The Politics of Denial; the Birth and Expansion of Addis Ababa at the Expense of Oromo

Editor’s Note: the following piece was originally posted on Facebook on April 14, 2015; it’s published here on this day of the first anniversary of the April 30, 2014 massacre in Ambo, where more than 70 Oromo civilians (mostly students) were murdered by the Ethiopian security forces while nonviolently protesting against the Addis Ababa Master Plan, which aims to expand the limits of Addis Ababa at the expense of the neighboring Oromo farmers and State of Oromia.

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By Geresu Tufa

“A man who denies his past is a man who truly denies himself a future, for he refuses to know himself, and to deny knowledge of oneself is to stumble through life as handicapped as the blind mute.” – Tobsha Learner

Last week, I partook in a panel discussion with my fellow Oromos on OMN about the ongoing land-grabbing around Finfinne/Addis. I believe the time is a very critical one for all peoples in that country to stand together and condemn the injustices being inflicted upon poor farmers surrounding Addis. Therefore, most of the talks focused on the impacts of Addis’ expansion on the neighboring region of Oromia, on our farmers’ livelihoods and health, on the environment, and on the overall political-economy of Oromia in the Ethiopian Empire. At the discussion, I gave a little introductory remark about the background of the Addis expansion – starting from its foundation.

All of us are products of a particular historical process. If we want to clearly understand what is happening today, we need to put it into an appropriate historical context. In line with this indisputable fact of life, I could only be right by mentioning major historical factors that have contributed to place us where we find ourselves today. Instead of condemning both historical and ongoing injustices on our farmers, I am surprised to see the reactions of a few individuals who had come out of their shells to deny historical injustices in the aforementioned area, viz. Finfinne. The intention of this short piece is not to divert the public’s attention from focusing on current injustices or to dwell over the past, it is only to undress this politics of denial with some historical facts and give the rationale behind this kind of mindset.

Inquiring the sources of these historical facts is very healthy and should be a way forward for our future dialogues. This kind of evidence-based argument is very essential to save us from making/being evidence-nude society that bases arguments on either ‘hearsay’ or ‘I think,’ or even the worst, ‘I am sure’ kind of arguments without citing any credible source for the information. Therefore, I praise those who have asked for evidences, which have deliberately been kept away from the public by elites who harvest various kinds of profits from the ongoing politics of denial. It appears that people who deny historical injustices will obviously do the same, or worse, if they happen to mastermind the atrocities that we see today in the name of development. For this group of deniers, it is not the cruel action that matters much; it is who is doing (or had done) those cruelties to whom – that matter much. If it’s their group that’s the culprit, then it is a norm and the order of the time; if others are the culprit, then the atrocities are labeled as fascism, Apartheid, racism – you name it. It is a sad reality, but it is what it is. If anyone thinks about convincing this group of deniers by logic, it can only be a futile effort that will never bear fruit. This piece of evidences about the atrocities during and after creation of Finfinne/Addis Ababa is written for sensible minds only.

As to the characteristics of atrocities that happened in Finfinne, I am shocked how people easily, and conveniently, forget or distort the recent Ethiopian political history. In case one forgets the quest of Oromos and Southern peoples and nations – which led to the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution, was a struggle to reclaim their land that had been appropriated to settler Neftegnas by reducing them into tenants and servants on their own land. I hope no one forgets the Land to the Tiller. Grabbing Oromo farmers’ land by settlers did not start during the Haile-Silassie regime, as some people try to convince us, it has been ongoing since the formation of the modern Ethiopian Empire. Of course, the intensity has increased where the settlers have established themselves in the form of cities (garrison towns). Finfinne/Addis is a case in point.

Herein, I list some of the major historical facts and policy guidelines that have been put in place to execute the evictions of Oromo farmers over the last century; evidences are also presented such that the reader can have their own judgment.

Fact 1.

As an oral society, Oromos living in and around Finfinne have very popular folk songs in which they narrate most of the events they see/hear. The following folk song has been in the public’s memory for the last 150 years:

English translation:

No more standing on Intottoo,
to look on meadows blow.
No more taking cattle to Finfinnee,
to water at the mineral springs.
No more gathering on Daalattii,
where the Gullallee assembly used to meet.
No more going beyond Gafarsaa,
to chop firewood.
No more pasturing calves,
on the meadows of Hurufa Bombi.
The year the enemy came,
our cattle were consumed.
Since Mashasha came,
freedom has vanished.

Afan Oromo:

Inxooxoo dhabatanii
Caffee gad ilaalun haafe,
Finfinnee loon geessani,
Hora obaasuun hafe
Tullu Daalatti irratt
Yaa’iin Gullallee hafee
Gafarsatti dabrani
Qoraan cabsuun hin hafee
Hurufa Bombi irratti,
Jabbilee yaasuun hafee
Bara jarri dhufani,
Loon keenyaas ni dhumani
Edda Mashashan dhufee
Birmaadummaan hinhafee.
(Source: Wolde Yohannes Warqineh and Gammachu Malkaa; ‘Oromiyaa: Yetedebeqew Yegif Tarik,’ 1994)

Fact 2.

“The chronicler of the reign of Menelik states that Menelik quoted his grandfather the Negus Sahle Selassie: ‘O land, today you are full of
Gallas, but one day, my grandson will build here a house and make of you a city.’ About 1886, large areas of land on the site were distributed; the recipients among others were the Empress, Ras Mikael, Ras Darge, Afe Negus Nasibu, the Echege, DejazmatchGirmame, Balambaras Mekonnen, etc. – and areas were set aside such as that for the quarters of the palace guard.” (Source: Richard Greenfield; ‘Ethiopian: A New Political History,’ 1965 (p. 102))

Fact 3.

“In 1843 Sahle Sellasie went on one of the predatory raids, he usually conducted twice and often three times a year, into the Tuulama Oromo territory bordering on the kingdom of Shawa. Major W.C. Harris, who was sent on a diplomatic mission, leading a British delegation, to Shawa and followed Sahle Sellasie on several of his raiding expeditions against the Oromo during the 18 months he stayed in the country, reported what he witnessed in his book The Highlands of Aethiopia (1844, Vols. I-III) …

“‘Hundreds of cattle grazed in tempting herds over the flowery meads [meadows]. Unconscious of danger, the unarmed husband man [herdsman] pursued his peaceful occupation in the field;his wife and children carolled blithely over their ordinary household avocations; and the ascending sun shone bright on smiling valleys, which, long before his going down, were left tenanted [occupied] only by the wolf and the vulture.’

“Harris noted that, after conferring for a while with an Orthodox priest acting as his father confessor, Sahle Sellasie ordered the expectant army to ‘carry fire and sword through the land.” What followed was exactly what the king ordered his forces to do.

“‘Rolling on like the mighty waves of the ocean, down poured the Amhára host among the rich glades and rural hamlets, at the heels of the flying inhabitants—tramping under foot the fields of the ripening corn, in parts half reaped, and sweeping before them the vast herds of cattle which grazed untended in every direction. When far beyond the range of vision, their destructive progress was still marked by the red flames that burst forth in turn from the thatched roofs of each village; and the havoc committed many miles to the right by the division of Abagáz Maretch, who was advancing parallel to the main body, and had been reinforced by the detachment under Ayto Shishigo, became equally manifest in numerous columns of whites moke, towering upwards to the azure firmament in rapid succession.'”

(Source: Mekuria Bulcha; ‘A Decade after the Aborted Oromo Eviction from Finfinnee: A Persistent Story of Expropriation, Humiliation & Displacement,’ 2013 – quoting W. C. Harris’ book ‘The Highlands of Aethiopia (1844, Vols.I-III),’ Vol. II (pp. 185-198))

Fact 4.

What Tedla Haile, who was a Minister of Education, proposed in the late 1920’s, as it was quoted in Bahru Zewde’s Pioneers of Change,:

“Tedla goes back to classical Rome to demonstrate how the army has always been a factor for assimilation, be it through the intermarriage of garrison troops with local women or the recruitment of subjects people into the imperial arm. Likewise, all other facts of government policy – administration, justice, economic organization – should be regulated by the policy of assimilation. Provincial boundaries need to be redrawn to facilitate the policy. Oromo numerical predominance in the southern provinces should be tempered by a policy of Amhara settlement. Tigreans too should be encouraged to settle in the southern provinces, as they are great assimilator by virtue of their religious fervour and their inherent weakness in learning non-semtic language.” (Source: Bahru Zewde; ‘Pioneers of Change,’ 2002 (pp. 132-133))

Fact 5.

The introduction of the Ethiopian Constitution of 1931 reads as follows (emphases below are mine to show the two classes of citizenship in the Ethiopian Empire; the first-class citizens are the ‘natives’ while the second-class citizens are the ‘subjects.’)

Chapter I
The Ethiopian Empire and the Succession to the Throne

Art. 1. The territory of Ethiopia, in its entirety, is, from one end to the other, subject to the government of His Majesty the Emperor. All thenatives of Ethiopia, subjects of the empire, form together the Ethiopian Empire.

(Source: The Ethiopian Constitution of 1931)

Fact 6.

The imposition of Amharic on non-Amharas and the Amharization strategy became almost-open government policies in 1955/6. They were enshrined in the Statute to establish the Ministry of National Community Development and Social Affairs. It is clearly stated in Article 7 of the statute that members of the police and security forces should be recruited from the Amhara ethnic group and those assigned to conquered regions should be provided with special privileges. The details of those privileges are listed in Article 15 as follows:

“በመንግስት ሥራ በጸጥታ ጥበቃ በአገር አገዛዝ በፖሊስነት ወደነዚህ አገሮች የሚሄዱት አማሮች በዚያ አገር ውስጥ ለመኖርና ለመቆየት ምክንያት እንድኖራቸው በጠፍነት የሚለካው የጋላ መሬት በየአቅራቢያቸው እንደመንግስት ችሮታ መጠን ኢንድያገኙና ለማልማትም የሚረዱበት ልዩ ዘዴ እንድደረግላቸው።” (Source: Getahun Benti; ‘Addis Ababa: Migration and the Making of a Multiethnic Metropolis,’ 1941-1974 (p. 176))

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Now, I leave the judgement for someone who reads and understands what is presented here.

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” – Carl Gustav Jung

Thanks!

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በከልለው ኡርጋ*

በአፍሪካ ሀጉር ታሪክ ውስጥ አምባገነን መንግስታት በምርጫ ሥልጣን የማያስተላልፉበት እና የማይለቁበት ሁኔታ ነው ያለው። ይሁን እንጂ በ 1994 በጎረቤታችን ኬንያ አሁን ደግሞ በ 2007 በናይጂሪያ በተካሄደው ምርጫ የሕዝብ ድምፅ ያሽነፈበት እና ጨቆኖች ሥልጣናቸውን ለተከታዬቻቸው በሰላማዊ መንገድ ያስተላለፉበትን ለአብነት ያህል እንደ ምሳሌ ማንሳት ከተቻለ ነው እንጂ በተቀርው ግዚያት ግጭት የተስተናገደበት፣ የብዙሀንን ሕይውት መሰዋትነት ያስከፈለ እና የሚያስከፍል ነው የአፍሪካ ገዢ መንግስታትን የመተካቱ ተግባር። በኢትዬጵያ ገዥው አምባገነኑ የወያኔ መንግስት ሥልጣን ከተቆናጠጠበት 1983 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ የአሁኑን የፊታችንን የግንቦት ወር 2007 ዓ.ም ጨምሮ በሀገሪቷ ውስጥ የይስሙላ ሀገር አቀፍ ምርጫ ሲካሄድ ይህ ለ 5ኛ ግዚ መሆኑ ነው። ይሁን እንጂ በነዚህ ባለፉት ግዚያት ውስጥ ለአንድ ግዚም ያህል ሰላማዊ፣ ፍታዊ እና ዲሞክራሲያዊ ምርጫ ተካሄዶ አያውቅም። ከተካሄዱት ምርጫዋች አንፃር እና ከሀገሪቷ ተጨባጭ ተመክሮ በመነሳት የወያኔን መንግስት በዲሞክራሲያዊ ምርጫ ይለወጣል ብሎ ማሰብ እጅግ ያስቸግራል። ይሁን እንጂ ላለፉት 24 ዓመታት በሞኖፖል በተቆጣጠሩት የመገናኛ ብዙሀን ሰብአዊ እና ዲሞክራሲያዊ መብት የሚጠብቅባት እና ፍትሀዊ ምርጫ እንደሚካሄድባት ሀገር አደርገው የገዢው ፓርቲ ፖለቲከኞች ዓለም አቀፍ ማህበረሰቡን ሲደሰኩሩ ይደመጣሉ። ምንም እንኳን ሀገሪቷ በአንድ ፓርቲ መዳፍ ሥር ያለች እና ሰብአዊ እና ዲሞክራሲያዊ መብቶች የሚጣሱባት፣ ዜጎች እስር፣ ግድያ፣ ስደት እና መፍናቀል የቀን ተቀን ድርጊት መሆኑን ልቦናቸው የሚያውቀው ነገር እየሆነ ከሕዝብ ይልቅ የግል ጥቅማቸውን የሚያሳድዱ አካሎች ስለሆኑ የአስመሳይ ተግባራቸውን ገፍተውበት ይስተዋላሉ።

በመላ ሀገሪቷ ውስጥ በሽዎች የሚቆጠሩ ሕዝብ በተለይም የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ በሚታሰሩበት፣ በሚገደሉበት፣ በሚፈናቀሉበት፣ በሚሰደዱበት፣ በአደባባይ በሚሰቀሉበት እና ሀሳባቸውን እንኳን በነፃነት በማይገልፁበት፣ ከምርጫ ጋር በተገናኝ ብዙዎች ደብዛቸው በጠፋበት፣ ሲኦል በሆነበት ሀገር ውስጥ ሁኔታውን ሳያውቁት ቀርተው ሳይሆን አይደለም። በቅርቡ የአሜሪካ ምክትል የውጪ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ዊንዲ ሽርማን “በሀገሪቷ የሚካሄደው ምርጫ ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ እየተሻሻለ እና የወያኔ መንግስትም በዲሞክራሲያዊ መንገድ የተቋቋመ ነው” ያሉት መቼም ዲሞክራሲ እና ዲሞክራሲያዊ ምርጫ ምን እንደሆን ለሳቸው ማስረዳት የሚያስፈልግ አይመስለኝም። ከሁሉም በላይ ችግሩን የሚያውቀው የችግሩ ሰለባ የሆነ ወይም የደረሰበት እና እየደረሰበት ያለው ሕዝብ ብቻ ነው። በመጀመሪያ ዲሞክራሲ እና ዲሞክራሲያዊ ምርጫ ምንድን ነው? ሕዝቦች መሪዎቻቸውን ነፃ እና ፍትሀዊ በሆነ መልኩ ወደ ስልጣን ማምጣት እና ማውረድ ሳይችሉ፤ ንቁ ተሳትፎ እንደ ዜጋ፣ ፖለቲካ ተቋም እና እንድ ሲቪክ ማህበራት ሳይኖር፤ የሁሉም ዜጎች ሰብአዊ መብት የተጠበቀ ሳይሆን፤ የሕግ የበላይነት እና ሕግ ለሁሉም እኩል ሳይያገለግል ነው ስለነዚህ አሳቦች የሚነሳው? በእርግጥ እነዚህ ከላይ የተገለጹት በወረቀት ላይ እንጂ ትክክለኛ በገቢርም ይሁን በተግባር በከፊልም ይሁን በሙሉ በሀገሪቷ ታሪክም ታይቶም፣ ተሰምቶም አይታወቅም። አምባገነኑ የወያኔ መንግስት የተቀናቃኝ እጩዎች ላይ የተለያየ ምክንያት በማቅረብ ከእጩነት በማግለል፣ አፈና፣ ዛቻ እና እስር በማድረስ፣ ሰብአዊ እና ዲሞክራሲያዊ መብቶችን በማፈን፣ በሕግ እና በማዕቀብ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች ተወዳዳሪ እንዳይሆኑ በማድረግ፣ የብዙሀን መገናኛ በሞኖፖል በመያዝ እና ለግል የፖለቲካ ፕሮፓጋንዳ ብቻ በመጠቀም፣ ጠንካራ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች እንዳይመዘገቡ እና እንዳይወዳደሩ በማድረግ፣ በጉቦ እና በሌሎች ጥቅማ ጥቅም በመደለል የገዢውን ፓርቲ ብቻ እንዲመርጡ በማድረግ፣ ገለልተኝ የምርጫ ቦርድ በሌለበት፣ መራጩን ሕዝብ ገዢውን መንግስት የማትመርጡ ከሆነ አገልግሎት ማግኝት አትችሉም በሚባልበት እና በሕይወት እና ንብረት ላይ ጉዳት እናደርሳለን ብሎ በሚስፈራሩበት፣ በሚዛትበት አምባገነን ሀገር እነዚህን የመሳሰሉ የገዢው ፖለቲካ ፓርቲ ማጭበርበሪያ መንገዶች እያሉ እንዴት ነው ፍታሀዊ፣ ግልፅ እና ሁሉንም ያሳተፈ ምርጫ ተካሄዶ በመሳሪያ ኃይል በሚያምን አምባገነን መንግስት ጋር ተወዳድሮ በሰላማዊ መንገድ መለወጥ የሚቻለው?

ድል ለኦሮሞ ሕዝብ

Ethiopia: Police must stop the use of excessive force against demonstrators

April 27, 2015 Human Rights

PUBLIC STATEMENT
April 22, 2015
AI Index: AFR 25/1515/2015

Amnesty International calls on the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that police refrain from excessive use of force in policing demonstrations, after police violently dispersed mass protests in Addis Ababa yesterday. The Ethiopian authorities must respect the rights of demonstrators to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly.

Video footage and photographs posted online show police beating protestors who appear to be offering no resistance, and tear gas being used against the crowd. A journalist in Addis Ababa told Amnesty International that 48 people had been seriously injured and admitted to different hospitals, and that many others sustained minor injuries. Two photos show wounded people being treated at hospital. Hundreds of others are reported to have been arrested.

The protests started on Tuesday following circulation of a video showing the killing of around 30 people believed to be Ethiopians by the armed group ISIS in Libya. Two of the named victims have been identified as coming from Cherkos, Addis Ababa. Hundreds of relatives and friends were gathered outside their family homes before spilling on to the streets towards Meskel Square. Many protestors in the photographs and video footages posted online are shown holding pictures of the two men.

Protests resumed on Wednesday morning, with thousands gathering in Meskel Square where a mass rally had been organized as part of the official three days of mourning announced by the government. Around 100,000 people took part in the demonstrations, which were initially targeted against the killings by ISIS, but later turned into anger towards the government, including its inability to protect Ethiopian citizens and more general calls for political reform. According to reports the police began to disperse the gathered crowd by force after some demonstrators shouted slogans during the rally, and as the situation escalated there were clashes between protesters and police.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Communications Minister Redwan Hussein accused the opposition Semayawi (Blue) Party of trying to manipulate the demonstrations for their own political interests and of inciting the public to violence, which the party has denied. The minister said that seven police officers had been injured and hospitalized, but made no mention of injuries or arrests among the protestors. Eight members of the Semayawi Party were arrested, including three candidates in the upcoming general elections on 24 May 2015. They are Woyneshet Molla, Tena Tayewu, Ermias Siyum, Daniel Tesfaye, Tewodros Assefa, Eskinder Tilahun, Mastewal Fekadu and Yidnekachewu Addis. At least one other party member was hospitalized after beaten on the head by police.

The Ethiopian authorities have an obligation to facilitate people’s exercise of their right to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly. If there is a legitimate reason for which it is necessary to disperse an assembly, police must avoid the use of force where at all possible or, where that is not practicable, must restrict any such force to the minimum necessary. Law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty.

The authorities in Ethiopia must ensure that there is an effective and impartial investigation into the use of force by police against protestors during the demonstrations and ensure that any police found to have used unnecessary or excessive force are subject to disciplinary and criminal sanctions as appropriate. Arbitrary or abusive use of force should be prosecuted as a criminal offence.

Amnesty International urges the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that in policing demonstrations in the future, the police comply with international law and standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials. With general elections a month away on 24 May, the Ethiopian authorities should commit to facilitating the right of protestors to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

United in Opposing Ethiopian Cartoon Democracy: European Parliament Conference Offers Platform for Dialogue ahead of 24 May Election

On 23 April 2015, in view of the forthcoming 24 May national election in Ethiopia, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) joined forces with five Members of the European Parliament: Julie Ward (S&D), Ana Gomes (S&D), Soraya Post (S&D), Jordi Sebastià (Greens/EFA) and Bodil Ceballos (Greens/EFA), in organising a high-level conference entitled ‘Cartoon Democracy: Authoritarian Rule and Elections in Ethiopia’. The conference took place in the European Parliament in Brussels and brought together representatives of different disenfranchised movements in Ethiopia, international academic experts, activists, and politicians. Its well achieved purpose was to offer a platform whereby those who have been denied their right to participate and contribute to the election process in Ethiopia could come together to openly and freely address existing challenges and explore possible ways forward for democratic change in a country that over the past years has increased its stranglehold on any political opposition.

Ms Julie Ward MEP opened the conference by stressing her strong commitment to giving a voice to those who do not have one. She reflected on the questions of cultural identity, citizenship and media freedom, which are all crucial elements of the political climate in Ethiopia.

Mr Jordi Sebastià MEP, in turn, underlining his background in journalism, shared his first-hand experience working in Ethiopia, where he had encountered the oppression faced by different ethnic groups.

Ms Bodil Ceballos MEP, who took the floor towards the end of the conference, shortly addressed some of the issues pertinent to the development aid and support extended by the EU to the Ethiopia despite the ongoing human rights violations and atrocities committed by the latter. While arguing that completely cutting off the aid flow is not a viable option, she however agreed on the need for changing the direction of the support.

The last MEP to intervene, long-time supporter of the people of Ethiopia, Ms Ana Gomes, drew attention to the country’s 2005 election and her role as Head of the then EU Election Observation Mission. Taking into consideration that the Ethiopian government did not allow for a report on the election results to be delivered by the EU EOM in neither 2005 nor 2010, she commended the political decision of the EU not to deploy an EOM to the forthcoming Ethiopian election. She furthermore criticized EU officials for not being well informed about the severe conditions most Ethiopians live under and for staying passive in this respect.

The first panel entitled ‘Where Ethnicity Meets Politics: The Political Climate in the Run-up to the 2015 Election’ offered a situational overview and assessment of the political challenges faced by regional movements in Ogaden, Oromiya, Sidama, Gambela, as well as the Ginbot7 opposition party. First to take the floor was Mr Abdirahman Mahdi, Foreign Relations Secretary of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), who expressed that time has come to leave historical disagreements behind and instead offer the Ethiopian people an opportunity to look forward towards how to build a better future for Ethiopia as a whole. This only becomes possible and feasible as a strategy when all the different ethnicities and nations being oppressed under the same flag get united and start thinking constructively. Stressing on the need for immediate action, he further argued that in case there is no effective progress in Western policies towards Ethiopia, the country is prone to become the next Yemen or Nigeria, since the government is maintaining its power through causing fear and repression.

Taking a similar stance, Dr Shigut Geleta, Head of the Oromo Liberation Front’s (OLF) Diplomatic Division, underlined that a common solution for the troubling state of democracy and human rights in Ethiopia should be reached immediately.  Superficial reforms; the misuse of government resources and foreign aid by the political elite; poverty; appalling human rights violations; a demographic boom; global terrorism; the use of excessive military force; and failure on part of the international community to use legal instruments against the regime, are among the major challenges the country is faced with, he added.

Mr Abebe Bogale, Executive Committee Member of the political opposition party Ginbot 7, highlighted that the Ethiopian government has constantly been using various tactics, including repressive antiterrorist laws, to discourage any sort of political opposition. At the same time, the country ranks among the top five when it comes to exiled journalists.  Mr Bogale further argued that not only must democracy and the rule of law be established, but also the advancement of human rights is crucial for the stability and development of the Horn of Africa.

Mr Betana Hamano, Vice-Chairman of the Sidama Liberation Front (SLF) alongside his colleagueMr Denboba Natie gave a presentation on the marginalisation and struggle for autonomy of the Sidama people, the 5th largest ethnic group in Ethiopia. They stressed that although the 1995 Constitution provides for the right to regional autonomy, in reality such a right has never been respected. Moreover, in economic terms, the Sidama community gets only a very small fraction of the profit stemming from coffee production and trade, despite Sidama being the main region for coffee production.

Mr Nyikaw Ochalla representing the Anywaa Survival Organization - ASO agreed with the argument made by the previous four speakers – that Ethiopia is in desperate need for change. He raised the issues of land grabbing, eviction and deprivation of a decent livelihood, which has had a severe impact on the indigenous people in Gambela state. Despite the authorities’ responsibility in creating these issues, the government continues to receive massive financial support from the international community. In conclusion he argued that common visions, unity of all the different groups in Ethiopia, as well as inclusive participation of all citizens are crucial elements to be included in any potential reform plan.

The second panel entitled ‘Futile Democracy, Human Rights and the Pretext of Protecting National Security’ started off with a written statement by Mr Martin Schibbye, a Swedish journalist who was sentenced to 11 years in prison after having entered Ethiopia through Somalia with the aim to report on oil extraction in the Ogaden region. The statement (read out by Tommaso Nodari, UNPO Programme Coordinator), thoroughly outlined Mr Schibbye’s memories from the dark times in prison together with photographer Mr Johan Persson, both of whom were pardoned after 14 months. 

Next up was Dr Alemayeho Kumsa from Charles University in Prague, who provided a historical overview of the situation in Ethiopia. He highlighted how the trend of human rights violations in today’s Ethiopia is a continuation of years of misrule: between 1975 and 1991 the military government nationalised rural and urban land thus depriving people of their land, while at the same time eliminating generations of intellectuals from different minorities.

Mr Dan Dolan from Reprieve, a UK-based organization working on cases of death penalty, later illustrated the specific case of Mr Andargachew Tsige, the Secretary General of Ethiopian opposition movement Ginbot 7, who also holds British citizenship. Mr Dolan explained how Mr Tsige had been brutally abducted by the Ethiopian forces, held on unfounded charges and granted no access to legal representation. Stressing on the urgency of Mr Tsige’s case, Mr Dolan concluded by pleading the international community, and especially the British government, for further support and serious action in this regard.

Following Mr Dolan’s presentation, a short video titled ‘Rape as a Weapon of War’ was shown to the audience. The video, portraying the personal accounts of several Ogadeni women, was a manifestation of how rape is being used by military forces in the Ogaden region as a systematic tool to wage war against civilians. The video was introduced by Ms Juweria Ali, a representative of the Ogadeni women and youth.

Dr Trevor Trueman from the Oromia Support Group, who has carried out extensive research inside refugee camps, delivered a strong statement underlining that torture is the default treatment of detainees in Ethiopia. He also drew attention to the fact that one third of the Ethiopian budget derives from foreign aid. Emphasising on the fact that the foreign support is definitely on the ‘’wrong way’’, he urged the EU and donor countries to face the facts and stop funding the Ethiopian government.

Mr Graham Peebles, Director of The Create Trust, opened the third and last panel ‘Ways forward for Ethiopia post-2015: Status Quo or an Opportunity for Change?’ Shedding light on the need for imminent unity, he expressly urged EU Member States, in particular the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, to ‘’take their neglectful and complicit heads out of the sand and stand together with the people, who have suffered far too much for far, far too long’’.

Later on Dr Getachew Jigi Demekssa, former member of the Ethiopian Federal Parliament, condemned the upcoming 2015 election as a sham that will serve as nothing but a repetition of the 2005 and 2010 scenarios. He added that trade and aid flows should be duly stopped by donor countries and diplomatic pressure exerted in support of advocates of freedom, otherwise there is a risk of turning the country and larger region into another breeding ground for extremists.

Oromo activist Dr Baro Keno Deressa, who was given the floor next, concentrated his speech on the issues of land grabbing and illegal eviction of Oromo people from their lands.  As a consequence of these government driven policies, people are left without any compensation and any new arrangement that would meet their basic needs, and hence ‘’European foreign direct investors [should] stop the cash flow to the oligarchy’’ and instead empower the Ethiopian people, he maintained.

The floor was then given to Mr Antony Otieno Ong’ayo, PhD candidate at the University of Utrecht, who rightly argued that a change of mind-set is necessary before any solid accomplishment can be reached. Focussing his speech on Ethiopian diaspora engagement, he argued that speaking with one united voice remains key to finding allies in different arenas, as true participation offers a possibility for change.

The last speech of the conference was prepared by Mr Abdullahi Mohamed from African Rights Monitor and read out by Mr Duale Mahdi, a representative of the Ogaden civil society. Describing the upcoming election as ‘’phony’’, Mr Mohamed blamed the regime for being completely reluctant to any democratic change. ‘’As long as this country acts under the silence collusive of its donors, particularly the EU, the sufferings of civilians are going to continue. It is time, in the interest of Ethiopia, [that] the EU reacts.’’

Overall, there seemed to be a strong agreement among the speakers on two main points: firstly, that any real democratic change and cessation of ongoing human rights abuses in Ethiopia can only be achieved through joint action involving all ethnic and political opposition movements; and secondly, that the EU and other major donors must hold the Ethiopian government accountable for its actions, by conditioning and better overseeing the flow of funds, thus ensuring that foreign aid is not being misused to perpetrate human rights violations and oppress the people it is supposed to serve. Following this successful conference, UNPO, together with its partners, will continue to work towards ensuring the Ethiopian peoples’ voices are better heard on the international stage, and encourage different ethnic and political groups to put their differences aside and work together towards positive change in Ethiopia.

A conference handout (incl. programme and speaker biographies) as well as speaker interventions can be downloaded from the sidebar
go to link http://unpo.org/article/18152

If Ethiopia is so vibrant, why are young people leaving?

April 28, 2015 Oromia

By Hassen Hussein

The latest tragedies may have temporarily united Ethiopians but has raised doubts about the country’s economic miracle

(Al Jazeera) — Within a week, Ethiopians were hit with a quadruple whammy. On April 19, the Libyan branch of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) released a shocking video purporting to show the killings and beheadings of Ethiopian Christians attempting to cross to Europe through Libya. This came only days after an anti-immigrant mob in South Africa killed at least three Ethiopian immigrants and wounded many others. Al Jazeera America reported that thousands of Ethiopian nationals were stranded in war-torn Yemen. And in the town of Robe in Oromia and its surroundings alone, scores of people were reportedly grieving over the loss of family members at sea aboard a fateful Europe-bound boat that sank April 19 off the coast of Libya with close to 900 aboard.

These tragedies may have temporarily united Ethiopians of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. But they have also raised questions about what kind of desperation drove these migrants to leave their country and risk journeys through sun-scorched deserts and via chancy boats.

The crisis comes at a time when Ethiopia’s economic transformation in the last decade is being hailed as nothing short of a miracle, with some comparing it to the feat achieved by the Asian “tigers” in the 1970s. Why would thousands of young men and women flee their country, whose economy is the fastest growing in Africa and whose democracy is supposedly blossoming? And when will the exodus end?

After the spate of sad news, government spokesman Redwan Hussein said the tragedy “will be a warning to people who wish to risk and travel to Europe through the dangerous route.” Warned or not, many youths simply do not see their dreams for a better life realized in Ethiopia. Observers cite massive poverty, rising costs of living, fast-climbing youth unemployment, lack of economic opportunities for the less politically connected, the economy’s overreliance on the service sector and the requirement of party membership as a condition for employment as the drivers behind the exodus.

A 2012 study by the London-based International Growth Center noted (PDF) widespread urban unemployment amid growing youth landlessness and insignificant job creation in rural areas. “There have been significant increases in educational attainment. However, there has not been as much job creation to provide employment opportunities to the newly educated job seekers,” the report said.

One of the few ISIL victims identified thus far was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 2013. (Saudi deported more than 100,000 Ethiopian domestic workers during a visa crackdown.) A friend, who worked as a technician for the state-run Ethiopian Electricity Agency, joined him on this fateful trek to Libya. At least a handful of the victims who have been identified thus far were said to be college graduates.

Given the depth of poverty, Ethiopia’s much-celebrated economic growth is nowhere close to accommodating the country’s young and expanding population, one of the largest youth cohorts in Africa. Government remains the main employer in Ethiopia after agriculture and commerce. However, as Human Rights Watch noted in 2011, “access to seeds, fertilizers, tools and loans … public sector jobs, educational opportunities and even food assistance” is often contingent on support for the ruling party.

Still, unemployment and lack of economic opportunities are not the only reasons for the excessive outward migration. These conditions are compounded by the fact that youths, ever more censored and denied access to the Internet and alternative sources of information, simply do not trust the government enough to heed Hussein’s warnings. Furthermore, the vast majority of Ethiopian migrants are political refugees fleeing persecution. There are nearly 7,000 registered Ethiopian refugees in Yemen, Kenya has more than 20,000, and Egypt and Somalia have nearly 3,000 each, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
As long as Ethiopia focuses on security, the door is left wide open for further exodus and potential social unrest from an increasingly despondent populace.

Ethiopians will head to the polls in a few weeks. Typically, elections are occasions to make important choices and vent anger at the incumbent. But on May 23, Ethiopians will be able to do neither. In the last decade, authorities have systematically closed the political space through a series of anti-terrorism, press and civil society laws. Ethiopia’s ruling party, now in power for close to 24 years, won the last four elections. The government has systematically weakened the opposition and does not tolerate any form of dissent.

The heightened crackdown on freedom of expression has earned Ethiopia the distinction of being the world’s fourth-most-censored country and the second leading jailer of journalists in Africa, behind only its archrival, Eritrea, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

There is little hope that the 2015 elections would be fundamentally different from the 2010 polls, in which the ruling party won all but two of the 547 seats in the rubber-stamp national parliament. The ruling party maintains a monopoly over the media. Authorities have shown little interest in opening up the political space for a more robust electoral contest. This was exemplified by the exclusion of key opposition parties from the race, continuing repression of those running and Leenco Lata’s recent failed attempt to return home to pursue peaceful political struggle after two decades of exile. (Lata is the founder of the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front, fighting since 1973 for the rights of the Oromo, Ethiopia’s marginalized majority population, and the president of the Oromo Democratic Front.)

A few faces from the fragmented and embittered opposition maybe elected to parliament in next month’s lackluster elections. But far from healing Ethiopia’s gashing wounds, the vote is likely to ratchet up tensions. In fact, a sea of youth, many too young to vote, breaking police barriers to join opposition rallies bespeaks not of a country ready for elections but one ripe for a revolution with unpredictable consequences.

Despite these mounting challenges, Ethiopia’s relative stability — compared with its deeply troubled neighbors Somalia, South Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti — is beyond contention. Even looking further afield, across the Red Sea, where Yemen is unraveling, one finds few examples of relative stability. This dynamic and Ethiopia’s role in the “war on terrorism” explains Washington’s and other donors’ failure to push Ethiopia toward political liberalization.

However, Ethiopia’s modicum of stability is illusory and bought at a hefty price: erosion of political freedoms, gross human rights violations and ever-growing discontent. This bodes ill for a country split by religious, ethnic and political cleavages. While at loggerheads with each other, Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups — the Oromo (40 percent) and the Amhara (30 percent) — are increasingly incensed by continuing domination by Tigreans (6 percent).

Ethiopian Muslims (a third of the country’s population of 94 million) have been staging protests throughout the country since 2011. Christian-Muslim relations, historically cordial, are being tested by religious-inspired violence and religious revivalism around the world. Ethiopia faces rising pressures to choose among three paths fraught with risks: the distasteful status quo; increased devolution of power, which risks balkanization; and more centralization, which promises even further resistance and turmoil.

It is unlikely that the soul searching from recent tragedies will prompt the authorities to make a course adjustment. If the country’s history of missed opportunities for all-inclusive political and economic transformation is any guide, Ethiopians might be in for a spate of more sad news. As long as the answer to these questions focuses on security, the door is left wide open for further exodus and potential social unrest from an increasingly despondent populace.

If Ethiopia's economy is so vibrant, why are young people fleeing the country? - Al Jazeera

by Admas » Today, 04:42

By Hassen Hussein

Within a week, Ethiopians were hit with a quadruple whammy. On April 19, the Libyan branch of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) released a shocking video purporting to show the killings and beheadings of Ethiopian Christians attempting to cross to Europe through Libya. This came only days after an anti-immigrant mob in South Africa killed at least three Ethiopian immigrants and wounded many others. Al Jazeera America reported that thousands of Ethiopian nationals were stranded in war-torn Yemen. And in the town of Robe in Oromia and its surroundings alone, scores of people were reportedly grieving over the loss of family members at sea aboard a fateful Europe-bound boat that sank April 19 off the coast of Libya with close to 900 aboard.

These tragedies may have temporarily united Ethiopians of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. But they have also raised questions about what kind of desperation drove these migrants to leave their country and risk journeys through sun-scorched deserts and via chancy boats.

The crisis comes at a time when Ethiopia’s economic transformation in the last decade is being hailed as nothing short of a miracle, with some comparing it to the feat achieved by the Asian “tigers” in the 1970s. Why would thousands of young men and women flee their country, whose economy is the fastest growing in Africa and whose democracy is supposedly blossoming? And when will the exodus end?

After the spate of sad news, government spokesman Redwan Hussein said the tragedy “will be a warning to people who wish to risk and travel to Europe through the dangerous route.” Warned or not, many youths simply do not see their dreams for a better life realized in Ethiopia. Observers cite massive poverty, rising costs of living, fast-climbing youth unemployment, lack of economic opportunities for the less politically connected, the economy’s overreliance on the service sector and the requirement of party membership as a condition for employment as the drivers behind the exodus.

A 2012 study by the London-based International Growth Center noted (PDF) widespread urban unemployment amid growing youth landlessness and insignificant job creation in rural areas. “There have been significant increases in educational attainment. However, there has not been as much job creation to provide employment opportunities to the newly educated job seekers,” the report said.

One of the few ISIL victims identified thus far was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 2013. (Saudi deported more than 100,000 Ethiopian domestic workers during a visa crackdown.) A friend, who worked as a technician for the state-run Ethiopian Electricity Agency, joined him on this fateful trek to Libya. At least a handful of the victims who have been identified thus far were said to be college graduates.

Given the depth of poverty, Ethiopia’s much-celebrated economic growth is nowhere close to accommodating the country’s young and expanding population, one of the largest youth cohorts in Africa. Government remains the main employer in Ethiopia after agriculture and commerce. However, as Human Rights Watch noted in 2011, “access to seeds, fertilizers, tools and loans … public sector jobs, educational opportunities and even food assistance” is often contingent on support for the ruling party.

Still, unemployment and lack of economic opportunities are not the only reasons for the excessive outward migration. These conditions are compounded by the fact that youths, ever more censored and denied access to the Internet and alternative sources of information, simply do not trust the government enough to heed Hussein’s warnings. Furthermore, the vast majority of Ethiopian migrants are political refugees fleeing persecution. There are nearly 7,000 registered Ethiopian refugees in Yemen, Kenya has more than 20,000, and Egypt and Somalia have nearly 3,000 each, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Ethiopians will head to the polls in a few weeks. Typically, elections are occasions to make important choices and vent anger at the incumbent. But on May 23, Ethiopians will be able to do neither. In the last decade, authorities have systematically closed the political space through a series of anti-terrorism, press and civil society laws. Ethiopia’s ruling party, now in power for close to 24 years, won the last four elections. The government has systematically weakened the opposition and does not tolerate any form of dissent.

The heightened crackdown on freedom of expression has earned Ethiopia the distinction of being the world’s fourth-most-censored country and the second leading jailer of journalists in Africa, behind only its archrival, Eritrea, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

There is little hope that the 2015 elections would be fundamentally different from the 2010 polls, in which the ruling party won all but two of the 547 seats in the rubber-stamp national parliament. The ruling party maintains a monopoly over the media. Authorities have shown little interest in opening up the political space for a more robust electoral contest. This was exemplified by the exclusion of key opposition parties from the race, continuing repression of those running and Leenco Lata’s recent failed attempt to return home to pursue peaceful political struggle after two decades of exile. (Lata is the founder of the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front, fighting since 1973 for the rights of the Oromo, Ethiopia’s marginalized majority population, and the president of the Oromo Democratic Front.)

A few faces from the fragmented and embittered opposition maybe elected to parliament in next month’s lackluster elections. But far from healing Ethiopia’s gashing wounds, the vote is likely to ratchet up tensions. In fact, a sea of youth, many too young to vote, breaking police barriers to join opposition rallies bespeaks not of a country ready for elections but one ripe for a revolution with unpredictable consequences.

Despite these mounting challenges, Ethiopia’s relative stability — compared with its deeply troubled neighbors Somalia, South Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti — is beyond contention. Even looking further afield, across the Red Sea, where Yemen is unraveling, one finds few examples of relative stability. This dynamic and Ethiopia’s role in the “war on terrorism” explains Washington’s and other donors’ failure to push Ethiopia toward political liberalization.

However, Ethiopia’s modicum of stability is illusory and bought at a hefty price: erosion of political freedoms, gross human rights violations and ever-growing discontent. This bodes ill for a country split by religious, ethnic and political cleavages. While at loggerheads with each other, Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups — the Oromo (40 percent) and the Amhara (30 percent) — are increasingly incensed by continuing domination by Tigreans (6 percent).

Ethiopian Muslims (a third of the country’s population of 94 million) have been staging protests throughout the country since 2011. Christian-Muslim relations, historically cordial, are being tested by religious-inspired violence and religious revivalism around the world. Ethiopia faces rising pressures to choose among three paths fraught with risks: the distasteful status quo; increased devolution of power, which risks balkanization; and more centralization, which promises even further resistance and turmoil.

It is unlikely that the soul searching from recent tragedies will prompt the authorities to make a course adjustment. If the country’s history of missed opportunities for all-inclusive political and economic transformation is any guide, Ethiopians might be in for a spate of more sad news. As long as the answer to these questions focuses on security, the door is left wide open for further exodus and potential social unrest from an increasingly despondent populace. 

Hassen Hussein is an assistant professor at St. Mary's University of Minnesota.

Source: http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2 ... aving.html

Urgent Appeal! At Least 20,000 Oromo Refugees Stranded in Libya Need Immediate Attention

April 27, 2015 Human Rights

To:  Our Oromo Brothers and Sisters, UNHCR, and International Community

We Oromo refugees in Libya appeal to our Oromo brothers all over the world, the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations, and the international community at large to reach for our lives and save us from being killed by ISIS. We are currently living in a life and death situation. Since the 28 or so immigrants from Ethiopia have been beheaded(or shot) by the ISIS on April 19, a lot of refugees are taken away to unknown location every day. We don’t know if they are dead or alive. On April 22, 2015, many Oromo refugees have been abducted from their houses by unknown armed people. The situation is getting worse by the day. It seems that the whole Libyan society, including children as young as a ten year old, is armed to the teeth. A ten year old would kill any immigrant person anywhere. Thieves kill refugees for a small amount of money and property they may possess. The killing by the ISIS is well known because it is video-taped. However, the number of those refugees who are being killed by the day on the streets is much larger. We are fearful to get out of our houses. We are also unable to live in our homes.Apart from those who have been beheaded or shot, 50 other immigrants from Ethiopia and Eritrea are still held in the hands of the ISIS waiting for their death. We know many of these are our Oromo brothers.

From hundreds of thousands of refugees stranded in Libya and now looking how to get out of the country, at least 20,000 are Oromo refugees.We have now identified that at least three of those who have been beheaded or shot on April 19, 2015 are Oromo refugees. Jamal Rahman, an Oromo, a Muslim faith follower was killed because he refused to be separated from his Christian friends. Two other Oromos who have been killed are Mengistu Gashu and Aweke Gemechu, both from Oromia, Eastern Wollega zone.

Most immigrants from Ethiopia are advised to change their nationality and identity in order to be accepted by the UNHCR. Whenever they tell the UNHCR officials that they are from Ethiopia, they are usually rejected and are told to go back to the country they escaped from. Oromo refugees usually tell that they are Somalis to be accepted as refugees. Amhara and other Amharic speaking Ethiopian refugees are advised to tell that they are Eritreans. Hence, the number of Ethiopian refugees in Libya appears to be smaller than it actually is. Some key UNHCR officials tell the immigrants that their country Ethiopia is a democratic country and that they should go back to Ethiopia and shouldn’t seek refuge. They tell the refugees that they do not satisfy the criterion and will not be registered under UNHCR. Usually they intimidate to call the police and arrest them unless they go back to Ethiopia. In fact many have been deported back to Ethiopia from Sudan on several occasions. For example, a UNHCR senior protection officer Birane Tekku Nega is a Tigrean, the minority ethno-national group dominating the Ethiopian politics, Employed by the US and sent to Khartoum, Sudan. He is one of those UNHCR officials who denies the application of most Oromo refugees and tell them to go back to Ethiopia. There are many other high level officials affiliated with the Ethiopian government who intimidate refugees from Ethiopia.

On the other hand, it is widely known among the Ethiopian refugee community that the military and intelligence officers of both Sudan and Ethiopia are involved in the human trafficking business of transferring refugees and immigrants from one country to another. They get a huge amount of money from this ‘business’. Both countries have been doing this business in a coordinated manner as a huge source of income over the past ten or so years. We knew about this because we got information from our brothers and sisters who paid the ransom money and who were involved and who were not in the smuggling business of refugees. Many of us have been in contact with the authorities both countries of Sudan and Ethiopia who were involved in such criminal activities. We urge the international community to investigate this criminal act perpetrated at a government level”.

Adding to the wound, the government of Sudan is worsening the situation by denying protection and settlement in its country. The UNHCR office in Khartoum is filled by officials of the Sudanese government who in turn work closely with the Ethiopian government. When a person has escaped from his/her country and is denied protection in a country he/she is seeking refuge, he/she will have no other choice but to blindly taking a risk of crossing to the Saharan desert and face the danger that comes with it. That is what the Oromo and other refugees from Ethiopia are facing at the moment.

What is even more disturbing is that Oromo women are transferred (sold) to Arab Countries by security forces of the Sudanese. The Sudanese security forces serve as ‘brokers’, selling young Oromo women for cheap labor that amounts to slavery. In return they get the first year full salary of these women. These young Oromo women do not have any guarantee for their lives. No government knows them. The UNHCR doesn’t know them. They are raped and beaten to death and no one is accountable since arrangement has been made in such a way that nobody takes responsibility for their lives.

It is under such circumstances that most immigrants left Sudan and now stranded in Libya. Libya is now the most dangerous place for human beings killed not only by ISIS but by anyone too. Not only that we do not have a means to survive, but now our lives are in danger. We ask our Oromo brothers and sisters to appeal to human rights, humanitarian organizations, the UNHCR and the international community to save our lives. In addition, we would like to call upon the UNHCR to investigate the practices of its officers in Khartoum and elsewhere to stop unfair treatment of Oromo refugees.

Uncertain about what will be next, the only hope we remained with is, might the international community save us from perishing one by one at the hands of ISIL and other death risking volatile situations in Libya.

OROMO LIBERATION FRONT (OLF) AND OTHER PROMINENT OPPOSITION POLITICAL GROUPS AND SOME CIVIC SOCITIES OF ETHIOPIA HELD A CONFERNCE IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

On 23 of April 2015, a high level conference entitled ‘Cartoon Democracy – Authoritarian Rule and Elections in Ethiopia’ was held in European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium. The conference was organised by some members of European Parliament from different Party Groups and member states and UNPO. The conference was unique in a sense it is standing against the established mind set-ups and traditional working system of politics in the Ethiopia Empire. It managed to assemble a diversified gathering that includes various opposition leaders, journalists, international experts, politicians and human rights advocators. The conference was aimed at consulting and coordinating various voices on the ever worsening political landscape in Ethiopia.

This Conference which was held a week after the US official Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman praised Ethiopia as a democracy, suggesting Ethiopia made great strides toward an open and inclusive electoral process. Despite the US official already endorsed the outcome of Ethiopia’s traditional National election, on the other side the Atlantic Ocean, the Europeans are showing a firm stand against endorsing Sham and ceremonial election. The keynote speaker of the conference clearly indicated that assisting Authoritarian one party rule might lead the country to formidable civil conflict. The current  prevalent inter- and intra-regional armed conflict, popular uprising, desperate repressive acts of the regime against civilians, rampant corruption, mismanagement, Hunger, population growth, Environmental degradation, displacement of peoples as a result of land grabbing, high rate of the expansion of pandemic diseases, government-instigated ethnic conflicts as an instrument of divide-and-rule, etc. are all indicative for Ethiopian regime’s authoritarian nature and lack of democracy in the country. Read More:-Report of EU conference 23042015 Brussels