በሰሜን አሜሪካ የመኢአድ ድጋፍ ሰጭ ማኅበር AEUP SUPPORT ASSOCIATION – NORTH AMERICA 1629 K Street, NW, Suite 300. Washington, DC 20006 Tel: (202) 973-0170 . Fax: (202) 331-3759 Web: www.meadusa.org

April 15, 2012

Ms Nevanethen Pillay

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Palais Wilson

52 Rue Des Paquis

CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland

Dr Gregory H Stanton

Genocide Watch

Washington DC, 20044

Subject: An appeal to stop ethnic cleansing and gross human rights violations in Ethiopia

This is an appeal to you and all peace loving people and organizations of the world to stand with the Ethiopian people who have been under siege for the last 20 years. The ethnic based government (the Tigrai People Liberation Front-TPLF) of Ethiopia has been ruling the nation with an iron fist, which is usually the modus operandi of all authoritarian leaders. However, what makes the Ethiopian situation different is that, not only it is authoritarian, but is also an enemy of its own people and country.

Ethnic cleansing began right after the July 1991 transitional conference, at which time the Tigrai Liberation Front took the political power, in Addis Ababa. Thousands of ethnic Amharas were forcefully removed from Arsi, Bale , Harar and wellega regions, the number was estimated to be close to a quarter million at the time. Heinous crimes and atrocities, mainly indiscriminate killings and rape were also reported and documented in various zones and against different communities such as in Arbagugu, Chole, Ambossa, Bedeno, Gambella, Benishangul and maji throught the years since the current ethnic based regime was in power by sheer force.

Rights Groups: Ethiopia Using Anti-Terror Law To Stifle Dissent

Peter Heinlein | VOA Addis Ababa

Two international human rights groups are urging Ethiopia to stop arresting journalists and political activists under anti-terrorism laws. The editor of one of Ethiopia's last remaining independent newspapers has fled the country amid concerns that more arrests are coming. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued a statement Monday calling on Ethiopian authorities to stop using anti-terrorism laws to stifle political dissent.

 The unusual joint statement comes as ten journalists are being tried in three separate terrorism related cases in Addis Ababa. One of the trials involves 24 defendants, including several prominent opposition politicians. Human Rights Watch researcher Ben Rawlence told VOA by telephone that the rights groups decided to speak with one voice because Ethiopia's anti-terrorism law is vague and open to misuse for political purposes. "The trial of the 24 on the back of the other terrorism trials and trials of journalists and other opposition people is very serious and we thought it merited a joint statement to try and draw attention to just how serious it is," he said. The statement came as word spread that Ethiopia's most popular independent newspaper has shut its doors and its editor fled the country, fearing arrest.

The myths surrounding the global rush for farmland 

The Guardian, Oct 14, 2011

Governments and companies involved in leasing land claim it is little used and that the projects will bring food security, create jobs and boost tax revenues – none of which is true

Farm workers tend young plants at the palm oil plantation owned by the Indian company Karuturi near the town of Bako in Ethiopia. Photograph: Jose Cendon/Getty

For a few thousands dollars a year, an Indian agribusiness, Karuturi, rents 2,500 sq km of land in Ethiopia's Gambela province. Government ministers in Addis Ababa claim it is marginal, unused land, and its situation at the far western border with Sudan suggests this is so.

In fact, the black soil is extremely fertile, the vast landholding is accessible by a good road, and, above all, the land borders the mighty river Baro, a tributary of the Nile. It is prime land in one Africa's least exploited regions. Karuturi's owners, who are planning to grow palm oil, cotton, vegetables and maize there, only had to look at a good map to understand its real value.