Ethiopia: Treatment of All-Amhara People's Organization (AAPO) members and activists, especially during the run-up to the May 2000 elections
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 8 May 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ETH34350.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ethiopia: Treatment of All-Amhara People's Organization (AAPO) members and activists, especially during the run-up to the May 2000 elections, 8 May 2000, ETH34350.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad5740.html [accessed 7 June 2023] |
| 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. |
According to a 4 September 1999 report in The Indian Ocean Newsletter, the prospect of a May 2000 election caused the All-Amhara People's Organization (AAPO) to break into several factions. Acting chairman Kegnazmatch Naquatibeb dissolved the AAPO branches in Europe and the United States after the leaders of the two branches condemned the decision to participate in the elections and called for a party congress (ibid.).
On 15 January 2000 The Indian Ocean Newsletter reported that the Ethiopian government was not making any concessions to opposition political groups that had agreed to participate in the May 2000 elections, and that most parties had constant complaints about government obstruction of their election campaign preparations (ibid.). The All Amhara People's Organization (AAPO) stated that it was withdrawing two candidates in Bahr Dar because of government harassment, and claimed that in Nazareth, Oromia Regional State officials had discouraged the local population from going to AAPO meetings (ibid.).
On 29 January 2000 The Indian Ocean Newsletter reported that the Ethiopian government was using
all possible means to get All Amhara People's Organization leader Kegnazmatch Neguea Tibeb to confirm [AAPO] participation in the next general election. His family owns a bakery in the town of Mojo, and Oromia Regional State authorities are demanding taxes of 1 million birr (US$1 = about 8 birr), but after negotiations, the tax was cut back to 34,000 birr. The authorities promised they would forget the tax completely provided Kegnazmatch 'behaved properly' and did not withdraw [his AAPO] faction from the electoral process as he is being pressed to do by AAPO members in exile and other opposition formations .
On 6 April 2000 the Addis Ababa-based Reporter reported that Major Getachew Mengiste, a former AAPO secretary-general, was among those accused of killing five people, injuring five others and illegally detaining 70 persons for 16 months. The initial charges of genocide were altered to aggravated homicide after the Court ruled that the acts did not constitute genocide (ibid.).
On 13 April 2000 the same newspaper reported that AAPO representative Ato Girma Shumiye had accused the government of using a pre-election "Forum for Political Parties" as a forum only for "media consumption." Girma stated that while the ruling party was given 40 minutes of airtime, the opposition parties got only five minutes, and were not informed about the time allocation beforehand (ibid.). A government spokesman reportedly stated that the time allocation was not partial and "took into consideration the issues at hand. [The ruling] EPRDF was given 40 minutes so that it could elaborate on the activities it has carried on during its five years in power. The opposition doesn't need that much time to spell out what it has been doing during that time" (ibid.).
The same report states that the AAPO is fielding 49 candidates, including four women, in the May 2000 elections, and is running in two regions (Amhara and Oromia) and two city administrations (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa) (ibid.).
No reports indicating that AAPO members and activists were being specifically targeted by the government could be found among the sources consulted.
For additional information on the treatment of AAPO members and supporters, please consult ETH32349.E of 23 July 1999.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
The Indian Ocean Newsletter [Paris]. 29 January 2000. "Blackmailing the AAPO Leader." (NEXIS)
_____. 15 January 2000. No Gifts for the Opposition." (NEXIS)
_____. 4 September 1999. "Opposition is All over the Place." (NEXIS)
The Reporter [Addis Ababa]. 13 April 2000. "Parties Unhappy with 'Partial' Time Allotment." (Africa News/NEXIS)
_____. 6 April 2000. "Court Sentences Genocide Defendant, Acquits Two." (Africa News/NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Africa Confidential [London]. 1999. December 1999-March 2000.
Africa Research Bulletin [Oxford]. 1999. January-March 2000.
Ethiopian Register [San José, Calif.]. December 1999-March 2000.
Horn of Africa Bulletin [Uppsala]. December 1999-February 2000.
IRB databases.
Resource Centre Amnesty International Ethiopia country file. December 1999-May 2000.
Resource Centre country file on Ethiopia. January-April 2000.
World News Connection (WNC).
Unsuccessful attempts to contact one oral source.
Internet sites including:
All-Amhara People's Organization (AAPO).
Amnesty International.
Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Political Parties, Interest Groups and Other Movements.
Wilfried Derksen's Electoral Websites. "Elections in Ethiopia."
