አልሸባብ 30 የኢትዮጵያ ወታደሮችን መግደሉንና ወታደራዊ ተሽከርካሪዎችን ማውደሙን ገለፀ

ሚዮ በተባለ መንደር የሚኖሩ ነዋሪዎች በሁለቱ ሃይሎች 

መካከል ከፍተኛ ጦርነት መካሄዱንና ከባድ የጦር መሳሪያዎች ሲተኮሱ መስማታቸውን ተናግረዋል።አልሸባብ አገኘሁት ያለውን ድል በተመለከተ ከኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በኩል የተበባለ ነገር የለም። ነዋሪዎችን ዋቢ በማድረግ ሆርሲድ ሚዲያ እንደዘገበው ደግሞ የአልሸባብ ተዋጊዎች የኢትዮጵያ የመከላከያ ሰራዊት አባላትን የጫኑ ወታደሮችን አድፍጠው በመጠበቅ ጥቃት ፈጽመዋል።ለ12 ሰአታት ያክል የቆየ በከባድ መሳሪያዎች የታጀበ ጦርነት መካሄዱን ነዋሪዎች ገልጸዋል። አልሸባብ በጥቃቱ 30 ወታደሮችን መግደሉንና ወታደራዊ ተሽከርካሪዎችን ማውደሙን ገልጿል።

ስማቸው እንዳይጠቀስ የፈለጉ የአካባቢው ባለስልጣን የኢትዮጵያ ወታደሮች ተጨማሪ ሃይል እንደሚጣላቸው ጥያቄ ማቅረባቸውን ጋዜጣው ዘግቧል።

ሞቃዲሾን ከደቡቡ ክፍል ጋር በሚያገናኘው መንገድ ላይ ተደጋጋሚ የደፈጣ ጥቃት ይፈጸማል። ሚያዚያ ላይ 6 የአፍሪካ ህብረት ተዋጊዎች በተመሳሳይ መንገድ ተገድለዋል። የኢትዮጵያ ጦር ወታ ገባ በማለት በሶማሊያ ከ7 አመታት በላይ አስቆጥሯል። ካለፈው አመት ጀምሮ በአፍሪካ ህብረት ስር ሆኖ በባይዶዋ አካባቢ ጥበቃ እያደረገ ነው።

http://satenaw.com/amharic/archives/7698

The Ethiopian Americans Council Letter to Secretary Kerry

June 8, 2015

The Ethiopian Americans Council

Dear Secretary Kerry:

We, the Ethiopian Americans Council write today to urge you to use the leverage you have with the Ethiopian government to immediately and unconditionally release Natnael Felke, a blogger on Zone 9, who is sentenced to prison for 18 years.

On April 24 this year, The Guardian published aletter Natnael wrote to you from prison. In that letter, Natnael described how he met you at Addis Ababa University in 2013 at a discussion forum called by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tedros Adhanom, where he raised concerns about lack of freedom of speech and the government’s concerted effort to drive away the youth from being politically engaged.

His simple statement of fact uttered to you at that forum led the Ethiopian government to eventually shut down the Zone 9 blog and arrest the bloggers. In his own words, in that letter from prison, Natnael said to you, “My charges are tied up with our meeting back in 2013. We met in Addis Ababa University: the minister of foreign affairs Tedros Adhanom invited me and a couple of others for a discussion, in which I raised my concerns about the regime’s tactics to push young citizens away from participating in politics.”

Natnael has been in prison for a year now for simply expressing his frustration directly to you. Imagine languishing in jail without a trial for a year and possibly facing 18 years in prison—all for sharing his thoughts with you.

As he described his prison conditions to you in the letter, it is abhorrent. The regime uses torture routinely—this has been widely documented by many international human rights groups; indeed, the State Department, too, issued damning reports several times before.

In spite of the inevitable danger facing Natnael in prison and the consequences of speaking out while in prison, he dared to once again reach out to you to press the Obama administration to change its policies towards Ethiopia. In that letter, Natnael said, “But to be honest, the amount of time I will be spending in prison is not the most pressing issue on my mind right now. Rather, I am worried about what will happen unless the international community, and specifically your government, assumes a firm stance on Ethiopia, demands progress with democratization, and halts the millions of dollars pouring the regime’s way.”
This brave young man risked his life to call upon the administration to suspend its blind support of the dictatorial regime in Ethiopia.

Natnael is one of the millions of young Ethiopians who are enduring untold political repression under the Ethiopian regime. Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians are fleeing Ethiopia in search of a better life only to face a grim reality of being drowned in the Mediterranean sea, routinely tortured and raped by foreign abductors for ransoms, burnt alive and beheaded by religious zealots. The number and magnitude of the Ethiopian refugees has reached a pinnacle point particularly for Europe and the Middle East.

In spite of the gruesome reality awaiting Ethiopians in Northern Africa, the Middle East and even Europe, thousands are still flocking to some of these war zones to get to Europe and Saudi Arabia—they will continue to face torture and death.

This level of desperation and suffering of the Ethiopian people should affect our collective consciousness. More importantly, the Obama administration must recognize that unless the political environment is changed, Ethiopia can soon join the other failed States, further destabilizing the region.

We want to take you back to President Obama’s inspirational inaugural address in 2009, when he emphatically stated these hopeful words: “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

Those powerful words still ring true. Natnael is right when he says to you in the letter, “I want to assure you that I understand the question of liberty and democracy in Ethiopia should be primarily answered by Ethiopians ourselves.” However, the United States, as one of the largest donors with an estimated annual aide of over $500 million going to Ethiopia, can exert political and economic leverage on the ruling party in Ethiopia to pressure it to open up the political process before the country reaches a point where there is no turning back.

Finally, the young, idealistic and brave Natnael deserves freedom for he has done nothing other than exercise his right as a human being to speak against repression. Even from prison, he is urging the powerful to come to the aide of the suffering Ethiopians.

We hope his story inspires you as it inspires us and moves you to action.

God Bless the United States of America

The Ethiopian Americans Council

  http://ecadforum.com/2015/06/08/the-ethiopian-americans-council-letter-to-secretary-kerry/

የሕወሓት መንግስት ስርዓቱን የከዱትን 9 የጦር መኮንኖች እያደነ ነው * መኮንኖቹ ኦነግን ተቀላቅለዋል እየተባለ ነው

Moonaa Leenjii Giddu Gala ABO. From File

(ምንሊክ ሳልሳዊ) ከደቡብ ምስራቅ እዝ የከዱ ዘጠኝ የባሌ ክፍለሃገር ተወላጅ የሆኑ የሰራዊቱ መኮንኖችን ለመያዝ ማደኑን አንደቀጠለ አና አስካሁን ከኦነግ ኣማጽያን ጋር ተቀላቅለዋል ከሚባል ውጪ ያሉበት ቦታ ምንም ፍንጭ እንደሌለ ለጦር ሃይሎች መምሪያ የደህንነት ክፍል የመጣ መረጃ መጠቆሙን የመከላከያ ምንጮች ገልጸዋል::

በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ከባለፉት ሳምንት ጀምሮ ድንበር ዘለል ወረራ በኬንያ ላይ ያደረገው የወያኔ ሰራዊት ከኦነግ ኣማጽያን ጋር ጦርነት ገጥሞ አንደነበር ሲታወስ የከዱ የመከላከያ ሰራዊት መኮንኖች ከኦነግ ኣማጽያን ጋር ተደባልቀው የወያኔን ሰራዊት አንደወጉ ቢገለጽም አስካሁን ድረስ የኦነግ ታጣቂ ሃይሎችን ያሉበትን ኣከባቢ ለማግኘት ኣለመቻሉን መረጃዎቹ ሲጠቁሙ ኣሉበት የተባሉ ኣከባቢዎችን በሃገር ውስጥ ደኖች ላይ ኣንደተለመደው አሳት በመልቀቅ አና ጎረቤት ሃገሮችን በመውረር በሃይል ለማዳከም ስራዎች አየተሰሩ አንደሆን ምንጮቹ ለምንሊክ ሳልሳዊ ተናግረዋል::

ሰራዊቱን ከድተው ወተዋል ከተባሉት ከፍተኛ መኮንኖች ውስጥ ሶስቱ ኮሎኔሎች የጦር መሪዎች መሆናቸው ሲታወቅ አነሱም
፩ = ኮሎነል ያሲን ሁሴን
፪ = ኮሎኔል ነገራ ኢደሳ
፫ = ኮሎኔል ኑሩ ኣስሊ ይገኙበታል::

የሰራዊቱ የዘመቻ እንቅስቃሴ መረጃዎች በጃቸው አንደሆነ የሚነገርላቸው የጦር መሪዎች መክዳት ከፍተኛ ድንጋጤ አንደፈጠረ ታውቋል፥፥ ይህ በእንዲህ አንዳለ በሶማሊያ አና በኢትዮጵያ ድንበር ኣከባቢ በወያኔ ሰራዊት እና በኦብነግ ኣማጽያን መካከል ግጭቱ የቀጠለ ሲሆን በክዐንያው ድርድርም አስካሁን የተገኘ ውጤት አንዳሌለ ታውቋል:

Related

http://www.ayyaantuu.net/%E1%8B%A8%E1%88%95%E1%8B%88%E1%88%93%E1%89%B5-%E1%88%98%E1%8A%95%E1%8C%8D%E1%88%B5%E1%89%B5-%E1%88%B5%E1%88%AD%E1%8B%93%E1%89%B1%E1%8A%95-%E1%8B%A8%E1%8A%A8%E1%8B%B1%E1%89%B5%E1%8A%95-9-%E1%8B%A8/

Befeqadu Hailu: An Ethiopian Writer Who Refused to Remain Silent

June 6, 2015

by Nwachukwu Egbunike | Global Voices

Asmamaw, Befeqadu (middle) and Edom participating in a race organized in Addis Ababa. Photo courtesy of family.

In April 2014, nine bloggers and journalists were arrested in Ethiopia. Several of these men and women had worked with Zone9, a collective blog that covered social and political issues in Ethiopia and promoted human rights and government accountability. And four of them were Global Voices authors. In July 2014, they were charged under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. They have been behind bars ever since, their trial postponed time and again.

This marks the third post in our series – “They Have Names” – that seeks to highlight the individual bloggers who are currently in jail. We wish to humanize them, to tell their particular and peculiar stories. This story comes from Nwachukwu Egbunike, a Nigerian poet, writer, and blogger who has worked with Global Voices since 2011.

Befeqadu Hailu is an Ethiopian writer who could not quiet his conscience in the face of brutality and human rights violations in his country. For this, he is currently in behind bars.

His novel, Children of Their Parents won the 2012 Burt Award for African Literature. He also writes poetry. It seemed only natural that his passion found visible expression in blogging, and that he became a co-founder of the Zone9 bloggers collective.

Using the Internet, Befeqadu personified those eternal words of the grandfather of African literature, Chinua Achebe: “an artist, in my understanding of the word, should side with the people against the Emperor that oppresses his or her people.” For doing this, Befequadu was deprived of his freedom.

Befeqadu and eight others have been charged with terrorism and incarcerated since April 2014.  But the real wrongdoers are his jailers: a repressive government that forbids critical dissent. That is indeed the great crime of Befeqadu and his colleagues. They refused to conform to the norm of silence. This trait is obviously innate in any writer, that compulsion not to keep quiet. The poetry in Befequadu’s veins could not be bottled by state intimidation or stifled with the bars in a jail.

Writing from prison, Befeqadu’s strong and unbending will to stand for the truth remains unbroken. In a letter describing his experiences over the first few months of his incarceration, he described repeated interrogations that he underwent in which authorities asked him, “so what do you think is your crime?” He mediated on this question:

“So what do you think is your crime?”

The question is intriguing. It sheds light on our innocence, on our refusal to acknowledge whatever crimes our captors suspect us of committing. Yes, they probed us severely, but each session ended with same question. The investigation was not meant to prove or disprove our offenses. It was meant simply to make us plead guilty.

After two years of writing and working to engage citizens in political debate, we have been apprehended and investigated. Blame is being laid upon us for committing criminal acts, for supposedly being members and “accepting the missions” of [opposition political parties]…

[…]

No matter what, boundaries exist in this country. People who write about Ethiopia’s political reality will face the threat of incarceration as long as they live here.

We believe that everyone who experiences this reality, dreading the consequences of expressing their views, lives in the outer ring of the prison – the nation itself. That is why we call our blog Zone9.

The weight of that question: “so what do you think is your crime?” and the corresponding response shed light on the irony of the jailer (held captive only by fear) and the jailed (who possesses interior freedom). In the words of Wole Soyinka, “books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.”

Befequadu is in jail because he writes.

Weaving stories untold

Digital drawing of Befeqadu Hailu by Melody Sundberg

Lauding stories unheard 
Shouting for gagged voices
Serving rising voices

From the four compass points
From sun’s rising to its setting
From the Atlantic to the Sahara 
Let a mighty echo arise,#FreeZone9Bloggers!