Peter MacKinnon, President
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A2
Dear Mr. President,

RE: Disinvite Mr. Shigute – Alleged Ethnic Cleanser from Ethiopia

I am writing on behalf of SOCEPP Canada, an organization that is dedicated to defending human rights and political liberties in Ethiopia, to protest the invitation extended to Mr. Shiferaw Shigute to your university.

Mr. Shigute is the President of a region in Southern Ethiopia, and we have information that he is arriving at Saskatoon on June 10, 2012 as a member of a delegation from Ethiopia. We are not certain if the university is aware of the carnage and suffering Mr. Shigute caused to tens of thousands of Ethiopian peasants and their families including children just as recently as March 2012. Mr. Shigute committed horrendous atrocities against peaceful citizens, including looting, torching entire villages and ordering in writing the forcible eviction of over 20,000 ethnic Amaras from a place called Gura Ferda in Southern Ethiopia, where he is currently the regional president. Picture of some of the forcefully evicted is shown below.

It is appalling and morally repugnant for a renowned Canadian University like yours as to allow a person of such criminal baggage to step into its premises. We urge you to dis-invite Mr. Shigute and send a clear message that the university does not associate with those involved in ethnic cleansing. Please find below a tiny sample of Mr. Shigute’s victims:

Thank you,

Solomon Workneh

Ottawa Representative

The only crime of these innocent children is to be born from Amhara ethnic group. How can any one who cares about human tragedy stay silent in the face of such atrocity?