Ethiopia lessons in repression: violations of academic problems, HRW
Ethiopia lessons in repression: violations of academic problems, HRW
Ethiopia lessons in repression: violations of academic problems, HRW
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
AAU Student Strike, April 2001<br />
In the early months <strong>of</strong> 2001, tension mounted among students at Addis Ababa University. Their pr<strong>in</strong>cipal<br />
compla<strong>in</strong>ts were threefold: they wanted to publish a student newspaper that the adm<strong>in</strong>istration had blocked; they<br />
wanted freedom to organize a student union without university <strong>in</strong>terference; and they wanted armed uniformed<br />
police removed from the campus. The university adm<strong>in</strong>istration and the m<strong>in</strong>istry <strong>of</strong> education failed to respond to<br />
the students’ satisfaction, transform<strong>in</strong>g the situation <strong>in</strong>to a stand<strong>of</strong>f by the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> April. In response, large<br />
segments <strong>of</strong> the AAU student body, as well as high school and university students and others around the country,<br />
mobilized to strike for <strong>academic</strong> freedom.<br />
Government forces responded to the protests with extreme brutality, kill<strong>in</strong>g more than thirty people,<br />
wound<strong>in</strong>g some four hundred, and arrest<strong>in</strong>g thousands. Academic life ground to a halt for one month around the<br />
country, and most AAU students who participated <strong>in</strong> the strike did not return to class for one year. 71 About 250<br />
students fled to Kenya; others went to Djibouti or Sudan. 72 Their demands for <strong>academic</strong> freedom have yet to be<br />
met.<br />
Student Demonstration and Violent Security Force Crackdown<br />
The strike began on April 9, 2001. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to one student leader who participated <strong>in</strong> draft<strong>in</strong>g a letter to<br />
the university adm<strong>in</strong>istration outl<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the students’ demands:<br />
We decided to boycott class and put forward our demands peacefully. We demanded the right to<br />
assembly, freedom <strong>of</strong> speech, removal <strong>of</strong> the police station from campus [s<strong>in</strong>ce the 1993 student<br />
strike, there has been a police station on each <strong>of</strong> the seven campuses]. We also demanded better<br />
adm<strong>in</strong>istration—the AAU adm<strong>in</strong>istration is stacked with politicians not <strong>academic</strong>s, we want<br />
competent adm<strong>in</strong>istrators who are able to design [an] up-to-date <strong>academic</strong> environment. We were<br />
also concerned that the student union had been dom<strong>in</strong>ated by the government. 73<br />
The day before, hundreds <strong>of</strong> students had attended a public meet<strong>in</strong>g led by former AAU pr<strong>of</strong>essors Dr. Berhanu<br />
Nega and Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Mesf<strong>in</strong> Woldemariam, members <strong>of</strong> the executive committee <strong>of</strong> <strong>Ethiopia</strong>n Human Rights<br />
Council. At that meet<strong>in</strong>g, students resolved to stand up for their human rights and <strong>academic</strong> freedom. When the<br />
university adm<strong>in</strong>istration resisted, <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g numbers decided to boycott class, lead<strong>in</strong>g to a large-scale student<br />
strike that soon became fatal. Dr. Berhanu and Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Mesf<strong>in</strong> were arrested a month later, deta<strong>in</strong>ed for one<br />
month, then released on bail and charged with challeng<strong>in</strong>g the constitution through illegal means and <strong>in</strong>cit<strong>in</strong>g riots<br />
under the pretext <strong>of</strong> promot<strong>in</strong>g human rights. 74 Their crim<strong>in</strong>al trial is still <strong>in</strong> the prelim<strong>in</strong>ary stages.<br />
On April 10, students gathered outside the university adm<strong>in</strong>istration <strong>of</strong>fice wait<strong>in</strong>g for a response to their<br />
letter. Eyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch that they discovered undercover security forces pos<strong>in</strong>g as students<br />
<strong>in</strong> their midst and, upon learn<strong>in</strong>g that they did not have student identification cards, they “captured” them,<br />
essentially hold<strong>in</strong>g them hostage. 75 Shortly thereafter, <strong>in</strong> a sign <strong>of</strong> the brutal tactics to come, hundreds <strong>of</strong> Special<br />
71 The follow<strong>in</strong>g is based on more than twenty <strong>in</strong>terviews with students who participated <strong>in</strong> the strike <strong>in</strong> Nairobi <strong>in</strong> April and<br />
July 2002 and <strong>in</strong> Addis Adaba <strong>in</strong> July 2002; <strong>in</strong>terviews with journalists, pr<strong>of</strong>essors, university <strong>of</strong>ficials, and politicians who<br />
followed the events; and close read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> news articles, reports, and calls for help posted on various websites <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />
International <strong>Ethiopia</strong>n University Support Site (http://ntama.uni-ma<strong>in</strong>z.de/~aau/), the <strong>Ethiopia</strong>n Human Rights Council<br />
(http://www.ehrco.net), and Worldwide Protest to Stop the Brutal Treatment <strong>of</strong> Addis Ababa University Students and Human<br />
Rights Activists (http://www.geocities.com/lmak27455/).<br />
72 For a discussion <strong>of</strong> the human rights <strong>violations</strong> to which these students and other refugees have been subjected <strong>in</strong> Nairobi,<br />
see Human Rights Watch, Hidden <strong>in</strong> Pla<strong>in</strong> View: Refugees Liv<strong>in</strong>g Without Protection <strong>in</strong> Nairobi and Kampala (New York:<br />
Human Rights Watch, 2002).<br />
73 Human Rights Watch <strong>in</strong>terview, Nairobi, July 10, 2002.<br />
74 See, “<strong>Ethiopia</strong>: Target<strong>in</strong>g Human Rights Defenders,” Human Rights Watch Press Release, May 19, 2001. An un<strong>of</strong>ficial<br />
English translation <strong>of</strong> the Amharic-language charges can be found at the International <strong>Ethiopia</strong>n University Support Site,<br />
http://ntama.uni-ma<strong>in</strong>z.de/~aau/Mesf<strong>in</strong>charges.html (retrieved August 16, 2002).<br />
75 Human Rights Watch <strong>in</strong>terviews, Nairobi, July 10 and 11, 2002.<br />
Human Rights Watch<br />
18<br />
January 2003, Vol. 15,No. 2 (A)