Oromo Liberation Movement and Liberation Organizations

Oromiyaa is still under occupation. Oromo are still denied the right to their land, their resources, the rights as individuals and as a people, and their freedom. Their culture, tradition, language and identity were being totally erased so that they will never claim nationhood at any point in history. These were the major causes of social and political upheavals of the 1960s. More worst, even after the pseudo recognition of them being an entity, evictions of farmers from their land is going on at the highest rate, and the land is being sold to international and local investors who poison the water and the land, and cut down forests and shrubs indiscriminately. Oromiyaa’s land is claimed to belong to the colonial state, not the Oromo people. Oromo are turning homeless and jobless than ever before while their looted wealth are being enjoyed by occupiers and “investors” — while they are looking on scratching their collapsed bellies. No one will say it will be easy to undo such an arrogant Apartheid policy and what they have done to the sovereignty of Oromiyaa, its history, culture and language, but however long it takes and whatever it may cost, nothing is impossible.

As long as there is discrimination, dislocation, negligence and subjugation based on nationality, it is nothing other than Apartheid. That is what caused the “Anti-Apartheid Movement,” representatives of peoples of the empire’s lowlands from Turkana to Matakkal, customarily referred to as Omotic and Nilotic, talk about. It is a policy being practiced on all colonial peoples of Ethiopia. Therefore, all the colonies must in unison “SAY NO TO ETHIOPIAN APARTHEID.”

The Oromo had tried for their grievances to be heard in a peaceful manner, but in vain. The initial rise and fall of the Pan-Oromo Maccaa and Tuulama Association (MTA) made two things clear: that Oromo nationalism is never dead and that the colonizer will never allow the colonized to air their grievances peacefully. Therefore, the need for galvanizing organized political resistance to harness those grievances into a liberation struggle was proved beyond doubt. At the same time, the world was in revolutionary fervor. Everywhere there were civil, women’s and other minority rights and liberation movements were on the rise. Over and above, internal causes also contributed greatly to the political consciousness of Oromo youth of that time. Modern Oromoo nationalism is anti-racism, discrimination and subjugation of one nation by another. The fabric of Oromummaa or Oromo nationalism as an outlook sprung from the heritage of Gadaa democracy.

The Oromo nation has aspirations and hopes for freedom and independence. Those are what form its kaayyoo, the objective principle of the nation. The OLF [Oromo Liberation Front] set standard by including those ingredients from the Gadaa heritage and present aspirations and hopes of the nation for freedom in its political program for the Oromo struggle. That is what made OLF the “OLF” we know, and what made it the icon and spirit of the nation that no entity can erase from the people’s minds. It is a hero by its own right that everybody has to honor and support it to flourish. Tactics and strategy may be improved, but that OLF goal for independence of Oromiyaa is not negotiable – it must be set clear to friends and foes at the outset. Oromo demands to be given an opportunity for its voice to be heard in determining its own destiny. OLF’s role is to agitate for independence, not free election within Ethiopia, for that is an internal affair of the empire state. But it upholds the ultimate decision of the Oromo nation. The UN is under legal and moral obligation to pressure its member, the Ethiopian state, to obey the UN Charter, conventions and resolutions. That is what OLF ought to demand from the world organization.

The Oromo continued to express their grievances, but they were met with more humiliation and contempt. Such oppressive political atmosphere and nonstop repression of members of the Oromo Nation prompted the people for more cohesive and determined move to demand respect for their rights to life, freedom, education and development. All the cumulative grievances of generations culminated in the formation of MTA mentioned above. But, it was soon thwarted and disbanded. That could have been a good opportunity for the Habashaa rulers to apologize for past abuses and redress all wrong done against the colonial peoples before it became a matter of life-and-death question for the victimized. More oppression cannot be a guarantee for the continued unbridled exploitation of resources and manpower or a solution for the retaliation they anticipate if they lose the rein of power. Provoked by the enemy’s arrogance of that sort, the youth decided to look for ways that were qualitatively different from all past Oromo struggles.

Human rights group writes an open letter to Presidents of IGAD countries regarding Oromo Protests

Open Letter to the Presidents of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

Dear Honorable Presidents of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Countries:

I am writing this letter on behalf of the Board of Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA). We believe that settling political differences and designing social policies in a human rights framework is the proper way to bring peace, stability and development. Therefore, the HRLHA stands for the support and promotion of human rights. We have been closely following human rights situations in Ethiopia for over two decades, and have seen much evidence that the Ethiopian government is violating individual rights (Article 10 & 14)^[1] as well as the constitution of the country. In addition, it is interfering in the internal affairs of regional states (Article 8 & 39)^[2]. Human rights violations perpetrated by the Ethiopian government, besides being reprehensible in themselves, are affecting the socioeconomic development of IGAD member countries.

I am writing this letter for four major reasons. Although Oromo refugees are facing abductions, deportations and intimidation by Ethiopian security forces in your various countries, for their survival, many of them are still running to you. Using this opportunity, I would like to extend my gratitude to your people and government for your hospitality, and at the same time, appeal to you to provide them more security.

Second, I want to bring to your attention that, recently, in the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia, the Oromo people have been peacefully demonstrating in favor of the following seven major political statements:

1. The Ethiopian Federal government has no legal or moral authority to expand the city of Finfinne (Addis Ababa), and annex land from the Oromia Regional State.

2. The Federal government has no legal or moral authority to sell Oromo ancestral land to local and global corporate entities, and to this end, evict residents from their homes and farms without compensations at market value. The demands of Oromos are consistent with the demands of many Africans under European colonial rulers. For example, the famous words of the first Kenyan President Jomo Kenyata states “when the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land, and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible,” resonates with the Oromo people. The Oromo people are clearly saying “do not evict us from our land in the name of development.”

3. The Oromo people are the single largest ethno-national group in the country, and they are making the reasonable proposal that the Oromo language becomes the second official language in the Ethiopian Federal government. This demand is financially feasible, morally right and legally justifiable.

4. The Federal parliamentary seats allocated for the Oromo people are fewer than their population size warrants, and they demand more seats. The demand challenges the long standing ethnic/national hierarchy and promotes equity. This should be rectified as soon as practical.

5. Because of climate change, rivers and lakes are drying up; however, instead of caring for the natural forests, the Ethiopian government is engaged in dismantling the natural forests of Oromia, and the people there demand a sustainable environmental policy. As you know, the Ethiopian government’s unsustainable developmental policy has contributed to the depletion of Haro-Amaya Lake, and is causing Lake Turkana to recede. This climate change has lasting impacts on the environment of the whole region.

6. In the last seven weeks, the Ethiopian government security forces have killed over 140 Oromo men and women – children, young and old – and imprisoned thousands of people. Citizens are demanding that the killers be charged and the prisoners freed.

7. The Ethiopian government has intensified the imprisonment of Oromo political and community leaders; this is done to deny the Oromo people leadership.

Third, Ethiopia reacted to the demands of peaceful protesters with extreme cruelty, although it was one of the founders and active members of the IGAD. As if the killings and imprisonments were not enough, now the Ethiopian government is beating the war drums: talking war and anti-terrorism rhetoric against the Oromo people. For example, the spokesperson of the Ethiopian government, Mr. Getachew Reda, described the Oromo peaceful protesters as ኣጋንንት (demons), ሰይጣን (Satan) and ጠንቋይ (their actions are like witchcraft). Also, in her Facebook, Azeb Mesfin – the widow of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi – described the Oromo peaceful demonstrators as ቦዘኔ – which means (nonsense, unproductive men and women, or a wicked group). Such terms are used against the Oromo people in the country, where most of the people are the followers of Christianity and Islam – where in the minds of many, the demons, Satan and witchcraft are cursed. Clearly, those terms are meant to dehumanize the Oromo people. The leaders are using such terms to make the killing and imprisonment of innocent Oromo people legally and morally acceptable. Historical evidence shows that past Ethiopian armies and administrators dehumanized the Oromo people, and categorized their language as being connected to the devil, and for that reason, they denied the use of Oromo language at work, court, school and church. Such a belief made the killing of Oromo people at that time a religious duty and contributed to their mass killing. In Rwanda, racist views like those currently manifesting against the Oromo people contributed to the Tutsi genocide. The issue that the Oromo people are raising is a legitimate question, and using war and anti-terrorism rhetoric to slander the Oromo people is despicable.

UN experts urge Ethiopia to halt violent crackdown on Oromia protesters, ensure accountability for abuses

A group of United Nations human rights experts* today called on the Ethiopian authorities to end the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protests by the country’s security forces, who have reportedly killed more than 140 demonstrators and arrested scores more in the past nine weeks.

“The sheer number of people killed and arrested suggests that the Government of Ethiopia views the citizens as a hindrance, rather than a partner,” the independent experts said, while also expressing deep concern about allegations of enforced disappearances of several protesters.

The current wave of protests began in mid-November, in opposition to the Government’s ‘Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan’ to expand the capital’s municipal boundary. The ‘Master Plan’ could reportedly lead to mass evictions and the seizure of agricultural land in the Oromia region, as well as extensive deforestation.

The UN experts welcomed the Government’s announcement on 12 January 2016 suspending the implementation of the ‘Master Plan’, but were concerned about continuous reports of killings, mass arrests, excessive use of force and other abuses by security forces.

“The Government’s decision is a positive development, but it cannot be seen as a sincere commitment until the security forces stop their crackdown on peaceful protests,” they said. “The role of security forces should be to protect demonstrators and to facilitate peaceful assemblies, not suppress them.”

“We call on the Government to immediately release protesters who seem to have been arrested for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, to reveal the whereabouts of those reportedly disappeared and to carry out an independent, transparent investigation into the security forces’ response to the protests,” the experts said.

“Accountability does not erase past abuses, but it is an important step towards rebuilding trust between people and their government,” they stressed. “Impunity, on the other hand, only perpetuates distrust, violence and more oppression.”

The UN independent experts also expressed grave concern over the Ethiopian Government’s application of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation 652/2009 to arrest and prosecute protesters, labelling them as ‘terrorists’ without substantiated evidence. This law authorises the use of unrestrained force against suspects and pre-trial detention of up to four months.

“Ethiopia’s use of terrorism laws to criminalize peaceful dissent is a disturbing trend, not limited to the current wave of protests,” they experts noted. “The wanton labelling of peaceful activists as terrorists is not only a violation of international human rights law, it also contributes to an erosion of confidence in Ethiopia’s ability to fight real terrorism. This ultimately makes our world a more dangerous place.”

EPRDF's Master Marksman, Abay Tsehaye, Misfires Again

Every revolution has its villain—some well deserved, others not so. The ongoing Oromo protests, which began in November, is gradually morphing into a revolution similar to the Arab Spring and not unlike the color revolutions that swept decades of authoritarian rule in Eastern Europe.


 The budding Oromo revolution — which has engulfed Ethiopia’s vast Oromia region, home to close to half the country’s population of 100 million — has a true villain in the name of Abay Tsehaye. He is not Ethiopia’s strongman but rather the man behind the throne.

Officially, Tsehaye is Special Political Advisor to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who assumed the premiership after the death of long-time strongman, the late Meles Zenawi. The one time chairman of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the kingmakers in the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition, is known as a skilled politician and a shifty survivor of many purges and palace intrigues.
Ermias Legesse Wakjira, a recent high-profile defector from the ruling party, describes Tsehaye as a master marksman when it came to the choice and delivery of words. EPRDF officials fear Tsehaye’s fetal rebuke during the party’s gladiatorial critical evaluation sessions known as gimgema. While his sure-footed performance on such forums earned him acclaim in party circles, the aging Tigrean leader has misfired twice in as many years while commenting on the Oromo protests.
The Oromo protests were triggered by a controversial plan, which aims to incorporate vast swathes of small Oromo towns and rural farming villages into the capital Addis Ababa, displacing millions of subsistence farmers.

The unveiling of the plan in April 2014 created an uproar among the party’s own mid-rank loyalists halting its planned implementation. At least 75 were killed, scores wounded and thousands were imprisoned following weeks of protests.  Tsehaye was called upon to clear the muddy waters in a meeting in the southern town of Hawasa and secure buy-in from the Oromo portion of the ruling party, the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO). In a leaked audio from the meeting, Tsehaye reportedly threatened that the Master Plan will be implemented whether some liked it or not and that the plan’s opponents will be quashed.
The arrogance of his alleged threats provoked a crescendo of widespread, vehement and righteous outrage among the Oromo. In November 2015, protesters returned to the streets when word leaked that the federal government was quietly pursuing the plan’s implementation. More than 150 protesters have been killed over the past nine weeks in the most unprecedented popular uprising the country has ever witnessed. In the process, Tsehaye has earned the dubious honor of being the chief villain.
But Tsehaye remained silent as the controversy spawned by his words swirled. On Jan. 16, when he finally broke his silence, instead of admitting that his prized asset, his lethal tongue, has irredeemably failed him, Tsehaye once again plunged himself headlong into much hotter waters.

In a curious interview with friendly and independent-sounding Horn Affairs blog, Tsehaye categorically denied ever uttering that famous phrase that inflamed and animated Oromo revolutionaries, at home and abroad: that the master plan will be implemented regardless of the public’s opposition to it and his party will mercilessly silence those who dare oppose it.

Tsehaye lost his otherwise calm demeanor when the interviewer asked him why people chose to mischaracterize or falsify his words. In a typical EPRDF-tactic of attacking the messenger, he lashed out against all manner of enemies. He accused his detractors of “ethnic hostility, hatred of Tigreans.” The long-time federal affairs minister, who ran Ethiopia’s supposedly autonomous federal states, then blamed the debacle around Oromo protests, which are threatening to spread to other parts of the country and thereby testing the ruling party’s tight grip on power as never before, on the OPDO, specifically those whom he called corrupt local administrators and businessmen and middlemen who benefited from shoddy land deals.
Although the government acknowledges that corruption and bad governance are system-wide problems, pointing fingers at the OPDO and its corruption is not new. In fact, that has been the staple sound bite of not only the foul-mouthed federal communications minister, Getachew Reda, but also TPLF-affiliated media outfits such as the localZami FM radio hosted by Mimi Sebhatu, formerly of Voice of America and one of the most unabashed apologists for the bloodbath unleashed by the security forces in an unsuccessful bid to contain peaceful protests in Oromia, which OPDO, in a recent statement, described as a legitimate expression of popular will.
The condescending and disparaging messages from TPLF leaders and their associates did not go unnoticed by OPDO. In a recent interview with Sebhatu, Abbadula Gamada, Speaker of the House of Representatives and former president of the Oromia state, took issue with the vilification of OPDO as a den for corruption, saying the accusations were an inflammatory disinformation.
In an apparent bid to rally Tigreans to his defense, Tsehaye wondered why Oromo protesters would chant slogans critical of the TPLF when “corrupt OPDO officials and their businessmen friends are responsible for the troubles in Oromia, not only for the eviction of farmers from their farmlands without compensation, the miscarriage of justice and mal-governance but also for the killing of protesters.”  Tsehaye rhetorically asked why this was the case “when the Oromo people know who their jailers and killers are.”
He is correct about one thing: The Oromo people do indeed know who their jailers and killers are. They are the army that Tsehaye helped found in Tigray 17 years before TPLF came to power. It is the same army and security forces that he leads behind the throne like a puppet master who have been jailing and killing the Oromo and other Ethiopians for asking legitimate questions, or exercising their constitutional rights for the last 25 years.

Ibsa ABO | የኦነግ መግለጫ

Ibsa ABO | የኦነግ መግለጫ

Ibsa Kijibaa fi Fakkeessaan Ummatni Oromoo Ammaan Booda hin Sobamu

Motumman Wayyaanee waggoottan 24 darban kana dhaaba OPDO jedhee ofii akka fedhee ajajuu fi ergatu ijaarrate of fuuldura qabatuun labsiilee, ibsoota, murtiilee siyaasaa fi lolaa akkasumas biyya isaa Oromiyaa irratti murtii jajjaboo kan jireenya, qabeenyaa fi hiree Oromoo guddaa miidhan garuu ummatni Oromoo dhugaan kan bakka isa bu’u keessa hin qabne labsaa fi murtii dabarsaa bahe. Murtiileen kunii fi labsiin kun maqaa mishoomaa jedhuun samicha, biyya tiksuu jedhuun lola Oormoo hin ilaalle irratti ilaamaan Oromoo ficisiisuu, shororkeessitoota irratti duula jechuun Oromoo mataa isaa irratti loal labsuun hidhuu, ajjeesuu fi ukkaamsuu raawwataa bahe. Ammas dabni kun nu irratti hin dammaqamne jechuun ibsa kijibaa fi fakkeessaa waanMaster Plan Finfinnee ilaaluu OPDOn akka labsu godhuun akkuma kana duraa daba dhaaba Kanaan qabatee Oromoo irratti hojjatu itti fufuuf kan of booda hin deebine tahuu agarsiisuu illee ummatni Ormoo ammaan booda lammata ibsaa fi labsii kijibaa fi fakeessaa akkasii akka hin sobamne diinaafi firaafis mirkaneessa. Labsii fi ibsi dhaabni OPDO kaleessa TV Oromiyaa irratti bahuun Master Plan magaalaa Finfinnee fi godinaan addaa Oromiyaa nannoo Finfinnee guutummatti akka haqamu; Oromiyaan faayidaa adda Finfinnee irraa argattuu kan jedhu seera keessaa jiru akka hojii irraa ooluuf OPDOn irratti hojjatuu; ; labsii bulchinsa magaalota Oromiyaa haaraa bahe keessaa keyyata ummatni hin feene irra deebihamee akka foyyaawuu kkf jedhee gara qabxii 8 baase OPDOn ofiifuu tohannaan diinaan fi hidhaa keessa kan jiru waan tahee fi dhimmoota kana irratti murtii dabarsuu aangu waan hin qabnee fi bakka ummata Oromoo bu’ee dubbahcuu waan hin dandeenyeef ummatni Oromoo fi ABOn ibsa kana tasa kan hin fudhatamne tahuu beeksisa.

Ummatni Oromoo waggoota dheeraaf qabsoo kan adeemsise mirga seeraa fi uumaan qabu kabajsiifatee hiree isaa murteeffachuu, sirna dimokraatawaa fi bilisummaan keessatti mirkanaawe argamsiisuu dhaan nagaa waaraa fi amansiisaan jiraatuufi. Kun guutummaatti fedhii fi hawwii ummata Oromoo tahullee akeekni eebbifamaa kun kanneen ummatoota hacuucaa fi saamaa jiraachuu murteeffataniin hin guutamiin jiran.

Bittootni Itophiyaa kaayyoo ummatoota ittiin saamaa fi hacuucaa jiraatuu irraa jijjiiramuu hanqatuun har’a iyyuu Itophiyaa biyyoota tarree hiyyeeyyii keessatti ittisaa jira. Lammiilee miliyoonotaan lakkaa’aman beela keessatti gaadi’ee dhoortoon akka jiraatan dirqisiise. Yeeroo ammaa ammoo haalli Itophiyaa keessaa waliigala addatti ammo haallii Oromiyaa keessaa daran hammaatee jira. Lammiileen beela’oo miliyoonotaan lakkaa’amu. Kan lafa isaanii irraa buqqafamanis akkanuma. Jiruudhablummaan kanneen mankaraaran kuma dhibbootaan herregamu. Kanatti dabalee bittootni bittaa isaanii itti fufsiisuuf karoorri eenyummaa ummata Oromoo irratti xiyyeeffate baafatuun ummata Oromoo caalaatti dheekamsiisee mirga isaaf akka falmatu taasisee jira.

Oromo Protests and State/Government Terrorism in Ethiopia

Western governments praise Ethiopia for achieving the fastest growing economy in Africa and for being a key ally in the fight against terrorism. This hides the brutal reality of land grabbing, state/government terrorism, and the incredible cost in human lives and livelihoods. Ethiopia is a multinational country of 100 million people, and all of these nations have suffered state brutality in varying degrees. The country is tightly gripped by the totalitarian repression of a single-party dominated by the elite of a minority ethnic group from Tigray.

This minority regime has created absolute control over the country’s politics, economy, military and media, thus stifling every form of creative dissent. To hang onto power, it has marked every legitimate dissent as terrorism and waged wars against its own people. A handful of Tigrayan elites have used economic growth as a smokescreen behind which they carry out bloody atrocities of land grabbing. They have gobbled up the wealth of the nation to satisfy their insatiable greed and lust for power, thus leaving close to 20 million of their fellow citizens to face starvation.

This regime targets Oromos particularly because they are the most populous nation inhabiting a vast arable and mineral-rich land. The current Oromo protest is an expression of deep grievances under 25 years of such state terrorism, land grabbing and violent repression. It demands the world’s immediate attention. Below is a summary of Oromo protests and the various responses.

Oromo Protests

– The protest was ignited by elementary and secondary school students in the small town of Giincii on November 12, 2015

– In no time, this spread like wild fire to all parts of Oromia, and Oromos from all walks of life joined the peaceful protests.

– Beautiful images of peaceful protests filled social media. People marching with raised crossed arms or sitting with bowed heads became powerful symbols of peaceful protests.

– The protests attracted wide-spread solidarity from the Oromo diaspora around the world, from other peoples of Ethiopia with similar grievances, and from the Ethiopian diaspora.

The Issues

– The Ethiopian government has been robbing Oromos of their ancestral lands in the name of development. It has been forcefully evicting millions without adequate compensation or anywhere to go. Hard-working people are reduced to landless, homeless beggars.

– Global land rush has intensified local land grabbing where the government has been violently robing land from the various peoples and leasing out to foreign investors.

– Land is sacred for indigenous Oromos. As they say, dubbiin lafaa dubbii lafee ti [the issue of land is the issue of bones]. Land contains the bones of ancestors symbolizing the depth of the Oromo worldview, knowledge system, history, culture, and identity – a deep spiritual connection. Evicting Oromos from their land is erasing their very existence.

– The trigger for the current peaceful protests is a small soccer field which was taken away from the local youth in the small town of Giincii. Young students in the local primary and secondary schools protested. Enraged by earlier land grab where the nearby Cillimoo Forest was taken away for clearing, parents and other citizens joined the student protests. The environment is as sacred as the land for Oromos; they protect it with their lives.

– By the time the peaceful protests spread and engulfed the whole of the Oromia Regional State, the issue had crystallized around the Addis Ababa Integrated Master Plan, which is the expansion of the capital city into the Oromo lands without any consultation with the people. The government denies that the plan is being implemented, but it is de facto forcefully evicting Oromo farmers from their land and violating their constitutional rights.

– The Master Plan represents an aspect of the ongoing systematic destruction of Oromo identity, history and culture. The protest against the Master Plan is an expression of bottled up grievances, and longstanding issues of injustice and fundamental human rights.

– In 2014, the government mercilessly massacred 78 Oromos, mostly university students peacefully protesting the Master Plan. When bullets are the answer, legitimate grievances remain unaddressed. The current protests raise the same unanswered questions.

– The Master Plan is a smokescreen behind which the government carries out systematic destruction of Oromo identity, history and culture. The Master Plan is only the visible tip of the iceberg; it only calls attention to the deeper grievances around the violation of constitutional rights fundamental human rights and justice.

Government Response: Genocide

– The government responded to peaceful protests with its usual bloody violent repression. Its inciting agents killed people, and burned property to tarnish the beauty of the peaceful protests and create an excuse to unleash the military force against unarmed protesters.

OROMO PROTESTS SHOULD SERVE AS THE FINAL WAKE-UP CALL FOR OPDO

More than 150 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in Oromia as protests over the Addis Master Plan enter the second month.

The plan, unilaterally devised by the federal government, aims to expand the city's territorial reach into Oromia state. The Oromo people, who make up more than 40 percent of the Ethiopian population, see the plan as a systematic land grab which will evict millions of Oromo farmers from their ancestral land.

If implemented, the Master plan will push the Oromo further to the peripheries of Ethiopia’s social, economic and political power. It will endanger the territorial integrity of Oromia and undermine the country's linguistic-based federalist system. 

The only Oromo opposition party, the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), faces increasing restrictions and harassment under the country's draconian anti-terrorism proclamation. Its members and leaders, including deputy chairman Bekele Gerba, OFC secretary and former Member of Parliament Dejene Tafa and the party's Youth League leader Desta Dinka have been arrested in connection with the still-ongoing Oromo protests. 

The Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), one of the four main parties that make up the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has been the chief enabler of the oppression of the Oromo people since its creation by Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) more than two decades and a half ago. OPDO was created to legitimize the TPLF rule in Oromia and counter the popular support for Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

OPDO officials have been evicting Oromo farmers from their land to make way to the rampant land grab in Oromia for the benefit of TPLF officials and foreign investors. Its top leadership continues to delude itself that democracy takes time to build but the Oromo people's long-suppressed calls for freedom and equality is being raised by the youth and low-ranking OPDO members who joined the party to secure government jobs.

OPDO needs to take genuine and concrete actions to address the ensuing public grievances through formal and informal channels. That starts with condemning the indiscriminate killings of unarmed and peaceful Oromo protesters by security forces and the military.

In theory, Ethiopia’s federalist constitution provides for regional autonomy and decentralization but power remains highly centralized in the hands of few TPLF officials.

Arrest of Respected Politician Escalating Crisis in Ethiopia

Over the past eight weeks, Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, has been hit by a wave of mass protests over the expansion of the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa. The generally peaceful protests were sparked by fears the expansion will displace ethnic Oromo farmers from their land, the latest in a long list of Oromo grievances against the government.

Security forces have killed at least 140 protesters and injured many more, according to activists, in what may be the biggest crisis to hit Ethiopia since the 2005 election violence.

The crisis has taken another worrying turn: on December 23, the authorities arrested Bekele Gerba, deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Oromia’s largest legally registered political party. There had been fears he would be re-arrested as the government targets prominent Oromo intellectuals who they feel have influence over the population. He was first taken to thenotorious Maekalawi prison, where torture and other ill-treatment are routine. The 54-year-old foreign language professor was reportedly hospitalized shortly after his arrest but his whereabouts are now unknown, raising concerns of an enforced disappearance. Other senior OFC leaders have been arbitrarily arrested in recent weeks or are said to be under virtual house arrest.

Bekele Gerba in Washington DC, August 2015.

This is not the first time Bekele has been arrested. In 2011, he was convicted under Ethiopia’s draconian counterterrorism law of being a member of the banned Oromo Liberation Front – a charge often used to silence politically engaged ethnic Oromos who oppose the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). He spent four years in prison and was only released shortly before the elections last May. The OFC ran candidates but the EPRDF coalition won all 547 parliamentary seats, a stark reflection of the unfair electoral playing field.

Bekele is deeply committed to nonviolence and has consistently advocated that the OFC participate in future elections, despite the EPRDF’s stranglehold on the political landscape.

By treating both opposition politicians and peaceful protesters with an iron fist, the government is closing off ways for Ethiopians to nonviolently express legitimate grievances. This is a dangerous trajectory that could put Ethiopia’s long-term stability at risk.

The Ethiopian government should release unjustly detained opposition figures including Bekele and rein in the excessive use of lethal force by the security forces. They should also allow people to peacefully protest and to express dissent and ensure that farmers and pastoralists are protected from arbitrary or forced displacement without consultation and adequate compensation.

Breaking the Silence: the Hard Truth about the Oromo Protests in Ethiopia

HRLHA Appeal and Request for Immediate Action

January 3, 2016

Appeal To:

The U.S. Department of State Secretary
His Excellency Mr. John Kerry

The UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP

Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada)
His Excellency Stéphane Dion

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)
Her Excellency Margot Wallström

Minister of Foreign Affairs (Norway)
His Excellency Børge Brende

Dear Sirs/Madams,

First of all, using this opportunity, let me introduce to you the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA):

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) was originally founded in Ethiopia in 1996 by the name “Human Rights League (HRL);” it was silenced at the outset by the country’s authoritarian regime. It was then re-launched from the Diaspora in 2007 by exiled founders and members of HRL. It was then re-named the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA), and registered as a non-profit and non-political organization in Ontario, Canada, on the 14th of June 2007. HRLHA aims to defend fundamental human rights, including freedoms of thought, expression and assembly or organization. It also works to raise the awareness of individuals regarding their own basic human rights and those of others. It insists on the observances of international and regional treaties, protocols, covenants, instruments, agreements, etc. on human rights as well as due processes of related laws. It promotes the growth and development of free and vigorous civil societies.

The Oromo Protests: Ethiopia at the Cross Road

When the current government of Ethiopia seized power by toppling the military dictatorship of Mengistu Haile-Mariam in 1991, Ethiopia and all friends of Ethiopia hoped for democracy and equality in the country. In the Transitional Charter Period of Ethiopia of 1991, federalism was introduced – the idea of “self-determination for the nationalities”¹ Part One Article 2 (c) – devolving political, administrative and economic power to ethnically-defined regional states.

The 1995 Constitution² assured that both the federal and the regional governments had their own legislative, judicial and executive powers and the right to levy taxes and allocate budgets. The federal government, with a bicameral parliament and a constitutional president, was assigned the responsibility for national defense, foreign relations, and for setting national standards for major policies. Regional governments, governed by the state president/chief executive and the state council and the Woreda (district) councils, were empowered to establish their own administrations and formulate and execute economic, social and political strategies and plans.

However, all these promises were dashed, and remain on paper only, used for political consumption by the federal authorities. As a result, all Regional States, including the Oromia Regional State, fell under the indirect administration of the Federal Government. Political power and economic resources, including Oromo land, were controlled by the Federal Government of Ethiopia – and cheaply leased to foreign investors with terms lasting a period of 50-99 years³. Land leases were undertaken without consultation and compensation for the landowners. Millions of Oromos lost their livelihoods and became landless. They are now homeless and beggars.

The Cause of the Recent Oromo Protests

The Oromia Regional State is Ethiopia’s largest and most populous federal state with around one-third of the nation’s over 92 million people⁴.

The Ethiopian Federal Government illegally sells Oromo land, including urban land in the city of Addis Ababa, which is the center of the Oromia Regional State. The suburban areas around the city of Addis Ababa are being sold to investors and the rest has been given to government officials. The government has then expanded its activity towards the small towns around the capital city; it has planned to integrate the surrounding 36 small towns of Oromia into the capital city in order to sell them. From inside the capital city alone, over 300,000 citizens were evicted and their land was given to the government officials and cadres for free. The new plan, “Addis Ababa Integrated Master Plan,” is aimed at evicting around two million farmers from and around the 36 towns. This Master Plan was first confronted by OPDO, the Oromo wing of the ruling political party, in April 2014 and then spread to all corners of the Oromia Regional State; over 79 Oromos, mostly students, were murdered and over 30,000 were detained by the Federal Government’s special force known as “Agazi”. Peaceful protesters against the Master Plan have been murdered or treated inhumanely and silenced. The Federal Government of Ethiopia reactivated the Integration Master Plan of Addis Ababa implementation in November 2015 without making any improvement and vowed to take serious actions against any person or organization opposed to the implementation. This reckless move of the Ethiopian Government reignited the anger of the Oromo people and brought them to the streets to peacefully protest against the Master Plan.

The government’s special force (“Agazi”) again took brutal actions and more than 100 Oromos were killed in coldblooded – including children, teachers, men and women from 7 to 80 years of ages⁵; thousands were wounded, and around 40,000 detained.

Key International Actors

Donor governments and Western government agencies, such as the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have continued their policy of engagement with the government of Ethiopia. Donors have failed to publicly confront the government over its poor human rights record and to press it to respect and protect everyone’s rights.

A Call for Unified Action Against the Tyrant TPLF/EPRDF Regime in Ethiopia

The Front for Independent Oromia’s (FIO/KWO) Executive Committee Members, led by B/G Kamal Galchu, have held the FIO extraordinary meeting on December 5, 2015 and deliberated in depth on the conditions of the continuous killings, torture and arbitrary arrests of the Oromo students in particular, and the displacement, marginalization, forceful integration and land grab levied on the Oromo people in general. The so called Integrated Master Plan for Addis Ababa is the regime’s long-term deliberate plan to reduce the number of the Oromo people residing in the vicinity or ethnic cleansing perpetrated against Oromos by the regime.

Currently, the forefront runners for this struggle are Oromo students, whose families are directly affected by this land grab. It’s clear that the land is utilized for subsistence farming and as grazing for their livestock. Land is the only income and livelihood for the vast majority of the Oromo people.

The displacement of the people from their land means that there is no any alternative for this vast majority of Oromos, but to fight. This has been going on since 2005 and hitherto. The Ethiopian regime has taken for granted the silence of the international community. It’s obvious that the young generation of the Oromo people will not sit idle anymore. Oromo students have been trying to voice their concerns for the past 15 years, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Now, the time has come – where there will be no silence in the world of social media, which have exposed evil deeds of the Ethiopian security force known as Agazi, which have gunned down peaceful demonstrators of Oromo students. In May 2014 in Ambo and other Oromia cities, the world had witnessed the strewn dead bodies of Oromo students and their parents on the streets simply for peacefully protesting the unlawful eviction of farmers without any consultation with the indigenous people. And thus, we are again witnessing the repetition of this evil act without any sign of leaning back.

We believe the continuation of killing of Oromo students is tantamount to a war crime against humanity and demand the peace-loving international community, especially the donor countries, to denounce such an act by the Ethiopian regime to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights before the situation gets out of control, at the same time, we, the Oromo citizens around the world, to denounce such an act. Remember, “If you are neutral in situations of in justice, you have chosen the side of oppressors,” Desmond Tutu.

The Front for Independent Oromia (FIO/KWO) has passed a resolution in order to prevent these repeated atrocious actions perpetrated against the Oromo students. At the same time, our organization (FIO/KWO) would like to seize this occasion to call upon all Oromo political organizations and all concerned citizens to set aside all their differences and create a vision for a common future as these can only be achieved if there is cohesion and cooperation. We should work alongside our people both at the community-level and organizational-level to foster national unity, and in this regard, we strongly believe:

1) We denounce the illegal imprisonment and arbitrary killings of peaceful Oromo students, and we will steadfastly stand by them in the fight against the oppressor;

2) We call upon all Oromo citizens collaborating with tyrant Woyane regime to refrain from providing a helping hand to the brutal Ethiopian government, and join the just fight of the Oromo students;

3) The Front for Independent Oromia (FIO/KWO) condemns the displacement of Oromo farmers from their ancestral land; the consequent student protest regarding this land grab is right, and their demand is justifiable and legal, where, sadly, their request was met with rain of bullets by the Ethiopian security force (Agazi); our organization, FIO, would like to reiterate its support for the just struggle of the Oromo students, and those perpetrators be brought to justice;

4) Experts say deforestation highly exacerbate drought. We believe that the drought in Oromia region is partly caused by man – which exposed millions to famine, as the government forcefully evicts farmers from their land for development, and as well as, clearing a vast area of land for different purposes. The Front for Independent Oromia (FIO/KWO) once again would like to reiterate its commitment in the fight against such environmental degradation by the TPLF regime;

New Oromo Protest Music :Amiin Huseen: "Didi Roorroo" January 2016

Amiin Huseen: "Didi Roorroo" New Oromo Protest Music

Qabsoon itti fufuu qaba | በቀለ ጅራታ:- ህዝባዊ ትግሉና ትብብሩ መቀጠል ኣለበት

Baqqalaa Jiraataa irraa*

Mootummaan gartuu wayyaannetin durfamu kun erguma bara 1991 gargaarsa mootummaa Ameerikaatin aangoo irratti bahee irra eegalee ummattota Itophiyaa biratti fudhatama hin argane. Garuummoo kuno waggaa 25 aangoo irra turuu danda’eera.

Mormitoota isaa ajjeesaa, hidhaa fi biyyaa irraa ari’aa harra gahera. Namoota karaa nagaa yaada isaanii dhiyeesani fi barreessan dhiifama tokko malee ukkaamsuudhan biyya isaanii keessatti hidhamtoota yaadaa(Prisoner of conscience) ta’anii akka jiraatan godhera. Dhaadannoo “heeraa fi sirnna heerichaa eeguu” jedhuun lammiilee biyyatti jireenya dhorkeera. Kan lakkofsi isaanii hin beekamne farra nagaa, farra misoomaa fi shororkeesitoota jedhee ajjeesera. Keessumaa dargagoota, artistoota, hayyootaa fi namoota beekamoo Oromoo ta’an irratti xiyyeeffachudhan fixeera. Kan kumaatamootatti lakka’aman manneen hidhaa beekamoo fi hin beekamne keessatti walitti qabee dararaa irratti raawatera.

Harras yoomiyyuu caalaa dhalataa Oromoo keessumaa dhaloota boru biyyatti guddisuu fi jiraachisuu danda’an mootummaa abba irree kanaan gidiraa argaa jiru. Gartuun mootummaa wayyannedhan durfamuu kun filannoo bara 2005 irratti sagalee ummataa saamuu isaa moormudhan ummata hirira bahe keessaa dargaggootaa fi jiraattota magalaa Finfinnee 200 ol ajjeesera. Sanumaan walqabatee Oromiyaa keessattis namootni 40 ol ta’an akka ajjeefaman komishinin yeroo sana qorannoo adeemsise gabaasera.

Sun isa gahuu hanqannan gareen kun labsii farra shororkeesaa jedhu baasuudhan namoota hanqina bulchiinsa gaarii, olaantummaan seeraa cabuu fi hacuuccaan hammachuu qeeqan shororkeesitoota jedhee mana hidhaatti guuree dararaa jira. Hawaasni muslimaa amantii isaanii bilisa ta’anii gaggeefachuu akka danda’anif mootummaan amantii keessa galee akka ani jedhutti deemaa nuun jechuu hin qabu jedhani gaafii karaa nagaa dhiyeesan hedduun ajjeefamaniru. Koree hawaasni kun mootummaa wajjin dubbatee rakkoo uumameef fala akka barbadu filatee ergate shororkeesitoota jechudhan diraamaa irratti dalagee himata sobaatin mana hidhaa galchee dararaa jira.

Gareen mootummaa ofin jedhu kun heeraa fi seera irra ejjetee kan itti fufuu danda’eef ummattoota biyyatti garaa gara hiruudhan akka ta’e martinuu ni beeka. Waan qoqoodamneef kopha kophatti nuu miidhuu danda’e. Kana otuu beeknuu fala isaa barbaachuu dadhabuudhan harra tuffii fi miidhan hangana hin jedhamne mana tokkoo tokkoo irra gahudhan jireenya itti hammeesee jira.

Tuffin mootummaa kanaa daangaa isaa darbudhan lafa ummataa saamee abbooti qabeenyaa alaa fi jala deemtoota isaatti gurgurachudhan ummata miliyonatti lakka’amu gadadoodhaf saxil baasaa jira. Yeroo ammaa moo maqaa Maastar Pilaanii Finfinnee jedhun lafa magaalota Oromiyaa naannaa Finfinne jirani saamuudhan ummata Oromoo biyyaa dhabsiisudhaf sochii irra jira. Misooma uummata ofitti hin hammannee fi deegaaf saxilu hojiirraa ooluu hin qabu jedhanii kan karaa nagaa gaafii fi mormii dhiyeesan tuffachudhan “jaallattanis jibbitanis hojirra oola” jechudhan itti fufe. Bara darbe barattootaa Oromoo dhimma kana irratti mormii dhiyeesan 85 ol ta’an rasaasan carabee fixe. Bara kanas mormii fi gaafii ummataa gatii dhabsiisudhan namoota maqaa Caffee Oromiya jedhu qabatanii taan ajajudhan Maastar Pilaanicha hojitti hiikuu kan isa dandeesisu labsii baafate. Kana malees bosona cillimoo jedhamu naannoo godina Shawaa Lixaatti argamu bara lakkoofsi isaa hin beekamneef ummatni eegaa fi kunuunsaa ture abbotti qabeenyaf dabarsee kennudhaf sochii eegale. Tarkaanfi kana mormudhaf barattootaa fi ummata Oromoo naannoo sanaa hiriira nagaa bahan irrattis tarkaanfi diinummaa irratti fudhachuudhan da’immaan otuu hin hafin humna poolisii federaalaa fi agaazii jedhamun rasaasan ajjeefaman. Haala kanaan torbee 3 keessatti ilmaan Oromoo 100 caalaan rasaasa humna waraanaa mootummaan bobbaasen galaafatamaniru. Haati ilmoo walin balbala mana isaanii irratti, dubartii ulfi kan garaa isheetti baatuu walin ajjeeffamaniru.

Akkuma irra deddebi’amee dubbatamaa ture tuffin garee mootummaa ofin jedhuu kun kana daangaa isaa darbe waan nuyi warri isaan bitamaa jirru walin dhaabbachuu dadhabneefi dha. Waggootii 25 kopha kophaatti yeroo nuu ajjeesu, akka hoolaa guuree mana hidhatti naqee nuu reebu waltaanee lakkii hin gahaa jechuu dadhabuu keenya.