Ethiopian authorities resort to repression

Ethiopian authorities resort to repression

The Ethiopian Teachers' Association has once again become a target for the Government of Ethiopia's repression against its political opponents.

On 2 November 2005, the Ethiopian police opened fire on protestors in the capital Addis Ababa, killing 40 people and wounding many demonstrators. A large number of teachers - members of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association -students and others were taken into custody. The Head Office of the ETA was searched by the security services and a number of items - documents, computers and other office equipment, some of which had been donated to the ETA by its sister organisations in Europe, were taken away.

In a letter addressed to Mr Melesi Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the General Secretary of the TUC, urged the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that the rule of law was restored and that detainees were released without delay or dealt with through a proper judicial process in compliance with the country's international obligations.

The European Union and USA, in a joint statement issued through the British Embassy in Addis Ababa called upon the Ethiopian authorities to put an immediate end to t he use of lethal force, random searches and indiscriminate beatings and massive arrests and asked for the release of all political detainees.

Following elections in May 2005, there have been protests over alleged voting irregularities which, according to the opposition, ensured the victory of Prime Minister Melezi's party. In June this year, security forces resorted to mass arrests and shot dead 36 demonstrators in Addis Ababa who defied a government ban on protests.

Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and has a population of 73m (2005). It is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita income of about US$ 115. Life expectancy at birth is about 42 years. The country is heavily dependent on official development assistance. In 2003, ODA amounted to 21.9% of its gross domestic income. Ethiopia is one of the countries eligible to benefit from G-8 proposals for 100% cancellation of debt owed to the IMF, IDA and AfDB. Despite recent progress on some socio-economic indicators, Ethiopia is likely to find it hard to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.