December 6, 1999
ABERA YEMANE-AB 1993-1999 SIX YEARS OF ILLEGAL DETENTION
Abera Yemaneab, at the time a leader of the opposition Coalition of Ethiopian Democratic Forces (COEDF), went to Addis Abeba in December 1993 leading a COEDF delegation that was to attend the Ghion Peace and Reconciliation Conference. He was arrested at Bole airport and imprisoned with six other delegates. After two months, the others were released and forced to leave the country while Abera was kept in prison. A court ruled in April 1993 that his detention was illegal and that he should be released but the government refused to follow the court's orders. Kept in the central Kerchiele prison up to now, Abera is a clear example of political repression and a peace delegate who has become victim of a government which refuses to heed the call for peace and dialogue. After being imprisoned and denied all due process, Abera has now been charged on 16 counts of crimes related to the Red Terror times. Many believe that all the charges are false, concocted and used to cover up the fact that the EPRDF wants to punish Abera for his political views and for belonging to the COEDF. Abera's family live in Washington where he had been also in exile since the Mengistu (Derg) times (late 70s). Abera's young son went last year to Addis Abeba to visit his father but was not given adequate time to visit or talk with his father. SOCEPP once again makes an international call, specially to the USA which assured peace delegates in 1993 that nothing will happen to them if they went to Addis Abeba, to put pressure on the EPRDF government and to assure the immediate and unconditional release of Abera Yemane-ab who is illegally being detained for the last 6 years in the Kerchiele.
