HRLHA Urgent Action
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February 13, 2018
The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) condemns the mass killings of Oromos in Hammaressa Internally Displaced Persons camps in Harar town on February 10, 2018 by the TPLF/EPRDF security force. The totalitarian government of Ethiopia is committing Democide against the citizens of Ethiopia to hang on to the power they have had for the last two decades. Silencing dissent through mass killings of those citizens who demanded their rights has become a tradition of the TPLF/EPRDF government in the past several years.
The totalitarian government of Ethiopia, led by the TPLF/EPRDF from its inception in 1991, has systematically eliminated citizens it suspects of being opponents. In the past twenty-seven years, tens of thousands of citizens from Oromo, Amhara and other nations and nationalities have been killed, detained, and disappeared by the government security forces- their whereabouts unknown.
Beginning from 2014, the Oromo youth “Qeerro Bilisummaa Oromo” took the case officially to the streets with the slogans we need freedom, justice, and the constitution of the country must be respected. To crack down on the Oromo nation’s protests, the TPLF/EPRDF government security forces, using live ammunition, opened fire on the demonstrators and murdered over 4,000 Oromos in three years. These murders didn’t stop the angry citizens from demanding their rights to freedom and justice. The mass movement which started in Oromia Regional State in 2014 slowly spread to the neighboring Amhara Regional State. The TPLF/EPRDF government killing squad Agazi killed many of those who presented their demands peacefully to the government. Continuing a peaceful struggle, the Oromo Nation expressed their grievances at the Irrecha Festival celebration, the Oromo Thanksgiving Day on October 2016, where over two million people had gathered for the celebration. The killing squad Agaize has massacred innocent people from the ground supported by air, killing hundreds and injured more who have been taken to hospitals for treatment where the majority were died in hospitals.
The government still continues using excessive force to silence the peaceful protests. It has committed mass killings in Ambo and Chelenko towns, and Hammaressa in Harar town in Oromia Regional, State and Woldia town in Amhara Regional State in 2017 and 2018.
Mass killings committed by the Ethiopian government killing squad Agazi force:
# Massacre Site Number of Victims of Instant Killings Date
1 Bishoftu, Oromia Regional State at Irrecha Festival 350 October 2, 2016
Ambo Town, Oromia Regional State 10 October 26, 2017
2 Chelenko Town, Oromia Regional State 15 December 10, 2017
3 Woldia, Amhara Regional State 7 January 20, 2018
4 Hamaressa, Oromia Regional State 11 February 10, 2018
The HRLHA is very concerned about the TPLF/EPRDF government’s mass murders of non- combatant citizens which clearly show the government is committing Democide, death by government against citizens. Any state committing Democide against innocent people should be held accountable.
Therefore, the HRLHA calls on the governments of the world and government agencies, such as the UN, EU and AU put decisive pressure on the TPLF/EPRDF government to stop these horrific acts and bring the killers to justice.
Copied To:
• UN Security Council
Office of the Ombudsperson
Room DC2 2206
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
United States of America
Tel: +1 212 963 2671
E-mail: ombudsperson@un.org
• UN Human Rights Council
OHCHR address:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson
52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland.
• Africa Union (AU)
African Union Headquarters
P.O. Box 3243 | Roosevelt Street (Old Airport Area) | W21K19 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: (251) 11 551 77 00 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44
Webmaster: webmaster@africa-union.org
•
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
31 Bijilo Annex Layout, Kombo North District
Western Region, P.O. Box 673 Banjul
Gambia
Tel: (220) 441 05, 05, 441 05 06
• The US Department of State
WASHINGTON, D.C. HEADQUARTERS
(202) 895-3500
OFMInfo@state.gov
Office of Foreign Missions
2201 C Street NW
Room 2236
Washington, D.C. 20520
Customer Service Center
3507 International Place NW
Washington, D.C. 20522-3303
• UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Parliamentary
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 4055
Fax: 020 7219 5851
Email: hammondp@parliament.uk
Departmental Street,(DepartmentalStreet)
London, SW1A 2AH
Tel: 020 7008 1500
Email: fcocorrespondence@fco.gov.uk
• Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada)
Write to:
Enquiries Service (BCI)
Global Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G2
Email: Enquiry Service – Online form
Canada
• Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)
Her Excellency Margot Wallström
Switchboard: +46 8 405 10 00
Street address: Rosenbad 4
Postal address: SE 103 33 Stockhol
• Minister of Foreign Affairs (Norway)
His Excellency BørgeBrende
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
E-mail: post@mfa.no
Phone: + 47 23 95 00 00
Address: 7. juniplassen 1, N-0032 Oslo
