On September 12th, 1974, the Military Coordinating Committee (Derg) proclaimed itself as the Provisional Military Administration Council (PMAC) and took over the state and government power.

At the end of 1974, to weaken and eliminate the major opposition groups in the urban centers, the Derg sent all university and high school students and teachers to rural areas on what was called "Development Through Cooperation Campaign" - Zamacha.

1974

Nov 1974

to 

Feb 1977

The Derg brought together the five left-oriented rival groups MEISON, Waz League, Malerid, Abyotawi Seded and Ichat working closely with them and created the Provisional Office for Mass Organization Afairs (POMOA), which soon transformed into Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Organizations (EMALD.) 

Some middle class Oromo women got together to form the first few women's study circles to read and discuss radical literature, especially those on women's oppression.  The main objectives were to be aware of the roots of gender oppression, to organize Oromo women at grassroots to raise gender consciousness, and to bring the message of liberation to them.  But these groups were to be nipped in the bud when the Supreme Politico-Military Command (SPMC) of the OLF moved to eastern Oromia to intensify the armed struggle.

During the "Red Terror," thousands of Oromo youths and intellectuals were slain mercilessly.  Often it was enough to be an Oromo to be suspected which led to arrest and death.

Thousands of young peasants, students, workers from the army, etc. joined the OLF.  Many of them fled the infamous "Red Terror" from the towns and cities.  The peasants fled from the advancing Ethiopian and Somali armies.  At one time, in early 1978, the number of the OLF fighters was estimated at several thousands.  By this time, the OLF influence reached large areas of Hararge and Arsi, northeastern Baale and Shawa bordering northeastern Arsi area, such as Awash National Park.  

Ibsituu Margaa joined the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) as a guerrilla regular and fought on the front line of eastern Oromia.

Juukii Bareentoo joined the OLA and fought at many battles on the front line of eastern Oromia.

Saartu Yusouf was among the Oromo combatants who were killed during a battle between retreating Ethiopian soldiers and an OLF guerrilla unit.  

Juukii Bareentoo became the first Oromo woman fighter ever to be elected to the Central Committee of the OLF, because of her excellent and extraordinary ability in leadership and teaching.  She was responsible for the propaganda section of the political department.

Famine seriously threatened some 10 million inhabitants of the Empire. This famine was perhaps the worst experienced by the peoples of this region.  The ruthless exploitation of the backward peasantry was and still is the major cause of the chronic food shortage and the most significant contributing factor to the creation and exacerbation of famine in the Empire.

The Derg army ambushed the command post of the OLF leadership in a place called Billiqa.  Juukii Bareentoo was among the fighters who fought in a long battle that saved the lives of many members of the leadership, including Galaasa Dilboo, the Secretary General of the OLF.  Juukii took her own life to avoid falling into the hands of her enemies.

Aradoolaa Abdalla joined the OLA and took part at ten major battles in western Oromia.  Because of her bravery, she rose to be platoon commander in the guerrilla leadership.

The Italian government gave 200 million dollars for the implementation of the controversial settlement and villagization program.  

On a cold October day in 1986, long-time Maa'ikalaawii (Central Prison) Oromo prisoners of conscience: Gezahegne Kassahun, Kebede Demissie, Muhee Abdo and Yigezu Wake, were dragged out of their cells and executed by cold-blooded security officers of the Derg regime inside a military intelligence compound in Kotebe, a Finfinne suburb.

According to an Amnesty International Report, in addition to being ardent Oromo nationalists, the four executed prisoners were:
Gezahegne Kassahun - former first deputy chairman, All Ethiopia Trades Union,
Kebede Demissie - former Ministry of Agriculture official,
Muhee Abdo - civil servant and university graduate,
Yigezu Wake - former army lieutenant.

Their "crime" resulting in this cold-blooded extrajudicial execution was being Oromo.

Their fellow prisoner of conscience, Ibsaa Guutama, recounts that October day in 1986 in his book, titled Prison of Conscience, as follows:

"From the Upper Compound, Muhee Abdoo and Gazaheny Kaasaahun were called [out]. It was already heard that several old prisoners from the Karchallee had arrived presumably to be released. Gazaheny informed this writer [Ibsaa] about their arrival, shortly before he himself was called out. The subsequent addition of the two comrades [Muhee and Gazaheny] raised doubt. After some time, the Administration sent for their belongings. That was an enough clue for something bad [had happened to Muhee and Gazaheny.] All their comrades were numbed. They did not know how to respond." (Source: Guutama, Ibsaa, "Prison of Conscience: Upper Compound Maa'kalaawii," Gubirmans Publishing, New York, 2003.)

In a similar account, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, that worked with the Special Prosecutors Office (which was set up in 1992 to investigate and prosecute former Derg officials), reports the following:

"The former Makalawi prisoners that we interviewed said that late on the night of October 7, 1979 [Geez Calendar, 1986 in European Calendar], a truck arrived in the prison compound and twenty prisoners were offloaded. The night was cold and many of the new prisoners had wrapped themselves in blankets. They were put in holding cells apart from the main cellblock. The next morning, at 10-20 minutes intervals, the guards called out each of the twenty new prisoners by name and, one by one, they were marched away. Ten Makalawi prisoners were similarly called out and taken away. The thirty men never returned, and by late afternoon rumors began to circulate that they had all been executed." (Source: Reports by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team)

Extrajudicial imprisonments and cold-blooded executions against Oromo nationalists were not limited to the four October 1986 martyrs and to the Derg regime. Just in October 2007, the Oromo Support Group reported 3,981 extrajudicial killings and 943 disappearances. In addition, it has been reported by former inmates that the Qallitti Prison Camp alone had 85% Oromo prisoners of conscience. This is despicable and outrageous by all human rights standards.

Tortures, illegal imprisonments and killings of Oromo nationalists are the tools deployed by the Abyssinian System of Domination to intimidate and exterminate the Oromummaa movement. It is, therefore, imperative that all independent Oromo nationalist institutions declare October as the Oromo Nationalist Prisoner of Conscience Month to honor the October 1986 martyrs, to bring about awareness about the hundreds and thousands of Oromo prisoners of conscience languishing helplessly and awaiting extrajudicial executions in prison camps of the Empire today, and to invigorate the campaign for the unconditional release of all Oromo political prisoners!

Following the creation of the National Shango, the Derg declared itself dissolved.