Oromo TV: #OromoProtests

Crackdown on Protesters in Ethiopia

DECEMBER 5, 2015 Dispatches

Dispatches: Yet Again, a Bloody Crackdown on Protesters in Ethiopia

Felix Horne

Researcher, Horn of Africa@felixhorne1

Student protests are spreading throughout Ethiopia’s Oromia region, as people demonstrate against the possibility that Oromo farmers and residents living near the capital, Addis Ababa, could be evicted from their lands without appropriate – or possibly any – compensation. Social media is filled with images of bloodied protesters; there are credible reports of injuries and arrests in a number of towns; and local police have publicly acknowledged that three students have died so far.
 

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Ethiopian migrants, all members of the Oromo community of Ethiopia living in Malta, protest against the Ethiopian regime outside the office of Malta's Prime Minister in Valletta June 16, 2014.

 © 2014 Reuters

The current protests echo the bloody events of April and May 2014, when federal forces fired into groups of largely peaceful Oromo protesters, killing dozens. At least hundreds more students were arrested, and many remain behind bars. Both then and today, the demonstrators are ostensibly protesting the expansion of Addis Ababa’s municipal boundary into the surrounding Oromia region, which protesters fear will displace Oromo farmers from their land. But these protests are about much more: Many Oromos have felt marginalized and discriminated against by successive Ethiopian governments and have often felt unable to voice their concerns over government policies.

Of the student protesters detained in 2014, some have been released. Those I spoke with told me about the torture they endured as part of interrogations. But countless others remain in detention. Some have been charged under Ethiopia’s draconian counterterrorism law for their role in the protests; others languish without charge in unknown detention centers and military camps throughout Oromia. This week, five students were convicted of terrorism-related offenses for their role in the protests.

There has been no government investigation into the use of live ammunition and excessive force by security personnel last year.

Ethiopia’s tight restrictions on civil society and media make it difficult to corroborate the current, mounting allegations and the exact details of the ongoing protests emerging from towns like Haramaya, Jarso, Walliso, and Robe. The government may think this strategy of silencing bad news is succeeding. But while the fear of threats and harassment means it is often months before victims and witnesses come forward to reveal what happened in their communities, they eventually do, and the truth will emerge.

The government should ensure that the use of excessive force by its security personnel stops immediately. It should then support an independent and impartial inquiry into the conduct of security forces in the current protests – and last year’s as well. Those responsible for serious abuses should be fairly prosecuted. This would be the best way for the Ethiopian government to show its concern about the deaths and injuries inflicted on the students, that it does not condone the use of live ammunition against peaceful protesters, and that those who break the law are appropriately punished.
 

Region / Country

• Africa
 
• Ethiopia

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Oromo TV: #OromoProtests

Siif kan dhumani kan wareegamanii: Addisuu Karray

MY CONDOLENCE TO ALL INNOCENT VICTIM OMOMO STUDENTS!

Oromo student’s protesting in Mattu, Ethiopia

‪#‎OromoProtest

What is the difference between South African Apartheid 1976 and Ethiopian Apartheid 2015? A picture is worth a thousand words! ‪#‎OromoProtest‬

THE RETURN OF OROMO STUDENT PROTESTS CALLS FOR SERIOUS REFLECTION

• December 2, 2015
• Written by OPride Contributor
• Published in Opride Contributors

(OPride) — At least two Oromo students were killed, dozens injured and hundreds detained by Ethiopian security forces in week-long protests across Ethiopia’s Oromia state, according to eyewitness reports.

The Oromia police on Wednesday said the situation was "under control," acknowledging the death of one student protester in Guliso district in Western Oromia. At least three Haramaya University students remain in critical conditions after police and the Agazi special forces roughed up peaceful protesters on Tuesday. (An unnamed Haramaya University student told the Voice of America Afaan Oromo service that two protesters were killed.)

Protests, beatings, and arrests have been reported in Mandi, Ambo, Jarso, Kiltu-kara, Najo, Jaldu, Sululta, Shakiso and Robe towns.

Oromo student protests have become a fixture in Ethiopia’s modern political life. A year ago, Ethiopian security forces shot and killed dozens of students and jailed thousands after protests broke out over the unconstitutional expansion of Ethiopia’s sprawling capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromo areas.

Non-participatory development

The protests returned again last week. The students are demanding a halt to the planned implementation of the controversial Addis Ababa and the Surrounding Oromia Special Zone Integrated Development Plan, or the master plan. But they also have a number of local grievances related to non-participatory approaches to development. For example, in Ginci town, Western Shawa zone, where the latest round of protests began last month, the students oppose the transfer of school compound to a regional cabinet, the sale of Ginci stadium to investors and the clearing of nearby Chilamo forest to make way for further development projects. 

It’s an all-too-familiar story. The central government in Addis Ababa proposes a development scheme that does not involve local stakeholders. College and high school students take to the streets in protest. Security forces respond using disproportionate force. A handful of students are killed and many more wounded and incarcerated in preventive arrests. The diaspora holds solidarity rallies at Western capitals and the story gains marginal references in the media.

After a few months, as the story begins to fade from the limelight, despite the stiff opposition to it and loss of life, the government moves ahead with its proposed plan or project. Then it happens again as we have seen over the past week.

A worrisome trend

It is a worrisome trend indeed. The Oromo question has become the Achilles heels of Ethiopian politics. And the heavy-handed crackdown on student protesters has heightened Oromo’s already fraught relations with Ethiopia’s ruling party, EPRDF, now in power for close to 25 years.

But, for all its potency and potential, the protests have also lacked coherence, leadership and clear direction to bring about lasting solution. The government knows this. And it has responded using brute force time and again to quell these largely disparate uprisings. True, the lack of leadership is no fault of the students. It's insurmountable to be an activist in Ethiopia today. Dissent is highly criminalized. The Oromo dissent, both real and imagined, even more so. There are few avenues for air societal grievances. The media and civil society are virtually dismantled. The Oromo opposition faces ever greater scrutiny.

It is time for Oromo political organizations, in and outside the country, to come together, put aside petty political differences and devise a sustainable strategy to end the recurrent killings and incarceration of Oromo students. We have seen the unity mantra many times before, particularly from diaspora-based Oromo organizations. But the recurrent killings of Oromo students and the continued suffering and displacement of Oromo farmers calls for a fundamental change. Meetings and diaspora solidarity rallies can only do so much; it is time for the Oromo to return to the drawing board and forge a unified front to challenge the Ethiopian regime by all means necessary. Diaspora activists and the Oromo media can amplify the voices of the protesters but must do so without fanning the situation with empty rhetoric or without appearing to cheerlead the protests given that the protesters have absolutely no protection or redress, judicial or otherwise. (e.g., Diaspora-based activists should refrain from any suggestion that the latest protests are a continuation of the much politicized Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa or that it’s a work of  the so-called Qeerroo).

Student protesters have long been the vanguard of Oromo rights in Ethiopia. But the greater Oromo public must now stand in solidarity with these students. Every so often, the government writes off genuine grievances as demands of young students misled by diaspora-based anti-development forces. The public’s greater involvement would break this narrative and any suggestion that the students opposition to the Addis Ababa master plan and other development projects is a work of few anti-peace provocateurs that can simply be silenced by use of force. This is why the students should take time and coordinate their resistance by establishing communication channels across multiple college campuses and high schools. There are clear and marked improvements over similar protests in the years past, but greater coordination is largely absent.

Where is the OFC?

Today's protesters are armed with social media and better positioned to coordinate their efforts. In theory, the local Oromo opposition, which espouses a nonviolent resistance, can play a critical role in linking and organizing the student movements. However, the Oromo opposition faces severe restrictions to even hold public rallies. Still, that can no longer be an excuse. A movement organized around civil disobedience should not wait for permission from a repressive state. All it needs is broad-based public support for its goals and effective communication skills and tools.

The main Oromo opposition, the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) on Wednesday has threatened to organize a nationwide strike. It should act on those threats by calling and leading a national day of rage. It's a fool's errand to expect the Ethiopian regime to respond differently than it did in the years past. Sacrifices, including the loss of life, must be part of that calculus as the OFC leader, Bekele Gerba, indicated earlier this year. Oromo students are already paying heavy prices. A little more coordination and a broad-based public participation in the protests could radically alter the status quo.

This year’s protests come at a crucial point. Ethiopia is struggling to minimize the effect of an El Nino-induced drought that is undermining the government’s “miraculous” economic development narrative. The protests pose yet another challenge to the outward image of the EPRDF government. That’s all the more reason why authorities may, in fact, use even more disproportionate force to quell the protests.

Haramaya University

Free Oromiya

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Oromo TV: Solidarity Messages on the 15th Anniversary.

ODUU Mormiin Maaster Pilanii Finfinnee cimee itti fufaa jira.

Mormiin Maaster Pilanii Finfinnee cimee itti 

fufaa jira. 

 

OMN:Oduu Sadaasa 30,2015 Maastar pilaanii Finfinnee ilaalchisee mormiin barattoota Oromoo gadinaalee Oromiyaa hedduu keessatti itti fufee akka jiru himame.

Godina Harargee bahaa yuniversiitii Haramayaa keessatti mormii geggeeffameen, barattootaa fi poolisoota Federaalaa irra miidhaan dhaqabuu isaa himamaa jira.

Haaluma wal fakkaatuun mormiin kun itti fufuun godina Wallagga lixaa aanaa Laaloo Assaabii, Gimbii fi Ayiratti itti fufee akka jiru jiraattonni dubbatan.
Dhimma maastar pilaanii Finfinnee irratti, mormiin barattootaa torbaan lamaan darban godina Sahwaa lixaa aanaa Daandii magaalaa Gincii keessatti eegalamee ture, wayta ammaa kana babbaldhachuun, godinaalee gara garaa keessatti itti fufee jira.

Mormii jalqabame kana dhaasbisuuf jecha, humnootiin tikaa barattootaa fi jiraattota irratti tarkaanfii gara jabeennaa fudhataa jiraniin, namoonni hedduun kan miidhaman yoo ta’u, kan ajjeefamanis jiraachuun himamaa jira.

Haaluma kanaan Godina Harargee bahaa yuniversiitii Haramaayaa keessatti mastar pilaanii Finfinnee irratti mormii ka’een, barattoonni Oromoo hedduun, poolisoota Federaalaatiin reebichi hamaan kan isaani irratti raawwatame ta’uu barattoonni dubbataa jiran.

Bifuma wal fakkaatuun, godina Wallagga lixaa aanaa Laaloo Assaabii fi, aanaa Ayiraatti hiriirri mormii cimaani itti fufee jira.

Aanaa Laaloo Assaabii mana barumsa sadarkaa lammaffaa Wanjootti guyyaa hardhaa barattoonni hiriira bahuu isaanii jiraataan magaalattii tokko OMN tti himan.

Namni kun akka jedhanitti, hiriira san irratti, humnootiin darbatamaa jedhaman, dhukaasa irratti bananii, hiriira san bittiinneessuun barattoota hedduu hidhaniiru.

Manni barumsaa guutumatti cufamee jira. Lammiilee nagaa irratti wayta meeshaa dhukaasan argamaniiru jedhan.
Humnootiin darbatamaa jedhaman kun gara laafinna tokko malee barattoota nagaa irratti reebicha hamaa geggeessaa jiru.
Manni barumsaallee akkuma cufametti jiraachuullee namni kun dubbatanii jiru.

Gaafileen barattoonni dhiheessaa jiran kun, maqaa maastar Pilaanii Finfinnee jedhuun, ummanni Oromoo lafaa fi qabeenya isaa irraa buqqifamuu hin qaban kan jedhu yoo ta’u, garuu mootummaan deebii kennuu dhiisee rasaasa barattootarratti roobsaa jira.

Aanama kana keessatti, kanaan dura mormiin wal fakkaataan geggeeffamee akka ture kan nuuf himan namni kun, ammas bifa adda ta’een geggeeffamee jira.

Humnootiin tikaa mootummaa mormii kana dhaamsuuf jecha barattoota hedduu qabanii hidhuudhaaf barbaadaa akka jiranis dubbatan.

Yeroodhaaf barattoonni qabamanii hidhaman, barataa Boonaa Mulaatuu,  Maartaa Taammiruu,  fi Ayyaantuu Baculaa yoo ta’an, barattoonni kun barattoota kutaa 6ffaa, 8ffaa, fi 9ffaa ta’u isaanii mirkanaahee jira.

Kana males jiraattota keessaa obbo Mulaatuu Olqabaa immo reebichi cimaan kan isaan irratti raawwatame ta’uullee jiraattonni dubbataa jiran.

Kun kanaan osoo jiru, aanaa Gimbii manneen barumsaa Sadarkaa 2ffaa fi 1ffaa Burqaa Oonjoo fi Laaloo Oonjoo keessatti, barattoonni Oromoo gochaa maastar pilaanii Finfinnee irratti mormii dhageesisuu isaanii himame.
Humnotiin tikaa mormii kana fashalsuuf jecha, tarkaanfiilee reebichaa barattootaa fi jiraattota aanichaa irratti reebicha hamaa raawwatuu isaanillee jiraattonni himanii jiru.

Reebicha geggeeffame kanaan namoonni hagi tokko akka maleetti kan miidhaman yoo ta’u, namoonni hedduunis hidhamuu isaanii himamaa jira.
Akka jiraattonni himanitti, barattoonni Oromoo hiriira dhageesisan kanaan, wayta humnootiin tikaa reebicha irratti raawwataa turanitti jalaa dheessanii manneen jiraatotaatti dhokatanii kan turan yoo ta’u, humnootiin tikaa mana mana irraa deemuun, barattoota kana funaananii hidhaa jiru.

Usmaan Ukkumeetu gabaase.