The Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW) on Saudi Arabia

 The Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW)
For Immediate Release
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN SAUDIA ARABIA

The Center for the Rights of Ethiopian Women (CREW) is disturbed and seriously concerned by reports, pictures and video footages about the violence perpetrated against Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.  Saudi authorities launched a crackdown on undocumented migrant workers following an amnesty which had expired. As a result of this crackdown, migrant workers, particularly Ethiopians, are facing beatings, abuse, torture, rape and death. They are thrown out on streets without shelter and food. Women are particularly abused and gang-raped in broad daylight.
Thousands of men and women from Ethiopia go to Saudi Arabia each year to seek work opportunities, but most of them have been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment at the hands of their employers. They are treated like slaves. They don’t receive their salaries and their passports are confiscated.  In many instances, they are deprived of sleep and work long hours.  Many have sustained permanent injuries due to tortures such as beating by their employers. Some have taken their own lives when the situation became unbearable.
While the current new law, passed by Saudi government, should only result in deporting undocumented migrants, what has been witnessed in the last few days are gross human rights violations targeting Ethiopians.  CREW condemns the racist, inhuman treatment of Ethiopian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. We call on the Saudi government to stop this barbaric act against Ethiopian Migrant workers immediately. Those who have committed these crimes should be held responsible for their acts.
We also appeal to the international community and all human rights organizations to take this matter seriously and urge the Saudi government to stop torturing Ethiopian migrant workers.  Ethiopian women are particularly in great danger of being abused and raped.  The Saudi government should be accountable for the suffering of Ethiopian migrant workers. Currently thousands of Ethiopian migrant workers, including women and children are in detention camps with no food, water or medical attention. The workers have indicated that they want to return to their country.  The Saudi government must send the workers safely to their country.

Saudi Embassy in Helsinki witnesses angry Ethiopian protests about Riyadh’s abuses, violation of immigrants’ human rights

              

Ethiopians protesting in front of the Saudi embassy in Helsinki (Credit: Tsedey G.mariam)

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory
On Friday, November 15, 2013 from 9:00 -11:00 A.M., an estimated 250 Finnish-Ethiopians & Ethiopians resident in Helsinki angrily but in an orderly manner protested in front of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Helsinki, Finland, denouncing the government’s abuses, killings of male immigrants and rape of Ethiopian women.
The Helsinki demonstration was part of the worldwide protests by Ethiopians to expose the atrocities being committed against immigrants by Saudi security forces and vigilante groups as their accomplices, in violation of international law, international human rights laws, most of all human dignity.
On the occasion, a Protest Note was hand delivered through the embassy to the government of Saudi Arabia, which in part read:

“WE ARE ASSEMBLED in front of the Saudi Embassy in Helsinki, Finland, to express our utter dismay and anger at the cruelty and degrading treatments Your Excellency’s Government has been inflicting since November 4, 2013 on Ethiopian workers and immigrants in that country…

THIS FAR, so many lives have been lost because of lack of restraints and shots fired by the Kingdom’s security forces. The perished are many and their numbers vary. For civilized humanity that should matter little, since the life of a single individual lost in this situation is one too many. However, for Your Excellency’s information, the estimates until yesterday evening ranged from 13 to 20.
EQUALLY shocking and worrying is the plight of female Ethiopian immigrants. We are receiving extensive reports through international networks of the Ethiopian diaspora about the numerous horrendous rape crimes.
It is unfortunate that the security forces of Your Excellency’s country should be implicated in this. They are accused of collaboration with youth gangs, facilitating for them the situation to follow in their steps and gang rape the women…
FINALLY, there are also those helpless immigrants who are beaten and badly hurt, some of them ending up in hospitals.
SHARED IN COMMON amongst all Ethiopian immigrants affected by this cruel turn of events is the looting and destruction of the few properties they have made. The youth gang groups have robbed some of them, totally vandalizing and destroying others…
IN THE LIGHT OF THE FOREGOING, we expect the Saudi Government to assume full responsibility for these atrocities and tragic situations that ever since November 4, 2013 have been taking place within its territory, especially with complicity of some citizens and its institutions.
WE RECOGNIZE that Saudi Arabia is within its rights to adopt any laws and procedures to protect the interests of its citizens. Nevertheless, as a member of the international community, whose behavior must yield to norms of international coexistence and collaboration, Saudi Arabia cannot claim to be within its rights when it engages in actions that violate the rights and human dignity of foreign workers within its territory…
“As stated above, these people have been subjected to atrocities and degrading treatments – practices outlawed under international law.
IN CIVILIZED SOCIETY, governed by the rule of law, including and especially under international human rights and humanitarian law, as Your Excellency is aware, these are injurious criminal acts liable to rigorous punishments.
FOR NOW, until the Ethiopian immigrants return to their country or any other destination(s), the urgency for the Saudi government must be:
•     To help bring with immediate effect an end to the various forms of violence, mistreatments, human degradation and deprivations.
•     To relocate pregnant women and lactating mothers to safe and hygienic places, where they can receive food and drinking water and proper sleeping places, instead of the garbage damping sites Saudi officials have been using as holding camps.

 •     To bring to justice the perpetrators of these odious criminal acts…”

Wounded in Addis, finished off in Riyadh

by Ephrem Madebo
ebini23@yahoo.com
From China to Ethiopia and from Belarus to Saudi Arabia, there is no shortage of repressive regimes in the world. In general, repressive societies are defined as exerting pervasive state control over daily life, banning free speech and political opposition, and practicing severe human rights violations. All of these attributes describe the Ethiopian regime from head to toe, but the TPLF regime in Ethiopia has many more attributes that makes it the worst of the worst. Oppressive regimes do not hate their country, yet the Ethiopian regime does. Even though oppressive regimes kill their citizens for a variety of reasons, they don’t kill out of hatred. The TPLF regime in Ethiopia hunts and kills people that it really hates. Almost all countries of the world, authoritarian or egalitarian, show the utmost concern and respect for their citizens who immigrate to other countries.  Ethiopia is visibly different; it is really different, so much so, that the Ethiopian embassies throughout the world (including Saudi) are happily opened for certain kind of people and are inhospitable and closed for everybody else.
In recent years, the oil rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia with its growing economy has been a magnet for migrant workers from Ethiopia and other poor countries of Africa and Asia. Although Ethiopian migrant workers have constantly been harassed, abused and treated like a plug horse by their Saudi employers and the  police, many young Ethiopians who have been denied opportunities in their native country,  have considered Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states as much better and attractive destinations for hope and better life.
The Ethiopian regime which has a fiduciary responsibility of creating domestic employment has in fact facilitated the migration of young Ethiopians to Saudi and other Gulf States, and its corrupted officials have benefited from this immoral act of “legal human trafficking”.  This total neglect of Ethiopians by their own government on one side, and the abundant supply of cheap Ethiopian labor on the other, has encouraged some savage Saudis into believing that they either own or have full control over the migrant workers who work and live with them.  As a result, domestic employers, local gangs and the youth mob have assaulted, abused, gang raped, mutilated and even killed helpless Ethiopian migrant workers.
When the Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) saw the persecution to which his followers were subjected to in Mecca, he told them to find safe haven in Ethiopia (aka Abyssinia at the time). His followers trusted their trustworthy leader, and they fled to Ethiopia where they enjoyed the unmatched hospitality of the Ethiopian people. The year was 615 AD, It was the First Hijra (migration); and Ethiopia was its destination. As he would never forget the hospitality and generosity of the Ethiopians, the Prophet Mohammed said: “Abyssinia is a land of justice in which no one is oppressed”
Well, today, 1398 years after the First Hijra, two things have changed dramatically. Ethiopia, hailed as the land of justice by the Prophet, is now the symbol of brutality in Africa. And on the other side, Saudi Arabia, the very land of the Prophet and the Holy Land of Islam, has become the land of acute brutality. Ironically, the victims of this brutality are none than the very people that extended their warm hands to the very first migrants of Islam. In the year 615 AD and thereafter, the people and government of Ethiopia showed their utmost hospitality and love towards the first immigrants of Islam. Today, one of the most repressive and brute regimes in the world, the Saudi regime, is returning the favor with absurdity, brutality, and outright inanity.
I hope the Saudi government understands that there is a fine line between tightening its immigration policy and ill-treating and killing immigrants – I only hope because as brute and as injudicious as the Saudi government is, it is never right and it has never been right on anything related to justice, freedom, and human right. Did I say human rights? Oh! Yes, and it does not get more tangled or meshed than this.  The Saudi government is known for its sever human rights violations, and Ethiopia is no better if it is not worse. Many young Ethiopians leave their home land and head to Saudi for two main reasons:  employment discrimination and lack of opportunity, and lack of freedom and sever human rights violations at home. In Saudi, well; yes Ethiopians are employed in Saudi, but the assault, the abuse and the torture follows them.
The other very strange and undesirable similarity between Ethiopia and Saudi is that, in a very ironic move, these two repressive regimes and three other countries (Russia, China, and Cuba) with questionable human rights records recently secured seats on none other than the UN Human Rights Council. It’s sad, rather absurd that the Saudi and the Ethiopian governments that torture and kill their own citizens are elected to oversee human rights violations elsewhere in the world.
Obviously, from what has been said, the two oppressive regimes, Ethiopia & Saudi, seem to be complementing each other in abusing Ethiopians. Yes, indeed, these two oppressive regimes are as close as ‘lips and teeth’ where one causes the pain and the other finishes off the patient. I personally applaud the current international effort in support of our people in Saudi, but until we tackle the root cause of the problem, the teamwork of Addis and Riyadh will continue, and so does the suffering of our people. Therefore, It is crucially important that we start slashing the lip and sending the teeth into the cold.
Saudi Arabia sees Ethiopia as its bread basket for the future, and the ever gluttonous and cash thirty TPLF regime wants to exploit this need by granting the Saudis a massive amount of cheap & fertile land.  Hence, the leadership in Riyadh harbors no illusion that it is truly interested in the survival of the TPLF regime so long as Addis can keep its promise of supplying cheap labor and land.
In this dominant-submissive relationship, the Saudis take their own self-interest more seriously and do what they want without worrying about Ethiopia. Swallowing its own feelings and avoiding standing-up for the interest of the Ethiopian people, the bigoted and subservient TPLF regime regards Saudi’s needs as paramount. Hence, Ethiopians go to Saudi as domestic workers where they are assaulted, abused and killed; and the Saudis come to Ethiopia as entrepreneurs and get all the respect they may not be getting in their own country.
What we saw in Riyadh and Addis in the last week or two is the reflection of this dominant-submissive relationship. In Riyadh and many other Saudi cities, Ethiopians who protested against the abusive actions of the Saudi regime were arrested, beaten and killed. In Addis, Ethiopians who tried to protest in front of the Saudi embassy were rounded up by the Ethiopian police and beaten like dogs. As long as this dominant-submissive relationship exists, when we talk about Ethiopia and Saudi, as the political satirist Abe Tokichaw would say; it may be very important to make a distinction between Saudi Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia.
In the last two weeks, I watched hours of gruesome and excruciating video clips from Saudi that made me sick to my bones. The street crackdown, the house to house arrest and beating, the rape, the mutilation and the killings have made me ask . . .  is Saudi the Holy Land or the land of brutality?
Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have become the world of mean streets, where bloody killers are operating with the “immortal certainty” that they will never have to pay for the snuffling out of human life. We must make them pay, and we must stop the team work of this brute and savage duo.  There are the Ethiopian people, there is the opposition and there are the damn TPLF gangs. We must get rid of the damn gangs!

ሀገራዊ ውርደት እንዲያበቃ ወያኔን ማስወገድ

በዳዊት መላኩ (ከጀርመን)

ኢትዮጵያውያን የወያኔ ባናዳዎች ባፈሙዝ ሀይል ስልጣን ላይ ከወጡበት እለት አንስቶ በርካቶች ለስደት፤ለእስራት፤ለሞት እና ለእንግልት ተዳርገዋል፡፡የሰሃራን በረሃ አቋርጠው ለማለፍ ሲሞክሩ የበረሃ እራት ሁነዋል፡፡ሌሎች ደግሞ ኩላሊታቸው ሳይቀር እየተዘረፉ ለከፋ አካላዊ እና አእምፘዊ ጉዳት ተዳርገዋል፡፡በባህር ሲያቋርጡ የተሳፈሩበት ጀልባ በሞገድ እየተመታ በብዙ ሺ የሚቆጠሩት ለዓሳ እራት ሁነዋል፡፡በታንዛኒያ እና በኡጋንዳ ሲያልፉ በኮንቴነር ታፍነው የሞቱትን ቤት ያቁጠራቸው፡፡ ንብረትነቱ የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ የሆነው አውሮፕላን የመን ውስጥ ተጠልፎ በውስጡ የነበሩት የአየር መንገዱ ሰራተኞች እና ተሳፋሪዎች ባሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ሕይወታቸው አልፏል፡፡
ይህ ሁሉ ህይወት እንደቅጠል ሲረግፍ የወያኔ ባለስልጣኞች አንድም ቀን ብለው የተጎዱ ቤተሰቦችን አጽናንተው አሰከሬናቸው በክብር እንዲያርፍ አላደረጉም፡፡በሰው ሰራሽ አደጋ ለሞቱትም ጥፋተኞችን ለፍርድ ለመቅረብ ተንቀሳቅሰው አያውቁም፡፡ዲፕሎማሲያዊ በሆነ መንገድም ዳግም ስህተቶች እንዳይፈጸሙ ስምምነቶችን ተፈራርመው ያውቁም፡፡በየሀገራቱ የሰገሰጉዋቸው ዲፕሎማት ተብየዎችም ቤተሰባቸውን እንዴት አንደላቀው እንደሚያኖሩ ፤ከነማን ጋር የንግድ ሽርክና እንደሚፈራረሙ እንጂ በስደት ለሚንገላታው ዜጋቸው መብት ተከራክረው ፡ የሀገሪቱን ጥቅም ለማስጠቀም አንዳች ስራ ሰርተው አያውቁም፡፡
ዲፒሎማቶች ከሙያ ብቃት ጀምሮ ህዝባዊ ወገንተኝነትም ስለሚጎድላቸው የፓርቲውን ህልውና ለማስጠበቅ ካልሆነ በስተቀር ለህዝብ የሚጠቅም ስራ ይሰራሉ ብሎ መገመት ያዳግታል፡፡የወያኔ ዲፕሎማቶች በውጪ የሚኖሩት ኢትዮጵያውያን እርስ በርስ እንዲከፋፈሉ ከላይ በሚሰጣቸው መመሪያ መሰረት ብዙ የመከፋፈል ስራዎችን ሲሰሩ እነደቆዩ ምንም ጥርጥር የለውም፡፡ዛሬ በ40/60 የኮንደሚኒየም እና በዓባይ ግድብ ግንባታ ሰበብ በውጪ ከሚኖሩት ኢትዮጵያውያን ዶላር ለመሰብሰብ ደፋ ቀና የሚሉት ዲፕሎማቶች ለይስሙላ ያክል እንኳን አንድም ቃል መተንፈስ አልቻሉም፡፡
በወያኔዎች ዘንድ ብሔራዊ የሀዘን ቀን የሚታወጀው እና ህዝቡ በግዳጅ እየወጣ የመንግስት አገልግሎች መስጫ ድርጅቶች ሳይቀሩ ለሁለት ሳምንተ ያልክ ተዘግተው ስራቸው ሀዘን ብቻ እንዲሆን መመሪያ የሚተላለፈው የስልጣን እና የጥቅም አጋራቸው ሲሞት እንጂ ሌላው ተራ ዜጋ እማ ሞቱን እንኩዋን የሚዘግበለት የሀገሩ የመገኛኛ ብዙሀን የለውም፡፡ ግብር የሚከፍልበት ቴሌቭዥን እንዲህ ያሉ ዜናዎችን ለህዝቡ እንዳያቀርብ እነሽመልስ ከማል አፉን ጥርቅም አድርገው ይዘውታል፡፡የተለያዩ ዓለም አቀፍ ሜዲያዎች የዘገቡትን እውነት በወያኔ ቁጥጥር ስር የሚገኘው የሀገሪቱ ቴሌቭዥን የቁጥር ጨዋታ ያዟል፡፡የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር ተብየው ዶ/ር ቴወድሮስ አድሀኖም ችግሩ ተጋኖ ቀረበ ነው ሲሉ ተዘባበተውብናል፡፡
ሀገሪቱን እመራለሁ ብሎ የተቀመጠ ሀይል እንዴት እንዲህ ሀገራዊ ውርደት ሊያከናነብ ቻለ? መልሱ ቀላል ነው፡፡ መጀመሪያም ወያኔዎች ከሆዳቸው ባለፈ ሀገር እና ህዝብ ብሎ ነገር አይገባቸውም፡፡አሰራ ሰባት ዓመት ተዋጋንለት የሚሉትም የስልጣን ጥማቸውን ለማርካት እንጂ ለህዝብ የሚጠቅም አንዳች ሀገራዊ አጀንዳ ኑፘቸው አደለም፡፡የወያኔዎች
ዋነኛ መገለጫቸው እና ግባቸው ሀገራዊ ውርደት ማሰፈን ነው፡፡ ይሕን ደግሞ ባለፉት አመታት ሁላችንም በደንብ የምናውቀው ነው፡፡ለግራዚያኔ ሀውልት ማቆምን የተቃወሙ ህዝቦችን አስረዋል፡፡ሰላማዊ ሰልፉን በትነዋል፡፡የሀገሪቱን ቅርስ እና ታሪክ በማወደም ታረክ- አልቫ አድርገዋል፡፡የሀገሪቱን ብሄራዊ ጥቅም በተደጋጋሚ ለባእዳን አሳልፎው ሰጥተዋል፡፡አርሶ አደሮችን እያፈናቀሉ ለም መሬታችንን በርካሽ ዋጋ ሲቸበችቡት ቆይተዋል፡፡ዳር ድንበራችንን ለሱዳን አሳልፎው ሰጥተዋል፡፡በሰላም ማሰከበር ስም ወታደሮች በሶማሊያ መንገድ አስክሬናቸው እንዲበተን አድረገዋል፡፡ዜጎች እምነታቸውን በነፃነት እንዳያመልኩ አድርገዋል፡፡ሌላው እና መሰረታዊው ነገር ራሱ ወያኔ ዜጎችን አደህይቶ፤አደንቁሮ፤አዋርዶ መግዛት የአስተዳደር ስትራቴጅው ዋነኛ ማጠንጠኛው ነው፡፡
በሰሞኑ ያየነውም በአረብ ሀገራት የያኔን አንባገነን ስርዓት ሸሽተው የተሰደዱ ዜጎች በሳዉዲ ወሮበላ ፖሊሶች እንደ በግ ሲታረዱ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ሕዝቡን በማስተባበር ሐገራዊ ውርደት እንዲያቆም፤በዜጎች ላይ እየደረሰ ያለው ግድያ ፤አሰገድዶ መድፈር እና እንግልት እንዲቆም በሰላማዊ መንገድ ድምፃቸውን ለማሰማት አደባባይ የወጡ የወገን ተቆርቋሪ ዜጎችን በፌዴራል ፖሊስ ማስቀጥቀጥ፤የፓርቲውን አመራሮች ማሰር የወያኔ ብሄራዊ ውርደት ለፍተኛው ማሳያ ነው፡፡ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የሰራው መንግስት ሊሰራው የሚገባውን የዜጎችን ደህንነት የማስጠበቅ ስራ ነው፡፡
ምን እናድርግ?
የእነዚህ ሁሉ ችግሮች ምንጭ ወያኔ ነው!ስለዚህ መፍትሄውም የችግሩን ምንጪ ከመሰረቱ ማድረቅ ነው፡፡ወያኔን ለማሰወገድ ደግሞ የሁሉንም ርብርብ የሚጠይቅ ተግባር ነው፡፡ በሀገር ውስጥም ይሁን በውጪ የምንገኝ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሀዘናችንን አቁመን በልበ ሙሉነት ለዚህ ሀገራዊ ውርደት የዳረገንን አንባገነናዊ ስርዓት ማስወገድ ይኖርብናል፡፡ዛሬ በሳውዲ ማጎሪያ ክምፕ ያለኸውም ሀገርህ ብትገባም ሊያስኖርህ የሚችል መንግስት አደለም ሀገሪቱን የሚመራት፡፡ያው ከመውጣትክ በፊት የምታውቀው በአንድ ዘር የበላይነት የተገነባው አብዛኛው ጾም የሚያድርበት ተቂቶች በብዙሀኑ ደም የሚንደላቀቁበት ነው፡፡ገብተህ ድምጽህን የምታሰማበት ምንም መንገድ የለህም፡፡ምናልባትም የሚጠብቅህ ሰበብ ተፈልጎ ቃሊቲ መወርወር ሊሆንም ይችላል፡፡ስለዚህ በተገኘው አጋጣሚ ሁሉ የነፃነት ታጋዮችን በመቀላቀል ነፃነታችንን፤የተዋረደው ክብራችንን ፤በአለም አደባባይ የጎደፈው ስማችንን በጋራ ማደስ ይኖርብናል፡፡ እግዚያብሄር አምላክ የሞቱት እህት እና ወንዶሞቻችን ነፍስ በገነት ያሳርፍልን፡፡የጠላቶቻችንን ልብ ያራራልን፡፡
ሞት ረግጠው ለሚገዙን አንባገንን መሪዎች !ድል የነፃነትን ብርሀን ለመፈንጠቅ በየበረሀው ለምትንከራተቱ የቁርጥ ቀን ልጆች!
ፀሀፊውን ለማጋኘት fredom.ethiopia@yahoo.com ማግኘት ይቻላል፡፡

Ethiopia: I Always Remember in November and in…

Ethiopia: I Always Remember in November and in…
November 17, 2013

by Alemayehu G. Mariam

For Ethiopians, November is a month which shall live in infamy
In November 2013, Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia are facing unspeakable horrors.
For the past few years, there has been systematic persecution of Ethiopians living, working and seeking refuge in Saudi Arabia. Even Ethiopians practicing their faith in the complete privacy of their homes have faced criminal prosecution and deportation. In 2011, according to a Human Rights Watch report, Saudi police arrested “thirty five Ethiopian Christians for ‘illicit mingling,’” while the  “Ethiopians gathered to pray together during the advent of Christmas, in the private home of one of the Ethiopians.”
It is no exaggeration to say it is open season on Ethiopian migrant workers and others seeking refuge in Saudi Arabia. Every day this month, Saudi police, security officials and ordinary Saudis have been hunting Ethiopians in the streets, beating, torturing and in some cases killing them. The video clips of Saudi police torturing Ethiopians are shocking to the conscience. The  video clips of Saudi mobs chasing, attacking and lynching Ethiopians in the streets requires no explanation. The photographs of crimes against humanity committed against Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia today are surreal and beyond civilized comprehension!!!
What is the regime in Ethiopia doing to help the estimated 200,000 plus Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia? Not a damn thing!
By its own admission, the regime has no idea how many Ethiopians are living in Saudi Arabia, but ludicrously promises to bring them all back “as soon as possible.”  The malaria researcher-turned-“foreign minister”, Tedros Adhanom, blathered that his regime “has condemned Saudi Arabia for its brutal crackdown on migrant workers in the kingdom. This is unacceptable. We call on the Saudi government to investigate this issue seriously. We are also happy to take our citizens, who should be treated with dignity while they are there.” “Unacceptable” is the most condemnatory language the regime could muster in the face of such monstrous cruelty, unspeakable barbarism and horrendous brutality and criminality. Al Jazeera reported that when outraged Ethiopians sought to peacefully protest in front of the Saudi embassy in Addis Ababa, they were arrested and beaten by regime policemen. “‘The police came and they beat us…and now more than 100 people are at the police station,” said Getaneh Balcha, a senior member of the opposition Blue Party movement, adding the party chairman and vice chairman were among those held.’” But should we really be surprised because…
In November 2005, Ethiopians faced unspeakable horrors in Ethiopia.
Following the parliamentary elections in May of that year, hundreds of Ethiopian citizens who protested the daylight theft of that election were massacred or seriously shot and wounded by police and security personnel under the exclusive command and control of the late regime leader Meles Zenawi. An official Inquiry Commission established by Zenawi documented that 193 unarmed men, women and children demonstrating in the streets and scores of other detainees held in a high security prison were intentionally shot and killed by police and security officials. An additional 763 were wounded.**
Every November since 2007, I have written a consecratory (sanctifying) memorial in remembrance of the hundreds of innocent unarmed demonstrators massacred and maimed in the aftermath of the 2005 parliamentary election by the current regime in Ethiopia. In my first memorial tribute, “Remember, the Ethiopian Martyrs of June and November, 2005 Forever!”, I reminded my readers that it was their moral duty “to bear witness for the dead and the living” as Elie Weisel,  the Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, so nobly put it. We must remember because we have “no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”
To forget the massacre victims of 2005 would be to forget the monstrous crimes committed against them and excuse the barbaric criminals who committed them. To forget the massacres is to assure the criminals they will never be held accountable because the crimes have been forgotten. Ultimately, to forget is to extend an invitation to the criminals in power to commit the same crimes again and again and on a greater scale with impunity.
I remember because I cannot and will not forget! Never!
I remember because if I do not who will be there to remember? I remember because if I forget, the crimes and the criminals will be forgotten. If I forget, how will history remember? History remembers only when there is someone to remember. So, I must remember. I must remember by bearing witness every Monday in November, and in December, and in January, and in February, and in March and in April, and…for  Ethiopia’s “youth of today, for the children who will be born tomorrow. [I] do not want [the] past to become their future.”
There are many who view my efforts over the years with some appreciation and gratitude; there are others who think I am an implacable, stubborn and overzealous partisan for my cause. I believe overzealous partisanship in the cause of human rights is a redemptive virtue. We live in a world of human rights and government wrongs. Ethiopians live in a world of government wrongs. Obstinacy in the defense of Ethiopian human rights is no vice.
I remember the victims of the 2005 massacres. I remember each and every one of them. I remember the young women who will never get to be mothers. I remember the young men who will never get to be fathers. I remember the orphans whose parents were massacred. I remember the fathers and mothers who will never get to see their children and never have a chance to see their grandchildren.
I do not forget the criminals. I remember the 237 policemen who pulled the trigger; the arch criminal and mastermind who pulled the fingers of the policemen who pulled the trigger and the flunkies who followed the orders of the mastermind and orchestrated the whole bloody carnage.
I will always remember in November, and in December and in January and in February and in April…
Rebuma E. Ergata, 34, mason; Melesachew D. Alemnew, 16, student; Hadra S. Osman, 22, occup. unknown; Jafar S.  Ibrahim, 28,  sm. business; Mekonnen, 17, occup. unknown; Woldesemayat, 27, unemployed; Beharu M. Demlew, occup. unknown; Fekade Negash, 25, mechanic; Abraham Yilma, 17, taxi; Yared B. Eshete, 23, sm. business; Kebede W. G. Hiwot, 17, student; Matios G. Filfilu, 14, student;Getnet A. Wedajo, 48, Sm. business; Endalkachew M. Hunde, 18, occup. unknown; Kasim A. Rashid, 21, mechanic; Imam A. Shewmoli, 22,  sm. business; Alye Y. Issa, 20, laborer; Samson N. Yakob, 23, pub. trspt.; Alebalew A. Abebe, 18, student; Beleyu B. Za, 18, trspt. asst.; Yusuf A. Jamal, 23, occup. student; Abraham S. W.  Agenehu, 23, trspt. asst.; Mohammed H. Beka, 45, farmer; Redela K. Awel, 19, taxi Assit., Habtamu A. Urgaa, 30, sm. Business.  Dawit F. Tsegaye, 19, mechanic; Gezahegne M. Geremew, 15, student; Yonas A. Abera, 24, occup. unknown; Girma A. Wolde, 38, driver; W/o Desta U. Birru, 37, sm. business; Legese T. Feyisa, 60, mason; Tesfaye D. Bushra, 19, shoe repairman; Binyam D. Degefa, 18, unemployed.
Million K. Robi, 32, trspt. asst.; Derege D. Dene, 24,  student; Nebiyu A. Haile, 16, student; Mitiku U. Mwalenda, 24, domestic worker; Anwar K. Surur, 22, sm. business; Niguse Wabegn, 36, domestic worker; Zulfa S. Hasen, 50, housewife; Washun Kebede, 16, student; Ermia F. Ketema, 20, student; 00428, 25, occup. unknown; 00429, 26, occup. unknown; 00430, 30, occup. unknown; Adissu Belachew, 25, occup. unknown; Demeke K. Abebe,uk, occup. unknown; 00432, 22, occup. unknown; 00450, 20, occup. unknown; 13903, 25, occup. unknown; 00435, 30, occup. unknown. 13906, 25, occup. unknown; Temam Muktar, 25, occup. unknown; Beyne N. Beza, 25, occup. unknown; Wesen Asefa, 25, occup. unknown; Abebe Anteneh, 30, occup. unknow; Fekadu Haile, 25, occup. unknow; Elias Golte, uk, occup. unknown; Berhanu A. Werqa, uk, occup. unknown.
Asehber A. Mekuria, uk, occup. unknown; Dawit F. Sema, uk, occup. unknown, Merhatsedk Sirak, 22, occup. unknown; Belete Gashawtena, uk, occup. unknown;  Behailu Tesfaye, 20, occup. unknown; 21760, 18, occup. unknown; 21523, 25, occup. unknown; 11657, 24, occup. unknown; 21520, 25, occup. unknown; 21781, 60, occup. unknown; Getachew Azeze, 45, occup. unknown; 21762, 75, occup. unknown; 11662,45, occup. unknown; 21763, 25, occup. unknown; 13087, 30, occup. unknown; 21571, 25, occup. unknown; 21761, 21, occup. unknown; 21569, 25, occup. unknown; 13088, 30,  occup. unknown; Endalkachew W. Gabriel, 27, occup. unknown.
Hailemariam Ambaye, 20, occup. unknown; Mebratu W. Zaudu,27, occup. unknown; Sintayehu E. Beyene, 14, occup. unknown; Tamiru Hailemichael, uk, occup. unknown; Admasu T. Abebe, 45, occup. unknown; Etenesh Yimam, 50, occup. unknown; Werqe Abebe, 19, occup. unknown; Fekadu Degefe, 27, occup. unknown Shemsu Kalid, 25, occup. unknown; Abduwahib Ahmedin, 30, occup. unknown; Takele Debele, 20, occup. unknown, Tadesse Feyisa,38,  occup. unknown; Solomon Tesfaye, 25, occup. unknown; Kitaw Werqu, 25, occup. nknown; Endalkachew Worqu, 25, occup. unknow; Desta A. Negash, 30, occup. unknown; Yilef Nega, 15, occup. unknown; Yohannes Haile, 20, occup. unknown; Behailu T. Berhanu, 30, occup. unknown; Mulu K. Soresa, 50, housewife, Teodros Gidey Hailu, 23, shoe salesman; Dejene Yilma Gebre, 18, store worker; Ougahun Woldegebriel, 18, student; Dereje Mamo Hasen, 27, carpenter.
Regassa G. Feyisa, 55, laundry worker; Teodros Gebrewold, 28, private business; Mekonne D. G.Egziaber, 20, mechanic; Elias G. Giorgis, 23, student; Abram A. Mekonnen, 21, laborer; Tiruwerq G.Tsadik, 41, housewife; Henok H. Mekonnen; 28, occup. unknown; Getu S. Mereta, 24, occup. unknown;W/o Kibnesh Meke Tadesse, 52, occup. unknown; Messay A. Sitotaw, 29, private business; Mulualem N. Weyisa, 15, Ayalsew Mamo, 23, occup. unknown; Sintayehu Melese, 24, laborer;  W/o Tsedale A. Birra, 50, housewife; Abayneh Sara Sede, 35, tailor; Fikremariam K. Telila, 18, chauffer; Alemayehu Gerba, 26, occup. unknown; George G. Abebe,36, private trspt.; Habtamu Zegeye Tola, 16, student; Mitiku Z. G. Selassie, 24, student; Tezazu W. Mekruia, 24, private business; Fikadu A. Dalige, 36,  tailor; Shewaga B. W.Giorgis, 38, laborer; Alemayehu E. Zewde, 32, textile worker; Zelalem K. G.Tsadik, 31, taxi driver; Mekoya M. Tadesse, 19, student; Hayleye G. Hussien, 19, student; W/o Fiseha T. G.Tsadik, 23, police employee; Wegayehu Z. Argaw, 26, unemployed.
Melaku M. Kebede, 19, occup. unknown; Abayneh D. Orra, 25, tailor; W/o Abebch B. Holetu, 50, housewife;  Demeke A. Jenbere, 30, farmer; Kinde M. Weresu, 22, unemployed; Endale A. G.Medhin, 23, private business; Alemayehu T. Wolde,24, teacher; Bisrat T. Demisse, 24, car importer; Mesfin H. Giorgis, 23, private business, Welio H. Dari, 18, private business, Behailu G. G.Medhin, 20, private business; Siraj Nuri Sayed, 18, student; Iyob G.Medhin, 25, student; Daniel W. Mulugeta,25, laborer; Teodros K. Degefa,25, shoe factory worker; Gashaw T. Mulugeta, 24, student; Kebede B. Orke, 22, student; Lechisa K. Fatasa, 21, student; Jagama B. Besha,20, student; Debela O. Guta, 15, student; Melaku T. Feyisa, 16, student; W/o Elfnesh Tekle, 45, occup. unknown; Hassen Dula, 64, occup. unknown; Hussien Hassen Dula, 25, occup. unknown; Dejene Demisse,15, occup. unknown; Name unknown; Name unknown;  Name unknown; Zemedkun Agdew, 18, occup. unknown;  Getachew A. Terefe, 16, occup. unknown; Delelegn K. Alemu, 20, occup. unknown; Yusef M. Oumer,20, occup. unknown.
Mekruria T. Tebedge, 22, occup. unknown; Bademe M. Teshamahu, 20, occup. unknown; Ambaw Getahun,38, occup. unknown; Teshome A. Kidane, 65, health worker; Yosef M. Regassa, uk, occup. unknown; Abiyu Negussie, uk, occup. uk; Tadele S. Behaga,uk, occup. unknown; Efrem T. Shafi,uk, occup. unknown; Abebe H. Hama, uk, occup. unknown; Gebre Molla, uk, occup. unknown; Seydeen Nurudeen, uk, occup. unknown; Eneyew G. Tsegaye, 32, trspt. asst; Abdurahman H. Ferej, 32, wood worker; Ambaw L. Bitul, 60, leather factory worker; Abdulmenan Hussien, 28, private business; Jigsa T. Setegn, 18, student; Asefa A. Negassa, 33, carpenter; Ketema K. Unko, 23, tailor; Kibret E. Elfneh, 48, private guard; Iyob G. Zemedkun, 24, private business; Tesfaye B. Megesha,15, private business; Capt. Debesa S. Tolosa, 58, private business;Tinsae M. Zegeye,14,  tailor;Kidana G. Shukrow,25, laborer;Andualem Shibelew, 16, student; Adissu D. Tesfahun, 19, private business; Kassa Beyene Yror,28, clothes sales; Yitagesu Sisay,22, occup. unknown; Unknown, 22, occup. unknown.
Police and security officers killed by friendly fire (security officers  killed in each other’s crossfire):  Nega Gebre, Jebena Desalegn,  Mulita Irko, Yohannes Solomon, Ashenafi Desalegn, Feyia Gebremenfes.
I remember the hundreds of victims maimed, injured, battered and mutilated.
List of prisoners massacred while trapped in their cells at Kaliti Prison on November 2, 2005:
Teyib Shemsu Mohammed, age unknown, male, charged with instigating armed insurrection. Sali Kebede, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Sefiw Endrias Tafesse Woreda, age unknown, male, charged with rape. Zegeye Tenkolu Belay, age unknown, male, charged with robbery. Biyadgligne Tamene, age unknown, male, charges unknown. Gebre Mesfin Dagne, age unknown, male, charges unknown. Bekele Abraham Taye, age unknown, male, charged with hooliganism. Abesha Guta Mola, age unknown, male, charges unknown. Kurfa Melka Telila, convicted of making threats. Begashaw Terefe Gudeta, age unknown, male, charged with brawling [breach of peace]. Abdulwehab Ahmedin, age unknown, male, charged with robbery. Tesfaye Abiy Mulugeta, age unknown, male, charged with instigating armed insurrection. Adane Bireda, age unknown, male, charged with murder. Yirdaw Kersema, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
Balcha Alemu Regassa, age unknown, male, charged with robbery. Abush Belew Wodajo, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Waleligne Tamire Belay, age unknown, male, charged with rape. Cherinet Haile Tolla, age unknown, male, convicted of robbery. Temam Shemsu Gole, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Gebeyehu Bekele Alene, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Daniel Taye Leku, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Mohammed Tuji Kene, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Abdu Nejib Nur, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Yemataw Serbelo, charged with rape. Fikru Natna’el Sewneh, age unknown, male, charged with making threats. Munir Kelil Adem, age unknown, male, charged with hooliganism. Haimanot Bedlu Teshome, age unknown, male, convicted of infringement. esfaye Kibrom Tekne, age unknown, male, charged with robbery. Workneh Teferra Hunde, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
Sisay Mitiku Hunegne, charged with fraud. Muluneh Aynalem Mamo, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Taddese Rufe Yeneneh, charged with making threats. Anteneh Beyecha Qebeta, age unknown, male, charged with instigating armed insurrection. Zerihun Meresa, age unknown, male, convicted of damage to property. Wogayehu Zerihun Argaw, charged with robbery. Bekelkay Tamiru,  age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Yeraswork Anteneh, age unknown, male, charged with fraud. Bazezew Berhanu, age unknown, male, charged with engaging in homosexual act. Solomon Iyob Guta, age unknown, male, charged with rape. Asayu Mitiku Arage, age unknown, male, charged with making threats. Game Hailu Zeye, age unknown, male, charged with brawling [public disorder] Maru Enawgaw Dinbere, age unknown, male, charged with rape. Ejigu Minale, age unknown, male, charged with attempted murder. Hailu Bosne Habib, age unknown, male, convicted of providing sanctuary. Tilahun Meseret, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Negusse Belayneh, age unknown, male, charged with robbery. Ashenafi Abebaw, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Feleke Dinke, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Jenbere Dinkineh Bilew, age unknown, male, charged with brawling [public disorder].
Tolesa Worku Debebe, age unknown, male, charged with robbery. Mekasha Belayneh Tamiru, age unknown, male, charged with hooliganism. Yifru Aderaw, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Fantahun Dagne, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Tibebe Wakene Tufa, age unknown, male, charged with instigating armed insurrection. Solomon Gebre Amlak, age unknown, male, charged with hooliganism. Banjaw Chuchu Kassahun, age unknown, male, charged with robbery. Demeke Abeje, age unknown, male, charged with attempted murder. 58. Endale Ewnetu Mengiste, age unknown, male, no charges indicated. Alemayehu Garba, age unknown, male, detained in connection with Addis Ababa University student  demonstration in 2004.  Morkota Edosa, age unknown, male, no charges indicated.
For the Record: There is a certified list of at least 237 police and security officers known to be directly involved in these massacres.
I remember Yenesew Gebre 

Yenesew Gebre
On 11/11/11, Yenesew Gebre, a 29 year-old Ethiopian school teacher and human rights activist set himself ablaze outside a public meeting hall in the town of Tarcha located in Dawro Zone in Southern Ethiopia. He died three days later from his injuries.  Before torching himself, Yenesew told a gathered  crowd outside of a meeting hall, “In a country where there is no justice and no fair administration, where human rights are not respected, I will sacrifice myself so that these young people will be set free.” I remember Yenesew Gebre …
“I remember the killers, I remember the victims, even as I struggle to invent a thousand and one reasons to hope.  Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair. Hope is possible beyond despair.” Elie Wiesel.   
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For additional data on massacre victims, see Testimony of Yared Hailemariam, Ethiopian Human Rights Defender, “CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY IN ETHIOPIA: THE ADDIS ABABA MASSACRES OF JUNE AND NOVEMBER 2005” before the EXTRAORDINARY JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT COMMITTEES ON DEVELOPMENT AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS, AND SUB-COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS May 15, 2006.
** The Inquiry Commission completely exonerated the victims of the massacre and pinned the entire blame on the police and paramilitary forces.  The Commission concluded, “There was no property destroyed [by protesters]. There was not a single protester who was armed with a gun or a hand grenade as reported by the government-controlled media that some of the protesters were armed with guns and bombs. [The shots fired by government forces] were not intended to disperse the crowd but to kill by targeting the head and chest of the protesters.”
The Commission’s list of 193 victims includes only those deaths that occurred on June 6-8 and November 1-4, 2005, the specific dates the Commission was authorized to investigate. The Commission has an additional list of victims of extra-judicial killings by regime police and security forces which it did not publicly report because the killings occurred outside the dates the Commission was authorized to investigate.