ሳድዝም መራር ተግባር ነው፤ ቃሉ ራሱ አፍ ላይ የሚመር ይመስላል፡፡ ስጠራው ቅፍፍ ይለኛል፡፡ የሌሎችን ሰዎች ውድቀት፣ ህመም፣ ምቾት አለመሰማት እና ስቃይን እያዩ ከልብ መደሰት፣ ጥርስን ማፍነክነክ፣ “ቪቫ” ብሎ በድል ስሜት እጅን እንደመቀሰር እና መፈንደቅ የሚል ትርጓሜ የሚሰጥ ነገር ምኑ ይወደዳል? ለአንዳንዶች ግን ቃሉ ብቻ አይጥማቸውም፤ ግብሩም ይዋጣላቸዋል………. ልክ ለእንደ አሌክስ አብረሃ ……..ጌታቸው ይመር…… (ኧረ በየትኛ ስሙ ልጥራው)አይነቱ!!!
ኢትዮጵያዊያን በሊቢያ በረሃ በአይኤስ ጭካኔ ታርደው ህዘብ ሲያነባ፣ ሲያለቅስ እና መከራ ከፈነቀለው ብሶት አደባባይ ሰልፍ ሲወጣ በዝምታ አድብቶ፤ መንግስት በጠራው የሁለተኛ ቀን ሰልፍ ላይ ገና በጠዋቱ “ፌዴራል ፖሊስ እና ህዝብ ተቃቅፈው እየተላቀሱ ነው፤ በዐይኔ በብረቱ ዐይቻለሁ” ብሎ የፌስቡክ ግድግዳው ላይ ውሸት የፃፈ እና ያስደበደበ ነውረኛ ነው፡፡ ህዝብ ሲራወጥ፣ በፖሊስ ቆመጥ ሲንገላታ፣ ህይወቱን ለማትረፍ ሲባትት እና የእስርቤት ደጃፎችን ላለመርገጥ ሲሸመጥጥ አሌክስ የኮምፒዩተር ኪቦርዱን እየጠቀጠቀ እና ፌስቡኩን እየተመለከተ ሲያፌዝ የነበረ የሳድስቶች አውራ ነው፡፡
ይህ ሳድስታዊ ባህሪ የተፀናወተው እና የማይለቀው በመሆኑ ከእርሱ ከፍ ያሉ የመሰሉትን በመሉ በመዝለፍ፣ በማንጓጠጥ እና በማሰቃየት ለመርካት ጥረትን አድርጎ ነበር፡፡ ዮሴፍ ገብሬ (ጆሲ)፣ ሰይፉ ፋንታሁን፣ ግሩም ኤርሚያስ፣ ቴዎድሮስ ካሳሁን (ቴዲ አፍሮ) እና በዐሉ ግርማ ላይ ጀምሮት የነበረውን የስም ማጥፋት ዘመቻ ከብዙ በጥቂቱ ማንሳት እንችላለን፡፡ እነዚህን ሰዎች እና ቤተሰቦቻቸውን ስቃይ ላይ ጥሎ እርሱ “ፈገግ” ሊል ቢፈልግም ህዝብ አልፈቀደለትም እና ውጥኑ መና ሆኖ ቀርቶበታል፡፡ የሰዎቹ እና ቤተሰቦቻቸው ስብዕና እጅግ ጠንካራ ነበር እና ከዘበትም ሳይቆጥሩት አልፈውታል፡፡ ለሳድስቶች ግን በፀብ ተጠምዶ “እኝ” ማለት፣ ሌሎችን ለማስፈራራት መሞከር እና የተለያዩ የስቃይ ዘዴዎችን መሻት ስራቸው ነው እና ለእነዚህ ሰዎች ውድቀት የተለያዩ ጉድጓድ በተደጋጋሚ ለመማስ ሞክሮ ነበር፤ በሁሉም ዘንድ ፊት ተነስቶ አዳፈነው እንጂ!!!
በሰዎች ሁሉ ስቃይ፣ ውድቀት እና መከራ ከሚረኩት ሳድስቶች አንዱ የሆነው አሌክስ በቅርብ ደግሞ ” የሎሚ ጋዜጠኛ/ባለቤት (ግዛው ታዬ) እንኳን 18 ዓመታት እስር እና 300ሺህ ብር ቅጣት ተጣለበት” በማለት እውነተኛ ማንነቱን አሳይቶናል፡፡ የሰው ልጆች ውድቀት እና ስቃያቸው ነበር እና የሚያረካው አንድ የሚበልጠው የመሰለው ሰው እጅግ ዘግናኝ የእስር ቅጣት ሲተላለፍበት ጮቤ ረግጧል፡፡ ግዛው በሌለበት የተፈጠረ ክስ፣ ባልዋለበት የተሰማ ጭብጥ እና የቀረቡ ማስረጃዎች ለእንደ አሌክስ አይነቱ ጨካኝ ገልቱዎች ምንም አይደሉም እና ውሳኔውን “እንኳን” ብለው በደስታ እየፈነጠዙ ተቀብለውታል፡፡ ምክንያቱ ደግሞ “ፅሁፌን ሳያስፈቅደኝ መጽሔቱ ላይ አውጥቷል” የሚል ማስረጃ ያልቀረበበት እና እጅግ ተልካሻ ሰበብ ነበር፡፡
አሌክስ ከሳድስታዊ ባህሪው በተጨማሪ ማቋረጥ የማይችል ውሸታም ሆኖ እንጂ ግዛው ታዬ፣ የሎሚ ቅጥር ሰራተኞች እና ጋዜጠኞችን ብትጠይቋቸው መጽሔቱ ላይ ለወጡት እያንዳንዱ ጽሑፉ ክፍያን ተቀብሏል፡፡ “አዲስ ጉዳይ ስለምስራ እና ስሜ እዛ ላይ ስለሚወጣ እባካችሁ ስሜን አታውጡብኝ” የሚል ተማፅኖን እያቀረበ እንጂ ስግብግብ ነፍሱ አካሉን ረስታው እንደማታውቅ ይነግሯችኋል፡፡ ይሄንን ዘዴንም በብዙ መጽሔቶች ላይ ተጠቅሞ ስሙ ሳይወጣ (ከአዲስ ጉዳይ በስተቀር) ገንዘብ እንደሰበሰበበት ይመሰክሩበታል፡፡ ብሩን ለመቀበሉም በርካታ ጋዜጠኞችን እማኝ አድርጎ ማቅረብ ይቻላል፡፡ ሆኖም እንደ ጥሩ ማስረጃ እነዚህ መጽሔቶች ህትመት ላይ በነበሩበት ሰዐት ከመለማመጥ ውጪ ዘልፎ እና ወደፊት ገፍቶ አለመሄዱን ልብ ማለቱ በቂ ነው፡፡ ልምምጡም ስሙ ሳይጠቀስ ስራው ከሚወጣባቸው መጽሔቶች ጋር በሽርክና የሚደረግ (ለእነርሱም እንደማስታወቂያ ቢጤ መሆኑ ነው) በመሆኑ በፍፁም ወደ ክስ አምርቶ የማያውቅ እና ሊያመራ የማይችል መሆኑን ለመረዳት ቀላል ነበር፡፡
ሎሚ በመንግስት ክስ የተፈጠረበት አሌክስ እንደሚለው “የሰው አዕምሯዊ ንብረት ስለወሰደ” አይደለም፡፡ ክሱ “ያለ ታክስ ለአምስት ዓመታት ሰርተሃል” የሚል ነው፡፡ በአሁኒቷ ኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ዐይኑን ጥሎብህ፣ በአደባባይ የሚታተም እና የሚሰራጭ የህትመት ውጤት ሆነህ፣ ጋዜጦች እና መጽሔቶች በየጊዜው ከሚደረግባቸው ምርመራ አንፃር ለበርካታ ዓመታት ያለ ታክስ መስራትን የመሰለ የፈጠራ ክስን እናንተው አስቡት፡፡ መልዕክቱ መንግስትን ሚዛናዊ ሆነው ለፈተኑት ለኢትዮጵያ ነፃ ጋዜጠኝነት እና ጋዜጠኞች እንጂ ለግዛው ታዬ አለመሆኑን ተረዱት፡፡ ኢትዮጰያ ተመልሳችሁ ብትመጡ “ዋ!” የሚል መልክት እንደያዘም ማሰብ ትችላላችሁ፡፡ እንደ አሌክስ አይነቱ ሳድስት ግን ዐይኑ የሚያነበው ሌላ ነው እና የበላበትን ወጪት ሰብሮ ግዛው ታዬ 18 ዓመታት ሲፈረድበት ፈንጥዟል፡፡ እንደው ግዛው ታክስ ሳይከፍል ቢሰራ እንኳን “የኢትዮ ቻናሉ ሳምሶን ማሞ በተመሳሳይ ጥፋት ስንት ጊዜ ታሰረ? እንዴትስ ተፈታ? የሚል ንፅፅራዊ ነጥቦችን አንስቶ አንደመፃፍ ” እንኳንም ታሰረ……ያንሳል” ብሎ ተሳልቋል፡፡ ጊዜ የሁሉም ነገር መፍቻ ነው፡፡ ጊዜ አሌክስንም ሳድስታዊ ባህሪው ሳይታወቅ፣ የቅድሚያ ክፍያ እና ብድር ሳይቀር እየወሰደ ከሎሚ እና ሌሎች መጽሔቶች ጋር አሰርቶት ነበር፡፡ ጊዜ ደግሞ መንግስት የፈጠራ ክስን ይዞ ቀርቦ አጅግ ዘግናኝ ውሳኔን ሲያሳልፍ አሌክስን ማልያ አስቀይሮ እና ሳድስታዊ ባህሪውን አጋልጦ አሳይቶናል፡፡ ፍትህ፣ርትዕ፣ ዲሞክራሲ እና መልካም አስተዳደር በተደፈጠጡበት፣ ሙስና የህዝቡን አጥንት ሳይቀር እየጋጠ ባለበት፣የሀገር ፍቅር እንደ ጉም ተኖ ከጠፋበት እና ራስን የመቻል ብልሃት ፍፁም እንቆቅልሽ ከሆነበት የኢትዮጵያ ችግር የግዛው ታዬ 18 ዓመታት መታሰር በልጦበት “እንኳን…..ደግ አደረጉልህ” አስብሎታል፡፡ እኛ ግን እትርሳ እንለዋለን…….የጊዜ እንጂ የሰው ጀግና የለውም!!!

ወዳጄ ተቦርነ በተመለከተ ግልፅ ያልሆኑልኝ ነገሮችን አንስቼ በጥያቄ መልክ አቅርቤ ነበር። አንተም ለኔ ጥያቄ የሚሆን የመልስ ፅሑፍ ለጥፈህ አነበብኩት። የመለስክልኝ መልስ በጣም አስገርሞኛል፣ ግራም አጋብቶኛል። ያንተኑ ተረት በመዋስ “ማሞ ሌላ መታወቂያው ሌላ” ብየዋለሁ። ምክንያቱም ጥያቄዬን መመለስ ስላልቻልክ ወይም ስላልፈለክ እኔን በመሳደብ ጥያቄውን ለማድበስበስ ስትሞክር ነበር። ሃሳብን በሃሳብ መርታት ሲቃትህ ሃሳቡን ያቀረበውን ግለሰብ የማጥቃት የተባለ የክርክር ግድፈት ወይም ሎጂካል ፋለሲ ነው። ምን አልባት ጥያቄዬን ካልተረዳኸው ደጋሜ ላንሳው።
ዘረኛ፣ ኣምባገነንና ሙሰኛ የሆነው የኢህአዴግ መንግስት ህዝባችንን ከፍላጐቱ ውጭ በሀይል፣ በማስፈራራትና በዘር በመከፋፈል እየገዛ 24 አመታት አለፈ። ይህ መንግስት የስልጣን ዘመኑ እንዲቀጥል ህዝቡን በዘር መከፋፈል፣ በሀይል ማፈንና አዲሱ ትውልድ በተለያዩ የማይረቡ ጉዳዮች ማደንዘዝ ዋና አላማዬ ነው ብሎ እየሰራ ይገኛል። ለብዙ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሞት፣ እስራት፣ ግርፋት፣ ድህነትና ስደት ተጠያቂ ከሆነው ከዚህ መንግስት ጋር የጥቅም ተካፋይ ሆነው ስልጣኑ እንዲረዝም በገንዘባቸውና በአገኙት አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ከሚረዱት ሰዎች አንዱ ሼኽ አልሙዲ ናቸው። ሼኹ በኢትዮጵያ ፖለቲካ በፈፀሙት ደባ፣ የሀገሪቱን ሃብት በመበዝበዝ የሃገራችንን ባህልና ወግ የሚያናጋ የማህበራዊ ቀውስ በህብርተሰቡ ውስጥ በማምጣት የሚጠየቁ ሰው ናቸው።
ከላይ እንደጠቀስኩት የዚህ መንግስት ዋና አላማው ህዝቡን ከፋፍለህ መግዛት ብቻ ሳይሆን ትውልዱን ስለሃገሩ ታሪክ፣ ስለማንነቱ፣ ስለሰብዓዊና ዴሞክራሲ መብቶቹ እንዳያውቃና እንዳይጠይቅ ማደንዘዝ ነው። ለዚህ አላማ መሳካት የፖለቲካ፣ የታሪክ፣ የፍትህ፣ ፍልስፍናና የማንነት ጥያቄ የማያነሱትን እንዲሁም ህዝብ እንዲነቃ የሚያደርጉትን የመገናኛ ብዙሃን እየዘጋ፣ ሽብርተኛ እያለ ጋዜጠኞችንም እያሰረ፣ እያሸማቀቀ፣ ከሀገር ያሰድዳል። በተቃራኒው ደግሞ ህዝቡ ከሀገሩ ጉዳይ ጋር እንዲፋታ የፖለቲካም ሆነ የመብት ጥያቄ ሲያነሳ የተባለውን አድራጊ፣ የተጠየቀውን ፈፃሚ ይሆን ዘንድ እንደ ሰይፉ ፋንታሁን አይነት ትውልዱን የሚያደነዝዙ ዝግጅቶችንና መገናኛ ብዙሃንን “የመዝናኛ ፕሮግራም” በሚል ስም ይለፈልፋል።
አነተ ገለልተኛ እያልክ የምታወድሰው ጓደኛህ ሰይፉ ፋንታሁን ይህንን የኢህአዴግን አላማ ግንባር ቀደም አስፈፃሚ ከመሆኑ በተጨማሪ አሁን በስልጣን ላይ ያለውን አምባገነን መንግስት የሚደግፍ ካድሬ መሆኑን አገር ያውቃል። ከዚህ በተጨማሪ ሰይፉ የኢሃዴግ መንግስትን እድሜ ለማርዘም ሌት ተቀን የሚለፉትና የአገርን ሃብት ያለአግባብ የሚዘርፉት የሼኹ ሎሌ ነው። በቅርቡ በሸራተን ሆቴል ሲያገባ የሰርጉን ወጪ ሙሉ በሙሉ በሼኹ የተሸፈነለትም በዚሁ የኢህአዴግ ካድሬነቱና ታማኝነቱ የውለታ ምላሽ ነው። ከሼኹና ከገዢው ፓርቲ ጋር አልተባበርም ያሉና ከተፅዕኖ ውጭ የሆኑ አርቲስቶች ፈተና ሲገጥማቸው አይተናል። ህዝብ የጀግንነት ክብር ከሰጣቸው ታማኝ በየነና ቴዲ አፍሮ ይጠቀሳሉ።
ኢ.ሴ.ኤፍ.ኤን ከኢህአዴግና ከሼኽ አልሙዲ ተፅዕኖ ራሱን አላቆ ከኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ጋር በመስራቱ ምን ያክል የህዝብ ድጋፍ እንደነበረውና ውጤታማ እንደነበረ አይተናል። እኔ ለአንተ የማቀርበው ጥያቄ የሚነሳው እዚህ ላይ ነው። እዚህ አሜሪካ አላሙዲ ከፈጠሩት የስፖርት ፌዴሬሽን ጋር የተባበሩትን አርቲስቶች እያወገዝክና ሌላ ስራ እንዳይሰሩ እያሳደምክ፣ በአንፃሩ ቀንደኛ የገዥው ፓርቲ ካድሬና የሼኹ ወዳጅ በመሆን ከኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ከተዘርፈው ገንዘብ ተካፋይ የሆነው ሰይፉ ፋንታሁንን የአንተ ጋዷኛ በመሆኑ ብቻ አላሙዲ በሸራተን ደግሰው ሲድሩት ለምን ለማውገዝ ተሳነህ?..ማውገዝ እንኳ ቢቀር የሼኹ ሎሌ የሆነው ሰይፉን በምን መለኪያ ገለልተኛና በእመነቱ የሚፀና ለማለት ደፈርክ?.. ወይም ገለልተኛነትና በእምነት መፅናት ምን እንደሆኑ አታውቅም! አለበለዚያ ለአንተ ገለልተኛነትና በእምነት መፅናት ማለት ከአንተ ጋር የሚመሰረት ጓደኝነት ነው ማለት ነው። ሌላው ጥያቄ እዚህ አሜሪካ አገር ከአልሙዲ ጋር የተባበሩትን አርቲስቶች ከተቃወምክ አዲስ አበባ ላይ ከዚያው ግለሰብ (ሼኹ) ጋር የሚተባበሩትንና የቅርብ ወዳጅ የሆኑትን ሰዎች ማንቆለጳጰስ እንዴት ትችላለህ?..በተጨማሪ በአላሙዲ የሚረዳውን ፌዴሬሽንና ሸራተን ለየብቻ እንደሆኑ አድርገህ ለመግለፅ ሞክረሃል። እጅግ አስቂኝ ነው።ሁለቱም በሼኹ የሚዘወሩ ናቸው!
ከአምባገነኑ መንግስት ኢህአዴግና መንግስትን ከሚደግፉት እነሼኽ አላሙዲ ጋር መተባበር አይገባም ካልክ አቋምህ ወጥ ሊሆን ይገባል። አዲስ አበባም ሆነ አሜሪካ፣ ሰርግም ሆነ ስፖርት ጓደኝነት ኖረም አልኖረ፣ የግል ጥቅም ተገኘም አልተገኘ፣ አቋምህ ወጥ መሆን ይገባዋል። ስትቃወም፣ ስትደግፍ፣ ወጥ የሆነ አቋም ይኑርህ!
በእነኚህ ጉዳዮች ላይ የምታንፅባርቀው ወጥ ያለሆነ አቋም ሳስብ አንድ ጥንታዊ የቻይና ተረትን አስታወሰኝ። ሰውዬው በመንደሩ ውስጥ ሱቅ ከፍቶ ጦርና ጋሻ አንድ ላይ ይሸጣል። የሚገርመው ግን ጦሩን ሲያሻሽጥ “ሁሉንም ነገር ይበሳል” እያለ ሲሆን ጋሻውንም ሲያሻሽጥ “ምንም ነገር አይበሳውም” እያለ ነበር። አንተም፣ ያንተም ጓደኛም ሰይፉ ፋንታሁን ከአልሙዲ ተሻርኰ እየሰራና ሸራተን ሰርግ ሲደገስለት እያየህ ገለልተኛና በእመነቱ የሚፀና ብለህ ታወድሰዋለህ! አሜሪካ አገር ያሉ አርቲስቶች ከአልሙዲንና አላሙዲ ከፈጠሩት ፌዴሬሽን ዝግጅት ላይ ሲዘፍኑ ደግሞ “ባንዳና ከሃዲ” ብለህ ታወግዛለህ፤ እንዴት ነው ነገሩ?..የባንዳነትና የኢትዮጵያዊነት መለኪያው የአንተ ፍቃድና ጓደኝነት ሆነ እንዴ?..ለነገሩ የአንተን የአቋም መዘባረቅ በተመለከተ ግራ የሚያጋቡኝን አንድ ሁለት ነገሮች ልጠቃቅስልህና ወደ ዋናው ሃሳቤ ልመለስ። ድምፃዊ ቴዴ አፍሮ ከአልሙዲ ጋር ላለመስራት ወስኖ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ጀግና እያለ ሲወድሰው ኢህአዴግ ደግሞ እንደጠላት ሲያዋክበው በነበረት ጊዜ አንተም ከሰይፉ ጋር ሆነህ ቴዲ አፍሮን በማዋከቡና የድምፃዊውን መልካም ስም በማጠልሸት ዘመቻ ላይ ከሰይፉ ጋር ተሳታፊ ነበርክ። ሁለተኛ የሰይፉን በመዝናኛ ስም ህዝብ የማደንዘዝ ተግባር ላይ አካልና አጋር ነበርክ። አንተ የእኔን የትላንት፣ የዛሬና የነገ አቋም ለመጠየቅ አንዳችም ማስረጃ ባይኖርህም እኔ ግን እነዚህንና ሌሎች ለጊዜው የማልገልፃቸውን ስህተቶችህን እያወቅኩ ኢትዮጵያዊነትህን አልተጠራጠርኩም።
ስለጋዜጠኝነቴ ደረጃ ለመስጠት መሞከርህ አስቆኛል። ስለፖለቲካ፣ ማህበራዊና ሌሎች ጉዳዮች ለመፃፍ ስፈልግ – የምፅፈውን ነገር አንተ ልትመርጥልኝና ልትወስንልኝ አትችልም! ለነገሩ በሁሉም ነገር ደረጃ የመስጠትና ታፔላ የመለጠፍ ችግር ስለራስህ ካለህ የተዛባና የተጋነነ ግምት የመጣ ነው። በምን የጋዜጠኝነት እውቀትህ፤ ልምድህና ብቃትህ ለእኔ የጋዜጠኝነት ደረጃ ልትሰጥ እንደፈለግክ አልገባኝም። ለመሆኑ ኢትዮጵያ በነበርንበት ጊዜ ለእውነት ቆመን መንግስትን ስናጋልጥና ፊት ለፊት ስንጋፈጥ፣ የአገዛዙን ደባ ስናጋልጥ አንተ የት ነበርክ? ..አንተ የት እንደነበርክ ትዝ ካላለህ እኔ ላስታውስህ፤ በወቅቱ አንተ የመንግስትን ትውልድ የማደንዘዝ አላማ ከሚያስፈፅመው ከሰይፉ ጋር ተሰልፈህ ህዝብን ግራ በማጋባት ትሰራ ነበር። በወቅቱ ድምፃዊ ቴዴ አፍሮ ከመንግስትና ከነአላሙዲ ጋር አልተባበርም፣ ሃገሬ ትበልጣለች ብሎ ራሱን ሲያገል፣ አንተ ከሰይፉ ጐን ቆመህ የድምፃዊውን መልካም ስም በራዲዬ ታጠፋ ነበር። ለመሆኑ አንተ ጋዜጠኛ ሆነህ በፍትህና በዲሞክራሲ ድምፅህን አሰምተህ ወይም ፅሁፍ ፅፈህ የምታወቅው መቼ ነው?..እኛ በጋዜጠኝነት ስንታሰር፣ ስንደበደብና ዋጋ ስንክፈል አንተ ግን በዛኛው ወገን ቆመህ ትውልዱን ታደነዝዝ ነበር። ሆኖም ሰው ሊለወጥ ይችላል። እዚህ መጥተህ «አርበኛ ነኝ» ስትለን በበጐ ስሜት ተቀበልነሃል። በመጨረሻ ሁሌ በአዕምሮህ ልታኖረው የሚገባውን አንድ እውነት ልነገርህ። አገራችን የብዙ ሚሊየኖች አገር ናት። ትግሉም ህዝባዊና ሁሉን አሳታፊ ነው! በመሆኑም አንተ በማንኛውም መለኪያ የጋዜጠኝነት ደረጃ አውጪ፣ የፖለቲካ አቋሞች አጣሪና የኢትዮጵያዊነት ፈቃድ ሰጪ ልትሆን አትችልም!

Washington
Internet freedom around the world declined for the fifth consecutive year in 2015 as more governments censored information of public interest while also expanding surveillance and cracking down on privacy tools, according to Freedom on the Net 2015, released today by Freedom House.

“Governments are increasingly pressuring individuals and the private sector to take down or delete offending content, as opposed to relying on blocking and filtering,” said Sanja Kelly, project director for Freedom on the Net. “They know that average users have become more technologically savvy and are often able to circumvent state-imposed blocks.”

At the same time, encryption and anonymity tools crucial to securing freedom of expression were subject to restrictions worldwide.

“Undermining online encryption and anonymity weakens the internet for everyone, but especially for human rights activists and independent journalists,” Kelly said. “Privacy tools can help protect internet users from the kinds of abuse we document.”

The study found that over 61 percent of all internet users live in countries where criticism of the government, military or ruling family has been subject to censorship online, and over 58 percent live in countries where bloggers or ICT users were jailed for sharing content on political, social, and religious issues.

Key Findings

Most censored topics: Criticism of the authorities was most likely to attract censorship or punishment. News about conflict, corruption allegations against top government or business figures, opposition websites, and satire were also subject to online censorship in over one third of the countries examined.
Content removals increased: Authorities in 42 of the 65 countries assessed required private companies or internet users to restrict or delete web content dealing with political, religious, or social issues, up from 37 the previous year.
Arrests and intimidation escalated: Authorities in 40 of 65 countries imprisoned people for sharing information concerning politics, religion or society through digital networks, up from 38 in last year’s report.
Surveillance laws and technologies multiplied: Governments in 14 of 65 countries passed new laws to increase surveillance since June 2014 and many more upgraded their surveillance equipment.
Governments undermined encryption, anonymity: Democracies and authoritarian regimes alike stigmatized encryption as an instrument of terrorism, and many tried to ban or limit tools that protect privacy.
China was the world’s worst abuser of internet freedom, followed by Syria and Iran.

Since June 2014, 32 of the 65 countries assessed in Freedom on the Net saw internet freedom deteriorate. Notable declines were documented in Libya, France, and—for the second year running—Ukraine, amid its territorial conflict and propaganda war with Russia.

Internet freedom saw its biggest gains in Sri Lanka and Zambia, which both experienced a recent change in government. Internet access became more affordable in Cuba after diplomatic relations were restored with the United States, but it remains out of reach for the majority.
Read more at freedomhouse.org

Gelila Bekele Interview at Seifu Show Part 2..ዓለም አቀፍ ሞዴል ገሊላ በቀለ ከሰይፉ በኢቢኤስ ጋር ያደረገቸው ቃለምልልስ ክፍል አንድን ማቅረባችን የሚታወስ ሲሆን ክፍል ሁለትን ይመልከቱ።Gelila Bekele Interview at Seifu Show Part 2..ዓለም አቀፍ ሞዴል ገሊላ በቀለ ከሰይፉ በኢቢኤስ ጋር ያደረገቸው ቃለምልልስ ክፍል አንድን ማቅረባችን የሚታወስ ሲሆን ክፍል ሁለትን ይመልከቱ።

ኢትዮጵያን የጎበኙት የስዊዘርላንድ ፕሬዚደንት ሲሞኒታ ሲማሩገ ለተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በቀጥታ በተላለፈ ንግግራቸው የሲቪክ ማህበራትና ነፃ ሚዲያ አስፈላጊ መሆኑን ገለጹ።ዝርዝር ዘገባውን ከቪኦኤ ያዳምጡ።

በስልጣን ላይ ያለው መንግስት ጠቅላይ ሚንስትር አቶ ኃይለማሪያም ደሳለኝ በትጥቅ ትግል መንግስት ለመቀየር የሚንቀሳቀሱ ተቃዋሚ ኃይሎች ወደ ሰላማዊ መንገድ ቢመጡ ይሻላቸዋል ሲሉ ያቀረቡትን ጥሪ ተቃዋሚዎች አጣጣሉት።
የኦሮሞ ነፃነት ግንባር ቃል አቀባይ አቶ ዳውድ ኢብሳ ለቪኦኤ በሰጡት ምላሽ “የትጥቅ ትግል ውስጥ የገባነው ፈልገን ሳይሆን መብታችንን ለማስከበር ነው አቶ ኃይለማርያም እኛን የማስተማር አቅም የላቸውም” ብለዋል ። በቅርብ አዲስ አበባ ለድርድር ሄደው ተባረው የተመለሱት አቶ ሌንጮ ባቲ ጥሪውን ደግፈዋል።ዝርዝር ቃለምልልስ ያድምጡ።

Betty Solomon (“ቢመስል ጨለማ”) New Amharic music video..የድምጻዊ ቤተልሄም ሰለሞን “ቢመስል ጨለማ” አዲስ የሙዚቃ ክሊፕ ፤ሊንኩን ተጭነው ይመልከቱት።Betty Solomon (“ቢመስል ጨለማ”) New Amharic music video..የድምጻዊ ቤተልሄም ሰለሞን “ቢመስል ጨለማ” አዲስ የሙዚቃ ክሊፕ ፤ሊንኩን ተጭነው ይመልከቱት።Betty Solomon (“ቢመስል ጨለማ”) New Amharic music video..የድምጻዊ ቤተልሄም ሰለሞን “ቢመስል ጨለማ” አዲስ የሙዚቃ ክሊፕ ፤ሊንኩን ተጭነው ይመልከቱት።

She has stolen jewelry internationally and has been arrested more than 20 times

Doris Payne, an 85-year-old woman who over five decades has stolen an estimated $2 million in jewelry across the U.S. and Europe, was arrested in Atlanta on Oct. 23 after a guard spotted her pocketing a pair of earrings at Saks Fifth Avenue.

After charging her with theft by shoplifting greater than $500 — a possible felony in Georgia — Atlanta police realized that she was also wanted in Charlotte for stealing a ring worth $33,000 from a David Yurman shop in July, USA Today reported. Authorities could extradite her to North Carolina.

Payne, at this point a legendary career criminal, has been arrested more than 20 times. Her criminal career dates to her childhood in Ohio, when she realized that she could “cause the man in the jewelry store to forget” that she was leaving the store with a piece of jewelry still on her person. This has been her strategy ever since: she visits shops posing as an affluent older woman, charming the store clerks into thinking that she can afford the numerous watches and rings she tries on. The clerks eventually lose count of the pieces of jewelry, and Payne pockets them, then slips out of the store.
“She is a woman and has a stately appearance about her,” Ron Eddins, an assistant U.S. attorney, told the Associated Press in 2005. “So it’s hard for people to believe she’s a liar, cheater and a stealer.”

Payne has stolen jewelry in numerous states, and also Greece, Switzerland, England and France.
http://time.com/

An aircraft chartered by the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) crashed on Wednesday in a remote area in Afgoye district, south of Mogadishu.

Mr Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Sidee, the governor of Lower Shabelle region, confirmed the incident, adding that heavy rains coupled with strong winds may have caused the crash.

Sources said the Kenyan-registered Dornier DO-328 plane was carrying supplies for Amisom.

Its destination was said to be Balidogle airport, a former military airstrip, 110 km south of the Somali capital.

It had departed from Nairobi.

“We know that the aircraft crashed in a rural area called Osman-durre,” said Governor Sidee.

AL-SHABAAB GROUP

Some reports indicated that militants loyal to the jihadist group Al-Shabaab who control the area overran the crash site, covering the plane with branches and leaves to hide it.

There was no information on casualties. However, unconfirmed reports said the militants had seized 12 crew members and taken them away from the crash site.

The nationality of the crew and their whereabouts were not known.

“We sent the Somali National Army forces and Amisom troops to the area to secure the plane,” Governor Sidee said.

The Somali government has issued no other statement.

On October 12, an Egypt-owned plane ferrying supplies to Amisom crashed between Mogadishu and Afgoye town.

But since the crash area was controlled by the federal government of Somalia, the plane’s crew members were safely removed and taken to Mogadishu.
Source nation.co.ke/

Stratfor has detected an Emirati naval presence in the Eritrean port of Assab that may indicate Eritrea’s support of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Satellite imagery taken Sept. 16 appears to show three landing craft docked in the port that are not vessels known to exist within the Eritrean navy’s inventory. Analysis of the detailed images provided by our partners at AllSource Analysis — and of naval vessels in the wider region — suggests that all three vessels belong to the United Arab Emirates. While there have been previous claims of Eritrea’s support for the coalition conducting operations in Yemen, the naval activity in Eritrea’s southern port reveals that Eritrean facilities and possibly even personnel are assisting the Saudi-led military effort.

Eritrea’s exact role in the coalition’s operations remains unclear and cannot be derived from this imagery alone. However, the presence of Emirati naval vessels indicates, at the very least, that Eritrea has assumed a direct military or logistical responsibility within the campaign. One of the landing craft located at Assab port was likely either Al Quwaisat or Al Futaisi, the only two ships of that particular class that were delivered to the United Arab Emirates in 2012. One of these ships was also spotted dropping off Sudanese troops and equipment at Yemen’s Aden port on Oct. 17. It is therefore clear that Emirati landing craft are ferrying troops and equipment into the port of Aden as ground forces continue to mass ahead of a potential offensive push into Sanaa. Still, Eritrea’s position in this scheme is less apparent.
Given the distances that must be traveled over sea to get to Aden from Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, the port of Assab may be serving as a local logistics hub, situated relatively close to the conflict. If this is the case, it would allow smaller landing craft to ferry back and forth between Aden and closer ports rather than making longer trips to the Persian Gulf or deep into the Red Sea. It is possible that Sudanese forces passed through Assab on their way to Aden, though nothing in the imagery suggests the presence of a significant foreign military presence at the time the photographs were taken. Alternatively, a recent U.N. report claimed that 400 Eritrean soldiers were deployed to Aden to support the Saudi-led coalition. If true, the report would point to a direct purpose for the Emirati vessels’ presence in Assab: They could either be transporting the Eritrean troops or ferrying equipment and supplies to the Eritrean troops already in Yemen.

While the imagery cannot lay bare the details of Eritrea’s role in the coalition’s efforts, perhaps more interesting is its revelation of Eritrea’s political realignment, at least for now, toward Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. There was a time when Eritrea supported Yemen’s Houthi fighters and functioned as a transshipment location for Iranian supplies heading to them. And indeed, Houthi representatives have met with Eritrean organizations as recently as January. But over the past few months, Saudi Arabia has been building up its coalition, and it seems to have successfully pulled in Eritrea.

The U.N. report mentioned the provision of Saudi financial support and fuel supplies to Eritrea, which could have been a means to secure Eritrea’s cooperation. But it also included claims that the United Arab Emirates has secured a 30-year lease of Assab port, which are more directly related to the presence of the Emirati naval vessels.

Either way, as Eritrea integrates itself into the Saudi-led coalition, it will likely seek to expand its relationships beyond the region in an attempt to break its isolation and attract Western investors. From Eritrea’s perspective, accepting Saudi and Emirati cash and resources would be a logical move. Eritrea’s new partnerships could also enable it to show the international community that it can play a constructive role in regional security matters — a goal Eritrea has long sought.
Source http://eastafro.com/

has scrapped its one-child policy, allowing all couples to have two children for the first time since draconian family planning rules were introduced more than three decades ago.

The announcement followed a four-day Communist party summit in Beijing where China’s top leaders debated financial reforms and how to maintain growth at a time of heightened concerns about the economy.

China will “fully implement a policy of allowing each couple to have two children as an active response to an ageing population”, the party said in a statement published by Xinhua, the official news agency. “The change of policy is intended to balance population development and address the challenge of an ageing population,”

Some celebrated the move as a positive step towards greater personal freedom in China. But human rights activists and critics said the loosening – which means the Communist party continues to control the size of Chinese families – did not go far enough.

“The state has no business regulating how many children people have,” said William Nee, a Hong Kong-based activist for Amnesty International.
“If China is serious about respecting human rights, the government should immediately end such invasive and punitive controls over people’s decisions to plan families and have children.”

For months there has been speculation that Beijing was preparing to abandon the divisive family planning rule, which was introduced in 1980 because of fears of a population boom.

Demographers in and outside China have long warned that its low fertility rate – which experts say lies somewhere between 1.2 and 1.5 children a woman – was driving the country towards a demographic crisis.

Since 2013, there has been a gradual relaxation of China’s family planning laws that already allowed minority ethnic families and rural couples whose firstborn was a girl to have more than one child.

Thursday’s announcement that all couples would be allowed two children caught many experts by surprise.

“I’m shaking to be honest,” said Stuart Gietel-Basten, an University of Oxford demographer who has argued for the end of the one-child policy. “It’s one of those things that you have been working on and saying for years and recommending they should do something and it finally happened. It’s just a bit of a shock.”
The Communist party credits the policy with preventing 400m births, thus contributing to China’s dramatic economic takeoff since the 1980s.

But the human toll has been immense, with forced sterilisations, infanticide and sex-selective abortions that have caused a dramatic gender imbalance that means millions of men will never find female partners.

“The gender imbalance is going to be a very major problem,” warned Steve Tsang, a professor of contemporary Chinese studies at the University of Nottingham. “We are talking about between 20 million and 30 million young men who are not going to be able to find a wife. That creates social problems and that creates a huge number of people who are frustrated.”

History showed that countries with a very large number of unmarried men of military age were more likely to pursue aggressive, militarist foreign policy initiatives, Tsang said.

In one of the most shocking recent cases of human rights abuses related to the once-child policy, a woman who was seven months pregnant was abducted by family planning officials in Shaanxi province in 2012 and forced to have an abortion.

Opponents say the policy has created a demographic “timebomb”, with China’s 1.3 billion-strong population ageing rapidly, and the country’s labour pool shrinking. The UN estimates that by 2050 China will have about 440 millionpeople over 60. The working-age population – those between 15 and 59 – fell by 3.71 million last year, a trend that is expected to continue.
There were no immediate details on how or when China’s new “two-child policy” would be implemented. But Gietel-Basten said the policy change was good news for both China’s people and its leaders, who stood to gain from ending a highly unpopular rule.

“From a political, pragmatic perspective, loosening the policy is good for the party but also it is a good thing for individual couples who want to have that second child. It is a kind of win-win for everybody,” he said.

“Millions of ordinary Chinese couples will be allowed to have a second child if they want to – this is clearly a very positive thing.”Experts said the relaxation of family planning rules is unlikely to have a lasting demographic impact, particularly in urban areas where couples were now reluctant to have two children because of the high cost.

“Just because the government says you can have another child, it doesn’t mean the people will immediately follow,” said Liang Zhongtang, a demographer at the Shanghai Academy of Social Science.

Gietel-Basten said: “In the short term, probably there will be a little baby boom particularly in some of the poorer provinces where the rules have been very strict, like in Sichuan or in parts of the south. But in the long term I don’t think it’s going to make an enormous amount of difference.”

Dai Qing, a Chinese writer who has publicly called for all family planning rules to be scrapped, said the announcement was a positive step.

“It shows that the authorities have understood the changes in the total population and the demographic structure and started to address them,” she said.

But Dai said questions remained, particularly about how Beijing would enforce its new two-child policy.

“Even if people are allowed to have two children, what if they want to have three children or more? What if unmarried women want to have their own children? At the end of the day, it’s about women’s reproductive rights and freedoms.”Others expressed concern that the announcement of the new two-child policy, which referred to Chinese couples, suggested children born outside of wedlock would continue to be penalised by the government.

Liang called on the Communist party to completely dismantle its unpopular and outdated family planning rules.

“I think they should abolish the family planning [system] once for all and let people decide how many children they want to have. Only that way can they straighten out their relationship with the people.”

But Gietel-Basten said it would have been virtually unthinkable for Beijing to completely abandon its family planning rules.“That would in some ways imply that the policy was wrong … which of course would be a smack in the face of the last two generations of policymakers who stuck by it,” he said.

“Getting rid of it completely probably wasn’t an option in the short term. But in the long term it’s certainly not inconceivable that they would move towards a pronatalist policy at some point, maybe over the next five or 10 years, and that they would develop policies similar to in Korea or in Taiwan, or in Hong Kong or in Singapore, where there would be incentives for couples with one child to have a second child. I certainly think that is the future direction it [policy] is likely to go in.”As news that the notorious policy was coming to an end spread on Thursday, Chinese citizens celebrated on social media, while also lamenting how long change had taken to arrive.

Some government critics expressed their contempt for the policy by altering photographs of the red Communist party propaganda banners that adorn towns and villages across China urging residents to obey family planning rules.
“We reward families with two children and fine those with only one,” read one spoof poster mocking Beijing’s change of heart. “Those who decide not to have children or who are infertile should be thrown in jail.”
Source theguardian.com