(US Congressman Chris Smith, NJ) — Joined by victims of torture at the hands of the Ethiopian government, Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) and Rep. Mike Coffman (CO-06), came together this afternoon to bring to light the actions of the oppressive government of President Mulatu Teshome.

“For too long the government of Ethiopia has used violence, including the shooting of peaceful protestors, to snuff out any opposition,” said Smith, Chairman of the House Panel on Africa. “Simple conversations with the Ethiopian Government have proven to not be enough—the actions of the government have intensified rather than moderated.”

“Feyisa Lilesa helped bring this issue to the international stage last year, but we must not let these violations fade from the public eye,” Smith continued, referencing the Ethiopian Olympic silver medalist who showed a symbol of solidarity with the Oromo people in the 2016 Olympics.

The press conference coincided with the introduction of the bipartisan H. Res. 128, which offers an outline to bring Ethiopia back onto the path towards Democracy. This resolution is designed to promote democracy and good governance in Ethiopia and, among other key provisions, condemns the actions of the Government of Ethiopia and calls on the Secretary of State to improve the oversight and accountability of U.S. assistance in Ethiopia.

“This week, my colleagues and I introduced a bipartisan House Resolution calling on the Government of Ethiopia to take clear and decisive steps to respect the human rights for all Ethiopians.  The United States has closely observed a pattern of abuse by the Ethiopian government’s security forces while denying too many of its citizens the basic freedoms guaranteed under the Ethiopian constitution,” said Coffman.

Alongside Smith and Coffman was Seenaa Jimjimo, Tewondrose Tirfe and Guya Abaguya Deki, who have all seen the abuses of the Ethiopian Government first-hand.

“Ethiopia’s ruling regime wanted to control me and demanded that I join the ruling party,” said Deki, describing his brutal treatment at the hands of the Ethiopian government. “When I refused, they dumped me in a jungle area with my wheelchair, believing hyenas would attack and kill me. But I survived. I am very grateful to Congressman Chris Smith for introducing this resolution on human rights in Ethiopia. I hope other Members of Congress will support it to stop torture and other horrible human rights abuses committed by the government of Ethiopia.”

“The Government of Ethiopia has been an active participant in the war on terror,” said Smith. “However their brutal repression has been shown to create the environment where international terrorists thrive and recruit. To truly stop violence abroad, Ethiopia must stop violence at home.”

Smith has chaired three hearings on Ethiopia, the most recent of which looked into the deterioration of the human rights situation in Ethiopia and was titled “Ethiopia After Meles: The Future of Democracy and Human Rights.”

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Addis Ababa, February 16, 2017 (Fana Broadcasting Corporation) – The doyen of historians and scholars of Ethiopia, Dr. Richard Pankhurst has passed away at the age of 90.

Dr. Pankhurst was one of Ethiopia’s greatest friends during his long and productive life, and his scholarship and understanding for Ethiopia will be sorely missed.

He was the founding Director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and a leading figure in the Friends of Ethiopia.

The son of Sylvia Pankhurst, a staunch supporter of Ethiopia’s struggle against Italy in the 1930s, Dr. Pankhurst came to Ethiopia in 1956 and devoted his life to Ethiopian studies, writing over 20 books and editing many more on aspects of Ethiopia’s history, culture and economics.

He was also instrumental in the successful campaign to get the Axum Stelae re-erected in 2008, back from Italy to Ethiopia, for which he was given an award of recognition by President Dr. Mulatu Teshome.

He was also awarded Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the British government for his services to Ethiopian studies.

Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, offered his profound sympathy to Mrs. Rita Pankhurst, to his children, Helen and Alula, and to all his family, friends and colleagues.

Source: FanaBC

Background from Wikipedia

Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst OBE (born 3 December 1927) is a British academic, a founding member of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, and a former professor at the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. His books have been reviewed in scholarly journals, with Edward Ullendorff calling his The Ethiopians as another testimony to his “remarkable diligence and industry in the service of Ethiopian studies”. He is known for his research on economic history and socio-cultural studies on Ethiopia.

Early life and education

Pankhurst was born in 1927 in Woodford Green to left communist and former suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst (aged 45) and Italian anarchist Silvio Corio (aged 52). His maternal grandparents were Emmeline and Richard Pankhurst.

Pankhurst studied at Bancroft’s School in Woodford, then at the London School of Economics, from which he received a doctorate in economic history, on which Harold Laski acted as an advisor.

Scholar of Ethiopia

Sylvia Pankhurst had been an active supporter of Ethiopian culture and independence since the Italian invasion in 1935, and Richard grew up knowing many Ethiopian refugees. Sylvia was a friend of Haile Selassie and published Ethiopia, a Cultural History in 1955. In 1956, she and Richard moved to Ethiopia.He began working at the University College of Addis Ababa, and in 1962 was the founding director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. He also edited the Journal of Ethiopian Studies and the Ethiopia Observer.

Pankhurst left the Institute and his professorship at what had become the University of Addis Ababa in 1976 after the death of Haile Selassie and the start of the Ethiopian Civil War. He returned to England, where he became a research fellow with the School of Oriental and African Studies and the London School of Economics, before working as librarian at the Royal Asiatic Society. He returned to Ethiopia in 1986, where he resumed research with the Institute. He has published numerous books and articles on a wide variety of topics related to Ethiopian history.

Pankhurst led the campaign for the return of the Obelisk of Axum to Ethiopia. It was re-erected in Axum in 2008. For his efforts in this, he was given the honorary title “Dejazmach Benkirew” by the Union of Tigraians of North America. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas section of the 2004 Queen’s Birthday Honours “for services to Ethiopian studies”.

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Prosecutors Present Clips of Interview and a Public Speech as Evidence of Terrorism Charges Against Bekele Gerba

Bekele Gerba

Addis Abeba, Feb. 17/2017 (Addis Standard) – After several delays and more than a year in detention, prosecutors have today presented two video clips as evidence against Bekele Gerba, first secretary general of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), who is facing terrorism charges in the file name under Gurmesa Ayano.

Bekele Gerba was charged in April 2016 along with 21 co-defendants including Dejene Fita Geleta, secretary general of OFC with various articles of Ethiopia’s much criticized Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP).

The charges include, but not limited to, alleged membership of the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), public incitement, encouraging violence, as well as causing the death of innocent civilians and property destructions in cities such as Ambo and Adama, 120km west and 100km east of Addis Abeba during the recent Oromo protests in Ethiopia.

In the past prosecutors have presented evidences largely marked by several inconsistencies, including oral testimonials, against all the defendants, but have until today kept postponing that of Bekele Gerba’s. However, no individual has come forth to testify against Bekele, which led prosecutors to present the two video clips to the 4^thcriminal bench of the federal high court.

One of the two clips presented as evidence is Bekele Gerba’s acclaimed speech as a keynote speaker during the annual conference organized by Oromo Studies Association (OSA) in August 2015. In it, after highlighting the plight of the Oromo, the largest ethnic group who are the basses of his opposition party, OFC, Bekele spoke at large, and pleaded passionately, about the need for nonviolent struggle. It now stands as evidence against him on charges that include ‘inciting violence.’  Bekele spoke at OSA’s event just five months after he was released from jail after serving more than four years for yet another terrorism-related charges. Prosecutors argued the speech was ‘inciting’ in its content. However, when asked by the defense lawyers to explain what OSA stands for, one prosecutor simply answered “no.”

The second evidence presented this morning was Bekele Gerba’s interview with ESAT, a foreign-based radio and television station. The interview was given in Dec. 2015, during the peak of the #OromoProtests that began in Nov. 2015 and lasted for almost a year. Prosecutors claimed the interview was related to the anti-government protests that gripped almost the entire parts of the Oromia regional state, the largest regional states in a federated Ethiopia.

The court adjourned the next hearing on Monday, Feb. 20^th, during which prosecutors said they will present a third video clip of an interview Bekele gave to OMN, another foreign-based television station with a large viewership constituency among the Oromos in Ethiopia.

Prosecutors have also said they would present a fourth video clip as evidence against two defendants, Abdeta Negassa and Beyene Rudaa. Many of the 22 defendants in the same file are members of the opposition OFC.

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The Ethiopian Regime Is Destabilizing the Horn of Africa Region

By Yohannes Woldemariam

(The Huffington Post) — The Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn claims Al-Shabab is diminishing with Ethiopian support to the Somali government. He also told BBC Africa editor, Mary Harper, that “Ethiopians are satisfied with the system of government in the country.”

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Somalia praised for holding peaceful polls, but Shabaab denounces

Kenya (The Star) — President Uhuru Kenyatta has commended Somali for successfully holding a peaceful presidential election, saying it is proof the Horn of Africa country is heading in the right direction.

Uhuru said the election gave renewed hope to the Somali people and the international community that Somalia is on the road to full recovery.

“The way the election was conducted and the subsequent peaceful transfer of power has made us very proud,” Uhuru said.

The President spoke at State House, Nairobi when he received a special message from new Somalia President Mohamed Farmaajo. The message was delivered by Farmaajo’s special envoy, Abdisalam Omer, who is the new Foreign Minister of Somalia.

Uhuru said the existing cooperation between Kenya and Somalia in a wide range of areas, including peace and security, would strengthen the bond of friendship between the two countries. The special envoy expressed appreciation for the efforts Kenya has continued to offer towards the stabilisation of Somalia.

Meanwhile, Slovak President Andrej Kiska, who has been in the country since Monday, wrapped up his State Visit yesterday and was seen off at the JKIA by Uhuru.

The Slovak President started his State Visit by holding talks with Uhuru that focused on deepening bilateral ties between Kenya and Slovakia.

Shabaab denounces new Somalia leader

Kenya (Citizens TV) — The Al Shabaab militant group has denounced newly elected Somalia President, Mohamed Abdullahi ‘Farmajo’, for backing the African Union troops currently in the country on a mission to weed out the Islamist fighters.

Through their radio broadcast, the militants termed efforts to rebuild the national army as an “endless project”.

On Thursday, February 16, two people were killed in a barrage of mortar rounds fired toward Somalia’s presidential palace as the country’s new leader moved in.

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Country Risk: Oromia violence involving Ethiopia’s Somali region police likely to increase local anti-government militancy, attacks on commercial projects

IHS Jane’s Country Risk Daily Report

EVENT

Several members of Ethiopia’s Somali region’s Liyu special police were reportedly killed by armed locals on 14 February in Gursum district, Oromia region, allegedly in response to recent raids into the area by these security forces, according to Ethiopian opposition media. Locals also seized unspecified amounts of police ammunition and weapons during the violence.

Earlier in February, both an Oromia government official and an Oromo opposition party had claimed Somali regional police involvement in recent cattle raids, looting, and killings in Oromia’s East Haraghe (which includes Gursum), Bale, Guji, and Borena zones.

Complicity by the Ethiopian government, dominated by its Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) wing, in these raids would most likely be part of a strategy designed to prevent the formation of a cross-ethnic domestic opposition and marginalise the ethnic-Oromo opposition ahead of the scheduled end of the state of emergency in April.

About Jane’s

Jane’s Defence Weekly (abbreviated as JDW) is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who first published Jane’s All the World’s Fighting Ships in 1898. It is a unit of Jane’s Information Group, which was purchased by IHS in 2007. The magazine has a large circulation and is frequently cited in publications worldwide

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Ethiopia: Peaceful Protests to Armed Uprising

By Graham Peebles

From file: Oromo people stage protests against the government near the Hora Lake at Debre Zeyit. Photograph: Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

(Dissident voice) — What began as a regional protests movement in November 2015, is in danger of becoming a fully-fledged armed uprising in Ethiopia.

Angered and exasperated by the governments intransigence and duplicity, small guerrilla groups made up of local armed people have formed in Amhara and elsewhere, and are conducting hit and run attacks on security forces. Fighting at the beginning of January in the North West region of Benishangul Gumuz saw 51 regime soldiers killed, ESAT News reported, and in the Amhara region a spate of incidents has occurred, notably a grenade attack on a hotel in Gondar and an explosion in Bahir-Dah.

In what appears to be an escalation in violence, in Belesa, an area north of Gondar, a firefight between ‘freedom fighters’, as they are calling themselves, and the military resulted in deaths on both sides. There have also been incidents in Afar, where people are suffering the effects of drought; two people were recently killed by security personnel, others arrested. The Afar Human Rights Organization told ESAT that the government has stationed up to 6000 troops in the region, which has heightened tensions and fuelled resentment.

Given the government’s obduracy, the troubling turn of events was perhaps to be expected. However, such developments do not bode well for stability in the country or the wider region, and enable the ruling regime to slander opposition groups as ‘terrorists’, and implement more extreme measures to clamp down on public assembly in the name of ‘national security’.

Until recently those calling for change had done so in a peaceful manner; security in the country – the security of the people – is threatened not by opposition groups demanding human rights be observed and the constitution be upheld, but by acts of State Terrorism, the real and pervasive menace in Ethiopia.

Oppressive State of Emergency

Oromia and Amhara are homelands to the country’s two biggest ethnic groups, together comprising around 65% of the population. Demonstrations began in Oromia: thousands took to the streets over a government scheme to expand Addis Ababa onto Oromo farmland (plans later dropped), and complaints that the Oromo people had been politically marginalised. Protests expanded into the Amhara region in July 2016, concerning the appropriation of fertile land in the region by the authorities in Tigray – a largely arid area.

The regime’s response has been consistently violent and has fuelled more protests, motivated more people to take part, and brought supressed anger towards the ruling EPRDF to the surface. Regional, issue-based actions, quickly turned into a nationwide protests movement calling for the ruling party, which many view as a dictatorship, to step down, and for democratic elections to be held.

Unwilling to enter into dialogue with opposition groups, and unable to contain the movement that swept through the country, in October 2016 the government imposed a six-month ‘State of Emergency’. This was necessary, the Prime Minister claimed, because, “we want to put an end to the damage that is being carried out against infrastructure projects, education institutions, health centers, administration and justice buildings,” and claimed, that “we put our citizens’ safety first”.

The extraordinary directive, which has dramatically increased tensions in the country, allows for even tighter restrictions to be applied – post an update on Facebook about the unrest and face five years imprisonment – and is further evidence of both the government’s resistance to reform and its disregard for the views of large sections of the population.

The directive places stifling restrictions of basic human rights, and as Human Rights Watch (HRW) states, goes “far beyond what is permissible under international law and signals an increased militarized response to the situation.”

Among the 31 Articles in the directive, ‘Communication instigating Protests and Unrest’ is banned, which includes using social media to organize public gatherings; so too is ‘Communication with Terrorist Groups’, this doesn’t mean the likes of ISIS, which would be reasonable, but relates to any individual or group who the regime themselves define as ‘terrorists’; i.e., anyone who publicly disagrees with them.

The independent radio/TV channel, ESAT (based in Europe and America) as well as Oromia Media meet the terrorist criteria and are high up the excluded list. Public assembly without authorization from the ‘Command Post’ is not allowed; there is even a ban on making certain gestures, “without permission”. Specifically crossing arms above the head to form an ‘X’, which has become a sign of national unity against the regime, and was bravely displayed by Ethiopian marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa, at the Rio Olympics (where he won a silver medal).

If anyone is found to have violated any of the draconian articles they can be arrested without charge and imprisoned without due process. The ruling regime, which repeatedly blames so called ‘outside forces’ for fueling the uprising – Eritrea and Egypt are cited – says the new laws will be used to coordinate the security forces against what it ambiguously calls “anti-peace elements”, that want to “destabilize the country”.

Shortly after the directive was passed, the government arrested “1,645 people”, the New York Times reported, of which an astonishing 1,220 “were described as ringleaders, the rest coordinators, suspects and bandits.”

All of this is taking place in what the ruling regime and their international benefactors laughably describe as a democracy. Ethiopia is not, nor has it even been, a democratic country. The ruling EPRDF party, which, like the military, is dominated by men from the small Tigray region (6% of the population) in the North of the country, came to power in the traditional manner – by force; since its accession in 1992 it has stolen every ‘election’.

No party anywhere legitimately wins 100% of the parliamentary seats in an election, but the EPRDF, knowing their principle donors – the USA and UK – would sanction the result anyway, claimed to do so in 2015. The European Union, also a major benefactor, did, criticise the result; however, much to the fury of Ethiopians around the world, President Obama speaking after the whitewash, declared that the “elections put forward a democratically elected government.”

Government Reaction

Since the start of the protests the Government has responded with force. Nobody knows the exact number of people killed, hundreds certainly (HRW say around 500), thousands possibly. Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, probably tortured, definitely mistreated; family members of protestors, journalists and opposition politicians, are intimidated and routinely persecuted. And whilst 10,000 people have recently been released, local groups estimate a further 70,000 remain incarcerated and the government has initiated a new wave of arrests in which young people have been specifically targeted.

Amongst the list of violent state actions – none of which have been independently investigated – the incident at Bishoftu, which many Ethiopians describe as a massacre, stands out. On October 2nd millions of ethnic Oromos gathered to celebrate at the annual Irreecha cultural festival. There was a heavy, intimidating military presence including an army helicopter; anti-government chants broke out, people took to the stage and crossed their arms in unity. At this democratic act, security forces responded by firing live ammunition and teargas into the crowd.

The number of casualties varies depending on the source; the government would have us believe 55 people died, though local people and opposition groups claim 250 people were killed by security forces. The ruling regime makes it impossible to independently investigate such incidences or to verify those killed and injured, but HRW states that, “based on the information from witnesses and hospital staff…it is clear that the number of dead is much higher than government estimates.”

A week after the Nightmare at Bishoftu, the ruling party enforced its State of Emergency. Another ill-judged pronouncement that has entrenched divisions, strengthened resolve and plunged the country into deeper chaos. Such actions reveal a level of paranoia, and a failure to understand the impact of repressive rule. With every controlling violent action the Government takes, with every innocent person that it kills or maims, opposition spreads, resistance intensifies, resolve grows stronger.

Enough!

The Ethiopian revolt comes after over two decades of rule by the EPRDF, a party whose approach, despite its democratic persona, has been intensely autocratic. Human rights declared in the liberally worded constitution are totally ignored: dissent is not allowed nor is political debate or regional secession – a major issue for the Ogaden region, which is under military control.

There is no independent media – it is all state owned or controlled, as is access to the Internet; journalists who express any criticism of the ruling regime are routinely arrested, and the only truly autonomous media group, ESAT is now classed as a terrorist organization. Add to this list the displacement of indigenous people to make way for international industrial farms; the partisan distribution of aid, employment opportunities and higher education places; the promulgation of ethnic politics in schools, plus the soaring cost of living, and a different, less polished Ethiopian picture begins to surface of life than the one painted by the regime and donor nations – benefactors who, by their silence and duplicity, are complicit in the actions of the EPRDF government.

People have had enough of such injustices. Inhibited and contained for so long, they have now found the strength to demand their rights and stand up to the bully enthroned in Addis Ababa. The hope must be that change can be brought about by peaceful means and not descend into a bloody conflict. For this to happen the government needs to adopt a more conciliatory position and listen to the people’s legitimate concerns.

This unprecedented uprising may be held at bay for a time, restrained by force and unjust legislation, but people rightly sense this is the moment for change; they will no longer cower and be silenced for too much has been sacrificed by too many.

Graham Peebles is Director of The Create Trust, a UK registered charity supporting fundamental social change and the human rights of individuals in acute need. He can be reached at: graham@thecreatetrust.org. Read other articles by Graham, or visit Graham’s website.

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zimbabwe : ‘Hungry’ Ethiopian illegals faint in court

Some of the illegal Ethiopian immigrants sitting in the corridor at the Gwanda prosecution office

Richard Muponde, Gwanda Correspondent

(kichuu) – THERE was pandemonium at Gwanda courts recently when a group of Ethiopians which was intercepted enroute to South Africa, fainted because of hunger, resulting in eight of them being hospitalized.

The 56 Ethiopians led by Lonsako Esatu Sumoro was intercepted last Friday night in West Nicholson in Gwanda after they had entered the country illegally enroute to the neighbouring country.

They were charged with contravening immigration laws and were brought to court under heavy police guard.

However, all hell broke loose as they started complaining of hunger with some of them sobbing.

Good Samaritans provided bread after some of the immigrants fainted.

Court officials had a torrid time assisting them.

Eight of them who were in a serious condition were rushed to hospital where they were admitted, rehydrated, fed and discharged.

Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service officers’ had to rush to Gwanda prison where they prepared some porridge to feed the remainder.

Gwanda medical superintendent, Dr Purgy Chimberengwa yesterday confirmed admitting eight of the Ethiopians for dehydration and starvation.

“All of them were dehydrated and starving. So we just had to rehydrate them and give them food. It was just a feed and discharge process,” said Dr Chimberengwa.

The ages of those admitted ranged from 17 and 27 years.

When the Ethiopians finally returned to court Gwanda resident magistrate Mr Obedience Matare refused to place them on remand and they had to be surrendered into the custody of the immigration department which took them to their holding centre in Beitbridge.

The driver of the vehicle which was ferrying them, Norman Dube, was charged with assisting them to enter or depart Zimbabwe without permits.

He was fined $500 or 60 days in prison.

Last year another group of Ethiopians caused a scene at the same court after they started crying during the court proceedings claiming to be hungry.

The group had been intercepte d at Scooter in Filabusi on its way to South Africa.

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US Senator proposes a bill to crackdown on immigration including DV

The bill is to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the Diversity Visa Program, to limit the President’s discretion in setting the number of refugees admitted annually to the United States, to reduce the number of family-sponsored immigrants, to create a new nonimmigrant classification for the parents of adult United States citizens, and for other purposes.

Download bill

(Politico) — Now, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a reliable Trump ally, is taking steps to execute that part of the president’s immigration vision — and it could provoke a showdown between two competing ends of the GOP: the working-class populists led by Trump and the establishment Chamber of Commerce wing.

The outspoken, 39-year-old Cotton has written the first in what may be a series of bills to revamp the nation’s immigration system. Cotton will start off with legislation being unveiled Tuesday that will dramatically slash the number of immigrants who can obtain green cards and other visas every year.

The conservative rising star is poised to step into the role being vacated in the chamber by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who has long preached the economic virtues of restricting legal immigration in favor of U.S. citizens — a view disputed by business-friendly Republicans who have pushed for a more expansionist immigration policy. Sessions is set to be confirmed as attorney general this week.

“Donald Trump was the only one who saw that most Americans don’t like our current immigration system,” Cotton said in an interview with POLITICO on Monday. “This is just the area of politics where I think leaders and elites are most disconnected from the people. Not just Republicans but in both parties, in business, in the media, in the academy, culture and so forth.”

The Arkansas senator has already spoken with Trump and key White House officials about his immigration proposals, and says the administration has been receptive. And Cotton dismisses research that shows the economic boon of immigrants, including low-skilled workers, by paraphrasing George Orwell: “Only an intellectual could believe something so stupid.”

Cotton’s new legislation, being formally proposed Tuesday with Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and detailed exclusively with POLITICO in advance of its release, swings an axe at the nation’s green-card system by eliminating several avenues for U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor family members for green cards.

Right now, U.S. citizens and permanent residents can sponsor a variety of family members, including spouses, parents, siblings and married adult children. Cotton and Perdue’s plan would allow only spouses and unmarried minor children to get green cards, although they would permit visas for aging adult parents whose American children are their caretakers — a population Cotton expects will be modest.

The bill also dumps the diversity visa lottery, which allots about 50,000 visas per year for citizens of countries that traditionally have low rates of immigration to the United States. And it would limit refugees to 50,000 annually — in line with levels outlined in Trump’s controversial executive order.

“Sen. Cotton and I are taking action to fix the shortcomings in our legal immigration system,” Perdue said. “Returning to our historically normal levels of legal immigration will help improve the quality of American jobs and wages.”

All told, the number of legal immigrants allowed into the United States under the bill — named the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act — would plummet by 40 percent in the first year and by 50 percent over a decade, according to analysis by Cotton’s aides.

Advocates of reduced immigration are delighted.

“With the introduction of this bill, Sen. Cotton has made it clear that he’s stepping not necessarily into the shoes, but onto the platform where Sessions’ shoes have been,” said Roy Beck, the president of NumbersUSA, which calls for less immigration. “This is beyond anything that Sen. Sessions ever did.”

Cotton says his legislation is the first step in revamping the current immigration system from one based on family ties toward a more skills-oriented one, a move that Republicans generally support. But the intraparty collision comes with Cotton’s push to tighten the number of low-skilled foreign workers into the country.

“For too long, our immigration policy has skewed toward the interests of the wealthy and powerful: Employers get cheaper labor, and professionals get cheaper personal services like housekeeping,” Cotton wrote in a December New York Times op-ed. “We now need an immigration policy that focuses less on the most powerful and more on everyone else.”

His arguments, however, run counter to research that show immigrants are a net boon to the economy, from the high-skilled foreigners coveted by the tech industry to employees who work at hotels, restaurants and in agriculture. The so-called Gang of Eight bill passed by the Senate in 2013 crafted a new “W” visa program that would allow up to 200,000 low-skilled guest workers in the country per year.

“Economists overwhelmingly think that immigration is good for the economy. That’s not just true at the high-skilled, but low-skilled level,” said Jeremy Robbins, the executive director of the Partnership for a New American Economy, the pro-reform group led by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Robbins, who regularly meets with GOP lawmakers, added: “There is overwhelming support in Congress for the idea of immigration as an economic driver, including in the Republican conference.”

But arguments from the other end of the Republican Party are rising in potency, particularly with Trump in the White House, which has put out a flurry of executive actions in his first two weeks in office. The Trump administration is also entertaining new orders to curb legal immigration programs such as the H-1B visa prized by the tech industry.

Cotton didn’t address employment-based green cards or related visas in his latest measure, noting that the laws governing those issues are more complicated and “touch more entrenched interests.” He also declined to say directly whether he is open to expanding the pool of 85,000 H-1B visas allotted per year.

“There are obviously abuses of the H-1B visa program. I think those abuses need to be addressed before we even consider expanding the program,” Cotton said. “That said, if the evidence demonstrates that say, software companies need PhDs with computer science degrees and they’re going to pay them a wage that’s in the top 1, top 5, top 10 percent of local wages, I’m open to that kind of evidence.”

Mark Krikorian, whose Center for Immigration Studies supports restricting the number of immigrants here, says Cotton has been a rarity among Republicans in that he consistently raised issues surrounding legal immigration in addition to the more oft-discussed debate over illegal immigration.

“He’s relatively young, he’s a rock star among lots of conservatives, combat veteran, the whole thing,” Krikorian said. “And so for him to be the one to carry the standard of immigration reduction really does give it legitimacy.”

The prospects of a full-blown immigration debate such as the one that consumed Congress four years ago appear unlikely, for now. But Cotton said if Trump calls on lawmakers to advance immigration legislation, such as a security and enforcement bill, that could be an opportunity to put forward his plan.

Cotton’s allies extend beyond the White House, to the Justice Department — where Sessions will be able to wield significant power over immigration in his new job.

“There’s only one Jeff Sessions. He’s not replaceable,” Cotton said during the POLITICO interview. “But Sen. Sessions correctly realized that most Americans want immigration levels at most, to stay the same, and more likely, to decrease because it does have a negative impact on jobs and wages.”

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ONLF High Level Delegation Concludes North America Tour

EDMONTON, Canada (Ogaden News Agency) – The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) high level delegation touring North America concluded its working visit on Tuesday in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The delegation, consisting of the ONLF’s foreign affairs secretary, Abdirahman Mahdi, and information secretary, Hassan Moalin, toured United States and Canada on behalf of the movement and in support of their national struggle.

The high-ranking delegates met United States officials, congressional members – both in U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as officials from various think-tanks, including Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and National Endowment for Democracy, where the political state of affairs of Ogaden and Ethiopia in general were discussed.

The ONLF presented its positions and policy regarding the current crisis in Ethiopia precipitated by the desperate measures of the current failing regime in Ethiopia and its proposed solutions for a democratic, peaceful and stable Horn of Africa.

ONLF Delegation to Washington DC Discusses Situation in Ogaden

The delegation’s working tour was launched off on January 18, 2017, during which the officials also met the Ogadeni diaspora communities in San Jose, Minneapolis and Edmonton, where civil society organizations and groups received the high level dignitaries. Meetings were also convened with local chapters of Peoples’ Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (PAFD) in Minneapolis and Edmonton, as well as other liberation fronts and Ethiopian opposition groups in Washington, DC.

Equally important were also non-governmental human rights organizations and other international peace and security institutes that the ONLF representatives sat down with and briefed them on the Ogaden question.
Media interest of the delegation was significant, but only a selected few were afforded interview privileges because of time constraints. The Voice of America – Somali and Amharic services, Ilays Television, Hiber Radio, Oromo News Network a few amongst them.

After leaving the United States, the delegation visited Canada – in particular Edmonton, Alberta, where they participated in the 2nd Annual Social Justice Forum collaboratively hosted by the Ogaden Somali Community of Alberta Residents (OSCAR) and Concordia University of Edmonton in Canada. The theme of the academic symposium was Unpacking Institutional Racism: Decisions, Practices, Procedures, and Policies. A series of panels addressed fundamental issues surrounding institutional racism, ranging from topics such as education and public institutions to indigenous and immigrant perspectives.

Famine in Ogaden deliberately underestimated by Ethiopia and UN Agencies

The forum brought together diverse group of participants: elected officials, minority rights organisations, professors, local civil servants, students, refugees, public policy experts, and members of the Ogaden community abroad. The head of the delegation, Mr. Mahdi delivered a keynote speech entitled Horn of Africa Geo-Politics on the final day of the forum. This was in addition to the Black history celebration held yearly by the OSCAR in collaboration with the City of Edmonton.

An important part of the celebration this year was the raising ceremony and hosting of the Ogaden National Flag at the Edmonton City Hall for one month; a symbolic gesture in solidarity with the people of Ogaden for their just and noble cause for self-determination, freedom, and cessation of oppression from Ethiopia.

Mr. Mahdi, a co-founder of the ONLF in 1984, and Mr. Moalin, a former member of the one and only elected parliament of Ogaden in 1992, flew from Edmonton International Airport to their next scheduled work destinations.

The ONLF is a political and social movement that represents and vanguard aspirations and interests of the people of Ogaden. It wages a principled national liberation struggle against the TPLF regime in Ethiopia and fights for the inalienable right of the Somali people of Ogaden to national self-determination.

The movement is a founding member of the PAFD, a political alliance that represents more than 70% of Ethiopia’s population comprising Somali, Oromo, Sidama, Gambella and Benishangul nations. The ONLF has a positive relation with all nations in Ethiopia and believes in engaging all forces in Ethiopia that are struggling to bring genuine democratic change in Ethiopia.

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Kenya to host Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

(CGTN Africa) — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will on Saturday host his Egyptian counterpart in President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s first state visit to Kenya by a sitting Egyptian Head of State.

El-Sisi will be received by President Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi, where the two leaders will lead their delegations in bilateral talks aimed at bolstering cooperation between Kenya and Egypt.

The total volume of trade between Kenya and Egypt stood at about Ksh 45 billion (Approximately $450 million) in 2015 while the highest value was approximately Ksh 59 billion (Approximately $597 million) in 2012, according to official statistics.

Kenya’s total exports to Egypt were valued at approximately Kshs 20 billion with a negative trade balance of Kshs 5.6 billion in 2015, Africa Review reports.

These exports comprise a limited number of products dominated by tea at 96 per cent of the total exports to Egypt. Egypt is the second largest importer of Kenyan tea. However, there has been a decline in tea exports over the last few years.

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By Henok Tibebu

(All Africa) — Ethiopia and China started economic relations about 100 B.C when the Han dynasty of China and the Axumite empire of Ethiopia had trade exchanges. The two countries had made official relationship when they opened embassies in their respective capitals beginning from 1972. This relationship has reached a greater level over the past two decades.

Currently, the bilateral relations is multifaceted and keeping the economic growth of both countries promising. On the other hand, many Chinese companies are engaged in several development projects in Ethiopia. Road, railways, and telecommunications are among the major projects that the Chinese companies are involved in.

Chinese investors are being attracted to invest in Ethiopia from time to time. This year alone, Ethiopia has attracted companies with projects worth 14.5 Billion Birr. And Chinese companies are on the leading position in terms of capital and in manufacturing industry engagement followed by India and Turky. Over the past six months, 121 investment projects have been set operational and 45 are Chinese with a capital worth more than 3 billion Birr, According to Mekonen Hailu, Communication Directorate Director of the Ethiopian Investment Commission.

Observing the nation’s stability under the state of emergency, ten giant Chinese companies have also decided to invest in Ethiopia. From these ten, five of the companies are licensed to invest in textile and garment.

He said though most of the companies are interested in investing in textile, garment and leather products, there are still untapped major areas of opportunity like agriculture, livestock, manufacturing, tourism, mining, hydro power and social services.

Mekonen said since industrialization is going to take over the nation’s economy from agriculture to industry-led, the Ethiopian government has given due attention for the manufacturing sector. In this case, it provides special incentives for investor who are willing to be engaged in the sector. These incentives include export incentives, custom duty exemption, income tax holy days, and provision of land at competitive lease price.

According to the Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia La Yifan, the previous year has been phenomenal for Ethiopia in terms of economic growth. Yifan said despite of all the difficulties related with the global fluctuation of commodity price, the price of coffee in particular, this country managed to achieve eight per cent growth. This is among the highest not only on the continent but also in the world. He noted that the implementation of GTP II is moving steadily ahead in terms of infrastructural development, electricity generation, employment and also industrialization.

Speaking of trade with Ethiopia, he said that China has consistently enjoyed trade circles with the amount of 3 billion USD. “But, we have to try our best to raise Ethiopian exports to China and 97 per cent of the goods produced here are exported to China free from Quota and tariff,” he noted.

In terms of people to people exchange programmes, Ethiopia is one of the largest from Africa in terms of getting Chinese government scholarships. More than 4,000 Ethiopians have been offered such scholarships in China over the past ten years, he noted.

The Chinese president Xi Jinping has also introduced the new One Belt and Road Initiative in the fall of 2013, which aimed at enhancing complementary and synergy of development strategies and promote common progress of participating countries through closer international cooperation. The Initiative has incorporated more than 100 countries including Ethiopia and other East African countries.

According to Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, the Initiative has made good progress in various cooperation and won warm response and active participation over the past three years. The Initiative is expected to create a cooperation that will facilitate long term development and benefit of the people and usher in a better future for all. It also aims to promote common development and win win cooperation, according to an overview of the state councilor.

There are lots of ways for Ethiopia to benefit from the Belt and Road Initiatives, says Yifan. The Djibouti-Addis Ababa railway is one result of the Initiatives. Highway system is under construction to link Ethiopia with neighboring countries. It’s not only in infrastructural but also policy coordination, promotion of trade and people to people relationships that the Initiatives can benefit all countries involved.

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BREAKING: Mo Farah Shows Solidarity with Oromo

– He made the banned gesture against the TPLF rulers.

Via Naf-tanan Gaadullo
by CDE

Four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah made the famous Oromo gesture in protest against the government of Ethiopia as he crossed the finishing line in the 5,000m Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday.

The legendary British athlete who have just returned from Ethiopia to break the European record at the event (pictured), swapped his ‘Mobot’ signature celebration with a show of solidarity for the Oromo people.

In Rio Olympic, hundreds of millions of people watched Ethiopian silver medallist Marathon winner Feyisa Lilesa hold his arms over his head, wrists crossed, in support of members of his Oromo ethnic group against the Ethiopian ruling party.

The Tigre ethnics group (TPLF) of the country’s leaders have been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses and of discrimination against the Oromo, the country’s largest ethnic group, comprising about 35% of the country’s 100m population.

Recently, the #Oromo community in the United Kingdom had written to the British government urging it to halt with immediate effect, its assistance to the government of Ethiopia which they accused of systematic repression that included the torture, killing and harassment of school children in #Oromia, a regional state of Ethiopia.

Since October 2016, the TPLF government declared a state of emergency, giving security forces and the army new sweeping powers.

The government blocked mobile internet, restricted social media, banned protests, closed down broadcast and print media, and imposed draconian restrictions on all political freedoms.

In its recent report analysing the effect of the emergency, Human Rights Watch described the measures as the securitisation of legitimate grievances.
#OromoProtests #EthiopiaProtests #Mo Farah #Athletics Mo Farah British Athletics

Athletics: Farah bows out indoors with European recor

LONDON (Reuters) – Mo Farah ended his indoor career with a new European record, winning the 5,000 meters at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday in a time of 13 minutes 09.16 seconds.

Farah, Britain’s four-times Olympic champion, plans to focus on road racing after the outdoor world championships in London in August when he will say his final farewell to the track.

The 33-year-old was helped to break the indoor mark at the Birmingham Indoor Arena in what became a two-way duel with Kenyan Albert Rop, who stretched him over the final two laps.

It was a fitting way for Britain’s most successful long-distance runner to end his indoor career – and a marked improvement on his only other appearance this season, when he came seventh in a cross-country event in Edinburgh last month.

“I knew from Edinburgh I needed to do some work,” he told the BBC. “I had to go away and leave my family behind to do more training. It has paid off. Hard work pays off.”

Farah shaved almost two seconds off the European record – and more than 12 off the previous British best – after pacemaker Adam Clarke had taken the 11-man field through a fast opening to the race.

Urging the crowd to raise the noise levels, Farah exuded his trademark calmness as he tucked in behind Rop for the final stages.

He hit the front with two laps to go before extending his lead, much to the joy of the large crowd.

Farah did not realize he had broken the record but paid tribute to the support he has received during his stellar career, in which he has won the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000-metres double twice.

“The crowds have been so good for me over the years. I will miss it,” he said. “I can’t quite believe it’s my last race.”

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Canada: Former refugee an advocate for education

Dammee SeroCanada (Simcoe Reformer) — Dammee Sero has come a long way, from a refugee camp in Kenya to be an award-winning student at Laurier Brantford.

Dammee, who is originally from Ethiopia, received a World University Service of Canada scholarship to study in Canada at Laurier. Students living in refugee camps can apply to the WUSC Student Refugee Program for a scholarship, with the funding donated by students at Canadian universities. Universities sponsor a student refugee.

The 25-year-old has been selected as a 2017 Education Champion by the Education WORKS Alliance, after being nominated by Fanshawe College.

Dammee, who is studying Human Rights & Human Diversity at Laurier, is an outspoken advocate for the power and importance of education.

“My motivation comes from the love I have for education, the encouragement and recognition I received,” says Dammee, who used to walk for more than an hour to attend school in Africa. “And, also, to make sure that my mom’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”

Dammee’s mother fled Ethiopia with her children in 2001, leaving to escape political persecution of their ethnic Oromo people – a persecution that still continues. Dammee’s father was a teacher and was jailed several times.
Dammee praises her mother, who passed away in 2015, for her caring and compassion, and wanting the best for her children.

The Laurier student moved with her family to the Kakuma refugee camp in 2002 when she was 10.

This past year, Dammee was one of 10 students in Canada to receive the 3M National Student Fellowship Award, which is given to college or university students who display outstanding leadership.

Having to leave Ethiopia and having lived in a refugee camp for 10 years, Dammee is very aware of what it means to lose something.

“Learning is the only thing that can never be taken away from you, and learning expands your horizon. It is amazing to see how it can turn your life around for the better,” she says. “So go for it. Learn and learn whenever you can. It is the best decision.”

Dammee has finished her BA at Laurier and will officially graduate this June. She is working part time as a research assistant on a project related to the wellbeing of women and girls. Future plans include doing a Master’s degree and attending law school.

Canada is now Dammee’s home and she plans to build a life here, though she can see herself returning to Africa to work on specific projects on a temporary basis.  https://legacy.wlu.ca/homepage.php?grp_id=37

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By HG (Facebook) Denboba Natie

February 18, 2017

Somali Liyu Police is a disgrace to the ancient Cushitic (Kushitic) nations.

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After his protest at Rio Games, Ethiopian couldn’t go home; he’s temporarily reunited with family

Marathoner Feyisa Lilesa, reunited with his wife, Iftu Mulisa, daughter, Soko, 6, and son, Sora, 3, in Miami Beach. They will go with him to Arizona, where he has lived since the Games.

(Miami Herald)– Marathoner Feyisa Lilesa, reunited with his wife, Iftu Mulisa, daughter, Soko, 6, and son, Sora, 3, in Miami Beach. They will go with him to Arizona, where he has lived since the Games. AL DIAZ

Feyisa Lilesa has not returned home to Ethiopia since his finish-line protest at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics made global headlines but also made him an exile.

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Powerful blast, thought to be from a car bomb, tore through shops and food stands in Mogadishu’s Madina district.

Sunday’s blast also wounded more than 10 others and casualties may rise as many of the wounded victims suffered horrific wounds [Reuters]

(Aljazeera) — In the deadliest attack since the election of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed – nicknamed Farmajo – the vehicle exploded on Sunday at an intersection packed with civilians, traders and security forces.

“A suicide car bomber blew himself up inside this market at a busy time, killing at least 20 people and many others were also injured,” said Ahmed Abdulle Afrah, the district commissioner of Mogadishu’s Wadajir district.

Final death tolls in attacks in Somalia are difficult to establish, as relatives, public and private ambulances ferry the injured and dead away.

Al-Shabab, the armed anti-government group, did not claim responsibility for the attack, but it came on the same day as it threatened to wage “vicious war” against Farmajo and his new government, according to the SITE intelligence group which monitors its accounts.

Reward for information

Farmajo described Via Twitter the attack as “horrific” and shared pictures of himself visiting victims in hospital.

Local media also reported he had offered a $100,000 reward for information on who carried out the attack.

Sheikh Hassan Yaqub Ali, a senior al-Shabab official, said in a speech broadcast on a radio station linked to the group, that Farmajo was considered more dangerous than past presidents as he held joint American citizenship.

Ethiopia interferes in the 2017 Somali Election: A Call for Somali Action

The blast brought international condemnation, with the European Union describing it as “yet another act of terror targeting the Somali people by those wanting to undermine progress towards a stable and secure Somalia”.

The EU said it stood behind Farmajo’s efforts to bring security to his nation and build strong institutions.

The latest attack underlines the challenge facing the new president, who has inherited an administration with limited control over Somali territory due to the presence of al-Shabab, and is heavily propped up by the international community.

Mortar strikes

In the week before the election on February 8, at least 28 people were killed when al-Shabab struck a popular hotel in Mogadishu.

Farmajo’s inauguration takes place on Wednesday, although he officially took office this week at a ceremony marred by a series of al-Shabab mortar strikes near the presidential palace which left two children dead.

African Union troops drove al-Shabab out of Mogadishu in August 2011 but the fighters continue to control rural areas and launch repeated attacks in the capital.

Farmajo, whose brief stint as prime minister in 2010-11 showed him to be a no-nonsense leader set on improving governance and cracking down on corruption, is hugely popular in Somalia.

But he faces enormous difficulty in turning around one of the world’s foremost failed states.

Somalia’s limited election process, in which only several thousand delegates voted for legislators, is seen as a step toward full democracy.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the collapse of Siad Barre’s government in 1991, which led to civil war and decades of anarchy.

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TPLF’s war effort to suppress the Oromo voice

By Rundassa Asheetee Hundee

File: the beginning of the crackdown, 2015

The Tigre government of Ethiopia denial about the existence of the Oromo Liberation Front,  and it’s direct military involvement in helping the Somali’s to take over the Eastern and Southern parts of Oromia, and it’s empowering of the OPDO to freely echo the Oromo frustration in public, is a demonstration that strategic wisdom is best reflected in a correct combination of military power and political process.

There is no doubt that the Tigre military campaign in Oromia and Amhara region during the anti Tigre colonialism movement in 2016 saved the Tigre regime from downfall and helped them to remain in power and continue to leverage the dynamics of empire Ethiopia’s politics.

The TPLF involvement in inciting conflict between the Somali and the Oromo, between Gabra, Garrii, Gujii, Borana and many other groups has been going on since the TPLF conquest of Oromia in 1991 and it continued to date.  Since then the TPLF maintained its hold on power mainly thanks to the Bush and Obama governments deals, the expansion of Chines interest in Africa, the presence of American military advisors and the representatives of western countries intelligence agencies. America viewed empire Ethiopia as its last stable Africa’s military base and reliable strategic stronghold after it had lost it to the Russians during the cold war era.

Personal Ambition the source of our weakness – By Rundassa

Although the Tigreans have sold the empire to many countries around the world, America is taking calculated risks in supporting the TPLF so that it could fight the Islamic movement in Somalia and maintain it’s position as a world power.   Since America made Finfinnee the headquarter of it’s political and military base for the African continent, it increased it’s funding of the Tigre military while it’s intelligence units continue to do more from Finfinnee.  Further more, the American military cargo planes and drones have landed at the Arba-Minch and Djibouti airports so many times and hundreds of soldiers were sent to train the TPLF and prepare it for a long war against the Oromo liberation movement.

To reassure America’s full support to the minority Tigre tribe,  Mr. Obama surprised the people of the empire by announcing that the TPLF was a democratically elected legitimate regime qualified to assist it in fighting whom they called the “terrorists.”   America’s foreign policy makers believe that as long as it is someone that is doing the dirty job, everything they do is nothing but an act of advancing their long term strategic interest. For that reason, America’s indirect intervention in the ongoing civil war in empire Ethiopia is justified in the name of fighting extremist Islamic terrorist groups and they don’t have to re-examine their  foreign policy.   Instead, they help their puppet countries such as empire Ethiopia that they now gave a VIP seat at the global political game arena known as  the “UN” and the TPLF  feels like it is a key player essential to the resolution of international issues, although it failed to resolve a steadily exacerbating problem in Oromia.  Mean time, America’s older brothers, the Europeans, have tried to apply pressure on the Tigre regime but they lacked power to impose sanctions following the jailing of Baqalaa Garbaa, Marara Gudinaa and many others.  Of course,  someone must have negotiated the release of Andargachew Tisge, who now driving around Finfinnee and lives in the house provided to him by the Tigre regime.

This is the Ethiopia we can’t forget! – By Rundassa Asheetee Hunde

Today, the TPLF seem to suffocate the Oromo voice albite temporarily, it is trying to divert the public attention from the grave economic and social problems plaguing empire Ethiopia: economic challenges due to the enclave economic policy and lopsided power control responsible for the tensions that is now raging between the Somali and the Oromo propelled by the TPLF itself.  To do so, it is launching  vicious attacks on the Oromo people by using the Somali regional army in east and southern parts of Oromia, while encouraging patriotic sentiments in the Oromians minds so that the conflict will continue and boost the TPLF capabilities through time.

When it comes to the diaspora politics, TPLF’s success is unequivocal. The emergence of new Amhara party that rejects everything that the pro Ethiopian unity had been preaching for sure will lead to the brink collapse of a larger Amhara/Oromo collaborative efforts led by Bagaashaaw,  Diimaa and Leencoo Lata, while it will destroy the long history of cooperation between the Amhara, Ginbot 7, and of those Amharic speaking minority Kambataa or Walayitas.

It is also important to note that the TPLF has already crippled home based opposition groups whose leaders are languishing in prisons today. At the peak of the Oromian onslaught, all Oromo student association leaders were killed at Maqale, Wallagga, Ambo, Haro-Mayaa, Maddaa Walabuu and other universities and their bodies were discarded on the street.  When the opposition to the Finfinnee master plan intensified, more and more people were killed and intensive attacks were launched against the Oromo people every day, and in total, more than 7,000 Oromians were killed, which was seen as great achievements by the TPLF killing squad. The goal was to destroy OLF’s political infrastructures and yet that didn’t save the TPLF from the lose of revenues generated by the burned down foreign companies.

During the Bishooftuu massacre, the TPLF helicopters sprayed nerve gas on the people who attended Irrechaa and thousands were killed. Yet all these killings and military campaigns didn’t change the course of  the Oromo protest until the Tigre army known as Agazii took over Oromia and started targeting the Oromo youth who were determined to fight without effective defensive cover.  Ultimately, the Tigrean rulers turned offices, military bases and party members homes into prisons and jails, and that resulted in the jailing of over a quarter of a million people in Oromia alone. At least quarter of this number have been arrested in the Amhara region and elsewhere in the empire.

After such heavy price was paid by the people of empire Ethiopia, the Tigre rulers didn’t bother to presented any justification for the killing because changing the course of the revolution was their immediate objective. If there was any justification, they lied saying that the Egypt and Eritrea governments played central role in causing the protest while also admitting that joblessness and corruption contributed to the serious anger that engulfed the rotten empire.  Provided all these actions were taken, it is proven that all the Tigre colonist left with is the military force that they used to effectively suppress the Oromo voice.

Yet notwithstanding the actions taken, it appears that everything that is taking place is more of a rotation and adjustment of empire Ethiopia’s dark political tradition that camouflages itself in accordance with the changing nature of global politics.  Empire Ethiopia, which has a complicated history with the Oromo people does not want to see the Oromians taking a legitimate role in designing the empire’s future. This is why the Abyssinians vehemently opposed to the birth of Oromo region. The Tigre colonists, like the Amhara rulers before them promote the unity of empire Ethiopia with its current bureaucratic structure as a precondition of any future solution, and do not agree on the nature of a future arrangement between the Oromo and the rest.  One way to suppress the Oromo voice is to widen the gap between the Oromo and the rest ignoring the fact that this will ultimately lead to the collapse of empire Ethiopia.

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Why the Eerie Silence of The Peoples of Ethiopia As State Terrorism Mainly Rampages Oromia?     

‘Unite to Defend Your Rights, Or Else, You’ll Cease to Exist’

 by Denboba Natie, February 20, 2017

“Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere. We Are Caught In An Inescapable Network Of Mutuality, Tied In A Single Garment Of Destiny. Whatever Affects One Directly, Affects All Indirectly.” Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, 16 April 1963, USA

Entertaining Petty Differences is Equating to Ideological Fornication

I. The TPLF Never Quashes the Oromo Revolution.

The Oromo nation’s new waves of struggle against the ongoing oppression began in October 2015, is continuing unabated; despite the imposition of state of emergency by TPLF’s ruthless regime since October 2016. Several hundreds of Oromo civilians have been summarily executed on monthly basis ever since; and to date hundreds are getting slaughtered by TPLF’s terrorizing agents known as ‘Agi-azi’, in addition to Ogaden Sumali Liyu militia, the national army and security forces. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of Oromo civilians are rounded up and taken to various torturing chambers all over the country; where the prisons of the country mainly entertain Oromo prisoners – to the extent where people assume that the language of all prisons in Ethiopia became Affan Oromo. The Oromo’s prominent opposition figures such as Baqala Garbaa and Professor Marara Gudina among hundreds of thousands of Oromo prisoners remain unlawfully incarcerated. Therefore, the Oromo’s current revolution is the outcome of over century old grievances resulted from deep-seated injustice imposed on the nation by successive Ethiopian rulers including the current TPLF’s ruthless regime.

Therefore, the aim of the Oromo nation’s new form of struggle is not about demanding the regime to answer their mysterious, unrealistic and alien quests. To the contrary, the Oromo nation unanimously rose to unconditionally demand its Waqaa, Allah, Magano, Yahweh, Egiziabher (God-given) unalienable rights to decent life, liberty, freedom of choice and self-determination, the pursuit of happiness and dignity; all denied to the nation by this regime for the last 26 years. The Oromo nation as the rest nations and peoples of Ethiopia is demanding ‘Nothing More, Nothing Less’.

Furthermore, the Oromo nation as the rest peoples of Ethiopian is demanding the current TPLF’s terrorist regime to stop the ongoing exploitation of their vast resources and economy, displacements of millions of Oromo peasants from their ancestral lands and livelihood (to vacate it for TPLF’s military commanders and its collaborators to trade with it under the pretext of elusive investment and fake development). The Oromo is demanding its denied rights to be unconditionally restored.

Sadly, the response of TPLF’s ruthless regime to date remain live bullet and mass incarceration of hundreds of thousands of Oromo civilians where inhumane treatments in various prisons is extreme. To make the situation worst, the current deployment of Ogaden Liyu militia (Agi’Azi within it) to massacre the Oromo people from East to South Ogaden neighboring areas is demonstrating the virulent nature of TPLF’s brutal regime to the Oromo nation in particular, to the rest peoples and nations of Ethiopia in general. Lessons the peoples of Ethiopia have learnt thus far are evident that this regime never respect its own constitution which vehemently denounces (at least on paper) its harrowing actions to unarmed civilians. Wholly disregarding its constitution, the regime remains responding all quests of the Oromo, Ogaden Sumali, Sidama, Amhara, Konso, Gambella, Benshangul and the rest peoples and nations of Ethiopia with live bullet and unprecedented level of brutality since it has assumed power in May 1991.

Sidama: 14th Year Approaching Without Sidama’s Loqqee Massacre Victims Receiving Justice.

II. The West and Their Hypocrisy

Overwhelmingly occupied with jungle mentality of over four decades, to date the TPLF’s architects resorted to responding to any peaceful quests of the subjects with brutality and cruelty of unheard proportion in Empire’s history. The military commanders of the TPLF, blatantly terrorize unarmed civilians in front of the oblivious Western diplomats whose mouths remain zipped when vested interests’ posse eerie silence. Whilst the said oblivious diplomats watching in front of their noses, the TPLF’s killing machines who are mainly trained and equipped with modern snipers by the USA, France, the UK and some other EU countries military and security personnel, summarily execute the unarmed Oromo, Ogadenia, Amhara, Gambella, Konso, Sidama and the rest peoples of various nations. Obliviously, regardless, they pore aid money to date. To have such confidence in executing unarmed civilians and mass arresting tens of thousands of civilians, the TPLF’s politicians often receive tacit agreement from their surreptitiously watching Western sponsors who always pay deaf ears and blind eyes to the suffering of the majority of stakeholders.

West’s politicians, particularly during the era of Tony Blair’s Premiership, when once TPLF’s late leader PM Meles Zenawi, was regarded as their darling; the West has tacitly given him outright authority to do whatever he wishes on his subjects as long he runs their agenda in the horn. This has been obliviously reinforced by the repeated visits of the USA’s, Germany’s and UK’s leaders and high level officials including last year’s visit of the USA’s former president, Barak Obama. Their Medias remain as oblivious as their politicians, whilst wasting their time talking about the ailing Robert Mugabe, instead.

Due to the above geopolitical interests of the West and concomitant silence in the face of unfolding executions, the TPLF ruthless regime became bold, callously, blunt, confident, unrepentant and stubbornly determined to assure the subservience of the majority to its barbaric rule. Particularly, with this end, it is the Oromo nation to be mainly focused upon, the Amhara standing the second in the queue. The ultimate reasons why the Tigrean regime is focusing on brutalizing the Oromo nation is twofold. The first is the Oromo’s economic importance for its plan of exponentially increasing the capacity of their domestic and international bank accounts. Those, TPLF’s military commanders, once who were penniless when they occupied Finfinnee (Addis Ababa), over quarter of a century ago, now become multimillionaires by looting, primarily the wealth of the Oromo nation as the region has got vast resources including immense minerals and abundant cash crops; as Oromia remains their primary cash cow. The second reason is the Oromo’s being major single entity in Ethiopia. Hence, unless the regime, divides and silences the Oromo nation and the second largest nation of Ethiopia, the Amhara, TPLF knows that its survival will be at stake. Cognizant of this, the regime leaves no stone unturned to humiliate and silence the Oromo nation primarily and the Amhara secondly.

A Year On Since the Oromo Resistance Began:- A Wake Up Call for All Peoples of Ethiopia

III. TPLF’s Erroneous Belief That the Smouldering Fire Has Been Extinguished.

It’s imperative that TPLF believes that, it has accomplished its tasks after the imposition of state of emergency. Gullible belief, as far as the situations in Oromia and Amhara regions are concerned. The fire is steadily Smouldering. The same is true in all regions. Moreover, TPLF particularly believes that its infamous quislings have silenced the 4^th and 5^th largest nations of the county, the Sidama and Ogaden Sumali. In the cases of both Sidama and Ogadenia, this is the case simply because it uses notorious cadres of the country known for their barbaric actions against their own people whilst implementing TPLF’s agenda in their respective regions although in Ogaden, the ONLF is fiercely fighting the enslaving regime. The hideous personalities include, the infamous ‘Shiferaw Shigute’ who has worked hard to humiliate the Sidama nation time and again whilst facilitating, and committed crimes against the Sidama people in addition to his major roles in displacing tens of thousands of Sidama peasants from their ancestral lands by leaving them destitute. Abdi Mohammed Omar of the Ogaden Sumali (regional puppet president), who is known for his viciousness and blood thirsty nature as his Sidama counterpart, is responsible for the death and incarceration of tens of thousands of Sumali civilians. This is the wicked puppet who is overseeing the official commanding aspect of Ogaden Liyu militia under the watchful eyes of TPLF’s generals, whilst implementing the current massacre of the Oromo civilians from east to south east. The two notorious cadres known for their both barbarism and moronic nature, are instrumental in dehumanizing their own peoples and beyond. Besides, the Smouldering fire in Oromia and beyond won’t be extinguished until it successfully achieves its objectives.

The Sidama Nation Had Enough of Silence!

IV. Is the Division of Oromo Diaspora Playing Against the Oromo’s Interests?

If a herd of buffalo remain united creating fence like defense, stands its grounds and doesn’t run away from its predators, none of them could be easily devoured. However, once a herd loses its ground, frightened, panicked and start to run away, natural separation occurs -thereby become an easy prey. We human beings are not different. If we are united and defy any oppression, no oppressor on planet will be able to enslave his/her subjects. Nowhere on planet, oppression has been successful unless the subjects are divided, manipulated and mentally defeated to allow themselves to be enslaved. This has been the case during the era of European colonization of Africa and the rest parts of the world; and it is the case as we speak all over the world. This has been the case in human history since mankind began a socially organized life. Yet, failing to assert such simple analogues, we fail time and again. We make the same mistakes repeatedly. This can be the case, when we are less aware of or our ego overrides the needs of our downtrodden groups of society for whom we may claim, are ready to sacrifice our lives, whilst quashing their dream as we continue bickering on little issues.

Finally, I dare to be bold (although I might be told it’s none of my business), on the fact that, the division and subdivision of Oromo Diaspora and opposition groups for minor issue is playing to the advantage of the TPLF’s ruthless regime. The division of the Oromo Diaspora is allowing to the regime to buy time. The Oromo players must stop, rethink and act quickly to save the situation before it gets out of control, thereby, elongate the suffering of the Oromo people those who are paying ultimate sacrifices with their precious lives day and night. If we remain as stubborn as we seem now, let all of us not forget that we’re committing inexcusable historical error. Humbly, I remotely believe that any Oromo wants this to be the case. Therefore, it’s now, the right time to act.

Incinerating Political Prisoners Never Resolve the Political Malice of Ethiopia

V. The Silence of The Sidama Nation Must Come to An End!

The relationship of Oromo and Sidama nations is much deeper than mere solidarity, one might entertain as a temporary show case only benefiting politico-diplomatic gesture. Both Kush brothers share deeper unity in several ways. Their view of the world around them and beyond, their perception of justice and equality as well as governance under egalitarian systems ‘Gadaa and Luwa’, their religious belief are of similar nature, not only they are of similar stock. The Sidama and the Oromo nation share numerous attributes- not exhaustively such as cultural and psychological as well as socio-economic. Their being are closely intertwined in such a manner that, sometimes becomes indistinguishable. If one studies the Arusi and Bale Oromo and traditional Sidama society, their stark similarities are unprecedented.

Moreover, Oromo and Sidama nations’ resistance movements predate the creation of the current barbaric incumbent, TPLF. Since Hailesilassie and prior to the latter, including during the Abyssinian king, Menelik II, Oromo and Sidama nation have shared both bad and good times together. They have been in quest for their liberty and freedom taken away from them together. Both nation are the victims of the current injustice. Whilst the Tigreans were part and parcels of the subjugating empire, the solidarity of the Sidama and Oromo has been there. Therefore, at this critical moment in the history of the Oromo nation, while its sons and daughters are gunned-down in broad day lights by Tigrean barbaric regime; to me as a principled Sidama man, the current uncustomary silence of the nation is extremely unsettling. Thus, I urge the Sidama nation to rise and walk shoulder to shoulder with its Oromo brothers and sisters. The propaganda of the regime conveyed and enforced through notorious ‘Shiferaw Shigute’ network, evidently, so far has confused the Sidama nation. Such deceitful propagandas should be critically considered and scrutinized to be eventually regurgitated. There is no excuse, for the current silence, thus I reiterate that, the Sidama must stand with its Oromo cousins and disallow its land from being used by the TPLF’s brutal regime, to incarcerate and torture Oromo brothers and sisters, old and young alike.

Civil Disobedience Can Be A Potent Weapon To Dismantle TPLF’s Abyssinian Empire

VI. The Unity of All Peoples of Ethiopia Is Paramount to Dismantle Brutal TPLF.

Having a meticulously planned objective; using violence, assassination, massacres, land confiscation and expropriation of the entire wealth of the country, for the last 26 years, the TPLF’s regime has demonstrated its virulence to all peoples of the country. Not only to the other peoples, it has also shown its hideous nature to its own people to achieve its objectives. A good example could be drawn from its barbaric action when it has masterminded the massacre in ‘Hawzen’ market place where hundreds of Tigray civilians have been mercilessly bombed by the fighter jet coordinated by TPLF. Its action was planned to blame on its predecessors to gain international sympathy. Therefore, the TPLF’s regime has time again shown its barbarism and viciousness to all peoples of the country. The solution, thus is needing a strategic unity, maintaining differences as they are, until we get rid of this ruthless regime. The current revolution started by gallant Oromo nation is serving as a vehicle to achieve such objectives, thus shouldn’t be aborted by the brutal crackdown on a peaceful and purpose-driven Oromo youth and the entire nation.

All peoples of Ethiopia need to synchronize their struggle, temporarily leaving their petty differences aside, until this bestial regime is brought down to its knees. We must, rethink our actions before we rush into entertaining petty differences whilst men and women, youth and old citizens are gunned-down in broad day light in all parts of the country. None of us can afford continuing in such heartless and soulless manner; if we genuinely aspire the emaciation of our nations and peoples from over a quarter of a century subjugation and brutality of unprecedented scale. The time is today. Let’s move with strategic togetherness before it’s too late.

Denboba Natie, (my opinion not of my political party or alliance), February 20, 2017

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FB:  Feyera Sobokssa

The Power of Women:”Mala dubartii, humna bishaanii siif haa kennu!” When roughly translated, it is like saying, “May the Almighty Waaqaa/God/Allah/Buddha or whatever Creator you believe in give you the wisdom of a woman and the power of water! ” The three major lessons I have learned from a book – The Mighty and the Almighty, by the United States former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright are: 1. Every religion teaches forgiveness and I forgave my torturers in front of an award winning Catholic Nun, Sister Alice Zachmann, an American intern who was assigned by one of the universities in the United States to work at the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition ( lTASSC) – International and another torture survivor from Ethiopia, Mr. Demissie Abebe, the Executive Director of TASSC during that time.

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