Joint Statement by Four Oromo Liberation Organizations: ODF/ADO, OLF-U/ABO-T, OLF/ABO and FIO/KWO

JOINT STATEMENT

by four Oromo liberation organizations
Minnesota
May 1, 2016

We, the representatives of four organizations which are committed to the liberation of the Oromo people and the independence of Oromia, announce that we have concluded a meeting where we discussed issues pertaining to the Oromia-wide popular protests that have rocked the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)-led unjust regime in Ethiopia. We deliberated on and reached an agreement for cooperation on ways of strengthening the protests and leading them to a successful conclusion, on the future of the liberation struggle, on the right to self-determination, on our relationships with the people of the Horn of Africa and of the world. To implement our agreement, we have established a Coordinating Committee.

It is clear that the Oromo protests that have now lasted more than five months were started to end the dictatorship of the TPLF, the rapacious system of exploitation and the heavy burden of oppression. Though they were triggered by the land grab scheme around the city of Finfinne (Addis Ababa), the uprising in Oromia was spurred by structural factors, primarily the lack of self-rule, the dearth of respect for human rights, denial of rights to self-determination and absence of genuine democratization.

The popular protests were peaceful and demonstrations were conducted in accordance with the Ethiopian Constitution. Instead of responding to the popular demands in a peaceful manner, the government chose to unleash its security forces against the peaceful protestors, firing live ammunition at unarmed men and women, young and old. Even children were not spared. As a result, hundreds were killed, several hundred wounded, and thousands rounded up and subjected to torture in prisons. We note these atrocities with profound sadness and anger.

The EPRDF/TPLF leaders bear primary responsibility for the wanton destruction of human life and property. It is our duty to work with all concerned parties to bring to justice those who perpetrated crimes. Meanwhile, we believe it is still necessary to search for a peaceful political solution to the entire problem that triggered the protests. In this vein, we have messages for the Oromo people, the EPRDF/TPLF, the Ethiopian people and to all countries which have strategic interests in the Horn of Africa.

To our dear Oromo compatriots,

Your struggle is just. You are not going to be defeated by the unlawful killings, false propaganda, and other injustices perpetrated against you. We are filled with pride that you have removed the structures of bad governance and replaced them with local committees of self-government that now maintain law and order. We have no doubt that you will continue moving along this path you have blazed. We believe that your blood that was shed and the bodily harm you sustained because of EPRDF/TPLF action will become the building blocks for constructing a free and democratic Oromia. The cases of each life that they cut short, the injuries they caused, and the innocents they herded into prisons must be documented fully. We express our full support for your uprising and assure you in the name of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice that those who committed these crimes will be brought to justice. The political organizations that stand for Oromo liberation and Oromia’s independence pledge to continue our struggle while standing alongside you. The EPDRF/TPLF has not ceased from pitting you against other peoples by murdering non-Oromo residents of Oromia, destroying their property and burning down houses of worship and then blaming everything on the Oromo protesters. This will not subvert your uprising against injustice. Recall that the EPRDF/TPLF was caught while trying to plant explosives to incriminate on what it described as “agents of unknown forces.”

To EPRDF/TPLF leaders,

Just as happened with your predecessors, the rising tide of popular uprising is about to wash away your system of oppression. This is because of your refusal to address popular demands frontally. If, however, you prefer to give peaceful means of conflict resolution and dialogue a chance, Oromo liberation forces are ready to resolve the existing political problems through peaceful means. Barring this, we would like to restate that we will intensify the ongoing struggle to bring to a successful conclusion the Oromo struggle for freedom.

To the Ethiopian people,

The lawlessness and authoritarian dictatorship of the EPRDF/TPLF has now caused the Oromo people to rise up demanding genuine democracy and respect for human rights in the face of a heavily armed military force. We are aware that you are also affected by the regime’s excesses. We call on all forces which seek democratic and human rights to continue their own struggle alongside the Oromo people. Even though you have not yet openly supported the Oromo protests, perhaps terrified by fear of EPDRF/TPLF reprisals, we take this opportunity to assure you that the huge sacrifice that the Oromo are paying is aimed at ensuring respect for human rights, democracy, and the right to self-determination of all oppressed peoples.

To all forces with strategic interests in the Horn of Africa,

The incumbent regime is blindly marching toward darkness. Only a peaceful resolution of the conflict will be able to obviate the looming catastrophe. We urge you to encourage the EPRDF/TPLF, urgently to seek a peaceful resolution of the conflict and begin dialogue with the genuine representatives of the Oromo people in the country and out of the country. If this is not done, we predict that that the chaos in Oromia will engulf the rest of Ethiopia and will spread to the neighboring countries.

The four Oromo liberation organizations:
– Oromo Liberation Front
– Oromo Liberation Front, “United”[1]
– Oromo Democratic Front
– Front for Independence of Oromia

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Human Rights Watch: Using Courts to Crush Dissent in Ethiopia

For the past six months, thousands of people have taken to the streets in Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, to protest alleged abuses by their government. The protests, unprecedented in recent years, have seen Ethiopia’s security forces use lethal force against largely peaceful protesters, killing hundreds and arresting tens of thousands more.



The government is inexorably closing off ways for Ethiopians to peacefully express their grievances, not just with bullets but also through the courts. In recent weeks, the Ethiopian authorities have lodged new, politically motivated charges against prominent opposition politicians and others, accusing them of crimes under Ethiopia’s draconian counterterrorism law.

Just last week, Yonatan Tesfaye Regassa, the head of public relations for the opposition Semayawi Party (the Blue Party), was charged with “planning, preparation, conspiracy, incitement and attempt” of a terrorist act. The authorities citied Yonatan’s Facebook posts about the protests as evidence; he faces 15 years to life in prison, if convicted.

In April, Bekele Gerba, deputy chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Oromia’s largest registered political party, and 21 others, including many senior OFC members, were charged under the counterterrorism law, four months after their arrest on December 23, 2015. Bekele is accused of having links with the banned Oromo Liberation Front, a charge frequently used by the government to target ethnic Oromo dissidents and others. Deeply committed to nonviolence, Bekele has consistently urged the OFC to participate in elections despite the ruling party’s iron grip on the polls. Bekele and the others have described horrible conditions during their detention, including at the notorious Maekalawi prison, where torture and other ill-treatment are routine.

The authorities also charged 20 university students under the criminal code for protesting in front of the United States Embassy in Addis Ababa in March, 2016. The “evidence” against them included a video of their protest and a list of demands, which included the immediate release of opposition leaders and others arrested for peaceful protests, and the establishment of an independent body to investigate and prosecute those who killed and injured peaceful protesters. They face three years in prison if convicted.

The Ethiopian government is sending a clear message when it charges peaceful protesters and opposition politicians like Bekele Gerba with terrorism. The message is that no dissent is tolerated, whether through social media, the electoral system, or peaceful assembly.

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The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa condemns use of anti-terrorism law against Oromo political opponents

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) said in a statement  that it strongly condemns “the TPLF/EPRDF Government’s endless manipulations of the justice system to its own political ends – which was once again manifested in the fully fabricated allegations and charges filed against 22 (twenty-two) Oromo nationals.”

“It surprised no one that the TPLF/EPRDF Government, as usual, used the infamous legal tool of the Anti-Terrorism Law, as a result of which thousands of innocent Oromos and other nationals have been victimized, to arrest, detain and take to court another batch of Oromo activists,” the statement from the League said.

According to documents obtained by HRLHA, the 22 Oromo nationals, including top political leaders of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) party, such as Mr. Bekele Gerba (Deputy Chairman), Mr. Dejene Tafa (Deputy Secretary General), Addisu Bulala and others have been charged with allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government by means of instigating a public revolt and protests as well as collaborating with another political organization called the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

The HRLHA said it has ample documents that hundreds of thousands of innocent Oromos and members of other nationalities have already fallen victims of such injustices and dictatorship committed particularly using this Anti-Terrorism Law, described by some as “a tool to stifle dissent,” as a legal weapon.

The HRLHA called upon the Ethiopian Government to unconditionally release of the Oromo nationals. HRLHA also called upon the international community to condemn the Ethiopian Government’s acts of injustices against innocent citizens, and to request that these unjustly detained and falsely charged Oromos be freed unconditionally.

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Drama continues at Ethiopian courts on concocted charges of terrorism brought against opposition politicians

The kangaroo courts of the tyrannical regime in Ethiopia continued insistently on hearing trumped up charges of terrorism brought against opposition politicians despite deep concern and condemnation by the international community and rights groups against the concocted charges by the government.

Former member of the Blue Party, Yonatan Tesfaye was charged with terrorism on Wednesday for writing and posting on his Facebook page about the protest in the Oromia region of Ethiopia.

Berahnu Tekleyared, Fikremariam Asmamaw and Eyrusalem Tesfaw, all former members of the Blue Party were brought to court on Wednesday to hear from their witnesses. Police and the prison administration however failed to bring the witnesses the defendants requested to testify. The three were caught in March 2015 while they were heading to the country’s northern border to join armed opposition groups, a charge they never deny because, according to them, all paths to peaceful political struggle in Ethiopian has been completely blocked by the tyrannical regime.

The three defendants requested high profile political prisoners, officials of the regime and other prominent individuals to come to court and testify. The Police did not bring any of the witnesses on Wednesday’s hearing.

The Ethiopian government routinely charges journalists and opposition politicians with terrorism in a bid to silence any criticism to its iron fist rule.

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Ethiopia must release opposition politician held for Facebook posts

Amnesty International Press Release

The Ethiopian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release a prominent opposition politician facing a possible death sentence on trumped-up terrorism charges over comments he posted on Facebook, said Amnesty International.

                                                         Yonatan Tesfaye
Yonatan Tesfaye, the spokesman of the opposition Semayawi (Blue) party, was arbitrarily arrested in December 2015 and held in lengthy pre-trial detention for comments he posted on Facebook. The government says his posts against a government plan to extend the capital’s administrative authority to the Oromia region were in pursuit of the objectives of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which it considers a terrorist organization.

“The Ethiopian authorities have increasingly labelled all opposition to them as terrorism. Yonatan Tesfaye spoke up against a possible land grab in Oromia, which is not a crime and is certainly not terrorism,” said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International’s Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

“He and many others held under similar circumstances should be immediately and unconditionally released.”

Tesfaye was arbitrarily arrested in December 2015 and held without charge for months on end. It was not until May 4, 2016 that he was charged with “incitement, planning, preparation, conspiracy and attempt” to commit a terrorist act. The state prosecutor charged that Tesfaye’s remarks were in pursuit of the OLF’s objectives.

“Yonatan Tesfaye has no demonstrated links to the OLF. His arrest is just another example of government overreach in the application of its seriously flawed anti-terrorism law. This law is once again being used as a pretext to quash dissent,” said Wanyeki.

The Ethiopian authorities should also promptly, impartially, thoroughly and transparently investigate claims that he may have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention at the Maekelawi Prison, a jail notorious for its widespread use of torture.

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አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ ከኦ.ነ.ግ ጋር ተያይዞ የሽብር ክስ ተመሰረተበት

የቀድሞው የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ህዝብ ግንኙነት ኃላፊ አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ የጸረ-ሽብርተኝነት አዋጅ ቁጥር 652/2001 ዓ.ም የወጣውን አንቀጽ 4 ስር የተመለከተውን በመተላለፍ የሽብር ክስ ተመስርቶበታል፡፡

ዛሬ ሚያዝያ 26/2008 ዓ.ም የፌደራሉ ከፍተኛው ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ ክሱ በዳኞች ቢሮ በንባብ የተሰማበት አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ፣ የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ የተቀናጀ ማስተር ፕላን ሽፋን በማድረግ ከህዳር 24/2008 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ ተከሳሹ በሚጠቀምበት ደረ-ገጽ በተለይም ፌስቡክ አማካኝነት በኦሮሚያ ክልል የተነሳውን ‹‹አመጽና ብጥብጥ›› ለማስቀጠል የኦ.ነ.ግ.ን አላማ ተቀብሎ ተንቀሳቅሷል ሲል አቃቤ ህግ ክስ አቅርቦበታል፡፡ የክስ ፋይሉ ሌላ ምንም አይነት ተከሳሽን ሳይጨመር ለብቻው ለአቶ ዮናታን የተከፈተ ሲሆን የቀረበበት የማስረጃ ዝርዝር በማህረሰብ ሚዲያ የለጠፋቸው ፅሁፎች ናቸው፡፡

በዚህም ተከሳሹ ‹የቡድኑን (ኦነግ) አላማ ለማሳካት አመጽና ብጥብጡ እንዲቀጥልና ሌሎችን ለማነሳሳት አስቦ በሚጠቀምበት ደረ-ገጽ (ፌስቡክ) ቀስቃሽ ጽሁፎችን በመጻፍ የሽብርተኝነት ድርጊት ለመፈጸም ማቀድ፣ ማዘጋጀት፣ ማሴር፣ እና ማነሳሳት ወንጀል› መከሰሱን የአቃቤ ህግ ክስ ያስረዳል፡፡

አቶ ዮናታን ተስፋዬ በተለያዩ ቀናት በግል የፌስቡክ ገጹ ላይ ያስነበባቸው ጽሁፎች ክሱ ላይ ተካተዋል፤ በማስረጃነትም ተያይዘውበታል፡፡

በቀን 08/04/2008 ዓ.ም ለጭቆና መሳሪያነት የሚያገለግሉ ማናቸውንም ቁሳቁሶች ማቃጠልና ማውደም እንዲሁም መንገድ መዝጋትን በተመለከተ የጻፈው፣ በ11/04/2008 ዓ.ም ኢህአዴግ ችግር ማዳፈን እንጂ ችግር መፍታት አይችልም በሚል የጻፈው፣ 06/04/2008 ዓ.ም ሲጀመር ምንም ማስተር ፕላን የለም በሚል የጻፈው፣ 01/04/2008 ዓ.ም የተቃውሞ ትግሉ ቀጥሏል በሚል የጻፈው፣ 28/03/2008 ዓ.ም እንሆ 7 መልዕክት ብሎ በጻፈው እና በሌሎችም ጽሁፎች አማካኝነት ቅስቀሳ አድርጓል ሲል አቃቤ ህግ በክሱ ላይ ጠቅሷል፡፡

ዮናታን ተስፋዬ በነጠላ መዝገብ ብቻውን የተከሰሰ ሲሆን፣ ዛሬ ክሱ በንባብ በተሰማበት ወቅት ዳኛ አልተሟላም በሚል ጉዳዩ በቢሮ ታይቷል፡፡ በመሆኑም ቤተሰቦቹና ወዳጆቹ መታደም ሳይችሉ ቀርተዋል፡፡ ዮናታን የክስ መቃወሚያውን ይዞ እንዲቀርብ ለግንቦት 15/2008 ዓ.ም ቀጠሮ ተሰጥቶታል፡፡

ሙሉ ክሱ ከስር ያለው ሊንክ ላይ ይገኛል፡፡
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BycbySIJbSLpamdsV2Vtb2g0LXM/view?pref=2&pli=1

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‘I Was Forced to Drink My Own Urine’: Freedom For Netizens After 647 Days Locked Up, But Not For All

                                                      Zelalem Workageneghu

On April 15, 2016, the Ethiopian Federal High Court acquitted two men, Yoantan Wolde and Bahiru Degu, who spent more than 600 days incarcerated on terrorism charges that critics allege were politically motivated. Zelalem Workagenehu, a third man, was not so lucky. He was convicted and will be sentenced on May 10. (On April 26, the public prosecutor submitted a sentence aggravation statement to the court, and Zelalem was asked to file a sentence mitigation letter on his part.) Zelalem is a human rights advocate and a scholar who regularly contributed to the diaspora-run website DeBirhan.

All three were accused under Ethiopia's Anti-Terror Proclamation, which was adopted in July 2009. State officials defend the law, saying it is modeled on existing legislation in countries such as the United Kingdom.

Yonatan Wolde and Bahiru Degu were released after spending 647 days—almost two years—in prison, demonstrating a disturbing trend in Ethiopia where prisoners of conscience are locked away for long periods without a trial.

In what seemed to be a show of brute force, plainclothes security officers re-arrested Yonatan and Bahiru shortly after they left prison on April 18. The two men were held overnight at Maekelawi (Central) Prison, before being released again and warned that they're still under observation.They were also told by the securities “They would be killed if they made any moves,” their relatives say.
Zelalem was initially charged in October 2014, along with a group of nine other defendants that included Internet users, opposition politicians, and activists. So far, seven people in this group have been acquitted after spending more than a year in jail, after which they signed what they now say were false confessions, in order to escape further torture.

The charges against Zelalem include leading a terrorist organization (which is how the government came to define Ginbot 7, a pro-democracy political party founded by Berhanu Nega), conspiring to overthrow the government, and disseminating false information through reports on websites run by the diaspora. For instance, one of Zelalem's coauthors on the De Birhan Blog was also implicated in the case.

The case was later reduced to two charges: recruiting members to start an Arab-Spring-like revolution in Ethiopia and co-facilitating what the government says was a “training operation to terrorize the country.” (Zelalem says it was actually a training camp to build digital communication, social media, and leadership.)

Yonatan and Bahiru were charged with applying to the participate in Workagenehu's training camp, and suspected of joining Ginbot 7. (They denied these accusations.)

In his ruling, the judge reportedly said that applying to or participating in such training exercises was not illegal and so Yonatan and Bahiru should be acquitted. Despite their two years behind bars, Yonatan and Bahiru aren't entitled to any form of compensation. It's not yet clear if they intend to press the matter in court.

Bahiru Degu, who attended his former co-defendant's trial last week, struggles the most among the three men. He told the court he experienced extensive torture during the first three months of his detention:

"I was forced to get naked and was regularly beaten. Due to the severity of the beating, I was unable to control my bowels [sic]. I was forced to drink my own urine."

Like Bahiru Degu, Zelalem Workagenehu and Yonatan Wolde also told the court about the severity of the torture committed against them in prison, saying guards were trying to force them to sign false confessions. A recent report published by Human Rights Watch revealed that Ethiopian investigators and police do abuse journalists and opposition activists, in order to extract confessions:

"Police investigators at Maekelawi use coercive methods on detainees amounting to torture or other ill-treatment to extract confessions, statements, and other information from detainees. Detainees are often denied access to lawyers and family members. Depending on their compliance with the demands of investigators, detainees are punished or rewarded with denial or access to water, food, light, and other basic needs."

Source-  Global voices

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