During the rally in Vancouver, Canada

To All Peace Loving People:
We would like to bring to your attention the current situations and particularly the suffering of women in Ethiopia.

• Since the May 15, 2005 parliamentary elections in the country, the government arrested all opposition political leaders and thousands of their supporters since the opposition complained about votes rigged by the government. Independent journalists, human rights activists and civic society leaders are also arrested. Some of the political leaders and human rights activists are elderly persons and have chronic health problems.  
• As documented by international human rights organization such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, tens of thousands of young people are imprisoned and some have disappeared.  Most of the prisoners are placed in deplorable detention camps that are infested with malaria and venomous snakes. Some of the detention camps are very far from the prisoners’ homes. Mothers, wives, daughters and sisters are burdened to travel long distance to take food and necessary supplies to their loved ones. In the absence of males in household, women are also burdened with the responsibility of providing for their families.
• All these are on the top of the abject poverty in the country and high HIV/AIDS prevalence in which women are affected the most.

Our organization has been advocating for peace and the respect of human rights in general and women’s rights in particular since its establishment in 1991. It is our belief that the current situation in Ethiopia is a sum total of all the failed policies and human rights abuses by governments in Ethiopia.
We appeal to the international community and to all peace loving people gathered in this conference to urge your governments to pressure the Ethiopian government

• To release all political prisoners;
• Accept the call by opposition groups for an all-inclusive Peace and Reconciliation conference where all concerned would discuss the faith of the country and come up with a peaceful solution to the current political crises.

The Ethiopian people have suffered for too long because of lack of good governance, continuous political turmoil, wars, poverty, and human rights abuses. A government that respects the rights of its citizens and upholds the rule of law would help establish a democratic society, address the chronic economic problem and alleviate the misery of the people. Without such a government, peace in the country and in the region will remain an illusion. 

Please help us achieve our goal to have a just peace in Ethiopia.  Together, we can make a difference!!