Oromo Students Hold Rally On Mall

Britney Black

4/17/07

While the eyes of America are focused on the war in Iraq, thousands of Oromo people are trying to survive a different type of war in Africa, a war where innocent people are being murdered simply because of their nationality.

This is the message that the Oromo Youth Association wanted to convey to the U.S. government during their rally in Washington, D.C. on March 31.

The rally, which began at 11 a.m., started in front of the U.S. State Department and ended in front of the U.S. Capitol at 2 p.m. The protest gathered more than 500 supporters, including those who are not Oromo.

The Youth Association participants used several different ways to get their message across, such as painting their clothing to depict bloody wounds and walking in lines with ropes tied around their necks. Looking out at the rally, one could glimpse a small part of Oromo culture within the colorful sea of reds, yellows, greens and whites.

“Our aim was different from other marches done by the organization,” Gelane Gemechisa, one of the organization’s board members, said. “We were not trying to get Congress to read a letter. We were not trying to get the state department to read a list of our issues. We wanted the media attention. We wanted people to ask, ‘Who are the Oromo people [and] what is their story?’”

Bontu Itana, a junior finance major and a member of the organization, said, “The official mission of Youth Association is to engage in a multifaceted struggle to bring freedom, justice, equality and development to the Oromo people of East Africa.”

Itana continued, “The Youth Association also works to alleviate the economic, social and human rights deprivations of the Oromo nation at no cost to any other nation or country.”

The Oromo Youth Association was founded in 2006 as a response to the ethnic cleansing being done by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLC) in Ethiopia.

The TPLC has now combined with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia. Together, these two governments are systematically killing the Oromo people in Ethiopia, Somalia and other neighboring countries.

Due to a lack of media attention and unresponsiveness from international governments, such as the United States, the Oromo people have been forced to fight their battle alone.

“The really sad thing is that hundreds of refugees fled to Somalian refugee camps to escape persecution, just to discover that soldiers were killing Oromo citizens there also,” Itana said.

There seems to be no safe place for the Oromo people to go when even the world’s most powerful nation turns a blind eye.
“There has been a history of brutalization in an attempt to maintain the Oromo land,” Gemechisa said.

Even though the Oromo people make up about 50 percent of Ethiopia’s population, they are the most marginalized group, Gemechisa said.

“The goal of the rally was to gain media attention and to let the whole world know that everyone in Ethiopia does not support the war,” Itana said. “The Oromo people do not support the war. [They] are dying because of it.”

Itana added, “The youth effort that we have is pushing to give a voice to the voiceless. The Oromo people have been suffering for hundreds of years and their plight is still unknown.”

Gemechisa said, “It is my dream that more youth become involved in the struggle. Youth have always been the driving force of revolution. The Oromo problem is far from over. Now it is time for this generation to do its part. We need you.”

The next rally will be July 26 in Minneapolis, the home of more than 15,000 Oromo people.