April 14, 2004

It was ironic and sad to see Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the very man responsible for the recent massacre in Gambella (Western Ethiopia), as one of the guests in Kigali (Rwanda) for the observation of the tenth year of the Genocide in Rwanda.

The regime of Meles Zenawi has massacred more than 1100 people in Gambella. After refusing to set up an independent inquiry commission it has now formed a commission made up of its own cadres and officials. The chairman of the commission is none other than Kemal Bedri, the member of Harari league political group (affiliated with the ruling EPRDF), chairman of the Federal Court and the electoral commission. Tegene Getaneh is a member of the ANDM (a member of the ruling EPRDF) while Desta Kidane Mariam, another member of the commission, is a member of the ruling TPLF/EPRDF. In other words, it is a commission that is set up to whitewash the crimes of the government security forces and officials. This is what makes the EPRDF's observance of the Rwandan genocide and its call for a full investigation of it hypocritical.

SOCEPP calls on international peace loving forces and human rights group to denounce the EPRDF machination to cover up its responsibility for the massacre in Gambella. An independent investigative commission must be set up immediately.

SOCEPP