By MATINA STEVIS, Oct. 10, 2016 9:57 a.m. ET

State of emergency is aimed at quelling antigovernment protests that have targeted foreign interests

Mourners hold candles at a Lutheran church in Bishoftu on Sunday at a service marking the deaths of dozens of demonstrators in antigovernment protesters a week earlier. PHOTO: REUTERS

(Wall Street Journal) — Foreign investors on Monday warily eyed the Ethiopian government’s latest attempt to quell violent protests that have targeted foreign-owned businesses in Africa’s second most-populous nation.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn declared a six-month state of emergency on Sunday, saying it was necessary to protect citizens and property following widespread antigovernment unrest in Oromia, one of the country’s nine ethnically based regional states.

Long-running protests over the government’s monopoly on power and human-rights abuses have swelled recently in Oromia and Amhara, another regional state. More than 130 private concerns were attacked by protesters last week, including a Dutch-owned flower farm and a cement factory owned by Nigerian Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man.

As security forces multiplied in the streets of the capital Addis Ababa on Monday, KKR, a major private-equity fund, said it was stepping security at a large Ethiopian flower farm it invested in two years ago

Under the state of emergency announced by Mr. Desalegn, demonstrations, writing and distributing pro-protest material and mimicking the protesters’ symbol—crossed arms raised aloft—are prohibited. Curfews and other restrictions were expected.

Financial analysts voiced skepticism Monday that the steps would help Ethiopia’s souring investment climate.

“The declaration of a six-month state of emergency is unlikely to improve dwindling investor confidence in Ethiopia,” said Emma Gordon, a senior analyst with Verisk Maplecroft, a research firm.

“Protests in Oromia and Amhara have proved resistant to increased security measures, although tougher controls will probably lead to a temporary reduction in violence,” she said. They won’t, however, resolve the underlying grievances that have given rise to the unrest, she added.

More than 50 people were killed Oct. 2 in the town of Bishoftu in a stampede after police tried to disperse antigovernment protesters with tear gas and by firing rubber bullets into the air.

Last Tuesday, a 31-year-old researcher from the University of California, Davis was killed on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa when the vehicle in which she was riding was struck by rocks thrown by protesters.

Despite the state of emergency, a planned visit to Addis Ababa by German Chancellor Angela Merkel was set to go forward as planned, her office in Berlin said Monday.

Ms. Merkel was scheduled to arrive in the Ethiopian capital late Monday, the third and last stop of a tour of Africa that includes stops in Mali and Niger. The German leader is seeking deeper economic cooperation with the three nations, and ways to fight extremism and stem migration to Europe.

Ethiopia receives hundreds of millions of euros annually from the European Union as part of an effort to discourage migration.

During her visit, Ms. Merkel is to meet President Mulatu Thshome and civil society representatives in separate talks.

“The chancellor will talk with the president about the current political situation, but will of course also address human-rights issues. She will of course voice her belief that policies that take into account the interests of all groups of people and a democratic state of law offer the best chances for a country,” the chancellor’s deputy spokeswoman, Ulrike Demmer, said Monday.

Experts warned that deploying the country’s army to stifle antigovernment protests by two large ethnic groups, the Amhara and Oromo, could incite more violence. The move also risks the government’s efforts to portray itself as a guarantor of stability.

“The unique selling point for Ethiopia is, ‘Don’t worry our government is competent, and we know what we’re doing.’ That led many observers to forgive the fact that it was always quite a heavy-handed government,” said John Ashbourne, an emerging markets analyst with Capital Economics research group.

“The worst outcome for investors is a sustained, long-term disruption in Ethiopia,” which depends on foreign investment and Western aid to finance its $7 billion current-account deficit, Mr. Ashbourne said.

—Andrea Thomas in Berlin contributed to this article.

In this Opinion piece, Tsegaye R. Ararssa*, a legal expert, discusses the Ethiopian government’s declaration of State of Emergency in Oromia Regional State, a region that has been under heavy political unrest for almost a year now. He asks why the emergency declaration is needed now, what the declaration means in the context of the country and when it becomes necessary, who issues it and with what procedures, and, of course, what it entails. Get some answers to these questions straight from Tsegaye’s piece.

People on their way to work in Addis Ababa. File photo: Karel Prinsloo. Credit: AP

(Horn Spiegel) — THIS MORNING, Ethiopians woke up to the news that the Council of Ministers of the Federal Government has passed an emergency decree that may last for the coming six months. The official text of the Decree is not yet published in the official legal communicator, the NegaritGazetta. (As it has now become customary, it may never be published at all; the regime does what it wants to do nonetheless.) That it is so declared today is announced to journalists by the Prime Minister in Cabinet on the state television. The Prime Minister spoke in order to announce the decision to journalists as the primus inter pares, the first among equals, in the Cabinet. The reason given by the Prime Minister for issuing the declaration is that there is a breakdown of law and order that threatens the safety of citizens and the integrity of the constitutional order.

To the peoples of Ethiopia, especially to those who have been under military rule for the last one year and more (without any fact that necessitates it or any law that warrants it), the decree makes no practical difference in their ‘lives’. As such, the decree has little significance, if any.

The people have seen the worst face of repression. Killing, maiming, mass arrest, arbitrary detention, public torture, dispossession, eviction, dislocation (because of loss of houses and job and domicile), and much worse. They have seen burning of prisoners alive (in Qilinxo, Ambo, Gonder, Angereb, Debretabor, Zuway, etc). They have seen towns set on fire and razed down (in Konso). They have seen detainees poisoned (in Sabbataa). They have seen massacres on a sacred ground (Irrechaa) that was turned virtually into a killing field (HoraaArsadii). They have seen children shot dead right in front of their moms (in Wallaggaa, in Arsi, in Harargee, and everywhere else).

Every day, those that are alive have lived under ‘the shadow of death.’ They have seen the regime mobilize one group of people against the other and lose loved ones and their means of livelihood as a result. They have seen snipers shoot young people in market places, in school compounds, and in the privacy of their homes. In short they have seen it all. So, what new thing they haven’t already seen is this emergency decree going to bring about? The answer given by almost everyone is a resounding “NOTHING!”

But while we are at it, it is important for us to ask what it means to declare a state of emergency in Ethiopia. What exactly is a state of emergency? When is it proper? Who declares emergency? What is the procedure? What is the implication for rights and for the exercise of power by the regime? Why is it declared now? What new thing is the regime planning to do under the guise of the emergency decree?

In what follows, I explore these questions in the light of the Ethiopian constitution (although no law, constitution or otherwise, has ever meant anything in Ethiopia). The key provision that regulates the mode, procedure, consequences, and implications of emergency declaration is article 93 of the Constitution.

What is emergency declaration? And when is it necessary?

Emergency decree is a decree of extraordinary situation. It is a law of abnormal times. It is a way of creating ‘legal illegality’ in a constitutional-political order invoking necessity on the ground of actual or impending war, crisis in law order, natural disasters, or break out of epidemics. It is a regime of exception-making through which the state is authorized to do what it cannot lawfully do under normal circumstances. Through emergency laws, a state is empowered to exercise special powers justified on the ground that the exigencies of political life has become so terrible that it demands a special set of measures.

According to the Ethiopian constitution (art 93(1)(a)), emergency is declared when there is:

1. a) external invasion;
2. b) a breakdown of law and order that cannot be managed through ordinary law-enforcement mechanisms;
3. c) natural disaster; or
4. d) epidemic.

One can see from the above that special measures that have to be effected through emergency decree are said to be necessary in times of war, crisis of public order, natural catastrophe, or the spread of contagious disease or plague that threatens the population.

According to the announcement of the Prime Minister, the cause of the emergency declaration today is the complete breakdown of law and order which has threatened the constitutional order. This is of course a concession on his part to the fact one can easily observe on the ground since the re-emergence of the #Oromoprotests on 12 November 2015.

Throughout the year Oromia—where military rule is imposed–has been completely ungovernable. Konso has also been ungovernable for the last eleven months. After July 2016, when the Amhara resistance broke out in Gonder, the Amhara region also became ungovernable by the regime thereby necessitating a military rule to be imposed there, too.

Who issues the Declaration of Emergency?

The necessity of such a decree is assessed and acted upon by the Council of Ministers (COM). But the COM is not the only institution that has a sole authority on the management of emergency situation. The power to declare emergency is shared between the Executive and the Legislature. According to art 93(2), owing to the urgency associated with emergency, the declaration may be issued unilaterally by the COM but it should be presented to the parliament within 48 hours if the parliament is in session. If the parliament refuses to approve it, the decree will be dead on arrival. If the parliament approves it by a 2/3rd majority vote, it becomes effective for up to six months from the date of declaration.

If the emergency happens in the season when the parliament is not in session—like it is the case now—the decree must be submitted to the parliament within fifteen days. This may necessitate calling a special or extraordinary meeting of the parliament. Without the approval of the parliament, no emergency decree can be effective. In other words, emergency power is shared between the two institutions, the executive (COM) and the legislature (HPR). The former has the power to generate the emergency bill and the latter has the power to approve or reject the decree submitted to it by the former.

The How of Emergency Declaration: Procedure

The process is activated when the COM decides to have such a decree after duly assessing the situation. If exceptional measures are found to be:

1. a) necessary; and
2. b) not preventable through any other measures.

Thus, the COM must demonstrate that there is a serious crisis in public order that it could not otherwise control through the activation of ordinary law-enforcement mechanisms. Once this is demonstrated, the decree is submitted to the Parliament for approval. On approval by parliament, it becomes the law of exceptional times. When it is duly approved by the parliament, the parliament establishes an Emergency Inquiry Board that supervises the humane treatment of all persons arrested in the course of enforcing the emergency (art 93(5)). The Board ensures the accountability of the executive for its measures taken during the emergency season.

What does Emergency entail? What are its consequences?

The declaration of emergency confers special powers on the executive. It empowers them to take measures necessary and proportional to avert the danger. Often, the executive is given latitude to suspend some constitutional rights as may be necessary to protect public peace and order. The usual candidates are rights such as freedom of assembly, demonstrations, movement, etc, which can be suspended for a limited period of time.

However, these powers are not open-ended. There is a limit to what the Executive can do. In particular, its actions are circumscribed by constitutional provisions that are non-derogable. The provisions relating to the right to life, freedom from torture and all forms of cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment or punishment, equality and non-discrimination, etc are often seen as universally inviolable under any circumstance. This emanates from the principle of sanctity of human life, human dignity, and fundamental equality in worth of all human beings.

In art 93 (4)(3)), these non-derogable provisions are five: art. 1 (the provision that has to do the nomenclature of the country and the system it denotes); art. 18 (the provision on the right to freedom from cruel, inhumane, and degrading punishment or treatment such as torture); art 25 (the provision on the right to equality and non-discrimination); art 39(1) (the provision on the right to self-determination including secession); and art 39(2) (the provision on the right to language, culture, and history). Curiously, the right to life (under arts 14 and 15) is not in the list of rights that cannot be suspended or limited during situations of emergency. Given the weight given to other structures such as the federal democratic republican structure and the name that denotes it; or to right of nations to self-determination; the absence of the right to life, the most fundamental of all human rights, in this list must be an oversight.

Why now? What Motivated the regime to Issue this declaration?

What is the point of this declaration? What new measures are to be taken other than those “merciless” measures that were being taken throughout the year? What rights are to be newly suspended and/or limited because they have been left unviolated thus far?

As we all know, the regime has virtually banned all forms of demonstrations, political meetings, associations, etc for a long time. We know that there is no press freedom in the country. Ethiopia is one of the top four jailers of journalists in the entire world. Arbitrary killing, mass arrests, detentions, tortures, discrimination, have been a matter of routine practice throughout the 25 years tenure of the regime, only exacerbated now in the context of the open mass revolt in the last couple of years.

The regime has always been confrontational with religious groups because it routinely and unscrupulously interferes with their freedom of religion.

Demanding the right to self-determination as per the constitution automatically renders one a terrorist because apparently, in EPRDF’s book, the right to self-determination is already exercised by all. As a result, identity is securitized, i.e., it is handled as a matter of threat to national security.

The right to one’s distinct language—e.g. the right to a choice of script—is routinely violated, a striking example being the regime’s denial of the right of the Erob people of Tigray Region to adopt a Latin script for their language.

In its total lawlessness, the regime had left no right unviolated be it bluntly or systematically. It is because of this that in terms of what rights it limits or what new power it confers on the executive, this declaration is inconsequential. There is nothing it changes on the ground. The resistance was happening while a full military rule organized by a Command Post chaired by the Commander-in-Chief himself was already in place. In the name of taking a “merciless and definitive” measure on protestors, the army and its Agazi Regiment, the Regional Special Forces, the Federal Police, the States’ Police Forces, Prison officials, and the Local Militia have all taken ultimate measures on civilians, children, mothers, and the elderly. They have applied the most barbaric methods of execution, massacre, torture, and abuse. Surely novelty will elude them in this regard. They have practised abuses that the world’s ghastliest torture centres and killing fields have witnessed in history.

The only question that remains now is why the regime issues this declaration now? What do they want to achieve? There are two possibilities: 1) to give a retrospective legal cover to atrocities they have been perpetrating so far and to exculpate the more extensive barbaric measures they are preparing to take in a last vindictive act just before they vacate power; and 2) to terrorize the public into temporary silence during which time they will dismantle major infrastructural facilities and move to the home base of the TPLF core of the regime. These possibilities are mere speculations, of course, but these are speculations that are hardly without reasons rooted in the conduct, words, and attitudes of the key figures in the regime.

*Tsegaye R. Ararssa is a Melbourne -based legal scholar closely following the developments in Ethiopia.

A day after announcing state of emergency, government alleges protests driven by foreign agents from Eritrea and Egypt.

(Aljazeera) — Ethiopia has accused “foreign enemies” of arming, training, and financing groups it blames for a wave of unrest in regions around the capital, Addis Ababa, a day after a six-month state of emergency was imposed.

At a news conference on Monday government spokesman Getachew Reda named Eritrea, which has a long-running border dispute with Ethiopia, and Egypt, which is embroiled in a row with Addis Ababa over sharing Nile water, as sources of backing for “armed gangs”.

Ethiopia declares state of emergency as protests continue

“There are countries which are directly involved in arming, financing and training these elements,” said Reda.

Reda said, however, it could be elements who do not have formal government support acting rather than “state actors”.

Egypt last week denied providing any support for Ethiopian protestors.

Ethiopia’s government is facing the biggest challenge of its 25 years in power, with anti-government protests spreading, foreign-owned companies targeted, and a harsh security crackdown that has killed hundreds so far while failing to quell the unrest.

“The kind of threats we are facing, the kind of attacks that are now targeting civilians, targeting civilian infrastructures, targeting investment cannot be handled through ordinary law enforcement procedures,” Reda said.

Protesters from the majority Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups say they are marginalised by the minority Tigrayan-led government, which they accuse of monopolising power and controlling the economy.

“The internet in Ethiopia has been blocked for at least the past week and the few people on the ground that we spoke to said the state of emergency is nothing more than to suppress the protests,” Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller reported from Mombasa, in neighbouring Kenya.

“[They] are concerned by the possibly heavy hand security forces will use.”

READ MORE: Oromo protests – Ethiopia arrests blogger Seyoum Teshome

Reda alleged Egypt had trained and financed the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

“We know for a fact that the terrorist group OLF has been receiving all kinds of support from Egypt,” said Reda. “Its leaders used to be in Asmara [Eritrea] – now they are in Cairo.”

He said “elements in the Egyptian political establishment” were fomenting rebellion, and seeking to promote “historical rights” over access to the River Nile.

State of emergency

On Sunday, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency following months of violent anti-government protests, especially in the restive Oromia region.

“A state of emergency has been declared because the situation posed a threat against the people of the country,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said on state television.

Local media said emergency law, declared for the first time in 25 years, would last for six months.

READ MORE: Ethiopia’s crackdown on dissent takes rising toll

Protests reignited last week in the Oromia region – the main focus of a recent wave of demonstrations – after dozens of people were killed in a stampede on October 2. The deadly crush was sparked by police firing tear gas and warning shots at a huge crowd of protesters attending a religious festival.

The official death toll given by the government was 55, though opposition activists and rights groups said more than 100 people died as they fled security forces, falling into ditches that dotted the area.

Mulatu Gemechu, of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, told the Associated Press on Monday that an informal state of emergency has been in place in Ethiopia for some time, during which people have been arbitrarily arrested and killed.

What is triggering Ethiopia’s unrest?

“Declaring a state of emergency at this time in Ethiopia is aimed at legitimising the killings that we have seen in the Oromia region recently,” Mulatu said. “It won’t solve the public’s problems and will only worsen them. What people are looking for is a radical change. The people now want the setting-up of a transitional or caretaker government.”

At least 500 people have been killed by security forces since anti-government protests began in November, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in August.

The government says such figures are inflated and has denied that violence from the security forces is systemic. In August, it rejected a United Nations request to send in observers, saying it alone was responsible for the security of its citizens.

Demonstrations started among the Oromo, Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group, and later spread to the Amhara, the second-most populous one.

Though they initially began over land rights, protests later broadened into calls for more political, economic and cultural rights.

Both groups highlight the fact that the ruling coalition and security forces are dominated by the Tigray ethnic group, which makes up only about 6 percent of the population.

Source: Al Jazeera News And Agencies

Demonstrators chant slogans while flashing the Oromo protest gesture during Irreecha, the thanksgiving festival of the Oromo people, in Bishoftu town, Oromiya region, Ethiopia, in this file photo taken October 2, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) – U.N. human rights experts urged Ethiopia on Monday to allow an international investigation into its violent crackdown on

peaceful protests that monitors say have led to more than 500 deaths since November 2015.

“The scale of this violence and the shocking number of deaths make it clear that this is a calculated campaign to eliminate opposition movements and silence dissenting voices,” Maina Kiai, the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association, said in a statement by seven U.N. experts.

“The deaths in the Oromiya region last weekend are only the latest in a long string of incidents where the authorities’ use of excessive force has led to mass deaths,” he said, referring to a stampede that killed 55 people.

The Horn of Africa state has accused “elements” in Eritrea, Egypt and elsewhere of being behind a wave of disturbances over land grabs and rights issues that spurred the government to declare a state of emergency. It says the death toll figure given by rights experts is exaggerated. [nL8N1CG20G]

The emergency was invoked on Sunday after more than a year of protests in the Oromiya and Amhara regions, near the capital Addis Ababa, where demonstrators say the government has trampled on land and other political rights. [nL8N1CF0E5]

The U.N. statement cited allegations of “mass killings, thousands of injuries, tens of thousands of arrests and hundreds of enforced disappearances”. It also criticised the use of national security and counter-terrorism laws to target people exercising their right to peaceful assembly.

Agnes Callamard, the United Nations expert on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said many of the killings could constitute extrajudicial executions.

“Whenever the principles of necessity and proportionality are not respected in the context of crowd control, any death caused by law enforcement officials is considered an extrajudicial execution,” she said in the statement.

#OromoRevolution Beknan Rabira irraa

#ABOn nu haa bulchu jenne malee dhugaa rabbii namichi suni nu haa bulchu hin jenne. Ammayyuu ABO ABO ummatni barbaadu sana gochuuf mooraa waraana Qabsoo Oromoo tokkoof hoggansa haaraa ummatni itti amane tokko nu barbaachisa. Hogganaa akka BaqqalaaGarbaa Ameerikaattis hin hafu jedhee, osoo akka ajjeefamuuf hidhamuu danda’us beeku deemee hidhamee, mana hidhaa keessattillee ummata sochoosu sana nu barbaachisa. Halaalumarra taa’anii qabsoo qeerroof ummatni guddaa xiqqaan, dhiiraa dhalaan harka duwwaa itti wereegamaa jiru caasaa keenyatu hojjataa jira jechuun qaanii dha,wereegama namni biraa kafaleen jabina argachuu fakkaata. Via Naf-tanan Gaadullo

#OromoRevolution Oromoon Karrayyuu Qabsoo finiinsuudhaan lola cimaa isaanii fi Agaazii giddutti geggeeffameen Agaazii 9 ajjeesanii jiran. Gara ummataa irraa immoo namni 3 wareegamanii jiran. Yeroo ammaa kana humna dabalataa Agaazii gara san bobbaasaa waan jiraniif ummanni keenya Oromiyaa guutuu Qabsoo finiinsuun humna kana akka irraa bittinnaa’u taasisuun barbaachisaadha.
Naannawa sanitti warri waa harkaa qabdan ittiin dirmachuun dirqama Oromummaati. Via Mirga Namummaa

#OromoRevolution #OromoRevolution Raajii Oromiyaa keessatti dalagamaa jiru

“Namni wayii Finfinnettii boqatee gara Arsii Saddiiqatitti galchuuf yoo Diksiis gayan Konkolaatan tokko Diksiisirra gadi darbuu qeerron waan dhorgiteef Warri Diksiis Asumatti Awwaalla ummanni Saddiiqa qabsorra jira gadi hin deeminaa jedhanii diksiisitti irraa awwaalan. Arsii Diida’aa yoo tiqqate Aanonni Shan Bilisooman jechun nama hin shakkisiisu.” Via Diinnee Gabrrumma

#OromoRevolution “kaleessa mana hidhaa baatuttii Gubateen wal qabatee kana madayaani Hospitaala Adamaa keessatti waldhanama jiru.
1. Birhaanuu Adamsoo
2. Fitsum Sisaay
3. Caala Pheexiros
4. Tashomaa Kebedee
5. Fiqaadu Badhoo
6. Habtaamuu Abbaay Haaylee
7. Cheeruu Girmaa
8. Daggoo Aa’uu
9. Habtaamu Yadata
10. Aabbuu Haroo
11. Kuphaa Darajjee
12. Girmaa Qawwittii
13. Soreessa Hayoo
Poolisa Godina Shawaa Bahaattuu Adda Durummaan madoo kanneen iddoo isaan waldhanama jiranitti tiksaa jira.”
Jawar Mohammed irraa Via Mirga Namummaa

WASHINGTON, DC (VOA Afaan Oromoo) — Heerrii mootummaa Itiyoophiyaa keeyyati 93 akka jedhutti labsiin yeroo hatattamaa kan barbaachisu weerarri biyya alaa yoo jiraate, weerarri dhukkubaa yoo jiraatee fi sirna heera irratti ijaarame haalli balaa irra buusu yoo jiraate ta’u kan dur prezidaantii mana murtii waliigalaa Oromiyaa turan Obbo Tashaalee Abarraa Raadiyoo Sagalee Ameerikaaf ibsanii jiru.Kanas kan labsu mana maree ministeeroota Federaalaa ta’u eeran, Obbo Tashaaleen.Haala qabatamaa Itiyoophiyaa keessaa yoo ilaalle garuu, yaaddoon labsii kana baasisuu hin jiru, jedhu

Labsii kana mirga dhala namaa cabsuu fi mirga yaada ofii ibsachuu cufuuf, uummati quuqqaa isaa akka hin dhageessiifanne ukkaamsuuf itti gargaaramu jedhan. Hundumaa caalaa immo labsiin kun waan haaraa miti, Oromiyaa keessatti hojii irra eega oolee bubbuleera, jedhan. Nama fedha ajjesuu, ajaja mana murtiin ala hidhuu, achi-butee dhabamsisuu, mana namaa sakatta’uu, nama qabanii seera duratti ituu hin dhiyeessiin tursuun waanuma ammaan dura baratame waan ta’eef waan haaraan jiru ifatti labsuu qofa, jedhu. Akka Labsii kanaatti bulchinsii harka waraanaa seenuu isaa illee dubbatu.

Gabaasaa Guutuu kana Cuqaasuun Dhaggeffadhaa

By J. Ebisa

Like millions of Oromo and non-Oromo worldwide, I watched the recent Irreecha Oromo Thanksgiving festival where hundreds of Oromo, about 700 according to sources, were gunned down, provoked to run into deep ditches and suffocated or stamped by massive crowd in panic. I still feel angry and distraught by the tragedy which could have been avoided. It is not far-fetched truth to suggest that it was deliberately and meticulously organized by the Wayyane regime which worked over years to sabotage and discourage this important ceremony which it assimilate to Oromo nationalism. This is a painful day which adds a chapter to the collective humiliation of the Oromo nation which has experienced many genocidal killings and massacres under successive regimes. In the following pages, I briefly discuss the significance of Irreecha in embodying Orommuuma and the multi-faceted struggle for the survival of the Oromo as nation both in the past and the present.

What makes Irreecha unique in Oromo history and ethnography?

For the Oromo, Irreecha is a unique day of celebration of life and communication with God since immemorial times. Irreecha, Oromo thanksgiving, often takes at the end of rainy season and welcome of a new harvest where they collectively thank their God for His providence, peace and harmony and interact with each other. It is the most peaceful day in Oromo culture where people do not carry spears, knives and other harmful weapons but green grass (Irreecha) and Sniqee the symbol of peace and fertility and femininity in Oromo culture. Even in the event of conflict and hostility between individuals and groups, it is seen the most peaceful day and rallying time. However, the Woyane, which never stopped killing and harassing, every single day and night since its coming to power, could not even give a one-day respite by deliberately creating havoc and terror which took the lives of hundreds of these beautiful young people and adults dressed in ceremonial attire and Irreecha in their hands. In doing so, it created indelible memory of sorrow and hatreds against this regime which has never been recognized as legitimate and representative despite its false claims to the contrary. This tragedy is a testament to  its declared war against the Oromo nation, which it escalated with the State of Emergency declared on October 9, to justify the ongoing genocidal killings.

Historically speaking, all Ethiopian rulers (of Amhara-Tigrean stock) share the same view on Oromo identity and unity. They are scared of Oromo demographic strength and potential cohesion and strove, and are striving, to prevent large Oromo national gatherings such as pilgrimage (Muuda) and Irreecha (Thanksgiving) which attract millions of Oromo from all corners of Oromo land.  It has to be stressed that Menelik was the first to ban Irreecha and pilgrimage of Oromo to the holy place as he felt that this large crowd would create insecurity and threat to the newly created empire. In so doing, he broke and undermined the kinship bond and unity of Oromo groups who kept their interaction and institutional linkage for centuries despite their dispersion over an extended territory.

In addition, emperor Menelik also forced the Tulama Oromo to circumcise before the Gaada time which literally undermined the Gadaa system in order to convert them to the Orthodox Church. The military defeat and political pressure exerted on the colonized Oromo meant most of the Oromo became Christians and Muslims which eroded Oromo representative institutions. Gadaa and Irreechaa continued to be organized locally and marginally at community levels by losing their central importance in Oromo’s socio-political life.

The fear of Oromummua (Oromoness) continues unabated among old imperial elites  who have to yet to come to terms  with the idea that the Oromo are a nation, a Great Nation as de Salviac named them, a formidable nation, whose identity is based on deeply noted in cultural tradition (Gadaa, Qaallu, Irreecha) and a common language completely intelligible and continuous geographic conditions. Some of them have pretended that the Oromo are not one nation but congeries of related tribes.

Some Naftagna, pseudo historians or their coolies are mobilized to argue that Oromo /Oromia was created by Tigreans in 1991. When they lost war to deny Oromo nationhood or Oromia, they kept the fight by opposing and protesting against the Qubee, the use of Oromo alphabet to write Afaan Oromo. Additionally, they denied or continued to minimize Oromo proven historical grievances against the Ethiopian state. The priests went up to excommunicating its members who prayed in Oromo. At one point they allegedly refused church service for members for using Qubee, etc. The Qubee generation is waging a battle on the two  fronts: the fight against the vestiges of the past and those who have never renounced to reign again under another name and the current oppressors.

Irreecha and the roots of Oromo protest:

The change in 1991 appears to have given the hope that the Oromo felt that they would be free to revive the Central Oromo institutions such as Gadaa and Irreecha as a symbol of Oromo nationhood and emblem of identity. Irreecha became an immediate success both among Oromo’s at home and Diaspora. This time, in 2016, the ceremony have rallied 4 million people together despite government tricks to sabotage to impede it. The TPLF seems to consider the 40 million Oromo as its enemies, not free citizens who have inalienable rights to meet and worship together and to express dissent, the rights guaranteed in the Ethiopian Constitution and the Federal Act.

The TPLF junta, more than any regime in Ethiopian history, predicated on the control of every facet of Ethiopian life: religion, politics, economy (the patriarch has to be a Tigrean, it had to select the Imam from its preferred sect) and it would like impose their own Abba Gadaa. They practically control the entire national economy and political institutions, including 100% representatives in the pavement. These shameless leaders claimed 100% victory in a nation where they do not represent more than 6% and where Tigray does not add practically nothing, or very little to a national wealth. The Oromo, as other people in the country, saw first-hand that these penny less and horde hungry men taking over their land and resource and thrived at their expense and they became nouveau riche, millionaires or even billionaires in a very short period of time “because they are brave  warriors and hardworking”  while “others (Amhara and Oromo) are coward, lazy and envious” – the expressions attributed to a young Tigrean woman living in Diaspora which may reflect the view of empowered Tigrean elites.  It is funny that the Amhara are now at the receiving end of these TPLF insults and  degrading remarks which they generally distributed to disempowered people, Oromo included.

Beyond the total control of the economy and exclusion and marginalization of the non-Tigrean, the Woyane have induced fear and insecurity in the country; pupils and students are not safe in schools, dormitories and on the streets. Successful graduates are unsure to get job opportunity in economy controlled by Stalinist plutocrats. Those who have a job are worried losing it with the changing mood of the autocrats. Even being loyal to OPDO does not guarantee anything  they often brought new OPDOs to keep members under pressures. For any success, the TPLF takes credit and for any failings OPDOs easily become the scapegoat and disposable. Did not it place the blame for the Addis Integrated Master Plan on local authorities? Does not it try attribute the cause of social discontent to bad governance and corruption to OPDOs, their powerless local agents while they in total of the control of the economy and politics? This is not surprising for the government founded in lies and manipulation.

Farmers are not secure on their holdings because the land belongs to the state which could dispossess them anytime. Religious believers are harassed because of the government intervenes in religions affairs – it may know the Imam who better communicate with Allah! Citizens can easily go to jail, disappear and even being killed for no reasons other than expressing their dissent. Anybody can be accused of terrorism, and anti-peace and anti-development and persecuted by the so-called anti-terrorist laws. In fact, this was reported by Human Rights organizations, UN and EU. The Kleptocrats who have never enjoyed popular support and legitimacy rule through terror. Despite repeated calls from UN, EU and human rights organizations to allow independent investigations into reported abuses of human rights, the government would not agree.

One of the major problems which the international community has failed to understand or chose to ignore is that, this government is not a national government but ethnocrcay. Everything from local level administration to national institutions were designed to ensure a Tigrean hegemony. Its army is not a national army but private militia in the service of TPLF agenda. It is not the embodiment of a nation protecting national interests and common good. The presence of Agazi (name for Tigreans special forces) in any place struck fear like SS under the Nazi rule or the Rwandan Interhamwe (the killer militia in 1994). They are seen not as the protectors of citizens’ safety and security but a hostile force entrusted with the mission to kill, maim and arrest, and rape. The daily deaths in the different parts of the country, Oromia regions in particular provide a vivid picture.

Thus, despite its relentless campaign globally and nationally to pretend that the government is legitimate and democratic based on rational bureaucracy and a rule of law, it is far from meeting the basic standard of a modern government: the whole thing is a farce (fake democracy, fake federalism, fake justice system, fake rational administration, fake prime minister, fake double digit economic growth and prosperity which were sold to the West government and International financial institutions. Yet a pseudo “success story” from war torn and unstable region looks attractive. The questions is: for how long do the Western donors tolerate the gross abuses of human rights? Do they understand the depth of the grievances of the Oromo and others under this regime? Is it morally acceptable to tolerate insecurity of tens of millions in the country for their alleged security? The long term consequences government violence and marginalization could be dramatic consequences for the region in case this government allowed to continue its misrule.

In other words, instead of internal and external terrorism threatening the country, the major threat for their wellbeing of the people in Ethiopia emanates from its government. What surprising is not so much its claim to be rampart against terrorism, but the dismissal of all legitimate concerns and protest of citizens as terrorism.  Recently, they are trying to justify their never end rule as guarantee against imminent danger: GENOCIDE. Seriously? The misuse and abuse of the concept of genocide by the Woyyane is not new; Meles justified federal model a means of preventing a kind of genocide which occurred in Rwanda. His disciples Abaye Tsehai and Seyoum Mesfin have taken the relay of ignorance and manipulation by branding the spectre of genocide to deflect the conversation from their crimes to suggest that if they are not in charge of the affairs things will go from bad to worse. These pseudo-intellectual talk shows  that their shallow education and miseducation to understand this complex phenomenon. It is not a crime not receive higher education or not getting a chance to take courses or a decent lecture on a genocide in world politics and history. Actually, they are perpetrating genocidal killings in many parts of the country in Oromia in particular.

The state of emergency declared today is a recipe for more violence and massacre; it sets the stage for more violence. This intimidation, massacre, planned atrocities cannot stop the oppressed people from standing up for the rights. Historically, those who committed genocides in Germany, Cambodia (the pol pot regime, 1975-1979) and Rwanda in 1994 were perpetrated by fascists and undemocratic governments in power. They were all government induced genocides, genocide from above. Today, the one which engaged in genocidal massacres is the TPLF government and its armed militia. Are they organizing inter-communal conflict as a way of extension of their power which seems to be shrinking day by day? My only hope is they do not use “Genocide” to deflect criticism from widely governmental crimes and abuses of human rights and foment inter-ethnic conflicts for short term political calculation.

The on-going Oromo protest

As opposed to the preceding regimes, this government promised, a measure of autonomy economic, political power and cultural powers for federal regions. After consolidating its hegemony, it has decided to take back the concessions made to the Oromo and it is the promise non-kept promises, disempowerment, contempt and marginalisation that triggered the current resistance.  It is to be noted the Oromo never surrendered without a fight although the magnitude of the resistance varied, mostly regional and fragmented. They kept on fighting against injustice and oppression in the different corners of their land. Their collective resistance started to take shape since the 1960s and evolved through the subsequent decades of sacrifice under Haile Selassie and the Darg regimes. The Qubee generation, which was born and educated with the sense of Orommumaa is now spreading of the ongoing revolution. Interestly, to achieve its own policy goals, the government gave civic education including human rights at all levels and encouraged  to proud of cultural heritage. They gladly accepted and embraced their Orommuma and have decided to fight for their nation, culture and land. One thing which differs them from the predecessors is that they do not suffer from competing loyalties – they are Oromo and the age of communication and the social media helped to build their unity and wage collective struggle. They are the first victims of Woyane assassination and massacre which is making more resolute.

The recently announced Amhara-Oromo solidarity, by some, does not mean that Amhara and Oromo have the same historical memories and experience. It is true that both the Amhara and Oromo are marginalized and oppressed by Kleptorcatic gangs which mix Stanlism, plutocracy as neo-liberal developmentalism as a method of governance.

However, one of the problem with this solidarity is that may harbour a hidden dream to back to power in the event the current regimes and they are making transitional government to this effect. the Qubee generation and the Qeerroo fighters are ready to uproot the Tigrean Kleptocratic regime, but also not to see the vestige of imperial past under the tautology of individual rights and liberal democracy. They pertinently know that Ethiopia is not a civic nation, liberal individualism is not the answer to oppressed nations like the Oromo. They strongly believe in Oromo nation possesses inherent rights to self-determination enshrined in international law and the charter to create a self-governing proud nation where individual rights institutionalized and respected in order to ensure peaceful co-existence and cooperation. The Qubee generation is forward looking, they do not want to see their people being marginalised and humiliated and reduced to second class citizens. They aspire to live in liberty and dignity on their land to be at home and are ready to pay the necessary sacrifice to achieve these noble goals. Justice will prevail and these combatants of liberty will enter into the pantheon of Oromo history for ever.

Women fill their containers at a water collection point in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Photo: OCHA Ethiopia/Zelalem Letyibelu

10 October 2016 (UN News Centre) – Urging Ethiopian authorities to end their violent crackdown on peaceful protests, which has reportedly led to the death of over 600 people since November 2015, two United Nations human rights experts today further called on the Government to allow an international commission of inquiry to investigate the protests and the violence used against peaceful demonstrators.

In a joint news release, the UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard said: “We are outraged at the alarming allegations of mass killings, thousands of injuries, tens of thousands of arrests and hundreds of enforced disappearances.”

The experts added that they are concerned about the alleged torture and ill-treatment of arrestees in military detention centres. “In light of the lack of progress in investigating the systematic violence against protesters, we urge the Ethiopian Government to allow an international independent commission to assist in shedding light on these allegations,” they stated.

Particular concerns were voiced regarding the usage of national security provisions and counterterrorism legislation – the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation 652/2009 – to target the right of individuals for peaceful assembly.

“Whenever the principles of necessity and proportionality are not respected in the context of crowd control, any death caused by law enforcement officials is considered an extrajudicial execution,” stated Ms. Callamard. She also urged the authorities to disclose the location of those disappeared, adding that it is important to hold perpetrators accountable.

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR), which issued the news release, the wave of protests began a year ago in Oromia, Ethiopia, as a response to the Government’s plan to expand Addis Ababa’s boundaries, resulting in a displacement of Oromo farmers. The annexation of Konso Wereda into the Segen Arae Peoples Zone marked another wave of protests in the country in mid-December 2015, right before the revolts spread to other parts of the country.

“Suffocating dissent only makes things worse, and is likely to lead to further social and political unrest,” Ms. Kiai said. “Curtailing assembly and association rights is never the answer when there are disagreements in a society; rather, it is a sign of the State’s inability to deal with such disagreements.”

In January 2016, a group of UN experts have called for an investigation to hold those responsible for the violence accountable, but the request went unnoticed. This time, they are hoping for a better outcome.

OLF Press Release

Despite being the majority in Ethiopia, the Oromo people have been marginalized by the successive Ethiopian governments. Unimaginable atrocities have been committed against the Oromo during the campaign to create the Ethiopian empire and afterwards to upkeep it. In the process, the Oromo were reduced to third class citizenship status on their own land. Our people have been expressing their grievances at different times but the response from the ruling Ethiopian authorities have always been to violently suppress their demand.

When the current TPLF/EPDRF government came into power, the OLF participated in the transitional government hoping that it will end the cycles of oppressions and subjugations for all peoples in Ethiopia. Within a short period of time, however, it became apparent that the objective of the TPLF was not to create a democratic and all-inclusive system of government but to camouflage itself with a façade of democracy and create a government that serves a minority.

Hoping against all odds that the TPLF will listen to their grievances, the Oromo people continued raising their concerns peacefully at different times over the last 25 years. In the process, tens of thousands of Oromo students, farmers, professionals, and business owners have been killed, jailed, tortured, and disappeared. In the name of economic development, hundreds of thousands of Oromo families have been forcefully displaced from their ancestral lands with no, or very little, compensation. These unconstitutional displacements did not only make the families poor and destitute but negatively impacted their culture, language, identity, and general wellbeing.

Despite continued protests by Oromo students, farmers, and the general public against displacements of Oromo families, the TPLF/EPRDF government came up with the Addis Ababa Master Plan without any consultation with the stakeholders. The plan expands Addis Ababa’s border to 50-times of its current size, potentially displacing millions of Oromo people from their farmland. Historical marginalization coupled with TPLF’s illegal policy of displacements intensified the November 2015 Oromo popular protest. Instead of listening to the people and addressing their demands, the TPLF resorted to its violent rhetoric by killing over 800 people most documented by several human rights organizations.

These killings, however, did not deter the heroic Oromo people from continuing their struggle for their just cause. The protest expanded to all regions of Oromia and other regional states throughout Ethiopia, including the Amhara region. Frustrated by the unity of the oppressed peoples of Ethiopia, TPLF resorted to more killing in all regions. Over a thousand people have been killed in Oromia, Amhara, Gambella, and Southern regional states since July 2016.  TPLF’s heinous crimes against the Oromo escalated to the highest level on October 2, 2016 when their army, accompanied by helicopters gunship, massacred over 678 people who came out to celebrate the Irrechaa, an Oromo thanksgiving festival. Angered by such atrocities, the Oromo people from every corners of Oromia and other regions of Ethiopia continued their peaceful demonstrations and took some actions against the TPLF in self-defense. The TPLF government has done everything in its power, including the creation of conflicts between different ethnic and religious groups within Ethiopia, to quell these protests. When its divide and-rule policy failed, the TPLF regime declared a state of emergency on October 9, 2016. It is to be remembered that Oromia is already under martial law since December 2016 and the state of emergency is not going to change the dynamics on the ground. This declaration is nothing but a license for the military to continue killing more people and reestablish the superiority of the minority Tigrean elites.

It is a mockery that the declaration states “the state of emergency will not breach basic human rights enshrined under the Ethiopian constitution” while in fact the TPLF has been violating the basic human rights of the Ethiopian peoples for the last 25 years. The Ethiopian peoples in general, and the Oromo people in particular, know well that the TPLF/EPRDF regime does not respect human rights and have demanded a fundamental change. The system is rotten and reshuffling political leadership within TPLF/EPRDF does not address the deep rooted causes of the problem. Instead of invoking articles that suites its cause from the constitution, TPLF needs to respect the constitution and abide by its rules.

Contrary to TPLF’s assertion that these protests are supported by external governments or groups, Oromo people’s struggle for freedom and justice is self-reliant for the last decades. It is TPLF’s character to use a neighboring state or group as a scapegoat every time people ask legitimate questions and it is not different this time. Unfortunately for the TPLF, the Ethiopian peoples have known their lies for the last quarter of a century and will never give them the legitimacy that they are seeking by pointing fingers to foreign elements.

The OLF strongly believes that the only choice that is left for the TPLF at this juncture is to relinquish the power and be accountable for crimes they have committed against the Oromo and other peoples in Ethiopia. The OLF has an obligation and responsibility to defend the Oromo people from TPLF’s killing machinery by any means necessary. The OLF would like to use this opportunity to once again call upon the Oromo people not to be distracted by the declared state of emergency and redouble their struggle to remove this terrorist government once and for all. We would also like to call upon the oppressed nations and nationalities in Ethiopia to ignore the divide-and-rule tactics of the TPLF and stand with the Oromo people to free yourselves from the yoke of oppression. We remind again the Ethiopian Peoples that this is not only Oromo People’s problem; it is a serious concern to all and we have to stand together to solve it once and for all by removing this fascist regime.

Finally, we call upon the international community and all peace loving people around the world to make note of the impending crises in Ethiopia and hold the terrorist government in Ethiopia accountable for crimes it has committed and is about to commit. The declared state of emergency is sure to cause more deaths and destructions and it is only the TPLF/EPRDF government that is responsible.

Victory to the Oromo people!

Oromo Liberation Front

October 10, 2016

William Davison, Bloomberg, Oct. 11

Ethiopia’s government suspects Egyptian elements may be backing Oromo protesters as rivalry over control of the Nile River intensifies, Communications Minister Getachew Reda said.

Authorities in Cairo may be supporting the banned Oromo Liberation Front, or OLF, that organized a spate of attacks last week across Ethiopia’s most populous region, which led to the declaration of a state of emergency on Sunday, he told reporters Monday in the capital, Addis Ababa.

“We have ample evidence that trainings have happened, financing has happened in Egypt, the jury is still out whether the Egyptian government is going to claim responsibility for that,” Getachew said. “Nor are we saying it is directly linked with the Egyptian government, but we know for a fact the terrorist group OLF has been receiving all kind of support from Egypt.”

Egypt’s government has claimed Ethiopia’s construction of a hydropower dam on the main tributary of the Nile contravenes colonial-era treaties that grant it the right to the bulk of the river’s water. Ethiopian officials reject the accords as obsolete and unjust.

Egypt had “absolute respect for Ethiopia’s sovereignty,” the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Ahmed Abu Zeid, said in an e-mailed statement Monday. The two nations were holding “high-level communications,” he said while urging “vigilance against any attempts to harm the brotherly relations between Egypt and Ethiopia on the government and popular levels.”

Ongoing Unrest

Farms, factories and government buildings were torched in Oromia last week, as anti-government violence worsened in Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation and a key U.S. security ally.

The state of emergency doesn’t mean military rule, although a streamlined security-force “command post” chaired by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has the authority to suspend due process and enact curfews when necessary, Getachew said. “We are facing a threat that is not going to be easily addressed through ordinary law-enforcement measures.”

The OLF was part of an allied insurgency that took power in Addis Ababa in 1991 by overthrowing the country’s military regime. The group that campaigned for autonomy for the Oromo ethnic group ended up in conflict with other former rebels in a transitional government and returned to insurgency. It has not admitted involvement in the ongoing unrest.

Oromo protests began in November amid claims of the unfair expropriation of farms, state repression and the economic and political marginalization of the community. Over 700 people have since been killed by security forces in Oromia and in Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-most populous region, according to the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia.

(News Headlines 24) — German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has asked the Ethiopian government to allow protests and that police response to these protests should be proportionate.

She also called on the government to include opposition groups in the political process. Merkel is currently in Ethiopia on the last leg of her historic African tour. Her trip started in Mali on Sunday, before she went to Niger on Monday.

There was pressure by rights groups tasking the German leader to speak on human rights in the country. Ethiopia over the weekend imposed a 6-month state of emergency in a bid to quell anti-government protests. The United Nations and other bodies have charged the government to desist from mass arrests and the partial internet shutdown.

Ethiopia deployed its troops to Somalia to strengthen the weak UN-backed government

(BBC) — Ethiopian troops fighting militant Islamist group al-Shabab have withdrawn from a key military base in central Somalia’s Hiran region, residents say.

Al-Shabab fighters have taken control of el-Ali village following the withdrawal, the residents added.

Ethiopian forces had destroyed the base before abandoning the area, a radio station run by al-Shabab said.

The troops withdrew after the base came under artillery fire, a Somali security official said.

• Africa Live: More on this and other stories
• Questions for AU force in Somalia

Ethiopian has not commented on the withdrawal.

In recent weeks it had also withdrawn its forces from the nearby town of Moqokori, AFP news agency reports.

In June, al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, said it had killed 60 Ethiopian soldiers in an attack on a base in Halgan town, also in central Somalia.

The withdrawal from el-Ali has made a large and strategic area vulnerable to occupation by the militants, reports the BBC’s Ibrahim Aden from the capital, Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab militants say they attacked an African Union base in central Somalia

Some Ethiopian soldiers are in Somalia as part of a 22,000-strong African Union (AU) force while others are there as a result of a bilateral deal with the weak Somali government.

The Ethiopian soldiers in the AU mission are responsible for securing Bay, Bakool, and Gedo regions but are also present in Hiran, which borders Ethiopia.

Somali security official Abdirisak Moalim Ahmed confirmed to AFP news agency that al-Shabab had occupied el-Ali, and the Ethiopian troops had headed for the regional capital, Beledweyne, about 70km (43 miles) away.

Most traders had fled the village following its seizure by al-Shabab, resident Osman Adan told AFP.

Ethiopia has a long and porous border with Somalia, and has been anxious to stop the infiltration of Islamist militancy into its territory.

Earlier this week, a state of emergency was declared in Ethiopia itself to quell the worst unrest in the country since the government took power in 1991.

Opposition groups in Ethiopia are demanding more political and economic rights, accusing the government of being repressive.

The government has blamed the unrest on “terrorists”, accusing them of trying to break up the East African state of more than 86 million people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently visiting Ethiopia, where she called on the government to allow protests, Reuters news agency reports.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled support for protesters demanding wider freedoms in Ethiopia during a visit to the country on Tuesday, saying “a vibrant civil society is part and parcel of a developing country.”

After meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Merkel said Germany has offered to train Ethiopia’s police to deal with the sometimes deadly demonstrations that have caused one of Africa’s best-performing economies to declare its first state of emergency in 25 years.

“We are already working in Oromia to de-escalate the situation there by offering mediation between groups,” she said, referring to the region where protests have simmered for nearly a year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-left, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, center-right, inspect the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

“I would always argue for allowing people of a different political opinion … to engage with them and allow them to express their views because, after all, a democratic experience shows that out of these discussions good solutions usually come,” Merkel said.

The Ethiopian prime minister responded by suggesting his government may increase dialogue. “We have shortcomings in our fledgling democracy, so we want to go further in opening up the political space and engagement with different groups of the society,” he said, noting that the East African country’s huge youth population has created “dissatisfaction and desperation.”

But the prime minister also sounded a note of defiance. “Ethiopia is committed to have a multi-party democracy as per our constitution. And Ethiopia is committed to have human rights observed. … But Ethiopia is also against any violent extremist armed struggling groups,” he said.

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency Sunday, faced with widespread anti-government protests. More than 50 people died last week in a stampede after police tried to disperse protesters. The incident set off a week of demonstrations in which both foreign and local businesses with suspected government ties were burned, and one American was killed in a rock attack.

Merkel said the German business community has criticized the business climate in Ethiopia, and she expressed hope that the government will discuss the criticism openly.

At least 400 people have been killed in anti-government protests over the past year, according to human rights groups and opposition activists. The protesters demand more freedoms from a government accused of being increasingly authoritarian.

The United States and others have called on the government to use restraint against protesters, and the U.N. human rights office has asked for access to allow independent observers into the troubled Oromia region.

On Monday, Ethiopia’s president announced during a Parliament session that the country’s election law would be amended to accommodate more political parties and opposing views.

But the country’s internet service continues to be largely blacked out after last week’s unrest.

Merkel’s African tour, with stops earlier this week in Mali and Niger, is also meant to highlight the global migration crisis and security issues. Ethiopia is one of the world’s largest hosts of refugees, with an estimated 780,000 from nearby Somalia, South Sudan and elsewhere.

Ethiopia’s prime minister appealed for German support.

Merkel also inaugurated the new African Union Peace and Security Council building in the capital, Addis Ababa, constructed with German funding of 27 million euros. It is expected to be the base for coordination of peacekeeping missions.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-right, inspects the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, is welcomed by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center-left, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, center-right, inspect the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, is welcomed by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, center-left, as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/ Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, inspects the honor guard as she arrives at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, right, inspect the honor guard at the national palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016. Merkel is visiting Ethiopia, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency, after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

FILE – In this Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 file photo, Ethiopian soldiers try to stop protesters in Bishoftu, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting Ethiopia on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo, File)

FILE – In this Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 file photo, protesters chant slogans against the government during a march in Bishoftu, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting Ethiopia on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, where her meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is expected to focus on the country’s newly declared state of emergency after months of protests demanding wider freedoms, and other issues including migration. (AP Photo, File)

Youths play football at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia’s government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country’s first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

Ethiopian men read newspapers and drink coffee at a cafe in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia’s government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country’s first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

A security guard sits near a gate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia’s government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country’s first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

A woman walks on bridge to a station of the city’s light railway, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Ethiopia’s government on Monday blamed Egypt for supporting outlawed rebels and forcing the declaration of the country’s first state of emergency in a quarter-century as widespread anti-government protests continue, though Egypt last week denied any support for the Ethiopian rebels. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) gestures next to Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn (R) during a news conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

(Reuters) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Ethiopia on Tuesday to open up its politics and ensure police do not use heavy-handed tactics against protesters, after more than a year of unrest that rights groups say has led to about 500 deaths.

Merkel, who spoke at a news conference with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, arrived in Ethiopia after a fresh flare-up near the capital of the clashes that have cast a shadow over a nation with one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.

The violence prompted the government to declare a nationwide state of emergency on Sunday. It says the death toll cited by rights groups is exaggerated and blames the wave of violence on “armed gangs” backed by foreigners.

Western states, which are among the biggest donors to what is still a poor nation, want their companies to win deals in Ethiopia but have become increasingly concerned by the government’s authoritarian approach to development.

“I made the case that you should have open talks with people who have problems,” Merkel told Hailemariam, adding that police should respond proportionately to protests.

Last week, protesters ransacked or torched about a dozen mostly foreign-owned factories, flower farms and other sites, accusing the government of building on seized land and stifling opposition.

Opponents blamed police for provoking a stampede at a festival in Oromiya that killed at least 55 people on Oct. 2.

“In a democracy there always needs to be an opposition that has a voice – in the best case in parliament,” Merkel added.

Opposition parties failed to win a single seat in parliament in the 2015 election, accusing the government of rigging the vote – charges which it denies. There was just one opposition lawmaker in the previous assembly.

“The government is not using extreme violence. If it happened, we will investigate the units involved,” the prime minister responded.

DEMAND FOR DIALOGUE

Addressing parliament the day before Merkel arrived, Ethiopia’s president called for an amendment to the election law to allow “alternative voices” to be heard – an offer that senior opposition figure Merera Gudina said was “too little, too late”.

Merera, chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress, from a region where protests have raged, said Merkel should push for the release of political prisoners and a national dialogue.

The government denies it detains people for their politics.

In another show of German discontent, a diplomat said Addis Ababa had proposed that Merkel address parliament, but Berlin refused because it lacked any opposition members.

The diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the message being sent was that there was “no business as usual”.

The international community has praised Ethiopia for its economic achievements and development strategy. Under this, healthcare and other types of social support have spread across a country where most people rely on subsistence farming that has been hit by severe drought in the past two years or more.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn (L) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) listen to their national anthems at the National Palace in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

A nation still renowned in the West for a devastating 1984 famine exacerbated by the policies of the then Marxist government, Ethiopia has been one of Africa’s fastest-expanding economies for the past 15 years of so. In 2015, growth was 10 percent.

But the lack of public space for criticism has risen up the agenda for Western powers. U.S. President Barack Obama told his Ethiopian hosts in Addis Ababa last year that greater political openness would “strengthen rather than inhibit” development.

The government said at the time it ensured political freedoms but differed over the pace of reforms that Washington wanted.

Till now, Chinese firms and financing have been a major driver of growth, building high-rise towers and a metro system in Addis Abba, and constructing a new railway that links the capital of the land-locked nation to Djibouti port.

Western investors have also secured deals. Britain’s Diageo and Heineken of the Netherlands have bought breweries, Dutch and Belgian firms run flower farms and companies such as Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) are starting to source clothes from Ethiopian plants.

Merkel also visited the headquarters of the African Union, which are in Addis Ababa. She called for the body to try to solve the conflict in Libya and also urged African states to increase efforts to fight Islamist militants.

(Writing by Edmund Blair and Madeline Chambers; editing by David Stamp and Pravin Char)

In east Africa, the Ethiopian government has announced a six-month state of emergency, in response to intensifying and deadly anti-government protests across the country. Prime Minister Hailermariam Desalegn said in a televised Address the Declaration, which went into effect Saturday, aims to curb recent attacks on government buildings and businesses. Earlier, VOA’s Vincent Makori spoke by phone with Tsegaye Ararssa, a constitutional law expert, at Melbourne University in Australia and sought his reaction.

“Ofiinuu Duutii Maaf Of Huuti?” – Labsi ‘Yeroo Atattamaa’ TPLF labsite Ilaalchisee Ibsa Hooggana Jiddu-galeesa Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo irraa Kenname

Wareeegamni Qerroon Bilisummaa Oromoo gootummaan gumaachaa as gahe ummata keenya guyyuu gara Bilisummaa isatti dhiheessaa jiraachuun dhugaa haalamuu hindandeenye dha. TPLFtti guyyaan dukkanawaa dhufuu isaaf labsi isheen mata duree ‘yeroo atattamaa’ jedhuun labsite kana caalaa ragaan guddaan hinjiru. Qabsoo hadhawaa Qeerroon Bilisummaa geggessaa jiruun gartuun yeroo dheeraaf olaantummaa siyaasaan of bokoksaa turte kun guyyaa irraa guyyaatti caccabuu,salphachuu fi diigamuu erga eegaltee bubbulteetti. Gootummaan Qeerroon agarsiisaa jiru mootota TPLF guyyaa saafaa abjchisuu erga eegalee oolee buleera.

Labsiin TPLF ummata keenya irratti labiste kunis Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo caalmaatti qabsichaaf hiriirsa malee tasa of-booda kan hindeebifne ta’uun isaa firaafis ta’e diinaa ifa ta’uu qaba. Ammaan booda taattaaffiin TPLF gootu marti yoo guyyaa du’a ishee gabaabse malee gonkumaa bara angoo ishee dheeressuu hindanda’u. Qeerroon Bilisummaa kafana soba TPLF bara dheeraaf marxifachaa turte sana irraa mulquun bifa dhaloota ishee isa dhugaa, of-irrummaa siyaasaa fi dhiphummaa sanyiin guutame sana addunyaaf saaxileera. Mootummaan ishee rommaa jiraachuu, ummata biratti jibbamtuu fi tuffatamtuu ta’uun ishee, akkasumas nagaa biyyattii eeguuf dandeettii fi amantaa gaha kan hinqabne ta’uu isheef labsii isheen baafatte kana caalaa ragaan hinjiru. Guyyaan isheen yeroo maayyiif angoo biyyatti irra fonqoltus fago hin ta’u.

Qeerroon Bilisummaa Oromoo Gabrummaatti Xumura gochuu akka kaayyoo isa anagafaatti erga labsee waggaa guutuuf deema. Yeroo gabaabdu kana keessatti muratnoo olaanaa agarsiiseen, danbalii siyaasaa biyyatti guutummaatti jijjireera. Mootummaan TPLF hunde-dhabeetti ta’uu ishee gootummaan saaxileera. Ummatni keenya humna-qabeessa qofa osoo hintaane handhura siyaasaa biyyatti fi wabi nagaeenya godina Gaanfa Afirikaa guutummaa ta’uu isaa mirkaneessera. Sochiin Qeeroo mootummaan dantaa ummata keenya moggeessuuf imaammatu hundi tas-gabbii tokko illee qabaachuu akka hindandeenye addunyaa qaabachiiseera. Qeerroon akka qaama qabsoo Bilisummaatti dhaloota haarawaa dammaqsee, ijaaree, bobbaasuun yeroo gabaabaa keessatti injifannoolee siyaasaa gurguddoo saba keenyaa gonfachiiseera. Qeerroon fuulaa fi fuulatti diina saba keenya waliin wal hudhuun hamilee sabni keenya of angomsuu irratti qabu danboobseera.

Sirnoota of-irroo biyya keenya hoongeessa as gahaniif TPLF isa maayyii akka ta’u gochuun dirqama qabsa’ota biyyatti guutummaa addatti ammoo kan sabboontota ilmaan Oromooti. Gartuu saba keenya diinummaatti imaammatee kun yoo hundeedhaan angoo irra buqqa’e malee Bilisummaa Saba Keenyaa fi Walabummaa Biyyaa keenya tasa hinmirkanaa’u. Mirga dhalootaa fi seeraan qabnu kana gonfachuuf akka saba hiree isaa murteeffachuuf qabsa’uu tokkootti xiqqaa-guddaan, dhiiraa-dhaalaan ijaaramnee warraquun yeroon isaa amma. Keessattuu, humna, beekumsaa fi qabeenya keenya walitti qindeessinee diina sanyii keenya duguuguuf abbalaa jiru kana qolachuun dirqama dhalootaati. Ummatni keenya keessaa fi alatti sochii isaa qindeeffatee gartuu aangoo mootummaatti da’attee saamicha dangaa hinqabne sabaa fi biyya keenya irratti raawwachaa jirtu buqqisuuf waan isaaf danda’ame maraan qabsoo isaa utubuun waajiba.

Sochii mirga keenya gonfachuuf goonu keessatti ammoo waan hundaa caalaa harka diinaa jabeessinee of irraa eegachuun barbaachisaadha. Dinni gantantaraa jirtu kun qabsoo keenya qancarsitee guyyaa kufaatii ishee dheereffachuuf dhagaa hingalagalchine hiqabdu. Mooraa qabsoo saba keenya dantaalee bubuutuu taateen qoqqooduuf tattafachaa turte, ammaas tattaafachaa jirti. Dantaa saba keenyaaf jecha gartuu dhiiga obbolaa keenyaa kumaatamaan dhangalaasaa jirtu kana waliin hariiroo siyaasaa bifa kamiiyyu qabaachuu irraa sabboontotni keenya dammaqiinsaan akka of eeggatan Qeerroon dhaamsa lamummaa dabarsuu barbaada. Keessattuu, qabsaa’onnii fi aktivistoonni keenya biyya alaa keessa socho’aa jiraan shira TPLF karaa kitillayyoota ishee qabsoo Oromoo irratti xaxuuf yaaltaa jirtu irraa jabeessanii akka of eegatan dhaamsa qabsoo dabarsuuf feena.

Ummatni Oromoo Bilisummaa isaa gonfachuuf guyyuu wareegama qaalii gumaachaa jiraachuun isaa ifaadha. Haata’u malee firii wareegama kana saamuuf kanneen karaa boroo duubaa diina waliin walii-galtee gochuuf yaalan mumullachaa dhufaniiru. Isaan kun qabsoo Oromoo dhiiga obbolaa keenyaan injifannoolee cululuqo galmeessaa jirtu kana irraa akka harka isaanii xurii dafanii sassabatan akeekkachiifna. Dalagaan bifa kana sagantaa diinichaa fiixaan baasuuf tattafachuu waliin wal gita waan ta’eef Qeerroon ni balaaleffata. Guyyaan qabsoo itti-fakeessaa geggessan sun darbuu isaa namuu hubachuu feesisa. Bilisummaan saba keenya kennaa TPLFin osoo hintaane gootummaa ilmaan isaatiin kan dhugoomu ta’uun dagatamuu hinqabu. Kana malees, osoo dirqama sirnaa hinqabaatiin qaamni tokko illee Qeerroos ta’e ummata Oromoo kallattiin diina of irraa falamchaa jiru sana bakka bu’ee waliigaltee bifa tokko illee diina waliin mallateessuuf mirga kan itti hiqabne ta’uu isaa firaafis ta’e diinaaf ifa gochuu barbaanna.

Sadarkaa qabsoon keenya amma irra jirtu kanatti ummatni Oromoo qee’ee fi qabeenya isaa oolfachuuf wareegama qaqqalii kallattiin baasaa jira malee, Bilisummaan kiyyaa Atlanta fi London ykn ammoo Oslo fi Berlin irraa naaf dhufa jedhee eegachaa hinjiru. Kanneen Qabsoo sabicha handhura biyyaa irraa gara sochii diasporatti haqaaquun ittiin of beeksisuu yaalaa jiran hundi dalaga fokkataa kana irra atattamaan akka of qusatan carraa kanaan Qeerroon dhaamsa Oromummaa dabrsuuf fedha.

Maayyii irratti ummatni Oromoo milkaa’uu qabsoo isaaf bakka jiru hundaatti wareegamaa fi ittisa barbaachisu gumaachuutti akka cichu Qeerroon waamicha qabsoo dabarsa. Atakaaroo hinbarbaachifne moora qabsoo Oromoo keessaa dhabamsiisaa, aadaa wal amantaa fi wal irratti amantaa guddifachaa deemuun milkaa’ina qabsoo keenyaaf wabii ta’a. Guyyaan TPLF Finfinnee keessaa bookisuu dhaabdu gabaabbachaa dhufeera. Guyyaan ummatni keenya afaan qawwee alagaa jalaa ba’u dhihaateera. Bilisummaan keenya tattaaffii tokkoo-tokkoon keenya guyyuu goonu irratti hundaawa waan ta’eef, namuu qooda isaa ga’ummaan akka gumaachu dhaammataa, Qeerroon Bilisummaa qabsoo sabni isaa miraga ofii gonfachuuf geggessaa jiru kan yeroo kamuu caalaa finiinsuuf murteeffachuu isaa carraa kanaan Lammii isaaaf mirkaneessuu fedha.

Gadaan Gadaa Bilisummaati!

Injifannnoon Ummata Oromoof!

Qeerroo Bilisummaa Oromoo

Onkolooleessa 11, 2016

Adaamaa,Oromiyaa

Residents of Bishoftu crossed their wrists above their heads as a symbol for the Oromo anti-government protesting movement during the Oromo new year holiday Irreechaa in Bishoftu on October 2, 2016.
Several people were killed in a stampede near the Ethiopian capital on October 2 after police fired tear gas at protesters during a religious festival, according to an AFP photographer at the scene. Several thousand people had gathered at a sacred lake to take part in the Irreecha ceremony, in which the Oromo community marks the end of the rainy season, where participants crossed their wrists above their heads, a gesture that has become a symbol of Oromo anti-government protests. The event quickly degenerated, with protesters throwing stones and bottles and security forces responding with baton charges and then tear gas grenades. / AFP PHOTO / Zacharias ABUBEKER

Nigeria (Today) — Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied Ethiopian accusations that it supports the country’s armed opposition.

Earlier in the day, Ethiopia accused elements in Eritrea, Egypt and other states of arming, training and funding groups that it blames for a wave of protests and violence that led the country to declare a state of emergency.

“The Egyptian Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its absolute respect for Ethiopia’s sovereignty, and non-intervention in its internal affairs,” the ministry’s spokesman, Ahmed Abu Zeid, said in a press statement.

Abu Zeid said high-level contacts are being made with Addis Ababa to preserve the positive environment and the gains that were achieved in bilateral relations during the recent period.

The spokesman also urged vigilance against any attempts to harm the brotherly relations between Egypt and Ethiopia at governmental and popular levels. The ongoing contacts between Egypt and Ethiopia reflected their mutual recognition of the special nature of the relations between both countries and their shared interests and destiny, the spokesman said.

OUTLAWED REBEL GROUP

Last week, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry summoned Egypt’s ambassador for discussions over an online video purportedly showing an Egyptian sharing a stage with members of the outlawed rebel group, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

“The video could possibly be circulated by parties that seek to sow discord and drive a wedge between Egypt and Ethiopia,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

The OLF is an Ethiopian organisation established in 1973 by Oromo nationalists, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, to promote self-determination for the Oromo people. It has been designated a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government.

Sunday, Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency over anticipated threats “posed by forces working in collaboration with foreign enemies.

Tension has overshadowed Egypt-Ethiopia relations since Addis Ababa started in 2013 to divert a tributary of the River Nile as a preparatory step to build its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), amid Egyptian concerns that the damming may affect Egypt’s 55.5 billion-cubic-meter annual share of the river’s water.

However, Egypt and its fellow downstream Nile Basin country Sudan gradually showed more understanding of Ethiopia’s development aspirations, and the Ethiopian side showed commitment to cooperation and abiding by recommendations deriving from technical studies while building the dam.

On September 20, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia signed contracts with two consultancy offices to conduct further technical studies on the dam.

Extending on an area of 1,800 square kilometers, the GERD is scheduled to be completed in three years at a cost of 4.7 billion US dollars.