The first reason is, I was born and raised in Oromia among the followers of the Oromo
indigenous religion-- Waqefaata. I have witnessed human violations perpetuated by consecutive
Ethiopian regimes. During the Haile Selassie regime, I witnessed my family members giving a
quarter of their harvests to the Abyssinians and paying taxation without representation in the
government. I witnessed many Oromo family members tried not to allow baptizing their children in
the Abyssinian Orthodox Church. In the belief that if someone first goes through the Waqefaata
ceremony known as Amachisa, the person will remain Waqefaata, my community members developed
strategy to take their children through the indigenous ceremony first. Accordingly, in the Amachisa
ceremony I got the name Tolera = things are good. After that, they had me baptized because the
Oromo people were forced to baptize their children in the Orthodox Church. In the ceremony of
baptism they gave me a name Gebre Giyorgis = the slave of George. I leave it to the readers to
compare the differences in meaning between the two names.
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| BECAUSE I AM OROMO! |
I heard many stories about many innocent Oromo persons being charged with the crimes
they did not commit. In most cases it was to free the Abyssinians from crimes they had committed.
There is a case that I well knew- about an Oromo person being penalized for referring to the
Supreme Court judge as (አንች=anchi) ‘you’, a term used in Amharic in reference to women,-instead
of (እርስዎ=irswo) ‘you’ used in reference to the higher officials. The person did not use the term አንች
(anchi) to undermine the Supreme Court. The reason was that he did not fully understand the
Amharic language. This means that the Oromo people’s cultural rights are regularly violated and
such violations are legal. As the UN document clearly states “human rights are indivisible,
interrelated and interdependent”; the rights of the Oromo people to social, economic, political and
cultural rights are being violated and this is clearly demonstrated in this case of a person being
penalized for making a grammar mistake.
Second, during the Dergi regime I witnessed many of my childhood friends involuntarily
recruited into the Ethiopian militia. I have heard the mother of my childhood friend call herself “a
mother goat” comparing herself to mother goats that have no right to defend their kits. Most
militias died in the unnecessary wars and a few have returned physically incapacitated. Only a
handful of them returned safely after spending their productive years in the war front. As I have
elaborated in my previous works, many of these militias who returned back their village were
infected with HIV/AIDS and they have contributed in a major way to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in
Oromia. Third, my lived experience clearly taught me that under the Haile Selassie regime most of the
Oromo people had to give a quarter to three quarters of their harvest to the Abyssinians. Under the
forced to subsidize the war by providing food at a fixed price. In my adulthood, I realized that the
Oromo cultural, political, social and environmental rights had been violated. In understanding that a
population’s health is determined by the social, economic, political, cultural and environmental
conditions, I chose to make human rights and public health conditions in Oromia my research topic.
I have been researching and writing on human rights and public health issues in Oromia for over a
decade. My works are published in peer reviewed journals and a book.
Fourth, since 1992 I have been a member of the Oromo Studies Association (OSA) and
served in different capacities including as the president of the organization. Before and after I joined
the OSA, members and invited guests have been investigating the socio-economic, political, cultural
and environmental conditions in Oromia from different angles and academic fields. For me it is
clear the major causes of the socio-economic problems that manifest as HIV/AIDS epidemic,
famine, nutritional deficiency i.e. iodine deficiency and others primarily result from human rights
violations. For my Ph.D thesis research and after, I have interviewed more than 55 Oromo
nationals from different parts of Oromia, with different levels of education and work experiences. I
have had the privilege to collect data in Oromo, Amharic and English languages and make sound
intellectual and cultural judgments in interpreting them. This has given me a unique privilege in
accessing the collective memory of the Oromo people and the ability to deeply understand the
present realities.
The Oromo people constitute the single largest national group in the Ethiopian Empire and
in the Greater Horn of Africa. The size of the Oromo population and the geographical location of
Oromia makes the Oromia regional state the heart of Ethiopia. Recognizing that Oromia is the
richest and largest populous state, the TPLF-led Ethiopian government has been using collective
violence to control and exploit Oromia, which is the key in controlling the Ethiopian political
economy. The TPLF security forces are preoccupied with incapacitating the Oromo people by
killing, imprisoning, torturing them and forcing others to flee their country.
I have carefully read the Report of AI, ‘BECAUSE I AM OROMO’ Sweeping Repression in
the Oromia Region of Ethiopia2
and read and listened to the response of the Ethiopiangovernment3
. If the Oromo people were empowered on their own affairs, they would have been
able to give their own assessment and verdict on whether or not the report of AI reflects the
objective reality in Oromia. Unfortunately, only human rights organizations such as AI, the Human
Rights Watch, (HRW), Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa, (HRLHA), the Oromo Support
Group (OSG) and scholarly organizations such as the Oromo Studies Association (OSA) can expose
the social, political and economic crimes in Oromia at this historical moment. I affirm that the AI
report clearly represents the objective realities in Oromia. Imprisonments, torture, arbitrary
detentions, disappearances, rapes and killings are widespread human rights violations and they are
day to day phenomena in Oromia Regional State. However, the report does not tell the whole story,
as we shall see below.
First, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) regime implements its political and
economic objectives through a variety of strategies and tactics. It is highly militarized and
repressive, and it tightly controls information and resources by manipulating foreign aids, domestic
financial resources, and political appointments. This makes it difficult to know the exact number of
Oromo political prisoners. The Ethiopian government uses formal prison cells as well as informal
places to imprison and torture Oromo prisoners. There are registered and unregistered prison cells.
For example military camps, police stations, government offices, private homes, hotels, health care
centers and even schools are used to imprison Oromos. Many unregistered prisons are also found in
remote and lowland areas and several of them are inaccessible to the public. In the estimate of
HRLHA the number of Oromo political prisoners is about 30,000 (see HRLHA reports).
Second, the TPLF led government does not allow Oromo independent political, social and
human rights organizations to function. For example, the HRLHA is a human rights organization
established to defend and promote human rights in the Horn of Africa. Initially it was formed in
Ethiopia and registered as the Human Rights League (HRL). However, soon after the HRL was
formed, Ethiopian security forces imprisoned the founders for several years and made others flee
their country. Some of them- without committing a crime- have been jailed in the notorious
Ethiopian prison cell known as Maikelawi for four years. The leaders did not commit any crimes.
They were simply serving their community in different capacities i.e. church pastor, teacher, state
and private media and human rights activism.
Third, Ethiopia is one of the ethnicized and racialized Empires. In Ethiopia, by virtue of
birth and your ethnic background, you get a specific citizenship status. Until 1992, agape citizenship
was assigned to the Amharic speakers with numerous privileges attached to it. Although the TPLF
fiercely fought against such a discriminatory social stratification, when they took the power sadly
they adopted the same principle and allocated to the Tigray nationals to enjoy the agape status. For
example, the population of the Tigray nationals constitutes about five percent of the Ethiopian
people; military generals took ninety- five percent of the positions. Disproportionately having more
Tigray nationals in the military commanding positions tells us several important points. In the mind
of the TPLF leadership, political power is determined not at the ballot box, but by the military. The
TPLF government uses the Tigrayan-dominated army, police, security networks, and puppet
organizations to destabilize independent institutions that are intended to facilitate changes in the
social, economic, cultural, political and environmental conditions in Oromia and beyond. This was
done to incapacitate, silence and control the Oromo people and deny them an independent
leadership. This means the Ethiopian constitution, which is theoretically founded on the principle of
federalism, is a sham designed to confuse the world community.
Fourth, from the beginning, the TPLF forces functioned as organized criminals or bandits.
To confuse the world community the TPLF- led Ethiopian government presents itself as if the
EPRDF is a formal coalition of political organizations. In reality, it was the TPLF who used the
prisoners of war (POWs) to form dozen of the so-called PDOs. Theoretically Oromo political
prisoners formed the Oromo Peoples Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amharas formed the
Amhara Nation’s Democratic Movement ANDM and those from the south people formed the
Southern Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic movement, SEPDM and with the TPLF they formed the
EPRDF in captivity. The political programs of these PDO organizations were assigned them by the
TPLF. The formation of PDOs by the POWs in captivity makes the formation of EPRDF a fake.
By conservative estimates, the population of Ethiopia is about 100 million. The population
of Tigray is about five million. The Oromos constitute about 45 million and the Amahara constitute
about 23 million. The population of Southern Ethiopian People constitutes about 18 million. The
other nine million are from the Ogden, Afar, Benshangual and Gambela regions. If the EPRDF is
the coalition of several political parties, the decision- making power of these parties should have
been distributed according to the number of the people they represent. If that is not the case, then
serious human rights violations occurred when the TPLF formed the coalition of EPRDF4
and
made the decision making power of the TPLF equal to that of the OPDO, ANDM and SEPDM in
the executive committee.
Fifth, in the last twenty years the TPLF led government has engaged in systematic evictions
of the Oromo people from their homes and farmlands in the name of leasing their lands to investors
with no or little compensation. By evicting Oromo farmers from their homelands without or with
little compensation, the TPLF regime has leased several millions hectares of Oromo lands to foreign
investors such as the Chinese, Arabs, Indians, Malaysians, and European business people and local
capitalists (Oakland Institute Reports5
). The investors are heavily using fertilizers, pesticides and
herbicides and by that they polluted soil and rivers. This has resulted in the displacement of millions
of Oromo farmers, simultaneously compromising their food security and exposing them to heavy
toxic chemical pollutants. The water the Oromo people drink, the air they breathe and the foods
they eat are now polluted. Besides that, chemical pollutants have severely harmed the biodiversity of
the soil, the fertility of the land and the productivity of farm animals.
Sixth, in the name of expanding the city of Finfine (Addis Ababa) and selling Oromo land to
investors, the Ethiopian government has evicted over three hundred thousand Oromos from their
homes in the last ten years6
. Again the eviction was done with little or no compensation. The
dispossession of land for lease to investors and the expansion of the city of Finfine have forced
millions of Oromos to move to cities. Most of them have become homeless and street beggars.
Seventh, although the Ethiopian government claims that the cultural rights of people are
respected, this is only partly true. The Oromo people are denied to use their own language as the
language instruction in schools, courts and workplaces in their capital - Finfine. As of today, there
are no public schools in Finfine that use Afaan Oromo as the language of instruction. No single
court and health care service providers use Afaan Oromo in the Oromia capital. Millions of Oromos
have to use Amharic to communicate with health care providers, judges, and prosecutors as well as
police and in their daily lives. For this reasons they need the help of translators, because it is a
foreign language for most of them. Indeed, one of the demands of the Oromo people is the right to
make the Oromo language the official language in their own capital and the second federal official
language. What are the impacts of violating such rights? (Ans. Two decades after the Ethiopian
government recognized the existence of HIV/AIDS in the country; many Oromos who live in
Finfinee and do not understand Amharic language, did not heard the existence of the virus (see, my
work – Dugassa (2006) Ethiopian Language Policy and Health Promotion in Oromia).
Eighth, the TPLF government policy is driven by a racist mindset and a divide and rule
agenda. The TPLF racist mindset clearly manifests when you look at the ways it implements its own
policies. For example, although they are a minority in their homeland, the Harari people who
constitute about 185,000 are allowed to have their regional state7
. However, the population of Agaw
that constitutes over 700,000 are denied to have their own regional state. There are three possible
reasons that explain this discrepancy. The first reason is to make the Harari state viable one has to
expand the territory and this requires incorporating the Oromo land and people. Doing this
contributes to the fulfillment of the standing agenda of divide and incapacitates the Oromo people.
The second reason is although the TPLF led government sees the Amhara- centric political
organizations as a threat to its power; the Amahara and the Tigray people are culturally closer to
each other than the Agaw people. Therefore, the TPLF chooses to violate the rights of the Agaw
people rather than breaking apart the Amahara regional state. The third possible reason is that the
TPLF is influenced by the longstanding racist view about the Agaw people and chooses to assign
them the lower social status.
Ninth, the TPLF led government promotes inter and intra ethnic and religious conflicts and
present itself as a peacemaker. Such conflicts are used to divide and weaken the Oromo people.
Examples of such conflicts include the conflicts between Oromo and Gumuz in the West, Oromo
and Ogden in the East and the South, between the Oromo-clan Borana and Guji and the Muslim
Oromo and Christian Oromo. Conflict usually destabilizes the communities and results in property
damage. This further aggravates the poverty level.
Tenth the TPLF rules with arms and has made fear the tool. In 2012, when the late prime
minster unexpectedly died, they forced the whole society to mourn. They forced the whole society
to go to public squares for the event. At these squares, thousands of heavily armed military stood for
hours in silence or slow music and journalists stood to record videos of all the movements. People
cried not necessarily for love of the PM but for the fear of the military, an uncertain future and
worrying about the consequences of not crying. One of the many heartbreaking cases was
organizing homeless men and women and taking them to the square. At one point the journalist
asked the team leader who they were and why they were there. One of the team leaders said, “we are
Eighth, the TPLF government policy is driven by a racist mindset and a divide and rule
agenda. The TPLF racist mindset clearly manifests when you look at the ways it implements its own
policies. For example, although they are a minority in their homeland, the Harari people who
constitute about 185,000 are allowed to have their regional state7
. However, the population of Agaw
that constitutes over 700,000 are denied to have their own regional state. There are three possible
reasons that explain this discrepancy. The first reason is to make the Harari state viable one has to
expand the territory and this requires incorporating the Oromo land and people. Doing this
contributes to the fulfillment of the standing agenda of divide and incapacitates the Oromo people.
The second reason is although the TPLF led government sees the Amhara- centric political
organizations as a threat to its power; the Amahara and the Tigray people are culturally closer to
each other than the Agaw people. Therefore, the TPLF chooses to violate the rights of the Agaw
people rather than breaking apart the Amahara regional state. The third possible reason is that the
TPLF is influenced by the longstanding racist view about the Agaw people and chooses to assign
them the lower social status.
Ninth, the TPLF led government promotes inter and intra ethnic and religious conflicts and
present itself as a peacemaker. Such conflicts are used to divide and weaken the Oromo people.
Examples of such conflicts include the conflicts between Oromo and Gumuz in the West, Oromo
and Ogden in the East and the South, between the Oromo-clan Borana and Guji and the Muslim
Oromo and Christian Oromo. Conflict usually destabilizes the communities and results in property
damage. This further aggravates the poverty level.
Tenth the TPLF rules with arms and has made fear the tool. In 2012, when the late prime
minster unexpectedly died, they forced the whole society to mourn. They forced the whole society
to go to public squares for the event. At these squares, thousands of heavily armed military stood for
hours in silence or slow music and journalists stood to record videos of all the movements. People
cried not necessarily for love of the PM but for the fear of the military, an uncertain future and
worrying about the consequences of not crying. One of the many heartbreaking cases was
organizing homeless men and women and taking them to the square. At one point the journalist
asked the team leader who they were and why they were there. One of the team leaders said, “we are
Eighth, the TPLF government policy is driven by a racist mindset and a divide and rule
agenda. The TPLF racist mindset clearly manifests when you look at the ways it implements its own
policies. For example, although they are a minority in their homeland, the Harari people who
constitute about 185,000 are allowed to have their regional state7
. However, the population of Agaw
that constitutes over 700,000 are denied to have their own regional state. There are three possible
reasons that explain this discrepancy. The first reason is to make the Harari state viable one has to
expand the territory and this requires incorporating the Oromo land and people. Doing this
contributes to the fulfillment of the standing agenda of divide and incapacitates the Oromo people.
The second reason is although the TPLF led government sees the Amhara- centric political
organizations as a threat to its power; the Amahara and the Tigray people are culturally closer to
each other than the Agaw people. Therefore, the TPLF chooses to violate the rights of the Agaw
people rather than breaking apart the Amahara regional state. The third possible reason is that the
TPLF is influenced by the longstanding racist view about the Agaw people and chooses to assign
them the lower social status.
Ninth, the TPLF led government promotes inter and intra ethnic and religious conflicts and
present itself as a peacemaker. Such conflicts are used to divide and weaken the Oromo people.
Examples of such conflicts include the conflicts between Oromo and Gumuz in the West, Oromo
and Ogden in the East and the South, between the Oromo-clan Borana and Guji and the Muslim
Oromo and Christian Oromo. Conflict usually destabilizes the communities and results in property
damage. This further aggravates the poverty level.
Tenth the TPLF rules with arms and has made fear the tool. In 2012, when the late prime
minster unexpectedly died, they forced the whole society to mourn. They forced the whole society
to go to public squares for the event. At these squares, thousands of heavily armed military stood for
hours in silence or slow music and journalists stood to record videos of all the movements. People
cried not necessarily for love of the PM but for the fear of the military, an uncertain future and
worrying about the consequences of not crying. One of the many heartbreaking cases was
organizing homeless men and women and taking them to the square.
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