ETHIOPIAN ADVOCACY GROUPS WRITE TO US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Falls Church, Virginia (11/28/2022) – On November 23, 2022, the Oromo Legacy Leadership & Advocacy Association, Tigray Action Committee, Southwestern Indigenous Peoples Humanitarian Organization, and Kemant Advocacy Group sent a letter to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives, alerting them to the increasingly dire human rights situation in Oromia and urging them to pass H.R. 6600, the Ethiopia Stabilization, Peace, and Democracy Act. 

In this letter, the above organizations acknowledged the recent peace agreement that was signed between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigrayan regional authorities, but noted our concerns that lasting peace cannot be achieved unless the US takes concrete measures to press for peace across the country, particularly inside Oromia, where indiscriminate attacks against civilians, including drone attacks, have increased since the peace agreement was signed.  As such, we urged the US government to pass legislation related to the situation in Ethiopia, and particularly, HR 6600, which will not only serve to bolster the peace agreement, but can also be used to address the situation across the country, including by providing leverage to bring all parties to the table for an inclusive national dialogue process, ensure the flow of humanitarian assistance throughout Ethiopia, call for accountability for human rights violations, and support the peaceful resolution of all conflicts throughout Ethiopia. 

OLLAA is an umbrella organization that works in collaboration with dozens of Oromo communities around the world.