Hundreds feared dead after Murle massive attack on Nuer of Ethiopia

April 15, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – A massive and coordinated attack by combined military and armed Mulre civilians from South Sudan’s Buma state [Jonglei state] has left at least 221 people dead on both sides.massive attack on Nuer of Ethiopia
The deadly attack occurred on Friday morning when heavily armed thousands of men, most of them reportedly in South Sudan’s military uniform, crossed into Ethiopia and simultaneously attacked about 10 different villages inhabited by the Nuer ethnic group in Ethiopia.
The attacked villages are inhabited by the Gaajaak-Nuer sections who are Ethiopian citizens.
At least 170 members of the Nuer ethnic group, mainly women and children, are feared killed, many others wounded and some children abducted.
At least 51 members of the Murle were also counted lying dead on the ground from the different villages.
Eyewitnesses told Sudan Tribune that the dead were identified to be members of the Murle community.
“They are from Murle community. Their dead have been identified. They have killed a lot of people, about 170 now confirmed dead. Majority of the dead are women and children. They have also abducted a number of children. It was difficult to resist them because our populations have no guns. The Murle came heavily armed, some with RPGs and in military uniform of South Sudan,” said Chuol Gach, one of the survivors who witnessed the attacks.
“They attacked about 10 villages in Jekow and Nyinenyang woredas [counties],” he said.
Other sources also told Sudan Tribune that at least 51 members of the Murle attackers were killed, 16 in the early morning of the fighting and 35 others were later killed in the afternoon when they were trying to retreat with over 600 heads of cattle and fell into ambush from the Cie-Nyajaani sub-section.
Most of the heads of cattle were recovered, he said, and the attackers have been pursued back into South Sudan’s territory.
Gach blamed the authorities of Gambella regional government for not responding quickly with security forces to rescue the “unarmed civilians.”
It was not the first time for the Murle armed men to carry out such attacks across the Ethiopian border. But eyewitnesses said the Friday attack was the first of its kind in decades due to the huge number of Murle forces involved and the number of the villages affected, in addition to the death toll.
Source: Sudan Tribune

Ethiopia to Criminalise Mass email, Spamming

   

ADDIS ABABA, Wednesday

The Ethiopian government has drafted a new law, which will punish spammers with up to five years of imprisonment for mass mail distribution to advertise or sell products and services as well as people who share pictures and other contents using computer network.

Labelled ‘Computer Crime Proclamation’, the draft law was presented to the Ethiopian Parliament on Wednesday.

“Whosoever intentionally intimidates or threatens another person or his family with serious danger or injury by disseminating any writing, video, audio or any other image through a computer system shall be punishable, with simple imprisonment not exceeding three years or in a serious cases with rigorous imprisonment not exceeding five years,” reads article 13 sub article 1 of the draft proclamation which talks about crimes against liberty and reputation of persons.

It is not yet clear if the new law targets people who share pictures exposing the misdeeds of law enforcement agencies like the recent photos of the dead and wounded people during the recent Oromo students’ protests, which went viral on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, among others.

The 53 pages of the new law didn’t mention how it may impact government’s ongoing effort to bring good governance to the country by collecting information from whistle blowers and victims of human rights violations and corruption, among others.

Unless there is a prior consent from the recipient, dissemination of messages to multiple email addresses at a time, will lead up to imprisonment of five years and fine not exceeding 50,000 Ethiopian birr (around $2,355).

Source: http://www.addisinsight.com/ethiopia-criminalise-mass-email-spamming/

Deafening Silence from Ethiopia

Since November, state security forces have killed hundreds of protesters and arrested thousands in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region. It’s the biggest political crisis to hit the country since the 2005 election but has barely registered internationally. And with the protests now in their fifth month, there is an almost complete information blackout.

A teacher arrested in December told me, “In Oromia the world doesn’t know what happens for months, years or ever. No one ever comes to speak to us, and we don’t know where to find those who will listen to our stories.”

Part of the problem is the government’s draconian restrictions on news reporting, human rights monitoring, and access to information imposed over the past decade. But restrictions have worsened in the last month. Some social media sites have been blocked, and in early March security officials detained two international journalists overnight while they were trying to report on the protests. As one foreign diplomat told me, “It’s like a black hole, we have no idea what is happening. We get very little credible information.”

With difficulty, Human Rights Watch interviewed nearly 100 protesters. They described security forces firing randomly into crowds, children as young as nine being arrested, and Oromo students being tortured in detention. But the Ethiopian media aren’t telling these stories. It’s not their fault. Ethiopian journalists have to choose between self-censorship, prison, or exile. Ethiopia is one of the leading jailers of journalists on the continent. In 2014 at least 30 journalists fled the country and six independent publications closed down. The government intimidates and harasses printers, distributors, and sources.

International journalists also face challenges. Some do not even try to go because of the personal risks for them, their translators, and their sources. And when they do go, many Ethiopians fear speaking out against government policies—there are plenty of cases of people being arrested after being interviewed.

Diaspora-run television stations have helped fill the gap, including the U.S.-based Oromia Media Network (OMN). Many students in Oromia told me that OMN was one way they were able to learn what was happening in other parts of the region during the protests. But since OMN began broadcasting in March 2014 it has been jammed 15 times for varying periods. Radio broadcasts are also jammed–as international broadcasters like Voice of America and Deutsche Welle have experienced intermittently for years.

In December OMN began transmitting on a satellite that is virtually impenetrable to jamming. But security forces then began destroying private satellite dishes on people’s homes. Eventually the government applied pressure on the satellite company to drop OMN, which has now been off the air for over two months.

Social media has partially helped fill the information gap. Photos of injured students and videos of protests have been posted to Facebook, particularly in the early days of the protests. But in some locations the authorities have targeted people who filmed the protests on their phones. At various times in the last month, there have been reports of social media and file-sharing sites being blocked in Oromia, including Facebook, Twitter, and Dropbox. Website-blocking has been documented before – in 2013, at least 37 websites with information from Ethiopia were blocked. Most of the sites were operated by Ethiopians in the diaspora.

Independent non-governmental organizations that might be reporting what is happening face similar restrictions. The government’s Charities and Societies Proclamation of 2009 virtually gutted domestic nongovernmental organizations that work on human rights issues. The independent Human Rights Council released a report on the protests in March. It was a breath of fresh air, but the council released it at great risk. As the first report from Ethiopian civil society on an issue of great political significance, it was a damning indictment of the limits of freedom of expression in Africa’s second-largest country, with a population of 100 million.

The government may believe that by strangling the flow of information coming out of Oromia it can limit international concern and pressure. And so far the response from countries that support Ethiopia’s development has been muted. The deaths of hundreds, including many children, have largely escaped condemnation.

Yet the government’s brutally repressive tactics cannot be contained behind Ethiopia’s information firewall for long. The sooner the government recognizes this and acts to stop the mass arrests and excessive use of force, the better the outlook for the government and the affected communities.

The government—with the assistance of its allies and partners—needs to support an independent investigation of the events in Oromia, commit to accountability and justice for the victims, and start dismantling the legislative and security apparatus that has made Ethiopia one of the most hostile places for free expression on the continent. What’s happening in Oromia has long-term implications for Ethiopia’s stability and economic progress, and Ethiopians and the world need to know what is happening.

Source:https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/04/12/deafening-silence-ethiopia

የሶስት ኢትዮጵያውያን ንብረት ነው የተባለ 356 ሺ ዶላር በቻይና የጉአንግዙ መገኘቱን የቻይና መገናኛ ብዙሃን ዘገቡ

ኢሳት (ሚያዚያ 3 ፥ 2008)

በቻይና የጉአንግዙ ግዛት በሚገኝ አንድ አለም-አቀፍ አውሮፕላን ጣቢያ የሶስት ኢትዮጵያውያን ንብረት ነው የተባለ 356 ሺ ጥሬ ዶላር መገኘቱን የቻይና መገናኛ ብዙሃን ሰኞ ዘገቡ።

በአንድ ሻንጣ ተሞልቶ የነበረው ይኸው ከፍተኛ ገንዘብ በአየር መንገዱ መሳፈሪያ አካባቢ ለጉዞ በነበሩ ሁለት የኮንስትራክሽን ሰራተኞች መገኘቱንና የንብረቱ ባለቤት ናቸው ለተባሉት ሶስቱ ኢትዮጵያውያን መሰጠቱ ታውቋል።

356ሺ ጥሬ ዶላር ገንዘብን የያዘው አነስተኛ ሻንጣ በዋናው የአየር ማረፊያው መግቢያ ላይ መገኘቱንና ሁለቱ ግለሰቦች ለፖሊስ ማስረከባቸውን የቻይናው ዜና አገልግሎት ዢንሁዋ ሰኞ ዘግቧል።

የሻንጣው ባለቤት አድራሻ ለማግኘት በማሰብ ሁለቱ ቻይናውያን ሻንጣውን ቢፈቱም አይተውት የማያውቁት ገንዘብን በሻንጣው በማየታቸው ድንጋጤ እንዳደረባቸውና ገንዘቡን ለፖሊስ እንዳስረከቡ ቻይናውያኑ አስረድተዋል።

ገንዘቡን የቆጠሩት የቻይና የጸጥታ ሃይሎችም የገንዘቡ ባለቤት ናቸው ለተባሉ ሶስቱ ኢትዮጵያውያን ያስረከቡ ሲሆን፣ የሶስቱ ኢትዮጵያውያን ማንነት ግን ይፋ አልተደረገም።

ይህን ያህል መጠን ያለው ገንዘብ በበርካታ ሃገራት በጥሬ ይዞ መንቀሳቀስ የማይፈቀድ ቢሆንም፣ የቻይና የጸጥታ ሃይሎች ግን በዚህ ጉዳይ ዙሪያ የሰጡት ዝርዝር የለም።

የባለ መቶ ኖቶቹን 356ሺህ ሶላር (ከሰባት ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ) የያዙት ኢትዮጵያውያን ገንዘቡን ለምን ጉዳይ እንደያዙትና ለምን አላማ ሊያዉሉት እንደነበርም የቻይና ፖሊሶች የሰጡት ዝርዝር መረጃ የለም።

የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ በሳምንት ሶስት ቀን ወደ ቻይናው ጓንጉዙ አየር ማረፊያ በረራን እንደሚያደርግ ለመረዳት ተችሏል።

ከወራት በፊት በአውሮፕላን እቃ መጫኛ ክፍል ውስጥ ተደብቆ ስዊድን ሃገር ከገባ በኋላ በሃገሪቱ የፖለቲካ ጥገኝነትን የጠየቀ የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ሰራተኛ በመንግስት ባለስልጣናት ዶላር በሻንጣ እየተደረገ እንደሚወጣ ለኢሳት መግለጹ ይታወሳል።

ከኢትዮጵያ ጋር የቅርብ ወዳጅነት አላት በምትባለው ቻይና በርካታ በለስልጣናት ለተለያዩ ጉዳዮች በየጊዜው እንደሚጓዙባትም ይነገራል።

Source:http://amharic.ethsat.com/%E1%8B%A8%E1%88%B6%E1%88%B5%E1%89%B5-%E1%8A%A2%E1%89%B5%E1%8B%AE%E1%8C%B5%E1%8B%AB%E1%8B%8D%E1%8B%AB%E1%8A%95-%E1%8A%95%E1%89%A5%E1%88%A8%E1%89%B5-%E1%8A%90%E1%8B%8D-%E1%8B%A8%E1%89%B0%E1%89%A3/

በአፋርና በኢሳ ጎሳዎች መካከል ግጭት ተቀስቅሶ በሰውና በንብረት ላይ ጉዳት ደረሰ

በአፋር ክልል ገዋኔ ወረዳ በአፋርና በኢሳ ሶማሊ ጎሳዎች መካከ ግጭት ተቀስቅሶ በግንሹ የሰባት ሰዎች ህይወት ማለፉንና በርካታ ሰዎችም ለጉዳት መዳረጋቸውን የአፋር የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ድርጅት ሰኞ ገለጠ።

በወረዳው አስጊታ ተብሎ በሚጠራው አካባቢ የተቀሰቀሰው ይኸው ግጭት አንድ የአፋር ተወላጅ ወጣት በኢሳ ሶማሊ ጎሳ መገደሉ ተከትሎ እንደሆነ የድርጅቱ ሃላፊ የሆኑት አቶ ገሃስ መሃመድ ከኢሳት ጋር ባደረጉት ቃለ-ምልልስ አስረድተዋል።

በአካባቢው ሰኞ ምሽት ድረስ የተኩስ ልውውጥ በመካሄድ ላይ በመሆኑ የሟቾች ቁጥር ሊጨምር ይችላል ተብሎ ስጋት መኖሩን ሃላፊው አስታውቋል።

በሁለቱ ጎሳዎች መካከል ለዘመናት ሲቀርቡ የነበሩ አስተዳደራዊ ጥያቄዎች እልባት ባለማግኘታቸው ምክንያት በወረዳው ውጥረት ሰፍኖ እንደሚገኝም የሰብዓዊ መብት ድርጅቱ ሃላፊ የሆኑት አቶ ሃጎስ መሃመድ ተናግረዋል።

ሁለቱ ጎሳዎች እስከቅርብ ጊዜ ድረስ ከግጦሽ መሬት ጋር በተገናኘ በተደጋጋሚ ግጭት ውስጥ ይገቡ እንደነበር ያወሱት ሃላፊው በአካባቢው መነሳት የጀመሩ አስተዳደራዊ ጥያቄዎች ጉዳዩ በሚመለከታቸው የመንግስት ሃላፊዎች በኩል ችላ መባላቸው ሳቢያ ግጭቱ በአዲስ መልክ መቀጠሉን አስረድተዋል።

በዚሁ በድርቅ በተጎዱ አካባቢዎች ያለው ውጥረት አፋጣኝ እልባትን ካላገኘም ተመሳሳይ ግጭቶች መከሰታቸው እንደማይቀር የአፋር የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ድርጅት አክሎ አመልክቷል።

Source:http://amharic.ethsat.com/%E1%89%A0%E1%8A%A0%E1%8D%8B%E1%88%AD%E1%8A%93-%E1%89%A0%E1%8A%A2%E1%88%B3-%E1%8C%8E%E1%88%B3%E1%8B%8E%E1%89%BD-%E1%88%98%E1%8A%AB%E1%8A%A8%E1%88%8D-%E1%8C%8D%E1%8C%AD%E1%89%B5-%E1%89%B0%E1%89%80/

በህገወጥ ንግድ ተሰማርታችኋል የተባሉ ነጋዴዎች በቁጥጥር ስር ዋሉ

ኢሳት (መጋቢት 28 ፥ 2008)

በህገ-ወጥ ንግድ ተሰማርታችኋል የተባሉ 120 ነጋዴዎች በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ በቁጥጥር ስር ዋሉ።

የኢትዮጵያ ገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለስልጣን ባለፉት 30 ቀናት ብቻ በቁጥጥር ስር የዋሉት እነዚሁ ነጋዴዎች ያለ-ደረሰኝ ግብይትን ሲፈጽሙ ቆየተዋል ሲል ረቡዕ አስታውቋል።

ባለስልጣኑ 85 አምራቾች፣ አስመጪዎችና የጅምላ አከፋፋይ ድርጅቶች ላይ ድንገተኛ ዘመቻ ማካሄዱን አውስቶ ከ85ቱ የንግድ ድርጅቶች መካከል 77 የሚሆኑት ያለ-ደረሰኝ ግብይት ሲፈጽሙ መገኘታቸውን ይፋ እንዳደረገ ከሃገር ቤት ከተገኘ መረጀ ለመረዳት ተችሏል።

ባለስልጣኑ ነጋዴዎቹ በቁጥጥር ስር መዋላቸውን ቢገልጽም ክስ ይመስርት አይመስርት ግን ያስታወቀው ነገር የለም።

በዚሁ ድንገተኛ ዘመቻ ክትትል ከተደረባቸው መካከል 90 በመቶ የሚሆኑ በህገ-ወጥ ተግባር ላይ ተሰማርተው መገኘታቸውን ጉዳይ አሳሳቢ እየሆነ መምጣቱን ባለስልጣኑ አክሎ ገልጿል።

ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ጀምሮ በርካታ ነጋዴዎችና ባለስልጣናት በህገ-ወጥ ንግድ ተሰማታችኋል ተብለው በቁጥጥር ስር መዋላቸው ይታወሳል።

source:http://amharic.ethsat.com/%E1%89%A0%E1%88%85%E1%8C%88%E1%8B%88%E1%8C%A5-%E1%8A%95%E1%8C%8D%E1%8B%B5-%E1%89%B0%E1%88%B0%E1%88%9B%E1%88%AD%E1%89%B3%E1%89%BD%E1%8A%8B%E1%88%8D-%E1%8B%A8%E1%89%B0%E1%89%A3%E1%88%89-%E1%8A%90/

ድርቅ የተባባሰባቸው 438 ወረዳዎች አሳሳቢ ደረጃ ላይ ናቸው ተባለ

ኢሳት (መጋቢት 28 ፥ 2008)

በኢትዮጵያ በተከሰተው ድርቅ ችግሩ የተባባሰባቸው ወረዳዎች 438 መሆናቸው ተገለጠ። የተባበሩት መንግስታት የልማት ፕሮግራም ሰሞኑን ለመንግስት አካላት ባሰራጨውና “አስቸኳይ” በሚል በበተነው ማሳሰቢያ በሁሉም የኢትዮጵያ ክልሎች ድርቁ የተከሰተ ሲሆን፣ በአንዳንድ ወረዳዎች ደግሞ ይበልጥ አሳሳቢ ሆኖ ተገኝቷል።

የተባበሩት መንግስታት ድርጅት የልማት ፕሮግራም በጉዳዩ ዙሪያ ሰፋ ያለ ሪፖርት ያወጣል ተብሎ እየተጠበቀ ሲሆን፣ በውስጥ በኩል ባሰራጨው መረጃ መሰረት 100 ያህል ወረዳዎች ክፉኛ ተጠቅተዋል።

የተባበሩት መንግስታት የልማት ፕሮግራም ለሚመለከታቸው አካላት ባለፈው ሳምንት ባሰራጨው ሪፖርት በድርቁ በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ከተጠቁ 438ቱ ወረዳዎች 123ቱ በኦሮሚያ ክልል ሲሆኑ፣ በአማራ ክልል 80 ፥ በደቡብ 72 ፥ በሶማሊ ክልል 63 ፥ ወረዳዎች በተመሳሳይ ከፍተኛ ጉዳት ደርሶባቸዋል። በአፋር ክልል በ32 ወረዳዎች፣ በትግራይ 31 ወረዳዎች፣ በጋምቤላ 13 ወረዳዎች በቤኒሻንጉል 9 ፥ በሃረር 2 ፥ እንዲሁም በድሬደዋ አንድ ወረዳ በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ተጠቅተዋል።

በድርቅ ክፉኛ ከተጠቁት 438 ወረዳዎች 85 ያህሉ ወረዳዎች ደግሞ ይበልጥ አሳሳቢ ሁኔታ ውስጥ እንደሚገኙ ተመልክቷል። በተለይ  በአፋር ድርቁ የተከሰተባቸው 32 ወረዳዎች ሁሉም አሳሳቢ ሁኔታ ውስጥ መገኘታቸው ይፋ ሆኗል። በኦሮሚያ ከ123ቱ ወረዳዎች 52ቱ አሳሳቢ ሁኔታ ላይ ሲሆኑ፣ በአማራ ክልል ከ80 ተጠቂ ወረዳዎች 38ቱ ላይ የተባባሰ መሆኑም መደረጉ ተችሏል።

በትግራይም በድርቁ ክፉኛ የተጠቁ 31 ወረዳዎች 20ዎቹ አሳሳቢ ሁኔታ ውስጥ መሆናቸውም ይፋ ሆኗል። በሶማሊ ክልል ክፉኛ ከተጠቁት 63 ወረዳዎች 24ቱ ይበልጥ አሳሳቢ ሁኔታ ውስጥ እንዳሉ ሲገለጽ፣ በደቡብ  ክልል ከተጠቁት 72 ወረዳዎች 17ቱ ይበልጥ የከፋ ሁኔታ ውስጥ መገኘታቸውንም የተባበሩት መንግስታት ድርጅት በሰንጠረዥ አስደግፎ በውስጥ ካሰራቸው መረጃ መረዳት ተችሏል።

Source:http://amharic.ethsat.com/%E1%8B%B5%E1%88%AD%E1%89%85-%E1%8B%A8%E1%89%B0%E1%89%A3%E1%89%A3%E1%88%B0%E1%89%A3%E1%89%B8%E1%8B%8D-438-%E1%8B%88%E1%88%A8%E1%8B%B3%E1%8B%8E%E1%89%BD-%E1%8A%A0%E1%88%B3%E1%88%B3%E1%89%A2-%E1%8B%B0/