30,000 made homeless as TPLF demolishes homes, confiscates land

 

By Betre Yacob | Assaman.info (Italy)

February 7, 2013

The Ethiopia’s tyrannical government demolished more than 7 thousand houses in Addis Ababa in the districts named Bole and Nifas Silk, and left more than 30 thousand poor people without a roof over their heads. In addition to the houses, a mosque and a school were demolished, and the security officials involved also kicked and beat the residents who tried to refuse. The demolition was taking place without notice to the inhabitants and compensation.

After this noxious demolition, the government officials repeatedly claimed in different state owned and government-loyal private medias that the houses had been built on illegally occupied land and had no certificate. According to them all such kinds of illegal settlements and buildings should not be supported by any means. However, many of the evacuated families said that although they had no certificate of ownership, they had been paying land-tax. According to victims, as a result of this sudden demolition of houses many families are broken up and children have dropped out of school and forced to live on the streets. Old enough people and pregnant women are also forced to live in open, and the dynamic weather of the city is causing them to different health problems.

Mr. Hailu, 55, lives with his wife and 5 children. Since he becamephysically disable because of a nerve problem, he has managed only domestic income generating activities like poultry production and sheep fattening to subsidise the family. When I met him last week, he was crying looking at an inclined wall which had been escaped from the bulldozers which turned the rest part of the house in to dust. He had built the house at a cost of 20,000 ETB or 1,111$ three years ago.

“I built the house having received a financial support from my daughter working as a housemaid in a middle east country”, Mr. Hailu said while wiping away his tear. “The house was everything for me. Besides being home for my family, it was my ‘business’ as well.” Mr. Hailu is now living in temporary huts on the same place where his demolished house lays. “Where can I go?”, he said. “I can’t afford the price of a renting room; I don’t have a person who can host me.”

Many argue that the houses have been demolished just because the government can make more money by leasing the land to investors. “Land has become the main source of income for the regime”, Markose Woldue, a dwelling of Addis Ababa, said. “It earns a huge amount of money from this busness. This is why it is taking back the land owned by the poor by the name of legality.”

Etaferahu, 45, is a mother of 2. She raises her children without a father. She had bought the land from a farmer and built the house 6 years ago. She is now living in temporary huts on the same place where her demolished house lays. “Throwing citizens into the street is not expected from a government”, Etaferahu said. “The government have the responsibility of protecting its citizens. At least the government had to give us compensation with temporary sheltering.”

Human right activists say that what the Ethiopia’s government done is illegal and unconstitutional, and is against all international conventions and agreements to which Ethiopia is a party. They say that all of the legal conditions and requirements for the forceful evictions of these families have not been met.

The Ethiopian Human Right Council claims that the absence of legal certificate of ownership is not a right criteria to say a house “illegal”. “Otherwise”, it says, “this leads to the conclusion that all houses belonging to Ethiopian farmers are illegal.” “The individuals evicted from their homes are the legal owners of the land they bought from farmers. Thus, the demolishing action is illegal and the owners have the constitutional right to receive compensation.”

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR) states that everyone has a right to an existence worthy of human dignity for himself and his family including adequate food, clothing and shelter. The Covenant also states governments have an obligation to ensure this basic right. The FDRE constitution also provides “every Ethiopian has the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence…” Article 40 of the Constitution on the other hand state that every Ethiopian has the full right to the immovable property he builds and the government may expropriate private property for public purposes upon payment in advance of compensation commensurate to the value of the property.

According to the data obtained from the Addis Ababa City Administration, there are more than 50,000 houses identified to have been illegal by the Administration across the city. And the city Administration has a plan to demolish all these houses. This is likely to affect hundered thousands of other families. Here, many advice the government that instead of demolishing the houses it should concentrate on legalizing them, and use them as part of the solution to the housing problem of the city. Studies under the City Administration show that there is a deficit of almost 700,000 houses in the city. Otherwise, according to these people, the housing problem of the city would be aggravated. Mr. Worku Tesfa, an economist and a residence of Addis Abeba, also says that the outcome of the demolition would not be only housing problem to the city but also more complicated socio-economic problems that could be challenging for the government to overcome.

[Source: Ethiopian Review]

Haqa Hawaasa Muslimaa Doorsisaa fi Shira Aadeffatameen Ukkaamsuuf Wixxifatuun Kasaaraa Siyaasaa Guddaa dha

Ibsa Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo

Guraandhala 13, 2013 (Oromo Liberation Front) – Mootummaan Wayyaanee gaaffii haqaa hawaasni Muslimaa karaa nagaan waggaa tokkoo oliif dhiheessaa jirutti qoosuu fi doorsisaan callisiisuu yaaluu itti fufuun isaa beekamaa dha. Dhihoo kana mata duree ‘Jihaadaawii Harekaat’ jedhuun diraamaan kijibaa mootummichaan qindaawee dhihaates qaamuma doorsisaa fi ukkaamsaa sirnichaa kan yeroo dheeraaf baratamee ti. Mootummaan kun diraamaa vidiyoo bakka addaa walitti suphuun maqa-balleessii akkasii hawaasa Muslimaa ittiin yakkuuf kan qindeessee dhiheessu kun kan duraa miti. Gaafa aangootti dhufee qabee masgiida guddicha Anwaar, akkasumas, masgiidota Harar, Jimma fi magaalaalee biroo keessattis shira fakkaataa shiree hordoftoota amantii Islaamaa yakkee callisiisuuf tattaafachaa ture. Isa ammaa kana wanni adda godhu garuu gaaffii hawaasichaa kan ‘hogganoota keenya ofii keenyaaf haa filannu, mootummaan dhimma amantii keenyaa keessaa harka haa fudhattu’ jedhu dura dhaabbachuuf jecha cubbuu seenaan hin daganne raaw’achaa jiraachuu isaa ti.

Sirni TPLF gaaffii ummataa dura dhaabbachuuf jecha diraamaa sobaa qindeessee dhiheessuun aadaa isaa ti. Yeroo aangootti dhufee kaasee kanuma shaakalaa yoona gahe. Keessumattuu Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo sobaan yakkee ‘shororkeessaa’ jechisiisuu fi soba kanas hawaasa addunyaa fudhachiisuuf jireenya isaa guutuu dhama’aa akka jiru hin haalamu. Sabboontota Oromoo kumoota hedduu maqaa kanaan yakkee hidheera, ajjeeseera, qaama hir’iseera, mana irratti gubeera, gariis biyyaa baasee jira. Kijibaa fi cubbuu nuffisisaa yeroo dheeraa kanaan garuu eessayyuu hin geenye. Qaama harkaa fudhatus hin arganne. Qabsichas akka hawwetti dhabamsiisuu hin dandeenye. Daranuu ummata Oromoo xiiqessee sirnicha lagachiise malee doorsisaan harka hin kennachiifne.

Kana malees ji’oota muraasa dura gaazexessitoota Sweden Johan Persson fi Martin Schibbiye jedhaman maquma ‘goolessitoota’ jedhu kanaan yakkee hanga fedhu eega hidhee booda diraamaa isaa sobaa irratti qindeessee hawaasa addunyaa fudhachiisuuf yaalee salphate. Gaazexessitoonni sun gaafa hidhaa irraa bahanii biyya isaanii seenan kijiba diraamaa sirna Wayyaanee qullaatti baasanii hawaasa addunyaatti isa saaxiluun hin dagatamu.

Wanni amma hawaasa Muslimaa irratti raaw’tamaa jirus diraamaa moofaa fi nuffisiisaa akkasii kan yeroo dheeraaf shaakalamee gatii malee hafeen wal fakkaata. Tarii wanni adda godhu yoo jiraate haleellaa fi doorsifni sirnichi amma taasisaa jiru kun dhimma siyaasaa osoo hin taane amantii hawaasni bal’aan tokko hordofu irratti kan xiyyeeffate tahuu isaa ti. Hordoftoota amantichaa kan dhimma amantii isaanii keessa harki Wayyaanee seenuu balaaleffatan rukutee callisiisuuf jecha haala wal hin fakkaanneen gurmuu shororkeessitoota idil addunyaatti hidhuuf tattaafatamaa jira. Hawaasa karaa nagaa qofaan mirga isaa gaafataa jiru dallansiisuu fi aarsuudhaan tarkaanfii biraa keessa galchuuf beekaa irratti hojjetamaa jiraachuun egeree naannoof yaaddessaa dha.

Sirni Wayyaanee ummatoota biyyattii, akkasumas, hawaasota amantii bulchaan jira ofiin jedhu gidduutti ibiddi qabatee akka hin dhaamne barbaada. Sirni kun lakkuma jibbaan ummataa irratti jabaatuu fi kanaanis aangoo irraa arbamuutti dhihaatuun ibidda hin dhaamne ummatoota, akkasumas, hawaasota amantii gidduutti qabsiisee ofii keessaa baqachuuf ykn ammo gubee gubatuuf waan karoora qabu fakkaata. Hawaasni amantii tokkoo hawaasa amantii kan biraa waliin akka jaalalaan waliin hin jiraanne wal gidduu isaaniitti summii shakkii fi jibbinsaa facaasa. Saboonni biyyattii akka jaalalaa fi wal kabajaan egeree siyaasaa isaanii hin tolfanne walirratti kakaasa. Wayyaaneen makmaaksa beeylada ‘An duunaan margi hin margin’ jettee sanitti kan amanu tahuu dalagaan isaa shiraan guutame hanga har’aa irra deeddeebiin dalagu ragaa gahaa dha. Kun ammoo akka sirnichi mootummaa ummataa kan gaafatamni itti dhagahamu hin tahinii fi fedhii saamichaa guuttachuuf qofa murna gateettii ummataa yaabbatee jiru tahuu isaa mirkaneessa. Hawaasonni amantii kamuu fi saboonni hundi shira balleessanii baduu mootummaa Wayyaanee kana dammaqiinsaan hubatanii fashalsuuf waloon irratti hojjechuun fardii taha. Amantoonni amantii kamuu olola sobaa Wayyaaneen hawaasa Muslimaa irratti oofaa jiru kana amananii fudhachuu irraa of qusatanii, kaayyoon sirnichi olola akkasii kana yeroo kanatti oofuuf maali jedhanii wal gaafachuun barbaachisaa taha. Kaayyoon Wayyaanee kunis kaayyoo qoqoodanii bituu baratame waan taheef kaayyoo hammeenyaa kana fashalsuun ammoo dirmannaa waloo barbaachisa.

Addi Bilisummaa Oromoo gochaa hammeenyaan guutame kan Wayyaaneen hawaasa Muslimaa hawaasota amantii biroo biratti jibbamsiisuu fi ija shakkiin laalchisuuf raaw’ataa jiru gad jabeessee balaaleffata. Gochaan akkasii hawaasa amantii kamuu irratti akka raaw’atamus hin eyyamu. Hawaasni amantii kamuu hogganoota isaa ofii isaaf akka filatu, hogganootni hawaasa Muslimaa cubbuudhaan yakkamanii hidhamanis akka hiikaman gaafata. Addi Bilisummaa Oromoo dhaaba amantiilee hundumaa ija tokkoon laalu waan taheef cubbuu amantii tokko sobaan yakkanii dhiibuuf beekaa hojjetamu akkasii callisee laaluu hin danda’u. Ummatoonni garaagarummaa amantii isaanii wal dandeessifatanii bara dheeraaf wal jaalalaa fi wal kabajaan akka jiraataa turan hunda, egereefis olola summaawaa sirnichaaf osoo gurra hin eergifne aadaa gaarii kana akka gabbifatan fedhii ABO ti. Mootummoonnii fi hawaasni idil addunyaas olola sobaa Wayyaanee nuffisiisaa kana dhagahaa callisuun sirna kana caalaatti goobsaa fi badii dabalataaf qopheessaa akka jiru beekanii sagalee balaaleffannaa isaanii yeroodhaan akka dhageessisan gaafanna.

Injifannoo Ummata Oromoof!

Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo

–Oromo Liberation Front

Obbo Leenco Lata & Obbo Lencho Bati Heckled over Ethiopianist Agenda during ODF Meeting in Melbourne, Australia

February 8, 2013 (Gadaa) — The Oromo Dialogue Forum (ODF), also known as Waltajii Marii Oromoo (WMO) in its Afan Oromo name, held a meeting in Footscray, near Melbourne, Australia, on February 3, 2013 with keynote speeches by ODF leadership.

The Footscray/Melbourne ODF meeting didn’t go well as planned by the organizers as the following videos show(watch below). Heckling had interrupted the meeting several times. It is safuu (i.e. against the Oromo moral codes) to resolve political or other differences in the Oromo nation using heckling even though minor heckling is a form of protest protected by free speech in Western countries. The reason why the Oromo Gadaa system has no room for heckling is for the fact that the Gadaa parliamentary rules (Gumii Gaayoo rules) allow every opinion maker to have enough time to speak their mind.

Oromo liberation nationalists belonging to the Oromo Liberation Front’s camp accuse the Oromo Dialogue Forum (ODF/WMO) of advancing an unrealizable Ethiopianist agenda to democratize and federalize the Ethiopian empireat the expense of derailing the OLF’s national struggle to have an independent Oromo state through national self-determination to protect the interests of the Oromo nation in the conflict-ridden Horn of African region. ODF was initially set up to mediate among the OLF factions in 2012; however, it has shown its interest to undertake more than just mediating since then – in fact, it’s becoming a political movement in its own right, according media reports citing observers.

Indian investors are forcing Ethiopians off their land

Thousands of Ethiopians are being relocated or have already fled as their land is sold off to foreign investors without their consent

• John Vidal in Delhi
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 7 February 2013 00.07 GMT

Farm workers remove weeds from young plants at the palm oil plantation owned by Karuturi Global, near the town of Bako, in Ethiopia. Photograph: Jose Cendon/Getty Images

Ethiopia‘s leasing of 600,000 hectares (1.5m acres) of prime farmland to Indian companies has led to intimidation, repression, detentions, rapes, beatings, environmental destruction, and the imprisonment of journalists and political objectors, according to a new report.

Research by the US-based Oakland Institute suggests many thousands of Ethiopians are in the process of being relocated or have fled to neighbouring countries after their traditional land has been handed to foreign investors without their consent. The situation is likely to deteriorate further as companies start to gear up their operations and the government persues plans to lease as much as 15% of the land in some regions, says Oakland.

In a flurry of new reports about global “landgrabbing” this week, Oxfam said on Thursday that investors were deliberately targeting the weakest-governed countries to buy cheap land. The 23 least-developed countries of the world account for more than half the thousands of recorded deals completed between 2000 and 2011, it said. Deals involving approximately 200m ha of land are believed to have been negotiated, mostly to the advantage of speculators and often to the detriment of communities, in the last few years.

In what is thought to be one of the first “south-south” demonstrations of concern over land deals, this week Ethiopian activists came to Delhi to urge Indian investors and corporations to stop buying land and to actively prevent human rights abuses being committed by the Ethiopian authorities.

“The Indian government and corporations cannot hide behind the Ethiopian government, which is clearly in violation of human rights laws,” said Anuradha Mittal, director of the Oakland Institute. “Foreign investors must conduct impact assessments to avoid the adverse impacts of their activities.”

Ethiopian activists based in UK and Canada warned Indian investors that their money was at risk. “Foreign investors cannot close their eyes. When people are pushed to the edge they will fight back. No group knows this better than the Indians”, said Obang Metho, head of grassroots social justice movement Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE), which claims 130,000 supporters in Ethiopia and elsewhere.

Speaking in Delhi, Metho said: “Working with African dictators who are stealing from the people is risky, unsustainable and wrong. We welcome Indian investment but not [this] daylight robbery. These companies should be accountable under Indian law.”

Nyikaw Ochalla, director of the London-based Anywaa Survival Organisation, said: “People are being turned into day labourers doing backbreaking work while living in extreme poverty. The government’s plans … depend on tactics of displacement, increased food insecurity, destitution and destruction of the environment.”

Ochall, who said he was in daily direct contact with communities affected by “landgrabbing” across Ethiopia, said that the relocations would only add to hunger and conflict.

“Communities that have survived by fishing and moving to higher ground to grow maize are being relocated and say they are now becoming dependent on government for food aid. They are saying they will never leave and that the government will have to kill them. I call on the Indian authorities and the public to stop this pillage.”

Karuturi Global, the Indian farm conglomerate and one of the world’s largest rose growers, which has leased 350,000 ha in Gambella province to grow palm oil, cereals maize and biofuel crops for under $1.10 per hectare per year, declined to comment. A spokesman said: “This has nothing to do with us.”

Ethiopia has leased an area the size of France to foreign investors since 2008. Of this, 600,000 ha has been handed on 99-year leases to 10 large Indian companies. Many smaller companies are believed to have also taken long leases. Indian companies are said to be investing about $5bn in Ethiopian farmland, but little is expected to benefit Ethiopia directly. According to Oakland, the companies have been handed generous tax breaks and incentives as well as some of the cheapest land in the world.

The Ethiopian government defended its policies. “Ethiopia needs to develop to fight poverty, increase food supplies and improve livelihoods and is doing so in a sustainable way,” said a spokeswoman for the government in london. She pointed out that 45% of Ethiopia’s 1.14m sq miles of land is arable and only 15% is in use.

The phenomenon of Indian companies “grabbing” land in Africa is an extension of what has happened in the last 30 years in India itself, said Ashish Kothari, author of a new book on the growing reach of Indian businesses.

“In recent years the country has seen a massive transfer of land and natural resources from the rural poor to the wealthy. Around 60m people have been displaced in India by large scale industrial developments. Around 40% of the people affected have been indigenous peoples“, he said.

These include dams, mines, tourist developments, ports, steel plants and massive irrigation schemes.

According to Oakland, the Ethiopian “land rush” is part of a global phenomenon that has seen around 200m ha of land leased or sold to foreign investors in the last three years.

The sales in Africa, Latin America and Asia have been led by farm conglomerates, but are backed by western hedge and pension funds, speculators and universities. Many Middle Eastern governments have backed them with loans and guarantees.

Barbara Stocking, the chief executive of Oxfam, which is holding a day of action against landgrabs on Thursday, called on the World Bank to temporarily freeze all land investments in large scale agriculture to ensure its policies did not encourage landgrabs.

“Poor governance allows investors to secure land quickly and cheaply for profit. Investors seem to be cherry-picking countries with weak rules and regulations because they are easy targets. This can spell disaster for communities if these deals result in their homes and livelihoods being grabbed.”

Oxfam will be placing huge “Sold” signs on the Sydney harbour bridge, the Lincoln memorial in Washington and the Colosseum in Rome to mark its action day.

ETHIOPIA: THE DEMISE OF EPRDF IN THE OFFING FOLLOWING SPLIT WITHIN THE TPLF

The long simmering feud between the Azeb Mesfin and Sibhat Nega splits the shaky governing party in Ethiopia in to two.

February 9, 2013 (Tesfa News) — The existence of EPRDF has been hinging on TPLF’s cohesiveness and strength since its inception, however after the death of dictator Meles Zenawi, the rubber stump parties that were molded in TPLF’s desire are starting to question the very reason for their existence and somehow show signs of independent decision making- the recent discord within OPDO is case in point.

To begin with, the front was built on sandy grounds. Member parties were formed by putting few loyal figures at the helm of the member parties who act like little dictators in deciding who should be elected for central committee under direct order from Meles himself.

Now those party leaders like Bereket Simon and Abadula Gemeda and others are seen by the splinter group of TPLF as the “Azeb Mesfin group” sympathizers and they are likely to fall with the fall of the Azeb’s group.

The recent squabble within OPDO is sufficient indicator that OPDO might even disintegrate before TPLF does. And, it very unlikely that Bereket Simon who has been hanging on power by Meles’ unflinching support will have strong influence in shaping the future of his “Amahara” party. He is more likely to resign in the upcoming election depending on his assessment of the situation within TPLF. If Bereket senses that Sebhat Nega is gaining the upper hand, he will abandon Azeb’s group and save his neck before it is too late. Since the death of Meles, Bereket has been a fatherless child with no constituency and will fall with the fall of the Azeb’s group.

Sources are saying that the Sebhat Nega group is gaining ground in convincing the rank and files of TPLF that the spread of Azeb’s sphere of influence in the party will irreversibly kill the TPLF because of her corrupt nature. According to [the authors]  sources, Sebhat has managed to bring TPLF’s top journalist and entrepreneur, Aregawi Berhe of  The Reporter newspaper, into his fold. Reporter’s recent campaign to get Meles’s life size photographs removed from the city’s landscape goes in line with Sebhat’s assertion that TPLF made Meles Zenawi not the other way around.

Sebhat who has never even expressed his condolences to Azeb Mesfin except attending the funeral of Meles is believed to hold immeasurable grudge against her because of her role in his expulsion from top managerial position of the business conglomerate known as EFFORT. He is now revenging under the guise of saving TPLF from demise by welcoming expelled leaders of the front.

The Azeb group mainly led by Bereket Simon who is also behind Hailemaria’s nomination for PM is intensively engaged in convincing US and other western governments that the splinter group within TPLF will endanger the constitutional governance of the country and their actions will eventually lead the country to chaos and civil disorder. However, Sebhat has convinced many influential TPLF leaders to be on his side and it is very likely that the motion to welcome back ex-TPLF leaders into the party will get majority vote during the upcoming TPLF congress to be held in Mekele this month. Once the ex-TPLF leaders back to the leadership circle, their priority will be to attack Azeb and expel her from EFFORT and TPLF politburo for lack of managerial skills and political fortitude.

Above mentioned factors are within the realm of TPLF influence, however it will have less leverage in controlling the multitude of problems facing Ethiopia like the intensifying Muslim uprisings, spiraling inflation, increasing poverty, intensifying hostility from Eritrean governmentand mushrooming rebel groups of all sorts in all parts of the country.

It is only a matter of time before the Muslim uprising start to spill over from the confinement of mosque yards. Soon we will witness Muslim Ethiopians occupying Ethiopian diplomatic offices abroad and also occupying government building in Addis and other parts of the country.

There is also high probability that Christian orthodox followers to copycat the Muslims to express their opposition to government’s interference in the affairs of the orthodox church.

The genie is out of the bottle and EPRDF run its course and now it is facing its final demise.

It doesn’t matter what the TPLF does to reform itself, surely, it will never be able to win the hearts and minds of the Ethiopian people. The chickens are coming home to roost and TPLF’s all evil acts are now coming back to haunt it. Soon Ethiopians will witness many TPLF leaders jumping of the ship and trying to settle abroad to enjoy all the money they have looted over the years.

The Diaspora has a duty to sue every single member of TPLF who would attempt to live in luxury in western countries using the money looted from the impoverished country. Each TPLF leader has to account for every dollar spent abroad to send his/her kids to expensive and exclusive schools and buy luxury homes. There are signs that few TPLF leaders are opting to live in corrupt Asian countries like Thailand and China to escape the public outcry for their embezzlement of public funds to lead life of luxury in the west.

–Tesfa News

Saliha Sami Kamisee wolloo 2013

ABO Jabbeessa lyrics Oromo music – Ebbisa Adunya

Oromo: the violations nobody cares about

February 6, 2013 (BeInquisitive) – The Oromo is the largest ethnicity in Ethiopia and the history of this community is dotted with a plethora of repressive actions by the Ethiopian government. The conflict started approximately in the late 1800 when the ruler Menelik II’s aim to expand the empire resulted in forced agglomerations of southern and western Ethiopian groups.These first violent episodes were followed by Haile Selassie’s office during which a great famine affected over 200.000 Omoros. Straight after Mengistu and his harsh dictatorship traumatized Omoros with brutal human rights violation, torture, rape and public executions. Mengitsu’s Red Terror campaign launched in 1970′s resulted in scores of deaths as: “Many of these prisoners were detained under truly unspeakable conditions, packed by the hundreds into airless, light-less cellars, where they could hear the screams of those being tortured while they awaited torture themselves. Many of those executed were simply left by the roadside with Red Terror slogans attached to their bodies to terrify potential opponents. Others were simply ‘disappeared’.”

Detentions, tortures and executions of Omoro people occurred again in 1992 and in 1998. One year later, Human Rights Watch published a report according to which: “Wide-scale human rights violations occurred in the context of the government’s suppression of armed insurgency and political dissent. The military and rural militia associated with parties affiliated to the EPRDF ( leading government’s party) arrested thousands for months without charge or trial on account of their suspected support of armed insurgencies.”

Ten years later, the Advocates For Human Rights reported on the “Oromo Diaspora” document that since 1970 Oromos have been fleeing their homelands in order to find asylum in US and in 1980 the number of Omoro refugees amounted to 2 million.

This year, the arrest and torture of Omoro politicians led Omoros to gather and protest in Washington DC and London on January 25th, in the attempt of dragging international attention on the violation of human rights occurring in Ethiopia.

The 25th January protest focused on the release of the political prisoners, the demand of independence from the Ethiopian government and the end of the land-grabbing which deprive Oromo farmers of their lands.

Once again international media are not giving the right importance to the topic which is bound to be forgotten unless we do not spread the news. Oromos need worldwide attention and political intervention.

Despite there is no oil to steal or potential political threats to eliminate, superpowers must intervene.

Oromos need us, our voice, our rage, our support and as humans we have to stand up and defend a community whose rights have been violated for centuries.

Oromos need freedom and peace and we, gathered, can contribute to achieve this aim.

If you want to know more

Oromia Human Rights and Justice Council

The Advocates of Human Rights Report

Human Rights Watch Report

Oromia: about Oromia and Oromo

Oromo Rally for Human Rights 2013 

Video

Update from Oromo Community of Washington Dc and Oromos in the UK

–BeInquisitive

TVOMT Gaafif Deebii Dr. Maraaraa Guddinaa Waliin Goone Hordofa

February 5, 2013 Radio Afuura Biyyaa

Radio Afuura Biyyaa presents its discussion with members of the Oromo Libration Front (OLF),on Oslo conference which was held on January 26, 2013,