United Liberation Forces of Oromiyaa (ULFO)

Urgent Appeal Letter

December 13, 2010

President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Kenya

His Excellency the Honourable Mwai Kibaki C.G.H., M.P

Harambee House, Harambee Avenue

P.O. Box 30510, Nairobi, Kenya

Your Excellency,

It is with great concern that we write this letter to your honour regarding the recent wave of arrest of Oromo refugees in Kenya.

According to reports from various local and international media, the security forces of the Government of Kenya have recently launched a crackdown on Oromo refugees residing in various parts of Kenya. Upon closely monitoring news from credible media, we sadly found out that many refugees had been rounded up and jailed based on unfounded allegations. Reportedly, many of them have experienced a heavy handed police mistreatment. Some have actually been physically abused and sustained serious injuries. The whereabouts of some others is unknown as they are detained in unidentifiable locations. Amid so much uncertainty surrounding the recent crackdown, the Oromo refugee communities across Kenya are on the edge. They now live in fear and trepidation.

Not knowing the fate of these refugees and as this situation has become our utmost concern, we are obliged to write this letter to the attention of your honour with the hope that your government will duly address the present agonizing situation of the refugees.

First of all, we would like to recognize that Kenya has been a safe heaven for Oromo refugees for many years. Oromos fleeing the atrocities of successive Ethiopian governments have regarded Kenya as a hospitable country since it proved for the most part accommodative to their needs. Some found it like home and socially and economically integrated with fellow Kenyans and permanently settled. Others made it a temporary harbour and gateway for departure to other countries. There are still others who are presently in limbo waiting either to settle in Kenya or immigrate to other third counties. Without firm commitment of the Government of Kenya in upholding the International Charter for Refugee Protection, the Oromo refugees would have undoubtedly found it utterly difficult to survive. In this respect, the United Liberation Forces of Oromiyaa (ULFO) and the Oromo people at large are truly indebted to the generosity of the brotherly people of Kenya and their government.

Your honour may realize that the mass exodus of Oromo refugees to Kenya is a relatively recent phenomenon. Although Oromos began fleeing from political persecution of previous governments of Ethiopia to a considerable extent, the number of Oromos trekking south and seeking refuge has reached a staggering proportion during the present regime of Mr. Meles Zenawi.

The rising influx of Oromo refugees during the reign of Mr. Zenawi is attributed to the exceedingly spiralling political oppression. The regime has denied the Oromos their inalienable rights to their country. It has politically and economically marginalized them. It has suppressed their democratic rights: the right of freedom of association, press, and speech. Most of all, it has flagrantly violated their basic human rights. In the eye of the regime, Oromos who subscribe to political opinion or persuasion outside the realm of the government prescribed political ideology are considered enemies. In total absence of the rule of law, many in the past had faced either death or lifetime incarceration for merely harbouring differing political views. In effect, with the unbridled political repression on the rise so has the number of escapees.

Today, extra-judicial killing of Oromos by Mr. Zenawi’s security squads is pretty rampant. Crafting pretext and imprisoning what they consider high-value Oromo individuals is fairly common. Putting such individuals on trail in kangaroo court and sentencing them for life is widespread. Evicting Oromo farming community from their land and confiscating thriving businesses from Oromo entrepreneurs under bizarre pretexts, the regime of Meles Zenawi has inflicted untold suffering to a cross-section of the Oromo society. In a nutshell, the regime has denied the Oromos the right to life. As a result, they have been forced to flee their country.

The brutality of the totalitarian regime of Meles Zenawi is nothing new. The international community is fully aware of it. Many renowned international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented in series of their respective reports the magnitude of repression that the Oromo people have experienced since his regime came to power. Similarly, many western governments have expressed their concerns regarding the dismal human rights records of his regime. By all accounts, it is one well established fact that Mr. Zenawi is heading one of the most notorious regimes in the world that tramples upon the fundamental human rights and democratic values.

Your Excellency,

Such is the inherent repressive nature of the Ethiopian regime which makes the Oromos’ pursuit of peaceful living in their own country utterly difficult, at times impossible. It is solely due to this very reason that they are escaping to Kenya to find a means to live in relative peace and freedom.

Given that the Oromos and Kenyans share not only geographic boundary but also biological bond strengthened with solidly interwoven cultural, social, and economic ties, the Oromos naturally sought harbour from their brotherly people of Kenya in difficult times. Kenyans and their government on their part attempted meeting their obligations both morally and legally, by uphold international laws, in accepting and protecting Oromos escaping political persecution.

Such was a prudent approach of the Government of Kenya in handling cases of Oromo refugees in the past. Lately, however, your government has resorted to regrettably punitive measures against Oromo refugee communities in Kenya. Just in the last two weeks, the Kenyan security forces have targeted these communities and begun massively arresting, beating, and imprisoning Oromos duly registered as refugees and threatening them for deportation. We find this latest action of the government quite disturbing.

We expect the Government of Kenya to remain living up to its international obligations and respect the rights of Oromo refugees. We warn that deporting the refugees to Ethiopia would put their lives in grave danger. It is worth noting here a case of two prominent Oromo dissidents who were deported by Kenyan authorities just a year ago. Namely, Mr. Mesfin Abebe and Mr. Tesfahun Chemeda were sentenced to death and life imprisonment, respectively, upon returning and appearing in the vengeful kangaroo court that works hand and glove with the regime of Mr. Zenawi. We have no reason to believe that the fate of those currently slated for deportation would be any different.

We, therefore, strongly urge the Government of Kenya to stick to the high road of observing universal values enshrined in international declarations and avoid becoming an accomplice of the Ethiopian regime in committing crimes against humanity.

Yours Sincerely,

Aberraa Taferraa, Deputy President for External Affairs of ULFO

cc: Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga., Prime Minister M.P

Email: info@primeminister.go.ke

Tel: 254-20-252299

cc: Hon. Pof. George Saitoti, E.G.H., M.P.,Ministry of States for Provincial Administration

and Internal Security, Kenya

Harambee House, Harambee Avenue

P.O. Box 30510, Nairobi, Kenya

cc: Mr. Mathew Kirai Iteere MGH, CBS, Commissioner of Police

Kenya Police Headquarters,

Vigilance House, Harambee Avenue,

P.O. Box 30083, Nairobi, Kenya

cc: Mr. Felix Schnyeder, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

United Nations Office at Geneva

1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

cc: Hon. Mumba Malila, Acting African Commission on Human and

Peoples Rights (ACHPR)

48 Kairaba Avenue, P.O.Box 673, Banjul, The Gambia.

E-mail: achpr@achpr.org

cc: Mr. Tom Fcansky Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of State

Email: TOfcansky@aol.com

Washington, D.C. 20037

cc: Mr. Tom Gibson, Amnesty International London

Email: TGibson@amnesty.org

cc: Mr. Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch, New York

Tel: +1-212-290-4700

Fax: +1-212-736-1300

Email: hrwnyc@hrw.org

Unity is Power!

Oromiyaa Shall be Free!