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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.
Afar People’s Party is dismayed by the mass killing of our Oromo brothers in Bishoftu, while celebrating the Irrecha seasonal holyday. This act of state-terror and coward action on civilian population is a testimony for that the Woyane regime is falling apart and the situation is getting out of its control. It’s time to make sense of the causes, the causes that people are scarifying their lives for all over the country. Many heroic Ethiopians have been killed, prisoned, tortured and driven from their homes because they merely voiced their grievances and saidNo to social injustice and said Yes for human dignity.
In this trying time our hearts are bleeding and our souls are mourning with all families who lost their beloved ones. Afar People’s Party would like to express its solidarity with all Ethiopian people in general and with our Oromo brothers in particular.
Since its control of power, the EPRDF/TPLF regime has been systematically dismantling every aspects of societal institutions to create fertile ground for its divide and rule policies. The paradox is that those who have been killed repeatedly are civilians not armed opposition groups.
For instance, since 2005 Ethiopian have been massacred when they protested to protect their votes from being snatched;
Our Muslim brothers were killed and prisoned and tortured when they say “listen to our voices” and respect our religious freedom and demanded to restrict state interference in religious affairs;
Ethiopians were massacred in Gambela to give land for foreign investors;
Ethiopians were massacred and villages were burned in Ogaden when people asked for full-fledged federal arrangement;
Ethiopians were massacred in Gonder/ Wolkait/ Bahirdar/ Konso/ Sidama/ Konnaba/ Sawne/ Gawani etc., when they demanded that one’s identity should be determined by a group or individual but not by the state;
Ethiopians are massacred, prisoned and displaced in Afar because of they protested against land grabbing, territorial claims and marginalization;
Ethiopians were massacred in every corner of Oromia and now while celebrating the traditional ceremony of Errecha; and the list can continue…
The question is now, how long shall we wait and see while such gross human rights violations and crime against humanity are committed in daily basis? We believe that it’s our responsibility to accomplish the dreams and aspiration of many fallen brothers and sisters and we can only achieve that when we are united against the tyrannical regime.
We condemn all forms of barbaric acts and convey our condolences to those families who lost their beloved ones.
We call up on all Ethiopians to unite for lasting peace, justice, freedom and peaceful coexistence among Ethiopian.
Contact: Jean Heyer (612) 701-3874 / heyerjeanmarie@gmail.com
Web: www.ilhanomar.com
April 25, 2016 – Ilhan Omar strongly condemns the brutal crackdown on innocent unarmed peaceful protestors during the previous and current Oromo Protests.
“I stand with the Oromo struggle for freedom, justice and democracy in Ethiopia,” said Omar. “I urge the United States Government to stand by peaceful protestors and sanction Ethiopia, in the event it continues the current state-led violence in Oromia.
“The current protests in Oromia are not new. In April 2014, students from the Oromia region began protesting against the new Addis Ababa Integrated Master Plan, which incorporates smaller towns surrounding Addis Ababa, displacing millions without compensation and endangering the economic livelihood of ethnic Oromo people in Oromia. This plan will ensure that millions of people in Oromia will be disposed of their land, their survival both in economic and cultural terms will be threatened. The Master Plan intends to expose Oromia’s natural habitat to risk, threaten economic livelihood and violate the Ethiopian constitution. As a result of the 2014 peaceful protests, over 140 people, mainly students, were mercilessly killed by Ethiopian security personnel. No independent investigation was conducted and civilians in Oromia were left burying their dead without any guarantee of justice.
“In November 2015, protests erupted again in the Oromia region. As a result, over 400 people have been killed in the past five months, thousands taken to detention camps, opposition leaders arrested and Martial Law was declared as a tactic to silence dissent. Ethiopia is an important strategic ally to the United States, but we must be wary of supporting governments that conduct in various human rights violations and condemn actions that equate to crimes against humanity.
“I call on public officials, the United States government and the international community to condemn the atrocities being committed against innocent unarmed civilians in Oromia, Ethiopia.”
By Belen Fernandez, Green Left Weekly, Saturday, April 9, 2016
Members of the Oromo community in Melbourne protest against the Ethiopian regime, Photos: Ali Bakhtiarvandi.
“This government is at least better than previous ones,” remarked a 74-year-old Eritrean man to me last month in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, his longtime residence.
As it turned out, his assessment of the relative superiority of the current Ethiopian administration was for good reason: two of his children had been killed by a previous ruling outfit, the Derg military junta that took power in 1974 and began eliminating suspected opponents in droves.
Although that particularly bloody epoch came to an end in 1991, many a resident of Ethiopia might nowadays still have cause to complain about homicidal activity by the state.
In the Oromia region surrounding Addis Ababa, for example, there are claims that more than 200 people have been killed by Ethiopian security forces since November 2015, when protests broke out in response to the government’s so-called “Master Plan” to expand the boundaries of the capital by a factor of 20.
As a Newsweek article explains, the Oromo inhabitants of the region viewed the plan as “an attempted land grab that could result in the forced eviction of Oromo farmers and the loss of valuable arable land in a country regularly plagued by drought.”
This was no doubt a valid concern given the government’s established tradition of wantonly displacing Ethiopians in the interest of “development” — that handy euphemism for removing human obstacles to the whims of international and domestic investment capital.
Apparently, torture has also been a difficult habit for security forces to break.
Comprising some 35% of the population, the Oromo are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group and have regularly decried discrimination by the ruling coalition party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which is dominated by ethnic Tigrayan interests.
Politically motivated detention, incarceration, and other abuses have long characterised the landscape in Oromia, and the current protests have seen children as young as eight arrested.
And while the government has opted to shelve the Master Plan for now, protests in Oromia have continued. When I recently visited the town of Woliso, one of many protest sites in the region, residents pointed out that cancelling the plan wouldn’t bring back the dead people.
Events in Oromia have been described as the worst civil unrest in a decade.
Even without the Master Plan, meanwhile, the government is doing a decent job of courting investors. As I travelled west from Addis Ababa toward Woliso – a journey of about two hours — I passed sprawling factory complexes, including one featuring a Turkish flag flying alongside its more indigenous counterparts.
Launched in 2010 with a price tag of US$140 million, the Turkish-owned Ayka Addis factory is said to occupy several hundred thousand square meters of land.
The website of the Ethiopian Investment Commission furthermore lists Ayka Addis as one of “a number of private Industrial Zones” in Ethiopia, described as “success stories.”
Indeed, the EPRDF can point to double-digit economic growth over recent years to justify plowing ahead with its development model. But there’s more to life than GDP – as sizable poverty-stricken sectors of the Ethiopian population can presumably confirm.
About 200,000 people were reportedly in danger of trachoma-induced blindness in Oromia alone.
We might also take a look at the estimated 10.2 million Ethiopians currently “in need of urgent food assistance” — as reported, perhaps ironically, in a March edition of the English-language Ethiopian newspaper Capital, “the paper that promotes free enterprise.”
Additional troublesome statistics are contained in a 2014 BBC dispatch titled “The village where half the people are at risk of blindness.” The village in question is Kuyu, located in the Oromia region; the risk is due to infectious trachoma, “the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness.”
In the end, a lot of people in Oromia and beyond might have greater priorities than, say, income tax immunity for international developers.
Large group protests the treatment of Oromo people in Ethiopia
The Star Phoenix, March 11, 2016
A group is marching today in downtown Saskatoon to draw attention to violence against the Oromo people in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian government forces killed more than 80 people in protests in the country’s Oromia region.
Ethiopia’s prime minister apologized this week for the deaths resulting from the anti-government protests in the Oromia region but accused the protesters of being responsible.
SASKATOON,SK–People protesting the treatment of Oromo protestors in Ethiopia gather and march at city hall in Saskatoon, Friday, March 11, 2016. Part of the protest included a mock display of treatment of protesters. (GREG PENDER/ SASKATOON STARPHOENIX)GREG PENDER/SASKATOON STARPHOENIXPeople protesting the treatment of Oromo protestors in Ethiopia gather and march at city hall in Saskatoon, Friday, March 11, 2016. Part of the protest included a mock display of treatment of protesters. (GREG PENDER/ SASKATOON STARPHOENIX)
The group, called the Saskatoon Oromo Self-Help Association Corporation, marched downtown and protested outside of City Hall.
“There has been rampage violence and and reckless mass murder of the Oromo people by the country’s militarily armed police forces and security agents,” the group said in a press release.
The group is “appalled” by the treatment of the Oromo people in Ethiopia.
as members of Utah’s Oromo community rally for human rights
in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 11, 2016.
Summary
Utah Oromo community members rallied in front of Salt Lake’s federal building Friday to demand U.S. help in bringing justice to their friends and families living in Ethiopia, where government forces have killed hundreds of peaceful protestors.
SALT LAKE CITY — Holding signs depicting bloodied victims of the violence that has erupted in the Oromia region of Ethiopia over the past several months, Utah’s Oromo community rallied Friday in front of the federal building.
The group is demanding U.S. help in bringing justice to their friends and families living in Ethiopia, where government forces have killed hundreds of peaceful protesters opposing the annexation of the country’s capital Addis Abada into surrounding towns.
“We’re here today to protest the killings taking place in every corner of Oromia and to bring that violation of human rights to the government of the United States so that the United States can make some pressure to stop the killing,” said Geleta Fite, who came to the U.S. in 2013. But his family, he said, remains in Ethiopia.
“We will not sit back until we see some change and we see some justice for the murdered,” he said.
Fite joined several dozen other Oromo community members to deliver letters to Utah’s U.S. senators, demanding that the United States “condemn the brutal acts of the Ethiopian government and ensure these acts stop immediately,” the letter states.
Among its requests, the group urged the U.S. to advise its business community to limit spending in Ethiopia until the violence ends and pressure the Ethiopian government to establish an independent investigation into the killings.
The Human Rights Watch has said that there have been “almost daily accounts of killings and arbitrary arrests” since the beginning of the year as Ethiopian forces have suppressed peaceful protests in a government crackdown.
The Associated Press has reported that the protests were led by students who opposed what they believed to be a government plan to expand the capital, which would ultimately lead to the displacement of thousands of families and farmers. The Ethiopian government has denied the protestors’ claims, saying it only seeks to link Addis Ababa with nearby towns.
In January, after the deadly protests erupted, the AP reported Ethiopian officials canceled plans to integrate the capital with surrounding communities. However, the Human Rights Watch has said the bloody crackdown has continued, after the plan’s cancellation did not halt protests.
“This is genocide,” said Genemo Bedaso, chairman of the Utah Oromo Community. “We appeal for America to stop it. They have the power.”
Bedaso and Fite tried to meet with Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen. Mike Lee on Friday to deliver their group’s letter. The senators were not available, but staff members accepted the letters. Hatch’s spokeswoman, Heather Barney, said the letter will be relayed to the senator in Washington.
“Sen. Hatch is always responsive to his constituents’ concerns and has directed staff to meet with them,” she said. “He’s very concerned about the problems that they’re sketching out and he’s happy to listen.”
The European Parliament adopted a resolution in January to condemn the peaceful protest killings, call for an investigation of the violence, and demand immediate release of arrested Oromo activists.
About 100 people rallied in front of Calgary MP Kent Hehr’s office Friday morning to protest police crackdowns in Ethiopia over plans to requisition farmland in the African country.
It was to support dozens of university students who protested in Ethiopia’s capital on Tuesday, demanding an end to police crackdowns that followed months of demonstrations over plans to requisition farmland in the country’s Oromia region late last year.
Protesters held signs and waved flags outside of Hehr’s Calgary office. (Colin Hall/CBC)
The government wanted to develop farmland around the capital, Addis Ababa, and its plan triggered some of the worst civil unrest for a decade, with rights groups and U.S.-based dissidents saying as many as 200 people may have been killed.
In Calgary, Gilcha Mohammed, the chairman of the Oromo Community Association of Alberta, called on the Canadian government to pressure Ethiopian authorities.
“We’re all taxpaying Canadian citizens and we want our government to send a strong message to the Ethiopian government that they can’t continue killing and arresting peaceful protestors,” said Mohammed, speaking above the shouts of the protesters gathered outside Hehr’s Calgary office.
Protesters were crossing their arms during the rally. (Colin Hall/CBC)
“They are confiscating thousands of hectares of land. There’s about 3 million farmers that have been displaced. They’re leaving farmers without anywhere to go and that’s why we’re here.”
Protesters in Calgary marched down the street holding Canadian flags and the flag for the Oromia region.
Ethiopia has long been one of the world’s poorest nations but has industrialized rapidly in the past decade and now boasts double-digit growth. However, reallocating land is a thorny issue for Ethiopians, many of whom are subsistence farmers.
Authorities scrapped the land scheme in January, but sporadic demonstrations persist.
This woman lays down in a form of protest. (Colin Hall/CBC)
Mohammed said Canada should use its influence to encourage a peaceful resolution.
“Canada is a major contributor of foreign aid to Ethiopia and it has a lot of influence over the Ethiopian government,” he said. “We just want Canada to put pressure on the Ethiopian government and even cut that aid if necessary.”
Mohammed said Hehr’s office agreed to meet with the group after the rally.
Students believed to have been injured during protests at Wallaga University Oromo activists
UK (International Business Times) — Hundreds of people from Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest state, are still protesting on the streets calling for self-rule. An activist who spoke to IBTimes UK on condition of anonymity explained that Oromopeople, Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group, were also protesting against the alleged violence carried out by security forces against demonstrators.
The Oromo people are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group and their population amounts to more than 25 million (around 35% of Ethiopia’s total population). They originated in the Horn of Africa, where they are believed to have lived for millennia.
Oromo people speak Afaan Oromoo, as well as Amharic, Tigrinya, Gurange and Omotic languages. They are mainly Christian and Muslim, while only 3% still follow the traditional religion based on the worshipping of the god, Waaq.
In 1973, Ethiopian Oromo created the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which stemmed from the discontent over a perceived marginalisation by the government and to fight the hegemony of theAmhara people, another large ethnic group in Ethiopia.
OLF – still active today – also calls for the self-determination of the Oromo people. It has been deemed as a terror organisation that carried out violent acts against people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. The group hasalways denied such allegations, claiming its mission is to terminate “a century of oppression” against the Oromos.
The Ethiopian government scrapped the master plan following increasing agitation which activists claimed led to the death of at least 200 people.
“The issue of the master plan was only an immediate cause,” a source close to the campaigners said. “The root causes are real demands for Oromo self-rule, democracy and rule of law, among others and the government has continued to respond violently.”
The activist also claimed that during student protests which occurred on 8 March, police allegedly arrested more than 50 people and injured many.
“Student protests occurred at some large universities including Addis Ababa University,Jima University and Wallaga University,” the source added.
“AtAddis Ababa , Oromo students demonstrated for the second round in front of the US embassy chanting ‘we are not terrorists, we are Oromo, stop the killings inOromia’. In Wallaga, government forces beat and injured many students. Hospital beds were overflowing with injured students and ambulances were prevented from taking victims to hospitals in other cities around that part of Oromia,” the source alleged.
Government dismisses allegations of violence
The Ethiopian embassy in London has not responded to a request for comment on the fresh allegations.
On 21 February, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report warning that at least 200 people had been killed with further arrests of Oromo protesters by security forces, including the military.
However, Ethiopia dismissed the allegations with an official telling IBTimes UK the HRW report was“abysmal propaganda.” The government claimed the death toll was much lower than 200 but did not give a specific figure. Protesters were also accused of trying to secede and create an independentOromia state.
An earlier statement by the Ethiopian embassy sent to IBTimes UK stated that the government engaged in public consultations which resulted in the decision to scrap the master plan. Authorities also launched an investigation to identify people behind “corrupt land acquisition practices”, loss of innocent lives and damage to private and public properties. The investigation has led to a number of arrests.
Greetings, We are pleased to share a great response to Oromo and other advocacy from the Office of Maryland Senator Ben Cardin. Since the Oromo protests broke out in November and especially since m…
About 200 members of Minnesota’s Oromo community rallied at the State Capitol on Monday to protest treatment at the hands of the Ethiopian government.
The protest was in response to a crackdown on Oromo protestors in Ethiopia, who have opposed government plans to evict farmers from their land to expand Addis Abba, Ethiopia’s capital city.
Hundreds of Oromo — the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia — have been killed by the Ethiopian government since last November, protestors say, and thousands more have been imprisoned for opposing the government.
More recently, march organizers said, the Oromian region of the East African nation has been under martial law.
To put pressure on the Ethiopian government, protestors called for the United States to withhold aid to the Ethiopian government until the violence stops.
“We’re frankly upset over our government not caring enough to stop this,” said Najat Hamza, a community activist and member of Oromo Womens Organization of Minnesota. “We always felt the United States stands for human rights and in this instance their not.”
This was the fourth time Minnesota’s Oromo community. Monday’s march coincided with others nationwide, said Urgo Shanka, one of the event’s organizers and a youth coordinator with the Oromo Womens Organization.
Aadland is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.
The Ethiopian government may have backed off its planned capital expansion after deadly protests last fall, but ethnic Oromo in Minnesota say violence and arrests continue. Here, people mourn the death of an alleged protester shot dead by Ethiopian forces. Zacharias Abubeker | AFP | Getty Images 2015
On Thursday, members of the community — around 40,000 Oromo people live in the state — came together for a daylong forum in Minneapolis to discuss the human rights violations in the East African nation.
In the last few months, clashes between state security forces and students in the Oromo region of Ethiopia have been deadly. Activists say more than 200 people have been killed, but Human Rights Watch said it couldn’t verify the number. And it’s unclear how many Oromos, the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, have been arrested and imprisoned.
Teshite Wako Doualy Xaykaothao | MPR News
Teshite Wako, president of Oromo Community of Minnesota, said Oromo people are being targeted.
“By the name of development, and investments in the country, Oromos are evicted from their land, and students started to protest against that, and the response they got was to be killed,” Wako said.
Ethiopia’s prime minister said he regretted the loss of life during November’s demonstrations, and since then the government has ceased its plan to develop beyond the capital. However, daily killings and arrests have continued, said Wako.
“It’s an urgent matter that we need to pay attention to,” he said. “We would like, really, for genocide not to happen in our country. We are not against developments, investments, but what we are against is developments and investments that marginalize our people.”
Among those featured at the forum was Anuradha Mittal, executive director of The Oakland Institute, who spoke about human rights violations that her California nonprofit has been reporting about in Ethiopia since 2007.
Anuradha Mittal Doualy Xaykaothao | MPR News
“What is horrifying is a very systematic violation of human rights toward all communities that are not in political power,” she said. “This is based on so-called development schemes, which will result in the renaissance state of Africa, grand highways, the largest dam. But all of those schemes are being carried out through land-grabbing, taking away farmlands of communities without their consent, without compensation.”
Mittal added that when people protest, as young students apparently attempted to in November, there’s violence.
“They’ve been tortured, they’ve been intimidated, arrested, there’s no rule of law,” Mittal said. “There’s a complete misuse of the anti-terrorism law, which has become a tool to lock up people (and) not have them face charges for years. It is shameful for us to keep quiet.”
When President Barack Obama visited Ethiopia last year, he reportedly discussed greater business developments with officials, as well as human rights in the state. But Oromo Minnesotans say that’s not enough and many are urging Obama to help the Oromo before he leaves office.
A solidarity message to the Oromo people from the following U.S.-based Oromo organizations (listed alphabetically): Bet’el Oromo Evangelical Church of Minnesota; Bilal Oromo Dawa Center of Minnesota; Macha Tulama Association; Northern California Oromo Community; OFC International Support Group; Oromia Media Network Board; Oromo American Citizens Council; Oromo Community of Minnesota; Oromo Community of Portland; Oromo Members of the Orthodox Church in the U.S.; Oromo Studies Association; Our Redeemer Oromo Evangelical Church of Minnesota; Tawfiq Islamic Center of Minnesota; Tawhid Islamic Center of Minnesota; and TUMSA.
The message is delivered in three languages: Afaan Oromoo, English and Amharic:-
Sabni Oromoo mootummoota Itoophiyaa wal jijjiiraa turan jalatti waggaa 120 oliif hacuuccaadhaan gidirfameera. Haa ta’u malee wanti mootummaan gara jabeessa ta’e kan isin amma jala jirtan EPRDF/TPLF torbanoota muraasa darban kana keessa raawwate kun kan dhiyootti ta’eera jennee yaadachuu dandeenyu hundumaan ol hammaataadha.
Magaalaa fi baadiyyaan isin keessa jiraattan hundi humna waraanaatiin qabamee waan jiruuf sodaa guddaa fi qabatamaa keessa akka jirtan ni hubanna. Weerarri gara jabinaa humni waraanaa biyyoolessaa Aga’azii Oromiyaa irratti geggeesse nu keessaa baduu hin danda’u. Barattoota umurii mana barumsaa keessa jiran kan humni waraanaa mootummaa Itoophiyaa ajjeeseef onneen keenya gaddaan cabee jira. Oduu dirqisiifamanii gudeedamuu dubartoota keenyaa dhaga’uudhaan onneen keenya madaa’eera. Isa mootummaan Itoophiyaa sochii isin gootan kanaan shororkeessitummaadha jedhe nuti morminee jirra. Kana irratti eenyutu shororkeessituudha? Barattoota hidhannoo hin qabne warra karaa nagaadhaan mormii isaanii dhageessifatan moo waraana hidhatee isaan ajjeesaa jirudha? Dhugaan ofii isaatii haa dubbatu.
Miidhamni, hacuuccaa fi murtiin dalgaa lafuma ofii keessanii irratti hidhamtoota isin haa taasisu iyyuu malee haala ulfaataa akkasii keessatti iyyuu gara kuteenyaa fi gootummaadhaan qabsoo keessan itti fuftanii jirtu. Dargaggootni Oromoo, naamusni keessan, booreen keessan, jaalalli isin biliisummaaf qabdan, ciminnii fi diddaan isin qorumsa jabaa kana keessatti agarsiiftan, nu boonsee jira. Uummata Itoophiyaa fi kan biroofis burqaa kaka’umsaa fi jabinaa taataniittu. Gumaacha keessaniif dhalootni Oromoo kan isin galateeffatu yeroo ta’u, aarsaa keessan seenaan ni yaadata.
Wal’aansoon saba Oromoo sadarkaa hadha’aa irra ga’ee jira. Amma boodatti deebi’uun hin jiru. Amma dhumaatti fuula duratti tarkaanfachuu malee filannoo biraa hin qabnu. Aarsaa baafame akka waan waa’ee hin baafneetti lakkoofsisuu hin qabnu. Mo’icha as dhiyaate kana adda kutuun balaa guddaa qaba.
Hafuurri Oromoon Biliisummaaf qabu kana booda waanjoo garbummaa fi hacuuccaa waan baachuu hin dandeenyeef, tures dhiyaates haqni jali’na irratti akka mo’uu fi uummatni keenya akka mo’icha argatu shakkii hin qabnu. Sabni Oromoo guddichi deebi’ee akka biliisomu ni amanna!
SOLIDARITY MESSAGE TO OUR COMPATRIOTS
We, the undersigned, representatives of Oromo civic, religious, academic, community and media organizations, hereby in unison convey our heartfelt condolences to those who have lost family members. We also send our unflinching support and message of solidarity to you, our people, who are valiantly resisting the repression by the Ethiopian government.
The Oromo nation has suffered over 120 years of indignity under successive Ethiopian regimes, but the cruelty and viciousness you have been subject to by the EPRDF/TPLF regime in the last few weeks surpasses anything that we have witnessed in recent memory.
We understand that today you are living under a significant amount of fear and duress as a result of the military occupation of your towns and villages. The outrage we feel at the brutality the TPLF Agazi force has unleashed in Oromia is immeasurable. We are heartbroken by the number of school age children the Ethiopian security forces have killed. We are repulsed and outraged by the news of women raped. We reject the Ethiopian government’s characterization of your movement as an act of terrorism. Who is the terrorist here? Are they the unarmed school children demonstrating peacefully or those who are armed and killing them? Let the truth speak for itself.
In spite of all the violence, repression and systemic abuse that has made you prisoners in your own land, you have persevered and heroically continued the struggle under the most difficult of conditions. And to the Oromo youth, your discipline, tenacity, love of liberty, courage and defiance in the face of an adversity, has made us all proud. You are a source of inspiration and strength for all peoples in Ethiopia and beyond. Generations of Oromos will remain indebted to you for your contributions, and history will remember your sacrifice.
The Oromo nation has reached a critical stage in its struggle. At this point, there is no turning back. We have no choice, but to march to the very end. We cannot allow the sacrifices made to be in vain. The consequences of stopping short of ultimate victory will be disastrous.
Therefore, we want to encourage you to remain resolute and courageous as you sustain the struggle. Through its various agents of violence, this government has declared war on the Oromo people. And a government that declares war on the very people it seeks to rule has no moral authority or legitimacy to remain as such. Thus, the struggle to liberate our people from this repressive regime should continue undeterred.
At this critical juncture in our history, as we send you this message of solidarity, we pray for the safety and well-being of our people and recommit ourselves to stand with you and support the struggle with everything at our disposal. As the free Oromo spirit can no longer bear the yoke of bondage and indignity, there is no doubt in our minds that sooner or later justice will prevail over evil and our people will be victorious. We are confident that the great Oromo nation shall once again be free!
– Bet’el Oromo Evangelical Church of Minnesota
– Bilal Oromo Dawa Center of Minnesota
– Macha Tulama Association
– Northern California Oromo Community
– OFC International Support Group
– Oromia Media Network Board
– Oromo American Citizens Council
– Oromo Community of Minnesota
– Oromo Community of Portland
– Oromo Members of the Orthodox Church in the U.S.
– Oromo Studies Association
– Our Redeemer Oromo Evangelical Church of Minnesota
– Tawfiq Islamic Center of Minnesota
– Tawhid Islamic Center of Minnesota
– TUMSA
– Demonstrators say government scheme to expand capital Addis Ababa endangers farmers
– Demonstrators say government scheme to expand capital Addis Ababa endangers farmers
By Hassan Isilow
(PRETORIA, South Africa) – Ethiopians protesting against human rights abuses in their homeland gathered outside UN offices in Pretoria on Monday to call for the international community to take action.
“We are protesting here to create awareness about the killings of Oromo protesters in Ethiopia,” organizer Muna Saidi told Anadolu Agency. “We want the UN to help us pressure the Ethiopian government to stop these killings.”
Demonstrations sprung up in Ethiopia late November after the government proposed expanding the boundaries of capital Addis Ababa into Oromia regional state, leading to concerns among Oromo farmers about a loss of land.
The Oromo are the country’s largest ethnic group.
Saidi said many organizations had been silent over human rights violations in Ethiopia, where, according to Human Rights Watch, at least 140 protesters have been killed by security forces.
Several journalists, bloggers and opposition members have reportedly been jailed for criticizing the government.
“There is no freedom in Ethiopia,” Abdurrahman Jibro, chairman of the Oromo People’s Association of South Africa, told Anadolu Agency. “Protesters are shot and killed. Hundreds of Oromo youth have now fled to neighboring countries because they fear they will be arrested.”
Monday’s protest of around 300 saw demonstrators carrying placards calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to evictions in Oromia.
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION: European Parliament resolution on the situation in Ethiopia
19.1.2016
With request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
on the situation in Ethiopia (2016/2520(RSP))
Victor Boştinaru, Knut Fleckenstein, Ana Gomes, Richard Howitt, Josef Weidenholzer, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Eric Andrieu, Nikos Androulakis, Zigmantas Balčytis, Hugues Bayet, Brando Benifei, José Blanco López, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, Biljana Borzan, Nicola Caputo, Andrea Cozzolino, Andi Cristea, Miriam Dalli, Viorica Dăncilă, Isabella De Monte, Jonás Fernández, Monika Flašíková Beňová, Doru-Claudian Frunzulică, Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Neena Gill, Michela Giuffrida, Maria Grapini, Roberto Gualtieri, Jytte Guteland, Sergio Gutiérrez Prieto, Anna Hedh, Cătălin Sorin Ivan, Liisa Jaakonsaari, Eva Kaili, Jude Kirton-Darling, Jeppe Kofod, Javi López, Olle Ludvigsson, Andrejs Mamikins, Costas Mavrides, Marlene Mizzi, Sorin Moisă, Csaba Molnár, Alessia Maria Mosca, Victor Negrescu, Momchil Nekov, Demetris Papadakis, Vincent Peillon, Tonino Picula, Miroslav Poche, Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero Fernández, Daciana Octavia Sârbu, Siôn Simon, Renato Soru, Tibor Szanyi, Claudia Tapardel, Marc Tarabella, Marita Ulvskog, Julie Ward, Flavio Zanonato, Damiano Zoffoli, Carlos Zorrinho on behalf of the S&D Group
European Parliament resolution on the situation in Ethiopia (2016/2520(RSP))
European Parliament resolution on the situation in Ethiopia (2016/2520(RSP))
B8‑0121/2016
The European Parliament,
– having regard its previous resolutions on the situation in Ethiopia
– having regard to the statement by the EEAS spokesperson on recent clashes in Ethiopia, 23 December 2015
– having regard to the joint statement by Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tedros Adhanom of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, 20 October 2015
– having regard to the press release on the meeting between the High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia, Tedros Adhanom, 13 January 2016
– having regard to the statement by the EEAS Spokesperson on elections in Ethiopia, 27 May 2015
– having regard to the press release of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 10 July 2015
– having regard to press briefing note of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 10 July 2015
– having regard to the universal Declaration of Human Rights
– having regard to the African Union Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights
– having regard to the UN the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
– having regard to Rule 123(2) its Rules of procedure
A.whereas over the past two months , Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, has been hit by a wave of mass protests over the expansion of the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa which has posed risks for farmers eviction from their land;
B.whereas security forces used excessive lethal force and killed at least 140 protesters and injured many more, in what may be the biggest crisis to hit Ethiopia since the 2005 election violence;
C.whereas on the 14 January 2016 the government decided to cancel the disputed large scale urban development plan ; whereas if implemented, the plan will expand the city’s boundary by 20 times its current size; whereas Addis Ababa’s enlargement has already displaced millions of Oromo farmers and trapped them in poverty;
D.whereas the ethnic Oromos continue to suffer particular discrimination and human rights violations in efforts to suppress potential dissent in the region;
E.whereas the Ethiopian authorities arbitrarily arrested a number of peaceful protesters, journalists and opposition party leaders in the context of a brutal crackdown on the protests in the Oromia Region; whereas those arrested are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment;
F.whereas the government’s labelled largely peaceful protesters as ‘terrorists’ deploying military forces against them ;
G.whereas on December 23, the authorities arrested Bekele Gerba, deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC); Oromia’s largest legally registered political party; whereas Mr Gerba was being taken in a prison known for torture and other ill-treatment practices and shortly after he was reportedly hospitalized; whereas his whereabouts are now unknown, raising concerns of an enforced disappearance.
H.whereas other senior OFC leaders have been arbitrarily arrested in recent weeks or are said to be under virtual house arrest.
I.whereas last December leading activists such as Getachew Shiferaw (Editor-in-Chief: Negere Ethiopia), Yonathan Teressa (an online activist) and Fikadu Mirkana (Oromia Radio and TV) have been arrested arbitrarily though yet to be charged by the Ethiopian authorities.
J.whereas the current protests echo the bloody events of April and May 2014, when federal forces fired into groups of largely peaceful Oromo protesters, killing dozens; whereas at least hundreds more students were arrested, and many remain behind bars
K.whereas Ethiopia’s government has regularly been accusing people who express even mild criticism of government policy of association with terrorism; whereas dozens of journalists, bloggers, protesters, students and activists have been prosecuted under the country’s draconian 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.
L.whereas Ethiopia’s government imposes pervasive restrictions on independent civil society and media; whereas according to the Committee for the Protection of Journalist’s (CPJs) 2014 prison census found that Ethiopia was the fourth worst jailer of journalists in the world, with at least 17 journalists behind bars, whereas Ethiopia also ranked fourth on CPJ’s 2015 list of the 10 Most Censored Countries
M.whereas the Ethiopian authorities have routinely summoned to court the “Zone 9 bloggers” with terrorism charges for their writing over the past 2 years.
N.whereas numerous prisoners of conscience, imprisoned in previous years based solely on their peaceful exercise of their freedom of expression and opinion, including journalists and opposition political party members, remained in detention.; whereas these included some convicted in unfair trials, some whose trials continued, and some who continued to be detained without charge, among others Eskinder Nega, Temesghen Desalegn, Solomon Kebede, Yesuf Getachew, Woubshet Taye, Saleh Edris, and Tesfalidet Kidane
O.whereas severe restrictions on external funding continue to undermine the work and effectiveness of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under the 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation.
P.Whereas Ethiopia rejected recommendations to amend the Charities and Societies Proclamation and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation that several countries made during the examination of its rights record under the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in May 2014.
Q.Whereas Andargachew Tsige, a British-Ethiopian citizen and leader of an opposition party living in exile, was arrested in June 2014 while in transit through Yemen’s main airport and forcibly removed to Addis Ababa; whereas Tsige had been condemned to death several years earlier in his absence, and has been in death row practically incommunicado since then; whereas Juan Mendez, the UN special rapporteur on torture, has written to the Ethiopian and UK governments saying he is investigating the treatment of Tsige, following claims that Tsige is being deprived of sleep and held in isolation;
R.Whereas the Ethiopian government has de facto imposed a widespread blockade of the Ogaden region in Ethiopia, rich in oil and gas reserves; whereas attempts to work and report from the region by international media and humanitarian groups are seen as criminal acts, punishable under the anti-terrorist proclamation; whereas there are reports of war crimes and severe human rights violations perpetrated by the Army and government paramilitary forces against the Ogaden population;
S.whereas The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the ruling party coalition, won all 547 parliamentary seats in the May 2015 elections, due in part to the lack of space for critical or dissenting voices in the election process; whereas May’s federal elections took place in a general atmosphere of intimidation, and concerns over the lack of independence of the National Electoral Board;
T.Whereas Ethiopia enjoys political support from western donors and most of its regional neighbours, mostly due to its role as host of the African Union (AU) and its contribution to UN peacekeeping, security and aid partnerships with Western countries;
U.whereas Ethiopia receives more aid than any other African country – close to $3bn per year, or about half the national government budget
V.whereas for decades the government have been authorizing big development projects to foreign investors, which have been leading to severe land grabbing and millions vulnerable people often forcibly evicted and insensitively resettling; whereas often the government does not offer the local communities any alternative to permanent settlement and had not fully consulted groups before evicting them.
W.whereas some donors, including UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank, rechanneled funding from the problematic Protection of Basic Services (PBS) program in 2015 which was associated with the abusive “villagization program,” a government effort to relocate 1.5 million rural people into permanent villages, ostensibly to improve their access to basic services; whereas some of the relocations in the first year of the program in Gambella region in 2011 were accompanied by violence, including beatings and arbitrary arrests, and insufficient consultation and compensation
X.whereas Ethiopia is experiencing its worst drought in decades, deepening food insecurity and severe emaciation and unusual livestock deaths; whereas with 640 000 refugees, Ethiopia is the country in Africa with the highest number of refugees; whereas nearly 560 000 people are internally displaced due to floods , violent clashes over scarce resources and drought
Y.whereas the current political situation in Ethiopia and the brutal repression of dissent put a serious risk the security, development and stability in the country;
1.Strongly condemns the recent use of excessive force by the security forces in Oromia and in all Ethiopian regions, the increased cases of human rights violations and abuses, including violations of people’s physical integrity, arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions, the use of torture, and violations of the freedom of the press and of expression, as well as the prevalence of impunity;
2.Calls for an immediate end to violence, human rights violations and political intimidation and persecution;
3.Urges for the immediate release of all those jailed for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, including students, farmers, opposition politicians, academics, bloggers and journalists ;
4.Calls on the government to carry out a credible, transparent and impartial investigation into the killings of protesters and other alleged human rights violations in connection with the protest movement, and to fairly prosecute those responsible, regardless of rank or position;
5. Welcomes the government’s decision to completely halt the Addis Ababa and Oromia special zone master plan, that plans to expand the municipal boundary of Addis Ababa. Calls for an immediate inclusive and transparent political dialogue, including the government, opposition parties, civil society representatives and the local population preventing any further violence or radicalisation of the population; takes the view that such dialogue, conducing to the democratisation of the country, is not possible under the current political conditions;
6.Calls on the Government of Ethiopia to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Union Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and association;
7.Urges the government to immediately invite the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly and other UN human rights experts to visit Ethiopia to report on the situation;
8.Calls on the government to stop suppressing the free flow of information, including by jamming media broadcasts and harassing media, including through intrusive surveillance programs, and facilitate access throughout Ethiopia for independent journalists and human rights monitors;
9. Calls on the government to include local communities in a dialogue on the implementation of any large scale development project and ensure equal distribution of future benefits to the population ; to ensure that farmers and pastoralists are adequately compensated, preventing them from any arbitrary or forced displacement without consultation and adequate compensation.
10. Expresses its concerns on the government’s forced resettlement program, known as “villagization program”.
11.States that respect for human rights and the rule of law are crucial to the EU’s policies to promote development in Ethiopia and throughout the Horn of Africa;
12.Call on the EU to effectively monitor programs and policies to ensure that EU development assistance is not contributing to human rights violations in Ethiopia, particularly programs linked to displacement of farmers and pastoralists, and develop strategies to minimize any negative impact of displacement within EU funded development projects;
13. Further calls on the EU and Member States to react promptly to the escalation of violence and the deterioration of the human rights situation in the country by publicly and privately condemning the use of excessive force by security forces in Oromia and call on the government to exercise restraint in its response against protests and the exercise of basic freedoms by the Ethiopian people;
14. Stresses that financial support to Ethiopia from the EU should be measured attending to the country’s human rights record and the degree to which the Ethiopian government promotes reforms towards democratisation, as the only way to ensure stability and sustainable development;
15.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and the Parliament of Ethiopia, the European Commission, the Council, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the institutions of the African Union and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Despite the UN having offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, it had nothing to say about the crackdown that has led to the killing, reportedly, of over 140 Oromo people, when Inner City Press on January 11 asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Video here.On January 15, there was a large Oromo demonstration across First Avenue from the UN. Inner City Press broadcast it live on Periscope, with interviews, putting it on YouTube, here.Then Inner City Press went in and asked UN Spokesman Dujarric
UNITED NATIONS, January 15 — Despite the UN having offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, it had nothing to say about the crackdown that has led to the killing, reportedly, of over 140 Oromo people, when Inner City Press on January 11 asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Video here.
On January 15, there was a large Oromo demonstration across First Avenue from the UN. Inner City Press broadcast it live on Periscope, with interviews, putting it on YouTube, here.
Inner City Press: it seems inevitable to ask you. There’s a big protest in front of the building by Oromo people saying that more than 140 of them have been killed by Ethiopia. So I’d asked you about it on Monday. You said you don’t have anything but you’d check. What does the UN know given that it has an office in Addis about these killings?
Spokesman Dujarric: On the protests, we’re obviously very much aware of the protests not only going on outside but in Ethiopia itself. I think the Secretary-General would call on the Government and the groups concerned to hold a constructive and peaceful dialogue and also to ensure that all those who want to protest are able to express themselves freely and free of harassment as it is their right.
Spokesman Dujarric: soldiers from any nationality, as you know, for serving in DPKO, in peacekeeping missions, they go through a screening policy to ensure that the individuals and the units themselves are free of any human rights violations.
We’ll have more on this. For now, note that the UNSC’s upcoming trip, from which Inner City Press was Banned, goes through Addis Ababa. Will anything be said about Oromo?
The UN report on rapes in the Central African Republic, released on December 17, found that UN Peacekeeping’s Under Secretary General Herve Ladsous “illustrate[s] the UN’s failure to respond to allegations of serious human rights violations in the meaningful way.”
Ladsous has yet to take any questions about the report. Now the Office of the UN Spokesperson refuses Press questions on reports that “peacekeepers” from Burundi, France, Gabon and Morocco paid fifty cents for sex with children in CAR. On the morning of January 12, Inner City Press asked three separate UN spokespeople, in writing:
“In light of the Jan 11-12 Washington Post report that “ in interviews, U.N. officials said the peacekeepers were from Gabon, Morocco, Burundi and France. The prostitution ring they allegedly used was run by boys and young men who offered up girls ‘for anywhere from 50 cents to three dollars,’ according to one official,” please state the current status of these ‘peacekeepers’ from Morocco, Gabon, France and Burundi – and the status of the waiver USG Ladsous gave to the Burundian contingent.
Oromo Community stage a protest outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London.
By Henry D Gombya
The Oromo Community in the United Kingdom have written to the British government urging it to halt with immediate effect, its assistance to the government of Ethiopia which they accuse of systematic repression that includes the torture, killing and harassment of school children in Oromia, a regional state of Ethiopia.
In a letter to Philip Hammond, the British Foreign Secretary, Amin Abdella, Chairman of the Oromo Community in the United Kingdom accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s security forces of carrying out a renewed crackdown inside the country against the Oromo people. The letter adds that more than 70 students were killed, many made to disappear, while others were jailed simply for taking part in a peaceful demonstration.
The letter informs the Foreign Secretary was told that over the past week, the same tragedy took place in Oromia high schools and universities as students protested against the continued eviction of the Oromo people from their livelihood without compensation and thereby driving them down to extreme poverty. It accused the Ethiopian government of continuing to push its policy of evicting the Oromo people from their livelihood on a wider scale. “This policy, coupled with the burning of a vast area of natural forests and the continued eviction of indigenous people, has been opposed in peaceful protest yet met at all times with brutal suppression in the forms of mass arrest, torture and killings,” the letter said..
OromianEconomist 
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