By Tesfa-Alem Tekle September 28, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday said large numbers of South Sudanese refugees have continued to cross into neighbouring Ethiopia. JPEG – 14.8 kb A South Sudanese refugee with her child on one of the buses that moved volunteers from the flood-prone […] […]
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 Serkalem, Nafkot and Eskinder ESAT News (September 29, 2016) Harassment against award-winning Ethiopian journalist, Eskinder Nega, who is serving an 18-year sentence following trumped-up terrorism charges, has continued unabated. An inmate released recently disclosed to ESAT that prison officials have confiscated notebooks and other materials, including his bible, from the journalist and destroyed his personal belongings. The former inmate said prison authorities, who have recently searched Eskinder’s cell, have taken his luggages, throwing away his clothes. The source said the authorities did not give any explanation to the journalist as to their actions and his belongings were not returned to Eskinder at the time he left the prison. Eskinder, who has served 5 of his 18 years sentence, is a recipient of awards from Pen America and Human Rights Watch, among others. The prisoner of conscience was jailed with his wife, who gave birth to their child while in prison 11 years ago. Serkalem Fasil was released later and now live in exile in the United States with their son Nafkot Eskinder. Eskinder and other opposition political leaders were thrown back to jail five years ago on bogus terrorism charges. “Eskinder Nega, who is writing for freedom of expression in Ethiopia, is among those individuals in the world demonstrating a brand of moral courage that we need now more than ever,” US Secretary of State, John Kerry said in a statement at the release of a U.S. report on Human Rights in 2014. Eskinder is a recipient of several international awards including from Pen Ethiopia and Human Rights Watch. The post Prominent Ethiopian journalist harassed in jail appeared first on ESAT. […] The post ESAT Afaan Oromo Radio Thu Sept 29 2016 appeared first on ESAT. […] ESAT News (September 29, 2016) Eight security forces have reportedly been killed in Benishangul Gumuz region, western Ethiopia, following clashes with the local people in an area known as Sherkolle, whose land has been give to gold prospectors from Tigray region. Over one thousand investors, all from Tigray, were recently given large tracts of land in the region to explore gold which angered the locals, who were displaced to pave way for the prospectors. At least 25 locals have sustained injuries, chairman of the Benishangul People’s Liberation Movement told ESAT. Yosef Hamid said over a thousand members of the regime’s military officials have moved and settled in Sherkolle to explore gold but the locals have refused to leave their land, leading to the deadly clashes. Tensions have remained high in the area, Hamid said. The TPLF-led regime has given hundreds of thousands of hectares of land in Benishangul, Gambella, and south Omo regions to exclusively Tigrians and few cronies of the regime displacing thousands of indigenous people from their land. The post Eight security forces killed in western Ethiopia appeared first on ESAT. […] 
 Anuradha Mittal There is ample evidence that the Ethiopian regime uses food aid as a political tool, Anuradha Mittal, founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute said on Thursday. In an exclusive interview with ESAT in connection with the release of a new report on Ethiopia, “Miracle or Mirage? Manufacturing Hunger and Poverty in Ethiopia,” Mittal said her institute found out that people who have taken part in protests would not be given food aid. “We definitely found evidence that people who were protesting, who do not want to be removed from their land would not be given food aid,” she said. “In fact the ones who have been moved were told that they could not grow any food and were actually dependent on food aid,” she added. The new report “exposes how authoritarian development schemes have perpetuated cycles of poverty, food insecurity, and marginalized the country’s most vulnerable citizens,” the Institute said in a release on Wednesday. The report also debunks the myth that the country is the new “African Lion.” Anuradha Mittal said the new report basically provided irrefutable evidence that despite the claims of double digit growth the regime has been making and the praise being showered by donors, the World Bank, US and UK, the truth is that each year 8-18 million people in the last decade depended on food aid. “The whole development paradigm that the country boasts about has not really helped the poorest. It has been able to hide widespread hunger and poverty by assistance from its donors,” Mittal argued. She further noted that the development policies of the regime, not El Nino, was mainly to be blamed for the food crises. “It is really the development policies, which focused on promoting large scale agricultural plantation such as cotton and sugarcane, which do not feed people.” Mittal also argued that the current political crises in Ethiopia had to with the whole development scheme that the regime put in place. “Protest has spread, not just in Gambella or lower Omo, but the Oromos, the Amharas and everyone has united to challenge the government policies.” The regime’s development strategy of leasing millions of hectares of land to foreign investors at the expense of its own citizens has been described by the expert as “the worst mistake that the Ethiopian government could have made.” The strategy has “increased poverty, it has increased insecurity among those communities. It has caused more conflict where resources are shrinking.” Mittal stressed that the Ethiopian regime, in a very repressive manner, continued to violet the human rights of its own citizens, deny them their livelihood “so few can get rich in the country.” “The anti-government protests, which threaten the country and regional political stability, are a powerful testimony that Ethiopia’s broken development model needs to be immediately overhauled,” according to the new report. Oakland Institute is an independent policy think tank, bringing fresh ideas and bold action to the most pressing social, economic, and environmental issues of our time, according to its website. Anuradha Mittal, founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute, is an internationally renowned expert on trade, development, human rights and agriculture issues. Recipient of several awards, Anuradha Mittal was named as the Most Valuable Thinker in 2008 by the Nation magazine, according to her profile. The post Ethiopian regime accused of denying food aid to protesters appeared first on ESAT. […] Dear mother, By now you already know that I am an activist or should I say a freedom fighter (የነጻነት ታጋይ) Along side my best friends, I fight for justice, freedom and democracy in this country of ours. I assure you when I say I fight, I don’t mean fighting with guns or in any […] […] The post ESAT Radio 30 min Sep 29 2016 appeared first on ESAT. […] Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) On Recent Events in Ethiopia Congressional record September 27, 2016 MR. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to bring the Senate’s attention to the Ethiopian government’s brutal crackdown on protestors over the past nine months. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 500 people have been killed by Ethiopian security […] […] Kinfu Assefa, Geresu Tufa and Mesfin Aman on Ethiopia Protests | Hiber Radio […] Ethiopia-born entrepreneur Brook Negussie has launched eLearnAfrica, an online marketplace for education that aims to simplify the process of finding and enrolling for online courses, degrees and professional certifications from universities across the world. eLearnAfrica, which is available via web or free Android app, is a social enterprise committed to increasing and expanding educational and employment opportunities throughout Africa. Its… […] |
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ESAT News (September 29, 2016)