By Daandii Qajeelaa
This week Oromo nationalists in Oromia and around the globe commemorate the popular student uprising known as the Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa (meaning the “Revolt Against Subjugation”) that suddenly broke out on November 09, 2005 following the failed 2005 Ethiopian election in which the Oromo was denied any meaningful representation. The popular revolt started on November 09, 2005 following a call by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) to Oromo students and the entire Oromo people to peacefully oppose the government and bring to the forefront the demands of democracy, justice, and most importantly, the realization of the right of the Oromo people to self-determination. Below are the chronology of the events related to the 2005 “Revolt Against Subjugation” that began with brutal killings of unarmed students in Ambo High School, Western Shoa zone, Ambo town.
Two of the students shot dead in Ambo on 9 November 2005 (Photo from OSG Report No. 42)
1. November 09, 2005: Students of Ambo High School staged a peaceful demonstration. At least five students were reported killed(1), including students Jagama Badhane and Kabbada Badhassa, and a younger female student, and the police killed at least two more(2) at a protest rally in response to Jagama’s death (The Reporter, 13 November, 2005). The Sunday Times (November 10) reported 17 others were wounded. The Reporter also reported demonstrations, school closures and loss of lives in Ambo, Wollega, Adama (Nazareth), Woliso, Guder, Gedo and Haromaya; the funeral of Jagama was attended by 50,000 people, which was also a sign of protest against the regime. The same day, students of Jimma zone, Qarsaa district (woreda), Qarsaa Tolii Elementary School reportedly staged a peaceful demonstration in which they marched on the streets of the town in large numbers denouncing the regime, and openly and loudly demanding their support for the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) to come and take over the governance of Oromia.
2. November 10, 2005: In response to the OLF’s call for revolt and outraged by the killings at Ambo High School, students of Biiftuu Ghmbi High School, Western Wollega zone staged a peaceful demonstration. The school was surrounded by the police force of the regime and several students were taken to jail. The same day students of several high schools, such as Xuqur Hincinnii, Gedo, Bako, Jajjii, Nekemte (Eastern Wollega), Shambu (Eastern Wollega), Kofale (Arsi), Shashamanne (Eastern Shoa) and many others, staged demonstration. Hundreds of students were beaten and arrested.
3. November 11, 2005: The student protests continued(3) in Jimma, Ambo (3rd day), Shashemenie, Haromaya (3rd day), Aweday, Ciroo, Dembidollo, Ghimbi (2nd day), Asela, Diredawa, Galamso, Badesa, Awaday, Bako, Warra Jarso, Innango (West Wollega) and Mojo. The entire public had joined the protests, especially in Haromaya, Awaday, and Ciroo. About 100 were rounded up by the police in Ciroo. Civilians in Mojo prevented the police from taking several students to prison.
4. November 15, 2005: The student protests continued(4) all over Oromia. Some of the protests that had been been reported to be staged between November 12 – 15, 2005 include: Bishooftuu, Haroomaya University, Machaaraa, Miicataa, Harooreysaa, Miliqaayee, Gaadullaan, Nekemte, and Gidda Kiramu. By November 15, all schools of Western Shoa zone had been reported closed by the authorities of the regime.
5. November 16, 2005: Four students were killed when peaceful protesters were fired upon in Qore (Arsi zone). Local residents reacted with more protests, and another six were shot dead (OSG Report No. 42).
6. November 17, 2005: In response to the Qore killings of November 16 (above), students in Kofale (Arsi zone), Negelle, and Kuraya staged large demonstrations. The same day 5,000 Oromo students at universities in Gonder, Bahar Dar amd Mekele were beginning hunger strike in protest against the killings of Oromo students and the harassment of Gonder students under the pretext of investigating the burning of houses there (OSG Report No. 42).
7. November 18, 2005: Student protests continued in Hirna (Hararge) for a week, with nine more students and other residents, including a mentally-disabled person, being thrown into the detention camp there. Many of those detained had been injured by beatings. The same day, farmers around Hirna refused to attend a government meeting, and students and residents of Ciroo blocked roads to the town on another continued protest (OSG Report No. 42).
8. November 19, 2005: Student demonstrations continued in Gindhiir (Bale zone). At around 8:30pm, the police shot a young boy. This had caused much tension in this and neighboring towns. As a result, a nearby town, Dalloo Sabroo remained under siege by heavily-armed government forces for several days. Residents were harassed, and their movements within the town were heavily restricted. The same day, it was reported that all schools in and around Kofalee (Arsii zone) remained closed since the uprising was ignited in early November. Extensive campaign of arrests had been unleashed in both the town of Kofalee and its surroundings. Eyewitnesses had reported that people were jammed into small cells and tortured daily.
9. November 20, 2005: Discomforted by the continued uprising of the Oromo people in Harargee zone, Mr. Minaase W. Georgis, the then President of Oromia, arrived at the city of Sakina, in Daroolabu district (Harargee). When the news of his arrival was leaked, Oromo people quickly gathered in the thousands and staged a demonstration, chanting and demanding implementation of Article 39 of the Ethiopian Constitution and an immediate release of members of Macha and Tulama Self-Help Organization, and voicing their support for the OLF, and rejecting Minaase W. Giorgis as President of Oromia. Minaase immediately turned around and left the area without meeting anyone. Embarrassed by this development, the local OPDO’s later embarked on indiscriminately harassing the residents. Their attempt to murder a resident named Diitaa Ahmad Muummee failed, but Diitaa was wounded slightly by a bullet shot by an OPDO envoy. It was reported that the OPDO had demanded that Diitaa pay for the lost bullet, reminiscent of the Derg regime (OSG Report No. 42).
10. November 21, 2005: Students of Roobee Teachers’ Training College and surrounding schools (Bale zone) staged a demonstration. The same day, Oromo people residing along the main road leading from Roobee to Finifnee (Addis Ababa) expressed their protest by blocking the main highway using boulders and rocks. In retaliation, the police was ordered to arrest anyone seen outdoor after 9:00pm. The police had been conducting 24-hour surveillance around residences of individuals suspected of sympathizing with the OLF (OSG Report No. 42).
11. November 22, 2005: Oromos residing along the main road linking Finifinee and Western Oromia closed the artery highway at a place called Asgorii (Western Wollega). Demonstrators gathered at the blockage and chanted slogans denouncing the Meles regime. The Ethiopian police was dispatched to the area to disperse the demonstrators who courageously resisted the police for several hours.
12. November 23, 2005: Students of Daaloo Elementary School (Hararge) protested on the street burning the OPDO flag and waving the OLF flag.
13. November 24, 2005: The residents of Shambuu (Eastern Wollega zone) protested by closing the main road leading to Baakkoo, thereby cutting the main line to and from the city (OSG Report No. 42).
14. November 25, 2005: Oromo students at the Jimma Teachers’ College(5) staged a peaceful demonstration. The Federal police attacked and injured several students while arresting 24 others. The same day, students of Galamso intensified the protest which they already began on November 11 (Oromia Times – November 30, 2005).
15. November 29, 2005: Oromo students in Jaldu district of Western Shawaa zone(6) staged a peaceful demonstration. As usual, the Ethiopian police attacked the protesters killing 2 students, Habtaamuu Bayyataa and Fiqaaduu, on the spot, critically injuring two more (one named Nurressaa Katamaa Xaafaa), and also wounding several others. One policeman had been reported hurt during this demonstration. There had been extensive campaign of arrests in this district in both the city and the countryside. All schools in Jalduu remain closed since the uprising began. At the same time, similar protests continued in neighboring districts of Geedoo and Haratoo (OLF – December 05, 2005).
16. December 7, 2005: Classes at Jimma University had been stopped starting from December 7, 2005 because of clashes between Oromo and Tigrean students, leading to several arrests (The Reporter – December 11, 2005).
17. December 8, 2005: Students of Mendi district (Woreda) staged a massive demonstration which lasted all day during which 12 high school students were injured in clashes with the police (The Reporter – December 11, 2005).
18. December 13, 2005: Oromo students of Ziway, Eastern Shoa zone, demonstrated(7) against the regime. The students later clashed with the police; two students and one police were severely wounded. Five other students have been abducted by the regime’s forces (Seife Nebelbal – December 16, 2005).
19. December 18, 2005: The Reporter wrote that students at Jimma University were refusing to resume classes because the police and the army were still on campus.
20. December 21, 2005: The private weekly Tikusat(8) reported that six students died and six others were injured and sent to hospital when students blocked a road in Mendi [Kiltu Kara] to help prisoners, heading to an unknown destination, escape. Members of the military forces that were driving behind the truck which carried the prisoners opened fire and killed six students. The newspaper also reported the arrests of several Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement members in Nejo, Wollega.
21. December 26, 2005: Hundreds of people from the towns of Mendi and Gimbi, Wallega, were rounded up and taken to the Senkele Police Training Center in Ambo. Special forces surrounded the towns after the residents started holding protest rallies demanding the removal of Meles Zenawi and Juneidi Sado (Ethiopian Review – December 26, 2005).
22. December 27, 2005: Dagim Wenchif(9) reported two killings in student demonstrations in Boji Chekorsa, Wollega, and the arrests of several elders and youth in Gimbi. The youth were taken to the Didhessa concentration camp.
23. December 28, 2005: Tomar(10), a private weekly newspaper, reported the arrest of four businessmen in Dembi Dollo, Wollega, Yonas Gelan, Fekade Shibeshi, Kassahun Kitla and Belay Yadeta, and that those who were arrested from Dembi Dollo, Anfilo, Mughi and Gimbi were detained at the Senkele police training camp. The same day, parliamentarians representing the Oromo people petitioned the House Speaker to discuss mass arrests in the State of Oromia, the paper reported.
24. December 30, 2005: VOA(11) reported the closure of three high schools in Nekemte, Wollega, following student arrests and the killings of four students in Wollega that week. The police admitted over 300 arrests to VOA.
25. January 20, 2006: All schools in the following towns had been reported closed due to the continued student protests and extended popular uprisings: Ambo, Tikur-Incini, Dembi Dollo, Gimbi, Qoree, Biyo Karaba, Asasa, Kofale, Gedo, Bako, Sarbo, Shashamane, Nekemte, Lalo Asabi, Jimma, Machara, Finca’a, Kombolcha, Xullo, Dhangago, Ciro, Oliqa Dingilu, Qelam, Haro Maya, Doba, Ginir, Habro, Matufi Darimu, Dire Dawa, Galamso, Badesa, Asabot, Bedeno, Mi’esso, Bordode, Mandi, Daro Labu, Gadulo, Gololcha, Calanqo, Awaday, Bate, Kara-Mile, Harar, Qobbo, Langey, Masala, Awash, Didhessa, Guttin, Haro Sabu and Gibe (OSG Report No. 42).
The above selectively reported incidents are few of the widespread popular unrest in the entire Oromia – East, West, South and North – that was ignited on November 09, 2005 and had continued for nearly two years. Tens of thousands of students, farmers, teachers, businessmen, and all sectors of the society have been jailed, tortured, disappeared, and killed in broad daylight and in prison cells. While the international media generally ignored this long-lived and massive popular unrest, and unimaginable human rights abuse and loss of life, some humanitarian organizations, such as the Amnesty International, the Human Rights Watch, the Oromia Support Group, have shaded light to a small part of the uprisings, massive unrest, and brutal killings. On January 30, 2006, the Amnesty International in its issue (AI Index: AFR 25/002/2006) reported:
“… The 11 students named above are among several thousand school and college students from the Oromo ethnic group who have been detained in a series of anti-government demonstrations in different parts of the Oromia Region, in the capital, Addis Ababa, and in other towns. All those named above are detained incommunicado at a number of different locations, and are at risk of torture or ill-treatment. The arrests have taken place during a wave of student demonstrations which began on 9 November 2005. The demonstrations are still taking place in some areas. Most of those taking part were secondary school students, some of them children under 18 years old, but teachers, farmers, businesspeople and others have also been detained in connection with the demonstrations. Most demonstrations reportedly began peacefully but some police and demonstrators were injured, property was damaged and explosions were reported in some places. The demonstrations are said to have taken place after a call by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an armed opposition group, for demonstrations against the government. Demonstrators called, among other political demands, for the release of Oromo political prisoners, including officials of the Mecha Tulema Association, a long-established Oromo welfare association.” (emphasis mine)
The total number of those killed in cold-blood during and after the student demonstrations in Oromia remains unknown, or is simply under-reported, but it is believed to be several hundreds. The International Oromo Youth Association (IOYA)(12) reported on December 10, 2006 that “… in the years 2005-2006 alone, more than 500 students were killed by government’s security forces of which the record is available and widely reported by different media and human rights groups …” On February 15, 2006 (about 3 months after the protests first broke out), the OLF reported in a press release:
“… Since the last press briefing many school children, university students, the young and elderly have been killed, and disappeared while tens of thousands have been imprisoned where they routinely faced torture. According to reliable reports, more than 105 have been killed in different parts of Oromia while 232 have disappeared without trace. The recent cold-blood massacre of 22 innocent people in Guduru is a graphic example of the facts on the ground. Prisoners are being picked from detention centers during the night never to return either to their prison cells or to their relatives.” (emphasis mine)
The protests and peaceful demonstrations Oromo students are manifestations of the anger and frustration of the Oromo people against the current brutal regime in Ethiopia. It also shows that the Oromo people are still under a “hidden” and new form of subjugation. The current regime in power may think it has extinguished the popular fire (uprising) that was ignited in the entire Oromia by force. But, the student movements are reflections of the overall struggle of the Oromo people for democracy, justice and freedom. It will only stop when ALL the oppressors (those who are in power and those who intend to replace them) step down from power, and when the Oromo people freely determine their fate.
It is to be noted that the above report is focused only on the protests in Oromia, which broke out on November 09, 2005 and had continued on-and-off in the entire region for nearly two years. The time these protests started also coincides with the widely reported protest in Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) and several major cities organized by the then CUD (Coalition for Unity and Democracy) in which some 200 people have been brutally murdered and tens of thousands jailed. The massive popular unrest in Oromia and in the entire Ethiopia against the current brutal regime may now look subdued for several reasons, but it is actually a ticking bomb that can explode at any moment just as it exploded suddenly on November 09, 2005 following a call from OLF and the post-election protests called by the CUD. And when it does, it has the potential to put the entire Horn of African region in turmoil and political unrest.
References:
1. Oromia Support Group (OSG No. 42), Press Release No. 42, 2005 – 2006, Malvern, the UK.
2. The Reporter, November 13, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
3. OSG No. 42
4. The World Prout Assembly, Kolkata, India. http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2005/12/oromo_tplf_anot.html
5. Oromia Times, November 30, 2005. http://oromiatimes.blogspot.com/2005/12/barattooti-oromoo-24-kollejjii.html
6. OLF Press Release, “Popular Oromo protests in 25th Day”, December 05, 2005.
7. Seife Nebelbal, December 16, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
8. Tikusat, December 18, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
9. Dagim Woncif, December 27, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
10. Tomar, December 28, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
11. Radio Voice of America, Afan Oromo Service, Washington, D.C.
12. IOYA Press Release – Novemeber 10, 2006
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Ethiopia: Land of silence and starvation
A famine is growing across Ethiopia, but the government is clamping down on information - even ejecting aid agencies that could help bring aid for fear of provoking unrest and losing their grip on power
Geoffrey York
MEKI, ETHIOPIA — From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Nov. 06, 2009 6:11PM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009
On market day in the dusty town of Meki, the few cobs of corn sold by the hawkers are scrawny, pale, scabby and pockmarked. Yet the price of this meagre food has doubled since last year – because so many farmers have seen their corn harvests fail.
“We are between life and death,” says 50-year-old farmer Geda Shenu, who was forced to buy corn at Meki market after most of his crops failed in this year’s drought. He shows the empty weed-filled fields where he planted corn and beans, crops that never grew when the rains never came.
To survive, he is selling one of his two oxen and giving his family just two sparse meals a day. He and his neighbours have marched down to the local government office to sign a petition pleading for government help. “If we don’t get any aid, we will die,” he says. “How can we feed our children?”
It’s a story the Ethiopian government does not want told.
On the 25th anniversary of the famine that killed nearly a million Ethiopians in 1984, any talk of drought and hunger is still a highly sensitive issue in this impoverished country, subject to draconian controls by the government. Two regimes were toppled in the 1970s and 1990s because of discontent over famines, and the current regime is determined to avoid their fate.
Aid agencies that dare to speak out publicly, or even to allow a photo of a malnourished child at a feeding centre, can be punished or expelled from the country. Visas or work permits are often denied, projects can be delayed, and import approvals for vital equipment can be buried. Most relief agencies are prohibited from allowing visits by journalists or foreigners, except under strict government control.
After a disastrous series of crop failures, the number of Ethiopians needing emergency aid has jumped from 4.9 million to 6.2 million in the past 10 months. Yet most journalists are barred from travelling to the countryside to document the drought. Relief workers avoid any public comments about the rising malnutrition, and none will talk candidly to journalists except on condition of anonymity.
Another restriction is even more damaging: Foreign agencies are not permitted to do their own independent assessments of malnutrition this year. Instead, they must be accompanied by government officials in joint teams that are difficult and time-consuming to negotiate, delaying the response to regional emergencies.
Aid agencies have known since July that at least seven million people will need emergency aid in Ethiopia this year, based on detailed assessments across the country. But the government delayed the release of these figures, continuing to insist publicly that only 5.3 million people needed help.
Finally, after months of mystifying delays, the government announced in late October that 6.2 million people needed emergency aid – still below the true figure, and too late to trigger a large-scale fundraising effort this year. Another estimate is due to be released in mid-November, unless it too is delayed.
Why such heavy-handed controls from a government that is seen as a U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa, a country that is still viewed sympathetically by most of the world? One reason is the election scheduled for May. The long-ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, is keeping a tight grip on the vote. The last election, in 2005, was widely criticized for vote-rigging and fraud, and about 200 people were killed after the election when police fired on opposition protesters.
Since then, the government has strengthened its control of the country. Maoist-style neighbourhood committees watch over all activity in the villages, with informants appointed for every five families in some areas. Local elections in 2008 were so carefully managed that the opposition ended up with only a tiny handful of the three million seats.
But nobody expects the controls to disappear after the May election. The ruling party has always been sensitive about any questioning of its ability to feed the country. Its own rise to power in 1991 was largely a result of the famines of the 1980s. And it knows that the long reign of Emperor Haile Selassie was brought crashing down after the globally televised images of the 1974 famine.
Relief agencies say it is harder to make a global appeal for help for Ethiopia when the official estimates are politicized, minimized and delayed. By the time the 2009 appeal was released in late October, only two months were left in the year.
“This year’s fight is over,” said an aid worker at one of the biggest agencies. “The children who were at risk of death in the summer have died by now.”
In some of the hardest-hit regions, foreign relief agencies have extremely limited access. Their movements are tightly controlled, partly because of military operations against rebel groups in the Somali region. Several of the biggest international agencies were expelled from the region or withdrew under pressure in 2007 and 2008.
In another region, Tigray, aid agencies are heavily restricted, because Tigray is the traditional base of the ruling EPRDF. “It’s a black spot, because it’s supposed to be a model of success,” one aid worker says. “When people are starving, the information doesn’t get out.”
The government is widely suspected of using the foreign aid shipments to reward its supporters. Up to 20 per cent of the aid is “lost” before it reaches the neediest people, but the diverted sacks of food are often noticed at military barracks, according to one aid worker.
When Ethiopia is hit by cholera outbreaks, as often happens, the government prefers to call it acute watery diarrhea because it dislikes the bad publicity that cholera attracts. The latest cholera outbreak, which began in August, has sickened thousands of people, but the government called it AWD and minimized the numbers. When the true numbers finally surfaced in a United Nations document, the government was so furious that it suspended its co-operation meetings with the relief agencies for a month.
In fear of government punishment, many agencies fall into self-censorship. “There’s a whole layer of anxiety that we’re all operating under,” one veteran worker said. “The obsession with control has been even stronger than last year.”
Some Western diplomats argue that the government’s euphemisms and public evasions are unimportant because the accurate assessment data is known internally to the key agencies that supply emergency aid to Ethiopia. Compared with many other African countries, they say, Ethiopia is relatively efficient in distributing aid and is introducing good programs to expand health care and food delivery in rural regions.
But others say the government’s sensitivities and restrictions are hampering the world’s response to Ethiopia’s emergencies, delaying the flow of crucial aid for months.
“If you delay the life-saving response, lives don’t get saved,” one relief worker says. “People get weaker and less productive. And the response is a short-term band-aid. If you recognize a situation earlier, the response can reduce the chances of needing emergency aid in the future.”
Another aid worker is even more blunt. “The government is locked into a cycle of very significant denial,” he said. “It’s playing with millions of lives.”
Ethiopia has been hit by a series of crop failures and droughts since 2007, and the cumulative effect is taking a heavy toll. In addition to the 6.2 million who are officially deemed to need emergency aid, another 7 million are already getting food aid because they are chronically vulnerable to food shortages, meaning that Fully one-sixth of Ethiopia’s 80 million people are on food aid.
The global recession, meanwhile, is making it harder to raise funds from international donors. Canada has given $54-million to the Ethiopian relief effort this year, but the overall level of global donations is far below what is needed. As a result, the food rations for most Ethiopian recipients are barely half of the needed level.
But instead of redoubling its efforts to seek help, Ethiopia is tightening its controls as the 2010 election approaches. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi repeatedly denies that Ethiopia has a food crisis and accuses the “food aid industry” and the “lords of poverty” of deliberately inflating the number of Ethiopians who need aid.
Relief agencies give troubling accounts of how their work is becoming more difficult. One agency was forced to halt its food distribution for three months in one region because the government was unhappy with a local media article.
Another agency tried to offer help after a massive blaze destroyed 20 homes in an Addis Ababa shantytown this week. At first welcomed by firefighters, the agency was abruptly ordered to leave when security agents arrived on the scene. “Even for something that was so obviously a disaster, where we could have helped, there was suspicion and distance,” a worker said.
Most foreign journalists are prohibited from travelling outside Addis Ababa, the capital. The Globe and Mail twice applied for permission to visit rural regions, but both applications were rejected. In the end I had to travel without permission, at the risk of arrest if I was discovered.
When I asked a government official why I was barred from reporting in rural districts, he said too many journalists were too interested in the drought, which he said was entirely due to climate change and had nothing to do with the government.
The very few journalists who do obtain permission to visit a feeding centre are accompanied by a government “minder” at all times. Feeding-centre staff are sometimes interrogated by security agents after they talk to foreign journalists, making them fearful of saying anything.
The government maintains a “black list” of foreign correspondents who are deemed unfriendly to the regime, and some have been expelled, refused entry, or detained at the Addis Ababa airport when they arrive. Several Ethiopian journalists who work for foreign media have fled the country for fear of punishment.
The Ethiopian government, using technology from its new economic partners in China, has blocked many websites that criticize the government, including those of Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists. The same Chinese technology is allowing the authorities to monitor e-mails and cellphones, making relief agencies and journalists nervous about government eavesdropping on their conversations.
Back in the drought-stricken Meki region, a farmer named Gudeta Beriso points to a field of withered corn stalks, surrounded by empty fields. “In the old days, all of this was covered by corn,” he said.
“Now you don’t see anything. The fields are just rubbish. We haven’t had a good crop for two years. We are worried about the future. We are shouting for help.”
Commemorating November 09, 2005: The Day “Revolt against Subjugation” was lit in Oromia.
By Daandii Qajeelaa, November 11, 2009
This week Oromo nationalists in Oromia and around the globe commemorate the popular student uprising known as Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa (meaning “Revolt Against Subjugation”) that suddenly broke out on November 09, 2005 following the failed Ethiopian election of 2005 in which the Oromo was denied any meaningful representation. The popular revolt started on November 09, 2005 following a call by the OLF to Oromo students and entire Oromo people to peacefully oppose the government and bring to the forefront the demands of democracy, justice, and most importantly, the realization of the right of the Oromo people to self-determination. Below are the chronology of the events related to the 2005 “Revolt against Subjugation” that begun with a brutal killing of high school unarmed students in Ambo High School, Western Shoa zone, Ambo town.
1. November 09, 2005. Students of Ambo High school staged a peaceful demonstration. At least five students were reported killed, including students Jagama Badhane and Kabbada Badhassa and a younger female student and police killed at least two more when shooting in response to protests at Jagama’s death (Reporter, 13 November, 2005). The Sunday Times (November 10) reported 17 others were wounded. Reporter also reported demonstrations, school closures and loss of lives in Ambo, Wollega, Adama (Nazareth), Woliso, Guder, Gedo and Haromaya and that the funeral of Jagama was attended by 50,000 people, which was also a sign of protest against the regime. The same day, students of Jimma zone, Qarsaa district (woreda), and Qarsaa Tolii elementary school reportedly staged a peaceful demonstration in which they marched on the streets of the town in large numbers denouncing the regime and openly and loudly demanding their support for the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) to come and take over the governance of Oromia.
Jagama Badhane and Kabada Badhassa, two of the students shot dead in Ambo on 9 November 2005 (Photo from OSG report No. 42)
2. November 10, 2005. In response to the OLF’s call for revolt and outraged by the killings of Ambo high school, students of Biiftuu Ghmbi High School, Western Wollega zone staged a peaceful demonstration. The school was surrounded by the police force of the regime and several students were taken to jail. The same day students of several high schools of Western Shoa zone such as Xuqur Hincinnii, Gedo, Bako, Jajjii, Nekemte (Eastern Wollega), Shambu (Eastern Wollega), Kofale (Arsi), Shashamanne (Eastern Shoa), many other places staged demonstration. Hundreds of students beaten and arrested.
3. Nov. 11, 2005: Student protest continue in Jimma, Ambo (3rd day), Shashemenie, Haromaya (3rd day), Aweday, Ciroo, Dembidollo, Ghimbi (2nd day), Asela, Diredawa, Galamso, Badesa, Awaday, Bako, Warra Jarso, Innango (West Wollega) and Mojo. The entire public has joined the protests especially in Haromaya, Awaday, and Ciroo. About 100 were rounded up by police in Ciroo. Civilians in Mojo prevented police from taking several students to prison.
4. Nov 15, 2005: The student protests continue all over Oromia: Some of the protests that have been reported between November 12 – 15, 2005 are: Bishooftuu, Haroomaya University, Machaaraa, Miicataa, Harooreysaa, Miliqaayee, Gaadullaan, Nekemte, and Gidda Kiramu. By November 15, all schools of Western Shoa zone have been reported closed by the authorities of the regime.
5. Nov 16, 2005. Four students were killed when peaceful protestors were fired upon in Qore (Arsi zone). Local residents reacted with more protests and another six were shot dead (OSG report No. 42).
6. Nov 17, 2005. In response to the Qore killings of November 16 (above), students in Kofale (Arsi zone), Negelle, and Kuraya, staged large demonstrations. The same day 5000 Oromo students at universities in Gonder, Bahar Dar amd Mekele were beginning hunger strike in protest, against killings of Oromo students and the harassment of Gonder students under the pretext of investigating the burning of houses there (OSG report No. 42).
7. Nov. 18, 2005. Student protests continued in Hirna (Hararge), continued for that week, with nine more students and other residents, including a mentally disabled person, being added to those in the detention camp there. Many of those detained have been injured by beatings. The same day, farmers around Hirna refused to attend a government meeting and students and residents of Ciroo blocked roads to the town on another continued protest (OSG report No. 42).
8. Nov 19, 2005. Student demonstrations continued in Gindhiir (Bale zone). At around 8:30 pm, the police shot a young boy. This has caused much tension in this and neighboring towns. As a result, a nearby town, Dalloo Sabroo remained under siege by heavily armed government forces for several days. Residents are harassed and their movement within the town is heavily restricted. The same day it was reported that all schools in and around Kofalee (Arsii zone) remain closed since the uprising was ignited in early November. Extensive campaign of arrest has been unleashed in both the town of Kofalee and its surroundings. Eyewitnesses have reported that people are jammed into small cells and tortured daily.
9. Nov 20, 2005: Discomforted by the continued uprising of the Oromo people in Harargee zone Mr. Minaase W. Georgis, the then President of Oromia arrived at the city of Sakina, in Daroolabu district (Harargee). When the news of his arrival was leaked, Oromo people quickly gathered in the thousands and staged a demonstration, chanting and demanding implementation of article 39 of the Ethiopian constitution, demanding an immediate release of members of Macha and Tulama Self-help Organization, voicing their support for the OLF, and rejecting Minaase W. Giorgis as President of Oromia. Minaase immediately turned around and left the area without meeting anyone. Embarrassed by this development, the local OPDOs later embarked on indiscriminately harassing the residents. Their attempt to murder a resident named Diitaa Ahmad Muummee failed, but Diitaa was wounded slightly by a bullet shot by an OPDO envoy. It was reported that the OPDO has demanded that Diitaa pay for the lost bullet, reminiscent of the Derg regime (OSG report No. 42).
10. Nov 21, 2005. Students of Roobee Teacher’s Training College and surrounding schools (Bale zone) staged a demonstration. The same day Oromo people residing along the main road leading Roobee to Finifnee (Addis Ababa) expressed their protest by blocking the main highway using boulders and rocks. In retaliation, the police was ordered to arrest anyone seen outdoor after 9:00 pm. The police have been conducting 24 hour surveillance around residences of individuals suspected of sympathizing with the OLF (OSG report No. 42).
11. Nov 22, 2005. Oromos residing along the main road linking Finifinee and Western Oromia closed the artery highway at a place called Asgorii (Western Wollega). Demonstrators gathered at the blockage chanted slogans denouncing the Meles regime. The Ethiopian police was dispatched to the area to disperse the demonstrators who courageously resisted the police for several hours.
12. Nov 23, 2005: Students of Daaloo elementary school (Hararge) protested on the street burning OPDO flag and waving OLF flag.
13. Nov. 24, 2005. The residents of Shambuu (Eastern Wollega zone) protested by closing the main road leading to Baakkoo, thereby cutting the main line to and from the city (OSG report No. 42).
14. Nov. 25, 2005: Oromo students at the Jimma Teacher’s College staged peaceful demonstration. The Federal police attacked and injured several students while arresting 24 others. The same day, students of Galamso intensified the protest which they already begun on November 11 (Oromia Times, Nov. 30, 2005).
15. Nov. 29, 2005. Oromo students in Jaldu district of Western Shawaa zone staged a peaceful demonstration. As usual, the Ethiopian police attacked the protestors killing 2 students, Habtaamuu Bayyataa and Fiqaaduu on the spot, critically injuring two more, Nurressaa Katamaa Xaafaa, and also wounding several others. One policeman has been reported hurt during this demonstration. There has been extensive campaign of arrest in this district in both the city and the countryside. All schools in Jalduu remain closed since the uprising began. At the same time similar protests continued in neighboring districts of Geedoo and Haratoo (OLF Dec. 05, 2005).
16. Dec. 7, 2005. Classes at Jimma University had been stopped starting from December 7, 2005 because of clashes between Oromo and Tigrean students, leading to several arrests (Reporter Dec. 11).
17. Dec. 8, 2005. Students of Mendi district (Woreda) staged a massive demonstration which lasted all day during which 12 high school students were injured in clashes with police (Reporter, 11 December, 2005).
18. Dec. 13, 2005. Oromo students of Ziway, Eastern Shoa zone, demonstrate against the regime. The students later clashed with the police who tried to stop them in which two students and one police were severely wounded. Five other students have been abducted by the regime’s forces (Seife Nebelbal, 16 December, 2005).
19. Dec. 18, 2005. The Reporter wrote that students at Jimma University were refusing to resume classes because police and army were still on campus.
20. Dec 21, 2005. The private weekly Tikusa reported that six students died and six others were injured and sent to hospital when students blocked a road in Mendi [Kiltu Kara] to help prisoners heading to an unknown destination escape. Members of the military forces that were driving behind the truck which carried the prisoners opened fire and killed six students. The newspaper also reported the arrests of several Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement members in Nejo, Wollega.
21. Dec. 26, 2005. Hundreds of people from the towns of Mendi and Gimbi, Wallega, were rounded up and taken to Senkele Police Training Center in Ambo. Special Forces surrounded the towns after the residents started holding protest rallies demanding the removal of Meles Zenawi and Juneidi Sado. (Ethiopian Review, 26 December, 2005).
22. Dec. 27, 2005. Dagim Wenchi reported two killings in student demonstrations in Boji Chekorsa, Wollega, and the arrests of several elders and youth in Gimbi. The youth were taken to Didhessa concentration camp.
23. Dec. 28, 2005. Toma reported the arrest of four businessmen in Dembi Dollo, Wollega, Yonas Gelan, Fekade Shibeshi, Kassahun Kitla and Belay Yadeta, and that those who were arrested from Dembi Dollo, Anfilo, Mughi and Gimbi were detained in Senkele police training camp. The same day ‘Parliamentarians representing the Oromo people have petitioned the House Speaker to discuss mass arrests in Oromia State’ the paper reported.
24. Dec. 30, 2005. VOA reported the closure of the three high schools in Nekemte, Wollega, following student arrests and the killing of four students in Wollega that week. Police admitted over 300 arrests to VOA.
25. Jan. 20, 2006. All schools in the following towns have been reported closed due to continued students protest and extended popular uprising: Ambo, Tikur-Incini, Dembi Dollo, Gimbi, Qoree, Biyo Karaba, Asasa, Kofale, Gedo, Bako, Sarbo, Shashamane, Nekemte, Lalo Asabi, Jimma, Machara, Finca’a, Kombolcha, Xullo, Dhangago, Ciro, Oliqa Dingilu, Qelam, Haro Maya, Doba, Ginir, Habro, Matufi Darimu, Dire Dawa, Galamso, Badesa, Asabot, Bedeno, Mi’esso, Bordode, Mandi, Daro Labu, Gadulo, Gololcha, Calanqo, Awaday, Bate, Kara-Mile, Harar, Qobbo, Langey, Masala, Awash, Didhessa, Guttin, Haro Sabu and Gibe (OSG report No. 42).
The above selectively reported incidents are few of the widespread popular unrest in the entire Oromia, East, West, South, and North, which was ignited on November 09, 2005 and continued for nearly two years. Tens of thousands of students, farmers, teachers, businessmen, and all sectors of the society have been jailed, tortured, disappeared, and killed in broad day light and in prison cells. While international media stands generally ignored this long-lived and massive popular unrest and unimaginable human rights abuse and loss of life, some humanitarian organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oromia Support Group, have shaded light to a small part of the uprisings, massive unrests, and brutal killings. On January 30, 2006, Amnesty International in its issue (AI Index: AFR 25/002/2006) reported:
“…The 11 students named above are among several thousand school and college students from the Oromo ethnic group who have been detained in a series of anti-government demonstrations in different parts of the Oromia Region, in the capital, Addis Ababa, and in other towns. All those named above are detained incommunicado at a number of different locations, and are at risk of torture or ill-treatment. The arrests have taken place during a wave of student demonstrations which began on 9 November 2005. The demonstrations are still taking place in some areas. Most of those taking part were secondary school students, some of them children under 18 years old, but teachers, farmers, businesspeople and others have also been detained in connection with the demonstrations. Most demonstrations reportedly began peacefully but some police and demonstrators were injured, property was damaged and explosions were reported in some places. The demonstrations are said to have taken place after a call by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an armed opposition group, for demonstrations against the government. Demonstrators called, among other political demands, for the release of Oromo political prisoners, including officials of the Mecha Tulema Association, a long-established Oromo welfare association (emphasis mine).”
The total number of those killed in cold blood during and after the student demonstrations in Oromia remains unknown or simply under reported, but is believed to be several hundreds. The International Oromo Youth Associatio (IOYA) reported on December 10, 2006 that “…in the years 2005- 2006 alone, more than 500 students were killed by government’s security forces of which the record is available and widely reported by different media and human rights groups..”. On February 15, 2006 (about 3 months after the protests first broke out) the OLF reported in a press release:
“...Since the last press briefing many school children, university students, the young and elderly have been killed, and disappeared while tens of thousands have been imprisoned where they routinely faced torture. According to reliable reports, more than 105 have been killed in different parts of Oromia while 232 have disappeared without trace. The recent cold-blood massacre of 22 innocent people in Guduru is a graphic example of the facts on the ground. Prisoners are being picked from detention centers during the night never to return either to their prison cells or to their relatives (emphasis mine).”
The protests and peaceful demonstrations Oromo students are a manifestation of the anger and frustration of the Oromo people against the current brutal regime in Ethiopia. It also shows that the Oromo people are still under a “hidden” and new form of subjugation. The current regime in power may think it has relinquished the popular fire (uprising) that was ignited in the entire Oromia by force. But the student movements are reflections of the overall struggle of the Oromo people for democracy, justice and freedom. It will only stop when ALL the oppressors (those who are on power and those who intend to replace them) are gone from the Oromian soil for good and the Oromo people freely determine their fate.
It is to be noted that the above report is focused only on the protests in Oromia which broke out on November 09, 2005 and continued on-and-off in the entire region for nearly two years. The time these protest started also coincides with the widely reported protest in Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) and several major cities organized by the then CUD (Coalition for Unity and Democracy) in which some 200 people have been brutally murdered and tens of thousands jailed. The massive popular unrests in Oromia and in the entire Ethiopia against the current brutal regime may now look subdued for several reasons, but it is actually a ticking bomb that can explode at any moment just as it exploded suddenly on November 09, 2005 following a call from OLF and the post-election protests called by the CUD. And when it does, it has the potential to wash away the oppressors and their collaborators.
References:
1. Oromia Support Group (OSG No. 42), Press Release No. 42, 2005 – 2006, Malvern, UK. http://oromo.org/osg/pr42.htm#Oromo_student_demonstrations,_killings_and_arrests
2. Reporter, November 13, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
3. OSG No. 42
4. The World Prout Assembly, Kolkata, India. http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2005/12/oromo_tplf_anot.html
5. Oromia Times, Nov. 30, 2005. http://oromiatimes.blogspot.com/2005/12/barattooti-oromoo-24-kollejjii.html
6. OLF Press Release, “Popular Oromo protests in 25th day”, Dec. 05, 2005.
7. Seife Nebelbal, December 16, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
8. Tikusat, December 18, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
9. Dagim Woncif, Dec. 27, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
10. Tomar, Dec. 28, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
11. Radio Voice of America, Afan Oromo Service, Washington, D.C.
12. IOYA Press Release - Novemeber 10, 2006
This week Oromo nationalists in Oromia and around the globe commemorate the popular student uprising known as Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa (meaning “Revolt Against Subjugation”) that suddenly broke out on November 09, 2005 following the failed Ethiopian election of 2005 in which the Oromo was denied any meaningful representation. The popular revolt started on November 09, 2005 following a call by the OLF to Oromo students and entire Oromo people to peacefully oppose the government and bring to the forefront the demands of democracy, justice, and most importantly, the realization of the right of the Oromo people to self-determination. Below are the chronology of the events related to the 2005 “Revolt against Subjugation” that begun with a brutal killing of high school unarmed students in Ambo High School, Western Shoa zone, Ambo town.
1. November 09, 2005. Students of Ambo High school staged a peaceful demonstration. At least five students were reported killed, including students Jagama Badhane and Kabbada Badhassa and a younger female student and police killed at least two more when shooting in response to protests at Jagama’s death (Reporter, 13 November, 2005). The Sunday Times (November 10) reported 17 others were wounded. Reporter also reported demonstrations, school closures and loss of lives in Ambo, Wollega, Adama (Nazareth), Woliso, Guder, Gedo and Haromaya and that the funeral of Jagama was attended by 50,000 people, which was also a sign of protest against the regime. The same day, students of Jimma zone, Qarsaa district (woreda), and Qarsaa Tolii elementary school reportedly staged a peaceful demonstration in which they marched on the streets of the town in large numbers denouncing the regime and openly and loudly demanding their support for the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) to come and take over the governance of Oromia.
Jagama Badhane and Kabada Badhassa, two of the students shot dead in Ambo on 9 November 2005 (Photo from OSG report No. 42)
2. November 10, 2005. In response to the OLF’s call for revolt and outraged by the killings of Ambo high school, students of Biiftuu Ghmbi High School, Western Wollega zone staged a peaceful demonstration. The school was surrounded by the police force of the regime and several students were taken to jail. The same day students of several high schools of Western Shoa zone such as Xuqur Hincinnii, Gedo, Bako, Jajjii, Nekemte (Eastern Wollega), Shambu (Eastern Wollega), Kofale (Arsi), Shashamanne (Eastern Shoa), many other places staged demonstration. Hundreds of students beaten and arrested.
3. Nov. 11, 2005: Student protest continue in Jimma, Ambo (3rd day), Shashemenie, Haromaya (3rd day), Aweday, Ciroo, Dembidollo, Ghimbi (2nd day), Asela, Diredawa, Galamso, Badesa, Awaday, Bako, Warra Jarso, Innango (West Wollega) and Mojo. The entire public has joined the protests especially in Haromaya, Awaday, and Ciroo. About 100 were rounded up by police in Ciroo. Civilians in Mojo prevented police from taking several students to prison.
4. Nov 15, 2005: The student protests continue all over Oromia: Some of the protests that have been reported between November 12 – 15, 2005 are: Bishooftuu, Haroomaya University, Machaaraa, Miicataa, Harooreysaa, Miliqaayee, Gaadullaan, Nekemte, and Gidda Kiramu. By November 15, all schools of Western Shoa zone have been reported closed by the authorities of the regime.
5. Nov 16, 2005. Four students were killed when peaceful protestors were fired upon in Qore (Arsi zone). Local residents reacted with more protests and another six were shot dead (OSG report No. 42).
6. Nov 17, 2005. In response to the Qore killings of November 16 (above), students in Kofale (Arsi zone), Negelle, and Kuraya, staged large demonstrations. The same day 5000 Oromo students at universities in Gonder, Bahar Dar amd Mekele were beginning hunger strike in protest, against killings of Oromo students and the harassment of Gonder students under the pretext of investigating the burning of houses there (OSG report No. 42).
7. Nov. 18, 2005. Student protests continued in Hirna (Hararge), continued for that week, with nine more students and other residents, including a mentally disabled person, being added to those in the detention camp there. Many of those detained have been injured by beatings. The same day, farmers around Hirna refused to attend a government meeting and students and residents of Ciroo blocked roads to the town on another continued protest (OSG report No. 42).
8. Nov 19, 2005. Student demonstrations continued in Gindhiir (Bale zone). At around 8:30 pm, the police shot a young boy. This has caused much tension in this and neighboring towns. As a result, a nearby town, Dalloo Sabroo remained under siege by heavily armed government forces for several days. Residents are harassed and their movement within the town is heavily restricted. The same day it was reported that all schools in and around Kofalee (Arsii zone) remain closed since the uprising was ignited in early November. Extensive campaign of arrest has been unleashed in both the town of Kofalee and its surroundings. Eyewitnesses have reported that people are jammed into small cells and tortured daily.
9. Nov 20, 2005: Discomforted by the continued uprising of the Oromo people in Harargee zone Mr. Minaase W. Georgis, the then President of Oromia arrived at the city of Sakina, in Daroolabu district (Harargee). When the news of his arrival was leaked, Oromo people quickly gathered in the thousands and staged a demonstration, chanting and demanding implementation of article 39 of the Ethiopian constitution, demanding an immediate release of members of Macha and Tulama Self-help Organization, voicing their support for the OLF, and rejecting Minaase W. Giorgis as President of Oromia. Minaase immediately turned around and left the area without meeting anyone. Embarrassed by this development, the local OPDOs later embarked on indiscriminately harassing the residents. Their attempt to murder a resident named Diitaa Ahmad Muummee failed, but Diitaa was wounded slightly by a bullet shot by an OPDO envoy. It was reported that the OPDO has demanded that Diitaa pay for the lost bullet, reminiscent of the Derg regime (OSG report No. 42).
10. Nov 21, 2005. Students of Roobee Teacher’s Training College and surrounding schools (Bale zone) staged a demonstration. The same day Oromo people residing along the main road leading Roobee to Finifnee (Addis Ababa) expressed their protest by blocking the main highway using boulders and rocks. In retaliation, the police was ordered to arrest anyone seen outdoor after 9:00 pm. The police have been conducting 24 hour surveillance around residences of individuals suspected of sympathizing with the OLF (OSG report No. 42).
11. Nov 22, 2005. Oromos residing along the main road linking Finifinee and Western Oromia closed the artery highway at a place called Asgorii (Western Wollega). Demonstrators gathered at the blockage chanted slogans denouncing the Meles regime. The Ethiopian police was dispatched to the area to disperse the demonstrators who courageously resisted the police for several hours.
12. Nov 23, 2005: Students of Daaloo elementary school (Hararge) protested on the street burning OPDO flag and waving OLF flag.
13. Nov. 24, 2005. The residents of Shambuu (Eastern Wollega zone) protested by closing the main road leading to Baakkoo, thereby cutting the main line to and from the city (OSG report No. 42).
14. Nov. 25, 2005: Oromo students at the Jimma Teacher’s College staged peaceful demonstration. The Federal police attacked and injured several students while arresting 24 others. The same day, students of Galamso intensified the protest which they already begun on November 11 (Oromia Times, Nov. 30, 2005).
15. Nov. 29, 2005. Oromo students in Jaldu district of Western Shawaa zone staged a peaceful demonstration. As usual, the Ethiopian police attacked the protestors killing 2 students, Habtaamuu Bayyataa and Fiqaaduu on the spot, critically injuring two more, Nurressaa Katamaa Xaafaa, and also wounding several others. One policeman has been reported hurt during this demonstration. There has been extensive campaign of arrest in this district in both the city and the countryside. All schools in Jalduu remain closed since the uprising began. At the same time similar protests continued in neighboring districts of Geedoo and Haratoo (OLF Dec. 05, 2005).
16. Dec. 7, 2005. Classes at Jimma University had been stopped starting from December 7, 2005 because of clashes between Oromo and Tigrean students, leading to several arrests (Reporter Dec. 11).
17. Dec. 8, 2005. Students of Mendi district (Woreda) staged a massive demonstration which lasted all day during which 12 high school students were injured in clashes with police (Reporter, 11 December, 2005).
18. Dec. 13, 2005. Oromo students of Ziway, Eastern Shoa zone, demonstrate against the regime. The students later clashed with the police who tried to stop them in which two students and one police were severely wounded. Five other students have been abducted by the regime’s forces (Seife Nebelbal, 16 December, 2005).
19. Dec. 18, 2005. The Reporter wrote that students at Jimma University were refusing to resume classes because police and army were still on campus.
20. Dec 21, 2005. The private weekly Tikusa reported that six students died and six others were injured and sent to hospital when students blocked a road in Mendi [Kiltu Kara] to help prisoners heading to an unknown destination escape. Members of the military forces that were driving behind the truck which carried the prisoners opened fire and killed six students. The newspaper also reported the arrests of several Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement members in Nejo, Wollega.
21. Dec. 26, 2005. Hundreds of people from the towns of Mendi and Gimbi, Wallega, were rounded up and taken to Senkele Police Training Center in Ambo. Special Forces surrounded the towns after the residents started holding protest rallies demanding the removal of Meles Zenawi and Juneidi Sado. (Ethiopian Review, 26 December, 2005).
22. Dec. 27, 2005. Dagim Wenchi reported two killings in student demonstrations in Boji Chekorsa, Wollega, and the arrests of several elders and youth in Gimbi. The youth were taken to Didhessa concentration camp.
23. Dec. 28, 2005. Toma reported the arrest of four businessmen in Dembi Dollo, Wollega, Yonas Gelan, Fekade Shibeshi, Kassahun Kitla and Belay Yadeta, and that those who were arrested from Dembi Dollo, Anfilo, Mughi and Gimbi were detained in Senkele police training camp. The same day ‘Parliamentarians representing the Oromo people have petitioned the House Speaker to discuss mass arrests in Oromia State’ the paper reported.
24. Dec. 30, 2005. VOA reported the closure of the three high schools in Nekemte, Wollega, following student arrests and the killing of four students in Wollega that week. Police admitted over 300 arrests to VOA.
25. Jan. 20, 2006. All schools in the following towns have been reported closed due to continued students protest and extended popular uprising: Ambo, Tikur-Incini, Dembi Dollo, Gimbi, Qoree, Biyo Karaba, Asasa, Kofale, Gedo, Bako, Sarbo, Shashamane, Nekemte, Lalo Asabi, Jimma, Machara, Finca’a, Kombolcha, Xullo, Dhangago, Ciro, Oliqa Dingilu, Qelam, Haro Maya, Doba, Ginir, Habro, Matufi Darimu, Dire Dawa, Galamso, Badesa, Asabot, Bedeno, Mi’esso, Bordode, Mandi, Daro Labu, Gadulo, Gololcha, Calanqo, Awaday, Bate, Kara-Mile, Harar, Qobbo, Langey, Masala, Awash, Didhessa, Guttin, Haro Sabu and Gibe (OSG report No. 42).
The above selectively reported incidents are few of the widespread popular unrest in the entire Oromia, East, West, South, and North, which was ignited on November 09, 2005 and continued for nearly two years. Tens of thousands of students, farmers, teachers, businessmen, and all sectors of the society have been jailed, tortured, disappeared, and killed in broad day light and in prison cells. While international media stands generally ignored this long-lived and massive popular unrest and unimaginable human rights abuse and loss of life, some humanitarian organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oromia Support Group, have shaded light to a small part of the uprisings, massive unrests, and brutal killings. On January 30, 2006, Amnesty International in its issue (AI Index: AFR 25/002/2006) reported:
“…The 11 students named above are among several thousand school and college students from the Oromo ethnic group who have been detained in a series of anti-government demonstrations in different parts of the Oromia Region, in the capital, Addis Ababa, and in other towns. All those named above are detained incommunicado at a number of different locations, and are at risk of torture or ill-treatment. The arrests have taken place during a wave of student demonstrations which began on 9 November 2005. The demonstrations are still taking place in some areas. Most of those taking part were secondary school students, some of them children under 18 years old, but teachers, farmers, businesspeople and others have also been detained in connection with the demonstrations. Most demonstrations reportedly began peacefully but some police and demonstrators were injured, property was damaged and explosions were reported in some places. The demonstrations are said to have taken place after a call by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an armed opposition group, for demonstrations against the government. Demonstrators called, among other political demands, for the release of Oromo political prisoners, including officials of the Mecha Tulema Association, a long-established Oromo welfare association (emphasis mine).”
The total number of those killed in cold blood during and after the student demonstrations in Oromia remains unknown or simply under reported, but is believed to be several hundreds. The International Oromo Youth Associatio (IOYA) reported on December 10, 2006 that “…in the years 2005- 2006 alone, more than 500 students were killed by government’s security forces of which the record is available and widely reported by different media and human rights groups..”. On February 15, 2006 (about 3 months after the protests first broke out) the OLF reported in a press release:
“...Since the last press briefing many school children, university students, the young and elderly have been killed, and disappeared while tens of thousands have been imprisoned where they routinely faced torture. According to reliable reports, more than 105 have been killed in different parts of Oromia while 232 have disappeared without trace. The recent cold-blood massacre of 22 innocent people in Guduru is a graphic example of the facts on the ground. Prisoners are being picked from detention centers during the night never to return either to their prison cells or to their relatives (emphasis mine).”
The protests and peaceful demonstrations Oromo students are a manifestation of the anger and frustration of the Oromo people against the current brutal regime in Ethiopia. It also shows that the Oromo people are still under a “hidden” and new form of subjugation. The current regime in power may think it has relinquished the popular fire (uprising) that was ignited in the entire Oromia by force. But the student movements are reflections of the overall struggle of the Oromo people for democracy, justice and freedom. It will only stop when ALL the oppressors (those who are on power and those who intend to replace them) are gone from the Oromian soil for good and the Oromo people freely determine their fate.
It is to be noted that the above report is focused only on the protests in Oromia which broke out on November 09, 2005 and continued on-and-off in the entire region for nearly two years. The time these protest started also coincides with the widely reported protest in Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) and several major cities organized by the then CUD (Coalition for Unity and Democracy) in which some 200 people have been brutally murdered and tens of thousands jailed. The massive popular unrests in Oromia and in the entire Ethiopia against the current brutal regime may now look subdued for several reasons, but it is actually a ticking bomb that can explode at any moment just as it exploded suddenly on November 09, 2005 following a call from OLF and the post-election protests called by the CUD. And when it does, it has the potential to wash away the oppressors and their collaborators.
References:
1. Oromia Support Group (OSG No. 42), Press Release No. 42, 2005 – 2006, Malvern, UK. http://oromo.org/osg/pr42.htm#Oromo_student_demonstrations,_killings_and_arrests
2. Reporter, November 13, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
3. OSG No. 42
4. The World Prout Assembly, Kolkata, India. http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2005/12/oromo_tplf_anot.html
5. Oromia Times, Nov. 30, 2005. http://oromiatimes.blogspot.com/2005/12/barattooti-oromoo-24-kollejjii.html
6. OLF Press Release, “Popular Oromo protests in 25th day”, Dec. 05, 2005.
7. Seife Nebelbal, December 16, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
8. Tikusat, December 18, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
9. Dagim Woncif, Dec. 27, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
10. Tomar, Dec. 28, 2005, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
11. Radio Voice of America, Afan Oromo Service, Washington, D.C.
12. IOYA Press Release - Novemeber 10, 2006
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