Thursday, August 04, 2011

Analysis: Europe’s taxpayers fund abuses in Ethiopia (by Ana Gomes MEP, August 2011)

(Ana Gomes MEP, August 2011)-- This article was written for the Bureau by MEP Ana Gomes, a Portuguese politician who is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Reign of terror in Maikelawi detention centre
The EU Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) in Ethiopia assessed in 2010 that ‘the electoral process fell short of international commitments for elections, notably regarding the transparency of the process and the lack of a level playing field for all contesting parties’.

An unsurprising conclusion: results of 99.6% in favour of the ruling party reflected the lack of credibility of the elections. Tellingly also, the Ethiopian government refused to allow the EUEOM report to be launched in Addis Ababa, as it had already refused in 2005.

Elections 2010
For anyone familiar with Ethiopia, it was highly disturbing that the EU decided to observe the 2010 ballot.  Previous elections in 2005 had been stolen and followed up with brutal repression, as the EUEOM denounced at the time.

I led the more than 200-strong team of observers of the EUEOM in May 2005. The electoral campaign had been relatively open and citizens flocked to the polling stations massively, as never seen before.

Reign of terror in Maikelawi detention centre
Maikelawi is a police detention facility in the centre of the Ethiopian capital. It is mentioned time and again in any conversation about human rights abuses.For the Ethiopians’ it is the ‘African Guantanamo Bay’.

Arbitrary detention and torture
According to opposition members it is mostly political opponents who are taken to the police’s Central Investigation Centre in Maikelawi.

‘The interrogation was always at night. They started by beating; they would tie your hands and feet with iron and hang you upside down. They immerse you in water, they would use electric shocks and they stuffed your mouth with cloth so no-one could hear you scream.

‘Each person [detained] suffered horrific injuries as a result of the torture. Some had lost the use of their hands, some had lost their nails. There was a man who was hanged by his hand for over 19 hours.’

‘Daniel’s claims, along with others’, are consistent with reports that have been published by credible human rights organizations. Read More The Bureau of Investigative Journalism »

No comments:

Post a Comment