Statement from Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)
The
Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) strongly opposes the planned visit to
Ethiopia of the US President Barack Obama on the end of July 2015. As
Ethiopia is one of the most brutal regimes of the world, OLF believes
that such a visit will result in strengthening the dictatorial minority
regime, will boost the regime’s confidence to strengthen its ruthless
human rights violations, will give a green light to the regime to
continue its repression, economic exploitation, and marginalization of
various nations and nationalities of the country under its usual
pretense of democracy. OLF also believes that a lasting national and
security interest of the US is better protected not by blessing and
supporting such a well-known ruthless regime, but by being on the side
of the people, supporting the struggle of the peoples of the country for
freedom, democracy, and justice by using its leverage through exerting
the necessary pressure on the regime on power.
In 1991 when the
dictatorial military regime of Mengistu Hailemariam was overthrown by
the combined struggle of the oppressed peoples of Ethiopia and a
Transitional Government was about to be established, a commitment given
from the US government to the Ethiopian people was an assurance of “no
democracy, no cooperation”. It was the then US Assistant Secretary of
State for African Affairs, Herman Cohen, who gave such assurance in
public. However, the TPLF/EPRDF group who took over the government not
only by using the military upper hand it had but also using the blessing
of the US official Herman Cohn demonstrated its anti-democratic nature
in practice in a matter of less than one year. Several organizations who
struggle for the right of their people, including the Oromo Liberation
Front (OLF), opposed the tyrannical and authoritarian practices of the
TPLF/EPRDF party as the dominant force and left the then Transitional
Government of Ethiopia.
Today, 24 years have passed under the
totalitarian TPLF/EPRDF regime erected and protected by the West, mainly
the United States of America. It is impossible to enumerate the
widespread political repression, economic exploitation, and monopoly of a
minority regime in all sectors political, economic and social life.
Among many other reports, the repeated reports of human rights
organizations such as
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa, including the Country Report
US State Department all shed light to the atrocities of the current
Ethiopian regime committed on the peoples of the country, mainly on the
Oromo people. Nonetheless, it has to be noted that all these and many
other reports show only a small fraction of the repression and
brutalities perpetrated by the regime. Most of the political killings,
barbaric acts of torture, politically charged arrests, abductions and
disappearances carried out by the regime are hidden and remain
unreported. The OLF has ample evidence that most acts of ruthlessness
committed on the Oromo nationals in several parts of Oromia are not
reported at all.
Overall, although some knowingly or unknowingly
deny or diminish the repressive nature of the current Ethiopian regime,
the truth is that the basic democratic and human rights and freedom of
peoples of the country is denied in Ethiopia. While Ethiopia has never
seen democratic election in its history, the undemocratic and fake
nature of so called “election” carried by the current regime has no
parallel even in the Ethiopian standard. Over the last 24 years, the
Ethiopian people have been forced to “elect” the TPLF/EPRDF party under
the barrel of the gun. The 2015 so called “election” is a clear evidence
that, for the people of the country, let alone electing whoever they
want, any suspicion about electing the opposition parties the government
conveniently put in the election drama has been a crime subjecting
citizens to severe punishment. While the so called election drama and
its result in which the TPLF/EPRDF declared 100% victory are officially
over, as we speak, thousands of Oromo and other nationals are being
hunted down and thrown into jail for suspicion of “electing” the few
opposition who didn’t even win a single seat in the parliament.
If
the US’s claims of strengthening democratic process were true, what is
expected of President Obama at the moment was not to plan official visit
to Ethiopia, but to use his leverage to put pressure on the minority
Woyane (TPLF) regime to stop terrorizing its citizens and hold
democratic election by openly condemning the process and rejecting the
results of the current sham election. It is disturbing that, to the
contrary, the US government, looking at the temporary benefit it may or
may not get from alliance with the brutal regime and ignoring the
suffering of the peoples of the country, is encouraging the regime
towards committing more crimes and rewarding the regime for the endless
atrocities it has already committed. This is not what is expected of a
country which claims to be democratic and acts as the “police” of our
planet.
It is to be recalled that, the US Under Secretary for
Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, appeared in Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) on
one of the days leading to the regime’s “election” drama of 2015, and
endorsed the election by suggesting that “Ethiopia had made great
strides toward an open and inclusive electoral process”. She went on
saying that the US hopes the then upcoming election would be “free,
fair, inclusive, and peaceful”. Her endorsement and blessing of the so
called “election” as an official US position came at a time when the
regime was completing its preparation to run a sham election marred with
harassment, arrest, intimidation, and several schemes of vote rigging.
The irresponsible blessing and approval by Wendy Sherman of an election
which is universally well-known to be full of fraud was condemned by
many human rights and other international organizations. Clearly, the
endorsement and blessing of this US official has bolstered the
confidence of the government to continue its crackdown on dissenting
voices, blatantly harass the entire public, and finally committed naked
election fraud and now shamelessly declared 100% victory. The current
planned visit of President Obama has no benefit to the peoples of
Ethiopia or the region. To the contrary, it is another endorsement and
blessing of an election which is very well known by the Ethiopian people
and the entire world to be bogus.
The Oromo Liberation Front
(OLF) earnestly appeals to the US government to reconsider its position
and cancel the planned visit to Ethiopia of President Barack Obama. The
OLF would like to reiterate that, although such a visit of a US
President could temporarily seem to reinforce the confidence of the
brutal regime on power, it will never reverse or pull back the struggle
the oppressed peoples of the country are waging to gain their freedom.
The history of the struggle of the peoples of the region confirms that
no external force can reverse the just fight of people against
dictators. Sooner or later, brutal regimes will disappear like a dust.
It is only a matter of time.
Victory to the Oromo People!
Oromo Liberation Front
July 04, 2015
