Saturday, November 26, 2005
"We are living under dictatorship"
Interview with the former President of Ethiopia, Dr. Negasso Gidada (Der Spiegel 47/2005, November 21, 2005 - translated by Getachew Robele)
Thilo Thielke talked to Dr. Negasso Gidada, 61, about the causes of unrest in Ethiopia, the war clouds in the Horn of Africa, and Germany foreign policy in the region. The interview has a title that reads as: “we are now living under dictatorship”, a quote from Dr. Negasso. Der Spiegel is a weekly magazine that is widely read in German-speaking countries. A portrait of Dr. Negasso, an Ethiopian map, a partial view of a big demonstration in Mesquel Sqare and a picture of Meles Zenawi while casting ballot in Adwa are glued inside the article. Note about translation: though a maximum effort has been made to make the translation in as sound as possible, the translator would like to apologize to Dr. Negasso and Der Spiegel if some inconsistencies or oversights are made in the course of the translation.
Spiegel: Mr. Gidada, we hear about weeks of shooting in the streets of Addis. How come that the state which you served as a minister for four years and president for six years resorted to this?
Gidada: The situation in Ethiopia is very serious. In Addis, it has become commonly routine to imprison people and throw them in jails and concentration camps on daily basis. Young people are routinely beaten and the police are literally plundering the private houses of the people they suspect. Most of the concentration camps are located in malaria infested areas of the country. The great majority of the opposition leaders, including artists, journalists and professors are under arrest. Although the official figures of those imprisoned are about 8000, the numbers are definitely much higher than this and may reach about 40,000.
Spiegel: How come that all these have happened?
Gidada: The incumbent regime has never thought and believed that it would lose so horribly in the May election, which is the first democratic election ever held in the country’s history. The opposition parties won in almost all bigger cities and all the more so in Addis with a landslide. When this became clear in the process of ballot counting, the government led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi resorted to a massive ballot rigging and fraud by either forcing the opposition party representatives in the polling stations to sign on the rigged results or by deterring their presence in the centers where ballot counting was conducted.
Spiegel: Like for instance the mayorship office in the capital city
Gidada: Yes. Naturally, the government resorted to blackmailing. Given the fact that the conscience of most of the opposition party members couldn’t come to terms with reality, they opted to distance themselves from the parliament. It has now become crystal clear that we are living under dictatorship.
Spiegel: You have also won as individual candidate in your constituency and opted to join the parliament with few other opposition members, why? Gidada: I am of the conviction to respect people’s voices/votes.
Spiegel: The official press in Ethiopia compares the opposition activists with the Taliban rebels.
Gidada: The Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) called on its members to conduct strikes and demonstrations which is allowed by the constitution. The government considers any protest action against the rigged election results as a coup attempt. Anybody that is engaged in further demonstration and other forms of civil disobedience has been threatened with treason charges, which can culminate in life imprisonment and death penalty. Any refusal or abstention to go to work is also becoming a court case.
Spiegel: In the recent unrest, policemen have also been killed which implies that the opposition parties are not prudish.
Gidada: I am against any form of violence. The question is: do the police have a right to shoot randomly or to further beat children who have got head wounds for nothing but holding stones in their hands? Official sources put the number of dead from the most recent crisis to 61 but I am sure the figures would elevate if all of the fallen victims are counted. We don’t get lots of information now simply because independent newspapers are prohibited to publish or have been the victims of the government’s crackdown. The chief editors and directors of the newspapers are now either in prison or forced to go underground.
Spiegel: Has the protest spread widely throughout the country?
Gidada: I hear about riots in Oromia and Amhara regions. More and more rural people are now siding with secessionist guerrilla forces who are giving them access to firearms. The hope, belief, and dreams of Ethiopians for a lasting solution to the conflict seem to be shattered all the more so when the government opted to rule the country by force. We are now threatened by civil war, a growing chaos and anarchy.
Spiegel: Do you think that things have escalated as a result of the multi-ethnicity nature of the country?
Gidada: For instance, Tigrai region where Prime Minister Zenawi comes from, makes up only seven percent of the Ethiopian population. That is relatively a setback for him. We have to be very careful not to indulge in an ethnic conflict. Notwithstanding these state of affairs, there are movements that are fighting for autonomy, the best example being the Oromo Liberation Front. They are fighting in the name of the Oromo people who make up 40 percent of the country’s population. Ethiopia with its 75 million people has the second largest population after Nigeria. There are about 80 different languages spoken in the country.
Spiegel: You had been the President of Ethiopia till 2001. These had also rarely been times of peace in Ethiopia.
Gidada: It was actually a period in which Eritrea attacked us. The war which claimed the lives of about 100,000 people came to an end after the UN brokered peace between the two countries was enforced and both were told to acquiesce to the peace initiative. The threats of sanctions and the cancellation of credits and development aids were used as sticks to bring both warring parties into the negotiating table. Premier Meles acquiesced to the pressure irrespective of its consequences and has ironically resorted to oppressions internally.
Spiegel: How do you evaluate things in retrospect?
Gidada: It is now clear to me than ever before that Ethiopia’s democracy has stumbled and fallen flat. This stands in contradistinction to our expectation not to have a repeat of the decades of authoritarianism under Emperor Haile Selassie and the Red Terror years during Mengistu. We thought that these chapters have been closed once and for all, albeit wrongly. Now more than ever before, human right violations and anti-constitutional moves by the regime are becoming the norms than exceptions. Any critic of the government will be liquidated. That is why a rift between me and PM Meles occurred. All these things should be seen in perspective: the prime minister had a vision to stay in power until such a time Ethiopia attains a level of development reached by South Korea. He had in mind a twenty years time to reach that level.
Spiegel: More than 20 percent of Ethiopia’s annual budget is financed from EU and the US and the relationship between Zenawi and the West is in its highest form. The premier is a member of Tony Blair’s Commission and not long ago he was with the German President, Horst Köhler. How do you see these?
Gidada: Sadly, all these at a time when people were murdered on the streets of Addis and other towns. I felt extremely sad about all these bizarre things. The Africa Conference in Bonn has damaged the democratic movement in my country. Day-in and day-out, the government-controlled Ethiopian presses are bombarding us with Zenawi’s recent German visit. We really feel betrayed.
Spiegel: Amazing! You know the present-day German politicians from your previous stay here in Germany while studying Anthropology and Social Psychology in Germany in the 1970s.
Gidada: You are right. I went to the streets with many of the then Leftists and Greens, including with some who belonged to Gerhard Schröder’s government. We all demonstrated then against Third World dictators such as the Mobutus and the Bokassas. Most of the present-day leaders in Africa, which belonged to the leftist-oriented liberation fronts, promised us a heaven on earth. Think of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda. Power corrupts people and these same guys who promised us a lot have become real dictators. None of the aforementioned countries have a functioning multi-party system. Surprisingly, however, these same states are considered as favored-kids in German foreign policy.
Spiegel: You are critical of the West’s silence against the horrible things that are transpiring in your country. Don’t you think that this is related to the fact that your country is considered as a partner in the Americans fight against terrorism in the troubled Horn of Africa region? Two of your neighboring countries, viz.. Somalia and the Sudan, are considered as breeding grounds for terrorism.
Gidada: This really reminds me of the Cold War where the superpowers had been closing their eyes to problems related to human right violation and violence. Meles Zenawi and Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, have been one of the very few African states who supported the war in Iraq. Internally, however, both of them have been terrorizing their own people.
Spiegel: Now-a-days, we hear of troop remobilization in and around the conflict-laden borders between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The movement of UN soldiers, who have been patrolling the buffer zone between the two countries, has been curtailed Is there a possibility for a renewed war between the two states?
Gidada: Nobody likes to see another blood bath. I feel that the Eritrean government intends to exploit the internal strives in Ethiopia to its own advantage. By so doing, it also likes to draw the attention of the international community to resolve the border issue. None of the parties can shoulder a war and both of them will find themselves on the lose-lose side.
Thilo Thielke talked to Dr. Negasso Gidada, 61, about the causes of unrest in Ethiopia, the war clouds in the Horn of Africa, and Germany foreign policy in the region. The interview has a title that reads as: “we are now living under dictatorship”, a quote from Dr. Negasso. Der Spiegel is a weekly magazine that is widely read in German-speaking countries. A portrait of Dr. Negasso, an Ethiopian map, a partial view of a big demonstration in Mesquel Sqare and a picture of Meles Zenawi while casting ballot in Adwa are glued inside the article. Note about translation: though a maximum effort has been made to make the translation in as sound as possible, the translator would like to apologize to Dr. Negasso and Der Spiegel if some inconsistencies or oversights are made in the course of the translation.
Spiegel: Mr. Gidada, we hear about weeks of shooting in the streets of Addis. How come that the state which you served as a minister for four years and president for six years resorted to this?
Gidada: The situation in Ethiopia is very serious. In Addis, it has become commonly routine to imprison people and throw them in jails and concentration camps on daily basis. Young people are routinely beaten and the police are literally plundering the private houses of the people they suspect. Most of the concentration camps are located in malaria infested areas of the country. The great majority of the opposition leaders, including artists, journalists and professors are under arrest. Although the official figures of those imprisoned are about 8000, the numbers are definitely much higher than this and may reach about 40,000.
Spiegel: How come that all these have happened?
Gidada: The incumbent regime has never thought and believed that it would lose so horribly in the May election, which is the first democratic election ever held in the country’s history. The opposition parties won in almost all bigger cities and all the more so in Addis with a landslide. When this became clear in the process of ballot counting, the government led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi resorted to a massive ballot rigging and fraud by either forcing the opposition party representatives in the polling stations to sign on the rigged results or by deterring their presence in the centers where ballot counting was conducted.
Spiegel: Like for instance the mayorship office in the capital city
Gidada: Yes. Naturally, the government resorted to blackmailing. Given the fact that the conscience of most of the opposition party members couldn’t come to terms with reality, they opted to distance themselves from the parliament. It has now become crystal clear that we are living under dictatorship.
Spiegel: You have also won as individual candidate in your constituency and opted to join the parliament with few other opposition members, why? Gidada: I am of the conviction to respect people’s voices/votes.
Spiegel: The official press in Ethiopia compares the opposition activists with the Taliban rebels.
Gidada: The Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) called on its members to conduct strikes and demonstrations which is allowed by the constitution. The government considers any protest action against the rigged election results as a coup attempt. Anybody that is engaged in further demonstration and other forms of civil disobedience has been threatened with treason charges, which can culminate in life imprisonment and death penalty. Any refusal or abstention to go to work is also becoming a court case.
Spiegel: In the recent unrest, policemen have also been killed which implies that the opposition parties are not prudish.
Gidada: I am against any form of violence. The question is: do the police have a right to shoot randomly or to further beat children who have got head wounds for nothing but holding stones in their hands? Official sources put the number of dead from the most recent crisis to 61 but I am sure the figures would elevate if all of the fallen victims are counted. We don’t get lots of information now simply because independent newspapers are prohibited to publish or have been the victims of the government’s crackdown. The chief editors and directors of the newspapers are now either in prison or forced to go underground.
Spiegel: Has the protest spread widely throughout the country?
Gidada: I hear about riots in Oromia and Amhara regions. More and more rural people are now siding with secessionist guerrilla forces who are giving them access to firearms. The hope, belief, and dreams of Ethiopians for a lasting solution to the conflict seem to be shattered all the more so when the government opted to rule the country by force. We are now threatened by civil war, a growing chaos and anarchy.
Spiegel: Do you think that things have escalated as a result of the multi-ethnicity nature of the country?
Gidada: For instance, Tigrai region where Prime Minister Zenawi comes from, makes up only seven percent of the Ethiopian population. That is relatively a setback for him. We have to be very careful not to indulge in an ethnic conflict. Notwithstanding these state of affairs, there are movements that are fighting for autonomy, the best example being the Oromo Liberation Front. They are fighting in the name of the Oromo people who make up 40 percent of the country’s population. Ethiopia with its 75 million people has the second largest population after Nigeria. There are about 80 different languages spoken in the country.
Spiegel: You had been the President of Ethiopia till 2001. These had also rarely been times of peace in Ethiopia.
Gidada: It was actually a period in which Eritrea attacked us. The war which claimed the lives of about 100,000 people came to an end after the UN brokered peace between the two countries was enforced and both were told to acquiesce to the peace initiative. The threats of sanctions and the cancellation of credits and development aids were used as sticks to bring both warring parties into the negotiating table. Premier Meles acquiesced to the pressure irrespective of its consequences and has ironically resorted to oppressions internally.
Spiegel: How do you evaluate things in retrospect?
Gidada: It is now clear to me than ever before that Ethiopia’s democracy has stumbled and fallen flat. This stands in contradistinction to our expectation not to have a repeat of the decades of authoritarianism under Emperor Haile Selassie and the Red Terror years during Mengistu. We thought that these chapters have been closed once and for all, albeit wrongly. Now more than ever before, human right violations and anti-constitutional moves by the regime are becoming the norms than exceptions. Any critic of the government will be liquidated. That is why a rift between me and PM Meles occurred. All these things should be seen in perspective: the prime minister had a vision to stay in power until such a time Ethiopia attains a level of development reached by South Korea. He had in mind a twenty years time to reach that level.
Spiegel: More than 20 percent of Ethiopia’s annual budget is financed from EU and the US and the relationship between Zenawi and the West is in its highest form. The premier is a member of Tony Blair’s Commission and not long ago he was with the German President, Horst Köhler. How do you see these?
Gidada: Sadly, all these at a time when people were murdered on the streets of Addis and other towns. I felt extremely sad about all these bizarre things. The Africa Conference in Bonn has damaged the democratic movement in my country. Day-in and day-out, the government-controlled Ethiopian presses are bombarding us with Zenawi’s recent German visit. We really feel betrayed.
Spiegel: Amazing! You know the present-day German politicians from your previous stay here in Germany while studying Anthropology and Social Psychology in Germany in the 1970s.
Gidada: You are right. I went to the streets with many of the then Leftists and Greens, including with some who belonged to Gerhard Schröder’s government. We all demonstrated then against Third World dictators such as the Mobutus and the Bokassas. Most of the present-day leaders in Africa, which belonged to the leftist-oriented liberation fronts, promised us a heaven on earth. Think of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda. Power corrupts people and these same guys who promised us a lot have become real dictators. None of the aforementioned countries have a functioning multi-party system. Surprisingly, however, these same states are considered as favored-kids in German foreign policy.
Spiegel: You are critical of the West’s silence against the horrible things that are transpiring in your country. Don’t you think that this is related to the fact that your country is considered as a partner in the Americans fight against terrorism in the troubled Horn of Africa region? Two of your neighboring countries, viz.. Somalia and the Sudan, are considered as breeding grounds for terrorism.
Gidada: This really reminds me of the Cold War where the superpowers had been closing their eyes to problems related to human right violation and violence. Meles Zenawi and Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, have been one of the very few African states who supported the war in Iraq. Internally, however, both of them have been terrorizing their own people.
Spiegel: Now-a-days, we hear of troop remobilization in and around the conflict-laden borders between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The movement of UN soldiers, who have been patrolling the buffer zone between the two countries, has been curtailed Is there a possibility for a renewed war between the two states?
Gidada: Nobody likes to see another blood bath. I feel that the Eritrean government intends to exploit the internal strives in Ethiopia to its own advantage. By so doing, it also likes to draw the attention of the international community to resolve the border issue. None of the parties can shoulder a war and both of them will find themselves on the lose-lose side.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Protest on its 8th day
Oromo people’s struggle against Ethiopian fascist regime in its 8th day.
The flame of Oromo people's struggle against tyranny is picking momentum by the day, engulfing the entire Oromia. On the 16th of November, Oromo students in Arsii Zone, Qoree town, staged a peaceful demonstration. However, the Wayane regime and its agents turned the peaceful demonstration into a blood bath by directly opening fire on the protesters killing four students instantly. Angered by this execution, the residents of the city joined the protesters plunging the city into a state of total chaos. In the middle of that chaotic situation, six more people were killed, bringing the number of deaths to ten people. Information leaked out from the government inner circle indicated that a plain-cloth mercenary hired by the regime committed the killings of the first four Oromo students. This dangerous maneuver is designed to blame the killings of the Oromos onto the ethnic group the killer comes from, on the one hand, and to divert attention from the fundamental questions raised by the Oromo people, on the other hand.
We would like to warn the international community and all concerned parties, in a strongest term possible, that the implications of such acts of this government is the gravest one, and the responsibility of any potential bloodshed, as the result of this act, lies squarely on the Wayane regime in Finfinnee.
Following this massacre, students in Kofalee town staged huge demonstration on 17th of November while Oromo students from Arsii Nagellee and Kuyyaraa towns have staged similar protests on 18th of November.
In east Oromia, the people of Hirnaa and its surroundings have continued their protests that have been going on for more than a week now. On top of the people arrested from Hirnaa so far, nine more students and several residents, including one mentally disabled person, were shipped to a concentration camp in Hirnaa on the 18th of November.
The names of nine students arrested on 18th of November are:
Aammee Shankor
Bushiir Muhassan
Husseen
Aammee Mohammad (with his entire family)
Abraahiim Aliyyi
Ahmad Abraahiim
Abdii Mohammad
Mohammad Hassan
Mohammad Khaliif
Family members who managed to see the prisoners have told a gruesome story in the concentration camp. Most students were severely bitten up and one student has sustained a life threatening injuries.
In similar developments, farmers in the rural areas surrounding Hirnaa, have refused to attend a government-organized conference and staged demonstrations rejecting the government’s propaganda conference.
In another town in eastern Oromia, Ciroo, Oromo students and Oromo residents have continued their peaceful resistance, closing down all the roads leading to the town on the 18th of November.
Similarly protests of varying levels have continued in Amboo, Jimmaa, Bushooftuu, Roobee, Naqamtee, Gimbii, and several other cities in the entire Oromia.
Victory to the Oromo people.
External Information DivisionForeign Relations DepartmentOromo Liberation FrontNovember 18, 2005
The flame of Oromo people's struggle against tyranny is picking momentum by the day, engulfing the entire Oromia. On the 16th of November, Oromo students in Arsii Zone, Qoree town, staged a peaceful demonstration. However, the Wayane regime and its agents turned the peaceful demonstration into a blood bath by directly opening fire on the protesters killing four students instantly. Angered by this execution, the residents of the city joined the protesters plunging the city into a state of total chaos. In the middle of that chaotic situation, six more people were killed, bringing the number of deaths to ten people. Information leaked out from the government inner circle indicated that a plain-cloth mercenary hired by the regime committed the killings of the first four Oromo students. This dangerous maneuver is designed to blame the killings of the Oromos onto the ethnic group the killer comes from, on the one hand, and to divert attention from the fundamental questions raised by the Oromo people, on the other hand.
We would like to warn the international community and all concerned parties, in a strongest term possible, that the implications of such acts of this government is the gravest one, and the responsibility of any potential bloodshed, as the result of this act, lies squarely on the Wayane regime in Finfinnee.
Following this massacre, students in Kofalee town staged huge demonstration on 17th of November while Oromo students from Arsii Nagellee and Kuyyaraa towns have staged similar protests on 18th of November.
In east Oromia, the people of Hirnaa and its surroundings have continued their protests that have been going on for more than a week now. On top of the people arrested from Hirnaa so far, nine more students and several residents, including one mentally disabled person, were shipped to a concentration camp in Hirnaa on the 18th of November.
The names of nine students arrested on 18th of November are:
Aammee Shankor
Bushiir Muhassan
Husseen
Aammee Mohammad (with his entire family)
Abraahiim Aliyyi
Ahmad Abraahiim
Abdii Mohammad
Mohammad Hassan
Mohammad Khaliif
Family members who managed to see the prisoners have told a gruesome story in the concentration camp. Most students were severely bitten up and one student has sustained a life threatening injuries.
In similar developments, farmers in the rural areas surrounding Hirnaa, have refused to attend a government-organized conference and staged demonstrations rejecting the government’s propaganda conference.
In another town in eastern Oromia, Ciroo, Oromo students and Oromo residents have continued their peaceful resistance, closing down all the roads leading to the town on the 18th of November.
Similarly protests of varying levels have continued in Amboo, Jimmaa, Bushooftuu, Roobee, Naqamtee, Gimbii, and several other cities in the entire Oromia.
Victory to the Oromo people.
External Information DivisionForeign Relations DepartmentOromo Liberation FrontNovember 18, 2005
Protest on its 3rd day
Protest in Oromia on its third day
Reports coming from Oromia over the last few days indicate that Oromos in different parts of Oromia have came out to the streets to present their demands peacefully.
Oromos in towns such as Ciro, Galamso, Baddeessaa, Awwadaay, Haramaayaa, Dirree dhawaa, Jimmaa, Gimbii, Bakkoo, Warraa Jarsoo and Inaangoo have taken their protests to the streets. The demonstrations were mostly initiated by Oromo students, and then joined by citizens from all walks of life. The Ethiopian regime responded with the usual brutality against these peaceful demonstrators. For example TPL/EPRDF police rounded up about 100 students in Ciro. Many of the detainees were tortured and taken to unknown destinations. Reports reaching us from home also confirm that the government is transporting large number of Special Force units from central Oromia to the east - Haramaayaa area in a desperate move to control the mass uprising in that part of Oromia. So far the TPLF/EPRDF police have killed five Oromo students and wounded 17 more in Ambo, about 120 km west of the capital. Three of the victims have been identified:
1. Jaagamaa Badhaanee (from Ambo 06, grade 11 student)
2. Kabbadaa Badhaasaa (from Xuqur Incinnii, grade 11 student)
3. A female student (identity awaiting confirmation)
In Moojoo, about 60 km south of the capital, large numbers of Oromos demonstrated, shouting and chanting slogans that included “free all political prisoners”, “long live OLF”, and ”stop the repression, killing and imprisonment of Oromos”. Here also many demonstrators were rounded up and detained.
External Information Division
Foreign Relations Department
Oromo Liberation Front
November 12, 2005
Reports coming from Oromia over the last few days indicate that Oromos in different parts of Oromia have came out to the streets to present their demands peacefully.
Oromos in towns such as Ciro, Galamso, Baddeessaa, Awwadaay, Haramaayaa, Dirree dhawaa, Jimmaa, Gimbii, Bakkoo, Warraa Jarsoo and Inaangoo have taken their protests to the streets. The demonstrations were mostly initiated by Oromo students, and then joined by citizens from all walks of life. The Ethiopian regime responded with the usual brutality against these peaceful demonstrators. For example TPL/EPRDF police rounded up about 100 students in Ciro. Many of the detainees were tortured and taken to unknown destinations. Reports reaching us from home also confirm that the government is transporting large number of Special Force units from central Oromia to the east - Haramaayaa area in a desperate move to control the mass uprising in that part of Oromia. So far the TPLF/EPRDF police have killed five Oromo students and wounded 17 more in Ambo, about 120 km west of the capital. Three of the victims have been identified:
1. Jaagamaa Badhaanee (from Ambo 06, grade 11 student)
2. Kabbadaa Badhaasaa (from Xuqur Incinnii, grade 11 student)
3. A female student (identity awaiting confirmation)
In Moojoo, about 60 km south of the capital, large numbers of Oromos demonstrated, shouting and chanting slogans that included “free all political prisoners”, “long live OLF”, and ”stop the repression, killing and imprisonment of Oromos”. Here also many demonstrators were rounded up and detained.
External Information Division
Foreign Relations Department
Oromo Liberation Front
November 12, 2005
The uprising of the Oromo people
The uprising of the Oromo people is directed against the repressive regime but not against any people.
It is a well-known fact that the Oromo people have been under the yoke of successive repressive regimes of the Ethiopian empire for more than a century. Despite the inhuman repression they are subjected to, the Oromo people effectively countered the brutalities and survived the real threat of total extinction as a nation. Even if, our people have survived the threat of total extinction their fundamental rights are not yet secured and there are countless repressive measures being taken by the Ethiopian regime to crash Oromo people’s struggle for just cause.
More than ever, the Oromo people are determined to defeat any form of repression and it should be understood by everyone that the principal objective of the Oromo people’s struggle is to eliminate any form of repression and restore our identity and ownership of our country by any means necessary. To this end, our struggle is primarily directed at the tyrant regime of Ethiopia and its existing repressive tactics imposed on our people and all oppressed nations and nationalities. This objective can only be achieved by uprooting the tyrant regime and the system of repression installed by this regime. The current uprising of the Oromo people is conducted with this spirit and it is not intended in any way to make mayhem between any people, nations and nationalities but it is intended to protest against the tyrant regime of Ethiopia. In this regard, it is our sincere belief that all nations and oppressed nationalities must stand in unison and exert their collective efforts to speed up the downfall of the dictatorial regime led by the TPLF clique.
As expected, the TPLF regime unleashed its old well-known strategy of creating tensions among different nations and nationalities in order to prolong its life on power. TPLF cadres and its surrogates are busy fabricating crimes to turn the peoples of the empire against each other. Their devilish intensions of sabotaging the movement of nations and nationalities must be stopped now and should be condemned by all peace-loving peoples, before it is too late to do so. We would like to remind the Ethiopian people that, this is the time for all the peoples of the Ethiopian empire to stand united and fight the regime, and this is not the time to fight against each other as doing so would definitely prolong the life of this tyrant dictator. Therefore, all concerned parties and peace-loving nations and nationalities should direct their struggles against the repressive Ethiopian regime, which appeared to have a plan for orchestrating genocide.
The OLF would like to strongly remind its people and supporters that the ongoing uprising in the entire Oromia is not aimed at any particular people, but against TPLF led government and its surrogates. Anyone who intentionally misrepresents this genuine struggle of the Oromo people and attempt to convert it into inter-ethnic conflict should know that such action is against the cause of the Oromo people and of course is against the spirit of the current battle against the regime. Therefore, we urge our people to be vigilant against TPLF sabotages and dirty tricks aimed at creating tensions between our people and other nations and nationalities.
Finally, we would like to underline that, this regime is the enemy of all peoples of the empire state of Ethiopia and, therefore, we would like to call upon all the oppressed nations and nationalities to coordinate their efforts with the Oromo people to bring peace and stability and resolve the multifaceted problems plagued the empire for so long
Victory to the Oromo people
November 19, 2005
It is a well-known fact that the Oromo people have been under the yoke of successive repressive regimes of the Ethiopian empire for more than a century. Despite the inhuman repression they are subjected to, the Oromo people effectively countered the brutalities and survived the real threat of total extinction as a nation. Even if, our people have survived the threat of total extinction their fundamental rights are not yet secured and there are countless repressive measures being taken by the Ethiopian regime to crash Oromo people’s struggle for just cause.
More than ever, the Oromo people are determined to defeat any form of repression and it should be understood by everyone that the principal objective of the Oromo people’s struggle is to eliminate any form of repression and restore our identity and ownership of our country by any means necessary. To this end, our struggle is primarily directed at the tyrant regime of Ethiopia and its existing repressive tactics imposed on our people and all oppressed nations and nationalities. This objective can only be achieved by uprooting the tyrant regime and the system of repression installed by this regime. The current uprising of the Oromo people is conducted with this spirit and it is not intended in any way to make mayhem between any people, nations and nationalities but it is intended to protest against the tyrant regime of Ethiopia. In this regard, it is our sincere belief that all nations and oppressed nationalities must stand in unison and exert their collective efforts to speed up the downfall of the dictatorial regime led by the TPLF clique.
As expected, the TPLF regime unleashed its old well-known strategy of creating tensions among different nations and nationalities in order to prolong its life on power. TPLF cadres and its surrogates are busy fabricating crimes to turn the peoples of the empire against each other. Their devilish intensions of sabotaging the movement of nations and nationalities must be stopped now and should be condemned by all peace-loving peoples, before it is too late to do so. We would like to remind the Ethiopian people that, this is the time for all the peoples of the Ethiopian empire to stand united and fight the regime, and this is not the time to fight against each other as doing so would definitely prolong the life of this tyrant dictator. Therefore, all concerned parties and peace-loving nations and nationalities should direct their struggles against the repressive Ethiopian regime, which appeared to have a plan for orchestrating genocide.
The OLF would like to strongly remind its people and supporters that the ongoing uprising in the entire Oromia is not aimed at any particular people, but against TPLF led government and its surrogates. Anyone who intentionally misrepresents this genuine struggle of the Oromo people and attempt to convert it into inter-ethnic conflict should know that such action is against the cause of the Oromo people and of course is against the spirit of the current battle against the regime. Therefore, we urge our people to be vigilant against TPLF sabotages and dirty tricks aimed at creating tensions between our people and other nations and nationalities.
Finally, we would like to underline that, this regime is the enemy of all peoples of the empire state of Ethiopia and, therefore, we would like to call upon all the oppressed nations and nationalities to coordinate their efforts with the Oromo people to bring peace and stability and resolve the multifaceted problems plagued the empire for so long
Victory to the Oromo people
November 19, 2005
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Breaking News
The Oromo People acted in response to the Call Made by its Vanguard the OLF.
It is to be recalled that over the last weeks the OLF, through its radio organ, “Voice of Liberation of Oromia (VLO) and other means called for Oromia-wide protest against the repressive regime of Mr. Meles’ Zenawi in Ethiopia. Reports coming from Oromia over the last few days indicate that Oromos in different parts of Oromia have overwhelmingly responded to this call.
Oromos in towns such as Ciro, Galamso, Baddeessaa, Awwadaay, Haramaayaa, Dirree dhawaa, Jimmaa, Gimbii, Bakkoo, Warraa Jarsoo and Inaangoo have taken their protests to the streets. The demonstrations were mostly initiated by Oromo students, and then joined by citizens from all walks of life. The Ethiopian regime responded with the usual brutality against these peaceful demonstrators. For example TPL/EPRDF police rounded up about 100 students in Ciro. Many of the detainees were tortured and taken to unknown destinations. Reports reaching us from home also confirm that the government is transporting large number of Special Forces from central Oromia to the east - Haramaayaa area in a desperate move to control the mass uprising in that part of Oromia. So far the TPLF/EPRDF police forces have killed five Oromo students and wounded 17 more in Ambo, about 120 km west of the capital. Three of the victims have been identified:
1. Jaagamaa Badhaanee (from Ambo 06, grade 11 student)
2. Kabbadaa Badhaasaa (from Xuqur Incinnii, grade 11 student)
3. A female student (identity awaiting confirmation)
In Moojoo, about 60 km south of the capital, large number of Oromos demonstrated, shouting and chanting slogans that included “free all political prisoners”, “long live OLF”, and ”stop killing and imprisonment of Oromos”. Here also many demonstrators were rounded up and detained.
Oromo Liberation Front
External Division of Information
OLF Foreign Relation Department
It is to be recalled that over the last weeks the OLF, through its radio organ, “Voice of Liberation of Oromia (VLO) and other means called for Oromia-wide protest against the repressive regime of Mr. Meles’ Zenawi in Ethiopia. Reports coming from Oromia over the last few days indicate that Oromos in different parts of Oromia have overwhelmingly responded to this call.
Oromos in towns such as Ciro, Galamso, Baddeessaa, Awwadaay, Haramaayaa, Dirree dhawaa, Jimmaa, Gimbii, Bakkoo, Warraa Jarsoo and Inaangoo have taken their protests to the streets. The demonstrations were mostly initiated by Oromo students, and then joined by citizens from all walks of life. The Ethiopian regime responded with the usual brutality against these peaceful demonstrators. For example TPL/EPRDF police rounded up about 100 students in Ciro. Many of the detainees were tortured and taken to unknown destinations. Reports reaching us from home also confirm that the government is transporting large number of Special Forces from central Oromia to the east - Haramaayaa area in a desperate move to control the mass uprising in that part of Oromia. So far the TPLF/EPRDF police forces have killed five Oromo students and wounded 17 more in Ambo, about 120 km west of the capital. Three of the victims have been identified:
1. Jaagamaa Badhaanee (from Ambo 06, grade 11 student)
2. Kabbadaa Badhaasaa (from Xuqur Incinnii, grade 11 student)
3. A female student (identity awaiting confirmation)
In Moojoo, about 60 km south of the capital, large number of Oromos demonstrated, shouting and chanting slogans that included “free all political prisoners”, “long live OLF”, and ”stop killing and imprisonment of Oromos”. Here also many demonstrators were rounded up and detained.
Oromo Liberation Front
External Division of Information
OLF Foreign Relation Department
Protest on its 5th day
The Oromo protest in Oromia on its fifth day
As has been widely reported over the past week, the Oromo people are engaged in a nation-wide protest against the Ethiopian repressive government. The popular uprising is ignited as a response to the call made by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) urging the people to protest against Meles Zenawi’s regime.
As a continuation of this recent popular uprising, several demonstrations took place in various parts of Oromia over the last few days:
Oromo students in the Faculty of Health at the University of Haromaaya held a demonstration in their campus voicing their protest against the regime’s repressive treatment of the Oromo people. In this demonstration more than 500 Oromo students took part. Among the slogans displayed by the students were “we want the OLF in Oromia”, “release all Oromo political prisoners immediately”, and “rename our university with its proper name: Haromaaya”. Panicked by this event, the regime deployed its brutal Special Forces in the campus in attempt to intimidate the students. However, the students were not deterred by the regime’s display of force and continued their demonstration throughout the day. The regime also sent members of the OPDO, a shadowy group of the ruling body, to persuade the students to abandon their demonstration. The OPDO delegates were rejected.
Oromo students of Southern University in Hawaasaa also staged demonstrations in their campus in support of the ongoing mass uprising. The police prevented the demonstrators from leaving their campus.
In Jimmaa zone, Qarsaa district, the Oromo people demonstrated denouncing the Meles regime. The Special Forces of the regime attacked the demonstrators and arrested several protesters. The names of the detainees include: 1)Xahaa A/Garoo, 2)Ahmad A/Maccaa, 3)Tsaggayee Hundee, 4) Ibraahim shee Shifaa (a farmer), 5)A/Nagaa A/Foggii (a farmer), 6) Mahammad A/Maccaa (a farmer), 7) Anuwaar shee Shariif ( a farmer), 8)Mahammad-amiin shee Iisaa (a farmer), 9) Haafiz Hajii Ahmed (student) and 10)Daliil A/Jabal (student)
Residents of the city of Naqamtee in Western Oromia continued their demonstration that started few days ago. They have blocked the road leading north to Gida kiraamu. High school students of Naqamtee also took their protests to the streets, which was squashed by the regime’s Special Forces. Several students were arrested and many more sustained heavy bodily injuries.
In Amdo, the protests have risen to new dimensions. Shocked by such fierce resistance of students, the regime closed down all schools in the western Shawaa zone indefinitely. Angered by the killings of their innocent colleagues in Ambo, the students of Ambo continue their protest by waving OLF flag and posting fundamental Oromo questions in schools such as the Gincii secondary school.
In east Shawaa zone, demonstrations broke out in the city of Bishooftuu. The regime has deployed its forces in the city whose tactics are reported to frighten residents.
Demonstrations are held in several districts in the rural regions of west Harargee zone including Machaaraa, Miicataa, Harooreysaa, Miliqaayee, Gaadullaan etc. Student demonstrators were joined by farmers chanting slogans: “OLF is the legitimate representative of the Oromo people”, “Oromo right to self-determination must be respected”, etc. Even though, the regime’s military and police forces did not interfere with the demonstration head-on, they have arrested several individuals during the hours following the demonstration. Among the detained demonstrators are: 1)Ayube Abdulqaadir 2)Ibsaa Kaliifaa and 3) Gammachuu Araddaa. All secondary schools in the region are closed since November 9, 2005.
In similar developments, 7 Oromo soldiers who were members of the military unit guarding the University of Bahir Dar are reported to have disappeared with their full personal armaments. This has caused confusion and chaos in the University and city circles. During previous instances, we had the pleasure to report that several Oromo soldiers have refused to kill innocent fellow Oromos at several occasions. This is believed to be a response to repeated calls by Oromo students asking Oromo soldiers to side their own people and refrain from killing innocent school children.
External Information Division
Foreign Relations Department
Oromo Liberation Front
November 14, 2005
As has been widely reported over the past week, the Oromo people are engaged in a nation-wide protest against the Ethiopian repressive government. The popular uprising is ignited as a response to the call made by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) urging the people to protest against Meles Zenawi’s regime.
As a continuation of this recent popular uprising, several demonstrations took place in various parts of Oromia over the last few days:
Oromo students in the Faculty of Health at the University of Haromaaya held a demonstration in their campus voicing their protest against the regime’s repressive treatment of the Oromo people. In this demonstration more than 500 Oromo students took part. Among the slogans displayed by the students were “we want the OLF in Oromia”, “release all Oromo political prisoners immediately”, and “rename our university with its proper name: Haromaaya”. Panicked by this event, the regime deployed its brutal Special Forces in the campus in attempt to intimidate the students. However, the students were not deterred by the regime’s display of force and continued their demonstration throughout the day. The regime also sent members of the OPDO, a shadowy group of the ruling body, to persuade the students to abandon their demonstration. The OPDO delegates were rejected.
Oromo students of Southern University in Hawaasaa also staged demonstrations in their campus in support of the ongoing mass uprising. The police prevented the demonstrators from leaving their campus.
In Jimmaa zone, Qarsaa district, the Oromo people demonstrated denouncing the Meles regime. The Special Forces of the regime attacked the demonstrators and arrested several protesters. The names of the detainees include: 1)Xahaa A/Garoo, 2)Ahmad A/Maccaa, 3)Tsaggayee Hundee, 4) Ibraahim shee Shifaa (a farmer), 5)A/Nagaa A/Foggii (a farmer), 6) Mahammad A/Maccaa (a farmer), 7) Anuwaar shee Shariif ( a farmer), 8)Mahammad-amiin shee Iisaa (a farmer), 9) Haafiz Hajii Ahmed (student) and 10)Daliil A/Jabal (student)
Residents of the city of Naqamtee in Western Oromia continued their demonstration that started few days ago. They have blocked the road leading north to Gida kiraamu. High school students of Naqamtee also took their protests to the streets, which was squashed by the regime’s Special Forces. Several students were arrested and many more sustained heavy bodily injuries.
In Amdo, the protests have risen to new dimensions. Shocked by such fierce resistance of students, the regime closed down all schools in the western Shawaa zone indefinitely. Angered by the killings of their innocent colleagues in Ambo, the students of Ambo continue their protest by waving OLF flag and posting fundamental Oromo questions in schools such as the Gincii secondary school.
In east Shawaa zone, demonstrations broke out in the city of Bishooftuu. The regime has deployed its forces in the city whose tactics are reported to frighten residents.
Demonstrations are held in several districts in the rural regions of west Harargee zone including Machaaraa, Miicataa, Harooreysaa, Miliqaayee, Gaadullaan etc. Student demonstrators were joined by farmers chanting slogans: “OLF is the legitimate representative of the Oromo people”, “Oromo right to self-determination must be respected”, etc. Even though, the regime’s military and police forces did not interfere with the demonstration head-on, they have arrested several individuals during the hours following the demonstration. Among the detained demonstrators are: 1)Ayube Abdulqaadir 2)Ibsaa Kaliifaa and 3) Gammachuu Araddaa. All secondary schools in the region are closed since November 9, 2005.
In similar developments, 7 Oromo soldiers who were members of the military unit guarding the University of Bahir Dar are reported to have disappeared with their full personal armaments. This has caused confusion and chaos in the University and city circles. During previous instances, we had the pleasure to report that several Oromo soldiers have refused to kill innocent fellow Oromos at several occasions. This is believed to be a response to repeated calls by Oromo students asking Oromo soldiers to side their own people and refrain from killing innocent school children.
External Information Division
Foreign Relations Department
Oromo Liberation Front
November 14, 2005
The Ethiopian Brutal Police massacred
The Ethiopian brutal police massacred eight protestors in Qorree town of Arsii Zone
On the 16th of November, Oromo students in Arsii Zone, Qoree town, staged a peaceful demonstration. However, the Wayane regime turned what started as a peaceful demonstration into a blood bath by directly opening fire on the protesters killing three students instantly. Angered by this execution, the residents of the city joined the protesters plunging the city into a state of total chaos. In the middle of that chaotic situation, five more people were killed, bringing the number of deaths to eight people. Observers have reported that these killings were orchestrated by the OPDO to create strife between the Oromo people and other peoples living in Oromia in a desperate attempt to divert attention from the fundamental questions of the Oromo people directed at their role in the subjugation of our people.
In support of their fallen heroes, students in Kofalee town staged huge demonstration on 17th of November while Oromo students from Arsii Nagellee and Kuyyaraa towns have scheduled similar protests for 18th of November.
On the 16th of November, Oromo students in Arsii Zone, Qoree town, staged a peaceful demonstration. However, the Wayane regime turned what started as a peaceful demonstration into a blood bath by directly opening fire on the protesters killing three students instantly. Angered by this execution, the residents of the city joined the protesters plunging the city into a state of total chaos. In the middle of that chaotic situation, five more people were killed, bringing the number of deaths to eight people. Observers have reported that these killings were orchestrated by the OPDO to create strife between the Oromo people and other peoples living in Oromia in a desperate attempt to divert attention from the fundamental questions of the Oromo people directed at their role in the subjugation of our people.
In support of their fallen heroes, students in Kofalee town staged huge demonstration on 17th of November while Oromo students from Arsii Nagellee and Kuyyaraa towns have scheduled similar protests for 18th of November.
Oromo Students on Hungerstrike
Oromo students on hunger strike
Continuing their peaceful struggle against the fascist regime of Mr. Zenawi, Oromo students at the University of Gonder, Bahir Dar and Maqale began hunger strikes in their respective campuses. The strikes were first begun in the University of Gonder earlier and later followed by Oromo students in Bahir Dar and Maqale Universities. In these strikes more than 5,000 Oromo students have participated.
The aim of the strike at the University of Gonder was two-fold. Their first demand is to protest government's collective punishment of all students in the case of 280 burned houses in Gonder. Failing to do anything in this case, the government is engaged in a blatant harassment of students under the pretext of apprehending the culprit. They demanded the government stop the harassment immediately.
The second, perhaps the most important, aim is to protest the killings of Oromo school kids in Oromia and elsewhere perpetrated by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and its Trojan horse, the Oromo peoples Democratic Organization (OPDO). In co-operation with other Universities in the northern part of the country, Bahir Dar and Maqale Universities, Oromo students are in a general hunger strike.
These striking Oromo students have forwarded the following demands:
1. The killing of Oromo school kids must stop immediately and the perpetrators must be brought to justices without a delay.
2. Stop fighting on Oromo land and natural resources.
3. Oromos right to self-determination should be respected.
4. All imprisoned members of the Mecca and Tulama Self-help Association must be freed and their organization allowed to operate.
5. The fundamental questions raised by the OLF are indeed the questions of the Oromo people and Oromo students as well. Therefore, let the OLF take over the administration of Oromia.
6. The past, May 15, elections were held in the absence of the true representative of the Oromo people, the OLF, therefore the Oromo people cannot accept the results of the elections. We demand that another round of election be held in the presence of the OLF.
7. We demand all Oromo political prisoners (estimated about 18,000) released immediately and those who were working reinstated to their jobs with appropriate back payments
8. The names of all Oromian cities, renamed by successive Abyssinian regimes, must be restored to their proper names and the administrations of Finfinne and Dirree Dhawaa must be under the jurisdiction of Oromia state.
.
Victory to the Oromo People.
External Information Division
Foreign Relations Department
Oromo Liberation Front
November 17, 2005
Continuing their peaceful struggle against the fascist regime of Mr. Zenawi, Oromo students at the University of Gonder, Bahir Dar and Maqale began hunger strikes in their respective campuses. The strikes were first begun in the University of Gonder earlier and later followed by Oromo students in Bahir Dar and Maqale Universities. In these strikes more than 5,000 Oromo students have participated.
The aim of the strike at the University of Gonder was two-fold. Their first demand is to protest government's collective punishment of all students in the case of 280 burned houses in Gonder. Failing to do anything in this case, the government is engaged in a blatant harassment of students under the pretext of apprehending the culprit. They demanded the government stop the harassment immediately.
The second, perhaps the most important, aim is to protest the killings of Oromo school kids in Oromia and elsewhere perpetrated by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) and its Trojan horse, the Oromo peoples Democratic Organization (OPDO). In co-operation with other Universities in the northern part of the country, Bahir Dar and Maqale Universities, Oromo students are in a general hunger strike.
These striking Oromo students have forwarded the following demands:
1. The killing of Oromo school kids must stop immediately and the perpetrators must be brought to justices without a delay.
2. Stop fighting on Oromo land and natural resources.
3. Oromos right to self-determination should be respected.
4. All imprisoned members of the Mecca and Tulama Self-help Association must be freed and their organization allowed to operate.
5. The fundamental questions raised by the OLF are indeed the questions of the Oromo people and Oromo students as well. Therefore, let the OLF take over the administration of Oromia.
6. The past, May 15, elections were held in the absence of the true representative of the Oromo people, the OLF, therefore the Oromo people cannot accept the results of the elections. We demand that another round of election be held in the presence of the OLF.
7. We demand all Oromo political prisoners (estimated about 18,000) released immediately and those who were working reinstated to their jobs with appropriate back payments
8. The names of all Oromian cities, renamed by successive Abyssinian regimes, must be restored to their proper names and the administrations of Finfinne and Dirree Dhawaa must be under the jurisdiction of Oromia state.
.
Victory to the Oromo People.
External Information Division
Foreign Relations Department
Oromo Liberation Front
November 17, 2005
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