African states must reject calls to withdraw from the ICC

African states must reject calls to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, says Amnesty International.

The African Union (AU) is due to hold an extraordinary summit in Addis Ababa on 11 and 12 October. It is understood that a proposal will be tabled for the en bloc withdrawal of African countries from the Rome Statute of the ICC.

Some AU members are concerned that the ICC is unfairly targeting African countries.

“A resolution calling on African states to withdraw en bloc from the Rome Statute would be reactionary in the extreme,” says Tawanda Hondora, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director of Law and Policy.

“Such a resolution would serve no purpose except to shield from justice, and to give succour to, people suspected of committing some of the worst crimes known to humanity.”

“The ICC should expand its work outside Africa, but it does not mean that its eight current investigations in African countries are without basis. The victims of these crimes deserve justice.”

Most of the cases in Africa were referred to the ICC by the African governments themselves. These include Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Mali. Two other cases, Darfur and Libya, were referred by the UN Security Council with the full support of its African members.

However, a group of African states, among them Kenya, have been leading a campaign against the ICC. The group has escalated its efforts following the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as President and William Ruto as Deputy-President earlier this year. Both have been charged by the ICC with crimes against humanity committed during the post 2007-8 election violence that left 1,000 people dead and displaced more than 600,000.

Kenya’s parliament has already committed to considering its withdrawal. However, such a step cannot stop the current ICC trials. It could, however, lead to impunity if future crimes are committed in the country. Any withdrawal would not take effect for a year.

“An initiative to organize further withdrawals from the ICC through the African Union would send the wrong signal about Africa’s commitment to protect and promote human rights and reject impunity, all of which are values central to the African Union itself,” adds Tawanda Hondora.

Ahead of the Summit, African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has also written to the President of the Security Council urging it to defer the case in Kenya following the attack in Westgate, Nairobi.

“Victims of the post-election violence have waited over five years to see the cogs of justice turn after Kenya failed to deliver justice and the ICC stepped in,” says Tawanda Hondora. “A deferral would delay justice to victims and would likely lead to repeated requests for annual extensions which would reinforce impunity. The ICC’s trials should proceed.”

“African governments played a vital role in setting up the ICC and their commitment has ensured that millions of victims of human rights abuses across Africa and around the world have access to justice. This must not be undermined by a few countries solely interested in protecting their own leaders.”

=>amnesty

Ethiopia: millions of Oromo and Somali suffering genocide

by Thomas C. Mountain

October 10, 2013 (For what we are they will be) — Most of the millions of Ethiopians forced into the global limbo of displacement are Oromo or ethnic Somali from the Ogaden, victims of the Ethiopian regime’s genocidal policies. During the recent devastating drought, “all of Oromia and the Ogaden affected by this catastrophe were prevented from receiving food and medical aid by the Ethiopian regime” – one of Washington’s closest allies in Africa.

“At one point up to 1,000 people a day, mostly women, children and the elderly, were dying of hunger.”

Every year for a decade or more a million Ethiopians, 10 million and counting, have left, or fled, their homeland. While the television screens of the world have been flooded with images of North African migrants drowning off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the bones of tens of thousands of Ethiopian refugees lay in unmarked graves along Yemeni shores or at the bottom of the Indian Ocean or Red Sea.

How is it you might ask, that this 10 million human tsunami remains almost unknown to the world? And why, why would ten million Ethiopians, one in every 8 people in the country, risking their lives in many cases, seek refuge in foreign, mostly unwelcoming, lands?

The answer lies in the policies of the Ethiopian regime which have been described by UN investigators in reports long suppressed with words such as “food and medical aid blockades,” “scorched earth counterinsurgency tactics,” “mass murder” and even “genocide.”

Ethiopian Killosh (ethnic states)

Most of the Ethiopians refugees are from the Oromo nationality, at 40 million strong half of Ethiopia, or the ethnic Somalis of the Ogaden. Both of these regions in southern Ethiopia have long been victims of some of the most inhumane, brutal treatment any peoples of the world have ever known (it has been estimated that a full half of all Oromos were wiped out during the western supported Abyssinian Imperialist colonialisation during the late 1800’s by the forefathers of “Emperor” Haile Sellasie).

These past few years saw the worst drought and famine in the Horn of Africa in 60 years yet almost all of Oromia and the Ogaden affected by this catastrophe were prevented from receiving food and medical aid by the Ethiopian regime.

What country in the world is allowed to expel both the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders during such a humanitarian crisis and not be roundly condemned by the international community? Only Ethiopia.

In Somalia alone the UN has admitted at least 250,000 starved to death during this famine with estimates for the victims in Oromia and the Ogaden running at least this high.

500,000 people starving to death in a couple of years and no outcry from the world? At one point up to 1,000 people a day, mostly women, children and the elderly, were dying of hunger and all we got was a New York Times best seller on the CIA’s “dirty wars” in the Horn of Africa which somehow failed to condemn this enormous crime.

“Every day some 3,000 Ethiopians flee their homeland, almost 100,000 a month, another million or more this year.”

Ethiopia remains the largest recipient of international, mainly western aid, in the world. Recently sources in Addis Ababa from within the offices of the IMF have sent word that Ethiopia’s import bill has reached almost 12 billion dollars a year while exports are only $2 billion. $10 billion a year in “aid,” “loans” or “investment” make Ethiopia entirely dependent on foreign good will to survive yet the world is helpless to prevent the enforced starvation of hundreds of thousand or over 10 million Ethiopians fleeing their country?

In the past ten years we have seen many reports on over two million Iraqi refugees and now another more than 2 million Syrian refugees. Yet more than twice this number of Ethiopian have become refugees and this fact remains unknown to the world?

When speaking of these crimes I am not speaking in the past tense for every day some 3,000 Ethiopians flee their homeland, almost 100,000 a month, another million or more this year. Many flee by boat from the shores of Somalia, heading for Yemeni shores and hopefully on to safer lands. How many boats sink with the loss of almost all onboard, or worse yet, have their passengers thrown overboard while still offshore will never be known. The international navies that patrol this region seem to care little for preventing the human trafficking mafias from carrying out their ghoulish trade, far to busy protecting the interests of the major shipping lines through these very same waters. Have you ever heard of a drone strike or commando raid on a human trafficking headquarters? Are any of these vermin trading in human misery ever listed on international “Most Wanted” bulletins?

Why should they, for the criminals ruling Ethiopia not only are allowed to continue business as usual but actually see their cash flow in the form of “foreign aid and investment” increased by a third since 2010 while at the same time hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians starve to death.

So next time you are confronted by images of lines of corpses along the shores of Italy remember that this is something that goes on almost everyday in the Horn of Africa but doesn’t merit comment, let alone disgust and outrage by those most pious of commentators in the international media.

=>ayyaantuu

Ethiopian Government Choking Muslim Unrest

BY ED MCKENNA,

Addis Ababa — The refusal by the Ethiopian government to redress grievances harboured by the Muslim community here, which comprises about 34 percent of the country's 91 million people makes this Horn of African nation vulnerable to extremism.

"If legitimate grievances are not met there is a risk that extremist violent elements will exploit those grievances to further their own aim," Mehari Taddele Maru, head of the African Conflict Prevention Programme at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, told IPS.

Ethiopia's Muslim community has been taking part in major demonstrations over the last two years against the country's ruling regime for alleged interference in its religious affairs. The majority of Ethiopians are Christian.

The mass protests have been non-violent but the Sep. 21 terror attack by the Somali extremist group Al-Shabaab on Kenya's Westgate Shopping Mall raises questions about the spread of Islamic extremism here, as there are growing concerns that radicalists could exploit grievances if they are not addressed.

Ethiopia's Salafist Muslims accuse the government of having infiltrated the country's most important Islamic political institution, the Ethiopia Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, arresting its religious leaders and replacing them with government-approved preachers from the Al Habashi sect.

The Al Habash sect is widely regarded as a moderate alternative to extremist Islamic doctrines such as Wahhabism, while Salafists are Sunni Muslims with a strict and puritanical approach. The Salafist reform movement has been spreading in Africa and in Ethiopia's Muslim community over the last few decades.

Twenty-nine Muslim leaders have been arrested over the last two years including religious leaders and protest organisers.

The best strategy to diffuse potential extremism in Ethiopia is for the government to address existing grievances and avoid conflating legitimate demands with an onset of Islamic radicalism, says Terje Østebø, an East African Islamist Reform movement expert at the Center for African Studies at the University of Florida.

"There is this dangerous presumption that when Muslims protest for their rights that they are under the influence of radicals. Much of the debate within Islamic society in Ethiopia is about politics of recognition. Young Muslims are trying to find their identity as both Ethiopian and as a Muslim," he told IPS.

During the Eid al-Fitr holiday in August, thousands of Muslims gathered in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa demanding religious rights. One of the protestors, who was beaten along with his wife and child for holding a placard that read 'Release our Leaders', was indignant over the government's response to the rally. He refused to give his name to IPS due to fear of repercussions.

"We are peaceful Muslims protesting against this government for arresting our leaders. We are not extremists. Our teachers are not extremists. We do not want the government controlling our religious lives. We feel that we do not have any religious freedom. They beat us, shoot us and arrest us. We have no religious rights in this country," the protester told IPS.

On Aug. 4, 14 Muslims were shot dead by government security forces during an attempt to arrest a local Imam in Central Ethiopia. The government has come under fire from international human rights organisations for its heavy-handed reaction to demonstrators.

"The government continues to respond to the grievances of the Muslim community with violence, arbitrary arrests and the use of the overly-broad Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to prosecute the movements' leaders and other individuals. This is a violation of people's right to peacefully protest, as protected in Ethiopia's constitution. The Ethiopian government must end its use of repressive tactics against demonstrators," Claire Beston, Amnesty International's Ethiopia researcher, told IPS.

The government has continued to accuse protestors of being extremists under the influence of foreign-backed radical ideologues.

"These protestors want Ethiopia to become an Islamic state and for us to release their teachers. They have been arrested for conspiracy to commit terrorism as this is what they are advocating with support from the Middle East. We will not engage with the protestors' demands, as we do not negotiate with terrorists," Shimeles Kemal, the Ethiopian government spokesperson, told IPS.

A report released in June 2013 by the European Parliament revealed how Wahhabi and Salafi groups in Saudi Arabia are working to "support and supply arms to rebel groups around the world."

There are good reasons for Ethiopia's government to fear the prospect of extremism taking root in the Muslim community, says Mehari.

"The Horn of Africa has the third-largest Muslim population in the world and has become increasingly volatile due to the war being waged inside Somalia against Al-Qaeda linked terrorist organisation Al-Shabaab, which has declared jihad on Ethiopia several times," he said.

In 1996, Al Ittihad al Islamiya (AIAI), Somalia's erstwhile foremost terrorist organisation, bombed several hotels in Addis Ababa, killing five people.

Centred in Somalia, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group sought to establish an Islamic state that would incorporate all of Somalia and portions of Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya.

Although the AIAI base was effectively dismantled by the Ethiopian military, five Somalis were sentenced to death in 2002 for carrying out a series of bomb attacks in Ethiopia.

Since Ethiopian troops joined the U.S-backed invasion of Somalia in 2006, there has been no retaliatory action taken by Somali terrorists against Ethiopians. This suggests high security and a lack of capacity to mobilise Al-Shabaab operations in Ethiopia, says Mehari.

"They have a lot of willingness to attack Ethiopia, they just don't have the capacity due to fighting counter insurgency forces. Counter terrorism is also very strong in Ethiopia because of world leaders regularly attending the African Union in the capital. The instinct to identify risk and danger in hotels and shopping centres makes an incident like Westgate very unlikely," Mehari said.

However, the Ethiopian government may be making itself vulnerable to extremist influences by not engaging with demands for independent mosque elections inside the country's Islamic Affairs Supreme Council.

"There has been a pattern of Salafist extremists using local grievances to recruit Muslims in Mali, the Sahel region and other parts of Africa. In Ethiopia there is sufficient reason to believe that there is a minority group of extremists who will use domestic grievances to further their own political agenda," Mehari said.

The government's reluctance to engage with the Muslim rights movement is also consistent with the country's autocratic leadership strategy, says Østebø.

"This regime has maintained its power by limiting any space for political opposition and civil society to move in. The demands being made by Ethiopia's Muslim community are secularist, non-violent and part of a Muslim rights movement that is far from being extremist," Østebø said.

=>allafrica

Naannawa Finfinnee magaala Darbaatti Uummatni Oromoo waarshaa Simmintoo Darbaa irratti diddaa jabaa kaase.

Onkoloolessa 10,2013 Fifinnee

Saaminsi lafaa mootummaa Wayyaanee gaggeessuun qotee bulaa Oromoo qe’ee dhabeessa taasisaa ture lakkaawamee waan dhumu miti. Godina addaa naannawa Finfinnee Caancoo magaala Darbaa keessattis ilmaan Oromoo qe’ee isaanii irraa buqqisuun lafti waarshaa Simmintoo Darbaaf kennamee ture. Waarshaan kun akkuma dhaabbateen uummataaf waadaa garaa garaa qacarrii, manneen barnootaa dhaabuu, tajaajila bishaanii, fayyaa fi kanneen kana fakkaatan ijaaruuf waadaa galee ture. Uummatni Oromoos waan kana eeggachaa yoona gahe. Waarshaan kun waadaa isaa guutuu wayita didutti uummatni gamtaan waarshaa Simmintoo darbaa kana waadaa isaa akka xumuratu gaafatan. Yeroo jalqabaa kadhaa fi kijibaan qe’ee irraa kan buqqise waarshaan kun uummataaf dhageettii yeroo dhorkatu uummatni gamtaan yaa’uun hojjettoota waarshaa kanaa guutummaan gara itti bahan, konkolaataan gara itti deemu daandii dhorkuun diddaa jabaa gaggeessanii jiran. Diddaan kun haalaan kan jabaatee fi garaa kutannaan gaggeeffamuu irraa abbootiin qabeenyaa waarshaa kanaa waraana federaalaa uummatatti baasuun reebsisuun hojii isaanii galmaan geessisuuf yaalanis diddaan daran jabaachuun hojiin waarshaa kanaa laamsha’ee jira. Mootummaan wayyaanees diddaa kana kan qindeessu qeerroodha jechuun dargaggoota dhiphisaa fi doorsisuu irratti argama. Lafaa fi qe’ee keenya irratti abbaa murtii hanga taanu diddaa irraa hin dhaabbannu jechuun uummatni Oromoo naannoo kanaa uummata Oromoo maraaf dhaamsa dabarsanii jiran.

=>qeerroo

Tesfaye Gebreab: A victim of Oromophobia?

Tolera T | October 9, 2013

Tesfaye Gebreab

Social reconstruction (as optimist call it) or destruction (as pessimists call it) in Ethiopia for the last 120 years has resulted a total annihilation of priceless indigenous knowledge, language and culture, and identity. It would have not been a case of any relevance to point out if it was the result of a continuous natural social shear and evolution. But rather it was a one way conquest that can best be described as imposition that was supported by the wealthy European empires of the time. People of such as Gafat who were entire engineers and entrepreneurs were destroyed while large nations such as the Oromos remain resilient. And this past history should be told without any precondition in all languages possible.

Traditionally, Oromo history especially in the context of Ethiopia is told in English and Afaan Oromo. This way it reaches both the international community and Oromos themselves. However, telling the truth in Ethiopia means addressing the resistant Abyssinian portion of the population that seems disconnected from the international community. Hence it requires telling in Amharic. And that is what several Oromos and non-Oromos have been doing.

Note that the 120 years of conquest has created a dichotomy of modern art in Ethiopia- the Amharic language based and ‘other languages based’. This is true in cinematography, music and literatures. This is also exactly why it should be told in Amharic.

As far as the message and content of art is concerned, there are at least two opposing lobby groups-one fighting to silence any attempt to publish history as it should be told and the other one that is against domination of wrong and one-sided history and storytelling, influencing it. These have recently clashed over Tesfaye Gebreab who was forced to withdraw a publication contract of his new controversial book, ye sidetengaw mastawesha [en: Refugee’s Memoir], because of a strong lobby against it.

Why the Abyssinians campaigned against Tesfaye Gebreab? Some say it is because evidences from a fellow called Alemayehu Mesele, who claimed to have hundreds of pages of Tesfaye’s own handwritten documents that substantiate his intention of dividing Ethiopia or simply working as a spy for Isaias. Others say it is because he included a chapter ‘Chaltu ende Helen’ where he narrates about an Oromo girl called Chaaltu Midhaksaa.

As an Oromo and member of book club, I have immense respect for Tesfaye Gebreab. I have read his books and can only say he is an excellent writer. He depicts historical facts in beautiful Amharic composition and describes historical accounts in great depth and articulation.

His incredible Amharic writing talent could not rescue him from rhetoric that goes as far as revoking his birth write, Ethiopian citizenship. It seems Jawar Mahamed all over again. Just like Jawar whom they praised his insightful political analysis and counted on to ‘save Ethiopia’ to only wish death for him in outrageous Oromophobia, they expelled Tesfaye just because he told the truth. For me, Tesfaye himself, through his writing, is a victim of Oromophobia.

People who shouted and denounced Siye in a speech in DC are now accusing Tesfaye that he defamed Siye; the reason being Tesfaye hates anyone who would reclaim Port Assab [which is included in Arana Tigray’s portfolio anyways] or even Eritrea. I don’t think they know that Tesfaye also made revelations about Bereket Simon who is taught to be in love with Eritrea and have openly argued it is impossible to reclaim Assab.

As to the hundreds of documents allegedly claimed to give evidence that Tesfaye is working closely with Eritrean government to disintegrate Ethiopia, I say let’s see all the documents. A writer, particularly a journalist, can write whatever is in his head on piece of paper and that can’t be taken seriously. If there are military battle plan that he is carrying with him that can jeopardize the flawless ‘Ethiopian Unity’, then I say show us and let’s curse him together. But I don’t quite understand why his allegiance with Eritrean government is taken as a big deal. If people who work with Eritrean government are stripped of their citizenship, Dr. Birhanu and Ato Andargachew Tsige would have no country to fight for.

Tesfaye have often written about Oromo and used Oromo characters in his works. Ye Burka Zimita is probably the only Amharic novel that is based on main Oromo character [Aanole Waaqoo]. The Abyssinians believe Tesfaye is tactically dividing Ethiopians. They blame him for inciting hatred by bringing ‘dead’ history to light. Unless for his distinctive writing style that makes history telling very entertaining, what Tesfaye writes is already told countless times. So there is nothing to divide and hate. Oromos recognize they have followed different paths compared to the Abyssinians and they don’t require Tesfaye’s testimonial for that. They don’t have anyone to hate. Oromos love themselves and will keep telling the world their history.

=>ayyaantuu

Leenjifamtootni waraana Ittisa biyyaa Injineering baay’inaan 2000 tahan bakka leenjii gadhiisanii bahuun diddaa jabaa dhageessisan

Uummata nagaa Impaayera Itoophiyaa keessaa humnaan bituuf hojiin wayyaaneen hojjetu dinagdee isaa guddisuu irratti dabalee humna waraanaa isaa guddisuu dha. Kana galmaan geessisuuf Waraana Ittisa biyyaa keessaa naannoo Affaar Godina 3 aanaa Amiibaaraa magaala Malkaa Siidii keessatti Engineering dhaan baay’inaan 2000 tahan leenjisuu irratti argama. Leenjifamtootni waraana ittisa biyyaa magaala kanatti leenji’an guutuun mootummaa wayyaanee waliin wal dhabuun bakka leenjii gadhiisuun magaala Awaash seenanii jiran. Leenjifamtootni waraana ittisa biyyaa mootummaa wayyaanee bittaa umrii isaa dheereffachuuf humna namaa fayyadamuu malee nageenya keenyaaf homaa yaaddoo irraa hin qabu, miindaan kaffalamu gad aanaa dha, leenjifamtootni naannoodhaan akka wal qoqqoodan taasisa jechuun mormuun leenjii addaan kutuun magaala Awaash seenanii jiran. Yeroo ammaa kana leenjifamtootni waraana ittisa biyyaa Injineeringiidhaan leenjifaman baasii mataa isaaniin rakkachaa kan jiran yoommuu tahu gariin ammoo dhiisuun gara warra isaaniitti galuu irratti argamu. Mootummaan wayyaanee waan takkaa isa hin mudanne kutannaa gamtaa kanatti dhiphachuun maanguddoota baasee kadhaa irratti argama.

=>qeerroo