terje ostebo

professor at the department of religion and center for African studies at the University of Florida

[terje ostebo @tostebo]

Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia: The Bale Insurgency, 1963-1970 https://t.co/0D9k1TOQkF

[terje ostebo @tostebo]

Happy to share my most recent article about Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's religious worldview (open access):
The religion of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed: The Journal of Modern African Studies | Cambridge Core - https://t.co/EaiAtHsggn

[terje ostebo @tostebo]

My recent article on the human rights situation in #Oromia in #Ethiopia s quite unprecedented. Security forces, local militias, and government-aligned institutions operate with impunity, engaging in extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and financial extortion.

[Addis Standard @addisstandard]

#Op_ed: Human Rights Under Siege: How security forces in #Oromia fuel terror, fear to control residents through lawlessness

In this op-ed, Terje Østebø, a professor at the Center for African Studies and the Department of Religion at the University of Florida, argues that the human rights situation in #Ethiopia is “not only significantly worse” than in previous years, but that the “reasons, motivations, and nature of human rights violations are new and quite unprecedented.” The op-ed states that security forces, local militias, and government-aligned institutions operate with impunity, engaging in extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and financial extortion. The author highlights a pattern of abuses reported on social media, which he asserts “confirm findings from my own recent research on human rights violations in Oromia.” The piece contends that “control is, in other words, maintained through lawlessness, and security is preserved through insecurity.”

The op-ed examines the role of Koree Nageenyaa, a security committee that, according to a Reuters investigation, is responsible for extrajudicial killings in Oromia. The author asserts that the committee is not just a regional entity but is “replicated at zonal and district levels throughout Oromia, working in parallel to institutions like the Bulchiinsaa Nageenyaa.”

The piece states that these structures allow government forces to operate beyond public scrutiny, with security officials arbitrarily labeling individuals as supporters of the Oromo Liberation Army (#OLA) as a means to extract money. According to the op-ed, enforced military conscriptions, including of underage boys, have become widespread, with families forced to pay ransoms ranging “from 100,000 to 500,000 birr” for the release of detained children.

The op-ed concludes that the Ethiopian government has failed to maintain institutional control, allowing security forces and local militias to act with autonomy. The author argues that “corruption is what is creating this; everyone is struggling to survive,” adding that local authorities have turned taxation and law enforcement into mechanisms of extortion.

https://t.co/uV4zI2GG9y

[terje ostebo @tostebo]

Happy to share this recent article. With ⁦@yekatitgetachew⁩ Salafism and the local: Negotiation, accommodation and Re-localization of Ethiopian Salafism: Mediterranean Politics: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access https://t.co/vgnJ5O47zf

[Teklehaymanot G. Weldemichel @TeklehaymanotG]

There will be a day when we will have to revisit articles like this one here by @vaartland.

Incredible work by Norwegian protestant missionaries silencing anyone who spoke about #TigrayGenocide and stopping any attempts to end it.
@Sdet_M

https://t.co/mdVvi792io

[Rift Valley Institute @RVInews]

NEW REPORT I BEING MUSLIM AND BECOMING ETHIOPIAN

In this report, @tostebo takes a closer look at the legacy of the Dimtsachin Yisema movement and how it shaped and continues to shape Ethiopian Musllims' identity and social integration.

Read it here: https://t.co/Kv6MPSppd7

[Northeast Africa Forum @northeastafrica]

Please join us for this year's final seminar on 12 June, 4pm.

The Abiy Project: God, Power & War in the New #Ethiopia

Book launch & discussion w/the author, @TomGardner18, and discussant Terje Østebø

*Hybrid event*. Full details & webinar registration:
https://t.co/OHJGZ8LHEi

[terje ostebo @tostebo]

Disturbing

[Tsedale Lemma @TsedaleLemma]

A few points on what’s at stake:

The main stakeholders who played key roles in delivering the Pretoria agreement for cessation of hostilities must take today’s meeting as opportunity to recognise that the absence of a transparent monitoring and verification mechanism has made the likelihood of deterioration and relapse into hostilities more than distant possibilities.

Key examples include, but not limited to, the following five points:

* There has been no publicly available progress report on the follow up of joint committee between members of the federal army and Tigrayan forces that was announced on November 12/2022 with the aim to “elaborate on the modalities for the implementation of comprehensive disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program.”

* Despite the report dated May 19/2023 by the African Union (AU) Monitoring, Verification and Compliance Mechanism (MVCM), delivered by Maj. Gen. Stephen Radina during the second joint meeting confirming that 85 to 90% of the heavy weapons disarmament of Tigrayan combatants was completed, there has been no progress to reciprocate the steps by ensuring the implementation of key aspects of the Pretoria agreement and the subsequent Nairobi Declaration of the Executive Plan, the later of which stated the “disarmament of heavy weapons to be done concurrently with the withdrawal of foreign and non-ENDF forces” from Tigray.

* Despite the establishment of the National Rehabilitation Commission (NRC) to oversea the monumental tasks of DDR, and despite having its first national consultation on demobilisation and reintegration a year ago on March 10/2023 in Tigray’s capital Mekelle, the actual process remained elusive, feeding into increasing lack of trust between the federal government and Tigrayan authorities.

* There has been zero attempt at kick starting the political dialogue to address the root causes of the crisis, leaving the core objectives of this genocidal war untouched, unchanged and completely unaddressed.

*There has been no publicly known consensus between the federal government and Tigray interim administration on the transitional justice policy document that is reportedly in the process of being sent to the Council of Ministers for review.

In the absence of all the above five key points, we are watching the keen attempts to reinterpret and misinterpret the CoHA, including by key stakeholders who appeared to be laser focused on DDR & return of IDPs as end game of the CoHA itself.

Whereas domestically, local media outlets associated/affiliated with the federal government are now citing unnamed officials as “credible sources” to broadcast serious allegations against Tigrayan officials, including the president of the interim administration, of plotting with Egypt & Eritrea from abroad, and Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and Fano armed groups from inside to undermine the federal government in Finfinne (Addis Ababa).

It is particularly important to take note of this development, which can easily be exacerbated by the unmet commitments, and take the necessary preemptive measures.

The tone and frenzy with which these allegations are being broadcast have the potential to rile up the public into the return of a hostile rhetoric similar to the ones in the run up to the November 04/2020 outbreak of this devastating war and during the two years when it was ongoing, mostly hidden from the outside world.

@MikeHammerUSA @RedwanHussien @reda_getachew @Bankole_Adeoye @EUSR_Weber

[UF Center for African Studies @africa_uf]

Introducing Beata Oseibonsu, an exceptional CAS Student Ambassador who is currently studying International Studies and has a strong passion for African development, particularly in the areas of economy and social matters.
🔗 Find out more about Beata here: https://t.co/mMHgznwYoT

[UF Religion @UFreligion]

CAS Student Spotlight: Week of April 19th - Macodou Fall - https://t.co/oudJxDW1g0

[ASR @ASRJournal]

Eschewing the “prism of extremism,” @tostebo calls for a more complex view of rising inter-religious violence in Ethiopia & analyzes the processes of expansion, protection & reclaiming of space that incite conflict between the country’s religious groups.

https://t.co/8qKSpepywA

[terje ostebo @tostebo]

Ethiopia: religious tension is getting worse – 5 factors driving groups apart https://t.co/uVCONbA7vp via @TC_Africa

[UF Religion @UFreligion]

Join us Mon. Oct. 2nd in the Pugh Hall - Ocora for a talk by Mary Jane Rubenstein titled "Infinite Canaan: The Corporate Space Race in Colonial Perspective".

More info here: https://t.co/sW7fMLt0oN

@UF @UF_CLAS

[Human Rights Watch @hrw]

Saudi authorities are spending billions on sports-washing to improve their image.

But out of public view, Saudi border guards have killed at least hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers, including women and children, who tried to cross the Yemen-Saudi border.

[Rift Valley Institute @RVInews]

NEW LITERATURE REVIEW | Religion in Contemporary #Ethiopia

This review analyzes the interplay between ethnicity, politics, and inter-religious relations.

By @HausteinJorg, @DiegoMalara7 & @AbduletifK, for RVI's Peace Research Facility

Read here: https://t.co/uDKqw31CVs

[UF Religion @UFreligion]

Each year the Department of Religion at the University of Florida awards top student performers in Religious Studies.

The 2023 Russell Jaberg Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement by a graduating religion major, went to Shiri Abramson.

[terje ostebo @tostebo]

Recent publication:
Religious Dynamics and Conflicts in Contemporary Ethiopia: Expansion, Protection, and Reclaiming Space https://t.co/ZkPUmKrzUm

[Global Islam @UFGlobalIslam]

@UFGlobalIslam Winter Institute "Islam in Africa in Global Context" at WARC/West African Research Center in Dakar, Senegal @africa_uf @abba_danauta @UFSahelResearch @west_wara @UFreligion @HLuceFdn

[Global Islam @UFGlobalIslam]

@UFGlobalIslam grad students & faculty participating in Winter Institute, "Islam in Africa in Global Context" at WARC @yekatitgetachew @brahim_af @dengzheyuan @Najmar333 @BabaAdou @tostebo @LAVillalon1 @africa_uf @UFreligion @RAHMArainsONme @HLuceFdn

[terje ostebo @tostebo]

Sober analysis: Why international peace talks in Ethiopia were unsuccessful – and how to make them work https://t.co/GgtDmeIUcy via @mailandguardian