April 15, 2000
FAMINE, AIDS, REPRESSION AND DEATH BY THOUSANDS
The devastating famine threatening the lives of more then 8 million Ethiopians (of whom 1.4 million are children under five) highlights the failings of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and its continuous inability to protect the right to life of all citizens. There is indeed drought in many parts of Ethiopia but, as the government's effective action in its own Tigrai region shows, it was possible to avoid the famine. Millions have been exposed to famine and threatened with losing their lives because of the government's policies and neglect.
The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi: · ignored the warnings and disaster alert in the Ogaden, the South and parts of North and North-western Ethiopia (Tigrai excepted) and let the drought degenerate into the present famine situation;
· practiced ethic discrimination by deliberately neglecting non-Tigrean regions;
· put into place a disastrous land policy which wreaked the lives of millions of Amara, Oromo and Southern peasants;
· used relief aid and the country's` meager resources for the war against Eritrea;
· imprisoned thousands of peasants for political reasons, kidnapped and press ganged many more into the army and the militia and, in general. disrupted the life of people in the rural areas;
· waged war against internal dissent instead of seeking peace and reconciliation and thus further disrupted economic activity in many rural regions;
· spent millions of Birr to erect yet another monument for its martyrs and more millions to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its main organization (the TPLF) at the same time (February 2000) as scores of children were dying of hunger in may parts of Ethiopia); · etc.
The responsibility of the government for the famine cannot be denied. Reliable reports have also exposed the government practice of selling relief aid, of diverting the food aid to its own region (Tigrai) and soldiers, and of using food aid to buy political support for the coming May election.
In the past (1984), the TPLF, which was a guerrilla movement then, was also condemned of such practices. The right to life is primary and it is this basic right that the government has taken away from the people by exposing them to a famine that could have been avoided. With more than 3.5 million people testing positive for AIDS and more than 300,000 AIDS deaths reported last year alone, the epidemic is killing more than the famine is doing. Here also, the government is held responsible for doing little or nothing to combat the malady (its own reckless soldiers are accused of recklessly spreading the disease all over the country). AIDS is threatening the 15-49 years of age Ethiopians (which make up 27% of the 61 million population) and the government's policies which have helped to spread child and teenage prostitution are aggravating the problem.
Added to famine and AIDS, Ethiopians have also to endure the relentless repression on the part of the government. The death rate is high....
SOCEPP vigorously condemns the government that practices ethnic discrimination and has exposed millions of people to a murderous famine. The scores of children who are dying daily from hunger are victims of the government in more ways than one. The more than 800 who die from AIDS daily are also its victims since effective and vigorous action to combat the disease would have cut the death rate significantly. SOCEPP calls on all friends of Ethiopia: · to promptly help the famine victims but to make sure that the relief aid is not handed over to (or does not come under the control of) the EPRDF government which will for sure divert or misuse it; · to condemn the government policies which led to the famine and the spread of AIDS; · to call on the government to stop the repression, to cease the violation of human rights, to seek and peace and reconciliation, and to definitively end or to change the policies that have brought havoc on the whole country.
SOCEPP
