March 14, 2000

 STATEMENT ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN ETHIOPIA

The violation of human rights in Ethiopia by the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is hardly accidental. Nor is it an aberration or a mistake by over zealous cadres. The violation is in fact woven into the very political fabric of the fundamental policy choices made by the ruling EPRDF in which Ato Meles Zenawi's Tigrean people's Liberation Front (TPLF) dominates. The ruling front has a long history of violence as a regimented guerrilla organization. Its political choices of Stalinism and idolization of the late Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha did little to temper its tendency to resort to arms and to violence to "settle" problems.

The TPLF in power, that is to say the EPRDF, has no in built mechanisms to check or temper its proclivity to excesses. It is practically a one party state concentrating power in the hands of the dominant TPLF, the army, security and police are mainly made up of the TPLF or Tigreans (the ethnic group of the Meles Zenawi), the judiciary is not independent, violations have not been checked or the perpetrators punished, the parliament is justifiably labeled a rubber stamp one, the rulers trample on the rule of law as a matter of course, etc... It can be said that the political system in place favours, if not presupposes, the violation of the human rights of the people. Absence of due process of law: while the rights of the people are guaranteed by law, they have remained dead letters. The police detain people without warrant, prisoners do not enjoy habeas corpus, many prisoners are jailed for years without ever being brought before a court of law (and quite a few have died in prison due to lack of medical care).

The JUDICIARY IS NOT INDEPENDENT. Where some judges dare to release illegally held prisoners, the police have ignored the court order and re-arrested the victim (this is the case with Abera Yemaneab detained since 1993 and only charged in 1999), and in some cases the judges have been removed from their posts. The government interferes in the work of the court and has appointed party cadres as judges (Hagos of the Kechiene court in Addis Abeba is one example). Denying the accused lawyers or proper counsel is also routine (as evidenced during Dr. Taye Wolde Semayat's trial). Prisoners have virtually been railroaded with the State Prosecutor presenting false or blackmailed witnesses. There is no due process of law in Ethiopia. Inhuman detention, cruel punishment and torture: The government has many underground holes in parts of Tigrai and Gondar where it keeps prisoners in the dark and incommunicado. It has so called "chelema bet" (dark rooms) in which prisoners have been kept for years on end and taken out only for a few minutes at night to relieve themselves. The government also holds many prisoners in secret (so-called Ghost) prisons especially in Addis Abeba. These are villas (some owned by former government officials) which have been turned into prisons. Prisoners are packed in tiny rooms (Gondar prison is one example), some are chained (hands and legs) to walls and handcuffed 24 hours. Many prisoners have fallen sick while in detention in cramped and starved conditions and many have thus died for lack of medical care (names of such victims have been published by SOCEPP and others over the years).

TORTURE is routine. Cruel and severe beatings have led to amputations, to loss of sight, castration and even death. Disappearance: Scores of prisoners have disappeared, some since 1991 as is the case with the EPRP leaders like Tsegaye Gebre Medhin and Yishak Debre Tsion. Journalists like Kumsa Berayu and Berhanu Ijigu, trade unionists like Abebe Ainekulu, women political activists like Aberash Berta, and many other leaders and members of various organizations have disappeared after being detained by government forces. In almost all cases, the government has denied even the arrest of the persons listed as "disappeared". While some of these prisoners are rumored to be kept in secret prisons or inaccessible detention centers in Tigrai, others have reportedly been killed arbitrarily and in secret. Arbitrary extrajudicial Killings: The police, security personnel and de facto death squads of the government have been accused of many arbitrary killings. This does not refer to massacres perpetrated as in Areka, Watter, Adebabye Iyesus, outside the Anwar mosque in Addis Abeba, etc... Arbitrary killings have been highlighted by the brutal murder of human rights activists such as Assefa Maru (he was also a leading member of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association) and Tesfaye Tadesse ( a newspaper publisher hacked to death near his home). The government has not brought the killers to justice and denies even that the killings have political motivations (Assefa Maru was shot by the police for "resisting arrest" said the government). In the rural towns and villages, arbitrary killings are common as omnipotent local cadres resort to arms to settle personal or other grievances and problems. Extrajudicial killings are, in most cases, presented shorn off their political motivations as "killings by unidentified people". The government has also sent its death squads abroad (Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti,Sudan) and has murdered in Kenya (in Nairobi and Thika respectively) exiled figures like Jattene Ali (a former administrator in Borena) and Afeworki Alemseged while it has kidnapped numerous people from Djibouti. Violence against Children and Women: From the sale of children and orphans into adoption to controlling agencies which dispatch young women to the Middle East `for a terrible life of domestic and sexual slavery, the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been accused of violating the rights of women and children. (For more details refer to the December 1999 pamphlet by SOCEPP : "Ethiopia- Contemporary Forms of Slavery").

The rights of women are not protected, child marriage is still a tolerated practice, government officials and the system abet the spread of prostitution, child labour is wide spread, children are rounded up into the army, the courts do not protect women. Despite the official lip service made as regards the right of women (the presence of women in the government/parliament, etc.. is less than nominal), the majority of women in Ethiopia have their rights denied or trampled upon routinely and extensively.

Violence against minorities: The Yem people, the Tsemai, the Nuers, the Hadiyas and many other ethnic minorities have had their rights violated by the Tigrean dominated government. In most cases violence has been perpetrated on them because they had demanded the right to use their languages (Nuer) or have refused the arbitrary adminisrative divisions made by the government (the Yem, etc..). Mmbers of the Hadiya, Alaba,etc.. minorities are also being subjected to a repression which has intensified in connection with the elections to be held in May 2000. Accused of giving their backing to opposition organizations, the people in these Southern areas are being jailed, beaten, killed and forced to fell from their birthplaces. The government's attempt to impose a "language" called Wogageda on the people of Gamo, Wolaita, etc led to demonstrations and protests which were brutally put down with scores killed and more than 500 jailed. Many teachers were consequently deprived of their jobs. Denial of nationality rights: Scores of Ethiopians have been deprived of their citizenship arbitrarily because of their political beliefs and actions. Many leaders and members of opposition groups that have been declared illegal are not allowed to have Ethiopian passports, cannot travel to or live in Ethiopia, and have been generally declared non-Ethiopian. Ethnic Dsicrimination: The government officially and practices ethnic politics. While it claims that it has recognized the right of all nationalities to self -determination (article 39 in its Constitution recognizes the right to secession), the reality shows that ethnic discrimination is in place. The situation favours the ruling front's ethic base (Tigrean) while it militates against the right of others. Self -administration has proved illusory as real political power is held by Tigreans and/or members of the dominant TPLF. Many nationality groups have been arbitrarily included into regional states and thus deprived of the right to use their languages, etc. The ruling front, by its actions, seems also to have practically designated certain of the major ethnic groups (Amaras and Oromos) as "enemies". Ethic discrimination by a Tigrean minority ruling group is in evidence as far as most Ethiopians are concerned. On the other hand, the ethnic division of the country into nine regions has also curbed the right of Ethiopians to freely travel within their own country and to freely choose their place of residence and work. It is possible also to cite as an example of discriminatory and arbitrary action the massive and illegal expulsion of Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin undertaken by the government in connection with the war with Eritrea. · Freedom of the Press? The EPRDF government holds the record in Africa for holding most journalists in jail. A series of draconian laws and arbitrary police actions have closed independent newspapers, forced journalists into exile, and landed many others behind bars. ·

 Economic rights: the ruling TPLF has set up its own economic firms and companies and has imposed illegal control over the economy while harassing and marginalizing other business firms by using its State power. · The right to vote: this has also been compromised by the government which has set up its own national election commission, harasses voters, uses food aid to buy votes, detains potential voters and the candidates of the opposition en masse, etc... · Freedom of religion: the government interfered and continues to interfere in the affairs of religious bodies and is justifiably blamed of putting its own political appointees as leaders of the main religious denominations. ·

 Freedom of assembly? Freedom to organize or to belong to an organization of one's choice? These are freedoms that exist on paper but are curtailed in reality. The possibility of holding opposition peaceful demonstrations are rare, belonging to or sympathizing with organizations like the EPRP, the OLF, etc... entails persecution and the government uses its status as the main employer to deprive people of jobs to punish them for their political stands. By all accounts, the human rights record of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is dismal. It is a government that tramples on the rights of people routinely and extensively while covering up its deeds through a false image projected by lobbyists paid millions of dollars. The policies of the government have alienated the vast majority of the people and have resulted in armed conflicts and guerrilla wars in many areas.

 Once again, the situation has led to further atrocities and violations by the government troops that have also crossed the border into Somalia to perpetrate their violence. It is no longer possible for the government to hide behind the excuse of putting all the blame on the defunct military regime. After nine years in power, the EPRDF must be judged by its own actions. Those who allege that "there are no concrete proof" of the violations need also to read the lists of the disappeared, see the amputated limbs of the torture victims, visit the Kerchiele, Kaliti and other prisons, visit the widows and children of Assefa Maru, Tesfaye Tadesse,etc...in short, they must confront the reality and not jus try to wish it away. And the reality condemns the EPRDF government, condemns it in no uncertain terms as one of the worst violators of the human rights of a people that has the misfortune of struggling for hope and democracy and ending up by harvesting despair and repression.

SOCEPP