This petition is organized to exempt the immunity of Ato Angassa Ibrahim (PhD.) and to have a court order for violating the constitutional laws of FDRE, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Ato Angassa Ibrahim is a member of the new FDRE’s parliament claiming to represent a certain area in Oromia region. He is well known amongst Ethiopians for degrading and demonizing the entire people of Addis Ababa on a live recorded video.

This video has been circulated on social media since last year (2020). The reason it gets so controversial after a year is that the person who insulted the population of an entire city appears at the parliament as a representative of the honorable people of Oromo.

Many that saw the video were angered and reacted strongly. Most of all, his appearance in the House of People Representatives shocked and surprised many Ethiopians. [Watch: https://youtu.be/1YqRQtLSfPA ]

Having a person who insulted the entire population of a city openly sitting in a parliament is ridiculous as well as unacceptable. It is both a disgrace for the people of Addis Ababa and the people of Oromo he claims to represent.

Especially when it comes to a country where genocide crime reports happen to be a daily news, such rhetoric has the role of spiking the severity of the already volatile situation. In the worst case scenario, it may leads to an irremediable damage from the fragile state where it is now.

In Ethiopia, such kinds of hate speeches have come to be the new normal. And these hate speeches are being fabricated by the politicians; to make matters worse, persons at the helm of the government queued on the front-line. For instance, it is a recent memory that the current president of the Oromia Regional State, Ato Shimeles Abdissa, made a derogatory remarks about a community, which fueled up the genocide crime in the region.

Withal, such talks have been ignored for so long and left in vain. On the sphere of tensed politics, unaccountability and silence plays the role of aid & abet. Therefore, it should be mitigated duly to yield up what has been missed. And hence persons like Ato Angassa Ibrahim should be dealt according to the law as an attempt to escalate the already intense political environment that is engulfed with a civil war and countless ethnic oriented conflicts.

While on the subject, looking at the root cause of these discourses is crucial to have a rigorous resolution for the country. According to the editors, the case has perennial source, which is supported with the ethnic-based governmental system, the regional state’s constitution, and the constitution of the FDRE. To portray the evidence, one can take a look at the constitutional articles that left no room for the citizens who are not fall into the categories of 'Nation, Nationalities and Peoples' (ብሔር፣ ብሔረሰቦችና ህዝቦች). Surprisingly it abandons the land and the country itself from the peoples like Addis Ababes (አዲስ አበቤ)[i]. The Constitution of FDRE article 8፡1-2[ii] and the constitution of the regional state of BenishangulGumuze’s Article 2[iii] can be mentioned as a good case in point.

With the suggestion in mind, the constitution of FDRE itself has clearly decrees the prohibition of humiliating the dignity of human being. [ “… Any propaganda for war as well as the public expression of opinion intended to injure human dignity shall be prohibited by law. …” Art 29; 5&6]

The criminal code of FDRE, article 487/’ሀ’, also luminously states that anyone who incites for violence or disseminates threatening speeches will be incurred with imprisonment or a fine. [iv]

Furthermore, the ‘Hate Speech and Disinformation Prevention and Suppression Proclamation’ (Proc. No. 1185/2020); on its article four: unambiguously prohibits that the dissemination of hate speech by means of broadcasting, print or social media using text, image, audio or video.

As a result, this petition has organized to demand justice for the people of Addis Ababa and to account Ato Angassa Ibrahim for violating these laws and laws not mentioned herewith.

Besides, it can be considered as a threshold for the process of utter healing of the country already in danger. And it is expected to render accountability, probably for the first time.

PS: The editors will use this petition to endorse parliamentarians (who are expected to exempt the immunity of the person), Medias, politicians and celebrities to support the process and widen the earshot.

[i] Addis Ababe (አዲስ አበቤ) is a usually descriptive name given to a person born in of Addis Ababa city.
[ii] “All sovereign power resides in the Nations, Nationalities and People of Ethiopia. The Constitution is an expression of their sovereignty.” (The Constitution of The FDRE, Article-8/1-2).
[iii] “በክልሉ ውስጥ የሚኖሩ ሌሎች ህዝቦች የሚታወቁ ቢሆንም የክልሉ ባለቤት ብሔር ብሔረሰቦች፡ በርታ፣ ጉሙዝ፣ ሽናሻ፣ ማኦና ኦሞ ናቸው፡፡ (The Constitution of The Regional State of Benishangulgumuze; Article 2)
[iv] “በማናቸውም የሕዝብ መሰብሰቢያ ቦታ ወይም ስብሰባ ላይ ለሆነ ድርጊት የሚያነሳሳ ወይም የዛቻ ጠባይ ያለው ንግግር መግለጫ ወይም ምስል ያዘጋጀ፣ ያስፋፋ፣ ያሰራጨ ወይም ያሰማ፤(በቀላል እስራት ወይም በገንዘብ መቀጮ ይቀጣል፡፡)” (የወንጀለኛ ህግ፣ አንቀጽ 487/ሀ)