Switzerland, thank you for granted resident status to Ethiopian Airlines Co-Pilot

June 6, 2014

Ethiopian Current Affairs Discussion Forum (ECADF)

Your Excellency Mr. Marco Renna
Ministere Public de la Confederation
The Government of Switzerland

Dear your Excellency Mr. Renna:

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In the name of 90,000,000 voiceless, freedom lovers and Justice seekers of Ethiopians, we would like to express our heartfelt appreciation and thanks to you, your government, the Swiss Federal office of Justice, and the Swiss people in general for standing by the rule of law and justice, rejecting the extradition of Ethiopian Airlines Co-pilot Hailemedhin Abera and granting him a stay in Switzerland. The Co-pilot diverted his own aircraft on February 17, 2014 and landed safely in Geneva while none of the 202 passengers and crew injured; and to that matter none of them notice the diversion.

Your Excellency:

Hailemedhin, wanted to let the world exactly know and pay attention to the brutality of the current regime, the gross human right violation and heinous crime being committed by the current regime of Ethiopia. Level of atrocity and human rights violation is beyond the limit of tolerance. That is what Hailemedhin wanted to testify, and the Swiss justice system understood very clearly and showed it in its action, we thank you for that. His message was and is clear; he did not do it to advance a better life of his own. He was one of the few privileged who had a good career with stable income to enable him live luxuries life in a country where about 40% of the population live under poverty line. But the suffering of his fellow citizens, mass arrest and torture of journalists, human right defenders, and political leader under fabricated crime, disappearance of citizens without explanation, the regimes impunity towards his critics, would not allow him to sit and see. He did it in a way that international community would understand.

Your Excellency:

In current Ethiopia, under the rule of Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), freedom of belief and creed are violated, freedom of expression is jeopardized, critical opinion against the regime is not tolerated, poor farmers are forcefully being evicted from their ancestral land and left to die in bushes, government sponsored ethnic based skirmish are threatening regional stability, and the list goes on. This is a known fact by Western governments but they are deliberately avoiding from holding the dictatorial regime accountable. The Ethiopian situation is very volatile and fragile, if Ethiopia falls into chaos, the whole region will follow, that is what Hailemedhin wanted to portray in his action. Otherwise, he had countless opportunities to seek asylum be it in the United States of America, Canada or Europe.

Your Excellency:

Hailemedhin action was a call to freedom loving countries like Switzerland to listen to the plight of the Ethiopian people. Switzerland listened to his call and rejected the regimes quest for his extradition. We urge the Swiss government to listen to the main call of Hailemedhin and discontinue any association with the current regime of Ethiopia and be exemplary to the rest of the world.

At this juncture, we would like to bring to your attention that the people of Ethiopia are reaching the point of no return. If the present level of atrocities and terror continues by the dictatorial regime and the silence of western governments to the plight of the people, the brutality and abuse of this tyrant regime will continue. We are afraid that the situation could be out of control. This regime has prepared enough recipes that would lead the international community to witness another Rwanda.

Once again, we thank on behalf of 90,000,000 Ethiopians for standing by the rules of law, justice, democracy, human rights and for granting Hailemedhin Abera a stay in Switzerland. We also hope Switzerland will grant him a refugee status.

God Bless You and the peace loving People of Switzerland.