The Canadian Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP CANADA) is a non-governmental and non-partisan organization that campaigns for human rights protection and good governance in Ethiopia. One of our mandates is to inform the Canadian public and civic society groups on an ongoing basis about the continued human rights abuses and political repression in that country. As professional Ethiopian Canadians, it is our duty to inform and seek the support of the Canadian public and the government on issues that affect the interests of the two peoples.
The purpose of this statement is to bring to your attention atrocities of the current government of Ethiopia and appeal to your conscience not to get entangled in a Machiavellian scheme that is bent on making you a tool of one of the most despicable dictatorships in Africa. While it is perfectly acceptable to form a voluntary friendship association of Canadians and Ethiopians, given the fact that the Ethiopian Embassy in Ottawa is pushing this agenda, we have little doubt that such an association will soon be trapped in the political whirlpool of a repressive regime the whole world has widely acknowledged especially after the UN Human Rights Review of Ethiopia in Geneva this last December. The embassy is here to do the bidding of the regime in power and has nothing to do with the interests of the people of Ethiopia at large. We say this because the regime in power is not legitimate and not democratically elected; it came to power by military force and continues to maintain a police state that employs mass murder, incarceration, disappearances and exile.
The following points define the character of the current regime in Ethiopia፡-
The regime is one of the worst violators of human rights in Africa; mass murder in Addis Ababa, Ogaden, Gambella (See: http://www.hrw.org/….http://www.amnesty.org/)
Total darkness and total control has set in Ethiopia; the regime has wiped out civil liberties, the independent media and exiled several journalists (ref. www: Ifj.org)
The regime in power kills, imprisons and represses political opponents (witness the incarceration of Birtukan Mideksa, the killing and imprisonment of alleged OLF and ONLF members)
The ruling clique, commonly known as TPLF (Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front) controls all three powers of government, i.e. the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. This empowers a minority elite group that comes from 6% of the country’s population to control the political, economic and social life of an entire population of 80 million. (see http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A.HRC.13.17_En.pdf)
The main reason for the poverty and destitution of Ethiopians is the obscene concentration of wealth in the hands of TPLF elites. The ruling party controls banking, import/export, manufacturing, mining, construction, transport, communication etc. Compare the opulent lifestyle of the ruling elites and the starvation of 6 million people every year.
More than 80% of the top military leaders of the national army are ethnic Tigrians. That explains why a small group of authoritarian politicians are able to impose their rule over an entire country.
(http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/13session/A.HRC.13.17_En.pdf)
Whatever the paragons of deceit may tell you, life under the TPLF regime for ordinary Ethiopians is hell on earth. They have neither enough to eat and nor freedom to exercise their rights. They are a nation caged up in the authoritarian prison of TPLF. Canadians are a glorious nation of compassionate people who respect the rights and liberties of all peoples without distinction. SOCEPP Canada urges all Canadians who have been invited by the Embassy to form an “Ethiopian Canadian Friendship Association” to reject the proposal presented by the agents of a repressive regime. If we need a friendship association, we assure you it can be formed in a free and unrestricted environment where interested people can come together and form it without strings attached.
FRIENDS OF ETHIOPIA STAND FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM
FRIENDS OF ETHIOPIA REJECT THE MANIPULATION OF A REPRESSIVE REGIME
Source http://humanrightsethiopia.com
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