US and European officials urge Ethiopian to release Andargachew “Andy”

Politicians from the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union have sent a letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn urging the release of British citizen Andargachew “Andy” Tsege, a political activist who has been held incommunicado for more than a year and has been sentenced to death.
The father of three was on his way to Eritrea to attend an opposition conference on June 23, 2014 when he was detained in Sana'a, Yemen, during a layover, at the behest of the Ethiopian government.
Tsege, 60, a former secretary-general of a banned opposition party, had already been sentenced to death in absentia by an Ethiopian court in 2009.
The letter, obtained only by Al Jazeera, criticizes the Ethiopian authorities for conducting a “deeply flawed” trial and demands the release of Tsege, who is kept in solitary confinement and subjected to artificial light 24 hours a day.
“You have emphasized in the past Ethiopia’s commitment to human rights, but it is unconscionable and illegal for your government to have targeted Mr. Tsege in this way. Your government’s treatment of him is a stain on its reputation, and threatens to isolate Ethiopia internationally," said the letter, co-authored in June by California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Other politicians who signed off on the letter include British parliament members Jeremy Corbyn, Baron Dholakia, and Emily Thornberry along with European Parliament officials Ana Gomes and Richard Howitt.
British officials have only been permitted to see Tsege three times since his arrest in monitored visits that take place away from his jail cell, circumstances that lawyers say prevent him from speaking openly about his mistreatment.
The Independent reported  that during one of those visits, in April, Tsege told Greg Dorey, the British ambassador to Ethiopia that he would prefer being executed to remaining in detention.
“Seriously, I am happy to go — it would be preferable and more humane,” Tsege reportedly said.
Yemi Hailemariam, Tsege's partner and mother of his children, said the ordeal has left the family devasted.
“It's dreadful, what has happened. The way he was taken, it's really terrifying. I was hoping things would evolve quickly and he would be released, but it feels like it's only getting worse and worse,” she told Al Jazeera America in an exclusive interview.
Concerns that he is being mistreated by Ethiopian authorities, who routinely subject political detainees to torture, grew after the Ethiopian government released videos of a gaunt and disoriented Tsege apparently confessing to a number of offenses.
UK-based legal charity Reprieve submitted the videos to an expert for analysis who concluded that Tsege exhibited signs of torture.
“The expert found that there are signs of significant deterioration in his mental condition, an indicia of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] that could be the result of torture. And we already know that torture is pretty endemic at Ethiopian detention sites,” said Maya Foa, director of Reprieve's death penalty team.
She described Tsege's arrest in Yemen and rendition to Ethiopia as a “politically motivated abduction.”
Ethiopia's embassy in Washington and its mission in New York did not respond to Al Jazeera's calls and e-mails for comment.

Dedicated reformer

Tsege was tried in absentia in 2009 along with a group of opposition members and journalists under Ethiopia's controversial anti-terrorism laws, which human rights experts say are used to repress peaceful political dissent.
The charges leveled against Tsege include high treason, espionage and involvement with a terrorist organization.
He was an active member of Ginbot 7, a political party founded in the U.S. – home to the largest Ethiopian population outside of Africa – that advocates for democratic reforms.
Ethiopia designated Ginbot 7 a terrorist group in 2011, a move that human rights experts say was meant to quash opposition.
"They are not considered a terrorist group by any government apart from the Ethiopian [government]," Foa told Al Jazeera.
She added Tsege's arrest was part of a larger crackdown on dissent by the country’s authorities in the run-up to the May 2015 elections, in which the ruling party won by an overwhelming majority.
Human rights experts have denounced the elections as an exercise in "political theater."
“A decade-long campaign by Ethiopia’s government to silence dissent forcibly has left the country without a viable political opposition, without independent media, and without public challenges to the ruling party’s ideology,” wrote Daniel Calingaert in The Guardian.
Calingaert is the executive vice-president of Freedom House, an International human rights organization. “For most Ethiopians, these elections are a non-event,” he added.
The ruling party - Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPDRF) - has been in power for the last 25 years, following the 1991 ouster of the country's military junta, the Derg.
When the EPDRF ascended to power, Tsege – who sought asylum in the UK in 1979 – traveled back to Ethiopia for the first time in 20 years to help his homeland rebuild and to serve as the secretary of the Addis Ababa City Council.
He resigned from that post 18 months later, having grown disillusioned with the new government, which showed no signs of implementing genuine democratic reform, according to his partner Hailemariam.
Tsege returned to the UK, where he had become a full citizen in 2006, and although he lost his Ethiopian citizenship (dual citizenships are prohibited under Ethiopian law) he continued to advocate for change in Ethiopia from the UK.
"He never stopped believing change would come to Ethiopia. In the UK, he saw the difference between those who live in a free society and people who live in authoritarian regimes like Ethiopia. He really couldn’t let it go. Anytime he saw an opportunity to get involved, he was always involved," said his partner, Hailemariam.
In 2005, Tsege published a book entitled Freedom Fighters Who Don’t Know What Freedom Is – a scathing indictment of the EPDRF leadership.
The following year, he traveled to Washington D.C. to speak on Ethiopia's human rights record before a Congressional committee, telling them that “the scale of repression has exceeded Ethiopia's darkest hours during the military dictatorship.”
ethiomedia

President Obama to Africa:Nobody shoud be president for life.

Barak Obama -- addressing the African Union (AU) today: “If a leader says he is the only one who can hold the country together, then that leader has failed to build their nation…Nobody should be president for life. A country is better off with new blood and new ideas.”
“I don't understand why people want to stay in power for so long especially when they have a lot of money...”
"When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office it risks instability and strife. As we've seen in Burundi...”
"I'm still a pretty young man, but I know that somebody with new energy and new insights will be good for my country. It would be good for yours too in some cases."
“I have to be honest with you—I just don’t understand this. I am in my second term. Under our constitution, I cannot run again. There’s still so much I want to get done to keep America moving forward. But the law is the law and no one is above it, not even presidents.”
“…frankly, I’m looking forward to life after being President. It will mean more time with my family, new ways to serve, and more visits to Africa.” 
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/barack-obama-africa-trip-democracy-ethiopia-120711.html?cmpid=sf

ፕ/ት ኦባማ «ኤርትራ ያለ ተቃዋሚ ድርጅትን በአሸባሪነት ለመፈረጅ» የሚያስችል በቂ መረጃ የለንም አሉ፤

July 27,2015
ኢሳት ዜና ፦ የአሜሪካው ፕ/ት ባራክ ኦባማ ይህን የተናገሩት ” በአሜሪካና በኤርትራ የሚገኙ የተቃዋሚ ድርጅቶች ኢትዮጵያ ሽብርተኝነትን ለመወጋት የምታደርገውን ጥረት እያደናቀፉ በመሆኑ የእርስዎ መንግስት የኢትዮጵያን መንግስት ለመርዳት ምን ያክል ዝግጁ ነው ተብሎ ከኢቢሲ ጋዜጠኛ ጥያቄ መቅረቡን ተከትሎ ነው። ጋዜጠኛው የድርጅቱን ስም በግልጽ ከመግለጽ ቢቆጠብም፣ ፕ/ት ኦባማ የሰጡት መልስ ፣ የኢህአዴግ ባለስልጣናት ከዚህ ቀደም ለአሜሪካ ስቴት ዲፓርትመንት ምክትል ሃላፊ ዌዲ ሸርማን አርበኞች ግንቦት7ትን በአሸባሪነት እንዲፈረጅ ያቀረቡትን ጥያቄ፣ ለፕ/ት ኦባማም ማቅረባቸውን የሚያመለክት ነው። ፕ/ት ኦባማ በመልሳቸው «ፖሊሲያችን መንግስትን በሃይል ከስልጣን ማውረድን አይደግፍም፣ ይህ ፖሊሲያችን በዲሞክራሲያዊ ሁኔታ የተመረጠውን የኢትዮጵያን መንግስትንም ያካትታል» ካሉ በኋላ፣ «በኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በኩል ከፍተኛ ችግር እየፈጠሩብኝ ነው በማለት የሚፈርጃቸው ድርጅቶች እንዳሉ እናውቃለን፣ ይሁን እንጅ በመንግስት ላይ ተቃውሞ ቢያሰሙም የሽብር ዝንባሌ እንደሌላቸው የእኛ የመረጃና የደህንነት መረጃዎች ያሳዩናአል» በማለት በኢህአዴግ መንግስት በኩል የቀረበውን ጥያቄ ሳይቀበሉት መቅረታቸውን ተናግረዋል። «ይህንን በመገምገም በኩል ግልጽ የሆነ መስፈርት አለን ያሉት ኦባማ፣ ለወደፊቱ እነዚህ ድርጅቶች የሽብር ጥቃት ይፈጽማሉ አይፈጽሙም የሚለውን ለወደፊቱ የምናየው ይሆናል ብለዋል።
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«አንድ ድርጅት የፖለቲካ ተቃውሞውን ቢገልጽ ፣ ከአስተሳሰቡ ጋር ባንስማማም እንኳ ከለላ እንሰጠዋለን፣ ይሄ በአሜሪካ በሌላም ቦታ የሚሰራበት እውነታ ነው፤ ይህን ማድረግ ለዲሞክራሲ እድገት አስፈላጊ ነገር ነው» ያሉት ኦባማ ፣ ድርጅቶቹ ወደ ሃይል ሲያዘነብሉና በህገመንግስት የተቋቋመን መንግስት ለመገልበጥ ሲሞክሩ፣ ድርጊቱ ያሳስበናል።» በማለት መልሰዋል። የውጭ አገር ጋዜጠኞች ፣ በእስር ላይ ስለሚገኙ የነጻው ፕሬስ ጋዜጠኞች እንዲሁም ስለኢትዮጵያ የሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝ ጉዳይ ለፕ/ት ኦባማና ለአቶ ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝ ጥያቄዎችን አቅርበዋል። ፕ/ት ኦባማ በኢትዮጵያ የሰብአዊ መብት ጥበቃ እና በዲሞክራሲ ዙሪያ ከአቶ ሃይለማርያም ጋር ሰፊ ውይይት ማድረጋቸውን፣ አሜሪካ በቅርብ ሁና እገዛ ለመስጠት መዘጋጀቷን ገልጸዋል። የኢህአዴግ መንግስት ከፕ/ቱ ጉብኝት በዋናነት የሚጠብቀው ለስልጣኑ ስጋት የሚፈጥሩ ድርጅቶች በሽብረተኝነት እንዲፈረጁለት ቢሆንም፣ ይህንን ሳያገኝ ቀርቷል። ይሁን እንጅ ባራክ ኦባማ የኢህአዴግን መንግስት በዲሞክራሲያዊ ምርጫ የተመረጠ ነው ማለታቸው በርካታ የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅቶችን ሳያስቆጣ አይቀርም። ኦባማ በአንድ በኩል በኢትዮጵያ እየጠበበ ስለመጣው የፖለቲካ ምህዳር ሲናገሩ፣ በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ምርጫውን ዲሞክራሲያዊ የሚል ካባ ማልበሳቸው፣ የአሜሪካ የውጭ ፖሊሲን ተቃርኖ የሚያሳይ ነው።
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በሌላ በኩል ኢ/ር ይልቃል ለፕሬዝደንት ኦባማ በተዘጋጀው የእራት ግብዣ ላይ እንደማይገኙ አስታውቀዋል። የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ሊቀመንበር ኢ/ር ይልቃል ጌትነት መንግስት ሀምሌ 20/2007 ዓ.ም ምሽት 1፡00 ሰዓት ላይ ቤተ መንግስት ውስጥ ለአሜሪካው ፕሬዝደንት ባራክ ኦባማ የሚያደረገውን የእራት ግብዣ ያልተቀበሉት፣ «አሸባሪ አድርጎ የሚቆጥረን ኢህአዴግ፣ ፕሬዝደንት ባራክ ኦባማ ሲመጡ በዴሞክራሲያዊ መንገድ የተመረጠ ለማስመሰልና ዕውቅና ለማግኘት ያደረገው በመሆኑ አልገኝም» ብለዋል፡፡ ኢ/ር ይልቃል አክለውም «የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ጭቆና እና ስቃይ ውስጥ ባለበት በአሁኑ ወቅት ኢህአዴግ የጠራው የቅንጦት ግብዣ ላይ መገኘት የህዝቡን ሰቆቃ እንደመርሳት እቆጥረዋለሁ» ብለዋል፡፡ በሌላ በኩል የአሜሪካው ፕሬዝደንት ባራክ ኦባማ መግለጫ በሚሰጡበት ወቅት ኢህአዴግ በዴሞክራሲያዊ መንገድ የተመረጠ ነው ማለታቸው ቅር እንዳሰኛቸውም ሊቀመንበሩ ለነገረ ኢትዮጵያ ገልጸዋል፡፡ «ኢህአዴግን በዴሞክራሲያዊ መንገድ የተመረጠ ነው ማለት የሰላማዊ ታጋዮችን ስቃይ የሚክድና ለአምባገነኖች ይሁንታ የሚሰጥ ነው» ሲሉ የፕሬዝደንት ኦባማን ንግግር ነቅፈውታል፡፡ ፕሬዝደንት ኦባማ የጠበንጃ ትግልን አለመደገፍን ለመግለፅ የአሜሪካ ስቴት ዲፓርትመንትን ጨምሮ ሌሎች የአሜሪካ ተቋማት ኢ-ዴሞክራሲያዊ መሆኑን አረጋግጠውት፣ መቶ ፐርሰንት ምርጫ አሸንፌያለሁ የሚልን ፓርቲ በዴሞክራሲያዊ ምርጫ እንደተመረጠ መግለፃቸው እንዳሳዘናቸው ኢ/ር ይልቃል ገልጸዋል፡፡

Obama begins Ethiopia, African Union visit

Addis Ababa (AFP) - US President Barack Obama landed in Ethiopia on Sunday, beginning a two-day stay and becoming the first American leader to visit Africa's second most populous nation.
Air Force One touched down at Addis Ababa's international airport after a short flight north from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, and the president was greeted on the tarmac by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
The visit will include talks with the Ethiopian government, a key strategic ally but criticised for its record on democracy and human rights. Obama will also become the first US president to address the African Union, the 54-member continental bloc, at its gleaming, Chinese-built headquarters.
He will also hold talks with regional leaders on the civil war in South Sudan.
AU Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma hailed what she said will be an "historic visit" and a "concrete step to broaden and deepen the relationship between the AU and the US."
While Kenya launched one of the biggest security operations ever seen in the capital Nairobi to host Obama from Friday evening to Sunday, the habitual reach of Ethiopia's powerful security forces meant there was little obvious extra fanfare ahead of his arrival.
Ethiopia, like Kenya, has been on the frontline of the fight against the Somali-led, Al-Qaeda affiliated Shebab. Both nations have troops in Somalia as part of an AU and US-backed force, and are key security partners to Washington.
But the visit also comes two months after elections that saw the prime minister's ruling coalition take every one of the 546 seats in parliament.
The opposition, which lost its only seat, alleged the government had used authoritarian tactics to guarantee victory.
The US State Department notes Ethiopia's "restrictions on freedom of expression," as well as "politically motivated trials" and the "harassment and intimidation of opposition members and journalists."
Ahead of the visit, the White House stressed it frequently addresses issues of democracy and political rights with countries in the region. Having spoken frankly in Kenya on human rights and corruption, Obama can also be expected to address Ethiopia's -- and Africa's -- democracy deficit.

- South Sudan peace push -

Through the tinted windows of his bomb-proof presidential limousine, nicknamed "The Beast," Obama will see Addis Ababa's construction boom of tower blocks, as well as sub-Saharan Africa's first modern tramway.
Ethiopia has come far from the global headlines generated by the 1984 famine, experiencing near-double-digit economic growth and huge infrastructure investment -- making the country one of Africa's top-performing economies and a magnet for foreign investment.
The Horn of Africa nation also remains a favourite of international donors -- despite concerns over human rights -- as a bastion of stability in an otherwise troubled region.
On Monday Obama will try to build African support for tough action against South Sudan's warring leaders if they reject an August peace ultimatum.
Obama will meet with leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda as well as Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour in Addis Ababa to try and build a collective front to end the 19-month-old civil war in the world's youngest nation.
Signalling a deeper commitment to ending violence that has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than two million from their homes, Obama is expected to make the case for tougher sanctions and a possible arms embargo.
South Sudan's rivals -- President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, who will not be at the meeting -- effectively face an ultimatum, a "final best offer," according to one senior administration official.
"The parties have shown themselves to be utterly indifferent to their country and their people, and that is a hard thing to rectify," the official said.
Rights groups, however, are not happy about Obama visiting Ethiopia, saying the trip could lend credibility to a government they accuse of suppressing democratic rights. They say that includes the jailing of journalists and critics, often using anti-terrorism legislation said to stifle peaceful dissent.

"We don't want this visit to be used to sanitise an administration who has been known to violate human rights," said Amnesty International's Abdullahi Halakhe, adding he feared Ethiopia would "spin" the visit to its benefit.

U.S. President B. OBAMA arrived in Addis Ababa Bole International Air Port

The obamas having famliy dinner in Nairobi. what about this old pickup?

 

 

 

Obama Meets With Extended Family on First Night in Nairobi