Ethiopians talk of violent intimidation as their land is earmarked for foreign investors

April 14, 2015 Ethiopia

Ethiopia has long faced criticism for forcibly relocating tens of thousands of PEOPLE from their ancestral HOMES. PHOTOGRAPH: Siegfried Modola/Reuters

(The Guardian) — New report gives damning indictment of the government’s mandatory resettlement policy carried out in a political climate of torture, oppression and silencing.

The human cost of Ethiopia’s “villagisation” programme is laid bare by damning first person testimony published on Tuesday.

The east African country has long faced criticism for forcibly relocating tens of thousands of people from their ancestral homes to make way for large scale commercial agriculture, often BENEFITINGforeign INVESTORS. Those moved to purpose-built communes are allegedly no longer able to farm or access education, healthcare and other basic services.

The victims of land grabbing and displacement are given a rare voice in We Say the Land is Not Yours: Breaking the Silence against Forced Displacement in Ethiopia, a report from the California-based thinktank the Oakland Institute.

Some of the interviewees still live in Ethiopia, while others have sought political asylum abroad, and all remain anonymous for their own safety.

Abuse and hacking of Ayyaantuu Website

March 30,2015

Recently, we observed some comments on http://ayyaantuu.com that were deliberately posted to disturb and abuse the purpose of blogging on ayyaantuu. Although, the hosting system plugin can catch certain terminologies, including curse words for later moderation, there are still QUITE many unwelcomed words succeed to go through and posted immediately.

We have also observed that there are some individuals who are trying to overload the SERVER with junk. Ayyaantuu.com experienced latency and timeouts for over three weeks now.

We doubled up the system memory only two weeks ago, partially due to the increase in traffic.  At the same time we started  building  a second ayyaantuu to SPREAD traffic around and for failover purpose.

The hosting company suspects that there INSTALLED a process hacking tool on ayyaantuu, which starts a number of PHP processes at a time. These processes cause slow loading in the user browsers, sometimes ending up with error 503 server unavailable. We are working to trace such abuses.

Our immediate concern lies now with the comments. We WANT TO take a measure which is good for you. Thus, we want to hear from you on how to handle comments.

Ayyaantuu Editors

Oromo Political Prisoner Bekele Gerba Freed; the Ideals (Anti-Land-Grabbing, Environment, National Equality) He Got Imprisoned for Still Unresolved

Posted: Bitootessa/March 31, 2015 · Finfinne Tribune | Gadaa.com | Comments (4)

Oromo media outlets, OMN and Radio Afuura Biyyaa, have CONFIRMED the release from prison of the Oromo political prisoner Ob. Bekele Gerba, who was the Deputy Chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) at the TIME of his arrestin AUGUST 2011. Ob. Bekele Gerba had been unjustly imprisoned for about three and half years. According to INFORMATION we have received, his fellow prisoner Ob. Olbana Lelisa, the high-ranking leader in the Oromo People’s Congress party (OPC) at the TIME of his arrest with Ob. Bekele Gerba in August 2011, remains imprisoned unjustly.

Issues Ob. Bekele Gerba Imprisoned for Remain Unresolved …

BEKELE GERBA ON LAND-GRABBING AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION:
In 2010 – a year before his arrest, Ob. Bekele Gerba passionately debated during the General Election about land-grabbing, especially land-grabbing around Finfinne, and the appalling environmental pollution in Oromia and beyond (LISTEN below); his firm stand on these issues had brought land-grabbing around Finfinne and environmental pollution to the forefront of the people’s consciousnesses at the time and since then.

BEKELE GERBA ON NATIONAL EQUALITY FOR OROMOS AND OTHER NATIONALITIES IN ETHIOPIA:
His firm STAND on national equality has been also widely reported by the media (LISTEN below); Ob. Bekele Gerba made the appeal for NATIONAL equality for Oromos and OTHER oppressed nationalities in Ethiopia as a political prisoner facing the Ethiopian government’s politically biased and motivated court in NOVEMBER 2012.

የአውሬው መንግስታችን አሳፋሪ ድርጊት በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ

ከ አብነት ዋሚ

March 27/2015

Norway Bergen

      በዚህ ባሳለፍነው 24 አመት እውነት  ህዝባችንን የሚመሩት ሰወች ናቸው የሚለው ነገር ሁል ጊዜም እንድጠራጠረው የሚያደርገኝ ብዙ በደሎች እና የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀሎች በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ ሃገሪቶዋን እየመራ ባለው በTPLF ተፈጽሞል᎓᎓ እነዚህ ሁሉ የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች እና ግፎች በራሳቸው ህዝብ ላይ እየፈጽሙ እና እያስፈጸሙ  ያሉት አሸባሪዎች የሰው ፍጡር ናቸው የሚለውን ለመቀበል አእምሮዬ ባያምንበትም እነዚ ገዳዮች ሰው መሆናቸውን ከመቀበል ውጭ አማራጭ አልነበረኝም

       ባሳለፍነው አመት December 9/2014 ግን ከ እስከዛሬው ለየት ያለና እነዚ ጨካኞች ሰው አለመሆናቸውን ያረጋገጠልኝ ለሰሚው ሁሉ የሚዘገንን ግፍ በ ኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ ተፈጽሞዋል᎓᎓ በተለምዶ ብዙ የእግዚአብሄር ፍጡራን የሆኑ ምድባቸው ከዓውሬ የሆኑ እንስሳት እግዚአብሄር ከሰውልጅ ልዩ ባህሪ እንዲኖራቸው አድርጎ ነው የፈጠራቸው ከልዩነታቸው መሃከል እኔ መጥቀስ የፈለኩት ወይም ከጽሁፌ ታሪክ ጋር ይሄድ ዘንድ የአውሬነት ባህሪያቸውን እና አመጋገባቸውን ነው᎓᎓ አብዛኛውን ጊዜ አውሬዎች ምግባቸውን የሚያገኙት በአደን ነው የሚያድኑትንም እንስሳ ይዘው ከገደሉ ወይም እንዳያመልጥ አድርገው ካደቀቁት በሁዋላ ወደሚፈልጉበት ቦታ ወይም ተረጋግተው ለመመገብ የሚያመቻቸው ቦታ እስኪደርሱ ሬሳውን መሬት ለመሬት እየጎተቱ ይወስዱታል ታድያ አንድ ነገር ላስታውሳቹ እንደዚህ አይነት ባህሪ ያላቸው ፍጡራን ምድባቸው ከአውሬ ነው ስማቸውም አውሬ ይባላል᎓᎓ ይህንን እንደመንደርደሪያ ያነሳሁላቹ ስለፍጡራን ባህሪይ ልነግራቹህ ወይም ላስረዳቹ ብዬ ሳይሆን በቅርቡ በወያኔ ካድሬዎች የተፈጸመውን አሰቃቂ እና ኢሰብአዊ ድርጊት ነው በኦሮሚያ ውስጥ በደራ ወረዳ በጊንዳ ቀበሌ December 9/2014 ከተማ ውበቱ እና ጕደኛውን በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ከገደሉ በሁዋላ በከተማ አደባባይ ላይ መሬት ለመሬት እየጎተቱ በአደባባይ በህዝብ ፊት ሰቀሉዋቸው᎓᎓ አንድ በህገመንግስት ወይም በህግ ህዝቤን አስተዳድራለው ከሚል መንግስት እንደዚ አይነት የአሸባሪ ድርጊት ወይም ኢሰብአዊ (አውሬአዊ) ድርጊት የሚጠበቅ ነውን ጎበዝ ምን እየሆንን ነው ያለነው ምንስ እየጠበቅን ነው ያለነው የእኛ ውርደት እኮ ማብቂያ አጣ ሰው በህይወት እያለ ተዋርዶ ሲሞት እሬሳውን ለቤተሰብ ሰጥቶ በክብር እንዳያርፍ ማድረግ ምን ማለት ነው ኢሄ የሰው ባህሪ ነውን ሰዎች እንደዚህ አይነት ፍጽም ኢሰባአዊ የሆነ አረመኔአዊ ድርጊት የሚፈጸሙ TPLF እና የ TPLF ካድሬዎች ምድባቸው ከሰው ነው ትላላቹ እኔ ግን ከአውሬ መድቤያቸዋለው የእናንተን ለእናንተ ትቼዋለው᎓᎓

Govt Tells ODF’s Delegation Led by Ob. Leenco Lata to Leave Ethiopia | Delegation Back to Europe

had Several media outlets have reported that the delegation of the Oromo Democratic Front (ODF), led by its president Ob. Leenco Lata,been ORDERED by the Ethiopian government to leave the country, hours after its arrival in Finfinne (Addis Ababa). The ODF delegation was reported to have landed in Finfinne on March 18, 2015, with the hope of launching a “peaceful political struggle UNDER the current Constitution” in Ethiopia. As of March 21, 2015, upon the ORDER of the Ethiopian government, the ODF delegation, including its leader, has been reported to have left Finfinne for EUROPE.

http://finfinnetribune.com/Gadaa/2015/03/govt-tells-odfs-delegation-led-by-ob-leenco-lata-to-leave-ethiopia-delegation-back-to-europe/

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት የኢንተርኔት ስለላ

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ጋዜጠኞችን ለመከታተል የስለላ የኮምፕዩተር ፕሮግራሞችን መቀጠም መቀጠሉን አንድ ጥናት አመለከተ።

ዓለም ዓቀፉ የመብት ተሟጋች ሂዉመን ራይትስ ዎችና ለጋዜጠኞች መብት የሚከራከረዉ CPJ እንዳመለከቱት፤ ባለፈዉ ጎርጎሪዮሳዊ ዓመት ማለቂያ ኢትዮጵያ ይህን የመሰለያ ፕሮግራም መጠቀሟን ሲቲዝን ላብ የተሰኘዉ የካናዳ የጥናት ተቋም ይፋ አድርጓል። በጣሊያን ኩባንያ ለገበያ የቀረበዉ ይህ የኮምፕዩተር የስለላ ፕሮግራም በተለይ የኢትዮጵያ ሳተላይት ቴሌቭዥን ( ኢሳት) የተባለዉ ጣቢያ ጋዜጠኞች ላይ ለክትትል መዋሉ ተገልጿል።

በቶሮንቶ ካናዳ ዩኒቨርሲቲ መንክ በተሰኘዉ የዓለም አቀፍ ግንኙነት ተቋም የሚገኘዉ የሲትዝን ላይ ተመራማሪዎች ባለፈዉ ታህሳስ ወር መጨረሻ ገደማ ላብ ነበር ከኢሳት ዋና ሥራ አስኪያጅ ከአቶ ነአምን ዘለቀ ምንነቱን እንደሚለከቱ አንድ ኤሜይል የደረሳቸዉ። እንደዘገባዉ አቶ ነአምን ስለምርጫ 2015 መረጃዎች እንደያዘ የሚጠቁመዉን የኢሜይል መልዕክት ዉስጡን በመጠራጠር ነበር የፀጥታ፤ የሰብዓዊ መብቶችና የመረጃ ቴክኒዎሎጂን በሚመለከት ለሚመራመረዉ ቡድን ያስተላለፉት። ብዙም ሳይቆይ ሲቲዚን ላብ ያ መልዕክት በመንግሥት የሚተዳደረዉ የኢትዮ ቴሌኮም የኮምፕዩተር ማዕከል ጋ የተገናኘ መሆኑን እንደረሰበት ይገልጻል። የሂዉመን ራይትስ ዎች የኢትዮጵያ ጉዳይ ተመራማሪ ፊሊክስ ሆርን፤

«የሲቲዝን ላብ ተመራማሪዎች በርካት ተመሳሳይ ጉዳዮችን አግኝተዋል። ከኢሳት ጋ ግንኙነት ያላቸዉ በዉጭ የሚገኙ ጋዜጠኞች ለመንግሥታት ሰላይ የኮምፕዩተር ፕሮግራም በሚያቀርበዉ በጣሊያን ኩባንያ የስለላ ፕሮግራም በየግላቸዉ ጥቃት እንደደረሰባቸዉ አረጋግጠዋል። አንድ ኮምፕዩተር አንዴ በዚያ ሰላይ ፕሮግራም ከተጠመደ ኮምፕዩተሩን ያጠመደዉ ግለሰብ የፈለገዉን መረጃዎችን ማግኘት ይችላል። የኢሜል፤ የስካይፕ ግንኙነቶችን ና አድራሻዎችን ማግኘት ይችላል፤ ባለቤቱ ሳያዉቅ የዌብ ካሜራዉን ሊከፍት ይችላል፤ ባጠቃላይ የዚያን ሰዉ ኮምፕዩተርን ሙሉ በሙሉ ይቆጣጠረዋል።»

Integrated Master Plan or Intended Marginalisation Plan against Oromos?

bilisummaa March 3, 2015 Leave a comment

“My task which I am TRYING to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel – it is, above all, to make you see. That- and no more, and it is everything.” Conrad (1985 [1897]:1)

We have been told many times over by The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) about development in Ethiopia without understanding its meaning and significant impact on democracy, economy, social and human rights. As we know, there are many different definitions of development, understanding the term “development” is crucial since it has changed throughout HISTORY. The easiest way to define development in our case is to describe it in terms of the improvement of the lives of the society which is not happening as TPLF Inc wants us to believe. Development is not just only about economic growth, but the elevation of the living standards of the whole society and should aim to create economic, social and political improvements so that all people can live a dignified life. It is good to have development for poverty alleviation without excluding other social aspects such as human rights, good governance and treatment of citizens fairly and equally without favouring one group or any group over the other for any reason.

The question is, when the development that TPLF Inc often trumpets is accompanied by violent processes causing immense destruction to economy and immeasurable sufferings to citizens with loss of life, how would one have the moral standing to call it development? If the development as the government claims is in favour of the LOCAL PEOPLE, why does the government not consult Oromo farmers who are victims of this false development before implementing its PLAN? The fact is that the plan is not in the interest of the Oromo people as it is aimed to rob them of their land and make them mere bystanders as members of the ruling junta use the land to enrich themselves at the expense of the dispossessed Oromo mass.