January 8, 2001

 DJIBOUTI GOVERNMENT TRAMPLES ON THE RIGHTS OF ETHIOPIANS

The government in Djibouti recently deported more than 5000 Ethiopians. The deportation was done in a violent and brutal way and SOCEPP has received reports that five to six Ethiopians have died of thirst after being dumped in the desert close to the Ethiopian frontier. It is to be recalled that the government of Djibouti holds dozens of Ethiopians in the notorious Gabode prison and many of these prisoners are adolescents. Women prisoners have been raped by police, as many credible reports have exposed.

The recent arbitrary deportation of Ethiopians was done to curry favour with the EPRDF government which continues to accuse Ethiopians in Djibouti of being supporters of outlawed opposition movements. The latest deportation has focused on Ethiopians of Oromo origin. The brutality of the act can also be surmised from the Djibouti minister's official declaration that the Ethiopians "have dirtied our religion and culture'. The xenophobic and chauvinist declaration has victimized the Ethiopians further and the police have been particularly brutal towards Christian Ethiopians.

 SOCEPP calls on all peace loving peoples to write to the president of Djibouti to end the arbitrary actions against Ethiopian refugees and to release the illegally detained Ethiopians from Gabode and other detention centers. SOCEPP holds the government in Addis Abeba responsible for most of the suffering of Ethiopians in Djibouti since it is the EPRDF officials who are behind the actions of the Djibouti government. The deafening silence of the local UNHCR in the face of the refugees' plight warrants no further comment. The UNHCR officials in Djibouti and the Sudan, just to mention these two countries, continue to collide with the EPRDF to the detriment of Ethiopian refugees.

SOCEPP