December 5/2003

H.E. Mr. Colin Powell,

Secretary of State,

US Department of State,

2201 C Street NW,

Washington DC 20520,

U.S.A.

Your Excellency,

The Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP), a non political non partisan human rights organization formed in March 1995, would like to bring to your attention the plight of Ethiopian political prisoner ABERA YEMANE-AB and to call on your excellency's intervention to get his release. Abera has been illegally detained for the past 10 years.

Abera Yemane-Ab was a political refugee in the USA and a leader of the Washington based opposition alliance called the Coalition of Ethiopian Democratic Forces (COEDF). On December 16,1993 Abera and other COEDF delegates flew into Addis Ababa to take part in a USD-backed Peace and Reconciliation Conference that was to take place there. The US Department of State backed the search for dialogue and peace and officials cooperated with the organizers and the delegates that were to leave from the USA. The authorities in Addis Ababa let it be known also that those seeking peaceful dialogue and reconciliation can come to their country and nothing will happen to them. The refugee delegates from the USA had consequently acquired Ethiopian passports from the Ethiopian embassy in Washington.

Abera and his colleagues arrive at Bole international airport in Addis Ababa on December 16 and were immediately arrested. Others who heard of the arrest cut short their trip at Cairo airport and stayed out. While all those eight detained were subsequently released (the COEDF members were kept in the central prison for 2 months and then made to leave), Abera Yemane-ab was kept in the central prison (Kerchiele). In April 1994, a court in Addis Ababa ruled that his arrest and detention was illegal and that he should be released immediately. The government ignored the court ruling and took Abera back to jail. He has been kept there ever since. The authorities took long to even charge hima with an offense and then came up with a flimsy charge of "taking part in the Red Terror" during the ousted Mengistu Haile Mariam regime. Though the charges had been made, the prosecutors were not able to make them stick and a protracted court litigation has been sued by the government as a convenient cover to keep Abera behind bars for ten years bow.

Abera's family lives in the Washington DC, USA. They are all American citizens. One of his America- born son flew to Addis Ababa to meet with his father and he was not even given the chance to talk for long with his imprisoned father.

Your Excellency,

The government of the USA is particularly made responsible to call for Abera's release because the (then) administration's support to the whole process and verbal guarantees were taken as valid security against repressive actions by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's regime. However, this proved illusory as Abera was jaield and has been kept behind bars for the last ten years. BY alleging that Abera took part in the infamous Red Terror, the government is trying to short circuit any appeal or call for his release and also to deny Abera the status of a political prisoner. Abera Yemane-ab is indeed a political prisoner and guilty of only waging a peaceful struggle for democracy against the ruling EPRDF led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Your Excellency,

SOCEPP respectfully calls upon you to intervene on behalf of political prisoner Abera Yemane-Ab so that he gets released without delay and rejoins his family in the USA.

thanking you in advance,

resepctfully,

Ezra Nathaniel

SOCEPP

Postfach 610340,

10925 Berlin e mail:  socepp@aol.com