MARCH 8/2003

ETHIOPIAN WOMEN STILL DENIED THEIR BASIC RIGHTS

The condition of human rights in Ethiopia leaves much to be desired as the ruling EPRDF adamantly refuses to respect the rule of the law and the fundamental rights of the people. This being the case, women in Ethiopia, the majority in the population some 63 millions, are forced to endure a very hard existence in which their basic rights are routinely denied.

The ethnic politics of the ruling EPRDF has been at the root of the discrimination and ethnic strife that presently exists in the country and women have been the ones to suffer most in all instances. With the rule of law trampled upon by the ruling EPRDF, women get little protection from the legal system. Small girls are married off, forced to perform hard labor, forced into prostitution, raped, subjected to genital mutilation, etc. Young girls are being sold into modern slavery and exposed to a terrible life in the Middle East where they have received no legal aid from the EPRDF embassies despite the cruel treatment meted out to them by their so called employers. In Beirut, Saudi Arabia, etc. young Ethiopian women have been murdered, mutilated, raped, disfigured by acid thrown at them, etc. and even denied their wages. As AIDS ravages millions without the ruling EPRDF mounting any effective anti-AIDS campaign, women are the most affected by the deadly disease. Women are still subjected to beatings and other cruel punishments as a matter of routine.

It is no secret that the health and education system of Ethiopia have collapsed and women are most affected by the situation. Numerous women, including Aberash Berta, have been detained and disappeared by the EPRDF. Many have been victims in the Awassa, Tepi and other massacres when EPRDF soldiers shot dead peaceful demonstrators. Thousands of women of all ages have been forced into exile in the Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti and other places where they have been subjected to rape and mistreatment. By all measures, Ethiopian women have the short end of the stick as far the respect of basic human rights is concerned.

Evidently, the EPRDF has to respect the rule of law and the basic rights of the people as a whole but particular attention should be paid to the plight of women and children who are suffering immensely from this lack of basic human rights.

 SOCEPP calls for the respect of the human rights of women in Ethiopia.

SOCEPP