Most of my readers know how much I enjoy “bedtime stories”. Recently, I wrote about my favortie bedtime story of Pinocchio in Africa. Ever heard of the story of Chicken Little? One day Chicken Little was scratching around the yard when something fell on her head. “Oh,” screeched Chicken Little, “The sky is falling. I must go tell the king.” Chicken Little ran and ran until she met Henny Penny. “Why are you running so fast, Chicken Little?” asked Henny Penny. “Ah, Henny Penny,” said Chicken Little, “the sky is falling, and I must go and tell the king.” Chicken Little and Henny Penny told the same story to Ducky Daddles, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey and Foxy Loxy along the way to the king’s house. “I know a shortcut to the palace,” said Foxy Woxy. “Come and follow me.” But the wicked Foxy Woxy led them right up to the entrance of his foxhole where he planned to dine on the fine feathered friends. Just as they were to enter the hole, they heard the king’s hunting dogs growling and howling. Foxy Woxy ran across the meadows and through the forests with the hounds on his tail. He ran until he was far, far away and never returned.
The story of Chicken Little illustrates the angst, hysteria and paranoia of the ruling regime in Ethiopia. The sky is always falling whenever dictator Meles Zenawi wants to tighten the screws on news and information reaching the people. In 2010, Zenawi justified electronically jamming Voice of America Amharic broadcasts by making the preposterously outrageous claim that the Voice of America was promoting genocide in Ethiopia: “We have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of minimum ethics of journalism and engaging in destabilizing propaganda.” In other words, the Voice of America is the Voice of Genocide, Rwanda. In February 2012, Lebanon’s Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui served a formal complaint on the ruling regime in Ethiopia and demanded an immediate end to the illegal practice of jamming Arabsat transmission of ESAT (Ethiopian Satellite Television) programming.
In the past year, Zenawi has been telling the world that he has caught and jailed some of the most dangerous and wild-eyed terrorists in Ethiopia today, including the incomparable Eskinder Nega, the 2012 winner of the prestigious Pen’s Freedom to Write Award, the indomitable Reeyot Alemu, a young woman journalist who won the 2012 International Women’s Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award and the intrepid Woubshet Taye, managing editor of the now shuttered Awramba Times. Last week, in his statement in the Congressional Record, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy noted that the ruling regime in Ethiopia has made it impossible for “journalists like Eskinder Nega to do their work of reporting and peaceful political participation.”
Zenawi has been running in overdrive trying to plug every nook and cranny by which Ethiopians could get news and information from independent sources. According to recent statements of Reporters Without Borders Africa (RWB), “The Ethiopian government is trying to attack every means of information exchange.” Ethiopia’s Chicken Littles are so paranoid that they are now requiring the printing presses over which they have total monopoly to censor newspapers printed in the country. Last month, Berhanena Selam, the largest regime-owned printer and other smaller printers were “trying to impose political censorship on media content before publication.” In a proposed “standard contract for printing”, these printers claimed they have the right to refuse to print any text if they determine they have “adequate reason” it breaks the law. RWB noted, “This [contract] openly contravenes article 29 of the 1994 federal constitution, which guarantees press freedom and bans censorship in any form…. Only an independent and impartial judge should have the power to impose any kind of sanction or prohibition affecting media freedom.” Nice try by RWB, but talking constitutional law to Zenawi and Co., is like preaching Scripture to a gathering of Heathen.
RWB further reported that the regime-owned internet service provider “Ethio-Telecom” had installed a system for blocking access to the Tor network, which allows users to browse and access blocked websites anonymously. According to data published by Tor, the highest number of Tor users in Ethiopia between March and June 2012 peaked at a little over 350 individuals! All of the trouble and expense to block fewer than 400 individuals out of 85 million from anonymously browsing the internet.
The Skype is Falling!
Skype and other internet-based phone call services and social media are popular among a microscopic segment of the younger set who have access to the internet cafes in the urban areas and affluent types who could afford a personal computer and internet service. But the number of users of Skype-type services is infinitesimally small and the available internet service in the country is limited, unreliable and retrograde. A 2010 Manchester University’s School of Education study cited in Freedomhouse’s Freedom on the Internet 2011 report (FFI 2011) found that “accessing an online e-mail account and opening one message took six minutes in a typical Addis Ababa cybercafe with a broadband connection.” Anyone who has made or received Skype calls to or from Ethiopia knows that it is like pulling teeth, an exercise in self-aggravation. Ethiopia is only second to Sierra Leone Internet for having the least internet penetration at 0.5 percent of that country’s 85 million population. Internet service is “almost entirely absent from rural areas” where 85 percent of the population lives, according to FFI 2011. Similarly, Ethiopia is the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa to impose nationwide, politically motivated internet filtering:
Although Ethiopia is one of Africa’s most populous countries, poor infrastructure and a government monopoly on telecommunications have significantly hindered the expansion of digital media. As a result, Ethiopia has one of the lowest rates of internet and mobile telephone penetration on the continent… The government has responded by instituting one of the few nationwide filtering systems in Africa, passing laws to restrict free expression, and attempting to manipulate online media. These efforts have coincided with a broader increase in repression against independent print and broadcast media since the 2005 parliamentary elections, in which opposition parties mustered a relatively strong showing.
Why would Zenawi want to send a citizen to the slammer for 15 years just for making a phone call using a computer phone? Informed commentators suggest that the “telecom fraud law” is motivated by the bottomless greed and consuming paranoia of those who cling to power in Ethiopia like engorged ticks on an African milk cow. Elizabeth Blunt, a former BBC correspondent in Ethiopia, explains that the telecom fraud law is intended to suppress competition by “Internet cafes [which] may be allowing people to make calls for far less than the cost of Ethiopia telecom, the state’s telecommunications provider that has the monopoly and charges very high prices – and doesn’t want to have its service undermined. But there is also the issue that Skype can’t be listened to so easily and can’t be controlled.” RWB is concerned that the latest paranoia which has caused the regime to “block access to Tor might be the first step towards creating a system that would allow the regime to intercept any email, social network post or VoIP call made in the country.”
The 2012 “Proclamation on Telecom Fraud Offences”
The now widely publicized “Proclamation on Telecom Fraud Offences” (PTFO) 2012 appears to be in draft form, despite reports to the contrary. The PFTO purportedly repeals provisions in Art. 25 of the Telecommunications Proclamation No. 49/1996 as amended by Proclamation No. 281/2002. But none of that amounts to a hill of beans because there has never been a draft “law” presented to Ethiopia’s rubber stamp parliament that has ever been rejected. Draft or no draft, for the rubber stamp parliament, Zenawi’s word is law. The rubber stamp parliament will blindly adopt the most nonsensical, illogical, ineffectual and immoral “laws” presented to it by Zenawi. Without a shadow of a doubt, the rubber stamp parliament will unanimously (at least by a margin of 99.6 percent) approve the PTFO . But what the hell is the PTFO?
It appears that the PTFO is another one of those haphazard and slipshod cut-and-paste jobs (similar to the so-called “Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No 652/2009) scarfed from the laws of other countries, arguably the U.S. The patches of vacuous phrases and empty clauses interspersed in the PTFO uncannily mimic certain U.S. anti-wire fraud statutes such as 18 U.S.C §§ 1343 (wire fraud), 1029 (fraud and related activity in connection with access devices) and 1030 (fraud and related activity in connection with computers). The U.S. laws, consistent with the presumption of innocence, require the government to prove knowledge, intent and willful participation of the accused in the fraudulent act or scheme using wires or electronic access devices.
The PTFO is completely oblivious of the most elementary requirements of any criminal law: the concurrence of intent (mens rea) and the commission of the criminal act (actus reus). For instance, under Part Two (2) of the PTFO, “whosoever uses or holds any telecommunications equipment without obtaining prior permit… shall… be punishable with rigorous imprisonment from 1 to 4 years…” Accordingly, “‘telecommunications equipment’ means any apparatus used or intended to be used for telecommunications services, and includes its accessory and software.” Under these tandem provisions, any person who “holds” a mobile phone, a child “holding” a toy Walki-Talkie, or any person who “holds” a laptop bundled by the manufacturer with communications sofware or encoded in the operating system or hardware without license from the Ministry of Communications would be looking at “1-4 years” in the slammer. (Obviously, those who drafted the “law” are clueless about the evidentiary distinction between “holding” and “possession”.) Arguably, anyone who uses a tin can phone (which is within the PTFO’s definition of “telecommunications equipment” since “electromagnetic” waves vibrate through the string connecting the cans) would be exposed to the same penalty. The PTFO is the kind of law Charles Dickens would have called “an ass, an idiot”.
On its face, the PTFO is a “law” made necessary by the alleged fact that “the legal provisions in the country are not sufficient to prevent and control telecom fraud.” Telecom services includes “cellular mobile service, internet data communication” and other “transmissions or receptions through the agency of electricity or electromagnetism (sic)…” Anyone who “manufactures, assembles, imports any communications equipment without permit” will be sitting in the penitentiary between 10-15 years in prison. Anyone who “uses or holds” such equipment is looking at 1-4 years. Anyone who provides “telecom service without license” will be locked up between 7-15 years. Anyone who “uses telecom network or apparatus to disseminate any terrorizing message connected with a crime with the anti-terrorism proclamation….” faces 3 to 8 years (Art. 6). Anyone who “obtains any telecom service without payment of lawful charge or by means of fraudulent payment” will be punished by “rigorous imprisonment from 5-10 years.” (Art. 7). Anyone who “establishes any telecom infrastructure” or “bypasses the telecommunication infrastructure other than the telecommunication infrastructure established by the telecommunication service provider (sic)” is subject to 10-20 years imprisonment (Art. 9). Anyone who “duplicates SIM cards, credit cards, subscriber identification numbers…” faces 10-15 years imprisonment. “Whoever provides telephone call or fax services through the internet commits an offense punishable by 3-8 years.” The person using the service will cool his heels in the clink for up to 2 years. (Art. 10, 10(3)).
Law Making in a Rubber Stamp Parliament
No one should see how sausages, or laws are made in Ethiopia’s rubber stamp parliament. Perhaps that is an overstatement. The fact is that “laws” are not made in Ethiopia’s parliament. They are rubber stamped. That parliament approves “laws” faster than a Chinese factory can crank out a T-shirt. But rubber stamping the will of one man does not a law make. As Shakespeare said, “Lawless are they that make their wills their law.”
The PTFO is a pitiful exercise in lawmaking. In substance and form, it is no different than the dozens of “proclamations” that have been approved by the rubber stamp parliament over the past decade. It is arbitrary, capricious, thoughtless, reckless and, and most of all, pointless. Having studied so many of these “proclamations” over the years, I am amazed and dismayed by what passes as lawmaking in Ethiopia’s parliament. In one of my recent commentaries on the cut-and paste anti-terrorism law proudly pirated from the laws of other countries, I stated: “I cringe in total embarrassment at such a stunningly shallow understanding of jurisprudence, glib talk about the law and inattention to a glaring logical fallacy in one’s argument.”
The deficiencies of the PTFO are not limited to lack of legislative purpose, policy substance or logical structure; they also extend to the cavalier, crude and clumsy approach to legislative draftsmanship. On its face, the PFTO is bereft of any elementary sense of proportionality, the simple idea that the punishment should fit the crime. How can any sensible legislator or executive propose to punish a citizen with 15 years hard labor for talking into a computer phone? This is not just inane, it is insane!
Equally important, the PFTO is unsupported by any discernible legislative need or justification. In its preamble, it states that “the legal provisions in the country are not sufficient to prevent and control telecom fraud.” But that claim is completely speculative and unsupported by any factual findings. There are no studies referenced – independent or regime-sponsored – which show the magnitude of the “internet fraud” problem or the alleged threat to “national security” posed by the improper or illegal use of the internet. There is no research or analysis supporting the proclamation. There is no expert testimony to support it and no opportunity has been made available for public comment or input. It is a “law” based purely on fear and smear.
Catching the Real Con Artists, Scammers, Swindlers and Fraudsters
There is plenty of evidence of massive fraud elsewhere that requires immediate and decisive action. Remember the 2008 cat burglars who heisted “USD$16 million dollars” worth of gold bars and simply walked out of the bank in broad daylight? Although the heist was widely believed to be an inside job and a number of suspects were fingered, no one was ever prosecuted. In 2007 when Ethiopia’s auditor general, Lema Aregaw, reported that Birr 600 million of state funds were missing from the regional coffers, Zenawi fired Lema and publicly defended the regional administrations’ ‘right to burn money.’” The ashes of that “burned money” were never found. In February 2011, Zenawi publicly stated that 10,000 tons of coffee earmarked for exports had simply vanished from the warehouses. He called a meeting of commodities traders and in a videotaped statement told them he will forgive them because “we all have our hands in the disappearance of the coffee”. They drank coffee, sang Kumbaya and went on their merry ways.
Last December, Global Financial Integrity reported, “Ethiopia, which has a per-capita GDP of just US$365, lost US$11.7 billion to illicit financial outflows between 2000 and 2009. In 2009, illicit money leaving the economy totaled US$3.26 billion, which is double the amount in each of the two previous years…” Now, there is a gigantic fraud problem crying out for a law and aggressive prosecution. Last month Zenawi mused philosophically, “What is the poison that leaders face when you go to national palaces, and transforms people with vision sometimes into ordinary thieves? Let’s start with the total amount of loot in Africa, and what our role as leaders in that looting is…” Great question! The man with the “vision of an Ethiopian Renaissance” should have a ready answer. But for the rest of us, a more mundane question is : Why not start the anti-fraud campaign by going after the looters who are looting millions from the national treasury and the army of looters illicitly laundering billions of looted dollars in foreign banks before hounding nickel and dime internet cafés which survive by peddling feckless Skype service for pennies?
The PFTO is wrong-headed and mean-spirited. Its sole aim is to suppress all communication technology the regime believes could be used to provide the people access to indepednent sources of information and news. The infinitesimally small number of Skypers use the service to talk to family members and friends abroad. They pose no threat to anyone. The threat of arrest and harassment against perceived opponents is so pervasive that few would hazard to use Skype or similar technology as a means of political agitation.
The PTFO is vague and overbroad, and cannot pass constitutional muster as RWB has suggested. Many of its provisions are ambiguous, nonsensical, unintelligible and just plain legal gobbledygook. What is a “terrorizing message” under art. 6? Could a ringtone on a mobile phone which rings by announcing, “Meles Zenawi is a dictator!” (as it appears to be a common ringtone among a segment of mobile phone users in Ethiopia), result in a 15 year sentence for the hapless user? (On second thought, I may have to concede that legal point in light of the sheer “terror” Zenawi displayed at the G-8 Summit in Washington, D.C. last month when he faced the young lionhearted Ethiopian journalist Abebe Gellaw.)
For me, the principal purpose of the law is to protect liberty and establish a just society. But on that point, I shall defer to Shakespeare:
We must not make a scarecrow of the law,
Setting it up to fear the birds of prey,
And let it keep one shape, till custom make it
Their perch and not their terror.
….
For pity is the virtue of the law,
And none but tyrants use it cruelly.
As to the criminalization of Skype, my practical suggestion to Ethiopians wishing to communicate with their families and friends abroad is to quickly learn the arts of using smoke signals, drum beating, pictogram drawing, pigeon flying, ram’s horn blowing and to drill down on the science of tin can phones and Morse Code. (Oops! Forget Morse Code, it uses “the agency of electricity or electromagnetism”, whatever that is!)
-… . -.- .- !
Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:
The origins of the Internet can be traced to ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) that was funded by the US Department of Defense (DARPA) for use by its research labs in the 1960’s. The Internet as we know moved from connecting research institutions and Universities into commercial use in the middle of the 1980’s.
Today the Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks. The beauty of the Internet is nobody really owns it. Every computer that is connected to the Internet is part of the network. Your laptop or desktop together with millions of private, public, academic, business, government networks forms part of this vast system of interconnected computers.
The Internet has revolutionized human communication like nothing before. It is the most outstanding innovation in human history regarding communication capability. Our lives have changed dramatically due to the Internet. The great economic boom of the 90’s all over the world can be traced to innovation that accompanied the Internet. Where does our Ethiopia fit in this human advancement story?
I am afraid we are absent or unaccounted for! We are not even in the periphery. Our participation in this humongous, game changer event is nothing to write home about. It is so embarrassing the best option is not to talk about it, discuss it or raise the issue. If our country was a computer it will be considered to be in hibernation mode, not on not off barely alive. The Meles regime and his TPLF party can get all the credit for condemning eighty million people to live in darkness. That is exactly where we find ourselves-in complete darkness and no chance of light at the end of the tunnel either. You think I am exaggerating and being so negative because I am filled with hate. I am afraid that is not so. Look at the table below and you be the judge my friend.
Country Internet users % Of Population Internet providers
Ethiopia 666,101 0.75 1
Ghana 2,081,056 8.55 12
Uganda 4,174,835 12.5 9
Kenya 8,568,890 20.98 15
Tanzania 4,608,218 11.0 17
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_Internet_users
See what I mean? Out of eighty million plus people only half a million Internet users. That leaves seventy nine million five hundred thousand in the dark. Why do you think this is so? Is it because we are poor? We are stupid? Uneducated? Unable to figure how it works? Not interested? Didn’t think it is important? Felt investment in such technology is a waste of time and resources? Or too busy developing other technology? Or you think it could it be due to lack of leadership? As people we are no different than Americans Europeans or our African neighbors. The only thing we see here is the quality of leadership that differentiates our country from others. The leaders set the pace, define the priorities and the people follow.
When it comes to the Internet our leader felt that is not a priority and that is not where our budget should be invested on. Why do you think Ato Meles and company felt the Internet not to be the place to invest and grow? The simple but obvious answer is the word ‘communication’. Communication is knowledge and knowledge is the first causality of a tyrannical regime. Keeping people in the dark is the main goal of a dictatorship. Illiterate people are docile. It is easy to manipulate a damned down population. Internet is the number one enemy of the Ethiopian government. Instead of laying fiber optic to speed up the wiring of our country the Meles regime invests the limited budget in blocking, censoring and spying on the citizen. The last two weeks have been a busy time to the TPLF regime. It has rolled out one draconian law after another to bully, intimidate and ride rough on our people. Here is the evidence.
Skype is a voice- over-Internet Protocol service and software application. Skype allows users to communicate over the Internet using voice, video and instant messaging. As of September of 2011 Skype has over six hundred million users worldwide. The Ethiopian government has made using Skype a crime punishable up to fifteen years in prison.
Tor (short for The onion router) is a system intended to enable online anonymity. The Tor project a 501(c) research/education nonprofit organization distributes the software free of charge. According to the wonderful people of Tor network their ‘client software routes Internet traffic through a worldwide volunteer network of servers to conceal a user’s location or usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis.’ The Ethiopian government is actively blocking Tor network.
There are over eighty million Ethiopians. As of 2012 there are about a million fixed line service users and close to three million mobile users in Ethiopia. It is the lowest teledensity in Africa. There are less than half a million Internet users in Ethiopia and that is in the bottom even for Africa. That number constitutes .06% of the Ethiopian population.
Why is the Ethiopian government enacting such draconian law when you can clearly see Internet does not play any major role in the life of the citizen? Why is the government becoming the laughing stock of the planet by equating phone usage to committing murder? All indications are the issue is not about Skype or Tor but it is all about control and bullying into submission. It is all about instilling fear. Fear is the main currency of a dictator. They are not worried about the .06% but they are very much interested in showing the ninety nine percent who exactly is in charge. In your face is how they like to operate. They are saying we can do anything we want and tough luck there is nothing you can do about it!
Do you think they are crazy? I am afraid not. They have been getting away with that kind of attitude the last twenty years what makes you think it will be different this time? We will talk about it, we will gossip, we will condemn silently ( yechelema gelmecha) and life will go on as usual. Actually that is not true about all of us. There are a few working hard to circumvent this tragedy. Groups such as Ginbot7, OLF, ONLF, ALF, Andenet Party, our independent Web sites, ESAT among others are working day and night to teach, organize and help our people stand up to Woyane abuse.
There are different avenues to fight injustice. There are hundreds of ways to resist oppression. I will paraphrase two Chinese educators on this subject. According to Sun Tzu the ‘best defense is a good offense’ and Mao Zedong followed it with ‘the only real defense is active defense.’ meaning for the purpose of counter attacking and taking offense. I believe the current aggression against our people begs for a robust counter offense. Here I am speaking about cyber warfare.
It is about time our people developed this type of self-defense to protect our freedom. It is within our capability and it is our moral duty to protect our country and people. According to a recent Time magazine article that is what the US is helping the Syrian opposition with. Developing a cyber warfare capability. They are training the freedom fighters to resist the Assad regime in the art of circumvention technology. The use of encryption, SIM card in cheap burner phones that can easily be discarded and developing ‘Internet in a suitcase’ to provide Web access when Assad shuts it down is being explored. Apps are being developed that download a panic button that will instantly wipe out contacts and documents from smart phones and computers. They are experimenting with Apps that present a false screen when the wrong security code is entered and Apps that blur the faces of dissidents when posting videos and photos on line. Today the camera is as powerful as the AK47.
It is also important our highly educated lawyers and Human Rights advocates explore the concept of ‘I am just following order’ defense that is sure to be used by those that are doing the dirty work for the minority based illegal regime. Whereas the current Ethiopian Constitution is full of guarantees of rights and freedom to the citizen those that are killing, imprisoning, torturing, spying and using their know how to block and jam should be warned about accountability. They should be made aware of their oath to uphold the Constitution not the rule of one man or a single party. ‘I am just following order’ did not hold water in the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals.
Those educated Ethiopians that are enabling the regime to spy on fellow citizens, block Web sites, target emails and social media postings should be warned about the consequences of their actions. They are following illegal and immoral orders given by those that are using force and coercion to stay in power. Sooner or later this house of cards will come tumbling down and it will be time to answer for all those that used their technical know how to hurt their people. Blind allegiance is not a wining strategy or ignorance a valid defense. It is a shame some sell their soul to the devil for fame and fortune.
Two years ago in America, it was the year of the “metrosexual”, it seems we have arrived at a new day, we have arrived at the age of the “Habeshasexual”::
by Yohannes Aramaji dated: Thursday, June 21st, 2012
[picture provided by AESAOne Habesha men]
(Washington P0st DC Bureau) It is the hottest fashion trend of the summer. All around America and Ethiopia, from DC to Addis, Habesha men can be seen strutting and flaunting their hips as they sway down city streets wearing Habesha Kemis. The scene is omnipresent, Habesha man after man can be seen sipping buna at Starbucks as they gossip about sports and politics wearing Habesha Kemis to keep them cool from the heat of summer dog days. As their wives and girlfriends are at home taking care of the kids and the household, Habesha men everywhere are setting the fashion world upside down as they wear some of the most exquisite Habesha dresses and skirts.
We are not sure where the trend started, most likely it was a trend that started sometime after World War II and has taken on a life of it’s own since the turn of the 21st century. Take a moment today and drive over to Starbucks off Leesburg Pike in Alexandria Virginia or a random Ethiopian restaurant in Addis and there you will see Habsha men sipping Italian cappacino or smoking sheesha wearing the most lovely Habesha kemis. You will see these men sitting on their duffs all day with their legs crossed gossiping all day and night about soccer or debating who is a Woyane or a Shabia as children in Ethiopia die on a minute by minute basis from a lack of hope and nourishment.
The favorite color of these Habesha men in Habesha kemis is the hot pink, they have forsaken the warrior clothing of the past and have now embraced the Habesha kemis as the outward representation of their true manhood. Some Habesha men have taken it even further and have augmented their Habesha kemis with panties and thongs from Victoria Secret as they talk endlessly about overthrowing Meles Zenawi and advocating a war on the TPLF even though it is not them or their children that will be dying in this war they desire so. This is the next iteration of Habesha fashion, Habesha men have embraced their oneness with their femininity as they have lost all semblance of Ethiopian jegnas and are now content on wearing bras instead of adorning shields to protect their country from outside invaders.
By far the biggest consumers of this new trend are Habesha promoters and so called doctors. You can see the Habesha men promoters walking up and down DC passing out flyers as they wear their Habesha kemis and disseminating flyers that have pictures of Ethiopian queens looking like sluts and whores on their flyers as these Habesha men promoters switch their hips while wearing their Prada sunglasses to match their Habesha kemis. You can also see Habesha men who call themselves “doctors” who have no PhD to speak of and are doctors by name only wearing Habesha kemis instead of surgeon’s gear as they bop and flop down 9th Street in DC or while they stay at Addis Sheraton in Addis. These Habesha men doctors are a hit in Addis wearing their Habesha kemis, they arrive in Addis as conquering warriors in the mold of Italian soldiers, they do more damage than Mustard Italian mustard gas, they spend their precious money not to help out starving children back home, instead they help out the local economy by giving a few birrs to young prostitutes in the streets of Addis.
While they are wearing their Habesha kemis, these so-called “doctors” have become the biggest consumers of prostitutes in Ethiopia—they destroy the lives of young and precious Ethiopian girls as they steal their future all while these Habesha men are wearing the hottest hop pink Habesha kemis while they sip the finest wine as these set-a-set “mena” sit next to Al Amoudi. Al Amoudi in fact has bought the most expensive Habesha kemis, the Chinese had to use 400 bales of cotton and 4,000 pounds of silk to make a custom made Habesha kemis for Al Amoudi and you can see him driving in the back of limousines with his legs crossed and sipping Moet with his $4,00,000 Habesha Kemis. In a couple of weeks, you will see DMV invaded by Habesha kemis wearing men as they decend by the thousands to celebrate at RFK stadium for the first ever AESAOne “Ethiopian” soccer tournament sponsored by none other than the $4,000,000 Habesha kemis wearer himself Al Amoudi.
Sweat shops in China cannot keep up with the pace of demand for Habesha kemis, over 100,000 Habesha Kemis are manufactured and shipped from Beijing on a day to day basis to Addis and DC—95% of which are being shipped to Habesha men. This trend of Habesha men wearing Habesha kemis will not go away anytime soon, it seems that both the younger generation and the older generation of Habesha men are loudly and proudly yelling “I am set a set and I’m proud of it!” as they snap their fingers and do… (continued )
Sewoch, this is only 1/3 of the article, please read FULL article before forming your opinion! Click HERE To read full article
PS now watch what will happen, the very same Habesha kemis men will attack the messenger while disregarding the message. This is what Habesha kemis wearing men do, they are best at leflafanet and never follow logic. Watch them reveal their Habesha Kemis with the comments below…
[click to read full article and listen to Brow Condor Radio]
Internet intrusion and increased repression in Ethiopia
By Graham Peebles | Redress.cc
19 June 2012
Graham Peebles views the Meles Zenawi regime’s chronic suppression of the internet and media freedoms in Ethiopia and asks how long will Addis Ababa’s allies in the US, Britain and the European Union tolerate the regime’s flagrant violations of rights enshrined in domestic and international law.
Freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are basic human rights and are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is not for a government – whose function is to serve the people – to decide who or indeed if these freedoms should be allowed. Although etched into the Ethiopian constitution, freedom in its various democratic manifestations remains a fantasy for the people, who are increasingly controlled, inhibited and impoverished. The Ethiopian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is imposing ever more stringent and repressive measures of subjugation. If it could it would control and restrict the very air the people breath.
Internet control and privacy
In its latest assault on the human rights of the people, the governing Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) decreed certain activities on the internet to be illegal. Access to the internet inside Ethiopia is very poor. According to Open Net Initiative (ONI) Ethiopia “has the second lowest internet penetration rate in sub-Saharan Africa (only Sierra Leone’s is lower)… Only 360,000 people had internet access in June 2009, a penetration rate of 0.4 per cent.”
The Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), a government owned and run body, and the Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency (ETA) have exclusive control over internet access in the country. According to the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RWB) on 7 June, “Ethiopia’s only ISP [Internet Service Provider], state-owned Ethio-Telecom, has just installed a system for blocking access to the Tor network, which lets users browse anonymously and access blocked websites”. In order to achieve such selective blocking, according to RWB, “Ethio-Telecom must be using Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), an advanced network filtering method” that is used by repressive states, such as China and Iran. This sophisticated system, RWB says, “allows governments to easily target politically sensitive websites and quickly censor any expression of opposition views”.
Internet filtering in Ethiopia has been in place for some years, according to Freedom House. Its report, “Freedom on the Net 2011”, states: “Tests conducted by Freedom House found that in mid-2010 the websites of Freedom House, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International were inaccessible. In March 2010, Voice of America reported that its website was blocked in Ethiopia.” The BBC reported that in June 2010 emails sent from Ethiopia to the Committee to Protect Journalists were also blocked.
This latest invasion of privacy and restriction of freedoms comes on the back of a new law passed on 24 May which, among other things, bans the use of Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) hardware and software, such as Skype, which enables people to use the internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls, and imposes a penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment for the heinous crime of making a telephone call to a family member or friend.
Internet access, and national and international calls, which have to be made through the state telecommunications provider, the ETC, are extremely expensive. A 2010 study by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) found that Ethiopia’s broadband internet connections were among the most expensive in the world when compared with monthly income, and come second only to those in the Central African Republic.
The new legislation also allows the government to inspect any imports of voice communication equipment and accessories, and to ban such imported shipments without prior notification. One suspects this may well simply be the first step in establishing total government control over access and use of the internet, leading to monitoring of emails, social network sites, chat platforms and so on, all of which could now be targeted and monitored. Indeed, RWB has already voiced its fears that the DPI “will be misused for surveillance purposes by a government that already subjects the political opposition and privately-owned media to a great deal of harassment”.
Up until now government acts of repression have been mainly targeted at independent journalists, political activists and opposition supporters living and working outside the country. Journalists working abroad and publishing online find themselves attacked in print by comments from government stooges, as Freedom House states in its report. It said: “In addition to censorship, the authorities use regime apologists, paid commentators and pro-government websites to proactively manipulate the online news and information landscape.” This new move, however, throws a noose around all internet users. As ONI states, “Ethiopia is increasingly jailing journalists, and the government has shown a growing propensity toward repressive behaviour both off- and online. It seems likely that censorship will become more extensive as internet access expands across the country.” Such is democracy under Meles Zenawi.
Unlawful laws of control
The reasons offered for the new legislation by the regime are the well-trodden justifications of the unjust, made by the unlawful. RWB quotes the authorities, as saying that “the ban was needed on national security grounds and because VoIP posed a threat to the state’s monopoly of telephone communications”. Duplicitous at best, such actions of extreme repression are born out of paranoia. And let us point out there should be no such state telecommunications monopoly anyway.
These measures fit into a broader pattern of restrictions of freedom, all of which violate human rights laws. The Anti Terrorist Proclamation that came into effect in 2009, to a chorus of international criticism and fury, set the tone of repression and is being followed with ever-greater ferocity. The Ethiopian constitution, a legally binding document, of course proclaims universally recognized freedoms – all of which the government contravenes. As ONI states, “The Ethiopian government maintains strict control over access to the internet and online media, despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press and free access to information.”
What the constitution says
Relevant constitutional statements of intent specifically relating to the media; include Article 29on the “Right of Freedom of Thought, Opinion and Expression”. This states:
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression without any interference. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice.
It also says: “Freedom of the press and other mass media, and freedom of artistic creativity, is guaranteed.”
Regarding the right to privacy, Article 26 makes plain that “Everyone has the right to the inviolability of his notes and correspondence, including postal letters, and communications made by means of telephone, telecommunications and electronic devices. It adds that “Public officials shall respect and protect these rights.”
Censorship by the printing presses
In tandem with the current illegal attacks on internet freedom, the state-owned printing presses are tightening the screws of suppression and are, according to RWB, “demanding the right to censor the newspapers they print”.
Not only is there a state monopoly on telecommunications, but the press are also state owned. There is only one Amharic-language daily national paper, with around 32,000 readers, in a country of 85 million people.
Both television and radio are firmly under the control of the Meles regime.
Berhanena Selam is the main state printer, and has a virtual monopoly on newspaper and magazine printing. Along with other state-owned printers, it is trying to impose political censorship on media content before publication. According to RWB, “In a proposed ‘standard contract for printing’ recently circulated by state printers, they [the printers] assume the right to vet and reject articles prior to printing.” Article 10 of the proposed contract, entitled “Declining to print content violating the law”, states “the printer has the right to refuse to print any text if he has ‘adequate reason’ to think it breaks the law”. This in itself breaks the law as it contravenes Article 29 of the constitution, which prohibits any form of press censorship.
Not only do the actions of the Meles regime – a centralist government in the extreme – contravene the Ethiopian constitution, but the the grave breaches of human rights contravene numerous legally binding international treaties signed by the government. Internet access is a human right and is covered by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This has been clearly emphasized by the United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, who has reminded “all states of their positive obligation to promote or to facilitate the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression and the means necessary to exercise this right, including the internet”. He also stresses that “there should be as little restriction as possible to the flow of information via the internet”.
Complete control of the media pertains inside Ethiopia, and these controls are becoming ever more intense with greater disinformation and manipulation of the press and the primary source of news, television.
The Meles regime exercises a brutal and deeply repressive dictatorship. How long will the West, whose dollars, pounds and euros support the needy throughout Ethiopia, continue to turn a blind eye to the myriad human rights violations and a deaf ear to the cries of the people for justice and freedom? Sit not in silence America and Britain as your strategic, undemocratic “ally” in the Horn of Africa suppresses and controls the people of Ethiopia while claiming to act in their interest. Demand that international law is observed, federal law honoured and human rights upheld.
Saudi agent Al Amoudi, in collaboration with Woyanne junta leaders Meles Zenawi and Azeb Mesfin, is pillaging and looting Ethiopia by creating over 40 mega corporations during the past 20 years, while forcing into exile so many hard working Ethiopian businessmen. Al Amoudi has been able to dominate every thing in Ethiopia because he is being back up by TPLF guns. He should not be allowed to do the same thing to Ethiopian communities in the Diaspora. He hijacked the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North Amercia (ESFNA) for over 7 years, but he and his servants were kicked out by patriotic young Ethiopians this year. Now he is pouring millions of dollars of blood money — the money he stole from the people of Ethiopia — to organize a big festival in Washington DC starting July 1st. Netsanet Le Ethiopia Radio had a discussion last Sunday about this festival. Listen below:
US senator condemns Ethiopia’s persecution of the press
By Mohamed Keita | Committee to Protect Journalists
June 15, 2012.
On Wednesday, the same day the White House announced a strategic plan committing the United States to elevating its efforts in “challenging leaders whose actions threaten the credibility of democratic processes” in sub-Saharan Africa, a senior member of the U.S. Congress challenged the erosion of press freedom in a key U.S. strategic partner in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia.
Underscoring the importance of Ethiopia asan important partner for the United States in containing terrorism and ending poverty and famine in the region, Senator Patrick Leahy, a democrat from Vermont, published on Thursday a statement in TheCongressional Record, the official daily journal of U.S. Congress, in which he condemned the assault on the freedom of the Ethiopian press under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The senator argued that success for the Obama administration’s new partnership with Meles on food security depends on “broad national consultation, transparency, and accountability,” values, he said, that “depend in no small part on a free press.”
Leahy highlighted the emblematic case of Ethiopia’s most prominent imprisoned journalist and blogger, Eskinder Nega. Eskinder, whom PEN American Center honored this year with the Freedom to Write Award, could be convicted on June 21 on vague terrorism charges that carry a life sentence “simply for refusing to remain silent about the Ethiopian government’s increasingly authoritarian drift.” Five days prior to his arrest in September 2011, Eskinder had published an article criticizing the Meles administration “for misusing a vaguely-worded 2009 antiterrorism law to jail journalists and political opponents,” Leahy said.
In public statements and state media, Ethiopian government officials have sought to discredit Eskinder and the other 10 journalists, calling them terrorist accomplices involved in anti-state activities.
The evidence offered against the journalist in court, Leahy said, included “a video of a town hall meeting in which Eskinder discusses the Arab Spring and speculates on whether similar protests were possible in Ethiopia.” The journalist also consistently highlighted “the government’s denial of human rights, and call[ed] for an end to political repression and corruption” despite being jailed seven times, his wife imprisoned, and his newspapers repeatedly banned over two decades, Leahy said.
Leahy was the third member of Congress, after Alaska Senator Mark Begich and California Representative Edward Royce, to publicly voice concern over the persecution of 11 Ethiopian journalists “for questioning government actions and policies–activities that you and I and people around the world would recognize as fundamental to any free press,” he wrote. He added, “Ironically, by trying to silence those who do not toe the official line, the government is only helping to underscore the concerns that many inside and outside of Ethiopia share about the deterioration of democracy and human rights in that country.”
In the statement, Leahy, the chairman of a sub-committee responsible for funding portions of U.S. assistance to foreign countries, said the “importance of respecting freedom of the press cannot be overstated” in the disbursement of aid to the government.
The Sky is Falling!
