November 14, 2006

The Ethiopian government killed tens of thousands of students and critics in the past 15 years, including up to 20,000 in the Oromia region alone, claims Judge Teshale Aberra

Below is an article from Legal brief Africa:

The Ethiopian Government is responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of students and other critics over the past 15 years, one of the country’s most senior judges, who has defected to Britain, has said.

In an interview reported on the Mail & Guardian site, Judge Teshale Aberra claimed the government of Meles Zenawi was as bad, or worse, than that of his predecessor, Mengistu Haile Mariam, widely condemned for human rights abuses.

‘The Mengistu government killed and boasted about it. The Meles Government kills and asks ‘who killed them’, and then sets up an inquiry commission,’ Aberra, a judge for 12 years, said. Between 15 000 and 20 000 people had been killed in the Oromia region alone, he claimed.

He spoke of two students killed by a policeman in what he described as cold blood. Aberra, who was president of the Oromia Supreme Court, said torture was commonplace for detainees.

‘They detain people without court orders. They detain people even after the decision is rendered that they should be released. They persecute people and, in some areas, they kill people. There is a systematic massacre.’

Source: http://unpo.org/article/5826