Another letter

Dear Senator / Representative:

I am writing to ask you to cosponsor Senate Resolution 432 / House Resolution 861, supporting respect for human rights and condemning violence in Ethiopia. In the last two weeks, at least 50 people - some reports place the number at over 600 - were killed at a cultural festival in the town of Bishoftu when police fired tear gas and live ammunition at the crowd. Protesters responding to the massacre killed an American researcher named Sharon Gray and destroyed foreign businesses believed to have government connections. The Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency, legitimizing arbitrary arrests, restricting freedom of movement, and making it illegal for people to cross their arms over their head.

The United States considers Ethiopia to be our ally. This crisis is happening with support from my taxpayer dollars. We need an urgent review of our security assistance to Ethiopia.

Thank you.

Find your representatives in Congress here.

In our national self-interest

Telling a foreign government what to do is always messy. This is directed at MY government. It is not in America's best interest to subsidize violence in Ethiopia: 

"The stakes are too high for the US, UK, and other western allies of the TPLF/EPRDF regime to just sit back and watch as a simmering volcanic eruption rocks Ethiopia and spews chaos and instability to the sub-region.  It is in the strategic interest of these countries, including the international partnership on counterterrorism, that Ethiopia has a stable, popular and democratic government elected by free, fair and transparent process."

Read the entire piece here: Ethiopia: The Myth of a Stable and Reliable Partner Under the Minority TPLF Regime