Ethiopia’s Special Paramilitary Force Executed 10 Men and Terrorised Villagers, Says Human Rights Watch

By ANISSA HADDADI:

The Ethiopian government’s paramilitary force summarily executed 10 men after a dispute with villagers spiralled out of control, Human Rights Watch has claimed.

(Photo: Ben Rawlence/Human Rights Watc)

The attack took place in Ethiopia‘s eastern Somali region in March.  A team for Human Right Watch made the discovery while on a fact-finding mission in neighbouring Somaliland in April.

The watchdog said the special police unit known as the “Liyu police” committed abuses in a village and killed several residents.

The summary executions took place following clashes between residents of Raqda village, in the Gashaamo district, and the Liyu.

HRW says police killed a villager who was trying to protect residents. His death sparked retaliations in which  seven police officers were killed.

The security forces responded by launching an “operation” in which they executed 10 men who were in their custody and killed another nine villagers in gunfights.

Human Rights Watch spoke to 30 relatives and witnesses who fled the violence and crossed the border into Somaliland.

Witnesses said that on 17 March the Liyu arrested 23 men and put them in a truck heading towards a neighbouring village.

After a few minutes, police stopped the vehicle, ordered five randomly selected men to get out and shot them by the roadside.

“Three police shot them,” a detainee told Human Rights Watch. “They shot them in the forehead and shoulder – three bullets per person.”

The remaining detainees were threatened and driven on to the neighbouring village of Adaada where four men were summarily executed.

Villagers said the unit went on the rampage, shooting in the air and dragging villagers out of their houses. They also looted and ransacked homes and shops, witnesses said.

“The killing of several Liyu police members doesn’t justify the force’s brutal retaliation against the local population,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The Liyu police abuses in Somali region show the urgent need for the Ethiopian government to rein in this lawless force.”

Ethiopian authorities created the Liyu (“special” in Amharic) police in the Somali region in 2007 following an armed conflict escalated between the insurgent Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the government.

The special unit has become a prominent counter-insurgency force but has been accused of a series of abuses against civilians across the region.

Lifan’s new model ready to hit the road

By Admin

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The Chinese car assembler, Lifan Motors, made public its seventh model in Ethiopia, SUV X-60, at the newly built Conference Center of the African Union on May 19, 2012.

The company has already sold 60 cars in just a month according to Capital sources in the car assembling company .

Lifan Motors assembled the new version of its sport utility vehicle, SUV X-60, which it describes as effective on both gravel and asphalt roads. The 1,800 cc horse power vehicle is designed in cooperation with the British Motor manufacturer, RICARDO, and  bears a resemblance to Toyota’s RAV4.

The new vehicle runs 12Km, on average, per liter of fuel on gravel and asphalt road. The performance is reduced to 10Km in urban areas jammed with traffic. It costs 530,000 birr while delivery takes three and a half months. It is equipped with an entertainment facility and dual air bags.

The new model is being built using a Variable Valve Timing (VVT) engine that controls the opening and closing time of intake valve, according to different working conditions of the engine to improve its power performance while decreasing fuel consumption, according to experts in the industry.

The company has given the new model to Mesele Mengistu, the sport commentator well known for his radio program called Egir Kuasin Beradio Temelketu, which literally translates to ‘watch football through radio’. He has been serving Lifan as a Brand Ambassador for more than a year and was previously provided with a Lifan 520 model.

Lifan assembles cars of less than 1800 CC. From its previous six models only Lifan 620 is 1,600 CC. Others including the 520, the mini cooper 320, and the minivan are 1,300 CC.

The company has three showrooms with the largest one which accommodates all the models in one central place is in Addis Ababa, on the way from Urael Church to Kazanchis. The second is located in Hawassa, the capital city of Southern Nation Nationality and Peoples region, 285Kmto south of Addis Ababa. This showroom  costs the company seven million birr. The third is in Bahar Dar, Amhara Regional state, 560Km North West of Addis Ababa.

Since its formation in 2009, the automobile assembly company has assembled and delivered more than 3,000 vehicles to its clients. Lifan motors used to supply parts to Holland Car, the first automobile assembler company in Ethiopia, before opening its own assembly plant in Ethiopia.

የጠ/ሚ መለስ ባለቤት መሬት አላግባብ መውሰዳቸውን ያጋለጠው ሠራተኛ ታሰረ

ማክሰኞ ግንቦት 21 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም. May 29, 2012)፦ በቅርቡ በቡራዩ ከተማ በከንቲባ ኩማ ደመቅሳ በተመራው ሙሰኞችን የማጋለጥ ስብሰባ ላይ “ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍን ያለ አግባብ በወንድማቸው ስም መሬት ወስደዋል” ብሎ ያጋለጠው የማዘጋጃ ቤቱ ሠራተኛ መታሰር በከተማው መነጋገሪያ መሆኑን የከተማው ነዋሪዎች ለፍኖተ ነፃነት ጋዜጣ ሪፖርተር መግለጻቸውን ጋዜጣው ዘገበ።

የጋዜጣው ሪፖርተር ያነጋገራቸው እነዚሁ የአካባቢው ነዋሪዎች እንደሚሉት “መድረኩ የተዘጋጀው በቡራዩ አካባቢ የመሬት ቅርምት ተፈጽሟል፤ በመንግስትና በህዝብ መሬት ግለሰቦች አላግባብ በልጽገዋል፤ ከፍተኛ ሙስና ተፈጽሟል ተብሎ ነበር” ይላሉ።

ሆኖም ግን ይላሉ የጋዜጣው ምንጮች፤ የመድረክ አመራሩ ተሰብስበው በአካባቢው ኃላፊዎችና ከቁጥር በማይገቡ ሙሰኞች ላይ ብቻ ጣቱን እንዲቀስር እንዲያጋልጥ ግፊት ይደረግ ነበር። ይህንን የተገነዘበው አቶ ኃይሉ ንጉሴ የተባለው የማዘጋጃ ቤቱ የፋይናንስ ሠራተኛ ተነስቶ ”ትኩረቱን ለምን በትንንሾቹ ብቻ ታደርጋላችሁ። ሙስናን በቁርጠኝነት የምትታገሉ ከሆነ ወደ ላይም ተመልከቱ። በዚህ በከተማችን ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍን በወንድማቸው ስም መሬት ወስደዋል። ለምን አይጣራም? ለምን እሳቸውም አይጠየቁም?” ብሎ ተናግሯል።

በወቅቱ ስብሰባውን የሚመሩት ከንቲባ ኩማ ደመቅሳ፤ “ጥቆማው አንድና አንድ ነው። ጥቆማው በማስረጃ መረጋገጥ አለበት። ዝም ብሎ መጠቆም አይደለም።” እያሉ ጥቆማውን ለማጣጣልና ለማንቋሸሽም ሞክረዋል።

የአካባቢው ነዋሪዎች ”ይህ ሲገርመን በቅርቡ ጠቋሚውን በሙስና ትፈለጋለህ ተብሎ ታስሯል። መንግስት በተለይ የኦሮሚያ ክልላዊ መንግስት ሙስናን ለመዋጋት ያለውን ቁርጠኝነትና ጥያቄ ውስጥ የሚከት ከመሆኑም በላይ በመንግስት ላይ ያለን እምነት እየተሸረሸረ ነው።” ሲሉ ሥጋታቸውን ገልፀዋል።

አቶ ኃይሉ ንጉሴ በገፈርሳ ቡራዩ ውስጥ ሊቀመንበር ሆኖ ያገለገለ ሲሆን፤ በአሁኑ ወቅት በቡራዩ ማዘጋጃ ቤት የፋይናንስ ሠራተኛ ነው። የጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ ባለቤት የሆኑት ወ/ሮ አዜብ መስፍን በአሁኑ ጊዜ በአገራችን ያለአግባብ ከፍተኛ ሀብት አፍርተዋል ተብሎ ከሚታሙት ግለሰቦች ውስጥ አንዷ መሆናቸው ይታወቃል።