were obliged to move to other areas <strong>of</strong> the country to accommodate the language change, and many <strong>of</strong> these were demoted, sent to remote areas, or otherwise harassed as punishment for hav<strong>in</strong>g criticized the policy. 187 Fasil, who taught <strong>in</strong> Hossana from 1992 to 1998 and has now been granted asylum <strong>in</strong> Canada, was one <strong>of</strong> the teachers who compla<strong>in</strong>ed. He described the impact be<strong>in</strong>g “blacklisted” had on him as follows: I was blacklisted three times, once for dissent<strong>in</strong>g over the language policy. . . . For example, they wrote the education <strong>of</strong>fice and told them to cut <strong>of</strong>f my salary as a warn<strong>in</strong>g, when I went to compla<strong>in</strong> they said they would make enquiries. . . . Because I am not married and I do not have wife and children to support, these <strong>problems</strong> don’t hurt me as much. I could eat with friends. Another physics teacher and a math teacher were also blacklisted. They had families . . . . At one time, they demoted me to teach <strong>in</strong> junior high school (seventh and eighth grades), and not <strong>in</strong> my specialized field. I applied for teacher tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Nazret, and was denied. I got no response to requests to attend summer courses for cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g education. The government refused to let me go accept a scholarship for further studies <strong>in</strong> Germany. I was the only teacher who had studied electricity, but when I applied to Nazret Teachers College to study teach<strong>in</strong>g electricity, the Education Office refused to issue me a letter say<strong>in</strong>g that I had been a teacher dur<strong>in</strong>g the past years. I compla<strong>in</strong>ed to the m<strong>in</strong>istry <strong>of</strong> education that I was refused these opportunities and tried to assure them that I only wanted further tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g so I could come back and teach. The m<strong>in</strong>istry did not respond. 188 Many teachers cont<strong>in</strong>ue to suffer abuses as a result <strong>of</strong> the still-evolv<strong>in</strong>g policy <strong>of</strong> ethnic federalism, as they were when ETA sent the above-mentioned memorandum <strong>of</strong> teachers’ concerns to the government <strong>in</strong> July 1992. In Nazret, for example, <strong>in</strong> the Oromo Regional State, Amharic-speak<strong>in</strong>g teachers compla<strong>in</strong> that all non- Oromos are treated as second-class citizens. At the same time, Oromo-speak<strong>in</strong>g teachers who have chosen not to jo<strong>in</strong> the OPDO lament that they are branded as sympathizers <strong>of</strong> the OLF. A government delegate present at the mandatory July teachers’ workshop <strong>in</strong> Nazret did not dispute that non-party members may be marg<strong>in</strong>alized: “There is no seat between two chairs,” he told the Oromo teachers, suggest<strong>in</strong>g that failure to belong to the government satellite party could lead to their dismissal. 189 Thirteen Oromos <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g seven teachers, a former teacher who produced educational radio programs for the Oromia State Education Bureau, a twelfth grade student, a civil servant, and two traders were arrested and deta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> Sendafa from May 1 to June 21, 2002 on charges they collaborated with the OLF. 190 One <strong>of</strong> the deta<strong>in</strong>ed teachers said his sister had come to visit him at the Sendafa police camp and, while one guard had told her she could speak to her brother, another came and threatened to beat her if she didn’t leave. Family members <strong>of</strong> another said that police had <strong>in</strong>s<strong>in</strong>uated they must be OLF members if they were visit<strong>in</strong>g OLF members <strong>in</strong> prison and threatened to arrest them if they cont<strong>in</strong>ued to visit. A lawyer who attempted to visit one <strong>of</strong> the deta<strong>in</strong>ees said the guards refused to allow him <strong>in</strong>. One <strong>of</strong> the teachers said that police <strong>of</strong>ficers told him that the district court decl<strong>in</strong>ed to release them on bail earlier because high-level politicians had <strong>in</strong>structed them not to. They appealed the denial <strong>of</strong> bail to the Oromia State Supreme Court, which later ordered their release on bail. When Human Rights Watch <strong>in</strong>terviewed them <strong>in</strong> late July, they had yet to be re<strong>in</strong>stated <strong>in</strong> their jobs despite written requests to local, state, and national authorities. 187 Human Rights Watch <strong>in</strong>terview, Addis Ababa, July 20, 2002. 188 Human Rights Watch <strong>in</strong>terview, Nairobi, July 10, 2002. Fasil enrolled <strong>in</strong> AAU <strong>in</strong> 1999 to study educational adm<strong>in</strong>istration. He was active <strong>in</strong> the student community and became spokesman for the students dur<strong>in</strong>g the strike. As noted above, he fled the country after be<strong>in</strong>g arrested and tortured <strong>in</strong> the wake <strong>of</strong> the 2001 student strike. 189 Human Rights Watch <strong>in</strong>terview, Addis Ababa, July 25, 2002. 190 The follow<strong>in</strong>g is based on Human Rights Watch <strong>in</strong>terviews and review <strong>of</strong> documents, Addis Ababa and Sendafa, July 30, 2002. Human Rights Watch 35 January 2003, Vol. 15,No. 2 (A)
The teachers <strong>in</strong> Sendafa were outraged that, while the above thirteen were deta<strong>in</strong>ed, a representative <strong>of</strong> OPDO had said on the Voice <strong>of</strong> America that no suspected OLF members were <strong>in</strong> prison. Sendafa authorities have used the threat <strong>of</strong> arrest to stifle solidarity with the thirteen deta<strong>in</strong>ees. A teacher who was not arrested said that high school students had planned to protest after their teachers had been arrested, but a district council adm<strong>in</strong>istrator had warned the students, their teachers, and their parents that the students would be shot if they demonstrated. Officials then closed the high school for approximately one week. The students did not demonstrate. “I destroyed all written material <strong>in</strong> my home, got rid <strong>of</strong> all the newspapers and books,” a teacher told Human Rights Watch. “I know it would be trouble if they came to search my house, too.” Human Rights Watch 36 January 2003, Vol. 15,No. 2 (A)
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