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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation, Sep. 2, 2018
September 6, 2018
Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is moving quickly to open up the strategic Horn of Africa country to Western capital. But far from the move being seen as a progressive reform, many Ethiopians and observers are concerned that the new direction is leading the nation into “debt slavery”.
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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation, Aug. 20, 2018
August 22, 2018
Nearly five months after a change in power in Ethiopia, the country is witnessing an outbreak of deadly communal violence in several regions. The surge in conflict has come after many years of political stability in the Horn of Africa nation, stirring fears that the country may be facing widespread chaos and even break-up.
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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation, Aug. 2, 2018
August 6, 2018
The apparent assassination of a highly regarded public figure has rocked Ethiopia to its core. Simegnew Bekele, the architect overseeing a prestigious hydroelectric project in Ethiopia, was shot dead last week in the capital Addis Ababa by an unknown attacker. Many people in the Horn of Africa country are now suspecting a foreign hand behind his brutal slaying.
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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
July 26, 2018
damn moths on Jul 10, 2018
European Parliament: 2018 Ethiopia – Ways Toward Politically Inclusive Democracy
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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
March 16, 2018
Tadesse is a 28-year-old Ethiopian from the capital, Addis Ababa. Like thousands of others he took part in demonstrations over the last three years, and together with family members, refused to pledge support for the Ethiopian government. Such displays of political dissent led to him being repeatedly imprisoned, tortured and cruelly mistreated. Now safe in Europe, he is in physical pain and psychological anguish as a result of the barbaric way he was treated in prison.
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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
February 17, 2018
Under relentless popular pressure the Ethiopian Prime-Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, has been forced to resign, other members of the government are expected to follow. In his resignation speech he acknowledged that, ”unrest and a political crisis have led to the loss of lives and displacement of many,” Reuters reports. ‘Loss of lives’ of innocent Ethiopians at the hands of TPLF security personnel to be clear. “I see my resignation as vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy.”
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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
January 14, 2018
Since November 2015 unprecedented protests have been taking place in Ethiopia: angry and frustrated at the widespread abuse of human rights and the centralization of power in the hands of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) tens of thousands have taken to the streets. The ruling party’s response to this democratic outpouring has been consistently violent; hundreds have been killed and beaten by security forces, tens of thousands arrested and imprisoned.
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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
November 11, 2017
In an attempt to distract attention from unprecedented protests and widespread discontent, the Ethiopian Government has engineered a series of violent ethnic conflicts in the country. The regime blames regional parliaments and historic territorial grievances for the unrest, but Ethiopians at home and abroad lay the responsibility firmly at the door of the ruling party who, it’s claimed, are manipulating events.
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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
September 15, 2017
Scan the mainstream media for news about Ethiopia and discover headline after headline describing the country’s economic successes: double-digit economic growth, foreign investment and aspirations to become a middle-income country by 2030. Ethiopia, we are told, is a functioning democracy, an African tiger economy and an important ally of Western governments.
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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
February 16, 2017
What began as a regional protest movement in November 2015, is in danger of becoming a fully-fledged armed uprising in Ethiopia.
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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
June 25, 2016
Ethiopia is regularly cited as an African success story by donor nations; the economy is growing they cry, more children are attending school and health care is improving. Well GDP figures and millennium development statistics reveal only a tiny fraction of the corrupt and violent picture.
by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
March 3, 2014
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Hidden and isolated from the world the armed conflict raging in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia goes unnoticed. The killing and raping of innocent civilians at the hands of the military and their paramilitary partners in crime the Liyu police, the false arrests, torture and imprisonment remain largely hidden and unreported. The international media, human rights groups and most aid organisations (including the International Red Cross) have been banned from the region by the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) since 2007.
by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation
February 3, 2014
There is a new optimism across Africa that the future is bright for the continent’s development. And in this future China is playing a key role in bringing investment capital, infrastructure, technology and know-how. China is literally helping to build Africa’s future.
Mekonnen, a 19-year-old mechanical engineering undergraduate, from Ethiopia, was travelling back from the capital, Addis Ababa, to his hometown, Shire, in the northern region. “I’m very hopeful that Ethiopia and Africa generally are on the way to promising development,” says Mekonnen.
by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London
November 23, 2013
Ethiopian Migrants Victimised in Saudi Arabia
Racism and hate running through the streets
In the last 10 days persecution of Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia has escalated. Men and women are forced from their homes by mobs of civilians and dragged through the streets of Riyadh and Jeddah. Distressing videos of Ethiopian men being mercilessly beaten, kicked and punched have circulated the Internet and triggered worldwide protests by members of the Ethiopian diaspora as well as outraged civilians in Ethiopia. Women report being raped, many repeatedly, by vigilantes and Saudi police. Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT), has received reports of fifty deaths and states that thousands living with or without visas have been detained awaiting repatriation. Imprisoned, many relay experiences of torture and violent beatings.
by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London
September 19, 2013
Image by aheavens via Flickr
They speak of democracy, but act violently to suppress dissenting voices and control the people through the inculcation of fear: they ignore human rights and trample on the people, they are a tyrannical wolf in democratic sheep’s clothing, causing suffering and misery to thousands of people throughout Ethiopia. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government repeatedly scoffs at international law and consistently acts in violation of their own Federal constitution – a liberal document written by the regime to please and deceive their foreign supporters. Continue reading
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