Ethiopian government’s attempt to blame the victims (the Oromo people) unravels TPLF’s war plans on Oromo people

Ethiopian government’s attempt to blame the victims (the Oromo people) unravels TPLF’s war plans on Oromo people

 It has now been more than a year since the Ethiopian government, controlled by the Tigrai People Liberation Front (TPLF), clearly and openly declared a war on Oromo people. In addition, the TPLF government has also promoted conflict between the Oromo people and its neighbors, which have lived together in peace, love and mutual respect for decades.


This TPLF orchestrated conflicts has caused a huge crisis on the life, property and overall wellbeing of hundreds-of-thousandth of Oromo people. In fact, the Ethiopian military generals and leaders have planned, trained and deployed the Somali special forces (aka Liyu Police) to carry-out the killings of the Oromo people and destruction of their homes. As a result of this war, hundredthof-thousandth of Oromos were either killed, wounded, their homes and properties were completely destroyed or displaced. While these all heinous acts have been taking place on Oromo farmers, the TPLF government has never had any saying.


The war currently declared on the Oromo people by TPLF and the Somali regional government is a well-researched and planned war for a long time. To make sure that their plans are being executed, first, they disarmed the Oromo farmers and made them defenseless. After they disarmed the Oromo farmers, TPLF ordered their well-trained and armed Liyu police to carry-out the killings, including kids and women, destroying their homes and confiscating their properties.


As one might recall that Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has exposed the secret plan of TPLF to open war on Oromos from Eastern to all the way to the Southern Oromia border, which covers a
distance of over 1000km. Not only OLF exposed TPLF’s plan, it has also warned those who were playing political games to stop their evil act before it resulted in such a tremendous crisis. We have also pre-informed the secret plan of TPLF to the world community as well as to the Ethiopian people.


The main purpose of TPLF’s current war is to weaken the Oromo, stop the Oromo Youth-led movement for freedom and overall the Oromo people’s struggle for Freedom and justice. In addition, this is a strategy to divert the real demand of the people and maintain their power and continue their exploitation. Therefore, TPLF and their agents are the main actors of these conflicts. Nonetheless, TPLF’s strategy of promoting conflict between the regions will neither bring a shortterm nor a long-term peace to the country as well as to the region.


While conflicts were taking place in the Eastern, South Eastern and Southern Oromia for over a year, the Ethiopian government has never taken any action to resolve the issue. Contrary to this, TPLF government has trained, armed and deployed the Somali region special forces to perpetrate havoc on the Oromo farmers along the border. Though the Oromo People living along the border have requested the government to secure their peace and defend them against the perpetrators, the Ethiopian government instead continues to support Liyu police with military equipment as well as logistics. As a result, over 700,000 Oromos were displaced from their lands and their homes were burned down. The Ethiopian government did not offer any support to these displaced people.

Perhaps, the burden was left to the Oromo people themselves. Similarly, when many Oromo were massacred at Calanqo, Daaroo Labuu at a place called Hawwii Guddinaa and in many more places, we haven’t heard any press release or any condemnation of the perpetrators from the Ethiopian government, further confirming that the life of the Oromo people worth nothing for the Ethiopian government.


Contrary to these war crimes taking place on Oromo people, we have observed when the Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariya Dessalegn in his December 17, 2017 press statement, trying to make the Oromo people accountable for the crimes that their military force and Liyu police have done. The Prime minister’s attempt to blame the victims here instead of the killer, Liyu police and military forces, is rather disgraceful. The prime minister would have asked himself, before reading his shameful statement, questions such as who started this war? Where was the war started and why? and try to get the answers.


As head of a state, the prime minister should have rather admitted the crisis and assure the people that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. At the same time, he should have also assured the Oromo people that his government will maintain their peace. But the prime minister’s statement was completely the opposite, trying hard to make the Oromo people accountable for the heinous crime done by the Liyu Police. Such Ethiopian government’s betrayal of the Oromo people has been observed on multiple occasions and thus, we should expect neither any justice nor any support from the Ethiopian government.


Therefore; The Oromo people must understand that it is their right to defend themselves from the war currently declared on them from multiple fronts by TPLF government and its agents. While admiring the generous support that the Oromo mass was giving to its fellow citizens, OLF wants to stress that there is no one for Oromo other than Oromo and nothing is more evident for this than what is currently happening in Oromia. Therefore, such support for our people must be strengthened and continue.


OLF also call upon all Oromo in diaspora to feel the pains and the crisis that the Oromo people are going through in Oromia and work hard to expose the evil acts of TPLF to the international community, and also continue to support our people. It is equally important to make sure that the support that you contribute is in fact reaches the people in need.


The Oromo people and the Somali people have lived together for so long without any issues. However, now the Liyu police and the TPLFgovernment are orchestrating a conflict between these people. We want to renew our call to our brotherly Somali people to let work together to thwart the TPLF’s evil plan.


Lastly, trying to blame the Oromo people, victims of the Liyu police, instead of the perpetrators will never solve the problems. Furthermore, the heinous killings and displacement taking place on Oromo people will not stop by simply blaming on the so-called corruption and illegal trading (contraband) that is taking place in the country. These excuses will never let the Ethiopian government be free from accountability. OLF strongly condemns those who are involved in planning, organizing, and commanding the military and Liyu police forces to open war on Oromo people, those who involved in the killings and displacement of peaceful Oromo and the Somali people. 

The Regime army continues to cause death and destruction in Oromia

A few weeks ago, a contingent of the TPLF military were deployed in Hawi Gudina District of West Hararge without the knowledge of the local administration or providing an explanation on the purpose of the deployment to any of the local authorities. Upon their arrival clashes erupted between the Oromo and Somali armed local militia along the border villages of the Hawi Gudina district. The newly deployed military then arrested several officials of the local administration and businessmen. They also forced the Oromia police contingent stationed there to leave the district. They then gathered Somali residents of Gadulo town ( district capital) and instructed them that they were in danger and forcefully placed them in a warehouse facility.

Two days ago, the newly deployed army members have left unannounced, leaving the Somali civilians in the warehouse where they instructed them to stay put. Elders of the area have stopped the military caravan and asked them why they were leaving the Somali civilians after isolating them from the local population and exposing them to danger. The military commander said that they had leave because 'you president [Lemma Megersa] said so and the Somali civilians have refused to leave . The elders asked the commander if they could go to talk to the Somalis at the warehouse and support them. But he warned them not to dare get there.

This morning, Oromo pastoralists who gathered in the village of Buyi to collect food aid that was being distributed have suddenly came under attack from what they believed were are TPLF-military supported by the Liyu Police forces. They overran the place killing many people; the number of causality is yet to be known as the area is still inaccessible.

When the news of these attacks reached Gadulo town, where the Somali civilians were held in warehouse, a man whose brother was killed in Buyi while collecting food aid picked up his gun, and went to the warehouse. He first killed an elderly Oromo woman who tried to stop him on his way, and upon arriving at the warehouse he began to randomly fire on the defenseless Somali civilians, killing several people, the number is not clear yet.

The man was then immediately apprehended by the elders and by the time this information reached me, they were working on their way to hand him over to the authorities. The military has now returned to the districts and is preventing ambulances from passing to the district. Later in the evening over 80 houses were burned down in Tao and about 300 Oromos were taken hostage by a coordinated mission of the TPLF army and the Liyu police. We are hoping they are alive. We plead and pray for their release.

From all these, it is obvious that the TPLF military have planned and prepared the groundwork for this bloodshed. This is meant to justify the military’s intervention in the regional affairs and revive the fast collapsing grip of the TPLF on power.

Sadly innocent civilians are paying the ultimate price. The TPLF is playing with the souls of Oromo and Somali civilians to ensure its grip onto power. Killing of civilians by any force must be condemned in the strongest of terms possible. As TPLF has pulled its last card of instigating a civil war among different ethnic groups, authorities in all regional states' in Ethiopia must beef of their internal security to protect all communities. Oromia regional government in particularly must step up protecting of the diverse communities under its jurisdiction. It must continue to set an example by investigating, apprehending and punishing any and all who are involved in instigating and attacking civilians of any background.

WE SHOULD ALL SAY NO! TO SUCH DEVILISH AND DESPERATE MACHINATIONS OF THE TPLF!!

Collective and Individual Self-Defense is the only option moving forward!

Before Yesterday, it was killing in Adigrat. yesterday, it was a massacre in Chelenqo. Tomorrow, nobody knows but there will be another massacre. Every passing day, the TPLF/EPRDF is testing and checking the resolve and the determination of the Ethiopian people, particularly the Oromo people, to defend themselves and what belongs to them. Knowingly or unknowingly, the TPLF is making the Oromo people and everybody else bitter, brutal and violent towards them and their supporters throughout Ethiopia.

No segment of the society is left out and spared. The resolve and determination of the students in schools, the farmers on their farmlands, the merchants in their business places, the youth on the streets, the rural residents, the urban residents, the old, the young and everybody in between are tested until the only choice one is left with is to fight back and stand one's ground.

It appears very clear that Ethiopia, as a country and society are effectively transitioned from one of the most peaceful, cultured and respectable African countries with a very strong sense of respect for the government and laws, are now morphing into what looks like the animal world of survival of the fittest. Might is right. One has to kill the killers and their supporters to stop them. For the TPLF/EPRDF, if you and your group are weak in terms of the number of firearms at your disposal or you are cultured, tolerant, law-abiding and magnanimous enough not to be barbaric and violently savage, you will be considered weak, and you will be robbed and mercilessly attacked. The Oromo people are the primary victim of this policy of the TPLF/EPRDF.

In order to restore respect for each other and peacefully coexist, it appears the Ethiopian people, particularly the Oromo people must adopt a clear policy of mutual self-defense by getting organized and building alliances, where possible, to defend themselves in a group of one or more. There is no legal recourse to redress the victims. Force is your only power. And power is ones only safety. The only recourse if attacked is self-defense and the defense of one’s property. An attack on one Oromo must be considered as an attack on all Oromos. Members and supporters of the group deploying those killing squads must be considered legitimate targets of self-defense.

Moving forward, the Oromo people have only one option. The Oromo people must adopt a clear policy of collective self-defense to contain the daily carnage and brutality. The Oromo people will not stop the daily carnage by crying for the killed, pleading with the killers and providing humanitarian assistance to the victims’ family. It is tried for the last twenty-six years and failed. It never worked and will never work.The Oromo people must stop mourning and start acting.

Artist Haacaallu Hundessa said it all. Self-defense, both individual and collective self-defense, is the only viable option. An attack on one Oromo must be considered as an attack on all Oromo people requiring simultaneous and instant actions of collective self-defense against the attacking group's interests and members everywhere. Only fear of retribution will tame the beast and speak sense to their mortal instinct and force them to behave like a human.

THE SUPREME COURT REDUCES JAIL SENTENCE OF YONATAN TESFAYE BY THREE YEARS

Free Yonatan T Regassaa

Regime’s federal Supreme Court has today overruled a decision by the Federal High court fourth criminal bench and reduced the jail term of Yonatan Tesfaye, social media activist and former public relations head of the opposition Blue Party, to three years and six months only. After having been charged with terrorism, Yonatan is serving a jail term of six years and six months, which was handed to him by the federal high court on May 25, 2017.

However, his lawyer Shibiru Belete has appealed for the charges of terrorism to be downgraded to criminal charges. Accordingly, the Supreme Court has decided that the terrorism charges against Yonatan’s will be downgraded to criminal charges under article 257/A of  the 2004 criminal code.  The article deals with “provocation and preparation” by “word of mouth, images or writings” of crimes against the state of the constitutional order. By today’s ruling, Yonatan should be due for release soon.

Yonatan was first arrested in December 2015, barely a month after the first wave of a year-long #Oromoprotests erupted.  He was held incommunicado during the pre-trial weeks and was subsequently charged in May 2016 under Ethiopia’s infamous anti-terrorism proclamation (ATP).

Since he was arrested, Yonatan has been defending the charges of ‘encouraging terrorism’, stipulated under article 6 of the country’s infamous ATP. The charges were largely drawn from his Facebook activism during last years’ nationwide anti-government protests.

during his lengthy trial, Yonatan had presented several defense witnesses,including prominent opposition party leaders from the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Bekele Gerba and Dr. Merera Gudina, who are in jail at the time of their testimony fighting charges of terrorism and multiple criminal charges respectively, and journalist Eskendir Nega, who is serving 18 years in prison for terrorism-related charges.

In addition, Yonatan’s close friend Ephrem Tayachew, his father Tesfaye Regassa, and his sister Gedamnesh Tesfaye as well as academicians from the Addis Abeba University (AAU), including the outspoken philosopher Dr. Dagnachew Assefa and Dr. Yaqob Hailemariam have all appeared in court to testify in defense of Yonatan’s innocence

The Next Chapter of #OromoProtests: Victories, Visions, and Strategies!

1. November 12, 2017, marked the second anniversary of the ongoing Oromo Protests that started on November 12, 2015. Although this eventful day was passed without much event, it is one of the days’ the Oromo people and the rest of the Ethiopian people will remember and celebrate in the years to come as the day that changed the course of Ethiopia’s history.

2. Some days have more significance than the others. In recent Ethiopian history, particularly over the last 27 years of TPLF/EPRDF rule, Ethiopians were made to remember two days. The first one is Yekatit 11, the day the TPLF was created 42 years ago by few Tigrean youth to start the civil. The second day is May 20, 1991, the day the TPLF/EPRDF rebels took the state power in Ethiopia. Nothing merry is left off these two days except misery, torture, killings, dispossession, and poverty. Ethiopians are ready to forget them for good and move on.

3. The memories of certain days are not that short lived. For the generation of our forefathers, who fought the European colonial powers and defended the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Ethiopia (minus Ethiopia’s coastal province of Eritrea, much of which was lost to the Italians during the reign of Emperor Yohannes’s rule of Northern Ethiopia culminating in the creation of the Italian Colony in 1890), the battle of Adwa of March 2, 1896 was the historical watershed! Adwa cemented the inalienable and sacrosanct independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia. Negotiating today’s borders of Ethiopia with the colonial powers of the day, the British, the French and the Italians were also one of the greatest accomplishments of the generation of our forefathers leaving the present generation of Ethiopians with the challenge of defending what our forefathers passed on unto us, and passing on to the next generations. Here it is important to note the two leading Oromo leaders and heroes who established the Ethiopia we know today. Ras Mekonin Gudisa, the father of Emperor Haile-Selassie, is a celebrated Oromo statesman who, among other things, commanded the Ethiopian Defense Force at the Battle of Adwa, negotiated the treaties demarcating the boundaries of Ethiopia with all of its neighbors, and established diplomatic relations between the United States and Ethiopia. Similarly, Ras Gobana Dachee, a celebrated Oromo hero and military commander, is the one who established the present boundaries of Ethiopia by stopping and defending against the British, the Italians and the French encroachments on Ethiopian territories and its people from multiple directions except part of the Borana Oromo who remained in Kenya due to early British occupation of Kenya and the untimely death of this famous and formidable warrior.

4. Although the Oromo protests that started on November 12, 2015, was not as momentous as the Battle of Adwa, the comparisons between the battle of Adwa and the Oromo Protests are fitting for two main reasons. First, the same way the battle of Adwa was fought to preserve the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia; the ongoing Oromo protests is a popular resistance movement to restore political power and popular sovereignty back into the hand of the Ethiopian people from the TPLF/EPRDF rebel forces who unlawful usurped political power and abused it for the last 26 years, and defend these rights from being usurped again by any other similar group that might arise in the future. Second, as the Oromo people and Oromo leaders, heroes and heroines of the Battle of Adwa were the major actors and leaders who mobilized all Ethiopians to defend the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of their country; so are the Oromo protests where the Oromo people are the main actors and leaders in the battle to restore the political power and popular sovereignty back into the hands of the Ethiopian people from the jaws of the TPLF/EPRDF. Adwa established the independence, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ethiopia as a country. The Oromo Protests are meant to establish the sovereignty and political power of the Ethiopian people, the natural and the only repository of political power and political will in Ethiopia, by establishing a democratic constitutional system of governance of the people by the people for the people under rule of law, not rule of one group or rule of individual dictatorship.

5. Given this historic and important ongoing popular movement to restore political power and political sovereignty into the hands of the Ethiopian people that started on November 12, 2015, the purpose of this talking point is to initiate a national conversation on the next chapter of how to transition the Oromo Protests into national protests by building on the victories of the last two years. The Oromo protests started as a demand for policy reform on land, language, urban policy, and self-rule (including the release of political cross-cutting) of the Oromo people. The TPLF/EPRDF’s refusal or inability to address any of the demands of the Oromo people over the last two years has now transitioned the Oromo protests into a national movement to restore political power and political sovereignty back in the hands of the Ethiopian people to address those demands and other similar popular grievances by taking the political power instead of begging for one’s own rights from unlawful usurper and robber of power. The cross-cutting and national nature of the causes of Oromo protests, the vision and the determination to address these underlying causes and the strategy needs to be deployed will be the main focus of this post.

6. What are the victories and gains of the Oromo Protests over the last two years?

6.1. One of the most important and lasting victories of the Oromo protests is the reemergence of the Oromo people as single and unified political community that knows its national interests and determined to defend and protect those national interests in full force without any division along political, religious or regional lines; for the first time more than one hundred years after the Gadaa System collapsed. The Oromo protests not only made sure that the Oromo people are ready to self-rule in an unabridged and genuine federal system but also showed the determination of the Oromo people to lead Ethiopia as major shareholders and formidable defenders and protectors of Ethiopia’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity as has been the case for centuries.

6.2. The second most important victory of the Oromo Protests is the dismantling of the most vicious anti-Oromo propaganda of the TPLF/EPRDF that designated and falsely painted the Oromo people’s quest for equality, justice, fairness, democracy and self-rule in Ethiopia as separatist, secessionists, and even as Islamic terrorist movement(this might seem absurd to most Oromos’ but it is true) hell-bent on dismantling and disintegrating Ethiopia and the state institutions it is built on with the objective of destabilizing Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. Until the Oromo protests fully and completely dismantled this vicious propaganda, the majority of the Western Diplomats, including most major countries, were in cohort with this TPLF/EPRDF narratives. Not only that, the Oromo protests also dismantled the seed of suspicion, hatred and the ill-will that the TPLF/EPRDF built between the Oromo people and the rest of the Ethiopian people as the irreconcilable mortal enemies and threats to each other that only the TPLF/EPRDF is “capable of preventing to keep Ethiopia and Ethiopians together”, one of the key tool and fear factor the TPLF/EPRDF built as one of the building blocks of its policy of divide and rule. The Oromo protests proved that the Ethiopian people are assets for each other instead of being threats to each other; and the Oromo people, not the TPLF/EPRDF, are the guarantors and guardians of those thousands of years’ old social assets and Ethiopia’s national unity.

6.3. The Oromo people forced a segment of the OPDO to listen to the voices of the Oromo people and forced some to acknowledge that their political power and authority to govern Oromia emanates from the Oromo people, not the TPLF that created them in Tigray some 27 years ago. (This statement should be seriously qualified, in the sense that, still a substantial number of TPLF recruited OPDO scavengers and vultures are answerable to the TPLF than the Oromo people or the progressive elements within the OPDO (#TeamLemma). In this connection, it is also important to note that the Oromo protests have dismantled the web of cadre structures and societal parasites, including the one to five security chains, and made useless the TPLF/EPRDF Marxist-Leninist “Democratic centralism” control structure where handful of TPLF/EPRDF Executive Committee and Central committee members abused and repressed one hundred million Ethiopians for the last 26 years.

6.4. The other major victory of the Oromo protests is the starting of the process of fundamental restructuring of the Ethiopian Security structures as defenders and law enforcement officers of the people not instruments of repression, violence, and torture in the hand of the TPLF/EPRDF. Two short years ago, the Ethiopian Military, Federal Police and National Intelligence including Oromia police were exclusively instruments of violence, torture and killing machines in the hand of the TPLF/EPRDF. In the last one year, Oromia police assumed its rightful place as law enforcement and peacekeeping officers of the society not the killing and torture machines of the TPLF/EPRDF. There are clear signs that Amhara and Oromo military, federal police and national intelligence officers are following the model of Oromo police in refusing to be tools to attack the people, forcing the TPLF/EPRDF commanders to rely on minority ethnic groups as attack force on the people as witnessed in recent killings in Ambo.

6.5. The Oromo protests

Du’aan Boqochuu Koloneel Aliyyii Cirrii Ilaalchisee

(Ibsa Gaddaa Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo Irraa)

 

Qabsaawota ilmaan Oromoo angafootaa fi gameeyyii keessaa tokko kan tahan Koloneel Aliyyii Cirrii Sadaasa 11, 2017 du’aan boqotan. Addi Bilisummaa Oromoo du’aan boqochuu gooticha Koloneel Aliyyiii Cirriitiin gaddi itti dhagahame guddaa tahuu ibsa.

Qabsoon diddaa gabrummaa fi falmaa mirga Abbaa-biyyummaa Ummatni Oromoo sirna gabroomfataa alagaa dachii ofii, Oromiyaa irraa buqqisuuf geggeessaa turee fi jiru seenaa dheeraa qaba. Bu’uureffamuu Dhaaba keenya Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo dura Ummatni Oromoo jaarmaya gaaddisa tokko jalatti akka Sabaatti isa ijaaree qabsoo isaa hoogganu qabaachuu baatus naannoo naannoo isaatti bifa adda addaatiin yeroo gara garaatti sirna gabroomfattuu alagaa irratti fincilee mirga Abbaa-biyyummaa isaa falmachuu irraa duubatti hin jenne.

Qabsoo bifa kanaan Ummatni keenya geggeessaa ture keessaa qabsoon hidhannoo kan diddaa gabrummaa fi falmaa mirga Abbaa-biyyummaa Ummatni Oromoo 1960moota keessa gooticha Generaal Waaqoo Guutuutiin hoogganamee Kibba Baha Oromiyaa, Baalee keessatti geggeessaa ture isa guddichaa fi sochiilee dhaloota Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo maddisiisan keessaahis isa tokko.

Sadaasa 11/2017 Addunyaa kana irraa du'aan kan boqotan Kononeel Aliyyii Cirrii gootota muratoo yeroo sanatti qabsoo sana hoogganaa fi geggeessaa turan keessaa tokko, Godina Baalee Ona Dalloo Mannaa Ganda Cirriitti bara 1922 Abbaa isaanii Obbo Cirrii Jaarraa fi Haadha isaanii Aadde Badheessoo Miinaa irraa kan dhalatan Koloneel Aliyyii Cirrii goota miidhaa fi roorroof hin jilbeenfanne nama ijoollummaadhaan fincilee sirna nafxanyaa irratti finciluun akka danda’amu warra karaa agarsiisan keessaa tokko. Koloneel Aliyyiin oggaa du’aan boqotan manguddoo umriin ganna 95 fi Abbaa ijoollee 42 (dhiira 20 fi dubara 22) akka turanii fi ilmaan isaanii kanas Haadhotii Warraa isaanii 4 wajjin akka horatan seenaan jireenya isaanii ni mul’aisa.

Sirni awwaalchaa Koloneel Aliyyii Cirrii guyyaa kaleessaa (Sadaasa 14, 2017) Ona Madda Walaabuu Ganda Maddaatti kan argamu iddoo awwaalcha gootota hiriyoota isaanii kanneen akka Jeneraal Waaqoo Guutuu fi Koloneel Aadam Jiloo biratti kabajaadhaan raawatame.

Addi Bilisummaa Oromoo du’aan boqochuu Koloneel Aliyyii Cirriitiin gadda guddaa itti dhagahame irra deebi’ee ibsaa, maatii fi firoottan isaaniitiif jajjabina hawwa.

Injifannoo Ummata Oromoof !

Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo
Sadaasa, 2017

ህዝብን በፍቅር እንጂ በጦርነት ማሸነፍ ኣይቻልም

(የኦነግ ርዕሰ-ኣንቀጽ ህዳር 14 ቀን 2017ዓም)

 ወያኔ ጸረ-የሕዝቦች ነጻነት፣ ጸረ-ዲሞክራሲና ጸረ-ፍትህ ዓላማዉን ለማሳከት በማሰብ እአአ በ1992ዓም በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ የከፈተዉና ላለፉት 25 ዓመታት ሳይቋረጥ እየተካሄደ ያለው ጦርነት ነው የወያኔን ስርዓት ቀስ በቀስ እያበሰበሰና እያደቀቀ መሰረቱን በማናጋት ኣሁን ባለበት ደረጃ (የስልጣን ዘመኑ ፍጻሜ ዋዜማ) ያደረሰው። ይሁን እንጂ ወያኔ ዛሬም ጣረ-ሞት ላይ እያለም በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ ያወጀውን ጦርነት ለማሸነፍ ያልማል። ይህ ህልሙ ግን ከንቱ ሆኖ ይቀራል። ህዝብ በፍቅር እንጂ በጦርነት ኣይሸነፍምና። የኦሮሞ ነጻነት ግንባርም በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ልብ ውስጥ የገባው በውጊያ ሳይሆን በፍቅር እንደሆነ ሁሉ።

በዲሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት በሚተዳደሩ ሃገራት ውስጥ መንግስት የህዝብ ኣገልጋይ ነው። ህዝብ የበላይነት ኣለው። የህዝቡን የበላይነት በሚያስከብር ስርዓትና ህገ-መንግስት ስለሚሰራ በህዝቡና ሃገሪቷን በሚያስተዳድረው መንግስት መካከል ሊኖር የሚገባውን ግንኙነት የሚወስነው ሕገ-መንግስቱ ነው። ስለሆነም መንግስት የመረጠውን ህዝብ ፍላጎት ማሟላት ከተሳነው ኣልያም ህዝቡ የሰጠውን ኣደራ ከበላ/ካጎደለ (የህዝቡ ጥቅምና መብት ከተነካ) ህዝቡ ባለው ስርዓትና ህገ-መንግስት ተጠቅሞ መንግስቱን ተጠያቂ ያደርጋል ወይንም ይቀይራል።

የብሄሮች ወህኒ ቤት በሆነችው የኢትዮጵያ ኢምፓዬር ውስጥ ግን ይህ ጉዳይ ተቃራኒ/የተገላቢጦሽ ነው። ህዝቡ ነው የመንግስት ኣገልጋይ። በመንግስትና በህዝቡ መካከል ሊኖር የሚገባውን ግንኙነት የሚወስነው ስርዓትና ህገ-መንግስት ለስሙ ብቻ ነው ወረቀት ላይ የሰፈረው። ህገ-መንግስቱ ስለህዝብ የበላይነትም ይናገራል። ይሁን እንጂ እሱ እንዲሁ ለይስሙላ ብቻ የተቀመጠ እንጂ ስራ ላይ የዋለበት ጊዜ ታይቶ ኣይታወቅም። ስለሆነም ህዝቡ ሃገሪቷን የሚያስተዳድረውን መንግስት ፍላጎት ማሟላት ሲሳነው(የመብት ጥያቄ ከጠየቀ፣ መንግስት የሚወስደውን የህዝብን ጥቅም በሚነካ እርምጃ ላይ ተቃውሞ ካሰማና ባጠቃላይ ዝም ብሎ ካልታዘዜና ኣንገቱን ደፍቶ ካላደረ) መንግስት ማሰርና መግደልን ጨምሮ ያሽውን እርምጃ በህዝቡ ላይ ይወስዳል። ይህ ከኢትዮጵያ ኢምፓዬር መፈጠር ኣንስቶ የነበረና ዛሬም ቀጥሎ እየተፈጸመ ያለ እውነታ ነው። ለዚህም ዋነኛ ማስረጃ ከሚሆኑት ውስጥ ሕወሃት/ኢህኣዴግ “ብሄራዊ የደህንነት ምክር ቤት” በሚል ያቋቋመው ኣካል ባለፈው ሰሞን ያሳለፈው ውሳኔ ኣንዱ ነው። ወያኔ “ብሄራዊ የደህንነት ምክር ቤት” በሚል ያቋቋመው ይህ ኣካል ከቀናት በፊት ባካሄደው ስብሰባ ህዝቦች እያቀረቡት ያለውን የመብት ጥያቄ (በተለይም የኦሮሞ ህዝብ የነጻነት ትግልን) ባለፉት 26 ዓመታት ሲያደርግ እንደነበረው ሁሉ በጦር ሃይል ማፈኑን ለመቀጠል መወሰኑን ይፋ ኣደረገ። የዚህ ኣካል ውሳኔ ሕወሃት/ኢህኣዴግ ኣሁንም በድጋሚ በደህንነትና ጦር ሃይል ተጠቅሞ በኦሮሞ ህዝብ ላይ ለማወጅ ያወጣውን እቅድ ለማሳካት ያለመ መሆኑ ግልጽ ነው።

Brief Update on the court hearing regarding Gurmesa Ayano, Bekele Gerba

Brief Update on the court hearing regarding Gurmesa Ayano, Bekele Gerba
#FreeAllOromoPoliticalPrisoners

Helpless & emotional, defendants Gurmesa Ayano ,Bekele Gerba & all the others have resorted into singing inside the court a song they wrote and often practice in jail.

The four defendants, Gurmesa Ayano, Bekele Gerba Dejene Taffa and Addisu Bulala have harshly criticized and refused to accept the Fed. Court's decision during the hearing yesterday to reconsider its August ruling to summon senior government officials as defense witnesses.
Unhappy with the refusal and criticism the panel of three judges at the Fed.High Court 4th criminal Bench have interrupted the hearing of defense witnesses from other defendants in the same file.
The judges have also decided to proceed with their decision to reconsider the relevance of summoning senior government officials as defense witnesses.
Despite the strong criticism and refusal from defendants, a decision will be taken on Nov. 16 on whether or not to issue a new subpoena to summon the senior government officials. The defendants were insisting that adjourning the decision to Nov. 16 was not necessary and that the court should provide its decision in the timetable originally assigned to hear defense witnesses, which was between Nov. 06 and 08.

THE FEDREAL HIGH COURT RECONSIDERS ITS RULING TO SUMMON SENIOR GOV.OFFICIALS AS DEFENSE WITNESSES IN HIGH PROFILE CASE

Free all Oromo political prisoners !!!

The Federal High court 4th criminal bench has today said that it was reconsidering the relevance of the list of witnesses in the high profile case under the file name of Gurmesa Ayano et.al,  a file name that also includes Bekele Gerba and other members of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC). 

In its ruling on August 18th, the court decided to issue a subpoena to summon the high level government officials as defense witnesses for four of the defendants: Gurmesa Ayano Weyessa, Dejene Taffa Geleta, Addisu Bulala Abawalta and Bekele Gerba Dako.   List of witnesses submitted by the four defendants included Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn as well as Lemma Megersa and Dr. Abiy Ahmed, President and Vice President respectively of the Oromia regional state, Abadula Gemeda, former speaker of Ethiopia’s House of People’s representatives (HPR), and Chaltu Nani, Mayor of Lege Dadi town in the Oromia regional state special zone.

 

However, this morning a panel of three judges at the court have said the subpoena to summon the high level government officials as defense witnesses was not at all issued from the Federal Court despite the court’s decision on Aug 18th. During the morning session, the judges told the defense team that they would instead reconsider on whether or not to issue the subpoena during the afternoon session.But, the same panel of judges have now postponed the date to reconsider the court’s August ruling to issue the subpoena to November 16th.

 

In addition, two of the three judges who have ruled to summon defense witnesses on Aug. 18 were not present in today’s hearing; they were replaced by a new set of judges. These new judges have now expressed their reservations about the relevance of the court’s original decision to summon the said senior government officials as defense witnesses. The rest of the defendants in the same file name have began presenting their defense statements to the court today.

Today’s decision by the court marks the second legal setback in a week for Bekele Gerba, first secretary general of the OFC. Last week, a decision by the Federal Supreme Court to allow him a 30, 000 birr (about US$1, 094. 00) bail was quickly suspended by the Cassation division (bench) of the Supreme Court. The  Cassation bench said it halted the supreme court’s decision to bail Bekele on the grounds that prosecutor’s appeal against the downgrading of Bekele’s original charges of terrorism  to criminal charges were not addressed.

“I have lost trust in this country’s legal system,” Bekele told the judges today, “and I would not wish to return on November 16 to hear your decision again.” All the defendants are following their cases since they were first detained in Nov.-Dec. 2015. On July 13, the federal court 4th criminal bench acquitted five of the 22 defendants in the original file; ruled to reduce the terrorism charges against Bekele Gerba to criminal charges; and ordered the remaining 16 to defend the terrorism charges brought against them

Court sets prominent Oromo opposition leader Obbo Bekele Gerba free on bail

Oromo  opposition leader Bekele Gerba should have walked out of prison by now after a supreme court on Monday October 1, 2017 granted him the right to posting a bond and walk free.

Deputy Chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Bekele still faces an uncertain future because of the serious 'criminal' charges that the state prosecutor has lodged against 

him and his comrades, most of whom are in prison.

According to Addis Standard, a federal high court "acquitted five of the 22 defendants, reduced the terrorism charge against Bekele Gerba to criminal charges, and ordered the remaining 16 to defend the terrorism charges brought by the federal prosecutors."
Bekele's release on bail has been met with mixed reactions by his family, and his daughter, Boontu Bekele, was quoted by Addis Standard as saying:
“We are relieved that the Supreme court granted my father the bail, but we are at the same time worried that he is facing serious criminal charges; we are even more worried because we know all the charges against him were politically motivated."
According to Addis Standard, Bekele Gerba, who was detained on Dec. 23 2015 for the second time since 2011, during which he was sentenced to eight years in prison suspected of allegedly belonging to the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). He spent almost four of the eight years before he was freed in April 2015. In a May 2015 interview with Addis Standard, Bekele Gerba, known for his outspoken criticism of widespread injustices in Ethiopia, said prison was “not a place one appreciates to be. But I think it is also the other way of life as an Ethiopian; unfortunately it has become the fate of many of our people.”
Bekele Gerba will return to the federal high court 4th criminal bench on Monday Nov. 06 to begin defending the criminal charges against him. Currently, more than three dozens of the OFC leadership and rank and file members are in jail, including the party’s chairman Dr. Merera Gudina,

“FINISH HIM OFF”: Horrifying audio of Ethiopian security forces killing unarmed protesters in Ambo

ON Thursday, Oct. 26, Ethiopian security forces shot and killed at least 11 protesters and wounded 23 others in Ambo town, 120 kilometers west of the capital, Addis Ababa.

Ambo is no stranger to violence or expressions of dissent. The popular Oromo protests, by Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, which culminated in the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency last October, started in this town in May 2014. Security forces killed dozens of protesters on its streets in2014 and 2016 as the federal army took over the restive town to stamp out the protests.

Since the state of emergency was lifted in August, an eerie calm had prevailed in Ambo ― and in much of the restive Oromia region, the largest of Ethiopia’s nine-linguistic based federal states. But that semblance of calm ended abruptly on Thursday when the federal army returned.

Ambo is currently under siege. The U.S. embassy has expressed concerns and called on security forces to exercise restraint. However, outside of Ethiopia, the unfolding crisis has received scant media coverage.

On Oct. 27, BBC Afaan Oromo released a 30-second video from Thursday’smassacre in Ambo. The chilling video, which appears to be a collage of short clips from around Ambo, offers a raw evidence of the federal army’sindiscriminate and brutal slaughter of civilians. 

Ten seconds into the video, soldiers are seen marching down an empty street. Suddenly, someone tells a soldier in clearly audible Amharic “Betisew (በጥሰው)!” which in this context means “fire” or “let it rip.” The order was immediately followed by a gunfire blast. The firing soldier appears to be given orders by a superior or colleague and follows as commanded.

The horrific monologue is as follows:

Speaker (presumably a commanding officer): Fire!

(Soldier fires a round.)

Speaker: Belew! (The Amharic word በለው loosely means “hit it!”, a clear order to fire again.)

(Soldier fires another round).

Speaker: Belew!

(Soldier fires multiple rounds).

Wails of an injured person can be heard at a distance. We hear more rounds being fired. The speaker resumes commands: Digemew! (ድገመው), which means, “shoot (do it) again!” More blasts go off.

The commander, the only person speaking intelligibly in the video, yells the final order: “Finish him off!” (ጨርሰው!). BBC bleeped out the next statement by the officer. However, OPride has confirmed that the speaker used profanity to insult the mother of the victim. Another round was fired and this one appears to have killed the victim, who can no longer be heard.

Ethiopia parliament speaker Abadula Gemeda says 'disrespect' made him quit

In comments carried by the state-affiliated Oromia Broadcasting Network, Abadula said he was dissatisfied with the EPRDF's treatment of his people.

"I resigned because my peoples and party were disrespected," he said. "However, I will struggle to bring the necessary respect and do the best I can for Oromo people to gain their rights." Obbo Abadula Gemeda

He is one of the highest-ranking government officials to resign since the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition took power in 1991.
A former army chief of staff, Abadula is also a founder of the Oromo People's Democratic Organisation (OPDO) C, which represents the Oromos within the EPRDF
Oromos led a wave of anti-government protests that began in late 2015 and were only quelled after more than 940 deaths and the imposition of a 10-month state of emergency
On Wednesday, three people were killed and more than 30 injured at a protest in the city of Shashamene, while another protest in the town of Boke left another three dead and three more injured, spokesman for the Oromia regional state Addisu Arega

Oromos protest on stampede anniversary

An Oromo religious festival transformed on Sunday October 1st 2017 into a rare moment of open defiance to the government one year after a stampede started by police killed dozens at the gathering.
The Irreecha festival is held annually by the Oromos, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, which in late 2015 began months of anti-government protests over claims of marginalization and unfair land seizures.
Parliament declared a nationwide state of emergency aimed at quelling the unrest shortly after the bloodshed at last October’s Irreecha, but the protests at this year’s gathering show that dissatisfaction still runs deep.
“The government is trying to control us and deny our rights, lives and security,” said Sabana Bone, who was among the tens of thousands clad in traditional white clothing who gathered by a lake in a resort town of Bishoftu, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of the capital Addis Ababa.
“We are remembering what happened last year and it makes us angry. We need freedom,” Bone said.

The Oromo protests were triggered by a government plan to expand Addis Ababa’s boundaries, which community leaders denounced as an attempt to steal their land which surrounds the capital.
They later spread to other ethnic groups like the Amharas who have long felt marginalized by Ethiopia’s ruling party, which controls every seat in Parliament and wields virtually unchecked power.
The months of protest resulted in 22,000 arrests and at least 940 deaths, according to the government-linked human rights commission.
Also known as thanksgiving and meant to mark the end of the months-long rainy season and start of the harvest, last October’s Irreecha became a turning point in the unrest when police shot tear gas at people chanting protest slogans, sparking a panic that left at least 50 people dead, although activists claim a much higher toll.
The state of emergency, which was repealed in August, succeeded in stopping the demonstrations by criminalizing gatherings and allowing police to hold people without trial, provisions that scared off most protesters.
That changed at this year’s Irreecha, as hundreds of people climbed onto a stage, crossed their arms over their head in a gesture of protest and chanted “Down, down, Woyane,” a derogatory term for Ethiopia’s government.
Such actions would normally invite arrest.

Obbo ABADULA GEMEDA RESIGNS AS SPEAKER OF THE FEDERAL PARLIAMENT

Two credible sources told AS that Abadula Gemeda, speaker of the Ethiopian House of Peoples’ Representatives has resigned from his post.

According to one source, Abadula has “submitted a resignation letter to the federal government in protest over recent political developments including the federal security handling of the ongoing violence in eastern Ethiopia”, which has displaced about 150, 000 Oromos from the country’s Somali regional state.

Our source further said that in recent weeks tensions have risen to a high level between Abadula and other senior members of the ruling coalition regarding the federal security forces’ intervention in Oromia regional state.

The joint session of the federal parliament and the house of federation is expected to open on Monday Oct. 09 at 2:00 PM after the summer recess.

A veteran politician, Abadula was once the President of the Oromia regional state and the minister of defense. Many see his role as a bridge between the federal government and the increasingly assertive leadership of the Oromia regional state. Our sources said that he will remain part of the central committee of the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), the largest member of the ruling EPRDF coalition.

Federal Security Forces deployed are attacking the Oromo People in North Shewa Zone of Oromia Region.

Reports are coming in from Salalee, North Shewa Zone of Oromia National Regional State that the the Chinese owned cement factory known as Eastern Industrial Zone has deployed heavily armed police force to attack the Oromo people. The reports we are receiving from the Oromo people under attack indicates that TPLF/EPRDF security forces are removing the people from their ancestral lands to facilitate land grab for the Chinese and China owned Eastern Industrial Zone Cement Factor in Salalee.

This Chinese owned colonial style company does not contribute anything to the local economy except exploiting the limestone and other natural resources of the region. This practice of the Chinese is destroying the ecology and farm lands of the people. ALL Chinese owned companies in Oromia only pay taxes to the Federal Government. None whatsoever goes to the Oromia Regional government. The Chinese are reportedly discriminating the Oromo people following the federal government model of excluding and marginalizing the Oromo people in economic interactions including refusing to form partnerships and recruiting Oromo employees. Almost all the employees of these Chinese owned companies in Oromia are non-Oromos.

Similar to all Chinese owned companies and factories, the Chinese owned Cement Factory in North Shewa is the major cause of health and security risk for the Oromo people, their livestock, wild animals, lakes, rivers and springs and underground waters of the region.

Since the Chinese secure licenses and permits for their companies and businesses by corrupting TPLF/EPRDF top officials in Addis Ababa, none of the Chinese companies and businesses follow any health standard, environmental standards, and labor and safety standards.

As the result of these unregulated and uncontrollable poisoning of the environment by Chinese owned companies in Oromia, Oromia rivers, springs, lakes, farms and grazing lands are destroyed. People in Galaan, Adda’a, Salalee, Becho, Mogor and many other Oromo localities are dying in their thousands because of hitherto unknown diseases like cancer, tuberculosis and cholera.

The Chinese are destroying of the Eco-system, the fauna and the flora, and the environment at the fastest rate than any groups presently involved in Ethiopia in the name of economic development. Forest areas are destroyed. Farm lands, crops, grazing lands within hundred kilometers of any Chinese companies are covered with dusts and poisoned with chemicals unknown to the Oromo people. Oromo people’s livestocks are dying due to lack of grazing lands and poisoning of the animal feeds and rivers.

People are reporting that in areas within 100 kilometer radius of Chinese Cement Factory in Salale, the Oromo people are unable to even sleep in their homes. The dusts coming from the Chinese cement factory reportedly filled each home with dust both during the day and the night. New born babies are born sick. In some places they could not even hold markets as the result of the dust coming from Chinese owned cement factory and trucks they deploy in the community. People are unable to wear dust free clothes. They cannot sit under tree sheds and rest. Everywhere, the Chinese are becoming a menace to the society.

All the reports the Oromo people made to the local authorities fail on deaf ears. The Chinese will pay hefty bribes to the TPLF/EPRDF top officials who will silence the local authorities. The Chinese managers and employees don’t even want to deal and speak with the Oromo officials in Oromia at any level. They are reportedly working with the TPLF top officials and some within the EPRDF to get away with every illegal and criminal things they do to the Oromo people.

It is high time to put a check on the Chinese in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian people is not their colony. The Ethiopian land and natural resources are NOT free for their exploitation. The Oromo people, without any division along political or religious line, should resist this colonial style advances of the Chinese. It must be stopped now.

All the terms and conditions of the Chinese business in Oromia and Ethiopia should be renegotiated. The Chinese should compensate the Oromo people for the damages they caused to our people and our land, and our environment. Until new health, environment, tax, safety and labor and management standards are negotiated all Chinese operated factories causing serious damages should be stopped.

At present all companies operating in Oromia are not reporting to the Oromia region. They are all reporting to the Federal government. This practice must change and change now.

All Oromia based companies including cement factories, large scale farms, Chemical manufacturing firms, leather factories, beer factories and the like should be 1) under the direct supervision of Oromia regional government, 2) pay tax to the Oromia Region, 3) adopt Afaan Oromo as their working language, 4) hire Oromo professionals in the management of the company, 5) all medium to low level employees should be Oromo speaking residents of Oromia, and 6) all the companies should pay a certain percentage of their profit for the community development such as building schools, hospitals, community centers, transferring knowledge and skills to the local community in their field of operations.

If they don’t want to do this, they should be allowed to go elsewhere. The Oromo people can incorporate their own companies, and run their own businesses by the local entrepreneurs, other Ethiopians or other western companies.

In the meantime, we call upon the TPLF/EPRDF officials who are attacking their own people by siding with the Chinese to stop their criminal acts. The Chinese should also know that working with the Oromia Regional Government and the Oromo people is their best bet instead of trying to intimidate and attack the Oromo people using the TPLF/EPRDF top officials and security forces. I hope our Chines friends know that the route they so far followed is unsustainable.

The Oromo People Should Not take the OPDO off the hook and Must Stay the Course on their naitonal agenda!

It is deeply troubling to see the OPDO playing the Oromo people to its tune. Let’s be honest. It has stolen the rhetoric of the Oromo people’s cause without any substance to it. Now, OPDO is playing victim within the EPRDF ruling party and expects the Oromo people to comfort it. Some even want to be celebrated as heroes.

But for what? What did the OPDO do for the Oromo people? Which agenda of the Oromo people did they carry out? Forget the agenda, are they even defending the Oromo people they claim to govern from internal and external attacks? The answer is BIG NO!

Let’s look at the Somali Janjaweed Militia invasion and aggression on Oromia over the last six months. Let’s look back for a moment. OPDO was and is the governing party of Oromia while the Somali Janjaweed Militia was created, trained and armed to the teeth and readied for over ten years to invade and attack the Oromo people.

What was OPDO doing over the last ten years while the Somali Region was creating, training and arming standing militia with the tax money that was collected from the Oromo people? OPDO was disarming and impoverishing the Oromo people. Let’s play the fool and assume the OPDO did not expect the invasion from the Somali Janjaweed Militia and there is nothing they could do.

But, what about after the large-scale invasion and aggression by the Somali Janjaweed and its allied militias over the last six months? Let’s lay open this fact. Over the last six months, the Somali Janjaweed Militia invaded five Oromia Zones and fourteen Weradas. It displaced over 600,000 from the invaded five Oromia zones and fourteen Woredas. In addition, the Somali Janjaweed evicted, uprooted and deported about 100,000 Oromos from the Somali Region.

What was OPDO’s response to this humiliating failure to defend the Oromo people from attacks? In pathetic and the most disgraceful measure I have ever seen from any governing party that claim to lead fifty million plus strong population, OPDO is asking the Oromo people to provide humanitarian aid to the displaced, the evicted and the uprooted instead of mobilizing the Oromo people to defend themselves, take back their territory and resettle those displaced. Is OPDO a humanitarian organization? Is it our Oromia Red Cross or Red Crescent? Or is OPDO a governing party with the responsibility to defend Oromia and uphold the rule of law?

The tragedy does not end there. The OPDO, one of the members of the governing EPRDF, is claiming or pretending to claim that it is in power struggle with the TPLF and that it is the TPLF that is organizing the Somali Janjaweed Militia against the Oromo. Let’s assume that is true and that is the case.

Then, what is the OPDO doing in the EPRDF where the TPLF is orchestrating ethnic cleansing against the Oromo people? The OPDO should leave the EPRDF and dismantle that criminal enterprise. The OPDO should tell all its members to resign and leave the EPRDF. After all, what is the OPDO doing in the EPRDF if it is the EPRDF organizing, mobilizing and invading the Oromo people?

Let’s take the matter a bit back. Last year, the EPRDF security forces murdered over 700 Oromo civilians at the Irreechaa 2016 Celebration. As Human Rights Watch confirmed by its recent report, there is no dispute that the EPRDF security forces, of which the OPDO is the member, caused the killings of our people. What did the OPDO do to bring to justice the perpetrators of those crimes? Nothing!

Then, what is the role of the OPDO in the EPRDF? Whose interest is it representing if it is not representing the Oromo people? Unless as Mr. Bekele Gerba asserted the OPDO is representing the interests of the EPRDF in Oromia not the interests of the Oromo people, then EPRDF should be dismantled and all members of the OPDO should leave and abandon this organization. What are they really doing in the front that kills and imprison the Oromo people?

On August 28, 2017, meeting with the Oromo Abbaa Gadaas in the town of Bushoftu President Lemma Megerssa claimed that they pardoned over 17,000 Oromo political prisoners. That is his word: over 17,000 Oromo political prisoners. Remember, they used to claim that there are no Oromo political prisoners in Ethiopia!? Again, they said they pardoned over 6,000 more last week. That will put the number of Oromo political prisoners pardoned from Oromia prisons alone to more than 23,000.

Imagine these numbers. The number of Oromo political prisoners just pardoned are bigger than any medium size Oromia cities. Imagine all these people. The livelihood lost. The human cost to the Oromo people. And how could the Oromo people cope with resettling and rehabilitating all these people without the compensation for being unjustly imprisoned? And why did the OPDO imprisoned all these people in the first place? Admittedly as political prisoners, they are all unjustly imprisoned for speaking for the Oromo people. Then how could the OPDO claim to stand for the Oromo people while imprisoning those who speak for the Oromo people?

Let’s push the curtain of the Oromo political prisoners’ saga a bit more! What about the tens of thousands in the so-called federal prisons? ICRC Ethiopia Office sources indicate that there are over 37,000 Oromo political prisoners arrested in connection with the OLF since the early 1990s.

On August 1, 2007, Dr. Nagasso Gidada, the former president of Ethiopia and member of the OPDO, told Jake Grovum of The Minnesota Daily that he knew the existence of over 25,000 such political prisoners. Where are these people now? What happened to these Oromos? Could the OPDO just wash off the blood of these Oromo political prisoners?

Over the last two years alone, according to Human Rights Watch, tens of thousands Oromos were arrested because of the Oromo protests. Add to these thousands of Oromo Federalist Congress leaders and members incarcerated including Dr. Merara Gudina!

When will the OPDO stand for the life of the Oromo people beyond the rhetoric and the deception? OPDO as the coalition member of the EPRDF is directly responsible for the misery and the blood of these Oromos whose only crime is standing up for the rights of the Oromo people.

Then, what is the OPDO doing for the Oromo people today if it does not defend the Oromo people from internal and external attacks and unlawful imprisonment? Will it ever do anything for the Oromo people at all?

One thing is certain, the Oromo people must not take the OPDO off the hook on all and every crime committed against the Oromo people until justice is served and this tentacle of the enemy amongst our people is fully and completely uprooted and dismantled.

In the meantime, the so-called "the new breed OPDO team under the leadership of Lemma Megerssa" must stand up to the task to address the immediate crisis facing the Oromo people:

1. The OPDO and the Oromia National Regional Government must adopt a clear self-defense policy with a clear goal to take back Oromia territories occupied by the Somali Janjaweed Militia and resettle the over 600,000 Oromo civilians evicted and displaced from their ancestral lands by the invading Janjaweed militia. Oromos evicted and displaced from their land inside Oromia must be resettled on their land with clear security guarantee by placing armed Oromia national guards that defend the Oromia territory from the Somali Janjaweed Militia and other similar militias.

2. The Oromia National Regional government and the OPDO must take firm stand and should withdraw all forms of collaboration and relationship including withholding all forms of financial and business relationship with the Somali Region until justice is served by paying just and fair market value compensation for the stolen property and land of all Oromo deportees and evictees as well as by disarming, dismantling and removing from power of the Somali Janjaweed Militia that uprooted and deported about 100,000 Oromo civilians from the Somali Region and displaced over 600,000 Oromo civilians inside Oromia.

3. OPDO and the Oromia National Regional Government must withdraw from the EPRDF until those responsible for training, arming and mobilizing the Somali Janjaweed Militia to invade and attack the Oromo people are brought to justice. OPDO cannot have it both ways. It cannot claim to be for the Oromo people while it is partying with the EPRDF coalition members who kill, uproot and evict the Oromo people from their land including through proxy wars as in the case of the Somali Janjaweed Militia invasion. If the OPDO does not stand up now against the enemy of the Oromo people, when will they stand up? If OPDO will not leave the EPRDF now when will it leave the EPRDF? What else should the enemy do against the Oromo people to warrant the response of the OPDO beyond what they have already done?

4. The OPDO and Oromia National Regional Government must establish an independent commission that will investigate and bring to justice those who were responsible for the killing of over 700 Oromo festival goers at the Irreechaa 2016 Massacre. How on earth does OPDO dare to erect a memorial statute without bringing those responsible for these heinous crimes to justice? OPDO federal appointees including those serving the federal parliament must be instructed to table this agenda at the national level including at the House of Peoples Representatives!

5. The OPDO and the Oromia National Regional Government must release all Oromo political prisoners including those in the federal prisons. How could the Oromo people trust and expect an OPDO to represent the interests of the Oromo people when it cannot even speak up for the release of the Oromo leaders? And what purpose will OPDO’s membership in the EPRDF serve if it does not enable it to stop killing, arresting and dispossessing of the Oromo of their land, their country and their personhood by supposed coalition partners with the OPDO?

6. If OPDO and the Oromia National Regional Government fails to take the above measures, the Oromo people should seriously consider holding