Call for Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human
Rights in Ethiopia
Sophia Tesfamariam
As an Eritrean American who has closely followed
developments in the Horn region and knows a little bit about the political
machinations involved, I was sorry to see Navi Pillay, United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights succumbing to US pressure by singling out Eritrea
for rebuke when she knows full well that there is no verifiable evidence
against the State of Eritrea except the words of a few self serving individuals
who find it to be a lucrative business to engage in the human rights network.
These individuals and groups assembled by the US
and Ethiopia do not
represent the people of Eritrea.
These miscreants neither have the moral or legal authority to represent
Eritreans in Eritrea
or in the Diaspora, where their record of betrayal and crimes is well known.
Unfortunately, the true voice of the Eritrean people
continues to be muffled and today, sadly, it is the voice of defectors,
disgruntled former diplomats who abandoned their people and country,
pedophiles, self proclaimed “human rights” and “democracy” activists and
individuals who have committed treasonous acts against the people of Eritrea
are provided forums from which to spew their insults against the State of
Eritrea, its government and people. Providing these miscreants such a forum
undermines the credibility and integrity of the UN Human Rights Council. It is
an affront to the people of Eritrea
whose 30-years long struggle was for human rights and justice. The Eritrean
people in Eritrea, and in
the vast Diaspora communities, are perfectly capable of speaking for
themselves, and do not need the services of groups funded by the minority
regime in Ethiopia
and its handlers, to speak on their behalf.
The minority regime in Ethiopia and its handlers who have
orchestrated the vilification campaign at the UN Human Rights Council believe
that they can advance illicit agendas against the State of Eritrea by
pressuring the UN Commissioner and its staff. It is a disgrace to Africa and
especially the horn region, to see the emasculated leaders of Djibouti and Somalia
leading the charge against Eritrea
at the behest of Washington and the mercenary
regime, a “staunch US
ally”. Having failed to achieve their goals with the illegal, unfair and unjust
resolutions 1907 and 2023, adopted by the Security Council on 23 December 2009
and 5 December 2010, they were hoping to use the UN Human Rights Council to
advance their shameful agendas against the people of Eritrea.
The UN Human Rights Council, instead of becoming tools for
the regime and its handlers, and further undermining its fledgling credibility
and integrity ought to call for a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Ethiopia.
Unlike the many reports on Eritrea
presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Eritrea
by treasonous self serving quislings, the situation in Ethiopia has been documented by various
independent human rights groups and victims of the minority regime in Ethiopia.
The minority regime in Ethiopia has committed untold
crimes against its own people in the last 20 years. The genocides in the
Gambela, Ogaden and Oromia regions of Ethiopia have been documented by
various human rights organizations including Survivors International and
Genocide Watch. The crimes of the regime were also well known to US officials,
as they too have documented these abuses as the hundreds of Wikileak cables
from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia show. Suffice it to
mention some recent US State Department cables from Ethiopia,
which according to US officials provide “a unique insight into abuse of
detainees and dynamics regarding Ethiopia's non-traditional
detention facilities”:
§
“…released
political and other prisoners in Ethiopia have recently reported to
PolOff that they and other detainees have been tortured in police station jails
in attempts by security officials to elicit confessions before cases go to
trial. Depending on the detainee, abuses reported include being blindfolded and
hung by the wrists for several hours, bound by chains and beaten, held in
solitary confinement for several days to weeks or months, subjected to mental
torture such as harassment and humiliation, forced to stand for over 16 hours,
and having heavy objects hung from one's genitalia (males)… torture seems to be
more common at police station detention centers… Released prisoners have also
reported to PolOff cases of prisoners being detained for several years without
being charged and without trial, prisoners held in jails despite having been
released by the courts, and police interference with court proceedings…”-(March
2009)
§
“…Two
political prisoners who were arrested for "inciting violence"
following the 2005 elections described to PolOff various forms of torture to
which they were subjected during the three months spent at Addis Ababa Police
Commission's Criminal Investigation Division… In an effort to elicit
confessions, police beat them, tied their hands and legs with chains, and tied
a water bottle to the male prisoner's genitals. They were given one meal every
two days, and were not allowed to shower or change clothes. The same sources
told PolOff that three prisoners with whom they were detained (Tsegaye Ayele
Yigzaw, Gedlu Ayele Hulu-Ante, and Argata Gobena Maru) died in jail as a result
of the beatings, poor conditions and absence of medical treatment, and one
pregnant woman (Webit Lengamo) miscarried after being severely beaten. They
reported that many fellow prisoners (with whom they are still in contact) left
prison with permanent injuries to the ears, heads, hands, legs, and/or genitals…”-(Cable
dated March 2009)
§
“…Embassy
LES present at a hearing on November 13 heard retired General Asaminew Tsige
tell the court that he was tortured and had lost his left eye due to beatings
by prison guards. Major Mekonnen Worku told the court he was beaten in jail and
showed the court injuries on his arms and legs. The court asked the prison
administration to respond to the accusations of torture and beating. On
November 17, the prison administration told the court the alleged torture and
beatings reported by suspects were self-inflicted…”-(Cable dated 11 December
2009)
§
“…In a
series of private discussions on the margins of a December 1-2 pastoralist
conference held in Ethiopia's Somali region (reftel), reliable senior Ogadeni
elders reported to Deputy Political Counselor and USAID Officer (EmbOffs) a
disturbing pattern of widespread, systemic human rights abuses by Ethiopian
Government (GoE) and Ethiopian military (ENDF) forces in the Ogaden. Elders
from four of the five Ogaden zones told consistent reports of hangings of
civilians, branding people, gang rape, arbitrary detentions and killings,
forced conscription, and denial of access to food and water resources. These,
combined with consistent reports from elsewhere in the region over the past few
months, paint a picture of the horror inflicted on the civilian population as
part of Ethiopia's counter-insurgency against the Ogaden National Liberation
Front (ONLF)…”-(December 2007)
§
“…The May
17 Gumaz attack against the Oromos was especially brutal, more so then in
previous years. There are reports senior ethnic Gumaz tribal leaders and
government officials played a role in encouraging and organizing this attack.
The Gumaz attackers were reported to be armed with machetes, spears, bows and
arrows, small arms and possibly a rocket propelled grenade. Specific acts of
violence perpetrated by the Gumaz assailants against the Oromos are reported to
have included amputations of limbs, flaying (skinning people alive),
disembowelment of pregnant women and killing of fetuses, emasculations of males
and in some cases forcing female family members to consume the severed
appendage and killing of small children and infants…” (May 2008)
§
“…GoE
human rights abuses including arbitrary detention, rape, and killing reportedly
continue at 2007 levels…government forces continue to withhold food and block
legitimate trade from "anti-peace" communities, and continue to
engage in mass arrests, rapes, and killings of ONLF supporters…the Jijiga
prison, nicknamed "Ogaden Prison" for the volume of Ogadeni clansmen
detained there, holds some 3,000 suspected ONLF supporters. The prison was
designed to hold 600 prisoners. Ahmed Maah, a UNICEF Child Protection
Specialist who had personally visited the prison, said the prison currently
holds over 200 children between ages 12 and of
these, 100 are children who are accused only being associated with the ONLF…”-(December
2009)
§
“…allegations
of electoral irregularities in 2005 prompted the opposition to launch an
organized civil disobedience campaign that turned violent when confronted by
security forces. These security forces killed nearly 200 protesters, detained
more than 30,000 suspected demonstrators, and arrested most leaders of the
opposition…”-(4 February 2010)
§
“…On
January 8, Human Rights League for the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) reported that
three students from Awassa University were arrested by the Federal Police on
January 5 and January 6 in connection with the riot in Shakiso Wereda, Guji
Zone of Oromiya Region. The three Awassa
University students who
are natives of Shakiso are: Nega Gezaw, Dhaba Gire and Jatani Wario. Demboba told
Poloff and PE FSN that the three students were not physically present in
Shakiso during the riot, but police picked them up from Awassa town for alleged
involvement in the riot. According to HRLHA and Demboba, the whereabouts of the
three students is unknown. Similarly, the whereabouts of Assefa Arure and
Dulecha Robe, both members OFDM are still unknown…”( 22 February 2010)
§
“…UNHCR
reported that on December 21, Ethiopian police entered into Kebribeyah refugee
camp, arrested eight male Somali refugees, including one 14 year old and one 17
year old, and turned them over to Ethiopian security personnel… Three of the refugees were shot and killed,
allegedly by the military/militia. Their bodies were discovered by locals on
December 21 in Gilo village approximately thirty kilometers from the camp… The occurrence of two fatal incidents in
Kebribeyah camp in one month, especially with the allegations of ONLF
involvement, suggests an increase in targeting refugees in violation of the GoE
obligations as party to the 1951 Refugee Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees, the 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 OAU Convention on Refugees…”- (8
February 2010)
Over the last 20 years, Ethiopians and others in the
international community have reported on the following human rights abuses by
the minority regime’s cadres and armed forces.
Gondar Massacre (1993)
On Monday 7 September 1993 a large crowd of believers had
gathered at Adebabay Eyesus, in the city of Gonder. Security forces opened fire into
the crowd. According to the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, 18 were killed and
17 wounded.
Massacre in Hararghe
(1993)
On 5 September 1993, Meles Zenawi’s forces opened fire at a
gathering of peasants who could not deliver a person of interest. 26 people
were killed, including 6 women and 12 were wounded
Loque massacre in
Awassa
On the 24 May 2002 Sidama people at Awassa, Loque conducted
a demonstration against the minority regime in Ethiopia. The regime retaliated by indiscriminately
shooting and killing 69 and wounding hundreds more. Its forces then dragged the
dead bodies through the streets of Awassa.
Massacre in Yeki
(2002)
On 22 July 2002, the BBC[i] reported that over 100
people were killed and their villages razed to ground on the orders of the
local authorities in Yeki. EU sources said that the head of the local police
spoke of 128 fatalities. The opposition claimed that between 500 and 1,000
died. The report also said that the local people spoke of a mass grave in which
hundreds of people were buried. The European Union delegation did not see the
grave. The army was been used to suppress protests. Between 400 and 1,000
people were arrested after the violence.
Massacre in Addis
Abeba (2005)
When the Ethiopian people protested the 2005 elections, the
regime retaliated by firing at the unarmed protesters and killed over 200 and
injured many more. Over 40,000 Ethiopians were detained around the country.
Massares in Oromia
(2008)
Since 1991, Oromo nationalists have been targeted for human
rights violations. Oromo peasants, academics and businesspeople who are
suspected of supporting the nationalist movement have been killed, disappeared,
tortured and detained. The Oromo region is being impoverished and its
environment degraded. The Oromo people, who number 25-30 million and constitute
at least 40% of the population of Ethiopia, have been further
persecuted by famine, fire and forced conscription.
In May 2008, over 400 Oromo infant, children, women and men
were slaughtered in cold blood. The Oromo Support Group (OSG) has reported
3,981 extra-judicial killings and 943 disappearances of Oromo civilians
suspected of supporting groups opposing the government. Scores of thousands of
Oromo civilians have been imprisoned. Torture and rape of prisoners remains
commonplace.
Gambela region of Ethiopia (2003)
Dubbed “Operation Sunny Mountain”
by Meles Zenawi’s regime, the plans to procure Annuak territory, a zone coveted
by corporate interests for its oil and gold, were laid out at a top-level
cabinet meeting in Addis Ababa
led by Meles Zenawi on September 2003. At that meeting, “the militant ethnic
cleansing of the Anuaks” was openly discussed and a coordinated military
operation to systematically eliminate Anuaks began on 13 December 2003. On that
fateful day, members of the Ethiopian military and militias formed from
non-Anuak minority groups entered Gambella town in southwestern Ethiopia.
Over the course of three days, they sought out, tortured and killed 424 men,
burned houses, and scattered families. The regime willfully burned villages,
massacred hundreds of Anuaks and Nuers and caused over 50,000 inhabitants of
Gambela to flee to neighboring Sudan
and Kenya.
Ogaden region of Ethiopia
(ongoing)
Satellite images[ii] taken from devastated
villages and towns revealed crimes committed by Ethiopia's troops. Ethiopian troops
burnt 40 villages in the Ogaden region between 2006-2010, causing civilian
deaths and leaving many families homeless. In October 2007 Steve Bloomfield of
the Independent in his 17 October report, “Ethiopia's
'own Darfur' as villagers flee
government-backed violence”[iii] wrote:
“…Early one June
morning, in Kamuda, a village of 200 families in the remote Ogaden region in
eastern Ethiopia, 180 soldiers announced their arrival by firing guns in the
air. The village, they said, had been providing food and shelter for the Ogaden
National Liberation Front (ONLF), a separatist rebel group. As the villagers
froze in horror, the soldiers plucked out seven young women, all aged between
15 and 18, and left…The following morning the youngest girl was found. Her
body, bloodied and beaten, was hanging from a tree. The next day a second girl
was found hanging from the same tree. A third suffered the same fate. The
others were never seen again…”
Human rights investigators gathered evidence of widespread
use of rape, with women reporting gang-rapes by up to a dozen soldiers. In some
villages, men have been abducted at night, their bodies dumped in the village
the next morning.
A UN team was allowed into the Ogaden to investigate allegations
of abuse by Ethiopian troops. Its report was not made public but the team
called for an independent inquiry. But while Khartoum's
counter-insurgency in Darfur has been described by the US as "genocide" and by the UN as
"crimes against humanity", international condemnation of Ethiopia has,
so far, been limited. The UN Human Rights Commission has remained conspicuously
silent.
Omo Valley (2011-2012)
The Lower Omo valley located in South-west Ethiopia is inhabited by several
ethnic groups known as the Omo tribes. The Omo tribes are
agro-pastoralist and nomadic. They are self-sufficient tribes that rely on land
and water for survival. Many of the tribes are currently facing
extinction.
On 6 March 2012, Genocide Watch[iv] reported the following:
“…According to
testimonies collected by Survival International and the Oakland Institute,
gross human rights violations are occurring in the Omo Valley. The
Ethiopian Peoples Defense Forces are using a systematic policy of intimidation,
rape, assault and detention against women, children, and the elderly, and are
arresting and detaining men. There are also reports of male tribesmen who
have been raped by the Ethiopian forces, a traumatic dehumanization from which
many never recover. The lower Omo valley is surrounded by roadblocks that
ensure that the eviction plans and other human rights abuses stay out of the
spotlight. It is practically impossible for any news media to get
permission to travel there…”
These crimes against the people of Ethiopia have been ignored by the US State
Department and its incompetent junior diplomats at the Bureau of African
Affairs who wrongly believe cuddling dictators is in the best interest of the United States.
Advancing US interests in the Horn of Africa is somehow easier if there is a
genocidal, criminal regime in place to lord over the long suffering Ethiopian
people.
The above listed crimes against the people of Ethiopia have been repeatedly reported by
various human rights groups and a report by the Ethiopian Human Rights
Commission (EHRC) says that there are 120 prisons throughout Ethiopia,
housing 80,974 prisoners, of which 2,123 are women and 487 are children. The
EHRC also reported the following in its report:
§
“…prisoners
at Benishangul prison reported unusual forms of punishment such as beatings,
suffocation by immersion in barrels of water, forcing inmates to roll on wet
mud, sprinkling water on inmates' bodies prior to beatings, cuffing, and
humiliating insults… the
sanitary services in most of the correctional facilities in our country do not
fulfill the appropriate conditions for the humane treatment of inmates…
§
“…In many
facilities inmates use containers as toilets at night, and consequently the
crowded sleeping quarters are "permeated with a fetid odor." According
to article 36(3) of the constitution, juvenile defenders should be kept
separately from adults. However, in all prisons except Jima juvenile offenders
share bedrooms with adults, sometimes even with adults serving a death sentence…”
§
Etc. etc.
The UN Human Rights Council should not be used as a bully
pulpit from which the United
States and its mercenary surrogates advance
their foreign policy agendas. If the UN Commissioner is truly concerned about
the human rights of the people living in the Horn of Africa, it should address
the criminal war mongering, genocidal minority regime in Ethiopia and call on
its handlers to stop providing it with the diplomatic, financial, political and
military shied and support as it flouts international law and commits international
crimes against the people in the region.
The rule of law must prevail over the law of the jungle!
[i]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2131177.stm
[ii]
http://www.ft.dk/samling/20101/almdel/uru/bilag/154/988822.pdf
[iii]
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ethiopias-own-darfur-as-villagers-flee-governmentbacked-violence-394904.html
[iv]
http://www.genocidewatch.org/ethiopia.html
Received on Tue Jun 19 2012 - 17:49:43 EDT
