OSG Press Release No. 43

OSG Press Release No. 43 July 2006-2007 This publication includes information on violations of human rights in Ethiopia from victims of abuses, their close relatives and eye-witnesses as well as information from publicly available sources. According to anecdotal accounts from refugees and visitors and according to reports by investigators from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the widespread detention and mistreatment of civilians who criticise or oppose the government in Ethiopia continues, undiminished. Prisoners of conscience remain in detention without trial, accused by the government of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front, or other opposition groups. A large amount of information regarding abuses following post-election disturbances and related arrests is available. Although fewer reports of abuses which have taken place in remote areas are received by OSG than hitherto, reports which have been received suggest that this is not because of any reduction in the prevalence of abuse. The Oromia Support Group is a non-political organisation which attempts to raise awareness of human rights abuses in Ethiopia. OSG has now reported 3,981 extra-judicial killings and 943 disappearances of civilians suspected of supporting groups opposing the government. Most of these have been Oromo people. Scores of thousands of civilians have been imprisoned. Torture and rape of prisoners is commonplace, especially in unofficial detention centres, often in military camps. Lack of democracy and accountability of government in Ethiopia is the single most important factor in the poverty, under-development and low quality and length of life in Ethiopia.

Human Right Abuses in Ethiopia

Contents:

Inquiry finds Ethiopian government guilty of killings in 2005 CUD trials Oromo political detentions in Kaliti prison Oromo students, detention, dismissals and demonstration at AAU President of Oromia Court: Judicial interference and harassment Addis Ababa and Central Oromia Region: Killings - Disappearances, Detentions and torture Persecution of Macha-Tulama Association officers Eastern Oromia: Killings, torture and detentions Western Oromia: Killings, torture and detentions Southern Oromia: Kenya returns asylum seekers, Pastoralists clash Ogaden/Somali Region: Scorched earth campaign against ONLF Tigray Region: Student killed SNNPR: Gambella detainees still held, Anuak village razed Members of Parliament killed, detained and forced into exile Discrimination, disappearances and defection from armed forces News of cholera outbreak suppressed Press in Ethiopia: ‘One of world’s leading jailers of journalists’ Ethiopia denies accusations of censorship by internet watchdog Somalia: Oromo refugees refouled, killed, Ethiopian ‘Guantánamo’ Yemen: Deportations, drownings, detention and deaths Sudan detains Ethiopians and Eritreans Europe: Defections, dissidents, death and stalking of refugee Abbreviations Oromia Support Group