Ethiopian man burns himself to death in protest

 Angus Stickler, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

 

Events in Ethiopia have taken a disturbing turn following reports that a teacher in his late 20s burnt himself alive last week in protest against the ongoing brutal clampdown on dissent in the country. According to reports Yenesew Gebre made an impassioned plea at a protest gathering before dowsing himself in petrol and setting himself on fire.

Addressing fellow protestors he is reported to have said: ’I want to show to all that death is preferable than a life without justice and liberty and I call upon my fellow compatriots to fear nothing and rise up to wrench their freedom and rights from the hands of the local and national tyrants.’
It is understood that Gebre died from his injuries three days later at the Tercha city local hospital.  

Renewed crackdownAccording to sources who spoke to the satellite TV station, ESAT, Yenesew had been campaigning against injustice at the hands of ruling party officials. It also appears that he had been fired from his teaching position because of his political views.
The event happened at a public meetng on November 11, aimed at resolving a series of local protests.
It was during the meeting that Yenesew Gebre reportedly spoke out against President Meles Zenawi’s regime. When security agents tried to stop him, Yeneneh walked out of the meeting hall and set himself alight infront of the other protesters gathered in the compound.
‘While fire was engulfing his whole body, he was calling for justice, freedom and democracy and urged people to rise up against the oppressors. He wanted martyrdom … he chose to sacrifice his life for the sake of liberty and justice,’ a local source who witnessed the shocking incident told ESAT.
According to close friends, Yenesew Gebre was widely respected and well known for raising serious issues and challenging authorities.
In a bid to quash any further protests in the area, the federal police and the security services have reportedly sealed off the town. The regime has cut telephone lines to prevent the news of Yenesew’s death from spreading across Ethiopia, according to ESAT.
Zelalem Tessema, spokesman from Mass Advocacy of Communities, Ethiopia (MACE) a Diaspora group based in the UK, told the Bureau: ‘This unprecedented form of self-sacrifice has caused shock and anger amongst his compatriots both at home and abroad. Gebre’s action demonstrates the high level of despair prevailing amongst the public at large that is firmly under the brutal rule of Meles Zenawi.’

Concerted CrackdownYenesew Gebre’s death follows a recent investigation by the Bureau and BBC Newsnight into allegations of torture, repression and the political manipulation of foreign aid. The report was strongly denied by representatives of President Meles Zenawi.

Read the full investigation Ethiopia Aid Exposed here.
The Bureau has been told of a concerted crackdown following the broadcast, particularly in the southern region. ‘Sadly there has been a crackdown by the security forces on people who have suspected to have cooperated with the programme,’ said Zelalem Tessema. ‘And certainly we’ve got reports that people have been arrested, some people have been questioned by security forces and some people have left the area in fear of what would follow.’

Widespread OppressionThe crackdown has intensified and spread to other areas of the country, according to members of the Ethiopian community in the UK. The Bureau has learned that at least 40 opposition politicians, their supporters and journalists have been arrested by security forces in recent months. Many are being held in the Central Investigation Centre in Maikelawi where allegations of torture are rife.
The most prominent are Bekele Gerba and Olbana Lelisa, opposition leaders in Oromia, Andualaem Arage the vice chairman of Unity Democracy and Justice Party and the prominent journalist Eskinder Nega.

Related article: Reign of terror in Maikelawi detention centre
The government has been accused of using sweeping anti-terror legislation passed in 2009 to crush dissent. The definitions of terrorist activity under the law are broad and ambiguous. It permits a clamp down on political demonstrations and public criticisms of government policy. The law criminalises any reporting that authorities deem to ‘encourage’ or ‘provide moral support’ to groups the government has labelled ‘terrorists.’

Media TargetedThe legislation is also being used to stifle Ethiopia’s media. Last week a judge in Ethiopia’s federal high court charged six journalists with terrorism. According to the New York based campaign group – the Committee to Protect Journalists, (CPJ), 10 journalists have now been charged with terrorism related offences since June.
‘Ethiopia’s terrorism charges against journalists critical of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government are becoming vague and ludicrous,’ said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. ‘The authorities have failed to provide any hard evidence and should drop these charges immediately.’
In an interview with Agence France-Presse, government spokesman Shimelis Kemal accused the journalists of ‘abetting, aiding, and supporting a terrorist group.’
And the crack-down is not confined to Ethiopian nationals. Earlier this month an Ethiopian court said two Swedish journalists must face charges of helping a terrorist group and entering the country illegally. Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were charged with terrorism after they were arrested crossing from Puntland into Ethiopia’s troubled Ogaden region with members of the banned Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in July.
If found guilty, they could face a maximum of 15 years in jail.

Related article: Ethiopian media gagged by anti-terror laws
In August, a delegation from Amnesty International was expelled from Ethiopia. Speaking shortly after her expulsion from the country, Amnesty’s Claire Beston told the Bureau: ‘Civil society activists have said the situation is rapidly deteriorating – to use their words. Journalists are more afraid even than they were before, and we are even talking about a significant climate of fear – all those groups are already operating in a climate of fear.’

Foreign Tourists under SurveillanceIn a separate move it has also been reported that the government is targeting tour operators to monitor the movements of foreign nationals on holiday following the Bureau’s original investigation. The Bureau/Newsnight team entered the country on tourist visas posing as holidaymakers.
According to the Indian Ocean Newsletter, representatives of the tour operators active in the country were summoned to a meeting at the ministry of transport in Addis Ababa last month. It says that during the meeting the tour operators were blatantly asked to include an Ethiopian intelligence officer from now on.
It says: ‘According to one source present at the meeting, the instructions from the government official specified that the tour operators should meet the agent’s expenses. The agent’s job will be to keep a watch on all the movements of the visitors and determine their reason for going to Ethiopia.
‘This measure follows on a recent BBC report criticising the situation in the Ogaden region and the political use the Ethiopian government made of international aid,’ states the Newsletter. ‘It would appear that from now on the Ethiopian authorities want to prevent foreign journalists from entering the country with tourist visas and travelling around the country.’
The Bureau asked the Ethiopian Embassy in London for a response to the death of Yenesew Gebre and the allegations concerning the current government crack-down. It is yet to respond.

Karuturi to outsource Ethiopian land to Indian farmers

Raghuvir Badrinath / Bangalore October 12, 2011, 1:03 IST

Karuturi Global, the city-based publicly-held floriculture major and one of the world’s largest exporter of roses which is aggressively rolling out an agriculture business venture in Ethiopia, is looking at outsourcing 20,000 hectares of farm land in the African nation to Indian farmers on a revenue-sharing basis.

The company has leased 300,000 hectares in Gambela, in the western corner of Ethiopia. It has been looking to develop a bouquet of crops such as paddy, maize, cereals, palm oil, and sugarcane, among others, to cater to the huge demand in Africa and also look at the export market. According to senior officials of Karuturi, they have taken possession of 100,000 hectares, and after the completion of this, they will be able to take possession of another 200,000 hectares. And here is the rest of it.

Meles met by protests

Norwegian News

A chorus of critics demonstrated outside the Oslo hotel where Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was attending an international energy conference this week. He brushed off the criticism, while Norwegian leaders say they took up some of it with him.

“Norwegian and other countries’ organizations think they have a right to involve themselves in African countries’ politics,” Meles Zenawi told newspaperAftenposten. “At the same time, I, as an Ethiopian, have no right to involve myself in Norwegian affairs. We have never accepted this double standard.”

He said that Norway can gladly “help us” in economic issues, “and say what you think.” But he warned outsiders from meddling in Ethiopia’s political processes.

Norway has donated around NOK 1.4 billion in aid to Ethiopia over the past six years, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has worked closely with Meles Zenawi on a UN-backed effort to raise funds for measures to halt climate change. That’s at least partly why Meles Zenawi was in Oslo this week, to take part in the latest conference involving energy and climate issues. While he was welcomed by his Norwegian hosts, Aftenposten reported how demonstrators outside the Radisson Blu Hotel in downtown Oslo were chanting “shame, shame, shame.” Most of the demonstrators were Ethiopian-Norwegians who are not at all happy with Meles Zenawi’s rule back home.

“This is a man who imprisons journalists and opposition groups,” Adam Mulualem Zerikun, one of the organizers of the demonstration, told Aftenposten. He accused Meles Zenawi of gathering all political power in an ethnic group that makes up only a small percentage of the population, of prohibiting aid organizations and impartial observerser into southern portions of the country and of turning Ethiopia into a dictatorship.

Meles Zenawi was unmoved. “If they don’t agree with the government’s politics, it’s natural they protest,” he told Aftenposten. He also stressed that Ethiopia has never been a colony and that’s why aid organizations aren’t allowed to get involved in political activities, including promotion of human rights.

After 20 years of rule, he has won international acclaim for boosting Ethiopia’s economy, but he’s also attracted criticism for a lack of progress on human rights and democracy. Most recently his government reportedly has used an anti-terror law to imprison hundreds of journalists and political opponents, including two Swedish journalists. Meles Zenawi insisted they were messengers for a terrorist organization.

Stoltenberg said he took up the issue of the imprisoned Swedes with Meles Zenawi on Monday, along with reports of murder and abuse of civilians in Ogaden. Yet he and government minister Erik Solheim also hailed the Ethiopian leader for promoting stability and growth in Africa.

“We’re working with Ethiopia to fight poverty,” Stoltenberg said. “Trade and investment are closely tied to improvement of human rights.”

Zenawi calls jailed Swedish journalists terror accomplices

(CPJ) New York, October 11, 2011--Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's public accusations on Monday against two imprisoned Swedish journalists compromise the presumption of their innocence and predetermine the outcome of their case, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The journalists were arrested in Ethiopia in July and charged with terrorism for associating with armed separatists. In July, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, contributors to the Sweden-based photo agency Kontinent, were arrested after they crossed with rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) into Ogaden, an oil-rich province where the media is barred independent access. Earlier this year, the Ethiopian government formally designated the ONLF a terrorist group under an anti-terrorism law. Under this 2009 law, journalists risk up to 20 years in prison if the government deems their reporting favorable to groups designated as terrorists. Both journalists were charged without their lawyers present, CPJ research shows.

In a Monday interview with Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, Zenawi said Persson and Schibbye were accomplices to terrorists. "They are, at the very least, messenger boys of a terrorist organization. They are not journalists," the prime minister said. "Why would a journalist be involved with a terrorist organization and enter a country with that terrorist organization, escorted by armed terrorists, and participate in a fighting in which this terrorist organization was involved? If that is journalism, I don't know what terrorism is."
Zenawi then singled out Persson, citing footage in a government-produced video released by authorities in July in which the journalist is seen handling a weapon. "We have video clippings of this journalist training with the rebels," the prime minister said. In the same video, Schibbye is heard being told by Ethiopian security to say to the camera, "We came to the Ogaden region to do interviews with the ONLF," according to CPJ research.
"Since arresting Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, the Ethiopian government has compromised their fundamental rights of defense--chiefly, the presumption of innocence--by portraying them in the media as accomplices to terrorists, charging them with terrorism without the presence of their lawyers, and making accusatory statements against them, like those by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, which appear to predetermine the outcome of their trial before it even starts," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on the Ethiopian judiciary to guarantee both journalists a fair trial in what has become a politicized case."
In the interview, Zenawi called the journalists' case "an issue of crime, an ordinary criminal issue," and said, "Those who want to enter Ethiopia legally are not being prevented from entering the country legally, including journalists." However, media in Sweden reported on Monday that not one Swedish journalist who had applied for a visa to attend the journalists' October 18 trial had been approved yet.
With eight journalists behind bars, Ethiopia trails only Eritrea as the foremost jailer of journalists in Africa, according to CPJ research. Ethiopia's repression of the independent press has also driven into exile the largest number of journalists in the world, according to a CPJ study. Yet Zenawi told Aftenposten that Ethiopia was "moving in the right direction" in terms of human rights. "We have reached a very advanced stage of rule of law and respect for human rights," he said. "Fundamentally, this is a country where democratic rights of people are respected."

Arrests of journalists show Ethiopia's sterner side

The Christian Science Monitor


The arrests of two Swedish journalists – captured by security forces in early July after a firefight with ethnic Somali rebels – and the detention of a long stream of local journalists with critical views of the Ethiopian government is showing once again the ruthless streak of America’s biggest friend in the Horn of Africa.


Prime Minister Meles Zenawi – president of Ethiopiafrom 1991 to 1995, and premier of Ethiopia ever since – is praised for his economic vision in steering the country toward a path of economic growth and foreign investment, as well as his cooperation with the US’s counterterrorism efforts in Africa. But Mr. Meles’ decisiveness and vision is matched by an intolerance of dissent, critics say.



Over the past year, more than 100 opposition activists, local journalists and others have been detained under a catch-all anti-terror law that can mean up to 20-year jail terms for those who merely publish a statement that prosecutors believe could indirectly encourage terrorism.  

Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz.

Former president of the republic Negasso Gidada, who left the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 2001 to join the opposition, says that Meles and his followers still hold a belief agreed a decade ago that they are the only ones capable of leading the historically impoverished nation to prosperity.

"They decided then it is only the EPRDF which can lead the country to middle-income level in 20 to 30 years' time," he says. "All other organizations should to be brought on board or eliminated."

Little room for dissent

Meles' proven track record in overseeing economic growth and stability lead some to praise his rule. Human rights groups and journalist organizations complain that the government targets those who simply disagree with the ruling party.

Senior government spokesman Shimeles Kemal rejects rights groups’ claims that the pattern of arrests reveals an intolerance of dissent. He says that those arrested for terrorism – including the two Swedish journalists – have left behind evidence of links with banned militant groups. Ethiopia’s concerns over terrorist threats were bolstered recently by a recent UN report detailing an Eritrea-backed plot by rebels aiming to cause carnage in downtown Addis Ababa during an African Unionsummit in January this year.

Connections of some sort between opposition politicians and outlawed organizations such as Ginbot 7 are possible. Ginbot 7’s exiled leader, Berhanu Nega – sentenced to death in-absentia for his role in a tumultuous 2005 election – was a former colleague in the defunct Coalition for Unity and Democracy.

But while exploiting such connections to crush the opposition is a predictable maneuver, the prosecution of the Swedish journalists Johann Persson and Martin Schibbye is a departure for the government.

The arrests of two Swedish journalists – captured by security forces in early July after a firefight with ethnic Somali rebels – and the detention of a long stream of local journalists with critical views of the Ethiopian government is showing once again the ruthless streak of America’s biggest friend in the Horn of Africa. 

አሥራ ስድስት የደርግ ባለሥልጣናት ተፈቱ

በጌቱ ጥበበ- በዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል ተከሰው በሞትና በዕድሜ ልክ እስር እንዲቀጡ ከተወሰነባቸው የደርግ ከፍተኛ ባለሥልጣናት መካከል 16ቱ ተፈቱ፡፡

በዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል ከተከሰሱት 23 ከፍተኛ ባለሥልጣናት መካከል 20 ዓመት በእስር ያሳለፉት 16 ባለሥልጣናት በአመክሮ በትናንትናው ዕለት ተፈትተዋል፡፡

ትናንትና የተፈቱት ባለሥልጣናት የቀድሞው የደርግ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ሻምበል ፍቅረ ሥላሴ ወግደረስ፣ ምክትል ፕሬዚዳንት ኮሎኔል ፍስሐ ደስታ፣ ሻምበል ለገሰ አስፋው፣ ኮሎኔል እንዳለ ተሰማ፣ ሜጀር ጀነራል ውብሸት ደሴ፣ ሌተና ኮሎኔል ናደው ዘካሪያስ፣ መቶ አለቃ ጴጥሮስ ገብሬ፣ መቶ አለቃ ስለሺ መንገሻ፣ ሻለቃ ደጀኔ ወንድማገኘሁ፣ አቶ እሸቱ ሸንቁጤ፣ አቶ ልሳኑ ሞላ፣ ብርጋዴር ጄነራል ለገሰ በላይነህ፣ አቶ ገስግስ ገብረ መስቀል፣ አቶ አበበ እሸቱ፣ አቶ በሪሁን ማሞና መቶ አለቃ ደሳለኝ በላይ ናቸው፡፡ ቀሪዎቹም ባለሥልጣናት 20 ዓመት ሲሞላቸው ጊዜያቸውን ጠብቀው ይለቀቃሉ ተብሏል፡፡

ባለፈው ዓመት ታህሳስ ወር በወንጌላዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን መካነየሱስ፣ በኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን፣ በካቶሊካዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያንና በኢትዮጵያ እስልምና ጉዳዮች ጠቅላይ ምክር ቤት የሃይማኖት መሪዎች፣ በደርግ ዘመን የተፈጸመው በደልና ጥፋት፣ በአገራዊ ይቅርታና እርቅ እንዲጨረስና ሁሉም የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የእርቁና የይቅርታው ተካፋይ እንዲሆን ጥሪ አቅርበው ነበር፡፡ በወቅቱ ባለሥልጣናቱ የፈጸሙዋቸውን የተለያዩ ወንጀሎች በማመን እግዚአብሔርን፣ ሕዝብንና መንግሥትን ይቅርታ መጠየቅ እንደፈለጉ የሃይማኖት መሪዎቹ አስታውቀው ነበር፡፡ የእርቅና የሰላም ሥራ የአገሪቱ የተሀድሶ አንዱ አካል በመሆኑ ከፍተኛ የመንግሥት አካላት እንዲያውቁት መደረጉን የገለጹት የሃይማኖት መሪዎቹ፣ በዘመኑ የተፈጸመው በደል ፈጣሪንም፣ ሰውንም ያሳዘነ እንደነበር በመግለጽ ምሕረትንና ይቅርታን መጠየቅ እንደሚገባ አሳስበው ነበር፡፡

ከአራቱም የሃይማኖት ተቋማት የተውጣጣ ዓብይ ኮሚቴ ተቋቁሞ ለሁለት ዓመታት መሥራቱን የገለጹት የሃይማኖት መሪዎቹ፣ በዘመኑ ጥፋት ሰለባ ከነበሩ ማኅበራት ጋር በመመካከር መግባባት ላይ መደረሱን ገልጸው ነበር፡፡ ሆኖም የሃይማኖት መሪዎቹ የይቅርታና የእርቅ ጥያቄ ከተለያዩ አካላት ተቃውሞ ገጥሞት ነበር፡፡ በተለይም በደርግ ሥርዓት ተጐጂ ከነበሩና ከተጐጂ ቤተሰቦች የሃይማኖት መሪዎቹ የጀመሩት የይሁንታና የይቅርታ እንቅስቃሴ በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ ተቃውሞ ገጥሞታል፡፡

በእንደዚህ ዓይነት ሁኔታ የባሥልጣናቱ ከእስር የመፈታት ጉዳይ ዘጠኝ ወራትን ካሳለፈ በኋላ፣ 16ቱ ባለሥልጣናት ትናንትና ከቃሊቲ ማረሚያ ቤት ወጥተዋል፡፡ ከባለሥልጣናቱ መካከል በደርግ ዘመን የደኅንነት ሚኒስትር የነበሩት ኮሎኔል ተስፋዬ ወልደ ሥላሴ በቅርቡ ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት መለየታቸው ይታወሳል፡፡     

TPLF found in global terrorism blacklist

By Abebe Gellaw

Criminal records rarely go unnoticed wherever they are meticulously archived and preserved. Let alone leaders that hold state power, ordinary people are even required to go through criminal background checks for jobs that require high level of trustworthiness. Today one of the most serious criminal offenses in the world is quite obviously terrorism.


The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), which is a center of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the University of Maryland, has made the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) available online “in an effort to increase understanding of terrorist violence so that it can be more readily studied and defeated.”


GTD is arguably the most authoritative and comprehensive open-source database on terrorism incidents from 1970 to date. The database also reveals “the date and location of the incident, the weapons used and nature of the target, the number of casualties, and--when identifiable--the group or individual responsible.”


The Meles regime has recently adopted a new strategy of crushing dissent by accusing famed and respected journalists, politicians and activists of committing acts of “terrorism”. It is for this very reason that I found it necessary to do some background checks related to terrorism on the accused as well as the accusers.


Using the searchable GTD online interface, I started entering the names of some of the “terrorists” 

accused by the Meles Zenawi of committing acts of terrorism. The search result for Eskinder Nega, Reyot Alemu, Woubishet Taye, Andualem Arage, Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelisa, Debebe Eshetu, the two Swedish journalists, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye among many others, was negative. As some of those charged with terrorism were linked to Ginbot 7, it was also needed to check the group’s terrorism record. But as consistently as the suspects, the search result for Ginbot 7 was nill. According to the GTD record, there is no single terrorist act that has ever been linked to the group.

And then it was TPLF’s turn for the terrorism background check. It is an open secret that TPLF’s history is tarnished with violence, bloodshed, brutality, mass killings, genocide, robberies, corruption, mass displacement and kidnappings, to mention a few in the long litany of crimes the group has been committing since it started its armed insurrection in 1975 as an ethnocentric bandit group with a declared mission of seceding Tigray from Ethiopia. Along with the world’s most virulent and violent terrorist groups Al Shabaab, Al Qaida, Hezbollah, Basque, Islamic Jihaad, the drug cartels in Latin America, the Tamil Tigers, the TPLF’s the terrorist records linked to committing mass killings, assaulting civilians, NGOs and hostage taking of foreigners. The GTD record on TPLF is not very comprehensive given the fact that TPLF became the government in 1991 and changed its terrorist tactics to state terrorism. It is a tragedy for Ethiopia that the terrorist group TPLF now controls Ethiopia abuses its power to crush innocent civilians like insects.


TPLF has obviously committed countless acts of terror before and after it seized state power in 1991. GTD only contained TPLF’s terrorism record from 1976 up to 1991. Puzzled why GTD does not contain acts of terrorism that the TPLF has been committing after it came to power, I called Erin Miller, Project Manager of the Global Terrorism Database.


Miller explained that despite the fact that in circumstances where terrorist organizations like the TPLF have succeeded in seizing state power, they automatically fall outside the domain of the GTD due to the fact that it only records and archives terrorists acts committed by non-state actors. “The rule of inclusion does not include state actors. Terrorism acts committed by governments are state terrorism,” she said.
The Tigray people’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has almost total monopoly over state power, the economy, the military, the security apparatus, and every key institution and public resources from 1991 to date. It continues to use the TPLF as the name for the main political party that controls the ruling EPRDF.
Meles Zenawi, the prime minister and the chairman of the TPLF, had a candid interview in Tigrigna with the Eritrean magazine, Hiwet some years back. The translated version was published in Amharic in Ethiop Magazine, Vol. 5 Issue No. 52. Answering a question on when he was first engaged in armed combat operations, he told the Eritrean magazine with a sense of pride that he took part in a bank robbery in Adwa, his birthplace. He also said that prior to the bank robbery effort in Adwa, in which he admitted to be one of the armed robbers that raided the rural bank; TPLF had also robbed banks in Axum and Shire. He referred to those robberies as “victories.” TPLF’s mindset of promoting every criminal and terrorist misadventure as a heroic act has been one of its chronic problems.


The former US Chargé D’affaires to Ethiopia, Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, is widely known to be one of the hawks in US government circles that publicly declared that the Meles regime should not be abandoned or admonished by the United States as it is a key US ally on the so-called “war on terror”. Currently based at the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Huddleston has played a key role in maintaining unqualified US support to the Meles regime. In an op-ed Huddleston and Tabor Nagi published in the New York Times in November 2007, she advocated on behalf of Meles that the US congress lacked wit when it unanimously passed HR 2003, Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007, which eventually died in the US Senate.


Despite her support to the TPLF hegemonic rule in Ethiopia, Huddleston did not try to hide the terrorist acts of the regime. In the Wikileaks diplomatic cables, there is a very interesting secret cable that Vicki Huddleston wired to Washington.


On October 6, 2006 Huddleston reported: “A series of explosions were reported in Addis Ababa on September 16, killing three individuals. The GoE announced that the bombs went off while being assembled, and that the three dead were terrorists from the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) with links to the Oromo National Congress (ONC). An embassy source, as well as clandestine reporting, suggests that the bombing may have in fact been the work of Government of Ethiopia security forces.”
Despite the fact that the diplomat linked the TPLF regime with such a despicable terrorist act that is not expected of a responsible government, the regime chose not deny or admit the damenning accusation. One of the reasons why TPLF cannot argue with US officials about its terrorism records is due to the fact that the United States backs up its statements with accurate intelligence that it collects throughout the world using overt and covert means.


The Global Terrorism Database provides incontrovertible evidence that TPLF is indeed a certified terrorist organization that has seized state power two decades ago. TPLF has continued terrorizing the people of Ethiopia using the apparatus of the state. TPLF’s scandalous anti-terrorism law, which is being used to silence critics, only shows the great danger a nation faces wherever ruthless terrorist organizations like the TPLF seize state power. For those TPLF fans who puff up their chest when they try to sell the TPLF as a heroic liberation movement, we should only encourage them to visit the Global Terrorism Database, where the TPLF is permanently housed along with its peers such as the extremists Islamic Jihaad, Al Shabaab and Al Qaida. TPLF is nothing but an ethnic Jihadist group that has taken hostage an entire nation it has been terrorizing with arrogance and impunity.


So many ordinary Ethiopians and scholars are very puzzled with the TPLF. But the best way to understand it is in the context of its well documented terrorism for the last four decades and driven by not its mask of leftist ideology that it claims now to have abandoned but a virulent ethnofascist ideology.
In spite of the the fact that GTD does not document state terrorism, Genocide Watch, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters without Boarders, local and many international organizations have been documenting the state terrorism that TPLF has been committing with impunity. No matter what TPLF says and does, one cannot teach new tricks to an old dog. TPLF is a committed terrorist organization that will not change at all.


Those Ethiopians who frequently take to the streets and condemn Meles Zenawi and TPLF as terrorists are not expressing their disdain. They are telling the truth which is certified by the United States Homeland Security, which keeps the most comprehensive database of terrorists around world.
Given the weight of evidence, facts and figures against TPLF and its leaders, it is totally absurd and childish that Meles is still playing this terrorism and treason cards in its most outrageous form. In fact that following people are currently terrorizing the people of Ethiopia.