May 24, 2000
OPPOSITION PARTY MEMBER/ACTIVIST BEATEN TO DEATH
A member of the legal opposition Gedeo People's Democratic Organization, Ato ABRAHAM OTE, was detained by the police on election day in Yirgachefe town (Gedeo zone). He was tortured brutally and has now succumbed from his wounds. It is to be noted that more than 10 people have been killed in the Hadiya zone in connection with the EPRDF repression unleashed against the people sympathizing with opposition forces. SOCEPP has also learnt that students of the Nekemte High School, which had stayed closed following students protest and clashes with the police, was about to open last week when returning students were met by a grenade launched at the school compound by an "unidentified person". However, the government has arrested several students and teachers and there are fears that these may be subjected to torture as scapegoats. Other schools in western Ethiopia remain closed and the detained and disappeared students like TEREFE AJIRE (Addis Abeba University) are still unaccounted for. In fact, another student, a fourth year student at the university, Ato BOBA GELMA, has now disappeared. The student, who hails from the Borena region, was reportedly taken away by government security men.
SOCEPP
