It
is about a month since the TPLF Executive Committee held an
emergency meeting in Mekele to discuss on the political development
in Oromia and drew three courses of actions to be taken.
The courses of actions that the TPLF Executive Committee drew
were nothing but a declaration of an all out war on the Oromo
people. The barbaric, inhuman and racist action taken on Oromo
students of Finfinne University is another dimension of the
planned war on the Oromo people.
The
incident that started on December 21, 2000, in Sociology Department
of the University, was a preplanned and calculated action,
endorsed by Dr. Getachew Kassa, a Tigrean, to provoke Oromo
students in the university. The TPLF rewarded the endeavor
of Oromo students to resolve the conflict in a civilized and
peaceful manner by raiding the University dormitories with
400 special force. This force had long list of Oromo students
in the university with their room numbers during the raid.
The TPLF Special force beat Oromo student brutally and they
detained more than 115 Oromo students (attached is list of
some of the Oromo students arrested) at MaikaIawi, Holota,
Kolfe and Sandafa prisons.
The
beating was very inhuman and brutal that some of the students
may sustain permanent physical damage. There is high probability
that students Qadida and Gobana may die because of the beating
and they are denied medical treatment. It as suspected that
student Tuli Bayisa, the chairman of Oromo students in the
University, may lose an eye. Two female Oromo students in
the university who were badly beaten and kicked n abdomen
are admitted to a hospital with complication in the womb.
From all the students detained, thus far, they released only
55 students and brought 18 students before the court on 26/12/2000.
This arrest and beating of Oromo students of Finfinne University
is part of the general plan drawn by TPLF's Executive Committee
in Mekele against the Oromo people.
Today,
the campuses of Finfinne University and Colleges around the
city have become where Oromo students are terrorized and
persecuted Oromo students do not have any guarantee to peacefully
continue their studies. The over all plan is to frustrate
enlightened Oromos from attending higher education and to
suppress Oromo resistance against oppression. This act of
the TPLF is naked racism that is parallel to the policies
practiced by the apartheid government of South Africa. The
irony is that the TFLF government is being rewarded with 400
million US dollars from the World Bank and full backing from
the USA government for its war of genocide against the Oromo
people.
We
once again want to alert the Oromo people that the TPLF has
declared an all out war of genocide and racism on us. Oromos
of all walks of life should stand united to challenge this
evil plan of TPLF. The current event indicates that it has
become a question of survival as a nation for the Oromo people.
Those Oromos working in the armed forces, police force and
security apparatuses of Wayane should refrain from doing any
thing that helps the execution of this heinous plan of TPLF
and should respond to the call of their people for national
liberation struggle. Oromo workers, civil servants, farmers
and merchants should be aware of the danger looming over us
as a nation and vigorously pursue the only alternative left
for us; that is to intensify the national liberation struggle.
Above all, Oromo students all over Oromia should not kneel
down to the harassment and intimidation of Wayane and accept
servitude and domination. All Oromo students and youth should
show their solidarity with Oromo students suffering in the
prisons of TPLF. Likewise, we call upon the oppressed nations
in Ethiopia, who have similar fate with Oromo people, to coordinate
their struggle with the struggle of Oromo people for freedom
and justice.
Finally,
we want to remind all humanitarian organizations, peace loving
governments and individuals to put necessary pressure on the
racist regime in Ethiopia to stop harassing Oromo students
and respect the rights of all peoples in the country. Particularly,
we want to make it very clear to the World Bank that the money
the Bank gives to the TPLF regime is boosting its moral and
encouraging it to continue its action of suppression and violation
of human rights. We hope the Bank would reassess the aid money
promised to Ethiopia. The TPLF regime should not be allowed
to continue with its inhuman and racist deeds.
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