December 10, 2001

 DECEMBER 10: HUMAN RIGHTS DAY ETHIOPIA: THE VIOLATIOONS CONTINUE

 ON December 10, the world observes the Human Rights day and we in Ethiopia take the occasion to sadly comment that the human rights situation in Ethiopia has not at all improved and, in some instances, has even worsened. As the EPRDF regime attempts to climb the "anti-Al Quaida bandwagon" and to have the world gloss over its gross violations of human rights, it behooves on us to raise the alarm: the repression in Ethiopia continues unabated and is relentless.

 The EPRDF authorities continue to hold some 15,000 political prisoners without any dye process of law, they run secret prisons and concentration camps (Zwai,Shoa Robit, in Tigrai,etc..), they have "disappeared" dozens of political dissidents, dissolved or hounded civic organizations, engaged in extra judicial killings, repressed independent journalists, forced opponents into exile, engaged in the sale of children (adoption and prostitution), ignored the spread of AIDS, actively worked to bring about the disaster in the health and educational system, etc... By all standards and measures, the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stands indicted as one of the condemnable violators of human rights. Worse still, the regime has put in place an ethnic discriminatory politics that has led to ethnic and religious conflicts causing heavy casualties. In Ethiopia, persecution on the basis of ethnic origin, religious belief, political stand and organization is routine and part of the ruling power's politics.

Human rights in Ethiopia is considered a luxury by the government in place. Its rhetoric and demagogy aside, the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi rules by force and violence. It does not respect its own laws and Consitution. It even denies it is holding one single political prisoner while thousands do not even get to see its controlled judges and courts. The Minister of Justice is a political appointee and a fellow traveler of the ruling front, the judges belong to the regime, the prosecutor's office is as independent as Stalin's was. The government and front officials act beyond and above the law, the police and security forces are the instruments of the regime to repress the civic society. If there were those who claimed that the present regime is an improvement on the past one the argument has grown threadbare after a decade of repressive rule by the EPRDF and Ethiopians, who are the victims of the relentless and cruel repression, are not impressed by the now irrelevant and relative comparison. Call for the respect of Human Rights of Ethiopia! Call for the release of all political prisoners in Ethiopia!

SOCEPP