The Eritrean Media and Information Task Force-Washington Metropolitan Area
600 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005

1. THE WORLD IS A WITNESS: ETHIOPIA TARGETS INNOCENT CIVILIANS
   • 1"Ethiopia on Friday [killed] a dozen civilians in shelling attacks on villages near the disputed town of Zalambessa. There were around 12 civilians killed in the surrounding villages and around 30 homes destroyed."-- Alexander Last, Reuters, Feb 12, 1999.
   • 1"An Ethiopian plane bombed an Eritrean village full of homeless people Tuesday, killing at least five civilians as it escalated the border dispute in northeast Africa. An Associated Press photographer and television cameraman watched an Ethiopian Antonov aircraft drop two bombs just before dawn Tuesday on the village of Lailaideda, where Eritrean civilians deported from Ethiopia had taken refuge."-- Dianna Cahn, Associated Press, Tuesday, February 9, 1999.
   • 1"Ethiopian forces [shelled] Adi Quala itself on Sunday evening, killing eight civilians and severely wounding nine. There is no military presence or garrison in the southern Eritrean town,… Ethiopian artillery shelling has thus no military purpose and was simply aimed at targeting the civilian population."–AFP, Feb 8, 1999.
   • 1"An Ethiopian bomber launched a pre-dawn air raid on a small Eritrean village near their disputed border Tuesday, killing five civilians and wounding five others. . A Reuters correspondent at the scene said two women, two men and an infant were killed when an Ethiopian plane dropped at least four bombs on Laili Deda, a village of tents housing about 500 Eritreans who were deported from Ethiopia last year. .The victims were all members of the same family. As relatives quickly buried the dead, an Ethiopian MiG fighter jet launched another bombing attack about two km (1.5 miles) away. The civilian victims of Tuesday's attack were killed in an almost direct hit on their tent. The five people killed in the raid were all deported from Ethiopia last June, one month after the first round of heavy fighting began in the long-running border dispute. An Antonov high-altitude bomber attacked at 5:50 am (0250 GMT), dropping at least four bombs as well as incendiary flares while Eritrean artillery opened up in retaliation."-- David Fox, Reuters Feb. 9, 1999.

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2. THE WORLD IS A WITNESS: ETHIOPIA’S POLICY OF UPROOTING ERITREANS & LOOTING THEIR PROPERTY:
   • 1"I was picked up at night, thrown into prison, not allowed time to pack. I asked what my crime was. ‘You’re an Eritrean,’ they said."–Amnesty International Witnesses cruelty of mass deportations, AI News Release-AFR 25/02/99, Jan 29, 1999.
   • 1"Not only Eritrean nationals, but lifelong Ethiopian citizens with just one Eritrean parent were expelled, their bank account frozen, assets siezed. One motivating factor may have been Eritrea’s embarassingly quick defeat of the Ethiopian army. The expulsions may also be in part an attempt to focus discontent on apparent external enemies, rather than on either economic crisis or the distribution of power and resources domestically. Investment within Ethiopia has flowed heavily toward Tigray." --Ethiopia’s Ethnic Cleansing, Dissent, Winter 1999.
   • 1"Women, some of them pregnant, children, the elderly — even hospital patients — are now being arrested and detained in the middle the night. People of all ages, from babies to pensioners, are imprisoned in harsh conditions for several days before being forced to board buses under armed guard with only one piece of luggage each — it that — and being dumped at the border. They arrive hungry and exhausted, and often ill…. Deportees have had to abandon their homes, possessions, business and other property with no guarantee of ever recovering them. Individuals who have protested have been threatened or beaten. The deportees were arbitrarily stripped of their Ethiopian citizenship without any warning, legal process or right of appeal."
   ."–Amnesty International Witnesses cruelty of mass deportations, AI News Release-AFR 25/02/99, Jan 29, 1999.
   • 1 "Amnesty says Ethiopian policy has now developed into a systematic operation to deport anyone of Eritrean descent, many who were born and bred in Ethiopia."-- BBC World Service, Jan 29, 1999.
   • 1 "The United States views with deep concern the detention and expulsion of ethnic Eritreans in and from Ethiopia. There are fundamental humanitarian and human rights concerns raised by the forcible separation of families, the undue hardships of those detained or expelled to Eritrea, and the financial losses caused by sudden expulsions. We urge the government of Ethiopia to respect international human rights norms and standards and follow appropriate due process in handling its security concerns. We further urge the government of Ethiopia to allow all those who were wrongfully expelled to return and to establish a compensation commission to investigate and recommend compensation for the claims resulting from undue financial loss and hardship as a result of rapid, forced expulsions." --US Department of State, August 6, 1998
   • 1 "Heads of mission are of the unanimous opinion that the statements made by the deported Eritreans that they have been harassed, mistreated, sometimes arrested, separated from their dependants and forced to forfeit their property for no other reason than being Eritreans or, albeit Ethiopian citizens, of Eritrean descent, are true and proved." --European Ambassadors' report to the European Union, July 29, 1998
   • 1 "I am deeply concerned by the violation of human rights of Eritrean nationals being expelled from Ethiopia... These are serious violations of the rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Ethiopia is a party." --Mary Robinson, United Nation's High Commissioner for Human Rights, July 1, 1998
   • 1 "Compelling evidence pointed to a deliberate campaign by the Ethiopian authorities to expel Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin to Eritrea. ... Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in an interview with Radio Ethiopia on July 9 said the deportees were -foreigners, adding that". . . any foreign national, whether Eritrean or Japanese etc. . . .lives in Ethiopia because of the goodwill of the Ethiopian government. If we say Go, because we don't like the color of your eyes, they have to leave." --Human Rights Watch, "Ethiopia", Jan 1999
   • 1 "It has become absolutely clear that Ethiopia is responsible for serious human rights violations." ---Christian Science Monitor, July 7, 1998

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3. THE WORLD IS A WITNESS: LIES OF THE ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT EXPOSED:
   • 1"No evidence had been found to support Ethiopia's allegations that 40,000 of its citizens had been seriously ill-treated and forcibly and forcibly deported from Eritrea since May 1998."–Amnesty International Witnesses cruelty of mass deportations, AI News Release-AFR 25/02/99, Jan 29, 1999.
   • 1"To the best knowledge of the heads of mission there have not been mass deportations, arbitrary arrests or anything else regarding the Ethiopians. Those who wanted to leave Eritrea were not hindered... The Eritrean government has openly declared that these people are free to leave. The ICRC is allowed to look into this matter. ...Heads of mission can confirm that allegations of mistreatment of Ethiopians in Eritrea have not come to their knowledge. Through intensive interviews with Ethiopian citizens in Asmara and elsewhere it can be confirmed that that they are treated mostly in no way other than before the conflict between the two countries." --European Ambassadors' report to the European Union, July 29, 1998
   • 1"There is no systematic or official action directed against Ethiopians in Eritrea."---OAU High-Level Delegation Report, November 8, 1998
   • 1"We questioned the representative of the Ethiopian Embassy in Asmara to determine whether this was true. He stated that Eritrea was not forcibly expelling Ethiopians from Eritrea but said that they were being "indirectly expelled" because they were losing their jobs and lived in fear of discrimination. ...Ethiopians are leaving Eritrea on a voluntary basis under the supervision of the ICRC. The main problems being faced by Ethiopians in Eritrea is a lack of employment (arising primarily from decreased business at the Eritrean ports) and the consequent lack of funds to procure transportation or to pay for exit visas to leave Eritrea." --MASS EXPULSIONS FROM ETHIOPIA, Natalie S. Klein (Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia; a doctoral candidate at Yale Law School), September 9, 1998
   • 1" As far as I know there has been no orchestrated violence or harassment of Ethiopians in Eritrea, you can challenge me on that." -Martyn Ngwenya, The resident coordinator of the United Nations in Eritrea as quoted by Reuters, August 1, 1998

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4. THE WORLD IS A WITNESS:ETHIOPIA’S ILLEGAL DETENTION & DEATH OF ERITREANS IN THE HANDS OF ETHIOPIAN AUTHORITIES
   • 1" Amnesty International is reiterating its appeal to the Ethiopian government to put an immediate stop to the deportations and ill-treatment of deportees, and arbitrary detentions of thousands of other Eritreans, including 38 students in Blattein military camp. They contravene Ethiopia’s laws and Constitution, as well as the international human rights treaties Ethiopia has ratified." –Amnesty International Witnesses cruelty of mass deportations, AI News Release-AFR 25/02/99, Jan 29, 1999.
   • 1" Hundreds, perhaps thousands, are languishing in jail. In June 26, 1998, Mathew Bigg, a correspondent for Reuters interviewed some of the prisoners held at FICHE and wrote "Detainees said some in the main camp had been beaten..." Between November 1998 and January 1999, eight Eritreans were reported to have died in jail.

For more information visit Dehai: at http://www.dehai.org or Media and Information Task Force Page at http://www.denden.com/Conflict/ or Visafric at htttp://www.visafric.com