OREM, Utah (AP, June 20th, 2007) — An Ethiopian immigrant apparently fascinated with death and shooting U.S. soldiers now faces felony charges for gun violations.
20-year-old Kidus Chane Yohannes was a student at Utah Valley State College. He was charged yesterday in 4th District Court with five third-degree felony charges including falsifying information for a background check to buy a handgun.
He was arrested earlier this month after officers discovered he used false resident alien numbers to buy firearms seized from his apartment and car.
Yohannes came to Utah under a State Department asylum program several years ago.
He graduated from Provo High School in May 2006 and was admitted to Utah Valley State College during the summer of 2006 as a Utah resident.
His roommates at UVSC told police he was quiet and watched a lot of violent videos on the internet. They say they heard him talk about planning to be involved in a mass shooting.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s (EOTC) Holy Synod has called on the people of Ethiopia to stay away from any millennium celebration unless the elected leaders of Ethiopia are released from prison.
The Holy Synod warned the Woyanne regime that its decision to harm and do injustice against the elected representatives of the people of Ethiopia will have grave consequences.
ER obtained this email regarding postponement of the planned events at the Woyanne embassy in Washington DC
From: The Whitaker Group, [email protected]
Date: Jun 19, 2007 1:11 PM
Subject: Postponement of Ethiopia and Starbucks Events – June 20, 2007 events
To: x
This is to inform you that the press event at the Ethiopian Embassy as well as the reception at the Ambassador’s residence, which were scheduled for this Wednesday, 20th June 2007, are postponed until later this summer due to scheduling difficulties.
The Embassy, along with the Whitaker Group, would like to express sincere apologies for any inconvenience. We will keep you informed of any upcoming events.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement, June 19, 2007
An Ethiopian court on 11 June convicted 38 defendants part-way through the long-running trial of leaders of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) party, journalists and civil society activists. The 38 had refused to submit a defence, as they considered they would not receive a fair trial. Following the completion of the prosecution case, the judges declared the 38 “guilty as charged,” as well as five people abroad who were tried in their absence, and three publishing companies. The trial continues for nine defendants who will submit their defence.
The 38 were convicted of political offences which carry a possible death penalty or long prison terms. The prosecution is due to propose sentences on 9 July but no date has been given for the judges’ subsequent sentencing.
All were convicted of “outrages against the constitution”, some for “obstruction of the constitutional process” and “impairing the defensive power of the state”, and five for “inciting, organising or leading armed rebellion”.
Those convicted, in prison for 18 months already, include Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, aged 76, founder and former president of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council; Dr Berhanu Negga, elected Mayor of Addis Ababa and an economics professor; Dr Yakob Hailemariam, law professor and former UN prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Ms Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge; and Andualem Ayele, editor of Etiop newspaper. They are among others on trial whom Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience, imprisoned on account of peacefully exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association.
The trial continues for nine other defendants and a publishing company facing similar charges, who are due to present their defence on 12 July. They include civil society activists Daniel Bekele of the international development agency ActionAid, Netsanet Demissie of the Organization for Social Justice in Ethiopia, two journalists and an elected opposition member of parliament. Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience.
This major political trial, which opened in May 2006, relates to demonstrations in June and November 2005 protesting against alleged election fraud. The demonstrations began peacefully but ended with government forces shooting dead a total of 193 people, and wounding 765 men, women and children.
Earlier on 10 April 2007, 28 defendants had been freed when the judges ruled they had no case to answer after the prosecution had presented its case. Four other trials of CUD members and supporters are also continuing in Addis Ababa. The trial of Kifle Tigeneh, a prisoner of conscience and one of 10 opposition party members who were elected to parliament in May 2005, is adjourned until 29 October.
Amnesty International reiterates its call for the unconditional release of the prisoners of conscience still on trial. It also expresses its concern at the possibility that the prosecution may call for death sentences and that the judges may impose the death penalty, although the organization notes the reported statement made by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that there would be no death sentences.
Amnesty International is also continuing to monitor the trial to assess whether it is conducted in accordance with international standards of fair trial.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre today signed the contract with Lattanzi SRL construction company to begin the re-erection of the Aksum obelisk. Also known as Stela 2, it is the second largest stela on the Aksum World Heritage site in Ethiopia. Transported to Rome by the troops of Mussolini in 1937, it was returned by the Italian Government in April 2005. Weighing 150 tons and 24 meters high, the obelisk was cut into three pieces and transported by Antonov airplanes to Aksum. The obelisk was deposited in the stelae field, near its original location.
The obelisk is around 1,700 years old and has become a symbol of the Ethiopian people’s identity. The significance of its return after 68 years, and the technical feat of transporting the obelisk and re-erecting it on site are on a par with other historic UNESCO projects, such as Abu Simbel, where entire Egyptian temples were removed from their original location to protect them from rising water due to the construction of the Aswan dam.
The total budget for the project is USD$2,833,985, funded by the Italian Government who also financed the transportation of the obelisk and the related studies undertaken by UNESCO in collaboration with the Ethiopian authorities and experts. Lattanzi has begun mobilizing its staff and equipment, and shall start the works as of mid July. The works will take place in two segments throughout a period of 18 months. During the first segment, a foundation for the obelisk will be built as well as a temporary steel tower for lifting the separate parts of the obelisk. In the second phase, the steel structure will be put in place and the obelisk lifted and placed in position. Finally, the surface of the obelisk will be cleaned and restored, and the steel support structure dismantled and removed.
The ruins of the ancient city of Aksum in the North East of Ethiopia mark the location of the Kingdom of Aksum, the most powerful state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia. The massive ruins of Aksum date from between the 1st and the 13th century A.D. The monolithic stelae were erected during the third and fourth centuries A.D. as funerary markers for deceased members of its elite. Aksum was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1980.
The Ethiopian authorities plan to mark the end of their Ethiopian calendar year 2000 celebrations, held on 11 September 2008, by inaugurating the standing obelisk.
For more detailed information on the technical aspects and planning of the works, please see the attached file below.
Sponsored by Senator DECKERT; Senator GORDLY, Representative HUNT (at the request of Ethiopian-American Association of Portland)
To the President of the United States, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled:
We, your memorialists, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the State of Oregon, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent as follows:
Whereas the noble people of Ethiopia have developed and nourished a proud and distinguished culture that has endured for three millennia; and
Whereas Ethiopia has had a long and productive friendship with the United States of America; and
Whereas over the past three decades, the brave and gentle people of Ethiopia have been devastated by famine and wars; and
Whereas the people of the United States have responded generously to the plight of the Ethiopian famine victims through the provision of humanitarian aid; and
Whereas Ethiopia, poised at a crucial juncture in its history, is making a dramatic effort to replace tyranny with democracy; and
Whereas the people of Ethiopia are aspiring to resolve their political problems through the formation and utilization of democratic institutions; and
Whereas the basic underpinnings of democratic institutions in the new Ethiopia should be the supremacy of the will of the people and the guarantee of the rule of law; and
Whereas the Ethiopian government should adhere to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights that encourages freedom of speech, assembly, religion and press, guarantees all basic human rights, and discourages ethnocentric politics; and
Whereas it is crucial that the diverse voices, opinions and philosophies of the Ethiopian people be expressed in the promotion of political, economic and social progress and justice in Ethiopia; and
Whereas a democratic, multiparty government may be the most egalitarian, feasible and productive political arrangement in providing universal suffrage and overcoming monumental obstacles; and
Whereas the President of the United States and Congress will play a crucial role in promoting the peaceful resolution of the immense problems of war-ravaged Ethiopia; and
Whereas the implementation of a democratic, multiparty government in Ethiopia should be a long-range foreign policy goal of the United States government; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon:
(1) The Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Oregon:
a) Encourage the formation of democratic institutions, multiparty participation, progressive social change and respect for human rights in Ethiopia.
(b) Condemn the ongoing, state-sponsored violence against the opposition in Ethiopia and are outraged that the ruling party’s security forces killed 199 unarmed and defenseless protesters on June 6 to 8, 2005, and that to this date an investigation into those killings has not been conducted.
(c) Respectfully urge the President of the United States and Congress to reexamine the foreign policy toward Ethiopia and to promote an active foreign policy that declares that the United States does not tolerate dictators that oppress and abuse their citizens.
(d) Respectfully urge the President of the United States to encourage the Prime Minister of Ethiopia to guarantee the safety and security of elected opposition leaders, to release from prison all students, journalists and members and supporters of the opposition parties, and to respect the democratic opposition’s right to public assembly and access to publicly owned media.
(e) Respectfully urge the President of the United States and Congress to help avert the potentially explosive situation in Ethiopia by supporting a peaceful transitional arrangement.
(2) A copy of this memorial shall be forwarded to President George W. Bush, the leadership of the United States Congress, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and His Excellency the
Ethiopian Ambassador Samuel Assefa.
; "Ethiopian priest in front of stela N° 2 Aksum archaeological site")
