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Human Rights
The Birtukan  Saga
6) On March 2, 1985 TPLF
guerrillas seized a French
disaster-relief aircraft, and its
five-crew members and four
medical staff in the northern
town of Lalibela. They were
flying supplies for Ethiopian
villages affected by the deadly
famine as part of international
relief effort. They released
them few days later.

5) On October 17, 1984
TPLF guerrillas overran
Lalibela and seized ten
foreigners, two American
tourists, two Britons, a Finn,
an Australian, three West
German medics and a Swiss
International Red Cross
representative. They were
released on October 30

4) On August 3, 1983 TPLF
guerrillas kidnapped ten
Swiss citizens working for
aid group Terre des Hommes
(Land of Man) near Jari
where it operates a village for
orphans. Their only demand
was publicity. ( Birtukan was
only 7 at that time )

3) On April 22, 1983 TPLF
guerrillas raided Korem and
kidnapped 10 aid workers,
four Britons, an American
priest and nuns from Italy
and Ethiopia. They were set
free on June 9 in Khartoum.

2) On June 1, 1976 TPLF
captured Jon Swain, British
correspondent for the Sunday
Times of London near Axum.
They released him in
Khartoum on September 5,
1976





A hostage meets his
Ethiopian captor
By John Swain

1) On May 1, 1976 TPLF
kidnapped a British
veterinarian, Dr. Lindsey
Tyler, his wife and two
children in Tigray, and
released them on 5 January
1977 in Port Sudan, Sudan
12) In 1992 TPLF arrested Professor Asrat Woldeyes whom
Amnesty International declared a prisoner of conscience the same year;
and he was released on bail. Arrested again in 1993; Ethiopia's best
surgeon was denied a simple medical care, and you all know what
happened to him eventually.
His Speech

11) In 1992, TPLF forces detained Yosef Ayele Bati, Lamessa Boru,
Dereje Kana'a, Kassabun Habte, Anano Mite, Bekisa Sina, Sheikh Aliy
Ahmed Waday and they  have subsequently disappeared in 1993. More

10) In June 1991, TPLF forces attacked the areas held by the EPRP in
Gondar and Gojjam. In the all out war that ensued, some EPRP leaders
and veteran members fell into the hands of the TPLF. Among those
captured at the time in Sankisa (Quara) and other areas were EPRP
leaders like: Tsegaye Gebre Medhin Lucha (a.k.a. Debtera), a founding
member of the EPRP; Yishak Debretsion, Belete Amha, Sitotaw
Hussein, veteran guerilla leaders like Teklai Gebresellasie, Hagos
Bezabih and Abera. Around the same time, Azanaw Demile (Tulu) was
handed over to the TPLF by the government of the Sudan. TPLF also
killed the leader of EPRP, Gebre Igziabeher in Addis Ababa and,
captured other members: Aberash Berta, Lemma Hailu, Tesfay Kebede,  
Berhe, Kahsay Gebrai, etc...and no one knows what happened to them.

9) February 17, 1988 TPLF guerillas abducted six European aid
workers in Asmara. The victims three Irish nuns, two Belgian doctors
and a Dutch nurse were released a week later.

8) October 1, 1987 TPLF guerillas kidnapped Sophie Bedon, a French
nurse, after an attack on an Ethiopian garrison in Rama. She was
handed over to the French embassy in Khartoum, Sudan after three
weeks of captivity.

7) On March 8, 1986 TPLF guerillas shot and killed  two Ethiopian
employees of an American relief agency, World Vision in the dinning
room of their residence compound in the northern town of Alamata.

6) On March 2, 1985 TPLF guerrillas seized a French disaster-relief
aircraft, and its five-crew members and four medical staff in the
northern town of Lalibela. They were flying supplies for Ethiopian
villages affected by the deadly famine as part of international relief
effort. They released them few days later.

5) On October 17, 1984 TPLF guerrillas overran Lalibela and seized ten
foreigners, two American tourists, two Britons, a Finn, an Australian,
three West German medics and a Swiss International Red Cross
representative. They were released on October 30
Who Pardons Who?
The Path Birtukan refused to follow:
24) On November 1, 2005 TPLF forces opened fire on peaceful
demonstrators in Addis Ababa and massacred 197 civilians. They also   
"detained more than 40,000 Ethiopians and transported them to all
corners of the country. We became familiar with places such as Zewai,
Dedessa, Bir Sheloko, Shoa Robit, Kolfe and Sendafa."

22) On March 18, 2004 TPLF forces shot the elementary school
students in Dire village near Bushoftu, 45km east of Addis Ababa; killed
a 5th grade student, Lemma Ambesse and wounded a female student
Birtukan Dhuguma. Two days later the local people who attended the
funeral ceremony of Lemma were dispersed forcefully and several of
them injured.

21) On December 13, 2003 TPLF forces conducted a bloody three day
rampage in Gambella in which as many as 424 people were killed,
almost all of them anuak. They burned over four hundred houses to the
ground and ransacked and looted many of those left standing.

20) On May 24, 2002 demonstraters carrying leaves of olives as a sign
of peace and non-violent were marching in Looqe, Awassa, when they
were confronted by TPLF's forces, who savagely sprayed their bullets
killing over 70 and injuring hundreds. Thousands of innocent people
were rounded up afterwards.

19) Following the breakout of war with Eritrea in May 1998, TPLF
began deporting anyone of full or part Eritrean descent. Fifty-two
thousand Eritreans have been arbitrarily deported in the first six months
alone. " People of all ages, from babies to pensioners, are imprisoned in
harsh conditions for several days before being forced to board buses
under armed guard with only one piece of luggage each -- if that -- and
being dumped at the border. They arrive hungry and exhausted, and
often ill, after the three-day journey."
Families have been split up, the male head usually deported first, and his
wife, parents and children weeks or months later. The many Ethiopians
married to Eritreans are forbidden to leave and forced to watch
helplessly while their spouse and children are.. deported.

18) In May 1996, TPLF's unrelentless assault on 120,000 member
strong Ethiopian Teachers Association reached a new level when its
President, Dr. Taye Woldesmiate was arrested without warrant. A
year after his arrest Mr. Assefa Maru, the Deputy General Secretary of
ETA, was gunned down by TPLF squads in broad day light, on his way
to his office. Mr. Shimelis Zewde, the Acting General Secretary and
Mr. Abate Angore, Deputy General Secretary were kept in a one room
cell for a month with a TB patient, the former died shortly after his
release. Kebede Desta, the President of Retired Teachers Association,
had his eyes gouged out for refusing to testify falsely against Dr. Taye
Woldesemiate.

17) The attack on free press by TPLF that began in 1993, continued
through 94, 95, 96, and at the end of 1997, there were 15 journalists
either detained or imprisoned. At the end of 1998, thirteen of them
remained in detention. Among the notable cases: In January 1998 four
journalists from the influential Amharic language newspaper Tobia were
detained and held for six months. Four of the five journalists from the
Oromo language newspaper Urji who were arrested in 1997 remained in
detention at the end of 1998. Three journalists from the private weekly
Nishan were detained in July 1998.

16) In 1996, TPLF escalated armed conflicts in Oromia. Amnesty
International noted reports of alleged extra-judicial killings carried out
by the security forces. It also noted the death in Addis Ababa of Ebissa
Adunya, an Oromo singer who was apparently killed by soldiers who
suspected him of supporting OLF.

15) In August 1993, TPLF started its attack on free press. The attacks
were multi-fronted and systematic which includes killings. According
to a 2001 report: Gizachew Mengistu, of the weekly Moged, was shot
dead in broad daylight in the provincial town of Debre Berhan. Tesfaye
Tadesse a founder, publisher and editor of the monthly, Mestawet and
the weekly, Lubar was hacked to death by TPLF forces outside of his
home. Worku Mekonnen of the weekly Maebel committed suicide in his
home in Addis Ababa a year ago after enduring long police
investigations. Abay Hailu of the newspapers Wolafen and Agere died in
prison after 24 months without any court decision. Two more
journalists, Kumsa Burayu of Wolafen, and Bekele Mekonnen Rabo of
Urji, disappeared years ago and are still unaccounted for.

14) In January 1993, Students at AAU were protesting the planned
referendum for Eritrea when they were met with TPLF's bullets.
Officialy one death was reported, but students were severly wounded,
stabbed and beaten. The university closed for three months. A few
months later the President of the University Dr. Alemayehu Tefera was
arrested and held incommunicado for over ten years until his release in
2003.

13) In 1993 Ethiopian Teachers Association elected its leadership,
which was accepted by court as legitimate in December, 1994. TPLF
set up another court and dismissed the elected leaders from their
employment, as were a number of active members. The 134 regional
offices of ETA were closed and thousands of teachers have been
transfered, as of 4 January 1997, 84 members of ETA were in
detention for their active participation in ETA.
Harsh on Ethiopians
9) " The size of the military at the time of the
collapse of Haile Selassie's rule in 1974 was
estimated to be about 40 000, while the military
budget was estimated to be $50 million in 1973.
Dramatic shifts occurred in the nature and size, and
consequent cost, of the Ethiopian military from the
1970s onwards,...."
Budgeting for the military Sector in Africa
By Wuyi Omitoogun,
Eboe Hutcful, Stockholm
Page 52

8) " The geo-strategic rationale for the US foreign
aid during the cold war was precisely in order to
ensure clients loyalty, and to enable them to override
domestic political pressures and when necessary
crush internal opposition by force."
Famine Crimes
By Alexander De waal, page 136

7) " Where there is protracted war, relief assistance
rapidly becomes integrated into the dynamic of
violence. The diversion of taxation of relief supplies
becomes a major way for belligerents to provision
themselves, and, in time, the very command
structures and military strategies themselves will
come to reflect the availability of external aid and the
means whereby it is delivered."
The above book page 146

6) Meles, elected chairman of the TPLF and EPRDF
in 1989, convened mass organizations to explain the
front's goals and praxis to the people and to obtain
popular support. At the many meetings held through
early 1990, culminating in a month-long conference
in Mekele, Meles and his colleagues argued that
unless the government were completely destroyed,
Tigray would be bombed continuosly;.........and
when Meles did not demur to Eritrea's claims of
independence, U.S. officials scrapped the
long-standing policy of supporting the inviolability of
Ethiopia's frontiers. When they were able to assure
Isayas about Eritrea's separate future - he also had
made a trip to Washington - the end was in sight for
Mengistu's government."
A History of Ethiopia
By Harold G. Marcus

5) " This suspicion was reinforced when the Dergue
impounded an Australian ship, the Golden Venture,
at Assab port in January 1985. The vessel, which
was bound for Port Sudan, in the Republic of Sudan,
and had mistakenly berthed at Assab, in Ethiopia,
contained relief cargo clearly marked for delivery to
the EPLF and TPLF."
The Specter of Genocide
By Robert Gellately,
Ben Kiernan
2003, page 321  

4) " The election board was supposed to encourage
discussions in preparation for the organisational
congress of 1979. Some members of the election
board opposed the campaign, as a result of which
Abadi (Goliad) lost his life and Teshome Tsegay,
Gudo, (now living in the USA) managed to escape..."
By Kahsay Berhe
and Tesfay Atsbeha
More

3) In 1976 the TPLF released the 'Manifesto of the
TPLF 'which argued that 'the first task of this
national struggle will be the establishment of an
independent democratic republic of Tigray'.

2) " ..the TPLF went a step further and began
harassing the peasant militia and supporters of
EPRA.Some of the peasants were flogged. Then the
TPLF began killing peasants who supported the
EPRA. Among the first to be killed was Kahsai, a
peasant of the Adi Irob area in the Agame district..".
More

1) " ..negotiations which resulted in an agreement in
November 1975 to unite the two organisations and
dissolve the TLF. In spite of this agreement,
however, a number of TLF cadres, including two
Central Committee members, Yohannis Tecle
Haimanot and Tadesse Tilahun, were subsequently
killed by the TPLF. The TPLF claims that these
individuals were arrested after it was found that they
had killed six or seven of their colleagues. They were
subsequently put on trial in the presence of EPLF
and ELF observers, found guilty, and executed."
Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia
By JHON YOUNG