TO ALL PEACE LOVING  PEOPLE!

In Ethiopia, since June 2005, hundreds of peaceful demonstrators who opposed the government’s election fraud in the May 15, 2005 elections are killed indiscriminately. Women, children, as young as 10 years old, and the elderly were among the victims.  Since, then, opposition political leaders, journalists and civic organization leaders have been imprisoned. Thousands of young people are being tortured in prisons that are in deplorable conditions.

In the last one and half years, the imprisoned political and civic society leaders have been on trial by the government. The court, which has not been considered impartial and independent of the government’s pressure was supposed to make its final decisions on February 19, 2007. However, the court again has postponed its decision to March 5, 2007. We are concerned that these prisoners of conscious did not have a fair trial and the upcoming court’s decision might have a grave consequence not only to the prisoners but also to the future of Ethiopia. 

We are appealing to all peace-loving people in the world to call your government representatives, international human rights organizations and the US Department of State and urge them to pressure the Ethiopian government to release the prisoners of conscious. We request the United States government to

1. Assist in the release of all political prisoners in Ethiopia without any preconditions

2. Urge the government to respect the human rights of its citizens and uphold the rule of law