Ethiopia Charges Prominent Opposition Member Bekele Gerba, Others With Terrorism

(Addis Standard) — Prosecutors have today charged 22 individuals, including prominent opposition member Bekele Gerba (pictured), first secretary general of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), with various articles of Ethiopia’s much criticized Anti Terrorism Proclamation (ATP). Addis Standard could not obtain details of the charges as of yet.

However, charges include, but not limited to, alleged membership of the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), public incitement, encouraging violence, as well as causing the death of innocent civilians and property destructions in cities such as Ambo and Adama, 120km west and 100km east of Addis Abeba during the recent Oromo protests in Ethiopia.

Land Grabbing and the Socio-economic and Environmental Destruction of Floriculture Industries in Oromia, Ethiopia

By: Assefa Mitike Janko[1]

Land Grabbing

How much land has been acquired by the Indian enterprises in Ethiopia? What crops do they plan to grow? Source: Oakland Institute, February 2013

Although the global land grabbing literature focuses on large-scale land transfer to foreign and domestic ‘investors’ in developing countries, the situation in Oromia is quite different. Land grabbing in Oromia was started in the late 19thcentury when the Abyssinian empire conquered the Oromo nation through relentless military conquest that some scholars refer to internal colonization. Following the conquest, Oromo lost their land, natural resources, autonomy, and sovereignty, and were eventually subjected to imperial oppression under successive regimes in the country.

Why Are Oromo Refugees Getting Sent Back to Ethiopia?

Tariku Debela, in jeans, walks carefully through the streets of Eastleigh, Nairobi. Photo by Ebba Abbamurti.

(Okay Africa) — On a warm evening last month, Tariku Debela was walking home from dinner in the immigrant enclave of Eastleigh, Nairobi, when he was jumped by four men who took his phone and more than $200 in cash. Getting mugged is bad enough, but what happened next is seared in Debela’s memory.

Ethiopia: U.S. Rights Report Barely Scratched Recent Oromo Protest

Report’s minimal attention on massive rights abuses and killings during the Oromo Protests angered activists

(All Africa) — The State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor released the latest country report including for Ethiopia on April 13, 2016.

Much to its usual details, the Ethiopia report identified harassment and intimidation against opposition members and supporters as well as journalists in Ethiopia; it also alleged torture, beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees by security forces and politically motivated trials as “the most significant human rights problems” in the country.

2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Ethiopia

U.S. Department of State
BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR

Report, April 13, 2016

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Ethiopia is a federal republic. The ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four ethnically based parties, controls the government. On May 24, the country held national and regional elections for the House of People’s Representatives, the parliamentary body. The EPRDF and affiliated parties won all 547 seats to remain in power for a fifth consecutive five-year term. On October 5, parliament elected Hailemariam Desalegn prime minister. Government restrictions severely limited independent observation of the vote. A mission from the African Union, the sole international institution or organization permitted to observe the voting, called the elections “calm, peaceful and credible.” Some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that an environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place prior to the election. There were reports of unfair government tactics, including intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters, and violence before and after the election that resulted in six confirmed deaths. Civilian authorities generally maintained control over the security forces, although local police in rural areas, the Somali Region Special Police, and local militias sometimes acted independently.

Guyyaa Gootota Oromoo kan Bara 2016 Ilalachisee Ibsa Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo

Guyyaan Gootota (Wareegamtoota) Oromoo Ebla 15, 1980 irraa eegalee waggaa waggaan kabajamaa fi yaadatamaa yoona gahe. Gootota gaafa alagaan biyya Oromoo cabsuuf itti duule diina biyya ofii irraa ittisuuf jecha diddaa gabrummaa irratti wareegaman dabalatee qabsaawoti bilisummaa Oromoo bifa adda addaan hanga har’aatti wareegama baasan hunda guyyaa kana yaadatna. Kana waliin, guyyaan wareegamtoota Oromoo, guyyaa miseensoti Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo, deggertootaa fi uummati Oromoo bal’aan kaayyoo sab-boontoti Oromoo dabran wareegamaniif galmaan gahuuf waadaa seenan itti haaromsani dha.

Deafening Silence from Ethiopia

(Human Rights Watch) — Since November, state security forces have killed hundreds of protesters and arrested thousands in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region. It’s the biggest political crisis to hit the country since the 2005 election but has barely registered internationally. And with the protests now in their fifth month, there is an almost complete information blackout.

A teacher arrested in December told me, “In Oromia the world doesn’t know what happens for months, years or ever. No one ever comes to speak to us, and we don’t know where to find those who will listen to our stories.”

#OromoProtest Daily, April 10, 2016 (updated)

Hayyuu Dureen ABO Jaal Daawud Ibsaa Gaazexesitootaaf Ibsa Kennan

Dhaamsa kana waliif dabarsaa wal hubachiisaa

#OromoProtests activists in Philadelphia force cancellation of a meeting called by TPLF embassy. The promise is kept! TPLF will not be allowed to hold any meeting in diaspora while killing our people back home. TPLF WILL NEVER TAKE A MOVE IN DIASPORA

Ethiopia’s Oromo Protest ‘Development,’ Displacement and Death Belén Fernández

Events in Oromia have been described as the worst civil unrest in a decade.

Ethiopian migrants of the Oromo community of Ethiopia living in Malta protest against the Ethiopian regime outside the office of Malta’s Prime Minister in Valletta June 16, 2014. | Photo: Reuters

(telesurtv) — “This government is at least better than previous ones,” remarked a 74-year-old Eritrean man to me last month in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, his longtime residence. Clad in a tattered grey suit and speaking to me in Italian, the man was peddling a book of useful Amharic phrases he had compiled for the foreign visitor, proceeds of which would go toward the purchase of a second-hand comforter for his bed.

Petition Intended to Stop the Killings of Oromo Women and Children

Begna Dugassa Ph.D;  Email: begna.dugassa@gmail.com

One of the Peaceful Oromo protesters gunned down by security forces of the regime

We are saddened to the wide spread killings and imprisonments in Oromia. The killings and imprisonments are unjust and we believe that you are also saddened to the actions of the Ethiopian government security forces. The petition is planned to reach international organizations such as the UN and EU as well as countries that are providing financial assistance to Ethiopia i.e.  the U.S.A, UK, Germany, France, Italia, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Holland and others. The message of the petition is: Stop the Ethiopian government from using the international financial aids to kill Oromo women & children.  To make sure your voices are heard we encourage you to sign this petition.

What it takes to sign the petition?

It takes two easy steps. To sign the petition you simply go to the link below and click on the file. When you open the file, on the right corner you will see: SIGN THE PETITION. In the space provided you enter your name, email address and the country where you reside and hit enter. If other family members or friends want to sign the petition you have to wait until the first person is signed out from the link.

#OromoProtests Daily, April 2, 2016

SBO Ebla 3, 2016

(SBO/VOL – Ebla 02,2016) Miseensotaa fi Kaabinoota wayyaanee Godina Baha Shawaa keessatti barattoota fi ummata irraan miidhaa guddaa geessisan irratti tarkanfiin boombii fudhatame.

Bitootessa 31,2016 Godina Baha Shawaa magaalaa Bishooftuu ganda 01 keessatti kan argamu Hoteela Awaash jedhamu keessa qubachuun barattootaa fi ummata Oromoo irratti shira adda addaa xaxuun gidiraan akka isaan irra gahuuf kan hojjechaa turan kaabinootaa fi miseensota wayyaanee irratti tarkaanfii boombii fudhatameen haalaan gaaga’amaniiru.
Tarkaanfiin kun kan fudhatame galgala keessa oggaa ta’u kaabinootni wayyaanee hoteela kana keessatti shira xaxaa turan 8 oggaa ta’an 7 hojiin ala ta’aniiru