After the news
about the first known politically motivated self-immolation in Ethiopian
history spread across the globe like wild fire, the shockwave the rare tragedy
caused has been unprecedented. As much as 29-year-old Yenesew Gebre’s self-sacrifice created a sense of
outrage among ordinary Ethiopians, the Meles regime left
no stone unturned to discredit a defenseless dead man, who publicly chose
horrific death than being abused and dehumanized in his own country.
The late
teacher and activist, Yenesew, paid the ultimate
price. And yet the TPLF launched a
coordinated fabrication scheme.But
the irresponsible reaction of the regime has caused a backlash.
The
activist teacher
Born in Jimma, Yenesew spent much of his
teens in Dawro Zone, where his elder half-sister TadelechBekele lives. After
completing high school, he joined the Awassa Teacher
Training College. During the 2005 national elections, his passion for change
and activism shined in Awasa. He proved to be an
orator and organizer. But his activism attracted unwanted attention from local
officials and TPLF’s secret agents, who blacklisted Yenesew
and other activists.
Yenesew was said to be exceptionally
well-rounded. Close friends and relatives unanimously say that he was a highly
intelligent, conscientious, articulate and well-read young man. Though he used
to teach English language at Tercha Technical and
Vocational College, he was fired around two years ago, reportedly due to his
strong political convictions and critical views. Losing his job in one of the
poorest communities in Southern Ethiopia, had
obviously been a depressing challenge that seriously affected and outraged him.
A former
teacher of the late Yenesew, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, says that he was not only conscientious but also one of the most
outstanding students he has ever taught. Yenesew was an
activist in the Waka movement, which was mainly
triggered by the injustice and oppression that ethnic Dawros
felt at the hands of local and regional officials.
The Dawros have a longstanding issue with the Southern regional
administration. According to Dawro activists, a
number of futile efforts were made to undermine development and self-rule of Dawro Zone, one of the most impoverished and marginalized
communities in Southern Ethiopia. The activists particularly blame HailemariamDesalegn and his
close associates like AlemayehuAssefa,
a man who is widely known to be taking highly divisive measures in the so-called
“Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region”. Hailemariam, who was the regional president from 2001 to
2006, has been blamed for fanning ethnic animosity between Wolaytas
and Dawros that want to assert self-rule and get
attention in terms of development,.
Four
months ago, the current organized resistance in Waka
town began in earnest as a result of administrative grievances. Despite the
fact that Yenesew was of mixed Oromo and Amhara parentage, he was one of the grassroots organizers
in charge of coordinating the youth. As a result of this, he was thrown in jail
by local officials along with other activists and community elders. Some of the
detainees including Yenesew were released after a
couple of weeks in jails following intense pressure by the community that sent
two groups of community elders to the Prime Minister’s office in Addis
Ababa to lodge complaints. But many still remain in jails despite the appeals
of the community to the regional and federal governments.
A fateful
day
In the morning
of November 11, 2011 (11/11/11), Yenesew, family
members of the detainees and community activists travelled to MarekaWereda Court, in Tercha town, which is around 17 km from Waka
town. There were high hopes that the court would release the detainees. But to
the dismay of so many people, the judge accepted the request of prosecutors to
keep the detainees for two more weeks for “further investigation.” Yenesew stood up in the packed courtroom and condemned the
injustice of keeping innocent people in jails. He loudly demanded the court to
end the injustice by releasing the detainees without further delay. He was
reprimanded for contempt of court but that never scared the passionate activists
who used to lament the oppression and injustice the people of Ethiopia were
subjected to under the TPLF.
In the
afternoon, there was a meeting of six Wereda
administrators and local community representatives chaired by the AlemayehuAssefa, a controversial
character accused of pitting one ethnic group against others. Yenesew vented out his anger at the lack of freedom, rampant
injustice and maladministration. He told them that it was better for him to die
than live in a country where people suffer oppression, indignities, and
injustice.
According
to British investigative journalist Angus Stickler, Yenesew
was quoted as saying: “I want to show to all that death is preferable
than a life without justice and liberty and I call upon my fellow compatriots
to fear nothing and rise up to wrench their freedom and rights from the hands
of the local and national tyrants.”
The
hospital that never was
He vented
out his anger with a rousing speech. Around 2 pm, it took Yenesew
seconds to douse himself with petrol and set himself ablaze .
Shocked people on the scene tried to put out the fire. He was rushed to Tercha Hospital. Records show that Yenesew
was admitted to Tercha Hospital at around 3 pm. But
there are still many issues that overshadow the death of the young activist. Tercha Hospital is not a hospital in the real sense of the
word. Despite the fact that it serves well over 550,000 people, it has only two
young doctors, Dr. WondimagegnSisay
and Dr. BahruLegesse, who
is a fresh graduate with little experience. When Yenesew
was admitted, Dr. Wondimagegn was on duty. Dr. Bahru was away due to the death of a family member.
Dr. Wondimagegn was reportedly horrified by the severity of the
burns that Yenesew had suffered. He recommended that Yenesew be transferred immediately to a hospital with the
facilities and expertise of treating horrific burns. But he was reportedly
over-ruled by security agents who never worried about the survival of Yenesew. From the moment he was admitted into hospital,
i.e. 11th November around 3 pm to his last gasp, at around 2 pm
local time on 14th November, he was surrounded by security agents.
One can conclude that the security arrangement was a contributing factor to his
death.
Tercha Hospital has no burn unit, no
maternity unit and not even clean water provision let alone a psychiatric unit.
Glimmer of Hope is an anti-poverty US-based nonprofit organization trying to
raise funds for Tercha Hospital. On its website,
Glimmer of Hope says:
“Tercha is home to the only hospital in the entire region
which serves over 550,000 people in the Dawro Zone
located in southern Ethiopia… They currently do not have a separate
facility for women giving birth or the resources should any complications
occur. What is most horrifying is the hospital does not have access to a
constant source of clean water or electricity…
“It
is hard to imagine a hospital not having clean water, but that is the reality
in Tercha. Water must be brought to the hospital.
Additionally, the hospital itself needs work. As the hospital in Tercha serves all of the surrounding areas, which accounts
for more than half a million people, it is imperative that this hospital has a
maternity ward. Currently there is no place for women to get maternal care and
this is a pressing and urgent need. In addition to the maternity ward, new
equipment is also needed at the hospital so that it can better attend to the
hundreds of thousands of people that it serves.”
Fabrication
of the highest order
According
to reliable sources within Walta, who want to remain
strictly anonymous, Bereket Simon and his right-hand
man, Shimelis Kemal, gave an order to senior managers
to do everything in their power to discredit not only the martyred hero, but
also the movement rocking Dawro. So the local authorities
as well as members of TPLF security apparatus were involved in the scam.
It was
after the news about Yenesew’s death went
global that the TPLF regime concocted fabrications. Dr. Wondimagegn
was asked to issue a death certificate stating that the self-immolation of Yenesew was linked to the mental illness he patient had
suffered. This was intended to say that Yenesew did
not know what he was doing due to mental incapacity at the time he set himself
alight. A leader of the Waka movement admiringly says
that Dr. Wondimagegn was true to the Hippocratic Oath he took as a physician. He
threatened that he would rather resign than give a forged document that
contains false medical testimony.
But it was Dr. BahruLegesse who was made to issue the death certificate that
contains screaming lies. The fresh doctor did not clearly live up to his oath
unlike Dr. Wondemahegn he refused to be part of the
scheme. This writer called him on his cell phone and tried to speak to him on
the matter but declined a comment. But informed sources say that he is consumed
with regret for being used in an ethnical manner.
In what
appears to be a wicked act of desecrating the sacrifice of Yeneneh
and diminishing the cause for which he gave the ultimate, Walta
Information Center, one of the ruling party’s mouthpieces, has stocked
anger among the people of Dawro and Ethiopians across
the world by going to great lengths to attack a dead man.
One of Walta’s
fabricators, EPRDF loyalist EtsegenetTesfaye, who infamously did a hack interview with Solomon Tekalign and Shimelis Kemal few
months ago, was assigned to do a pre-arranged interview and write stories that
are contrary to the truth. Etsegenet had already
raised eye-brows by eagerly facilitating Solomon Takalegn’s,
vulgar Diaspora bashing.
According to an unattributed
report, supplemented by an audio file, posted on Waltainfo.com, Yenesew’s half-sister, Ms. Tadelech Bekele, Tercha
Hospital’s Administrator, MebratuMasebo, and Dawro Zone Deputy
Commander, Bako Tina, were presented as witnesses.
But the story has an interesting twist. ESAT has been able to confirm from
various sources that all the witnesses have been compromised and were forced to
be part of Walta’s fabrication.
Detained
witnesses
After Yenesew
passed away, security agents arrested Ms. TadelechBekele, who lives with her children in Tercha
town. She works at the Tercha administration finance
bureau. Her husband, DemissieDando,
heard the tragic news in the regional capital, Awassa,
where he works for the health bureau. As soon as he heard the sad news and the
troubles his wife was facing, he rushed back to Wako, which is over 315 km from Awasa. The reason why he works far from home leaving
behind his wife and children was political. Demissie
has been an outspoken critic of Wako town’s officials. As a result, he
was transferred to Awasa despite the fact that his
wife and children remain in Wako.
Tadelech,who was put in detention and seclusion after the self-immolation of Yenesew, and MebrahtuMasebo were taken to the Zonal Administrators office
escorted by security agents. Tadelech was
particularly warned that if she refused to give a statement purporting that Yenesew burned himself out of insanity than any political
cause, she and her husband would lose their jobs. The woman who was blaming
local officials for the death of her brother was made to change her story. But
family members have said that she has been traumatized and haunted by what she
was forced to do to trash her brother.
The other testimony came from Mr. MebratuMasobo,
administrator of Tercha Hospital. Local sources say
that Mr. Masobo cannot provide a credible testimony
regarding hospital matters. Before he joined the Southern region branch of the
ruling party a few years ago accelerated in promotion, Mr. Masebo
was apparently a health officer who was convicted of stealing and selling medicines that belonged to the same
hospital he now manages.He served
jailed terms but became trusted enough to be a hospital administrator when he
joined the ruling party.
Another thing that has been a
talking point among Waka residents was not only being
denied to bury their hero, but also the refusal of security agents to have been
buried in accordance with the norms of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Despite
the fact that he was a follower of the Tewahdo
Orthodox Church, the security agents insisted that he be buried at a protestant
church cemetery. Informed sources say that Tadelech,
a congregant of Kalewihot Protestant Church, was
allowed to hold a quick funeral in the presence of a few people. He was buried
in an unmarked grave, an action which further provides testimony to the fact
that Yenesew’s self-immolation was not an
ordinary event.
One can easily surmise from the
facts that Yenesew has been a victim of an atrocious
regime while alive as well as in death. A government is supposed to treat its
citizens, regardless of their opinions, social status, religion or ethnic
origin, with respect and dignity. But TPLF never cares for ordinary people but
the sustaining the unacceptable tyranny it has imposed on the people of Ethiopia.
Whatever the regime says and does, YenesewGenbre’s self-immolation will loom large in the
struggle for freedom, justice and dignity. With his self-immolation Yenesew has raised the bar of self-sacrifice to an extreme
level.
