MARCH 10/2001

 STOP THE DIVISION AND DOUBLE STANDARDS

SOCEPP vigorously raises its voice against the discriminatory double standards used by international human rights agencies and foreign governments when it comes to dealing with the alarming human rights situation in Ethiopia.

A cursory glance at the declarations and statements emanating from such foreign sources makes it quite clear that for many the violations of rights in Ethiopia do not touch upon most Ethiopians but only on the supporters and members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)and the Ogaden Front )ONLF. The tendency to present Ethiopia on ethnic terms and to more or less allege that only the OLF or mostly its adherents are subject to repression does injustice to the Ethiopians as a whole.

 Not that this is a new practice. During the Mengistu period, some human right agencies saw human rights violations only on TPLF(Tigrean),OLF (Oromo) and EPLF (Eritrean) terms and even went as far as labeling the infamous Red Terror (which was mainly directed against the EPRP and the people from all ethnic groups) as "anti-Tigrean" or "anti-Oromo". These same elements are now refusing to report on grave human rights violations that concern Ethiopians so long as their chosen ethnic group is not affected.

The UNHCR in the Sudan has, for example, accepted OLF supporters and members as political refugees while denying the same status to members of other Ethiopian and multi-ethnic organizations. Some human rights organizations have refused to even mention the disappearance of Ethiopian political prisoners while flooding the world with communiqués on the "disappearance" of only members of an ethnic organization. Official documents on human rights published by certain western organizations give the impression that the only victims of the EPRDF violations are the OLF and the ONLF.

The practice of highlighting ethnic organizations does not of course mean there is no repression in the designated area or against the said fronts. The EPRDF does repress the OLF and its members. But it does so, and sometimes even more viciously, against multi ethnic organizations and against Amharas for example. Why is the victimization of so many millions of Amharas practically ignored by those who claim to be concerned about human rights without distinction or discrimination? In the end, the partial and biased treatment of the question gives a false picture of the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the EPRDF. Suffice it to note that at the time when the OLF was in alliance with the EPRDF the repression against Amharas and other ethnic groups was in full swing and more or less ignored by some of the human rights agencies in question.

 In Ethiopia, there is a one ethnic based government which openly practices ethnic discrimination. This same government makes no distinction when it comes to repressing all Ethiopians except those belonging to its own ethnic group. The prisons are full of political prisoners and not the majority belong to one ethnic group or organization. OLF members have disappeared but so has been the fate of EPRP, AAPO, SEPDC, etc members detained by the EPRDF. The EPRDF targets pro-OLF Oromos fro repression but the same government acts against Amaharas and others (and dissidents as a whole) considering them as enemies. Let the report on the human rights violations in Ethiopia be objective and not politically blinded or motivated.

 The repression against Ethiopians should be presented in full and not mutilated or revised to fit a given political objective. Ethiopians in the Diaspora have the duty to stand against the false representations of the human rights situation in Ethiopia. The reality is grim and getting worse. Reducing it to a narrow political option so as to foreword a determined political goal will only end up by helping the EPRDF continue with its repression and ill practices. SOCEPP will continue to report without partiality or bias on human rights violations in Ethiopia .

SOCEPP