Category Archives: News
Ethiopia: Release detained journalists and opposition politicians immediately
(Amnesty International, 7 April 2020, The Ethiopian authorities must immediately release two journalists from the Oromia News Network and three Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) officials who remain in custody a week after charges against them were dropped and the court ordered their release on 31 March.
The authorities must desist from this intimidation, harassment and arbitrary detention and immediately and unconditionally release these five individuals.
Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa
“The Ethiopian authorities continue to detain five people long after the court ordered their release. The authorities must desist from this intimidation, harassment and arbitrary detention and immediately and unconditionally release these five individuals,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.
The five were charged with taking a photo at the Burayu police station, and for traffic offenses relating to an incident where a vehicle rammed into the back of the police car the arresting officers were using. The prosecutor later dropped the charges, stating none of the alleged acts were crimes under the country’s criminal law.
The police however continue to detain the individuals claiming there were irregularities with the names on their identification documents. However, they have not presented the five in court with any new charges.
The detained are Batir Filae, OLF Central Committee member; Gadaa Gabisa, OLF political officer; and Bilisuma Ararsa, OLF member. With them are Desu Dula, the Vice Director of the Oromia News Network (ONN) and Wako Nole, a journalist with the network.
For more information on the mounting harassment of OLF members and supporters, see links below.
Vendor killed after police attack opposition supporters in Oromia
Authorities crackdown on opposition supporters with mass arrests
Success requires the removal of an obstacle, and OPDO is an obstacle
(A4O, Opinion, 7 April 2020) Professor Asfaw Bayana’s article titled “I must abandon a false hope now” prompted me to contemplate the meaning of hope and further led me to conclude that our greatest hope comes not from the OPDO but from the knowledge that we shall win our freedom soon or later.
For centuries, believers had foretold that a savior who would redeem them from their sins and take them to a place called Heaven will come someday. Such a story represents the hope that people would rise from death and live forever.
Likewise, we pay tribute to all Oromian martyrs, to the suffered, to the jailed, to the tortured, to the exiled, and to those Qeerroos/Qarrees who are still falling at the battlefields being shot by Abiy Ahmed’s killing squads being guided by the hope that the vision of those genius Oromians who articulated the mission of the OLF will become true someday. This means we hope that someday, we are going to build free Oromia, a free state that will accommodate all the needs of its citizens.
To get there, we just have to believe that there are tremendous sources of hope beyond our enemies’ abilities, strength, and capacity.
I am certain that freedom is possible with surety hope for better governance, yea, a liberated country free enough even for our killers. But we must press forward with a steadfastness in our ability to free ourselves, having confidence in ourselves and enduring to the end.
The OPDO is a simple obstacle and removing an obstacle is part of the process of achieving any task. The reason that made the OPDO an obstacle to our freedom can be readily understood by looking at the situation that produced her in the first place. There was a larger global purpose behind the birth of the OPDO back in the 1990s and the same thing is true about the installation of Abiy Ahmed in power in 2018.
That means False Hope is trusting that the OPDO is going to respect the false promises she made just 2 years ago. What we need to know is that, if we act now, the desired freedom will be fulfilled in the future.
The OPDO has been fighting against the Oromians believing that our hopes and aspirations would bring them hopelessness. They understood that If the Oromo people are free, their Nafxanya parents will lose control over the power and economic advantages that they currently enjoy.
Contrary to their selfish reason however, we can still believe in ourselves, fully persuaded that our sheer struggle would help us reach our destination. To do so, we must constantly ask ourselves;
• What was the purpose for which the OLF was formed?
• What was the OLF goal?
• Why did all those Oromians were killed, jailed, exiled, tortured?
• Why do we expect fairness from the enemy spy who had been killing us for the past 27 years?
• What is the message we are sending to the youth by expecting democracy from the enemy?
• What is our responsibility in helping the Oromo youth understand the mission of the OLF?
As an Oromo intellectual, each of us can teach the Oromo youth that success requires the removal of an obstacle and the OPDO is an obstacle.
Hope is an Anchor of the Soul,
Liberation is our Goal!
Oromiyaa: Mootummaan Abiy Guyyuu Oromoota Shan Ajjeesa
(Oromiyaa, 6 Ebla 2020) Mootummaan Abiy Ahmad Guyyaatti yoo xiqqaate Oromoota shan ajjeesaa akka jiru beekame.
Daataa Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoon walitti qabame akka ibsutti, baatii lamaan darban kana keessa qofaa sabboontonni Oromoo 150 jala gahan mootummaa Abiyiin ajjeefamaniiru.
Tarreessa maqaa nu gahe irraa akak hubatamutti kanneen ajejechaan kun irratti xiyyeefafte, Qeerroo Oromoo fi sabboontota Oromoo quuqama sabaa qabanii dha.
Daataan Oromoota ajjeemanii kun seenaa qabsoo Oromoo keessatti gochaa hamaa raawwatame ta’ee galmeefafmeera.
Haga yoonaatti qaamni mootumama ajjeechaa sabboontota Oromoo irratti raawwatamee gaafatame fudhate tokko illee hin jiru.
Daataa Oromoota Ajjeefamanii kana PDF kanatti aanee jiru kana tuquun argachuu dandeessu: Daataa Ajjeechaa 2020
Resolution: Conference of Oromo Civic, Professional and Faith-Based Organizations
(A4O, 28 March 2020) Whereas, the Oromo nation, Oromummaa and Oromia are being subjected to unprecedented repression by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE);
Whereas, the GoE engages in a deliberate destruction of Oromo nationalism, dismantling Oromia and reversing the victories our people achieved by heroic sacrifices of our sons and daughters;
Whereas, the GoE works in concert with neo-nafxayas who aspire to re impose their former oppressive and exploitative system;
Whereas, the GoE promotes division and conflict among the Oromo people along regional and religious lines as a strategy for its success;
Whereas, the GoE, having imposed illegal Command Posts on parts of Oromia, is subjecting the Oromo people to untold misery through military rule;
Whereas, the GoE has widened and deepened the killings, arbitrary arrests and beatings of the Oromo people;
Whereas, the GoE burns houses with families inside and granaries full of grain; and sets fire to farmlands and forests without concern for crops or wildlife;
Whereas, the GoE has deployed armed forces to continue hunting down and murder Oromo youth on a daily basis;
Whereas, the GoE continues to refuse to bring to justice those who committed ethnically motivated murders of Oromo students on the campuses of universities in the Amhara regional state,
Whereas, the GoE is not willing to provide any protection to those spared from the killings, but finds the flimsiest of excuses to suspend or dismiss Oromo students from universities;
Whereas, contrary to its promises a few months ago to widen the political space in the country, that the GoE has actually narrowed the space significantly by illegally arresting and/or causing disappearances of leaders and members of the opposition parties and by obstructing and hindering the contacts of opposition parties with their constituents;
Whereas, the GoE intimidates independent Oromo media outlets and imprisons their management and reporters for reporting the truth;
Whereas, the GoE is engaged in hunting down and arresting politically conscious Oromos for not supporting the ruling Prosperity Party of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed;
Whereas, the economic deprivation of Oromo people and robbery of the resources of Oromia by the GoE and its cronies have intensified;
Whereas, the GoE is leaving no stone unturned to demoralize and to force the Oromo nation to surrender and;
Deeply Concerned about the fate of the Oromo people and the survival of the Oromo as a nation and Oromia as land of the Oromo, if the current situation is allowed to persist;
Recognizing the need for the Oromo unity inside and outside the of country more than ever before in combating the ongoing difficult situation imposed upon our people;
We, Oromo Civic, Professional and Faith-Based Organizations, whose names are listed below and who share the aforementioned concerns about the situation of our people and our nation, having deliberated on wide-ranging issues pertaining to our people’s dire situation, and having successfully concluding our first conference from March 28-29, 2020;
We, hereby
1. Approve a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and pledge to work together to achieve our shared vision of advocating for the voiceless victims of injustices in Oromia and beyond;
2. Authorize and direct the coordinating committee, and the three others operational committees to lead our Advocacy, Information collection and dissemination, and Resource mobilization and organization efforts, to execute the MoU;
3. Strongly condemn and demand an immediate stop to the ongoing killings, arbitrary arrests, rapes and beating against the Oromo people by Ethiopia armed forces;
4. Demand the immediate lifting of the illegal and undeclared command posts and military rule imposed on Western and Southern parts of Oromia;
5. Call up on the Oromo diaspora to join us in condemning and actively opposing the ongoing repression against our people;
6. Call up on Oromo civic organizations whose names are not listed below to join us so that we can together defend our people’s rights;
7. Call up on all Oromo political organizations operating in Oromia to put their differences aside and unite in condemning the repressive policies of the GoE and, coordinate our people’s resistance to end the killings and arbitrary arrests being committed against our people;
8. Call up on all Zones of Oromia to come to the aid of their compatriots in other zones to once and for all uproot the GoE’s repressive policies which are the root causes of the poverty and misery of our people for there is strength in numbers;
9. Call up on all nations and nationalities in Ethiopia to condemn and actively oppose the killings and arbitrary arrests that the GoE is perpetrating against the Oromo and other peoples as all conflicts in one region can easily spread to their regions;
10. Call up on all organizations advocating for respect of human rights to inform the international community the untold human rights violations the Oromo people are subjected to by the GoE;
11. Remind the international community of its moral obligation and responsibility to speak up against, and to work to prevent the population exodus that is sure to ensue from the continued hunting down and killings of Oromo youth and the resulting forced migration and refugee problems;
12. Urge the international community to bring pressure to bear on the GoE to immediately stop the war it has declared on the Oromo people before the situation escalates into massive displacement, famine, civil war and genocide.
United we Stand!!
Oromo Civic, Professional and Faith-Based Organizations
1. Advocacy4Oromia
2. Bilal Oromo Dawa Center
3. Canaan Oromo Evangelical Church
4. Charismatic International Fellowship Church
5. Global Gumii Oromia
6. Global Oromo Advocacy Group
7. Global Waaqeffannaa Council
8. Horn of Africa Genocide Watch
9. Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa
10. International Oromo Women’s Organization
11. International Qeerroo Support Group
12. Mana Kiristaanaa Fayyisaa Addunyaa
13. Oromo Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church
14. Oromo Communities’ Association of North America
15. Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Church of Washington DC Metropolitan Area
16. Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society
17. Oromo Human Rights and Relief Organization
18. Oromo Legacy, Leadership and Advocacy Association
19. Oromo Lutheran Church of Baltimore
20. Oromo Parliamentarians Council
21. Oromo Studies Association
22. Oromia Support Group
23. Tawfiq Islamic Center
24. Union of Oromo Communities in Canada
25. United Oromo Evangelical Church
26. Washington DC Metropolitan Oromo SDA Church
March 28, 2020
Two journalists and a driver arrested, held without charge in Ethiopia
(Nairobi, March 18, 2020) Authorities in Ethiopia should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Dessu Dulla and Wako Nole and media worker Ismael Abdulrzaq, and let them work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
ONN Journalist Dessu Dulla
ONN Journalist Wako Nole
On March 7, police arrested Dessu, deputy director of the privately owned Oromia News Network broadcaster, Ismael, a driver for the station, and Wako, a reporter with the Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo radio broadcaster, in Burayu, a town in the Oromia region, according to Muhammed Regassa and Betie Urgessa, two Oromia News Network employees who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and an eyewitness to the arrests who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.
Betie told CPJ that the three appeared in court on March 10, and that police were granted 14 days to hold them in custody, but said they were not charged with any crime.
“Holding journalists for weeks without charge is a violation of their basic rights and a clear effort to intimidate the press; Ethiopia must release Dessu Dulla, Wako Nole, and Ismael Abdulrzaq immediately,” said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo. “Journalists must be allowed to cover regional politics without official interference or fear that they will be arbitrarily arrested.”
Police arrested the journalists and driver shortly after they left the Burayu police station, where they had traveled to speak with Abdi Regassa, a senior member of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front political party, who was detained there, according to Muhammed, Betie, and the eyewitness. Two Oromo Liberation Front party members who were visiting Abdi were also arrested, those sources said.
The eyewitness told CPJ that he heard a police officer shouting that the journalists had taken pictures on their phones before they arrested them and added that officers were likely uncomfortable with the journalists visiting Abdi Regassa. Prior to 2018, Abdi was a commander in the liberation front’s armed wing while it operated from exile and was designated a terror organization; police initially denied having him in custody, according to a report by the privately owned news site Addis Standard.
The Oromia News Network vehicle was involved in a minor road accident at the scene, but those sources told CPJ that it was unrelated to the arrests. Police are still holding the vehicle, Betie told 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 and also covers regional news, according to Muhammed and Betie, as well as CPJ’s review of the broadcasters’ content.
In a phone interview on March 10, Oromia regional government spokesperson Getachew Balcha told CPJ that he did not know anything about the journalists’ arrests. Getachew later acknowledged their detention in an interview with the U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America broadcaster, but said that they were arrested due to prior offenses.
Getachew referred CPJ to the head of the Oromia Peace and Security Bureau, identified as “Mr. Jibril,” for comment. Jibril told CPJ in a phone interview yesterday that he did not know about the journalists’ cases.
Barattoonni Oromoo Gargaarsa Hatattamaa Barbaadu.
(Finfinnee, 29 Bitootessa 2020) Barattootnni Oromoo yunivarsitiiwwan addaa addaarraa gara maatii isaaniitti deebi’aa jiran rakkinaaf saaxilaman.
Oduun Finfinnee irraa nu dhaqqabe akka ibsutti, yeroo ammaa kana barattoonni hedduun sababa dhibee koronaavaayirasiitiin gara maatii sianaiitti deebi’aa jiran.
Haata’u malee,barattoonni Oromoo naannoo qunnamtiin bilbilaa uggurame irraa dhufan maatii waliin walqunnamaa wana hin turreef maalalqa ittiin galan dhabanii buufata konkolaataa Askootti rakkachaa jiru.
Barattoonni Oromoo kunneen bakka bulan dhabanii hanga namoota 60 tahanii otobuusii keessa buluuf dirqamanii jiru.
Kana birattis, waan nyaatan dhabanii gargaarsa barbaadaa akka jiran beekameera.
Barattoonni kunneen dhaamsa dabarfataniin namoonni dandeettii qaban barataa tokkollee yoo ta’e maatii biraan gahuudhaan qooda lammummaa akka bahan gaafataniiru.
*Barattoonni Yunivarsitiiwwan addaddaa irraa gara maatiitti deebi’aa jiran kunneen gargaaruu yoo barbaaddan adaraa karaa email: info@advocacy4oromai.org nu qunanmaa!
Open Appeal Letter Regarding the Missing Oromo Political Leader
(A4O, Appeal Letter, 29 March 2020) Advocacy for Oromia is deeply concerned by reports of the diappreance of Mr. Abdi Regassa, the leader of Oromo Liberation Front who disappeared from Burrayyu Police station, Oromia, since 20 March 2020.
The letter sent to Ethiopian Prime Minster today by Advocacy for Oromia expresses its deep concern regarding Mr Abdi Regassa’s current state: detained without charges and with out access to the outside world, his colleagues and his family, since 29 February 2020.
The letter demands PM administration to ensures Mr Abdi Regassa has immediate access to a lawyer of his choosing and can communicate with his family.
For full appeal letter: Appeal Letter Abdi Regassa 29 March 2020
Blocking information during this critical time is a violation of human rights.
We condemn the internet and phone service shutdown by Ethiopia gov’t in Western and Southern Oromia. To prevent the spread of Corona Virus information is very crucial.
Blocking information during this critical time is a violation of human rights. The Ethiopian government should unblock the internet and phone service shut down before it is too late. The people should not be left in the dark for death.
#ReconnectTheWestETH
#COVID19
#Ethiopia
Dhimmi Jaal Abdii Raggaasaa maatii fi hiryoota yaaddeesse; mootummaan Jaal Abdii dhoksee jira.
(Oromedia, 28/03/2020) Maatiin jaal Abdii Raggaasaa yaaddoo fi dhiphina guddoo keessa akka jiran ibsan.
Maatiin akka dubbatanitti Jaala Abdii Raggaasaa erga ijaan arginii torban tokkoo ol ta’ee jira.
Maatiin akka himutti Jaal Abdiif torbaan tokko dura gaafa gaafa 20/03/2020 GC ykn 11/07/2012 EC mana hidhaa inni duraan keessa ture Buraayyuutti ciree fi laaqana geessaniifii turan. Haata’uutii, galgala akka lakk biyyattiitti 12:30 Jaal Abdiin fudhamee bakka hin beekamne geeffamee jira.
Erga torban tokkoo as maatiin bakak halle iyyaafataa jira. Garuu “haga yoonaatti eessa akka geessan hin beeknu; bakka jiruyyuu qaamni nuuf ibse hin jiru,” jedhan maatiin Jaal Abdii.
Haala Jaal Abdiin keessa jiru “manni murti Burrayyu illee hin beeku,” kan jedhan maatiin Jaal Abdii, yeroo ammaa kanas maatiin marti dhiphuu guddoo keessa akka jiru dubbatu.
“Abban keenya baadiyaa jiraatan rifaatuu irraa kan ka’e dhukkubsatanii sireerratti hafanii jiru; nutis takkaa gadi hin teeny; barbaacha isaatif dhibee CORONA kanaf ille akka nun sababne nu soodachisa,” jechuun haala keessa jiran ibsan.
Maatiin Jaal Abdii hanga hardhatti waajjira Poolisii magaalaa Buraayyuutti deddeebi’anii gaafataa jiran. Waajjirri Poolisii magaalaa Buraayyuu garuu “jaal Abdiin as hin jiru; Finfinneetti fudhatame” ittin jedhan.
Eenyu akka isa fuudhee fi eessa akka jiru immoo qaamni maatiitti hime hin jiru.
Haalli kun immoo maatii yaaddessaa jira. “lubbuun jiraachuu fi jiraachuu dhiisu isaayyuu wanti beeknu hin jiru; hanga ammatti qaamni mootummaa ‘bakka akkasi jiraa, hin yadda’inaa’ nuun jedhe hin jiru; erga guyyaa sana inuma barbaanna.” jedhan.
Kana malees, dhimmi fayyaa isa ahedduu akka isaan yaaddessu maatiin Jaal Abdii hin dhoksine. “Nuti waa’ee fayyaa isaaf hedduu yaaddoo qabna; mootummaan dhugaadhuma waanta isaaf barbaachusus ni guutaaf jennee irraa amantaa hin qabnu; Jaal Abdiin dhukkuba asmii dhukkubsachaa jira.” jedhu.
“Uffata jijjirraas dhugumaan mootummaan ni kennaaf jennee hin amannu; yeroo hamtuu kanatti beekaadhuma akka rakkinaaf saaxilamuuf nu jalaa dhoksan; kana biraan dhibeen #Corona nama hunda yaaddeesu akka isa hin tuqne waanti beeknu hin jiru.” jechuun dhiphina maatiin qabu nuuf ibsanii jiru.
Akka odeeffannooa rgannetti, baallamni mana murtii jaal Abdii gaafa 18/07/2012 ture. Garuu dhaddacharratti hin dhihaanne.
Inumaa poolisiin magaalaa Buraayyuu “dhimma kana qaama biraatti dabarsine waan ta’eef galmeen nuuf haa cufamu,” jechuu isaa maddi keenya gabaaseera.
Abukaatoo, Maatii fi jaallan isaa yeroo ammaa kanatti yaaddoo guddoo keessa jiran.
Jaarmyooti mirga dhala namaaf falman ibsoota baasaniin mootummaan Itoophiyaa qabiinsa mirga namoomaa Jaal Abdii akka fooyyessu gaafachaa jiraachuun beekamaadha.
Itoophiyaan addunyaa kana irratti dhiitinsa mirga namoomaan sadarkaa duraatti galmooftee jirti. Biyyattii keessatti nama harka poolisii jiru tokko, keessumaa Oromoo yoo ta’e, abukaatoo fi maatii jalaa dhoksuun, dhiittaa mirga namoomaa irratti raawwachuun mootummichaa kan addunyaan ifatti beekuu dha.
How can we prevent the spread of COVID-19?
Good hygiene can prevent infection. The most useful steps you can take are:
Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub
Cough or sneeze into your sleave or a tissue. Throw used tissues in the bin and wash your hands.
Try and keep a 1.5-metre distance between yourself and others: avoid large public gathering, minimise physical contact such as shaking hands, and stay at home when you are unwell.
If you been diagnosed with COVID-19, you must stay at home to prevent it spreading to other people.
Advocacy for Oromia 