Oromia Center For Human Rights: Exposing the Massive Human Rights Violation in Oromia

Ethiopia's tribes cry for help (Aljazeera)

2012-02-12T19:19:00.000-08:00

Ethiopia's tribes cry for help

A drive to become a world leading sugar producer threatens the livelihoods of thousands of people in rural areas.

Last Modified: 13 Feb 2012 06:42

The Ethiopian army has been violently clashing with tribes, forcing many from their land [Dominic Brown/Al Jazeera]

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The Lower Omo Valley in south-western Ethiopia is a vast and rugged region of mountains and valleys, inhabited largely by nomadic agro-pastoralist tribes numbering some 200,000 people. Many live a simple existence, living in straw thatched huts and have little contact with the outside world. But the Ethiopian government's new found appetite for large-scale sugar production threatens the very existence of many of these tribes.

Nearly 300,000 hectares of land in the Omo and Mago National Parks, which comprises much of the Lower Omo Valley, has been earmarked for the Kuraz Sugar Development programme. Backed by large-scale investment from Indian companies, the programme aims to help increase overall sugar production in Ethiopia to 2.3 million tonnes by 2015, with the goal of achieving a 2.5 per cent global share by 2017.

Whilst revenues from the sugar plantations will undoubtedly fill the coffers of central government, the forced relocation of tribes from their traditional lands is already having catastrophic consequences. The permanent damage to a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site is also raising alarm amongst environmentalists.

"We stand to lose everything," one tribal leader explained, tears welling in his eyes, as he stood surrounded by his villagers. "Our traditional hunting grounds, the land we use for grazing our cattle, our homes. Everything will be gone. We will be left with nothing. We need the outside world to help us."

Early in 2011, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi spoke of the importance of the project to the country's economy, outlined in the government's Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). "In the coming five years there will be a very big irrigation project and related agricultural development in this zone. Even though this area is known as backward in terms of civilisation, it will become an example of rapid development."

Human rights abuses

This "rapid development" has come at a price. There have been almost inevitable human rights abuses inflicted upon those resisting relocation since the Kuraz Sugar Development programme began last June. A report [PDF] by the Oakland Institute, a US-based think-tank, details how Ethiopian Defence Forces "arrive at Omo Valley villages (and in particular Bodi, Mursi and Suri villages) questioning villagers about their perspectives on the sugar plantations. Villagers are expected to voice immediate support, otherwise beatings (including the use of tasers), abuse and general intimidation occurs".

Other allegations of abuse to have leaked out include the rape of male tribesmen, as well as of women and children by Ethiopian soldiers. Dozens of villagers from the region also remain in detention after voicing opposition to the development plans.

Violent clashes between the Ethiopian army and tribes from the region are on the rise. A local human rights worker told me of their fears of an escalation in the crisis to civil war. "Many tribes are saying they will fight back rather than be moved off their traditional lands to make way for these plantations. They are living in fear but feel they have nothing to lose by fighting back."

Roadblocks are now in place in many parts of the Lower Omo Valley, limiting accessibility and ensuring the relocations remain out of the spotlight. Tribal rights NGO Survival International is leading calls for a freeze on plantation building and for a halt to the evictions. They have been campaigning to draw more attention to the deteriorating situation in the region since the Ethiopian government announced plans for the Gib III Dam [PDF] - Africa's tallest, and one that is scheduled for completion later this year.

Officials must expect tribes to fight, rather than be moved off their traditional lands [Dominic Brown/Al Jazeera]

When completed, it threatens to destroy a fragile environment and the livelihoods of the tribes, which are closely linked to the river and its annual flood. Up to 500,000 people - including tribes in neighbouring Kenya - rely on the waters and adjacent lands of the Omo River and Lake Turkana, most of which lies in Kenya. The Karo people, now estimated to number just 1,500 along the eastern banks of the Omo River, face extinction. Already suffering from dwindling fish stocks as a result of the dam, the reduced river levels have also harmed their crop yields.

A 'worrying trend'

Liz Hunter, a campaigner at Survival International spoke of her alarm about the situation facing those in the region. "We are extremely concerned about the leasing of the Omo Valley tribes' land by the Ethiopian government to state and foreign companies. By regulating the flow of the Omo, the dam will enable irrigation of the plantations. So the tribes face a double whammy - loss of the natural flood and therefore their ability to feed themselves through the flood retreat cultivation, and now loss of cattle grazing land to state and foreign companies."

Land grabbing is becoming a worrying trend throughout rural Ethiopia and is not isolated to the Lower Omo Valley region. Human Rights Watch stated in a recent report that the Ethiopian government's "failure to provide food assistance for relocated people has caused endemic hunger and cases of starvation".

More than 70,000 people are estimated to have been forced off their land in the Gambella Region in the west of the country to make way for Saudi Arabian and Chinese-owned rice growing plantations. The Ethiopian government maintains that much of the land they are leasing to foreign investors is unfarmed and unsuitable for smallholder farmers. But Tichafa Makovere, a permaculture and farming expert from Zimbabwe, disputes this stance. "One can never say that land is not in use. Even unfarmed land provides a vital habitat for wildlife. To tamper with it affects ecosystems that we all depend upon for our survival."

The increasing levels of foreign influence are also raising anxiety amongst people in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. "It's a new form of colonialism," one Ethiopian NGO worker told me in a coffee house. "We fear where we will we be in ten years' time, when more and more of our land is controlled by these foreign investors." Anxiety threatens to swell to resentment, with many Chinese and Indian companies operating in the country flying in their own workers, depriving Ethiopians of work, and ultimately leading to huge reserves of money leaving the country.

With thousands facing uncertain futures, never before has sugar left such a sour taste in the mouth.

Dominic Brown is an independent filmmaker, writer and human rights campaigner. His latest documentary is Forgotten Bird of Paradise.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Ethiopian Anti-Terrorism Law to Quell Dissent (HRLHA Press Release)

2012-02-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

Ethiopian Anti-Terrorism Law to Quell Dissent

By (HRLHA web) admin, on February 5th, 2012

HRLHA Press Release, February 4, 2012

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) strongly denounces the life in prison sentence for blogger and long year in prison sentence for two journalists and two political leaders passed by the Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012 and [...]

Click here to read more

The Abused Terms of 'JUSTICE', 'FREEDOM' and 'DEMOCRACY' (OLF InfoDesk)

2012-01-28T22:19:00.000-08:00

The Abused Terms of 'JUSTICE', 'FREEDOM' and 'DEMOCRACY'

(OLF Infodesk)

The Abused Terms of 'JUSTICE', 'FREEDOM' and 'DEMOCRACY'

Afaan Oromon dubbisuuf as tuqi

Click here to read in AMharic

"The 'G7' Betrayal at Kelly Inn" (Special report @ Gadaa.com)

2012-01-15T08:08:00.000-08:00

"The 'G7' Betrayal at Kelly Inn"

A group of no more than seven individuals (Group-7 or 'G7'), known as the BG Kemal Gelchu's Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), are accused of betraying the Kaayyoo (The Objectives) of the Oromo national liberation struggle at a meeting convened at Kelly Inn in St. Paul, MN, on January 1, 2012. According to media reports, most leaders and members of the previous larger faction, OLF-Change/Jijirama, had broken ranks with Kemal Gelchu's OLF in the weeks and months leading up to the January 1 meeting, as well as during and immediately after the meeting.

This page chronicles the incident, which has become to be known as "The 'G7' Betrayal at Kelly Inn" in some Oromo discussion forums, and its aftermath.

For more details, visit Gadaa.com website

Press Release: Detention and Mistreatment can never stop our struggle (National YOuth Movement of Qeerroo)

2012-01-05T05:48:00.000-08:00

Press Release:
Detention and Mistreatment can never
stop our struggle
National Youth Movement of Qeerroo

January 3, 2012

Due to 20 years of continued repression and brutality of the EPRDF government on the Oromo and other nations in Ethiopia, the National Youth Movement of Qeerroo was formed in April 2011 and was trying to air loudly the voice of the Ethiopian people in general and the Oromo people in particular. The last two decades have naked the cheap behavior of the dictator government of Ethiopia that it is not ready for any peaceful dialogue and its inability to listen to the voice of the people.

Click here to read the press release

The Loser Splinter Group Can't Represent The OLF (OLF InfoDesk Press Release)

2012-01-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

The Loser Splinter Group Can't Represent The OLF

OLF InfoDesk Press Release

(Download and Read the Amharic Version of OLF InfoDesk's Press Release)

Garoma B. Wakessa - Oromo Person of the Year 2011 (Gadaa.com)

2011-12-30T04:29:00.000-08:00

Garoma B. Wakessa - Oromo Person of the Year 2011

For being the leading voice of the voiceless in the human rights movement in the Horn of Africa, for educating the public about human rights, and for being the unyielding advocate for justice and freedom.

Born in 1958 in the then Wollega Province in western Oromia, Mr. (Obbo) Garoma B. Wakessa's life is a testament for the endurance of the human spirit in the face of atrocities and injustice.

He had been a high school teacher, and had later become a science professional after earning a Master's degree in the U.S.S.R. in 1989. But, soon after his graduation, the rest of his life would change from that of a scientist to that of a newspaper editor-in-chief, and then a human rights advocate.

READ THE FULL STORY @ Gadaa.com

TPLF/EPRDF's Cangaroo Court Sentences 2 Sewidish Journalists to 11 Years in Prison

2011-12-26T21:47:00.001-08:00

Ethiopia jails two Swedish journalists for aiding rebels

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA | Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:22am EST

(Reuters) - An Ethiopian court sentenced two Swedish journalists Tuesday to 11 years in prison for helping and promoting the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group and entering the country illegally.

Last week's guilty verdicts had provoked anger in Swedish media and accusations the case had taken on a political dimension.

Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in July after they entered the Ogaden province from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region with ONLF fighters.

"The court has sentenced both defendants to 11 years. We have heard both cases ... and we believe this is an appropriate sentence," Judge Shemsu Sirgaga told the court.

Shemsu said the convictions warranted a sentence of up to 14 and a half years, but noted the freelance journalists' good behavior. The prosecution had asked for 18 and a half years.

"It wasn't an entirely unexpected sentence. It is regrettable in light of their journalistic assignment," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Anders Jorle said. "The Swedish government's view is known, among other things through the prime minister's statement last week."

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said last week Sweden was seriously concerned about the judgment and the journalists should be freed as soon as possible.

The two Swedes had also been charged with terrorism but were acquitted in November on that count, as the court did not believe they were involved in carrying out any attacks. They did admit to crossing the border without a permit.

Schibbye and Persson both looked at the judge without expression as the sentence was read out and then translated by their lawyer. No family members were present.

One of the journalists' lawyers said his clients were weighing the option of an appeal, but that for now there was no talk of pleading for clemency.

"We are only talking about the possibility of appealing for the time being, which follows judicial procedure," defense lawyer Sileshi Ketsela told Reuters.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Schibbye and Petersson's Swedish lawyer told Sweden's SVT television channel that the pair were innocent reporters doing their job in a "closed area" and denounced the sentence as "completely unacceptable."

"This is judgment that represents a threat against foreign correspondents, against journalists who are trying to do their job," Thomas Olsson told the public channel in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

This year, Ethiopia has detained more than 150 people, including reporters, in a crackdown the opposition says is designed to stifle moves toward more democracy. The government vehemently denies such accusations.

Diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Sweden have become increasingly strained in the last couple of years, analysts say.

Ethiopia's opposition leader Birtukan Mideska, who was convicted of treason after violence broke out following a presidential poll in 2005 and then pardoned, was thrown back in prison in 2008 after flying to Stockholm and publicly disputing Addis Ababa's version of the pardon.

Birtukan was released in 2010, four months after presidential elections, and is now in the United States.

"The authorities in Addis Ababa seemed to have been rankled with the perceived backing of Ethiopia's opposition by Stockholm," A Western diplomat, who declined to be named, said.

Sweden has also been critical of Ethiopia's human rights track record. Addis Ababa said in 2010 it planned to shut its mission in Stockholm as there was no significant development cooperation or trade ties between the two countries.

A spokesman for Ethiopia's justice ministry said claims the trial had been politicized were unfounded.

"How can there be a political motive when prosecutors provided evidence throughout the trial and the defendants themselves admitted to entering the country illegally with rebels?" spokesman Desalegn Deressa told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Mia Shanley in Stockholm; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by David Clarke)

Source: Reuters

TPLF/EPRDF's Cangaroo Court Sentences 2 Sewidish Journalists to 11 Years in Prison

2011-12-26T21:47:00.000-08:00