09/29/2023 September 29, 2023The Philippines and China tussle on the high seas of Southeast Asia. We take a closer look at what the Scarborough Shoal is, and why this is happening. Plus, the Right Livelihood Award, known as the "alternative Nobel," is awarded to three groups, including a Cambodian environmental activist organization called Mother Nature Cambodia.
A report presented Thursday to the U.N. Human Rights Council accuses all parties to the conflict in northern Ethiopia of widespread atrocities, many amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, despite a peace agreement signed nearly a year ago. The blistering 21-page report from the three-member International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia documents wide-ranging atrocities committed since the conflict between the government and the Tigray Liberation Front erupted November 3, 2020. "The Ethiopian national defense forces, Eritrean defense forces, regional forces and affiliated militias perpetrated violations in Tigray on a staggering scale,” he said. The commission urged the Human Rights Council to ensure continued robust international investigations and public reporting of the situation in Ethiopia. He called the report substandard, professionally deficient and conspicuously political, noting that since the signing of the Pretoria Peace Agreement, Ethiopia has redoubled its efforts to consolidate peace in the country.
He started in information technology work at the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research in 2021, where he maintained a security clearance. He also currently works as a "contract management analyst" at the Justice Department, court papers said, and had access to classified information. He was also seen taking notes on or copying the classified information into Word documents. And multiple times last month, according to prosecutors, Lemma allegedly stored the sensitive information onto a disc and illegally transported it to his Maryland residence. In a statement, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller praised the FBI and Justice Department "for the diligent work that led to an arrest and charges in this matter."
WASHINGTON - A U.S. government contract employee for the Justice and State Departments was arrested on espionage charges unsealed on Thursday, prosecutors said, accusing him of passing on classified information to Ethiopia. He faced three charges including "delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government, conspiracy to deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government, and the willful retention of national defense information," the Justice Department said. Between December 2022, and August 2023, Lemma copied classified information from intelligence reports and deleted the classification markings from them, the Justice Department said. Lemma then removed the information, which was classified as 'secret' and 'top secret,' from secure facilities at the State Department. Lemma used an encrypted application to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign government official associated with a foreign country's intelligence service, the Justice Department said.
He faced three charges including "delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government, conspiracy to deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government, and the willful retention of national defense information," the Justice Department said. Between December 2022, and August 2023, Lemma copied classified information from intelligence reports and deleted the classification markings from them, the Justice Department said. Lemma then removed the information, which was classified as 'secret' and 'top secret,' from secure facilities at the State Department. Lemma used an encrypted application to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign government official associated with a foreign country's intelligence service, the Justice Department said. The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it had undertaken a "self-initiated 60-day internal security review" in which it was uncovered that its contractor "may have removed, retained and transmitted classified national defense information without authorization."
Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, was charged in a complaint from late August, which was unsealed on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. He faced three charges including "delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government, conspiracy to deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government, and the willful retention of national defense information," the Justice Department said. Between December 2022, and August 2023, Lemma copied classified information from intelligence reports and deleted the classification markings from them, the Justice Department said. Lemma then removed the information, which was classified as 'secret' and 'top secret,' from secure facilities at the State Department. Lemma used an encrypted application to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign government official associated with a foreign country's intelligence service, the Justice Department said.
In recent months, the region has also provided shelter to thousands of Sudanese refugees escaping the ongoing fighting that erupted in mid-April. On Wednesday evening, the state-backed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said that thirty refugees have died in Ethiopia's southwestern region of Gambela due to hunger and malnutrition. Official data shows that Gambela Region has hosted tens of thousands of South Sudanese refugees who have fled civil conflict since 2013. In recent months, the region has also provided shelter to thousands of Sudanese refugees escaping the ongoing fighting that erupted in mid-April. pic.twitter.com/UcGHriQfvL — WHO Ethiopia (@WHOEthiopia) September 21, 2023In June, the World Food Program of the United Nations announced the suspension of most food aid programs in Ethiopia, citing large-scale aid misappropriation.
Human rights commission says atrocities in Ethiopia continue and urges Human Rights Council to renew its mandate. UN-appointed investigators have warned that more atrocities were likely to be carried out in Ethiopia and called for continued scrutiny of Addis Ababa’s human rights record as their work faces termination amid strong African-led opposition. Both sides accused each other of atrocities, including massacres, rape and arbitrary detentions, but each denied responsibility for systemic abuses. The International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, composed of three independent experts, said earlier this week in a report that war crimes and crimes against humanity were still being committed in Ethiopia. Ethiopia, which has denied committing widespread abuses, has strongly opposed the probe and tried to cut its work short.
Boeing Co. on Wednesday reached eight more settlement agreements related to a 2019 Ethiopian Airlines disaster that killed all 157 passengers and crew, according to court documents. A 2019 civil complaint alleged Boeing’s flight control system for the aircraft used on the flight, a new Boeing 737 MAX 8, was “unreasonably dangerous” and had a “defective design” that erroneously pushed the aircraft’s nose downward. The crash occurred minutes after takeoff. “As a condition of the settlement, the parties have agreed to keep the amount of the settlement confidential,” said the agreements, which were substantially similar to each other. Boeing stipulated ...
CNN —A federal contractor who worked for State and Justice departments has been charged with sending classified US information to Ethiopia, according to newly unsealed court documents. His government work, prosecutors say, gave him a security clearance access to highly classified information, which he illegally copied and shared with a foreign agent. He also allegedly accessed at least 48 additional intelligence reports and printed and downloaded highly classified information from those reports. initiates internal security reviewThe State Department made the discovery that a contractor was sending classified information to Ethiopia as part of a “self-initiated 60-day Internal Security Review of the Department of State’s Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) network, systems, and applications,” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Thursday. “During this review, information was uncovered indicating that a Department of State information technology contractor may have removed, retained and transmitted classified national defense information without authorization,” Miller said.
× Expand After 18 years in business, Ethiopian restaurant Nile has announced it will be closing its doors. Foraging and brewing with local ingredients such as sassafras and longleaf pine needles, four Virginia breweries are participating in a project with The Nature Conservancy dubbed OktoberForest. In our latest Ingredient feature, get the lowdown on the beloved fruit, from shopping and cooking tips to a local food truck serving up fresh apple cider doughnuts. (Richmond magazine)Alla Tua SaluteNegroni Week, the national drink-a-palooza dedicated to the classic Italian cocktail, continues through Sept. 24. (Richmond magazine)New ChaptersAfter nearly two decades of serving Richmond Ethiopian comfort food including housemade injera, brothers Yoseph and Benyam Teklemariam have announced they will be shuttering their Church Hill restaurant, Nile.
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ArrowRight Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged in an Aug. 23 complaint unsealed Thursday on three counts: conspiracy; gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government; and unauthorized possession and willful retention of national defense information, Justice Department and FBI officials said. Charging papers did not name Ethiopia, but accused Lemma of spying for a country where he was previously a citizen, had family ties and had recently visited. The State Department’s intelligence bureau discovered the leaks after an internal security review prompted by the disclosure of hundreds of classified documents earlier this year. Advertisement“During this review, information was uncovered indicating that a Department of State information technology contractor may have removed, retained, and transmitted classified national defense information without authorization,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. AdvertisementMost recently, on Aug. 18, State Department records indicate Lemma completed approximately 10 downloads, most of which were classified at the top-secret or secret level.
GENEVA - U.N.-appointed investigators warned on Thursday that more atrocities were likely in Ethiopia and called for continued scrutiny of Addis Ababa's human rights record as their work faces termination amid strong African-led opposition. Both sides accused each other of atrocities, including massacres, rape and arbitrary detentions, but each denied responsibility for systemic abuses. The International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, composed of three independent experts, said earlier this week in a report that war crimes and crimes against humanity were still being committed in Ethiopia. He told the Council that "...the situation in Ethiopia exhibits most of the indicators for future atrocities..." and accused Ethiopia of conducting "a deliberate effort to evade regional and international scrutiny". Ethiopia's government and its armed forces have repeatedly denied that their soldiers committed widespread crimes and have promised to investigate complaints of individual abuses.
Addis Abeba — Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) confirmed yesterday the death of three detainees by a pest-borne outbreak at a temporary detention center located in Gelan Kifle Ketema(district) of Sheger City, in Oromia regional state. At times the facility holds "thousands", in conditions the rights commission described that lack "hygiene" and "personal sanitary" as well as the proper infrastructure suitable for the intended purpose. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia Health Human Rights By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. A report by Addis Standard in January this year revealed that the streets of Addis Abeba were witnessing an unprecedented level of children systematically smuggled and forced to engage in various labor activities. Forced detention of people or involuntary relocation to detention centers constitutes a human rights violation, the commission said, adding that such coercive practices should stop at once.
