"Review your aid to Ethiopia" say Oromo activists in Europe
(UNPO/Brussels) - Oromo activists from across Europe converged on Brussels today to raise international awareness of the ongoing human rights abuses being perpetrated in Ethiopia under the administration of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Marching from the European Commission’s Berlaymont building, demonstrators crossed the city of Brussels to bring their message to the embassies of both the United Kingdom and the United States.
Oromo representatives explained to international media the importance of the protest as a means of bringing scrutiny to bear on Ethiopia ahead of the 2010 elections and the environmental degradation that was going unchecked at the same time as human rights were being eroded.
As part of the protest, letter of appeal were issued to the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific states, and the embassies of the United States and United Kingdom.
The appeal made the following calls:
- That the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees initiate an inquiry into allegations of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Ethiopian Government;
- That European Union (EU) member states to raise the issue of human rights in Ethiopia with the Ethiopian government;
- That EU member states to express a collective and public concern at the human rights situation in Ethiopia, including a call for the release of all detained political prisoners;
- That European companies, their Ethiopian partners, and the Ethiopian government adhere to international environmental standards and obligations;
- That a mechanism capable of bringing together all stakeholders in resolving Ethiopia’s internal conflicts be established and supported.
- That the Ethiopian government is held publicly accountable for all aid donated to, or channelled through, its departments.
