Sunday, April 05, 2009

Liberating Oromiya: If no now, when? If not us, who?

Gadaa.com

By Leenjiso Horo

Bilisumma.com - Much has been talked; much has been discussed about independence. In the struggle against colonial occupation, the terms independence and liberation are used interchangeably. And so is, here, too. Independence cannot come in itself, or by itself or by begging for it, or by penning ones hopes on some external intermediaries or mediators. And it is neither a gift from the Heavenly Kingdom, nor it is a gift by the goodwill of the worldly kingdoms or rulers. Independence is a fruit of bitter struggle. Long ago, the Oromo nationalists understood this to be a self-evident truth that the independence of Oromiya rests on their shoulders, on their willingness and capacity to fight a bitter fight. With this understanding, four decades ago in 1970s, these nationalists, echoing a philosophical version of a 12th century moral philosopher’s (Rabbi Hillel’s) words, asked themselves two fundamental questions: liberating Oromiyaa: If no now, when? If not us, who? Read Full Article Bilisummaa.com

Friday, April 03, 2009

Oromo Protest against Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi at the G20 Summit

Gadaa.com

The BBC reported that demonstrators have gathered near the G20 Summit venue in London’s Docklands for a second day of protests. Among them were members of Oromo Community in the UK in support of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and against human rights violations by the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The Oromo community in UK opposes the invitation of dictator Meles Zenawi to the G20 summit, atrocities caused by his leadership to the Oromo and other people of the Ethiopian empire. In the video (link to BBC below), protesters are seen holding the flags OLF and ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front).
Watch the Video (BBC)

Related news:

U.S. President Barack Obama scolded Ethiopia's dictator Meles Zenawi during a brief one-to-one encounter at the G20 meeting in London on April 2. Obama reportedly told Meles that the human rights condition in Ethiopia is deplorable and unacceptable.

Following a meeting with Obama, Meles Zenawi, who was invited to represent New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) at the G20 meeting, abruptly canceled a press conference he was about to give.

"His people gave no reasons for this. But insiders in the press center said Zenawi was worried about the kind of questions that were going to be put to him concerning human rights violations within Ethiopia and his dealing with his opponents and Ethiopia’s neighbors," Henry Gombya of BSN reported.

"The African continent really wasn’t heard; South African President Motlanthe said he didn't speak for the continent and Meles Zenawi cowered in the shadows," Gombya writes.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

MEDREK: The Final Effort to save Ethiopia

Opinion | By Kemal Abdisa*

Ethiopia is at the crossroads, once again. When the military officer Mengistu came to power in 1974, there was a brief period of cautious optimism for change, only to have our hopes dashed as he kept the status quo and pursued his mass murder campaign. When another armed group of the TPLF/EPRDF came to power in 1991 with big promises and slogans of change, many people of southern Ethiopia were once again hopeful. They hoped to either establish a majority rule via voluntary union of Nations or hoped to otherwise see the demise of the evil Ethiopian empire that has brought so much death and destruction to the horn of Africa. But once again, their hopes were dashed by the TPLF/EPRDF tyranny that still strangles our people inside this state created by force and created by the massacre of many of our ancestors. Despite the tyrannical rule of TPLF however, many brave people of Ethiopia are trying to break the cycle of dictatorship and misery, by waging a peaceful struggle to bring real change once and for all. They began such peaceful struggle not because of the tolerance of the TPLF but due to the willingness to endure misery, to pay the ultimate price for progressive principles and to sustain the struggle even when their members and families are being killed by TPLF agents, left and right, in every corners of the country. Perhaps the biggest attempt to bring change to the country comes in the form of MEDREK, an alliance of several opposition parties and opposition figures....read full report

Meles Zenawi of Tigray may join his brother al-Bashir of Sudan

The action that the International Criminal Court has taken in this situation has restored hope to peace and justice loving people, affirming that international human rights law not only exists on paper, but in reality. It also sends an important message to perpetrators throughout the world that impunity for their crimes is not assured forever; which may be a primary reason that one of the first leaders to defend Omar al-Bashir and condemn the warrant was Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, whose government has also been implicated in a pattern of widespread perpetration of serious human rights atrocities in Ethiopia and in Somalia. He and those within his government may be keenly aware of their own vulnerability to similar actions by the ICC in the future that could upend a deeply entrenched system of government-supported impunity that has protected perpetrators from any accountability. ...Read full report


Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Ethiopia PM silent on cost of military mission in Somalia


Daily Nation - ‎Mar 23, 2009‎
By ARGAW ASHINE, NATION CorrespondentPosted Monday, March 23 2009 at 19:17 Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who is the commander-in-chief of the country’s defence forces, has refused to disclose the cost of the Somalia military intervention....read more
related news:

Monday, March 23, 2009

Eritrea: Bashir in Eritrea after ICC warrant

Photo
NAIROBI, March 23 (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Eritrea on Monday on his first foreign visit since he was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Darfur, Eritrea's government said.

"Yes, he is here," Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu told Reuters by telephone. "He is meeting with President Isaias, and they are discussing bilateral relations. Why should we worry about the ICC issue?"full report .>> >> >>

Monday, March 16, 2009

Woyane Government is accused of aiding Somali pirates

gulf news
"They are extending logistic support to the pirates besides harboring them at the Ethiopian camps located on the Somali-Ethiopian boarder regions. Ethiopian Troops gave them protection even inside Somali territories before their pull out," he said

Speaking to Gulf News during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, Ali Abdu accused that some decision makers at the Ethiopian government are the real beneficiaries of piracy, which brought them millions of dollars.....full report

Rev. Itefa on Bringing Shane OLF and Ethiopia’s Ruling Party to the Negotiation Table

Gadaa.com

Reverend Itefa Gobena, the former President of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church, disclosed that the Elders, concerned individuals using the traditional means to resolve conflicts, were awaiting for a response from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in the initiative to bring OLF and the Ethiopian ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF/Woyane) to the negotiation table. The Elders have met three times in the past two years in Netherlands with the OLF faction led by Obbo Dawud Ibsa Ayana and based in Asmara, Eritrea.(Read More » » »)

Friday, March 13, 2009

70,000 Oromo have fled

Borana tribesman holding a gun

Some 70,000 people have fled their homes in a remote part of southern Ethiopia, after a deadly conflict broke out between rival groups - apparently triggered by the construction of a new borehole. The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt has been to visit the affected areas... read more

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Al Amoudi: Billions of Dollars from Oromia


Hit jackpot with gold mine in the Oromo region of Ethiopia; it now produces 6 tons of gold annually, set to double production by 2010.
Source:forbes.com

Seven days of cholera in the town of Moyale


Photo: microbiologybytes
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae (above). Left untreated it can lead to severe dehydration and death
MOYALE, 12 March 2009 (IRIN) - At least 14 people have died in the past seven days of cholera in the town of Moyale, along the Kenyan-Ethiopian border, health officials have said.

"Three people have died in Kenya and 11 deaths [have been] confirmed in Ethiopia," Abdullahi Jaldesa, the Moyale district clinical officer, told IRIN. The three dead in Kenya include two children. Another 13 patients have been admitted to the Moyale District Hospital.

The Ministry of Health, with technical support from the country office of the World Health Organization (WHO), confirmed the outbreak on 5 March ...read more

Sudan president cancels Ethiopia trip, press conference and a rally

March 10, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — A planned trip by the Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir to Ethiopia today, for the annual supreme joint committee meeting has been cancelled for unknown reasons.

JPEG - 18.3 kb
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir talks to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, not pictured, during their meeting at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 (AP)

The pro-government Sudanese Media Center (SMC) website reported that the committee will convene on April 11th in the Ethiopian capital without referring to the meeting that was scheduled for today.

Last month Sudan official news agency (SUNA) reported that Al-Bashir will be leading the Sudanese delegation to Ethiopia on March 10th for the annual supreme joint committee meeting co-chaired by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi....read more

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Eritrea: Isaias invites Bashir, condemns Hague warrant


NAIROBI (Reuters) - Eritrea on Wednesday invited Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to visit the Red Sea state and condemned a Hague-court warrant for his arrest on Darfur war crimes charges. Read more

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Ethiopia ONLF rebels 'seize town'

Map

Rebels in Ethiopia fighting for the independence of the Somali-speaking Ogaden region say they have captured a town in the east of the country.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said it had seized Mustahil and was also fighting for the towns of Wardheer and Khalavo.

It said at least 80 Ethiopian soldiers had been killed.

An Ethiopian government spokesman told the BBC the reports were absolutely false and the ONLF was on the run.

On Saturday, the Ogaden rebels said they had killed more than 20 Ethiopian troops in recent fighting, a report also denied by the authorities in Addis Ababa.

The ONLF, founded in 1984, says the Somali-speaking population in Ethiopia's oil-rich Ogaden region has been marginalised by Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia's military launched an offensive against the ONLF after its fighters attacked a Chinese-run oil venture in Ogaden in 2007, killing dozens of people, including nine Chinese nationals.
Source: BBC

related news:

Monday, March 09, 2009

Meles Zenawi is on the List of ICC



In Africa, those considered possible targets of the court are leaders in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Central African Republic...full report

Meles Zenawi and his followers are enjoying impunity after carrying out brutal and segregationist attacks. In fact, they are known to have been rewarded for discriminating and killing thousands of Oromo and opponents of the Ethiopian government over the last 18 years.

The rewards take forms of promotion to higher military ranks, salaries and reassignments to other areas.

The 2009 Human Rights Report on human rights in Ethiopia, documents widespread extra-judicial killings, arrests, and imprisonment of Oromo people and dissidents in Oromiya regional state in Ethiopia.


Saturday, March 07, 2009

Oromo:Wayaaneen baratoota Oromoo ajjeesaa jirti


Friday, 03.06.2009, 12:51pm

Gudina Shawaa dhihaa magaalaa Geedoo keessatti,humna poolisii wayyaneetiin barataan Oromoo sadarkaa lammaffaa tokko yoo du'u hedduuniis madaawe jedhu..Gafiif deebisaa VOA sagantaa Afaan Oromoo hogganaa kongressi biyyooleessaa Obboo Mararaa Guddina waliin taasise.. dhageefadhu

Related news:
Ethiopian Soldiers Killed, Injured High School Oromo Students: by Qeerransoo Biyyaa

Friday, March 06, 2009

Rebels say they killed 24 Ethiopian soldiers




Mareeg - London,England,UK
MOGADISHU (Mareeg)- Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels said Friday they killed 24 Ethiopian soldiers and injured dozens after heavy fighting Read more

Lenco Lata "“It is a shame for African leaders to be unable to resolve their problems within the region.”

A former Ethiopian dissident takes another view. Lencho Lata, a former Oromo Liberation Front deputy secretary general who spent more than 10 years living in Sudan when he was active in Ethiopia’s rebel movement, told the Afan Oromo service’s Nigusu that it is a necessary step for justice. He spoke from Sweden, where he now lives. “It is good news that leaders who order bloodshed in their own countries can be brought to justice.” However, he added, “It is a shame for African leaders to be unable to resolve their problems within the region.” ...read more

112 Ethiopians, 76 Somalis Arrive In Yemen



Bernama - Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia
The security bodies said that they had captured 79 Ethiopian emigrants who arrived on an unknown ship carrying 150 persons at Khanfer coastline.
Upload Image
...Read more

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Omar AL-Bashir Arrest Warrant

Bashir Arrest Warrant
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant Wednesday for the arrest of President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan on charges of war crimes and crimes ...
China wants Bashir case suspended

Aljazeera.net - ‎1 hour ago‎
China has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to suspend its case against Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, "for the time being". ...