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