Ethiopia: VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND YOUNG PEOPLE CONTINUE

September 9, 1999
 VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND YOUNG PEOPLE CONTINUE
 '' State Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life."
(Art. 6/1)
"State Parties shall take measures to combat the illicit transfer and non return of children abroad" (art. 11/1)
"State Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse."(Art. 34/1)

     The EPRDF government has continuously violated the rights of the child enshrined in the above quoted Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN/1990). The recent report that a Dutch woman who adopted an Ethiopian child, beat him to death and then went back to Ethiopia to easily adopt another child whom she was caught beating violently again, has shed light on the illegal transfer of children under the cover of adoption. SOCEPP has in the past exposed this illegal traffic which is being handled with the full knowledge and active participation of the EPRDF government officials. In fact, there are claims that adoption rings are controlled by these same officials who are making a lot of money by virtually selling off Ethiopian children. France, Holland, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland are among the main European countries mentioned in this respect. In remote areas of Ethiopia, "adoptable" children are now kept in isolation, waiting, their fate to be decided by the money exchanged between the officials and the foreigners.With children denied the right to life, to education, to health care, etc. and with Ethiopia's birth rate still continuing to be high, the situation is alarming. SOCEPP has, in the past,  commented on the sad fact that the infant mortality rate continues to be one of the highest in the world, that underage girls have been routinely raped or forced to marry, genital mutilation is still practiced, underage children are forced to work and are economically exploited, child soldiers are by far too many, children have been jailed in brutal conditions and many times for the alleged offenses of their parents, have been forced to live on and off the streets, etc. Many have become afflicted by AIDS. Furthermore, the EPRDF government has not only condoned  but it has also encouraged the transfer of teen girls to Middle Eastern countries for a thinly disguised prostitution work. In most of these countries, the girls have been subjected to brutal treatements and some have even been killed by jealous wives and drunken male employers without any legal action being taken at all.The sexual abuse and rape of underage girls and boys is also on the rise with the government officials on the lead. Southern region president Abate Kesho and many other government officials have been accused of abducting and raping young girls. Prostitution of underage girls is also encouraged by the "closed bars" frequented by the high level cadres and government officials in Addis Abeba, Nazreth, etc. Security chief Kinfe Gebre Medhin, top TPLF leaders Abai Tsehaye and Sebhat Negga ar among those mentioned in the corruption of young girls. The scandal associated with Terre des Hommes has also highlighted the dangers facing young underage boys. The foreigners working with said NGO committed homosexual acts on the boys (below 15 years of age orphans and street boys) who were under their care.  The government knew of this (especially when SOCEPP exposed the situation in relation to the asylum demand of some of these boys made in Australia) but chose not to act       until  the scandal exploded when one of the foreigners committed suicide recently.
The EPRDF government is not only protecting children but it is responsible for the violation of the rights of these same children. Even its prisons are holding numerous children. Its political policies have also exposed children of certain ethnic groups to massacres and other suffering in a clear violation of the Convention's articles. The plight of Ethiopian children  is worsening in the face of a government that exhibits condemnable callousness. 
SOCEPP calls on the EPRDF government:-To cease the sale of children through dubious adoption agencies.-To take actions against the government officials promoting underage prostitution and transferring girls for the same aim to the Middle East.-To release all child prisoners.-To stop the killing of children in areas of armed conflict with guerrillas.To stop the recuiting of underage boys and girls into the army.-To take concrete actions to reduce and to punish the rape of young girls.-To adopt appropriate laws and to engage in a serious and wide reaching educational campaign to stop genital mutilation, child marriages and to create awareness of the rights of the child as enshrined in the UN Convention.Respect the right of the Child!!
SOCEPP