The Indigenous Oromo Nation: Victims of Natural Resource Theft under Abyssinian Imperialism and Colonialism in the Creation of Modern Ethiopia
Muhammad Al-Hashimi
Fourth World Journal (2025) 25 (1): 457-479
Keywords Emperor Menelik II, Gujii Oromo, Lega Dembi Mine, ICRIN (International Covenant on the Rights of Indigenous Nations), “NICT” (Nations Indigenous Court Tribunal), Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), Indigenous rights in East Africa, Ethiopian Constitution, Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Haile Selassie
Abstract
This paper examines the exploitation of the Indigenous Oromo people’s natural resources without Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), beginning with the historical subjection and oppression of the Oromo by imperial and colonial forces. It challenges the prevailing narrative of Ethiopia’s 3,000-year independence by showing that its current geopolitical boundaries—formed no more than 175 years ago —resulted from African imperial expansion. Focusing on the Lega Dembi gold mines in southern Oromia, the analysis demonstrates how successive Ethiopian regimes have violated Gujii Oromo human and Indigenous rights through forced gold and silver extraction, precipitating severe environmental harm. Finally, it argues for the Oromo Nation’s accession to the International Covenant on the Rights of Indigenous Nations (ICRIN) and recognition by the Nations Indigenous Court Tribunal (NICT), thereby securing a legal forum to address ongoing FPIC infringements and seek redress for resource-extraction abuses.
Muhammad Al-Hashimi
Published June 23, 2025
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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