Marii Oromia

Suppressing disent in Oromia

Oromia is the largest and most populous of Ethiopia’s nine regional states. It sprawls over 32 percent of the country’s total land area and is home to at least 23 million people. Oromia surrounds the nation’s capital, Addis Ababa, and divides Ethiopia’s southwestern states from the rest of the country. While Oromia’s population is ethnically diverse, the overwhelming majority of people who reside there are ethnic Oromo. The Oromo population is quite diverse in terms of history, religion and other factors, but the group shares a common language, Afan Oromo and a strong and distinct sense of ethnic and national identity.

Oromo nationalism has evolved in response to the Oromo people’s long, difficult and often antagonistic relationship with the Ethiopian state. Much of what is now Oromia was conquered and forcibly incorporated into the Amhara-dominated Ethiopian empire towards the end of the nineteenth century. During the old imperial era, the Oromo people were subjected to widespread repression. The rulers in Addis Ababa adopted a policy of forced cultural assimilation and they took steps to suppress Oromo culture, including restricting the use and development of Afan Oromo. Haile Selassie, the last Ethiopian emperor, was overthrown by the military in 1974. But the “Derg,” the committee of military officers who seized control of the country, quickly evolved into an extremely brutal dictatorship that continued the oppression of the Oromo.

Extracted from Human Rights Watch report on Human Rights abuses in Oromia
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