Abdulladiif Al-Fiqih
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Posts posted by Abdulladiif Al-Fiqih
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U.S. diplomats have cast doubts on the reliability of NATO ally Turkey, portraying its leadership as divided and permeated by Islamists.
Washington describes Ankara as a trusted ally publicly. But hundreds of thousands of State Department documents leaked Sunday paint a different picture.
U.S. Embassy officials in Ankara describe the Islamist tendencies in the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and say it is unlikely to become a member of the 27-bloc European Union in the future.
But of particular concern is Turkey's deepening relations with its neighbor, Iran. Last July, Ankara voted against new U.N. security council sanctions on Iran for its suspected nuclear-weapons program.
In addition, the leaked documents reveal a tense conversation between a senior U.S. envoy and Turkish officials about supporting a U.S.-led action to convince the Iranian government that it is on the wrong course. The Turks insist their mediation efforts are the best way forward, but are forced to concede that most countries in the region see Iran as a threat.
Turkish diplomatic correspondent Semih Idiz says the leaks also reveal how diplomatically vulnerable Turkey is. The leaked cables indicated several Middle Eastern leaders were in favor of Iran being attacked to stop is nuclear program.
"It does emerge very clearly how isolated Turkey is on the issue on Iran," Idiz said. "You have the Gulf states that are opposed vehemently to Iran. You have a country that Turkey is very close to at the moment: Jordan, which also has suspicions about Iran. So this flies in the face of this assumption that some how Turkey is very important and effective in the region. In fact it looks more isolated."
Erdogan, who spoke before flying to Libya for an E.U.-African summit, tried to play down the leaks' damage.
The Internet site WikiLeaks' credibility was doubtful, he said. "Everyone should wait for what WikiLeaks has to publish. Once WikiLeaks publishes documents it has," he said, "we can then evaluate the seriousness of such documents."
But analysts say such a stance will be difficult to sustain as the contents of the leaks are dominating Turkish media. Every hour seems to bring yet another new revelation about Turkish-American relations.
Diplomatic correspondent Idiz says with U.S.-Turkey relations already at a low ebb, the revelations are not that surprising. He says, ironically, they could help to improve those ties.
"Now that the cat is out of the bag, it may even prompt an effort to try and improve the relations, rather than driving it further into the grave so to speak," Idiz said.
But observers say possibly more embarrassing and potentially more damaging documents will be released against individual government ministers.
One minister is accused of having a liking for teenage girls and links to drug smuggling, while the prime minister is accused of having a number of Swiss bank accounts, and being only able to explain his massive wealth through wedding gifts.
With an election due in June and the leader of the opposition set to make corruption a key issue, the accusations could haunt the current government.
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Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi health deteriorating - Wikileaks
The whistle-blowing American website Wikileaks has shocked the international community by releasing sensitive US diplomatic information this week. According to the inside information, US diplomats had called the German foreign minister an "arrogant" person and German leader Angela Merkel a weak and non-creative leader....(if you don't bow down to Ameircans, you must be an arrogant ): )
According to the leaked information, US ambassadors called Zimbabwe's Mugabe a "ruthless" but "brilliant tactician...(Mugabe beat them at their own game)" They also believe the Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangarai has bad judgment and is incapable to lead the country. Some of the leaked details include secret discussions between Saudi Arabia and the American government in order to attack Iran. According to the inside US diplomatic communications revealed, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and many other Arab countries have asked Washington DC to bomb the nuclear facilities of Iran.
The leak also revealed that the US still wanted a reunified greater Korea that becomes an American ally in the east. Another shocking revelation from the leaks was that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had ordered American officials to spy on high ranking UN diplomats, including to get the DNA data, credit card numbers, work schedules, email addresses, fax numbers, website identifiers and mobile numbers of top UN representatives.
The following is a report by Addis Neger media about wikileaks developments in regards to Ethiopia
•Leaked Documents Show Unflattering Assessment of Meles Zenawi
What do Americans diplomats think about Meles Zenawi?
This week the American embassy in Addis Ababa briefed government officials about the Wikileaks release(which just came out). According to my sources, these state department documents(a lot of which are classified, secret or nonfor) contain merciless accounts of Meles Zenawi’s behavior and rule and the deteriorating condition of his health. There are at least 1395 cables originating from Addis Ababa in the release. Wikileaks Website is hacked now, but we will get the details of US assessments of Ethiopia when the website is up. (This is made my day...the Somali people enemy will perish soon inshaAllah!)
SOURCE: ADDIS NEGER/WIKILEAKS
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^Bal ka sharqami aan maqle e deedna ku saxe!
Xiinow, Gabbal nin yar iyi nin weyn labada midna aad hawgu dhag raaricin......sida uu isaqguba kor kuxusey ma aha qoraagu kuu umaleeyey!!
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I am with Xiin on this. I got this email and could not believe they are invoking the word "Somali" with the crime. We should all send our complaints to this....>> office@civilsocietyhelps.org
Subject:
Somali Child Sex Trafficked Victims Forum - Monday 11/15
Date:
11/10/2010 4:27:17 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: office@civilsocietyhelps.org
Somali Child Sex Trafficked Victims ForumPresented by Minnesota Human Trafficking Watch / Rescue and Restore Coalition Advisory Council Meeting
Monday, November 15, 2010
3:30pm - 5:00pm
Training Center
(corner of 5th and Minnesota Street)
First National Bank Building
332 Minnesota Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
Speakers:
Abdirizak Bihi, Executive Director, Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center
Linda Miller, Executive Director, Civil Society
Jan Wenig, R.N. formerly at Cedar Riverside Medical Clinic
Debut of short film on child sex trafficking co-produced by Rose Rongitsch and Karen Fernow
Characteristics of Somali child sex trafficked victims
History of sex trafficking of Somali children
How we can best provide services to child sex trafficked victims
Case studies of Somali child sex trafficking in Minnesota
How you can help
Civil Society
1st National Bank Building
332 Minnesota Street
Suite E-1436
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: 651-291-0713
FAX: 651-291-2588
Executive Director, Linda A. Miller
Recipient of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
Distinguished Alumni Award for 2008 for "the highest values and ethical standards in serving the community"*
*Mitchell on Law, www.wmitchell.edu/alumni
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Dr. Gregory Stanton oo ku Baaqay In Shacabka Itoobiya u Midoobo Melez Zenawii.
OTP- Dr. Gregory Stanton oo ah Madax Hay,ada Ka Hor-taga Xasuuqa ee Afka Qalaad loo Yaqaan “Genocide Watch” ayaa Guud ahaan Shacabka Itoobiya oogu Baaqay in Taliska Melez Zenawi loo midoobo si wax looga Qabto Dhibaatada Maamulka Melez Zenawi uu ku Hayo Shucuubta Kala Duwan ee Itoobiya Gaar ahaan, Qoomiyada la Xasuuqayo ee ********iya.
Dr Stanton oo Hadalkan ka soo Jeediyay Kulan ay Iskugu Yimaadeen Siyaasiyiinta Qurba Joogta Itoobiya Iyo Shacabka ka soo Jeeda Dalka Itoobiya ee ku Nool Washington DC ayaa oogu Baaqay Qoomiyadaha Itoobiya inay hal meel ah ooga soo Jeedsadaan Melez Zenawi, Isla Markaasna oogu Baaqay Qoomiyada Tigreega inaysan ku Taageerin Zenawi Xasuuqa uu ku haya Dadka Kale ee ku Nool Itoobiya.
Haddalada Dr waxaa ka Mid ahaa,” Shacabka Itoobiya waa inay Midoobaan Gacmahana is qabsadaan si ay Taliska Dhiig-Yacabka ah ee Zenawi Xukunka ooga Tuuraan.
Isla Markaas Isagoo Hadalka sii wata Ayuu Yiri, Waa in aad Dalka Itoobiya loo Keena Isbaddal Dhab ah, Sida Waddamada Ukrain Iyo Ghana Qurba Joogtoodi ay Dalka wax ooga Baddaleen.
Dr Stanton Ayaa Xasuuuqa ********iya ka Hadlay Isagoo u sheegay Qoomiyada Itoobiya ee Goobtaas Joogtay sida Qoomiyadda Xabashida Iyo Oromada In ********iya uu Zenawi ku hayo Xasuuq Isir Tir ah, Sidoo Kale Qoomiyada Galbella uu ku hayo.
Qoomiyadaha Itoobiya oo si Xoogan oogu Kacsan Taliska Melez Zenawi ayaa ah Dad Aqoonyahano ah, Ganacsato ah Kuwaas oo Wacad ku Maray In Zenawi Xukunka ay Ka Ridi Doonaan.
Meesha Qoomiyadda Soomaalida ********iya ay Muddo Dagaal ku soo Jirtay ay ku Raadinaysay Gobanimo Doonta Dhulkooda Hooyo, ah, Balse Maal mahan Danbe ayaa Dowlladda Itoobiya ay doonaysaa in Jaaliyadaha Dibada ee ********iya ay ka Dhex Abuurto Kooxo Taageersan Hase ahaatee Su,aasha ayaa ah, Zenawi oo Qoomiyadihii Itoobiya oo dhan ay Khaati ka Taagan Yihiin, Ma Bad-Baadin Kaaraan Kooxo Qurba Joogta Gobalka ********iya ah oo Jigjiga Boosas Been Abuur ah Laga siiyay? Jawaabta Caqliga Fayow waa Maya.
Daawo Dr Stanton oo Hadlaya.
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Minister for Africa "welcomes" final report from election observers in Ethiopia
09 November 2010
Foreign Office Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham described the European Union Observers report "as fair, balanced and credible" following elections in Ethiopia on 23 May.
"I welcome the final report of the European Union Election Observer Mission to Ethiopia. I believe it is fair, balanced and credible.
There were many positive aspects to these elections, including a high turn-out, a peaceful electoral environment and, on the whole, competent and professional administration by the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE).
However, I also share the concerns highlighted in the EU report, particularly the narrowing of political space, the blurring of party and state, and the high number of complaints of harassment and intimidation, all of which contributed to the absence of a level playing field. I encourage the Ethiopian government to help build the capacity of the NEBE to ensure the implementation of Ethiopia’s electoral laws and regulations.
The UK is committed to supporting the development of Ethiopia, to help deliver a secure and prosperous future for all Ethiopians. I firmly believe that accelerating the democratisation process offers the best means of protecting Ethiopia’s significant development successes. I welcome and support the constructive recommendations in the report and I urge the Ethiopian government to respond positively. The British government stands ready to support this.
Sourcehttp://ukinsaudiarabia.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=23175505
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Ethiopia rejects 'biased' EU report on May's elections
The Ethiopian government has rejected as biased the findings of a European Union report on May's parliamentary elections.
The EU concluded that the polls failed to meet international standards and were marred by serious flaws.
However, the Ethiopian foreign ministry said the EU's election observer mission had itself failed to meet Ethiopian or international standards.
It added that the report was flawed and based on preconceived ideas.
"This report amounts to yet another biased political indictment against the democratization process in Ethiopia and the victimisation of the country," said the ministry in a statement.
It accused the EU of "excessive focus" on the fact that the elections further consolidated the power of the governing EPRDF party.
The ministry says this demonstrated that the mission was "primarily preoccupied with the results of the elections and fate of the ruling party rather than the actual conduct of the elections".
In May, the EPRDF trounced the opposition, with only one opposition MP elected to the 536-seat parliament.
The ministry also accused the EU of succumbing to pressure from the rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Last month, HRW issued a report accusing the government of withholding aid from opposition supporters.
Aid
The EU report was released in Brussels earlier this month after the head of the mission was refused a visa to travel to Addis Ababa.
An African Union observer mission found that the polls broadly reflected the will of the Ethiopian people.
Relations between the EU and Ethiopia soured in the aftermath of 2005 elections when the government accused the then chief observer of siding with the opposition and contributing to violent protests that ensued.
The EU, one of Ethiopia's biggest donors, froze its aid to the country. Normal relations and financial support have since resumed.
The BBC's Uduak Amimo in Addis Ababa says it remains unclear what impact the EU report will have on aid and ties with the Ethiopian government
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CAT Press Release
Geneva, 3-5 November 2010
On November 3-5 ARM engaged in the 45th Session for the Committee Against Torture (CAT). The dialogue took place at United Nations’ Palais Wilson in Geneva. Although Ethiopia became a signatory of CAT in 1945, this is the first time Ethiopia has undergone review by the committee.
The session began on November 3rd as ARM joined together with other NGOs including The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), Human Rights House Foundation, International Disability Alliance and the Oromia Support Group to present CAT committee members with evidence of widespread torture occurring throughout Ethiopia. ARM emphasized that arbitrary arrest, extrajudicial killing, torture, rape, and infringement of due process of law for detainees occur unchecked throughout the country, despite Ethiopia's incorporation of CAT's provisions into it's national constitution and Criminal Code. ARM encouraged the committee to pay special attention to the regions of ****** and Oromia, where suspected “dissenters” are especially vulnerable to government torture and abuse. Additionally, ARM urged the committee to recognize the role donor countries can play in supporting or pressurizing Ethiopia, as the government is currently using the massive amount of humanitarian aid it receives as a weapon of war, systematically denying food and services to targeted segments of the population.
ARM also drew the committee's attention to The Anti-Terror Law and the Charities and Societies Proclamation, two laws passed by the Ethiopian government in 2009 which undermine the provisions of CAT and eliminate measures of due process. Likewise, Human Rights House Foundation highlighted Ethiopia's determination to restrict access by international observers and humanitarian organizations into conflict regions and prison facilities.
On November 4th, day two of CAT, the committee presented questions to Ethiopian representatives. These questions addressed many of the concerns presented by ARM. Specifically, committee members expressed serious concern over the new Anti-Terrorism proclamation and the state of Ethiopia's prisons. The committee requested hard data documenting court cases which might illustrate a properly functioning legal system, such as cases of individuals being prosecuted for acts of torture. In other words, CAT asked directly for proof that the de-jure system, which does comply with the provisions of CAT, actually functions as the Ethiopian government claims.
On the final day of CAT, Ethiopian representatives had the opportunity to respond to the CAT committee's questions. Replies were overly theoretical, and the committee continued to probe representatives for hard evidence, statistics from the ground, and real cases. Government officials denied accusations of torture and argued that claims to the contrary were unfounded. Moreover, Ethiopia's representatives accused human rights groups of fabrication and "monopolizing the truth." The Ethiopian government maintained that the Anti-Terrorism proclamation is a copy of similar legislation implemented in Western countries and is in no way violating international human rights standards. Committee members were unsatisfied by Ethiopia's response (or lack thereof) to CAT concerns. Ethiopian representatives stated it would be "impossible" to answer all inquiries on the spot, but agreed to provide the committee with written replies and hard data upon return to Ethiopia.
The CAT committee will soon post concluding observations based on the three day conference. In one year, Ethiopia will be expected to follow up on these remarks and provide evidence of improvement.
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I was recenly on a train between Gothenburg and Stckholm and there was an elderly Somaliman from London on the train. He was talking about the problems that Somali parents are having with their kids here in the west. It was disheartening to listen to his tales.
At one point he mentioned how Somali girls are going with Jamaicans, other white immigrants etc and how parents can't stop them.
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Somalis always act like they are shocked or something when sh!t hit the roof.
All these kids were noticeable in Minneapolis and in the other Somali concentrated cities due to their behaviors - and if not for anything else, the type of cars these kids were driving. Everyone sees them and not one bothered to do something about.
These D. Lucky and his gangs are well-known around Minneapolis Malls and in the twin cities in General. I bet some of the somali geezers at the malls were their clients!
We are destroying ourselves and too numbed to even notice it and act that we are shocked at the end.
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The ****** Question in the Entrails of a Fictional Ethiopian History
By Muktar M. Omer
Nov. 03, 2010
When trivial errors are important errors
Professor Ayo Momina recently made a very facile, knee-jerk response to an article I posted on some Ethiopian websites which he did not find pretty. The article was a rejoinder to a response I wrote to another article by Professor Siyoum Gelaye titled "Fabrication-of-Ethiopian-history-continues-unabated" . It was always going to be a risk, the quest to engage in an honest and intellectual debate with self-proclaimed high priests of Ethiopian nationalism in the shape of Professors who shun cool discourse in historical matters in favour of diatribes, slogans, unsubstantiated accusations and derogatory condemnations of not only the writers who challenge them, but their entire nation.
Professor Ayo makes blatant blunders on the trivial yet important issue of Somali clan genealogy in his piece. He was a mere click away from discovering that indeed the ******, Galemeys and ******* are not sub-clans of the ****** if he could just google it. It is an inane digression anyway, but the veracity of the Professor’s numerous other unsubstantiated claims in his article could as well be justifiably put under a big question mark on account of his endless errors.
Of course, with such paucity of knowledge on the Somali region and clan issues, I don’t expect him to know that one of the most daring insurrections against Ethiopian Occupation was staged in 1960 in the town of Aysha’a (North of Dire Dawa) by the Issa community, which he says has nothing to do with the ******s. The massacre of Aysha’a is one of the most gruesome reminders of Ethiopian occupation to date. Indeed, the prominent Somali Poet Haji Adan Afqalloc(1) captures the feelings of the harassed communities in Aysha’a, as well as those who continue to face the harsh reality of a ‘Habashi’ occupation. Anyway, isn’t he calling Babile an Oromo clan, when all and sundry know it is a geographical location and it is not classified as a sub-clan of Oromo in any history books in Ethiopia?
The ONLF struggle- an important half coma; never a full stop
But the Professor did make a valid point. He said “The Ethiopian state and nation was not created by European colonialists like Somalia and other African States”. True; and this is precisely why the residual black colonialism that was left intact after the decolonization of Africa from white colonialism in the 1960s and 70s must be dismantled. The formation of the Ethiopian Empire mirrors that of Yugoslavia and Russia and was more about the conquest of neighboring lands by better organized ethnic groups than the classic colonization whose instantiation is best described by the European colonization.
The ****** National Liberation Front is engaged in dual struggle of resisting active persecution on the one hand and seeking a lasting solution to the ****** question which is ultimately about the desire of a people who want to be accorded the basic right of self-determination. No amount of vitriol, bravado and name-calling can distract ONLF from pursuing the wishes of the Somali people occupied by Ethiopia. For Professor Ayo et al, a Somali or an Eritrean cannot have a wish; can not own a desire; they could only be ‘used’! That is why the Eritrean war of liberation ‘was never the will of the Eritrean people’ and that is why ONLF’s legitimate struggle to correct historical injustices is “a CIA and MI6 project”. That is why the ****** war was ‘Siyaad Barre’s sole dream’ and that is why the Italians and the British were the ‘originators of the concept of Somaliweyn (Greater Somalia)’. It need not be.
The search for freedom by the Somali people in the ****** region precedes the inception of the Republic of Somalia. Soon after the British handed what was known as the Hawd and reserve area (present day ******) to Ethiopia in 1954, home-grown resistance started. The new Somali Republic supported the ****** struggle but it has largely remained an indigenous uprising led by the occupied Somali people in the ****** region. It perhaps is a clear manifestation of the grassroots nature of the struggle that the most active years in the ONLF struggle happen to be from 1994 to 2010; years when there is no meaningful sovereign Somali government and major decisions about the destiny of Somalia are made in the Arat-Kilo Palace in Addis Ababa.
Jama Mohamed in his ‘Imperial policies and nationalism in the decolonization of Somaliland, 1954-1960’ writes “in 1954 the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement was concluded under which one-third of the territory of Somaliland was ceded to Ethiopia. When the agreement was announced in the country in January 1955, the Somali people took the news very badly. Demonstrations were organized throughout the territory, and elite nationalist parties gained public following and support that they had hitherto lacked.”
It is fair to say that the ****** war was fought by all Somali’s and the unambiguous objective was to join the Somali Republic. Those who paid with their lives in the battlefield were from all Somali clans, and therefore a single clan cannot own that history. It is however true the destruction of Somalia has brought up new factors and priorities for many Somali clans. It is therefore true the ****** clan continue to single-handedly lead the struggle for regaining lost identity. There are sections of the ****** (Western Somali) people who are not on board in today’s struggle, but whose inaction has to do with disagreement over priorities and strategies rather than on the overall goal. In all its deficiencies, the ONLF struggle is the pride of most Somali’s. Personally, and I know this is not necessarily in sync with ONLF’s preference, I think the culmination of such an indigenous struggle should be a reunification with motherland – Somalia, under some sort of arrangement.
That is why I see the ONLF struggle as a stage, an important half-coma, never a full stop. It is why I suffer it and even support it. But the most important thing right now need not be the outcome. It is fighting back the genocide of the TPLF. It is to be being vigilant and dismiss undignified peace deals. It is peace with dignity that the people of ****** seek, not capitulation and the continuation of oppression under a different setup.
Professor Ayo quoted Fanon. I quote Chinua Achebe. In ‘the Education of a British-Protected Child’ he says, “to answer oppression with appropriate resistance requires knowledge of two kinds: in the first place, self-knowledge by the victim, which means awareness that oppression exists, an awareness that the victim has fallen from a great height of glory or promise into the present depths; secondly, the victim must know who the enemy is. He must know his oppressor's real name, not an alias, a pseudonym, or a nom de plume!” Our enemies are occupiers, whether they come in the shape of gun-wielding Amhara settlers, or insidious Tigre militia with a pseudo-Federal governance arrangement!
I am grateful for the honesty of Professor Ayo on one issue though. In his erroneous discussion of Somali clan genealogy, he makes a distinction wherein he disqualifies the ****** clan from being Ethiopians. It is a welcome development. The problem was not ******s crying to be embraced by Ethiopians; it was the latter clinging to them with near-maniac resolve, for whatever reason. In a forced marriage, where the powerful partner employs ceaseless domestic violence to perpetuate the bondage, Peace can only be restored when the wishes of the captive is granted, unless she finds an unlikely love in her heart for her erstwhile tormentor. As such, if ******s continue to remain forced Ethiopian citizens, it is a reflection of our might or lack of it, never an expression of our will!
Professor Ayo laments the deeds of ‘neo-fascist’ Somalis who destroyed the statue of the anti-fascist Dedjazmach Adework Woldesemayat in the town of Jigjiga. The nobility of Wiilwaal whose birth place is Jigjiga and the celebrated poet Rage Ugas merit a sparkling statue in the heart of that town over and above a marauding Amhara fighter, who fought white colonialism to sustain black colonialism. If the Professor knows that right in the exact spot from where Afework’s monument was dismantled, a man by the name Towlede, ‘an advisor’ of the officials of the false regional state, commands real, breathing authority in this very day and age, he might have forgiven his Tigre cousins. They are keeping the noose on the ‘neo-fascists’, and he should not be an ungrateful man.
Unrepresentative and fastidious Ethiopian History
Let me return to Ethiopian History. In 1969, Walelegn Mekonen, one of the leaders of the leftist student movement in Haile Sellassie University (now Addis Ababa University) produced an insightful paper on the question of nationalities in Ethiopia, which ruffled the feathers of the monarchy and the pseudo-historians who have espoused one conquering ethnic group’s culture and history as representative of tens of colonized nationalities. The paper not only impacted the nature and direction of political struggle in Ethiopia, it also triggered a critical review of Ethiopian History. It soon became apparent that there are big holes in what has hitherto been accepted as the established historical construction of Ethiopia, and that many of its central postulates do not stand scrutiny.
A history which accorded recognition to Waqshum Gobeze of Lasta, a simple clownish pretender to a throne which he has no means of defending and who was captured and killed by Atse Yohannes within four years of his claim to the throne of the northern nobilities, did not find a page for the imposing King Tona of the Woleita . A history that chronicled the family feuds and intricate life struggles of a rowdy shifta (outlaw), Kassa Hailu of Qara (later king Theodros of Ethiopia) with the aplomb of narrating the discovery of the sun by fearless explorer, did not bother to mention, beyond meager postscript, the breathtaking sophistication of the Gada system of the Borena and Guji Oromos and the numerous democratically elected Aba Gada’s of the Oromo race.
By the way, which Ethiopia do the professors feel is under attack from a hateful Zelan(nomadic) Somali revisionist of Ethiopian History? The Ethiopia of Mursi, Hamer, Surma, Karo and the over 12 nationalities in Southern Omo who are reduced to mere objects, only useful as income-generating human projects to be kept in perpetual prehistoric way of life, with mutilated lips and ears, for the amusement of white tourists? The Ethiopia of the Afars and the endangered and disappearing Orgoba, whose prime land along the Awash River was rapaciously dispossessed by Northern settlers, to the extent that the native population in the Afar Regional State doesn’t account for more than 40% of the total inhabitants? The Ethiopia of the Kamabata, Tanbaro, Alaba, Sidama and Woleita, who populate the magnificent lake-lands in the South, who Haile Sellassie allegedly disqualified from standing as witnesses in courts of laws because they are ‘inherently liars?’ The Ethiopia of the Somali’s like this writer who had to be baked by the sun in the checkpoints of Hadaw at the outskirts of Jigjiga, despite producing student ID cards which attest that they are going to the ‘proper’ Ethiopia for studies?
Even the closest of kins in the shape of Amhara and Tigre could not agree on what Ethiopia is and ought to be. In late 1990, just before he was deposed, Mengistu Hailemariam, Ethiopia’s dictatorial ruler had these parting shots for the Tigres on one of the speeches broadcasted live on Ethiopian TV and we were instructed to watch by decree. In responding to several suggestions that seemed to imply the Tigray rebellion is a product of bad governance in one of the last Biherawi Shengo (national assembly) meetings, he retorted back with rage. “Who led the British when they came to kill King Tewodros? Who led the Italians when they avenged for their Adwa defeat by spraying nerve gas on Ethiopians? Who is spearheading the destabilization of Ethiopia by secessionists in Eritrea?” He did not leave much for the imagination.
Yes, the Tigres! He was talking about them; and even the often twisty Ethiopian History textbooks support him. It states that “Yohannes, then known as Commander of the Gate (Dejazmach) Kassai, was a sworn enemy of Emperor Tewodros II, and gave logistical and political support to the British forces who arrived to defeat Emperor Tewodros in 1868. In gratitude, the British gave Dejazmach Kassai, the future Yohannes, a large number of modern firearms as they withdrew following their victory at Amba Mariam (also known as Magdala).” And these are the people who remind us of Somalis clan division as if they are immune to it? In fact, the degree of animosity between various Ethiopian nationalities mirrors the Hutu/Tutsi hate, not the fleeting and often-changing clan adversities of the Somalis.
Ethiopianism as a Political construct
Returning to the main theme of this article, on top of the many reckless historical assertions, Professor Ayo has also marketed conjectures as facts. In that regard, I am not sure if I am debating authentic academicians or hot-headed cadres of nostalgic political ideology, which has been in intensive care for a while and needs mouth-to- mouth resuscitation. He says ONLF is supported by CIA and MI6, when Britain and the US are the biggest donors to the Tigre regime which has taken the mantle of ‘defenders Ethiopian national interest’ from the Amhara’s.
Nowadays, it is ironic to see Amhara’s seething over the ‘Ethiopianism’ claims of Tigre officials; when according to the Amhara, all the Tigres’ have done is to help Eritrea secede and ‘infest’ the rest of the country with ethnic divisions. They have a point. The new Tigre rulers certainly do not have much affection for an Ethiopia in which their tribal avarice is contained and which they do not rule. It is also true that the TPLF is playing with fire by playing one ethnic group against another for power-retention agenda. Read Tesfaye Gebreab’s historical fiction ‘Ye Burqa Zimita’ (the Silence of Burqa) and you will not miss the depth of TPLF’s callousness. But the Amhara’s do not realize that all along, the Ethiopian unity and nationalism mantra was a political construct ready for use by whoever happens to usurp power by force and suppress the rest. Funny enough, the next turn could be for Oromos to annihilate those who oppose “Ethiopianism”, once and if they translate their mighty potential into real power.
Intellectual cowards
No genuine scholar would delve into the misty world of conspiracy theories in analyzing and critiquing real political and historical issues. That is why I have the uneasy feeling I am coned into debating with political cadres and not serious academicians. That is why I partially opted to trade some slogans, just in case I am addressing the wrong guys.
I called all those who continue to refuse to look into the fairy-tale History of Ethiopia with fresh mindset, ‘intellectual cowards’ bereft of genuine national sentiment even for the Ethiopia they cry for. I say so again here and now, whatever chagrin I sow in their bleeding heart. And I am not lost to their reaction. Back then in school, as a young man who conversed in Amharic with the impeccable accent of a Gonderie (Amhara from Gonder), I used to startle few of my classmates.
Having been taken as a ‘good’ Ethiopian for my mastery of the language of the ‘nobility’ in which I scored higher marks than most of the Amhara peers, I used to ask disturbing questions as to why a nomad in Bulaale and Geladi will have to seek interpreters when seeking a mere ID document from the District Administrator, who happened to carry a formidable Ato Teshome, Ato Kassaye or a lovely Ato Mot-baynor (what if there is no death) name. In shock and bewilderment, and with the contorted face of people shamed by a human alibi of the supremacy of their values, which was held in high regards, the crowd would turn to me with “Indhe? (What?) Min Alk? (What did you just say)? Ye tamark aydhalehim Indhee? (Are you not an educated guy)? I expect no less this time around, but I am also grown up now and could see their point. The purpose of the said ‘education’ was to turn me into a ‘higher’ being, a Gojjame or a Gonderie, and ultimately make me look into my hapless nomadic mothers and siblings with vicarious shame! It backfired!
Muktar M. Omer
E-Mail: muktaromer@ymail.com
(1) Saqiir iyo kabiir reer Ayshaco, nabad ku soo hoyday
Sardhaday galeen baad qumbulad, suna ku tuurteene
Surkaa wada jarteen wiilashii, timaha soohnaaye
Nin sidaa ku dhaqanteen ogaa, waa siqsiqayaaye
Suldad-Xabashiyeed nimay heshaa, waa sac kuu taliye
Translation:
“Old and young, the people of Aysha’a were in peace
You have rained poisonous bombs on them, for joining their brothers
You cut the heads of all the youth with the long ponytails
Anyone who knows what you are capable of doing, remains in perpetual fear
A man who finds himself under the leaderhsup of Habasha, is like a man governed by cows! ”
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Rights Report on Ethiopia Sparks Fierce Debate
Peter Heinlein VOA | Addis Ababa 03 November 2010
A U.S.-based human rights group has raised an uproar with a report arguing that development assistance to Ethiopia may be doing more harm than good by strengthening a repressive government. The report has sparked condemnation in some quarters, praise in others.
The Human Rights Watch report issued last month accuses Ethiopia's government of using development aid to suppress political dissent. The 105-page document alleges that much of the $3 billion a year contributed by foreign donors is used to consolidate the power of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front.
Ethiopian government spokesmen did not answer repeated phone calls seeking comment on the report. The government, however, launched a scathing counterattack online. Statements posted on the foreign ministry website accuse Human Rights Watch of "unbridled arrogance" and "warped neo-colonialism."
One statement calls the allegations a "make believe" story that is part of a "vendetta" against the Ethiopian people. Another accuses the rights group of trying to bully the international aid community into halting cooperation with Addis Ababa.
A consortium of 25 aid donors, known as the Development Assistance Group, issued a statement saying it disagrees with the conclusions in the HRW report. The DAG, as the assistance group is known, said its own independent study earlier this year uncovered no evidence of widespread or systematic aid distortion.
The full DAG study posted on the group's website, though, paints a different picture. It states that its study was a "desk-top" exercise - not an investigation - and no specific allegations were checked.
The study notes that a fact-finding mission late last year by the U.S. Agency for International Development observed the potential for political bias in the allocation of aid. It recommended further analysis to determine if systematic distortion takes place on the basis of political affiliation.
The United States is Ethiopia's largest individual aid donor, giving an estimated $1.3 billion per year. USAID Country Director Thomas Staal said the types of distortion alleged in the HRW report would be difficult for a donor study to detect.
"To us, the important thing is to make sure the programs are well managed, closely monitored with strict accountability systems, and you're building institutions that can make sure programs are meeting the goals, targets and beneficiaries intended," said Staal. "And you cannot go after individual cases of an allegation here and there."
Authors of the Human Rights Watch report call the Development Assistance Group's response to their allegations "disingenuous." In a telephone interview, HRW Horn of Africa Senior Researcher Leslie Lefkow said the aid community has been timid in confronting Ethiopia's government with charges of misusing aid money.
"This is one of the ironies of research we did, and the discussions we had with officials before we published this report, is that many of them privately acknowledge the characterization of the regime as repressive. They acknowledge these characteristics privately, but publicly there is no appetite for voicing this analysis."
Ethiopian opposition leader Bulcha Demeksa is a former World Bank director and a long-time senior official of the United Nations Development agency. He said the ruling party's access to vast sums of cash during the last election should have been a red flag to donors that aid money was involved.
"I do not understand how they cannot see the huge amount of money that was spent in elections this year," said Demeksa. "Where does this money come from? Ethiopia, all by itself, cannot sustain that. I believe this money was from the various types of aid coming from donors."
Demeksa said political payments were so widespread during the election that anyone not receiving money was socially ostracized. "In my own district I know very well ... and there is no house this has not touched. People are now afraid if they think somebody has not received money, and is not a thorough EPRDF supporter, nobody goes to his house, he is not invited to weddings, social functions."
Lefkow said the ruling party's influence has grown exponentially in recent years. "Between 2005 and 2010, the party increased its membership to between 4 million and 5 million, that is one in seven adults, which means in most families you have a party member, and in most kebeles (village districts) every household probably has a party member. So I do not think it is an exaggeration to say the party has essentially infiltrated every layer of Ethiopian society."
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi rejects characterizations of Ethiopia as a "one party state." He describes it as a dominant party state.
In parliamentary elections this year, the EPRDF and its allies won 99.6 percent of the seats. In village and regional council elections two years ago, the party won all but three of nearly 3 million seats.
Ethiopia remains one of the world's poorest countries, though official figures show the economy has grown 10 percent or more in each of the past seven years.
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Ethiopia was accused for torturing the ****** civilians In UN submit of Torture in Geneva.
OTP- Hundreds of demonstrators from ****** protested on yesterday UN submit in Geneva, the submit was organized by the UN's Committee Against Torture(CAT), the protesters of ****** from the European countre accused Ethiopian government for torturing their relative, people and themselves .
The protesters were chanting, ******ia Free, Ethiopia out of ******, UN must come and see What is happening In ******, Must visit the Jails, the UN human right committee must send an independent team into ****** Soil.
The protesters carrying the flag of the ****** called for independence of their land and referendum of ****** region.
There have been members of ****** community in UN submit who was tortured by the Ethiopian Government Intelligences last years to prove the torture, some showed UN committee the bullet fired by the Ethiopian govermnment security, while Some others showed the torture done by the security during they were in ****** Prisons, Particularly, ****** jail that based on Jigjiga.
Ethiopia was accused several times Human right abuses In ******, Ethiopia burned the Villages and terrorized the local people mainly in villagers and nomads, some of the villages they burned were, Labiga, Qamuuda, Fooljeex, Maraacaato, Laasoole and Dameerey.
Human right report says,
Tens of thousands of ethnic Somali civilians living in eastern Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State are experiencing serious abuses and a looming humanitarian crisis in the context of a little-known conflict between the Ethiopian government and an Ethiopian Somali rebel movement.
The situation is critical. Since mid-2007, thousands of people have fled, seeking refuge in neighboring Somalia and Kenya from widespread Ethiopian military attacks on civilians and villages that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Ethiopia rejects the accusations but still now, there are hundreds of eye-witness and victims living in Somalia and Kenya Refugee Camps.
African Right monitor a non-governmental human rights advocacy organization created to monitor human rights violations in African territories in conflict and post-conflict situations in submit of Geneva says, there is a vast discrepancy between what is written into Ethiopian law and reality. While Ethiopia has incorporated the provisions of CAT into its national constitution and Criminal Code, torture remains widespread and unchecked throughout the country,
They accused the local militia named Liyu Police for human right abuses and some of the report is below,
“The Liyu police, was granted similar powers to those possessed by the military in the region. In mid-2008, the government collected unemployed young men, former militia members and regional police and sent them to a training camp. The first 800 Liyu police militia men came into force in January 2009. Many ****** report that the Ethiopian military is more polite and humane than the Liyu police. This is not to be interpreted as evidence of the kindness of the Ethiopian military, but rather the comparative seriousness of Liyu abuses against the ******. The Liyu police are responsible for crimes ranging from harassment, arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings.”
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Ethiopia's largest Opposition condemns DAG response to human rights watch
Medrek founders Ethiopia's largest opposition party, the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (MEDREK), condemned a report by the international Development Assistance Group (DAG) in response to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
HRW had accused international donors of allowing the Ethiopian government to use their aid money and aid programmes as a political weapon. The 25 member DAG (which includes World Bank, DFID, UNDP, IMF, EU and USAID) denied turning a blind eye to the aid abuse and opposed the assessment provided by HRW. However the Ethiopian opposition MEDREK called the coverup by DAG "shameful" and "disappointing" for the cause of democracy and human rights in Ethiopia.
In a statement to the media, MEDREK party said the DAG members did not carry out adequate and full investigation into the aid abuse reports. The party ridiculed a July 2010 DAG investigation as a "desk work" that was filled with inaccuracies and as a "pre-emptive" defensive action in anticipation of a comprehensive investigation by HRW. Medrek is a coalition of Ethiopia's Southern, Oromo and Tigray as well as multi-national opposition parties.
Medrek says development partners should be able to both respect human rights while assisting the poor who is in need of aid in Ethiopia. However DAG's only concern was damage control and about aid organizations losing financial and political support from their respective governments due to the HRW report, according to Medrek.
Source: Jimma Times.
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ARM was one of the NGO's that submitted a report to the UN's Committee Against Torture(CAT) and below is the statement that we read to the members. Afterwords, ARM's delegation and the committee members discussed the issues and concerns regarding the human rights situation in Ethiopia.
Statement to the Committee Against Torture
Monday, November 1st, 2010
African Rights Monitor is a non-governmental human rights advocacy organization created to monitor human rights violations in African territories in conflict and post-conflict situations. On behalf of ARM, I would like to draw the committee’s attention to three key points to consider in Ethiopia’s CAT evaluation.
First, there is a vast discrepancy between what is written into Ethiopian law and reality. While Ethiopia has incorporated the provisions of CAT into its national constitution and Criminal Code, torture remains widespread and unchecked throughout the country. Arbitrary arrest, extrajudicial killing, torture, rape, and infringement of due process of law for detainees are strategies commonly employed by the government to oppress individuals. Suspected “dissenters” and people from ****** and Oromia are especially vulnerable to government torture and abuse. Government officials have repeatedly denied these accusations and assure the Committee Against Torture of its positive human rights record. Ethiopia’s anti-torture rhetoric, however, is a facade that does not translate into adequate protection against torture for Ethiopian citizens. In fact, three torture victims are here with us today and are happy to answer any questions you might have after the presentation. One mechanism for torture not discussed in our report is a new Government backed militia.
This group, called the Liyu police, was granted similar powers to those possessed by the military in the region. In mid-2008, the government collected unemployed young men, former militia members and regoinal police and sent them to a training camp. The first 800 Liyu police militia men came into force in January 2009. Many ****** report that the Ethiopian military is more polite and humane than the Liyu police. This is not to be interpreted as evidence of the kindness of the Ethiopian military, but rather the comparative seriousness of Liyu abuses against the ******. The Liyu police are responsible for crimes ranging from harassment, arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings. Both during and after training, it was emphasized to the Liyu police that they were the most powerful organ in the region. This rhetoric has led them to overuse their power against vulnerable people who are not equipped to fight back, including civilians from both the urban and nomad communities.
Second, in 2009 the government passed two detrimental new laws which undermine the provisions of CAT. Specifically, The Anti-Terror Law nullifies all protection afforded to citizens under Article 4 of CAT, infringes on the freedom of expression, and expands the powers of the police without any due process. In essence, this law completely undercuts previous measures and regulations that explicitly criminalize torture. At the same time, the Charities and Societies Proclamation forbids all foreign funding and support to Ethiopian civil society organizations and requires strenuous new registration measures. This has severely limited the capacity of these organizations, and many have been forced to cut programs and personnel. Additionally, the Ethiopian Government has restricted the access of international observers and humanitarian organizations into conflict regions and has barred outside observers from certain prison facilities.
Many NGOs are censoring themselves as well, fearing further government reprisals. As a result, there is a lack of documented evidence about torture and a dearth of resources for victims. Meanwhile, the government is effectively using humanitarian aid as a weapon of war, systematically denying food and services to targeted segments of the population.
Third, I would like to mention one development since the submission of our report. On October 5th of this year, political prisoner Birtukan Mideksa was freed. However, her release is seen by ARM as a token move intended to bolster the international credibility of Ethiopia, thereby deflecting attention away from the hundreds of other individuals who remain unlawfully detained.
To conclude, the level of abuse and torture leveled at civilians in Ethiopia remains dire, despite repeated official guarantees to the contrary. The widespread incidents of arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial killing, and lack of due process for detainees at the hands of the Ethiopian Government can no longer be tolerated by the international community. We ask you to consider these issues in Ethiopia’s review and welcome any further questions you have.
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Xog- Doorkee Ayuu Maraykanku ku Lahaa Hishiiskii Itoobiya Iyo Altixaad.
OTP-Warar hoose oo ay Shaqaalaha ******today ka helaan Illo Lagu Kalsoon yahay Ayaa sheegaya in Dowladda Maraykanku Isdhiibistii Sheekh Ibraahin Dheere Iyo Itoobiya ay Bilowgiisa Ilaa Dhamaadkiisa Ogaayeen Kadib Markii Waaxda Sirdoonka Maraykanka ee FPI heshay Kulamo Qarsoon oo dhex-marayay Sirdoonka Itoobiya Iyo Kooxaha Lagu Tuhun Sanaa Islaamiyiinta Xariirka la leh Alshabaab oo ka Dhacayay Dalka Jabuuti Iyo Kenya.
Kadib Safiirka Maraykanka u Fadhiya Dalka Kenya Mr. Ranneberger uu Xog-waraysi oogu yeeray Safiirka Itoobiya u Fadhiyay Kenya Dissassa Dirbissa, Dissassa wuxuu u sheegay Dowllada Maraykanka in Labadii Sanno ee oogu Danbaysay ay Xariiir Hoose lahaayeen Kooxan Islaamiyiinta ah ee ahaan Jiray Dagaal Yahanadii Altixaad Sannadkii 1993. Haddalkan ka soo yeeray Safiirka ee ahaa In ay Xariir la lahaayeen Labadddi sanno oogu Danbaysay ayaa Shaki wayn Galinaya Weerarada Daacayadeed ee Altixaad uu ku hayay ONLF Inay ahayd Qorshe Fog oo Laga soo Shaqeeyay.
Dowllada Itoobiya waxay Miiska Saartay In Liiska Magacyaddan Kooxahan aysan Ku Jirin Cid ku ah “Threat” Dowladda Maraykanka Marka laga reebo Sheekh Ibrahin Maxamed Hussein oo Dalka Maraykanka Laga soo Masaafuriyay ahaana Ninka ay ku Daba Jireen Sirdoonka Maraykanka oo ay ku Tuhun Sanaayeen inuu Dhaqaale u Aruurin jirey Alshabaab
Itoobiya ayaa Dhankeeda ku andacootay In Kooxaha u Dagaalamaya Waddaniyadda ee ONLF Iyo Kooxahan u Dagaalamaya Magac-Diinta ee Mansab Doonka ah ay Khatar Baddan yihiin Kuwan u Dagaalamaya Mansabka Diintase ka Dhiganaya Waji ay Bulshada ku Dhex Galaan, Maadaamoo Itoobiya tahay Dal Muslim ah Halisna ay tahay In Muslimiinta Itoobiya lagu Faafiyo Fikirka Islaamka.
Isla Markaas Saraakiisha FPI ee Maraykanku waxay Arrintaas la Kaashadeen Waaxda Arrimaha Dibada ee Marayaknaka si loo gorfeeyo Doorka Maraykanka ee ku Wajahan Hishiiskan.
Illaha Madax-Banaan ee Warbaahinta ******today u waramaya waxay sheegeen in Dowladda Maraykanku ay Markii Danbe ka Gaabsadeen Arrintan, Iyadoo qaar ka mid ah aysan ku Raacsanayn Hishiiska Dowllada Itoobiya.
Dowladda Itoobiya ayaa Dhankeeda u sheegtay Maraykanka inay Doonayso in Arrinta Nimanka ay soo af-jarta Waliba Iyagoo u cadeeyay In Ciidanka Nimankan oo ah Mid yar ay doonayaan inay ka horgeeyaan ONLF si ay oola Dagaalamaan, Waxayna Sheegaan in Seddexda Xubnood ee oogu Sareeya Ururka ay isla qaateen in la soo Afjaro ONLF, Ciidan ahaan Iyo Siyaasad ahaan, Iyadoo Dadka Muslimka ah ee Waddanka Deggan ee Taageera Jabhada ONLF laga soo galo Dhanka Diinta.
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Human Rights Whitewash On Ethiopian Genocide
By Thomas C. Mountain
01 November, 2010
Countercurrents.org
Human Rights Watch has just released an over 100 page “human rights” report on Ethiopia that whitewashes the crimes against humanity and genocide being committed by the Ethiopian regime.
In the last ten years the Meles Zenawi lead government of Ethiopia has committed the following war crimes and crimes against humanity on both the Ethiopian people and their neighbors;
1) The 2000 invasion of Eritrea, with some 150,000 war dead and another 1.5 million refugees.
2) The 2006 invasion of Somalia, with tens of thousands killed and over a million refugees.
3) The genocidal program of counterinsurgency and blockade of food aid during a series of record breaking droughts in the ethnically Somali, Ethiopian ****** region. Even the truth challenged Enough Project used the term “scorched earth” to describe the rape, murder, mass murder, theft of cattle and grain and the burning of homes and crops that is carried out every day by Ethiopian troops in the ******.
Almost none of this made its way into the HRW report.
There are many other examples of crimes committed by the Ethiopian regime not raised in the report, including the regimes counterinsurgencies in the Oromia and Tigray regions as well as the ethnic cleansing carried out in the western region of Gambella.
The HRW report on Ethiopia mentions the 99.6% election “victory” the Meles Zenawi regime declared this year, but doesn't expose the 500 plus protesters shot dead in the streets and over 50,000 thrown into concentration camps following the previous election in 2005.
Ethiopia itself receives, according to recent reports, some $6.7 billion in western aid and “forgiven” loans every year, yet remains the poorest country in Africa and one of the poorest, most aid dependent countries in the world.
Another very important fact not mentioned in the HRW report is that Ethiopia has the largest, best equipped army in Africa.
Why is HRW refusing to report these crimes?
Could it have something to do with the $100 million “matching grant” mega billionaire USA businessman George Soros recently “donated” to HRW? Ethiopia is a crucial supporter of USA foreign policy, America’s gendarme in East Africa, and has mostly been protected by leaders of NGO’s who are recipients of Soros largess.
The recent HRW report is just the latest example of this.
Human Rights Watch or Human Rights Whitewash? You be the judge.
Thomas C. Mountain is the only independent western journalist in the Horn of Africa, living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006.
thomascmountain at yahoo dot com
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I personally know the kid, he is ciyaal Utanga. He got his books displayed at 1st. Cup Cafe in Minneapolis but he is not okay, mentally.
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^^ I agree with many of their points but the thing is, as long as people like this group are just asking ONLF to do this and that and just yelling from the sidelines, leading their own comfortable lives, and wanting changes, that change might never come. If they want real change, they should come in and contribute to the struggle.
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Western Aid Funding Human Rights Abuses in Ethiopia.
The curious modern creed that foreign aid is automatically virtuous has its origins in two powerful social phenomena: the collapse of trust in politics, and the cult of celebrity. Ambitious politicians crave the stardust that attaches to pop stars such as Bono. Meanwhile, their strategists have noted that while the membership of mainstream political parties is in freefall, organisations such as Oxfam and Save the Children boast millions of supporters.
New Labour was the first to take advantage. Tony Blair’s decision to create a separate Department for International Development (DFID) ensured the endorsement of Bono and others, while making a very plausible grab for the Oxfam vote.
This posed a problem for the Conservative Party, which had a long-standing and well-founded scepticism about foreign aid. The economist Peter Bauer, one of Margaret Thatcher’s gurus, had notoriously claimed that there was no measurable link of any kind between foreign donations and economic development. If anything, thought Bauer, aid probably hinders growth, as it leads directly to corruption, the misallocation of resources and the erosion of civil society.
With the arrival of David Cameron, the Tories gave up. One of his early moves was to invite Bono to the party conference. The new leader’s international development spokesman, Andrew Mitchell, embraced the New Labour paradigm. Teams of Tory ministers and MPs accompanied Mitchell to build schools in Rwanda. There was a naked calculation behind this idealism: to rebrand the Conservative Party.
All this may have been admirable. But the cross-party consensus on overseas aid was dangerous. There was no one to investigate reports of embezzlement and express scepticism. Meanwhile, spending soared from £2.6 billion in 1999 to £6.5 billion in 2005, and a prodigious £8.7 billion in the current financial year – approximately £300 for each and every British family. The process reached its apotheosis in last week’s spending review. With cuts in almost every other department, DFID emerged the clear winner, with spending projected to rise by an extraordinary 37 per cent over the next four years.
Such a massive splurge would perhaps be welcome if we could be confident that the money was well-spent. But throughout the New Labour years, there was no attempt to establish this (and the Tories and Lib Dems did not want to express a dissenting view). This cosy consensus was finally broken last week with the publication of an authoritative report from a most unexpected source – the respected humanitarian organisation Human Rights Watch.
The study, which concentrates on Ethiopia, shows how the system works in practice. The findings are horrifying. The country is one of our biggest recipients of aid, with a DFID budget of nearly £300 million and a staff of 250 officials. Yet Human Rights Watch has shown that DFID is incompetent to monitor, let alone account for, the prodigious sums it disburses. Much more troubling, it has proved beyond doubt that hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money is being spent to keep in power an unpleasant and authoritarian Maoist government.
It is important to address the report in detail because, although published more than a week ago, it has been ignored. Labour’s international aid spokesman, Harriet Harman, has made no reference, most likely because it exposes negligence under New Labour. The same applies to Mr Mitchell, now International Development Secretary. The conspiracy of silence extends to the British media, where only this newspaper has given the study any coverage. It is easy to explain this omerta: at a stroke, Human Rights Watch has smashed every conventional piety about foreign aid, and therefore raised very awkward questions.
The facts are grim. Ethiopia is in effect a one-party state whose president, Meles Zenawi, has a shocking record of human rights abuse. Last May’s general election, in which the ruling party secured some 99.6 per cent of the parliamentary seats after a long, vicious campaign of intimidation, provides ample evidence.
For years DFID has collaborated – there is no other word – with Zenawi’s dictatorship. We have donated massive amounts towards food aid, fertiliser, health and education. Rather than administer this aid, we have – unforgivably – allowed Zenawi and his thugs to use it for political manipulation and control. Starving people get told they can only have food if they support the ruling party. Teachers have received donor funds – but only in return for spewing out official propaganda. One British-backed programme, designed to train civil servants, has been adapted to indoctrinate trainees in the loathsome ideology of the ruling party.
The implications of the Human Rights Watch report (based on months working undercover, often in remote and dangerous areas, by a researcher) stretch far beyond Ethiopia. It seems likely that the same abuse of aid goes on in other countries. Rwanda – beloved of the modern Conservative Party – is an obvious case. Here again we are dealing with a culture of repression, what amounts to a one-party state and a president who has just been returned with an improbable share of the vote (93.08 per cent). Licensed assassination and the jailing of opponents and journalists characterised the election period. Yet DFID has been happy to fund the National Electoral Commission, which tolerates blatantly undemocratic elections on a jaw-dropping scale, and the so-called Media High Council, a state-affiliated body which has recently suspended the country’s two most popular independent newspapers.
The brutal truth has to be declared. DFID has enjoyed at best mixed fortunes since it was founded in 1997. Its seven-year presence in Iraq after the 2003 invasion has been an unmitigated and extremely expensive disaster, and Afghanistan looks like turning into a similar story. Yet so fixed is the cross-party belief in the virtue of foreign aid, that it alone was last week exempted from the hostile and rigorous scrutiny of costs that other parts of government were forced to endure.
To be fair to DFID, it is very hard to contribute aid to countries such as Ethiopia and Rwanda without getting too close for comfort to the regime, however unpleasant. It is harder still – perhaps impossible – in war zones. That is why some argue that the real goal of foreign aid should not be democracy and human rights, but simply to remedy urgent human suffering.
But denial is no way of dealing with these issues – especially not when George Osborne appears determined to prove the truth of the old remark that foreign aid is a mechanism for transferring money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. It is time for a public debate which entertains the possibility that Bauer might have been right, and Bono wrong. Above all, we need to end the dirty culture of silence that suppresses any talk of the deep complicity between the aid lobby and human rights abuse.
Source:http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100061337/overseas-aid-is-funding-human-rights- abuses/
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LST, while I do not have hard numbers, I would say the big majority of the population is Somali. The city looks like any other city in Somalia and would not notice the other ethnicities like Diri-dhawa (Harar and diri dhawa didn't look like somali cities). And those non-Somalis who live in Jigijga are mostly Uraaga business people and Tegrey goverment employees.
However, one thing that I noticed and bothered me was the fact that there were churches, catholic schools, and the most good businesses (ilaha dhaqaala-banks, xawaalah, airlines, constructions, imports, business contracts etc) were controlled by Tegrey goverment aligned individuals.
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When I was there in 2006, my family lived close to the church where they also have their school. I hated to hear their never-ending church bells at the oddest hours of the night!
For all those who are complaining the fact that Somalis might be exposed to this or their land is taken or even worse things, this is the exact thing that the Liberation front is fighting against so if your claims are genuine, you know who to support
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This is East Timor but there are worst things that happen in Oghadeen.
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by Jonathan Ewing-Source- worldpolicy.org.
There are still quite a lot of companies interested in investing in the region, but all are being quite cautious. Heinrich believes that any company operating in an area of social and political tension can never hope to be neutral actors. Their presence and activities will always have an impact on the host community and society in general. The ******, he says, is a prime example.
Indeed, Paul Hebert, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia from 2003-2008, believes the presence of the oil companies and their requirements for increased security following the ONLF attack in 2007 had made it much more difficult for the United Nations and other organizations to provide humanitarian assistance. “The oil companies were not the only force behind these kinds of difficulties, but they played a role almost as significant as the government or the ONLF in fueling the conflict Hebert says. “Their mere presence aggravatedthe situation at a critical time because of their de-facto alliance with the government as it continued its counterinsurgency campaign.”
Three months after the ONLF’s attack on Abole in April 2007, Hebert began receiving reports from a growing number of non-governmental organizations and locals in the region. The army, he read, had embarked on a vigorous counter-insurgency campaign against the ONLF. “I think [the government was] humiliated by the attack and that was why it overreacted, striking back so heavily. They wanted to show the oil industry that they had control of the region,” he says. By the middle of July, Hebert and his UN staff were becoming seriously concerned about the humanitarian situation. Food aid was not getting through, livestock markets were being closed, nutrition was a growing problem and people were beginning to suffer tremendously, according to Hebert and a senior western diplomat in Addis Ababa.
In a confidential report to his superiors, Hebert said that news was arriving at the UN mission of allegations of grave human rights violations including rape, arbitrary arrest and detention, extra-judicial execution, denial of rights to food, demolition of houses and disappearances of people. Reports were so extreme that he requested a meeting with the president of the Somali Regional State, Abdullahi Hassan.
“The meeting was cordial, but tense, and Hassan was very, very defensive,” Hebert recalls, adding that “the government was aware of the situation, but that they attributed the problems to drought, not fighting. They also defended the trade embargo which effectively closed cross-border trade with Somalia, Kenya and Somaliland, were only a short-term phenomenon, and that they were an “acceptable price” to pay to wean the local population from contraband, Hebert reported. Hebert then requested that the United Nations be allowed to undertake a mission to assess the situation, which got underway near the end of August and ran through the first week of September 2007. UN investigators would examine conditions from the capital of the Somali Regional State to the center of the region.
“Our plan was to run a mission that included a humanitarian as well as a human rights assessment,” he says. But the meeting with Omar was heating up, and becoming increasingly edgy. “I assured [him] that our mission would merely be about assessing the effect of this fighting on the civilian population and that we weren’t interested in assigning blame,” Hebert recalls. After explaining his objective, Omar stood and calmly accused two of Hebert’s national staff—Ethiopian UN workers who had been hired locally—of being members of the ONLF.
“This kind of accusation was very serious, and I asked [Omar and his staff] for proof, which they said they had, but which they declined to share,” he says. “We learned later that other members of the staff were threatened and warned by federal police and security against working for the UN and participating in the mission. It was my feeling at the time that the government was bluffing, but I also knew that I had no way to protect them if push came to shove, because they were national staff—meaning they were citizens of Ethiopia and bound by Ethiopian law.”
The government delayed, and finally, after about 10 days, approved the UN mission. Hebert’s plan at the time, three years ago, was to travel south from Jijiga, and on into the heart of the Somali region of Ethiopia. He would visit a number of villages and towns along the Jijiga-Gode road in an attempt to get an idea of what was happening in the five geographical zones— Degehabur, Fik, Gode, Korahe and Warder— where military activity was ongoing. The convoy did not, however, visit the areas around Shilabo, which included towns and villages that were later found to have been hardest hit in the fighting. In many of the towns, people told the UN assessment team that government soldiers and security had only recently passed through, warning people that they should say nothing negative to the UN team.
“We knew, of course, that this must have stopped some people from talking to us, but others went ahead,” Hebert recalls. “We couldn’t corroborate all of the information. But the pattern held that people were being abused and then coerced by the government into keeping their mouths shut. Food distribution, we later found out, was staged. After we left, authorities went and took all of the food back.”
The mission found large numbers of Ethiopian troops camped in nearly all the towns and villages they visited. In most of their interviews with civilians, Hebert and his team encountered a pervasive fear for individual security. Many expressed the frustration of being caught between the Ethiopian military and the ONLF. This conflict was bringing their families to the brink of destitution. In the end, Hebert and his team finished the mission and delivered the final report. The Ethiopian government felt it was biased, but agreed to let Hebert publish the report without official opposition.
“We also produced a human rights report on the alleged beatings and torture, which the government asked us not to release publicly. The government said they would accept the humanitarian report, but if we released both the humanitarian and human rights report, they would reject both. So it was basically a threat,” he says. The human rights report was never issued.
Improvements…At the Margins
Some, in the UN and other humanitarian organizations, believe that the situation in the ****** has improved—but only marginally, and with progress best characterized as two steps forward, one step back. The poor conditions of refugees arriving in Kenya, and in great numbers, suggest that the fighting continues. Earlier this year, the ONLF claimed to have strengthened to the point where it was able to take over the Hilala natural gas field in eastern ******, operated by Petronas—a claim rejected by the Ethiopian government.
Vincent Lelei took over in Ethiopia after Hebert retired from the United Nations. Humanitarian access to the ****** region is granted, he says, on a case-by case basis after extensive discussions with the government, which all too often says it must consider the entire scope of issues that need to be managed in a particular area. And most often, the determining issues are security-related.
This “means that we are able to deliver assistance, but not as effectively as we would wish to. We have to reduce our expectations at every stage,” says Lelei. “We continue to work with the government in providing assistance, but fundamentally this is the issue: They want to make sure that humanitarian assistance goes to the individuals who are supposed to receive aid. And they want to make sure that humanitarian assistance in the region is not given to the people that the government is convinced are a problem, which is the people who the government is engaged in armed combat with—and that is the ****** National Liberation Front.” As for the oil companies, they do not, indeed have never, provided any meaningful humanitarian assistance to the villages where they are, each day, changing the way of life. The beatings and the killings continue.
Situation Impossible
One 41-year-old father of eight from the ****** now lives in the Ifo refugee camp in Kenya, north of the city of Garissa. Back home, he was a goat herder, but later took on odd jobs to support his family. His situation, he says, was impossible. Like most people, he felt as if he were being used.
In December 2002, he was beaten by the ONLF for not joining the militia to fight the Ethiopian government. In 2006, he was beaten by local militia and police for working with Médeçins Sans Frontières. He was beaten again that year, this time by the government, he says, because he worked with members of a U.S. Army detachment, helping to build a watering area for the local herders and their animals. The police arrested him, took him to their barracks and tortured him.
“I was placed between two army trucks and tied—one arm to each truck. A white, shining sword was produced and placed at my neck [and I was asked]: ‘What did you tell the Americans?’” Probably the same story he would tell the oil companies if he could. The only real way to change patterns that are so deeply engraved in the customs and practices of a government or a people is to hurt them profoundly. And the only effective way that may be accomplished is to take away the lubricant that makes it all possible—revenue from the only item of value this poor land has to barter and that the world wants at all: oil. The oil companies, however, remain. And their funds continue to flow.
Jonathan Ewing is a Stockholm-based investigative reporter who traveled to East Africa on a grant from the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, researching the relationship between the government of Ethiopia, the separatist rebels, the petroleum industry and the global interests they represent.
Source- http://www.worldpolicy.org/blog/2010/10/21/human-rights-jeopardy
Picture via Flickr, by gara.
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