The Forum of Ethiopianist Civic Organizations in the Diaspora Press release

The Forum: 

The Forum is a coalition of rights-based and charitable Ethiopian civic organization in the diaspora. The Forum is established for the sole purpose of articulating a shared vision for a democratic and united Ethiopia and implementing a common and practicable strategy to support full respect for human, civil, and political rights in Ethiopia. The Forum optimizes collaboration around common projects and offers our collective voice to institutionalize a culture of respect for liberty, freedom, and the rule of law.  The Forum is inclusive and honors the principles of non-violence and rights that are enshrined in international treaties and conventions governing a free society.

Membership:

Any legally registered CSO is eligible for membership provided it accepts the following four core principles, which are articulated in The Citizens Charter for a Democratic Ethiopia. Other types of membership (such as associate membership by individuals and coalitions) will be specified in the bylaws:

1. Ethiopia is a multicultural country, but its people are indivisible under the tricolor.
2. The sovereignty of Ethiopia is sacrosanct, and its territorial integrity is non-negotiable.
3. Every Ethiopian is entitled to equal rights and responsibilities that define free citizenship.
4. Ethiopia, in order to survive, must extricate itself from the toxic trap of constitutionalized identity politics by launching a “democratic transition,” including an orderly dissolution of the Prosperity Party and its discredited leadership.

Objectives and Goals: 

The Forum commits itself to timely and practical projects, including:

1. Advocacy for Justice and the Rule of Law:Gather credible evidence on the violation of citizen rights with impunity and bring the perpetrators to international justice. The violations include genocidal political violence and ethnic cleansing (which especially targeted the Amhara), war crimes, government orchestration of civil conflict, willful disregard for the welfare of distressed communities, stifling of basic freedoms of mobility and speech to advance polarization of society, and institutionalized corruption.
2. Campaigns and Civic Engagement:Conduct relentless campaigns of non-violent civic resistance against the ethnocentric dictatorship, including targeted economic sanctions and boycotts.
3. Relief and Rehabilitation:Provide relief assistance to the millions of victims of political violence, atrocity crimes, and natural disasters in a coordinated and effective manner.
4. Democratic Constitutional Order:Mandate a taskforce to craft a workable roadmap of political transition to a democratic constitutional order for consideration by the Ethiopian people and their legitimate organizations.

Adopted by the founding members of the Forum on March 29, 2023.