Assefa Bekele (left) and Susan Hopgood (right) listen to Dr Taye Woldesmiate.

Horrors in an undemocratic nation outlined

The plight of Ethiopian teachers was expressed by former prisoner of conscience Dr Taye Woldemiate when he addressed the Australian Education Union Executive in Sydney on March 16.

A professor in political science and international relations, he told of the plight of teachers, unjust imprisonments and a poor quality education system. He told how Ethiopian Teachers Association Addis Ababa branch chairperson Kassahun Kebede is among 131 opposition leaders, human rights defenders and journalists facing trial in Addis Ababa on charges that include treason, conspiracy and genocide. Kassahun Kebede has been officially adopted as prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

At a Federal High Court hearing on February 23 Kassahun Kebede pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial of the 131 may last until the end of the year.

Dr Woldesmiate was out of the country in November 2005 when he learned the government had placed him on the list of people to arrest.

He has not been back to Ethiopia, instead he is trying to build up a level of international support for democratic rule. He has not seen his family since, but he has spoken with them.

Dr Woldesmiate said he would make his way to Brussels to get the International Labour Organisation to pressure the Ethiopian Government into allowing critics of the government to live peacefully within Ethiopia.

He does intend to return to Ethiopia.

"The end result is I will be in prison," he said.

He said he was willing to go to prison "because I cannot give up on the right for freedom".

He said the Government would like for nothing better than for its detractors to leave the country and not return.

In 1996 Dr Woldesmiate was President of the All Ethiopian Teachers Association. The union was declared a "bandit", accused of trying to overthrow the government and he was arrested on fabricated charges and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 1999.

Amnesty International and the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) passed resolutions that Dr Woldemiate was a prisoner of conscience and requested his immediate and unconditional release. With both local and international pressure put on the Ethiopian Government, Dr Woldesmiate was released from prison after serving six years.

Since November Dr Woldesmiate has travelled to various democratic nations to expose the poor quality education system and "repressive" government in Ethiopia.

Dr Woldesmiate said the government spends "all its money" on the military and police, with education suffering as a result.

He said it was cheaper for the government to employ fewer teachers, so class sizes are between about 100 and 150.

"There's no way teachers can have control over that class," he said.

Dr Woldesmiate said there were 150,000 trained teachers in Ethiopia but the government had been "throwing them out" and "repressing" them.

"There are so many trained teachers looking for jobs; there are 70,000 trained teachers living abroad [as a result]," he said.

Dr Woldesmiate said the union was regarded as an enemy of the government because it sought quality education for all.

"The government wants the children to be illiterate because educated children know and demand their rights," he said.

He said there are 12 million children who do not attend school.

While in Australia Dr Woldesmiate sought support for the Ethiopian Teachers Association and asked the Australian Government to "stop this malicious government".

"If the government is given money they use it to buy bullets to kill kids," he said.

Dr Woldesmiate said even 10 year olds have been shot.

He said policemen act as principals and if there is a discipline problem the student is sent to gaol.

There are 65,000 people under the age of 17 in prison because they have demanded a decent education, he said.

There are also more than 325 teachers in gaol.

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