Economic and development analysis: Perspectives on economics, society, development, freedom & social justice. Leading issues in Oromo, Oromia, Africa & world affairs. Oromo News. African News. world News. Views. Formerly Oromia Quarterly
It is happening again, sadly. The government in Ethiopia is back to its signature of killing, maiming and jailing its own people because they are exercising their chance of rejecting state excesses using the only means available: taking to the streets to protest.
Ethiopia is a country that has effectively obliterated several channels that normally help foster a healthy communication between citizens and the state .The sorry state of independent media and civil society organization is distressing; and every day lived experienced of Ethiopians and their contacts with authorities at any level is alarmingly toxic.
Authorities in Ethiopia should have therefore been the last ones to get started by the idea of citizens taking to the streets to make their grievances heard. Alas, that is not to be.
Hundreds and thousands of students and residents in more than 100 cities and towns in Oromiya Regional State (Oromiya for short), the largest and most populous state in Ethiopia, are in and out of the streets since early Nov. last year. Like every experience when Ethiopians were out on the streets protesting state excesses, every day is bringing heart breaking stories of Ethiopians suffering in the hands of security personnel. Since Nov.12th 2015, when the first protest broke out in Ginchi, a small town 80km west of Addis Ababa, countless households have buried their loved ones; young university students have disappeared without a trace; hundreds have lost limbs and countless others are jailed
Ethiopians are once again killing, miming and jailing Ethiopians.
The immediate trigger factor is the possible implementation of the infamous Addis Ababa and Surrounding Oromiya Special Zone Integrated Development Plan, popularly known as ‘the Addis Abeba Master Plan.’
The federal government claims it is a plan aimed at only creating a better infrastructure link between the capital Addis Abeba and eight towns located within the Oromiya Regional State Special Zone. But the reason why it is having a hard time selling this otherwise fairytale like development plan is the same reason why it is responding heavy handedly to any dissent against it: it is what it wants to do.
The current protest is led by the Oromos, who are the largest ethnic majority in Ethiopia. In all the four corners of the Addis Ababa surrounding localities, Oromos also make up the single largest majority whose way of lives have already been affected by mammoth changes Addis Ababa has been having over the last Century.
They are rejecting the central government’s top down plan because they are informed by a merciless history of eviction and dispossession. Several researches show that over the last 25 years alone about half a million Oromo farmers have unjustly lost their farmlands to give way to an expansion of a city that is xenophobic to their way to being.
Not the first time
Sadly, this is not the first time Ethiopians are pleading with their government to be heard in regards to the so-called ‘Master Plan.’ The first protest erupted in April-May 2014 when mostly Oromo student protesters from universities in Ambo and Jimma in the west, Adama in the east and Medaawalabu in south east Ethiopia, among others, expressed their disapproval of the plan. Like today, they have resorted to communicate with authorities the only way they possibly can: take to the streets to protest. And like today authorities have responded the only way they have so far responded to Ethiopian voices calling for justice: killing tens, maiming hundreds and incarcerating thousands.
As of 1991, when the current regime first came to power, students, mostly Oromo students, have staged several protest rallies calling for justice. Each time the end result has been nothing short of a disaster.
Although the 2014 Oromo students protest marked the first of the largest protest against the central government, a not so distant memory of Oromo students’ protests and subsequent crackdowns reveal a disturbing history of state brutality gone with impunity. To mention just two, in late ’90s Oromo Students at the Addis Ababa University (AAU) protested against a systematic expulsion of hundreds of Oromo students, who, authorities claimed, had links with the then rebel group, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). But many of those who protested against the dismissal of their dorm mates soon joined the growing list of expulsion; hundreds of were also jailed. Today mothers speak of their kids who have disappeared without a trace since then. And in early 2000 Oromo students have taken to the streets to protest against the federal government’s decision to relocate the capital of the Oromiya regional state from Addis Ababa to Adama. Many of them were killed when police opened fires in several of those protests, including the one here in Addis Ababa.
Although in 2005 the federal government decided to relocate the capital of Oromiya back to Addis Ababa, fifteen years later Ethiopian prisons are hosting hundreds of students who were jailed following their protest against the decision in the first place; hundreds of them have left the country via Kenya and have become homeless in foreign lands. Less mentioned are also the lives that have been altered forever; the hopes that were dashed; the students’ quest to study and change their lives that were cut short; a country that is deprived of its young and brightest; and family fabrics that were shattered.
State impunity and all that
Following the 2014 Oromo students’ protest and the killing spree by the federal and the regional state police, Abadula Gemeda, speaker of the house of people’s representatives and former president of the Oromiya regional state, promised to bring to justice those who were responsible for the killing.
But two outstanding experiences explain why Abadula’s words were mere rhetoric. And the government in Ethiopia should address both if it wants to remain a legitimate representative of the people it claims to govern.
First, so far no one who represents the government has been held accountable for the killings, maiming, disappearances and unjust incarceration for countless Ethiopians following protest crackdowns. No matter how excessive the use of force by its security agents against unarmed protesters is, the government knows (and acts as such) it can simply get away with it, as it did several times in the past. This is wrong. A state that has no mechanism to hold its rogue agents accountable for their excesses is equally guilty.
In addition to that, in what came as a disturbing twist, the government has adopted a new strategy aimed at portraying itself as a victim of public vandalism. It is rushing to clean itself of the crimes committed by its security agents. Using its disproportionate access to state owned and affiliated media currently the government is presiding over the stories of victimhood more than those whose lives have been destroyed by it. In an act of shame and disgrace to the profession, these state owned and affiliated media are providing their helping hands to complete the act of state impunity.
Second, the central government’s first answer to the repeated cries of justice by Ethiopians is to communicate with them through its army. Like in the past, in the ongoing protests by the Oromo, which have largely focused on cities and towns within the Oromiya regional state, protesters are not only facing the regional state’s security apparatus but also the merciless hands of the federal army reserve. This is an act that not only trespasses the country’s constitutionally guaranteed federal arrangement but also makes the horrific crimes committed by necrophiliac security agents against protesters to get lost in unnecessary details, hence go unpunished.
Public protests in the past and the manner by which the current government dealt with them should teach the later a lesson or two. But the first and most urgent one is that it should stop killing, maiming and jailing its people’s questions.
In addition to the unknown numbers of those who have been killed by the police and the army in the wake of the ongoing protest, cities have seen their hospitals crowded with wounded Ethiopians of all ages; hundreds of individuals, including senior members of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), are already thrown into jails without due legal process. In clear violation of the constitution by none other than the state most of them are held incommunicado in places unknown to their loved ones
In the wake of his release after serving four years in prison, Bekele Gerba, the prominent opposition figure, told this magazine in April last year that prison was “not a place one appreciates to be, but I think it is also the other way of life as an Ethiopian.” Sadly, Bekele is once again thrown in to jail because that is Ethiopia does to its people’s questions. But an end to this is long overdue.
A group of civil society organizations are calling for an independent and impartial international investigation into human rights violations in Ethiopia, including the unlawful killing of peaceful protesters and a recent spate of arrests of civil society members documenting this crackdown.
DefendDefenders (East and Horn of African Human Rights Defenders Project), the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE), Amnesty International, the Ethiopia Human Rights Project (EHRP), Front Line Defenders, and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), are concerned about the levels of persecution and detention of civil society members in the country. Since last month, four members of one of Ethiopia’s most prominent human rights organizations, the Human Rights Council (HRCO), were arrested and detained in the Amhara and Oromia regions. HRCO believes these arrests are related to the members’ monitoring and documentation of the crackdown of on-going protests in these regions.
On 14 August, authorities arrested Tesfa Burayu, Chairperson of HRCO’s West Ethiopian Regional Executive Committee at his home in Nekemte, Oromia. Tesfa, who had been monitoring the protests for the organization, was denied access to his family and his lawyer, and released on 16 August without charge. Two days earlier on 12 August, Abebe Wakene, also a member of HRCO, was arrested and taken to the Diga district police station in Oromia. Abebe Wakene remains in detention with no formal charges against him. In addition, on 13 August, Tesfaye Takele, a human rights monitor in the Amhara region, was arrested in the North Wollo zone and is still detained without charge.
The lack of independent and transparent investigation of human rights violations in Ethiopia strongly implies that the Ethiopian government’s investigation of the ongoing human rights crisis will not be independent, impartial and transparent.
HRCO’s human rights monitors were arrested for attempting to document the large-scale pro-democracy protests and the following violent crackdown by the authorities in the Oromia and Amhara regions, as well as in the capital Addis Ababa on 6 and 7 August. Amnesty International reported that close to 100 protesters were killed and scores more arrested during the largely peaceful protests.
Three journalists were also arrested and detained by Ethiopian security officials for 24 hours on 8 August 2016 in the Shashemene area of the Oromo region. According to the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Ethiopia, Hadra Ahmed, a correspondent with Africa News Agency, was arrested along with Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) reporters Fred de Sam Lazaro and Thomas Adair, despite having proper accreditation. They were reporting on the government’s response to the drought in the Oromia region, where protests have been ongoing since November 2015. Their passports and equipment were confiscated and they were forced to return to Addis Ababa.
“Despite the systematic repression of peaceful protestors, political dissents, journalists and human rights defenders, the absence of efficient and effective grievance redress mechanisms risks plunging the country into further turmoil,” said Yared Hailemariam, Executive Director of AHRE.”
Ethiopia’s National Human Rights Commission, which has the mandate to investigate rights violations in Ethiopia, has failed to make public its own June report on the Oromo protests, whileconcluding in its oral report to Parliament that the lethal force used by security forces in Oromia was proportionate to the risk they faced from the protesters. Since November 2015, at least 500 demonstrators have been killed and thousands of others arrested in largely peaceful protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions and other locations across the country.
“The lack of independent and transparent investigation of human rights violations in Ethiopia strongly implies that the Ethiopian government’s investigation of the ongoing human rights crisis will not be independent, impartial and transparent” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes. “It is time to step up efforts for an international and independent investigation in Ethiopia.”
DefendDefenders, AHRE, Amnesty International, EHRP, Front Line Defenders, and FIDH urge the Ethiopian authorities to (i) immediately and unconditionally release civil society members targeted for their work and (ii) facilitate access for international human rights monitoring bodies including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to conduct thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into the ongoing human rights violations in the Oromia, Amhara and Addis Ababa areas.
#OromoProtests 30 August 2016: Arsi,Dodola, Gannata Haaraa, Oromia, 30 August 2016
Hagayya 30/8 bara 2016 Godina Arsii lixaa Aanaa dodolaa Qeerroon Ganda Gannata Haaraa bifa kanaan gaddaa ilmaan Oromoo dhumaniif kanneen mana hidhaa jiraniif gaddaa fi finxilaan dabarsan.
Motummaan nama nyaata wayyaneefi jala deemtu wayyanee Opdofi yoomillee hin jilbifannuu mirga kenyaaf ni falmanna haqa qabna ni moona injifannoon kan ummaata Oromoti jedhan.
#KonsoProtests 31 August 2016: The Konso people have maintained their protests against fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime.
Uuummanni saba koonsoo kan naannoo uummattoota kibbaatti argamu wayyaanee waliin walitti bu’aa jiru. Barana kan wayyaanee hin jibbine hin jiru.
RUELTY of TPLF
#OromoProtests 31 August 2016: You might recall the report about killing of 15 farmers in West Hararge, masala District Choma village over the last four days. You also remember reading how the military prevented people from burying the dead and helping the wounded. Today they are dressing body of dead civilians in military uniform and video taping it. They want to make fake documentary claiming they killed armed combatants.
Guyyaa hardhaa ilmaan Oromoo 15 Harargee Lixaa Aanaa Masalaa Araddaa Coommaa keessatti ajjeefaman san reeffa isaanii huccuu waraanaa offisuun fiilmii sobaatiif viidiyoo waraabaa jiran. Source: Jawar Mohammed
Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany’s No 1 well respected newspaper, published a big feature story about Ethiopia and Oromo Protest. It is an in-depth reporting & published on page 3 of the newspaper.
Afar people protests, #AfarProtests 29 August 2016 and solidarty with #OromoProtests
De senaste månaderna har otaliga kvinnor, män och barn dött i Etiopien. Ännu fler har fängslats. Detta för att de valde att inte blunda för de orättvisor som pågår. Detta för att de valde att säga ifrån när människor behandlas illa. De senaste dagarna har Facebook fyllts av bilder som denna, människor som visar sin heder för alla de som inte längre är bland oss. Vi fotograferas med händerna korsade, en symbol för att om några av oss fängslas för att ha krävt att mänskliga rättigheter respekteras, är vi alla fängslade med dem! Vi måste säga ifrån när människor mister livet för att helt enkelt ha brytt sig om varandra! Låt oss fylla internet med bilder som denna. Tagga dem med #OromoProtestsoch #AmharaRistance. Det visar att du står med Oromofolket, Amharafolket och alla etiopiens folk som i årtionden förtryckts av den etiopiska regimen. Visa att du bryr dig. Om vi alla gör något litet blir det tillsammans något stort. Tack! By Melody Sundberg
#Amhara Protests in Gojjam, 28 August 2016, Road closure in action in Kosobar, Gojam and also they are in solidarity with #OromoProtests. More anti TPLF protests are going on in various cities and towns in Gojjam and Gonder.
Ethiotelecom has lost at least 30 million birr in potential revenue as a result of yesterday’s hacking that enabled customers to make free call domestically and international. The company is now trying to recover its loss by billing customers although it mostly provides prepaid service. Looking at the bills it is been sending, the loss could be way higher than the above estimate.
Oromia: Athletic nation Report: Short poem (Rio) about Oromo Olympian Fayyisaa Lalisaa, the world icon of #OromoProtests (the call for social justice). Oromian EconomistAugust 23, 2016
Oromia: Athletic Nation Reports: Crowdfunding campaign for #OromoProtests world icon, Rio 2016 Olympian, Fayyisaa Lalisaa has been exceeding the target. Dirmannan Goota Oromoo Fayyisaa Lalisaaf ta’aa jiru hamma abdatamee oli ta’aa jira. Oromian EconomistAugust 22, 2016
Oromia: Athletic Nation Report: #Rio2016 Olympic Marathon: Oromo athlete Fayyisaa Lalisaa has demonstrated his Solidarity to #OromoProtests as he wins silver medal. Oromian Economist August 21, 2016
(Yahoo Sports) — With the eyes of the world upon him, Ethiopian marathonerFeyisa Lilesaused the stage of Sunday’s Olympic marathon to daringly protest his own government back home.
As he neared the finish line and a silver medal, Lilesa raised his arms to form an ‘X’. The gesture is a peaceful protest made by the Oromo people, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and one that is facing a brutal response to widespread protests that began late last year.
Human Rights Watch estimated in June that 400 people have been killed and thousands more injured as the government attempted to stop the estimated 500 protests that the Oromo people staged to draw attention to systemic persecution by the govermnent.
Lilesa is from Oromia, which is home to a large majority of the country’s 35 million Oromo. He didn’t back down from the protest after the race either, flashing the sign for cameras as a press conference and pledging to do it again during Sunday night’s closing ceremony.
Rule 50 of the Olympic charter bans political displays or protests and the American duo of Tommie Smith and John Carlos was famously stripped of its medals after the pair flashed the black power salute on the medal stand at the 1968 Summer Games.
Lilesa, however, has bigger things to worry about than just losing a medal as such dissent puts his life in real danger if he returns to Ethiopia.
Columbia University students in USA are in solidarity with #OromoProtests
The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for Ethiopia on Friday 19 August 2016 over anti-government protests.
“Protests are likely to continue, and could spread to other parts of the country, including the capital, Addis Ababa,” the State Department said in a statement. The embassy said disruptions and internet services have hampered its ability to communicate with American citizens.
Hagayya 19,2016 Gguyyoota lamaa asitti godinaalee Oromiyaa hundarraa Qeerroon hidhamaa jiru. Sababa addaa hin qabu gochi addaas hin jiru garuu Bilisummaan waan dhiyateef wayyaaneen kufaatii ishees waan mirkaneessiteef jecha uummata oromoo hidhaatti guuruu murteesse. Kaan tarkaanfii ajjechaan diinni uummata oromoo irratti aggaamee jiru biraa deebihaa kan hin jirrree fi bakka uummanni fi iji namaas hin arginetti ilmaan Oromoo ajjeessuunis Oromiyaa keessa magaalota tokko tokkotti kan mul’ataa jiru tahuunis Qeerroon gabaasaa jira. kun uummata Oromoof haaraa tahuu baatus FXG oromiyaa keessatti isa xumuraa itti fufuu irraan amma hidhaan daran jabaatee jira.
Godina Qellem ona garagaraa irraa Qeerroon gabaasaa jiruun fakkeenyaaf Anfilloo irraa namotni 15 ol tahan kaleessuma ukkaamfamuu akkasuma
Jimmaa Horroo irraa
– Dargaggoo Hasan Jamaal
– Dargaggoo Bulchaa Qalbeessaa
– Dargaggoo Tizaazuu Akkattii fi
– Dargaggoo Qalbeessaa Tolasaa kan jedhaman ukkaamfamuun gabaafamee jira.
Dabalataan onuma kana manneen jireenya namoota 4 WBO jiraachisu jechuun humna waraana Wayyaaneen sakatta’amuu irraa eegamaa jiraachuun kan gabaafame
– Mana jireenyaa Lataa Wiirtuu
– Mana jireenyaa Caalii Ganjoosaa
– Mana jireenyaa Yaadasaa Danuu fi
– Mana jireeenyaa Solomoon Gurichoo
Kan jedhaman humna agaaziitiin eegamaa jira. Akkasuma ona Gaa’oo Qeebbee, Gidaamii fi Begii keessaa ijoolleen dargaggeyyiin hidhaatti guuramaa jiru. Kun godina oromiyaa maratti akka tahes Qeerroon gabaasaa jira.
Godina Shaggar kaabaa, shagger Bahaa fi shaggar Lixaa Qeerroon hidhamuun daran jabaatee jira. uummannis hidhaanii fi ajjechan Bilisummaa nun dhorku nu doorsisuun FXG hin hambisu jechuun dhaadannoo isaa itti fufee jira. Hidhamtootni hedduun bakka itti hidhaman irraa bakka biroottis jijjiiramuudhaan hedduun namootaan bakka buuteen isaanii dhabamaa jira. Kanuma keessatti FXG ammas yeroo dhumaa kanaaf kan wayyaanee aangoo isheetti xumura taasisu itti fufuun uummannis gibira diduun, walgahiin wayyaaneen oromiyaa magaalotaa fi godinaalee adda addaatti gaggeessuuf uummata mariisisuuf deemtus bakka hundatti gara FXGtti jijjiramuu fi feshelatuun Wayyaanee isa dhumaa abdii kutachiisuudhaan bifa naasuutiin uummata hidhaatti guuruu murteeffachuun beekameera.
#OromoProtests, Black Lion Medical school students in Finfinnee, the capital, Oromia, protesting fascist Ethiopia’s regime mass killings on 18 August 2016.
Hagayya 14,2016 Sochiin Warraaqsaa Biyyoolessaa Oromiyaa FXG daran jabaachuun Walqabatee Addaatti Magaalootni Gurguddoo Oromiyaa fi Magaalotni Oromiyaa naannawaa Finfinneetti argaman homaa waraana wayyaaneen shororkeeffaama jiru.
Sochiin warraaqsaa biyyoolessaa Oromiyaa utuu wal irraa hin citiin ji’oota 8 guutuu gaggeeffamaa jiruun motummaan abbaa irree raafama ulfaata keessa seenuun kasaaraa Siyaasaa , Dinagdee fi hawaasummaa ulfaataa keessa seenee kan jiru abbaan Irree Wayyaanee EPRDF/TPLF ummata Oromoo Uummata Sivilii mirgaa fi haqa dhugaa isaaf falmatu irratti hoomaa waraanaa bobbaasuun uummata shororkeessuu ittuma fufe jira . Magaalootni Oromiyaa Naannawaa Finfinnee Sulultaa, Burraayyuu, Sabbataa, Holotaa, Aqaaqii Qaallittii, Duukkam, Galaan bishooftuu, Moojoo, Adaamaa, Laga Xaafoo laga daadhii fi Sandaafaa Hoomoo waraanaan shororkeeffamaa kan jiran Yoota’uu, Oromiyaan Bulchiinsa Waraana Wayyaanee Komand post ifatti labsiin jala erga galfamtee ji’oota 8 oli lakkoofsisaa kan jiru. Uummatni Oromoo fi goototni dargaggootni Qeerroon Oromoo soda waraanaa gabrummaaf harka akka hin kennineefi hanga gaaffiin mirga abbaa Biyyummaa uummata Oromoo deebii argatutti warraaqsaa irraa duubatti akka hin deebine diinaaf mirkaneessan.
Warraaqsii Biyyoolessaa Oromiyaa FXG Gaaffiin mirga abbaa biyyummaa haalaa caalatti mootummaa wayyaanee kasaaraa guddaa keessa galchuu danda’uu fi aangoo irraa qaarisuu danda’uun jabaatee rogaa hundaan kan itti fufu malee shororkeessa waraana wayyaanee fi hidhaa jumlaa, ajjeechaa duguginsa sanyii wayyaaneen rawwachaa jirtuun kan hin dhaabbatne ta’uu Qeerroon bilisummaa Oromoo hubachiisa.
A massive deployment of police in Ethiopia’s restive Oromo and Amhara regions prevented fresh anti-government protests over the weekend, an opposition leader said Monday. #OromoProtests 15 August 2016.
Aljazeera Inside Story – What is triggering Ethiopia’s unrest?
August 14, 2016 in
Calls for an international investigation in Ethiopia have surfaced after more than 100 people were killed in demonstrations.It is a conflict that has led to 400 deaths since November, 100 of them in the last week alone, according to human rights groups.The Ethiopian government is cracking down on ethnic Oromos and Amharas, who are calling for political reforms.Human rights groups have called the reponse ruthless. And the United Nations wants to send international observers to investigate.Ethiopia has denied that request, saying it alone is responsible for the security of its citizens. But what can be done to ensure the Ethiopian government respects human rights?Presenter: Folly Bah ThibaultGuests:Getachew Reda – Ethiopian communications affairs minister.Felix Horne – Ethiopia reseracher for Human Rights Watch.Ezekiel Gebissa – Profesor of History and African studies at Kettering University.- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe– Follow us on Twitter:https://twitter.com/AJEnglish– Find us on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera– Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com
#OromOroprotests 14 August 2016: Walfalmii mooraa OPDO keessatti deemaa jiru kam miliiqee saba gahe:
#OromoProtests: A candlelight vigil in in front of The White House in honor of innocent peaceful protesters -brutally gunned down in cold blood by Ethiopian government. 12 August 2016
“DHIIGI MUCAA KOOTII DHANGALA’EE HIN HAFU. OROMIYAAN NI BILISOOMTI!” :AKEEKA UMMATNI OROMOO BAKKAAN GAHUUF MURTEEFFATE.
Fascist Ethiopia’s regime’s detaining and torturing Oromo children.
#OromoProtests 13 August 2016: Children make up a third of the protesters jailed in connection with Grand #OromoProtests. This photo was taken at Iyasu IV prison in Gara Mulata, East Hararge. (The former emperor was jailed there after loosing power to Hailesilassie)
Ijoollee Oromoo kan Waajjira poolisii magaala Burrayyuutti hidhamanii darara hamaan irra ga’aa jiru irraa dhaamsa nu gahe. I#OromoProtests 12 August 2016.
This is martyred Oromo teenager girl Mamiituu Hirphaa who was killed by cruel fascist Ethiopia’s regime Agazi forces in Ambo town, West Shawa, Oromia on 6 August 2016, Grand #OromoProtests
Kun wareegamtuu keenya Maammituu Hirphaa, kan godina Shawaa Lixaa, magaalaa Amboo keessatti hiriira guddaa Oromoo irratti Hagayya 6 bara 2016 wararana Wayyaaneen wareegamte.
Mammituu intala sabboontuu otuu mirga saba Oromoof falmituu wareegamte. Gootota Oromoo kumaatamaa wajjin nagaan nuuf boqodhu!
Qabsoon hanga bilisummaatti itti fufa!!
Rabbi lubbuu ishii haa qananiisu.
#OromoProtests, a determination of an Oromo man, 80 years old confronting fascist Ethiopia’s regime, Agazi forces, Arsi, Oromia, 12 August 2016
Grand#OromoProtests: POWERFUL!! A woman takes the stage during saturday protest in Dallo Manna ( Bale) moves the crowd to a higher spirit of resistance.
Hidhamuun nu gaya
Ajjeefamuun nu gaya
Oromiyaa waraanni hin bulhu
oromiyaan bulchiinsa ofiitin bulti
Grand #OromoProtests 7 August 2016 in Amboo Continues:Guyyaa 07,08,2016 Oduu oromiyaa magaalaa Amboo irraa
Magaalii Amboo kaleessaa irraa kaassee hangaa ammaatti raafama guddaa keessaa jirtii ,finciili uummaata har’as itti fufee oole jedhu jirraatoon ,poolisiin oromiyaa fi poolisiin fedderaala magaalaa keessaa hin muldhatani, magaalaa kan dhunfatee jiruu raayyaa ittisaa biyyaa(agaaze) yoo ta’uu isaannis irraa caalii saba Tigiree afaan Tigirfaa dubbatani,nama argani hundaa daa’ima,jarsaa fi jartii osoo hin jedhiini mana cabsanii reeba fi hidhaa jiruu .
hangaa ammaatti sagaleen dhukaasa magaalaa keessaa dhaga’amaa jiraa ,kan hidhaa jiruuf kan du’ee addaan baafachuun hin danda’aminee jedhuu.
Finicilaa kaleessaa keessaatti magaaluma ambootti mucaa waggaa kudha sadii (13) hin caalee alaabaa abo qofaa waan qabatee deema tureef Agaazen konkolaatan ari’anii irraa baasuun gara jabbinaan ajjeesaniiru jedhuu warrii ijaan argan.
Grand #OromoProtests, Grand #OromoProtests full scale Military massacre has been conducted by Ethiopia’s fascsit regimei n Naqamte, East Walaga. 6 August 2016 pcture.
Similar genocidal mass killings all over Oromia (in town and rurals of Hararghe, Shaggar, Finfinnee, Arsi, Baalee, Boranaa, Gujii, Walloo, Wambaraa, Jimmaa and Eluu Abbaa Booraa).
Grand #OromoProtests on August 6, 2016, Norwegian Embassy in Finfinnee, travel restrictions
BBC: Oromo community calls for more protests in Ethiopia
Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Nairobi
Posted at11:43
Activists from Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo, have called for more anti-government protests this weekend, days after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the northern city of Gondar.
Activists say that hundreds have been killed in a security crackdown
They say they will hold countrywide protests against what they describe as continued killings and other abuses by the authorities.
In the latest incident earlier this week, at least six people were allegedly shot dead by police in the eastern town of Awaday.
Prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn warned on Tuesday that Ethiopia was sliding towards ethnic conflict similar to that in neighbouring countries.
Ethiopia’s second largest ethnic group, the Amhara, held a large demonstration last Sunday in Gondar.
The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front has been in power since 1991 and won all seats in parliament in last year’s elections.
30 August 2016 – The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, is deeply alarmed by the deteriorating human rights situation in Ethiopia, and especially, the arbitrary killing, arrest and detention of protesters.
According to reports, the Ethiopian government forces have killed more than 500 protestors since November 2015, and have arrested and detained thousands.
We recall that on the eve of calls for protests, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile-Mariam has warned that measures will be taken against protesters. Eventually, when protests took place in the Amhara and Oromia regions in August 2016, nearly a hundred protesters were killed. The public statements of warning by the senior government officials stirred the suspicion that the ongoing human rights abuses by government forces are happening by the approval of the Ethiopian government.
The Ethiopian government has rejected the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (UNOHCHR) request that the government allow international observers to assess the human rights violation in Ethiopia. The government has stated that it would establish a domestic body to investigate the matter.
However, the findings of the commissions of inquiry established in the past by the Ethiopian Parliament (House of Peoples’ Representatives) have generated mistrust by stakeholders, human rights organisations and other bodies. In the past, instead of the main perpetrators of the violence that actually committed the arbitrary killings and detentions, individuals who took part in the protests have been held accountable on charges like incitement and terrorism. The commissions of inquiry have not implicated members of government forces and senior government officials, and as a result, they have not been held accountable. These commissions of inquiry have also lacked adequate participation of stakeholders and transparency.
Moreover, the fact that senior government officials have been, and continue to make statements threatening protesters from making peaceful protests amounts to approving the human rights violations. Such statements send a signal to the Ethiopian security and military forces to assume that the ongoing arbitrary killings, arrests and detentions are legitimate.
With a view to addressing these problems, making a credible, independent, impartial, effective and transparent inquiry is imperative. To this end, the Centre is convinced that international or regional inquiry mechanisms are better suited than domestic commission of inquiry in Ethiopia.
Therefore, the Centre for Human Rights makes the following requests:
The United Nations Human Rights Council should put the serious human rights violations in Ethiopia in its agenda on the 33rd regular session in September 2016. It should be noted that Ethiopia is currently a member of the Human Rights Council. The Council should consider whether to suspend Ethiopia’s membership of the Council for having committed “gross and systematic violations of human rights” (as provided for under A/RES/60/251 paragraph 8).
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings should make an urgent appeal to the Ethiopian government, and undertake a visit to Ethiopia with a view to gather first-hand information of the arbitrary killings according to its mandate, and to release it reports.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions should investigate the arrests and detentions of protesters in Ethiopia.
While we take note of the letter expressing grave concern about the violations by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, we urge the Commission to undertake a visit into the country and in order to assess the human rights violations.
The Chairperson of the African Union, with its seat located in Addis Ababa, should denounce the human rights violation in Ethiopia
The Ethiopian government should consent to fully cooperate with international and regional inquiry mechanisms to undertake their investigation; it should release political detainees; it should respect the right to peaceful demonstration, which is protected in art 30(1) of the Ethiopian Constitution and various human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is a party; it should note that the limitations of this right are to be construed narrowly; and it should desist from further using excessive force and violence to disperse peaceful protests.
For more information, please contact:
Prof Frans Viljoen
Director, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 3228 / 3810
Mobile: +27 (0) 73 393 4181
Email: frans.viljoen@up.ac.za
Ebisa Ejigu est le premier coureur à franchir la ligne d’arrivée en 2:30:40! Bravo!
Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia made headlines last Sunday when he finished second in the men’s marathon at the Olympics with his arms crossed above his head. The gesture, which was done in solidarity with the Oromo people’s anti-government protests in his home region, led Lilesa to say “If I go back to Ethiopia, they will kill me.”
#mcm#ManCrushMonday goes to this brave man Feyisa Lilesa BBC: An Olympic marathon runner from Ethiopia staged a daring protest against his home government when he crossed the line in Rio on Sunday. As he took the silver medal, Feyisa Lilesa crossed his arms above – a gesture made by the Oromo people who have suffered brutal police crackdowns. New York-based Human Rights Watch says that more than 400 people were killed in clashes with the security forces in Oromia, although the government disputes this figure. Rule 50 of the Olympic charter bans political displays or protests and the IOC say they are gathering information about the case. #FeyisaLilesa#OromoProtests
On Sunday, the winner of the Quebec City Marathon crossed the finish line in an almost-identical fashion as Lilesa did one week earlier in Brazil. Ebisa Ejigu, who is from Addis Ababa, ran 2:30:40 to win the SSQ Quebec City Marathon and formed an “X” with his arms across the line and into the finisher’s zone.
Forming an “X” with their arms is a sign of protest against the government’s treatment of the Oromo people, the largest ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. The protests were sparked after the government began extending the municipal boundary of the country’s capital, threatening parts of Oromia and the people’s land rights.
The protests began in a small town named Ginchi, approximately 80 kilometres outside of the capital. Both Lilesa and Ejigu are from Addis Ababa or the surrounding area.
Ejigu is a regular on the Canadian running scene having run the Toronto Waterfront 10K in June and winning the Mississauga Marathon in May. According to Sportstats, Ejigu has listed his place of residence as Toronto since June 25. In Quebec City, he was wearing a Toronto Olympic Club singlet. He has a lifetime marathon best of 2:12:03.
Since November 2015, Human Rights Watch reports that 400 people have been killed by the government’s security forces as part of the protests. An additional 100 people are believed to have been killed in August, according to BBC News.
Lilesa, the Olympic silver medallist, did not return to Ethiopia as scheduled after the Rio Games and is seeking asylum. The decision to not board the flight came after the government said that Lilesa would get a “heroic welcome” in Ethiopia. A crowdfunding page has raised US$157,438 in the 26-year-old’s name to cover travel costs and provide support for his wife and two children in Ethiopia.
Ejigu’s sign of protest at the Quebec City Marathon
As Feyisa Lilesa crossed the finish line to win the silver medal in Rio, he crossed his raised arms in an act of defiance against the Ethiopian government’s treatment of the Oromo people. We talk about Lilesa’s protest with Oromo activist, Seenaa Jimjimo.
East Africa has produced many great mid and long distance runners that have dominated for decades. Feyisa Lilesa became the first athlete to speak up against his oppressive government to show the world the injustice imprisonment and killings of the innocent Oromo people in Ethiopia.
The African Sports Federation (ASF) is honoring the determination, courage and the act of bravery by Feyisa Lilesa which took place in the Rio Olympics 2016. As he was crossing the finish line of the Men’s Marathon, winning his silver medal he raised his arms over his head, wrists crossed in gesture of solidarity with protestors against the killings of the Oromo people in his home country of Ethiopia. Beyond that he explained he was protesting for people everywhere who have no freedom. That defining moment at the finish line will forever live on as a gesture that defended human dignity on one of the biggest stages in the world.
ASF second annual 5k race will be named after Feyisa Lilesa, the Feyisa Lilesa Heroic Run. Not only do we want to display our gratitude to Lilesa but we also want to encourage other athletes to stand up for what they believe in.
The Feyisa Lilesa Heroic Race will take place during the championship game of the 2016 Seattle African Cup presented by African Sports Federation. The ASF would like to extend our invitation to all people out there to celebrate this heroic act.
August 28th, 2016.
Sunday 5pm Foster High School
4242 S 144thSt
Tukwila WA 98168
Renewed Declaration of Protest to Culminate Slavery
From Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromo
August 26, 2016
The struggle of the Oromo people to regain the ownership of their country and to culminate a century old subjugation, marginalization, and slavery has reached a critical stage. The Oromo people are at a historical moment whereby the entire Oromo public in and outside of Oromia are waging a bitter struggle and are determined to regain their freedom and administer themselves and live in peace, stability, and freedom in their country, Oromia. The struggle of the Oromo people does not target any other peoples in Ethiopia. The fulfilment of the rights of the Oromo people does not infringe the rights of any other nation or nationality. More than any time in our history, the Oromo youth organization, Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo (or just Qeerroo), is working to make sure that the current Oromo protest is coordinated with the struggle of other nations and nationalities in the country by devising various tactics and strategies.
The Oromo student movement, Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa(meaning Protest Resisting Subjugation), which started in a more organized way by the organization of Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo has over the years produced several small and big protests which gradually developed reaching its climax at this moment in time. These big and small protests have had enormous contribution for the current wave of mass protest that engulfed the entire Oromia and beyond. To reach this stage the Oromo youth paid the ultimate sacrifice. Thousands have left their precious lives. Tens of thousands have been critically injured and disabled. Hundreds of thousands have been jailed and brutally tortured in Ethiopian prisons. We, the Oromo youth, Qeerroo, would like to declare that we are completing the necessary preparation to retaliate the bloods of our brothers and sisters in every shape or form and realizing the freedom of our country and the dignity of our people.
At the moment, the leadership, all members and cells in the organizational structure of Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo are strongly making the necessary preparation to defeat our enemy by using a more sophisticated and modern struggle technics and strategies. As we speak, the structure and cells that are organized in the various levels of the TPLF/EPRDF government, Oromo students who have been waging bitter struggle for our freedom since November 2015, and the entire Oromo people are working day and night for another wave of grand Oromo protest for the realization of their rights and for the ownership of their country.
Therefore, the leadership of Qeerroo bilisummaa declare to the Oromo people that an Oromia wide protest will be waged on the TPLF/EPRDF government and details will be announced in a short time. We call on the Oromo public in and outside of Oromia to keenly follow the upcoming widespread protest and make yourselves ready, increase your support, and physically participate on these protests.
Victory to the Oromo people
Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo
August 26, 2016
Finfinnee, Oromia
In recent years, Ethiopia has seen nationwide protests sparked by land rights issues and tension between the Oromos, its largest ethnic group, and the country’s government and ruling classes. While many in D.C.’s local Ethiopian diaspora have been following the unrest, a recent act of protest at the 2016 Rio Olympic marathon finish line brought the issue to an international stage. We talk with an Ethiopian blogger living in exile in the D.C. region and a U.S. journalist who faced challenges reporting from Ethiopia about the media landscape in the country and how censorship there affects perspectives in communities around the world, including those in Washington.
Guests
Soliyana Shimeles founding member, Zone9 bloggers; human rights expert, Ethiopia Human Rights Project
Fred de Sam Lazaro Correspondent, PBS NewsHour; Executive Director, Undertold Stories Project
Feyisa Lilesa: the marathon runner’s gesture in Rio recalled the Black Power raised fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos in Mexico in 1968.
On the final day of the Rio Olympics, as the Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa crossed the finishing line in second place, he raised his arms above his head and crossed his wrists in an X.
The simple gesture was a highly political act, a sign of solidarity with the Oromo protests that have convulsed Ethiopia in recent months. The runner is from the Oromia region, where protests about land rights have mushroomed in to a larger civil-rights movement. This has prompted a ruthless government crackdown, leaving hundreds of unarmed protesters dead.
The crossed-wrists gesture has become a symbol of defiance.
As well as raising the international profile of the Oromo protests, the gesture has changed Lilesa’s life: he says he cannot safely return home, despite government assurances to the contrary, and has remained in Brazil as he seeks asylum elsewhere.
As well as raising the international profile of the Oromo protests, the gesture has changed Lilesa’s life: he says he cannot safely return home, despite government assurances to the contrary, and has remained in Brazil as he seeks asylum elsewhere.
Like Smith and Carlos before him, Lilesa has been criticised for “politicising” the games, which like to think of themselves as an apolitical sphere of human co-operation and goodwill. Indeed, the International Olympic Committee’s rule 50 imposes conditions on host nations prohibiting political signs and demonstrations.
After a number of peaceful protesters were ejected from arenas, a Brazilian judge ruled that the conditions were in violation of the Brazilian constitution. The organisers appealed the ruling.
Controlling which platforms can and cannot be used for political messages is a privilege of the powerful, of course. For Lilesa the moment he crossed the finishing line with the world watching is not merely the only platform he has but also by far the largest platform the Oromo people have.
Lilesa may have discomfited the IOC and put himself in danger, but in doing so he reclaimed part of that elusive Olympic spirit.
After crossing the finishing line in Rio Olympics, the Ethiopian marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa crossed his hands over his head. #DWMyPic takes a look at this symbol of anti-government protest in Ethiopia. DW Journalist Merga Yonas Bula says that silver medalist Feyisa has risked his life and family by making this gesture of solidarity with the Oromo Protests. Click here for more ‘My Picture of the Week – Symbol of protest in Rio’ at DW.
In the midst of celebrating one of the chief successes of his athletics career, a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Feyisa Lilesa symbolised the tremendous sufferance of his people, the Oromo by crossing his arms over his head in a gesture of protest. In the following days, his gesture has reverberated around the globe making headlines in many countries as one of the images of the 2016 Olympic Games. While the fate of Lilesa remains unknown as the outcome of the act of protest moves on, the gesture of solidarity has given reasons of hope to many and definitely helped raise awareness of the struggle of his people.
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which for several years has been advocating for the Oromo and other ethnic groups oppressed by the Ethiopian regime, praises Mr Lelisa for his brave gesture and hopes that it will help convince the international community to take a bolder stand on the issue.
Following his gesture, the athlete might face problems if he goes back to Ethiopia, where the authorities have been violently repressing protests for months. The protests began several months ago as peaceful demonstrations regarding development plans, before the government’s harsh and ongoing response led to the death of several people. Many in Oromia now live in fear, and gestures like the one Lilesa made are essential symbols of resistance and solidarity.
During the protests, the government had blocked internet service and scrambled social media apps to stop people from collaborating or expressing dissent. She said Lilesa’s feat exemplifies how fearful a lot of the Ethiopian diaspora is to speak out on this subject.
Lilesa’s silent statement while crossing the finish line in Rio instantly reverberated worldwide. Rule 50 of the Olympic charter bans political displays or protests and the IOC have confirmed that they are gathering information to better understand the case. Ethiopia’s government has said he will be welcomed as a hero for winning a medal, but state media is not showing photos of him crossing the line. Ethiopian state-owned television station EBC Channel 3 covered the race live, including the finish, but did not repeat the clip in subsequent bulletins – focussing instead on the winner, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge.
Information Minister Getachew Reda told the BBC the government had no reason to arrest him and it respected his political opinion. He also said none of Mr Feyisa’s relatives had been jailed over the Oromo protests.
Lilesa’s agent Federico Rosa stated that the runner would not be returning home after staging his protest, despite Ethiopian government assurances he would not face any problems if he went back.
A crowd-funding campaign to help Feyisa Lilesa seek asylum, has raised more than $136,000 (as of time written), to the surprise of its California-based organizer, who had initially set a target of $10,000, exceeding it within an hour.
“Among his compatriots, including those in the diaspora, Lilesa’s protest was welcomed with tears of joy,” said Mohammed Ademo, the founder and editor of OPride.com, a website that aggregates Oromo news. “A hero was born out of relative obscurity. […] I have no doubt that it will be remembered as a watershed moment in the history of Oromo people.”
Ethnic Oromo athletes have often been erased from Ethiopian lore, yet they were the first black Africans to win Olympic gold, Ademo said. Abebe Bikila did so in the 1960s while running barefoot and Derartu Tulu followed in the 1992 and 2000 Olympics. Yet, behind the scenes, these same athletes faced implicit and explicit biases. For example few Oromo athletes spoke Amharic, the language of power in Ethiopia, but Oromo translators rarely accompanied them.
“In the context of this long and tortuous history, Lilesa’s protest was revolutionary. Beyond the politics within the Ethiopian Olympics federation, his gesture brought much-needed attention to escalating human rights abuses in Ethiopia,” Ademo said.
You may find below a list to some of the news sources that covered the story:
Ethiopia’s Oromo people are systematically targeted and oppressed by its ruling regime. The athlete’s crossed arms protest shouldn’t be ignored
‘At risk to his life, and at the sacrifice of his career, Feyisa Lilesa expressed at the Olympics the collective grievances and institutional discrimination his people suffer in the Oromia region.’ Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock
When the Ethiopian Olympic marathon medallist Feyisa Lilesa crossed his arms at the finish line, the world asked what the symbol stood for. Little is known about the historical marginalisation and collective persecution of Lilesa’s people, the Oromo of north-east Africa.
Almost all Ethiopian runners come from the Oromia region; but the Ethiopian athletics federation is highly scornful of their Oromo identity. Perhaps the federation’s imperious attitude towards the athletes emanates from its paranoia and mistrust of the people, and fear that one day Oromo athletes might open Ethiopia’s Pandora’s box and spill the beans at an international sports event. Exactly what Lilesa did in Rio – and now he has not returned to Ethiopia.
At risk to his life, and at the sacrifice of his career, Lilesa was determined to express at the Olympics the collective grievances and institutional discrimination his people suffer in the Oromia region. The courageous crossing of his arms is a gesture of solidarity with the Oromo protest symbol that has been used over the last nine months in defiance of the ruling regime. In a short interview, Lelisa told what many believe is the story of the Oromo: the killings, the maimings, arbitrary detentions, profiling, enforced disappearances and economic injustices perpetrated by the Ethiopian government against the Oromo nation.
The current social and political crisis in Ethiopia was triggered by theAddis Ababa “master plan”, which was perceived by protesters as an attempt to remove the Oromo from the capital city. Even though it later dropped plans for this land grab, the regime claimed that its intention was to develop the city’s business district by further moving into the Oromo territories and neighbouring districts. No prior consultation, discussion or deliberation was had with the Oromo people, the ancestral owners of the land. Some saw this as being part of a grand scheme to ensure the long-term hegemony of the regime’s favoured ethnic group over the rest of the country. The Tigray, the regime’s dominant group, make up only 6% of the country’s population.
As Lilesa’s protest drew national attention, the situation in Ethiopia appeared to be deteriorating and having a serious impact on internal stability. It also cast a shadow of political uncertainty over the country.
Contemporary experiences teach us that economic and political inequality increases the risk of internal strife. When one ethnic group captures political power and excludes its perceived rivals, ethno-nationalist conflict is likely to increase, potentially descending into civil war. A heterogeneous society such as Ethiopia, where disparities in wealth overlap with ethnic grievances, is a good case study.
The scale of the Oromo protest over the last nine months has exposed Ethiopia’s ethnic-coded wealth distribution. According to Oxford University’s 2014Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), Ethiopia is the second poorest country in the world with about 58% living in acute destitution. Not all Ethiopians have benefited equally from the country’s economic growth.
The Oromia region, the nation’s agricultural breadbasket, is also the nation’s second poorest region in the federation. According to the 2014 MPI, about 90% of Oromo live in severe poverty and destitution, more than 80% of Oromo households do not have access to electricity or sanitation and more than 75% of Oromo do not have access to potable drinking water. Similarly, the UNDP’s 2014Human Development Index (HDI) placed Oromia well below the national average. Development in Ethiopia is not inclusive, not shared; many rural Ethiopians – the majority Oromo – remain in severe poverty. Oromo people are the most affected by the current drought and by the government’s response to it.
Economic inequality is echoed in the political realm. Amnesty International’s 2014 report, Because I am Oromo, chronicles targeting based on ethnic identity. Long before that, in June 2007, the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination had highlighted how Ethiopian military and police forces systematically targeted certain ethnic groups, in particular the Anuak and the Oromo peoples, and reported the summary executions, rape of women and girls, arbitrary detention, torture, humiliations and destruction of property and crops of members of those communities.
It is this marginalisation in the Oromia and Amhara regions that has forced the younger generation to protest in the streets, but the government response has been bloody. International human rights organisations report more than 500 lives were lost, but activists believe this figure could be more than 700. An estimated 20,000 or more people have been imprisoned, tens of thousands wounded and disappeared; many more rendered landless, homeless and jobless.
Now, with rallies taking place and with funerals in several corners of Oromia and Amhara lands, the conflict is likely to escalate and the country’s public security and stability to deteriorate. As reports continue to emerge, after several days of internet and social media blackout in the country, there is a growing fear that the regime has, knowingly or not, helped foment inter-ethnic conflict, pitting the Tigray against the Oromo and Amhara peoples. In fact, given the differences among ethnic groups, this could quickly descend into a large-scale conflict.
If there is any lesson the world can learn from Rwanda’s genocide, it is the pressing need to act as swiftly as possible to avoid this kind of worst-case scenario. Lilesa’s gesture is a request to the citizens of the world to stand with the Oromo in their quest for political and economic survival against the unjust face of Ethiopia. It is also a call for the western powers to re-evaluate their foreign policy towards Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa in the interests of real security, dignity, stability, peace and development for all the people – not a select few.
Fayyisaa Lalisaa (Feyisa Lilesa), an athlete from Oromia/ Ethiopia, caught the world’s attention Sunday 21 August 2016 when, at the finish line of the Olympic marathon, he raised his arms in solidarity with the Oromo people in his country. This is NY Times Video:-
Realted:-
Oromia: Athletic Nation Report: #Rio2016 Olympic Marathon: Oromo athlete Fayyisaa Lalisaa has demonstrated his Solidarity to #OromoProtests as he wins silver medal. Oromian Economist August 21, 2016
Oromia: Athletic nation Report: Short poem (Rio) about Oromo Olympian Fayyisaa Lalisaa, the world icon of #OromoProtests (the call for social justice). Oromian Economist August 23, 2016
Why Lilesa’s simple act of making an “X” with his arms after winning an Olympic medal was a watershed moment for so many Ethiopian people.
After nabbing a silver medal in Olympic marathon, Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa hoisted his arms inches above his head in the form of an “X.”
With a seemingly innocuous gesture, the 150-pound black man was actually displaying a symbol of solidarity with the Oromo people of Ethiopia, who have protested the government’s reallocation of their land. At least 400 local protesters were killed by Ethiopian security forces over the last year, according to Human Rights Watch. The “X” symbol that Lilesa showed came into widespread use in Ethiopia four and half years ago by protesters as a mark of unarmed, civil resistance.
Following his demonstration, which he repeated on the medal stand, Lilesa toldreporters in Rio De Janeiro, “If I go back to Ethiopia, the government will kill me.” That’s the cost of protesting a government in Ethiopia that controls its media and stifles those who speak out against its will.
After Lilesa’s protest, James Peterson, the Director of Africana Studies at Lehigh University spoke to many Ethiopians in America who felt galvanized by the gesture despite the ongoing human rights violations in their homeland.
“There are a lot of complicated things folks don’t understand about continental African politics,” Peterson said. “Addis (Ababa) as a city is sort of engaged in this moment of neoliberal straw. The city is trying to expand at the expense of these rural and suburban settlements that have been in place for like thousands of years. For an Ethiopian athlete, on the largest stage of any Ethiopian of the world right now at the Olympics, to be in solidarity with them, I don’t think it’s too much to say this is the equivalent of some of the most courageous, solidarity protests that we’ve seen in athletics.”
Olympians have long used the games as a stage to draw attention to national causes.Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave a black power salute on the podium at the 1968 Summer Olympics during an American wave of Civil Rights. After Simone Manuel’s historic gold medal, she also spoke out about police brutality and black lives in America.
Such acts have caused the International Olympic Committee executive board to ban political or religious demonstrations in multiple ways in their Olympic Charter Rule 50and can result in the “disqualification or withdrawal of the accreditation of the person concerned.”
Yet for Lilesa’s protest, his defiance of the Ethiopian government didn’t open up a new wave of Oromo activism. But it did demonstrate their current struggle for the world’s purview.
“Ethiopia has been praised as a poster child for peace and stability in the last 25 years. Western governments that continued financing this government, including the U.S. Government, have turned their eyes away,” Tsedale Lemma, the editor-in-chief of the Addis Standard, a monthly magazine focusing on Ethiopian current affairs from the country’s capital Addis Ababa, told SB Nation.
“To be able to tell this to the world, where everyone can see, on this stage was monumental,” she said. “It was telling the world to its face that this country, this poster child of peace, isn’t that way. It’s killing its own people. When everyone kept silent in the wake of this excessive killing, this young man (protested) at the great cost that he might not be able to come back to his country afterwards.”
Lemma’s magazine shares the same views as Lilesa. In January, it published a widely shared cover. Employees were intimidated and threatened, and the publication’s subscription numbers in Ethiopia have drastically declined for questioning the government.
The January 2016 cover of the Addis Standard, provided by Tsedale Lemma
Since the Ethiopian government announced plans in 2014 to expand the territory of the capital Addis Ababa, the country has been racked with protests resulting in hundreds of deaths at the hands of the government. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn wanted to further Addis Ababa’s territory into Oromia, where Lilesa lives.
Doing so would displace many of the Oromo people in Ethiopia who work on farmlands. It’s similar to American eminent domain, the right of the government or its agents to expropriate private property for public use. Oromo people are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, accounting for nearly 40 percent of its population, according to a 2007 census.
Historically, the Oromo people have been marginalized by the government. Protests started in November; and though the government has dropped proposals to widen the capital in January, protests have continued, though, with citizens corralling for wider freedoms.
Local residents and Oromos between the United States and Ethiopia have claimed that thousands have also been jailed. Many incidents happened where the Oromo have gone to the streets and they almost always end in violence. They are killed. They are exiled or tried for treason. At best, the protestors just disappear from sight.
Within Ethiopia, Oromos mostly expressed their support for Lilesa on social media, Lemma said. Current government mandates do not tolerate people flooding the streets for celebration, particularly not for a man that flashed a symbol that is the nightmare for a regime in front of billions of people.
State-run media only showed a censored version of the marathon Lilesa won, and completely blocked his protest at the games. Some have refused to mention his name at all. But in the United States, where Ethiopians are the fifth–largest source of black immigrants, their ebullience was overflowing.
“Among his compatriots, including those in the diaspora, Lilesa’s protest was welcomed with tears of joy,” said Mohammed Ademo, the founder and editor of OPride.com that aggregates Oromo news. “A hero was born out of relative obscurity. A GoFundMe account was set up within hours. I have no doubt that it will be remembered as a watershed moment in the history of Oromo people.
“Kids will be named after him. Revolutionary songs and poems will be written in his honor. For a people who have been silenced for so long this is likely to embolden and generate more momentum for the budding movement in Ethiopia.”
The overwhelming thought is that the plight of the Oromo people, and Lilesa’s protest shedding light on it, are not what Ethiopia wants the world to know. It is an extremely censored country, where most newspapers and other outlets are either controlled or affiliated with the government.
One woman, who asked for anonymity to speak to SB Nation because she feared the consequences of speaking out against the Ethiopian regime for her and her family, said that when she last visited Ethiopia around the start of the protests, the government had blocked internet service and scrambled social media apps to stop people from collaborating by using them, a form of silencing dissent.
She said Lilesa’s feat exemplifies how fearful a lot of the Ethiopian diaspora is to speak out on this subject.
“(Lilesa) acknowledged the significance of this dialogue and that he may never walk the land he’s from or see his family again,” she said. “It was meaningful and it’s going to spur the type of international engagement that is necessary to challenge the Ethiopian government to recognize their faults and consider what a just government looks like.”
American media still largely ignores the African continent and most news organizations have dramatically cut their African bureaus or rely on one person to cover the entire continent. There’s more coverage generally on terrorism with direct implications for American national security, Ademo said.
There also hasn’t been much coverage of the Oromo protests. One reason is because Oromia has largely been off-limits to journalists since the protests began, and those who go to Ethiopia often face insurmountable hurdles for access, Ademo said.
Even Lilesa’s dominance as a marathoner is unique for Ethiopia. Ethnic Oromo athletes of all genders have often been erased from Ethiopian lore, yet they are the first black Africans to win Olympic gold, Ademo said. Abebe Bikila did so in the 1960s while running barefoot and Derartu Tulu followed in the 1992 and 2000 Olympics. Yet behind the scenes these same athletes faced implicit and explicit biases.
Few Oromo athletes spoke Amharic, a language of power in Ethiopia, and they were never sent with Oromo translators. They often had to operate by the doctrine of the country’s current rulers and the official Olympics body to compete, Ademo said.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Within Ethiopia, those who protest see these same issues at the micro level. Lemma described a phrase many have used to explain the discrimination and marginalization the Oromo face. Oromo have said “the prisons in Ethiopia speak Afaan Oromo,” the native language of the Oromo, which shows the disproportionate rate at which Oromo are jailed in Ethiopia.
Video this month, obtained by the Associated Press, showed Ethiopian security forces beating, kicking and dragging protestors during a demonstration in the capital as they cowered and fell to the ground.
This same fight to upend oppression in Ethiopia is one being done by current American black protestors at the height of a renewed wave of activism. Lilesa’s protest spoke to some on a bigger level. Because just like black lives, African lives also have value.
“Not even in just this particular incident, but the dominance of black athletes on the global stage is in a sense of protest, especially when you have representatives of countries under such oppression as Ethiopia and the black America,” said Kwame Rose, an activist from Baltimore most known for his stand-off with Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera after Freddie Grey’s death.
“What he did would get a lot of people killed in Ethiopia and could’ve gotten his medal stripped,” Rose continued. “This was the time to send a message, not only about competing as an athlete, but surviving as a human and trying to better humanity.”
The reality is that what Lilesa did might not change anything for the Oromo people, but his demonstration had much more validity than to be limited to just that notion.
Ademo said it provided a crucial show of inspiration for people being disproportionately jailed, that are unheard and have yearned for a change in their government.
“In the context of this long and tortuous history, Lilesa’s protest was revolutionary. Beyond the politics within the Ethiopian Olympics federation, his gesture brought much-needed attention to escalating human rights abuses in Ethiopia,” Ademo said.
Lilesa’s act was a moment to show the shackles of systemic oppression binding the Oromo people. He took their fight to the international stage.
Oromo athlete, Fayyisaa Lalisaa (Feyisa Lelisa), who finished 2nd and took Silver in Rio 2016 Olympic in men’s Marathon, crossed the finishing line with his hands crossed, an iconic sign of Oromo social resistance (#OromoProtests) to injustices and tyranny in Ethiopia. Rio Olympic Marathon was held on 21 August 2016 and its the final day of the Olympic Games. Fayyee has made an Olympic history on Olympic history. made solidarity to #OromoProtests in the podium and at medal and after press conference.
The Significance and importance of his heroic solidarity is very understandable for those have followed the #OromoProtests the last 2 years.
Ethiopia’s state-owned TV network has refused to broadcast footage of one of its most successful Olympic athletes crossing the finishing line or receiving his medal after he staged a political protest against oppression back home.
Feyisa Lilesa won silver in the men’s marathon on the last day of events in Rio, making him Ethiopia’s joint second most successful performer after the country won just one gold in a disappointing campaign.
As he crossed the line on Sunday he raised his arms to form an “X”, a symbol of defiance that has been used by the Oromo people in Ethiopia as part of political protests against the government.
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Why an Ethiopian silver medallist could go to jail when he gets home
Lilesa repeated the act in a press conference after the race, and said he would repeat it at the medal ceremony later. He told reporters he faced being killed for doing so if he returns home after the Games.
EBC, the Ethiopian state broadcaster, was showing Lila’s race live on TV on Sunday afternoon. As such, it was unable to avoid airing his protest as it happened the first time.
But the moment he crossed the line was cut from subsequent bulletins and, unlike with its other champions, EBC refused entirely to show footage of Lilesa being given his silver medal.
Ethiopian marathoner Fayisa shows gesture after winning Silver at #Rio2016
On its website, EBC carried a report on the result entitled “Ethiopia wins Silver medal in men’s marathon”.
While its online reports from other Rio events tended to show pictures of victorious athletes after they had finished competing, the Lilesa article was accompanied by an image of a group of the marathon runners halfway through the race.
Neither online nor on TV did the state-run broadcaster make direct reference to Lilesa’s protest.
The athlete is from Oromia, home to many of the 35 million Oroma people, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group. At the press conference, he said: “The Ethiopian government is killing my people, so I stand with all protests anywhere, as Oromo is my tribe. My relatives are in prison and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed.”
Lilesa told reporters he would be killed or put in prison if he returned home, and said he feared for his wife and two children who are still in Ethiopia. He said he plans to try and stay in Brazil or make his way to the US.
Feyisa Lelisa, Oromo Olympic Marathon silver medalist and #OromoProtests global icon and Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, Rio 2016 Olympic Marathon Gold medallist.
Kana malees, sabboonticha ilma Oromoo kana lammiileen Oromoo hiree itti qaban hundi isa cinaa hiriiruun gargaarsa barbaachisu hundaan akka bira dhaabbatan waamicha isaa dabarseera. Guutuu isaa kan fulduree kana tuqa dubbisaa: ilma-ummatni-oromoo-itti-boonuu-qabu
The Significance and importance of his heroic solidarity is very understandable for those have followed the #OromoProtests the last 2 years.
That is sign now widely recognized all over Ethiopia as a symbol of civil resistance. Ethiopia has been gripped by successive anti-government protests which the recent one began in Nov. 2015 in Gincii (Ginchi) town, Oromia state.
We are calling on all Ethiopians and human rights advocates to make contributions to funds needed to support Marathon athlete Feyisa Lelisa who exhibited extra-odrinary heroism by becoming an international symbol for #OromoProtests and Ethiopian Freedom Movement after winning a medal at the Rio de Janeiro
Olympic games today August 21, 2016.
Feyisa Lelisa faces persecution if he goes back to Ethiopia and he has decided to to seek assylum. Funds are needed to support him and his family in the meantime, Please donate whatever amount you can. We assure you all the money collected will go to support this Oromo/Ethiopian hero.
Co-sponsered by Abdi Fite, Lalisaa Hikaa and Solomon Ungashe
The Obama administration’s top official promoting democracy and human rights,Tom Malinowski, says the Ethiopian government’s tactics in response to protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions of the country are “self-defeating”. Writing ahead of the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Nairobi for talks on East African issues, including security, Malinowski says Addis Ababa’s “next great national task is to master the challenge of political openness.”
The United States and Ethiopia have years of strong partnership, based on a recognition that we need each other. Ethiopia is a major contributor to peace and security in Africa, the U.S.’s ally in the fight against violent extremists, and has shown incredible generosity to those escaping violence and repression, admitting more refugees than any country in the world. The United States has meanwhile been the main contributor to Ethiopia’s impressive fight to end poverty, to protect its environment and to develop its economy.
Because of the friendship and common interests our two nations share, the U.S. has a stake in Ethiopia’s prosperity, stability and success. When Ethiopia does well, it is able to inspire and help others. On the other hand, a protracted crisis in Ethiopia would undermine the goals that both nations are trying to achieve together.
The recent protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions present a critical challenge. They appear to be a manifestation of Ethiopian citizens’ expectation of more responsive governance and political pluralism, as laid out in their constitution.
Almost every Ethiopian I have met during my three recent trips to the country, including government officials, has told me that as Ethiopians become more prosperous and educated, they demand a greater political voice, and that such demands must be met. While a few of the protests may have been used as a vehicle for violence, we are convinced that the vast majority of participants were exercising their right under Ethiopia’s constitution to express their views.
Any counsel that the United States might offer is intended to help find solutions, and is given with humility. As President Barack Obama said during his July, 2015 visit to Addis Ababa, the U.S. is not perfect, and we have learned hard lessons from our own experiences in addressing popular grievances.
We also know Ethiopia faces real external threats. Ethiopia has bravely confronted Al-Shabaab, a ruthless terrorist group based on its border. Individuals and groups outside Ethiopia, often backed by countries that have no respect for human rights themselves, sometimes recklessly call for violent change.
Ethiopia rightly condemns such rhetoric, and the United States joins that condemnation. But Ethiopia has made far too much progress to be undone by the jabs of scattered antagonists who have little support among the Ethiopian people. And it is from within that Ethiopia faces the greatest challenges to its stability and unity. When thousands of people, in dozens of locations, in multiple regions come out on the streets to ask for a bigger say in the decisions that affect their lives, this cannot be dismissed as the handiwork of external enemies.
Ethiopian officials have acknowledged that protestors have genuine grievances that deserve sincere answers. They are working to address issues such as corruption and a lack of job opportunities. Yet security forces have continued to use excessive force to prevent Ethiopians from congregating peacefully, killing and injuring many people and arresting thousands. We believe thousands of Ethiopians remain in detention for alleged involvement in the protests – in most cases without having been brought before a court, provided access to legal counsel, or formally charged with a crime.
These are self-defeating tactics. Arresting opposition leaders and restricting civil society will not stop people from protesting, but it can create leaderless movements that leave no one with whom the government can mediate a peaceful way forward. Shutting down the Internet will not silence opposition, but it will scare away foreign investors and tourists. Using force may temporarily deter some protesters, but it will exacerbate their anger and make them more uncompromising when they inevitably return to the streets.
Every government has a duty to protect its citizens; but every legitimate and successful government also listens to its citizens, admits mistakes, and offers redress to those it has unjustly harmed. Responding openly and peacefully to criticism shows confidence and wisdom, not weakness. Ethiopia would also be stronger if it had more independent voices in government, parliament and society, and if civil society organizations could legally channel popular grievances and propose policy solutions. Those who are critical of the government would then have to share responsibility, and accountability, for finding those solutions. Progress in reforming the system would moderate demands to reject it altogether.
Ethiopia’s next great national task is to master the challenge of political openness, just as it has been mastering the challenge of economic development. Given how far Ethiopia has traveled since the days of terror and famine, the United States is confident that its people can meet this challenge – not to satisfy any foreign country, but to fulfill their own aspirations. The U.S. and all of Ethiopia’s friends are ready to help.
Tom Malinowski is the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
Oromo athlete, Fayyisaa Lalisaa (Feyisa Lelisa), who finished 2nd and took Silver in Rio 2016 Olympic in men’s Marathon, crossed the finishing line with his hands crossed, an iconic sign of Oromo social resistance (#OromoProtests) to injustices and tyranny in Ethiopia. Rio Olympic Marathon was held on 21 August 2016 and its the final day of the Olympic Games. Fayyee has made an Olympic history on Olympic history. made solidarity to #OromoProtests in the podium and at medal and after press conference.
The Significance and importance of his heroic solidarity is very understandable for those have followed the #OromoProtests the last 2 years.
That is sign now widely recognized all over Ethiopia as a symbol of civil resistance. Ethiopia has been gripped by successive anti-government protests which the recent one began in Nov. 2015 in Gincii (Ginchi) town, Oromia state.
Fayisa Lalisa brings silver at Rio Olympics and turns it into pure Gold by defiantly standing with his people and against the terrorist regime that is massacring people, Says Jawar Mohammad, analyst and Oromia Media Network (OMN) Director.
Various sources misspelled his name as Lilesa but the correct one is ‘Lalisa’ or ‘Lalisaa’ in Afaan Oromoo. Fayyisaa means the healer. Lalisaa means (making) adorable, (giving) glory.
Brave. Ethiopian silver medallist in the marathon makes crossed hands gesture of #oromoprotests. Barry Malone@malonebarry Online editor, Al Jazeera English
Fayyisaa Lalisaa haadha warraafi ilmaan lama Itoophiyaadhaa akka qabuufi yoo gale ajjeefamuu ykn hidhamuu akka danda’u himee ta qabsoo ummata isaa cinaa dhaabbachuurraa akka sodaatee hin dhiisin hima, Chris Chavez gaazexeessaan Sport Illustrated! Ibsa agaazexeessitootaaf kenne irratti alaabaa Oromiyaa gonfoo harkaa godhateeti.
Athlete Fayyisaa Lalisaa (Marathon medalist at Rio Olympics 21 August 2016) is the first Oromo Olympian to publicly address the Oromo people cause to the world community, OMN news.
Fayyisaa Lelisaa speaks out against the Ethiopian government. His pose at the finish line was in protest of the killing of the Omoro people.
He told reporters that “in nine months, more than 1,000 people have died from government harm.”
Lalisa says that if he goes back to Ethiopia, they could kill him, they could put him in prison or keep him in the airport.
“If I go back to #ETH, they will kill me.”
Fayisa Lalisa plans to protest at tonight’s closing ceremony when the marathoners get their medals. #Rio2016.
He has a wife and 2 kids at home.
Background
Feyisa Lalisa is a male long-distance runner from Oromia. He became the youngest man to run under 2:06 hours when he set his personal best in the men’s marathon at the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon. He was born February 1, 1990 (age 26), in Jaldu, West Showa, Oromia, East Africa.
As he neared the finish line and a silver medal, Lelisa raised his arms to form an “X.” The gesture is a peaceful protest made by the Oromo people, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and one that is facing a brutal response to widespread protests that began late last year.
Human Rights Watch estimated in June that 400 people have been killed and thousands more injured as the government attempted to stop the estimated 500 protests that the Oromo people staged to draw attention to systemic persecution by the government.
Lelisa is from Oromia, which is home to a large majority of the country’s 35 million Oromo. He didn’t back down from the protest after the race either, flashing the sign for cameras at a press conference and pledging to do it again during Sunday night’s closing ceremony.
Rule 50 of the Olympic charter bans political displays or protests, and the American duo of Tommie Smith and John Carlos was famously suspended by the USOC after the pair flashed the black power salute on the medal stand at the 1968 Summer Games.
Lelisa, however, has bigger things to worry about than the IOC response as such dissent puts his life in real danger if he returns to Ethiopia. He told reporters afterward that he would seek a visa to stay in Brazil or possibly come to the United States. He also said that his wife and two children are still back in Ethiopia.
The whole world should keep in mind that this is not the first time that athlete Feyisa Lelisa protested against all sorts of tyranny & the Ethiopian state sponsored terrorism on civilians. Another Oromo athlete Lelisa Desisa was one of the very few athletes who devoted his Boston Marathon Medal to the Boston terror victims on April 15, 2013, in the US. We hope that the US foreign Ministry also recognizes this fact about these brave Oromo athletes very well. Naf-tanan Gaadullo
#OromoProtests: Must Wach Press TV Africa News: Scores of people were killed across Oromia state, Ethiopia as security forces brutally suppressed a new wave of anti-government protests
#OromoProtests, Must watch Al Jazeera new video News of August 20, 2016, Hundreds have been killed by agazi police forces during a peaceful demonstration across the country (Oromia, Ethiopia).
The cruel Fascist Ethiopia’s regime (TPLF) is killing Oromo children on daily basis. Since 6 August 2016, over 25,000 Oromo nationals of all walks of life have been in military concentrations/torture camps. The figure is rising daily. This figure does not include the over 50,000 detained before 6 August 2016.
Targeted killing continues across Oromia.This is Galataa Admaasuu, a young man of age 19. He was returning home after watching a soccer game at a cafe in the evening of August 19, 2016 when the regime’s force with sniper bullets hit him 3 times and killing him on spot in front of Dambi Dollo Hospital, in Qelam Wallaggaa. In the past few days we have been receiving several such targeted killing using snipers or by staging night time raid to homes.
Kun Galataa Admaasuu dargaggeessa umri 19 kan galgala kaleessaa osoo kubbaa laalee galaa jiruu loltuun Wayyaanee rasaasan dhahee fuuldura Hospitaal Dambi Doollootti ajjeeseedha.
16 years old from Fantaallee kidnapped by Ethiopia’s regime fascist forces on 17 August 2016 his whereabouts is unkown
Kun barataa kutaa sagal Marraa Hawaas kan hiriira Hagayya 6 bara 2016 Aanaa Fantaallee magaalaa Mataa-Haaraatti geggeeffame irratti nama 29 waliin qabamee mana hidhaa Mataa-Haaraatti dararamaa ture. Barataan kun kaleessa mana murtitti dhiyaannan umrii 16 waan ta’eef akka bayu manni murtii murteesse. Garuu, warri seeruma ofii baafattettuu hin bulle, ukkaamsitee bakka hin beekamne geessitee turte. Odeessi nu gahe akka ibsutti, yeroo ammaa mana hidhaa Martitti dararaan irra gayaa jira.
Dr Alamuu Taaddasaa, medical doctor at incinnii hospital in Oromia kidnapped by Ethiopia’s regime fascist forces on 16 August 2016 and his whereabout is unknown
kun Dr Alamuu Taaddasaa jedhama. Hojjetaa hospitaala Incinnitii, Hagayya 16 bara 2016 waree booda lukkulee wayyanetiin qabamee essa akka isa buusaan dhabnee jirra jedhan.
Obsineet Baqalee, young Oromo woman, worker of Ethio telecom. Kidnapped on the Grand #OromoProtest, 06 August 2016 demonstration inFinfinnee, her whereabouts and health is unknown.
Jamaal Abdalla Aadam, Oromo boy, star student, from Calanqoo kidnapped by Ethiopia’s regime fascist forces on 6 August 2016
Barataa Jamaal Abdalla Aadam jedhama. Jiraataa Harargee Bahaa Aanaa Meettaa magaala Calaanqooti. Barataan kun qoruumsa kutaa 12ffaa qaphxii 467 kan fide yoo ta’uu, qaphxii isaa ille arkuu hin dandenye. Eega gaafa hiriira guddicha hagayya 6 irraa qabamee qeerroo baayyee waliin gara magaalaa qullubbii geeffame, achitti rakkisa jiran.
KADIR MOHAMMAD ABDULLAA , Oromo national from East Haraghe, Gursum, Funyaan Hujubaa town in Oromia state kidnapped by Ethiopia’s regime fascist forces on 15 August 2016. His whereabuts is unknown.
Mallicha Guyo, former lecturer at Dire Dawa University and currently a graduate student of Constitutional & Public Law at AAU is among the many peaceful demonstrators unlawfully detained during the Grand #OromoProtests, 6th of Augus 2016 in Finfinnee and still kept in regime’s secrete detention centres.
Akkuma beekamufu hiiriiraa guddicha sanbata xiqqaa sani irratii namoota kumatamat lakkawaamu achii buute dhaban hamami hin jedhamu…namni maqaan isaa Malicha Guyyoo jedhamu kan barsiisa university Dire dawa tii damee seeraa barsiisuu amma MA university finfinnet constitutional and public law baracha Jiru achii buute isaa dhaban…..mee nama qoonqoo isaa qabu faa yoo argate inbox na godhii.
Godina Wallaggaa Lixaa Anaa Baaboo Gambeel keessatti gaafa 06 /07/2016 hirirraa guutu Oromiyaattii ta’e irraattii anaan Baaboos hirmachuun mormii jabaa dhageessisanii tura sanan wal qabatee namoonnii hedduun hiidhamuufi manii hiidhalee hankakee mana barumsaatii uummattaa hiidha akka turan gabaasun keenya ni yaada tamaa ammaas namoonnii hedduun hiidhaatii dararamaa yoo jirata dargagoo lamaa
1 Jafar Caaliif
2 Jafar Qawwee kan
jedhaman immoo mana hiidhaatii basanii essa akka isaan geessan hin beekamu! Uummanniis dararraa guddaa keessa jira!
An Oromo national Taagal Daaqaa Waaqgaarii is among thousands of peaceful protesters who have been unlawfully detained by the TPLF security agents during the Grand #OromoProtests rally in the capital Finfinnee, on the 6th of Aug, 2016. It’s believed that Mr. Tagal & thousands of others unlawfully detained during these peaceful protests are currently being tortured at a Military Camp called Awash Arba, in the remote Afar regional state. The regime is torturing thousands to death in such a remote military barricades across the country.
Oromo youth, Yaasiin Xaahaa, original from Jimma, kidnaped by fascist Ethiopia’s regime forces on August 6, 2016, Grand #OromoProtests Rally in Finfinnee. His whereabouts unknown.
Young Oromo national Akaaluu Mulugeetaa Olaanii, kidnaped by fascist Ethiopia’s regime forces on 6 August 2016 (Grand #OromoProtest) his whereabouts is unknown.
This is Kebede Gemeda, a 70 year elder. He was arrested at the Grand Rally in Finfinne. He was beaten so badly that he lost one of his eye sight completely. They thought he was dying so they took him out of the military camp and threw up near his house.
Oromo national Jibriil Mohaammad, from Jimmaa Arjo shot four times at gun point by Agazi on 6 August 2016 at Grand #OromoProtests.
#Oromoprotests alert: The regime now using collage campus as concentration camp in addition to several military camps. For instance some 25000 protesters arrested in Hararge have been taken to Kombolcha Agricultural College. Their head has been shaved and they are crammed into classrooms in hundreds.
NOTE: These colleges are mostly built and run by money donated from American and European tax payers. So tell your representatives. Jawar Mohammed, OMN reports, 20 August 2016.
VOA Afaan Oromoo reports how fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime soldiers killed a man named Hora Wajiso in his own home and then imprisoned his wife with her infant child.
Maqaan isaa Dr.Gabayyoo Jaallataa jedhama. Kaninni itti dhalatee guddate godina Wallaggaa lixaa aanaa Gullusoo jedhamtu keessatti.
Ga’een hojii isaa Dookteerummaadhaan kilinika Abdii kan jedhamu magaalaa naqamtee keessaa naannoo Hoospitaala naqamteetti kan argamu keessatti ramadamee hojjechaa nama tureedha. Dr.Gabayyoo jaalataa xinnummaa isaa irraa ka’uun nama diinaaf harka hin laanne nama oromummaa isaatti boonee jiraatuu fi nama ilmaan oromoo akka lubbuu isaatti jaallatu keessaa nama tokko ture.
Haata’u malee yeroo darbe hiriira guddicha magaalaa naqamtee keessatti akka abidda saafaa belbelaa ooleen wal qabatee sababii inni oromummaa isaa jaallatuuf jecha akkasumallee ati dhoksaadhaan qeerroo mana hojii itti ramadamtee hojjettu keessatti ol seensistee walla’aansa gochaafii jirta maqaa jedhuun humni agaazii guyyuma hiriira guddichaa sana bakkuma hojiisaatii deemanii rasaasa itti roobsanii deemanii jiru.
Haa ta’u malee dr Gabayyoon yeroo sanaaf rukutamee hatattamaan gara hoospitaala naqamteetti ergamee yaaliin deddeebiin torban tokkoo oliif osooma godhamaafii jiruu hoomaayyuu fayyuu hin dadhabuurraan kan ka’e guyyaa har’aa jechuun Hagayya 15/08/2016 du’aan addunyaa kanarraa boqotee jira. Reeffi isaas gara bakka dhaloota isaa kan taate godina wallagga lixaa magaalaa gullusootti ergamee jira.
Qabsa’aan du’us qabsoon itti fufa.
on 15 August 2016 night, fascist Ethiopia’s regime Agazi soldiers broke into home of Hora Fajiso, and killed him on spot in Batu town, East Shawa.
Bulchiinsa magaalaa Baatuu guyyaa 09/12/2008 halkaan sa’aati 10:00 ti Dargaggoo Hora Fajjisoo sababii meeshaa woraan qabda jedhuun marsaanii warranaa mana jirenyaa isaati itti banuun kan ajeesaan yoo ta’u akka ajeefamu kan haala mijessee obbo Kadir Gammada I/g W/ra Bulchiinsa fi Nagenyaa Magaalaa Baatuu ta’u bekkame jira ,dhukaasa godhameen Poolisii tokkoo yoo Ajefamuu tokko rukkutame jira.
This is martyred Ahmadoo who was killed by TPLF Ethiopia’s regime fascist Agazi forces in Haramaayaa town, East Hararge on 6 August 2016, Grand #OromoProtests. May his soul rest in Peace!
Kun wareegamaa keenya barataa Ahmadoo, kan hiriira guddaa Oromoo godina Harargee Bahaa, magaalaa Haramaayaa, keessatti Hagayya 6 bara 2016 waraana Wayyaaneen wareegame.
Gootota Oromoo kumaatamaa wajjin nagaan nuuf boqodhu!
Qabsoon hanga bilisummaatti itti fufa!!
Rabbi lubbuu isaa haa qananiisu.
Abduselam Ahmed, a succesful Oromo businessman in haramaya was assassinated by tplf fascit Ethiopias regime on 7 August 2016.
The other victim on the protest held in Robe, Bale on the Grand #OromoProtests on 6 August 2016 was Zubeyr Kadir as you can see on the picture bellow! May he join Oromo martyrs in heaven!!!
Zubeyr Kadir gunned down by Ethiopia’s regime fascist forces on 6 August 2016 in Robe Bale, Oromia.
#OromoProtests, Must watch Al Jazeera new video News of August 20, 2016, Hundreds have been killed by agazi police forces during a peaceful demonstration across the country (Oromia, Ethiopia).
Darajee Birbirsaa, Oromo national, civil engineering graduate kidnapped by fascist forces on 19 August 2016 and his where about is unknown.
kuni darajee birbirsaa jedhama. bara 2015 wallaga university irra civil engineering dhan eebifame kan turee yoo tauu dalagaa male hanga ammaatti magaala Itayya godina arsi keessa turee haa tauu malee akka lakkobsa Habashaatti Hagayya 12 bara 2008 poolisi feedaralattin ergaa fudhatame booda eessa akka dhaqee hin beekamuana sirreessa aanaa fi goodinaa keesattis hin argamnee.isaa walii is namooni abdalla dasee jedhamuu fi muktar abdoo jedhamuu dhabanni jiraan.
Jundii Abboomsaa Badhaasoo, Oromo business man from Arsi, Martii district kidnapped on 17 August 2016 and his whereabout is unknown
GodinaArsii Bahaa Aanaa Martii ganda Golagotaa keessaa nama Jundii Abboomsaa Badhaasoo jedhamu guyyaa dheengaddaa mana murtii irraa waraqaa fidanii mana isaatti seeraan sir barbaanna jedhaniinii ani Wayyaaneetti hin bulu reeffa kiyya malee jiraa kiyya asii na hin fuutan jedheenii gootummaan dura dhaabbate. Achii jaarsoliin fuudhanii magaalaa geessanii halkan kalee namoota 16 waliin halkan saa’aa 9 makiinaa lamaan fe’anii achi buuteen hin beekamne. obbo Jundii Abboomsaa Badhaasoo abbaa qabeenyaa lafa bishaan hektaara hedduu yoo ta’u, akkasumas eessuma wallisaa Ibroo Ibsaa; kan akka abbaatti guddisee asiin gahee hanga har’aatti gargaaree sirboota hedduu hojjisiise.
Aman Aliyii Xaha, Oromo national was shot at gun point by fascsist Ethiopia’s regime forces on 6 August Grand #OromoProtests in Haramayaa and died on 20 August 2016.
Godina Haragee Bahaa Haramayaa keessatti Hirira guddicha Hagayya 6, 2016 irrati dhahamee harra lubbuun isaa dabarte.”
OSG’s letter to United Nations Human Right Council : Ignoring a wave of unlawful killings and enforced disappearances in Oromia is fueling further catastrophic in the region. osg-call-for-urgnet-action
HRLHA Urgent Action
Ethiopia: State – Sponsored Terrorism and Military Brutality in Oromia HRLHA Urgent Action
August 17, 2016
Ethiopia, a UN Human Rights Council member since 2011, and an elected member of the UN Security Council as of 2017 is committing state- sponsored terror against the Oromo nation in violation of the UN Human Rights Council responsibility for the promotion and protection of all human rights and the UN Security Council responsiblities for maintaining international peace and security as well as the human rights treaties it has signed and ratified. The government- trained and highly funded Agazi force shot Gebeyehu Jalata, a medical doctor, several times at his personal clinic in East Wallaga Nekemt town on August 6, 2016 while he was allegedly treating wounded protestors at his clinic. Dr. Gebehu Jalata was taken to the Nekemt hospital for treatment and died on August 15, 2016 . The Agazi killing squad also invaded Mr. Hora Fajisso’s home- he is a farmer in East Showa Zone Adami Tulu district, Batu town- and murdered him in his bed in front of his three children and his wife at 5:00 am on August 16, 2016. During the grand nationwide Oromo nation protests on August 6,2016, the Agazi force killed at least 70 people and arrested tens of thousands of others in Oromia Regional State. 1-ethiopia-government-sponsered-terrorism
Among Oromo nationals killed on August 06, 2016 the Human Rights League (HRLHA) reporters managed to get the names of the following 65 people:-
#OromoProtests, Australian Oromo Community solidarity rally in front of Austerelian Parliament, 17 March 2016
Canberra delegate, Australian Oromo Communities leaders and Oromo activists
#OromoProtests, South Africa, Oromo global solidarity rally, 14 March 2016
#OromoProtests – Global Solidarity Rally, March 11, 2016
March 11, 2016In North America, protest rallies took place in Washington, DC., Maryland and Virginia; Utah; USA Los Angeles, California; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Lansing, Michigan; Seattle, Washington; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Syracuse, New York; Phoenix, Arizona; Raleigh, North Carolina; Saskatoon, Calgary, Toronto, Canada and other cities.In Europe, rallies took place in Berlin, Germany; Brussels, Belgium; Rome, Italy; Oslo, Norway; Stockholm, Sweden; Paris, France; London, United Kingdom; and Berne, Switzerland.
Worship at San Francisco Theological Seminary in Solidarity with OromoProtests. Most of people you see here are local church leaders, Pastor and Professors. 10 March 2016.
#OromoProtests global solidarity rally organised by the Australian Oromo community in Melbourne, 10 March 2016
#OromoProtests Global solidarity rally in Oslo, Norway, 11 March 2016.
#OromoProtests Global solidarity rally in Winnipeg, Canada , 11 March 2016.
#OromoProtests: The Oromo Solidarity Project Concordia University, Montreal ( Canada) March 3, 2016
Star Tribune: Minnesota’s Oromo community rallied at the State Capitol to protest treatment at the hands of the Ethiopian government. February 29, 2016
News Fulton County (#OromoProtests Global Rally) : Oromians in SA protest in Pretoria over killings at home. Demonstrators say government scheme to expand capital Addis Ababa endangers farmers
Thousands of Oromo in North America Gathered in New York in front of the UN to Protest against the Brutal & Fascist TPLF Regime in Ethiopia
Ayyaantuu.net | January 15, 2016
Thousands of Oromo protesters and supporters of Oromo struggle turned out in masse, in front of the United Nations (UN) building in New York, to oppose the brutal repression in Ethiopia. The protesters demanded an immediate investigation into the indiscriminate killing of peaceful demonstrators in Oromia region of Ethiopia. The brutal repression by the authority against the Oromo demonstrators has resulted in the killing of well over 140 people and wounding thousands of others.
Seattle: Protests over civil rights abuses in Ethiopia: The protesters, many of them members of the East African community — want Washington senators to pressure Ethiopian leaders or cut U.S. aid in the wake of the ongoing mass killings that they say are targeting ethnic Oromos in Ethiopia. #OromoProtests 29 December 2015
(Times of Malta) — Members of the Oromo community in Malta this morning held a protest in Valletta over the treatment of Oromo people in Ethiopia.
The group of about 30, holding placards and many with chains around their arms and hands, walked up Republic Street to the new Parliament, calling on the Ethiopian government to treat their people better.
According to international media, some 75 protesters were killed and hundreds injured in month-long protests across Ethiopia.
Diaspora continues to expose crimes of Ethiopian government on Oromo protesters
#OromoProtests in Little Oromia (St Paul) in solidarity with #Oromo students in Oromia against TPLF Ethiopian tyrannic regime’s ethnic cleansing (master plan).
December 10, 2015
Yaa Oromo dhageefadhaa Oromo student being killed by Ethiopian dictator protest in St Paul(1)
Yaa Oromo dhageefadhaa Oromo student bing killed by Ethiopian dictator Protest in St Paul(2)
#OromoProtests in London in solidarity with #Oromo students in Oromia against TPLF Ethiopian tyrannic regime’s ethnic cleansing (master plan). Hiriira magaalaa Londonitti ta’e, Muddee 10 bara 2015.
Nairobi, Oromo Peaceful rally in solidarity with #OromoProtests in Oromia against TPLF Ethiopian regime’s ethnic cleansing (Master plan), December 10, 2015
TVOMT: Oromo Protest Saartuu Roraas fii Hiriira Toronto
#OromoProtests global solidarity rally, South Africa (Johannesburg), 10 Dec. 2015
Egypt: Oromo Peaceful rally in solidarity with #OromoProtests in Oromia against TPLF Ethiopian regime’s ethnic cleansing (Master plan), December 10, 2015
Sweden, Oromo Peaceful rally in solidarity with #OromoProtests in Oromia against TPLF Ethiopian regime’s ethnic cleansing (Master plan), December 10, 2015
Germany, Oromo Peaceful rally in solidarity with #OromoProtests in Oromia against TPLF Ethiopian regime’s ethnic cleansing (Master plan), December 10, 2015
Join the global demonstration to stand with the Oromo Students and denounce the violent actions of the Ethiopian government on innocent and peaceful protesters who simply oppose the displacement of millions of Oromo farmers. We call on the international media to break the silence on the massive crackdown on the protesters, its unjust to keep quiet while scores are being killed on school grounds and university campuses across Oromia by Ethiopian security forces, the same regime that receives millions of dollars from UK, US and the EU. #OromoProtests, #Justice for Oromo students#NO Democracy No AID!
CITY: BERLIN, GERMANY, EU DATE/TIME: December 16, 2015 | STARTING at 9am VENUE: At Willy-Brandt-Straße 1, 10557 Berlin, Germany LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/WAbICA
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UPCOMING SOLIDARITY RALLIES FOR DECEMBER 17, 2015
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CITY: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 17, 2015 | STARTING at 11am VENUE: In Front of the Georgia State Capitol Building (Capitol Avenue SW) LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/OIbNqr
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CITY: BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 17, 2015 | STARTING at 9am VENUE: In Front of the Massachusetts State House LINK TO FLYER – N/A
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CITY: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 17, 2015 | STARTING at 9am VENUE: In Front of the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building (230 S Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60604) LINK TO FLYER – N/A
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CITY: COLUMBUS/CINCINNATI, OHIO, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 17, 2015 | STARTING at 12pm VENUE: In Front of the Ohio State House in Columbus, Ohio LINK TO FLYER – N/A
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CITY: DENVER, COLORADO, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 17, 2015 | STARTING at 7am VENUE: In Front of the Colorado State Capitol Building (City Park; 2001 Colorado Blvd – West Steps) LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/xL4Ffm
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CITY: LANSING, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 17, 2015 | STARTING at 9:30am VENUE: In Front of the Michigan State Capitol Building LINK TO FLYER – N/A
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CITY: OAKLAND CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 17, 2015 | STARTING at 9am VENUE: In Front of the Federal Government Building/Office LINK TO FLYER – N/A
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CITY: PHOENIX, ARIZONA, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 17, 2015 | STARTING at 9am VENUE: In Front of the Arizona State Capitol Building LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/fPFOJk
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UPCOMING SOLIDARITY RALLIES FOR DECEMBER 18, 2015
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CITY: BERLIN, GERMANY, EU DATE/TIME: December 18, 2015 | STARTING at 10am VENUE: At Willy-Brandt-Straße 1, 10557 Berlin, Germany [and Berlin Ethiopian Embassy at 11am – Boothstraße 20A, 12207 Berlin] LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/WAbICA
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UPCOMING SOLIDARITY RALLIES FOR DECEMBER 19, 2015
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CITY: BERGEN, NORWAY, EU DATE/TIME: December 19, 2015 | STARTING at 1pm VENUE: ? LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/t3apt4
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CITY: TROMSØ, NORWAY, EU DATE/TIME: December 19, 2015 | STARTING at 12pm VENUE: Torgsenteret, Storgata 9008 Tromsø LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/urzmPi
The following is the schedule of the Oromo Diaspora Solidarity Rallies; Oromo Diaspora stands with Oromo protests against the Addis Ababa Master Plan; this schedule will be frequently updated to include all rallies as much as possible.
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UPCOMING SOLIDARITY RALLIES FOR DECEMBER 10, 2015
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CITY: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 10, 2015 | 10am VENUE: To be announced later LINK TO FLYER – N/A
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CITY: FRANKFURT, GERMANY DATE/TIME: December 10, 2015 | FROM 9am to 3pm VENUE: Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/k434KG
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CITY: OSLO, NORWAY DATE/TIME: December 10, 2015 | FROM 10am to 2pm VENUE: Oslo Central Station LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/KY9R7b
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CITY: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM DATE/TIME: December 10, 2015 | FROM 12pm to 4:30pm VENUE: UK Parliament Square (SW1P 3BD) LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/S8pc6U
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CITY: ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, U.S.A. DATE/TIME: December 10, 2015 | FROM 12pm VENUE: Minnesota State Capitol Building LINK TO FLYER – http://goo.gl/xuygli
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INSPIRING SPEECHES FROM THE MAY-2014’s OROMO DIASPORA SOLIDARITY RALLY IN SEATTLE | #OromoProtests
The following is a statement from the Oromo Communities’ Association of North America (OCA-NA).
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Dear Oromo Communities and Friends:
The Board and Executive Committee of the Oromo Communities’ Association of North America (OCA-NA) are extremely concerned about the current Ethiopian government’s attempt to implement the controversial Master Plan at any cost, with aggressive crackdown on student demonstrators and peaceful protesters. We believe that we have a collective obligation to support the students who are brutally attacked, and Oromo farmers who are being evicted from their lands in the name development and urban planning. We know that many of you and your communities are planning to stage demonstrations, and organizing for sustained action in support of our people.
To facilitate this effort, we recommend that that each community chooses one of the following days for their demonstrations.
– Thursday, December 10, 2015
– Thursday, December 17, 2015
– Wednesday, December 23, 2015
– Wednesday, December 30, 2015
– Thursday, January 7, 2016
If necessary, additional dates will be announced later.
In your planning, please use the following suggestions:
1. Set your rally in your area or coordinate with nearby communities;
2. Contact your Congressional Representatives’ and Senators’ Offices (both State and U.S.) and alert them about the Oromo rallies ahead of the scheduled event;
3. Send press releases to all media;
4. Create, if you do not have already, fundraising committees to support Oromo students;
5. After the event, assess your activities and provide us with feedback for future improvement.
Remember, a one-time activity alone will not solve our historic problems, or deter a determined and brutal government from displacing peaceful people and destroying great nations like the Oromia. Organization, careful planning and sustained actions are vital for the ultimate success of our people. So, let us put our minor differences aside and focus on the great danger that we are all facing.
OCA-NA calls on all Oromo communities, civic and professional organizations in Diaspora to participate in the scheduled demonstrations. We also call on all Oromo political organizations to put their tactical and other differences aside and join Oromo communities in protest. We expect all Oromo political leaders to provide collective leadership and avert the looming danger for the Oromo people.
Our nation will rise again in victory.
History will be our witness.
Oromo Communities’ Association of North America (OCA-NA)
Support the victims of the Addis Ababa “Master Plan”
December 5, 2015Many of us have been following the Oromo students who have been demonstrating in all parts of Oromia, unequivocally rejecting the Addis Ababa (Finfinnee) “Master Plan”. As usual, the Ethiopian government opted to shed blood instead of responding the demands of the students that have been demonstrating peacefully.Based on our culture of helping fellow Oromos in thier time of sorrow, Macha-Tulama Association (MTA) hereby launches an online fund raising drive to support the families of those students who are killed by Ethiopian security forces across Oromia while peacefully protesting the “Master Plan”. We would like also to announce that MTA has allocated $1,000.00 U.S. dollars to support the victims and their families, and also to lead the fund raising effort.The fund will also be used to support students in their needs who are incarcerated for months in notorious gulags because of again protesting the Addis Ababa “Master Plan”. Please click on the“Donate“ button on our website – machatulama.org – and follow the instructions to contribute.It’s our plan that if sufficient funds are collected, MTA will reach out to the victims of the 2014 violence of the government.In the mean time, we would like to request for your help in gathering the following information and sending them to us via our Facebook message or our email – contact@machatulama.org:
Names of the students killed by the Ethiopian government security forces,
School grade or academic year and field of study if s/he is a university student,
Name of family members (at least two) to whom money can be sent and their telephone number,
Picture of the deceased student (if available), and
Age, place of birth, brief life history of the deceased if known
Please do not hesitate to contribute as much as you can. Every penny adds up and makes a difference in the lives of the victims!
Respectfully,
Macha-Tulama Association
Washington, D.C.
Related:-
Oromo Diaspora Mobilizes to Shine Spotlight on Protests in Oromia – Ethiopia
(UN News Centre, 19 August 2016)– Voicing concern over serious human rights violations in the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia earlier this month, the United Nations human rights chief today urged the Government to ensure access for independent observers to affected areas and to work towards opening up political and democratic reforms.
Against the backdrop of extremely alarming reports on human rights abuses during public protests over the weekend of 6-8 August, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, appealed to the Ethiopian authorities for allowing human rights experts to access to the conflict zones and evaluate the situation.
“We welcome the decision to launch an independent investigation, and we urge the Government to ensure that the investigation has a mandate to cover allegations of human rights violations since the unrest in Oromia began in November 2015,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva.
She went on to stress that the probe should be “indeed independent, transparent, thorough and effective, with a view to establishing whether the use of excessive force occurred and with a view to bringing to justice the perpetrators of any human rights violations.”
The UN rights office is ready to assist in ensuring that the investigation is abide by international human rights standards. However, she said, it is critical to have access to areas where have been reported of ongoing arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment of people in the regions.
“We call on the Government to ensure that the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression are protected and that those detained for exercising these rights are promptly released,” said Ms. Shamdasani.
She further urged the Government to work towards opening up the political and democratic space, including comprehensive security sector, legislative, and institutional reforms.
Ethiopians wait to fill water cans in February during the recent drought. With the return of the rains, however, have come flooding and disease — something the government is reluctant to discuss. (Aida Muluneh for The Washington Post)
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — After going through its worst drought in 50 years, Ethiopia is again seeing rain. In fact, in some places, it’s falling too hard and has set off floods.
So while the number of people requiring food aid has dropped slightly from 10.2 million in January to 9.7 million, according to the latest figures, there is a new threat of disease in a population weakened by drought.
Measles, meningitis, malaria and scabies are on the rise. And most seriously, there has been an outbreak of something mysteriously called “AWD,” according to the Humanitarian Requirements Document, issued by the government and humanitarian agencies on Aug. 13.
“There is a high risk that AWD can spread to all regions with high speed as there is a frequent population movement between Addis Ababa and other regions,” it warned.
The letters stand for acute watery diarrhea. It is a potentially fatal condition caused by water infected with the vibrio cholera bacterium. Everywhere else in the world it is simply called cholera.
But not in Ethiopia, where international humanitarian organizations privately admit that they are only allowed to call it AWD and are not permitted to publish the number of people affected.
The government is apparently concerned about the international impact if news of a significant cholera outbreak were to get out, even though the disease is not unusual in East Africa.
This means that, hypothetically, when refugees from South Sudan with cholera flee across the border into Ethiopia, they suddenly have AWD instead.
In a similar manner, exactly one year ago, when aid organizations started sounding the alarm bells over the failed rains, government officials were divided over whether they would call it a drought and appeal for international aid.
Police break up anti-government protest in Ethiopian capital
Play Video0:57
Hundreds of protesters on Saturday clashed with police in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa after campaigners called for nationwide protests due to what they say is an unfair distribution of wealth in the country. (Reuters)
The narrative for Ethiopia in 2015 was a successful nation with double-digit growth, and the government did not want to bring back memories of the 1980s drought that killed hundreds of thousands and left the country forever associated with famine.
“We don’t use the f-word,” explained an aid worker to me back in September, referring to famine.
Like many of its neighbors in the region, Ethiopia has some issues with freedom of expression and is very keen about how it is perceived abroad. While the country has many developmental successes to celebrate, its current sensitivity suggests it will be some time before this close U.S. ally resembles the democracy it has long claimed to be.
Ultimately, the government recognized there was a drought and made an international appeal for aid. The systems put into place over the years prevented the drought from turning into a humanitarian catastrophe — for which the country has earned praise from its international partners.
In the same manner, even though it doesn’t call it cholera, the government is still waging a vigorous campaign to educate people on how to avoid AWD, by boiling water and washing their hands.
Yet this sensitivity to bad news extends to the economic realm as well. Critics have often criticized Ethiopia’s decade of reported strong growth as being the product of cooked numbers. The government does seem to produce rosier figures than international institutions.
After the drought, the International Monetary Fund predicted in Aprilthat growth would drop from 10.2 percent in 2015 to just 4.5 percent in 2016.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, maintained, however, that growth would be a robust 8.5 percent, despite the falling agriculture productivity and decreased export earnings.
In the political realm, news of unrest and protests is suppressed. During a weekend of demonstrations on Aug. 6 and 7, the Internet was cut, making it difficult to find out what happened.
Human rights organizations, opposition parties and media tried to piece together the toll from the deadly demonstrations, which according to Amnesty International may have been up to 100.
The United Nations has called for international observers to carry out an investigation in the affected regions, which the government has strongly rejected even as it has dismissed estimates of casualties without providing any of its own.
“That is one of the factors we are struggling against with this government, the blockade of information,” complained Beyene Petros, the chairman of a coalition of opposition parties. “Journalists cannot go and verify. We cannot do that.”
Local journalists are heavily constrained, and as Felix Horne of Human Rights Watch points out, Ethiopia is one of the biggest jailers of journalists on the continent.
“Limitations on independent media, jamming of television and radio signals, and recent blocking of social media all point to a government afraid to allow its citizens access to independent information,” he said.
Foreign journalists do not fare much better, especially if they attempt to venture out of the capital to do their reporting.
In March, the New York Times and Bloomberg correspondents were detained by police while trying to report on the disturbances in the Oromo Region.
They were sent back to Addis Ababa and held overnight in a local prison before being interrogated and released.
In a similar fashion, a television crew with American Public Broadcasting Service was detained on Aug. 8 south of the capital trying to do a story on the drought conditions.
They and their Ethiopian fixer — an accredited journalist in her own right — were released after 24 hours, and they were told not to do any reporting outside of Addis.
In both cases the journalists were all accredited by the Government Communication Affairs Office, with credentials that are supposed to extend the breadth of the country but in practice are widely ignored by local officials.
The government spokesman, Getachew Reda, has dismissed the allegations about the information crackdown in the country and in recent appearances on the Al Jazeera network he maintained that there are no obstacles to information in Ethiopia.
“This country is open for business, it’s open for the international community, people have every right to collect whatever information they want,” he said.
15 August 2016 (The Centre for Human Rights) – The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, is deeply concerned by the ongoing human rights violations in Ethiopia following popular anti-government protests in the Amhara and Oromia regional states, as well as in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Centre is particularly dismayed by the use of force against protesters and the killing of civilians by the police, security and military forces during the protests. According to reports, nearly 100 people have been killed in the recent Amhara and Oromo protests, while more than 400 people have been killed during the earlier Oromo protests which began in November 2015.
The Centre is further concerned by the fact that the government of Ethiopia continues to suppress the human rights and fundamental freedoms of citizens including the rights to life, assembly, peaceful demonstration and the freedom of expression and association.
Considering the fact that Ethiopia is the seat of the African Union, and is regarded as a symbol of freedom against colonialism, the Ethiopian government is expected to have an exemplary human rights record to other African states. On the contrary, the government has been continually using force against peaceful protesters, which has often resulted in the death of a considerable number of people so far.
This is particularly distressing as there have been no signs of holding the perpetrators accountable. The government has often brought charges against the leaders of protests—who are often demanding human rights—while the very persons who are responsible for the deaths and injuries of many people go scot free.
Although Prime Minister Haile-Mariam Desalegn has apologised for the loss of lives and the injuries sustained by protestors earlier this year, the government has not shown improvement in handling protests, and in holding perpetrators accountable. Instead, it continues to hold a firm stand against protesters as it is shown—again—when the Prime Minister threatened that ‘measures will be taken’ against protesters. The fact that government officials, alongside members of the security forces, are involved in these human rights violations highly hampers the quest for justice at the domestic level.
The Centre is further concerned that, despite these gross violations of human rights, there has been inadequate pressure from the African Union, international organisations and the ‘international community’ in general.
Therefore, the Centre calls upon the African Union and the international community to take steps to ensure that the Ethiopian government produces tangible results with regards to its human rights record.
In particular, the Centre calls upon:
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to condemn the human rights violations in the country; to undertake an urgent visit to the country, and to report the human rights situation in the country to the African Union Assembly;
The Government of South Africa to condemn the serious human rights violation by the Ethiopian government, and work together with other African states towards a common AU position and action towards this issue.
The Centre also calls upon the Government of Ethiopia:
To immediately stop violence against, and the killing of protesters, as well as to respect and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people, including the right to life, the right to peaceful assembly, the right to freedom of expression, the right not to be tortured, and the freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention;
To take precautionary measures to prevent the use of force during peaceful assembly;
To address all the issues raised by the people, in a democratic manner, according to the Ethiopian Constitution and the human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is a party;
To note that the right to peaceful assembly and peaceful demonstration should not be impeded by arbitrary restrictions in the pretext of protecting law and order;
To bring to justice government officials and members of security forces, who are responsible for the attack and killings as well as to provide adequate remedy for people whose properties have been destroyed and looted during the protests, and;
To promptly establish an independent and impartial commission of inquiry to investigate, report, and where required, to prosecute perpetrators.
For more information, please contact:
Prof Frans Viljoen
Director, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 3228 / 3810
Mobile: +27 (0) 73 393 4181
Email: frans.viljoen@up.ac.za
Ethiopian police on August 8, 2016, detained three journalists reporting on the effects of a severe drought in the country before escorting them back to Addis Ababa with a warning not to work outside the capital, the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Ethiopia said in a statement.
Fred de Sam Lazaro and Thomas Adair from the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and Africa News Agency (ANA) correspondent Hadra Ahmed, who was working as a fixer and translator, were told by the police to report to the Shashemene town police station, about 240km from the capital.
Police confiscated their passports and their equipment and offered no reason for their detention. The team was taken back to Addis Ababa the next day under police escort, interrogated for a further six hours and then released with a warning not to report outside the capital.
“Hadra and her colleagues’ ordeal is the latest example in a long trend of the government preventing journalists from doing their work,” William Davison, the FCAE’s chairman, said in the statement. In March 16, police detained Davison and a translator in the eastern town of Awash, confiscated their equipment, and escorted them back to the capital, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported at the time.
Ethiopia is the third worst jailer of journalists on the African continent, with at least 10 behind bars on December 1, CPJ’s 2015 prison census shows.
Women wait to receive food at a distribution center in Gelcha village, one of the drought stricken areas of the Oromia region in Ethiopia, on April 28. Photo by Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
We came to Ethiopia to report on the country’s response to a historic drought. We left with a very different story and a taste of how hard it is for journalists, even those covering what should have been a mostly positive story.
For years, Ethiopia has struggled to shed its association with vast human suffering earned during the epic famine three decades ago.
Gleaming high rises in the capital, Addis Ababa, are testament to what today is one of Africa’s most robust economies. An infrastructure building boom has connected the farthest reaches of this sprawling nation of 100 million people, many of them now covered by a government social safety net.
As a result, even though Ethiopia’s current drought has been far more severe than that in the ‘80s — one-fifth of its population suffers moderate to severe food insecurity — there’s very little of the classic, horrible imagery: the emaciated faces of children with distended bellies, which became the backdrop of those historic famine relief rock concerts.
More hours went by before we finally got our “hearing” before five unidentified men. … Each of us was interviewed separately about exactly what our story was, why we chose to go where we did.
We went to Ethiopia to tell this new story, that drought does not have to lead to famine. Many experts say planning and good governance can greatly mitigate human suffering. Ethiopia’s government has won some kudos for its drought response this time, yet its abysmal record on human rights, its harsh treatment of journalists and political dissidents can hijack attempts to tell this story. And in our case, it did just that.
For foreign correspondents, obtaining a journalist visa requires extensive paperwork, documenting the serial numbers of all equipment down to cell phones, a detailed account of every place to be visited and, once approved — if approved — stern warnings not to deviate from it.
The morning after we arrived in Addis, armed with all required permits and paperwork, we set off for the Oromia region south of the capital, shooting images of the extensive housing and road projects under construction or newly completed, some images of farmland and finally a small farm whose owners were being trained in business skills while cultivating new specialty crops to help cope with climate vagaries.
It was here where we were summoned by Ethiopia’s “security services” to the police station. It is amusing to reflect now that our first reaction was annoyance: this would rob videographer Tom Adair of the afternoon’s best light. If only that was all we would lose.
About two hours into our wait in a dimly lit office, we were told to surrender all electronic equipment, including cell phones, and our passports. No explanation was offered, only the threat of arrest if we continued to insist, as we did, that our paperwork was in order, that it is illegal to confiscate a passport, especially without a receipt.
“Report to Immigration tomorrow, and you can collect it,” we were instructed by a plainclothesman who never introduced himself. That meant a six-hour journey back to the capital and to a building teeming with Ethiopians and foreigners alike, applying for passports or visas. In our case, our chance to get our equipment and documents returned.
More hours went by before we finally got our “hearing” before five unidentified men. They’d combed through every corner of our luggage in pursuit of hidden cameras or memory cards and demanded to see every inch of footage we’d shot. Each of us was interviewed separately about exactly what our story was, why we chose to go where we did.
An emaciated cow walks through a dry field in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Photo by Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
Our explanation was simple: Oromia was hard-hit by the drought. It is where we planned to film food distribution and other retraining programs run by the government and by Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services, the largest nongovernment aid group operating in Ethiopia. A CRS official accompanying us was also detained through this ordeal. This was mystifying since his agency, far from being subversive, is a key government partner in relief work.
As it turns out, Oromia is also one of several regions that have seen political unrest and protests — unrelated to the drought — which the government has put down violently. In the days just before we arrived, Human Rights Watch reported 100 deaths at the hands of riot police in the Oromia region.
It’s fair to assume that the security services were looking for footage or evidence of any encounters we might have had with protests or protesters, highly improbable given that we’d barely arrived in the country. A glance in our passports could attest to that.
Finally, 24 hours after they were taken, our passports and gear were returned with the only “official” explanation we would get.
“You did not get permission from Security,” we were advised, even though no such requirement is published anywhere.
Oromia was now off limits and interviews already scheduled with government ministers about the drought were now canceled.
In Ethiopia, “Security,” the National Intelligence Service, appears to hold the biggest sway, enforcers for a government hell bent on controlling the flow of public information and the images it sends out to the world.
Internet service was shut down throughout the country in the period just before we arrived, presumably to muzzle social media and to prevent protest images from being exported, a virtually impossible task in this day and age. Nevertheless, footage of the protests were broadcast and distributed.
Given that weeks of careful planning (to say nothing of the hefty travel costs) were wiped out by the whims of a paranoid security apparatus, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to return and tell this important story any time soon.
Since November 2015, Ethiopia has been experiencing a wave of anti-government protests unleashed by fears by the Oromo people that the government was planning to seize their land. Hundreds of people have been killed.
In early August, anti-government demonstrations rocked the Oromia and Amhara regional states of Ethiopia. Thousands of demonstrators went on to the streets calling on the government to stop killing protesters, release those arrested, implement political reform, and respect justice and the rule of law. However, the response from government security forces, which used live ammunition against protesters, led to the death of about 100 unarmed people.
Although the government security apparatus reported that the demonstrations had been contained, “the current political situation has become volatile. Things are fast changing and developments have become increasingly unpredictable,” according to analyst Tsegaye R. Ararssa. Activists are said to be busy devising alternative methods of protest that range from weakening government institutions through staying at home and not operating businesses to organizing a Diaspora-based “grand solidarity rally.”
Change of tactics
In the town of Gondar in the state of Amhara, where the first demonstration took place, residents resorted to a new mode of protest – staying at home. A resident of the town, talking on condition of anonymity, told Deutsche Welle that from last Sunday to Tuesday the streets were deserted. Workers stayed at home and stores remained closed.
Asked why the public had opted for this type of protest, the man said “it is clear that society has demanded an answer from the government, but the response was one of bullets in return, so the public decided to launch a stay-at-home strike.”
For Tsegaye, this peaceful method of protest demonstrates “a complete rejection of the regime by the people. It also blunts the regime’s false claims that the protests were violent. The stay-at-home protest is an indication of the increasing maturity of civil disobedience in Ethiopia.”
Protesters are now leaving the streets and staying at home
Internet restrictions
Residents in both the Oromia and Amhara regions say that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get an internet connection and access to social media tools has been blocked. “The only way to get through is by using proxy servers,” one resident of Gondar told DW.
In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Ethiopia’s Communications Affairs Minister Getachew Reda claimed that that social media had been used “to churn out false information after false information, mostly seditious remarks, trying to agitate people against security forces and also against fellow brothers and sisters.” The administration therefore decided to gag “the kind of vitriol running over social media,” he said.
However, political pundits argue that the state move to censor the internet places a strain on political discourse and the sharing of information. Despite the fact that the country has less than three percent of internet access, there are growing numbers of news and opposition websites which the regime is notorious for blocking.
Aid from the West
The Ethiopian government receives some 3.5 billion dollars (3 billion euros) annually from international donors and has remained a key strategic partner of the West, particularly the US and the EU, in the ‘war against terror.’ However, analysts argue this financial support has been toughening the regime’s resolve to silence dissenting voices. The western approach of tiptoeing around human right violations in the country and its continued support for the regime has been stirring up anger among sections of the public.
Tsegaye says that US and EU “support of the regime – which they know is clearly undemocratic – is the very cause of the state terrorism we observe in the region.”
A recent editorial in The Washington Post argues that the Obama administration, beyond releasing their “deeply concerned” statements, should put pressure on the regime to allow for “credible investigation into the killings.” Following the demonstrations in the two regions, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, urged the Ethiopian government to “give access to international observers in the affected areas to establish what really happened.”
In an interview with DW, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the commissioner, said restrictions on internet access, the blocking of social media and lack of civil society organizations in the country have made it difficult to verify reports of deaths and casualties.
Oromo activists took to the streets of Berlin in November 2015
Mohammed Said, public relations officer with Ethiopia’s Communications Affairs Office, told DW that the government had its own system of checks and balances and the country’s own Human Rights Commission was doing its job in investigating and publicizing the human rights situation in the country.
For analyst Tsegaye, this shows that the regime “is still in denial of the injustice its policies have resulted in.” The Ethiopian government now has the opportunity to change its approach – otherwise, Ravina said, “if the situation is left to fester, there will be more outbursts, more unrest, more protests and perhaps more violence.”
In Ethiopia unrest and protests against the government. This goes with a heavy hand against it. At the center of the conflict is the distribution of farmland.
Seit einigen Tagen weiten sich in Äthiopien Unruhen und Proteste gegen die Regierung aus. Diese geht mit harter Hand dagegen vor. Im Mittelpunkt des Konflikts steht die Verteilung von Ackerland.
Menschenrechtsbeauftragte zu den Unruhen in Äthiopien
Erscheinungsdatum17.08.2016
Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Menschenrechtspolitik und Humanitäre Hilfe, Bärbel Kofler, erklärte heute (17.08.):
Zusatzinformationen
Die Unruhen in Äthiopien, die sich inzwischen von der Region Oromia auf die Region Amhara sowie Addis Abeba ausgeweitet haben und zuletzt in einem blutigem Wochenende gipfelten, bei dem schätzungsweise 50 Menschen bei Zusammenstößen mit Sicherheitskräften getötet wurden, verfolge ich mit großer Sorge. Ich mahne alle Beteiligten an, in einen inklusiven Dialog einzutreten und bedingungslos auf Gewalt zu verzichten. Mein Beileid spreche ich den Angehörigen der Verstorbenen aus und wünsche den Verletzten eine baldige Genesung.
In der äthiopischen Verfassung garantierte Rechte wie freie Meinungsäußerung und friedliche Versammlungsfreiheit müssen gewahrt bleiben. Einsätze der Sicherheitskräfte gegenüber Demonstranten dürfen den Grundsatz der Verhältnismäßigkeit nicht brechen.
Ich bin davon überzeugt, dass Umverteilung von Land für Entwicklungs- und Investitionszwecke, sowie die Neugliederung von Verwaltungsbezirken partizipativ, transparent und sozialverträglich umgesetzt werden muss. Hierbei ist es wichtig, dass legitime Forderungen von ethnischen Gruppen und Oppositionskräften berücksichtigt werden. Die in Äthiopien erreichten wirtschaftlichen Fortschritte müssen allen Bevölkerungsteilen gleichermaßen zu Gute kommen. Ich appelliere daher an die Regierung, unter Nutzung der lokalen Kräfte und Stärkung der föderalen Struktur in einen konstruktiven Dialog mit der gesamten Bevölkerung einzutreten. Nur so kann die Lage auf Dauer beruhigt und ein friedvolles Leben gesichert werden.
Hintergrund
Seit November 2015 kommt es in der Region Oromia und neuerdings auch in der Region Amhara immer wieder zu Demonstrationen und Protesten gegen die Zentralregierung und die strukturelle Benachteiligung der Provinzen und deren ethnischen Bevölkerungen. Der äthiopische Staat reagierte darauf mit Zensur, Einschüchterung und gewaltsamen Vorgehen der Sicherheitskräfte. Wie auch bei früheren Protestaktionen hatte die Regierung zunächst die sozialen Medien und Nachrichtendienste und schließlich das gesamte Internet landesweit gesperrt.
Bestätigte Zahlen über die Opfer gibt es nicht. Es kann jedoch als gesichert gelten, dass im Zeitraum November 2015 bis Mai 2016 mehrere hundert Menschen ums Leben kamen (bis zu 400 laut AI und HRW). Die äthiopische Regierung bestätigt diese Zahlen nicht.
Neben der unruhigen Region Oromia hat sich Gondar (Amhara Region) seit einigen Wochen zu einem weiteren Brennpunkt Äthiopiens entwickelt. Aus der blutigen Festnahme einiger Aktivisten der Welkait-Volksgruppe am 14. Juli ist binnen weniger Wochen eine größere Protestbewegung entstanden, deren Ende noch nicht abzusehen ist.
press release (Google translated)
Human Rights Commissioner on the unrest in Ethiopia
Release date 17 August /2016
The Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, Bärbel Kofler, stated today (17:08.):
additional information
The unrest in Ethiopia who have now spread from the Oromia region of the Amhara and Addis Ababa and recently culminated in a bloody weekend in which an estimated 50 people were killed in clashes with security forces, I have been following with great concern. I urge all parties to engage in an inclusive dialogue and unconditionally to renounce violence. My condolences to the families of the deceased, I and wish those injured a speedy recovery. In the Ethiopian Constitution guaranteed rights such as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly freedom must be respected.Appearances of the security forces against protesters must not break the principle of proportionality. I am convinced that redistribution of land for development and investment purposes, as well as the reorganization of administrative districts must be participatory, transparent and socially acceptable measures. It is important that legitimate demands of ethnic groups and opposition forces are taken into account. The arrived in Ethiopia’s economic progress must come to Good all populations equally. I therefore appeal to the Government to engage using local forces and strengthening the federal structure in a constructive dialogue with the entire population. Only so the location can assured permanent and peaceful lives are saved.
Background Since November 2015, in the region of Oromia and recently also in the Amhara region repeatedly to demonstrations and protests against the central government and the structural disadvantage of the provinces and their ethnic populations. The Ethiopian government responded by censorship, intimidation and violent actions of the security forces. As with earlier protests, the government had first social media and news services, and finally the entire Internet nationally banned. Confirmed figures on the victims do not exist. However, it can safely be assumed that in the period from November 2015 to May 2016, several hundred people were killed (up to 400, according to AI and HRW). The Ethiopian government does not confirm these numbers. In addition to the troubled region of Oromia to Gondar has developed (Amhara Region) for a few weeks to a further focal point of Ethiopia. From bloody arrest of some activists Welkait ethnic group on July 14 a larger protest movement has arisen within a few weeks, the end is not yet in sight.
Ethiopia: State – Sponsored Terrorism and Military Brutality in Oromia HRLHA Urgent Action
Read more at:- 
Oromian Economist 
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