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”ከሕወሓት ጋር እደራደራለሁ” የጠቅላይሚኒስትሩ አስገራሚ የፓርላማ ውሎ |ETHIO FORUM

ጥልቅ ትንታኔ፡ ለወራት በዘለቀው ግጭት ከምዕራብ ኦሮሚያ የተፈናቀሉ በመቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ የአማራ ማህበረሰብ አባላት በአዲስ አበባ እና በአርሲ ዞን ተጠልለው ይገኛሉ

በአዲስ አበባ የአማራ ማህበረሰብ አባላት ከላይኛው ጫፍ ከግራ ወደ ቀኝ፡ ሴቶች፤ አረጋውያን እና ህፃናት: ታምሩ ደገፋ ሰው ተፈናዋዮችን ሲያፅናኑ፤ ካሳየው ለማ እና ቢራራ ጌታነው

በ እቴነሽ አበራ እና ጌታሁን ፀጋዬ

አዲስ አበባ፤ የካቲት 14፤2014-በምዕራብ ኦሮሚያ ይኖሩ የነበሩ በመቶዎች የሚቆጠሩ የአማራ ማህበረሰብ አባላት ለወራት በዘለቀው ጥቃትና እንግልት ምክያት ተፈናቅለው በአዲስ አበባ መጠለያ አየፈለጉ ነው። ሌሎች ደግሞ በኦሮሚያ ክልል አርሲ ዞን እንዲሄዱ መደረጉን አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ባደረገችው ምርመራ አረጋግጣለች።

ከጥር ወር መጨረሻ ሳምንት ጀምሮ የተፈናቀሉ የአማራ ማህበረሰብ አባላት በመዲናይቱ አዲስ አበባ በሚገኙ ሁለት የተለያዩ አብያተ ክርስቲያናት መጠለያ ፍለጋ ላይ እንደነበሩ አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ሪፖርት ደርሷታል። በወቅቱ ከሆሮ ጉድሩ ዞን የተፈናቀሉት በቂርቆስ ክፍለ ከተማ መስቀል አደባባይ አቅራቢያ በሚገኘው ቅዱስ እስጢፋኖስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ተጠልለው የነበረ ሲሆን ከምእራብ ወለጋ የተፈናቀሉት ደግሞ በየካ ክፍለ ከተማ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ቤተ ክርስቲያን ውስጥ ነበሩ። አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ሁለቱንም ቦታዎች ጎብኘታ ተፈናቃዮችን እና የማህበረሰብ አስተባባሪዎችን አነጋግራለች።

ከሆሮ ጉድሩ ዞን ተፈናቅለው በቂርቆስ ክፍለ ከተማ በሚገኘው ቅዱስ እስጢፋኖስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን የተጠለሉ
በጥር ወር መጨረሻ ሳምንት 30 ህፃናትን ጨምሮ በድምሩ 107 ተፈናቃዮች በአዲስ አበባ ቅዱስ እስጢፋኖስ ቤተክርስቲያን መግባታቸውን ዶይቸ ቬለ አማርኛ ዘግቧል። በመዲናይቱ ከደረሱት ተፈናቃዮች መካከል አንዳንዶቹ አሁንም ድረስ ቤተሰቦቻቸው ያሉበትን እንደማያውቁ በዘገባው ተጠቁሟል። ተፈናቃዮቹ ማንነታቸው ያልታወቁ ታጣቂዎች በሃይማኖት ተቋማት እና በነዋሪዎች ላይ በጅምላ ጥቃት ሲያደርሱ እንደነበር ተናግረዋል። ተፈናቃዮቹ ለአካባቢው አስተዳደር ያቀረቡት ተደጋጋሚ አቤቱታ ሰሚ ባለማግኘቱ ቅሬታቸውን ገልጸዋል።

ሌላው ቃለ መጠይቅ የተደረገላቸው ሰው ጥቃቱ ባለፈው አመት ሰኔ ወር ላይ መጀመሩን እና የኦሮሚያ ልዩ ሃይል እና የሀገር መከላከያ ሠራዊት በነሀሴ ወር ቢሰማሩም ጥቃቱን መከላከል እንዳለቻሉ ተናግሯል። “የመንግስት ሃይሎች ጭፍጨፋ ሲደርስባቸው ስናይ ከዚህ በላይ መቆየት አልቻልንም” ብለዋል።

አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ተፈናቃዮቹ ለ3 ቀናት በቤተክርስቲያኑ ውስጥ እንደቆዩ የተገነዘበች ሲሆን ወደ ዋና ከተማዋ የመጡበት ምክንያት ደገሞ “የኦሮሚያ ክልል መንግስት መፍትሄ እንዲሰጣቸው ለመጠየቅ” ነበር። አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ቤተክርስቲያኑን በጎበኘችበት ወቅት ተፈናቃዮቹ በፖሊስና በከተማው አስተዳደር ባለስልጣናት ታጅበው በአውቶብስ ሲጫኑ ተመልክታለች። በወቅቱ ተፈናቃዮቹ ለሚዲያ መናገር በጣም ይፈሩ ነበር። ፖሊሶች ደግሞ የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ነዋሪዎች ያመጡላቸውን እርዳታ እንዳይሰጧቸው እና እንዳያናግሯቸው ክልከላ ሲያደርጉ እንደነበር ታይተዋል። አዲስ ስታንዳርድን ካናገረቻቸው ተፈናቃዮች መካከል አንዱ “ወደ መጣንበት እየተመለስን ነው” ብሏል።

“ቋሚ መኖሪያ ቀያችን በሆሮ ጉዱሩ ወለጋ ዞን አቤ ዱንጉሩ ወረዳ ሆማ ጋሌሳ እና ቄሩ ቀበሌዎች ነበር። በግንቦት ወር የደረሰብንን የኦነግ/ሸኔን ጥቃት ሸሸን። በጥቃቱ የተነሳ በርካቶች ተገድለዋል፤ ቆስለዋል ቤቶች እና ቤተክርስትያናተን ጨምሮ በሚሊዮን ብር የሚገመቱ ንብረቶች ወድመዋል።”

አቶ ደስታ

የተፈናቃዮቹ ‘ወኪል’ መሆናቸውን የገለጹት አቶ ደስታ፣ ተፈናቃዮች በአውቶብስ ከእስቲፋኖስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ከተወሰዱ ከቀናት በኋላ ለአዲስ ስታንዳርድ እንደተናገሩት ከሁለት ሳምንት በፊት ከአርሲ ዞን 107 ተፈናቃዮች አዲስ አበባ እስጢፋኖስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ያላቸውን ስጋት ለመናገር መምጣታቸውን አስታውሰው፤ እስከ ግንቦት 2013 ዓም ድረስ በዚያው ዞን ሲኖሩ እንደነበር ገልጸዋል።

“ቋሚ መኖሪያ ቀያችን በሆሮ ጉዱሩ ወለጋ ዞን አቤ ዱንጉሩ ወረዳ ሆማ ጋሌሳ እና ቄሩ ቀበሌዎች ነበር። በግንቦት ወር የደረሰብንን የኦነግ/ሸኔን ጥቃት ሸሸን። በጥቃቱ የተነሳ በርካቶች ተገድለዋል፤ ቆስለዋል ቤቶች እና ቤተክርስትያናተን ጨምሮ በሚሊዮን ብር የሚገመቱ ንብረቶች ወድመዋል። በዚህም የተነሳ ወደ አርሲ ዞን መርቲ ወረዳ ጎሎጎታ ቀበሌ በሚገኘው መድሀኒአለም ቤተክርስትያን ተሰደድን። ከዚያን ጊዜ ጀምሮ መጠለያ እየፈለግን ነው ” በማለት አብራርተዋል።

አቶ ደስታ በአሁኑ ሰዓት በአርሲ ዞን 419 ተፈናቃዮች እርዳታ እንደሚያስፈልጋቸው ለአዲስ ስታንዳርድ ተናግረዋል። ደስታ አያይዘውም ከአርሲ ዞን ምንም አይነት እርዳታ ስላላገኘን ስጋታችንን ለመግለፅ ወደ አዲስ አበባ መጥተናል ሲሉ ተደምጠዋል። ‘’እኛ ጥረት ብናደርግም፣ ሁሉም የመንግሥት አካላት ጆሮ ዳባ ልበስ ብለው ጉዳያችንን ከቁብ ሳይቆጥሩት ችላ ብለውታል’’ ሲሉ አቶ ደስታ ተናግረዋል ።

እንደ አቶ ደስታ ገለጻ፣ የጸጥታ አካላት እና የእስጢፋኖስ ቤተክርስቲያን ኮሚቴ ለተፈናቃዮቹ እንደተናገሩት በቤተክርስቲያኑ ውስጥ መገኘታቸው ከ35ኛው የአፍሪካ ህብረት የመሪዎች ጉባኤ ጋር በተያያዘ ከፍተኛ የጸጥታ ክትትል እንደሚጠይቅ እና ‘የሚበጀው’ አማራጭ ወደ አርሲ መመለስ መሆኑን እንደነገሯቸው አስረድተዋል። አቶ ደስታ የእስጢፋኖስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ምእመናን እና የአዲስ አበባ ነዋሪዎች በቤተክርስቲያኑ ውስጥ በቆዩባቸው ሁለት ሳምንታት የምግብና አስፈላጊ መገልገያዎችን ሲያቀርቡላቸው እንደነበር ገልጸዋል። የአባቶቻቸውን ስም ባያስታውሱም አቶ ዘላለም እና ታዬ የተባሉ ተፈናቃዮቹን ለትራንስፖርት እና ለአንዳንድ ተያያዥ ወጪዎች ሲረዱ እንደነበር ደስታ አብራርተዋል። እንደ አቶ ደስታ ገለጻ፣ መምህር ዘላለም 22,200 ብር የሰጧቸው በጎ አድራጊ ግለሰብ ነበሩ። አያይዘውም አቶ ታዬ በቂርቆስ ክፍለ ከተማ የጸጥታ ሃይል ሃላፊ መሆናቸውን አስረድተው ለተፈናቃዮቹ ሁለት የህዝብ አውቶብሶችን አቅርበው እንድነበር ተናግረዋል። አዲስ ስታንዳርድ የቂርቆስ ክፍለ ከተማ የጸጥታ ሃይሎችን ለተጨማሪ ማብራሪያ ለማናገር ያደረገችው ሙከራ አልተሳካም።

አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ካነጋገረቻቸው ተፈናቃዮች አንዱ እያሱ ሙሉጌታ ነው። ላለፉት 9 ወራት የኦርሚያ ክልል መንግስትም ሆነ ሌሎች የመንግስት አካላት እንዳልረዷቸው ተናግረዋል። “የጎሎጎታ መድሀኒአለም ቤተክርስትያን እና የአካባቢው ነዋሪዎች ምግብ፣ አልባሳትና መጠለያ በማቅረብ ከፍተኛ እገዛ አድርገዋል” ብለዋል። አቶ ደስታ እና እያሱ የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ሰራዊት (መንግስት ሸኔ ብሎ የሚጠራው) ኢላማ ያደረጋቸው በብሄር ማንነታቸው መሆኑን አስረድተዋል።

የኦሮሚያ አደጋና ስጋት ስራ አመራር ኮሚሽን በመርቲ ወረዳ በነበራቸው በ9 ወራት ቆይታ ለ419 ተፈናቃዮች 30 ኩንታል ስንዴ ብቻ የረዳቸው መሆኑን አቶ ደስታ ገልጸው “በጣም ጥቂቶቻችን የቀን ሥራ በመስራት ገቢ ማግኘት የቻልን ቤት ተከራይተን ስንኖር አብዛኞቻችን ግን መድኃኒዓለም ቤተ ክርስቲያን ተጠልለው ይገኛሉ። የአካባቢው ነዋሪዎች ምግብ፣ ልብስ እና ጥበቃ እያደረጉልን የገኛሉ። ከ30 ኩንታል ስንዴ በስተቀር የመንግስት አካላት ምንም አይነት እገዛ አላደረጉልንም” ሲሉ አቶ ደስታ ዘርዝረዋል።

የመርቲ ወረዳ ኮሙዩኒኬሽን ጽህፈት ቤት ኃላፊ አቶ ረታ ሀይሉ ለአዲስ ስታንዳርድ እንደተናገሩት የተፈናቃዮች ቁጥር 80 ነው።”የመርቲ ወረዳ ኃላፊዎች የአካባቢውን ነዋሪዎችና የሚመለከታቸው አካላትን በማስተባበር ለ80ዎቹ ተፈናቃዮች ምግብ፣ አልባሳትና መጠለያ አቅርበዋል” ብለዋል። አዲስ ስታንዳርድ የደረሳት የተፈናቃዮች ቁጥር 80 ሳይሆን 419 እንደሆነ ላቀረበችው ጥያቄ፣ አቶ ረታ፣ በቅርቡ ቦታውን እንደተረከቡና የቀድሞው ሪፖርት የሚያመለክተው 80 ብቻ መሆናቸውን ገልጸዋል።”እኔና የወረዳው የመንግስት የስራ ኃላፊዎች ወደ ጎሎጎታ ቀበሌ ሄደን እንደምናያቸው እና እንደምንረዳቸው አረጋግጣለሁ” በማለት ቃል ገብተዋል።

ከምስራቅ ወለጋ ዞን ተፈናቅለው በየካ ክፍለ ከተማ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ቤተ ክርስቲያን የሚገኙ

አቶ ቢራራ ጌታነው የተወለደው በደቡብ ጎንደር ታች ጋይንት ወረዳ ሲሆን ከ1977 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ በምስራቅ ወለጋ በሱቡ ስሬ ወረዳ በቆጂማ ቀበሌ ነዋሪ ነው። በበቆጂማ ቀበሌ ህይወቱን “ተስማሚ” እንደነበር ያስታውሳል። ብሄርን መሰረት ያደረጉ ጥቃቶች ባለፈው አመት መጀመራቸውን አብራርተዋል። “አብዛኞቹ ዘመዶቻችን ተገድለዋል፣ ንብረቶቻችን ወድሟል” በማለት ተናግረዋል። ጥቃቱ በጥቅምት 8 ቀን 2013 ዓ.ም ከንጋቱ 12 ሰዓት አካባቢ መጀመሩን ቢራራ አስረድተዋል። “ኦነሰ/ሸኔ ስልሳ ዘጠኝ ሰዎችን የገደለ ሲሆን በርካቶች ወደተለያዩ ቦታዎች ተፈናቅለዋል። የተወሰነው ጥቅምት 12 ቀን ወደ አዲስ አበባ መጥተን እዚህ የካ ሚካኤል ቤተክርስቲያን ቅጥር ግቢ ውጪ ተጠልለናል” ብለዋል።

በወቅቱ አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ያነጋገረቻቸው አብዛኞቹ ተፈናቃዮች ስለ መፈናቀላቸው ሁኔታ ላቀረበችላቸው ጥያቄ ለደህንነታቸው ስጋት መሆኑን ጠቅሰው የመጡበትን የቀበሌና የወረዳ ስም ለመግለፅ ፈቃደኛ አልነበሩም። “ጥቃት እንዳይደርስብን እንፈራለን እና ወደ መጣንበት መመለስ አንፈልግም” ብለዋል። አዲስ አበባ ከገቡ በኋላ ማን እየረዳቸው እንደሆነ አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ቢራራን ጠይቃለች። “የካ ክፍለ ከተማ እና ወ/ሮ አዳነች አቤቤ ቢሮ እርዳታ ፈልገን ሄደን ነበር ነገር ግን ምላሽ አልሰጡንም። የየካ ሚካኤል ቤተክርስቲያን እንዲሁም የአማራ ክልል መንግስት ምንም አይነት እርዳታ አላደረጉልንም። ይሁን እንጂ ግለሰቦችና አንዳንድ በጎ ፈቃደኞች ምግብና ልብስ በማቅረብ ረገድ ከፍተኛ ድጋፍ አግኘተናል” ሲሉ አስረድቷል። አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ሽማግሌዎችን፣ ሴቶችን እና ጨቅላ ሕፃናትን በስፍራው ተመልክታለች። ቁጥራቸውም 135 ሰዎች ሲሆኑ 35 አባወራዎች መሆናቸውን ቢራራ ገልጸዋል።

ራሱን ‘ወሰን የለሽ በጎ ፈቃደኛ’ መሆኑን የገለጸው አቶ ታምሩ ደገፋ ሰው፣ ከአዲስ አበባና ከውጪ ሃገር የመጡ በጎ ፈቃደኞችን እያስተባበረ ለተፈናቃዮቹ ድጋፍ እያደረገ መሆኑን ለአዲስ ስታንዳርድ ተናግሯል።
“እኔ ድንበር የለሽ በጎ ፈቃደኛ ስሆን ከአገር ውስጥ እና ከውጪ የሚመጣን እርዳታ ለተፈናቃዮቹ ምግብና ልብስ ለማቅረብ እያስተባበርኩ ነው። ላለፉት ጥቂት ቀናት ምግብ እና ልብስ አቅርበናል። አብዛኞቹ አማሮች ቢሆኑም ከነሱ መካከል የተወሰኑ ኦሮሞዎች አሉ” ብሏል።

አቶ ቢራራ የነበረውን ሁኔታ እያስታወሱ፣ “ምስራቅ ወለጋ እያለን ለክልሉ መንግስት የጸጥታ ሃይሎች እና መሰል አካላት አሳውቀናቸው ሊረዱን መጥተው ነበር። ሰኔ 2013 ዓ.ም ሊረዱን ከተሰማሩት የኦሮሚያ የጸጥታ ሃይሎች መካከል አንድ የኦሮሚያ ልዩ ሃይል ሲገደል አንድ ፖሊስ ቆስሏል። ጥቃቱ በመባባሱ የተሰማራው ሃይል አካባቢውን ለቆ ስለነበር ለጥቃት ተጋለጥን። ጥቃቱን ያደረሱት ኦሮሞ ነዋሪዎች አይደሉም። ይልቁንም የታጠቀው የኦነሰ ቡድን ነው። እንዲያውም እኛን ከጥቃቱ ለመከላከል የሞከሩ እና በመጨረሻ ራሳቸው የጥቃቱ ሰለባ የሆኑ አንዳንድ ኦሮሞዎች ነበሩ። አንዳንዶቹ ልጆቻቸውን ይዘው ተፈናቅለው እዚህ አዲስ አበባ ገብተዋል” ሲል አስረድቷል።

እንደ ቢራራ ገለጻ ከሱቡ ስሬ 22 ቀበሌዎች ሙሉ በሙሉ የተፈናቀሉ አማሮች ተፈናቅለዋል። “በወረዳው ውስጥ የመንግስት ተወካዮችም እና የወረዳ አመራሮች አካባቢውን ለቀው ቢሄዱም የክልሉ መንግስት ከአካባቢው ኦፊሴላዊ ግንኙነት ባለማግኘቱ ስለተፈጠረው ሁኔታ ያውቅ ነበር” በማለት ግምቱን አስቀምጧል። ቢራራም አንዳንድ የመንግስት ባለስልጣናት ወደ መጡበት እንዲመለሱ ሀሳብ እያቀረቡላቸው መሆኑን እንደስጋት አንስተዋል። “በአካባቢው እስካሁን የደህንነት ስጋት አለ። በአካባቢው የጸጥታ ችግር እንዳለ መንግስት ጠንቅቆ ያውቃል። ከባህር ዳር ወደ ነቀምት የሚወስደው መንገድ ከተዘጋ ከአንድ አመት በላይ ሆኖታል። ወደ ቤት አንመለስም። ንብረታችንና ቤቶቻችን ሙሉ በሙሉ አመድ ሆኗል። ብዙ ዘመዶቻችን ሞተዋል። አሁንም ብዙ ሰዎች እንየታፈኑ ይገኛሉ። ነገሮች ወደ ቀድሞ ሁኔታቸው እስኪመለሱ ድረስ እዚሁ አዲስ አበባ ጊዜያዊ መጠለያ እንዲሰጠን እንፈልጋለን” ሲል አስረድቷል።

“ንብረታችንና ቤቶቻችን ሙሉ በሙሉ አመድ ሆኗል። ብዙ ዘመዶቻችን ሞተዋል። አሁንም ብዙ ሰዎች እንየታፈኑ ይገኛሉ። ነገሮች ወደ ቀድሞ ሁኔታቸው እስኪመለሱ ድረስ እዚሁ አዲስ አበባ ጊዜያዊ መጠለያ እንዲሰጠን እንፈልጋለን”

ቢራራ

ልክ እንደ ቢራራ ሌላው ተፈናቃይ አቶ ካሳየው ለማ አማራና ኦሮሞ ተቻችለው ለዘመናት ሲኖሩ እንደነበር አስታውሰው “ኦሮሞዎች ወንድሞቻችን ናቸው እና ከእነሱ ጋር ችግር የለብንም” ብለዋል። አቶ ካሳየው ዝርዝር መረጃን መስጠት ባይችሉም በሁለቱ ብሄረሰቦች መካከል ‘አለመተማመን’ እንዲፈጠር ያደረጉት ከቀበሌ እስከ ወረዳ ያሉት የኦሮሚያ ክልል አመራሮች ናቸው” ሲሉ ቅሬታቸውን ተናግረዋል።

አዲስ ስታንዳርድ ተፈናቃዮቹን እየጎበኙ ያሉትን የአማራ ወጣቶች ማህበር ሰብሳቢ አቶ ያረጋል አሰፋን አነጋግራለች። ማህበሩ መሰረቱን አዲስ አበባ ያደረገ ሲሆን በዋናነት በበጎ ፍቃድ ስራዎች ላይ እንደሚሰራ ገልጸዋል። ”አልባሳት፣ ብርድ ልብስ እና ምግብ እየሰጠን ነው። የተፈናቃዮቹን ድምጽ ለሚመለከታቸው የመንግስት አካላት ለማድረስ ነው እዚህ የተገኘነው” ብሏል። አቶ ያረጋል አያይዘውም የመንግስት ባለስልጣናት እና የየካ ሚካኤል ቤተክርስቲያን ስለሁኔታው ግንዛቤ ቢኖራቸውም ለመርዳት ፍቃደኛ አልሆኑም ሲሉ ቅሬታቸውን ገልጸዋል።”ምግብና ልብስ ለማቅረብ ፈቃደኛ ለሆኑ በጎ ፈቃደኞችን ጥሪ አቅርበናል። ተፈናቃዮቹ ከምግብና ልብስ ጋር በተያያዘ ብዙ ችግር አላጋጠማቸውም። ትልቁ ፈተና መጠለያ ነው። አንዳንድ በጎ ፈቃደኞች ድንኳን ቢሰጡም ድንኳኑን ለመትከል ክፍት ቦታ ማግኘት አልቻልንም። ቦታውን ከከተማው አስተዳደር እየጠየቅን ነው” ብለዋል። አዲስ ስታንዳርድ የየካ ክፍለ ከተማ አስተዳደርን ለማናገር ያደረገችው ጥረት አልተሳካም።

ባለፈው ታህሳስ ወር አዲስ ስታንዳርድ በምስራቅ ወለጋ ዞን የተፈጠረውን ግጭት ሸሽተው የወጡ የአማራ ማህበረሰብ አባላት በአዲስ አበባ ቤተክርስትያን ቅጥር ግቢ እና ወጣት ማእከላት በተዘጋጁ ጊዜያዊ ካምፖች መጠለላቸውን መዘገቧ ይታወሳል።

በተመሳሳይ በኮልፌ ቀራኒዮ ክፍለ ከተማ ዘነበወርቅ አካባቢ የሚገኘው የአቡነ አረጋዊ ቤተክርስቲያን ሓላፊ ለአዲስ ስታንዳርድ እንደተናገሩት ከምስራቅ ወለጋ ዞን ተፈናቅለው በቤተክርስቲያኑ ቅጥር ግቢ ውስጥ ተጠልለዋል ስለተባሉት ተፈናቃዮች “የተፈናቀሉ 120 የሚሆኑ የአማራ ተወላጆች በቤተክርስቲያኑ ውስጥ ለሁለት ሳምንታት ተጠልለው የቆዩ ሲሆን በፌደራል መንግስት፣ በኦሮሚያ እና በአማራ ክልላዊ መንግስታት እርዳታ ወደ ምስራቅ ወለጋ ዞን ሌሎች ቦታዎች እንዲዛወሩ ተደርጓል” ብለው ነበር።

የኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብት ኮሚሽን (ኢሰመጉ) ባወጣው ሪፖርት በምስራቅ ወለጋ ዞን ኪራሙ ወረዳ ነዋሪዎች ላይ የደረሰውን ግድያና መፈናቀል አጋልጧል። ዘገባው ነዋሪዎቹን ጠቅሶ እንደገለፀው በመንግስት ባለስልጣናት ሸኔ የተባለው የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ሰራዊት ሰላማዊ ሰዎችን ገድሏል። የአማራ ማህበረሰብ አባላት በአፀፋው 60 ሰዎችን መግደላቸውንም ኮሚሽኑ አስታውቋል። አስ

Source: Amharic Addis Standard

Wild Ethnic militias embeded with ENDF have committed far more atrocities against civilians in Oromia zone. This pic is from Jaldeti town of Bati woreda they burned 2days ago

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• In northern Tanzania, more than 70,000 Indigenous Maasai residents are once again facing eviction from ancestral lands as the government reveals plans to lease the land to a UAE-based company to create a wildlife corridor for trophy hunting and elite tourism.
• Maasai leaders have filed an appeal at a regional court, seeking a halt to all plans for the area and calling the renewed attempt to seize the land a blatant violation of an injunction that barred the government from evicting Maasai communities in a case that involved violent evictions.
• According to sources, the regional commissioner of the region told Maasai leaders that the leasing of the land is in the national interest to increase the country’s tourism revenue and was a tough decision for the government to make.
• Evicted residents from Loliondo will be relocated to the neighboring Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), where they will join another 80,000 evicted Maasai to share a strip of land designated for humans and wildlife.

()–In 2018, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) granted an injunction prohibiting the Tanzanian government from evicting Maasai communities from 1,500 square kilometers (580 square miles) of ancestral, legally registered land in the Loliondo division of Ngorongoro, northern Tanzania.

Today, 70,000 Maasai pastoralists are once again at risk of eviction after the government disclosed a plan to lease the same parcel of land to the Otterlo (sometimes spelled Ortello) Business Corporation (OBC), a company based in the United Arab Emirates, to create a wildlife corridor for trophy hunting and elite tourism.

OBC is a hunting firm said to be owned by the UAE royal family. According to the Oakland Institute, a policy think tank based in the U.S., OBC will control commercial hunting in the area. This is despite the company’s past involvement in several evictions of the Maasai people in the region and the killing of thousands of rare animals in the area, including lions and leopards.

The decision to lease the land to OBC was made known to Maasai leaders on Jan. 11, 2022, by John Mongella, the regional commissioner for the Arusha region, according to a statement by the Oakland Institute.

Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, quoted Mongella as telling Maasai leaders that the government planned to remove them from their land at some point this year, even if this decision will be painful to many.

A Maasai leader who spoke to Mongabay on the condition of anonymity said that Mongella continuously stressed that leasing the land is in the “national interest” and should therefore also be of priority to the Maasai people.

Renewed attempts to seize land

Approximately 15 villages within the proposed area would be impacted by the decision. The strip of land that is legally registered in the Loliondo division of Ngorongoro district is vital for Maasai pastoralists, who have sustainably stewarded the area for generations, according to the Oakland Institute.

Mittal said the creation of the wildlife corridor and the displacement of the communities would exacerbate hunger and poverty, given that pastoral livelihoods depend on the region’s grazing areas and water sources. The strip of land is part of the 4,000-km2 (1,544-mi2) Loliondo Game Controlled Area that became a multipurpose area for hunting, conservation and pastoralism.

Mittal said the Maasai have developed a symbiotic relationship that has allowed local ecology, domesticated livestock, and people to coexist in a resource-scarce environment.

“This local knowledge has been largely credited as allowing the large mammal population and ecological diversity to grow under the stewardship of the Maasai,” Mittal told Mongabay. “Replacing them with tourists and hunters will likely negatively impact the environment and health of wildlife populations.”

When informed of the decision, the Maasai leaders indicated they would not leave the area and have signed a statement opposing the plan.

On Jan. 13, thousands of Maasai gathered in Oloirien village, one of the communities in the area, where they staged a protest and promised to not leave the area until the government reverses the decision. Tanzania Wildlife Authority rangers, who were erecting border beacons for the wildlife corridor, were forced to leave the area after confrontations with the people of neighboring Malambo village, which brought the protests to an end. Leaders say protests will resume if the rangers return.

In addition, leaders of Oloirien, Ololosokwan, Kirtalo and Arash villages have filed an appeal at the East African Court of Justice, asking for a halt to all plans.

The leaders say the renewed attempts to seize the same land is a blatant violation of an injunction that barred the Tanzanian government from evicting Maasai communities from the area. This case involved violent government-led evictions of Maasai villages in August 2017.

At the time, under the instructions of the government, homes of Maasai families were burned to the ground leaving thousands homeless while several residents were arrested.

The injunction also prohibits the destruction of Maasai homesteads, the confiscation of livestock, and the office of the Inspector General of Police from harassing and intimidating the plaintiffs. The injunction remains in effect until a ruling on the full case can be heard. A hearing date has not yet been set.

“That the Maasai are once again facing eviction to please the UAE royal family shows the Tanzanian government continues to prioritize tourism revenues at the expense of the Indigenous pastoralists who have sustainable stewarded the area for generations,” Mittal said.

Tanzania’s economic development depends heavily on the private sector. Tourism contributes 17.2% to the country’s gross domestic product, and 25% of all foreign exchange revenues. In 2020, then-President John Magufuli announced that the government would put great emphasis on several economic sectors, including tourism.

Otterlo did not respond to several requests for comment through social media, and the telephone number listed for its office in Tanzania is no longer in service. The Oakland Institute’s attempts to reach out to Otterlo went unanswered.

A relocation plan in motion

The Tanzanian government’s plan to evict the Maasai from Loliondo is not the only one in motion, but is rather part of a larger plan to resettle communities in the region to make space for a conservation area, tourism and hunting. There are preparations to implement a  and resettlement plan in the neighboring  that will another 80,000-plus Maasai within the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The NCA is considered one of the most cinematic landscapes on the planet, seeing over 1 million wildebeest migrate through the area, and is home to the critically endangered black rhino (Diceros bicornis).

According to Mittal, the first group of Maasai are expected to be relocated at the end of February. The NCA plan proposes to divide the conservation area into four zones. At least 82% of the area currently accessible for pastoralism will be designated as a conservation area, and the remaining 18% will be classified as multiple land use for human and wildlife. The more than 150,000 evicted pastoralists in Ngorongoro district, including those from Loliondo, will be resettled to this 18% of land.

A Maasai activist and community representative, who requested anonymity, has appealed to the Tanzanian government to put a stop to its plans to evict communities and wait until the court case is concluded.

“The myth of protected areas takes away not only our rights as people but our ability to exercise our responsibilities related to land,” the leader said as he appealed for international support on behalf of his community, noting that Tanzania is a signatory to the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It has been said that the Ethiopian renaissance force has started to source electricity.

The relations of the neighboring countries have been with Sudan and Egypt, especially since Abiy Ahmed’s administration came to power. The previous relations based on the discussion, the two countries are about the construction of the project “our security concern” and they have presented to the peace council of the United States It’s a little bit of fun.

 

Today, Africa’s largest power plant, the GERD’s first turbine began generating power. This is a good news for our continent & the downstream countries with whom we aspire to work together. As Ethiopia marks the birth of a new era, I congratulate all Ethiopians!

— Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 (@AbiyAhmedAli)

The victims are aged between 13 years to 35 years-old.

• “After securing the area and gaining access, the distraught victims aged between 13 to 35 were found crowded in one room,”

• According to DCI boss George Kinoti, the victims were rescued by detectives drawn from the Transnational and Organised Crime Unit on Friday.

()–Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have rescued 108 Ethiopian nationals from a human trafficking syndicate in Kirigiti, Kiambu county.

According to DCI boss George Kinoti, the victims were rescued by detectives drawn from the Transnational and Organised Crime Unit on Friday.

Kinoti said the sleuths acted on intelligence reports and traced the location of the victims to a house in Kirigiti area. The victims are aged between 13 years to 35 years-old.

“After securing the area and gaining access, the distraught victims aged between 13 to 35 were found crowded in one room,” he said.

Kinoti added that four people suspected to be connected to the human trafficking syndicate were arrested during the operation.

“During the operation, 42-year old Rosemary Nyambura Ebron, 24-year old Daniel Jamuhuri, Kelvin Wambui aged 24 and 42-year old Hosiman Moche were arrested on suspicion of being part of a larger human trafficking syndicate operating across the Horn of Africa, that is responsible for trading in human beings.”

“The victims and the suspects are currently being held at different police stations in the city pending necessary legal procedures,” DCI said.

In October last year, police arrested 131 Ethiopian nationals for being in the country illegally at Athi River in Machakos County.

Athi River Subcounty police commander Anderson Njagi said the aliens were flashed out from a rented house where they were found hiding at Sabaki estate within Athi River town suburbs.

“The intelligence-led operations involving Transnational Crime detectives from the DCI headquarters and ourselves led to the arrest of 131 Ethiopians hidden at residential premises within Sabaki estate,” Njagi told the Star.

Social media giant accused of inaction after users post ‘horrifying and hateful content’

 

()–Facebook is under renewed scrutiny this weekend, accused of continuing to allow activists to incite ethnic massacres in Ethiopia’s escalating war.

Analysis by the  (TBIJ) and the Observer found Facebook is still letting users post content inciting violence through hate and misinformation. This is despite being aware it helps directly fuel tensions, prompting claims of inaction and indifference against the social media giant.

The investigation tracked down relatives who have linked  posts to the killings of loved ones. One senior member of Ethiopia’s media accused the firm of “standing by and watching the country fall apart”.

The accusations arrive amid intensifying focus on Facebook’s content moderation decisions, with it previously being accused of  in the ethnic persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar.

On Wednesday, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg revealed that former UK deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, would be president of global affairs, a move designed to help the rebranded company repair its reputation following the testimony of whistleblower Frances Haugen, who said it was “literally ” in Ethiopia.

It also comes as Facebook considers launching an independent inquiry into its work in Ethiopia after its  how the platform had been used to spread hate speech.

TBIJ and Observer investigators also interviewed a number of fact-checkers, civil society organisations and human rights activists in the country. They described Facebook’s support as far less than it should be.

Others said they felt requests for assistance had been ignored and meetings failed to materialise.

These failures, they said, helped to fuel a conflict in which thousands have died and millions been displaced since fighting broke out between government forces and armed opposition groups from the Tigray region in November 2020. Both sides have been .

Rehobot Ayalew, of the Ethiopian factchecking initiative , said: “Most of the people have low media literacy, so Facebook is considered to be credible.

We come across [Facebook] images that are horrifying and hateful content. You’re not getting the support from the platform itself, that is allowing this kind of content.

They can do more [but] they’re not doing anything.”

Meta rejected the claims, saying it had “invested in safety and security measures” to tackle hate and inflammatory language along with “aggressive steps to stop the spread of misinformation” in Ethiopia.

Among the cases where families believe Facebook’s continued promotion of hate makes it responsible for killings include Gebremichael Teweldmedhin, a Tigrayan jeweller abducted three months ago in Gonder, a city in the Amhara region.

A relative, who said Teweldmedhin was not political, claimed online hate campaigns and calls for violence – particularly on Facebook – played a key role in his suspected killing and many others.

“The worst thing that contributed to their killing are the so-called activists who have been spreading hate on social media,” he said, requesting anonymity.

Some posts, he claimed, would name individuals or even post photos helping create an atmosphere “inciting attacks, killings and displacements”.

He added that the family have been told that Teweldmedhin – who disappeared after trying to stop a mob looting a nephew’s workshop – had been killed and buried in a mass grave.

Teweldmedhin’s family cited one Facebook user in particular: Solomon Bogale, an online activist with more than 86,000 Facebook followers.

Although listed on Facebook as residing in London, Bogale’s social media indicates he has been in Ethiopia since August 2021, with posts of him carrying an assault rifle often accompanied by statements praising the Fano, an Amharan nationalist vigilante group.

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One of Teweldmedhin’s family members believed Bogale’s “inciteful posts” had resulted in many attacks on Tigrayans in Gonder. In the weeks before Teweldmedhin’s killing, Bogale called for people to “cleanse” the Amhara territories of the “junta”, a term used by government supporters to refer to Tigrayan forces and Tigrayans more generally.

The post continued: “We need to cleanse the region of the junta lineage present prior to the war!!”

According to TBIJ, the post could be found on Facebook almost four months later, although Meta said it had since “removed any content which violated our policies”.

When contacted over Facebook, Bogale denied that any Tigrayans were killed in Gonder in early November, saying all Tigrayans in the city were safe. Bogale added that he would delete the posts cited by TBIJ.

Less than a month after Teweldmedhin’s disappearance Hadush Gebrekirstos, a 45-year-old who lived in Addis Ababa, was arbitrarily detained by police who heard him speaking Tigrinya.

His body was found two days later, 26 November, close to the police station.

A relative said Gebrekirstos had no political affiliation, but believes that disinformation posted on Facebook played a key role in causing the killing.

“People do not have the ability to verify what was posted on Facebook. Like calling people to kill Tigrinya speaking residents,” they said.

Compounding the concern is that, according to disclosures provided to the US Congress by Haugen, Meta has known about the risks of such problems for years.

In January 2019 an internal report into “On-FB Badness” – a measure of harmful content on the platform – rated the situation in Ethiopia as “severe”, its second-highest category.

Almost a year later Ethiopia had risen to the top of Facebook’s list of countries where it needed to take action.

A presentation dated 10 December 2020 evaluated the risk of societal violence in Ethiopia as “dire” – Meta’s highest threat warning and the only country to receive that ranking.

More than a year on, it is alleged the firm has frequently ignored requests for support from fact-checkers based in the country. Some civil society organisations say they have not met with the company in 18 months.

Multiple sources told the Bureau that Facebook only appointed its first senior policy executive from Ethiopia to work on East  in September, a claim contested by Facebook who said it had an “experienced public policy team” dedicated to the region for three years.

Meta does run a third-party fact-checking programme, providing partners with access to internal tools and payment for fact checks. Yet it has not partnered with a single organisation based in Ethiopia to tackle the misinformation surrounding the country’s conflict.

Abel Wabella, founder of HaqCheck, said Meta had failed to support his organisation despite first approaching executives more than a year ago.

The other major independent fact-checking organisation based in Ethiopia, Ethiopia Check, is also not part of Facebook’s partner programme.

Instead, Facebook works with two fact-checking organisations on content from Ethiopia – PesaCheck, which runs a small team in Nairobi, and Agence France-Presse (AFP) – but TBIJ said that both appeared to be based outside the country.

However Facebook challenged the claim, stating that “PesaCheck and AFP have teams based in Ethiopia for fact-checking.”

Although misinformation flagged by PesaCheck and AFP has often been labelled as false or removed by Facebook, content debunked by HaqCheck has largely remained unaltered and free to spread.

This has included false declarations of military victories on both sides, false allegations of attacks on civilians and false claims of captured infiltrators.

“As far as I know, support for fact checkers in Ethiopia by Facebook is almost non-existent,” said the senior person working in Ethiopian media, requesting anonymity.

“Facebook doesn’t pay the attention Ethiopia needs at this crucial moment, and that’s contributing to the ongoing crisis by inflaming hatred and spreading hate speech.”

A number of civil society groups have similar complaints of feeling ignored and sidelined. Facebook organised a meeting with several groups in June 2020, to discuss how the platform could best regulate content before scheduled elections. As of November, two of the organisations involved said they had heard nothing about any subsequent meetings.

Haben Fecadu, a human rights activist who has worked in Ethiopia, said: “There’s really no excuse. I’ve doubted they have invested enough in their Africa content moderation.”

Wabella added: “The problem is not specific to Tigray. Ethiopian citizens from every corner across ethnic groups are severely affected by hateful content circulating online.”

Mercy Ndegwa, Meta’s public policy director for East & Horn of Africa, said: “For more than two years, we’ve invested in safety and security measures in Ethiopia, adding more staff with local expertise and building our capacity to catch hateful and inflammatory content in the most widely spoken languages, including Amharic, Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya.

“As the situation has escalated, we’ve put additional measures in place and are continuing to monitor activity on our platform, identify issues as they emerge, and quickly remove content that breaks our rules.”

The company added that it worked with 80 fact-checking partners in more than 60 languages to review content on Facebook, including Pesa Check and AFP.

()–Prolonged water shortages have produced malnutrition, including through the loss of livestock, in the southern and south-eastern lowlands of Ethiopia.

Three consecutive below-average rainy seasons have brought on drought conditions in four regions in Ethiopia: Oromia, Somali, Southern Nations, and Southwest. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (UNOCHA) projections  that more than 6.8 million people in these four regions are affected by the drought.

People in these same areas have barely recuperated from the  in 2017. If rainfall in March-April 2022 is again below average, a fourth consecutive failed rainy season will push residents into an even more desperate situation.

The drought itself is  by environmental factors, such as climate change. Ethiopia has endured ten major droughts since 1980, and the country’s annual temperature has been rising by 0.37 degrees Celsius per decade.

Political factors, such as an insufficient governmental response, the civil war in northern Ethiopia, and instability in other regions, have  the environmental crisis.

Oromia

In Oromia, more than people in eight zones are currently facing severe hunger amid the drought, according to Mustafa Kedir of Oromia’s disaster and displacement commission.

As the majority in the region are agro-pastoralists whose livelihoods depend on rain or pastoralists who earn a living through livestock, the consequences of the drought, such as the drying up of pasture lands and depletion of water reserves, have severely worsened existing food insecurity.

In the hardest-hit zones in Oromia, including Borena, Guji, and East Bale, crops have failed while farmers, too desperate to feed their animals, are forced to watch their cattle dying every day.

In January alone, an  260,000 livestock perished across southern Oromia, Somali, and Southern Nations regions. An additional two million livestock are at risk in these areas. The market value for livestock has plummeted, as emaciated animals are not marketable.

The drought has also impacted children who are currently suffering or are likely to suffer from severe acute malnutrition in the coming months. In Oromia and Somali regions, an  225,000 children are malnourished and over 100,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are in need of nutritional support.

East Bale

In East Bale Zone, the rain shortage has caused severe damage to crops and animals, limiting people’s ability to access food.

Jeylan Adam, East Bale Communication Bureau head, : “Some areas such as Rayitu, Sewena, Dawe Kachen, Dawe Sarar, and Lege Hida have been suffering from the devastating effects of climate change, and the current drought puts the food security and water distribution of vulnerable people under threat.”

In Rayitu Wereda, 76 kilometers from Ginir, the zonal capital, scores of villagers have been forced out by the drought and fled to other areas.

In an interview with Ethiopia Insight in late January, Mustefa Umer, a farmer from Rayitu Wereda, said: “This year, we have seen a wave of massive drought and, as a result, our lands did not produce any crops, and we don’t have any sources of drinkable water either for us or for our animals. It is infuriating to think that the current conditions will force us to leave the rural areas and that our lands will be left as ruins.”

Jeylan’s figures show that 270,000 people in East Bale Zone are in need of emergency food assistance. He estimates that half of the around 10,000 cattle in East Bale have already perished. Farmers who have kept their cattle alive have spent their savings and even taken on loans.

Hamid Hussein, a farmer from Sewena Wereda in East Bale Zone, told Ethiopia Insight: “Because of the drought, I was unable to feed my cattle; now I am overwhelmed with debt.”

Although no data has been collected to show how many children are affected in East Bale, the conditions will no doubt have serious effects on the physical and mental development of many.

Dereje Negash, a medical worker at Ginir Hospital, said: “People are already starving in our area and situations are continuing to decline rapidly. My fellow medical workers are saying the increase in cases of acute malnutrition amongst children will only get worse.”

Humanitarian response

The federal administration has been in order to avert a catastrophe in the immediate term. As a longer-term goal, it appears the government is  to roll out different water projects to avoid future droughts.

Government and community resource  is ongoing at the regional and local levels, including 200 million birr in drought response funds raised by the Somali regional administration. For its part, Oromia’s regional government is preparing a drought response plan with humanitarian partners to mitigate the effects of the drought.

In an  with Ethiopian News Agency, Mustafa Kedir said that 197,896 quintals of food were provided to the drought-affected Borena Zone alone and similar works have been done in other areas, including providing water and cattle feed.

Mustafa mentioned the importance of receiving help from international donors as the regional and federal governments cannot tackle the situation on their own.

In line with this need, UNICEF has  for $31 million in additional funding as part of its drought response for impacted areas in Ethiopia. Donors have already allocated some funding for the drought response, including $25 million by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) since December 2020 and $2 million by the Ethiopian Humanitarian Fund (EHF).

Adnan Nuru, a local resident of Sewena Wereda who lost 24 cattle and is now left with only one, told us: “Though the government’s assistance is very limited and not enough, it will give us extra time to push ahead.”

UNOCHA has echoed these sentiments, citing an urgent need for the ongoing government-led and humanitarian partners-supported multi-sectoral response to be scaled up.