Weekend Top Stories:
[KIDNAPPED CHINESE WORKERS FREED IN ETHIOPIA]
[Worries mount as U.S citizen remains detained in Ethiopia] - [EHRCO Condemns Degehabour Massacre] - [Somalis move bodies after clashes]
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The Week in Review
TOP STORIES FROM THE PAST WEEK- 8 Ethiopian Hostages Freed After 52 Days
- Gunmen kill 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese workers in Ethiopia
- Somalia: Kismayu falls into the hands of clan militia
- Chaos at Addis Abeba university
- Report: Update in the Ethiopia trial against human rights defenders, political opponents
- Congressman Donald Payne: Mogadishu, Another Darfur in the Making?
Coalition for H.R.5680, renamed Coaliton for H.R. 2003
Press Release
5K Walk FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMANRIGHTS, PEACE AND UNITY
Kinijit DC Metro Board
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KIDNAPPED CHINESE WORKERS FREED IN ETHIOPIA
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Seven Chinese workers captured in an attack last week on an oil plant by separatist rebels in eastern Ethiopia in which 77 people died have been released, their kidnappers told AFP on Sunday. The ICRC in Addis Ababa confirmed that the workers had been handed over to them and said it would issue more details later in the day.A temporary ceasefire was arranged between the ONLF and the Ethiopian army -- with the ICRC acting as mediator -- to facilitate the handover, Mahdi said.(More...)
EHRCO Condemns Degehabour Massacre
The Ethiopian Humana Right Council (EHRCO) is saddened by, and utterly deplores with the strongest possible terms the summary execution committed on 74 innocent oilfield workers in Eastern Ethiopia, Degehabour Zone, Abole locality on the 26 April 2007 at around 5 a.m.
In this heinous massacre, 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese nationals have brutally been killed. The victims were on sleep in their tents when an armed group stormed the Chinese-run oil exploration facility, and committed such stunning atrocity against them. EHRCO believes that such brutal massacre of innocent people cannot be justified by whatsoever motives, and thus considers it as a sheer cowardly act.
EHRCO is also deeply concerned about the wellbeing and whereabouts of those oil workers abducted. It believes that no one benefits from crimes of this nature. EHRCO, therefore, demands the perpetrators to desist from committing such ghastly crimes against innocent workers. The Council also urges the government to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice, and accord the necessary protection to innocent civilians.
Finally, EHRCO calls up on citizens, national and international organizations, representatives of governments, international groups, and individuals who stand for human rights protection and the rule of law, to deplore the massacre committed on innocent oil workers, and demand the immediate and unconditional release of those kidnapped individuals.
Worries mount as U.S citizen remains detained in Ethiopia
TRENTON, N.J. - The family of a man being held in Ethiopia for alleged ties to Islamic militants is growing increasingly frustrated that he is still being detained despite reports that he would be released.
News reports, a congressman's office and U.S. officials said this month that U.S.-born Amir Mohamed Meshal, 24, would soon be freed. But no one seems to know exactly why he was not.
"It was an emotional roller-coaster for us," said his father, Mohamed Meshal, speaking from their home in Tinton Falls on the Jersey shore. "We started cooking, and marinating the meat for his homecoming and the next minute, everything collapses."(More...)
Somalis move bodies after clashes
Residents of the Somali capital have started to clear the bodies of those killed in nine days of fierce battles from the streets of Mogadishu.
Fighting has stopped for the moment, after Ethiopian forces drove insurgents from northern suburbs on Thursday.
Many houses and businesses were looted during the fighting, including the Coca-Cola factory opened in 2004. More people have been displaced in Somalia in the past two months than any other country, the United Nations says.
AFP news agency is reporting that Ethiopians and government troops are moving house-to-house in northern districts arresting suspected insurgents.(More...)
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