የአባይን ጉዳይ ልቡን ከነፈጋቸው የአገራቸው
ህዝብ ጋር ቃል ኪዳን ለማድረግ እንደሚጠቀሙበት ያመለከቱት አስተያየት ሰጪ፣ የአገራችን ተቃዋሚዎች እንደ ግብጽ
ተቃዋሚዎች መጫወቻ እንዳይሆኑ ይመክራሉ። “ኢህአዴግ የሚቃወሙትን ፓርቲዎች አባይን ተንተርሶ በአገር ክህደትና የአገርን
ብሔራዊ ጥቅምን በመጻረር ፈርጆ ከህዝብ ጋር ሊያጋጫቸው ተዘጋጅቷልና ከወዲሁ ዝግጅት አድርጉ” ሲሉ ይመክራሉ።

በሌላ በኩል ሙርሲ እንዳደረጉት ኢህአዴግ በወቅቱ ጉዳይ ላይ ያለ አንዳች ቅድመ ሁኔታ የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ አመራሮችን ሊያነጋግር
እንደሚገባ የአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ /አኢጋን/ ዋና ዳይሬክተር አቶ ኦባንግ ሜቶ ለጎልጉል ተናግረዋል።

አቶ ኦባንግ እንደሚሉት “አገር የህዝብ ነው። ህዝብ በተለያየ መልኩ ይወከላል። ከሚወከልበት መንገድ አንዱ የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች
ናቸው። አገርን አስመልክቶ በየደረጃው ያሉ የህዝብ ወኪሎችን ማግለል ህዝብን የማግለል ያህል ነው። ይህን ማድረግ ይቅር
የማይባል ወንጀል ይሆናል”

አገር ቤት ያሉትን ብቻ ሳይሆን በውጪ አገር ያሉትንም ፓርቲና ድርጅቶች በዚህ ጉዳይ ማነጋገር ግድ መሆኑንን ያመለከቱት አቶ
ኦባንግ “ለዚህ አገራዊ ውይይት ማንኛውም ዓይነት ቅድመ ሁኔታ ሊቀመጥ አይገባም” ብለዋል።

አጋጣሚው ለምንናፍቀውና ሁሉንም የአገሪቱን ህዝብ በእኩል ደረጃ ለማስተናገድ የሚያስችል ስርዓት ለመፍጠር እንደሚረዳ አቶ
ኦባንግ ጠቁመዋል። የተለየ አመለካከት በማራመዳቸው ብቻ ዜጎችን እስር ቤት በማጎር እስከ ወዲያኛው መዝለቅ እንደማይቻል
ያመለከቱት አቶ ኦባንግ፣ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ የውይይት በር በመክፈት የማያልፍ ታሪክ ሊሰሩ እንደሚገባ
መክረዋል።

“ሙስሊም ወንድሞች ፍትህ የጠማቸው ኢትዮጵያዊ እንደሆኑ የሚያረጋግጡበትን መድረክ አቶ ሃይለማርያም በማመቻቸት የማይረሳ
ታሪክ ሊሰሩ ይገባል” በማለት ጥሪ ያስተላለፉት አቶ ኦባንግ “አገር የህወሃት አይደለችም፤ አገር የኢህአዴግ አይደለችም፣ አገር
የግለሰቦች አይደለችም። አገር የሁሉም ነው። ባገር ጉዳይ ባይተዋር ሊደረጉ የሚገባቸው ዜጎች ሊኖሩ አይገባም። ኢህአዴግ ይህን
ጉዳይ ሊያስብበትና በሩን ለእርቅና ለውይይት በመክፈት ህዝብንና ራሱን ተጠቃሚ ሊያደርግ ይገባል” ብለዋል።

“ባድመ በተወረረች ጊዜ የተፈጠረው ህብረት በስተመጨረሻ በክህደት መጠናቀቁ፣ በዜጎች አጥንትና ደም ላይ የአገር ብሔራዊ
ጥቅም ተላልፎ እንዲሰጥ መደረጉና በበርካታ ቁልፍ አገራዊ ጉዳዮች ኢህአዴግ በህዝብና በአባላቱ ጭምር እምነት ያጣ ፓርቲ ነው”
በማለት ኢትዮጵያ የከፋ ችግር ቢያጋጥማት እንዴት ልትቋቋም ትችላለች የሚል ስጋት እንዳላቸው አቶ ኦባንግ አመልክተዋል።

ስርዓቱ በየደረጃው በችግር የተተበተበና በህዝብ የማይታመን፣ በአስር ሺህ የሚቆጠሩ ወገኖችን እስር ቤት ያጎረ፣ በሰብአዊ መብት
ጥሰት ከፍተኛ ቂም የተቋጠረበት፣ ፍትህና ርትዕ የተጓደለባቸው ያዘኑበት፣ በየአቅጣጫው ጠላት ያከማቸ፣ አገርን የሚፈትን አደጋ
ቢፈጠር ህዝብን አስተባብሮ አደጋውን ለመመከት የማይቻልበት ደረጃ መድረሱን የገለጹት አቶ ኦባንግ “ኢህአዴግ አጋጣሚውን
አሁንም ሊጠቀምበት ይገባል” ሲሉ በድጋሚ ጥሪ አቅርበዋል።

አቶ ኦባንግ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ያስተባበረውን ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ተከትሎ ኢህአዴግ ክስ ለመመስረትና ዜጎችን ለማሰር እያደረገ ያለውን
ዝግጅት በመቃወም ሰሞኑን ለአቶ ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ግልጽ ደብዳቤ መጻፋቸው ይታወሳል። ከደብዳቤያቸው በተጨማሪ ከተለያዩ
አካላት ጋር በመነጋገር ኢህአዴግ ዜጎችን ከማሰሩ በፊት ሊደረጉ ስለሚገባቸው ጉዳዮች መግባባት ላይ መደረሱን ጨምረው
ገልጸዋል።

ይህ በእንዲህ እያለ የአባይ ግድብን አስመልክቶ በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ውዝግብ ውስጥ የገቡት ኢትዮጵያና ግብጽ መጨረሻቸው ምን
ሊሆን እንደሚችል ከወዲሁ በርካታ አስተያየትና ትንተና እየቀረበበት ነው። ሁለቱ አገሮች ወደ ጦርነት አያመሩም፤ ለፕሮፓጋንዳ ፍጆታ
ከመጠቀም ውጪ ሌላ አጀንዳ የላቸውም የሚሉ ያሉትን ያህል ግብጽ በጦር አቅሟ ያላትን የበላይነት በማመልክት ባልታሰበ ሰዓት
ጥቃት ለመፈጸም መዘጋጀቷን የሚያትቱም በርካታ ናቸው።

የግብጽ ፕሬዚዳንት ከተቃዋሚዎች ጋር ያደረጉትና ይፋ የተለቀቀው ቪዲዮ ላይ “ተቃዋሚዎችን በመርዳት ኢትዮጵያን ማተራመስ፣
ኢትዮጵያን መደብደብ ነው … ” በማለት ሲዝቱ የነበሩት ጽንፈኛ ጨምሮ የተለያዩ ባለስልጣናት የከረረ ቃላት ሲወረውሩ
ሰንብተዋል። ኢትዮጵያም በበኩሏ የግብጽን አምባሳደር በማስጠራት ማብራሪያ እንዲሰጣትና በይፋ ይቅርታ እንድትጠይቅ ማዘዟን
ይፋ አድርጋለች።

ግብጽ በችግር መተብተቧን፣ የሶማሌ መበታተንና፣ የሱዳን ሁለት አገር መሆን፣ የኤርትራ መሽመድመድ ኢትዮጵያን በቀጠናው
ጉልበት ያላት አገር አድርጓታል የሚሉ ተንታኞች በበኩላቸው ግብጽ ወደ ጦርነት እንደማታመራ ሰፊ መከራከሪያ በማቅረብ
ይናገራሉ። ከግድቡ ግንባታ ጀርባ ተጽዕኖ ፈጣሪ የሚባሉ አገሮች እጅ እንዳለበትም የሚጠቁሙ ዘገባዎች በየፊናው
ተሰራጭተዋል።

“ኤርትራ ተነፈሰች” የሚሉ አስተያየት ሰጪዎች፣ አሁን በተፈጠረው ሁኔታ ግብጽ ተቃዋሚዎችን ለመርዳት ከተንቀሳቀሰች ኤርትራ
ርዳታውን በማከፋፈልና ቀድሞውንም ቢሆን ኢትዮጵያ ብሄራዊ አንድነቷን የጠበቀች ጠንካራ አገር እንድትሆን ስለማትፈልግ
በችግሩ ዙሪያ ቤንዚን ለማርከፍከፍ አጋጣሚው እንደሚመቻችላት ያስረዳሉ። የአረብ ሊግ የክብር አባል የሆነችው ኤርትራ
ከኢትዮጵያ ተቃዋሚዎች ጋር በተያያዘ በበርካታ ጉዳዮች የምትታማ አገር እንደሆነች የሚታወስ ነው።

ዘግይታ “እኔ ከግብጽ የተለየ አቋም ነው ያለኝ” በማለት የገለልተኛነት ስሜት እንዳላት ይፋ በማድረግ ለግብጽ የድጋፍ ጥሪ መልስ
የሰጠችው ሱዳን እንደማትታመን የሚግለጹ ደግሞ “አቶ መለስ ደቡበን ሱዳን ላይ ሲከተሉ በነበረው አቋምና ደቡብ ሱዳን
እንድትገነጠል በመናደረጓ ሱዳን አቂማለች” ይላሉ፡፡ እንደነዚሁ አስተያየት ሰጪዎች ምንም ይሁን ምን በአገር ውስጥ ያለውን ችግር
በውይይት በመፍታት ብሔራዊ አንድነትና ህብረትን ማጠናከሩ ለኢትዮጵያ እጅግ አስፈላጊዋ ነው። ስለዚህ “በር ይከፈት በአባይ
ጉዳይ አገራዊ አቋም እንያዝ” የሚለው የአቶ ኦባንግ ብቻ ጥያቄ አይደለም።

June 7, 2013
By Graham Peebles | Eurasiareview.com

The Ethiopian military and paramilitary forces, operating in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, are, it is alleged, carrying out extra judicial killings and gang rapes; falsely arresting and torturing innocent civilians; looting and destroying villages and crops in a systematic attempt to terrify the people. This is the consistent message coming out of the region and from those who have fled persecution and are now in the world’s largest refugee camp, in Dadaab, Kenya. It is a message of government brutality and collective suffering taking place not only in the Ogaden but in a number of areas of Ethiopia, including the Amhara region, Gambella, Oromia and the Omo valley. Regime brutality that Genocide Watch (GW) consider “to have already reached Stage 7 (of 8), genocide massacres, against many of its peoples, including the Anuak, Ogadeni, Oromo, and Omo tribes”. They call on the EPRDF regime to “adhere to it’s own constitution and allow its provinces the legal autonomy they are guaranteed.”

Around five million people live in the Ogaden (or Somali) region of Ethiopia. Predominantly ethnic Somali’s, mostly pastoralists, they live in what is one of the least developed corners of the world. Ravaged by drought and famine, the region has been the battleground for violent disputes between Ethiopia and Somalia for generations. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), claim the people of the region want self-determination from Ethiopia, a right they have been fighting for since their formation in 1984. A right enshrined in the 19th Century agreement (enacted in 1948) with Britain, when sovereignty and control of the region was passed to Ethiopia. A crucial proviso, successive Ethiopian governments have conveniently ignored.

With the international media banned by the Ethiopian government since 2007 and with an economic and aid embargo being enforced the region is totally isolated, making gathering information about the situation within the five affected districts difficult. I recently spent a week in Dadaab where I met dozens of refugees from the Ogaden; men, women and children who repeatedly relayed accounts of murder, rape, torture and intimidation at the hands of government forces. Accounts that if true, – and we have no reason to doubt them, confirm reports from, among others – Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Genocide Watch – who make clear their view, that the Ethiopian government has “initiated a genocidal campaign against the Ogaden Somali population”, constituting “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

State terrorism

The people, victims of terrible abuse, carry with them the scars, often physical, always psychological, of their horrific ordeal. Listening to their stories and the testimonies of former Liyuu personnel, a clear picture of the systematic approach being employed by the Ethiopian military and Liyuu Police operating within the Ogaden emerges.

Arbitrary killings, rape, torture, and destruction of property are the unimaginative preferred tools of terror, ‘use the penis as a weapon against the women’ the men are told, burn villagers homes and steal their cattle, confiscate humanitarian aid-including food, and create an intolerable fear ridden environment. Men joining the Ethiopian military and Liyuu Police, like 25 year old Abdi who arrived in Dadaab in January 2013 and like many was forcibly recruited, are told, “there is no court that can control you, that we were free from the law, enjoy your freedom, they told us.” The methodology of occupation, including extra judicial killing, is made clear,  “we were told to rape the young women… When we went into the rural areas, we were 300 men. When we saw a young mother with children aged from one years old to five years old, we would rape her.”

Soldiers that commit many rapes, murders and robberies, Abdi tells us, are “rewarded and praised. They were given bonuses of around 5000 ETB ($250), in addition to the salary that was 2000 ($100) ETB a month.”

Women, like 27-year-old Rohar, tell of arbitrary arrests and torture. Imprisoned with her husband when she was “in the ninth month of pregnancy. We were made to walk for three days and three nights before a bus collected us and drove us for one more day/night to Jijiga.” Detained for two years without charge in Jail Ogaden in Jijiga, Rohar, as most detainees are, was accused of supporting the ONLF and “repeatedly tortured from the very beginning even though I was pregnant. They would tie a rope around the branch of a tree and a noose around my neck, then they would pull on the rope to strangle me. The evidence is still on my body – (she shows me a terrible burn scar on her neck).”  Throughout this time she reports being “raped by groups of soldiers. It used to happen around midnight. I can only remember the first three men who raped me. They would take me out and leave the child/baby in the room with the other women, and bring me back in the early morning.”  Rohar was released when she was no more use to the soldiers after becoming unwell with abdominal pains, caused, she believes, by the repeated rapes. This account, from beginning to end is typical of many women’s experiences.

A divisional commander, now in Dadaab, related how during their three-month training in the Liyuu they were shown demonstrations in “how to rape a woman, and how to break a virgin”. They are carrying out atrocities in the region in order,  “to make the people afraid and to place them under the control of the Ethiopian military, and fundamentally “because there is oil in the region and the government wants the oil for themselves. The military is there to make the people fearful so they won’t support the ONLF.”

Back in the late 19th century, when the region was under British control, oil was suspected to be present in the region, in 1936 under the Italian occupation geological mapping of the Ogaden Basin began by the Italian oil company AGIP. Their records were later used by other companies in early studies of the region and in the early 1940’s oil exploration in the Ogaden basin began.

In 1972 the American company Tenneco drilled a series of wells and found oil and gas. These discoveries mean the region, now desperately poor, is potentially the richest area of the country. In 1975 in the wake of the Ethiopian revolution, the company stopped operations and the military junta expelled all foreign companies. In the past fifty years or so it is estimated that 46 wells have been drilled searching for the black gold.

It would appear the Ethiopian government sees the natural resources of the Ogaden as another party asset to add to its burgeoning portfolio. People living within 100 km of oil exploration sites have been displaced, some GW tell us are herded into internally displaced camps, whilst others are simply made homeless. Sharing the view of the Liyuu recruit, the ONLF believes the Ethiopian military intends to secure the resources for the government and exclude local people. The Africa Faith and Justice Network confirms this view, saying: “With the discovery of petroleum leading to exploration missions by foreign companies, the government’s motives [in the region] are questionable.”

Donor neglect and self-interest

Why, In the face of such blatant state criminality, do donor countries – America, Britain and the European Union, who provide between a third and a half of Ethiopia’s federal budget, remain silent, this the common-sense question, repeatedly asked by victims of abuse. Ethiopia is of course a key strategic ally of America and the west in their fight against extreme Islamic groups, the US has military bases in Ethiopia from where it launches its unmanned drones into Somalia and Yemen. Add to this the potential oil bonanza in the Ogaden, and indeed elsewhere in the country, and a toxic cocktail of mixed motives and self-interest starts to ferment.

The EPRDF government, under the premiership of Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, when confronted with accounts of military criminality issues blanket denials and accuses groups, such as HRW, of political bias and misinformation. Duplicitous and disingenuous, the regime, which owns most of the media in Ethiopia, seeks to control the flow of information within and without the country, and hide the atrocities being committed by the military and Liyuu to innocent civilians in the Ogaden and indeed elsewhere. If the government has nothing to hide Mr. Desalegn then open up the region to humanitarian aid groups and allow journalists unrestricted access.

Peace is the number one priority in the Ogaden and for humanity more broadly, and all measures to remove the obstacles to its realization should be made by those working for the people of the region. Discussions held in Nairobi in September 2012 broke down when the ONLF refused to accept the condition of constitutional recognition asked of them by the government team. This was unfortunate and to my mind ill judged, what should be insisted upon however, is that both the military/Liyuu and the ONLF lay down their arms and agree an unconditional ceasefire. It is hard to see how one can negotiate a long term solution whilst innocent men are being tortured, women raped, children terrified and homes destroyed.

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Graham Peebles is an artist, writer and director of The Create Trust, he founded in 2006. He has run education projects & teacher training programs in Palestine, India and Ethiopia, where he spent two years working with local groups in Addis Ababa. A long time student of the Ageless Wisdom Teachings, and eastern philosophy, he is currently writing a series of essays on education. Contact: [email protected]

June 2, 2013

Ethiopia’s Smayawi (Blue) Party staged several demonstrations in Addis Ababa today, June 2, 2013.  Demonstrations were held in Arat Kilo, Piassa,  Tewodros Adebabay and Ethio-Cuba Adebabay.  The demonstrators waved placards that demanded justice and freedom.   They also chanted  “Ethiopia Hagerachin” — the famous nationalist rallying cry that translates to “Ethiopia, Our Country”.

In what appears to be a major challenge to the the regime, Muslims and Christians joined forces, rejecting the ruling party’s divide and rule manipulations.

Please click on link below for a video of the demonstration.

Ethiopians demonstrate in Addis

For more pictures of the demonstrations, please go to the link below

Additional photos of demonstrations

May 31, 2013

The American Bar Association (ABA)  will assist in the defense of Ethiopian political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, starting May 31, 2013.

The ABA will take up the cases of well-known political prisoners, Muslim leaders unjustly imprisoned, as well as the cases of many lesser-known prisoners languishing in Ethiopian jails.  The 135-year-old ABA is America’s most prominent legal association with over 400,000 members.  The ABA will coordinate its activities with the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE).

Please click on link below for the Amharic version of the full story.

ABA to represent Ethiopian prisoners