Melbournians Hold a Concert for Oromo Human Rights

Melbournians Hold a Concert for Oromo Human Rights

(Advocacy for Oromia, 12 August 2014) — The Human Rights Concert for Oromia was held in Ascot Vale, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, on August 9, 2014.

Bonsen Dhabasa, 10 years old boy who was six months old when his father was arrested; five years old when his mother was imprisoned presented his memoir of persecution account on this Human Rights for Oromia concert in Melbourne.

This is our Human Rights Concert. The people coming together as one and uniting against a common enemy! Corrupt power. We are the voice of the people! This is dedicated to those suffering under suppression and Human Rights Abuses. The people on the ground who are treated like collateral damage by those who have vested interests and no concern for human values or human rights!

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Bloggers and journalists who criticise the government are under the cosh

August 7, 2014 (The Economist) — A RANKING that countries do not aspire to ascend is the one compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based group. It reckons that Ethiopia is Africa’s second-worst jailer of journalists, ahead only of its ultra-repressive neighbour and bitter enemy, Eritrea. Cementing its lamentable reputation, on August 4th Ethiopia briefly resumed the trial of ten journalists and bloggers, nine of whom it has kept in prison since April; one is being tried in absentia. The court proceedings are to start again in earnest on August 20th.

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Washington Meeting of African Leaders Opens to Protests

Washington Meeting of African Leaders Opens to Protests

August 5, 2014, WASHINGTON (The New York Times) — Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the State Department on Monday, the start of a summit meeting here of more than 40 African heads of state, to denounce some of the leaders as “torturers” and “killers.”

The protesters, who were mostly from Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, said they were angry that the White House was looking to enhance economic ties with repressive governments. “Stop financing dictators,” the crowd chanted. “President Obama, shame on you.”

Obang Metho, director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia, referenced Mr. Obama’s message to African leaders during his 2009 trip. “Africa doesn’t need strongmen. It needs strong institutions,” Mr. Obama said at the time.

“Now he is sitting with strongmen,” Mr. Metho said. “Where are the strong institutions?”

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US-Africa: Make Human Rights Central to Summit

US-Africa: Make Human Rights Central to Summit

Obama Should Press African Leaders to End Repression

August 5, 2014, Washington, DC (HRW) – US President Barack Obama should ensure that human rights concerns are a major focus of the US-Africa Leaders Summit, Human Rights Watch said today. Rights concerns should not be relegated to meetings in the margins of the summit. The theme of the August 4-6, 2014 summit in Washington, DC, is “Investing in Our Future.”

The summit will host some 45 African heads of state, at least a dozen of whom lead repressive governments that have imprisoned journalists, human rights defenders, and anti-corruption campaigners. Many have approved laws that stifle freedom of expression and used national security, defamation, and anti-terrorism laws to prosecute independent writers, protesters, and activists who criticize government policy.

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Ethiopian photojournalist Aziza Mohamed held without charge

Ethiopian photojournalist Aziza Mohamed held without charge

Aziza Mohamed was arrested while covering Muslim protests. (Facebook/Addis Guday)

August 2, 2014, Nairobi–CPJ is alarmed by the detention of Addis Guday (“Addis Affairs”) photojournalist Aziza Mohamed, who has been in custody for two weeks without charge. Police arrested Aziza on July 18 while she was covering Muslim protests near Anwar Mosque in the capital Addis Ababa, local journalists told CPJ. She is being held at the Addis Ababa police headquarters.

Police investigators presented Aziza before the Kirkos First Bench Court today but requested further time for their probe before bringing formal charges, local journalists said. According to local journalists who attended the hearing, police told the court that Aziza was inciting protesters to violence during the demonstration. However, Aziza told colleagues who visited her in detention that plainclothes policemen arrested her in a café near the protests, likely after noticing her camera. Police searched Aziza’s home on July 26 and confiscated several music compact discs, local journalists said.

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Ethiopian runners: Police confirm athletes defected to escape civil unrest

Ethiopian runners: Police confirm athletes defected to escape civil unrest

The names of the four pictured athletes are (from left to right): Amanuel Abebe Atibeha; Dureti Edao; Meaza Kebede; Zeyituna Mohammed.

August 2, 2014 (WSJ) — The four Ethiopian runners who disappeared from the IAAF Junior World Championships in Eugene this past weekend defected from their home country to avoid returning to widespread civil unrest there, police confirmed in a report released late Friday.

The report, provided by police in Federal Way, Washington, describes an interview with Zeyituna Mohammed, an 18-year-old woman runner on the Ethiopian national team. She told police that she and the other athletes decided to stay in the U.S. because they were too afraid to return to Ethiopia.

The report confirms for the first time what many close to the case, including the team’s coaches, had suspected — that the athletes’ disappearance was part of a plan to defect from Ethiopia.

Mohammed told authories she may seek asylum in the U.S., but she is not certain of her plans. It remains unclear whether the other three athletes, whom police  found in Beaverton earlier this week, are planning to do so.

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#OromoProtests: Oromo Peaceful Protest Rally in Washington, DC- August 01, 2014.

#OromoProtests: Oromo Peaceful Protest Rally in Washington, DC- August 01, 2014.