May 22/2004

The authorities in Addis Abeba have closed the offices of the Metcha Tulema (self help and development) association and arrested its president Diriba Demissie and its vice president Genetchu Feyera as well as other employees and guards. The ruling EPRDF is alleging that the 40 years old civic association has been involved in the financing of alleged "terrorists" who threw bombs amidst students of the University in Addis Abeba.

It is to be remembered that the Metcha Tulema Association has been openly opposed to the government decision to change the administrative capital of the Oromiya region from Addis Abeba to Nazreth/Adama without even consulting the concerned people. The association had tried to stage a peaceful demonstration to voice its protest and faced the wrath of the police as a consequence. The protest was also echoed by university students (more than 180 coming from Oromiya were expelled arbitrarily) and the student unrest had spread to other schools and universities all over the country. The EPRDF has tried to link the student protest to the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front which it accused of being a terrorist organization. Grenades thrown into some schools by "unidentified people" have been used by the ruling EPRDF to bolster its claim that the student protests are political and linked to an illegal organization.

The arbitrary measure against the Meltch Tulema is a clear example of the "scapegoating" in which the ruling EPRDF has become an expert. It must be said that some quarters accuse the regime itself of throwing the grenades to provoke gear and to lay the ground for an intensified repression against protesters. The ongoing repression against Oromo students, teachers, activists and associations is yet another proof of the ethnic discrimination and repression practiced by the EPRDF. The ongoing repression against the people in Gambella is yet another example of the gross violation of rights and arbitrary repression practiced by the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.