The Hard Truth: Justice Must Be Served

January 22, 2016 Human Rights, Oromia

HRLHA’s  Statement on the  USA, EU and UN concerns on the Oromo Nation Uprise

January 22, 2016

The  tireless voices for the voiceless spoken by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) and others- for decades-about the gross human rights violations in Ethiopia have caught the attention of the world and  finally the hard truth has been revealed.

The US Government, the EU parliament and UN experts condemn the killings, detentions and kidnappings in the Oromo Nation by  Ethiopian Government forces. The Oromo nation demand and that their basic freedoms and fundamental rights be respected in their own country

• The  USA Government in its statements of December 18, 2015“The United States, Calls for Meaningful Dialogue About Oromo Community Concerns”[1] and  14 January 2016 ” The United States Concerned By Clashes in Oromia, Ethiopia[2] “condemned the Ethiopian brutality against peaceful protestors and  urged the government of Ethiopia to permit peaceful protest and commit to a constructive dialogue to address legitimate grievances.
• The European Union  in its  debate on 21 January 2016 discussed the“Human Rights Situation in Ethiopia”[3]
  The  EU Parliament strongly condemns the recent use of violence by  the security forces and the increased number of cases of human rights violations in Ethiopia. It calls for a credible, transparent and independent investigation into the killings of at least 140 protesters and into other alleged human rights violations in connection with the protest movement after the May 2015 federal elections in the country.
• The UN Experts in their release  of 21 Jan. 2016: “ UN experts urge Ethiopia to halt a violent crackdown on Oromia protesters, ensure accountability for abuses“[4]. They called on the Ethiopian authorities to end the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protests by the country’s security forces, who have reportedly killed more than 140 demonstrators and arrested scores only in the past nine weeks.

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa appreciates the statements coming out  from different governmental agencies and governments exposing  the ethnic persecutions and crimes against humanity in Oromia Regional State by Ethiopian Government forces in which over  180 Oromo nationals from all walks of life have been brutalized by the special force “Agazi”, over  8,050 Oromo were arbitrarily detained and where large numbers were kidnapped and taken to an unknown destination.

To stop further  human catastrophes in Oromia Regional State, the HRLHA urges the world community to continue putting pressure on the Ethiopian  government:

• To immediately withdraw its special force “Agazi” from the OromiaRegional State and bring the  perpetrators  to justice
• To unconditionally release the detainees
• To compensate, all casualties have been done  by the government-sponsored criminals
• To abort the state of emergency declared in Oromia Regional State
• All authorities who were involved in the present political crisis in the Oromia Regional state, including the PMs special advisor AbayTseye and the PM of Ethiopia HailemariamDessalengn, should be stripped of their government responsibilities
• To allow independent investigators into the country to conduct an investigation into the present and past gross human rights violations in Oromia Regional State