Author Archives: advocacy4oromia

Democracy imperiled in Africa by ‘reformers’ turned dictators

Jun 12

Posted by

By Michael Rubin  | June 11, 2020

(Washington Examiner) — It is often forgotten that the worst dictators are often, early in their careers, lauded as reformers. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein was initially embraced as a “pragmatist” by diplomats and journalists alike. In 1991, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi the Nobel Peace Prize; only in subsequent decades would she expose herself as an apologist for ethnic cleansing. Of course, she is not the only figure to sully the preeminent peace prize’s legacy.

In Africa, the trend of reformists becoming dictators has been especially acute.

In April 1976, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger declared that the United States supported black rule in Rhodesia, today’s Zimbabwe. He was cautious about Soviet and Cuban inroads among certain liberation movements. President Jimmy Carter, however, had no such caution. He drew parallels between Robert Mugabe’s Marxist Zimbabwe African National Union and the civil rights fight in the U.S. South. Mugabe was, therefore, a reformer and a social justice warrior. Many officials likewise greeted Isaias Afwerki as a democrat and reformer when he became Eritrea’s first president upon its 1993 independence. Indeed, Bill Clinton congratulated his Eritrean counterpart on “Eritrea’s good start on the road to democracy and free markets” when, in 1995, they met in the Oval Office. Diplomats likewise once praised Rwandan leader Paul Kagame for his progressive attitudes toward women and liberal approach to the economy, but most human rights groups today criticize him for intolerance to dissent and human rights abuses.

Now, it appears, another Nobel laureate, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, may be heading down the same path. Perhaps buoyed by the praise he receives on his frequent post-Nobel trips abroad, Abiy on Wednesday announced that he would remain in office beyond the end of his term. For all of Abiy’s enthusiastic and, at times, naive peacemaking abroad, his tenure has exacerbated ethnic tensions at home. Reelection was no certainty, but his decision to seek to hold power extra-constitutionally could precipitate conflict in Africa’s second-most populous country.

Nobel Laureate Abiy Ahmed's Next Peacebuilding Project Should be at Home | United States Institute of Peace

Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed (right) greets Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki at a bilateral summit in Asmara, Eritrea, July 8, 2018. (Odaw/Wikimedia Commons)

Not to be outdone, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has also signaled he seeks to delay elections and remain in power. Farmajo’s tenure has already seen a backsliding of democracy and resurgence of the al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabab terror group. If the deeply unpopular Farmajo tries to hold onto power, he will return Somalia into full-blown civil war.

The U.S., in recent years, may have diminished presence on the world stage, but the cards the White House and State Department have still matter. From a realist standpoint, Abiy and Farmajo are both weaker than they themselves admit or realize. Abiy may seek to become the new Mugabe, and Farmajo the new Siad Barre, but their respective peoples will not stand for it. Unbridled ambition will lead to civil war in their respective states. This is in no one’s interest. Rather than promote silly photo-ops with regional presidential summits, like that which the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs plans for this coming week in Djibouti, the U.S. government should signal both to Abiy and Farmajo that they risk pariah status if they continue their undemocratic tendencies.

Central to President Trump’s international philosophy is the idea of restraint: The U.S. should not deploy its forces across the globe in pursuit of agendas that do not directly impact the security of the American homeland. In these troubled economic times, that makes sense, but it requires effective diplomacy now to avoid scenarios where state failure mandates far more expensive responses. The best way to promote regional security is to continue to cultivate democracy and provide a peaceful mechanism for ordinary citizens to hold ineffective leaders and would-be dictators to account.

Posted in News, Oromia

Leave a comment

Two Oromo elders- wife and husband were killed by the Abiy’s regime forces in western Oromia

Jun 8

Posted by

Ob Ceesisaa Gabbisaa and Ad Faantayee Daanyee, father and mother of Caalaa, a fighter of Oromo Liberation Army

(A4O, 8June 2020) Two Oromo parents- wife and husband were killed by the Abiy’s regime forces in western Oromia

Sources indicate that the Abiy’s regime security forces  have committed the worst crime against two Oromo elders- wife and husband in western Oromia.

The coward regime agents who could not fight Caalaa Ceesisaa, an Oromo liberation fighter, in battle killed his innocent parents, mother, Fantaayee Daanyee and father, Ceesisaa Gabbisaa, in Qeellam Wallggaa zone, Western Oromia.

Many agree that this is an outrageous violation of Geneva Convention.

Image may contain: 1 person, outdoor

Caalaa Ceesiaa, an Oromo liberation fighter

The act of killing the mother and the father of Caalaa, an Oromo liberation fighter, by the Abiy regime shows the extent it can go to commit genocide on the Oromo people.

“If this terrorist government is allowed to survive, it will totally exterminate the entire Oromo people,” says Dr Asafa Jalata oh his Facebook page

Abiyi is repeating the genocide Menelik and Gobana committed on the Oromo nation.

The Oromo nation – you have to make your choice: you must rise up and liberate yourself or you should accept your total annihilation and give your country to the neo-nafxanya regime.

Posted in Events, News, Oromia

Leave a comment

Ethiopian Government Violates Basic Human Rights Under The Guise Of COVID-19 State Of Emergency

Jun 7

Posted by

We, the undersigned Oromo Scholars and Professionals, have been carefully monitoring the COVID-19 situation and associated government activities to combat the spread of the disease in Ethiopia. We recognize fighting this pandemic is extremely challenging everywhere. Ethiopia declared a state of emergency on April 10, 2020, following the official acknowledgement of the spread of the disease to that country. While the initial reluctance of the government to start taking preventive actions (for example, allowing the country’s national carrier, the Ethiopian Airlines, maintain regular flights to global COVID 19 hotspots) was deplorable, we support every effort to contain the pandemic and prevent its potentially devastating impact. At the same time, we are also deeply concerned with the simultaneous war that the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been waging on the Oromo people along the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time when all efforts and resources ought to be devoted to controlling the spread of this disease, the Prime Minister is deploying the federal defense forces and the Oromia State special police force to several parts of Oromia under the pretext of flushing out “shifta” (bandits/insurgents). Until mid-March, 2020, areas where the government alleges the insurgent group is operating—all four zones in Wallaga, and Gujii and Borana zones—are closed off and placed under unofficial and illegal military Command Posts.

The Command Posts were later extended to other areas in Oromia, including Western Shawa zone. At a time when citizens are terrified by the potentially devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has intensified arbitrary arrests and extra judicial killings. Even after some detained individuals were released in mid-March 2020, there are still thousands of political prisoners throughout Oromia’s overcrowded jails. For example, pictures recently taken by concerned citizens and released on social media show that the notorious Jaatoo state prison in Nekemte city, Eastern Wallaga, is holding extremely large number of inmates, including many unjustly detained youth, teachers, mothers and civil servants suspected to be supporters of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and other opposition Oromo political parties. Under the cover of the COVID-19 State of Emergency, the Ethiopian Federal Government and the Regional State of Oromia are engaged in widespread arrests further bulging the already crowded prison population, an act that defeats the very purpose of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the government does not allow independent journalists to freely report on human rights violations and COVID-19 cases, it is difficult to collect and disseminate information to the public in a timely manner. For instance, until mid-March, the government severed all basic communication services, such as telephone and internet, in all four zones of Wallaga and in Gujii zone, condemning the citizens to information blackout and, under its cover, unleashing its brutal army to terrorize ordinary citizens and leaders and members/supporters of opposition political parties away from the eyes and ears of national and international communities. According to the latest report by the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA), “gross human rights violations, and government sponsored killings, forced disappearances, rapes, detentions, property destructions” are taking place daily in Oromia regional state both during and after the communication blackout (HRLHA, May 2, 2020). This report indicates at least the detention of 264, and death of 169 persons since January 2020. Many more have been imprisoned and/or killed since the release of the KRLHA report.

The Ethiopian regime has never provided a shred of evidence to establish these victims are indeed members of any illegal group or committed any crime. Most of these victims are ordinary citizens caught up in government’s hysterical political campaign of weakening opposition parties that are considered to be a threat to its stay in power. Members of legally registered opposition political parties were not spared from the indiscriminate acts of harassments and intimidations by government military and security apparatus. For example, on February 29, 2020, the regime’s security forces raided the homes of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) leaders and illegally arrested and detained five senior party officials and four supporters. While most were released after public humiliation and mistreatment for 24 hours, Mr. Abdi Regassa, a senior OLF official, still remains in detention (Amnesty International, March 3, 2020). On March 7, 2020, government police arrested two journalists, Dessu Dula and Waqo Nole. According to the statement by Committee to Protest Journalists released on March 18, 2010, these journalists also remain in jail. Earlier, Col, Gemechu Ayana, a high-ranking member of the OLF, who was arrested on January 17, 2019 spent almost a year in prison on bogus charges of terrorism and was released on December 24, 2019.

All these arrests, detentions, and intimidations are taking place under the watch of the Prime Minister, whose promises following his accession to power on the back of Oromo People’s bitter struggle for freedom and democracy some two years ago was hailed as the mark of the dawn of democracy in Ethiopia. However, that optimism was short lived and the prospect of political freedom and the rule of law in the country is squashed once again. During his early weeks and months in power, the Prime Minster had repeatedly condemned the gross violations of human rights perpetrated by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government, which he served as a high ranking official (e.g. as a security and military officer, a federal agency head, a minister, to name a few). He also confessed that the EPRDF government itself was a terrorist when it detained thousands of people on fake charges and went on to promise a thorough reform and transition to genuine democracy. Such pronouncements and promises, and the normalization of relations with the neighboring Eritrea quickly earned him credit from near and a far including the 2019 Noble Peace Prize. The Prime Minster continues to present himself to the outside world as a reformist, and his government as democratic. But the true color of Abiy Ahmed and his government has become crystal clear to millions of people, at least to thousands of innocent victims and families of the victims who were made to disappear, openly killed or remanded on trumped up charges and thus languishing in overcrowded prisons.

Nothing can be more disappointing than learning that a government that is supposed to protect the wellbeing of its citizens from emergencies such as COVID-19 is using it as a weapon to eliminate its political adversaries. The recently declared COVID-19 State of Emergency, for example, is being implemented illegally and without accountability. Article 93 of the Ethiopian constitution that allows the government to declare state of emergency also requires the House of Peoples’ Representatives (Parliament) to establish the State of Emergency Inquiry Board consisting of seven persons representing the house and legal experts. This inquiry body is supposed to have legal power to obtain identity of people detained under the terms of the state of emergency and announce their names and reasons for their detentions. The law also authorizes the investigation of any inhumane treatment and recommend corrective actions to the Prime Minister to ensure prosecution of violators. Ironically, the Prime Minister himself recently brushed aside concerns raised by opposition party leaders about gross human rights violations by his military in a public setting and justified that the alleged measures were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The fact of the matter, however, is that the vast majority of people detained or killed are members and supporters of opposition parties, and it is hard to believe that only opposition party members break the state of emergency.

At the time of this writing, it is not clear if the State of Emergency Inquiry Board has been created when the state of emergency was declared, and no announcement of the identities of people detained and the state of their wellbeing while in detention have been made. But we have credible information that hundreds of people have been rounded since the declaration of the state of emergency suffering in various detention centers. The declaration of a state of emergency without the creation of the constitutionally mandated inquiry body and the glairing absence of transparency in the implementation of the state of emergency is colossal violation of the law and the rights of citizens.

We end this piece by calling upon:

  1. The Ethiopian government to refrain from using the state of emergency as a disguise to harass, intimidate, imprison, and kill innocent Oromo people, and to unconditionally release all political prisoners.
  2. International community to use their political and financial leverage to pressure the Ethiopian government into respecting basic human rights of its citizens.
  3. The Oromo people to be cognizant of the fact that the struggle you sustained for over a century and the sacrifices you made along the way has been hijacked before it reached its final destination. You have no other choice but to rise up in unison, once again, and push it across the goal line.
  4. The Ethiopian people to understand that Oromo people’s struggle is not against any specific group but against the oppressive system that marginalizes some sectors of the Ethiopian population. As such, all peace-loving Ethiopians should support the Oromo people’s struggle for freedom, justice, and democracy.

Signatories (in alphabetical order)

Adugna Birhanu (Ph.D) Galaana Balcha (MD) Namara Garbaba (Ph.D)
Alemayehu Biru (Ph.D) Gizachew Tesso (Ph.D) Oli Bachie (Ph.D)
Alemayehu Kumsa (Ph.D Gobena Huluka Samuel Geleta (Ph.D)
Amanuel Gobena (Ph.D) Guluma Gemeda (Ph.D) Rundassa Eshete (Ph.D)
Asefa Jalata (Ph.D) Habtalem Kenea (Ph.D) Solomon Geleta (Ph.D)
Asfaw Beyene (Ph.D) Haile Hirpa (Ph.D) Teferi Margo (Ph.D)
Ayana Gobena (Ph.D) Hambisa Belina (Ph.D) Tekleab Shibru (Ph.D)
Bahiru Duguma (Ph.D) Ibrahim Elemo (Ph.D) Tesfaye Negeri (Ph.D)
Baro Deressa (MD) Iddoosaa Ejeta (Ph.D) Tesfaye Tesso (Ph.D)
Bedassa Tadesse (Ph.D) Ismael Abdullahi (Ph.D) Thomas Baisa (MD)
Begna Dugassa (Ph.D) Jamal Ebrahim (MD) Tolawak Beyene (MD)
Bekele Temesgen (Ph.D) Jemal Hebano (PharmD) Workineh Torben (Ph.D)
Benti Getahun (Ph.D) Jenberu Feyisa (Ph.D) Worku Burayu (Ph.D)
Berhanu Kedida (MD) Junaidi Ahmed (MD)
Bersisa Berri (Ph.D) Koste Abdissa (Ph.D)
Bichaka Fayissa (Ph.D) Mekbib Gebeyehu (Ph.D)
Daniel Ayana (Ph.D) Mekuria Bulcha (Ph.D)
Degefa Abdissa (MD) Moa Apagodu (Ph.D)
Dessalegn Negeri (Ph.D) Mohammed Hassan (Ph.D)
Desta Yebassa (Ph.D} Mosisa Aga (Ph.D)

Posted in Uncategorized

Leave a comment

Dawud Ibsa: A Leader with Moral Authority!

Dawud Ibsa: A Leader with Moral Authority!

Jun 5

Posted by

                         By Bedassa Tadesse 

The OLF had many leaders who are noble, brave and worthy of praise. All of them gave up opportunities almost every Oromo had for the sake of their own people. Many of the OLF leaders, dead or still alive, are adored for that. However, only very few of them possess the moral authority that makes them stand tall.

Dawud Ibsa, the current leader of the OLF, is an exception in that he proved himself as a leader with moral authority – a quality very few other OLF leaders can claim.

You may ask why? And how? First, let me define moral authority – having the weight, a sense of wisdom and experience that encourages other people to put their trust in you.

A leader with a moral authority is someone who has turned time into an ally— proved to be consistently competent, maintained a consistent character, and showed consistent courage. Note that there is a common theme here—Consistency.

Consistency is key to leadership and success. In fact, it’s the sign qua non of leadership. If you do the right things the right way for the right reasons when you are young, it often goes unnoticed by the world at large. But do that over decades (40 years in the case of Dawud Ibsa), more credit, love and respect than you think you deserve will flow your way.

Are you bracing for evidence? Look no further than the date more than 5 million Oromos gathered in Finfinne ( September28, 2018) to welcome Dawud Ibsa and the OLF leadership back to Oromia.

Back to my point on consistency! Dawud Ibsa have been consistent in his personal growth, political position, character, thinking, and interactions with his colleagues and the Oromo people—and because of that, he has been able to stay in the game for over forty years. Call that a layered living—the benefits and gains of the sufferings he endured to produce a life of leadership that others may want to learn from and emulate.

Fast forward that to moral authority. In a world filled with daily changes and continuous disruptions, people look for a leader who can provide stability. A leader with moral authority is flexible enough to accept changes while steadfastly trustworthy and providing hope. Spend an hour with Dawud Ibsa, you will come across with the conclusion that his consistency exudes trust and hope even in the face of adversity.

Dawud Ibsa also excells in three critical areas that earn him the moral authority:

Competence—the ability to lead well. Making smart decisions, knowing your people, understanding your field, and committing to personal growth. Dawud Ibsa demonstrates that he knows what he is doing—and that he learns from his mistakes. To me this is what enabled him to establish himself as a leader worth following.

Courage—moving forward in the face of fear. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the presence of mind to act when afraid. Dawud Ibsa has the courage to make hard decisions, needed changes, and cast vision.

Character—being bigger on the inside than the outside. Leaders of character know who they are is more than what they achieve. Dawud Ibsa has unparalleled commitment integrity, authenticity, humility, and love.
He always puts people first; lives to make a difference, not to make money; he is always himself; expressed gratitude, rejects entitlement; has the will to be misunderstood and lonely for the right reasons.

I assume that he had made the commitment to live out those things, not because he saw them as a means to an end, but because he felt they were simply the right things to do.

Finally, I feel that Dawud Ibsa is a leader with moral authority, because he never granted himself the authority, but allowed the rest of us to see it, deny or grant him.

Summing up, in a shifting world, leaders with moral authority provide the foundation for others to build upon. Dawud Ibsa’s leadership, whether you agree with me or not, is a leadership worth its making and I am very proud to say it.

Posted in Uncategorized

Leave a comment

OLF,OFC URGE GOV’T TO TAKE REPORT BY AMNESTY SERIOUSLY; HEED RECOMMENDATIONS TO REVERSE TROUBLING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE RECORD

OLF,OFC URGE GOV’T TO TAKE REPORT BY AMNESTY SERIOUSLY; HEED RECOMMENDATIONS TO REVERSE TROUBLING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE RECORD

May 29

Posted by

(A4O, May 29/2020,Oromia) – In a joint statement released by opposition parties Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) on Amnesty International’s Report, the parties urged “the federal and regional authorities to take the report by Amnesty International seriously, heed the recommendations put forth and promptly reverse the government’s deeply troubling record on rights and liberty.”

In a report released today, Amnesty International said “Ethiopian security forces committed horrendous human rights violations including burning homes to the ground, extrajudicial executions, rape, arbitrary arrests and detentions, sometimes of entire families, in response to attacks by armed groups and inter-communal violence in Amhara and Oromia.” Graphic design: Amnesty International

“In a new report, Beyond law enforcement: human rights violations by Ethiopian security forces in Amhara and Oromia, Amnesty International documents how security forces committed grave violations between December 2018 and December 2019 despite reforms which led to the release of thousands of detainees, expansion of the civic and political space and repeal of draconian laws, such as the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, which were previously used to repress human rights,” Amnesty International.

Below is the full text of the joint statement sent to Addis Standard.

In its first comprehensive report since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government came into office, Amnesty International has presented a detailed account of the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Ethiopian security forces against dissidents and perceived political opponents particularly in the Oromia and Amhara regions.

The report titled “Ethiopia: Beyond Law Enforcement” and released on May 29, 2020,   has precisely exposed the wanton destruction of property, rampant extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of members of the opposition, mass detentions and forced political indoctrination, and the application of torture and gender-based violence by state actors as a means of stamping out dissent in the last two years.

The report is further proof that the new administration has not parted ways with the practice of forcefully stifling dissent, committing egregious human rights violations and carrying out extrajudicial killings common under its predecessor- he Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Front- despite taking over in April 2018 off the back of a much touted promise to reform itself.

Although the report provides a very good and consolidated highlight of the continued human rights violations under the current regime, it doesn’t come close to disclosing the full extent of the horrendous abuses and gruesome atrocities committed by the security forces.

The report covers mostly the period up to the end of 2019. However, the situation in Oromia region specifically has gotten progressively worse this year (2020), with a substantial rise in mass incarcerations, extrajudicial killings and destructions of property in provinces that were not previously affected. The Amnesty Report highlights abuses carried out by the federal army. Nevertheless, the regime has also been using newly trained regional militia forces named ‘Liyu Police’ which have unleashed a reign of terror in parts of Oromia.

As we speak, these forces are carrying out gross human rights violations against political prisoners and perceived political adversaries, with some being held without due process, the whereabouts of many is still not known after their abduction and on several instances relatives are finding the human remains of some of the abductees in the bushes.

Reports of systematic disappearances and gruesome killings at the hands of security forces is a daily occurrence, particularly in western Oromia.

Therefore, we

  • Urge the federal and regional authorities to take the report by Amnesty International seriously, heed the recommendations put forth and promptly reverse the government’s deeply troubling record on rights and liberty.
  • Would like to remind the government that continuing along this dangerous path of wanton disregard for human life and dignity and rampant violation of rights will have far reaching consequences for the country.
  • Call upon local and international human rights organizations to conduct further investigations and expose the worsening situation across the country, particularly in recent months.
  • Call upon the international community to hold Ethiopian authorities to account for clearly reneging on their promise to help the country transition towards a peaceful and democratic order, and for choosing to chart an authoritarian path in keeping with the tradition of previous regimes.

Finally we would like to remind all stakeholders that human rights violations, the use of extrajudicial killings, torture and intimidation is what got Ethiopia into the current multifaceted socio-economic and political crisis.

Continuing with such abuse will only deepen the crisis, fracturing the society, paralyzing the economy and paving the way for potential disintegration of the country itself. Therefore, we urge the government to refrain from repeating mistakes by past regimes and ask internal development partners to exert maximum pressure to ensure the transition towards a democratic state is put back on track before it’s too late.

Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)

Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC)

Posted in Information, News, Oromia

Leave a comment

Ethiopia’s security forces accused of torture, evictions and killings – report

May 29

Posted by

(A4O, 29 May 2020, Oromia) Prime minister Abiy Ahmed has been lauded for his democratic reforms. But Amnesty International are now urging him to investigate allegations of serious human rights abuses

in Addis Ababa

A man waves an Oromo flag
 A man waves an Oromo flag as people from the community gather in Addis Ababa in October 2019, on the eve of Irreecha, their thanksgiving festival. Photograph: Yonas Tadesse/AFP

Ethiopia’s Nobel peace prize-winning prime minister Abiy Ahmed has been urged to investigate allegations that state security forces have committed a raft of serious human rights abuses including torture and unlawful killings since he came to power in 2018.

According to a report by Amnesty International, published on Friday, Ethiopia’s military and police in its two most populous regions arbitrarily detained more than 10,000 people, summarily evicted whole families from their homes – some of which were burnt and destroyed – and in some cases were complicit in inter-communal violence targeting minorities.

Federal authorities have not responded to the report, which focuses on the period between January and December 2019 in the regions of Amhara and Oromia.

“Given the gravity and the duration [of the period in which abuses were reported] I cannot believe top officials are not aware of what was happening,” the report’s author, Fisseha Tekle, told the Guardian. “And if they are not then it is a dereliction of duty.”

In Oromia, security forces are waging a counter-insurgency campaign against rebels from the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed guerrilla movement demanding more autonomy for Oromos, which returned from exile in 2018 after Abiy removed it from Ethiopia’s list of terrorist organisations.

The move was part of a package of democratic reforms which won the prime minister widespread acclaim and, along with making peace with neighbouring Eritrea, secured him the Nobel peace prize last year. Shortly after becoming prime minister Abiy also confessed that security officials had in the past committed torture, and promised to ensure the sector was fully accountable in the future.

But the OLA has since returned to armed conflict, and accuses the government of failing to deliver its promises of more democracy and self-rule for Oromos.

Fighting in western and southern parts of Oromia has involved targeted killings of local officials and community leaders and what the UN has described as “serious human rights violations”. In Oromia’s Guji district the unrest had driven 80,000 people from their homes by the start of this year.

Amnesty said it had a list of 39 people suspected of supporting the OLA who had been unlawfully executed in two parts of Guji since January 2019. It also said that on a single day in December 2018, soldiers from the federal military killed 13 people in the town of Finchawa in West Guji. One of those killed was an old woman selling milk on the street, according to an eyewitness who spoke to Amnesty.

Security forces are estimated to have detained more than 10,000 men and women suspected of supporting or working for the OLA, among other abuses documented by the organisation.

Many were detained for several months without being charged, in violation of both national and international human rights laws, under conditions which at times amounted to torture, the report found. Detainees were made to undergo two months of “training” in subjects such as constitutionalism, the rule of law and the history of the Oromo people’s struggle.

In Amhara, according to the report, regional police, militia and local vigilante groups engaged in targeted attacks on ethnic Qemant, a minority group demanding more autonomy, in inter-communal violence which resulted in at least 130 deaths last year. In January 2019, at least 58 people were reportedly killed in less than 24 hours and buried in mass graves.

Nobody has yet been held accountable for the atrocity.

Amnesty said it had sought responses to its findings from nine government offices including the defence ministry and the attorney-general’s office but had only received a response from Amhara’s regional security bureau, which denied that state security forces had been involved in any atrocities.

The rights group called on the government to carry out full investigations into human rights violations and to order security forces to stop carrying out unlawful executions, arbitrary arrests and detention, as well as forced evictions and destruction of property belonging to people suspected of supporting opposition political parties or armed groups.

In February last year the former head of the Ethiopian army said it had embarked on “deep institutional reform” as part of the democratic changes sweeping the nation.

The head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Daniel Bekele, told the Guardian: “While the Amnesty findings and ongoing reports of killings and arrests in parts of Oromia region should be taken seriously and fully investigated, it is also important to understand the complex nature of the security operations where armed groups are seriously destabilising the affected areas.”

The prime minister’s office said it would put the Guardian’s request for official comment to the peace ministry, which did not respond in time for publication.

Source: The Guardian 

Posted in Events, Finfinne, Information, News, Oromia, Promotion

Leave a comment

Mohammedamin Siraj brutally murdered and thrown in the bush

May 27

Posted by

On Thursday, May 14th, 2020, Mohammedamin Siraj was abducted by the Ethiopian government securities from his office in Harar city. He was an employee of Oromia cooperative work office of eastern Hararge province (waldaya Hojii gamtaa Oromiyaa godina Haragee bahaa).

He was arrested under a pretext of ‘quarantining for suspicion of contracting #COVID-19’; which turned out to be an outright lie; brutally murdered and thrown his body out in the bush around Babile town.

After few days of disappearance, on Monday 18th of May, local farmers found a leftover of a human remains partially eaten by scavengers and reported the scene to the police. Later that day, the police buried a partially scavenged body without a proper investigation and consent of his family.

Mohammedamin Siraj was a brave soul. He was an outspoken critic of the government. He has never been silenced to speak out against the injustice perpetrated to the Oromoo people from the successive Ethiopian regimes. Because of that, he had suffered numerous intimidation, death threats, tortures and detentions.

Mohammedamin Siraj was born in Galamso town of eastern Oromia; graduated from Jimma university. He was a family man and he is a father of two minor children. #JusticeForMohammedAminSiraj

Posted in News, Oromia

Leave a comment

Oromia: Arbitrary Arrests and Extra-Judicial Killings of Political Dissents Continued in Ethiopia

May 26

Posted by

(A4O, 26 May 2020, Oromia) Arbitrary arrests and extra-judicial killings of political dissents continued in Ethiopia amid the looming danger of Covid-19 over the Country.

Image may contain: 3 people, text

According to HRLHA’s Urgent Appeal, no progress to arrest of political dissents in Oromia. “Arbitrary arrest and forced disappearance of political dissents have been escalating throughout Oromia region compared to other regions of the country at this critical moment when the danger of Corona virus is highly threatening the country.”

HRLHA also revealed the details of many innocent citizens, supporters and members of the two vanguard oppositions namely Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)
who have been languishing in different known and unknown detention centers for several months.

“Hundreds have been mercilessly killed and even some of them were denied burial and eaten by hyena,” says the appeal.

According to the HRLHA’s argent appeal, journalists of Sagalee Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo (Voice of Oromo Youth for Freedom) among others, Adugna Kesso and Gada Bulti; as well as Oromia News Network (ONN) journalists Dasu Dula and Wako Nole were arbitrarily arrested, denied safeguards of due process of law and remain suffering behind the Bar.

It also added that top OLF leadership and senior members such as Kayyo Fufa, Yaasoo Kabada, Dandi Gabroshe, Efrem Geleta, Mo’a Abdisa, Tariku Abdisa, Bayana Ruda (Prof), Aliyi Yusuf, Abdi Ragassa, Batire File, Gada Gabisa, Blisumma Ararsa, Olika Chali etc have been languishing in known and unknown prisons for several months without charge.

This Urgent Appeal addresses recent detailed arbitrary arrests, extra judicial killings and physical assaults where each cases are substantiated by photograph and important facts of the violations.

For further detail here is the link of the PDF format of the appeal: 1-May 25, 2020- HRLHA Urgent Appeal

Posted in Events, Information, News, Oromia

Leave a comment

Ethiopian police ignore court orders to free journalists held since March

May 23

Posted by

Nairobi, May 22, 2020 — Ethiopian police should immediately and unconditionally free journalists Dessu Dulla and Wako Nole and media worker Ismael Abdulrzaq, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On March 7, police in the town of Burayu, on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa, arrested Dessu, a deputy director at the privately owned Oromia News Network broadcaster, Wako, who contributes to the network and also reports for the radio broadcaster Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo, and Ismael, a driver for the station, according to the network’s chairperson, Buli Edjeta Jobir, and CPJ reporting from the time.On March 30, a court in Burayu ordered the three employees’ release after prosecutors said they could not make a case against them, according to Buli and their lawyer, Mulisa Ejetaa, both of whom spoke to CPJ in phone calls and via messaging app.

However, as of today, the three remain in detention, in violation of court orders issued in March, April, and May, while police claim to be investigating unspecified allegations against them, according to Mulisa, Buli, and an April 21 court document seen by CPJ.

The Oromia News Network, which operated in exile until 2018, primarily covers politics and is targeted at an Afaan Oromo-speaking audience; Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo, which broadcasts some of its programming on the news network, hosts programming that is supportive of the Oromo Liberation Front opposition party and also covers regional news, according to CPJ’s reporting.

“The detention of Dessu Dulla, Wako Nole, and Ismael Abdulrzaq, even after prosecutors said they had no case against them, and in defiance of court orders, is an unacceptable violation of their rights of due process,” CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. “They should be released unconditionally, and those responsible for infringing their rights should be held to account.”

The three network employees were arrested alongside two members of the Oromo Liberation Front, Gada Gabbisa and Batire File, shortly after they visited Abdi Regassa, a member of the party’s leadership, who was detained at a Burayu police station, according to Buli, who was also at the station at the time, and CPJ’s reporting from March.

The network employees knew Abdi personally and also intended to file news reports about their visit, according to Buli, who said that Ismael is also a member of the party. Police initially accused the three of illegally photographing the police station, and claimed that Ismael had intentionally involved himself in a minor traffic accident with the intention of killing the officers who arrested them, Buli said.

After the police ignored the Burayu court’s release order on March 30, Mulisa filed a habeas corpus application on April 6, and police were ordered to produce the detainees in court, according to Buli and Mulisa. When they did not do so, a subsequent release order was issued on April 8, Buli said.

Police produced Ismael in court on April 9, but then returned him to custody and, in the weeks since, police have not complied with several subsequent orders to produce the detainees in court and to release them, Buli and Mulisa said.

In the April 21 court document reviewed by CPJ, the court said police did not comply with orders, failed to produce defendants when requested, and did not provide evidence for their case. The court ordered the officers to provide an explanation during an April 23 hearing, but they did not appear in court, Buli said.

On May 13, Burayu police said that Dessu, Wako, and Ismael had been transferred out of their custody, according to Buli and Mulisa. As of May 22, they were being held at a police station in Gelan, a town south of Addis Ababa, according to Buli and another source who is familiar with the case but asked not to be named for safety concerns, both of whom said the police did not disclose a reason for the transfer.

In a phone call last week, Oromia regional government spokesperson Getachew Balcha declined to respond to questions on the case, and referred CPJ to the regional attorney general, Daniel Asefa.

On May 14, Daniel told CPJ via phone that his office was investigating why the journalists were being detained. Today, he said that his office’s inquiry was still ongoing and he could not yet provide comment.

In a text message, Abebe Geresu, the deputy head of Oromia’s Peace and Security bureau, told CPJ that he did not know about these cases.

When Jibril Mohamed, head of the Oromia Peace and Security Bureau, was reached on the phone this afternoon, he said he could provide CPJ with comment in two hours. He did not answer subsequent calls.

Source: CPJ

Posted in Events, News, Oromia

Leave a comment

THIS IS JUST A LITTLE ADVICE

May 17

Posted by

By  Teshale Aberra

I came across something in a book I grabbed this morning called “POLITICS BY OTHER MEANS: Law in the struggle against apartheid. 1980-1994.”

Somewhere in this book, it says the following about apartheid South Africa ‘s Courts:

“[They] occasionally invalidated racist actions by the executive or legislator, such as segregation of public accommodation or disenfranchisement of Cape Coloured voters.”

Apartheid South Africa courts were not the ideal types of courts. No sane person is meant to praise that era’s judicial system, as there is nothing praise worthy about them.

And yet, there were instances where they were used by the oppressed majority black people to defend some of their rights. They were used as a channel through which oppression was aired, dramatized, exposed and challenged.

In short, even apartheid South Africa Courts were used to challenge the force of apartheid.

My question is, can Ethiopia’s courts, both Federal or States level draw some lesson from apartheid South Africa’s Courts?

To be honest, I have always thought that way and puzzled by this comparison.

I say so, because, leave alone judges who are paid by the government and frequently removed from office, allegedly, for lack of loyalty to the ruling party, even private attorneys (lawyers) are not free to take up cases which they think could call the attention of the ruling party. Fear of reprisal is real.

We witnessed time and again while lawyers decline cases for fear of reprisal. I am sure the South African lawyers were not totally free to represent the victims of the system of apartheid.

But they tried their best and some judges did what they had to. They are, as judges and their decision as the work of courts is remembered for the good work done.

I think Ethiopia’s courts may try to follow their suit.

Just imagine what could happen if lawyers brought a legal case at Ethiopia’s courts to challenge ‘the recent government measure of deployment of the deffense force, which put a large part of the country under miltary administration, suspending civil and political rights of people in those areas and caused huge loss of life and property, all in clear violation of the constitution!

Perhaps the lawyers who contributed to this kind of effort and the judges who could have made a decision to stop this kind of madness would have been remembered for generations. Above all they could have contributed something towards the continuity of Ethiopia as a state/nation.

More importantly they could’ve contributed in efforts of or wishes to establish a somehow independent judiciary.

Rather than participating in the melodrama and orchestration of breaking the constitution, as we saw on TV yesterday, judges, legal scholars and lawyers better spend their time on devising strategies on how to pull the entire judiciary out of the deep crisis it puts itself in, or the crisis forced on it by the system.

THIS IS JUST A LITTLE ADVICE

Posted in Events, Finfinne, News, Oromia, Promotion

Leave a comment

← Older Posts
Newer Posts →