Ato Beriso Negussie, Ato Eshetu Teklehaimanot and several other Ethiopians have been murdered in the town of Kore, about 60 km from Shashemene.
In Kore and the surrounding villages, over one hundred homes have been burned and many more have been looted by armed Muslim men. Muslim neighbors of the victims were not attacked.
Thousands of residents of Kore and near by villages are currently taking refuge in Shashemene.
The refugees are living in shelters under terrible condition. No humanitarian group have visited them so far.
The violence was incited by Meles Zenawi’s cadres.
More from German Radion Amharic Service:
ቆሬ፧ በአርሲ የክርስቲያኖች መጨፍጨፍና የአንድ ካህን ተማጽኖ፧
ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ፧ በአርሲ፧ ኮፈሌ ወረዳ፧ በቆሬ ከተማ ኅዳር 7 እና 8 ቀን፧ 1998 ዓ ም፧ ታጣቂ ሙስሊሞች፧ በክርስቲያኖች ላይ ዘምተው፧ ብዙ ሰዎች መገደላቸውና አያሌ ቤቶች መቃጠላቸው ተመለከተ። በጦርና በጎራዴ፧ በአሠቃቂ ሁኔታ ከተገደሉት መካከል 4 አረጋውያን ክርስቲያኖችና አንድ የ 7ኛ ክፍል ተማሪ ይገኙበታል። አረጋውያኑን፧ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ውስጥ በጸሎት ላይ እንዳሉ ያረዱአቸው ታጣቂዎች በተጨማሪ፧ የአይሻ ማርያምን ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ቤንዚን አርከፍክፈው ከንዋዬ ቅዱሳትና ንብረት ጋር ማቃጠላቸውን በስልክ የገለጹልን፧ የቤተ-ክርስቲያኒቱ አገልጋይ የነበሩትና እንደርሳቸው አገላለጽ በተዓምር፧ እንደ አናንያ፧ አዛርያና ሚሳዬል ከቤተሰባቸው ጋር ከ«እቶን እሳት« የተረፉት ቄስ አበበ ፈንቴ ናቸው። አረመኔያዊ እርምጃ የወሰዱት ታጣቂዎች፧ ከክርስቲያኑ ወገኑ ጋር ተከባብሮ በሰላም መኖር የሚወደውን ኢትዮጵያዊውን የሙስሊም ማኅበረሰብ የሚወክሉ እንዳልሆኑ ታውቋል።
የተጠቀሰው አሠቃቂ እርምጃ፧ ባስቸኳይ እንዲገታና ሰላም እንዲሠፍን፧ ለተጎዱትም ባፋጣኝ እርዳታ እንዲደርስ ፧ በአገር ውስጥና በውጭ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሁሉ፧ የዓለም ኅብረተሰብም ጭምር እንዲያውቀው አድርጉልን ሲሉም፧ ቄስ አበበ ፈንቴ ተማጽነዋል።
“While the United States and British Ambassador each called upon both political parties to desist from further violence, it is quite clear from VOA dispatch that the unlawful and violent acts, including use of lethal force, random searches, indiscriminate beating and massive arrests by government security forces, are being committed by the government…” – U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel, NY, Nov 22, 2005
Read the full text here
World Organization Against Torture (Geneva)
PRESS RELEASE – November 17, 2005
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Ethiopia.
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), a member of the OMCT network, that 58 persons have been charged with treason. The 58 persons include leaders of the opposition party, journalists, as well as members of non-governmental organisations. OMCT does not yet have access to the complete list of names.
Furthermore, according to government sources, 8,000 people have been released, but they have not disclosed the total number of persons actually in detention.
The International Secretariat of OMCT remains gravely concerned by the situation
Brief reminder of the situation
OMCT was informed that a number of people were killed, wounded and arrested following street protests on 31st October 2005 in Addis Ababa. The conflict spread to towns such as Gondar, Bar Dar, Arbaminch town, Dessie, Nazareth and around.
According to the information received, almost all leaders of opposition parties have been arrested, some with their family members. Furthermore, about 18,000 youths, arrested in Addis Ababa, were taken to the Dedessa River in Wollega and are being held in an open field near the banks of the river. This is a harsh lowland infested with malaria and full of wild animals, including lions. The detainees have no shelter, food and drinking water is not easily available. There have been reports that a number of youths have been eaten by crocodiles from the river, and many have fallen ill. In addition, a truck with a trailer carrying youths arrested in Addis Ababa was overturned killing some detainees and injuring several others.
For a list (not exhaustive) of persons known to have been reportedly killed, injured and detained, please see urgent appeals Cases ETH 031105 and ETH 031105.1
Actions requested
Please write a letter to the authorities in Ethiopia urging them to immediately order the security forces to stop all human rights violations, and:
i. Immediately guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons;
ii. Order the immediate release of the above-mentioned persons in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that they are given prompt and fair trials, in which their procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
iii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. Ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Reuters, Nov 27, 2005 – Detained Ethiopian Opposition leaders facing possible treason charges said yesterday they would go on hunger strike this week to pressure the government to release them.
Members of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) arrested earlier this month amid deadly violence during protests over disputed May elections said they would begin refusing food today.
“As of Monday, all who are behind bars, with the exception of diabetics, are starting a hunger strike until the government responds to our demands and releases us from prison,” CUD deputy chief Bertukan Mideksa said.
She and a number of other jailed CUD officials, including party chief Hailu Shawel, denied any wrongdoing as they spoke with reporters allowed a rare visit to the central Addis Ababa police facility where they are being held.
“There is no crime,” Hailu said. “If there is none, you have to create fictitious ones. We have not (even) committed a petty crime, let alone a crime that could be described as treason.”
The hunger strikers are among 48 prisoners, most of them CUD officials, held at the Criminal and Forensic Investigation Department since early November when four days of violence erupted in the capital and outlying towns, killing at least 48 people.
Last week, the country’s high court denied them bail, agreeing to a police request for more time to complete their investigations before presenting formal charges.
However, the government accuses them of trying to foment a coup by calling for mass protests over the May 15 poll result. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said they could face treason charges, which carry the death sentence.
The CUD, which won 109 seats in Parliament, but says massive fraud by the ruling party robbed it of victory, is boycotting the legislature and has urged a campaign of civil disobedience to force a new election.
Meles and his Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) have rejected the fraud charges and ruled out fresh elections.
Protests against the poll result turned deadly in June when police fired on protesters in Addis Ababa, killing at least 37. Violence broke out again on November 1 after efforts to find a compromise failed.
Authorities then launched a crackdown on the CUD leadership, arresting most of the party’s leadership.
“There is no crime to charge us with, even the police can’t link our party to the violence in Addis Ababa,” said Bertukan. Earlier yesterday in the capital, hundreds of competitors exploited a 10-kilometre charity race to berate the government.
More than 200 runners flashed victory signs, a CUD symbol, as they crossed the finish line and shouted anti-Meles slogans.
A similar number of people later disrupted the prize-giving ceremony by whistling and making victory signs with their arms.
Standing nearby were baton-equipped police, but they did not intervene.
Meanwhile in a DPA news report CUD leaders declared they were ‘political prisoners’.
The 48 men were detained in connection with post-election violence in June and early this month, but they insist their sole crime was opposing the government in power, that of the ruling EPRDF party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
‘Ours is a political, not a criminal case, and the government is wasting the resources of this poor country,’ Berhanu Nega, CUDP executive member and mayor-elect of Addis Ababa, said.
Hailu and Brehanu castigated the international community for ‘giving lip service’ to democracy, but failing to act during gross human rights abuses during the post-election disturbances this year in which many people were reported killed and scores of others were injured.
‘It is a mockery of human rights when such leading democratic countries as Germany and Britain greet the leader of a country only a few days after his government was involved in mass murder of demonstrators,’ Mesfin Wolddedmariam, CUDP member and civil rights activist, said.
He was referring to Meles’ visit to Bonn for a meeting of the German-African Forum hosted by President Horst Koehler, and to Prime Minister Tony Blair for congratulating Meles on his election for a third five-year term.
