Commemorating Ethiopian Millennium as a Day of Sorrow for the Oromo People

A statement by Oromo Parliamentarians Council -

The TPLF/EPRDF regime who boasts to have brought good governance to the peoples of Ethiopia has discriminately left Oromo prisoners in jail and arresting many more while many non-Oromo prisoners are being released. What is more disturbing is that the regime is constantly harassing the rest of the Oromo people by the name of celebrating the so called Ethiopian millennium to be celebrated on September 1, 2000 Ethiopian Calendar.

The year 2007 however, is a year of sorrow and grief for the Oromo people because it is the year where:

• Over 40, 000 Oromos are suffering of torture in Ethiopian prisons such as Kaliti, Maikelawi, Zeway, Nekemte, Dhidheessaa, Harar Jaarsoo, Mekele, Adwa, Bure, Zaraba Gidaf, Gimbi, Robe;
• Several Oromos are killed in prisons and their bodies are thrown to the jungles such as Gaara Suufii and eaten by wild animals;
• Oromo students have been dismissed from schools and became a burden to their families for the sole reason of expressing their concern for their suffering people;
• many Oromo parliamentarians who tried to speak for the people they represent were continuously intimidated by the government security forces and are forced to leave the country, while many more are under arrest and even brutally murdered;
• Many Oromo military officers, judges, diplomats, journalists, and other government officials defected to several countries opposing the suffering of their people;
• The TPLF/EPRDF government created and fuelled conflict among various Oromo clans such as Borana and Guji, Borana and Garri, resulting in enormous loss of life and property;
• The TPLF/EPRDF concocted conflict between Islam and Christian faith and made them fight each other for the first time in the history of our country;
• The killing, arrest, and harassments are more intensified in all corners of Oromia at this moment when the celebration of the millennium is already underway.

The Oromo people have nothing to do with the so called Ethiopian millennium. It is neither our heritage nor our culture. For the Habeshas attempting to force the Oromo people to celebrate their own festival amounts to insulting us, Oromos. We do not share anything together. While they are dancing, we are in jail, in refugee camps, and in the Oromian jungle in search of our freedom.

Therefore, the Oromo Parliamentarians Council has decided to commemorate the Habesha September 1 as a day of grief in which the Oromo people are subjected to the Habesha prison every year starting from the year 2000. We call up on all the Oromo people to remember this day every year by the following activities:

• Visiting the prisoners and their families by taking gifts as much as possible.
• Helping those who have been released from jail morally, financially, and materially.
• Signing petition for the release of all Oromo prisoners and for the evoking of the death penalty passed on some Oromo prisoners.
• Since this day is a day of grief and sorrow we ask all Oromo people that they should not go to any festival or recreation. Everyone should surpass this day in grief and by visiting prisoners and their families.

Freedom for the Oromo people!

The Oromo Parliamentarians Council
August 27, 2007