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CNN Connect the World: Marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa tells us why it was so important to highlight his people’s suffering at the Rio 2016 Olympics and #OromoProtests
At night, Feyisa Lilesa and his friends hid in the farms to evade the security forces who were arresting people across the country. As a 15-year-old growing up in Oromia region, Lilesa says he was always aware that many of his fellow citizens didn’t approve of the government’s treatment. But the moment of awakening for…
Oromo athlete Tamiru Demisse (Center) shows solidarity in the world stage with #OromoProtests after the final of men’s 1500m of the Rio 2016 Paralympic.He is the silver medal winner at the event. Tamiru Demisse is 22 years old ( Born October 7, 1993).
Oromo Oromo athletes Tamiru Demisse (C), Megersa Tasisa (L) and sport journalist Adugna Angasu (R) who are in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Paralympic 2016 show solidarity in a world stage to #OromoProtests, 11 September 2016.
Atleetiin Oromoo Damiseee Taammiruu ‘RioParalympic’ (Oloompikii qaama miidhamtootaa) irratti Fiigicha meetra 1500 irratti sadarkaa 2ffaan injifatee harka isaas waliin qaxxaamursee diddaa wayyaanee mul’isee injifannoo dachaa galmeessee jira.Kana kan raawwate Fulbaana 11 bara 2016 tti. Atleet Damiseen qaama miidhamaa yoo tahu ijji isaa takk0 hin agartu. Gootichi kun garuu addunyaa irratti saba isaa, saba Oromoof injifannoo guddaa fi boonsaa galmeesse jira . Wanti nama ajaa’ibu garuu atileetiin kun 1ffaa bahuu ni danda’a ture. Yoo sarara seenuuf xiqqo hafuuf mallattoo fincila xumura garbummaa Oromoo mul’isuuf jedhee hanga inni harka isaa ol qabu duubaa dhufanii bira dabranii saba isaaf jedhee 2ffaa bahuuf dirqame.
Itti dabaleesi Damisee Taammiruu yoo badhaasa fudhatuus alaabaan Itoophiyaa (wayyanee) akka ol hin baane dhoorkee yoo faaruun alaabaa Itoophiyaa faarfamtuus afaan qabatee jibba qabuuf mul’ise. Akkasumaas wayta baayyee harka isaa ol kaasuun mormii isaa irra deddeebi’ee mul’isaa ture. Atileetiin kun saba isaatiif jedhee wareegama qaalii injifannoo dachaa galmeesse. Innillee Itoophiyatti gale taanaan miidhaa hamaatu isa qunnama. Wayyaaneen aara Fayyisaa mara irratti dabalattee miiti. Kanaaf Oromoon addunyaarra jirtan akkuma inni daandii Fayyisaa Lalisaa baase irra deeme, nutiis daandii Fayyisaaf irra deemne irra haa deemnuuf. Isa waliin ‘RioParalympic’ irra kan turan Atleet magarsaa Taasisaa fi gazexeessaa Adunyaa Angaasuu isa waliin mallattoo fincila xumura garbummaa agarsiisaniiru.
News Week: Ethiopian Paralympian Tamiru Demisse showed solidarity with Oromia protesters—who have clashed with the country’s government—as he claimed a silver medal, following a protest gesture made by Olympic counterpart Feyisa Lilesa.
Demisse, who competed in the men’s 1,500-meter T13 race for visually impaired runners, claimed a silver medal in the race on Sunday at the Olympic Station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As he crossed the finish line, Demisse crossed his arms above his head.The gesture has become widely adopted among members of the Oromo people, the country’s largest ethnic group. Oromo protesters have clashed with Ethiopian security forces in recent months, with Human Rights Watch claiming the unrest has seen more than 400 people killed.
The protest by Tamiru Demisse, the silver medalist in the men’s 1,500 m in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, comes after fellow Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa made headlines during the Olympics last month when he made a similar protest as he claimed silver in the men’s marathon.
The gesture — a sort of X above the head — is a symbol of defiance against the Ethiopian government’s crack-down on anti-government protests that started in the Oromo region in November last year.
Africa News: An Ethiopian Paralympic athlete, Tamiru Demisse, crossed his arms above his head after finishing second in the Men’s 1500m race in Rio. He did same during the medal ceremony.
Tamiru finished behind Algeria’s Abdellatif Baka who took gold in the event. His gesture follows that of fellow athlete Feyisa Lilesa who also won silver in a marathon during the Olympic Games. Kenya’s Henry Kirwa won the bronze medal.
Crossing arms is a sign of protest against Ethiopian 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.
Silver medallist Tamiru Demisse of Oromia/ Ethiopia, gold medallist Abdellatif Baka of Algeria and bronze medallist Henry Kirwa of Kenya. 11 September 2016
Beneficiaries of this fund are Oromo athletes Tamiru Demisse, Megersa Tasisa and sport journalist Adugna Angasu who are in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Paralympic 2016. Mr. Demisse won a Silver Medal in the T13 1500 meter race and declared his support for pro-democracy movement in Ethiopia by raising his arms above his head X-style which is the symbol of #OromoProtests. Mr. Bayisa, an athlete, and Mr. Angasu, a sport journalist, from Ethiopia are also in Barzil for the Paralympic 2016. The three men fear persecution for supporting #OromoProtests if they go back to Ethiopia and are seeking political asylum. All fund raised will be used to support the beneficiaries. Please donate whatever amount you can. Thank you. Click here to go to the site
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:
OromianEconomist 
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