Ethiopia: Tigrean Nationalism: From Revolutionary Force to Weapon of Repression

By Jawar Siraj Mohammed
Read PDF Here

Browse through any Ethiopian websites, and you will discover that almost every article or commentary says something about the Tigrean domination of the country. The cyber world is crammed with statistics, testimonies, conspiracy theories and condemnations. Some of the fervent cases brought forth include;

• How Tigray disproportionally benefits under this regime,
• How 95% of all important military and security posts have been occupied by ethnic
• Tigreans,
• Reports over the TPLF-owned giant conglomerate known by its acronym, EFFORT
• Accounts of how the Tigrean-only Agazi commando force has been used to commit
• heinous crimes,
• The meteoric rise of Tigrean elites into the club of world millionaires,
• And denunciations of the unacceptable monopolization of the church and mosque
• leadership by rebels-turned-men-of-God.

Most of these allegations are true, while some are perhaps exaggerated. However, there is no doubt that they are indicative of the growing rift between Tigrean elites, who deny or defend their hegemonic and exclusive economic advantage, and their adversaries, who offer evidence after evidence to back up their complaints. Read the rest in PDF Here


I have been a keen observer of how the system actually functions under the shadow of the current regime. As I read arguments and analyses provided by different individuals and groups, I find a lack of revealing analysis of the true purpose behind the blatantly pro-Tigrean policies of the current regime. Therefore, in this article I will analyze the trategies, tactics and politics behind the transformation of the TPLF from a peasant revolutionary force into Africa's richest oligarchy.Read the rest in PDF Here


First encounter with a Tigrean Nationalist
Read the rest in PDF Here


My initial encounter with a Tigrean nationalist took place sometime in the mid-„90s, at a time when the fight between TPLF and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) was at its peak. A discussion between an older neighbor and a TPLF soldier called Manjus caught my attention. Manjus was passionately talking about how he joined TPLF. His story begins about ten years earlier, when the young Tigrean and his sister were attending high school in a town far away from their village. One day, they returned home for a mid-semester vacation and found their village virtually burned to the ground. The two students came home to discover a completely demolished house, dead parents and whatever property the peasant family owned gone. In a tragic incident, the two siblings lost everything. They had no hope, no family or means of support that could help them go back to school. To make matters worse, they were told that the Derg cadres were hunting for them. As they tried to cope with the sudden shock, anger, and despair, they were met by TPLF recruiters who came with a promise of a means for revenge towards those who slaughtered their parents and also bring peace, justice and democracy to their oppressed Tigrean people. The helpless mourners and enraged youngsters could not resist the offer, so they joined the freedom fighters. A few years later, Manjus lost his sister to the war shortly before TPLF controlled Finfinne. Soon things turned upside down. When Meles replaced Mengistu, Manjus‟ turn came to chase another rebel group and burn down many other villages, including Read the rest in PDF Here

Ethiopia: Eritrea: Eritrea says it killed 10 TPLF troops

By Ethioguardian

ZALAM BESA: Eritrea's government has said its troops killed 10 TPLF, Ethiopia’s dictatorial regime ruling party, soldiers after they attacked Eritrean positions on New Year's day, something TPLF, also called Woyane, in Addis Ababa has denied.

A statement dated January 2 on the website, run by the Eritrean ministry of information, said: "In the early morning hours of January 1st 2010, TPLF soldiers launched successive attacks in the Zalam besa front and were swiftly driven back with 10 of their soldiers killed and two captured."

TPLF (Woyane) is Ethiopia’s dictatorial regime ruling party. Although TPLF (Woyane) claims TPLF to be a partner in a ruling coalition, the other parties that made up the EPRDF, the name of the coalition, does not have any impact in any decision making process. TPLF represents Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, which advocates the independence of Tigray, a province in the northern part of Ethiopia, since its foundation in the 1970’s. TPLF controls more than 90% of the Ethiopian army important positions and other governmental positions.

In Ethiopia, Bereket Simon, the TPLF government's head of information, accused the Eritrean government of trying to cover up an attack by Eritrean rebels in which 25 Eritrean government soldiers were killed.

"This new allegation that it killed TPLF (Woyane) soldiers is an attempt by the regime in Asmara to deflect its internal crisis by implicating Ethiopia," he told Reuters.


The Eritrean rebels in Ethiopia are trained and supported by the Ethiopian TPLF regime. TPLF also allows the settling of Eritrean rebels in Ethiopia, and gave them the chance to use Ethiopia as a base to attack Eritrea.

The two Horn of Africa neighbours have had long running hostilities and tensions simmer along their common border due to a dispute over the lines of the border.


The U.N. security council voted to slap sanctions against Eritrea last week on accusations of supporting and arming Somalia's hardline Islamist insurgents.


Some of the information was taken from Reuters

Ethiopia: US professor among 5 sentenced to die in Ethiopia

By SAMSON HAILEYESUS (AP)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — An Ethiopian court sentenced five people to death — including an Ethiopian professor teaching at a U.S. university — and 33 to life in prison Tuesday for being members of a terror group and conspiring to assassinate government officials.

Those convicted have been accused of being members of the Ginbot 7 — May 15 in the Ethiopian calendar — which refers to Ethiopia's election day in 2005 when postelection violence killed close to 200 people.

Among those sentenced to death was Berhanu Nega, an exiled opposition leader who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005. Berhanu is currently an associate professor of economics at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.

Three of the other five sentenced to death are also living in exile outside Ethiopia; one is in custody.


The prosecution asked the court to impose severe penalties because many of the accused were members of the army. Many of those convicted were expected to appeal.

All but two of the defendants in Ethiopian custody have proclaimed their innocence. Two defendants cooperated with the prosecution and were sentenced to 10 years.

Berhanu and more than 100 other opposition politicians were arrested after the 2005 election and put on trial for treason. Berhanu and others were pardoned and freed after 20 months, but the government last week revoked Berhanu's pardon.

According to a Bucknell University article on Berhanu, the economics professor was a leader in the democratic opposition in Ethiopia after returning there in the mid-1990s. In 2005, he become the first elected mayor in Ethiopia's history with 75 percent of the vote, but the ruling party declared victory in races throughout the country.

"Thus ended the Ethiopian democratic experiment that had started with such high hopes, leaving the country in the darkness of totalitarian rule," Berhanu said during a talk on campus last year.

Berhanu was jailed after the election and released after 20 months in July 2007. Since his release, he has urged the U.S. and other Western countries to back democratic movements in Ethiopia and withdraw support for dictatorships.

Opposition politicians have for months been pointing to signs of increased oppression in Ethiopia, notably the harassment and arrest of thousands of their candidates in 2008's local elections that they believe allowed the ruling party to sweep the elections.

Ethiopia: Ethiopia death sentences over assassination plot (BBC)

BBC
An Ethiopian court has sentenced five people to death and 33 others to life in prison for planning to assassinate government officials.

Prosecutors had said the convicted were part of the Ginbot 7 (15 May) group led by Berhanu Nega, a US-based dissident.

He was among those sentenced to death, as was opposition leader Melaku Tefera.

Mr Melaku was present in the Addis Ababa courtroom with 27 other accused. Some of the defendants have said they were tortured into confessing.



Convicting the men in November, Judge Adem Ibrahim said the court had not been convinced of the torture allegations.

The authorities have said they found weapons, including land mines, at the men's homes when they were arrested in April.


Army officers sentenced

"The... five have committed grave offences and four of them have not learnt from their previous sentences," said Judge Adem passing down the sentences.

"Therefore, we have been been obliged to give the most severe sentences."

Relatives of the men broke down in the courtroom as the sentences were read out, says the BBC's correspondent in Addis Ababa, Uduak Amimo.

The death sentences were reserved for what the court called the political leaders of the plot while those sentenced to life imprisonment were active or former military officers, AFP news agency said.

Lawyers for the defence said they would appeal.

The authorities have long accused Mr Berhanu of spearheading opposition plots.

He was arrested after being elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005 and jailed for treason.

He was pardoned in 2007 and left for the United States, where he began teaching economics at a university.

Mr Berhanu denies engaging in armed struggle against the government.

Rights groups have expressed concern that the government is trying to silence dissent before Ethiopia holds its next national election in June 2010.

Ethiopia: EPRDF's kangaroo court court sentences 5 coup plotters to death, 33 life imprisonment

By AFP

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – An Ethiopian kangaroo court on Tuesday sentenced five opposition leaders to death and 33 other people to life imprisonment for plotting to assassinate government officials, an AFP correspondent reported.

The Ethiopian government claimed in April it had uncovered a plot to kill government officials and sabotage infrastructure by a group called "Ginbot 7" allegedly led by the main opposition challenger in the disputed 2005 elections.

"The following five have committed grave offences and four of them have not learnt from their previous sentences," Judge Adam Ibrahim of the federal High Court said.

"Therefore we have been obliged to give the most severe sentences," he said.

Many of the accused were sentenced in absentia, including the alleged mastermind of the plot, US-exiled Berhanu Nega who served two years in prison after accusing Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's regime of stealing the 2005 polls.

Twenty-eight of those sentenced were present in the Addis Ababa courtroom, including Melaku Tefera, a senior opposition member who was among those sentenced to death.
The death sentences were handed down to the alleged political leaders of the plot while most of the 33 slapped with life in prison are active or retired army officers.

Death sentences are regularly pronounced in the east African nation -- the continent's second most populous -- but rarely carried out. The last execution is believed to have taken place in 2007.

The defendants' relatives and lawyers said they would appeal the sentences.

"I will appeal, I'm not satisfied with the decision. It's harsh, I hope it will be reversed after we appeal it," said Tidenekyalesh Tesfa, whose client Getu Worku was sentenced to life and had his property confiscated.

The relative of another army officer who was sentenced to life in jail struggled to hold back her tears after the sentences were pronounced.

"It's a pity. There is no justice in Ethiopia... the evidence was incomplete," she told AFP on condition of anonymity. "He served his country, he sacrificed his whole life for the military... but for what?"

The trial, one of the most high-profile in the country's recent history, comes against a tense political backdrop, ahead of general elections scheduled for May next year.

Rights groups have accused Meles' regime of instilling a climate of fear ahead of the polls.

"The spectre of the 2005 crackdown on the opposition and on the independent press is resurfacing in the run-up to the May 2010 general elections," the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said in a recent statement.

A senior US official also voiced concern last month at what he described as a "reduction in political space and the ability of opposition parties to operate."

Some 200 people died in violence that erupted following the disputed results of the 2005 elections.

Berhanu Nega's now-defunct opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy had won an unprecedented number of seats.

===================================================================================

Ethiopia death sentences over assassination plot (BBC)


An Ethiopian court has sentenced five people to death and 33 others to life in prison for planning to assassinate government officials.

Prosecutors had said the convicted were part of the Ginbot 7 (15 May) group led by Berhanu Nega, a US-based dissident.

He was among those sentenced to death, as was opposition leader Melaku Tefera.

Mr Melaku was present in the Addis Ababa courtroom with 27 other accused. Some of the defendants have said they were tortured into confessing.



Convicting the men in November, Judge Adem Ibrahim said the court had not been convinced of the torture allegations.

The authorities have said they found weapons, including land mines, at the men's homes when they were arrested in April.


Army officers sentenced

"The... five have committed grave offences and four of them have not learnt from their previous sentences," said Judge Adem passing down the sentences.

"Therefore, we have been been obliged to give the most severe sentences."

Relatives of the men broke down in the courtroom as the sentences were read out, says the BBC's correspondent in Addis Ababa, Uduak Amimo.

The death sentences were reserved for what the court called the political leaders of the plot while those sentenced to life imprisonment were active or former military officers, AFP news agency said.

Lawyers for the defence said they would appeal.

The authorities have long accused Mr Berhanu of spearheading opposition plots.

He was arrested after being elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005 and jailed for treason.

He was pardoned in 2007 and left for the United States, where he began teaching economics at a university.

Mr Berhanu denies engaging in armed struggle against the government.

Rights groups have expressed concern that the government is trying to silence dissent before Ethiopia holds its next national election in June 2010.

Ethiopia: USA and Vatican accuse the Ethiopian government of unequal power sharing

By Ethioguardian

The United States of America today accused the Ethiopian government of favoring one ethnicity in appointing government positions. Mr. Douglas M. Griffiths, USA representative in the United Nations Human Rights Council, stated that: “Independent observers have noted…that most senior government positions are overwhelmingly represented by one ethnicity”, and recommended Ethiopia to examine and adjust the ethnic balance in government positions as the Ethiopian governments policy of Ethnic Federalism promotes. The Vatican also emphasized on the importance of a more equitable power sharing.

Over 50 countries forwarded questions and recommendations to the government of Ethiopia in the Universal Periodic Review, the human rights exam of the United Nations, held in Geneva today.

In response to the American criticism the Head of the Ethiopian delegation, H.E. Mr. Fisseha Yimer, Special Adviser to the Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, classified the accusation as “speculation”, “off the mark” and “wrong”. He promised the countries interested in this issue to come up with proof of the opposite.

Many participants asked questions about the infamous Charities and Societies Proclamation, The Mass Media Law and Anti terrorism Law, restrictive legislations, which are widely condemned by donors and international human rights groups.
In his introductory statement Mr. Yimer indicated that the Ethiopian population misunderstands international human rights norms, which makes it difficult for the government to implement international human rights standards in the Ethiopian society. This shows how the Ethiopian regime underestimates its own people. Knowing the amount of political prisoners, media repression and reports of violations of human rights at the moment, the Ethiopian delegation tried to cover up the dictatorial nature of the regime.

Answering questions from France on the 2005 election and its bloody aftermath, Mr. Yimer said that it was a past issue and that the outcome of the national inquiry was satisfactory. Many members of the opposition fled the country in 2005, including some members of the inquiry commission, after being harassed by Ethiopian government forces. Harassment on opposition and media freedom, raised by Australia, made Mr. Yimer laugh out loud and say: “There is no harassment!”.

Questions about the case of Birtukan Mideksa, the imprisoned leader of Ethiopia’s main opposition party, were completely ignored by the Ethiopian delegation.

Most of the countries asked access to detention centers and visits of special rapporteurs, individuals working on behalf of the United Nations who bear a specific mandate from the UN Human Rights Council, to investigate issues on arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions, torture etcetera. In the past years, the Ethiopian government was requested to grant access to these special rapporteurs, requests which have not been granted so far. Mr.Yimer, the head of the delegation, answered saying this was not possible due to the limited capacity of the country.

The grave human rights violations committed by Ethiopian government military forces in the Somali region (Ogaden), described by Human Right Watch as genocide, were also raised by, mainly Western, countries. Mr.Yimer ignored answering these questions.
Unsurprisingly, countries benefiting from Ethiopia’s recourses, such as India and China, and most African countries, were mostly praising the Ethiopian regime for their achievements on the Millennium Development Goals and Social, Economic and Cultural Rights.

The Ethiopian delegation will present written answers to all the questions raised today, before the final report of the UPR will be adopted on Friday 11 december 2009.

Ethiopia: “Shame” agreement for 2010 EPRDF elections

By Ethioguardian

The ruling party is paving the way for a 99 % election victory by excluding strong opposition parties, intimidating members of strong political movements, imprisoning charismatic opposition leaders and by embracing weak and/or sister organizations.

The Ethiopian ruling party (EPRDF), it sister political parties and the controversial Ethiopian businessman (Hailu Shawel) signed an agreement for the 2010 EPRDF election. The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), All Ethiopian Unity Organization (AEUO), the Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) and the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) were the parties to the discussion.

The Electoral Code of Conduct agreement was signed excluding the leading opposition political parties UDJ, Medrek, Ginbot7, OLF and EPRP. MEDREK a forum for eight political parties, walked out of the negotiation saying the government set the negotiation on topics that are concerning the interests of the ruling party. Ginbot7 boycotted any political participation in the current system of government and started an all-inclusive political movement from exile.

The parties who signed the election campaign are sister organizations of the ruling party and a fading political movement led by Hailu Shawel. EDP, led by the long time EPRDF puppet, Lidetu Ayale, who infiltrated the opposition for long time and exposed in the 2005 election, lost its public support both inside the country and the Diaspora. The other EPRDF sister party led by Ayele Chamiso was awarded the name and sign of the popular opposition movement (CUD) by the ruling party court, hijacking the popularity of the opposition movement. The third party that signed the electoral code of conduct is led by the controversial business man, Hailu shawel, 76 and suffering from diabetics, is also a dying political figure and origination that does not have any political impact in the country. The ruling party is using the sister parties and weak opposition figures to create confusion among the public and the international community.

The charismatic leader of one of the excluded popular party (UDJ), Birtukan Mideksa, is languishing in EPRDF prison on fabricated charges. Berhanu Nega, a former leader of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and now a member of the Ginbot 7 said Ethiopia is not a conducive country for democracy. Nega said the 2010 election will most likely be similar to the 2008 local election when he said Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling party won 99 point nine percent of the vote.

The ruling party is paving the way for a 99 % election victory by excluding the strong opposition parties, intimidating members of strong political movements, imprisoning charismatic opposition leaders and by embracing weak and/or sister organizations.

Meles Zenawi, a rebel leader who took power in 1991, is running for another term in office, to be in the prime minister, the most important office in the Ethiopian government, for more than 20 years.
Ethiopians are dissatisfied with the performance of Zenawi’s regime. The ever-increasing living cost, drought, unnecessary war in Somalia, increasing ethnic conflicts, corruption, Genocidal acts on ethnic minority of Anuak and Ogaden region, media monopoly and other dictatorial actions of the regime have made Zenawi’s regime very unpopular. Zenawi’s EPRDF does not have any chance of winning the 2010 election without intimidation, creating confusion, and election fraud.

The controversial national elections will be held on 15 May 2010.

It should be recalled that zenawi’s EPRDF rigged the 2005 elections and took power by force killing hundreds of civilians, imprisoning thousands, silencing the media and jailing almost all opposition leaders.