Oromia: State Broadcaster Fires 20 Journalists for “Narrow Political Views”

Muktar Kedir, President of the Oromia regional state

June 30, 2014 (Reporters Without Borders) — Reporters Without Borders condemns last week’s politically-motivated dismissal of 20 journalists from Oromia Radio and Television Organization (ORTO), the main state-owned broadcaster in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest regional State.

The 20 journalists were denied entry to ORTO headquarter on 25 June and were effectively dismissed without any explanations other than their alleged “narrow political views,” an assessment the management reached at the end of a workshop for journalists and regional government officials that included discussions on the controversial Master Plan of Addis that many activists believe is aimed at incorporating parts of Oromia into the federal city of Addis Ababa.

#OromoProtests: IOYA Appeal

June 29, 2014

Dear Sir/Madam:

We are reaching out to you as the Board of Officers of the International Oromo Youth Association (IOYA) whose nation is in turmoil back in Oromia, Ethiopia. Recently, Oromo students have been protesting against the new Addis Ababa “Integrated Master Plan” which aims at incorporating smaller towns surrounding Addis Ababa for the convenience of vacating land for investors by displacing millions of Oromo farmers. As a political move, this will essentially result in the displacement of the indigenous peoples and their families. Oromo farmers will be dispossessed of their land and their survival both economic and cultural terms will be threatened. The Oromos strongly believe that this plan will expose their natural environment to risk, threaten their economic means of livelihood (subsistence farming), and violate their constitutional rights.

Beeksisa Marsaa ABO ilaalchisee

Guyyaa gaafa Waxabajjii/June 27, 2014 irraa kaasee marsaan(Website) Dhaaba keenyaa kan ture www.oromoliberationfront.info jijjiiramuu fi ABO/OLFn kan dhimma itti hin baane ta’u isin beeksifna.

Gara fuula duraatti, Marsaa fi qunamtii ABO/OLF ilaalchisee ni labsina Oromiyaan ni bilisoomti!!

Dhugaasaa Bakakkoo
Hayyu Duree ABO
27 Waxabajjii 2014

Declaration of Unity of the OLF

June 28, 2014 (Oromo Liberation Front) — It is with great pleasure that we announce to our people and the supporters of our struggle for freedom the good news that, based on the accord they made in Kampala, Uganda, in November 2012, the two organizations of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) known as OLF Shanee Gumii (”OLF National Council”) and OLF Qaama Ce’umsaa (”OLF Transitional Authority”) have resolved our differences and agreed to combine our two leaderships, unify our members, merge our organizational structures and inaugurate a reunified OLF. Although OLF has encountered many obstacles during the last forty years, there was no time when it has stopped the struggle that it was established to lead. No one can deny the fact that the national struggle led by the OLF has scored many victories and made many significant achievements that have taken the Oromo people a long way toward the national goal of independence. Among these great achievements is the level of political awareness of our people.

What “the government of Ethiopia doesn’t want the world to know”:

#FreeOromoStudents Social Media Campaign to begin this weekend by the International Oromo Youth Association

Kulani Jalata | June 26, 2014

On April 25, 2014, a reported 47 peacefully protesting students were gunned down by federal security forces in Ambo, Oromia region, Ethiopia.

“The government of Ethiopia doesn’t want the world to know about what has been happening with the [Oromo] student protests, that federal forces have used violence against the students, that there have been mass arrests of students, that there are allegations of beatings and brutality. The government doesn’t have any incentive to have outside forces to do an investigation. So there are certain barriers to spreading the word.”

Ethiopia reportedly fires 18 journalists from a state-run outlet

The quiet dismissal of some 10 percent of the station’s journalists underscores the country’s further descent into total media blackout.

By Mohammed Ademo

June 27, 2014 (CJR) – On June 25, when 18 journalists from Ethiopia’s state-run Oromia Radio and Television Organization (ORTO) arrived to start their scheduled shifts, they learned their employment had been terminated “with orders from the higher ups.”

The quiet dismissal of some 10 percent of the station’s journalists underscores the country’s further descent into total media blackout. The firing of dissenting journalists is hardly surprising; the ruling party controls almost all television and radio stations in the country. Most diaspora-based critical blogs and websites are blocked. Dubbed one of the enemies of the press, Ethiopia currently imprisons at least 17 journalists and bloggers. On April 26, only days before US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the capital, Addis Ababa, authorities arrested six bloggers and three journalists on charges of working with foreign rights groups and plotting to incite violence using social media.

#OromoProtests: Oromo Women Rally at Minnesota State Capitol, June 26, 2014

Abduction, simply for being born Oromo

These two young students are only few of TPLF’s systematic forced removal of ethnic Oromo intellectuals

Ethiopian Security Forces Arrest Dozens of Civilians in Degahbur

By Ahmed Abdi | June 26, 2014

Ethiopian Security Forces arrested dozens of civilians in Dehehbur, about 135 kilometers southeast of the regional Capital city of Jigjiga on Wednesday, following after ONLF insurgency killed 10 Ethiopian Security forces and regional administrators on Monday. Local sources said that the Ethiopian-appointed regional President Abdi Mohamoud Omar better known as Abdi Iley ordered the arrest and killing of anyone suspected of aiding ONLF in part of security swoop.

Abdi Iley reappointed infamous Omar Gamble as the Police commissioner immediately after the administration had been sustained heavy assaults by the ONLF in a bid to strike the town residents with an iron fist.

“I have seen at least 50 people that the security forces arrested and loaded on pickup trucks,” said an eyewitness who asked not to be identified.

Mootummaan Wayyaanee Gaazexeessitoota STVO 16 Oduu fi Dokumentarii Dharaa Dubbisuu,Dhiyeessuu Dhabuu Irraa Kan Ka’e Qorannaa Hamaan Booda Hojii Irraa Dhorke

Waxabajjii 26, 2014, Finfinnee (Qeerroo) — Mootummaan Wayyaanee bara dhufaa darbu mara Olola dharaa keessumaa ammo Raadiyoo fi Television mataa isaaf dhaabbateen dhimma bahuun ilmaan Oromoo afaanfaajjessaa, Ololaa fi Dokumentarii dharaa qopheessuudhaan bittaa Umrii isaa dheeressuuf hojjechaa ture. Gaazexeessitootni Raadiyoo fi Televiizyinii Itoophiyaas tahe Oromiyaa dhugaa argan Uummataaf himuu irra dhugaa irraa dabsuun oduu dharaa Uummataaf gabaasuu dirqamu. Sagantaan Raadiyoo fi Televiizyinii Oromiyaa dhimma Uummata Oromoo, aadaa fi duudhaa Oromoo guddisuuf dhaabbate jedhamee lallabamaa ture dhugaa Uummataa dhaloota isaa irraa kaasee osoo hin baasiin as gahe.Hojjettootni Dhaabbata kanaa yeroo mara oduu dharaa dubbisuun seenaa xuraawaa dibachuu hin barbaadne, Kan seenaan uummata Oromoo akka ukkaamamu hin barbaadne gaazexeessitootni STVO hedduumminaan Mormii dhageessisuu fi oduu dharaa hin dubbisnu jechuun wayita gaafatanitti mootummaan Wayyaanee dirqama isinitti kenname hojjettu malee kaan dubbachuu mirga hin qabdan jechuun gaazexeessitoota ilmaan Oromoo qorannaan rakkisaa turuu irraan darbee hojii irraa arii’ee jira. Gaazexeessitootni kunneen Fincila keessatti hirmaannaa qabdu, Uffata gaddaa uffattanii jirtan, dirqama keessan seeraan bahaa hin jirtan jedhamuun kan hojii irraa dhorkaman yoommuu tahu isaanis

The Name of the Abominable Crime is Politicide

The Mass Massacre & Imprisonment of ORA Orphans – Wallaga 1992-93

By Mekuria Bulcha | June 21, 2014 

“…. many of us lost our parents and relatives and were cared for by the Oromo Relief Association (ORA) for our survival and wellbeing. With the support of the international community and Oromos abroad, some 1,700 of us have been taken care of in exile in the Blue Nile Province of the Sudan. … The ORA gave us the chance to survive” (from a letter by “Raagaa”, one of the ORA children 1993).

“The life of those of us who did not experience the sweet love of parents, but had known only an organization [ORA] was devastated when the organization collapsed; we were left alone without relations. There are many who shared my misfortune; regrettably the whereabouts of many of them remains a mystery” (from an interview by the author with another former ORA child, Leensaa, March 2014).

“We appeal to you to do all you can to shed light upon the fate of the more than 1,600 children from ORA camp in Kobor. Where are Sagantaa Useen, Tolina Waaqjiraa and Duulaa Tafarra and all others?” (from a letter sent by the teachers and pupils of Heinrich-Goebel-Realschule to Dr. Klaus Kinkel, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, November 2, 1992)

Aid donors announce investigation into tribal evictions in Ethiopia

Bulldozers clearing Mursi land in Mago National Park, where communities are being evicted from their land to make way for sugar plantations

June 24, 2014 (Survival International) — Representatives of some of Ethiopia’s biggest aid donors have announced that they will send a team to the southwest of the country to investigate persistent reports of human rights abuses amongst the tribes living there.

Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, has exposed how the tribal people of the Lower Omo Valley are being persecuted and harassed to force them off their land to make way for cotton, oil palm and sugar cane plantations.

Many other organizations have published similar reports.

The plantations are made possible by the Gibe III hydroelectric dam, which is itself the subject of huge controversy.

The Rise and an Imminent Fall of a Minority Regime-TPLF

(The Tigrean People’s Liberation Front)

By David Makuria | June 24, 2014

Western democracy is built on the principles of a majority rule while respecting minorities’ rights. This norm is nowhere more evident than the United States of America. Although the Greeks have a legitimate claim to be the oldest democracy in some form, currently, the United States can claim the guardianship of modern democracy. This is not to say other Western democracies have no equal claim of their own. The theme of this article is not to compare Western democracies, but rather, to draw some parallels to show the genesis and demise, the political representation and lack thereof in the current political discourse in Ethiopia. The emergence of the current Ethiopian regime in the national political arena in 1991 is no accident in that citizens of Ethiopia had enough with the previous military junta, the Derg. It is after this change in people’s attitude that the current regime marched to the capital, Addis Abeba without much resistance. It does not; however, appear that the TPLF regime recognizes this reality on the ground. Once they occupied the Arat Kilo Palace, they have done everything to maintain their control on power without paying due regard to citizens interest. Yet, there are numerous signs that power is slipping away from this regime.

SNR on Woyyaane Demonstration Drama in Ambo; 2nd time #OromoProtests in Oslo

Seife Nebelbal Radio – Woyyaane demonstration drama in Ambo, June 23	Second time Oromoprotest in Oslo solidarity with Oromo Students on June 18, 2014

Wayyaaneen Shira Marsaa 3ffaa Magaalaa Amboo Irratti Gaggeessuuf Yaaleen Uummata Oromoo magaalaa Amboo fi dargaggoota Oromoon Fashale

Waxabajjii 22,2014 (qeerroo) - Mootummaan Wayyaanee olola afaan faajjii uumuun gaaffii mirga abbaa biyyummaa uummaanni Oromoo gaafachaa ture dhabamsiisuuf ykn sagaleen uumata cunqurfamaa akka hin dhagahameef jecha meeshaa waraanaa fi human waraanaan uumata nagaa goolaa fi jeeqaa jira.

Haala kanaan guyyaa har’aa FDG Lixa Shawaa Amboo gara dabarsuuf jecha uumata humnaan dirqisiisee karaa dabballoota isaa hiriira deggersa mootummaa wayyaanee akka bahamu yaalii gochaa ture. Hiriira humnaan dirqisiisee uummataa fi dabballoota isaa baasuun shira dalaguuf baajata guddaa fi humna waraanaa guddaa bobbaasuun shirri diinummaa magaalaa Amboo irratti gaggeeffamuuf sochii guddaa godhee ture sun  diddaa uummataa fi dura dhaabbannaa dargaggoota Oromootiin waan Wayyaanee fi aangawoonni isaanii barbaadan jalaa fashalee jira.

OromoProtests: Rally in Brussels in front of European Parliament

Gadaa.com   Waxabajjii/June 21, 2014

Members of the Oromo community in Europe staged a solidarity rally in Brussels, Belgium, at the European Parliament on June 20, 2014, to bring awareness about the human rights violations of the TPLF Ethiopian regime on the Oromo people – including the killing of more than 100 Oromo students and civilians, mass imprisonments of thousands of Oromo students as well as expulsions from universities of Oromo students for nonviolently protesting TPLF’s ‘Addis Ababa Master Plan,’ a plan that is designed to annex land from the State of Oromia and evict millions of Oromo farmers around Addis Ababa – both under the pretext of “urban development.’

Here’s the coverage of the rally by the DW/German radio (Amharic)

Gumaan Barattoota Oromoo Milishuu Mallasaa fi Bilisummaa Lammii Tarkaanfii Boonsaa Humni Addaa WBO Baha Shawaa Keessatti Fudhateen Baafame

Waxabajjii 21, 2014

Humni Addaa WBO Miseensota Koree Basaasota Wayyaanee Baha Shawaa Keessatti Iccitiidhaan Ijaaramuun Barattoota Oromoo Milishuu (Abdii) Mallasaa fi Bilisummaa Lammii dabalatee ilmaan Oromoo ajjeesisuu, hiisisuu fi yakki adda addaa akka irratti raawwatamu ajaja dabarsaa turan irratti tarkaanfii boonsaa fudhateen 3 ajjeese.

Waxabajjii 19, 2014 Humni Addaa WBO miseensota Koree basaasota wayyaanee namoota 15 of jalaa qabu iccitiidhaan ijaaramuun Baha Shawaa (Adaamaa, Bushooftuu, Mojoo, Hoolancitii) fi manneen barnootaa godinicha keessa jiran keessatti barattoota Oromoo fi sabboontota Oromoo basaasuun akka ajjeefaman, hidhamanii fi dararaman hoggana kennaa turan galgala keessaa sa’aa 8:25 irratti tarkaanfii magaalaa Hoolancitii keessatti basaasota korichaa kan damee Adaamaa walgahii dhoksaa geggeeffataa turan irratti fudhateen 3 battalumatti ajjeesuun gumaa barattoota Oromoo Milishuu Mallasaa fi Bilisummaa Lammii Caamsaa 16, 2014 magaalaa Adaamaa keessatti koree kanaan ajjeefamanii baasuu isaa oduun SBO dhaqqabe mirkaneesseera.

Minnesota State Senators write to Secretary of State John Kerry about ‪#‎OromoProtests

UN Special Procedures Urged to Visit Ethiopia to Investigate Crackdown on Oromo Protests

June 20, 2014 (The Advocates Post) — Today, The Advocates for Human Rights, along with Human Rights First, the International Oromo Youth Association, Oromia Support Group Australia, the Oromo Community of Minnesota, the Oromo Studies Association, and World Without Genocide at William Mitchell College of Law, sent a letter to six of the United Nations’ special procedure mandate-holders, urging them to request and conduct country visits to Ethiopia to investigate actions taken by the Ethiopian Government in response to student-led protests in the state of Oromia.

Ethiopia: Gross Violations of Human Rights and an intractable conflict

Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA)

26^th Session of United Nations Human Rights Council

Geneva, Palais des Nations,

Presented By :Garoma B. Wakessa : Executive Director of HRLHA

June 19, 2014

Introduction:  It is common in democratic countries around the world for people to express their grievances/ dissatisfactions and complaints against their governments by peaceful demonstrations and assemblies.  When such nonviolent civil rallies take place, it should always be the state’s responsibility to respect and guard their citizens’ freedom to peacefully assemble and demonstrate. These responsibilities should apply even during times of political protests, when a state’s own power is questioned, challenged, or perhaps undermined by assemblies of citizens practicing in nonviolent resistance. If a government responds to peaceful protests improperly, a peaceful protest might lead to a violent protest- that could then become an intractable conflict. Government agents, most of all the police, must respect the local and international standards of democratic rights of the citizens during peaceful assemblies or demonstrations.

Washington State Senators write to Secretary of State John Kerry about ‪#‎OromoProtests

Australian Parliamnet: Oromo Community Speech – 19 June 2014

Oromo Community in Tingvoll and Møre og Romsdal Norway Demonstration on 2nd June 2014

by Alemin Kelifa

we oromo community protested against on going in ethiopia Oromia Region by Ethiopian security force. we condemn the killing, torturing, arresting mass oromo University students, high school and oromo politicians. Currently their are rallies being held whole over the world and still going on.
We oromo community in Tingvoll Norway are outraged with ethiopian dictatorial regime ongoing reckless attack on the oromo students that are peacefully demonstrating against irresponsible expansion of Finfinnee/Addis Ababa for the purpose of land grabbing.

Swedish journalist Martin Schibbye’s personal story of life in Addis Ababa’s notorious Kaliti prison

June 18, 2014, TURIN, Italy (Philstar) – In the darkened auditorium in this Italian city, some forum participants could be seen dabbing at their eyes while others could be heard blowing their nose.

It wasn’t anything in the air in the 90-year-old former Fiat automobile plant that is now the Lingotto Conference Center that made the delegates misty-eyed the other day. What touched the audience was the speech by a Swedish journalist who spent time in an Ethiopian prison for “terrorism.”

I have attended several of the annual gatherings of the World Editors Forum, where a Golden Pen of Freedom is traditionally awarded to a journalist who embodies the continuing struggle for press freedom around the world.

Humni Addaa WBO Godina Dhihaa Baha Wallaggaa keessatti waraana wayyaanee haleeluun loltoota 17 ol du’aa fi madoo taasise

(Madda Oduu ABO/MOA/ Waxabajjii 17, 2014)

Gootichi Humna Addaa WBO Godina Dhiha Oromiyaa Waxabajjii 06, 2014 Baha Wallaggaa Ona Haroo Limmuu daangaa bulchiinsa Benishaangulii fi Oromiyaan waldaangessu bakka Luugoo Booqaa jedhamutti tarkaanfii haxxee waraana Wayyaanee konkolaataan socho’aa ture irratti fudhateen 7 ajjeesee, kanneen 10 ol ta’an ammoo madeessuu Ajaji WBO Godina Dhiha Oromiyaa beeksiseera.

Intense fight breaks out in Somalia border with Ethiopia

June 17, 2014 (Shabelle) — A strong battle erupted on the Ethopia-Somalia border that resulted In casualties and losses.

Last night’s encounter broke out between Liyu Police and government troops on one side against Al-Shabaab.

News reports indicate that the fight was intense and various weapons were used.

Reliable sources in Bakool region have confirmed to Shabelle that several fatalities were caused although the precise numbers have not been specified yet.

Source: Shabelle

Oromo in Norway, Kristansand, Condemns Expansion of Finfinne

NORWAY KRISTANSAND, JUN-13-2014	Faffacaane, Oromo music by NAIMA

Ethiopia: ONLF officials wary of the new tensions between brotherly nations of Afar and Ogaden region

By Ahmed Abdi | June 16, 2014

Ogaden National Liberation Front’s Official, Rayal Hamoud, urged the two brotherly nations of Afar and Somalis from Ogaden region to take more precautions on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’s old tactics of turning one nation against another. “I  urge the two brotherly people of Afar and Somalis to be cautious about the intrigues of the TPLF and remember their unity in religion and blood.

The TPLF / EPRDF is under increasing pressure from opposition and warring factions of  ONLF, OLF, SLM, BPLM, ARDUF and GMD and many other formations from the oppressed nations. So The Tigray ruling Junta will try to use all efforts to turn Benishangul against Oromos, Somalis against Afars, Gambellas against Sidamas, and so on in part of creating chaos among the oppressed nations under Ethiopian occupation, Mr. Rayaale Hamoud a member of the ONLF Central Committee and a former head of Regional vice-president and founder of Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front (IGLF) in 1990s said in an interview with Radio Freedom (Xoriyo).

The fate of migrant workers in Yemeni ‘torture camps’

June 16, 2014 (Middle East Monitor) — A new report from Human Rights Watch revisits the torture camps of Yemen, where the only way out for the tens of thousands of migrant workers interned each year is a ransom payment from back home – and until it arrives, torture, beatings and inhumane conditions.

An Ethiopian child migrant and member of the Oromo community of Ethiopia living in Malta takes part in a protest against the Ethiopian regime in Valletta

June 16, 2014 (Reuters) — An Ethiopian child migrant and member of the Oromo community of Ethiopia

One of the Secret Mass Graves of Oromo Killing Fields Is Exposed at Hammarreessaa

OLF Press Release

June 14, 2014 (oromoliberationfront.org) — The mass murder, arrest, torture, exploitation and oppression perpetrated by Ethiopian regimes against the subject people, has been passing on from one regime to the next unabated. This pattern of the ruling clique well precedes the formation of the Ethiopian empire. This is because the cliques had continually come to power through violence, against the wish of the people, and they had to resort to sheer force of terror to keep the people under control. Ruthless mass murder was the efficient means to terrorize, demoralize and dehumanize the subject people. As no people willfully accept such illegitimate rule the relation between them and the ruling clique remains one of victor and vanquished.

Pictures of Ogaden and Oromo Women protest at the Global summit to End rape and sexual Violence

June 14, 2014, London

The Ogaden and Oromo women held a large protest at the Global Summit to end Sexual violence and demanded the recognition of the plights of the Ogaden women and Oromo women. The protesters complained the Rape and sexual violence used as a weapon against Ogaden and Oromo women at the hands of the Ethiopian military.

Flare-Up in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region

June 13, 2014 (Early Warning Project) – Our statistical risk assessments continue to identify Ethiopia as one of the world’s countries at greatest risk of state-led mass killing, and recent reports of violent repression in Ethiopia’s Oromia region suggest one pathway by which that dismal but still unlikely outcome could happen.

In mid-May, Amnesty International issued a public statement calling out the use of deadly force by Ethiopian security forces against a series of nonviolent protests in Oromia that began in late April. The protesters are objecting to the part of a new development plan that envisions the expansion of the national capital region into parts of Oromia. The central government claims this change will help bring city services to remote areas, but many Oromos fear it will only lead to land grabs and evictions. According to Amnesty,

Sidama is Under Siege following SLM/Medrek’s permission to Demonstrate TPLF’s Unconstitutionality!

June 12, 2014

Kukissa, Sidama Reporter from Sidama Capital Hawassa,

The arduous journey of Sidama Liberation Movement (SLM) and Medrek (the coalition of opposition parties) demanding permission of the rulers to assert their right of peacefully demonstrating the recent massacre of Oromo civilians and others crimes TPLF’s regime has committed and is committing against the Oromo, Sidama, Ogadenia, Hadiya, Gambela, Benshangul, Kambata, Kaffisho and Shakichcho, Gedeo and others peoples of nations and nationalities- was finalised with implausible permission with attached preconditions. The authorities of TPLF’s rulers were eventually obliged to concede after postponing it for over a month due to a hard work of SLM/Mederek coalition whose leadership knocked at the doors of the authorities on daily basis defying odds and intimidation; the reason they were only allowed to hold their demonstration on the 10^th of June 2014.

Jen and Josh witnessed Ambo protests

MESSAGE FOR U.S. CITIZENS: Warning to Americans of Somali Origin Traveling to Ethiopia

June 11, 2014, Addis Ababa (Embassy of the US) –As stated in Ethiopia’s Country Specific Information, following the failed October 2013 bombing attempt in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for which the U.S. government-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, the U.S. Embassy received reports that ALL individuals of Somali origin, including naturalized American citizens, were being stopped for questioning when entering and exiting Ethiopia.

The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa has been made aware that this practice is not isolated to just ports of entry such as Bole International Airport.  Individuals of Somali origin, regardless of citizenship, may be stopped, arrested, and detained for an extended period of time with no charges by Ethiopian authorities.

Individuals of Somali origin are advised to prepare for this contingency, and are recommended to carry copies of all important documents and the contact information for the U.S. Embassy.  As an American citizen, you have the right to request that the U.S. Embassy be notified you are detained.

Ethiopia’s Police State: The Silencing of Opponents, Journalists and Students Detained

By Paul O’Keeffe

June 11, 2014 (Global Research) — Detention under spurious charges in Ethiopia is nothing new. With the second highest rate of imprisoned journalists in Africa[1] and arbitrary detention for anyone who openly objects to the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) regime’s despotic iron fist, the Western backed government in Addis Ababa is a dab hand at silencing its critics.

Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu are just two of the country’s more famous examples of journalists thrown in prison for daring to call the EPRFD out on their reckless disregard for human rights. This April the regime made headlines again for jailing six[2] bloggers and three more journalists on trumped up charges of inciting violence through their journalistic work. Repeated calls for due legal process for the detainees from human rights organisations and politicians, such as John Kerry, have fallen on deaf ears as they languish in uncertainty awaiting trial. This zero-tolerance approach to questioning of government repression is central to the EPRDF’s attempts to control its national and international image and doesn’t show much signs of letting up.

Jailed Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega awarded the 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom

June 11, 2014 (World News Publishing Focus) –“This Golden Pen is more important than food, medicine and water. It materializes the support and shows that he is not forgotten. That he is one of us. That an attack on one journalist is an attack on us all and that jailing a journalist is a crime against humanity,” Swedish journalist Martin Schibbye said, accepting the 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), on behalf of imprisoned Ethiopian publisher, journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega. 

The honour was formally bestowed on Nega in a ceremony at the 66th World Newspaper Congress, under way in the Italian city of Torino this week, where more than 1,000 media industry representatives have gathered.

TPLF shooting at civilians at Haramessa mass garve

June 10, 2014

OROMOO GODINA BAHAA HARARGEE IRAA WAYAANEEN BANTEE Oromoo mee laalaa video motumman wayaanee ummata iraa dukkassa bantee bombii araa iraa darbuu dhaa ummata rukkutuu issanii mulissa waxabajji 10/2014 ganama 7:00 am iraa jalqabee ummanii mirga Abba biyuumma issaniitii je’anii falmii didaa gabruumaa agarssissaniruu

Mass Grave of Oromos Executed by Govt Discovered in Eastern Oromia

June 10, 2014

(Freedom for Oromia) — According to sources, a confrontation between residents and Ethiopian government officials broke out on June 9, 2014, over a mass grave discovered at the former Hameressa military garrison near Harar city, eastern Oromia.
The mass grave is believed to contain remains of political prisoners executed during both the Dergue era and the early reigns of the current TPLF regime. Among those who were executed and buried in the location was Mustafa Harowe, a famous Oromo singer who was killed around early 1990′s for his revolutionary songs. Thousands more Oromo political prisoners were kept at this location in early 1990′s – with many of them never to be seen again.

Oromummaa and Oromo struggle for identity and Freedom | Oromummaa fi Qabso Oromo Eenyummaa fi Birmadummaaf

By Ibsaa Guutamaa | June 9, 2014

The enemy is trying to erase Oromo identity as independent people to deny their claim over Oromiyaa.  But gallant Oromo that have thirst for freedom are shaking the earth from mountains and valleys of their country.  The enemy is a wobbling tooth that has no remedy except pulling it out.

Manneen Hidhaa Godina Lixa Shawaa Keessatti Oromoonni lakkoofsaan 75 ta’an Haalaan Dararamaa Jiru. Kanneen Keessaa 8 Shamarran Ta’uun Beekame

Gabaasa Qeerroo Lixa Shawaa Waxabajjii 09,2014

Yeroo ammaa kanatti Oromoonni Maqaan Isaanii kanaa gaditti  tarreefaman kuniin mana hidhaa godina Lixa Shawaa,Amboo, Waajjira Poolisii Godinaa, Kachallee Amboo,Gamoo Abbabechi jala,Masaraa Mootummaa Magaalaa Amboo, Hoomachoo, fi  Sanqallee Keessatti hidhamuun miidhaan reebichaa fi dararaan adda addaa  haalaan akka irra gahaa jiru gabaasi Qeerroo Magaalaa Amboo ibsee jira.

A Call for Discussion to all Diaspora based Oromo Youth Organizations

June 8, 2014

Since the Oromo Protests began, Ethiopian security forces responded to the peaceful protests by massacring, imprisoning and torturing innocent students. Government forces famously known as the (Agazi Commandos) have been abducting university students both at school and home. Furthermore, thousands of students have been expelled from universities and are continuously terrorized outside of school. Due to Ethiopia’s repressive policies and lack of free media not much is known about the current crisis. Continuous murders and arbitrary arrests of Oromo students go unreported. However, Oromo groups in the diaspora have organized and rallied in solidarity with Oromo Protests to pressure the international community to condemn human rights violations in Ethiopia. This allowed for some media coverage from the international community, but not enough to get mass media attention.

Found the bodies of Ethiopian immigrants were tortured to death in Yemen

Sana’a, Yemen (Youm 7) — The Ministry of the Interior of Yemen, said on Saturday that security forces found the bodies of Ethiopians in the region bordering Saudi Arabia north of the country.

The interior, in a statement on its website, “The police in the area incited the province of argument found (did not specify the date) on the bodies of two Ethiopians in a garbage dump .. and Forensic Medicine confirmed being beaten and tortured to death.”

She added that the police carried out a screening proved the involvement of a number of people in detention Africans in the backyard of their homes, a number of them were seized during the raid, while others managed to escape.

Ethiopia Recruits Bloggers to Attack Oppositions and the Eritrean Government

ESAT | June 7, 2014

Regime in Paranoia? From Jamming satellite transmissions, blocking websites, criminalise using Skype and arresting bloggers to recruiting paid online attackers and arresting bloggers to training paid social media recruits?

IN an attempt to reduce online criticisms and shower positive image of itself, the Ethiopian Government recently started to train and recruit paid attackers on the web to anything critical of its administration, the Ethiopian Satellite Television Service (ESAT) reported.

In the the second round of new recruits, 235 bloggers were trained in Adama town, focusing on how to shape public opinion on Facebook and other social media technologies by posting comments and documents that support the regime.

The training was given to selected people from different ethnic groups who support the regime, and that the trainees report directly to government officials, ESAT said.

Eutelsat Fingers Ethiopia as Jamming Incidents Triple

June 6, 2014, PARIS (Space News) — Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat said intentional interference, which accounted for just 5 percent of the disruptions to its fleet in 2010, was responsible for 15 percent of the signal disruptions in 2013.

The tripling of intentional interference events, tied in part to the expansion of Eutelsat’s fleet serving Middle Eastern and African television audiences, is unlikely to drop in 2014 with the latest round of jamming by an unidentified source in Ethiopia.

Eutelsat said the jamming, which has affected Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Arabsat’s satellites as well as at least two Eutelsat spacecraft, has been geolocated in northeast Ethiopia.

The way the jamming is conducted has resulted to interference not only on the presumed target broadcaster, but to all broadcasters sharing the affected satellite transponders.

Nimoonaa Xilahuun Wareegame

(Oromedia, 6 Waxabajjii 2014) Mana hidhaa mootummaa Itoophiyaa keessatti waggoota dheeraaf dararamaa kan ture, sabboonaa Oromoo, Nimoonaa Tilahuun guyyaa har’aa addunyaa kana irraa boqote.

Sababa gaaffii mirgaa fi bilisummaa Oromoo deeggareef humnoota tikaa wayyaaneetiin Waxibajjii 26, 2008 hidhattoota mootummaa konkolaataa gabatee isaa 3-F ta’een qabamee kan hidhame Nimoonaa Xilahuun, manneen qorannoo fi hidhaa Itoophiyaa kan akka Maa’ikalaawwii fi Qaallittii keessatti hiraarfamaa akka ture ni beekama.

#OromoProtests in Perspective

By Ayantu Tibeso

Image via Twin Cities Daily Planet

June 6, 2014 (warscapes) – Since April 25th, thousands of high school and university students across Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, have turned out in peaceful protest against a government land grab that stands to displace millions of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands. Even though the country’s constitution theoretically allows for peaceful demonstrations, the student protesters, along with local populations in many cities and towns, have faced a ruthless crackdown from Ethiopian Special Forces, known as the Agazi Commandos. These forces have used excessive violence by indiscriminately shooting into crowds in an attempt to quash the protests. Children as young as eleven years old have been killed, according to statement issued by Amnesty International on May 13, and reports of fatal injuries, torture, imprisonment, disappearances and killings have been coming out of Ethiopia since then.

Reminder from Wikileaks Ethiopia Files: Ethiopia Bombs Itself, Blames Eritrea or OLF

by Thomas C. Mountain   |  September 16, 2011

Recently released Wikileaks Ethiopia files expose how Ethiopian security forces planted 3 bombs that went off in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on September 16, 2006 and then blamed Eritrea and the Oromo resistance for the blasts in a case that raises serious questions about the claims made about the bombing attempt against the African Union summit earlier this year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In a report  from 2006 marked “Secret ; Subject: Ethiopia: Recent Bombings Blamed on Oromos Possibly the Work of GOE [Government of Ethiopia]” “Classified By: Charge [d’Affairs] Vicki Huddleston”, “An embassy source, as well as clandestine reporting, suggests that the bombing may have in fact been the work of the GoE security forces.” (Cable reference id: #06ADDISABABA2708.)

At the time, the western media reported the Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) claims that the bombs were “part of a coordinated terror attack by the OLF [Oromo Liberation Front, the oldest national  liberation movement in Ethiopia] and  Sha’abiya (Eritrea) aimed at disrupting democratic development”.

#OromoProtests: Hunger-Strike in Seattle

June 5, 2014

An #OromoProtests Solidarity Hunger-Strike in Seattle, Washington, June 3, 2014 at 8am local time. The hunger-strike will continue until today, June 5, 2014.

Local Lutherans share concerns from Oromia region

By MDC Synod Communications

congregations  pray for Oromo children killed by Ethiopian regime

June 4, 2014 (Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod) — “I mourn the death of our youngsters,” says the Rev. Teka Obsa Fogi of dozens of casualties witnessed since April 25 among peacefully protesting students throughout Oromia Regional State by security force shootings and beatings.* Pr. Fogi is pastor of Oromo Resurrection Evangelical Church (“OREC”) in Kensington, Maryland, a worshiping community of the Metro D.C. Synod with direct ties to the region, one of nine ethnically-based states of Ethiopia. “OREC and all Oromo churches are praying for our young students, their parents and those the government wants to dispossess of their land,” he says. “Please pray with us.”

Protests, which began at universities in large towns throughout Oromia then spread to smaller communities in the region, erupted over the release in April of the proposed Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan. The “Master Plan” outlines substantial municipal expansion of Addis Ababa to include more than 15 communities in Oromia according to Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights.*