Felix Horne
Africa-worker, Human Rights Watch
In late 2012, Yohannes Alemus ? wife of arrested people from the Ethiopian security during a visit with relatives in the capital Addis Ababa. She brought with her the couple's two children. Yohannes is a former refugee , now a Norwegian citizen , and he is a supporter of a political opposition party that is banned in Ethiopia. Security Police questioned Yohannes ? wife about his political connections , sending him e -mails and called him in Norway . They wanted more information about his colleagues in the opposition. He refused , and after 20 days, his wife finally released and sent back to Norge.Yohannes thought that this episode was over it. He was wrong .
Without him knowing it contained one of the emails an attachment that was infected with a German developed spyware called finfish . As soon as it had infected his computer , had the Ethiopian security unlimited access . After he had unsuspectingly forwarded e -mails to others, gave this spyware potentially free access for security authorities to their computers as well. Computer experts confirmed that computer to at least one of his contacts were monitored using the infected attachment in the message .
All over the world people responded last year with disbelief and anger when it was revealed how the U.S. has been monitoring our phone calls and emails. In Europe , few people worry that monitoring will result in threats to their lives and families . But for Ethiopians , among them refugees living in Norway , the monitoring of their governments lead to arrests , intimidation , torture and unfair trials . And , as our research shows , is not people safe from espionage from Addis Ababa , even when they have fled abroad .
Investigations we have undertaken in the past 18 months shows that the Ethiopian government uses its control over the country's Chinese-made telecommunications system to monitor communications between its own citizens , as well as arrest and gag dissent both in Ethiopia and abroad. Officials in the security services have unlimited access to the registers of all the country who owns a phone . Often they play recordings of calls for people on remand during illegal interrogations .
This has had a very direct impact on the Ethiopian community in Norway . Many fear that if they communicate with their families back home in Ethiopia, the calls will be tracked so that relatives could face reprisals. They are right to be redde.Etiopia has a terrible record of human rights abuses - torture by critics is common, opposition parties have been decimated , independent organizations are practically non -existent , and there are hardly independent media. Thousands of Ethiopians fleeing threats to their lives and safety, and many have come to Norway .
But even in this safe haven , just as elsewhere in Europe , using the Ethiopian government very sophisticated, European -produced electronic monitoring tools to listen divergent voices among the Ethiopian Diaspora. These tools can provide security and intelligence agencies full access to the files, information and activities on that person's infected computer . They can read keystrokes and passwords, and turn on both webcam and microphone , allowing a computer here in Norway becomes an effective monitoring apparatus.
While I was doing research on the issue , I met another man, Badessa ( not his real name) . He lives in a refugee camp in Kenya. He told me: " I used to get phone calls from my brother in Norway and my sister in the Netherlands. Then one day I was arrested and submitted a list of my phone calls , and was asked to tell who the foreign numbers belonged . I replied that it was my relatives . Then they played a phone conversation with my brother in Norway , where we talked about politics . I was then a member of the ( forbidden ) Liberation Front Oromo Liberation Front. "
BADESSE was severely tortured for ten days in a military camp in Ethiopia. Although he is now in relative safety in Kenya , he is afraid to talk to someone in the family, and he has physical and psychological injuries after the experience. He is hoping he can move to his brother in Norway , but has not spoken to him since the previous call. In Ethiopia, a number of people were arrested and abused without having done anything wrong , other than talking to Ethiopians living abroad .
While the world are right to let the shock of Edward Snow Its revelations about the U.S. government's mass surveillance , we should also worry that repressive governments in many countries , such as Ethiopia , buys and uses European- produced technology targeted to independent voices across the world, including Norway .
NORWAY MAY implement important measures to stop this abuse . Norwegian authorities should join the initiative to regulate the export of such technology to governments that have a questionable intercourse with human rights , such as Ethiopia . Until that happens , it will not Yohannes Alemu be the latest victim of cyber - surveillance.
Chronicle writer is co-author of the report " They know everything we do: Telecom and Internet Monitoring in Ethiopia ", released yesterday by Human Rights Watch , and the post is based.
=>google translate from dagbladet
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
On Oromo struggle: why denial is not an option
By Naomi Y
(OPride) — Discussions about "unity” and identity has never been easy in the context of Ethiopian political discourse. Different ideas and platforms were suggested at different times. However, each time, those ideas were simply shelved or met with vehement criticism, and eventually vanished. Recently, Oromo activist Birhaanu Gammachusought to start one such discussion. His primary goal was to provoke a discussion about political culture among Oromo and Ethiopian activistsbased on reason, toward shaping a common future. In that respect, he has my attention.
But Gammachu seems to also want set a political agenda, perhaps from which we can start negotiations toward a compromise on what should be done about our common future, if we have, and who deserve what. If this was the case, I have to dissent for two reasons. First, there are several missing issues from his analysis. Second, surrender is not an option for Oromo's legitimate cause. I do not wish to recount the egregious crimes committed against Oromo and other nations in southern Ethiopia. This is not a defense of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) or its leadership, whom Gemechu accuses of impotence, incompetence and ineffectiveness. On this point, as a former member of the OLF Central Committee,Gammachu in fact knows what he is talking about.
It is up to the OLF leadership to refute these allegations, provided that they have something to offer in response. Furthermore, I agree with the writer that a political vision based on hatred and vengeance would not lead to peace, prosperity and freedom. Yet, it is important to present a balanced analysis of Oromo cause instead of using attention-grabbing headlines to attack Oromo struggle under the guise of assault on the OLF leadership.
By reducing the Oromo struggle to simply nothing more than killing Ethiopia, Gammachu not only misrepresents the goal of Oromo struggle but he also appraises right-wing radical agenda at the expense of those seeking unity based on identify, historical and cultural recognition.
Equating Oromo cause with OLF
Since the formation of the OLF in 1970s, the aims of Oromo cause has been presented as the antithesis of the Ethiopian state. Before the establishment of OLF, many Oromo nationalists, including those who believed in one Ethiopia, perished simply because they asked for equal recognition. Others were killed or imprisoned because they thought Ethiopia belonged to all, Oromo people deserve representation and recognition in that empire. Those who believed no group is more Ethiopian than the other were openly ridiculed. After the formation of OLF, Oromo nationalists who were beholden to justice became an easy prey. Different Ethiopian regimes used alleged membership in the OLF as a pretext to persecute Oromo nationalists, while it was easy to prove contrary.
Either from misconception or deliberately, Gammachu commits the same fallacy by equating the Oromo cause to the OLF's agenda. This sloppy trickery has in fact been employed by some of the OLF leadership that the writer criticizes. And Ethiopian rulers, past and present, have used this scheme to silence Oromo activists. Some OLF activists and leaders try to present the organization as the sole representative of Oromo and often dismiss other Oromo parties as unOromo or anti-Oromo. Whether their intention was to unify and rally the Oromo around one front, or a simple chauvinism as, it has become a major obstacle to fostering political pluralism among the Oromo.Ethiopian rulers equate the Oromo cause with OLF because that makes it easy for them to single out and label all conscious Oromo activists as enemy of the state, threat to national security, secessionist and more recently terrorists.
Formation of Ethiopia
The history of Ethiopia has always been construed as the north versus the rest. Efforts to remake Ethiopian history are not meant to reject the country in toto. It is rather an attempt to ensure that this history is inclusive so as to make all ethnic groups feel a sense of belonging. It is an endeavor to find a common ground in order to unshackle the people from poverty, lack of good governance and gross human rights violations. However, simply purging a whole century of injustice, as Gammachu does, cannot forge a common history. The past cannot be erased for the sake of unity, peace and prosperity. While he rightly acknowledges that no one "human history had perfect past in any part of our planet Earth," he fails to mention that recognition is an important step toward healing and reconciliation.
Legitimacy and practicality
The writer makes a strong case against secession by analyzing the current state of affairs in Ethiopia and around the world. This is a point shared by pragmatic activists on both sides of the aisle and those who want to see an end to the problems facing the country. Yet, the writer ignored legal and historical issues that pervade political debates in Ethiopia. Historical, cultural and linguistic recognition of all nations (and nationalities) is established by the country’s constitution as well as customary international law.
Under the United Nations Charter, member states have categorically agreed on the notion of self-determination of people, without any exception. In addition, Article I of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights mandate member states to “promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right.”
In its advisory opinion on the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, in 2010, the International Court of Justice ruled that Kosovo’s decision does not violate international law. Following the devastating evasion of Georgia by Russia in 2008, Russia and few other states recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states. The latest developments in Crimea, Venice and Scotland show that the notion of self-determination cannot simply be pushed under the rug.
If Gammachu’s intention seems to propose talking points so that people would make informed opinions based on reason as opposed to emotions. But such a debate presupposes a holistic agenda that includes discussions on historical, political, legal and practical aspects of the issue. Furthermore, political discussion and compromise can only be done in good faith. It is also important to keep in mind that negotiations and compromises require some kind of political leverage. Gammachu ripped off all the leverage that the Oromo people could possibly have by claiming there have been no historical injustices in which the Oromos were the prime targets of any group. As such, Gammachu’s attempts to spark a debate, even though commendable, may only resonate with those who despise Oromos for who they are.
But why only to Oromos?
Oromos, its elite or the OLF leadership, did not create the current political crisis in Ethiopia. It is a game played by minority northerners who have alternated power over the last century. Despite this known fact, Gammachu blames Oromos for the current political insanity in Ethiopia. He makes no mention of Amharas refusal to accept the Oromo people as Ethiopians for more than a century. He ignores efforts to undo Oromos hard-fought victories like Qubee and the current federal structures, even if ostentatious.Besides, those who espouse unity have always shied away from defending Oromo rights and standing up against injustice committed against Oromos. Oromos have consistently done the opposite – even forming political alliances with other ethnic groups, including Amharas.
“Let’s blame no particular social group as a sole liability to an injustice or oppression but our less accommodative and less tolerant institute of governance,” writes Gammachu. “Our past is our collective history...”
There are several fundamental flaws in Gammachu’s reasoning. Ethiopia is and remains an empire deliberately forged in the interest of a particular group. As such, it was elites from a particular ethnic background who created the systems of intolerance, impunity and unfairness. Recognition of the past atrocities and historical injustices is the first step toward changing such institutions and attitudes. Only when those injustices are acknowledged and validated we can seek a common ground to fight intolerance, impunity and poverty in unison. Anything less would only take us half the way. Hoping for unity while denying historical injustices is ignorance at its best.
Conclusion
In sum, Gammachu tried to create a headline about what should be done to change the political attitude and problems in the OLF camp. His good intentions were overshadowed by blatant rejection of the suffering of the Oromo people. He purposely overlooks key facts about the social, economic, political and historical injustices in that country. By asserting that there is no one social group that is responsible for the historical injustice that the majority of the people of the country face, the writer aligned himself against all who believe that the best way to achieve peace, prosperity and justice is by accommodating each other. By so doing, Gammachu joined a group that rejects and denies the structural injustices in Ethiopia. Accepting past historical injustices and the legitimate questions of Oromo and other southern nations can only clear the path for dialogue and probable compromise. After all, why do countries build monuments to remember their history? Is it not to learn from the past? Is it not a part of justice and exoneration?
The path forward in Ethiopia must follow reconciliation and transitional justice. It requires acceptance, rigorous debate, forgiveness and compensation where necessary. Tajikistan is the only exception to this rule. Following the fall off the Soviet Union, civil war broke out in central Asia, costing thousands of lives and destruction of property. After long discussions and dialogue, the country opted for completely erasing the violence, massacre and injustice that happened during the civil war. The parties agreed that no memorial or monument would be built, no references to tragic events in the official history book. In Ethiopia’s case, incalculable loss of lives and destruction of property in the south were recorded in history books, taught in schools as a source of pride. It was only after 1991 that the curriculum was amended in a way that those atrocities are identified as such. This by no means is a fabrication by Oromo elites. And I don’t believe it is lost on Gammachu.
While I commend the writer’s efforts to jump-start an important discussion on the future of OLF and Ethiopia, reducing the Oromo struggle to one group is a gross injustice and misrepresentation – and cannot advance a meaningful debate.
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*The writer can be reached for comment at naomiy1188@gmail.com.
=>opride
Ethiopian maids targeted in Kuwait
March 26, 2014 (Migrant Rights) – Kuwait’s Ethiopian community has become the target of bigoted accusations and vitriolic attacks following the March 16 murder of a 19-year-old Kuwaiti woman by an Ethiopian domestic worker. The young housemaid murdered her employer’s daughter, child of ex-football player and current Kuwaiti official Humood Flatih al-Shammari, and proceeded to turn herself in at the local police station. One media report claims the murder was a reaction to “mild criticism from the victim regarding the housemaid’s housework.” According to authorities, she may face the death penalty.
Less than a week after the murder, Kuwaiti officials, citizens, and media outlets have proposed recruitment bans and even deportations of Ethiopian migrants. The ministry of interior announced an indefinite moratorium on the recruitment of all Ethiopian migrants and yet again, Kuwaiti officials failed to responsibly and reasonably address crimes involving the expatriate community . Parliament members were amongst the first to stoke fear and anger by implicating the Ethiopian community as a whole; parliament members called for a unilateral ban on Ethiopians migrant workers and for the deportation of the estimated 80,000 currently residing in Kuwait. One parliament member directly called on Kuwaiti families to proactively deport their Ethiopian housemaids, 45,000 of whom workacross the country, and to swallow resulting financial losses as though it were a national duty. MP Talal Al-Jalala reiterated calls for regular testing of domestic workers to “ensure they are not suffering from psychological diseases” and demanded a tougher punishment for so-called “killer maids.” MP Humood al-Hamdan also suggested measures to avoid recruiting workers with “mental or psychological problems” as well as awareness campaigns to “familiarize the expatriate workers on the local culture and nature of the Kuwaiti society…” Each of these members claims that workers are predisposed towards crime because of mental instability or cultural differences, failing to acknowledge the documented impact of exploitative employment conditions on workers. Gulf-based studies link both workers’ crimes and mental disposition to employer mistreatment, providing an evidence-based opportunity for intervention. But rather than securing much needs rights for domestic workers or launching public service announcements to encourage the fair treatment of domestic workers Kuwaiti officials choose to recklessly incite hostility against the migrant community and further perpetuate the cycle of violence.
Furthermore, on March 19 the Ministry of interior launched raids on recruitment agencies. The ministry arrested 12,984 domestic workers in one night and intends to deport them shortly – without granting them access to legal services or to a trial to contest their status. One media outlet reported that the ministry intended to shut down violating offices, and also confiscated agencies’ insurance funds. The ministry ordered the deportation of all domestic workers temporarily placed at these offices, most of whom had been ‘returned’ to the agency and were awaiting the location of another employer. Among the 12,000+ domestic workers arrested, 2,136 were Ethiopians; 234 females and 1,902 males.
The ministry condemned agencies attempts to exchange maids or ‘sell’ them to different sponsors as a form of human trafficking, and according to a local newspaper, “the ban is enforced until recruitment procedures as well as regulations that organize the work of recruitment offices and medical tests in Kuwait are reviewed.” Yet, the Kuwaiti government established this ‘probationary period’ to protect sponsors investments, allowing them to ‘return’ domestic workers to recruitment agencies if they are unsatisfied with their work. While it is critical that Kuwait seems to have recognized the risk this period exposes domestic workers to, Kuwait’s response is misguided; By choosing to summarily deport these workers, Kuwait has once again disproportionately imposed the burden of it’s own under-regulation, as well as the transgressions of Kuwaiti citizens, onto migrants.
The demonization of nationalities following major crimes committed by expatriates is not unique to Kuwait; Last year, the murder of a child by a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia immediately invoked widespread outcry against Ethiopians and resulted in a ban on their recruitment. Saudi officials similarly failed to address the actual causes such crimes and instead implemented measures based largely on social media hysteria. By addressing the race of a domestic worker rather than the conditions of domestic work, Saudi accomplished little except invite maid shortages and higher recruitment fees.
The UAE has been more vocal about the impact of employment conditions on domestic workers and has produced several awareness campaigns about fair treatment. However, these campaigns similarly cast suspicion on domestic workers, implying that workers should be treated well not for the sake of their rights, but for the sake of the family’s safety. These warnings can put workers at further risk, as employers feel they must consolidate their control. Additionally, the campaigns have not been coupled with legislative reforms that protect domestic worker’s rights.
Kuwait should learn from the experiences of other Gulf states as well as it’s own. Without any trial, Kuwaiti officials have already determined the motivation of the crime and have already acted with abrasive, uncalculated measures. Rarely do Kuwaiti officials speak out about attacks against migrant workers, and never with such expedient demands for official action. Murder of course can never be justified, and should always be condemned – but in Kuwait, this outcry is dependent on the citizenship of the victim and the nationality of the murder.
Collective punishment fails to meaningfully address the root cause of such crimes and furthermore directs public anger towards Ethiopian domestic workers. Rather than inflaming suspicions against foreign domestic workers, Kuwait should implement a balanced reform of the entire domestic worker sector that ensures the safety of employers and workers alike.
Kuwaiti officials have chosen to incite suspicion against foreign domestic workers rather than to develop sound protective measures that ensure the safety of employers and workers alike.
Ethiopia: Arrests and Detentions of Oromo Students in Southern Oromia
HRLHA Urgent Action
Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) would like to express its deep concern over the safety and fates of Shakiso High School Oromo Students who became victims of discriminate mass arrest and detention in Shakiso Town of Guji Zone in southern Oromia. Around two hundred ethnic Oromo Students have been sent to a jail in the nearby Adola Town, and some have received varying degrees of injuries both from bullets that were shot by the security forces during the interference and by beatings.
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Those high school Oromo Students, almost all of whom are juvenile, were arrested and/or picked up at different times from different places including the school compound following a minor clash between them and ethnic Amhara Students of the same high school. According to information obtained by HRLHA through its correspondents, the clash between the two groups occurred following a provocation by the ethnic Amhara Students in opposition to the singing of the regional anthem in the regional Oromo Language by ethnic Oromo Students during flag raising ceremony at the school based on the rules and regulations provided for by the constitution of the regional state. The ethnic Oromo Students were reporting the incident and filing their complaints with the school administration when the school compound was raided by the federal security forces. Among the ironies surrounding this incident were that: 1). The Federal Security Forces were deployed to interfere in such very minor and localized issues that could easily be dealt with by local administrative bodies and communities including that of the school itself,
2). The ethnic Oromo Students, who were the victims of the clash, were discriminately double-victimized while those who triggered the violence were left unquestioned, 3) Not only that such constitutional provisions as a regional anthem that have been in place for close to two decades becomes a subject of dispute, but also those who attempted to exercise such legal provisions were deemed criminals that belong to detention instead of those who contradicted the constitution head on.
The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) has been able to obtain the names of the following Oromo students among those who have been detained:
1. .Bezabish Gurmeessaa (MEMBER OF OPPOSITION OFC)- wounded by bullet,
2. Desta Waaree – beaten up and injured,
3. Bali Chachu (MEMBER OF OPPOSITION OFC)
2. Buno Shaggola (MEMBER OF OPPOSITION OFC)
3.Bakalcha Oddo (MEMBER OF OPPOSITION OFC)
4.Bezabish Gurmeessaa
5.Chaltu Birbissa
6.Hotessa Soree
7.Yohanes Jisso
8. Kifle Areri
9. Badhadha (father name not identified)
10. Beyena Jarso
11.Shambel Galchu
12. Jemal Aga
13. Wendimu Areri
14. Nagessa Gedo
15. Getachew Demise
16. Boru Dube
17. Gemechis Bilu
18. Chari Chana
19. Ware Kottola ,
Although the interference of the government security forces was not far from expectations, the very harsh and violent actions that have resulted in life-threatening injuries are not acceptable by any standard. Given the violent way the students were dealt with, it is also very likely that they could be subjected to tortures.
Therefore, HRLHA calls up on the Ethiopian government to unconditionally release the detained students; and allow necessary treatments for those who have been injured and/or wounded. It also calls upon the Ethiopian government to investigate the clash and bring the culprits to justice so that they refrain from continued racist provocations that will create conflicts between the two nations.
Witness: The Price of Mass Surveillance
Abeba, a 31-year-old Muslim woman who worked for a local government branch of Ethiopia’s youth and sports office, was at work when Ethiopian security officials detained her and took her to a military camp.
The authorities accused her of mobilizing Ethiopian Muslims – often ethnic Oromos like herself – against the government, Abeba said. When Abeba denied the allegation, the officers played a recording of a phone conversation she had with her sister, who lives in Yemen. The conversation was about day-to-day matters, Abeba said, but the authorities insisted that Abeba was talking in code, which peaceful Ethiopian activists often do to stay out of jail.
Abeba said she was locked in a small cell. That night, she was raped four times – she doesn’t know by whom. It was dark, and she couldn’t see.
A year ago, the world was rocked by revelations of massive spying by the United States National Security Agency. While few in the US worry that the surveillance will result in threats to their lives or their families, that’s not true in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia – one of the world’s most repressive countries – has virtually unlimited access to its citizens’ phone records, thanks to China-made surveillance technology. A new Human Rights Watch report, “They Know Everything We Do’: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia, based on more than 100 interviews with victims of abuse and former intelligence officials, shows how authorities use access to mobile data and call recordings to harass and arrest people they believe oppose the government. This knowledge is even more disturbing given that torture of political prisoners happens all too often in Ethiopia’s prisons.
Recorded phone calls with family members and friends – particularly those with foreign phone numbers—are played during abusive interrogations in which people are often accused of belonging to banned organizations.
Phone networks have been shut down during peaceful protests and protesters’ locations have been pinpointed using information from their mobile phones. Intercepted emails and phone calls have been submitted as evidence in trials under the country’s flawed anti-terrorism law, although it seems no warrants were obtained to collect this information.
Spyware developed by British, German, and Italian companies has also been used to target Ethiopians living abroad. Once a person’s computer is infected by such spyware, security and intelligence agencies have nearly unfettered access to files, information, and activity on the target’s computer. They can log keystrokes and passwords and turn on a device’s webcam and the microphone, effectively turning a computer into a listening device. This software, used to target Ethiopians living in the United Kingdom, the United States, Norway and Switzerland, has been used to capture Skype conversations that have appeared on pro-government websites.
This spyware can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ethiopia is an impoverished country with chronic food shortages, and received over $4 billion in development assistance in 2013 alone. Efforts should be directed at improving the rights of its population, not at using the latest technology to undermine those rights.
In late 2011, Ethiopia’s government began interfering with the rights of the country’s Muslim minority by meddling in the activities of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. In response, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopia’s Muslims, who make up about 40 to 45 percent of the population, took to the streets in protest. It was these protests that authorities accused Abeba of helping to organize.
Abeba believes she was arrested because she received emails from Yemen. The security officials had printed out the emails but couldn’t read Abeba’s native Afan Oromo language and even asked her what was written, Abeba said. The fact that the e-mails came from an Arab country might have been enough for them. The officials also used her Facebook activity as evidence against her: Abeba had posted an Al Jazeera article about the Muslim protests in Ethiopia.
That time, she said, they beat her and let her go.
The second time, she was arrested after speaking on the phone with her sister in Yemen, she believes. Officials listened to her ring tone, which was religious, and called it “illegal.” Then the officers examined her phone and said her many contacts in Arab countries -- her sister in Yemen, a brother in Oman and cousins in Saudi Arabia -- were further evidence of her guilt. But having relatives abroad is common for Ethiopian Muslims because so many flee their country’s poverty for potential work in Arab lands.
The officials didn’t consider that Abeba lived in a region of Ethiopia where few protests had occurred. They detained her for three months. Shortly after her release, she fled to Kenya.
Abeba seems lost and helpless; her family doesn’t even know she fled to Kenya. She is all alone there. She would very much like to call home to let them know she is okay, but she won’t. She’s afraid the call will be traced.
=>hrw
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
PRESS RELEASE: Ogaden Youth & Student Union (OYSU)-San Diego and The Walk to End Genocide
The following is a statement from the Ogaden Youth & Student Union (OYSU).
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San Diego, CA – The 3rd annual Walk to End Genocide was held in San Diego on March 23rd 2014. This event which had hundreds of attendees, was a success as the participants walked and chanted in order to make their voices heard about the genocides occurring all over the world. OYSU San Diego, under the leadership of their President, Mohamed Noor Mohamoud, participated in this walk, along with the members from the Ogaden community in San Diego.
The Event had numerous different groups of people participate this year. And among the attendees this year was Congresswoman Susan A. Davis, who represents the 53rd district in the US House of Representatives. OYSU San Diego was able to raise awareness an advocate for the people whose voices have been silenced due to this genocide. They had many people gather around their tent and ask plenty of questions. Many people were not even aware of this hidden genocide and were shocked at how far the Ethiopian government would go to hide these atrocities. One woman who spoke to President Mohamoud stated to him that she had visited Ethiopia a year ago, and she had never realized the horrors that were being committed to these people. OYSU San Diego was able to make an impact and spread the message out to people on what the Ethiopian regime was doing and they have made plans to take action this year through a number of different avenues.
The event had a huge media presence and Hogaanka Arimaha Dibada ee OYSU Worldwide; Mudane Abdiaziz Abdi Ali Abshir explained to the media the humanitarian crisis that is currently taking place in the Ogaden region. Furthermore, he detailed the media blockade that Ethiopia has implemented and used as an example, Mr. Martin Schibbye and Mr. Johan Persson, two Swedish journalists who were imprisoned and sentenced to 11 years in prison after they entered the Ogaden Region in 2011. They were released after they served 400 days.
Mr. Mohamoud also gave a speech at the event and focused on the humanitarian crisis. He spoke in detail about the genocide that is occurring and on how the Ethiopian government is systematically exterminating an entire group of people. He thanked all the attendees for showing up and promised that their collaboration would continue on in the following years.
The event ended in success and OYSU San Diego will continue to participate in events such as this one in order to raise awareness about the atrocities that the Ethiopian government is committing against the Ogaden people.
For more information on how you can join OYSU San Diego, you can contact us at oysusandiego@gmail.com or visit http://www.oysuworldwide.org/
=>gadaa
Ethiopia: Telecom Surveillance Chills Rights
Foreign Technology Used to Spy on Opposition inside Country, Abroad
(Berlin) – The Ethiopian government is using foreign technology to bolster its widespread telecom surveillance of opposition activists and journalists both in Ethiopia and abroad, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 100-page report, “‘They Know Everything We Do’: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia,” details the technologies the Ethiopian government has acquired from several countries and uses to facilitate surveillance of perceived political opponents inside the country and among the diaspora. The government’s surveillance practices violate the rights to freedom of expression, association, and access to information. The government’s monopoly over all mobile and Internet services through its sole, state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, facilitates abuse of surveillance powers.
“The Ethiopian government is using control of its telecom system as a tool to silence dissenting voices,” said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The foreign firms that are providing products and services that facilitate Ethiopia’s illegal surveillance are risking complicity in rights abuses.”
The report draws on more than 100 interviews with victims of abuses and former intelligence officials in Ethiopia and 10 other countries between September 2012 and February 2014. Because of the government’s complete control over the telecom system, Ethiopian security officials have virtually unlimited access to the call records of all telephone users in Ethiopia. They regularly and easily record phone calls without any legal process or oversight.
Recorded phone calls with family members and friends – particularly those with foreign phone numbers – are often played during abusive interrogations in which people who have been arbitrarily detained are accused of belonging to banned organizations. Mobile networks have been shut down during peaceful protests and protesters’ locations have been identified using information from their mobile phones.
A former opposition party member told Human Rights Watch: “One day they arrested me and they showed me everything. They showed me a list of all my phone calls and they played a conversation I had with my brother. They arrested me because we talked about politics on the phone. It was the first phone I ever owned, and I thought I could finally talk freely.”
The government has curtailed access to information by blocking websites that offer any independent or critical analysis of political events in Ethiopia. In-country testing that Human Rights Watch and Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto research center focusing on internet security and rights, carried out in 2013 showed that Ethiopia continues to block websites of opposition groups, media sites, and bloggers. In a country where there is little in the way of an independent media, access to such information is critical.
Ethiopian authorities using mobile surveillance have frequently targeted the ethnic Oromo population. Taped phone calls have been used to compel people in custody to confess to being part of banned groups, such as the Oromo Liberation Front, which seeks greater autonomy for the Oromo people, or to provide information about members of these groups. Intercepted emails and phone calls have been submitted as evidence in trials under the country’s flawed anti-terrorism law, without indication that judicial warrants were obtained.
The authorities have also detained and interrogated people who received calls from phone numbers outside of Ethiopia that may not be in Ethio Telecom databases. As a result, many Ethiopians, particularly in rural areas, are afraid to call or receive phone calls from abroad, a particular problem for a country that has many nationals working in foreign countries.
Most of the technologies used to monitor telecom activity in Ethiopia have been provided by the Chinese telecom giant ZTE, which has been in the country since at least 2000 and was its exclusive supplier of telecom equipment from 2006 to 2009. ZTE is a major player in the African and global telecom industry, and continues to have a key role in the development of Ethiopia’s fledgling telecom network. ZTE has not responded to Human Rights Watch inquiries about whether it is taking steps to address and prevent human rights abuses linked to unlawful mobile surveillance in Ethiopia.
Several European companies have also provided advanced surveillance technology to Ethiopia, which have been used to target members of the diaspora. Ethiopia appears to have acquired and used United Kingdom and Germany-based Gamma International’s FinFisher and Italy-based Hacking Team’s Remote Control System. These tools give security and intelligence agencies access to files, information, and activity on the infected target’s computer. They can log keystrokes and passwords and turn on a device’s webcam and microphone, effectively turning a computer into a listening device. Ethiopians living in the UK, United States, Norway, and Switzerland are among those known to have been infected with this software, and cases have been brought in the US and UK alleging illegal wiretapping. One Skype conversation gleaned from the computers of infected Ethiopians has appeared on pro-government websites.
Gamma has not responded to Human Rights Watch inquiries as to whether it has any meaningful process in place to restrict the use or sale of these products to governments with poor human rights records. While Hacking Team applies certain precautions to limit abuse of its products, it has not confirmed whether and how those precautions applied to sales to the Ethiopian government.
“Ethiopia’s use of foreign technologies to target opposition members abroad is a deeply troubling example of this unregulated global trade, creating serious risks of abuse,” Ganesan said. “The makers of these tools should take immediate steps to address their misuse; including investigating the use of these tools to target the Ethiopian diaspora and addressing the human rights impact of their Ethiopia operations.”
Such powerful spyware remains virtually unregulated at the global level and there are insufficient national controls or limits on their export, Human Rights Watch said. In 2013, rights groups filed acomplaint at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development alleging such technologies had been deployed to target activists in Bahrain, and Citizen Lab has found evidence of use of these tools in over 25 countries.
The internationally protected rights to privacy, and freedom of expression, information, and association are enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution. However, Ethiopia either lacks or ignores judicial and legislative mechanisms to protect people from unlawful government surveillance. This danger is made worse by the widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment against political detainees in Ethiopian detention centers.
The extent of Ethiopia’s use of surveillance technologies may be limited by capacity issues and a lack of trust among key government ministries, Human Rights Watch said. But as capacity increases, Ethiopians may increasingly see far more pervasive unlawful use of mobile and email surveillance.
The government’s actual control is exacerbated by the perception among many Ethiopians that government surveillance is omnipresent, resulting in considerable self-censorship, with Ethiopians refraining from openly communicating on a variety of topics across telecom networks. Self-censorship is especially common in rural Ethiopia, where mobile phone coverage and access to the Internet is very limited. The main mode of government control is through extensive networks of informants and a grassroots system of surveillance. This rural legacy means that many rural Ethiopians view mobile phones and other telecommunications technologies as just another tool to monitor them, Human Rights Watch found.
“As Ethiopia’s telecom system grows, there is an increasing need to ensure that proper legal protections are followed and that security officials don’t have unfettered access to people’s private communications,” Ganesan said. “Adoption of Internet and mobile technologies should support democracy, facilitating the spread of ideas and opinions and access to information, rather than being used to stifle people’s rights.”
=>hrw
(Berlin) – The Ethiopian government is using foreign technology to bolster its widespread telecom surveillance of opposition activists and journalists both in Ethiopia and abroad, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 100-page report, “‘They Know Everything We Do’: Telecom and Internet Surveillance in Ethiopia,” details the technologies the Ethiopian government has acquired from several countries and uses to facilitate surveillance of perceived political opponents inside the country and among the diaspora. The government’s surveillance practices violate the rights to freedom of expression, association, and access to information. The government’s monopoly over all mobile and Internet services through its sole, state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, facilitates abuse of surveillance powers.
“The Ethiopian government is using control of its telecom system as a tool to silence dissenting voices,” said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The foreign firms that are providing products and services that facilitate Ethiopia’s illegal surveillance are risking complicity in rights abuses.”
The report draws on more than 100 interviews with victims of abuses and former intelligence officials in Ethiopia and 10 other countries between September 2012 and February 2014. Because of the government’s complete control over the telecom system, Ethiopian security officials have virtually unlimited access to the call records of all telephone users in Ethiopia. They regularly and easily record phone calls without any legal process or oversight.
Recorded phone calls with family members and friends – particularly those with foreign phone numbers – are often played during abusive interrogations in which people who have been arbitrarily detained are accused of belonging to banned organizations. Mobile networks have been shut down during peaceful protests and protesters’ locations have been identified using information from their mobile phones.
A former opposition party member told Human Rights Watch: “One day they arrested me and they showed me everything. They showed me a list of all my phone calls and they played a conversation I had with my brother. They arrested me because we talked about politics on the phone. It was the first phone I ever owned, and I thought I could finally talk freely.”
The government has curtailed access to information by blocking websites that offer any independent or critical analysis of political events in Ethiopia. In-country testing that Human Rights Watch and Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto research center focusing on internet security and rights, carried out in 2013 showed that Ethiopia continues to block websites of opposition groups, media sites, and bloggers. In a country where there is little in the way of an independent media, access to such information is critical.
Ethiopian authorities using mobile surveillance have frequently targeted the ethnic Oromo population. Taped phone calls have been used to compel people in custody to confess to being part of banned groups, such as the Oromo Liberation Front, which seeks greater autonomy for the Oromo people, or to provide information about members of these groups. Intercepted emails and phone calls have been submitted as evidence in trials under the country’s flawed anti-terrorism law, without indication that judicial warrants were obtained.
The authorities have also detained and interrogated people who received calls from phone numbers outside of Ethiopia that may not be in Ethio Telecom databases. As a result, many Ethiopians, particularly in rural areas, are afraid to call or receive phone calls from abroad, a particular problem for a country that has many nationals working in foreign countries.
Most of the technologies used to monitor telecom activity in Ethiopia have been provided by the Chinese telecom giant ZTE, which has been in the country since at least 2000 and was its exclusive supplier of telecom equipment from 2006 to 2009. ZTE is a major player in the African and global telecom industry, and continues to have a key role in the development of Ethiopia’s fledgling telecom network. ZTE has not responded to Human Rights Watch inquiries about whether it is taking steps to address and prevent human rights abuses linked to unlawful mobile surveillance in Ethiopia.
Several European companies have also provided advanced surveillance technology to Ethiopia, which have been used to target members of the diaspora. Ethiopia appears to have acquired and used United Kingdom and Germany-based Gamma International’s FinFisher and Italy-based Hacking Team’s Remote Control System. These tools give security and intelligence agencies access to files, information, and activity on the infected target’s computer. They can log keystrokes and passwords and turn on a device’s webcam and microphone, effectively turning a computer into a listening device. Ethiopians living in the UK, United States, Norway, and Switzerland are among those known to have been infected with this software, and cases have been brought in the US and UK alleging illegal wiretapping. One Skype conversation gleaned from the computers of infected Ethiopians has appeared on pro-government websites.
Gamma has not responded to Human Rights Watch inquiries as to whether it has any meaningful process in place to restrict the use or sale of these products to governments with poor human rights records. While Hacking Team applies certain precautions to limit abuse of its products, it has not confirmed whether and how those precautions applied to sales to the Ethiopian government.
“Ethiopia’s use of foreign technologies to target opposition members abroad is a deeply troubling example of this unregulated global trade, creating serious risks of abuse,” Ganesan said. “The makers of these tools should take immediate steps to address their misuse; including investigating the use of these tools to target the Ethiopian diaspora and addressing the human rights impact of their Ethiopia operations.”
Such powerful spyware remains virtually unregulated at the global level and there are insufficient national controls or limits on their export, Human Rights Watch said. In 2013, rights groups filed acomplaint at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development alleging such technologies had been deployed to target activists in Bahrain, and Citizen Lab has found evidence of use of these tools in over 25 countries.
The internationally protected rights to privacy, and freedom of expression, information, and association are enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution. However, Ethiopia either lacks or ignores judicial and legislative mechanisms to protect people from unlawful government surveillance. This danger is made worse by the widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment against political detainees in Ethiopian detention centers.
The extent of Ethiopia’s use of surveillance technologies may be limited by capacity issues and a lack of trust among key government ministries, Human Rights Watch said. But as capacity increases, Ethiopians may increasingly see far more pervasive unlawful use of mobile and email surveillance.
The government’s actual control is exacerbated by the perception among many Ethiopians that government surveillance is omnipresent, resulting in considerable self-censorship, with Ethiopians refraining from openly communicating on a variety of topics across telecom networks. Self-censorship is especially common in rural Ethiopia, where mobile phone coverage and access to the Internet is very limited. The main mode of government control is through extensive networks of informants and a grassroots system of surveillance. This rural legacy means that many rural Ethiopians view mobile phones and other telecommunications technologies as just another tool to monitor them, Human Rights Watch found.
“As Ethiopia’s telecom system grows, there is an increasing need to ensure that proper legal protections are followed and that security officials don’t have unfettered access to people’s private communications,” Ganesan said. “Adoption of Internet and mobile technologies should support democracy, facilitating the spread of ideas and opinions and access to information, rather than being used to stifle people’s rights.”
=>hrw
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