Parents — Yes and no to American freedom
Forest Lake Times, MN - February 20, 2008
Many Minnesota parents might share some of the provocative views some Somali American and Oromo (Ethiopia) parents presented last week. In a wide-ranging meeting, 30 men and women said they strongly supported some and strongly opposed other freedoms that their children were encountering in America. Their reactions have helped guide the schools their children attend.
These parents, most of whose families came here in the last decade, respect and admire our freedoms to select schools, careers and government leaders. Many of these parents had professional jobs in Africa, and they are bringing their talents to local companies and organizations. But they reject things that also trouble many American parents. These African-American parents do not want their children to be part of a melting-pot that:
• promotes disrespect for parents, educators and older people
• highlights negative images of women in movies and music
• allows some students to make negative, disrespectful comments about conservative clothes that young women wear
Sound familiar? Readers also will agree with the strong desire these Somali and Oromo parents at the Twin Cities International Elementary and Middle Schools have for their youngsters to excel in school.
Parents also want students to retain and respect aspects of their culture. 97 percent of the students at these two schools, with total enrollment of 900, do not speak English at home. 93 percent of them are eligible for free or reduced cost lunch. Families say their children are ‘in good hands” in these schools ...
Urgent Appeal by OMRHO e.V concerning imprisonment of Oromo political refugees in Sudan
OromiaTimes -
The Oromo Human rights and Relief Organisation (OMRHO e.V) received information that the Sudan government imprisoned the Oromo political refugees at a place called Dabaq which is located in the north of Khartoum and preparing to hand them over to the Ethiopian government. Among the Oromo refugees who are imprisoned at Dabaq north of Khartoum are:
Adunya Shifarraw
Harun Idris
Mhamed Nadoo
Abdalla Suleman
Ibrahim Youssouf (Marqos Gobana)
Shantam Atalay
Abamalka (Adam) Bisil
Milkessa Hailu
Teshome and there other refugees whose names did not reach OMRHO e.V.
Such action is against the international law that the Sudan government is obliged to respect. To hand over refugees to the government who persecuted them is morally wrong and it is against humanity. Some of theses refugees were imprisoned in Ethiopia at Zway prison without trial for more than six years and were released. They escaped from Ethiopia and lived for many years in the Sudan to save their lives. OMRHO e.V. is very much concerned for the lives of these refugees and we apply for urgent action to save them from being deported to Ethiopia ...
HRLHA Urgent Action: An Appeal to the President of Djibouti
OromiaTimes -
Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa(HRLHA) recieved from its informants in Djibouti a report that your Government’s security forces have arbitrarly arrested four very young Ethiopian refugees on Feburuary 01, 2008 in violation of international treaties to which, we believe, Djibouti is a signatory. All four refugees were picked up and taken to the Lagad Detention Center by the Djibouti scurity force on their way to the refugee camp from school, which they have been attending. The school was set up by Catholic church of Djibouti particulary to help children of the refugees in Djibouti.
It was very saddening to hear that they were tortured while they were in the detention centre; and that they are going to be deported to Ethiopia. We have confirmed from our reporters that,until their deportation date arrived, these teenagers who could be addressed as children, were forced to do very heavy labor in a very harsh situation on a construction site for 12hrs every day.
The names of the four youths abducted and subjected to the hard child labour are:
Kadir Hasan Ahmed, age 17, male,
Fatih Mohamed Ali, age 16, male,
Abdul Aziz Ahmed Hajii muhamed, age 17, male, and,
Muhamed Abdoo Ahmed, age 17, male ...
Cut flower Bonanza: At What Cost?
Jimma Times, Ethiopia -
| ... “I’m used to these smells and thorny stems,” says Meseret. “We sometimes face a strong chemical smell; if we complain we‘re told to work in the next greenhouse” ...
... Workers develop health problems as a result of being exposed to dangerous chemicals and working conditions on the job. Workers are forced to work long hours, can be dismissed at will and often handle dangerous chemicals without the proper protective equipment. Women workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, sexual harassment, no maternity leave, overcrowded housing and low wages ... ... “Regional government officials convinced me to sell it. They warned me to take away government land if I refuse to sell it,” says Abiy ... |
Government land ownership has created it easier for flower growers to get land easily. Abiy Mezgebu, 28, resides near Ambo town. He recently sold a hectare of land to flower growers for 30,000 Birr, the price that growers fix. But there is no any agreement with the growers how long they use the land. “Regional government officials convinced me to sell it. They warned me to take away government land if I refuse to sell it,” says Abiy. “In my village, many farmers sold their lands but didn’t use the money to improve their lives; they spent on ‘tella’ (alcoholic local beer).”
Aduna Workneh, father of five, lives across bunches of flower farms near Menagesha town. Officials from the government and flower farms came and talked to him in person. “They told me I’ll benefit much better if we sell my land. Though I rejected it, they still try to convince me.” Aduna has four hectares of land where he grows crops to feed his family. He was offered up to 70,000 Birr but he says “this amount of money doesn’t last long whereas my farm land feeds me for the rest of my life.”
These flower farms benefit us nothing; at least they were expected to provides employment opportunity, says Aduna. “Only a few members of our community got employed; as for the majority we don’t know where they came from.” Showing across the valley, Aduna says “where now these green houses lie was covered by indigenous trees and eucalyptus, where our women used to collect firewood. But today flower farms left us with nothing” ...
The Basaso Massacre of Oromos by the Ethiopian Government
COPLF/GABUO Press Release -
It is has been over a century since the Oromoland (Oromiyaa) was militarily conquered and occupied and, ever since then, the Oromo people have been suffering under the dependent colonial rule of the Abyssinians. Since day one of the Abyssinian intrusion into Oromiyaa, the Oromo have persistently fought to regain their sovereignty despite all odds and under all severe conditions. The struggle for freedom has certainly and always been difficult. What makes the struggle uniquely difficult for the Oromo is not just the military might of the Abyssinians as such, rather the additional involvement of foreign forces on the Abyssinian side of the equation.
Since the beginning of the last quarter of the 20th Century, the Oromo struggle has gathered much needed momentum and entered a higher phase. To counter this, the Ethiopian government has been resorting to all means of annihilating the Oromo. The extrajudicial killings, disappearances and mass detention of the Oromo continue unabated to the extent that the prisons and detention centers of Ethiopia are filled and overflowing exclusively with Oromos. This is attested unequivocally by various sources.
Life is agonizing and has proved brutal for the Oromo in their own natural environment, as being Oromo in itself has become a crime. Literally, there is a manhunt going on in Oromiyaa. As life has become unbearable in Oromiyaa, many flee their beloved homeland crossing the unforgiving deserts to the neighboring countries in order to save their lives, leaving their livelihood behind. Ironically, Oromos aren’t safe anywhere: not at home nor are they in the neighboring countries where they have sought refuge ...
Towards Social Movement - Proposal to strengthen Oromo Relations
Gubirmans.com -
By Ibsaa Guutama
Human undertakings are not limited to political activities but there are also social and economic ones, which can not be ignored. Since each of them is important, to swarm over one of them alone will not lead to a balanced societal development. Under normal situation political power is employed to control protect and develop all other activities. For this reason it could be a bone of contention between rival groups. A political movement that does not control a definite territory is in a state of evolution; it has to complete this evolution to claim control over other societal activities. It is now over a century since Oromo lost political power. They have a big country, large population, tremendous wealth and potential capabilities that do not have an equal in the region. That being so they are not yet able to snatch away their resources from the enemy or to deny the enemy from using it. They have come so far relaying on each other as extended family and members of a losing nation for problems facing them by making use of leftovers from daily plunder together. They started rebelling when life of subjugation became absolutely intolerable. Even if they rebel life has to continue, so eating to survive, buying and selling, pursuit of knowledge, protecting health, to console and to rejoice with each other and protect ones culture and pass it over to the next generation. For that reason it has been maintaining certain social relation and economic activities irrespective of super imposed political oppression ...
Open Letter to UNHCR about the Bosaso Massacre
OromoNet -
I am writing you this letter to express our deep concern and dismay regarding the inhuman massacre of around 100 Oromo Refugees and wounding of more than 65 in Bosaso, breakaway region of Somalia, on February 5, 2008. The basic reason Oromos flee and take refuge in neighboring countries is protection from persecution due to their national identity and their political belief in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, this is not being so for these refugees. The harassment, suffering, persecution and ill treatment of Oromos perpetrated by the Ethiopian regime is crossing international boundaries.
| |
Oromo refugees are constantly being harassed, forcefully deported by would be host governments and murdered by assassin squads of TPLF/EPRDF government or by paid agents of Ethiopian government in Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and even Yemen, where they arrive after risking their lives on the high seas where about half of those who attempt to cross perish on a regular basis.
The current regime has made its policy clear from the very beginning when it assassinated Major Jatani Ali, an Oromo refugee, a former officer in the deposed Derg regime, in Nairobi in 1991. This was followed by assassination of Mr. Adam Tukale (Mullis Abbaa Gadaa), an OLF high-ranking official in Mogadishu, in 2000. They have acquired forceful repatriation of many prominent refugees who fled to the neighboring countries, whose destinies have never been known. Last year they assassinated many Oromo former journalists in Nairobi. The current mass massacre is a culmination of this policy of physically liquidating opposition individuals wherever they go ...
Running great Bekele sets new world two-mile best time
AFP -
|
|
Ethiopia distance-running great Kenenisa Bekele added to his collection of notable landmarks by setting a new world-best performance mark in the two miles at the international indoor meeting here Saturday.
The reigning Olympic 10,000 metres champion, on the same track where compatriot Haile Gebrselassie achieved the previous fastest time, shaved 0.34 seconds off his fellow Ethiopian's mark when finishing in a time of 8 minutes 04.35 seconds.
Bekele, a second off the required pace to set a new world-best time at one stage, rallied with an especially quick final 200 metres lap.
And there was more long-distance success for Ethiopia in the women's 3,000 metres, won in front-running style by Gelete Burka in 8:31.94 - the third-fastest time in history ...
China 'toxic for Africa freedom'
BBC News, UK -
| Eritrean journalist Seyoum Tsehaye has been in jail for six years |
The increase in the arrest and imprisonment of journalists in Africa in the last year has been partly blamed on China by Reporters Without Borders.
"The influence of China in African affairs has been very toxic for democracy," the media watchdog's Leonard Vincent told the BBC.
He said China gave aid without asking for political reforms in return.
While increasing national pride within Africa had made it difficult for Western countries to assert pressure.
The Paris-based group said many governments now took action against the media irrespective of international opinion.
In its annual survey of press freedom, it mentions serial offenders like Ethiopia, Eritrea, Zimbabwe and The Gambia.
But it is also critical of places like Rwanda, Mali and Benin - where it says media freedom used to be respected ...
Indoor 'wind' blows Bekele world record bid off course
AFP - February 10, 2008
Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele believes that his attempt to add to his multitude of world records and break the indoor 3,000m mark was bizarrely sabotaged by wind inside the arena here on Saturday.
Bekele ran seven minutes 36.08 seconds, more than 11 seconds outside his target of the 10-year-old mark of 7:24.90 set by Kenya's Daniel Komen.
"The weather conditions were very difficult. It was windy. I could feel it while running on one side of the track. Maybe there was a window open?" he said.
Bekele's feeling that the venue which will stage next month's World Indoor Championships was actually open to the chilly evening elements was confirmed by several other runners in the race including Kenya's Timothy Kiptanui.
"I've occasionally felt it before in other indoor races but it made things very difficult," added Kiptanui, who was the pacemaker for Bekele in the middles stages of the race ...
The Horn Region Victimized by External Interference
Biddho.com - February 9, 2008
The people of the Horn of Africa are going through a dangerous and trying, but at the same time enlightening, stage. The various conflicts and tragic losses of life in the region today is the direct outcome of the strategy of certain powers that seek to secure global dominance at the expense of the rights and precious opportunities of peoples through perfecting the art of crisis management by instigating conflicts where there was none.
In May 2005, in Ethiopia, when a regime rejected by the people sought to cling to power by suppressing the people’s choice, the international community—particularly the US Administration—never voiced a single protest against the gross violation of the Ethiopian people’s right. On the contrary, the US supported the regime’s actions and Ethiopia was plunged into a never-seen-before political chaos that claimed the lives of many innocent civilians. It would be too optimistic to believe that a nation which witnessed such gross crimes against the people could ever regain stability. Hence, Ethiopia is at present like a volcano waiting to erupt at any given moment ...
Upcoming elections already unfair and rigged in Ethiopia
Nazret.com, MD - February 9, 2008
The Oromo Federal Democratic Movement (OFDM) and the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) have issued a statement, in which they say, that the election process has already been rigged.
They speak about the harassment and imprisonments of their members and supporters.
Their offices in the country side are closed and 300% of additional “taxes” is being imposed on farmers, who are suspected of supporting the opposition parties and in addition no credit or other facilities. The registration of the voters is done in police stations and/or in residences of the ruling party members.
Actually there is nothing new and we already pointed at the fact, that without any doubt, the ruling party will “win” the elections, but has lost the respect and participation of the population. So any plan, be it a five year one or whatsoever, will fail because of the fact that it will be imposed upon the population. We also have to mention the fact that whenever a population is revolting against measures, they obviously will attack the ones that are the executives of this oppression. And then the gang will come with big words as genocide and refer to situations like in Rwanda and nowadays with the neighboring state Kenya ...
UN: Peacekeepers Plan To Leave Eritrea
Guardian Unlimited, UK - February 9, 2008
In an unusual move, the United Nations is being forced to prepare an imminent pullout from Eritrea and plans to relocate all its peacekeeping troops there across the border in Ethiopia, senior U.N. officials and diplomats told The Associated Press on Friday.
Because of restrictions imposed by the Eritrean government, U.N. personnel are down to their last remaining emergency reserves of diesel fuel to power generators, vehicles and other equipment for the 7 1/2-year-old peacekeeping operation.
At last count, that operation had about 1,500 troops and 200 military observers, along with several hundred civilians and dozens of volunteers based out of Asmara, Eritrea and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
"We're basically going to have to move our troops out at some point, because we're not getting any more fuel," a U.N. diplomat said. "We would relocate to Ethiopia. It would not be the end of the mission, we would just not be present in Eritrea" ...
Eight million need assistance
Reuters AlertNet, UK - February 7, 2008
Citing the Somali region in particular, the update issued by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) on 6 February stated that poor rains during the deyr season, from October to November, exacerbated extreme food insecurity in parts of the region.
This was when the dry season was in progress and the peak hunger season had set in. Various other factors, including restrictions on movement and trade, locust infestations and limited humanitarian access had exacerbated matters.
"Despite record meher-season production, about eight million chronically food insecure people and a significant number of acutely food insecure people ... will require food or cash assistance in 2008," the January report stated ...
UN fears new Horn of Africa war
BBC Afrique, UK -
 |
A new conflict could break out between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the UN says, as it prepares to withdraw its troops.
The UN gave a Wednesday deadline for Eritrea to restore fuel supplies to the peacekeepers on its side of the border, or it said they would have to withdraw.
A UN spokesman told the BBC on Thursday that UN personnel had not yet begun relocating from Eritrea though fuel supplies were still not being allowed.
Tens of thousands of people died in the two countries' 1998-2000 border war.
"Clearly the signs point towards a resumption of the conflict," UN spokesman Yves Sorokobi told the BBC.
"We know that troops are being amassed in the Temporary Security Zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia," said Mr Sorokobi, UN chief Ban Ki-moon's spokesman.
"We know the rhetoric has been warlike and increasingly so. All this bodes ill for peace in the region," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme ...
Human Rights Watch - World Report 2008
Human Rights Watch -
In Oromia, Ethiopia’s most populous state, government authorities have used the fact of a long-standing insurgency by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) to imprison, harass, and physically abuse critics, including school children. Victims are informally accused of supporting the OLF, an outlawed rebel group, but supporters of the Oromo National Congress (ONC) and the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), registered opposition political parties, suffer similar treatment. In early January, more than thirty students were arrested and at least one, a tenth-grader, died as a result of police beatings in Dembi Dollo, western Oromia. Other students were severely injured and hospitalized. Also in January, local police and militia members in Ghimbi shot two high school students dead, one as he and others were walking peacefully along, the other as he covered the body of the first with his own in order to protect him from further harm. In March security officials allegedly executed 19 men and a 14-year-old girl near Mieso in northeastern Oromia. Starting in August, federal and state security forces arrested well over 200 people in western Oromia, including three members of the executive committee of the Nekemte chapter of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council and OFDM members, on suspicion of links to the OLF. Some, including the EHRCO officials, were released under court order after the police failed to provide evidence against them but most were still detained as of early November. At least 25 were being held in defiance of court orders to release them.
Farmers in Oromia who fail to support the governing political party are denied fertilizer and other agricultural aids over which the government exercises monopoly control ...
Horrendous circumstances of Oromo refugees in East African countries
OromoIndex - February 6, 2008
To escape the persecution of the colonial Ethiopian regime, thousands of Oromo refugees fled to neighbouring East African countries over the last four decades. Today, with the rapid discendance of East African countries into internal and external conflicts, it seems that no place is safer for East African refugees in general and Oromo refugees in particular.
The instabilities within the East African countries have created a situation where tyrant presidents/prime ministers are entering into partnership to help each other hunt down the refugees that they themselves created. These kinds partnerships have involved allowing government security agents and assassins to operate in each other’s territories, forced exchange of refugees, denial of refugee certifications and registrations. The instability in Somalia and more recently in Kenya have seen horrendous treatment of Oromo refugees. The main interest of Ethiopia’s war in Somalia was not so much to oust the Union of Islamic Forces as much as it was to squash Oromo refugee dissidents in Somalia. As result tens of refugees were murdered and hundreds have been extradited and are incarcerated in Ethiopian Oromo concentration camps.
The instability in Kenya has also resulted in undocumented disappearances and deaths of Oromo refugees ...
SOMALIA: 20 KILLED IN PUNTLAND EXPLOSIONS
SomaliNet - February 6, 2008
At least 20 people have been killed and more than 60 others were wounded in two series bomb explosions in Bosaso city in Somalia's northeast semi autonomous region of Puntland, witnesses and medical sources said.
The blasts occurred last night near the port of Bosaso killing 20 people from Oromia, Ethiopia and wounded dozens others.
Medical sources say that some of the wounded lost their hands and legs. The bodies were buried in massive grave.
It was the deadliest bomb attack ever happened in Bosaso in northeastern Somalia ...
Cultural fires on the rise
Auckland, New Zealand -
|
|
He says it is important that people get into the habit of installing smoke alarms correctly so they know about the fire first before it becomes dangerous.
It is also common for people to take part in a prayer, but forget to put the candle out afterwards.
"Never leave a burning candle unattended," Mr Stephens says.
"We also attend cooking fires in garages that have LPG cylinders around."
New Zealand Oromo Association chairman Abduro Witago says the coffee making ceremony has caused a few home fires. The ceremony, which uses equipment such as a portable gas oven, heated coal and burning incense, makes it a high fire risk. The community can perform the ceremony up to four times a week. It is a traditional way of coming together and communicating with one another, Mr Witago says.
"As long as we aren’t told we are not allowed to make it, then it is okay," coffee maker Zahara Abbawaajii says. "It can lead to something devastating. So it is important that people understand and be aware," she says ...
Kumsa shares her story
CordWeekly.com -
|
|
Journalist and Wilfrid Laurier professor in the Faculty of Social Work, Martha Kuwee Kumsa, tells a packed audience of her 10 years spent in an Ethiopian prison, where she was jailed for defying the government-imposed free-speech restrictions.
It was a full house at the Registry Theatre on Thursday, January 24, as nearly 100 people were given the opportunity to hear Ethiopian journalist Martha Kuwee Kumsa tell her story. Dr. Kumsa is also an associate professor in Laurier’s Faculty of Social Work.
The spotlight shone on the soft-spoken African woman as she told the attentive audience of the ten years she spent being tortured in an Ethiopian prison.
In January of 1980, Kumsa was unjustly torn away from her husband and three children, as members of the communist regime dragged her from work one day to a prison holding approximately 10,000 other highly-educated, outspoken, independent thinkers.
Kumsa recalled that morning as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. She described the long drive to her unknown destination. When Kumsa finally reached the prison, she was “thrown into a room on the floor.” She continued, “There were bodies all over the floor. It was hell" ...
UN Demands Eritrea Ease Fuel Supplies
Guardian Unlimited, UK -
The U.N. Security Council sent a "firm and unwavering demand" Monday that Eritrea immediately lift fuel restrictions hampering the efforts of peacekeepers monitoring a tense buffer zone between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
In a report to the council last week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Eritrea had restricted supplies of diesel fuel available to peacekeeping forces since Sept. 2006, creating "critical fuel shortages." With generators used at camps and some field checkpoints for only two hours a day, he said, peacekeeping patrols have been cut back and field staff have struggled to stay in touch.
Ban said the mission might have to pull out of Eritrea if fuel restrictions are not lifted by Wednesday, since there are only a few days of diesel supplies left and the reserves are intended for emergency evacuations.
"The members of the Security Council reiterate their firm and unwavering demand that Eritrea forthwith and without preconditions lifts its restrictions on fuel deliveries," the U.N.'s most powerful body said.
Last week, the council had extended the mission's mandate another six months ...
Eritrea Opposition To Set Up Government In Exile
Eritrea Daily, NJ -
| |
Eritrean opposition groups trying to bring down President Isaias Afwerki plan to set up a government in exile for the Red Sea state, an opposition leader said on Monday from the Ethiopian capital.
A coalition of 13 groups will meet in Ethiopia in March to elect a leader, cabinet and parliament, said Adehanom Gebremariam, chairman of the Eritrean Peoples' Movement.
Adehanom said the group would decide on a strategy to overthrow Isaias, who has ruled Eritrea as a one-party state since it won independence from arch-foe Ethiopia in 1993.
"Our aim is to transform a one-man dictatorial rule now prevailing in Eritrea into legal and democratic governance," Adehanom said in a statement.
Eritrean officials could not immediately be reached for comment ...
 |
Need for Foreign Observers of Ethiopian Observers
Addis Fortune, January 2008
It is safe to assume that it is the desire of all Ethiopians to see unbiased and objective foreigners observe our elections. In the presence of foreigners, it is difficult for reckless polling officers to stuff ballot boxes, intimidate voters, abuse opposition party representatives and irresponsibly throw away ballots with the excuse that they contain mistakes ...
Eritrea slams UN for extending peace mission mandate
AFP -
Eritrea has slammed the UN Security Council for extending the mandate of a peacekeeping mission along its disputed border with arch-foe Ethiopia, according to the foreign ministry.
The council unanimously adopted Wednesday a resolution extending the mandate of the force known as UNMEE until July 31 and urged the rivals to "show maximum restraint and refrain from any threat or use of force against each other."
Eritrea said the extension failed to tackle the root cause of the problem -- the continued presence of Ethiopian troops on land ruled by a UN-appointed border panel as Eritrean territory.
"The government of Eritrea has been repeatedly urging the Security Council to shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities to ensure the withdrawal of the army and institutions of the Ethiopian regime from the occupied territories," the Eritrean foreign ministry said in a statement late Friday.
As such, extension "will not serve the cause of peace and security in our region," the statement claimed.
Eritrea sees the UN as serving US interests, claiming Washington favours its ally Ethiopia in the dispute ...
Memorandum of understanding between FIDO and FIO
Bilisummaa.com -
 |
| |
... CONVINCED that the re-establishment of an independent democratic republic of Oromia is the only option to safeguard the full-fledged Oromian national existence; ACKNOWLEDGING that Oromian patriotism and heroism is encoded within and symbolized by the anti-colonial, an independent national defence based on the revival of democratic Gadaa culture; REJECTING the psychology of defeatism, capitulationism, opportunism, political and economic manoeuvrings aimed at compromising Oromian national Independence; RECOGNIZING that the struggle to liberate Oromia from Abyssinian colonialism and to launch the process of decolonisation demands Gadaa based anti-colonial ideological Unity, national patriotism, the full participation and committed backing of all Oromo people and the total mobilization, coordination of human, material and spiritual resources; NOTING that it is infeasible and implausible to realize the task of dismantling Abyssinian colonial system and building an independent, free and democratic Republic of Oromia without a viable Grand National Strategic Plan of Action; REALIZING that the task of mobilization, the full participation and coordination of human, material and spiritual resources of Oromia is hampered by the fractured leadership of Oromian forces; CONVINCED that in the absence pan-oromian umbrella and formidable strategic alliance, it is unthinkable to rally the vast majority of anti-colonial forces and accelerate the destruction of Abyssinian colonial state machinery; CONVINCED that the formation of a political alliance for the Independence of Oromia is crucial , timely and historical; CONSCIOUS of the task of defeating opportunism and capitulationism requires a determined, resolute and collective struggle that is lead by strong national strategic leadership; We the undersigned FIO and FIDO, Oromian independent organizations, have unanimously adopted this bilateral agreement, and herewith formed political alliance for eradication of Abyssinian colonialism and the formation of Independent Democratic Republic of Oromia ...
"Mum, Were We Meant to Suffer All Our Lives?"
IPS, Italy -
| Nadifo Gababa with her five children at the refugee camp in Nairobi |
The post-election violence here has turned nearly 500,000 Kenyans into internally displaced persons (IDPs). Caught up in this unrest are refugees from neighbouring countries -- such as Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia -- who sought refuge in Kenya but now find themselves destitute once again.
Nadifo Gababa fled to Kenya from her home in Ethiopia in 2005. The Ethiopian authorities claimed that she was financially supporting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) -- an organization formed in 1973 to fight for the rights of the Oromo people of Ethiopia. OLF accuse the Ethiopian government of decades of human rights abuses against the Oromo. Gababa feared arrest.
Gababa was relieved when the truck she had been bundled into with her five children reached Huruma, an estate in Nairobi’s east-lands safely. Since she and her children speak Kiswahili it was not long before she was directed to the local Mosque.With some money left over after her arrival, she rented a one-roomed shack, enrolled her children in local schools, and got herself a job at a nearby hotel. Life was manageable until violence broke out in the city soon after Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of the Dec. 27 presidential elections ...
Nadifo Gababa: When we came to the camp here, my son asked, "Mum, were we meant to suffer all our lives? Perhaps we should just go to Ethiopia and die."
I want to be strong… to be there for my children. If it means breaking stones to make pebbles for sale, then I want to do that for my family’s upkeep. I want to live another day in peace. I want to believe this will happen very soon ...
When Migration Results in Degradation
Yemen Times, Yemen -
 |
A young man proudly stands behind the Oromo flag in a small room where Jamal Abdu Wadai often spends hours discussing the social affairs regarding Yemen’s Oromo community. Wadai claims to be the leader of the Oromo community in Sana’a.
The word “Oromo” is written boldly on the wall of another room where three mothers sit with their small children. On the other wall of the room is a poster of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. A medium-sized television in the corner broadcasts Oromo programs.
The Oromos gather in the first room with the flag after the second becomes too crowded and likely has no window for ventilation, which reflects their poor conditions. They begin speaking about their life and the problems they face in Yemen.
Wadai explains that the Oromos are the largest refugee group in Africa, dwelling in Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Djibouti, South Africa and Somalia. Some have sought refuge in the United States and Europe, while there are more than 40,000 Oromos in Yemen.
He continues, “We used to have our own independent state, but Ethiopia besieged our land 120 years ago. When the Ethiopians – whom we call Abyssinians – occupied our country, they changed the name of our capital, Finfinne, to Addis Ababa. Our country, Oromia, was rich in agriculture and natural wealth; thus, it was a land of blessings” ...
Is an all-inclusive conference a panacea for Ethiopia?
Sudan Tribune, Sudan - January 31, 2008
The Ethiopian political landscape is heavily crowded with a myriad of conflicting interests. The visions espoused as well as the means chosen to pursue them are also divergent. While those operating in the political process hope against hope that their deliverance will come from the ballot box, those from outside look towards popular insurrection and armed resistance as a way out. Interestingly enough neither the former nor the latter is unequivocally and fully committed to its chosen mode of struggle.
The “legal” opposition is unconvinced that EPRDF would relinquish power through the ballot box. The sobering experience of the May 2005 election can only bolster this conviction. Their choice of this means of struggle is also not based on a principled belief that the “legal” route is inherently superior to the armed in defeating tyranny. It is partly predicated on the belief that the EPRDF is more vulnerable politically than militarily.
At times the opposition blames the resistance for providing the EPRDF with a pretext to justify its draconian measures under the guise of maintaining not only peace and security but also national unity. The threat of insurgency, however ineffective, enables EPRDF to equate all dissent with subversion. At the same time, they welcome and look to the pressure exerted on EPRDF by the resistance to create more openings, breathing space, in the political process. The opposition is therefore ambivalent: while publicly shunning the resistance, it secretly wishes its success. This is one of the sources of its internal discord ...
Editor's Note: Gadaa.com would like to thank the Equal Exchange management for renaming their coffee products from "Oromia" as "Oromian" to reflect the authenticity of the products. That is the spirit of "fair trading," giving the politically & economically oppressed Oromo a fair share of the recognition. Gadaa.com encourages every Oromo with access to Equal Exchange products (especially in the Minnesota area) to buy the newly renamed Equal Exchange's Organic Oromian Coffee. Gadaa.com also commends those who are behind this renaming project for their bold initiative. Click here for the online store.
Equal Exchange Mulls Re-naming Ethiopian Coffee
The Wedge Community Co-Op - January
| Joe Riemann, Equal Exchange Coffee Co-op and Arfasse Gemeda, Youth Organizer for the Oromo Community of Minnesota |
By Barth Anderson
Is Organic Ethiopian coffee misnamed? Equal Exchange thinks so, and out of respect for the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, Equal Exchange Coffee Co-op is changing the name of its Organic Ethiopian coffee to Organic Oromian.
Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian Coffee is Equal Exchange's second best selling "Point of Origin" coffee (Colombian is first) and the coffee company purchased over 420,000 lbs of coffee from Ethiopia last year, for use in various blends.
Equal Exchange will test-launch this name change in Minnesota co-ops in February.
"Some customers may see it as just a new name for their coffee," said Equal Exchange's Joe Riemann, responsible for spearheading this project, "but coffee means so much to the Oromian people. This name change is powerful for them on a real personal, social, and cultural identity level."
The name change from Ethiopian to "Organic Oromian" would specify for consumers where the coffee comes from, Oromia (o-ROH-mia), which is the homeland of the Oromo people ...
Defar destroys indoor two-mile mark
Reuters -
Ethiopian Meseret Defar shattered the women's world indoor record for the two-mile run at the Boston Indoor Games on Saturday.
Defar, the outdoor record holder over the distance and reigning Olympic champion at 5,000 meters, clocked nine minutes 10.50 seconds to beat the old mark of 9:23.38 set by Regina Jacobs in Boston six years ago.
Kim Smith of New Zealand, who trains in Rhode Island, finished second and also surpassed the old record time, finishing in an impressive 9:13.94 ...
Kenyan rivals meet face-to-face
BBC - January 2
 |
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, have met for the first time since last month's disputed presidential election.
The talks in Nairobi were mediated by former UN chief Kofi Annan, who said some first steps had been taken towards a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Weeks of violence followed the election results, which Mr Odinga has rejected.
After the talks, his party condemned a statement by Mr Kibaki in which he said he was the "duly elected president".
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch issued a report accusing opposition officials of helping to organise ethnic violence in the Rift Valley region, in which hundreds of Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu community were deliberately targeted and killed.
"We have evidence that Orange Democratic Movement politicians and local leaders actively fomented some post-election violence," said Human Rights Watch's acting Africa director.
ODM spokesman Salim Lone said HRW should provide concrete evidence before jeopardising mediation efforts. The party has denied previous accusations of ethnic cleansing.
The unrest triggered by the election on 27 December has left more than 650 people dead and driven 250,000 from their homes ...
JPMorgan Chase urged to reject loan for Ethiopian dam
Environmental Finance, UK -
JPMorgan Chase has come under pressure to refuse to provide a loan for the controversial Gilgel Gibe III hydropower dam in Ethiopia.
Three NGOs – Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale in Italy, Les Amis de la Terre in France and International Rivers in the US – have written to the US bank to urge it to refuse a $400 million commercial loan request from the Ethiopian government in connection with the project, which they say would violate the bank’s environmental policy.
The 1,870MW dam is already under construction by Italian firm Salini, at an estimated cost of €1.4 billion ($2.1 billion), and would be the third stage in a project to dam the Gilgel Gibe River for hydropower. The Italian export credit agency SACE has refused to guarantee the project.
In November last year, the NGOs carried out a fact-finding mission to investigate the proposals, which they say uncovered evidence of environmental, social and legal issues with the dam. Problems raised by the NGOs include:
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): The NGOs state that the EIA – released by SACE – “is wholly inadequate according to international best practice”. In particular, they criticise the EIA for failing to assess the downstream impacts of the dam on the Omo River which will be diverted as part of the project. Although the dam is 13% complete, the project has yet to receive a permit from the country’s environmental protection authority, as required under Ethiopian law, the NGOs say ...
Ethiopia’s Dirty War
Newsweek - January 23, 2008
It was early one morning in July when 400 Ethiopian soldiers came to Ridwan Hassan Zahid's village of Qorile, 120 miles southeast of this dusty market town. The small settlement of ethnic Somalis in eastern Ethiopia was suspected of supporting separatist rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), and the government troops were out to exact revenge. They took Zahid, another woman, and eight men to the nearby village of Babase, where, she says, the soldiers chased away residents and burned the village to the ground. "I became like plastic," she says. "I couldn't feel a thing."
On the third day after her capture, the soldiers divided the prisoners into groups. As the other captives looked on, soldiers hung one man from one of the parched region's few trees; another was taken out of sight. Soon it was Zahid's turn. A small group of soldiers dug a hole in the sandy ground. They forced her into it and pinned her down by pressing the barrel of an AK-47 to her throat. As she tried to choke out the words to a final Muslim prayer, she heard two other captives screaming for mercy nearby as a noose was slipped over her head. Two soldiers jerked up on the rope, lifting her out of the hole by her neck, and she lost consciousness ...
Dibaba returns to her World record venue to run 3000m in Boston
International Association of Athletics Foundation, Monaco -
|
Tirunesh Dibaba |
Reigning two-time World 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia, who twice has broken the World Indoor 5000m record at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, will return on 26 January to compete at 3000 metres.
Still just 22 years old, Dibaba, a three-time World Cross Country champion, has been one of the brightest track and field stars in the world for the past four years. In 2007, she defended her World 10,000m title with a dramatic come-from-behind victory while battling an injury.
Dibaba is also the 2003 and 2005 World champion and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist at 5000 metres. She set her first World indoor record at the distance at the 2005 Boston meeting with a 14:32.93 (29 Jan) and improved that time in 2007 with a 14:27.42 (27 Jan).
Dibaba’s personal best over 3000m indoors is the 8:33.56 World junior record which she ran on 20 February 2004 in Birmingham, England ...