June 24, 1998
OF WAR PRISONERS
AND THE REPRESSION UNDER THE COVER OF THE WAR
The governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea have stepped up the repression against the civil society behind the curtain provided to them by the ongoing war and overall crisis.
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The government of Prime Minitser Meles Zenawi murdered Tesfaye Tadesse ( journalist, lawyer, civil and human rights activist and militant) on June 7 in Addis Abeba.
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The forces of this same government launched an offensive against opposition guerillas of the Ethiopian Unity Front in Gondar region (with casualties on both sides) and have reportedly committed atrocities against innocent villagers in the areas of armed conflict.
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Both the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments have violated the rights of civilians through brutal expulsion actions against each other's citizens.
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Both governments have refused to let the Red Cross or any other human rights body to visit the war prisoners in their hands. The fate of veteran Air Force pilot Bezabih Petros is a particularly worrying case since this is the second time he is shot down and captured in Eritrea.
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The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has arrested a number of people including Ethiopian Air Lines pilot Tilahun Bezabih for alleged refusal to join its war effort. It is also pressurizing and using threats against prisoners (mainly members of the armed forces of the Mengistu government) it wants to force back into armed service.
SOCEPP calls on the international RED CROSS to demand reports on the fate of the war prisoners held by both governments and to seek to visit the prisoners wherever they may be held. The governments must be told to respect the Geneva Convention on War Prisoners.
SOCEPP also calls on the EPRDF government to stop violating the rights of the people, to stop the political murders, to give public accounting on the murder of Tesfaye Tadesse, to cease the armed actions and repression in various areas, to seek peace and dialogue with the civil society and to release all political prisoners.
SOCEPP calls on the government in Eritrea to cease its destructive military actions against civilians in Tigrai, to account on the fate of the war prisoners and to end the gross violation of the rights of the people in Eritrea.
SOCEPP reminds the world community that both governments have shown in the past the tendency to resort to the intensified repression of their political opponents while other crisis holds the attention of the international public. Hence, they must not be allowed to use the ongoing crisis and war for further repressing their political rivals and dissidents.
SOCEPP
