Ethiopians protest in Prague against human rights abuses

Jan 6, 2005 (PRAGUE) — A group of Ethiopians living in the Czech Republic staged a demonstration in Prague’s Lesser Town today to protest against human rights abuses in Ethiopia.

They unveiled posters and the Ethiopian flag and distributed leaflets among passers-by calling for support for the fight against injustice in this African country.

Some one dozen demonstrators gradually visited the British, American and German embassies where they handed over a letter with a similar appeal. They also sent the appeal to the Czech government and parliament.

“We firmly believe that the Czech Republic as a democratic country and as a country of world-famous human rights advocates can contribute to the improvement of the miserable situation in Ethiopia,” the activists said in their appeal.

The European countries should persistently exert pressure on the Ethiopian government so that it stops the violation of fundamental human rights, they said.

Murders and torture have become a standard routine under the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the appeal says.

“Government units are massacring and torturing students in the town of Ambo while another tens of thousands of young Ethiopians are illegally kept in concentration camps,” they said.

Although European countries, including the Czech Republic, criticize the Ethiopian dictatorial regime from time to time, they recognize it as a legitimate partner, the activists said.

“The European Union has done nothing essential against it, apart from verbal protests,” one of the organizers told journalists.