Ethiopia’s political crises and the oppositions road map displayed in Brussels

Ms. Ana Maria Gomes (Member of European Parliament), Ethiopian opposition groups and civil society’s representatives gathered today in Brussels to emphasize the current political crises in Ethiopia.

Also seizing the opportunity one of Ethiopia’s  opposition coalition “Ethiopian National Movement (ENM)” presented a  road map to democratize Ethiopia once and for all.

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ተከሳሾች በዳኛ ዘርዓይ ወልደሰንበት ላይ ያቀረቡት ተቃውሞ ውድቅ ተደረገ

"ዳኛው አማራ በማንነቱ የማይኮራ፣ በጎጥ የሚጠራ ህዝብ ነው በማለት ሰፊ የዘረኝነት አስተሳሰብ አራምደዋል። እኛ አማራ ስለሆንን ፍትሃዊ ዳኝነት ይሰጡናል ብለን አናምንም" ተከሳሾች

" ዳኛው አማራ በዘሩ የማይኮራ፣ በጎጥ የሚጠራ ህዝብ ነው ማለታቸው ከተከሳሾች ጉዳይ ጋር አይገናኝም" ፍርድ ቤቱ

"ህገ መንግስቱ የሰጠኝ ሀሳብን በነፃነት የመግለፅ መብቴ ነው" ዳኛ ዘርዓይ ወልደሰንበት

(በጌታቸው ሺፈራው)

የፌደራል ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ 4ኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ዛሬ ታህሳስ 6/2010 ዓ•ም በአማራ ህዝብ ላይ የዘረኝነት አስተሳሰብ አራምደዋል በሚል በተከሳሾች አቤቱታ የቀረበባቸው የችሎቱ የግራ ዳኛ ዘርዓይ ወልደሰንበት በችሎት እንዲቆዩ ወስኗል።

በእነ ብርሃኑ ሙሉ ክስ መዝገብ የተከሰሱ አራት የአማራ ተወላጆች ዳኛ ዘርዓይ በወልቃይት ጉዳይ ላይ በፃፉት ሰፊ ፅሁፍ "አማራ በማንነቱ የማይኮራ፣ በጎጥ የሚጠራ ህዝብ ነው። ……" የሚል ከትግራይ ህዝብ ጋር በማነፃፀር ሰፊ የዘረኝነት አስተሳሰብ በማራመዳቸው፣ ተከሳሾችም አማራ በመሆናቸው ዳኛው በዚህ አስተሳሰባቸው ፍትሃዊ ዳኝነት እንደማይሰጧቸው በመግለፅ ከችሎት እንዲነሱ ተቃውሟቸውን አቅርበዋል። ተከሳሾቹ አዋጅ 25/1988 አንቀፅ 27 (1) ከሀ እስከ ሠ ያሉትን ድንጋጌዎች በመጥቀስ ተቃውሞ የቀረበባቸው ዳኛ በግድ እዳኛለሁ ስለማይሉ ራሳቸውን ከችሎት እንደሚያነሱ በአቤቱታቸው ላይ ጠቅሰዋል።

ሆኖም ዳኛው በአቤቱታው መሰረት ራሳቸውን ያላነሱ ሲሆን፣ ፍርድ ቤቱ ዳኛ ዘርዓይ በቀረበባቸው አቤቱታ ላይ መልስ እንዲሰጡ ፈቅዶላቸዋል። በዚህም መሰረት ዳኛ ዘርዓይ በአማራ ህዝብ ላይ አራምደውታል የተባለው አስተሳሰብን ህገ መንግስቱ የሰጠኝ ሀሳብን በነፃነት የመግለፅ መብቴ ነው የሚል መልስ ሰጥተዋል። ፍርድ ቤቱም( በቀሪ ሁለት ዳኞች) ዳኛ ዘርዓይ ወልደሰንበት ሆርን አፍየርስ ላይ የፃፉትንና በስፋት የዘረኝነት አስተሳሰብ አራምደውበታል የተባለውን ፅሁፍ እና ዳኛው ለአቤቱታው የሰጡትን መልስ በቀሪ ዳኞች መርምሬያለሁ ብሏል።

በዚህም መሰረት ዳኛው ሀሳብን በነፃነት የመግለፅ መብታቸውን ተጠቅመው የሰጡት ሀሳብ ነው፣ ከተከሳሾቹ ጉዳይ ጋርም አይገናኝም በሚል የተከሳሾቹን አቤቱታ ውድቅ አድርጎታል። ፍርድ ቤቱ የሚቀርቡት አቤቱታዎች ህጋዊ መሆናቸውን ገልፆ፣ ነገር ግን በዳኛው ላይ የሚቀርቡት አቤቱታዎች የዳኛውን መብት የሚጋፉ እንዳይሆኑ ጥንቃቄ ያስፈልጋል የሚል ማሳሰቢያ ሰጥቷል።

የወልቃይት አማራ ማንነት አስመላሽ ኮሚቴ አባላትን ጨምሮ የ"ሽብር" ክስ የቀረበባቸው ሌሎች አማራ ተከሳሾችም በዳኛው ላይ ተመሳሳይ አቤቱታ አቅርበው ዳኛው ይነሳ አይነሳ የሚለውን ለመወሰን ቀጠሮ የተሰጣቸው ሲሆን የእነ የእነ ብርሃኑ ሙሉ በጉዳዩ ላይ ብይን የተሰጠበት የመጀመርያ መዝገብ ሆኗል።

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Ethiopia: New Spate of Abusive Surveillance

Spyware Industry Needs Regulation

Ethiopian authorities have carried out a renewed campaign of malware attacks, abusing commercial spyware to monitor government critics abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should immediately cease digital attacks on activists and independent voices, while spyware companies should be far more closely regulated.

On December 6, 2017, independent researchers at the Toronto-based research center Citizen Lab published a technical analysis showing the renewed government malware campaign aimed at Ethiopian activists and political opponents. These attacks follow a long, documented history of similar government efforts to monitor critics, inside and outside of Ethiopia.

“The Ethiopian government has doubled down on its efforts to spy on its critics, no matter where they are in the world,” said Cynthia Wong, senior internet researcher at Human Rights Watch. “These attacks threaten freedom of expression and the privacy and the digital security of the people targeted.”

Based on analysis of attacks starting in 2016, the Citizen Lab report identified several targets who received phishing emails, including several ethnic Oromo activists and scholars, one of Citizen Lab’s own research fellows, and Jawar Mohammed, an Oromo activist and executive director of the US-based Oromia Media Network (OMN). During the period of the infections described in the report, there were widespread protests in Ethiopia, beginning with Oromo protests over development plans around the capital, Addis Ababa, which culminated in a 10-month state of emergency that was lifted in August 2017. Security forces responded to those largely peaceful protests with lethal force, killing over one thousand protesters and detaining tens of thousands more since November 2015.

The government has gone to various lengths to restrict OMN – an independent media network that covers current events in Oromia, Ethiopia – and other diaspora media outlets. Given Ethiopia’s stranglehold on independent media and access to information, diaspora media outlets provide an important source of information that is independent from government, albeit often heavily politicized.

OMN played a key role in disseminating information during protests in 2015 and 2016. The government has routinely jammed satellite television programs, arrested informants, pressured satellite companies to drop OMN, arrested people who show OMN in their places of businesses, and charged OMN under the antiterrorism law in October 2016.

Identified targets in the most recent round of malware attacks were commentators on Ethiopian affairs, who received emails that were tailored to their interests. The emails invited the targets to download and install a software update, which contained malware, to view the content. The phishing attacks, if successful, would have infected their personal computers with spyware. The Citizen Lab report also uncovered dozens of successfully infected devices belonging to other targets in 20 countries, including in the US, UK, Eritrea, Canada, and Germany.

Citizen Lab’s analysis of the attacks and logfiles places the operator inside Ethiopia and links the software to Cyberbit, an Israel-based cybersecurity company. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense company. The analysis suggests that the spyware in use is Cyberbit’s PC Surveillance System (PSS), which the company may have recently rebranded as PC 360.

Cyberbit’s marketing materials describes PSS as a “comprehensive solution for monitoring and extracting information from remote [personal computers].” Once a computer is infected, the spyware’s operator would gain access to virtually any information available on the device, including files, browsing history, passwords, emails, and what the target types into the computer. The spyware can also take screen shots and activate a computer’s microphone and camera for live surveillance. The marketing materials indicate that PSS was created for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to “reduce crime” and “prevent terrorism.”

Citizen Lab’s report also identifies potential Cyberbit product demonstrations to possible clients in several other countries, including Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the Philippines, Rwanda, Serbia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

This is the third known spyware vendor that the Ethiopian government has engaged since 2013. Human Rights Watch and Citizen Lab previously wrote about the government’s use of malware sold by UK/Germany-based Gamma International (reorganized as FinFisher) and Italy-based Hacking Team to target journalists and activists in the Ethiopian diaspora. Authorities continued to misuse Hacking Team’s product through at least 2015, when a widely covered breach of the company’s corporate data confirmed its business in the country.

The government also has a history of abusing other surveillance technologies, which has facilitated a range of human rights violations. Inside the country, Ethiopian authorities have frequently used mobile surveillance to target independent voices. Human Rights Watch has documented how security agencies would play intercepted phone calls during abusive interrogations in an effort to intimidate critics and political opponents into silence.

Spyware companies often market their products to government agencies tasked with fighting crime or preventing terrorism. However, the Ethiopian government has a documented history of abusing its counterterrorism laws to target journalists, bloggers, protesters, and government critics. At least 85 journalists have fled into exile since 2010 as a result of the government’s ongoing crackdown on independent media. Ethiopia’s laws lack meaningful protections for the right to privacy, and the country’s broad security and law enforcement powers are not adequately regulated to prevent arbitrary, unlawful, or disproportionate surveillance.

Human Rights Watch wrote to Cyberbit to request comment on Citizen Lab’s findings, the company’s approach to assessing the human rights impact of spyware sales to government customers, and what steps the company would take if it uncovered government abuses linked to their product. In a December 5 response, the company stated that it is “a vendor and it does not operate any of its products. Cyberbit Solutions customers are the sole operators of the products at their sole responsibility and they are obliged to do so according to all applicable laws and regulations” in their jurisdictions.

The company also stated that it offers its products only to government authorities, and any sales of “lawful interception and intelligence products are subject to export control due to their nature and they were sold only after obtaining all relevant authorizations,” including specific approval of a designated government end user.

Finally, the company stated that while it cannot confirm or deny any specific transaction or client, the company appreciates the concerns raised and is “addressing it subject to the legal and contractual confidentiality obligations Cyberbit Solutions is bound by.”

Cyberbit should immediately investigate misuse of its products by Ethiopian authorities, publicly disclose its findings, and end any plans for future sales and any ongoing support it may be providing, Human Rights Watch said.

Despite some progress in recent years, the sale of commercial spyware remains poorly regulated at the national and international level, as Ethiopia’s repeated purchase of such tools demonstrates. Since 2014, the European Union and 41 member countries to the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies have begun to introduce regulations to control the sale of systems like those sold by Cyberbit. However, even where they exist, national implementation of such export controls has been uneven. Some governments do not adequately consider the risk to human rights when evaluating a company’s application to export spyware to repressive regimes.

While Israel does not formally participate in the Wassenaar Arrangement, it nonetheless incorporates the Wassenaar control lists into its national regulations. Exports of spyware systems from Israel’s thriving cybersecurity industry to foreign governments for security purposes require approval from Israel’s Defense Export Control Agency. Though the agency consults with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is unclear whether the government requires an examination of the end-user’s or destination country’s human rights record and whether the sale might facilitate violations of rights.

According to 2016 media reports, the agency had previously approved the sale of similar spyware by the Israeli technology company NSO Group to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite its record of surveillance abuses. The UAE later used this technology to target a prominent human rights activist, Ahmed Mansoor. In October, the export agency announced that it will loosen some export restrictions, though how the changes will apply to spyware systems remains unclear.

The latest Ethiopian malware campaign raises significant questions about whether Israel’s export controls are adequate to prevent human rights abuses linked to spyware sales, Human Rights Watch said. Israel and other governments should ensure that such sales are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and evaluate the end-use and human rights record of the end user.

“It is troubling if Israeli authorities allowed the sale of Cyberbit’s spyware to Ethiopian security agencies, given their established record of using malware to violate rights,” Wong said. “Spyware should be kept far from known human rights abusers.”

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ፊት ለፊት: ፕሮፌሰር እዝቅኤል ጋቢሳ እና አቻምየለህ ታምሩ | ሊታይ የሚገባው ወቅታዊ ቃለምልልስ

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Ethiopia: Political prisoners and their accounts of Torture

Part II.

This is the second part of torture accounts of prisoners in Ethiopia’s prisons. Association of Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) has gathered testimonies of torture and other inhuman and illegal treatments of prisoners in detention centres, prisons, military camps, and other undisclosed areas. 

The selected stories are translated from Amharic with the aim of notifying the international community the dire conditions of Ethiopia’s political prisoners at this time, and the highly disturbing prison system in the country. The stories also affirm Ethiopia’s government’s politicized use of the ominous Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, and the inability of the justice system to protect the safety of prisoners. Equally important- the prisoners’ accounts also exemplify the ways Ethiopian authorities, in violation of constitutional and international obligations, continue to use power to silence, criminalize, torture, and kill dissidents.

1. Belayneh Alemneh: Age 29, resident of Amhara Regional state, Bahir Dar

He was detained on October 2016. Belayneh and five other defendants on under file name Nigist Yirga et al, were officially charged on January 20, 2017, for the offense of contravening articles 3(4) and (6) of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. The case is still open.

Charge description: Recruiting members Ginbot 7 (listed as a terrorist organization by Ethiopia’s government); travelling to Eritrea to take political and military training; communicating with the London based Dr. Tadesse Biru on Facebook and notifying his allegiance to Ginbot 7, and his plans to engage in military warfare with Ethiopian troops; reporting to ESAT TV about the protests in Amhara region; damaging government and personal properties.

Belayneh’s testimony:

“Security officers apprehended me when I was entering into my office in Bahir Dar, and took me to Bahir Dar Police Station. I spent the night there lying on the floor without any food. The next day, they took me to intelligence bureau in Bahir Dar, and severely beat me for two consecutive days. They were demanding that I falsely testify against Engineer Yilkal Getnet and Abebe Akalu, leaders of Semayawi Party (a legally registered political party), and testify to the court that they are linked with Ginbot 7.

The beating got worse after I moved to Maekelawi prison in Addis Ababa; they beat me with their stick and electrical wires. Sometimes they would call me in the middle of the day for interrogation and had me skip my lunch; other times they would call me at 9:00 PM and beat me until 12:00 AM. I was very hurt and too weak to move on my own for three days.”

2. Lakew Robe: Age 67, resident of Oromia regional state, Berhe woreda, kiade kebele.

He is 18th defendant under the file name Olana Kebede et al, who were charged for the offense of contravening article 32(1)(a) of the FDRE Penal Code of 2004 and article 7(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (652/2009).

Charge description: Along with five other defendants in the same file- being a member of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) (Listed a terrorist organization by Ethiopia’s government); organizing themselves in cell structure; assigning themselves duty and responsibility; recruiting members; communicating with and receiving missions, training and money from leaders of the terror organization based abroad for the purposes of executing missions.

Lakew’s testimony: “I used to be a healthy person, but that changed after I was arrested. I am now suffering from diabetes, cholesterol, hemorrhoids, and kidney failure.  I got all of these due to the abuse and maltreatments I endured in prison.  It is very hard to get proper treatment here. The prison system has a procedure of releasing chronic patients before they finish their prison time, but the prison officials hid my medical file so as to deny me an early release. They also refused to grant me admission to referral a hospital for better treatment.

3. Mamushet Amare resident of Addis Ababa, Bole Sub City

He is charged for the offense of contravening Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (652/2009.

Charge description: Recruiting members for the purpose of spreading the people’s protests in Amhara region to other parts of the country; organizing and leading the movement in Gonder and Gojjam by communicating with individuals in Ethiopia and in exile; recruiting members for Ginbot 7, and sending them to Eritrea; opening a military training in Semien Shewa so as to overthrow the government in a coup, and training and arming members.

Mamushet had already been imprisoned and released 11 times before his recent arrest; this is his 12th., making him the most frequently imprisoned political prisoner in Ethiopia.

Mamushet testified that he is suffering from nerve disease and haemorrhoids, both due to ill-treatments he faced in prison, especially in “Siberia” ward at Maekelawi prison in Addis Ababa where movement and exposure to sunlight was impossible. He is also denied further treatment despite his deteriorating health and against the advice of prison health officials for a better treatment at a referral hospital.

4. Two prisoners, Armaye Wako and Mohammed Chane Gebeyehu, were beaten to death in prison

During a court hearing on October 25, 2017, defendants under the file name Bisrat Berhanu et al, told Lideta Federal High Court 3rd Criminal Bench that two prisoners under the same file were beaten to death.

Armaye’s father recounts his conversation with his late son:

“He was moved to Showa Robit prison follwing Qilinto fire outbreak[1]. When I went to visit him, his hands and face had swollen; he told me they were beating him. He couldn’t talk freely because security guards were closely monitoring us. He was wearing shorts, and was almost naked. I saw that there were bruises on his feet. He told me they hit him every evening, and said they tied a plastic water bottle to his testicles; he had difficulties waring trousers.

Later, they moved him back to Qilinto, but the beating got worse. In the summer 2016, they took him to a solitary confinement for 15 days, claiming he provoked other prisoners to rebel. He was born and raised in Addis Ababa, but they claimed he was OLF member simply because his family members were born in Ambo. He told me they were threatening to kill him. We used to visit him once a week, but he asked us to visit him at least three times a week so we could at least receive his body on time if they kill him.”

The first defendant in the same file, Bisrat Abera said this in court:

“They kicked Armaye to death in the chest with their shoes; I was there when it happened. They beat many of us in the presence of the prison head, Superintendent Assefa Kidane. We have already asked the court last time to move us to another prison. We are at the hands of killers; where can we go?

I am risking my life for speaking today, but what else can I do? I have asked before and I will ask again now; please don’t send me back to Qilinto. Move me to either Kaliti or Maekelawi prison. I know about the violations in those prisons, but nothing can be compared to Qilinto. I will not go back there again; they will kill me.”

The court however declined to order the transfer.

A complaint letter signed by his father, his mother, his sister, and one other family member was filed to court. Excerpt from the letter reads:

“We went to prison to see him on September 12, 2017, but prison officials told us he was in the hospital for stomach ache, and told us to come back the following day; so, we went back home. That same night they called his sister from prison and told her that he had passed away, and that we could take his body from St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College.

When we went there, we saw that his head was crushed from violent beating; his belly was cut open and stitched back. (In another testimony, his father requested for autopsy saying, “it looks like Armaye’s organs were taken out”) His body was laid to rest in St. Rufael Hospital on September 13, 2017 at 3:00 PM.

We kindly urge the court to hold accountable Zone 5 security officials who were on duty on September 11 and 12 and bring them to justice.  …. And taking what happened to Armaye into consideration, to provide legal protection to his brother Tewodros Waqe who is detained in Kaliti prison.”

N.B: Tewodros Waqe and his brother Armaye Waqe were initially arrested and charged for the offense of possessing and selling drugs under the same file and were put in 2 different prisons. Following Qilinto fire outbreak, prosecutors filed criminal charges against 121 prisoners, and later added additional 38 prisoners charging them for the offense of contravening different articles of Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (652/2009) and the 2004 penal code.  Armaye was on the list of the first 121.

Pictured above: Armaye Waqe

5. Testimonies of two Monks from Waldba Monastry: Father Gebre Eyesus Gebre Mariam and Father Gebre Sellasie Wolde Haymanot

Two monks, facing terrorism charges, have reported that they are being harassed and intimidated by prison officials. On October 26, 2017 Father Gebre Eyesus Gebre Mariam and Father Gebre Sellasie Wolde Haymanot told the Federal High Court that they have faced various kinds of maltreatment and intimidation at Qilinto prison.

Father Gebre Eyesus said, “We have already been assaulted and beaten in Maekelawi prison. Now in Qilinto, we are physically and psychologically assaulted. We are prohibited from praying and from sharing our meal with prisoners who don’t have visitors (Usually prison food is of poor quality, and prisoners receive food from family members and other visitors).

Father Gebre Sellasie on his part said in court: “The government demolished Atseme Kidusan, (a part of Waldeba Monastery), including the surrounding forest. It was my hope and my refuge. We filed a complaint, but to no avail. In fact, I have been harassed since 2004 ever since I complained about the destruction. And now in prison, I am a target of abuse and maltreatment. Our country has no government, only God protects her.”

Recommendations:

AHRE urges the Ethiopian authorities to fully comply to its constitutional and international legal obligations and commitments including under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment that Ethiopia has ratified.

AHRE urges the international community, particularly the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, to urgently demand the Ethiopian authorities to comply to UN standards and agreements Ethiopia has signed and to the country’s own constitution regarding treatment of prisoners.

We also urge the Special Rapporteur to conduct fact-finding country visits in Ethiopia to investigate the allegations of inhuman treatment of prisoners in Ethiopia’s prisons.

[1] http://addisstandard.com/opinion-qilinto-massacre-truth-shall-revealed/

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Ethiopia: Political prisoners and their accounts of Torture

Part One

Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) is deeply concerned about the ongoing and consistent allegations concerning the use of torture, ill-treatments, and harsh prison condition in Ethiopia against opposition party members, journalists, human rights activist, other political dissidents, and terrorism suspects by security forces. AHRE has received numerous reports of torture during the pre-trial police interrogation and the trial period.

In violation of the constitutional and international obligations, the Ethiopian authorities have consistently subjected political dissidents to unlawful detention, torture, and other ill-treatments. In many occasions, prisoners have testified countless allegations of torture particularly at the notorious detention centre, Federal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau, better known as Maekelawi, in Addis Ababa.

Local and international human rights institutions have produced several reports of maltreatment of Ethiopian prisoners amounting to torture and other inhuman treatments.[1]Association of Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) has gathered testimonies of torture and other inhuman and illegal treatments of prisoners in detention centres, prisons, military camps, and other undisclosed areas.  We are sharing five of the testimonies below.

1. Zeray Azmeraw Geletaw; age 32, an agriculture expert and resident of Amhara Regional State of Northern Gonder Zone, Dabat Woreda, Ganora Kebele.

Charges: (fourth defendant under file name Kindu Dube et al.) Contravening of article 32 32(1) A of the 2004 Penal Code and anti-terrorism proclamation 652/2009:

Charge description: for being a member of the outlawed Ginbot 7 listed as a terrorist organization; recruiting members; joining a Guerrilla militia in Dabat town of Northern Gonder; leading the militia; engaging in armed conflict with Ethiopia’s military; detonating explosive in Gonder.

Zeray’s testimonies: “I am an agriculture expert in Dabat town of Gonder, Amhara Regional State of Ethiopia. I was arrested on January 15th, 2017 and was taken to Gonder Intelligence office. The officials there severely beat me for three consecutive days before moving me to Addis Ababa; that has left a permanent scar on my back. Here in Addis Ababa, I have spent two months in Maekelawi prison; I was put in “Siberia” (named so because of its freezing temperature; the worst block of the three blocks of Maekelawi) where I was interrogated and was forced to confess. After my confession, I was then transferred to ‘Sheraton (prisoners in this block have more freedom).

However, the security officers sent me back to cell number 8 (a very small dark detention room) soon after; that same night, they called me up for interrogation. There were several officers in the room; they said that I was hiding something from them and demanded that I tell them everything. I told them there was nothing that I had not told them, but they did not believe me.

The officers encircled me, and I stood in the centre. I recognized one of the interrogators who was standing behind me; he was one of the officers who interrogated me few days before. This time, he was wearing a thobe; I noticed when I entered that he was holding something in his hand, and was trying to hide it by putting his hand behind his back.

I don’t remember what happened next. I woke up the next morning and thought the whole thing was a dream. Prisoners in the adjoining cell told me that someone carried me back to my cell that night. My whole body was shaking; the prisoners checked my whole body and saw a tiny circle bruise on my back, there were no other marks. My body kept shaking uncontrollably, so security guards and few prisoners carried me to the prison clinic which then wrote a referral to another hospital. I was taken to Police Hospital, and remained there from March 28th to April 25th. I couldn’t move myself for several days in the hospital, and suffered from neurological complications. I still take medications twice a day.  The more I think about that fateful day, the more I’m convinced that the officer with something in his hand, had electrocuted me on my back which has left me with a nerve disease, a permanent scar and a regular headache.“

N.B Mr. Zeray is still in prison and his case, along with nine other defendants, is still active.

2. Tesfaye Liben: age 42, a teacher and resident of Oromia Regional State, South West Shewa, Woliso town, Kebele 04.

Charges: (12th defendant under the file name Gurmessa Ayana.) contravening Article 4 (later changed to Article 7(1)) of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.

Charge description: Becoming a member of the outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), listed as a terrorist organisation; working to spread the protests from Ginchi Zone in Western Shewa to Southern Shewa; leading the protest in Southern Shewa.

Tesfaye’s testimonies: “I was originally detained in Woliso Police Station, where a group of individuals wearing a federal uniform and a civil attire brutally beat me with their sticks and rubber button. They just kept on beating me; it was so severe that I finally passed out. I woke up the next morning, and did not remember what happened to me. They were surprised that I survived when they saw me the next day. Then they sent me to Maekelawiprison in Addis Ababa. I was beaten, tortured, made to do a heavy physical exercise for 43 successive days. As I was doing the exercise, they kicked my back and my feet with their boots. They used their fists, their boots, electric wire, and their rubber batons to beat me.  It was so excruciating and beyond anyone can bear. There was a time I tried to kill myself.

After a while, I went for a hearing at Arada First Instance Court; and I took off my clothes and showed the wounds on my body to the judge. He just advised me to admit everything before they kill me, and that I could later deny and tell the court it was a forced confession when my file is officially open. That’s exactly what I did that night; I confessed to everything they alleged I did. They then immediately moved me from ‘Dark Room’ to ‘Sheraton’ “.

N.B Mr. Tesfaye was arrested on November 2015 following Oromo Protests. Prosecutors later filed charges against him and 21 other defendants on April 2016; the case is still ongoing.

3. Birhane Tsegaye: age 25 and member of Tigray Peoples’ Democratic Movement (TPDM)

Charges: (2nd defendant under the file name of Kassahun Shege et al.) For contravening article 7(2) of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (652/2009)

Charge Descriptions: Becoming a member of the terror group Tigray Peoples’ Democratic Movement (TPDM), which jointly works with the proclaimed terrorist organization Ginbot 7; receiving trainings, and engaging in physical work to raise funds for the terrorist organisation; recruiting members from Sudan and Ethiopia; entering in Ethiopia through Humera, where upon he was captured, with a mission to destroy governmental and not governmental institutions.

Birhane’s Testimonies: “I confessed that I defected TPDM and returned to Ethiopia to plea clemency, but they did not believe me. They demanded that I confess to alleged crimes I did not commit, and violently beat me when I refused. They used electric wire, rubber batons and other things; it was so painful and excruciating. They tied a water bottle on my penis and tortured me. I was very sick for many days. They refused to provide medical treatment alleging that as an ethnic Tigrean, I should have never been a member of a terrorist organization, and denying medical treatment was my punishment. “

N.B Birhane was captured on February 2015, but formal prosecutions opened after 15 months on 29.07.2016 against him one other person on the same file. Their case is still pending.

4. Ferede Kindshato Yirga: Age 21, a farmer and resident of Western Tigray, Tegede Woreda.

Charges: (74th defendant under the file name of Miftah Sheik Surur et al.) Contravening of articles 32/1/ A, 35, 38/1/ and /2/ of the 2004 Penal Code and anti-terrorism proclamation 652/2009:

Charge Descriptions: Receiving political and guerrilla warfare trainings from the high officials of the outlawed Ginbot 7 terrorist group and entering in Ethiopia; making the state of emergency ineffective; recruiting and organizing members; planning, preparing, conspiring, and motivating to undertake a terrorist act in Quara military camp.

Ferede’s Testimony: “They apprehended me on November 18, 2016 while I was returning from a farm. They drove me to Dansha and beat me, and later took me somewhere far. They threw me into a deep pit and kept me tied with a rope with no food or water. Then they took me to a military camp in Humera, tied my hands and left me outside in a hot burning day. They came after several hours and started beating me with a rubber baton; it was unbearable. They hit my reproductive organs with their boots which left me with agonizing pain for several days. I was so weak and hurt to move anywhere, so they kept me in Bahir Dar for a while before bringing me to Addis Ababa.

I was finally transferred to Addis Ababa; I have been detained in different prisons. Despite my deteriorating conditions, Qilinto Prison official denied me medical treatment for three months. Finally, I was allowed to get treatment after I was moved to Kaliti Prison; I was then treated at Kaliti Health Centre. My condition was very critical, so I was admitted at Police Hospital. I had a surgery because the beating had severely damaged my belly and my reproductive organs. I am now an out-patient at Police Hospital.”

5. Ayele Beyene Negese: age 29, a resident and Executive Committee member of Addis Ababa, Nifas-Silk Lafto Sub-City, Woreda 10.

Charges: (2nd defendant under the file name Melkamu Kinfu et al.) Contravening article 32/1/A/B of and 38 of the Penal Code and article 7/1 of anti-terrorism proclamation 652/2008

Charge description: becoming a member of the outlawed terrorist organization Oromo Liberation Front; receiving email instruction how to sustain the violence in Oromia region and how to buy armaments, and disseminate the information to other terror members for discussion; and reporting recent development such as notifying OLF members to take caution; reporting the meeting held at Oromo Cultural Center and the activities in Kolfe Qeranio Sub-city.

His wife’s testimonies “Ayele had an appointment on July 7, 2017; I was also there. He raised his hands for complaints, but the court refused. The next day, Saturday, I went to Qilinto to see him. His neck and chin were covered with a towel when he came; he told me he had a tooth ache. He was very sick when I visited him on Monday July 10, 2017. I went back the next day, but his brother Bonsa (a third defendant on the same file) came and told me that Ayele was too sick to come and talk to me. The Qilinto health center had already sent him a referral on Monday, but the prison officials refused to take him to a hospital.

On Thursday July 13, I talked to the prison officials, but they told me they have no sick patients in their premise. I insisted and told them I would not leave their office unless I heard how he was. Later, they confirmed he was admitted in the clinic. He had a scheduled court appearance the next day, but he did not come. I went straight to Qilinto; after a lot of bargaining, the officials pointed to a car from a distance and told me he was being taken to Kaliti Clinic.

I went to Kaliti on Saturday, July 15. I saw that his chest and neck had swollen; he could not talk. I asked him what had happened. He wrote on a piece of paper that he was beaten. He could not tell me where, how, or by whom; he promised he would tell me everything once he feels better. There was a bucket in the room that had blood in it. When I asked he wrote that it was coming from his aching tooth, but I was confused because it was too much blood.

The next day, Sunday, he was still spitting blood when I went to see him. But despite affirmation the health professionals, I just couldn’t believe all that blood was came from a toothache. His phlegm was also filled with blood, I thought to myself that it had to be something more serious.  On Monday July 17, I got a permission to nurse him day and night. On Wednesday, I saw blood in his urine which I did not notice before. On Thursday July 20, he had a surgery because the swelling and the pain got worse. That day, he was transferred to St. Paul Hospital because the doctors at Kaliti could no longer help him.

The doctors at St. Paul were shocked when they saw the blood and ultrasound result and asked if he was beaten. The ultrasound showed that one of his kidneys was not functioning, and the second one was also malfunctioning because of his complicated ailment.  They told me that, this could be due to accident or physical beating.

On Saturday July 22, he was transferred to Kidney treatment ward. They said he needed to have dialysis treatment, but they did not have the machine. They told me I should take him to a private hospital that has the machine as soon as possible, but the police officers refused. I begged them a lot, but they would not give in. We couldn’t do anything; the doctors at St. Paul didn’t have the means to treat him, so they could not. He died the next day; he died simply because he was denied better treatment. He had always been healthy and fit, his death is entirely due to his abuse at the prison and lack of medical treatment.”

N.B Despite the court’s orders, the prison administration did not provide written document detailing the cause of Ayele’s death. A prison official told the criminal bench on October 7, 2017 that she had no information about a deceased prisoner.

Recommendations:

AHRE urges the Ethiopian authorities to fully comply to its constitutional and international legal obligations and commitments including under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment that Ethiopia has ratified.

AHRE urges the international community, particularly the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, to urgently demand the Ethiopian authorities to comply to UN standards and agreements Ethiopia has signed and to the country’s own constitution regarding treatment of prisoners.

We also urge the Special Rapporteur to conduct fact-finding country visits in Ethiopia to investigate the allegations of inhuman treatment of prisoners in Ethiopia’s prisons.

[1] https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/10/18/ethiopia-political-detainees-tortured

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በንግስት ይርጋ ላይ የተፈፀመ ጭካኔ

መስከረም 5/2009 ዓም ከምሽቱ 1:00 ሳንጃ ከተማ የተያዝኩ ሲሆን ወዲያውኑ እንደተያዝኩ በተፈፀመብኝ ድብደባ አእምሮዬን በመሳቴ 24 ሰዓት ባልሞላ ጊዜ ውስጥ እንዴትና በምን እንደመጣሁ ሳላውቅ መስከረም 6/2009 ዓም ከጠዋቱ 4:00 ላይ የፌደራል የመጀመርያ ደረጃ ፍርድ ቤት አራዳ ምድብ ችሎት በሰው ተደግፌ እና በጭቃ ተለውሼ ስቀርብ ማስታወስ ጀመርኩ። በጭካኔ በዱላ ተቀጥቅጬ መቁሰሌ እየታየ ወደ ሀኪም ቤት በመውሰድ ፋንታ ወዲያውኑ ወደፌደራል ወንጀል ምርመራ ቢሮ ተወስጄ እንደገና ለ3 ቀናት ራሴን ሳላውቅ ቆይቼ በ4ኛው ቀን ቁስሌ እና በጭቃ የተለወሰውን ገላዬን በምርመራ ቢሮው ውስጥ የነበሩ ሴት እስረኞች እንዲያጥቡልኝ ከተደረገ በኋላ እንደገና ሌላ ጭካኔ የተሞላበት ተግባር ተፈፅሞብኛል።

ይኸውም የ9ኙ የእግር ጣት ጥፍሮች በጉጠት የተነቀሉ ሲሆን ንቃይ ጥፍሮቼን በፌስታል ይዤ ቆይቼ ወደ ቃሊቲ ማረሚያ ቤት ስገባ በፖሊስ ተቀምቼ በማስረጃነት እንዳላቀርባቸው ከእጄ ተነጥቄ እንዲጠፉ ተደርገዋል።

ከዚህ በተጨማሪ ለ4 ወራት በሌሊት ወደማሰቃያ ክፍል እየተወሰድኩ ከፍተኛ ጭካኔ የተሞላበት ድብደባ፣ በኤሌክትሪክ ንዝረት መሰቃየትና ግርፋት ይፀፈምብኝ ነበር።

ከዚህ አልፎ በአእምሮዬ ላይ የማይጠፋ፣ “አንችን ብሎ የአማራ ነፃ አውጭ፣ ****  (ስድብ) አማራ! እኛን መጣል ግድግዳ እንደመግፋት ነው! ” እና የመሳሰሉ በዘረኝነት የተሞሉ አፀያፊ ስድቦች እየተሰደብኩ ከፍተኛ በሆነ የአካል እና የስነ ልቦና ጫና ከደከምኩ በኋላ ባልተፃፈ ባዶ ወረቀት ላይ ተገድጄ እንድፈርም ሲቀርብልኝ እንዲነበብልኝ ብጠይቅ ” እንኳን አንች ስንቱ ምሑርም ሳይፈርም አይወጣም። ከፈረምሽ ፈርሚ ካልፈረምሽ የሚሆነውን ታውቂዋለሽ ” ስለተባልኩ ለድጋሜ ስቃይ የምቀርብ መሆኑን ስረዳ ባልተፃፈበት ባዶ ወረቀት ላይ ተገድጄ ፈርሜያለሁ።

የደረሰብኝን ጭካኔና ስቃይ ዘርዝሬ ስለማልጨርሰው ይህንን ሁሉ ስቃይ በዚህ መቃወሚያ መጨረሻ በማስረጃነት በዘረዘርኳቸው ምስክሮች አረጋግጣለሁ።

(ንግስት ይርጋ አቃቤ ህግ ባቀረበባት የሰነድ ማስረጃ ላይ ያቀረበችው መቃወሚያ ላይ የተወሰደ ነው። ሆኖም ፍርድ ቤት የንግስትን መቃወሚያ ሳይመረምር በማለፍ ወደ ብይን ገብቷል። ንግስት አንድትከላከል የተበየነው ይህ መቃወሚያ ሳይመረመር ነው)

(ጌታቸው ሺፈራሁ)

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