{"id":16068,"date":"2018-01-22T00:04:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T00:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/?p=16068"},"modified":"2018-01-22T00:04:09","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T00:04:09","slug":"ethiopia-the-chronic-political-economical-and-social-crisis-in-ethiopia-needs-a-genuine-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/?p=16068","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia: The Chronic, Political, Economical and Social Crisis in Ethiopia Needs A Genuine Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tHRLHA Urgent Action
\n5- 2015-OSA (1)<\/a>
\nJanuary 21, 2018
\nThe promise of the Ethiopian Authorities started to become practical on January 17, 2018 when they released 115 federal inmates, including Dr. Maria Gudina, the OFC leader. The release of a few political prisoners could be a good start- if the regime continues to release all political prisoners, including those forcefully disappeared under the current regime. A few political prisoners being released, however, is synonymous to picking a few individual grains out of a ton of grains
\nHaile Mariam Dessalegn, the PM of Ethiopia, opened a Pandora’s Box of the EPRDF over the past twenty-five years and committed crimes against citizens under the fa\u00e7ade of democracy. Government officials have denied repeatedly for many years that they have been holding political prisoners and having torture chambers such as Maikelawi in which the political prisoners have been tortured in the past two and half decades under the EPRDF government.
\nThe Maikelawi detention center, also known as the Ethiopian Guantanamo, is situated in the center of Addis Ababa, the capital city that has been used as a torture chamber for supporters and members of opposition political organizations up to the present.
\nOn January 3, 2018, the Ethiopian government declared that it would free all political prisoners and shut down the Maiklawi, the torture chamber. But the government didn’t mention how many political prisoners the government has held since it came to power in 1991. How many citizens were forcefully disappeared? How many torture centers are there in the country?
\nThe announcement by Hailemariam Dessalegn also said the political prisoners will be released in an effort to \u201ccreate a national consensus and widen the political space\u201d.
\n However, the PM didn’t say anything about the fundamental issue in the country which has brought millions to the streets in the past three years: the demand for freedom, equality and justice.
\nDuring this long and persistent mass uprising in Ethiopia, over 4,000 mostly youth members have been murdered by the Federal Military Force, Killing Squad, the Agazi in Oromia Regional State, hundreds have been wounded, tens of thousands have been incarcerated in different concentration camps, military camps, police stations and tortured and disabled by the regime’s military and security apparatus.
\n As the EPRDF acknowledged multiple times during its political cadres meetings and media briefings, the main reasons for the uprisings in the Oromia and Amhara Regional States were bad governance, corruption, nepotism and lack of democracy. After the multiple meetings with their members, the EPRDF government authorities vowed to bring about reforms within the EPRDF and all government apparatus including the military to solve the chronic, political, economical and social crisis the country encountered in the past years. But can Ethiopia reform its economic, political and military institutions?
\nThe government should not confuse the citizens and the world community with its empty promise that ” the political prisoners will be released as an effort to create a national consensus and widen the political space”. The government\u2019s release of all political prisoners, including those forcefully disappeared in the past two and half decades, cannot alone bring about a national consensus and widen the political space. The EPRDF must show a willingness to open its door for dialogue with all stakeholders, political opposition parties operating in the country and abroad to bring genuine change to the country.
\nThe present political, economic and social situation in Ethiopia is dire. The government authorities are working day and night to abort the political turmoil in the country to stay in power through military suppression. Today, the Oromia Regional State is totally under the control of the Federal Military Force ” National Security Council” that has dominated the administration, regional police, and security activities. This is the second time the Oromia Regional State has come under military rule after the state of Emergency of October 8, 2016 which stayed in effect for ten months.
\nSince the National Security Council was introduced in November 2017 and deployed in Oromia Regional State, many youths have been detained in different parts of Oromia Regional State. This current mass arrest in Oromia Regional State contradicts the government’s promises to release political prisoners as an effort to create a national consensus and widen the political space.
\n Recommendations
\nTo the Government of Ethiopia:
\n\u2022\tDisclose the number of political prisoners held in federal prisons and regional state prisons, military camps, and hidden underground prisons
\n\u2022\tDisclose the number of forcefully disappeared supporters and members of opposition political organizations confined in secret prison camps, underground prison cells under federal security control and in regional states- especially secret prison camps for forcefully disappeared citizens in the Tigray Regional State (See the partial list of forcefully disappread Oromo nationals below)
\n\u2022\tReturn the Federal Government, Military and Special Killing Squad (Agazi) camped in university campuses to their original military camp
\n\u2022\tBring to justice, by prosecuting in accordance with international fair trial standards any state or party officials involved in violations of human rights
\n\u2022\tInvite all inclusive stakehoiders to genuine dialogue to create a national consensus among citizens<\/p>\n

The following disappeared are just a few among many
\n#\tName\tDisappeared\t\t#\tName\tDisappeared
\n1\tDabasa Guyyo\t2015\t\t17\tKasahun Terfa Muleta\t1993
\n2\tYosef Ayele Bati\t1992\t\t18\tArarso Badhadha\t1999
\n3\tBekele Dawano\t1993\t\t19\tJemal Husen\t1994
\n4\tJemal Husen\t1994\t\t20\tEda’a (Dani’el)\t–
\n5\tNadi Gemeda\t1994\t\t21\tAlemayhu Duguma\t1994
\n6\tMustefa Idiris\t1994\t\t22\tTemesgen (Kidnaped with Jireenya Ayyana (#10)\t–
\n7\tSadik Umer\t1994\t\t23\tMegersa Dhufa Horo\t1995
\n8\tDereje Dame\t1994\t\t24\tAmanti Abdisa Jigi\t1996
\n9\tTemesgen Adaba\t1995\t\t25\tWorku Uwissa\t1996
\n10\tJiregna Ayana\t1995\t\t26\tMulugeta Badhassa\t1997
\n11\tKasahun Habte\t1996\t\t27\tNamarsan Dadhi\t1997
\n12 \tMitiku Wadajo\t–\t\t28\tTamiru Ajama\t1999
\n13\tXilahun Gerbi\t–\t\t29\tIdossa Belayi Mumicha\t2000
\n14\tHunduma kaba\t–\t\t30\tBenti Gudeta \t1992
\n15\tHabtamu Tadesse\t–\t\t31\tTakele Oljirra\t1992
\n16\tYohannes Ektera\t–\t\t32\tGirma Milkiya Dabalo\t1994<\/p>\n

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) urges Ethiopia\u2019s principal foreign donors in the name of “Development Assistance” – the IMF, World Bank, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the European Commission, Key European Union Member States ( Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany) Canada, Norway, Switzerland, and Japan- to seriously consider the fact that the TPLF\/EPRDF government has held on to power for years at the expense of Ethiopian peoples’ lives.
\nTherefore, the HRLHA calls upon the donor governments and government agencies to put pressure on the TPLF\/EPRDF government to begin an all- inclusive political dialogue to bring about a sustainable political solution which will guarantee the citizens their sustainable fundamental and basic rights.
\nCopied To:
\n\u2022\tUN Security Council
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\n\tRoom DC2 2206
\n\tUnited Nations
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\n\u2022\tAfrica Union (AU)
\nAfrican Union Headquarters
\nP.O. Box 3243 | Roosevelt Street (Old Airport Area) | W21K19 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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\nAfrican Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
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\n\tGambia
\n\tTel: (220) 441 05, 05, 441 05 06<\/p>\n

\u2022\tThe US Department of State
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\n\u2022\tMinister of Foreign Affairs (Norway)
\nHis Excellency B\u00f8rgeBrende
\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs
\nE-mail: post@mfa.no
\nPhone: + 47 23 95 00 00
\nAddress: 7. juniplassen 1, N-0032 Oslo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HRLHA Urgent Action 5- 2015-OSA (1) January 21, 2018 The promise of the Ethiopian Authorities started to become practical on January 17, 2018 when they released 115 federal inmates, including Dr. Maria Gudina, the OFC leader. The release of a few political prisoners could be a good start- if the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16071,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16068\/revisions\/16071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}