By Kiflu Hussain
Introduction
This piece is prompted by the recent unlawful arrest of an Ethiopian born British citizen in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen while on a transit flight from Dubai to Asmara, capital of Eritrea. The arrested person named Andaragachew Tsige was handed over by Yemeni officials to the security agents of the Ethiopian regime who whisked him away to his country of origin in order to subject him to a grueling torture.
Andargachew was one of the founders and top leader of a group called Ginbot 7, named after the May 15, 2005 polling day that saw unprecedented voter turnout. The results of that election were blatantly rigged by the ruling party which subsequently gunned down hundreds of civilians in broad daylight. Thousands were rounded up throughout the country and confined in various detention centers and concentration-like camps. A considerable number of them were subjected to torture and inhumane treatment. Among the victims, was Andargachew Tsige who was beaten up badly to the extent of losing one of his eye sights.
Like the majority of Ethiopians, Andargachew too became disillusioned with the idea of contesting the repressive regime through a ballot box. Unlike the majority of his fellow countrymen, however, he not only remained disillusioned. Thus, he chose a different path to make a difference in Ethiopia whereby he founded Ginbot 7 that embraced all means available to dislodge the current rulers who hailed from a minority ethnic group called Tigre under the guise of liberating it.
Although, Andargachew’s Ginbot 7 never achieved a level of posing a mortal dread to the regime in Ethiopia, the rulers know very well how determined and committed Andargachew was to bring Ginbot 7 to that level no matter how long it took. Hence, to them he was not an individual but an institution to be demolished at all costs. They even arrested his octogenarian father who suffers from a serious cardiac condition in 2009 to make Andargachew desist from the activism he carries out from abroad.
That is Andargachew Tsige, the high profile activist whom apparently the Ethiopian regime goes to great length to incarcerate and even attempt to eliminate.
Read more:You mess with my citizen
By Kiflu Hussain
Email: kiflukam@yahoo.com
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