Negotiations continue with the OLA
and ruling party's key official assassinated
This week came to an end with a two-day “Youth Festival” held at the Millennium Hall, in Addis Abeba. Thousands of young people from across the country - 17 cities to be exact - came together to showcase their talents, work, and network with one another. This did not include the Tigray region because of the recently ended war but the USAID supported project, ongoing for the next 5 years, will include youth from the region in its coming editions. I spoke to a few young people there about what they thought about the peace process in the country for VOA. You can read that here.
OLA, Ethiopian government continue talks
Negotiations started last week in Zanzibar, Tanzania between representatives from the Ethiopian government (which include national security advisor to the Prime Minister, Redwan Hussien, as well as Minister of Justice, Dr Gedion Timothewos) and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). The details of the meeting are being kept hush hush but sources that Addis Standard spoke to have deemed it, ‘encouraging’.
Fighting between the OLA and the government has led to the death and displacement of thousands in the Oromia region over the past few years. The talks could possibly bring an end to this.
Targeted attacks in the region have largely been attributed to the OLA (by the government). But the OLA, the armed faction that broke away from opposition political party, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), has not accepted responsibility and says that it only works for the greater autonomy of the Oromo people.
As negotiations continue behind closed doors, what better time than now, to take a look at the recently published political manifesto of the OLF-OLA, to get a better understanding of what the negotiations might involve? I read the manifesto and shared some highlights.
If you’re looking just for the news, you can scroll to the section after it.
Here are my notes on the group’s political manifesto, entitled: “From Armed Struggle to the Prospect of Peace”.
On their struggle
The manifesto starts with a simple sentence, ‘We, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), fight for the Oromo people's right to self-determination.’
This means a fair representation of the Oromo people and respect for their history, culture, and identity. The manifesto reads that the group chose armed struggle not because they ‘relish deadly conflicts’ but because they see no other way out of the tyranny. In a sentence that I found striking, the manifesto says that armed struggle was the only way to, ‘rebuild our humanity and identity that have been pulverized by a century of cultural degradation and dehumanization.’
It talks about how the Qeerroo revolution, which toppled the former ruling party, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), brought about a ‘fleeting moment of nascent liberalization’. But this quickly evaporated. And in the face of regression to a ‘nostalgic vision of a unitary state’, they took up arms. Here’s another line,
‘Our fight is legitimate because the right to resist tyranny is an inalienable human right.’
War is neither their choice nor their goal, the manifesto continues, and that they believe in a negotiated peace. The proof of this statement lies in the fact they have agreed to sit down for talks with the Ethiopian government, which has, ‘desecrated the bittersweet victories of the Oromo national movement.’
On its institutional independence
This part explains how the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the political party, first returned to Ethiopia under the invitation of the Ethiopian government in 2018 to engage in a peaceful political struggle (it first came to the scene in the 1970s). The party agreed to a Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of combatants. But this agreement, known as the “Asmara agreement” had no third-party observers nor was it formally signed. This peace deal was never discussed fully with the Oromo army as well.
The deal was never implemented and the Ethiopian government instead vilified and persecuted OLF members, it says. Under pressure, the OLF severed ties with the army – the OLA. The OLF was legally registered with the electoral board and wasn’t in a position to command an armed rebellion against the government. Also, the government had infiltrated the ranks of the OLF, so the OLA couldn’t take orders from them anymore, it adds.
So, it formed the OLF-OLA High Command, a politico-military entity to take leadership of the army.
About the army
The army, the manifesto explains, is there to protect the Oromo people from the security forces of the Ethiopian government. It adds that the group would, ‘never adopt a retributive approach that emasculates others of their inalienable rights.’
The OLA is aware that the government is attributing indiscriminate attacks to it but it says that these are mercenaries going by its name and used for, ‘manufacturing reasons for scorched earth military interventions’ and delegitimizing the group.
This section ends with this sentence:
On our part, we continue to call for credible, internationally-mandated independent investigations into the atrocities or reports of atrocities committed in Oromia.
About their case against the regime
Here, the manifesto makes serious allegations. One of which is that the Ethiopian government has committed crimes against humanity and it goes on to describe every criterion under the Rome Statute and how it was met. One of the criteria mentioned is the crime of extermination:
‘Under a military rule known as command posts for three years, western, central, and southern Oromia have suffered extrajudicial killings, rape, maiming, and other inhuman acts perpetrated by attacks on unarmed civilians, including bombing by the Ethiopian Air Force drones and other airborne assets.
It adds below,
‘Ethiopian prisons are filled with innocent people whom the regime’s prosecutors have falsely charged and jailed.’
Side note: Several senior members of the OLF are imprisoned and have gone on hunger strikes in the past according to news reports. Just recently, seven of its leaders were taken to an unknown location when representatives of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia came to the prison to investigate the situation with other stakeholders according to this report by Addis Standard.
On prospects of peace
Lasting and sustainable solutions can only come from political settlement, the manifesto reads. But this needs to be inclusive and represent all stakeholders. But because the Ethiopian government has lost all legitimacy, the ‘regime-sponsored national dialogue is demonstrably dead-on-arrival’.
In order for political settlement to happen, security needs to be guaranteed, and neutral third parties need to be in observance. International actors are also ‘crucial’ for guaranteeing this process.
Side note: News reports say that current talks are facilitated by the government of Norway, and Kenya as well as IGAD. The Tanzanian government has said that it is only providing the venue, so to speak.
The manifesto follows this with two sections that list ways the Ethiopian government can build confidence and security in order to pave the way for a negotiated settlement. I think this section is particularly relevant now, as the OLA and the Ethiopian government have decided to talk.
Some of these steps include opening humanitarian corridors in Oromia, releasing political prisoners, and stopping the persecution of Oromo opposition political party leaders.
It also includes taking steps to make Afaan Oromoo a federal official working language, ‘recognizing Finfinnee as an integral part of Oromia’, and stopping, ‘the intensification of land theft by Prosperity Party officials.’
Stopping the rampant extra-judicial killings, and abolishing Command Post rule in Oromia are also part of it.
Being the largest ethnonational group in the Horn of Africa, peace and stability in Ethiopia cannot be achieved without addressing the conflicts in Oromia it adds. The last sentence of the manifesto reads,
“The OLA is ready to respond to constructive gestures. It is also ready to defend the Oromo cause if the regime chooses to stay the course.”
You can read the full manifesto here.
Key party official assassinated
Prosperity Party’s Amhara region branch head, Girma Yeshitila, and five other people were killed last week Thursday, in an attack by armed forces. The assailants opened fire on Girma and his personal guards while on the road to the town of Debre Birhan. Girma, who was also the region’s vice-president, was born in the same area where he was shot dead and he had served in numerous party and government positions for the past 27 years according to a report by Ethiopia Insider.
Following this, a joint task force has been established by the government to investigate what it deems an illegal attempt to overthrow the regional government. In a recent Facebook post, state-affiliated media house EBC announced that 47 suspects have already been arrested.
The full story in Amharic here and in English here.
Updates from Sudan
The fighting in Sudan has continued into its third week. The Ethiopian government is involved in peace efforts between the two warring factions: the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces, led by al-Burhan’s former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. This story by DW explores the possibility of Ethiopia playing a role in the negotiations and whether it can be considered a neutral body.
At least 70,000 people have already been displaced in the region; several foreigners from about 23 countries have arrived in Amhara region, in Ethiopia, fleeing violence according to this report by Addis Standard. On the other hand, the Ethiopian government has confirmed that some Nigerian students fleeing the conflict were denied entry to the country according to a story by The Reporter.
MIDROC accused of inaction over pollution
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report stating that MIDROC Gold Mine PLC took no action over the years as the mine it operates caused environmental pollution.
The report states that the company should provide healthcare and compensation to residents in Guji Zone, Oromia where it operates its Legadembi gold mine. The mine was closed in 2018, after protests in the community but reopened again in 2021, without the company taking any meaningful steps to address the issue.
The repeated protests in the community have been met with arrests and beatings which have resulted in the death of hundreds according to the report. Miscarriages, stillbirths, disabilities at birth, as well as the death of grazing animals, have all been reported by residents who have been interviewed by HRW over the years. MIDROC did little to rectify the damages.
Argor-Heraeus, the Swiss gold refinery firm, which has been getting its gold from MIDROC is certified by two major industry bodies as being compliant with ‘human rights due diligence’.
This is their response to this report:
“Our due diligence processes are among the most rigorous in the world today. Nevertheless, we have taken this case as an opportunity to review our internal processes again.”
The response of MIDROC, in a story covered by The Reporter:
“We have seen the [HRW] report. The report is completely baseless.”
A representative from the Oromia Mineral Development Authority, told The Reporter, that the government never disclosed some of the information Human Rights Watch is sharing, like when the mine was closed and re-opened. But Human Rights Watch used open-source information including satellite imagery to corroborate their findings.
The full report by Human Rights Watch here and the story by The Reporter in English here.
Police asked about illegal arrests by parliament
Last week, the Federal Police Commission was presenting its performance report to the parliament (specifically, the Legal, Justice & Democracy Affairs Standing Committee). After stating how it has spent the past nine months investigating individuals suspected of stealing 26 billion Birr, members of the Committee asked why police were arresting and detaining people illegally, specifically bypassing orders from the courts.
The response from Commissioner: police appeal these decisions to let suspects go when it deems the case sensitive. As for the case of arrested journalists, he asked that the courts stand with the police as these cases include people using the profession as a guise to conduct complex illegal activities co-conspiring with people in other countries.
You can read the full story in Amharic on Wazema Radio, where this excerpt was sourced.
In other news
The head of the Pan-African Parliament, ‘the most senior lawmaker on the African continent’ has been accused of sexual assault. This is not the first time that African Union (AU) leaders have been implicated in sexual offenses and this week’s edition of The Continent goes into detail about the ongoing case, and how the AU has turned a blind eye – and covered up – sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the institution.
Shutting down your laptop is good for the environment and for your laptop. Read about it here.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!
In the meantime, you can help support my work by forwarding this email to friends and family who might benefit from keeping up with what’s going on.
Note: I go through all the major news outlets, newspapers, online publications, and will at times, include reports, notes on parliamentary sessions, and go through fact-checking websites as well. I try to provide links to both English and Amharic sources, and I usually time-stamp the video I link to unless I think the whole video is relevant.