Eliminate the Terrorist State Abyssinia (Fake Ethiopia) from the Map to Save Human Respectability

Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

In an earlier article published yesterday under the title ??After South Sudan, Referendum for Secession Needed in Ogaden and Oromia (Abyssinia, Fake Ethiopia)?? (amongst others: https://www.examiner.com/web-news/wfp?index=4 and http://www.savethechildren.org.au/), I stated that over the next few years, Eastern Africa will undergo a great change, following the recent referendum for independence and secession which was held in South Sudan.

I also specified that Abyssinia (fallaciously re-baptized as Ethiopia) is Africa?s worst tyranny whereby an ethno-religious minority of ca. 17%, namely the Amhara and Tigray Tewahedo (Monophysitic) Abyssinians, rule tyrannically over 15 subjugated nations that all passionately struggle for national liberation, independence and secession from the immense fascist jail that is Abyssinia.

I then reproduced the recently published devastating Report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (abridged version), which under the title ??Ethiopia - Monitoring of conflict, human rights violations and resulting displacement still problematic?? can be found, amongst others, here: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/ethiopia-monitoring-of-conflict-human-rights-violations-and-resulting-displacement-still-problematicIn and by itself, the comprehensive Report bears witness to the urgent need for an imminent international intervention and elimination of the racist Amhara - Tigray pestilence.

With the present article, I start the republication of the integral edition of the Report, and I will make it publicly known in a series of articles. Before republishing the Report?s first unit, I make available the complete Table of Contents, and I will do so in every part of the series.

Ethiopia - Internal Displacement Profile

http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/(httpCountries)/2CC10DD018E56104802570A7004B304F?OpenDocument&count=10000&expandview#expand

I. Causes and Background

Background (Special Report 2007)

Background (Special Report 2007)

Conflict-displacement in the context of displacement due to natural disasters, resettlement and economic migration (Special Report 2007)

II. Background

Study shows Conflict prevalent in all regions of Ethiopia (November 2008)

Continued border tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea (2007)

Background to the 1998 border dispute

Both Ethiopia and Eritrea used mass deportations as a weapon of war, 1998-2002

Regular human rights violations, particularly after the May 2005 parliamentary elections (January 2006)

Border standoff in November 2005 threatening border stability (March 2006)

Easy availability of small arms contributes to conflicts (2005)

III. Causes of displacement

Conflict between Garre (Somali) and Borena (Oromiya) over disputed land (February 2009)

Conflict causes displacement of tens of thousands in 2008 (February 2009)

Somali region (Special Report 2007)

Somali region: Root causes of, and background to displacement (August 2003)

Somali region: clashes between Ethiopian armed forces and ONLF (June 2008)

Drought-induced displacements fuel conflicts in east and south, 2002-2005 (February 2005)

Somali-Oromo border referendum of December 2004

Oromiya region (Special Report 2007)

Gambella: Causes for displacement (2004)

Gambella: Displacement in December 2003 and in 2004

Gambella: Displacement from 2005 to 2007 (Special Report 2007)

Tigray and Afar regions (Special Report 2007)

Tigray and Afar: Chronology of the military confrontations in border areas between Eritrea and Ethiopia, May 1998 - June 2000

Tigray and Afar: Armed conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia displaced civilians living along the border, 1998-2000

Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoples region (Special Report 2007)

Afar: tensions between the Afar and the Issa (2007)

Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR): Thousands displaced due to ethnic clashes in the southern region, 2002-2003

IDPs around Addis Ababa (August 2003)

IV. Peace efforts

Federal government asked to help contain regional conflicts (August 2009)

Border impasse between Eritrea and Ethiopia poses serious challenges for peace (July 2008)

Organization of African Unity mediation efforts resulted in 2000 cease-fire

The Boundary Commission, 2000-2005

The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and the Temporary Security Zone, 2000-2005

The Temporary Security Zone, 2000-2005

Stability along the border shaky as both Ethiopia and Eritrea sharpen their rhetoric (2007)

Traditional reconciliation mechansism: Peace efforts in Gambella (2007)

V. Population Figures and Profile

Global figures

Difficulties in identifying and counting IDPs (Special Report 2007)

Geographical Distribution

Inter-ethnic conflict in southern Ethiopia displaces thousands of people (February 2009)

Somali/Oromiya regions: Displacement due to 2004 Somali/Oromiya border referendum continues to be of concern (February 2006)

Oromiya region: Ethnic conflict between Gabra, Guji and Borena displace over 40,000 since April 2005 (June 2006)

Gambella: Internal displacement (February 2006)

Tigray: 62,000 still displaced since the Ethio-Eritrean war (January 2006)

Three main areas of displacement along the Eritrea/Ethiopia border (April 2003)

Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region: ethnic conflict base for internal displacement (March 2003)

VI. Patterns of Displacement

General

Historic and general overview of causes of displacement (2003)

Reports on displacement due to repression by government in rural areas (January 2006)

Resettlement Programmes and economic migration (Special Report 2007)

VII. Physical Security & Freedom of Movement

Physical security

Somali Region: Serious human rights violations against population in Ogaden, and economic restrictions (August 2009)

Displacement-specific humanitarian and protection challenges (Special Report 2007)

Physical security of IDP women and children are a protection concern (2007)

Somali region: Serious human rights violations against population in Ogaden, and economic restrictions (2007)

VIII. Subsistence Needs

General

Ethiopian State accused of hidding famine, depriving needy of food aid (September 2008)

Drought causes enormous strain on Ethiopia's south-east (April 2006)

IDP needs in Doba Woreda in Oromiya region (February 2005)

IDPs needs in Miesso in Oromiya region (December 2004)

Tigray IDPs live on meagre resources, government response to include them in PSNP (February 2006)

Conflict induced newly displaced people in acute humanitarian situation in Somali and Oromiya regions (March 2006)

Conflict induced IDPs in Bordode/Mieso areas (Somali) in need of planned humanitarian assistance (April 2004)

Food

High malnutrition in IDP producing areas (July 2009)

Over 6 million Ethiopians need food aid (October 2008)

Health

Therapeutic Feeding Centres in vulnerable regions (July 2009)

Drought posing health risks to children (January 2006)

Health risks in relation to the 2006 drought (April 2006)

HIV/AIDS prevalence exacerbated by frequent population movements (March 2003)

Water and Sanitation

Somali Region facing food and water crisis (August 2009)

People in need of emergency water assistance increased from 2.6 to 4.2 million during 2003 (June 2003)

Education

Children in pastoralist and conflict areas face poor access to education (October 2008)

IX. Issues of Self-Reliance and Public Participation

Self-reliance

IDPs likely to be disadvantaged in local allocation system (January 2004)

IDPs self reliance particularly disrupted by loss of assets and access to farmland (May 2002)

X. Documentation Needs and Citizenship

General

Access to land, identity cards and public services goes through local kebele officials (January 2004)

XI. Issues of Family Unity, Identity and Culture

General

Traditional Ethiopian social structure is hierarchical (January 2004)

XII. Property Issues

Law and Policy

Federal and Regional Land proclamations introduce a system of land registration and certification (Jan 2008)

Compensation for land inadequate and possibly putting at risk those without land certificates (January 2008)

Land Proclamations an attempt for enhanced gender equality (January 2008)

XIII. Patterns of Return and Resettlement

Return

Return movements difficult to monitor (2005)

Gambella: return movements in 2007

Thousands of drought-IDPs assisted to return in Somali region (2007)

Obstacles to return

Tigray: Return constrained by presence of landmines Tigray (2007)

Resettlement programmes

Government resettlement plans for 2006 in Amhara (February 2006)

Government?s resettlement programme gives mixed results (December 2004)

Badly planned resettlements in severely drought-affected Oromiya (June 2003)

Resettlement of drought affected people in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (July 2003)

75,000 people including war-displaced to be resettled in Humera in Tigray (April 2003)

XIV. Humanitarian Access

General

Humanitarian access limited by conflict, government restrictions (October 2008)

XV. National and International Responses

General

UN and Regional Health bureaus deal with health problems (August 2009)

UN provides $6 million to alleviate suffering (July 2009)

Government agency helps in food distribution (August 2009)

National response (Special Report 2007)

National response is inconsistent and ad hoc (February 2006)

International response (Special report 2007)

International response

Coordination mechanisms

Reference to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement

African Countries set to adopt Convention to provide rights to IDPs (June 2009)

Known references to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (as of July 2004)

Recommendations

Recommendations of Human Rights Watch on Somali Region of Ethiopia (June 2008)

Recommendations of IGAD expert meeting, Khartoum, September 2003

Section I: Causes and Background

Sub-section: Background (Special Report 2007)

Background (Special Report 2007)

http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/0219F9C9B83E4CAAC125732B00442636?OpenDocument

Special Report: A heritage of autocracy and natural disasters

Ethiopia is one of the world?s poorest countries. Throughout its history, it has suffered from recurring droughts and floods and related famines. It is also characterised by a long history of centralised state power, culminating in military rule under the Marxist Dergue government led by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam from 1974 to 1991. The 1985 famine brought international attention to Ethiopia, and triggered a huge response to support millions of starving Ethiopians.

The famine brought to the fore the ruthless demographic engineering of the Dergue government. While at times restricting aid agencies? access to the worst-affected northern regions of Tigray and Wollo, the government initiated a large-scale resettlement programme, moving some 600,000 people from the famine-stricken northern highlands to the more fertile south-western lowlands of Gambella and Oromiya regions. Following a shortage of volunteers for the programme, the regime forcibly assembled and transported highland peasant farmers. Tens of thousands of them died either in transit or on arrival, as they were unable to make a living in the different climate, and were susceptible to malaria. The government also implemented a "villagisation" policy, which was intended to eventually cluster some ten million peasants in socialist rural centres. The living and working conditions of these centres were later described as resembling those of forced labour camps.

Both resettlement and villagisation had a terrible impact on the social fabric of the affected populations. Both were presented internationally as development programmes and supported by donor governments. Both programmes, however, also had political objectives, in particular to curb popular support to rebel movements in Tigray, Eritrea and Oromiya regions. Many resettled people were in fact subsequently recruited into the government armed forces, as this offered the only way out of their miserable situation.


Natural disasters such as floods and drought have caused recurring displacement. The most recent waves of drought-related displacement occurred in 2000 and 2003, mainly in eastern regions. Massive flood-induced displacement occurred in November 2006. Ethiopia was also affected by the August 2007 floods.

Besides natural disasters and internal inter-ethnic or separatist conflicts, international conflicts have also long affected the Ethiopian population. Somalia?s invasion of the Ogaden (today?s Somali region) in 1977, and the 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea triggered significant internal displacement, the latter conflict alone forcing around 300,000 people to flee their homes.

The EPRDF and ethnic federalism

During the 1980s, and not least as a consequence of the poor official response to the drought, regional opposition movements gained momentum while socialist-bloc support for the Dergue dried up. In 1991, a number of those opposition groups, led by the Tigray People?s Liberation Front (TPLF), toppled the government. The new ruling coalition of parties joined as the Ethiopian People?s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), under the central control of the TPLF, which maintains alliances with the ruling regional parties.

In an attempt to decentralise the rigid system it had inherited from the Dergue period, and in order to avoid secessionist movements, notably in the regions of Somali and Oromiya, the EPRDF engaged in a major reform process from 1991. Nine kilil or administrative regions were created and divided into zones, which were often named after the majority ethnic group. Each zone was further sub-divided into woredas (district councils) composed of a number of kebele (local councils) in urban neighbourhoods, or of peasant associations in rural areas. While many of those entities had already existed under the Dergue, the EPRDF?s devolution processes vested them with some degree of political and administrative autonomy.

The woreda is the focus of administrative and political action in the federal system. It is crucial to control a woreda to exercise political influence and to have a say in the centrally-steered taxation and distribution of funds and resources, including land, food aid, employment and documentation.

District and local authorities are generally either directly affiliated with, or allied to, the EPRDF, although the situation changed somewhat following the elections of May and November 2005, when opposition parties increased their representation in the national parliament from 12 seats to 172 and also in local government. The elections were marked by violent suppression of widespread protests against alleged vote-rigging by the EPRDF, and possibly led to the displacement of thousands of people.

The government?s reaction to the protests led several donors to divert financial support away from direct budgetary support to the central government, instead directly funding NGOs or local government bodies through the "Protection of Basic Services" mechanism. While donor governments have stopped aid transfer on several occasions in the past, such disruptions have never been sustained, consistent or coordinated.

The system of ethnic federalism, dividing Ethiopia into ethnically defined regions and zones, and channelling access to power and resources according to ethnic criteria, is quite unique in the world; it lends the strong central government a federalist face in a country which is home to approximately 80 different ethnicities. However, none of the administrative regions is ethnically homogenous, and the increasing migration of people within Ethiopia in recent years due to famine, economic hardship, resettlement and urbanisation has made the principle of ethnically-distinct zones increasingly difficult to realise and to sustain.

Competition for access to local and regional power structures appears to be increasing. Underlying this competition is a general scarcity of resources, including land, water, food and work opportunities. In a number of regions, older and more recent localised resource-based conflicts have taken on a more ethnic character, further encouraging the activities of armed secessionist movements such as the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). Other groups, like the Somali Sheikash clan, strive for access to political representation.

Sources

Cultural Survival Quarterly, 31 December 1987, Steingraber: Resettlement and Villagization - Tools of Militarization in SW Ethiopia

Ethiopian National Congress, 24 July 2005, Repression in rural Ethiopia

Human Rights Watch (HRW), 13 January 2006, Hidden crackdown in rural areas

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), 14 November 2005, Ethiopia: Donors concerned over political unrest

U.S. Department of State (U.S. DOS), 6 March 2007, Ethiopia Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2006

Conflict-displacement in the context of displacement due to natural disasters, resettlement and economic migration (Special Report 2007)

http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/54EBFEE1668DB174C1257371002B02B2?OpenDocument

Special Report: Natural disasters as a cause of displacement

While this report mainly focuses on conflict-induced displacement, the dimension of displacement due to natural disasters cannot be seen as a completely separate issue. As a result of these natural hazards, the culture of sharing scarce resources is often being tested to its limits and resource-triggered conflicts are on the rise. Oxfam, February 2005; UN OCHA, Pastoralist Communication Initiative, 2007. Furthermore, the distinction between economic migration and displacement due to natural disasters is often hazy. Where people need to leave their homes in search of food and work, there clearly is an element of involuntariness involved. Large-scale resettlement programmes intending to manage food scarcity must also be seen in this context of very complex interactions of different population movements.

People directly displaced by natural disasters are often assisted better than conflict IDPs. Their main problems, such as successful reintegration and reconstruction of livelihoods, are to a large extent due to a gap between humanitarian and development assistance.

Ethiopia?s south and east, particularly Somali and South Oromiya regions, and increasingly Afar region, are chronically food-insecure and regularly affected by drought and floods. As of mid-2007, parts of Ethiopia (particularly in Oromiya region) had received below-average rainfall and were facing shortages of water and pasture land. Then, during August and September, Amhara, Afar, Gambella, SNNPR, Somali, Tigray and Oromiya regions were hit by floods, affecting over 220,000 people and leading, according to UN OCHA, to the displacement to temporary shelters of over 70,000 people.

These floods hit the country less than a year after the devastating floods of 2006, which had temporarily displaced some 600,000 people. DPPA Flood Impact Assessment, 2007, expected to be published on the DPPA website: www.dppc.gov.et. Most of them returned home within weeks, with the notable exception of some 4,000 flood-displaced people in Dire Dawa, whose original dwellings were too close to the river bed, and who were awaiting government-built housing in a camp set up for them. The living conditions of the Dire Dawa IDPs, visited in February 2007, were good, and social services well organised and accessible to all. Less than half of them were able to move to their new homes in the course of 2007, while the others continued to wait for new housing.

Most IDPs displaced by the 2000 and 2003 droughts in Somali Region have returned to their areas of origin, with the exception of the Fafen and Hartisheik camp residents. Because not all return movements proved economically sustainable, the reintegration of the returnees remains challenging, despite exceptionally good rains in 2007. The current activities of the Ethiopian army in parts of Somali region further seriously impact on their opportunities for trade and access to food and water.

Resettlement programmes and economic migration

The current situations of conflict-induced internal displacement should be seen in the context of broader population movements, because economic migration and resettlement programmes also influence the composition and cohabitation of populations, as well as the stability of regions.

In early 2003, as part of its National Food Security Programme, the Ethiopian government launched a new resettlement programme, intending to resettle 2.2 million people, or 440,000 households, from the chronically food-insecure highlands to more fertile agricultural lowland areas within three years. The resettlement programme was planned for four regions: Tigray, Oromiya, Amhara and SNNPR, and implemented in three phases of 100,000, 150,000 and 190,000 households each. Potential resettlers were identified during awareness-raising campaigns at both the woreda and kebele levels, and host woredas were identified based on the availability of arable land. In an attempt to mitigate resentment by the host community and to ease the transition, basic infrastructure (such as health services, water supply, primary schools and roads) was to be established, and the people resettled were to receive an eight-month food ration.

The government suggested that the scheme was successful and mostly led to self-sufficiency, and that past failures had been due to uncontrolled self-resettlement. Other reports suggest that resettlement was often experienced as a heavy burden. Critics said the programme did not always respect four core principles: the resettlement was not always voluntary, the land allocated was not always suitable for planting, host communities were not always properly consulted, and the resettlees were not always properly prepared. It was said that in certain cases the resettlement led to severe malnutrition, as the highlanders were not accustomed to the agricultural techniques required in the lowlands. A considerable number of resettled people eventually had to move on, this time unassisted. As mentioned above, past resettlement programmes, particularly the large-scale resettlements under the Dergue government in the 1980s, were fraught with problems and caused widespread suffering.

One interviewee said that the radical changes in demographic equilibrium induced by resettlement programmes and economic migration should be taken into account more in federal planning. For example, Gambella?s neighbour region to the north, Benishangul Gumuz, is confronted with similar demographic issues as Gambella. The region, fertile and sparsely populated, faces a looming crisis: in 1994, only 55 per cent of the inhabitants were indigenous, and since then, large numbers of people moving in from other regions have become a source of growing concern for the regional government. Informal resettlement and economic migration, including urban migration, could also have a destabilising effect. Development-related displacement could do the same, for example in Afar where a big dam for irrigation has reduced the land for the Afar people, or where the creation of national parks as tourist attractions has forced people out of their home area.

Sources

BBC News, 19 January 2005, Talking Point with PM Meles Zenawi

Cultural Survival Quarterly, 31 December 1987, Steingraber: Resettlement and Villagization - Tools of Militarization in SW Ethiopia

Ethiopian Herald, 19 March 2006, State begins resettling 10,000 peasant households

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP), 24 February 2006, FAO crop and food assessment mission to Ethiopia

Forum for Social Studies, 2005, Understanding the dynamics of resettlement in Ethiopia

Government of Ethiopia and Humanitarian Partners, 12 February 2007, 2007 Humanitarian Appeal for Ethiopia

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), 28 August 2007, Flood survivors struggle one year on

Oxfam International, 28 February 2005, Livelihoods/Emergency Assessment in Afar Region

The Reporter, 24 December 2005, The case of resettlement program worth 1.9 billion

UN Country Team Ethiopia (UN CTE), February 2006, Focus on Ethiopia, February 2006

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), 24 September 2007, Relief Bulletin

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), 26 March 2007, Humanitarian Bulletin

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), 15 August 2005, Ethiopia-OCHA: 15-Aug-05

Southern Sudan referendum: 'Massive vote to split'. BBC News

Southern Sudan referendum: 'Massive vote to split'

With most votes counted in Southern Sudan's referendum, 99% of people have opted for independence from the north, officials say.

Official results are due next month but correspondents say the outcome of the week-long poll is not in doubt.

However, the former rebels now running oil-rich Southern Sudan have urged people not to celebrate yet.

President Omar al-Bashir has said he will accept the result of the vote, which was held after years of war.

The BBC's Peter Martell in Juba says this is the news many in the south have been waiting to hear - that the number of votes cast in favour of independence has passed the required 50%.

The results were published on a website published by the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, and officials have confirmed they are genuine.

It says that 83% of votes in the south have been counted, along with 100% of those in the north and the eight foreign countries where polling was held.
Just 1.4% of people have voted for continued unity with the north.
More than 3m ballots have been counted so far, with several hundred thousands still to come.

Giant party

Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau spokesman Aleu Garang Aleu said counting should be finished on 31 January and final results announced on 14 February, after any appeals had been dealt with.

Our correspondent says southern leaders are waiting for these results to be declared and accepted by the north before the giant party being planned begins.
If the result is confirmed, the new country is set to formally declare its independence on 9 July.

The mainly Arabic-speaking, Muslim north has fought the south, where most are Christian or follow traditional religions, for most of Sudan's post-independence history.

In order for the referendum to be valid, more than 50% of voters must back secession and at least 60% of registered voters must take part.

Election officials have previously said that the 60% threshold had been passed.

After Sudan;World should Focus on Oromo

By Kasembeli Albert

It has never known political stability after the colonial conquest and subjugation by Abyssinia. It has never enjoyed real prosperity in spite of being one of the richest nations in natural resources in the horn of Africa with a population estimated at 33 million. It is Africa’s longest political conflict that appears to have been forgotten by the international community including IGAD and Africa Union among others. It has won the unenviable accolade of being the cradle of the world’s largest forced mass movement from one country in modern African history, namely the current exodus from Ethiopia. Welcome to Oromia, the country of the Oromo people (375,000 square miles).

In the last four decades, the Horn of Africa, with Ethiopia as an epicenter, has experienced an unprecedented wave of refugee flows, resulting in large concentrations of displaced persons. Nearly all these displaced persons are from Ethiopia. Today there are an estimated over 10 million refugees originating from Ethiopia, second only to those from Afghanistan and Iraq put together.

The influx of Ethiopians fleeing their country to Kenya has always hit headlines in the local and internal press. Ironically, most are apprehended by Kenyan authorities and handed back to the Ethiopian authorities or locked up in Kenyan prisons. Some of the refugees are said to be on transit to South Africa.

The Oromo Liberation Front has for decades been embroiled in a protracted war for the liberation of the Oromia. The most striking aspect to political pundits and academics is the manner in which the international community has accorded the conflict a blind eye, and regional governments, IGAD and AU cannot explain why Ethiopians are fleeing their country in droves.

Who will save the Oromo people from institutionalized oppression and blatant abuse of basic human rights by the Addis Ababa government? What is the IGAD and the Africa Union doing to resolve the conflict? The 140 years of continuous acts of cultural genocide by successive Ethiopian regimes is a remarkable testimony to the resilience of the Oromo cultural values and democratic heritage.

Even as the international community remain silent in the face of the conflict that has claimed lives of millions of people, it is is important to note that as a geo-cultural bridge between Europe, Africa and Asia, the Horn of Africa has always been embroiled in some world-historic events, since the times of the Roman empire. The Horn remains important in security considerations of the Middle East and the increasingly competitive global economy.

It is important to observe that the current Ethiopian regime is being sustained in power by foreign western powers for imperialistic reasons. Take the case of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), also known as Wayyane, which was promoted in 1991 by foreign governments, particularly that of the US, to fill the power vacuum created by the downfall of the Dergue regime. As expected, this led to replacement of the Amhara regime by a Tigrean power as was evident to those familiar with the Ethiopian political landscape.

Under the pretext of opening the country for world market and democratization, traditional supporters and partners of the Ethiopian empire used the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to pump huge amounts of money into the coffer of TPLF. During the first four years of its rule, the regime received about US$3 billion in bilateral grants. The Paris Club member countries granted significant debt-cancellations and rescheduling. The TPLF regime used the multilateral and bilateral assistance to dismantle Amhara-centre state apparatus and to replace it by institutions that are nothing more than appendages of a tightly controlled party-apparatus of the Tigrean ruling class.

Today, there is no public institution, be it the military, the judiciary, the civil service, the regulatory agencies, and financial institutions outside the control of the TPLF and its surrogate parties. Thus, the regime cannot claim democratic legitimacy by any standard. Most disturbing are reports of Kenyan Borana Oromo near the border being harassed and imprisoned in Kenya. These incidents are violating international law regarding refugees. They could have been taken to Kenyan courts, if suspected of any crime.

The human rights crisis in Ethiopia is so worrying. No one seems to understand the scale of the violations. targeted and systematic tortures, disappearances and extrajudicial killings are common place in that country. There seems to be no hiding place for the victims of human rights violations under the current regime in Ethiopia. Peasants in certain areas are particularly targeted and expelled in broad day light from their farmlands for the sake of the officials and of TPLF-led government financial gains.

“The peoples of Oromia and Kenya share a longstanding cordial relationship. In particular, Kenya, as a democratic and stable country, continues to provide safety for a significant number of Oromo refugees fleeing from persecution by the Ethiopian state. However, it is of also of grave concern that recently, a large number of Oromo refugees have been handed over to the Ethiopian authorities by the Kenyan agents who have been recruited by the Addis Ababa spy network. More worrying is the fact that their operations are not sanctioned by the Kenyan government. These refugees are sent back to inhumane torture and certain death in the hands of the Ethiopian security agents,” says an OLF petition to Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki.

The petition, copied to the country’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga further notes: “We believe Kenya could play a positive and constructive role in supporting a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Oromia and Ethiopia and that would make Kenya a legitimate player in the international arena. We respectfully urge you to appraise the situation and reconsider your policy and assure supporting the just cause of the oppressed Oromo people rather than assisting the bloodthirsty regime in Ethiopia."

In the recent months, Kenyans authorities have been accused of illegal rendition of Oromo refugees and Kenyans to Ethiopia under the pretext of cracking down on the Oromo Liberation Front (OLP) militias. While in Ethiopia, the individuals are arraigned before special courts where they are handed heavy jail sentences ranging from death to life in prison. The ORA has accused the Ethiopian government and some elements within the Kenyan government of gross violation of the basic human rights of the Oromo refugees and Kenyans shipped to Ethiopia.

The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) was established in 1973 by Oromo nationalists to promote the right to self-determination for the Oromo people against what they call "Ethiopia colonial rule." There are reports that the OLF has increased its activity following the general elections of 2005 and has offices in Washington, D.C. and Berlin.

The international community particularly IGAD and the AU ought to appreciate the fact that the fundamental objective of the Oromo liberation movement is to exercise the Oromo peoples' right to national self-determination and end centuries of oppression and exploitation by Ethiopian colonialism. The foreign policy of OLF stipulates that it respects the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Kenya and all neighbouring countries. Kenya, the host state to the refugees has been accused of violating the 1951 UN Convention and 1967 Protocol on the status of the refugees for handing over the Oromos who have fled their homes to escape persecution.

It was through the initiative of IGAD, AU and the EU that a protracted peace deal was negotiated between SPLM and the Khartoum government, effectively putting an end to one of Africa’s longest conflict then. As the Southern Sudan people undertake a decision on the future of the nation through the referendum, it is important that the international community focus attention on the Oromo conflict to save the plight of the Oromia nation.

The Oromo people’s demand of self-determination is neither a question of secession from a country with whom they have willfully integrated nor a matter of a periphery struggling for decentralization or devolution of power from a central government. It is a demand by the Oromo people to restore the sovereignty taken away from them and to freely determine their own political status. This demand does not, therefore, violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Khartoum government. The Oromo people have never been meaningfully represented in Ethiopian political process. There has never been a moment in the political history of the Ethiopian empire-state when the state possessed a government representing the “whole people.”

Moreso, the Oromo people’s demand for self-determination is not an internal affair of Ethiopia. Many nations in the world including Kenya are shouldering the burden of refugees from the Ethiopia. UNHCR is spending millions of dollars to sustain refugees from Ethiopia. Much more too is spent on relocating some of the refugees to friendly countries in Europe. This indeed, makes the conflict a matter of interest and concern to the international community including regional bodies like IGAD, AU and relevant UN agencies. In the same vein, the liberation struggle of the Oromo people against successive Ethiopian regimes cannot be characterized as “an internal civil strife, banditry, terrorism, or civil war.” It is a struggle of people under alien domination.

What the international community must realize is that TPLF regime constantly fabricates false accusations to criminalize and demonise Oromo political organisations as a smokescreen to conceal the regime’s acts of genocide against Oromo social and cultural life. An attempt by the regime to link the Oromo liberation movement with fundamentalism and international terrorism is a fabrication to discredit and garner international community’s sympathy.

By Kasembeli Albert

Kasembeli Albert is the Editor, Business Journal Africa, a regional business and finance magazine.

Cushitization’ vs ‘Semitization’ of Ethiopia: A very dangerous dichotomy

By Gumaa Guddaa
Fromo Oromo affairs

I read the article by Fayyis Oromia with some sense of disbelief. (“Read Here”)

The dichotomy between Cushitic and Sematic Ethiopia is naïve at best and malicious at worst. The enemies of the Oromo struggle have been doing their best to misrepresent the Oromo quest for independence as anti-Semitic movement and have actually succeeded to some degree. I do not think it is up to an Oromo to assist this by falsely claiming that the Oromo should struggle to re-Cushitize Ethiopia unless one has completely lost his marbles.

It is true the Oromo belong to the Cushitic speaking group. It is also true that the Tigre and Amhara belong to the Semitic speaking group. However, let it be known that this dichotomy is not the cause of the Oromo struggle. In fact, I have never read or heard this being the basis of the struggle over the past 40 years. It did not appear in our discourse because it is a taboo subject but there is no logic to it. Let us be clear that this sort of fantasy has no place in the Oromo world view. It is totally alien to our thinking the reason why we struggle that it is difficult to recognize.

The Semitic speaking Tigre and Amhara elite have rallied most western Ethiophile academia and scholars to campaign against us due to this misguided misapprehension. I am speechless that Mr Fayyis Oromia is either unaware of this fact or actively engaged in justifying the myth that already exits. To appear intellectual without being one has this sort of danger. To pretend to be a thinker without thinking is diabolical.

It appears that the Shanee ideologues are shaken to the core by the clear articulation of the objective and vision of the Oromo struggle for freedom by Mr Galassa Dilbo in his recent interview with an Oromo journalist Mr Jalil. (“Listen Here”)

Mr Fayyis Oromia suggests that the Asmara Group should struggle for re-Cushitization of Ethiopia. In the past he argued they should democratize Ethiopia. What is unclear is that whether re-Cushitization is ethnic cleansing or not. It certainly borders on racism.

Mr Fayyis also mixes dangerous cocktail of religious and racial differences in proposing the basis for his suggestion for his idea. He tries to suggest Waaqaa religion will counter Judaism and Orthodox Christianity. Waaqaa religion is the minority religion in Oromia itself let alone Ethiopia. The Oromo people are by and large followers of the two main religions of Christianity and Islam, in almost estimated equal proportion. He stated that these two religions are being liberalised by the Cushitic influence. Mr Fayyis says nothing about the Semitic version of these religions. Are they not liberal too?

In the past Mr Fayyis had forcefully argued that globalization has changed our world and no need for talking about differences. Therefore, I do not think we can take him seriously at all.

What is amazing is that Mr Fayyis claims the Abyssinian position is antithesis. However, his position is rather antithesis to the Oromo position. The Oromo rightfully lay claim to Oromia. Fayyis claims not only the whole of Ethiopia but Sudan, Egypt and Kenya. Totally absurd concept. His proposal is simply so far fetched and impractical not worthy of spending time on discussing.

Mr Fayyis Oromia’s article is difficult to follow. It is all over the place. On the one hand he suggests that the struggle should be two against one. Well, it has been two against one so far. The two Sematic speaking Tigre and Amhara against the one Cushitic speaking Oromo. He fails to understand that the former two have successfully already Semitized Ethiopia over the past 150 year. Mr Fayyis suggests that the combination of Oromo and Amhara will Cushitize Ethiopia. He did not say if he considers anyone out of power automatically turns to be Cushitic. The two Sematic speaking will benefit forming alliance rather than allowing themselves being split by the Cushitic speaking Oromo, wouldn’t they?

Like Mr. Fayyis Oromia appear to think Cushitic centric history is truth his Abyssinian counter parts also unshakably believe what he calls myth as historical and religious facts. He asserts “…getting rid of the myths like the rhetoric about the Solomonic dynasty and the fiction about ‘Ze Negede-Yihuda’ …” will be a solution. An impossible task. At any rate no business of the Oromo. People should respect the culture and history of others, be it fact or fiction, unless you are a racist.

The incontrovertible historical fact is that a country called Oromia was annexed by another country called Abyssinia. This has nothing to do with Semitization or Cushitization. The Oromo struggle is a national liberation struggle to regain the lost sovereignty of Oromia. Any self-respecting Oromo will respect people with Semitic heritage as well as those with Cushitic heritage equally.

I would like to think Mr Fayyis Oromia’s views are his. I am equally curious if the Asmara Group (A.K.A Shanee, the Daawud Ibsaa Group) will now be going to talk about re-Cushitization for the next decade. I pray not.

Dhaamsa Waggaa Haaraa ABO 2011

OROMO LIBERATION FRONT
Guyyaa: 1 Amajjii 2011 Lakko. 001/ABO/2011

Dhaamsa Waggaa Haaraa – 2011

Hayyu Duree Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo Irraa

Jaallatamoota ilmaan Oromoo martinuu!

Maqaa dhaaba keenya Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo (ABO) tiin dursee baga nagaan waggaa haaraa 2011 geessan jedha.

Barri 2010 seenaa qabsoo bilisummaa Oromoo keessatti bara qabsoon ummatni keenya bilisummaa isaaf geggeessuu gulantaa tokkoo irraa gara gulantaa ol aanaatti tarkaanfate ta’u kan mirkaneessuu fi injifatnooleen jajjaboon kan keessatti galmaawan ture.

Qabsoo bifa adda addaan geggeeffamaa jiru dabalatee waggaa dabre kana keessa Waranni Bilisummaa Oromoo (WBOn) tarkaanfilee cululuqaa nyaapha Oromiyaa saamaa jiru irratti fudhataa jiru ragaa qabatamaa dha.

WBOn shira keessaa fi alaan diinonni qabsichaa xaxan hunda injifatnoon keessa hulluuqee milkiilee jajjaboo galmeessuu danda’un jabina qabsoo haqaa ummatni Oromoo geggeessaa jiruu ti. Injifatnoon WBOn diina irratti galmeessaa jiru kun wareegama lubbuu qabsa’ota qaqqaaliin argame.

Dhaabni keenya qabsoo hidhannootiin of haaromsee mootummaa garboonfataa Wayyaanee irratti tarkaanfilee WBOn fudhataa jiru kan diina rifaasisee fi kanneen qabsoon hidhannoo hin danda’amu jedhanis dhara isaanii saaxila baase dha.

Jaallan hedduun diina waliin falama gochaa jiran bilisummaa ummata Oromoo fi biyya isaanii kabajamtu Oromiyaa argamsiissuuf wareegama lubbuu fi hir’ina qaamaa kafalan hunda kabajaa jaalluummaan yaadanna. Wareegamni isaaniis akkasumaan akka hin taane kaayyoon isaan kufaniif akka galma isaa gahu of qusannoo tokko malee akka qabsoo finiinsinee Oromiyaa bilisoomsinu irbuu keenya haaromsina.

Wareegamni ummatni keenya WBO cina dhaabbatuun baasaa jiru kan ragaasisu qabsoon kun kan haqaa fi qabsoo mirgaa ta’u isaa qofa osoo hin taane mootummaan Wayyaanee qabeenyaa biyya keenyaa saamuun waraana mataa isaa hidhachiisee akkasuma mootummaa biiyya olla illee daboo kadhatee dhaaba keenya irratti duula walirraa hin citne oofaa jiraatus ABOn dagaagaa jiraachuu isin dhageesisuu danda’uf gammachuun koo dacha dha.

Ummatni keenya dhuunfaa alagaa jala jirus ta’e kan biyya ambaattii argamu daddaaqinsa malee qabsoo bilisummaa biyya keenyaaf deggeersi hamilee, yaadaa, meeshaa fi maallaqaa dhaaba keenyaaf kennaa jiru heedduu kan itti boonnuu fi jajjabeessaa dha.

Mootummaan Wayyaanee ummata keenya lafa isaa irraa buqqisee lafa Oromoo fi bosona Oromiyaa gatii rakashaan gurgurataa jira. Haallii kun kan addeessu ummata keenyaa lafa irraa duguuguuf mootummaan alagaa sagantaa yeroo dheeraa qabaataa ture galmaan gahachuuf hidhatee boba’u isaa ti.

Kanaaf, ani Oromoo dha kan ofiin jedhu hundi dhaaba keenya ABO cina dhaabbatuun diina kana yeroo gabaabaa keessatti of irraa fonqolchuuf wareegama barbaachisu akka godhu waamicha lammuummaa goonaaf.

Dhaabota maqaa ABO himatan hunda kaayyoo ganamaa kan mootummaa walaba Oromiyaa dhaabanii iggitii ittigochuu jalatti gurmaawanii akka qabsoo fuuldura tarkaanfachiisan taasisuuf Mudde 2008 waamicha gochuun keenya ni yadatama. Gartuuleen ABO ofiin jedhan hundi gaafatama kana bakkaan gahuuf ABO deebifne dhinsuu fi humneessuu walakkeessa godhannee haasaa fi marii jalqabnee yoo jiraanne illee shafisaan akka hawwamutti hin xumuratin jirra. Waggaa haaraa kana keessa maree jalqabamee jirru bifa tokkoon ni xumurra jennee abdanna. Kayyoo ganamaa dhaaba keenyaa ABO bu’uura taasifachuun tokkummaa argamuuf qabsoo gonuus wagga kanas akka itti fufnu mirkaneessina.

Garaagarummaa xixiqqaa fi kanneen diinni tahe jedhee amantii fi kutaan ummata keenya adda ciruuf yaalaa jiru diduun ummatni keenya tokkuummaa isaa yoom illee caalaa tikfatuu akka qabu yaadachiifna. Haqa jiru dhoksuuf kanneen maqaa Oromoo himataa rakkoo hin jirre ummuuf ummata keenya keessa walshakkii facaasuuf carraaqan hundas dalagaa fokkataa akkana irraa dhaabbatuu akka qaban hubachiifna. Garaagarummaa ilaalcha siyaasaa bifuma siyaasaatiin fixachuuf qophii ta’un bilchina horachuu akka qabnu kabajaan yaadachiisuu feena. Karaan bilisummaa qabsoo finiinsuu qofa akka ta’es irra deebiin hubachiifna.

Maquma dhaaba keenyaa himachuun diina biyya nu sarbee waanjoo garbummaa nu irratti fe ’ee jiru lafatti dhiisanii kanneen dhiiga qabsa’ota Oromoo dhangalaasaa jiran hundi qawwee isaanii gara lammii keenyaatti otoo hintaane gara diinaatti akka galagalchan yaadachiifna.

Gama kaaniin dhaabotni siyaasaa Oromoo kanneen walabummaa Oromiyaaf qabsaawan hundinuu walitti dhufeenya qabnu gara tumsa hojii waliin tolfatuuf dandeettii keenya walitti qindeessuun ayyinaa fi dandeettii qabsichaa dagaagsuun bilisummaa as dhiheessuun dirqama.

Yeroo dinnii alaa fi keessaan dandii walabummaa Oromoo waltajjii qabsoo irraa haquuf shira ol aanaa geggeessaa jiru kana keessatti humnootni dhugumaan walabummaa biyyaaf dhaabbanne jedhan akka duraaniitti itti fufuun bu’aa isaa irra balaa isaatu madaala jenna. Kanaaf, gama keenyaan akkuma kanaan duraa waan nu irraa eegamu gumaachuuf qophii dha. Carraa kanatti gargaaramuun maree fi hariiroo gidduu keenya jiru akka jabeessinuuf waamicha isiniif dhiheessina.
Waggaa haaraan 2011 kun kan nagaa, milkii fi injifatnoon qabsoo bilisummaa Oromoo itti mirkana’u akka ta’u hawwii koo ti.
Oromiyaan ni bilisoomti!

Dhugaasaa Bakakkoo

Dhugaasaa Bakakkoo Hayyu Duree ABO
Madda:- Oromoliberationfront.info