Below is a statement issued by the Oromo Liberation Front: 

STATEMENT FROM THE OROMO LIBERATION FRONT (OLF)

The National Council of Oromo Liberation Front has successfully completed its regular meeting that was held from March 16 to 21, 2008. During its meeting the National Council extensively deliberated, among others, on important issues relevant to the Organization, the Oromo people, the Ethiopian Government and the Horn of Africa and passed the below resolutions. 

In its three decades long history, the Oromo Liberation Front  (OLF)has passed through ups and downs and it is continuing to rally the Oromo people in its struggle. The fundamental political objectives of the OLF, the realization of the Oromo People´s inalienable rights to self-determination, are intact. These fundamental objectives of the OLF are supported by millions of Oromos. In order to soon realize the fundamental objectives of the OLF, the Council has directed its Executive Committee to organize and conduct multifaceted struggle. 

To thwart the Oromo people´s support for the OLF, the TPLF regime/the Ethiopian Government has engaged in unparalleled suppression of the Oromo people. The heinous atrocities the TPLF regime is perpetrating on the Oromo people is intensifying. Even the Oromo refugees who fled the country due to persecution and fear of persecution by the regime are not safe from the inhuman and cruel atrocities that TPLF regimes unleashed on the Oromo people. The recent mass killing/massacre of the Oromo refugees in Bosasso, Somalia, perpetrated by the TPLF regime´s forces is another evidence of the inhuman and cruel atrocities that the TPLF regime is perpetrating on the Oromo people inside and outside the country. The National Council of the Oromo Liberation Front again vigorously condemns the TPLF regime´s cruel and inhuman action taken against the Oromo refugees in Bosasso.

The National Council noted and appreciated the Oromo people´s support for the OLF that is unabated in spite of the TPLF regime´s arbitrary arrests, wanton and extra-judicial killings, dispossessions and other appalling human rights violations. The National Council again calls upon the Oromo people to continue its defiance of the tyranny of the TPLF regime, to foil the regime´s divide and rule tactics/ schemes and to double its just struggle until its legitimate aspirations for liberation, human rights and democracy are achieved.

There is no form of suppression and atrocity that the minority based TPLF regime did not and will not commit to perpetrate its tyrannical rule. The atrocities that the TPLF regime is committing against the people are evidence that substantiates the TPLF regimes unwillingness to peacefully and democratically address the peoples´ political questions for liberation and democracy. As a result, the TPLF regime, in contravention of its own constitution, international laws and norms, is escalating the suppression of and atrocities against the peoples of the country. It is also continuing its interference in the internal affairs of the neighbouring countries. The TPLF regime is an anti-peace and anti-stability force in the Horn of Africa. The Council, therefore, reminds and warns that the TPLF regime that it shall be responsible for the consequences of the tensions and worrisome situation that is prevailing the Horn of Africa.

It is to be recalled that the TPLF regime has repeatedly pledged to the peoples of the country and the international community that it is committed to bring democracy, peace and development to Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the hitherto process and records of the TPLF regime show that the regime conducts sham and rigged periodic elections for the sake of "legitimizing" its tyrannical rule. The truth the regimes´ records show beyond doubt is the TPLF regime lacks the political will and capacity to organize free and fair elections and to accept the verdict of the people. We, therefore, call up on all political forces that are struggling for liberation and democracy to pull our forces and resources together [to] pave the way for liberation, democracy, peace and development.

The gross human rights violations it has engaged in, the economic exploitation and dispossession of the people it has embarked up on, its sinister acts of divide and rule and the acts pitting and inciting people of the country against one another and the wanton interference in the internal affairs, the aggression and occupation of neighbouring countries unmistakably demonstrate that the TPLF regime is an anti-peace force that is destabilizing the Horn of Africa. In a total disregard to the TPLF tyrannical regimes´ glaring bad human rights records and shameful and irresponsible behaviour, the Western Countries´ continued their economic, political, diplomatic and military support to the regime. The Western Countries´ support to the TPLF regime is not only saddening; it also contravenes their publicly known policies and stated declarations. Therefore, the OLF National Council calls up on Western Countries to review and reconsider their policies towards the tyrannical TPLF regime and stand with the OLF and other forces of liberation, democracy, justice, peace and progress.

Victory to the Oromo People!

National Council of the OLF

March 21, 2008