Kidnapping and Disappearance in Ethiopia
Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) is highly concerned about the safety of Mrs. Asha Mohammad Galmo and Mr. Milkesa Abdusalam Juhar, who were kidnapped on the 4th of August, 2010.
Mrs. Asha Mohammad Galmo, age 40, and her son Milkessa Abdusalam Juhar, age 15, were residents of Badessa Town in Eastern Hararge Province in the Sate of Oromia in Ethiopia. Mrs. Asha Galmo and her son were on a business trip to Dere-Dawa, a city in the same province and state, when they were kidnapped by who were said to have been government security agents.
Family members claim that they have been trying hard day and night to know what has happened to Mr. Asha and Mr. Milkessa ever since they were kidnapped and disappeared; but to no avail. The whereabouts of Mrs. Ash and Mr. Milkessa is not known. HRLHA has learnt that Mrs. Asha has been a victim of persistent harassments and intimidations including repeated arrests and detentions by the ruling EPRDF party for the last seventeen years or so because of her personal political beliefs and stand. Mrs. Asha Mohammad is Married and a mother of nine children.
Given the very bad human rights record of the Ethiopian EPRDF Government, HRLHA fears that Mrs. Asha and Mr. Milkessa might have been subjected to life-threatening situations including tortures.
The EPRDF Government is under various national and international obligations to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. HRLHA calls on the Ethiopian Government so that it takes all necessary actions to prove that it meets and fulfils those obligations regarding the kidnapping and disappearance of Mrs. Asha Mohammad Galmo and her son Mr. Milkessa Abdusalam Juhar.
HRLHA urges other human rights agencies (local, regional and international) to join with it and condemn these illegal and inhuman acts by Ethiopian government security force against defenseless citizens. HRLHA also requests governments of the West and other international organizations/NGOs to interfere, so that the safety and security of Mrs, Asha Mohamed Galmo and her son Mr. Milkessa Abdusalam Juhar would be secured and their whereabouts is to be disclosed by their kidnapers.
The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa/HRLHA is a non-political and non-partisan organization which attempts to challenge abuses of human rights of the peoples of various nations and nationalities in the Horn of Africa. HRLHA is aimed at defending fundamental human rights including freedoms of thought, expression, movement and organization. It is also aimed at raising the awareness of individuals about their own basic human rights and that of others. It has intended to work on the observances as well as due processes of law. It promotes the growth and development of free and vigorous civil societies.
