Statement from Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ)
June 13, 2008
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
At about 4:00 PM today, the police told Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) — former CUDP — that it cannot hold its Founding Congress which was scheduled to be held at the Imperial Hotel tomorrow, Saturday, June 14, 2008. Their excuse is that we do not have prior permission for holding a public gathering.
Peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Ethiopian Constitution. There is no law that requires obtaining prior permission for indoor gathering. The hotel reservation was made over two weeks ago. The Hotel Management had informed the relevant authorities on the details of the gathering –- a usual practice -– over a week ago and were told that it could go ahead as scheduled. Then, suddenly, there came this ban on a Friday, at the end of the day’s working hours, followed by a weekend.
We believe that this was a deliberate measure calculated to prevent the Congress from taking place. It is an illegal measure that violated our constitutional right.
Over 400 delegates were to attend the Congress at the Imperial Hotel. Two-thirds of these delegates have come from the Regions. The rest are from Addis Ababa. UDJ had spent over four months painstakingly preparing for this Congress. The preparation started with the gathering of founding-members signatures from throughout the country, the preparation of documents such as the Programme and Bylaw and the selection of delegates.
We started our preparations with the full knowledge of the National Electoral Board. We have invested about 300,000 birr on this Congress and on various preparations leading to it.
We are examining several options on what to do next. One of the options is to hold the Congress in-house: on the premises of our office. The space available is very limited, weather condition is not favorable.
We may have to make drastic adjustments in our programme such as limiting activities, without affecting vital ones, and extending the meeting by a half day. We see the present obstacle before us as a challenge. The Congress will be held, if not tomorrow, then soon.
Unity for Democracy and Justice
June 13, 2008
Addis Ababa
FORUM | 12 Comments
how many times you wana to be told ! at this condition peacefull struggle canot work in ethiopia…..learn from woyane itself………why is woyane went to chaka….because in derg time too…..peaceful struggle didnot work…learn,learn,learn….donotfooll yourself…
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June 13th, 2008 at 9:51 PM
Please support the armed struggle and the secret underground movements. Listen to important Audio below.
http://abbaymedia.com/News/?p=1303
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June 14th, 2008 at 2:09 AM
Are you crazy? it will be held as schedual.
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June 14th, 2008 at 6:38 AM
“Peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Ethiopian Constitution.”
Yes, it is still guaranteed but only when Ethiopians want to go out and peacefully demonistrate in support of Wayane dictatorship and against their own freedom and liberty.
So, the guarantee of peaceful assembly is a matter of interpretation.
By the way are those Wayane police/military personnel being characterized as “security forces” the same Wayane Aga’azi forces under the direct command of PM.Melles and massacared close to 200 young and bright Ethiopians on the streets of Addis Ababa in connection with the May 2005 against election fraud?
Instead of sitting fatalistically and waiting with our hands high up in the sky for mana to drop in to our mouths year in and year out better get organized and transform this wayane slave lord which is a mother of all Ethiopian problems and unending misery.
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June 14th, 2008 at 6:59 AM
I mad again that my money is being weasted (300,000 birr) imagine that if the money were given to one of the armed opposition, they would have bought many bulletes and killed many woyanes.
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June 14th, 2008 at 7:34 AM
I am really saddened to see people that think peaceful struggle is possible in Ethiopia.
peaceful struggle is not work in Ethiopia while woyane is on power.
It is better to search other alternatives of removing woyane from the face of Ethiopia before woyane completely destroyed our country.
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June 14th, 2008 at 9:11 AM
elias /this is a better reporting than previously said .try to be objective because we have a common enemy and cannot afford to loose eachother,s support .who ever struggles for freedom against melese ,what ever means of struggle is used ,the bottom line is to eliminate melesse and lets work as ateam .peaceful struggle as we may see it is seemingly far fetched in melesses ,s watch but that is one method we should trynot to ignore before we resort to the next mode of struggle .tks the meeting is not dead yet but limping .let us not kill it from within .
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June 14th, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Folks:
This is not only about temporary and peiodic emotional outburts and thinking of killing the criminal Wayane killers and rakeless human rights violators.
Wayane will soon retail empty Ethiopian territories piece by piece so that by time the so called liberations approach if it may ever approach we might only have just few kilometers of dry area known as Ethiopia with only few thousand miserable Ethiopians.
Please just keep watching as the Wayane dictator is keeping on directly and indirectl massacaring the Ethiopian population while at the same time handing over Ethiopian lands to its foreign surrogates so that they may protect the spinless Wayane in the same way Mugabe is currently protecting ex-dictator Mengistu the parrot.
Wayne is using a double edged sword, that is to say, land robbery and human massacare. We must wake up!
The objective needs to be deliberate and sustainable unity within diversity, encouraging an all encompassing creative new unity of the opposition parties that is totally free of Wayane infiltration and divisive secrete warfare.
The opposition needs to trust each other as to form and maintain their joint liberation strategies and action lines that needs to drive their propgram streight to its objective.
Past grudges and divisive partisan power mongerings built on inequalities and the old world rusty unjust structures may only keep the Wayane dictator much longer in power. We need to focus on the common good and the bright possible future!
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June 14th, 2008 at 11:48 AM
ene wore. enesebaseb. wore, wore. Please do not play that peacefull struggle Game. We Ethiopian are ready to support all armed struggle all over the country. Thank you Elias for posting this latest game….
DOWN WITH TPLF AND ALL BANDITS!!!!!!!
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June 14th, 2008 at 12:07 PM
IF YOU DO NOT LEARN FROM THE PAST, YOU ALL ARE WASTEING YOUR TIME. WAKE UP ETHIOPIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FREEDOM BY ALL MEANSE, G7 IS THE WAY TO GO.
GO G7, G7 G7 G7 G7
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June 14th, 2008 at 2:54 PM
What did they ecpected? Meles to come to them and congrajulate them for the meeting against him. It is time to say no and to join armed struggle. Meles wil never give up peacefully.
Let all the opposition, UDJ, Ginbot 7 and all the rest say no together. enough is enough!
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June 16th, 2008 at 2:21 AM
Every family , clique , organization , front got traitors who will sell their own just for a piece of temporary comfort.It is like this now ENAE KEMOTKU SERDO AYIBKEL.All the rich took their money out of the country in foreign banks.Even those that got their money during derg’s time like shewangizaw hunde or deguma hunde yehager alegneta said not anymore noway thrusting the situation in that terrible misguided political and economic environment word to word from the horses mouth.So who those newly created rich who is the Hager Alegnita now?
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June 18th, 2008 at 1:28 PM