Ethiopia: 1) Information on property confiscation, arrest, detention and execution of Ethiopian officers, particularly Colonel Dessalegne Teguegne Egegou, following the attempted coup of May 1989; 2) Information on the background of Colonel DessalegneTeguegne Egegou; 3) Information on Ethiopian authorities' attitude and treatment of Gojam tribe members
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ETH4082 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ethiopia: 1) Information on property confiscation, arrest, detention and execution of Ethiopian officers, particularly Colonel Dessalegne Teguegne Egegou, following the attempted coup of May 1989; 2) Information on the background of Colonel DessalegneTeguegne Egegou; 3) Information on Ethiopian authorities' attitude and treatment of Gojam tribe members, 1 February 1990, ETH4082, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad1464.html [accessed 25 January 2017] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Ethiopian government has not disclosed officially the identities, legal status or whereabouts of the people arrested following the May 1989 abortive coup attempt. New African quoted the Ethiopian President as publicly stating on 7 June 1989 that altogether 24 generals and 176 senior officers had been held by the security police. [
FootnoteS
"Ethiopia in Turmoil", New African, July 1989, pp. 9-10.] New African was able to publish the names of only 17 generals either killed or detained as a result of the coup attempt.
According to The Washington Post, Maj. Gen. Kumlachew Dejene is believed to be the only participant of the coup attempt known to have escaped, whereby "almost all of the other officers involved were killed or captured or committed suicide". In an interview with The Washington Post, Maj. Gen. Kumlachew said "680 officers have been removed, arrested or executed since the coup attempt, including 40 generals." [ David Ottaway, "Escaped Officer Urges U.S. to Shun Mengistu", The Washington Post, 8 October 1989, p. 56.]
IRBDC is unable to obtain the names of all the officers involved in the failed coup attempt. Equally, information on the background of the thousands of Ethiopian military officers, including Colonel Dessalegne Teguegne Egegou, is not currently available to the IRBDC.
As for information regarding Ethiopian authorities' attitude and treatment of the "Gojam tribe", please note that Gojam is an administrative region and its population, like those of neighbouring Gondar, Wollo and northern Shoa regions, belongs to the Amhara ethnic group. Gojam has historically been a dominant part of Ethiopia's political framework and culture. Up until the 1974 Revolution, Ethiopia was a feudal society whose history was characterized by conflicts and wars among regional feudal lords. During that period, while the emperors continually fought to extend the authority of their central government, local feudal lords periodically rebelled against emperors either in attempts to seize absolute power themselves or to maintain a degree of regional independence.
Following the 1974 Revolution and the superimposition of Soviet-style socialism onto a nation of old history and tradition, many Ethiopians, including those from the Gojam region, had rejected to abandon the traditional, cultural and social values they cherished for generations. From the outset, the opposition to the revolutionary government had cut across the ethnic and regional spectra. The new Ethiopian society which emerged from feudalism became regimented into "revolutionary" and "counter-revolutionary" camps, and no one could have been in a neutral position. Citizens were either persecuted or rewarded based on their political opposition or allegiance to the regime. It is in these terms that the Ethiopian authorities' treatment of the people in the Gojam region should be analyzed. With the exception of the secessionist movement in Eritrea, the Ethiopian government is not known to have a wholesale political view of the people living in each of the country's administrative regions.
The above information is based on the views shared by many knowledgeable Ethiopians. However, IRBDC is unable to corroborate with other literature on the subject.
