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Prisoners death records  

 

 

 

 

 

 


Mysterious death of Ibrahim Afa
Mysterious death of Abraham Tewelde

Liquidation in the ELF
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IN MEMORY OF PRISONERS EXECUTED BY THE EPLF ( 1970s & 1980s)

EPLF is the Same as the PFDJ/Government

This webpage is dedicated for the imprisoned EPLF fighters who were executed in Halewa Sewra "Gestapo" section of the EPLF prison, and for those who were killed or mysteriously disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s

ጭካኔ ኢሳያስ ኣብ ቅድሚ ህዝቢ ኣብ ኣሰመራ ጊሂዱ’ምበር፡ ኣብ ሳሕል ኢዩ ተጀሚሩ AdhanomFitew

Researched and compiled by Resoum Kidane
September 2010 (revised and expanded version Dec 2010).

I.Brief historical background
In the late 1960s Eritrea was among the main sources of students for the university in Ethiopia. This was the case despite the fact that the Ethiopian government introduced a calibration of the university entrance examination scores according to the province of origin, in order to restrict the entry of Eritrean students. Erlich (1983) who was lecturer at the University of Addis Ababa also observed that the proportion of Eritreans at University was higher than for Ethiopians in the early 1970s.

Negussay Ayele( p.6 also states that over the years some University faculty members had been observing certain disturbing and unchanging patterns in the results of the exams. He adds that the highest numbers of University entrants for much of this period were Eritreans. Virtually 90% or more of those who took the exams and eventually qualified for higher education came from Eritrea and some large towns like Harer, Dessie and especially Addis Ababa. Evidence of this can also be seen from a table below.

Provinces 1968and 1969 E.S.L.C.E Passes Rank order of passes
Arussi 7 8
Bale 1 13
Begemeder & Semen 9 7
Eritrea 118 2
Gomu Gofa 2 5
Gojjam 5 11
Hararhe 31 4
Illubabor - 14
Kaffa 3 12
Shoa 74  
Addis Abeba 431 1
Sidamo 7 9.5
Tigre 30 5
Wellega 7 9.5
Wollo 18 6

Source: A historical survey of state Education in Eritrea (Taye, Adane 1991: p.106)Read more)

During these years many Eritrean students who studied at the university in Addis Ababa were influenced by Che Guevara's revolutionary internationalism, the Paris student revolts of May 1968, the Ethiopian progressive student’s movement etc. Markakis has noted that Eritreans at Addis Ababa university distinguished themselves by their political activism, and their immersion in the radical ideological currents that began to emerge in Ethiopian student circles in the mid 1960s(National and class Conflict in the Horn-1985, p119).   

In the mid 1960s clandestine group of Eritrean students at the University of Addis Ababa were formed probably by Kidane Kiflu.  Since its  formation there were a growing number of Eritrean university students from Ethiopia joined in the ELF, this was possibly after they were recruited by Kidane Kiflu. These students who joined the ELF in the 1960s were not welcomed by the Kiada Al Ama, and hundrend of them who were at the time referred to as " Sriya Addis" were executed on mere suspicion of being Ethiopian agents. According various sources these fighters were made to endure unbearable torture at the hands of ELF interrogators; a large number of them were also summarily executed (Paice 1994: 34; Human Rights Wartch 1991: 47; Mengesteab 2005: 43). Issayas and Abedella Idrias were among the members of Kiada al Ama leadership who are responsible for the massacre of those students.

member of Kiada al Ama

The most criminal leaders

Before looking at the main theme of this document it is worth mentioning briefly the crimes committed against innocent fighters by the ELF in the late 1960s which became a legacy to the ELF and EPLF leaders in the 1970s and 1980s. The ELF leaders' crimes against innocent fighters did not cease after the killing of Haraka fighters in 1965, in fact they got worse from 1967 onwards. For example, there was a report that twenty-seven fighters from Zone 5 were executed, in 1967, by their own leader, Osman Hishal, deputy comander of the fifth zonal division.This crime and the severe mistreatment of the fighters by their commanders caused many fighters mostly from Zone 5 to defect to Ethiopia. Among them was Haile Duru who pursued his studies at Haile Selassie I University and became one of the organizers of  a student group in the early 1970s. Consequently Kidane Kiflu sent a letter to the Eritrean students studying at the university in Addis Ababa to explain to them the circumstances of ELF fighter and advised them against  joining the ELF.

Source kab riqe -hefeneti Tekie Beyne (2009: p.123)

Ibrahim Berhan (2001) also states that Kidane is one of those gallant and brilliant fighters,TeGaDeLTi,who was assasinated in Kassala,Sudan in the late 60s.He was not only a heroic fighter who relentlessly opposed the sectarian and backwarded political outlooks of the then Jebha,he was a decent person with exceedingly pleasant personality.Those who were incarcerated with him in Sudan's jail in the late 60s attest to those facts.Once he was released the butchers of the then Jebha killed him and put his body in a trunk of a taxi.So was the barbaric acts of QiYaDa ALaMa that left no options for the true and patriotic fighters that they have to emabark upon seeking a different path of pursuing the nationalist agendas.

Kidane Kiflu was killed shortly after 39 members of the new leadership (Kiada al Ama leadership) were elected at the Adobha Conference because of his dissenting opinion   (Read how he was brutally murdered in Kassala).

The death of Kidane caused much disillusionment  among the ELF fighters.   For example Tuku Yehdego who was one of the founders ofMahber Mahber Shew'ate (Union of Seven) in Asmara in 1959 became disillusioned. Tuku hated the Kiada al Ama leadership from the beginning and decided to work with the Sabbe group rather than to join Selfi Nsenat which was led by Issayas who was member of Kiada al Ama until he defected to theAla groups on 27 April 1970.

After Tuku left the ELF, he sent a letter to the Eritrean students and other former members of Haraka in the Diaspora to inform them about the unstable political situation in the ELF and the Kiada Al Ama conspiracy to kill Kidane Kiflue and other fighters. His letter might have contributed for the split among the Eritrean students in the diaspora at the meeting of General Union of Eritrean Students (GUES) in Munich in the summer of 1970.  One group was, which had Dr Fitsum Ghebreselassie, Aregai Habtu, Habte Tesfamariam etc condemned the Kiada al Ama action and the other group, which had, Herui Tedla Bairu who didn't condemn the killing of Kidane Kiflue and Wlday Giday. In 1971 when Dr Fitsum Ghebreselassie was killed in the ELF, Herui Tedla Bairu was a vice-chairman in 1971. The killing of Dr Fitsum Ghebreselassie might have a connection with the summer meeting which was held in Munich . [Herui was also participated in the decision to liquidate the EPLF in1972 which caused for the death of 3, 000 fighters from both side between 1972 and 1974. This was another crime which committed when he was in the ELF leadership between 1971 and 1975.]

In 1971 Teku also vanished without trace somewhere around Mahmimet (See map.1) while he was on the journey with Girmay Mahari from Port Sudan to Semenaw Bahari (See map.2) to attend the EPLF meeting which was held on 15-6-1971 at Semenaw Bahari inside Eritrea


Tuku'e Yehadego
1942-1971

 

 

 

 

kab riqe -hefeneti Tekie Beyne (2009: p.133)


MAP1


MAP 2

Tuku was not only very naïve in making the decision to attend the EPLF meeting but also in trusting Girmay Mahari and travelling with him. Regarding this incident Girmay Mahari reported that they lost each other somewhere around Mahmmimet. Tekey Beyne also mentioned this incident in his book kabriqe -hefeneti Tekie Beyne (2009: p.133). What was reported by Girmay Mehari was just a cover up story similar to what was reported about the death of Abraham Tewelde 1970s, Woldenkile Haile 1977, Mengesteab Yisak 1978, Ibrahim Afa 1985 etc. When Girmay Mahari convinced Tuku to visit the field, Tuku had never thought that he would be the next victim of the EPLF leaders after Abraham Tewelde. If he had returned to Port Sudan after attending the meeting, he would have completed the last part of his paper (ገድሊ ኤርተራ መዓስ ተጀመረ? ብመንከ?).It is beyond the scope of this paper to explore this issue in greater depth.

Returning to the main point of this document,  the letters mentioned above one was sent by Kidane Kiflu to Eritrean students in Ethiopia and the other by Tuku to Eritrean students and  former members of Haraka in the Diaspora. They were seeking to convince Eritrean students and former members of Haraka to become supporters of the EPLF in the 1970s. For example,  former members of GESU supported the split of PLF from the ELF at the meeting held in Nuremberg in August 1971; it was also the Eritrean students in the North America who became supporters of the PFL by condemning the ELF leaders for their role in killing democratic fighters; furthermore  the Eritrean students inside Ethiopia formed a clandestine Eritrean Marxist Group and became supporters of the PLF.   This new clandestine Eritrean Marxist Groups also had a magazine called Teihsha which was prepared by Temsegen Haile and Petros Yohannes, editor and co –editors of the student journal, respectively. Petros  Tesfa Giorgis (2007) described Temesgen Haile as a brilliant, articulate, extremely bold and a man of action. He was also involved in the underground Eritrean nationalist newspaper named “Tihisha”.”.

Tekai Beyne(2009:124) wrote in his book

 
Although from the early 1970s many Eritrean students joined the EPLF from the Haile Selassie I University, Addis Ababa University and abroad, many of them became victims of imprisonment torture or execution in the 1970s and 1980s. Those studentswho joined the EPLF from Haile Selassie I University or abroad like Mussie Tesfai Mikael  or Tewolde Tesfamariam were genuine revolutionaries. They participated in the struggle with the purpose to educate and politicize the fighters. They were prepared to die for their principles in the battlefield, but did not expect to be killed by the bullets of the EPLF .In the 1970s many students particularly those who joined the EPLF from Haile Selassie I University, the University of Addis Ababa or abroad were killed on the orders of the EPLF leaders because they were too internationalist in their outlook.. Isaias and his collaborators used regionalism as a card against progressive fighters in the 1970s.

Mengsteab (2005:51) states that Isaias was never comfortable with the new arrivals from Addis Ababa, especially with Mussie and Yohannes,   He succeeded to brainwash  a large number of his political operatives that the opposition was an Akele Guzai undertaking.  In fact, Mussie and Yohannes Sebhatu were too internationalist in their outlook to fall for regionalist appeals.   Using ultra-leftists and spies many progressive fighters were physically eliminated on the orders of the EPLF leaders between 1973 and 1980.  Among the first fighters to become the victim of this accusation was Melese who joined the EPLF in 1972.  The Menka group also became victims.  From then on many new recruits, particularly university students,  became victims to witch-hunts.  In 1975 and 1976 a large  number of the recruits who had joined the EPLF from high schools and university,  became disillusioned by the imprisonment of Menka leaders and at the EPLF’s  mistrustful  attitude towards educated fighters. For example Adhanom Fitwi who joined the EPLF from the Addis Ababa University in 1974, in his interview with Aida Kidane mentioned that he and other students who came from Addis Ababa University were suspected without justification of sympathizing with the Menkae movement - because they were students from Addis Ababa University. Sherman( 1980:64) also states that in 1976 perhaps as many as 200 young EPLF intellectuals were arrested. Solomon Woldemariam,who was in the EPLF leadership from 1971-1977, also suggested that the number of people killed was much larger. Solomon added that around one thousand fighters who participated in the Menka movement were rehabilitated after undergoing serious political indoctrination and self-criticism( Mengiseab,49:2005). Furthermore Teklay Aden, an EPLF security chief who defected to the Ethiopian regime in 1981, revealed that three thousand fighters were physically liquidated by the Front between 1973 and the time of his defection in 1980..

Through the 1970s,  many educated fighters became victims of imprisonment, torture and execution, others among them who were  not imprisoned, were psychologically intimidated by commands which are listed below along their names

● Mister Akib= Keep secret
● Mister Ketfelet Herdig Aeytebel= Don't attempt to find out secrets
● Kunentat Aefkiden Iyu = Circumstance is not convenient
● NeyHeluf Aetzeker or Herfan Halafinet Aleka,=Do not remember what happen in the past
● Ne Muhur HemamAleka, =Sickness of Intellectualism
● Neus Bourgia tebai Aleka =Petty bourgeois thinking/behavior
● Nay Halefinet Himam Aleka= Ambition /sickness /looking for leadership
● Nebsu Zienekif Nbisthu Zenekif=First criticise yourself(confess) then criticise others
● Muhur Tebelasi=Opportunistic intelligetsia
● Gbuika Fetsm Kedmi Meselka Mehetat= Do your duty first then you have a right to ask questions
● Derbika Ketel=Class suicide
● Anenet=Egoism etc

The above phrases were used by the EPLF leaders to repress freedom of expression and to foster an antidemocratic culture in the liberation struggle.  This culture still affects most exiled  former EPLF fighters and members of mass organization /Hahash wedebat Most of them have feared the consequences of revealing to the public  what they knew or suspected during the liberation struggle.

The purpose of this document is manily to highlight the imprisonment and execution of prisoners during the liberation struggle, and to commemorate on the 18th September their historic contribution. It is also a document to recall the  injustice and inhuman treatment of the imprisoned EPLF fighters who were executed in the 1970s and 1980s. It is a bitter legacy which lives on after the liberation 1991. Regarding  the information source  for this document, the compiler gathered  together all relevant  documents   from  testimony, memory  and articles  which were written by  former EPLF fighters some of whom were imprisoned when the Menka group were arrested in 1974.  Other  were in the  EPLF security section, such Teklay Aden and Solomon Woldemariam. Main Source of information which was used during preparing this document

From 1973 until the liberation of Eritrea in 1991 between three thousand and five thousand fighters physically eliminated by the Front

ሰለ ምንታይ  እቶም ብሉጻትን ብርሃን  ሃገር  ዝኾኑን  ብወታደራዊ ክእላቶም ኮነ ብትምህርቶም ብፍላይ  3ይ ዓመት ዩኒቨርሰቲ ዝበጽሑ ከምዉን ትምህርቶም ዝጩረሱ ዶክቶራት ዘይተመልሱ

Source: The question of Martyrdom within the EPLF in the 1970s

 

II. Name of victims who were executed in 1973

Meles Ghebermariam,
Meles Gebremariam was one of the progressive University students who had studied at the Haile Sellasie 1 University in the late 1960s. Petros  Tesfa Giorgis (2007) recalls that in one of the student demonstrations, ‘we were many Eritreans among us was Meles Gebremariam. He joined the  Selfi Nasnet from overseas in the early 1970, but he became the first victim of Isayas and his collaborators’. Zekere (2004) adds that Meles Ghebermariam after serving as a ganta commissar, was suddenly apprehended in 1973, and executed.  Nobody raised a finger for him. Fear and conformism reigned then. Everything was hushed up, except for dubious rumours.  It was alleged to be a foreign agent, the CIA being mentioned. The fact that his father was a high-ranking officer in the then Emperor’s army (possibly from Digsa village) was a factor banded about. Source The Dirty War In The Dejen byBy Zekere Lebonna -


ኢሳያስ ሰላዪዶ ወይ ተጋዳላይ ነይሩ

Aida Kidane (2010) adds that Meles studied at the Haile Selassie University and passed with distinction and honours in economy 1972. He was a known activist and the security disliked him and some other students. So, when he went all dressed to receive his degree from the emperor, relatives and friends were present at the university. His name was deliberately secluded from the reception. This was a big embarrassment and to make it worse, his father scolded him in front of everyone. They were never good friends with his father, and besides, his father was a security Colonel. Meles along with Petros Selomon slipped away to Somalia. There they were imprisoned and finally let free and they joined EPLF. Soon, a 'quarma' or suspected spy called Stifanos was caught and interrogated. He said that there is another spy with him, someone who came through Somalia. Petros was not suspected as he grew in Asmera, and besides, Meles father was security officer. Meles was tortured to death and died claiming he was innocent. What a tragedy and trice tragady and a year later, his brother Tekeste was gunned down in the US and his brave sister Emnet was investigating the case that she too was killed. He is survived by two brothers. A friend of Meles told Aida Kidane he was tortured and killed by being beaten by thorns, thus bleeding to death.
(Contributed by Aida Kidane Oct.2010)
Tewolde Tesfamariam
who joined from Hamburg in 1972, was also executed. He was alleged by the EPLF leaders to have been foreign agents, and particularly working for the CIA. During the menka movement, Issays group within Selfi Nasnet spread the rumour that there were up to one hundred and fifty CIA agents within the movement. The Selfi Nasnet, a totalitarian organization from its inception, had some sort of cubbyhole for everybody. In the beginning, suspects and victims were mostly from the semi-proletariat class, according to the Marxist lexicon. Intellectuals appeared immune from the witch-hunting. This temporary reprieve did not last long (Megiesteab Kidane 2005:49)

Tekle Wedi Keshi.
Zekere Lebonna ( 2004)   states that he remembers Tekle Wedi Keshi, who  was a former school-mate at Godaif Elementary School. Zekere added that Tekle Wedi Keshi suffered  from foot blisters and was haggard:  ‘I saw him being prodded on by some of our Ganta leaders. We were resting on a narrow forest trail (mengedi gebar) near Adi Shuma. I gazed at him, but did not show any acknowledgement or words of encouragement. Our detachment reached the Adi Shuma locality in rapid retreat. Tekle's situation worsened. Unable to put up with the walk, he was lagging behind with a few other strugglers. I overheard the Ganta leaders accusing him of faking it, and of having studied at Abadina College.(An Ethiopian Police Academy). In fact, the morons, were confusing it with Alemaya College (An Ethiopian Agricultural college in Harer, Ethiopia). This was ominous, for they suspected him of being a spy’. Read more

III. Name of victims who were executed between 1975 and 1979

Brief description

Like the 11 former government ministers and EPLF leaders (G15) who were  arrested in September 18, 2001, the first Menkae groups were arrested on 1st February 1974, the exact date when the Derg rose against Haile Selassie. Was it a coincidence or not (Welde Mariam, 2004). Welde Mariam added that at 5:30 pm at Arag Musie Tesfa Mikel and Mebrahtu Weldu were imprisoned. The Menkae ringleaders were executed in Bliquat in 1975, and a head guard stationed in the execution  is  still alive.(Source Welde Mariam on Menkae). Furthermore Teklay Aden also stated that, the leading democrats were arrested; fighters who demanded for their release met the same fate. The leaders of the movement were then physically liquidated in a very brutal manner. Regarding Menkae's execution in the interview Adhanom Fitwi had with Aida Kidane in 2004 he said that a military court with those like Mesfin Hagos sentenced them. Apart from the Menkae, countless others were made to disappear, also counting those who bombed themselves. Those who made suicide are told to put down their arms and follow. Meaning they will be horribly imprisoned, and instead they decide to blow themselves up. The disappeared ones were countless.

Musie T Mikel:
Musie joined AA University in 1965 but withdrew to join the Eritrean Liberation Front.[1]. In the late 1960s he defected to Ethiopia and pursued his studies, in the early 1970s,  at Haile Selassie I University. According Markakis (1987: 136) Muse Tesfai Mikael was a talented agitator and skilled dialectician who had honed these skills in the student movement. In recognition of his talents, he was put in charge of political education in the training camp, where he gained a reputation among the recent recruit intake. They rallied to his side when he led the challenge to the ELF-PLF leadership in the autumn of 1973, demanding, inter alia, the election of a committee to supervise the actions of the leadership, the participation of all members in decision-making, the election of units, and similar demands which the leaders denounced as anarchist.
Executed ca 1975
Yohannes Sebhatu joined Addis Abeba University in 1962-3. He was studying economics, and was a brilliant student. He used to be suspended university form the Uinversity because of politics. Yohannes was also imprisoned a day or so at Kolfe and Sendafa when he was actively involved in the university demonstration (Aida Kidane, 2005). Yohannes was described by other source as the first students in Ethiopian education history to be expelled from Haile Sellasie University, for political agitation. He was the president and founder of a leftist political society at university. One of the best students to ever come out of any Ethiopian University (R.R Balsvik Haile Sellasies student: the intellectual and social background to revolution. Source. Petros Tesfagiorgis(2007) also states that Yohanes Sebhatu, a brilliant Marxist Guru. He was a reporter in an English daily paper in Addis Ababa during the two years of his suspension from the University. Yohanes Sebhatu and Mussie Tesfamicael were executed by EPLF as a member of the “Menka uprising”
Executed ca 1975.
Tareke Yihdego: Was in high school in Asmera also in YMCA. He was not political and did not attend AA University. He had a strong personality.
He was in very friendly term with Werku, seen hand in hand. She was to be banished to an Arab country but she refused and stayed on. She now lives in Eritrea. She must have recanted. He was one of the Yemen group who came to Denkalia 1970 Contributed by Aida Kidane
Executed ca 1975?

Habte Selassie joined the ELF  from the  Prince Bede Mariam school, Ethiopa  and was one of the eleven fighters from the Ala group. He played an active role in organizing secret talks at Kagnew Station held between  Tesfa Michael Georgo and Richard Copeland from the CIA .(According to some source Copeland recruited Abdel Nasser). According to Meharena Hadgu, Habte Selassie was in Ala in 1970 and taken prisoner by Ethiopia.He played an active role in organizing the secret talk at Kagnew Station with Tesfa Michael Georgowhich was held between Issays and Richard Copeland from the CIA .(According to some source his true name is Miles Copeland who reruited Abdel Nasser). According Meharena Hadgu, Habte Selassie was in Ala in 1970 and taken prisoner by Ethiopia. He was not imprisoned long; his family worked hard to have him freed bribing the authorities saying he had planned to give himself up. He had asked why the movement was seen negatively, but be studied, telling this to Isayas. Many who were with the movement changed sides when fighters were imprisoned. He, John, Afwerki, Tareke, Rusom Amma, Dehab Aberash, Werku, Debesai G Mikel (friend of Musie, taken later than the others he was taken from the front line). Weldemariam Abraham also mentioned in his interview, Those introgetors used to beat Habte Selassie because he knew that Isayas was a spy of Asrate Kassa and the Americans, and they wanted to get rid of him. Ammar (2004) added that Habte Selassie was killed for having  know to much about the meetings at Kagnew Station and the differences that emrged among the leaders of the faction. Indeed Habte Selassie played an active role in organizing the meetings at Kagnew Station with Tesfa Michael Georgo.
Girmay Filipos in his paper “ኢሳያስ ሰላዪዶ ወይ ተጋዳሊ also mentioned :

Here is more information related to Habte Selassie and Issayas fromትልሚ፣ ንዘርኢ ክርዳድ ( 9ይ ክፋል) ብ ኣለና.

ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ካብ ጀብሃ ተፈልዩ ምስቶም ኣብ ዓላ ዝነበሩ ተጋደልቲ ኣብ ዝተሓወሰሉ ግዜ፣ ነቲ ብመንገዲ ሃብተስላሰ ገብረመድህን ተጀሚሩ ዝነበረ ዝርርብ ቃኘው በቲኹ ባዕሉ ነቲ ርክብን ዝርርብን ምቕጻሉ፤ ብድሕሪ መስዋእቲ ኣብርሃም ተወልደ ኣብ ዝተገብረ ምርጫ ድማ ሃብተስላሰ ተመሪጹ ከብቅዕ፦

“… ኣብ ጀብሃ ዝነበረኒ ሓላፍነት ጠንጢነ ስለዝመጻእኩ፣ ኣነ እየ ሓላፊ ክኸውን ዝግባእ። ወላ ክሳብ ኣብ ካልእ ስፍሕ ዝበለ ጉባአ ዓቢ ምርጫ ዝግበር ድማ ኣነ ከም ግዝያዊ ሓላፊ ክምረጽ ኣለኒ” በሎም ደረቐኛ ኢሳይያስ። ከም እንሰምዖ ከኣ ሃብተስላሰ “ኣነ’ውን ካብ ሓላፊ፣ ተራ ተጋዳላይ ኮይነ ክሰርሕ እዩ ዝብርሃኒ። ሓላፍነት’ኳ ንዓይ ቀናዝማች ወይ ግራዝማች ክኾነኒ ኣይኮነን” ምስ በሎ ኢሳይያስ ብደስታ ነታ ናይ ዲያብሎስ በትረ-ስልጣን ኣብ በዓቲ ዓላ ተረከባ። ኢሳይያስ ኣብ ግዜ ናጽነት /1991/ ቀደም ምስ ሃብተስላሰ ገብረመድህን ዝተሳእላ ስእሊ ኣብ እንዳ ዘመድ ሃብተስላሰ ተሰቒላ ከም ዝነበረት ሰምዐ። ብህጹጽ ሰብ ልኢኹ ከኣ ጠርነፋ።

At the end Habte Selassie was executed for having allegedly “spied” for the Ethiopian Government and the CIA in 1975. Mesfin Hagos is the only person who can provide the right information about Habte Selassie whether he was a spy or not because Mesfin Hagos participated in the decision for sentenced Habteselssa and other menka ringleader in 1975.

Afworki Teklu went to AAU studying perhaps English literature. He was politically active and international revolutionary, and courageous. He was physically well built his Tigrina knowledge was not that good.
Contributed by Aida Kidane
The Role of Hailesellasie University Progressive students:
Executed ca 1975

Debesai Gebreselassie

Debesai Gebreselassie was a student of AAU studying political science. He joined the EPLF with Ammanuel Yohannes, Yohannes Sebhatu and Musie T Mikel in 1972 after the hijacking of the Ethiopia Airline in 1972. ( Amanuel Yohannes brother of Zemheret Yohannes was killed in 1972 while hijacking another plane). In 1974 when the ringleaders of the Menka group were arrested, Debesai was not arrested like Habte Selassie because he was not involved in the movement. He was arrested later, in 1976, and executed in 1979. Based on information obtained from other sources, he went for medication abroad and was arrested after returning to the field. Alana (2010) adds that Debesai was badly wounded at the battle of Belza in 1975 and he was sent for further medical treatment to Aden. According to the EritreaCompass Aeroplane Hijackings (2008) Debesai was an innocent type, he had sent a letter to the US from some Arab country and the letter reached Andebirhan who forwarded it to the meda. As a result of this while Debesai was under the treatment he was kidnapped and brought to the field where he was charged for  being a Menka sympathizer and having connection with Sabba who had split from the EPLF in 1976 and formed his own organisation '(ELF-PLF)' in 1977.Executed in 1979 at Arag.

 

 

 

Dr Resoum

Dr Resoum  was a pharmacist.  He graduated from Addis Ababa university and joined the EPLF sometimes in 1972.  In 1974 he was accused of being a ringleader of the Menka movement and executed in 1979. Dr Resoum was one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.
Executed in 1979 at Arag

Besides Dr Resoum, there was another pharmacist who was arrested with him. His name is Michael Habte who graduated from Addis Ababa University. Michael joined the EPLF in 1972 and he was arrested with the Menkae ringleaders in 1974. Although he was not executed with Dr Resoum, as a result of the torture inflicted on him during interrogation he was suffering from severe mental illness. Perhaps because of this he was released from the Halewa Sewra (Gestapo section of the EPLF). Since then he has severe mental illness. The last time I saw him was in 1990 at the pharmaceutical factory at Arareb. I am not sure if he is still alive. Here is some brief information about him which is excerpted from Alena

Dehab Tesfatsion& Aberash Melke were reportedly discharged (terefiten) . However, there has not been any news about them from their friends or relatives since then . According to a reliable source both of them refused political indoctrination and self-criticism consequently   executed  at Gerger (Belekat) in 1979, This was when Wodi Woldu and other who participated in the Menka movement were released from Halewa Sewra[ EPLF’s prison ] after their self-criticism in 1979.
Executed in 1979 at Gerger (Belekat). [ Let's remember the first EPLF women fighters]

” excrept from መምህር ተስፉን ሕማማቱን read more

Meharena Hadgu states thatMesfin Hagos was one of the top leadership and nothing is done without their signing. Isayas was the chairman, others being Mesfin, Selomon, Tewelde Eyob who was later killed being part of Menka, and Asmerom Gerezghier. From the PLF 1 leadership were Ali Said Abdella, Romadan Hamed Nur and others unknown who were added. So in the killings of the Menkae, Alamin and others were selected as committee. If this comes out publicly there will be tewatet, sahabo guteto. 6-7 committee members were elected, and those like Mesfin were top leaders. Meharena added that a brave member of the leadership, Tewelde Eyob was killed, he did not even sign for the killing. He said let us democratically solve the situation. When it was said this movement was destructive, Tewelde said no, this is a conflict only not a destructive one and we can lead them to the right way, it is not a criminal charge, but was said he too was against Shabia and eliminated [Read more]. According Adhanom Fitwi the Menkae ringleaders were executed in 1975. This was after a military court imposed the death penalty  for  Menka ringleader: Musie, Yohannes, Tareke, Afworki, Teklu and others.Mesfin Hagos was  among  the members of the military court responsible for the death of the Menka ringleaders in 1975 Regarding this Fitwi in his interview with Aida mentioned that,   the EPLF leadership spoke publicly told about Menka  ringleaders  executions before or after the time of the EPLF Congress 1977. [Read full Memories of Menkae and After:Adhanom Fitwi .

ኣብ መወዳእታ 1975 መስፍን ሓጎስ ኣብ ዓላ ዝገበሮ ናይ ሓለፍቲ ኣኼባ ሓደ ካብ ተሳተፍቲ ““እዚ መንካዕን ደገፍቲ መንካዕን እናበልካ ዝግበር ዘሎ ሰባት ናይ ምንጻል ጎስጓስ፣ ክእረም ኣለዎ” መስፍን ሓጎስ ከምዚ ክብል ከም ዝመለሰሉ “ብመንካዕ ዝሓምም ሰብ እንተሎ፣ ልቡ ከሰል ት ምሰል” excrept from ትልሚ፣ ንዘርኢ ክርዳድ : 7 ይ ክፋል - ብ ኣለና

መስፍን ሓጎስ ኩሉግዜ ተሓላቓይ ናይ ኢሳያስ ኮይኑ፣ ነቲ ኢሳያስ ዝፍጽሞ ገበናት እናሸፈነ ክነብር ዝደሊ ሓላፍነት ዘይስመዖ ውልቀሰብ እዩ። ብቐሊሉ ዘኽፈኣሉ ዘጸብቐሉን ዘይፈልጥ ምዃኑ ዝሕብረካ ብዛዕባ ‘መንካዕ’ ተሓቲቱ ክምልሽ ከሎ፡ “ግቡእ መቕጻዕቶም እዮም ረኺቦም” በለ። እቲ ሕቶ ‘መንካዕ’ ኢሎም ይጸዉዑ እምበር ብኻልእ ኣዘራርባ እቶም ኣብ ቤት ፍርዲ ከይቀረቡ ገበኖም ከይተፈልጠን ከይተመርመረን ብዘይ ሓንቲ ክንዲ ጽፍሪ ትኸውን ቅንጣብ ጌጋ ከይተረኽቦም ብሓሶት ኣልዕል ኣቢልካ ስሞም ብምጽላም ዝቕተሉ ዝነበሩ ዘጠቓልል ሕቶ እዩ ተሓቲቱ። ነቲ ጉዳይ መንካዕ ብከመይ ትገልጾ ተባሂሉ ንዝቐረበሉ ሕቶ፡ ግቡእ መቕጻዕቶም እዮም ረኺቦም ኢሉ ዝሃቦ ብዱዕ መልሲ ኩሉ እዩ ሰሚዑዎ። መሊሱ መቕጻእቲ ዝበሃልexcrept fromወፍሮም ንገዘኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ሳልሳይን ናይ መወዳእታን ክፋል)

Meharena Hadgu added that the executions of the progressives were widespread. Their killings became known because they were fighters before us, were more educated, were political commissioners etc. There are many more who were killed and not talked about because we were constantly moving and in between battles that when they are taken
away with some excuses, we assumed they were just transferred from us. Some were accused to being spies and those who knew of their innocence are not living to tell.
Although there could have been spies inside us, they should have been charged democratically, not beaten to death in interrogations [Read more]

Solomon Wolde Mariam who was  the head of Halewa Sewra when many innocent fighters including Menka group became his victims. According  Solomon a large number of people were killed during he was in the leadership and the head of Halewa . He added that around one thousand fighters who participated in the Menka movement were rehabilitated after undergoing serious political indoctrination and self-criticism ( Mengiseab,49:2005) Regarding this when he was asked about them by the public at the meeting in Keren in 1978, he admitted that all of them were innocents. Below is an excerpt from The case of Solomon


Solomon was Imprisoned at Geuet , Hishkeb and other places in Shale area between 1979-1983.

IV. Name of victims who were executed between 1975 and 1980s

Similar to the 11 former government ministers and EPLF leaders (G15) who were  arrested 2001, Tewolde Eyob was arrested, in 1975 without having committed any crime.   Tewelde was arrested as a result of a conspiracy by Mesfin Hagos and Solomon W/Mariam after he disagreed with them and other members of the EPLF leadership over the arrest of the ringleaders of Menka . Tewolde who split from the ELF in 1969  said that in terms of respect for justice he could not see any difference between the ELF and EPLF leaderships. Consequently  he, too, was  arrested and   executed in 1980.

Meharena Hadgu who was a former   prisoner  described Tewelde Iyob and  the circumstance how was he arrested  in the following  words

Tewelde Iyob said let us democratically solve the situation. When it was said this movement was destructive, Tewelde said no, this is a conflict only not a destructive one and we can lead them to the right way, it is not a criminal charge, but was said he too was against Shabia and eliminated.
The Menka movement started in September and Isayas talked of it in January. A paper is lost written by Tewelde Eyob "at Adobha meeting we claimed our youth were killed and we condemned the ELF. This will be our everlasting condemnation, the case must met democratically changed." He was charged to becoming Menka and secretly demoted from top leadership post. He was imprisoned in June or July of 1974 and killed like the Menka. We all knew he was killed. Nothing is kept secret forever. Some secrets are known from leaders.

Imprisoned at Gerger, Arag and other places in Shale area between 1976-1980 and executed in 1980 at Arag

Mekonnen Ande Michael (2010) provides more information on the conspiracy of arresting Tewelde Iyob. In his article [ወፊሮም ገዝኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ካልኣይ ክፋል)መስፍን ሓጎስ መን’ዩ? ] the author states that ... ሓደ ተወልደ እዮብ ጥራይ ከኣ እዚ ሕቶ ቅኑዕ ሕቶ እዩ ብምባል። ወተሃደራዊ ጉባኤ ይገበር መሪሕነት ይመረጽ ሰብ ሰስርሑ ይፍለጥ ዝብል ርእይቶ ኣቕረበ። በዚ ምስ ኢሳያስ ስለ ዘይተሰማምዑ፤ኢሳያስ ነቶም ሰለስተ መሪሕነት ማለት ንመስፍን ሓጎስን፤ ሰለሙን ወልደማርያምን፤ ኣስመሮም ገረዝጊሄርን፤ ንበይኖም ኣኪቡ ተወልደ እዮብ ጉባኤ ዝብል ዘሎ ጀብሃ ንወጻኢ ልኢኻ ኣሰልጢናቶ እያ። ወተሃደራዊ ኪኢላ እዩ፤ ንስኻትኩም ግን ግድምና እንተ ዘይኮይኑ ብወተሃደራዊ ይኹን ብኣካድይምያዊ ትምህርቲ የብልኩምን። ኣብ ጉባኤ ምስዞም ተመሃሮ ክትወዳደሩ ኣይትኽ እሉን ኢኹም። ረኣይዎም ዘርእይዎ ዘለው ወተሃደራዊ ምትዕጽጻፍ፡ንስኹም ደቂስኩም ኢኹም ዘለኹም።  ውሽጣዊ ጎንጽኩም ገዲፍኩም ምስዞም ተመሃሮ ተቋራቖሱ ኢሉ ዓረ ቖም።read more

Haile Garza studied Social Work at Haile Selassie University in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He joined the EPLF from Addis Abeba in 1975. Soon he was put in one of the prisons of Halewa Sewra. Miraculously, Haile escaped and took a couple of his prison guards and joined the ELF. Haile soon played a key role in the land distribution projects of the ELF. Haile was an exceptionally intelligent person who not only played the guitar but also spoke Tigre, Tigriyna, Amharic, Arabic and English fluently. He wrote equally well in the three scripts (Geez, Roman and Arabic). Among other things. Haile represented the ELF as the head of its humanitarian wing, the Eritrean Red Cross & Crescent Society (ERCCS). Haile’s untimely death in Khartoum in 1984 by the EPLF security was linked to his position of the ERCCS. Haile united the then ERCCS of the three factions of the ELF (Ahmed Nasir, Abdela Idris and Osman Buruj) and became their first and last chair man.

At that time, THE Scandinavian international NGOs which had been assisting the humanitarian wings of the ELF, EPLF, OLF and TPLF (namely ERCCs, ERA, ORA and REST) were mostly convinced that in Eritrea they had to help ERA only. They knew that the ELF was expelled by the joint force of the EPLF and TPLF. Norwegians Church Aid was the key among the NGOs. Haile realized that the conference in OSLO, Norway would determine the fate of his organisation ERCCS as well. Haile tried, but thanks to the then head of ERA, Paulos Tesfagiorgis was unable to get an entry visa to Norway to attend that crucial conference. However, Haile was so resourceful that secured a visa to Sweden and rented a boat to entry Norway. Thus, Haile attended the conference. He illustrated to the Norwegian NGO’s that his organization, the ERCCS was still responsible for the lives of thousands of Eritreans who had escaped from Eritrea and were in vulnerable circumstances in Sudan.

The donors responded positively to Haile’s demands and consequently ERA,despite the lion’s share that is secured, was deeply frustrated by the missionary zeal of Haile that they couldn’t stop. Haile returned to Khartoum victorious, but was soon assassinated. He won the war but lost the battle. [Note from wekipedia Paulos established the only PFDJ licensed Regional Centre for Human Rights and Development in Eritrea and was a co-founder and subsequently head of the Eritrean Relief Association during the Eritrean independence war]
What happened after the imprisonment and liqudation of Menkae

After the Menkae movement many high school and university students who joined the EPLF between 1974-1976 were imprisoned, tortured and executed because they were educated.Attitude of the EPLF leadership to ward educators in in 1970s Dr.Alazar Gebre-Yesus described : the EPLF leaders started the classification of the Tegadelti, naming one che-guar danga, meaning the uneducated / uncultivated.  it was meant that someone who belongs to the class of Peasants (Acqwua-yin / Harestai-yin) and Workers (Shekalai-yin). The other class was branded as educated but opportunist, middle-class bourgeoisie (Ne'us-Birjua). The che-guar danga classification was welcomed and always seen with green light and rewarded with military leadership at all levels within the EPLF rank and file of its leaders. By contrast, the elite classification was always under red light that was by monitoring and controlling all her / his activities. The most common post given to the elites (opportunists' class) was a political commissioner but under the full control of the che-guar danga leadership of the military.

In the 1970s there was a saying that 10 peasants che-guar danga are better than 100 educated fighters. .  It characterized  the EPLF leadership’s thinking, which was to favour the uneducated peasant fighters over the educated ones.  According Weldemariam Abraham che-guar danga meant that  the peasant having worked all their  lives would not tire climbing up a mountain. If he dies in battle, he's history and if not, he does not ask questions. He dies not knowing his rights and follows all orders. But a student is more likely to be aware of his rights and ask  questions.    This phrase was deliberatedly  used by the EPLF leadership  as a method of repression and to demoralized for educated fighters. In 1975, when the cader school opened,  the first students were from the peasantry, che-guar danga. They were uneducated military leaders like Wuchu. In protest at the entry conditions to cadre school, Adhanom G/Mariam opened an unofficial  one called Durfo Cadre School,  sometime in late 1975. However, it was closed after Adhanom received orders from Meshin Hagos to stop this activity. Adhanom was one of the great military leaders but he was not a member of the Central Committee in 1977 (Source: Kidane, 2005) Kidane, 2005)
Mekonnen Ande Michael (2010) provides more information on the role of Mesfin Hagos of accusing fighters and his conspiracy before 1975. In his article [ወፊሮም ገዝኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ካልኣይ ክፋል)መስፍን ሓጎስ መን’ዩ? ] the author states that.. . ኣጋጣሚ ግን ኣብ ስግርና ኣድሓኖም ገብረማርያምን  ኢሳያስ ተወልደ ( ወዲፍላንሳ) ኣብ ሓደ እግሪ ከውሒ ጭብጥ ኢሎም ረኣኹዎ ‘ሞ፡ ‘እቲኣቶም ደኣ እንታይ ረኸቦም’ በልኩዎ ንጴጥሮስ። እዚኦም  ነዚ ምንቅስቃስና ኣውራጃዊ ኣይኮነን እዚ ሕሉፍ ጸጋምነት እዩ ስለ ዝበሉ መስፍን ሓጎስ ብረት ኣውርዱ ኢሉ ሓይርዎም ኣሎ በለኒ። ከምኡ ‘ውን በራኺ ወዲፈንቅልን ግርማይ መሓርን በቲ ስግር ይፍክሩ ኣለዉ። ማዕረ ጥይት መን ከምትበልሕ ክንሪኢ ኢና ይብሉ ኣለዉ በለኒ።

እምበኣር ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ ንዝኾነ ክፍጽሞ ዝደሊ ነገር ብመስፍን ሓጎስ ጌሩ ጥራይ እዩ ዝፍጽሞ ።  ከም ንኣብነት ጅ.ኤ.ም.3. ዝተባህለት ናይ ሃዳኖ ብረት መነጽር ዘለዋ ንኢሳያስ ካብ ቃኘው ከም ህያብ ዝተዋህበቶ ኣነ ከም ኣጋጣሚ ሓንቲ መዓልቲ  ርእየያ። ብድሕሪኡ ምስ ገለ ነባራት ምስ ተዘራረብኩ በዛ ብረት እዚኣ ዝጠፍኡ ከም ብዓል ገብረጻድቕ ጓንጉል፤ ኪዳነ ጅኑቢ፤ ዝበሃሉ ዓበይቲ ወተሃደራውያን ኪኢላታት፡ ብዙሕ ግዜ ኣብቲ ዝግበር ዝነበረ ወተሃደራዊ ግጥምያታት ምስቲ መሪሕነት ስለ ዝመላለሱ ዝነበሩ፡ ‘ተሰዊኦም’ ብዝብል ስም በዛ ብረት እዚኣ የጥፍኡውም ከምዝነበሩ ተረዳእኩ። ነዚ ጉዳይ እዚ ብድፍረት ብዘይ ፈሪሃ እግዚኣብሄር ዝፍጽሞ ከኣ ሓደ መስፍን ሓጎስ ጥራይ እዩ።

ይ እዩፈቲኑ ተባሂሉ[excerpt from [ወፊሮም ገዝኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ካልኣይ ክፋል)መስፍን ሓጎስ መን’ዩ?



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Brief information on Bitsay Menkiskas

Goitom Berhe (bitsay), a law graduate of Addis Ababa. Goitom and his groups became target for “radicalism “and many of them were executed between 1976 and 1980s. This was happened after the liquidation of the Menka in 1975. this new democratization movements which was emerged in late 1975 called Bitsay Menkiskas because it was led by Bitsay Goitom Berhe who was law graduate of Addis Ababa. According (Dr.Alazar Gebre-Yesus) Goiton contributed a lot to the development of the EPLF by translating foreign literature of political philosophies into Tigrigna language. One of his translations was 'Zente Mogot' from which Sheabia learned a lot. Further he introduced and taught the Philosophy of Comradeship: Who is a comrade? (Men Eyu Betszai? Men Eyu Sewrawi?. In reaction to this Haile Menkorias was instructed by Issayas to translate a number of Marxist works to tigringna. The writer of this document who was a member of the Information Department at Belekat and Zero in 1975/1976 recalls that when Haile Menkorias translated a number of Marxist works to tigringna (eg, State and Revoltion , The Communist Manifesto, what to be done, two step backward and one step forward and some of Mao works, the titles of which I cannot remember. We carried out the process of printing and packaging of the publications but we were not allowed to read them because we were ordinary members If someone tried to read Marx works they could be targeted in those days.Meharena Hadgu In his Menkae memory paper also recalls that anyone seen reading Marx, Lenin or Mao etc was seen suspiciously believing he will be a Menkae, that many stopped reading in fear. It was the ELF who held a weapon in one hand and a book in the other, unlike us. Many pretended to be uneducated because they were demoralized to what happened to those who read.

From Bitsay Menkiskas who were arrested in 1976 and, later killed included: 1)Goitom Berhe; 2)Mesih Russom;3) Tewolde Eyob; 4)Teclai Ghebre-Kristos; 5)Michael Bereketeab; 6) Haile Yohannesom; 7) Samuel Ghebre-Dingil; 8)Bereket Haile; 9)Memhir Tecle Habte-Tsion; 10) Alem Abraha and others.


Wedi Basha

 Yemanawyan Menkiskas was movement against corruption in 1977-1978 when most of the town had been liberated by the EPLF . A year after Tewelde was arrested, Solomon became a next target of Issayas and Mesfin Hagos during a period of preparation for the EPLF first organisational congress in 1976, and there was a strong campaign with Cader School (Bet temherti cader) against Solomon  and his group such as Tesfamariam Wedi Basha(who is currently Eritrea's ambassador to Israel)  on the alleged Yemanwi kinfi (right wing) by students at the school. [..... እቲ ውድባዊ ጉባኤ መታን ክዕወት፤ ማለት ኣድሓርሓርቲ ብፍላይ ድማ ናይ የሚን ሓይሊ መታን ሰሊኾም ከይኣትዉና 5ይ ዙርያ ካድር ብምምስራት ንኩሎም ናይ የሚን ባእታታት ናብቲ ዙርያ ካድር ከም ዝስደዱ ጌርና። ድሕሪ ምስዳዶም ምርጫታትና ብዘይ ጸገም ከነካይድ ዝከኣልናሉ ዓቢን ዕዉትን ስልቲ ኢዩ ነይሩ” ክብል ብሓበን ገለጾ፡፡][source ትልሚ፣ ንዘርኢ ክርዳድ መበል 19 ክፋል ኣለና]

According to Adhanom Fitwi  Solomon Wolde Mariam was security head and head of Halewa Sewra, of training center, of the enemy lines, army front leader, of Central command. Issaias was only of front and chairman in name only; he was not that powerful as Solomon and he feared Solomon’s powe. It was the power of Solomon who crushed the Menkae movement. He came to power because of his experiences in military and ability. He put his trusted men in positions in all ranks up to brigade, battalion leaders. This power concerned Issaias. Solomon was biding for his power against Issaias and sent rumors that Issaias had said the Menkae case should have been solved democratically. Since Solomon had more powerful officers though Issaias was the chairman, Solomon's men said Issaias himself can be charged and put into prison. It had gone that far, and this reached to the ears of Issaias, and their relationship began getting worse. Solomon was later charged of being a Yemin or rightist and he disappeared. Read more

From Yemanawyan Menkiskas who were arrested in 1978 and later killed included : 1) Dr Eyob Ghebre-leul, educated in the USSR; 2) Mehari Ghirma-Tsion, educated in the USSR; 3) Ghebre-Michael Meharizghi; Addis Abeba university graduate; 4) Hibret Tesfa-Ghaber; 5) Kidane Abeito; 6) Fissehaye Kidane (Germen); 7) Haile Jebha, former EPLF interrogation section chief; 8) Araya Semere; 9) Ammanuel Filansa; 10) Solomon Wolde-Mariam, key EPLF leader between 1970-1977, and, others. Mogos Fassil, Addis Ababa law graduate, narrowly escaped death by fleeing from gun-point. Source EPLF an inside story

Poor Yemanawyan. Unlike the Menkae, no one defended them; no one raised a human rights issue; no one asked their whereabouts or their welfare and all perished without a trace" Aklilu Zere
Name of the victims (Bitsay & Yemanawyan Menkiskas) who were arrested and executed  between 1975  and 1978 are listed in below.

During the Menkae uprising Goitom Bisay was made shimagelle in first committee to study the conflict and said the proceeding was wrong that Menka were correct. Because of this, he was called Menka and put down from responsibilityMeharena Hadgu, As a continuation of his democratic movement, he tried to form an underground movement called 'the Eritrean Revolutionary Party' in 1975/1976 during this period the party transthe lated a number of Marxist works to Tigrigna. However later all the literature was then collected and burnt and he was accused of being Menka-e. Adhanom Fitwi who met Goitom Berhe (Bitsay) descibed the circumstamce of Goitom Berhe (Bitsay) before he was arrested briefly. Adhanom Fitwi said that Goitom was sent to Nakfa area, of Tigre speaking area with only one rank (mesRie) of 8 members and actually he did not speak Tigre language. Then he was confined there for some time. And there he wrote an article 'Who is the revolutionary?' handwritten in 30 pages. I and Alem Abraha read it at night with kerosene lamp, though it was forbidden to read the article. About two weeks from then, Goitom was taken away and never seen again. Alem Abraha was soon taken and killed. He was one of the long-served fighters, with Sebhat Efrem etc, a leader of our squad (fesli). I had heard Alem Abraha was from or around Dekhmare city. Read full story

Alem Abraha

Alem was a university student before he joined the EPLF but later became  a victim of the EPLF leaders. Below is an   excerption from The case of Alem Abraha  which provides brief information on how Alem disappeared from his unit early in 1977

He was arrested in 1977 and executed in 1980 at Arag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gidey
 Gidey was another victim of the EPLF leaders.  He was a third year university student before he joined the EPLF. Below is some information regarding his mysterious death from [ወፊሮም ገዝኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ካልኣይ ክፋል)መስፍንሓጎስመን’ዩ?
መስፍን ተግባራቱ በዚ አይውዳእን ሓደ ግደይ ዝተባህለ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ሳልሳይ ዓመት ዝወደአ ‘ኢንትሃብ’ ዝበሃል ናይ ቆላ ሕማም ምስ ሓመመ ወረቐት ጽሒፉ ኣነ ጥዕና ስለ ዘይረኸብኩ ንወጻኢ ከይደ እናተሓከምኩ ምስ ሰውራይ ክተሓባበር ምስ በለ መስፍን ሓጎስ፡ ‘ እንጀራ ህዝባዊ ሓይልታት ሓንቲ ኩላሶ ዝበልዐ ወይ ይስዋእ ወይ ይሕረድ’ ክብል መልሲ ሃቦ። ከም ኣጋጣሚ ምሳይ ተራኺቡ ምስ ሓተትኩዎ ነጊሩኒ። ኣነ ‘ውን ስቕ በል ከይሓርዱኻ ኢለዮ ከይደ። ደሓር ግን ክሃድም ፈቲኑ ተባሂሉ ተቐትለቲኑ ተባሂሉ[ read more [ወፊሮም ገዝኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ካልኣይ ክፋል)መስፍን ሓጎስ መን’ዩ? ]

Mesih Russom also known as Mesih Berhe

Mesih Berhe was chief of a department in the Commercial Bank of Addis, and had studied at the Commercial School. Weldemariam Abraham and Mesih were both friends and were together in Tihisha. Mesih Russom joined the EPLF in the early 70s. After staying in a Combat Force (HAILITAT) until 1975, he transferred to Zena (Department of Information ) and was put under close surveillance which was a normal procedure before arresting someone. One day, in late 1975, he was taken away.   Since then and no one has seen him. In 2006 I heard that he had been executed in 1980 at Arag.

  

Bereket Haile

one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Teclai Ghebre-Kristos

Teclai joined the EPLF between 1972 and 1973. When I was training as a barefoot doctor in September 1975 he was the head of the Department but later he was assigned to karura.

He was arrested in 1976 and executed in 1980 at Arag

Memhir Tecle Habte-Tsion

one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Michael Bereketeab

one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Mehari Ghirma-Tsion

Mehari Ghirma-Tsion, educated in the USSR who joined the EPLF with Haile Menkorias 1972. Meari, Haile and Ghebre-Michael were in charge of political education in the training camp when I was in military traning in the early 1975. Between 1975 and 1978 he was working in various department. In mid 1978 he was accused of reginalism as cover up and sent to Halaw Sewra in mid -1978 and executed in 1980 at Arag

Samuel Ghebre-Dingil

one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Girmay Berhe

one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Araya Semere

One of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Kidane Abeto

one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Mehari Kidane

one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.

Executed in 1980 at Arag

 

Michael Wedi Aketai

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Ghebre-Michael Meharizgh

Addis Abeba university graduate. Ghebre-Michael, Mehari Ghirma-Tsion and Haile Menkorias were in charge of political education in the training camp when I was in military training in early 1975. Between 1975 and 1978 he was working in the Department of Economics . In 1977 he was accused of regionalism as cover up and sent to Halaw Sewra in 1978 and executed in 1980 at Arag.

Dr Eyob Ghebre-leul, (Geologist)

Dr Eyob Ghebre-leul was educated in the USSR. Between 1975 and 1978 he was working in various departments. In mid 1978 he was accused of regio nalism as cover up and sent to Halaw Sewra in mid -1978 and executed in 1980 at Arag

Haile Jebha

Haile Jebha, former EPLF interrogation section chief. He was one of the Menkae beaters and then himself killed for being a torturer. He was arrested in 1977

Executed in 1980 at Arag

Kidane was one of those 3, 000 fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980. Kidane was a student from Santa Familia and joined the EPLF in late 1974. Because of his disability he was working in the library of the Information Department. Kidane was arrested in late 1975 alleged to be a member of the underground movement called 'the Eritrean Revolutionary Party which was formed by Goitom Berhe (bitsay), a law graduate of Addis Ababa.

Tewdros Hadgebes

one of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980.Executed in 1980 at Arag

Berhane Gebre Meskel was one of those 3, 000 fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980. Berhane was in the Navy and joined the EPLF in late 1974. After completing his military traning he was in a Combat Force (HAILITAT) but at some point he was transferred to Zena (Department of Information )which was normal procedure for close follow up before anyone's arrest in 1975 and 1976. After he spent a few months working in Zena with us one day he was taken to somewhere and no one has seen him since then. After a few months there was a rumour that he was a spy. In 2003 I heard from his son he had been executed.

Dr Biement, husband of Askalu Menqerious, was a respected medical doctor.  I did not know him personally but from people who know him intimately I heard that he was working as a doctor in Semenawi Bahri (Filfil Selemuna). All of a sudden, one day, news circulated that he committed suicide. In fact the news of his death was disclosed after people began to talk in a hushed manner about his whereabouts (source EPLF's History of Mysterious Deaths ) Meharena Hadgu also stated that Dr Bemnet was charged to being Menka. He was from Addis, was in cadre school. He asked about the Menka, though I never saw him. It was said hat he bombed himself. He was of same school as Yohannes and Musie. He wanted clarification, which was regarded suspiciously. A person is followed upon and disappears. It was common saying one killed himself even if he was a liked person that they killed him while trying to desert, what was not said. Deserting was crime to be killed. The life was difficult and one may want out. Someone plans escape and was caught.

 Solomon Woldemariam was one of the members of the EPLF leadership between 1970 and 1977.  As mentioned above, he played a key role with Mesfin Hagos  in the arrest of Twolde Iyob in 1975 and 1976 in interrogating prisoners. In 1977 he was accused of regionalism as cover up of power struggle and he lost the vote for the EPLF leadership or Central Committee at the EPLF's first organisational congress in 1977. After two years he was arrested through a conspiracy of Ali Yasina in 1979 and was executed in 1983. .ውሳኔ መቕተልቲ ሰሎሞን ወልደማርያም ብመንገዲ ሙሳ ናይብ

Habte
Habte  graduated  from Gonder Health College. He joined the EPLF from Gonder probably in 1972. Habte was a quite humble and caring person,. I knew him when  he was working as a paramedic in the military training camp at Beleqat with Woldeyslase Awer who is now living in Dallas.  Both  Habte and Woldeyslals were  under close surveillance in 1975. After a few years I heard  that Woldeyslase Awer fled to Sudan   but  Habte has been imprisoned since then.   I  haven’t heard any news about  Habte until recently.  On 11/11/10 I found this piece of information about Habte. from [ወፊሮም ገዝኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ካልኣይ ክፋል)መስፍን ሓጎስ መን’ዩ? ] how he was killed at the end.
ሓደ ሃብተ ዝተባህለ ኣብ ጎንደር ናይ ሕክምና ትምህርቲ ዝወደአ ‘ውን ሓድሽ ከሎ ምስ ኢሳያስ ብዝገበሮ ምልልስ ድሒሩ ተመሳሳሊ ኩነታት ኣጋጢሙዎ። ሃብተ ምስ ብዙሓት ከምኡ ሓደስቲ ተኣኪቡ እንከሎ፡ ኢሳይያስ፡ ንኹሎም እቶም ሓደስቲ ዓቕሞምን ብስለቶምን ንኽፈልጥ፡ “ናጽነት ክንደይ ይወስደልና ኢልኩም ትሓስቡ” ኢሉ ይሓቶም። ገሊኦም 10 ገሊኦም 20 ኢሎም በብወገኖም ይምልሱ። ሃብተ ግን ስቕ ብሃላይ እዩ ነይሩ። ኢሳይያስ ሓደ መዓልቲ፡ ንስኻ ኸ ኣይትምልስን ዲኻ ኢሉ፡ ድጊሙ፡ ነታ ሕቶ የቕርበሉ፡ ሃብተ ኸኣ፡ “ኢሳይያስ እዚ ደኣ ዘረባ ቆልዑ እንድዩ፡ ከከም ኣቃልሳና፡ ጽቡቕ እንተተቓሊስና ነሕጽሮ፡ እንተዘየለ ይነውሓና፡ ቃልሲ መዓስ ኩንትራት ወሲድናዮ” ክብል መለሰሉ። ኢሳይያስ በመላልሳኡ ኣዝዩ ሰንበደ። ብድሕሪኡ ‘ውን ሃብተ ኣብ ኣሃዱታት ምስ ተመደበ፡ እቶም መራሕቲ ሓደስቲ ሓካይም ባዕሎም የሰልጥኑ ስለ ዝነበሩ፡ ብጽሑፍ፡ ካብ ዘይፈልጥዎ ሓደሽቲ ሕክምና ትምህሩ ዝተመሃርና ኣለና ቦታ ዘይወሃበና ዓቕምና ኣብ ስራሕ ከነውዕሎ ስለ ዝበለ ድሮ ‘ውን ኣብ ጠመተ ኣትዩ ስለዝነበረ፡ ጸኒሖም ነብሰ ቅትለት ጌሩ ኢሎም ኣውርዮምሉ ። ከምዚ ብዝኣመሰለ ምኽንያት ክሳብ 84 ዝኣኽሉ ተጋደልቲ ከም ዝጠፍኡ ኣብቲ ግዜቲ ናይ ጎደና ምስጢር እዩ ነይሩ

 

Angelo and  Tesfai Yemani joined the EPLF from Addis Ababa University  in the mid 1970s.   Shortly after they joined the EPLF both of them became the victims of the EPLF leaders. Below is some brief information on how they disappeared which is excerpt from ወፍሮም ንገዘኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ሳልሳይን ናይ መወዳ

ኣንጀሎተማሃራይ ዩኒቨርሲቲ -ተስፋይ የማነ ሳልሳይ ዓመት ተምሃራይ ዩኒቭርሲቲ ኣዲስ ኣበባ
ኣንጀሎ ዝበሃል ተማሃራይ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ዝነበረ ኣብ ኩናት መዳግሕ ክህረም ዝረኣዮ የለን ክማረኽ ዝረኣዮ የለን። ኣነ ሓደ ካብቶም ንስለላ ዝተላእኩ እየ ኔረ። መሪሕነት እውን ብዛዕብኡ ዝሃቦ ወይ ዘውጽኦ መግለጺ ኣይነበረን፤ ተስፋይ የማነ ሳልሳይ ዓመት ተምሃራይ ዩኒቭርሲቲ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ዝነበረ፡ ጎዳይፍ ሃዳሙ ዝዓዱ፡ ብ1976 ዓ.ም. ኣብ ዒላ ጻዕዳ ናይ ታዕሊም ሓላፊ ከሎ ብነፋሪት ምስ ተሃርመ “ዘይመንካዕ እዩ” ተባሂሉ ሕክምና ከይግበረሉ ድሕሪ ምኽልካል ንነዊሕ ተሳቕዩ ተሰውአ እ

Dr.Eyob Mehsun

One of those 3, 000 prisoner fighters who were physically liquidated between 1975 and 1980. He joined the EPLF in his 26´s and he had a good carrier/ position in the Imperial bureaucracy. In Sewra/ghedli he was commander/merah Hailli &the reason why he was killed was that he "said the is no Difference between ELF and EPLF "

                                           		    
 

VI. The EPLF leaders' conspiracy of killing fighters and causing disappearances in the 1970s and 1980s
In the 1970s and 1980s there was a doubt about the death of many fighters inside the EPLF. There are still questions to be answered about EPLF fighters who were killed in suspicious circumstances which is still secret to most of us . As can be seen from the names some of them were very well-known in the earlier 1970s and mid -1980s.
Abrahm Tewelde went to hide in Ala region in the highlands probably in September 1969. He did not have any intention to split from the ELF.
Abraham Twelde who was the leader of the Ala group wished to resolve the problems with (Kiada al-Ama) through in dialogue not by splitting.

However, after Mesfin Hagos joined the Ala group in March 1970 and Issayas on 27 April 1970,the PLF II or Selfi Natzinet was founded at a meeting at Ala by Issays, this was just after the death of Abraham Twelde on 17 May1970 which is still secret to most of us.

According to some sources Abraham was poisoned in suspicious circumstance,. this was well documented by Human Rights Watch, (1991: 42p) ; Alem Tesfay, 2004 and Erlich( Eritrea in the Western Media p.97 1988) Erlich states that one of Issayas' main rivals in the rebel movement was found poisoned to death in 1970 Read more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Yemane Tesfamariam
Yemane graduated from Alemaya College of Agriculture, Ethiopia and joined the Selfi Nastnet in 1971. Like most of the universty students who joined the EPLF in 1970s, he also became a victim of the Selfi Nastnet. He was charged with belonging to Menkae and was arrested. ' He was beaten and tortured as a result of this he was not in good health when released from the prison. Towards the end of  the 1970s he was suffering from mental illness which could be the cause of his death in 1980. There was a report that he committed suicide and his body was found by students of the Revolutionary School at Jelhanti which was commonly reported by the EPLF in 1970s and 1980s. Here is some brief information about Yemane from Alena


Petros

 

 

Meharena Hadgu in Menkae memory wrote that fighters were taken away from front lines and disappeared. Some fighters who came from Addis and abroad heard of the Menkae killings and asked about it. They were met with suspicion and some disappeared. One of those victims was Petros.  In late 1977  Petros Yohannes joined the EPLF together with Yemane Monkey and Girma Asmerom from the USA. When Petros was member of ENASA in the USA, he had started inquiring about the injustice of the Menka group's arrest.  Why were fighters imprisoned? The educated ones asked only for democracy.  And what more have the ELF done? So what was the reason Shabia split from ELF then? Because of this he became a target of the EPLF which eventually caused to his mysterious death in 1978. Petros probably came to the field to work with Andebrehan who was the head of the English editorial board at the EPLF's Department of information in the field. Shortly after he arrived to the field he went for tour with Yemane Monkey and Grima. While they were on their journey came the tragic news that Petros had been killed in a road accident somewhere between Ginda and Decemhara. This was the EPLF’s version. There remains a suspicion about how if in such a serious accident had occurred Yemane and Girma survived unharmed?.Beyan Negash (2007)states that though I did not meet him, he was said to be a brilliant person. We heard that a man called Petros Yohannes had entered Meda (field)  from the US and was killed

 

Mebrhatu Woldu (Wodi Woldu). Just 2 years after the mystrous death of Petros a smilar story was repeated by EPLF. This was in connection with the death of Mebrhatu Woldu. As was mentioned earlier Dehab Tesfatsion& Aberash Melke refused political indoctrination and self-criticism consequently   executed  at Gerger (Belekat) in 1979. This was when Wodi Woldu, Worku Zerai, Alazar T/Michael and other who participated in the Menka movement were released from Halewa Sewra[ EPLF’s prison ] following their self-criticism in 1979. After their release they came to Nakfa for temporary stay at the Department of Poltics(School of Cader). When the Derg launched the fourth military offensive to capture Nakfa, this school was moved to Arag. During the fifth military offensive in July 1979 Wodi Woldu was sent to Hailitat (Platoon) not far from Arag. In 1980 we heard the tragic story that Wodi Woldu with his wife while on honeymoon had been killed in a road accident somewhere around Arag. For more details here is some brief information which is excerpted from Alena part 11 ኣብ መርዓ ወዲ ወልዱ ተጋዳላይ መስፍን ሓጎስ ቀንዲ ኣቦ ዳስ ከም ዝነበረ ርግጸኛ እየ። እንተኾነ እቲ ጅግና፣ ብዙሕ ምስጢራት ዝፈልጥን ንኢሳይያስ ድማ ከም ኢብራሂም ዓፋ “ስሱዕ” ኢሉ ጸሪፉዎ ዝነበረን ‘ገስጋሲ ሓረስታይ’ መብራህቱ ወልዱ፤ ናይ ግድን ክጠፍእ ስለዝነበሮ፤ ብድሕሪ መርዕኡ ኣይሰሙን ኣይሳልስቲ ምስ ሰበይቱ ተሰወረ። ኣብ ግዜ ሕጽኖቱ ምስ መርዓቱ ተረሺኑ ኣብ ሓደ ጋህሲ ተቐቢሮም ዝብል ትሒም-ትሒም ሰሚዕና ኔርና። ምኽንያት ንመስዋእቱ ዝተባህለ ከኣ ከምቲ ኩሉ ግዜ ዝግበር ጥበብ ተማህዘ። Read more

መኮነን ተኽለ /ጉብጣን

 

ኣብ ኣሶሳ ዝነበረ ፍሉይ ተርእዮ መስዋእቲ ገዲምን ሓላፊ ኣሃዱ ኮማንዶን ዝነበረ ተጋዳላይ መኮነን ተኽለ /ጉብጣን/ ኢዩ። ኣብ ኣሶሳ ናብ ግድን ክቕንጸል ዝነበሮ መኮነን /ጉብጣን/ ድማ ብመደብ ኢሳይያስን ብትእዛዝ ፊሊጶስ ተቐንጸለ። ኣገባብ ቅንጸላ መኮነን ተኽለ ኣብ ዝቕጽል ግዜ ክቐርብ ኢዩኢዩ።sourceትልሚ፣ ንዘርኢ ክርዳድ ዓስራይ

Here is a piece of information regarding Mekonnen which is exerepted from መደባትና፡ ነቲ ኪንዮ ጸሊም ራEዲ ዘሎ ደበና፡ ምቕንጣጥ Iዩ
Eቲ ብህዝባዊ ሰራዊት ዝፍለጥ ሰራዊት ህዝባዊ ግንባር ሓርነት ኤርትራ፡ ብኣላይነት ኣዛዚ ኣሃዱ ኮማንዶ ስዉE ተጋዳላይ መኮነን ተኽለ /ጉብጣን/፡ "ስዉE ተጋዳላይ መኮነን ተኽለ /ጉብጣን/፡ ሓደ ካብቶም ብስሪሒት ቅያ 18 ደቓይቅ ዝፍለጥ መጥቃEቲ መEርፎ ነፈርቲ ኣስመራ ዓቢ ተራ ዝነበሮ Eሞ፡ "ኣብ'ታ ብትEዛዝ ግዝያዊ ፕረዚደንት ሃገረ ኤርትራ ኣቶ Iሰያስ ኣፈወርቂ፡ ንተጋዳላይ ሰሎሞን ድራር ዝተዋህበ መምርሒ መሰረት ዝተደርሰት መጽሓፍ፡ /ቅያ 18 ደቓይቕ ስሪሒት ኮማንዶ/ ህላዌU ዝሃሰሰ ምኩር ሓርበኛ Iዩ''። ንኩነታት መስዋEቱን ታሪኹን ኣመልኪተ ፍሉይ ዝበሃል ስለ ዘለኒ፡ ኣብ ካልE ኣርEስቲ ገለ ክብል ክፍትን Iየ። ህዝባዊ ግንባር ሓርነት ኤርትራ ብውሕሉል ኣላይነት መኮነን ተኽለ /ጉብጣን/ ስሪሒት መጥቃEቲ ኣሶሳ ዓቢ ወትሃደራዊ ስሪሒት ከተካይድ Eንከላ፡ ንመንግስቲ ካርቱም ዘዘናግE መደናገሪ ጎጣዩ ስርሒት፡ ኣብ ልEሊ ውድብ S.P.L.A. ብጆን ጋርንግ ዝምራሕ ወትሃደራዊ ክንፊ ጸንፋፊ ዝኾነ ወትሃደራዊ ስሪሒት ብምክያድ Iያ ንኣሶሳ ከተጥቅE ዝኸኣለት፡፡ Eዚ ኸኣ፡ ነቲ ኣብ ልEሊ ዝባን መንግስቲ ካርቱም ተሳሒሉ ዝዋደድ ዝነበረ ናይ Eልዋ መስርሕ ስለያ፡ ንመንግስቲ ካርቱም ካብ ድቃሱ ንኸየበራብሮ ኣዳህሊሉዎ Iዩ።

ኣስካለ

ግርማይ መራሕ ሓይሊ

ብርሃነ ኣፍሮ

ጸገዝኣብ ወደባቴ

 Similar report to the above crime is also reported by others. For example, Mekonnen provides a brief information on the killing of other fighters in 1970s. He states in his part 3 paper(ወፍሮም ንገዘኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ሳልሳይን ናይ መወዳእ) ሓደ ‘ውን ኣስካለ ዝብሃል፡ ሙሁር፡ ሰብ ብጣዕሚ ዝፈትዎ፡ ምስ ተጋዳላይ ሕዉስ ዝነበረ ተጋዳላይ፡ መሪሕነት ኣብ ልዕሊኡ ብዙሕ ጥርጠራ ስለዝነበሮም ምስጢር ንምርካብ ኣብ ከባቢ በለዛ ኩናት እናመረሖ ብብጾቱ ተሃሪሙ ተሰወአ። መሰረት ግርማይ መራሕ ሓይሊ ተዋሂቡ ብ1977 ዓ.ም. ኣብ ኩናት ደንጎሎ ብብጾቱ ተሃሪሙ ተሰውአ። ብርሃነ ኣፍሮ አብ ደጎሊ ኣብ ግዜ ምዝላቕ ብብጾቱ ተሃሪሙ ተሰውአ። ጸገዝኣብ ወደባቴ ኣብ ክፍሊ ፍርዲ ኮይኑ ክጋደል ድሕሪ ምጽናሕ ኣብ ግዜ ወራር ሰምሃር ነቶም ዝነበሩ ክፍልታት ኣኻኺቦም ሂቦሞ ኩናት ምስ ጀመረ ብብጾቱ ተሃሪሙ ተሰወአ። ብዛይካ’ዚኣቶም እምበኣር፡ ብኸምዚ ዓይነት ኣገባብ ዝተሰውኡ ተጋደልቲ ካብቶም አስማቶም ዝዝክሮም እዞም ዝስዕቡ እዮም፦ቲ ኢብራሂም ዓፋ (ወዲ ዓፋ) /ንኣቀታትልኡ ዝምልከት ዝርዝርን ኣብቲ ቅንጸላ ዝተሳተፉ ሰብ ኪዳን ኢሰያስን ኣብ ጽሑፋት ኣለና ቀሪቡ ኣሎ/ ኢሳያስ (ወዲ ፍላንሳ)፤ ገብረጻድቕ ጓንጉል፤ ኪዳነ ጅኑቢ፤ መሓመድ ዓሊ ክለይ ወ.ዘ.ተ… ዘለውዎም ቆጺርካ ዘይውድኡ ኢዮም። ዝበሃልexcrept fromወፍሮም ንገዘኦም ዘይተመልሱ (ሳልሳይን ናይ መወዳእ)
እዚኣቶም ኣብ ውሽጢ ብዕጥቂ ብረት ካብ ዝቃለሱ ዝነበሩ ክኾኑ ከለው፡ ነቲ መሪሕነት ተቓዊሞም ኣብ ፈቐዶ ወጻኢ ሃገራት ዝተቐንጸሉ ኣባላት ውድባትን ውልቀሰባትን፡ ሙሁራት ካብቲ መሪሕነት ዘምለጡ ተጋደልቲ ቁጽሪ የብሎምን። ካብ ካልኦት ውድባት ንኣብነት፡ ካብ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ኤሪትራ ብቓጻ ዝተቐንጸሉ፡  ንኣብነት፡ ኣሕፈሮም ዝብሃል ክፍሊ ህዝቢ ናይ ተጋድሎ ሓርነት ዝነበረ፡ ቅድሚ መጣቃዕቲ ባጽዕ፡ “ መጥቃዕቲ ከተካይዱ ምድላዋት ትገብሩ ስለዘለኹም፡ ባጽዕ ቅድሚ ምህራምኩም ኣቐዲምና ስሩዓትና ከነውጽእ” ኢሉ ተወከሶም። ንሳቶም ከኣ፡ ምጽኣና ‘ሞ ክንተሓባበረካ ኢሎሞ፡ ምስ ከዶም 6ይ ርእሱ ኣብ ማይ ኣጣል ተረሺኖም፡ ሬሳኦም ብበንዚን ኣቃጺሎሞ። ምስኦም ዝነበረ ገብሪህወት ወዲ ኣሸብር ኣብርሃ ግን ካብ ኢዶም ኣምለጠ።  ካልኦት ሓሊብ ሰተ ኣብ 1976 ኣብ ዒሊበርዒድ፡  ሽኮራይ፤ ኣባል ጸጥታ ክብሮም፡ ስዒድ ሳልሕ፡ ኣብ ከሰላ፡ ወዲ ጋርዛ (ኣብ ካርቱም) ፤ ተስፋሚካኤል ጆርጆ፡ ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ፤ ዘካርያስ፡ ድሕሪ ናጽነት  ኣብ ወሎ (ደሴ) ፡ ወልደዳዊት ተመስግን፡ ኣብ ከሰላ፤ ሓንገላ፡ ኣብ ከሰላ ፤ ዓብደላ ጸጋይ 9ይ ርእሱ ኣብ ሱዳን መዕስከር ስደተኛታት፤  ገብረብርሃን ዘርአ፡ ካብ ሕሞራ ተጨውዩ ዝተቐትለ፤ ተኽለብርሃን ወዲ ባሻይ ምስ ብጻዩ፡ ካብ ከሰላ ጨውዮም ዘሕቀቑዎ ክጥቀሱ ይከኣሉ። ከምኡ ‘ውን ብዙሓት ገባር ሓረስቶት ዓበይትን መንእሰያትን ብዘይ ገለ ገበን ኣብ ፍርዲ ከይቀረቡ ብስዉር ዝተቀትሉ ቁጽሮም ውሑድ ኣይኮነን ዝበሃልexcrept fromወፍሮም ንገዘኦም ዘይተመልሱ(ሳልሳይን ናይ መወዳእ)
Mehari Gheberemichael: A relatively young fellow and not a veteran by comparison. He joined the front in 1974.  He discovered that there was a secret party within the EPLF when he stumbled upon a document in a martyr’s pack (bishiklit). He was dumbfounded by the material and asked a friend who co-incidentally happened to be a party member. The party member told him everything and advised him not to talk to anyone about the issue and endanger his life.  The poor fellow could not safeguard the entire secret. He could have, like the story in the Greek legend, buried th never thought of digging a hole on the ground and buried the secret.  He didn’t: the burden was too much, and he committed suicide. This was the explanation I got from a friend who was in Filfil Selemuna at that time. [Source EPLF's History of Mysterious Deaths By Lt. Kidane - Mar 15, 2009 read more ]
Arefaine Tesfahgabr: A youngster of the first Fitewrari generation, he served in Fah, the then capital of Isaias Afwerki, for about three years after which he was transferred as a radio communication officer in Filfil Selemuna under Asmerom Gherezghiher (Hawi Bichir), who is now a Major General. This guy was a sort of a mathematician that he could have even solved the enigma code used by the Nazis in World War II. As an operator he decoded all standard messages and was very smart in decoding enemy messages. By the time he was serving with Asmerom he had already known that there was a secret party and Asmerom was the regional chief. He received a coded message from Asmerom to be sent to Isayas. The message when decoded read: “It is good that we put the tin into the barrel.” The reply from Isayas was, “The tin takes a lot of water, and therefore we should wait until we talk about it.”  Arefaine was smart and solved it in no time: it concerned the entry of Estifanos Bruno to the secret party. Isaias was saying: Bruno drinks a lot and it is not advisable that he join the party now. In the long run, Arefaine could no longer hold the secret and confided to a friend the existence of the secret party. His friend was much worse and started hallucinating during his sleep and became sort of a lunatic. Finally he started blurting out the secrets told to him by Arefaine. After a few days Arefaine committed suicide; the guy who was hallucinating was later transferred to Sahel and no one ever heard about him. [Source EPLF's History of Mysterious Deaths By Lt. Kidane - Mar 15, 2009 read more]
Wedi Lbey: a veteran fighter and undercover agent in Asmara since the early days of Thisha. After he joined the front, he became a member of the Enda Seban Klten (Brigade Seventy Two.) I had the chance to work with him for a brief period in 1977.  He was a short and sturdy guy who chain smoked. He was always serious and talked to the point. I was not lucky and did not stay with him for a long time. An acquaintance told me that he committed suicide. I could never swallow the news I heard and I nagged my friend where he heard the story. My comrade was scared to death and requested me profusely to cool down for if I raised the matter with other people I could be a target myself. It was not puzzle anymore, at least for me. [Source EPLF's History of Mysterious Deaths By Lt. Kidane - Mar 15, 2009 read more]
Ash’Al: A hugely built veteran fighter of the seventies. I only met him once. He served under Haile Jebha in the Halewa Sewra for many years and he witnessed the death of the revolutionaries of 1973 that were later liquidated after they were branded as counter revolutionaries by Isaias and his stooges. I am not sure about the exact date but the people who told me claimed that he died after his boss Haile Jebha was liquidated as Yemin or rightist with his colleagues. In fact Ash’Al is a person of the highest profile in the annals of EPLF history of suicide. [Source EPLF's History of Mysterious Deaths By Lt. Kidane - Mar 15, 2009 read more]
Doctor Mekonnen Haile: Another medical doctor who joined the front in 1976. He was assigned in the department of health and served diligently until his mysterious disappearance. There was an ongoing internal struggle within the department between Isaias elements and those who opposed him. I never knew what Dr. Mekonnen’s stand was. But one thing I know for sure. Being an old time friend of John and Mussie Tesfamichael, he could never be a pawn of Isaias. The cause of his death was disseminated, of course through 03, as suicide. It was a colleague who came from the East, (Mibraq) meaning Foro who informed me. According to his version, “Dr. Mekonnen was a charismatic comrade and we loved him very much. Suddenly, we did not see him for more than two weeks and we began to ask. We could not say he went to Sahel because we did not see him in the Sambuq (boat). When questions about his whereabouts became rampant, the hafash was told by the party apparatchiks (informally of course) that he committed suicide. The person I know he is, I never accept the story of his suicide. [Source EPLF's History of Mysterious Deaths By Lt. Kidane - Mar 15, 2009 read more]
Weldekel Haile was educated in Syria and was the first Jebha to flee, According the account of Tesfamariam Assefaw Woldenkel, Haile did not like Issayas [ Kidana Aida 2004 ]. During the Menka movement in 1973 Woldenkel Haile who was head of the security department said that the Menka ringleaders prisoners did not commit any crime except breaking military discipline rules. He made clear his stand which was completely different from Issayas . Because of this Issayas was not happy and Woldenkel Haile was sent to the Hailitat (front line sometime in 1974 [Afewerki, Tewdros, 2003).. He was the most distinguished military leader next to Ibrhim Afa and had led the Eritrea People’s Liberation Army to victory at the strategic town of Segeneti in 1977 but was not a member of the central comittee in 1977. He was killed shortly after the victory by an unidentified gunman at Segeneti, his birth place. When this occurred there was a radio message in this code " Itia Abai Lham Ab Mereta Wediqa", meaning that the great leader rest on his land".This is also confirmed from other source መደባትና፡ ነቲ ኪንዮ ጸሊም ራዕዲ ዘሎ ደበና፡ ምቕንጣጥ ኢዩ!!! - 4ይ ክፋ 2008 "መልእኽቲ ሚስጢር (ኮድ) ኦፕረይትተር ንኩነታት መቕተልቲ ወልደንኪኤል ሃይለ ኣብ ኩናት ምሕራር ሰገነይቲ ንኣብነት፡ “እታ ላም ኣብ ዓደ ኣቦኣ ተሓሪዳ” ኢዩ ዝብል ነይሩ።
ካብ ብጊሓቱ ርእሰ ምትእምማን ዘይተዓደለ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ፣ ካብ ዝተሰለፈሉ መዓልቲ ቀሲኑ ሓዲሩ ኣይፈልጥን ኢዩ። ግርጭት ምስ ወዲ ዓፋ ካብ ግዜ ሰብዓታት ኢዩ ጀሚሩዎ። ቅድሚ ውድባዊ ጉባአ ነቲ ኣብ መንጎ ኢብራሂም ዓፋን ወልደንኪኤል ሃይለን ዝነበረ ብጻያዊ ሓድነት ንኽበትኽ ብዙሕ ጻዕሪታት ገበረ። ወዲ ሃይለ ወላ’ኳ ኣዛዚ ቦጦሎኒ 4 እንተነበረ፣ ኣባል ሰልፊ ኣይነበረን። ንኹሉ መዓልታዊ ንጥፈታቱን ዝምድንኡን እናተኸታተለ ጸብጻብ ናብ ኢሳይያስ ዘመሓላልፍ ዝነበረ ወተሃደራዊ ሓለፊ ደቡባዊ ግንባር ዝነበረ ድማ ተጋዳላይ መስፍን ሓጎስ ነበረ። ነቲ ገዲምን መስራቲን ህዝባዊ ሓይልታት ወልደንኪኤል ሃይለ ብስም “ደጋፊ መንካዕ ኢዩ” ብዝብል ጠቐነ ካብ ብዙሓት ተጋደልቲ ፈልዩዎ ኢዩ። ወልደንኪኤል ብዛዕባ ጉዳይ መንካዕ ዝነበሮ መርገጺ ንጹር ኢዩ፦
“…መንካዕ ዘቕረብዎ ሕቶ ቅኑዕ ኢዩ፣ እቲ ናቶም ጌጋ ብወተሃደራዊ ዲሲፕሊን ዘይምእዛዞም ጥራይ ኢዩ። ስለዚ ኣብ ክንዲ ቀይዲን ምርሻንን፣ መረዳእታን ነቐፌታን ጥራይ ምኣኸለ” ዝብል ነበረ። ረ።source Alena pt 7

Ibrahim Afa: It was just after the Bahre Neghash offensive. The enemy had already been defeated in the third front of Halhal and, as a result, changed tactic and tried to penetrate EPLF lines through the Northern Sahel front which it knew were devoid of EPLF troops. In fact, many people claim that, at the time, Ibrahim Afa was a lame duck in Aragh, posted as head of the military training department, instead of directing the war. Some people also claim he also opposed on how the war was being conducted.  He had a very close friendship with Mesfun Hagos and the late Weldenkiel Haile. Ibrahim Afa is then said to have died when enemy troops ambushed him and Shambel Mebrahtom while they were sleeping in their bunker.Source EPLF's History of Mysterious Deaths By Lt. Kidane - Mar 15, 2009 read more [Find more information from  the mysterious death of Ibrahim Afa ]

Lt. Kidane(2009) concluded his report by saying that, these are the ones I precisely know about.  There are many others that I did not know who committed suicide in the Mahberawi Ghudayat in Jelhanti, and in the branch of transport. The usual story is so and so died by committing suicide. It became routine. I am not taking into account the many young ladies who when coerced to marry a cadre they never loved committed suicide by burning themselves, or the ones who were told they could not marry the guy they loved. They became disillusioned and died while trying to cross to the Sudan. Dear readers, without exaggeration this is the tip of the iceberg and it is the obligation of every citizen to add something by searching his memory. Our martyrs who (committed suicide) deserve more than this and we can at least placate ourselves by doing so. Source EPLF's History of Mysterious Deaths By Lt. Kidane - Mar 15, 2009 read more

The question of Martyrdom within the EPLF in the 1970s



Saba Gidy

Saba Gidy graduated from Lycee Gibra Mariyam (French School) Addis Ababa and became a secondary school french teacher in Dekemhare. She joined the EPLF from Dekemhare in late 1974 and was working in the Department of Public Adminstration (Jemher) in the Karnishim area of the highlands from 1975- 1977.  Subsequently, she was in the combat force at the Massawa Front line for a short period where she was killed in action. In 1970s and 1980s someone who was suspected of having different views from that of the EPLF leaders was commonly sent deliberately from Kefletat (EPLF departments) to the front line, without appropriate military retraining . This happened to many of the EPLF fighters who were killed at the Massawa front in 1977 and 1978. Many of them became a forced martyr. Saba Gidy was one of them. This also happened to the former ELF democratic fighters (Falul) who perished without enough survivors to tell their story at the Massawa Front.
Excerpts:

On the selection criteria of squads in organising the process of hujjum wars in the past [ from Negarritt-Gazette 89E (NG89E) January 01 2005]

What is hujjum? Hujjum is originally an Arabic word. It may have a different meaning than this version. However, according the Eritrean EPLF military use, experience and perception of it, it means that a soldier fights the enemy in an open way by giving his / her life to be martyr. In its practice, it was a forced martyr and not voluntary because the soldier was chosen by the leader to act in such a manner to accomplish the military message with great probability of dying. If the chosen soldier did not accept the command of his / her leader, he / she should face a military action. Even today this behaviour is exercised in the battle field. The evidence is the recent border war with Ethiopia. The only difference to the past is that today an individual is not chosen but a unit or units (‘ganta’ in Tigrigna) as a whole. One ‘ganta’ has three units. Each unit has 16-20 members. Three units make up one ‘ganta’ of 40-60 members of fighters. One ‘ganta’ from a company or battalion is chosen respectively, for every necessary occasion to be a martyr, for example, to clear away a mined area to create a loop or a passage for use to run away from or attack an enemy position. Such a circumstance, obviously, presents and demonstrates the occurrence of deliberate death with great probability. Read More

መሪሕነት ህዝባዊ ግንባር ሓርነት ኤርትራ ነቲ ኣብ ዝተፈላለየ እዋን ኣንጻር ኣተሓሳስባኡን ኣካይዳኡን ዝኸይድ ዝነበረ ኣብ ውሽጢ ሜዳ ይኹን ኣብ ወጻኢ ናይ ባዕሉ ዝኾነ ምስጢራዊ ኣሰራርሓ ብምኽታል ኢዩ ዝጭፍልቖ ነይሩ። እቲ ናይ  ሰሜን ኣሜሪካ ምንቅስቓስ ምስ ኩነታት ምዝላቕ ዝተኣሳሰር እኳ እንተዘይኮነ ናይ 79 ምንቅስቓስ ስንኩላን ይኹን ናይ 73 ብስም ምንቅስቓስ “መንካዕ” ናይ 78-79 “የሚን” ካብቶም ዝተዳህኩ ምንቅስቓሳት ኢዮም ነይሮም። Source መደባትና፡ ነቲ ኪንዮ ጸሊም ራዕዲ ዘሎ ደበና፡ ምቕንጣጥ ኢዩ!!! -
 

Find more victims of the 1970s and 1980s

VII.Name of civilian prisoners who were executed by the EPLF in 1978
During the liberation struggle many unarmed civilian also became the victims of the ELF and EPLF. Although all those crimes committed by the members of the National Guard (Halewa Sewra) were kept secretly, Teclai Aden in his interview on December 23,1980 revealed that the EPLF killed hundreds of peasants. He adds that many peasants were taken by the members of National Guard and were executed.

  • Ato Fitwi Tesfazghi

    Alem Tesfay (2003) listed name of 16  pensioners from Keren who were executed in late 1978 after taking them to Sahel as prisoners. One of these prisoners was Ato Fitwi Tesfazghi
    • Tewelde Beyne: he was taken for « a short questioning » by the security apparatus of the EPLF in Keren, Eritrea, in August 1978.
    • Fitwi Tesfazghi
    • Woldemariam Kelati
    • Hagos Mana
    • Embāye Ghebru
    • Gebrekal Ghilu'u
    • Tenente ZaidHagos
    • Melake Beraki
    • Ogbamicahel Asgodom [the father of two martyr  Ghidey and Mesgna Ogbamichael]
    • Berhane Hadgu
    • Ghebrehiwet Kinfe
    • Mohamed Omar
    • Negash Sibhat
    • Omar Bekhit 
    Leteab Tewolde  (1999) states that Teklai Aden, who deserted to Ethiopia in 1979 was  at one point quoted to  have said that about 
16 police pensioners taken from Keren were hacked to  death while the EPLF was withdrawing to Sahel. She also adds that  in 1993
      authorities in the EPLF (the Eritrean provisional  government) were approached by some members 
of the affected families only  to be told that « those citizens were released from detention soon after  our withdrawal from Keren, 
and thereafter, the EPLF knows nothing about  them.  This question should never be raised again, and those who repeat  
similar queries will face the consequences !» For our family, and the  rest of other families, that cannot be fair response.  
They were detained  by the front in broad day-light, and then they « disappear ». Their  families have no choice but to keep 
waiting for their return home or be  told by those who detained   them as to what happened to them.  Read more

Most of their doughters and sons died for Eritrean liberation , to mention some of them..
    
          
    
          Gebrekal Ghilu'u ,,Abo martyr Berhane Gebrekal ELF 1978, martyr Asmerom Gebrekal EPLF
    
          
    
          Negash Sibhat , Abo martyr Semere Negash EPLF
    
          
    
          Ogbamichael , Abo martyr Mesgna Ogbamichael EPLF

VIII. THE EPLF PRISON : Halewa Sewra (Gestapo section of the EPLF)

Teklay Aden, member of the central committee and an EPLF security chief who defected to the Ethiopian regime in 1981, described Halewa Sewra in the following: The most criminal and notorious organ within the EPLF is known as 'Halewa Sewra or the security department. This is the Gestapo section in the EPLF assigned with the task of arresting, torturing and killing elements who oppose the leadership clique.  It is a brigade of terror and death led by two members of the central committee. ('I was one', according to the March issue 81) The department which has no clear-cut guidelines save for the carte blanche to kill, is divided into three sections
A.The Surveillance Section: This body is responsible for covering the whole EPLF with a network of agents reporting on each other. EPLF is an orgnization in which every member takes the other for an agent and therefore has to keep his mouth shut. I can only say that the situation inside the group defies any description in words. The majority of the security agents are somehow attached to the leadership clique.

B.The Interrogation Section of 'Halewa Sewra' is a place where all types of untold brutalities recommitted against suspects. Any person accused of opposing the leadership or the EPLF in general is scaled with boiling oil; refused food or water for a long period and forced to sleep over his/her refuse. The fascistic crimes perpetrated against the innocent victims do really drive one mad.; The majority of the suspects die while undergoing 'questioning'.
C.The Prison Section: This is the section which physically liquidates 'enemies' of the EPLF or demoralizes the victims. The prison inmates are not only refused the basic food and medical needs, but are daily subjected to terrorization and self-defacement. Practically none of the survivors of the continued mental and physical torture in the prison can be described as 'survivors'. The firing squads are also stationed in the prison; their assignment is to kill by firing bullets.
Ali Said was the Head of Halewa Sewra” 1977-1987


Ali Said

Ali Said was the Head of  security department  (Halewa Sewra”) 1977-1987, according to Teklay Aden  the security department killed no less than 3,000 persons from 1973 to 1980.

Abedella Adem who is one of the opposition group leaders, in his message of condoleance over Ali in 2005, declared: "it is really unfortunate not to able to take part at the funeral ceremony of a dear friend who had been known for his faithful friendship, amicability, courage and kindness amid his friends, colleagues, comrades and troops”. On the other hand Abedella Adem has never come forward to acknowledge Ali Said’s crimes against those 3000 innocent fighters who were executed in the 1970s and 1980when Ali was the head of the Revolutionary Guard.

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According to the former chief  security Teclay Aden (1981), the Head of the Prison section of the Revolutionary Guard was Mussa Naib, one of the notorious killers. Wuhlul Feday Ngus (2008) also states that the execution of Solomon W/mariam in 1983 was decided by Mussa Naib.

Below is an excerpt from Adhanome G/Mariam's interview


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Generally the methods punishement of prisoners in the EPLF in the 70s were by keeping the standing for long hours, by keeping them awke, by keeping them be lying in one position for many days , keep them without water, keep them in dark for certain days and then expose them to Direct light so they will be dazzeled.....were not aloud to talk or have any contact.

Places of the EPLF central prison (Halewa Sewra)where prisoners were executed(1973-1991
  • The Main EPLF prison's center was located at Faha, Belekat and Gerger from 1974 to 1978.
  • The Main EPLF prison's center was located at Arag from 1979 to 1981.
  • After Teclay Aden defected to Ethiopia in 1980, the centre of Halewa Sewra was located at Gea'et and Ietaro this was from 1981 to 1982.
  • From 1982 until the liberation 1991 it was located at Hishkib where Solomon W/Mariam was executed

The central prison of the EPLF had 7 units. For example All political prisoners like Menka and Yemine were imprisoned in no 3.

 

 

 

Apart from a few former EPLF fighters like Teclay Aden, Adhanom etc, other former fighters of the EPLF still keep silent about the crimes committed by the member of Revolutionary Guard in the 1970s and 1980s. .

  

"ጭካኔ ኢሳያስ ኣብ ቅድሚ ህዝቢ ኣብ ኣሰመራ ጊሂዱ’ምበር፡ ኣብ ሳሕል ኢዩ ተጀሚሩ" Adhanom Fitew

Meharena Hadgu who was one of the prisoner and eyewitness describes how the ringleaders of Menka were imprisioned in 1974 :
The menka ringleaders were surrounded like guerrilla warfare. We were over them in a mountain near by and saw it all, we told this to our haili at night while standing guard and asked for a haili meeting. 3 gantas then were one haili consisting of 35-45 members. 2 gantas were ordered to move and they obeyed, but I wrote them that in my ganta nobody budges. I said that they made all Eritrea Alem Bekagn because they forbade all from movement, we did not come here for it. Habte Kidane "Gorilla" and I said no body will move from here and sat all day. You imprison us today and tomorrow will come execution and we will not stop until this is resolved and we demand to meet the leadership. We were told to leave our weapons to meet the leadership, and we did so. We talked from 11am to 1:30- 2 pm and challenged them in all facts. The leadership were Isayas, Selomon and Romadan. He (Isayas) told us to return to our ganta or be put in jail, and we refused to return to our ganta, and 6 members of that ganta were imprisoned, this was in Arag. This was 2 February 1974, the next day after Musie and Mebrahtu. Then a guard who was not in the movement for months was brought like a prisoner amongst us to spy on us. After a day and a half, he was taken away and gave all accounts of what we talked about. He was then sent to Iraq to learn about heavy armaments. Habte Gorilla and I were released because they needed fighters to battles. Isayas wedi Flansa was not imprisoned with us. He was kept in a correction camp (me-arem Tebay) as we had one and he too was released. Interrogation and beatings are at nights. A prisoner is let out to relieve himself at 5 am before the others got up, no going out allowed other times, so that no body sees there were prisoners. The prison was not underground then but an old half demolished Italian house. We were made to sit by the walls. This is the first imprisonment, and in Arag. Then Vinac of Adi Nefas and then Afwerki Amharay and then Yohannes were brought in, then Habte Selassie. Since beating and interrogation is at night, they come at 1am and without wakening the others, one is taken out carried. The prisoner is still groggy from sleep and 3 or 4 flashlights are lighted on his face. Of the interrogators, Welde Mikel Haile was head, the others being Ash-al wedi Zere, Naizgi Kiflu and Haile Jebha, 4 men. After long interrogation other prisoners were added, namely 'Dottore' Mikel Pharmacist, Dr Rusom also a pharmacist, and the girls Werku, Dehab and Aberash, also in Arag. Others like Ammanuel came from Bahri and started opposing and were brought to us. Read more

Meharena Hadgu added that Musie and the others were imprisoned in Gereger Tebeh. Then our base was changed to Bliquat, and they were imprisoned there. We the army were later told of the death decision on the Menka, but not how. After we were released, others there told us that the prisoners were taken away one by one, when we asked them how they were killed. I have a friend residing in Atlanta now, who was prisoner after my release. He said they were taken tied with handcuffs (Ganshur, chain). Handcuffs could be brought from Sudan or Ethiopia. The prisoners were taken tied and the handcuffs alone were returned. This means the prisoners were killed. Earlier, we thought they were taken to a "court" because we assumed we had one.[Read full story Menkae memory, by Meharena Hadgu]

In his interview with Aida Kidane Weldemariam Abraham also said that Welde Mikel Haile who was head of interrogation had said that these people made military discipline mistakes but they have not committed crimes and decided to close the case. Isayas was not there but Selomon. Because they did not want to accept this decision, Mesfin Hagos and Selomon and Ali Said said they did not need the present interrogator and put up a new committee. Saleh Tetew then said that the leadership makes a committee to use it and put in action the decision of the committee. But if does not suit them, the leadership should not change committees every time like they are doing and this is not right and workable. Because Saleh said that, Ali Said got up and hit Saleh Tetew, they were both in the leadership. Saleh was then sent to Zager and was martyred there. Welde Mikel was degraded from head of 'TseTeta' now called 'Halewa Sewra' and made haili leader and sent to Zager battle too so he may be martyred. I have already written on these". Weldemariam Abraham added that from Beirut, two wounded fighters Habte Gorilla and Habte Ab Seyum were taken away to Sahel and killed. We wanted to get away from the field and expose them to our people. Gebreamlak Isak was a petro-chemical engineer from Kiev, and one of the outstanding in literature in the front. He was known while in the USSR and used to be called Pushkin, even in Russian language. I heard Haile Selassie gave him a medal. He wrote in long sheets the Eritrean Sem ina Werk in 900 pages. I do not know where the writing has gone. Since he, Habte Gorilla and I, Wedi Flansa (Isayas Tewelde Birhan) were in the same ganta, I used to read it. We do not know what happened to his writings after he was taken to prison. Read full story

Meharena Hadgu states that the Menka were charged of being regionalists. This was not true, but charged by Isayas. (the same for the present situation). Those of us who suggested this be solved peacefully were imprisonment. This was making us to sit under trees. At night we were surrounded taken away separately far away and beaten badly to confess. We had to comply to stop the beatings. They then told the others that we had recanted because we did not know the whole thing. Most of us students were beaten. Some of us are lucky to have survived this long, maybe so that we will tell. Otherwise, survival was difficult, with the constant hunger, thirst etc. As prisoners, we could not move an inch. Even if a snake came to bite us we ask the guard first and we were infested with lice. One having diarrheic has to ask permission to relieve himself and told to wait that he passed it inside his pants. Then he is accused of deliberately passing into his pants to make a bad smell and thus beaten. A dehydrated person unable to control himself is beaten badly, as I have seen it. Those not having seen this cannot believe they are so cruel to their own fighters. Prisoners are put around a tree their backs to the tree and about 3 guards to each group. The others, of Musie group were separated from us. We cannot talk to each other. If a person wants to urinate, he asks the guard for permission who answers wait. Times we are tied in hands are when a fighter is in discomfort and asks another prisoner to lend him his blanket, without permission from the guard. Then he is taken out and asked what this code meant and is beaten to confess. The prisoner tells the truth and the guard says he should have asked first. The guards had all power on us and were cruel. He is tied hands and legs and after beating put in the sun all day. There is a plant called Ubel growing in riverbanks and taking its time to dry, it twists like a whip. One beaten with it is horribly hurt their backs becoming open wounds. Some have died of this beating. Too bad those who could have told have done. If a person wails in the beating, cloth is stuffed into is mouth and only the eyes communicate. The beaten person faints and goes into shock, shaking. It happened to me and I saw it on others. Yet we continue serving the front and did not think of fleeing lest those behind me get all the punishment. When visiting the "toilet" prisoners are taken out in 2-3 lines. The first line take off their pants and kneel down, facing their guards. The next in line face to the opposite. It was a humiliating situation. Read full story

Adhanom Fitew added that when a person is taken to Halewa Sewra, the person disappears. There was a prison guard confessing later, guarding Mussie and Co., - the lice were so many that a bullet was preferred. A prisoner cannot by himself scratch or move himself because he was beaten for that action. It was such a hot weather that the lice should not have survived, but spread more in contrast. The Menkae leaders and members suffered much. Some fighters on their way to bring water saw Mussie and Co., and said they were unrecognizable, living skeletons and eyes bulging out. Though food was scarce all around, the prisoners were full of lice, tortured and least fed. source from Memories of Menkae and After by Adhanom Fitew

ብሰሎሞን ወልደማርያም ዝምራሕ ዝነበረ ኣንጻር መንካዕ ጉጅለ፡ብየማንነት ተኸሰ። ብዙሓት ካድራትን መራሕቲ ሰራዊትን ይእሰሩ። ጉጅለ መንካዕን ኣንጻር መንካዕን ኣብ ሓደ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ይራኸቡ። ሰሎሞን እውን እታ ንመንካዕ ዝረኸበቶም ጽዋዕ ይቕበላ። ከምዚሉ ኣቶ ኢሳያስ ጸጋምን የማንን ወቒዑ ናይ ስልጣን ኮረሻ ኣጽኒዑ ንቕድሚት ይምርሽ። ኢሳያስ ዓላማኡ ንስልጣን እንተዘይነብር እዞም ኩሎም ነብሳት ኣይመጥፈአን። እቲ ናይ መንካዕ ምንቅስቓስ ብ1973 ኢዩ ነይሩ። ኣነ ብ1974 ናብቲ ውድብ ክኣቱ ከሎኹ ተኣሲሮም ጸኒሖሙኒ። ሓደ ግዜ ኣብ ክፍሊ ታዕሊም እንከሎና፡ በጋጣሚ ምስ ሓደ ብጻይ ማይ ከነምጽእ ምስ ወረድና፡ ካብቶም እሱራት ብብረት ተሓሊዮም ማይ ከምጽኡ ረኣናዮም። ኩነታት ኣካላቶም መግለጺ ዘይብሉ ዘስካሕክ ነበረ። ካብ መቓብር ወጺኡ ጠጠው ኢሉ ዝኸይድ ኣስከረን ይመስሉ ነይሮም። እቲ ዝነበረ ማእሰርቲ ዘስካሕክሕ ኢዩ። ቁማል በሊዑካ ክትሓክኽ ዘይፍቀድ ኩነታት ኢዩ ነይሩ። እንደገና ካብ 1975 ስጋብ 1977 ምንቅስቓስ መንካዕ ደጊሱ። ኣብያተ-ማእሰርቲ ስንጭሮታት ሳሕል መሊኡ፡ ኣሃዱታት ጥረሐን ዝተረፋሉ ግዜ ኢዩ ነይሩ። ስለዚ ጭካኔ ኢሳያስ ኣብ ቅድሚ ህዝቢ ኣብ ኣሰመራ ጊሂዱ’ምበር፡ ኣብ ሳሕል ኢዩ ተጀሩ። source from ቃልሲ ኢሳያ ንስልጣን by A dhanomFitew

Zekere Lebonna who joined Selfi Nasnet in 1972 recounted that, the daily routine was attending endless criticism and self-criticism sessions and indoctrination lectures. the victims of these incessant sessions were summarily executed. Some were driven into madness and the rest were politically silenced. Torture and executions were rampant. I remember a group in Tegih, Sahel who were spared death but were savagely treated. Scalded by hot water and bruised by firewood, their skin showed festering wounds and they suffered ulcers. So much so that they could not wear rough military uniform, and were often strolling wearing loose outfits jalabiya Among this group were Berhane Afro and Tekle Rashaida. Like a leper colony, one often observed them sitting under the shade of acacia and Aday trees. read more

Dr Bereket Habte Selassie is also another witness.Dr Bereket in his book states tothat On one occasion, while I was walking toward a place where I habitually went to answer nature's call, I heard cries of agony from the bush. Curious to find out, I approached the bush where the cries came from. And there, to my horror, I saw Haile Jebha (Solomon's deputy Chief of Security), beating another man repeatedly on the head with a thin stick. The victim, whose hands and feet were tied and who apparently knew me, called me by name and begged to be rescued ( Source from Eritrea A Dream Deferred by Gaim Kibreab, 2009 :159)

Aklilu Zere also describes some torture techniques were used in Halewa Sewra [inthe southern front(Ala)] in 1975: The accused was placed three feet from a blank 6 feet wall for 4-6 hours daily during the hottest periods of the day 10 am – 4 am(sic). He/ she was not to move any part of his body even if he/she was swarmed by mosquitoes or flies and if he/she did, 4 lashes of stick rained on them).
[SourceThe Tears of a sadist By Aklilu Zere - Jun 25, 2007]

Even though former members of the EPLF Central Committee and other former fighters who are in exile tried to keep secret all the crimes committed by the EPLF against innocent fighters in the 1970s and 1980s, Dr.Alazar Gebre-Yesus in his article in 2001"PIA Now face the truth..." states that many Eritreans were victims of your(PIA) political beliefs and slogans during  the last 30 years of struggle . You (PIA) called them Menka-e, 'jasus' (spy agent) of CIA, Israel, West Germany, Ethiopia, Keyada Al-Ama (Jebha) etc. As a result, many Eritrean civilians and Tegadelti were imprisoned and tortured in Halewa Sewra and many paid with their lives. Many of these victims (e.g. Teclemariam Rashaida, Betszai Goite-om Berhe as mentioned before) were used as objects of demonstration for their wrong missions. They were forced to stand and speak out against their wrong doings in front of the new Eritrean Trainees in Bele-Kat, Mah-Mi-met etc. (Military Training Campuses) as well as in front of the gathered battalion (companies, contingents) (Tegadelti of Ganta-tat and Haile-tat of a Battalion), for example at Deg-At Abai, Deg-At Ne-Ush in Sahel in the years of 1975 - 1977. At the end of the speech of their forced confession, the victims were asking the audience for forgiveness, no one knows till this day whether the allegations were true. read more

IX. EPLF fighters who were held in the EPLF prison from 1979-1991 and executed in Congo, 1994?


Meharena Hadgu states that, in 1986 the  fighters and the leaders had very different living standards which provoked the fighters to organize . I have heard that some of those who started a movement expressing their discontent were taken away and killed, or made to disappear. And some knew they would be killed, fled to Sudan. There are imprisoned fighters who are still in prison now(Meharena Hadgu ). Some of them could be among those who were executed in Congo, Zaire, in 1994.
Excrepted from ኣብ'ቲ መስርሕ ዕደና ኣልማዝ ኮንጎ ዛየር ካብ ዝተረሸኑ ዝርዝር ኣስማት ተጋደልቲ

ክፍሊ ሓለዋ ሰውራ ህዝባዊ ግንባር ሓርነት ኤርትራ ካብ ዝተፈላለየ እዋናት ዝዳጎኖም ብ ዓሰርተታት ኣማኢት ዝቑጸሩ ቅዩዳት እዃ እንተነበሩዎ ካብቶም ናብ ኮንጎ ብመንገዲ ምቑጽጻር ሓላፍነት እሱራት ኣብ ሓለዋ ሰውራ ቀንዲ መርማሪ ዝነበረ ወልደዝጊ ባህታ ኣቢሉ ነቶም 18 ተጋደልቲ ዝርከቡዎም 150 ኣባላት ኢሰፓ ዝነበሩ ኤርትራውያንን ኢትዮጵያውያንን ናብ ኮንጎ ኪሰዶም እንከሎ ግን ቀንዲ ተዋሳእቲ ካብ ዝነብሩ፦

1. ነፍስሄር ሚኒስተር ዓሊ ሰይድ ዓብደላ


2. ምክትል ሚኒስተር ውሽጣዊ ጉዳያት ነበር ናይዝጊ ክፍሉ
3. ሓላፊ ሃገራዊ ድሕነት ብሪጋደር ጀነራል ኣብርሃ ካሳ
4. ኣማኻሪ ሕጋዊ ጉዳያት ኣብ ሚኒስትሪ ውሽጣዊ ጉዳያት ኣማኒኤል ጳውሎስ
5. ሓላፊ ወጻኢ ስለያ ኮሎኔል ጋይም ተስፋሚካኤል
6. ዳኛ ላዕለዋይ ቤት ፍርዲ ዳዊት ሃብቱ
7. መርማሪ ሓለዋ ሰውራ ነበር ኮሎኔል ወልደዝጊ ባህታ
8. ኣኽባር ሕጊ ኤርትራ ነበር ሙሳ ናይብ
9 ሓላፊ ቤት ጽሕፈት ክፍሊ ዕዮ መሓመድ ኑር ዑስማን ዲጎል ኢዮም ነይሮ

Chairman of the Labour Office in 1994
ቤት ጽሕፈት ክፍሊ ዕዮ ምምሕዳሩ ኣብ ትሕቲ ቤት ስሕፈት ፕረሲደንት ኢዩ ነይሩ። ኩሉ ኣገልግሎቱ ኸኣ ነቲ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኢዩ ነይሩ።[source Assena.com]

ኣብ'ቲ መስርሕ ዕደና ኣልማዝ ኮንጎ ዛየር ካብ ዝተረሸኑ ዝርዝር ኣስማት ተጋደልቲ Read full story

Name of some EPLF fighters who were held in the EPLF prison from 1979 to 1994 and were executed in Congo, 1994?

  Full name Arrested Place of execuation   Full name Arrested Place of execuation
Jemal Ahemedin Mohamed 1979 Congo( Zaire) Mebrhatu Senegal Abraham 1986 Congo( Zaire)
Tareke Abraham 1979 Congo( Zaire) Yasin Ibrahim Imam 1987 Congo( Zaire)
Gusepe Tekela Habte 1979 Congo( Zaire) Gebremichael Teklai 1987 Congo( Zaire)
Beniam Kafel Meresa 1982 Congo( Zaire) Kibreab Tekle Asfeda 1989 Congo( Zaire)
Betow Abraham Kenfe 1982 Congo( Zaire) Berhane Isak Aradom 1989 Congo( Zaire)
Desbele Beyne Abay 1984 Congo( Zaire) Teshome Yergaw Debesai 1989 Congo( Zaire)
Eyob Asmerom Kelati 1984 Congo( Zaire) Gelia Behalibi Araia 1989 Congo( Zaire)
Tesema Berhe Kensha 1985 Congo( Zaire) Solomon Merhst Hwki 1990 Congo( Zaire)
Berhane Asrse Namen 1986 Congo( Zaire) Semere Mehari Tesfom 1990 Congo( Zaire)

X. CONCLUSION

Adhanom Fitwi in his interview on Memories of Menkae and Afterin 2004; Weldemariam Abraham in his paperon Menkae,;  Meharena Hadgu’s  Menkae memory, Teclai Ghebre-Mariam Aden’s  ‘EPLF AN INSIDE STORY’  and other publications have provided us with in-depth information which is different from the story recounted by the EPLF during the liberation struggle. On the other hand Haile Menkorias's interview onThe PLF leadership crisis 1973 provides basic information on Menkaeuprising and what happened after. Why did he keep secret the crimes committed, between 1977 and 1994,  by EPLF's leaders and Central Committee members?
Mesfin Hagos was in the leadership with Issayas from 1970-1987 then as a member of the CC from  1987-1994, and Abedella Adem was a member of the EPLF Central Committee in the 1977 to 1994, neither has ever acknowledged their crimes or collaborations with Issayas. What are their motivation in accusing Issayas for crimes committed after 2001 while they keep silent about those which were committed by the EPLF between 1970-1994 and then by the PFDJ from 1994-2001?
Meharena Hadgu states that Mesfin Hagos was from the leadership and the present situation makes him fear of retribution. The charging committee was under the top leadership like Mesfin, Isayas and Romadan. Mesfin is afraid he will be asked of the injustice he participated in(Read more)
Further evidences of Mesfin Hogos accussation of crimes

 
ድሕረ ባይታ ኣቶ ዓብደላ ኣደም ካብቲ እግሩ ዝተወግኣሉ ውግእ ሓድሕድ ርእሲ ዓዲ፣ ኣብ ኲናት ባጽዕ /ረግረግ ጨው ሳሊና/፣ ኣብ ገረግር ኣብ ኣሃዱ 44 ኣብ ዝነበረሉ ዓመታት፣ ኣብ ጉዳይ ቅትለት ስዒድ ሳልሕ /ኣሮማ- ከሰላ/ ወ.ዘ.ተ… ዝነበሮ ተራ፣ ከምኡ’ውን ኣብ ምምሕዳር ዞባ ዓንሰባ፣ ህግደፍ ንኣመንቲ ኣስላም ኤርትራውያን ብስም “ጨሓማት” ወይ ኣመንቲ “ኣንሳር ኣል-ሱና” ዝገብሮ ዝነበረ ኤርትራዊ ዓሌት ናይ ምጽናት ዘመተ ፖሊሲ፤ ኣብ ጂቡቲን ሱዳንን ኣምባሳደር ኮይኑ ኣብ ዝነበረሉ ግዜ ዝነበሮ ምትእስሳር ስለያ…ብዛዕባ ምእሳር ሃገራውያን ወ.ዘ.ተ… ብከመይ’ከ ሃዲሙ? ብድሕሪ ምህዳሙ ዝነበሮ ጽልዋን ሸበድበድን፤ ብሓፈሻ ድማ ስለምንታይን ብከመይን ኢዩ ካብ መጀመርያ ሰብዓታት ምስ ዕሉል ገበነኛ ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ኣብ ናይ ጥፍኣት ሰረገላ ክሻረኽ ክኢሉ… ኣብ ዝቕጽሉ ጽሑፋት ‘ትልሚ ንዘርኢ ክርዳድ’ ክቐርቡ ኢዮም። Source [ትልሚ: ንዘርኢ ክርዳድ ( መበል 15 ክፋል ) ብ ኣለና]

To conclude in the history of the EPLF from 1970 - 1991 the top criminal people: were Issayas followed by Mesfin Hagos, Solomon Wolde Mariam, Ali Said Abdella, Haile Jebha Mussa Naieb and Naizghi Kiflu.. Although Mussa Naib is not innocent of crimes, he was a member of the Constitutional Commission which was established in 1994. The question has be raised here why the Constitutional Commission allowed Mussa Naib who has a history of crimes to work with them. It would be good to learn a lesson from the past experience of the Commission in order not to repeat similar mistakes in the future.
Tesfay Tomono joined the EPLF from the University of Addis Ababa in 1972. However, in 1975 Tesfay Tomono was imprisoned. This was due to his views differing from  those of the EPLF leadership on the issue of unity with the ELF and others. I should like to ask Tesfay Tomono to contribute valuable information from his experience.   He can be a voice for the voiceless by  revealing the truth about the EPLF leadership’s attitude towards the educated fighters in the 1970s.



AN OVERVIEW:
the ELF interrogators and their victms

Exculpating Jebha
In 1975, when many new recruits from secondary schools and Santa Familia joined the ELF, they were not welcomed by the ELF leaders .  There was conflict between the new fighters who joined the Front with a secular vision, seeking greater democracy, and old ELF leadership.. Consequently, some of the newly recruited fighters (Falul ) were also killed by  ELF leaders and others were imprisoned and tortured by the ELF security personnel. Regarding this Mussie Gebreab who joined the ELF(Jebha) as a teenager, in December of 1974, and was imprisoned in 1977 states:  I have seen  and experienced much worse than these at the hands of Salih Gadi's( Vaseline) Idol Abdella Idris(Hankish) and co. It takes a book to tell all the untold crimes commuted by Vaseline and his bosses on the Eritrean youth at the Eritrean field, but let me share few of them with you.We demanded to meet with the chairman of the organization Ahmed Naser and they told us Okay but they have to divided the battalion in to two group the one who accepts their explanation and the one who still want to meet Ahmed Naser.Taknicaly the one who support unity dialog with the EPLF in the Eritrean field or the Sabe and Agib group in Sudan. Few month later Abdela Idris ordered to the one who want to meet Ahmed Naser a meeting and to the others sent to to other area to guard us from enemies and we was waiting relaxed for Ahmed Naser to show up to met with us.the next minuet I remember was ranting a hell of bullets and bombs on us from all direction by Abdela Idris special forces. we fought back bravely but no body was ready for these broad day light masker.the majority dead fighting heroically, the few lucky made it all the way to EPLF dejen and join the EPLF to continue the struggle with them, and the rest of us fought back until our last bullet and got captured by Abdela Idris forces. they took us to security, torture and tehadso comp run by Saleh Gadi(Vaseline) and co from the Security( enda ztetta) organ run under Melake tekle administration,the most notorious interrogators was Haile Woldeselasie. Zekarias wedi keren, and Saleh Gadi of course no body call him Salh Gadi but Vaseline. Read more
Let's tell all truth about the crimes committed by the EPLF and ELF to ensure that they never happen again in the future to anyone

During the liberation struggle many innocent liberation fighters and civilians became victims of the former revolutionary leaders who are currently serving in the Eritrean government or in the Opposition. The opposition leaders are not innocent of crime. They like the PFDJ leaders whom they are accusing of committing crimes against the Eritrean people since 1991 are also guilty

When the EPLF held its second organizational congress in 1987, many of us, including  Abo Woldeab and Ibrahim Sultan,  thought that the EPLF leaders were more democratic than the former ELF or opposition leaders. However later, after liberation, we realized that the EPLF/PFDJ leaders were worse than any rulers in the history of Eritrea. Similarly many people had great hopes from the outcome of the National Conference, held in August 2010 in Addis Ababa. However, the former revolutionary leaders, members of the EDA and other groups are no better than the PFDJ leaders at fostering a culture of democracy and dialogue essential for a future Democratic Eritrea.
Tedros Abraham Tsegay in his report on NDC conference states that most of the political parties are run by the older generation,who have been in different leadership roles for for many years and this clearly shows in their inability to reform. A political party that is supposed to struggle for democratic change, should practice democracy in their conduct.  New blood is needed in the leadership, to win the minds and hearts of the youth. Some of the youth accuse them of closing doors to reform. Certainly, there is a lot of confusion when it comes to the political parties.  The number of existing political parties, as we speak, is  close to thirty.  There is legitimate concern that the opposition camp’s diversity is the by-product of factionalism and personality cult not of principled debate>
Ermias Home

The Eritrean people never wish to see again anyone who has a history of totalitarian or megalomaniac crimes (like the EDA, EPDP &PFDJ leaders) seizing power in future Democratic Eritrea or forming an interim government

Constitution of Eritrea should include

Anyone with a history of  crimes during the armed struggle or after the liberation should not be eligible to stand for any office post.  This should apply to opposition leaders

All those committed violations of human rights should encouraged to acknowledge these as part of national reconcilation process

                      EHREA Eritrean Human Rights Electronic Archive © 2006-2011. Contact: rkidane@talk21.com
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