April 27,2012 has become another historical land mark in the History of Ethiopian Muslims. The security of the criminal regime in Ethiopia opened live ammunition on peaceful worshipers in Asasa,Arsi killing,wounding and arresting several of them. This is the first reaction to the months old,country wide peaceful demonstration that demanded full respect for the right of citizens as enshrined in the constitution. It is the first sign that the government is to implement what the head of the regime told the so called house of people's representative ten days earlier.

On April 17,2012 Ato Meles Zenawi told Ethiopian Muslims that their demand is a act of terrorism that need to be crushed as soon as possible. He also told us that an Al Qaida cell is found in Arsi/Bale. Yes! in what happened in Asasa we see clearly what the PM was talking about. He signals where the action would begin and how. In the mean time Ethiopian Muslims are expressing their determination to go all the journey the struggle would take. The atrocities against their brothers would simply indicate that there is no other options but to pass through the holy lane the movement opened. Yes we grief the lose but their blood is shade for a supreme cause –their cause they died for will shine and their name will be glorified. They have fallen at a time and within the historical Movement for justice,freedom and peace for Ethiopia and Ethiopians. Those fallen are our Shahids and their killing we recoginised as one of the several crimes the regime perpetrated against the citizens of Ethiopia,Massacre. Below are statements issued by Diaspora Ethiopian Muslims Organisations.

Network of Ethiopian Muslims in Europe

In the name of Allah the Merciful,the Compassionate

On April 27,2012 the security forces of the government of Ethiopian opened fire on peaceful worshipers in Asasa town,Arsi Zone,Oromia region,killing and wounding several peaceful worshipers. Latest figure indicates that the number of people died has reached eleven. Among those killed is a six years old boy. Over fifty people were wounded,some still in serious conditions. Over 200 people are reported to have been arrested.

The Network of Ethiopian Muslims in Europe condemns this atrocity against peaceful citizens. We recognize the measure taken on April 27,2012 against peaceful citizens of Asasa town as one of the several massacres committed by the regime and a crime against humanity. Those killed are martyrs (መስዋዕታ/Shahids) who gave their life for the sake of justice,freedom and liberty of Ethiopian Muslims and all Ethiopians.

The Network rejects with strongest terms the characterization by the government of Ethiopian of the incident in Asasa as “act of terrorism”and the people killed/wounded/arrested as “terrorists”. It is shameful that the government of Ethiopia choose to respond to the peaceful and constitutional demand of Ethiopian Muslims with gun.

For more than four months Ethiopian Muslims are demanding for an end to government intervention in their religious affairs and to stop its attempt to indoctrinate Ethiopian Muslims with an align Ahbash doctrine. Beyond the Awolia gathering,which has been attracting hundreds of thousands of Muslims,the Ethiopian Muslims at large is expressing its rejection of the Ahbashinization project of the Ethiopian government. Awolia-like gatherings are now a weekly phenomenon at most Mosques around the country. The gatherings demonstrated one of the highest standard of morality,integration and peace despite several attempts by the government security to disturb it. The demands are not other than the respect for the basic and fundamental rights of citizens as are guaranteed by the constitution of the country.

At this time of great tribulation and difficulty in our country,we call up on the Muslim community,both at home and in the diaspora,to unite more than ever and stand firm on the noble causes our brothers gave their life for.

We call upon all Ethiopians,regardless of their belief,to condemn this atrocity and join the movement for justice,rule of law and democracy in Ethiopia.

We fear that the measure taken in Asasa is an indication of what we may expect from the government in the days ahead. We call up human right organizations and the international community at large to condemn the measure taken,follow up developments and investigate the already committed crime against peaceful worshipers of Asasa.

We pray that Allah (swt) grant our dead Jennah ul-Firdous and make their blood the foundation of victory to Ethiopia and Ethiopians. May He,the Almighty –give their families patience. Amin.

Network of Ethiopian Muslims in Europe (NEME
Stockholm,Sweden
April 29,2012

First Hijra Foundation has also released the following statement of protest

In the Name of Allah,Most Gracious,Most Merciful

STATEMENT OF PROTEST
 

The First Hijrah Foundation,strongly condemns the massacre that took place in the Asasa town of Arsi zone,Oromia region. The senseless killing of innocent worshipers in a mosque is an unforgivable crime. After the Friday prayer on April 27th,seven worshipers,among which were a six year old boy and a new mother of twins,were killed,and many others wounded by security forces.

We ask what was the crime committed by these victims?? They were but innocent Muslims,peacefully resisting the unconstitutional interference by the government in their religious affairs. We at the First Hijrah Foundation fear the latest incident in Asasa to be a prelude to what is soon to come. We fear that the government will use brutal force to silence the millions of Ethiopian Muslims that are rightfully and peacefully resisting the blatant interference of the government in their religious affairs by appointing leaders of the “Majlis”,or supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. Through this appointment of leaders,the government is trying to forcefully indoctrinate the Muslims with the well-known extremist Ahbash ideology mainly imported from Lebanon.

As we condemn these senseless criminal acts,we urge all peace loving Ethiopian and Human Right organizations to condemn and closely monitor the dire situation Ethiopian Muslims are going through. We demand a stop to the blatant violation of the constitutional rights of Ethiopian Muslims by the authorities in Ethiopia. We support and encourage Ethiopian Muslims to stay in the course of the peaceful struggle and resistance that they have chosen as a means to achieve their constitutional rights.

The First Hijrah Foundation,
 Washington,DC
April 29,2012

Earlier BADR Ethiopia issued the following statement (I apologise for problems with some of the characters. For a correct reading please refer their original statement on their website)

በአሳሳ ከተማ የተፈጸመውን ግድያ (ኢናሉሊሂ ወኢናሉሊሂ ራጀኡን) አስመልክቶ ከበድር ኢትዮጵያ የተሰጠ መግለጫ

ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሉሞች ለአለፉት ወራት መንግስት በሃይማኖታችን ጣልቃ አይግባ፤ አሕባሽን ድግፎ በመቆም ተቀበለት ብሎ አያስገድን፤ የእምነት ቦታዎቻችን ይከበሩልን፤ የመጅሉሱ ሰዎች በእምነት ቦታዎቻችን ሊይ ጣልቃ እየገቡ ሹም ሽር ሇማድርግ አይሞክሩ፤ የመርጥናቸውና የወከልናቸው አይዯለምና። ሕገ መንግስታዊ መብታችን ይከበርልን፦ በማሇት ድምጻቸውን ሲያሰሙ ቆይተዋል፤ አሁንም በነቂስ እየወጡ ፍጹም ሰሊማዊ በሆነ ስነምግባር መንግስታቸውን በመጠየቅ ሊይ ናቸው። 

በድር ኢትዮጵያም ይህ የሕዝበ ሙስሉሙ ጥያቄ ሕጋዊና አዯብ የያዘ፤ ሕገመንግስታዊና መሰረታዊ የመብትና የእምነት ነጻነት ጥያቄ በመሆኑ፤ መንግስት አዎንታዊ ምሊሽ እንዱሰጥ ስናሳስብ ቆይተናል።

በዚህ መሰረታዊና ሕገመንግስታዊ ጥያቄ አስቸኳይ መልስ አለመስጠት ወዯ አሊስፈሊጊ ግጭት ያመራል በማሇት ስጋታችን ሇመግልጽ ሞክረናል።

አሁን በኣሩሲ ዞን በአሳሳ ከተማ የተፈጸመው ጣልቃ ገብነትና ግድያ መንግስት የሕዝቡን ጥያቄ ከማድበስበሱና ቀና መልስ ሇመስጠት ካሇመከጀልና ከአሕባሽ ጋር ሇመቆም ከወሰዯው አቓም የመነጨ ነው።
ይህ አይነት ጣልቃ ገብነትና በሰሊማዊ ሰወች ሊይ የተዯረገውን ግዲያ በድር ኢትዮጵያ በጽኑ የሚያወግዘው ድርጊት ሲሆን ፤ ዱሞክራሲያዊና ሕገመንግስታዊ መብታቸውን ሇማስከበር በሰሊማዊና በህጋዊ መንገድ ድምጻቸውን ሊሰሙ ዜጎች ተኮሶ መግዯል ጸረ ዱሞክራሲና ሕገወጥ ድርጊት በመሆኑ እንዲይዯገም ጥንቃቄ እንዱዯረግና፤ የአሳሳ ጉዲይም ተጣርቶ ሕገወጥ ግድያ የፈጸሙት ሇፍርድ
እንዱቀርቡ እናሳሰባሇን።

ሇዱናቸው ሸሂድ የሆኑት የአሳሳ ከተማ ሙስሉም ወገኖችም (ኢናሉሊሂ ወኢናሉሊሂ ራጀኡን) አሊህ ሱብሃነ ወታአሊ የጀና ቤታቸውን እንዱያሳምርሊቸው ደኣ እያዯርግን፤
ኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሉሞች አሁንም ሰፊ ልቦናቸውን ጠብቀው፤ በትግስትና በርጋታ፤ ሰሊማዊና ሕጋዊ በሆነ መንገድ ትግሊችንን በጽናት እንድንቀጥል ጥሪያችን እናቀርባሇን።

አሊህ ዋኣክበር፤ አሊህ ዋከበር፤ አሊህ ዋከበር
በድር ኢትዮጵያ
ዋሽንግተን ዱሲ