Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am standing in front of you to condemn the mass killings perpetuated by the TPLF- led Ethiopian government security forces against the Oromo University students and other innocent people that occurred during the past two weeks and that are still happening. In different parts of Oromia, innocent Oromo men and women, young and old in huge numbers were killed by government snipers in huge numbers. Like a foreign invading army, Ethiopian security forces turned the city of Ambo into a war zone. Indiscriminately they shot and killed more than 50 people- including over two dozen Oromo students- in Ambo alone. According to the information the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa has received from the area, most of those who were killed were shot in the head. It is evident that the shooting was done deliberately to kill Oromo young men and women in order to paralyze the future of Oromia.
The Oromo boys and girls, men and women who were killed were protesting against the Ethiopian government’s master plan designed to cleanse the Oromo people from Finfinee surrounding areas, from their ancestral land. It is clear that this master plan is intended to strip away the dignity and liberty of the Oromo people. The master plan is ethnic cleansing, collectively targeted at the Oromo people, to dispossess them of their land. It is ethnic cleansing because it is intended to deprive them of their property ownership rights and deny them their cultural rights. It is intended to take away the right to self-administration and weaken the self-reliance of the Oromo people. The Ethiopian government killed these innocent people because these men and women rejected the master plan that is intended to deprive the Oromo people from their homes and their ancestral lands. They were killed because they stood for their rights and dignity “that we equally share”. They stood for human liberty that we all value and cherish.
As a human rights defender who has spent four precious years in an Ethiopian prison cell and experienced torture, I value the ideas of human rights and liberty for which these people were killed. The Oromo students who were shot and killed did not commit any crimes. They were killed because they refused to let their brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers die in vain. They were killed because they stood for their rights, dignity and liberty. They were killed because they stood for the rights, dignity and liberty of their brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers.
The students have seen the Ethiopian government make their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters cry. They have seen Oromo farmers and children become homeless and street beggars. They have seen Oromo girls and young Oromo women turned into commercial sex workers. They have seen when things that have been taboo become part of their everyday lives. They have seen, one after the other, the dehumanization of the Oromo people. They were killed because they refused to let these things continue.
These brave men and women knew that in their own city Finfine – in their own ancestral land- they were being denied the use of their language in court, simply because they are Oromo. They knew that Oromo people are denied the use of their own language in schools and businesses in the heartland of their country, Finfinne and forced to learn another language. They knew that in their homeland, the Oromo people are denied job opportunities because they do not speak Amharic. In Ethiopia, twisted logic is ironically in play. Instead of Amharic- speaking professionals coming to work having to learn Oromo, the Ethiopian government forced the Oromo people to either learn Amharic or hire translators to communicate with the Amharic- speaking judges, Amharic- speaking police officers, Amharic- speaking medical doctors and many others.
I am here standing in front of you on the land where Martin Luther King stood 50 years ago and spoke against racism and racial segregation and inspired millions of blacks and whites for change. He proved that change is inevitable. Those who have imported slaves and benefited from slavery realized that slavery is morally wrong. This inspired the slave masters and slaves to finally engage in dialogue for change. The European colonizers realized that the colonial agenda is morally wrong. This conditioned them to reevaluate their colonial agenda and bring about change. The Ethiopian government- that was built by the slave trade and by robbing the Oromo Nation and other Southern Nations and nationalities of their resources- has not learned from the wrongs of the past. The state built on the slave trade now developed a master plan “Addis Ababa integrated Master Plan” to evict around six million Oromo people from their homes and sell their lands to capitalist investors without negotiation and compensation.
I am here standing in front of you to appeal to the American government and the American people for their support for the Oromo people in their journey for liberty, dignity and equity. I appeal to the American government and American people to stop supporting the Ethiopian dictator who opposes the principle of human rights and dignity. I appeal to the world community to demand the Ethiopian government to bring to the court those who are responsible for the killings..
I have a clear message for the TPLF- led Ethiopian government. The 1974 revolution that ended the rule of the Ethiopian monarch was inspired by the issue of the land policy of the king. Killing innocent people did not save the king and the uprooting of the Dergi regime. Killing cannot be the solution for the TPLF either. Terrorizing people did not save the king and the Dergi and it cannot help the TPLF either. Killing, terrorizing and dehumanizing people cannot be the way out for the TPLF government. The human desire for dignity and liberty is stronger than the power of guns. As history has repeatedly shown, it is morally wrong to stand against the aspirations of people for basic and fundamental freedoms. Not only that, it is also dangerous for those who try to stand against the will of the people. Under our watch, the apartheid government of South Africa surrendered to the aspirations of people for human dignity and liberty. The TPLF- led Ethiopian government cannot survive the aspirations of people for liberty and dignity. Cleansing the Oromo people from the Finfine/Addis Ababa area will not guarantee the security of the TPLF government. Very often the Oromo people express their wishes, hopes and frustrations in their poems. The one below is what they have said in resistance to the TPLF predecessors’ language policy in Oromia in general. Now they are saying it to the TPLF language policy in the city of Finfinee and Dire Dawa.
Simaa balloon nuutti iyyu They tell us everyday with the translators
Akaa nama afaanii fi gurra hin qabnee As if we have no ears and spoken language
Ganaama wuxuu jedhu Early mornings they tell us “leave”
Akka haroota isaanii Just like their own donkeys.
Galgaala gibbuu jedhu In the evenings they tell us “go in”.
Akka gangoolii isaan Just like their own mules.
Kana, lakki yoon jedhe maalii? Can I not” say “no” to the orders given in a foreign language?
I also have a message for the Oromo people. Human rights are rights we acquire because we are human beings. Human rights are not things that are given or can be taken away. They evolve and need to be continuously upgraded and reclaimed. The Oromo people are entitled to the city of Finfinee; it belongs to the Oromo people. No one has the moral authority to deny you such a claim. The Oromo people have the right to use Afaan Oromo as the language of instruction at the schools, universities and colleges in Finfinne/Addis Ababa. The Oromo people have the right to use their language in courts, schools, at work and in their daily business affairs in the city of Finfinee.
Oromo people should claim their right to compensation from the city council of Finfinne/ Addis Ababa for the violation of their earnings- a right granted in the Ethiopian Constitution of 1995, Article 49(5) “The special interest of the State of Oromia in Addis Ababa, regarding the provision of social services or the utilization of natural resources and other similar matters, as well as joint administrative matters arising from the location of Addis Ababa within the State of Oromia, shall be respected. Particulars shall be determined by law”.
Plans about the city of Finfinee and surrounding areas that are either simply conceptualized or designed by individuals or groups rather than the Oromo people themselves are a violation of our collective rights and are therefore void. The Oromo people need to say “nothing about Oromo, without Oromo
Before I conclude my speech, let me remind you of the need to stand for your rights and respect the rights of others by quoting the words of the civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King who said “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
Thank you,
