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Since November 2015, Ethiopia has been experiencing a wave of anti-government protests unleashed by fears by the Oromo people that the government was planning to seize their land. Hundreds of people have been killed.
In early August, anti-government demonstrations rocked the Oromia and Amhara regional states of Ethiopia. Thousands of demonstrators went on to the streets calling on the government to stop killing protesters, release those arrested, implement political reform, and respect justice and the rule of law. However, the response from government security forces, which used live ammunition against protesters, led to the death of about 100 unarmed people.
Although the government security apparatus reported that the demonstrations had been contained, “the current political situation has become volatile. Things are fast changing and developments have become increasingly unpredictable,” according to analyst Tsegaye R. Ararssa. Activists are said to be busy devising alternative methods of protest that range from weakening government institutions through staying at home and not operating businesses to organizing a Diaspora-based “grand solidarity rally.”
Change of tactics
In the town of Gondar in the state of Amhara, where the first demonstration took place, residents resorted to a new mode of protest – staying at home. A resident of the town, talking on condition of anonymity, told Deutsche Welle that from last Sunday to Tuesday the streets were deserted. Workers stayed at home and stores remained closed.
Asked why the public had opted for this type of protest, the man said “it is clear that society has demanded an answer from the government, but the response was one of bullets in return, so the public decided to launch a stay-at-home strike.”
For Tsegaye, this peaceful method of protest demonstrates “a complete rejection of the regime by the people. It also blunts the regime’s false claims that the protests were violent. The stay-at-home protest is an indication of the increasing maturity of civil disobedience in Ethiopia.”
Protesters are now leaving the streets and staying at home
Internet restrictions
Residents in both the Oromia and Amhara regions say that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get an internet connection and access to social media tools has been blocked. “The only way to get through is by using proxy servers,” one resident of Gondar told DW.
In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Ethiopia’s Communications Affairs Minister Getachew Reda claimed that that social media had been used “to churn out false information after false information, mostly seditious remarks, trying to agitate people against security forces and also against fellow brothers and sisters.” The administration therefore decided to gag “the kind of vitriol running over social media,” he said.
However, political pundits argue that the state move to censor the internet places a strain on political discourse and the sharing of information. Despite the fact that the country has less than three percent of internet access, there are growing numbers of news and opposition websites which the regime is notorious for blocking.
Aid from the West
The Ethiopian government receives some 3.5 billion dollars (3 billion euros) annually from international donors and has remained a key strategic partner of the West, particularly the US and the EU, in the ‘war against terror.’ However, analysts argue this financial support has been toughening the regime’s resolve to silence dissenting voices. The western approach of tiptoeing around human right violations in the country and its continued support for the regime has been stirring up anger among sections of the public.
Tsegaye says that US and EU “support of the regime – which they know is clearly undemocratic – is the very cause of the state terrorism we observe in the region.”
A recent editorial in The Washington Post argues that the Obama administration, beyond releasing their “deeply concerned” statements, should put pressure on the regime to allow for “credible investigation into the killings.” Following the demonstrations in the two regions, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, urged the Ethiopian government to “give access to international observers in the affected areas to establish what really happened.”
In an interview with DW, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the commissioner, said restrictions on internet access, the blocking of social media and lack of civil society organizations in the country have made it difficult to verify reports of deaths and casualties.
Oromo activists took to the streets of Berlin in November 2015
Mohammed Said, public relations officer with Ethiopia’s Communications Affairs Office, told DW that the government had its own system of checks and balances and the country’s own Human Rights Commission was doing its job in investigating and publicizing the human rights situation in the country.
For analyst Tsegaye, this shows that the regime “is still in denial of the injustice its policies have resulted in.” The Ethiopian government now has the opportunity to change its approach – otherwise, Ravina said, “if the situation is left to fester, there will be more outbursts, more unrest, more protests and perhaps more violence.”
In Ethiopia unrest and protests against the government. This goes with a heavy hand against it. At the center of the conflict is the distribution of farmland.
Seit einigen Tagen weiten sich in Äthiopien Unruhen und Proteste gegen die Regierung aus. Diese geht mit harter Hand dagegen vor. Im Mittelpunkt des Konflikts steht die Verteilung von Ackerland.
Menschenrechtsbeauftragte zu den Unruhen in Äthiopien
Erscheinungsdatum17.08.2016
Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Menschenrechtspolitik und Humanitäre Hilfe, Bärbel Kofler, erklärte heute (17.08.):
Zusatzinformationen
Die Unruhen in Äthiopien, die sich inzwischen von der Region Oromia auf die Region Amhara sowie Addis Abeba ausgeweitet haben und zuletzt in einem blutigem Wochenende gipfelten, bei dem schätzungsweise 50 Menschen bei Zusammenstößen mit Sicherheitskräften getötet wurden, verfolge ich mit großer Sorge. Ich mahne alle Beteiligten an, in einen inklusiven Dialog einzutreten und bedingungslos auf Gewalt zu verzichten. Mein Beileid spreche ich den Angehörigen der Verstorbenen aus und wünsche den Verletzten eine baldige Genesung.
In der äthiopischen Verfassung garantierte Rechte wie freie Meinungsäußerung und friedliche Versammlungsfreiheit müssen gewahrt bleiben. Einsätze der Sicherheitskräfte gegenüber Demonstranten dürfen den Grundsatz der Verhältnismäßigkeit nicht brechen.
Ich bin davon überzeugt, dass Umverteilung von Land für Entwicklungs- und Investitionszwecke, sowie die Neugliederung von Verwaltungsbezirken partizipativ, transparent und sozialverträglich umgesetzt werden muss. Hierbei ist es wichtig, dass legitime Forderungen von ethnischen Gruppen und Oppositionskräften berücksichtigt werden. Die in Äthiopien erreichten wirtschaftlichen Fortschritte müssen allen Bevölkerungsteilen gleichermaßen zu Gute kommen. Ich appelliere daher an die Regierung, unter Nutzung der lokalen Kräfte und Stärkung der föderalen Struktur in einen konstruktiven Dialog mit der gesamten Bevölkerung einzutreten. Nur so kann die Lage auf Dauer beruhigt und ein friedvolles Leben gesichert werden.
Hintergrund
Seit November 2015 kommt es in der Region Oromia und neuerdings auch in der Region Amhara immer wieder zu Demonstrationen und Protesten gegen die Zentralregierung und die strukturelle Benachteiligung der Provinzen und deren ethnischen Bevölkerungen. Der äthiopische Staat reagierte darauf mit Zensur, Einschüchterung und gewaltsamen Vorgehen der Sicherheitskräfte. Wie auch bei früheren Protestaktionen hatte die Regierung zunächst die sozialen Medien und Nachrichtendienste und schließlich das gesamte Internet landesweit gesperrt.
Bestätigte Zahlen über die Opfer gibt es nicht. Es kann jedoch als gesichert gelten, dass im Zeitraum November 2015 bis Mai 2016 mehrere hundert Menschen ums Leben kamen (bis zu 400 laut AI und HRW). Die äthiopische Regierung bestätigt diese Zahlen nicht.
Neben der unruhigen Region Oromia hat sich Gondar (Amhara Region) seit einigen Wochen zu einem weiteren Brennpunkt Äthiopiens entwickelt. Aus der blutigen Festnahme einiger Aktivisten der Welkait-Volksgruppe am 14. Juli ist binnen weniger Wochen eine größere Protestbewegung entstanden, deren Ende noch nicht abzusehen ist.
press release (Google translated)
Human Rights Commissioner on the unrest in Ethiopia
Release date 17 August /2016
The Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, Bärbel Kofler, stated today (17:08.):
additional information
The unrest in Ethiopia who have now spread from the Oromia region of the Amhara and Addis Ababa and recently culminated in a bloody weekend in which an estimated 50 people were killed in clashes with security forces, I have been following with great concern. I urge all parties to engage in an inclusive dialogue and unconditionally to renounce violence. My condolences to the families of the deceased, I and wish those injured a speedy recovery. In the Ethiopian Constitution guaranteed rights such as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly freedom must be respected.Appearances of the security forces against protesters must not break the principle of proportionality. I am convinced that redistribution of land for development and investment purposes, as well as the reorganization of administrative districts must be participatory, transparent and socially acceptable measures. It is important that legitimate demands of ethnic groups and opposition forces are taken into account. The arrived in Ethiopia’s economic progress must come to Good all populations equally. I therefore appeal to the Government to engage using local forces and strengthening the federal structure in a constructive dialogue with the entire population. Only so the location can assured permanent and peaceful lives are saved.
Background Since November 2015, in the region of Oromia and recently also in the Amhara region repeatedly to demonstrations and protests against the central government and the structural disadvantage of the provinces and their ethnic populations. The Ethiopian government responded by censorship, intimidation and violent actions of the security forces. As with earlier protests, the government had first social media and news services, and finally the entire Internet nationally banned. Confirmed figures on the victims do not exist. However, it can safely be assumed that in the period from November 2015 to May 2016, several hundred people were killed (up to 400, according to AI and HRW). The Ethiopian government does not confirm these numbers. In addition to the troubled region of Oromia to Gondar has developed (Amhara Region) for a few weeks to a further focal point of Ethiopia. From bloody arrest of some activists Welkait ethnic group on July 14 a larger protest movement has arisen within a few weeks, the end is not yet in sight.
The government has recently killed and disappeared hundreds of people.
A couple hundred members of Seattle’s Ethiopian immigrant community marched through downtown’s streets Tuesday afternoon in protest against U.S. support for the brutal Ethiopian regime.
“Back in Ethiopia, we have a dictatorial regime which has committed mass crimes against its own people,” said attorney Daniel Ajema, a marcher who identified himself as an organizer. “We’re here in solidarity with the people back home, and would like to support them and show our support.”
He’s not exaggerating. In their “Democracy Index” last year, the Economistgave Ethiopia’s government their lowest classification: an authoritarian regime, with an “Electoral Process and Pluralism” score of zero out of ten. Since November, according to the Human Rights Watch, government forces have killed hundreds of largely peaceful protesters and “disappeared” hundreds more.
Ajema said that the protest was specifically aimed at urging President Obama and philanthropist Bill Gates to try to lean on Ethiopia’s national government to do better on human rights and democracy. “We are here to voice our concern and our anger against the enablers of the regime,” he said. The Gates foundation currently has 150 projects worth more than $500 million in Ethiopia, according to the South African Broadcasting Service. The official U.S. relationship with Ethiopia is a friendly one: Ethiopian troops have battled the terrorist army al-Shabaab in neighboring Somolia, and last year our government sent theirs more than half a billion dollars in aid.
Ajema says both the U.S.’s and Gates Foundation’s money helps finance the regime, and he says both Gates and the president should insist on putting human rights ahead of political expediency.
“They’re not doing a whole lot of checking on good governance and democratic rights,” Ajema said. “They’re just blindly giving money to the government.”
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
Grand #OromoProtests (6 August 2016) MUST SEE: Soldiers shooting and killing a peaceful protesters in Robe, Bale. The victim is Abdela Kadir. Video source credited to Jawar Mohammed.
Calls for an international investigation in Ethiopia have surfaced after more than 100 people were killed in demonstrations.It is a conflict that has led to 400 deaths since November, 100 of them in the last week alone, according to human rights groups.The Ethiopian government is cracking down on ethnic Oromos and Amharas, who are calling for political reforms.Human rights groups have called the reponse ruthless. And the United Nations wants to send international observers to investigate.Ethiopia has denied that request, saying it alone is responsible for the security of its citizens. But what can be done to ensure the Ethiopian government respects human rights?Presenter: Folly Bah ThibaultGuests:Getachew Reda – Ethiopian communications affairs minister.Felix Horne – Ethiopia reseracher for Human Rights Watch.Ezekiel Gebissa – Profesor of History and African studies at Kettering University.- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe– Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish– Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera– Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
How the Ethiopia protests were stifled by a coordinated internet shutdown
Guartz, 14 August 2016
Nearly 100 deaths and thousands of arrests have been reported in Ethiopia over the week, as part of protests against the marginalization and persecution of the Oromos and Amharas, Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups. But the attacks and arrests may not have been the only forms of retribution carried out by the Ethiopian government in its crackdown against protesters.
Last weekend, the internet was reportedly shut down in the country.
In an attempt to understand whether the internet was in fact shut down, we looked at some public sources of data that contain information about internet traffic. Such data provides strong indicators that the internet was most likely shut down during the Ethiopian protests last weekend, though it remains unclear if this occurred in all regions and/or on all types of networks across the country.
Ethiopian protests
Ongoing protests have been carried out by Ethiopia’s Oromo people since November, marking one of the most significant political developments in Ethiopia in recent years. These protests were sparked by the introduction of the Addis Ababa City Integrated Master Plan, which aims to expand the territorial limits of the country’s capital into neighboring Oromo towns, threatening to displace millions of Oromo farmers and bring the Oromo-dominated region under the Tigray-led federal government.
The unprecedented wave of protests has resulted in more than 400 deaths since November, according to a recent Human Rights Watch report.
Protesters relied on the internet to plan and mobilize so this may have prompted the Ethiopian government to pull the plug.
More protests sprung up in the Amhara regional state, with protesters requesting political reforms and specifically, the Welkait community demanding that ancestral land currently administered by the Tigray regional state be moved into the neighboring Amhara region.
The new-found unity between the two historically antagonistic communities of the Oromo and Amharas against a common adversary, the TPLF-led government, seems to have raised the tension in the country. The security forces response has been extreme, with observers comparing it to the 2005 post-election violence where nearly 200 people were killed. This time though, at least 30 people were reportedly killed in the Amhara region in one day alone.
Internet shutdown
Protesters relied on the internet to plan, mobilize and coordinate with each other and this may have prompted the Ethiopian government to pull the plug on the internet even before the planned protests started.
But this is not the first time that the Ethiopian government appears to be restricting access to the internet this year.
Last month, the government reportedly blocked social media platforms across the country after university entrance exams were leaked on Facebook by an Oromo activist, as a form of protest against the government.
Public data from last weekend indicates that the internet was shut down in Ethiopia during the heat of the protests, but it remains unclear if this occurred nationwide.
The graphs below illustrate that while internet traffic appeared to be originating from Ethiopia up until Aug. 5, such traffic was suddenly terminated until August 8th, indicating that the internet was probably shut down.
Read more at:-
#OromoProtests Alert! Mass torture and killings are going on against Oromo people in Ethiopia. Oromo children are subjected to torture and mass killings by fascsist Ethiopia’s regime (TPLF/Agazi force.
The New York Times was able to picture in video camera while fascist cruel Ethiopia’s regime (TPLF/Agazi) was attacking peaceful Oromo Protesters in Finfinnee (Addis Ababa), Oromia on 6 August 2016, Grand #OromoProtests.
Genocide is going on against Oromo people. On 6 August 2016 Protests held over 200 towns and cities in Oromia state wide. All over, Oromo demonstrators demanding political change in Ethiopia have been met with violent resistance by the fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime.It has been reported that over 283 innocent Oromo have been gunned down by cruel fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime ( https://oromianeconomist.com/2016/08/13/oromia-dhiigi-mucaa-kootii-dhangalaee-hin-hafu-oromiyaan-ni-bilisoomti-akeeka-ummatni-oromoo-bakkaan-gahuuf-murteeffate/ ). These are in addition to over 600 people the regime has murdered since November 2015. Since 6 August 2016, over 4000 people are being tortured in Awash Arba concentration camp alone. This figure does not include thousands and thousands in thousands TPLF torture camps.
Fascist Ethiopia’s regime’s detaining and torturing Oromo children. This photo was taken at Iyasu IV prison in Gara Mulata, East Hararge, Oromia. 13 August 2016
This is picture is a photo of martyred birght Oromo teenager school girl Mamiituu Hirphaa who was killed by cruel fascist Ethiopia’s regime Agazi forces in Ambo town, West Shawa, Oromia on 6 August 2016.
Fascist Ethiopia’s regime forces attacking 80 years Oromo elder in Arsi, Oromia state, captured by citizen journalist camera and social media.
A full scale military massacre has-been conducted by ethiopias fascsit regime in Naqamte East Wallaggaa, Oromia. The is picture is a young Oromo gunned down by the regime forces. 6 August 2016. Grand #OromoProtests.
These are tips of the iceberg of genocidal crimes of Fascist (TPLF) Ethiopia’s regime.
Ethiopia must admit international observers to establish the facts around deadly protests that killed scores of people over the weekend, according to the United Nations human rights chief.
Anti-government protesters took to the streets in several parts of the Horn of Africa country to demonstrate against alleged economic and political marginalization. In the Oromia region—which has seen an unprecedented wave of demonstrations in recent months—protesters marched in the capital Addis Ababa, while rallies were also held in parts of the northwestern Amhara region, including the regional capital Bahir Dar.
Amnesty International claimed that almost 100 people were killed and hundreds injured in the protests as Ethiopian security forces used live bullets on protesters. The worst violence took place in Bahir Dar, where some 30 people were killed in a single day, according to the rights group. The Ethiopian government blamed “nearby and distant foreign enemies and social media activists” for holding the protests, which it said were unauthorized, and that security forces were reacting to violence and vandalism from demonstrators. The authorities also disputed the death toll given by rights groups and opposition politicians.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said that the use of live ammunition against protesters “would be a very serious concern for us” and said that information about the protests had been difficult to come by. Press freedom is limited in Ethiopia, with the country ranked 142out of 180 in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.
Zeid urged Ethiopian authorities to give international observers access in order to determine whether security forces had used excessive force and “promptly investigate…these allegations,” in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.
Protests began in the Oromia region—which is home to the country’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo—in November 2015 over government plans to expand the territory of Addis Ababa, which Oromo protesters said would result in forced land seizures and displacement of farmers. The government dropped the plan in January, but protests continued, partially motivated by a brutal crackdown that had seen more than 400 people killed, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). A spokesman for the Ethiopian Embassy in London, Abiy Berhane, told Newsweek that HRW’s death toll was “exaggerated.”
The other main group protesting the government is the Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-largest ethnic group. The Amharas have a decorated history in the country; all but one of the Ethiopian emperors were Amhara, according to IBTimes UK.
Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration over what they say is unfair distribution of wealth in the country at Meskel Square in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, August 6. Scores of people were reportedly killed in the protests.TIKSA NEGERI/REUTERS
Dictators are in a constant battle of gaining meaning to their existence by denying meaningful life to others. Through its atrocious actions and inactions, the TPLF/EPRDF has taken the animosity between itself and the people of Ethiopia to another threshold. It has completely lost the shred of legitimacy it had in few quarters when assuming power in 1991.
It is incumbent on us – the people – to struggle for the restoration of our humanity and dignity. Although the primary responsibility to liberate ourselves rests upon us, we should not underestimate the role of the international community in this life-and-death situation. Since November 2015, over 600 people have been killed, thousands wounded, and tens of thousands imprisoned in Oromia, by government forces, while protesting peacefully. Over 100 people have been killed in Oromia and Amhara regions only during the last weekend.
Most of the financial aid is given in the name of development and social services. While the dictators in Ethiopia are busy killing and detaining innocent people across Oromia and Amhara regions – not doing development or running social services – the World Bank is busy processing 1.2 billion USD in new aid for the regime.
It should be noted that, following the bloody 2005 elections during which about 200 people were killed by government forces, the Bank introduced a slightly tightened control system, which it has progressively loosened. Through the Program-for-Results Financing (PforR), it is currently implementing a scheme that is consequentially similar to the direct budget support it used to run before the 2005 elections. The “Results” in the “PforR” is to be confirmed by a mere report by the government, and the World Bank has no verification system of its own. The effect is that the regime will be able to divert the fund away from the intended purposes, including using it for enforcing tyranny.
To aid the government of Ethiopia in this time, when it is perpetrating a brutal crackdown against peaceful protesters, is an antithesis of development/public service and painful for the people suffering under the current regime. Remember, actions become eventful not only in themselves but also in relation to the context in which they take place. On both sides of the actions, there are human beings – those who stand with the authoritarian regime to enforce repression and those who suffer the consequences.
It is unfortunate and outrageous that the international donor community has refused to seriously consider the plight of the oppressed and continued to offer diplomatic, financial, and military aid to the oppressor. By doing so, the donor community supported dictatorship and serious human rights violations and deferred the dawn of freedom against the oppressed. They chose to support an authoritarian, minority regime in contradiction with the values they ostensibly advocate for – hypocrisy can only start to explain this blatant contradiction. It is unfortunate that the people of Ethiopia will have to put up with this agonizing reality.
It has been repeatedly said that dictators do not learn from history and, I add, hypocrites do not learn from history either. Allies of the TPLF/EPRDF regime are in a moral bankruptcy, with alarming consequences. We hold them morally responsible for sustained repression of the people of Ethiopia. Those who continue to directly and indirectly support a regime that kills, maims, and tortures innocent people will be held responsible in the court of public opinion and leave a bloody history for generations to come.
The delay of freedom and justice is very costly to all the oppressed people of Ethiopia, the cohorts of the regime, and the world at large. However, the quest for these virtuous goals will continue and, no matter how long it takes, will ultimately hit its desired destination. Then comes a time when redressing current moral bankruptcy of the international community becomes impossible. Nonetheless, today has offered non-ignorable options for all to consider seriously.
Out of faith in the inner sincerity of human beings and humanity’s united yearning for liberty and justice, I appeal to the citizens and tax payers of Western donor countries to hold their governments accountable and demand an end to financial, diplomatic, and military support to the authoritarian regime of Ethiopia, which is turning the country into war zone. Behold donors and Western allies of the minority regime, the struggle in Ethiopia may soon enter a massively new phase.
Dictators are in a constant battle of gaining meaning to their existence by denying meaningful life to others. Through its atrocious actions and inactions, the TPLF/EPRDF has taken the animosity between itself and the people of Ethiopia to another threshold. It has completely lost the shred of legitimacy it had in few quarters when assuming power in 1991.
It is incumbent on us – the people – to struggle for the restoration of our humanity and dignity. Although the primary responsibility to liberate ourselves rests upon us, we should not underestimate the role of the international community in this life-and-death situation. Since November 2015, over 600 people have been killed, thousands wounded, and tens of thousands imprisoned in Oromia, by government forces, while protesting peacefully. Over 100 people have been killed in Oromia and Amhara regions only during the last weekend.
In Focus: Addis Ababa master plan threatens Oromos self-determinationIBTimes UK
Ethiopia has witnessed a rise in protests in the north-western region of Amhara and in Oromia state, in the country’s south. Reports claim that clashes between police and protesters in both regions have resulted in alleged deaths and dozens of arrests.
Amhara unrest
Anti-government protests erupted in Amhara earlier in August, when thousands took to the streets of Gondar and Bahir Dar to protest over the administration of disputed territories. Members of the Welkait Tegede community are demanding their lands be administered by theAmhara region, instead of the Tigray state.
These territories used to be part of Amhara, until the political coalition known as theEthiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) introduced a federal system and restructured the region including the areas into the Tigray region.
Protesters, who identify themselves as ethnic Ahmara – Ethiopia’s second largest group – clashed with police during the demonstrations, labelled as the biggest anti-government unrest Ethiopia has witnessed in recent history.
Police fired tear gas and shot in the air to disperse thousands of people who shouted anti-government slogans.Authorities accused protesters of attacking public properties and saidat least seven people died during the unrest, which entered its third day on Sunday (7 August).
However, both witnesses and Amnesty International claimed at least 30 people were killed in Bahir Dar.
People mourn the death of Dinka Chala who was shot dead by Ethiopian forces in Yubdo Village, about 100km from Addis AbabaZACHARIAS ABUBEKER/AFP/Getty Images)
Oromo protests
Oromo activists, opposition members and Amnesty have claimed that at least 67 people were killed across Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest state,during anti-government protests at the weekend (6-7 August). The demonstrations were the culmination of a wave of unrest that has rocked Oromiain recent months.
Deadly protests erupted in November 2015 againsta government draft plan − later scrapped − that aimed to expand the boundaries of the capital Addis Ababa. Oromo people feared the plan would result in the confiscation of land owned by farmers, who would become impoverished as a result.
Demonstrations are still occurring today, although less frequently, with people calling for self-rule, the liberation of political prisoners, the end of what they perceive as “military regime” in the region and the cessation of an alleged crackdown by security forces on “peaceful and unarmed” demonstrators, mainly students and farmers.
Activists and human rights organisation have accused authorities of killing some 400 people since the protest started. The government has always denied the allegations of violence and claimed that legitimate protests had been infiltrated by people who aimed to destabilise the country.
“Having been tired of only counting the dead, Oromo activists called a grand Oromia wide public demonstration, dubbed #GrandOromiaRally, last Saturday, to call on the government to stop the killings and release the thousands it arrested,” an Omoro activist told IBTimes UK.
“The rallies were a great success. People came out in their thousands each in over 200 towns and cities across Oromia including the capital Addis Ababa and other major regional cities like Adama and Dire Dawa,” the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymty, continued.
There is no apparent connection between the two waves of demonstrations, but members of both communities have shown support for each other’s causes.
Reports claimed the government blocked internet access during the demonstrations that occurred at the weekend.
The Ethiopian embassy in London has not responded to a request for comment on the allegations.However, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) reported authorities as blaming foreign enemies for the recent unrest anddeemed the recent protests as illegal.
“The government is aware that the ideas and slogans reflected in the demonstrations do not represent the people of Oromo or Gondar,” Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said in a statement.
(NPR) — The videos trickled out slowly on social media — slowly, because those posting them had to use special software to get around what seemed to be a government-imposed internet block.
This video showed thousands of people in the streets of the northern Ethiopian town of Gondar. The size of the crowd was significant in a country where civil protests are usually banned.
Even more significant? The location o f this anti-government protest.
For the last nine months, protests have erupted further south, in Oromiya, home to Ethiopia’s largest but historically marginalized ethnic group, the Oromo. But now the protests have spread north to a second region, the Amhara.
The different protesters have different grievances, but they share a growing frustration with the rule of a third, minority ethnic group — the Tigrayans. They say the Tigrayan elite has a cartel-like grip on the government, military and the fast-growing economy.
The response by the Ethiopian military to the protesters was swift and brutal. Amnesty International says that nearly 100 people were killed over the weekend when soldiers fired directly on demonstrators.
Even after those weekend confrontations, witness reports were still filtering back to Addis Ababa, the capital. “We’re hearing who’s been wounded, who’s in hospital, who’s been killed, not to mention those who’ve disappeared without a trace,” said Tsedale Lemma, editor in chief of Addis Standard, one of the few Ethiopian magazines that risks open critiques of the government.
She described an Orwellian spectacle on state-run television, with “ferocious PR work” to discredit the protests. “People are being paraded in the TV, being made to denounce the protests. People denouncing even the use of Facebook.”
For years, Ethiopia’s government has warned against a social media-fueled uprising like the one that happened just north, in Egypt, in 2011.
If you watch Ethiopia’s state TV broadcasts, what you’ll be told is that the country’s protests are fueled by ethnic separatists — or even ethnic terrorists.
Tsedale disputes this explanation, saying the protesters’ beef is with the government, not with any particular ethnic group. “I don’t see that people are deliberately orchestrating ethnic violence in the country,” she says. “Of course, the government is eager to identify it as such.”
In Ethiopia, politics is ethnicity, and ethnicity is geography. The country is formally divided into autonomous ethnic states, each with its own ethnic government. It’s a controversial system called “ethnic federalism” that was instituted by the current regime. Political parties are organized along ethnic lines. Thus any critique of the central government will automatically take on ethnic dimensions.
The protesters impugn the Tigrayan elite — the government officials and army generals — who, they say, have a choke-hold on the country. The government accuses the protesters of fomenting ethnic war on all Tigrayans, rich and poor. And in the fragile ethnic balance that is Ethiopia, the battle to claim the narrative is just as important as the battle in the streets.
UN calls for probe into Ethiopia protesters killings
90 deaths in Oromia and Amhara regions must be investigated by international observers, UN human rights chief says.
(Aljazeera) — The UN human rights chief has urged Ethiopia to allow international observers to investigate the killings of 90 protesters in restive regions at the weekend.
Zeid Raad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Wednesday that allegations of excessive use of force across the Oromia and Amhara regions must be probed and that his office was in discussions with Ethiopian authorities.
“The use of live ammunition against protesters in Oromia and Amhara, the towns there of course would be a very serious concern for us,” Zeid told the Reuters news agency in an interview in Geneva.
He also said that his office had “not seen any genuine attempt at investigation and accountability” since January when the killings of protesters first began.
Unrest continued in Oromia for several months until early this year over plans to allocate farmland surrounding the regional capital for development.
Authorities in the Horn of Africa state scrapped the scheme in January, but protests flared again over the continued detention of opposition demonstrators.
At the weekend, protesters chanted anti-government slogans and waved dissident flags.
Some demanded the release of jailed opposition politicians. Information on the reported killings has been difficult to obtain, Zeid said.
Zeid said that any detainee, who had been peacefully protesting, should be released promptly.
The state-run Ethiopian News Agency said on Monday that “illegal protests” by “anti-peace forces” had been brought under control. It did not mention casualties.
Ethiopia must allow in observers after killings: U.N. rights boss
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein gestures during an interview with Reuters in Geneva, Switzerland, August 10, 2016. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy
(Reuters) — The U.N. human rights chief urged Ethiopia on Wednesday to allow international observers into restive regions where residents and opposition officials say 90 protesters were shot dead by security forces at the weekend.
In his first comments on the incident, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that allegations of excessive use of force across the Oromiya and Amhara regions must be investigated and that his office was in discussions with Ethiopian authorities.
Since January, when he said the killings of protesters first began, his office had “not seen seen any genuine attempt at investigation and accountability”.
“The use of live ammunition against protesters in Oromiya and Amhara, the towns there of course would be a very serious concern for us,” Zeid told Reuters in an interview in Geneva.
Unrest flared in Oromiya for several months until early this year over plans to allocate farmland surrounding the regional capital for development. Authorities in the Horn of Africa state scrapped the scheme in January, but protests flared again over the continued detention of opposition demonstrators.
At the weekend, protesters chanted anti-government slogans and waved dissident flags. Some demanded the release of jailed opposition politicians. Information on the reported killings has been difficult to obtain, Zeid said.
“So I do urge the government to allow access for international observers into the Amhara and Oromiya regions so that we can establish what has happened and that the security forces, if it is the case that they have been using excessive force, that they do not do so and promptly investigate of course these allegations.”
Zeid said that any detainee who had been peacefully protesting should be released promptly.
The state-run Ethiopian News Agency said on Monday that “illegal protests” by “anti-peace forces” had been brought under control. It did not mention casualties.
As in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which Zeid visited last month, it is vital that security forces employ non-lethal means during peaceful protests, he said.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Mark Heinrich)
There was also a blanket ban on the internet over the weekend. “At least 97 people were killed and hundreds more injured when Ethiopian security forces fired live bullets at peaceful protesters across Oromia region and in parts of Amhara over the weekend, according to credible sources who spoke to Amnesty International. Thousands of protesters turned out in Oromia and Amhara calling for political reform, justice and the rule of law. The worst bloodshed – which may amount to extrajudicial killings – took place in the northern city of Bahir Dar where at least 30 people were killed in one day. ‘The security forces’ response was heavy-handed, but unsurprising. Ethiopian forces have systematically used excessive force in their mistaken attempts to silence dissenting voices,’ said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.” (Amnesty http://bit.ly/2b96dcg)
A year after Obama’s visit, Ethiopia is in turmoil
Protesters’ shoes lie scattered on a sidewalk in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Aug. 6 after demonstrators were arrested and taken away by police. (Paul Schemm/The Washington Post)
By Paul Schemm August 9, 2016
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The shoes lay scattered on the sidewalk as the detained protesters walked barefoot through the rain, escorted by grim-faced police officers who casually beat them with batons to keep them moving.
In nearby Meskel Square here in the heart of the Ethiopian capital, police kicked around the remnants of protest signs. Just 10 minutes earlier, 500 people had gathered at the site, shouting slogans against the government — before being beaten, rounded up and carted off by police.
In Ethiopia’s countryside, however, it was a bloodier story. Rights groups and opposition figures estimate that dozens were killed in a weekend of protests that shook this key U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa.
The government had switched off the Internet over the weekend, apparently to prevent demonstrators from organizing, so it was only by Monday that word spread of the extent of the violence across the Oromia and Amhara regions.
[Ethiopia confronts its worst violence in years]
Police break up anti-government protest in Ethiopian capital Play Video0:57
Hundreds of protesters on Saturday clashed with police in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa after campaigners called for nationwide protests due to what they say is an unfair distribution of wealth in the country. (Reuters)
Just a year ago, Ethiopia was basking in the world’s spotlight after a visit from President Obama and global accolades for its decade of double-digit growth and enviable stability in a dangerous region.
Since then, however, this country of nearly 100 million has been hit by a widespread drought that has halved growth, and anti-government protests have spread across two of its most populous regions.
The local weekly Addis Standard estimated that at least 50 people were killed over the weekend — based on phone calls to protest hot spots. Amnesty International put the toll at about 100, citing sources across the country.
On Monday, the government announced that the situation was under control and that “the attempted demonstrations were orchestrated by foreign enemies from near and far in partnership with local forces.”
Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, told The Washington Post that an estimated 50 people died in the Oromia region Saturday and 27 were killed Sunday in Bahir Dar, the capital of the Amhara region and a major tourist destination.
“The government is responding in the same way it has responded to such incidents for the last quarter of the century,” he said by phone from Washington during a visit with the Ethiopian community there. “They want to rule in the old way, and people are refusing to be ruled in the old way.”
[History repeats itself in Ethiopia]
Protests began in November in the Oromia region, a sprawling state the size of Nevada that is home to the Oromos, the largest ethnic group in the country. It is also home to the capital.
As a booming Addis Ababa expanded and Ethiopia brought in foreign investors, more and more land from the surrounding Oromia region was confiscated. People also complained of corrupt administrators and, with little recourse to justice, began to stage demonstrations.
The government response was harsh. Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 400 people were killed in protests over the next several months. The official Ethiopian human rights council put the figure at 173.
In the face of the repression, the protests slowly quieted in Oromia, only to erupt last month in the neighboring region of Amhara, the historical ethnic center of the Ethiopian state and home to spectacular rock-cut churches and medieval castles that attract tourists.
A botched government attempt to arrest activists in the northern city of Gondar in mid-July led to two days of rioting that left 11 members of the security forces and five civilians dead. Two weeks later, tens of thousands held a peaceful demonstration over land issues and government repression.
Protesters in Amhara declared solidarity with the Oromo people and their opposition to the government, which many say is dominated by the minority Tigrayan ethnic group.
Activists abroad then called for demonstrations across the two regions this past weekend — a call to which thousands responded despite the Internet shutdown.
“It is clear Ethiopia has a potentially serious and destabilizing unrest on its hands,” said Rashid Abdi, the Horn of Africa project director at the International Crisis Group. “What started off as isolated and localized protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions has now morphed into a much broader movement covering a large swath of the country.”
He said the government has to move swiftly to defuse the crisis by engaging in talks with the communities and addressing the root causes of the dissatisfaction. Despite Ethiopia’s impressive economic gains, the growth has not been enough to “keep pace with rising social inequality” and unemployment, he said.
Opening these lines of communication, however, may be difficult because of a lack of leadership. Opposition parties have been repressed — the ruling coalition won 100 percent of the parliamentary seats in elections last year — and local officials are often mistrusted or viewed as corrupt.
Seyoum Teshome, a university lecturer in Woliso, a town in Oromia where protests also occurred, said people have taken to the streets because they do not feel they have any other choice.
“They have no other option other than protests to explain their grievances,” he said. “They have nothing.”
Gudina, the opposition leader, said his party has been so curtailed by authorities that it has little control over what has been happening in Oromia. Most of the party’s leadership was imprisoned when the protests began last year.
He said that unless the government eased its repression, the violence would worsen.
“These protests are at the level of an intifada — people in their own ways are resisting the government pressure and demanding their rights,” he said, using an Arabic term that means uprising. “I don’t think it’s going to die down.”
This is one of the modern Industrial Parks, dubbed as Light Industrial City, to be built in Ethiopia as part of the larger plan for industrialization. It is situated at the southern outskirts of Addis Ababa, known as Jamo area. The local farmers were involuntarily removed. Now, it is turned into a Killing Park.
Credible reports indicate that the security forces are detaining a large number of people in large business storehouses affiliated with the regime and factory buildings built by the regime under the guise of “Industrial Park Development Corporation” around the cities of Addis Ababa, Bushoftu, Adama and Dire Dawa.
Reports also indicate that these parks are becoming killing parks where Oromos are killed and buried in mass graves in the compound of these parks.
It is to be noted that the so-called “Industrial Park Development Corporation” is one of the institutions of land grab that is evicting tens of thousands of Oromo farmers from around these cities and many parts of the country.
Similarly, reports indicate that victims of the government brutality are being denied medical assistance in government run healthcare facilities. In Addis Ababa, hundreds of the participants of the Grand #OromoProtests on Saturday, August 6, 2016, who were seriously injured but not detained were denied access to medical services at the order of the regime’s security forces across the city.
In cases where the victims get admitted to hospitals, the regime’s security forces are removing the medical files of the victims, particularly of the dead, from Hospital records in many Hospitals across Addis Ababa in an attempt to hide the identity of the victims and absolve the perpetrators of the crime from future persecution.
Reports coming from Zewditu Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa indicates that the medical file of an Oromo Protester by the name Tarekegn Deressa who died at the Hospital of brain concussion after being seriously beaten by the security forces in Meskel Square on Saturday, August 6, 2016, was deleted from the hospital computers and hard copy paper files taken from the Hospital records to hide any trace of what happened to this brave man.
Hospital sources indicate that deleting and hiding the medical files of those killed from hospital records are becoming the operating procedure the regime security forces are using to hide the identity of the victims and absolve the perpetrators of these crimes from future persecution.
Ethiopia is in a serious national crisis. It needs a national solution. An alternative political solution must be immediately thought-out. The government must immediately stop this state of terror and the killing sprees across the country by reigning over the security and military forces carrying out this brutality and heinous crimes.
The international community, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, India, China, World Bank and IMF must immediately take concrete measures to halt the bloodshed and prevent the country from descending into further crisis by lending diplomatic, financial and technical supports for an all-inclusive national political solution. #OromoProstes + #AmharaProtests =#EthiopiaProtests!
(ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia) — Ethiopian security forces shot dead several dozen people in weekend protests across the country as frustration with the government grows, an opposition leader and Amnesty International said Monday, while hundreds staged a rare demonstration in the capital after calls via social media. The government again blocked the internet over the weekend,…
Ethiopian migrants, all members of the Oromo community of Ethiopia living in Malta, protest against the Ethiopian regime in Valletta, 21 December 2015
REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi
This statement was originally published on freedomhouse.org on 8 August 2016.
In response to Ethiopian security forces killing dozens of protesters in the Amhara and Oromia regions during protests on August 6-7, Freedom House issued the following statement:
“The government of Ethiopia should immediately end its murderous violence targeting citizens demanding equitable distribution of resources and open government,” said Vukasin Petrovic, director for Africa programs. “Authorities should respect citizens’ constitutional right to peacefully assemble and express their views, and should meet their demands for greater democracy.”
Background:
Ethiopia security forces have detained thousands of demonstrators and killed hundreds of citizens in the clashes that occurred between November 2015 and July 2016, in response to protests in Oromia that began late last year. In July 2016, the protests spread to the Amhara region, where dozens of protestors have died.
Detailed, independently-verified information remains difficult to obtain due to the government’s suppression of independent media and rights monitoring groups. In recent days, the government blocked social media message applications, including Facebook, Twitter, Viber and WhatsApp.
Ethiopia’s Crackdown on Dissent: Police Attack Oromo Protests
Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration over what they say is unfair distribution of wealth in the country at Meskel Square in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, Aug. 6, 2016. | Photo: Reuters
The protests have left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.
Hundreds of protesters clashed with police Saturday in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa after campaigners called for nationwide protests due to what they say is an unfair distribution of wealth in the country.
Violence broke out as police tried to stop several hundred chanting protesters from accessing the historic Meskel square.
The demonstrations started as a small-scale student protest over the government’s plan to expand Addis Ababa into adjacent farm lands of Oromiya, Ethiopia’s largest constitutionally autonomous state.
Now they have evolved into a series of large and bloody demonstrations against the government, leaving hundreds dead and thousands jailed.
On Friday, two people were killed in similar clashes with police in Ethiopia’s ancient city of Gonder. The violence broke out when police brought one of the leaders of the land campaign movement to court.
Protestors chanting “Freedom!”
Chief administrator of the Amhara region, Gedu Andargachew, has declared the protests illegal and said security services will take measures against those who take part.
In a country known for cracking down on dissent, the public protests are rare.
But tensions over the status of Wolkayt — a stretch of land that protestors from the region of Amhara say were illegal incorporated in the neighbouring Tigray region — have been embroiling for at least the past 25 years.
The issue first resulted in violence two weeks ago when throngs of people in Gonder protested against an attempt to arrest Wolkayt campaigners.
Ethiopia Protest August 2016: Amid Internet Ban, Rally Against Government Leaves At Least 33 Dead
August 8, 2016
(International Business Times) — The two largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia took part in a massive anti-government protest over the weekend that has claimed dozens of lives. The protesters demonstrated against alleged government discrimination and human rights violations.
In Ethiopia, majority of the general population is made up of the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups. Protests first began last November when the government had plans to expand the capital into Oromia, which would in turn displace Oromo farmers in the region. After the government dropped their expansion plans, demonstrations continued to spotlight other issues impacting the community.
Dozens of protesters in the nation’s capital, Addis Ababa, were arrested on Saturday, BBC News reported. Things were far more violent in other parts of the country. According to the government, seven protesters died in Bahir Dar, a city located in the Amhara region. Demonstrations in the Oromia region reportedly claimed lives as well, with Oromo activists claiming at least 33 protestors were shot by police.
“So far, we have compiled a list of 33 protesters killed by armed security forces that included police and soldiers but I am very sure the list will grow,” Mulatu Gemechu, deputy chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, told Reuters.
In light of the protests, the government has responded by banning unauthorized public demonstrations and blocking social media. Officials claimed online activists were responsible for the outcry. Prime Minister Haile Mariam Dessalegn announced Friday the internet ban stating they, “threaten national unity.”
“It has now become clear that people cannot hold peaceful protests in Ethiopia,” Seyoum Teshome, a blogger following the demonstrations, told The Associated Press. “Regional police forces are being replaced by the army, leaving many areas to be under the military’s control.”
A massive Oromia wide Oromo protest was called by activists in Oromia and those in diaspora to take place on August 6, 2016 and it swept the country with millions of protesters marching through towns and cities including Finfine(Addis Ababa) across Oromia, Ethiopia. The mass rallied waving the Oromo liberation flag which is red green red with sycamore surrounded by sun and a star at the top which is outlawed by the Tigrean People Liberation Front dominated Ethiopian government. The demands included stop killing Oromos, free all political prisoners, stop evicting Oromo farmers, make Afaan Oromo an official federal language, justice for the victims of government force killings, remove military out of Oromia, respect the right to self rule in Oromia to name a few. The demonstration was planned to be peaceful as the coordinators advised the Oromo mass to refrain from violence and to avoid attacking government officials and the police.
However, the government deployed forces violently reacted to the protest by brutally beating the protesters and shooting at point blank killing over 60 in different Oromia cities and towns. Citizens report that several participants were killed cold blooded by ethnic Tigray Agazi forces, and federal forces killing 13 in Asaasaa Arsi zone, 8 in Aawwadaay Hararghe, 5 in Dodolaa Arsi zone, 4 in Addelee East Hararghe, 5 in Haramaya East Hararghe, 4 in Ambo West Shawa, 4 in Naqamte East Wallaga, 2 in Mandi West Wallaga, 1 in Ghimbi West Wallaga, 1 in Shashimanne Arsi, 2 in Eddoo and 1 in Hirna Hararghe. The social media news indicates the government forces have continued to assassinate Oromo business men across different cities alleging them for funding the protests.
Since the government responded to the peaceful protests with violence the citizens and the organizers have finally decided to respond to the violence by the government by arming the civilians and warning that everyone has to be ready for self-defense. Organizers are planning to hold all Oromo organizations meeting in diaspora to chart the future roadmap for the Oromo’s struggle for independence. It is expected that the meeting will be focused on how to empower the Oromo nation for self-defense and to mobilize resources to achieve it.
The Oromo political prisoners including the Oromo Federalist Congress secretary general Beqale Garba have called on the Oromo nation to intensify the struggle. The Oromo Liberation Front chairman Dawud Ibsa also issued a statement calling for an intensified struggle and soliciting more support for OLA.
A massive Oromia wide Oromo protest was called by activists in Oromia and those in diaspora to take place on August 6, 2016 and it swept the country with millions of protesters marching through towns and cities including Finfine(Addis Ababa) across Oromia, Ethiopia. The mass rallied waving the Oromo liberation flag which is red green red with sycamore surrounded by sun and a star at the top which is outlawed by the Tigrean People Liberation Front dominated Ethiopian government. The demands included stop killing Oromos, free all political prisoners, stop evicting Oromo farmers, make Afaan Oromo an official federal language, justice for the victims of government force killings, remove military out of Oromia, respect the right to self rule in Oromia to name a few. The demonstration was planned to be peaceful as the coordinators advised the Oromo mass to refrain from violence and to avoid attacking government officials and the police.However, the government deployed forces violently reacted to the protest by brutally beating the protesters and shooting at point blank killing over 60 in different Oromia cities and towns. Citizens report that several participants were killed cold blooded by ethnic Tigray Agazi forces, and federal forces killing 13 in Asaasaa Arsi zone, 8 in Aawwadaay Hararghe, 5 in Dodolaa Arsi zone, 4 in Addelee East Hararghe, 5 in Haramaya East Hararghe, 4 in Ambo West Shawa, 4 in Naqamte East Wallaga, 2 in Mandi West Wallaga, 1 in Ghimbi West Wallaga, 1 in Shashimanne Arsi, 2 in Eddoo and 1 in Hirna Hararghe. The social media news indicates the government forces have continued to assassinate Oromo business men across different cities alleging them for funding the protests.Since the government responded to the peaceful protests with violence the citizens and the organizers have finally decided to respond to the violence by the government by arming the civilians and warning that everyone has to be ready for self-defense. Organizers are planning to hold all Oromo organizations meeting in diaspora to chart the future roadmap for the Oromo’s struggle for independence. It is expected that the meeting will be focused on how to empower the Oromo nation for self-defense and to mobilize resources to achieve it.The Oromo political prisoners including the Oromo Federalist Congress secretary general Beqale Garba have called on the Oromo nation to intensify the struggle. The Oromo Liberation Front chairman Dawud Ibsa also issued a statement calling for an intensified struggle and soliciting more support for OLA.We will continue to follow up and update as the news unfold back in Oromia.
#Grand #OromoProtests 6 August 2016: Massive #OromoProtests rally held all over the State of Oromia including in Finfinnee (Addis Ababa), the capital. Held in more than 200 cities/towns.
Hagayya 6 Bara 2016 OromiyaaGuutuuKeessattiFicilliXumuraGabrummaaSeenaQabeessattiIttiFufee Jira.
Police break up anti-government protest in Ethiopian capital
Hundreds of protesters today clashed with police in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa after campaigners called for nationwide protests due to what they say is an unfair distribution of wealth in the country.
Violence broke out as police tried to stop several hundred chanting protesters from accessing the historic Meskel square.
The demonstrations started as a small-scale student protest over the government’s plan to expand Addis Ababa into adjacent farm lands of Oromiya, Ethiopia’s largest constitutionally autonomous state.
Now they have evolved into a series of large and bloody demonstrations against the government, leaving hundreds dead and thousands jailed.
Yesterday, two people were killed in similar clashes with police in Ethiopia’s ancient city of Gonder.
Leading opposition party, #OFC leaders call for the grand #OromoProtests.
BREAKING: Here is the hand written letter of Bekele Gerba and other political prisoners
Dhaadannoo Slogans)
#OROMO PROTEST #FREE BEKELE GERBA
#FREE ALL PLOTICAL PRISONERS WITH OUT ANY PRECONDITIONS
#FREE LIIBAN DABASA GUYO
#FREE COLONEL DEMEKE ZEWDE AND WELKAYITE COMMITEE
#FREE ABUBAKAR AHMED
#FREE YONATAN TERESA REGASA #OROMIA IS NOT FOR SALE #WE NEED FREEDOM #NO DUMPING WASTE IN OROMIA #STOP LAND GRAB IN OROMIA
#STOP EVICTING OROMO FARMERS
#STOP KILLING OROMO PEOPLE
#WE ARE NOT A TERRORIST #HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BE RESPECTED #DOWN TPLF DOWN
#FREE OROMIA FROM MILITARY
#WE STAND WITH WELKAYITE PEOPLE
#STOP KILLING AMAHARA PEOPLE
#STOP KILLING OGADEN PEOPLE
#NO TO MILITARY RULE IN OROMIA #CHILD KILLERS MUST BE ARRESTED # ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
#END MILITARY RULE IN OROMIA
#OROMIA SHALL BE FREE #BRING OROMO PEOPLE KILLERS TO BOOK #ABAY TSEHAYE TO THE COURT #SAMORA YUNUS TO THE COURT
#WE NEED EQUALITY
#AFAAN OROMO FOR FEDERAL LANGUAGE
#WE NEED JUSTICE
#FREE MUSLIM COMMITEE
#TPLF MUST GO
#EPRDF MUST GO
#STOP ECONOMIC MONOPOLY OF TIGREANS
#NO WATER NO ELETCRICTY NO NETWORK IN ETHIOPIA
#11%GROWTH IS A LIE
#OROMIA IS BLEEDING
#PEOPLE POWER IS BIGGER THAN THOSE ON POWER
#FREE DHAQABA WARIYOO……..
ETHIOPIA BRACES FOR MASSIVE PROTEST RALLY CALLED BY ONLINE OROMO PROTEST ACTIVISTS
To:
Obbo Abbaa Duulaa Gemeda, Speaker of the House of Representatives, FDRE.
Obbo Muktar Kedir, President of the National Regional State of Oromia
Ibrahim Haji, Commissioner of Oromia Police
All City Councils in charge of Matters pertaining to Public Political meetings and Peaceful Demonstrations
CC.
Obbo Teshome MUlatu, President, FDRE
Ato Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister, FDRE; Chair of the Command Post currently governing Oromia
General Samora Yunus, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, FDRE
Ato Asefa Abiyu, Commissioner of the Federal Police
Central Committee of EPRDF
Executive Committee of OPDO
Subject: Open Letter regarding the carnage in Oromia and possible next steps
Dear Sirs,
It is to be recalled that the Oromo people have been expressing their total and complete discontent with the administration over the last eight months and a half. This expression has taken the form of peaceful protest (#Oromoprotests) forcing the government to rethink the Addis Ababa Master Plan, amend the Oromia Urban Development Proclamation, reschedule the Ethiopian School leaving Exam and, more recently, to stop dumping waste in the Sandaafa area. Much to our disappointment and to the disappointment of the entire Oromo nation, this peaceful popular protest has been consistently met with overt violence from the Government’s security forces.
According to our estimates, over 6oo Oromos are killed. (It is to be noted that the Human Rights Watch had reported earlier that over 400 are murdered by government security officers arbitrarily. Even the regime has admitted that there were 173 killings and hundreds of incidents of injury to civilians, arbitrary arrests, and other forms of abuses, and yet there was no attempt on the part of the government to take political and legal responsibility for this.) Targeted killings have been going on even in the absence of any public demonstrations in Shashemene and the towns in the wider W Arsi district. The Government has so far not done its part to investigate the cause and bring the perpetrators to justice. Even as we write this letter today, the killing continues in Awaday. Few weeks ago, several arbitrary killing of children and other civilians was witnessed and burning of a building has also been observed while the local officials were watching the fire to the point of self-entertainment with the sight. Today, we have noticed the killing of protestors by snipers who targeted Oromo lives.
In the last eight months and a half, hundreds of peoples suffered wounds and other forms of bodily injury from shooting. Over 5000 Oromos were shot and injured by the Security Forces, mainly the Agazi. Tens of thousands have been victims of mass arrest and are suffering arbitrary detention and torture in prisons large and small in various parts of the country. Oromo leaders are detained and tortured as political prisoners. Hundreds are reported to be missing and are victims of forced disappearance. All this has been unaccounted for thus far as there was no independent commission of inquiry established to inquire into the matter. Nor has the government invited international investigators such as the UN’s Special Rapporteurs on Arbitrary Execution, Forced Disappearance, or the Committee of Experts.
The dispossession and displacement of Oromo farmers and residents including those in the suburbs of Addis Ababa) continues uninhibited so far. The civil administration of Oromia is still not restored in full. The Oromia National Regional State (ONRS) is still under the military rule that governs through a Task Force from a Command Post. Oromia is virtually under the rule of the Agazi. The fundamental demands of Oromo people remain unaddressed. Discrimination is rife. Economic disempowerment, political marginalization, total loss of voice is patent. Oromos are disproportionately represented in the statistics about the Ethiopian prison population. (It is reported that the prison population has risen from 86% to 95 % within the last nine months.) Oromo political leaders such as Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelissa, Dejene Tafa, Addisu Bulala, and almost all of the OFC leadership are imprisoned for no legally justified reasons. They are subjected to abuses as political prisoners.
The state of basic social services is deteriorating from day to day. Health, road, and water services infrastructure have all collapsed to the point of crisis. There is virtually no semblance of governance in the region except the terrorizing of the civilian population through a heavy military presence across the region.
All these brutal killings, maimings, forced disappearances, and other forms of abuse were taken to be acts of a repressive dictatorial regime that is hateful of its peoples. Developments in recent days (especially those that transpired in the Amhara region) and the way the regime treated their demands presented a contrast that seemed to suggest to our people that these extraordinarily violent responses are reserved only for Oromos. In Oromia, when school children demonstrated unarmed and peacefully (to present their just demands for their rights), they were massacred in a torrent of bullets that rained on them from the Agazi Forces. Elsewhere, even people that are fully armed with guns stage a protest, present their demands, and come home safely. And that is as it should be. Few hours after the Gonder protest was peacefully concluded, the regime was conducting a campaign of sniper shooting in Awaday town (of West Hararghe Zone of Oromia) where 6 persons were killed and about 26 were shot and wounded. This shows that the regime have different modes of treatment to different peoples of the country. It sends a message that indicates that Oromos, unlike others, are enemies to be eliminated at every opportunity. It also sends the message that there is a difference between the Amhara and Oromo parties (i.e. ANDM and OPDO, which form the coalition of the EPRDF) operating in the respective regions. ANDM openly supports the protest in Amhara region while in contrast the OPDO in Oromia is nowhere to be seen around the people (except as informers and co-killers). The media in Oromia is busy denouncing and demonizing the Oromo Protest whereas in other regions, the media publicly announces its support for the people’s demands.
Consequently, it has become clear even to casual observers that Oromo lives don’t matter in Ethiopia. In this regard, the regime has continued in the tradition of devaluing and undervaluing Oromo lives starting from the days of imperial conquest of the Oromo nation.
We believe that you are acutely aware that this condition is unsustainable. We believe that the only way forward is to arrest the people’s unnecessary suffering and bringing this crisis to a positive end. We believe that the continued perpetuation of misery, targeting the Oromo people as a people, is forcing them to reach for desperate measures that this government can’t eventually manage to control.
We, as concerned children of Oromia, are writing to you to make this last call for you to wake up to this fast changing phase of the Oromo Protest. If the government does not properly respond to the peaceful demands of the people for their rights in a just social order, the Oromo people will be obliged to start taking drastic measures that have serious repercussions both for the regime and for the country.
Our people are asking what brought about this apparently endless tragedy to them, including this recent different valuation of peoples and their rights. The answer seems to be in the following:
1. The Oromo people had so far chosen to conduct their protest peacefully. Oromo political leaders, activists, and intellectuals have all been consistently advising against violence and encouraging people to avoid all forms of violence. This was in line with the principle of primacy of peace and wellbeing (nagaaf nageenya) in the Oromo tradition and their way of being in general. This choice has been viewed as weakness and cowardice. The TPLF regime seems to have chosen to utilize the Oromo commitment to peace as an instrument of perpetuating its repressive politics.
2. In the last nine months, our people have taken extraordinary care not to harm other people living among them, especially those who, being from Tigray, support, benefit from, and collude with the regime. This care seems to be mistaken for naiveté and weakness.
However, it should be clear to all that patience has its limits. Anger and resentment is overflowing among our people. Before patience completely runs out, it has now become necessary for the regime to be given a last chance to change the course of its behaviour. In order to ensure that the regime treats our people with the same respect it accords to other peoples of Ethiopia, it has become necessary to take the following measures:
1. On Saturday, 6 August 2016, there will be a grand protest demonstration across the Oromia region including in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. The Protest, like all other preceding protests shall be completely peaceful. Its demands include:
a. STOP KILLING OROMOS;
b. FREE ALL OROMO AND OTHER POLITICAL PRISONERS WITHOUT ANY PRECONDITION;
c. END THE AGAZI RULE IN OROMIA;
d. ALLOW OROMOS COMPLETE SELF-GOVERNANCE
e. And other similar demands.
2. There shall be no request for permit from the government. According to the constitution and the relevant law (Proclamation No 3/1991), people who seek to stage public political meetings and peaceful demonstrations have a mere duty of notification.
This letter shall have served as a letter of notice to the relevant State and Federal institutions.
If Oromia’s and Federal Security Forces try to prevent the protest rallies or to abuse people otherwise during and before the demonstrations, from that moment on, the Oromo Protest will immediately have entered a new phase with new mission and strategy.
It shall start taking measures commensurate to the needs of the times.
TPLF leaders and Oromo collaborators shall take full responsibility for any and all negative consequences.
Desperate times demand desperate measures.
We call upon the regime to end our people’s sufferings immediately.
We also call upon the Ethiopian people to pay attention to this notice, to bear witness, and to stand in solidarity with its Oromo brethren and sisters.
We call upon our people to understand this situation and stand with the usual resolve and determination as they stand in unison to demand their just and God-given rights in their own land.
Kind Regards,
#OromoProtests
Oromo youth Muaz Abdulhamid, killed by fascist Ethiopia’s regime in Awaday, 31 July 2016.
#OromoProtests 31 July 2016: The city of Awaday in East Hararge, Oromia has erupted in renewed protest. The main road from Addis Ababa to Hararr and Jigjiga is closed.
FXG Hadoolessa 30 bara 2016: Awwadaay keessatti hiriirri mormii haarayani dhoohee jira. Daandiin kara Harariifi Jigjigaa demu cufameera.
Farmers in Gurawa district, East Hararge burbed down a house owned by a militia who killed two people two days go.
Dhiyoo kana Harargee Bahaa Aanaa Gurawaa magaalaa Dogutti ergamtoonni Wayyaanee dhukaasa banuun ilmaan Oromoo 5 madeessani lama ajjeesuun ni yaadatama. Kaleessaa galgala dargaggoonnifi ummanni Araddaa Dursituu mana milishaa Bishrii Mohammed Qallii jedhamu kan joollee san gaafas rasaasaan dhahee gubuudhaan tumaalessa re’ee 4 jalaa qalatanii jiran.
https://youtu.be/64FC80rfqQ0
#OromoProtests July 30, 2016: intense protest underway in two towns of West Arsi, Edo Waqantera and Xiyo. People have kicked out the military from the town. Witnesses saw more reinfrocement arriving and regrouping outside the town. Three people have been shot and wounded so far.
#Oromoprotets july 30/31, 2016: In the mean time protesters in Tijo-Waqantera town in Gadab Asasa district, West Arsi destroyed every fascist (TPLF) Ethiopia’s regime local they could find. They also burned down homes of government officials including that of Dawano Kadir, State Minister for Foreign Affairs.
#OromoProtests 30 July 2016, Jamal Kadirwas wounded in Tijo-Waqantera town yesterday. One Agazi soldier was reportedly killed and another was injured.
#AmharaProtests in Gondar in solidarity with #OromoProtests, 31 July 2016
Ethiopia, a country where has ruled by ethnic-apartheid soldiers. But it is taken as democratic country by Western for their interests around East Africa. We Ethiopians know our country more than what Obama is telling us.
Itoophiyaan, biyya loltoonni saba tokkoo saboota biraa cunqursuun bulaa jiruudha. Garuu Itoophiyaan tun, biyyoota Lixaa biratti fedhii faranjoonni Baha Afrikaa irraa qabaniif jecha biyya dimookiraasiin keessatti guddatee jiruufi biyya guddataa jirtu fakkeessaneeran. Nuuti biyya teenna faranjii caalaa beekna.
ኢትዮጵያ፣ የአንድ ብሄር ወታደሮች ሌሎችን እየጨቆኑና እየረገጡ በወታደር የሚትተዳደር ሀገር ናት። ፈረንጆቹ በምስራቅ አፍርካ አከባብ ላላቸው ልዩ ጥቅም ሲባል ይህች ኢትዮጵያ ዲሞክራሲ የሰፈነባትና ያደገች አስመሰሉት እንጂ እኛ ፈረንጅ ከምነግረን በላይ ሀገራችንን እናዉቃታለን! Comments from social media
As the regime fears renewed protest across Oromia, more reinforcement of Ethiopia’s regime fascist ( Agazi) soldiers arrived in Begi, West Walaga, Oromia, 29 July 2016.
You might recall the report about incarceration of Dekeba Wario, a renown elder from Shashemene. Today they arrested his daughter, Bontu. 28 July 2016.
Baatii lama dura manguddoo beekkamaa Dhaqqaboo Waariyoo naannoo Shaashamanneetii qabanii maa’ikalaawitti hiraarsaa akka jiran gabaafamuun ni yaadatama. Guyyaa har’aa ammoo intala isaa Boontu qabanii hidhan. Jawar Mohammed
#OromoProtests: Respond to their demands and STOP the hunger strike NOW!!
#OromoProtests 27 July 2016: It has been 8 days since Bekele Gerba and other political prisoners held at Qilinto prison began hunger strike in protest against violation of their rights by prison officials. Instead of addressing their legitimate demands to stop the strike, the prison officials have prevented their families and lawyers from seeing and speaking to them.
We call on the Ethiopian government to immediate and positively respond o their demands and stop the hunger strike. If the regime refuses this call, The Oromo people will be forced to take nonviolent direct action against all prisons and jails in Oromia in order to exert pressure on the system as way of saves the lives of these leaders.
#OromoProtests 27 July 2016: Fascist Ethiopia regimes is continue killing peacefull Oromo protesters in Oromia. This video is in Borana, Miyo District, Boku Luboma town. At the time of this report, 3 people were injured and in critical condition. One is died.
#OromoProtests 27 July 2016: Captured on camera while soldiers are firing on peaceful protesters in Boku Luboma town, Miyo District, Borana Province, Oromia state. Three people have been critically wounded and one person died.
Fascist Ethiopia’s regime forces shot and killed Oromo youth QAAMAR QARBATOO in Bokku Lubom, Borana, 27 July 2016, #OromoProtests.
Goodinaa booranaa magalaa bokkuluboomatti waranni wayyanee hirirtoota ajjeessa jira.uummatni soda tokko malee duraa dhabbacha jira. Ethiopia military is killing peace protests in borana zoni bokuluboma town
Namoota rasasaan rukkutaman sadi(3) yoo ta’an isaan keessa dargaggeessi QAMAAR QARBATOO jedhamuu ajjeefamee jira agaziidhan. 1:Fatuma waqoo fi 2:Sora Halake Haala badaa keessa jiruu
Suura kun hiirara magalaa Bokkuu Luboma keessatti kan ajjeefama DARGAGGOOTA QAAMAR QARBATOOTTI
#OromoProtests 27 July 2016, Miyo District, Boku Luboma, Borana, Oromia.
#OromoProtests on 26 July 2016, the road from Robe Gerjeda town to Bokoji and Hasasa has been closed, Arsi, Oromia.
#OromoProtests, Raising the Resistance Flag Robe-Gerjeda, Arsi, Oromia July 26, 2016
#OromoProtests 26 July 2016: Oromo child Lencho Abdi Abdulkarim is , one of the 6 people shot in Dogu town, Gurawa District, East Hararge when fascistTPLF’s soldiers opened fire on wedding party on 25 July 2016. The irony is his father, Abdi Abdulkarim is serving in TLF’s army stationed in Badme ( Eritrean border).
Body of Rihaanaa Ahmad, Kombolcha College student, Oromia, shot and killed by fascist Ethiopia’s regime force on 25 July 2016
Kun reeffa Rihaanaa Ahmad, barattuu Koollejji Kombolchaa, kan Adoolessa 25 bara 2016 Aanaa Gurawaa Magaalaa Doguu keessatti ajjeefamteeti. Reeffi isii yeroo ammaa gara iddoo dhaloota ishii Aanaa Haramaayaa geeffamaa jira.
#OromoProtests 26 July 2016: Update on Oromo Prisoners in Kalitti and Makelawi
The revolution is underway in Oromia, Ethiopia. The fact that the Oromo non-violent leader, a man of peace, human rights defender BEKELE Gerba and his comrades fainted in their 5th day of hunger strike made the #OromoProtests intensified fiercely and more protests is going to happen through out Oromia. The where about of BEKELE and his comrades is not known according to family members. They were taken out of the prison and are not in hospitals. (At least not in police or major hospitals).
In another news, Oromo Prisoners in Makelawi started a hunger strike demanding end to human right violations committed to them and seeking justice today. You all may know that more than 95% of prisoners in Makelawi are Oromo prisoners of conscience.
Dubbistanii waliif daddabarsuu hindagatinaa!
Guyyaa har’aa waaree duraa kaasee ummanni Oromoo ma’akalawwiitti sababa ati shororkeessaadha jedhamanii hidhaman hundi nyaata isaaniis ta’ee kan maatiin isaanii geessaniif didanii dhaabanii jiru! Sababni isaa ifatti beekkamuu baatus akka odeeffannoo dhagahetti, Nuti badii tokko malee askeessatti hindararamnu! Mirgi wabii ta’ee mirgi keenya nu eegamuu qaba! Nuti himata fi gaaffii tokko malee ji’oota afurii ol sarbamuun keenyaaf itti gaafatamaan mootummaadha kan jedhuudha! Rabbi isin waliin haata’u! Kaayyoon keessan galma haageessu jennaan! Hidhaa fi ajjeechaan ummata Oromoo duubatti hin deebisu! Nageessaa Oddoo Duubee irraa.
#OromoProtests Adoolessa (July) 26, 2016: Harargee Lixaa Magaalaa Baddeessatti poolisoonni dargaggota lama kan Jaafar Mahammadsani fi Abaadir Mahammad jedhaman yoo qabuuf dhufanitti ummanni akka jirutti bahee harkaa buusee jira.
#OromoProtests 26 July 2016, Hiddi Lolaa, Borana, Oromia.
OMN:Oduu Amma Nu Gahe Harargee Irraa (Adoolessa (July). 26, 2016).#OromoProtests continues in Eastern Oromia.
As #OromoProtests continued in Arsi, Oromia, 25 July 2016, track load of fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime forces were deployed from Shashemene to Dodola to terrorize and attack the people.
Bashir Nure is one of the victims of TPLF fascist forces, from Dodola. #OromoProtests 25 July 2016,Arsi, Oromia.
#Oromoprotests Adoolessa (July) 24, 2016: HUBADHAA! Oromiyaa aanaalee hedduu keessatti kaabineen aanaafi gandaa ummataan qawwee dhuunfaa hiikkadhaa jechuu eegaltee jirti. Kun seeraa ala ta’uu qofa osoo hin taane yakka saba kana gaaga’ama guddaaf saaxiluuf godhamuudha. Yeroon ammaa kan qawwee harkaa qaban hiikkatan osoo hin taane kan kufanii caphanii harkatti galfatani. Kan maallaqa qabu bitattee kan humna qabu diinarraa hiikkatee awwaalachuu feesisa malee kaabinee gowwaa kara biyti itti deemaa jirtu hin agarretti itti kennanni miti. Irran deebi’a. Yeroo ammaa kanatti qawwee dhiisaati shimalawuu hiikkachurra du’uu wayya. Kaabinee aanaafi gandaa ajaja ‘dahininatii’ Wayyaaneetiin ummatarraa qawwee hiikuu yaaltuuf, rabbi ija keessan haa banu, banadhaa laalaa jennaan. Ummataan ammoo irra deebi’ee gara hundaanuu qawwee caphxuus taatu harkatti galfadhaa jenna.
#OromoProtests 22 July 2016: Bekele Gerba & Other Oromo Political prisoners are on the 3rd day of their latest hunger strike. They are too weakened to even converse with their lawyer. Below is a status update from one of their attorney’s Abduljebar Hussien:-
“It is my first visit after the court ruling. Before getting my clients the prison administration has given me orientation (the dos and undos ).I have been with my clients Bekele Gerba, Dejene Tafa, Gurmesa Ayano Adisu Bulala in Qilinto prison an hour and half minutes ago. They told me that they are on hunger strike for third day. They have no enough energy to discuss with me as usual. with the little energy they have we tried to discuss on the next step to be taken on the court ruling on our petition. They also told me why and how long they will continue the hunger strike. I will let you know sooner because am on the way to Adama.”
#OromoProtests Adoolessa (July) 22 bara 2016: Aanna Masalaa araddaa Coomaa injiifannoo galmesaaniin wal qabatee marii isaanii xumuranii yeroo galan.
#OromoProtests 22 July 2016: youth marching in Choma Village, Masala District, West Hararghe, Oromia.
#Oromoprotest 20 July 2016: Bekele Gerba and his colleagues are at hunger strike. They were very disappointed by the decision of the court on their appeal on bad treatment by prison administration and against the violations of their human rights. They started the strike yesterday according to the sources.
#OromoProtests Adoolessa (July) 20 bara 2016: Godina Booranaa magaalaa yaa’aballootti barattonnii fi uummannii hiriira nagaa ba’anii gocha mootummaa wayyannee balalleffachaa oolan.
Adoolessa 18,2016/ Magaalaa Adaamaattis mormiin konkolaachiftootaa eegaluun konkolachiftoonni gara Finfinnee fi gara Arsii bahaa dalagan dalagaa dhaabuun mormii sirna Wayyaanee eegalanii jiru.
Kana maleess galgala kana ammoo waraanni Wayyaanee humni guddaan gara magaalaa Itayyaa fi magaalaa Shaashamannee konkolaataan yaa’aa jiraachun himame. Har’a galgala keessa Saa’atii 5:30wb Naannoo Asallaatti dhukaasi meeshaa dhagahamaa jira. Waraanni Wayyaanees galgala kana baay’innaan magaalattii guutee jiraachuu gabaasi Qeerroo addeessa.
Fascist Ethiopia’s (TPLF) regime has lost all the people legitimacy and is not governing the country but terrorizing the people of Ethiopia.18 July 2016
#OromoProtests, road closure in action in Shukute, West Shawa, Oromia, July 18, 2016
Adoolessa 18 bara 2016 gootonni Oromoo Shukkutee bifa kanaan daandii mara cufuun waraanni gara Goojjoo deemu akka hin dabarre danqan.
#OromoProtests 18 July 2016: Jaldu and shukutee are in intense situations. Fascist Ethiopia’s agazi forces were shooting on people indiscriminately and several people were injured.
An Agazi military camp located in Muka Oda village, Ada Barga District of West Shawa has been destroyed when grenades hit it setting fire to the building. The Agazi commandos were station there for the last months now forced to leave the area.
#OromoProtests July 14, 2016: after completing their 12th grade exam students at Asasa Preparatory school marched to town chanting ‘ We want Freedom Today.’
#OromoProtests 14 July 2016: Interesting form nonviolent resistance in Arsi. Here is the story. A government soldier shot two young boys who were caring for cattle. In response women from the village drove their cattle and sheep to the town closing all roads for hours demanding justice. Creative resistance at its best!!
Fascist Ethiopia’ regime (TPLF/ Liyu Police) has continued its genocidal mass killings and land grabs against Oromo people in East Hararghe, Oromia. As of 11 July 2016, 16 Oromo nationals were reorted killed and several injured. ODUU
Wayta gara garaatti milishoonni mootummaa Itiyyophiyaatiin gargaaraman kun daangaa godina Harargee bahaa seenuun duula jabaa geggeessaa kan turan yoo ta’u, inni ammaa kun haalaan yaadessaa ta’uullee jiraattonni himanii jiru.
#OromoProtests 13 July 2016: Funeral Ceremony for Haji Guye Dula, a respected elder who died yesterday as a result of the injuries he suffered during the protest in Adaba 6 months ago.
Sirna awwaalchaa haji Guyyee Duulaa magaalaa Adaabbaa keessatti bifa kanaan raaw’atamee jira. haji Guyyeen manguddoo biyyaa kan ji’a jaha dura gaafa mormii magaalaa Adaabbaa miidhamanii kaleessa boqotan.
#OromoProtests 12 July 2016: Mormii ummata godina Arsii aanaa Xiyyoo konkolaataa madaabaraa (daappii) fe’ee gara baalee deemu akka hindeemne dhoorkanii nuuf ta’a malee jedhan.
In Arsi Zone, Xiyyoo district, OromoProtesters block a road and stop trucks carrying fertilizer demand they must be given before it passes to other parts of the country.
Adoolessa 11/2016 Irraa Eegaluun Qormaatni Kutaa 12ffaa Seensa Yuunibarsiitii Qormaatni qulqullina hin qabnee fi shiraan guutame Oromiyaa keessatti Waraanaa Wayyaanee Komand Post dhaan Kennamuu Eegale.
Akka Guutummaa Oromiyaatti Qormaatni kutaa 12ffaa kun Waraana Wayyaanee Agaazii Komand Poostiin hooganamaa jiruun eegamaa fi kennamaa kan jiruu yoo ta’uu, Barsiisootni dabbaallootni Olaanoo Wayyaanee fi kanneen dhalootaan Oromoo hinta’iin Manneen barnootaa Oromiyaa keessa jiruu irratti Sadarkaa Supervisor mallaqni guddaan kanfalameefii kanneen ramadamani qorumsicha kennaa jiran addatti namoota dhalootaan Amaraa fi Tigree fi Oromoo hin taaneetti akka baay’atan saaxilamee jira. Supervisor dabballootni wayyaanee kunis waraanaa agaazii Komand Post hogganamuun kanneen eegamaa jiran ta’uun mirkanaa’era.
Mootummaan Wayyaanee Sochiin Qeerroo Dargaggootaa barattoota Oromoo fi uummata oromoo keessaa duubaan hudhee kan isaa qabee, sodaa guddaa sochii warraaqsaa Biyyooleessa Oromiyaa FXG irraa qabuu fi Qorumsa kanarrattis Warraaqsii kun daran natti cimaa jira jechuun Hoomaa waraanaa isaa Godinaalee oromiyaa Gidduugaleessaa Oromiyaa fi Godina Lixa Shaggar amboo fi Naannoo ishee, Godina Horroo Guduruu Fincaa’aa fi naannoo ishee, godina wallaaggaa bahaa Naqemtee fi Naannoo ishee, Godina Wallaagga Lixaa Gimbii, Godinaa Qeellaam Wallaggaa Danbii Doolloo fi Naannoo ishee, Godina Kibbaa Lixa Shawaa Walisoo fi Naannoo Ishee fi Godinaalee Bahaa Oromiyaa Harargee Bahaa fi lixaa fi Godina arsii Lixaa irraa Waraanaa hedduminaan Qubsiisaa jiraachuun hubatamee jira.
Adeemsii Mootummaan Wayyaanee Waraanaan sochii biuyyoolessaa Oromiyaa ukkamsuuf Bulchiinsa Oromiyaa Zoonii Waraanaa 8 jala galchuun Hooggansa Waraanaa komand Post jedhuun uummata Oromoo irratti yakka waraanaa rawwachaa jiruu kufaatii mootummaa wayyaanee kan saffisiisuu malee Sochii warraaqsaa Biyyooleessaa Oromiyaa kan Bilisummaa Uummata Oromoo fi walabummaa Oromiyaa kan dhaabuu hin dandeenyee ta’uu; Hoggansii warraaqsaa Biyyooleessa Oromiyaa FXG Dhaamsaa diinaa abdii kutachiisuu gadi jabeessuun dabarsee jira.
Injifannoon Uummata Oromoof!!
#AmharaProtests, 12 July 2016: Amhara people of Gondar protests fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime, 12 July 2016. Tigray Peoples Liberation Front declared war on Amhara people in Gondar. Residents of Gonder block roads, burn TPLF’s Selam Bus and torch other TPLF’s vehicles.
#OromoProtests reports 11, July 2016: Case settled. 12th grade students just took the English exam in Oromia/ Ethiopia, 11 July 2016. The booklet ( code 18) that was reported as leaked and circulated was the wrong one. I am glad to have trusted the assessment of our teachers and university students who reviewed the booklet and concluded it to be fake. They made the right call for the second time. They have helped our students avoid distraction based on uncorroborated report.
Good luck to all students on the rest of the exams!!
Hadoolessa keesa qorumsi hatamee bahe hin jiru. Kan hatame jedhame soba wayyaanee ta’u mirakanaa’ee jira. Hadoolessa 11 Bara 2016.
TPLF land grab has continued in Buraayyuu, Oromia. Evidence, 11 July 2016.
NEWS (11 July 2016) FROM METEKEL OROMO!!!
Recently in the District of Dangab or Dibati the Oromo of Metekel established the Wakefana Association at a place called Galessa or Chancho with the recognition of Federal and Benshangul Gumuz Regional state govermment agencies. And then they got a strong support from thier own people and thier neighbours.The reason was as part of this religion association they inplaced the original structure of Gada system and the Oromo people saw their every cases before the nine representatives of Aba Gada who were represented from different clans of Metekel Oromo.This brought unity and trust among the Oromos and the nearby people.on the other hand it brought strong suspection from government and put in prison the following members of Galessa or Chancho Wakefana Association.
1.Debelo Hika
2.Abdisa Dhuguma
3.Kusa Tolera
4.Oljira Amante
5.Abebe Gobana
Title of their accusation:
1.”Doing magic”
2.Establishing an association with out the knowledge of government
3. Strong mischief
Let’s all stand together with the Oromo of Metekel.
(SBO/VOL – Adoolessa 11,2016) Guyyaa har’aa kan jalqabe qormaatni kutaa 12ffaa barattootni humna waraanaatiin marfamanii fudhachaa jiru. Akkasumas namootni qoran garmalee to’annaa waan itti cimsaniif barattoonni bilisa ta’anii hojjechuu hin dandeenye. Namootni qormaata kana qoranis nama muraasarraan kan hafe Tigiroota waan ta’aniif barattootni si’a qormaata jalqabaa ykn kan ganama kenname fudhatanii yeroo bahanitti dhaadannoo jechuudhaan wayyaaneen nu hin qortu jedhanii akkasumas sirba Caalaa Bultumee sirbaa yeroo deemanitti humni waraanaa bittinneesseera. Haalli kun Dhiha Oromiyaa keessatti mul’ateera.
#OromoProtests 11 July 2016: Guyyaa har’aa, Hadoolessa 11 bara 2016 Alaaban ABO/Alaaban Oromoo Godina shawaa lixaa aanaa Gincii magaalaa Gaalessaa keessaattii bifa kanaan balalli’aa jira.
#OromoProtests, Mass rally at Eshetu Worku Moroda’s funeral service in Gincii, West Shewa, Oromia, 10 July 2016. Eshetu was a 9th grade Oromo student when he was murdered by the fascist Ethiopia’s regime Federal Police Force.
#Oromo Protests continues. The Oromo people’s demands remain the same: stop the killing of our youth and stop stealing away their lives and futures other; stop the arbitrary mass arrest and incarceration; stop the eviction from ancestral lands; bring perpetrators to justice; remove the army from the region; compensate or otherwise restate the farmers; restore peace; restore legality and order to communities; stop using the fascist state apparatus to terrorize the people; restore civil administration to Oromia; people have clearly rejected the tyrannic regime, and so take steps to organize election to enable the people to form a legitimate government; and take steps to address all contemporary and historic demands of justice and human rights of the people.
July 6, 2016 #OromoProtestshas been continued in Awadaay, Oromia. Fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime forces (Agazi) murdered Seyfuddiin Abdallaa, 9 year old Oromo child.
Oromo national Lachiisaa Beenyaa was kidnapped by fascist TPLF Ethiopia’s regime forces on July 6, 2016 from his residence in Naqamtee city, Oromia and his where about is not yet unknown.
Godina Arsii bahaa magaalaa Seeruu Habee,Saddiiqa fi Arsii lixaa magaalaa Kofalee keessatti ummanni haala qindaayeen FXG gaggeessaa jira.
July 6, 2016 #OromoProtests in Seeruu Habee, Saddiiqa and Kofalee towns, Arsi, Oromia.
Barattootni Boqonnaaf Gara Maatii Galan Humna Waraana TPLFn Ukkaamfamaa Jiru.
July 6, 2016
Adoolessa 5,2016 Wayyaaneen barattootni gara maatii isaaniitti boqonnaaf galan ergama Qeerroo fi ABO fudhatanii galan jechuun barattoota baadiyaalee fi magaalota Oromiyaa keessaa hidhaa jirti.
Akka odeessi Qeerroo nu gahaa jiru ibsutti barattootni bara kana manneen barnootaa irraa boqonnaaf galan godina shawaa lixaa aanaalee hedduu irraa addatti ona Gindabarat irraa barattootni gara qe’eetti galaa jiran hedduun mana hidhaatti darbamaa jiru. Guutummaan dargaggootaa ona kana keessatti dhalatee guddatee Qeerroo fi ABO dha jechuun gaaffii tokko malee dhaabbilee barnootaa olanoo irraa kan gara qe’eetti galan yeroon boqonnaa isaanii amma mana hidhaa wayyaanee tahaa jira. bakka kana qofa miti ona fi godina hedduutti kun mul’ataa jira.
Qellem, Jimmaa Horrootti miseensa WBO jechuunis Qeerroon ona Jimma Horroo keessa jiratus duuchaatti hidhaatti guuramuu fi qabamaa akkasuma reebichi suukkanneessan irra gahaa jiraatuunis himame. Kana malees shamarran hedduunis humnaan waraana wayyaaneen gudeedamaa jiraatuunis odeessi achi nu gahe addeessa.
Barattootni yeroo ammaa boqonnaaf gara maatii galaa jiran dabalatee kan bara kana eebbifamanis yeroon kun wayyaaneef dhumaatii waan taheef hidhaa gaaffii malee kanaan dura akka itti barattoota argatuu dhabee amma akkaataa ittiin barattoota kana qabu maatii biraa tikoota isaatiin waan qabataa jiruuf of eeggannoo taasifamuu qabu waliin socho’uudhaan FXG itti fufuu Qeerroon asumaan gadi jabeessee dhaama.
#OromoProtests 5 July 2016:Agazi soldiers, all in red hat, deployed throughout Shashamanne city today, according to reports coming in. Tensions running high between them and the general public. The soldiers trying to terrorize the youth, whom they target if seen in groups of two or more. What’s going on in Shashanmane indeed needs to be closely observed and monitored.“Magaalli Shaashamannee guyyaa har’aa yeroo kamiiyyuu caalaa Agaazii warra qoobii Diimaatiin weeraramtee jirti. Ummanni Garuu yaalii mootummaan isa shororkeessuuf taasisaa turee fi jiruuf utuu bakka hin kennin sodaa tokko malee socho’aa jira. dargaggoonni lamaa fi sanaa ol. ta’anii yoo deeman doorsisni cimaan wayta halkanii agaazota irraa isaan mudataa jira. Ajjeechaan duguuggaa sanyii kan mootummaan qindaahe erga oromoota magaalattii irratti raawwatamee booda ummanni xiiqiidhaan mootummaa irratti ilkaan ciniinnatee gaarrifataa kan jiru ta’uusaa waan bareef murni tplf kan Abbaay Tsahaayyeetiin durfamu ummata shaashamannee irratti xiyyeeffatee hojjataa jira. kuni ajjeechaa oromoota irratti torban darbe raawwate kan qindeesses kan durses mootummaa ta’uusaa ifaan ifatti kan mul’isuudha.https://youtu.be/mjuXxYUtaAsODUU
Harmeen Obbo Dajanee Xaafaa akka Ilma isaanii hingaafanne dhorkaman.
Haati Warraa Obbo Dajanee Xaafaa// Biyya ajaji Manni Murtii hin kabajamne Keessatti Maaliif akka Hidhamtoota gara Mana Murtiitti deddeebisaniif nuuf hin galuu jedhan.
Tibba Darbe abukaattoon Himatamtootaa dhittaa Mirga namoomaa Mana Hidhaa Qilinxoo keesatti Maamiloottan Isaanirra ga’aa jiru barreeffamaan erga Mana Murtiitti dhiheessaniin booda, Manni Murtii akka bulchinsi Mana adabaa deebii itti laatuuf kaleessatti beellamee ture.
Torbanuma darbe – Obbo Dajanee Xaafaa Himatamtoota galmee tokko jalatti himataman bakka bu’uun rakkoo Mana dukkanaa sana keessati isaanirra ga’aa jiru erga abbaa Murtiif himanii booda, Harmeen koo namni ganna 85 Mana Hidhaa seentee na dubbisuu hin dandeenyee, Karaa fagoo deemtee na ilaaluu dhuftee otuu na hin argin deemuun baayyee na gaddisiiseeraa jechuun abbaa Murti duratti himatani turan. Akkasumas Maatiin keenya dhaddacha seenanii Adeemsa Seeraa hordofuufillee isaani hayyamamaa hin jiru jechuun Mana Murti sanas ta’e, Bulchinsa Mana adabaa himatanii turan. Beellamni kaleessa tures, Manni adabaa sun akka isa kanaaf deebii laatuuf ture kan beellamame.
Bulchiinsi Mana Adabaa Qilinxoo Kaleessa isa kanatti deebii laatee Jira akka Aadde Assallafach Mulaatuu Jedhanitti. Mana Adabaa Qilinxoo keessa manni Dukkanaa hin jiruu. Dhiittaan Mirgaa isaan irratti raawataa jirus hin jiru jechuun barreeffamaan bulchinsi Mana Adabaa sub Obbo Abrahaan Mana Murtiif deebii deebisanii jedhan aadde Assallafach Mulaatuu. Manni Murtii akka Haati obbo Dajanee Xaafaa Waraqaa Eenyummaa Soorama ittin fudhataniin seenanii Ilma isaanii dubbisaniif ajaja dabarsee, bulchinsi Mana adabaa sunis ajaja sana erga fudhantaniin booda Har’a garuu Ilma koon arga jedhanii gammachuun Yoo walii wajjin Mana adabaa Deemnu Seerri nuun nu ajaju hin jiru jedhanii ol seensisuu didanii jedhu.
Dajaneen erga Hidhamee baatii Torba. Baatii kana guutuu keessatti si’a tokko Qofa Maa’ikelaawiitti dhaqanii ijaan arganii jedhu aadde Assallafach. Umuriin Isaanii deemeera. Ganna 85. Manni Murtiis kan ajaja dabarse fageenya isaan irraa dhufaniif Umurii isaani ilaalcha keessa galcheetu akka Aadde Assallafach Mulaatuu nuu himanitti. Hata’uutii garuu, Manni Adabaa ajaja Mana Murtiitiin geggeeffamaa akka hin jirre qofaa osoo hintaane, manuma Murtii sanayyuu kan achi ol ajaju Mana Adabaa sana hanga nutti fakkaatutti Itiyoophiyaa keessa ol aantummaan seeraa bakka dhabeeraa jedhan.
Mootummaan Itiyoophiyaa keessa seerri jira haa jedhu Malee Paartii aangoorra jiru sana Seerri bulchu hin jiruu jedhu aadda Assallafach. Achuma mana Adabaa sana keessatti Murtoo barbaadan itti murteessuu otuu danda’anii Maalif akka Hidhamtoota kana Mana Murtiitti deddeebisaa jiraniyyuu nuuf ifa mitii jedhu.
Murtiin Abbaa seeraa waan biraa dha. Gocha nuti Mana Adabaa Yoo geenyu arginu ammoo kan biraadha. Yoo balbala Mana Adabaa sana geenyu akka namaatti kan nu hin ilaalanii jedhan.
Nama gaaffii gaafannu hinqabnu.
Akka isaan jedhanitti qaamni walaba ta’e biyyatti keessa otuu jiraatee haala qabiyyee Mana Hidhaa sanaa seenanii daawwachuu danda’u. Garuu Hin jiru. Ol aantummaan Seeraa Jiraatee bakki itti himatanis hin jiru. Namooti kun harka isaanii keessa jiru waan ta’eef dararaa barbaadan irraan ga’anii mana Murtii duratti haaluu jedhu aadde Asallafach.
Akka Isaan Jedhanitti – Abaan Murtiiyyuu – Abbaa Alangaa Mootummaas ta’e, bulchinsa Mana adabaa Sana Sodaarraan kan ka’e ija jabaatee ol jedhee Ija keesa isaan hin ilaalu. Abbootiin murtii suniyyuu hidhaa keessa waan jiraniif isaaniinuu bilisummaa feesisaa jedhan.
Odeessi Qeerroo yuunibarsiitii wallaggaa akka addeessetti yuunibarsiitichi barattoota erga eebbifamanii waraqaa dhowwatee jira.Barattooti kun afaan qawwee jalaa hafanii kan eebbifaman yeroo ta’u, guyyaa eebba isaanii maatiin isaanii fi hawaasi eebba barattootaa kanarratti argame reebamuun kan yaadatamudha!
Yeroo ammaa kana barattooti kun waan nyaataniifi bakka bulanis dhabuun rakkachaa akka jiran beekameera!
#OromoProtests 1 July 2016: Godina Harargee Bahaa Magaalaa Aawwadaay keessatti fincila ganama kana Adoolessa 1, 2016 taasifameen namoonni 4 kan ajjeefaman yoo tahu namoonni madaawanis hedduudha
Namoota du’an keessa daa’imni waggaa 7 akka jiru beekame.
Fascist Ethiopia ‘s regime has been conducting mass killings in Awaday, Oromia. Fascist Ethiopia’s regime forces killed several Oromo children in Awaday, Oromia, 1 July 2016.
RE: Political prisoners in Ethiopia, Bekele Gerba, et.al on tenth day of hunger strike
Dear Mr. Secretary:
On behalf of the Oromo Studies Association, the Board of Directors, Executive Committee and the membership of our scholarly organization, we are sending this urgent request that the U.S. Department of State, under your able leadership, use its significant influence with the government of Ethiopia to save the lives of Bekele Gerba, Deputy Chairman of Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), other senior members of that organization and their fellow prisoners at Qilinto prison near Addis Ababa. These are entering the tenth day of a hunger strike joined to bring to light the deplorable conditions at the prison and the excruciating injustice inflicted upon the prisoners. Several of them including Bekele Gerba collapsed into unconsciousness on July 26, 2016. Today it is reported that those political prisoners, who were already in a very fragile condition are dangerously weak and deteriorating.
We ask that you use the good offices of the US State Department to gain access to Bekele and the others directly or through the Red Cross, to investigate the prisoners’ condition, interview them and to witness the conditions that have driven them to take this compelling coordinated action.
Bekele Gerba himself is highly respected and greatly loved among the Oromo and Ethiopian peoples as a humble man of courage and devotion to the plight of the oppressed. He is deeply committed to nonviolence and has translated the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. into the Oromo language. As keynote speaker at the last OSA conference, held at Howard University, August 1-2, 2015, Bekele Gerba left a lasting impression on our members with an inspiring and memorable message. A focus of the conference were the ongoing forms of resistance emerging in direct response to the ruling party’s policy of removing millions of Oromo farmers from their ancestral lands without their participation, agreement or compensation. Bekele Gerba urged the Oromo people to follow a course of nonviolence in response to the injustices they experience at the hands of the Ethiopian authorities. This address was the highlight of that event.
His presence and his message concerning the paths to peaceful democratic change in Ethiopia had an impact beyond our expectation and provided a historic and lasting contribution to our scholarly organization. We remain committed to find ways to sustain the development of knowledge that makes it possible to create understanding and ensure the wellbeing of the Oromo and other peoples in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. Bekele Gerba upheld his commitment to nonviolent peaceful protest and worked with members to open doors of cooperation between groups fully devoted to developing forms of mutual support in the region.
Upon the completion of the conference Bekele Gerba traveled to several US cities at the invitation of members of the Oromo and other Ethiopian diaspora and American communities. He inspired his audiences with a consistent message of nonviolent struggle for promoting respect for human rights and democratic governance in Ethiopia. He gave interviews in a wide range of media – in English, Amharic and Oromo languages. His interviews (including to Michele Keleman of National Public Radio and Periscope program of Al Jazeera American TV) stressed the importance of consolidating democratic governance in Ethiopia. It became clear that Bekele is loved and respected by millions of Oromo and other Ethiopians around the world as a man of vision, integrity and courage.
Many of us who admire Bekele Gerba’s leadership in advocating nonviolence in Ethiopia are deeply concerned about his well-being and the fate of others who are imprisoned there. OSA members are apprehensive about whether Bekele Gerba and his colleagues will receive adequate care either in prison or in a hospital, and horrified at the thought that harm might befall him and his colleagues.
Under the circumstance, we request you to take the following practical measures to spare the lives of political prisoners who have been on this hunger strike for ten days now.
· We request that the United States urge the leaders of the Ethiopia government to provide immediate relief for the conditions that drive them to this point and offer life-saving medical care for Bekele Gerba, his colleagues and the other prisoners at Qilinto.
· We ask that the U.S. Department of State under your leadership apply its enormous political, economic and diplomatic influence on Ethiopia to effect the release Bekele Gerba and his colleagues.
· We request that the State Department urge Ethiopian government leaders to respects their own constitution, release all political prisons currently in detention and bring an immediate halt to extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests of innocent people who face prolonged detention without trial.
Finally, we appeal to the US State Department to employ its considerable influence and diplomatic prowess to encourage a political environment conducive to respect for of the rule of law and inclusive government in Ethiopia. We earnestly believe that as America’s top diplomat and principal voice on international issues, you have an extraordinary opportunity to encourage policies that alleviate the incredible suffering of the Oromo and other people in Ethiopia in the long term. In the current moment, the most effective action to that end is to highlight the plight of Bekele Gerba, man of peace whose life and legacy is precious to us, and the plight of his fellow prisoners, and to intervene on their behalf with those who hold Bekele in custody. We appreciate your interest in their well-being.
Sincerely,
Henok Gabisa, President Bonnie Holcomb, Chair, Board of Directors
(Human Rights Watch) — It has been nine days since prominent Ethiopian opposition leader Bekele Gerba and several other senior members of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) went on a hunger strike to protest their treatment in detention. Bekele, who is the deputy chairman of the OFC, and his colleagues are currently being held in Kilinto prison near Addis Ababa on terrorism charges. Their health has reportedly deteriorated significantly in recent days.
Bekele and his associates were detained on December 23, 2015 and latercharged under Ethiopia’s terrorism law for allegedly belonging to the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) – a charge that is regularly used to silence ethnic Oromos who are critical of the government. They were first taken to the notorious Maekalawi prison, where torture and other ill-treatment are routine. Since moving to Kilinto, Bekele and his colleagues have repeatedly petitioned the courts to investigate their mistreatment in detention, to allow their families visiting rights, and to provide them with proper medication.
Bekele is a staunch advocate of non-violence and is one of tens of thousands who were detained during the mostly peaceful proteststhat have swept through Oromia since November. Many of those who have since been released reported being tortured in custody.
Since the protests began, the security forces have killed over 400 people, most of them students. Yet, there has been no meaningful investigation into the killings and no effort to hold security forces accountable. Instead, the state-affiliated Human Rights Commission in an oral report to parliament in June concluded that the level of force used by security forces was proportionate to the risk the forces faced, sending an ominous message to Ethiopians that security force members can shoot unarmed protesters with impunity.
As it is clear that the Ethiopian government is either not willing or not able to conduct a credible investigation into the conduct of its security forces, there is increasing need for international involvement in any investigation.
Unfortunately, the authorities’ failure to treat Bekele and his colleagues with the most basic respect for their rights is indicative of a government that shows little willingness to right the wrongs it has committed. Their continued detention sends a message to young Ethiopians that the government equates peaceful protest with terrorism, putting Ethiopia on a dangerous trajectory.
Africa: #oromoprotests – the “Oromo Street” and Africa’s Counter-Protest State – Part II
OPINION By Etana Habte, Special to Addis Standard
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 proceeded to discuss the systematic ways in which the regime further bolstered its role as a counter-protest state in Oromia. Taking the recent #OromoProtests as a point of departure, in this part of the series I discuss a more recent surge of popular protests, and the socio-political and party architecture in which #OromoProtests first took shape.
The EPRDF-led regime’s ‘decentralization of power’ down the hierarchical administrative structures of the regional states discussed in the first part was also the beginning of how the so called rural, previously isolated communities, experienced the heavy handedness of a central repressive government (the falsification of ‘nation’, and its clearly underlying failures). It is an expression of failures because this type of response is a mark of states that ignore an alternative to their texts of national dialogue and whose intents exemplify regional and ethnic primacies.
The “Oromo Street”: A force derailing Africa’s counter-protest state
By going beyond economic and development topics – which remain very important – this section explores concepts that better explain the roots and trends of these protests, it then outlines dimensions of confrontations between protesters and the Ethiopian counter-protest state.
The importance of looking inward at the course of modern Oromo political activism and its relations with the Ethiopian state cannot be underestimated: tounderstand the roots of Oromo protests we must focus on specific demands in the process and progress of modern Oromo political activism. There are society-state relations toreflectupon that reveal some of the underlying patterns that have made up and shapedthismovement.
Three closely associated features underlying Ethiopia’s society-state relations take form mainly during the incumbent’s rule of the last 25 years: growth of coherent consciousness,decades of simmering tensions,and ’emergence of the Oromo street,’. In an attempt to look inside the Oromo nation at various levels it is important to analyze salient factors in decades of ‘constructions’ that led up to the recent Oromia wide protests.
The modern shaping of ‘the Oromo Street’
Worldwide, the upsurge in popular protest became a powerful tool of global political movements. People throughout the world have been taking to the streets, giving new life to a form of political movement ‘often thought of as a historical relic in today’s era of expanding security states and the apparent triumph of global elites.’ Given recent global protest movements mentioned in the first part of this series, Ethiopia by any standard is not alone in encountering an upsurge in popular movement.
All the major waves of protests in Africa have been by and large limited to urban centers, and when they involve rural areas it has been termed as ‘isolated’ movements. The same is true with the 2005 post election protests in Ethiopia. Oromo protests however have created in Ethiopia a unique ‘street of protests,’ which I refer to as “the Oromo Street.”
The Oromo Street brought together rural and urban protests – those on the ground and online via social media. Areas previously believed to have been ‘isolated and disparate’ have found themselves at the centerof the protest because of the combination of the ground and online (new media technologies and platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). (Daniel Miller’s, Tales From Facebook expands upon the concept of individuals as networking sites, and examines in detail how Facebook transforms the lives of particular individuals).
Merely seven months after Ethiopia’s ruling party declared a 100 per cent landslide victory in the national election, Oromia, the country’s largest federal state, was placed under full military ‘control’ as protesters swept through the streets in an unprecedented opposition against the ruling EPRDF.
Ignited on 12 November 2015 at Gincii Senior secondary School in central Oromia, the peaceful protests quickly spread as far west asOromia’s outer margins neighboring the Sudan. It then turned north and took the Tuulama Oromo on the train. Whilst continued unabated in the west and north, protests swiftly engulfed eastern Oromo provinces before they reached southern Oromia. Waves of protests quickly engulfed the whole region in merely three weeks between 12 November and 5 December. As rural Oromia and higher education institutions became the scene of Oromo protests, elementary school children and secondary school students also joined the protests – rare in Ethiopian history. In the following weeksthe movement captured, in a rather unusual fashion, federal universities beyond Oromia – Dilla and Hawassa Universities in Ethiopia’s south. Much like federal universities in Oromia, junior colleges, technical and agricultural colleges in Oromia also joined, forming the first and most important “Oromo Street.”
After taking all of Oromia student protests instead took the shape of a well-organized Oromo national movement. This illustrates a distinction from all of its precedents in another feature — it enjoyed a considerable size of support from the Oromo public. Peasants, merchants, unemployed urban youth and some government employees were seen rallying behind student protesters.
That the protests were triggered by a scheme that the Horn of African state called “the Addis Abeba Integrated Development Master Plan,” commonly known as ‘the Master Plan,’ is now exhausted and need not be repeated here. Rural Oromia, and of course urban centers become another productive dimension of the ‘Oromo Street.’
In less than four weeks what the Oromo people regarded as a serious threat to their national identity caused a massive popular movement that engulfed the whole of Oromia. On this occasion no political party made a call; no underground national leadership seem to exist either. The only Oromo opposition party, OFC, live under a constant threat from the state. All but two or three of its national leadership were imprisoned in the waves of arbitrary arrests the regime launched following the start of the movement. Almost all of its members, supporters and sympathizers throughout Oromia have also been jailed, exiled or at the worst killed.
In the course of this popular Oromo movement we heard of OFC’s voice only rarely for understandable reasons. There is no readily available institution to have caused such a regime shaking popular movement. This geographical spread suggests that Oromo protests, despite many precedents in Ethiopia, and Africa at large, are not limited to urban centers; it is at the same time a phenomenon in the rural areas. Even goingbeyond these locations Oromo protest movement gave birth to another productive dimension to its ‘Street’: supporters from the country and an Oromo diaspora connected on social media.
But there is another equally important “Oromo Street.” When modern Oromo political activism was denied a space and every element it possessed began to be systematically criminalized by the same state which legitimized and fostered its growth, it found another informal space as the ruling party opened its door widely for Oromo nationalists to join it as OPDO members.
Ignore at own peril
Between 2006 and 2010 in particular, stifling voices of dissent came to a systematic twist when OPDO invitedthe Oromo youth to become its party members and undertook appointments of middle level cadres from the so called new generation. Given such compelling circumstances however OPDO’s inflated membership turned out to be an instrument of economic, social and political mobility than agenuine political loyalty.
It is at this point that the architecture of repression the regime has built over the last decade under the name of ‘development’ unequivocally met its match: Oromo nationalism.Young nationalist Oromo civil servants, intellectuals and bureaucrats who, before 2006, were sought after, detained and persecuted on allegations of being “OLF members,” “anti-development,” or “anti-peace” were given an opportunity to join the rank and file of OPDO. In doing so, the ruling party believed that it could afford to use- within its structures and leadership – active and politically conscious Oromo nationalists to speak on its behalf and in the process restrain Oromo nationalism. Alas, as events gradually unfolded, this perception of the ruling party rather tended to be counterproductive.
When the EPRDF recently commended its national membership having reached seven million, it failed to realize that hundreds of thousands of Oromo nationalists who wished to work in earnest – and even openly through #OromoProtests – towards the interests and narratives of an Oromo national construct and against the regime, make up a significant portion of that number. When the regime took for granted that it had successfully silenced dissenting voices (particularly in Oromia), it felt safe and relaxed as an electoral authoritarian regime in declaring landslide victories in two consecutive national elections (2010 and 2015). In contrast, modern Oromo political activism was now brewing in its own turf than it has been among the opposition. When the protests broke out in November 2015 and engulfed the whole of Oromia in early December, there was little surprise that one of its immediate achievements was the dismantling of the sub-kebele institutions (gooxii and garee), the main vehicles of control and repression.
While the regime’s policy of claiming Oromo nationalists by recruiting theminto the rank and file as well as into middle level leadership of the OPDO went unabated, in practice it became a creation of formal forum where unconscious and semi-conscious Oromos meet politically conscious and articulate Oromo nationalists. The result was that the OPDO rank and file from kebele levels to the regional bureaus over the last ten years became heavily politicized and very much indoctrinated with the narratives of Oromo nationalism.
Although aware of what was going on within the OPDO, the TPLF dominated EPRDF and the state intelligence structure appear to have perceived it as insignificant; after all, all were de factomembers of the ruling party which had ‘their hands tied and their mouth muzzled’ with party rules and regulation. Besides, since party bylaws allow a process of free discussions, debates and arguments within party members at all levels there has not been any unified method with which the ruling EPRDF can tackle or even hinder these processes. A participant in the processes who was once an OPDO cell leader at one of Oromia’s regional bureaus tells me his experience:
Using the forums set aside for lower level political cadres, ideas raised by participating members, friction of thoughts as well as deficiencies and mistakes of EPRDF were widely reflected upon; the structure allowed for the members to [openly] argue that the overall objective of their party has been wrong. This gave them more opportunity to see internal deficiencies of the party more closely than when they had been outsiders. When they saw that the party has been unresponsive to the demands of their people and more importantly their suggestions many, in the years after 2005, seem to be convinced that the Oromo people need to look for alternative [forums]. I personally know the fact that many young party members became aware of the complex internal problems of the party- both horizontal and vertical (OPDO-TPLF) – has no solution at all. More importantly, participation in the party by the new generation of [politically conscious] Oromo youth called into question political opinions of senior politicians regarded as founders of the party. It is safe to say that most of pre-2005 OPDO members were people of very low education; many of them do not question legality and validity of existing principles and directives under which they serve. Those who joined the party after 2005 were the same students who had been in various schools and universities protesting against the government on behalf of their people and some of them were even leaders of such movements. Since the new members perceive themselves more as part of the society than the party itself, the political debate and arguments they injected into the party structures through the same forums of discussion the party offers at various levels made many members to squeeze their own regime with serious questions. This I believe contributed to the growth of political consciousness within the party and more broadly within the Oromo people, and can safely be stated as having contributed to the on-going Oromo protests.
These circumstances suggest that narratives of the Oromo national struggle centred on Oromummaa/Oromoness (Oromo national identity) have become nurtured through state resources. Clear evidence of this is how in April 2014, the OPDO party structure along with the Oromia regional state bureaucracy made the region’s TV to quickly televise a highly contested debate by OPDO officials openly rejecting, on behalf of Oromo national interests, the state proposed-turned-controversial “Master Plan.”
That Oromo nationalism has raised enough political consciousness not only within the masses of Oromo youth – especially college and university students – but also within the OPDO rank and file. This was demonstrated when an OPDO member who was the mayor of Sulultaa, north of the capital Addis Abeba, boldly aired his objection in a televised meeting allegedly convened to launch “training of trainers” on “the Master Plan.” He openly and eloquently spoke against the proposed “Master Plan” saying: “The question of [how to handle] Addis Abeba city and the surrounding towns [of Oromia] is not an issue of urban matter, it is a matter of identity. When we raise about identity we have to pursue a fundamentally necessary route in which the development of Addis Abeba and the surrounding towns can be addressed in a way that the rights of the Oromo nation can be protected and where the identity politics and history cannot be ignored… “
The way the mayor conceptualized issues surrounding “the Master Plan,” and expressed his fierce opposition to it, has exactly been the same way Oromo protesters spoke against it throughout Oromia. As thesemiddle level cadres strongly tied the subject to some looming danger on the Oromo identity in its entirety, the federalgovernment resorted to reject all concerns underlining that “the Master Plan” would be implemented regardless of what OPDO or the Oromo public may think. This proved the public discourse that “the Master Plan” is a deliberate attempt to dissect Oromia and was perceived throughout the region as a blunt offensive on Oromo identity by the regime. In fact, this time the protest against “the Master Plan” in its finest form began within the EPRDF, not among the Oromo students at various colleges and Universities. Indeed, the first round of the April-May 2014 Oromo protests against “the Master Plan” began in Ambo, 120kms west of the capital, and spread to other parts of Oromia immediately after this fierce debate between OPDO party members against the plan was first televised.
There is very little doubt that Oromo nationalist members of OPDO, now the larger part of its rank and file, were able to manipulate the inner circles of the party for that meeting to be quickly televised. This is so partly because the discipline and mechanisms of control required to advance this kind of argument and debate are very much linked to the interests of the de facto ruling party which will not allow such objections to last long; and partly becausethe act carries sizeable risk for few OPDO officials. Given the fact that the state intelligence, federal police and many other powerful state structures were and are under TPLF control, some of those who spoke against “the Master Plan” in public could have risked death and disappearance. To throw it to an Oromo pubic packed with grievances was, therefore, a safe political bet and a powerful instrument to fight againstthe ever growing manipulative political asymmetry within the EPRDF.
The Adama meeting of April 2014 was a typical manifestation of deep-seated tensions between the Oromo people and the regime in power. While OPDO officials who sided with demands of the Oromo people used the country’s constitution as “weapon of the weak,” only to ask for previously suspended right of Oromia’s self-rule, senior members of the central government used thinly veiled language to express their right of rule over the whole country. The course of the current #Oromoprotests movement to win over the proposed “Master Plan” became a manifestation of growth in coherent consciousness mobilized under the shade of Oromo national identity. By November 2015 there is little surprise that the situation throughout Oromia was ripe for a fully-fledged uprising.
In the third and final part of this series, I will take a close look at the decades old simmering tensions between parties, discovering what they reveal about the politics of the Ethiopian counter-protest state.
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
Ethiopia: Attack on Civil Society Escalates as Dissent Spreads
Freedom House 22 July 2016
by Yoseph Badwaza, Program Officer, Africa and
Jennifer Charette, Senior Program Associate, Africa
Amid discontent, sometimes violent protests, and a drought of historic proportions that has left more than 15 million Ethiopians in need of urgent food aid, the Ethiopian government is tightening its stranglehold on domestic politics.
In the wake of the large-scale protests that rocked the Oromia region from November to March, the government, led by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has taken a number of measures aimed at stifling dissent. While consistent with EPRDF’s authoritarian posture, these steps are a devastating blow to the country’s independent media and civil society.
Protests in Oromia and growing ethnic tensions in the Amhara and South regions are viewed as indications that EPRDF’s model of governing through complete control over all levels of political and economic life could soon reach its breaking point. The government’s intolerance of alternative political views is pushing the country’s diverse ethnic and political communities to take to the streets to air their grievances.
While the initial trigger for the protests in Oromia was opposition to an unpopular government development plan, the scale and persistence of the protests in the country’s largest and most populous region point to a deeper ethnic discontent after years of misrule. These developments are even more worrisome as deadly protests began to emerge in several parts of the country less than six months after EPRDF and its allies claimed to have won all 547 parliamentary seats in the latest general elections in May 2015.
Ethiopia’s perceived stability and its much-touted role in the global fight against terrorism in the Horn of Africa are at stake if EPRDF continues to ignore the dangers of suppressing citizens’ legitimate demands for inclusive and accountable governance. Any economic progress can only be sustained with a genuine commitment to political reform that adequately responds to the demands of Ethiopia’s diverse political, ethnic, and religious groups for participation at all levels of public life.
Tools of repression tightened
The protests brought a violent response from authorities. In addition toextrajudicial killings of hundreds of protesters in the Oromia and Amhara regions, security forces arrested thousands of students, social media activists, and opposition party leaders and supporters. As protests continue in some parts of Oromia, authorities have filed criminal charges against dozens of Oromo students and political activists under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP). Hundreds more remain in custody without charges.
In response to the role social media played in publicizing human rights violations perpetrated during the protests in Oromia, Ethiopia’s parliament rushed through a cybercrimes law in June. The law stipulates serious penalties for a wide range of online activities and gives authorities greater surveillance and censorship powers that will limit access to information on digital platforms. The adoption of this law followed a shutdown of Facebook, Viber, and WhatsApp in parts of the Oromia region. Authorities also cited social media posts as evidence in criminal charges brought against digital activists. These social media posts were images, videos, and audio recordings made during the protests that documented numerous incidents of heavy-handed response to peaceful demonstrators.
Last week the government publicly stated for the first time that it is blocking these social media applications nationwide, claiming that they are adistraction to students taking university entrance exams.
Civil society under renewed attack
In June, the Charities and Societies Agency, the government body that regulates nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), announced that it hadshut down more than 200 NGOs in the last nine months. The agency cited failure to comply with numerous requirements of the Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSP) and lack of funding as reasons for the closures. The announcement followed the agency issuing a directive that seeks to impose penalties for noncompliance with the CSP. By issuing this directive, the agency effectively gave itself quasi-judicial powers in criminal proceedings.
Although it is not clear what triggered this latest directive, the move exacerbates the harsh conditions under which civil society organizations are operating. By paving the way for increased imposition of penalties, the Charities and Societies Agency will further undermine civil society’s ability to operate independently. Furthermore, these measures suggest a reversal of the willingness that the government had shown in the past few years to engage in a dialogue aimed at revising some of the directives previously issued by the agency.
Citizen support for civil society remains strong
While the government continues to take measures that undermine civil society, popular support for civil society remains strong. According to arecent online survey conducted by Freedom House, two-thirds of those polled believe that civil society organizations should engage in human rights and democracy promotion. The survey also found that Ethiopians are unaware of the significant challenges facing civil society and of the crippling effects of the CSP. The survey findings underscore how a blackout of information from independent sources and constrained civic space curtail citizens’ ability to organize and participate in matters that affect their daily lives.
Years of government attacks, relentless smear campaigns, and extremely cumbersome rules and regulatory frameworks have crippled Ethiopia’s civil society. NGOs are denied access to resources and the ability to network with each other and mobilize support. As demand for democratic reforms in Ethiopia gains momentum, a vibrant civil society will be essential. It is therefore critical that, despite the challenges they are facing, NGOs move beyond mere survival and focus on making themselves more accessible, relevant, and accountable to the public, and that their allies at home and abroad support these efforts to build strong constituencies and press ahead for a democratic opening in Ethiopia.
Mootummaan wayyanee ummattoota biyya Sanaa dabaree dabareen ajjeesaa fi dararaa garaagaraa irraan gahaa jira. Kanaafuu yeroo sabni tokko miidhamu inni ollaa taa’uu hin qabu. Keessattuu qabsoon uummata ollaa keennaatiin gaggeeffamaa jiru irree woyyaanee kan laaffisuu fi humna ishii kan bittimsu waan ta’eef qabsoo teennaaf tumsa malee gufuu moti. Qabsoon Uummanni biyyittii Sanaa Wayyaanerratti gaggeessu kan wal-tumsu malee kan wal-faallessu waan hin taaneef qindaawuu qaba. Uummani keennalleen haala kanaan akka hubatu feena.
”Uummanni Dammaqe, kan ijaaramee fi kan hidhate ni moo’a” dubbiin jettu tan Hayilee Fidaa tun yoomiyyuu ni hojjatti. Kanarratti hundaa’uudhaan dargagoonni Oromoo fi deeggartoonni qabsoo kanaa bakka jiran hundatti wali ijaaruuniifii gurmuudhaan qabsoo kana akka finiinsan gaafanna. Caasaa cimaa kan diinaan akka salphaatti hin diigamneen walcimsee deemamuu qaba.
The fascist Ethiopia’s regime (TPLF) poising the Oromo people through rivers and water wells.
Recently it has been found and reported that in Qaachan district of Oromia’s Baalee zone, the fascist Ethiopia’s regime has poisoned the water well in the locality of Gola Qararrii. As a result, five Oromo nationals were died instantly after drinking water from the poisoned well.
Faashistootni TPLF waan mormii siyaasaa fi lola kamuu keessatti akkaan dhorkamaa fi heera mootumoota waltahannii keessatti yakka ool aanaan nama gaaffachiisuu hojjachuun ishii muranii TPLF kun murana faashistootaa itti gaafatamnii namoomaa itti hin dhagahamneen guutamuudha mirkanneessa. Waan ta’eefis, lageen, Horaa fi bishaan dhugaatti osoo hin dhugiin of irraa dhugaatiif toluu isaa mirkanneeffatuun dirqii ta’ee jira. Beekttootni Oromoo dhimma kanatti beekumsa qabanniis karaa danda’an hundaa bishaan dhugaatti ummata isaannii kana qulqulluu fi dhugaatiif toluu isaa jala deemuun ummata isaanniif bifa danda’annii fi isaaniif toluun beeksiisuun dirqama dhalootaa fi dirqama barnoota isaannii akka ta’ees ni hubatu. Mootummaan faashistoota TPLF dhimma kana irratti yeroo sadaffaaf yakka kana hojjachuu isaati. Darguun al tokko yakka kana hojjate. Loli Kaaba warra Habashaa gidduutti ta’ee hedduu dha. Hanga haraatti yakka bishaan summeesu kana wal irratti hin hojjanne. Oromoo irratti maaliif hojjatuuu gaafii jedhuuf deebbiin herreegu qabaadhuu illee ammaaf isinumaaf dhiisa.
When students in Ginchi, a small town 75 km west of Addis Ababa, organized a demonstration in November 2015, US-based opposition media activist Jawar Mohammed, began posting minute-to-minute ‘live’ updates of the protest on his massively popular Facebook page, which has over 500k followers.
What started as a small-scale student protest over Ethiopian government’s plan to expand Addis Ababa into adjacent farm lands of Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest constitutionally autonomous state, evolved into a series of largest and bloodiest demonstrations against Ethiopian government in a decade leaving at least 400 people killed, many more injured, and thousands jailed.
Along with Jawar’s live updates about the protests on Facebook, netizens saw a flood of digital photos, videos, blog posts, and tweets on other social media platforms coming from inside Ethiopia, mostly under the hashtag #OromoProtests.
For over a decade, the Ethiopian government has been violently cracking down on protesting students in Oromia, but these incidents have never garnered the online attention they did this time around. With scant coverage by foreign media from the front lines, and silence and misinformation coming from Ethiopia’s largely pro-government media outlets, the Internet emerged as the main channel used to disseminate information about protests. Jawar’s Facebook page and Twitter feedbecame the official-yet-unofficial story of the protest, leading diaspora writers to identify Jawar as a key shaper of public opinion on the events.
Though these networked communication dynamics are commonplace in many parts of the world, they are novel in Ethiopia, where Internet penetration hovered just below 5% in 2013, which is the last time that Internet access data was collected there by the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency.
The steady stream of #OromoProtests content triggered various attempts by the government to limit digital traffic and block telecom services in Oromia.
In a bid to quell the growing role of social media in magnifying the stories of protests and to regain the upper hand, Ethiopia’s state-owned telecommunication monopoly EthioTelcom blocked social media platforms including Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger in Oromia for at least two months. Around the same time, EthioTelecom also announced plans to begin charging customers for using popular voice over internet protocol (VoIP) applications such as Viber, Facebook messenger, Skype, and Google hangouts.
According to local media reports, EthioTelecom plans to enforce a new price scheme for VoIP data usage by deploying technologies that will more heavily regulate data plans and what kinds of apps operate on devices of each subscriber active on EthioTelecom network. In an unprecedented move, EthioTelecom also announced a plan to track, identify and ban mobile devices that are not purchased from the Ethiopian market. This move will allow EthioTelecom to keep a track of exactly what data is being sent to and from each subscriber active on the network. It remains unclear exactly how this technology will work, but it unquestionably demonstrates EthioTelecom’s intention to take full political advantage of its monopoly.
Despite being one of the poorest countries in terms of Internet penetration in Africa, #OromoProtests garnered wall-to-wall coverage by the US based Ethiopian diaspora satellite television stations, particularly OMN and ESAT. Both stations picked various stories of #OromoProtests from social media and rebroadcast them to millions of Ethiopians living off the grid of mobile phone infrastructure.
To top all this off, on the heels of the protests, the parliament passed a stringent computer crimes law that looks very much like an effort to criminalize protest-related online speech and to more effectively utilize digital communication as a tool of public surveillance.
In a critical piece about the new law, the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote,
Ethiopia’s prosecutors have long demonized legitimate uses of technology, claiming in court that the use of encryption, and knowledge of privacy-protecting tools is a sign of support for terrorists….By criminalizing everyday actions it ensures that anyone who speaks online, or supports online free expression, might one day be targeted by the law…. [This regulation] will intimidate ordinary Ethiopian citizens into staying offline, and further alienate Ethiopia’s technological progress from its African neighbors and the rest of the world.
According to reports, the new legislation further limits already-diminished digital rights such as freedom of expression and privacy, criminalizing and levying severe punishments for defamatory speech online. The legislation also obliges service providers to store records of all communications along with their metadata for at least a year.
The Record is a compilation of reports of victims of the Ethiopian government violence against its own citizens in general and the Oromo in particular for peacefully protesting lethal government policies or expressing a general political dissent.
The Record is prepared by compiling reports of victims from human rights organizations, reliable social media activists and media outlets.
The names of the Martyrs is taken from the June 2016 report of Human Rights Watch. And the source of most of the social media reports is the Facebook page of political activist Jawar Mohammed of Oromia Media Network and other activists.
The Record now has four pages: Martyrs, Injuries, Incarcerated and Political Trials.
Martyrs page lists the names [and pictures if available] of the Heroes and Heroines whose lives are cut short by the Ethiopian government forces.
Injuries page lists the names and pictures of a few selected victims who are ruthlessly beaten, tortured, bullet wounded or have lost their limbs.
Incarcerated page lists the names [and pictures if available] of a few people who are arbitrarily arrested and detained or whose whereabouts is unknown.
Political Trials page shows the detail of the political trials of a few incarcerated people who are charged by government prosecutors before their kangaroo court. [This page is under construction]
Unless specified, all the Heroes and Heroines in the above four categories are of Oromo national [ethnic] group or victims of the Oromo Cause, and are from Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia.
REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi
Qabsoon Ummanni Oromoo mirga abbaa biyyummaa, Bilisummaa fi Walabummaa isaatiif gaggeessaa jiru gulantaa murteessaa irra gahuu, haalli Oromiyaa keessaa sirriitti agarsiisa. Sochiin warraaqsaa ummanni Oromoo gaggeessaa jiru gootummaa, bilchina jaarmayaa fi tooftaan akkasumas Impaayerattii keessattis tahe naannawa Gaanfa Afrikaatti fakkeenya murteessaa tahuu ummata Oromoo dirreetti baasee agarsiiseera. Keessumaa dhaloonni haaraan Gabrummaan Nu irratti Xumura Argachuu Qaba jechuun gootummaa fi murannoon bilisummaa Oromoo mirkaneessuuf muxannoo qabsoo fi jaarmayaa hunda sochoosaa agarsiisaa jiran lammiif abdii, mootummaa gabroomfataaf ammoo naasuu akka malee itti ta’e.Wayta ammaa kana goleen Oromiyaa fincilaa fi mormii hin keessummeessine hin jiru jechuun ni danda’ama. Magaalotaa fi baadiyyaalee Oromiyaa keessaa sagalee fedhii bilisummaa fi mormii gabrummaatu dhaga’ama. Alaabaa ABO waggoottan kudhanoota dabran goototni kumaatamni hedduun irratti wareegamanii asiin gahan tan faajjii bilisummaa taate qabatanii hiriira bahuu fi bakkoota addaa addaatti fannisanii balaliisuun, alaabaa Impaayerattii mallattoo gabrummaa taate irra ol kaasanii aduun gabroomsaa dhihuu, bilisummaan Oromoo dhiyaatuu labsaa jiru. Walumaagalatti warraaqsa gabrummaatti xumura gochuu akeekkatetu wareegama ilmaan oromoo qaqqaaliidhaan guutuu Oromiyaatti gaggeeffamaa jira.
Oromian Economist 
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