Ethiopians in Diaspora showed their hunger for a united action by showing their solidarity with beleaguered Hailu Shawel!
Judging from participants who went to the meeting in person and over the internet (Over 2000 Ethiopians from around the world via various PalTalk Rooms), the first town hall meeting held in Washington D.C. with Eng. Hailu Shawel was successful.
Speechs made for the Kinijit Public Meeting held in Washington DC on 14 October 2007: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 //
Assimba PalTalk Room will be on the ground at Renaissance Washington DC Hotel connecting Ethiopians around the world enabling live participation of Engr. Hailu's Town Hall meeting.
Contrary to Elias Kifle’s disinformation, the Grand Public Meeting with Engr. Hailu Shawel will be held as schedual on October 14, 2007 from 2.00pm Eastern USA Time @ Renaissance Washington DC Hotel. It is reported that more freed Kinijit leaders have already arrived to Europe and will join Engr. Hailu at the meeting. Read More>>>
BACKGROUND
Here is a critical analysis of the current Kinijit political crisis. It is based on a very critical cumulative observation of long duration. The sub-topics included in this analysis are:
- Strategy of Kestedemena,
- coup de-tat attempt by Kestedemena,
- concrete indicators of the attempt,
- Berhanu Nega's role inside Kinijit, and
- the solution. So, here we go. Read it with patience and tolerance.
October 12/2007
UPDATE ON THE DEPORTATION FROM THE SUDAN
SOCEPP has learnt now that the 15 political refugees deported from the Sudan have been taken out of the Ma'ekelawi prison in Addis Ababa and taken to an undisclosed destination. One of the deportees, Fitsum Tadesse (aka Fantahun) was taken ill in Addis Ababa and taken to a hospital. Another deportee, Atanaw Wassie, is an elder with a frail health too and the routine mistreatment in the EPRDF prison can gravely affect him.
Read More>>>
CALL ME BY MY NAME: A debate with Debteraw, XVIII
Wolde Tewolde alias Obo Arada Shawl
October 13, 2007
A choice of political leadership for Ethiopia
An Engineer, an Economist or a Political Party?
Introduction: A little bit of political history
For Leadership to hold, legitimacy is the single most important element. The Monarchy legitimizes authority from God, the Almighty; The Military legitimizes its authority from the Gun and political parties claim their authorities from party mandates.
Read More>>>
Intervene to save the lives of Ethiopian Refugees Involuntarily Repatriated from the Sudan
SOCEPP Canada - October 10, 2007
TO:
• Mr. Antonio Gutteres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( Geneva), http://www.unhcr.org
• Amnesty International Secretariat, London (www.amnesty.org/) & AI Ottawa; (info@amnesty.ca)
• Human Rights Watch, New York (hrwnyc@hrw.org), Toronto, herltj@hrw.org
• The Ambassador, Government of the Republic of Sudan, Ottawa;
Read More>>>
Somali car bomb kills Ethiopians
BBC NEWS
Two Ethiopian soldiers have been killed by a car bomb in the Somali town of Baidoa on Wednesday evening.
The bomber's target was an Ethiopian military post close to the hotel where the prime minister, Ali Mohamed Ghedi, was staying.
Read More>>>
Wars in Africa wipe out aid gains
BBC NEWS
A report on armed conflict in Africa has shown that the cost to the continent's development over a 15-year period was nearly $300bn (£146bn).
The research was undertaken by a number of non-governmental organisations, including Oxfam. It says the cost of conflict was equal to the amount of money received in aid during the same period.
Read More>>>
October 9/2007
THOUSANDS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE STILL INCARCERATED
SOCEPP is issuing this communiqué because of two injurious and false reports or statements made as regards the fate of political prisoners in Ethiopia.
- The false report carried by one website that the regime in Ethiopia has released close to 18,000 political prisoners.
- The surprising statement by one opposition leader testifying to the House of representatives in Washington DC and stating that the number of political prisoners is no more than a hundred.
The facts need to be restated firmly.
Read More>>>
D E M E R A & M E S Q E L
Christianity flourished not only in spite of Rome but also because of Rome. Constantine the Great became Emperor of the Roman Empire in A.D. 306. He was a believer in the Roman sun god, Sol, the visible manifestation of the invisible Highest God, who was the principle behind the Universe.
Read More>>>
Assimba PalTalk Room’s special session commemorating First Year Anniversary of IEWO on Saturday October 6, 2007 .
Listen to Dr. Abeba Fekade and W/zro Telela Kebede’s presentation of IEWO’s accomplishments during the past year and extensive Q&A with room participants regarding current political situation of Ethiopia and Women’s role in the pro-democracy movement.
Dr. Abeba Fekade & W/zro Telela Kebede of IEWO Part I
Dr. Abeba Fedake & W/zro Telela Kebede of IEWO Part II
Dr. Abeba & W/zro Telela Kebede of IEWO Part III
Interview with Ato Tadios Tantu Blate , Kinijit Mikirbet Member, Recently Released Freelance Columnist of the Private Media, in Paltalk Diaspora Room
Ato Tadios Tantu Blate Part I
Ato Tadios Tantu Blate Part II
SUDAN DEPORTS 15 POLITICAL REFUGEES
OCTOBER 6/ 2007
URGENT PRESS RELEASE
Sudan deported 15 Ethiopian refugees who were in prison since early July 2007. According to eyewitnesses form Metema on the Ethio-Sudanese border, on September 27 , 2007 the Sudan Government handed over the Ethiopian political refugees who are alleged supporters of the armed groups supported by Ertirea. Sources from Addis Ababa confirmed the deportees are in MAIKELAWI prison. The elderly Atanaw Wase, a well known founding leader of the EDU , is one of the deportees.
Read More>>>
Fiasco: Minneapolis and Disloyalty
Yesus Mogus
As we fight to keep Kinijit true to its true spirit, it is to be expected that we will face detractors from within and from the outside. The struggle manifested between Chairman Hailu Shawel and the delegates nominally led by Wz. Birtukan (under Dr. Birhanu Nega’s command) is the first instance of this long struggle.
Read More>>>
Sudanese Government Deported 15 Ethiopian political Refugees
Sudan deported 15 Ethiopian refugees who were in prison since early July 2007. According to Eyewitnesses form Metema, on September 27, 2007 the Sudanese Government handed over Ethiopian political refugees who are alleged supporters of armed groups supported by Eritrea. Sources from Addis Ababa confirmed the deportees are in “MAIKELAWI” prison. The elderly Atanaw Wase is one of the deportees.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Most knijit supporters who are surprised in the unexpected conflict among Kinijit leaders, are more intrigued in the way the party is divided . Some of the active members of the kinijit who are indeed considered as a voice of the party are becoming the main topic in recent discussions in Ethiopian community. Particularly the well known stage comedian and activist who is now working in one of the Ethiopian Television network in Washington is expected to clarify his political position within the divided Kinijit.
Read More>>>
Washington update
September 26, 2007
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Wednesday “marked up” H.R. 2003, the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007. It approved a revised version of the bill in a unanimous vote. The next step in the process will be a vote by the full House of Representatives.
Read More>>>
Title: Promoting Millennium Hopes to Learn How to Innovate a Democratic System in Ethiopia: Continue to generate more and more activities until September 2008 at least!
Network of Ethiopian Scholars (NES)- Scandinavian Chapter
October 2-3, 2007
Read More>>>
Dear Fellow Ethiopians:
Will you please sign and fax (preferably) or e-mail TODAY this appeal letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Ethiopians residing in San Francisco area are urged to contact Speaker Pelosi's district office by phone 415-556-4862 or fax 415-861-1670 and seek support for the passage of H.R.2003.
Read More>>>
An archive of murders past
Sep 27th 2007
From The Economist print edition
A brave woman seeks justice and historical recognition for past wrongs
AP Still seeking justice for their children
TYRANTS tend to be oddly punctilious about recording their atrocities. But even by the standards of his peers, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Ethiopia's former dictator, was an incorrigible archivist. The security services of his regime, which took power in 1974, learned the habits of bureaucratic procedure from true masters, the East Germans, who sent Stasi agents to Ethiopia as consultants. When Mr Mengistu fell and fled in 1991, he left behind thousands of pages of memoranda, death warrants and even the minutes of a meeting in 1975 when his ruling committee, known as the Derg, voted to murder the imprisoned emperor, Haile Selassie.
These files form the basis for thousands of criminal cases brought by an Ethiopian special prosecutor since Mr Mengistu fell. The charge sheet and evidence for his trial in absentia for genocide run to some 8,000 pages. Though he remains a sheltered guest of Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, a court sentenced him this year to life in prison, so ending the special prosecutor's work. But what will happen to all that fragile and incriminating paper?
Read More>>>
In politics – Quality Counts
By Obang Ujilu, (Forbidden City, China, 2007/09/28)
Our politicians shall bear in mind that patriotism does not come from knowledge or university degree; it comes from emotion and faith. We should be standing behind our country a full 100 percent, whether we are knowledgeable or not. In this time of crisis, Ethiopia desperately needs our support, not our doubt in our own faith.
Read More>>>
September 26, 2007
Washington update
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Wednesday “marked up” H.R. 2003, the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007. It approved a revised version of the bill in a unanimous vote. The next step in the process will be a vote by the full House of Representatives.
Read More>>>
Ethiopia sends warning to Eritrea
By Elizabeth Blunt
BBC News, Addis Ababa
The Ethiopian government says it has formally notified Eritrea that it considers it to be in material breach of the Algiers Agreement. The treaty ended a two-year war between the two countries in 2000. A foreign ministry statement said it had told Eritrea that Ethiopia could invoke this as grounds for terminating or suspending the agreement.
Read More>>>
HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE TO MARK-UP H.R. 2003 ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2007
The Coalition for H.R. 2003 is pleased to announce that HR 2003 (“Ethiopia Democracy and accountability Act of 2007”), introduced by Chairman Donald Payne of the Subcommittee on Africa on April 20, 2007, has been scheduled for a mark-up vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at 10 A.M. http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/testimony.asp?committee=1
Read More>>>
Negative American policy towards Ethiopia or the persistence of incoherence
By Mulugeta Zerabruk
The US State Department is presently sponsoring a non transparent political maneuver aimed at bringing together a certain number of Ethiopian political forces deemed “reformist and moderate” to chart a working relationship with the ruling EPRDF led by dictator Meles Zenawi. It is a double pronged policy–on the one hand to strike a deal between groups that hardly love one another and on the other to isolate what US ambassador to Addis Ababa, Donald Yamamoto, refers to as “hardliners.
Read More>>>
What should I have to say, if the chaff ridiculed the grain?
By Obang Ujilu ( Forbidden city, China)
It is high time for us Ethiopians from all walks of life within and outside the country have to bear in mind that advance without coordinated defense will pave a way for saboteurs to do harm on the progress of our struggle. If we master the art of defending ourselves, our heroes, heroines and national interest no amount of force can resist our advances. Protecting our interest is as much useful as shunning mercenaries and outsiders to achieve the end goal we envisioned for so long. Irrespective of the nick-name, inflection or the prefix it displays we must be cautious to select the chaff from the grain. Before contemplating to praise, we have to double check one’s credibility. We shall let demonstrate themselves in black and white instead of the prescription of those gutter Medias outlets.
Read More>>>
The Seattle Kinijit Support Chapter - Says no to a Divided Kinijit Delegation
The Seattle Kinijit Support Chapter held an extraordinary General Assembly meeting on Saturday, September 22, 2007. The main agenda item was the scheduled visit of Kinijit Party delegation to the city of Seattle. Chapter members, supporters as well as those who have worked hard in securing the release of our leaders from the Woyane dungeons have attended the meeting.
Read More>>>
In Defense of H.R.2003: Where does Professor Al- Mariam Stand?
Anonymous 9/21/2007
Professor Al-Mariam took Dr. Ephrem Isaac when he urged the US Congress to drop H. R. 2003; and we commended him for that. Today, he is totally silent when members of the Kinjit/CUDP delegation whom he received with a great deal of fan fare took a position against H. R. 2003. As one of the catalysts of this bill, we would have thought that Professor Al-Mariam owed it to the Ethiopian people, to the Diaspora and to his personal integrity that he will come out with a clear statement as to where he stands today
Read More>>>
Breaking News: Attempts to strike a deal to work with Woyane
Eat your heart out Ethiopian Review here is a real unholy alliance!
Last Friday, reports indicate that the US State Department in Washington DC was a venue for the meeting of Ethiopian self declared opposition leaders. Present at the meeting were Lidetu Ayalew, Dr. Beyene Petros, Dr. Merara Gudina, Dr. Negaso Gidada, Dr. Bulcha Demeksa, Birtukan Midiksa, Dr. Berhanu Nega, Dr. Hailu Araya and Ayele Chemiso, the MP leading the Woyane satellite CUDP. Strange bedfellows? Hardly
There is also an audio posted @ Ethiolion.com which shows a preparation of the loyal opposition to join Weyane as KIL support group vice president Ayalnesh Chanyalew, briefing the president Ato Aklog the ground work to work with Lidetu is underway.
Read More>>>
WINNERS DO NOT FALTER AT FAULTY POLITICAL MOMENTS
The Ethiopian National Congress (ENC) fears that the chances of establishing democratic order in our country in the near future will be missed if the problems within Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) are not resolved soon. Though a civic organization that normally does not comment on internal matters of political parties, we are concerned about recent public statements and media reports of ill feelings within the CUD. The hurtful ramifications of fractious politics of any popular political organization will be felt nationally.
Read More>>>
Wrong questions do not bear right answers
In the country where poverty and inadequate education reach its apex and hoping sheer politics would come at our rescue is nothing more than blasphemous. Hence we got to know what we are looking for in day light politics.
Read More>>>
Management of crisis
Those who do not learn from history will repeat the same mistake. Not every family problem is the same. No problem of any political organization is the same. The nature of any crisis at any gives time within or between political groups differ. What was a problem yesterday is not a problem today and time is a big factor.
Read More>>>
Disillusionment takes center stage
Out freaking rageous! Here they come turning into a ridiculed personalities. What a cataclysmic political overture being introduced: misrepresentation of the people’s objective reality, nostalgic of the old habit-ascension to power by withholding the people’s mandate, etc are of the attributes materialized in the scuffle of the kinjit leadership in the past few weeks. What is going on brothers and sisters, what is going on here and there? Are we letting our people succumb into a grandiose political farce. Lately, we have witnessed a hasty political rhetoric echoing in high frequency through the mind of score of people amid what is believed to have been effective political fight undertaking .
Read More>>>
Ethiopian political dispute comes to United States
By Jim Snyder
September 21, 2007
Members of an Ethiopian opposition party who were jailed for 20 months in connection with a disputed election are lobbying the Bush administration and Congress to pressure Ethiopia to support a more open and democratic society.
:
Gizachew and fellow CUD leader Bruck Kebede said using diplomatic back channels to improve Ethiopia’s democratic systems may be more expedient and effective than passing legislation. Hailu said he wanted to see Congress pass the bill.
Read More>>>
Kinijit International Council - Hailu Shawel met with Representative Chris Smith
Washington Update -September 20, 2007
A large, enthusiastic group greeted Hailu Shawel, President of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy in Ethiopia (CUD) when he arrived at Washington’s Reagan National Airport on Sept. 15. He was escorted in a police motorcade to a nearby park, where he gave a speech thanking the Ethiopian community in the United States for its efforts to gain his release and the release of other political prisoners. He also discussed the need for unity among the Ethiopian opposition, the importance of avoiding the divide-and-conquer tactics of the ruling regime, and urged everyone to remember the plight of poor Ethiopians who are suffering because of the regime’s policies. Hailu Shawel met in Washington with concerned Ethiopians and CUD chapter representatives from throughout the United States.
Read More>>>
Ethiopian Review Editorial got it wrong again!
To the editor of Ethiopian Riveiw Ato Elias Kifle,
In your editorial titled “Saving Hailu Shawel's legacy from the Shaleqa mafia” published on September 19, 2007, we are sorry to see WWW.Assimba.org become a victim of your smear unprofessional utter rubbish journalism. Shame on you Elias Kifle! Just to show how contradictory your website is, we have included a couple of editorials from your own past archives for the readers to take a note of your games.
Webmaster@Assimba.org (P.S. We have a full copy the following editorials no need of removing them)
Ethiopian Review Editorial
Sep 21, 2005
A statement has been posted in the name of CUD on Kestedemena Party’s web site that contradicts Ato Hailu Shawel’s announcement that CUD will not enter parliament. The statement does not bear CUD’s official stamp, and we have confirmed that the CUD council did not authorize the statement posted on Kestedemena’s web site against its chairman.
Oct 26, 2005
Ethiopian Review
The Coalition for Unity & Democracy (CUD) is preparing for major peaceful actions to pressure the Meles regime to accept its demands. The Meles regime is expected to react with brute force, as it did during the June 6 peaceful protests by university students. Under the direct command of Meles Zenawi, troops gunned down 42 unarmed civilians in Addis Ababa alone. Thousands have been rounded up and tortured. When CUD makes a call for action in a few days, it could face similar reaction from the brutal regime. Is CUD prepared to overcome Meles Zenawi’s murderous violence?
Get back Lucy home!
The Afar Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) Press Release,
September 18, 2007
The Afar Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) is very much concerned about the fate of Australopithecus afarensis , which is popularly known as both Lucy and Dinkinesh. Lucy - the root of mankind is an exception and symbol that places Ethiopia into the World heritage. Unlike any other hominid fossil ever found Lucy is most complete hominid skeleton of the 3.2 million years old. Lucy is fundamentally about what it means to be human, and preserving the fossil records of the origins of humanity.
Read More>>>
Kinijit Leaders have been released: What now? Looking at Perspectives and Challenges for those in Political and Leadership Roles
We will have a panel discussion on the above topic @ Assimba PalTalk Room
On Saturday September 15, 2007 starting 2:00 PM USA Eastern Time.
Come and air your concerns and send messages to your leaders.
Dr. Maru Gubena will be our special guest of the day.
The Dubious Path of the Resistance: Can the Ethiopian Diaspora Contribute to Future Political Stability and the Development of Democratic Institutions in Ethiopia?
By Maru Gubena
Saturday 21 July 2007.
The Dubious Path of the Resistance: Can the Ethiopian Diaspora Contribute to Future Political Stability and the Development of Democratic Institutions in Ethiopia?
By Dr. Maru Gubena
THE REPRESSION IN THE OGADEN MUST STOP
September 14/2007
The atrocity that is being perpetrated by the Meles regime against the people in the Ogaden cannot be hidden though the regime has banned reporters, the Red Cross and the MSF from the area. Villages have been burnt, innocent civilians killed or tortured, cattle and camels killed in big numbers, thousands displaced as the brutal so called counter insurgency rages.
Read More>>>
UPDATE
KINIJIT LEADERSHIP DELEGATION PULLING DOUBLE SHIFT
In response to numerous requests for updates on the Delegation’s activities since its arrival on September 9, the Ad Hoc Coordinating Committee is providing the following update and
CUD Delegation Itinerary -- September 16-Oct 27, 2007
Any changes to this itinerary will be announced in a timely manner.
Read More>>>
Ethiopian millennium celebration in London UK photos
