The Ethiopian Community Association in Victoria,Australia, is gravely concerned over the regime`s state sponsored terrorism against the Muslim citizens for demanding their religious right.Ethiopians co-existed peacefully, with many different faith followers for many centuries. Aiming at the marginalization, the destabilization and the destructions of the Ethiopian identities haven`t been a new phenomena for this brutal regime.

Ever since, the tyrant Melese Zenawi controlled TPLF government came to power with the forces of guns and with the backing  of the top Western leaders in 1991,Melese and his  TPLF top dogs,detrmined to exercise their power as how to segment Ethiopia into pieces and as how to weaken the Ethiopian fundamental values and assets. In here, let`s not forget that Mr Zenawi who dashed into the Ethiopian palace 21 years ago, has had been a spy boy and a mercenary for the developed West, against Ethiopia`s Sovereignty and the Ethiopians interest. Even though, it is obvious for us [Ethiopians] , for the sake of relating to the current situation and to inform for the unaware foreigners, it is important to highlight or demonstrate some facts that the regime`s boss [Mr Zenawi] and his top dogs have done against the nation`s interest, and so:

* As soon as they took political power from Colonel Mngistu, they proclaimed that Ethiopia as a nation is only a hundred years old, introduced the none indigenous ‘Latin’ language to weaken one of the oldest indigenous language [Amharic],facilitated, the succession of one of Ethiopia`s Northern provinces [Eritrea] including Massawa and Asseb sea ports, Ethiopia lost its natural and historical outlets to the Red Sea, Ethiopia became landlocked nation, stripped away the Ethiopian hereditary and the symbolic flag, portrayed it as worthless as rag, for which our parents and grandparents sacrificed  their lives.  

* They implemented, ethnic language based federalism- which is the Western colonialists ‘Bantunization’ style on third world colonised subjects: to disempower and to disharmonize  the social-cultural and the psycho-dynamic attachments of Ethiopians, to sow the seeds of hatred and animosity among Ethiopians.

*The Ethio-Eritrean war that took place 1998-2000,ended with  in favour of Eritrea.80,000-10000 young Ethiopian men and women lost their precious lives  in  vain. In 2006,theTPLF led military forces invaded Somalia on behalf of Ethiopia against the nation`s will, to appease the Western powers, assisting them a war on Al-Qaida, a great number of Ethiopians paid their precious lives for the interest of foreigners, in response to look after Melese and his  political reign

*In 2008,the TPLF gangs, gave 1600 sq.km Ethiopia`s fertile farmland to the Sudan government, in response to, Sudan not to host anti Melese forces. In the same year,75 million acres of fertile land being leased away for foreign capitalists, further a total of Belgium sized land mass is under way for lease for foreign corporate, these have been at the expenses of the indigenous farmers displacement.

* The self assigned PM, Melese Zenawi and his top dogs have  dismantled numerous Ethiopia`s traditional and modern Institutions that had been well built and established for centuries, such as: agricultural,educational,postal,telecommunicational,industrial,defencial etc. institutions., replaced by theTPLF model structures with their ethnic blood chain of commands. Zenawi,his family, his top dogs and his affiliates have robbed the nation`s wealth in billions and have deposited in foreign countries banks.

* From the very beginning of the despotic Zenawi resumed political power in Ethiopia,he has committed ongoing violations of:human,civil,polical,religious rights and the rule of law. Numerous opposition political leaders ,their members, their supporters,civil,political and human rights activists, journalists etc.have been: imprisoned,bashed,ganged and tortured. Thousands of political, civil and human rights proponents have been kept in various detention centres or ranches like cattle for several years without trial. Many hundreds have been killed, during peaceful protests in streets.

* Freedom of public and private political discourses and expression, freedom of peaceful protest, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of opposition political parties, freedom of  forming and organizing workers union or association etc.were totally curtailed or repressed.

*Twenty years ago,Mr Zenawi overturned the Ethiopian Orthodox churches Synodos power unlawfully, fired the Patriarch who ascended through the Synodos hierarchical system and assigned  ‘ Patriarch Paulos’ with his self defence pistol, who is eugenically qualified to Mr. Zenawi`s  ethnic .The legitimate Patriarch since then, is  in exile, for that, fellow Ethiopian Orthodox Christians  are divided into two camps, antagonizing one another, it has been  a deliberate plot to  disunite  the Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.

* Starting early 2012,with the pretext of sugarcane plantation or development, the regime ordered to destroy one of the oldest Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery,that has been founded in 490 AD, located in Begemeder province, North Ethiopia. Monks and nuns of that Monastery have been: bashed, beaten, harassed and imprisoned while protesting against the act, the dispute is still underway. Members of the current, the Ethiopian ruling class, have been doing several and ongoing attempts to put hatred virus or venom, between the Muslim Community and the Christian community.Yet,as citizens from both religious domains were aware of the rulers motive, so that so, they refused  to take the state`s evil influence or cancer.

“To know the present we must look into the past and to know the future we must look into the present” [Rodney Walter].To understand our Muslim brothers’ cause, we must relate the above factors. This is another TPLF chosen Synodos, the Synodos of “Al-Abash Sect of Islam”, being brought from foreign land, to impose on many generations “home born and home grown majority Islamic denomination.”

Let us look what their demands are:

1] The government to stop its unconstitutional promotion of Lebanon based ‘Al-Ahbash Sect’ and the ‘Awalia Mosque’ in Addis Abeba to be returned to the majority Muslim community from a corrupted minority Islamic Council

2] Islamic Council elections to be held at mosques rather than at local government offices.

3] Ethiopia`s ‘Islamic Affairs Supreme Council’ to be free from undemocratic body of government stooges or puppets

4] The government to stop labelling them that they are ‘extremists’ etc..

From these points of view: who causes the problem? Why the problem being created?

It is too obvious to understand, the cause of the problem is the government itself, the so called government! The government created this problem for three main reasons, they are:

a] To create divisions between and among the Muslim Community like that of the Ethiopian Orthodox church Synodos and to weaken the power of their unity.

b] To get puppet followers as that of pseudo ‘patriarch Paulos’ who leads the Ethiopian Orthodox church

c] To create Muslim versus Christian war in Ethiopia, in particular, by using state media propaganda as if this movement is ‘Islamic extremism or fundamentalism’- to get sympathy and  impression from the national and the international Christian Communities, by labelling them that they  are  threats  for Christians.

Based on these premises, the Ethiopian Community Association in Victoria,Australia, Strongly and unequivocally condemns the regime`s undemocratic handling of our Muslim brothers religious rights and inhumane treatments.Also,the Ethiopian Community Association in Victoria, ‘calls on’ the Ethiopian government:

1] To the immediate and the unconditional release of any individuals who have been arrested on the ground of exercising or demanding their religious rights.

2] To let them exercise their freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful protest, freedom of peaceful assembly etc. as these are elements of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights : Article-19&20-1948.

3] To let the Islamic Council elections go ahead democratically, without government interferences

4] To stop the unconstitutional promotion of the Al-Ahbash sect and let the Awalia Mosque be returned to the indigenous majority Muslim Community in Addis Abeba

5] To stop labelling them as ‘extremists and as terrorists: until these and other their concerned  demands are answered or got response, the Ethiopian Community Association in Victoria will continue  its struggle with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”[Article1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of ‘Human Rights’-UDHR]

To overcome our National Crises and Hurdles, We must unite our: physical,morale, psychological,financial,political,spiritual resources and collective wisdom

The Ethiopian Community Association in Victoria, Australia