Another Inquiry Commission official defects

22.10.2006
Source :Ethiomedia
LONDON - A member of Ethiopia's Inquiry Commission whose report held Prime Minister Meles Zenawi responsible for massacring 193 civilian Ethiopians last year has fled the country for fear of political persecution, Ethiomedia sources confirmed earlier on Saturday. Mitiku Teshome of the Catholic Secretariat in Ethiopia and member of the 10-person Inquiry Commission was one of the eight votes that approved the Meles government had used excessive force to quell protests that erupted following the May 2005 elections rigged by the ruling party in power. Trained in law, Mitiku was the third official who followed the footsteps of Frehiwot Samuel and Wolde-Michael Meshesha, chair and deputy chair of the Inquiry Commission whose debilitating report unmasked how security forces under the command of the prime minister slaughtered 193 Ethiopians, of which 40 were teenagers, "including a boy and a girl, both 14," according to AP. Following the Inquiry Commission's report released to the Associated Press, Ana Gomes, chief of the European Union (EU) Election Observer Mission to Ethiopia, said it was what her delegation has been saying all along, and blasted European leaders for turning a blind eye to government crimes in Ethiopia. Her denunciations were followed by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith's blistering attack of the Zenawi regime. "Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's silence speaks volumes. The regime refuses to comment on the report, most likely because they never expected it to see the light of day. We have a responsibility to hold them accountable for their brutal actions as well as their subsequent efforts to suppress this inquiry," Smith, who is the chairman of the Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations Subcommittee and author of the "Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006" (H.R. 5680) - said in a report released by his office. Congressman Smith was joined by Congressman Donald Payne, who is co-author of HR 5680, in condemning the activities of the Zenawi regime. "For over a year, I constantly argued that the Ethiopian government used excessive force against innocent civilians. Many innocent civilians lost their lives. Parliament established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the killings. The Commission interviewed dozens of people and spent months investigating and documenting what they saw and heard. When the time came to submit the report, parliament was adjourned a day early, denying the Commission the opportunity to present their findings. The decision was deliberate in order to force the Commission to change its findings," Mr. Payne said. "Over the past week, a friend spoke to both the chair and deputy chairman of the Commission. They clearly stated that they can not turn their backs on all those people who risked their lives to speak to us. They said the truth must come out and Ethiopians must know what happened in June and November," Mr Payne said in a report also released by his office Friday. Prominent human rights acivist arrested, EU employees face expulsionPolice in the Ethiopia-Kenya border town of Moyale arrested Friday a prominent Ethiopian human rights activist, her Ethiopian colleague and two foreigners working for the European Union (EU) as the group tried to cross the border into Kenya, media sources said. Yalemzewd Bekele, also a lawyer working for EU, and another unidentified Ethiopian were arrested after police intercepted the EU car bound for Kenya. Police had a week earlier issued an arrest warrant for Yalemzewd after she was accused of allegedly distributing opposition calendars of impending civil disobedience programs in the country, Ethio-Zagol reported. Meanwhile, according to the German News Agency DPA, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel condemned the expulsion of the two EU workers. "I am extremely worried about the way the Ethiopian government has reacted. The basic rules of diplomacy have not been respected." The EU officials have been given 24 hours to leave Ethiopia the state-owned Ethiopian Television quoted the interior ministry as saying. The chief observer for the EU during the elections, Ana Gomes, has condemned the arrest of the two officials, saying it shows that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government is determined to repress democratic activity. Confirmed by Associated Press, Ethio-Zagol said the two EU employees who were allegedly helping Yalemzewd escape the country were identified as Bjorn Jonsoon, Head of Finance and Contract Department of the delegation in Ethiopia and Enrico Sborgi, who works at the Good Governance Department of the EU. EU development spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio in Brussels said that the EU delegation in Ethiopia was still trying to get information on what had happened. Police stopped a European Commission vehicle with diplomatic license plates containing four people in the southern border town of Moyale and made the arrests when the foreigners refused to wind down their windows, the statement said. The Ethiopians, whose whereabouts were unknown after their arrest, were, "being hunted by police for committing felonies," the statement said. What the foreigners did, "violates the sovereignty of the country while jeopardizing the security of the nation," AP quoted the statement as saying. The European Union is one of Ethiopia's largest donors, but its officials have been sharply critical of political developments in the country amid questions about top officials' commitment to democracy. Earlier this week, an Ethiopian judge who served as vice-president of a 10-man inquiry commission released a finding to AP that the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was responsible for massacring 193 unarmed civilians last year. The report, which observers billed as "devastating" to the Meles regime, was released by Wolde-Michael Meshesha.