“When he crossed the Olympics marathon finish line, Feyisa Lilesa put his hands above his head in an “X.” Most of those who watched Lilesa’s spectacular silver medal performance didn’t know what that meant — or just how dangerous a protest they were watching,” reported Kevin Sieff, Africa Bureau Chief for the Washington Post.

Lilesa was protesting the Ethiopian government’s killing of hundreds of the country’s Oromo people, the country’s largest ethnic group, which has long complained about being marginalized by the country’s government. The group has held protests this year over plans to reallocate Oromo land.

Many of those protests ended in bloodshed. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 400 people have been killed since November 2015.

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Kevin Sieff was among the first people to explain the meaning of Fayisa’s gesture on his Twitter account. Fayisa has received overwhelming support for his actions of protest.

I agree, the time is NOW to defend human rights for ALL, in ALL countries.

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