Oromo Community in Tingvoll and Møre og Romsdal Demonstration on 2nd June 2014
we Oromo community protested against on-going in Ethiopia Oromia Region by Ethiopian security force we condemn the killing, torturing, arresting mass Oromo University students, high school and Oromo politicians. Currently there are rallies being held whole over the world and still going on.
We Oromo community in Tingvoll Norway are outraged with Ethiopian dictatorial regime ongoing reckless attack on the Oromo students that are peacefully demonstrating against irresponsible expansion of Finfinnee/Addis Ababa for the purpose of land grabbing.
Oromo students at various Universities and high school across Oromia have been staging non-violent demonstration against the master plan that is set to expand Addis Ababa into surrounding Oromia Region. The students were concerned by the fact that the so called master plan will displace millions Oromo farmers and destroy many communities and their livelihood. The recent crackdown is not the first time that our young children and elders are massacred, torched, jailed and disappeared. Many University Students and high school Students including lectures and teachers and many businesspersons and farmers have been killed disappeared and have been in jail for many years without justice many of them dying from inhuman treatment, tortured, attacks and humiliations and from deliberated deprival of medical treatment.
The Oromo people have been continually seeking their rights being respected but the Ethiopian Regime response is cruel even for young people and Students.
According to human right group while kidnapping and extra judicial arrests and detentions have continued particularly around academic institutions in different parts of the regional state of Oromia in Ethiopia.
The main reason we protestes is to condemns the use of excessive force by security forces or special force of TPLF called Agazi the merciless force in the world against peacefully protesters in a number of Universities and locations across Oromia during the last month, which has resulted in deaths and injuries of dozens of Oromo people including students and children. Many hundreds of protesters are reported to have been arbitrarily arrested, tortured and being detained incommicado and without charge. Detainers are at risk of torture.
There are more than enough incidents and records confirming that the Ethiopian authority’s violation of International human rights law and has committed crime against humanity.
The Ethiopian ruling elites are most likely will continue their wild act of killing, torturing and forcing millions Oromos to flee their homes.
We are calling on the International community to stand against the brutality of the Ethiopian Regime particularly Norway, USA, UK and EU governments to stop their relationships with Ethiopian Dictatorial Regime and to stop sending their Money to TPLF. There are reports by International Organizations that the Aid has been used against the people to who you were send for.
During our demonstration rally in Tingvoll Norway, we went to the municipality office in Tingvoll where we meet the mayor of Tingvoll and he deliver speech infornt of his office on his speech he said he understand the situation in Ethiopia and he will send our letter to his government. Alemin kelifa a secretory of the community and one of the groups who organized the demonstration deliver speech and a letter to the mayor of Tingvoll Norway. Also we want to thank those who gave their time and organize the demonstration to be voice for voiceless of our children who have been murdered by Ethiopian security force and the promised that they will continue to demand for freedom, justice and democracy for Oromo peoples.
Liliane Landor, acting Director of the BBC World Service Group, has called on the Ethiopian authorities to stop jamming BBC broadcasts in the Middle East and North Africa.
She joined directors from Deutsche Welle, France 24, and the US Broadcasting Board of Directors which oversees the Voice of America, in condemning the flagrant violation of the clearly established international procedures on operating satellite equipment.
Liliane Landor said: “The BBC calls upon the Ethiopian authorities to end this interference. They are disrupting international news broadcasts for no apparent reason. This is a deliberate act of vandalism that tarnishes their reputation.”
During the past week BBC television and radio broadcasts on the Arabsat satellites have been affected by intentional uplink interference. Many international television broadcasts, including those from France 24 and Deutsche Welle, have been badly affected.
The satellite operator Arabsat has reported that the interference has come from within Ethiopia. The interference is intensive and affects services on all three Arabsat satellites. Unlike previous instances of intentional interference, these events do not appear to be linked to any particular content or channel on these satellites.
The interference is contrary to the international regulations that govern the use of radio frequency transmissions and the operation of satellite systems, and inhibits the ability of individuals to freely access media according to Article 19 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
May 29, 2014 (Jen and Josh in Ethiopia) — After the protests and violence in Ambo, we fled to the capital city of Addis Ababa and stayed at a little hotel called Yilma. Immediately, we started telling everyone about what happened in Ambo. We called and texted our friends, we talked to anyone at the hotel that would listen, and we posted things on Facebook. If we tell everyone about the protesters in Ambo being imprisoned and killed, surely it will stop, we reasoned.
The next day, two strange men – one tall with dark skin, the other short with lighter skin – struck up a conversation with us in the hotel restaurant.
“We’re from Minnesota, here to visit our family in Wollega,” they said. “Oh, we’re from St. Paul!” we replied, excited. “Oh, we’re from St. Paul, too!” they said, pulling out a fake-looking Minnesota driver’s license.
The address said Worthington, not St. Paul.
“How long have you lived in St. Paul?’ we asked. “Yes.” the tall man said, nervously. “I mean…how long have you lived in St. Paul?” we said, slower. “Just 2 weeks.” “And you’re already back in Ethiopia. And you just drove through Ambo, past all the protests and the police, to visit your family in Wollega?” we asked, thinking about the single paved road that heads west through Ambo. “Yes.” he replied. “You must be very brave,” we said, thinking about how the road was closed due to the violence. “Why?” he asked, baiting us with a stoic face.
We froze, afraid to speak further. At that moment, after 20 months in Ethiopia, we finally understood why so many people in Oromia are afraid of spies. When we first arrived in Ambo, people thought WE were C.I.A. spies, which we found amusing…spies who couldn’t even speak the language? If we had beenspies, we certainly weren’t very good at our job. But now, the tables were turned.
The two men began following us around the hotel area, sitting next to us whenever possible, walking slowly past our table, then returning slowly past our table – sometimes up to 10 times per hour. A different man followed us to a restaurant about a mile from the hotel, then sat at the closest table to ours, rudely joining a young couple’s romantic dinner.
For the next three days, we stopped telling people about the protests and the imprisonments and the killings in Ambo. We were afraid that the two men would be listening. We were afraid that someone was monitoring our communications on the government-controlled cell phone service and the government-controlled internet. Were we just paranoid? Were we really being monitored? Maybe we had just integrated too much, to the point where we had become Oromo, afraid of government spies and afraid of speaking out and being put in jail. While being ferenji (foreigners) gave us some level of protection, thoughts of the Swedish journaliststhrown into an Ethiopian jail in 2011 lingered in the backs of our minds. The journalists “were only doing their jobs, and human rights group Amnesty International said the journalists had been prosecuted for doing legitimate work.” Did we seem just as suspicious to the government as those Swedish journalists? We didn’t want to find out.
Peace Corps gave all the volunteers strict instructions NOT to blog or post on Facebook about the protests or killings across Oromia. It is just too dangerous to say anything about the Ethiopian government, they pointed out.
That’s when we decided to leave Ethiopia. For us, staying in Ambo, not ruffling any feathers, was not an option. How could we go back and pretend that our neighbors, students, and and fellow residents didn’t die or didn’t end up in prison?
Waxabajjii 22,2014 (qeerroo) -