Ethiopian-Israelis Demand Ministerial Committees to Help Community

The leaders of a protest movement alleging systemic discrimination against the Ethiopian-Israeli community demanded on Sunday that the government improve education and housing, and set up ministerial committees to address Ethiopian needs. They also demanded that charges against community members arrested at a recent riot in Tel Aviv be dropped.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv, a panel of activist leaders expressed their frustration with what they said was the government’s shortcomings in addressing the quality of life of the Ethiopian-Israeli community.

“The decision makers neglected the Ethiopian community and ignored the harsh realities, in which an entire generation feels that it is not part of society and has no place in it,” said Inbar Bugale, one of the leaders of the movement, reading from a prepared statement.

Members of the Ethiopian-Israeli community say they are protesting years of institutional racism and discrimination, as well as ongoing police brutality. The release of a video showing police beating an Ethiopian-born soldier, apparently unprovoked, sparked the protests last month.

The activists stated Sunday that not only was the national government to blame for the situation, but also the local authorities. They called for greater monitoring to ensure that the Ethiopian community is not marginalized.

“There should be no discrimination toward the community. They should treat us like every other citizen,” Bugale said.

Bugale rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call last week for the establishment of a ministerial committee to assess the situation of the Ethiopian community and claimed that three years ago, Netanyahu had publicly declared that “there is no place in Israel for racism.

“We will not give up just because of Netanyahu’s announcement to set up a ministerial committee; we have already heard that from the prime minister,” she related. “Then, just as today, he promised to root out racism; then, too, he promised to fight it.”

Ethiopian-Israelis Want Police Officer Who Beat Soldier To Go On Trial

Ethiopian-Israeli activists called for a police officer caught on camera beating an Ethiopian-Israeli soldier to be put on trial.

At a news conference Sunday in Tel Aviv, the activists also demanded that charges be dropped against protesters arrested in the city last week during a demonstration spurred by the attack that turned violent, The Jerusalem Post reported. They also called for improved conditions for Ethiopian-Israelis in the areas of education, housing and welfare.

“Decision-makers abandoned Ethiopian-Israelis as though they were foreign implants and and not a basic part of the foundation of Israeli society,” activist Inbar Bugale said. “They have ignored the difficult reality that there is an entire young generation that feels it is not part of the Israeli society.”

Also Sunday, the Jewish Agency for Israel said it would immigrants’ eligibility to reside in its absorption centers from two years to three. Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency, said the decision would be implemented immediately and that the Jewish Agency would assume the costs of the third year — the Israeli government funds the first two.

Sharansky called upon the Israeli government to accelerate the development of permanent housing solutions for the Ethiopian immigrants.

“Integrating Ethiopian immigrants into Israeli society is a national mission of tremendous importance, and that begins with the move from immigrant absorption centers to permanent housing,” he said.

Some 4,755 Ethiopian immigrants currently reside in Jewish Agency immigrant absorption centers, including 853 residing there beyond their period of eligibility, according to the Jewish Agency.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry reportedly has issued a statement expressing concern over Israel’s treatment of Ethiopian immigrants to Israel. The statement extensively quotes statements by Israeli officials admitting that the county has erred in its integration of Ethiopian-Israelis, Ynet reported.

Ethiopian government officials reportedly summoned Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Belaynesh Zevadia, to discuss the issue and the recent violent protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

It’s Ethiopia! Kenya now breaks silence over aborted Uhuru trip

It was revealed Sunday that the President’s jet turned back after Ethiopian authorities advised the pilot to change the flight course in a bid to avoid the Yemen airspace. It also emerged that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s jet turned back to Nairobi in Somalia, after Ethiopian air controllers advised them to reroute. Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the protest note was handed to Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya Dina Mufti, who was reportedly summoned to the ministry last Monday over the matter. “We sent a strong protest note to Ethiopia for embarrassing us. What they did was wrong,” said a highly placed source who requested anonymity. Foreign Affairs PS Karanja Kibicho confirmed that Kenya had sent a note to Ethiopia but denied the envoy had been summoned. See also: Uhuru turns heat on media over Ruto woes “It’s wrong to say that we summoned the ambassador. He came to pick the note from the ministry just like all ambassadors do,” Dr Kibicho said. The PS told The Standard that the issue had been resolved amicably and it was now time to “let the country move forward”. “It was an unfortunate incident and all the countries involved have held discussions and resolved it. We will ensure this does not happen again,” he said. Until Sunday, government officials have been unwilling to give information about what exactly led to the cancellation of the trip, fueling all manner of speculation among Kenyans. Ethiopia and Eritrea have previously been separately blamed over the aborted journey. Mechanical problem has also been cited as a possible reason why the aircraft jetted back. The presidential jet flew back to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport four hours after it had taken off headed for Dubai. Although initial reports had indicated that it had crossed the Kenyan-Ethiopia border almost 40 minutes later headed for Eritrea, which was the safe route given the turmoil in Yemeni, the PS clarified that Uhuru’s jet actually returned from Somalia.

“The plane returned from Somalia and not Ethiopia after it become untenable to reroute the presidential jet. There was a misdirection which has since been regretted,” Kibicho added.
According to the PS, the President’s pilot had two options; to return or land for refueling. The pilot chose to fly back since landing a presidential jet in a foreign country requires a lot of protocol arrangements. “This is a decision you have to make within a short time given you are cruising at 800 kilometres per hour and you are 3,000 metres above sea level. You can’t just land in any country with a head of state on board.” Dr Kibicho says the new route could have seen the President’s plane entering Saudi Arabia airspace on its way to Dubai through Somalia and Djibouti.

Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke

Detail of Rights Violation on Zone9 Bloggers and Journalists

Ethiopia Human Rights Project
It is now solid one year since the arrest of Zone9 blogger and journalists. there had been 27 court hearings, 86 days of interrogation at the notorious “Meakelawi” interrogation center before they moved to their current detention place in “Kality” and “Kilinto”. during their stay they faced many rights violation. this rights violation had also been reported for the united nations working group for arbitrary detention.
On the commemoration of their arrest the summary of the rights violation was made public for readers and followers of the case of for the last one year. attached is the summary of the rights violation.

Elections, Ethiopian style: Human Rights Watch researcher

Since the last election, the ruling party has exerted more control and increased its repression of basic liberties.

Felix Horne is a Horn of Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

This is what an election campaign looks like in Ethiopia, where the ruling coalition took 99.6 percent of parliamentary seats in the last national elections, in 2010.
Jirata, who asked that his real name not be used, is a 19-year-old student who was campaigning for a legally registered opposition party recently, when security officials arrested him.
They told him that he was working for a “terrorist group” that sought to forcibly bring down the government. He was badly beaten over the course of three nights and released on the condition that he end his involvement in politics. He is still limping from his injuries, and he told me he no longer has any interest in getting involved in politics. He says he will vote for the government party “because life is easier that way”.

There are few ways for Ethiopians to peacefully express dissent, writes Horne [Al Jazeera]

Jirata was working for an Oromo party, representing an ethnic group long targeted by the government. But as Ethiopians go to the polls in late May, the prospects for opposition parties to fully and fairly campaign are grim.

Since the last election, the ruling party has only exerted more control and increased its widespread repression of basic liberties, including the rights to free expression, assembly, and association.
The courts provide no justice in cases of political importance. While election day is unpredictable, it’s clear that the avenues by which opposition parties can fully function and citizens can engage on political issues are largely closed.
While there are 75 registered opposition groups, several of the largest parties have talked of boycotting the elections because of flawed electoral processes. Challenges with registering candidates, acquiring the funds they are legally entitled to, mobilising their supporters, and keeping their members out of prison have taken their toll.
Suppression of non-governmental voices
The Ethiopian media provides little coverage of relevant political issues ahead of the election since what vestiges of independent media existed have largely been eliminated since 2010.
Reporters critical of the government are regularly harassed, threatened and detained. In 2014 alone, over 30 journalists fled Ethiopia and at least six publications were closed down.
Sources providing information to media and human rights groups are regularly targeted. Many diaspora media websites, while heavily politicised, remain blocked in Ethiopia. Journalists must choose between self-censorship, harassment, imprisonment, and exile.
The situation hasn’t been much better for opposition parties that want to organise peaceful protests and rallies ahead of the election. The Semayawi party (Blue Party), for example, is one of the newcomers in Ethiopia’s electoral landscape, and since 2013 has tried to hold regular and peaceful issue-based protests.
Protesters and organisers have frequently been arrested and harassed, their equipment has been confiscated, and permits unfairly denied. One of their leaders is on trial on trumped-up terrorism charges.
The lone opposition parliament member is not running this time due to a split in his party, the Union of Democracy and Justice, in which Ethiopia’s national electoral board played favourites. The net effect is that the government awarded the party name to an offshoot of the party that is more closely aligned to government policies and interests.
No dissent allowed
There are few ways for Ethiopians to peacefully express dissent or to contribute to the national political dialogue. Dissent of any type, particularly in rural areas, is dealt with harshly. The long-standing 5:1 system of grassroots surveillance – under which one individual is responsible for monitoring the activities of five households – has let local officials clamp down on dissent before it spreads beyond the household level. Telephone surveillance is commonplace, and the ongoing trial of a group of bloggers called Zone 9 has resulted in increased self-censorship online.
In short, there is limited space for government critics to play a peaceful and constructive role. The only international observers to the election will be the African Union. The European Union is not sending observers, noting that Ethiopia has not implemented recommendations by previous election observers. As Human Rights Watch documented after the 2010 elections, those who complain about election irregularities risk arrest and harassment.
“If we have an issue with government where do we go?” an Ethiopian who lives in a rural area recently told me, summing it up: “There is no media that will write our story, there are no more organisations that work on issues that the government does not like, if we take to the streets we are arrested, and if we go to their office to question we are called terrorists. If we go to the courts, there is no independence – we go to jail. There are no large opposition parties to vote for in the election, and even if there were, if we vote for them our lives then become very difficult. So what can we do? The elections are just another sign of our repression.”

The Chutzpah of the TPLF Foreign Minister and his criticism of Israeli ‘police brutality’

The Chutzpah of the TPLF Foreign Minister and his criticism of Israeli ‘police brutality’
May 11, 2015

by Alem Mamo
The headline on Jewish Business News reads “Ethiopian Foreign Ministry expresses concern over ‘police brutality’ in Israel and ‘years of discrimination of Ethiopian Israelis’.” When I saw the headline initially I thought it was some kind of joke written as a satirical column. However, as I read through the article, I realized that in fact it is actually a serious piece by Ynet Columnist Itamar Eichner.
The Israeli government often gets a whole host of criticism and condemnation, and rightly so, for its policy vis-à-vis the rights, safety and security of the Palestinian people, or for the lack of social and economic mobility of Ethiopian-Israeli Jews who came to Israel through the Aliyah. These criticisms, most of the time, originate from those who abide by and respect the basic tenants of freedom, justice and appreciation for the sanctity and dignity of human life. What I found startling and what forced me to gasp at this story is that the criticism and the demand for an explanation came from the ruthless and authoritarian regime managed and operated by TPLF. It is beyond audacity for a regime to speak of ‘brutality’ and ‘discrimination’ by Israeli police while subjecting the people of Ethiopia to terror and brutality for more than two decades. This kind of audacity doesn’t even register on the Chutzpah chart. Inbits blatancy and irony, it defies even the fundamentals of public relations stunt.
First and foremost, the TPLF regime has stripped Ethiopian citizenship rights of those who acquire another citizenship. Effectively denying people of Ethiopian origin (including Israelis of Ethiopian origin) from participating in the political discourse of their country of birth. The obvious reason for this, as is well known, is that vast majority of members of Ethiopian diaspora does not support or ally itself with the TPLF regime. Thus, blocking the political participation of the members of Ethiopian diaspora by denying them citizenship is a political strategy to minimize the potential electoral power of opposition groups.
In the 2003 Proclamation on Ethiopian Nationality, No. 378 of 2003 that offers detail to the Ethiopian Constitution Article 6 on Citizenship, the regime explicitly stipulated, “Ethiopian citizenship is only allowed to be retained or
acquired if the individual does not possess or acquire the citizenship of another country.”2 Given this fact the TPLF regime does not have the legal mandate or right under international law to speak on behalf of those it calls ‘foreign’.
In fact, the TPLF seems comfortable meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign state in this case the state of Israel. This is perhaps an indication of the utter ignorance of the elites of TPLF and their unfamiliarity with the law they have promulgated, let alone the international law surrounding citizenship and the responsibility of the state. There was a ‘story’ I was told long ago, and it goes like this: When TPLF entered Addis Ababa the leadership and the foot soldiers realized that Mengistu Hailemariam had fled to Zimbabwe prior to their entry. Their immediate response was “why don’t we continue our military operation on to Zimbabwe until we capture or kill him.” They had to be reminded that, first, Harare is 4311 Kms from Addis Ababa, and second, they have to enter the sovereign territories of three African countries before they get to Harare.
Secondly, the TPLF regime doesn’t have an inch of moral ground to stand on and criticize the human rights record of the Israel government or Israel police force. Human Rights Watch in its 2015 World Report summed up its assessment of TPLF regime – “The Ethiopian government during 2014 intensified its campaign of arrests, prosecutions, and unlawful force to silence criticism, Human Rights Watch said in its Report. The government responded to peaceful protests with harassment, threats, and arbitrary detention, and used draconian laws to further repress journalists, opposition activists, and critics.”
Amnesty International further elaborates in more explicit language outlining the brutality and lawlessness of TPLF security apparatus: “In April and May, protests took place across Oromia region against a proposed “Integrated
Master Plan’ to expand the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia regional territory. Security services, comprising federal police and military Special Forces, responded with excessive force, firing live ammunition at protesters in Ambo and Guder towns and Wallega and Madawalabu universities, resulting in the deaths of at least 30 people, including children. Hundreds of people were beaten by security service agents during and after the protests, including protesters, bystanders, and parents of protesters for failing to ‘control’ their children, resulting in scores of injuries.”
There are a slew of reports from global and national human rights organizations detailing the suffering and injustices the people of Ethiopia facing under the rule of TPLF. Almost all Ethiopians inside and outside the country do not see the TPLF as the guardian and protector of their rights and freedoms. In fact the opposite is true; the primary threat to the Ethiopian people is the Gestapo like security apparatus of the regime. It perpetrates almost all of the human rights violations in the country.
The behavior of the government is demonstrated clearly in the recent demonstrations initially called by the regime in response to the ISIS beheadings of Ethiopian migrants in Libya. The demonstration turned into a rallying cry
against the government itself. It must have been apparent to those present why these young men left Ethiopia in the first place, as so many have in the past two decades.
Human rights violators cannot be human rights defenders. The TPLF regime wants to have it both ways. It is also apparent that the Ethiopian people and those who stand on the side of the oppressed and marginalized are not buying it.

አርበኞች ግንቦት7 – የቁልቁለቱን ጉዞ እናስቁም፤ ውርደት ይብቃን!!!

May 11, 2015

የህወሓት አገዛዝ ፋሽስታዊ ባህርያት እያደር መረን እያጣ፤ ነውረኛ እየሆነ መጥቷል። በአሳለፍነው ሣምንት ብቻ እንኳን አስነዋሪ ይዘት ያላቸው ሁለት ፋሽስታዊ ክስተቶችን አስተውለናል።

አንዱ በምርመራ ስም በታሳሪዎች ላይ የሚደረገው አሳፋሪ ሰቆቃ ነው። በገላቸው በሚያፌዙና በሚሳለቁ ተቃራኒ ፆታ መርማሪዎች ፊት ለሰዓታት ተመርማሪዎች ራቁታቸውን እንዲሆኑ የሚደረግበት እና እየተፌዘባቸው የሚደበደቡበት ሥርዓት መኖሩ የጉዳቱ ሰለባዎች ይፋ ሲያወጡ እፍረቱ ለመርማሪዎቹ ብቻ ሳይሆን ይህንን ጉድ ተሸክመን ለኖርነው ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሁሉ ነው። በተለይም ደግሞ እንዲህ ዓይነት ክብረነክ ሰቆቃ በሴቶች ላይ እየተፈፀመ መሆኑን ስንሰማ አገራዊ ውርደቱ ያሸማቅቀናል። እንዲህ ዓይነቶችን በሰው ስቃይና እፍረት የሚዝናኑ ጉዶችን ተሸክመን የምኖር መሆናችን ሁላችንን ያዋርደናል። ይህንን አስነዋሪ “የምርመራ ዘዴ” ያጋለጡት የዞን 9 ብሎገሮች፣ ጋዜጠኞችና ፓለቲከኞች ክብርና ሞገስ የሚገባቸው ጀግኖች ሲሆኑ የተዋረዱት እነሱ ሳይሆኑ እኛ ኢትዮጵያዊያን መሆናችን ሊሰማንና “ውርደት በቃ” ልንል ይገባናል።

ሁለተኛው አሳፋሪ ድርጊት ደግሞ ወገኖቻችንን በግፍ ባረደው አይሲስ በተሰኘው አሸባሪ ድርጅት ላይ የህወሓት አገዛዝ የተለሳለሰ አቋም ወስዷል ብለው ራሱ ህወሓት በጠራው ሰልፍ ላይ ተቃውሞዓቸውን ባሰሙ ወጣቶች ላይ አገዛዙ የወሰደው የኃይል እርምጃና ከዚያም ወዲህ እየተደረገ ያለው ነገር ነው። አገዛዙ ለፕሮፖጋንዳው ይጠቅመኛል ብሎ በጠራው ሰልፍ ወጥተው ተቃውሞዓቸውን የገለፁ ወጣቶች በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ተደብድበዋል፤ በጅምላ ወደ እስር ቤቶች ተግዘዋል። የአገዛዙ ካድሬዎች ወገኖቻችንን የፈጀውን አይሲስን በመቃወም ፋንታ የራሱ የህወሓትን ውል አልባ ህግ አክብረው በመንቀሳቀስ ላይ ያሉትን ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ፣ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሙስሊሞችን እና አረና ፓርቲን እየወነጀሉ መሆኑ አጅግ አሳፋሪ ነገር ነው። የአይሲስን አረመኔአዊ ድርጊት ከኢትዮጵያዊያን ሙስሊሞች የመብት ጥያቄ ጋር ለማገናኘት በህወሓት የደህንነት ቢሮ አማካይነት እንቅስቃሴ መጀመሩ እየተሰማ ነው። ለወጣቱ በብዛት መሰደድ በምክንያትነት የሚያቀርቡት ደላሎችን መሆኑ አላዋቂነት ሳይሆን በተገኘው አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ቅራኔው በኢትዮጵያዊያን መካከል እርስ በርስ እንዲሆን ያለመ መሠሪነት ነው። ከዚህም አልፎ የትግራይ ወጣቶችን ነጥሎ በመሰብሰብ “ትምክህተኞች ሊበሉህ ነውና ታጥቀህ ሳይቀድሙህ ቅደም” እያሉ መቀስቀስ በመንግሥት ደረጃ የእርስ በርስ እልቂትን ከማደራጀት ተለይቶ አይታይም። የሥርዓቱ ይሉኝታ ቢስነት የደረሰበት ዝቅጠት ገላጭ ከሆኑ ነገሮች አንዱ “እስከምርጫ መጨረሻ ድረስ ልጆቻችሁን አስረን እናቆይላችሁ” እያሉ ወላጆችን እስከመጠየቅ መድፈራቸው ነው።

ከላይ በአጭሩ የተዘረዘሩት ኩነቶች የሚያረጋግጡት ህወሓት የተማከለ አመራር አጥተው መንገድ የጠፋቸው፤ ሆኖም ግን እጃቸው ውስጥ የገባው ስልጣንና ሀብት ላለማጣት ምንም ነገር ከማድረግ የማይመለሱ አውሬዎች ስብስብ መሆኑ ነው። እንዲህ ዓይነቱን የአውሬዎች ስብስብ የሚገዛው የህግም ሆነ የሥነ-ምግባር ገደብ የለም። ህወሓት እስር በርሳችንን አባልቶ አገራችንንና ሕዝቧን ወደ ማንወጣው አዘቅት ከመክተቱ በፊት ራሱ ህወሓትን ማስወገድ እና በምትኩት ፍትህ፣ ነፃነት፣ ዲሞክራሲና እኩልነት የሰፈነባት ኢትዮጵያን መገንባት የዚህ ትውልድ ኃላፊነት ነው። ይህ ካላደረግን አሁን በወህኒ ቤቶች የሚደረገው ዜጎችን ልብስን አስወልቆ የማዋረድ አስነዋሪ ተግባር ነገ በአደባባዮች የማይደረግ ስለመሆኑ ምንም ማረጋገጫ የለንም። ይህ ትውልድ ኃላፊነቱ ካልተወጣ ህግን አክብረው ከአገዛዙ የተለየ ሀሳብ እናራምዳለን የሚሉ ወገኖቻችን በሙሉ አደጋ ውስጥ ናቸው። በህወሓት መሠሪ ተግባራት ሳቢያ በክርስትናና እስልምና እምነት ተከታይ ኢትዮጵያዊያን መካከል ያለው መግባባት እንዲሻክር እየተደረገ ነው። ዜጎችን በማዋረድ የሚደሰት አገዛዝና ለመዋረድ የፈቀደ ሕዝብ እስካለ ድረስ የቁልቁለቱ ጉዞ መጨረሻ የለውም። ይህንን ማስቆም ያለብን እኛ ሁላንችንም ነን። በአደባባይ መደራጀት ሲከለከል በምስጢር መደራጀትን መልመድ የኛ ኃላፊነት ነው። የኢትዮጵያ አርበኞች ድል መታሰቢያ በዓልን ስናከብር ከቀደምቶቻችን ልንወርስ ከሚገቡን እሴቶች አንዱ ለክብራችን ዋጋ መክፈል ያለብን መሆኑን ጭምር ነው። የኢትዮጵያዊያን ክብር በወያኔ ሲዋረድ እያየን ዝምታን ከመረጥን ከዚህም የባሰ እንዲመጣ መፍቀዳችንን እንወቀው።

አርበኞች ግንቦት 7：የአንድነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ የዜጎችና የአገር ውርደት ይብቃ！ በተባበረ ክንድ ህወሓት ይወገድ፤ በምትኩም ፍትህ፣ ነፃነት፣ ዲሞክራሲና እኩልነት የሰፈነባት ኢትዮጵያን ለመመሥረት መሠረት እንጣል፤ ይህንን ታላቅ ኃላፊነት ለመወጣት በኅብረት እንነሳ ይላል።

ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ！