OLF slams AU characterization of military conflict in Oromia as “ethnic violenceâ€
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Loading... - Christian Manu
- 11 Aug 2022
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The opposition party, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), has criticized the African Union’s (AU) characterization of the militarized conflict in Oromia regional state as “ethnic violence.” The OLF was referring to a recent “Brief Note” by the AU after its High Representative for the Horn of Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo briefed the AU Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC) on the peace talks in Ethiopia. The party said such characterization was based on “erroneous assumptions and factual fallacies that one does not expect from a continental organization…. A modest observer expects AU to base its conclusion on a non-partisan, solid, and comprehensive analysis of the drivers of the conflict and its actors.”
“Apart from the conflict in Tigray, western continued to be confronted by ethnic violence that is taking a heavy toll on inter-communal relations including in parts of Oromia and Benishangul Gumuz regions. These ethnic tensions have dates back to several decades but have seen a sharp increase over the past three years,” the AU’s brief note reads, triggering the backlash from the OLF.
AU’s characterization disregards the facts that “different groups of people who subsume varied identities have amicably lived with the Oromo people in Oromia in general and Western Oromia in particular. Hospitality, friendliness and protection of non-Oromo groups have been the hallmarks of the Oromo culture since immemorial. Members of the Amhara ethnic group have lived in the area mainly referred to by AU for the last 30 years and have never complained of misdeeds, as they have never had any problem,” the OLF said.
Armed confrontation has been raging by liberation forces since the 1980s, and there is no single report of an attack against civilians, including the Amhara, the party said, and accused the ruling Prosperity Party of trying to model the conflict as “ethnic” in order “to shun a political solution to the problem and deny the liberation fighters’ political demands.” Read More...
