December 12, 2000

DECEMBER 1993- DECEMBER 2000 ABERA YEMANEAB-7 YEARS OF ILLEGAL DETENTION

ON December 15, Abera Yemaneab joined other Ethiopian political exiles to fly to Addis Abeba to take part in a Peace and Reconciliation Conference. This peace delegate, who was a refugee in the USA for many years, was arrested at the Bole Airport along with others and jailed. While international pressure led to the release of the others, Abera has been kept behind bars for the last seven years despite a court order to the police to release him.

The EPRDF government has tabled trumped up charges against Abera, accusing him of taking part in the infamous Red Terror. The government uses this accusation to jail its political opponents. It is apparent that Abera has been detained because of his militant opposition to the EPRDF government and its ethnic politics. Abera was the foreign relations head of the opposition Coalition of Ethiopian Democratic Forces (COEDF). 7 years of illegal detention has to come to an end.

Please write to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (p.o.box 1031, Addis Abeba, fax 251-1 552020) requesting the immediate release of Abera Yemaneab.

Write also to Amnesty International, which has conspicuously ignored the plight of Abera Yemaneab, calling on the organization to take up the case of the peace delegate.

SOCEPP