By Kevin Sieff and Paul Schemm
August 22 at 1:59 PM
Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa crosses his arms as he crosses the finish line to win the silver medal in the men’s marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. (Luca Bruno/AP)
Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa won an Olympic medal then protested his government. Can he go home?
NAIROBI — One day after winning silver in the Olympic marathon, Feyisa Lilesa faced a much different decision than other medalists: Would it be safe for him to return home?
As he finished the race Sunday, Lilesa held his arms above his head in an “X,” a sign of protest used against the Ethiopian government for its persecution of the Oromo ethnic group. Lilesa took a brave stand, and at a news conference, it was clear he knew the price he might have to pay.
“If I go back to Ethiopia, maybe they will kill me,” he said Sunday. “If not kill me, they will put me in prison. I have not decided yet, but maybe I will move to another country,” he said.
On Monday, faced with an avalanche of international attention, the Ethiopian government said they would not punish Lilesa upon his return.
“He is an Ethiopian hero who has done his all to make us all proud — as far as his political views are concerned, he is entitled to them,” said government spokesman Getachew Reda, to The Post, emphasizing that Lilesa had nothing to fear from returning home.
[11 of the biggest political moments at the Olympics]
But Ethiopians — particularly members of the diaspora — were deeply concerned for his safety. On one fundraising website, people donated more than $40,000 in 15 hours to Lilesa’s cause.
“Feyisa Lilesa faces persecution if he goes back to Ethiopia and he has decided to seek asylum,” wrote the fundraisers. “Funds are needed to support him and his family in the meantime.”
Lilesa could not be reached and his agent declined to comment.
Despite Reda’s promise that Lilesa would be welcomed back, there has been almost no mention of Lilesa’s stellar marathon performance in the state media’s Olympics reports.
A show of defiance could lead to trouble for Ethiopian medalist
Play Video1:19
As marathoner Feyisa Lilesa won the silver medal at the Rio Olympics, he crossed the finish line with his hands above his head in an “X.” Lilesa was protesting the Ethiopian government’s treatment of the Oromo tribe, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group. (Jason Aldag, Kevin Sieff/The Washington Post)
One program led with Ethiopia’s Under 17 team winning a qualifying soccer match against an Egyptian team. Then the broadcaster talked about Ethiopia’s poor showing at the games before finally mentioning the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge winning the marathon while Lilesa “only” received the silver. He then went on to talk more about the Kenyan winner, with no further mention of Lilesa.
Lilesa’s fear that he will be jailed is borne out in the experiences of other Ethiopians. In 2012, Eskinder Nega, a blogger, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and Woubshet Taye, a journalist, was sentenced to 14 years. Both were convicted on terrorism charges. Human rights groups say Ethiopia frequently uses anti-terror laws to round up its critics. In 2014, the Committee to Protect Journalists declared Ethiopia “the fourth worst jailer of journalists in the world.”
[Ethiopia doesn’t want you to know these things are happening]
Ethiopia’s runners are among the country’s biggest celebrities. When its first Olympic champion, Abebe Bikila, died, the government called for a national day of mourning. Haile Gebrselassie, another former champion, is one of the country’s richest men. He has flirted several times with a run for parliament or even president.
But younger, less-established runners have complained about persecution at home, seeking asylum when traveling for international meets. Many say that persecution is linked to their Oromo ethnicity.
“I’d rather commit suicide in America than return to Ethiopia,” one runner told The Post last year.
Protests have increased in Ethiopia in recent months, and many of them turned violent after government forces turned their weapons on civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 400 people have been killed since November.
The Oromo people have long complained about being mistreated by the nation’s government, which has recently threatened to reallocate some of the group’s land. But recently, the Oromos have been joined in their protest by other ethnic groups, including the Amharas, some of whom also feel antagonized by the government, which is dominated by the Tigrayan ethnic minority. Those growing protests, experts say, could eventually pose a threat to the government.
Still, Ethiopia is seen by many Western governments as a relative success story, particularly in economic terms. It is one of the fastest growing countries in sub-Saharan Africa with increasingly modern infrastructure, like a new light rail in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The government has its own take on the protests, as Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn told The Guardian in an interview earlier this year.
“We have clearly identified why this protest has come about: unemployment and lack of good governance. Building democratic culture will take some time. But we are on the right track. It’s improving,” Desalegn said.
Source – The Washington Post
Ethiopian Marathoner’s Protest Puts Him at Odds With His Government
By DANIEL VICTOR and JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
AUG. 21, 2016
Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia, who won the silver medal in the men’s marathon at the Rio Olympics, during an award ceremony on Sunday. Credit Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press
As Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia crossed the finish line in his silver-medal marathon run at the Rio Olympics on Sunday, he raised his arms and crossed them in an X, a gesture of protest against his country’s government that he said could get him killed if he returned home.
He is uncertain where he will go next, and what will become of his wife and two children in Ethiopia.
“If I go back to Ethiopia, maybe they will kill me,” he said at a news conference after the race, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. “If I am not killed, maybe they will put me in prison.”
Ethiopia’s communications minister, Getachew Reda, told CNN that Mr. Lilesa “shouldn’t at all be worried” to return, calling him an “Ethiopian hero.”
“I can assure you nothing is going to happen to his family; nothing is going to happen to him,” Mr. Reda said.
An accomplished distance runner who has one of the 50 fastest marathon times, Mr. Lilesa defied an Olympic prohibition on political demonstrations to make his statement, raising his arms again in protest at the race’s medal ceremony.
He told reporters he had not discussed the protest ahead of time with others, including his manager, teammates and family, out of fear for his safety.
Soon after his gesture, Mr. Lelisa quickly attracted supporters on social media.
Antigovernment protests in Ethiopia, an American ally that has experienced stability and a growing economy over the past decade, have been growing recently, with thousands of people demanding political changes.
Human rights groups say the protests have been met by brutal crackdowns by the government, including the shooting deaths of unarmed protesters. A Human Rights Watch report in June estimated that more than 400 people had been killed in seven months, almost all of them civilians.
Protesters in the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia’s largest, say they feel marginalized. The Tigrayan ethnic group makes up about 6 percent of the population but dominates in politics, the military and commerce.
“The Ethiopian government is killing my people, so I stand with all protests anywhere, as Oromo is my tribe,” Mr. Lilesa said, according to The Washington Post. “My relatives are in prison, and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed.”
Seyoum Teshome, a university lecturer in central Ethiopia, predicted that the Ethiopian government will indeed treat Mr. Lelisa like a hero, at least publicly. “They will not do anything silly against that guy,” he said.
“The whole world knows about him now,” Mr. Teshome said. “If they arrest him, it will be a huge mistake and create a further disturbance.”
The Ethiopian government is known to be quite adept at damage control, using urbane officials to deflect criticism. So far, it seems to have worked.
Human rights groups have complained for years about repression and brutality inside Ethiopia, but the government continues to maintain friendly ties with the West, which sees Ethiopia as a stable ally in a region that has been plagued by violent extremism and chaos. President Obama, for example, visited Ethiopia in 2015.
Mr. Teshome said, however, that Mr. Lilesa’s act — crossing his arms at a moment when millions were watching him on TV — had been a blow to the carefully constructed image the government has tried to project.
He said that many Ethiopians were impressed by Mr. Lelisa’s courage, and that “everybody is talking about it” in the town where Mr. Teshome lives, Woliso, and across social media.
But Mr. Teshome said that on Monday, the state-controlled media was not broadcasting any images of Mr. Lelisa with his arms crossed. “This was what the government was afraid of,” he said.
Mr. Lelisa told reporters on Sunday he did not know where he would go next, but mentioned Kenya and the United States as possibilities, according to a video from LetsRun.com.
Mr. Teshome said he expected that Mr. Lelisa would not return to Ethiopia, even if officials pledged he would be safe.
“Whether they treat him well or not doesn’t make a difference; he was protesting what happens to his people, the killing of his people,” Mr. Teshome said. “We are living in a dictatorial state, a totalitarian state.”
https://youtu.be/PhjdE9AJtxo
Feyisa Lilesa “If I go back to Ethiopia, they will kill me” Video by Ethiopian Diaspora
Source – The New York Times
Ethiopian Olympic medallist seeks asylum after marathon protest
Feyisa Lilesa, who made arm gesture of support for his Oromo tribe as he finished race in Rio, says he fears going home
Sorry, this video is not available in your region due to rights restrictions.
Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa makes gesture of protest on marathon finish line in Rio
Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Monday 22 August 2016 14.16 BST
An Olympic silver medallist from Ethiopia is seeking asylum overseas after making a gesture of protest as he crossed the finishing line in the men’s marathon in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
Hundreds of millions of people watched Feyisa Lilesa hold his arms over his head, wrists crossed, in support of members of his Oromo tribe in the east African nation.
“It is a very dangerous situation for the Oromo people in Ethiopia. In nine months more than 1,000 people died in protests,” Lilesa told reporters after the race.
The runner said he now feared detention or death if he returned home.
“They will kill me. I haven’t another visa. Maybe I stay here. If I can get visa I can go to America,” the 26-year-old said.
Lilesa’s protest prompted an outpouring of support on social media, while a crowdfunded effort to raise money to help him find a home outside Ethiopia had received nearly $40,000 (£30,000) in donations within hours.
Eliud Kipchoge powers to marathon gold as Callum Hawkins finishes ninth
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Olympic athletes are prohibited from making political statements during the Games, but it appears unlikely Lilesa will face any sanctions from sport authorities.
Ethiopia has long been one of the world’s poorest nations but has experienced rapid industrialisation in the past decade. Authorities have been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses and of discrimination against the Oromo, the country’s largest ethnic group, comprising about 25% of the country’s 100m population.
Plans to allocate land surrounding the capital, Addis Ababa, for development prompted fierce demonstrations from members of the tribe in November. Many of those who would have been displaced by the new scheme were Oromo.
Authorities scrapped the scheme in January, but protests spread and continued for months, in the country’s worst unrest in more than a decade.
Several rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that up to 400 have been killed in clashes between security forces and protesters.
In the wake of the violence, the United Nations urged Ethiopia to allow international observers in to the worst hit parts of the country.
“Oromo is my tribe … Oromo people now protest what is right, for peace, for a place,” Lilesa told reporters after winning his silver medal, adding that he feared his wife and two children might already have been arrested.
“Maybe I move to another country … you get the freedom if you support only the government. You cannot work without that.”
The government disputes the allegations of human rights violations and says illegal protests by “anti-peace forces” have been brought under control.
Hailemariam Desalegn
Ethiopia’s prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, described Ethiopia as an island of stability. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters
In an interview with the Guardian earlier this year, Ethiopia’s prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, described Ethiopia as an island of stability within the troubled Horn of Africa region.
“We have clearly identified why this protest has come about: unemployment and lack of good governance. Building democratic culture will take some time. But we are on the right track. It’s improving,” Desalegn said.
Any sign of unrest is closely watched in Ethiopia with frequent detentions of alleged dissidents and pressure on the media. Ethiopia is 142nd of 180 in the Press Freedom Index compiled by the Reporters Without Borders campaign group.
In elections last May, Ethiopia’s ruling coalition and allied parties won all 547 seats in the federal parliament and 100% of legislative positions in nine regional councils.
The nation is seen in the west as a key ally in the campaign against Islamic militants from the al-Shabaab movement in neighbouring Somalia and a centre of relative stability in fragile east Africa. Criticism from Washington or European powers of any human rights abuses has been muted.
Ethiopia Africa Rio 2016 Olympic Games Human rights United Nations
22 Aug 2016
Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa makes gesture of protest on marathon finish line in Rio – video
Source – The Guardian
Ethiopia says marathoner, who fears for his life, to be welcomed as hero
Silver medalist crossed his wrists at the marathon finish line in an attempt to draw global attention to deadly protests in his home region, Oromia.
Feyisa Lilesa told reporters on Sunday that he may be killed or imprisoned if he ever goes back to the East African country. He called protesting inside Ethiopia “very dangerous.”
The silver medalist crossed his wrists in an attempt to draw global attention to deadly protests in his home region, Oromia. He told reporters that Ethiopia’s government is killing his people.
“Oromo is my tribe,” he said. “My relatives are in prison, and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed.”
Lilesa “will not face any problems for his political stance,” the government spokesman, Getachew Reda, told the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate. “After all, this is an athlete who secured a silver medal for his country.”
It was not immediately clear whether Lilesa plans to return. He told reporters that he would discuss the issue with family and friends.
Ethiopia’s state broadcaster, EBC, did not re-broadcast images of Lilesa’s gesture. Some people who were watching live and cheering for Lilesa quickly hushed when they saw his gesture.
The Oromo are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group with about 40 million people. Their region has seen massive anti-government protests since November 2015 that activists say have left more than 400 dead.
The protests were ignited by the government’s decision to annex some Oromia land into the capital, Addis Ababa. The plan has been abandoned, but demonstrations calling for wider freedoms have continued.
Ethiopia’s government, a close security ally of the West, is often accused of silencing dissent, even blocking internet access at times.
