Oppression in Oromia

Oppression in Oromia

Thanks to social media, news travels faster than ever, and anyone who owns a handheld phone can post videos for the whole world to see. This makes exposing injustices, such as police brutality, as easy as clicking a button. Government censorship is therefore nearly impossible, but it doesn’t mean that some won’t try.

On November 12, 2015, soldiers in the Ethiopian region of Oromia opened fire on civilians (Human Rights Watch). Oromia is one of the nine ethnically based regional states of Ethiopia, and contains the Ethiopian capital and its largest city, Addis Ababa. Ethiopian security forces have killed many protesters in efforts to silence their dissatisfaction with the Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan using force. The Ethiopian government proposed the Addis Ababa Master Plan to expand the capital Addis Ababa into Oromo farmland (Human Rights Watch). The protests jeopardize Ethiopia’s plans of industrial growth (Washington Post). The Oromo ethnic group resents the Ethiopian government for neglecting their needs in the past, such as electricity and running water. The new proposed plan has been met by years of suppressed anger from the Oromo people in the form of dozens of protests held across Oromia.

The government has reacted to the protesting by allowing soldiers to open-fire on the civilians. It has been estimated by the Human Rights Watch that 140 protesters, activists, and observers have been killed by security forces so far. The government has claimed minimal responsibility for the terror in Oromia, claiming that the death toll is an “absolute lie” and only acknowledging five deaths (BBC).

The Ethiopian government has also been putting extreme efforts into censoring and silencing the media by arbitrarily arresting journalists and shutting down entire presses. They have even reportedly smashed satellites to prevent Ethiopians from listening to or using international radio stations (Human Rights Watch). These efforts, however, have not stopped social media users from spreading information about the protests online.

The violence used against the Oromo people is a result of the Ethiopian government’s neglect for its citizens human rights. Merera Gudina, the chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress party, said “I think the strategy is to terrorize people by shooting them point blank” (Washington Post). The Addis Ababa city authority have decided not to implement the Plan, after talking for three days with the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization, who also would have been responsible for the implementation of the Plan (BBC). Ethiopia has infringed upon the human rights of the Oromo people to the freedom from arbitrary arrest, and the rights to freedoms of opinion, information, and peaceful assembly.

Works Cited

"Ethiopia Cancels Addis Ababa Master Plan after Oromo Protests - BBC News." BBC News. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"Ethiopia Confronts Its Worst Ethnic Violence in Years." Washington Post. The Washington Post. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"Ethiopia: Lethal Force Against Protesters."Human Rights Watch. 18 Dec. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"Dispatches: Arrest of Respected Politician Escalating Crisis in Ethiopia." Human Rights Watch. 07 Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"What Do Oromo Protests Mean for Ethiopian Unity? - BBC News." BBC News. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

"Ethiopia's Invisible Crisis." Human Rights Watch. 22 Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.