የኢህአዴግ ማመልክቻ ድጋሚ ውድቅ መደረግ አለበት!

የተፈጥሮ ሃብትን በትክክለኛ መንገድ ለሕዝብ ጥቅም መዋሉን በመከታተል ለአገራት እውቅና የሚሰጠው The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) ለተሰኘ ዓለም ዓቀፋዊ ተቋም ኢህአዴግ በድጋሚ ያቀረበው የእውቅና ጥያቄ ማመልከቻ ውድቅ መደረግ እንዳለበት ዓለምአቀፉ የሰብዓዊ መብት (Human Rights Watch) ድርጅት አስታወቀ፡፡ ኢህአዴግ የእውቅና ማመልከቻ አስገብቶ ውድቅ ተደርጎበት የነበረ ሲሆን በኢትዮጵያ ላይ የታወጁት አፋኝ ሕጎች እስካልተወገዱ ድረስ ድጋሚ ማመልከቻው ውድቅ ሊደረግ እንደሚገባው ጨምሮ ተነግሯል፡፡

ጎልጉል የድረገጽ ጋዜጣ ከሳምንታት በፊት “ኢህአዴግ ራሱ ባወጣው አፋኝ ሕግ ታፈነ” በሚል ርዕስ ባወጣው ዜና ጉዳዩን በስፋት ዘርዝሮ ነበር፡፡ “EITI የዛሬ 11ዓመት አካባቢ የተቋቋመ በተፈጥሮ ሃብት ዙሪያ ዕውቅና የሚሰጥ ድርጅት ሲሆን ድርጅቱ የተፈጥሮ ሃብት የህዝብ መሆኑን የሚያምን ሲሆን ማንኛውም የተፈጥሮ ሃብት – ማዕድን፣ ዘይት፣ ብረታብረትና ጋዝ – ከመሬት በሚወጣበት ጊዜ ማኅበራዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ጠቀሜታ የሚኖረውን ያህል ግልጽነትና ተጠያቂነት በሌለባቸው አገራት ድርጊቱ ለሙስና እና ግጭት በር እንደሚከፍት ይናገራል፡፡ በመሆኑንም ድርጅቱ (EITI) አገራት ለሚያቀርቡት የዕውቅና ጥያቄ ማሟላት ያለባቸውን መስፈርት በዝርዝር አስቀምጧል፡፡ ልማትና እድገት በሚል ሰበብ የሕዝብ ሃብት የሆነውን የተፈጥሮ ሃብት በማውጣት የህዝባቸውን መብት ለሚረግጡ አገራት የሚያቀርቡትን የዕውቅና ማመልከቻ ውድቅ ያደርጋል፡፡”

በወቅቱ ጎልጉል የውጪ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር ምንጭ ጠቅሶ እንደዘገበው “ኢህአዴግ ያቀረበው የእውቅና ጥያቄ ውድቅ መደረጉ እውነት ነው። ምንጩ እንዳሉት ኢህአዴግ በውሳኔው በመበሳጨት ይግባኝ ለመጠየቅ በዝግጅት” ላይ መሆኑን ጠቁሞ ነበር፡፡

የEITI ዕውቅናን ለማግኘት ቋምጦ የነበረው ኢህአዴግ በድርጅቱ ውሳኔ ባለመደሰት ጥቂት ዓመታትን ቆጥሮ ከአቶ መለስ ሞት በኋላ በአቶ ሃይለማርያም በመመራት በድጋሚ የዕውቅና የማግኘት ዘመቻውን ማጠናከር ከጀመረ ቆይቷል፡፡ የማዕድን ሚ/ር መ/ቤትም የEITI ዕውቅና ማግኘቱ በጣም የሚያስፈልግ እንደሆነ በይፋ በመናገር ዘመቻውን አጧጡፎ ነበር፡፡ ከዚህም አልፎ ለዓመታት ሲጠቀምበት የነበረውን አሠራር በዓለምአቀፉ ድርጅት ላይ ተግባራዊ በማድረግ ኢህአዴግ Ethiopia Revenue Transparency Initiative (ERTI) የሚባል “ተለጣፊ” ተቋም በመመሥረት እንቅስቃሴ ሲያደርግ እንደቆየ የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅቱ ለEITI በጻፈው ደብዳቤ ላይ መግለጹን ጎልጉል ጨምሮ ዘግቦ ነበር፡፡

ዛሬ የወጣው የሰብዓዊ መብት ድርጅት መግለጫ ይህንኑ የኢህአዴግን ጥያቄ የሚያስረዳ ሲሆን በአፋኝ ህጎቹ ላይ አንዳችም ለውጥ ያላሳየው ኢህአዴግ ማመልከቻው ውድቅ መደረግ እንዳለበት መግለጫው በአጽዕኖት ይናገራል፡፡ ምክንያቱንም ሲጠቅስ “የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ሚዲያውን አፍኗል፤ (ሰብዓዊ መብት እንዲከበር) እንቅስቃሴ የሚያደርጉ ሁሉ አድቅቋል” በማለት ያስረዳል፡፡ ኢህአዴግ ከዚህ በፊት ባስገባው ማመልከቻ ላይ የEITI ቦርድ ውሳኔውን ሲያስተላልፍ “የመያዶች ሕግ የተሰኘው አዋጅ ተግባራዊ እንዳይሆን እስካልተደረገ” ማመልከቻው ሊታይ እንደማይገባው በዋንኛነት ማመልከቻው ውድቅ እንዲደረግ የተደረገበት ምክንያት እንደነበር የጠቀሰው የሰብዓዊ መብት ድርጅት መግለጫ EITI አሁንም ይህንኑ ውሳኔውን እንዲያከብር ጠይቋል፡፡

ማመልከቻው እንደገና እንዲታይና የቦርዱ የቀድሞ ውሳኔ እንዲቀለበስ እየተንቀሳቀሱ የሚገኙት የቀድሞ የእንግሊዝ ዓለምአቀፍ ትብብር ሚ/ር የሆኑት ክሌር ሾርት መሆናቸውን መግለጫው ያስረዳል፡፡ እኚህ ግለሰብ የአፍሪካ አምባገነኖችን በመደገፍ የሚታወቁ ሲሆን ይህ ከጥቅማቸው ጋር የተሳሰረው ግንኙነታቸው አሁንም ኢህአዴግን እንዲደግፉ እንዳደረጋቸው ይነገራል፡፡ እንዲሁም በሌሎች ኢህአዴግ ባቋቋማቸው ዓለምአቀፋዊነት ሽፋን በተላበሱ ድርጅቶች ውስጥ የአመራር አባል በመሆን ሚስ ሾርት እንደሚያገለግሉ መረጃዎች ይጠቁማሉ፡፡ የእንግሊዝ ፓርላማ አባል በነበሩበት ወቅትም ያላወጡትን ወጪ አውጥቻለሁ በማለት በብዙ ሺዎች የሚገመት ገንዘብ ለግል ጥቅማቸው ያዋሉ መሆናቸው በወቅቱ ዴይሊ ቴሌግራፍ ባወጣው መረጃ አጋልጦ ነበር፡፡ የተወሰነውን ገንዘብ የመለሱ ቢሆንም ጋዜጣው በወቅቱ ያወጣው መረጃ ግለሰቧ የሕዝብን ገንዘብ ለግል ጥቅማቸው የተጠቀሙ “ሙሰኛ” መሆናቸውን ያስረዳል፡፡

ከእነዚህና ሌሎች መረጃዎች አኳያ ኢህአዴግ በየቦታው እየደለለ “ባስቀመጣቸው” በመጠቀም የፈለገውን ለማድረግ ሲሞክር ዝም ሊባል እንደማይገባው በዚሁ ጉዳይ ላይ በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ የሚንቀሳቀሰውን የአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄን ጠቅሶ ጎልጉል መዘገቡ ይታወሳል፡፡

የሰብዓዊ መብት ድርጅቱ ዛሬ ባወጣው መግለጫ መሠረት ኢህአዴግ የEITI አባል መሆን ከፈለገ ያወጣቸውን አፋኝ ሕጎች በሙሉ መሠረዝ እንዳለበትና የመናገር መብትን፣ የፕሬስ ነጻነትን፣ የመሰብሰብ፣ ወዘተ መብቶችን በይፋ ማክበር እንዳለበት እና የEITI የአባልነት ቅድመ መስፈርቶችንም በሙሉ ማሟላት እንደሚገባው ጨምሮ ገልጾዋል፡፡

የሰብዓዊ መብት ድርጅት ያወጣው መግለጫ ከዚህ በታች ይገኛል፡፡

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ማሳሰቢያ፤ በተለይ በስም ወይም በድርጅት ስም እስካልተጠቀሰ ድረስ በጎልጉል የድረገጽ ጋዜጣ^® ላይ የሚወጡት ጽሁፎች በሙሉ የጎልጉል የድረገጽ ጋዜጣ^®ንብረት ናቸው፡፡ ይህንን ጽሁፍ ለመጠቀም የሚፈልጉ ሁሉ የዚህን ጽሁፍ አስፈንጣሪ (link) ወይም የድረገጻችንን አድራሻ (https://www.goolgule.com/) አብረው መለጠፍ ከጋዜጠኛነት የሚጠበቅና ህጋዊ አሠራር መሆኑን ልናሳስብ እንወዳለን፡፡

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Ethiopia: Transparency Group Should Reject Membership
Repression of Civil Society Contravenes Organization’s Rules

(New York, March 14, 2014) – A major global initiative to encourage governments to better manage natural resource revenues should reject Ethiopia’s bid for membership due to its harsh restrictions on civil society, Human Rights Watch said today.

The governing board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is expected to make a decision about Ethiopia’s candidacy at its next meeting, on March 18 and 19, 2014, in Oslo. EITI was founded in 2003 to strengthen governance by increasing transparency over revenues from the oil, gas, and mining industries. Its members include countries, companies, and civil society representatives.

“The Ethiopian government has crushed activist groups and muzzled the media,” said Lisa Misol, senior business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Ethiopia’s harsh repression of independent voices is utterly incompatible with this global effort to increase public oversight over government.”

An earlier effort by Ethiopia to join the transparency group was rebuffed in 2010 out of concerns over a draconian 2009 law, still in effect, that sharply limits the activities of independent groups. Civil society representatives on EITI’s board said that the law contravened the initiative’s standards that make the free and active participation of independent organizations a requirement for a country to join.

The board deferred the decision, and suggested that it would not reconsider “until the Proclamation on Charities and Society Law is no longer in place.”

Supporters of Ethiopia’s membership, including Clare Short, the former United Kingdom minister who has been the group’s chair since 2011, have recently pressed the board to overturn its 2010 decision. On February 28, Short publicly endorsed Ethiopia’s candidacy and criticized those who opposed its membership in an unprecedented open letter to civil society members of the board. She argued for loosening the group’s rules and claimed that civil society in Ethiopia favored her position, even though nongovernmental organizations in the country cannot risk criticizing the government.

“It’s absurd to suggest that Ethiopia deserves to join EITI because it has civil society support after the government has systematically intimidated groups into submission,” Misol said. “EITI would become a reward for Ethiopia’s effort to dismantle and silence civil society, providing a perverse incentive for other governments to do the same thing.”

Ethiopia’s repressive laws and policies have severely undermined independent activists and organizations in the country. Many organizations have been forced to greatly reduce their activities, others engage in self-censorship, and still others have had to close down. Several of the country’s leading activists have fled the country due to threats. New government-backed nongovernmental organizations have formed. One group that supports the government’s drive to join EITI is a journalism union described as “government-controlled” by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation curtails the independence of nongovernmental organizations in Ethiopia, particularly groups that scrutinize the government. It forbids national organizations from receiving more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign donors if they engage in human rights, advocacy, conflict resolution, or governance activities. The law also bars organizations from activities related to state policy, functioning, and accountability.

It established a regulatory body, the Charities and Societies Agency, with broad discretion to arbitrarily cancel organizations’ registration and to levy fines and criminal charges against their personnel.

To join EITI, Ethiopia should be required to repeal or substantially amend the 2009 proclamation to eliminate problematic clauses that limit foreign funding, restrict certain types of activities, and grant far-reaching powers to a government agency to regulate activities of independent groups, Human Rights Watch said. Additional preconditions should be tied to media freedom and respect for other fundamental rights necessary for open public debate on natural resource topics.

“Admitting Ethiopia into EITI now would send a terrible signal about the initiative’s commitment to core principles about the participation of civil society,” Misol said. “The board should insist on meaningful reforms in Ethiopia so that the government demonstrates its commitment to the initiative’s principles and rules before it is admitted.”

For more information about EITI and Ethiopia’s bid for EITI membership, please visit:

• “Extractive Industries: A New Accountability Agenda”:
  http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/21/extractive-industries-new-accountability-agenda
• “Ethiopia, Aspiring EITI Candidate”: http://www.hrw.org/node/123802

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Ethiopia, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/ethiopia

For more information, please contact:
In New York (until March 15) and Oslo (from March 16-19), Lisa Misol (English, Spanish): +1-646-515-6665 (mobile); or misoll@hrw.org. Follow on Twitter @LisaMisol
In Ottawa (until March 15) and Oslo (from March 16-19), Felix Horne (English): +1-514-894-8629 (mobile); or hornef@hrw.org
In Amsterdam, Leslie Lefkow (English): +31-621-597-356 (mobile); or lefkowl@hrw.org. Follow on Twitter @LefkowHRW
In New York, Chris Albin-Lackey (English): +1-212-216-1865; or +1-347-886-7733 (mobile); or albinlc@hrw.org. Follow on Twitter at @calbinlackey
In Washington, DC, Arvind Ganesan (English): +1-202-612-4329; or ganesaa@hrw.org.