Mother of all earth December 31, 2015

When I was a kid growing up in Ethiopia, I used to closely watch how the man around me acted towards women. I followed their characters and tried to learn from them. See, for a young boy like me, there was nothing more important than emulating them. The older ones in my community did things in a respectful manner towards women and girls. They talked to them in different way they do to us boys. Even when we mess around and get in trouble, we were scolded differently. One night we were watching a TV, a younger lady walked in and the older gentleman wanted her to take his seat. I was a little taken a back by his action. Later that night I asked him why he did what he did and he told me “A women is a mother of all earth, everyone comes into the world from a mother’s womb. No one knows who the mother give birth to, a king or a Pop. You should always respect a women because that is a measure of a just man”

The quote sound much better in our language (apologize for the lack of good translation) but it thought me a very important lesson in my young age. A women is a mother of all earth!

I am sure you heard about the current situation in Ethiopia and Oromo protest against the illegal master plan to take the land from poor farmers to give it to private foreign companies and government cronies. I am sure you heard the government killed 100 plus, injured hundreds of protesters and imprisoned over a thousand activists. The images of dead students some at the ripe age of teens and some in college years are televised and broadcasted in diaspora TV stations. Every single one of them are sad and infuriating. Here is a story of one of the thousands that are detained and tourtured by Federal security forces in Ethiopia.

Meet artist Hawi Tefera. The famous Oromo female singer Hawi Tezera was detained and tortured by the Ethiopian Federal police for releasing an Afan Oromo single music that’s critical of the Ethiopian government’s affairs, i.e. the Master Plan and the killings following the protests against the Master Plan, in the Federal State of Oromia. The single, which was released on December 15, 2015, was produced using the traditional Oromo protest genre called Geerarsa.

Upon the intervention of the Oromian State police, Hawi was released from her ordeal only to be imprisoned again over the last few days. In that time interval, activists able to take a photo of her pain inflicted body and no one knows where she is and how she is doing.

Here is the song she released.

Her story really bothered me and pained me. Who are the federal police officers that tortured her. How does a government with a good standing with the world, be able to do this without consequences? when do the world fell this low to do nothing while artists, students and farmers summarily executed because they protested.

Yes, in Ethiopia, the government is above the law. But when we torture the mother of all earth, bad karma will torture as back very soon.

Free Hawi Tefera!!

Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere!

Related:-

Oromia: Famous Oromo female singer Hawi Tezera feared to be under another torture, activists say. #OromoProtests