QEERROO: New Oromo Students Protests Erupt in Oromia; An Oromo Pastor Under Attack

Qeerroo’s Status Updates: Feb. 22, 2015 – March 13, 2015

Oromo students protests continue to erupt in several towns in the Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia – taking various forms in recent weeks. The new round of protests began on February 22, 2015, when Oromo students and youth of Jimma town turned an Oromian Sports Championship event, which had been taking place in the city, into a protest against the so-called “Addis Ababa Master Plan” and against the recent inflammatory speech of Abay Tsehaye, one of the TPLF strongmen. The students chanted slogans, such as “Finfinne is ours! Adama is ours! Jimma is ours!” and more, a reminiscent of the bloody April/May 2014 widespread protests, in which more or less the same slogans had been chanted throughout Oromia. The Oromo youth were also singing revolutionary songs in the whole stadium. The protests continued beyond control in Jimma Stadium and on the streets of the city on a daily basis until the Sports Championship was to come to a close on Sunday, March 1, 2015.

Speech of Oromian “President” Muktar Kedir Interrupted

On March 1, 2015, the Oromo students protest escalated to a higher level when two high-level delegates of the Ethiopian government, the so-called President of Oromia – Muktar Kedir and President of Amhara Region Demeke Mekonnen appeared in the stadium for the closing ceremony, and also in an attempt to address and pacify the protesting youth. As the whole stadium erupted with shouting voices, slogans and revolutionary songs of the students, Muktar Kedir was unable speak at all, and he and all the “guests,” including the Honorable Guest Demeke Mekonnen, were forced to leave the stadium in humiliation and eventually reported to have left the city the same day.

Govt Messenger’s Indoctrination Meeting Foiled in Nekemte

On the evening of March 1, 2015, the same day students of Jimma university protested, a meeting organized in Wollega University by the government delegate and messenger Dr. Getachew Begashaw through the university administration intended to inculcate the students with the evil policies of the government and to pacify the Oromo students from protesting was foiled by the Oromo students, and the meeting was dismissed. It was as soon as the meeting began that Oromo students started shouting, singing revolutionary songs and chanting slogans, such as “the [Addis Ababa] Master Plan will never be realized! OLF is the hope of Oromo people! International community should be made aware of the genocide committed against us!” and more. Dr. Begashaw and other “guests” were forced to stop their lecture, and leave the university while the students continued chanting slogans and singing in the whole university campus throughout that night. Although the students were protesting peacefully, hours later, a large number of police force entered the university campus and started beating the students and arrested many of them, including a 3rd-year electrical engineering student Kuma Gammachu. The whereabouts of the arrested students is still unknown.

At least 10 Oromo Students Abducted in Jimma

On March 2, 2015, the Ethiopian government unleashed its police force in Jimma University, and abducted at least 10 students for no crime other than exercising their rights by peacefully protesting, together with thousands of other Oromo students. Among the abducted Oromo students of Jimma University are:

1. Guddisa Amsalu, Afan Oromo – 2nd-year

2. Dejenee Gonfa, Afan Oromo – 2nd-year

3. Adam Muktar, Law – 2nd-year

4. Sisai Kebede, Law – 2nd-year

5. Sisayi, Geography – 2nd-year

6. Musxafa Edeto, Biomedical Engineering – 4th-year

These and other abducted Oromo students are said to be held in a prison in Jimma city in an area known as Alazar.

Looting of Oromian Top Soil Thwarted in Sibu Sire

On March 7, 2015, Oromo farmers – who were evicted from their land and from whom their farm land was given to investors in East Wollega zone, Sibu Sire district, in a village called Tuqa Wayyu – organized the youth and the local Oromo population, and stopped lorries which were looting top soil (fertile soil) of their land and taking to an unknown place.

Election 2015: Superficial and Viable Political Perspectives – A Critical Reflection

By Tolera Fikru Gemta

(Tolera Fikru Gemta was the editor-in-chief of the former ‘Seife Nebelbal,’ ‘The Voice,’ and ‘Raji’ independent weekly newspapers. He also authored well-known Afan Oromo novels, NAMELY ‘Imimmaan Haadhaa’ (2007, 2010 and 2014), ‘Qeerransa Bokkan Dhaane’ (2012), ‘Raayyaa Dhugaa’ (2013).)

The Finfinne-based Addis Fortune newspaper has presented four political parties with their dictated political perspectives, NAMELY EPRDF (as “Democratic Developmentalist”), Medrek (as “Centrist”), the Ethiopian Democratic Party-EDP (as “Liberal”) and Semayawi Party (as “Moderate Liberal”). In the presentation, either the newspaper’s editor or the leaders (i.e. interviewees) of these organizations defined the baseline and/or the criteria for the ascribed political perspectives of the respective organizations.
However, I prefer to critically question the practical viability of the ascribed ideological perspectives as follows. I think, in the strict sense of political MOBILIZATION and bases of the aforementioned political parties (and even others), the ascribed ideological alignments (such as Liberal, Moderate Liberal and Conservative/Nationalist) is superficial. For example, both EDP and Semayawi have never represented liberal political notions for the clear reason that their rank-and-file as well as their constituencies are MORE or less drawn from same nation – the Amhara. The mere fact that they opt to pursue bogus political aspirations under the pseudo “Ethiopian Nationalism” framework doesn’t make them liberal.
Thus, it is more viable to look into the perspectives of the parties on Ethiopian Politics (such as nation-building and national-domination) as well as their political goals (such as a centralized state, ethnics-based federation and geographic-based federation). In this ACCOUNT, both EPRDF and Medrek fall under the national-domination political perspective, but differ in the viability of their political goals.
EPRDF VS Medrek – Multiethnic Frontal Approach to Federation (of Pseudo and Functional)
EPRDF’s version of National Domination perspective is characterized by ethnic federalism under TPLF/EPRDF hegemony, as a political goal, while Mederk is PROMOTING federation that accommodates unity and diversity, though it has not yet come up with a full-fledged proposal on the state system in Ethiopia. Medrek, as a front of major ethnic groups (Oromo, Sidama, Tigrean and South) and an advocator of functional federation, may represent a pragmatic political alternative to the PRESENT Ethiopian political context. I think UDJ-Andinet party, which had bogusly represented the Amhara nation in Medrek, has now withdrawn after failing to shape the Front towards realizing the Amharic-speaking Ethiopia.

EDP, Semayawi Party, UDJ-Andinet, AEDP, etc. – Centralized State in the NAME of Liberalism
The perspectives of the other two parties (EDP and Semayawi parties) on Ethiopian Politics is hegemonic nation-building (which outrageously ignores the inviolable right of nations, nationalities and peoples to national self determination, and institutionalization based on their national identity). The covered political goal of such organizations is to reinforce centralized state (which is dominated by identity and culture of the Amharic-speaking nation). The other confusing part of these political organizations is their bogus orientation to certain features of liberalism. For example, both EDP and Semayawi PROMOTE individual rights (one notion of liberalism) which are phony in the Ethiopian context. At least in the present context, national identity (in which private and group rights mutually exist together) is the dominant factor for any political mobilization and organization.

QEERROO: Gaaffii Mirgaa Qeerroon Godina Shaggar Lixaa Kaasaniin Wal Qabatee Kaabinooti OPDO 3 Hojii Irraa Arihaman

Bitootessa 10, 2015 Odeessa Qeerroo Shaggar Lixaa

Warraaqsa Bilisummaa gootota barattoota Oromoon yeroo irraa gara yerootti mootummaa Wayyaanee raasaa jiru jabaachaa fi daran ciminaan soss’aa kan dhufe humni warraaqsaa, mootummaa Wayyaanee haalaan akka yaaddessee fi naasuu guddaa itti fidee jiru beekamaa dha.

Bitootessa 2015 keessa guutummaa Shaggar Lixaa keessatti warraaqsa Qeerroon Bilisummaa socheesen wal qabatee mootummaan Wayyaanee soda guddaan waan itti buleef jidduu kana bulchitoota Federaalaa irraa naannoo Oromiyaa heeraan ala seenuun kaabinoota OPDO hojii irraa arihaa akka jiranii fi sochii warraaqsa bilisummaa kana duubaan ABO itti hidhatee kan hojjetaa jiru isini sababa jedhuun hojii irraa arihuutti argamu.

Bitootessa 9, 2015 Shaggar Lixaa Aanaa Abunaa irraa hojjettoota 3 hojii irraa arhiman keessaa:-

1. Shifarraa Mokonon, hojin Fayinanasi
2. Baacaa Lameessa, hojin Humnaa Namaa
3. Girmaa Baacaa, hojiin Gageessaa Hojii

Kanneen ta’an yeroo tahu, haalli kun gara fuula duraattis mootummaan Wayyaanee naannoolee biro irraa waan itti fufuuf Oromoon bakka jiruu gamtaan ka’ee warreen dhimma bulchiisa Oromiyaa keessa seenanii akka fedhanitti hojjettoota hojii irraa arihan dura akka dhaabbatan taasisuun falmaa yerooti.

Source,http://gadaa.net/FinfinneTribune/2015/03/qeerroo-gaaffii-mirgaa-qeerroon-godina-shaggar-lixaa-kaasaniin-wal-qabatee-kaabinooti-opdo-3-hojii-irraa-arihaman/

ህዝብን በመጨቆን ሀገርን መምራት አይቻልም !

በአሸናፊ ንጋቱ

የፖለቲካ ስርአትና የአንድ ሀገር እድገት ቀጥተኛ የሆነ ግንኙነት አላቸዉ። አንድ አገር ትክክለኛ ባልሆነ የፖለቲካ አገዛዝ ይበለፅጋል ብሎ ማሰብ የዋህነት ነው። ሃገራችን ኢትዮጵያም የወያኔ መንግስት ባነገሰው የተዛባ አገዛዝ ሳቢያ ህዝባችን ለከፋ ችግር መዳረጉ በገሃድ የሚታይ ሃቅ ነው። ታዲያ በዚህ ወያኔያዊ የተዛባ አገዛዝ እንዴት ከችግር ልንወጣ እንችላለን? አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ ምንም እንኳ የጥንት ስልጣኔ ባለቤት ብትሆንም በአየር ንብረትም ሆነ በተፈጥሮ ሀብት ጥሩ ከሚባሉት ሀገሮች አንዷ ብትሆንም እንደ እድል ሆኖ መሪዎች ግን አልተሳኩላትም። ለምን ኢትዮጵያ የረሃብ አገር ተባለች ለምን ዜጎቿ ተደስተው በነጻነት መኖርን እንደተመኙ ህልማችዉ ከንቱ ሆነ? ብዙዎች የሞቱላት አገር አንገታቸዉ ለሰይፍ ደረታቸዉ ለጥይት የሰጡላት አገር ኢትዮጵያ በህዝቦቿ ታታሪነት አለም ያደነቃት ለምን ተዋርዳ ተገኘች!? እውቀትን፣ ስልጣኔን፣ ጥበብን ለአለም ያበረከተች ሃገር ዛሬ ላይ በቤተ መንግስቱም ይሁን በቤተ ክህነቱ የተማሩ ሰዎችን ናፊቂ ሆናለች፡፡ ምክንያቱም ምሁራኑ በሃገራቸው ሊኖሩ የሚያስችላቸው እድል ስላልተመቻቸላቸው ሁሉም ጉዟቸው ወደ ውጭው አለም ስደት በመሆኑ ነው፡፡ በብዙ ሚሊዮኖች የሚቆጠሩ ህዝቦች በረሃብ አለንጋ የሚገረፍባት ሲኦልም ከሆነች ዘመናትን አስቆጥራለች፡፡ እንዲሁም መለያየትን ወይም ዘረኝነት በግልፅ የምትሰብክ የዘረኞችና የጎሰኞች መሰማሪያ ሜዳ ሆና ክፉ አድራጊዎች እንደፈለጉ እየዘፈኑባት ትገኛለች፡፡ በቃል ከሚወራ ዲሞክራሲ፣ እድገት፣ ብልፅግና በስተቀር በተግባር የሚታይ አንዳችም መልካም ነገር የማናይባት አሳፊሪ ሃገር ሆናለች፡፡ በደልና ጭቆና በዝቷል ድህነትና ጉስቁልና ከመቼዉም በባሰ ተንሰራፍቷል እስርና ሰቆቃ ተራ ነገሮች ሆነዋል። በአሸባሪዎች ስም እራሳቸዉ ቦንቦች አጥምደው ህዝቦች እየፈጁ ሰላማዊ ዜጎች በአሸባሪነት እየተፈረጁ ለስቃይ እየተዳረጉ ነዉ። ዛሬ በሃገራችን አርሶም ሆነ ነግዶ መኖር አይቻልም። መኖር የሚቻለዉ ኢሕአዴግ ልማት ነዉ የሚለዉን መዝሙር በመዘመር ብቻ ነዉ። የሁሉም ነገር መሰረት እንደሆነ የሚታመንበት ትምህርትን ብንመለከት እንኳ ትምህርት በኢትዮጵያ ሞቷል ለማለት በሚያስደፍርበት ጀረጃ ደርሷል። ከተለያዩ ሀገሮች ያለምንም ጥናት በኩረጃ የሚያመጧቸዉ የትምህርት ፖሊሲዊች ምንም እንኳን ብዙ ወጭ ቢወጣባቸዉም የሚሰራባቸዉ ለአንድ የትምህርት መንፈቀ አመት ብቻ ነዉ። በኢትዮጵያ ወያኔ ልማት ነዉ በሚል አባዜ የተለከፈ ትልቅ ቦታ ይሰጠዋል። ልማታዊ መንግስት፣ ልማታዊ፣ ዘፋኝ፣ ልማታዊ አስተማሪ፣ ልማታዊ የእምነት ዘርፍ፤ ወዘተ... በማለት ከወያኔ ጎን ካልተሰለፉ ኢ-ልማታዊ/ ሽብርተኛ የሚል ስም ይሰጣቸዋል ይህንንም ተመርኩዞ ለእንግልትና ለእስራት ይዳረጋሉ። ‘‘ዶሮ ጭንቅላቷ ላይ ስጋ ተሸክማ ወይ አትበላዉ ወይ አታስበላዉ‘‘ እንደተባለዉ ማንንታቸዉና እዉቀታቸዉን ትተዉ የወያኔ መዝሙር ብቻ በመዘመር የሚኖሩ ጥቂት ሰዎች በኢትዮጵያ ዉስጥ የማይጠበቅ ኑሮን ሲኖሩ ይታያሉ። የሚላስ የሚቀመስ በጠፋበት በአሁኗ ኢትዮጵያ ዘይትና ሽንኩርት ለመግዛት እንኳ አንድ ግለሰብ የወር ደሞዙ በቂ አልሆን ባለበት ግዜ እንዴት ጥቂት ባላባቶች ፎቆችና ቪላዎች ይገነባሉ? የህዝብ ንብረት ካአልተዘረፈ በቀር እነሱ ከየት አመጡት? ወይስ ኢትዮጵያ ሲባል እነሱን አይጨምርም? ከአዉሮፓመንግስታት የሰዉ ፍጥረት በረሃብና በህክምና እጥረት ህይዎቱን ለማዳን ተብሎ የሚላከው ገንዘብ እነሱ ዉስኪ ሲራጩበት ሊሞዚንና አሉ የተባሉ ምርጥ በአለም ከታወቁ ካምፓኒዎች የተሰሩ መኪናዎች ሲገዙበት ለህዝቡ ድህነት ባህላችን መሆኑን ዘላለም በመተረክ ይኖራሉ። በስብሰባ ፍቅር ብቻ የተለከፉ ባለስልጣናቶቻችን ስብሰባዉን እንደጨረሱ አበል በሚል ስም ገንዘብ ይከፋፈላሉ። ይህንን እንስሳዊ የሆነ አስተሳሰብ አልደግፍ ያሉት ደግሞ ፀረ ልማትና አሸባሪ በሚል ስም ለእንግልት ይዳረጋሉ። አሸባሪነት ለምን የፖለቲካ መጠቀሚያ ሆነ? አሁን የታሰሩት ዉብ የኢትዮጵያ ልጆች አሸባሪዎች እንደሆኑ የሁል ግዜ ለጆሮ የሰለቸ ንዝንዝ ነዉ፤ ስለዚህ አሸባሪነት ለአምባገነናዊ መንግስት አለመዘመር ከሆነ ወደድክም ጠላህም መኖርም ሆነ መስራት የሚቻለዉ ይህንኑ ስትዘምር ብቻ ነዉ። ለዚችው በሺህ የሚቆጠሩ የነፃነት ታጋዮች የታሰሩባት; ረሃብ፣ ጦርነት፣ሞትና ግድያ መለያየት የሰፈነባት፤ ዜጎችዋ በሰላም ወጥተው በሰላም ለመግባት ለሚሸማቀቁባት ሃገር ለታሪኳ ሁለ መበላሸት ተጠያቂው ወይም ተወቃሹ ገዳዩ የወያኔ አገዛዝ ነው፡፡ ስለዚህ የኢትዮጵያ የድንቁርና ፣ የመለያየት፣ የጦርነት፣ ያለማወቅ፣ የግድያ ጭለማ እንዴት ይወገድ ወደሚለው መፍትሄ ሃሳብ ስንመጣ፤ በኢትዮጵያ ያለው የክፉ ነገሮች ሁሉ ጨለማ የሚወገደው በወለደቻቸው እና ባሳደገቻቸው ኢትዮጵያውያን ሃገር ወዳድ ልጆቿ ነው፡፡ ሀገራችን ኢትዮጵያ ሰላም ናፍቋት የሰላም ያለህ እያለች ነው፡፡ ውድ ልጆቿም አረመኔው የወያኔ መንግስት በየጊዜው

Digital Attacks Intensify

Spyware Firm Should Address Alleged Misuse

March 9, 2015 (New York) – The Ethiopian government has renewed efforts to silence independent voices abroad by using apparent foreign spyware, Human Rights Watch said today. The Ethiopian authorities should immediately cease digital attacks on journalists, while foreign surveillance technology sellers should investigate alleged abuses linked to their products.

Independent researchers at the Toronto-based research center Citizen Lab on March 9, 2015, reported new attempts by Ethiopia to hack into computers and accounts of Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) employees based in the United States. The attacks bear similarities to earlier attempts to target Ethiopian journalists outside Ethiopia dating back to December 2013. ESAT is an independent, diaspora-run television and radio station.

“Ethiopia’s government has over the past year intensified its assault on media freedom by systematically trying to silence journalists,” saidCynthia Wong, senior Internet researcher at Human Rights Watch. “These digital attacks threaten journalists’ ability to protect the safety of their sources and to avoid retaliation.”

The government has repressed independent media in Ethiopia ahead of the general elections scheduled for May, Human Rights Watch said. Many privately owned print publications heavily self-censor coverage of politically sensitive issues or have shut down. In the last year, at least 22 journalists, bloggers, and publishers have been criminally charged, at least six publications have closed amid a campaign of harassment, and many journalists have fled the country.

Many Ethiopians turn to ESAT and other foreign stations to obtain news and analysis that is independent of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. However, intrusive surveillance of these news organizations undermines their ability to protect sources and further restricts the media environment ahead of the elections. Government authorities have repeatedly intimidated, harassed, and arbitrarily detained sources providing information to ESAT and other foreign stations.

Citizen Lab’s analysis suggests the attacks were carried out with spyware called Remote Control System (RCS) sold by the Italian firm Hacking Team, which sells surveillance and hacking technology. This spyware was allegedly used in previous attempts to infect computers of ESAT employees in December 2013. If successfully installed on a target’s computer, the spyware would allow a government controlling the software access to activity on a computer or phone, including email, files, passwords typed into the device, contact lists, and audio and video from the device’s microphone and camera.

Citizen Lab also found that the spyware used in the attacks against ESAT appeared to have been updated as recently as December 2014. On November 19, a security researcher, Claudio Guarnieri, along with several nongovernmental organizations, publicly released a tool called Detekt, which can be used to scan computers for Hacking Team RCS and other spyware. Citizen Lab’s testing determined that Detekt was able to successfully recognize the version of RCS used in a November attack, but not the version used in a December attack. Citizen Lab concluded that this may indicate that the software had been updated sometime between the two attempts.

የትግራይ ነፍጠኞች ተወካይ ኣባይ ፀሐዬ የአዲስ-አበባ ማስተር ሕዝበ-ፈጅ ፕላንን "ማንም ጐረምሳ መጥቶ ሊያስቆመው አይችልም" አለ

In a recent stage appearance, Abay Tsehaye said, “ማንም ጐረምሳ መጥቶ ሊያስቆመው ተገቢ አይደለም” (“vagabonds can’t stop the Master Plan”) – when he was speaking about the Addis Ababa Tigrean Neftegna Master Plan for Oromo genocide (he said this during a recent appearance on a stage representing the Tigrean regime after the leaked audio found him unqualified to hold any public office whatsoever) — find the article – where he said, “ማንም ጐረምሳ መጥቶ ሊያስቆመው ተገቢ አይደለም,” here: http://goo.gl/tnPEDk

Aite Abay Tsehaye, the Oromo youth and Oromo students are not ‘ማንም ጐረምሳ’ (“vagabonds”) – they are the Oromo people.

The new tactic/strategy the Tigrean regime is now pursuing seems to be the following:

“It’s only the Oromiyaan officials around Finfinne who used to refuse to implement the Addis Ababa Master Plan in 2014, thus if we force these officials into submission and implement the Addis Ababa Master Plan, then we can call everyone else who is opposing the Addis Ababa Master Plan ‘ማንም ጐረምሳ’/’vagabond.'”

With such arrogance and ignorance, Aite Abay Tsehaye continues to represent the face of Tigrean chauvinism and Neftegna in Oromia … what more disrespect can there be that the Tigrean youth of Abay Tsehaye’s generation could liberate Tigray from the Derg, but the Oromo youth/students are called “ማንም ጐረምሳ” (“vagabonds”) for resisting the Tigrean Neftegna’s Master Plan for Oromo Genocide (aka the Addis Ababa Master Plan)?

Demand#5 of the Oromo Students at Jimma University: "Stop Evicting Oromo Farmers and Grabbing Land"

Recently (March 2, 2015 to BE exact), Oromo students at Jimma University sent an appeal letter DETAILING their demands of HUMANrights to the Jimma University administration, to offices of the State of Oromia, to the people of Oromia all over the world, and to national and international human rights organizations.

Today, we feature DEMAND#5 from the Oromo students’ demands of human rights:

“5. We demand that selling of land by the name of development and investment by evicting Oromo farmers from their ancestral land be stopped. We also demand that appropriate compensation be given to thousands of Oromo farmers evicted from Finfinne area and other towns, and that their land be given, be resettled back on their land.”

Be the voice of the Oromo Revolution for Freedom (Warraaqsa Bilisummaa) | #StopAbayTsehaye