By Mesfin Mekonen
Washington Update
Washington, D.C. — Ethiopian Americans are urging members of the United States Congress and the Administration to pay urgent attention to the continuing human-rights and civilian-protection crisis in Ethiopia’s Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region.
In a message sent to U.S. lawmakers, Ethiopian Americans called for meaningful congressional attention, an independent and impartial investigation into reported atrocities, stronger protection for civilians and religious communities, humanitarian assistance for displaced families, and accountability for individuals responsible for serious human-rights violations.
The appeal comes amid disturbing reports of killings, abductions, forced displacement, destruction of homes and property, and attacks on religious institutions. According to the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), its 158th Special Report documented the deaths of at least 432 civilians and four local militia members in armed attacks across East Arsi during the period covered by its investigation. The report identified casualties across several districts, including Merti, Shirka, Jeju, Robe, Guna, Honqolo Wabe, Munisa, Aseko, and Arsi Sire.
A Crisis That Requires Congressional Attention
Ethiopian Americans emphasized that the situation should not be dismissed as an isolated local security problem. The reported violence has affected civilians over several years and has included killings, kidnappings for ransom, forced displacement, looting, destruction of homes and property, and attacks on religious institutions.
EHRCO reportedly documented thousands of people forced from their homes, including an estimated 14,415 displaced people as a result of violence and insecurity. Its findings also included numerous cases of abduction, with victims reportedly held for ransom and, in some cases, remaining missing.
For Ethiopian American families and communities in the United States, these reports are deeply troubling. Many have relatives, friends, and community members directly affected by the continuing violence. They believe the United States, as a major diplomatic partner of Ethiopia and a country that has long promoted human rights, democratic governance, religious freedom, and the rule of law, should not remain silent when credible reports of serious abuses emerge.
Protecting Religious Freedom and Cultural Heritage
The Ethiopian Americans’ appeal also highlights reported attacks against members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the destruction of religious institutions.
Among the reported incidents is the looting and burning of the historic Teleta Saint Gabriel Church in Aseko District, described in the briefing as approximately 101 years old.
For the communities that depend on them, churches are more than buildings. They are centers of worship, community life, cultural heritage, education, and historical identity. Attacks against religious institutions therefore raise broader concerns about religious freedom, cultural preservation, and the protection of vulnerable civilian populations.
Ethiopian Americans are urging U.S. lawmakers to encourage the Ethiopian government to take immediate and effective measures to protect religious communities and places of worship, while ensuring that perpetrators of attacks against civilians and religious institutions are held individually accountable.
Accountability Must Be Impartial
The message to Congress stresses that accountability must be based on evidence and must apply to all perpetrators, regardless of ethnicity, political affiliation, ideology, or organizational identity.
Reports have attributed some abuses in Oromia to fighters associated with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), while allegations have also been raised concerning the conduct or failure to act of government and regional security forces. The Ethiopian American appeal therefore calls for an independent investigation capable of examining the actions of all armed actors and relevant authorities rather than assigning collective blame to an ethnic or religious community.
The central questions for policymakers are straightforward:
Who killed civilians? Who ordered or facilitated the attacks? Who abducted civilians? Who destroyed homes and religious institutions? And why were civilians repeatedly left without effective protection?
Only a credible, impartial investigation can provide answers to these questions.
A Call for Concrete U.S. Action
Ethiopian Americans are asking Congress and the Administration to take several practical steps.
First, they are urging U.S. lawmakers to call for an independent, impartial, and internationally credible investigationinto the reported killings, abductions, forced displacement, destruction of property, and attacks on religious institutions in East Arsi.
Second, they are asking the United States to encourage Ethiopia to provide meaningful access to international human-rights organizations, independent investigators, humanitarian agencies, and journalists seeking to document abuses.
Third, they are calling for stronger protection of civilians and religious communities and for humanitarian assistance to displaced families, including emergency shelter, food, medical assistance, psychosocial support, protection services, assistance to women and children, support for families of missing persons, and help rebuilding homes and livelihoods.
Finally, Ethiopian Americans are asking the United States to consider targeted accountability measures—including visa restrictions and financial sanctions, consistent with U.S. law—when credible evidence establishes individual responsibility for serious human-rights violations.
Ethiopia Needs Peace, Justice and Accountability
The United States has a significant interest in Ethiopia’s stability, democratic development, religious freedom, and respect for human rights. Ethiopia remains strategically important to the United States and to the stability of the Horn of Africa.
Continued killings, displacement, destruction of livelihoods, and attacks on religious institutions risk deepening communal grievances and creating additional cycles of violence and retaliation.
Ethiopian Americans therefore believe that civilian protection and accountability must be central elements of U.S. policy toward Ethiopia.
The message to Congress is not a call for collective punishment or political favoritism. It is a call for facts, justice, accountability, and protection of innocent civilians.
The families of those killed deserve answers. Survivors deserve justice. Displaced families deserve protection and humanitarian assistance. Religious communities deserve the freedom to worship without fear. And all Ethiopians—regardless of ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, or geographic location—deserve equal protection under the law.
Ethiopian Americans’ Appeal to Congress
Ethiopian Americans respectfully urge members of Congress to raise the Arsi crisis directly with the Government of Ethiopia, demand an independent investigation, support international human-rights monitoring, and make civilian protection and accountability central components of U.S. engagement with Ethiopia.
The objective should be clear: establish the facts, identify individual perpetrators and responsible officials, protect civilians, defend religious freedom, and prevent future atrocities.
Ethiopia cannot achieve lasting peace without justice. And justice cannot be achieved without accountability.
Ethiopian Americans are asking Congress to listen—and to act.
Mesfin Mekonen is the author of Washington Update, a bulletin about Ethiopia’s struggle for freedom and prosperity, and founder of MM Management.
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