Help Support victims in my hometown Agarfa

My Name is Hakim,
I am from Melbourne Austrailia, I would like your support in helping the people of my birthplace Agarfa. On June 29th, 2020 popular Oromo artist and activist Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was viciously gunned down and assassinated. 

The Oromo ethnic group is the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, yet they have experienced a history of extensive repression. Haacaaluu was known for his songs that provided support for the Oromo group’s fight against this repression. His songs were a sound track for the anti government protests that called for change and justice in the country.

Haacaaluu’s assassination has sparked a series of protests and 239 people have been killed, while nearly 5,000 have been arrested. Immediately following Haacaaluu’s death, the government cut off internet service restricting access to information and media. This is just one of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s tactics to cover up the crimes and severe human rights violations from the international community. During a time of high crisis and emergency, the internet shut down has caused further confusion, powerlessness, and anxiety among Ethiopians and the diaspora. However, internet blackouts by the government are not new to Ethiopia. According to Top10VPN, the country experienced 274 hours of internet blackouts in 2019 alone. In fact, the blackouts have become a “go-to tool for authorities to muzzle unrest and activism.”

In 2019, the world watched as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Since then, we have watched Abiy become a self-made dictator, who has used and is still using military force to silence citizens and respond to peaceful Oromo protests with force and abuse of power.

In my birth town of Agarfa, Abiy has gone as far as using an elementary school as a jail, detaining over 1,500 residents from Agarfa and surrounding cities. Among the detained and the victims, are mothers, children, and elderly. No age group has been spared by Abiy.

As of July 1st, Ethiopia had 5,846 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 103 deaths. At a time when the world is grappling with COVID-19, Abiy has completely disregarded social distancing and instead locked groups of people in small spaces, using COVID-19 as a weapon against the people.

We would like your support to raise money for families of those injured or killed during the peaceful protests. For example, Hussein Shubbise, who was gunned down by government military forces and many more innocent unarmed civilians who were viciously gunned down by military forces. Health centers and public services have been burned and destroyed by government forces and innocent residents have been detained in the elementary school (now jail) in Web Valley.

Families have lost their loved ones and some families have lost multiple members in the same day. We need your support to help provide resources for remaining family members. Mothers and children are now in an even more dire situation and any contribution big or small will help. We greatly appreciate your support. Stand with us against injustice and do what you can in the journey towards justice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBEOIvFSBE0