IOYA Appeal Letter

Dear Sir, Madam,

We are reaching out to you as the Board of officers of the International Oromo Youth Association (IOYA) whose nation is in turmoil back in Oromia, Ethiopia. Recently, Oromo students have been protesting against the new Addis Ababa “Integrated Master Plan” which aims at incorporating smaller towns surrounding Addis Ababa for the convenience of vacating land for investors by displacing millions of Oromo farmers. As a political move, this will essentially result in the displacement of the indigenous peoples and their families. Oromo farmers will be dispossessed of their land and their survival both economic and cultural terms will be threatened. The Oromos strongly believe that this plan will expose their natural environment to risk, threaten their economic means of livelihood (subsistence farming), and violate their constitutional rights.

The Ethiopian government is executing its political agenda of progressive marginalization of the Oromo people from matters that concern them both in the Addis Ababa city and the wider Oromia region. The master plan is an unconstitutional change of the territorial expansion over which the city administration has a jurisdiction. The government justifies the move in the name of enhancing the development of the city and facilitating economic growth. The justification is merely a tactical move masked for the governments continued abuse of human rights of the Oromo people.  While the Oromos understand that Addis Ababa itself is an Oromo city that serves as the capital of the federal government, they also consider this move as an encroachment on the jurisdiction and borders of the state of Oromia.

The protesters peacefully demonstrated against this move. University students and residents have been in opposition to the plan, but their struggle has been met by a brutal repression in the hands of the military police (famously known as the Agazi). It has been reported that shootings, arrests, and imprisonments are becoming rampant. It is also reported that the death toll is increasing by the hour. Recently, sources indicate that over 80 people have been shot dead, others severally injured and thousands arrested. In addition, Oromo students have been protesting peacefully for over three weeks now, despite mass killings and arrests by Ethiopian security forces. University and high school students from more than ten universities have been engaging in the Oromo protests. The peaceful rally has now spread across the whole country and is expected to continue until the Ethiopian government refrains from incorporating over 36 surrounding smaller towns into Addis Ababa. It is stated to be displacing an estimate of 6.6 million people and violating constitutional rights of regional states.

As an organization subscribing to broader democratic engagement of the Oromo youth, we oppose the brutal violence that the Ethiopian government is meting out on innocent, unarmed young students who are peacefully protesting. As leaders of the Oromo community, we support and stand in solidarity with Oromo protests in Ethiopia. The human rights violations being carried out by the Ethiopian government against innocent students are unacceptable. Continuous assaults, tortures, and killings of innocent civilians must be stopped. We urge you to join us in denouncing these inhumane and cruel activities carried out by the Ethiopian government. We believe it is imperative that the international community raise its voice and take action to stop the ongoing atrocities that are wreaking havoc to families and communities in the Oromia region.

We urgently request that such actions be taken in an attempt to pressure the Ethiopian government to stop terrorizing and killing peaceful protesters:

• The US government and other International organizations should condemn the Ethiopian government’s brutal action taken on unarmed innocent civilians. Furthermore, we demand over 30,000 innocent protesters to be released from prisons, as they will be subjected to torture and ill treatment.
• The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is currently terrorizing its own electorates/nation. Under the law of R2P in the UN constitution, the international community is obliged to protect a nation that is being terrorized by its own government and EPRDF should be taken accountable.
• We demand Ethiopia to be expelled from any regional and international cooperation including and not limited to AU and UN for its previous and current human rights violations. The International community should stop providing support in the name of AID and development to Ethiopia as it is violating the fundamental and basic needs of its nation.
• The Ethiopian government should be stopped on immediate effect; its forceful displacement of the indigenous peoples across Ethiopia is unjust and unconstitutional. We ask the United States, European Union, and the United Nations to stand in solidarity with peaceful student protesters who are condemning such injustice.
• The onus is on the international community to act in favor of the innocent and civilian populace that is seeking its fundamental right. Punitive actions towards this government should be taken for cracking down on freedom of expression and other democratic rights being expressed by its citizens.

We believe it is in the interest of our common humanity to take responsibility, to pay attention to this problem, to witness the plight of the voiceless victims, and to raise concerns to the Ethiopian government so it can desist from its brutal acts of repression.

We count on your solidarity to help the Oromo youth be spared from arbitrary arrest, incarceration, and shootings.

Yours Respectfully,

International Oromo Youth Association

=>ayyaantuu

The Assosa Tigreans killing was planned in advance and local authorities knew about it

The killings of 9 Tigreans in Assosa were planned in advance and the local authorities knew about it, according to Abraha Desta, an ARENA party member from Mekele.

ባለፈው ሳምንት 9 የትግራይ ተወላጆች በቤኑሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል አሶሳ ከተማ ታርደው መገደላቸው ይታወሳል። አንድ ሌላ የታክሲ ሹፌርን በጥይት ተገድሏል (ከትግራይ)። በአንድ የዕጣን ድርጅት ይሰሩ የነበሩ ሦስት የአማራና ኦሮምያ ክልል ተወላጆችን ተገድለዋል። ትናንት ሐሙስ ግንቦት 7ም አንድ መኪና በታጣቂዎች ተይዞ በእሳት ጋይቷል። በተሳፋሪዎቹ የደረሰ ጉዳት በትክክል ባይታወቅም አንዲት ተሳፋሪ ግን ቆስላ ተገኝታለች።

በ9ኙ የትግራይ ተወላጆች ላይ የደረሰውን ግድያ ለማጣራት በመኮርኩት መሰረት ግድያው ሆን ተብሎ ታቅዶ የፈፀመ ስለ መሆኑ አረጋግጫለሁ። ሙሉ መረጃ ያላቸው አሶሳ የሚኖሩ የትግራይ ተወላጆች እንዳረጋገጥሉኝ ከሆነ ዓማፂ ቡድኑ የትግራይ ሰዎችን አርዶ ለመግደል ማቀዱ ይታወቅ ነበር። የወረዳው አስተዳዳሪ ይህን መረጃ ከግድያው በፊት ደርሶታል። ባከባቢው የሚገኘው የመከላከልያ ሰራዊት አዛዥም ግድያ እንደሚፈፀም ተነግሮታል። ባጠቃላይ መንግስት ግድያው በተመለከተ ሙሉ ቅድመ መረጃ ነበረው። መንግስት መረጃ እያለው ግድያው መከላከል አለመቻሉ ኗሪዎችን አሳዝኗል። በአሶሳ የሚኖሩ የትግራይ ተወላጆች መንግስት ተገቢውን ፀጥታ የማስከበር ተግባር አለመፈፀሙ አስገርሟቸዋል። መንግስት ለስልጣኑ እንጂ ለህዝብ ደህንነት እንደማይተጋም አስረግጠዋል። አሁንም አሶሳ አከባቢ የሚኖሩ የሌላ ክልል ተወላጆች ስጋት ዉስጥ ናቸው።

መንግስት በትግራይ ልጆች ላይ ግድያ እንደሚፈፀም እያወቀ ለምን መከላከል እንዳልቻለ ለህዝብ መግለፅ ይኖርበታል። የሰለማዊ ሰዎች ደህንነት መጠበቅ ባለመቻሉም ይቅርታ ይጠይቅ፣ ተገቢውም ካሳ ይክፈል።

ዘጠኝ የትግራይ ተወላጆች በአሶሳ ታርደው መገደላቸውን አብርሃ ደስታ ከመቀሌ ዘገበ!

ከአብርሃ ደስታ ፌስቡክ የተወሰደ፡

“ባለፈው ሳምንት የጉልበት ሥራ ለመስራት በአንድ ኮንትራክተር ተቀጥረው ወደ አባይ ግድብ በደህንነት መኪና ሲጓዙ ከነበሩ 28 የትግራይ ተወላጆች ዉስጥ ዘጠኙ ታርደው ሲገደሉ የተወሰኑም ቆስለዋል። ባለፈው ቅዳሜ ደግሞ አንድ የትግራይ ተወላጅ በተመሳሳይ ተገድሎ ተገኝቷል። ቀጥሎም በአንድ ድርጅት ሲሰሩ የነበሩ ሦስት ሰራተኞች መገደላቸው ተሰምቷል። ገዳዮቹ ከኢህአዴግ ጋር የተጣላ የአንድ ዓማፂ ቡድን አባላት ናቸው።

ባከባቢው የፌደራል ፖሊሶችና መከላከያ ሰራዊት አባላት ቢገኙም ወንጀሉ መከላከል እንዳልቻሉ ታውቋል። ሁኔታው ለማረጋጋት ሲሉ አቶ ፀጋይ በርሀና አቶ አዲሱ ለገሰ ወዳከባቢው ቢጓዙም የተለመደ ፖለቲካ ከመስበክ የዘለለ ነገር አላደረጉም። መንግስት ፀጥታን ማስከበር ይገባዋል። ደግሞ ሰለማዊ የቀን ሰራተኞች በደህንነት መኪና መጫን ተገቢ አይደለም። በደረሰ ጉዳት ጥልቅ ሐዘን ይሰማናል።
ወላዲት ትግራይ መዓዝ ይኾን ሓዘንኪ ዘብቅዕ?”

የሕወሃት አገዛዝ እንደሚፈልገው፡ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ የዱር አውሬ ይመስል እርስ በርሱ ከመባላት ተቆጥቦና አንደነቱን አጠናክሮ፡ ዘረኛውን አገዛዝ ከሥልጣን አውርዶ ለፍርድ ማቅረብ ብቻ ነው የሚጠበቅበት።

የትግራይ ሕዝብም፡ አንደነቱን ከኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ጋር አጠናክሮ፡ ደህነንቱን ሳይሆን ጥፋትን ወደ እርሱ አቅጣጭ እየገፉበትን ያሉትን በስሙ የሚነግዱትን ጠላቶቹን ከሌሎች ኢትዮጵያውያን ጋር በጋራ መፋለም ይኖርበታል!

በመካከላችን ያለችው አንድ በጋራ የምንካፈላት ኢትዮጵያ – የሁላችንም አገር – ስለሆነች የጥቂት ዘረኞች ብቻ እንዳትሆን ባለን ኃይል ሁሉ ልንፋለም ይገባናል!

=>ayyaantuu

Blocking Information Cannot Stop Us from Moving Forward – Commentary on the Jamming of OMN

By Tibebu Sime*

There is no doubt that all dictators are coward, but all of the dictators across the African continent, theWayyane of Tigray is the most coward regime ever lived on the inhabited Earth. Thanks to the Cold War opportunity – which was on their side, since they came to power in 1991 after the fall of the Communist government, they have never won a single face-to-face debate with the peoples in Ethiopia despite the fact that they have monopolized all the media outlets to block information from the public.

Let alone in this digital world, where people can get access to information all over the social media, they could not stop our people from demanding their inalienable rights way back in the dark days. If they think it is OMN or Oromo Voice which have mobilized the Oromo students to protest against their devilish conspiracy to annihilate the indigenous people of the land under the guise of the so called ‘Integrated Master Plan,’ then they are lost in the middle of wilderness because Oromo students have gone way far beyond their reach. We were born and grew up in this bitter struggle for self-determination.

Blocking websites, jamming radio & television stations, and stealing ballot box have never saved the brutal regime of the Wayyane of Tigray from shaking, and will never save them from their inevitable demise. From the day they had set their foot in Oromiyaa, they have tried their best to intimidate us by imprisoning and killing us en masse. But I am sure they’ve clearly seen it: our people’s struggle for freedom and democracy is growing more than ever. This regime has failed miserably. Its grip on power at the barrel of gun has already started disintegrating. The only thing they can do after all is to complicate the situation where no one will come to rescue them. Let me remind you some of the worst atrocities the militias and mercenaries of this regime have committed in the last two decades against nations and nationalities in Ethiopia:

1. OMN wasn’t on air when they gunned down dozens of Oromo students in schools across Oromiyaa, and dismissed over 400 students from Addis Ababa University for peacefully protesting against the decision to move the capital city of Oromiyaa Regional State from Finfinnee to Adama.

2. OMN wasn’t on air when they massacred thousands of Anuak civilians in December 2003 for no reasons.

3. OMN wasn’t on air when they massacred hundreds of Sidama civilians at Looqqe village on May 24, 2002 for demanding their constitutional rights to form their own Regional State.

4. OMN wasn’t on air when they murdered 300 peaceful demonstrators in Addis Ababa following the 2005 elections fraud.

5. OMN wasn’t on air when they wiped out a number of villages in Ogadenia in 2005/06/07/08 in the name of uprooting the Ogaden rebels.

Having committed these crimes for which they will be held accountable at a right time, did they stop people from resenting their inhuman reign? The obvious answer is ‘NO’. They have even exacerbated it.

My people, we have to say “enough is enough!” It is high time for us to get prepared to fight these freaky invading militias who are devoted to killing us mercilessly in a broad daylight. There is no other cruelty than shooting small kids of 8 years old on a street. I don’t think it’s necessary to tell you that – the only way out living with shame – is to be determined to make an indelible mark in the history of our nation by paying the ultimate sacrifices so that our next generations will live in peace and learn the value of dying with honor.

In the end, it’s the responsibility of the international community, particularly the West, which is channeling billions of dollars in aids, to put pressure on this regime to sit down with the real stakeholders to hand over the power to the people before it is too late.

Victory to the Oromo People!

* Tibebu Sime: qeerransoo@yahoo.com

=>gadaa

MN Senate Resolution on Oromo Issue

(ayyaantuu) Another Victory in Minnesota (Minnesotaa keessatti injifannoon lammataa dhagayame).

Mooraan Yuuniverstii Jimmaa Waraana Wayyaaneen Goolamaa Jira.Barattooti Oromoo Hedduminaan Reebamuu fi Hidhaamuu Osooo Hin Dheessiin FDG Itti Fufan

Qeerroo Oromoo adamsuuf ergamtoota Wayyeenee bobba’an

Caamsaa 14,2014  mootummaan abbaa irree Wayyaanee abbaa irree dhabaa jalee isaa fi meeshaa isaa OPDOtti fayyadamuun barattoota Oromoo maqaa gara Yuuniversitiitti deebi’aa jedhuu olola haaraa banatee ilmaan Oromoo irratti FDG bifa haaraan banatee barattoota barsiisota jiraattoota magaalaa, daldaltoota utuu hin jenne jumlaan mana hidhatti uummata guuraa jira.

Haaluma kanaan Univarsitii Jimmaa irraa barattootni Oromoo huma tikaa, waraanaa fi poolisii Federalaan ukkanfama jiru.

1.Barataa Mo’iiboon Baqqalaa mummee fayyaa waggaa 3ffaa mooraa main cumpas Jimmaa irraa
2.Tasfayee Nugusee mummee mechanical Engeenering wagga 3ffaa, mooraa Saayinsii fi Technology Jimmaa kittoo Furdisaa irraa
3.Barataaa Damee barataa mummee Engineering waggaa tokkoffaa mooraa saayinsii fi Technology Jimmaa Kittoo Furdisaa irraa.

Kannee keessatti argamaan barattootni Oromoo nagaan ukkaanfamanii gara geeffaman beekama hin jiru, kun utumaa kanaan jiruu sochii FDG haalan jaabaataa fi Wayyaaneen dura dhaabbachuu hin dandeenyee qabsiifama jirachuun hubatamera.

Mooraa Yunversiitii Jimmaa keessatti baay’inni waranaa dachaa baay’ina barattoota ta’uun mooricha dachii waraanaan weeraramte fakkeessee jira

=>qeerroo

Kuma Demekissa-Oromo Nations’ Enemy number 1 is said to be sharing his Oromo enslaving Experience in Sidama Region.

በየጊዜው ኦሮሞን በመጉዳት የሚታወቀው አቶ ኩማ ደመቅሳ ለሲዳማ ህዝብ ምን እየደገሱ ይሆን?

BY HHH, From Sidama capital Hawassa, May 13, 2014

    (https://www.facebook.com/hagerselamh?fref=nf)

መቼም አብዛኛዎቹ የኢህአዴግ ባለስልጣናት ከሁሉም (ወከልን የሚሉትንም ህዝብ ጭምር) በላይ ለመንግሥታቸው የማድላት የ”ዴሞክራሲያዊማዕከላዊነት” ግዴታ እንዳለባቸው ግልፅ ነው፡፡ በዚህ ምክንያት የራሳቸውን ሀሳብ በድርጅቱ የማፀባረቅ መብት የለላቸውና ደፍሮም ከሞከሩ በከፍተኛ”ግለ ህስ” ይቅርታ የሚወርድላቸው (ከኢህአዴግ ማለቴ ነው) እንደሆነ ይታወቃል፡፡ ለዚህም ጥሩ ምሳሌ ሊሆን የሚችለው ደግሞ የኢፌዴሪ የውጭጉዳይ ሚኒስቴሩ ዶር ቴደሮስ አድሐንሆም ናቸው፡፡

ኢኚ ግለሰብ/ባለስልጣን ከአረብ ተጎድተው የተመለሱትን ኢትዮጵያውያንን ቦሌ ሄደው ሲጎበኙ በተሰማቸው ሲሜት(ሰውም አይደል?) ተነሳስተውየአረቡን አለም በመኮኑን የደረሰበትን የማስጠንቀቂያ መዓት በተለያየ አጋጣሚ ለማንበብ ችለናል፡፡ ከላይ የተጠቀሱትን ምክንያት(”ዴሞክራሲያዊማዕከልነት”) ይሁን በጭካኔ በማይታውቅ መልኩ አቶ ኩማ ደመቅሳ የኦሮሞን ህዝብ ብቻ ሳይሆን መሬትም ጭምር እንደሚጎዱና አንድም ቀንለኦሮሞ ብሔር ብሎ የመንግስት አጀንዳን ስከራከሩ(ዝመታ ሲመርጡ) ተሰምተው/ታይተው አይታወቁም፡፡

ሁሌ መንግስት ትክክል ነው፤ ህዝብ ጥፋተኛ ነው የሚል ፍልስፍና የሚከተሉ የአላዋቂ አዋቂ ናቸው የምሉሏቸውም አልጠፉም፡፡

ሰሞኑን በኦሮሚያ ክልል በሚገኙ ከተፍተኛ ተምህርት ተቋማት ስለተነሳው የመብት ጥያቄና በምላሹም በመንግስት ስለተወሰደው ጭካኔ የተሞላበትርምጃ አቶ ኩማ ግምባር ቀደም የማጥቃት ድርሻ ይወስዳሉ፡፡

እኛም ይህ ግለሰብ/ባለስልጣን በኦሮሚያ ቴሌቪን ቀርቦ ስለሰጠው አንገተ ደንዳና የመንግስት አቋምና ህዝብን ወንጀለኛ የሚያደርግ ንግግሩን ሰማን፤አነበበን፡፡

ኢኚ ባለስልጣን በትላንትናው (4/09/06ዓ.ም) ቀን ሀዋሳ ገብቶ ከ”ደቡብ” ክልልና ሲዳማ ዞን ባለስልጣናት ጋር በቤተመንግስት ተገናኝተው ሰፊ ጊዜወስደው ተነጋግረዋል ፡፡

ከታማኝ ምንጬ ለማውቅ እንደቻልኩት ግለሰቡ ስለሲዳማ ዞን፣ ወረዳወችና ቀበሌያት ጭምር ሳይቀር ዝርዝር መረጃ እንዲሰጡት የዞንና ክልልባስልጣናትን ቀስረው ይዞ እንደቆየ ሊታወቅ ተችለዋል፡፡

 ጥያቄ፡

1. ኩማ የኦሮሞን ህዝብ በማጥቃት ያካበቱትን ዘዴ ሊያካፍሉ ይሆን የተላኩት??

2. ግንግማ ውስጥ “እራሱን ስቶ ወደቀና ሞተ” ስለተባለው ባለስልጣን ሊያጣሩ ይሆን በኃይለማሪያም የተላኩት??

3. “ሐዋሳም አንደ ፊንፈኔ ከአጎራባች ከተሞች ጋር ትተሳሰራለች” የሚል ዜና ባለፎ ሳምንት ተሰምተው ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ አቶ ኩማ በያዘ(ፊንፈኔንበጀመረው) እጅህ ጨርስ ተብሎ ይሆን ወደ ሀዋሳ ያቀናው??

4. “ከተሞችን በፕላን ማስተሳሰር” የሚል ጭንብል የለበሰ የ“ሜትሮፖለታን” አጀንዳ ኩማን ጋልበው እንደገና ሀዋሳ ገብቶ ይሆን??

BY HHH, From Sidama capital Hawassa, May 13, 2014

=>sidamanationalregionalstate

Breaking News – The Ethiopian Government Jams the Satellite Transmission of the Oromia Media Network (OMN)

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THE SATELLITE TRANSMISSION OF OROMIA MEDIA NETWORK (OMN) HAS BEEN JAMMED

We have learned that our regular transmission on ArabSat has been interrupted as of 04:38:00 GMT this morning. This is following the blocking of our website www.OromiaMedia.org since May 2, 2014 in Ethiopia. It is worth noting that the Ethiopian government is notorious in blocking and jamming alternative media outlets, and violently silencing critical journalists.

The OMN Satellite TV broadcast, the first of it’s kind serving the Oromo people and their neighborhood, has been airing original contents produced under strict guidance of journalistic ethics.

We would like to reassure our audience that OMN will be back on air very soon. Our staff and management are working hard to find a solution for this blockage. In the meantime we kindly ask our audience to be patient with us and follow our transmissions on social media via YouTube and Facebook as we will continue to produce reports and original programs uninterrupted. Finally , we call up on our audience to renew their resolve to sustain the OMN initiative.

Girma Tadesse,

Executive Director

=>gadaa