BERN, Switzerland (March 2) - Activists seen with banners that call for the release of opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, singer-activist Teddy Afro and thousands of other political prisoners (Photo: Mistre Haileselassie)

MUNICH, Germany - Activists here were joined by German MP Winfried Hermann who wrote to his parliament over the condition of jailed opposition leader Ms. Birtukan Mideksa.

LONDON (March) - Home to some of the most active human rights advocates, London also staged a rally whose songs and slogans echoe calls for the release of, among others, Birtukan Mideksa, a young opposition leader admired by the entire country as the "beacon of hope, peace and justice."

MELBOURNE, Australia - This Australian metropolis was also another site of solidarity rally with Ethiopia and her quest for justice and democracy. For more photos, visit AbbayMedia

SEATTLE - Ethiopians defied below-zero temperatures on March 2nd and went on with their planned rally that called for an end to state-terrorism in Ethiopia, and the release of all political prisoners, including the prominent opposition leader, Ms. Birtukan Mideksa.

In Washington, DC, where a frigid arctic-type of storm blanketed the nation's capital, Ethiopian Americans and their friends called on US President Barack Obama to extend a helping hand to the struggle the people are waging to bring an end to the tyrannical regime of Meles Zenawi, restore the rule of law and justice.

The activists called for an end to the gross human rights violations as well as the release of all political prisoners, including the prominent opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa and singer activist Teddy Afro.

"Obama, help us to make dictatorship in Ethiopia history," "Release Birtukan and other political prisoners," and other similar slogans were chanted by the activists in front of the State Department.

The Washington protest march was one of 13 worldwide rallies held in major capitals across North America, Europe and Australia.

Says Alemayehu Abebe, one of the organizers of the worldwide rallies: "We are appealing to US President Barack Obama to pressure the government in Ethiopia to end human rights violations as well as release Birtukan and thousands of other political prisoners."

"The march initially planned from State Department to the White House was changed due to the below-zero temperature," Alemayehu told Deutsche Welle Radio Washington correspondent Abebe Feleke. "Schools and offices are closed."

But despire the harsh, arctic-like weather, the Ethiopians staged the rally and presented their questions to officials of the State Department." Alemayehu told DW that Ethiopian-Americans were eager to see President Obama's swift response to the ongoing political repression in Africa's second most populous nation.

Washington DC rally organizer Haile-Gabriel Ayalew on his part told the radio: "Our real hopes for change are pinned on our people. They are the decisive force to bring about a political change in the country. They are bearing the brunt of life under a ruthless dictatorship. Ethiopians are seriously engaged in the struggle for freedom and justice, end political repression, restore the rule of law, peace and justice. But in the meantime, we count on President Obama's" promising signs of bolstering struggles for democracy and justice.

Ethio-American Civic Group activist Dr. Kassa Ayalew said the rally was mainly focused on highlighting the harsh conditions in Ethiopia, and was not as such a politically-motivated rally. "It is for this reason that the rally drew both political organizations and civic groups."

In its latest 2008 human rights report, the US State Department accuses the Zenawi regime of committing a serious of human rights violations. Very recently, Mr. Zenawi said pro-democracy rallies such as the one held on Sunday had little or no impact to dent the political situation inside the country. The Zenawi regime, in power since 1991, is usually dismissive of any human rights accusations, whether such accusations come from the State Department or human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.