By Teferi Fufa
I was listening to a news report coming out of Ethiopia today. The live reports sounded like horror stories written cleverly for their effects on the psyche of the reader. The images accompanying the reports were so gruesome they make one sick to his/her stomach.
It is well documented that freedoms of expression, assembly, and dissent are unknown in Ethiopia. Consequently foreign Human rights groups are banned from operating in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has its own human rights group that is operating under severe restrictions: reporting only on what it was asked to report, interviewing only those it is allowed to interview, covering only the period of time it is allowed to cover.
Amidst mounting criticism of its heavy-handed dealings with peaceful protesters and increasing pressures from the international community to be fair and transparent in its dealings with opposition, the Ethiopian government promised that its human rights group (Human Rights Council of Ethiopia) will conduct a thorough investigation. Accordingly it gave the human rights group directives to investigate the recent protests and the damages caused.
The investigation was completed and the report is out. The group carefully avoided harsh words and judgement focusing on row data. The names, pictures, addresses of murdered protesters along with dates of their death, where and by whom they were killed. Due to the limited area of investigation and refusal of some interviewees to give information for fear of reprisal, the number of dead is significantly lower than available in other reports (Only one tenths of the protest area was covered in the investigation). Yet, the sheer number of death and the gruesome manner in which the victims died in the hands of government security forces make this report more damning than any accusation leveled at the government by outside parties. So far there is no response to this report by government officials; except that rampant killings continue at a rapid pace.
Meanwhile, the pressing issue, be it in the international community or organized groups of Ethiopians, is not the loss of Oromo lives but how Ethiopia can be saved. “What does Oromo protest mean for Ethiopian Unity?”, queried on report. Consistent with this line of thinking was a very well-written and moving poem I noted as it was read on face book today. The author recalls the heroics of old Abyssinia and appeals to the old bravado to concur the present and reinstall the glorious past. Considering all this I began to ask myself, “Is Ethiopia worth saving?”
I fully understand the need to resort back to ones history to find reason and courage to face current reality. I also have my own understanding of this Abyssinian persona and what it means in the context of Ethiopia and the diverse peoples held within the confines of the Ethiopian empire. It is at this juncture that I started thinking about the progression of evil happenings in the empire from the very beginning to the current carnage.
It is from the journals of Krapf and Isenberg, protestant missionaries, in the first half of the 19th century that the burning and looting of Oromia which took the shape of outright robbery was first published. Because Sululta is part of the ongoing conflict with regards to Addis Ababa expansion, let us look at what Krapf observed in 1942.
The Gallas on the neighboring mountains are called Sululta Gallas. Their neighbors in the south east are called Finfini Gallas, from the high mountains of the same denomination.
The plain of Sululta is exceedingly rich in grass and waters; but there is no wood. I observed here as in other places, that the Gallas leave their plains to their horses, sheep, cows, &c., which they love like their children; while they themselves seek their maintenance by cultivating the mountains. In doing so they are able to bring up a better cavalry than perhaps any other nation.
As the Gallas of Sululta did not pay their tributes in horses and cows, the king gave orders for all their villages to be destroyed by fire. I did not care much to know the names of the Galla villages, as they are destroyed almost on every expedition. The soldiers take all they can get in the houses, and then burn them. As the harvest was over, the king could not, as he generally does, burn the fruits; but much wheat was destroyed with the houses. The Gallas are foolish, I have no doubt, because they could prevent the king from burning their houses, as the tribute which he requires from them is very little.
Sahle Selassie conducted three such raids yearly, according to reports from the same missionaries.
It is worth noting here that the comment, “The Gallas are foolish.” Has proven to be predictive of European response to Oromo suffering as the result of Abyssinian onslaught including the current Oromo protest.
Following Shale Selassie, came Menelik’s full-fledged and barbaric attack that included not only looting and burning, but also mass killing, mutilations of men and women, capturing large numbers of people and selling them off to slavery, taking over lands and subjecting owners into serfdom.
Inheriting and expanding on Sahele Sellassie’s strategy, Menelik carried on more menacing and more extensive expeditions into Oromo regions. The purpose of the expedition is no more to pillage communities and return but to occupy, stay, and suck dry the resource of the Oromo like a deadly parasite.
Here is how Alexander Bulatovich, the Russian army adviser to one Of Menelik’s generals wrote in his journals during 1897/1898.
Regions that did not want to submit voluntarily Menelik turned over to his most talented commanders, whom he let have the opportunity to conquer them and “feed off” them. However, once these regions had been completely destroyed by war, they could not supply provisions for all the troops that had conquered them, which gave rise to the conquest of neighboring lands which were still free. Thus little by little, the domain of Menelik grew, and the borders of Abyssina expanded.
Bulatovich further observed,
The dreadful annihilation of more than half of the population during the conquest took away from the Galla all possibility of thinking about any sort of uprising. And the freedom-loving Galla who didn’t recognize any authority other than the speed of his horse, the strength of his hand, and the accuracy of his spear, now goes through the hard school of obedience.
There are horrific stories one is told as a child about death and destruction of Oromo communities that took place as invading hordes of Abyssinians rampaged through Oromia. My own life began after the empire was fully established and the purpose of its formation, good or bad, was being manifest. Hence, let me just mention a few incidences of cruel deeds and evil happenings I observed as one imperial Ethiopian undertaker after another did its best to uphold Ethiopia and preserve its glory, as my perspective and valuation of Ethiopia cannot avoid the influences of these events.
I was a freshman at the then Haile Selassie I University. New to campus, new to the city, new to the large number of students, I was excited and scared at the same time. One night after dinner there was a big meeting. I was not sure who was in charge, but there were forceful speeches and denunciations of the emperor. The main theme was “land to the tillers.” To be sure there were supporters of the emperor who warned of God’s wrath upon those who would speak ill of the emperor. I remember a mob attack upon one of those supporters of the emperor. The next morning things seemed tense, at least to me, and immediately after breakfast we gathered in the middle of the campus. The leaders with their megaphones announced the direction. We were to live the Amist Kilo campus and walk up to the Sidist Kilo campus to join with the protesters there. We had just started chanting when sounds of gun-fire interrupted us. A sudden commotion ensued. I do not remember how I got out of the campus, but there were many who fell down and got run over by the crowed as the result of the stampede. One of the leaders was shot dead.
As I was running across the street I could see strange looking armed people in rusty uniforms and hard hats running after students. Later I learned that they were the meder tor (the ground army of the emperor). Some of them were at the gate clubbing students while others were waiting outside the walls of the fence ready to intercept those who were jumping over the fence. I heard that one student who was climbing over the fence in a hurry fell onto the waiting bayonet of one of those beastly troops. I ran all the way to my friend’s apartment where I stayed in hiding for weeks.
For a number of days following that, security officers of the emperor were busy rounding up students, loading them onto trucks, and shipping them out of the city. No one knew where they were going or what was to happen to them. Students who were from the city or those who had close relatives in the city knew where to hide. But those from the country side who did not have friends residing in the city were easy prey for the merciless security forces. (Yes, even back then the source of our insecurity was Ethiopian security forces.) For a number of weeks there was no public transportation leaving Addis Ababa, making it difficult for the unfortunate souls to escape and ensuring a maximum harvest for the terror inflicting “security forces” of the emperor.
After hiding for about six weeks I was informed that buses were starting to leave Addis Ababa. So I left one early morning and went to the bus station. I boarded the bus for home and waited for the news of the University opening. After what felt like ages, in reality about two months, I was back in Addis Ababa. I ran into a high school friend of mine. He looked very skinny. This was a young man who was always upbeat and seemed to be bothered by nothing. This time he looked angry, withdrawn, and unexcitable. I invited him to join me for coffee and he, reluctantly, accepted my invitation.
I learned from this friend what happened to some of those students who were captured and loaded on trucks. My friend began to explain.
We were packed on the open back of the lorry. We travelled all that day and all of that night. We were brought to the base of a steep mountain. We were hungry, thirsty, and dirty. Then the security forces lined us up and ordered us to remove our shoes. They tied our feet together at the ankle and tied our hands in the back. Then they ordered us to climb the mountain. Since we could not take steps up, we had to hop. It was hard to balance as our hands were tied in the back. You can imagine how hard it was to stay on your feet. It was even harder to get up after you fell down. As the sharp rocks cut into our bare skins and the prickly bur clovers and other thorny plants poked holes in our skins we were bloodied. To add insult to injury, the barbaric torturer mocked you if you showed a sign of weakness and cried upon falling down and being unable to get up. He would kick you and say, “What is the matter woman! I thought you were the tough guy who was ready to take over the government.”
After getting kicked, beaten, spat on, and insulted several times you make it to the top. Then he would hurry you back down. This time, when you fall, you cannot stop from rolling down. It was a trip to hell and the devil was right there behind you, torturing you.
Listening to my friend, I was even more frightened than before. But still I had to go on being a student, dangerous and endangered at the same time. Yes, being a student is still a dangerous proposition in Ethiopia.
Fast forward 15 years. This time I am in the United States. Oromo refugees are all over the Horn of Africa. I find myself advocating for Oromo refugees: helping in resettlement, helping with relief aid, and advocating for them in every way I could. This effort brought me to the Sudan.
After spending a couple of days in Khartoum, I took the bus to go to where there were a large number of Oromo refugees. I got off the bus in a small village, Sinja, where the Oromo Relief association had a presence. There were not many refugees there. But I was able to find a man who looked much older than he actually was. I spent a couple of hours talking to him and learning about him.
This man had a very normal beginning in a rural Oromia village. He was the oldest of many brothers and sisters. He married early and had a baby girl he Called Shukkaare. He was forcibly recruited into the militia by the Dergue government. In his unit, there were mostly people like him, people who did not volunteer to be there, people who did not speak Amharic, people who had never been to school. It was not a training but a preparation for death. To drive the message home that you are there to die, there was a game of initiation they played. In this game, one unlucky recruit would be chosen. The chosen recruit would be asked to dig his own grave. Once the hole is dug deep enough, the recruit would be made to stand in the grave. Another recruit would be asked to stand at a given distance and aim. On signal he would shoot. Sometimes it would take two or more bullets to kill the unfortunate wretch. On occasions the shooter had blanks and the action was made to just scare the victim and give the onlookers to have something to laugh about. It was a hell on earth. This is where you learn to hate yourself and hate everyone else.
Shukkare’s father was lucky enough to survive and return home for a short time. A stay home however, was for him, not safer than being in the militia. Shortly after arriving home he was accused of having ties with the Oromo Liberation Front and put in prison. It was while he was talking about his prison experience that he literally broke down. His pain was so visible that I could not hold back my tears. After listing to all the different torture methods that are now familiar like, beating with electric wire on the bare skin of the back, beating the soles of the feet with electric wire, tying ones hand in the back and the feet together with a rope and suspending the person in an awkward way for hours, dipping head underwater, mock execution, and etc., he came to one where he could not say. He just froze. His face turned dark. He stooped down and started scratching the dirt with a twig. Then he mumbled, “Man, man, what is left of a man?”
I did not pursue that topic further. I did not want to pain him more by asking him to explain what he meant. I surmised that it must have been what I had heard of elsewhere, namely, the torture involving sexual organs. He might have been impotent as the direct result of the torture he suffered in prison. One must never suffer such degradation.
Fast forward another quarter of a century. The TPLF assumes power in Ethiopia. Land grab is the newest method of Oromo expropriation and subjugation. Oromo protest is in full swing. Thanks to the social media, we see the methods of torture and the rising level of barbarity by the government forces daily. The government denies all reports of foreign human rights organizations. The resource starved and legally restricted internal human rights organization referred to above just released its report. Not only did it confirm what had been alleged by the international human rights organizations but it listed names, ages, locations, pictures of the victims as well as who has done the killing. The government continues its terror on the Oromo people.
Abyssinians built their tolerance for this inhuman treatment while they were inflicting it on others, mainly Oromos. Here and there they do inflict it on each other. Now the TPLF is doing it to the Amharas as well. The Amharas are outraged that this is happening to them. They boast that it is not natural that this happen to them and they refer back to history to muster up courage and face the enemy. The Oromo on the other hand have been denouncing this history. We can never be proud of this Ethiopian history. We cannot leave with humiliation forever either. So the answer to the question, “Is Ethiopia worth saving?” is, I guess, “yes,” and no. “Yes,” for those who want to continue the history, the resulting conflict, the rapid descent into darkest depth of barbarity that we see in Ethiopia today. And “no,” for those who want a new arrangement of freedom and autonomy? The new arrangement will and must recognize past wrongs, build new relationships, and start anew.
There are those who confuse the opposition to Abyssinian hegemony over Oromia with opposition to Abyssinians. Throughout the history of Abyssinian expansion into Oromia it is the Abyssinisan elites and the military who inflicted the suffering on the Oromo. It is only the Abyssinian system of aggression that was the problem. However, Abyssinians, either as individual or as organized communities never recognized the problem of the Oromos or empathized with their condition. While only a small number of elite Abyssinisans benefit from the system of aggression, the large majority of them are left with the psychological benefit of knowing that they may be poor and destitute but, thank god, they are not Oromos. How much this psychological benefit is worth is an open question. Even right now, there are many peasants in Tigray who are starving while a handful of Tigray elites are enriching themselves by robbing Oromos. Oromo opposition to Abyssinisan aggression is an act of self-defense that is aimed at ridding Oromia of the enemy. Abyssinisans who are not in Oromia as parts and parcel of the system of continued aggression do not have anything to worry about. In the absence of aggression, the possibility of neighborly relations based on mutual respect and benefit can and must be established. For now, the pressing need for Oromos is freedom and self-determination.
One might ask if there is a possibility of an alliance between the colonized Oromo and the neglected Abyssinians. Such an alliance, however, requires the awareness of the neglected Abyssinians of their true condition, that they are not represented by their elites and that their conditions would be better in an environment of peace. The question then is who would lead the campaign for awareness? Oromos have more pressing needs. Abyssinian groups who are organized and are looking for allies, at present, seem to be those who wish to take their turn and continue the Abyssinian tradition of aggression. These elements are the ones calling for Ethiopian unity, often at the cost of freedom of the colonized peoples of the South the majority which are the Oromo. For the Oromo, the primary objective is not to maintain Ethiopia any form but to regain the humanity of the occupied and dehumanized peoples. To this effect Oromos must assert their own rights and become masters of their own destiny first and then worry about how to relate to others.
Teferi Fufa
3/15/16