Falls Church, Virginia (12/13/2022) – On December 13th and 14th, members of the US Oromo diaspora community will come together for a rally in Washington, D.C. to protest the recent escalation in violent attacks against Oromo civilians throughout the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The protesters are calling on the US government to pressure the Ethiopian government to protect civilians, respect human rights, and to seek peaceful means to end the conflict in Oromia, as it has done with the TPLF in northern Ethiopia.
As previously reported by OLLAA, since the peace agreement was signed between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government in November 2022, there have been increasing reports of violent attacks against civilians by state agents, including reports of drone strikes throughout western and central Oromia. These impact of these attacks has been compounded by the rapid escalation in attacks perpetrated by Amhara militias (fano) against Oromo civilians. For example, on December 6, 2022, the Addis Standard reported that dozens of civilians were killed and 350,000 had been displaced from the Kiremu district following a series of attacks on November 25th and 29th. Last week, a gruesome video (Explicit Content Warning) began circulating on social media showing several members of Fano speaking in front of the decapitated heads of individuals from Jardega Jarte, Horo Guduru Wollega zone, who they claimed were “Shane.”
OLLAA supports the organizers of these rallies and all protesters who will join them tomorrow and encourages other communities to take part. We also urge local community members who are unable to attend the rallies in D.C. to take this moment as an opportunity to contact their representatives and urge them to condemn these recent violations.
The protests will begin at 9:00AM EST on December 13th and 14th in Washington, D.C.
OLLAA is an umbrella organization that works in collaboration with dozens of Oromo communities around the world.