||THE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
COMMITTEE FOR||ETHIOPIAN PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE (ISCEPC)
North American office: P. O. Box 53022, Medford MA 02153. U. S. A
UNRAVELING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN ETHIOPIA: WAYS AND MEANS OF
ALLEVIATING THE PROBLEM
Human rights week observance and electronic mail conference
Prisoner: TAYE WOLDE-SEMAYAT
Born: in Nazareth, Shoa. Illegally dismissed from university
teaching job in March 1993 along with 41 other faculty members.
Incarcerated on tramped up charges on May 30, 96. Placed in
solitary confinment for 3 and half-months. Handcuffed and
shackled under heavy chain for 3 months. He is still being held
in prison.
Dr. TAYE’s IMPRISONMENT &
HIS CONDITION IN EPRDF’s NOTORIOUS JAIL
By
Assefa Negash
Ethiopian Information
Service Network In Holland (SHINE)
Paper prepared for the Human
Rights Week Organized by
ISCEPC and EEDN, From 3-8
March 1997
****************************************
Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR)
“No one shall be subjected to torture
or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment”[1]. This is taken from the UDHR which has been
adopted and incorporated in the July 1, 1991 Charter and
subsequently included in the 1995 Constitution of the incumbent
EPRDF government.
I – Introductory Note
The following report has been compiled by
piecing together information which we have gathered from various
sources including individuals and groups who are close to the
prisons in which Dr. Taye has been held so far. With the help of
this report we hope to bring to the attention of the
international community the deplorable conditions obtaining in
the prisons and dungeons of Ethiopia under the newly ensconced
“democratic government” that enjoys support (material,
moral and political, etc [2]) from the major democracies of the
west. It is an account of the punishment meted to gutsy and brave
leaders of professional organizations like ETA, etc who have the
effrontery or audacity to stick out their neck and defend the
rights of the civil society in Ethiopia. It is an account which
documents the kind of punishment meted out to alleged
“enemies” of the incumbent government. Dr. Taye is not
a member of any political organization as is alleged by the
Tigrean government nor is he in any way connected to any of the
opposition political organizations in or outside Ethiopia. He has
just been serving the members of his organization – the Ethiopian
Teacher’s Association (ETA) in his capacity as president of this
organization since he was democratically elected to lead this
organization in 1992.
II – Brief Biographical Sketch of Dr.
Taye
Dr. Taye was born and grown in the town of
Nazereth which is located some 90 kms south of Addis Abeba. On
completion of his high-school, he moved to USA where he studied
political science. In the late 1980’s he returned to his country
and joined the Department of Political Science and International
Relations of Addis Abeba University where he served as professor
until his illegal dismissal in March 1993 along with some 42
lecturers and professors by the incumbent regime. The dismissals
were politically motivated [3]. In addition to his service as a
teacher in the university, Dr. Taye has been serving as president
of the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association (ETA) since his election
to this office in 1992.
III – Background to Dr. Taye’s
Imprisonment – the Facts
ETA has been promoting the cause of education
and the teaching profession in Ethiopia. In its drive to promote
these goals, ETA came on a collision course with the incumbent
government which, among other things, sought to deconstruct and
dismantle ETA on ethnic lines; adopted a divisively
deconstructive ethnic policy that led to the displacement of
hundreds of thousands of people thereby directly or indirectly
forcing hundreds of thousands of school children to drop out of
the educational system [4]. The divisive policy of the incumbent
government and the inter-ethnic conflict it engendered caused the
abduction and death of teachers [5] (see the other report on
ETA); led to displacement of thousands of teacher; and resulted
in the lay-off of many teachers. All these draconian measures by
the incumbent government have been met with the resistance of
teachers and their legal organization ETA. Hence the incumbent
government’s labeling and characterization of ETA as its enemy.
This forms the backdrop against which we have to see the
incarceration of ETA’s leaders such as Dr. Taye Woldesemiat, Ato
Abate Angore and Ato Kebede Desta and scores of others who have
been abducted (16 in total) and imprisoned (10 in total) [6]. The
trumped-up charges about Dr. Taye’s involvement in “a
terrorist armed underground movement determined to topple the
incumbent government and target government officials and
westerners” is ridiculous to say the least (for a detailed
coverage of the frame-up of Dr. Taye by the incumbent regime, I
refer readers to the Ethiopian Register magazine[7]). The US
State Department’s echoing of EPRF by unabashedly saying that
“The government’s case against Taye is not linked to his
activities on behalf of the ETA[8]” clearly shows where the
American government’s position lies in the conflict between ETA
and the incumbent government. What we infer from this statement
is that the American State Department is convinced about the
veracity of the “terrorist” charges brought against Dr.
Taye and his colleagues.
IV – ETA’s Legal Battle Against the
Incumbent Government
ETA has been engaged on many legal battles to
defend its organizational existence and integrity in the face of
the repression by the omnipotent EPRDF behemoth currently riding
roughshod over Ethiopia. The lengthy legal battle between ETA and
the incumbent government was won by ETA when in December 1994 the
court recognized the legitimacy of ETA and ruled in its favor.
However, the courts rulings were not respected by the government
and the EPRDF government illegally blocked the realization of the
court’s rulings and injunction. Thus neither ETA’s bank account
was defrozen and released nor the reopening and normal
functioning of ETA’s hitherto closed branch offices (131 branch
offices of ETA have been closed out of its 133 offices) made
possible. Dr. Taye traveled to Europe to present his
organization’s case to sister organizations in Holland, Belgium,
Germany, Switzerland, etc and seek international support for the
embattled ETA of which he was a leader. While he was touring
Europe to promote the cause of ETA, the incumbent government
soldiers illegally broke into the head office of ETA in Addis
Abeba and Dr. Taye’s private home and conducted illegal searches
and imprisoned Ato Abate Angore, executive Committee member of
ETA who insisted on the soldiers to show him the court order that
warrants their action [9]. Earlier on similar illegal searches
were made in the home of Dr. Taye’s father (82 years of age) at
his residence in Nazareth town.
V – From Frankfurt to Bole Airport and
then to Maekelawi Prison
After his tour of some European countries, he
returned to Ethiopia on May 30, 1996. Traveling with him to
Ethiopia were Mr. Andre Dumont (from the Dutch National Teachers’
Association ABOP) and two other professional colleagues (one from
the national association of German teachers and another one being
his colleague from the continental African teachers’
association). “We have just passed the immigration office;
so I thought nothing will happen. But after we have just made
some steps, security men descended upon us from all sides. These
men arrested Dr. Taye. All this happened in a matter of seconds.
Then I went to a hotel to alert every body that Dr. Taye was
arrested [10]”. These were the words the Dr. Taye’s Dutch
colleague by the name of Mr. Andre Dumont who graphically
described what happened to Dr. Taye when he arrived at the Bole
international airport where Dr. Taye was surrounded by security
policemen and taken away to Maekelawi prison . He was arrested
without any court warrant or any prior criminal charges [11]. He
stayed in solitary confinement at the notorious Maekelawi
(Central Investigation Centre) for three and half months. In all
this time he was able to talk to his lawyer only once i.e., in
the middle of July 1996. Even that was for a brief moment at
which security police was present thereby denying Dr. Taye the
right to at least talk to his lawyer alone. His lawyer’s request
to talk to Dr. Taye privately without the presence of a security
personnel or prison guards has been refused.
While he was at the Maekelawi prison, his
family member were allowed to bring him in food but were not
allowed to see him or talk to him during all this time. On his
own admittance, here at Maekelawi prison he was not physically
tortured but did admit that he was mentally tortured by being
kept alone in solitary confinement. No books, newspapers, any
other reading materials or radio were allowed during his three
and half months of solitary confinement at the Maekelawi prison.
Around the end of July 1996, Dr. Taye was
brought to court. On three occasions, his court case was
adjourned. This adjournment is the now familiar tactic or
time-honoured method that is being employed by the incumbent TPLF
regime to deny a speedy and just trial to what it calls its
“enemies and opponents” like Dr. Taye. By so doing TPLF
is able to prolong the unjustifiable suffering of innocent
individuals whom it cannot legally keep in prison had there been
an accountable system of justice to settle such court cases. And
at last Dr. Taye appeared in court on October 12, 1996. After
having been exposed to three and half months of solitary
confinement at the notorious Maekelawi (Central Investigation
Centre), Dr. Taye was transferred to the Kershele prison around
the middle of September 1996. Kershele is the largest prison in
Ethiopia that is located in the southern part of Addis Abeba
city.
VI – Dr. Taye’s Condition at the
Kershele Prison
This is the largest prison in the country.
Prisoners are crammed into rooms. The room in which Dr. Taye is
held currently is believed to house up to 200 prisoners. It is
very over-crowded; the ceiling is short and as such the room is
very suffocated. There are no windows or openings which let in
fresh air. The room is so over-crowded that inmates are forced to
sleep in such a way that the feet of one inmate is made to lie on
the head of the other inmate that sleeps in the opposite
direction. Thus the head of one inmates comes to lie on or rest
on the foot of the other inmate and vice versa. This is known as
SAGA – a term coined by inmates since this way of sleeping
resembles the traditional manner in which pieces of splinter of
wood are inserted between an already standing structure of a
thatched house or hamlet [12].
VII – Prison Conditions in Kershele
Unlike in Maekelawi where he was kept in
solitary confinement, at Kershele books and radio are allowed.
There is a library where he can at least read books and other
reading materials. These are the positive changes for Dr. Taye as
a prisoner in Kershele compared to his solitary confinement at
Makelawi prison.
Shortly after he came to Kershele prison,
Dr.Taye was hand-cuffed with a heavy chain. The chain is some 30
cm long and locked around his two wrists with the help of a heavy
pad-lock. Initially the hand-cuffs were removed from his hands
twice a day for just 15 minutes so as to allow him change his
clothes during the morning the night. Later he lodged his
complaints with the court in protest against his ill-treatment
and hand-cuffing when he appeared in court during a hearing on
his case that was held on October 25, 1996. The same day, upon
his return from court to prison, the prison authorities took two
severe measures against Dr. Taye so as to teach him a lesson and
show him that they can do anything to him irrespective of the
court’s rulings. The following measures were taken against Dr.
Taye :
1 – Before his protest against his
hand-cuffing, the hand-cuffs were inserted around his wrists in
such a loose way that they used to slide back and forth around
his two wrists. But after his protest at the court, the
hand-cuffs were tightly inserted and screwed around his wrists so
as to maximize his pain to the point of scarring his wrists.
2 – Dr. Taye was told that the previous
arrangement in which the prison authorities allowed him to be
unchained twice (2X15 minutes) was reduced to just 1X15 minutes.
For many months he had to walk around with the heavy chains with
which both of his hands were chained or hand-cuffed. One can
understand his difficulty of having to eat with the help of
chained hands. Imagine also the difficulty of leafing through the
pages of a book or a reading material with the help of chained
hands every time you finish a page. Dr. Taye is an avid or
prolific reader who always travels with several books when he is
even on a journey. This I have personally witnessed when he was
here in Holland on a work visit. He normally wakes up early in
the morning (around 5:30 or 6 A.M) and embarks upon reading books
before breakfast. This he told me was his usual habit. One can
imagine the difficulty of such a person when he is forced to leaf
through a book with chained hands every time he reads a book.
From my own personal experience in Ethiopian prison, I know that
prison life is a very boring one and books are about the only
things which may serve one as pass time and diversion and offer
some kind of solace. Readers of this report should also try to
imagine the difficulty Dr. Taye encounters sleeping in such an
over-crowded room together with 200 inmates while being
hand-cuffed for nearly 24 hours every day. Since December 10,
1996 the hand-cuffs have been removed from his hands [13] after
concerted appeals from the international community (EI, Swedish,
Norwegian, Dutch, the General Secretary of Trade Unions of UK,
etc who called on the incumbent government to halt its
maltreatment of Dr. Taye).
Normally prisoners stay for a maximum of two
weeks at this section of the Kershele prison where Dr. Taye is
currently held. No prisoner is held in this section of the
Kershele prison for more than two weeks [14]. In Dr. Taye’s case,
he has been forced to stay in this section of the Kershele prison
for months on end. This is the most insalubrious section of
Kershele which is infested with fleas, lice and bugs as it is the
most verminated section of the Kershele prison.
VII – Psychological Torture In Prison
And Restriction of Movement
The aim of any dictatorial government in
imprisoning its critics is to silence such critics by breaking
them psychologically and force them into obmustescence. More
often than not prison guards and security personnel of the
incumbent government come to Dr. Taye’s prison cell and provoke
him with all kinds of insults, humiliating remarks, jeer at him,
scold him, etc. All this is meant to break Dr. Taye mentally,
frustrate him and provoke him into ill-tempered reactions or
tantrums or petulance. Dr. Taye, an otherwise cool and softly
spoken gentle and highly mannered person, has not given in to
their provocation till now and it is my hope he will not do that
in the future too. In addition to the psychological pressure to
which he is subjected, unlike other prisoners of Kershele, Dr.
Taye’s movement outside his prison cell is restricted to such an
extent that he is not allowed to make physical exercise –
something which is normally allowed to other prisoners.
IX – “Gimgema” or Evaluation
– in the Kershele Prison
One of TPLF’s new, if novel, contribution to
the Ethiopian prison system is Gemigema, something which was
hitherto unknown even under the notorious defunct military regime
of the Dergue. Gimgema is a new phenomenon in prison through
which prisoners are allowed to subject a fellow prisoner (who is
dubbed dangerous by the incumbent ethnocratic regime) to a
barrage of false accusations by branding him as an arrogant,
asocial, contemptuous prisoner that looks down upon other
prisoners. As is known, in the Kershele prison of today, all
kinds of prisoners running the whole gamut from political
prisoners, prisoners of conscience, to common criminals, etc are
all kept together. The incumbent government bribes or forces
common criminals or its own agents who are occasionally sneaked
[15] into the prison for such purposes to accuse people like Dr.
Taye by alleging that he is “arrogant” or
“contemptuous” (by virtue of being an educated man,
etc). They play upon the low social background of some of these
common criminals some of whom would be more than ready to attack
those whom they perceive come from a better social, economic and
educational milieu. Even TPLF is alleged to sneak its own cadres
as inmates for some times in order to orchestrate and organize
such campaigns of accusations invectives or denunciation and
subsequently humiliate the government’s perceived
“enemies” such as Dr. Taye [16]. Thus at the end of the
Gimgema the criminal and lumpenish elements in the prison pass
verdict on the allegedly “arrogant and contemptuous”
individuals such as Dr. Taye and demand that he be punished by
the prison authorities. After having run the gauntlet of all
these orchestrated accusations and invectives, people like Dr.
Taye are asked whether or not they agree to the accusations
levelled against them. They are advised to admit their crime.
Should they refuse to admit being “criminals and
offenders”, they are then condemned by the prisoners who
have already been selected for these task of criminalizing Dr.
Taye and his likes. Thus the alleged offender or person such as
Dr. Taye is condemned to being hand-cuffed or chained as a
punishment for his alleged misbehaviour or misconduct vis a vis
his inmates or forced to clean the common toilet for weeks on end
or wash all dishes, etc. This is how the incumbent regime uses
marginalised members of society (common criminals, thieves, etc)
as instruments in attacking respectable figures of the Ethiopian
civil society such as Dr. Taye. Here one sees the inexhaustible,
if “admirable” resourcefulness of the incumbent
ethnocratic and dictatorial regime to mobilize its own victims
(victims of the the socio-political and economic system such as
common criminals and thieves) against innocent and highly revered
public figures that are looked up with deference by the Ethiopian
society.
X – The Court’s Attitude Regarding Dr.
Taye’s Protest
Readers of this report may ask “what was
the court’s attitude regarding Dr. Taye’s protest against the
fact that his two hands are hand-cuffed for nearly 24 hours
?” What was the judges’ response to the protest made by Dr.,
Taye and his lawyer? Mr. Hagos Woldu, who happens to be the
central judge presiding over the case of Dr. Taye, stated that he
has no power of jurisdiction over the prison administration and
added that he would make an inquiry into the matter. Then
following Dr. Taye’s protest at court, the court said that it
would enquire into the matter. Actually there was nothing to
enquire about as the prison officer who enforced this harsh
regime on Dr. Taye was there and the court could have asked him
why he did that there and then.
Dr. Taye’s lawyer, Ato Abebe Werke, has
protested against his client’s maltreatment and hand-cuffing of
his hands. After all Dr. Taye has not committed any criminal
offence that warrants such extreme measures as hand-cuffing his
hands. Secondly he is not held in a maximum security prison where
dangerous criminals whose criminal records have been established
by court of justice are held for fear that they may escape.
According to the prisoner officer Ato Negussie Tesfaye,
disobedient and dangerous prisoners are treated that way. And
according to this prison officer, Dr. Taye is such a dangerous
prisoner and as such he deserves this kind of treatment.
It should be clear to readers that when ever
Dr. Taye is brought to court by a police van, his hand-cuffs are
removed just before he steps into the court room so that the
public attending his trial may not see his handcuffs. Although
the judges could have done something about the hand-cuffs, they
did not want to do anything that contradicts the government’s
implicit wish of punishing and breaking down Dr. Taye. The judges
who preside over Dr. Taye’s case are Mr. Hagos Woldu (central
judge), Mrs. Abrehet and Mr. Woldemikael. On the 7th of November
1996, Dr. Taye’s lawyer Ato Abebe Werke visited him and reported
that Dr. Taye’s prison condition has not changed for the better.
Then Dr. Taye was still hand-cuffed. According the latest
information which we in SHINE received from ETA, the hand-cuffs
were removed as of December 10, 1996. On a related note, on
January 16, 1997 (at which Dr. Taye’s case should have been heard
in court), the court adjourned or postponed Dr. Taye’s case till
February 28 by saying that not all the judges were present to
preside over Dr. Taye’s case. Adjourning court cases of alleged
“enemies” of the incumbent regime is a well established
tactic of the present government and this is meant to prolong the
suffering of its alleged “enemies” such as Dr. Taye,
etc.
XI – Visits by Family Members and
Friends
Family members and friends are allowed to visit
Dr. Taye twice in the week and for some 30 minutes on each visit.
Normally other prisoners are allowed more time to talk with their
families.
XII – The Plight of Dr. Taye’s
Colleagues – The Alarming Case of Mr. Kebede Desta & Mr.
Abate Angore’s Detention
Ato Kebede Desta is the other colleague of Dr.
Taye who is currently in prison. He was born in Asbe Teferi,
western Hararghe. Ato Kebede is an elderly man who heads the
veteran wing of ETA. Ato Kebede has served his country as a
teacher for 32 years and is currently held in the Kershele prison
together with Dr. Taye. Since his imprisonment by the ERPDF
government, he has been denied his pension rights for which he
has paid during his long years of service to his country [17]. He
suffers from two chronic diseases i.e Diabetes Mellitus and
Hypertension. These are chronic diseases that generally undermine
the circulatory system thereby compromising the function of major
organs of the body such as the heart, brain, kidney, and also
damages other organs such as the eyes, etc. The synergistic
effect of these two diseases on the body is devastating. The
clinical condition of a patient suffering from these two diseases
is exacerbated or complicated by stress which undermines the
therapeutic effect of treatments directed at these two
debilitating diseases by exacerbating the condition of the
patient. Ato Kebede Desta, who is now 59 years of age, has been
critically ill and has to be hospitalized at a hospital where
prison guards constantly guard him lest he “escapes”
from hospital. This, we hope, shades light on the inhuman face of
the incumbent regime who falsely accuses such an elderly man and
force him to suffer doubly i.e by 1) forcing him to languish in
prison 2) exposing him to conditions that would undermine his
health and lead to serious clinical complications. In Mr.
Kebede’s case paralysis caused by stroke (secondary to the
synergistic effect of Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension);
blindness that results as a complication of Diabetes Mellitus (a
condition clinically known as Diabetic retinopathy, etc) and
hypertension; or in the worst case a stroke that may punctuate
his life or disable him for the rest of his life (the danger of
physical paralysis and other neurological complications) are real
more than ever (by virtue of being in prison where exposure to
such dangerous complications are very great). So it is
instructive that all of you who read this report approach groups
like Physicians for Human Rights dotted around the western world
to clamour for the immediate release of this veteran ETA leader
who is currently suffering in prison on trumped-up charges.
Particularly those of us who are medical professionals
[18](doctors, nurses, para-medicals, etc.) are better placed to
make such appeals to appropriate bodies and campaign on behalf of
such prisoners of conscience. Many Ethiopian prisoners have lost
their lives in the past few years due to lack of proper medical
attention and the stressful material and psychological conditions
obtaining in EPRDF’s prisons. In 1996 alone, 19 prisoners have
died in one prison located at Kaliti (in the outskirts of Addis
Abeba city) for lack of medical treatment, unhygienic conditions
obtaining in the prison, etc [19]. Unlike its predecessor – the
brutal military Dergue regime, the EPRDF government is smart when
dealing with what it calls its “enemies”. One of the
tactics used by this government to physically get rid of its
opponents is to force them into prisons where living conditions
are terrible and nature can take care of prisoners of conscience
thereby absolving EPRDF from any kind of blame. Thus unlike its
brutal predecessor – the military Dergue regime – EPRDF does not
kill its well-known enemies with bullets. Rather, EPRDF chooses
to expose its opponents to the scourges or vagaries of nature
(disease, etc.) by allowing the destructive forces of nature
(infections, diseases, etc.) to take its toll of its opponents
that it has thrown in the various prisons of the country. EPRDF
does not spoil bullets to kill famous personalities lest it
tarnishes its “democratic image” among its western
supporters. As such it exposes its enemies to diseases which
eventually run their full course and devour EPRDF’s enemies such
as Mr. Kebede Desta. Unless we bring pressure to bear upon the
EPRDF by the international community (for the immediate release
of Mr. Kebede Desta), he may not be able to survive long under
such conditions and return to his families alive. Hence the need
to call for the immediate release of this man.
The other colleague of Dr. Taye who is held in
custody in the southern Ethiopian city of Arba Minch is Mr. Abate
Angore who is the Executive Committee Member of the present ETA
leadership. Ato Abate Angore is in prison since September 29,
1996 on flimsy charges of refusing to hand over ETA’s branch
office in Arba Minch (in 1993) to the puppet ETA officials
installed by the incumbent government. Ato Abate was imprisoned
at Arba Minch (on September 29, 1996) when he traveled to visit
his family members who live in his birth place in the Gamu Gofa
region of southern Ethiopia. Ato Abate Angore is the head of a
family of 10 and the only bread-winner in the family. He moved to
Addis Abeba upon his election as ETA’s executive committee member
on February 18, 1993 at the 14th General Assembly of ETA. Before
that he was the leader of the Northern Omo branch office of ETA.
Upon his transfer to Addis Abeba in 1993, he refused to hand over
the office of the Northern Omo Branch to members of the puppet
ETA that was illegally created by the incumbent regime as a rival
to the legally founded ETA led by Dr. Taye. He subsequently
handed over the office to the legally elected representatives of
the north Omo ETA branch office leaders. Later the security
forces of the incumbent EPRDF government forcefully broke into
the northern Omo ETA branch office and took over this office in
July 1993 after they have thrown into prison the legally elected
ETA leaders of the northern Omo branch office [20. Today the same
government, which has taken all these illegal measures against
the northern Omo ETA branch office leaders of ETA, has imprisoned
Ato Abate Angore saying that Ato Abate had refused to hand over
ETA’s northern Omo branch office to its present occupants i.e the
puppet government-supported ETA officials. This is very ironic to
say the least. Since his incarceration in September 1996, Ato
Abate Angore has appeared at the Arba Minch court several times.
But to date no decision has been given on his case. His case is
still pending court decision and he is deliberately and illegally
held in detention to this date. All these ETA leaders have been
denied their salaries and pensions. We ask readers of this report
to bring the plight of these people to appropriate bodies in
their areas of residence. We need to campaign for the release of
these people and voice our concerns about the deplorable state in
which these victims of human rights violations find themselves
in. Unless we support the cause of vocal members of organized
groups such as ETA by echoing their plight to the international
community and supporting them financially and materially, then
our hope of contributing to the democratization of our society
would not bear fruit. Hence the need to affirm our commitments
for the institutionalization of human rights and democracy in
Ethiopia by supporting fledgling members of the Ethiopian civil
society like ETA, etc. The task ahead should be exposing the
gruesome records of this regime that are sticking out like a sore
thumb; and expose its attempt to decapitate the leaderships of
grass-root organizations like ETA, etc by incarcerating its
leaders and weakening the organizations.
N. B. – Please take the pain of reading the
footnotes – particularly footnote 17 !!!!
In this report the Ethiopian word Ato is
frequently mentioned. It is the equivalent of Mr in the English
tradition.
————————-SHINE———————————–
Foot Notes:
1 – Universal Declaration of Human Rights
adopted at the 1948 Beneva Conventions.
2 – Recently (December 12, 1997), the World
Bank and the IMF group pledged loan and aid equivalent to $2.5
Billion dollars to the incumbent TPLF government. In a related
note, the European Community pledged a sum of $470 million just
recently (see the January 24, 1997) issue of Addis Tribune
newspaper.
3 – See the Indian Ocean Newsletter of April
1993.
4 – for a detailed treatment of the subject,
see the book entitled: “The Pillage of Ethiopia, 1996”.
Also see the USAID report of 1994b.
5 – see the paper presented about ETA at the
Human Rights Week of ISCEPC and EEDN, March, 1997.
6 – Paper presented by ETA’s general
secretary, Mr. Gemorraw KAssa at the 47th Annual
meeting of ETA in February 1996.
7 – Ethiopian Register magazine, September 1996
issue.
8 – see US Department of State’s report
entitled “Ethiopia Country Report on Human Right Practice
for 1996”, released on January 30, 1997.
9 – For details see the Tobiya weekly newspaper
issue of March 1996. (Tobiya Vol. III, No 16)
10 – schoolblad – organ of the National
Association of Dutch Teachers (ABOP) – June 15, 1996 which
published about the arrest of Dr. TAye under the heading
“Arrest of Leader of Teacher’s Association”.
11 – EHRCO’s Special Report on Dr.
Taye’s Imprisonment, June 1996.
12 – Personal communication to me by Mr.
Teferra Asmare who was editor-in-chief of Ethiopis weekly Amharic
newspaper. Ato Teferra spent three years in Kershele prison
during the incumbent government’s political tenure. Mr.
Teferra is currently in Holland where he has sought political
asylum.
13 – Memo of ETA to SHINE, December 20, 1996.
14 – ibid
15 – Mr. Teferra Asmare’s (former prisoner
at Kershele) testimony at a public meeting where he disclosed
this practice of the incumbent regime when he addressed a
conference in Amsterdam, Holland on June 39, 1996.
16 – ibid (Teferra Asmare)
17 – Memo of ETA to SHINE dated 19 December,
1996.
18 – currently there are hundreds of Ethiopian
medical doctors working in the western world. In the US alone, it
is believed that some few hundred Ethiopians live and work. In
Canada and western Europe also one encounters dozens of Ethiopian
medical doctors. However, the activities of these professionals
on the human rights front is negligible or nil to say the leeast.
It is time that some of these medical professionals organize
themselves as a group and clamor against the inhuman treatment of
their people back home. This is a responsibility which we have
failed to shoulder. Barricading ourselves behind professional and
academic walls and feigning ignorance of what is going on in the
country is morally, intellectually and professionally
indefensible.
19 – for an instructive account of such cases,
see the Tobiya newspaper, Vol. III, No 49, Nov 96 issue which
lists the names of 28 Ethiopian political prisoners who lost
their lives while languishing in EPRDF prisons (for more than 5
years and without ever having been brought to court)
20 – Memo of the Ethiopian Teacher’s
Association (ETA) to SHINE, dated Dec. 20, 1996.