Four killed in bomb blast as Ethiopia raises security alert: official

(Reuters) - Four people were killed when a bomb blast tore through a minibus in western Ethiopia late on Tuesday, at about the same time that the government warned of imminent attacks by militants, an official said.

The official, speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, said nobody had claimed responsibility for the blast.

Addis Ababa put its security forces on heightened alert on Tuesday night after receiving strong evidence that Somalia's Islamist al Shabaab group was plotting assaults.

It was not clear whether the blast occurred before or after that warning.

"The bomb exploded on Tuesday inside a minibus travelling in Segno Gebeya," government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said, referring to a region bordering Sudan.

"No one has claimed responsibility yet. The case is under investigation."

The warning came three weeks after officials said two Somali suicide bombers accidentally blew themselves up while preparing for an attack on football fans during Ethiopia's World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria.

Al Shabaab has warned Ethiopia of revenge attacks for deploying troops inside Somalia to fight the al Qaeda-linked militants, alongside African Union forces from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.

The National Intelligence and Security Service also urged the public on Tuesday to inform police if they encountered "suspicious" activity, and urged hotel staff and private landlords to verify the identity of visitors.

Al Shabaab gunmen killed at least 67 people in September when they raided a mall in the neighboring Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

Addis Ababa says it has foiled several attacks in the past few years planned by domestic rebel groups and Somali insurgents.

There have also been sporadic explosions in recent years. Thirteen people were wounded when an explosive device ripped through a bus in the north in 2010, while a bomb explosion near a court in the capital injured two in 2011.

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Edmund Blair and Hugh Lawson)

=>reuters

Ethiopia’s Liyu Police -The New Crisis of the Horn of Africa -By Ahmed Abdi

Ethiopian paramilitary Force or Liyu Police militia better known as “Ethiopia’s Janjaweed ” is killing, raping, torturing,and arresting unarmed civilians in Ethiopian-Occupied Ogaden Region.

The Militia’s human rights violations is well-documented by the Rights Groups-such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Genocide Watch.The Guardian reported that this criminal institution to receive £19 million from UK’s department for International Development or (DFID), a report denied by the DFID.

Twenty-three year-old,Nafis, who only gave her first name for fear of reprisal told me how she escaped from her town Hamaro,in the Fiq province,on phone. “A large number of paramilitary soldiers stormed our houses while I was in the vicinity of the town, killing any-one in sight and taking few people with them including my 2-year-old baby, Neima Mohammed, she said.

Two hours later, she was confirmed that her baby, Neima,was taken and detained in “Ogaden Jail” for political background. The baby’s father, Mohammed, is one of the ONLF-sympathizers and that is the reason behind the baby’s detention. But Nafis was shocked and was more gut-wrenching for the news of her baby. Now a refugee in Yemen, Nafis’s message to International community is simple: “I want my little baby back”.

The aforementioned reveals down-to-earth reality in Ogaden:the local people face a stark choice indeed, namely either to remain at home in Ogaden, and be exposed to various deprivations, extreme suffering, routine army brutality, long imprisonment, and brutal scorch earth tactics or flee and manage to get to some refugee camps in the neighboring countries whereby safety is not an issue anymore, but the conditions of life are truly miserable and the humanitarian assistance is very limited.

Nafis is one of more than 3,000 Ogadeni refugees currently living in Yemen’s Capital, Sana’a under UNHCR’s mandate.

Liyu Police-controlled notorious prison locally known as “Jail Ogaden” in the regional capital of Jigjiga, is one of brutal prisons on earth that is held many inmates without charge. About 5,000 inmates are in Ogaden jail among them are women, children and babies including men.This prison is known for “dishing out not just physical torture to its inmates but mental as well.” I will write in details for my upcoming articles.

According to human rights groups, Ethiopian forces and its ally,Special police,carry out unlawful detention and extra-judicial killing of civilians sought to be sympathizers of the ONLF. Ethiopian forces are also accused of forcefully recruiting civilians among them children to do its war against Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) but Liyu Police members are defecting one-by-one and Ethiopian forces may not rely on it any longer,as a former Liyu defector ,Capt.Hassan Aafo, told me.

This academy for qualified murderers enjoy international community’s silence when it comes to human rights abuses being committed against the unarmed Somali civilians in Ethiopian-occupied Ogaden region by the Liyu Police militia and Ethiopian Army.Many people were forced out Ogaden region and died in the seas,therefore,Liyu Police militia is not only a new regional crisis but international one.

According to Swedish Paper, Aftonbadet,Swedish War Crimes Commission has launched a preliminary investigation against Ogaden Regional President, Abdi Mohamoud Omar and his vice president Abdullahi Yusuf Werar. The Report came right after different Swedish TV channels including Swedish Television SVT,showed a movie smuggled out from Ogaden by an Ogadeni Refugee, Abdullahi Hussein, who had been a government official in the region. The 100 hours long movie is said to have many evidences of genocide committed by the Ethiopian government in the region.

According to a report by the Ogadentoday Press three civilians were executed in Godey,quoting an NGO-worker in the area,who declined to be named,said,that the men who were demised were accused of being sympathizers of Ogaden National Liberation Front(ONLF).

The Oil-rich Ogaden Region borders Djibouti,Kenya and Somalia and many of its residents are ethnic Somalis.The region was Italian and British-colony,but in 1954,British handed over the region secretly to Ethiopia a decision rejected by the Ogaden Somali population and fight for full Independence ever since.

=>ogaden24

Ethiopia accuses Eritrea over links to al-Shabaab

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting Somali al-Shabaab fighters. 

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea for supporting al-Shabaab, planning to conduct attacks in the country.

“Ethiopia has reached the information that al-Shabaab will conduct a terrorist attack in the country with the support of Eritrea,” it was stated on an Ethiopian television channel.

All security units were asked to report any suspicious acts and to declare high level alert status in the country's entrances, check points and crowded areas.

Ethiopia has the “power to fight against terrorism,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman of Ethiopia, Dina Mufti said. Ethiopian security forces are ready for the attack of al-Shabaab which represents al-Qaeda in Horn of Africa, containing the countries of Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea, Yemen, Mufti also said.

Mufti stated that Ethiopia is cooperating with Kenya and Uganda against Al-Qaeda. Also these three countries are sharing information as a part of military training exercise against Al-Shabab, Mufti added.

=>worldbulletin

Ukraine begins delivery of 200 battle tanks to Ethiopia

November 5, 2013 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ukraine’s state-controlled arms exporter, Ukrspecexport SC, has begun delivering the upgraded T-72 main battle tanks and related parts to the Ethiopian military.

According to local sources gathered by Sudan Tribune, the Ethiopian military has taken delivery of a first group of 16 T-72 Tanks which recently arrived at Djibouti port.

The delivery is said to be part of the 2011 deal signed between Ethiopia’s defence ministry and the Ukrainian arms firm to purchase 200 T-72 tanks at a cost of $100 million.

Officials at the ministry of defence declined to comment on Tuesday over the matter despite repeated attempts by Sudan Tribune.

The components of the T-72 tanks were upgraded with modern guided weapons, new and powerful engines, reactive armour as well as updated sighting systems and countermeasures.

Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populace nation, is one of the continent’s top military spenders.

According to the Global Firepower military power ranking report for 2013, the horn of Africa nation was ranked second on the African continent after Egypt and placed 28th globally.

The Ethiopian military is made up of an army and an air force. In 2012, Ethiopia had an estimated 150,000 personnel in their ground forces and 3,000 air force personnel.

Ethiopia engaged in border war with Eritrea during 1998-2000 which killed over 70,000 people from both sides.

With its border disputes with Eritrea still unresolved and Addis Ababa committed to the African Union’s force in neighbouring Somalia, Ethiopia has beefed up its military strength in the past ten years.

Ethiopia is also among the top ten countries that contribute to peacekeeping mission worldwide.

It currently has over 4,000 peacekeeping troops deployed in the contested Abyei region, which is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan.

(ST)

=>sudantribune

Sudan, Egypt & Ethiopia fail to agree on committee to supervise Renaissance Dam construction

November 5, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - The water ministers of Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia have failed to agree on the formation of the Renaissance Dam’s supervisory committee which was recommended by the International Panel of Experts (IPoE).

An Egyptian farmer holds a handful of soil to show the dryness of the land due to drought in a farm formerly irrigated by the river Nile, in Al-Dakahlya, about 120 km (75 miles) from Cairo June 4, 2013. ( REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

They three countries however, agreed to hold intensive consultations to resolve their differences prior to their next meeting scheduled for December 8th.

The IPoE is composed of six representatives each drawn from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, and another four international experts and was established to assess the impact of the dam project on downstream countries.

The report which was submitted by IPoE to the three countries last June is believed to show that the $4.7 billion dam will not have any major effect on lower riparian countries of Egypt and Sudan. However Egypt asserts that the deficiencies mentioned by the report need to be addressed before carrying on with the dam project.

Ethiopia’s minister of Water, Irrigation, and Energy, Alamayo Tegno, stressed in a press conference on Tuesday that meetings were postponed due to differences among water ministers, but expressed optimism that they could reach a solution.

Tegno renewed his country’s commitment to sustaining a true cooperation with Sudan and Egypt and underscored Ethiopia’s keenness to a fair and just usage of the dam by all parties without harming the interests of others.

The Ethiopian minister further pointed that the three countries would greatly benefit from the dam, asserting his country’s acceptance of the IPoE report which recommended building the dam according to the international standards and specification without harming the interests of the downstream countries.

Tegno noted that the dam’s funding comes from official and popular resources, saying that Ethiopia is considered among the world’s ten fastest growing countries.

Sudan’s minister of Electricity and Dams Osama Abdallah said that meetings were held in a candid and friendly manner and discussed the best ways for implementing the IPoE’s recommendations.

He disclosed that the three ministers agreed to hold another meeting in Khartoum to complete consultations.

Tegno, in his address before the opening session of the meeting, emphasized his country’s determination to build the dam in order to meet national development objectives and build regional cooperation between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, saying that his government undertook the necessary procedures and precautions for building the dam.

Egypt’s minister of Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Motalib, said that it is high time for developing a new strategy which secures the best results for the future generations and said that the meeting represents a pivotal point for the three countries to complete the work which has begun two years ago.

Abdel-Motalib added that Egypt would continue to support all development projects in the Nile valley, saying that their only concern is that water projects in the river Nile must be built after conducting comprehensive studies to ensure conformity with international standards and avoid any negative consequences.

The Egyptian minister further pointed that his country’s delegation to the meeting included a group of highly distinct officials which reflects the importance Cairo attaches to this issue and its determination to reach the desirable results.

When the dam project - which will have power generation capacity of 6,000 MW - goes operational, the horn of Africa’s nation projects it will generate up to 2 million Euros per day from exporting hydro-electricity.

Although Ethiopia is a source to 85% of the Nile’s water resources, a colonial era treaty, however, has allowed Egypt to utilize the lion’s share of the water resources.

The treaty effectively granted the North African nation a veto power against any dam project along the Nile River in upper riparian countries.

Sudan however, has expressed support to Ethiopia’s dam project putting it at odds with Cairo.

(ST)

=>sudantribune

African media leaders must address Ethiopia's repression

New York, November 5, 2013--As media leaders and officials of regional institutions gather in Addis Ababa this week for the African Media Leaders Forum (AMLF), the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the participants to ensure that press freedom is squarely on the agenda.

"Leaders have come from across the continent to plot the future of media in Africa, and they must remember that journalists are languishing in Ethiopia's prisons on trumped-up terrorism charges for doing their jobs," said Sue Valentine, CPJ's Africa Program Coordinator. "The delegates should use the opportunity provided by this conference to highlight the plight of these persecuted journalists and to acknowledge media freedom is a cornerstone of Africa's development."

Ethiopian journalists Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye, Eskinder Nega, Yusuf Getachew, and Solomon Kebede have all been convicted of terrorism offenses. Ethiopia has refused to comply with a ruling by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in the case of Eskinder, and another decision by the U.N. special rapporteur on torture in the case of Reeyot. Two more journalists, Getachew Worku and Million Degnew, were recently taken into police custody for reporting on public corruption. Eritrean journalists Saleh Idris and Tesfalidet Kidane have been held in Ethiopia since 2006. The Ethiopian government has not heeded calls by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights or the African Commission on Human and People's Rights to review its overly broad terrorism legislation.

=>cpj

Waggaa 8ffaa Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa (FDG) ilaalchisee Ibsa Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo

Sadaasa 5, 2013

Farreen dimokraasii, bilisummaa fi walabummaa, sirna abbaa irrummaa fi cunqursaa diriirfatan tikfatuuf, akkasumas kanneen kabajamuu mirga sabootaa dura dhaabbatan gaaffii ummatootaa ukkaamsuuf shira adda addaa raawwatu. Danda’an dhaamsuuf dadhaban ammoo ukkaamsuuf tooftaa gara garaatti fayyadaman. Humna waraanaatti gargaaramuun dhaabamsiisuu, duula qoor-qalbiin ummata hamilee cabsuun qabsoo irraa fageessuu, gaaffiin ummataa kan deebii argate fakkeessanii dhiheessuu fi ololuu, dabrees gaaffiin ummatootaa akka hin jirretti haaluun sirna isaaniin utubame jireessuuf carraaqan.Gutummaa Ibsa kanaa dubbisuuf:-

Sadaasa 9 Ilaalchisee Ibsa ABO (05-11-2013).pdf

=>qeerroo

Brutal dictatorship of Weyane regime.

By Firehiwot Guluma 

Since the EPRDF government came to power, neither the Ethiopian people, nor the Oromos in particular, have lived in peace and tranquillity. The last 22 years on power, the regime has boosted itself as a guarantor of the right of nations and nationalities while it brutally imprisoned, tortured and killed those who have demanded for their legitimate right.
TPLF regime is known as Marxist Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) in early 1970s and as Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) since late 1980s. EPRDF is a pseudo multi-ethnic political party under strict control of the regime. It is in reality the TPLF because it is neither a unitary nor a coalition of political parties. It is an instrument of ethnic political organization that totally adopted political program of the TPLF (Berhe, 2005). It is guided by principles of divide and rule system of colonial governance. The regime is known by its fake names like Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), South Ethiopian People`s Democratic Front (SEPDF), and etc in Amhara, Oromia, Southern Ethiopia, and other administrations, respectively. These surrogate ethnic political organizations are nothing but they are simply representatives of the regime in other parts of Ethiopia. These fake organizations are unconstitutionally imposed on peoples of Ethiopia through the rule of gun in violation of sovereign rights of civil people, the rights to organize and elect their own political organizations freely. Thus the regime has institutionalized its brutal governance system with insignificant challenges of opposition political forces to its authority. Absolute dictatorship of the regime is demonstrated by human rights violation and provoking ethnic conflicts.

Human right violation:
TPLF regime is well experienced in carrying out rebellion. It has been employed the tool during 17 years of civil war to topple the communist military junta under dictatorial leader ship of Colonel Mangiest Haile Mari yam. Rebellion activities of the regime from 1974 to 1991 against communist junta could be justified because there has not been other alternative instrument rather than armed struggle to change brutal practices of totalitarian governance system of Ethiopia. The regime also continued its rebellion activities after 1991 to suppress non-violent political struggle of the civil people. Peaceful struggle of multi nations and nationalities of Ethiopia for justice, peace, freedom, democracy, and stability is constitutionally legitimate right of the people. However the regime has been undermining constitutional civil rights by routinely practicing human rights violation. Its rebellion activities against the civil people include extrajudicial killings, long imprisonment without independent trial, torching, rapping, etc.

Inhuman atrocity of the regime is characterized by (I) Extra-judicial killings and disappearances: 3981 extra-judicial killings and 943 disappearances of civilians suspected of supporting groups opposing the government have been documented since 1994 (OSG, 2008) ; (II) Massacring innocent civilians: Security forces of the regime has been intensively massacring innocent civilians, for example: (i) Murdering of peaceful demonstrators of 92 Oromo civilians on 25th of March 1992 in Eastern Oromia, 67 Oromo civilians on 10th of February and April 1995 in Eastern and Western Oromia, 20 Oromo students in March and April 2002 in western and central Oromia, 105 Oromo civilians in November 2005 to April 2006 in Oromia, and 19 Oromo civilians detainees in February 2007 in Eastern Oromia, 200 peaceful demonstrators following 2005 election; (ii) Murdering of peaceful demonstrators of 200 Sheko and Mezenger civilians on 10th of March 2002 and 46 Sidama civilians on 24th of May 2002 in Southern Ethiopia; (iii) Murdering of 430 Anuak civilians from December 2003 to April 2004 in Gambela; (iv) Murdering of peaceful demonstrators of 193 civilians in August and November 2005 in Addis Ababa town, and (v) Massacre of thousands of innocent Ogaden civilians in Eastern Ethiopia since 1992; (III) Detention without trial: At least 25,000 peoples were in prison in year 2001 in Oromia federal state alone; (IV) Increasing refugees: Thousands are quarterly seeking refuge in neighbouring countries and (V) Suppression of free media: Independent media totally paralyzed because most of independent journalists are languishing in prison and others were forced to escape to abroad in fear of brutal mistreatment (HRW, 2005 and UOSG, 2007).

Human rights watch (HRW) reported dozens of cases of sever abuse by Ethiopian troops in the Ogaden including gang rapes, arson and what it is called “demonstration killing” including hangings and 4 beheadings meant to terrorize the civil people (HRW, 2008a). Many of the Oromos interviewed reported family members had been killed or were missing or “disappeared” for many years under the TPLF regime (AHR, 2009). Human rights violation is one of the instruments effectively institutionalized by the regime to guard its brutal governance system through diffusion of fears into civil societies across each corners of the country.

Provoking ethnic conflicts: Conflict at local level is mainly originated from the dispute seasonally raised by shortage of grazing land and water for livestock in rural areas. The regime either orchestrated or manipulated the conflict to implement its anti-peace strategy. It has been frequently inciting ethnic conflicts between Oromo and Somali, Sidama and Oromo, Oromo and Afar, Amhara and Oromo, Tigre and Oromo, Oromo and Gurage, Gumuz and Oromo, and others to destabilize peaceful relation between different ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Hundreds of innocent civilians have been lost their life and thousands are internally displaced seasonally as a consequence of regime`s manipulation of local conflicts since 1991. Some of the recent reports include the following as example: (I) Conflict of Oromo and Somali in Southern Oromia has killed 135 and internally displaced about 100 thousands of people in August 2005; (II) Conflict of Oromo and Somali in Eastern Oromia has killed 73 and internally displaced about 85 thousands of people in August 2005; (III) Mobilization of Gumuz militia by the regime against Oromo in Western Oromia has killed 400 and internally displaced thousands of Oromo people on May 17 to 19 / 2008; (IV) Conflict of Sidama and Oromo in southern Ethiopia has killed 140 and internally displaced 30 thousands of people from April 2 to 7/2008 and on May 31/2009; and (V) Conflict of Afar and Oromo in Eastern Oromia: has killed 35 and internally displaced thousands of people on May 20 to 29 /2009 (IDMC, 2005; Sudan tribune, 2008; OLF, 2009a to 2009e; and Megalommatis, 2009).

Provoking ethnic conflicts is the second most important instrument that the regime is effectively employing to sustain its brutal governance through destabilization of peaceful and mutual coexistence between different ethnic groups of Ethiopia.

=>bilisummaa