Many members of organisations belonging to the umbrella EPRDF have been killed or expelled because of disagreements with the single ethnic dominated ruling party, the TPLF, including some senior figures, for example:

– The Vice-President of the OPDO (Oromo Peoples Democratic Organization), Hassan Ali, who now lives in America after escaping an assassination attempt, witnessed that “after the fiscal year 1998 (July 1997 to June 1998) budget allocations were unilaterally inequitably allocated”; several other members of the OPDO also started complaining about the inequity. (Hassen Ali, quoted in Sagalee Haaraa, Number 28 (May-July, 1999):3) Shortly thereafter, in September 1997, government security agents killed two of the most vocal members of OPDO Central Committee. They were Mokonnen Fite and Bayu Gurmu. Although we know, said Mr. Haasen, they were murdered; their deaths were officially explained as “car accidents”;

– Mr. Yonatan Dhibbissaa the founder and Central committee of OPDO and the Ministry of Justice for the Oromia region defected to Germany on 23 February 2001, stating that his main cause to defect is the human right violations carried out against the Oromo people (Geflohener Minister prangert Menschenrechtslage an, Berliner Zeitung Nummer 55. ¾. Marz 2001);

– Miss Almaz Mako, Central committee member of OPDO and the Spokesperson of the Federal House defected on 12 August 2001 to USA. She exhaustively criticised the government’s anti-democratic nature (VOA report on 14.08.01);

– The Oromia Region Minister for Capacity Building, Melese Dayessa, (an Oromo) fled to Kenya in early May 2002, claiming, according to the BBC on 8 May, that he was being persecuted because of his ethnicity (BBC broadcasting on 8 May 2002);

– The Massacre of peaceful demonstrators of Sidama people in Awasa, Shaka-Mazangir at Tepi, killings of peaceful demonstrators of Oromo students in 2001, 2002, and 2004, as well as the mass massacre of Anuak People in 2004 are some of the living testimonies of the terrorist acts committed by the TPLF Government.

Full Information in PDF: G0513027

Source from UNHCR: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G05/130/27/PDF/G0513027.pdf?OpenElement