MARCH 21/2002
VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN BY THE EPRDF IN ETHIOPIA
Though Ethiopia is a signatory to The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted unanimously by the UN General Assembly of the UN on 20th November 1989, the EPRDF continues to violate the rights of children (defined by the Convention as a person under the age of 18) all over Ethiopia.
The Convention makes non-discrimination an important principle in that children shall enjoy ALL their rights without discrimination of any kind but this is not observed or respected by the EPRDF in Ethiopia.
* THE RIGHT TO LIFE AND DEVELOPMENT:
More than 150,000 children are homeless and living on the streets while all over the country millions are exposed to indescribable poverty. The right to life is also curtailed arbitrarily in many areas if the country where EPRDF troops and security forces kill children or create situations in which children become victims of violence. Examples abound: Southern Ethiopia, the Ogaden, Eastern Wellega, Gondar, etc... Children are special victims of the government's repressive policies, its ethnic politics and its refusal to respect the right of the people as a whole and of children in particular. A few years back, the EPRDF rounded up street children and transported them to the forests outside of Addis Abeba and dumped them there exposing them to wild animals (hyenas reportedly devoured a few of them).
* PROTECTION FROM PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HARM AND NEGLECT, INCLUDING SEXUAL ABUSE OR EXPLOITATION; ALL EFFORTS SHALL BE MADE TO ELIMINATE THE ABDUCTION AND TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN
The EPRDF is directly implicated in the actions which deny children such protection. The sale of children into modern slavery-the dispatching of children, specially girls, to the Middle East-has been amply documented in the past by SOCEPP and other bodies. Young girls sent to the Middle East as domestic servants have actually been exposed to physical abuse, mutilation by acid, sexual abuse and rape and rampant exploitation (16 hours work per day with little or no pay). The traffic in such young girls is lucrative and quite a few of the agencies involved in it are tied to the EPRDF official directly or indirectly. Repeated calls made to the EPRDF to stop this illegal trafficking in children have not met with any positive consideration. Every month, hundreds of girls are still dispatched to the Middle East and more than 20,000 such girls are now found in several Middle Eastern countries. The EPRDF for long refused to heed the warning that some foreign NGOs like the Terre des Hommes, which were involved with orphans and street children, were engaged in pedophilia and thereby exposed such children (including boys) to sexual abuse.
An alarming development nowadays is the officially sanctioned spread of CHILD PROSTITUTION. The EPRDF has taken steps to encourage such tourism and already there are many reports of sex tourists from European and Middle Eastern countries flocking into the country and abusing child prostitutes. In Addis Abeba, girls as young as 11-13 years old ply the trade with little or no protection from the spreading epidemic of AIDS (more than 3.5 million people carry the virus already). The degraded and degrading condition of life that prevails has made the spread of prostitution a "natural" in the hapless country. The EPRDF has facilitated entry visa requirements for foreigners and stepped up its "visit us" plea abroad while taking no practical measures to protect children from such predators as had plagued Thailand and the Philippines for example. There is indeed the URGENT NEED for a concerted campaign against sex tourism in Ethiopia so as to nip this evil practice in the bud.
The rape or sexual abuse of children is not treated as a serious crime by the EPRDF. The deterioration of social mores and moral restraints in part provoked by the existing discriminatory and unjust system has accentuated the problem along this line. Children are the victims.
* THE RIGHT OF PARENTLESS CHILDREN TO GET SUITABLE ALTERNATIVE CARE:
Hundreds of thousands of orphaned children live precariously on the streets or in suitable "homes". The EPRDF has not been observed taking a concerned and serious action to protect such children. On the contrary, criminal elements linked to top officials of the EPRDF are presently engaged in dubious adoption processes practically selling off such children to foreign adopters. No care or screening is taken nor safeguards and legal validity assured in many instances before the children are dispatched to foreign lands.
* THE RIGHT TO THE HIGHEST ATTAINABLE STANDARD OF HEALTH AND EDUCATION
Thousands of children have been affected by the AIDS virus, many more are victims of malaria, TB and other debilitating diseases. The overall health system of the country has collapsed and children are its particular victims. Young girls forced into a life of prostitution are particularly exposed and vulnerable as the EPRDF's campaign against AIDS has been justifiably criticized as weak or lukewarm. Infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. In the education field, the EPRDF's ethnic politics has wreaked havoc and caused the total degradation of the educational system. Many children do not get the chance to go to school and those who do are forced to be crammed in tiny class rooms (sometimes more than 80) an to take classes in three shifts 9even in the capital Addis Abeba). Children have been denied the right to learn in their mother tongues as the arbitrary division of the country into several Kilils (regions) has violated such rights. Students are denied any say in their education and school administration, their unions have been banned or muzzled, their peaceful protests violently suppressed and their right to speak their mind denied by the presence of spies and armed informers within their midst. The so criticized as a nefarious policy aimed at denying majority of children the chance of having proper education.
* Child soldiers have been far too common within the TPLF/EPRDF military structures.
* Children have been arrested and jailed or punished for crimes or offenses allegedly committed by their parents.
* Children under detention have been tortured or subjected to cruel and inhuman punishments.
* Disabled children have not been given any special treatment as is their right.
* Children are not protected from economic exploitation.
* Female children are still subjected to genital mutilation without the EPRDF taking any effective legal action to protect them.
The plight of children in Ethiopia indicts the EPRDF that continues with the violation of their rights with impunity. International bodies and donor governments should take vigorous actions to counter the deplorable conditions of children in Ethiopia. What is being highlighted here is not the country's capacity to combat overall poverty but a ruling group's callous and deliberate policy of violating the rights of the people as a whole and children in particular. Ethiopian children suffer from ethnic discrimination, state violence, physical and sexual abuse sanctioned by the powers that be, exposure to killer diseases, starvation, homelessness, repression, and from lack of adequate legal protection.
It is sad to note that international agencies supposedly concerned with the rights and welfare of children have not raised their voices to expose and condemn the violation of the rights of children in Ethiopia. This has to change and voices must be raised to justifiably condemn the practices and omissions of the ruling EPRDF.
* The EPRDF must be pressurized to respect the rights of children.
* An international campaign should be launched to put a stop to child prostitution and the increasing sex tourism to Ethiopia.
* Stop the violation of the rights of Ethiopians and let democratic governance being supreme in the country" such is the message that must be told to the EPRDF
SOCEPP
