March 8, 2001

 VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHTS OF PEASANTS

The ethnic politics of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi continues to act against the rights of the majority of the Ethiopian people. In the regions categorized as Amhara (Kilil), the plight of peasants has worsened as the discriminatory and openly anti-Amhara politics of the government compounds the existing problems. Arbitrary distribution and/or confiscation of land that have aggravated the sufferings of the peasants had been condemned in the past and hundreds of peasants from Gojam region had flocked to Addis Abeba to lodge an official complaint.

 The government has not only chosen to ignore the complaints but had intensified the illegal appropriation of the peasants' land and the distribution of the same to others. Peasants whose political loyalty to the government has been found suspect have been subjected not only to confiscation but also to imprisonment and other harassments. Ato (Mr.) Necho Motbaynor of Gilsediya Angata peasant association (Achefer district,Gojam) was imprisoned (leg chained) for thirteen hours just like Ato Fenta Chekol for refusing to vote for the ruling front (EPRDF).

Peasants whose small lands have been apportioned to others have been ordered to pay an increased land tax (up to 47 Birr from 20 Birr). Fertile lands have been taken over by the government cadres themselves. Unable to produce for the market, many peasants have been forced to stop sending their children to school while others have sold their cattle and left their villages for the cities. Still others have stopped producing grain and are branching into the production of Kat, a "hallucinogenic" leaf chewed by many people in the country and the region. Disruption of rural life, impoverishment, loss of land and livelihood, inability to pay for children's schooling, beatings and prison for political motives....the plight of peasants in the Amhara region is worsening from day to day.

SOCEPP