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
Qeerroo – young Oromo activists – drove the mass strike that helped topple the prime minister of one of Africa’s most autocratic governments
Supporters of Bekele Gerba, secretary general of the Oromo Federalist Congress, celebrate his release from prison, in Adama, February 2018. Photograph: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
Today, Desalegn is a banker. But once he was a Qeerroo: a young, energetic and unmarried man from Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo, bound by what he calls a “responsibility to defend the people”.
Twelve years ago he helped organise mass protests against an election result he and many others believed the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) had rigged. This landed him in prison, along with thousands of others, on terrorism charges.
Since then he has married and, like many of his generation in Ethiopia, mostly avoided politics. That was until 12 February, when he joined almost everyone in the town of Adama, and in many others cities across the region of Oromia, in a strike calling for the release of opposition leaders and an end to authoritarianism.
The boycott, which lasted three days and brought much of central Ethiopia to a standstill, culminated on 13 February with the release of Bekele Gerba, a prominent Oromo politician who lives in Adama, and, within 48 hours, the sudden resignation of Ethiopia’s beleaguered prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn. The shaken federal government then declared a nationwide state-of-emergency on 15 February, the second in as many years.
“It was a total shutdown,” says Desalegn, of the strike in Adama. “Almost everybody took part – including government offices. You wouldn’t have even been able to find a shoeshine boy here.”
For him and many other residents of Adama, about 90km south-east of the capital, Addis Ababa, there is only one explanation for how a normally quiescent town finally joined the uprising that has billowed across much of Oromia and other parts of Ethiopia since late 2014: the Qeerroo.
Police fire teargas to disperse protesters during the Oromo festival of Irreecha, in Bishoftu, October 2016. Photograph: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
Who the Qeerroo are, and how they have helped bring one of Africa’s strongest and most autocratic governments to its knees, is only dimly understood.
In traditional Oromo culture the term denotes a young bachelor. But today it has broader connotations, symbolising both the Oromo movement – a struggle for more political freedom and for greater ethnic representation in federal structures – and an entire generation of newly assertive Ethiopian youth.
“They are the voice of the people,” explains Debela, a 32-year-old taxi driver in Adama who says he is too old to be one but that he supports their cause. “They are the vanguard of the Oromo revolution.”
The term’s resurgence also reflects the nature of Oromo identity today, which has grown much stronger since Ethiopia’s distinct model of ethnically based federalism was established by the EPRDF in 1994.
“In the past even to be seen as Oromo was a crime,” says Desalegn, of the ethnic assimilation policies pursued by the two preceding Ethiopian regimes, imperial and communist. “But now people are proud to be Oromo … So the Qeerroos are emboldened.”
As the Oromo movement has grown in confidence in recent years, so the role of the Qeerroo in orchestrating unrest has increasingly drawn the attention of officials.
At the start of the year police announced plans to investigate and crack down on the Qeerroo, arguing that it was a clandestine group bent on destabilising the country and seizing control of local government offices. Party sympathisers accused members of being terrorists.
Bekele Gerba waves to his supporters after his release from prison in Adama, on 13 February. Photograph: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
Though many dispute this characterisation, few doubt the underground strength of the Qeerroo today.
Since the previous state of emergency was lifted last August, Qeerroo networks have been behind multiple strikes and protests in different parts of Oromia, despite obstacles like the total shutdown of mobile internet in all areas beyond the capital since the end of last year.
Bekele Gerba, the opposition leader, credits the Qeerroo with securing his release from prison, and for sending hundreds of well-wishers to his home in Adama in the aftermath. But like many older activists, he confesses to limited knowledge of how they organise themselves.
“I only became aware of them relatively recently,” he says. “We don’t know who the leadership is and we don’t know if they have a central command.”
But in a recent interview with the Guardian, two local leaders in Adama, Haile and Abiy (not their real names), shed light on their methods.
According to the two men, who are both in their late 20s, each district of the city has one Qeerroo leader, with at least 20 subordinates, all of whom are responsible for disseminating messages and information about upcoming strikes.
They say their networks have become better organised in recent months, explaining that there is now a hierarchical command chain and even a single leader for the whole of Oromia. “This gives us discipline and allows us to speak with one voice,” says Abiy.
Their job has become more difficult in the absence of the internet.
“With social media you can disseminate the message in seconds,” says Abiy. “Now it can take two weeks, going from door to door.” Instead of using WhatsApp and Facebook, they now distribute paper flyers, especially on university campuses.
The role of Oromo activists among the diaspora, especially those in the US, also remains crucial, despite the shutdown.
Zecharias Zelalem, an Ethiopian journalist based in Canada, argues that it is thanks to prominent social media activists that the Qeerroo have acquired the political heft that youth movements in other parts of the country still lack. He highlights in particular the work of Jawar Mohammed, the controversial founder of the Minnesota-based Oromia Media Network (which is banned in Ethiopia), in amplifying the voice of the Qeerroo even when internet is down.
“[Jawar] gives us political analyses and advice,” Haile explains. “He can get access to information even from inside the government, which he shares with the Qeerroos. We evaluate it and then decide whether to act on it.”
He and Abiy both dismiss the assumption, widespread in Ethiopia, that Jawar remote-controls the protests. “The Qeerroos are like a football team,” counters Haile. “Jawar may be the goalkeeper – helping and advising – but we are the strikers.”
Supporters of Bekele Gerba chant slogans to celebrate Gerba’s release from prison. Photograph: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
The reimposition of the state-of-emergency has angered many Qeerroos in Adama and elsewhere in Oromia, where the move was widely seen as heavy-handed bid to reverse the protesters’ momentum.
Some analysts fear further repression will push members of a still mostly peaceful political movement towards violence and extremism.
Many in the government, as well as in other parts of the country, worry about a rise in ethnically motivated attacks, on people and property, and especially on ethnic Tigrayans, who make up about 6% of the population but are generally considered to dominate politics and business.
Late last year federal troops were dispatched to university campuses, in large part due to escalating ethnic violence, which included several deaths. There were reports of similar incidents during protests throughout the past month.
Jibril Ummar, a local businessman and activist, says that he and others tried to ensure the protests in Adama were peaceful, calming down overexcited young men who wanted to damage property and attack non-Oromos.
“It worries me,” he admits. “There’s a lack of maturity. When you are emotional you put the struggle in jeopardy.”
Gerba says he worries about violence, too, including of the ethnic kind. “We know for sure that Tigrayans are targeted most, across the country. This concerns me very much and it is something that has to be worked on.”
In the coming days the EPRDF will decide on a new prime minister, and many hope it will be someone from the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation (OPDO), the Oromo wing of the ruling coalition.
This might placate some of the Qeerroo, at least in the short term. But it is unlikely to be enough on its own to dampen the anger.
“When we are married we will retire from the Qeerroo,” says Haile. “But we will never do that until we get our freedom.”
An influential news portal in Ethiopia, Addis Standard, has shared photos of students in Oromia region’s town of Nekemte, staging what has been described as “a mass mourning” and silent protest over recent civilian deaths.
The nature of the protest which took place late last week, was of the students marching with their hands up, photos showed then also kneeling with their heads bowed and at a point sitting on streets of the town of Nekemte located in western Ethiopia.
Addis Standard said that the protest was directly linked to the deaths in Chelenko located in the country’s East Hararghe zone. Federal security forces are said to have opened fire on protesters leading to about 16 deaths.
Oromia region communications Bureau chief, Addisu Arega Kitessa, said members of the the national defense force were responsible for the deaths, adding that a probe was underway to ascertain how peaceful civilians had been killed.
Adissu Arega said people in the region’s east Hararghe zone had hit the streets to protest the killing of an individual leading to the latest clashes that have claimed more lives.
The Oromia region was the heartbeat of anti-government protests that hit Ethiopia in late 2015 through the better part of 2016. The protests spread to the Amhara region leading to deaths after a violent security crackdown.
The widening protests led to the imposition of a six-month state of emergency in October 2016. It, however, lasted 10 months after the parliament voted an extension after the initial expiration in April this year. It was eventually lifted in August 2017.
#OromoProtests (students and the public) in Haawaa Galan, Malkaa Roobii town, Oromia, 18 December 2017. Aanaa Haawwaa Galaan magaalaa gabaa roobii hiriira guyyaa har’aa barattootaaf uummata.
At least 15 people were killed on December 11, 2017, when members of the Ethiopian Defense Force fired on peaceful protesters. The demonstration was prompted by the killing of an individual by members of security forces of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, in the latest chapter of a longstanding border dispute between Ethiopia’s two largest states — Oromia and Ethiopian Somali in Eastern Ethiopia.
According to reports from local authorities, one person died after being transferred to the hospital following the attack, and more than 12 were injured in the violence which began in Chelenko, a district town in eastern Oromia:
As journalists managed to get more details, this news from the BBC Afaan Oromoo says five people of the same family were among the #Chelenko victims in east Hararghe of #Oromia region who were shot dead by members of the national defense forces on Monday http://www.bbc.com/afaanoromoo/42348773 …
Reports on social media said that members of the Ethiopian Defense Force fired live bullets on peaceful demonstrators. The Ethiopian government has released a belated statement on the incident, but in an unusual move, the party governing Oromia — the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), a member of Ethiopia’s governing coalition, the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) — released a strong statement accusing members of the Ethiopian Defense Force of violating the Ethiopian Constitution and vowing to investigate the killing of peaceful protesters:
In a single presser, Oromia regional communication bureau slams PM Hailemariam and defense force for causing Chelenqo massacre. The bureau has called the Oromia region’s security forces to prepare for any kind of sacrifice. #Ethiopia#OromoProtests
Some suggested that the statement is merely a symbolic initiative. Others considered it as a signal of the power struggle raging within the multi-ethnic governing coalition, the EPRDF, which comprises four ethnic-based parties: the Tigrayan People Liberation Front (TPLF), the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM):
TPLF’s sham coalition EPRDF in disarray—OPDO walked out of the CC meeting, ANDM also followed today. This TPLF machination has certainly run out of steam. TPLF must go! The country needs orderly transition before it’s too late. #OromoProtests#OromoRevolution#Ethiopia
The power struggle involving the four EPRDF parties has been simmering since last summer. The row between the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO) and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), was exposed when Abdula, the speaker of the Ethiopian Parliament and a prominent member of the OPDO, resigned from his position in October:
The TPLF apartheid like regime propagandist redefines the English definition of a ‘minority’. To misquote the famous saying, “two things are infinite: the universe and TPLF’S stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
Power is heavily concentrated among members of the TPLF. However, there is some fear that if the OPDO continues down this road, it will be looking to defend itself using weapons, which could plunge Ethiopia into a civil war that will make the current conflict seem like just fisticuffs:
#Ethiopia‘s TPLF leadership should seriously consider requesting US Government mediation to organize a conference among all parties that will produce new democratic dispensation – before law and order collapse completely.
Despite the fact that the Oromo and Somali people who live along the border of Oromia and the Ethiopian Somali regions share close familial, religious and cultural ties, tensions are high along most of the disputed 1,000 km border. A brutal crackdown on the Oromo community living in Ethiopia’s Somali region has triggered a massive humanitarian catastrophe in eastern Ethiopia. By now, roughly 50,000 Oromos have fled into Ethiopia’s historical town, Harar, since last August.
Protests raged elsewhere in Ethiopia as well. A clash between followers of two football clubs from Ethiopia’s northern states, Amhara and Tigray, led to the death of a football fan from Tigray, which in turn caused episodes of violence in three universities located in the Amhara, Oromia and Tigray regional states. Last week saw one particularly violent night at Adigrat University (situated in the Tigray region), where a student from the Amhara region was killed. Gruesome images of the victim subsequently went viral on social media:
Political uncertainty in #Ethiopia amid fresh Amhara, #OromoProtests
Mohammed Ademo@OPride
Over a dozen civilians, including a 10-year-old boy, and a father and son, killed by Ethiopian Defense Forces and many wounded across Oromia and in parts of Amhara state. Renewed protests reportedly…
In what appears to be reprisals, two students from Tigray were reportedly killed at Welega University, located in the Oromia region. The number of incidents and casualties, as well as the number of people involved and the ethnic tone of the conflict over the past few days, has raised the prospect of even greater violence in Ethiopia, according to analysts. The Ethiopian government grudgingly characterizes the recent unrest as ethnic conflict, but also points the finger at diaspora-based activists and social media. However, opposition groups argue that Tigrayan politicians instigatedthe violence as a tool to maintain the status quo:
He also said that the national security council will be investigating the killings and “appropriate measures will be taken.” The public should also not reflect on such incidents emotionally. He added that legal measures will be taken based on the findings of the security council pic.twitter.com/TuYYYJ3xvJ
Commenting on the recent clashes inside univ. campuses he said they were different from previous demands of univ students that were attended to by the gov. The recent clashes have taken a clear ethnic dynamics & have resulted in the killings of students, Dr. Negeri further said. pic.twitter.com/GCtAeQiNJs
On December 13, mobile internet services and social media services were cut off in most parts of the country in an attempt to avert the deepening crisis.
Protesters in Aagaa Waayyuu district, Haya Diimaa town in Guji zone denounced Ali Mudin's gold exploitation and plundering in the area. Down Down Wayyane was also their running slogan. #Oromiapic.twitter.com/scyVUojCn6
November 9 is the day we remember Oromo student martyrs for just cause of the Oromo people. In 2005 OLF made a call for revolt against the dictatorial government of Ethiopia and on 9th November 2005, the Oromo students began the revolt in response to the call. Since that day the struggle continued to this date.
In April 2011 Qerroo stretched the struggle for freedom of the Oromo people into every part of Oromia. The struggle which is ongoing with full support of youth and students of Oromia embraces the causes of the people of Oromia.
The well coordinated revolt of last year against the dictator Wayyane government on the issue of land ownership is still continuing in a more aggressive way. In this ongoing struggle many precious lives have been sacrified. Those fallen heroes let their blood to flow like a flood, but left their bones to be broken into pieces just for the freedom of the Oromo people. So every year the history of Oromo people will remember it.
November 9, is the memorial day of the struggle against subjugation and it will be held in different parts of Oromia and all over the world by Oromo communities and the friends of Oromos. On this special day, the Oromo youth who sacrified their life for their goal, their heroic hard word for freedom, and their painful journey they had been through will be remembered and honored. By doing so we show our respect and love that we have for our heroes and it is also our responsibility as a citizen of Oromia.
On this day we also remember the Oromo political prisoners who are in torture and we also make a way of struggle that can bring the freedom of our political prisoners and how we can apply it in to practice.
If Oromos united and revolt with one voice, we can over throw the dictator wayyane government from its root with in just one night. And then we can have our free independent state of Oromia. All we need is a focused struggle with unity and aggressive revolt with any weapon we have. The last year revolt is our positive sign to understand how impactfull our united struggle was.
So that by using our experiences and our achievements of revolt against subjugation and the struggle of Oromo liberation , we can launch stronger and more intensive struggle that will remove the dictator TPLF government painfully from our land Oromia.
On this day ,the Oromo youths, the freedom fighters, the heroes and other Oromos who have been sacrified on the struggle of Oromo people will be remembered!
We will fulfil the dream of our heroes which they sacrified for!
November 9 every year, we will remember the day of Revolt Against Subjugation of Oromo Students.
Protests this week in Oromia have raised concerns, with one on Wednesday 11 October 2017 killing 8 people. Sections of the Oromo diaspora accused the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of having orchestrated these deadly demonstrations, since they were organized unlike the others.
At least 8 people were killed and more than 30 others injured on October 11, 2017 in renewed protests across Ethiopia’s restive Oromia state. Peaceful protests were reported again on Thursday in several Oromia towns, including Woliso in West Shawa, where locals reported a peaceful rally of more than 15,000 people.
Yesterday’s deadly protests appear to have been organized unlike previous ones, which were usually, although not always, preceded by media announcements from abroad. In fact, some diaspora-based activists denounced yesterday’s demonstrations as the work of spoilers and agents of the ruling Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Officials from the Oromia regional state also said the protests were planned by forces that want to weaken Oromo unity.
The protests went ahead despite calls for their cancellation. Demonstrators took to the streets in large numbers in more than dozen towns in West Arsi, West Shawa, Wallaga, and Hararge zones. The protests in the latter have been ongoing and largely in response to continued incursions by the Liyu Police of the adjoining Somali Regional State of Ethiopia.
For days, several Oromo activists warned protesters not to join the protests called by unknown individuals under the banner of “waamicha harmee” – meaning Oromia’s call – out of concern that protests lacking clear political goals were fruitless. Although the organizers were unknown, the slogans were nothing unusual: Down down Wayane, release opposition leaders from prison, and no to fake federalism.
What does this mean? Does it mean diaspora activists are being left in the cold by home-based groups who have their own agenda other than waiting on a hollow promise of change to be midwifed by Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO) at some future date? Does it mean the OPDO has lost control of the streets? Does it indicate the lack of coordination and clear chain of command within the grassroots movement? Was this the inevitable instance of social media being weaponized by state actors? Were there targeted and geotagged campaigns within Ethiopia by TPLF agents and social media consultants?
Prior to yesterday’s protests, senior OPDO leaders held massive town hall meetings in flashpoint towns, including Ambo, and it appeared they were connecting with the public. But the widespread protests upended it all. In three-years of protests, the prelude to Irreechaa 2017 was the only time protest leaders across the Atlantic were seen to be on different pages. The peaceful conclusion of this year’s thanksgiving festival signaled that the fences were all mended. Then came the Malka Atete celebrations in Sabata and Burayu towns in central Oromia. The latter events differed from Irreecha by the unusually large display of Oromo resistance flags.
The sheer size of flags at the event came as a surprise because leaders of the Oromo Gadaa council had called on all attendees not to bring any flags and partisan emblems. This led to spirited debates among Oromo activists for several days. Others speculated that the unusually large display of the flags must be the work of some organized group, perhaps even the regime with the aim of using it as a pretext for violent crackdown and justification for another Oromia-wide state of emergency.
The development was significant enough that even pro-TPLF bloggers weighed in. For example, Horn Affairs editor Daniel Berhane noted that when people hoist that flag and mention the name Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), they are not referring to the OLF faction in Asmara but the nation’s spirit of resistance against oppression. This focus on the flag and OLF prompted the Asmara-based group to aggressively pushback on social media, even appearing to suggest it was behind the protests.
From what we know, OLF and its affiliated Qeerroo Bilisummaa did not publicly call Wednesday’s protests and its reach doesn’t extend as widely as the protests were. They simply lack the kind of grassroots organizational capacity necessary to pull off demonstrations of this size. Besides, the group calls its protests Fincila Xumura Gabrummaa (FXG), the final push to end Oromo subjugation, and no calls for protests under this slogan went out. Most importantly, it would have formally claimed responsibility for the massive turnout if it was behind it. Besides, some of the slogans, for example about making the federation meaningful, are contrary to the demands of the Asmara group.
Regardless, #OromoProtests is entering a new critical phase. Many hope that this week’s deadly protests were but a one-off instance of breakdown in communications and leaders of the grassroots movement will move swiftly to assert control. A repeat of a similarly uncoordinated protest would be seen as a sign of rupture within the protest movement. If past trends are any indication, the grassroots movement has been so resilient that it overcame its shortcomings after each hiccup.
Revolutions are slow-cooking. However, prolonged revolutions tend to self-destruct and atrophy. The culprit is usually the appearance on the stage of dark forces that may not necessarily be in line with the overall objective of the movement other than disrupting the status quo. Without the decisive battles that mark watershed moments and make whatever gains are made irreversible, revolutions are still in uncertain waters.
So far the gains made as a result of the huge sacrifices incurred over the past three years are largely symbolic and rhetorical…with the possible exception of the change of attitude by Oromia police as well as the Oromia regional administration. It had once appeared as if the latter is in charge. Yesterday’s mass protests requires a rethink of all calculations by the OPDO and diaspora activists and all responsible forces.
That said, OPDO leaders should not and could not rest on their laurels. The youth protesters have great sympathy for their plight and dreams of autonomy from the domineering Center. Arresting suspects in the killing of protesters yesterday is a remarkable departure from the past and could only increase sympathy towards the regional government. However, sympathy is far from loyalty. Besides, the organization is only recently baptized as part of the Oromo struggle for freedom rather than a Trojan horse for the TPLF, which was the prevailing view among the Oromo public until 2014, when nation-wide protests broke out, and more incontestably after October 2016 when Lemma Megersa and his nationalist wing of young Turks took the helm at the organization. Protesters will garner confidence only after seeing concrete change at the federal level. The changes in Oromia state level are encouraging. The state-run media outfit is putting out critical reports and airs documentaries critical of the federal authorities that have refused to heed the demands of the Oromo people and instead ordered not only killing of peaceful protesters but also displacements of thousands from their ancestral homes using a proxy army, the Somali regions Liyu Police. But that is far from enough.
Labeling it as the work of the enemy harkens back to the dark days of the past when Oromo against Oromo rivalries undermined a united struggle against oppression and marginalization. Rather than the work of an enemy or http://www.satenaw.com/breaking-news-least-eight-killed-dozens-wounded-protests-across-oromia/internal saboteurs, the protests could also signal a renewed push towards taking the struggle into a new stage aimed at changing the TPLF regime.
The full USA’s House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to advance a resolution, authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), highlighting the human rights violations of the Ethiopian government, and offering a blueprint to create a government better designed to serve the interests of the Ethiopian people.
The resolution, which passed without objection, also calls on the U.S. government to implement Magnitsky Act sanctions, targeting the individuals within the Ethiopian government who are the cause of the horrific abuses.
New York Times journalist says Ethiopia faces dangers due to oppression of majority http://www.thethiopianmedia.com/article_read.php?a=121
New York Times journalist, who worked as the paper’s East Africa Bureau chief for a decade, says the oppression that the majority, especially Amharas and Oromos, suffer under the minority government is a danger for the future of the country.
Jeffrey Gettleman, who won the most coveted journalism award, the Pulitzer Prize in 2011 for his work focusing on East Africa, said in an exclusive interview with ESAT that building infrastructure is important but not an excuse to kill, jail and torture innocent civilians.
“Infrastructure is really important in Africa right now. But if you are very repressive you are jeopardizing everything because you are creating this anger and resentment and volatility. We have seen that in the last couple of years, more volatility, violence and political upheaval in Ethiopia than there has been since the 1990s,” he said.
International Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. Crafted in the shadow of the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II, the Declaration gave the world the vision it needed to stand up to fear and the blueprint it craved to build a safer and more just world. Its single premise is: “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
Human Rights Day Message:United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s message for Human Rights Day 10 December 2014.
In observing Human Rights Day, its important to highlight the horrific going on in 2014 in our world. The following document is the summary of horrific repression going on against Oromo people by tyrannic Ethiopian regime:
” data-medium-file=”” data-large-file=”” class=”alignleft wp-image-4426″ src=”https://qeerroo.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/hrlha.jpg?w=151&h=151″ alt=”HRLHA” style=”margin: 0px 7px 2px 0px; padding: 4px; border: none; float: left; display: inline;”>February 26, 2017The Ethiopian Somali Liyu Police led by the Ethiopian Federal government’s killing squad have been engaged in a cruel war for the past six months against the Oromo nation in fifteen districts of Oromia. The Oromia districts that have been invaded by the two aforementioned forces are in east and east- west Hararge Zone, Eastern Oromia, Guji, Borana and Bale, South Oromia zones, Southern Oromia of Oromia Regional State.
In his interview with VOA, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Tom Malinowski discussed the current Ethiopian situation and his concerns regarding human right protection. He said, “It’s a very difficult situation. The country is under a state of emergency, and a state of emergency by definition means that certain rights are suspended. Due process is suspended. And however much the government may feel that the state of emergency has brought calm temporarily to the country, it also brings with it certain risks. It risks adding a new layer of grievances to those grievances that initially led people in Oromia and Amhara to come out onto the streets. At first they were concerned about land seizures and lack of jobs and representation, all of which the government has acknowledge to be real and legitimate. But now they’re also upset about the arrests and the violence. And the longer this continues, the more those grievances are likely to build. At the same time, it risks giving greater power to the security apparatus in a way that could delay the introduction of the reforms that the Prime Minister and the government have, to their great credit, said are necessary.” Listen the first part of VOA interview at: http://bit.ly/2h3kmYO https://www.facebook.com/us.emb.addisababa/posts/1372399152802454
An Ethiopian government directive under a state of emergency contains overly broad and vague provisions that risk triggering a human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a legal analysis. The government should promptly repeal or revise all elements of the directive that are contrary to international law. 31 October 2016.
“Internet mobile irrati fayadamuuf mali argameera… akkas agodhani qeeroon Setting..more network….mobile network… access network name…. harka mirgara + kan jedhu tuqu… name kanjedhu … et.wap… APN… et.wap…. proxy…10.204.189.211… port…9028…. authentication… PAP or CHAP kan jedhu guutu… kana booda qeerroon mirgaan galte Mobile jam Tplf irraa hanu… sanan fayadama jira amaan kana.” #OromoRevolution.
For those following the Feyisa Lilesa and #OromoProtests in Ethiopia: Sifan Hassan on his demonstration – “He’s my hero.”
Ethiopia said on Wednesday it had deactivated mobile internet service, but offered no explanation for the countrywide outage that also briefly affected the African Union headquarters and a massive UN facility.
Ethiopia said on Wednesday it had deactivated mobile internet service, but offered no explanation for the countrywide outage that also briefly affected the African Union headquarters and a massive UN facility.
This is the second time in recent months that Africa’s second most populous country has turned off its mobile data service, which most businesses and consumers rely on for internet access.
The country’s single telecommunications provider disabled its data service for weeks last year amid fierce anti-government protests which have since been curbed under a state of emergency in place since last October.
“Mobile data has been deactivated,” deputy communications minister Zadig Abrha told AFP, declining to elaborate further.
A spokesperson for the state-owned Ethio Telecom did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Effective May 25, 2017, Washington State
Senator Maria Cantwell joined other senators as
a co-sponsor of S.R. 168.
A resolution supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive governance in Ethiopia.
Senator Cantwell was also among the original co-sponsors for similar resolution last year, S.R.432.
Thank you Senator Cantwell for your continues support!
Hiriira Nagaa Germany, Munich, Caamsaa 23 bara 2017
Dambi Dolloo irra rasaasatu heddummatee, Kan gootaa hin beeknuu basaastuu lama galaafatee
‘Breaking: Abera Bulcha, the TPLF mercenary who last years gunned down young student named Iyasu Solomon in Yemalogi Walal district of Qellam Wallaga province has been killed tonight. His brother also sustained serious injury. This is the 3rd security official to be killed in Qellam Walaga province in the last few months.
========
Bitamaan Wayyaanee Abarraa Bulchaa jedhamu kan bara darbe Godina Qeellam Wallaggaa Aaana Yamaalogi Walal keessatti barataa Iyyaasuu Solomoon ajjeese galgala kana tarkaanfii irratti fudhatameen yeroo ajjefamu obboleessi isaas madayee jira. Baatilee sadan darbe keessatti basaasota ilmaan Oromoo ficcisiisan kan godina Qeellam keessatti haleelaman keessaa Abarraan nama sadaffaati.’ Jawar Mohammed
International Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. Crafted in the shadow of the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II, the Declaration gave the world the vision it needed to stand up to fear and the blueprint it craved to build a safer and more just world. Its single premise is: “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
Human Rights Day Message:United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s message for Human Rights Day 10 December 2014.
In observing Human Rights Day, its important to highlight the horrific going on in 2014 in our world. The following document is the summary of horrific repression going on against Oromo people by tyrannic Ethiopian regime:
” data-medium-file=”” data-large-file=”” class=”alignleft wp-image-4426″ src=”https://qeerroo.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/hrlha.jpg?w=151&h=151″ alt=”HRLHA” style=”margin: 0px 7px 2px 0px; padding: 4px; border: none; float: left; display: inline;”>February 26, 2017The Ethiopian Somali Liyu Police led by the Ethiopian Federal government’s killing squad have been engaged in a cruel war for the past six months against the Oromo nation in fifteen districts of Oromia. The Oromia districts that have been invaded by the two aforementioned forces are in east and east- west Hararge Zone, Eastern Oromia, Guji, Borana and Bale, South Oromia zones, Southern Oromia of Oromia Regional State.
In his interview with VOA, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Tom Malinowski discussed the current Ethiopian situation and his concerns regarding human right protection. He said, “It’s a very difficult situation. The country is under a state of emergency, and a state of emergency by definition means that certain rights are suspended. Due process is suspended. And however much the government may feel that the state of emergency has brought calm temporarily to the country, it also brings with it certain risks. It risks adding a new layer of grievances to those grievances that initially led people in Oromia and Amhara to come out onto the streets. At first they were concerned about land seizures and lack of jobs and representation, all of which the government has acknowledge to be real and legitimate. But now they’re also upset about the arrests and the violence. And the longer this continues, the more those grievances are likely to build. At the same time, it risks giving greater power to the security apparatus in a way that could delay the introduction of the reforms that the Prime Minister and the government have, to their great credit, said are necessary.” Listen the first part of VOA interview at: http://bit.ly/2h3kmYO https://www.facebook.com/us.emb.addisababa/posts/1372399152802454
An Ethiopian government directive under a state of emergency contains overly broad and vague provisions that risk triggering a human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a legal analysis. The government should promptly repeal or revise all elements of the directive that are contrary to international law. 31 October 2016.
“Internet mobile irrati fayadamuuf mali argameera… akkas agodhani qeeroon Setting..more network….mobile network… access network name…. harka mirgara + kan jedhu tuqu… name kanjedhu … et.wap… APN… et.wap…. proxy…10.204.189.211… port…9028…. authentication… PAP or CHAP kan jedhu guutu… kana booda qeerroon mirgaan galte Mobile jam Tplf irraa hanu… sanan fayadama jira amaan kana.” #OromoRevolution.
For those following the Feyisa Lilesa and #OromoProtests in Ethiopia: Sifan Hassan on his demonstration – “He’s my hero.”
International Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. Crafted in the shadow of the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II, the Declaration gave the world the vision it needed to stand up to fear and the blueprint it craved to build a safer and more just world. Its single premise is: “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
Human Rights Day Message:United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s message for Human Rights Day 10 December 2014.
In observing Human Rights Day, its important to highlight the horrific going on in 2014 in our world. The following document is the summary of horrific repression going on against Oromo people by tyrannic Ethiopian regime:
” data-medium-file=”” data-large-file=”” class=”alignleft wp-image-4426″ src=”https://qeerroo.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/hrlha.jpg?w=151&h=151″ alt=”HRLHA” style=”margin: 0px 7px 2px 0px; padding: 4px; border: none; float: left; display: inline;”>February 26, 2017The Ethiopian Somali Liyu Police led by the Ethiopian Federal government’s killing squad have been engaged in a cruel war for the past six months against the Oromo nation in fifteen districts of Oromia. The Oromia districts that have been invaded by the two aforementioned forces are in east and east- west Hararge Zone, Eastern Oromia, Guji, Borana and Bale, South Oromia zones, Southern Oromia of Oromia Regional State.
In his interview with VOA, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Tom Malinowski discussed the current Ethiopian situation and his concerns regarding human right protection. He said, “It’s a very difficult situation. The country is under a state of emergency, and a state of emergency by definition means that certain rights are suspended. Due process is suspended. And however much the government may feel that the state of emergency has brought calm temporarily to the country, it also brings with it certain risks. It risks adding a new layer of grievances to those grievances that initially led people in Oromia and Amhara to come out onto the streets. At first they were concerned about land seizures and lack of jobs and representation, all of which the government has acknowledge to be real and legitimate. But now they’re also upset about the arrests and the violence. And the longer this continues, the more those grievances are likely to build. At the same time, it risks giving greater power to the security apparatus in a way that could delay the introduction of the reforms that the Prime Minister and the government have, to their great credit, said are necessary.” Listen the first part of VOA interview at: http://bit.ly/2h3kmYO https://www.facebook.com/us.emb.addisababa/posts/1372399152802454
An Ethiopian government directive under a state of emergency contains overly broad and vague provisions that risk triggering a human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a legal analysis. The government should promptly repeal or revise all elements of the directive that are contrary to international law. 31 October 2016.
“Internet mobile irrati fayadamuuf mali argameera… akkas agodhani qeeroon Setting..more network….mobile network… access network name…. harka mirgara + kan jedhu tuqu… name kanjedhu … et.wap… APN… et.wap…. proxy…10.204.189.211… port…9028…. authentication… PAP or CHAP kan jedhu guutu… kana booda qeerroon mirgaan galte Mobile jam Tplf irraa hanu… sanan fayadama jira amaan kana.” #OromoRevolution.
For those following the Feyisa Lilesa and #OromoProtests in Ethiopia: Sifan Hassan on his demonstration – “He’s my hero.”
Bush fire is ravaging, since yesterday afternoon, places in the cuqqaalaa mountain ranges of the Liiban Cuqqaalaa district in East Shawa zone, in central Oromia. I did also receive this alert yesterday afternoon from other ground sources -but didn’t post while trying to triangulate grounded evidence. Part on these mountain ranges are ancient monasteries of the orthodox church which are home to some of the most revered medieval period christian collections and documents on a small island turf of the church’s remains. We call up on the local authorities to urgently extend their support to the local community in putting off this bush fire. Via Abbaacabsaa Guutamaa
Qerroo Iluu against TPLF tyranny and its economic corruption. 5 March 2017. #OromoRevolution
Qeerroon Iluu Abbaa Booraa Qabeenya Mahammad Alaamuddiin kan ta’ee fi qonna jirbii Alaamuddiin kan Gambeela keessatti argamu irraa konkolaataa jirbii fe’isa guutuu fe’ee gara Finfinneetti adeemaa ture irratti tarkaanfii fudhatan. konkolaataa qabeenya M. Alaamuddiin kana irratti tarkaanfii kan fudhatame Magaalaa Mattuu keessatti, Bitootessa 4 bara 2017 galgala ture.
Tarkaanfii kanaan, jirbiin fe’amee ture akka hin jirre taasifamee barbadaaweera. Kinkolaatichi garu, birmaannaa hidhattoota diinaa Mattuu qubattee jirtuun, badii irraa hafee jira.
The 3rd anniversary of Oromia Media Network. Mayor of Seattle congratulated the success of OMN. 4 March 2017
Thank you Mayor Ed Murray & City of Seattle for recognizing Oromia Media Network. In democracy the press is celebrated while the tyrants in Ethiopia try to suppress OMN by filing bogus charges.
The Ethiopian Somali Liyu Police led by the Ethiopian Federal government’s killing squad have been engaged in a cruel war for the past six months against the Oromo nation in fifteen districts of Oromia. The Oromia districts that have been invaded by the two aforementioned forces are in east and east- west Hararge Zone, Eastern Oromia, Guji, Borana and Bale, South Oromia zones, Southern Oromia of Oromia Regional State.
In his interview with VOA, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Tom Malinowski discussed the current Ethiopian situation and his concerns regarding human right protection. He said, “It’s a very difficult situation. The country is under a state of emergency, and a state of emergency by definition means that certain rights are suspended. Due process is suspended. And however much the government may feel that the state of emergency has brought calm temporarily to the country, it also brings with it certain risks. It risks adding a new layer of grievances to those grievances that initially led people in Oromia and Amhara to come out onto the streets. At first they were concerned about land seizures and lack of jobs and representation, all of which the government has acknowledge to be real and legitimate. But now they’re also upset about the arrests and the violence. And the longer this continues, the more those grievances are likely to build. At the same time, it risks giving greater power to the security apparatus in a way that could delay the introduction of the reforms that the Prime Minister and the government have, to their great credit, said are necessary.” Listen the first part of VOA interview at: http://bit.ly/2h3kmYO https://www.facebook.com/us.emb.addisababa/posts/1372399152802454
An Ethiopian government directive under a state of emergency contains overly broad and vague provisions that risk triggering a human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a legal analysis. The government should promptly repeal or revise all elements of the directive that are contrary to international law. 31 October 2016.
“Internet mobile irrati fayadamuuf mali argameera… akkas agodhani qeeroon Setting..more network….mobile network… access network name…. harka mirgara + kan jedhu tuqu… name kanjedhu … et.wap… APN… et.wap…. proxy…10.204.189.211… port…9028…. authentication… PAP or CHAP kan jedhu guutu… kana booda qeerroon mirgaan galte Mobile jam Tplf irraa hanu… sanan fayadama jira amaan kana.” #OromoRevolution.
For those following the Feyisa Lilesa and #OromoProtests in Ethiopia: Sifan Hassan on his demonstration – “He’s my hero.”
Protest in Chinaksan, East Hararge against invasion and killings by Liyu Police. Protesters demand the TPLF army siding with killers and demand it to leave the area. February 23, 2017
■■■■■■■■■■■■
Hiriira Mormii Godina HarargeeBahaa Magaalaa Cinaaqsan. Ummanni makkalaakayaan nurraa haa ka’u jedha.
– He made the banned gesture against the TPLF rulers.Via Naf-tanan Gaadullo
by CDEFour-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah made the famous Oromo gesture in protest against the government of Ethiopia as he crossed the finishing line in the 5,000m Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday.The legendary British athlete who have just returned from Ethiopia to break the European record at the event (pictured), swapped his ‘Mobot’ signature celebration with a show of solidarity for the Oromo people.In Rio Olympic, hundreds of millions of people watched Ethiopian silver medallist Marathon winner Feyisa Lilesa hold his arms over his head, wrists crossed, in support of members of his Oromo ethnic group against the Ethiopian ruling party.The Tigre ethnics group (TPLF) of the country’s leaders have been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses and of discrimination against the Oromo, the country’s largest ethnic group, comprising about 35% of the country’s 100m population. Continue reading →
In his interview with VOA, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Tom Malinowski discussed the current Ethiopian situation and his concerns regarding human right protection. He said, “It’s a very difficult situation. The country is under a state of emergency, and a state of emergency by definition means that certain rights are suspended. Due process is suspended. And however much the government may feel that the state of emergency has brought calm temporarily to the country, it also brings with it certain risks. It risks adding a new layer of grievances to those grievances that initially led people in Oromia and Amhara to come out onto the streets. At first they were concerned about land seizures and lack of jobs and representation, all of which the government has acknowledge to be real and legitimate. But now they’re also upset about the arrests and the violence. And the longer this continues, the more those grievances are likely to build. At the same time, it risks giving greater power to the security apparatus in a way that could delay the introduction of the reforms that the Prime Minister and the government have, to their great credit, said are necessary.” Listen the first part of VOA interview at: http://bit.ly/2h3kmYO https://www.facebook.com/us.emb.addisababa/posts/1372399152802454
An Ethiopian government directive under a state of emergency contains overly broad and vague provisions that risk triggering a human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a legal analysis. The government should promptly repeal or revise all elements of the directive that are contrary to international law. 31 October 2016.
“Internet mobile irrati fayadamuuf mali argameera… akkas agodhani qeeroon Setting..more network….mobile network… access network name…. harka mirgara + kan jedhu tuqu… name kanjedhu … et.wap… APN… et.wap…. proxy…10.204.189.211… port…9028…. authentication… PAP or CHAP kan jedhu guutu… kana booda qeerroon mirgaan galte Mobile jam Tplf irraa hanu… sanan fayadama jira amaan kana.” #OromoRevolution.
For those following the Feyisa Lilesa and #OromoProtests in Ethiopia: Sifan Hassan on his demonstration – “He’s my hero.”
#OromoProtests against TPLF (Liyyu Police) genocide in Eastern Oromia Mayyuu Mulluqee, 20 January 2017.
#OromoProtests during the Dubai Marathon January 19, 2017, Oromo nationals Tamirat Tola and Warqinesh Degefa are the winners in men’s and women’s races.
#OromoProtests, Arsi, Roobee, Oromia, 20 January 2016
In a rare undated photo taken from an Ethiopian prison compound, Mr. Bekele Gerba, the Oromo Prisoner of Conscience, is shown in a yellow prison jumpsuit with his characteristic calm yet resolute demeanor. He was arrested by the Ethiopian government nearly a year ago on December 23, 2015. At the time of his arrest, he was the Deputy Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), whose prominent top leadership, including its Chairman Dr. Merera Gudina, has been put into prison over the last year and half since the onset of the second waves of the Oromo Protests in November 2015. The OFC leadership has been accused, by the Ethiopian authorities, of igniting and leading the nonviolent Oromo Protests, which the authorities have labelled as “terrorist” actions. With Dr. Merera Gudina and Mr. Bekele Gerba, thousands of Oromo young and old citizens (including recording artists) are imprisoned for participating in and/or sympathizing with the Oromo Protests; several thousand others, including the victims of the Bishoftu Irreecha Massacre of October 2, 2016, have been extrajudicially murdered by the government. These abuses of the human rights and the human dignity of the Oromo person continue unabated inside and outside the prison camps in Oromia and Ethiopia. -Source: Amajjii/January 5, 2017 · Finfinne Tribune | Gadaa.com |
Amajjii 2 Bara 2017: Odeeffannoo Walloo kan dabalataa
“kan du.e ergamaa WoyyaneMahammadAlii jedhama kan madaa’e HasanBoru jedhama anaa harxummaa fursee bulshaa ganda raasati. Kan qeerroo keesa madaa’e shafii yasin jedhama.”
Amajjii 1 Bara 2017: Dhaamsa Gindabarat, laga Mogor irraa dhufe:
“Lola Kaleessaafi har’a Godina Shawaa Lixaa Aanaa Gindabar naannoo laga Mogor keessatti godhameen gara keenyaan Qeerroon lama yoo wareegaman gara Agaazii reeffa 6 agarree jira. Qabsoon hamma bilisummaatti itti fufa. Waan dandeessaniin nu bira dhaabbadhaa!!”
In his interview with VOA, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Tom Malinowski discussed the current Ethiopian situation and his concerns regarding human right protection. He said, “It’s a very difficult situation. The country is under a state of emergency, and a state of emergency by definition means that certain rights are suspended. Due process is suspended. And however much the government may feel that the state of emergency has brought calm temporarily to the country, it also brings with it certain risks. It risks adding a new layer of grievances to those grievances that initially led people in Oromia and Amhara to come out onto the streets. At first they were concerned about land seizures and lack of jobs and representation, all of which the government has acknowledge to be real and legitimate. But now they’re also upset about the arrests and the violence. And the longer this continues, the more those grievances are likely to build. At the same time, it risks giving greater power to the security apparatus in a way that could delay the introduction of the reforms that the Prime Minister and the government have, to their great credit, said are necessary.” Listen the first part of VOA interview at: http://bit.ly/2h3kmYO https://www.facebook.com/us.emb.addisababa/posts/1372399152802454
An Ethiopian government directive under a state of emergency contains overly broad and vague provisions that risk triggering a human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a legal analysis. The government should promptly repeal or revise all elements of the directive that are contrary to international law. 31 October 2016.
“Internet mobile irrati fayadamuuf mali argameera… akkas agodhani qeeroon Setting..more network….mobile network… access network name…. harka mirgara + kan jedhu tuqu… name kanjedhu … et.wap… APN… et.wap…. proxy…10.204.189.211… port…9028…. authentication… PAP or CHAP kan jedhu guutu… kana booda qeerroon mirgaan galte Mobile jam Tplf irraa hanu… sanan fayadama jira amaan kana.” #OromoRevolution.
An Ethiopian government directive under a state of emergency contains overly broad and vague provisions that risk triggering a human rights crisis, Human Rights Watch said in a legal analysis. The government should promptly repeal or revise all elements of the directive that are contrary to international law. 31 October 2016.
“Internet mobile irrati fayadamuuf mali argameera… akkas agodhani qeeroon Setting..more network….mobile network… access network name…. harka mirgara + kan jedhu tuqu… name kanjedhu … et.wap… APN… et.wap…. proxy…10.204.189.211… port…9028…. authentication… PAP or CHAP kan jedhu guutu… kana booda qeerroon mirgaan galte Mobile jam Tplf irraa hanu… sanan fayadama jira amaan kana.” #OromoRevolution.
UNESCO has recognized the ancient Gadaa system that is a democratic system practiced by the Oromo nation. The Gadaa system classifies the Oromo society according to age. During each age classification certain skills are taught in order to gain experience and prepare for leadership of the Oromo society. UNESCO has acknowledged that the Gadaa system is one of the foundations of international democracy.
SOUTHWEST OROMIA: Jimma, in the county of Limmu Saqqa government officials are in the process of reshuffling positions. Detrimental human Rights abuses have continued and government representatives have refused to finding satisfactory solutions for the demands of the Oromo people.
CENTRAL OROMIA: More than 7 Ethiopian Military (Agazi) vehicles were sent to Central Oromia in the county of Jarso. These military personnel have been terrorizing locals. In this same area, the county of Ginda Barat Agazi Militants are exploiting, harassing and human rights abuses have intensified.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have taken more than 150 Oromo refugees from Yemen to Djibouti. The Djibouti government have finalised their preparation to deport the refugees to their homeland. These Oromo refugees have informed OMN that being deported to their homeland will only place them in great danger as the Ethiopian government is targeting Oromo people
Waraanni kun callisee mana Nyaataa Daandii kan Mucayyoo Nuuraa Aadam jedhamutti ssenuun mana nyaataa kana keessaa namoota nyaataa jiraniifii haadha mana nyaata Daandii kan taate Durbee Nuuraa Aadam wajjin ukkaamsee jira
Fincila Qeerroo battala kana mudateen dargaggoo fi hawaasa mara magaalattirraa funaanii hidhuun,manneen nyaataa naannoo bakka calqaba fincila kanaa ta’es cufsiisuufi namoota hedduu isaanii hidhuunis beekameera
Obboleessi ishee Duulaa Aadam Magaalaa Finfinnee keessaa bakka Askoo jedhamutti qabamee mana hidhaa maa’ikelaawwii kan jiru yeroo ta’u, isheenis mana nyaataa cufuu akka qabdu firootni mootummaa wayyaanee ilmaan Oromoo mana isheetii fayyadamanii adeemsa geggeessitooti siyyaasa Oromoo dhaaman galmaan gahaa jirti jechuun wayyaanee itti duulchisanii jiru
Yeroo ammaa kana hawaasi Oromoo magaalatti keessatti akka itti bahee galu dhabee jiraachuun isaas barameera
Roorroon hammaatus ni injifanna!
https://www.oromiamedia.org/2016/11/10/omn-oduu-sad-9-2016/addis-standard-special-edition-on-irreechaa-massacre-oct-2-2016P. 5 – #IrreechaMassacre: The day that changed the game (By Addis Standard staffs)“I saw people who had fallen inside ditches and deeper pits. I saw people who had no one to pick them up. I saw people suffocated by the smoke of the tear gas”P.8 – A survivor’s account (By Bekel Atoma Boruu)“Those who ran to save their lives from the teargas bombs and the gun shots pulled themselves and one another to the nearby 6 meters long ditch in front of the podium. The tear gas bomb thrown at the mass increased the number of people running to the ditch not seeing what is in front of them; besides they were blinded by the heavy smoke from tear gas”P.10 – Irreecha is sacred! We cannot let them take it away (By Ayantu Ayana)“I keep asking myself how dare they kill on sacred grounds and on a sacred day. How dare they? All those people muddied and bloodied in their beautiful and colorful clothes. All those lives lost. Should mourning be all we do these days? “P. 13 – Into the heart of Irreecha: Why is it so important to the Oromo? (Buli Edjeta Jobir, Guest Writer)“An amazing part of the Irreecha ceremony is its absolute orderliness, the reigning of absolute peaceful aura, the showering of love and mutual respect, the sense of oneness and unity. In all the Irreecha ceremonies recorded over the last two decades, after its first rejuvenation, there has never been a single stampede or injury recorded.”
P. 17 – Irreecha: A defining moment in a hallowed land (By Prof. Ezekiel Gebissa, Special to Addis Standard)
“In 2016, it was clear that the largest gathering of Oromos from Oromia’s all corners would be a scene of expression of anger in the wake of the government’s brutal crackdown of Oromo protests during the preceding ten months.
#OromoRevolution: Sadaasa 9 bara 2016: Godina Horroo Guduruu Wallaggaa Suluulaa Fincaa’aatti hojjettootni Warshaa Sukkaaraa Fincaa’aa hiraarsaa Waraana Wayyaanee Koomandii Poostii bahuu fi galuu dhorkamnee Ajjeefamaa, reebamaa fi hidhamaa hin jiraannu jechuun guyyaa har’aa guutummaatti hojii dhaaban. Waraanni Wayyaanee Yakka duguuginsa sanyii Uummatarratti rawwachuun uummata daranuu gara of ittisuu fi FXG jabaachuutti kan murteeffachiise takkaa waraanaan akka duubatti deebi’uu hin dandeenye uummatni fi Qeerroowwaan diinaaf mirkaneessa jiru.
FINCILA DIDDAA GABRUMMAA
Fincila roorroon dhalchu, fincila aadaa gootaa,
Ittisaa roorroo alagaa, tiksaa mirga dhalootaa.
Ni fincilla gurmoofnee, ni didanna gabrummaa,
Cunqursaa dhabamsiisnee, gonfachuuf bilisummaa.
Itti hin lakkifnu diina, saamichaan nu quncisuu,
Lafa keenya gurguree, abbaa biyyaa buqqisuu.
Addunyaattis ni himna, deebisnee deddeebisnee,
Daba diinaa saaxiluuf, dhugaa keenya beeksisnee.
Ijaaramnee falmannee, jilbeenfachiisna diina,
Diddaa keenya cimsinee, sirna gabrummaa diigna.
Daandii dhugaa irra jirraa, bilisummaa gaafannee,
Alagaa jala hin bullu, haqa keenya haalamnee.
Addunyaa dharti mootee, dhugaan yeroof qallattus,
Gaaffiin haqaa dhiibamtee, abbaa humnaaf bal’attus,
Abdii kutnee mohamnee, gabrummaaf hin hoggollu,
Bakka jirruu murannee, mirga keenyaaf haa lollu.
Rakkoo qabsoo obsinee, roorroo alagaa faccisnaa,
Ulfinaa fi bilisummaa ilmaan keenya dhaalchisna.
Mirga keenyaaf finciluun sirrii tahuu hin shakkinuu,
Mootummaa gabroomfataa hanga of irraa darbinuu.
Akka roorroon dhabamee sirni haqaa gad dhaabbatuu,
Amma illee ni fincilla diddaan keenya hin laaffatu ! (2)
Hamilton’s Oromo community may be small, but they want it known they are standing with their brothers and sisters back home.
A group of about 20 members of the Oromo Community of Hamilton stood outside City Hall Friday, holding signs with photos of struggles faced by people in Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia.
Canada is known for its tradition of peacekeeping and contributing to the United Nations, said Abraham Turem, 51.
“I hope this government will follow that line of thinking to advocate for peace in that country.”
The gathering commemorated the first anniversary of the “climax” of peaceful demonstrations in the region, which is home to most of Ethiopia’s estimated 40 million Oromo, said Solomon Germossa. The Oromo are the country’s largest ethnic group.
Since November 2015, the government has used “excessive and lethal” force against what is largely peaceful unrest started mainly by students, says a Human Rights Watch report.
The demonstration was initially a response to authorities’ decision to clear an environmental area for a development project, the report says. Protesters feared the plan would further displace Oromo farmers, many of whom already lost land for similar projects over the past decade, it says.
The plan was cancelled in January, but the unrest has continued and now reflects broader concerns shared by many Oromo, the report says. As of June, it was estimated more than 400 people had been killed, thousands injured, tens of thousands arrested and hundreds — “likely more” — taken from their families.
Friday’s group said thousands of people have been killed and tens of thousand are in prison.
Germossa, a registered nurse, said he hasn’t been able to reach his 11 brothers and sisters in Ethiopia since last month.
“We are extremely worried about our family at this point,” he said. “Even when we go to work, our mind is always there.”
The Ethiopian government restricted use of social media so connecting with family members has been impossible, he said.
“We don’t know if our mothers, our brothers, our sisters are alive or in jail,” Germossa said. “We are almost in the dark.”
There are about 50 to 60 Oromo families in the Hamilton area, he noted.
Remembrance: 11 years ago today, on November 11, 2005, the TPLF regime massacred hundreds of protesters on streets of Addis Ababa. The protesters were rallying against the rigged election and Meles Zenawi ordered his Agazi forces to mow them down. The regime admitted 193 people were killed but the number was believed to be many folds higher.
This is a video made by Swedish students in Skara about the protests going on in Ethiopia that have been going on for more than a year. Share the message and you definitely don’t need to be oromo to support this!
SHARE! SHARE! SHARE!
Deeggartoota oromoo biyya Sweden kan magaalaa Skaratti baratan. Kani oromoon fira godhatte. Qabsoo teenyaaf akkanatti fira horachuun barbaachisaadha.
Det här är en video gjord av svenska elever i Skara om oroligheterna i Etiopien som har pågått ett helt år. Dela videon och budskapet. För man behöver definitivt inte vara oromo för att stå i solidaritet med oromo folket!
DELA! DELA! DELA
Thanks to Aseel Ajaj, Asma Tribis, Avura Omorojor, Hanna Berg, Julia Andersson, Klara Mäkitalo, Martynas Valkiunas, Omar Tribis and Sam Boekelman. And Elin Abelsson for recording!
Winner of Mississauga CanKen 5K race protests in support of Ethiopia’s Oromo people.
Ethiopia’s Hajin Tola won the inaugural CanKen 5K road race in Mississauga, Ont. on Sunday and performed a political protest by crossing his wrists to form an “X.”
Oromia: Athletic Nation World Report: The Rio 2016 Paralympic: Athlete Tamiru Demisse showed solidarity with #OromoProtests against the tyrannic Ethiopia’s regime as he claimed a silver medal, following a protest gesture made by Olympic counterpart Fayyisaa Leellisaa (Feyisa Lilesa). Gootichi Oromoo AtleetTaammiruu Demisee Paralympic Riyoo tti tibba injifate mallattoo mormii Oromoo agarsiise.
Throwing up the “X” in parliament, Swedish MP Mr. Anders Österberg asked the Sweden Government to break silence on killings of Oromo & Amhara protesters in Ethiopia. 30 September 2016.#OromoProtests
Sean John Combs also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, Puffy, Diddy, and P. Diddy, is an American Hip Hop Recording Artist, Record Producer, Entrepreneur and Actor showing his support for Ethiopian Human Rights Global Movement.
A meeting called by TPLF’s puppets in Oddo Shakkiso district in Guji Zone turns into fierce protest as elders stand up and denounce the regime and vow to fight to death
=========
Godina Gujii aanaa Oddoo Shaakkisoo ganda Magaadoo keessatti walgahiin uummataa mootuummaan waamee gara mormii uummataatti jijjiirameera. Guyyaa kaleessaa Fulbaana 26, 2016 yookiin fulbaana 16, 2009tti, uummanni gaaffiiwwaan ciccima mirgaa abbaa biyyummaafi qabeenyummaa gaafachaa turane. Walgahiin mootummaan yaame kun gara mormiitti jijjiiramuun guutumaa gututti injifannoo ummataatiin xumurameera.
Birraan baranaa kan bilisummaatti. #OromoProtests during Irreechaa season. September 2016
Qabsoonis barannoonis itti fufa. #OromoProtests 27 September 2016
OromoProtests, East Hararghe, Biabbile, 27 September 2016
OPDO is neither the the cause nor solution for the political crisis
Yesterday the regime announced that the top two puppets in Oromia have been removed and replaced by not so new faces. TPLF is either still dumb and numb about the depth of the crisis or chose to continue insulting the intelligence of our people. The cause of conflict between the regime and the Oromo and other peoples of Ethiopia is TPLF’s mission of and obsession with building and maintaining the supremacy of Tigreans. They have successfully built a system whereby power and wealth is monopolized in their hand. They are killing, jailing, exiling and reshuffling to preserve such domination. The puppet parties be it OPDO, ANDM or SEPDM were built and maintained to serve as tools of advancing and protecting this Tigrean supremacy. Hence reshuffling men and women at the head of these puppet parties does not make any difference in the ongoing conflict. They could appoint an OPDO or ANDM as prime minister, and still it won’t solve the problem. Since its created to advance TPLF mission of creating and protecting Tigrean supremacy, the so called EPRDF cannot be reformed through changing of guards or policy fixes –solution will come only when the mission is defeated and the regime is dismantled.
Having said this, why are Lemma Megersa & Workineh Gebeyehu chosen as the new place holders in Oromia? It meant to achieve two tactical objectives; to pacify the growing resentment within OPDO rank and file and the bureaucracy in Oromia, and to further militarize the administration in Oromia.
– Lemma is relatively popular among the younger cadres–hence TPLF believes appointing him will give false hope to the bureaucracy and give them breathing time internally. .
– Workineh is a shrewd politician with keen understanding of the role of the cultural sphere. He has long experience of reaching out to Oromo elders and religious leaders every time the regime faces challenge. They hope he can tap into that to isolate young protesters from the masses through the elders.
-The most important reason however is this. Both men come from the security branch having worked as police and intelligence chiefs. As it anticipates and prepares for further escalation into armed confrontation, TPLF believes these guys will be easier to work with the military and intelligence than Mukar ad Aster whom were very loyal but clueless about dealing with the military generals and spy masters who took over through command post.
Well that is TPLF’s calculation. They are still using that very old calculator left behind by Meles. The input, the machine and the output is off the mark. Jawar Mohammed, 21 September 2016
Waldaan Christian Oromoo Magaalaa Finfinnee. – Oromo Christian church in Finifinnee, Oromia, in solidarity with #OromoProtests, 11 September 2016. The church held New Year prayer and solidarity with our people.
Teachers who are forced to participate in the 10 day indoctrination conference are engaged in #SilentProtest by refusing to ask, answer of comment. They are also boycotting food provided by the regime.
“Hirmii hin nyaannu!!” #OromoProtests September 2016
“Yuniavrsitii Wallaggaa Kampasii Shaambutti diddaan barsiisonni caldhisuun godhan itti fufee jira. Nama Dr. Balay Shifara jedhamuu mqaan waamtee dubbisuuf yaallaan waci eegalee achumaan dhiisan. Amma laaqana esheen qopheessites lagannee jirra.” #OromoProtests 15 September 2016
“Leenjii Barsiistota irratti Barsiistonni Kolleejjii Polii Teeknika Bishooftuu fi koolleejjiwwan dhuunfaa magaalichaa bakka yokkotti bakka leenjii koolleejjii poli Teeknika bishoftu keessatti hirmaachiseen Barsiistonni CALLISUUN DIDDAA giyyaa guutuu waan tokko otuu hin dubbatin hafanii waan ajaa’ibaati
Jarri nu teechisan keessaa obbo Caalii Xiiqii, Leggesee, fi itti aanaa diinii koollejjii pooli teeknika bishooftu kan ta’e Sulxaan ciigoo kan jedhaman dubbadhaa , yaada qabduu ……… cicci xumaaxum namni tokko dubbatu dhabamee jennaan kan duursanii warra afaan oromoo dubbatuuf hin dandeenye adda baasaanii otuu jiranuu waan jedhan wallaallan warri afaan hin dandeenye jirtu? Mee kan afaan oromoo dandeechan harka baasaa jechuun, Barssiisyonni afaan oromoo akka danda’an ibsachuuf otuu hin dubbatin harka baasan, eegas jedhan amma warri harka baastan maqaa waamanii dubadhaa jedhanii gara dirqiittis hoofuf jennaan Barsiistonni sagalee wal fakkaatun kolfa guddaa daqiiqaa walakkaaf ta’u kolfuun erga yokko deebisanii callisan guyyaan saa akka habashaatti 04/01/2009.” #OromoProtests 15 September 2016.
#OromoProtests 3 September 2016: People are rushing (Bank run) to take out their money from Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. This picture is taken from Kumsa Moroda branch in Naqamte, Oromia.
#OromoProtests mass solidarity rally in Berlin, Germany September 2, 2016.Fuulbana (Birraa) 2 bara 2016 Hiriirri deeggarsa FXG magaalaa Berlin, German keeysatti gaggeeyfamaa oole.
Solidarity with #OromoProtests at European Parliament at the conference/hrearing on crisis in Ethiopia, #OromoProtests, #AmharaProtests and land grabs in Afar state. 2nd September 2016
Hagayya 2 bara 2016 Gamtaan Awurooppaa Paarlaamaa Keessatti walgahii wa’ee yakka dhimma Oromo irraattii TPLF/EPRDF saba Oromoo fi Amahara akkaasumaan sabaa fi sabbonttotaa Ethiopia daballatee duguuggaa sanyii balleessuuf raawwatee fi Saamicha lafa Itoophiyaa keessatti gaggeffamuu keessumattuu Saamicha lafa Affaar irrati TPLF gaggessu irrati Marii guddaan gaggeeffameera.
#OromoProtests 2nd September 2016,Qobboo, East Hararge, Oromia : Funeral service for Saladin Shakim, who was wounded on the grand rally and died 1st September 2016.
#OromoProtests 31 August 2016: Cruelty of the TPLF
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. Jawar Mohammed
Guyyaa hardhaa ilmaan Oromoo 15 Harargee Lixaa Aanaa Masalaa Araddaa Coommaa keessatti ajjeefaman san reeffa isaanii huccuu waraanaa offisuun fiilmii sobaatiif viidiyoo waraabaa jiran. Jawar Mohammed
The TPLF has continue indiscriminately mass killings of the peace loving Oromo people everywhere throughout Oromia.
The following 15 innocent Oromo people were killed by Agazi soldiers (Tigray People’s Libration Front) in Choma village , Masala District, West Hararge on August 27, 2016
1.Hamzaa Abdullaa
2.Mohammadnur Kaliif
3.Asiyaa Abbaas
4.Imaam Jaabir
5.Jaabir Mohammed
6.Feesal Abdallaa
7.Adam Mikaa’il
8.Mikaa’il Aliyyii
9.Kaamilee Mikaa’il
10.Shukrii Umar
11.Kaamil Hassan
12.Muraad Ahmad
13.Jaabir Hassan
14.Ahmad Imaamee
15.Jamaal Aliyyee
Our thoughts are with all the victims relatives and families.
May their soul rest in peace!!
In the first part of this series, I explored in historic perspectives (particularly with developments in Oromia regional state) the Ethiopian government’s road to becoming a counter-protest state and the systematic ways in which the regime further bolstered its role as a counter-protest state.
And in the second part I discussed about the surge of popular protests in Ethiopia focusing on the socio-political and party architecture in which the ongoing Oromo protests first took shape. In this third, and last, part I will take a close look at the decades-old simmering tensions between the Oromo nation and successive Ethiopian states, discovering what they reveal about the contemporary politics of the Ethiopian counter-protest state vis a vis its relations with the Oromo protests, which, by several measures, have reached a point of no return.
Decades of simmering tensions
Continuous confrontations and tensions between Oromo protesters and the ruling party manifested in Oromia-wide Oromo protests may not be understood fully unless we look back its history. In order to contextualize the on-going Oromo protests, we must consider decades of relationships between the two confronting parties – the Ethiopian state and the Oromo nation – discovering what they reveal to us about the politics of the Ethiopian counter-protest state, and what they suggest about the future prospects of Ethiopia’s political trajectory.
It is indisputable that this massive movement in Oromia is not simply a political phenomenon whose root is limited to the period between 2006-2015; it goes as far back as the 1960s when modern Oromo political activism was born, and even goes as far back as the formation of the Ethiopian state itself.
Yearning since the 1960s for three overarching questions – language, land, and self-rule – Oromo nationalism has been growing more than ever since the introduction in Ethiopia of the multi-national federalism in the early 1990s. While the Oromo question for land has two parts: the homestead (qee’ee) and the Oromo country (biyya-Oromoo), the issue of language became the foundation of identity question. The third, the Oromo question for self-rule in the course of their national struggle, seemed to have been conceived as an ultimate solution capable of addressing the other two.
These three overarching Oromo questions were aired in the 1960s by the Oromo members of the Ethiopian student movement and the Maccaa-Tuulama Self-help Association, and were later on articulated in the early 1970s in the political program of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). These questions have been dealt with piecemeal in the revolutions of 1974 and 1991.
The 1974 revolution succeeded in the promulgation and implementation of a proclamation answering the country’s pressing demand, which was coined through the famous slogan of the student movement – “land to the tiller”; it was able to return plots/homestead to individual peasant households. With the Oromo in view, the 1974 revolution answered the question of qee’ee (homestead) but it had never attempted to deal with the Oromo question of yearning for biyya-Oromoo (Oromo country). Instead it criminalized the demand presenting it as a treasonable crime. The revolution also addressed the Oromo identity claims by allowing some media outlet for Afaan-Oromoo (Oromo language) but the demand to use Latin alphabet (qubee) was made another treasonable crime.
The political change in 1991, however, went far beyond the offers of its predecessor and dealt with more fundamental issues. Demands of Oromo nationalism was legitimized and institutionalized within the state apparatus when the new regime – for the sake of its own legitimacy – decided to offer concessions to decades old national struggles.
Through the federalism arrangement, it created the long sought after Oromo country within Ethiopia in the form of the Oromia National Regional State with its own regional parliament, Caffee Oromiyaa. It also allowed Afaan Oromoo, which had long been criminalized and heavily suppressed under the imperial and socialist Ethiopia, to be recognized as the medium of instruction in schools throughout Oromia.
But as the rule of the TPLF/EPRF began to unfold the problems inherently linked to its system of rule started to unearth. When in 1991 a coalition of rebels overthrew the Derg, the victorious TPLF-led-EPRDF not only took control of the capital city, expanding daily at the expense of Oromo farmers, but also inherited one of Africa’s oldest authoritarian state form, effectively excluding from the country’s politics, economy and cultural manifestation most of the southern peoples (the Oromo included).
As soon as TPLF took control of the center, a dubious, rather feckless Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE), where various political groupings, including Oromo parties of which the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) was prominent, was organized in 1992. Perhaps as part of its concerns to take the OLF on board, the TPLF recognized Addis Abeba as the capital of Oromia and promised that the interests of the Oromo people in the city would be accommodated.
The Transitional Charter that established the TGE (1991-1995) declared, “The special national and political interests of the Oromo are reserved over regions 13 [Harari State] and 14 [Addis Abeba].” In 1995, Oromia’s interest in Addis Abeba was once again recognized by the constitution that created the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE). Article 49, sub-article 5 of the constitution states that “The special interest of the State of Oromia in Addis Abeba, regarding the provision of social services or the utilization of natural resources and other similar matters, as well as joint administrative matters arising from the location of Addis Abeba within the State of Oromia, shall be respected.”
However, the whole scheme boiled down into a political manipulation where the TGE gained the support of Oromo parties and the people’s support for the creation of a lasting TPLF-dominated authoritarian regime. When the TPLF dominated EPRDF ensured its control over Oromia, it went on to purge the OLF out of the TGE in June 1992.
In 1995, when the new constitution transformed TGE into the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), the TPLF dominated government began employing ambiguities in the constitution and walked in earnest to take full control of Addis Abeba.
In Article 49, where issues of Addis Abeba have been stipulated, three of its sub-articles (sub articles 2, 3 and 5) present contrary provisions, a state of affairs that made the gate wide open for the ruling party’s looming interests over the city. After appointing a TPLF veteran soldier as the mayor of Addis Abeba in 2000, the regime took a bold decision in 2003 to shift Oromia’s capital from Addis Abeba to Adama, 100km southeast of Addis Abeba. When the office of the Oromia regional parliament, Caffee Oromiyaa, was thrown to Adama it appeared that the hope of the Oromo to have their government in the city they believe is the center of Oromia was dashed.
Following the 2003 government decision to transfer Oromia’s seat to Adama the leadership of Maccaa-Tuulama Association (MTA) and Addis Abeba University students immediately organized a protest, which was met with brutal crackdown.
The organizers were imprisoned and MTA was outlawed and had its office looted and dismantled. The university itself dismissed nearly 400 students whom it believed had taken part in the protest. While it was clear that thousands of farmers were evicted between 1995 and 2003, it was, however, the decision to transfer Oromia’s capital from Addis Abeba to Adama that gave birth to the Oromo struggle for Addis Abeba.
The declaration of the proposed “Master Plan” a decade later would mean dashed hopes and broken promises; it breaks up into two what has been known in the narrative of modern Oromo political activism as biyya-Oromoo (Oromo country), a reference to Oromia. On one hand, it is a broken promise because it sustains the regime’s tradition of deciding on issues relevant to biyya-Oromoo without the consent of the Oromo nation. In fact, many believed the implementation of “the Master Plan” would come close to restoration of the former Shewa governorate-general, which in turn would mean a renewed wave of cultural invasion on the Oromo as much as a territorial break up of Oromia.
Addis Abeba’s expansion in historical times had scored the highest record in eviction of the surrounding farmers in its environs, namely, Tuulama Oromo, but the EPRDF regime took this to a new level previously unmatched in Ethiopia’s history. Most peasant households have been and still are poor in Ethiopia but they live on their land and depend on its produce for their livelihoods, whatever its sufficiency.
Tuulama Oromo in this regard appear the most unfortunate for encountering endless evictions since at least the 18th century. Left in isolation from the Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopians in all walks of life, and undoubtedly the TPLF/EPRDF regime, the Tuulama Oromo have been forced to bear unbearable projects accompanying the regime’s intent (whatever the name attached to it) of expanding the city of Addis Abeba with no regard to their way of being.
Coherently conscious
The Oromo population constitutes nearly 40 per cent of Ethiopia’s estimated population of 100 million. Some are adherents of Islam (being involved in more than one sect); others follow different sects of Christianity, and still others adhere to Waaqeffannaa, the Oromo indigenous belief system. In rural Oromia, their social organizations exhibit diverse historical experiences and regional patterns. These few remarks help us appreciate the internal diversity of Ethiopia’s largest ethno-nation.
So far, a number of scholars have made serious attempts to understand the contemporary political status of this diversity within the Oromo nation. While some treated them as a nation others seriously question that status. This diversity, for example, in the eyes of Gebru Tareke, an Ethiopian scholar, made the Oromo nation “a vastly dispersed people with no history of political unity since the sixteenth century.”
Another scholar, John Markakis, wrote, “From the beginning of their historic [population movement] the Oromo did not forge unity above the tribal level, nor did they ever coordinate their efforts for a common purpose. Each tribe pursued its own destiny entirely independent of the others, and inter-tribal warfare was the rule rather than the exception.” Historian Bahru Zewde on his part says “… the incorporation of the nineteenth century has resulted in the denigration of Oromo culture and identity,” but plainly denies the fact that an Oromo country has ever existed before the twentieth century; he argues against a map of Oromo country – Ormania – made by a German missionary J.L. Krapf based on primary historical data he collected ‘during an eighteen-years residence in eastern Africa’ in mid 19th century.
While Gebru Tareke and John Markakis have taken Oromo internal diversity far beyond limits, it is fairly recognizable that Oromo internal diversity led to considerable divisions that played key roles not only in their historical experiences with Ethiopian systems of rule but also in creating within themselves fissured political groupings.
But the fact that the ongoing Oromo protests engulfed the whole of Oromia in merely three weeks’ time threw some light on the perspectives of these scholars – Gebru and Markakis, for example – who consistently argued against the presence of the Oromo’s nationhood.
By claiming that Oromoness is counterfeit, that it never existed, that Oromo nation possess within itself lots of local and cultural diversity to develop any coherent consciousness and never possessed an overarching sense of “nationhood”, or that they are inseparably intermingled with various other peoples, “the opponents believe that they can divide, destroy, or, perhaps, wish away Oromo nationalism,” to use the words of Herbert Lewis, who wrote The Development of Oromo Political Consciousness from 1958 to 1994.
While this attitude has clear origins in politics and “interests,” it is facilitated by the general social science discourse that still tends to discount or decry ethno-nationalism. Yet this kind of internal diversity which some scholars employed to question the very existence of the Oromo as a nation is seriously called into question with the start of Oromo protests in November 2015.
Many scholars attempted to understand the challenges of the Oromo national struggle in isolation from the political developments in that tumultuous region of Ethiopia and the horn of Africa. But the on-going Oromo movement appears to have overcome lots of deterring factors long-lived in the Oromo national struggle. In less than four weeks what the Oromo people regarded as a serious threat to their national identity caused a union of massive popular movement that engulfed the whole of Oromia.
A case in point is how Oromo national identity, Oromummaa, has been built over decades and the significant impact it has in uniting a population of close to 40 million for a coherent cause. Oromoness is a reference to all those features that make up Oromo personality.
It is constituted by the entirety of the Oromo culture. It is worth noticing that Oromo activists, artists, political commentators, scholars and politicians appear to have successfully campaigned over the last two decades highlighting the fact that Oromummaa transcends differences in political opinions, religions, and all sorts of background, a concept well articulated in the works of Oromo scholars such as Assefa Jaleta.
Readjusting the narrative
Apparently placed at a precarious position, many scholarly works need to be revisited; there is a need to further investigate facts and collect empirical data to create effective analytical frameworks capable of capturing the whole, more nuanced scenario that would help us better understand the Oromo nation and its indisputable place in the Ethiopian state.
Only then can we appreciate and understand why and how various Oromo politicians chose to establish different political parties after the onset of the 1974 revolution; have decided to join rival political groupings not founded for separate Oromo cause; have even joined the dictatorial military regime – a clear indication that even those of similar social and religious backgrounds understood Oromo problems differently and likewise proposed disputing routes of political struggle.
Only then can we clearly comprehend why Oromia has in the last quarter a century exhibited spatial and temporal mismatch on concerns of opposition to the EPRDF regime. Without readjusting our existing narratives it will be hard to understand how and why the 2014 and the on-going Oromo protest movement overlap and deviate.
Our understanding of the cultural and socio-political stances that are being taken through the Oromo protests movement can also be appreciated when placed into context with issues related to the wider Horn of Africa.
A more accurate contextualizing of these stances can be viewed within the affairs of Ethiopia’s broader issues, and their complexities. The same understanding appeared to have been useful to inform narratives shaping the future of the Oromo national struggle. The days of hiding behind Oromo internal diversity as Ethiopia’s numerical majority with subaltern political constructs are gone, and will not come back again.
It is also incumbent upon us to understand that taking opportunities offered in the current multinational federal system, Oromo youth at secondary schools and junior colleges throughout Oromia, and the ever expanding universities have for the last two and half decades propagated their literature, folklore, music, songs, poetry, theatre, drama, and other forms of cultural revival and actions in these concepts of the Oromo cultural movement. Taking into account the growth of federal universities from less than five when TPLF/EPRDF took power in 1991 to over 30 in 2015, it becomes important to see the relationship between this considerable expansion in higher education and the growth in modern Oromo political activism.
While ‘economic solvency’ remains one of the fundamental points of the Oromo people’s opposition to ‘the Master Plan’, for the growing Oromo consciousness it is by no means comparable to the Ethiopian regime’s project of posing immeasurable challenges to the concept of Oromoness altogether, and all of what it means from the central parts of Oromia, the territory the Oromos believe is “handhuura-Oromia” (Oromia’s bellybutton).
Understanding this is at the same time one of the pillars in symbolization and conceptualization of Oromoness in the minds of the Oromo people. It is such understanding of Oromoness which seems to have brought the new generation of OPDO, discussed in part two of this series, to openly speak against “the Master Plan” in April 2014. There is little doubt that the Oromo nation conceived ‘the Master Plan’ as a threat to their national identity. Styled after popular Arsii tradition, “namni lafa hinqabne, nama lafee hinqabne,” (a person without land is a person without bones).
Hope for millions
After nearly five decades of struggle, the Oromo seem to have learnt from experience and history that an attack on one part is an attack on the whole. Collective memory helps a society to understand both its past, present, and by implication, to imagine its future. It is important to underline here that it is the memory of past injustices and the contemporary aims of the TPLF/EPRDF regime against the future of the Oromo nation that has served as one of the most important tools stirring the ongoing protest.
The Oromo protesters believed that “the Master Plan” violates the territorial integrity and identity of the Oromo and their aspiration to become a self ruling nation. In the perspectives of the protesters rallies across Oromia are rallies for self-defence. The progress of Oromo nationalism over decades appear to have succeeded to present the cause of the Oromo of the central region as the cause of all.
While the government employs the same old narrative of “we have made it possible for Ethiopia’s oppressed nations for the first time to use their own language and exercise their cultures,” public political consciousness seems to have navigated far ahead of this narrative.
As protesters have proved for themselves through their practical experiences that the regime has very little room for implementation of provisions in the same constitution drafted and promulgated under its own dominance, they took up constitutional provisions as weapons against it.
In short, the constitution has become for the Oromo protesters what James Scott theorized as “weapon of the weak.” As the protests set out to start the systematic use of provisions in the constitution by dissent voices within OPDO, the protesters and the opposition became united. It is mainly in this sense that the regime’s propaganda to present the protesters as “terrorists” and “anti-peace” failed to bear fruit.
The struggle for Addis Abeba and the adjacent territories presents the Oromo people with a choice between survival and annihilation as a cultural unit and as a nation. It is this understanding that managed to mobilize the entire Oromo nation throughout Oromia region and tested the limits of the counter protest state that Ethiopia is.
This popular perception has clearly succeeded in establishing in the minds of Ethiopia’s single largest nation that “the struggle for Addis Abeba is the struggle for Oromia.” EPRDF’s killing is far from threatening the Oromo people and all indication suggest that there is no turning back. The slogans have now changed from “No to the Master Plan,” “Oromia is not for sale,” and “Oromia needs autonomous self-government,” to “justice for our blood and lives.”
It is also a hope of millions of Oromo and many more that it is upon the Oromo national struggle to give birth to an efficient national political narrative that, while not compromising unanswered historical questions in Oromia, gives rise to a country-wide coalition of political parties that can realize the old democratic demands of the peoples of Ethiopia, a state of affairs Ethiopia had missed to realize at many historical trajectories.
Despite age-old terrains of relations among various groups of peoples in Ethiopia and the Horn, and where the Oromo people deeply and actively involved themselves for generations, Oromo struggle is a struggle for self-rule as well as one for democracy, struggle for both group and individual rights. Signs of overcoming disagreements and standing together for common cause are being observed at this point of the Oromo national struggle. Appreciable is unequivocal banners carried out by Amhara protesters in support of their Oromo brethren and statements made by some Oromo and Amhara political parties and dialogues initiated by their respective media outlets.
TPLF/EPRDF’s approach of facing popular protests with bloody crackdowns is no longer keeping Ethiopia as a state. The persistence of the Oromo people in the face of the counter protest state’s ruthlessness will also soon begin to reflect itself within the Horn of Africa’s fragile peace and stability position. Any concerned party, be it domestic or international, which takes seriously the Horn of Africa’s peace and stability, must not only understand the framework of today’s popular demands (that refuse to turn back in Ethiopia’s Oromia region), but must also become grounded in the particular historical contexts of this framework.
Ed’s Note: Etana Habte is a PhD Candidate at the Department of History, SOAS, University of London. He can be reached at:ittaanaa@gmail.com
Ethiopians cite disputes over land, ethnicity and indiscriminate killings of protestors as the real causes of the Ethiopian “intifada”. But if one believes the Ethiopian spokesman, Mr.Getachew Reda, the protests in Gondar and Oromia are somehow remotely orchestrated and stage managed from Eritrea. Mr. Reda, with his outrageous claims, is increasingly sounding as clownish as the late Saddam’s information minister, comical Ali. He rarely addresses the real causes of the protests: the forceful incorporation of Wolkayt region into Tigray or the daylight land robbery in Oromia― all in the name of “development”. The government spokesman attributes the Oromo, Muslim, and the Wolkayt protests to infiltration from Eritrea, Saudi Arabia or Egypt. This false claim is another example of utter contempt and disrespect for the people by an arrogant government official who is out of touch with the heartbeat of the people.
It is true that there is no love lost between the ruling regimes in Eritrea and Ethiopia but it is absurd to believe that Eritrea, even it so desires can stir up the kind of uprising occurring in Ethiopia. It simply has no such power to do so. The border between the two countries is one of the most militarized borders in the world and one under heavy surveillance. An uprising of this scale cannot be initiated by an outside force. Such a claim is an insult to the pride and intelligence of the Ethiopian people.
The overwhelming narrative in the Western media portrays Ethiopia as a source of stability in a troubled region, as an economic powerhouse with a potential to surpass Kenya and join the club of countries like South Africa as well as a pacifying regional force and a bulwark against terrorism. There is little critical reporting on the country which means international readers have a skewed and partial picture at best. Unless one has the time and the motivation to dig deeper, one would not know that the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant group within the ruling coalition, has in fact destabilized the region, rules over a deeply divided and aggrieved populace, which in actual fact is responsible for worsening terrorism in Somalia. The core of the TPLF is an ideological group which behaves like a chameleon depending on the audience and responsible for the atmosphere of tension and the expensive militarization of the region.
The TPLF has carried out egregious human rights violations; the regime has become even more repressive with each year by systematically limiting political space, taking 100% parliamentary seats in the lower house, detaining members, discrimination and harassment of Amharas, Muslims and the Oromo; it has all but blocked legal political participation for these groups.
Ethiopians of all stripes and not just the Oromo, are sick and tired of the regime in Ethiopia and the suffering they must endure challenging it while Ethiopia enjoys impunity and protection from the powers that be. The ongoing protests in different parts of the country are not connected or coordinated and appear to be spontaneous protests. Participants in the protests embody resistance to their increasing marginalization, which are ongoing and spreading. More recently, the protesters in Gondar proclaimed solidarity with the Oromo uprising in the South. For a regime that thrives on divide and rule, this solidarity is a worrisome sign and perhaps signals the beginning of its dissolution.
It also seems the tired scapegoating of Eritrea for its own domestic woes is increasingly ineffective. Imaginary scapegoats and bogeymen had served the regime well but there are now indications that ordinary Ethiopians are beginning to see that Eritreans are not natural enemies of Ethiopians, as the regime has depicted. This is a good sign that the populations are beginning to recognize the essential brotherhood of all the peoples of the region: this could be the leap of faith which was missing due to the influence of intensive propaganda by dictatorial rulers for the last six plus decades. Recent headlines also give hope that the era of impunity may end sooner than later. Headlines like these from major newspapers:
are new. The massacre that occurred over the first weekend of August may have jarred the radar of the international media but their overall failure to register the pattern of it has been the norm for almost as long as the TPLF has been in power. The genocidal policies towards the Anuak in the Gambella region received little international publicity. Rioting Muslims were effectively and brutally silenced. The TPLF marginalized both the legal and the extra-legal opposition arresting prominent leaders like Professor Bekele Gerba, a prominent Oromo intellectual and human rights activist. Professor Bekele Gerba and other prominent leaders are protesting their treatment in detention by staging a hunger strike.
Resentment to TPLF rule extends to the movement’s home base of Tigray, where most of the population feel left out by the TPLF elites interested only in making money and investing it in the capital or abroad.
Despite a dishonest attempt to externalize the issue, Ethiopian Muslims, who number anywhere from 40% to 50% of the population, and the Oromo have historically been marginalized, and the protest is very much homegrown and rooted in a long list of grievances. When it comes to the thugs running Ethiopia today, whatever happened to the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect? Rewarding the TPLF with a non-permanent membership in both the Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council, despite its dismal human rights record, is cruel and cynical.
This tribalist regime must go and the criminals at the helm must answer for their crimes. A first step is investigation by aindependent observers as recommended by the UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein. Predictably and true to character, the TPLF regime is refusing to allow in neutral outside UN observers. The regime has a pattern of ignoring international norms and laws, when it doesn’t suit it.
The Ethiopian people desperately need relief and healing. The region needs to be spared from this dangerous and fanatical warmongers. Ethiopia deserves imaginative leaders who can prevent fragmentation and are cognizant of the complexity of the society, who can see beyond tribe, and discern and appreciate the mosaic of ethnicities that make the country beautiful and rich. The West should stop enabling this murderous thugs. China should stop bailing out this regime and other African dictators and begin to care about the human rights of Africans!
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
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.
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.
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
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:-
For the first time in history, the plight of the Oromo people has also received worldwide attention. International media outlets have reported on the peaceful protests and subsequent government repression.
Ethiopia’s volcano: The Oromo are resisting the regime and its bid to grab their land
Largest ethno-national group has been under martial law with citizens killed and subjected to beatings, torture and detention in concentration camps.
Oromo men in their traditional costume
Countrywide demonstrations by the Oromo in Ethiopia have flared up again. Ethiopia’s authorities reacted with heavy force, resulting in the death of 100 civilians. SAMANTHA SPOONER asked Professor Asafa Jalata, a leading scholar on the politics of Oromia, about the countrywide protests
Who are the Oromo people?
The Oromo are the single largest ethno-national group in northeast Africa. In Ethiopia alone they are estimated to be 50-million strong out of a total population of 100-million. There are also Oromo living in Kenya and Somalia.
Ethiopia is said to have about 80 ethno-national groups. The Oromo represent 34.4% and the Amhara 27%. The rest are all less than 7% each.
The Oromo call themselves a nation. They have named their homeland “Oromia”, an area covering 284 538 square kilometres. It is considered to be the richest area of northeast Africa because of its agricultural and natural resources. It is often referred to as the “breadbasket” of the region. Sixty percent of Ethiopian economic resources are generated from Oromia.
The capital city of Ethiopia is located in the heart of Oromia. What the world knows as Addis Ababa is known to the Oromo as Finfinnee. When the Abyssinian warlord Menelik colonised the Oromo during the last decades of the 19th century, he established his main garrison city in Oromia and called it Addis Ababa.
Despite being the largest ethno-national group in Ethiopia, the Oromo consider themselves to be colonial subjects. This is because they have been denied equal access to their country’s political, economic and cultural resources. It all started with their colonisation by, and incorporation into, Abyssinia (the former Ethiopian empire) during the Scramble for Africa.
Today, comprising just 6% of the population, Tigrayans dominate and control the political economy of Ethiopia with the help of the West, particularly the United States. This relationship is strategic to the US, which uses the Tigrayan-led government’s army as their proxy to fight terrorism in the Horn of Africa and beyond.
The Oromo have been demonstrating since November last year. What triggered the protests?
The Oromo demonstrations have been underway for over eight months, first surfacing in Ginchi (about 80km southwest of the capital city) in November last year. It began when elementary and secondary schoolchildren in the small town began protesting the privatisation and confiscation of a small football field and the sale of the nearby Chilimoo forest.
The sentiment quickly spread across Oromia. The entire Oromo community then joined the protests, highlighting other complaints such as the so-called Integrated Addis Ababa Master Plan and associated land grabbing. The master plan was intended to expand Addis Ababa by 1.5-million hectares on to surrounding Oromo land, evicting Oromo farmers.
Last year’s demonstrations were the product of over 25 years of accumulated grievances. These grievances arose as a result of the domination by the minority Tigrayan ethno-national group. Because of this dominance the Oromo people have lost ownership of their land and become both impoverished and aliens in their own country.
What was different about these demonstrations was that, for the first time, all Oromo branches came together in co-ordinated action to fight for their national self-determination and democracy.
Which part of the Oromo is organising the rallies?
It is believed that underground activist networks, known as Qeerroo, are organising the Oromo community. The Qeerroo, also called the Qubee generation, first emerged in 1991 with the participation of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in the transitional government of Ethiopia.
In 1992 the Tigrayan-led minority regime pushed the OLF out of government and the activist networks of Qeerroo gradually blossomed as a form of Oromummaa or Oromo nationalism.
Today the Qeerroo is made up of Oromo youth. These are predominantly students, from elementary school to university, organising collective action through social media. It is not clear what kind of relationship exists between the group and the OLF. But the Qeerroo clearly articulate that the OLF should replace the Tigrayan-led regime and recognise the Front as the origin of Oromo nationalism.
What are their demands?
Their immediate demands are for the Ethiopian government to halt the so-called Addis Ababa Master Plan, land grabbing, corruption and the violation of human rights.
Their extended demands are about achieving self-determination and sovereignty by replacing the Tigrayan-led regime with a multi-ethno-national democratic government. These demands gradually emerged to create solidarity with other ethno-national groups, such as the Amharas, who also have grievances with the regime.
How has the government reacted to the protests?
The government reaction has been violent and suppressive. Despite Oromia being the largest regional state in Ethiopia, it has been under martial law since the protests began. The government has been able to use this law to detain thousands of Oromos, holding them in prisons and concentration camps.
Security structures called tokkoo-shane (one-to-five), garee and gott have also been implemented. Their responsibilities include spying, identifying, exposing, imprisoning, torturing and killing Oromos who are not interested in serving the regime.
There have also been deaths and reports of thousands of Oromos who have been maimed as a result of torture, beatings or during the suppression of protests. For example, during the Oromia-wide day of peaceful protest on July 6, the regime army, known as Agazi, massacred nearly 100 Oromos. According to Amnesty International, 400 Oromos were killed before July 6. But in reality nobody knows exactly how many Oromos have been victims of violence.
What effect have these protests had on the country?
The Oromo protest movement has started to change the political landscape of Ethiopia and shaken the regime’s foundations. Erupting like “a social volcano”, it has sent ripples through the country, and several groups have changed their attitudes to stand in solidarity with the Oromo. The support of the Ahmaras has been particularly significant as they are the second-largest ethno-national group in Ethiopia.
For the first time in history, the plight of the Oromo people has also received worldwide attention. International media outlets have reported on the peaceful protests and subsequent government repression.
This has brought about diplomatic repercussions. In January the European Parliament condemned the Ethiopian government’s violent crackdown. It also called for the establishment of a credible, transparent and independent body to investigate the murdering and imprisonment of thousands of protesters. Similarly, the United Nations human rights experts demanded that Ethiopian authorities stop the violent crackdown.
Not all global actors are taking a strong stance. Some are concerned about maintaining good relations with the incumbent government. For example, the US State Department expressed vague concern about the violence associated with the protest movement. In sharp contrast, they signed a security partnership with the Ethiopian government.
Nevertheless, the momentum of the Oromo movement looks set to continue. The protests, and subsequent support, have seen the further development of activist networks and Oromo leadership, doubling their efforts to build their organisational capacity.
Is this the first time the Oromo have demonstrated their grievances?
No. The Oromo have engaged in scattered instances of resistance since the late 19th century when they were colonised.
In the 1970s the Oromo started to engage in a national movement under the leadership of the OLF. The Front was born out of the Macha-Tulama Self-Help Association, which was banned in the early 1960s, and other forms of resistance such as the Bale Oromo armed resistance of the 1960s. Successive Ethiopian regimes have killed or sent Oromo political and cultural leaders into exile.
How do you believe their grievances can be resolved?
Critics believe the Tigrayan-led minority regime is unlikely to resolve the Oromo grievances. Oromo activists believe that their national struggle for self-determination and egalitarian democracy must intensify.
I am sure that, sooner or later, the regime will be overthrown and replaced with a genuine egalitarian democratic system. This is because of the size of the Oromo population, abundant economic resources, oppression and repression by the Tigrayan-led government, the blossoming of Oromo political consciousness and willingness to pay the necessary sacrifices.
This is an edited version of an article that was originally published on theconversation.com
#OromoProtests continues with protests against fascist TPLF regimes’s mass killings and demanding immediate withdrawal of armed forces.![[Photos] Ethiopia students stage peaceful protest over Oromia deaths](https://static.euronews.com/articles/415201/400x225_415201.jpg?1513552800)
Godina Wallagaa aanaa Gudayyaa Biilaa irraa,ummaanni gudayyaa biilaa sababa lukkeelee Sirna nama nyaataa mootummaan wayyaanee mirga hiree namummaa fi qabeenya uunfaa ofiitti fayyadamu sarbamnee murtoo balleessanii baduurra geenyeerra jedha qeerroon gudayyaa Biilaa.
jalatti Argaman keessatti lagannaan gabayaa itti fufeeti jira Qobbootti Lagannaan gabaa roga hundaan godhamaa kan jiru yoo ta’uu wayyaanen daldaltoota walitti qabdee dirqamaan gara hojii keessanii akka deebitan jettee doorsisaa jirti.daldaltoonnis gibirri humnaa ol nutti fe’ame kan doorsisa kamuu kan nu sodaachisuu miti.nuti waan waggaa kudhanitti dalagannee hin arganne waggaa tokkotti mootummaadhaaf kaffaluu maaltu fide osoo hin hojjanne jiraachuu ni dandeenya jechuun ergamtoota wayyaanee ufirraa oofaniiti jiru. 
Godina Arsii.
Adooleessa 18,2017/Godina Arsii Aanota hedduu keessatti guyyoota lamaan har’aaf kaleessa lagannaan gabaa kan taasifame yoo ta’uu Suuqonni daldalaa magaalota akka Seeruu,Balee, Geersaa, Shaashamannee,Adaabbaa, Dodola,Roobe,Saddiiqa, Waabee, Eddoo, Kofalee, Nageellee, Ajjee keessatti Gibira Wayyaanen Ummatarratti feete mormuun gabaa lagatanii jiru. Tajaajilli Geejjibaas dhaabbateera Konkolaachiftoonni fi Abbootin qabeenyaa sabaan Oromoo hin ta’in muraasni isaanii dalagaa isaanii didanii kan itti fufan yoo ta’uu. Diddaa kanatti akka makaman karaa adda addaatin Qeerron ergeefii kan jiru yoo ta’uu gaaffii isaanif dhiyeessine kana fudhachuun gara ummataa hin goran yoo ta’e Qeerron tarkaanfii Qabeenya isaanii irratti akka fudhatus hubachiisee jira. jedhu Gabaasaalen Qeerroo magaalota adda addaa irraa nu gahaa juru.
Adoolessaa 18/2017 Godina Lixa Shaggar Aanaa Adaa’aa Bargaa Magaalaa Incinnii Keessatti Qeerroon Dargaggootni Oromoo Sochii Warraaqsaa Biyyoolessa Oromiyaa FXG daran jabeessuun finniinsaa jiruu, Warraaqsii kun yeroo amma sagalee dhaadannoo jabaa dhageesisuun itti fufani jiru. 
Adoolessa 16/2017 Galgala keessaa sa’a 2:50 irraa eegalee Magaalaa Amboo Keessatti Dhukaasni cimaan kan waraana wayyaanee irraa uummatatti baname , gara naannoo Mooraa Yuunibarsiitii Amboottii Waraanni Wayyaanee dhukaasaa guddaa uummata sivilii irratti banuun dargaggoota Oromoo Lama Wareeguun Ibsame jira, Kanneen madeeffaman hanga gabasni kun nu gaheetti adda kan hin baanee ta’uu maddeen Qeerroo Magaalaa Amboo addeessaan. Magaalaan Amboo galgala kana caalaatti gara dirree waraanaatti waan jijjiiramte fakkaatti , gabaasaa dabalataan walitti deebina. 
Adoolessa 16,2017/ Uummanni Shaggar lixaa rakkoo guddaa keessa jiraachuu Qeerroon naannoo Sana’a addeessan.akka gabaasa qeerroo naannoo sanaatti rakkoowwaan jireenyaa ilma namaaf barbaachisan kan akka,tajaajila Daandiin, Ibsaa,Bishaan fi kkf guutummaatti surni nama nyaataa mootummaa wayyaanee ummatarraa kuteera uummanni rakkoo guddaa keessatti argama.
Adoolessa 15,2017. Godina Arsii Aanaa Siree keessatti Guyyaa har’aa Suuqonni cufaa oolanii jiru. Tilmaama gatii kan galii gibiraa jechuun waajjirri Galii Aanichaa maxxanseen wal qabatee daldaltoonni hojii dhaabanii jiru Waraanni wayyasnees magaalicha keessa deemee ummanni dirqamaan akka suuqii daldalaa isaanii banan furqamsiisuf tattaafachaa jiraachuu maddeen keenya magaalaa Siree gabaasanij jiru. 
Gidduugaleessaa Oromiyaa Godina Lixa Shaggar Magaalaa Ambootti Sochiin Warraaqsaa Biyyoolessa Oromiyaa FXG Kanfaltiin gibiraa dachaa guddaan Uummatarratti dabalamuu waliin walqabatee daran jabaachuun Mormii Guddaan Qeerroo Dargaggoota Oromoo, Daldaltoota fi Uummata Hundaa kan Hirmaachise Warraaqsii Finiinaa jira. 
Caamsaa 29,2017/ Kanneen maqaan isaan armaan gaditti woraqaa fuula duraa irratti tuqamee Himataamtoota Qeerroo Aanaa Dodolaa Magaala Eddo
![""](http://www.wfto.com/sites/default/files/WHRD.jpg")
Bitootessaa 30/2017 AMBOO Gidduugaleessaa Oromiyaa Godina Lixa Shaggar Magaalaa Amboo Keessaatti Warraaqsi Biyyooleessa Oromiyaa FXG Gootota Qeerroo Dargaggootaa Barattoota Oromoon durfamu itti fufe.
Bitootessaa 10/2017 Dargaggoo Oromoo Abbaa Seeraa Hayiluu Kifilee Waraanaa Koomandii Poostii Wayyaaneen Ajjeefamee Bosona Iluu Abbaa Booraa naannoo Mattuutti gatamee Bitootessa 9/2017 kan argamee yoo ta’uu, Baatii lama fuuldura Ukkaanfamee eessa buuteen isaa kan dhabamee ture ta’uu maddeen Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo Magaalaa Amboo gabaasan.
Bitootessa 7,2017, Godina Wallagga bahaa magaalaa Naqamtee keessaa maqaa malaammaltummaa fi hooromsa jedhuun wal qabatee hojjettoonni waajira teelee magaalaa Naqamtee keessaa heedduminaan ukkaamfamaa akka jiran maddeen Qeerroo Leeqaa gabaasan.
Four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah made the famous Oromo gesture in protest against the government of Ethiopia as he crossed the finishing line in the 5,000m Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday.The legendary British athlete who have just returned from Ethiopia to break the European record at the event (pictured), swapped his ‘Mobot’ signature celebration with a show of solidarity for the Oromo people.In Rio Olympic, hundreds of millions of people watched Ethiopian silver medallist Marathon winner Feyisa Lilesa hold his arms over his head, wrists crossed, in support of members of his Oromo ethnic group against the Ethiopian ruling party.The Tigre ethnics group (TPLF) of the country’s leaders have been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses and of discrimination against the Oromo, the country’s largest ethnic group, comprising about 35% of the country’s 100m population. 
Oromoon gaafa lolaaf ba’u “lafee jedhee “nyaata” waliin nyaata namni nyaata sanatti akka tasaa dhaquyyuu dhiisee galuun qaaniidha…….
Muudamni Itti Fakkeessii Mootummaa Faashistii Abbaa Irree Wayyaanee gola Paarlamaa Sobaa Keessatti Har’a Gaggeesse Diramaa jechuuf Illee Diramaan hojii ogummaa artii waan ta’eef, 
Ethiopia: State – Sponsored Terrorism and Military Brutality in Oromia HRLHA Urgent Action
Read more at:- 
Oromian Economist 
You must be logged in to post a comment.