December 17, 2000

STOP THE REPRESSION AGAINST STUDENTS IN AWASSAAND OTHER PLACES

We are presently witnessing a resurgence in student protests all over the country and a stepped up repression on the part of the government which is openly trying to link the student protests with political motives and activism spurred by some opposition organizations.

In Addis Abeba National University, the Theological College, in Nazareth and Jimma (where one person has died in connection with the student protests), and in Awassa where the repression has been the fiercest, students are demanding better learning conditions, living quarters and improved food. It is to be noted that some 600 students had to be quarantined (3 of them died) in the Bahr Dar university where polluted drinking water and food led to acute gastro-intestinal infections and typhoid.

Police have arrested several students in Nazareth. In Awassa, some six students have been shot dead and many others wounded. The arrested number 300 and their detention places are isolated and considered dangerous for their safety and health. All schools and the college in Awassa are still closed and the confrontation between students and parents on the one hand and police on the other continues. The repression is particularly in tense and is now involving soldiers of the ruling front supervised by officials sent from the prime minister's office. The names of Bitew Belay and Tewolde Berhe have ben mentioned in this connection.

The students in Awassa have tabled the following demands to which SOCEPP hereby gives its backing : 1.the government should officially reveal the number of students killed by the police and hand over their corpses to their kin; 2. wounded students should get prompt medical care at the government's expense; 3. all detained students should be immediately released; 4. proper response should be given to the demands made by the university students who have to live and learn under very bad conditions; 5. the police and administrative officials who ordered the repression and the killings should be charged before a court of law. SOCEPP calls on the government of Prime Minister Meles to heed these demands and to promptly halt all violent action against peacefully and legally protesting students all over the country.

SOCEPP