Seven things banned under Ethiopia's state of emergency

 

Ethiopia's government has declared a six-month state of emergency in the face of an unprecedented wave of violent protests.

Activists in the country's Oromia region has been holding demonstrations since last November, and protesters from the Amhara region have also joined in.
The deaths of at least 55 people at an Oromo religious festival on 2 October triggered fresh unrest, including the targeting of some foreign-owned businesses.
Rights groups say that at least 500 people have died during the protests overall and last week Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said that could be an accurate estimate.
The emergency was announced earlier this month but the government has now made clear what this means in practical terms.
Here are some of the things that are restricted:

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1. Social media

You cannot use social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to contact what are called "outside forces". In fact, any attempt to communicate with "terrorist organisations and anti-peace groups designated as terrorist" is banned.
Protesters have been posting messages and mobile phone footage to social media and websites run by Ethiopian dissidents living abroad.
The government has accused Eritrea and Egypt of fomenting the protests.

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2. Broadcast Media

You cannot watch the TV channels Esat and OMN, which are both based outside the country. The government has described them as "belonging to terrorist organisations".
These broadcasters have become some of the major sources for people wanting to know more about the protests.

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3. Protests

You cannot organise a demonstration at your school or university, neither can you be involved in a political campaign that is "likely to cause disturbances, violence, hatred and distrust among the people".
University campuses were among the first places to be hit by the wave of anti-government protests.

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4. Gestures

You cannot make a political gesture, such as crossing your arms above your head, or communicate a political message to the public "without permission".
The crossing-arms gesture has been seen widely at the protests in Oromia, and even made it to the Olympics when marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa used it as he crossed the line in second place in Rio in August.

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5. Curfew

You cannot visit a factory, farm or governmental institution between 6pm and 6am the next day. If you violate the curfew than "law enforcement bodies have been authorised to take the necessary action".
Government buildings and private businesses, some of them foreign owned, have been deliberately targeted by some of the protesters.

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6. Diplomats

If you are a diplomat you are not allowed to travel more than 40km (25 miles) from the capital, Addis Ababa, without permission. The government says that this is for your own safety.
In general, the diplomatic reaction to the protests and the state of emergency has been muted. The US has said that it is "troubled" by any restrictions on the freedom of expression in the state of emergency, but, like other western powers has called for peaceful dialogue to solve the country's problems.
Ethiopia is a close ally of the US against Islamist militancy in neighbouring Somalia.

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7. Guns

If you have a gun, you cannot take it within 25km of the country's main roads out of Addis Ababa, and within 50km of the country's borders, even if you have a permit to carry it.
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Source:BBC

Merkel Signals Support for Ethiopia's Protesters in Visit

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled support for protesters demanding wider freedoms in Ethiopia during a visit to the country on Tuesday, saying "a vibrant civil society is part and parcel of a developing country."

After meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Merkel said Germany has offered to train Ethiopia's police to deal with the sometimes deadly demonstrations that have caused one of Africa's best-performing economies to declare its first state of emergency in 25 years.

"We are already working in Oromia to de-escalate the situation there by offering mediation between groups," she said, referring to the region where protests have simmered for nearly a year.

"I would always argue for allowing people of a different political opinion ... to engage with them and allow them to express their views because, after all, a democratic experience shows that out of these discussions good solutions usually come," Merkel said.

The Ethiopian prime minister responded by suggesting his government may increase dialogue. "We have shortcomings in our fledgling democracy, so we want to go further in opening up the political space and engagement with different groups of the society," he said, noting that the East African country's huge youth population has created "dissatisfaction and desperation."

But the prime minister also sounded a note of defiance. "Ethiopia is committed to have a multi-party democracy as per our constitution. And Ethiopia is committed to have human rights observed. ... But Ethiopia is also against any violent extremist armed struggling groups," he said.

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency Sunday, faced with widespread anti-government protests. More than 50 people died last week in a stampede after police tried to disperse protesters. The incident set off a week of demonstrations in which both foreign and local businesses with suspected government ties were burned, and one American was killed in a rock attack.

Merkel said the German business community has criticized the business climate in Ethiopia, and she expressed hope that the government will discuss the criticism openly.

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Source: ABC NEWS

Ethiopia Declares "State of Emergency"

The Council of Ministers has declared a six-month state of emergency effective from Saturday, 8 October 2016, to reverse the danger posed by forces working in collaboration with foreign enemies to undermine the safety of the people and security and stability of the country.
The decree came following detailed discussion by the Council on the situation that led to the loss of lives and damage to properties, Prime Minister Hailemariam said.
The Ethiopian constitution under Article 93 provides the power for the Council of Ministers to decree a state of emergency in case of external invasion, a breakdown of law and order which endangers constitutional order, natural disaster or an epidemic occur.
If the emergency rule is declared when the House of Peoples Representatives is not in session, the decree shall be submitted to the House within 15 days.

Emergency rule necessary to restore order

Prime Minister Hailermariam Desalegn said the state of emergency is crucial in halting the danger posed on the safety of the people as well as peace and stability of the country.
The Premier said that the peace and stability of the country, as well as the safety of the people, is in danger because of the activities of anti-peace elements who wish to see a failed state in Ethiopia.

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Source: news.com

እንዲያውቁት ፡- በአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጁ የሚወሰዱ እርምጃዎችና የተከለከሉ ጉዳዮች ይፋ ሆኑ !

(ENA, አዲስ አበባ መስከረም 29/2009)

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የፌዴራል ጠቅላይ አቃቤ ህግ የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጁን አስፈላጊነት፣ ይዘት፣ የሚወሰዱ እርምጃዎች፣ የተከለከሉ ጉዳዮችና ልዩ ልዩ ድንጋጌዎች ይፋ አድርጓል።

የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጁን ለማስፈፀም የተቋቋመው ኮማንድ ፖስት አዋጁ ተፈጻሚ የሚሆንባቸውና የማይሆንባቸውን አካባቢዎች በመለየት ለሕዝብ ይፋ እንደሚያደርግ የፌዴራል ጠቅላይ አቃቤ ህግ ጌታቸው አምባዬ ገልጸዋል።

እንደ አቶ ጌታቸው ገለጻ የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጁ ተፈጻሚ እንዲሆን በተለያዩ አካባቢዎች በይፋም ሆነ በድብቅ በህዝቦች መካከል መቃቃር፣ ጥርጣሬና ግጭት የሚፈጥሩ እንቅስቃሴዎችን ማድረግ የተከለከለ ነው።

በህዝቦችና ሃይማኖቶች መካከል ግጭትና መቃቃር የሚፈጥሩ ፅሑፎች ማዘጋጀትና ማሰራጨት፣ ትዕይንትና ምልክቶችን ማሳየትና መተግበርም እንዲሁ።

ኮማንድ ፖስቱ የህዝብና የአገርን ሠላምና ደህንነት አደጋ ላይ ይጥላሉ ያላቸውን ማናቸውም የመገናኛ ዘዴዎች መዝጋት እንደሚችልም አስታውቀዋል አቶ ጌታቸው።

አዋጁ ተግባራዊ እንዲደረግባቸው በሚለዩ አካባቢዎች የመሰብሰብ፣ የመሰለፍና፣ የመደራጀት መብቶችም ሊታገዱ ይችላሉ።

አዋጁን የሚተገብሩ አካላት በሁከትና ብጥብጥ የተጠረጠረና የተሳተፈን ሰው ያለ ፍርድ ቤት ትእዛዝ በቁጥጥር ሥር ማዋልም ይችላሉ።

በቁጥጥር ሥር የሚውሉ ዜጎች ተምረው ይለቀቃሉ፣ ወንጀል ፈጽመው የተገኙም በህግ አግባብ ይቀጣሉ።

አዋጁ ተግባራዊ በሚደረግባቸው አካባቢዎች የግለሰቦችን መኖሪያ ቤትና ተሽከርካሪ ያለፈቃድ መበርበር እንዲሁም ሰዎችን ያለምንም ፈቃድ አስቁሞ መፈተሽና መጠየቅ እንደሚፈቀድ ተናግረዋል።

በብርበራ የተያዙ ንብረቶች ወንጀል ከተፈፀመባቸውና ለመፈጸም ከታሰበባቸው ሊወረሱ ወይንም ለባለንብረቱ ሊመለሱ የሚችሉበት ሁኔታ መኖሩንም አመልክተዋል።

በአሁኑ ወቅት የሰዓት እላፊ አለመታወጁን የገለፁት አቶ ጌታቸው፤ ነገር ግን ለህዝብ ይፋ በተደረጉ አካባቢዎች ሊታወጅ እንደሚችል አስታውቀዋል።

ኮማንድ ፖስቱ አደጋ የተጋረጠባቸውና አስፈላጊ ናቸው ያላቸውን መንገዶችና ተቋማት ሊዘጋ ይችላል፤ ለአደጋ ተጋላጭ ለሆኑ ተቋማትም ልዩ ጥበቃ ያደርጋል ነው ያሉት።

አደጋ በተጋረጠባቸው አካባቢዎች የሚገኙ ዜጎችን ደህንነት ለመጠበቅ ሲባል ሰዎችን ለተወሰነ ጊዜ በተወሰ ቦታ የማቆየት እርምጃ ሊወሰድ እንደሚችልም ተናግረዋል።

ሰዎች ለጊዜው በተወሰነ ቦታ እንዲቆዩ፣ ወደ ተወሰነ አካባቢ እንዳይገቡ ወይም ከተወሰነ ቦታ እንዲለቁ ለማዘዝ እንደሚችልም ጠቁመዋል።

አዋጁ ተግባራዊ እንዲደረግባቸው በሚለዩ አካባቢዎች ዜጎች የጦር መሳሪያ፣ ተቀጣጣይ ነገርና ስለት ወይም እሳት የሚያስነሱ ነገሮች ይዞ መንቀሳቀስም የተከለከለ ነው።

ኮማንድ ፖስቱ የአስተዳደር እርከኖች በፈረሰባቸውና በተዳከመባቸው አካባቢዎች ከክልሉና ከህዝቡ ጋር በመተባበር የማቋቋም ስራ እንደሚሰራ ገልጸዋል።

የሚከሰተውን አደጋ ጥልቀት ስፋት መሰረት በማድረግም በመደበኛ የህግ ማስከበር መከላከል የማይመለሱ ከሆነ ተመጣጣኝ እርምጃ ሊወስድ እንደሚችል አስታውቀዋል አቶ ጌታቸው።

የፍሬ ነገርና የሥነ ሥርዓት ህጎች ሊታገዱ እንደሚችሉም አክለዋል።

አዋጁ ተግባራዊ በሚደረግበት አካባቢ የሚገኙ ዜጎች የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጁን ማክበርና ለተፈጻሚነቱ የመተባበር ግዴታ እንዳለባቸው ጠቅሰው፤ ይህን የማያከብሩና የማይተባበሩ አዋጁ በሚፈቅደው አግባብ እንደሚቀጡ ተናግረዋል።

የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጁን ተግባራዊ ማድረግ የሚያስችል ደንብና መመሪያ ይዘጋጃል።

አዋጁ በመላ አገሪቷ የታወጀ ቢሆንም ተግባራዊ የሚደረግባቸውን አካባቢዎች ኮማንድ ፖስቱ ለሕዝብ ይፋ ያደርጋል። "

Nobel Peace Prize for Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the 52-year conflict with left-wing rebels.

The Nobel committee in Norway praised him for his peace agreement with Farc rebels, signed last month after four years of negotiations.
However, Colombians narrowly rejected the deal in a vote last weekend.
The conflict has killed about 260,000 people. More than six million have been internally displaced.

Mr Santos and the Farc leader known as Timochenko shook hands in a historic ceremony in Cartagena in September

Mr Santos was selected from a list of 376 candidates - 228 were individuals and 148 were organisations. They included:

• the Syrian White Helmets, civil defence volunteers who rescue bomb victims
• the negotiators of the international deal to limit Iran's nuclear programme
• Greek islanders on the front line of Europe's refugee crisis.

The award did not include Farc leader Rodrigo Londono, known as Timochenko, who signed the accord with Mr Santos.
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Source: BBC