by Jama Abdillahi | Jun 24, 2019 | Okategoriserade
GENEVA (Reuters) – Sudanese authorities must let in human rights monitors, end repression of protesters and restore the internet connection, U.N. human rights boss Michelle Bachelet said on Monday. Source; Reuters, 24 June 2019 FILE PHOTO: U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet attends a session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse Her office had received reports that more than 100 protesters were killed and many more injured when security forces raided a peaceful sit-in outside the defense ministry in Khartoum on June 3, she said. Sudan’s uprising “has been met with a brutal crackdown by the security forces this month,” Bachelet said in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. “We have received allegations of rape and sexual abuse of both women and men during the crackdown, as well as information alleging that hundreds of protesters may be missing,” she said. There was no immediate reaction from Sudan’s military rulers who overthrew president Omar al-Bashir in April after weeks of street protests against his rule. Protest and opposition groups then pressed the ruling military to hand over power to civilians, and kept up their demonstrations, including the sit-in, to press their case. The military denied raiding the sit-in this month and said a crackdown on criminals nearby had spilled over to the protest camp. It said some officers has been detained for presumed responsibility and it still planned to hand over power after elections. Human Rights Watch called for the council to investigate violations committed since the protests against Bashir started in December,...
by Jama Abdillahi | Jun 24, 2019 | Okategoriserade
Miraa traders search for buyers as Ethiopia varieties flood Somalia Source; Buiness Daily, Monday June 24, 2019 By DAVID MUCHUI and GITONGA MARETE Pickups ferry miraa. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NMG Kenya is scouting for new buyers for miraa in Djibouti and Mozambique as stiff competition from Ethiopian varieties squeeze its traditional Somalia market. The Miraa Taskforce Report implementation committee, a team established to revive the crop, is in Ethiopia for benchmarking on improving the miraa trade. The efforts to secure new markets come after the stimulant was banned in the UK and other European countries, dealing a blow to farmers in miraa-growing areas. In Kenya, a number of counties have also threatened to ban it. In a letter to the Foreign Affairs ministry, the Miraa Taskforce Report implementation committee chairman, Kello Harsama, said the team was keen on recovering the lost international markets.“The task force is organising to visit Ethiopia, Djibouti and Mozambique to meet ministries of Agriculture, import phytosanitary departments, the Chambers of Commerce, importers and traders in order to understand the requirements for imports of miraa and ways to improve supply of quality produce,” the letter states. According to Kimathi Munjuri, who is part of the delegation to Ethiopia, the team has met traders association to understand the competition structure. “We have met traders associations to understand their approach. Next we will engage both the federal and regional government representatives to find out what roles the government plays to promote khat trade,” Mr Munjuri said. He noted that while Ethiopia grew more than 50 varieties, none was comparable to the miraa grown in Meru. Ethiopia...
by Jama Abdillahi | Jun 24, 2019 | Okategoriserade
Ethiopia Amhara ‘coup ringleader killed’ Source: BBC, Monday June 24, 2019 The renegade general was released from prison last year The suspected ringleader of Saturday’s failed coup attempt in Ethiopia’s Amhara region has been shot dead by police, state media report.Brig-Gen Asaminew Tsige was killed on the outskirts of Amhara’s capital, Bahir Dar, the reports added. Ethiopia’s army chief Gen Seare Mekonnen was killed while trying to foil the coup, the government said. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has urged Ethiopians to unite against “evil” forces set on dividing the country. Flags are flying at half-mast after he declared a day of mourning to mark the deaths of loyalists. Gen Seare and Amhara governor Ambachew Mekonnen, who was also killed on Saturday, were seen as close allies of the prime minister.A heavy contingent of pro-government forces has been deployed in Bahir Dar and the federal capital, Addis Ababa. The internet has been shut across the country, days after services resumed following an unexplained blackout of more than a week. The US state department has warned its staff in Addis Ababa to stay inside. Ethnic violence has hit Amhara and other parts of Ethiopia in recent years. Since his election last year, Mr Abiy has transformed Ethiopia. He has moved to end political repression by releasing political prisoners, removed bans on opposition political parties, overseen the prosecution of officials accused of human rights abuses and also restored diplomatic relations with Ethiopia’s long-time enemy, Eritrea. Mr Abiy survived a grenade attack at a rally a year ago on Sunday, which killed two people and left more than 100 injured. Africa’s oldest independent...
by Jama Abdillahi | Jun 23, 2019 | Okategoriserade
Sudan protesters accept Ethiopia plan for political transition Source: ALJAZEERA, Sunday June 23, 2019 Sudanese protesters chant slogans demanding a civilian government as they make barricades on a road in Omdurman [Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP] Ruling military generals and protest leaders have been wrangling over the make-up of a transitional government. Sudanese protest leaders have said they have accepted the creation of a civilian-majority governing body for a political transition in Sudan as proposed by an Ethiopian envoy. The compromise blueprint suggests the creation of a 15-member governing body that would install a civilian administration – comprising eight civilians and seven members of the military, they said on Saturday, as cited by AFP news agency. “We think that our acceptance of the proposal is a major leap towards meeting the goals of the revolution, which are freedom, peace and justice,” protest leader Babiker Faisal told reporters in a brief statement, according to AFP. “It will put the country on the right track to create the transitional period that would usher in sustainable democracy.”The ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) has yet to give its decision on the Ethiopian proposal. Dispute The ruling generals and the leaders of the protest movement have been involved in a dispute for weeks over the form of the country’s transitional government. Of the eight civilians, seven will come from the umbrella protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change (AFC), another protest leader Amjad Farid had told AFP earlier on Saturday. Ethiopia has stepped up its efforts to resolve the political crisis in Sudan since the deadly June 3 dispersal of a long-running protest camp outside army...
by Jama Abdillahi | Jun 23, 2019 | Okategoriserade
The Latest: Ethiopia spokesman says military chief killed Source: AP, Sunday June 23, 2019 ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The Latest on unrest in Ethiopia. (all times local): 11:30 a.m. A spokesman for Ethiopia’s prime minister says the head of the country’s military has been shot dead in the capital, Addis Ababa. Nigussu Tilahun told reporters Sunday that Gen. Seare Mekonnen was killed by his bodyguard at his residence in Addis Ababa. He said a retired army general visiting the army chief at the time was also killed in the same attack late on Saturday. He said the attack followed a violent incident in the Amhara region, outside Addis Ababa, where soldiers allegedly led by a renegade brigadier raided a meeting of the regional government and killed officials including the region’s president. He said most of the perpetrators of the attack in Bahir Dar, capital of Amhara, have been apprehended and others are being hunted down. He said the attack in Bahir Dar and the assassination of the army chief are linked. ___ Ethiopia’s government foiled a coup attempt in a region outside the capital, Addis Ababa, the country’s prime minister said in a televised address late Saturday. The failed coup in the Amhara region was led by a high-ranking military official and others within the country’s military, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the state broadcaster. Some people had been killed and others wounded in the operation, Abiy said in his address without giving details. The U.S. Embassy reported gunfire in the capital Saturday and urged people to be careful. In Bahir Dar, capital of Amhara, residents told...
