HRLHA’s Appeal and Request for immediate Action
Appeal to:
1. The President of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
H.E. Mr. Mogens Lykketoft
• UN Headquarters, 405 East 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10017
• Tel: +1-212-963-1234
• http://www.un.org/pga/70/contact-us/
UN GA President @UN_PGA
Copied to:
Permanent Missions to the United Nations
• http://visit.un.org/sites/visit.un.org/files/Missions_Contacts_0.pdf
• https://www.un.int/protocol/protocol/permanent-representatives
Dear Mr President Lykketoft,
First of all, using this opportunity, let me Introduce to you the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA)
“The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) was originally founded in Ethiopia in 1996 by the name “Human Rights League (HRL)”, it was silenced at the outset by the Country’s authoritarian regime. It was then re-launched from the Diaspora in 2007 by exiled founders and members of the HRL. It was then re-named the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA), and registered as a non – profit and non – political organization in Ontario, Canada on the 14th of June 2007.
HRLHA aims to defend fundamental human rights, including freedoms of thought, expression and assembly or organization. It also works to raise the awareness of individuals regarding their own basic human rights and those of others. It insists on the observances of international and regional treaties, protocols, covenants, instruments, agreements, etc. on human rights as well as due processes of related laws. It promotes the growth and development of free and vigorous civil societies”.
“The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) was originally founded in Ethiopia in 1996 by the name “Human Rights League (HRL)”, it was silenced at the outset by the Country’s authoritarian regime. It was then re-launched from the Diaspora in 2007 by exiled founders and members of the HRL. It was then re-named the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA), and registered as a non – profit and non – political organization in Ontario, Canada on the 14th of June 2007.
HRLHA aims to defend fundamental human rights, including freedoms of thought, expression and assembly or organization. It also works to raise the awareness of individuals regarding their own basic human rights and those of others. It insists on the observances of international and regional treaties, protocols, covenants, instruments, agreements, etc. on human rights as well as due processes of related laws. It promotes the growth and development of free and vigorous civil societies”.
Dear President Lykketoft,
The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa wants to express its deep concern about what it regards as the wrong decision made by the members of UN General Assembly- headed by you- in electing Ethiopia on June 28, 2016 for the position of a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC)
The government of Ethiopia makes a lot of noise about the flourishing of democracy in that country. The reality on the ground shows that the undemocratic behavior of the government has been overshadowed by the apparently “democratic” and anti-terrorism façade that the government has demonstrated for the past twenty-five years. During those years, thousands of citizens were killed, kidnapped, or imprisoned by this government because they simply tried to exercise their fundamental rights to free speech and expression, freedom of association and religion. University students, journalists, human rights activists, opposition political party members and their supporters, and farmers have been the major victims in Ethiopia.
Contrary to the EPRDF/TPLF’s promises when it seized power in 1991 and the constitution of the country, the current Ethiopian government is one of the most vicious human rights violators in the world.
In the recent crackdowns in Oromia Regional State, which started in November 2015 and still continue, more than 550 peaceful protestors from age 7 to 80 have been cold- bloodedly dealt with. Over 30,000 were arrested and many thousands have been abducted, forcefully disappeared and tens of thousands forced to flee their country of birth because of persecution.
The main reasons for the peaceful protests in Oromia Regional State are social exclusion or marginalization; the Oromo people have been systematically blocked by the TPLF/EPRDF government from:
• Using their natural economic resources (Massive Land grabs),
• Their rights of participation in decision making about their political, and cultural affairs (Self -Determination),
• Civic engagement, democratic participation, and due process, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly,
• Federal Police brutality was common and widespread in Oromia over many years and
• Employment opportunities (Educated Oromos are excluded from getting jobs in Federal Government offices
Mr. President Lykketoft,
There are credible reports from independent human rights organizations and government agencies that show that brutal killings, torture, and disappearances are taking place in Oromia:
1. HRW, “Such a Brutal Crackdown”, Killings and Arrests in Response to Ethiopia’s Oromo Protests, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/06/16/such-brutal-crackdown/killings-and-arrests-response-ethiopias-oromo-protests
2. AFP, Fear stalks Ethiopia’s Oromia region after brutal crackdown,
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fear-stalks-ethiopias-oromia-region-brutal-crackdown-070319872.html?ref=gs
3. European Parliament resolution on the situation in Ethiopia (2016/2520(RSP)) , http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+P8-RC-2016-0082+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
4. AI, Ethiopia: End use of counter-terrorism law to persecute dissenters and opposition members
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/06/ethiopia-using-counter-terrorism-law-to-persecute-dissenters/
5. UN experts urge Ethiopia to halt violent crackdown on Oromia protesters, ensure accountability for abuses
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16977&LangID=E#sthash.R 6aRt4Bl.dpuf
6. HRLHA, Breaking the Silence: the Hard Truth about the Oromo Nation Uprising in Ethiopia
http://www.ayyaantuu.net/breaking-the-silence-the-hard-truth-about-the-oromo-nation- uprising-in-ethiopia/
7. For more reference, separate info on current #Oromo protests and the background is attached
The people of the other Regional States in Ethiopia- such as Gambela Region in the South, Ogaden Region in the East- have also been victims of human rights violations in Ethiopia.
Mr. President,
A government that kills, abducts, tortures and disappears its citizens is in no way fit to help maintain international peace and security at the global level as stipulated in UN Security council objectives
Therefore the HRLHA appeals to you:
1. To strike the Government of Ethiopia from the electives list
2. To investigate the human rights violations in Ethiopia
3. To investigate the cause of the recent border clash between Ethiopia and Eritrea in which several troops were killed in one day.
