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UN experts urge Ethiopia to halt violent crackdown on Oromia protesters, ensure accountability for abuses - See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16977&LangID=E#sthash.adjSxZFp.iOLRsXEY.dpuf

UN experts urge Ethiopia to halt violent crackdown on Oromia protesters, ensure accountability for abuses
UN experts urge Ethiopia to halt violent crackdown on Oromia protesters, ensure accountability for abuses

- See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16977&LangID=E#sthash.adjSxZFp.iOLRsXEY.dpuf
GENEVA (21 January 2016) – A group of United Nations human rights experts* today called on the Ethiopian authorities to end the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protests by the country’s security forces, who have reportedly killed more than 140 demonstrators and arrested scores more in the past nine weeks.
“The sheer number of people killed and arrested suggests that the Government of Ethiopia views the citizens as a hindrance, rather than a partner,” the independent experts said, while also expressing deep concern about allegations of enforced disappearances of several protesters.
The current wave of protests began in mid-November, in opposition to the Government’s ‘Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan’ to expand the capital’s municipal boundary. The ‘Master Plan’ could reportedly lead to mass evictions and the seizure of agricultural land in the Oromia region, as well as extensive deforestation.
The UN experts welcomed the Government’s announcement on 12 January 2016 suspending the implementation of the ‘Master Plan’, but were concerned about continuous reports of killings, mass arrests, excessive use of force and other abuses by security forces.
“The Government’s decision is a positive development, but it cannot be seen as a sincere commitment until the security forces stop their crackdown on peaceful protests,” they said. “The role of security forces should be to protect demonstrators and to facilitate peaceful assemblies, not suppress them.”
“We call on the Government to immediately release protesters who seem to have been arrested for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, to reveal the whereabouts of those reportedly disappeared and to carry out an independent, transparent investigation into the security forces’ response to the protests,” the experts said.
“Accountability does not erase past abuses, but it is an important step towards rebuilding trust between people and their government,” they stressed. “Impunity, on the other hand, only perpetuates distrust, violence and more oppression.”
The UN independent experts also expressed grave concern over the Ethiopian Government’s application of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation 652/2009 to arrest and prosecute protesters, labelling them as ‘terrorists’ without substantiated evidence. This law authorises the use of unrestrained force against suspects and pre-trial detention of up to four months.
“Ethiopia’s use of terrorism laws to criminalize peaceful dissent is a disturbing trend, not limited to the current wave of protests,” they experts noted. “The wanton labelling of peaceful activists as terrorists is not only a violation of international human rights law, it also contributes to an erosion of confidence in Ethiopia’s ability to fight real terrorism. This ultimately makes our world a more dangerous place.”
“There are bound to be policy disagreements in any society,” the human rights experts said, “but every Government has the responsibility to give space for people to peacefully express their views and to take these views into account.”
(*) The experts: Mr. Maina Kiai, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Mr. Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Mr. Christof Heyns, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Welcomepage.aspx
UN Human Rights, Country Page – Ethiopia: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/ETIndex.aspx  
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Hassen Hussein:- EPRDF’s master marksman, Abay Tsehaye, misfires again

By Hassen Hussein*

(OPride) – Every revolution has its villain—some well deserved, others not so. The ongoing Oromo protests, which began in November, is gradually morphing into a revolution similar to the Arab Spring and not unlike the color revolutions that swept decades of authoritarian rule in Eastern Europe.

The budding Oromo revolution — which has engulfed Ethiopia’s vast Oromia region, home to close to half the country’s population of 100 million — has a true villain in the name of Abay Tsehaye. He is not Ethiopia’s strongman but rather the man behind the throne.

Officially, Tsehaye is Special Political Advisor to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who assumed the premiership after the death of long-time strongman, the late Meles Zenawi. The one time chairman of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the kingmakers in the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition, is known as a skilled politician and a shifty survivor of many purges and palace intrigues.

Ermias Legesse Wakjira, a recent high-profile defector from the ruling party, describes Tsehaye as a master marksman when it came to the choice and delivery of words. EPRDF officials fear Tsehaye’s fetal rebuke during the party’s gladiatorial critical evaluation sessions known as gimgema. While his sure-footed performance on such forums earned him acclaim in party circles, the aging Tigrean leader has misfired twice in as many years while commenting on the Oromo protests.

The Oromo protests were triggered by a controversial plan, which aims to incorporate vast swathes of small Oromo towns and rural farming villages into the capital Addis Ababa, displacing millions of subsistence farmers.

The unveiling of the plan in April 2014 created an uproar among the party’s own mid-rank loyalists halting its planned implementation. At least 75 were killed, scores wounded and thousands were imprisoned following weeks of protests. Tsehaye was called upon to clear the muddy waters in a meeting in the southern town of Hawasa and secure buy-in from the Oromo portion of the ruling party, the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO). In a leaked audio from the meeting, Tsehaye reportedly threatened that the Master Plan will be implemented whether some liked it or not and that the plan’s opponents will be quashed.

The arrogance of his alleged threats provoked a crescendo of widespread, vehement and righteous outrage among the Oromo. In November 2015, protesters returned to the streets when word leaked that the federal government was quietly pursuing the plan’s implementation. More than 150 protesters have been killed over the past nine weeks in the most unprecedented popular uprising the country has ever witnessed. In the process, Tsehaye has earned the dubious honor of being the chief villain.

But Tsehaye remained silent as the controversy spawned by his words swirled. On Jan. 16, when he finally broke his silence, instead of admitting that his prized asset, his lethal tongue, has irredeemably failed him, Tsehaye once again plunged himself headlong into much hotter waters.

In a curious interview with friendly and independent-sounding Horn Affairs blog, Tsehaye categorically denied ever uttering that famous phrase that inflamed and animated Oromo revolutionaries, at home and abroad: that the master plan will be implemented regardless of the public’s opposition to it and his party will mercilessly silence those who dare oppose it.

Tsehaye lost his otherwise calm demeanor when the interviewer asked him why people chose to mischaracterize or falsify his words. In a typical EPRDF-tactic of attacking the messenger, he lashed out against all manner of enemies. He accused his detractors of “ethnic hostility, hatred of Tigreans.” The long-time federal affairs minister, who ran Ethiopia’s supposedly autonomous federal states, then blamed the debacle around Oromo protests, which are threatening to spread to other parts of the country and thereby testing the ruling party’s tight grip on power as never before, on the OPDO, specifically those whom he called corrupt local administrators and businessmen and middlemen who benefited from shoddy land deals.

Although the government acknowledges that corruption and bad governance are system-wide problems, pointing fingers at the OPDO and its corruption is not new. In fact, that has been the staple sound bite of not only the foul-mouthed federal communications minister, Getachew Reda, but also TPLF-affiliated media outfits such as the local Zami FM radio hosted by Mimi Sebhatu, formerly of Voice of America and one of the most unabashed apologists for the bloodbath unleashed by the security forces in an unsuccessful bid to contain peaceful protests in Oromia, which OPDO, in a recent statement, described as a legitimate expression of popular will.

The condescending and disparaging messages from TPLF leaders and their associates did not go unnoticed by OPDO. In a recent interview with Sebhatu, Abbadula Gamada, Speaker of the House of Representatives and former president of the Oromia state, took issue with the vilification of OPDO as a den for corruption, saying the accusations were an inflammatory disinformation.

In an apparent bid to rally Tigreans to his defense, Tsehaye wondered why Oromo protesters would chant slogans critical of the TPLF when “corrupt OPDO officials and their businessmen friends are responsible for the troubles in Oromia, not only for the eviction of farmers from their farmlands without compensation, the miscarriage of justice and mal-governance but also for the killing of protesters.” Tsehaye rhetorically asked why this was the case “when the Oromo people know who their jailers and killers are.”

He is correct about one thing: The Oromo people do indeed know who their jailers and killers are. They are the army that Tsehaye helped found in Tigray 17 years before TPLF came to power. It is the same army and security forces that he leads behind the throne like a puppet master who have been jailing and killing the Oromo and other Ethiopians for asking legitimate questions, or exercising their constitutional rights for the last 25 years.

In theory, TPLF governs only far away Tigray and OPDO is Oromia’s ruling party. But protesters are chanting anti-TPLF slogans precisely because the Oromo know full well who created the OPDO and who continues to mastermind it. The Oromo know full well that 26 years later, TPLF still maintains a tight stranglehold on OPDO, which is unable to even elect its own leaders, let alone represent the Oromo. Instead of taking responsibility for the ensuing debacle, Tsehaye resorted to insulting the intelligence of the Oromo people by advising them to direct their outrage against the “corrupt local administrators” that he appointed and maintained on the backs of the Oromo people as Federal Affairs Minister, which runs the regional states as a British colonial viceroy once ran his native appointees.

His open invitation for civil war among the Oromo aside, Tsehay should have known that the Oromo have no ill will against the people of Tigray and hold malice against none. Like their Ethiopian brothers and sisters, they are and have been protesting because they are denied liberty to be governed by those they elect freely rather than cadres handpicked by Tsehaye’s secretive echo chamber. They want to exercise the genuine and full implementation of the country’s constitution, which Tsehaye willfully subverted as federal affairs minister and continue to do so as an advisor to the prime minister.

The mark of a failed leader is the failure to take responsibility and passing the buck. Even if at an old age, one would have wished that Tsehaye had learned to take responsibility. Rather than distorting it, one would have wished he reckoned with the truth. The time of reckoning is upon Tsehaye and his party, a party that promises democracy and claims 100 percent electoral victory in sham elections; a party that promises federalism and centralizes all power in the hands of a narrow clique; a party that recognizes expansive constitutional rights on paper and jails and kills people who peacefully attempt to exercise them; and a party that reports double-digit growth dislodging and dispossessing millions from their ancestral lands without due process of law or compensation and pockets the proceeds from shady land deals.

The overarching message of Oromo protesters to EPRDF is unambiguous: Your time is up. It is the same yearning for freedom that Tsehaye and his peers heeded in their youth but betrayed once assuming power. Tigrayan freedom fighters-turned-autocrats should crank up the volume and listen to it again. For the OPDO, an Oromo saying comes to mind: Waan halangeen deemtuf fardi hin walaalu, meaning a horse that did not heed the whip’s crack does not feel the whipping.

A massive purge is headed their way. For its own survival, OPDO can no longer defer facing up to its creator and asserting its autonomy, first by ridding itself of leaders answerable only to TPLF. Sure, it will face TPLF’s wrath. But should it do so, it will have the backing of 40 million Oromo.

* Hassen Hussein teaches Leadership and Management courses at the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and can be reached at hxhuss10@smumn.edu

Unrest continues in Oromia, largest coffee producing region in Ethiopia; rising instability could impact markets

The Oromia National Regional State in Ethiopia is a federal region providing the country with its largest flow of export commodities, such as coffee, khat, gold and cattle. Since mid November 2015, protests – against lack of adequate self-rule in Oromia (an example of which is the Master Plan) for the Oromo people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, and against decades-old marginalization of the Oromo in the country as a whole – have hit Oromia; in addition to the report below, experts have also expressed that Ethiopia’s export economy will be impacted by the ongoing protests, in the short-term – with speculations that the government is seriously considering devaluation of the Birr. Though the government’s decision to halt the Master Plan has been taken positively by the protesters, the fact that the decision to halt the Master Plan came after the government had mobilized its armed military, thereby killing more than 140 Oromo persons, and maiming and arresting thousands of Oromo persons, shows the lack of institutional mechanisms to address the Oromo people’s concerns in particular, and all other people’s concerns in general, in Ethiopia. The lack of these institutional mechanisms, if not addressed by the government permanently, will continue to fuel the unrest in Oromia and beyond. The following report focuses on economic impacts of the ongoing Oromo protests in Oromia.

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Rising instability in Ethiopia could impact markets

Ethiopia is experiencing increased levels of instability, calling into question the notion that Ethiopia is ‘rising’, but such issues are unlikely to have an adverse impact on the economy in the long-term.

Ethiopia is facing a number of sensitive challenges which have arisen in tandem with its impressive economic growth rates, which the World Bank claims will result in the country reaching middle-income status by 2025 thanks to the government’s astute economic decision-making.

Ethiopia’s continued rise

Exciting developments continue to emerge from Ethiopia into 2016. On 5 January, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced plans to increase regional trade links with Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Kenya, supported through the government’s increased investments in infrastructure linking the neighbouring countries.

In addition, Ethiopia’s large coffee industry is set to play an increasingly important role in the country’s economy. According to recent reports, Ethiopia will likely increase coffee exports by 45% due to government initiatives, with coffee exports already earning around 30% of Ethiopia’s hard currency.

– Read More (Global Risk Insights (GRI))

European Parliament’s motion for 15-point resolution on situation in Ethiopia | #OromoProtests & #EthiopiaCrisis

The following is the European Parliament’s motion for a 15-point resolution on the situation in Ethiopia; the European Parliament has been in plenary session since January 18, 2016, in Strasbourg, France, and this session will last until January 21, 2016.

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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION: European Parliament resolution on the situation in Ethiopia

19.1.2016

With request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure

on the situation in Ethiopia (2016/2520(RSP))

Victor Boştinaru, Knut Fleckenstein, Ana Gomes, Richard Howitt, Josef Weidenholzer, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Eric Andrieu, Nikos Androulakis, Zigmantas Balčytis, Hugues Bayet, Brando Benifei, José Blanco López, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, Biljana Borzan, Nicola Caputo, Andrea Cozzolino, Andi Cristea, Miriam Dalli, Viorica Dăncilă, Isabella De Monte, Jonás Fernández, Monika Flašíková Beňová, Doru-Claudian Frunzulică, Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Neena Gill, Michela Giuffrida, Maria Grapini, Roberto Gualtieri, Jytte Guteland, Sergio Gutiérrez Prieto, Anna Hedh, Cătălin Sorin Ivan, Liisa Jaakonsaari, Eva Kaili, Jude Kirton-Darling, Jeppe Kofod, Javi López, Olle Ludvigsson, Andrejs Mamikins, Costas Mavrides, Marlene Mizzi, Sorin Moisă, Csaba Molnár, Alessia Maria Mosca, Victor Negrescu, Momchil Nekov, Demetris Papadakis, Vincent Peillon, Tonino Picula, Miroslav Poche, Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero Fernández, Daciana Octavia Sârbu, Siôn Simon, Renato Soru, Tibor Szanyi, Claudia Tapardel, Marc Tarabella, Marita Ulvskog, Julie Ward, Flavio Zanonato, Damiano Zoffoli, Carlos Zorrinho on behalf of the S&D Group

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Ethiopia (2016/2520(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard its previous resolutions on the situation in Ethiopia

– having regard to the statement by the EEAS spokesperson on recent clashes in Ethiopia, 23 December 2015

– having regard to the joint statement by Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tedros Adhanom of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, 20 October 2015

– having regard to the press release on the meeting between the High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, Tedros Adhanom, 13 January 2016

– having regard to the statement by the EEAS Spokesperson on elections in Ethiopia, 27 May 2015

– having regard to the press release of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 10 July 2015

– having regard to press briefing note of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 10 July 2015

– having regard to the universal Declaration of Human Rights

– having regard to the African Union Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights

– having regard to the UN the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

– having regard to Rule 123(2) its Rules of procedure

A. whereas over the past two months, Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, has been hit by a wave of mass protests over the expansion of the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa which has posed risks for farmers eviction from their land;

B. whereas security forces used excessive lethal force and killed at least 140 protesters and injured many more, in what may be the biggest crisis to hit Ethiopia since the 2005 election violence;

C. whereas on the 14 January 2016 the government decided to cancel the disputed large scale urban development plan; whereas if implemented, the plan will expand the city’s boundary by 20 times its current size; whereas Addis Ababa’s enlargement has already displaced millions of Oromo farmers and trapped them in poverty;

D. whereas the ethnic Oromos continue to suffer particular discrimination and human rights violations in efforts to suppress potential dissent in the region;

E. whereas the Ethiopian authorities arbitrarily arrested a number of peaceful protesters, journalists and opposition party leaders in the context of a brutal crackdown on the protests in the Oromia Region; whereas those arrested are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment;

F. whereas the government’s labelled largely peaceful protesters as ‘terrorists’ deploying military forces against them;

G. whereas on December 23, the authorities arrested Bekele Gerba, deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Oromia’s largest legally registered political party; whereas Mr Gerba was being taken in a prison known for torture and other ill-treatment practices and shortly after he was reportedly hospitalized; whereas his whereabouts are now unknown, raising concerns of an enforced disappearance;

H. whereas other senior OFC leaders have been arbitrarily arrested in recent weeks or are said to be under virtual house arrest;

I. whereas last December leading activists such as Getachew Shiferaw (Editor-in-Chief: Negere Ethiopia), Yonathan Teressa (an online activist) and Fikadu Mirkana (Oromia Radio and TV) have been arrested arbitrarily though yet to be charged by the Ethiopian authorities;

J. whereas the current protests echo the bloody events of April and May 2014, when federal forces fired into groups of largely peaceful Oromo protesters, killing dozens; whereas at least hundreds more students were arrested, and many remain behind bars;

K. whereas Ethiopia’s government has regularly been accusing people who express even mild criticism of government policy of association with terrorism; whereas dozens of journalists, bloggers, protesters, students and activists have been prosecuted under the country’s draconian 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation;

L. whereas Ethiopia’s government imposes pervasive restrictions on independent civil society and media; whereas according to the Committee for the Protection of Journalist’s (CPJs) 2014 prison census found that Ethiopia was the fourth worst jailer of journalists in the world, with at least 17 journalists behind bars, whereas Ethiopia also ranked fourth on CPJ’s 2015 list of the 10 Most Censored Countries;

M. whereas the Ethiopian authorities have routinely summoned to court the “Zone 9 bloggers” with terrorism charges for their writing over the past 2 years;

N. whereas numerous prisoners of conscience, imprisoned in previous years based solely on their peaceful exercise of their freedom of expression and opinion, including journalists and opposition political party members, remained in detention.; whereas these included some convicted in unfair trials, some whose trials continued, and some who continued to be detained without charge, among others Eskinder Nega, Temesghen Desalegn, Solomon Kebede, Yesuf Getachew, Woubshet Taye, Saleh Edris, and Tesfalidet Kidane;

O. whereas severe restrictions on external funding continue to undermine the work and effectiveness of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under the 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation;

P. whereas Ethiopia rejected recommendations to amend the Charities and Societies Proclamation and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation that several countries made during the examination of its rights record under the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in May 2014;

Q. whereas Andargachew Tsige, a British-Ethiopian citizen and leader of an opposition party living in exile, was arrested in June 2014 while in transit through Yemen’s main airport and forcibly removed to Addis Ababa; whereas Tsige had been condemned to death several years earlier in his absence, and has been in death row practically incommunicado since then; whereas Juan Mendez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, has written to the Ethiopian and UK governments saying he is investigating the treatment of Tsige, following claims that Tsige is being deprived of sleep and held in isolation;

R. whereas the Ethiopian government has de facto imposed a widespread blockade of the Ogaden region in Ethiopia, rich in oil and gas reserves; whereas attempts to work and report from the region by international media and humanitarian groups are seen as criminal acts, punishable under the anti-terrorist proclamation; whereas there are reports of war crimes and severe human rights violations perpetrated by the Army and government paramilitary forces against the Ogaden population;

S. whereas The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the ruling party coalition, won all 547 parliamentary seats in the May 2015 elections, due in part to the lack of space for critical or dissenting voices in the election process; whereas May’s federal elections took place in a general atmosphere of intimidation, and concerns over the lack of independence of the National Electoral Board;

T. whereas Ethiopia enjoys political support from western donors and most of its regional neighbours, mostly due to its role as host of the African Union (AU) and its contribution to UN peacekeeping, security and aid partnerships with Western countries;

U. whereas Ethiopia receives more aid than any other African country – close to $3bn per year, or about half the national government budget;

V. whereas for decades the government have been authorizing big development projects to foreign investors, which have been leading to severe land grabbing and millions vulnerable people often forcibly evicted and insensitively resettling; whereas often the government does not offer the local communities any alternative to permanent settlement and had not fully consulted groups before evicting them;

W. whereas some donors, including UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank, rechanneled funding from the problematic Protection of Basic Services (PBS) program in 2015 which was associated with the abusive “villagization program,” a government effort to relocate 1.5 million rural people into permanent villages, ostensibly to improve their access to basic services; whereas some of the relocations in the first year of the program in Gambella region in 2011 were accompanied by violence, including beatings and arbitrary arrests, and insufficient consultation and compensation;

X. whereas Ethiopia is experiencing its worst drought in decades, deepening food insecurity and severe emaciation and unusual livestock deaths; whereas with 640,000 refugees, Ethiopia is the country in Africa with the highest number of refugees; whereas nearly 560,000 people are internally displaced due to floods, violent clashes over scarce resources and drought;

Y. whereas the current political situation in Ethiopia and the brutal repression of dissent put a serious risk the security, development and stability in the country;

[=======]

1. Strongly condemns the recent use of excessive force by the security forces in Oromia and in all Ethiopian regions, the increased cases of human rights violations and abuses, including violations of people’s physical integrity, arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions, the use of torture, and violations of the freedom of the press and of expression, as well as the prevalence of impunity;

2. Calls for an immediate end to violence, human rights violations and political intimidation and persecution;

3. Urges for the immediate release of all those jailed for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, including students, farmers, opposition politicians, academics, bloggers and journalists;

4. Calls on the government to carry out a credible, transparent and impartial investigation into the killings of protesters and other alleged human rights violations in connection with the protest movement, and to fairly prosecute those responsible, regardless of rank or position;

5. Welcomes the government’s decision to completely halt the Addis Ababa and Oromia special zone master plan, that plans to expand the municipal boundary of Addis Ababa. Calls for an immediate inclusive and transparent political dialogue, including the government, opposition parties, civil society representatives and the local population preventing any further violence or radicalisation of the population; takes the view that such dialogue, conducing to the democratisation of the country, is not possible under the current political conditions;

6. Calls on the Government of Ethiopia to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Union Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and association;

7. Urges the government to immediately invite the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly and other UN human rights experts to visit Ethiopia to report on the situation;

8. Calls on the government to stop suppressing the free flow of information, including by jamming media broadcasts and harassing media, including through intrusive surveillance programs, and facilitate access throughout Ethiopia for independent journalists and human rights monitors;

9. Calls on the government to include local communities in a dialogue on the implementation of any large scale development project and ensure equal distribution of future benefits to the population; to ensure that farmers and pastoralists are adequately compensated, preventing them from any arbitrary or forced displacement without consultation and adequate compensation;

10. Expresses its concerns on the government’s forced resettlement program, known as “villagization program;”

11. States that respect for human rights and the rule of law are crucial to the EU’s policies to promote development in Ethiopia and throughout the Horn of Africa;

12. Call on the EU to effectively monitor programs and policies to ensure that EU development assistance is not contributing to human rights violations in Ethiopia, particularly programs linked to displacement of farmers and pastoralists, and develop strategies to minimize any negative impact of displacement within EU funded development projects;

13. Further calls on the EU and Member States to react promptly to the escalation of violence and the deterioration of the human rights situation in the country by publicly and privately condemning the use of excessive force by security forces in Oromia and call on the government to exercise restraint in its response against protests and the exercise of basic freedoms by the Ethiopian people;

14. Stresses that financial support to Ethiopia from the EU should be measured attending to the country’s human rights record and the degree to which the Ethiopian government promotes reforms towards democratisation, as the only way to ensure stability and sustainable development;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and the Parliament of Ethiopia, the European Commission, the Council, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the institutions of the African Union and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

=======

Source: European Parliament

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ethiopia-is-facing-its-worst-ethnic-violence-in-years/2016/01/13/9dbf9448-b56f-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35300471

EU asked to break silence on alleged killing of Oromo protesters in Ethiopia

Rights groups claim that Ethiopian security forces have killed at least 140 protesters. The Ethiopian foreign minister is in Brussels to answer questions by members of the European Parliament on the alleged offences.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week alleged that Ethiopian security forces had killed at least 140 protesters and injured many more. Opposition parties and activists asserted thousands of Oromo protesters had been arrested and injured since the protests started in mid-November.

In a surprise move on Wednesday (13.01.2016), the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization (OPDO) party, which is part of the ruling coalition, announced that it wanted to halt the so-called "Addis Ababa Masterplan" which is at the root of the ongoing crisis. The plan involves the expansion of the capital into the surrounding Oromia region. Government spokesman Getachew Reda told reporters that the government would respect this decision, but that they would still prosecute those who had participated in the protests.

The plans to expand Addis Ababa were hotly contested by members of Ethiopia's largest ethnic group. Universities across the country turned into battlefields, with police firing live bullets to disperse the crowds. On social media, Ethiopians united under the hashtag #OromoProtests and Ethiopians of all ethnic backgrounds staged vigils all around the world.

On the eve of the hearing of Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom in Brussels, rights groups insisted that EU officials "should convey serious concerns about Ethiopian security forces against the Oromo protesters."

Another topic on the Brussels agenda is the recurrent drought that has hit the country. Estimates say that as many as 15 million people could be threatened by hunger this year.

 

Watch video01:40

Fatal clashes in Ethiopia 19.12.2015

Donor darling Ethiopia

With Ethiopia ranking fifth on the table of aid recipients globally, raking in some $3.8 billion (3.5 billion euros) in 2014, donor countries have a responsibility to follow up on how the government handles human rights issues, Daniel Bekele, Executive Director with HRW's Africa Division, told DW.

His concern is echoed by EU advocacy director at HRW, Lotte Leicht, who says "[the] European Union should break its silence and condemn Ethiopia's brutal use of force to quell the Oromo protests." Being the single largest donor, the EU "should press the Ethiopian government to respond with talks rather than gunfire to the protesters' grievances."

The US State Department earlier urged the Ethiopian government "to permit peaceful protest and commit to a constructive dialogue to address legitimate grievances."

The Ethiopian government denies the alleged death toll of 140. Government spokesman Reda instead accused the Oromo protesters of "terrorizing civilians."

Ethiopian legal expert Awol Kassim Allo said he would like to see a space for all Ethiopians to participate in the political arena. "Only with such an approach can there be a possibility of paving a way to move forward," he told DW. In the last general elections in May 2105, Ethiopia's ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), won 100 percent of the seats in parliament.

In Berlin protesters demonstrated in front of the German chancellery in support of the #OromoProtests

'Cultural genocide'

In a recent debate, Bekele Naga, Secretary General of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress(OFC), told DW's Amharic Service that "the constitution of the country proclaims that the land belongs to the people." He added that the Ethiopian government "has been engaged in land-grabbing, leading to cultural genocide [of the Oromo people]." Another Ethiopian legal expert, Tsegaye Ararsa, complained that no government officials, including Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, have publicly voiced regret over the loss of young protesters' lives. He believes there should be an independent fact-finding committee to look into the case.

PUBLISHED 10:16 JANUARY 11, 2016

UPDATED 10:16 JANUARY 11, 2016

Ethiopia cracks down on dissent

By NEOnline | TB

Security forces in Ethiopia have killed at least 140 people during a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in recent weeks, according to activists and human rights groups.

As reported by Al Jazeera, protests were organised by members of the country’s largest ethnic group, Oromo, who fear the government’s development plans (to extend the capital territory of Addis Ababa into Oromo lands) will lead to land grabbing and large-scale evictions.

As reported by the Sudan Tribune, an estimated two million people, mostly farmers live in the Oromia region areas that have proposed by the government for expansion.

The government has admitted to killing dozens of protesters, and has promised to launch an investigation, according to Al Jazeera. Officials also said 13 security forces have been killed in the violence.

During interviews with Al Jazeera, protesters and families of those shot said they have little hope that an investigation will lead anywhere, or that their political demands will be met.

“The government is cautiously trying to avoid recognising real problems in the society,” Merera Gudina, an opposition leader, told Al Jazeera.

In a separate report, The Washington Post notes that young people, journalists and musicians have been the target of Ethiopia’s ruling regime’s quest to silence political dissent.

According to reports, the government has arrested and charged several journalists, including Getachew Shiferaw, editor in chief of the Negere Ethiopia news site, under the country’s 2009 anti-terrorism legislation. Fikadu Mirkana, of Oromia Radio and TV, has also been arrested. The US-based television channel ESAT, which has been covering the Oromo protests, claimed that the Ethiopian regime jammed one of its broadcasting satellites.

Ethiopia: Powerful Speech by Jawar Mohammed at OMN Fundraiser in Atlanta...

Ethiopia's crackdown on dissent takes rising toll

Rights groups say 140 people killed in recent weeks as government moves forward with controversial development plans.

Charles Stratford | 10 Jan 2016 15:59 GMT | Africa, Ethiopia

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• Wolonkomi, Ethiopia - Security forces have killed at least 140 people during a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Ethiopia in recent weeks, activists and rights groups say.

The protests - 

by members of the country's largest ethnic group, 

Oromo - 

have been prompted by fears that farmers will be displaced by government development plans.

The government has admitted to killing dozens of protesters, and has promised to launch an investigation.

However, the protesters and families of those shot say they have little hope that an investigation will lead anywhere, or that their political demands will be met.

One injured woman, whose family spoke to Al Jazeera, will receive medical assistance from authorities, the government said on Sunday.

According to the government, 13 security forces have also been killed in the violence and an investigation is under way. 

"The government is cautiously trying to avoid recognising real problems in the society," Merera Gudina, an opposition leader, told Al Jazeera.

"In fact, Ethiopian society is simply fed up with the regime, especially the youth. The young people have lost hope."

The protests have largely calmed down, but security forces remain in affected areas.

Source: Al Jazeera