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Two members of the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) were beaten and detained in December and are being held incommunicado. Tilahun Ayalew, arrested December 29, and Anteneh Getnet, arrested December 14, do not have access to lawyers. The charges against them are unknown.

A third ETA member, Meqcha Mengistu, has been missing since December 15. He had been under constant surveillance since attending an ETA conference December 8 and 9, according to the global union federation Education International (EI).

Amnesty International has put out several action alerts on behalf of previously detained and tortured ETA members. Attacks ETA members have increased since the union and EI filed a complaint with the International Labor Organization (ILO). EI cited government suppression of union activities, including numerous arrests since 2005.

Amnesty International reports the Ethiopian government filed numerous court cases against the union, attempting to eliminate it. Ethiopian authorities have also attempted to replace the ETA, Ethiopia’s oldest union, with a pro-government union under the same name.

Demand a stop to government harassment, torture, and illegal detainment of union members. Write to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at P.O. Box 1031, Addis Ababa, Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Send faxes to 251-11-552020.

Sample letters can be found at Education International. Click on the “Urgent Action Appeal” posted on January 4 titled “Ethiopia.” You can also email letters of solidarity to Education International at

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Expiration Date:
Wed, 02/28/2007 - 11:59pm