Oromia fashion show 2014 on Oromia@Federation Square Melbourne Australia Dec 21,2014

Oromia fashion show 2014 on Oromia@Federation Square Melbourne Australia Dec 21,2014

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OLF: Appeal Letter to UN General Secretary Mr. Ban Ki Moon – 12-11-2014

His Excellency Mr Ban Ki-Moon
United Nations Secretary-General
Office of the Secretary General of United Nations
885 Second Avenue
United Nations Headquarters
Room DHL-1B-154
New York, NY 10017
Fax +1 212-963-4879

Your Excellency

I write on behalf of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) to bring to your kind attention the plight of the Oromo people and to ask you to request the Security Council of the United Nations to treat the matter as a priority, to condemn the lawless atrocities by the Ethiopian regime, adopt appropriate actions to bring perpetrators to account, and safeguard the wellbeing of the Oromo and other peoples in Ethiopia.

In the land of their birth, the Oromo, who constitute the single largest national group in Ethiopia, are denied the most basic democratic right to organize freely and legally and express their political opinion. We do not know any country in the world, expect Ethiopia, where 35 million Oromo people are denied the right to have their own newspapers, to elect their own leaders and support an organization of their choice. Today, it is a serious crime, even punishable by death, to support independent Oromo organizations, such as the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), internationally recognized organization, which jointly ruled Ethiopia with the TPLF in 1991/92. Supporters of the OLF and other independent organizations are harassed, detained for years without charge and their property confiscated without due process.

Full Statement in PDF

በኢትዮጵያ ታሳሪ ጋዜጠኞች ቁጥር ከባለፈው ዓመት በእጥፍ ጨምሯል - ሲፒጄ...

China is world's worst jailer of the press; global tally second worst on record

The Committee to Protect Journalists identified 220 journalists in jail around the world in 2014, an increase of nine from 2013. The tally marks the second-highest number of journalists in jail since CPJ began taking an annual census of imprisoned journalists in 1990, and highlights a resurgence of authoritarian governments in countries such as China, Ethiopia, Burma, and Egypt.

China’s use of anti-state charges and Iran’s revolving door policy in imprisoning reporters, bloggers, editors, and photographers earned the two countries the dubious distinction of being the world’s worst and second worst jailers of journalists, respectively. Together, China and Iran are holding a third of journalists jailed globally—despite speculation that new leaders who took the reins in each country in 2013 might implement liberal reforms.

The 44 journalists in Chinese jails are a jump from 32 the previous year, and reflect the pressure that President Xi Jinping has exerted on media, lawyers, dissidents, and academics to toe the government line. In addition to jailing journalists, Beijing has issued restrictive new rules about what can be covered and denied visas to international journalists.

Coverage of ethnic minority issues continues to be sensitive; almost half of those jailed are Tibetan or Uighur, including academic and blogger Ilham Tohti and seven students imprisoned for working on his website, Uighurbiz. Twenty-nine of the journalists behind bars in China were held on anti-state charges. (Read detailed accounts of each imprisoned journalist here.)

The administration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has also maintained repressive measures against the press. This year, Iranian authorities were holding 30 journalists in jail, down from 35 in 2013 and a record high of 45 in 2012. CPJ’s 2014 International Press Freedom Award winner Siamak Ghaderi was released from prison in July, but that same month, Iranian authorities jailed Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter. By late 2014, the government had still not disclosed the reason for Rezaian’s arrest or the nature of charges against him.

Read More at cpj

ETHIOPIA: Outbreak of Deadly Disease in Jail, Denial of Graduation of University Students

HRLHA – URGENT ACTION

DECEMBER 10, 2014

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) would like to express its deep concern over the outbreak of a deadly disease at Gimbi Jail in Western Wollega, as a result of which one inmate has already died and sixty (60) others infected. HRLHA strongly believes that the very poor sanitation in the jail, absence of basic necessities, and denial of treatment after catching the illness have contributed to Mr. Yaikob Nigaru’s death. HRLHA fears that those who have already caught the disease might be facing the same fate. It is well documented that particularly inmates deemed “political prisoners” are deliberately subjected to unfriendly and unhealthy environments and, after getting sick as a result, are not allowed ACCESS to treatment until they approach or reach the stage of coma, which is when recoveries are very unlikely. HRLHA considers it one way of the systematic eliminations of alleged and/or perceived political dissidents. Read more…

A Chronological Summary of Oromian Student Movement Led by Qeerroo Bilisummaa

November 2013 – November 2014

Compiled by Daandii Qajeelaa | November 7, 2014
In memory of Oromo students who lost their lives during the November 2005 and April/May 2014 Oromo student movement known as Fincila Diddaa Gabrummaa (Revolt Against Subjugation).

Introduction

In recent years an Oromo youth wing known as “the National Youth Movement for Freedom and Democracy (NYMFD)”, widely known among the Oromo as “Qeerroo Bilisummaa” or simply “Qeerroo”, has reinvigorated the struggle of the Oromo nation for freedom, democracy and justice. From the publications and public statements of the group, one can easily see a strong connection or affiliation of the group with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). For example, the radio of OLF, Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo (SBO), routinely reports the movements of Qeerroo, and conversely, Qeerroos radio, Sagalee Qeerroo Bilisummaa, also routinely reports the military activities of the OLF army. However, the chairman of OLF, Mr.  Daud Ibsa Ayana, was reluctant to disclose the apparent affiliation of his organization with Qeerroo in a recent interview he made with Oromia Media Network (OMN). Perhaps he refrained from doing so for obvious reasons. Read more…

Human rights campaigner says African Union should move headquarters out of Ethiopia

Human rights abuse in Ethiopia

November 6, 2014, JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The African Union should move its headquarters out of Ethiopia because of concerns about freedom of expression there, an Angolan journalist and human rights campaigner said.
Journalist Rafael Marques de Morais, who has been jailed and faces numerous legal challenges for his investigative work in Angola, said in Johannesburg on Tuesday night that the African Union is hypocritical for keeping its base in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. The union represents 53 countries on the continent and says it is committed to transparency and human rights. Read more…

ያጣነውን መብትና ነጻነታችንን በእጃችን ለማስገባት ዛሬውኑ እንነሳ

By Daniel Tadesse | November 1, 2014

ሃገራችንና ወገኖቻችን ለኢኮኖሚና ማሕበራዊ ችግሮች ከመጋለጥ አልፈው አደገኛ አጣብቂኝ ውስጥ ናቸው ፡፡  ለሕዝቡና ለሀገሪቱ ጥቅም የሚቆም ብቃት ያለው አስተዳደር የለም፡፡ ህግ አለ ህገ መንግስት አለ ቢባልም ተገቢ ያልሆኑና ከሕገ መንግሥቱ ጋር የሚቃረኑ አፋኝ፣ አስደንጋጭ እና ኢሰብአዊ ሕጐችና ደንቦች በተከታታይ ይወጣሉ፡፡ እነኚህም ሕዝቡን በተደራራቢነት እያስጨነቁት ይገኛሉ፡፡ ህጐችና ደንቦች ሲወጡ ሕዝብ መወያየትና መምከር ሲገባው ውይይት ሳይደረግባቸው በዘፈቀደ እና ባልሰለጠኑ የመንግስት ካድሬዎች ተግባራዊ ሲሆኑ ይታያል፡፡

የወጡና  የፀደቁ ሕጐች ላይም ሆነ በአፈፃፀም ላይ ችግሮች ሲፈጠሩ ማየት የሚኖርበት ፍርድ ቤት ነበር፤ ነገር ግን በሚወጡ ሕጐች የፍ/ቤት ሥልጣን ተነጥቆ ለኤጀንሲዎችና ለባለስልጣናት እንዲሁም ለሌሎች ባልበሰሉ ካድሬዎች ለተሞሉ  መስሪያ ቤቶች እንዲሰጥ ተደርጓል፡፡ ከዚህ አኳያ ስናይ ሕገ መንግሥታዊ ሥርዓት ህዝባችን አግኝቷል ወይ? የሚል  ጥያቄን አስነስቶ ከመሰላቸታችን የተነሳ በኢትዮጵያ ሕግና መንግስት እንደሌለ ለማንም ግልጽ ነው። Read more…