The crimes committed against our people deserve serious investigation, not a whitewash!

Kinijit Press Release

May 4, 2006

The fact that hundreds of unarmed demonstrators, innocent bystanders, including women and children have been killed and wounded throughout the country is a matter of public record committed in full view of the international community. In a desperate move to silence protests against widespread rigging of the election of May 2005 by the government, tens of thousands of young men have been summarily rounded up and interned in camps with substandard hygienic conditions, including in remote areas infested by malaria and other diseases. Individuals who have since retuned from these dangerous internment camps have reported witnessing deaths of fellow prisoners due to brutal beatings and mistreatment.

There is no doubt that a crime of such magnitude deserves a serious investigation and not a whitewash. Kinijit-(CUDP) and the people of Ethiopia believe there is a need for a thorough investigation not only for the purpose of redressing the injustice already committed but also to be assured that such heinous crimes against defenseless people will not be committed again. Kinijit does want to make it clear that it has no confidence in the investigation panel that is constituted of individuals handpicked by the very government responsible for these crimes. More importantly, Kinijit does not believe that the current environment of fear due to the widespread and indiscriminate repression and intimidation provide a conducive environment for impartial investigation.

The government has already justified the killings by providing fabricated excuses and we see all indications that the outcomes of such an investigation are predetermined. Both the terms of reference given to the investigating panel by the government and the manner in which the individual investigators are selected does not lend itself to credibility. There is every reason to believe that this investigation will not be any different from the so called investigations held in similar previous cases, including the Agnuak massacre of Gambella in 2003, where more than 400 people were killed in two days and no official was held to account to date. The most likely outcome of the investigation under the current panel is that the killers would be exonerated and the victims and the forces of democracy and human rights would be blamed instead. The regime would end up justified and become emboldened to commit other crimes on our people and the forces of democracy.

Kinijit believes that the only impartial investigation that can be conducted to arrive at the truth and hold the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to account is one which can be conducted under the auspices of international organizations such as the United Nations as recommended by the EU parliament on its resolution of December 15, 2005 or any impartial international body that is free from intimidation by the government Kinijit, its members and supporters and the Ethiopian people at large do not recognize or embrace the Investigation Committee set up to do a mockery of justice by delivering a forgone conclusion.

Kinijit for Unity and Democracy Party
Addis Ababa
May 3, 2006