Ethiopian domestic worker “disciplined” by rape in Lebanon

Kafala and its Defenseless Victims

Rape is one of the many risks Lebanon’s migrant domestic workers face as a consequence of the power imbalances created by the sponsorship (kafala) system.  The system renders workers overly dependent on both recruitment agencies and employers, neither of whom are adequately regulated by government agencies. This legal framework of bondage is compounded by gender, racial, and economic stratifications that render workers even more vulnerable to abuse. These overlapping constraints furthermore limit workers ability to report misconduct, as migrants who leave abusive employers may jeopardize their visa status and because authorities are often apathetic to their distress. Workers often chose not to report abuse because receiving a positive, enforced verdict is unlikely and rarely worth the risk.

Consequently, the abuses domestic workers face are purposefully invisibilised; grass-roots organizations such as KAFA and the Anti-Racism Movement work to elevate these narratives into popular and government consciousness.  As a result of their efforts, Lebanese media has increased coverage of  exploitation, suicide, sexual abuse, and other migration issues over recent years. But last week Beiruti’s al-Akhbar published a uniquely in-depth report on a rape crime committed against an Ethiopian domestic worker in the Northern Lebanese village

Ethiopian pregnant Refugee to pay $880 for being Gang-raped by Six Sudanese men

A Sudanese court in Khartoum sentenced on Thursday, 18 years old pregnant Ethiopian refugee who was gang-raped by six thugs in September, to one month jail and 880 USD fine. It was learnt that the 7^th accomplice filmed her while she was being raped with his cellphone and posted it on social media called WhatsApp. The girl is right now in the prison. She was three months pregnant while she was gang-raped. Hala AlKarib, regional Head of a women's rights groups called SIHA ( Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa) told Deutsche Welle Radio Amharic service that the victim has been in prison for more than a month and she could give birth at anytime. She was charged with indecent acts and sentenced to one month on February 20, 2014. The woman was sentenced to a one-month jail term but this was suspended because she is pregnant, her lawyer, Samia al-Hashmi, told the AFP news agency and  the court ordered instead her to pay another 5,000 Sudanese Pound (880 USD) fine. The young woman had also faced charges of adultery and prostitution, which could have led to a penalty of death by stoning, but these were dropped after she convinced the court she was divorced, reports SIHA. She has not been freed yet even though the fine was paid. The rapists were seen in the clip showing a V sign and their middle fingers while she was being raped to express their disrespect. Answering how the Ethiopian pregnant woman was gang-raped, Ms Halla says the woman was house-hunting when she was lured to an empty property and attacked in Omdurman, just across the River Nile from Khartoum. When the victim was checking out the room, the broker phoned his friends and then they raped and filmed the sexual scene. The crime was committed in September but the 7^th culprit shared the video on social media a month ago and that is how she was caught by the Sudanese police and put behind bars. The victim tried to report a crime to a police officer she met on the street right after the crime but she couldn't succeed due to language barrier as she speaks only broken Arabic. Halla said the refugee girl came to the Sudan recently,  adding that the victim might come to the country searching for a better life.” According to Sudanese law a raped woman will be charged with adultery. If both the victim and the rapists are unmarried, they shall be stoned. Ironically however, the men who raped the girl got 100 slashes and then released since of all them are singles. 

SIHA underscores that such miscarriage of justice in Sudan makes women and men victims of rape not to report the crime and in the meantime encourage rapists to get away with their crime.
It says she now faces deportation.

The group's regional director Hala Elkarib condemned the conviction, saying it would prevent women from reporting sexual abuse.

"The levelling of immigration charges against the victim further denies her protection by the state and protracts the punishment and emotional stress against her whilst she has been subjected to the most brutal of crimes," she said.
The Sudanese government is holding the Ethiopian girl in prison for allegedly entering the country illegally. The girl is in her 9^th month pregnancy. 
Sudanese law is based on Sharia and women have been punished for wearing trousers or not covering their hair. 

Source: Deutsche Welle Radio Amharic

ነፍሰጡር ኢትዮጵያዊቷ ስደተኛ በ6 ወንዶች መደፈሯ ሳያንስ እስራትና የ880$ ቅጣት ሱዳን ውስጥ ተፈረደባት፡ለመሆኑ የኢትዮጵያዊ ዋጋው ስንት ነው?

ሱዳን መዲና ካርቱም ውስጥ በ6 ጋጠወጦች የተደፈረችው ኢትዮጵያዊት ስደተኛ፣ ወጣት፣ ነፍሰጡር ለአንድ ወር እስር ቤት እንድትቆይ እና 950 ዶላር እንድትቀጣ ትናንት ተበየነባት። ወጣቷ ኢትዮጵያዊት ስትደፈር 7ኛው ወንጀለኛ ድርጊቱን በሞባይል ቀርፆ በማኅበራዊ መገናኛ ዘርፍ ማሰራጨቱም ተነግሯል። ወጣቷ በአሁኑ ወቅት እስር ቤት ነው የምትገኘው። የ18 ዓመት ወጣት የሆነች ኢትዮጵያዊት ስደተኛ ሱዳን መዲና ካርቱም ውስጥ በ6 ጋጠወጦች ተደፍራ ድርጊቱ በማኅበራዊ መገናኛ ዘርፍ ቢሰራጭም፤ ወጣቷ በጥፋተኝነት ቅጣት ተበየነባት። ወንጀሉ ሲፈጸምባት የሶስት ወር ነፍሰጡር የነበረችው ኢትዮጵያዊቷ ወጣት 950 ዶላር ገደማም እንድትከፍል ተፈርዶባታል። ወጣቷ እስር ቤት ውስጥ ነው የምትገኘው። የሴቶች መብት አስከባሪ ተቋም በእንግሊዘኛ ምኅፃሩ SIHA የአፍሪቃ ቀንድ ኃላፊ የሆኑት ወይዘሪት ሐላ ኧልካሪብ።
«እስር ቤት ውስጥ ለአንድ ወር እና ከእዛ በላይ ቆይታለች። የደረሰች ነፍሰጡር በመሆኗ

Libya another hell-hole for African Migrants

"If an African dies here, it is normal. No one cares". 24 years-old Nigerian migrant 

"A male officer stripped me off to check out if I hide cellphone in my private parts". Pregnant woman 

I heard several horrific stories from Ethiopians and Eritreans who had stayed in Libya as a transit before they moved to Europe but I never expected these level of xenophobic and racist abuses fellow Africans including children and women just because they happen to have a bit higher melanin than the local Libyans. A report which was released today by Amnesty International shows these defenseless and helpless people are being abused, degraded, beaten, raped and killed by local self-proclaimed militias who claim to protect Libyan women from rape and their country from witchcraft. Oh no, how would a 15 years old girl

Ethiopian migrants return empty handed from Saudi Arabia : IRIN

I will never go back to that country (Saudi Arabai) 

United Nation's Organ IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) reported today from the Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa that early 137,000 undocumented Ethiopian migrants deported by the Saudi authorities to date. This sad Ethiopian woman among thousands of returnees whose dream of having a good economic life and supporting her family was crushed by the Saudiziation crackdown last month and came back home empty handed and a lot of debts to pay.  Mohamed Yusuf, one of the tens of thousands of returnees, told IRIN that he left his home town in Ethiopia for Saudi Arabia a year ago at the age of 17, he thought life would change for the better. Instead, Yusuf's difficult and unprofitable stay in Saudi Arabia ended and deported back to his country. Yusuf says
"At first, I thought I was going to change my life and those of my father and mother, who paid for the whole trip out of their meagre income,"  whose father is a farmer in northern Ethiopia. However, the gruelling journey to Saudi Arabia and his stay there had been harrowing experiences, he told IRIN. 

During the long trek through Ethiopia’s northeastern Afar Desert to Djibouti on the Red Sea, he endured hunger and thirst and had to bury some of his friends, who perished along the way. On reaching Djibouti, he paid smugglers 5,000 Ethiopian Birr (US$261) to take him from Obock, on Djibouti’s northern coast,

across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. From there he made his way to Saudi Arabia.

The majority of male migrants from Ethiopia follow similar routes when crossing into Saudi and mostly depart from Obock, although many also leave from Somaliland. Female migrants usually enter as domestic workers under Saudi Arabia’s ‘kafala’ (sponsorship) system.

Human rights groups say the system creates conditions for abuse, including rules requiring workers to obtain permission from their employer to change jobs. Those who do so without permission are considered undocumented and were among those rounded up during the government’s crackdown on foreign workers, which started in early November 2013.

Initially, Yusuf found work as a shepherd in a rural area of Saudi Arabia but decided to leave after two months because his employers refused to pay him the 800 Saudi Arabian riyals ($213) they owed him. "One day I decided to quit my job and fled to the city [of Jeddah]. And that was when I got captured by the police and put into prison for five months before coming here like this with many Ethiopians," he told IRIN.

There was no opportunity to earn back the cost of getting there, let alone fulfill his dream of a better life. “I’m confused and do not have any idea what I’m going to do next,” he told IRIN. "One thing is for sure, I will never go back to that country after seeing and hearing what is happening to Ethiopians there."Many of the Returnees need Medical Treatment : IOM

According to Human Rights Watch and testimony from returnees, during the crackdown, Ethiopian migrant workers were subjected to beatings by Saudi police and citizens that resulted in at least three deaths.

Another returnee, Kidane Gebre, told IRIN: "After hearing this, my mother will be terrified and waiting for me anxiously. Many people from my home town were victims of this violence."

Many of those rounded up were held in makeshift detention centers without adequate food or shelter while they awaited repatriation.
The Ethiopian government initially estimated that some 30,000 undocumented citizens were being detained

and would need to be repatriated, but as of 16 December the number of returnees had reached 136,946. Of these, 84,721 were men, 45,157 women and 7,068 children.

Up until last week, over 7,000 were arriving every day, but according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number has now slowed to about 1,000 a day. A further 35,000 migrants are still expected, according to IOM.

Six transit centres have been set up in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to receive the returnees and, with the support of government, IOM has been providing temporary accommodation, meals, medical services and a $50 transportation allowance to help the migrants complete their journey home. The organization launched an appeal on 6 December for $13.1 million to continue addressing their needs, but to date had only raised $1.9 million.

“As the number of returnees increases, the financial gap has further widened,” notes a press briefing from IOM released on 17 December.

IOM's Chief of Mission in Ethiopia, Josiah Ogina said the migrants included vulnerable people, such as the victims of human trafficking, unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, and disabled persons. "Many of those detained and returned to Ethiopia arrived in need of medical support," Ogina told international donors in Addis Ababa. Click to read from IRIN

Ethiopians' Loyal Friend Ana Gobeze aka Ana Gomes unleashes her critic against Regime

Ana Gomes, a Portuguese by birth but a true friend of the oppressed Ethiopians, who was hated and banned entry to Ethiopia by the late prime minster & co because of her brutally honest critic as an observer of the bloody & rigged Ethiopia's 2005 election which resulted in the arbitrary killings of over 190 innocent protesters by the regime. Eight years later, Gomes was back to  attend in the just concluded 26^th ACP-EU parliamentary meeting in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She is coordinator and spokesperson of the foreign affairs committee for her political group, the Social-Democrat. With 200 members the Social-Democrat is the second largest group within the European Parliament. For Ethiopia and Ethiopians though Ana Gomes is best remembered for her role as the leader of the EU election observers’ team during the 2005 crisis-induced general election in Ethiopia. She has had a troubled relationship with Ethiopia’s late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who she still calls “a dictator,” after she published her report in which wrote the election was massively rigged. Her arrival in Addis Ababa caught many, who thought she would never be allowed to set foot in Ethiopia, by a surprise. Addis Standard’s deputy-editor-in-chief Tesfaye Ejigu met Ana Gomes during the meeting and held an exclusive interview. She discussed issues

Appeal: Eskinder Nega & Reeyot Alemu, Nominees for 2013 Sakharov Prize, seek donations to fund human rights case

Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu are Ethiopian journalists who have been awarded the UNESCO World Press Freedom Award and nominated for the 2013 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for their journalistic work.

The Ethiopian government, however, has been less appreciative of their journalism – which criticised government policy on issues such as poverty, minority rights and mismanagement of funds on large government projects – and has imprisoned them as “terrorists”. Eskinder Nega is serving an 18 year prison sentence for writing an article that posed the question, Could an Arab Spring-like movement take place in Ethiopia? Reeyot Alemu is a teacher and a freelance journalist, sentenced to 5 years in prison for various articles in which she questioned government policy. Their sentences have been confirmed by the highest courts of appeal in Ethiopia.

The London-based Media Legal Defence Initiative, has joined forces with DC-based Freedom Now and appealed their case to the African Commission of Human Rights. They have filed a brief arguing that Reeyot and Eskinder’s case is emblematic of a wider pattern of repression of the independent media in Ethiopia – since the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation was adopted, at least 15 journalists have been prosecuted for ‘terrorism’ and over 14 news outlets have been shut down – and that the matter is declared a systematic violation of the rights of independent journalists in Ethiopia.

MLDI’s legal team, which includes Korieh Duodu alongside MLDI’s Nani Jansen and Patrick Griffiths for Freedom now, give their time pro bono – but they are seeking funding to cover costs before the African Commission and Court of Human Rights. There will be significant expenditure in attending hearings, translating numerous legal documents and other court-related expenses.

MLDI is asking for donations to help cover these costs and has started an appeal for donations on a new crowdfunding website for independent media, http://indievoic.es/index.php. As little as $25 will help make a difference. Please give generously. To make a contribution or for more information, please click here or contact the Media Legal Defence Initiative.

Source: International Forum For Responsible Media Blog

እሪ በይ አገሬ መንግስታዊ ሽብር በኢትዮጵያ

የሶማሌ ክልል ልዩ ፖሊስ እና ልዩ ክፍሉ

3'12'' "የልዩ ፓሊስ አባላት እኔን እና ሌሎች ሴቶችን አስገድደው ደፈሩን።"

3'18'' "ጓደኛዬ የልዩ ፓሊስ አባላት በውሃ እና በኤሌክትሪክ ራሱን እስኪስት ካሰቃዩት በኋላ ህይወቱ አለፈች።"

3'28'' "የልዩ ፖሊስ አባላት ከ5 እስከ 10 የምንሆን እስረኞችን ነጥለው በመውሰድ ያሰቃዩን ነበር።"

ይህን በስዊድን አገር በሚገኘው ብሄራዊ የቴሌቪዥን ድርጅት ተቀናብሮ ባለፈው ሳምንት ይፋ የሆነውን ዘገባዊ ፊልም ለምን ያህ ግዜ ውስጤ እያረረ፡እየደበነ እና እየተሰቃየ እንዳየሁት በትክክል አላውቅም። ፊልሙ የተዘጋጀው ከሶማሌ ክልል በኢትዮጵያዊ አብዱላሂ ሁሴን በድብቅ ከአገር እንዲወጣ በተደረገው እና የአካባቢው ባለስልጣኖች እና የልዩ ፖሊስ አባላት በማናለብኝነት ኢሰብዓዊ በሆነ መንገድ ነዋሪውን ህዝብ  ሲያሰቃዩ  እንዲሁም በሶማሊያ ጠረፍ በኩል ወደ አካባቢው ከኦብነግ ታጣቂዎች ጋር በመግባት ዘገባ ለመስራት ሲሉ በተያዙት ሁለቱ ስዊድናውያን ጋዜጠኞች ላይ ህገወጥ ድርጊት ሲፈጽሙ በሚያሳየው ፊልም ተመስርቶ ሲሆን በዚህ ጽሁፍ መጀመሪያ ላይ እማኝነታቸውን የሰጡት እነዚህ የአካባቢው ነዋሪዎች አሁን በስደት

State Sponsored Terrorism in Ethiopia

Special room for Female detainees

3'12'' "they raped me and other women."

3'18 "my friend was fainting all the time while being tortured with water and electricity,  eventually he died."

3'28'' "they took 5-10 of us and then abused us."

BIG Sigh! I don't even how many times I watched (with awe, disgust, helplessness, despair, you name it) this documentary released by the Swedish National TV channel last week, which shows very disturbing and gruesome crimes that had been/being committed against detainees and innocent civilians by members of a police force called Liyu Police (it means special Amharic, Ethiopia's language) in the Somali region of Ethiopia. On  October 18/2013, Human Rights Watch released a report how torture and ill-treatment practices are being used at Maekelawi prison in the supposedly Capital of Africa to extract confession from journalists and Ethiopian opposition party leaders/members/supporters. But,  this report is just the tip of the iceberg. Officers of Liyu  Police in Somali region of Ethiopia admitted doing much worse practices against prisoners. The testimonies at the beginning of this piece were given by victims from this region who fled the country because of these abuses and are now living in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. There is more twist to these crimes; the perpetrators had the audacity to

No Ties with Egypt: Ginbot-7

Andargachew Tsigie, Secretary of Ethiopia's opposition Ginbot 7 movement , disclosed this on Sunday September 29, 2013 at a public gathering held here in Stockholm with members and supporters of the organization who reside in Sweden. Some participants of the gathering posed this sensitive question to know about Ginbot-7's positions regarding the controversial Abay mega hydro-power plant which recently strains relations between

ግንቦት ሰባት ከግብጽ መንግስት ጋር ምንም ግንኙነት እንደሌለው አስታወቀ።

ይህንን ያስታወቁት የድርጅቱ ዋና ጸሃፊ አቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ እሁድ መስከረም አስራዘጠኝ ሁለትሺህ ስድስት በስዊድን ዋና ከተማ የግንቦት ሰባት ህዝባዊ ሃይል ከአባላቶቹ እና ደጋፊዎቹ ጋር ባካሄደው ህዝባዊ ስብሰባ ላይ ድርጅታቸው በኢትዮጵያ ያለው የህውሃት መንግስት እገነባለሁ ስለሚለው የአባይ ወንዝ የኤሌክትሪክ ሃይል ማመንጫ ግድብ የተነሳ የግብጽ መንግስት ኢትዮጵያውያን ተቃዋሚዎች ድርጅቶችን ያስታጥቃል እናንተስ

Kality Prison: Somebody's Hell is another's Heaven

Ethiopia, Modernday Orwellian Animal-Farm

You may disagree with me but I believe that if there are such things called heaven and/or hell, it is only here on planet earth. Let's keep this rhetoric aside for a while and discuss about the main issue which came across to me last Saturday while I was attending the book-release event held by the duo Swedish journalists who were "pardoned" last year after being jailed for 438 days in Ethiopia, to remember thousands of Ethiopian prisoners of conscience and the crackdown on dissent in Ethiopia. TPLF's (Tigray People's Liberation Front) late strongman bragged " Swedish and Ethiopians are before our justice system; we bleed the same blood", when asked if he was

ዝዋይ እስር ቤትን ያየ ቃሊቲን ያመሰግናል።

እውን የነጭም የጥቁርም ደም ለኢህአዴግ አንድ ዓይነት ነው?

እንደምን ከረማችሁ? እንኳን ወደ አዲሱ ዓመት "በሰላም" (መቼም አንዳቾቻችሁ ምን ሰላም አለና እንደምትሉ መጠርጠር ግድ ይላል፡ እኔም ከእናንተ መሃል አንዱ ነኝ) ተሸጋገራችሁ። 2006 እንዴት ይዟችኋል? ግን ግን እንደው ግርም አይልም የእኝህ የ"አዲሱ" ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ነገር። ትዝ ይላችሁ እንደሆን ሟቹ ጠቅላይ ምኒስትር ከመሞታቸው በፊት ሁለቱን ስዊድናውያን ጋዜጠኞች ለመፍታት ሃሳብ እንዳላቸው ጥያቄ ቀርቦላቸው "በህግ ፊት ሁላችንም እኩል ነን (ሆድ ሲያውቅ ዶሮ ማታ አለች የምትለው ጥቅስ ትዝ አትላችሁም) ጥቁርም ሆነ ነጭ ደማችን አንድ ነው" ብለው መልስ ሰጥተው ነበር። በኋላ ላይ ግን ቀኝ አዙር ብለው ለፈረንጆቹ

Addis Abeba, Gonder and Dessie but which is Next?

Following a public rally in the capital last month by the young opposition Semayawi Party that was the largest demonstration by a political party since the 2005 rigged election, UDJ (the Union for Democracy and Justice) party held its biggest public protests in Northern Ethiopian towns of Gondar and Dessie last Sunday ( July, 14) under the theme Millions of Voices for Freedom. BTW, UDJ is the only

ትናንት አዲስ አበባ፡ዛሬ ደሴ እና ጎንደር ማነህ/ሽ ባለሳምንት?

እድሜ ለአንድነት፡አስተነፈሰን

ነበር ያሉት ባለፈው እሁድ ሃምሌ 8 2005 የዴሴን ጎዳናዎች ያጥለቀለቁት በብዙ ሺህ የሚቆጠሩ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በስልጣን ላይ ያለው የህውሃት መንግስት የሚያደርገውን አፈናና ወከባ እንዲያቆም ለመጠየቅ ሰላማዊ የወጡ የአንድነት ለፍትህና ዴሞክራሲ ደጋፊዎች እና አባላት። እኔ ደግሞ እድሜ ለሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ብያለሁ፡ ምክንያቱም ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ይህንን ከ 97ቱ ምርጫ በኋላ በገዥው ፓርቲ ታግቶ የቆየውን ህገመንግስታዊ መብት ባይሰብር ኖሮ ባለፈው እሁድ በጎንደር እና በደሴ ከተሞች ያየናቸውን ደማቅ እና