April 15: Oromo National Memorial Day

April 15th is the Oromo Martyrs’ Day, also known as Guyyaa Gootota Oromoo. This commemorative day was first started by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) after the executions of its prominent leaders on a diplomatic mission en routed to Somalia on April 15, 1980. Since then, this day has been observed as the Oromo Martyrs’ Day by Oromo nationals around the world to honor those who have sacrificed their lives to free Oromia, and to renew a commitment to the cause for which they had died.

Why April 15th?

Mid 1978-1979 is remembered as the period when the survival of the Oromo national liberation struggle, led by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), was under a severe threat of extinction. It was feared that OLA units in Arsi, Bale and Hararghe would disintegrate, and their channel of connection and supplies would be cut off by the Dergue army that just recuperated from the Ethio-Somali war. Upon defeating the Siad Barre army, the Dergue turned its face on OLA. The OLA, in the fronts of Arsi, Bale and Hararghe, fought steadfastly and scored victory over the Dergue army and regrouped once again on January 1st 1980. In the wake of their military victory, OLF intensified its political struggle inside the country and abroad. The initial political victory included the persuasion of the Siad Barre government to allow the opening of OLF office in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1980, to serve as a center of consultation and deliberation between OLF political and military leaders.

In the same year, a ten-member high-ranking military and political delegates (see list below) were on their way to Somalia to meet with political leaders there when they were captured by Somali bandits in Shinniga desert (in Ogaden). These bandits were members of a splinter group from the Siad Barre army that harbored bitter hatred towards Oromo and the OLF. These bandits abused and severely tortured their Oromo captives. The bandits finally ordered the Muslims and Christians to segregate before their executions. The Oromo comrades chose to stay together and face any eventualities than identifying themselves as nothing else, but Oromo. On the day of April 15, 1980, all the ten were executed and their bodies thrown into a single grave.

Reasons for Celebrating the Oromo Martyrs’ Day
There are four major reasons why we commemorate this day.

First, this day allows us to remember those Oromo heroines and heroes who sacrificed their lives to restore Oromo culture, identity, and human dignity that were wounded by Ethiopian colonialism. In other words, this commemoration assists us to recognize the dialectical connection between martyrdom, bravery, patriotism and Oromummaa.

Until Oromo heroes and heroines created the OLF and maintained its survival by paying ultimate sacrifices, Oromo peoplehood, culture, language, and history were dumped into the trashcan of Ethiopian history. These heroes and heroines had clearly understood the significance of Oromo culture, history, language, and identity in building Oromummaa, and victorious consciousness to consolidate the Oromo national struggle for achieving Oromian statehood, sovereignty, and democracy.

Second, this commemoration day reminds us that Oromo liberation requires heavy sacrifices, and those who have given their lives for our freedom, are our revolutionary models. Such patriots created dignified history for our nation.

Third, this day reminds us that we have historical obligations to continue the struggle that Oromo martyrs started until victory.

Fourth, this celebration helps us recognize that Oromo heroes and heroines are still fighting in Oromia today. Overall, those Oromo patriots, who by luck have survived and continued the difficult and complex struggle, deserve recognition and respect for what they have done for their people. We must protect them from lies and propaganda of the internal and external enemies. Without the persistent efforts of our patriots, the multiple enemies of the Oromo nation would have destroyed the OLF a long time ago. This does not mean that we do not criticize them when they make mistakes. It is the responsibility of Oromo nationalists to develop constructive criticisms to strengthen our national movement.

The Oromo leaders and members of the OLF, who ignited the fire of Oromummaa or Oromo nationalism, whether dead or alive, have been the foundation and pillar of the Oromo national movement. They left their families, wives, husbands, houses, professions, and children by choosing Oromo human dignity and freedom. By making these kinds of difficult choices, they confronted suffering and death. Consequently, they opened a new historical chapter in our history, and showed to us new possibilities by taking risky and courageous actions. Today, Oromo heroes and heroines are engaged in the Oromo struggle; members of the OLA, Oromo activist students and other activists are our contemporary heroes and heroines, who are intensifying the struggle. All Oromos all over the world who demonstrate their support and sympathy for the Oromo national struggle by contributing whatever they can for these brave men and women are also engaged in patriotic and brave activities.

We, Oromos in exile/Diaspora, should follow the footsteps of the fallen and surviving Oromo heroes and heroes by contributing anything we can to support the Oromo national struggle. If the fallen Oromos had paid with their lives to liberate us, how can we fail to contribute our time, money and expertise to liberate our beloved country, Oromia? How can we sleep when our mothers, daughters and sisters are raped in Oromia? How can we be at peace when genocide is committed on our people? Since our people live under Ethiopian political slavery, and since no country supports the Oromo struggle, we must fulfill our historical obligations by supporting the Oromo national struggle.

April 15th is then chosen to be a day of remembrance for these and all other martyrs, who died in any month and season of the past 120 years of the Oromo anti-colonial struggle.

The following Oromo leaders were martyred on April 15, 1980
1. Bariso Waabii (Magarsaa Barii)
2. Gadaa Gammadaa (Demise Tacaane)
3. Abbaa Xiq (Abboma Mitikku)
4. Doori Barii (Yiggazu Banti)
5. Falmataa (Umar, Caccabsaa)
6. Fafamaa Doyyoo
7. Irrinaa Qacale (Dhibaa)
8. Dhadhachaa Mul’ataa
9. Dhadhachaa Boruu
10. Marii Galaan

Conclusion
Our martyrs lost their lives while dreaming and fighting for freedom, justice, democracy, and development of their people and their country. They recognized that agitating, educating, organizing, and mobilizing a colonized and dehumanized nation for liberation requires courage, determination, bravery and self-sacrifice without fear of suffering and death in the hands of the enemy and their collaborators. We have moral and national responsibilities to achieve the objectives for which our heroines and heroes sacrificed their lives.

The Oromo national movement is a very dangerous project. Tens of thousands of our people have been imprisoned, tortured, raped, and received all forms of abuse from successive Ethiopian governments in general, and that of the Meles Zenawi in particular. The Tigrayan-led government has been systematically targeting and killing all Oromo leaders and those who have potentials of leadership while promoting the most despicable elements of Oromo society and the children of colonial settlers as leaders of the Oromo nation.

While commemorating our fallen heroes and heroines, we must also remember our current ones who are engaging in the bitter struggle and those who are suffering in Ethiopian prisons. We must double our support for the OLA that is engaging in implementing the missions of the fallen Oromo heroines and heroes in Oromian forests, valleys, mountains, and Ethiopian garrison cities. We should sustain the spirits of our fallen heroes and heroines by taking concrete actions every day. It is our national responsibility to educate, mobilize and recruit passive or unconscious Oromo individuals to join the Oromo national movement. Such actions must start in families by educating and training children; husbands and wives must teach one another and their children the essence of Oromoummaa. The spirits of our heroes and heroines require that all of us must be grass-root leaders who engage in a systematic struggle to fight those agents of the enemy or those misled individuals who undermine the Oromo national struggle intentionally or unintentionally.

All Oromo nationalists must be cadres, teachers, students, leaders, followers, fighters, financiers, ideologues, organizers, defenders and promoters of the Oromo cause. We should not keep quiet when certain individuals attack our organizations, leaders, communities and Oromo peoplehood to satisfy their troubled egos or their masters. If we do some of these activities in our daily lives, the spirits of our fallen heroes and heroines will survive through our actions.

=>advocacy4oromia

The Negele Borana case is part of TPLF's evil strategy against OLF in southern Oromia

The Negele Borana case is part of TPLF's evil strategy against OLF in southern Oromia
- Abishe Gerba March 26, 2014

Although the information regarding the whereabouts of Oromo Liberation Army [OLA] and its operations are scanty to non-existent, its non-conventional operations both as small army and among the pastoralists and farmers of Southern Oromia is popular. Such small forces have seized towns such as Moyale several times. The porous border between Kenya and Ethiopia, lack of roads, the settlement pattern of the rural Oromo community and the uninhabited large swath of land in these corner of the country have made it very hard for the government to contain guerrilla attacks by OLF-OLA.

Over the last several years, TPLF has deviced a strategy to keep its presence at minimum or the most to take mediator or peace keeper role. Its strategy, in collaboration with the Kenyan government, is to destabilize the entire region and demonize the Borana Oromos, and put them in clash with all the neighbouring communities. By doing so, TPLF believes Borana Oromos will divert their attention to fighting their neighbours rather than align with OLF to fight the Ethiopian government.

Due to historical facts and their resentment against the Kenyan and Ethiopian governments, Borana Oromos in Oromia and Kenya, although not openly, endorse and support the OLF insurgents. They do this for two major reasons. One, Borana Oromos are the majority in two districts in Kenya but have been pushed out of offices positions by the alliance of Burji, Rendile and Gabra. Second, in Ethiopia, the Borana Oromos are very sympathetic to the general question of the Oromos under OLF for rights of self-determination, right to use resource and the right to develop thier culture and language. This has made them the target for continuos hunt.

So Borana Oromos are fighting with all communities around them. In the east, they clash with the Gari Oromo-Somali community. In the North, they clash with Guji Oromos. In the south, they fight with Gabra, Rendile and Burji communities. These conflicts ars dynamic where sometimes other communities may fight each other but Borana Oromos rarely make any alliance with other communities. It also comes with cross-border element where one community crosses the border to rescue its community living beyond the border.

The current Negele Borana vis-a-vis Negele name saga is also part of the grand evil plan of TPLF to offer homework for the Oromo nation as a whole by dividing its communities and having them clash with one another. This issue has been around since the creation of the Guji Zone. There was an incident where the board at the Negele Borana hospital entrance was whitened and replaced with just Negele. This incident sparked some conflict and it was decided by Oromia regional government to leave the town with its current name of Negele Borana, although there was recommendation by some officials that name should be changed to Negele. Guji Oromos are also receiving advice from some residents of other nations and nationalities, particularly the Amharas. According to them, Negele Borana has become a town of nations and nationalities and it belongs to everyone. They think the name Borana gives the ownership of the town to the Borana Oromos only. It has to go and replaced with just Negele that is more inclusive. What they don't understand is, as Oromos, they have equal right just like the Borana Oromos, and they are now part of the greater problem in the empire-Oromo. The Oromo problem is centralized in the dynamics of Amhara-Oromo identity. The real question should have been Oromos, Guji and Borana alike to ask for greater share of the natural resource and priority in services or resources. And, the name change within the Oromo nation does not make sense but only hurts our national struggle to get rid of over 100 year Abyssinian subjugation.

What is more disappointing is while Negelle Borana is occupied with silly issues of name, not far away in Shakkiso, Guji, Borana and other Oromo students are fighting both the evil Wayane military junta and some Naftenya elements. It is very sad to see such internal affairs explode to a conflict. Above all, it shows how weak the Oromia regional government is and its negligible influence compared to its master-state, Tigray and TPLF.

=>oromowiki

Egypt: Foreign Ministry lobbies international community over Renaissance Dam

Al-Masry Al-Youm

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Badr Abdel Aty on Tuesday said the ministry is intensifying endeavors on both regional and international levels to convince the international community of Egypt’s position regarding the Renaissance Dam.

 

“We are not against development in Ethiopia in particular or the Nile Basin countries in general,” he said. “But we will not allow harm to our interests and national security.”

 

“There is an understanding that our position is just,” he added. 

 

He said the ministry sent fact sheet to all Egyptian embassies explaining Egypt’s firm position on the issue in order for the embassies to relay them to respective governments and media.

 

“Our position is based on mutual benefit without harming any party,” he said.

 

He said the fact sheet explains in detail all stages of this issue beginning from the announcement of the Nile Basin Initiative ten years ago when Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed to prepare a joint study for electricity interconnection and regional energy trade projects. This study recommended the construction of two dams on the Blue Nile, namely the Mandaya and the Border dams. However, in February 2011, the Ethiopian government suddenly announced its intention to build a new dam, which prompted the Norwegian government to stop funding the study.

 

The sheet explains further that in April 2011 Ethiopia had singlehandedly laid the foundation for the Renaissance Dam without providing more information about the project other than that it would not affect the downstream nations but later said that it would. 

 

The Renaissance Dam, which cost LE4.7 billion, is the largest in the region with a height of 145 meters and a storage capacity of 74 billion cubic meters of water to generate 6,000 MW.

 

The sheet also covers the negotiations with Ethiopia since the visit of former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to Ethiopia in May 2011 and his meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. During this meeting, they had agreed to form a committee of two experts per country from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in addition to four other international experts to assess the repercussions of the dam on the downstream countries.

 

In its report, however, the committee said that the design of the supporting dam is weak and that it did not receive the feasibility, financial and other studies that had been requested for a year.

 

The report also said that the models of the hydraulic design and the storage lake show negative effects on Egypt’s water needs and the power generation of the High Dam. This is taking into account the specifications announced by the Ethiopian government for filling the storage area over six years.

 

The committee requested the completion of all studies related to the water resources system and the hydraulic design, as well as an evaluation of any environmental effects on the downstream countries.

 

Abdel Aaty said that in the spirit of cooperation and goodwill on the part of Egypt to reach an agreement with the Ethiopian government, the former foreign minister paid a visit to Addis Ababa in June 2013 to exchange views with his Ethiopian counterpart. They agreed to work jointly with Sudan to quickly implement the recommendations of the report. 

 

He added that the Ethiopian foreign minister admitted the report and stressed his country's keenness not to cause any harm to Egypt. 

 

The report said that although they agreed to implement the recommendations quickly, especially as the Ethiopian government is continuing to build the dam, the first meeting of the water ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia wasn't held until November 2013, which was five months later, followed by two rounds in December 2013 and January 2014.

 

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

=>egyptindependent

Ethiopian government carries out extensive monitoring of its citizens, including in Norway, according to a new report.

Felix Horne
Africa-worker, Human Rights Watch

In late 2012, Yohannes Alemus ? wife of arrested people from the Ethiopian security during a visit with relatives in the capital Addis Ababa. She brought with her the couple's two children. Yohannes is a former refugee , now a Norwegian citizen , and he is a supporter of a political opposition party that is banned in Ethiopia. Security Police questioned Yohannes ? wife about his political connections , sending him e -mails and called him in Norway . They wanted more information about his colleagues in the opposition. He refused , and after 20 days, his wife finally released and sent back to Norge.Yohannes thought that this episode was over it. He was wrong .

Without him knowing it contained one of the emails an attachment that was infected with a German developed spyware called finfish . As soon as it had infected his computer , had the Ethiopian security unlimited access . After he had unsuspectingly forwarded e -mails to others, gave this spyware potentially free access for security authorities to their computers as well. Computer experts confirmed that computer to at least one of his contacts were monitored using the infected attachment in the message .

All over the world people responded last year with disbelief and anger when it was revealed how the U.S. has been monitoring our phone calls and emails. In Europe , few people worry that monitoring will result in threats to their lives and families . But for Ethiopians , among them refugees living in Norway , the monitoring of their governments lead to arrests , intimidation , torture and unfair trials . And , as our research shows , is not people safe from espionage from Addis Ababa , even when they have fled abroad .

Investigations we have undertaken in the past 18 months shows that the Ethiopian government uses its control over the country's Chinese-made telecommunications system to monitor communications between its own citizens , as well as arrest and gag dissent both in Ethiopia and abroad. Officials in the security services have unlimited access to the registers of all the country who owns a phone . Often they play recordings of calls for people on remand during illegal interrogations .

This has had a very direct impact on the Ethiopian community in Norway . Many fear that if they communicate with their families back home in Ethiopia, the calls will be tracked so that relatives could face reprisals. They are right to be redde.Etiopia has a terrible record of human rights abuses - torture by critics is common, opposition parties have been decimated , independent organizations are practically non -existent , and there are hardly independent media. Thousands of Ethiopians fleeing threats to their lives and safety, and many have come to Norway .

But even in this safe haven , just as elsewhere in Europe , using the Ethiopian government very sophisticated, European -produced electronic monitoring tools to listen divergent voices among the Ethiopian Diaspora. These tools can provide security and intelligence agencies full access to the files, information and activities on that person's infected computer . They can read keystrokes and passwords, and turn on both webcam and microphone , allowing a computer here in Norway becomes an effective monitoring apparatus.

While I was doing research on the issue , I met another man, Badessa ( not his real name) . He lives in a refugee camp in Kenya. He told me: " I ​​used to get phone calls from my brother in Norway and my sister in the Netherlands. Then one day I was arrested and submitted a list of my phone calls , and was asked to tell who the foreign numbers belonged . I replied that it was my relatives . Then they played a phone conversation with my brother in Norway , where we talked about politics . I was then a member of the ( forbidden ) Liberation Front Oromo Liberation Front. "

BADESSE was severely tortured for ten days in a military camp in Ethiopia. Although he is now in relative safety in Kenya , he is afraid to talk to someone in the family, and he has physical and psychological injuries after the experience. He is hoping he can move to his brother in Norway , but has not spoken to him since the previous call. In Ethiopia, a number of people were arrested and abused without having done anything wrong , other than talking to Ethiopians living abroad .

While the world are right to let the shock of Edward Snow Its revelations about the U.S. government's mass surveillance , we should also worry that repressive governments in many countries , such as Ethiopia , buys and uses European- produced technology targeted to independent voices across the world, including Norway .

NORWAY MAY implement important measures to stop this abuse . Norwegian authorities should join the initiative to regulate the export of such technology to governments that have a questionable intercourse with human rights , such as Ethiopia . Until that happens , it will not Yohannes Alemu be the latest victim of cyber - surveillance.


Chronicle writer is co-author of the report " They know everything we do: Telecom and Internet Monitoring in Ethiopia ", released yesterday by Human Rights Watch , and the post is based.

=>google translate from dagbladet

On Oromo struggle: why denial is not an option

By Naomi Y

(OPride) — Discussions about "unity” and identity has never been easy in the context of Ethiopian political discourse. Different ideas and platforms were suggested at different times. However, each time, those ideas were simply shelved or met with vehement criticism, and eventually vanished. Recently, Oromo activist Birhaanu Gammachusought to start one such discussion. His primary goal was to provoke a discussion about political culture among Oromo and Ethiopian activistsbased on reason, toward shaping a common future. In that respect, he has my attention.

But Gammachu seems to also want set a political agenda, perhaps from which we can start negotiations toward a compromise on what should be done about our common future, if we have, and who deserve what. If this was the case, I have to dissent for two reasons. First, there are several missing issues from his analysis. Second, surrender is not an option for Oromo's legitimate cause. I do not wish to recount the egregious crimes committed against Oromo and other nations in southern Ethiopia. This is not a defense of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) or its leadership, whom Gemechu accuses of impotence, incompetence and ineffectiveness. On this point, as a former member of the OLF Central Committee,Gammachu in fact knows what he is talking about.

It is up to the OLF leadership to refute these allegations, provided that they have something to offer in response. Furthermore, I agree with the writer that a political vision based on hatred and vengeance would not lead to peace, prosperity and freedom. Yet, it is important to present a balanced analysis of Oromo cause instead of using attention-grabbing headlines to attack Oromo struggle under the guise of assault on the OLF leadership.

By reducing the Oromo struggle to simply nothing more than killing Ethiopia, Gammachu not only misrepresents the goal of Oromo struggle but he also appraises right-wing radical agenda at the expense of those seeking unity based on identify, historical and cultural recognition.

Equating Oromo cause with OLF

Since the formation of the OLF in 1970s, the aims of Oromo cause has been presented as the antithesis of the Ethiopian state. Before the establishment of OLF, many Oromo nationalists, including those who believed in one Ethiopia, perished simply because they asked for equal recognition. Others were killed or imprisoned because they thought Ethiopia belonged to all, Oromo people deserve representation and recognition in that empire. Those who believed no group is more Ethiopian than the other were openly ridiculed. After the formation of OLF, Oromo nationalists who were beholden to justice became an easy prey. Different Ethiopian regimes used alleged membership in the OLF as a pretext to persecute Oromo nationalists, while it was easy to prove contrary.

Either from misconception or deliberately, Gammachu commits the same fallacy by equating the Oromo cause to the OLF's agenda. This sloppy trickery has in fact been employed by some of the OLF leadership that the writer criticizes. And Ethiopian rulers, past and present, have used this scheme to silence Oromo activists. Some OLF activists and leaders try to present the organization as the sole representative of Oromo and often dismiss other Oromo parties as unOromo or anti-Oromo. Whether their intention was to unify and rally the Oromo around one front, or a simple chauvinism as, it has become a major obstacle to fostering political pluralism among the Oromo.Ethiopian rulers equate the Oromo cause with OLF because that makes it easy for them to single out and label all conscious Oromo activists as enemy of the state, threat to national security, secessionist and more recently terrorists.

Formation of Ethiopia

The history of Ethiopia has always been construed as the north versus the rest. Efforts to remake Ethiopian history are not meant to reject the country in toto. It is rather an attempt to ensure that this history is inclusive so as to make all ethnic groups feel a sense of belonging. It is an endeavor to find a common ground in order to unshackle the people from poverty, lack of good governance and gross human rights violations. However, simply purging a whole century of injustice, as Gammachu does, cannot forge a common history. The past cannot be erased for the sake of unity, peace and prosperity. While he rightly acknowledges that no one "human history had perfect past in any part of our planet Earth," he fails to mention that recognition is an important step toward healing and reconciliation.

Legitimacy and practicality

The writer makes a strong case against secession by analyzing the current state of affairs in Ethiopia and around the world. This is a point shared by pragmatic activists on both sides of the aisle and those who want to see an end to the problems facing the country. Yet, the writer ignored legal and historical issues that pervade political debates in Ethiopia. Historical, cultural and linguistic recognition of all nations (and nationalities) is established by the country’s constitution as well as customary international law.

Under the United Nations Charter, member states have categorically agreed on the notion of self-determination of people, without any exception. In addition, Article I of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights mandate member states to “promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right.”

In its advisory opinion on the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, in 2010, the International Court of Justice ruled that Kosovo’s decision does not violate international law. Following the devastating evasion of Georgia by Russia in 2008, Russia and few other states recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states. The latest developments in Crimea, Venice and Scotland show that the notion of self-determination cannot simply be pushed under the rug.

If Gammachu’s intention seems to propose talking points so that people would make informed opinions based on reason as opposed to emotions. But such a debate presupposes a holistic agenda that includes discussions on historical, political, legal and practical aspects of the issue. Furthermore, political discussion and compromise can only be done in good faith. It is also important to keep in mind that negotiations and compromises require some kind of political leverage. Gammachu ripped off all the leverage that the Oromo people could possibly have by claiming there have been no historical injustices in which the Oromos were the prime targets of any group. As such, Gammachu’s attempts to spark a debate, even though commendable, may only resonate with those who despise Oromos for who they are.

But why only to Oromos?

Oromos, its elite or the OLF leadership, did not create the current political crisis in Ethiopia. It is a game played by minority northerners who have alternated power over the last century. Despite this known fact, Gammachu blames Oromos for the current political insanity in Ethiopia. He makes no mention of Amharas refusal to accept the Oromo people as Ethiopians for more than a century. He ignores efforts to undo Oromos hard-fought victories like Qubee and the current federal structures, even if ostentatious.Besides, those who espouse unity have always shied away from defending Oromo rights and standing up against injustice committed against Oromos. Oromos have consistently done the opposite – even forming political alliances with other ethnic groups, including Amharas.

“Let’s blame no particular social group as a sole liability to an injustice or oppression but our less accommodative and less tolerant institute of governance,” writes Gammachu. “Our past is our collective history...”

There are several fundamental flaws in Gammachu’s reasoning. Ethiopia is and remains an empire deliberately forged in the interest of a particular group. As such, it was elites from a particular ethnic background who created the systems of intolerance, impunity and unfairness. Recognition of the past atrocities and historical injustices is the first step toward changing such institutions and attitudes. Only when those injustices are acknowledged and validated we can seek a common ground to fight intolerance, impunity and poverty in unison. Anything less would only take us half the way. Hoping for unity while denying historical injustices is ignorance at its best.

Conclusion

In sum, Gammachu tried to create a headline about what should be done to change the political attitude and problems in the OLF camp. His good intentions were overshadowed by blatant rejection of the suffering of the Oromo people. He purposely overlooks key facts about the social, economic, political and historical injustices in that country. By asserting that there is no one social group that is responsible for the historical injustice that the majority of the people of the country face, the writer aligned himself against all who believe that the best way to achieve peace, prosperity and justice is by accommodating each other. By so doing, Gammachu joined a group that rejects and denies the structural injustices in Ethiopia. Accepting past historical injustices and the legitimate questions of Oromo and other southern nations can only clear the path for dialogue and probable compromise. After all, why do countries build monuments to remember their history? Is it not to learn from the past? Is it not a part of justice and exoneration?

The path forward in Ethiopia must follow reconciliation and transitional justice. It requires acceptance, rigorous debate, forgiveness and compensation where necessary. Tajikistan is the only exception to this rule. Following the fall off the Soviet Union, civil war broke out in central Asia, costing thousands of lives and destruction of property. After long discussions and dialogue, the country opted for completely erasing the violence, massacre and injustice that happened during the civil war. The parties agreed that no memorial or monument would be built, no references to tragic events in the official history book. In Ethiopia’s case, incalculable loss of lives and destruction of property in the south were recorded in history books, taught in schools as a source of pride. It was only after 1991 that the curriculum was amended in a way that those atrocities are identified as such. This by no means is a fabrication by Oromo elites. And I don’t believe it is lost on Gammachu.

While I commend the writer’s efforts to jump-start an important discussion on the future of OLF and Ethiopia, reducing the Oromo struggle to one group is a gross injustice and misrepresentation – and cannot advance a meaningful debate.

--

*The writer can be reached for comment at naomiy1188@gmail.com.

=>opride

Ethiopian maids targeted in Kuwait

March 26, 2014 (Migrant Rights) –  Kuwait’s Ethiopian community has become the target of bigoted accusations and vitriolic attacks following the March 16 murder of a 19-year-old Kuwaiti woman by an Ethiopian domestic worker.  The young housemaid murdered her employer’s daughter, child of ex-football player and current Kuwaiti official Humood Flatih al-Shammari, and proceeded to turn herself in at the local police station. One media report claims the murder was a reaction to “mild criticism from the victim regarding the housemaid’s housework.”  According to authorities, she may face the death penalty.

Less than a week after the murder,  Kuwaiti officials, citizens, and media outlets have proposed recruitment bans and even deportations of Ethiopian migrants. The ministry of interior announced an indefinite moratorium on the recruitment of all Ethiopian migrants and yet again, Kuwaiti officials failed to responsibly and reasonably address crimes involving the expatriate community . Parliament members were amongst the first to stoke fear and anger by implicating the Ethiopian community as a whole; parliament members called for a unilateral ban on Ethiopians migrant workers and for the deportation of the estimated 80,000 currently residing in Kuwait.  One parliament member directly called on Kuwaiti families to proactively deport their Ethiopian housemaids, 45,000 of whom workacross the country, and to swallow resulting financial losses as though it were a national duty.  MP Talal Al-Jalala  reiterated calls for regular testing of domestic workers to “ensure they are not suffering from psychological diseases” and demanded a tougher punishment for so-called “killer maids.” MP  Humood al-Hamdan  also suggested measures to avoid recruiting workers with “mental or psychological problems” as well as  awareness campaigns to “familiarize the expatriate workers on the local culture and nature of the Kuwaiti society…” Each of these members claims that workers are predisposed towards crime because of mental instability or cultural differences, failing to acknowledge the documented impact of exploitative employment conditions on workers. Gulf-based studies link both workers’ crimes and mental disposition to employer mistreatment, providing an evidence-based opportunity for intervention. But rather than securing much needs rights for domestic workers or launching public service announcements to encourage the fair treatment of domestic workers Kuwaiti officials choose to recklessly incite hostility against the migrant community and further perpetuate the cycle of violence.

Furthermore, on March 19 the Ministry of interior launched raids on recruitment agencies. The ministry arrested 12,984 domestic workers in one night and intends to deport them shortly – without granting them access to legal services or to a trial to contest their status.  One media outlet reported that the ministry intended to shut down violating offices, and also confiscated agencies’ insurance funds. The ministry ordered the deportation of all domestic workers temporarily placed at these offices, most of whom had been ‘returned’ to the agency and were awaiting the location of another employer. Among the 12,000+ domestic workers arrested, 2,136 were Ethiopians; 234 females and 1,902 males.

The ministry condemned agencies attempts to exchange maids or ‘sell’ them to different sponsors as a form of human trafficking, and according to a local newspaper, “the ban is enforced until recruitment procedures as well as regulations that organize the work of recruitment offices and medical tests in Kuwait are reviewed.” Yet, the Kuwaiti government established this ‘probationary period’ to protect sponsors investments, allowing them to ‘return’ domestic workers to recruitment agencies if they are unsatisfied with their work. While it is critical that Kuwait seems to have recognized the risk this period exposes domestic workers to, Kuwait’s response is misguided; By choosing to summarily deport these workers, Kuwait has once again disproportionately imposed the burden of it’s own under-regulation, as well as the transgressions of Kuwaiti citizens, onto migrants.

The demonization of nationalities following major crimes committed by expatriates is not unique to Kuwait; Last year, the murder of a child by a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia immediately invoked widespread outcry against Ethiopians and resulted in a ban on their recruitment. Saudi officials similarly failed to address the actual causes such crimes and instead implemented measures based largely on social media hysteria. By addressing the race of a domestic worker rather than the conditions of domestic work, Saudi accomplished little except invite maid shortages and higher recruitment fees.

The UAE has been more vocal about the impact of employment conditions on domestic workers and has produced several awareness campaigns about fair treatment. However, these campaigns similarly cast suspicion on domestic workers, implying that workers should be treated well not for the sake of their rights, but for the sake of the family’s safety.  These warnings can put workers at further risk, as employers feel they must consolidate their control.  Additionally, the campaigns have not been coupled with legislative reforms that protect domestic worker’s rights.

Kuwait should learn from the experiences of other Gulf states as well as it’s own.  Without any trial, Kuwaiti officials have already determined the motivation of the crime and have already acted with abrasive, uncalculated measures. Rarely do Kuwaiti officials speak out about attacks against migrant workers, and never with such expedient demands for official action. Murder of course can never be justified, and should always be condemned – but in Kuwait, this outcry is dependent on the citizenship of the victim and the nationality of the murder.

Collective punishment fails to meaningfully address the root cause of such crimes and furthermore directs public anger towards Ethiopian domestic workers.  Rather than inflaming suspicions against foreign domestic workers, Kuwait should implement a balanced reform of the entire domestic worker sector that ensures the safety of employers and workers alike.

Kuwaiti officials have chosen to incite suspicion against foreign domestic workers rather than to develop sound protective measures that ensure the safety of employers and workers alike.

=>ayyaantuu

Ethiopia: Arrests and Detentions of Oromo Students in Southern Oromia

HRLHA   Urgent Action

Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) would like to express its deep concern over the safety and fates of Shakiso High School Oromo Students who became victims of discriminate mass arrest and detention in Shakiso Town of Guji Zone in southern Oromia. Around two hundred ethnic Oromo Students have been sent to a jail in the nearby Adola Town, and some have received varying degrees of injuries both from bullets that were shot by the security forces during the interference and by beatings.

Shakiso High School

Those high school Oromo Students, almost all of whom are juvenile, were arrested and/or picked up at different times from different places including the school compound following a minor clash between them and ethnic Amhara Students of the same high school. According to information obtained by HRLHA through its correspondents, the clash between the two groups occurred following a provocation by the ethnic Amhara Students in opposition to the singing of the regional anthem in the regional Oromo Language by ethnic Oromo Students during flag raising ceremony at the school based on the rules and regulations provided for by the constitution of the regional state. The ethnic Oromo Students were reporting the incident and filing their complaints with the school administration when the school compound was raided by the federal security forces. Among the ironies surrounding this incident were that: 1). The Federal Security Forces were deployed to interfere in such very minor and localized issues that could easily be dealt with by local administrative bodies and communities including that of the school itself,

2). The ethnic Oromo Students, who were the victims of the clash, were discriminately double-victimized while those who triggered the violence were left unquestioned, 3) Not only that such constitutional provisions as a regional anthem that have been in place for close to two decades becomes a subject of dispute, but also those who attempted to exercise such legal provisions were deemed criminals that belong to detention instead of those who contradicted the constitution head on.

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) has been able to obtain the names of the following   Oromo students among those who have been detained:

1. .Bezabish Gurmeessaa (MEMBER OF OPPOSITION OFC)- wounded by bullet,

2. Desta Waaree – beaten up and injured,

3. Bali Chachu     (MEMBER OF OPPOSITION OFC)

2. Buno Shaggola   (MEMBER OF OPPOSITION OFC)

3.Bakalcha Oddo    (MEMBER OF OPPOSITION OFC)

4.Bezabish Gurmeessaa

5.Chaltu Birbissa

6.Hotessa Soree

7.Yohanes Jisso

8. Kifle Areri

9. Badhadha (father name not identified)

10. Beyena Jarso

11.Shambel Galchu

12. Jemal Aga

13. Wendimu Areri

14. Nagessa Gedo

15. Getachew Demise

16. Boru Dube

17. Gemechis Bilu

18. Chari Chana

19. Ware Kottola ,

Although the interference of the government security forces was not far from expectations, the very harsh and violent actions that have resulted in life-threatening injuries are not acceptable by any standard. Given the violent way the students were dealt with, it is also very likely that they could be subjected to tortures.

Therefore, HRLHA calls up on the Ethiopian government to unconditionally release the detained students; and allow necessary treatments for those who have been injured and/or wounded. It also calls upon the Ethiopian government to investigate the clash and bring the culprits to justice so that they refrain from continued racist provocations that will create conflicts between the two nations.

=>humanrightleague