MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE — The UNHCR said it has learned that 8 Ethiopian asylum seekers died on February 2 from suffocation aboard a closed container truck in Mozambique. The UNHCR reported the men were among a group of 26 young Ethiopians trying to reach South Africa.
The UN refugee agency said the Ethiopian asylum seekers had been living in the Maratane refugee camp in northern Mozambique, from where they embarked on their ill-fated journey.
The driver of the truck in which they were traveling reportedly only realized the eight had suffocated when he made a stop at Mocuba, after seven hours of driving from the camp.
UNHCR spokesman, Andrej Mahecic, said the truck also was loaded with oil. He said three other men in the group had to be hospitalized and later were discharged.
He said desperate people from the Horn of Africa increasingly are taking this dangerous overland route in search of safety.
“They are fleeing the situation of the violence and conflict in Somalia and in the Horn of Africa and, of course, some of them are also fleeing poverty and lack of opportunities in their countries,” said Mahecic. “As far as we know, and the information on this is very sketchy, it is not easily available, many of these people have no other option but to embark on a risky journey and this is a service that is often provided by people with a financial interest in it.”
Mahecic said asylum seekers pay smugglers on average about $2,000 to be transported to safety. He said a lot of them head for South Africa, which is the most popular country of destination. South Africa received more than 222,000 asylum seekers in 2009, he said. That is about one-quarter of the global figure.
“Just to give you the idea of the size of the asylum applications in South Africa, if you combine all the 27 countries of the European Union, they do not match up to the numbers that South Africa is receiving,” said Mahecic. “So, there is definitely a flow in that direction.”
Mahecic noted the Maratane refugee camp is a stopping-off point for many asylum seekers whose ultimate destination is South Africa. He said the camp is becoming congested under the weight of new arrivals. He said the UNHCR is working closely with the Mozambique authorities to improve conditions in the camp.
(Source: IndepthAfrica.com)
An Ethiopian man named Desta M. Tesfai was founded dead at the county jail in Dekalb, a suburb of Atlanta, according the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Read the full report below:
ATLANTA (AJC) — A man charged with killing his wife hanged himself in the DeKalb County jail, sheriff’s deputies said.
Desta M. Tesfai, 47, was found dead in his cell Tuesday morning. An investigation found he had used the rope from his laundry bag to hang himself, Major Reginald Scandrett said.
Tesfai’s roommate removed the rope and contacted jail staff, who pronounced him dead.
Police arrested Tesfai Jan. 23 on charges he killed his wife, 35-year-old Genet Abay, in their apartment on East Club Drive in north Atlanta.
According to a police report, a maintenance worker found Tesfai and Abay both face down in the apartment covered in blood. Abay had several stab wounds to her back and neck, police said.
Police said Tesfai had drunk bleach and attempted to kill himself. He was treated at the hospital before being booked in the jail, police said.
The DeKalb Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine his exact cause of death.
By Hundee Dhugaasaa
The suffering of farmers in Ethiopia, especially in Oromia, Benishangul, Somali and Gambella regions is going from worse to the worst in Ethiopia as a result of inequitable land acquisitions, better called “neo-colonial land grabbing,” by foreign investors in the name of lease by the Ethiopian regime. This act is worsening the already broken food security situation in Ethiopia. The peasants are losing their farming and grazing land they owned for centuries in a matter of months. The draconian proclamations and the brutal police force behind the mess is a point to be noted. This new form of agrarian neo-colonialism is launched under the pretext of utilizing “Wastelands” while the reality and reason behind is completely different.
The Ethiopian regime officials already acknowledged that 8420 foreign investors have received licenses for commercial farms. Even if the problems started when contemporary Ethiopia assumed its current territorial definition at the end of the nineteenth century, the danger posed by this regime — even if it looks it is going under the pretext of law and the cover of investment — is extremely huge. The regime change in 1991 and the subsequent ratification of the Constitution (1995) failed to restore any tangible land ownership right. Articles of the new Constitution complicated the problems of alienation and powerlessness experienced by the people for so long. In the FDRE Constitution, the rights of citizens to possess farming land are maintained (Art.40.4). Proclamation no.89/1997 (Art.2.3) provides for the right to lease one’s holding. In line with the provisions of the decree, the Oromia State issued a Directive (no.3/1995) which states that any farmer may rent a maximum of half of his holding to anyone at any rate for a maximum of three years (Art.23.2). But contrary to all these pillars and precedents, proclamation 455/2005 gives authority to the Woreda and urban administration, not to defend and protect but to confiscate and expropriate land for any purpose the higher authorities believes are for ‘public purpose and/or investment.’ The farmers are expected to evacuate from their ancestral land with a short notice of 30 days, as per Article 4(4) of the same proclamation in discussion. Failure to comply with this short notice will entitle authorities to use police force to forcefully evict farmers from their land. This very proclamation clearly marked the end of land right of Ethiopian farmers and opened big door for land grabbers.
Looking at the controversial and self contradictory part of the constitution itself, the FDRE constitution Article 52(2) d that relate to the powers of Regional States are defective as they tie the latter’s power to administer land and the use of other natural resources to the provisions in the Federal Laws. Put it another way, the provisions give only nominal power to the Regional States, because the latter are not free to exercise full freedom to administer land and other natural resources in their respective regions. In effect it is the Federal State that decides how the land and other natural resources of Regional States should be administered and used. They maintain that the Federal State deliberately shaped the constitution in such a way that Regional States do not enjoy real autonomy, because if they did, the former could not manipulate the laws to fit its interests. The constitution and federal laws are designed to empower the Federal State to influence the decisions made at the level of the Regional States. This is particularly so when it comes to the use of land and other natural resources. State monopoly of land under the guise of ‘public ownership’ reduced land to a marketable commodity contrary to what had been the case before the state formation when land was seen not only as a vital source of life but also, if not more, as a symbol of identity since ‘people relate to land not just as individuals, but also as members of groups, networks, and categories’. What is more, even if the laws are perfect and states are autonomous on land issue, the regional state authorities are not there to protect the interest of the nation they claim to represent but that of the TPLF top decision makers. They are picked from their region just to show up and boost with empty federal structure. This can be well understood by looking at the formation and the last 20 years functioning of OPDO and others surrogate regional authorities.
Very recently, the Ethiopian government has offered a huge land for a long term lease to private and government backed investors such as Karuturi Global Ltd of India which has acquired 1.8 million hectares, Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc of Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi, Saudi Arabia 100,000 hectares, German company Flora EcoPower 13,000 hectare, Djibouti’s first lady and president about 10,000 hectares and a group of Egyptian investors who have acquired 500 hectares. Ethiopia has already committed to hand over 1.7 million of the 2.7 million hectares of arable land to foreign investors. Prime Minster Meles has offered the land grabbers a “tax holiday” in which he exempted them from paying taxes and lease fees up to the first five years of production and allowed them to export all their production.
The federal government of Ethiopia has taken over millions of hectares of farmland from the States of Benishangul, Gambella and Oromia to distribute it to the so-called investors. By his speech of December 1, 2009 on World Economic Forum, Meles Zenawi claimed that his government’s policy will bring new ‘technology’ and ‘development’ into Ethiopia. However, as witnessed in many places of Oromia and Gambella, the mega-farms use rudimentary methods of farming similar to the typical Ethiopian farming. The new thing is that, the farmers turned labourers and have lost their dignity, ownership right and become slaves in their own country and land. Shamelessly, Mr. Zenawi said that this land giving policy works only in the south, revealing its racist policy of governance. He said the northern part of the Country is out of discussion as far as land selling is concerned.
After all, this is the same government that has closed down multi million hectares of mechanized state farms in few years after it seized a power in almost all part of Ethiopia, mainly in Wollega, Arsi and Bale. These farms used to employ high tech-machines including airplanes. The tractors, the combiners, and all the multibillion dollar investment of the farms properties were ignored as if it serves nothing and forced to collapse with its thousands of employees. In Wollega only, 65,000 head of families were thrown on the streets, exposing them and their extended families to starvation and humiliation. This will remain to be one of the dozens of crimes for which the EPRDF government headed by Meles Zenawi is going to answer sooner or later. The land and the property were neither privatized nor allowed to continue in corporation. Today these farms could have feed at least millions of Ethiopians looking for western hand outs, if not able to generate foreign currency. It looks as if this government is deliberately subjecting the people to a systematic impoverishment and shame.
Yet, in Gambella, the other fertile south-western region of Ethiopia, most of the land is forcibly taken from the indigenous subsistence farmers; not for the development of a needed infrastructure, but for lease to private foreign companies mostly from India, where neither the profits nor the majority of the produce will be shared with the communities. In all cases, the farmers and indigenous people receive little or no compensation for their land.
Currently millions are believed to be in need of food aid. But the government in Ethiopia is offering at least 3m hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world’s most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations. This fact clearly indicates that the minority PM Meles regime has neither a consideration nor accountability to the Ethiopian people but only to its corrupted will and interests.
A closer look at how this government handling of the land issue shows that the reason behind its decision to lease and sell fertile farm lands to foreign investors for an indefinite or century old contract. It is neither a quest for technology nor utilizing the excess land. The reality is, the TPLF dominated EPRDF officials are busy building their personal business empire for the last 20 years they are in power. TPLF officials own more than ¾ of the total business in the country, majority of them in decisive government positions and military ranks. As popular discontent grows, the TPLF leaders are getting worried about the future of their personal and group wealth and their Business Empire, which stretched to all corners of Ethiopia and dominates from small biscuits to large truck industry. The idea they came up with is that, to call up on foreign investors to cover them in this big scam they are involved. That is precisely the reason why land confiscation is so heated, foreign hands are lined up and the name of investors rather than native farmers is flown full over the air of Ethiopia.
Several governments have come and gone in Ethiopia. However, the land issue has never been addressed satisfactorily to redress the injustices committed. Neither the existing laws nor resources are utilized so as to serve the interest of its citizens. In a country where 85% of its population rely as a means of subsistence on what is obtained from agriculture, the relation of land to man is crucial in a manner similar to the need of air to breath, sunshine and water to live. To deprive anyone of any of these vital resources is equal to rendering a death sentence on him or her and to their extended family members. Consequently the current land grabbing will fuel conflict, create political instability, uproots the indigenous peoples and results in food insecurity.
The land question in Ethiopia is a potential time bombs waiting to explode. The land issue was the major factor for the demise of all Meles’s predecessor in the history and has also already consumed a government in Madagascar. However the impact on health, Soil, water, food security, ownership right and the environment will remain an expensive price for the next generation to pay.
Hence, it is very important for the international community to stand in unison against brutal regime of Ethiopia and uphold the right of the peoples to land ownership, which is exploited, left defenseless and currently are running out of means to protect their right. The land grabbers (investors) should also understand the complicated reality they are involving in and need to calculate their risk on time before it is too late. Any land deal that has not been agreed to by the Ethiopian nations and nationalities will not be honored and will bring neither lasting peace nor development in the country and for the investors too.
It is also a high time for the UN and its concerned stake holders to call special investigation on this serious matter and issues immediate resolution against the continued suffering of farmers due to eviction and the serious poverty that followed. It is also very important to exert the at most possible pressure to undo the unfair law with regards of land issues.
(The writer can be reached via [email protected] or visit http://jajjabee.wordpress.com)
By Alemayehu G. Mariam
John F. Kennedy said:
Those who make peaceful change impossible, make a violent revolution inevitable.”
The English colonial government made peaceful change impossible in the American colonies leading to the American Revolution in 1776, an event memorialized in the American Declaration of Independence and celebrated annually on July 4.
On July 4th 2007, an informal group of Ethiopian human rights defenders, civic society activists, academics, journalists, concerned individuals and others signed a Declaration pledging to defend freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia, and set up an online petition for all Ethiopians worldwide to join in the pledge. The Declaration was signed by 1,875 individuals in 2007.
At this critical moment in African and Middle Eastern history when decades-old dictatorships are being challenged by the people, it is vitally important for all Ethiopians who believe in freedom, democracy and human rights to stand up and take a stand.
The online petition remains open for signature here.
The Declaration with the list of 74 original signatories as it appeared in 2007 is reproduced at the online petition site and here and various other websites.
DECLARATION TO DEFEND FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ETHIOPIA IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM July 4, 2007
Preamble
In the history of all great nations, there comes a moment when the people must make a choice that will define them in their own time, vindicate the enormous sacrifices of their ancestors and enable them to bequeath an enduring legacy for generations yet unborn. They are often forced to make that choice by arrogant tyrants who use brute force to entrench and perpetuate their dictatorial rule, and unabashedly proclaim to the world their contempt for the rule of law, democratic principles and civil liberties.
In the history of oppression, tyrants have spared no effort to erode the natural courage of their people and force upon them a life of cowardice and submission, debilitate their natural instincts for bravery and valor and intimidate them into accepting servility, replace their yearning for liberty with false hopes and pretensions of freedom, trick them into bartering their desire to live in dignity for a life of shame and fear, subvert their natural sense of honor, duty and patriotism for vulgar materialism, and corrupt them into selling their fidelity to truth at the altar of falsehood.
In 1776, the American people had their defining moment when they stood up and defended their liberties against a tyrannical king who taxed them without representation, closed down their legislatures and imposed upon them laws made by representatives for whom they did not grant consent. They declared then, as we do now:
“When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, it becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression.”
Our Moment to Stand Up Against Evil Rulers and For Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights in the New Ethiopian Millennium is Here! We Must Act Now!
Ethiopians the world over must now make a choice, a choice that will define them today, tomorrow and in the next Millennium. We must plant the seeds of liberty today so that future generations may harvest its bounty.
We MUST therefore rise to defend freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia against a tyrant who has:
Connived and made alliances with enemies of the Ethiopian people to break up the country and bargain away its territory.
Subverted the civil and criminal laws of the land and encroached upon the fundamental rights of the people by denying them due process of law.
Forbidden the people from speaking freely, assembling peacefully, petitioning government for grievances, and the press from reporting.
Trampled upon the basic human rights of the people, and flagrantly violated international human rights laws and conventions.
Employed the malicious methods of divide and conquer, and dredged up historical grievances to sow hatred and discord among the people.
Threatened and made good on his threats to visit violence, intimidation, terror, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment and torture and untold privation upon the people.
Dispatched swarms of soldiers throughout the land to harass the people and administer street justice against them.
Refused to step down and leave office after he was overwhelmingly defeated in a democratic election, and rejected by the people.
Unjustly imprisoned the elected representatives of the people and persecuted peaceful political opponents on false and fabricated charges and crimes.
Obstructed the administration of justice by neutralizing and intimidating the judiciary to do his bidding.
Intervened in the internal affairs of neighboring countries and waged war against their people creating lasting and insurmountable enmity.
Refused the aid of Great Nations to build democratic institutions and institutionalize human rights and the rule of law in Ethiopia, and has hired at great expense to the people’s treasury, mercenaries to lobby against such efforts in the Legislatures of such nations, and
Practiced cruelty and crimes against humanity scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages.
In every stage of these oppressions, the people have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. We have sought the intercession of international human rights organizations, the Legislatures of the Great Nations of the world and appealed to his sense of native justice, magnanimity and patriotism.
He has sneered at the people’s pleas for justice, scoffed at their petitions for redress of grievances and turned a deaf ear to the advice of the international community.
We, the undersigned, therefore, solemnly publish and declare, that the People of Ethiopia have the God-given right to live in freedom, democracy and human rights, to be free and establish a government that is of their own choosing and consent, and that we shall work tirelessly and without reservation or evasion to:
Gain the unconditional release of ALL political prisoners of conscience.
Restore the democratic rights of the people.
Institute democratic reform and accountability.
Enhance the capacity of legislative institutions to enact fair and just laws.
Strengthen civil society groups and organizations and support human rights advocates.
Cause the arrest and prosecution of human rights abusers, and to bring to justice the killers of 193 innocent men, women and children and wounding of 763 others.
Increase the independence of the judiciary.
Establish permanent human rights monitoring and reporting processes.
Secure the rights of women and promote families as a foundation for a stable society.
Encourage and engage youth to become future leaders.
Remove all press censorship, restore full press freedom and strengthen private media.
Improve the electoral process to ensure fraud-free elections, and strengthen competitive party politics.
Limit the use of U.S. security assistance to maintain global peace, and NOT against the civilian population, and
Work tirelessly to bring to justice all persons guilty of crimes against humanity.
In support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other and to the People of Ethiopia that we will defend and promote, without evasion or reservation, the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia in the New Millennium.
IN SUPPORT OF THIS DECLARATION,
ALEMAYEHU GEBRE MARIAM
ABRAHA BELAI
ABEBE GELAW
KIFLE MULAT
KINFU ASSEFA
SELESHI TILAHUN
MAMMO MUCHIE
LEMLEM TSEGAW
WONDIMU MEKONNEN
SHAKESPEAR FEYISSA
AYALNESH CHIANIALEW
AMARE GIZAW
ELIZABETH NEGA
SEBLE TADESSE
AMARE GIZAW
LULIT MESFIN
ALEMAYHU ZEMEDKHUN
MERON AHADU
WASI TESFA
ASTER DEMEKE-HANSSON
ZUFAN YIMER
AZIZ MOHAMMED
ELIAS WONDIMU
ABEBA FEKADE
ZENEBWORK TEKLU
GHENET GIRMA
DANIEL ASSEFA
TIRWORK WONDIM
DOROTHY AMARE
MARIA C. LUGO
JOSEPH M. CIUFFINI
EHITE GEBRE
KEIF SCHIEFIER
MULU AYELE
NEWAY MENGISTU
MULLUNEH YOHANNES
ALMAZ TAYE
ANDARGATCHEW TSIGE
WUYNABE ABEBE
NATHAN YIMER
BELAYNESH T. HAIMANOT
BERHANE MEWA
MULU AYELE
ZEKE AYELE
FEKADE SHEWAKENA
AKLOG LIMENEH
FIFI DERSO
YOUSOUF OMER
MEAZA EGIJU
TADEWOS BEYENE
GIDEY ASSEFA
BELAYNESH SOLOMON
HAREGEWEIN MISMAKU
HAILU AWLACHEW
ZEMED YITREF
BERHANU DINKU
TSIGE MOGES
MESELE ALEM
ADAM ZERIHUN
GIRMA DAWD
YITAGESU WELDEHNA
SOLOMON KEBEDE
MULLUNEH YOHANNES
JUNIOR YIGZAW
ABIY ASSEFA
ABEBE BOGALE
TESFAYE SILESHI
SAMUEL BELIHU
SEMOU ZINABOU
GIRMA KASSA
MEKDESE B. KASSA
TARIKU BADAMA
BINYAM YINESU
TESFAYE LETTA
General Manager of Al Amoudi’s Sheraton Addis told department managers last week that the hotel will be closed down soon and will stop taking reservations starting February 15 unless the management is unable to reach an agreement with the union, according to The Reporter. Sheraton Addis, built 13 years ago, is the largest hotel in Ethiopia. Read more in Amharic 
