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Well go program to Oromo students of the 2016 graduates.ITTIIN BASHANNANAA!!!!!!

Oromo Ogadenia Somali Friendship and Solidarity Foot ball Match in Regensburg, Germany 03.09.2016

Exclusive: Rights groups raise concerns over fate of political prisoners held in facility at the time

Members of the Oromo, Ogaden and Amhara community in South Africa demonstrate against the ongoing crackdown in the restive Oromo and Amhara region of Ethiopia on August 18, 2016 AFP/Getty Images

(Independent) — Rights groups have raised serious concerns over the fate of political prisoners held at a facility on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capitalAddis Ababa after 23 inmates died in a huge fire at the high-security complex.

While the cause of the blaze remains unknown, the Ethiopian government has admitted at least two of the prisoners were gunned down by the authorities as they fled the burning building.

The Kilinto prison has become notorious as a holding facility for jailed members of the opposition, including members of the ethnic minority Oromo people.

And the Oromo Federalist Congress, a key opposition party, said there were fears for the lives of its “entire leadership”, which it said was being detained at Kilinto at the time.

Amnesty International and New York-based Human Rights Watch, which has been monitoring the deaths of the Oromo people during a government crackdown on political protests, told The Independent it was vital the authorities released the names of those killed in the incident.

ESAT, a TV broadcaster based outside Ethiopia, showed grainy footage of the fire visible from a great distance (ESAT)

The fire broke out on Saturday, just hours after a leader of the Oromo ethnic group, Tiruneh Gamta, had called for the release of “all political prisoners”.

Local media groups reported gunfire could be heard from the scene, while a TV station based outside Ethiopia broadcast footage of the fire live.

Initially, the Ethiopian government said one person was killed in the fire. But in a statement released this week via the state affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate, it said 21 died from “stampede, fire burns and suffocation”.

Video of the fire also emerged on social media, though official reports were slow to come through (ESAT)

“The remaining two were killed while trying to escape from prison,” Fana reported, adding that two buildings were damaged in the blaze.

The government statement provided no details of how the fire began, only stating that the police were investigating, nor did it give the names of any of those killed.

And on Tuesday, OFC’s Assistant Deputy Chairman Mulatu Gemechu told the Reuters news agency: “Our entire leadership is being held in that place and we have no idea what has happened to them.

“The government has a responsibility to explain to the public, no less their families. We have no idea why it is taking that long.”

Some local media have questioned the official version of events. They cited unnamed witnesses saying the prisoners were shot by wardens.

Ethiopian journalist Tesfalem Waldyes, who was detained in Kilinto prison for more than a year before his release in July 2015, told The Independent it was hard to believe reports that the fire began as an attempted jailbreak.

Though it has become known for political imprisonments, Kilinto is a facility where suspects of all sorts of crimes are held, sometimes for many years, before trial.

As such, none of its inmates have actually been convicted of their alleged crimes. Yet Tesfalem said the prison still operates under a ruthless regime, with those who complain about abusive treatmentsubjected to the “Kitat Bet” (punishment house) or the “dark house”, a form of isolation.

“The political prisoners mostly face harassment, intimidation, confiscation of their written materials, denial of their visitation rights and sometimes physical abuse,” he said.

It was impossible to know, until the government releases more information, how many of those killed were political prisoners. Tesfalem said all those who are arrested on political grounds are sent to the facility to await trial, and they make up a significant proportion of the 3,000 or so inmates, though not the majority.

Human Rights Watch says more than 500 people have been killed in clashes between the security forces and protesters demanding greater political freedoms in the province of Oromia.

Last week, the African Union – which is based in Addis Abiba – expressed concerns about the unrest for the first time, while on Sunday the US ambassador to the UN said her country had raised “grave concerns” about what it called the excessive use of force against protesters in Ethiopia, a long-time ally.

Felix Horne, Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher in the Horn of Africa, told The Independent: “Numerous witnesses describe hearing heavy gunfire during the fire at Kilinto, raising serious questions about the safety and wellbeing of the prisoners held there.

“Family members of those held at Kilinto also still do not know the whereabouts of their loved ones. The authorities should immediately account for the whereabouts of all prisoners to their families, and provide details about those who died during the incident.”

Amnesty International’s Fisseha Tekle said the charity was concerned about all prisoners held at the facility, including those detained on political charges.

“We call on the authorities to inform the families of prisoners of the situation of their loved ones,” Ms Tekle said. “They have the right to know whether their relatives are dead or alive.”

THE LOCAL independent Ethiopian citizens’ news agencies are reporting outside the country that there is a huge popular mobilization against the government.

Bet Selam synagogue in Kechene, Ethiopia. (photo credit:IRENE ORLEANSKY)

(The Jerusalem Post) — In January 2016 Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom was nominated as Africa’s candidate for director general of the UN World Health Organization.

Just this past week, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg was named global ambassador for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) by the WHO, a position in which he will serve under whoever is ultimately appointed as the WHO’s director general. While Bloomberg, with his impeccable record of public health advocacy and international philanthropy, is clearly over-qualified for this role, what frightens me is the potential appointment of Adhanom as his superior. A rudimentary comparison of these two men’s records highlights the latter’s extreme unfitness for the office he seeks to assume and the absurdity of his even being considered.

During his unprecedented three-term tenure, mayor Bloomberg took direct control of the troubled New York City school system and oversaw a marked increase in children’s test scores; he banned smoking in restaurants, bars, parks and other indoor and outdoor public arenas; he partnered with and empowered citizens of the city by calling upon them to notify authorities of suspicious happenings they observed; he established a comprehensive information hotline that provides vital factual data to city dwellers and visitors in more than 170 languages; he banned trans-fats and mandated the posting of calorie counts in New York restaurants, measures that have since been adopted in major cities throughout the nation toward combating rising obesity rates in both adults and children; he used his own private funds to pay for a Super Bowl ad promoting stricter gun control.

And this is a mere sampling of his contributions to the quality of life of the people he governed. Now that his terms as mayor have ended, he has expanded his health, well-being and justice initiatives to the broader global community and continues to work tirelessly, and to donate generously, to promote causes at the core of human flourishing.

No model of leadership could be more divergent from Bloomberg’s than the one Ethiopian Foreign Minister Adhanom, along with his political associates, represents. The current Ethiopian government is widely recognized as a criminally organized group with high rates of human rights abuses. According to The New York Times and Human Rights Watch, tens of thousands of peaceful protesters against the government have been incarcerated, and over 700 have been killed, in recent months. The Ethiopian athlete Feyisa Lilesa made a powerful public gesture in solidarity with his oppressed countrymen at the Summer Olympics in Rio last month and was warned not to return home afterward.

The International Committee to Protect Journalists reports that Ethiopia is among Africa’s leading jailers of journalists and has destroyed its own independent civil society. The UN Commissioner for Human Rights has requested an independent evaluation of the deaths of hundreds of peaceful civilian protesters in recent months at the hands of the Ethiopian army. However, Foreign Minister Adhanom and his government have refused external evaluation of human rights abuses complained of by large numbers of citizens.

THE LOCAL independent Ethiopian citizens’ news agencies are reporting outside the country that there is a huge popular mobilization against the government.

The local citizens are demonstrating peacefully, with the following complaints: that the government is killing them indiscriminately and robbing the country of power and economic resources, which are being funneled to one small, elite tribal group (known as the Tgria Peoples Liberation Front), and that their land is being sold to the Tgrian tribe, or that this tribe is selling their land to foreign investors.

On the day that the athlete Lilesa showed his support at the Olympics in Rio, there was a demonstration planned in the capital city of Addis Ababa, but the government deployed military force to put down the peaceful citizens who organized it. Only Lilesa could make his statement, safely insulated, for the moment, from the army’s threatened violence, by a couple thousand miles.

His fellow citizens at home were not so fortunate. Just this past week, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced on national television that all military personnel would be ordered to open fire on peaceful demonstrators, which, on the first day following, resulted in dozens of civilian deaths.

Britain Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond recently warned, in a meeting with Adhanom, that Ethiopia’s “repeated failure to deliver on our basic requests” regarding an Ethiopian-born English citizen being held on death row simply because he is the opposition party leader had led him be begin “looking carefully at the bilateral relationship” between the two nations. This is yet another example of the current Ethiopian government’s pervasive corruption and lawlessness.

As a chief agent of this depraved, bloody government body, how can Adhanom be considered as a prospective director general of the WHO? How does his candidacy reflect on the WHO itself, or, more broadly, the UN’s role as the world’s moral anchor and arbiter? Clearly, there is no just way forward but for the UN to investigate the current Ethiopian government’s reported abuses and to renounce the candidacy of its foreign minister for the position he seeks at the WHO.

It is perhaps in the values that underlie the actions of Bloomberg and Adhanom, respectively, that the starkest contrast between these two men might be drawn. Bloomberg has often been quoted as saying, “The thing about great wealth is that you can’t take it with you,” by way of explaining why he is choosing to give so much of his private fortune away – a total of $4.3 billion thus far, including $510 million distributed by his philanthropies in 2015 alone. Adhanom, on the other hand, is a prominent member of the Ethiopian government whose former leader, Meles Zenawi (the man who appointed Adhanom to his position), had a reported net worth of over $3b., having amassed this amount entirely during his years in office.

He took power in 1991 with an officially listed salary of $220 per month, and had no private financial resources to his name at that point. Today, all the top leaders of the TPLF are billionaires, though their nation remains an impoverished member of the Third World. Sadly, the source of these leaders’ newfound wealth is not too hard to surmise.

I have lived, for years, under the governance of both mayor Bloomberg and Finance Minister Adhanom and can thus attest, on a personal level, to the disparate impact of their leadership on the people they’ve ruled. I know, first hand, what it has been like to live under the policies of Bloomberg’s and Adhanom’s administrations, and how each has affected the daily life of his constituency.

More than all the facts and figures I have cited above, these real-life, on-the-ground experiences have shaped my conviction that Adhanom and his cronies must go if my native land is ever to prosper as my adopted city has in the past few decades. The WHO’s recent appointments, within the broader context of rising unrest in Ethiopia, where my family resides, and my own relatively secure life in New York, have brought this realization home to me as never before. I can only hope that the world will begin to see things in kind.

The author, a social activist on behalf of the Ethiopian Jewish community, served in the Israel Police. He holds a master’s degree in community leadership and philanthropy from Hebrew University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership and administration, while studying for rabbinic ordination.

many red roses shot in shallow DOF

(Dutch News.nl) — Aalsmeer-based flower importer Esmeralda Farms Nederland is being closed down following an attack by rebels in Ethiopia on the company’s flower nursery last week, broadcaster NOS said on Tuesday.

The company’s US parent has decided to close down the Dutch operation, with the loss of 14 jobs, because of the damage caused to the company in Ethiopia, a spokesman told the broadcaster.

The Dutch arm is in charge of European distribution and up to 40% of its stock came from the African country. Esmeralda Farms puts the damage caused by government opponents at €10m.

A large part of the company’s crop was destroyed in the attacks, which also affected four other firms with links to the Netherlands.

According to the company’s website, the irrigation system, packaging halls and cold storage rooms were all destroyed in the fire.

Detentions, torture, deaths and silencing civil society, politicians and the media – the government’s biggest threat is itself.

Ethiopians wearing traditional Oromo costume ride to the prime minister’s palace in Addis Ababa to pay their respects to late prime minister Meles Zenawi in 2012. (Carl de Souza, AFP)

(Mail & Guardian Africa) — On August 6 and 7, Ethiopian security forces were reported to have shot dead about 90 demonstrators in the Oromia region, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa, and in the Amhara region to the northwest.

In July, the demonstrations had spread to Amhara from Oromia, to which they had largely been confined.

They began there as a protest against the government’s integrated master plan to develop the infrastructure of Addis Ababa and adjacent cities in Oromia.

The government backed off that plan, but the demonstrations then became a wider protest, expressing grievances against the government and its response to the protests.

The Amhara demonstrations were apparently sparked by an attempt by authorities to arrest some individuals thought to have links to the Eritrean government and other dissident elements it supports. But this quickly turned into another protest by people agitating for the return of Amhara land that was transferred to the northern Tigray province in 1991.

Human rights advocates and observers estimate that at least 500 people have been killed since November last year, mostly by live ammunition fired by security forces, and that tens of thousands have been detained — and some tortured. The government contests this figure and says that the protests were not peaceful; police officers were also killed and government and private properties were attacked.

Since elections last year, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition holds all the seats in federal and regional parliaments, making legislative criticism unlikely. The independence of the courts regarding politically sensitive cases has been questioned, journalists are arrested and nongovernmental organisations are restricted.

Ethiopia’s Human Rights Commission has a specific mandate to investigate alleged abuse by security forces but its independence and credibility, too, were questioned when it reported to Parliament in June that the lethal force used by security forces in Oromia was proportionate to the risk they faced from the protesters. The commission admitted, however, that government used excessive force in the Amhara region.

Africa and the international community have been almost entirely silent.

Donor countries and others have said little in public about the crackdown, apparently because of Ethiopia’s importance as a partner in the fight against terror (mainly Somalia’s al-Shabab), in peacekeeping and in regional security issues. Ethiopia has more than 8 300 personnel serving in eight United Nations or UN and African Union hybrid peacekeeping missions, plus another 4 395 in Amisom, the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

It has been playing a vital role in the fight against al-Shabab in Somalia.

Given al-Shabab’s designation as a terrorist organisation, it has thus also been seen by its main Western allies, particularly the United States and United Kingdom, as a critical partner in the war against terror.

The Ethiopian government is widely seen as a responsible custodian of its country’s economic development through its investment in major infrastructural projects such as dams, railways and highways.

But there are now some signs of growing disenchantment among the country’s allies and in the wider international community.

On August 10, the UN’s top human rights official, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, told Reuters that his office had seen no genuine attempt by Ethiopia to investigate and be accountable for the killings — and so had asked Ethiopia to allow an international investigation, especially the reported use of live ammunition by security forces. Addis Ababa, however, insists it can and will conduct its own probe.

On August 21, even Ethiopia’s strongest international ally, the US, issued an unusually strong critique.

While acknowledging that Ethiopia does face “real external threats”, Tom Malinowski, US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, wrote on the online news site allAfrica.com that “it is from within that Ethiopia faces the greatest challenges to its stability and unity. When thousands of people, in dozens of locations, in multiple regions come out on the streets to ask for a bigger say in the decisions that affect their lives, this cannot be dismissed as the handiwork of external enemies.”

Excessive force, detaining thousands of protesters, arresting opposition leaders, restricting civil society and shutting down the internet were “self-defeating tactics” that would not silence opposition, but rather make them more uncompromising and increase instability, he wrote.

He told Ethiopia that its “next great national task is to master the challenge of political openness, just as it has been mastering the challenge of economic development” and promised the support of the US “and all of Ethiopia’s friends” if it tackled this challenge.

Does this mean the old ground is shifting under the feet of the Ethiopian government? Does it face the imminent prospect of real pressure — even from the US?

Richard Downie, deputy director of the Africa programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, hopes so. “But I’m not holding my breath,” he adds. “The US government does not speak with one voice on Ethiopia.”

While Malinowski’s bureau was keen to exert more pressure on Ethiopia’s government, “other US agencies have a vested interest in keeping quiet”.

These include the US Agency for International Development, “which wishes to protect its very sizable investments on development in Ethiopia”, and the department of defence, “which values its security partnership with Ethiopia and appreciates the helpful role that Addis has played in advancing regional security in places like Somalia and the two Sudans”.

“These internal differences of opinion mean it’s unlikely that the United States will get tough on Ethiopia unless the situation there sharply deteriorates.”

Downie acknowledges that the US faces a diplomatic dilemma in Ethiopia.

“If it speaks out too loudly and too forcefully on political rights, it risks being shown the door by a self-confident government that has other partners to choose from.”

Downie says that China may have more leverage, but that Beijing is not likely to rock the boat. Yet he says that too could change. “China is interested above all in stability and will act if its sees its interests impacted by chronic unrest, as we saw in Sudan and South Sudan.”

He also suggests the UN sustainable development goals were another lever that could be used. Ethiopia played a leading role in framing these goals and one, SDG 16, demands inclusive, peaceful societies and access to justice.

All of this suggests we should expect no magic wand to the Ethiopian problem.

The silence from Africa and the world seems unlikely to break, at least not in the foreseeable future.

Peter Fabricius is a consultant for the Institute of Security Studies.

Political activists from the Oromo ethnic group are believed to be held in the jail.

At least 23 inmates have died after a fire at an Ethiopian prison where anti-government protesters are reportedly being held, the government has said.

A government statement says 21 died of suffocation after a stampede while two others were killed as they tried to escape.

Some local media have disputed the account, citing unnamed witnesses who say prisoners were shot by the wardens.

There has been an unprecedented wave of protests in Ethiopia in recent months.

The identity of the prisoners has not been made public.

Sustained gunfire could be heard coming from Qilinto prison, on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa, after the fire broke out on Saturday, local media reported.

TV footage and photos posted on social media showed plumes of smoke rising from the prison compound.

Reports that the fire was started deliberately as part of an attempted jailbreak have not been independently verified.

There have been numerous protests in the Oromia region by members of the country’s largest ethnic group since November 2015.

Inside Qilinto prison by Tesfalem Waldyes

Qilinto is a remand prison, where people can be held for three years or more as they await trial.

The prison is divided in four zones made up of brick walls and tin-roofed cells.

The prison hosts around 3,000 inmates at a time who are held in cells measuring 24m by 12m. Each cell holds between 90 and 130 inmates.

It is a highly secured prison with surveillance cameras installed on many corners.

All types of prisoners are held there but it is where political prisoners including bloggers, journalists and activists are usually sent.

Political prisoners usually mix with other criminals but they are usually locked up in a designated “Kitat Bet” (punishment house) or “dark house” if they complain about mistreatment.

Inmates can be exposed to communicable diseases due to overcrowding and get poor medical attention.

Due to the bad quality of food provided by the prison administration, prisoners mainly depend on food brought by their families.

Tesfalem Waldyes is an Ethiopian journalist who was held in Qilinto prison for a year before being released in July 2015.

Many Oromo activists are being held at the Qilinto facility, according to pro-opposition media.

New York-based Human Rights Watch says that more than 400 people have been killed in clashes with the security forces in Oromia, although the government disputes this figure.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has blamed “anti-peace forces” for the violence.

By Robin Toskin

Martial arts

Nairobi, Kenya (Standard Digital) — Just like Feyisa Lelisa crossed his hands at the finish line of the Rio Olympics, Ethiopian martial artist Kassa Tegegn Yimer declined to have his country’s flag hoisted here in Cheongju despite his winning gold.

Ethiopian athletes have taken to protesting their government’s crackdown in the Oromia region that has left more than 400 people dead. When it came to the medal ceremony in Cheongju, South Korea, Yimer requested that his country’s anthem be sang but without the flag.

CCTV: Police track down taxi to recover equipment

A Team Kenya official forgot his camera tripod stands in a taxi, but it took less than an hour for the South Korea Police to recover the equipment. The official had lost hope of ever getting back the equipment, but reluctantly reported to the Police. “No problem, we shall track down the taxi by checking the CCTV fitted all over,” the police assured. And true, in less than an hour, the taxi details were pulled out from the CCTV whereupon he was ordered to take back the equipment. The official offered ‘chai’ to the taxi driver for his effort but he declined saying it was his duty to return it.

DIPLOMACY: Kenya’s Counsellor visits team in time for gold

Gaudencia Ayisi, Counsellor II at the Kenyan High Commission paid Team Kenya a visit at the Cheongju Indoor Arena in time for the country’s first gold. “I am so glad to see the team here. Please feel free always to contact the Embassy, not only when you have a problem, but also to find out how we are doing,” Ayisi told the Martial Arts team. She added: “We always encourage Kenyans to the notify us whenever they come to South Korea. We wish Team Kenya all the best,” she said

September 4, 2016

Grave Concern and a Call for Immediate Action

The Oromo Communities in North America are saddened and gravely concerned about the tragic incident that took place at the Qilinto Prison, a detention facility on the outskirt of Addis Ababa (Finfinnee), on September 3, 2016. Qilinto detention center is where many political prisoners, including high profile opposition leaders such as Bekele Gerba and others are held. Eyewitness accounts claim that the prison fire was preceded and accompanied by gunfire by security agents, and at least 20 prisoners are presumed dead. But the actual number is believed to be much higher. It appears that the prisoners were killed by the gunfire from security agents. Family members of the prisoners and the public at large are anxiously waiting for reliable information about the status of their loved ones. But the Ethiopian government is not willing to provide such information and a full accounting of the incident.

Holding them in custody, the government bears full responsibility for the safety and the wellbeing of the prisoners. If the fire started accidentally, it is still the responsibility of the government to urgently evacuate the prisoners to safety. Unfortunately, the eyewitness accounts claim that the government agents may have deliberately killed the prisoners and burned the facility to cover the evidence.

This is an extremely disturbing heinous criminal act that needs to be investigated immediately by independent authority. The Oromo Communities in North America (OCA-NA) condemns the savage and inhuman acts of the Ethiopian dictatorial regime particularly for shooting and killing prisoners trying to escape the raging fire from the burning Prison building.

We request the international community—the United Nations Commission for Human Rights, the African Union, African Human Rights Commission, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other organizations—and all governments who hold diplomatic and economic relations with the Ethiopian government to put pressure on the EPRDF regime to immediately release the list of all victims, killed or wounded, and provide full accounting of how and what happened at the Qilinto Prison on September 3. The Ethiopian government should also take full responsibility for the incident immediately.

From its well documented violent behavior, the Ethiopian government cannot be trusted to conduct independent and credible investigation. For this reason, we request that the United Nation Commission for Human Rights should get involved and investigate this incident and bring perpetrators and high ranking government officials who enabled the tragedy to justice at International Criminal Court (ICC). We also appeal to all Oromos in Diaspora to support the families of the victims at this critical time as they cope with the loss of their relatives. We know that the EPRDF government will not stop its violent and repressive actions, and the Oromo other people in Ethiopia will not live in peace until this regime is removed from power.

Oromo Communities Association in North America (OCA-NA)

By Geoffrey York

(The Globe and Mail) — When Ethiopian security forces killed dozens of peaceful protesters in a hail of gunfire last month, the Canadian government responded with a brief tweet to say it was “disturbed” by the deaths.

But Canada’s Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan did not cancel his scheduled visit to Ethiopia.

Three days after the killings, he arrived in its capital and held a friendly meeting with Ethiopia’s defence minister and prime minister, making no public comment about the government’s actions.

Canada’s muted response to the lethal crackdown on the biggest protests in Ethiopia’s recent history is a sign of its continuing close relationship with the East African country.

Ethiopia is often among the first stops for Canadian cabinet ministers when they visit Africa, and it remains one of the biggest beneficiaries of Canadian foreign aid, receiving $108-million from Ottawa last year.

The Liberal government, which has promised a “re-engagement” with Africa, must decide how to engage with Africa’s human-rights abusers, of which Ethiopia is among the worst.

The government in Addis Ababa has a long record of jailing and killing its critics, manipulating elections and using Western food aid to reward its supporters and punish its opponents.

The question many are asking now is whether the Liberals will turn a blind eye to these abuses as it tries to revive Canada’s often-neglected relations with Africa.

The growing wave of protests against the Ethiopian government over the past 10 months, especially in the Oromiya and Amhara regions, has been the most significant in this authoritarian nation for more than a decade.

And they have spread to the Ethiopian diaspora around the world, symbolized by Ethiopian marathon runners who made protest gestures as they crossed the finish line at the Rio Olympics and elsewhere.

The protests reached Canada last Sunday, at the Quebec City Marathon, when the winning runner, Ebisa Ejigu, a Canadian resident of Ethiopian origin, clenched his fists and crossed his arms in an “X” sign above his head as he crossed the finish line.

The gesture is a sign of solidarity with the Oromo people, the largest ethnicity in Ethiopia, who have been demonstrating against government plans to expand the capital, Addis Ababa, into traditional Oromo farmland.

A week earlier, Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa made the same protest gesture as he crossed the finish line at the Olympics.

He won the silver medal – and then refused to return home to Ethiopia, telling journalists that he is afraid of being imprisoned or killed for his protest actions.

“The Ethiopian government is killing my people,” he told journalists.

“My relatives are in prison, and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed.”

Ethiopian security forces killed more than 400 protesters in the Oromiya region – and arrested tens of thousands more – from last November until June, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

This was followed by the killing of a further 100 protesters last month, reports say.

Canada and other Western countries have long regarded Ethiopia as a useful ally in the fight against Islamist extremism in Somalia and elsewhere in East Africa.

Canada has been one of the biggest donors to Ethiopia in recent years, providing several hundred million dollars in development and humanitarian assistance.

The Liberal government could use this leverage to put pressure on Ethiopia to halt its killing of protesters, according to human-rights groups and Ethiopian-Canadian activists.

“We’ve been very concerned that the Ethiopian government has had a bit of a free ride from Canada and the international community,” said Alex Neve, secretary general of the Canadian branch of Amnesty International.

He said it is “utterly unacceptable” that Canadian officials and cabinet ministers don’t apply strong pressure on the Ethiopian government to halt the killing of protesters.

“It is absolutely time for Canada to make clear that this has to stop.”

Aside from the short tweet of disapproval from the Global Affairs department, there is no record of public statements by the Liberal government about the killings last month.

But a Global Affairs spokeswoman said Canada is “deeply concerned” about the reported deaths of the protesters.

“Canada has raised these concerns directly with the government of Ethiopia, and will continue to do so,” spokeswoman Jocelyn Sweet said in response to questions from The Globe and Mail.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Renée Filiatrault, deputy chief of staff to Mr. Sajjan, said the issue of the killing of protesters was “raised in private bilateral conversations” during the defence minister’s visit to Ethiopia.

“While I can’t go any further, I can say that the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms is key to our foreign policy and was a topic of discussion in every meeting that we had,” she said.

Some activists are urging the Liberal government to halt the flow of Canadian aid to Ethiopia and find ways to penalize the regime for its crackdown on protesters.

“Canada’s aid to Ethiopia has been a failed experiment in turning brutal dictators into democrats,” said Yohannes Berhe, an Ethiopian-Canadian human-rights activist.

“Spending taxpayers’ money without any measure of accountability and without demanding true political reform is, at the very least, a wasteful endeavour, and at worst, tantamount to encouraging one of the most repressive regimes in Africa.”

#OromoProtests– Kun dhaamsaa Qeerroo Godina Shawaa Kibba lixaa Aanaa Tolee ti. Guyyaa borii, kamisaa gabaa guddaan akka naannoo sanaatti beekamaa ta’eefi lafa ennaa darbe lubbuun namoota hedduu itti darba aanaa Tolee maggaallaa Abeebeetti waan jiruuf uummanni keenya guyyaa bori gabaa guddaa kana lagachuun aantummaa lammii isanii jecha lubbuu qaalii wareeganiif qaban akka aggarsiisan kabajaan gaafanna
Kanaaf, jiraattoti Aanaa Tolee dhaamsa kana akak hubattanii hojii irra oolchitan kabajaan isin gaafanna. Kan dide gufuu qabsoo keenyaa ta’uudhaan dhiiga lammiirra waan tarkaanfateef tarkaanfiin barbaachisu akka fudhatamu nuuf dhaamaa.” Via Dhábasá W. Gemelal

#OromoProtests The regime has began giving bodies of those political prisoners killed in Qilinto Prison. One of them is identified Kebede Feyisa Senbata. He was arrested during the grand rally on August 6, 2016. He is from Urga Hereri Village, Jaldu district, West Shewa.
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“Mucaa mana hidha qilinxootti hidhamee ajjeefame Kabbe Fayyisaa Sanbataa jedhama. Godina shawaa lixaa aanaa Jalduu ganda Urga’aa Hererii dhalate guddatee gaafa hiriiraa guddaa August 06 2016 qabame ture. Addunyaatti nuuf beeksisi” Via Jawar Mohammed

#OromoProtests Namoota oduu Qilinxoo gurra qeensitanii eegaa jirtaniif, har’as bakka #Mashowaalakiyaa jedhamuu ol darbuun hin danda’amne. Hinumaayyuu poolisoonni haala malee ummata sodaachisan. “Maqaa namoota du’anii adda baasnee hospitaalotatti ergaa jirra, hammasitti mana keessan taa’aa nu hordofaa malee as dhuftanii karaa cuftanii rakkoon yoo isinirra gahe isinumatu itti gaafatama” jedhan. Amma ummanni kumaan lakkaa’amu iyyaa, boo’aa hiriira galee gara buufata konkolaataa Qaallittiitti deemaa jira. Poolisoonni namoota hedduu daddarbachaa qabanii konkolaataatti naqaa jiru. Nama suura kaasu irraa moobaayilii funaanaa, daddarbachaa fi doorsisaa jiru. Abidda waliin taphachaa akka jirrun arge. Kana caala waanan jedhu hin qabu! Via Daalacha Qaccamaa

#OromoProtests-Gaafa guyyaa 1/13/08 konkolaattota naannoo Amboo tti tarkaanfiin irratti fudhatame
-Naannoo Giincciitti 5
-naannoo meexxi tti 3
-naannoo sanqallee tti 1
-naannoo Guder /tokkeetti 2 qeerroon tarkaanfii fudhateera.
Guyyaa 2/13/08 ganama irra kaasee qeerroo baayyeen walkufeessun naannoo baadiyaa tti muka/bosona/daa’oo tokko tokko jala daa’eefataanii kan diina waliin dhaabataan kana haleeluu akka itti fufani waamicha keenya dhiyeesina. Via Dhábasá W. Gemelal

#OromoProtests “Konkolaaatota gurgurdo gejiba fi konkolaatota jimma garaa jijjiiga geysu irrattii tarkanfin haala kanan fudhatama bule nannaawa harar ittii konkolaata waligala 8 irrattii takanfin fudhatamera” Via Naf-tanan Gaadullo

#OeomooProtests DHAAMSA HATATTAMAA Qrerroo magalaa naqamteef
“1. Hotela sookam (muziyemii dugda duubaa, kan duraan hoteela Totalii jedhamee beekamu) kan Abbaan qabeenyaa Balaxee jedhamu
2. Hoteela Totalii kan Ethiopia hotel jechun Dandii gara safara maariyamitti gessuu irratti argamu abbaan qabeenyummaa nama Sisay jedhamu. Hubadha namichi kun haati mana isaa Tigiree kan taatee ji’a afur dura muca daa’ima waggaa 5 hidha dhalootan oromoo ta’e ciidhan isaa keessaa rukkutun kan akka innii dhalchu hin dandeenye nam goote fi abban mana ishee kun ammmas hotela isaa baane humna waranaa fi Agazii Sooraa akka jiru
3. Hootela Oromiyaa kan naannoo humna Ibsa (galma guddaa fulduratti argamu) abbaa qabeenyaa Shibiruu jedhamu.
Hoteellii kun sadeen yeroo ammaa osoo ilmaan Oromoo lubbuun jiranii akka nama Ayyaanaa masqalaatti muka jiidha bobbessuu sabbontoota keenyaa warraa dhaabbiitti boobbessaan sooraa jira. Keessummaa Abbaan qabeenyaa hoteela oromiyaa Guyyaa kalessaa fi har’a mana baante agaziidhaf nyaata kennaa yeroo isaan seenanii fi ba’an mana cufa geggessa jira. Seenaa Shibiruu yeroo biroo hangan isiinif barressuuttii attatamaan hoteellii isaa mana diinaa fi qarshii dur ABO waliin qabsa’a fakkatee saamee bade wan ta’ef kan diiinaa (hotelaa Sookemii fi Totalii) dura hoteela oromiyaatti birattii wal haa arginu!”

Second Boycott Day, Burayuu

#OromoProtests Market boycott MUGGI for 2nd day
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Aanaa Anfilloo magaalaa muggii keessatti lagannaan bittaa fi gurgurtaa haala kaleessaa caalaatti guyyaa lammaffaaf itti fufee jira. Bajasjiin tokkollee socho’aa hin jirtu. Konkolaataan ykn baasiin nama deddeebisuus hojii dhaaber jira. msnni daldalaa cufaa dha. OPDOn sodaattee daldaltoota dukkaana qaban walgahii ariifachiisaa waamtee jirti hin sodaatinaa uummata isiniif wayya nuuf jedhin

#Oromoprotest #Ambo Magaalan Amboo har’as akkuma magaalaawwan oromiyaa biroo akkuma onetti jira.

#OromoProtests Passangers at Asko bus station stranded as buses are not leaving for Oromia towns. Via Naf-tanan Gaadullo

# OromoProtest Beeksisaa fi Hubachiisa
– – – – – —- – – – – – – — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – —
# QeerroonGodinaBaalee duulli gabaa lagachuu Qaammee 1, 2008 – Fulbaana 2, 2009tti karoorfame magaalota Godina Baalee keessatti argaman hunda keessatti haala gaariin hujiirra oolaa jiraachuu isaa ibsanii jiru. Kanumarraa ka’uudhaan laguun gabaa kun wiixatarraa kan eegale akka ta’ee magaalota akka Alii fi Dallotti akka wal hin bitinii fi kaleessas gabaan Dambal kan hin jirre ta’uu oduun amma achirraa dhufe ni mul’isa. Guyyaa Roobii har’aas Gaasaratti bittaa fi gurgurtaan kan hin jirre ta’uu eeranii jiru. Guyyaa kamisaa boruus gabaan guddaan magaalaa Roobee cufamee kan oolu akka ta’ee fi namoonni laguu gabaa kana diduun dukkaana banauuf deeman yoo jiraatan AGAAZII ilmaan Oromoo fixaa jiruun gar-garitti akka hin laalamne dhaamanii jiru. Magaalotii akka Agaarfaa, Goobaa, Diinshoo, Gooroo, Hisuu, Maliyyu, Jaaraa fi Gindhiirttis laguun gabaan kuni cimee kan itti fufu ta’uu dhaamnii jiru.
Qabsoon Itti fufa… bilisummaan ni dhufa!!! Via Riad Bale Khan

HRLHA Urgent Action

September 7, 2016

Extra-Judicial Executions in Kaliti Prison

The Ethiopian police committed extra-judicial executions against two Oromo prisoners,  Darajje Ashanafi and Buzaayo Ayyanoo and wounded two others, Ayalewu Wendmu  and  Wandwosen (no father’s name)  at Kaliti prison, Zone one on September 3, 2016, around 8:00 am, according to information the HRLHA obtained from its informants in Addis Ababa. Four people were taken out of their cells and shot in the head; miraculously, two of them, Ayalew Wendimu and Wondwosen, survived while the other two died on the spot.

The others seven Oromos in the same prison were called to the office of the prison administration and told by the prison administrator- Gebire Igzabher- that they would be executed at any time.

The names of the  Oromo prisoners  on death row are:

All these prisoners are serving prison terms passed against them prior to the Oromo Nation protests which have been taking place from November 2015 to the present.

Extra-Judicial Executions in Kilinto Prison

On September 3, 2016  the Kilinto prison was  burned down by unknown persons; some say the Agazi force deliberately did it to facilitate the executions.  One day before the incident, the Agazi force had taken over by disarming the regular prison guards, according to the prison guards’ explanation which is circulating in social media.

Unconfirmed information obtained from one of the  Kilinto prison police indicates that around 18  prisoners were shot dead by snipers of the Agazi force, from the prison tower, and many others were  wounded, and taken to different hospitals in Addis Ababa. The prisoners who were killed and wounded were not identified and the prison administration has kept the names secret.

After the prison was burned, all the prisoners, around 3,000,  from Kilinto- including prominent Oromo Federalist Congress officials and others- were taken to  an unknown destination. Since then the families of the prisoners have been seeking information about  their loved once. Until this statement was issued, the government has not disclosed the whereabouts of the prisoners.

The TPLF/EPRDF must abide by the United Nations resolution on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council.

The HRLHA strongly condemns the atrocities committed  against the Oromo prisoners  by the TPLF/EPRDF and calls on world governments to act swiftly to stop this unprecedented action by the Ethiopian government.

The HRLHA also calls on the international committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to use its ICRC’s mandate and mission  to save the lives of those seven Oromos on death row at Kaliti prison.

Copied to:

International Committee of the Red Cross

           19 Avenue de la paix
           1202 Geneva
           Switzerland
           Tel: +41 22 734 60 01
           Fax: +41 22 733 20 57
           https://www.icrc.org/en

UN Security Council

           Office of the Ombudsperson
           Room DC2 2206
           United Nations
           New York, NY 10017
           United States of America
           Tel: +1 212 963 2671
           E-mail: ombudsperson@un.org

UN Human Rights Council

           OHCHR address:
           Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
           Palais Wilson
           52 rue des Pâquis
           CH-1201 Geneva, SwitzerlandTelephone: +41 22 917 9310/9169/9466/9383
           Email: Press-Info@ohchr.org

EU Parliament

Director for the Media and European Parliament Spokesman

• Telephone number(+32) 2 28 43000 (BXL)
• Telephone number(+33) 3 881 74705 (STR)
• Mobile number(+32) 496 59 94 76
• E-mail addressduch@europarl.europa.eu

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs

           2170 Rayburn House Office Building
           Washington, DC 20515
           Phone: (202) 225-5021
           Fax: (202) 226-7269

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

           31 Bijilo Annex Layout, Kombo North District
           Western Region P.O. Box 673 Banjul
           The Gambia
           Tel: (220) 441 05 05, 441 05 06
           Fax: (220) 441 05 04
           E-mail: au-banjul@africa-union.org

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

           King Charles Street, Whitehall,
           London SW1A 2AH, United Kingdom
           Phone:+44 20 7008 1500

By Yves Engler

Canada (Dissident Voice) — Last Tuesday members of the Ethiopian community in Winnipeg called on Canada to sanction the North East African country. The protesters are angry about the regime’s violent crackdown in the Oromiya and Amhara regions of northern Ethiopia. Hundreds of peaceful protesters have been killed and many more jailed since unrest began over a land dispute 10 months ago.

As protesters called for sanctions in Winnipeg, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development Katrina Gould was in Addis Ababa. During a meeting with the Foreign Minister she was quoted saying, “Ethiopia has managed to be a sea of stability in a hostile region.”

Gould’s trip follows on the heels of Harjit Sajjan’s visit last month. According to an Ethiopian News Agency summary, the defence minister told Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn:  “Canada values Ethiopia’s contribution in trying to bring stability to Somalia and the South Sudan.”

In 2006 50,000 Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia, which saw about 6,000 civilians killed and 300,000 flee the country. Washington prodded Addis Ababa into intervening and the US literally fuelled the invasion, providing gasoline, arms and strategic guidance as well as launching air attacks.

The invasion/occupation led to the growth of al-Shabab. Since the Ethiopia/US invasion the group has waged a violent campaign against the foreign forces in the country and Somalia’s transitional government. During this period al-Shabab has grown from being the relatively small youth wing of the Islamic Courts Union to the leading oppositional force in the country. It has also radicalized and has turned from being a national organization towards increasing ties to Al Qaeda.

The Stephen Harper Conservative government’s public comments on Somalia broadly supported Ethiopian/US actions. They made no criticism of US bombings and when prominent Somali-Canadian journalist Ali Iman Sharmarke was assassinated in Mogadishu in August 2007 then foreign minister Peter Mackay only condemned “the violence” in the country. He never mentioned that the assassins were pro-government militia members with ties to Ethiopian troops. The Conservatives backed a February 2007 UN Security Council resolution that called for an international force in Somalia. They also endorsed the Ethiopia-installed Somali government, which had operated in exile.

In what was perhaps the strongest signal of Canadian support for the outside intervention, Ottawa didn’t make its aid to Ethiopia contingent on withdrawing from Somalia. Instead they increased assistance to this strategic US ally that borders Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia. In 2009 Ethiopia was selected as a “country of focus” for Canadian aid and this status was reaffirmed in 2014. As one of the top donors, Canada has been spending over $100 million a year in the country.

Providing aid to Ethiopia has been controversial not only because of the invasion and occupation of its neighbor. An October 2010 Globe and Mailheadline noted: “Ethiopia using Canadian aid as a political weapon, rights group says.” Human Rights Watch researcher Felix Horne claimed Ottawa contravened its Official Development Assistance Accountability Act by continuing to pump aid into Ethiopia despite its failure to meet international human-rights standards. In addition to arbitrary detentions, widespread torture and attacks on political opponents, the Ethiopian government systematically forced rural inhabitants off their land. This “villagization” program cut many off from food and health services.

Canadian aid to Ethiopia faced another challenge. In February 2012 the family of a Somali-Canadian businessman sued Harper’s Conservatives to prevent them from sending aid to Ethiopia until Bashir Makhtal was released from prison. In January 2007 Makhtal was “rendered” illegally from Kenya to Ethiopia, imprisoned without access to a lawyer or consular official for 18 months and then given a life sentence. The lawsuit was a last ditch effort by the Makhtal family to force Ottawa’s hand.

Ottawa should take the recent protests by Ethiopian Canadian activists seriously. It can start by reversing its near total silence about the recent repression, which included dozens of demonstrators shot dead three days before Sajjan’s visit. While severing aid to pressure a government is often fraught with complications, Canada’s current policy seems to be enabling Ethiopia’s repressive, interventionist, policies.

“Canada’s aid to Ethiopia has been a failed experiment in turning brutal dictators into democrats,” Ethiopian-Canadian human-rights activist Yohannes Berhe told the Globe and Mail. Ottawa’s policy is “tantamount to encouraging one of the most repressive regimes in Africa.”

(ACHPR) –The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) is deeply concerned by the events unfolding in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Protests reportedly began in the Oromia region in November 2015, opposing the Federal Government’s plan to expand the boundaries of Addis Ababa. Reports indicate that despite the termination of the expansion plan, the protests continued due to the detention of activists, the use of excessive force, and killing of protestors by law enforcement officers.

More recently, protests reportedly erupted in the Amhara region of Gondar in July 2016 when armed police arrested members of the Welkait Committee who called for the recognition of the Welkait community, currently within the Tigray region, as part of the neighbouring Amhara region.

Reports further indicate that from 6 – 7 August 2016, thousands of people around the country took to the streets calling for political reform, equality, justice and the rule of law. The Commission is seriously disturbed by reports which aver that law enforcement agents responded with excessive force, including firing live bullets at protestors in Bahir Dar killing at least 30 people, and beating protestors with batons in Addis Ababa. Reports indicate that nearly 100 protestors were killed from 6 – 7 August 2016.

The Commission has also received information that the Government completely blocked internet throughout the country for 48 hours in an attempt to stop the use of social media to organise further protests. It is alleged that most social media applications are still blocked, hampering communication.

Reports allege that following the first protests in November 2015, hundreds of protestors have been killed, and many more have been beaten, arbitrarily arrested and detained.

The Commission is equally concerned about reports that members and human rights monitors of the Human Rights Council of Ethiopia (HRCO) have been arrested and detained in the Amhara and Oromo regions, while allegedly monitoring and documenting the crack-down on protestors in these regions.

Without reaching conclusions on the above allegations, the Commission is concerned that if these allegations are correct they would amount to violations of Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 19 of theAfrican Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter), as well as other regional and international human rights instruments to which the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is a party.

In view of the above, the Commission calls on the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to:

• Fully investigate or allow the African Commission and other international/regional human rights mechanisms unimpeded access to the concerned areas in order to carry out prompt and impartial investigations into the allegations, so that these reports can be verified;
• Ensure due process of law for those arrested and detained;
• Respect peoples’ right to freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and access to information;
• Ensure that perpetrators of the alleged violations are held accountable;
• Ensure that the victims and their families obtain full redress, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition; and
• Uphold its obligations under the regional and international human rights instruments to which it is a party, in particular the African Charter.

The Commission will remain actively seized of this matter.

Oromo TV: Dr.G.Teessoo

By Matthew Tempest

A December 2015 protest in Ethiopia. Human Rights Watch

(EuroActiv) — No monies from the EU’s flagship Emergency Trust Fund (ETF) for Africa goes to the Ethiopian government or its agencies, the Commission stressed yesterday (6 September), as human rights groups say more than 400 people have been killed in clashes with the government.

The ETF was set up last year, at the Valleta migration summit, in an attempt to mitigate the ‘pull’ factors behind uncontrolled migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, in the wake of the migration crisis.

Ethiopia, with a stable and West-friendly government in the Horn of Africa, is one of the major recipients of the trust fund, which aims to improve life chances and livelihoods in some of the world’s poorest countries.

However, the authoritarian government in Addis Ababa has long been the butt of accusations over its treatment of the Oromia people and their region – which surrounds the capital.

Since November 2015 – when Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker signed the ETF – some 400 people have been killed by Ethiopian government security forces during protests, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Thousands more have been detained.

Credit: Human Rights Watch

Amnesty International says over 100 people were killed at a demonstration in early August.

This week, the situation deteriorated further, with the deaths of at least 23 inmates in a fire at a prison believed to be holding detained protestors.

Pictures showed smoke billowing from the jail, but the BBC cited local media reporting the sound of gunfire from the Qilinto prison.

Pressed by EurActiv.com on whether the Commission had a view on the unrest in one of its key partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and whether the ETF contained a mechanism for either reviewing or even suspending payments through the Emergency Trust Fund, a spokesman was quick to point out that no monies were channelled directly through the government in Addis Ababa, or any government agencies.

In an emailed statement later, it added, “As far as the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa is concerned, it is important to know that no funding are decentralised to, or channelled through, the beneficiary countries’ government structures.

“This of course also applies to Ethiopia.”

EU: SUPPORTING THE ETHIOPIAN PEOPLE NOW, AND OVER THE LONG TERM Ethiopia is being hit hard by one the most severe El Niño phenomenon on record. Numbers speak for themselves – in the past year, the number of food insecure people has increased from 2.9 million to over 10 million at present, write Neven Mimica and Christos Stylianides. EurActiv.com

Ethiopia, which is a close ally of Washington, is surrounded by failed states in the Horn of Africa, such as South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea. This year it has had to deal with one of its worst droughts in 50 years, worse even than that of the famine of 1984-85, exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

However, it has a difficult relationship with major aid agencies and NGOs, some of whom complain privately that operating in the country is dependent on not criticising the government in Addis Ababa.

The government in Addis Ababa, led by Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, has angrily dismissed the numbers cited by HRW, although admitting people have died in the protests, and blamed “illegal demonstrations and criminal attacks on property” for the unrest.

Desssalegn gave a press briefing on 30^th August in which he made it clear that the government had a “responsibility to deal carry out its mandate to maintain law and order.”

“The government would never abrogate its responsibility to maintain peace, law and order. It would not allow the illegal demonstrations, violent clashes or criminal attacks on property that have been disturbing the country to continue,” he added.

Dessalegn stressed that peaceful demonstrations were allowed under the Ethiopian constitution – but must be agreed in time and in advance over location, be peaceful and “avoid disrupting day-to-day public activities or civic engagement.”

The PM also criticised the New York Times and the Financial Times, at length, for recent articles which he claimed romanticised the opposition or downplayed the country’s economic strengths, respectively.

Although no single event seems to have triggered the 10 months of demonstrations in Ethiopia, the Oromo people complained of a plan to expand the capital, Addis Ababa, into their lands, and that they are disenfranchised by a government largely led by the Tigray grouping, from northern Ethiopia.

The cause of the Oromo people hit the headlines worldwide this summer, as Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa crossed the finishing line at the Rio Olympics with his arms crossed in protest, before seeking political asylum abroad.

A spokesman for the Commission said, “The EU follows the human rights situation in Ethiopia very closely.

“Through high-level political contacts, the EU consistently raises concerns with the Ethiopian government.

“The EU also provides specific assistance to support human rights in the country, notably through the EU Civil Society Fund. We firmly believe that the combination of constructive dialogue and targeted development assistance will lead to positive changes in the human rights situation in Ethiopia and in the region.

“Key areas of concern are human rights, peace and stability in the country, as well as irregular migration and displacement.

Recently, the Ethiopian government began a big drive to increase its attraction as a high-end international tourism destination.

Fire at Ethiopia dissident jail claims 23 lives

Members of the Oromo community in Pretoria, South Africa take part in a demonstration against Ethiopian government. At least 23 people were killed when fire broke out at a prison housing political prisoners in the Ethiopian capital, the government said on Tuesday. PHOTO | FILE

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — At least 23 people were killed when fire broke out at a prison housing political prisoners in the Ethiopian capital, the government said on Tuesday.

Jaallannee Gammadaa

Dr. Xaggaayee Araarsaa

WASHINGTON, DC (VOA Afaan Oromoo) — Sanbata Fuulbaana 3 bara 2016 manni hidhaa Qilinxoo ibiddaan gubachuu isaa irraa kan ka’e hidhamtoonni 23 lubbuun darbuu isaa fi polisootaa fi hidhamtoonni kannen biroon waluumaa gala 9 wal’ansa fayyaa argachuu isaanii mootummaan Itiyoophiyaa ibsee jira. Maatiwwan hidhamtootaa garuu mootummaan haala uumamee kana kan ilaaleen ibsa nu kenne tokko hin jiru, kanneen hidhamanii turan eessa buutee isaanii hin dhabne jedhu. Mootummaan gama isaan haala jiru qoratanii ibsa kennuuf yeroo gaafatan . Kanaafis Obsaan eegaa jedhe. Maatiin attamiin callifnee teenya jechuun manneen hidhaa fi Hospitaaloota adda addaa dhaquun deebii tokko dhaban gaaffii keenyaaf deebii kennuu miti nu hin gaafatinaa jechuun nu dorsisuu nu hidhuuf gamuu jedhan.

Waa’ee hidhamtootaa kan ilaaleen heeraa fi seera Itiyoophiyaa keessa kan walii galaan ka’ame jira kan jedhan yunivarsitii Meelbarn kan Awustraaliyaa keessatti hayyuu seeraa kan ta’an Dr. Xaggaayee Araarsaa seerri addunyaas seera lafa kaa’e qaba jedhu. Mootummaan Itiyoophiyaa garuu faallaa seera addunyaa hojjataa jira akkasumas kan ofii baase illee kabajuu hin dandeenye jedhan.

#OromoProtests
Murtii gamtaan Awuroppaa hardha fudhate irratti hedduun keessan ifa nuuf godhaa jechaa jirtan.

Wanni isaan murteessan kana. Bara dabree itoophiyaa dabalatee biyyoota madda baqattootaa ta’aniif maallaqa kennuun lakkoofsa baqattoota gara Awuroppaa imalanii hirdhisuuf waliif galame. Hardha Itoophiyaan biyya mirga namoomaa akka malee miidhaa jirtu ta’uu waan hubataniif maallaqa kennuuf ramadan san irraa dhaabanii jiran. Via Naf-tanan Gaadullo

By Janene Pieters

Flower farm (Photo: Douglas Perkins/Wikimedia Commons)

Amsterdam (NL Times) — Flower company Esmeralda Farms Nederland in Aalsmeer is closing its doors permanently after its farm in Ethiopia was burned to the ground by militants last week. The damage to the farm is extensive that the American parent company decided to close the Dutch branch, NU.nl reports.

Esmeralda Flowers in Aalsmeer was largely dependent on the production at its Ethiopian farm. A spokesperson said to NU that the loss of supply from the African country fatally wounded the company.

That means that the over 600 workers in Ethiopia and 14 employees in the Netherlands now lost their jobs, director Loui Hooijman confirmed.

The militants attacked the Esmeralda Flowers farm and a number of other foreign farms near Bahir Dar because they have ties with the Ethiopian government. The attacks follow an ongoing dispute between some parts of the Ethiopian population that feel they are not profiting from the country’s economic growth and the government. Human rights groups reported that the government killed more than 500 people since June in an effort to suppress the protests.

According to NU.nl, there are about 350 Dutch people in the affected area in the Amhara region.