TPLF appears to be buckling under international pressure:  it is backpedaling the racist and criminal deportation of Amharas from the Benishangul-Gumuz regional state.  Media outlets such as the Voice of America and Diaspora Ethiopians have been exposing this diabolical act. 

Ato Ahmed Nasser, the president of the so-called Benishangul-Gumuz regional state, has apparently been ordered to issue a hastily-drafted letter (see Amharic text below) blaming the deportation on low-level cadres.

የቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆች እንዲመለሱ ጥሪ አቀረበ

By Tamru Tsige and Wudineh Zenebe | Ethiopian Reporter.com

April 10, 2013

ከቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል ካማሽ ዞን ያሶ ወረዳ የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ክልል ተወላጆች ከመኖሪያ ቀያቸው የተፈናቀሉት በበታች አመራሮች ግብታዊ ዕርምጃ በመሆኑ፣ ወደነበሩበት እንዲመለሱ የክልሉ መንግሥት ጥሪ አቀረበ፡፡

የቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ አህመድ ናስር ለሪፖርተር እንደገለጹት፣ ኪራይ ሰብሳቢ ያሉዋቸው የበታች አመራሮች በፈጠሩት ችግር የተፈናቀሉ 1,346 አባወራዎች ወደ ስፍራው እንዲመለሱ ጥሪ ቀርቧል፡፡

የተንጣለለ መሬትና የአምስት ብሔረሰቦች ክልል የሆነው ቤኒሻንጉል ክልል፣ በተለይ ከአማራና ከኦሮሚያ ክልል የመጡ በርካታ ሰፋሪዎች ይኖሩበታል፡፡ ከእነዚህ ክልሎች ከመጡ ዜጎች መካከል የእኩል እያረሱ የሚኖሩም በርካቶች ናቸው፡፡ ከዛሬ 28 ዓመት በፊት በክልሉ ውስጥ መኖር የጀመሩ ዜጎችም ተፈናቅለዋል፡፡ እነዚህ በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ተፈናቃዮች ያለመጠለያ ከመቅረታቸውም በላይ ለልመና መዳረጋቸው ሲነገር፣ ዘመድ ያላቸው በየዘመዶቻቸው መጠለላቸው ታውቋል፡፡ በዚህ የማፈናቀል ዘመቻ ለበርካታ ዓመታት የኖሩና መታወቂያ ያላቸው ዜጎች መፈናቀላቸውን ከተፈናቃዮች ለመረዳት ተችሏል፡፡

የክልሉ መንግሥት ባወጣው የመሬት ፖሊሲ መሠረት ሕገወጥ ሰፋሪዎችን በአግባቡ ለማስፈር ዕቅድ የያዘ ቢሆንም፣ ይህ ዕቅዱ ባልተጠበቀ ሁኔታ መመርያ ሳይሰጥበት በበታች የወረዳና የቀበሌ ካድሬዎች ያልተገባ ተግባር የተፈጸመ መሆኑን ፕሬዚዳንቱ ለሪፖርተር አስረድተዋል፡፡

የአመራሮቹና የካድሬዎቹ ያልተገባ ውሳኔ 1,346 አባወራዎችን ጨምሮ 3,240 ቤተሰቦቻቸው እንዲፈናቀሉ መደረጉንም አምነዋል፡፡ ተፈናቃዮቹ ግን ብዛታችን ከ5,000 ይበልጣል ይላሉ፡፡

ጉዳዩ ያሳሰበው የአማራ ክልል መንግሥት ከቤንሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል መንግሥት ጋር ውይይት ማድረጉን ለማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡ በውይይቱ ወቅት የቤንሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል በተፈጠረው ስህተት ማዘኑን መግለጹን አቶ አህመድም ገልጸዋል፡፡ ዜጎችን በማፈናቀል ስህተት በፈጠሩ አመራሮች ላይ ግምገማ ተካሂዶ ዕርምጃ እንደሚወሰድና ሕገወጥ የሰዎች ፍልሰትን ለማስቀረት የተቀናጀና ዘላቂነት ያለው ሥራ እንደሚሠራ አቶ አህመድ አስረድተዋል፡፡

አቶ አህመድ በክልላቸው በርካታ የአማራ ተወላጆች እንደሚኖሩና ሥልጣን ይዘው የሚገኙ በተለያዩ የአመራር እርከኖች ላይ ያሉ መኖራቸውን አስረድተዋል፡፡ ክልሉ ዜጎችን የማፈናቀል ሐሳብ እንደሌለውና የክልሉን የተፈጥሮ ሀብት ከውድመት ለመከላከል የግድ ሕገወጥ ሠፈራ አደብ መግዛት እንዳለበት ግን አስታውቀዋል፡፡ ይህንንም ለማድረግ ክልሉ ባወጣው የመሬት አጠቃቀም ፖሊሲ መሠረት ተግባራዊ እንደሚደረግ አስታውቀው፣ በሰሞኑ ሕገወጥ ዘመቻ የተፈናቀሉ ዜጎች ግን ተመልሰው ሰላማዊ ሕይወታቸውን መምራት እንደሚችሉ አረጋግጠዋል፡፡

በተያያዘ ዜና የኢትዮጵያውያን ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ (ኢዴፓ) እና የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ከቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝና ከሌሎችም ክልሎች የአማራ ብሔራ ተወላጆች መፈናቀላቸውን አስመልክቶ ባስተላለፉት የተቃውሞ መግለጫ፣ እስከ አሥር ዓመታትና ከዚያም በላይ ከኖሩበት ቤኒሻንጉል ጉምዝ ክልል የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆች፣ በአማራ ክልል በተለያዩ መጠለያ ጣቢያዎች መሆናቸው እጅግ በጣም አሳሳቢ በመሆኑ መንግሥት ሊያስብበት እንደሚገባ አሳስበዋል፡፡

ሁለቱም ፓርቲዎች በሰጡት ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ እንዳስታወቁት፣ ከአንድ ዓመት በፊት ከደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል ከጉራፈርዳ ወረዳ በሺሕዎች የሚቆጠሩ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆች መፈናቀላቸውን፣ እንዲሁም በቅርቡ ደግሞ በሶማሌ ክልላዊ መንግሥት ከጅጅጋ ከተማ በሺሕዎች የሚቆጠሩ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆች ከኖሩበትና ንብረት ካፈሩበት ቀያቸው መፈናቀላቸውን ያስታወሱት ፓርቲዎቹ፣ አሁን መታሰብ ያለበት ነገሮች ወዴት እያመሩ መሆኑንና በቀጣይ ሊፈጠር የሚችለውን ሁኔታ መሆኑን አስረድተዋል፡፡

ዜጎች የሚፈናቀሉበት ምክንያት ፖለቲካዊም ሆነ ኢኮኖሚያዊ ወይም ብሔርተኝነት፣ የሚፈናቀሉበትም መንገድ ኢትዮጵያ በዓለም አቀፍ  ደረጃ የተቀበለቻቸውንና ስምምነት ያደረገችባቸውን የሰብዓዊ መብት ድንጋጌዎችን ያላከበረ መሆኑን ፓርቲዎቹ ገልጸዋል፡፡ በሕገ መንግሥቱ አንቀጽ 14 ስለሰብዓዊ መብቶች የሰፈረውን ድንጋጌና በአንቀጽ 25 የእኩልነት መብትን አስመልክቶ የተቀመጠውን መብት የሚፃረር ድርጊት እየተፈጸመ መሆኑን የገለጹት ፓርቲዎቹ፣ ዜጎች በአስገዳጅ ሁኔታ የተፈናቀሉት በአንድ ሕገ መንግሥትና ሉዓላዊነት አገር ማዕቀፍ ውስጥ መሆኑን፣ መፈናቀላቸውንና ስደታቸውን ተከትሎ እየተከሰተባቸው ያለው ማዋከብና ድብደባ አሳሳቢና አነጋጋሪ እንደሆነ ገልጸዋል፡፡

በደቡብ ክልል በጉራፈርዳ ወረዳ፣ በሶማሌ ክልል በጅጅጋ ከተማ፣ በቤኒሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል ያሶ ወረዳ የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ብሔር ተወላጆችና በኦሮሚያ፣ በጋምቤላ፣ በሶማሌና በሌሎችም ክልሎች የተፈናቀሉ ዜጎች ጉዳይ ያስከተለው የሰብዓዊ መብት ጥሰት፣ ማኅበራዊ ቀውስ፣ በየክልሉ በሚኖሩ ቀሪዎቹ ዜጎች ላይ በሰላም ሠርተው የመኖር ፍላጎትና ሀብት ባፈሩበት ቀዬ የመኖር ጥያቄ ላይ ሥጋት እየፈጠረ መሆኑን መንግሥት ልብ ሊለውና ሊያስብበት እንደሚገባ አሳስበዋል፡፡ በመሆኑም መንግሥት በዜጎች ላይ እያደረሰ ያለውን መፈናቀል በአስቸኳይ እንዲያቆም፣ የቤኒሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል መንግሥት እያካሄደ ያለውን ኢሰብዓዊና ሕገወጥ ተግባር እንዲያቆምና እንዲታቀብ፣ የአማራ ብሔራዊ ክልላዊ መንግሥት ለተፈናቃዮቹ ዜጎች ጊዜያዊ መጠለያ፣ አልባሳትና ምግብ እንዲያገኙ እንዲያደርግ፣ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በሕዝብ ላይ እየተፈጸመ ያለው ማፈናቀል ሕገ መንግሥቱን የጣሰና ኢትዮጵያን የሚጎዳ ተግባር በመሆኑ፣ ድርጊቱን የፈጸሙ ክልሎችም ሆኑ ግለሰቦች በሕግ እንዲጠየቁ እንዲያደርግ ፓርቲዎቹ ጠይቀዋል፡፡

LAND-GRAB IN AFRICA
A Discussion with Advocates & Policymakers

Monday, April 15 at 2:00PM
U.S. CONGRESS: Rayburn House Office Building
(45 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC)

A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ON LAND GRABBING WILL BE SCREENED
Land grabbing is becoming the single most combative issue in Africa. It involves large-scale land acquisitions by foreign countries and corporations for farming, biofuels, logging and minerals. Unlike land acquisitions in the United States and Europe where purchasers pay the fair market values for land, in Africa unscrupulous deals are displacing thousands of farmers and leaving local communities in abject poverty, while government officials benefit from land sales and leases.

PANELISTS

BINTA TERRIER
Ms. Terrier is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Partnership League for Africa’s Development (PLAD). PLAD was created to focus on education, health, land-rights and agriculture as the cornerstone to address the human rights problem in Africa. Educated as an economist she is becoming a leading female voice for Africa’s development and governance.

DR. GEORGE AYITTEY
Dr. Ayittey is a distinguished Economist and Professor at the American University, Washington, DC. He is the founder and chair of the Free Africa Foundation and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Dr. Ayittey has championed the argument that: Africa is poor because she is not free, that the primary cause of African poverty is less a result of the oppression and mismanagement by colonial powers, but rather a result of modern oppressive native autocrats.

OBANG METHO

Mr. Metho is Executive Director of the SMNE (www.solidaritymovement.org), a social justice movement of diverse Ethiopians that joint-sponsored with the think tank, Oakland Institute, to produce the Ethiopian portion of the comprehensive investigative report, Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa, published in June 2011. Mr. Obang is a human rights activist who tirelessly advocates for human rights, justice, freedom and environment, enhanced accountability in politics and peace in Africa for over 10 years.
RICK JACOBSON
Mr. Jacobson works on land grab issues in Africa as a Team Leader for International Forest Policy and Environmental Governance for Global Witness.

MODERATOR: GREGORY SIMPKINS

Mr. Simpkins is an Africa Expert and Senior Advisor, to Congressman Chris Smith the Chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.
Questions: please contact: [email protected] or [email protected]

April 9, 2013

A multi-billion dollar aid program administered by the World Bank is underwriting systematic human rights abuses in Ethiopia. Last September, Ethiopian victims submitted a complaint about the program to the World Bank Inspection Panel, which is tasked with investigating whether or not the Bank complies with its own policies to prevent social and environmental harm.  A meeting of the Bank’s board of directors to discuss the Panel’s preliminary findings was postponed on March 19th due to objections from the Ethiopian government.

Ethiopia is one the largest aid recipients in the world, receiving approximately US$3 billion annually from external donors. The largest aid program, financed by the World Bank, the UK, the European Commission and other Western governments, is called Promotion of Basic Services (PBS).  It aims to expand access to services in five sectors: education, health, agriculture, water supply and sanitation, and rural roads. The PBS program objectives are indisputably laudable and aim to meet a number of dire needs of the Ethiopian population. There is evidence, however, that it is contributing to a government campaign to forcibly resettle an estimated 1.5 million people.

In the lowland region of Gambella, the government’s principle means of delivering basic services is through the implementation of the “Villagization Program”. The government claims that “villagization” is a voluntary process, which aims to “bring socioeconomic and cultural transformation of the people” through the resettlement of “scattered” families into new villages.  The services and facilities supported by PBS are precisely the services and facilities that are supposed to be provided at new settlement sites under the Villagization Program.

However, Gambellans, now amassing in refugee camps in Kenya and South Sudan, report that the program has been far from voluntary.  When I visited the camps last fall, the refugees reported a process involving intimidation, beatings, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture in military custody and extra-judicial killing.  Dispossessed of their fertile ancestral lands and displaced from their livelihoods, Gambella’s indigenous communities have been forced into villages with few of the promised basic services and little access to food or land suitable for farming.  Meanwhile, many of the areas from which people have been forcibly removed have been awarded to domestic and foreign investors for large-scale agro-industrial plantations.

In September, Human Rights Watch and my organization, Inclusive Development International, arranged a meeting with the World Bank and five newly arrived refugees in Nairobi.  One by one, they gave chilling testimony of the abuses that they and their families have experienced under the Villagization Program.  Their testimony corroborated detailed reports about the program by Human Rights Watch and the Oakland Institute.

Yet, despite these credible reports and first-hand accounts that Bank staff heard in Nairobi, the Bank has continued to deny the forcible nature of villagization. The Bank also insists that its project is not linked to the Villagization Program, despite its acknowledgement that it finances the salaries of public servants who are tasked with implementing villagization.  These arguments are wholly disingenuous.
Donors must accept responsibility for human rights abuses they help make possible and do everything in their power to prevent them.  There are ways the Bank can support critical investments in human development while ensuring that it is not underwriting human rights violations. It could, for example, require that the Villagization Program comply with its safeguard policy on resettlement as a condition of its $600 million concessional loan for the latest phase of PBS.  If this policy were applied, the government would have to ensure, and the Bank would have to verify, that resettlement is truly voluntary and that the program improves people’s lives.

Yet the Bank and bi-lateral donors have instead chosen a strategy of denial. They have invested too much for too long in Ethiopia to admit that things have gone horribly wrong, and they are too worried about upsetting a critical military ally in a volatile part of the world to start attaching human rights conditions to aid packages.

That is why the World Bank Inspection Panel is so important.  After undertaking a preliminary assessment, the Panel determined that the link between PBS and villagization was plausible and it recommended to the Board a full investigation in order to make definitive findings.  However, Ethiopia’s representative on the Board has stymied approval of the investigation.  A meeting to discuss the Panel’s report scheduled on March 19 was postponed due to resistance from the Ethiopian government, which is vying to set the terms of the investigation.

The Inspection Panel was established as an independent body that people harmed by World Bank lending practices can access in order to hold the Bank to account.  Bank managers and member states are not supposed to interfere in the process.  The Bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, should stand up for accountability and tell the Board to let the Panel do its job.  The truth that will come out of this investigation may be inconvenient for the Bank and an important client government, but it will be a rare measure of justice for the Ethiopian people.
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David Pred is Founder and Director of Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia (BABSEA), an international grassroots organization working to bring

people together to overcome poverty, injustice and inequity in the Southeast Asia region.