Ethiopian nationals in DC express stance for humanity before politics

As the Oromo protests increase in depth and size across Oromia, Ethiopian nationals in the Washington-DC metropolitan area staged a peaceful demonstration on December 9, 2015, in front of the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC, to appeal to the U.S. government to intervene and stop the ongoing human rights violations against Oromo nationals in Ethiopia.

The protesters were chanting slogans in Afan Oromo, Amharic and English to denounce the killings of Oromo students by the Ethiopian government’s Federal police in Oromia. Oromo students in particular, and the Oromo public in general, have been protesting, since April 2014, against the Addis Ababa Master Plan, which, they say, legitimizes the illegal land-grabbing by rich “investors” affiliated with the minority government of Ethiopia against the disenfranchised and poor Oromo farmers.  Recent maneuvers by Ethiopian government to revive and put the Master Plan into effect have escalated the protests with implications for all nationals in Ethiopia.

Mr. Obang Metho, Executive Director of the SMNE (Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia), a prominent activist and human rights defender joined the protest in Washington DC. below is his speech at the event.