Falls Church, Virginia (2/23/2021) — On Friday, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released a powerful statement on her increasing “alarm” regarding “the situation in Ethiopia.” In the statement, Congresswoman Omar demands that the Ethiopian government “treat [the Oromo political] prisoners according to internationally recognized standards of human rights, due process, and human dignity.” The press release also calls specific attention to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ongoing NGO communication blockade and recognizes that the United States must take “decisive steps to document the allegations of human rights violations and support justice mechanisms, at the international level if necessary.”
The members of the Oromo Legacy, Leadership, and Advocacy Association (OLLAA) agree with Congresswoman Omar’s statement, but also recognize that it is not just Tigray and the Amhara people that are being targeted. The Oromo people are also victims of the Abiy administration’s human rights violations. Proof of these violations is evident by both a recent Addis Standard report and the Ethiopian Embassy’s response to Congresswoman Omar’s statement.
At almost the exact time Congresswoman Omar published her statement of alarm, the Addis Standard published an article stating that, “The [Ethiopian] Federal Attorney General appealed at the Supreme Court to continue blocking the medical treatment of four of the imprisoned leaders and members of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), who are currently on hunger strike for 27 days.” This third appeal was filed on February 18, 2021, after the February 17 decision of the Federal High Court once again upheld the lower court’s decision to “allow medical treatment of the prisoners on hunger strike, including Bekele Gerba, Deputy Chairman of OFC.” It should be noted that this action constitutes mistreatment of prisoners and is in direct violation of international law. Two days later, on February 20, Ethiopian Ambassador Fitsum Arega responded to Congresswoman Omar’s statement by falsely claiming that “all [Oromo political prisoners] have full access to medical care at one of Ethiopia’s top medical facilities.” Ambassador Arega went on to say that “detainees who reportedly launched a hunger strike have discontinued their strike.”
OLLAA is appalled by the blatant disregard for the truth demonstrated in this dishonest letter. As the Oromo Political Prisoners Defence Team said in a press release, these are “baseless and fabricated statement[s]…[Oromo political prisoners] are on their 27th day of hunger strike.” None of these political prisoners, including Bekele Gerba, have been able to obtain the medical treatment that the Federal High Court ordered. In fact, they are all extremely ill and in critical condition.
For more details on the ongoing hunger strike and the current human rights crisis in Ethiopia, please visit OLLAA.org.
OLLAA is an umbrella organization that presents dozens of Oromo communities around the world.