Police investigating alleged abduction of two Ethiopians (ONLF Leaders) in Nairobi

January 29, 2014, Nairobi, Kenya (Standard Digital) : Kenyan police are investigating alleged abduction of two top officials of Ethiopia’s Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) from outside a popular restaurant in Upper Hill, Nairobi. The two who were identified as Mr Sulub Ahmed and Ali Hussein were members of the ONLF negotiation team that was in Nairobi for a proposed third round of talks. Other officials said the two were members of ONLF central committee. ONLF officials who asked not to be named claimed security agencies from Ethiopia and Kenya were involved in the kidnapping. They had been invited for a lunch date at a restaurant near TSC headquarters on Sunday afternoon when they were abducted by men who were in three waiting cars. One of the cars, a black Toyota Prado was seized and detained at the Turbi police station on Monday but the two were missing amid speculation they had been taken across to Ethiopia. Moyale OCPD Tom Atuti said there had been complaints of abduction of the two officials but they were yet to confirm who were behind it. “The vehicle and driver are under police custody to establish if indeed he was involved in the alleged kidnapping of the officials,” said Atuti. The ONLF officials who spoke in Nairobi said the two officials were invited by the Kenyan government for peace negotiations. “This is not the first time that such an incident happens and we urge that the government of Kenya provides us with security. We do not know the fate of our officials but we know they were taken to Ethiopia,” said an official who asked not to be named. He asked Kenya, which took the responsibility to be a neutral venue, and as a facilitator to investigate fully the incident and request the Ethiopian government to return the abductees. Analysts say that this move may affect diplomatic negotiations between ONLF and Ethiopia brokered by Kenyan Government on 2012. ONLF is a separatist rebel group fighting to make the region of Ogaden in eastern Ethiopia an independent state. ONLF, established in 1984, demands for the autonomy of this region, and claimed responsibility for several attacks since the beginning of 2007 aimed at Ethiopian forces in the area, which the government considers a region under the new federal system. There live nearly eight million people, mainly Somali. Because Ogaden is populated by many ethnic Somalis, the ONLF claims that Ethiopia is an occupying government. However, the Ogaden people are represented in the Ethiopian government by a number of groups, including the opposition Somali People’s Democratic Party (SPDP). Source: Standard Related: Ethiopia Abducts two key-ONLF senior leaders and negotiators in Nairobi, Kenya

Ethiopia Abducts two key-ONLF senior leaders and negotiators in Nairobi, Kenya

By Ahmed Abdi

January 28, 2014 (ONLF) — Two high-ranking members of the ONLF, who were peace negotiators between ONLF-and- Ethiopia have been abducted in Kenya by the Ethiopian security agents on Sunday afternoon(26/01/2014).

The Group issued yesterday a press release saying that “The Ethiopian security abducted Mr Sulub Ahmed and Ali Hussein, two senior ONLF leaders from Nairobi yesterday afternoon. The leaders, who were members of the ONLF negotiation team, were in Nairobi for a proposed third round of talks.”http://onlf.org/?p=578

Amharic fluent speaker-Sulub Ahmed ,a former ONLF-head-quarter’s commander and a member of Central Committee and Ali Hussein aka Ali-dhere ,a member of the 74 ONLF central Committee have been in Nairobi waiting to resume a peace-talk between Ethiopian government -and-ONLF which stalled 17 October last year. 

The two men had no guards with them during their stay in Nairobi. and they went missing yesterday afternoon after going to the town centre. Their cell phones went dead in the early afternoon. Early reports indicate that the Ethiopian security who armed with pistols drugged them and took  them to Moyale through Isiolo Route, crossing through the gaint Ogaden border .

Ethiopia – Land for Sale

As the economy thrives, we examine the plight of Ethiopians forced from their land to make way for foreign investors.

NGO’s and policy advocates say the true consequences of the land grabs are almost all negative [Reuters]

January 28, 2014 (Al Jazeera) — Just a few decades ago, Ethiopia was a country defined by its famines, particularly between 1983-1985 when in excess of half a million people starved to death as a consequence of drought, crop failure and a brutal civil war.

Against this backdrop, it is impressive that in recent years, Ethiopia has been experiencing stellar economic growth. The headline statistics are certainly remarkable: the country is creating millionaires faster than any other in Africa; output from farming, Ethiopia’s dominant industry, has tripled in a decade; the capital Addis Ababa is experiencing a massive construction boom; and the last six years have seen the nation’s GDP grow by a staggering 108 percent.

But it is not all positive news, because for all the good figures there are still plenty of bad ones.

Around 90 percent of the population of 87 million still suffers from numerous deprivations, ranging from insufficient access to education to inadequate health care; average incomes are still well below $1500 a year; and more than 30 million people still face chronic food shortages.

And while there are a number of positive and genuine reasons for the growth spurt – business and legislative reforms, more professional governance, the achievements of a thriving service sector – many critics say that the growth seen in agriculture, which accounts for almost half of Ethiopia’s economic activity and a great deal of its recent success, is actually being driven by an out of control ‘land grab’, as  multinational companies and private speculators vie to lease millions of acres of the country’s most fertile territory from the government at bargain basement prices.

Ethiopian opposition leaders detained after meeting with Amnesty International

Do you remember this:

Amnesty International | 31 August 2011

Bekele was held immediately after he was interviewed by Claire Beston of Amnesty International U.K

Two Ethiopian opposition leaders have been arrested after meeting an Amnesty International delegation, which was afterwards expelled from the country, the organization said today.

One of the men was accused of terror-related offences, while the charges against the other man are not known.

“We are extremely concerned that the arrests of the two men occurred within days of talking with our delegates. Although the Ethiopian government has denied it, we are worried that their arrests are not a coincidence, but because they spoke to Amnesty International,” said Michelle Kagari, deputy programme director for Africa.

Bekele Gerba, deputy Chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) and Olbana Lelisa of the Oromo People’s Congress party (OPC) were both arrested on 27 August.

On the same day that the two men were arrested, the Amnesty International delegation was called to a government meeting, where they were ordered to leave the country.

Bekele Gerba, an English teacher at Addis Ababa University, was arrested on allegations of belonging to the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a charge the government often uses to silence members of the Oromo political opposition. It has not been made public what Olbana Lelisa is accused of, but it is anticipated that the charges will be the same.

Amnesty International delegates had met with Olbana Lelisa the day before his arrest, to exchange information. They also met with Bekele Gerba, four days before his arrest. Amnesty International delegates were photographed by secret service agents leaving his office after the meeting.

Bekele Gerba kept in prison for bureaucratic reasons

January 24, 2014

Ethiopia’s opposition politician Bekele Gerba is not legible for release until next month and may not be released until next year, Horn Affairs learnt.

Bekele Gerba, former dep. Chairperson of Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), was detained in August 27, 2011. He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment on charges of “provocation crimes against the state” and collaborating with the Oromo Liberation Front, an organization designated as terrorist by Ethiopian Parliament.

The sentence was reduced to three years and seven months after Bekele appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.

There have been claims on social media that Bekele was supposed to be released on probation last weekend, but has been kept in prison for bureaucratic reasons.

Public Relations officer of the Federal Prison Administration Commission contradicted the claims.

Addisu Tedros told Horn Affairs today that:

“A prisoner’s release on probation is determined based on a thorough evaluation and finally submitted to court for approval. However, Bekele Gerba’s case has not reached that stage yet.

If Bekele Gerba is to be released on probation it would not be sooner than February 10, 2014. Otherwise, his prison term will end on May 11, 2015.”

Asked whether the dates are counted correctly, the officer added that it is based on a computerized data base.

On the other hand, a senior official in the Ethiopian government told Horn Affairs that Bekele Gerba won’t be released on probation.

The official, speaking off-the-record, said that: “The government has no intention of releasing [Bekele Gerba] until he completes the full prison term.”

Oromo Demonstrajon i Bergen Oktober 26,2013 Med Oromo Unge Gruppe i Norge.

ለወራት ተቋርጦ የነበረው የሙስሊም ኢትዮጵያውያን ተቃውሞ ተጀመረ

ጥር ፲፮ (አስራ ስድስት) ቀን ፳፻፮ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :-በዛሬው የሰደቃ እና ዱአ መርሀ ግብር በተለያዩ የአገሪቱ ክፍል በብዙ ሺ የሚቆጠሩ የሚገኙ ሙስሊሞች በእስር ላይ የሚገኙ የመፍትሄ አፈላላጊ የኮሚቴ አባላትን አስበው ውለዋል። እጆቻቸውን ወደ ላይ በማንሳትም ለፈጣሪያቸው ተመጽኖ አቅርበዋል።

በአዲስ አበባ በታላቁ አንዋር መስጊድ በመቶሺዎች የሚቆጠር ህዝብ ተገኝቶ ድዋ አድርጓል። መንግስት የሙስሊሙን እንቅስቃሴ ተቆጣጥሬዋለሁ በማለት መግለጫዎችን ሲሰጥ ቆይቷል። የተለያዩ ፊልሞችን በመስራትም የሙስሊሙን ተቃውሞ ከሽብርተንነት ጋር ለማያያዝ ሙከራ እያደረገ ነው። የዛሬው ተቃውሞ በመንግስት ሊመቀርበው የቅስቀሳ ፊልሞችና በ ቃሊቲ የሚገኙት አስተባባሪዎች ሙስሊሙ ትግሉን እንዲቀጥል ላቀረቡት ጥሪ የተሰጠ ምላሽ ይመስላል።

በሌላ ዜና ደግሞ ከሙስሊሙ ተቃውሞ ጋር በተያያዘ ለእስር የተዳረገው ጋዜጠኛ የሱፍ ጌታቸው በቂልጦ ማረሚያ ቤት ስቃይ እየደረሰበት ነው።
በቂልንጦ በእስር ላይ የሚገኘው ጋዜጠኛ የሱፍ ጌታቸው በዞን 2 ውስጥ በተነሳ ፀብ ምክኒያት ሶላት እንዳይሰግዱ መከልከሉ የታወቀ ሲሆን በሰንሰለት ታስሮም ተደብድቧል። ለጋዜጠኛው ቅርብ የሆኑ ምንጮች እንደገለጹት ድብደባው የተፈጸመበት ለምን ብሎ ጥያቄ ስላነሳ ነው። በክፍሉ ውስጥ በቡድን ለተነሳው ጸብ መንስኤ ነህ በሚል ከፍተኛ ማስጠንቀቂያ ተሰጥቶታል። በግልም ሆነ በቡድን የኢሻ የመግሪብ የሱብሂ ሶላት በክፍሉም ውስጥ እንዳይሰግድ እገዳ ተጥሎበታል።