Ethiopian Security Forces Open Fire on Students

There has been widespread protest by Oromo students in universities in Ethiopia against unpopular 'Addis Ababa-Finfinnee surrounding integrated master plan'. Oromo students in Haromaya, Jimma, Ambo and Wollega universities held protests.

Although officials in Oromia state and Addis Ababa city administration insist the plan only intends to develop Addis Ababa and its surrounding, Oromo students and the wider Oromo elites believe the plan is to displace farmers in the outskirts and suburban areas of the city, meet the growing demand for land, and weaken the Oromo identity. The Ethiopian constitution grants a special interest to the Oromia state regarding administrative, resource and other socio-economic matters in Addis Ababa, in its article 49 which never have been implemented. This has largely resulted in significant resistance within the ruling party, OPDO, in Oromia and a continues pressure to materialize the implementation.

The protest against the doomed to fail master plan is held in four universities sofar. Yesterday (26/04/2014) at Wollega University, the infamous and notorious Federal police opened fire at innocent Oromo students. Reports and eye witness indicate unknown number of students were hurt and some have fled to the bushes. The people of Nekemete town were prevented from joining the resistance. Even then some of the residents broke through line of federal police force and joined the protest.

At similar protest in Jimma university, the security forces picked more than 10 students and jailed them. Further 15 students in Ambo university were jailed.

The uproar against the plan is resonating across different segments of Oromo society. A singer by name Jafar Yusuf was jailed last week that is believed to be because he released a single condemning the plan. The diaspora is is voicing its concerns through the newly launched diaspora based Oromia Media Network

The security forces in Ethiopia are dominated by the Tigrayan minority who have been in power since the downfall of Derg communist regime in 1991. The Oromos are the most prosecuted in Ethiopia. More than 40000 Oromos are in jail, although the correct figure is hard to know.

The Oromo are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, 30 million, and their language is the fourth most spoken in Africa. Yet they are an invisible ethnicity in the eyes of the world

In August 2011, Bekele Gerba, an English teacher at Addis Ababa University and prominent politician, met with a delegation from Amnesty International to discuss the human rights situation in Ethiopia. Gerba, a vocal activist on behalf of his largely Muslim Oromo people, was deputy chairman of the opposition party Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) and a member of the executive committee of Medrek, the country’s main opposition coalition.

To the Ethiopian government, however, Gerba was a terrorist. Four days after the meeting, he was arrested. In November 2012 Gerba was convicted and imprisoned under Ethiopia’s 2009Anti-Terrorism Proclamation for association with the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which the government has asserted is linked with al-Qaeda affiliated entities. 

According to organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, however,Gerba was guilty of being Oromo and talking of the plight of his people. Shortly before hisarrest, Gerba had described the challenges facing his community, telling Voice of America “Anyone who speaks the [Oromo] language and does not belong to the ruling party is a suspect and can be taken to prison any time.” Gerba and other incarcerated Oromo (Oromo rights groups estimate there are around 20,000 Oromo political prisoners in Ethiopia) continue to spark protests in Ethiopia and across the global Oromo diaspora.

ጋዜጠኝነት ለኢትዮጵያ ኢትዮጵያም ለጋዜጠኝነት የማትመች አገር

….ጋዜጠኝነት ለኢትዮጵያ ኢትዮጵያም ለጋዜጠኝነት የማትመች አገር መስላለች፡፡ ብእርን የጨበጡ፣ በሀሳባቸው ብልጫ ውድድሩን ለማሸነፍ የጣሩ፣ ሀሳባቸውን በጽሁፍ ሆነ በንግገር መግለጣቸው እንደነውር ተቆጥሮ ዶክመንተሪ የሚሰራባት፡፡ ሰብዓዊ መብት፣ፍትህ፣እኩልነት እነደማዕድን ተቆፍሮ እንኳን የማይገኝባት ሀገር ሆናለች ኢትዮጵያ፡፡
….ዲሞክራሲ እንደ ሰማይ የራቃት፣ ችጋር ስጋዋን አልፎ አጥንቷን መብላት የጀመረባት፤ ለለውጥ የተነሱ አብረን ተባብረን ወደ ፊት እንራመድ ያሉ እንደ አረም እየተመነጠሩ የሚታሰሩባት ሀገረ መከራ ሆናለች ኢትዮጵያ፡፡
….አንድነቷ ተጎንጉኖ የዘር እራቁትነት የለበሰች፣ ነገ እርስ በእርስ እንዳንበላላ የምታሰጋ፣ ጎጠኝነት እራቁቷን ያስቀራት፣ ኢትዮጵያዊ ነኝ የሚል ትምክህተኛ ሆኖ የሚፈረጅባት የመከራን ቁልቁል የምትጋልብ ሀገር ሆናለች ኢትዮጵያ፡፡
….ብሄራዊ መግባባት የጠፋባት፣ ሌላውን ላለማስገባት ሁሉም በሩን የዘጋበት፣ የሀገር ትርጉም የጠፋባት፤ ስለ ሀገር ሲጠየቅ ‹‹ምን አገባኝ›› የሚልን ተረት ተናጋሪ የበዛባት ሀገር ሆናለች ኢትዮጵያ፡፡
….ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች ከራሳቸው ጋር መታረቅ አቅቶቸው አብሮቸው እየሮጠ ያለውን ጠልፈው የሚጥሉባት፣ ተገረፍን ታሰርን እያሉ በሰበብ አስባቡ አገር የሚለቁባት፡፡ ከዚህም የተነሳ ለውጥ ፈላጊው ህዝብ የተቃውሚ ፓርቲዎችን ጭመር በጥርጣሬ የሚያይባት፡፡ ለተቃዋሚም ለመሪም ያልታደለች፣ የመንግስት ለውጥ እንጂ እውነተኛ ለውጥ ያልሰመረላት አገር ኢትዮጵያ፡፡
…..ዛሬም ልጆቿ ይታሰራሉ፣ያለከልካይ ከቦታቸው ይፈናቀላሉ፣ ይደበደባሉ አካላቸው ይጎላል፡፡ሙስና የመጨባበጥ ያህል የቀለለባት፣ከደሀ 10 ካ.ሜ ተነጥቆ ለባለ ገንዘብ 10,000 ካ.ሜ የሚሰጥባት፡፡ ዜግነት በገንዘብ እና በአሸርጋጅነት (በተለጣፊነት) የሚከበርባት ሆናለች ሀገሬ ኢትዮጵያ፡፡
…..የሀይማኖት መሪዎች ‹‹እ/ር የእውነት አምላክ ነው፡፡ ሀሰትም በሱ ዘንድ የለም፡፡›› የሚለውን ሰርዘው በሀይማኖት ካባቸው ስር ሀሰትን ያቀላጥፋሉ፡፡ አደግን፣ ሄድን፣ ደርሰናል እያሉ የምድር ጥቅማቸውን ተምነው ይመላለሳሉ፡፡ አረ እንደውም እ/ር ነጻነታችንን ሰጠን እያሉ በየድንኳኑ የሚጮሁም አሉ፡፡ ማን ነበር ልማታዊ ፓስተር ነኝ ያለው??
‹‹እኛ የሰማይ ቤት አለን የምድሩ የእኛ ስላልሆነ እኛን አይመለከተንም›› የሚሉ ፖለቲካ ለሀጢያን የተተወ ስራ እንደሆነ የሚቆጥሩ ምእመናን እና አስተማሪዎች የተበራከቱባት ሆናለች አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ፡፡
ሙሁሮቿ የት ጠፉ???
ውስጣችን የተፈጠረው ዘረኝነት ከየት መጣ???
ዛሬም ከአለም የታችኛው ተርታ ለምን ተሰለፍን???
የተማረና ያለተማረ ሰው መሀል ያለው የኑሮ ልዩነትስ ምን ያህል ነው???
ኢትዮጵያዊ ሆነን ተፈጥረን፤ የታል ታዲያ ኢትዮጵያ ለኛ የሆነችው??? ችግር፣ረሀብ፣ፍርሀት… ከተፈጠሩባት ሀገራቸው አሰድዶአቸው በሀገር ናፍቆት ሌላ አገር ላይ የሚኖሩ ስንቶች ናቸው??
እውነት እውነቱን ብናወራ በዚህ አካሄዳችን የአትዮጵያ የወደፊት ተስፋ ብሩህ ነውን???
እነዚህ ጥያቄዎች እንደ ማለዳ አንቂ አላርሞች ዙሪያችን ላይ በእየለቱ ይጮሀሉ፤፤
ጉዳዩ አሁን እንደ ጣውንት የቆመውን ስርአት መቀየር ብቻ አይደለም፡፡ የራሳችንንም የአስተሳሰብና የአመለካከት ደጅ መቀየር ያለብን ይመስለኛል፡፡

By Robel Ayalew