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Ethiopia: last detained teacher activist out of prison

The last teacher unionist imprisoned for his connection with the independent ETA (Ethiopia Teachers Association) in Ethiopia was released on 16 December. Meqcha Mengistu, Chairman of former ETA branch in East Gojam and EFAIDS programme coordinator, was officially pardoned after having served a three year prison term in the Kality prison.

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[2007-06-22] Ethiopia

Arrests of Ethiopian Teachers’ Association activists resumed

Anteneh Getnet, Meqcha Mengistu, Tilahun Ayalew, Woldie Dana

Dear colleagues,

Education International again calls on your solidarity to ensure the immediate release of three members of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA), detained in the context of their legal trade union activities.

Currently, two ETA officers and a member of the ETA are in detention in the Addis Ababa Kality central prison. A fourth one is reported missing since May 28. The facts are all the more worrying that the two ETA officers in detention and the one missing are precisely the three colleagues who had previously been arrested, detained and tortured in December 2006 until their sudden release on 23 March 2007.

The four teachers are again accused of being members of an illegal organisation called “Ethiopian Patriotic Front”. They appeared at the Federal High Court second criminal bench on 18 June. The presiding judge adjourned their case until 2 July 2007 because various formalities had not been completed by the registration office and documents had not been delivered. Until July 2, they will be detained in the Addis Ababa Kality central prison.

EI fears that these teachers may again be submitted to ill treatment to make them confess membership to an illegal organisation.

30 May 2007: Re-arrest of ETA activists

Anteneh Getnet, a male teacher aged 42, member of the ETA Addis Ababa Regional Council, was arrested on 30 May at 6 am by four men in police uniform and seven government security agents in plain clothes. They surrounded his house in Addis Ababa, arrested him and drove him to the Addis Ababa Police Commission located adjacent to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, known as Maekelawi.

He is accused of “involvement in criminal activities and acting as a member of an illegal organisation called Ethiopian Patriotic Front”. This was also the reason given as he spent four months in detention earlier this year and was released on 23 March by the Federal First Instance when the prosecutor failed to produce evidence against him.

After his release, Anteneh explained that on regular occasions during his detention, he was suspended, with his limbs tied and was threathened that he would not be released unless admitting that he is member of the Patriot Front. He confessed so, forcefully. One of his arms is still misshapen.

Last year, on 8 May 2006, Anteneh Getenet was abducted and tortured by unidentified men. He almost died and suffers severe health problems, among them lung deficiencies that make his speech difficult. Because of that, he will never be able to teach again. A prominent ETA activist, he was elected to the the ETA Addis Ababa Regional Council in August 2006.

Meqcha Mengistu was also arrested on 30 May at 5 am. His house in Dejen, in East Gojam in the Eastern part of the country, was occupied by police and security agents. He was brought to the Dejen police station and later transfered to Maekelawi.

Meqcha Mengistu, aged 38 and father of 4 children, teaches at a secondary school in Dejen. He is chairperson of the ETA East Gojam Zonal Executive and is member of the ETA Committee for the implementation of the EI/ETA Education For All-HIV/AIDS programme (EFAIDS).

During his previous arrest on 17 December 2006 and four months detention, he was heavily beaten. To make him confess he was a member of the Patriotic Front, security agents searched his home without court permit, mistreated his parents, threatened and locked up his children.

Both Anteneh and Meqcha told their lawyer and the ETA General Secretary that they are not members of the so called Ethiopian Patriot Front and had no connection, whatsoever, with that group.

Woldie Dana is also a member of the ETA. A teacher at the Aretu Suki primary school, he lives in Bodity, in the Woliata zone, in the Southern part of Ethiopia. At 6.30 am on 4 June, policemen in uniform and government security agents in plain clothes surrounded Woldie’s house. They first detained him at the Bodity police station and then brought him to the Addis Ababa Kality prison. The charge filed against him is similar to that of Anteneh and Meqcha. Woldie was also detained in December 2006 and released on March 22 by the rule of the Federal First instance court.

Education International is also concerned about the fate of Tilahun Ayalew, a teacher in Dangella and Chair of the ETA Awi zone. Tilahun disappeared on 28 May 2007 after being told that security agents were coming to arrest him. His wife, Mrs Azmera Shiferaw, was arrested and detained until the following day, 29 May, to force her to tell about the whereabouts of her husband. It is reported that she did not encounter physical torture but was harassed.

Aged 49 and father of 7 children, Tilahun had been arrested with Anteneh and Meqcha in December 2006 and was released on 22 March. When he was arrested in December 2006 – without court warrant – he was not immediately taken to the police station, but abducted to the jungle where he was beaten until he lost consciousness. The security agents tortured him for four days. No medical treatment was allowed to him. He was transferred to the Addis Ababa Police Commission on 26 December. The Addis Ababa city administration first instance court ordered his release on December 28. However, the police recaptured him and he stayed in detention until the Federal First Instance ordered his release on 12 March, but he was only freed on 22 March. Due to the injuries suffered in detention to obtain confessions, he is unable to walk properly.

Tilahun is still in hiding and ETA does not know about his whereabouts or whether he is still alive.

The Ethiopia Context

For years now, EI has been concerned by the actions taken by the Ethiopian authorities to discourage teachers from seeking membership in the ETA and to dismantle the ETA, which has been representing the legitimate interests of the teaching profession in Ethiopia since 1949.

Since the creation of another Ethiopian Teachers' Association in 1993, the first ETA, a member of Education International, has been subjected to repression and interference which has sought the destruction of the independent union.

The harassment was so intense that, in 2006, EI and the ETA submitted complaints to the International Labour Organisation (Committee on Freedom of Association) and to the ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations concerning Teaching Personnel (CEART). In 2007, the case of Ethiopia was discussed by the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards. The Committee expressed “its deep concern over the new allegations relating to recent arrests of trade unionists and continuing mistreatment, intimidation and interference. It called on the Government to look into these recent allegations and, if they prove to be true, to ensure the immediate release of any newly detained teacher”. The Committee also “expressed the firm hope that appropriate steps would be taken to ensure that teachers are fully guaranteed their right to organise and carry out legitimate trade union activities both in law and in practice without government interference and that they will no longer be subjected to detention or imprisonment for exercising their rights guaranteed under the Convention 87”. The Committee requested the Government to accept an ILO direct contact mission.

With your help, EI aims to encourage the Government of Ethiopia to respect freedom of association and to stop immediately the ill treatment of our colleagues. You will find attached a model protest letter which can be used by your organisation to express your concern about the continued harassment of ETA activists. More information about EI's action can be found on the EI website (http://www.ei-ie.org)

What can you do?

As a national teacher association, you can undertake the following action:

Protest to the Ethiopian authorities > a model letter is attached. The letters should be addressed to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and to the Ethiopian embassy in your country and to the Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations. A copy of your letter should also be forwarded to EI for our records.

Please send appeals to:

Prime Minister
His Excellency Meles Zenawi
PO Box 1031
Addis Ababa
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 552020 (the fax is often engaged, so also use surface mail and copy to the embassy)

Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations
Ambassador Fisseha Yimer
56, rue Moillebeau
P.O. Box 338
1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland
Fax: + 41 22 919 7029

Contact the ETA to express your solidarity > Ethiopian Teachers' Association, Gemoraw Kassa, General Secretary, P.O. Box 1639, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Tel: +251-11-552.46.68 - Fax: +251-11-551.28.26. (Bear in mind that phone is not always safe and the fax is often disrupted. Email messages can be forwarded to EI which will forward them to the colleagues in Ethiopia).

Give visibility to the situation of teachers in Ethiopia in your magazine, on your website, during meetings and via other appropriate means.

Approach your embassy representatives in Ethiopia. This step requires some care and concerted action. EI therefore invites you to be in touch before acting upon this recommendation.

EI will of course keep you updated on all development or when the Urgent Action Appeal is closed. For additional information or to discuss possible action, contact the EI Human and Trade Union Rights Coordinator.
I thank you in advance for your support of our Ethiopian colleagues.

Yours sincerely,

Fred van Leeuwen
General Secretary

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Model Letter
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His Excellency Meles Zenawi
Prime Minister
PO Box 1031
Addis Ababa
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Fax: +251 11 552020
__________________[date]

Your Excellency,

__________________ [Name of your organisation] is concerned by the governmental intimidation and harassment of trade union leaders and members of the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association (ETA) headed by Gemoraw Kassa.

My organisation has been alerted by Education International, the global federation of teachers, that three Ethiopian colleagues – Anteneh Getnet, Meqcha Mengistu and Woldie Dana– were re-arrested in May 2007. A fourth colleague, Tilahun Ayalew, is in hiding since May 28 after having been informed that the security forces were to arrest him.

The facts are all the more worrying that the two ETA officers in detention and the one in hiding are precisely the three colleagues who had previously been arrested, detained and tortured at the beginning of the year until their release on 23 March 2007.

In June 2007, the case of Ethiopia was discussed by the Commission on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Organisation. The Committee expressed "its deep concern over the new allegations relating to recent arrests of trade unionists and continuing mistreatment, intimidation and interference. It called on the Government to look into these recent allegations and, if they prove to be true, to ensure the immediate release of any newly detained teacher". The Committee also "expressed the firm hope that appropriate steps would be taken to ensure that teachers are fully guaranteed their right to organise and carry out legitimate trade union activities both in law and in practice without government interference and that they will no longer be subjected to detention or imprisonment for exercising their rights guaranteed under the Convention 87".

Mr Prime Minister, __________________[name of your organisation] urges your Government to honour and respect the ILO Convention 87 on the right to freedom of association, ratified by Ethiopia.

__________________[name of your organisation] urges your Government to take the appropriate steps to ensure that teachers in the public sector are fully guaranteed their right to organise, form trade unions and carry out legitimate trade union activities both in law and in practice without government interference and that they will no longer be subjected to detention or imprisonment for exercising their rights guaranteed under the Convention 87.

__________________[name of your organisation], which represents [number of] teachers and education employees in [your country], requests that you ensure the immediate release of the detained teachers.

Yours sincerely,

__________________