Falls Church, Virginia (2/12/2021)— The Oromo Legacy, Leadership, and Advocacy Association (OLLAA) is deeply concerned about the safety of peaceful Ethiopian protesters, who will hold a rally this weekend in the country’s Oromia region to demand justice for the twenty political prisoners on a hunger strike.
The Ethiopian government has held the Oromo political leaders inside a maximum-security prison in Addis Ababa since last June. Dozens of prisoners, including opposition leaders Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba, have not eaten for over 16 days. Prison doctors say they are now at risk of “imminent death.”
Tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Oromo-Ethiopians are expected to rally, despite a history of violent response by Ethiopian security forces. Last year, security forces killed at least 76 protestors in what the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission called a “crime against humanity.” In 2016, government forces killed over 500 people participating in a traditional harvest celebration.
OLLAA urges caution from Ethiopian security forces and respect for citizen rights to avoid a repeat of this violence. The US-based organization also calls on the international community and human rights watchdogs to closely monitor the Ethiopian government’s response to the weekend gatherings.
Under international law, Ethiopia is obligated to allow its citizens the right to freedom of assembly and peaceful expression of their political views.
On Tuesday, February 16, OLLAA will hold a parallel rally in Washington, D.C. called “Starving for Justice.” All peace-loving individuals are welcomed and encouraged to join. The rally will protest the Ethiopian government’s wrongful detention and persecution of Oromo political leaders, call on the government to meet the political prisoners’ demands, and raise awareness of the wide-scale state violence against the Oromo people by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
For more details on the rally and the current human rights crisis in Ethiopia, please visit OLLAA.org.