Oromo Press

Warraaqisa Qeerroo Oromiyaaf Tooftaalee Diddaa Gabrummaa Haaraa Maladhahuu

2012-01-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

"Maratummaan waanuma tokko irra deddeebi'anii akkuma tokkotti hojjechuudhafi immoo bu'aa addaa eeguudha." --Aalbert Ayinistaayin.

Galata fakkii: Qeerroo

Jalqabarratti, dinqisiifannoon Sochii Biyyoolessaa Qeerroo Oromiyaatiif qabu ibsuun barbaada. Sochiin kuni sochii dhiyoo uummamee iddi isaa lafa gadiseenaa jiru haata'uyyu malee, hojiin inni amma ammaatti dhiitamuu mirga dhala namummaa Oromoo saaxiluurratti hojjete abdachiisaafi cimsamuu kan qabu ta'uu nuuf ragaa ta'a. Akka nama qabsoo Oromoo karaa nagaas ta'e waraanaan geggeeffamaa jiru laaluu tokkootti, wanti yeroo baayyee na yaachisu sochiiwwan akkasii ciccimoon kuni hanqina tooftaalee/malootaa (kan yeroo gabaabaafi dheeraa) waan qabaniif baroota dheeraaf osoo walirraa hincitin ittihinfufani. Umurii gabaabaa qabu. Kana biratti, dhiibbaan diinni isaan balleessuuf godhus heedduudha. Haata'u malee, ani gabaabisee kanan dubbachuu barbaadu dhimoota tooftalee/maloota sochiiwaan akkanaa ittiin umurii dheeressuun danda'amurrattiifi odeffannoon isaan facaasaan akkmitti akka hawaasa biyyaafi addunyaa qaqqabuu danda'urratti. Hawaasa idil-addunyaaf odeeffannoon tooftaalee anniisaa (dhageettii) gahaa qabuun dhiyaachuu qaba. Maloota moofa qofa deddeebisuu osoo hintaane, maalota haaraa haala yeroofi nannoo wajjin walsimatan yaaduun, burqisiisuunfi tolchuun bu'aa haaraa argamsiisuu mala.

QBOn toftaalee gahaa dhabuuf kan komatamuu qabu Qeerroo Oromiyaa osoo hintaane dhaabota siyaasaa Oromoo QBO geggeessaniifi hoggantoota isaaniti. Warri bubbule kuni darggaggeessa gorsuun hafeet darggaggeessi isaan gorsutti ka'e. Hawaasini Oromoo biyyaas ta'e kan biyyambaa komii sochii kana bira diinagideefi beekumsaan dhabachuu diiduu jalaa hinba'u.

Qeeqa Sochiiwwan Barattootaa
Sochiiwwan barattoota Oromoos ta'e kan warra kaanii yeroo baay'ee karooraafi ka'umsa ofiitiin hindeemani. Erga rukunnaan diinaa irraa gahee booda rukinnaa saniin mormuufi deebii laachuuf jalqabu. Gochi sochii hiriira tokko, fakkeenyaaf, kan murtaa'u gocha diinni dursee barattootarran ga'erratti. Gurmuun barattoota tokko barataan tokko yoo biraa hidhame ykn ajjeefame gochichaan mormuuf fincila yeroo gabaabduu godhuuf dirqama. Akka kanaan, barattoonni kaayyoorratti hundaa'anii odoo hintaane mootumaadhaan dhiibamaniit fincila keessa galu. Akka ilaalcha kootti dubbachuuf, wareegamini barattoonni kaffalaa jiran bu'aa isaan argamsiisan wajjin yoomiyyuu walhingitu; jecha biraatiin, aarsaa guddaatu kaffalama, garuu bu'aan isaa bicuudha, kan turuu mitisi. Warri dhaaba siyaasaa hoggananis sochii barattoota kanaan "fokkoruu" ykn dhaadatu malee tooftalee,deeggarsaafi gorsa yoo godhaniif hinmula'tu. Sochiin barataas yeroo gabaabiduuf danfee achumaan qorra ykn osoo kayyoon baratoonni itti seenuuf dirqaman galma hinga'iin hoggantoonni qabamu ykn ajjeefamu, darbees godaanu. Qabsoo barattoota kan laffisu tokko immoo icitii eeggachuu dadhabuudha. Wanti "iccitiidhaan" murtaa'e oggasuma gurra diina seena. Diinis odeffannoo akkasii fudhateet odoo barattoonni isa hindursin isaan dursee rakkoorra buusa. Akkan dhagayetti, kuni Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa (FDG) 2005 keessattis calaqqisee ture.

Kaayyoowwan sochii barattootaa keessaa inni olaanaan cunqursaafi loogii sanyummaa, diinagideefi siyaasaa Oromorratti geeggeeffama jiran saaxiluudhafi duradhaabbachuudha. Gabrumaa hinfudhannu jedhanii diduudha. Saaxiluu yoo jennu, saaxiluu biyya keessaa qofa miti. Hojiin saaxiluu inni guddaan hawaasini addunyaa waa'ee rakkoo Oromoo hinbeekine akka hubatu barsiisanii deeggarsa isaanii qabsoo keenyaaf hawwachuudha. Ofiin of bilisoomsuu keessatti wal'ansoo hadhaawa ta'urratti gaheen hawaasa addunyaa gahee deeggarsaati. Deeggarsi isaan godhan nuwaliin gadda keenya hirmaachufi hawaasa isaanii waa'ee keenya barsiisudha. Yoo itti cimee deeme immoo mootummaan isaanii murna wayyaaneerratti qoqqobbii dinagideefi dipilomaasii akka godhu dhibbaa gochuudha. Kuni qabsoo keenyaaf beekumsaafi kabaja maluuf akka kennamu taasisa. Sochiin Qeerroofaa dhugumaan hojii saaxiluu kana Afaan Ingilizii, Afaan Oromoofi Afaan Amaaraan hojjechuun isaanii waan haaraa uumuu danda'uu isaani mul'isa. Kanaafis galata guddaa qabu.

Maloota/Tooftalee
Kutaan kuni ijoo dubbii barreeffama kanaat dhiyeessa.
Yeroo kamiifi iddo kamittuu fincilli karaa nagaa tokko osoo karoorri gahaan hinjirre deemisifamuun bartoota/warra fincilan miidha. Fincilli tokko hojii qumaaraafi lotorii taphachuu miti; akkuma barbaadan karaa cabeen haayaasu jedhanii waan akka qoosa itti seenanii keessa bahanii miti. Sababiin saa dhalli namaa waan itti miidhamuu danda'uufi. Karoorri gahaanis jiraatu, qabsoo keessatti gufachuun waanuma hinoolle kanaaf "Qabsaa'an inkufa qabsoon ittifufa!" jedhu. Miidhaan finciltoota karaa nagaarra gahu ykn hawaasa bal'aarra gahu sadarkaa miidhaa sanaan walgitutti addunyaatti hinbeekamu/hinbeekisifamu. Kunis kan ta'eef sababiin inni tokko barattoonni hunduu lafa diiddaatitti yeroo argaman gahee qooqqoddachuu dhabuurraayi. Namini lafa diddaa gabrummaa deemu waanuma gareen tokko akka waliigalatti godhu laaleet fincila.

Akkuma amma Yunbarsitiiwwan impaayerattiifi Oromiyaa keessa deemaa jirutti, barattoonni dhaanaman, qaamaa hir'atan, rasaasini itti dhuka'uufi ajjeefaman heedduudha. Gochoota sukanneessoo akkasi kanneen maqaa namoota miidhamani qofa tarreessuun saaxiluun/dura dhaabbachuun gahaa miti. Bakka ragaan vidiyoofi suuraa hinjirretti maqaa nama miidhamee galmeessanii warra mirga namummaaf falmuuf dabarsuun waan gaariidha, garuu ergaa dhibbaa guddaa qabu uumuuf gahaa miti.

Ergaan dhibbaa guddaa qabu suuraafi vidiyoodhaan uummama. Barattoota keessaa iccitiidhaanis ta'e fuulleen aarsaa kaffalanii suuraafi vidiyoo barataa-barattuu/miiltoo isaanii ajjeefama jiruu/jirtuu ykn nama cabee dhiigaa jiruu tokko waraabuun barbaachisaadha. Kuni akka gumaa nama du'ee baasutti laallamu qaba. Suuraafi vidiyoon kallattiin daddafee nubilisoomsuu baatus addunyaatti ergaa cimaa dabarsuun birmannaa wayyaba qabsoo keenyaaf hora. Barattoonni muraasini qaama fincilu keessa jiranis ta'e warri qabsoo nagaa adeemsisan kuun, yeroo maraa kaameraa dhokisaan hidhatanii socho'uu qabu. Kameeraadhaan dhugaa kiyyeessuniifi addunyaadhaaf tamsaasuun murteessaadha. Kaamerawwan kana ummata keessa galchuurratti uummanni biyyaa, jarmiyaaleen polotikaa Oromoo martuu irratti mari'atanii akka tooftaa qabsootti sagantaa saanii keessatti kaawwachuu qabu. Vidiyoon/suuraan bifa akkasiin argame biyyoota qarqara dangaa Oromiyaa jiranitti ergamuudhaan intarneetitti olbaasuun nidanda'ama. Kuni yeroofi kutannoo fudhata malee nihojjetama. Biyyattis haalli itti intarneetitti olbaasan jirannan akkasitti namaaf qooduun hariitii dabala. Kameeraa baay'een jiraachuun dirqamaa miti; yunbaristii/iddoo fincilaa tokkko keessa kameraaleen tokko-lama jiraannaan gahaadha. Akka dhumuu keenyatti silaa nutu mataduree oduu BBCfi CNN faa ta'uu qabayyu. Baratooni kamerootafi kaamkordaroota ofiif bituuf horii hinqabani. Kanaaf dhabileen siyaasaafi uumanni gargaarsa gochuufi qaba.

Kutannoo Barbaachisaa
Maaliif suuraa ykn vidiyoo nama ajjeefamaa jiruu hinkaasine jedhee namootatti yeroon dubbadhu yeroo tokko tokko deebii ciggaasisaa akkasiitu na muudata, "balaa qaba, waraanni diinaa suuraa nama kaasaa jiru tokko yoo arge battalattti ajjeesuu danda'a."   Kuni hojii hojjechuu diduuf sababii uumuufi malee maali waraanni diina suuras odoo hinkaasinuu yoom nama ajjeesurraa dhaabbatee beeka? Miidhaa dhaqabu maraafuu, du'a dabalatee, yoo qophii hintaane qabsoon karaa nagaas ta'e hidhannoo bu'aa tokkollee hinqabu. Addunyaan ragaa nama dhiiguu, ajjeefamee, rukutameefi imimmaan cobsuun iyyee boo'u amana jechoota afaanitirrayyuu. Kanaaf, vidiyoofi suuraan gocha diina saaxiluun tooftaa cimaa itti yaadamuu qabuufi amma QBOn jirutti qaama QBO taasifamu qabudha. Baajatinillee itti ba'uu kan qabu taanan, hojjetamuudhuma qaba.

Ittaanee, sochiin baratootaa uummata Oromoo bal'aa waliin walbira qabamee yoo laallame, sochii murna xiqqooti. Kana waan ta'eef, dhabbileen siyaasaa yeroo tokko tokko herreega moo'achuu isaaniif osoo barattootuma qofarratti hirkachuu baatanii filatamaadha. Odoo karaa qaama hawaasaa guddaa kaan-- kan akka qonnaanbultoota akkasumas warra karaa hidhannootiin loolan-- sochii Qeerroo deeggaranii gaaridha. Hoggantoonni polotikaa sababiin isaan barattoota filataniif ifa--barattoonni dammaqoo waan ta'aniif oduma hojii baay'ee hinhojjetin kakaasuun waan itti salphatuufi. Garuu waan itti salphaturra taranii kakaasuu hawaasa bal'aarratti osoo xiyyeeffatanii ittumaa bu'aan saa dachaa ta'a.

Qabsoon Akka Iinvestimentiitti: Waan Facaasan Haammatu

Qabsoon akkuma hojii iinvestimentiiti, mahaallaqaa, qabeenyafi beekumsa gahaan sochiiwwan akkasii cinaa odoo hindhaabbatin bu'aa eeguun maraatummaadha. Akkuma jechamini Aalbert Ayinistaayin jedhu "Maratummaan waanuma tokko irra deddeebi'ani akkaatadhuma tokotti hojjechuudhafi bu'aa addaa eeguudha."   Jechamini Ayinistaayin kuni handhuura ergaa barbaachisummaa tofaaleeti. Yeroo hundaa waan haraa uumuun wiirtuu milkaa'inaati. Nama siin dorgomu kan caalu dandeessu, yoo tooftalee haraa kan isaa caalan uumtee irratti shakalate qofa. Ba'aa gala diina kees haga danda'amu baruufi odeeffannoo ho'aa qabaachuuf qabeenya irree baasuun eeggamaadha. Maloota tarkaanfatoo sochii diina taakkuu takkanirree ta'u taran uumanii dalagaarra oolchuun feesisaadha. Duuba-deemtuu ta'uun akka moo'amnu nu tolcha. Dubartiin gabaa barfattee deemtu namini kuun erga waan gaggaarii bitatanii booda hambaa isaanii bitachuuf dirqamti. Nus akkas ta'uu hinqabinu. Waantoota godhamuu malanirratti diina caalaa/dursanii beekumsaafi tooftaalee qabaachuun deebii waan hundaati. Halli QBOn ittiin deemaa jiru yeroo baayyee duubeen adawwii balaaleffachuu malee tooftaalee haaraa guyyaa guyyaatti kalaquun akkamiin diinarratti injifannoo akka goonfatanirratti miti fakkaata.  Akkamitti akka adawwii cabsanirratti gahaadhaan hinxiyyeefatamine ta'uu mala. Amma diinni keenya nu beeku nuyi diina keenya hinbeekinuyyuu ta'uu mala.

Tarii waa'ee tooftalee haasa'uun barbaachisaa miti ta'a iccitii eeguufi akka diinni odeeffannoo argatee namarratti hindammaqineef. Tooftaleen dhaaba tokkoo haga hojiirra oolutti iccitiin qabamuun waanuma baramaadhaafi sirriidha. Garuu immoo tooftaleen nuyi iccitiidhaan dhaabota bira jiru jennee yaannu gonkumaa jiraachuu yoo batan oo? Ykn yoo jiraatanii kan hinhaaromisamin ta'an oo? Akkamitti beekina? Garuu waa'ee tooftaalees goodaa baasanii dubbachuun barbaachisaa ta'uu batullee tooftaleen gaariin jiraachuufi dhabamuu isanii deemsafi firii mul'atoo dhaaba tokkoorraatti hundoofinee tilmaamu dandeenya. Akka tooftaatti kiyyoon dhaabini tokko kiyyeessu antuuta yoo qabuu baate tarii dhabini sun kiyyoo sana iddoo gaaritti hinkiyyeessine ta'a, ykn antuunni irratti dammaqixee karaa ishii geeddarateera ta'a. Wanti tooftaleen ciccimoon jiraachuu agarsiisu bu'aa/firii qabsoon tokko yeroodhaa gara yerootti galmeessisuuf namni ifatti hubachuu danda'u.  Maaloo adaaraa yeroo hunda "Qabsoon Oromoo Oromoon akka Afaan isaan dubbatu godhe" deebii barama jedhu kana nu dhiisaa waan haaraa uumaa qabatamaan hojjedhaa. Uummanni "Qabsoo qabatamaan eessa?" jedhee gaaffiin sin cinqaa jira. Eyyeen, qabsoon Oromoo Afaan Oromoo naannoo Oromiyaatti Afaan hojii akka ta'u godheera, kaartaa hirdhuu Oromiyaas nu argamsiiseera; akkasumas aadaan Oromoo amma tokko akka guddatu godheera--garuu kunneen bu'aawwan gurguddoo waggaa digdama dura ABOn galmeessise, miti? Isa booda QBOn soorata ba'ee? Isa booddee bu'aawwan galmeessifamanii lakkaawwamuu danda'an eessa? Har'a uummanni Oromoo diinagideedhaan maalirra jira? Dubbiin diinagidee kuni yeroo baayyee hinhaasa'amu/irratti hingabaafamu.

Saboota Cunqurfamoo Kibbaa Wajjin Hojjechuu
Ummanni Oromoo balaa duguggaa sanyii irratti deema jiru kana gatii (arsaa) kafalaa jiruu kana gadibuusuuf, saboota hiree-murteeffannaa, mirgoota dhala namaa, sirna dimokiraasii, seeraafi walqixxummatti amanan biroo, kan akka warra gara Kibba biyyatti jiran, wajjin socho'uun tooftaa cimaadha. Uleen diina uummata tokkorra (Oromorra) darbee saboota biroorratti yoo xiyyeeffate, midhaan waliigalaa gadibu'uu ykn haphachuu mala, qabsoonis nishaffisa. Kana jechuun, Ormoon Afaan Oromoo, Amaaraafi Ingilizii akksumas afaan beeku kaanitti dhimma ba'ee odoo kaayyoo isaa hinganin michuu horachuuf yoomiyyuu caalaa amma ija-baasee sossso'uu qaba.

Holola Habashootaa Qolachuu

"Lola qee'ee keessaa" (fkn, gantuma Jijiiramni garee Kamaal Glachuu godhe) qofarratti umna keenya xiyyeeffachuun yeroo balleessudha. Gartuu gantootaa Ginbooot 7 hojjetan gochaan isaanitu isaan saaxilee uummanni Oromoo bakkuma jiruu akka isaan tufu godheera. Isaan akka xurii bishaaniin lolla'amanii jiru. Garee Jijjiirama irratti xiyyeeffachuun ulfina isaanif hinmallee keennuufifi gatii isaanii hinjirre olkaasuudha. Yeroo bayyee uummanni keenya diina isaa qoratee ciminaafi dadhabina isaa baree irratti bobba'uurra lola "qee'ee keessaa" kan abdaariin hinjaalannerratti yeroo isaa guba.

Gama biraan, holola yeroo amma ESAT fi midiyaaleen Habashaa QBO ABOdhaan dursamu irratti afarsaa jiran, Oromoonis ejennoo isaa midiyaa isaa banatee diinaaf ifa godhu qaba. Fuulduratti, ejjennoo ofii nyaaphaaf ifa  gochuu qofa osoo hintaane, hoggantootafi deegartoota siyaasaa alagaa ta'anirree affeeree yaadaan isaan waliin walfalmuunifi dhadhabbina isaani saaxiluun cimina, injifannoodha. Gama kanaan, marsaawwan Oromoo, rediyoowwan Oromoofi biloogiiwwan Oromoo hojii gaarii itti jiran cimsanii ittifufuu qabu. Hojiin Afaan Amaartiin gaazexxeesitoonni Seife Nebelbal Radio godhan dinqisifatamaadha. Baga deebitanii dhuftan jennee isaan simanna. Qabeenya qabnutti guutuutti dhimma ba'uu qabina. Afaanota heedduu beekinus kayyoo QBOf oolchuuf namoota jajjabeessuun nurraa eeggama. Kana jechuun, Afaan keenya hinguddisinu jechuu miti. Nyaaphatti Afaan inni beekuun dubbachuun bu'aawwan inni qabu gudaadha: isaan keessayis, inni duraa meeshaa ergaa ittiin isaaniif darbu ta'uu isaati. Fira waliin qofa osoo hintaane diina waliinis gamnummaadhaan haasa'uu, walmormuufi ejjennoo kayyoo ofii beekisisuurratti sabaahimaleen Oromoo akkasii bu'aa guddaa qabu. Haqini gama keenya jira waan ta'eef, yoo tokko taanee umna keenya walitti finne, akka moonu shaakkiin hinjiru.

Dimshaashumatti, tooftalee natti fakkaatan olitti eeree ilaalcha koo irratti ladheen jira. Marii jalqabsiisuuf tarkaanfii duraa ta'uu malu. Tooftaleen kunneen guutuu miti, kanaaf namni dhunfaan akkasumas jarmiyaaleen tooftalee haala naannoo Gaanfa Aafrikaa waliin deeman baasine socho'uurratti fulleffachuu qabina. Cimina dinaa hubachuun toftalee keenyas caalatti cimuufi haala diina dursuu yaadu qabna.

Goolaba
Haga vidiyoofi suuraa nama dhumaa jiru gadihinbaasinetti, waa'ee qabsootu hasa'uun qaanessaadha. Bu'aan vidiyoofi suuraa tokkoo nama tokko lubbuu haadhabisisu malu malee, uummata guddaa isa hafee walaboomsuraatti gatii guddaa qaba. Kuni ta'uu bannaan dubbii maratummatti nu deebisa: "Maratummaan waanuma tokko irra deddeebi'ani akkaatadhuma tokotti hojjechuudhafi bu'aa addaa eeguudha."

Barreeffama kanarratti yaada qabaannaan, akka nuuf laattuun si jajjabeessa. Hojiiwwan boonsaa Qeerroo Oromiyaa laaluuf as xuqi. Barreeffama olii kana sagaleen dhaggeeffachuu yoo feete, sagalee YouTube kana tuqi. Hubachiisa: sagaleen kuni barreeffama oliirra gabaabaadha.

Beyond Human Rights Violations: Oromia-Ethiopia at Highest Risks of Instability, Genocide,Politicide

2012-01-08T20:47:00.000-08:00

Snapshot from Barbara Harff, p.21

Human rights reports, appeal letters and scholarly predictions of instability, conflict, war, genocide and ‘politicide’ are prevalently treated as ends in themselves. They often make the hottest hard-hitting news of the day, but the next day they are dumped as irrelevant garbage.

Trumping the entrenched culture of hypocrisy and promise-making by the international community, the most desirable practice is to turn information and knowledge into powerful tools of predicting risks and initiating preventative actions against regime elites and the internal forces that contend with them. How can it be ethical to know that human rights violations are being perpetrated against innocent victims, but remain inactive and silent? The knowledge and information we have need to serve life-saving purposes. While the West keeps abundant data on the genocidal behaviors of the Ethiopian government against Oromos, Ogadenis, Anuak, and southern peoples, one may wonder what the international community is waiting for in order to act. Why are principal donors and enablers to the Ethiopian regime such as the United States, England, and other European powers postponing actions of stopping genocide and instability in Oromia and other targeted regions of Ethiopia’s south?

Heeding Predictions and Strategizing to Act

The University of Maryland’s Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM) is an interdisciplinary research center that seeks to prevent and transform conflicts. CIDCM puts the Ethiopian state in the categories of highest risks of instability and genocide/politicide in 2012.[1] CIDCM researchers attempt to analyze large amounts of quantitative information in order to make fairly scientific predictions.

Highest Risk of Genocide and Politicide

Barbara Harff (2012:20), author and researcher affiliated with CIDCM, defines “genocide” and “politicide” as follows:

…promotion, execution, and/or implied consent to sustained policies of by governing elites or their agents—or, in the case of civil war, either of the contending authorities—that are intended to destroy, in whole or part, a communal, political, or politicized ethnic group. In genocides the victimized groups are defined by the perpetrators primarily in terms of their communal characteristics, in politicides, by contrast, groups are defined primarily in terms of their political opposition to the regime and the dominant groups.

Risk of Genoide and Politicide by Barbara Harff, p.21.

With the 6^th rank of 20 countries and one of the highest genocide and politicide score of 13.5 worldwide, Ethiopia tops Barbara Harff’s global genocide watch list for 2012. Of 18 African countries on the list, only Sudan ranks higher than Ethiopia with the risk score of 14.5. Other African countries such as Zimbabwe, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic Congo, and Somalia have much lower genocide risk ranks and scores. The scores for genocide and politicide were calculated based on seven factors that influence the risk of genocide and politicide: prior genocide or politicide, the ethnic character of the ruling elite, type of governing regime, the extent of trade openness, the extent of state-led discrimination, and the level of instability risk.[2]

Risk of Instability on the ‘Peace and Conflict Stability Leger’

Ethiopia ranked 5^th globally in the category of risk of instability forecast, with a 21.2 risk score and one of the widest risk confidence ranges.[3] Ranks and scores were determined based on global indicators for peace and instability such as: regime consistency, infant mortality, economic openness, militarization, neighborhood war.

Snaposhot from Hewitt and others, 2012, p. 8.

Now that I provided the two general trends above, I will turn to the discussions of the missing particulars of the forecasts in the following sections.

Oromia: Human Rights as Predictors of Genocide/Politicide

The CIDCM forecasts genocide and politicide at a country level without going into local details for Ethiopia. The content of the letter written by Hamza Abdurezak (PhD), the current President of the Oromo Studies Association (OSA), will help bridge the gap. OSA appeals to the U.S. President Barack Obama and World Leaders with significant ties to Ethiopia on “growing repressions and human rights violations by the Ethiopian government.”[4]

This OSA appeal letter, like many others authored by past OSA’s presidents, asks the U.S. government and European government leaders to put pressure on the Ethiopian government to stop its genocidal policies against the Oromo, Ogadenis, and other targeted groups in the south. In this sense, the letter provides important details and dynamics of human rights violations that point in the direction of the said genocide and politicide risk warnings.

The ruling elites in Ethiopia target Oromo as a population group and their culture and civic society organizations for partial or full destruction. The following connection the OSA letter makes between the segregated politicizing and attacking of Oromummaa (the Oromo identity) in Ethiopia establishes the active genocidal behaviors of the Ethiopian ruling elites toward Oromo, as stated in article two of the UN genocide convention.[5] What follows is part of the OSA letter.

We, at OSA, are disheartened to learn that the Ethiopian regime disproportionately targets Oromo political dissidents and Oromo youth on a continuous basis due to the regime’s fear of potential political power of the Oromo people in Ethiopia, the single largest politically unrepresented population group strategically placed in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. According to the Human Rights League Horn of Africa (HRLHA)5, the Ethiopian regime has intensified mass abductions and imprisonments on Oromo students and civic organization leaders. According to HRLHA’s report of May 12, 2011, over 30 students have been detained from various universities and the trend continued unabated since then.

Targeting the most politically aware and the organized section and looting the lands and resources of the masses of the Oromo society represents a partial attempt at not only dismantling dissent but also an attempt at gradually and systematically ridding the Oromo people of the earth. Politicidally, the Ethiopian government has outlawed, destroyed and banned numerous independent Oromo civic and political organizations over the last twenty years. Ethiopia’s most recent actions of arresting the leadership of Macha and Tulama Association, the subsequent banning of MTA and Waaqeffannaa (the Oromo indigenous religion) constitute politicide. While Oromos are disproportionately oppressed and discriminated against in Ethiopia, the group shares politcidal attacks from the regime with other marginalized southern peoples, including the Ogaden.

The fact that Tigreans are spared similar attacks by the regime owing to the elites’ origin from the Tigrean ethnic group, speaks volumes to the regime’s proclivity towards genocidal and politicidal attacks against members of the Oromo nationality. Being Oromo and speaking Afan Oromo openly are criminalized as ever in Ethiopia. Persons who speak Afan Oromo publicly at certain places are immediately labeled “the speakers of the rebel language”, rebel being the Oromo Liberation Front that wages a low-key guerrilla warfare against the GoE in order to liberate Oromia. The GoE proscribed the OLF, the ONLF and Ginbot 7 as "terrorist" organizations recently. Any critical and independent Oromos are equated with the OLF, labeled “terrorists”, denied fair trial, and paraded on television because they ethno-linguistically differ from the Tigrean ruling elites. This justifies state-sponsored terrorist attacks against the Oromo.

Human Rights Violations as Predictors of Instability

Despite flawed Western views that Ethiopia is ‘a stable and dependable ally in the Horn Africa’, the country does very poorly internally on the major indicators of stability outlined above. The United States may refuse to open its eyes and see the truthfulness of the highest forecasts of instability for Ethiopia and fail to take actions based on these early warnings, but the reality remains that Ethiopia has already gone far down the path of instability, according to CIDCM. Irreversible instability is the next stage. In fact, the stability indicator for Somalia (17.6), Ethiopia’s regional rival, is stronger than that of Ethiopia (21.2).[6] Nevertheless, in the international press there is more attention given to Somalia and little given to Ethiopia; the international media tend to ignore internal conflict dynamics in Ethiopia mostly because its allies have helped the GoE cover up its crimes against humanity. The cover-up seems to mostly stem from the interest of keeping U.S. and European voters from realizing and being outraged over the knowledge that their tax money is financing Ethiopia’s next genocide and politicide.

Conclusion: What the International Community Can Do

At U.S. and European policy-making and implementation levels, it is capricious and unwise to continue turning a blind eye to early warning signs of genocide, politicide and instability in Ethiopia. The regime is likely to soon transform its current gross human rights violations trends into irreversible waves of civil wars and genocide if countries (U.S. U.K. the European Union, China), who have the most leverage on Ethiopian elites and ruling party by virtue of providing significant direct aid to the human-destroying system, do not act now.

The maximum pressure the the Western powers can exert ranges from withdrawing aid to Ethiopia to resolving the conflicts in Oromia and Ogaden, initiating and funding a transitional government from all groups that will negotiate and facilitate a national referendum on either multinational democracy or independence for Oromia, Ogaden and the south.

The minimum the West can do are to help : end extrajudicial killings and arrests, end targeting Oromo culture and indigenous religion, release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, repeal the overbroad anti-terrorism law, end abductions and persecutions of Oromo refugees, respect human rights, and implement the Ethiopian constitution and facilitate self-determination according to the provisions for that in article 39.[7]

If a full-scale genocide like that of Rwanda 1994 unfolds in Oromia and Ogaden, there will be no way the West can say it did not know enough to prevent it in the face of all these scientific predictions and early warnings of genocide, politicide and instability in Ethiopia. Since it gives aid to Ethiopia, the West has the responsibility to act.

End Notes

[1]Hewitt et al, 2012, “Peace and Conflict 2012: Executive Summary.”

[2] See Harff, p 21.

[3] See Hewitt et al., 2012.

[4] OSA letter.

[5] OSA appeal letter, p.2.

UN Genocide convention

http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html

[6] See Hewitt et al, p. 13.

[7] See OSA letter, p.5 for minimum demands.

References

Hewitt, Joseph J., Jonathan Wilkenfeld, Tedd Robert Gurr and Birger Heldt. “Peace and Conflict 2012: Executive Summary.” University of Maryland, 2012.

OSA. “Oromo Studies Association’s Appeal Letter to President Obama on the Growing Repression and Human Rights Violations by the Ethiopian Government.” An appeal letter dated January 3, 2012.

http://www.oromostudies.org/OSA_Appeal_Letter_to_President_Obama_and_Other_world_Leaders-1.pdf

UN. “ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” UN, December 1948.

http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html

Qeerransoo Biyyaa Sirba Tokkee "Qabsoo Qabatamaa", Jedhu Baasee

2011-12-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

Qeerransoo Biyyaa albamii sirba tokkee "Qbasoo Qabatamaa" jedhu baaseeraa. Muziqaa tokkeen kun waa'ee rakkoowwan jajjabiduu mooraa Qabsoo Bilisummaa Oromooo muudatan irratti yaada callaqisiisa. Sirbi tokkeen kun keeennaa Qeerransoon bara haraa kana Oromoota maraaf kenne. Tokkeen kun yaadannoo WBOfi qabsaa'oota Oromoo hudaaf haata'u. Sirbi kun tokkummaa Oromoo jabeessuuf maaloota harawa dhawa. Kayyoon isaa inni guddaan haamilee namootaa kakaasuudhaan gabroomftaarratti akka xiyyeeffatan gochuudha. Baga Bara Haraa 2012 Geessan! Barri kun bara, tokkummaa, bara qabatamaan bilisummaaf hojjechuufi bara jaarmiyaalee keenya tokko goonu Oromootaaf haata'u. Qeerransoon sirba kana fuulduratti meeshaadhaan qindeessuuf karooree jira.

Sirbicha tokkee dhageeffachuuf funyoo kana xuqi:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/980325566eea084b/

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Image credit: Google images.

Review of 'Oromo Democracy: An Indigenous African Political System.' By Asmarom Legesse

2011-12-16T12:34:00.000-08:00

Oromo Democracy: An Indigenous African Political System. By Asmarom Legesse. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press, 2006, 296p, 10 figures, 8 pictures. $ 29.95 paperback. ISBN 1-56902-139-2.
Introduction

Social scientists have been grappling with the question of why post-colonial Africa has failed to achieve any semblance of democracy, peace, stability and development. People have looked for solutions and paradigms everywhere, including state-building based on Western concepts of democracy. Nevertheless “changes” in the desired directions remain elusive. The aim of this paper is to review a book whose author attempts to provide answers to the predicaments within current political systems in Africa, and to the uneasy relationships between western social sciences and grand African social issues.

Central Argument

Based on four decades of research and specialty in the areas of African democracy, political thoughts and anthropology, Asmarom Legesse—an African anthropologist, a Harvard PhD and former emeritus professor of Boston and Northwestern universities—argues that his book “reveals the many creative solutions that an African society has found for the problems people encounter when they try to establish democratic methods of governing their affairs,” (p. xiii). A related argument is that Africa continues to be beleaguered by social and political ills and system failure because peoples do not show a sense of ownership for modern African constitutions and political traditions built on foreign ideas they do not understand or respect. Imported African democracies fail because they have not organically emerged from the African soil.

To justify why studying an indigenous African democracy is a worthwhile enterprise, Legesse holds: “it is a rich source of ideas that can inspire and inform constitutional thinkers in Africa. On that foundation of historic and ethnographic knowledge, we can build genuinely African democratic constitutions that differ from borrowed constitutions of today—alien constitutions people do not care about and will not defend when they are violated,” (p.xiii). The author’s position is not a mere rejectionist and ethnocentric attempt to dismiss anything Western, as it seems, because he himself is against “ethnocentrism” and “counterpropaganda” as approaches to achieving objective scholarship from the moment he traveled from Harvard to southern Ethiopia to conduct his field research for his PhD dissertation in 1960, which produced his first book Gada: Three Approaches to the Stud of African Society that the current study evolved out of (Legesse, 1973: 11, 273-274). He has been a strong critic of ideologized scholarship that is masked in any sort of ethnocentrism or propaganda as he succinctly puts it: “The war that Africans must wage in the postcolonial era is a war against ethnocentrism as practiced by Africans whose intellectual horizons do not reach beyond their own ethnic backyards and by Europeans who believe that their civilization is the terminal stage of human development,” (1973:274).

What makes Asmarom Legesse one of the important African critical theorists of the 20^th and 21st centuries is that he engages in what I call “a multi-tiered empirical-comparative criticism” of social systems in Africa, Ethiopia and the United States. In Oromo Democracy, and his earlier work, he is basically saying ‘even if ruling African elites and Western ones are agnostic to the merits of indigenous political systems, I will show them how and why that is so.’ He wanted to show the world how African democratic institutions, principles, and constitutions can contribute to improving the superficial democratic practices on the continent and even in the U.S.

He is compelled to do this because since he was student at Harvard he has come to see the inimical relationship between Western social sciences and the study of African societies (1973:3). Specially, he had problems with Western imperialist anthropologists whom he referred to as “cultural peddlers whose task is to disseminate Western civilization to the rest of mankind,” (1973:273). Since the products of most Western social science research on Africa are primarily meant to serve the interests of the West, he believes that they are not good resources in helping solve African problems. It was the realization that African social sciences have themselves become a mere copycat of the Western ones that made him not only call for a paradigm shift but helped him venture into his research. “African social science must go back to first principles and develop a body of sociological theories that are not inimical to our existence and to our fundamental aspirations,” (1973:3). The following section reviews the author’s theories.

Critiques of Ethiopianist, Africanist or Eurocentric Intellectual Traditions

In the preface and the first chapter, the author surveys and critiques the mentioned intellectual traditions in order to put his study in perspective. Doing that is important as a prelude to the analysis without which readers will be left in the dark as to why little is known about indigenous democracies and institutions if indeed they exist, as the author claims. He needed to critique the traditions to show factors (barriers) that retarded the growth of indigenous democratic traditions and prevented them from spreading over the continent. Proudly rebutting, in a typical Horn of African manner, the agnosticism among Western scholars about the relevance of such a project, Legesse states “…but that should not deter us from this magnificent virtue into our own ‘dark continent’—a continent that looks so dark to others, so brightly lit from where we stand…” (p.xiii).

The idea of an indigenous democratic system by default, not by choice, comes from the Oromo people of Ethiopia, a majority group with a long history of repression by Ethiopian authorities. All the milestone achievements by this society are automatically dismissed and despised merely because of its association with the group. The resentment over that gave birth to the Oromo studies tradition in the diasporas in Europe and North America; Legesse, though an outsider African (Eritrean) to the Oromo society, adopts an Oromo studies perspective. Here is a summary of his critiques of the intellectual barriers in examining Oromo/African democratic institutions (Legesse, 2006: xiii-39):

Barriers in Ethiopian Studies: Ethiopianist scholarship focuses on the Abyssinian-speaking populations of Northern Ethiopia and their culture, languages, literature history and archaeology (p.2). Ethiopianists dismiss Oromo studies as nonessential. Ethiopianists scholarship has been a barrier because “…research was conducted from an Orientalist rather than Africanist perspective, which tended to dissociate North Ethiopian civilization from its African roots and from those populations of Ethiopia whose cultures are entirely African in character,” (p.2). For a long time, Abyssinia projected an ambiguous identity to the outside world: it viewed itself as a non-African and glorified its Sabean, Jewish and Christian heritage based on legends. Implied here is a ludicrous assertion of self-denial that Ethiopians are neither Africans nor blacks, a myth on which the empire thrived for centuries in its foreign relations.
Barriers in Africanist Studies: Anglophone scholars, who wrote widely on African political systems, showed strong and sustained interest in African monarchies and chiefdoms, but very little interest in, and great disdain for indigenous African democracies. This group also thinks that “democracy” is an exclusive invention of the West and to talk about it by Africans is nonsensical. Legesse maintains barriers in African studies are part of “the much larger and older problems in the Africanist literature,” (p.9). He bemoans that this brand of scholarship has been playing a destructive function of promoting African monarchies in order to implement the European colonial systems of direct and indirect rule (p.10). The author stresses the continued mutual seductions between African and European empire-builders. From political point of view colonialism in the traditional sense is defunct, but “the underlying system of values is still at work,” (1973:275). The monarchist perspective detracts from any attempts to examine African democratic traditions in their own terms (pp. 10-27).

Theory

In the rest of the book, Legesse attempts to show that democratic thoughts and institutions exist in Africa. He even compares the principles in African democracies to the principles in the American Constitution to show flaws of that Constitution in and to suggest things that can be learned from Oromo democracy.

Theory I: The Indigenous Democratic Institutions

He explains that Oromo developed their own variety of democratic organization that existed at least for four centuries of recorded history (p.30). The system is based on elected leadership and an orderly transfer of power from one leadership to another. Most importantly, it is built on three institutions: the generational system (Gada, “the rulers”); the moiety organization (Qalluu, “electors and ritual leaders”); and the National Assembly (Gumi). A brief summary of the three institutions and their key responsibilities follows (pp. 94-132):

The Gada System is a system of Gadaa classes (luba) or a portion of the genealogical generations that succeed each other every eight years in assuming political, military, judicial, legislative and ritual responsibilities. A “generation” is forty years long and is made up of five gada classes. It is headed by Abba Gada (father or leader of the institution, equivalent to “President”). The Abba Gada has the power of blessing, decision-making and presiding over general assembly meetings.
Qallu: The Moiety Institution (pp.133-134)—Qallu are the two halves of the Oromo nation and they play many important political roles and functions. It is a balancing mechanism since it divides the society into two permanently opposed camps, which becomes the basis for balanced opposition and power-sharing (p. 136). The Qallu leaders are the most pious (rooted in Waaqeffannaa, an African indigenous monotheistic religion) and hereditary group of leaders who serve as electors to political offices and mediators in conflict. People go on pilgrimages from distant places to the sites of the two most senior Qallus to receive blessings. They have a responsibility to mediate conflict within a moiety; and conflicts that failed to be resolved at lower clan levels are referred up to the national Qallu councils for mediation. Any conflict that cannot be resolved at the level of Qallu is taken to the level of the General Assembly.
The Gumi Institution (pp. 32-31,100, 211). Gumi is the highest and the most important of the three branches of the indigenous social organization. The author is succinct in putting the descriptions of this body as: “The NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, (Gumi) is made up of all the Gada assemblies of the Oromo, who meet, once every eight years, to review the laws, to proclaim new laws, to evaluate the men in power, and to resolve major conflicts that could not be resolved at lower levels of their judicial organization. The present and former Abba Gada are leaders in the main session of the Gumi…The Gumi stands in a superordiante position vis-à-vis the other institutions. It is the institution that gives structural substance to the notion that power rests ultimately with people—a right they exercise by direct participation or by delegating power to five groups of Gada leaders, active and semi-retired,” (p.100).

In five out of six the chapters, the author engages in an extended analysis and discussions of the three institutions briefly summarized above.

Theory II: The Principles of Oromo Democracy

Legesse draws some principles of Oromo democracy based on his analysis of the key institutions of the system. He goes back to his idea of “going back to the first principle” (dhugaa ganamaa) to bring about an effective social change when he states that “democracy is not a purely Western phenomenon,” (p.93). He appears to mean this in a progressive way, not in a way that suggests a regressive or nostalgic wish to turn the clock back. Legesse underscores the need to recognize and learn from the varieties of democracies invented by many African societies.

A skeptic may ask: if such democratic values and intuitions existed, why are so many African countries despotic? Legesse would think many African countries are not so democratic today not because Africa lacks democratic culture and institution, but because the continent’s modern state structures that imitate the West created elites that have abandoned and delegitimized the political systems that have been developed for many centuries (p. 214-215). Because Africans have given up on governing themselves through the national assemblies, he cites cases of dictators who want to rule for their lifetime (p.15). The Oromo Democracy answer to the constitutional threat Africa faces from leaders who refuse to relinquish power peacefully is to ensure no president or war chief is left long enough in office with uncontrolled power (p.215).

Legesse’s study lists and describes eighteen principles of Oromo democracy constructed from the unwritten constitution of the people (pp.195-246). He then compares these principles to the U.S. constitution and democratic processes. I will list all, but discuss only a few of these that the author thinks do not exist in Western democratic traditions. The principles are (p. 198): (1) the laws (ada-sera) that stand above all men, (2) the principle of accountability: the role of confession and impeachment (buqqisu), (3) subordination of warriors to deliberative assemblies, (4) man-made laws and the great lawmakers, (5) supreme authority of the national assembly (Gumi), (6) government by councils and assemblies (ya’a): seniority and equality, (7) terms of office and measurement of time, (8) limitation of office to single term (Gada), (9) a period of testing: time gap between elections and investiture, (10) use of history as ethical guide and precedent (dhacch’i), (11) hereditary and elective leadership (warra Qallu and warra Bokku), (12) staggered succession versus the convergence of destabilizing events, (13) alliance of alternate groups (walanna and qadaddu), (14) bridges across generations in the face of political discontinuity, (15) the principle of balanced opposition, (16) distribution of power across generations, (17) separation of powers: functional and spatial, and (18) separation of ritual and political domains (ebba and mura).

Comparing the inter-generational equity principle in Oromo Democracy to Western democratic tradition, Legesse claims such principle of sharing power across generations does not exist in Western democratic tradition. The consequence of this is events like the youth and elderly movements of the 1960s and 1970s, which were aimed at “correcting generational injustices,” (p.248). Indigenous democracy restrains the power of the president in three ways by: putting the ultimate power in the hands of the General Assembly, putting a period of testing as a prerequisite to the real office for decades, reviewing the president’s performance and impeaching him if he is likely to do some damage even if that is at the beginning of his term. In contrast, Legesse points out how some democratically elected populist leaders can turn into despots and take a nation down the path of war or fascism because they have too much power in their hands. He provides the case of the rise of Hitler and Nazism and the ensuing holocaust and wars in Europe because of constitutional loopholes (p.250). These are strong examples that can help check ‘democracy’ from turning into something some people legitimately and pejoratively call “mob rule.” Western democracies have in the past veered in the direction of despotism (Nazi or fascism); there is a potential for this to be repeated as long as the war-making powers of the presidents are not constitutionally and directly subordinated to the people. I will critique why Legesse is compelled to make the comparisons and if the comparisons are fair or are of the kind between ‘apples and oranges’ in the “Limitation” section of this paper.

The writer does not conclude just by painting a perfect picture that an African democratic tradition is perfect. It is one of the strengths of the book that the author identifies the following four systematic weaknesses in the African indigenous constitution (pp.256-254): (1) exclusion of women from political institutions, (2) rigidity of political structures, (3) corruption in political life, and (4) traditional societies and modern state: the question of scale. These are also sensitive weaknesses. The author rightly takes the exclusion of women from formal participation in the political process and leadership as “the single most important deficit in Oromo democracy,” (p.256). He could have elaborated and contextualized this better in gender issues. In terms of corruption, bribing indigenous jurors has been commonplace.

Methodology and School of Thought

In his first book, Gada, and then again, in Oromo Democracy, Legesse is explicit that he is structuralist anthropologist whose ideas are shaped a great deal by Claude Levi-Strauss. Legesse states, “Structuralism is an important contributor to this study,” (1973:233). He uses three approaches to the study African society: Levi-Strauss structuralism, American cultural anthropology and the ‘case analysis’ method developed within the British social anthropology.

The method with the most influence on his work is probably Levi-Strauss’s structuralism as Legesse is often seen quoting, summarizing and paraphrasing Levi-Strauss.He uses the same Levi-Strauss’s direct quote as a way of inspirationally ending his first book and as a hook into his second one.[1] He is heavily humanist in his approach.[2] Given the difficulty he mentions about the uneasy relationship between African and Western social science, it appears that the methodological choice he made was reasonable and progressive.

It is also an appropriate method to the study of social organization and political systems. In the second book he adds a center-periphery approach to how colonial rule influenced Oromo institution. The strategies he used for data collection were surveys, interviewing and participant observation over many years. His current book can be classified more specifically under the “Oromo Democracy Project” that he and his four other colleagues started in 1987 within the Oromo Studies tradition (p.xiii). More generally, the book belongs in the class of books on African anthropology, politics and sociology.

Comparing Oromo Democracy to Max Weber’s ‘Authority’

Even if the indigenous political system (institutions and principles) Legesse studied and theorized cannot be precisely mapped onto Weber’s typology of authority, it is still possible to do some comparisons between the two. Legesse is not Weberian since he does not cite him anywhere in his book. The theories of both authors are similar in the sense that both studied social organizations. They differ in that Weber writes mostly from a Western sociological perspective while Legesse writes from an African one. I will first briefly define Weber’s types of legitimate authority and then compare them to where the leaders of Legesse’s three intuitions get their authority from.

The validity of claims to legitimacy comes from three sources of authority (Weber, 1947:328). These are rational authority, traditional authority and charismatic authority.

First, in ‘rational authority’ leaders have the right to make decisions (issue commands) on the basis of people’s beliefs in the legality of ‘normative rules’. This kind of authority is prevalent in modern state systems and organizations io ipso bureaucracies are set up and staffed (p.333). There are number of criteria governing the behaviors of elected or appointed officials: (1) officeholders are personally free and subject to authority ‘only in respect to their impersonal obligations, (2) staff and offices are clearly and hierarchically organized, and (3) offices are governed by contractual relationships and so on (Weber, 1947: 333-334).

Second, people who exercise traditional authority do so based on “established belief in the sanctity of traditions and the legitimacy of the status of those who exercise authority…” People obey a leader primarily because “the object of obedience is the personal authority which he enjoys by virtue of his traditional status,” (Weber 1947:341). The relationships between the leader and his people are very personalized in a sense that there is no clear demarcation between his personal and official life as opposed to legal authority (ibid, 341).

Third, leaders who exercise charismatic authority do so based on “devotion to the specific and exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him…” (ibid. 328). The leader is set apart from ordinary men by a quality known as “charisma” that originates from “supernatural, superhuman, and exceptional,” sources (ibid, 358).
Now let us focus on how Weber’s typology of authority can or cannot explain ways in which leaders of the three African democratic institutions exercise their authority.

Gada System, Gumi and Legal Authority. This institution is the most democratic, legalistic and powerful of all other institutions Legesse analyzed. It is the most democratic of the three since power rests with the people and all sections of the nation are directly or indirectly represented in the council (Caffee). The active and retired Abba Gadas (presidents, the retired ones are considered emeritus presidents) chair the national assembly meetings. The job of this body is to make new laws, revise old ones and to evaluate the performances of elected leaders. If the leader underperforms or abuses official power, an impeachment proceeding is initiated and the leader is removed. The penalty for breaking laws ranges from soft punishments such as cursing (which is believed to kill the cursed person) to capital punishments such as the direct execution of the guilty person, including the president. Unfortunately, I did not come across any concept of imprisonment as penalty. Where the Gumi differs from Western bureaucratic rationality is in that decisions made are committed to memory by a specialized group of elders. Customary laws exist in oral tradition and decisions made are not recorded on paper primarily because the ancient community practicing this brand of democracy lack formal education and lead an agrarian lifestyle. In southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya, where this democratic tradition is alive, it is a parallel form of governance to that of modern Ethiopian and Kenyan state institutions. There is conflict between modernity and tradition because people are required to obey modern laws. Nevertheless, they are loyal to traditional governance and care less for modern establishments. There is no evidence suggesting monetary remunerations for the services of leaders.

To become the top leader of the Gumi is very rigorous and can take a life-long apprenticeship, passing through every cycle of the Gada. The performance of the individual is more important than the time he spends in the institution. To become a leader of the Gumi one is required to spend forty years and above in the Gada cycle, which has eleven generational stages with eight years interval between grades. This ranges from entry time of childhood initiation at age eight and the exit (retirement) time at age eighty-eight. Each generation in each stage has specialized tasks in society (Legesse, p. 122).

The Qallu Institution and Traditional Authority.Qallu maps perfectly onto Weber’s concept of traditional authority and, hence, it can be considered one of its best examples. The primary roles of the top Qallu leaders are to act as ritual leaders and elections observers and organizers (Legesse, p.32). They have the right to perform these tasks for reasons characterizing traditional authority that Weber describes. Based on their pious genealogy from the family of Qallu (Warra Qallu), the leaders of the institution play important roles in society in the areas of indigenous religion (blessing and payers), and conflict resolution (mediation, arbitration) in a non-binding manner. Warra Qallus are the ones who are generally accepted to create social harmony. They have those powers because such traditions “have always existed,” (Weber, 1947:341). Leaders of Qallu institution can influence national politics by dividing society into two halves of affiliation, but it does not play a direct political role (Legesse, 136). Its role is squarely in the areas of rituals and spirituality. The family of Qallus exercise their authority because Oromo tradition allows them to do so.

Weber’s concept of charismatic authority is barely applicable to describing any of the leaders of the institutions of the indigenous social system, Gada. There is little evidence in the book or from my knowledge about the rise of Messianic figures like Jesus, Moses and Mohammed in classic African societies, although famous people and heroes are celebrated, as in any social system.

Comparing Zizek and Legesse : Returning to the 'First Principle'

Slavoj Zizek’s idea of “how to begin from the beginning,” (p. 209) can be compared to the thrust of the argument that Legesse makes in the sphere of bringing social change by going back to the communal, exotic and nostalgic ‘first principle’. Zizek is a minor comparison and I would like to note that I would not like to stretch his concepts too much here. Zizek’s few ideas are relevant to framing change in the society Legesse studied. Zezek writes (p.212):

The only true question today is: do we endorse the predominant naturalization of capitalism, or does today’s global capitalism contain antagonisms powerful enough to prevent its indefinite reproduction. There are four such antagonisms: the looming threat of ecological catastrophe, the inappropriateness of the notion of private property for so-called ‘intellectual property’, the socio-ethical implications of new techno-scientific developments (especially in biogenetics), and, last but not least, new forms of apartheid, new Walls and slums.

The consequence of the first antagonism— ‘the looming threat of ecological catastrophe’— on indigenous communities and their social and economic organization is happening. Threats of ecological catastrophe are not fiction in the Borana (Oromo) community of southern Ethiopia. The threats are very real in indigenous regions of our planet, where man-made famine and ecological devastation are causing the loss of the lives of thousands of people. African states, including Ethiopia, are evicting hundreds of thousands of farmers in order to sell land to foreign owners of capital in what has infamously come to be dubbed “the land grab.”[3] Pollution, drying of rivers and death of livestock are common because of the collaboration between local elites and predatory corporations.[4] The antagonism of capitalism (globalization) manifested in the privatization of property is destroying “Commons” (Hardit and Negri, pp. 300-303). The threats against “the commons of external nature” that Zizek cites (pp.212-213) can be readily witnessed in the very same forms of pollution and exploitation mentioned. The "commons" is a very important concept that needs to be explicated further. The concept is important because it explains the destruction inflicted upon on pristine environment and humanity in Oromia, Ethiopia, Africa and the World as a result of wanton state elites' overindulgence in letting their countries be raped by the greedy corporations that have no regard for human life. The case of neo-colonial 'land grab' is exactly an example of the destruction of the commons. The concept is important also because it suggests strategies of countering the destructions instead of always bemoaning them, but practically doing nothing to overcome them. Overcoming and formulating new workable orders are where solutions lie. Hardit and Negri (2000:300-303) provide a succinct and contextualized definition of "commons" as follows:

There has been a continuous movement throughout the modern period to privatize public property... Throughout the world what remains of the vast public spaces are now only the stuff of legends: Robin Hood's forests, the Great Plains of Amerindians, the steppes of the nomadic tribes, and so forth. During the consolidation of industrial society, the construction and destruction of public spaces developed in an ever more powerful spiral...A new notion of "commons" will have to emerge on this terrain..."commons" is really an activity that combines the intelligence and action of the multitude, making them work together. Constructing the concept means making exist in reality a project that is a community...The commons is the incarnation, the production, and the liberation of the multitude. Rousseau said that the first person who wanted a piece of nature as his or her own exclusive possession invented evil. Good, on the contrary, is what is common [emphasis in the original).

Legesse’s way of undoing this unprecedented damage much like Zizek’s is to start all over (from beginning) by learning from the lethal mistakes of accepting inimical and manufactured value systems originating from capitalism and the intellectual traditions that legitimize it today. Despite similarities, the contexts in which Zizek and Legesse use the notion of “beginning from the beginning” are different. Legesse’s “beginning from the beginning” might mean, inter alia, abandoning foreign ideas of democracy that do not work and embracing African democratic traditions as a powerful vehicle for social change. In contrast, “beginning from the beginning”, for Zizek, is a much more revolutionary idea of getting rid of capitalism and embracing communism. Although Legesse proclaims that he is a structrualist (Levi-Straussian type), he could be, but he does not obviously come across as the opponent of capitalism unlike many structuralist. To be sure, he does enough criticisms of state systems. Both share a common assumption that the prevailing systems do not work and they need to be replaced by better systems that respond to the needs of most people.

Limitations

I see a few serious limitations of the book. Women and girls are excluded from all the cycles, which is the society’s fault. However, that the system is so deeply patriarchal and misogynistic highlights the profound weakness of Oromo democracy and makes the authors argument somewhat vulnerable to criticism from outsiders. The book broaches the issue, but does not offer an adequate analysis of the problem of women's exclusion from political life. This is the most vulnerable and indefensible aspect of the book and of the indigenous social system. It is a serious weakness that the author spends only a page and half of the 296 pages book on the issue of women’s exclusion from the African traditional democracy. Even in that one and half page, the author does not provide methods of remedying this problem. From a conflict resolution perspective, the issue of women’s exclusion itself is a type of structural violence on women that concerns feminists and non-feminists alike. The issue of women's exclusion is not, however, limited/unique to indigenous African democracies since there is ample evidence that Western 'democracies' themselves have been dominated by men and suffer from similar problems as the African ones. One can say that women's participation in political/public spheres has been more closed in Africa than in the West.

Second, appealing as it was, it was not clear why the author was compelled to compare the principles of Oromo democracy with that of the United States. This is particularly problematic since most of his field research is focused on the indigenous African democracy. He conducted no matching empirical study on the United States constitution or constitutional history to warrant the kinds of conclusions he arrives at. The comparisons he makes are inadequate and lack depth. Even if we say he could do the comparison, how can it be fair that he opposes the imposition of Western democracy on Africa while he is advocating the imposition of African democratic tradition on that of the West? Is this not a two-way relationship?

Conclusions

The author achieves his core goals, but with varying degrees of success. The author’s goal was to show that indigenous African democratic institution and principles do indeed exist. His goal was not simply to prove a point that they exist, but he wished to open the eyes of Africans to see and value what they have and to build on that a strong and sustainable democracy. It is implied in his argument that borrowing political structures and ideas are correlated with the rise of despotism on the continent, accompanied by the continent’s increasing addiction to aid and foreign ideas that do not exist in the local lexical system. The corollary goal was to suggest that Africa has a democratic system that can contribute to world’s civilizations.

As a scholar with decades of expertise in the indigenous African democracy, Legesse does more than save the African face. He provides empirical answers to the embarrassing question: “What can Africa contribute to civilization or mankind?” (1973:283). He showed it can contribute homegrown democratic institutions and principles that can become the basis of transforming African political culture and system into sustainable and peaceful democracies.

He wants African democracies to emerge from their own traditions when he writes: “the strongest, most stable, and most viable democracies today are those that developed from their own historic roots…Botswana, Morocco, Switzerland, not those that were built on borrowed models, example, modern Kenya or Ethiopia,” (p.259). The reason he thinks that imported institutions will wilt away and die is because those intuitions are uprooted from certain historical and cultural root and transplanted, stripped of values and ethical roots on which to grow (p.259). It is a valid argument that foreign ideas cannot survive without their root.

It is difficult to know if he has achieved his implied goal of earning recognition and respect for African democracy from Western scholars in the social sciences. When Legesse asks, “How often have Western writers used Africa as the great primordial continent whose prodigious backwardness demonstrates by contrast the greatness of European civilization?” he is foremost criticizing the ethno-centrist orientation in Euro-American scholarship, but by implication he is also trying fight that image scholastically by showing some evidence of progress (1973:285). Overall, the author realized his core purposes for writing the book.

The book is well organized, readable and well-referenced. It is unfortunate that like many important academic books, this book is also addressed to the higher education audience.

References

Biyyaa, Qeerransoo. “Land Grab in Africa: Structural Violence of Globalization in
Oromia-Ethiopia.” American Chronicle, October 10, 2011. http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/254602 (accessed October 2011).

Legesse, Asmarom. Oromo Democracy: An Indigenous African Political System. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press, 2006.

___. Gada: Three Approaches to the Study of African Society. New York: The Free Press, 1973.

Legesse, Asmarom. Oromo Democracy: An Indigenous African Political System. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press, 2006.

___. Gada: Three Approaches to the Study of African Society. New York: The Free Press, 1973.

Parsons, Talcott. Max Weber: The Theory of Social and Economic Organization.
Translated by A.M. Henderson and Talcott Parsons. New York:
The Free Press, 1947.

Zizek, Slavoj and Costas Douzinas. The Idea of Communism. Verso, 2010.

Zizek, Slavoj. “How to Begin from the Beginning”, 209-225.

Derbyshire, Jonathan. “Interview with Slavoj Zizek-Full Transcript.” NewStatesman, October 29, 2009.

Hardt, Michael and Antoni Negri. Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.

[1] A society can live, act, and be transformed, and still avoid becoming intoxicated with the conviction that all societies which preceded it during tens of millenniums did nothing more than prepare the ground for its advent, that all its contemporaries—even those at the antipodes—are diligently striving to overtake it, and that the societies which will succeed it until the end of time ought to be mainly concerned with following in its path. This attitude is as naïve as maintaining that the earth occupies the center of the universe and that man is the summit of creation. When it is professed today in support of our particular society, it is odious. —Claude Levi-Strauss.

[2] The following quote he uses as another hook in this book from the conclusion of his 1973 book, demonstrates his deep humanism:

We study African cultures so that they may live and grow to become the enduring foundation of a distinctive African civilization. In that process of growth, every culture has something vital to offer. Man’s wider cultural identities must be allowed to grow, not by the predatory expansion of one civilization, but by the complimentary integration of many diverse cultures. No human community, however humble, should be forced to give up its cultural identity without making a critical contribution to the larger reality of which it becomes a part. That remains true whether the larger reality is national culture, pan-African culture, or universal culture. --Asmarom Legesse 1973.

Amin Jundi: How They Have Him Say What They Want on Article 39

2011-11-20T21:50:00.000-08:00

Here he goes again voluntarily submitting to the political wills of Berhanu Nega's Ginbot 7 and Aregawi Berehe's UEDF (I don't even know what this party is all about). They had him say what they wanted first in Texas and then in Seattle Washington. I thought he was fooled once in Texas and may be he will be careful not to be fooled again. What did they want him to say? It is clear from the screaming headline published on Ethiomedia what Aregawi and Berehanu's group wanted Mr. Amin Jundi, a self-proclaimed Secretary of General of the Oromo Liberation Front, to do.

Ethiomedia: "Amin Jundi: secessionism has never been the agenda of the Oromo people."-well you can judge for yourself that they are using him for an outdated propaganda strategy. Do we know what to make of this nonsense?  Is this diplomacy? Is this yet another ayyaanlaallattummaa (opportunist) move by one of the least known Oromo politician of the century-- Jundi to reclaim the position of Gobena Dache and Junedin Sado in Ginbot 7 and EDF-led Ethiopia if that will ever happen?  It is a little bit of all. Jundi's move reminds me of one of my favorite songs by artist Abdi Nuressa about a fictional woman's opportunist moves.  Check it out here:

Many brave Oromos, Ogadenis and Southern Peoples, Nations and Nationalities die everyday to see the implementation of article 39 of the empire's current constitution.  Some people just don't have any idea about the weight of what they are talking about or they are neo-mercenaries/ asymptotes  working for others' goals. They deny the ultimate price Oromos paid for their freedom and self-determination just for a cheap opportunistic goal of  pleasing the parties and individuals they want to enter into alliance with. An alliance without article 39 is an alliance to nowhere!

We can learn from the following types of errors committed by the Jundis of this world by not commiting them:

Jundi Type One Error- carriers of this error apologize a lot about Oromo people's just struggle for self-determination.   Berhanu and Berehe did not apologize for their very radical Ethiopian unity agenda that aims to eliminate article 39, which is just another form of fascism that is no better than that of wayane denial of this right. In fact, Berehanu read the founding preambles of Ginbot 7 to Jundi's face; the precondition for alliance is acceptance of Ethiopian unity and the Abyssinian ethno-racial supremacy shrouded in the cheap and dreaded "unity" mantra. Berhanu and Berehe did not apologize about the CUD and TPLF parties they were in before. Self-determination is a non-negotiable category by any elites. It is the business of peoples to decide on their own destiny via referendums whether to secede or stay federated or united.

Jundi Type Two Error- carriers of this error use Amharic to impress others and shun Afaan Oromoo in public talks. By doing so, they proclaim the acceptance of their inferiority. Who is he representing? Most Oromos he claims to speak for don't understand that much Amharic in Oromiya today.

Jundi Type Three Error- carriers of this error make embarrassing and premature moves at pseudo-diplomacy.

Jundi Type Four Error- carriers of this error show up on events planned and controlled by other better organized parties and individuals so they can be made fools of.

The question many ethno-national groups in the empire are asking is not really about removing article 39 on self-determination. The burning concern of so many oppressed nations including Oromiya is to see article 39 fully implemented. There is nothing to be ashamed of in article 39 in principle as opposed to Jundi's laugh-it-loud-rolling-on the floor paid speeches.
-------

Footnotes:

Article 39 The Right of Nations, Nationalities and Peoples
1. Every nation, nationality or people in Ethiopia shall have the unrestricted right to self determination up to secession.
2. Every nation, nationality and people shall have the right to speak, write and develop its language and to promote its culture, help it grow and flourish, and preserve its historical heritage.
3. Every nation, nationality or people in Ethiopia shall have the unrestricted right to administer itself; and this shall include the right to establish government institutions within the territory it inhabits and the right to fair representation in the federal and state governments.
4. The right to self determination up to secession of nation, nationality and peoples may be exercised:-

Amantiiwwan Oromoon Hordofu Mara Akkamitti Bilisummaa Oromootiif Oolchina?

2011-11-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

Barreeffamoota koo kana duraa keessatti biyya ambaa keessa amantiiwwan Oromoo jiran gurguddoon kan akka Kiristaanummaa, Islaamummaafi Waaqeffannaa uummanni akka adoodu godhuudhaan qabsoo isaaf akka waan danda'u hingumaachine godhuu dubbannee turre. Gaaffiin inni guddaan hordoftoonni Oromoonni amantii garagaraa hordofaniifi hogganan ofgaafachuu qaban kana: akkamitti amantii kana uummata adoochuuf odoo hintaane bilisummaa isaa cimsuufi tokkummaafi obbolummaa Oromoo golee maraa ijaaruufi jabessuuf hojiirra olchina?

Gaffiin amantiiwwan walabummaa sabaaf oolchuu kuni harka irra caalaa gaaffii waa'ee seeraafi yaadota kitaabolee qulqulluu akka Quraanaafi Kitaaba Qulqulluu keessa jiran akkamitti hiikinee uummata barsiifna isa jedhu. Gaaffiin isaa gaaffii hikkaati. Kitaaboleen amantii heedduunis ta'e aadaaleen amantii heedduun kara baay'etti hikamuu danda'u. Jechuun, karaa nama bilisoomsuttis karaa nama gabroomsuttis hiikamu malu. Hiika isaanii dabisuu qabina jechuu koo osoo hintaane--hiikaawwan bilisummaa saba ofii wajjin deeman kan durumaanu seera amantiiwwanii keessa jiran barsiisuun amma jalqabuu qaba jechuu kooti.

Armaan gaditti dhimma seerota amantiiwwa Oromoo bilisummaadhaaf akka oolutti hiikurratti akkamitti akka hojjetamuu danda'u qabxiiwwan ijoo muraasa nan tarreessa.

Jalqabarratti, amantiiwwan Oromoo kamiyyuu dhimma tokkummaa keessaa cimsuuf oluu qabu.

Lamaffaarratti, dachii/lafa/biyya keenya Oromiyaa Qulqullittii Rabbi irrrattti nu uume diina nurraa fudhate ykn fudhachuu yaalu, Waaqayyo/Rabbi/ Allaan akka nuhi tokkummaan ol kaanee lolluun dirqama nutti kennee jira. Ajajoota kanas ija keenya yoo bannee laalle kitaaba amantii hunda keessattuu niargina. Lafti dhiigini Oromoo irratti dhangala'uufi qabeenyi isaa irratti saamamu lafa qulqulluudha. Waaqayyo/Allaan/Rabbi namini dangaa isaa gatii  barbaachisu wareegee eggachuu isaatti nigammada; badhasa ilmummaafi intalumaas Waqarrattis lafarrattis nikennaafi. Amantiin Oromoo martuu "Kan nama hinxuqini biyya keerratti diina  dachii keetiifi amantiiwwan keetii kuffistee kufuuf of qopheessi!" ergaa jedhu qabu.

Sadaffaarratti, namoota biyya isaanirratti falmatan Waaqayyo, Rabbi, Allaan mootummaa isaa (jannata, gannata) akka seenan godha. Warra biyya isaanirratti diina hinkuffisinefi warra dadhaboo bilisummaa Uumaa qofarraa eegaan, Uumaan isaanii akka cubbuutitti itti lakkaa'a, ilmaan isaaniis barabaraan niabaara. Qaamaanis afuuraanis Uumaarra dhiifama argachuuf, wareegama sabummaa kaffaluun fuulduratti tarkaanfachuutu barbaachisaadha.

Afraffaarratti, Oromiyaa keessatti dhaabbileen amantiiwwan seeraan gurmaa'an heedduun gubbaadha kan hogganaman namoota aangoofi umna mootummaa wayyaanee fudhataniini ykn sodaataniini. Kanaafuu dhaamsota isaan hordoftootatti dabarsan hundaa akka haqa Waaqarraa bu'eetti lakkaa'uu hinqabinu. Takka takka, namoonni amantii hogganan uummanni cunqurfame akka warra aangoo siyaasafi waraanaa of harkaa qaban jala hiriiru mijeessurratti hojjetu. Kanaafis, horiifi guddina argachuu danda'u. Namini amantii hogganu afoolummaa/malaamaltummaafii gantummaarraa walabaa miti sababii warri aangoorra jiran barbaachisummaa isaanii beekaniifi itti fayyaadamaniif. Asitti, oggantoonnifi hordoftoonni haqaafi seerota amantii saaniif dhabbatanis lakkoofsaan heedduudha, garuu in sodaatu. Sodaa isaanii immoo akka waan Uumaan isaanii isaan gorseetti fudhatanii of jajjabeessuu yaalu. Sodaa kanaafis dhimmoota siyaasaa saba isaani bilisoomsuuf barbaachisurraa of soorata baasu/dhoksu. Mimmiliqaa jiraatu jechuudha. Akkamitti namini umna Uumaa isaa dhiisee umna nama akka isaa sodaata? Kuni sirrii miti.

Yaadrimee shanaffaa, garaagarummaafi baay'ini amantiiwwan Oromiyaa keessa jirani akka faayaa/bareedina Oromummaatti lakkaa'amu qabu. Akkanaanis, jaalala sabicha gidduutti dagaagsuuf ooluu qabu. Oromoonni amantii Isaalaamaa, Kiristaanafi Waqeffannaa hordofan eenyummaan isaani wiirtuun Oromoodha. Sababa amantiitiin Oromoon walittibu'uun cubbuudha/ seerotaan dhorkamaadha.

Yaadrimee ja'affaan, Waqayyo/ Rabbi/Allaan Jarmiyaaleen siyaasaa  Oromoo kan akka ABOfaa fagoodhaa osoo hintaane biyya isaanii Oromiyaa seenanii akka qabsoo geeggeessan fedha.

Wantoota Dalagamu Qaban

Walumaagalatti, yeroon kun yeroo kamiyyuu caala yeroo Oromiyaa keessatti amantiiwwan Oromoo kaayyoo Oromoo bilisoomsuuf hojiirra oolchuun dirqama hordoftootafi hoggantoota amantiiwwan kanaa ta'ee jira. Uumaan nama uume namini yoo dura of gargaare malee nama hingargaaru. Osoo hin dalagin bu'aa namaaf hinkennu Uumaan dhala namaa. Uumaan akka nu gargaaru kitaabolee qulqulluuwwan jiran haala haraan hiikuufi saba barsiisuun barbaachisaadha. Amantiin kamiyyuu kan keessa dhokannee dhugaa/haqa saba keenyaa hirraanfannu/awwaallu ta'uu hinqabu. Akkas yoo ta'e, Uumaan namoota akkasii cubbuu isaanitiif niadaba. Nama adoochanii/wareersanii akka bilisummaa isaafi haqa isaa hinbarbaanne gochuun nama gadigaloo gochuu qofa odoo hintaane cubbuuu akkasiitti   Uumaan amantii keetii kan guddisee itti aaruudha. Maqaa amantiitiin ittigaafatamummaa sabummaa jalaa dhokachuun xuraawwumaa ija Uumaa biratti tuffatamu. Uumaan nama gabrumaatti gammadu nibalfa; nama gabrummaa ofirra fonqolchuuf falmatu immo nidinqisiifata/nijaalata.

Hordoftoonni amantiifi hoggantoonni amantiiwwan garagaraa walta'uudhaan sochii "Amantiiwwan Oromoo Bilisummaa Oromoof Oolchuu" jedhu jalqabuu qabu bakkuma jiranitti. Sochiin kuni sochii nama tokkoon hordofamuu/hogganamu miti. Sochiin kuni sochii hawaasati. Iddoo/naannoo namoonni amantiidhaa walga'an marattuu hojiirra oluu danda'a.

Rabbi/ Waaqayyoo/ Allaan gabirummaa jibba! Rabbi/Waqayyo/ Allaan Bilisummaa Jaalata! Kuni ifa haraadha. Namoonni dhugaa kana hinhubanne dukkana keessa jiru. Namoota akkasiin badan hubachiisuun dirqama hordoftootafi hoggantoota amantiiwwan Oromoo hundaati.

Amantiiwwan Oromoo Bilisummaa Oromoof Haa Oolchinu!

Why Abyssinians Don't Help Petition the U.S. "To Stop Supporting Dictator and State-Terrorist Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia"

2011-10-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

At unprecedented rates than ever in the history of the colonization and oppression of the Oromo people, an ethno-racist Tigrean-elite led Ethiopian state is cracking down on Oromos from all walks of life natzi-style, amassing them into military camps, prisons and torturing and killing them without traces every passing day. Human rights groups cannot even keep up with the enormity of the situation as millions of Oromo and the south are wasted away in the empire.

In response to the Oromiawide gross human rights violations, the International Oromo Youth Association launched a creative We the People Petition, asking the United States government , “to stop supporting dictator and state-terrorist Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia” and all his natzi institutions of repression and control.

5000 signatures are needed for the petition to be presented in front of the U.S. President Barrack Obama. So far nearly a little less than half of the required signatures have been collected. Please copy the URL below and paste it in your browser and sign this important petition now: https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/%21/petition/stop-supporting-dictator-and-state-terrorist-meles-zenawi-ethiopia/BYhHNjRx?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Now, I would like to raise some important concerns about why this nationally inclusive petition, which was supposed to rally everyone opposed to the Meles Zenawi regime is still low on the signatures. The provocation of course is that the Abyssinian (Amhara-Tigre) elites and their blind followers do not care to come on board on any initiative of alliance on issues started by Oromos no matter how universal they are. In fact it seems that they rejoice when Oromos suffer in the Ethiopian gulags and hellholes. This rejoicing also raises another psychoanalytic question: Will the Amhara elites treat Oromo worse than Tigreans if by some crazy blunder they rise to power again?

The irony is that this very same Abyssinian opposition leaders and elites are interested in teaming up with Oromo political forces as junior partners in their own terms to ensure the unity and integrity of the Ethiopian empire. Oromo land and resources seem to be what are important to them, not the humanity and dignity of the Oromo people. It is shame that some Amhara-Tigire civil communities have not critically asked themselves why they fail to do the minimum human solidarity with Oromo in the face of a seemingly common killing and divisive machine, which is Zenawi and his apartheid system.

The ones to be blamed the most are the Oromos themselves who have resigned to the comforts of their religious utopia in churches and mosques while the very existence of the Oromo people is being threatened in Ethiopia from all possible angles. Lakkii yaa ilmaan Oromoo biyya ambaa jirtan akka ilmaan booyyee garaa ishii guuttattee omtuu itti hindhagahamine hinta’inaa. Lama hinjiraatani, ishii takkittii tana maliif bilisummaa saba keessaniif hinjiraattanii?

------------------------

Footnotes of the petition created by, Kulani J., the leader of IOYA.

we petition the obama administration to:

Stop Supporting Dictator and State-Terrorist Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.

Throughout the Arab Spring, the Obama adm. has taken the side of protesting innocent civilians.Yet, US foreign policy has turned a blind eye to one of the most brutal dictators in the world: Meles Zenawi. Through the use of state-terrorism,torture,rape, and murder against the peoples within Ethiopia (Oromo, Sidama, Amhara, Ogaden-Somalis, Annuak, and others), Zenawi has held a cruel grip to the rule of Ethiopia for over 20 years now. Recently,BBC revealed the reality of Zenawi’s regime by exposing the use of billions of dollars of aid as a “weapon of oppression”, torture, and massive human rights violations:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/9556288.stm

Why are US tax dollars and foreign policy supporting one of the most unstable, terroristic regimes in the world? Please sign!

Created: Sep 22, 2011

Land Grab in Africa: Structural Violence of Globalization in Oromia-Ethiopia

2011-10-10T01:25:00.000-07:00

Why is ‘land grab’ both a structural and personal violence? Think of what you can buy with 40 cents if you walk into a grocery store in the U.S., or Europe? Will you be able to buy a piece of candy with 40 cents? Probably not! But if you go to Africa, you can buy an acre of land for money as small as 40 cents for a 99 years stretch of time into the future in countries like Ethiopia from dictators. This can be framed as ‘the structural violence of globalization superimposed on local ethnic-racism' against indigenous peoples such as the Oromo in Ethiopia.

What is 'land grab'?

'Land grab' refers to land acquisitions done in one or more of the following ways:

Violate human rights/women’s rights;
Flout the principle of free, prior, and informed consent of the affected land users, particularly indigenous peoples;
Ignore the impacts on social, economic, and gender relations, and on the environment;
Avoid transparent contracts with clear and binding commitments on employment and benefit sharing;
Shun democratic planning, independent oversight, and meaningful participation –Oxfam (2011:2).

On state-sanctioned violence

Violence is of two types (Galtung, 1969): one in which the power that be deploy soldiers and police and kill people directly—termed ‘direct violence’ and another in which you create a system of perpetual unequal relationship between power-wielding minorities and the vast majority of peoples—termed ‘structural violence’. It is structural because states and corporations follow it at faceless policy level.

In both cases, the main aim of violence is to “create the difference between the potential and actual, between what could have been and what is,” (Galtung, 1969: 3). In other words, a neo-liberal phenomenon that came to be termed by the victims of it as ‘land grab’ is a structural violence because it prevents humans families from meeting their basic human needs of eating and surviving because their land is taken away for 40 cents.

The corporations grabbing land and governments of Africa refer to land grab in a more humanized terminology; they inaccurately call it “land investment deals.” They claim the goal of such deals is to increase food production and to make involved poor nations food secure. However, as none of the food produced is consumed domestically in Oromia and Ethiopia, for instance, it turns out that this goal is just a rhetorical justification for crimes against humanity perpetrated by states headed by tyrannical leaders. Land grab is an area of emerging conflicts between governments and corporations on the one side and the world’s poor on the other side. The victims characterize this phenomenon in a number of ways: ‘neo-colonialism’, ‘modern day slavery’, ‘ethnic-cleansing’, ‘the second scramble for Africa’, all indicating their outrage and accurate characterization of land garbs.

How did it happen and what are the consequences?

Following the global economic crises that began in 2008, tens of agro-corporations, and foreign governments mostly from India, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, and China have grabbed over 227 million hectares of land in poor countries worldwide (Oxfam, 2011). This size amounts to the size of Western Europe or the total amount of land devoted to corn and wheat farming in the United States.

In Ethiopia’s marginalized regional states such as Oromia, Gambella, Afar, Southern Nations and Nationalities, land grab is predominantly a practice of ethnic-based discriminatory policies (apartheid) by ruling elites. A simple proof for this claim is that while large tracts of land are leased or sold out in those marginalized regions, PM Meles Zenawi’s ethnocratic regime has leased or sold little or no land in his own ethnic region of Tigray.

In southern Ethiopian regional states, over four million are in need of emergency food aid, while rice and corn produced on lands they were evicted from is shipped overseas to feed India or Saudi Arabia. Again, as simple proof of the regime’s apartheid policies, the northern regions (where the leaders are from) are not starved to death because of their ethnic identity as opposed to regions in the south. It was northern Ethiopia that was traditionally associated with famine, including that of 1984. But after Zenawi’s Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front assumed exclusive political and military power in Ethiopia in 1991, the zones of famine shifted southwards. Unfortunately, the U.S. and the world have turned a blind eye to this tragedy for so long.

The massive evictions of people from their lands, homesteads, and the burning of forest and grasslands to make way for potential farmlands constitute direct attacks/violence on unarmed civilians. Babies die in millions from preventable malnutrition and diseases. This prevents them from developing into what they should be— becoming healthy adults, students, entrepreneurs and good citizens etc.

The structural violence consequences of land grab include increased rate of food insecurity, aid dependency, lethal impact on the environment and wild and domestic lives, unregulated zombie-style enforcement of land grab subject to the whims of individual dictators and their entourages (Oakland Institute, 2011).

Solutions

Global structural problems need global grassroots responses to stop or eliminate injustices and inequalities. No billions of dollars delivered directly to the doors of despots will solve the problems of food insecurity. In fact, it exacerbates the existing food crisis because it is a conventional knowledge that some of the regimes will use it to buy arms in order to suppress political and economic opposition to stay in power as long as they can. Problems of corporate greed and globalization are experienced by people everywhere, including those in developed nations. Africans are in this together with others. The effort of Africans must be to find ways of harnessing “the webs that bind us…” (Heineman-Piper, 2011).

References

Biyyaa, Qeerransoo. “Environmental Peril in Oromia, Ethiopia.” American Chronicle, May 6, 2009.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/101503(accessed October 2011).

Gadaa.com, “Land Grab.”

http://gadaa.com/oduu/?cat=204(accessed October 2011)

Galtung, Johan. “Violence, Peace,and Peace Research.” Journal of Peace Research 1969 (6): 167

Heineman-Piepr, Jessica. "Structural Violence of Globalization: An Urgent Call for Preventive Intervention." Paper Presented at the 2011 Academy of Management Annual Meeting.

Laishley, Roy. “Is Africa’s Land Up for Grabs?” UNAfrica Renewal, October 2009.
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol23no3/233-land.html(accessed October 2011).

Oxfam. “Land and Power: The Growing ScandalSurrounding the New Wave of Investments in Land.” Oxfam,2011.

http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/bp151-land-power-rights-acquisitions-220911-summ-en.pdf(accessed October 2011).

Terry, Allen J. “Global Land Grab.”In These Times, August 22, 2011.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/11784/global_land_grab(accessed October 2011).

The Oakland Institute. “UnderstandingLand Investment Deals in Africa: Country Report: Ethiopia.” Oakland CA: Oakland Institute, 2011.

http://media.oaklandinstitute.org/understanding-land-investment-deals-africa-ethiopia(accessed October 2011).

Vidal, John and Claire Provost. “ USUniversities in Africa ‘land grab,” theguardian,June 8, 2011.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/08/us-universities-africa-land-grab(accessed October 2011)

No Safe Haven: The Duplicity of East African States in the Transnational Ethiopian War on Oromo Refugees

2011-08-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

"There is no time that I am safe," says Ragatu Obora, a thirty five-year-old female Oromo refugee in Kenya who had been subjected to various types of torture, loss of family members and rape in the Harawajat military camp in Ethiopia before she fled the country in search of a safe haven. Perhaps, what Ragatu did not realize was that there was also nowhere else she could be safer. Using the politics and power of human rights theoretical lenses, this paper examines why and how the Ethiopian security forces pursue civilian Oromo refugees into several neighboring countries of the East African region (Kenya, Djibouti, Puntland and Somalia). How do these human rights violations by state security forces and hitmen compare to regional and international conventions, treaties and legal instruments for refugees? What are the politics surrounding the institutions involved in ostensibly protecting human (refugee) rights in the region? I argue that interstate system in East Africa have come to exploit certain loopholes/exceptions in the regional and international systems to allow states to flagrantly disregard or violate major conventions and treaties they are signatories to regarding protecting civilians refugees caught between the crossfire of rebels, opposition parties and governments. The question is not whether or not the regimes violate human rights because they obviously do. A better question is: how can one state get into another sovereign state in order to retrieve and refoul UNHCR-mandated and certified refugees without habeas corpus? And who should take the responsibility?

The analysis draws on primary information emailed to me from Kenya to publish as news articles, and reports from relevant human rights organizations. The paper is organized into two major sections and subthemes. The first section provides the introduction, historical overview, definitions of key concepts and legal framework. The second part analyzes the politics of human rights related to the forced expulsion of Oromo refugees from some East African countries.

Context of the Oromia-Ethiopia Conflict
Oromia is one of the nine member states of the present Ethiopia established under article 47 of the 1994 Ethiopian constitution. The Oromo people mainly inhabit Oromia region and constitute the most numerous ethno-national group in Ethiopia and occupy a huge land area (Shinn, 2009). The U.S. Department of State estimates that the Oromo constitute 40 percent of Ethiopia´s population. According to the 2007 Ethiopian census, the Oromo make up 37 percent of the Ethiopian population. Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), who fights for the self-determination of Oromia, claims that the Oromo constitute almost half of Ethiopia´s population (Shinn, 2009). Another study puts the population in Oromia at 60 percent of Ethiopia´s population (Holcomb and Ibssa, 1990:3). Census itself is the locus of contest and Oromos hardly trust official government census; they think the state underreports the number of Oromos. Another important point that Holcomb and Ibssa make is that the Oromo issue "is centeral historically, geographically, structurally, numerically and theoretically to any consideration of the nature of the Ethiopian state and of the political economy of the region," (1990:3). The strategic importance Oromia is linked to land, which constitutes 275,000 square miles, over half of the present land of the empire.

Since the formation of the "modern" Ethiopian state after Menelik´s ruthless conquest of Oromia in the late 1880s, the Oromo have never held political power commensurate with their numbers for the last 121 years, resulting in political marginalization, real and perceived grievances. The Oromo is a very diverse group with recognizable economic, religious and social differences between different zones of Oromia, but the Oromo are united by a common language—Afaan Oromoo—and other cultural practices. The Oromo practices Christianity, traditional Oromo faith Waqeffannaa and Islam. Because of the relative resource-richness of Oromia, the region has been a scene of political and military competition among many parties interested in controlling this strategic region.

The history of this conflict is a long and very complex one. This paper focuses on how the dynamics of armed conflict (1991-present) between the current ruling Ethiopian People´s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the OLF over the control of Oromia led to transnational refugee crises in East Africa. Domestically, the goals of the parties to this conflict are categorically opposed, leading to over twenty years of armed conflict and civilian strife in Oromia. At its birth in 1975 , the primary goal of the Tigire People´ Liberation Front (TPLF), the ethnic Tigre core party within the EPRDF coalition of many satellite organizations, was achieving self-determination for the Tigray region in the north, but it later modified its goal and sought self-determination and Tigire supremacy within a unitary Ethiopian state (Shinn, 2009).

The fundamental objective of the OLF has been to achieve the Oromo people´s right to self-determination (Shinn, 2009). Following the 1992 snap elections in Addis Ababa and Oromia that proved the popularity of OLF in the country, the TPLF rebel leaders realized that they would not have any chance of victory at the ballot box unless they break the influence of OLF and start ruling by force. Soon after OLF was outlawed in 1992, the fighting between the two escalated. Just between 1992-1993, 20,000 to 45,000 Oromo mass arrests were reported (Amnesty International, 1995 in OSG, 2010:3). The OSG has now reported 4,279 extra-judicial killings and 987 disappearances of civilians in Ethiopia. The report states, "Hundreds of thousands have been placed in illegal detention, where torture and rape are commonplace," (2010:1). The OSG report also establishes the most common patterns of human rights against Oromo refugees in East Africa when they were in Ethiopia. Prior to persecutions and rights violations, most Oromos are accused of supporting the OLF, being a member of the OLF and of providing material support (food, weapons, hiding rebels etc.) to the phantom OLF fighters. Being suspected of associating with OLF in anyway justifies extrajudicial killings and disappearances, torture and rape. As the analysis section will show, the refugees who are subjected to human rights abuses are also pursued into the neighboring nations in the name of weakening the OLF support-base.

Nothing better puts the human rights abuses against Oromo in Ethiopia in perspective than a statement "The prison speaks Afan Oromo…about 99 percent of Qalitti prisoners are Oromo" made by Siye Abraha, the former number two TPLF man and Defense Minister in the early 1990s who ordered killings and mass arrests against Oromo himself. His confession comes as a result of his own prison experience with Oromo inmates upon being jailed from 2001-2007 for dissent from his fellow Tigire Prime Minster, Meles Zenawi, on the conduct of the Ethio-Eritrean war of 1998 to 2000. Abraha´s statement at the 2008 Virginia meeting is viewed by many Ethiopians as a defining moment in his career because he has been the first ever prominent Tigire leader in the last 20 years to break ranks and declare the regime´s bleak human rights records.

Since my focus is on the transnational aspect of human rights abuses, I will not dwell on domestic human rights abuses against Oromos. That requires a separate analysis.

Even from the transnational aspect, I will be focusing on the forced expulsion of Oromo refugees mandated by the UNHCR because nobody studied that so far. The UNHCR refugee and asylum-seekers trend in East Africa shows that Somalia (516,000), Ethiopian (55,000) and Sudanese (33,500) refugees top the list of Kenya´s refugee population (UNHCR, 2011). The trend shows that Kenya is one of our planet´s ten countries hosting the largest refugees and the sole largest host on the African continent. These refugees need international protection whether they are UNHRC-mandated or not.

Definitions of Key Concepts
Oromo refugees have fled their homes for the well-established classic reasons of why people in other regions of war leave their home country-the search for a safe haven. The reasons for forced migration include: "persecution, human rights violations, and natural and man-made disasters," (Martin and Schoenholtz, 2006:406). Voluntary escape from life-threatening conditions is a form of migration. They underscore however that "in a growing number of cases, people are driven from their homes by governments and insurgent groups intent on depopulating or shifting the ethnic, religious, or other composition of an area" (2006:406). In the case of the armed conflict between the EPRDF/TPLF and the OLF, the more militarily stronger party which is the ruling party has been trying to decimate the OLF movement and where possible to shift the ethnic composition of Oromia by subjecting civilians to internal displacement and turning them into refugees.

How are refugees defined under the international law? Under the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons and the 1966 protocol, refugees have a special status in international Law. In the 1951 convention, the term "refugee" is defined narrowly in direct reference to the contexts of post World War I and II Europe refugee crises. A refugee is a person who:

"as result of events occurring before January 1951 and owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it ( Article 1 (A2).

The 1966 OAU convention which only entered into force five years later in 1974, copies the above definition word for word, but expands on it to reflect the African historical context of disturbances created by the struggle between the colonial powers and liberation movements, external aggression, occupation and civil war. The essence of the OAU and the UN definitions is that a "refugee" is a person outside his/her own country who has a well-founded fear of being persecuted on upon returning. I will use this definition for the purpose of my paper. If there is such a person with a special legal status, there must exist international and regional organizations mandated to protect him/her. Since I am dealing with issues of refoulement in the latter part of this paper, the provisions in article 32 and 33 of the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 will serve me as nuanced analytical and framing devices. The sub-articles dealing with expulsion are as follows:

(1)The contracting States shall not expel a refugee lawfully in their territory save on grounds of national security or public order; (2) The expulsion of such refugees shall be only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with due process of law…(3) The contracting States shall allow such refugee a reasonable period within which to seek legal admission into another country.

Sub-articles of article 33 that prohibit refoulement are quoted below:

(1)No Contracting State shall expel or return ("refouler") a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race religion nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; (2) The benefit of the present provision may not however be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who have been convicted by final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country.

I compare states´ decision-making processes with the consequences of those decisions on refugee rights and status. The concepts in these international refugee conventions are primarily built on and inspired by the normative framework provided in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948. These conventions in some ways concretize the more abstract provisions in the UNDHR.

The Politics of Refugee Refoulement and the Tyranny of Exceptions
This section analyzes the politics surrounding the expulsion of Oromo refugees from East African countries. I argue that the interstate system and the international institutions in the region have failed to comply with the treaties and conventions they acceded to. Instead, nations like Ethiopia and Kenya exploit what Winifred Tate (2007) refers to as "criminalization narrative" by accusing refugees of membership in outlawed armed opposition, unarmed opposition and certain population groups. As reviewed in the context section, the confrontation between the OLF and the Ethiopian government on the home front feeds directly into the justifications for pursuing Oromo refugees into neighboring countries and refouling or even killing them in collaboration with the host states without due process. The states disregard other provisions in the international and regional conventions and choose and pick exceptions in these laws that allow them to incriminate refugees as "subversive or terrorists." I call this process "the tyranny of exceptions" and I will show in the remaining part of the essay the dangers of combining politics and exceptions in international law; the exceptions are not used for promoting and protecting rights, but for the purpose of undermining them.

The OSG reports that about 300 refugees were subject to refoulement from Kenya in 2009, and about 500 Ethiopian Somalis were returned in early 2010 (2010:43). The OSG documents three episodes of refoulement of Oromo refugees to Ethiopia—from Hagadera camp in Dadaab in 2001, and from Nairobi in 2007 and 2008. Three men were also reportedly subject to refoulement from Nairobi in August 2010. I would like to focus on the most recent cases of refoulement and on a few individuals who were mandated refugees and UNHCR- identification card bearers. This minimalist focus on a few prominent cases will allow me to approach the cases in-depth.

Under normal circumstances where there is states accountability to its peoples, governments are presumed to be the ones who "guarantee the basic human rights and the physical security of their citizens," (UNHCR, 2001-2010). In the first place, the Oromo refugees, the majority of whom experienced imprisonment and torture, fled Ethiopia to look for alternative sources of the protection of their basic human rights and physical security. This is the rationale under which the UN refugee agency itself operates. It recognizes that refugees own governments often turn out to be the ones who threaten to persecute civilians. By crossing the borders into Kenya and placing themselves in physical and legal spaces "between the global and local" (Goodale, 2007), refugees have automatically lost their citizenship rights and the privileges and protections that come with it. They enter what I call "the red zone" where they enjoy fewer rights than those who are citizens of the hosting nations (Martin and Schoenholtz, 2007:407). The red zones are dangerous transnational spaces. In the red zone, normally the hosting states or the UNHCR are expected to provide security, food, shelter and medical care (basic human needs). The red zone may not be perfect, but is probably safer than getting killed in the fight between OLF and Ethiopian army.

Among the myriad of ways, the Ethiopian state uses three main ways of violating the physical security of Oromo refugees in East Africa: sending spies and generals who pretend to be refugees in order to infiltrate the refugee community, carrying out direct targeted killings via its own security forces and hired thugs, and direct refoulement of refugees with or without the knowledge of the hosting states (OSG, 2010:42, HRLHA, 2010). According to OSG, for instance, a refugee who worked in a Nairobi hotel witnessed seeing meetings between Ethiopian embassy personnel and some Kenyan police and other paid informers. The hotel worker even witnessed seeing monetary transactions between Ethiopian embassy personnel and security agents and informers. The OSG report contains many credible interviews with regard to Ethiopian military activities in Kenyan territories. Sometimes the security forces try to bribe members of the Oromo community itself to get intelligence. A man nick-named Ibsa was approached by a Nairobi-based Ethiopian general and offered 30,000 shillings to do the dirty job of informing on refugees, but he declined and ran away.

What explanations do the parties give about refoulement and what happens to the refugees after they are passed over? Will they be ´crucified´ and what does that mean? Let us now turn to instances of individual expulsions and abductions and the consequences. The argument of the Ethiopian government is that Oromo refugees are associated with the OLF and therefore they need to be stamped out. Although human rights reports contain tens of hundreds of cases of refoulement, neither the Ethiopian authorities nor the Kenyan one admit to being behind such violations for fear of being implicated in the violations of major conventions and protocols they acceded to. Despite that, they could not hide the truth from the prying eyes of the Kenyan press and international watchdog groups.

In 2001, Awel Mohammed Hussein, age 38, a mandated refugee was grabbed from behind and injected with an unkown substance. This man was transported unconscious to the Moyale military barracks and subjected to torture. The OSG (2010:43) report puts the method of torture employed as, "He was badly beaten and subject to 'bastinado' with his arms and legs tied together around a pole and suspended with his feet uppermost, while the soles of his feet were beaten until raw. He was interrogated about any OLF connections." This individual was not found guilty of any crime nor was he a source of public disturbance in his host country. He was not presented before the court of law before his removal, which violates habeas corpus or due process. That was why the Red Cross interceded on his side and helped free him later. The Ethiopian security forces cited that the man was a threat to public order in the host country as well as to the Ethiopian state. What is clear here is that all provisions in support of the protection of refugees in the 1951 UN Convention and 1967 protocol and the OAU convention were violated. Expulsion led to the persecution of the refugee who had a well-founded fear of retuning to Ethiopia. His alleged membership in OLF and the social group, Oromo, constitutes and amplifies the seriousness of the violations of international law by Kenyan and Ethiopian authorities.

The politics surrounding the prominent refoulement of the two Nairobi-based civil engineers, Tesfahun Chemeda and Mesfin Abebe, was widely publicized after the event, badly reflecting on the UNHCR, Kenya and Ethiopia. They were arrested in a Nairobi restaurant by Kenyan anti-terrorist police in April 2007 and taken to a local police station. They were transferred to Ethiopian security agents and extradited to Ethiopia. After nearly one year of disappearance in the Ethiopian prison system, they were charged under the Ethiopian anti-terrorism law in December 2008. Mesfin Abebe was sentenced to death and Tesfahun Chemeda to life imprisonment (OSG, 2010:44; Biyyaa, 2010: 1; Albert, 2011:1-2). The issues here are twofold: were the men really what they were accused of? How does their case violate international human rights norms?

First, let us start from their experience in Kenya. Contrary to provisions in international and regional refugee conventions, Abebe and Chemeda were not put through due process before they were removed and handed over to Ethiopia who immediately persecuted them. Because the men were allegedly dangerous to the security of Ethiopia, the second sub-article of the UN convention, which makes exceptions about the discontinuation of the benefits of the convention from persons so regarded, was where Ethiopia and Kenya manipulated the loopholes in the international law to satisfy their interests. The basis on which they were arrested in Kenya constitutes a direct violation of article 32 and 33 of the UN convention prohibiting expulsion before due process. It also violates article two of the OAU convention and the convention against torture.

The engineers meet the definition of the term "refugee" as proven by the fact that they were UNHCR-mandated since 2005. They had been followed by Ethiopian secret service in Kenya until their final extradition in 2007. They were not presented in the court of law in Kenya before they were smuggled into Ethiopia. This aroused widespread outrage among Kenyan human rights networks and Oromo-related transnational human rights organizations. Terfa Dibaba, the head of the Germany-based Oromo Relief Association (ORA), criticized the Kenyan government for failing to protect Abebe and Chemeda and 21 other refouled refugees. Dibaba is quoted in Albert (2011:1) saying, "We are demanding that the due process of extradition be put through a court of law." He blamed the entire operation on the section of Kenyan government officials who are operating in conjunction with Ethiopian security agents. The OSG corroborates Ethiopian agents produced Laissez Passer issued by the Ethiopian embassy (2010:44). Albert questions the veracity of the ground on which the two men were refouled: "There is a contradiction in what the government officials say. If indeed, those arrested are criminal gangs, why are they not being arraigned in a court of law instead of being clandestinely smuggled out and handed over to the Addis Ababa government?" (2011:3).The poor decision-making process by Kenyan officials linked to this extradition violates international human rights norms.

Second, in Ethiopia, the persecution of Abebe and Chemeda point to violations of conventions prohibiting expulsion and persecution. The ways in which Ethiopia manipulated the exception (terrorism) within international law to crackdown on peaceful dissent is worth further examination. Human Rights Watch analyzed the 2008 Ethiopian Anti-Terrorism draft law within the context of concerns of repression and argued that it is "dangerously broad and inimical to fundamental human rights," (HRW,2009). In part two section 3, the final Anti-terrorism Proclamation number 652/2009 defines terrorist acts as follows :

Whosoever or a group intending to advance a political, religious or ideological cause by coercing the government, intimidating the public or section of the public, or destabilizing or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional or, economic or social institutions of the country: (1) causes a person´s death or serious bodily injury; (2) creates serious risk to the safety or health of the public or section of the public; (3) commits kidnapping or hostage taking; (4) causes serious damage to property (5) causes damage to natural resource, environment, historical or cultural heritages; (6) endangers, seizes or puts under control, causes serious interference or disruption of any public service; or (7) threatens to commit any of the acts stipulated under sub-articles (1) to (6) of this Article; is punishable with rigorous imprisonment from 15 years to life or with death.

As the analysis by HRW shows, it appears that the anti-terrorism law broadly and vaguely defines what constitutes acts of terrorism. Classifying serious bodily injuries to a person (does not differentiate homicide from terrorism) can be clearly understood as acts of terrorism. But articles dealing with property damage, disruption of public service and damage to the environment are not even distantly related to standard somatic definition of acts of terrorism. That is why HRW saw the potential of this law as weapon to crackdown on peaceful demonstrations and political dissent. For example, according to sub-article four, if a person driving down the road hits another car or a warehouse and damages it, then that person can be charged with terrorism under this law and he/she will face a penalty of 15 years in prison to death penalty without due process.

It was based on the wild interpretation of this law that Ethiopia sentenced Mesfin Abebe to death and Tesfahun Chemeda to life imprisonment. Among the litany of crimes the presiding judge accused them of were: "financing and being members of the OLF, conspiracy to overthrow the ethnic Tigre-controlled Ethiopian government in order to establish an independent state of Oromiya," (Biyyaa, 2010:1). Although their extradition from Kenya was on the accusation of terrorism, underneath the rhetoric is the fact that sentencing Abebe and Chemeda are politically motivated as the judges clearly link the individuals with the rebel group opposed to the Ethiopian government. By faith, the accused individuals are from western Oromia with a strong tradition of following African traditional religion Waqeffannaa or a blend of that and Christianity.

The rise of Islamist extremism in Somalia and Ethiopia´s alliance with the United States to stamp it out gives all credibility to Ethiopia if it accuses any of its opposition of terrorism. The impact of the terrorism rhetoric on human rights in the region reverberates as we can see what is happening to refugees whose goals are not linked to any fundamentalist organization. In fact, some of the Oromo refugees in refugee camps in Somalia, Puntland and Kenya have a long history of being threatened and abused by Somalis who tell them "al-Shabab is coming to kill you infidels" (OSG, 2010:40). In the Dadaab camp, Somali refugees have been hostile to Ethiopian refugees (Oromo) because of Ethiopia´s invasion of Somalia to oust the Islamist Union of Islamic Courts in 2006. None of the retuned and persecuted Oromo refugees are terrorists by any measure. Even OLF, a secular rebel movement whom the government routinely labels "terrorist" has clear anti-terrorism policy that runs: "The OLF has an unswerving anti terrorism stand and opposes terrorism as means of struggle to achieve the right of the Oromo people. The organization considers terrorism as act of desperation. Therefore, anti terrorism remains a core policy of the organization." It is my observation that the OLF has been following this policy in the last 38 years of its fight with the Ethiopian state for the autonomy of Oromia.

Conclusion: Tyranny of Exceptions
I have pointed out how Ethiopia has literally come to police the East African region. In the process of policing the region, it has exploited exceptions in international human rights laws and instruments to crackdown on Oromo refugees by making the case to its neighbors that refugees are wanted for posing threats to the security of Ethiopia. In violation of the major international conventions and protocols cited in this paper, the state has subjected the refouled refugees to torture, death sentence and life imprisonment. The protection of conventions and treaties therefore ceased to apply to Oromo refugees although none of the returned refuges had been found guilty of war crime, crimes against humanity and crimes such as posing credible threat to host nations. Ethiopia ratified many human rights treaties, including International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights (1993), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1993), Africa Charter on Human and Peoples´ Rights (1998). Nevertheless, its actions towards its own people show that it is not abiding by international standards. It has zero tolerance toward domestic human rights organizations—most are shut down or their staff and leaders have fled the country over the last two decades.

Ethiopia is not a neo-liberal democracy; it calls itself a "revolutionary democracy" or more recently a "developmental state" modeled after China. The state fears the idea of human right so much that it has annihilated any human rights organizations in the country. As opposed to the state, the opposition, including OLF, uses human rights campaigns effectively. The OLF routinely publishes press releases and lists of people who have been arrested, killed or tortured. Proving the "power of human rights" (Goodale, 2009), there are many transitional human rights organizations who lobby western governments to withdraw aid to Ethiopia until it starts protecting human rights. The list includes the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (Toronto), The Oromia Support Group (Westminster, U.K.), Oromia Human Rights and Justice Council (Minneapolis), Ethiopian Human Rights Council (paralyzed in Addis), Human Rights Watch (New York), Amnesty International (London). All these rights groups have legitimately exposed abuses in Ethiopia and criticized the impunity of Ethiopian security forces in domestic and transnational rights abuses. Often Ethiopia lashes back at them in defiance with its own furious propaganda on the state-run radio and television stations, claiming victimhood at times.

Goodale (2009) traces the growth of transnational human rights to post-World War II Europe—"Human rights emerged out of the ashes of war." As Goodale argues the idea of human rights consciousness is inevitably spreading like a wild fire in the East Africa as well. The transnational NGOs listed above are responsible for turning this powerful weapon against repressive nation-states. Even if Ethiopia blacks out information on abuses to the external world, the branches of the grapevine have not stopped growing in the daily experience and discourse of the ordinary person. Every news about a death sentence or life imprisonment of innocent civilians will entrench the idea of human rights in the psyche of people, proving the unstoppablity of Eleanor Roosevelt´s idea of the "curious grapevine" (Goodale, 2009:94).

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Endnotes

OSG, (2010:9).

See http://www.ethiopar.net/ for the full constitution of Ethiopia.

See "Ethiopian Census 2007".

See The Advocates. "Human Rights in Ethiopia: Through the Eyes of the Oromo Diaspora". The Advocates, 2009. See also Shinn 2009.

See endnote 4.
Oromia Support Group is U.K.-based non-political organization which attempts to raise awareness about human rights in Ethiopia.

Gadaa.com, December, 2009.

http://gadaa.com/oduu/2103/2009/12/28/ethiopia-seye-abraha-person-of-the-year-2009/

UN. 1951. "Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees." See also U.N.´s 1966 protocol on the status of refugees.

Negarit Gazeta ( 2009:4829)
--------------------------------------------

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Research and the U.S. Africa Command, Garmisch, Germany, November
13-14, 2009.

Tate, Winfred. Counting the Dead: The Culture and Politics of Human Rights
Activism in Colombia. Berkeley: The University of California Press, 2007.

The Advocates. "Human Rights in Ethiopia: Through the Eyes of the Oromo
Diaspora". Minneapolis, The Advocates, 2009.

UN. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nation, 1948
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UNHCR, 1967.

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02/24/2011).

UN: Conflict Prevention--Warning Signs of Collective Violence in Ethiopia

2011-05-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Introduction

This article discusses warning signs of collective violence with a view to helping the UN make timely and effective decisions to prevent civil war, genocide, ethnic-cleansing and political violence in Oromia, Ogaden, Gambella and Finfinne ( Addis Ababa) regions. Since the adoption of the United Nations’ Agenda for Peace in 1992 under the leadership of Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the international community has devoted a rising attention to peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace-building—summed up under the broader title, “preventative diplomacy.” The Agenda for Peace was a remarkable development that came immediately after the end of the cold war era’s bi-polar divisive politics. Although the implementation of promises detailed in this document have been sought after to prevent the violent breakout of wars, it could not stop the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovinia (1992-1995) and the Rwandan Genocide (1994). The UN cites disagreements among veto-power-wielding members of the Security Council as the primary reason why its plans for peace have not materialized effectively and timely in some regions (UN, 1992:3).

In article 26, the document makes a generalized reference to early warning systems regarding “natural disasters, mass movement of populations, threat of famine and the spread of disease” (1992:7). Nevertheless, it rarely mentions the methods of predicting collective violence resulting from natural and human disasters. It glosses over the significance of theory-based conflict analysis and resolution as ways of predicting the early warning signs of collective violence.

I argue that conflict resolution theories and methods will help predict not only the early warning signs, but also the root causes of conflicts. I will provide examples from conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly from those in Ethiopia, a nation strategically located near the Middle East and the Gulf of Aden. Over the last two decades, Ethiopia has contributed to destabilizing Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya and now risks being destabilized itself because of alienating and repressing 94 percent of Ethiopians (including the Oromo who are the single largest group systematically denied representation in power). Unless the UN intervenes timely, it is inevitable that a serious episode of collective violence will occur in Ethiopia in the next few years. Especially, a scenario of state-sponsored ethnic-cleaning may unfold against ethno-national groups such as the Oromo and Ogaden. The types of violence will be riots, revolution, guerilla attacks, and massive state terrorization and killings of civilians in these areas.

Major Warning Signs and Conditions for Outbreak of Violence

The first set of warning signs of collective violence in Ethiopia and the Horn seem to emerge from two deeper structural sources: ethnically biased repressive governance and natural disasters that result from misguided state policies in regions that the state considers homes of “enemy” ethnic groups. Because often the UN and its humanitarian branches attribute natural disasters such as famine and drought solely to natural causes (failure of rain, for example), interventions tend to be misplaced on addressing symptoms that arise from structural devastations wrought by deliberate attempts by states to marginalize and alter the population dynamics in Oromia and southern regions.

Gross human rights violations and the narrowing of political space are two of the major manifestations of collective violence in Ethiopia. Since the violent capture of state power by Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) , a ruling party controlled by ethnic Tigire core (6 percent of Ethiopia), fundamental human rights of non-ruling ethnic groups have been violated, leading to over 55,000 refugee exodus into Kenya (UNHCR, 2011:1), countless IDPs, 4, 279 extrajudicial killings of Oromo, 987 disappearances (OSG, 2010:1), the overcrowding of the country’s prisons with Oromos, 7.8 million in need of emergency food aid (OCHA, 2011). Although 33 percent of Ethiopia’s budget comes from donors (England, the U.S. and the EU), no donor paused to question Ethiopia over the ways it handles human rights domestically. As a result, aid itself has come to “underwrite repression in Ethiopia” because even to get food aid one is required to join the EPRDF or he/she is condemned to a slow death from starvation (HRW, 2010).

It is perhaps useful to cite specific and recent examples of segregated human rights violations against members of ethnic Oromo to show how actually the trends point toward a more escalated collective violence. In April 2011, fearing that the peaceful revolt that rocked North African nations would spread to Ethiopia, the state security forces preemptively arrested hundreds of key Oromo intellectuals, business persons and opposition leaders. It fired live ammunition into crowds of students on several university campuses, arresting, maiming and indiscriminately killing hundreds of students who were staging mini-protests demanding academic freedom and equality (HRLHA, 201:1-4; Times, 2011). After holding over 200 Oromo civilian political prisoners for weeks without due process, the government charged them with ‘terrorism’. The tragedy of the state’s ability to charge Ethiopian civilians as ‘terrorists’ under Ethiopia’s 2009 anti-terrorism law (number 652/2009) is indicative of how Ethiopia purchased itself the right to crackdown on opponents or alleged opponents with impunity since it invaded Somalia in 2006 and automatically qualified thereafter to become a U.S. ally on the war on terror. Gudina (2010:3) articulates Ethiopia’s ideologized use of anti-terrorism law as a new post-Cold War immunity shield from international criticism as:

…the art of election manipulation has been perfected by both old and new authoritarian leaders in much of the continent while more interestingly the American ‘war on terror’ has provided a new opportunity equivalent to the Cold War where dictators could declare themselves as ‘anti-terrorists’, but allowed to terrorize their own citizens without a closer scrutiny of the western powers…

Similarly, In Reasons to Kill, Rubenstein (2010:128-156) argues for “war as a last resort” and makes strong observations on how old Cold War policies, rules and strategies continue to justify U.S.’s refusal to employ conflict resolutions methods and how instead the country tries to resolve deep-rooted conflicts militarily. ‘Anti-terrorism’ is the new boogeyman replacing ‘communism’ where states in the sub-Saharan Africa have similarly started adopting it as core party ideology because of its appeal and currency to uncritical donors. ‘Donors’ do not bother to verify whether regimes are legitimate and have a wider-support base from citizens.

The second set of manifestations of collective violence in Ethiopia arises from economic underdevelopment and natural disasters. The government tries to explain away the causes of the so-called “Green Famine” in the south and south eastern Ethiopia by attributing it to plausible but simplistic ‘causes’ such as “rainfall patterns, soil erosion, bad preferences for vegetables…” (Epstein, 2010:9). It did not take Helen Epstein, The New York Review of Books journalist who traveled in the region, to find the facts out for herself. She realized the state’s reasoning was nonsense meant for saving face. Natural disasters are exacerbated and at times caused by state’s punitive policies towards the ethnic ‘Others’ whereby basic infrastructures such as roads, clinics and nutrition centers are denied to civilians in conflict zones. At times forests are razed to the ground on the ground of eliminating rebel hideouts. Epstein (2010:9-17) recounts her observation of malnourished children and mothers as follows:

Several had obvious goiter, and a few were so anemic they nearly fainted while they were speaking to me…When I asked these women why they could not adequately feed their children or themselves, most replied that they didn’t have enough land, and therefore couldn’t grow enough food either to eat or to sell.

Confirming Epstein’s and my own suspicion that the causes of these deprivations were structural and political than natural, OCHA (2011:1) found Ethiopia to be one of the countries with lowest performance on the Human Development Index, ranking 157 out of 159.

Comparable to Arab and North African states, in Ethiopia and the region rising food and fuel prices, massive youth unemployment and dissatisfaction with their governments are the main tenets of the current landscape. University graduates who are not members of the ruling Tigire or the ruling party are openly discriminated against and denied employments. In fact, membership in an ethnicity or ruling party, not merits and academic performance or work experience, are the basis on which Ethiopia employs public servants (HRW, 2010:59, 73). The devaluation of the local currency by almost 17 percent against USD, and 40 percent rise in fuel prices are making food inaccessible to millions of Ethiopians (World Bank, 2011:1). Even those who supported family members for many years by selling tea and bread on streets (making $1/ day) are faced with economic challenges to meet their basic needs. With at least three most active rebel groups (OLF, ONLF and EPRP) opposed to the government and wide public disapproval of the regime, the tendency for mass movements and crackdowns are already in sight. Economic inequality is perpetuated by the state’s control of all lands, telecommunications, the banking and the rural credit sectors. The remaining half of the national economy is held by an EPRDF-affiliated business consortium called the Endowment for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) (Epstein 2010:8). EFFORT’s freight, transport, construction, pharmaceutical and cement firms “receive lucrative foreign aid contracts and highly favorable terms on loans from government banks,” (Epstein, 2010:8).

Conclusion

As the examples of provided in this paper and other histories of signs of collective violence show, it is very highly likely that popular revolt will take place anytime in Ethiopia and the worst consequence can be a Rwanda-style genocide unless the UN intervenes timely. This is highly likely because the minority controls the military and nearly all high-ranking military positions are filled with members of ethnic Tigire loyal to the Ethiopian tyrant, Meles Zenawi. Now is the right time to implement preventative diplomacy before the conflict enters irreversible stages and opportunities are squandered. The warning signs must alert the UN and set it in motion to implement the promises provided in the Agenda for Peace. The UN can do this in at least four ways: use its diplomatic leverage to ensure that the current conflict between the parties will not escalate and spread at an uncontrollable pace; implement conflict resolution (peace-making) strategies and methods to bring all the parties (government and armed and unarmed opposition) together to negotiate a national structural change; prepare to deploy the UN peacekeeping forces to the field (especially in Oromia, Ogaden and Addis Ababa regions) in order to prevent genocide and to facilitate transition to representative democracy; use its humanitarian branches to deliver humanitarian assistance(food, shelter, and medicine) to those in urgent need.

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Map credit: IISS Armed Conflict Database

References
Epstein, Helen. "Cruel Ethiopia." The New York Review of Books, May 13, 2010.http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/13/cruel-ethiopia/?pagination=false&printpage=truewers (accessed 04/25/2011).

Gudina, Merera. "Twenty Years of Experimenting with ´Revolutionary Democracy´: Elections and Democratization in Ethiopia, 1991-2010."
http://www.oromopeoplescongress.org/docs/Merera-article-3-11-11-JEAS-paper.pdf (accessed 4/25/ 2011).

HRLHA. "Urgent Action: A Fierce Crackdown against University Students in South-Western Ethiopia." http://www.humanrightsleague.com (accessed 4/25/2011).

HRW. Development Without Freedom: How Aid Underwrites Repression in Ethiopia. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2010.

OCHA. "Ethiopia: Two Million Affected by Drought."
http://www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/ethiopia-2-million-affected-severe-drought (accessed May 2011).

"Ethiopia." http://www.unocha.org/where-we-work/ethiopia (accessed May 2011).

OSG. Human Rights Abuses in Ethiopia: Reports from Refugees in Kenya,

September 2010. Westminster: OSG, 2010.

Rubenstein, Richard. Reasons to Kill: Why Americans Choose War. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010.

Times. "Ethiopia: Oromo Prisoners to be Charged as Terrorists." The New York Times, April 7, 2011.

The World Bank. "Rising Food and Fuel Prices Take Their Toll on Eastern Africans." http://www.worldbank.org (accessed, 04/25/2011).

UN. "An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-keeping." UN, 1992.

http://www.un.org/Docs/SG/agpeace.html (accessed May, 2011).

Ethiopia's Mock Court Sentenced Oromo to Death

2010-04-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Ethiopia´s ruling party-controlled court sentenced 16 Oromo nationals to death, life and long term imprisonment in Finfinne/Addis Ababa on March 31, 2010.

The judges accused the Oromos of financing and being the members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and of conspiracy to violently overthrow the minority Tigire-controlled government in order to establish an independent state of Oromiya.

Thirteen of them were sentenced to 10-13 years in prison. One of them, Mesfin Abebe Abdissa (Engineer) was sentenced to death, while the court meted out life imprisonments to two others--Mesfin Ittana and Tesfahun Chamada (Engineer).

Oromian Human Rights and Justice Council (OHRJC) sates that the recipient of the death sentence—Mr. Mesfin Abdissa—and the recipient of a life imprisonment, Mr. Tesfahun Chamada were extradited refugees who once lived in Kenya as legal refugees and carried the UNHCR IDs.

Two Oromo women and mothers were sentenced to 10 years in prison each. Mrs. Lalisse Wadajo (pictured above) is a mother of three kids and was a journalist in the government-owned Ethiopia Television before she was jailed and sentenced; her husband Dhabassa Wakjira who was also a journalist was exiled after over two years in jail.

Another Oromo woman, Mrs. Abarash Yadata is a mother of four children.

In a statement from Washington D.C., the OLF said that these Oromo nationals are not its members, but they are innocent persons sentenced for being Oromo.

"The charges filed against them were trumped-up charges. They did not get a fair trial. The kangaroo court that passed the unjust sentences…was neither independent nor partial; it is the tyrannical minority regimes instrument of repression," the OLF statement explained.

The OLF is a political organization established in 1973 and the OLF says its mission is "to lead the national liberation struggle of the Oromo people against Abyssinian colonialism."

The profiles of the convicted Oromo prisoners included engineers, businesspersons, mothers, lawyers, students and farmers. Some comment these Oromos represented the creams of the Oromo society in all walks of life.

The Oromo are the largest ethno-national group, comprising nearly 50 percent of the country´s population. Oromiya, the state inhabited by Oromo people is the largest official regional state in the country, and the breadbasket and source of rich natural resources.

For a complete list and description of the guilty verdict on Oromo prisoners, refer to http://www.oromiahumanrights.org/.

Photo credit: Oromia Support Group

Ijoowwan Dubbii Kora WQO Isa Walakkaa Waggaarratti Dhiyaatan

2010-04-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

Kaayyoon barreeffama kanaa yaadota hayyonni Oromoo walgahii Waldaa Qorannoo Oromoo (WQO) walakkaa waggaa kan bara ’10 irratti dhiyeessan gabaabisee kaa’uudha. Akeekkachiisa tokko tokko: ani qaamaan bakka walga’ichaatti hinargamine. Karaa tamsaasa sarara marsaawwan www.opride.com fi www.gadaa.com tinan hordofe. Sababan fageenyaarraa hordofaa tureefi sababa rakkina teekinikaatiin ergaawwan namoota dubbatani guutuma guututti sirriidhan dhiyeessuun na rakkisa. Garuu yaada saanii cuunfee dhiyeessuun yaala. Yaadannoodhuman ofii qabadhen, tarii, namoota dubbisan tokko tokko gargaaruu danda’a jedhee isiniif qoode. Egaa ergaawwan tartiibaan darbanitti armaan gaditti itti dhiyaadha.

Matadureen guddaan walga’ichaa: “Gaheewwan amantiiwwan Oromoo Oromummaafi tokkummaa Oromoo ijaaruu keessatti qaban”

Korri jiddugala waggaa kan WQO matadureewwaniifi dhiyeessitoota warqaa baay’ee of keessa qabu kuuta gurguddaa lamatti qoqqoodamee qindaa’e:

Kutaa 1: Oromummaafi Tokkummaa Oromoo Ija Amantiiwwan Oromootiin
Namoonni garee kana jalatti dhiyeessan hayyoota amantii Waqeffataa Isilaamaafi Kiristaanaati. Yaanni isaan dhiyeessanis waa’ee ga’eewwan amantiiwwan gurguddoon Oromoo kun sadan Oromummaafi tokkummaa Oromoo ijaaruu keessatti qabacha turan/jiranirratti. Dubbattoonni garee tokkoffaa amantii Waaqeffannaarraa Obbo Lammii Shuunaa, amantii Islaamaarraa Dr. Abdulsamad Ammayyaafi kan Kiristaanummaarraa ergaa vidiyootiin Lub. Dr. Gammachuu Olaanaa turani.

Kutaadhuma kana jalatti, Aadde Xahaayi Wadajoofi Obbo Jawaar Mahaamad dhimmoota aadaafi siyaasarratti walduraaduubaan dubbatani.

Kutaa 2: Filannoo Itoophiyaa kan Caamsaa 2010fi Dhimmoota Saamicha Lafa Oromoo

Kutaa kana keessatti, namoonni dubbatan Daani’eel Ayyaanaa (Ph.D.), Gulumaa Gammadaa (Ph.D. rakkoo xiyyaaratiif jedhee hinargamine jedhan). Haiyilee Hirphaa (Ph.D.fi Hayyuduree OSA) dhimma saamicha lafa Oromoo irratti dubbatani.

Kutwwaan lamaan eeraman jalatti maqaafi matadureewwan gargara dhiyeessitoonni irratti dubbatan kennuudhaan yaadota dhiyeessitoota tokko tokkoonan gabaabisee dhiyeessa.

Eebban Banamuu Walga’ichaafi Simannaa Pirezidaantii WQOtiin Godhame

Obbo Reediwaan Haamzaa as bahuudhaan hirmaattota kora WQO, keesumootafi firoota Oromootiif dhaamsa baga nagaadhaan dhuftanii dhamuun Dr. Hayilee Hirphaa gabaabisee isaantti beekisise.

Dr. Hayilee Hirphaatiis Reedwaan itti aanee tartiibaan hirmaatota walga’ii simate. Haasaa baniinsa isaa keessattis duradeemitichi WQO akkas jedhe: “…Mootummaan biyya sana jiru lafa Oromoo karaa hintaane seera malee kampaaniiwwan biyya alagaatti gurguruun, Oromoon akka diina biyya lafaa ta’u taasifamaa jira.” Rakinni karaa lafaa ka’u kunis ummata Oromorratti rakkina yeroo dheeraa uumuu akka danda’u cimisee dubbate, barbbaachisummaa walga’ichaa utube.

Osoo kutaa ittaanutti hinceehin, walga’ichi eebba hangafaatiin akka banamu ta’e.

Kutaa 1: Ga'eewwan Amantiiwwan Oromoo Oromummaafi Tokkummaa Oromoo Ijaaruu Keessatti

Dubbataa 1ffaa: Luba Dr. Gammachiis Olaanaa

Matadureen inni irratti dubbate: “Gaheewwan waldoota Kiristaanaa Oromummaa misoomisuuf taphachaa turaniifi gaheewwan isaan fuulduratti Oromummaafi tokkummaa Oromoo ijaaruu keessatti qaban”.

Lub. Dr. Gammachiis kan dubbate qamaan achitti argamuu hindandeenye sababii jedhuun, ergaa vidiyootiini. Ergaan vidiyichaas qulqullina hinqabu waan ta’eef yaada isaa hundaa qulqulleessee dhiyeessuu hindanda’u. Lubichi gareen waldaalee Kiristaanaa Oromoo “qalbii hawaasaa ijaaruufi nagaafi jaalalaan walitti qabamuu haawasa keessatti uumuudha,” jedhe. Dubbataan kun amantiin hunduu hawaasa tokko keessatti gahee isaanii qabu, gahee mataa isaaniis qabu jedhe. Amantiin waa’ee jireenya namaa eessa dhufine essa dhqina, gaaffii jedhuuf deebi kennuuf akka gargaaru dubbate. Yaanni ijoon inni kaase yeroo amantiin Kiristaana biyya Oromoo dhufe, Oromoon rakkina cunqursaafi rakkina garbrummaa jala jiraachuu, isarraayis kan ka’e warri wangeelaa irra caalaa amantii isaanitiif osoo hintaane eenyummaa isaaniif jechaa har’atamaa turuu isaaniiti.

Qaboo Oromoo keessatti ejennoo waldaa Kiristaanarratti hirmaatotarraa gaaffii isaaf dhiyaateef Gammachiis akkas jedhee deebise:

“Waa’ee qabsoorratti murtii kaa’uu hindandeenyu, garuu cunqursamuu Oromoo beekisisuurratti wajjin jirra. Yaadota mirga saba keenyaa morman dura dhaabbanna. Hundeen amantii keenyaa dhimma siyaasaa irratti akka “position” [dhaabbii] keenya ibsinu nu hindandeessisu.”

Dubbataa 2ffaa: Obbo Lammii Shuunaa

Lammii Shuunaa amantii Waaqeffannaa bakkabu’uudhaan dubbate. Matadureen isaa: “ Gaheewwana Waqeffannaan dur Oromoummaafi tokkummaa Oromoo ijaarurratti taphatee tureefi fuulduratti taphachuuf jiru”.

Obbo Lammii Shuuna jireenya isaa hanga amma ammaatti jiraate keessatti, muuxannoofi dandeettii aadaa Oromoo qabachuufi aadaa isaa wajjin jiraatee as gahuu isaa ibsuun eegale. Bakkabu’aan amantii Waaqeffanna kun amantichi karaa shaniin Oromummaafi tokkummaa ijaaruratti faayidaa qabaachuu isaa dubbate. Karaan kanneeninis “Ookkoo Shanan” jedhee waame. Isaanis:

• Afaan Oromoo ittiin jiraatanii eenyumaa ofii ibsachuuf;
• Aadaafi Seera Gadaa;
• Amantee-kayyoon isaa Waaqa baruufi Waaqa jalatti buluu barsiisufi;
• Seenaa barsiisuufi;
• Mirga barsiisuu amantichaa.

Akka Obbo Lammiin hiikkatutti, namini adeemsa 5nan kanneen keessa hindarbin nama guutuu hinjedhamu. Gahee Waqeffannaan ijaarsa Oromoo keessatti qabu ilaalchisee, dur Oromoon Sirna Gadaan bulaa gaafa ture tokkummaan jiraachuu sabichaa dubbate. Bara sanis Oromoon akkaata walduraaduuba hangafummaatiin biyya isaarra qubatee akka ture ibseera.

Waaqeffataan kun Oromoo bilisummaa barbaadu argachuu kan hanqateef Oromoon waa’ee Oromiyaa mataa isaa keessatti waan guutumatti hindhugeeffatiniifi jedhe. Dinagideen tokkummaa Oromoo ijaarurratti: “Waan tokko dhugummaa isaa hinamantu yoo ta’e, akkamitti horii kee baastee deeggarta? Kanaaf walgargaaruun hinjirre.” Seerri Sirna Gadaa bifa ammayyaattiin haala diinagideen wal’aansoo Oromoo ijaarutti uummaticha keessatti deebi’ee ijaarramuu akka qabu yaada laate.

Dubbataa 3ffaa: Dr. Abdulsamad Ammayyaa

Dr. Abidulsamada Amayyaa amantii Islaamaa bakkabu’eet dubbate. Matadureen isaa: “ Oromummaafi tokkummaa Oromoo ijaaruu keessatti, gaheewwan amantii Musiliimaa dur taphateefi fuulduratti qabaatu.” Bakka bu’aan amantii Isilaamaa kun lubbuuwwan gootota Oromoo dhumanii akkasumaan bilaashaan akka hintaane jala muruun dhaloonni ammaa ifatti akka qabsaa’uu qabu waamicha godhe. Ergaan Dr. Abdulsamad gabaabafi ifa ture; amantiin Islaamaa haala hinshakkisiisineen ejjennoon ishee qabsoo Oromoo wajjin ta’uu ibise.

Kutaa 1ffaa kana jalatti bakkabu’oonni amantii Islaamaa, Waaqeffannaafi Kiristaana erga dubbataniin booda, Pirezidaantiin WQO barbaachisummaa amantoota sadan hirmaachisuurratti yaada dhiyeesse:

Kaayyoon kutaa tokkoffaa kuni, Oromoota biyya ambaa kan waldaa Kiristaanaa Mazgiidaafi Odaa jala dhoqatan gara qabsoo Oromootti harkisuudha jedhe. Diinni sababa amantii Oromoof jedhee Oromoo baraaraa akka hinjirreefi Oromoon Oromummaa wajjin dhalchuufi wajjin du’uu isaa jabeessee dubbate. Amantiin erga guddannee booddee waan argannu. Namini tokko yeroo garagaraatti amantii gargaraa hordofuu mala, garuu Oromummaan isaa yeroo hundaa isuma wajjini.

Lakkoofisi namoota bakka walga’ii WQO Oromoo waggaatti al-lama ta’u kanatti argamu xiqqaa ta’uun guuddaa Dr.Hayilee yaachisee ture. “Namini as jiru 100 gadi. Osoo waldaa kiristaanaafi mazigiida ta’ee, kuma meeqatu dhaqa?” jedhee gaafate.

“Oromummaadhaan dhalanne, Oromummaadhaan duuna.”

Dubbattuu 4ffaa: Aadde Xahaayi Wadaajoo

Matadureen ishee: “Oromummaafi tokkummaa Oromoo fiduuf maatiifi hawaasa Oromoo cimaa ijaaruu.” Guutummaatti A /Xahaayi aadaa Oromoo irratti dubbatte. Maatiifii haawaasota Oromoo biyya alaa jiran rakkinni eenyumaafi aadaaa dhabuu irra gahaa jiraachuu ibsite. Keessumaattuu ijoolleefi dargaggoonni Oromoo biyya ambaa keessatti dhalatan deemsaan aadaa keessatti guddataniin walfakkachaafi liqimsamaa jiraachuun rakkina bal’aa ta’uu fakkeenyota kennitee himite. Rakkinni aadaa alagaatti baruu ga’eesota birattis calaqisuu malas jette. Dhaamsa ishee vidiyoowwan sirbootafi gochoota aadaa garagaraan guutamaniin deeggersitee dhiyeessite.

“Warqeen harkaa qaban sibiila,” jette A/ Xahaayi salphumatti aadaan qabinu kun yoo dinqisifachuufi ittiin jiraachuu baanne baduu akka danda’u jalamuruun. Muxannoo yeroo ijoollummaa ishee yeroo obboleessi ishii dhalatu akka fakkeenya aadaan kabajamee tikifamuu qabuutti dhiyeessite akkas jettee, “Yeroo da’umsaa, mana cufatanii ateetee sirbaa turani.” Sababii amantiitiin aadaa Oromoon mormanii, balaaleffachuurra fudhatanii wajjin jiraachuu wayya jette.

Durbi dargaggeettiin tokko waa’ee aadaa alagaan liqimsamuu Oromoo biyya ambaarratti galma keessaa yaada dhiyeessitee ture. Innis: dargaggoonni Oromoo biyya alaa aadaa bareedaa faranjii irraa barachaafi aadaa Oromoos faranjii barsiisaa akka jiran dubbatte.

Dubbataa 5ffaa: Obbo Jawaar Mahaamad

Mataduree isaa: “Qabsoon Oromoo eessa geesse? Fuuldureen Isiihoo?" Oromoon waggaa dhibba 400 oliif Amaraadhaan walolee erga cabee booda lafini isaa irraa fudhatamuu, aadaan isaa balleeffamuu, qabeenyi isaa samamuu hamilee olaanaadhaan kaasee haasa'e. Akka isaatti, sababiin Oromoon fincileefis cunqursaawwan eere sanneeniifi.

Ummanni Itoophiyaa kan Warra Kibbaa dabalatee Oromoon nifoxxoqa jedhanii waan yaada’aniif nu sodaatu jedhe. “Oromoon Itoophiyaafi gaanfa Afrikaa tasgabbeesufi dimokiraatessuun danda’a yaada jedhu biyyoota Lixaafi saboota biyyaattii kaanitti beekisifachuu qaba,” jedhe.

Yaanni isaa waliigalaa biyyuma jirtu Itoophyaa kana seera ishii jijjiirree haala Oromoof ta’utti mijeessina waan jedhu fakkaata.

Amalli dhuunfaa isaafi matadureen Jawar irratti haasa’e gaaffiifi qeeqa cimaa baay’ee hirmaattotarraa itti kaase.

Gaaffiiwwan Jawaar Mahaammad Gaafatame Keessa Ammi Tokko:

• Saboonni Oromoo hintaane Oromoo nisodaatu “psychology”ii yookan yaada jedhu eessa fidde?
• Qabsoon Oromoo kaayyoofi yaadan itti hinamanne qaba erga jettee dubbattee, maalirratti hundoofitee dhimma Oromoorratti katabuuf qophaa’aa jirta?
• Yeroo Waldaa Dargaggoota Oromoo Adunyaalessaa geggeessitu osoo xalayaa ittiin aangorraa sibuusan osoo hingalfatin callisteetuma maaliif seeran ala deemite?

Amala gadhee agarsiisuudhaan waldaa dargaggoota Oromoo gatee baduu isaa amanee, dhiifama gaafatee ture dargaggoo Jawaar jedhamu kun.

Gaaffiiwwan muuraasaafis deebii kennuu yaalee ture, garuu deebiin isaa namoota galamicha keessa turan hinqubisine. Inumayyuu, akkitti namoonni gaafiidhaan isa waaddan ejjeennoofi amala isaarraa shakkii qabachuu isaanii agarsiisee. Akka waan xawalwallee ykn ayyaanlaallata waa’ii isa fakkeessani.

Kutaa 2: Filannoo Itoophiyaa kan Caamsaa 2010fi Dhimmoota Saamicha Lafa Oromoo

Dubbataa 1ffaa: Dani’eel Ayyanaa (Ph.D.)

Matadureen isaa-“Bu’aawwan filannoowwan Itoophiyaa kan Caamsaa 2010fi dhiibbaa isaan ummata Oromoorratti qabachuu malan”

Hanqina Obbo Bulchaa Dammaqisaafi Dr. Mararaa Guddinaa qeeuudhaan eegale. Akka inni jedhetti, Bulchaafi Mararaan “nuti Itophiyyadha jedhanii ummanni akka isaan filatu itti dhiyaachaa jiru.”

Ittaansee madda jecha “Itoophiya” jedhu seenaa waabi godhachuun hiike.

Hiikaan durii "Itoophiyyaa", “Lafa nama gurraachaa” jedhe. Sudanifii Itoophiyaan hiikini isaanii tokko—biyya nama "fuula gubataa" ykn guraachaati jechuudha.

Bara 1933 booda erga Itoophiyaan Abisiniyaarraa of geeddartee bittaa Amaaraa jalatti kufitee booda garuu hiikini Itoophiyaa jijjiiramaa dhufuu barsiise. Haala kanaanis Abisiniyaanonni akka lammii Itoophiyaatti yoo laallaman Oromoofi ummatoonni kibbaa akka diina baduu qabuutti laalama ture, jirasi. Akka hiika kanaattis, Itoophiyaan Amaaraafi Tigiree dhabbachaa jiraachu hime. Oromoodhaaf garuu Itoophiyaan amma jirtu haadha ta'uu akka hindandeenye hime. Aati Oromoo Oromiyaadha yaada jedhu mul'ise.

Dani’eel waa’ee Dimokiraasiis haasa’ee. Dimokiraasii gosa lamatti foo’ee laale. Dimokiraasii adeemsaafi dimokiraasii bu’aarratti fuulleffate. Dimokiraasiin adeemsa filannoo bu’aa hinqabine kan namini tokko deddeebisee fedhii ummataatiin alatti itti moo’uu. Kuni dimokiraasii Warraaqisaa mootummaan koloneeffattu Itoophiyaa horodofuun tokko. Sirna kna keessatti, ummanni maqumaaf waggaa shan shaniiniin kaardii filannoo sanduqa keessa buusani galani malee gitabittoota sagaleedhaan hinjijjiirani. Cunqirsitoonnis waan dimokiraasiif dhabbatan fakkaatani ummata cunqursuuf ittitajaajilamu.

Dimokiraasiin bu’aa qabu garuu dimokiraasii filannoon ummanni namoota siyaasa aangotti baasanii aangoorraa buusuu yoo danda’aniifii hoggantoonni ummataaf itti gaafatamoo yoo ta’ani.

Warri biyya Lixaa jecha dimokiraasii jedhu kanatu galaafi. Oromoon filannoo dhufurratti Waltajji ykn Koongireesii Feederaalummaa Oromoo kan Obbo Bulchaanifi Dr. Mararaan hogganan filachuu qaba jedhe.

Qawweedhaan injifannee Finfinneedhaan baana warra jedhaniif immoo, tarsiimoon waraana Oromoo bilisoomsu Finfinnee qofatti hindhaabbatu; caalaa darbee deemuu qaba jedhe. Tooftaan lolaa waraanni Oromoo waraana diina duuba bu'ee dadhabisiisuuf haga kaaba Eertiraa gahutti deemu barbaada jedhe. Oromoon yoo waraanan kan moo’u ta’e, sirna dimokiraatawaa ummata Abisiniyaatiif dhaabee biraa deebi’uu qaba.

Hirmmatotarraa Dani’eeelf Gaaffiiwwan Akkasii Dhiyataniif:

• Dimokiraasiin kaayyoo Oromoo galmaan ga’uuf haala ammaa keessatti maal fida?
• Dr. Dani'eel, atumtu ejjennoon kee essa?

Dubbataa Lammaffaa: Hayilee Hirpha (Ph.D.fi Pirezidaantii WQO)

Matadureen: Dhimmoota gurgurtaafi saamicha lafa Oromoo

Lafini naannoo Amaaraafi Tigiraay qonnaan bultoota Amaraafi Tigireen qabatamee akka jiru wayita taasisan, lafa Oromoo immoo investaroota biyya alaatti gurguraa jiraachuun loogii sanyummaa daangaa hinqabine mootummaan koloneeffataan ummata Oromoorraan gahaa jiru ta’uu cimisee dubbate. Warri lafa Oromoo heyyama ummata Oromootiin ala mootummaa wayyaaneerraa bitachaa jiran, horii biliyoonotaan dhangalaasanii bitaa waaan jiraniif yoo gaaffii kaasne, nu hindhiisani.

Ummanni Oromoo miliyoonotaan beelaan waxalamaa osoo jiranii, mootummaan wayyaanee lafa Oromoo daldaltoota dureeyyii biyya alaatti lafa Oromoo gurguruun akka mootimichi ummaticha irratti duguuggaa sanyii isaa hamaa geeggeessuuf jiru agarsiisa.

Addunyaatti Oromoon mootummaan murna Adda Bilisummaa Tigiraay (ABT) saba Oromoo biratti haqa kan hinqabineefi Oromoo bakkabu’uu kan hindandeenye ta’uu himuu qabina jedhe. Kanaafis, WQOn xalayaa Mootumoota Walta'anitti biyyoota biyya lafaattii barreessee akka ture fakkeenya kennee dubbate.

Caalmaatti garuu hammeenya gurguramuu lafa Oromoo kana saaxiluufi karaa danda’ame maraa dura dhaabachuuf ummanni Oromoo hidhatee ka’uu akka qabu iyya dabarse.

Conversations on Oromo Diaspora Activities

2010-03-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Image: by Zakia from ogina.org

By Looltu Oromoo. London.

Appreciation and appraisal

I think, we'll make a difference in Oromo unity if every Oromo keeps doing something like what the participants and organizers of the Oromo-American Citizens' Council conference did in Minnesota in March 2010. I repeat we need to DO something! ACT! DO NOT just TALK and POLARIZE our public arena, offline and online.

The OACC conference was a good display of unity among Oromo forces. I use "display" deliberately, because I believe more needs to be done towards a substantive unity. That's all it was! But, it will be as facetious as ever if the problems of Oromo politics are not procedurally approached. Beyond talks, we need for people to sit down and work on ways to unity.

So far, the public has no information if such work on unity has already started or not. We need to know!! Oromo political forces need to EXECUTE and LIVE the unity they preach. Preaching is easy! We all know the problems! The real question is: what did we do about them? Speculations and beating around the bush on far too broad topics such as "What is next for the Oromo People" may arouse temporary interests, but help accomplish little specific tasks.

So, what happened after the conference or after any other such meetings? Are we more united and task-oriented toward our liberation?? Some individuals in the OLF factions must know how much they have deeply disappointed their supporters, members and sympathizers and fallen heroes. To boost public morale, they must pull together again. Don't tell the Oromo people the problem that exists in Oromia. They already know it; they actually live it. Ask yourselves: what did I do to help? I'm not minimizing the OACC conference here. Any opportunity for dialogue is important, but we need to critique things to move forward.

Solid evidence

How did it become impossible to document the sufferings of the Oromo people? Is there verifiable numbers, photos and other forms of evidence that the Oromo movement can show the Oromo people themselves and to the international community about the ongoing genocide? Textual evidence is not enough. It can easily be shunned as allegation. Then the burden of proof will be heavy to carry. Photographs, images and sounds--audiovisual evidence-- of ethnic-cleansing in Ethiopia needs to be captured and broadcast internationally. All groups claiming repressions in Ethiopia should be able to do this.

If you tell somebody there are tens of thousands of Oromo political prisoners being tortured in Oromia and Ethiopia, even if that is true, the strangers will still need, at least, single photo to believe you. There is a huge media presence and information overload in the West across the Ethiopian Diaspora networks. Back in Oromia, Ogadenia, Gambella and other high conflict spots, there is not a means to get out a tiny bit of crucial information. What are we doing to go about that and get information out? By information I mean simple and understandable types of visual information, not technical information in books. People don't have patience to read long texts such as this one you are reading, unless they have real purposes. People need something that captures their attention and engages them for a few minutes and leaves indelible marks on their minds. It's up to us to work on such things.

Oromos in Oromia don't know when their kins over the other side of a hill get massacred. It is dangerous for them to look for information about events in their surroundings. There is not much electronic technologies to serve that purpose. They are kept apart by government forces and can't even orally share their experience with their neighbors. Gatherings of more than two persons outside their home is banned at times of crisis in Oromia and other parts of the country. It is common to see TPLF soldiers wantonly tossing individuals "violating" this prohibition onto military vehicles and taking them away to unkown places. How many of the Oromo political, religious and professional organizations have tapes for atrocities committed by EPRDF/TPLF in Oromia so far? Look at their offices and see if you can see any documentations. We are not archiving what needs to be archived or documented. We're after documenting diaspora meetings, which is good. Keeping evidence of diaspora meetings is relatively easier to do, but it is less significant than getting a hold onto one solid tape of abuses from Oromia to mobilize people and attract sympathy for the Oromo cause.

Say Meles Zenawi is going to be indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), other than reports by human rights watch groups, will any opponents of the Ethiopian regime have one compelling tape as evidence against him?? Don't tell me textual evidence in books, press releases and news is enough to make a compelling case for a faster verdict! We know the regime destroys evidences of its abuses and has been lethal to those who seek powerful audio-visual evidence in the major conflict regions of Oromia, Ogaden and Gambella, and for that matter, anywhere else in Ethiopia. This needs a serious, serious consideration by all justice and freedom-seeking peoples in the region.

Low motivation

How long are we going to whine about the lack of our unity on paltalk and on other internet forums? How long are we going to blame others for causing our disunity and expect freedom for free, yet do not meet a minimum? Only < l% Oromos living in Minnesota and elsewhere show up for important meetings that can shape the destiny of the Oromo nation. This was the case with the OACC meeting and others! How does it feel when Dr. Merara Gudina travels more than 7,147 miles from Finfinne to Minneapolis for the Oromo cause, cris-crossing time zones, but you are slumbering in one of the houses in the next few blocks away from the venue?? This is just an example, Oromo diaspora lives are ridden with many such apathy, passivity. Those of you who expect freedom from supernatural powers or foreign intervention without really working for it, you are living in a fantasy! You're not going to get it.

Will we deal with ourselves and have the will to contribute anything for freedom? If you think that is too much to ask for, there are those who are dying for freedom in Oromia. Are we ready to lead and follow??? Those of you-Oromo or non-Oromo-- living comfortable and passive lives far away from Ethiopia's murderous regime in the West or wherever better, please take time to think the damage you are doing to your kinds; don't turn your back on your people. Your country is calling you. Oromia is calling you. If you can't genuinely answer the call, shut up and eat junk food, sleep on nice beds, count your ages and die like domestic animals--die like lukkuus (indaqqoos), without showing resistance in the face of genocide against the Oromo and others!! Oromians, where is our rage, anger?? Our forerunners in the 16th century had rages and fighting spirits. They defended their land and their indigenous democratic Gada system. Why does this generation let down the heroic works of the beloved Gadaa warriors!!?? Why are we so insulated from the suffering of our people?? Do we have higher proposes we live for such as the pursuit of freedom and justice?

Learning to find exits

How are we going to move the Oromo national movement forward? A task force and a group of elders must be assigned to examine and come up with mechanisms or solutions that can root out the sentiment of factionalism from Oromo politics once and for all. This is doable, at least, in political and professional organizations. Was that done? NO. When is it going to be done? We the people don't know. It is such uncertainties and denials of aroused expectations that contributed to the tragic delay in delivering freedom and justice for Oromo people and others. That resulted in mistrust and enemity. We need to be simple and taks-minded. Have specific tasks and do them. Cross out the task you've done and do newer ones. Then, the people will see what you did in real time and follow you as leaders.

The role of the public should be to put pressure on the OLF factions to reunite, as Prof. Asafa Jalata also wrote in his quintessentially revolutionary paper for the OACC conference. Jalata's paper is a must read for those interested in resolving the problems of lack of unity and the need for actions. Otherwise, we lie to ourselves if we keep declaring tokkummaa or say we want freedom, but don't actually implement it.

Foreign Support Sustains Regime's Violence in Oromia-Ethiopia—Minnesota OACC panelists

2010-03-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

From left to right: Dr. Fido Ebba, OLF; Dr. Merara Gudina, leader of OPC and Medrek; and Obbo Abduljalil Abdella, COPLF.

“There is no Ethiopia without Oromia, yet the empire continues to oppress the Oromo people,” said a group composed of prominent Oromo political, religious and academic leaders at an international conference on human rights organized by the Oromo-American Citizens Council, a Minnesota civil society organization established to raise awareness and to advocate against human rights abuses in Ethiopia on behalf of an estimated population of 15,000 Oromo living in the State of Minnesota.

“Justice for Oromo people is a question of access to state power and the exercise of equitable power,” said Rev. Dr. Gemechis Buba, president of the Worldwide Union of Oromo Evangelical Churches.

Rev. Dr. Gemechis Buba said there was no war in which Ethiopia did not participate. Apart from its internal internecine wars, he said Ethiopia participated in the Colonial War, the World Wars, the Korean War, Cold War, Ethio-Eritrean War, and Darfur War and Somalia War. He stressed that most of the leaders of Ethiopia were deposed and killed and there has never been a peaceful transition to power in the country as result of a long-standing belligerent culture of Ethiopian ruling groups.

The Reverend pleaded with Oromo political groups about the dire need for a shift in paradigm in the Oromo national movement. He said because tens of ethnic groups share long-stretching borders with Oromia, an independent Oromia is infeasible as that will lead to the demise of Ethiopia as we know it, hampering the security and economic development of future Oromia.

Dr. Merera Gudina, Chairman of the Oromo People Congress and leader of the main Ethiopian opposition coalition Medrek, spoke metaphorically, saying that there are many ways to “heaven”. He called on Oromo elites to unite and cooperate or desist from rivalry where there are disagreements on political programs and methods for achieving freedom for the Oromo people.

Dr. Gudina expressed that he would rather do something by participating in the May 2010 Ethiopian legislative elections than give up everything to the “almighty” ruling party and merely complain about national repressions.

“Mobilizing the Oromo people without clear action-plan and unity of Oromo political groups will expose Oromos to dangers and killings like it did in the 1990s,” warned Reverend Dr. Gemechis Buba.

Another panelist, Dr. Fido Ebba of the Oromo Liberation Front blamed the U.S. for its continued support for the current Ethiopian government, including for allegedly providing military training to the Ethiopian Army, despite Ethiopia’s disturbing human rights records.

Some of the panelists made the case for the need for a paradigm shift in the Oromo national movement toward a struggle for an all-inclusive multinational democracy and genuine federalism or self-administration of regional states in Ethiopia.

However, it remains to be seen if the right-wing conservative Ethiopians and the ruling government reach out to and embrace the Oromo people as much as the Oromo elites at this human rights gathering did.

Can Ethiopia Resolve Official Language Policy Disputes the South African Way?

2010-02-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

Embracing 11 official languages is one of the major breakthroughs that South Africa has achieved after the fall of apartheid and its transition to democracy in 1994.

Despite challenges of economic inequality, South Africa rightly prides itself on its linguistic and cultural diversity. See salanguages.com for a complete list of the South African official languages.

In a sharp contrast to the progress in South Africa, successive Ethiopian regimes have violently suppressed the popular demand for more major official languages.

Ethiopia remains a one-official-language country; that language is Amharic and is spoken by 32.7% (1994 census) of the country’s population, largely by ethnic Amhara.

Breaking from tradition, Medrek--a consortium of eight opposition parties running for the 2010 Ethiopian Elections—announced its wishes to make Afan Oromo, alongside Amharic, the official working language of the country, reports Opride.Com (02.3.2010). Afan Oromo is the third most widely spoken language in Africa after Hausa and Arabic.

While some progressive Amhara parties and politicians may accept the country’s belated move towards adopting multiple official languages to ease the tensions between population groups, conservative Amhara politicians consider such projects as dangerous to Amharic’s hegemonic domination of the country. You can compare Amharic language to Afrikaans, which was forced upon black South Africans and some white South Africans during the apartheid era. Now Afrikaans is one of the official languages.

Hegemonic and power-wielding groups in Ethiopia simply view efforts toward meaningful diversity such as having multiple official languages as “anti-Ethiopian unity”, “impractical” and “unnecessary”. They may even go the extra mile to punish or get rid of courageous Oromo or non-Oromo politicians who raise such issues.

I suggest Medrek be even more generous and propose the following languages as major Ethiopian official languages: Amharic 32.7%, Afan Oromo 31.6 %, Tigirigna 6.1%, Somali 6%, Guragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7% (1994 census cited in the CIA’s The World Factbook). English should also be adopted as one of the official languages of Ethiopia since it is taught in schools and used in some public and private offices. English is important because it can serve as a gateway to global economic and social activities.

This will give us eight (8) official languages, including English, 3 less than that of South Africa, which has a total population of about half of Ethiopia’s total.

Changes in language policies may not help the country put food on the tables of several million of its starving people, but it certainly will shift attention from serious ethnic-identity and language based conflicts and competitions.

South Africa has 11 official languages, but it also respects the rights of minority speakers of the other unofficial languages. Once it is willing to adopt eight official national languages, Ethiopia should also respect the rights of minority groups to promote and develop their languages and cultures.

It is important to acknowledge that since it came to power in 1991, the current Ethiopian regime has been following more diverse linguistic and cultural policies throughout the country’s eleven federal regional states, each with own official regional language. Nonetheless, the current regime has adopted only one language—Amharic—as as the sole federal or national language.

In this sense, trying to follow the example of South Africa or any multiple-official-language country, will not be completely a copy-paste exercise as Ethiopia’s earlier official regional languages experience will provide the country something to build upon.

Ethiopia is divided into 9 ethnically-based puppet administrative regions. Outlawed opposition and rebel groups accuse the government of manipulating ethnic federalism to divide and rule the country instead of actually addressing the real need for it.

Links and Notes:

CIA’s The World Factbook. Ethiopia. See the “languages” and “ethnic groups” sections for potential official languages in Ethiopia.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html

Opride.Com (02.03.2010 online edition). “Medrek Announces Afan Oromo as Second Official Language of Ethiopia”.

http://www.opride.com/oromsis/oromo/574-medrek-announces-afan-oromo-as-second-official-language-of-ethiopia.html

See Wikipedia. “Regions of Ethiopia” for the already-implemented regional official languages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Ethiopia

Image credit: Wikipedia

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Readers' Comments:

An Oromo website, Gadaa.com, ran the article by the above title. On that website several readers left their constructive comments in the early hours of it going up. Later, for unknown reason Gadaa.com took down all the 7 comments. Fortunately, I had the comments saved. Below are the comments as they appeared on Gadaa.com

7 Comments »

Andinet said,
February 15, 2010 @ 6:20 am
It is definitely an idea that must be pursued and studied further. Ethiopia must move forward, in whatever way, shape or form that must take. The idea of multiple national languages is not new, nor is it impossible to teach young people several languages (in fact, it would be beneficial to their intellect). I think a rational approach would be to study the effects of such policy in South Africa. For example, the costs associated with having official documents in several languages. The costs associated with having debates in parliament in several languages. To be sure, there would have to be some cut-off point for how many languages can be included. By virtue of numbers, I believe Amharic and Oromigna should be included and for purposes of the global economy, English. After that, while inclusion of all groups is great, it may become too burdonsome practically speaking, to include any and all Ethiopian languages. For the remaining, smaller languages, I would suggest maintaining the current standard of teaching and using those languages in the different regions. In connection with this issue, I have often thought to myself that an enlightened policy would be to teach Amharic, Oromigna and English in all schools, as a way to facilitate national cohesion. And in all schools require a fourth language be learned. That fourth language can be decided by local communities.
In the end, Ethiopia must work creatively and peacefully to solve its problems. Here is to hoping for calm, wise leaders to move the country forward.
Bultum Waquma said,
February 15, 2010 @ 7:29 am
I do agree with your statements that state
“Changes in language policies may not help the country put food on the tables of several million of its starving people, but it certainly will shift attention from serious ethnic-identity and language-based conflicts and competitions”
galatommaa
Oromia said,
February 15, 2010 @ 8:03 am
Not bad idea… after all Oromo language is the 1st language spoken in East Africa…. and must be in the national level in Ethiopia… when this is done, one of Oromo people’s question is answered and this will make a lot of people happy , even the Amaras because now, Amharas have also learned from the mistakes of their fathers. This issue actually solves a lot of problems.
1. Most Oromos have been fighting to free Oromia only , very few wanted to live with specially Amhara and Tigry people .. what this particular issue solves is that Oromos will feel more included and start to consider more inclusion
2. Oromo language will also grow… and language disputes will cease… and the leaders at the federal level also will be forced to learn both languages.
3. Then the perception of oromos about Ethiopia will change( the three principles of being Ethiopian will drop) because There will be two national language instead of one(Amharic)
3. Oromos and others will prodly use their language where ever they go in Ethiopia… No abuses…like it is happening in Amhara region
4. Whether this happen in very near future or not.. the future for Oromo language and people is bright… I am sure even OPDOs could take care of that..
Kabato said,
February 15, 2010 @ 8:56 am
I do agree on your idea of language police ,but oromo question is not only language,wehave economey question as long as we as oromo can,t use our resoures with out any interfranse of others ,as long as we hav not ger self ditarmination right the problem of that falsel united counter so called Ethiopia is not solved , So my dear writer ! dont forget we er forgoten as nation and oppersed by minority and our resoures is stolen every day form our land such as Adola gold min and our land is solt to other by day light , As you said MEDRK polise is mor or less ok ,but it gives hop for Amhar elites
lealem said,
February 15, 2010 @ 9:11 am
Ethiopia does not need official language
as long as people understood each other
have any one of you considered deaf people?
how about them doesn’t it to be respect the way they communicate
how do we solve that?
its a technology
technology lets people communicate no matter what your background is
AFDist said,
February 15, 2010 @ 12:02 pm
When we choose certain language as a common communication between different autonomous/independent nations, we need to consider its economical expediency and its international usage. Till now nations in ethiopian empire were obliged to learn Amharinya as national language, because of the domination by Abyssinians (even including Tigreans who accepted Amharinya as the only federal language) who do endorse this language. It is clear why they do it, that is simply because of the political and economiacal advantage they do get. Here is one example to be taken in to consideration. Amharas usually cry for unconditional Ethiopian unity just for the reason that they know what an advantage they do have as far as Amharinya is the working language of the empire. Accordingly, they do oppose genuine “ethnic” federation just for it undermines their language domination.
The question to be asked by other nations now is: can the pro-unity Amhara forces choose to settle for the alternative of using the language of all nations at their respective national areas or should Amharas be compelled to accept such fact of allowing nations to use their respective languages as an alternative to Amhara’s refusal of recogning a union based on self-determination? I know Weyanes will accept even an alternative of separation of nations to build their own independent states as soon as they sense that they may loose power in Finfinne palace. To compell Amhara forces to accept a union based on national self-determination, we just have to demote Amharinya to be used only in Amhara region and promote Afaan Oromo to be federal language. Then they will see that Ethiopianity will not be equivalent to Amharanet (as it is now), but it will be the same to Oromummaa. In such a scenario of Oromummaa being equivalent to Ethiopianity, Oromo freedom fighters will definetly start to be pro Ethiopianity against “ethnicity” and then Amharas will begin to defend their identity by opting for self-determination of Amhara people, so that they support “ethnicity” and reject Ethiopianity aka Oromummaa. This way, Amharas can comprehend what it meanse to struggle for national independence with or without regional union.
The current attempt of Amharas to make both Afaan Oromo and Amharinya the national langhuages of Ethiopia they want to build in the future is disadvantegous for other smaller nations in the empire. Amharas opted to this alternatve just to make Amharinya again be the
language of all regions including Oromia, the option they don’t have now. As far as Oromos are concerend Afaan Oromo being federal working language is not bad, so long Amharinya will not be imposed on Oromia, but Amharinya should be the working language of only Amhara region and of course that of the federation beside Afaan Oromo.
For other nations in the empire, this may mean to learn four langiuages instead of the present only three. But I do argue that these nations need to learn only two languages: their own mother tounge and an international language aka English. Why should their chlidren be obliged to learn Afaan Oromo and Amharinya and be stressed with additional useless languages, wheres Amhara children learn only Amharinya and English, so that being free from such stress. So my suggestion is that all children from all nations in the empire should have the privilage given to Amhara children: learn only their respective national language and an international language.
The advantage of learning only English as an international common language is a lot:
- reduce the stress of learning three or more languages
- to be fit internationally in the present global village as far as language is concerned
- to be fit in making businness internationally and to be communicative in science and technonology….etc.
So learnig Amharinya and additionally Afaan Oromo for other nations in the empire has no advantage except a simple additional stress.
To just assert this postion, we need to tacle with an empty pride, which the chauvinist Amharas want to feed us. They do argue that making english a working language of the Union meanse respecting European colonizers and disrespecting an african local language aka Amharinya. It is clear that Amharas are so smart to put their own colonization as African civilazation. For us Oromos and other nations in the empire, it is not a civilization , but a wasting of our talent in learning useless language, instead of mastering the very usefull international language. So we all nations in the empire should strive to demote Amharinyaa from its current privilage and make the international language as our common language of the Union we want to build in the future just for the sake of our cultural interest and economical advantage.
Kuulani said,
February 15, 2010 @ 12:32 pm
“…Oromo elites do argue that the main conflict factor in the Ethiopian region is the language factor! If Amhara elites disagree with this premise, then let’s try it practically: let’s demote Amharinya to only Amhara region and promote Afaan Oromo to the language of the federation! Surely Oromos will then accept the unconditional unity, which Amhara elites do demand and they will denounce “ethnicity” as well even can reject the right of nations to self-determination! Hopefully, Amhara elites will be ready to influence all their relatives to learn Afaan Oromo without any objection. Then, Oromos would be very happy if Amharas prefer not to fight for self-determination, but only struggle for democracy, unity, justice, equality, peace and prosperity.
Looking back to the history and trying to judge the status quo, all elites of each nation do have their own interpretation. Preferable is to look into the future and ask the question: what options regarding a solution for the language conflict do we have if we want to live together?
- Union of independent nations based on self-determination, all nations having their own languages in their respective national areas and using English as international communication language
- Unity in a federated Ethiopia with Afaan Oromo as the only federal language
- Unity with English as the only federal language
- Unity with Afaan Oromo and Amharinya as federal languages and
- Unity with Amharinya as the only federal language (the status quo which should be changed by any means as far as Oromos are concerned)
The pro-democracy Amhara elites seem to prefer the fourth option. They also started to see that the fifth option is the failed project. Oromo elites do suggest the first option as the best solution. But, if Amhara elites reject self-determination of nations and persist to have unconditional Ethiopian unity, then let them test the second option so that they can understand what it means to be called “Ethiopian” in such a condition, which means in reality Oromian, in contrast to the status quo where Ethiopian means Amharian! If Amhara elites reject the second option, it is then expected from them as educated gentle people to have an empathy for Oromo elites, who are rejecting the fifth option, instead of vilifying such Oromo elites as “exclusionists” as they usually seem to say. Why should Oromo elites be exclusionists for the sake of demanding this role exchange of the two languages, whereas Amhara elites have been seen as inclusive while just propagating the exclusive fifth option? To avoid such language conflict, then of course, it is also possible to opt for the third option, which is the most pragmatic choice in the already globalized
world…”

2010-02-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

"Jaalala" sirbina, Afaan Oromootiin Afaan Amaaraa Dubbanna

Cabaarratti baqaqaa...

Kan baroota 1990'ootatiin walbira qabinee yoo laalle, guddinni muuziqaa Oromoo baay'inaan dabalaa haa deemuyyu malee, dhiphachuun dhaamsoota ijoo (themes) muziqaa baranee keessatti mul'achaa jiru, dhabbanne aadaafi aartiin keenya eessa dhaqaa akka jiran akka xiinxallu nu tolcha. Namini taa'ee yoo waliin haasa'u yaada baay'ee kaasa. Yaadota ka'an keessayis gariin fayidaa qabu. Anis mataduree kanarratti barreessuu kanan kajeele hiriyaa koo tokko waliin dhimmuma walfakkaaturratti bicuu erga haasofinee booda.

Bara 1990' oota keessa sirboonni waldhaansoo, kan jaalalaafi kan jiruuf jireenya uummata Oromoo bal'inaafi gadifageenyaan dhiyeessan dagaaganii ture. Muziqoonni bara sana sirbaman kan yeroon hinmoffessineefi kan mirmi (rirmi) hinburkuteessine, hinyaanne. Nijiraatu. Sirboota bara sanii maqaa dhahanii fixuun nama dhiba. Garuu, bara 1990'oota keessa weellistoonni ogummaan weellisan heedduun sirboota baay'ee bilisummaa Oromootiif sirbanii, uummata kaakaasaa turani.

Akka dhunfaatti ,Aartistoota bara 1990'oota keessa sriba baasan keessaa kanneen ani jaaldhu sirboota Ilfinash Qannoofaa, sriboota Sayyoo Dandanaafaa, kan Ababbabaa Abbashuu, kan Ali Birraa, kan Zarihuun Wadaajoo, kan Muktaar Usmaan, kan Umar Suleemaan, kan Dawwitee Bokonnon, kan Daagim, kan Eebbisaa Addunyaa, kan Yooseef Gammachuu, kan Kumalaa Addunyaafi Angaatuu kkf. dabaltu. Hudumaa tareessee fixuu hindanda'u.

Sinis sirboota jaalattan kan ofii keessanii qabidu. Isaan beekitan ergaa isaanii sirboota bara kanaatiin walbira qabaa madaalaa. Weellistoota keenya walcalchisuu miti kaayyoon koo asitti. Kayyoon koo garaagarummaan yaadaa sirboota bara kana sirbamaa (dhuma 2000'oota) jiraniifi sirboota bara 1990' oota keessa sirbaman irratti yaada laachuudha.

Akka natti mul'atutti, yaadonni ijoo sirboota bara kanaa keessatti ka'an haala nama yaachisuun heedduu dhiphachaa deemaa jiru. Danummaan dhaamsota ijoo dhiphachaa jira. Bara kanaa sirboota "jaalalaa" kan bareedina qaama dubartii/ dhiiraa faarsantu irra caalaa dhufe.

Darbees, sirbi baranee aadaa durii gadilakkisee deemuuf ceehumsarratti waan argamu fakkaata. Vidiyoodhuma tokko tokko yoo laalle, dhiirri durba duuba dhaabbatee, durbi immoo fuuldura isaa dhabattee teessuma ishee kirkirsitee sirbicha abbaa sirbaa bareechuuf yaaliin godhama jira. Kana jechuun, namoonni kana dhandhamanii itti gammadan hinjiran jechuu miti, jiru. Sochiin qaama hinbaraminiifi qaamini qullaan hangam mul'achuu qaba kan jedhutu safuu uumatichaa waliin walitti bu'aa deemaa jira. Jabanni ykn yeroon akkuma jijjiiramaa deemu, akkaataan itti hawaasichi karaa sirbaan yaada isaa itti ibsatus gegeeddaramuun waanuma hinoolle. Kana immoo argaa jirra.

Wanti amma deemaa jiru dogoggora ykn sirriidha jedhee madaaluu nan danda'a garuu yaada sana ofuma keessattan hambisa ammaaf. Dogoggoraafi sirriirrayyuu kan na yaaddessuu waa'ee yaadonni ijoo sirboota keessatti himaman jalala qofatti daanga'aa ykn luucca'aa deemuu isaaniti. Ergaan ibsamaa jiru inmujuje moo nitarkaanfate? Kuni walmormisiisaadha. Waa'ee jaalalaa sirbuun gaaruma. Sirbaatuma as geenyesi jamaa. Amala isaatiin jaalalli hunduma qirqirsa, keessumaayyuu dargaggoota. Daldaltoonnifi aanga'oonni siyaasaa jaalala akka meeshaa addochaatti fudhatanii horii argachuufi mormii ifirraa qolachuuf itti akka fayyadaman nibeekama.

Maaltu weellistoota haaraa bara kanaa mogolee buusee aartii keenya kallatti tokkorra qofa ofaa jira? Hunduma sanitu mogoleen bu'e hinjenne asitti. Sababoonni gaaffii sana deebisuuf gargaaran baay'een ka'uu malu. Ammin asitti kaase, dammaqiinsa uumuun marii ittifufaadhaaf ulaa dabalataa saquu mala waltajjii garagaraarratti.

1990'oota keessa sirbitoota Oromoo sirba waldhaansoo sirban keechaa gariin isaanii ani jiraachuudhaa mannaa yaanni koo jiraachu wayya jedhanii itti cichanii yaadota hawwii uummatichaa ibsaniif wareegamanii jiru. Tarii kuni weellistoota bara kanaatiif yaada sirboota isaan keessatti kaasan akka bal'isan fakkeenya onnachiisa ta'uu danda'a. Kana irratti bu'uuruudhaan, fuulduree aartiifi muuziqaa Oromoo ittiyaaduu danda'u, caalas tarkaanfachiisuu malu.

Oromiyaan Afaan Oromootiin Afaan Amaaraa Dubbachaa Jirti

Gubbaarra yoo laalle, bara kana keecha guddini Afaan Oromoo kan dhugumaan guddina durii caalee jiru fakkaata. Lakkoofisan guddachuun waan tokko, qulqullinni isaa garuu nama mamisiisa. Kanaafis ka'umsa sababooni ta'an gurguddoon ifatti mul'atu.

Oromiyaa keessatti Afaan Oromoo Afaan hojii ta'ee erga labsamee hojiirra oolee waggoota kudhanan lamatti adeemaa jirra. Haata'u malee, wanti (halli) jiru waan baay'ee nama gammachiisuu miti. Waajjiroonni Oromiyaa gubbaa Caffee Oromiyaarraa eegalee hanga jalaa bulchiinsa gandaatti kan guutaman harka irra caala alagoota Afaan saba kanaaf dantaa hinqabineefi doofota bitamaniini. Duraan namoota waajjiroota kana seentanii argitaniif kuni battalumatti ifa ta'a. Bareessituu bilbila wajjiraatiin amariffaan malee hindubbanneefi keessummaan Afaan Oromoo qofa dubbatu yoo olseene, namoota Amaariffa malee itti hinaasofine faatu mul'ata--yoo fedhan Tigirifayyuu itti haasa'u. Manneen barnootaafi Yunbaristoonnillee darbee darbee akkasi caasan isaanii.

VOA sagantaa Afaan Oromoorratti (2.09.2010) Dr. Gammachuu Magarsaa rakkina kana kan ibsan akkasitti, "duri nama tokko kiristinnaa kaasaa turani, amma immoo uummatichuma mara kiristinnaa kaasani."

Akkan hubadhetti, dhimmi hayyuun saayinsii aadaafi xin-namaa kuni kaase dhimma amantiiti miti. Dokitorichi san kan jedheef, hojjettoonni sabaahimaleefi waajjiraalee biyyaa keessa hojjetan gariin jibbiinsa afanichaafi sabicharraa qabanirraa kan ka'e, Afaan Oromootiin Afaan Amaara dubbachaa jiraachuu isaa jala muruufi jedheen hiikkadha. Kana jechuun, jarri guddina Afaan Oromoo hinjaalatani jechuudha. Kanaaf asiif achi jal'isanii afaan saba guddaa kana haala aadaa Oromoo hinhordofineen Amarriffarra hiikanii dhalota ittiin burjaajessu, jaanjessu. Dabalees, kaayyoon alagoota afaan kana qancarsuufi quucarsuudha. Poostaroota, maqaalee daldalaafi ergaawwan karaarraa Oromiyaa keessa jiranis yoo laallu rakkinni kun bal'inaan mul'ata. Afaan Oromoo hudhaan irra jiru kan duriirra waan laafe haa fakkatu malee, dhugaan isaa garuu amarree shakkisiisaadha. Kuni ogeeyyota afaanichaarraa qorannoo gadifageenyaa barbaada.

Haamilee owwanii gammaduu ykn gadduun waan salphaadha, garuu dhaloonni Oromiyaa keessatti barumsarratti bobba'ee jiru har'a tarsimoo barnoota dogoggoraadhaan karaa baay'ee midhamaa jira. Afaanichi keenya guddatee of hindandeenye. Haa ta'uyyu malee, sababuma kanaan naannoo Oromiyaatti dandeettiin Afaan Ingilizii "English" du'ee jira. Lama dhabiduu waan taane fakkaanna. Dhaloota boru hawaasa addunyaatti rakkoo keenya himus ta'e, odeeffannoo quubisaa fayyadamee rakkoo sabichaa fururratti lama dhabiduu ta'uun kuni gufuu guddaadha. Warri dhimmi ilaalatu martuu ittiyaaduu qabina.

Dimishaashumatti bifa buburraa'een asiin olitti dhimmoota sadi'an kaase:

Muziqaa Oromoo keessatti dhaamsonni kaa'aa jiran gara jaalalaa qofatti dhiphachaa deemuu;
Sadarkaan Afaan Oromoo gara hiikaa Amaariffaatti gadi xiqqeeffamaa dhufuu; fi
Dhallonni ammaa dandeetiii Afaan Ingilizii akka hinhoranne toftaan manneen barumsaa Oromiyaa keessatti dhorkamuu;

Dhumarrattis, mirgoota Afaanifis ta'e mirgoota gurguddoo kaaniif, "Abbaan iyyatu malee ollaan namaaf hinbirmatu," jedhee mammaaka Oromoon.

2010-01-31T17:33:00.000-08:00

International Actors Factors in Thwarting Ethiopian Voters' Wills

***How are key internal actors in Ethiopia big factors in denying freedom and democracy in Ethiopia?

***Will the ruling EPRDF/TPLF government use the upcoming elections to further legitimize its stranglehold on 93 % of Ethiopians?

Five years, hundreds of dead bodies, thousands of imprisonments, disappearances, evictions and land confiscations later after the 2005 parliamentary elections , Ethiopia is yet to stage other sham elections for its total seats of 547 in the House People’s Representative— commonly known as ‘national parliament’—in May 210.

The least obvious and tricky factors when discussing the complex Ethiopian political turmoil is the role of key international actors in thwarting the freedom and democracy Ethiopians have been long yearning for. Naming and identifying the influences of these key actors is no longer a myth or speculation. As we know it and as the 2009 Human Rights Watch World Report makes it clear, they are two relatively wealthy and democratic western nations. They are the United States and the United Kingdom. Many in Ethiopia worry that financial assistance from these two countries will be used to shatter the freedom and democracy they yearned for in the coming May 2010 national elections as in the previous three parliamentary elections the country had held. I would like to quote a relevant text from Human Rights Watch (HRW) report to illustrate and argue how foreign funding from the UK and the U.S makes Ethiopian human rights records not only poor, but also non-existent in all its dimensions be it elections, political repression, war crimes by the Ethiopian military forces, regional refugee renditions, civil society and free expression, inter alia:

The United States and European donor states provide the Ethiopian government with large sums of bilateral assistance, including direct budgetary support from the United Kingdom and military assistance from the US. The US is Ethiopia's largest bilateral donor and has also provided logistical and political support for Ethiopia's protracted intervention in Somalia, and provides bilateral assistance to the Ethiopian military.

The report states donor governments view Ethiopia as an ally in an unstable region and in the case of the US, in the “global war on terror”. Western countries erroneously assume Ethiopia is a stable country, but fail to acknowledge the fact that the Ethiopian government came to power through the barrel of the gun, killing and destroying everyone and everything in its way. It is a government that imposed itself on the 93 % of Ethiopia, yet only is representative of the Tigre people who constitute about 7% of Ethiopian population. The consequence of the foreign aid did not just have the role of fighting extremism in Somalia, but also bred and nurtured a genetically distinct vampire state of Ethiopia that devours all others than its tribal base. HRW’s assessment of Ethiopia is not different from my own assertion—the government of Ethiopia was not and is not legitimate:

Ethiopia has among the worst human rights records in Africa. Its troops have used scorched-earth counterinsurgency policies, including strangling people and burning villages, to displace rural villagers (p.18).

To the extent that there is no room for exaggerations, the adjectives of world languages seem not to be enough to describe and carry the tone of the nature and magnitude of the destructive acts by EPRDF/TPLF ruling party in Ethiopia.

We talk about such problems not to make the key international actors in Ethiopia guilty, shameful and embarrassed, yet all of which are right to do, but to urge the actors to take actions and withdraw the direct financial aid they give to the Ethiopia’s regime. These actors need to break their silence about the despicable acts of this government.

I would not expect the U.S and the U.K to get physically involved in overthrowing the Ethiopian regime. To encourage democracy and freedom, the actors do not have to send drone aircrafts to the Ethiopian palace in order to take out PM Meles Zenawi terrorist-attack style. One wishes to indicate the dangers of supporting a vampire state unrepresentative of the wills of the majority of the peoples of Ethiopia, however.

The ruling party’s past behaviors are predictors of what one would expect in the May 2010 parliamentary elections. In the elections of 2005, many international observers, including the European Union elections observers reported that the elections ‘fell short of established international standards.’ With all its absolute military, bureaucratic and financial powers, the Ethiopian government will declare itself the winner of the May 2010 parliamentary elections. The aftermaths are predictable: there will be scores of killings accompanied by mass arrests and imprisonments of prominent opposition leaders. It is easy to downplay these as the necessary symptoms of third world slow-paced democratization process, but there is more at stake.

If there were a stiff international pressure following the ‘highly contested’ 2005 elections, the carnages would have earned Ethiopia some form of power sharing deal or negotiations. Unlike in Zimbabwe and Kenya, whom western nations have had interests in the oppositions than the governments, that did not happen in Ethiopia where the main actors were the same but did not have any regard for the will of the Ethiopian populace.

In Zimbabwe, for example, the chief international actors wanted to topple Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). For whatever interests they had there, the West rightly supported Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai’s opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). This resulted in the 2008-2009 negotiations, which culminated in power-sharing deals. Mugabe was angry and resistant and had no choice but compromise and share power.

In Kenya, there was a similar western-backed scenario between the Kenyan ruling party and opposition rivals where the incumbent Mwai Kibaki had conceded to his loss and shared power with the opposition leader Raila Odinga. It does not require any level of sophistication to figure out the situations in Kenya and Zimbabwe of 2008-2009 were similar to that of Ethiopia’s 1995, 2000 and 2005 elections. There were oppositions in all three countries, there was even greater amount of violence and human rights abuses in Ethiopia, which should have made the west respond as strongly as they did in Zimbabwe and Kenya. But they did not. The main foreign actors ran years of media denouncement or criticisms against the Zimbabwean and Kenyan ruling parties. In case of Zimbabwe, they imposed sanctions against the country and its ruling politicians. However, the foreign actors were disturbingly silent in all instances of the tribally-based Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Front/Tigre People Liberation Front (EPRDF/TPLF) grabbing power by force with impunity.

Will such double standard from key international players in Ethiopia be repeated in the May 2010 elections? To a gullible observer, the period leading up to and on the day of elections in Ethiopia seem so democratic and free that one can even think they are in ancient Athens, U.K or even the U.S. Nonetheless, some Ethiopian oppositions groups and rebels such as the Sidama Liberation Front and the Oromo Liberation Front have issued statements that the upcoming elections will be sham and the regime will use it to legitimize itself and that oppositions must boycott it.

I am not buying the boycotting arguments because it is said by some opposition groups and rebels, but I cannot deny the validity of it since these groups once were political parties but later turned rebels after being forced out of contested elections and outlawed.

Opinions of the significance of boycotting the coming elections are abundant. But I insist that the Ethiopian peoples rally behind the major Ethiopian opposition coalition, Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (aka Medrek/Forum) to alert the world to the continuing electoral crimes. The various Ethiopian communities living in the countries of main international actors in Ethiopia must get together and stage mass rallies, demanding the withdrawal of direct financial assistance to the ruling Zenawi’s EPRDF/TPLF. We must present our case strongly to the U.S and the U.K publics because their governments are turning a deaf ear to the Ethiopian voters.

Predictions can be made that the key foreign actors in Ethiopia will remain indifferent in the May 2010 elections. If at all they wake and start to support the peoples of Ethiopia, all we ask is to put the Ethiopian government under pressure as much as they put Zimbabwean and Kenyan ruling parties under pressure following elections there.

What can main international actors do?

• They can send genuine election observers who will arrive much earlier and leave much later than the election dates;
• Withdraw direct financial aid;
• international media networks can send reporters and provide coverage of the elections and their aftermaths;

• Follow the model of Zimbabwe and force the striking of power-sharing deals between the opposition and the ruling military junta.

Given past indifference to the wills of the Ethiopian people, my recommendations may seem unrealistic fantasies, but if the actors implement at least some of them, they will make up for the unintended destruction that British and American tax-payers’ money is doing to the poor and ever-crying populace of Ethiopia. 85 million poor Ethiopians deserve life, freedom and democracy.

Links:

EU-EOM. 2005. Ethiopia Legislative Elections 2005.
http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/human_rights/election_observation/ethiopia/final_report_en.pdf

Gadaa.Com. January 14, 2009 online edition. “ Ethiopia: Medrek Bahir Dar Rally Attracts 5000 People/Video.
http://www.gadaa.com/oduu/?p=2359

HRW. 2009. Ethiopia.
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79222

HRW World Report. 2009. Full Document
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2009_web.pdf

NEBE. 2005. Official Elections Results.
http://www.electionsethiopia.org/Election%20Results.html

SLF. 2009. SLF Statement on Upcoming National Elections in Ethiopia
http://www.sidamaliberation-front.org/slf_statement11.htm

The Carter Center. 2005. Final Statement on the Carter Center Observation of the Ethiopia 2005 National Elections, September 2005.

http://www.cartercenter.org/documents/2199.pdf

The Washington Post. Feb 29, 2009 online edition. Kenyan Rivals Sign Power-Sharing Agreement.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/28/AR2008022801040.html

Wikipedia. 2008-2009. Zimbabwean Political Negotiations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%932009_Zimbabwean_political_negotiations

2010-01-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

Mormitoonni Oromoo Filannoo 2010 irratti Hagam Deemuu Danda'u?

Amma dhaabbileen siyaasaa maqaa ABO himachuun sosso'an sadan rakkina tokkummaa isaanii hiikkatanii akkuma waadaa galanitti uummatatti haala amansiisaadhaan gadi ba'anitti, uummanni Oromoo biyya keessatti karaa nagaa mootummaa Itoophiyaa filannoodhaan morumuuf warra hojjechaa jiran karaa danda'ameef maraa gargaaruu qaba.

Dr. Mararaa Guddinaa, durataa'aan Kongireesii Federaalistii Oromoo (KFO), akkuma Sadaasa 14, 2009 magaalaa Washington D.C tti hawaasa Oromoo wajjin walga'ii godherratti ibsetti, dhaabota Oromoo tokko ta'anii karaa nagaa motummaa Itoophiyaa filannoo waliigalaa Caamsaa 2010 irratti mormuuf qophaa'an guutumatti deeggaruun Oromoof bu'aa yeroo-gabaabaa baay'ee qaba, buusa. Isaan keessayis inni duraa cunqursaafi dararaan Oromoorra gahaa jiru akkasumas dhumaatiifi saamicha irra caalu irraa uummaticha baraaruuf filannichi yeroo bituu mala.

Lamaffaarratti, mormiin filannoo dhufuu kun isa kan bara 2005 sanarra yoo milkaa'e, tarii, Afaan Oromoo afaan mootummaa naannoo Oromiyaarraa gara afaan heeraa mootummaa federaalaatti ol guddisuu danda'a. Mormitoonni kun amma har'aatti duula filannoo isaanitiif haala to'annaan tika mootummaa hamaan jiru keessatti, walga'iilee hawaasaa magaalaalee Oromiyaafi Amaaraa tokko tokko keessatti taasisani jiru. Namoonni kumaatama heedduutti lakkaa'amanis argamanii deeggarsa isaanii jara kanaaf ibsaniifi jiru. Rakkina diinagideefii dhibbaa motimichaatiin osoo hindaangeffamin, mormitoonni seeraa kun yeroo gabaabaa keessatti haala gaariin uummata amansiifachaa jiru. Dr. Mararaan hojii mormitoonni Oromoo biyyarraa itti jiranirratti viidiyoo You Tube armaan gadii keessatti ibsa gadifageenyaa laate:

Mootummaa koloneeffataa mormuurra darbees, Obbo Bulchaa Dammaqisaafi Dr. Mararaa Guddinaa gaaffii akka tokkooman uummata Oromoorraa isaaniif dhiyaachaa ture kabajuudhaan dhaabbilee isaanii lamaan walitti baqisuun isaanii, uummata Oromoorraa kabaja, jaalalaafi imaanaa guddaa horaafii jira. Tarii, kuni hoggantoota ABO sadanii waldhabbii qabaniif akka tokko ta'an fakkeenya gaarii ta'a. Fakkeenya gaarii barbaaduuf fagoo deemuu hinqabinu dhiiroo/dubiroo . Ofuma keessa osoo laalle furmaata heedduutu jiraata. Wanti yaadatamu qabu akkuma Dr. Mararaan jedhe, "Hayyoonni qoqqoodaman, biyya tokkummaa qabu--Oromiyaa-- bulchuu hindanda'ani."

Uummanni Oromoo haga har'aatti hoggantoota dhaabilee siyaasa maqaa isaatiin socho'an too'achuu hindandeenye--kunis kan ta'e hoggantoonni uumaticha waan hiree dhowwataniifi fakkaata. Aangoon siyaasa uummata irraa madda malee hoggantootarraa hinmaddu. Kana immoo uummanni Oromoo jaarroolee baay'eef Sirna Gadaan bulaa as gahe sirriitti hubata. Aangoo uummanni itti kenne warri ittiin isa tajaajiluu dadhaban uumatichatti aangicha deebisuun isaanii ykn akkuma uummanni fedhetti hoggansa ittifufuun isaanii oolee bula malee hinhafu. Waamicha tokkummaa uumatichaa dhaabini siyaasaa hindhageenye kamiyyuu taanan kana booda jireenyi isaa mamisiisaa ta'aa deema jira. Uummanni keenya warra isaaf qabsa'aniifi warra isarratti qabsa'aniin baay'ee sobame, baay'ee madaa'e. Haalli fokkisaan akkasii kuni immoo akka ittifufuuf kana booda hinheyyamu.

Uummanni Oromoo dhaabbilee tokko hintaane jala hinhirirru jedhee ariidhaan diddaa isaa agarsiisuudhaan, warra tokko ta'e jajjabeessuu danda'a. Oromoon hoggantoota walii hingalleen asiif achi butamuu dhadhabeera, jibbeera, nuffeera. Aangoon dhaaboota keessa jiru akka godinaalee Oromoo bakkabu'utti caasaa ykn seera idilee baasuudhaan akka qooqqoodamu hojjechuun nidanda'ama. Garuu, gama kanaan kaka'umsi mul'ate yartuudha. Uumatichi hoganttoonnifi dhaabonni maqaa Oromoo himatan garagaraa akka tokko ta'an ulaagaa ykn haaluduree daangessaa "tokko ta'aa nutti koottaa, ta'uu baannan, maqaa amantiifi naanoon yoo nutti dhuftan isin hinbeekinu," jedhu cimisee lafa kaa'ufi qaba.

2009-09-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Ethiopian Elections--Why So Much Huffing and Puffing Now?

By Oromsis Adula

The sharp-tongued and deceitful tyrant that ruled Ethiopia for the past 18 years, Mr. Meles Zenawi, teased the opposition and western media numerous times this year saying he will step down at the end of this term. Whereas the decision to rule Ethiopia until the current regime is forcefully ousted was a bygone conclusion, Meles wanted to give a lift to his image that is badly tarnished by reports of gross human rights violations a face-lift.

To that effect in recent months, Mr. Meles has been working hard to re-establish himself as an African statesman by representing the regional body at major world leaders’ gatherings. From the G20 summit in London to the upcoming gathering in Copenhagen on climate change, Meles has either posed or will pose with world leaders, thus casting himself as the sole representative of Africa.

Maybe, Meles’s leadership is a true representation of what most of African countries are like. Meles Zenawi’s 18 years of tyranny, man-made vicious cycles of poverty and an increased repression of dissent surely exemplifies the current and past African tyrants from Sudan to DRC, Eritrea to Zimbabwe and elsewhere in between.

Despite his sometimes frantic attempts to repaint his legacy, Zenawi faces two great challenges. On the one hand, the United States and Great Britain’s one-time love affair with the double faced dictator of Ethiopia is eroding fast. Although these two great powers continue to finance the terrorist regime in Addis Ababa, many argue that a recent visit by US Secretary of State to Africa of which the itinerary did not include Ethiopia underscores the diminishing importance of Ethiopia as a major ally in the region.

On the other hand, the ruling party is engaging in an all-out war to reorganize itself and ensure that the mistakes of 2005 election will not be repeated. It nearly silenced or to say the least, managed to weaken all major opposition parties. It continues to intimidate the public and the murky opposition groups. Not too long ago, we heard reports of prominent politicians including a former rubber-stamp President of Ethiopia (Dr.Negaso Gidada) crying out for help. The media has long been rooted out. Although there seems to be some temporary gains on this end, the likelihood of the upcoming election being fair, free and orderly is far-fetched.

The Way Forward in Ethiopia: Civil Disobedience or Armed Struggle?
In modern African history, we can count with our fingers how many leaders were changed through a peaceful transfer of power. Many have managed to rule African states since the days of independence. Scores of African leaders have looted resources, massacred innocent civilians and few are facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity at the International Tribunal. Ethiopian history is a testament to that fact. Never in a recorded history of that empire had a ruler peacefully and democratically gave up a seat of power. The harrowing history of Ethiopia although falsely glorified and distorted to the liking of Ethiopian elites, is full of coups and scenes of beheaded rulers.

A fairly significant reformation was in effect early in the 1990s. And comparatively speaking in some respects, things have gotten better under the current regime (although much of the repressions are covert and only happen after darkness has reigned). Yet, the current regime clearly signaled (long ago) the continuation of that cultural and historical tradition of clinging to power by all means necessary for as long as it is possible.

That was when Mr. Zenawi stated in one of his speeches to the parliament, his party won the control over Ethiopia with bullet through a bitter struggle and that it won’t give it up peacefully per ballot contest. At that time, the opposition that is now crying foul was on Meles’s revolutionary democracy bandwagon and it was mostly the Oromo that received the announcement with greater uproar. That time has passed and the 2005 election proved to be a reality check for the Amhara dominated opposition as it was for most people (Ethiopians and otherwise).

The opposition at the home front; disfranchised, fragmented and marginalized than ever before, finds itself at a critical and defining moment. Whereas the Amhara based opposition groups with significant support in megacities and north of the country, are trying to regroup and regain momentum, the Oromo opposition has decided to huddle together to make inroads towards a stronger coalition. There is also a new mix of Tigrean opposition led by the likes of former Defense Minister Siye Abraha. With roughly eight months to the general election, the opposition is already complaining about intimidation, harassment and offices being closed. This is a good indicator of the bumpy road ahead and a tale of things to come.

In Diaspora, the Amhara based opposition generally faces the same challenges that were evident during the contested 2005 election. Due to the polarized political environment among Ethiopian communities, they are unable to rally the Oromo and others in order to garner a much needed moral boost. The Oromo camp, with the OLF at the fore, was once rumored eyeing to partake in the upcoming election. Swallowed by internal disputes and factionalization, they remain far from competing in the upcoming election. Although OLF (a group better known as the change) enjoys a popular support among the Diaspora and have better equipped military, I doubt that it is in a position to take on the highly militarized and readied for upcoming election agazi forces.

Basically, with all options off the table, Mr. Meles is a clear front-runner and will secure the victory unchallenged. Yet, however dire and pessimistic the situation seems, the people of Ethiopia had enough and can rid itself off these thugs easily. How? You might be asking.
Let us make a laundry list of things impossible to accomplish in the upcoming election:

a. Peaceful and Democratic Route: Not only was it tried and failed but also the opposition is weak, ill organized and unprepared.

b. Would the International Community Intervene? The US and European Union knew clearly that TPLF was not the winner of the 2005 Ethiopian election. Nonetheless, they continue to funnel aid to the regime in order to safeguard their regional strategic interests. It would be a mistake and gross oversight to hope that the International Community would intervene this time or do anything different.

c. Armed Struggle: Both the Ogaden and the Oromo Liberation Front that has an organized army of sort is hijacked and weakened by the rogue regime in Eritrea. Eritrea plays with these groups what hostage holders do. So it is wishful (if not impossible) to expect a major offensive from these groups.

d. Diaspora: The Ethiopian Diaspora can do itself and the people of Ethiopia a great deal by playing a constructive role. I will come back to this point under the next subheading.

e. Civil Disobedience Is The Only Way:
I tried to point out that peaceful struggle through election contest is practically and virtually impossible in Ethiopia. An all-inclusive and well coordinated civil-disobedience is the only viable option to rid Ethiopia off the TPLF regime. In our recent memory and throughout the known history of Ethiopian Empire, students and other smaller pockets of the society have attempted, without a success, to disobey the government in order to force it to guarantee some citizenship rights. The student movements of the 1960s, many believe, pioneered the changes that happened since. Over the last eighteen years, Oromo students stood up to the current tyrants alone. With no outside or inside reinforcement, hundreds of them lost their precious lives by the bullets fired by cruel TPLF thugs.

In 2005, the opposition (mainly the now annihilated Coalition for Unity and Democracy) has rallied the public in urban areas, at first, successfully. But then they were caught off guard and when the leaders were jailed, the public lost touch with the leadership. Since then, the TPLF regime has master-minded and run a successful campaign to dismantle the CUD party structure. And they have done a darn successful job in keeping the once strong opposition group at bay. Just like the Tigrean led regime of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian people and Ethiopian opposition groups, needs to learn lessons from the 2005 election. First and foremost, the opposition needs to give up the ownership of peaceful protests and other non-violent resistance movements to the people, instead of creating what seems a cult of personality and an interest group owned by a single organization.

Not too long ago, when I was still a high school student in the godforsaken Ethiopia, every time there was a student uprising in Ambo/Shambu or Haromaya (towns in different regions of Oromia), Oromo students at every corner of the country took it to the streets in solidarity with their fellow students. That is a lesson worth learning and needs to be replicated if anything substantial is to be achieved through a non-violent struggle to topple the dictatorial regime of Ethiopia. At that time non-Oromo Ethiopian students (at various colleges across the country) went to classes normally as Oromo students were dismissed in sheer numbers. That is a mistake Ethiopians cannot afford to repeat.

But again as the political environment changed, the demographic pattern in terms of access to political power has drastically shifted under the current regime. It used to be the case that some sections of Ethiopian ethnic groups were favored. But now, everyone seems to be feeling the heat that the Oromo has been feeling for well over a century. For some groups, especially the Amhara, the Meles era marks a beginning of new experience with alienation from power. Don’t get me wrong here, the peasants and rural dwellers in the Amhara region may not have been as fortunate as the elites. But the difference is that they were never forcefully subdued, massacred, harassed, and humiliated because of their ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background. That is primarily because then it was the Amhara elites who were doing all the wrongs to the nations and nationalities in the south.

Media and the Ethiopian Diaspora
In this section, I will talk about the state of Internet Technology in Ethiopia, and the role a media powered and wired by the Internet can play in the upcoming elections. I will also try to point out some lessons that can be drawn from recently contested elections from around the globe.

Internet Access and Usage in Ethiopia
Ethiopia is one of the early modern African states to develop telecommunication infrastructure dating back to 1894. And the country has seen a steady growth of Internet and mobile phone services in recent years. However, usage and development is lagging far behind most African nations owing to the repressive nature of the Ethiopian government. Perhaps, an overwhelming majority of rural Ethiopia haven’t heard about the phenomenon of Internet to date. Moreover, civil society faces a tremendous challenge to use the Internet in order to influence policy decision making or organize the public.

It’s not a coincidence that most of the opposition websites are blocked year-round in Ethiopia not to mention the alleged monitoring of incoming and outgoing email communications by Ethiopian authorities. Donors and international agencies have challenged the Ethiopian regime to privatize the service. Yet their efforts haven’t yet produced results and the reality on the ground doesn’t match the Ethiopian government’s rhetoric of privatization and economic growth.

The government argues that since it launched the Internet service in 1997, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) has taken initiatives to reduce Internet tariff and to upgrade the bandwidth using international satellite link. Also according to a case study by ITU, Ethiopia had upgraded its Internet service from 256 Kbps to 512 Kbps in Nov.1998. Currently, it is said that the upgrade from 512 Kbps to 1 MB is in process and the implementation is being carried out with the collaboration of United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and provided by France telecom (ITU, 2000). A similar report by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) states that the upgrading process is intended to reduce the monthly fees making it more affordable. With the total of 6,152 Internet subscribers in 2002, several pilot tele-centers and cybercafés are being built around the country by agencies like the British Council, added the report (UNECA, 2002).

Internet Strategy and Policy
Ethiopia is a closed economy little affected by globalization. Though there have been rapid improvements in this regard since the downfall of the communist regime in 1991, there still remains a lot to be done to integrate the flagging economy into the global market powered by the Internet. As indicated above, Internet use and access is regulated by a state-run telecommunication agency.

According to a news report by Cyber Ethiopia (2006), since the contested May 2005 Ethiopian election and with the annihilation of the local free press, the activists in the country have taken turn to air their concerns through the Internet. The Ethiopian Diaspora used fresh reports by bloggers based in the capital and other places in the country to expose the mass atrocities. To combat the online activism by the opposition and the rights group, the regime had widely invested in implementing surveillance technologies. The report also noted that the Ethiopian government had “pioneered Internet censorship in Africa” with increased devotion of “resources and attention to controlling access to information via the Internet” (Cyber Ethiopia, 2006).

As a result of the pressure from global media watchdogs like Reporters Without Borders and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), “the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (the state monopoly and sole Internet Service Provider in the country) seemingly unblocks the access randomly for few hours in an attempt to confuse end-users in Ethiopia by suggesting a technical glitch from the website owners rather than censorship from the government” (Cyber Ethiopia, 2006).

In response to CPJ’s open inquiry letter to Ethiopian Ministry of Information, a government official has denied the reports, hinting that the government knows of an “illegal and unethical media in Ethiopia” according to Cathy Majtenyi for Voice of America news.
ITU (2002) also confirms that ETC monopoly over the Internet, poor infrastructure; limited service and unsatisfied demands are the contemporary challenges to the development of Internet technology aside from the unaffordable subscription fees. The report counsels privatization of Internet provision by ETC and “a clear policy on value added services such as web design, site hosting or cybercafés” would be the necessary steps towards an “open market”.
The Ethiopian Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (EICTDA) contends that the government of Ethiopia is carrying out a vigorous campaign to integrate Ethiopia into global market by promoting “ICT-driven socio-economic development process and transform[ing] Ethiopia from an agriculture-based economy and society to a predominantly knowledge- and information-based economy”. According to the document the key target of Ethiopia’s ICT policy is “to develop Ethiopia into a socially progressive and prosperous nation with a globally competitive, modern, dynamic and robust economy through the development, deployment and exploitation of ICT within the economy and society”.

At the face value, the rhetoric seems an ambitious plan on the part of the Ethiopian government, but critics dismiss these claims on the account of the government’s strict control over the Internet which is supposed to be “highly decentralized, self-governing, fluid, chaotic, and most importantly 'access-to-all' network” (Kinde, 2007).

Just for the record, Ethiopia’s Internet policy doesn’t even comply with the terms of its own constitution which proclaims “everyone has the right to hold opinions without interference…through any media of his choice. Freedom of the press and other mass media and freedom of artistic creativity is guaranteed…censorship in any form is prohibited” (Ethiopia, 1994). Furthermore, it is also in direct contradiction with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states, “the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” (UN, 1948).

That being the sad state where things stand in terms of Internet use and growth, there still seems a window of opportunity to systematically use the Internet to wage a strong campaign against the current regime of Ethiopia during the 2010 election.

It is naïve to compare Ethiopia to Kenya, Zimbabwe and Iran where recent election riots were highly publicized. If we look at the recent Iranian election, most of the news reports were not coming from CNN, BBC or other major cable news networks. Rather, in what some people referred to as “a revolution in social media”, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and the giant video sharing site, YouTube, played a central role in the protest movement.
These are great lessons that can be replicated in Ethiopia. I urge the opposition groups to pay close attention to recent elections around the world and re-think their campaign strategies. Text messages, Facebook and other social media’s maybe blocked but the internet offers a wide array of possibilities. Instead of simply telling the Diaspora the reality on the ground is different from our perceptions of the happenings in Ethiopia, the opposition groups must reach out to all “Ethiopian” expatriates to effect change during the upcoming election. If nothing else can be accomplished, the Diaspora and opposition can work hand-in-hand to expose the naked truth about Ethiopian dictators.

In summary, I would like to reiterate that Mr. Zenawi and his allies will not give up their comfortable seats through democratic process. And that the Ethiopian people have all the means's at their disposal to force the current minority junta out of power. Although there is a greater strength in numbers, forming alliance after alliances does not guarantee electoral victory in Ethiopia. I think that is “the reality on the ground” the opposition leaders need to inhale. Armed struggle is the proven best and viable solution to free Ethiopia and its people from corruption, misery and the TPLF regime, had it not been for a low-key and sporadic progress made in that front. Thus, at this juncture and as the regime is posed to once again claim a hallow victory from sham election, there left no alternative to a well coordinated (internal and external) and all inclusive non-violent resistance.

The Diaspora is making significant progress with the most recent march in the nation’s capital (Washington DC) and another planned protest in Pittsburgh, Ohio during the upcoming G20 summit. Yet there remains a lot to be accomplished as far as rallying all “Ethiopians” instead of simply claiming so. Communities like the Oromo would feel most welcome if themes other than “free Birtukan” are included. What still angers most people is the fact that “Ethiopian” activists call for release of few and prominent politicians in a country where an estimated 20,000 Oromos and countless others are illegally imprisoned. As I said repeatedly, in Ethiopia the Internet service is monopolized and controlled by government, yet it still offers abundance of opportunities if the opposition learned to capitalize on it. Maybe the elite Diaspora professors and political gurus can play a central role in devising purposeful campaign strategies that can be implemented in Ethiopia instead of engaging in endless back-biting.
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UNECA. (2002). Ethiopia Internet Connectivity:

[2] CyberEthiopia. (2006, September ). Internet Repression in Ethiopia.

[3] EICTDA. (2007). ICT Policy.

[4] Kinde, S. (2007, November). Internet in Ethiopia - Is Ethiopia Off-line or Wired to the Rim?

[5] UN. (1948, December 10). Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Oromo Press has no responsibility for the views, opinions and information communicated here; they belong to the author or contributor of the text.

2009-08-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

Inside the literary realm of one of Poet Asafa Tefera Dibaba's books

In his poems book titled My People/ Decorous Decorum, Asafa Dibaba (2006) lucidly expresses and brings to attention the political silence of the Oromo while and after the May 2005 "elections" despite the no-gain of the people from the "elections" both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The poems represent the profound reflections of the versatility and professionalism of the poet in pulling together his personal, political, linguistic, cultural and poetic resources. The linguistic beauty of the poem is shown in the poet´s contextual use of Afan Oromo diction in English texts. A myriad of Oromo words are seen in the poems, which are philosophically value laden; are very much in use by Gadamojjiis or Gadaa Elders with crystallized experiences. Instances of such a language include words such as 'Faarsaa, Geerarsaa, Malkaa Irreessaa, Hora Arsadii,Finna, Hoo´u-qubaa, Heera and Seeraa and so on. They make greater senses when looked at from context in the poem itself. Indeed, Greek and Roman vocabularies embellish the lines of Dibaba's poems beautifully.

From the content analysis, it appears that the poet criticizes the present silence of the Oromo
people which is arguably absolutely contrary to the deadly circumstances in which they are caught up and remain stifled. On this ground, he urges for an immediate withdrawal from this passive state of mind and physique-apathy.

In the opening stanzas, a between- the- line comprehension shows the poet satirizes the Oromo quietude though it appears he is extolling it. In stanza 3 the poet likens the depth and breadth of the present silence to "Malkaa Irreessaa" , "Hora Arsadii and Waqaa". He speaks of the people as the appropriate beings to tell its plight during what is described in the poem as "these long nights". In the next stanza the poet presents the disparaging views of invading aliens against the Oromo and its movements. In stanza 5, 6 and 7 he suggests that there is a critical step to be taken by the people: "when the road taken is wrong, the road not taken is right"
(Dibaba 2006:3).

Most strikingly, in stanza 23 (p.7), the poet invites his people to make
weapons with which to fight for the injustices in Biyya Oromo--Oromiyaa-- out of his physical being from his flesh, blood and bones. This alludes to the persuasion that everyone must present himself as a price for freedom rather than praying to stay alive to see a free Oromia. This stanza is one of the few stanzas that stand out from the whole poem, containing the core theme of the the book.

better later than never, My people.
make a bow and arrow out of my bone
make a string and sling out of my skin
make storm out of my anger
and tempest out of my tear and blood
make mud out of my flesh
make
glue out of my sweat
and protect this Land, bond this Nation
before you
die. If we are not living,
then why not We die? (p.7).

In the foregoing sections of his poems, the poet exposes the corrupt
characteristics of the people, likened to making ´love with concubines´, ´settling disputes and appeasing gods´ and ´effervescing on fabulous feast´. In the wake of these preoccupations with their corrupt behaviors, they could not respond to timely calls of struggling for survival and fatherland. In stanza 23, however, the poet emphasizes that they must stop all forms of corrupt behaviors contributing to Oromo passivity, which, in return, leads to the postponement of the " an un-ended quest"--remaking the Oromo Nation and protecting it. Otherwise, the plight, disillusionment, destruction, exploitation and suppression imposed on the people will endure.

The ironical state of having a house and no home, having a land and no country, having a people and no nation nor nationality and having no citizenship will continue producing more subjects, exiles, and distractedness in the Fatherland of the Oromo people:

I have a House
I have no Home
I have a Land
I have no Country
I have a People
I have no Nation
nor Nationality
or Citizenship-
I am Subject
I am on Exile
on my Fatherland,
My people,
where is my Home
what is my country
Who am I?
or, what is the difference? (10)

(Asafa Dibaba 2006).

It is my subjective interpretation of the above quote from his book that he speaks to injustice imposed on Oromo individuals like himself, who stand for universal physical and intellectual freedoms. He speaks in the poems that it is only possible to have a home, a country, a nation, nationality and citizenship if only one comes back and examines ones conscience and takes pragmatic actions to possess all that are naturally his/hers including his/her life, freedom, rights and property.

Asafa Tefera Dibaba speaks of not only abstractions in the poems, but, perhaps, also of his oppressor-disrupted life experience. Dibaba has hopped from job to job, from one part of the empire of Ethiopia to another and even landed one of harshest Ethiopian prisons in Finfinne/Addis Ababa because government officials have not liked his novel, independent, artistic and scholastic literary works ever since he started writing poetry books.

In recent years, Ethiopian government-appointed university and college officials in Jimma town fired the poet professor-- Asafa Dibaba-- for fear of his popularity among Oromo university students. Once, his books were removed from Jimma College library so students will not read them and be influenced by them. As the poet is targeted for separation from the public, so have been his books, which further ignites in the minds of his students and readers unstoppable searches and researches for his genuinely Oromo poetry masterpieces of this century.

2009-08-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

Ani nama tokko: kabaja Afaan Oromoo keessatti

Dhirafi dubartii umuriin ga’eeyyifi akkasuma namtokkee aangoo maahaallaqaa, siyaasaafi barnootaa qabu/du “kabaja dhorkanii” “ati” jechuun dubbisuun, namoota baay’ee akka tasaa wal lolchiisaa jira. Xumuroota, maqaafi dabala-maqaa kabaja agarsiisan fayyadamuun aadaa jiddu-galeecha Oromiyaafi lafa Oromoon Maccaafi Tuulamaa idda Boranaarra dhufe itti argamutti jabaatee gadi seenee argama.

Fallaa kanaan, walga’ii Waldaa Qorannoo Oromoo (WQO) bara 2009 Atlanta, Georgia tti geggeeffame deemeen ture. Mi’a koo kutaa hoteelaa koo keessa lafa kaawwadheen, bilsarraa gadi bu’ee lafa keessummoonni hooteelichaa ciree itti nyaatanitti deeman ture. Nama bifti isaa Oromoo fakkaatu tokko ta’ee argeen nagaa gaafachuudhaaf itti siqe. Eyyee, namichi Oromoo ture akkuman yaade.

“Akkam jirtan?”, himan ani gara namtichaatti darbadhe. Namtichi immoo, “Ani nama tokko!”, jedhee naaf deebise. Umuriidhaan narra waan jiruuf kabajaan waamuu kooti ture. Jalqabarra naaf hingalle ture maalif akka akkas jedhe. Na ajaa’ibisiise. Deebiin isaa qoosaa see’een anis wajjin kolife. Inni gara Shawaa Bahaatti dhalate America keessa walumaagala umurii kooti caala jiraate. Animmoo handhuura Oromiyaa lixa shawaarraayi maddi koo. Nu lachuu giddu galeessa Oromiyaarraa dhufine.

Oromoon ummata aadaa nama hundumaa qixxeetti laalu yoo qabaateefi yoo Sirna Gadaan bule, nam-tokkeedhaaf kabaja danuu fayyadamuun seenaan isaa eessaa nutti dhufe?

Barreeffamini kuni seenaa kabajaa Afaan Oromoo keessatti gabaabisee dhiyeecha. "Dhiyeechaa" kana beekadhuman fayyadame, sababiin isaa bakkan dhufeef mallattoo akka ta’uufi.

Ciree koo fudheen gadi taa’ee maaliif akkas akka jedhe akka naaf ibisuuf, gaaffiiwwan dabalataa isa gaafadhe. Innis haala namaa galuun akkasitti kaa’e: “Afaan Oromoo keessatti nama tokkoon akkam jirta jennaa? Hinjennu. Oromoon saba Sirna Gadaan buleefi bulu waan ta’eef, guddaas xiqqaas walqixxeetti laala.” Seenaan nam-tokkee dhira yookaan durbartii kabajaan dabala maqaafi xumura daneessuun waamuun waan erga Oromiyaan Abisinyaan cabidee, sirni Gadaa laafaa dhufee, roga Oromiyaa giddu- galeessafi lixarraan babal’achaa dhufe ta'uu naaf ibise. Maddi kabaja akkasiis Amaaraadha jedhe. Anis callisee hinfudanne, sababiin isaa Obbo Jimaa D. Tufaatiin reefuma walbarrre; anis ilaalcha jabaataa 'kuni durumaanuu Afaan Oromoo keessa jiraachuu hinoolle' jedhun qaba ture.

Yaanni tokko moo’achuu qaba waan ta’eef, marii ho’aafi walmormii keenya itti fufine. Anis, “ Oromiyaa keessa ammatti iddoon kabajini hinjirre jiraa?”, jedheen isa gaafadhe. Eyyen, jedhe miiltoon kiyya, Oromiyaa gara Bahaarra, Kibbaarrafaa ammayyuu ijoolleen jaarsafi maanguddootaan “ati” jedhu isaanis dargaggoo kanatti hinmufatanii”. Kuni kaa Oromiyaa gara Baarentummaafi Borana gara kibbaa ta’uu isaati.

Miiltoon kiyya naaf kabjamuu diduun isaa baay’ee na dinqe, garuu na hinaarsine. Sababiin isaas, namoonni umurii miiltoo kiyyaan walgitan gariin ykn caalaan isaanii kabajamuu barbaadu. Kabajamuu bifa daneessuu dabala maqaafi xumuraatiin jechuu kiyya. Ammuman itti yaade, yaanni isaa na amansiisaa deeme. Kabajini Oromiyaa iddoowwan amantaan Kiristaana Pheenxeefi Ortodokisii babal’atee jiru keessatti, kabaja akkasii guyyumaan dhagahuun waan baramedha. Waa’ee kana shakkiin tokkolle hinjiru. Bal’inaan hinjiru jedhee yaada isaa haaluun soba taha. Tarii kuni iddoowwan amantiin Isilaamaafi Waaqeffannaa bal’inaan jiranitti waan darbe darbee jiru ykn gonkumaayyuu hinjirre ta’uu mala, akka yaada miiltoowwan kootti. Ammas, kana mirkaneessuuf beektonni xin-qooqaa qorannoo gadifagoo geggeessanii nutti himuu qabu yookanis immoo qorannoon geggeeffamee kan ani carraa laaluu hinqabatinis jiraachuu mala.

Yaannin waa’ee seenaa kabajaa ilaalchisee miiltoo koo isa duraa Jimaa D. Tufaarraa argadhe kun gaaffii natti kaaseen dabalaan baruu barbaade. Guyyaa lammaffaarratti, miiltoon koo inni lammaffaan Hoteela tokko keessa na wajjin ture, Jarmaniirraa walgahii WQOf dhufe. Tammanaa Bitimaati maqaan isaa. Obbo Tammanaan durmaanuu qorannoo Afaan Oromoo waan baay’ee geggeessaa tureef, nama dhimma kanarratti aangoo beekumsaan dubbachuu danda’u. Waanan baruu barbaade karaa seenaafi saayinsaawaa naaf mirkaneessuuf dandeettii isaa qaba jechu kooti. Umuriidhanis taanan, Tammanaan dachaadhaan na caala. Kanaafuu, akkuman Jimaarraa baradhe, isarrayis barachuufan of qopheesse.

Tammanaa, Jimaafi Ani dhimma kanarratti saa’aatiiwwan dheeraadhaaf haasofine. Nu sadanuu mataduree kanatti baay’ee gammadine. Yaanni Obbo Tammanaas yaada miiltoo kiyya isa duratirraa adda hinturre. Obbo Tammanaanis akka tasaa ta’ee, madddi isaa Shawaa, jiddu-galeecha Oromiyaa ture. Kana kanan kaasuf, mataduree kana waliin waan walqabatuufi malee hundumti keenyayyuu lagatti/gandummaatti amaanuu guddannee bira dabarreerra—Oromummaafi Oromiyaatti amanna.

Namini itti dubbannu, kan umurii, aangoo ykn qabeenyaan nu caalu yoo ta’e, maqaa, dabala maqaafi xumura namtichaa ykn dubartittii daneessuun, “Isin akkam jirtu?”, jedhanii nama tokko (baaqqee) waamuun godinaalee Oromiyaa Maccaafi Tuulamini irra qubatee jiruratti beekamadha. Kuni Wallagga ykn lixa Oromiyaas nidabalata. Kuni ragaa Tammanaan ba’e.

Namini lama yaada walfakkaatu tokko waan qabuuf, ani amma nama yaada bicuu ta’uu kooti. Yaada bicuu qofas osoo hintaane, tarii, yaadaan jiruuf jireeya keessa maatiifi hawaasan keessa burqerraa baradhe, heedduu jaaladhu. Yaanni kunis ergan Afaan hiikkadhee waan na wajjin tureef, akka dhugaatti osoo hinqeeqin walbareenii, waliqimiseenin jira. Akka salphaatti of keessaa baasuun hindanda’amu. Ammarree, jaarsa, jartiifi nama guddaatti gaafan dhufe osoon hinbeekin kabaja seerluga Afaan Oromoo daneessutiinan waama. Yoon akkas jechuu badhe waanan, jarsicha ykn jarsittii miidhee, mufachiise ykn xiqqeesse natti fakkaata.

Sababii kabaja seerlugaa irraa hanbisuutiin namini mufatu heedduudha ammatti. Fakkeenyaaf, akka Jimaan natti himetti, al- tokko qondaaltonni ABO duraanii faa dhimma kanaaf jecha waldhabanii akka turan namoonni jijaan argan irraa hubachuun nidanda’ama. Yeroo tokko, sabboonaan Oromoo du’aan darbe Obbo Sisaay Ibisaa, Galasaa Dilbootiin “ati” jedhee waamnan, Galaasaan aariidhaan samii jala bahe jedhama. “Akkamitti ‘ati’ naan jetta?” dhaan lamaan baay’ee wal-lolaafi walitti aaraa akka turan nidubbatama. Nammoonni naannoo Galaasaarraa dhufan tokko tokko akkamitti Obbo Sisaay, Galaasaadhaan ‘ati’ jedhe, jedhanii akka ajaa’ibsifamniifi aaran Jimaan nidubbata. Egaa, haala akkasiin aadaa Oromiyaa gargaraarraa namoonni dhufan wal-hubachuu dhabuudhaan, kabajarratti wal-lolanii waliin oodanii adda kan hafan, manni haa lakkaa’un jedha.

Ijoon dubbii koo: 'dhuguma seerlugaan nam-tokkee daneessinee kabajuun aadaa ormaatirraa kan nutti dhufe yoo ta’e, akkamitti odoo wal hinloliniifi walitti hinmufatin, namini hunduu akka bifa walqixxummaatiin wal ilaalee “ati” waliin jedhu, waan barame kana gachisiisinee, isa durii kan yeroo Sirna Gadaatti deebisina jamaa?' Moo, kabaja seerlugaa kana akkuma jirutti Afaanicha keessatti tikisinee itti fufuu qabina? Kuni nama Xinqooqa Afaan Oromoo geggeessuu fedhuuf mataduree xiinxalaa jabaa ta’uu mala.

Gama biraan ammoo, haala ragaa yaadaa (logic) tiin yoo yaanne, dhugumaa nama tokkicha baay’isinee “Isn akkam jirtu?” jechuuniin waan bitaa-galaafi waldhahaa fakkaata. Akkan yaadutti, kabajinni kabaja seerlugaa qofaan waan mul’atu miti. Kabajini osoon nama tokko hindaneessin ykn hinbaay’isin bifa gochaan mul’isuun ni danda’ama. Kanas jechuun, namini tokko Afaaniin “Isin akkam jirtu?” nama guddaadhaan jechuun saa dhugumaan dhimmee nama kabajuu isaatiif wanti ittiin mirkaneeffannuu hinjiru. Afaaniin “isini” jechaa gochaan nama salphisuun nidanda’ama.

Dhimmi kabaja seeruluga daneessuu kun sirriidha ykn dogoggoraadha jennee waan murtii salphaa irratti dabarsuu hindandeenye. Ammamiyyuu haa baay’atuu, qaamini hawaasaa tokko waligaltee baramuun naaf ta’e jedhee, seera akkasii dhimma itti yoo ba’e, gachisiisuun salphaa hinta’u. Wanti gochuun danda’amu garuu namini nam-tokkee daneesses ta’e osoo hindaneessin yoo nama biraa waame, namni waamamu sun akka hinmufanne barsiisuun nidanda’ama. Jechootafi seerlugaan badhadhuun Afaan Oromoo akka luka samiifi baldhina dachii baldhaa akka ta’e ifagalaadha.

Tarii, naminin dur ani si beekufi narra umuriin guddaa kan taate, gaafan si argee ‘Ati akkam jirta?” sin jedhu, natti hindallaninini, hinaarini! Maqaa, dabala maqaafi xumura kee daneessuu dhisuun koo kabjaan ani siif qabu sirraa hinfudhatu. Inumaayyuu lamaan keenya akka haala dimokiraatawaadhaan walqixxummaadhaan wal ilaallee caalatti waliin haasofinu nu tolcha.

Walumaagalatti, kuni cuunfaa yaada marii miilttoowwan koo waliin geggeesserraafi muxxannoo koorraa argame. Miltoowwan kootin galatoomayin jedhaani. Kanarratti yaada ykn fakkeenya yoo qabatte, bakka dhuftee ibsuun, yaada irratti laachuu afeeramtee jirta. Yoomirraa kaaseefaa kabajini seerlugaa Afaan Oromoo akka seene wanti beekitu jirannan, yaanni kee ho’inaan simatama.

2009-07-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

The Nexus Between Climate Change and Conflict in the Horn of Africa

Two children watching over the skeleton of dead animals in arid south
Oromia.

The Nexus Between Climate Change and Conflict in the Horn of Africa
This article tries to generally explore the nexus between conflict and climate change and vice versa in Africa. In so doing, it uses US President Barrack Obama´s Accra speech as a point of entry. It cites concrete examples from some Horn of African countries and localities.

"Africa gives off less greenhouse than any other part of the world, but it is the most threatened by climate change. A warming climate will spread disease, shrink water resources, and deplete crops, creating conditions that produce more famine and conflict," stated Barack Obama in his first speech to the sub-Saharan Africa as the President of the United States of America from Ghana, Accra.

Regarding African climate, this text is highly significant in that the President not only demonstrates his precise understanding of the apocalyptic climate peril Africa is experiencing and the need for swift global actions to avert it, but also pinpoints to the nexus between conflict, climate change and famine on the continent. As an observer of the region of the Horn of Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular, when I heard Obama talk about the threats of climate change to Africa, I could easily visualize and relate the story to the climate peril that is unfolding and the conflicts in south Oromia and Somali regions amongst pastoralist neighbors in Ethiopia .

In primitive agrarian economies such as Ethiopia there are recurring signs of the nexus between climate change and conflict.

In March 2009, in precisely two days, heavily armed Garri Somalis raided Borana Oromo villages and massacred over 300 civilians and internally displaced an estimated 70,000 defenseless Oromo civilians over presumably scarce water resource from boreholes. BBC news reported on this conflict in a story titled "Water pipes spark Ethiopian conflict", but the story downplayed the nature of the conflict and framed it as just another "primitive battle" among Africans on water points. The BBC story did not clearly identify the actors in the conflict and the invisible hands behind the conflict, contrary to the popular belief that the conflict was orchestrated by the Ethiopian government, which was accused of arming neighboring Somali tribes to invade Oromo areas. This is a very common method of divide- and- rule some tyrannical governments, including Ethiopia, follow to stay in power in Africa.

It is not unheard of that some governments in Africa burn down villages and forests in order to contain dissent or rebellion. This was recently seen in major scenes of war-crimes such as Darfur in Sudan, Oromia and Ogaden in Ethiopia.

In this political speech, President Obama deserves a great credit for generally stating the relationship between conflicts and climate change other than the obvious natural causes of climate change. Do major scale national and international conflicts in the Horn of Africa cause or significantly contribute to climate change? Investigating the correlation and / or causal relationship between conflicts and climate change is up to academic authorities in climate change, but it is my view that the chronic mega conflicts between government and rebels, governments and governments, factions and factions over scarce resources may have substantially contributed to the irreparable destruction of the natural environment thereby rapidly worsening climate crisis on the continent. The question of climate change for Africa is "to live or not to live"—it is a fight to prevent continental self-annihilation in which the human factor is enormous.

Some results from scientific investigations conducted on the continent to asses climate change abundantly make it clear that climate change in Africa is not just some kind of legend or fairytale, but a harsh daily reality in many ways. A Gallup survey in several sub-Saharan African countries finds that Africa may be noticing effects of climate change. The study notes climate change is anticipated to harshly affect agricultural production and food security on the continent. The regional (sub-Saharan) average for respondents who believe climate is getting warmer is 69%; and the regional average for respondents who perceive life will be harder if climate changes is 63 %; and the regional average for those who believe desserts are expanding is 52%. Even with a sampling error of +/- 5 % and some expected questionnaire bias, we see that Africans have woken up to the harsh reality that things are never going to be the same for themselves and their children.

The worst internal and international wars, conflicts, and genocides as result of diminishing water and food supply is yet to come unless drastic measures are taken stop them. Unfortunately, undemocratic and unelected governments are likely to blame internal conflicts on climate change to avoid responsibility for their bad governance and to weaken the support base of perceived ethnic political opponents.

The acclaimed United Nations author, Michael Klare, in his book titled "Resource Wars" predicts the possibility of national and international conflicts amongst countries up and downstream the Nile River Basin such as Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, and so on. International rivers are just one of the factors in domestic and international conflicts that have occurred or yet to occur in Africa.

Klare describes many more terrifying dooms: "…the world´s natural forests are disappearing at the rate of about 0.5% a year—equivalent to the loss of forest the size of England and Wales…70 % of the world´s tropical dry forest has been obliterated."

In order to survive, Africa needs to fight climate change alongside its global partners. There need to be a more robust international media presence in worst affected localities in the Horn of Africa. Such media must be willing to dig for specific details and contextualise those details according to local realities and actors. It is good to see documentary films of the troubles climate change is spelling for polar bears and other beautiful land and sea animals, but the troubles that climate change is spelling on human beings in Africa is totally ignored. Symbols and images of the harsh effects of climate change should rather be diversified than just be restricted to cultures that have polar bears and ice . This is especially up to Africans and also up to those globally funding climate change campaigns.

Individuals, western governments and organizations leading the global climate change campaign need to systematically integrate methods that give due consideration to the "conflict factor" in climate change in the Horn of Africa. US President Barack Obama believes in the power of young people and the change from bottom-up—this may be a great model that can be adopted in major global climate change policies and campaigns towards Africa.

Notes and Links:
BBC News. Water pipe sparks Ethiopian conflict. Retrieved 07/15/2009 from,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7929104.stm
Gallup. African may be noticing effects of climate change. Retrieved 5/28/2009 from,
http://www.gallup.com/poll/103105/Africans-May-Noticing-Effects-Climate-Change.aspx

Klare, M.2001. Resource wars: the new landscape of global conflicts. New York: Henry Holt.
VOA News. Text of President Obama's speech to Ghana's parliament. Retrieved Tuesday, July 14, 2009 from
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-11-voa6.cfm
Picture: Wikipedia.org

2009-07-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

In Ethiopia, press freedom violations continue despite Zenawi’s rhetoric

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi recently sat down with the Financial Times for an in-depth interview regarding the state of affairs in his country. One comment he made suggested that Ethiopian journalists can freely criticize their government. When the FT suggested that there exists “an atmosphere in which people do not feel free to speak,” Zenawi replied, “Have you read the local newspapers? Do they mince their words about government...”

However, others familiar with the media in Ethiopia say that the press in Ethiopia is not free to criticize the government. Despite Zenawi being seen as an ally by Western countries such as the U.S. and the U.K, his government has a bad record on press freedom. The ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which is composed mainly of the ethnic Tigrayans, is reportedly harsh towards other ethnic groups. Read more at the source RAP21.org

2009-07-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

July Fourth Beyond Beer, Picnics and Baseball Games

The Capitol--one of the major symbols of America's Freedom

American good friend of mine forwarded me an email message, on which the title of this blog entry is based.

As an exiled Oromo living in the United States, I understand appreciate the American people who celebrate their Independence Day. Beyond every glamorous celebration, there are always heroes in any free society, who sacrificed their lives, property, knowledge and skills for freedom and justice.

I quote the email forwarded to me in order to highlight what happened to some of the 56 men from all walks of life, who signed the Declaration of Independence:

• Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
• Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
• Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons
captured.
• Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the
Revolutionary War.
• They signed and they pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor.

In essence, Americans lived under the oppressive British colonial rule before the founding fathers earned them Independence they deserved through bitter struggle--blood and sweat.
I capped my Fourth of July weekend with a museum tour of the Walt Whitman Birth Place, one of the nationally registered historic places in New York, USA. This museum contains Walt Whitman's amazing poetry books, manuscripts and historic artifacts circa 1819. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. His major works included Leaves of Grass, which is considered controversial at his time. His poetry work dealt with issue relating to the American Civil War. Besides his poems centered, inter alia, around the themes of democracy, abolition slavery, he wrote a famous poem titled "O Captain! My Captain!" in memory of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). Lincoln was his contemporary and Whitman is said to be his admirer. Read more about Poet Walt Whitman's biography at biographic information at http://www.waltwhitman.org/about/about-whitman

The Oromo people of South Ethiopia, who are to date under the oppressive Abyssinian colonial rule, deserve freedom and national representation. Freedom for the Oromo people in Ethiopia can be earned via visionary and practical Oromo heroes who pledged their lives for freedom. There will come a day when Oromo people and other oppressed people in Ethiopia will struggle hard to earn their freedom and write their own Declaration of Independence. To this end, the Oromo people ask for the support of every American freedom lover and especially from the US government.

2009-06-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

Ten Points to Achieve Bilisummaa Oromoo

By Fayyis Oromia

Hallo Oromo! Here is my attempt to find ten important principles we need to practice to attain our Bilisummaa. We can improve on them and then have them always in mind in order to live accordingly. Do your best to improve!

1. Think, talk and walk always in the interest of Oromo nation Oromia, but oppose those against our interests.

2. Promote Afaan Oromo in speaking and writing, but avoid temptations which make you prefer other languages.

3. Study, advocate and promote Amantii Oromoo aka Waaqeffannaa, but oppose those denigrating it.

4. Attain and maintain Tokummaa Oromoo for Bilisummaa, but oppose all those who sow discord among Oromians.

5. Respect the affiliation of Oromo to their region, party and religion, but oppose those playing with them to divide Oromos.

6. Have a picture of Biyya Oromoo always in mind and struggle for its sovereignty, but oppose those who act against our sovereignty and freedom.

7. Be patriotic or love your fatherland and have an understanding for other nations who do the same, but oppose those who fight against our patriotism or sabboonummaa.

8. Be excellent in your profession like our athlete Qananisaa Baqqalaa and our scientist Professor Gabbisaa Ejjetaa so that the world will be proud of you, but oppose those who denigrate our heroes.

9. Support a possible Union with our neighbouring nations, but oppose "unity" which is at the cost of our liberty.

10. Do your best to promote Oromia culturally, economically and politically, but oppose all sorts of foreign looters and oppressors in Oromia!

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Oromo Press has no responsibility for the views, opinions and information communicated here. The contributor(s) and news providers are fully responsible for their content. In addition, the views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the Oromo Press.

2009-06-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

Road Map to Creating a Three-State Solution for Lasting Peace, Freedom and Democracy in the Horn of Africa

This article will propose the creation of a three-state solution to the political standoff in Ethiopia. The creation of a three-state solution will undoubtedly end Abyssinians colonialism and ethno-racism in Ethiopia and in the larger Horn of Africa. This, in turn, will contribute to enduring peace and development in the region.

Abyssinians are known to have no or little civil and democratic culture by means of which rights of everyone can be respected. This has been the main reason that has caused wars, conflicts, economic depravity and environmental degradation in ‘Ethiopia’. Besides causing endless strife, Abyssinian forces have eroded the possibility of peoples’ peaceful co-existence in the region.

The viable alternative solution to North Ethiopia’s (Amhara and Tigray) natural incapability for freedom, democratization and peace is to create a three- state solution by any means possible. Here are the tentatively proposed names and members of the three states—three states means three sovereign countries:
STATE ONE: The Federal Democratic State of South Ethiopia or South Ethiopia in short will be comprised of these states who share the same history of suffering colonialism, genocide and economic exclusion under the Abyssinian rulers ( Amhara and Tigre):

i. State of Oromia
ii. State of Afar
iii. State of Ogadenia (Somalia)
iv. State of Benishangul/ Gumuz
v. State of Gambella
vi. State of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples

A national president, regional presidents and regional and capital cities of South Ethiopia (SE) will be democratically determined by the members states. The branches of government will be drawn from all member states through elections and voting systems.

STATE TWO: The State of Tigray. This state will be formed as a break-away state from Abyssinia because it is proven that Amharas and Tigres will never agree on power sharing and alliance forming issues. They are historical enemies. Since this state advances Tigrayan ethno-national supremacy, it won’t be accepted by the TWO STATES. It forms a state on its own as a result.

STATE THREE: The Republic of Amharia (Amhara). While the ordinary people of these nations are naïve and poor like all others, they have been manipulated for centuries by Amhara elites to wage wars against members of STATE ONE and STATE TWO. Amhara elites have been indoctrinating and preaching to the Amhara nation that they are the only people responsible to keep Ethiopia together. Being an Ethiopian in this sense is equated with being an ethno-national Amhara. For centuries these elites have fomented wars and conflicts and underdeveloped the country on their watch. It has also been proven for over a century that former leaders from the Amhra ethno-nation were incapable of creating a country that is free and democratic for all. The Tigryans are also incapable of the same. Amhra emperors and the intellectuals from this group have proven track records of operating in the guise of the words “Ethiopia’ and “Ethiopianism” by setting up preposterous political parties. The political parties with Ethiopian prefixes or suffixes have merely born the name of the country, but populated by purely Amhara or brainwashed and assimilated pro- Amhara supremacist groups and individuals. To create a lasting peace in the Horn of Africa, this nation must form the State of Amhara or Amharia on its own and revert to feudalism and creating secret societies.

For a long time, I have thought about how to end conflict, war, famine, injustice, colonialism and ethno-racism in Ethiopia; from experience, I always come to one conclusion that Abyssinians, who operate under the guise of ‘Ethiopia’ and ‘Ethiopianism’ and teach hatred represent only the interests of Amhara or Tigire ethno-nations’ economic and power supremacy. Because of these entrenched undemocratic, racist and supremacist culture and views amongst Abyssinians, it is impossible for member states of South Ethiopia (SE) to be forcefully kept into the current colonialist and ethno-racist state of Ethiopia, which represents merely minority interests. Peace, democracy and freedom are impossible to attain as long as the Amhara and Tigre elites are in political and economic power in Ethiopia. National elections before the dissolution and recreation of the proposed new nations will continue to be sham as they will be won by the gun-wielding Abyssinian groups. South Ethiopians must not expect anything out of the 2010 National Election and elections beyond that as long as extremist Tigrians elites are not disarmed or as long as they stay in the guise of Ethiopia, propped up by their monopolized “national army”.

The country is already going down the inevitable path of self-dissolution because of its undemocratic and unjust natures. The following You Tube video I came across on Oromantic's Weblog captures the the concept of possible disintegration of Ethiopia:

In the face of this self-destruction of Ethiopia, the member states of SE must create new power realignments and alliances and work towards establishing the DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SOUTH ETHIOPIA, which will be historically similar to South Sudan and South Korea. Naming and renaming this country can be further discussed with member states. The South Ethiopians will respect the rights to self-determination and secession of Amhara (Amharia) and Tigray .
This can be a roadmap to facilitate the creation of a practical three-state solution to complicated “Ethiopian” problems. The roadmap will contribute to lasting peace and prosperity in the Horn of Africa. This makes the peoples become each others’ good neighbors.

The international community has a moral responsibility to recognize all the three states and must especially work closely with the forthcoming state (country) of The Democratic Republic of South Ethiopia on various national, local and global issues.

2009-05-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

Environment in Peril in Oromia, Ethiopia

American Chronicle

Action Professionals Association for the People (APAP), a non-governmental organization, has released a new pollution and impact assessment report for rivers Akaki and Mojo in Oromia, Ethiopia. Based on laboratory analyses of toxic industrial chemicals in the river waters and clinical data of people affected, the APAP study reveals that the two rivers are the most polluted water bodies on earth by any standard. The report says the pollution of the rivers have put the lives of an estimated 150-200,000 rural population in peril. Industrial chemicals, heavy metals, organic pollutants, which are said to severely impair water quality, have been discovered in the waters. The rivers under study were once sources of fresh, clean and safe drinking water for thousands. Continue Reading...

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Related Stories:
VOA News on the dire conditions of envrionment in Oromia, Ethiopia
http://www.voanews.com/horn/Industrial-pollution-of-Akaki-Modjo-and-Sebeta-rivers.cfm

Watch an Al Jazeera's People & Power documentary on envrionment in Oromia, Ethiopia

2009-05-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Obama's First 100 Days Rated on African Policy Initiatives

This article was written by Oromsis Adula and edited and proofread by Qeerransoo Biyyaa.

Oromsis Adula is an intelligent blogger and cyber-activist. On his blog Opride.Com, Oromsis provides reports, analyses and comments on significant events happening in Oromia, Africa and the rest of the world. He contributed this article to Oromo Press on the issue closest to his heart-- US foreign policies in Africa.

Oromsis Adula's Article:
November 4th, 2009 marked a great milestone in American history and the history of people of African descent. For the first time in the history of mankind, a junior senator of African heritage got elected to the office of the President of the United States of America. It was a moment of jubilation and thrill...the euphoria was felt around the world. Millions wept out of happiness and for witnessing the unimagined prospect of an African-American president in a once the most racist nation on earth.

That great ecstasy was deeply felt in Africa more than any other places outside the United States. A young senator, whom many in Africa referred to as “a native son”, won the highest trophy ever imaginable. From the streets of Kogelo - Obama’s ancestral village, to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and anywhere in between, the jubilation was rampant.

Just like the triumph, expectations for a favorable American policy towards Africa were high in the air. Even African dictators, ironically the very people who have denied freedom to Africans and condemned them to a miserable life by failing to tackle or exacerbating the issues of corruption, mismanagement, environmental degradation, mal-governance, abuse of power, conflict, poverty and what not, praised Obama’s historic victory one after another. The worst of African dictators jumped on the bandwagon glorifying and praising Obama’s victory as historic and momentous. Here are few such praises from African leaders[i]:

***Mr. Moi Kibaki, President of Kenya described Obama´s victory as " a momentous occasion for Kenya…it is our own victory because of his roots here in Kenya… as a country, we are full of pride for his success…your victory is not only an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, but it has special resonance with us here in Kenya."

***Nigerian President Oumaru Yar´Adua…"the election of Barack Obama … has finally broken the greatest barrier of prejudice in human history. I believe for us in Nigeria, we have a lesson to draw from this historic event…that the election of Obama had "created a totally and completely new era."

***Denis Sassou Nguesso described Obama´s victory as “… a moving historic moment…we see how visionaries like Martin Luther King saw coming events. His dream has come true."

***Chad’s National Assembly Leader; Nasser Guelindoksia agreed that Obama´s victory “…is an example to follow, especially by Africans as Americans show that democracy knows no color, religion or origin."

***Somalia’s former President of the Transitional Somali Government, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed defined Obama´s victory as "…a great moment for America and for Africa…I am hopeful that he (President Obama) will help end the major crises in the world, particularly the endless conflict in my country."

***Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Beshir noted “…we would hope that the slogan of President Obama – change – would be reflected in the foreign policy of the United States…we would like to see some real change between Sudan and the United States."
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe expressed "…your election…carries with it hopes for millions of your country men and women as much as it is for millions of people of … African descent."

***Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe wrote “…as the government and people of Zimbabwe join you in celebrating this event in the history of the U.S.A, I take this opportunity to assure you Mr. President-elect that the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe remains ready to engage your government in any desirable endeavor to improve our bilateral relations”.

During his rigorous campaign season, Obama vowed to change American policy towards Africa. Among other things, Obama called on "Ethiopia and Eritrea to walk back from the brink of war which seemed unavoidable at the time…called for an increased pressure on Robert Mugabe to follow through with power-sharing agreement…promised to end the genocide in Darfur…pledged to formulate a new approach to the deteriorating situation in Somalia…strengthen Africom to promote peace, security, and stability on the continent”[ii].

Obama raised the bar even higher in his inaugural speech when he declared “to those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist…to all those watching tonight (January 20, 2009) from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces …huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand…those who seek peace and security - we support you”[iii].

Today, after 100 full days in office, Obama got an A or B grade on most of the things he has accomplished so far and for keeping most of his campaign promises. In his own words, Obama acknowledged: “I’m pleased with what has been accomplished so far, but we have got a lot of work to do”. Most commentators/journalists based their grading on wide range of issues but notably on the economy, transition to power, hiring scrambles, Afghanistan and Pakistan, environment, women’s rights, healthcare, transparency and accountability, bipartisanship, the closure of Guantanamo Prison and so on.

I wanted to look at what Obama folks have accomplished to solve the African policy conundrum in their first hundred days in office. Practically, nothing. I am not aware of any major campaigns by the African Diaspora or African interest groups with the exception of Save Darfur Coalition that had an agenda for the President in an effort to hit the ground running. Rather a whole host of expectations that the Obama people would be favorable in their approach towards African issues; hunger, poverty, HIV, corruption, democracy, regional peace and stability etc. that are not addressed. There is no doubt that the financial meltdown and the many challenges Obama has inherited from his predecessor has overshadowed his African and other policy initiatives [IV]. But it seems to me that the no-drama Obama team could have done a lot better if they moved "swiftly and quickly" as they have promised us - the enthusiastic supporters.

The visits of Senator John Kerry to Sudan and U.S. Rep. Donald Payne-- chairman of the Africa subcommittee on the House Foreign Affairs Committee-- to Mogadishu and the dramatic saga of Somali Pirates were among the few major African news makers involving the current U.S Administration[v].

John Kerry’s visit to Khartoum pushed the Sudanese government to agree to allow some of the expelled humanitarian and aid agencies back to Darfur. The piracy incident was hailed by many as Obama’s first national security test that he proficiently passed. There were also reports that the Obama administration is rethinking its Somalia strategy and Defense Secretary Robert Gates went as far as stating “…the ultimate solution for piracy is on land… there is no purely military solution to it..." and the instability and lawlessness in Somalia is key to the problem.
Whereas the insurgents fired mortar at Representative Payne's plane, there was little coverage of the purpose and result of the visit. But the congressman stated, “…the policy of constructive engagement [is] where you deal with the government, and let them deal with their internal problem" is essential to curbing piracy off the Somali coast. He added “…the Somali government doesn't want Americans to come run any nation-building programs…they want technical assistance…they need financial support, and they'll take care of it for themselves”[vi].

Very few journalists/pundits considered African Policy in their grade report/card. Bruce A. Dixon for the Black Agenda Report, one of the few people I have seen grading the President on African policy, gave him one out of five [vii]. I do not know if there are major initiatives in the works for Obama’s African policy. I sincerely hope so. But based on the selection of Ambassador Jonny Carson, a career diplomat noted for a track record of working in Africa, as Assistant Secretary State for African Affairs, I give the President a passing grade with an optimism that the administration will soon move "swiftly" to act on some of the pressing African issues and fulfill Obama’s campaign promises. It should also be noted here that Obama has followed through with his campaign promise to double overseas USAID which will be valuable in achieving the so called “Millennium Development Goals”. Of course only if African leaders can use it for intended, and most of the time unintended, purposes [viii].

American foreign policy on Africa usually focused disproportionately on short-term stability by embracing dictators. The Bush administration went even farther by subordinating the promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law to terrorism concerns, a practice very much reminiscent of cold-war tactics, and thereby alienated the vast majority of freedom seeking Africans. In a recent article Jason McLure of the Newsweek detailed how cunning and enterprising African leaders like Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia used US concerns about terrorism not only to silence his domestic political opposition but also wage a costly war on another already battered and failed African state, Somalia, with huge humanitarian, financial and political cost. After 100 days in office Obama did not even indicate if he would make a departure from this approach that failed both Africans and Americans or continue with it with a slight twist by default.

In short, it remains to be seen if the Obama Administration’s policies will match the rhetoric, the great expectations and the universal goodwill that the President enjoys! Africans of all walks of life are looking up to him to deliver them from repression, war, poverty and HIV/Aids.
Ultimately it is up to Africans, not Obama, to fix Africa’s debilitating problems. But the just, foresighted and generous hands of the most powerful President of the powerful won’t hurt.

[i] Tongkeh Fowale. What does Obama owe Africa? January 27, 2009.
accessed April 29, 2009.
[ii] Witney W. Schneidman. Africa: Obama's Three Objectives for Continent. September 26, 2008
accessed April 29, 2009
[iii] Barack Obama. Acceptance Speech. November 4, 2009.
and Inaugural Address January 20, 2009
<>
[iv] Daniel Wallis. Obama's many challenges overshadow Africa. April 28, 2009

[v] Peter Spiegel. Wall Street Journal. Somalia Government Is Key to Problem. APRIL 14, 2009

[vi] NPR’s All Things Considered, April 14, 2009. Payne Calls Somalia Shooting 'Act of Desperation'.
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[vii] Bruce A. Dixon for the Black Agenda Report. Obama's Africa Policy

[viii] Astrid Zweynert. Reuters. Obama's first 100 days: Key humanitarian issues

2009-04-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

Oromo in Washington DC protest against state injustice imposed on Oromo people in Ethiopia

The International Oromo Youth Association (IOYA), an umbrella organization for Oromo youth around the the world, marched in Washington DC on April 20,2009, protesting Ethiopian government's torutures and kilings directed against the Oromo people and other non-ruling populations in South Ethiopia. The demonstrators highlighted that Ethiopia has passed laws criminalizing the activities of human rights and civil society organizations throughout the country.

The aim of the peaceful demonstration was to create awareness among the American public about the existance and prevalence of tortures, killings and ethnic-cleansings in Oromia State, the largest state in Ethiopia. The recent criminalization of the operations of human rights organizations in the country is a sign that the government wants to scale up its open and secret torture and killings against Oromo people and others who dissent opression. The demonstrators called upon the US State Department and other international bodies to pay attention to the sufferings of the Oromo and other non-ruling populations of South Ethiopia.

However, their protest has never been broadcast by the mainstream television and newspaper networks in the United States. Since IOYA wants to create a wider public awareness about the injustice against Oromo and non-ruling populations in Ethiopia, I will integrally republish their press release for more exposure below:

A Peaceful Demonstration by Oromo youth in Washington D.C
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 30, 2009

The ever increasing repression of Oromos and other people in Ethiopia has become a big concern for Oromo youth across the globe. The disturbing news that rarely gets reported by international media is a daily occurrence for the Oromo mass in Ethiopia and neighboring countries which compelled us to get up and march in hopes of bringing public awareness to the alarming human rights violations in Ethiopia. As recent as March 5, 2009, the Ethiopian government brutally beat many Oromo students and arrested over 80 of them from Bahir Dar University merely for asking certain individuals be brought to justice for their derogatory remarks towards Oromia and Oromos as well.

In the past year alone, hundreds of innocent civilians including college students, business people, farmers, teachers and other professionals have been arrested without any warrant, detained without bail, tortured and extra-judicially killed. The arbitrary arrests did not spare even nursing women and the elderly. While the Ethiopian government is amassing millions of dollars from international donors, more than ten percent of the population is on the brink of starvation and millions of children are severely malnourished. The government has been hiding this grave situation that has been dubbed by many 'a green famine.' Lack of good governance and corruption of almost all government officials are the culprits for this humanitarian crisis.
To make matters worse, the Ethiopian government has been actively involved in obstruction of food distribution and other humanitarian assistance. Fleeing horrific war, grinding poverty, famine and exclusion from health care, Oromo migrants are forced to take in search of a better life in neighboring countries. While putting their lives in the hands of often brutal human smugglers, it is a known fact that many don't make it alive.International human rights watchdog groups have accused the Ethiopian government with war crimes and crimes against humanity for the inhuman crimes they committed in the southern and south eastern part of the country. With pretext of fighting rebels, innocent civilians are forcefully displaced from their communities or face execution. Their houses are burned down, their livestock confiscated, women raped and their whole community is ravaged by bloodshed. This is just the glimpse of what is happening in this forsaken part of the world. For fear that the government officials would be exposed for these heinous crimes; they recently enacted a legislation that restricts the work of independent human rights defenders and civil rights organizations. International human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have strongly condemned the new Charities and Societies Proclamation that criminalize human rights activities. This law is accompanied by another draconian media law that restricts press freedom and strips away the right of the public for free information. Whoever speaks out against the undemocratic Ethiopian government is silenced by arrest and in some cases worse. Many opposition political party leaders have been imprisoned and their supporters are being harassed and intimidated on a daily basis. Many analysts are saying the political space is narrowing even tighter and any kind of dissent is met severe punishments.

Hence, the International Oromo Youth Association hereby calls upon the international public, international media and government officials of powerful nations to join hands with the oppressed to push for a democratic change in Ethiopia that will usher in respect for human rights and also upholds good governance.
Picture credit: IOYA

2009-04-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

Elite Oromo Athlete, Deriba Merga Wins the Men's Boston Marathon

Most athletes who have made Ethiopia globally famous come from the extremely repressed Oromo people of Ethiopia. Their winning credits usually go to the same repressive regime that leverages the athletes' victories to build Ethiopia's national image in favour of ruling ethnic groups.

Ethiopian government excludes the Oromo people from being represented in national economic and political powers.

Because most athletes don't have language skills in English, Spanish, French or German, they don't do much to publicize the plight of their people back home. They could have been useful tools in drawing global attention to climate crises in the Horn of Africa, poverty, underdevelopment, human rights abuses against Oromo and other peoples.

They have, however, a tremendous potential to create global awareness that can help world leaders to address the mentioned problems once they crossed the threshold of basic consciousness. These famous athletes need to take intensive, crash courses in English to be able to communicate their humanitarian ideas after winning, instead of just packing up and going home with medals and cups.

Within the caveat Oromo Press provided above, read The Boston Globe's full coverage of the victory of Oromo athlete ts in Boston, USA.

Phto Credit: http://www.universalsports.com/

2009-04-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Google Afaan Oromoo
Tune in an informative interview on VOA Afaan Oromoo. This is regarding the translation and availability of Gooogle Afaan Oromoo Interface Search.
Afaan Oromoo is spoken by over 50 % of Oromo and non-Oromo Ethiopian speakers.
Hear Fully...

2009-04-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

US Policy in the Horn of Africa under the Obama Aministration

The Horn of Africa has recently seen renewed interest from several competing global economic powers including China, Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Brazil. Part of these nations’ attraction to the region seems to be the region’s richness in oil, minerals, overseas farmlands, its being an ideal arms deal and piracy destination, as well as the strategic importance of the region for military purposes. For these reasons, the Obama Administration has every responsibility to synchronize US policy and interests in the region with democratization and stability.

Experts on the Horn of Africa in the fields of conflict resolution, international affairs, history, global studies and politics have analyzed the scenarios of US policy under the Obama Administration at a conference organized by the Oromo Studies Association (OSA) in Washington D.C, Howard University.

Terrence Lyons, Professor of Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, said, “While Ethiopia is an important US ally in the region, there are reasons to think that there is convergent crises in the region as well as in Ethiopia. Lyons pointed out that the closing and degenerating political process in Ethiopia after the 2005 general elections violence provides one of the reasons to worry about the stability of the country and the prospect for the Horn of Africa. With reference to Oromia State of Ethiopia, he said the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), a subsidiary of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), failed to bring any change in the political and economic lives of the Oromo people even more than any branch of the Ethiopian government.

The second speaker, Professor David Shinn, US Ambassador to Ethiopia (1996-1999), discussed in- depth that every conflict in the region involves more than two neighboring countries at a time and that it is imperative for the Obama Administration to take that into account. In the face of stifled political processes and growing conflicts, he said that the best option for Oromo and other Ethiopian oppositions to pursue is to strengthen civil society organizations. He did not comment on the new Ethiopian NGO law that bans development and human rights organizations if their foreign funds exceed 10 %.

“We [Oromo people] live here [USA] and we are interested in the success of the US policy in the Horn of Africa,” said the third speaker Dr. Ezekiel Gebissa of Oromo heritage. While he expressed his optimism that the New White House, composed of people who understand the conflict regions of our world well, will be more open towards bringing warring parties such as the Ethiopian government, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Ogaden Liberation Front (ONLF) to the negotiation table to end conflicts, he also acknowledged that it is practically impossible for the Obama administration to go around and knock down repressive regimes. He said that for US policy to succeed in overcoming the growing anti-American sentiment in the region, it is also expected of the people of the region to embrace what he called “the Obama Vision or Phenomenon”. By that he meant that the priority of the Obama Administration is to serve the US interests first and it will be helpful for Ethiopian peoples to embrace US interests to mutually advance their own.

The fourth speaker, Professor Asafa Jalata, carried out vast socio-historical analyses of the dire economic and social consequences of the US support for successive minority regimes in Ethiopia (Amhara 1950s-1960s, TPLF/Tigre early 1970s to the present) against the majority. He calls on the White House to exercise its moral authority in support of justice for the oppressed Oromo people and all the peoples in Ethiopia and the region.

The fifth speaker and the youngest professor, Leonardo R. Arriola from the University of California, Berkley, shared his research findings with the audience. He found that the deployment of non-Oromo Federal Police to quell protest in opposition strongholds in west Oromia, Ethiopia, have led protesters to have feelings of alien invasion and that exacerbated protests and made them to last 4-5 months on average, during which hundreds are detained and several tens are killed. “After 2005, there is hardly any media coverage of the violence in Oromia and that is not good,” said Arriola. He also said that student protesters are torn between government forces who blame them as opposition and rebel sympathizers and also that the rebels (OLF) make a big leverage out of student protests and further put student lives in dangers. “Everybody is playing ‘ball’ with the students”. For instance, the OLF issues press releases praising students for being the vanguard of their people after every protest and the EPRDF government uses that as a justification for attacks.

-----------------

Notes:
Photo: US Ambassador David Shinn giving a talk on US Policy in the Horn of Africa at the 2009 OSA mid-year conference in Washington D.C, Howard University

2009-03-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Foreign Aid to Africa: Bonuses to Corrupt and Tyrannical Rulers?

Americans and the rest of the west must start to be outraged by the mismanagement of their donated tax money in Africa. Long after the African public woke up to the reality that western aids never work to uplift the continent from deep corruption and tyranny, this idea has recently started to resonate with some aid organizations and aid workers.

Billions of aid dollars collected from western tax-payers are directly channeled to tyrannical and corrupt leaders in Africa. Literally, African leaders are rewarded bonuses for their deeds of underdevelopment and poor governance, just like the CEOs of the AIG got bonuses after the company failed. The western public needs to respond with the same outrage to funds that have been rewarded to Ethiopian and Sudanese leaders. These funds have been hijacked by the rulers and hardly reached the needy. As a result, the conditions of millions of hungry people in the region became worse than ever.

I read a comprehensive Wall Street Journal article on how the aid to Africa has failed the continent. Instead of uplifting the continent, it has been used to uplift ´the leaders and their people´. The article draws a clear connection between aid and rampant corruption in the Horn of Africa region ( see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123758895999200083.html). This Wall Street Journal article is well supported with a range of evidence and statistic. It maybe worth reading if you are interested. Such an analysis is relevant and timely because it marks the belated awakening of the west to the fact.

To add my own perspective, aid to Africa has literally been aid to ´the leaders and the leaders´ people´. 'The rulers ´ people' may include their extended families, tribes, clans, army, police and also their political party membership card-bearers. These groups connected to the rulers are also active state apparatuses that work relentlessly against public good. So, any amount of aid, big or small, is channeled to these ´leaders and their people´ through western NGOs, aid organizations, the IMF, USAID and the EU. The devastating effect of aid-related corruption is nowhere else more true and obvious than in the Horn of Africa´s country of Ethiopia.

Instead of questioning African leaders for the mega misappropriation of American and western tax-payers’ money, regional and country directors of aid organizations seem to work hand-in-glove with the regimes. At times, one can rightly suspect that aid organizations’ regional and country directors have their own share in the corruption deals. Perhaps, that is why they often lack the stamina to track and question where every dollar, euro or pound is spent on the continent.

The generous and beloved citizens and tax-payers of the west need to be outraged by these scandals and create a situation, where the public can pressurize their governments to regulate aid to Africa more tightly. Continuing to aid Africa in the current manner will be a big disrespect and dishonor to the generosity of the western tax-payers and contributors as well as the African poor.
Related Text and Video Links:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123758895999200083.html

http://vimeo.com/3491980

2009-02-23T20:05:00.000-08:00

OROMOO OROMIYAAFI OROMOO BIYYAMBAA

QABSOO BILISUMMAA OROMOO KEESSATTI

EENYUTU FAKKEENYA GAARIIDHA?

Waraqaan kuni gahee Oromoon Oromiyaafi Oromoon biyyambaa Qabsoo Bilisummaa Oromoo (QBO) keessatti qaban walmorkisiisefi walmormisiisee xiinxala. Adeemsuma kana keessatti, garee lamaan keessaa qabsoo walabummaatiif eenyu gatii olaanaa kaffalaa akka jiruufi osoo koloneeffattoota nama-nyaatoo waliin walhudhaa jiru tokkummaa isaa akka eeggachaa jiru gadifageenyaan dhiyeessa.

Waraqaan kuni tooftaa sadi’iin ragaa isaa argate: ragaa sadarkaa lammataa ogbarruu dhimma kanaan walqabatan laaluun, biyya adda addaarraa gaaffiifi deebii namoota dhimma kana keessa jiraatanii quba qaban waliin gochuufi daawwannaa barreessan biyyatti godhe ture.

Xiinxalli akkasii kuni sababiin barbaachisuuf, hubannaan waliigalaa tokkummaa dhabuu Oromoota biyyambaa keessatti ifaan waan mul’atuuf. Baroota dheeraadhaaf, QBOn koloneeffattootafi umnoota qubatan tokkummaan loluurratti xiyyeeffachuurra adda addummaa keessaa suphuurratti yeroo dheeraa gubaa as gahe. Kuni akka ittifufee hintaane, waraqaan kuni Oromooni rakkinaafi gidiraa hamaa ummata saanirratti guyyuu rawwatamaa jiran yaadatanii tokkummaa isaanii akka jabeeffataniifi eeggatan yaadota kallatti nutti agarsiisan tokko tokko lafa kaa’uuf akeeka.

Waraqicha guutuu bifa PDF'iin gadibuustee dubbisuuf, maaloo as xuqi...

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Waraqicha erga dubbisteen booda, yaada, ilaalcha yookin komee kan qabdu yoo ta'e, imeelii kana gadiitiin Oromo Press sududaan qunnamuu dandeessa: oromopress@gmail.com

Siifi yaada keetiif Oromo Press ulfina guddaa kenniti. Kanaafuu, dubbistoonni OP akka yaada nuuf laatan, guddisnee jajjabeessina. Yaadota latamanis madaallee marsarratti nimaxxansina. Yeroo kee wareegidee nu laaluu keetiif guddaa galatoomi. Deebi'i koottu maaloo!

2009-02-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Veteran Politician Dies After a Long Battle With Cancer and EPRDF Regime.
Just a few days ago, a read stories about the death of Obbo Gebresilassie Woldiya, the deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Movement(OFDM). He died at the age of 71, fiercely fighting two enemies: cancer and the Ethiopian government. It should have been really hard for him to fight these worst forms of internal and external enemies at the same time. OP extends condolences to his family and loved ones.

Of all OFDM politicians, very little is known about this man. I did not know about him before his death. Obbo Bulcha Demeksa, chairman of OFDM, must have dominated his party to the extent that the voice of his hard working deputy leader is little known or heard at home and overseas.

2009-02-12T21:23:00.000-08:00

Oromo Press Blog-zine will feature Biyyaa's paper

In this exclusive Oromo Press Blog-zine, we feature OROMOO OROMIYAAFI OROMOO BIYYAMBAA QABSOO BILISUMMAA OROMOO KEESSATTI: EENYUTU FAKKEENYA GAARIIDHA?, a research paper in Afaan Oromoo by Qeerransoo Biyyaa.

Biyyaa maps the current challenges and opportunities in the Oromo national struggle. The author of the paper compares and contrasts the contributions of Oromos in Oromia and Oromos in Diaspora to the Oromo national struggle for freedom. The paper examines the current general dire situations of human rights in Oromia. He discusses the failures of the diaspora in terms of harnessing unity as opposed to the population in Oromiya, who have stood up against injustice in unison. The content of the paper is incredibly incisive and informative. It is a revolutionary piece, especially intended to Oromian readers in Afaan Oromoo.

OROMOO OROMIYAAFI OROMOO BIYYAMBAA
QABSOO BILISUMMAA OROMOO KEESSATTI
EENYUTU FAKKEENYA GAARIIDHA?

Here are the preview of the content:

Qabiyyeewwan
1. Seensa. 2
2. Haalota Oromiyaa har’aa dimshaashumatti 3
2.1 Lafaafii qabeenya Oromoo gurguruu. 3
2.2 Tarsiimoo Finfinnee babal’isuun Oromiyaa dhababmsiisuu. 5
2.3 Ummata Oromoo dhibeen, beelaan, hidhaa-ajjechaan duguggaa sanyiif saaxiluu. 8
3. Tooftaalee Qorannoo. 9
4. Oromoo Biyyambaafi QBO.. 10
4.1 Dhimmoota xixiqqoorratti walqooduu. 10
4.2 Haamilee dhabuufi gandootaan qoqqoodamuu. 11
4.3 Garaagarummaa dhaalota haraaf moofaa. 14
4.4 Oromiyaan hinjirtu. 14
4.5 Dargaggoonni abdii ummata Oromoo ta’uu isaanii 15
5. Furmaata. 16

It is going to be an open source research paper that you can freely download and read. The full paper in PDF is coming soon...