“Esir betu Oromigna Yinageral”
By Fekade Shewakena
The phrase I used for the title of this article would pass for simple ethnic politicking if it was not spoken by a founder and former political bureau member of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and a former Defense Minister of the regime now ruling Ethiopia with an iron fist. The phrase is a direct quote of Mr. Seye Abraha who recently got out of prison after serving six years at the Qaliti dungeon on trumped up charges that his accuser Mr. Meles Zenawi could not produce any credible evidence for proof. For human rights groups and many among Ethiopians who follow the human rights condition in Ethiopia, the savagery being committed against the Oromo people by Meles Zenawi’s regime is more than a little dirty secret. I was amazed to see a shockwave and a jolting moment in the packed hall in Virginia on January 5, 2008 when Seye spoke the four word phrase “esir betu Oromogna yinageral”. To the stunned audience Seye added a figure. He said “about 99% of the prisoners in Qaliti are Oromos”. I saw many people shaking their heads in disbelief.
I have no reason to doubt Seye’s assertions and figures or dismiss them as revenge against his former comrades as the apologists of the crimes of the regime try to tell us. In fact, nearly all people who have been at the Qaliti prison tell us the same thing. As he himself alluded to during his long speech, Seye understands that he shares responsibility and has a lot to answer for as one TPLF leader for the plight of the Oromo people. Many of us know that he has been at the forefront in fighting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) out of the political system in Ethiopia in 1992 when they suspected that it has a widespread support, and the subsequent suffering of countless number of Oromos suspected of sympathizing with the OLF or membership in it. Others who have been to the Qualiti prison that I was able to talk to concur with Seye’s assertion. As a friend who recently came from Addis Ababa told me, this is one dirty public secret of Meles Zenawi that everybody in Addis Ababa talks about when the TPLF spies are not around. I think this is a horrifying human rights abuse that must be disquieting to all of us who value our people, the country and the future of every one of us and our children.
Ato Seye to his credit has shown a sense of shame and atonement in the tone of his expressions as he spoke these words and discussed the prevailing injustice in the country. Whether Seye’s sense of justice has changed because of his own experience of facing injustice and prison personally or through his reevaluation of the system he helped build, does not matter at this point. He should be congratulated for the courage he has shown to speak the truth in public and calling for a solution. Some people vanish into obscurity when they get out of the TPLF/EPRDF system. Some simply keep sucking up to the system and pursue “tranquil” life. Others stand up to undo their misdeeds, speak the truth and keep fighting to undo their wrongs. I have more respect for the later and think Seye is in this category.
The information that gets out of Ethiopia from multiple sources has it that this naked tyranny against the Oromo people is being committed with impunity and complete disregard for human life. Many of these prisoners are victims of suspicion of belonging to the OLF. Many prisoners, I am also told, are family members held hostage to hand in their adult relatives suspected of joining the OLF. Many are students who take the constitution and their rights seriously and demanded some freedom. They are of all age groups including 90 year olds, children being nursed by their prisoner mothers, students, toiling peasant farmers who work hard to feed their families. Many have never seen judges or are languishing in jails for years with punitive long court appointments. DWO (Dissenting While an Oromo) is a dangerous thing in Ethiopia. You will be tagged an OLF. Even some low level security operative or cadre can lock you up and throw the keys away.
For those of us who are not troubled enough by the magnitude of the injustice being perpetrated against the Oromo people, a good way of looking at it may be to look for parallels in history where a group of people identified by their ethnicity are subjected to such inhumanity. I tried to look all over history to find parallels to this kind of a disproportionate imprisonment of ethnic groups in any country. Believe it or not, the only similar parallels in history where you see these kinds of ugly features are only in countries under colonial rule, under Nazi Germany and in systems of apartheid. It is that troubling. An entire people that constitute the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia are prisoners in their own country; in a country their fathers have fought and died defending against multiple foreign aggressions, in a country they literally feed. Oromia is the most fertile region that literally feeds the northern half of Ethiopia much of which is arid. It is very ironic that the Oromia region that produces more than 90% of the cash crops, the export earnings, the mineral wealth and electric power of the nation also feeds 99% of the prison population to the jaws of Meles Zenawi’s filthy prisons. It is a breath taking irony.
I am by no means saying that oppression and human rights abuse being carried out in Ethiopia is limited exclusively against the Oromo alone. No. I have not forgotten the rest of the mass murders in different parts of the country and the suffering in many parts of Ethiopia including the crimes in the Ogaden which goes on as we speak. Even the people of Tigrai in whose name the TPLF commits these crimes take their share of this injustice. There is no regime that oppresses its citizens selectively. Only the intensity and level of ugliness is different. I am only talking about proportions and magnitude of the abuse. The facts and figures we see and hear about the treatment of the Oromo people for a long time now should be disquieting to any conscientious Ethiopian.
Meles Zenawi’s regime is destroying the fabric that ties our people and all indications are there is a developing inter-ethnic hatred in the country. In fact, one other former prisoner who confirmed Seye’s assertions told me another ugly fact. He told me that the most disgusting scene at the Qaliti prison is not only the disproportionate number of Oromo Prisoners. He said that there is also a disproportionate number of ethnic Tigreans manning the prisons as prison officials and guards. He told me that it appears to him not as pure negligence on the part of the officials but as a deliberately work done by Meles and his clique to foment hatred against Tigreans. The Oromo prisoner’s, I was told by another prisoner, often refer to the guards and prison officials as the “Tigrewochu” (the Tigeans). If we deny that all of this will factor into feeding hatred, we are only fooling ourselves and playing dead. If we think what is happening around our neighborhood in East Africa cannot happen to us, we are only cheating ourselves. If you don’t believe me listen to this hint from a young American professor of Law who was teaching Human rights Law at Mekele University. She says:
On a recent trip to the Amhara region, some young men asked me and my friends about our travels in Ethiopia. They were extremely friendly to us until we said that we were not really backpackers, but that we live in Mekelle, at which point one of the men spat on our vehicle and all but one walked off in disgust, yelling that they hate people from Tigrai. Our group was made up entirely of white people and this conversation was being held in English. It goes without saying that we could not possibly be from Tigrai, but so great was their hatred of the Tigraian politicians that the mere fact that we live in Mekelle was enough to taint us. One calmer man stayed to speak to us and told us that in order to be safe and have a better time when we travel, we should tell people, “The Ethiopian government made me work in Mekelle. Of course I never wanted to live in Tigrai.” (Read the entire text here)
Yes, this is sad and I cringe when I hear this coming out from my fellow Ethiopians. But I think we don’t only have to feel sad and hate hatred only sanctimoniously. We need to address the source of hatred with courage and head on instead. In Ethiopia the source of ethnic hatred is the regime of Meles Zenawi and Meles Zenawi himself. We have to understand that a few men in positions of power have the capacity and tools to make hatred a material force. Look at places where hatred destroyed millions of lives. Look at the ugly scene in Kenya that occurred only recently. Nobody can question that the people of Kenya as a whole are good people. The carnage we saw is not the making of the people of Kenya in my view. They were living as neighbors and were even intermarrying. It is the making of Mr. Kibaki and the elite around him who manipulated ethnic differences to help them stay in power. Kibaki and the elite around him never cared for the welfare of all Kenyans as much as they did for themselves. It is a perfect example of what greed for power and wealth by a handful of individuals who want to extend their stranglehold on power can do to a country by unleashing people against people. I think this is what Meles and his clique are working on hard in Ethiopia, particularly after they have found that the people have rejected them in the ballot box.
I think we can save our old, beautiful and historic country from degenerating into deeper divisions and hatred and falling into the traps set by Meles Zenawi and his clique. We can do this by standing up together across ethnicities and rejecting the inhumanity that is being committed by this cruel regime and its elite that is blinded by greed. There is nothing symbolic than rejecting this cruelty and barbarism against the Oromo people together. By so doing, we will all be fighting not for the rights of the Oromo people only but for ourselves and a better posterity too.
I know some apologists of the system would argue that this is the work of the OPDO, the Oromo Organization inside the EPRDF and that Oromos are fully represented. Give me a break. Stop giving me these sham symbols instead of the reality; or give it to unsuspecting foreigners in the embassies in Addis Ababa who seem to care less if we are destroyed as a nation. The symbols and realities are different and the Ethiopian people know it. We all know the real fact that the ethnic federalism being practiced in Ethiopia is only cartographic. All the talk by the TPLF about the rights of nations and nationalities is a modern scam for donor consumption. Ethiopia has never been under centralized rule as it is today. To be honest, Menilik’s Ethiopia is more federal than Meles Zenawi’s. At least the local kings have authority over their subjects while accounting to the king of kings, Menilik. The OPDO as an organization is made of former war prisoners of the TPLF, whose survival depends on serving Meles Zenawi. I have Oromo friends who tell me that some are selected for being downright scumbags who will never hesitate to kill their own children if Meles orders them to do so. The best and brightest Oromos are chased like prey or driven into exile. Many are herded in prisons. We all know that people like Dr. Merera Gudina and Ato Bulcha Demeqsa are subjects of insult and intimidation and abuse by Meles Zenawi not because they are powerful as an organized entity. They are subjected to daily condemnations by Meles for trying to be only a little independent Oromo voices. They are allowed to speak for two minutes a month in parliament.
I think we will all serve a great common purpose if all of us across ethnic groups rise up together and condemn this horrific crime against the Oromo people. This is not a thing to be left to the OLF. The OLF also cannot tell us that this is its exclusively problem and does not concern the rest of us, none Oromos. We do this only at the expense of the suffering of the innocent people.
At least those of us living in Diaspora should join hands across continents and cry at this injustice together and let the world know that this inhumanity is raging in Ethiopia. Can any group, for a starter, rise up to organize a day of prayer and vigil for Oromo prisoners that packed the prisons in Ethiopia? I volunteer to involve in organizing this. It is a shame that we are keeping silent while this crime is being committed against an entire people. If we don’t do this now don’t ask me later to stand against Oromos when they rise to fight back and decide to go out of the Ethiopian union and form their own country. What would I tell them back when they ask me what I have been doing when all this inhumanity was raining on them?
The writer can be reached at [email protected]
55 thoughts on ““The prison speaks Oromiffa””
I literally cried while I was reading your articles. It looks like the political attitude among Ethiopians is changing for the good. It is one of my dreams to see this kind of articles from non-Oromo writer. In the past, non-Oromo Ethiopian had little cared for human right abuse carried out against the Oromo people. You are now one of us.
Thank you and God bless.
Thank you Fekade for being a voice of concience.
Lets do something. I want to be a part of it. If any person or gourp wanted to organize something please contact me at [email protected]
Fekade Shewakena
Keep up the good work , we Ethiopians have great home some day , some day soon TPLF tyranny will be gone for good as a result of strong Ethiopians such as you
Dawn with TPLF Mafia family
In our generation this crime will end. TPLF is doing great disservice to tgre people. The Oromo people will not see a Tigre in the eye let alone to live with them from now on. After all this is the country of Balacha, Abebe Aregay, Abdisa, Gobena and many other heros who fought to unite Ethiopia and liberate the Tigre from Italian colonial rule. God willing we will end the life of this “banda’ soon.
Shewakena,
I congratulate you for your facts and join in to candle light, to remember genocide against Oromos. If this itself does not unite all Ethiopians, what else would. Truely, Oromo-holocaust is taking place and Shewakena you’re on the money. Ethiopians all regions must come around to denounce the levels of crimes being committed. I am ready to march to White House to appeal to Bush administration who is assisting genocidal regime of Mr Meles Zenaw of Adwa against peaceful people of Ethiopia, particularly the great people of Oromo nation.
Thank you SHEWAKENA.
This is a test for our commitment to human rights, justice, freedom, democracy, genuine peace and development. Are we all standing together to defend these values thereby defending our country and all its people or turn a deaf ear to those who cry for our help to rescue them from untold and barbaric atrocities of terrorist TPLF. If our choice is the latter one, it simply means we are falling prey to the inhumane ‘divide and rule’ strategy of terrorist TPLF – consciously and/or unconsciously. If our choice is the first one, we are doing a great deal of service not only to the victims of TPLF terrorism but also to our country, its entire citizens and ourselves. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
Each of us ought to ask himself/herself if we are truly committed to democracy (like, for instance, one-man-one-vote). Are we just echoing what the others say or emulate what the others do because it is fashionable or are we talking about democracy for selected sections of our people? Remember there was democracy in South Africa before the end of apartheid and there was democracy in the U.S. the enactment of civil rights. If we are committed to democracy and human rights for all our citizens regardless of their ethnic or geographic origins, there is no more demanding time to stand in unison than right now, at this very moment. Right now is always the right time to do the right thing. Each of us is morally obliged to defend these defenseless citizens of our country. If we want selected democracy and human rights for selected sections of our people, we can go about our daily business until such a moment when it is the turn of somebody, some group or some section of our people we care about more than the others to receive the endless and savage atrocities of TPLF.
dear
Mr. Shewakena, you told us the truth. your articil is heartbreaking, timely and full of humanity.we need sush articles and people like you who feel the pain of the other.if most of the ethiopian politicains and elite have come to such level of understanding i am 100% sure the OLF openly decler to work for the betterment and unity of ethiopia more than any other political organisation in ethiopia or outside. as you said there is no humanbeing that lives under tyrany forever one day time will change.and its natural to have friends and enamy in the times of difficulties. if a freind and brotherhood is not at the bad times when then.
Dear Fekade,
Thanks for speaking out. We can do a lot to stop woyanne from committing such atrocities by supporting AFD.
Dear Fekade
Thanks for voicing for the voiceless,Is time to be united and act holding hand in hand for the better tomorrow.
Good job Fekade for standing up and speaking the truth!!
God bless!
Dear Fekade, many thanks for speaking the truth while the majority of the nation are saying ‘joro daba lebes’ Many of us heared the fact that the tplf regime’s crime against our oromo brothers and sistersb But except a few of us, the majority perefered silence. Dear Fekade, the article you posted realy shows the intencity of the matter. For those of us who have fare mind, it is the time to show our brotherhood and stand with them. One thing what I can be sure is that this situation will not continue forever. Those who are powerful now will come down, and those who are in darkeness will see the light.As you said that is the time to fear!
Dear fekade,thank you very much for article . YOU are the first ethiopian’s intellectual who became the voice of voiceless people of ethiopia especial for our oromo’s brothers and sisters.God bless you and with high respect.ur oromos brothers and sisters are really very innocent and very greate people.If weyanes are doing these people like this , whom do they stand for?What has to be done? SOLUTION, 1, LET us form one coordinated group from , political parties, religious fathers, civic organizations, students associations and any others, write a letter , collect a petition all over the world and delivere the petition and the letter to ,EU,UN, AU, amnsety organization,huamn rights watch and any other international religious organizations. delivering the petition and the letter is not enough, so we should organize demonstration infront of UN’S AND amnsety organization , demand them to create especial force which can go to ethiopia and investigate the crime against our innocent oromo’s people, 2, religious fathers should organize a praying programms in the name of our oromo’s people and other prisoners of conscience , and we should continue our demand untill weyane release all those innocents. If we do not act now together against weyane’s crime , we should know that we are cooperating with weyane, and weyane will drive us to destruction. now is the time. Please Ato fekade shewakena, take the iniative and start now coordinating ethiopians. the is kinijit’s spirit. You are the first ethiopia’s intellectual who has written the first article in the name of our oromo’s ppl. KINIJIT is fighting against all odds to bring justice , freedom and democracy in ethiopia. every concerned ethiopiawi should be a party of kinijit’s struggle. God bless ethiopia and it’s ppl. amen
First, I like to thank the writer.This is what we lack as a country;debating based on facts and principles.We shouldn’t sit and wait until each of us is attacked or abused.I know people who think mentioning the name Oromo(when necessary )is not good for the unity of the country;rather, it is the opposite.Remaining silent at the time of a compatriot’s suffering is more dangerous for our country.
Writing/Speaking the truth about the oromo people doesn’t necessarily means supporting OLF.
Keep up the good work;the only way we can strengthen our unity (recognizing and respecting the diversity).
“IF WE CAN BUILD(FIRST) A GOOD SOCIETY,THEN GOOD SOCIETIES CAN BUILD A GOOD COUNTRY.”
WITH REGARDS !
Dear Fekade,Thank you!!
I entirely agree with you ,it is high time to cry for our brothers and sisters who are under unspeakable atrocities in the hands of hooligans ,i dare not call leaders.
This is a stark truth.No ethnic group in Ethiopia is on fire as the Oromos.I always wonder what kind of mindlessness those oromos working with this butcher government are experiancing being indifferent and heartless to their own people who are scattered across the country in the dangeans of Meles. One cant really imagine how Oromos are in hell as opposed to those servants of Meles who feed on the bloods and flesh of the dawntrodden.All top officials serving the system are but servants of the most heinous man the country ever brought forth in its thousands of history.They may have reasons of their own, some of them out of fear,some with no choise,still others for the sake of their families but Most know at heart that they lead a worthless existance.Perhaps the same thing was happening if I were there too.A parliamentarian who never airs thegrievances and the sufferrings of the people of his/her copnstituencies didnt realize that the people elected them to speak their sufferings not to enjoy the lexuries of the Capital. It is a shame to often watch the so called parliamentarians cheering whenever Meles and cronoies moke on them and they know they are toothless lions who betrayed their people for the belly and the flesh.
God bless you Fekade,
The Agazee Woyanne army that is and was used to quell unrest in all Ethiopia is made exclusively df Tigrigna speaking Woyannes. This quote says it all:
“one other former prisoner who confirmed Seye’s assertions told me another ugly fact. He told me that the most disgusting scene at the Qaliti prison is not only the disproportionate number of Oromo Prisoners. He said that there is also a disproportionate number of ethnic Tigreans manning the prisons as prison officials and guards.”
The people who have full right to beat, rape and execute Ethiopian prisoners are entirely made of Tigrigna speaking Woyannes too.
Gettu
As an Oromo and proud Ethiopian who has first hand experience with Woyane crime – imprisoned for 6 years, tortured by Tigreans in the university and later on persecuted — so I speak….
Seye and Fekade only touched the tip of the crime committed by the Woyane against the Oromo: In addition to the tens of thousands of Oromos being held in Woyane prisons all over the country, there are also many untold crimes committed by Woyane in the last 18 years .. the list is long
1) the thousands killed and tortured throughout Oromia every single day
2) the hundreds of university students throughout the country that are killed, jailed, persecuted, thrown out of school, tortured in woyane dungeons
3) the untold number of Oromo students killed and thrown on the streets of Makelle
3) the hundreds of thousands of Oromos persecuted, jailed and maimed
4) the deliberate use of tens of thousands of Oromos herded as frontline shields (guinea pigs for explosives) during the war against Eritrea
5) the millions of displaced Oromos as their ancestral land is being auctioned to the highest bidder (so called “Investors” – often woyanes or their collaborators) as part of the the looting of Oromia by Woyane
6) the thousands of killing of Oromos in Kenya, Djibouti and now in Somalia
Just to mention a few – I know for certain that OLF is documenting the millions of woyane crime against the Oromo.
Ato Fekade, you made me cry.
” First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and then I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me” Martin Niemoller, 1946
In Amarigna…NEG BENEA
Thank you Fekade for speaking out about our weakness. I would like to say few things.
The injustice the Oromo people have been experiencing was well planned and designed before Woyane’s control of power in Addis; and Siye was one of the architects. For sure prison is not where he learned about the fact. I expect him to tell us more stories.
Isn’t TPLF an organization for Tigray? Isn’t it supported by the people of Tigray? Whatever TPLF has done to the Oromo people it has done it in the name of Tigray. Getting key government offices under Tigrians should not be presented as what Meles is doing to create conflict between the Oromos and Tigrayans. Rather it is what Woyane, led by the elite of Tigray and backed by the people of Tigray, fought for. Any Tigrian who want’s to argue that TPLF does no more represent the people of Tigray should demonstrate by mobilizing the people of Tigray against Woyane.
Is the recent move by Siye and others to sympathize with the Oromo people genuine or it is an action to protect the Tigrians from the feared consequences of the wrong doings of their vanguard organization, TPLF?
How about other Ethiopians? Is their sympathy with the Oromos caused by real understanding of the human right questions of the people or it is driven only by the need to secure unity of the country?
While I strongly encourage efforts to build ties across the different nations and nationalities of Ethiopia, like the one proposed by Fekade Shewakena, I would like to stress that the issue of Oromos or any other ethnic group should be addressed in its own right. I believe that we have to fight the politics of deceit; and search for the truth that can keep all of us together. Otherwise the gap between ethnic groups can not be bridged. I’m saying this not to discourage the good intention of Fekade, but out of the desire to see genuine and sustainable cooperation among Ethiopians.
God Bless Ethiopia!
ER, thank you for sponsering this article.
I have been in Ethiopia many times and I love the people of that country. My sympathy goes out to the long suffering people of Ethiopia. My only hope is that the World Court will get Meles Zenawi and his cronies for CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. Ethiopia deserve better than those criminals. Best regards.
Hans Jhansson
I have never seen such a concrete piece of article from non-Oromo writer. Thank you Shewakena.
oromia is Ethiopia and Ethiopia is Oromia,when oromia bleeds so does the whole of Ethiopia.
“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and then I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me” Martin Niemoller, 1946
Regarding Weyane:
First they demonized OLF (1992) and since then Oromos are suffering as you Fekade put it, all others kept quite. 1995 ONLF is chased and since then Ethiopian Somalis are suffering including the recent genocide they went through, the rest of us kept quite. 1998 our Eritrean brothers and sisters who lived their life long in Eth became the victim as well about 100,000 youngsters cherished, again we did little against it. 2001 our people in Hadiya and Kembata, 2002 our people in Hawwasa and Tepi; 2003 our people in Gambella sufferend the atrocities. Lastly 2005 our CUD supporters mostly from Amhara and Gurage tasted what it meanse to suffer under injustice. We all kept quite till Weyane at last attacked as personally or attacked our ethnic group.
I am touched by Fekade’s article for it is to me the first kind written by Abyysinian scholar about Oromo suffering, eventhough such suffering is taking place for a very long time. Similar speech was delivered by Dr. Berihanu regarding Ogaden. You people are really making NEW start in Ethiopian politics. We need to feel pain of all peoples regardless of their national origin. Weyane the beast will one day leave, no doubt about it. Nazis left, Apartheid left, there is no reason why Weyane will not leave. We as a people need to learn from our history and from our failure to forge a good common FUTURE!
Ato Shewakena you are the genuin son of Ethiopia.I feel sorry for my Ethiopian brothers and sisters suffering in their own country by their own fellow Ethiopians.As you suggested we should get together and lift up our voice to The Lord and the rest of the world.I would like to address something at this time instead fighting by ethnicity let’s fight together as united Ethiopians.The division will help the enemies where as our unity destroy them.God Bless Ethiopia!
The wall that has been built between the Oromo people and other Ethiopians is crumbling. The flame that is burning the Oromo people is being felt by their Ethiopian brethren. WE are coming to an understanding that we are all bound together by a common fate- Ethiopians forever-and need to reach to that promise land- Bilisummaa/Netsanet/Freedom-together as peoples of Waaqa/God.
Dear Fekade, thank you so much for your great job you done for oromo people. It is great additional information for those who are spporting criminal wayanes.T
Fekade wrote: “If we don’t do this now don’t ask me later to stand against Oromos when they rise to fight back and decide to go out of the Ethiopian union and form their own country.”
A genuine new beginning should start from a deep soul searching. The atrocities of the TPLF on the mass started a long time ago. Dr. Berhanu wrote in his book that his imprisonment and experience with the Oromo prisoners he met there contributed to starting a new political party after he came out from the prison. I did not read his writing about it until his book came out while he was in prison. He gave a similar reason as Fekade that he was worried about the future of the country. This is the first time for me to read Fekade write such an article even though the suffering under the TPLF has gone on for as many years as the TPLF has been in power. He seems to have even started to criticize the language that was used against his own party’s leaders by the group he has been supporting, or made to believe to support. If he did this much early on, he would have helped the suffering of the people he seems to be speaking for now.
Thank you Fekade Shewakena,
Thank you ER,
Political maturity is IN THE HOUSE. Will we see the most educated Ethiopians getting involved in politics to find lasting solutions and END the suffering of our people? Will the Ethiopian intelligensia come to the fore front of the democratic struggle? Or will it be silent and just watch from the sidelines?
The time is ticking……
Dear writter,
Your touched every sense of mine not because an Oromo but I am a good ethiopian, too.
I an Oromo who grew up in small town and have friends from different ethinic groups of Ethiopia. I live in London now. I have been to different rallies in London. But I haven’t seen any rally organised when several brutual inccidents were inflicted against people in Oromia region.
Most of the rallies organied by Ethiopian Community focus only on incidents in Addis Abeba. I spoke to most of my friend and asked why rally is not organised when more than 300 Oromo students were expelled from Addis Abeba University, Why Students from the rest of the Ethiopian region specially Northern part refused to help to put off forest fire in Bale,when Oromo students and few from the south went to help their people, and lots? But they fail to convince me. These and other situations trouble my mind where I stand as an Oromo Ethiopian. If we do not get support as poeple of Ethiopia from the rest of Ethiopia why we bother to put up with all troubles during rainy season and welcome others in summer (good times). Please let us stand together to stay together.
Thank you, for breaking the ice.
I am one of those 12000 Oromo victims of the merciless crime of Tigre/TPLF at Dedesa concentration camp in 1992/93. The “living” condition was extremely brutal. What I experienced in that concentration camp was a harsh condition which I later saw in the documentaries of the Nazi concentration camps. In fact, I regard Dedesa as a place where holocaust comparable to Auschwitz is committed.
Up to 200 people were placed in small rooms -often sleeping on each other. Prisoners in the Dedesa camp received meals two times a day: morning and evening. We were fed worms; I tell you, a piece of bread infested with a worm! As we had no alternative, we have to eat what was available. After several months on such inadequate and unhealthy starvation diet, many prisoners developed physical weakness and diseases.
The hygienic condition was extremely poor. We all were crawling with lice. We were driven to the river to take shower every two to three weeks. Some of the inmates were suffering from communicable diseases such as tuberculosis. Dedesa is a very hot place where infection spreads widely. There were incidents of epidemics of communicable diseases. Malaria was rampant. Diarrhoea was part of our life in the camp. Meningitis and other serious infections were awfully common. There was no medication for basic diseases, the Tigre deliberately withheld treatment for easily curable diseases like malaria and diarrhoea.
The inmates represent diverse segment of Oromo community -urban professionals including doctors, teachers, engineers etc, peasants, religious leaders- who came from the various Oromo territories – from Harargee to Wellega, from Nageelle Boorana to Wollo. Though I don’t have exact age of the prisoners, I have seen very old people (one I saw was 84 from Arsi) and children as young as 8 years. Even there were women who were pregnant on arrest and gave birth in that horrendous camp. There were some OLF members, but the majority were innocent Oromo who were regarded “dangerous” by their Tigre neighbours or acquaintances.
On top of that there was the routine of daily torture -both mental and physical. In addition we were forced to work on different tasks every day. There was systematic murder of those people who said they are supporters of OLF.
In just six months, at least 2000 Oromo perished in Dedesa camp as a result of starvation, communicable disease epidemics, inhuman living conditions, beatings and torture and executions. To be honest it is a miracle that I had survived that endurable condition. Human spirit is stronger than woyane’s evil. On my release I weighed barely 50 kg, way down from 73 before my arrest.
After release I have learnt there were six such concentration camps in the country- in Hurso, Tolay, Agarfa, Bir Sheleko and Ambo each holding 10-12,000 Oromo.
My biggest crime was being an Oromo!
Nobody said when we said that long time ago. No body reacted when former President Nagasso Gidada come out and said there are over 25,000 Oromo political prisoners in some cases a whole village.
http://oromantic.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/oromos-filled-ethiopian-jails/
But now another TPLF guy admited it is a big news all of a sudden for abeshas. Now you started giving ear to our cries; better late than never. We’ll see what happens next.
I hope some or closet chauvinists understand why “OLF” has found an ally in “Eritrea” while fellow Ethiopians turned deaf ear to the plight of Oromos. As a one time victim of Woyane’s crime against Oromos (BTW I am a Medical Doctor), I wish to recall one memorable exchange with one Ethiopian Hospital Director who blackmailed me saying that he will report me to the Ethiopian Security as an OLF supporter.
I am now in exile but ‘ll neither forget nor forgive what Woyane “Tigres” and their collaborators did to me and Oromos at large!!!
Recently two articles filled my eyes with tears, Obang Metho’s address to Ethiopians in D.C. and this one. Both made me guilty of silence. In either crime against humanity I partly bought government pretexts. The article made me guilty for having Addis’ manslaughter protest march at CNN head quarter and Carter center condemning but not for the Anguak massacres.
Fekade’s article reminds me about Andargachew’s, a former detainee of the notorious Dedesa camp and defendant of genocide, testimony to the US congress. He said “Our captors were absolutely Tigrigna speakers while all prisoners were non Tigre. If this is not genocide I do not know what to call it.”
Whether we like it or not, ethnic cleansing is systematically in progress in our homeland. Therefore, we Ethiopians must coordinate our sporadic struggles. When we raise our voices to condemn all atrocities committed against any ethnic group within our territory regardless of non ending EPRDF’S pretexts then our deep wounds start to heal and absolution draws near.
Fekade, you are taking the right step when you made a call on behalf of our imprisoned Oromo brothers. Please keep up tickling our silent so-called elite who are no better than the selfish politicians who have messed up this great country of ours, when it comes to speaking up the truth. It is very rare to see a non-Oromo Ethiopian elite to say: ‘no to hunting Oromos’, and I commend you for taking the lead in this very important step of healing the wound suffered by our brothers. While I am at it though, I can’t stop without mentioning that Seye, who is been heralded as a hero these days, was the main culprit in the imprisonment of most of the Oromos he met in the Kaliti Prison. I bet most of them were imprisoned by his own orders when he was at the helm of power. Any ways, your call for standing up on behalf of imprisoned Oromos is welcome – count me on please! Another point I want to make is that we should stand up for AFD. Stop the suspicions and let’s unite. Do you know that Meles and his cronies fear the concept of AFD more than any thing else. I strongly believe that the TPLF cadres fear the idea of AFD more than Kinijit, OLF, ONLF, etc. because they know that when we unite they have no place in Ethiopia. AFD is the answer to TPLF.
The Oromo tribe heading to be counted as “An endangered species” if Meles continues its persecution against this once mighty tribe! Then it will be a great lose for the rest of Ethiopia.
The worst punishment Meles Zenawi has been using mostly against our Oromo people is when he purposely assigned non-Amharic speakers, the Tigrean guards, to watch over the non-Tigirnga speakers, the Oromo people at Qaliti prison. There may be some Amharic speakers among both the Tigrean guards and the Oromo prisoners, otherwise communication between the two will be difficult if not impossible. For example, when an Oromo prisoner asks for water, the guard may bring him/her bread; then when the prisoner says, “Thank you for the bread” even though he/she has asked for a glass of water, the guard beats up the prisoner because he thinks the prisoner has insulted him.
Poor communication some times brings confusion. We know what happened to those ancient people who tried to reach heaven by building a high tower; however, God was not interested in their attempt to reach heaven by erecting a tower, so he confused their language, and they were in big trouble; they could not speak the same language any more. Therefore, they stopped building their project, and they were scattered every where (Genesis 11).
On his part, Meles considers, I think, putting the Tigrean guard to protect the Oromo-filled prison as part of his many cruel punishments. If this is so, then the Oromo prisoners at Qaliti have no any other communication except to use sign languages. Even to use sign language, the Woyanne regime must have first trained the guards before they have been sent to guard the Oromos whose language is strange to them. How bad indeed would be for the Oromo prisoners to live under such difficult circumstances where they could not speak the language of their jailers.
Communication may not be the only problems the Oromo prisoners are facing at Qaliti; they may also have visitation problems. Are their relatives allowed to visit them at least once a week if not once a day? The question though is do the relatives really know whether the prisoners whom they want to visit are at Alem bekagn, at kerchelie or at Qaliti? Does the Woyanne regime give them enough information as to the whereabouts of these Oromo prisoners? I doubt it, because Woyanne’s main purpose is to perhaps make life miserable for any person associated with Oromo or for any person who happens to speak the Oromo language. Meles is preaching that the Oromo tribe is worthless to be considered Ethiopians. In this way, Meles is creating hatred between the Oromo tribes and the rest of the Ethiopians by inciting one tribe against the other. If he succeeds in his devious scheme, then what happened to Tutsi and Hutu in Rwanda in 1994 would definitely materialize in Ethiopia. To avoid such genocide from happening in our country, we must unit and, we must work hard to save our Oromo brothers and sisters including those other Ethiopian prisoners who are having the same fate as the Oromos. We must strengthen Kinijit, the only hope we have, to defeat the Meles regime and to liberate Ethiopia, which is, in fact, in Qaliti. Since most Ethiopians are not living a happy life, therefore they are either in Alem bekagn or in Qaliti with their Oromo brothers and sisters if not physically at least psychologically.
I was also detained by the TPLF-OPDO in Dedesa in 1992. Earlier, I was asked to join OPDO and I categorically refused to join any political group. The infamous OPDO regional cadre Kuma, apparently a Tigre in Oromo name, warned me that I would face serious danger if I declined to join OPDO. They purposely wanted my membership as I was a well respected teacher in my locality with more than 40 years of service.
I vividly remember the two dreadful issues at Dedesa: firstly, the strict savage rules of the Tigrayan wardens who decline to allow somebody with diarrhoea to go to toilet, thus defecating in the extremely crowded room. Secondly, the horrendous political indoctrination attempt that lasts more than 8 solid hours. We were forced to sit on wooden chairs or on a cement floor. This was more than a torture.
There were in fact more grave human rights violations at Dedesa and I commend Mr. Fekade for raising this issue.
–OPDO is a TPLF condom used to rape the Oromo people!
–It is sad to hear that 99% of the prisoners with Seye were Oromos! I wonder if TPLF’s prison systems are Killil based?
–Seye’s steps towards understanding the ethnic policy of his old party is commending but ha has yet to apologize in public for the crimes he committed and for the hatred he showed towards other Ethiopians /if he has already/ cleaned it! Hope other Tigres might learn from him and be hate free.
Fekade Shewakena’s genuine contribution has strengthened the cause of a democratic unity where we take that injustice against one is injustice against everyone!
This level of maturity means that we have nothing to fear from living under the union where respect for all citizens’ rights are guaranteed by law and breach of those rights are challenged by all of us. It is a welcome input to our cause for brighter future for all Ethiopians.
We will need to do more on this humane path and use it as the bridge in establishing a common platform for standing together to remove tyranny!
Many thanks to you brother Fekade and to the ER Editor and others who are promoting the positive trend of uniting all Ethiopians!
Warm regards
Biri
Dear Fekade,
I lastly got an answer to one question tormenting me since my school life: “Is there any Abesha scholar writing or speaking in favour of Oromo cause i.e Bilisummaa Oromo (freedom of Oromos)?”
Looking at history there were Germans, who stood against the Nazi atrocity on Jews. In South Africa there were Whites who stood against Apartheid. In America there were Whites who struggled for Blacks’ right…etc
To most Oromos’ surprise, there was no (as far as I know) Abyssinian who really stood beside Oromos and fought against Abyssinian tyranny in the last 125 years. Don’t tell me the general struggle of Students like Walelign who fought for the general right of Nationalities in Ethiopia. I am looking for specifics.
Now you brock the “taboo”, at once we started to read many comments to your support. I really congradulate you and I hope Aite siye, Dr. Berihanu and you will set an example for practical support of the victimized, be it our own nationality or that of others:
Galata guddaa qabda!!
Eight years ago i was taken from AAU while i was attending my higher education.I was taken to Ziway prison.There i was tortured nearly to death.In Ziway prison there many hundreds of fellow oromos.Due to their inhumane torture i coud not walk or move for several weeks.I was always in pain and i became very ill.They took me to a hospital with one prison guard and he was tigray origin.There the doctor looked at me and he was very suddened with what happened to me.he told me right there i’m going to the lab and i don’t want you see you when i’m coming back.He told me save your life.The doctor’s office perfectly situated to easy escape.And as soon the doctor left leaving the door closed behind and while the prison guard sitting out side the door of the Dr. i jump by the window and run as much as i could and saved my life.I still greatiful for that doc saving my life.I will never forget what he did for me.If it wasn’t for him i might died in Ziway prison by now.The attrocities commiting by tigry crime family is unimaginable.God is Great!!!!!His mercy is upon us!!!!!
Thank you Mr. Fekade Shewakena for your outstanding contribution to bring to the surface about the pain of our people and human right violation against the oromos. I hope thhe Mouse story may be a good example for you significant contribution.
A Mouse Story
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered – he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, Mr. Mouse,
I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no
consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.” The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in
the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.” The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse.I’m
sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.” So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the
farmer’s mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.
But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well and she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them to eat. And the mouse… he looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember this: when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
Dear Fekade,
thank you so much for your great job you done for oromo people.The reality ware known a long time ago.you are the first educated aut of non-Oromos in Ethiopia to recogonis TPLF/EPRDF inhumanity on Oromo people.You are the a Great!!
Galatoomi!!!
Reminder!
Dear Meraraw,
To our fragile ethnicities, it seems to me, you are adding perhaps intentionally or unwittingly, the two old and divisive terms “Abesha” and “Abyssinia,” which you already know these two terms generally refer to the Amhara, Tigray, and the Eritrean tribes. Instead of using such old terms and for the sake of unity, you should have used the familiar word “Ethiopia.” To maintain our unity, we must always use words that unite us rather than words that divide us.
Assta B. Gettu,
Do you want me to say no Ethiopian was not concerned about Oromo till now? Do you think this is more uniting? This one just suggests that Oromos are not Ethiopian. But my approach suggests that both Abyssinians (Amharas and Tigarus)and Oromos are Ethiopians.
Otherwise, it was Abyssinians who gave deaf ear to Oromo’s problem till now, not necessarily other Ethiopians. I know scholars from Sidama and Gambella who already wrote a lot about Oromos’ suffering!
My dear Meraraw,
If you believe the two terms “Abyssinia” and “Abesha” represent Amhara, Tigray, and Eretria, why did you say then “…it was Abyssinians who gave deaf ear to Oromo’s problem till now, not necessarily other Ethiopians”? Why don’t you simply say, instead of hiding your grievances under the old name “Abyssinia,” “…it was the Amhara, the Tigray, and the Eritrea “who gave deaf ear to Oromo’s problem….”?
Singling out certain tribes – the Amhara, the Tigray, and the Eritrea – as ignorant to the existing problems of the other tribe – the Oromo – does not help us to come together as one nation against our common and formidable enemy – the Woyanne regime. In fact, it is the leader, not the common people that we have to blame for his/her crime against other people. For example, Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Charles Taylor, and Mengistu Haile Mariam were condemned for the crimes they had committed, not the common people of Germany, Italy, Uganda, Liberia, and Ethiopia, respectively. Therefore, the people of Amhara, Tigray, and Eritrea are not accountable for the past problems their leaders may have blundered against the Oromo tribe. Let us forget the past grievances and work together for the benefits of all our people – the Ethiopians. Meles is listening and reading to what we say and write; if he finds a little crevice, he will expand it for his own political advantage, so we should not allow him to see any division among us. Let him know we are one, and we are ready to incapacitate him from his oppressive government.
Thank you very much for expressing the details of the oppression on Oromo People.
I also share your idea that It is hightime for every citizen of Ethiopia to support the struggle of the Oromo people for Liberity.
Assta B. Gettu says:
Reminder!
Dear Meraraw,
“To our fragile ethnicities, it seems to me, you are adding perhaps intentionally or unwittingly, the two old and divisive terms “Abesha” and “Abyssinia,” which you already know these two terms generally refer to the Amhara, Tigray, and the Eritrean tribes. Instead of using such old terms and for the sake of unity, you should have used the familiar word “Ethiopia.” To maintain our unity, we must always use words that unite us rather than words that divide us.”
1/eritrea r officially not habesha,only tegrenya speakin eritrean r sometimes called habesha so dont generalise.
2/plz explain how is eritrean is involved in all this.
I think we have to cooperate to overcome such opperassive system exerted by the minority group
Assta B. Getu,
I gave a nice reply yesterday to your last post. Unfortunately ER moderators didn’t want to post it here. They also did say nothing why! I close my case here, if you want, we can discuss further on ER forum. Galatoomi!!!