#AbiyMustGo#Ehiopia

AFRICATECH

AUGUST 20, 2020 / 4:54 PM / UPDATED 9 HOURS AGO

https://af.reuters.com/article/africaTech/idAFL8N2FM3QU?fbclid=IwAR3eWwdWdYeeID_gmjg6QlZzqwjbFqSWxsq4-dwWiXi4KTcRTfqJz6NmYzc

Ethiopia protest clashes kill at least nine, most by gunshot, doctors say

Dawit Endeshew

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Clashes between Ethiopian security forces and protesters demanding the release of an opposition politician and a media magnate have killed at least nine people in the Oromiya region surrounding the capital, health officials said on Thursday.

The unrest highlights growing divisions in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Oromo power base as powerful ethnic activists who were once allies increasingly challenge his government.

The protests started on Tuesday after a social media campaign for the release of prominent Oromo opposition leader Bekele Gerba and media mogul Jawar Mohammed, both arrested days after the killing an iconic Oromo singer Haacaaluu Hundeessaa.

Jawar was once a staunch supporter of Abiy now turned vocal critic, while Bekele is a leader of an opposition Oromo political party.

The singer’s death sparked protests in the capital Addis Ababa and spread to the surrounding Oromiya region, killing at least 178 people.

Harar region’s Hiwot Fana and Jegol hospitals admitted 32 people with gunshot wounds on Tuesday, most from Oromiya’s Aweday town, two doctors told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

Six of the wounded died and one was in critical condition at Hiwot Fana Hospital, a doctor at the hospital said.

“They were shot in their head, chest and abdomen,” the doctor from Hiwot Fana Hospital said.

In Ciro, 320 km (200 miles) east of Addis Ababa, 30 people were taken to hospital, 25 of them with bullet wounds, a health official told Reuters. Two died on Tuesday and a third on Wednesday.

Abiy’s office referred Reuters to the Oromiya regional government for comment.

Getachew Balcha, the Oromiya regional government spokesman, did not return calls or text messages seeking comment.

The state-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission called for an investigation.

“Authorities should ensure that the right to peaceful protest can be exercised, and law enforcement measures against anything beyond that do not exceed proportion,” spokesman Aaron Maasho said in a statement. (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Nick Macfie)

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

Concerned and Disturbed!

==================

What we are learning from Ethiopia is very concerning and disturbing. Jawar Mohammed, the political opposition leader rivaling the PM Abiy, the 2019 Nobel peace laureate, is seriously ill in jail. According to the reports, Jawar hasn’t been eating or drinking for the past few days. Reports also indicate that his body is swelling and some suspects that he is maybe poisoned. 

I have known Jawar since 2009 for almost 11 years. Our first face to face meeting was in 2011 in Minnesota on the wedding of my cousin. His wife, whom I had know since 2002, introduced him to me. I have closely worked with him, on the non partisan, non political and nonprofit projects on things that matter to my country and people, for 3 years between 2014 - 2017. 

This whole thing reminded of our telephone conversation one day, when out of concerns, I told Jawar to be careful and take care. I felt, even while in America and citizen of this great nation, there had been threats to his life by extensively stretched deadly arms of the Ethiopian government. Jawar had then evolved into a legitimate standard-bearer of the nation’s cause and an organization himself, to the extent his enemies would think killing him would also kill the national cause altogether.

In response, Jawar asked for my age and I told him I was then at early 40s. He replied, “Tekleab I wish I will live to see 40”. We joked and laughed about it, but now that things twisted the way it is, it worries me, especially, knowing what this government can capably do. 

Jawar is still few years short of 40 and the idea that what was said to be a joke could be a reality is haunting and daunting to me. If anything, I am beseeching the Ethiopian government to spare this bright middle-aged adult-man’s life to see at least the 40, he wished. I don’t even know what to ask? And what to say? at this point.

Jawar is a naturalized American citizen, and his son and wife still holding American citizenship. He renounced his American citizenship and lucrative job to help his country of birth, Ethiopia; with knowledge and experiences he acquired. He is alumni of Ivy League schools namely: Stanford university CA and Columbia University, NY.

____________

Amnesty International

European Union

U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa

British Embassy, Addis Ababa - UK in Ethiopia

African Union

Human Rights Watch

UN Human Rights Council

CNN

University of Minnesota Human Rights Center

By Tekleab Shibru

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

#Temam_Waritu 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jawar Mohammed, a human rights activist, a scholar (Stanford, Columbia) a father, a husband, a friend, and a prominent opposition political leader is in a critical condition in Ethiopian prison as we speak where he has been denied a medical treatment—a basic human right that is given even to animals. This is why Ethiopia is one of the lowest place on earth, a place where bright minds go to die. To everyone of you who have asked me why Ethiopia is one of the poorest and depressed countries on earth, despite never being colonized, there is your answer. They imprison and kill the bright ones while the idiots roam the streets. #FreeJawar #OromoProtests

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

The life of Oromo youth in Ethiopia! Wounded and Handcuffed to a hospital bed! 

The youth is subject to such kinds of cruelty. Ethiopia as State and as an ideology is this much violent to the oromo.

A brief description of this picture: a wounded youth protester is handcuffed to his bed in a hospital in Harar. 

Over a 100 youth protests (#OromoProtests) were  killed only today and yesterday alone by the military force of the Nobel Peace Laureate Ato Abiy Ahmed! 

This is the most traumatic week for many of us. 

“Iddoon kun mana hidhaa osoo hin taane, Hospital Harar jiru, Hiwot Fana hospital. 

Poolisiin haala kanaan joollee rasaasaan rukutamte kaatenaa itti hidhee bira taa'a.”

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtest#Ethiopia

Opposition politician Jawar Mohammed jailed last month by Abiy Ahmed Ali is critically ill and requires urgent medical attention but officials have denied him the right to see a doctor. Jawar's mother and sister who spoke to the media say he's unable to eat, speak or stand on his own and is showing symptoms of someone deliberately poisoned. His condition is further deteriorating and could prove to be fatal if left untreated. Other political prisoners such as Bekele Gerba, Abdi Regassa, Lidetu Ayalew and Hamza Borana have also been denied proper medical care in recent weeks.

These politicians were rounded up and put behind bars simply because they vehemently rejected the Prime Minister's illegal move to extend his term of office indefinitely beyond September 2020. Journalists critical of government, activists, and over 15,000 youths in the Oromia region have also been jailed inside concentration camps with schools also being used as makeshift prisons. Security forces are also on a killing spree to forcefully suppress peaceful protests demanding for more freedom and the release of political prisoners. In just two days (yesterday and today), early reports show that these forces have killed over 100 unarmed protesters in Oromia. Late last week, the police mercilessly killed no less than 15 young people in the Wolaita zone for peacefully demanding that their statehood aspirations be fulfilled.

The Nobel winning darling of the west has turned into an out and out dictator less than a year after receiving the award. His visions are archaic, his understanding deficient and his methods perilous. The world must take note that the Prime Minister's ill-advised attempt at emulating his tyrant ally Isaias Afwerki will serve no purpose but precipitate the disintegration of the country already on a cliff.

#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners

#FreeJawarMohammed

#UrgentMedicalCareforJawar

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U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa

British Embassy, Addis Ababa - UK in Ethiopia

United Nations Human Rights

Amnesty International

Amnesty International Africa

Amnesty International USA

Amnesty International UK

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Campaign

Human Rights Watch UK

BBC News Africa

African Union

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

Open letter to #international #organisations, #embassies, #media_houses, #United_Nation and #African_Union

 ============================ 

Subject: A call to international organisations, embassies, United Nations, African Union to intervine in an ongoing major political crisis in Ethiopia to help stop mass killings and arbitrary aarrests and detentions by Noble laureate Abiy Ahmed. 

============================ 

Abiy Ahmed who came to power two years ago through Oromo protests who promised to bring change and democracy to Ethiopia turned into a dictator who kills innocent people just for exercising their freedom of expression. Since he took power, Abiy Ahmed has been eliminating his opponents. Using his military and intelligence skills, many think he has orchestrated the killings of influential people who he thinks are contenders to his power.

 The following list of people assassinated or killed under his leadership. 

1) Seare Mekonnen - Cheif of staff of the Defence Forces of Ethiopia - June 2019 

2) Amhara Regional State President – late Dr.Ambachew Mekonnen and also Security chief of Amhara region and more than 20 people of the regional state’s staffs - June 2019 

3) Ethiopia Grand Renaissance Dam project manager - Eng. Simegnew Bekele - July 2018 

4) Dangote Cement PLC- Ethiopia Country Manager – Mr. Deep Kamara - assassinated in May 2018. 

5) Jawar Mohammed – an assassination attempt made but Oromo youth have saved him 

6) Hachallu Hundeessaa- influential Oromo superstar singer and help him come to power two years ago and who was very critic of Abiy Ahmed leadership assassinated few days after giving an interview, which many believe that his assassination is orchestrated by Noble laureate Abiy Ahmed. Following the assassination of Hachalu, the country turned into major crisis where more than 374 civilians have been killed and more than 9000 have been jailed by Abiy Ahmed’s Government security forces. The above list is some of the high profile killings that took place under the leadership of Abiy’s government. Most people suspect and believe that Abiy’s government organised and ordered the killing of all the above people and made a cover-up story as if it was inter-ethnic and religious violence to mislead the local and international community. Many international human rights organisations have reported in details the ongoing mass killing and arbitrary mass arrest by the government on thousands of civils every day across the country. 

Abiy Ahmed didn't stop there. He jailed the prominent politician Jawar Mohammed who has more than 2 million followers on Facebook and who is his contender to become the next prime minister of Ethiopia. Abiy Ahmed also has shut down the largest media house, the Oromia Media Network. He also has put his former close friend and defence minister Lamma Megersa under house arrest, the person who helped him to become prime minister. 

The noble laureate has turned into dictator and warmonger, leading the country into civil war. Instead of calming the situation, he is escalating the conditions every day. He is doing mass arrests across Oromia. Nearly more than 120,000 estimated (exact numbers isn't know) people have been arrested and some of them have been exposed to COVID-19 and he is using this virus as a weapon of war. Currently, most schools and universities across the Oromia region have been turned into prisons and centration centers. 

Just only today more than 45 innocent people have killed by order of Abiy’s security forces. What is goingon in the country is a major political crisis that needs the attention of international community. He is committing genocide and international war crime against civils by conducting mass extrajudicial killings and also exposing people to COVID-19. 

Currently, a nationwide protest mainly involving road blockades underway in Oromia to request: 

1) immediate release of all Oromo politicians (more than 120,000 estimated people in prisons) including influential political figures like Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Gerba, Abdi Regassa, Lami Benya, etc. 

2) stop the mass arrests and killings in Oromia and across Ethiopia. 

3) immediate resign of the PM and start a national dialogue to form a transitional government. We call upon the international organisations, embassies, United Nations, African Union to intervine and put a maximum pressure to release all politicians and also request the government to start a national dialogue to form a transitional government. We also call upon international organisations to urgently take all necessary actions to stop any financial and diplomatic support from Abiy Ahmed’s government who is leading the country into a major political crisis and civil war. 

Cc

 ============================ 

#African Union 

#UnitedNation #European_Union_Commission #USA_Embassy_Addis_Ababa #US_state_Department #UK_Embassy_Addis_Ababa 

#Germany_Embassy 

#China_Embassy 

#Russia_Embassy 

#Canada_Embassy 

#Australia_Embassy 

#Noble_Prize_Committee 

#CNN_Aljazeera 

#TRT 

#World_Bank 

#IMF

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

በኦሮሚያ ክልል መንግስት በሠላማዊ ዜጎች ላይ የወሰደውን ጭፍጨፋ በጽኑ እናወግዛለን። በ12/12/12 በአንዳንድ በኦሮሚያ አከባቢዎች በሠላማዊ መንገድ በመንግስት ላይ ተቃውሞ በሚያሰሙ ዜጎች ላይ የተወሰደው ግድያ የመንግስትን አሸባር ተግባር የሚያሳይና በምንም መለኪያ ተቀባይነት የለለው ከመሆኑም በላይ በሰው ልጆች ላይ የተፈጸም ከባድ ወንጀልና በህግም የሚያስጠይቅ ተግባር ነው።

በሀይል ለጊዜውም ቢሆን ተቃውሞውን ልታቆመው ትችል ይሆናል እንጅ ሰላምን ማስፈን አትችልም። አሁንም ደጋግመን እንጠይቃለን። መንግስት በሰከነ አካሄድ በመነጋገርና በሀሳብ በላይነት የሚያምን ከሆነ በፖለቲካዊ ደባ የታሰሩ የፖለቲካ እስረኞችን በመፍታት ገምቢ ውይይት በማድረግ ሀገሪቷን ከቀውስ እንድታደጋት ጥሪያችንን እናቀርባለን።

We condemn in  the strongest possible terms the ongoing gruesome violence against civilians in Oromia. Dozens of civilians were reportedly massacred by government security forces on 12/12/12 (18 August 2020) in Oromia.  No amount of violence can stop a nation demanding its natural and constitutional right to self rule on its own land. The government is committing crimes against humanity in Oromia and it will be held accountable.

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

As horrific reports of killings of several dozen #OromoProtests continue to emerge, I can’t help it except wondering if Ato Abiy Ahmed is simply implementing one of the infamous quotes of Joseph Stalin: “Death is the solution to all problems. No man, no problem.”

If Abiy is thinking that mass killings and mass incarceration can make the protests go away, he is an absolutely ignorant type of dictator because the protests demands remain open. 

IMMEDIATELY RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS WITHOUT ANY PRECONDITIONS! 

RETURN YOUR MILITARY BRIGADES TO THE BARRACKS!

HOLD GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE!

LET THE PEOPLE GOVERN THEMSELVES THROUGH THEIR OWN ELECTED GOVERNMENT!

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

Waamicha Qeerroo #Harargee irraa ilmaan Oromoo hundaaf. 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Nuti Qeerroon Harargee qaroowwan keenya kan sirrni naafxanyaa hidhee mana hidhaa keessatti yaalallee akka hin arganne gochaa jiruuf birmachuun hardha guyyaa lammataatif mormii itti fufuun wareegama qaqqaalii itti kaffalaa jirra. Waraanni mootummaa abbaa irree sirna nafxanyaa rasaasan nurratti roobsudhaan lubbuu hedduu nurraa wareegee jira.

Guyyoota itti aananis baadiyyaa fi magaalaa hunda keessatti mormiin cimaan itti fufa. Wareegamni bilisummaaf goonus itti fufa.

Yeroo nuti Oromoo fi Oromiyaaf wareega kaffalaa jirrutti Oromoo kutaa biroo keessattuu Giddu galeessi Shawaan caldhisuun sirrii miti. Jawaar,Baqqalaan fa'a kan hidhamanii mana hidhaa keessatti dhumaa jiraniif Oromoo fi Oromiyaa hundaafi. Diina teenyee walirratti laalun akka kophaa kophatti nu cabsu godha. Waraanni naafxanyaa Harargee fi Arsii irratti duguuggaa sanyii raawwachaa jira. Abbaa warraa fi haadha warraa walirratti ajjeesaa jira. Yaa Oromoo kutaa biroo jirtan lubbuuf sodaattan moo maalif teenyee hanga tokko tokkoon nu fixanitti eegna?

Oromoonni 

#Shawaa

#Jimma

#Boorana

#Gujii

#Iluu

#Wallagga 

#Kaarrayyuu

#Walloo keessa jirtan kan mormii Qeerron labse laaffistan guyyaa boruu irraa qabsoo cimaa gochuun ilmaan Oromoo Harargee fi Arsii irraa dhumaa jiraniif akka birmattan waamicha isiniif goona. Hardha akkuma gaafa Minilik yoo teenyee Oromoon kutaa tokkoo dhumu kutaan biroo yoo ilaale tokko tokkoon cabuuf deemna.

Qeerroon Harargee hanga dhumaatti wareegama barbaachisaa bilisummaaf kaffaluun qabsoo eegalle jabeessinee itti fufna.

Qeerron Oromoo

Sulultaa

Sabbataa

Bishooftuu

Duukam

Burraayyuu Lagaxaafoo fi kan naannawa Finfinnee jirtan hundi daandii Finfinnee geessu hunda cufaa qabsoo itti finiinsaa.

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

Breaking: 

#OromoProtests leaders in Oromia announced that Addis Ababa will be cut off from the rest of the World as of tomorrow. The entire highways in Oromia will be closed. All highways connecting Addis Ababa with all regions of Ethiopia, and all highways passing through Oromia and  connecting Addis Ababa with Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, and Eritrea will be closed. There wil be no supplies reaching the central  market in Addis Ababa, Merkato,  from all parts of Ethiopia.  Oromo protests leaders did not express  intention as of now to disrupt the  water and electric system to the racist regime's headquarters.

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopia

Dehumanisation and demonisation are the ideological backbones of the Imperial Ethiopian state and it is coming back with a vengeance, as we speak, aided and abetted by the state. 

I have never witnessed a moment in my adult life when people of significant influence over government policy, including close advisors to the PM, openly and casually hurl dehumanizing epithets at the Oromo and others. Supremacist bigots who use the universal category that is “Ethiopia” as a mask to impose their particular language, culture and ways of life on an extremely diverse society, seizing this political moment to ensure a return to that inglorious past. The demonization and humiliation of the Oromo and other groups have reached its climax during the recent bout of violence in Oromia. 

Supremacist forces used the recent violence (horizontally orchestrated to score political points), to spew hate and contempt for the Oromo, describing an entire group as barbaric and inhuman, prone to violence, and a threat to their civilisation. Hate was gushing out on social media like sewage  While the significant majority of those who died are Oromo (68%), the supremacist and privileged elites that dominate the cosmopolitan centres of the Empire, manufactured a false narrative of ethnic cleansing – a useful peg on which to hang the imperial desire to vilify and denigrate those who reject their imperial fantasies. For them, the only lives that are grieve-able, those that are worth mourning and remembering, both in public and private, are those who belong to their groups. 

After a half-century of bitter struggle and unremitting toil, the Oromo and the subjugated nations and nationalities of the South are, once again, facing collective humiliation of this kind at the altar of Abiy Ahmed’s narratives and policies. The Oromo, the single largest ethnic group making up well over a third of Ethiopia’s 110 million people, have to contend with this reality, once again. For the Ethiopian state, the Oromo is not just the uncivilised and the savage, it is the barbaric, because it is incapable of accepting the terms of its inclusion, and is therefore always a threat, that must be controlled, policed, and dominated. 

We find ourselves at a moment when a Prime Minister ushered to power by a primarily Oromo struggle is now offering prominent Oromos as a sacrifice to the demands of the supremacists. Jawar Mohammed and Bekele are not in jail because they committed a crime. They are in jail because the supremacists demanded it and made it a condition of their support for the PM. We live at a time when Jawar Mohammed, and Bekele Gerba– individuals who played a decisive role in bringing Abiy to power – are languishing in jail, while the likes of Al Mariam, a hate-spewing Professor of Law and Political Science, serve as Abiy’s close advisors and confidante. Remnants of the Derg and folks with imperial ideological inclination dominate Ethiopia’s airwaves today, given platforms on state media to dehumanize Oromos and others, to deprive them of something that sustained them in the face of more than a century state-sponsored terrorism and institutionalized enforcement of assimilation – dignity. 

In order for Abiy’s or Al Mariam’s Ethiopia to come back, in order for the pursuit of one language and one culture to get a discursive footing, Oromos, the single largest group and the most vocal proponents of multinational federalism, must be dehumanized. Most cosmopolitan elites who view themselves (wrongly) as liberal humanists committed to a democratic country under the rule of law, where ethnic identity is not a determining factor, were members of a culture that normalised the humiliation and demonisation of the Oromo and others. Hard to engage them to undo that when these debates are entangled with broader questions of power, agency, privilege, and core beliefs etc. 

The whole point of the Oromo protests was to rehumanize the Oromo. It was a successful movement until it was hijacked. Would Oromo Protests 2.0 learn a lesson?

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests#Ethiopian

la lutte continuera !!!

struggle will continue

kampen vil fortsette

Der Kampf wird weitergehen

Qabsoon Oromoo itti fufa

ትግሉ ይቀጥላል!!!

#Oromoprotests #AbiyMustGo#Ethiopia

#AbiyMustGo#OromoProtests

OMN: Xiinxalaa Siyaasaa Jawar Mohammad  mana hidhaa  keessatti hedduu dhukkubsachaa jiraachuu maatiin isaa OMNtti himan.

Maatiin Jawaar mahaammad, Jawar  dubbusuu yeroo dhaqnetti, nu waliin dubbachuu hin dandeenye jedhan. 

Fuulli isaa dhidhiita'ee jira;  dhaabbatee nu haasofsiisuuf yaalus sababa ijaajjuu (dhaabbachuu) dadhabeef ofirra gad taa'ee jedhan maatiin Jawar.

Nutis  haala fayyaa jawartti  rifannee kan jedhan maatiin Jawar dhimma kana   qaamilee   mana hidhaa  eegan irraa adda baafachuufillee hin dandeenye jechuun   himan.

Jawaar heddu dadhabee jiraa, maaliif akka yeroo gabaabaa keessatti akka akkanatti dhukkubsate irratti shakkii qabnas jedhan maatiin Jawar.

Yaa Ummaata Oromoo,  Jawar yeroo akkanatti dararamu maaliif calliftan jechunis gaafatan.