Political Handbook of the World 1994-1995 and Europa refer to a group known as the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Union (SEPDU), while numerous other sources reporting on political events in Ethiopia refer to the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Coalition (SEPDC) (The Daily Telegraph 6 May 1995; Reuters 5 May 1995; Radio Ethiopia 5 Mar. 1995; Africa Confidential 14 Apr. 1995, 2). However, both groups are headed by the same man, Beyene Petros, and both were founded in 1992 (ibid.; Europa 1995, 1133; Political Handbook of the World 1994-1995 1995, 283; Africa Research Bulletin 1-31 July 1994, 11510; Radio Ethiopia 5 Mar. 1995; Reuters 5 May 1995).

According to two sources, the SEPDU is a coalition of a number of "ethnically-based political groups from the south of the country" (Europa 1995, 1133; Political Handbook of the World 1994-1995 1995, 283). Political Handbook of the World 1994-1995 reports that participants in this coalition number over 30, including:

the Gedo People's Democratic Organization, the Goje People's Democratic Organization, the Gurage People's Democratic Front, the Hadiya Nationality Democratic Organization, the Kefa People's Democratic Union, the Kembata People's Congress, the Omo People's Democratic Front, the Sidama Liberation Movement, the Welayita People's Democratic Front, and the Yem Nationality Democratic Movement (ibid.)

According to the The Indian Ocean Newsletter, the parties represented in the SEPDC

are in favour of federalism, in the form of self-administrative areas inside a single Ethiopia. They are critical of the [ruling] EPRDF on two levels: first, they accuse the organization of having given incentives for the creation of artificial political groups, parallel to their own, in a bid to win back support from local movements that have not bowed to the EPRDF, and second they consider that, some government measures sold with a federalism label, are only meant to enforce the EPRDF's hold on central government (20 Mar. 1993).

Five of the ten principle parties which make up the SEPDC were expelled from the Council of Representatives, the Ethiopian transitional legislature, in 1993, for participating in a Paris opposition conference and later refusing to disassociate themselves from the conferences' resolutions (Keesing's Apr. 1993, 39403; ION 10 Apr. 1993; Africa Report Nov.-Dec. 1993, 52). "Conference participants approved resolutions concluding that there was no law and order in the country and rejecting the transitional process as inappropriate" (Keesing's Apr. 1993, 39403). The five SEPDC parties expelled from the legislature included the Sidama Liberation Movement, the Omo Peoples' Democratic Front, the Yem Peoples' Democratic Movement, the Hadiya National Democratic Organization and the Gedeo People's Democratic Organization (ION 10 Apr. 1993). Please see the attachments from Keesing's and The Indian Ocean Newsletter for further information on the Paris conference and its aftermath.

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reported in 1994 and 1995 that government opponents and opposition party members endured instances of arbitrary arrest and detention, harassment and intimidation by local authorities, security forces and police, torture, suspected extrajudicial executions and restrictions of freedoms of expression and the freedom to hold public meetings (AI 1995, 129-31; HRW 1995, 19-20; ibid. 1994, 16-17).

According to Amnesty International, "hundreds of members of southern opposition parties were detained in the second half of 1994" including the vice-chairman of the Sidama Liberation Movement (SLM), Lemma Sidamo, and the chairman of the Omo People's Democratic Union (OPDU), Merid Abebe (1995, 130). Both the SLM and the OPDU belong to the SEPDC (ION 10 Apr. 1993). "Some were charged with political offences but the majority were detained without charge, and none was tried" (AI 1995, 130). Country Reports for 1994 reports that two SEPDC officials were "summarily detained" in December 1994, "after presenting local authorities in the town of Hosanna a written notification of SEPDC's intention to establish a party office" (1995, 84-85). The SEPDC is reportedly "simply not permitted to engage in politics outside Addis" (AAICJ 28 Apr. 1995, 10). The Daily Telegraph reported in May 1995 that over 200 SEPDC members were currently being held in detention (6 May 1995). Please see the 1991 to 1995 annual reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, all of which are available at Regional Documentation Centres, for further information on the treatment of opposition party members by the government.

Despite attempts by European and North American governments to encourage Ethiopian opposition parties to participate in the May 1995 federal Ethiopian elections, the SEPDC, and most other opposition groups, boycotted the elections (Reuters 5 May 1995; HRW 1995, 19; The Daily Telegraph 6 May 1995; Africa Confidential 26 May 1995, 4). Opposition leaders, including SEPDC and Coalition of Alternative Forces for Peace and Democracy in Ethiopia (CAFPDE) leader Beyene Petros, claimed that the "government impeded their ability to participate in the political process" (Country Reports 1995 1996, np; HRW 1995, 19) and declared the elections undemocratic: "for us to take the slightest part in this would amount to trampling on the democratic ideals of our people" (Reuters 5 May 1995). The EPRDF secured an overwhelming majority of seats in the nation's parliament in the May 1995 elections, and the transitional government that ruled Ethiopia since 1991 handed power over to the newly-elected government in August 1995 (People in Power Jan. 1996, 63; Country Reports 1995 1996, np).

Information on a list of SEPDC executives could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Africa Confidential [London]. 26 May 1995. Vol. 36, No. 11. "Ethiopia: No Contest: The Election Victory Gives the Government a Free Hand with its Radical Plans for Change."

_____. 14 April 1995. Vol. 36, No. 8. "Ethiopia: The Centre Holds: The USA Has Failed to Bring the Opposition into the Elections but Will Still Back the Winners."

Africa Report [New York]. November-December 1993. Vol. 38, No. 6. Makua wa Mutua. "Ethiopia."

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [Oxford]. 1-31 July 1994. Vol. 31, No. 7. "Ethiopia: Prominent Personalities."

_____. 1-31 May 1993. Vol. 30, No. 5. "Ethiopia: Draft Constitution Symposium."

American Association for the International Commission of Jurists (AAICJ). 28 April 1995. Ethiopia: The Scheduled Elections May 1995. New York: AAICJ.

Amnesty International (AI). 1995. Amnesty International Report 1995. New York: Amnesty International USA.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995. 1996. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. (Electronic version received from Resource Information Center, US Immigration and Naturalization Service)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1994. 1995. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

The Daily Telegraph [London]. 6 May 1995. Louise Tunbridge. "Ethiopia's Rulers are Poised for Poll Win." (NEXIS)

The Europa World Year Book 1995. 1995. 36th Ed. Vol. 1. London: Europa Publications.

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 1995. Human Rights Watch World Report 1996. New York: Human Rights Watch.

_____. 1994. Human Rights Watch World Report 1995. New York: Human Rights Watch.

The Indian Ocean Newsletter (ION) [Paris]. 10 April 1993. "Ethiopia: Parties Kicked Out of Parliament." (NEXIS)

_____. 20 March 1993. "Ethiopia: Opposition Meeting in Paris." (NEXIS)

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. April 1993. Vol. 39, No. 4. "Ethiopia: Parliamentary Expulsions."

People in Power. January 1996. Release No. 52. Cambridge: CIRCA Research and Reference Information.

Political Handbook of the World: 1994-1995. 1995. Edited by Arthur S. Banks. Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications.

Radio Ethiopia External Service [Addis Ababa, in English]. 5 March 1995. "Ethiopia; Opposition Party Denies Agreeing to Take Part in Elections." (BBC Summary 7 Mar.1995/NEXIS)

Reuters. 5 May 1995. BC Cycle. Peter Smerdon. "Ethiopia's Opposition Bows Out of Elections." (NEXIS)

The Indian Ocean Newsletter [Paris]. 10 April 1993. "Ethiopia: Parties Kicked Out of Parliament." (NEXIS)

_____. 20 March 1993. "Ethiopia: Opposition Meeting in Paris." (NEXIS)

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. April 1993. Vol. 39, No. 4. "Ethiopia: Parliamentary Expulsions," p. 39403.
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