Abebe Bikila 1960, 64& Feyisa Lilesa 2016

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Ethiopian Christians arrested at private prayer in Saudi Arabia | Ya Libnan | World News Live from Lebanon

Ethiopian Christians arrested at private prayer in Saudi Arabia

Thirty five Ethiopian Christians are awaiting deportation from Saudi Arabia for “illicit mingling,” after police arrested them when they raided a private prayer gathering in Jeddah in mid-December, 2011. Of those arrested, 29 were women. They were subjected to arbitrary body cavity searches in custody, three of the Ethiopians told Human Rights Watch.

(Beirut) – Thirty five Ethiopian Christians are awaiting deportation from Saudi Arabia for “illicit mingling,” after police arrested them when they raided a private prayer gathering in Jeddah in mid-December, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Of those arrested, 29 were women. They were subjected to arbitrary body cavity searches in custody, three of the Ethiopians told Human Rights Watch.

The Ethiopians gathered to pray together on December 15, during the advent of Christmas, in the private home of one of the Ethiopians, when police burst in and arrested them, three jailed members of the group, two women and one man, told Human Rights Watch.

“While King Abdullah sets up an international interfaith dialogue center, his police are trampling on the rights of believers of others faiths,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch. “The Saudi government needs to change its own intolerant ways before it can promote religious dialogue abroad.”

In October, Saudi Arabia, together with Austria and Spain, founded the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, located in Vienna, and funded by Saudi Arabia.

The Ethiopian men spent two days at al-Nuzha police station in Jeddah, after which the police transferred them to Buraiman prison. The women had already been transferred to Buraiman prison. Two of the women said that officials there forced the women to strip, and then an officer inserted her finger into each of the women’s genitals, under the pretext of searching for illegal substances hidden inside their bodies. She wore a plastic glove that she did not change, the women told Human Rights Watch. Officers also kicked and beat the men in Buraiman prison, and insulted them as “unbelievers,” the jailed Ethiopian man said.

Both men and women complained of inadequate medical care and unsanitary conditions at Buraiman prison. There were too few toilets, they said. In the men’s wing, six of twelve toilets were reserved for Saudi inmates, while hundreds of foreign inmates were forced to share the remaining six toilets. One female detainee said she suffers from diabetes and was given an injection in the prison clinic that caused swelling, and has received no further medical attention.

The Ethiopians, speaking via telephone from prison, said that about 10 days after being arrested, some in the group were taken to court, where they were forced to affix their fingerprints to a document without being allowed to read it. Officials told the group that they were being charged with “illicit mingling” of unmarried persons of the opposite sex. Some of the Ethiopians have been living in the kingdom for 16 years, while others are newer arrivals. Some of the women and men did not have valid residency papers, but all faced deportation, including those with valid papers, the jailed Ethiopian man said.

In July 2006, the Saudi government promised that it would stop interfering with private worship by non-Muslims. In a “Confirmation of Policies,” a written document the Saudi government sent to the US government, Saudi Arabia said it would “guarantee and protect the right to private worship for all, including non-Muslims who gather in homes for religious practice,” and “ensure that members of the [religious police] do not detain or conduct investigations of suspects, implement punishment, [or] violate the sanctity of private homes.” In this document, the government also said it would investigate any infringements of these policies. Public worship of any religion other than Islam remains prohibited in the kingdom.

“Saudi authorities have broken their promises to respect other faiths,” Wilcke said. “Men and women of other faiths have nowhere to worship in Saudi Arabia if even their private homes are no longer safe.”

The Arab Charter of Human Rights, to which Saudi Arabia is a state party, guarantees “[t]he freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs or to perform religious observances, either alone or in community with others,” and prohibits “arbitrary arrest.”

Saudi Arabia has no codified criminal law or other law that defines “illicit mingling.” In 2006, Shaikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith, the president of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the religious police, told Human Rights Watch in an interview in Riyadh, “Mingling of the sexes is prohibited in public, and permitted in private unless it is for the purpose of corruption.”

Human Rights Watch called on the Saudi authorities to release the 35 Ethiopian men and women immediately if there is no evidence to charge them with offenses that are recognizably criminal under international norms. Saudi authorities should also investigate their allegations of physical and sexual abuse and, if warranted, compensate them for arbitrary arrest and any mistreatment they endured, and to hold accountable any officials found to be responsible for these acts.

Human Rights Watch also called on the authorities to allow members of the group who fear persecution in Ethiopia to lodge asylum claims with the UN Refugee Agency.

Ethiopia Women soccer team defeated their Egyptian counterpart 4-0 - YouTube

Ethiopia Women soccer team defeated their Egyptian counterpart 4-0 - YouTube: ""

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Ethiopia Another Instance Of National Governing Body Dysfunction - Spiked Up, Pysched Up - A Track and Field blog



Kenenisa Bekele in the Ethiopian singlet (Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE)
This past week saw a strange and somewhat comical scenario play out in one of the world’s preeminent track powers.
Ethiopia, somewhat reeling from a disappointing team performance at the World Championships in Daegu, suspended indefinitely 35 of its finest athletes for not showing at a scheduled training camp.
The suspension included gold medalists and word record holders Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele both whom have undergone scrutiny both at home and aborad recently due to injuries.
The initial shock of this announcement created a firestorm akin to the possibility of an entire season lockout of the NBA. Also similar to the NBA was a fiery call by its perennial champion Bekele to ask to compete for a new country, in a manner reminiscent to Kobe Bryant’s offer to play overseas during the presumed lockout. His agent Jos Hermans reported that Bekele was so frustrated and insulted by the sporting council’s ruling that he sought to change his nationality to compete for another country.
Possibly seeing the handwriting on the wall that they may have done more harm than good, the sporting council rescinded the ban after pledges from the suspended athletes to report to future camps. Unknown whether it was the prospect of alienating its best athletes, the chance that national hero Bekele may take a walk to an Arab fiefdom for a new home to compete for, or satisfaction with the apologies and promises of compliance with their rulings, the Ethiopian Track Federation changed its mind in under a week.
While stating that it was an injury that kept him reporting to the camp and his agent Hermans stating that veteran athletes like Bekele are not in need of such guidance as say that of a younger athlete, this shows a fissure common among many national squads.
Whether it is the U.S. having to decide if Mike Rodgers should run following a positive test for performance enhancers, British officials saying they need to dig deeper despite an above average showing in Daegu or Kenya not having a clear cut method to selecting its deep marathon squad,all nations appear to suffer from a dysfunction in how it handles its finest track and field athletes.
Unlike other sports where media coverage and insights are made by hoards of analysts about how to fix these situations, track and field is on its own. Maybe that’s for the best.
However I find it discomforting that a nation bestowed with such a rich history of running glory in Ethiopia could possibly ban a man who has draped himself in his nation’s flag in victory repeatedly, being given a ban over such a minor infraction.
Running has served as a beacon of light for a nation that has been blighted with war, famine and drought. Ethiopia’s athletic tradition must not be besmirched by such trivial disputes.
For its sake and for the advancement of athletic success worldwide, we can only hope that the breach in trust between its competitors and its governing body can find harmony.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Ethiopia clears Olympic champion Bekele, 34 others – USATODAY.com

BRUSSELS – The suspension of Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele and 34 others was lifted Tuesday, clearing the way for the Ethiopian great to run at the London Games.

  • In this Sept. 16, 2011 file photo, Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele wins the 10,000 meters during the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meeting at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels.

    By Yves Logghe, AP

    In this Sept. 16, 2011 file photo, Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele wins the 10,000 meters during the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meeting at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels.

By Yves Logghe, AP

In this Sept. 16, 2011 file photo, Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele wins the 10,000 meters during the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meeting at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels.

Ethiopian Athletics Federation President Bisrat Gashawten Tirfe told The Associated Press by telephone that "we have agreed to discuss all the matters concerning their problems." The athletes were suspended last week for not reporting to camp.

Bekele won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Beijing Olympics and holds the world record in both events. He was suspended along with Tirunesh Dibaba, winner of the two long-distance women's titles in Beijing. The suspension would have prevented them from running at this year's Olympics.

Bekele's agent, Jos Hermens, said his client had been extremely angry about the suspension and even inquired about changing nationality.

An official announcement was expected from Addis Ababa later Tuesday, but Tirfe said the suspension has been lifted.

"Yes, for everybody. … for all 35," Tirfe said.

The decision allows the suspended marathon runners to compete in next Sunday's race in Dubai.

The crisis started last Thursday when the federation wrote in an email that it "has decided any international competition including Dubai Marathon is closed from January 20, 2012 until end of the (Olympic) event on August 2012" for the 35 athletes who did not attend the camp early this month.

The group also included Dibaba's husband, Sileshi Sihine, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 10,000.

The federation had set up a training camp for all leading athletes early this month to improve preparation for London after an abysmal showing at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, last August.

Kenya won seven gold medals at the worlds compared to only one for Ethiopia. Kenya was third in the overall medals tables with 17, while Ethiopia was ninth with only five.

Bekele has struggled for most of the past two years with injuries and dropped out of the 10,000 in Daegu.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Ethiopian Dictatorial regime's Athletics Federation suspended 35 Wold Top Athletes including Debaba & Kenenisa Bekele


Kenenisa BekeleKenenisa Bekele is the reigning Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion
Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, one of Mo Farah's main Olympic rivals, has been suspended by his governing body.
The Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m champion has been banned from competing, along with 34 other athletes.
The Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EAF) said the athletes had not attended a mandatory training camp.
Technical director Dube Jilo said: "There is a lack of commitment and our preparations haven't been up to standard so far."
The EAF summoned 200 athletes in November to a training camp in preparation for the World Indoor Championships in March and the London Olympics in July and August.

BEKELE'S OLYMPIC RECORD


Bekele holds the world record and Olympic record in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events.
He is the reigning Olympic champion in both events and also won the 2004 Olympic title over 10,000 metres.
However, Bekele and 34 other athletes, including Olympic women's 5,000m and 10,000m gold medallist Tirunesh Dibaba, ignored the call-up.
Jilo said the ban would be reconsidered as soon as the athletes reported for training.
He said: "We have to distinguish who is in good shape."
The suspension could in theory prevent Bekele competing at the London Olympics, where the 29-year-old is expected to be a serious threat to Farah in either the 5,000m, 10,000m or both.
Bekele's agent Jos Hermens said: "The situation is a little bit crazy.
"I haven't talked to him yet today, but I know most of the athletes or the coaches have heard about it.
"My experience says that [the EAF] will back off.
"I assume there will be talks and this will be turned around, but at the moment we have to live with this."
Hermens thinks the EAF is reacting to Ethiopia's poor performance at the World Championships in 2011 where they finished ninth in the medal table with just one gold.
Bekele, who was making his comeback in Daegu after an 18-month injury lay-off, dropped out of the 10,000m after 10 laps.
He declared himself fully recovered prior to the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country this month, but finished well down the field.

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