Hiiraan Online

Ethiopian Somali Advocacy Council

Washington, DC

Aguast, 4, 2007

Press Release

We, Ethiopian Somali Advocacy Council, write in reaction to the press release of Ethiopian Foreigner affair on the question of torture and killing innocent Ethiopian Somalis in the remote Somali Region of Ethiopia. We cannot begin to imagine our disappointments as we read the press release on the human rights cases and hoping Meles and his cronies will draw a valuable lesson from the Western Democracy and value of respecting individual rights and collecting destiny of our poor and innocent people. We would also affirm people’s freedoms of expression and assembly as enshrined in the Ethiopian Constitution should be upheld.

We hoped that at the least, Ethiopian official would know that freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution cannot be taken away by any lesser law, let alone an order from the Minister of Foreigner Affair or even the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The international human rights and aid organizations did not require seeking anyone’s permission to protest the atrocities of Ethiopian regime in Somali Region; they did not need any permits from Meles and his happy trigger soldiers who are killing left and right Somalis in Horn of Africa.

Ethiopian Regime makes habit to lying to its teeth to the international community while it is pretending to fight the terrorist group in Horn of Africa, but Senator Feingold reminds Meles and his cronies that they cannot get away with killing and genocide; they should be help accountable to the massacre a ka Darfur and Rwanda.

This is not the first time that Ethiopian Foreigner affair spread the unfound allegation to the world. AUTHORITIES in Ethiopian have admitted detaining 41-suspected international terrorists and said foreign investigators were given permission to question them in the beginning of this year.

As result of international pressure and human right organization, the ministry of foreign affairs said the detainees were from 17 countries including America, Canada and Sweden.

Some of the detainees were picked up in Somalia by Ethiopian troops fighting alongside Somalia's transitional government at the end of last year. Ironically, five years old innocent girl was detained by Meles regime.

The statement came a week after Associated Press (AP) carried out an investigation into the transfer of terror suspects from Kenya to Somalia and eventually to Ethiopia. Ethiopian officials at the time denied any suspects were in their custody, but United States (U.S.) officials said they had questioned some of the suspects.

In the same vein, Human rights groups have called the killing and torture in Somali Region State a violation of international law. A UNITED STATES (U.S.)-based human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Ethiopian military of burning homes and forcibly displacing thousands of villagers in a campaign against separatist rebels in the southeastern Somali region.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi announced a crackdown last month on insurgents in Somali Region who raided a Chinese-run oil exploration field in April, killing 74 people.

We are asking the international community to hold accountable Meles regime to his atrocity and we will fight for our rights. We urge all Somalis to channel its energy and resources to expose Meles and his cronies’ massacre that is making in front of our eyes; the happy trigger soldiers of Meles do not differentiate clans and district.  

Thank you

Abdul S. Ibrahim (President)

[email protected]