Reliable reports reaching SOCEPP have confirmed that the special security forces and Death Squads of the Meles Zenawi regime are on a rampage in Eastern Ethiopia (Harar,Dire Dawa,Jijiga,etc) kidnapping and killing citizens linked to opposition movements.

Two weeks ago, Captain (retired) Eshetu Mengiste was kidnapped in Harar by security forces, taken to a secret location, tortured brutally and his corpse thrown to the hyenas. Captain Eshetu was a well known critic of the Meles Zenawi regime. Similarly, two young friends, Abel Kuba and Dereje Mulugeta, were picked up by the secret police and have been disappeared .People have concluded that they have both been murdered given their known opposition to the Meles regime. Other such actions have been reported from Jijiga to Asbe Teferi and other places. It is to be noted that a member of an opposition group, Aregawi Gebre Yohannes, was stabbed to death in Tigrai.

The Meles Zenawi regime is in a full speed mode to repress and destabilize the opposition forces before the coming May election. The brutal murder of Aregawi, Captain Eshetu, youngsters Abel and Dereje is only the tip of the iceberg. The intensification of the repression is expected. SOCEPP calls on human rights organizations and democratic governments to condemn the brutal measures of the Meles Zenawi regime

• Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP)