March 4 Freedom asks readers to sign the petition to Free Reeyot Alemu & Woubshet Taye.

As many of you are aware there are several hundred Ethiopian refugees in Libya who are caught in the cross fire due to the on-going fighting between the freedom seeking Libyan people and the tyrant Gadhafi forces. These Ethiopians are dying and sufferings beyond imagination due to neglect by Humanitarian Organizations operating in the area. They are not receiving same protection and resettlement assistance because not enough voices are highlighting their dire situation. Many are denied refugee status and trying dangerous alternatives to get out of harm’s way. There are many women and children among these Ethiopian brothers and sisters of us. They are not asking for much, just a few minutes of your time to write a letter, make a phone call, or email any official or organization you think could help.

Please do your part to help them. Write to your elected officials to bring their plights to their attention. You can use the sample letter below to modify it as you see fit and send by mail, fax or email. If each and every one of us does this we may be able to save the lives of these remaining fellow Ethiopians.
LEWEGEN DERASHU WEGEN NEW!

Note:- If you would like to contact the refugees themselves please email us and we will provide you with names and phone numbers of the representatives of the refugees.

Sample Letter:

To: (Name of official)
(Office Name)
(Office Address)
(Telephone Number if known)
(Fax number if known)

Dear (Title Name),

I am  writing to you to express our great concerns about Ethiopian refugees who are presently facing difficulties to escape the growing crisis in Libya due to lack of support from humanitarian organizations.

As we speak, due to the lack of support from the UNHCR and other Humanitarian organization on the ground, hundreds of Ethiopians who flee Ethiopia due to political persecution are taking desperate and dangerous attempts to escape the growing violence in Libya. This is causing lose of many lives. For example, in one recent incidence about 70 Ethiopians who were left in a locked container for days due to the disagreement with smugglers / human traffickers were found all dead. In another occasion about 80 Ethiopians were left in small boat that drifted on the Mediterranean ocean for days and only 11 of them made it back to Libya. The remaining 69 died from hunger and exhaustion. These and many other incidences could have been prevented if the UNHCR and the other Humanitarian institutions in Libya and Tunisia had provided significant and appropriate support to the refugees.

The reports we received from Libya and Tunisia indicates that the UNHCR and other Humanitarian institutions have ignored Ethiopia’s regime poor human rights record and the dire human rights situation in Ethiopia. Reportedly, the UNHCR and the other Humanitarian Institutions are denying Ethiopians in Libya/Tunisia political refugee status and appear not willing to resettle them to third country

• Despite the well-known dire human rights situation in Ethiopia, representatives from UNHCR are reportedly telling Ethiopian refugees in Libya that there are no political refugees from Ethiopia, only Economic Refugees

• UNHCR regional representatives are not providing Ethiopian refugees in Libya Humanitarian Assistance and follow up their fellow Sudanese, Eritrean, and Somali refugees are getting

• Compared to refugees from other countries with the same problems, the organizations are not willing to voice Ethiopians’ suffering to the rest of world and to seek support for them / find third countries where they can be repatriated to.

• Ethiopian refugees in Libya are not receiving adequate collaboration with regard to reviewing their cases

I  urge you to call local UNHCR representatives and humanitarian organization to immediately help the neglected Ethiopian refugees in Libya and expedite their settlement to the third country.

Sincerely,

(Name)
(Address)
(Contact phone number)
(Contact email address)

Enter your zip code

President Sidney A. Ribeau
Office of the President
Howard University
2400 Sixth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20059-3402

Re: Cancel the Ethiopian Dictatorial Regime’s Event Planned to be Held at Cramton Auditorium on April 9, 2011

Dear President Sidney A. Ribeau:

It came to our attention that Howard University is going to the provide its Cramton Auditorium facilities to an Ethiopian repressive regime, which will be having a conference on its five year economic plan which claims to “transform” the country’s economy. It is not uncommon for totalitarian regimes to declare grandiose plans, as was done for example by Mao Zedong through his “The Great Leap Forward” that resulted in the deaths of over 50 million Chinese and caused massive environmental damage, or the Soviet Union’s periodic 5-year plans under various leaders, including Stalin and Brezhnev.

President Sidney A. RibeauEthiopian-American Community and human rights activists are stunned that Howard University is willing to give its space to the dictator’s Embassy. Providing space to a regime known for brutality, mass violence, torture, use of rape as a weapon of counterinsurgency, and killings of innocent civilians as a method to undermine the movement for freedom and democracy and gross human rights violations is very embarrassing, not in line with the strong standing and reputation of this great institution of higher learning, and an affront to all people, especially those of African origin. It also makes Howard University—which is known as a living symbol of the determination of a people of African descent to free themselves of oppression and enjoy the fruits of life, liberty, happiness, and prosperity as responsible citizens in an equal society—appear to be a tacit supporter of social injustice and human rights abuses in Africa.

President Sidney Ribeau

Another to-date highly reputed academic institution, the London School of Economics (LSE) in London, U.K., is currently suffering a series damage to its name because of the way that it accommodated the close family members of another repressive totalitarian of the African continent, Col. Muhammar Ghaddafi. Inspired by the freedom-seeking African citizens of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and elsewhere, many Ethiopians within Ethiopia are planning to rise up to reclaim democracy, rule of law, and human dignity. Particularly in light of this, and the reputational damage LSE recently suffered, we feel it is both highly surprising and very much the wrong thing to do for a university with the history of Howard’s to be inviting the dictatorship’s delegation to come to use Howard’s halls to disseminate their propaganda.

Providing a forum and space for the delegates of a violent dictator who suppresses his own people with an iron fist is incredibly inappropriate, and hurts the reputation of Howard University. Therefore, we strongly urge you to cancel the Ethiopian Embassy event on April 9, 2011 that is to be held at Cramton Auditorium. We would be very happy to meet with you and explain our concerns further, and we can be reached by email at joinus@march4freedom.org or by phone at 202-656-8070 .

Sincerely,

Signed

Ethiopian Community in Washington, D.C.
March4Freedom.org
Phone: 202-656-8070
Joinus@march4freedom.org

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