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
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ETHIOPIA: TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS AND ASSAULTS ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM SINCE 1991<br />
1991 — The <strong>Ethiopia</strong>n People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) toppled the Derg military regime<br />
which had been responsible for the Red Terror, end<strong>in</strong>g a decade <strong>of</strong> civil war and promis<strong>in</strong>g freedom and respect<br />
for human rights.<br />
1992 — The EPRDF government began to target the <strong>Ethiopia</strong>n Teachers’ Association (ETA) for harassment after<br />
the association suggested reforms to the educational system. In the years to come, government tactics would<br />
<strong>in</strong>clude repeated discrim<strong>in</strong>ation aga<strong>in</strong>st and arbitrary arrests <strong>of</strong> ETA leaders and sympathizers, assass<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>of</strong> a<br />
lead<strong>in</strong>g member <strong>in</strong> 1997, and confiscation <strong>of</strong> the organization’s assets.<br />
January 4, 1993 — Students at Addis Ababa University (AAU) took to the streets <strong>in</strong> protest <strong>of</strong> a planned<br />
referendum on Eritrean <strong>in</strong>dependence. Security forces fired live ammunition <strong>in</strong>to the crowd <strong>of</strong> unarmed students<br />
and beat and arrested large numbers <strong>of</strong> students.<br />
April 1993 — AAU summarily dismissed more than forty pr<strong>of</strong>essors who had been critical <strong>of</strong> the government.<br />
Several <strong>of</strong> them have s<strong>in</strong>ce been repeated victims <strong>of</strong> arbitrary arrest and <strong>in</strong>timidation. Ten years later,<br />
<strong>in</strong>tellectuals cont<strong>in</strong>ue to cite the “chill<strong>in</strong>g effect” these fir<strong>in</strong>gs have had on <strong>academic</strong> freedom.<br />
1996 — Arrests <strong>of</strong> ETA leaders Shimalis Zewdie and Dr. Taye Woldesmayat.<br />
May 1997 — Assefa Maru, act<strong>in</strong>g director <strong>of</strong> the ETA, gunned down by police. No proper <strong>in</strong>vestigation <strong>of</strong> the<br />
kill<strong>in</strong>g has ensued.<br />
1998 – 2000 — Border war with Eritrea.<br />
February – March 2000 — Arrests <strong>of</strong> Oromo AAU students protest<strong>in</strong>g government failure to ext<strong>in</strong>guish forest<br />
fires. High school students also protested; one was killed and up to 300 were arrested.<br />
October 2000 — Oromo students protested the move <strong>of</strong> the capital <strong>of</strong> Oromia state from Addis Ababa to Nazret,<br />
lead<strong>in</strong>g to the arrests <strong>of</strong> at least four students.<br />
December 2000 — Police responded violently to students protest<strong>in</strong>g liv<strong>in</strong>g conditions at Awassa Teachers<br />
College. Students were beaten and arrested.<br />
December 20, 2000 — AAU students were arrested and beaten after a fight erupted when a Tigrean student used<br />
the word “galla,” a derogatory word for Oromos. A series <strong>of</strong> related <strong>in</strong>cidents followed <strong>in</strong> colleges and<br />
universities across the country.<br />
April 2001 — AAU students went on strike demand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>academic</strong> freedom, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the rights to organize a<br />
student union and publish a student newspaper and removal <strong>of</strong> armed uniformed police from campus.<br />
Government forces killed some forty students and other civilians and arrested thousands, some <strong>of</strong> whom were<br />
tortured. High school, college, and university students around the country demonstrated <strong>in</strong> solidarity, and police<br />
responded to these demonstrations with excessive violence as well.<br />
September 2001 — Government police on AAU campus were replaced by private security guards. The<br />
government did not remove other barriers to freedom <strong>of</strong> association and expression for members <strong>of</strong> the university<br />
community.<br />
February 2002 — Government security forces disrupted an ETA conference on education for all and HIV/AIDS.<br />
More than forty teachers were arrested for attend<strong>in</strong>g the meet<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Human Rights Watch<br />
2<br />
January 2003, Vol. 15,No. 2 (A)