First Hijrah: Letter Submitted to the State Department August 25, 2014 First Hijrah Foundation Organization of Ethio/American Muslims Washington Metro Area, submitted the following letter to U.S. Department of State. Linda Thomas-Greenfield Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 Dear Madam Secretary, We Ethio/Americans living in the Washington DC metro area, are outraged by the statement the Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Teodros Adhanom gave to one local Ethiopian Amharic AM Radio station. On his interview of August 9, 2014, the foreign minister alluded that the reason the government imprisoned Ethiopian Muslims peace movement leaders is because of their connection with Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) prisoners. In order to justify this claim he mentioned the Ethiopian Government received intelligence information of their involvement from US government officials. As far as we are concerned and as far as we know international Human Right organization such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others including the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as well as the 2013 State department reports on human rights on Ethiopia have acknowledged that the Ethiopian government is interfering in the religious affairs of the Muslims. Ethiopian Muslims peacefully demanded the government to stop imposing a religious ideology of its choice on them and according to the USCIRF Commissioner M. Zuhdi Jasser’s remarks he gave on Thursday February 14, 2013 before the Council of Foreign Relations on Religious Freedom Conditions in Ethiopia he said the following: “Between July 13 and July 21, it arrested all 17 members of the Arbitration Committee and nearly 1,000 protestors- although it did release all but 9 Committee members shortly thereafter. The government escalated this conflict when, on October of last year, it leveled specific charges against the protestors, charging 29 of them – including the 9 Arbitration Committee members it was still holding, with terrorism and attempting to establish an Islamic state. As of today, the government has presented no evidence to prove that any of these people are terrorists.” Moreover, the government has a history of using the Anti-Terror Proclamation under which they were charged as a tool to silence independent journalists and political opposition leaders, rather than to combat terrorism.” (uscirf.gov) Since the peaceful movement started 3 years ago, not a single rock was thrown while they are protesting and Ethiopian Muslims remained peaceful enduring all the hardship they went and are going through. Yet, the Ethiopian Government time and again was crying wolf by terrorizing the people and labeling the victims as terrorists. Hundreds of peaceful people including the arbitration committee that were chosen by the masses to negotiate with the government to resolve the problem were thrown in prisons tortured and humiliated and charged with terrorism. As Americans of Ethiopian origin, we are very much amazed about the audacity of the Ethiopian foreign minister’s claim that the US government has provided the Ethiopian government the evidence connecting Ethiopian Muslims and the Guantanamo prisoners. As the Ethiopian government tried and failed to create a rift and animosity between Muslims and Christians by spreading fear mongering propaganda, the intent the foreign minister’s remarks is yet another scare tactic -this time however, with a dangerous twist. The connection between Ethiopian Muslims and the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and to claim the US government is the source of the information is nothing but a plot to associate US government to the repression that is going on in the Ethiopia. We as US citizens and legal residence of the United States of America can’t be silenced by such falsified remarks in implicating the US. We are determined to rectify and protect US’s stand among Ethiopian Muslims. As we have played a positive role in advancing the peaceful coexistence among Ethiopians of different religious persuasions and Ethnic groups, we will continue to do our best in vigilantly watching the Ethiopian government heinous attempts of foment violence among the different religious persuasions and Ethnic groups. However, we are wary of the Ethiopian government’s anti-democratic and anti-freedom actions that will inevitably push the people to go to the extreme that we all advise against. We urge the US government to apply its diplomatic pressures and democratic principles to bring change before Ethiopia falls into the chaotic situation of some of its neighbors. Sincerely, First Hijrah Foundation Organization of Ethio/American Muslims Washington Metro Area
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 23:21:43 +0000
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