Ethiopia: Mr. Obang Metho Accepted Annual SEED Award

Mr. Obang Metho’s Acceptance Speech: “The Journey to a New Vision for Ethiopia” At the 22nd SEED Annual Award ceremony

May 25, 2014
Washington DC.

I would like to deeply thank distinguished members of the Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora (SEED) and my fellows’ citizens of Ethiopia for this recognition. I am both humbled and honored to be here tonight as a recipient of this award. I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. I want to acknowledge others who have helped make this possible because, although I am accepting this award, this is not only about me. I did not come to this point alone, but must recognize the countless individuals, too many to name, who have contributed to this work along the way. Without them there would not be anything to acknowledge, just like the African proverb that says, “If you want to go faster, go alone, but if you want to go further, go together.” My thanks and appreciation goes to all of these people who have helped us go further. Our journey together has been one of many challenges, but because it has been shared, it has brought unexpected friendships, joys and fruit.

I was told that this award was in appreciation for the work done in defense of the freedom and civil rights of our people, especially, the under-represented Anuak. I am very emotionally touched by this statement, especially the inclusive phrase, “our people,” which embraces Anuak, as well as other Ethiopians, both mainstream and minorities, as part of the whole of people of Ethiopia. Do you realize how revolutionary this is? Ten years ago this never would have happened. It is an indication of a major paradigm shift in our thinking. It is a cornerstone of a New Ethiopia where humanity comes before ethnicity or other identity factors and where we care about our Ethiopian brothers and sisters because no one will be free until all are free! The journey has not been easy, nor is the journey over, but if we travel together, we will go further and possibly faster, than any of us expected.

This journey began on December 13, 2003, with a desperate phone call from Gambella, Ethiopia. A massacre of Anuak leaders had begun in Gambella, perpetrated by the TPLF/EPRDF Defense Forces, accompanied by civilian militia groups, incited and equipped by the military. Within three days, over 425 Anuak had been brutally killed in an effort to eliminate the strongest opposing voices to the extraction of possible oil reserves on Anuak indigenous land without first consulting the people.

When I first saw the names of those killed, I knew over 300 of the victims. They were family members, friends and colleagues in the development work I was carrying out in Gambella. As I grieved for the loss of their lives in the days and weeks that followed, I realized that the only option for a better future for the Anuak and the people of Ethiopia would not come from retaliation, but only from transformation to something better than the cycle of revenge we had seen played out in the past. Yet, despite this personal revelation, today’s reality of me standing up for the freedom of Ethiopians and speaking for a united Ethiopia did not come easily.

For example, being a minority—who looks very different from mainstream Ethiopians—complicates the journey even more than the ethnic differences among those in the mainstream, many of whom look alike. However, for the same reason, having to work through the obstacles these differences presented has been a critical component in finding my way in the journey to a more inclusive Ethiopia. Even though Ethiopians have often spoken of Ethiopia as the symbol of black pride; on the ground, the most dark-skinned, African-looking Ethiopians have suffered the greatest discrimination and marginalization.

How we value other human beings says a lot about our society and in the Ethiopia of 2003, we were in grave trouble. Thankfully, it is improving today; but not because of the faked unity under the TPLF/EPRDF’s model of ethnic federalism, which is simply a pretension of such, but instead because Ethiopians are actually changing. Back in 2003, things were very different.

Shortly following the 2003 massacre in Gambella, the handful of Anuak living in Washington DC organized a protest in front of the Whitehouse to condemn the killing of the Anuak. The protest was announced on Ethiopian radio, through flyers at Ethiopian shops and restaurants and through word of mouth; however, despite the fact that there were over 300,000 Ethiopians in DC at the time, only ten Anuak and four other Ethiopians from the mainstream—close friends of the Anuak—showed up for the rally. Anyone can give various reasons for the poor response; but regardless, it was a sign to the Anuak that they were in this crisis alone. Because they had no one else standing with them, they realized how vulnerable they were and that if they were going to survive as a people in Ethiopia, they had to stand up by themselves.

This led to my advocacy work, which began immediately, but later to the formation of an organization, the Anuak Justice Council (AJC). Its mission was to protect the rights and well being of the Anuak wherever they were found. Initially, the work for the Anuak stayed focused on the Anuak; however, three things happened to change our direction and to bring us along the journey to where we are today.

1. In February 2005, I was in Washington DC on my way to meet with former Senator Russell Feingold when I hailed a taxi to take me to the Senate building. A very friendly Ethiopian taxi driver picked me up and warmly greeted me, calling me his African brother. He asked me where I was from. I suggested he guess. He rang out a series of countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Sudan, Cameroon, and Senegal when I stopped him and told him to go back to East Africa. He said he had mentioned almost every country in East Africa and I said, no, not all of them. He then added Burundi, Rwanda, the Congo and the Central African Republic before giving up. I urged him to continue. He then asked for a multiple choice question. I said: a) Ethiopia, b) Eritrea, c) Somalia or d) none of the above. Before I could finish the last, he said it was none of the above. I told him he had gotten it wrong. He argued with me, telling me he was not wrong for I didn’t look Ethiopian, Eritrean or Somali. I told him, no, I am from Ethiopia. He again argued saying, “For sure, you are not an Ethiopian—prove it!” I then said, “How are you?” in Amharic, Oromo and Tigrinya. When I said this, he said, “Wow, you speak Amharic?” Yet, he still was not convinced until I told him I was an Ethiopian from Gambella and he finally got it. When I arrived at the Senate building, he refused to take any money for my fare; saying with warmth that I was his countryman.

Our conversation impacted me and changed my entire viewpoint. He knows this now as he and I have talked about this since that time; however, as I walked into the Senate building for my appointment, I thought, wow, here I am, coming to meet with US policy makers to advocate for the rights of the Anuak and yet, with someone from my own country, I had to speak the Amharic language to convince them I was Ethiopian. I began to grasp the fact that the battle ahead was much larger than I had thought. I realized that not only were other Ethiopians not standing with the Anuak as we were trying to seek justice, but also that I had to even prove my belonging as an Ethiopian. In other words, the justice I was seeking would never come to the Anuak unless it came to all Ethiopians, which required acknowledging our common cause and common bonds that at this point were nonexistent. The problem was deeply entrenched in the system and required a systemic approach and a change of thinking.
As I met with the senator, I wondered how many other Ethiopian people, especially from the minorities, had no one abroad to advocate for them in situations of distress. After this experience, I brought it up to the AJC board, making a case that from then on, we had to advocate for all Ethiopians. Some of those on the board agreed and some did not, but later the decision was approved by all members.

2. The second impactful event on this journey occurred on June 11, 2005 following the flawed 2005 national election. This was the day the first report came out documenting the first killings of protestors by Ethiopian security forces. That day, nine Ethiopians from the mainstream had been killed as they were peacefully demonstrating on the streets of Addis Ababa. By that same afternoon, a rally to condemn the killings had been called by Ethiopians, which took place in front of the Whitehouse. Because I was in Washington DC at the time, I attended the rally. Even before the event started, nearly a thousand people had gathered. Many more people continued to join them as time progressed. There were slogans, the reading of poems, and loud speakers amplifying phone conversations with family members of victims in Ethiopia so all in the audience could hear.

see full speech below

http://ecadforum.com/2014/05/27/ethiopia-mr-obang-metho-accepted-annual-seed-award/2/

“ጅብ ቲበላህ በልተኸው ተቀደስ” (ከጸጋዬ ገብረ መድኅን አርአያ)

ከጸጋዬ ገብረ መድኅን አርአያ

ወያኔዎች አዲስ አበባን ከተቆጣጠሩ በኋላ የነበሩትን ዕለታት ክንውኖች በሥርዓት የመመዝገብ ልምድ ያለው ሰው የሚያሰፍራቸው ልዩ ልዩ ሁኔታዎች ይኖሩታል። ከመጀመሪያው ዕለት አንስቶ። የእኔን የመጀመሪያ ዕለት አጭር ማስታወሻ ልንገራችሁ። በማለዳ ተነስቼ ጋቢዬን አጣፍቼ ከበሬ ላይ ቆሜ ሥፍር ቁጥር የሌላቸው አህዮች ወደ መሐል ከተማው (አዲስ አበባ) ሲጓዙ አያለሁ። ያንኑ ያህል ባራባሶ ጫማ የተጫሙ፣ የአካል ዝለት የሚታይባቸውና ከእህል ጋር ከተለያዩ አያል ቀን የሆናቸው የሚመስሉ “ሰብአዊ ፍጥረቶች” አብረዋቸው ይሮጣሉ። ሲያሳዝኑ! ቆይ ቆይ…ከፓስተር ኢንስቲቱት በር ላይ አንድ ጥይት ተተኰሰ። ሌላ ጥይት- ሌላ ጥይት! ሰዎቹ ካለፉ በኋላ ወጣ ብለን ያየነው ሟች በሰፈሩ እንደ ሕሊና ሕመምተኛ የሚታወቅ ነበር።

እንግዶቹ አልመው የሚተኩሱ፣ አስበው የሚገድሉ አልመሰሉኝ አሉ። የሚያስቡበትና የሚያልሙበት ሕሊና የሌላቸው ፍጥረታት አድርጌ ላያቸው አልደፈርሁም። ባይሆን ሁሉም ጠላታችሁ ነውና አንዲት ጥይት ጮኸች ወይም አንድ ሰው ትንሽ ድምፅ አሰማ “በለው” በሚል መዘውር የተዘወሩ “መዘውራን” በመሆን በሳሩም በቅጠሉም ኤኬ47ቱን ማንጣጣት ያዙ። ያን ጊዜ በአእምሮዬ ጥግ በምትገኘው የማስታወሻ ሰሌዳዬ ላይ “ይኽ ቀን ገሐነም ባዶውን ያደረበት ዕለት ነው” ብዬ መዘገብሁ። እነዚህ ሰዎች እንደ መሪዎቻቸው በጥላቻ የተጠመቁ ከሆኑ መመለሻው ይቸግረናል። ከቶ ከየት ተነሥተን የት እንደርስ ይሆን? የማልረሳው ማስታወሻዬ ነው።

የጥንቱ ጋዜጠኛ ግዮን ሐጐስ ጄኔራል መንግስቱ ንዋይ ተከሰው ፍርድ ቤት በቀረቡ ጊዜ ሪፖርተር ሆኖ ተመድቦ ነበር። ያን ጊዜ እኔ የአሥራ ሁለተኛ ክፍል ተማሪ ነበርሁ። መሬቱ ይቅለለውና ግዮን ሐጐስ ስለ ጄኔራል መንግስቱ ሲያወራኝ “በንግግራቸው መሐል ኰራ ብለውና ችሎቱን እየቃኙ ዓይናቸውን- አራት ማዕዘን እየወረወሩ- “ የተናቀ ከተማ በአህያ ይወረራል” ይሉ ነበር። ( በነገራችሽን ላይ ጄኔራል መንግስቱ አንድ ዓይናቸው ጠፍቶ ነበር። በወንድማቸው በአቶ ገርማሜ ንዋይ በተተኰሰባቸው ጥይት)

የአህያን ሠራዊት ወግ – በቁሙና በእርቃኑ -እንደገና የሰማሁት ከባድመ ጦርነት በኋላ – ከባድመ ጦርነት ጋር ሲዘገብ ነው። የጦርነቱን ዳፋ- ድልና ሽንፈት – ውጤትና ሰብአዊና ማቴሪያላዊ ኪሳራ ያካተተ አንድ ጥናት እንደሚለው በራስ ስዩም የፈረስ ስም በምትጠራዋ “በይርጋ ጉብታ” ትራያንግል- በባድመ በተደረገው ጦርነት በፊተኛው ረድፍ ተሰልፈው የቀዳሚ- ሰማዕትነትን ሙያ የተወጡ 36ሺህ ኢትዮጵያውያን አህዮች ናቸው። ግፍ የተፈፀመባቸው እንስሳት ይባሉ?..ከጥናቱ እንደ ተረዳሁት ከአርባ ሺህ በላይ የሚሆኑ የሰሜን- ምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ ገበሬዎች የኢሳይያስ ሠራዊት እንደ ድንች በዚያ አካባቢ የቀበራቸውን ፈንጂዎች እንዲያመክኑ ተደረገ። በአጭሩ አህያውም “ሰውም”- በወያኔ ትርጉም አማራ ሰው ከተባለ- በፈንጂ ማሳ ላይ እየተንደባለሉ አለቁ። አንድ ቀን ነፃነት ከተመለሰ ለዚያ ሁሉ ሕዝብ ውሎ ይደረግ ይሆናል። ለአህዮቻችንም ጭምር!

ይህን የጦር ሜዳ መረጃ በቅርቡ ያገኘሁት አይደለም። ዜናው ከዓለም ኅብረተሰብ ተደብቆ የቆየበትን ሁኔታ ሳስብ ግን በውስጤ ያለውን ክርስትና ጌታ ፍትሕ ወደ መጠየቁ አዘነብላለሁ። በዚህ ዓይነት ይህን ሁሉ ሕዝብ ያስጨረሱትን እኩያን ወገኖች ተፋረዳቸው ማለት ኅጢአት ነውን? ብሎ ግማሽ እኔ ይጠይቃል። ግማሽ እኔ ደግሞ ክርስቲያን ፍርድ አይጠይቅም። ምሕረት እንጂ። ጌታም ገዳዮቹን “የሚያደርጉትን አያውቁምና ይቅር በላቸው” ይለኛል። አሁን ከሕሊናዬ ጋር ወደ መታረቁና ትክክለኛውንም መንገድ ወደ መከተሉ ነኝ። ከሰባት ጊዜ ሰባት በላይ ይቅር ብለናቸዋል። ስለዚህ ወሎዬ ዘመዴ እንደሚለው “ጅብ ቲበላህ በልተኸው ተቀደስ” ይስማማኛል። እናንተንም ይስማማችሁ። እስኪጨርሱን እንቆይ? ጋንዲንና ማርቲን ሉተር ኪንግን እንርሳቸው። ሙሴ ይሻለናል።

እንዲህ ዓይነቱን ዜና ታላቅ ወንድማችን (ቢግ ብራዘር) አልስማም? አላወቀም? በቢሊዮን በሚቆጠር የሳር ክምር ውስጥ የወደቀች መርፌ ዋሽንግተን ተቀምጦ ዴዴሳ በረሃ ለሚያይና ለሚለይ የሲአይኤ ሰላይ ሠላሳ ስድስት ሺህ አህያና አርባ ሺህ የሰሜን ምዕራብ ነዋሪ ህዝብ በፈንጂ ማሳ ውስጥ ተንከባልሎ ሲያልቅ አያውቅም “አላወቀም” ብለን የምንገኝ ተላላዎች ነን..? ሐቁ ወደዚህ ሳይሆን ወደዚያ ነው። ይልቁንም የሾሙአቸው አምባገነኖች በመድረኩ ላይ እስካሉ ድረስ ምንኛ እንደሚቆረቆሩላቸው፣ ምንኛ ምሥጢር ጠባቂያቸው ሆነው እንደሚቆዩ..ነው የሚገባን። አቶ ተስፋዬ ገብረ አብ ከኢትዮጵያ በኩል ያለውን ሰብአዊ ኪሣራ በአንዱ መጽሐፉ ይገልጥልናል። 98ሺህ ይለናል። በመቆርቆር ይሁን ወይም የኤርትራን አሸናፊነት ለመግለጥ አይታወቅም። ሃይማኖቱን አልጠይቅም። ከሕሊና ጋር አልተፈጠረም ደግሞ አልልም። አለዚያ በማን ላይ ትከስሰዋለህ? ከአነስተኛ የሚሊተሪ ሳይንስ ንባቤና ከኤርትራ ግንባር ሰልፌ እንደምረዳው ግን አንድ ሠራዊት ሁነኛ የማጥቂያ ግንባር ይዞና ቀጣናውን በፈንጅ አጥሮ ከተቀመጠ ለማጥቃት የሚመጣው ኅይል ሌላ ስልት መከተል አለበት። ጥበቃው የሳሳ ስፍራ መምረጥ አለበት። እርድ አዘጋጅቶ የተቀመጠውን ኅይል ከዚያ ምሽግ ማስወጣት ዋናው ታክቲክ ነው። በአድዋ ማርያም ሸዊቶ ላይ አጤ ምኒልክ ይህን ነበር ያደረጉት። ለወያኔና ለመለስ ዜናዊ ያንን ያህል “አማራና ኦሮሞ” ማስጨረስ ምንም ዓይነት ሰብአዊ ኪሳራ ሆኖ አልታየም። ኖሮ አይጠቀምበትም በሞቱም አይጐዳም!

በፈንጂ አማካይነት ብቻ ሳይሆን እንዲሁ የወያኔ ሰፈርም ሆነ የኤርትራው ግንባር ዘመናዊ መሳሪያ ማገዶ ሆነው ያለቁት ስንት የሚሆኑ ይመስላችኋል? እንደ ወጡ የቀሩትን ወገኖቻችንን የእልቂት ሁኔታ (ወሬ) የሚያቃምሰን ለምንና እንዴት ጠፋ?..ከጦርነቱ – ከእሳቱና ከእልቂቱ አምልጦ መርዶውን የሚያሰማንማ አልነበረም። እነዚህ በየዕለቱ በእጃቸው ላይ ትኩስ ደም ያለባቸውና ራሳቸውም “ትኩስ ደም ትኩስ ደም” የሚሸቱት አምባገነኖች እኛ ከምናስበው በላይ የሰለጠኑባቸው ተንኮሎች ሞልተዋል። ዊንስተን ቸርችል ከጆሴፍ ስታሊን ጋር የሰነበቱባቸውን ቀናት የምታውቁ ይመስለኛል። በጦርነቱ ወቅት ጄኔራ ሊዝሞ ስታሊን፣ ፕሬዚዳንት ሩዝቬልትና ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ሰር ዊንስተን ቸርችል ለተወሰኑ ቀናት በካይሮ በቆዩበት ጊዜ የተፈጠረ ነው። ቸርችልና ስታሊን በጨዋታ ተጠምደው ሳለ ንጥረ ነገሩን (ቮድካና ብራንዲ) ክፉኛ አጥቅተው ኖሮ የሚናገሩት ሁሉ የማይያያዝ – የእብድ ወግ ይሆናል። እንዲያውም ራሳቸውን መቆጣጠር ስላልቻሉ ከአስሩ የስታሊን አንጋቾች አምስቱ ቸርችልን፣ አምስቱ ደግሞ ስታሊንን ክንፍ ክንፋቸውን ይዘው ወደየ ክፍላቸው ወስደው ያስተኙቸዋል። በማግሥቱ ማለዳ ስካሩ ብዙም አልተለያቸውም። ቸርችል ደግሞ በታሪክ ጸሐፊዎቻቸው እንደሚነገረን ገላቸውን ሲታጠቡ እንኳ ሲጋርና ብራንዲ አይለያቸውም። ስለዚህ ከሶቪየቱ መሪ ጋር ሲገናኙ ‘እንደ መጠጥ ያለ አዋራጅ ነገር የለም! ትናንት ተዋረድን። ቢያንስ የርስዎ አጃቢዎች አይተውናል። ተዋርደናል!” ሲሉ ስታሊን “ኒየት! ኒየት! ማንም አያወራብንም። ትላንት የነበሩት ሰዎች እኮ የሉም” አሉ ይባላል። የሰው ነፍስ እጅግ ርካሽ በሆንበት ኢትዮጵያ ሥርዓቱ አንድ ሰሞን ሰማየ- ሰማያት ያጓናቸው ሰዎች በሌላ ወቅት አይኖሩም። ይልቁንም አንዱ ፍልስፍናቸው “ለወሬ ነጋሪነት ማንንም አለማትረፍ” የሚል ነው። እንዲያውም ለታላላቅ የስለላ ድርጅቶች (ኬጂቢ በተለይ) ይነገርላቸው እንደነበረው “ወያኔ እስከመቃብርህ ይከተልሃል” የሚል የውስጥ አዋቂዎች ግምት አለ። አደገኛ ከሆንክ የሞራልን ሕግጋት ሁሉ እየጣሱ ይከተሉሃል። ያጠፉሃል። እስከ ገሐነመ እሳት ይሸኙሃል።

የአዲስ አበባ ቃጠሎ ተብሎ ከሚጠቀሰው የግንቦት መድኅኔ ዓለም ማግስት የነበረውን እናንተ ከረሳችሁት እኔ አስታውሳችኋለሁ። በዚያን ዕለት በቅድስት ማርያም ቤተ ክርስቲያን ግቢ ተገናኝተን አሳብ ለአሳብ የተለዋወጥነው የቀድሞ አምባሰደርና የሃይማኖት ትምህርት እውቀቱ ላቅ ያለ ወዳጄ ምናልባት እንደኔው ያወራው ይሆናል። ልዩ ትርኢትና ልዩ መገለጥ ተብሎ የተወራለት- ማርያም ልጅዋን ታቅፋ (ምስለ ፍቁር ወልዳ) በሰማዩ ላይ እየታየች ነው መባሉ ሲሆን ያንን አየን የሚሉትን ልዩ ቅዱሳን እንበላቸውና ሁለተኛው ከነትርጓሜው አብሮን አለ። በአእምሮዬ ቀርቶአል። ነገሩ እንዲህ ነው። በዚያን ዕለት የታየው ቀስተ ዳመና በቀጥታ ከሰማይ ላይ ወርዶ ምድሪቱ ላይ ተተክሎአል። አጠገቤ ያለ ሰው ሁሉ “እግዜሩ ሊታረቀን ነው። የደግ ቀን ምጽአት ምልክት ነው። እግዜአብሔር ዳግመኛ ምድርን በጥፋት ውኅ አላጠፋትም ብሎ ለኖህ ቃል ኪዳን ሲገባለት እንዲህ ያለ ቀስተ ዳመና በምልክትነት ሰጥቶታል..” ሲሉ እሰማለሁ። ይሁንና ያ የቀድሞ አምባሳደር ወዳጄ ጐተት አደረገኝና “በእኛ ቤተክርስቲያን እምነትና በተለይም በአበው ሊቃውንት ትርጉም መሠረት ይህ ቀስተ ደመና በጥሬው አይተረጐምም። የእልቂት፣ የስደት፣ የደም መፋሰስ ምልክት ነው። ስለዚህ ከሚመጣው አደጋ ሁሉ እንዲሰውረን መጸለይ አለብን፡፤ ቃሌን እንዳትረሳ” አለኝ። ስሙን ብገልጸው ደስ ባለኝ ነበር። የወቅቱ መኳንንት ያንገላቱታል ብዬ ፈራሁለት እንጂ።

እንደ ሕልም፣ ትንቢትና ከላይ የጠቀስሁትን የተፈጥሮ ንባብ (ከነትርጓሜው) በተመለከተ አንዳንድ ሳይኪያትሪስቶችን መጠቃቀስ ይቻላል። ፍሮይድን፣ ፓቭሎቭን..በማንበብ ከትርጓሜው ላይ ለመድረስ -አለዚያም ከንቱ እምነትነቱን ለመግለጥ አይመችም። እነሱም አላጠኑትምና። ለምሳሌ እጅግ ጣፋጭ የሆነችውን የሐዲስ አለማየሁን “ትዝታ” ያነበባችሁ ትዝ የሚላችሁ ቁም ነገር አለ። አቶ ሐዲስ እንደሚገልጡት ከጠላት በፊት በደብረ ማርቆስ ከተማ አስኳላ ሲያስተምሩ አንድ ጥቁር እንግዳ ከቤታቸው ከች ይላል። እንዲያው በችኮላና በቁሙ “ሐዲስ! ኢትዮጵያን ጠላት ይወርራታል። አንተም ትዘምታለህ!” ብሎአቸው ይሄዳል። ከጥቂት ቀናት በኋላ ይኸው ወዳጃቸው ከአባ አሥራት ገዳም ሲመለስ ወደ ሐዲስ ዓለማየሁ ቤት ይሄድና “ላጫውትህ አልችልም። እቸኩላለሁ። ሐዲስ! ኢትዮጵያ ትወረራለች። አንተም ወደ ጦር ሜዳ ትሄዳለህ። ትዘምታለህ!” ይላቸዋል። ከጥቂት ወራት በኋላ የጠላት ከምሥራቅና ከሰሜን መንቀሳቀስና ኢትዮጵያን መውረር ወሬ አየሩን ሞላው። የጐጃሙ ገዥ ራስ እምሩ የጐጃምንና የጐንደርን ጦር እየመሩ ወደ ሽሬ ግንባር ይዘምታሉ። ሐዲስ ዓለማየሁ የጦር ሜዳ የፕሮፓጋንዳ ሃላፊና ለጥቆም የብርቱ ምሥጢር ተላላኪ ሆነው ሲሠሩ ቆዩ። ሰውና ከብት በመርዝ ጋዝ ጢስ ያለቀበትን- የከብትና የሰው ደም ተቀላቅሎ ወንዙን (ተከዜን) ያስነፈጠበትን ሁኔታ ጥሩ ገላጭ የሆነችውን የሐዲስ ዓለማየሁን “ትዝታ” ያነብቡአል። (ሻለቃ ዳዊት ወልደ ጊዮርጊስ በዚሁ መጽሐፍ ቀስቃሽነት የፈጠራትን “እስከዳር” መጽሐፍን ልመርቅላችሁ። ወዳጅ ብቻ ሳይሆን ወንድሜ የሆነው ሻለቃ ዳዊት በቅርብ ጊዜ የተጻፉ ታሪካዊ ልብ ወለዶች አንጋፋ ልትባል የምትችል መጽሐፍ በመድረሱ ባርኔጣዬን አነሳለታለሁ)

“አምልኮ ወይም ምልኪ ነው” ልትሉኝ ትችላላችሁ። የፈቀዳችሁትን በሉኝ። ያ አምባሳደር (አ.ወ.አ) ግንቦት 28 1983 የነገረኝ የቀስተ ደመና ትርጉም እንደ ወንጌል ቃል አብሮኝ አለ። ወያኔ በምንም ጊዜና ቦታ፣ ሁኔታና እቅድ ረገድ የሚፈጽመውንና ያቀደውን ከመግለጥ ሸብረክ ያለበት ጊዜ የለም። ደበሎ ሰቅሎ ፍላጐቱንና ግቡን ይለፍፋል። ከዚያ ዓላማው ደግሞ ፈቀቅ ያለበት ወይም በመጠኑም ቢሆን አቋሙን ያለዘበበት አጋጣሚ አልነበረም። ከዚህ ውስጥ- ማለትም ከዚህ ጽንፈኛና ሕመምተኛ መንግሥት አውራ ግብ (ማስተር ፕላን) ውስጥ ዋነኛው አንዱን የተወሰነ ሕዝብና ሃይማኖት ማጥፋት ነው። ሕዝብን ለማስተዳደር (በመሰረቱ ለመግዛት) የመጣ አካል አንዱን የቋንቋ ክፍልና (ብሔረሰብ ለማለት የትርጉም ስሕተት አያለሁ) ሃይማኖቱን (ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ) ለመደምሰስ እቅድ እንዳለው ሲናገር – በግልጽ በአደባባይ ሕዝቡና ምሑሩ፣ ወጣቱና አእሩጉ፣ ቤተ ሃይማኖቱና ዓለምም በነቂስ አንዲት ትንፋሽ ተቃውሞ አላሰሙም። እንደኔም እንዲህ በሰላም ወጥተው ለመግባትና ሕሊና የሚያዝዘውን አውጥተው ለመናገር የሚችሉ ሁሉ ስለ “አማራው” እልቂት ማውሳት ከወቅቱ የፖለቲካ ፋሽን አንጻር ኋላ ቀር ስለሚያሰኝ ዝምታን መርጠዋል። ሁላችንም- ኦሮሞውም፣ አማራው ራሱም፣ ከምባታውም፣ ሌላ ሌላውም ኢትዮጵያዊ -እኛም የምንጫጭር ሰዎች ስለማንም- በተለይም ስለ አማራው ሕይወትና ንብረት፣ መብትና የግለሰብ ነፃነቱ መጻፍን- ልድገመውና ከፖለቲካው ፋሽን ወደ ኋላ መቅረት አደረግነው። ይኸ ደግሞ አዲስ “ግንዛቤና” አዲስም የፖለቲካ ፈሊጥ አይደለም።

መለስንና አቋሙን የሚያውቁ ሰዎች በምስክርነት እንደሚያረጋግጡት የሰውዬው ቀዳሚ እምነት “አማራ ከገጸ – ኢትዮጵያና ከገጸ- ምድርም መጥፋት አለበት። አንዳንድ ጊዜ አስተዳደጋችሁና ባሕላችሁ በፈጠሩባችሁ ስሜትና ዝንባሌ ምክንያት ወንጀሉን የሚሰሩት ሰዎች የማያፍሩበትን ኅጢያት እናንተ በመጻፋችሁና በመቃወማችሁ ጭብጥ ታህል ትሆናላችሁ። እዚህ አካባቢ እንደታዘብሁት አንድ ጠንካራ ዜጋ “ አንድ ኢትዮጵያዊ ህዝብ ለምን የጥፋት ዒላማ ይሆናል? ” በማለቱ አንዳንዱ ሰው “የትግሬ ጠላት” አድርጐ ይስለዋል። መለስ ዜናዊ፣ ታምራት ላይኔ…አማራንና የኦርቶዶክስ ቤተ ክርስቲያንን ስለማጥፋት ሲናገሩ ምን ተሰማን? ምንስ አልን? ለመሆኑ ትግራዩን ሕዝብ በጠቅላላውም ባይሆን አድዋውያንን ስለ ማጥፋት ቢነሳ ዝምታ የዜግነት ግዴታ ነው እንላለን? ከፖለቲካው ፋሽን ውጭ ነውና በዚያው እንቀጥል ይባላል? የዛሬው የፖለቲካ ፋሽን አማራን ለኢትዮጵያ ችግሮች ሁሉ መክሰስ፣ በኅላፊነት ማጋለጥና መዝለፍ ነው። ያ ቢበቃ ደግ ነበር። አንዳንዶች በእምነት፣ አንዳንዶች ለጣቢታ (ኩርማን እንጀራ) አንዳንዶች ደግሞ “እንደ ንጉሡ አጐንብሱ” በሚለው ፍልስፍና መሠረት የሚያሰሙት አዝማች ነው። ለመሆኑ ሕዝብ እያለቀና የበለጠም እንደ ተደገሰ ይሰማችኋልን?

ፕሮፌሰር አሥራት የመላው አማራ ድርጅትን ሲመሰርቱ ከምሁራን መካከል ወዳጆቻቸው የሆኑ ጥቂት ሰዎች በግል እንዳነጋገሩአቸው አውቃለሁ። እኔም በግሌ ከእሳቸው ጋር ባለኝ ራፖርና በተጨማሪም ምክትላቸው ከነበሩት ከአቶ ኅይሉ ሻውል ጋር ፖለቲካ ወደ ጐሳ በሚወርድበት ጊዜ ስለሚከተለው ጣጣና በተለይ የእነሱ ወያኔ በፈጠረው ጉድጓድ ውስጥ መግባት አርአያነቱ የሚያስከትለውን ችግር ሁሉ ዘርዝሬ ሞግቻቸው ነበር። ሙግቴ የበለጠውን ከፕሮፌሰር አሥራት ጋር ሲሆን በእሳቸው በኩል ያለው ጥረት በአርሲ፣ በሐረርጌ..ወዘተ እያለቁ የሚጮህላቸው ያጡትን አማሮች መብት ለመጠበቅ መሆኑንና የፖለቲካ ስልጣን የመፈለግ አዝማሚያ እንዳላሳዩና ወደፊትም እንዳማያሳዩ ገለጡልኝ። ለሁለቱም አንጋፋ ዜጐች በተለያየ ሥፍራና ጊዜ በኢትዮጵያ ስም የሚቋቋም የፖለቲካ አካል (ግንባር፣ ድርጅት ወይም ፓርቲ) ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ መብትና ነፃነት ስለሚቆም መአሕድ ወደ ፓርቲ የሚያደርገውን ሽግግር ቢያቆሙት እንደሚሻል ለመምከር ሞከርሁ። ምከሬ ደካማ ሆኖ የመአሕድ ፓርቲ ተመሰረተ። ከኢትዮጵያዊ ሁሉ ልብ ሊጠፉ የማይችሉት ታላቅ ዜጋም የዘመናቸው የአገር ሰማዕት ሆኑ። ወያኔ እስከመቃብር ተከተላቸው። በፖለቲካው አምባ እንደ አባዩ የሩሲያ መነኩሴ እንደ ራስ ፑቲን ይቆጠሩ የነበሩት አባ ጳውሎስ ደግሞ ለአሥራት በተቆፈረው መቃብር ዘልለው ለመግባት ፈልገው ነበር ይባላል። አይ ደበበ እሸቱ! በሞታችን ቴያትር እየተሰራብን ነው። ይኸ የአንድ ሰው ሞት አልነበረም። የሺዎች እልቂት እንጂ!

በእኔና እንደኔ ከቀዩ ፍልስፍና መልስ ወደ መንደር መውረድን ዝቅጠት አድርገን ለተመለከትነው ወገኖች በመለስ ዜናዊ በተዘጋጁልን የጐሳ ጉድጓዶች ውስጥ እየሮጡ መወሸቅ አገሪቱን በመበጣጠስ ረገድ ተባባሪ መሆን ይመስለኛል። ይሁንና በዚያው ጊዜ ውስጥየታዘብሁት አንድ አስገራሚ ነገር የማላስባቸው ሰዎችን ከማላስባቸው ሰፈሮች ማግኘቴ ነበር። ለተወሰኑ ሳምንታት ሳይታሰር የቆየና በነበረው ሥፍራ እኔንና ሌሎችን የኢንፎርሜሽን ድርጅቶች ኅላፊዎች እየሰበሰበ ከማለዳ እስከ መንፈቀ ሌሊት እጅ እጅ የሚል ገለጣ ሲሰጠን የኖረን የደርግ አባል ከአንድ የጐረቤት ልቅሶ ላይ አገኘሁ።

“ነፍጠኛ….ነፍጠኞች…ብሔር- ብሔረሰብ..ሕዝቦች ” ሲል ሰማሁትና “ጓድ ማለቴን ትቼ ኦቦ ልበልህ…እንደ አመጣጥህና ፍጥነትህ ወደፊት አንዳች አደጋ ካልደረሰብህ የኢህአዴግ አመራር አባል የማትሆንበት ምክንያት አይታየኝም። ቋንቋቸውን ብቻ ሳይሆን ጽንሰ-አሳቡንም …ዓላማቸውንም ዓላማህ በማድረጉ ረገድ ፈጥነህ ራስህን አስተካክለሃል። በእኔ በኩል ግን የኢትዮጵያን ሕዝብ በጐሳ በመሸንሸኑ ረገድ የለሁበትም። እነሱ ይዘውት የመጡትን ይህን በሽታ ደግሞ ሁላችንም መድን ተከትበን የምንከታተለው መስሎኝ ነበር” አልሁት። የደርግ አባሉ ሌሎቹ አንጋፋ የደርግ አባላት ከተያዙ በኋላም ለሳምንታት በከተማው ውስጥ ሲነዳ ዓይን ስቦ እንደነበረ ትዝ ይለኛል። በአጭሩ ግን ጥቂት የማይባሉ ከእኛው “የአብዮቱ ሰፈር” ጭቃው ሳይነካቸው፣ ርእዮተ ዓለሙም ሳይጠልፋቸው በአንዳች ኀይል ወደ ወያኔ ሰፈር- የድል አምባ – የተሻገሩ በርከት ያሉ ነበሩ። አሁንም የሉም ትላላችሁ? ሌሎችም አሉ እንጂ! የኢሰፓ አባል ለመሆን ብዙ መከራ አድርገው በሞራላቸው፣ በሥራ አፈጻጸማቸው፣ በየቢሮውና ፋብሪካው በነበራቸው ነውር ተንቀው የቀሩም ግመልና ዝሆን የሚያስገባ አዳራሽ አግኝተው ሲሣይ ማፈስና የጠሉትን መርገጥ ሆነላቸው። የልዩ ዐቃቤ ሕግ ሹም የነበረውን ግርማ ዋቅጅራን ለአብነት ይጠቅሱአል። እነዚህ ሁሉ ዜጐችን ተበቅለው፣ አዋርደውና ገድለው ቢበቃቸው አንድ ነገር ነበር። አገርን በማፍረስና በመናዱ ረገድ ርኅራኄ የተለያቸው ሆኑ! እስመ ዓለም ምሕረቱ!

የአፍሪካ መሪዎች በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ሲሰባሰቡ በአብዛኛዎቹ በጋዜጠኝነት ተገኝቻለሁ። ገና በነፃነት ጎዳና ብዙ ያልተጓዙት “የአፍሪካ አባቶች” ተብለው የሚጠቀሱት መሪዎች መላልሰው ሲናገሩ እንሰማቸው የነበረው ጐሳ በፖለቲካ፣ ፖለቲካም በጐሳ ውስጥ ሲገባ ሰፊ ራእይ ያየንላት አኀጉራችን መመለሻ ወደሌለው እንጦሮጦስ ትወርዳለች እያሉ ነበር። ያ ልክፍት በእኛ ዘንድ እንደ ልዩ ነገር ሳይቆጠር አልቀረም። እንዲያውም የረጅም ዘመን የነፃነት ኑሮአችን ሰፋ ካለ “ኢትዮጵያዊነት”ና አገራዊ አመለካከት እርከን ላይ አድርሶናል ብለን እንወያይ ነበር። በኩራት!

ወያኔ ከከፍተኛ ማማና ኅብረተሰባዊ የእድገት ደረጃ ላይ ደርሰናል፣ ሕዝባችን የአንድነት መሰረቱ ጽኑ ነው በምንልበት ሰዓት ነው የተናቀና እጅግ ኋላቀር የፖለቲካ ሥርዓት አምጥቶ የዚያ ባዕድ አምልኮ “ጊኒ ፒግ” ያደረገን። በእኔ በኩል ይህን ሒደት የኢትዮጵያ ውርደት፣ የፖለቲካም መዝቀጥ አድርጌ አየዋለሁ። የመለስ ዜናዊ አድናቂዎችንም የምፋለማቸው በዚህ ዓቢይ ነጥብ ነው። በዚያ ላይ ነው እልቂቱ፣ አገር ሸንሽኖ መሸጡ፣ ታላቂቱን ኢትዮጵያ በአረቡ፣ በሕንዱ፣ በፓኪስታኑ..በቻይናው እግር ሥር ማውረዱ የመጣው። እኔ የመጣሁበት ፖለቲካ (ኢሠፓ ነው አትበሉኝና) ሁሉን ሠርቶ አደሮች ብቻ ሳይሆን ሁሉንም ዜጋ የሚያስተሳስረው – በአንድነትና በአንድ ዓላማ የሚያስተባብረው፣ የኢትዮጵያ ልጅነትን የሚያራምደው አንድ ለሁሉም ሁሉም ለአንድ የሚያቆመው የዜግነት መሠረት ነው። እኔ ከአድማስ ባሻገር የማየው ፖለቲካ በኢትዮጵያ ፍትሕ የነገሠበት፣ ሰው በሰው የማይበዘበዝበት ሥርዓት ነው። ሰውን የሚያከብር፣ የዜጋውን ሰብአዊነትና ሉአላዊነት – ባለስልጣንነት የሚያውቅ ሥርዓተ መንግሥት ነው። የኮሚኒስት ሥርዓት ማለት አይደለም። ከዚያ በላይ የሚያበራ፣ ከዚያ በላይ እምነት የሚጣልበት ሥርዓት ነው። የፖለቲካ ሥርዓት ወይም ሥነ መንግሥት “ኢዝም” ብቻ አይደለም። ከኢዝም በላይ አስባለሁ። አስቡ! ከ1960 ጀምሮ እንዲህ እንዲህ እያለ እየተጠረቃቀመ የሚመጣውን አደጋ በማጤን ኢትዮጵያዊነትና ብሔራዊ ስሜት ከምንም በላይ የሚያበራ ኮከብ ይሆን ዘንድ በግንባር ቀደምትነት ሞክረን ነበር። ውስጥ ለውስጥ ይህን ሲታገሉ የነበሩ ኅይሎች ናቸው ይፋ ወጥተው – ይፋ ግፍ የሚፈጽሙት። አልተኙልንም። አንተኛላቸው። እየገደሉን ናቸው። ጠላትህን መግደል ነው ያልጀመርኸው።

ልምዱንና የፖለቲካ ዓላማውን ከተማሪ እንቅስቃሴ ጋር ከሚያዛምደው ትውልድ መሐል አይደለሁም። እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ የሕግ እውቅናና የማይገሰስ ሕዝባዊ ሥልጣኑ ከታወቀ የምርጫ መብቱና ክብሩ ከተረጋገጠ እንዲበቃኝ ወስኛለሁ። ስለዚህ ከአጠቃላዩ ነጠላውን በመውሰድ እገሌ መታወቅ ያለበት በጐሳው መሆን አለበት ከሚለው ሰፈር ሥፍራ እንዲኖረኝ ፈልጌ አላውቅም። አንዳንድ ሰዎች ይኸ “ናኢቭ አሳብ ነው” ይሉ ይሆናል። የዋህነት አይደለም። የኦሮሞ ነፃነት፣ የአማራ ነፃነት፣ የጉራጌ ነፃነት፣ የትግሬ ነፃነት በሚለው ሰፈር የለሁበትም። በቶሎሳ፣ በጫኔ፣ በጠንክር፣ በሐጐስ…ነፃነት ግን አምናለሁ። እዚህ ላይ እንረፍ።

አሁን ደርሶ የመጣው ልክፍት ለአንዱ ተሰጠ የሚባለው ነፃነት ሌላውን ከገጸ- ምድር የሚያጠፋው ሲሆን ወጣ ብለህ (አፈፍ ብለህ) ከትግሉ ግንባር ውስጥ የሚያሰልፍህ ነው። የፖለቲካው ፋሺን የሚጋብዘው የተወሰኑት የቋንቋ ክፍሎች ተነስተው ከተላለቁ በኋላ የተወሰኑት ደግሞ የመላዋ ኢትዮጵያ ገዢዎች ይሆኑ ዘንድ ነው። ወጣ እናድርገውና አማራና ኦሮሞ ሲጫረሱ፣ ይልቁንም የገዥነት ሚና ነበረው የሚሉት አማራ እስኪያልቅ ድረስ ከተመታ አብዛኛው የአገዛዝ ችግር ይቀረፋል። ሟቹን ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ብዙ ሰዎች በአእምሮ ቅልጥፍናና በምሁራዊ ዝንባሌው ሲያደንቁት እሰማለሁ። እንዲህ ያለ የተበላሸ እንቁላል በአእምሮው ውስጥ ይዞ የኖረ ሰው “ቀልጣፋ፣ ምሁር..አሳቢ..ፈጣን…” የሚሉ ቃላትን በእሱ ላይ የሚነሰንሱ ሰዎች ናቸው ሊታዘንላቸው የሚገባ። ትልቁና ዋና ዓላማው የሕዝብ ፍጅት፣ የአገር መበታተንና የሚጠላውን ሁሉ ማጥፋት የሆነውን ሰው እስከ ማወደስ የሚደርስ ሰው በግድ ሳይክያትሪስት ማየት የሚገባው ነው።

ከቀን አንድ ቀን ጀምሮ የነበረው ሁሉ አስደንጋጭ ነው። እንደዚያ ግንቦት 28 ቀን 1983 የታየውን ቀስተ ደመና የእልቂት ደመና አድርጐ እንደ ተረጐመው አምባሳደር በአማራውና በኦሮሞው መካከል የሚፈጠር ፍጅት ያሳሰባቸው አባቶችም ነበሩ። “የፖለቲካውን ፋሽን” ሳልፈራ ሁለት የተከበሩ ዜጐች መኖሪያ ቤት ሄድሁ። አንደኛው ኮሎኔል ዓለሙ ቂጤሳ ነበሩ። ሁለተኛው ደግሞ ቢተወደድ ዘውዴ ገብረ ሕይወት ሲሆኑ ከጠላት በፊት ጀምሮ በአስተማሪነት፣ በዲፕሎማሲና በአገር አመራር ሰፊ ልምድና እውቅት ያካበቱ አባት ነበሩ። ሁለቱንም በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ቀጠሮ ይዤ አነጋገርኳቸው። ያን ጊዜ በአርሲ፣ በሐረርጌ፣ ዲማ የሚባል ሰብአዊ ፍጡር አማራ እያባረረ ይገድላል፤ በሐረርጌ በአሰቦት ነፍጠኛ ሁሉ እየተረሸነ ነው የሚባልበት ጊዜ ነበር። ያንን ደግሞ የሚያራግቡ፣ ትልልቁንና በጀግንነቱ የሚታወቀውን ኦሮሞ ጄኔራልና ራስ ሳይቀር በዘላን ቋንቋ የሚዘልፉ ጋዜጦች ወጣ ወጣ ማለት የጀመሩበት ነበር። ይኸ አካሄድ ለቢትወደድም ለኮሎኔል ዓለሙም አልጣማቸውም ነበርና ሊመጣ የሚችለውን አደጋ በማሰብ በሰፊው ተወያየንበት።

ሁለቱንም ጐምቱ ዜጐች ገጽ ለገጽ ማገናኘት አልቻልሁም። ዓላማችን ግን ኮሎኔሉ በኦሮሞ አባትነት፣ ቢተወደድ ደግሞ በአማራ አባትነት አደባባይ ወጥተው “ሕዝቡን ለማጫረስ የተጠነሰሰውን ሴራ በሚያጋልጥ መልክ እንዲያወግዙ ነበር። ሁለቱም የሚወክሉትን ኅብረተሰብ ባሕልና ሥርዓት ስለሚያውቁ ተቃቅፈው ፍቅራቸውን በመግለጥ፣ የሁለቱንም ታሪክና የደም ትስስር በማብራራት እያሳሰበ የመጣውን የፖለቲካ ደመና እንዲያከሽፉት ለመሞከር ነበር። በሦስተኛው ቀን ኰሎኔል ዓለሙ “ሁሉም ነገር ጥሩ ነበር። ትናንትና ከበቀለ ነዲ ጋር ስንነጋገርበት ከእኛ መካከል ወደ እብደት የወሰዳቸው አክራሪዎችን ይጠንቀቁ። እዚሁ አጠገባችን ያለውን..ሰው ይህን ቢያዋዩት ሊገድልዎ ይችላል። አላወቁትም መሰለኝ እንጂ አለኝ” አሉ። በዚህ የተነሣ ፕሮጀክቴ ወደቀ። እኔም አሜሪካ ከሚሉት አገር ገባሁ። ከአንድ የብስጭትና የጭንቅ መንፈስ፣ ከአንድ ማንም ያለመልሰልኝ ጥያቄ ጋር ቀረሁ። እንዲህ ያለውን ጭካኔና ጥላቻ ከቶ ከየት አመጡት? የተወሰኑ ባለስልጣኖች ልትጠላ ትችላለህ። አገር ሙሉ ሕዝብ- ግዑዝዋ አገር..እንዴት የጥላቻ ዒላማና የእልቂት ሰላባ ይሆናሉ? ለመሆኑ እነዚህ ዛሬ በወያኔ ገፋፊነት ከፍልፈል ዋሻ ወጥተው የሚጫጩት ትንንሽ ነፍሳት መጫረስና መፋጨት ለሕዝብ አንዳች መፍትሔ ይሰጣል ብለው እንዴት ሊያስቡ ቻሉ? ወይስ አጀንዳቸውንና የወደፊት ጉዞአቸውን ለምን በግልጽ አይነግሩንም? ሌላውም ኢትዮጵያዊ ከኢትዮጵያ በቀር ሌላ አጀንዳ ስለሌለው ጅቡ- ቲበላው በልቶት ቄደር ለመጠመቅ ዝግጁ ሊሆን ይችላል።

በሰፊው ሲታይ ከኢትዮጵያ ማኅበረሰብ የወያኔን ጡጫና ካራ ያልቀመሰ የለም። ኦሮሞዎች አውቀውታል። ጉራጌው፣ የደቡቡ ኅብረተሰብ፣ አኝዋኩ…ጋምቤላው ተራ በተራ ሰይፍ ተመዞባቸዋል። ችግሩ አንዱ በሚረፈረፍበት ጊዜ ሌላው ሊጮኽለት አለመቻሉ ነው። ከእነዚህ የሕዝብ ክፍሎች መካከል የወጣነው አንዳችም ጩኸት ማሰማት ቀርቶ ጥቂት ጥቂት ተቆርቋሪነት የሚሰማቸውን ጭምር ተቃዋሚዎች መሆናችን ነው። አለዚያ በኢትዮጵያ አብዮት ዘመን የነበርን ሁሉ የወያኔን “ታላቅ ሴራ” እናውቃለን። ሰምተናልም። ከቶውንም እንደማስታወሰው የቀድሞው መሪያችን ጓድ ፕሬዝዳንት መንግሥቱ ኅይለማርያም ሦስት ቀን በራቸውን ዘግተው የጻፉትን ዲስኩር እንድንሰማ ተደርጐ ነበር። የዚያን ዕለት ንግግራቸው “ወያኔ በአማራው ላይ ያነጣጠረ፣ እልቂት ማቀዱ..ከቶ ምክንያቱ ምንድነው?” የሚል ነበር። ከዚያ መንግስት የማይሻል የለም በሚል ብቻ የጓድ መንግሥቱን ንግግር አጣጣልነው።

ከሩዋንዳ የ1994 እልቂት በኋላ የተባበሩት መንግስታት ድርጅት በየትኛውም አገር ተመሳሳይ አደጋ እንዳይከሰት መከላከያ መዘየዱን ገልጦ እንደነበረ እናስታውሳለን። እንደ እውነቱ ደግሞ በዚሁ ዓለም አቀፍ ድርጅት ውስጥ አባላት የነበሩ አምባገነን ሥርዓቶች በሕዝቦቻቸው ላይ ወደር የሌለው ጭካኔ ሲያሳዩና እልቂቶችንም ሲፈጥሩ ድርጅቱ የወሰዳቸውን ርምጃዎች አናውቅም። ከ1975- 1979 በካምቦዲያ ከአንድ ሚሊዮን እስከ 2.5 ሚሊዮን የሚቆጠር ሕዝብ በገዥው (ካይመር ሩዥ) ሲጨፈጨፍ አንዳች ጠያቂ አልነበረበትም። በኋላም አረመኔው ፓልፓት ፍትሕን ፊት ለፊት ሳያይ በእርጅናና በበሽታ ሞቶአል።

በአርሲ፣ በሐረርጌ፣ በወለጋ፣ በጋምቤላ..በጉራፈርዳ..በወያኔና ባሰለፋቸው ጭፍሮቹ በጥይት የተቆሉትን ዜጐች ..ከዚያም በፊትና በኋላ በየሰበቡ በየአደባባዩ የወደቁትን ዜጐች ቁጥር ከሁለት ሚሊዮን የሚያስበልጡ ሰዎች አሉ። ብዙዎች እልቂቶች ደግሞ አደባባይ እንዳይወጡ፣ በየአገሩ በሚታወቁ የመገናኛ አውታሮች እንዳይነገሩ ተደርገዋል። ይኸም ባሰለፋቸው ልዕለ ኅያል ግፊት መፈጸሙ ምሥጢርነት የለውም። እስከናካቴውም ግዙፋን ማስረጃዎችን ይዘው የዓለምን ፍርድ ቤት ጥሪ የሚጠብቁ እንደ ሒዩማን ራትስዎች፣ አምንስቲ ኢንተርናሽናል፣ ጄኖሳይድ ዎች ወዘተ ያሉ ድርጅቶች ከነመለስና መንግሥታቸው ደጋፊዎች የሚደርስባቸው የጨለማ ጡጫ የሚቻል አይመስልም። ስለዚህ “አማሮችንና የኦርቶዶክስ ሃይማኖትን በጠላትነትና በአላስገዛም ባይነት ገዥም ተባባሪም ተስማምተዋል። ከዚህ ቀደም በዋሽንግተን ዲሲ በሚደረጉ ሰልፎች ላይ ተሳትፌ አውቃለሁ። ለስቴት ዲፓርትማንት ተወካይ መግለጫ የሚሰጥ ሲፈለግ እኔና ወዳጄ አረጋዊ በርሄ በግንባር ቆመን የሰልፉን ዓላማ መግለጥ ጀመርን። ወዲያው የአማራን የጠላትነት አቋም እንደ አንድ ነገር የተጋተው የመሥሪያ ቤቱ ሰውዬ “የአማሮች ሰልፍና የአማሮች አላማ ይገባናል” ይላል። ወደ አረጋዊ በርሄ እያሳየሁ “እሱ ወንድሜ ትግራዊ ከመሆኑም በላይ ቲፒኤልኤፍንም የመሰረተ ነው። የራሱን ድርጅት ፀረ ሕዝብነት በመረዳት ራሱን ያገለለም ነው። እኔ ደግሞ እንዲሁ ተራ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ” አልሁት። “አገር አገር፣ ነፃነትና አንድነት…መብትና..” የሚል ሁሉ በአማራነት ይመደብ ጀምሮአል። ኢትዮጵያዊነትንም ሰብስበው ለአማራው አሸክመውታል። ስለዚህ ከአንዳንድ ፈረንጆች ጋር ስትነጋገሩ ስለኢትዮጵያ አንድነትና ስለ አገሪቱ ክብር ካነሳችሁ “ማን መሆንህን አወቅሁት። አማራ ነህ” ትባላላችሁ። በእኔ በኩል ይህ አነጋገር የኦሮሞውም፣ የከንባታውም፣ የትግሬውም መሆን አለበት። እነዚህ ወገኖቼ በወያኔ ሰንሰለት እግር ከወርች ካልታሰሩ በቀር ይኽ እምነት የሁላችንም ነው። ከፋም ለማም፣ ጊዜ ፈጀ አልፈጀም ኢትዩጵያ የሁሉም እናት ትሆናለች። እስከዚያው የሚከፈለው ሰማዕትነት ግን በዛ። ከበሮ እየተመታ ነው። አላጋንንም። አንዲት ሰረዝ የአጋንኖ አልጨምርበትም። የጦርነትን አቅጣጫ እሱ ባለቤቱ እያዘወረው ነው እንጂ እልቂቱ ከተጀመረ ውሎ አድሮአል። “ተነስ” የሚልህስ ማነው? ተኝተሃል እንዴ ተነሥ የምትባለው?

ገብረመድኅን አርአያ ለብዙ ጊዜያት ብቻውን በምድረ በዳ የሚጮኽ ባህታዊ ሆኖ ቆይቶአል። ጓደኞቹን እንኳ ሳያስተርፍ፣ ለጥላቻቸው ዋጋ ሳይሰጥ ይህንን የኢትዮጵያ አንድና ዋነኛ የሕዝብ ክፍል ለመጨረስ የወያኔን እቅድ ገልጦልን ነበር። ምዕራፍና ቁጥር እየጠቀሰ። ከየትም አቅጣጫ ከማንም ግለሰብ ማስተባበያ አልተሰጠበትም። “በዓለም ላይ በአንዳች ሥፍራ አንድን የሕዝብ ክፍል ለመጨረስ የሚቀነባበር ሴራ ሲያጋጥማችሁ አመልክቱ” የሚለው ከሩዋንዳው እልቂት በኋላ የወጣ መግለጫ ነበር።

በኢትዮጵያ ሁኔታ በሁሉም ሕዝብ ላይ ለሚቀነባበረው ሴራ ፊሽካ ነፊው ወያኔ ነው። የእልቂት አሰልጣኙ ወያኔ ነው። እንደ ሩዋንዳ እልቂት ዝግጅት 1400 ካድሬዎችንና የግድያ ቡድኖችን አሰልጣኝና ቦታ ቦታ አስያዥ ወያኔ ነው። ምናልባት ተኳሾቹ ኦሮምኛ የሚናገሩ ወይም መናገር የሚችሉና በኦሮሞ ስም ኬላውን ለማለፍ የሚችሉ ይሆናሉ። ትርኢቱ የወያኔ፣ ደራሲው ወያኔ፣ መሪው ወያኔ! ዝግጅቱ ብዙ ዘመን ጠይቆአል። ወያኔዎች ለድርሰቱ አልተቸገሩም። ተስፋዬ ገብረአብ የተባለ ወጣት ፕሮፖጋንዲስት ትከሻ ላይ ኅላፊነቱን ሁሉ መጣል ውጤት ያስገኛል ብለው ጣጣቸውን ጨርሰውታል። ተስፋዬ በቃላት መጫወት ይሆንለታል። ቃላትን ከድንጋይ ጋር ያወያያቸዋል። በአንድ ክፍል ውስጥ “ቃላት” ሰብስቦ ያለ ተናጋሪ ያንጫጫል። አዎን ተስፋዬ- ማናቸውም ባለቋንቋዎቹ በማይሆንላቸውና በማይደፍሩበት ሁኔታ ደስታውንና መከፋቱን፣ ዳር ድንበር የሌለውን የወሲብ ረሃቡን የሚናገርለትና የሚናገርበት አማርኛ አለው። ይኸ ጥበብ (ታለንት) ገበያ መውጣት ነበረበት። ወጣ- የቡርቃ ዝምታ ተወለደ። ይኸ የተስፋዬ መንፈስ ዛሬ ኢትዮጵያን እያመሰ ይገኛል። ሐውልት አሠርቶአል። ጦር አማዝዞአል።

ሁላችንም በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ውስጥ ለመሮጥ ሞክረናል። ተስፋዬ ብቻ ያወቀውና የሚያውቀው ታሪክ ሌላ ነው። ይኸውም በቡርቃ ዝምታ መጽሐፉ ውስጥ አጤ ምኒልክ የጨረሱአቸው የኦሮሞ ጀግኖችና ጡታቸውን የተቆረጡ ሺህ በሺህ ሰዎች ናቸው። ተስፋዬ ይህን መሳይ እንቁላል ጥሎ ወደ ስደት እንደ ሄደ ይነግረናል። ባይነግረንም እናውቃለን። ከዚያ በኋላ ደግሞ እንደገና በቃላት አፍዝ አደንግዝ (ሒፕኖታይዝ ሲያደርገን) የጋዜጠኛው ማስታወሻን፣ የደራሲው ማስታወሻንና በመጨረሻም የስደተኛው ማስታወሻን አዘጋጀልን። “ የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ሆይ! ጠላቶችህ በዛሬ ቀንና በዚሁ ሥፍራ በእጅህ ገብተዋልና ዝምታው ምንድነው? አታውቅም እንጂ አማራ አያት ቅድመ አያትህን ጨርሳለች። አንተንም ቢሆን ገድላሃለች- አላወቅህም እንጂ!” ካለ በኋላ ለእኛ ለውጭዎቹ ደግሞ የትኛው የወያኔ ሹም ከየትኛይቱ ኮረዳ…ካልሆነም መለኮን ጋር እንደ ተዳራ፣ ምን እንደ ተጠጣ..ማን ኮንትራባንድ እንደሚነግድ ..ማን ብዙ እንደሚሰክር..ነገረን። ይኸ ቅማል ነበር እንዴ የበላን? የተስፋዬ በማርታ አሻጋሪ ዘፈን እንደ ወንድ አህያ አውሬአዊ የወሲብ አመሉን በሕዝብ እይታ ፊት መፈጸም ም ይፈይድልናል? በቋንቋው ኅይል ያንከራተታቸው ሰዎች አሉ። መሞታቸውን ከእሱ የሰሙ። ታሪካቸውንና ውርደታቸውን ከእሱ ያነበቡ። እስከ ዓለም ምሕረቱ!

ተስፋዬ በስደቱ ዓለም በቆየባቸው ዓመታት ልብ ወለድ መጽሐፉ- የቡርቃ ዝምታ- በአገር ቤትም ሆነ በውጭው (ዳያስፖራ) የፈጠረችውን ቱማታ መለካቱ አልቀረም። “ኦሮሞ ነን” የሚሉ ጉርባዎችን አስከትሎ “ታላቁ የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ ወዳጅ” ተብሎ በሚሞገስበትና በሚሸለምበት ሥፍራ ሁሉ ዲስኩር አድራጊ ሆነ። ጥፋትን አብሮ በማቀድና አብሮም በአንድ ግብ ስር ተሰልፎ ወደ አፈጻጸሙ የመንደርደር ተግባር ሁሉ እስካከናወነ ድረስ በእኔ በኩል ተስፋዬ ምን ጊዜም ከወያኔ ጋር የሚያስተሳስረው እትብቱ አልተቆረጠም። ይልቁንም ልብ ወለድ ድርሰቱ ሐውልት ሊያሠራ መቻሉና የገንዘብና የማቴሪያል ጥቅም ማግበስበስ ላይ መገኘቱ ቀላል ግምት አያሰጠውም። እነሆ በኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ መሐልም የሚቆም የጥላቻ ግድግዳ፣ የበቀል ግንብና ለትውልዶች የሚተላለፍ መርዝ አበረከተ። መርዝ መርዝ! ነብዩ ኢያሱ በአፍሪካ ቀንድ መጽሔት ላይ ያወጣት አንዲት ግጥም ትዝ አለችኝ። “ወይ ውረድ ወይ ፍረድ!” ነበር የምትለው ( በነገራችን ላይ ተስፋዬ ገብረአብ በግል እኔን ያሞጋገሰኝ ሰው ነው። እንዳልናገር በቅድሚያ የተከፈለ ጉቦ ከሆነ የከመረብኝን ቋንቋ ሁሉ ይውሰድልኝ) በታሪክ ካላደረቅኋችሁ ጥቂት ጊዜና ትዕግስት ስጡኝ። ወጌን አላበቃሁም። አንድ ቃል ልጨምር። ከ “የቡርቃ ዝምታ” በኋላ ነው የስደት ማስታወሻ ቢያንስ በነፃ የተለቀቀው። አነበብሁት። ኢትዮጵያንና አማራ የተባለውን ሕዝብ የሚገልጥበት፣ ተጨቁነዋል የሚላቸውን የተወሰኑ የኅብረተሰብ ክፍሎችን አሥር ቶን በሚሆን ውሸት የሚያንቆለጳጵስበትን ሁሉ አንብቤለታለሁ። መላልሼ ለራሴ ያቀረብሁት ጥያቄ “ለምን ይሆን ተስፋዬ ይህን ሕዝብ ይህን ያህል ለመጥላትና በመቃብሩ ላይም ድንጋይ ለመመለስ የፈለገው? ኢትዮጵያስ በአንድ ሰው ተመስላ የበደለችው ምን ይሆን? ሕዝቡ እንዲጫረስ መንፈሱን ያነሳሳው ምንድነው?”

እንደሚወራው ተስፋዬ በብዙሃኑ ዲያስፖራ የማርያም ጠላት ቢባልም ለራሳቸው አዲስ ስያሜ የሰጡትና አንዲት ቅጠል የኢትዮጵያን ታሪክ አንብበው የማያውቁ ግለሰቦች ደግሞ እጅብ እጅብ እያደረጉት ነው። በሦስተኛው ክፍል ጥቂት አሹዋፊዎች አሉበት። ተስፋዬ የሚነግረን ሁሉ ትክክል ነው። ይህን ሁሉ መከራ እንዴት ቻልነው? ሳናውቀውና ሳይሰማን እንዴት እስካሁንዋ ቀን ደረስን? ይሉታል። ለካንስ ይህን ያህል ተበድለን ነበር? ከተገረፈው ገላችን፣ ከቆሰለው አጥንታችን በላይ የተስፋዬ ቃላት ይናገራሉ። ለካ አልቀን ነበር? የተስፋዬ የእልቂት አዋጅ የሆነው የቡርቃ ዝምታ በሌላውም ምሽግ የምትታወቅ ከሆነች መልሱ “ጅብ ቲበላህ..በልተኸው ተቀደስ” መሆን አለበት። ጋንዲንና ማርቲን ሉተርኪንግን ተዋቸው።

Ethiopia may delay joining WTO to protect banking, telecoms

ADDIS ABABA, May 28 (Reuters) - 
Ethiopia may delay plans to join the World Trade Organisation in 2015 if the country is required to liberalise its tightly regulated telecoms and banking industries sooner than it would like, the trade minister said.

Kebede Chane told lawmakers late on Tuesday that member countries had raised dozens of questions with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's government, focusing on the time frame for opening up the service sector to international competition.
Ethiopia's fast-growing market of 90 million people has lured foreign investors from Sweden, China and Turkey to its manufacturing sector. But laws deny outside firms access to areas viewed domestically as cash-cows or politically sensitive.
Washington, which wants Ethiopia to allow more competition, said it was committed to renewing its African Growth and Opportunities Act with Addis Ababa, an accord that gives Ethiopia-made textiles preferential access to U.S. markets.
"A lot of issues are being raised regarding the service sector," Kebede said in parliament, referring to the telecoms, banking and power industries. "We are being asked to clarify our timetable for privatising these sectors."
Addis Ababa, with its strong state-interventionist policies, has one of sub-Saharan Africa's fastest growing economies and its fifth biggest.
But it has spurned the liberalising approach of other African markets to shield its infant private sector from foreign competition and to keep profits at home.
Reuters revealed this week that Ethiopia - once run by communists - was pushing the door ajar to outside investors by offering management of government-owned enterprises while leaving the state in full control.
U.S. retail giant Walmart's unit Massmart told Reuters Ethiopia offered a "compelling growth opportunity".
"(Washington)is interested in ways to update the legislation to encourage diversification within Africa's economies, which will better support the continent's growth, development and competitiveness," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said in a statement after visiting Ethiopia.
STATE CONTROL
Other big brands are prising open the door in areas opened up by the government. Drinks giant Diageo DGE.L bought a brewery and fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz makes garments in Ethiopia. Trade officials said last year that Unilever and Nestle were both sniffing around.
However, Ethiopia has held onto control of its telecoms monopoly and kept foreigners out of retail and banking.
A U.S. management consultancy firm this week announced its deal to run Ethiopia's just-launched state-owned cash-and-carry chain, the first such retail concession.
Kebede said Addis Ababa was under pressure to deepen reform to liberalise its service industries before the conclusion of its current five-year economic plan ending in 2015.
"We need to give serious thought to this issue," Kebede said. "Right now, our economy is small and still needs to develop a lot."
The minister cited Asian powerhouse China, which he said took 50 years to accept membership into the global trading club.
New WTO rules adopted in 2012 lowered the bar for joining for the world's least developed countries. They allow members to open fewer sectors, liberalise fewer types of transactions, and only open up their markets as their economies develop.
"We are now looking into which laws are compatible with WTO's regulations and which are not. We are taking one step at a time. As a result, membership might not be completed (in 2015)," Kebede said.

(Additional reporting and Writing by Richard Lough in Nairobi; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Ethiopia: Unreported fighting on the Road to Addis

Ethiopia: Unreported fighting on the Road to Addis

By Ashley Etchells-Butler

About six years ago I was working as an English teacher in the southern Ethiopian town of Soddo.  After a few months in the town I was due to travel to Addis Ababa – along with a couple of other westerners who taught at The Abba Pascal School for Girls. It would prove an eventful journey.

We set off early in an ancient, snarling Land Rover. Two Italians, two Ethiopians and myself. On route, we took a small detour to Shashamane, staying the night with a young Rastafari man and his children before heading on.  We took the new highway back up to the capital, intending to spend a few days at a seminary.

Somewhere between Shashamane and Addis we began to notice that a line of men was forming along the side of the road. Initially the numbers were small, the formation loose. Groups of between two and five men, wandering along at sporadic intervals. Hardly a line at all, really.

But as we progressed the numbers grew, disproportionately so, and the smaller groups began to merge into larger, more purposeful –looking groups of men. “Where are they going?” somebody asks. The answer is vague, unsure. This is a new road, built while we were in the south, and our Ethiopian companions do not know the area. “Maybe they head to market.” But those that head to market carry their goods in hand. If these were men of trade they travelled light.

We continued north in our beaten up 4×4, watching with mild intrigue as the numbers increased and the ragged groups became a single, tramping column. One of our party pointed out that many were carrying thin spears, and others machetes. Further on, I noticed that handguns, Kalashnikovs, and other small arms were becoming more common.

There were, we realised, no other roads to Addis. Whatever was happening up ahead, we would have no choice but to meet it head on.

Soon the column began to disseminate into the trees to our right. In the distance to our left, we heard the sound of gunfire. “Be careful,” said our driver, “Stay in the car.” There were more people in the road now, and we had to weave between them as our vehicle approached a crowded settlement.

Several of the armed men eyed us suspiciously as we crawled along the road, and a few fell in step with the car. One man met my eye for an uncomfortable length of time. Still staring, he raised his machete to his temple.

Without warning we jerked to a halt. A dozen or so men were busily piling up stones and wood, blocking the road. Why this was necessary was anyone’s guess; we hadn’t passed another vehicle for over an hour. Our driver wound down his window a few inches and shouted to the men. They carried on regardless. He bibbed the horn. Still nothing.

A man ran in front of the car and struck the bonnet with his spear as he passed. Figures were emerging from the trees to our right, pumped with adrenaline. Several more people struck the car with whatever they were carrying; the flat of a blade, the butt of a rifle. They were heading into the distance to our left. A small group of men were standing nearby, just watching us. Our driver shouted something urgently in Amharic. They didn’t respond. He wound the window back up and turned to face us. “Hold on,” he said, and revved the engine.

Horn blaring he accelerated forward. The men scattered from in front of the road block and we drove over, and partially through it, as it parted under the weight of the car. A group of about thirty people watched us speed away. The rest continued to run.

What we witnessed on the road to Addis in 2008 remains unclear. We must have seen armed men in their hundreds, travelling to battle. But what battle, and why?

Extensive Amnesty International reports cover the violence ongoing in Ogaden at that point. The Somali-orientated region in the east of the country had been struck by drought, and famine, and an armed conflict between government forces and the Oromo National Liberation Front (ONLF) had been ongoing for years.

But we were in central Ethiopia, hundreds of miles away; possibly in or near the Oromia region.

I pressured our driver for his opinion. He told me it was “Just regional conflict.” When I asked if such battles were common, he said “Sometimes” – which is not an answer.

What happened, out there, in the Ethiopian countryside? Why has it never been reported?

For now I can only speculate, but I will find out

Yemen: Ethiopian Migrants Held at ‘Torture Camps’ -Human Rights Watch

(Sanaa, May 25, 2014) – Traffickers in Yemen hold African migrants in detention camps, torturing them to extort payment from their families, with the complicity of local officials, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Sometimes the torture ends in death. The Yemeni government should vigorously investigate and prosecute human traffickers and members of the security forces involved in the abuses.
The 82-page report,‘Yemen’s Torture Camps’: Abuse of Migrants by Human Traffickers in a Climate of Impunity,”documents harms suffered by migrants, most from the Horn of Africa, who try to travel through Yemen on their way to Saudi Arabia for work. Human Rights Watch found that various Yemeni security agencies in the border town of Haradh, where dozens of camps exist, and at checkpoints, allow the human trafficking industry to flourish with little government interference.
“Traffickers are holding African migrants in ‘torture camps’ to squeeze money out of their painfully poor families,” said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “When you see traffickers openly loading people into trucks in the center of Haradh, you know that the authorities are looking the other way.”
In the coming weeks Yemen’s parliament is scheduled to debate an anti-trafficking bill that could enhance the protection of migrants and make it easier to prosecute traffickers and complicit officials. The proposed law should conform to international standards by criminalizing human trafficking. The law should also increase the government’s capabilities to detect and prevent trafficking at the borders, Human Rights Watch said.
The human traffickers have constructed the camps in recent years. The traffickers pick up the migrants as they arrive by boat on the coast or “buy” them from security and military officers at checkpoints, charging the migrants fees on the promise of getting them to Saudi Arabia or other affluent Gulf Countries to seek work. In these camps, the traffickers inflict severe pain and suffering on the migrants to extort money from their relatives back home or friends already working abroad.
Except for some Yemeni government raids in 2013, the authorities have done little to stop the trafficking. Officials have more frequently warned traffickers of raids, failed to prosecute, and then released those they arrested. In some cases, they have actively helped the traffickers capture and detain migrants.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 18 male migrants from Ethiopia and 10 traffickers and smugglers, as well as government officials, activists, diplomats, aid workers, health professionals, and journalists between June 2012 and March 2014.
The migrants described horrific ill-treatment in the camps. Beatings were commonplace. One man described watching another man’s eyes being gouged out with a water bottle. Another said that traffickers hung him by wire wrapped around his thumbs, and tied a string with a full water bottle around his penis. Witnesses said the traffickers raped some of the women migrants they held.
One migrant ended up trapped for seven days in a traffickers’ camp. “They would tie my hands behind my back and lay me down on the ground. Then they would beat me with sticks,” Said told Human Rights Watch, showing scars across his back. “I saw the guards kick the face of one man who was on the floor, breaking his teeth.”
Aid workers told Human Rights Watch they observed signs of abuse in migrants consistent with their accounts of traffickers ripping off fingernails, burning the cartilage of their ears, branding their skin with irons, gouging out eyes, and breaking their bones. Health professionals at a Haradh medical facility said they commonly saw migrants with injuries including lacerations from rape, damage from being hung by their thumbs, and burns from cigarettes and molten plastic.
The torture sometimes ends in death. A migrant told Human Rights Watch that he saw traffickers tie a man’s penis with string and beat him with wooden sticks until the man died before his eyes. Another said that traffickers killed two men in his group by hacking them with an axe. Migrants tortured near death are sometimes dumped outside a migrant center in Haradh that is run by the International Organization for Migration.
Extorting money from the families of captive migrants brings in large sums of money in Yemen, the Middle East’s poorest country. Migrants told Human Rights Watch that their family members and friends paid ransoms for their freedom ranging from the equivalent of US$200 to over $1,000. A trafficker who negotiates ransoms said that he is often able to extract $1,300 per migrant from their families.
Traffickers transporting Yemeni and African migrants pay standardized bribes to officials to allow them through checkpoints in border areas. But the complicity of officials goes beyond petty bribery. Smugglers and migrants alike said that some checkpoint guards had turned over migrants they intercept on the roads to traffickers for payment.
One migrant told Human Rights Watch that after he and a friend had escaped a torture camp in August 2013, Yemeni soldiers apprehended them at a checkpoint near Haradh. While the two were fed bread and tea, the soldiers made some calls. In a short while, two men arrived in a car, paid the soldiers cash in exchange for the two migrants, and drove them to a torture camp.
Involvement in trafficking appears to extend to elements within various state security forces in Haradh, including the police, military and the intelligence services. Traffickers, smugglers and Yemeni officials provided Human Rights Watch with the names of senior officials who they said were complicit in trafficking. Two officials also said that traffickers had bribed them so they would not be raided or arrested.
On May 20, Human Rights Watch received a letter from the Defense Ministry responding to questions sent to the ministry in April. The ministry reiterated the military’s resolve to crack down on torture camps that it had identified but denied any government complicity, including that of checkpoint officers, in human trafficking. The ministry also stated that no officials had been investigated on charges of complicity with traffickers.
From March to May 2013, Yemeni security forces conducted a series of raids of traffickers’ camps. The Defense Ministry said that the security forces discontinued the raids because they were unable to provide the migrants with food or shelter upon their release. Officials acknowledged that many of the camps that security forces had raided are functioning again.
A judge who tries lesser felonies in Haradh said that he had seen only one case related to migrant abuse, and that the prosecutor had botched it. Nor did Human Rights Watch find any indication that more serious charges have been brought in the nearby higher criminal court. Interior Ministry and other officials could not cite a single case of disciplinary or legal action against officials for collaborating with traffickers. The Yemeni government’s failure to investigate and prosecute serious abuses committed against migrants by private parties and the involvement of government officials violates Yemen’s obligations under international human rights law to protect people from violations of their rights to life and to bodily integrity.
Saudi border officials have also been complicit in the abuse of migrants, by apprehending border crossers and turning them over to Haradh-based traffickers, migrants, traffickers, and Yemeni officials at the border told Human Rights Watch.
Yemen’s government should develop a comprehensive strategy to shut camps where traffickers detain and abuse migrants, including raids and prosecutions of traffickers and officials, regardless of rank, complicit in their activities, Human Rights Watch said. The government should work with humanitarian organizations to provide all migrants freed from captivity with adequate food, shelter, and health care.
International donors to Yemen, including the United States, the European Union and its
member states, and the Gulf Cooperation Council states, including Saudi Arabia, should call on the Yemeni government to shut all illegally operated places of detention for migrants and take steps to end the collusion of security force members with traffickers.
“People desperate for work who pay smugglers aren’t consenting to being tortured and robbed along the way,” Goldstein said. “Yemen needs to show zero tolerance toward human traffickers who torture for profit and those who assist them.”

The Differential Effects of Africa’s “Brain Drain,” The Scramble for “Intellectual” Capital

“Your Education today is your Economy tomorrow” Andreas Schleicher (OECD).

In Face to Face Africa or (Face2Face), April 2014 issue, there is an uplifting article entitled “African Immigrants Excel Highest in US Academies.” It caught my attention. The article speaks of the high educational attainment and academic success of Africans in America. For instance, African immigrants obtain a diploma at a rate twice higher than US-born whites, and four times more when compared to black Americans. Some 48.9% of all Africans hold a college diploma which is more than double the rate of native-born white Americans. This is quite a significant achievement, even in raw numbers. The wider social implications are more interesting.

It was encouraging to read that Harvard University, one of the top Ivy League institutions of higher learning in the US, is accepting a “high number” of African Americans, and especially African students into its faculties. This modest intake translates into roughly 170 new Black students this year. An earlier 2007 report showed that African students constituted “nearly 40 percent of the black students” admitted to the Ivy League schools. We also read of one African student, who is accepted to all Ivy League universities. In short, we are witnessing remarkable African educational achievements outside the continent. To speak in regular terms, Africans have become among the most educated groups in the US. How is this possible, you may ask, while the quality of higher education is falling behind in Africa proper? In other words, the problem of providing “quality education” is getting worse rather than better in most of Africa. The African campuses are turning into places of conformity and mediocrity. In the imagery of the great Ethiopian poet Tsegaye Guebre-Medhin, they are more like places that have vowed to keep silent together. Consequently, many young Africans are voting with their feet, so to speak. This mass migration of the “educated,” poses a great problem for Africans. It is occurring at a time when the world economy is moving from mass commodity production to knowledge production. According to the research of University of Oxford’s Internet Institute’s “Geography of the World’s Knowledge,” which recently looked at the global distribution and concentration of academic activity and internet use, Africans are losing out in this new scramble for intellectual and digital power.

These high achieving African students in America today, are the byproducts of Africa’s “Brain Drain” as it were. Over about a thirty year period, Africa has lost about a third of its professionals to the developed countries. These immigrant families place a high standard on the value of education and knowledge for advancement in the contemporary world. These are products of a more or less free education in Africa. The public, in other words, educated them. Face2Face asserted that some 87.9% of the African-born population in the US reported having a high school degree or higher, compared with 78.8% of Asian-born immigrants and 76.8% of European-born immigrants. Immigrants from Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Botswana and Malawi tend to do exceedingly well on this score. This intellectual drainage from Africa is colossal and ongoing. Its effects on Africa are much worse, in terms of long-term consequences, than the infamous capital flight. The immigrant parents of the African high achievers in the US were the well educated “knowledge workers” that left Africa during the days of structural adjustment policies i.e., the late 1970s and thereafter. At the time, the experts had decreed that the focus of “donor” funding and reform in Africa should focus on basic education. This level was said to wield a higher rate of social return on educational investment. The proverbial floodgates were opened. United Nations data tell us that around the same time, an estimated 50.000 middle and senior management personnel and some 23.000 academics had started to leave the continent every year. This amounts to 10% of the continent’s university graduates. Some 30% of doctors from Ethiopia are part of this migratory trend today. The quality of higher education has become the mirror of economic performance in today’s knowledge economy. A significant question also arises. Namely, who is really building whose capacity, when it comes to higher education and knowledge production? Are not these academics and skilled personnel flooding overseas, the “raw materials” of the knowledge economy.

This African academic success in the US ought to put to rest the whole “racialized” and “inheritability” conceptualizations of the relationships between a certain amount of intelligence (IQ) quotient and school attainment, so popular in US. To be sure, without the use of crude biological assumptions and racist presuppositions, direct inheritance of scholastic aptitude becomes a rather problematic proposition. Besides, all current thinkers agree that the genetic inheritance argument is biologically baseless (contrived), culturally biased and do not even take into consideration different types of intelligence. In a recent article (Time, March 24), Leon Bernstein (president of Bard College) argued that the SAT is “part hoax, part fraud” and needs to be abandoned or replaced.” It says little about the student’s real intelligence but correlates well with income. Specifically, the richer your family, the better you’ll score on the SAT (college-entrance-examination system). The so called achievement gap thus becomes a wealth gap. Yet this does not mean that nature/heredity plays no part in measured intelligence. What I’m arguing here is that we need to move away from questionable racist and biological assumptions about a person’s intelligence and move towards exploring sociological concepts like “cultural capital” and habitus (Bourdieu). These variables seem better social predictors of overall intelligence and school aptitude/achievement. The idea that a class-based cultural capital is institutionalized in schools may have been novel in the 1970s. This is no longer the case now. The idea postulates roughly that the ideas and beliefs of the ruling social strata tend to find themselves amid the visible and invisible curricula operative in schools. Also, ways of speaking (grammar, syntax) and various school aptitudes tend to be instilled earlier in life at home and are varied by social class. In theoretical terms, the noted French sociologist Bourdieu built his educational theories and the notion of “habitus” on Bernstein's theory of “linguistic codes.”

While there have been changes in race attainment and the struggle for equality, old socio-economic patterns still recur within the wider social structures. In other words, while the race gradient has changed markedly for the better, the class gradients persist across time and space. Polarization is the norm. Thus, the likelihood of graduating from a university is closely linked to parental educational levels and socioeconomic status in virtually all countries around the world. In our epoch, race is intricately interwoven with class. This is to say that the class hierarchy is ‘color-coded.’ The social class patterns (SES) of inequality are so regular and recurrent, that they have been described as one of sociology's “semi-iron law.” The educational attainment of African Americans is not where it should be at the moment. Their schooling is limited, and their occupational successes are also restricted. Blacks with college degrees in the US are more likely to be unemployed compared to whites. This is all primarily due historical-structural legacies unique to the US, not for lack of intelligence per se. That is to say, the ghosts of Jim Craw and functionalist thinking are still alive and well.

In today’s globalized world, links between school attainment and occupational success are tighter than ever before. This means that almost all professional positions and occupations require credentials of some sort. In such a society education becomes a central institution in which individuals compete and vie for advantages. This makes the race to the top and for the right credentials ever more intense and competitive. Decades of research have shown that affluent families are greatly advantaged in this race as well. As it stands, youth from the lowest family income (quartile) are three times more likely to drop out of school than those in the top quartile. Teenagers with university educated parents fare better in high school. Underprivileged children are more likely to experience delays in vocabulary development than their more affluent peers. In such a world, income, occupational prestige and parental education are more useful predictors of children's school success, rather than race. Typically, in today’s hyper-competitive schooling environment, educated parents “in the know,” more actively intervene to systematically improve their offspring's life chances. The race to boost the educational achievement, success and credentials of children becomes more imperative than ever. This is why after school instruction is a growing business world-wide. You cannot inherit intelligence. In this way alone, educational advantage may be passed on to the offspring. This is the modern process of reproducing status and advantages by actively intervening to improve the child’s academic success.

The educational advantages of African immigrants’ dwell in the fact that they are offspring’s of these educated households, who have fled the authoritarian limitations of the continent. In short, habitus is a way of being, “the product of the internalization of the structures” of the social world. It is a “structuring structure” of the social world instilled early in life. The new immigrants carry within themselves a hungry disposition towards the literate world, and strive for the acquisition of diverse cultural capital. This is why their children excel in the new environment, not because they are inherently more intelligent than their fellow Americans of whatever race. Genetic advantages or disadvantages may exist anywhere in this world, but they are realized in the existing context of nurture and are socially conditioned. It is like the Koreans who came to the West and excelled academically, but their compatriots are not considered so bright in Japan, where the ghost of Japanese domination raises it legacy. Thus, family background and the historical socio-economic conditions of the population in question matter for school attainment/success, and for understanding inequalities/mobility depending on time and place. Over the long term, however, children from wealthier families tend to be better prepared for school achievement in virtually all countries. There is some hope, however, for so called poorer countries. Here, where formal schooling is newer and less institutionalized, research suggests that school effects, teacher’s and resources are stronger predictors of achievement, rather than family SES.

Mikael Wossen PhD, is a sociologist of international education. This article is dedicated to SEED for seeking and honoring the best in us and amongst us every May.

Ethiopia tightens its grip on media ahead of 2015 elections

“The current regime follows this pattern: immediately before elections, they start to muzzle every critical voice,” protests Endalk Chala, a co-founder and member of the Ethiopian blogging collective called “Zone 9” – a proverbial reference to Ethiopia’s situation beyond the eight zones that divide the notorious Kaliti prison, where many journalists and political prisoners are kept behind bars.

While pursuing his doctorate in the United States, Endalk recently saw six of his colleagues arrested along with three independent journalists on April 25 and 26. The detainees face charges related to accepting assistance from a foreign human rights group and “inciting violence” through social media, though no formal charges have been filed. The youngest of the collective, 25 year old Atnaf Berahane, was reportedly tortured during police investigations.

Launching their blogging collective in May 2012, the Zone 9 members had visited fellow journalists in jail and advocated for the respect of the constitution and against censorship through several online campaigns. “Our language was highly polished and polite. We did not want to provoke the government and invite them to arrest us, because we wanted to remain outside the prison and work a little bit so that we could start a discussion,” explains Endalk.

But pressures to silence the bloggers escalated; even after they decided to go offline in September 2013, they claim to have been followed. Their decision to re-engage with the online platform sparked an ultimate backlash: “In April we met and decided that even though we stopped, these people were still targeting us. So we decided to write again and wrote a comeback blog. We gave our reasons for our disappearance to the public. Then exactly three days later, all of them were detained.”

Only a month later on 26 May, Elias Gebru, the editor-in-chief of Ethiopia’s leading independent magazine Enqu, was arrested for publishing an opinion piece on the controversial Aanolee Martyrs memorial monument. Elias Gebru, who was a vocal advocate for the rights of jailed journalists, was denied the right to bail pending further investigation.

As the 2015 general elections approach, the recent arrests send a ruthless reminder to those critical of the regime led by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The country’s record for jailing journalists during such periods does not fare well. In the immediate aftermath of the 2005 elections, more than 20 newspapers were closed, and journalists arrested and convicted on charges such as treason and inciting violence.

The International Press Institute (IPI) notes in a 2008 Watch List Report that since the 2005 elections, “there has been a steadily deteriorating relationship between the private media and the government leading to a complete breakdown in relations.” During the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s rule, CPJ reported that more than 70 newspapers were forced to close because of government pressure.

Since Prime Minister Zenawi’s death in August 2012, the government’s stance has remained unchanged in its intransigence towards the media. However, there is an atmosphere of growing unrest under Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who assumed office until the end of Zenawi’s term in 2015. Endalk observes that “Since the death of the late Prime Minister Zenawi you can see that people have started to complain, and there is this public demonstration that was impossible before, because he was so controlling and established this system. But after his death, it is a blow to the system.”

Recent demonstrations have been met with brutal violence. Student protests in late April over the new master plan to expand the capital in the Oromia region claimed nine lives in clashes with government forces according to official figures, while other sources have reported up to 40 deaths in all regions. Given tight restrictions on independent media however, it has been difficult to monitor and report on these events. Human Rights Watchstated how “the recent crackdown in Oromia highlights the risks protesters face and the inability of the media and human rights groups to report on important events.”

“When you work as a journalist here you have to expose many things: there is the human rights issue, you can talk about those who are still in jail… And when you report on such critical issues it is obvious the authorities are not happy,” comments Dawit Kebede, editor of the online journal Awramba Times, which used to run as a newspaper from 2008 to 2011. In reporting the student protests in Oromia, Dawit deplored how hard it is to gain access to government officials and opposition groups to investigate issues on the ground and ask questions beyond official statements.

Dawit Kebede, a 2010 Committee to Protect Journalists International Press Freedom Awardee, was among those journalists detained in the aftermath of the contested 2005 elections. After spending nearly three years in prison each on charges of “inciting and conspiring to commit outrages to the constitutional order,” he was released in 2007 on a presidential pardon, amid strong international pressure from the United States and the United Kingdom.

The absence of a respectful discourse between the ruling party and opposition groups has created a heavily polarised media environment where private media struggles to report on its own terms. “Such polarisation has created a certain kind of media. You have to be either pro-government or you have to be against the government. Our political culture means that you have to be either 0 or 100, there’s no 50,” observes Dawit. “When you choose to exercise a profession with such political polarisation one way or another that could be a cause to be labelled as anti-government, to be labelled as a terrorist, and to be labelled as someone who commits high treason.”

On the other hand, Endalk comments how journalism is often perceived by those in power as government reporting, creating a “development ideology” effectively using their media: “when you are a journalist you have to build a very good image, build a country brand, not to tarnish the image of the country by talking about bad things, by talking about lack of good governance. This would tarnish the image of the country and the government. So when you are being told to do so you are forced to be an activist.”

Legislation has further institutionalised control of the media and has been used to override existing norms regulating the media in Ethiopia in the name of security and stability. The Mass Media and Freedom of Information law ratified in July 2008 legalised certain restrictive practices, allowing prosecutors to summarily stop any publication deemed a threat to public order or national security, and increasing the punishment for defamation (CPJ 2008). The number of journalists in jail or sentenced in absentia rose especially after the passing of the Anti-Terrorism Law in 2009, which warns that anyone who publishes information that could incite readers to commit acts of terrorism risks being jailed for between 10 to 20 years.

While the jailing of journalists and political opponents has drawn local and international outcry, overt political interference has also been accompanied by a series of measures to thwart independent media and alternative views. A recent CPJ blog notes for example how a draft distribution system could subtly but effectively silence any critical publication ahead of May 2015 elections, according to local journalists “they aim to ensure that private newspapers and magazines are distributed through one company with links to the ruling party.”

In a country where elections have come to be seen as instruments of political control rather than devices of liberalisation, the media strategy employed so far does not fare well for press freedom and the ability of local media to report on critical issues such as human rights violations. The regime has not only sought to contain potential destabilising effects of the media, but has also crafted a system highly in tune with the government’s developmental rhetoric. With China emerging as a new ally and a “model” for a particular kind of media strategy, the Ethiopian government might not be so inclined to adopt press freedoms espoused by its traditional Western donors.

But in using repressive tactics in a highly polarised environment, it has also forced many journalists to become more entrenched in their activism, as they continue to push for more open discussions on democratic values and media freedoms. As Endalk notes, “You have to be very patient with the process and even though there are no platforms visibly available for Ethiopians to express their views, we still need to fight.”

World News Publishing Focus

Ethiopia holds editor-in-chief without charge (CPJ)

New York, May 28, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention of a journalist without charge since Monday and calls on Ethiopian authorities to release him immediately. An Ethiopian court on Tuesday extended by 14 days the pre-trial detention of Elias Gebru, according to news reports.

Elias Gebru is being held without charge. (Enku)

Ethiopia’s federal police in the capital, Addis Ababa, summoned Elias, editor-in-chief of the independent news magazine Enku, for questioning in connection with a column published in his paper, according to news reports. The Awramba Times reported that the column discussed a monument recently erected outside the capital in honor of ethnic Oromos massacred in the 19th century by Emperor Menelik’s forces. The monument has ignited divisions between some Oromos and supporters of the emperor’s legacy.

Local journalists said authorities were attempting to link the paper’s publication to the deadly clashes between Oromo student protesters and security forces last month. Ethiopian authorities claimed eight protesters were killed in the violence, while news outlets and human rights groups cited witnesses as saying that security forces killed more than a dozen protesters.

At least 17 other journalists are in jail in Ethiopia in connection with their journalistic work, according to CPJ research. Only Eritrea holds more journalists behind bars in Africa, CPJ research shows.

“The detention without charge of Elias Gebru is the latest move by the Ethiopian government to tighten the noose on the country’s independent press,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “We call on authorities to release Elias immediately and to stop arresting journalists as a means to quell information and debate.”

Elias is being held at the Maekelawi detention center, according to local journalists.

In 2008, thousands of copies of Enku magazine were seized by Ethiopian authorities in connection with the paper’s independent coverage of the trial of a pop singer who had been critical of the government, according to news reports. The copies were later returned.