April 19, 2000
MORE THAN 10,000 PRISONERS IN HARARGHE REGION ALONE
Reliable sources have confirmed that more than 10,000 prisoners are found in Hararghe region alone and most of these are incarcerated without due process for alleged political offenses. There are guerrilla movements fighting against the government in the region. Morover, in the last few months alone, security forces have summarily shot and killed many people of whom no fewer than 18 hail from the regions of Chelenko and Deder. The repression is made by the ruling front's army core known as "Core Ande" (Core One) which acts with impunity and without any concern for the legal administrators of the region though these people have been named to their posts by the ruling front (TPLF)itself. Core One is made up of officers and soldiers who hail from Tigrai region. Among those killed arbitrarily in Deder and Chelenko SOCEPP has the names of Ibro Ahmed, Ibrahim Mohamed Tor, Sufian Yaya Hassan, Asha Yaya Kedir (female) and Jafar Ibrahim from the Oto Kiyo peasant association. Government officials accused of the violations have not been apprehended (for example, Ibsa Dinka has been promoted and taken to Addis while Abdela Idris has been named to a higher post in the same Eastern Hararghe region). Competition between the Adere (Harari) and Oromo appointees has also compounded the problems of the people. A Yemeni national who came to Harar from Addis Abeba four years ago, Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim, was arrested by the police, robbed off his money and passport, and imprisoned incommunicado till October 1999. Core One and the government officials are acting routinely above the law and in total impunity. Appeals by the people to the government have up to now fallen on deaf ears. The government is also jailing numerous people on charges of burning the forests. Most of the people imprisoned in Bale and Borena (more than 300 detained in Borena alone) were condemned in haste, without due process and with no proof of their guilt. Of 445 peasants in Bale accused of arson, 76 have already been condemned to 8 years imprisonment and many others have been fined. None of the condemned got the chance to defend them selves or to proclaim their guilt or innocence. The negation of due process and the mass trial and condemnation shows an attempt on the part of the government to cover up its responsibilities since people have accused it for neglecting the forest fires (much like the famine) and causing so much damage.
SOCEPP
