A call for a change of strategy

Another theme highlighted by Oromo social media activists was a change of tactics and strategies. The tactics and strategies were aimed at minimizing the risk of being identified by the government security forces on the one hand and strengthening the protests on the other hand.

5.4.5.1.1 Minimizing the risk

Tufa (2016h) his post on 5 October 2016 suggested a specific action such as road blocking to limit the movements of security forces. He told his followers to block roads in order to limit the movement of the killer-soldiers and their killings. He advised on possible locations of road blockade suggesting road blockade should not be in cities as doing so would lead to the security forcing the people to remove the boulders. Tufa (2016h) also encouraged the protesters to block roads at some selected and strategic locations far from cities.

Tufa (2016g) also provided further information. He warned protesters not to disclose the locations of the roadblock and not to post a picture of it on social media as doing so would help security forces to know about it in advance. He suggested that the protesters leave the area once they blocked the roads. In another post on 2 October 2016 Tufa (2016c) called for the need to defeat what he called the war the government waged on the Oromo people. He insisted that the war, the kind of which has not been declared on human being, has been declared on his people and has to be defeated. Oromo activists also challenged his followers saying if they deserve to live while genocide was being waged on the people. For instance, Tufa (2016d) asked his

followers if they deserve to live as usual while a genocide was taking place on the Oromo people.

5.4.5.1.2 Change of #Hashtag

Another strategy suggested by some Oromo activists of social media was a change of hashtag from #OromoProtests to #OromoRevolution. For example, Tufa (2016i) shared an article by Bonsa (2016) article on his website. Tufa directly quoted Bonsa’s definition of the “‘#OromoProtests was a short [sic]hand for a longer Oromo Peaceful Protests’” (Bonsa 2016 quoted in Tufa (2016i). The activists explained that the change of hashtag was needed because the efforts to bring about change through a peaceful means “‘fell on deaf ears’” (Bonsa quoted in Tufa (2016i).

5.4.5.1.3 Call for a military means

Some activists also suggested a change of strategy that involves a shift from peaceful protests (political means) to military means. For example, Ararssa (2016r) in his post on 2 October 2016 suggested the use of military force to stop the death of people was the only option. Ararssa (2016r) also expressed his doubt of peaceful (political solution). The following is a direct quote of his message on Facebook posted on 2 October 2016:

Unfortunately, it has become increasingly more and more obvious that there is little likelihood for political end to this carnage. Regrettably, only military solutions are availing themselves. It has become abundantly clear that the matter now is going to be settled on the streets and jungles of Oromia, not on the corridors of the political class in Addis or on the diplomatic corridors of the regime's foreign patrons. This must be the limit of politics, national and international. (Ararssa, 2016r, para.1).

5.4.5.2 Call for unity

Strengthening unity among different tribes was also another theme that was highlighted by some Oromo activists. For example, Gebissa (2016) stressed that “the Irreecha Massacre” needed to be “seen as a new chapter in the epic of Oromo resistance against a kleptocratic cabal parading as an Ethiopian government” (para. 15). He warned his followers if they did not follow the advice of Martin Niemöller saying, “We were going to be doomed if we don’t heed the counsel of Martin Niemöller applied to our situation” (para. 1). Gebissa borrowed from Niemöller’s “First they came…” version to Ethiopia’s situation by taking the examples of Sidama and Anuak tribes whose people were killed by the Ethiopian security forces in 2002 and 2004-2006 respectively. He described it as follows:

First [sic] they came for the Sidama, and we did not didn’t do much—because we’re not all Sidama. Then they came for the Anuak, and we did not do much—Because we’re not all Anuaks. Then they came for the Oromo, again and again, and we didn’t do much— Because I was not an Oromo. Then they came for us—and there was no one left to speak for all of us. They have no struck at the heart of what it means to be Oromo. (para. 15).

5.5 Summary

The aim of this chapter was to examine the themes highlighted by Oromo activists on three major events during the Oromo protests: #OromiaGrandRally, the 2016 Rio Olympics, and the Irreecha event of October 2016. Analysis of texts on #OromiaGrandRally event show that Oromo protests highlighted difference themes. In their pre-rally social media posts, they highlighted different demands they wanted the Ethiopian government to answer. These include different political and economic demands; a call for an end to violence, which they framed as state-terrorism; justice; and environmental protection. However, as violence erupted on the day

of the rally, there was a change in the post-rally themes. That is, the post-rally themes highlighted security force’s violence against the protesters, expression of solidarity with the victims of the violence; and determination to continue the protests.

On the Rio Olympic 2016 event, where Feyisa Lilesa showed a defiant gesture at the finish-line of the marathon race, Oromo highlighted three major themes: the “the world is watching us” by mainly focusing on the news media’s coverage it received; expression of praise for Lilessa, and discussion on its impact on the Oromo protests.

Analysis of the Oromo activists’ posts of the Irreecha event indicate they focused on five major themes: complain about how the news media covered the incident; expression of

grievance; expression of hope; sharing information with the public; and a call for a new protest strategy.

6 ANALYSIS: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS 6.1 Introduction

This chapter analyzes the major themes and their framing by two international human rights groups: Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International respectively, answering research question 3. Like the news media and the Oromo activist social media texts analyzed in the preceding chapters, human rights groups also highlighted three major themes: causes of the protest, government action, and call for action. Both Human Rights Watch and Anesty

International framed the cause of the protests, government response, and call for action themes as grievances, violence, and justice respectively.