Declaration of Unity of the OLF

     June 29, 2014 | Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)

     It is with great pleasure that we announce to our people and the supporters of our struggle for freedom the good news that, based on the accord they made in Kampala, Uganda, in November 2012, the two organizations of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), known as OLFShanee Gumii (”OLF National Council”) and OLF Qaama Ce’umsaa(”OLF Transitional Authority”), have resolved our differences and agreed to combine our two leaderships, unify our members, merge our organizational structures and inaugurate a reunified OLF.

Ethiopioan gov in sattelite jamming disputeIn recent years The Ethiopian Gov has been engaging itsel'f in jamming

         Ethiopian goverment in satellite jamming dispute in recent years the Ethiopian government has been known for jamming different media's that are functioning outsaid the country. Oromia Media Neteork recently wrote in it's site "we have learned that our regular transmission on arabsat has been interrupted as of 04:38:00 GMT this morning. this is following the blocking of our website WWW-OromiaMedia.org since May 2, 2014 in ethioia. It is worth noting that the Ethiopian goverment is notorious in blocking and jamming alternative media outlets, and violently silencing critical jurnalists" in other report the human right's watch "they know every thing we do" details the technologies the ethiopian government has acquired from several countries and uses to facilitate surveillance of perceived political opponents insaide the country and among the diaspora the government's surveillance practices violate the right to freedom of expression association and access to information,
               

ADDIS ABABA'S POORLY PLANNED DECENTRALIZATION AND #OROMOPROTESTS

by Abel D. Ayele OPride.com

The Oromo student protests in Ethiopia, which began last month in opposition to Addis Ababa’s controversial expansion, continued this week.

Tens of people have been killed while hundreds were wounded or jailed since the protests started in April. On May 14, locals said at least three people were killed and more than 100 wounded in Nekemte town, western Oromia where federal Special Forces have besieged the regional Wallaga University. Protests have spread to neighboring Najjo and other parts of Oromia on Thursday.

Ethiopia: Brutal Crackdown on Protests: Security Forces Fire On, Beat Students Protesting Plan to Expand Capital Boundaries

May 06, 2014 | Human Right Watch

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  © 2012 Human Rights Watch

Ethiopia’s heavy handed reaction to the Oromo protests is the latest example of the government’s ruthless response to any criticism of its policies. UN member countries should tell Ethiopia that responding with excessive force against protesters is unacceptable and needs to stop.”

Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director

(Nairobi) – Ethiopian security forces should cease using excessive force against students peacefully protesting plans to extend the boundaries of the capital, Addis Ababa. The authorities should immediately release students and others arbitrarily arrested during the protests and investigate and hold accountable security officials who are responsible for abuses.

ADDIS ABABA'S MASTER PLAN, A PROJECT TO FURTHER MARGINALIZE OROMOS

By Bona Geshe

(OPride) — The Addis Ababa City Administration's plan to unconstitutionally expand the city’s territorial boundaries under the guise of development have sparked a growing protest around the country.

Over the last week and half, hundreds of Oromo students at all universities in Oromia expressed their opposition. While the protests have largely been nonviolent, local reports show that at least three students were injured in confrontations with police at Wollega University's Nekemte campus.

ETHIOPIA ROCKED BY OROMO STUDENT PROTESTS

(OPride) — At least a dozen protesters have been killed and many others wounded as students in Ethiopia's populous Oromia region clashed with military forces on Wednesday.

Student protests began earlier this month in response to plans by Addis Ababa City Administration which is expected to significantly expand the city's territorial jurisdiction.

BREAKING NEWS – #OromoFDG2014 – PHOTOS – April 26, 2014: Oromo Students Nonviolent Movement at Wallaggaa University Against Eviction of Oromo Farmers from Finfinnee Surrounding and Expansion of Addis Ababa

April 26, 2014 | Gadaa.com

Oromo students’ nonviolent protests are underway at Wallaggaa University against the plan (called the Addis Ababa Master Plan) to evict millions of Oromo farmers and dispossess them of their land in Oromian districts surrounding Finfinnee under the pretext of the “urban development of Addis Ababa.”

According to published data, under the current TPLF regime, Addis Ababa has expanded by ~400% since 1991 (from ~13,763.3-ha in 1991 to ~52,706.2-ha in 2014 – see data here); even though the Oromiyaa Region is a federally constituted state, it continues to be annexed by the Habesha government of Addis Ababa.

Amnesty International | Ethiopia: Multiple arrests in major crackdown on government critics

             The Ethiopian government is tightening its suffocating grip on freedom of expression in a major crackdown which has seen the arrest of numerous independent, critical and opposition voices over the last two days, said Amnesty International.

Six members of an independent blogger and activist group and a freelance journalist were arrested yesterday 25 April. Another journalist was arrested this morning. Meanwhile 20 members of the political opposition Semayawi (Blue) party have been arrested since Thursday.

Amnesty International | Ethiopia: Multiple arrests in major crackdown on government critics

The Oromo Martyrs’ Day or Guyyaa Gootota Oromoo 2014 Oslo

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

why Europeans should care about Ethiopia's repression of journalists

April 03, 2014 | Euractive.com

With European elections looming and a host of crises here at home dominating the political debate, there is the risk that challenges abroad - including Ethiopia’s disturbing treatment of journalists - will be swept under the carpet. It is vitally important that the current Parliament and Commission not let that happen as their mandates wind down, writes Alison Bethel McKenzie.

Alison Bethel McKenzie is executive director of the International Press Institute in Vienna.

Alison Bethel McKenzie

When nominations for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought were announced last autumn, it was heartening to see that two imprisoned journalists in one of Africa’s most oppressed countries had made the list with the support of more than 40 lawmakers.

Beloved Oromo Singer Almaz Tafara Dies

March 22, 2014 | OPride

Almaz Tafara, famed Oromo singer and songwriter, died on Mar. 22 at Police Referral Hospital in Addis Ababa after long illness with blood cancer. Her daughter confirmed the news, adding the body is now being transported to Harar. She was 57.

“This is a tremendous loss,” said Kadir Said, who produced an album with Tafara in 1986, in a phone interview from Minneapolis, Minn. “Almaz was a multitalented singer with an exceptional voice that lit up the room.”  

Ethiopia uses foreign kit to spy on opponents – HRW

March 25, 2014 (BBC News) — Ethiopia’s government is using imported technology to spy on the phones and computers of its perceived opponents, a Human Rights Watch report says.

The New York-based rights group accuses the government of trying to silence dissent, using software and kit sold by European and Chinese firms.

The report says the firms may be guilty of colluding in oppression.

An Ethiopian government spokesman, quoted by AFP, dismissed the report as a part of a smear campaign.

“There is nothing new to respond to,” Ethiopian Information Minister Redwan Hussein told the agency.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says its report is based on more than 100 interviews with victims of abuses and former intelligence officials, conducted between September 2012 and February this year.

Rights groups frequently accuse the Ethiopian government of cracking down on opposition activists and journalists.

“Security officials have virtually unlimited access to the call records of all telephone users in Ethiopia”

Human Rights Watch

Kibba Afriikaa Keessatti Hiriirro Mormii Guddaan Hawaasa Oromoo fi Ogaadeniin Gaggeefame.

Gaafa Bitootessa 18,2014 ummanni Oromoo fi Ogaadeen kibba Afriikaa jiraatan walgahii mootummoonni Afriikaa 54 guyyaa hundeeffama Pan-African Prliament kabajachuuf torbaan lamaaf Afirikaa kibbaa magaalaa Johannesburg bakka Midrand jedhamutti yeroo gaggeefatan hawaasi Oromoo fi Ogaadeen tokkummaan ta’uun miidhaa mootummaan Wayyaanee fi abbaa irree EPRDF uumattoota Ithiopia irraan gahaa jiru balaaleffachuun sagalee mormii jabaa dhageessisuun gabaafame.

In Accepting Ethiopia, Transparency Group “Sacrifices Credibility

March 21, 2014 | Inter Press Service (IPS) | By Carey L. Biron

A major international initiative aimed at promoting transparency in the extractives industry is coming under harsh criticism for accepting an application from Ethiopia, despite significant ongoing legal restrictions on the country’s civil society.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a standards programme based in Oslo, had declined a previous application for candidature from Ethiopia, in 2010. The previous year, the Ethiopian government had passed a law widely seen as repressive, and the EITI board stipulated that the country’s application would be deferred until that law was struck down.

ETHIOPIA REGULARLY RECORDS PHONE CALL

March 21, 2014 | Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- A rights group says that Ethiopia's government regularly listens to and records the phone calls of opposition activists and journalists using equipment provided by foreign technology companies.

Ethiopia: Transparency Group Should Reject Membership: Repression of Civil Society Contravenes Organization’s Rules

March 14, 2014 | Human Right Watch

The Ethiopian government has crushed activist groups and muzzled the media. Ethiopia’s harsh repression of independent voices is utterly incompatible with this global effort to increase public oversight over government.

(New York) – A major global initiative to encourage governments to better manage natural resource revenues should reject Ethiopia’s bid for membership due to its harsh restrictions on civil society, Human Rights Watch said today.

The governing board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is expected to make a decision about Ethiopia’s candidacy at its next meeting, on March 18 and 19, 2014, in Oslo. EITI was founded in 2003 to strengthen governance by increasing transparency over revenues from the oil, gas, and mining industries. Itsmembers include countries, companies, and civil society representatives.

Ethiopia—An Abusive Home for its People? Mr. Obang Metho Address Norwegian Civil Society

Madda Walaabuu Press on 3/10/2014

March 10, 2014

A review of the difficult conditions of life in Ethiopia leading to the large exodus of its people to other parts of the world and their hope for Ethiopia’s transformation.

I want to thank Frontline Club Oslo, New Frontiers, Norwegian activists, Solveig Syversen, who invited me, Marius von der Fehr, our moderator, and all of those people involved in organizing today’s event. It is an honor to be part of this public discussion on Ethiopia, entitled: In the Name of Democracy: Land Grabbing and Genocide in Ethiopia.

Norwegians are known to be some of the most socially conscious and peace-loving people in the world. I give my sincere thanks to the Norwegian people who are attending today and to all Norwegians who have opened up their arms to welcome foreigners, including thousands of Ethiopians who have decided to make Norway their second home or those who are still in the process of seeking asylum.

North Norway Oromos for Human Right

   

By Hara Olani
North norway oromos met in Trondheim last saturday 01.03.2014 for Human right


The Trondheim Oromo Community, Trondheim OLF together with the Trondheim Oromo Asylum seekers including other asylum seekers from all over Norway has showed up their togetherness by standing for Human Right.

It was around 11:00 when the gathering started in Trondheim, Norway. There was around 100 people who gathered at Trondheim torg, to say ''No'' to torturing and human right violations by the Ethiopian Regime against peaceful Political opposition groups, journalists, Oromo political activists and other politically concerned people.

US slams Ethiopia's human rights abuse

" US slams Ethiopia's human rights abuse" ....Informative piece. Thank you Opride for covering the death of Obboo Ahmed Nejash. I was wodering why oromo medias and activists didn't say much about it.

"Last month, a former parliamentary candidate from Chalenqo in Western Hararghe, Ahmed Nejash died in prison. According to an OPC source, Nejash successfully run and challenegd Sufian Ahmed, Ethiopia's Minister of Finance and Development, during the 2010 elections. He was subsequently arrested in 2011 alleged of being an OLF activist. Although his death recieved scant media coverage even within the Oromo community, a close relative of the late Jarra Abba Gadaa, Nejash is one of the veterans of Oromo people's struggle. "He was sentenced to seven years, which was also upheld by the higher court," the OPC told OPride source said. "He was in Zuway with Bekele and Olbana and he was healthy the last time I saw him in 2013." Opride.com

Ethiopia Accused of Using Spyware Against Citizens Living Abroad

Peter Heinlein

February 20, 2014

WASHINGTON — Several Ethiopians living abroad are accusing their home government of using sophisticated computer spyware to hack into their computers and monitor their private communications. One Washington area man has filed a federal suit against the Ethiopian government, and another has filed a complaint with British police.

The Ethiopian native, who is a U.S. citizen, charges that agents used a program called FinSpy to monitor his emails, Skype calls and his web browsing history. A suit filed in Federal District Court in Washington Tuesday asks that Ethiopia be named as being behind the cyber-attacks and pay damages of $10,000.