Statement of Oromo Muslim Foundation in DC on Human Right Violations in Ethiopia

January 3, 2015

We Oromo/Americans living in the Washington DC metro area are outraged by the continued Human Right violations the Ethiopian Government committing  against Muslims and non-Muslims of its citizens. As far as we are concerned and as far as we know international Human Right organization such as Amnesty International, Human Right Watch and others including the US Commission on Religious Freedom as well as the 2013 State department reports on human rights on Ethiopia have acknowledged that the Ethiopian government is interfering in the religious affairs of the Muslims and the Muslims peacefully demanded the government to stop imposing a religious ideology of its choice on them. 

In light of the current upsurge of serious human rights violations in Ethiopia, we strongly urge the following:

• The Ethiopian government must stop the repression against all those who demand their constitutional right for freedom of religion, assembly, and political activism.
• The planned banning of the Hijab to force women from fully exercising their right of attending higher education systems and participating in the work force of the state must be stopped.
• Relatives of the illegally incarcerated Muslim leaders must not be denied to visit their loved ones wearing their hijabs.
• We urge all peace loving people of the world to put pressure on the government of Ethiopia to immediately release all prisoners of conscious from its prisons.

Last but not least, we strongly denounce the statement Prime Minister Haile Mariam gave and characterized Ethiopians in the Diaspora using words un-befit for a prime minister.  Especially we condemn the words he used to degrade the hard working women who had to escape poverty risking their lives to work and provide for their families at home.