An Ethiopian court has sentenced eight Somali nationals to jail terms ranging from two to nine years after they were convicted for planning a failed attack in the capital Addis Ababa.

The convicts, who were accused of belonging to the Somali Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, were found guilty of plotting a suicide attack at the Addis Ababa Stadium during Ethiopia’s World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria in October 2013. The attack did not succeed.

Prosecutors said a number of explosive devices, weapons, hand grenades and football jerseys were recovered from the house rented by the Somali nationals.

Two Somalis died while trying to make final preparations to construct the bombs for this bombing, the government said at the time.

Source: AP

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ESAT News (November 14, 2016)

An Oromo Leadership Convention held over the weekend in Atlanta called on all Ethiopians to “stand together and act in concert to remove the TPLF regime that has become the source of all discontent, division and disorder in the country.”

In a resolution passed at the end of the convention, which coincided with the first year anniversary of the uprising in the Oromo region, the participants also called upon the international community to support the resolution by the UN Human Rights Commission that calls for an independent investigation into “the massacre committed by the regime against the oromo and other peoples of Ethiopia at the Ireecha festival on October 2, 2016”

The convention also condemned in the strongest terms the state of emergency declared by the regime, which it said uses the martial law to “legalize its illegitimate actions.”

The convention also decided to establish an a human rights organization to assist the people victimized by what it called the inhuman acts of the TPLF regime.

The convention vows to further intensify the support given to the “Oromo revolution to fight against the TPLF regime that has lost all legitimacy.”

The resolution said the participants of the convention discussed four documents in plenary and breakout sessions but it did not give details contained in those documents.

Eight Oromo political organizations, political leaders, civil society representatives, activists and scholars, among others, participated at the three day conference which was closed to media.

At least 1500 people were killed in the last one year of protests by security forces while 60,000 were detained without due process of law, according to local political organizations. Upto 600 people lost their lives at the Ireecha religious festival in October when regime forces fired shots and used teargas at the millions of party goers resulting in deadly stampede. Ethiopian regime officials insist only 55 people lost their lives at the festival.

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Stéphane Dion

ESAT News (November 14, 2016)

Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, who visited Ethiopia over the weekend reiterated his concerns over the deaths and violence arising from the recent unrest in east African country, particularly in the Oromia and Amhara regions, and underscored his support for all Ethiopians to engage in a peaceful and inclusive dialogue.

According to a report by Global Affairs Canada, the Minister participated in an in-depth exchange with civil society representatives, highlighting the need for democratic space, pluralism and respect of fundamental freedoms for any political dialogue to be successful. Minister Dion carried those messages into his meetings with the Ethiopian government.

“During my meetings, I stressed that more can be done to engage Ethiopians in the democratic process and to encourage the government to undertake real and constructive reforms. Canada calls on the Ethiopian government to make genuine improvements for the benefit of all of its people,” Stéphane Dion said in Addis Ababa.

The minister in his last leg visit to Africa had a meeting with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in which they discussed the current state of emergency and the critical importance of undertaking timely and meaningful reforms for the benefit of all Ethiopians—particularly its youth—in support of the country’s growth and prosperity, the report said.

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