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![\"AmboMassacre2014\"](\"http:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/AmboMassacre20141.jpg\")
<\/a>\nSoon after the government announced the plan, several thousands of Oromo university students throughout Oromia regional state expressed their objections through peaceful protest. Ignited by students at Jimma University, the protest immediately spread to the rest of universities and colleges in the region including Haromaya, Ambo, Wallaga, Adama, Mada Walabu, Bule Hora, Metu, Dire Dhawa, and Jijjiga. Thousands of Oromo students continued crowding the streets in their respective cities. The protest is not limited to university students. High school and elementary students along with local residents have joined the protest in the towns of the entire regional state. One of the biggest protests was held in Ambo town, some 80 miles south of the capital Addis Ababa (Finfinne). Organized by Ambo university students, it is estimated that more than 25,000 people have taken part in the protest. The protest in Ambo on April 30, 2014, begun peacefully until the government forces fired live ammunition on the students and killed a 9th grade male student, Tadesse Gashu. When the news of the killing of this innocent student spread across the town, more and more residents joined in the protest defying the order of the military to stop protesting. The military then changed the city into a war zone indiscriminately firing live bullet on unarmed civilians. Dead bodies spread all over the place. People were even denied of picking the bodies of their children. On April 30 alone, while you, Mr. Kerry, were at the capital, Addis Ababa, more than 30 students and residents have been shot and killed by the military in Ambo town. Hundreds others have been wounded hundreds others have been rounded up and thrown into jail. Six others are reported to have been killed the next day in Gudar town, some 6 miles from Ambo. Similar situation occurred in many towns such as Robe (Bale zone), Adama, Jimma, Haromaya, Nekemte, and Dire Dhawa. In Robe town alone 6 students are reported to have been killed on the first day of protest alone. Gruesome pictures of the dead, bleeding of the wounded, and screaming voices of women and children are spread all over social media posted from several towns in Oromia. It is heartbreaking to see and listen to.<\/p>\n
Dear Mr. Secretary,<\/p>\n
A brief historical and political context will shade light to the understanding of the resistance of Oromo students to the so called \u201cIntegrated master plan\u201d. Addis Ababa was founded during the second half of the 19th century by emperor Menelik and his wife, Taytu, conquering the indigenous Oromo people. Precedent to its foundation, Addis Ababa was home to the Oromo people, the single largest ethno-national group in Ethiopia and third in Africa. The name Addis Ababa is said to have been given by Taytu. Its original Oromo name was Finfinne and to this day Oromos call it Finfinne. Prominent Oromo clans like Gulleles and Galans were inhabitant of the land. Oromo clans were forcefully evicted by the Menelik army and their land was given to Amhara settlers. Through time, these indigenous people were pushed and replaced by new settlers or colonizers. Robbed of their land, many of the members of the Gullele and Galan clans were fated to servitude and laborers. Our grievance is not only losing our land but also our language, culture, and identity.<\/p>\n
Gadaa.com
\nThe new invaders, the Tigrean ruling elite are planning to expand farther into Oromia and evict the Oromo from their ancestral land and settle the Tigrians and also sell to foreigners under the guise of development.<\/p>\n
The current Ethiopian government is ethnic based federalism with 9 regional states. On paper, per the country\u2019s constitution, these \u201cautonomous\u201d regional states are to govern their respective regions. It has to be noted that it is the decision of the TPLF led Ethiopian government to put Addis Ababa under Federal Administration.<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, Addis Ababa itself is the heartland of Oromia. In recognition of this, the Ethiopian constitution Article 49 (5) stipulates \u201cthe special interest of the state of Oromia will be respected regarding provision of services, the utilization of resources and joint administrative matters.\u201d The current so called Integrated Development Master plan violates this article of the constitution.<\/p>\n
Completely surrounded by Oromia regional state, Addis Ababa city is entirely dependent on Oromia for all services. Today almost all electric power, water supply and other infrastructural raw materials come from Oromia region. Ethiopian constitution states that Oromia regional state is to \u201ctake part\u201d in the city administrative decisions. Despite these historical, constitutional and economic rights, Oromia regional government were devoid of any decision making process over Addis Ababa administration. The ultimate decision is in the hands of the TPLF (Tigre People Liberation Front) leaders whose interest is to exploit the land and resources of Oromia and destroy Oromo identity. The Oromo students and the Oromo public at large oppose the plan because it is secretly developed by the TPLF for the last five years without involvement of any Oromo voice. Oromo farmers were completely excluded in the decision making process, and are about to be victims of the forceful eviction. Even high officials of the OPDO, the infamous Oromo organization that was cherry picked by the ruling TPLF party to govern Oromo people, and the Oromia regional state were kept in the dark.<\/p>\n
Dear Mr. Secretary,<\/p>\n
It is so sad that such heinous crimes were happening on the Oromo students on April 30 and May 1 , 2014, when you were making official visit to Ethiopia. While you were in Addis Ababa, dozens of students are being massacred in Ambo, just 80 miles from your site and yet the Ethiopian government media kept silent as if nothing has happened. This is the government that the U.S. Government is giving financial and economic aid and maintains intelligence and military \u201ccooperation\u201d with. The U.S. military support is used to kill Oromos and others demanding respect for their democratic and human rights. The consequence of the unabated killing of citizens with impunity by tyrannical governments will be regrettable as we can see in many countries today<\/p>\n
The current student protest against the master plan is partly the extension of government involvement in extensive land grab which we, the Diaspora Oromo, have been protesting in front of the US State Department and the White House. The plan is a land grab disguised under development. It is designed to kill the Oromo generation. There is no legal or social justification to include this small cities and provinces under Addis Ababa city administration for development.<\/p>\n
The principle of integrated regional development does not infringe on the geopolitical entity of the regions. As we can see here in the United States, integrated development among the District of Colombia-Maryland-Virginia does not in any way, encroach on the entities of the states. We do not see any reason why the model cannot be applied in Ethiopia, unless it is for sinister motive.<\/p>\n
We earnestly ask the US government to use its influence to urge the Ethiopian government to respect the right of the Oromo people, rule of law and stop killing and arresting Oromo students. We specifically request that the US government:<\/p>\n
Demand an immediate stop tothe unlawful so called \u201cIntegrated development master plan\u201d and the unlawful eviction of Oromo farmers and the illegal selling of Oromo land under the disguise of such \u201cdevelopment\u201d.
\nAsk the Ethiopian government to stop killing and arresting unarmed Oromo school children and other civilians.
\nDemand that an independent commission be appointed to investigate the mass killing in Oromia regional state
\nRequest that the Ethiopian government bring to justice those who are involved in the massacre of Oromo students and other cities.
\nDemand the unconditional and immediate release of Oromo students who are jailed for exercising their constitutional right and all political prisoners languishing in jail for several years.
\nInsist on the release of all political prisoners and respect the rule of law before providing aid to the regime.
\nDemand that the regime to commit itself to the respect of human rights and allow freedom of expression and assembly and making a peaceful protest.
\nDemand the repeal of all new laws that violate the fundamental freedom of citizens.
\nSincerely,<\/p>\n
Desta Yebassa, Ph.D.
\nBoard President, Oromo Community Organization of Washington D.C. area (OCO)
\n6212 3rd ST NW Washington, DC 20011
\nhttp:\/\/oneoromo.org\/<\/p>\n
Abebe Etna
\nChairman, Oromo Youth Self-help Association (OYSA)
\n6212 3rd ST NW Washington, DC 20011
\nhttp:\/\/washington.gaaddisaoromo.com\/<\/p>\n
Dinknesh Kitila
\nInternational Oromo Women\u2019s Organization (IOWO) Board Director
\nEmail: iowo@iowo.org<\/p>\n
Garoma Wakesa
\nDirector, Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA)
\n994 Pharmacy Avenue, M1R 2G7, Toronto, ON, Canada
\nhttp:\/\/humanrightsleague.com\/<\/p>\n
CC<\/p>\n
President Barack Obama
\nThe White House
\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
\nWashington, DC 20500
\nwww.whitehouse.gov
\nTel: (202) 395-2020<\/p>\n
Mr. Ban Ki-moon
\nUN Secretary-General
\nFirst Avenue at 46th Street
\nNew York, NY 10017
\nUSA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
May 09, 2014 Secretary of State John Kerry US Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 RE: Joint Appeal Letter of OCO, OYSA, IOWO, and HRLHA on the Current Massacre of Oromo Students by the Ethiopian Government Dear Mr. Secretary, The Oromo Community Organization of Washington D.C….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14669\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanrightsleague.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}