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.