Press Release:
National and International Protest Against Tax-Dollars Indirectly Funding Genocide in the Ogaden & the Illegal Humanitarian Blockade in Ogaden. Members of the American and Swedish Ogaden Diaspora community will be staging a protest on Wednesday, September 7th 2011, in Minneapolis MN, San Diego CA, Los Angeles CA, Fargo ND, Denver CO, Dallas Texas, Stockholm Sweden… and many other places.

This protest will be held throughout the world on September 7th as part of an international effort to call attention to the genocide being committed in the Ogaden Region.

See Denver Protest Information Below

Furthermore, the U.S. currently provides millions of dollars of long-term humanitarian aid to Ethiopia; however, the government of Ethiopia is not demonstrating genuine willingness to help alleviate this humanitarian crisis. Instead the Ethiopian regime is using international aid, to commit heinous crimes against humanity in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. Millions of people in the Ogaden region are facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and the international community and the international media has ignored the plight of the Ogaden people for far too long.

The protesters demand that the U.S. government compel the Ethiopian regime to open the Ogaden region to independent organizations, including humanitarian ones, to assess and monitor the serious humanitarian situation.

Denver Protest - See Dallas Protest Information Below

The ongoing conflict in the Ogaden has had a devastating impact on innocent civilians. The government of Ethiopia has taken series of steps to clampdown on opposition forces, including use of force and human rights violations. The State Department’s 2010 Report on Human Rights Practices in Ethiopia detail incidences of human rights abuses committed by Ethiopian security forces and government sponsored militias known as Liyuu Bolis.

We are demanding the U.S. government and the international community to take immediate action in dealing with the human and humanitarian crisis taking place in Ogaden.