Murder and disappearance in Bahr Dar

June 27, 2005
ethiopianreview.com

This is a story about the murder of Ato Yihenew Hunegnaw
and the disappearance of six of his friends in the City of
Bahr Dar.

Yihenew was a student at St. Mary College in Bahr Dar.
He also attended Pedagogic College previously. He was
looking forward to graduating with a degree in management and supporting himself and his extended family. Yihenew was a conscientious young man who cared about the people around him and the community

On June 4, students at Bahr Dar schools were deciding to join the protest that was planned by Addis Ababa University. Later in the afternoon, Yihenew and six of his friends sat at a hotel and engaged in a long conversation. Across the street, a pick up truck with some individuals inside was parked. According to eyewitnesses, the truck looked similar to other pick up trucks that EPRDF cadres normally drive. After the sun set, the unidentified individuals from the pick up truck approached Yihenew and his friends. After some exchange of words, the individuals led Yihenew and friends to the truck and drove off.

Around 1 AM (local time) Yihenew called home to tell his family that he will not be home until later on. Arguments can be heard in the background.

Just before dawn, security guards who were guarding construction equipments at a road construction site hear gun shots nearby. At sun rise, the guards went towards the direction where they heard shots. After some search of the area, they found Yihenew's body at the side of a road. It seems that Yihenew was shot as he tried escape.

The guards called the police, who came and took pictures. They also video taped Yihenew's body. Since Yihenew's identity cards are taken by his captors, the police could not identify him and notify his family.

Fifteen days later, words reached Yihenew's family that construction site security guards at the outskirt of the city had found a dead person who fits Yihenew's profile. There may also be some who saw the actual shooting.

With this information, the family went to the police. Some time later, the police were able to confirm Yihenew's death to the family. The police also showed the family the pictures they took, which indicate that Yihenew died of gun shot wounds.

The police are not willing to discuss or give any information about Yihenew's friends. But when asked to take Yihenew's body, the police told the family that Yihenew has been buried with other people, and cannot identify which one is his body.

ER spoke with Yihenew's sisters who reside in Arlington, Virginia. The family is, of course, devastated by their brother's death.

Hearing the news of Yihenew's death and the disappearance of his friends, several families in Bahr Dar whose sons have also disappeared are now expecting the worse. The news reaching ER is that there are several young men in Bahr Dar who have disappeared without a trace. Many of these young men are from poor families who do not have the means to search the whereabouts of their missing sons, except to just agonize and wait for them to come back some day. Yihenew would also have disappeared without a trace had he not tried to escape and his body found by a construction site security guards.

How many times such terrible incidents are repeated through out the country? What's the justification for the police to burry bodies of a bunch of young people in a mass grave without any serious attempt to find out their identities and notify their families?!?

While talking with different people in the course of reporting on Yihenew's case, one story that keeps coming is about individuals with pick up trucks. We are told about similar cases where unknown individuals with government issued trucks approach young men and take them away, never to be seen again.

I'm very angry at this blood thirst woyane and hodame few amharans who associate with them.

Email: DillingerJ1@aol.com

City: DC

WEYANE 'Gistapo' units are in operation in Ethiopia - whether you believe it or not. The fact is, they (Meles and his adjutants) are executing an extermination plan which primarily targets young activists. The question is no longer a democratic/legal process one, but resisting murderers.
The opposition should now get on with unified ACTION. The time for talking/debating/negotiating is really over. Meles never had the intention of listneing anyway! His singular objeticve is to rule 100% by any means.
God bless the souls of all those who perished under the tyranny

Email: hiwot@optusnet.com.au

City: Melbourne, Australia

These are barberic people out of the jungle who do not learn lessons from the brutal regime of Derg. What goes around comes arround. It is just a matter of time to bring these butchers to justice. The world has seen the law of th jungle and meles is still smiling with his dirty politics spinning left and right. It is a mater of time, it is a matter of time . . . . .

City: Bahir Dar

How come the fathers, brothers and friends of these young men who disappeared do nothing? How come they don't pick up some thing and go after the woyanne fascist cadres? What happened to our people? Why do we allow woyanne to slaughter us like sheeps one by one?

What is the people of Ethiopia waiting for? Always with patience until Woyanes catch and kill each & everyone? Until all men who don't support Woyane being arrested? Until the full control of power will be in the hands of Meles's Agazi?

The people of Ethiopia has to get united and take action against these woyane murderers!

Email: wegenetenesa@yahoo.com

Good coverage ER. Well done. It is a good record. We will bring the woyanes in to justice sooner or later. We will fight them till the end.

I have been telling some news papers to expose this barbaric action but they couldn't saying that evidence, bla bla...

By the way, I was born in same village with Yihenew Hunegnaw.

Thank you ER for bringing up this issue to public.

I don't understand what Melese cadres are doing. They might think their existance fully depend on him but they didn't realize that when the day comes he will kick out them. It is a shame to be used as a roboot by Melese! Ofcourse, he is always looking a damen dull person who only accomplish his mission. If we remember, when he was asked about W/O Genet(Ministery of Education), he said "mehayememe behone ye ehadegene poletica eskaramede derese ...". So we don't expect anything from his cadres, weather they are from the south, North, East or West of the country.
"Le wegenochachene mestenanatune yestelene"

**** woyane . They are blood thirst killers. We have to have one who will lead and organize us to crush them. They have come by the gun and they will go by the gun. They will pay for the mischievious acts they are doing on Ethiopain People.

It is not only Yihenew that has been fascistically slaughtered by the woyane groups.Many peasants and students in southern Wollo,Borena(Debre Sina woreda)had been executed and laid them for a glowing sun brutally in the Yeshum river valley. This information is told me to me by my own old father who come to visit me this week.Woyane has passed instructions to his cadres and Woreda Administrators to imprison or kill all CUD and UEDF members and supporters up to Hamle 1,1997(July 8,2005).You will hear soon all these masacres unless the Ethiopian Democratic forces retaliate with the same language(armed struggle)that woyane understands.Otherwise the so called "peacefull struggle"is not working with the evil and uncivilized woyane.If continued,it will demoralize the peoples gut and the will of the youth.
We shall win in our struggle!!!!!

Email: tserewoyane@yahoo.com

City: Addis Ababa

see this is exactly this govermnent want us to do, to get mad, and hate one to another, so all the etnic group, to kill each other, just like rowanda styil. so please let us not hate each other, let us be strong and love one to another. let us not few cowerd people like meles control our mind.

From what I understand from Woyanes style, they want some time to buy inorder for them to kill every supporter of CUD and UEDF. Coz it would be difficult for them to kill if the people uprise simultaneously. That is why they wont announce the election result on July 7. They will definitely postpone it!!

Email: rachel_br@yahoo.com

TOMORROW THEY WILL KNOCK YOUR DOOR! SO WE HAVE TO PUT OUR CONTRIBUTION AGAINST THE SINFULL DOING OF MELESE!

Thank you ER. Keep up the good work.

Email: gizemelataw

City: toronto

We should speak for the victims and show to the world and to our people. What Martin Niemöller said some 60 years ago under the Nazi is a striking example.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Email: yacob_123@yahoo.com

City: DC

The Meles regime has an extra judicial hand that operates outside of the formal security, police and army branches of the government.

The murder squad that kidnapes and extrjudicially muders innocent compatriots seems to be organised in a clandestine fashion. With no formal connection to the state apparatus. It loks like a stand alone Meles organised terror group.

We have to push hard to get an independent enquiry in to the murder of Getnet and his friends. We have to give the issue a priority since it kills our peoples hope and determination. IF the post red terror traunmatising collective fear mentality is allowed to reign in Ethiopia again (that is what TPLF is bent at) that will take us another decade to come out. So lets get up and push to get this murder squad exposed and brought to the court of justice

When police said that they know nothing about the ONC vice chairwoman Almaz Seifu's disappearance and when they have no clue about the murderers of Getnet they might mean it. BUT IT HAS TO FULLY INVESTIGATED!

PLease read Getnet as YIHENEW in my post here above sorry for the typo...

If it is true that Tilahun had killed the police he is my Hero. But I am afraid that this if a propaganda by TPLF/EPRDF as there were no previous reports of any police officer being killed before or during the peaceful demonstration.
Ibrahim, stop spreading lies!

Email: deregehab

Yeah. It is a good indicator for the people and the Woyene. This is the indicator of the time is approaching for the death of Woyane once and for all.

We missed the beloved brothers and sisters. But their struggle will lit every where. We are already in the right truck...Woyane will be out from Ethiopia.

We shall win!!!!!!!!!!!

Email: March012005@yahoo.com

City: Iowa

Ibrahim,

Is it? you have been shouting in your empty mind that CUD is the one who led the violence. Now you are telling us that the person who oschiastrated the June 8 violence is arrested. This is typical behaviour of Woyanes dogs like you. They don't know what they are saying. They jump here and there. They never made sense. They are big time liers. And you are even more than that Ibrahim. You are useless. Yo don't deserve to use this holly name - Ibrahim. Meles will live in peace with his 41mil dollar (if he escapes from the country) but I will see you begging on the road very soon. But don't worry, the son of modern Ethiopia will not take any form of revenge.

What type of person could you be. So, you are asking us to say thumbs up to woyane for killing persons like Yihenew. Shame on you.

The reason why the ruling gang feels free to contonoue with its massacere is that we do not expose thier sin and secondly we do not organise ourselves and defend.

Email: ermfasik@yahoo.com

City: Nekemt

it seemes that some sort of death squads who kidnap and kill suspected oppents are set loose!
GOD SAVE ETHIOPIA!
that's how always dicators work.Meles and his gang seem are detetmined to anything and every thing to stay.but lets's face the realy weyanes don't need to go to Bahrdarto do it . Most probably it is the work of the Amhara NDM. let's not put an ethnic face to dictatorship. Dictaorship does not have ethnicity!

The only reason that the Meles gang is in power and commiting all this carnage is because we are divided. Yagerie Lij! Please forget all our mini-differences and unite against this regime...the future of our people, our country and our identity is at stake...and nothing should be above that!!!! Do everything you can from wherever you are ... it adds up!

Email: kachikara1@yahoo.com

What can we do? How can we will fight hunger, poverty and illitracy while carrying such devils from century to century? They are killing generation who havemind to develop and change the country.

Now in this world, hunting animals is illegal. Even, I hear a news that there are some groups in the country (around Debre Zeit)who take care about donkeys' right.

Is the world considers us as an other creatures that have no right at all??????????

Email: mtadesse2003@yahoo.com

City: Paris

Gobez, please contact me at eliask@juno.com or call me. Thanks.
Elias

I am soo angry and sad by this incident and others that are going on all over Bahir Dar against our brothers and sisters by WOYANE cadres. I just want to say EGZIABEHER SINATUN YISTACHEHU to the families of Yihenew Hunegnaw and those other people who lost their loved ones.

City: Washington DC

Meles has started killing with Tigrean yangsters in the TPLF. Once he killed 8 young people after he gave them permision to visit their parents. One of them was Almaz Asfaw sisterr in law of Gebru Asrat. To read all Killings of this none Ethiopian Diktator read the latest book (2005)od Kahsay Berhe former CC Member of MLLT/TPLF.

To kill is a hoby for Meles. He must be stoped

Email: balageru@tripod.de

City: Hannover

Never in my life have I ever been so angry about anything before. These people (TPLF) will not stop at nothing. What are the Amara, Oromo and other non-Tigrian solders doing while their own people are being killed.

God help us all.

Email: HA9beth_tes@hotmail.com

City: London, UK

HERE COMES R E D T E R R O R AGAIN

Email: ZENEZENA@AIM.COM

City: SEATTLE

The police replied that "Yihenew's body was buried with other people." Let's further ask that who are those other people? Are they Yihenew's friends? So why are they not willing to show the mass grave to the families? Those buried together with Yihenew might be the dissent killed by TPLF/EPRDF murderers. The people in Bahir Dar bury a naturally deceased person according to The Christian or Islam tradition. Yihenew's friends like many activists in the area were taken to a distant place, shot and buried in other mass grave in unknown location. That adds up to many of the disappearances in the city since Febrary 1991.

Email: mmengistie@hotmail.com

any one who knowes yehnews sister phone number please forward.YEHENEW was a good friend of mine.
Thanks.
This is what the TPLF regime is doing to innocent people of ethiopia.we need to strugle this barbaric act.

Email: mnuru@aol.com

City: portland

I have no word to explain how I felt about this unforgivable event!!I feel what their beloved families feel,I'll be beside you always.I do believe that every ethiopians has absolute human right to support or join any peacefull parties,and its also a must ,as 'governor', to listen to the people and respond atleast humanly not by showing their fires on the head of the people.We ethiopians are tired of cruel act and talk like Bereket semon who knows nothing but has big mouth more worse than wild animals has,who repeate word like echo.
I do believe we ethiopians oromo ,amhara, Tigray,gambella,Afar,Debub....who people married each other live to gether peacefuly, have unified feeling about what is going on in our beloved country.
One thing I want to say is :Please learn how those being autocrat faced a problem who did wash their hands by blood of the people and try to think infavor of your country benifit not individual benifit alonne-this is 21 century!!!
thank you!!

Email: saba_lm@yahoo.com

City: Berlin,Germany

I am not clear what we are waiting for.We need
to stand together and retaliate these murderes.

Email: -

City: Addis Ababa