In June 1991, the forces of the EPRDF attacked the areas held by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) in Gondar and Gojjam. In the all out war that ensued, some EPRP leaders and veteran members fell into the hands of the EPRDF. Among those captured at the time in Sankisa (Quara) and other areas were EPRP leaders like: Tsegaye Gebre Medhin Lucha (a.k.a. Debtera), a founding member of the EPRP, former leader of the Ethiopian Student Movement, poet and Amharic language expert; Yihak Debretsion, Belete Amha, Sitotaw Hussein, veteran guerrilla leaders like Teklai Gebresellasie, Hagos Bezabih and Abera. Around the same time, Azanaw Demile (Tulu) was handed over to the EPRDF by the government of the Sudan. Tsegaye and his comrades were at first jailed in Bahr Dar where many people saw and some even talked to them. From Bahr Dar they were taken to Tigrai region, the "home base" of the ruling Tigrean front, and they have disappeared since. The government denies ever holding them while rumors continue to appear that they are being held in inhumane conditions in Quiha or other unofficial prisons. The denial of the government has fuelled the suspicion that Tsegaye and the other EPRP leaders may have been secretly and arbitrarily executed.
Many more have been disappeared in the prisons of EPRDF. We will keep on searching and provide you with information that may contribute to the search for justice. SOCEPP-CANADAwill not rest until full explanation of the disappeared is officially rendered.
