
Ethiopia: Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) – OLA High Command – Press Release (15.05.2021)



Excellencies,
The Security and Justice for Tigreans in Ethiopia (SJTE) wishes to extend its appreciation for the attention the UNSC has given to the war in Tigray and to the atrocities that are being committed there. In our previous letters addressed to this respected body, we detailed the need for a strong and impactful action by the UNSC to stop the war which has become one of the most destructive.
The UNSC instead issued a weak statement that has emboldened Mr. Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, and Mr. Isaias Afewerki, the president of Eritrea, to continue their atrocities at a much greater intensity. Just a few days ago, Mr. Abiy asked the Ethiopian parliament to designate his political foes including the TPLF and the people of Tigray as terrorists and parliament complied almost instantly. But this designation has no merit whatsoever. Any government that worked with the TPLF as part of the former ruling coalition in Ethiopia knows that it led a government that fought terrorism and contributed to world peace immensely. The legacy of its effort in peace keeping is evident in the peace keeping missions around Africa today. The designation by Mr. Abiy is rather a sinister political maneuver to continue detaining, torturing, and killing Tigrayans at will. His evil action, like all actions he has taken in the past, is irresponsible, dangerous, and potentially eliminates any hope for a peaceful resolution of the war and will only escalate the ongoing violence, detention, extrajudicial killings, and extermination of the people of Tigray.
The people of Tigray and TPLF are peace-loving. They are not committing terrorism. They are rather the recipients of a dangerous and ugly form of terrorism – state-sponsored terrorism. The government of Mr. Abiy Ahmed in close collaboration with Mr. Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea has been committing widespread extrajudicial killings and massacres over the people of Tigray for six months. Tigrayans throughout Ethiopia also live in fear because they have been the targets of detention and disappearances. If anybody in Tigray or Ethiopia deserves terrorist designations, the governments of Mr. Abiy and Mr. Isaias should be the ones to receive such designation. The people of Tigray, TPLF, or any other organization in Tigray have not done anything that resembles terrorism. To us, the bogus proclamation by the expired Ethiopian parliament is meant to legitimize the governments’ terrorist acts on the people of Tigray and to take away Tigrayan-owned properties and continue incarcerating them without due process.
It behooves the UNSC to ponder whether a regional government elected by more than 80% of eligible Tigray voters can even be designated terrorist. Furthermore, the designation was made by an illegitimate parliament whose term expired seven months ago and does not have a single representative from Tigray.
The designation of Tigray’s TPLF and Oromia’s OLA as terrorist entities is a clear demonstration of Mr. Abiy’s intent to continue the path of violence to silence his political challengers.
Excellencies,
We appreciate the UNSC’s expression of serious concern about the increasingly dire situation in Tigray. But as you are aware, concern alone will not help the people of Tigray. The UNSC must take strong actions similar to that of the former Yugoslavia. It is our belief that the UNSC and the international community have the legal and moral obligation to take a swift action to save the people of Tigray from total annihilation and Ethiopia from total disintegration.
SJTE respectfully demands that the UNSC:
Rejects and condemns the designation of TPLF as a terrorist organization and pressures Mr. Abiy Ahmed to come to the negotiating table.
Takes required actions to remove the Eritrean Army and the Amhara militia from Tigray.
Pressures Mr. Abiy’s government to allow humanitarian aid reach the more than 5 million needy Tigrayans without any restriction.
Demands that Mr. Abiy releases the tens of thousands of Tigrayans detained in different parts of the country including in concentration camps for their political beliefs or for no reason at all.
SJTE urges the UNSC to be actively engaged in resolving this crisis that has the potential to spread throughout the horn of Africa. Ultimately, this crisis can only be solved if the UNSC takes a decisive action commensurate with the problem. Without such action, the crisis will deteriorate and may reach a point of no return, causing a complete collapse of the country and cascading detrimental effects which will destabilize the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea Region.
We thank you and SJTE remains ready to provide additional information. We also would appreciate an acknowledgement of the receipt of this letter.
Respectfully,
SJTE
CC: The European Union
The African Union
Secretary of State
UNSC member states
Mr. Jeffrey Feltman






Date: May 9, 2021
To: The Oromo People
All Oromo Communities in the Diaspora
All Oromo Media Outlets
All Oromo Activists
All Friends of the Oromo people
Dhagahii dhageessisi, Iyyii iyya dabarsi
We, members of Oromia Global Forum (OGF) – a global coalition of Oromo Civic, Professional and Faith-based organizations, strongly advise our Oromo people to boycott Ethiopia’s upcoming sham election.
The Oromo people have paid a heavy price in the uprising that propelled Abiy Ahmed to the premiership in 2018. Abiy promised to facilitate a transition that could lead to free and fair elections. However, instead of transition to democracy, Abiy gave you tensions, conflicts, political arrests, deaths, rapes, displacements, destruction of property and exile. Particularly, he targeted the Oromo nation and carried the brunt of his cruel, neo-neftegna fascistic policies that have no room for reconciliation and redress of past injustices.
In the name of making peace through opening the political space, Abiy lured the Oromo Liberation Front into the country, poisoned its ex-fighters, imprisoned its leaders including Abdi Ragassa, Col. Gemechu Ayana, Mikael Boran, Kenesa Ayana and many more. Likewise, Abiy imprisoned leaders of the Oromo Federalist Congress including Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Garba, Dejene Tafa, Hamza Adane and others. He closed the offices of these parties all over the country, completely impaired their freedom of movement and disrupted their interactions with their constituents. All independent Oromo Media are closed. Their properties are illegally robbed. Their journalists, management and administrative staff members either imprisoned, or forced to exile.
For over three years, Oromia is suffering under the cruel martial rule (military rule), where Oromians are indiscriminately killed without due process of the law. Basic democratic rights such as freedom of expression, association and movement are severely curtailed. Free movement of people is completely impeded in Oromia, even between neighbors, let alone between villages, districts or zones. The Oromo have no right to express their views, nor do they have a party that represents them in the upcoming sham election.
THEREFORE, we members of Oromia Global Forum (OGF) call upon our people, NOT to take part in, and boycott the upcoming sham elections, because:
Abiy Ahmed has never addressed the fundamental questions that our children, the Qeerroo and Qarree, have died for in the years of protests before he came to power. You demanded equality, dignity, self-rule and control over your resources. Abiy promised to address all these and transition to a democratic process. Instead, during his three years in office, Abiy has imposed military command post on your cities and villages; converted historic sites and schools to prisons and military camps; declared war on you and your children; abused your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, brothers, husbands; and destroyed you livelihood, cattle and crops. He has condemned you to deaths and sufferings of historic proportion, unseen under any of his repressive predecessors, even excelled his mentors – the TPLF, who tormented you for the 27-years
Knowing that he would lose election in Oromia, Abiy Ahmed harassed, jailed and killed members of your parties, the OLF and OFC, which truly represent you and sacrificing their lives to protect you. He closed their offices and cut off their communications with you. This means that you have no representative parties to vote for in this election. This is not democratic election; it is a shameless effort where one man wants to crown himself and benefit his cronies. But you have the right and opportunity to reject it by dissociating your self from his senseless cruelty.
Abiy Ahmed and his neftegna lackeys killed, imprisoned and exiled your representatives and they are shamelessly asking you to vote for them, in complete absence (imprisonment) of your own representatives. For you, this is adding insult to an injury.
By participating in the sham election, you would give legitimacy to Abiy’s illegitimate party, the Prosperity Party, and its lackeys like Ezema, Baldaras, ABN and several other smaller parties to claim false victory in Oromia and enable them to continue to kill you.
Be warned, that all these neftegna parties aspire to restore, reimpose and instill Amhara supremacy and nafxanya interests as their parents and grandparents did in the past.
Given the opportunity, Abiy Ahmed and his neftagna supporters are aiming to dismantle Oromia and destroy Oromummaa and roll back the nafxanya-gabbar system that condemned your fathers and forefathers to landlessness and servitude.
The consequences of fake election and false victory by any neftegna party in Ethiopia would be most devastating for the Oromo people, because:
8.1 It poses an existential threat to the Oromo nation and Oromummaa as given to you by your Creator.
8.2 Using the fake elections and false victories, all neftegna parties would immediately declare genocidal war on the Oromo nation, take control over Oromia, take away your land and give it to settlers whom they will encourage to migrate to Oromia and kill you.
8.3 Most importantly, they will destroy the fundamentals of your identity (Oromummaa) including the use of your language and practice of your culture.
8.4 If these neftegna parties control the federal government, their new federal parliament would immediately convene and take the following measures, that would destroy your identity and threaten your very existence as a nation, at its core:
8.4.1 Remove the current multinational constitution, and replace it with pro-monarchy, system of one man rule
8.4.2 Abolish the federal structure by destroying Oromia and regional states of other nations
8.4.3 Declare the supremacy and domination of one ethnic group (the Amhara) and declare
Amharic as the national language of the empire, outlawing the use of Afaan Oromo for
official and educational purposes in Oromia.
Finally, we would like to request the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the Arab League, the United States and all other governments to seriously consider their stand regarding the sham election in Ethiopia, and urgently act to stop Abiy Ahmed’s clique from taking the country down to the path of violent disintegration and civil war, which shall have tremendous regional and international security and humanitarian consequences.
Reject this sham election outrightly and stay away from it. Voting in this
election is suicidal!
Sincerely,
Oromia Global Forum









It is today confirmed the Patriarch of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) his Holiness Abune Mathias I is put under house-arrest. That comes as he earlier this week was able to smuggle out a video addressing the Tripartite Alliance warfare in the Tigray Region. This have hurt the pride of the rulers in Addis Ababa. That’s why his been put under house-arrest and lost his liberty. Because, he dared to speak out on the injustice happening on the watch of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. He dared to question the Prosperity Party and their allies. Their efforts to undermine and destroy the Tigray region. Those selected words was clearly enough and he now has to face the face the consequences for it.
Here is his words of wisdom:
“God will have his own judgment in responding to these atrocities, but people are dying; women are being raped; in fact the men who died are better off than the women who are enduring a life time scar… I truly don’t know how this could be stopped” (…) “Stop this free reign of killing… This kind of cruelty has never been heard before, especially the suffering the women are going through. Is it really necessary to do this kind of dirty deed without the fear of God?” (…) “Churches around the world to see this and do their share to help stop, even by being a voice to this grotesque deed which is unseen and unheard around the world and which we can’t even dare to speak about… .there is no time I rested; my conscious is distraught. If my voice is heard, will it help? I want all of you to think about it. To the people of Tigray around the world and in the country, this may pass; may God give you the strength, there is nothing that shall not pass… don’t be overrun by fear and anxiety. Pray to your God” – Holiness Abune Mathias I the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) – (Addis Standard – ‘Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch Says War in Tigray ‘Barbarism’ and ‘Attempt to Erase Tigrayans’; Says His Repeated Pleas ‘Censored’ 08.05.2021).
These words are tough to read. The ones watching the clip, which was released much be even harder. To see a man of such stature and office say these things. When has to come out and state the dire facts. Than you know the Republic is in trouble. When he has to pay a price for even saying it. That says even more about the rulers.
When the reformists and the supposed men of peace in Addis Ababa is making him a criminal and a prisoner in his own home. When the state is limiting his space, his movement and his voice. Just because he dared to speak out. You just know the situation is dangerous and the ones in-charge doesn’t value liberty, justice or freedom of speech. No, they are just concerned with their egos and realms of power.
Prime Minister Abiy and his men cannot save themselves anymore. They have gone after political opponents… and activists. Now they are going after anyone who dares to oppose them. They are even shielding and arresting clergy. That says more about Abiy than it says about Holiness Abune Mathias I. He just spoke his peace… and said what needed to be said. That shouldn’t be a crime, but clearly is now seen as violation in Ethiopia.
This is showing the failures of the state and how oppressive it is. Also, that it got to have some truths in it. If it wasn’t truthful or taken seriously. He wouldn’t be a prisoner in his own home. Peace.

