Congressional leaders demand immediate accountability following coordinated raids that left over 60 Orthodox believers dead in the Oromia Region.
By Staff Writer
(Nairobi, Kenya) — The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee issued a statement condemning recurring targeted massacres of Orthodox Christian civilians in the Arsi Zone of Ethiopia’s Oromia Region, calling the violence unacceptable and demanding immediate judicial accountability.
The congressional committee stated that systematic attacks against Christian farming communities violate basic human rights. The legislative body urged all warring factions and security actors in the region to protect civilian populations and ensure perpetrators face legal prosecution and sentencing.
The statement follows declarations by the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) detailing recent violence. Synod records show coordinated raids on October 20 and October 24 caused the deaths of more than 60 Orthodox believers across Shirka and Merti woredas. In Merti Woreda’s Angada Kebele (Gora Silingo), armed assailants killed 14 residents. In Shirka Woreda’s Tiruta Chole Birbo area, armed groups executed 46 civilians, burned 20 residential homes, and injured over 20 others receiving emergency medical care. Eyewitness accounts confirm victims were targeted inside their homes without provocation.
The Holy Synod strongly condemned the ongoing massacres, stating that the targeting, displacement, and property destruction against Orthodox Christians in the Arsi Diocese violate constitutional rights to life and worship, contradict natural law, and dismantle centuries of peaceful coexistence. The Church leadership reiterated its call for government defense and security structures to deploy specialized protection forces to peripheral woredas and dismantle armed networks responsible for civilian atrocities.
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