An independent investigation by a neutral body is the better solution for the recent incident in west Wollega zone ,Oromia

 An independent investigation by a neutral body is the better solution for the recent incident in west Wollega zone ,Oromia

There are several records that the government repeatedly denied such unwarranted killings, where Human rights groups confirmed those killings to be perpetrated by the government security forces. The massacre of Abba Gadaa leaders of Fantalle District of East Showa Zone on 1 December 2021 was a typical example. The acts of government security forces in uniform, in the second week of June 2022, in Gambela Regional State against innocent Oromo civilians; and horrific videos in Oromiya Special Zone of Amhara Region (believed to be in December 2021) are other evidence.

In addition, the Ethiopian State has long history of using settlers as part of its security structure, arming them to control the local population and insurgency. It has created unnecessary contradiction between indigenous people and settlers and has caused loss of lives for years.

At this point in time, the blockage of means of communication in large parts of Wollaga and West Showa makes it difficult to confirm the ongoing sufferings of citizens of Oromia.

The regime aggressively uses its media monopoly to manipulate people’s feelings for political purposes, which is detrimental to peace and stability and might lead to further bloodshed. The dangers of imminent disasters, suffering and human deaths resulting from the governments and its allies’ military approach in Oromiya and elsewhere are highly gruesome to the Horn of Africa.

A neutral body could only objectively vindicate the clear picture of what is going on in this region .

Justice/Freedom/Democracy

Summary Execution of Civilians by Ethiopian Government Security Forces Exacerbates the Volatile Situation in Oromia.

 Summary Execution of Civilians by Ethiopian Government Security Forces Exacerbates the Volatile Situation in Oromia.

Statement of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)

While calling for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the northern part of the country, the government of the Prosperity Party has declared a brutal war on the Oromo people and Oromiya. Government security forces, Gambella and Amhara Regional State Police forces, militiamen, and Fano have targeted peaceful citizens. The Gambella incident and Hartuma Fursi massacre attest to this.

After the reported attack of the allied forces of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and Gambella Liberation Front (GLA) on Sene 6, 2014 (June 13, 2022), Gambella Regional State Security Forces targeted Oromo peaceful civilians in the city. They brutally murdered civilians by singling out Oromos due to their ethnic background. One of such cruel acts was shown in the video that went viral on social media. The video showed a young man whose hands were chained on his back and the government security forces raining several gunshots on him. Such a brutal act happened in a country where security forces were supposed to protect civilians.

As restated by Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, in Hartuma Fursi of Oromo Zone of Amhara Regional State, Amhara Regional State security forces and Fano militants conducted similar brutal summary execution of Oromos. The security men were seen drugging young men and women from a track and shooting on the spot. Corpses are seen thrown on the ground. The killers were heard speaking the Amharic language.

The Oromo Liberation Front condemns, by all possible terms, these illegal, hidden and unhidden summary executions of peaceful Oromos. We have disclosed similar unwarranted killings and summary execution of Oromos in Guji, Wollega, and West Showa Zones earlier. Such irresponsible deeds are unacceptable by any standard, and we strongly request our people to stand against it.

Such barbaric measures will undoubtedly aggravate the already volatile situation in Ethiopia in general and Oromiya in particular. The repetitive actions vividly show the irresponsible behaviour of members of the security forces and institutional and individual lack of interest in correcting such criminal acts.

OLF believes that the Ethiopian government is solely accountable for such heinous perpetration.

Therefore,

1. We demand the immediate cessation of such vicious killings and summary execution. We strongly request an impartial investigation, by a neutral body, into this monstrous act against innocent Oromo civilians.

2. We strongly demand the perpetrators of this criminal act should, without delay, be held accountable in the appropriate court of law transparently.

3. The security forces should refrain from such criminal acts and remain loyal to the people and respect to the constitution and international law rather than siding with a party in the grip of power.

4. We call upon the Oromo people and the rest of the Ethiopian peoples to put pressure on the government so that it renounces armed confrontation in favour of a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Oromiya and elsewhere.

5. We also call upon the international community to pressure the Ethiopian government to stop the hidden war and concomitant mass kiillings in Oromiya and encourage it to settle the conflict which is dragging the country into an endless quagmire. If our international allies leave the current condition in Ethiopia unattended, the downward journey will inevitably sink the country deeper.

Finally, we call upon the Oromo people to stand by the Oromo Regional National Transitional Government of Oromiya, their grantor of peace and security, so that the brutal killings and suffering will end soon.

Victory to the Masses

Oromo Liberation Front

June , 2022

በእርግጥ አፄአዊ የአገዛዝ ሥርዓትን (Imperial orderን) ማፍረስ አይቻልምን? ማፍረስስ አይገባምን? ማፍረስስ በዓለምአቀፉ ማህበረሰብና ሕግ የተከለከለ ነውን?

 በእርግጥ አፄአዊ የአገዛዝ ሥርዓትን (Imperial orderን) ማፍረስ አይቻልምን? ማፍረስስ አይገባምን? ማፍረስስ በዓለምአቀፉ ማህበረሰብና ሕግ የተከለከለ ነውን?

ሕዝባችን የግፍ ጦርነትና እልቂት እየተፈጸመበት መሆኑን እያዩ: የአብይን የዘር ማጥፋት ጦርነት ለማውገዝ አፋቸው የተሸበበ የወሬ ቋቶች: ከዚህም አልፈው የአብይን አገዛዝ ካልደገፍን መንግሥት ይወድቅና ኦሮሞ ችግር ውስጥ ይገባል የሚሉ የእልፍኝ አገልጋዮች: ዓይናቸውን በጨው ታጥበው: ኢምፓየርን የምናፈርስበትና የግፍ ክምርን ንደን ህዝቡ እድሉን የሚወስንበትን ሁኔታ የምናመቻችበት ስሌት የላችሁም ይላሉ::

ስለ ስሌት ካወራንማ ኢምፓየርን የመጠገኛ ስሌት እንኳን የሌላቸው እነሱ ናቸው:: ዴሞክራሲያዊ ማድረግ ይቻላል የሚሉበትን(ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሁኖ የሚያውቅ ኢምፓየር ምሳሌ መጥቀስ ባይችሉም) እንኳን: ስልትና ስሌት ባለው መንገድ ቀምረው አያውቁም:: መጠገኛ ስሌት ሲያጡ የማስፈራሪቾ (fear-mongering) ፕሮፓጋንዳ እየነዙ: ህዝቡ እየፈጀውካለው ጦርነት እንኳን እራሱን እንዳይከላከል የሚያደነዝዙት ድንዙዛን እነሱ ናቸው:: ለአብይ አህመድ (እና ለኢምፓየሩ አገረ-መንግሥት) የዘመኑ ፈረስ በመሆን የመከራን እድሜ ማራዘም (በዚህ አጋጣሚም ተጠቅሞ የሕዝብን ሃብት መዝረፍና ያልተገባ ወረት ማካበት) ኢምፓየርን የመጠገኛ ስልትና ስሌታቸው መሆኑ ነው::

ሊነገራቸው የሚገባው እውነት የሚከተለው ነው::

የኢምፓየራዊ ቅኝ አገዛዝ ሥርዓቱን (imperial-colonial order) የምንቃወመው ኃይሎች እኛ: እንኳን ኢምፓየር የምናንኮታኩትበትና ህዝብን ለውሳኔ የምናበቃበት ቀርቶ: በዴሞክራሲያዊ ጎዳና መርተን ኢምፓየሩን ሙሉ በሙሉ በመቀየር (radically transform በማድረግ) የምንቤዥበት የተሻለ ስሌት አለን:: ሞክረንም ነበር:: እድል ለመስጠት ብለን:: አንድም ኢምፓየርን መቤዠት በፍፁም የማይቻል ከመሆኑ የተነሳ: አልያም በኢምፓየሩ ባለቤት ነን ባዮች እብሪት (እና የዘላለም የአፄ ዘበኛበሆኑ—the perpetual body guards በሆኑ)--አደግዳጊዎቸቸው ተባባሪነት ምክንያት ወደ ጥፋት ገደል በመውረድ አከሸፉት እንጂ::

የዛሬዎቹ ተለዋጭ አፄያውያን ደግሞ: ያለ ምንም ፕሮግራም (ወይም በቤተመንግስት ዘበኛው ኦህ_dead ፕሮግራም) ወደ "ኢምፓየራዊ ዲሞክራሲ" እንሸጋገራለን ሊሉን ይሞክራሉ::

ወደ ማስፈራሪያቸው እንመለስ::

የዓለማቀፉ ሥርዓት: ኢምፓየር እንዲፈርስና አዲስ አገር እንዲመሠረት አይፈልግም ይላሉ:: ይሄ ትልቅ ውሸት ነው:: የዓለምአቀፉ ማህበረሰቡ ሕግጋት ሁሉ ( UN Charter, UDHR, ICCPR, ICESCR, the 1960 UN Declaration on decolonisation, the 1970 UNGA Resolution, and more recently the declaration on indigenous peoples) ኢምፓየርና ቅኝግዛትን ይኮንናሉ: ለማፍረስና ለማስቀረትም ዝርዝር ድንጋጌ ያስቀምጣሉ::

ከዚህ አልፈው:በሌሎች አለምአቀፍ ስምምነቶችና ህጎች የዘር መድሎን: አፓርታይዳዊ አገዛዝን: የዘር ማጥፋትን: ወዘተ ይኮናሉ: የሚወገድበትንና የምንከላከልበትን ዝርዝር ድንጋጌዎች ያስቀምጣሉ:: በፍርድ ሂደትም በተደጋጋሚ አዳዲስ አገሮች የሚመሰረቱበትን አግባብ ሲያስቀምጡ ተስተውለዋል:: ( ምሳሌ: የሄግ ፍርድቤት በኮሶቮ ላይ የወሰነው ውሳኔ:: የተመድ በደቡብ ሱዳን ላይ ያስማማው CPAም ተመሳሳይ ውጤት ነበረው::) ስለዚህ ዓለምአቀፉ ሥርዓት ከኢምፓየር መለየትን (መገንጠልን) አይደግፍምና ኦሮሞና ሌሎች ግፉአን ህዝቦች አብይና ጃዋርን እየደገፉ ወደ ጥፋታቸው ይጏዙ ማለት ወይ አለማወቅ ነው: ወይም አውቆ ማሳሳት ነው::

የወቅቱ አፄያውያን: አዲስ አገር ሲመሰረት ቀሪው መንግስት (the rump state) ለአዲሱ መንግሥት ፈቃድ ወይም እውቅና ካልሰጠ: አገር መሆን አይቻልም ይላሉ:: ሌላ ትልቅ ውሸት::

እውነቱ:- አገር የመመሥረት መብት (the right to statehood) እና እንደ አገር እውቅና የማግኘት (the right to recognition) መብት ይለያያሉ:: አሮጌው አገር ስንብቱን ከደገፈው (እንደ Czech እና Slovak ወይም እንደ ኤርትራና ኢትዮጵያ ወይም እንደ ሁለቱ ሱዳኖች) ዓለማቀፋዊ እውቅና ለመስጠት ቀለል እንዲልለት ያደርጋል::

አሮጌው መንግሥት አዲሱን እውቅና ከነሳው የአዲሱን አገርነት አያስቀረውም:: ከሌሎች ጋር የሁለትዮሽ (bilateral) የመገናዘብና የመስራት መብቱ የተጠበቀ ነው:: ኦሮሞ አገር ከሆነ እውቅና ያጣል ብሎ ማስፈራራት--ለዚህም ሶማሊላንድን እንደምሳሌ ማቅረብ--ተራ ማጭበርበር ነው:: አገርነትና እውቅና (Statehood and recognition) ሁለት የተለያዩ ሂደቶች ናቸውና::

አሮጌው አገር ለኦሮሞ እውቅና አይሰጠውም ብሎ መከራከርም: የኢትዮያን ሕገ-መንግሥትን አለማወቅን ያሳያል:: በሕጋዊ ሕዝበ-ውሳኔ የተፈጸመ መለየትን በማድረግ: "ንብረት በመከፋፈልና" (liquidation of assets) የአዲሱን አገር ሉዓላዊነት በማወቅ ለተበበሩት መንግሥታት ድርጅት (ተመድ) ማሳወቅ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስሥት ሕገ-መንግሥታዊ ግዴታ ነው:: ( አንቀጽ 39(4))

የአፍሪካ አንድነት ድርጅት (ብ1963/4) በአዲሶቹ ነፃ አገሮች መካከል የድንበር ግጭት እንዳይነሳ በማሰብ የቅኝ ግዛት የነበረው ድንበር እንዳለ ይቆያል ቢልም: Saharawi, Namibia, Eritrea, South Sudan, አገር እንዳይሆኑና እውቅና እንዳያገኙ እንቅፋት አልሆነም:: Somalilandን አገርነቷን አልከለከላትም:: (የዓለምአቀፉ ማህበረሰብ ትልቋን ሶማሊያ ለማረጋጋትና መልሶ ለማቋቋም እያደረገ ያለውን ጥረት ላለማናጋት ሲባል እውቅናን አግዶ (suspend አድርጎ) እየደከመ ስለሆነ ከዚህ ጥረት ጋር ለመናበብ ብሎ ዝም አለ እንጂ እውቅና ስላልተገባ ወይም ስላልፈለገ አይደለም::

ኢትዮጵያ የአካባቢው የሰላም መልህቅ (anchor) ነችና አዲስ አገር እንዲፈጠር ምዕራባውያን አይፈልጉም የምትል ማደናገሪያም ትጠቀሳለች:: ኢትዮጵያ የአካባቢው ሰላም ዋና አናጊ: የአካባቢው አገሮች ሁሉ በጋጠወጥነት የሚተራመሱባት የትርምስ ሜዳ መሆኗን ያየ (ውስጡ እየኖረ ያለ) ሰው: የሰላምና መረጋጋት መልህቅ ነች ሲል የምፀቱ ወሰን አልባነትን ያሳያል::

እንኳን ዛሬ በዓመት 15 ጊዜ በተመድ የጸጥታ ምክር ቤት ምትከሰስ የዓለም ሸክም ሆና ቀርቶ: አንፃራዊ አፄአዊ ሰላም (imperial peace) በነበራት ወቅትም ቢሆን "የመልህቅነቷ" መሠረቱ ኦሮሚያ እንደ ሆነ ዓለም ሁሉ ያውቀዋል:: ለአካባቢው ሰላምና መረጋጋት በዘላቂነት ዋስትና የሚሰጠው የቅራኔዎችና የተቃርኖዎች ማጨቂያ የሆነው ቡቱቶው የኢትዮጵያ ኢምፓየር ሳይሆን የኦሮሚያና የሌሎች ግፉአን ህዝቦች ነፃ መንግሥታትና በእነርሱ መካከል የሚፈጠር ፍትሃዊ አጋርነት ብቻ ነው::

የባለ ጊዜ አፄአዊያን ማስፈራሪያ ስሌት የሌለው በፍርሃት ስሜት ላይ የተመረኮዘ መቀባጠር መሆኑን ከላይ የገለፅነው ያስረዳል:: ስልትም ስሌትም የላቸውም:: ይሄን በይቅርታ ልናልፈው እንችላለን:: የማናልፈው ግን የዚህ የቅጥፈት ትንተናና መቀባጠር መነሻና መድረሻው: የኦሮሞ ሕዝብ: ከአፄአዊ አገዛዝ ለመላቀቅ የሚያደርገውን ትግል ለማንኳሰስ: የትግል ግቡ የማይደረስበት ነው በማለት ትግሉን ለማደብዘዝ: ታጋዮቹም ከመፈክርና ከስሜት ያለፈ ስልትና ስሌት የሌላቸው አስመስሎ ማቅረቡንነው::

THREE MAJOR STEP TO BRINGING PEACE IN OROMIA

 If peace is really the goal!!!!

THREE STEP TEST TO BRINGING PEACE IN OROMIA:

For any prospect of peace to come in Oromia, one may need to consider the following 3 stages test:

STEP 1: Is Abiy Ahmed/Biltsigina still ruling over the country? If YES, then prospect of peace may almost be null and void because the very essence of Abiy’s political survival is designed on manufacturing conflicts. Peace and Biltsigina seem to be mutually exclusive!

If Biltsigina still holds grip tight to power, then try the second test!

STEP 2: Is there a temporary political transition [with international oversight] which facilitates for both armed and non-armed political groups to sit at a table in order to bargain peace and design a NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT for the TRANSITION AND POST-TRANSITION POLITICAL MODEL that’s fairly and reasonably acceptable to Oromia?

If YES, then there is a prospect of peace! If NO, apply a third test!

If Abiy Ahmed/Biltsigina can’t be arrested or disabled including by all means necessary for the sake of a greater Oromo peace, then what?

STEP 3: If Abiy Ahmed is not removed and continues to wreck havoc in Oromia, then Oromo political powers (armed and non-armed) should jointly or severally continue to build their capacity and outgun Abiy Ahmed and his atrocious regime with a goal of establishing a de facto semi-autonomous regional political system with the ultimate goal of maintaining true peace and security.

This third stage entails leaving Abiy Ahmed regime alone and allowing him to continue as a nominal political entity at the central government level with no effective control over most of Oromia.

However, the following may plausibly happen under this third test:

A. Abiy/Biltsigina will remain confined to 4-kilo palace, which means he won’t have total of effective control over Oromia.

B. His military power may need to be weakened or significantly disabled that he can’t govern beyond 4-kilo. This means, Abiy and Biltsigina will remain a nominal regime with limited political jurisdiction until a certain time such that a full political freedom and true peace takes ground in the nation.

Who are the actors in Oromia?

1. Oromo Liberation Army

2. Oromo Liberation Front

3. Oromo Federalist Congress

4. Biltsigina Branch in Oromia

What are the threshold?

1. All of these actors need to come with a duty to bargain in good faith (I.e, for sustainable peace)

2. All of the actors should understand, represent and warrant that they are no more or less important than the other. That means, one actor can’t use the other as leverage to dominate each other throughout the process

In Ethiopia, mass detention signals shrinking press freedom

 

Freedom of Press Mus be Respected!

On April 26th, an official from the Ethiopian attorney general’s office took to state media to lament what he called a lack of police action in clamping down on disinformation and hate speech.

A number of journalists in the country saw that as a bad omen.

“When I heard the call, I knew a crackdown on the press was imminent,” an Addis Ababa-based journalist told Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted. “I had already heard rumours that the government was keen on reining in the press, especially producers of digital content. The only question now was how many of us would be jailed.”

That prediction has proven to be accurate.

By April 29th, the state-run Ethiopian Media Authority announced that it had filed criminal cases against at least 25 media outlets.

Then, during the course of this month, Ethiopian police pounced on local newsrooms, detaining 19 people, including journalists, magazine editors and talk show hosts.

“We reiterate that Ethiopia’s media law clearly prohibits pre-trial detention for any alleged offence committed through media,” said Daniel Bekele, head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, a public institution. “All detained media personnel should be released.”

In addition, The Economist correspondent Tom Gardner was expelled from the country on May 13th.

Twenty-two media employees have been arrested across Ethiopia this year alone.

“CPJ has documented a drastic decline in press freedom in Ethiopia over the last three years,” said Angela Quintal, head of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) Africa programme. “This decline has accelerated during the ongoing civil war. Numerous journalists have been arrested and detained without trial or for prolonged pre-charge periods.”

The pressure has made Ethiopian journalists contemplate quitting their jobs or fleeing to neighbouring countries. Some have toned down their reporting and are electing to write stories without bylines.

Drought hits Ethiopia again but climate change not only the reason but also lack of good governance

 East Bale , Oromia – “People are in trouble down here, all the way from Darako up to Sawwena, they have left their homes to find better pasture and water sources,” Aliyi Sheik Osman told. A resident of Rayitu woreda, in east Bale zone, Oromia regional state, Aliyi says “there is nothing there and what the government is doing is not enough, imagine demanding water and getting less than 10 liters of it. The food they provide is not sufficient and can’t hold a family, which happens to be large in these areas, until the end of any given month.”

Aliyi is just one of the dozens of residents spoke to during an assignment trip to East Bale zone.

But the climate-induced drought is not the only culprit ravaging the communities down there. Multiple accounts from eyewitnesses who spoke with Addis Standard reveal marginalization, poor governance and corruption are exacerbating the already dire situation.

For decades, food insecurity has been leaving a trail bitter impact predominantly during the dry seasons of the Horn of Africa, where drought prevails year after year, devastating millions in the wake severe lack of food and water.

Discussing the aid provided by the regional government, one of resident said, “Please do not get me started on that. We ask God to bless us with rain so we can go back to our areas and stop asking them (Oromia Regional Government) for anything. They didn’t do so much for us all these years. Why would we expect them to do so now?”

Way before it recovers from the ravages of desert locust infestation since April 2020, the 2021 drought that hit the Horn of Africa is classified as the worst drought in decades leaving millions in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia between life and death.

According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the Horn of Africa region is facing the third consecutive below-average rainfall season since late 2020, which is expected to intensify the ongoing drought and significantly worsen food insecurity through at least mid-2022. Multiple regional and global forecast models concur that October to December 2022 rainfall will be below average, primarily due to negative Indian Ocean Dipole and La Niña conditions.

Similarly, report by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) underlines that droughts in the Horn of Africa have been increasing in severity and frequency, aggravated by climate change, desertification, and land degradation. The prolonged drought and its impact in Ethiopia, however, is exacerbated by the current security and economic crisis that consumed much of the government’s attention. The crisis is further compounded by unsuccessful agricultural strategies that could not yet serve to ensure food security or improved water accessibility to areas affected by scarcity of rain predominantly in Oromia.

The situation in Sawwena and the rest of the East Bale zone is exacerbated by the absence of access roads, health care centers, and other basic services. Residents of the zone have long complained of being left alone despite the regional government’s repeated promises to address their complaints, but with nothing to show but failure under successive governments.