A call for protest in Greater Houston of Texas against Ethiopian dictator

Ethiopians in Greater Houston of Texas

The Ethiopian community in Houston is outraged to learn that the City of Houston and thee Greater Houston Partnership are hosting the Ethiopian dictator, Hailemariam Desalegn next week.Press Release

                               Hailemariam Desalegn

Ethiopia is a gross human rights violator, a totalitarian state, where people are deprived of their liberty and property rights by the regime. There is no freedom of the press, consequently most journalists are in prison or fled the country.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the UN, the U.S. Department of State, and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have documented gross human rights violations committed by the incumbent criminal regime in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian people have been subjected to a vestige of abuse for generations. Just Last Friday, government forces attacked peaceful gathering of Muslims in Addis Abeba mosque killing a number of them. Last Month close to 40 university students at Ambo University were also killed for protesting government confiscation of land without compensation in Oromia region. The pathetic situation continues where 90 million Ethiopians have no freedom and no hope for improvement. The regime uses any tactics or measures necessary to stay in power including intimidation, patronage, kidnapping, open murder and political assassination.

Through its cronies and paramilitary forces, as well as party members it controls the economy and the political space in Ethiopia. Using the Federal Police regularly intimidates and kills at will on streets, schools, churches and mosques.

In Ethiopia besides the political oppression and ethnic tensions created by the regime, the government owns all land, Internet, food distribution, banking, telecommunication, and other industries causing massive inefficiency in production which in turn brings about massive starvation and unemployment.

According to Professor Mesfin, a leading human rights activist, “The government has placed itself above the law, rules the country by force, and exonerates itself from any crimes it commits against defenseless citizens and this makes up the saddest reality prevailing in present-day Ethiopia.” According to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, “paramilitary units continue to use random searches, beatings, mass arrests and lethal force against peaceful protesters.”

The Daily Telegraph calls the current situation “a systematic onslaught against the majority of the Ethiopian people,”. The Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Africa, Chris Smith, and R- New Jersey referred, Meles, the late Prime Minister as the “vicious dictator” of Ethiopia. Given these facts, the Ethiopian community will protest and urge those freedom- loving citizens of Houston to refrain from appearing or honoring Mr. Deslalegn or give credence to his local collaborators in Houston. We also urge the U.S. government to stop supporting African dictators who rule by the barrel of the gun instead of with the support of the masses.

Where: The Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa | 111 North Post Oak Lane, Houston, Texas 77024 When: Tuesday, July 29 | 6:00 to 8:00 p.m