Confiscation of property, arrest and detention of Tamerou Betaw family members by Ethiopian authorities in 1978 and 1979

In its 1979 Report, Amnesty International reported that "the total number of [Ethiopian] prisoners in early 1979 was believed to be about 8,000, although some sources put the number higher, [and] only a minority are known by name." [

FootnoteS

 Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1979 (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1979), p. 19.] The U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1979 observed the "serious violations of individual rights and civil and political liberties [which] take place in Ethiopia", and noted that "arrests for political reasons by the government's security apparatus still continue, and may result in lengthy imprisonment or execution". [ U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1979 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980), pp. 66-68.] The Country Reports further noted that "individuals still have no legal guarantees of security in their homes...[and] property remaining in private hands is not well protected; there are many cases of property being seized without the benefit of any legal process". [ Ibid.] Given the complexity of the Ethiopian political turmoil and the number of people affected by it, IRBDC is not able to research and provide relevant information on individual cases. We believe that the situation of Tamerou Bitaw and his family members should be analyzed within the general political context.

Ethiopia entered a period of revolutionary change in February 1974. [ The information in this section is from The Europa World Year Book 1989, Vol. 1 (London: Europa Publications Ltd., 1989), p. 964.] On 12 September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was formally deposed, and a Provisional Military Administrative Council (the Dergue) installed itself in power. The Dergue declared Ethiopia a socialist state on 20 December 1974, and within two months nationalized all major private enterprises including insurance companies, banks and large industrial enterprises. In March 1975, all rural land was nationalized, followed by the nationalization of urban land four months later.

With the extrajudicial execution on 23 November 1974 of 60 people, including members of the royal family, former cabinet members and senior officials, the country sank into a new era of fear and terror. But the military government, according to one of its former high-ranking official, argued that "Revolutionary Ethiopia could be built only on the graves of the reactionaries". [ Dawit Wolde Giorgis, Red Terror: War, Famine and Revolution in Ethiopia (New Jersey: The Red Sea Press, Inc., 1989), p. 257.] In the late 1970s, revolts by various right and left-wing political groups demanding an elected government spread throughout the country. One of the significant threats came from the Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU) which rallied the landed aristocracy and elements loyal to the deposed Emperor. [ Europa, p. 964.] In response to these threats, the government launched the "Red Terror", a campaign of liquidating its political opponents. Between November 1977 and March 1979, the "Red Terror" reportedly claimed the lives of not less than 10,000 people in the capital city alone. It was a gang warfare where men and women, young or old, were gunned down in broad daylight or dragged out of their homes at night and killed. [ Giorgis, p. 32.]

According to such studies as that found in the Encyclopedia of the Third World, the present Ethiopian regime, since its rise to power in 1974, has been constantly engaged in suppressing revolts by its opponents through a continuing pattern of arbitrary arrests, detentions and summary executions. Remarks considered critical of the government, failure to attend mandatory political meetings, and suspicion of association with organizations opposed to the government have all been reasons for arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. [ Kurian, p. 670.]

Detailed information about Ethiopian political prisoners and the treatment of their family members by the government is still difficult to obtain. Nevertheless, Amnesty International, in its 1988 Report, noted that "the relatives of conscription evaders or of those trying to leave the country illegally for political reasons were reportedly arrested in reprisal". [ Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1988 (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1988), p. 38.]