Ethiopia: From Role Model to Cautionary Tale

[Shamis]

1.After Nigeria (182 million people), Ethiopia is Africa’s most populous country – and it is the world’s 13th most populous – with 99 million people.

2.Ethiopia’s population is almost 25% larger than Germany’s, which is home to 81 million people.

3.By 2050, Ethiopia’s population is expected to rise to 188 million. Back in 1950, Ethiopia had a population of 18 million — less than a fifth its current population. Sunbhanaka yaa cadiim

4.Ethiopia is believed to be the origin point of the entire human race and has maintained some of the highest ethnic and language diversity among all countries.

5.In early October 2016, in an effort to suppress mounting street protests, Ethiopia’s totalitarian government declared a state of emergency.

6.Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups – Oromo and Amhara, which together account for at least 60% of the population – are primarily responsible for a growing protest movement.

7.Ethnic Tigrayans, accounting for only 6% of the population, dominate the military and the ostensibly multi-ethnic EPRDF political coalition, which after the 2015 elections holds every seat in parliament.

8.During the Cold War, a violent military junta ruled Ethiopia and waged an endless war on the breakaway territory that became neighboring Eritrea. EPRDF’s armed wing overthrew the junta in 1991.


9.The EPRDF rules a democracy on paper, but holds all the power and restricts free speech and press, the right to trial and religious freedom.

10.Opposition to the government is often met with deadly force or torture.

11.Ethiopia’s government also has deployed mass surveillance technology on a staggering scale, especially for one of the world’s Least Developed Countries.

12.Ethiopia was, along with Liberia, one of two countries in sub-Saharan Africa not colonized by European powers in the so-called scramble for Africa in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

 

[Shamis]

Mass arrests in Ethiopia's Oromia region days after state of emergency declared
The 1,000 arrested are accused of violence and property damage and more are expected to be detained.

At least 1,000 people have been arrested in Ethiopia, which declared a nationwide state of emergency on 9 October due to ongoing anti-government protests. The mass arrest occurred in Sebeta town, near the capital Addis Ababa.

Those arrested were accused of carrying out violence and damaging properties. Earlier in October, anti-government protesters attacked public buildings, companies and firms, including foreign ones, in Oromia.


"Among the detainees, natives of the town are not more than 40 and 50. Majority of the detainees came from other areas of Oromia Regional State," the Sebeta mayor Ararsa Merdasa, was quoted as saying by the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate.

He added that the authorities would release anyone found innocent, but said more arrests were expected.

The remarks came as an investors' peace conference started in Sebeta. Investors expressed concern over recent violence and called on the authorities to ensure long-lasting peace and security.

The mass arrest came shortly after Ethiopia disclosed new rules to be observed under the state of emergency, expected to last for the next six months.

Among other things, diplomats cannot travel more than 40km (25m) outside of Addis Ababa without official permission.

People are also barred from contacting individuals and groups that the state has labelled terrorists and from watching media channels including Oromia Media Network and Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio.

 

[Shamis]

Ethiopia limits diplomats' movements, media access

Addis Ababa (AFP) - Ethiopia has banned access to foreign-based opposition media and restricted foreign diplomats' travel, in new provisions of a state of emergency.

The government declared the six-month state of emergency eight days ago, stepping up its response to an unprecedented wave of protests against its authoritarian rule which has left hundreds dead.

New restrictions published in local media on Sunday also include a 50-kilometre (30-mile) "red zone" adjacent to the country's borders in which it is illegal to carry firearms. The areas around several key roads have also been declared red zones.

Foreign diplomats are forbidden from travelling more than 40 kilometres outside the capital, Addis Ababa, "for their own security".

"This is a state of emergency and we expect repressive measures," a Western diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity on Monday.

"But we also expect an opening of the political space for the opposition as stated by the president in front of the parliament. This is not what seems to be happening," the diplomat added.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is following developments in Ethiopia "with concern", his spokesman said Monday.

The UN chief urged Ethiopian authorities to uphold human rights and called for calm and urged "inclusive dialogue to resolve all grievances."

- Internet access cut -

The new measures include a 6:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew around factories, farms and government institutions, which have come under attack from protesters in recent weeks.

Political parties are "banned from giving press statements that incite violence" and religious leaders are forbidden from making political statements.

Security forces are banned from going on holiday or resigning their jobs.

The measures also make it illegal to watch television stations set up by the diaspora such as Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) and the US-based Oromia Media Network (OMN).

Posting links from these organisations' websites onto social media has also been declared a "criminal activity".

Cellphone internet access has been cut for almost three weeks in most parts of the country, including the capital.

"There is a pressing concern that the Ethiopian authorities will need even less of a pretext to prevent foreign journalists from doing their work during the state of emergency," said Will Davison, head of the Foreign Press Association, an informal gathering of foreign correspondents in Ethiopia.

On Friday an AFP photographer was stopped in the central town of Sebeta -- in the restive Oromia region -- and taken to the police station before being released.

The country's Oromo and Amhara communities -- which together make up 60 percent of the population -- have been protesting for nearly a year against marginalisation by a government largely made up of minority Tigrayans, which controls power and the economy.

The latest surge in violence came after police fired tear gas at protesters attending an Oromo religious festival on October 2, sparking panic in a massive crowd and triggering a stampede that left over 50 dead.

International rights groups estimate the government crackdown has left more than 500 dead.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn promised last week to reform the electoral system and "open up political space".

 

[Shamis]

 

[Shamis]

KDF soldiers deployed to Sololo after raid by Ethiopian army

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers from the Oda Camp have moved to Sololo after the Ethiopian army raided a village in Marsabit.

On Sunday, at around 3pm, about 100 Ethiopian soldiers entered Kenya and surrounded Golole Village, about 9km west of the Sololo police station.

The soldiers claimed they were pursuing Oromo Liberation Front militants suspected to have killed police officers in Ethiopia.

In the process, a herder was killed by the Ethiopian soldiers.

This is what prompted KDF soldiers to be deployed to the area.

Marsabit Acting police commander Mark Wanjala said the deceased was herding his camels at around 3pm when he was shot.

“On Sunday, about 100 soldiers invaded Golole in search of members of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) after the latter killed several soldiers in Ethiopia following a fierce fighting,’’ Mr Wanjala said in his office adding they were repulsed by KDF who are still patrolling the area.

He said tension has gripped the residents of the area, nine kilometers from Sololo police station along the Kenya-Ethiopia border following the incident.

 

[Shamis]

 

[Cadmus]

Domestic, as well as international commercial loan defaults, will be extensive and will come faster and faster from now on.

Watch the U.S interest rates / dollar value and it's impact on Ethiopia from now on.

 

[Shamis]

Domestic, as well as international commercial loan defaults, will be extensive and will come faster and faster from now on.

Watch the U.S interest rates / dollar value and it's impact on Ethiopia from now on.

Billions of dollars in aid a year and they used loans to build the infrastructure. Where did that money go?

It's over now. They've arrested tenss of thousands of people in a few short days, they've dug their graves. The only way out of this is no more Ethiopia,because why would anyone want to pay these blood loans off? No wonder Oromo are torching foreign businesses.

 

[Cadmus]

Billions of dollars in aid a year and they used loans to build the infrastructure. Where did that money go?

It's over now. They've arrested tenss of thousands of people in a few short days, they've dug their graves. The only way out of this is no more Ethiopia,because why would anyone want to pay these blood loans off? No wonder Oromo are torching foreign businesses.

They deposited it in various off-shore banking spots, not realising that if the new (Oromo/Amhara) gov officially demands its embezzled funds back, it can be done very easily now. Look at Nigeria's Buhari, coming to the UK a few months ago and saying "give us our money back."

Times have changed.

Even HSM made an official request and suddenly the matter died down after some controversy.

 

[Shamis]

The state of emergency diktat translated to English:


Addis Ababa, October 5, 2009 (Ethiopian Calendar) / 15 October, 2016 (Gregorian Calendar) State of Emergency Command Post —— —— —— The Ethiopian Cabinet of Ministers, guided by the country’s Constitution, and seeking to maintain peace and order, especially in violence prone areas, has set the following directives during the State of Emergency. In doing so, we are guided by Article 13 (2) of the Ethiopian Constitution.

Section 1: Prohibited Activities Across the Country —— ——

Article 1: Communication instigating Protest and Unrest Any communication that will create misunderstanding between people or unrest is prohibited and includes:

1. Any writing and its distribution, any writing done in secrecy or not and printed, distributed, videos, signs or using any other way to distribute these writings to people. Importing or exporting any publication without license is prohibited.

2. Sharing this information on the Internet, radio, TV and social media is prohibited.

Article 2: Communication with Terrorist Groups

1. Any communication that are said to be terrorists and anti peace groups is prohibited.

2. Sharing or distributing writings from terrorist groups, holding their logos or advertisements is prohibited.

3. Watching or sharing television or radio programs such as ESAT, OMN or other similar terrorist linked media is prohibited.
Article 3: Assemblies and Protests In order to maintain the peace of the citizens, any assembly or protest without authorization from command post is prohibited.

Article 4: Refusing Service to People 1. Closing any licensed businesses or shops or government bodies that give service to the public, disappearing from business premises for no particular reason, abusing the job is prohibited.
2. Threatening civil servants and private sector workers against reporting to work is prohibited.

Article 5: Protesting in Educational Facilities Any protest or activity that prevents education institutions from carrying out their mandate, closing these institutions or causing any damage to their infrastructure is prohibited.

Article 6: Protesting around Sporting Institutions Creating or instigating protests or chaos that is against the sport ethics is prohibited.

Article 7: Traffic Disruptions Closing or blocking any roads, disrupting transport service, altering tariffs, routes is prohibited.

Article 8: Causing damage to public and religious infrastructure Causing any damage to public, private, government owned, foreign owned or religious infrastructure in prohibited.

Article 9: Public Holidays Disturbing any public or national holiday and showing any slogan or agenda unrelated to the holiday is prohibited.

Article 10: Protesting on Religious, Traditional or Public Holiday Any teachings and preachings at religious institutions that are outside the prescribed religious teachings that will create hatred and instigate protests amongst people is prohibited.

Article 11: Disrupting the work of the Executive Arm of Government 1. Defying any instruction given by representatives of the executive arm of government is prohibited, disrupting their work, refusing to cooperate with search requests or evading checkpoints is prohibited. 2. Attempting or causing harm to these bodies is prohibited.

Article 12: Wearing Unapproved Outfit Wearing, storing or selling any uniform assigned to the executive arm of government is prohibited.

Article 13: Entering Places with Fire Arms Entering market places, religious institutions or places where people gather with fire arms, sharp objects or anything that will cause fire is prohibited.

Article 14: Transfer of a Fire Arm to a Third Party Any licensed fire arm holder is prohibited from transferring a fire arm to a third party.

Article 15: Committing any Action that Disrupts Tolerance and Unity Any attack based on tribal identity or speech that may instigate attack on tribal lines is prohibited.

Article 16: Committing any Act that Disrupts the Country’s Sovereignty and Constitutional Order 1. Any communication and information sharing with government or non-governmental organizations that affects security, sovereignty and the constitution is prohibited. 2. Any political party is prohibited from giving press releases either to local or foreign media that disrupts security, sovereignty and the constitutional order.

Article 17: Being in a Prohibited Place Leaving a refugee camp without the necessary authorization or entering the country without a valid visa.

Article 18: Restricted Diplomat's Movement Diplomats are prohibited from moving past 40KM radius from Addis Ababa without the necessary authorization from the Command Post, for their own safety.

Article 19: Reporting to Duty for the Members of the Security Arm of Government Any member of the security arm of government is prohibited from resigning or taking leave during the State of Emergency unless there is an unavoidable reason to take leave.

Article 20: Supporting any Act that Disrupts Peace and Security Supporting, directly or indirectly, entities engaging in illegal activities stated in this decree either through money or in kind is prohibited. Section 2: Prohibited Activities in Specific Parts in the Country —— —— Section 1 of this decree holds and in addition, articles 21-24 will apply for specific parts of the country at the Command Post’s discretion.

Article 21: Movement with Fire Arms Possession of fire arm, sharp objects or objects that can start a fire in public spaces is prohibited.

Article 22: Attacks on Public Infrastructure and Business Entities 1. Only authorized employees of factories and business entities are allowed near these places between 6PM and 6AM. 2. Security officials have been mandated to take action on anyone violating the curfew stated above - 22 (1)

Article 23: Curfew When the Command Post orders a curfew, movement of persons is prohibited.

Article 24: Disrupting Security Forces from Executing a Security Directive 1. It is prohibited to block security forces securing at-risk individuals or individuals suspected of instigating violence. 2. Trespassing roads blocked by the Command Post for security purposes is prohibited. Section 3: Obligation to Notify and Give Information —— ——

Article 25: Obligation to maintain and Give Information on Tenants Anyone renting out a house or vehicle or similar facilities is obliged to get detailed information about the service recipient and notify the nearest police station within 24 hours. In addition, if the service recipient is a foreigner, a copy of the passport and service agreement should be submitted to the police station within 24 hours.

Article 26: Obligation to Give Information In order to maintain peace and security, anyone who is requested to offer information to the security agencies should cooperate.

Article 27 - Authorized person to take measures Members of the Executive arm of the government and their colleagues can take measures stated in this decree below against persons found carrying out the prohibited activities.

Article 28 - Measures to be taken when prohibited activities are carried out On any person not complying with the decree in section 1, Article 1-24, members of the Executive arm of the government can: 1. Arrest without court order

 2. Detain in a place assigned by the command post until the end of the state of emergency

 3. Decide to whether teach the necessary reformation teaching and release or present them before the court when necessary

 4. Secure any property that was either used or is to be used for crime to conduct an unwarranted search at any time using people in the neighborhood and the police

 5. Censor and block any information, publication, picture, video or movie transmitted using Television and radio

 6. Search stolen properties without warrant and return to the owners

 7. Taking legal measures and ordering the institutions to take administrative measures on students and staffs protesting and instigating violence in education institutions

 8. Detain and block people suspected of disrupting peace and security and at risk groups from specific places and

 9. Take other necessary measures.

Article 29: Self Defense Measures Taken by Security Forces In the execution of the State of Emergency decree, a security officer or agent faced with a life threatening situation is authorized to use any means necessary to protect his or her life.

Article 30: Authority to Enter an Education Facility During protests in schools, universities and other higher education institutions, security forces are authorized to enter the protesting institutions to maintain peace and security. They are also authorized to access and if necessary occupy private and government institutions to arrest protestors and maintain peace and security. Section 4: Reformation and Judicial Procedure —— ——

Article 31: Measures Taken by the Command post According to the Law Whoever is scheduled to be arraigned in a court of law will be duly presented. Anyone who has participated in protests or demonstrations within the last one year and 1. stolen a firearm or any other property from private or government institution and returns and surrenders it within 10 days of declaration of this decree 2. supported an illegal activity either in kind or in monetary form and has surrendered to a police station within 10 days of declaration of this decree 3. participated in distributing pamphlets or organizing protests but surrendered within 10 days of declaration of this decree 4. Anyone who has committed murder, burned property or committed any other crime but surrendered within 10 days of declaration of this decree the Command Post will have the discretion to decide on reformation training based on the assessment by the court on the depending on the level of participation of said individual.

 

[Shamis]

They're now tearing down the Oromo regional government. This guy gave information to TPLF about Oromo protesters:

 

[Khathead]

What will happen to the Somalis there if a civil war breaks out? Whats in their best interest? Are the Oromos/Amharas to be trusted or will they claim a bunch of somali villages?

 

[Canuck]

What will happen to the Somalis there if a civil war breaks out? Whats in their best interest? Are the Oromos/Amharas to be trusted or will they claim a bunch of somali villages?

They can't trust because they are landlocked country and will do their best to reach our ports. Oromo or Amhara are all same for somalis, They need our ports to survive.

 

[Shamis]

What will happen to the Somalis there if a civil war breaks out? Whats in their best interest? Are the Oromos/Amharas to be trusted or will they claim a bunch of somali villages?

I don't know if the Somali region has all their zones, districts already under DDSI control. If we do then no problem, but if there's 100% Somali districts still missing it could be a cause of conflict with Oromo and Afar. Amhara and Tigray already see every inch of our land as theirs and they'll fight to keep it as an asset of theirs. The biggest prizes are Somali Region, Oromo region, Blue Nile.

 

[Shamis]

They can't trust because they are landlocked country and will do their best to reach our ports. Oromo or Amhara are all same for somalis, They need our ports to survive.

They can't take SOMALIA, we're talking about Somali region in Ethiopia.

 

[Canuck]

They can't take SOMALIA, we're talking about Somali region in Ethiopia.

I know that fact, but they are spreading through Oromo to Ogaden till North Somalia. The Ogaden people must secure their region.

 

[Shamis]

I know that fact, but they are spreading through Oromo to Ogaden till North Somalia. The Ogaden people must secure their region.

Do you think they're trying to carve a way to the sea through migration and settling? They do claim 'Ethiopia is one country' when it suits them today like calling the Somali region 'kililka shanaad' which made think they'd use the state to take over it given the chance just because they recently settled there. I wish Somalis had as many children as them, we wouldn't have this problem.

 

[Young Popeye]

Do you think they're trying to carve a way to the sea through migration and settling? They do claim 'Ethiopia is one country' when it suits them today like calling the Somali region 'kililka shanaad' which made think they'd use the state to take over it given the chance just because they recently settled there. I wish Somalis had as many children as them, we wouldn't have this problem.

in the near future they will be gunning for sea access, tplf will go for eritrea and autonomous somali region will start a war with SL. due to colonial division, they are no longer the same people and despise one another, it will get worse. once western power diminishes, djbouti will also be in deep trouble.

 

[Canuck]

in the near future they will be gunning for sea access, tplf will go for eritrea and autonomous somali region will start a war with SL. due to colonial division, they are no longer the same people and despise one another, it will get worse. once western power diminishes, djbouti will also be in deep trouble.

Right worry about war in your country Ethiopia, as for Somalia you tried that thing for past 25 years and you failed BTW Ahmed Gurey is Somali and Adal sultanate was Somali sultanate.

 

[Freebandz]

Both Ethiopia and librie(carved out from a colony) where colonized