Ethiopia: Human Rights Abusers should be barred from the United States

March 13, 2015

Laura Hruby
Ethiopian Desk Officer
Office of East African Affairs
Bureau of African Affairs
Washington D.C. 20520
Tel: (202) 647-6473
Email: HrubyLP@state.gov

Date: March 11. 2015

Re: Human Rights Abusers should be barred from the United States.

We are writing this letter to lodge a formal complaint to why Mr. Abdi Mohamud Omar, the Somali Regional President of Ethiopia, was permitted an entry visa to the United States. To the best of our knowledge, this is the third time Mr. Abdi Mohamud Omar was allowed to enter the United States, despite his cruel human rights record which the State Department is clearly knowledgeable. In January of 2011, Mr. Omar’s first visit to the United States, the good offices of our two Minnesota Senators, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Al Franken, as well as Congressman Keith Ellison have personally contact the State Department and pleaded to stop Mr. Omar’s entry to the United States.

Mr. Abdi Mohamud Omar, the Somali Regional President of Ethiopia

We are again at your mercy to consider our request. We are vehemently protesting the decision to allow Mr. Omar to enter the United States. Mr. Omar and his delegation are known human rights violators who have earned despicable record in their part for the suffering of the Ogaden Somali civilians in Ethiopia. Mr. Omar, who leads the delegation, is the person who is responsible for the creation and maintenance of the brutal paramilitary force called Liyuu Police whose mission is to perpetuate dreadful crimes against innocent civilians. Under the supervision of Mr. Omar, thousands of people have been mass executed, tortured, raped, and displaced. The crimes he is responsible for has been cited in many reputable reports published by independent organizations like the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty, and your own Department of State’ yearly Human Rights report which highlights these unspeakable crimes in details. Mr. Omar uses the Liyuu Police to solely created fear of terrorizing the population. The Liyuu Police are systematically unleashed on the population to commit crimes against humanity. The magnitude of their oppression is intense and widespread. Please view the attached testimonies as evidences to show you that Mr. Omar’s forces perpetuating unabated arbitrary arrests, open executions, torture, imprisonment without fair trail, and mass disappearances. Moreover, Mr.Omar’s troops are using rape as a weapon to suppress innocent and defenseless women.

We believe it was wrong for the State Department to issue a diplomatic visa to a registered human rights violator and his associates. The United States law prohibits entry to anyone with this distained record. We should comply with these rules when issuing visas. We are respectfully requesting from your office to enforce the rule governing “No Safe Haven: Law Enforcement Operation against Human Rights Violator in the U.S. Law”. It is only fair that Mr. Omar and his delegation should immediately be removed from the United States ‘soil. We appreciate for your understanding in this urgent matter.

Evidences against Mr. Omar and his delegation.

Abdullahi Hussein’s testimony at Frontline Club Oslo, Norway. Abdullahi Hussein was Abdi Mohamud Omar’s personal assistant and cameraman.
https://vimeo.com/88461621
Ethiopian military displays dead bodies of civilian & freedom fighters for public fear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18PC38rplr0
Dictator Meles Zenawi’s Ogaden Genocide – Ethiopia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeR3AmFOzOc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcSZg_lgFxM
Human Rights Watch Publication
http://www.hrw.org/news/2008/06/12/ethiopia-army-commits-executions-torture-and-rape-ogaden
Martin Plaut
https://martinplaut.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/silence-and-pain-ethiopias-human-rights-record-in-the-ogaden/
Martin Schibble and Johan Persson testimony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL6p6GgUKts
http://www.tesfanews.net/ethiopia-may-stand-trial-for-genocide/
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/varlden/in-english-a-wave-of-ethiopian-atrocities-against-villages-in-ogaden
U.S. Department of State Human Rights Report 2013
http://www.ice.gov/human-rights-violators-war-crimes-unit

CC. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
CC. Governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton
CC. Senator Amy Klobuchar
CC. Senator Al Franken
CC. Congressman Keith Ellison
CC. Congressman Erik Paulsen
CC. Congresswoman Betty McCollum
CC. Mayor Betsy Hodges
CC. Department of Homeland Security
CC. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
CC. National Public Radio
CC. Huffington Post

Thank you,

Ogaden American Community of Minnesota.
3055 Old Hwy 8,
Minneapolis, MN 55418