7
Jun 23
ዓለም አቀፍ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ሕብረት በቤተ ክርስቲያን ላይ ላለፉት 30 ዓመታት የደረሱ ጥቃቶችን የያዘ ሪፖርት አወጣ
መቀመጫውን በሰሜን አሜሪካ ያደረገው ዓለም አቀፍ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ሕብረት (International Orthodox Tewahedo Alliance – IOTA) በተለየ መልኩ ከ2011 ዓ/ም ጀምሮ በቤተ ክርስቲያን ላይ እየደረሱ ያሉ ጉዳቶቸን ትኩረት አድርጎ ለዓለማቀፉ ማኅበረሰብ ሲያደርስ የቆየ ሲሆን በዚህ ዓመትም ላለፉት 30 ዓመታት የደረሱትን ጥቃቶች ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ መረጃዎችን በማሰባሰብ “ባለፉት ፴ ዓመታት ሰማዕታተ ክርስትና” በሚል ይህንን ሪፖርት አዘጋጂቶ አቅርቧል። ዝርዝር ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫውንና የሪፖርቱን ሙሉ ይዘት ከታች በተቀመጡት ማስፈንጠሪያዎች ያገኛሉ።
7
Mar 23
6
Mar 23
3
Feb 22
The plight of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians continues.
The plight of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians continues and appears to be deliberately perpetrated by government officials and institutions.
- On January 9, 2022 – Orthodox Christians gathered inside and outside St. Stephen Church near Mesqel Square in Addis Ababa were attacked with tear gas by law enforcement officers at the direction of the mayor of Addis Ababa – Adanech Abebe. This gross and inhumane act and infringement of the believers’ rights to worship took place at the very moment another religious program sponsored by a protestant pastor was being held at Meskel Square – a site that is historically and practically reserved for the celebration of the Founding of the Cross by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The mayor was a guest or keynote speaker at this event and declared that this was the people’s square – clearly and arrogantly defying the church’s historical ownership of this site.
- On January 19, three young Orthodox Christians were murdered by Oromia region security forces who prevented the procession of the Tabot of Weybla Mariam Church in the outskirts of Addis Ababa. The procession of the Tabot with thousands of the faithful was blocked from returning to the church after celebrating Epiphany simply for wearing and displaying the Ethiopian flag. The Oromia Security forces stood in defiance of this historical religious procession – intimidating the faithful with brutal fire force and military-grade armored vehicles.
- To date, no official or individual has been held accountable for the atrocities against the church and the faithful for the last three years – with empty promises of investigations.
These persecutions against Ethiopian Orthodox Christians have been largely ignored by the international community and by local and international human rights organizations, including UNHCR. The legal system at every level seems to protect the perpetrators instead of holding those responsible accountable. Parliament and elected officials at every local, regional and federal level have failed to denounce these atrocities. We call on parliament, political leaders and human rights watch groups denounce these coordinated and targeted atrocities against the Orthodox Tewahedo Church hold all perpetrators and enablers within government institutions.
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26
Apr 21
6
Jan 21
EHRC investigation report confirmed “crime against humanity.”
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission investigation concluded that the June 29 – July 01, 2020 atrocities committed following the death of artist Hachalu Hundessa in several municipalities and towns of the Oromia region were “Crime against humanity and Atrocity Crimes”. The commission released a 64 page report detailing the massacre against innocent citizens where 123 people were killed, 500 were seriously injured and 6,468 citizens have been displace from their homes due to destruction of property and fear for their safety. The investigation highlighted that the atrocities were committed by well organized mob driven from place-to-place and directed against ethnically Amhara people in cities and Christians in Muslim dominated towns. The report also confirmed that in some localities the atrocities begun before the news of Hachalu’s killing was aired, suggesting the targeted attack was pre-planned. The report also found that regional security officials failed to respond to victims’ pleas and in some instances stood silently while the attacks were going or provided cover for the assailants. Shortly after these crimes, the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church issued a press release demanding for government authorities to protect the targets of the crimes and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
25
Sep 20
Prominent Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) leaders targeted for assassination
Prominent Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) leaders targeted for assassination according to the Federal Charges against Jawar Mohammed.
Jawar Siraj Mohammed, a self-proclaimed political analyst and activist, is charged with multiple crimes including terror, firearm offenses, and telecom fraud, along with 22 other individuals and a media house (the Oromia Media Network (OMN)) that he used to run.
The defendants appeared at the Federal Supreme Court, Lideta criminal bench in Addis Ababa. The multiple charges (Ten) filed by the Federal Attorney-General stated that the defendants have breached the Ethiopian Penal Code Articles 32/1/ ሀ and ለ ፣35 ፣ 38 and 240 1/ሀ/ ፣/ለ/ and /2/ by allegedly being involved in major crimes along with their accomplices targeting to dismantle constitutional order, inciting ethnic and religious strife, and civil war, attempting to forcefully take control of the government structure and claiming transitional government unconstitutionally. The charges also include violating the “Prevention and Control of Terrorism Proclamation #1176/2012, Telecom Fraud Proclamation #761/2004, Weapons Management and Control Proclamation #1177/2012 “.
Per the details of the charges, the defendants allegedly began mobilizing in September 2019 and they have been using various media and social networking sites to incite violent civil strife. More so, the details stated that the defendants by taking advantage of the assassination of the renowned Ethiopian singer, Hachalu Hundessa, incited large-scale violence targeting ethnic Amhara an Orthodox Christian believers. The charge further details that following the incitement of the defendants, 167 people were killed, 360 people were seriously injured and 4,673,031,142 ETB worth of property was destroyed in the various zones and cities of the Oromia Administrative Region, 13 deaths and 48,026,526 ETB in property damage have occurred in various parts of Addis Ababa.
In addition, Jawar Mohammed is charged with plotting assassination plans to execute prominent Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) leaders. According to the charge details, he was allegedly involved in training 15 young men, giving them instructions, and planning the assassination Five EOTC Bishops and two church fathers, and labeling as obstacles/enemies and painting bleak pictures the EOTC and Mahebere Kidusan (a religious association under EOTC Sunday school Department) that need to be eliminated. The charge details did not disclose the names and details of the Five Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) Bishops and two church fathers.
According to BBC News (9/22/2020), Jawar told the Supreme Court that he is “proud” to be charged with terrorism.
24
Aug 20
Christians are believed to be the targets of the recent violence that followed the death of Artist Hachalu Hundessa
Dr Negussu Legesse, director of Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Associations (CCDRA) and a former executive of the World Council of Churches (WCC), said that the the atrocities against innocent civilians and businesses in Oromia administrative region on June 29 & 30 are indicative of targeted attacks against Christians. In an interview he gave to MK TV on August 23, 2020, Dr Nigussu Legesse said that he visited some of the affected areas and victims with a delegation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a committee of Elders for Peace and other associations. He said that the destruction he observed are horrifying and that he never thought he would see such atrocities in Ethiopia. He indicated that the victims included Christians of different ethnic identity and that the common trait of these victims was that they were all Christians.
Mr. Mekonnen Semu, an attorney in Addis Ababa, was also featured in the same interview and said that there are also people unjustly imprisoned simply because of their efforts to defend against these attacks and to pursue justice.
On June 29 and 30, following the death of Artist Hachalu Hundesa, Orthodox Christians in many parts of the Oromia administrative region were viciously attacked, and their homes and businesses were destroyed. Although the attack has been described as a spontaneous response to the killing of the artist, it has all the hallmarks of an act of Islamic extremists and the survivors certainly describe it that way.
Reflecting on his conversation with some of the victims, Dr. Negussu Legesse said that the Christians residents and those in shelter are still receiving threats to leave their birth place and not to return to their homes. The victims would like to return to their farms and start working on their fields, but are afraid to do so because there is no sign of guarantee for their safety by the federal government. Some victims also shared with Dr Legesse that their children are too traumatized to return back to their homes.
Attorney Mekonnen Semu said that temporary aid was delivered to the victims during their visit, but added that the government has the highest responsibility to keep the peace and security of its citizens. He also emphasized the people’s and specially parents’ responsibilities to protect their children from easily being victims of extreme radicalization.
Dr Legesse expressed some hope for the future due to certain measures the government is taking against alleged perpetrators of these crimes. He also mentioned that the associations that sent delegates to visit the victims established a technical team to study and propose reconstruction and restitution efforts. These efforts also include providing counsel for those traumatized by the terror they witnessed. Dr Legesse added that these efforts are also being undertaken by the organization he heads, CCRDA.
13
Aug 20
News Release
On June 29 and 30, following the assassination of renowned artist Hachalu Hundessa, violent protests took place across Ethiopia. These acts of terror occurred in selected cities and towns across ten provincial zones (Eastern and Western Arsi, Eastern and Western Hararge, Eastern Showa, Southwestern Showa, Jima, Balle, Harar and Metu, and two federally administered cities: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. Within the two days of violence, 239 lives, mostly civilians and Orthodox Christians are known to have been killed. According to government authorities, approximately 328 houses, mostly of ethnic minorities and Orthodox Christians, 44 hotels, 6 factories and 14 government buildings have been burned down or destroyed. The International Orthodox Tewahedo Alliance (IOTA) strongly condemns the killing of innocent citizens and destruction of their properties throughout the Oromia administrative region in Ethiopia.
These destructions are generally characterized as protests and spontaneous responses to the death of the artist; however, the coordination level of the destruction indicates a premeditated and well-orchestrated execution by an organized group that seeks to target Orthodox Christians. These organized groups have taken hold of some elements of the government to promote these persecutions and deny justice. Some high-level government officials are downplaying and denying these genocidal crimes. Without credible and transparent investigation of these crimes, the country is on the brink of an unimaginable genocide.
IOTA denounces the authorities’ abdication of their sacred duty to protect and defend the defenseless, the hateful rhetoric and incitement of ethnic and religious violence by the media, political activists and organizations. We support the current measures the federal government is taking to combat such actions and hope that there will be a transparent and fair trial for the accused.
We call on the Ethiopian government to protect and defend innocent citizens, rehabilitate those displaced from their homes and those affected by these heinous and gruesome acts of terror and bringing the perpetrators to justice. Finally, we call on the international community to pay close attention to these recurring violent and targeted crimes against Orthodox Christians and ethnic minorities, and support the protection of justice for innocent victims.
Respectfully,
Office of IOTA
office@iotaethio.org
10
Aug 20