Oromia: State Broadcaster Fires 20 Journalists for “Narrow Political Views”
Muktar Kedir, President of the Oromia regional state
June 30, 2014 (Reporters Without Borders) — Reporters Without Borders
condemns last week’s politically-motivated dismissal of 20 journalists
from Oromia Radio and Television Organization (ORTO), the main
state-owned broadcaster in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest regional State.
The 20 journalists were denied entry to ORTO headquarter on 25
June and were effectively dismissed without any explanations other than
their alleged “narrow political views,” an assessment the management
reached at the end of a workshop for journalists and regional government
officials that included discussions on the controversial Master Plan of
Addis that many activists believe is aimed at incorporating parts of
Oromia into the federal city of Addis Ababa.
Members
of the Oromo community in Europe staged a solidarity rally in Brussels,
Belgium, at the European Parliament on June 20, 2014, to bring
awareness about the human rights violations of the TPLF Ethiopian regime
on the Oromo people – including the killing of more than 100 Oromo
students and civilians, mass imprisonments of thousands of Oromo
students as well as expulsions from universities of Oromo students for
nonviolently protesting TPLF’s ‘Addis Ababa Master Plan,’ a plan that is
designed to annex land from 
Humni
Addaa WBO Miseensota Koree Basaasota Wayyaanee Baha Shawaa Keessatti
Iccitiidhaan Ijaaramuun Barattoota Oromoo Milishuu (Abdii) Mallasaa fi
Bilisummaa Lammii dabalatee ilmaan Oromoo ajjeesisuu, hiisisuu fi yakki
adda addaa akka irratti raawwatamu ajaja dabarsaa turan irratti
tarkaanfii boonsaa fudhateen 3 ajjeese.
June
3, 2014 (Tamiru Blog) — In a recent interview with a local media, Mr
Abdulaziz Mohammed – the Vice President of Oromia Region stated that “No
one is arrested and we don’t have any information about the arrest.”
The Vice President’s single statement says two contrasting ideas at a
time – denying the arrest allegations and ignorant about the arrest. In
the first place it is a shame for the Vice President to deny the reality
on the ground – where more than 49 people were killed and 800 people
have been arrested, tortured and imprisoned.
More
than 400 Oromo across Victoria, NSW, QLD, TAS, SA and WA will be
gathering at Canberra’s Parliament house in a bid to expose the
Ethiopian government’s recent human rights violations dubbed “Oromo
Protests”. Since April 25, leaked photographs and videos show Ethiopian
security forces shooting live ammunition at unarmed students in
universities across Oromia. Reports of 85 students are confirmed as
dead, 500 protestors wounded and over 5000 people detained in unknown
camp locations as the Ethiopian government restriction of public media
is in full force.
