The following extracts from two written statements apply to three areas of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Eastern and Western Oromia/ Ethiopia) and include first-hand information on many violations of human rights. The first testimony was made on April 24th by a 26 year old Oromo applying for political asylum in the USA. It includes evidence of premeditation in the killings of Ebbisa Addunya and Tana Wayessa. He was too frightened to allow the publication of his name.

"I was born in 1969 in the city of Dire Dawa, Hararge (Eastern Ethiopia). I was raised in the same city where I completed my primary and secondary education. While I was a high school student, I started helping in my family's business.

My father, was a hardworking, successful businessman. He had a real estate business and also owned commercial buses, trucks, and taxis . . . In short, my father and his friends contributed to the development of the Afran Qallo Organisation, which, in turn, was instrumental in the development of Oromo Nationalism in the city of Dire Dawa.

The ordeal of my father and that of his family began shortly after the Communist Ethiopian Military officers seized power by force in September 1974. In . . . 1975, the communist authorities confiscated, without any compensation, all of my father's farm lands [and] houses in the city of Dire Dawa, thus economically devasting our family . . .

In 1977, while my father was on a business trip in Addis Ababa, four of his close friends, Ibrahim Waday, Hasan Ismail, Usmail Galmo and Mohammed Abdi, were arrested. Like my father, they were accused of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front. They were all murdered without a trial and buried in a mass grave."

The statement then describes how his father went into hiding, returned to Dire Dawa and was imprisoned for 13 months, until appropriate bribes were paid. He was killed by Derg security men on May 1st 1980.

"The government, security men, warned my mother and the rest of the family that if anyone mentioned the gunshot wound of my father, he or she would face a similar fate.

Using the money our father left us and with the help of our business-minded sister, and our uncle, we started our own retail business. We worked hard and our business was doing well by 1991.

As part of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia [TGE], the OLF legally and officially established its branch office in the city of Dire Dawa . . . I and other members of my family supported the OLF because it represents the interest of the Oromo people and because it established its branch office in our city legally. At that time, more than ninety percent of Hararge . . . was controlled by the OLF.

Early in 1992, the TPLF/EPRDF, forces started harassing, imprisoning and killing OLF members and supporters . . . [and] . . . forced the OLF to boycott the June 1992 election. Since the OLF withdrew from the TGE, its members, supporters, sympathizers and anyone who had any kind of acquaintance with OLF members were harassed, imprisoned, made to disappear and many were killed in the city of Dire Dawa . . .

On 4th July 1992, my sister, my brother, my maternal uncle and I were arrested. The four of us were picked up from our house and taken to the TPLF Military Camp, where we were tortured and interrogated about our connection with the OLF. We were repeatedly asked about the hiding places of the OLF officials and where their money, documents and other belongings were kept. When we told them we did not know where the OLF officials were hiding and where they kept their belongings, we were brutally beaten.

My hands and legs were tied, while I was beaten. The TPLF soldiers pointed their guns at my head, and kept on beating me. I repeatedly told them that I am only an OLF supporter and not a member and that I neither knew about their whereabouts nor where they kept their belongings. I was tortured for many days.

One day, the TPLF soldiers took 15 of the Oromo prisoners on a military truck, to an isolated area, where they forced us to dig a deep ditch, which served as a mass grave; two TPLF soldiers grabbed me, tied my arms behind my back and started beating me. They asked me how much OLF money I was hiding. I told them that I had never kept OLF money. Then they went on asking me if I knew any OLF fighters. I told them that I did not know OLF fighters but I knew several OLF members who lived in Dire Dawa, when the OLF was part of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia. However, after the OLF withdrew from the TGE, its members either went underground or to the rural areas.

While the two TPLF soldiers were beating me, others brought an OLF soldier, whom they had captured in the rural areas. They shot him dead in front of my eyes and dumped his dead body in the ditch which we had dug. One of the soldiers kicked me and said, ". . . If you do not tell us what you know about the whereabouts of the OLF officials and their belongings, you will be dead just like him".

I was shocked, fainted and passed out. Several hours later, I found myself in prison in Dire Dawa. I thought it was a dream, but it was not. I endured six months of incredible physical and psychological torture in that prison. Finally, on 10th January 1993, my sister, my maternal uncle, and I were released. However, unfortunately, my younger brother was not released with us. Instead he was transferred to Hurso Military Camp, where more than seven thousand OLF prisoners of war were detained then. In 1994 and 1995, several thousand OLF prisoners-of-war were released from Hurso Military Camp. However, my brother was not among them. Whenever my mother and other relatives enquired about him, they were always told that "he is not available at the time". This means probably he had been made to "disappear", a euphemism for secret killings . . .

[F]ighting between the two forces which started in July 1992, is still going on in several parts of Hararge. Whenever the military suffered any setbacks in the rural areas, its soldiers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes indiscriminately killed members of the civilian population in the city of Dire Dawa. Oromo businessmen and women are accused of supporting the OLF, materially and financially. Anyone who is suspected of supporting the OLF is either imprisoned or killed without any due process of law.

Since it became extremely difficult for me to stay in Dire Dawa, because of the continued conflict between the government and the OLF fighters, my mother and other relatives advised me to leave the city of Dire Dawa and in late 1994, I moved to Addis Ababa, where I lived until my departure for the United States. While in Addis Ababa, I was helping the "Bilisuma Band" (Oromo musical band), whose members such as Ebbisa Addunya and Boharsitu Obsa were among my closest friends. Ebbisa and Boharsitu were famous Oromo singers. Since they did not have a car and I had one, I helped them in terms of transporting them from one part of the city to another, from one wedding ceremony to another.

While I was transporting them back and forth, I was being watched by the government undercover agents. This is because Ebbisa Addunya and Boharsitu Obsa were under the government's surveillance. This became obvious to me on 25th November 1995, during a wedding ceremony at which both Ebbisa Addunya and Boharsitu Obsa, were the stars of the day. They not only sang love songs, but also sang deeply moving nationalist songs, which brought tears to many people. Shortly, after that wedding many individuals were detained including my maternal uncle, who came from Dire Dawa to see me and Worku Mulata, the owner of the house where that party was held. (The detention of Worku Mulata was reported in the March/April 1997 Press Release). The famous singer Boharsitu Obsa was arrested in February 1996 and she and others are still in jail at an unknown location (see Amnesty International Press Release, 21st March 1996).

After the wedding on 25th November 1995, I went to East Wallage to a place called Gidda Ayanna with my friend . . . We were arrested on 18th January 1996 and detained for two months without being charged or given a trial. We were released only after our relatives came and bribed local government officials. I returned to Addis Ababa, where I continued helping the Bilisumma Band.

On 29th August 1996, after spending the afternoon and most of the evening with my friends Ebbisa Addunya and Tana Weyessa, I dropped them off at Ebbisa's home and went back to where I was staying at the time. I promised to pick them up the next day and take them where Ebbissa had an appointment. We were not destined to see each other again. While I was driving to my place, I was stopped by two TPLF soldiers and searched. They did not find anything in my car or in my possession. And yet they tied my arms behind my back and put me in a military vehicle, while one soldier took my car keys and drove away. I was taken to the third police station, where I was imprisoned.

The very next day, on 30th August 1996, I was told that government soldiers went to Ebbisa Addunya's home and killed both of my friends (see Oromia Support Group's Press Release of September 1996). I was devastated. I was scared for my own life. I was terrified. Since my life was in serious danger, my family, relatives and friends raised 10,000 Ethiopian birr and bribed government officials; literally they bought my life and I was released from the third police station after 30 days of nightmares.

It was not only me who suffered, when I was imprisoned in September 1996. My mother, brothers and sisters were also subjected to psychological torture. My younger brother, . . . , had a nervous breakdown because of the constant harassment and threats from the TPLF soldiers in the city of Dire Dawa. My other brother, . . . , left Dire Dawa to visit the town of Haromaya, where he was arrested on 4th October 1996. My brother was repeatedly tortured and beaten. He was given back to my family on a stretcher on 9th December and died in a hospital in Dire Dawa on 14th December. His death was a terrible blow to my mother, to me and to the rest of my family. Because I feared for my life, I could not return to Dire Dawa to attend his burial ceremony . . . I managed to depart from Ethiopia without seeing my dear mother, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends.

When I came to the United States, I thought I would be free from psychological torture. However, that was not to be. Recently, I had a frightening telephone conversation with my sister in Dire Dawa. As the result of increased fighting between the government soldiers and the OLF fighters around the city of Dire Dawa, Ethiopian government authorities there have once again started arresting anyone they suspect of supporting the OLF materially and financially. Government soldiers searched our house in Dire Dawa and asked my mother, if she knew when I would return to Dire Dawa. When my mother told them that she did not know when I would return, they arrested her. I do not know whether my mother, who is old and in poor health, will be able to endure prison torture in the city of Dire Dawa. . . . if anything happens to my mother, the future of my younger brothers and sisters is bleak indeed . . . I cannot return to Ethiopia to see my mother in prison. If I were to return to Ethiopia, I know I will face imprisonment, torture and even possible death."

The second statement was made to OSG in London, during two interviews in March. Again, the writer wished to remain anonymous. The writer of the statement is 29 years old. He was born in Wallega province and educated in the capital, Addis Ababa. He lived peacefully in Addis, working at the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission for five years until the end of February 1993.

"It was during the month of March 1993 that our life became complicated. The . . . TPLF/EPRDF . . . imprisoned my father on 20 June 1993 with other Oromo people with suspection that they supported

. . . OLF. He was Harar regional bank deputy manager and Oromo Relief Association (ORA) executive committee [member]. All this time many innocent people particularly educated Oromos were imprisoned, tortured and killed. My eldest brother was informed that they were hunting him and he escaped on foot. One month later they imprisoned my mother on 2 July 1993 to have information about her son's whereabouts, she innocently had no idea of the whereabouts my brother or his address and they took all inhuman action upon her including physical torture.

We (I and my young sister) remained in our home waiting for our parent's release, going to work as usual, hoping the EPRDF will not put into jail all the family. However, they did it cruelly and put me into prison on 5 July 1993 with the same reason as my mother which was to supply them with information about my brother's address, which none of us knew. I was mistreated in the jail including physical and mental torture . . . this simply because I am an Oromo. They suspected me of having connections with . . . OLF but I was not involved in politics, except leading my life peacefully . . . As a personal witness I have seen when many hundred of tortured Oromos were driven to detention camp and the others were faced with inhuman action and murder. Such actions, however, were not reported to any of the humanitarian bodies or organisations for measure. One of them was my beloved father who was a head of four families. They murdered him on 28 July 1993 without going through judical process. Two days later, I and my mother were informed . . . immediately, because of an unknown disease my mother was took to the Black Lion Hospital where she was working before as a nurse but she passed away on 8 August 1993 and I remained in the jail without parents.

After 5 months in concentration camp where I was constantly mistreated, they released me on 8 December 1993 with a strong warning. A few days later, the EPRDF Security Force came at our residence in order to look for some documents which they suspected us to have but they found nothing. Due to fear of their repeated actions I suspected that they might put me in jail again; I took my young sister to the countryside where our eldest sister lives. When I returned back I found a letter dropped in front of our residence which emphasized that I was wanted at the police station. Since I knew what they did on me before, I could not do this and changed my address. After 15 days of hiding I decided that the only way that I could save my life was to leave the country. Finally, by the unforgettable assistance of my relatives I found the means to leave the country as well as I fled the danger and arrived in Djibouti 23 December 1993. I was staying in Djibouti for four years. I realised that my life was not secure and managed myself to leave Djibouti and I came to England."

Sources of Information

1. Ethiopian Human Rights Council Special Report No.14, Addis Ababa, 13.5.97.

2. Correspondence from colleague of victim, Addis Ababa, 18.5.97.

3. Ethiopian Register, Avon, MN, USA, May 1997.

4. Statement submitted by victim to UN Centre for Human Rights, Geneva, 27.5.97.

5. E-mail message to Oromia Support Group from a brother of the victim, 18.4.97.

6. Amnesty International Urgent Action, London, 24.3.97 and 2.4.97.

7. Ethiopian Human Rights Council Special Report No.12, Addis Ababa, 27.3.97.

8. Correspondent Sacci A. Raagoo, Hararge, Ethiopia, 9.4.97.

9. E-mail message to Oromia Support Group from a close relative of the victim, 18.4.97.

10. Statement submitted to Amnesty International by Clandestine Human Rights Organisation B, Addis Ababa, 3.3.97.

11. URJII newspaper, (English version), Addis Ababa, 21.3.97.

12. Correspondence from acquaintance of victim, Hararge, Ethiopia, 8.4.97.

13. Clandestine Human Rights Organisation C, Addis Ababa, February 1997.

14. Correspondence from the brother and son of victims, in exile in Djibouti, 1.5.97.

15. Correspondence from the brother of victim, in exile in Djibouti, 29.3.97.

16. Dr Tesema Taye, brother of victim, Personal Communication, London, 17.5.97.

17. The Sidama Concern, Personal Communication, London, 17.5.97.

18. Statement submitted to Amnesty International by Sidama Liberation Movement, London, April 1997.

19. Correspondence from victims, Djibouti, 9.5.97.

20. Correspondence from Oromo in exile, Djibouti, 28.5.97.

21. East Africa Standard newspaper, Nairobi, Kenya, 4.4.97.

22. Kenyan Daily Nation newspaper, Nairobi, Kenya, 30.3.97.

23. ABC Report No.11338 by Adieri Mulaa, Nairobi, Kenya, 17.5.97.

24. Correspondence from sister of victim, in exile in Switzerland, 27.5.97.

ADDIS ABABA AND CENTRAL OROMIA/ETHIOPIA

Killings

Armed policemen stopped Assefa Maru while he was walking to his office in Addis Ababa on May 8th, and, without warning, shot him dead.

Assefa Maru was an executive board member of both the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO). He was 37 years old and father of two infant children.

The incident occurred on a public thoroughfare near to the American Embassy (Woreda 11, Kebele 10), at 8.15 am. According to EHRCO, a Toyota Pick-up with six armed Federal Policemen in the back, approached Assefa Maru from ahead and pulled up in front of him. A policeman in the front held a hand-radio. An Opel police car, equipped with siren, approached from behind Mr Maru and as he turned to the stone fence to his side, another policeman, sitting in the back of the Opel, fired a volley from an automatic weapon at Assefa's head and chest, killing him instantly with two of the shots.

The Opel drove on without stopping. Federal Policemen got down from the back of the pick-up, stopped traffic in both directions, searched Assefa's body and removed his brief-case. A Police Land Rover delivered four more police to the scene and drove off. The body was shortly picked up by another police vehicle. Both remaining vehicles, all ten policemen in the back of the Toyota, left the scene, going via the back street of Entoto Comprehensive School, towards Sibist Kilo.

Assefa Maru was not warned verbally nor were shots fired in the air or at less vital parts of his body. EHRCO staff have examined the scene of the shooting and have stated that the stone fence barred any feasible escape attempt.

Twenty five minutes after the shooting, armed police searched Assefa Maru's house. They are reported by EHRCO to have found no arms. The ETA office was shut for the day and 34 employees detained there. The office remained closed for another day while policemen made extensive searches.

EHRCO was telephoned anonymously and told that Assefa Maru had been killed in a car accident and his body could be collected from Menelik II Hospital. EHRCO staff saw bullet wounds in his head and chest.

Government media claimed that the police had shot the leader of a notorious terrorist group at his home while he was trying to escape arrest. It was broadcast that weapons were found and that other members of the Ethiopian United Patriotic Front had been arrested on the same day. EHRCO claim that the others, who are named in other sources as Lt. Tegenu Jinka, Private Bogale Tessema, Private Tesfaye Getachew, Shimeles Ayele, Solomon Tekle Wolde, Yibeltal Simegne and Mengistu Kibret, had been arrested three weeks previously. There was no known association between these men and Assefa Maru.

Dr Taye Wolde Semayat, President of the ETA, was accused of leading the Ethiopian National Patriots Front, when arrested last year. (1).

Death in Custody of Wako Tola

Mr Wako Tola, M.A., worked at the Sandford English Community School in Addis Ababa. Previously he had been a teacher and school director in Wallega and Showa regions. He was married with three children and in his early fifties. He was the leader of the All Ethiopian Workers Union at the school.

He was arrested without warrant by plain-clothed security personnel in white Land Rovers bearing private number plates. He was taken at gun-point while talking to neighbours near his residence on 11th February at 5.15pm. Wako Tola was detained at The Central Investigation Office in Addis Ababa. He was neither charged nor did he appear before a judge; when he was taken to court on Friday 28th March, he was told the judge had too many people to see and that his case would be heard on Monday 31st.

On Saturday 29th March, his wife made her weekly visit and gave him a supply of his medication (he had mild diabetes and hypertension). He was apparently well and in high spirits. On Monday 31st March, the headmaster of Sandford School was told by Addis Ababa Deputy Chief of Security that Wako Tola had died in his sleep the previous night and had choked on his vomit. He was buried at St. Joseph's cemetery on the Debre Zeit road on Tuesday 1st of April. There was a heavy armed-police presence and a large crowd of mourners. (2,3).

Wako Tola was the subject of OSG's May Urgent Action. OSG has subsequently discovered that examinations have shown his death may have been due to natural causes. OSG has received no information on the fate of three other persons arrested at the same time.

Disappearances

The Ethiopian Register reports the disappearance of Feyera Abdisa since he was taken by security officers at about 10.00am on April 9th. He had been detained previously on many occasions. (3).

Mohammed Yusuf, a young businessman from Dire Dawa, E.Hararge, was detained in W.Wallega in January 1996 (see February 1996 Press Release, p.8). He was released one month later, when his family paid a bribe, and went to live in Addis Ababa. His sister wrote from exile in Switzerland:

"In the beginning of 1997 . . . at midnight the security members came to our house, asking . . . for my brother, Mohammed Yusuf. My father told them 'He is not here'. They took my father to jail . . . for a month.. They got my brother . . . in Addis Ababa and arrested him. Our family went to Addis to visit him. After they visited him for a week they were told not to come here and ask for Mohammed Yusuf. They told my family that he is not there now.

So they have made him 'disappear'. We don't know whether he is alive or dead." (24).

Imprisonment, torture etc.

Amsalu Bultosa Beri, a 21 year old from Denbel Gobeya village, Kebele 01, Finchawa, Horro Gudru, Wallega, described his temporary detention and interrogation in a statement to the UN Centre for Human Rights. He is now living in exile. He was making a phone call from Lagahar bus station in Addis Ababa at about 8.00 am on December 8th 1992 when armed men approached from behind and pointed a gun at his head. He was told not to turn or he would be shot at once. He described the rest of the day thus:

"From morning till evening . . . the whole day interrogating me and threatening me with gun and asked me thousasnds of questions. They took all the addresses, telephone numbers of my friends, family, brothers I had in my pocket. I was hit by the stock of a gun on my back and kicked many times by many people at a time all over my body".

He was held by EPRDF/TPLF forces, who spoke in broken Amharic, on the 15th floor of the Filamingo Building on the Bole Road. "As soon as I entered one room they tied my hands back and kicked me by group. They told me to kneel down for half of the day."

He was accused of being an Oromo "terrorist" . "However, I had no involvement in armed struggle . . . I have refused to go to the front . . . as everyone I have supported the OLF but when the OLF boycotted the election I returned to my normal life.

By force all the addresses of people, friends, family I possessed was taken and I was told to report every day to their office . . . I was beaten by sticks, kicked and slapped on my face . . . They asked me to . . . bring lists of peoples names, who supported the OLF". (4).

Derejje Mekonnen, the yougest son of Adde Dasatu Ittana, from Nagasa village, Tinfa, S. of Nekemte, Wallega, was arrested while living in Addis Ababa, in August 1996, on suspicion of supporting the OLF. The imprisonment in Nekemte and torture of his brother, Tashome Makonnen, and the disappearance of another brother, Desalegne Makonnen, from Addis Ababa, were reported in the August/September 1996 Press Release. [Ed: It is now rumoured that all three brothers, including the one who previously "disappeared", have been released.] (5).

212 students, demonstrating against land reforms, in support of imprisoned farmers of the Amhara Region (see Press Release, March/April 1997), were arrested on March 21st. The students were marching in an orderly fashion from Sidist Kilo Campus of the university to the Office of the Prime Minister. Just after they passed Yekatit 12 Martyrs Monument, riot police blocked their way and surrounded them. Some students escaped the beatings with batons by climbing over fences. Severe injuries have been reported. 212 students were arrested and taken to Shogele Meda police barracks, a former arms depot in Woreda 8, Kebele 35.

The students were made to perform harsh physical exercises, beaten if they failed, and given very little food, according to Amnesty International. After being held without charge or court appearance for five days, most were freed after signing a pre-prepared statement, presented by the Deputy Administrator of Addis Ababa, Kalid Abdurahman.

41 students remain in detention and have not appeared in court, as of 2nd April. They are said to be the ringleaders and some who refused to sign the statement admitting guilt.

Amnesty International name Ishetu Alene among those detained. He is a blind student and was badly beaten because he could not keep up the harsh and demeaning physical exercises which the students were made to perform for six or seven hours each day. He also made a speech to the students before the march. (6,7).

Three un-named men were seen to be abducted by security personnel near the Joli Bar at Arat Kilo at 10.00am on April 8th. One was struck to the ground by pistol butt and driven away in a white Land Rover, private plate no.2/AA/37705 in the direction of the Central Investigation Bureau. The other two were also taken away by security men. (3).

EASTERN OROMIA/ETHIOPIA

Killings

Hassen Ibrahim Elemoo, of Hafdam, Chifra, Hararge,

Mohammed Ama'e, of Matao Daa'imaa, Hararge,

Kaasiim Ahmayyuu, of Chiroo, Mudaachook, Hararge,

Abdusamed Idris, of Higher 03, Dire Dawa, E.Hararge and

Abdul Kadir, a businessman from Dire Dawa are among a list of 87 killings in recent years in Hararge, according to a group in Addis Ababa (13). Others named on the list had been previously published by OSG.

The below named, from Bale province, were killed by government forces in the latter half of 1996.

From Boke district, Habro:

Babur Usen, Hinessa village, 25.8.96

Mohammed and

Abdulla, Direyyii village, 25.8.96

Taha Bikko, Baalti village, 28.8.96

Firiso Ahmed, Kufaoda, village. 28.8.96

Salis,

Abdurazaq and

Hamballa, from Biyo Lamaca village, and

Ali Sheko, from Baatii village, were killed on 5.9.96

Abdulla Abdi, Baatii village, 1.9.96

Abdukahil Kabir,

Sheik Mohammed and

Ibro, from Aliso village, were killed on 14.11.96

From Mayyu district, Gara Mul'ata:

Adam Sahir, 29.11.96,

Usen Tahir, 1.11.96 (stoned to death) and

Ali Ahmed, 1.11.96 (hanged) from Gabiba village,

Ali Yubdo, Ardago village, 18.11.96

From Daro district, Daro:

Obbo Ammaa,

Abdurazaq Umar and

Abdurazaq Adam, from Dhungata village, were killed on 22.8.96

From Girawa district, Gara Mul'ata:

Abduraman and

Adam, from Orihe village, were killed on 7.9.96

Sheik Abdurahim and

Bayan Mohammed, from Oda village, and

Mahmed Yuyye were killed on 27.1.97. (8).

The following E-mail message was received by OSG on April 18th.

I have learned from the victim's sister Alia Abdulhamid that her brother Youssuf Abdulhamid died after being released from prison in Dire Dawa, Oromia, on 5-4-97. It is believed that the cause of his death was internal bleeding, which resulted from torture.

Youssuf was an artist (singer), who produced several audio cassettes, and was imprisoned by the current regime since 1992, more than 8 times.

Youssuf was in his 40s, and a father of 4 children. (9).

Sofiya Mohammed, an 18 yr old married craftswoman, died earlier this year following being tortured in Goba and Genale. Her crime was apparently the inclusion of the Oromo flag in some of her craftwork designs.

Aba Habdo Haji, a 60 yr old farmer in Rola Kebele, Wabe, Ginnir district, Bale, had his home and possessions burnt because he refused to be resettled. It was reported in early March that he was publicly executed by shooting and that his body was not released for burial. Instead, his corpse was publicly displayed as a warning to those refusing to be resettled. The body was eaten by hyenas.

Ibrahim Mohammed, a 60 yr old merchant and father of 11, was killed by government forces at Mano town, Mandayo, Bale, on February 16th.

Abdu Hussen, a 75 yr old farmer and father of 13, and

Umer Goshu, aged 55 and also father of 13, were killed by government forces at unspecified places in Bale on February 19th. (10).

Tayiba Jilo, an elderly lady, and

Hasan Liyye, an old man, were burnt to death in their homes, and

Taha Kadir,

Abdullahi Aliyi and

Adam Boru were killed by swords in a crackdown on Fiki village, Bale, by government forces in March.

(8).

Imprisonment, torture etc.

Capt. Jima Tola, from Gasera district, Bale, is reported by URJII newspaper to be suffering the effects of torture. He was detained, for suspected sympathy with the OLF, in Gasera in 1995 for 8 months and transferred to Goba prison in March 1996. He was returned to Gasera with four other detainees, for execution, according to URJII. He and another detainee were spared execution but underwent torture in the form of beatings applied to the genitalia causing permanent injury. He is still in illegal detention but regularly attends the Tahisas 11 hospital in Goba. (11).

Residents of Bale prepared a statement which was submitted by an underground human rights organisation to Amnesty International in March. They complain that "16,000 householders" in Bale have been arrested and that a team from the International Commission of the Red Cross (ICRC) were unable to see the prisoners because they were moved ahead of them. The detainees are being held in "concentration camps" in Goba, Genale, Raayitu, Belto, Ginnir, Goroo, Sofomre, Robe, Maliyyu, Anfira, Gathira, Jarra, Dollo Sabro, Dishoo, Tonobal, Malkaa Wakkanna, Dollomana and other kebele peasant associations.

They describe large scale resettlements to prevent their giving shelter to the OLF. Five or six families have been forcefully moved to single huts, away from their crops and pastures. The scheme is particularly enforced in lowland areas. Those who refuse to resettle have their houses burnt down by militia forces. 500 homes have been destroyed in this way. (10).

Kadir Ibrahim, originally from Itaaya, Arsi, was taken in "Hararge Battle Field" in September 1996 and held at Hurso Military Camp. It was recorded in March that he had spent some time buried up to his neck in the ground. (12).

The following residents of Aliso village, Mayyu district, Gara Mul'ata, Hararge were reported to have been injured by government forces, during a crackdown on their village on November 14th 1996 in which others were killed (see above):

Ahmed Yisa

Shamsadin Ibro

Ahimeddin

The below named, from Sodoma village, Mayyu district, Gara Mul'ata, Hararge, were detained at Bakalo "detention centre" by government forces on 2.11.96;

Ahmed Mohammed

Zara Umar

Zalika Mohammed

Faxuma

Abdulkarim

Mohammed Bakar

Mohammed Musa

Abdo Usman, from the same village, was taken on 28.11.96.

Also being held in Bakalo are the following who were all detained on 12/13.10.96,

from Aliso village, Mayyu district:

Xahir Musa

Ahmed Sanii

Shamil Abdulla

Mohammed Jamal

Meymuna Ahmed

Abdo Abdulla

Kadija Adam

from other nearby villages:

Mohammed Ahmed, Jilo village

Abdulla Aliyi, Susan village

Jajidin Sheka, Dire Jilcha village

Being held at Huse centre, since October 1996,

from Mayyu district:

Yuya Ahmed, Arri village

Yaya Mohammed, Bakaro

from Gurama district:

Bakar Hussen and

Yusuf Hussen, Dire Fada village

Detained at various dates and in unknown places are,

from Gurama district:

Mohammed Ali, Dire Jilcha village, 20.10.96

Arab Shu Yeb, Arri village, 21.11.96

Amida Kumo, Haroyile village, 5.12.96 - also reported to have been raped

Zeynab Yuya, Arri village, 18.12.96

from Mayyu district:

Shamil Ahmed, and

Fatuma Ahmed, Sodoma village, 11.12.96. (8).

In February, OLF soldiers gathered villagers of "Count 26" village, Boke district, Habro, Hararge, for a meeting. Government soldiers later began arresting and beating the villagers. They stopped when 300,000 Birr was paid. (8).

WESTERN OROMIA/ETHIOPIA

Killings

Bakkalaa Nagaasaa, of Giddaa Kiiramuu, E.Wallega, and

Tasfaye Dinagde, of Nekemte, E.Wallega are among a list of 51 killings in recent years in Wallega (Showa and Illubabor), according to a group in Addis Ababa). Others named on the list had been previously published by OSG. (13).

Obbo Negusse, an elderly man from Gimbi, Wallega, was killed by government forces on 15.11.95, after spending three years in detention, according to one of his sons. Another son has disappeared (see below). (14).

Disappearances

Girma Negusse, a 23 yr old, 12th Grade high school student in Gimbi, Wallega, was abducted from Gimbi High School in January 1996. His present location is unknown to his family, according to his brother who lives in exile in Djibouti. His father was killed after three years detention (see above). (14).

Temesgen Bekele, a 25 yr old married man living in Shambu town, Wallega, was abducted at midnight by government security men on August 11th 1996 and was "taken to unknown areas". He had been threatened many times for allegedly supporting the OLF. His disappearance was reported by his brother, living in exile in Djibouti. (15).

Imprisonment, torture etc.

The imprisonment of Amanuel Taye, a 28 yr old teacher at Yubdo Elementary School, Chalia, near Gimbi, Wallega, in April 1996, was reported in the January/February Press Release (p.10). He was among 15 reported previously to be held in Gimbi prison since July 1996. All 15 remain in detention in Gimbi, where conditions are known to be life threatening (see August/September 1996 Press Release, p.8), except Bulti Jambare, a 23 yr old farmer from Chalia and a cousin of Amanuel, who was transferred to Karchele prison in Addis Ababa in May, because he is "more suspected". Relatives of those remaining in detention in Gimbi understand that the cases are not to be heard in court but in a special hearing before political cadres. Amanuel's brother, who reported the above, also commented on the conditions in Gimbi prison. "Family visits are not allowed. Starvation and diseases like dysentery and typhus are commonplace" he wrote. (16).

SOUTHERN OROMIA/ETHIOPIA

Killings

Taddasaa Bariisoo, of Negele, Borana,

Badhaanee Gaashuu, if Iddii Lolaa, Moyale, Borana, and

Abbichoo Haji Mohammed, of Manyaa Warkii village, Arsi, were killed in recent years by government forces, according to a clandestine group in Addis Ababa. Other killings which the group reported have been published previously by OSG. (13).

SIDAMA

The Sidama Concern and representatives of the Sidama Liberation Movement (SLM) have informed OSG of a government crackdown on Horro Resa and Hagere-Selam districts in Sidama in mid-late 1996.

Hadheso Gamada, an approx. 50 yr old farmer and father of a large family, from Odi Boko village in Horro Resa district, was killed during the wave of arrests in his village.

Shura Chachara, a married man, and

Wansamo Waqayo, from Hagere-Selam, disappeared from Yirgalem prison. This was Shura Chachara's third detention. Wansamo Waqayo is in his late fifties, has 25 dependants and is in poor health. His family were ordered to hand him over by April 15th or suffer reprisals. [It is not uncommon for disappeared persons to be sought by government security men. The killings and disappearances are not recorded officially, as they were under the Derg. One branch of the security apparatus need not necessarily know of the death or disappearance of their quarry. There are several instances of families being persecuted because of dead relatives.] When others were released in March, these two were not among them and no-one knew of their whereabouts. There are fears for their safety. Others have disappeared but their names are not available.

Most of the following farmers were released in March after being detained for 3-12 months or more. They were held in the large prisons in Yirgalem and Awassa. All of those arrested were accused of supporting the SLM:

From Horro Resa:

Aganyo Yetera, Adare Furuge, Kambata Kawiso, Hanfato Halala, Belaineh Yunkura, Nuka Hussein,

From Hagere-Selam:

Billawe Tute, Muda Guja, Mume Gosoma, Tadele Haroye, Kimkima Beka, Waqayo Baraso, Kite Keba, Hayeso Boreso, Bekele Baraso, Tula Bariso, Dangura Wansara, and

from Wondo district, Yohannes Dalego.

Tula Bariso had escaped to the forest, but gave himself up after government forces confiscated his property and animals and imprisoned his "whole family" for two months. (17,18)

DJIBOUTI

Three Oromo, UNHCR-registered refugees in Djibouti, believe they are being targeted by the Ethiopian Embassy in Djibouti town, for alleged "spying" for the OLF. In their letter, they state that EPRDF agents are actively seeking information on the background of Oromo, especially whether they have been OLF members or are prominent members of the Oromo community.

For the last two months the three have been in fear of kidnap and deportation back to Ethiopia.

The men went to Djibouti in 1993 and have been registered refugees with UNHCR since October 1995. They helped the team of journalists and ORA personnel which visited Djibouti in July/August 1996.

Mustafa Yasen Hasen was employed by the Oromo Relief Association before its office in Djibouti was closed down by Djibouti authorities at the request of the Ethiopian government in summer 1995. He was detained for 11 days at the time. The others are Tahir Biya Aba-Rago and Ismail Yusuf Ibrahim.

They state that there are increasing numbers of Oromo seeking registration with UNHCR in Djibouti. However, many are fearful of approaching the UNHCR office because of the presence of EPRDF agents there. (19,20)

Women and girl Oromo refugees are at special risk in Djibouti, as stated by the investigating team which went there in July/August (see August/ September 1996 Press Release ). They are often abducted at border towns and forced to be unpaid servants for military personnel and civilians. Any complaint about their condition is followed by rape and deportation to Ethiopia. UNHCR can do little to protect them.

Oumei Aba-Jamal Mohammed, a 27 year old lady from Agaro, Illubabor, was a registered refugee with UNHCR, when she was wrongfully arrested after three months service as a housemaid in an Issaa household. She was accused by her employer of the theft of some gold. During the night of April 4th, for "many hours" she was "violently tortured" in the Second Police Station at Bura Kibbir for 18 days before being transferred to Gabot central prison in Djibouti town. One month later, a chat trader admitted that she had the missing gold, as security for a loan to the employer's son, and Oumei was released after a tribunal. (20).

KENYA

Between March 22nd and 28th, over 80 people were killed in cross-border raids into North Kenya from Ethiopia. Most of the dead were Oromo Kenyans. 19 Kenyan police and some of the raiders were killed. Over 30 women were abducted and 4,000 animals were stolen. Initially "Shangilla" tribesmen were blamed. Leading opposition politicians in Nairobi, Otieno Mak'Onyango, A. A. Ogle, Mohammed Wario Jilo and KANU Youth Leader J. G. Galgalo said the attack was carried out by well-trained and armed people backed by about 500 Ethiopian soldiers. (21,22)

North Horr M.P., Bonaya Godana, said that Officer Commanding Police Division and the Provincial Criminal Investigations Officer knew about the raid but did nothing to prevent it. The District Criminal Investigations Officer took leave prior to the raid. (21).

According to the Tokkumma Youth Support Group in Nairobi, 11th March, "[T]he forgotten people of Moyale, Sololo and Marsabit have been denied their rights, they are murdered, abducted, raped, tortured, arbitrarily arrested and deprived of their property by a foreign state in collaboration with their agents, some of whom are supposed to be the law enforcing officials"

They claim that Ethiopian armed forces were responsible for the killing of Gedi Dika, in Sololo on March 5th.

"[W]hat appears to be an orchestrated and co-ordinated campaign of cross-border raids by Ethiopian security forces - with the Kenyan State turning a blind eye towards it - is providing another source of violence upon the Boran Oromo community in both countries.

. . . I call on you to help raise awareness of the plight of the Boran Oromo in Ethiopia and Kenya, against both the Somali invasion and the state violence from Kenya and Ethiopia."

Twenty two Boran Oromo demonstrating in Nairobi on May 15th against the security situation in Moyale, Marsabit and Isiolo districts, were arrested and released the following day on bail of Sh5,000 each. They were charged with holding an unlicensed procession. Also on the 16th, other Boran Oromo escaped riot police when they were delivering a petition to the Nation Centre. (23).

Secret Detention Centres

The following is a summary of the locations of unofficial detention centres which have been reported to OSG. Amnesty International state that torture, disappearance and extra-judicial killing by Ethiopian government forces are more likely in these centres than in the more open legal prison system. The sources of information can be found in the August/September and February 1996 Press Releases. Most of the centres in the capital were described by a group in Addis Ababa (13).

Central and Northern

Internal Security Head Office compound, Addis Ababa

Casa Inchis interrogation centre, known as "Bermuda" because of disappearances there, is an unmarked compound with a maroon painted fence on a road joining Jomo Kenyatta Avenue and Tito Street, behind the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

Ammunition Store Compound, near to Selassie Church, Addis Ababa

Rear of Kokeb restaurant, Addis Ababa

Police Head Office Compound, Zone 4, behind Entoto Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus

Ma'ikelawi Official Prison, in the North of Addis Ababa, is said to contain a secret prison, i.e. with no official acknowledgement of those who are detained there.

Hormat (Tatak) armament engineering factory, Gudar, 15km west of Ambo, W.Showa

The Palace Compound and in Military Camps in Kebeles 1, 2, and 4, Ambo, W.Showa

Leman town, Qarsa Malima Solo area, "on the way to Butajira town", Showa

Gedo, on the main road west from Ambo to Nekemte (in Wallega)

Chabi Djaldu road, west of Ambo, Showa

Babichu, west of Ambo

Kuhai town, Tigre (no other details known)

Wallad, site of ex-labour camp, near the Borkana river, 35km south of Kombolcha town, Qallu district, Wollo

East

Harar city, E.Hararge, contains an underground detention centre

Textile Mills compound, Dire Dawa, E.Hararge

Sabaatenyaa Camp, Dire Dawa, E.Hararge

Ex-Regimental Military Camp, north of Dire Dawa, E.Hararge

Military Camp, Buuti, Chalenko, Hararge

Military Camp, Kumutu, Chalenko, Hararge

Military Camp, Kulube, between Dadar and Dire Dawa, Hararge

Military Camp, Girawa, south of Dire Dawa, E.Hararge

Malka Wakkana Military Camp, near Dodola, 15-20 km from Adaba town, Bale

Ex-training camp for Dergue, Maslo, Bale

West

Tolay, near the border with W.Showa, and

Didessa, both in Wallega province, were reported in December 1995 to have been re-opened

Kebele 05 Military Camp, Dembi Dollo, Wallega

Bakka Jimma, behind the Teachers Training Institute, Nekemte, Wallega

Town Military Camp, Nekemte, Wallega

Old Relief and Rehabilitation Office, Dajachi Fikere (Daja Fikremariam) compound, Nekemte, Wallega. this is reported to be underground.

Old All Ethiopian Peasants Association office, eastern part of Nekemte town, Wallega

Darge compound, "on the way to the Catholic Mission", Nekemte, Wallega

Agricultural Office, Nekemte, Wallega

24th Military Camp, Nekemte, Wallega

Ukke Agricultural Development, Nekemte, Wallega

Gute, Nekemte, Wallega

Gaba Senbata, 15-20 km in the direction of Addis Ababa from Nekemte, Wallega

Military Camp, Qaqe, Wallega

Military Camp, Haro Sabu (Alem Tefari), Wallega

Military Camp, Nejo, Wallega

Military Camp, Ayira Gulliso, Wallega

Military Camp, Mendi, Wallega

Military Camp, Henna, between Gimbi and Nejo, Wallega

Nekemte and Gimbi Prisons, Wallega, are reported to have some unacknowledged prisoners

Ex-Farmers Association Office, Afeta, Manna district, Jimma

Jimma High School is said to be close to an illegal detention centre

Gumay, near EPRDF army camp, Worrengo area, Illubabor

South

Taltal, near the lakes of Chalmo, on the west border of Borana

Military Camps in the following districts and towns in Borana Region:

Yabello

Mega

Moyale

Negele

Finchawa

Hagare Mariam

Mellra Sodda

Dawa Digatte

Harassment Of Private Enterprises

A source in Addis Ababa reported in February that Oromo private business people were being harassed, imprisoned and robbed of their property. Among the affected business people are Eshetu Kitil, hotel owner, Teshale Tucho, exporter and spare parts dealer, and Abdella Sule, stationery dealer. (13).

Press

The, New York-based, Committee to Protect Journalists named Ethiopia in its top ten enemies of the press, in a report prepared for World Press Freedom Day, 3rd May.

"Meles [Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia] wages a deliberate campaign to restrict press freedom, inflicting harassment, censorship, arrest, and months-long detention on journalists, as the total of 104 documented imprisonment in Ethiopia in the last four years attest . . . At the end of January, for the consecutive year more journalists were in prison in Ethiopia than in any other African country."

Confederation Of Ethiopian Trade Unions - CETU

In an appeal to other union organisations, issued on April 21st, three CETU officials, President Dawey Ibrahim and Council members Fekadu Tenker and Ayalew Hundessa give their reasons for going into exile in Kenya and their fear of persecution there. A prisoner, whose previous job in the security department involved inventing plots against CETU members, and an informant from within the EPRDF administration corroborate their claims. They endured daily surveillance until, aware of plans to have them imprisoned and probably killed, they fled to Nairobi. The surveillance is described thus:

"Furthermore, daily incessant surveillance and savageous acts of the hunting squads reinforces the information received from the sources stated herein above. Six vehicles are allocated for the hunting job against trade union leaders and all of them are coded with civilian plate numbers, i.e. Code-2, and denoted by 51801, 50221, 45622, 57211, 30564 and 55190 plate numbers. In each of the vehicles sit three to four hunters. They make a 24 hour strict surveillance. It became our customary life to have these people at tail or head: at place of work, in lifts, in shops, in hotels, at place of appointment, on the street, etc. The surveillance includes coming to the residence of some of us at midnight, flashing lights on doors and windows, jumping over the fence, and, sometimes, knocking at the doors and windows. Unlimited telephone calls and subsequent harassment: spitting on us; menacing gesture and frightening bodily expression as well as oral intimidation are common occurrences. In short, with all their blatant acts, they became as inseparable as our shadows does."

And, in Nairobi "But, still we are not free of that danger. We are still in a precarious situation; as the danger in Ethiopia exists also here in Kenya, Nairobi."

See Human Rights Watch report below (p.19), for information on the government's relationship with CETU.

Human Rights Watch Report On Ethiopia

The following extracts are taken verbatim from the Human Rights Watch World Report 1997, (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1996).

The dominant role of the EPRDF, which was established in the transitional period, continued in the elected parliament and the new federal government.

While the economy showed positive responses to the government's internationally-backed restructuring programs, genuine political pluralism and participation remained to be achieved and the EPRDF's commitment to this was increasingly called into question. The EPRDF had in effect sponsored sixteen parties, which it called People's Democratic Organizations, each based on the dominant ethnic groups in the various regions. This strategy ensured a monopoly of power by the EPRDF and its allied or satellite parties in both regional and federal assemblies following a series of elections from 1992 to 1995 that major opposition groups boycotted.

The new constitution of the federal republic promoted ethnic federalism. However, the commitment to regional autonomy, which translated into formal moves toward the devolution of powers to the regions, was contradicted by the centre's control of the political process at the regional level through the network of regional parties allied to the EPRDF.

Testimonies of victims of abuse by rural security personnel persistently pointed to the role of security committees, consisting of local officials, political cadres of the EPRDF and its affiliates and army officers, in control of the "peasant militias." The committee system made the militia an integral part of the national political structure and placed them under the control of the central government through the ruling party apparatus. They provided the interface between local authorities, the militia, the army, and the ruling party, in practice subordinating local security structures to the federal authorities.

Local militiamen carried out hundreds of arrests without warrant of people suspected of collaborating with insurgent groups, often in sweeps through rural communities in which virtually all residents were treated as suspects. Many of these security detainees were held for weeks or months in temporary rural camps before being released or turned over to regional authorities. Only after transfer to regional civil or military authorities were such detentions normally acknowledged, although prolonged detention without charge or trial was also widely reported in ad hoc detention centres in administrative buildings, commandeered schools, or police stations under the authority of regional governments.

Human Rights Watch/Africa documented a number of cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of security detainees. Most involved individuals who had been detained by local militia and political cadres. These individuals described having been tortured in brutal field interrogations at the time of their detentions, or punished in repeated beatings in temporary rural detention camps by local authorities, where they also described being deprived of sleep and of food. We interviewed such former detainees who showed injuries consistent with their accounts of having been flogged, burnt with cigarettes, and having been cut with knives and bayonets by their captors. In what appeared to be a routine form of restraint, former detainees described having had their elbows tied behind their backs with plastic cords or wire, leading in some cases we observed both to scarring and to more severe and permanent disabilities. Most were released without having been subject to any formal detention procedure; treatment improved for the small majority who were transferred to a regional government detention facility or were seen by a judge or prosecutor.

The physical torture of rural prisoners according to these testimonies was systematic and prolonged and seemed a form of punishment as well as a means of pressing prisoners to provide information or to confess to collaboration with armed groups. Testimonies also revealed the wide use of threats against and the actual detention of family members, particularly mothers, wives, and daughters, to force fugitive suspects to turn themselves in for interrogation. In one case, the daughter of a suspected OLF activist was detained repeatedly with a view to forcing the father's surrender: she was reportedly raped by the local administration in her community following her short-term detention in early 1996. Her father, himself a torture victim, had fled the town.

Human Rights Watch/Africa interviewed former detainees from Oromia State's Western Shewa, Borana, and Western Harerge zones who described torture or ill-treatment in rural detention camps and in some detention facilities under regional government or military control. Some former detainees who had been held during 1994 in Hegere Mariam military camp number three - on federal, rather than regional authority - also described systematic ill-treatment, including being beaten and forced to do harsh physical exercise.

Appeals by relatives to higher regional police or prosecution authorities, according to testimonies, sometimes led to the release of prisoners detained without charge, but there seemed to be no effective channel for complaints and appeals for judicial review readily available to the majority of detainees, particularly in the regions remotest from the capital, Addis Ababa. Many allegations of abuse came from people in the capital who told Human Rights Watch/Africa they had fled local officials in the countryside where the rule of law was largely absent.

EHRCO made complaints to the courts and to executive authorities . . . but no official enquiries were known to have been made into reports of torture and ill-treatment in the past year. In a limited concession to mounting criticism, however, the government announced a series of dismissals and other disciplinary measures against officials implicated in unspecified human rights abuses.

Reports of abuses at the national level related to the federal government's crackdown on the press, civic associations, and trade unions in violations of rights that the federal constitution provide for.

The government used laws requiring permits and harassment tactics to restrict the rights of association and peaceful assembly. Opposition groups such as AAPO were the object of closures of their regional offices, harassment, detention, and suspicious killings of activists, and lack of meaningful access to the state-controlled broadcasting media. While the government allowed some civic groups to operate without interference, its regulatory agencies restricted the freedom of other associations. Some NGOs with a mandate to promote human rights education and monitoring and civic education faced obstacles in their attempts to register with the Ministry of Justice and police action - including arrests without warrant - that harassed and intimidated their personnel.

The constitution and the 1993 labour proclamation provide for the right of workers to form and join unions and to bargain collectively. This notwithstanding, the government lashed back at the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) and the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU), the two largest and best established labour organisations in the country, for raising concerns about the impact on their members of new national educational and economic policies, respectively. As the confrontation escalated, the government arrested many activists of ETA and CETU, closed most of ETA's regional offices without a court order, and froze the bank accounts of both unions. Local officials harassed elected ETA officers in a number of regional branches and forced them to flee, leaving behind their families and their jobs as teachers. One survived an attempt on his life when he briefly returned to his home province on family business. Pro-government activists established parallel unions, apparently to validate government challenges to the legitimacy of the refractory ones.

European Union

During a January visit to Ethiopia, the German president linked aid and respect for human rights, saying that a donor country could at any time withdraw its help from a country whose policy undermined democracy. Coming days after the signature of a 33 million dollar German aid agreement for the purchase of fertilizers, the statement did not contradict the continued good relations the Ethiopian government enjoyed with bilateral and multilateral donors. In the same month, the Netherlands and Britain joined the World Bank in contributing toward the write-off of $250 million in Ethiopia's estimated $270 million commercial bank debt. In July it was announced that Ethiopia would receive $39 million in development from Germany.

In a resolution on human rights in Ethiopia passed in July, the European Parliament condemned the arrest on May 30 of Taye Woldesemayat, the chair of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association. It urged the Ethiopian authorities to release him and two other prominent political prisoners and to guarantee freedom of expression and action to ETA. In its response, the Ethiopian government stated that it dealt with the three cases in full conformity with the law and dismissed the resolution as indicative of "lack of seriousness and purpose".

United States

United States officials expressed confidence in the steps that the government undertook to democratize and liberalize the country and called on opposition groups to participate in the political process. Ethiopia occupied a pivotal position in the U.S. policy initiatives aimed at consolidating regional stability. It emerged as a close partner in the U.S.-led efforts to counter the Islamist government of Sudan's influence in the region. A measure of this close partnership was the high level of official exchanges between the two countries. U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher stopped in Addis Ababa for official talks during his first tour in sub-Sahara Africa in October. In April, the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency visited Addis Ababa and discussed with officials regional security concerns. This followed a visit in February by the deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, who pledged U.S. assistance to Ethiopia's army and a commitment to contributing to the consolidation of peace in the Horn of Africa. Levels of bilateral economic assistance reflected the prominence of Ethiopia as it ranked, with $109 million, as the third highest recipient of U.S. aid to the continent in Fiscal Year 1996.

Error in March/April Press Release

In AMHARA REGION, Trade, p.7, of the March/April Press Release, 1997, the town of Dila was said to be in the Amhara Region. OSG apologises for this mistake. Dila is in the Gedeo Zone of the Southern Peoples Region.

Stop Press : Disappearance of Mrs Zewde Ragassa Gored

From exile in Djibouti, Tolessa Ragassa Gored informed OSG as the Press Release was going to press, of the disappearance of his sister, Zewde Ragassa Gored, since she was abducted by government security men in Gidda town, Wallega, W.Ethiopia, on February 2nd. In a letter, dated 1st June, he stated that she had previously been imprisoned in Gidda for one year from December 1995. During her imprisonment, she had been raped, as were many of the female detainees. She was regarded as a leader of the local women, and was a successful shopkeeper and businesswoman. Zewde is married with three children. She is accused of supporting the OLF. Since her abduction, "Her address is unknown".