#OromoProtests

Endurance test for Ethiopia's Olympic protester Feyisa Lilesa

By Emmanuel Igunza & Piers EdwardsBBC Africa

• 2 hours ago
 
• From the sectionAfrica

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionThe "x" sign is used as a symbol of protest in Ethiopia

When Ethiopian marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa crossed the line to take a silver medal in Rio, it should have been the defining moment of his career.

His previous best moment had come when winning bronze at the 2011 World Athletics Championships in South Korea.

In Brazil on Sunday, he became the first Ethiopian to finish in the top two of a men's Olympics marathon since 2000.

But the greatest sporting achievement of his life will forever be overshadowed by the political protest he made just yards before the finish line, and which Mr Feyisa carried on into his post-race celebrations and press conference.

Given that Rule 50 of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bans political statements of any kind, there was the possibility that the 26-year-old would lose his medal.

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionFeyisa Lilesa's family is still in Ethiopia

Fortunately for Mr Feyisa, the IOC has decided to give him only a slap on the wrist.

"We spoke to the athlete and reminded him of the Olympic Charter," its media office said in an email to the BBC.

When he raised his hands in an x-shaped fashion over his head, he was showing solidarity with the Oromo people, who have suffered a crackdown at the hands of the Ethiopian government.

Rights group Amnesty International says that 67 people died when "security forces fired live bullets at peaceful protesters" in different towns and cities in the Oromo region earlier this month.

The government blamed "foreign enemies and social media activists" for the unrest, saying protesters destroyed property and were responsible for the deaths of innocent people.

Mr Feyisa was born in Ambo in Oromia, the largest region in Ethiopia, and a flashpoint for protests for the last 26 months.

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Iftu Mulisa, Mr Feyisa's wife:

Image copyrightREUTERS

"I was very scared at the time but I wasn't surprised because I know him... he had a lot of anger inside."

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The town is some 125km (80 miles) west of the capital, Addis Ababa, where his wife and two children are currently located, prompting Mr Feyisa to reveal fears for their safety.

Speaking several days after the marathon protest, his wife, Iftu Mulisa, admitted she was now concerned for her family's security.

"I was very scared at the time but I wasn't surprised because I know him," she told the Reuters news agency.

"He was burning inside when he saw on social media all these dead bodies; people being beaten and people being arrested. So I was not surprised because I know he had a lot of anger inside."

'On the run'

Mr Feyisa has also expressed fears for his own life.

"If I go back to Ethiopia, maybe they will kill me, or put me in prison," the athlete said, during a news conference in which he discussed the significance of his very public protest just hours earlier.

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More on Ethiopia's unrest:

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionMany Oromo people say they are economically and politically marginalised

• What is behind Ethiopia's wave of protest?
• The town from where Fesiya comes
• What does unrest mean for Ethiopian unity?
• Why Ethiopia is making a historic ‘master plan’ U-turn

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Despite the government saying the runner would be welcomed home from Rio de Janeiro as a hero, he was conspicuous by his absence when the Ethiopian Airlines flight landed in Addis Ababa with Almaz Ayana, Tirunesh Dibaba and the country's other medallists on Tuesday night.

His mother, Biritu Fulasa, told Reuters she did not want him to come home.

"Do you really believe what the government is saying?

"I was crying too much the other day but now I am feeling better. I want him to stay there. I wish him well," she said.

Image captionFeyisa Lilesa's mother has warned him not to come home

Now the athlete is effectively on the run - holed up in Rio as a team of lawyers help out with his asylum bid.

Legal fees are notoriously expensive but Mr Feyisa can be soothed by knowing that he has at least $125,000 (£95,000) to call upon after a funding page raised in his honour raised that amount in its first two days (the original target was just $10,000).

His relatives have suggested that the runner will seek political asylum in the US, but whichever country he ends up in may well find they have a top-level marathoner competing for them in the years to come.

It is a discipline which athletes often turn to towards the end of their careers as they do not have to be young to excel in it, unlike some other events.

This year's Olympic champion, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, is 31 while his compatriot Dennis Kimetto was 30 when he set the world record in Berlin two years ago.

Feyisa first burst into the limelight when winning the 2009 Dublin Marathon on his race debut, aged just 19.

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionThe Oromo make up Ethiopia's largest ethnic group

A year later, he became the youngest man to run a marathon in under two hours and six minutes as he flew round Rotterdam.

At just 26, he already has a wealth of experience behind him - with 17 international marathons under his belt, including a second place in the prestigious Chicago Marathon in 2012 and a triumph in Tokyo earlier this year which qualified him for the Olympics.

Although he came nowhere near it in Brazil, Feyisa's personal best of 2:04:52 is better than the world record held by Kenya's Paul Tergat between 2003 and 2007.

He certainly has endurance abilities which will come in handy as he embarks on a marathon of a very different nature - finding a new home for himself and his family.

#OromoProtests

#OromoProtests

#OromoProtests

                                 Oromiyaa
Oromiyaa, Lafa jiituu Bona birraa - Malkaan hedduu lageenirra.
Gaaffii seenaa situ furaa - Qe`ee Oromoo Oromummaa
Madda keenya kan ganama.
Ijoolleenkee kan beekanii -  Biyyaa horii biyya loonii.
Ganda quufaa qe`ee nyaata - Gabroomuun kee maaliif laataa?
Qe`e abbaa ababayyuu - Hundee Oromoo akaakayyuu.
Siinan jedhaa Oromiyaa - Nan dhageessu abbaa biyyaa.
Maaltu taanaan jala seente - Alagaadhaan ukkaamamtee
 Bara dheeraaf sassaamamtee -  Hiree dhabdee tuffatamte.
Beekaa dhabdee Manguddoota - Kan siif cichu qabsa`ota?
Dargaggoomoo goota dhabde - Gadadamtuun maaf siqabdee?.
Onneetu badee kan dargaggoo - Nuti hintaanuu warra aangoo.
Dargaggootafi shammarranisoo - Hedduu qabda nama qabsoo.
Jaarsaaf jaartii heedduu baattee -  Qabeenyaa kee ormaaf laatte.
Eenyuun dhiistee kam komattaa - Qaanyii hin beeknee Ufii baatta.
Buddeen qaanyii kan nyaatani - Saalfii borii hin beekani.
Hortee galtuu nafxanyootaa - Nafxii baatee sirra kaata.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaan ilmaankee kana laalaa - Sisaamuyyuu wajjin yaalaa
Qaanyii hin beeku hin saalfanne - gabroomuukeef karaa bane
Kaanis jira kan siif yaadu - Afaan qofaan kan siif gaddu
Hidhii xuuxee yaadaan waamaa - Ni abbala qabsaa`ummaa
Garuu, murannoodhaan hin birmatu - Qabsoof jedhee hin buxxunnatu
Yaada qofaan ofoggolaa - Oldeebi`ee oduu qala
Gadi ba`ee iddoofnolmu - Qabsoo dirree Oolmaa hin godhu
Rakkoo qabsoo du`a se`a - Sodaa  kanaan Ofis fe`a
Shakkii kanaan diina  baata - Qabeenyasaas ormaaf laata.
Diidaa dhufee itti foggalee - Obbolaasaa qabee qalee
shamarransaa fuudhee gale.
Gadaa gatee maqaa durii - Nifaallate maqaa Xurii
Dargaggummaan maal fakkaataa, jufunfuluun maaliif laataa?
meeqa nuti darggaggootaa, gola keessa maalfaa gootaa
Yeroon ammaa kan ciisanii ol-galani kan ta`ani?
diinqa teenye maalfaa goona - darggaggummaan silaa yoona
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeroo ummanni nutti iyyatu - Harka afarsee nu yaammatu
Numa ture kan birmatu.
Maaloo ka`aa  yaa dardaraa - Saalfii hin baannu kan galgalaa.
Faachi faayaan mana dhufe -  nafxiin haaraa nutti dhufe
Honnee qabna kan sabummaa - Maaloo banne Oromummaa
Erga durii nuttu marsu -  Ammas kunoo nutti Hafarsu
Nigowwamnaa bara baraan, ni bitamnaa qadandalaan
Maal abdanne maaliif  tenya - Ya dargaggoo kun jireenya?
Nutti tolaa gola ta`uun - Diinqa harmee keessa ya`uun.
Sirba dhaqnee waweellisuun - Faacha hin qabnee Uftaasisuun
Aadaan keenya goota faarsaa - Mee kakasaa warri jaarsaa
Maaloo ka`aa wawawaannaa - Diina Ufirraa lololanna
Dirqamichas Ufbaafannaa - Yoosu argannaa bilisoomnaa
Kanafeetee Oromiyaan - Kanaaf tola dargaggummaan
Abbaa boree biyya baasa- Bilisumma babadhaasa
Horatteetti jagna namaa - kan dhalootaa kan ganamaa
Siif qabsa`a wareegama - Gammachuunsaa dhufa amma
Siif qabsa`a wareegama - Gammachuunsaa dhufa amma

#OromoProtests

Litsen what familiy of Rio Olompi winner saying

የሌሊሳ ቤተሰቦች እንደሱ ጀግኖች ናቸው። እውነቱን ለውጭ ሚዲያዎች ተናግረዋል :: ወላጅ እናቱ ወደ ሀገር ባለመመለሱ ጭንቀታቸው እንደቀነሰ በግልፅ ተናግረዋል። መንግስት ያለውን ያምናሉ ወይ ተብለው ሲጠየቁ እኔ አላምንም እንኳን እዛው ቀረ ሲሉ ተናግረዋል ባለቤቱ ሌሊሳ ይህን ማድረጉ እንዳልገረማት መንግስት በሚወስደው ርምጃ በጣም ያዝን እንደነበር ገልፃለች ::

Keeping It Real With Adeola - Eps 227 (Military Brutality In Nigeria; Et...

#OromoProtests

Oromo activist, Tesfahun Chemeda, dies in prison while serving life sentence

3 years ago

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by Mohammed A

Written by Mohammed A

(OPride) – Engineer Tesfahun Chemeda, a fierce Oromo rights advocate and former UNHCR recognized refugee, died yesterday of an undisclosed cause at Kaliti prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. Chemeda, 37, was serving a life sentence under concocted charges of plotting to overthrow the government.

Chemeda was nabbed by Kenyan anti-terrorism police along with close friend Mesfin Abebe in 2007 from Nairobi, where they lived as refugees since 2005. They were later deported back to Ethiopia, according to Oromia Support Group (OSG), a UK-based human rights organization.

“The two men were picked up in a restaurant by Kenyan anti-terrorist police on 27 April 2007 and taken to Kamukunji police station, where they were held overnight before being transferred to Giriri police station,” OSG wrote in a 2010 press release.

The duo were subsequently visited by UNHCR officials and members of the FBI – stationed in Kenya as part of the U.S.-led joint counter-terrorism task force for the Horn of Africa – who assured them that “they would not be deported,” according to OSG reports and activists who were advocating for their release at the time.

U.S.-led anti-terror task force in the Horn of Africa – See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/us-forces-train-kenyan-navy-enhance-counter-terror-abilities#sthash.iR32lvPm.dpuf

“I had an opportunity to meet with Kenyan anti-terrorism head, inspector Francis Wanjiru, and an FBI agent,” wrote Raajii Gudeta, 31, in an email to OPride from Edmonton, Canada where he now lives. “Both the FBI and the Kenyan official told me that they [Chemeda and Abebe] were not terrorists. We don’t have any business with them but the Ethiopian government needs them badly.”

On May 9, 2007, during a court hearing, Kenyan officials told a local judge that the two “had already been sent back to Ethiopia to face terrorism charges,” providing a doctored Laissez Passer document.  This paper from the Ethiopian embassy, “dated 1 May, had obviously been backdated as that day was a public holiday,” according to OSG.

Efforts by members of the Oromo community in Kenya, the Kenyan Human Rights Commission and the UNHCR regional office to prevent their refoulement were to no avail, according to Sori Fengor, 43, of Minnesota, who lived with Chemeda in Nairobi. Chemeda and Abebe were held incommunicado until December 2008 when they were formally charged in Ethiopian court.

“The last time I saw Chemeda was on May 10, 2007 at the Muthaiga police station,” wrote Gudeta, who worked as a Community Development Officer for the International Rescue Committee at that time. “After I dropped off food and water for them, Tesfahun saw me crying and grabbed a copy of the Daily Nation newspaper and slapped me saying, ‘we will be handed over to the Woyane [Ethiopian] regime, forget about us and focus on organizing the Oromo youth so that the Oromo struggle can reach its final destination.’”

Chemeda was accused of being an activist with the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an organization formed in 1973 to fight for the self-determination of the Oromo people in Ethiopia. A panel of three judges at Ethiopia’s federal court latersentenced Chemeda to life in prison without parole in April 2010.

Fifteen other Oromo co-defendants received stiff prison terms while Abebe was sentenced to death. The Oromo are Ethiopia’s single largest ethnic group, comprising more than 40 percent of the country’s population. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Oromos are political prisoners in Ethiopia.

Chemeda was born in 1976 in Harbu village, Guduru district, eastern Wallaga in the Oromia region, Ethiopia. He attended Fincha’aa and Shambu High Schools before joining Addis Ababa University’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1997. Following his graduation in 2001, Chemeda – now a civil engineer – worked on various rural road maintenance projects for theOromia Roads Authority.

Chemeda left his job and sought asylum in Kenya sometime in early 2005 following repeated harassment and intimidation at the hands of Ethiopian security forces and road transport administration officials, his acquaintances said.

Early Saturday afternoon when the news of Chemeda’s death broke on social media, Oromo activists changed their profile pictures to his photo and wrote to express their grief and condolences. Many remembered Chemeda as a humble man, a soft-spoken rational thinker, and a strategic leader.

Other acquaintances reached by OPride remembered Chemeda for his relentless advocacy and commitment to the Oromo people’s freedom. Many Oromo refugees in Kenya knew him between 2005 and 2007 through his role in the now defunct East African Oromo Students’ Association and his efforts to organize the Oromo refugees in Kenya.

Chemeda’s involvement in Oromo student activism dates back to early 2000. “I went to Menelik Hospital with Chemeda to collect the corpse of Simee Tarafa, an Oromo student who was mysteriously killed in 2001 while attending Mekelle University in Ethiopia’s Tigray region,” recalled Geresu Tufa.

“Before that I worked closely with Chemeda in a 12-member Oromo students committee set up to organize a nationwide campaign to extinguish a forest fire in Bale and Borana regions.”  Chemeda, who represted Oromo students from the technology department, was instrumental in signing up over 3000 volunteers and some 480 students that were dispatched to put out the forest fire, according to Tufa. The government’s failure to extinguish the forest fires and refusal to allow student volunteers to go to the sites of fire led to Oromia-wide protests by high school students in which scores were arrested, killed, and wounded.

Chemeda had been in solitary confinement at Kaliti prison for nearly two years after he was transferred there from Ziway, according to family sources. Early reports about the circumstances of his death are unclear.  Some say prison authorities are unofficially claiming that he committed suicide. Chemeda’s sister, the only visitor he had seen for years, was denied the body on Saturday pending “further medical examination,” according to Gudeta. She had seen him earlier this week and reported no changes in his attitude or demeanor.

Others suggest that Ethiopian officials murdered him because they could not break his spirit even after years of torture. The OLF in a press release on Sunday said Chemeda was subjected to years of severe torture which led to his eventual death. “The beating was so severe that the engineer repeatedly requested and needed medical treatment which he was of course denied and eventually succumbed to the torture impact yesterday Aug. 24, 2013,” the statement said.

It also called on the Kenyan government to observe intenational refugee protection standards and “desist from…handing over innocent Oromo victims who seek refuge” in that country to Ethiopian authorities.

In an open letter addressed to Mark Simmonds, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Africa), OSG Chairman Dr. Trevor Truman noted, “This is not the first time young Oromo men have been killed in detention. For example, Alemayehu Garba, partially paralysed with polio, was shot dead with 18 others in Kaliti prison in November 2005.”

Update: Chemeda’s body was released to his family from Menelik II hospital in Addis Ababa on Sunday Aug. 25, 2013. He will be buried at the place of his birth on Monday, according to family sources.

#OromoProtests

ጋዜጠኛ- አንድ ወርቅ ብቻ ነዉ ያመጣቹት፡፡ ምነዉ ወርቁ አነሰ?

የኢትዮጲያ አሎምፒክ ኮሚቴ- እና ምን ይጠበስ፤ የሄድነዉ ሪዮ እንጂ ሻኪሶ አይደለም፡፡ LOL

#OromoProtests

Feyisa Lilesa: Crossing the Line in Ethiopia

inShare3

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

By: 

Anuradha Mittal

As Feyisa Lilesa, the Ethiopian marathon runner, crossed the finish line on Sunday, winning silver for his country at the Rio Olympics, his hands were crossed high above his head. To some viewers, it might have been a symbol of triumph at the end of a long race. But to those following the political turmoil in Ethiopia, it was a heroic – and dangerous – political act, sending a message globally about the plight of his people.

Oromo protest in Oakland, December 2015. Credit: Oakland Institute.

For months, this crossed-arms symbol has been at the forefront of protests across Ethiopia, demonstrating peaceful resistance in a country that kills or jails anyone who dares criticize the government. Between November 2015 and January 2016, over 400 people – mostly students – were massacred by Ethiopian government forces while protesting a proposed "Master Plan" that would take away people's land to expand the boundaries of Addis Ababa.1 Earlier this month, peaceful protests were again met with state violence, with at least 97 killed, hundreds injured, and thousands detained.

This violence by the government is meant to silence dissidents and rule the country with an iron fist. But the government strategy has backfired as repression has ignited a national struggle for democracy and human rights.

With the Master Plan now on hold, this month's protests were directed at the government itself. Oromo leaders say that their protests are about fighting for rights. And there is so much to fight for. In the past two elections the ruling EPRDF party won 99 and then 100 percent of the seats, amid massive crackdowns on opposition party members. World Bank funding for basic services was diverted and used to displace and abuse indigenous communities whilepaving the way for land grabs in Ethiopia's Gambella region. Journalists, students, land rights defenders, religious leaders, and opposition party members have been routinely arrested and charged as terrorists under the country's draconian Anti-Terrorism Law. Human rights organizations have been decimated as a result of the country'sCharities and Societies Proclamation. Thousands have been arrested, detained, or disappeared for their vocal opposition to the government. Journalists have fled the country or are behind bars.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Regimes that commit massive social abuses are not sustainable. So it is no surprise that protests are spreading. The worst violence, between August 6-7, took place in the Amhara region in Ethiopia's northwest. These protests, like those in Oromo, are rooted in land disputes, but have shown solidarity with the Oromo in the larger fight for democratic reform and human rights. This solidarity between Ethiopia's two largest ethnic groups – who together total over 50 percent of the country's population – is significant, particularly given the centuries of tension and conflict between the two. The communities are putting past tensions aside, as reports emerge of protesters in the Amharan city of Bahir Dar carrying signs that read "Stop Killing Oromo People" and "Free Bekele Gerba."2

One might think that the international community – which provides the Ethiopian government with nearly US$4 billion in development aid annually – would take a stand on this abhorrent situation. And indeed, some have. United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein rightfully condemned the violence, urging Ethiopia to allow international observers into the Oromo and Amhara regions. The government authorities, unsurprisingly, immediately dismissed the request.

But Ethiopia's closest allies and donors – the World Bank and countries like the US and UK – are noticeably silent. A brief comment by the US Embassy in Addis Ababa in August 2016 said the Embassy was "deeply concerned" by the violence, and expressed condolences to those who suffered. The statement then pointed out that the demonstrations happened "without authorization" and suggested "constructive dialog" as the way forward for those seeking redress.

This response is absurd and inadequate. The Ethiopian government routinely cracks down on the universal freedom of assembly and arrests those who challenge or critique government. The list of charges against student protesters from March 2016 is one small example, with criminal charges including conducting a peaceful rally and voicing opposition of the Ethiopian government's Anti- Terrorism Proclamation, a law denounced by international lawyers and human rights experts. Asking protesters to obtain authorization for protests and engage in constructive dialogue with a repressive and violent government is at best naïve and shamefully ridiculous for anyone with an understanding of the current political situation in the country.

The US government has a moral obligation to take a stand and denounce state violence in Ethiopia given its prominent role in the country. In 2014, US development aid to Ethiopia totaled approximately US$665 million, making it the single largest country donor, and second largest donor overall, after the World Bank. Every year, the US gives Ethiopia around $800,000 in military financing. Allowing such outrageous human rights abuses, without condemnation is appalling. It signals that violent repression is permissible and that there won't be consequences.

With hundreds of lives lost already, and reports suggesting that Ethiopia could descend into civil war, we must ask: how much blood will be shed before the US will stand up for human rights in Ethiopia?

BBC Reports Ethiopia marathoner asylum