We the UEDF and CUD decided to have a meeting to day June 8, 2005 to draft a document
that we hope will be agreeable to all parties in order to begin the process of review and
investigation. As we were engaged in this constructive endeavor, we are hearing that the
Government, using federal police and heavily armed military units, is engaged in massive
violations of human rights of its citizens through senseless violence.

This murderous act has resulted in killing and wounding large numbers of innocent Addis
Ababa citizens including women and underage youth. We are extremely disturbed by this turn
of events and demand an immediate end to this violence. Such acts are not only against
all international human rights conventions that thecountry is a party to, but it is also in contravention
to the basic principles of a democraticprocess that the government claims to achieve through the
May 15 national and regionalelections. It is impossible to claim a commitment to a democratic
political process while atthe same time being engaged in a deliberate and atrocious violation
of basic human rights ofcitizens.

Furthermore, the government is shamelessly trying to blame opposition parties for this
flagrant violation of human rights by claiming that the opposition is and has been deliberately
inciting violence including public protest that supposedly triggered today’s brutality and
massacre. The opposition has time and again stated that it would refrain from any acts of
legal and peaceful civil disobedience until the review and investigation process is completed
and even then only if the process is circumvented by the ruling party by force. To this effect
we would like to recall Cud’s press statement on June 7, 2005 which officially dissociated
itself from any involvement in the student protest and strike alleged to have been called on
June 8 and has actually opposed the strike whoever called it. As any one can see, the
responsibility for this atrocity solely lies with the government and the ruling party.
We strongly call upon the Ethiopian people and the international community to pressure the
government to immediately cease and desist from these illegal and barbaric acts. Such violent
actions could only engender further loss of innocent lives and could not possibly solve the
election related problems that we are trying to resolve in a civilized manner. Such violence
could lead to uncontrollable chaos in the country from which nobody could possibly benefit.
We further call upon our members and supporters, wherever they are, to calm down and
avoid any situation that could trigger further violence.

June 8, 2005
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia