Thirty Five Years Of State Led Genocide In The Presence Of Au And International Community In Ethiopia

5. Attacks on the Orthodox Tewahido Church and the faithful

There are many attacks on Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, on its members and its serving priests. However, for the sake of illustration, we will try to show some data from the beginning of the change of government in 1990, and some of the data were collected for a long time, which makes it difficult to put details. Even though, the development of communication technology in recent years has made it possible to collect comparatively better information.

In order to help see the extent and progress of the damage done to the church, the report has been divided into four decades; as it will serve as a resource for those who are working tackle the problem from the ground up.

5.1. Attacks from 1990 -1996

5.1.1. Jeju District

In 1991, Abomsa Holy God father, Abule St. George, Abshera Medhanealem, Andre St.George in Guna district, Teram St. Gebriel and Meso St. Gebriel churches iwere completely destroyed by fire and two other churches were destroyed. They were robbed including the tablet.

5.1.2. Arsi Negele district

On December 19/1991, sixty people were killed and 60 people were seriously injured in West Arsi Zone, Arsi Negele district. At the time the house of the local Christians were looted and destroyed. 6987 residents were displaced from their villages. Many churches were burned.

5.1.3. Arsi

In 1991, hundreds of Christians were shot, thrown into a cliff and burned to death in Arsi and thousands of their homes were burned and displaced. Their cattle and property were stolen from them.

Many of their properties were looted. On 04/11/1995, unknown number of Christians were beaten, stabbed, and their houses destroyed in Kore town Kofele District of Arsi, when they were returning from the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Although the government suggested that the problem should be solved by the elders, the matter was beyond the capacity of the Muslim elders; so a lot of damage was done.

5.1.4. Gonder

On 11/06/1996, an attempt was made to seize possession of the church of Abera George and Bata Lemariam in Gonder city. Muslims had provided false information that a Muslim was buried at the site about 100 years ago. Also on 27/06/1996, a poisoned knife was found in a truck with license plate number 03984 belonging to a driver named Nur Ali in Gonder. 63 knives were found in a mosque before they distributed. During a search conducted on 1st -3rd, it could possible to collect 111 more knives from the house of extremist Muslims.

On 04/07/1996, Muktar Sahl Jibril?s map shows the attack on the church by a terrorist. With a small camera and hand bomb at 8:00pm, he went to attach the Menbere mengist medhanialem church and tried to attack.

According to the elderly Muslims who were threatened by the situation, they joined to forces with the Christians and pointed out the place where the extremists were training. When the area was searched, training camp was found connecting three houses for the purpose of extermination.

During the inspection, it was found that fax machine; internet, fax and email exchanges with the hijackers, list of names of the church teachers8 and students to be killed, list of hijackers, 70 million birr for Jihad activities were kept in the bank. At the same time, in Dabat and Denbia, it was possible to catch kidnappers training in organizations that were opened in the name of child welfare centers.

5.2. Attackes from 1990 - 1999

5.2.1. West Arsi

In 1999, basing the conflicts raised in Kofele and Kore, Guch Medihanealem Church was burnt down. On 11/09/2004, they killed 10 Christians and seriously injured three others in Kore city, Arsi- Kofele District; and displaced 2,237 believers from the area. They burnt down one church and 194 houses of Christians. 24 more houses were partly burnt. 304 Christian cattle were also stolen.

On November 6th the extremists tried to attack the Christians who had gathered to celebrate the festival of Holy Emanuel Church in Kore. When they failed, they went to the residencial area and spent the night beating and looting the houses of Christians.

On 15/11/2005, Ayisha St.Mary?s church in kofele district of Arsi Diocese was burned down by a group of anti-Christians. Ten peoples were killed in the attack and many others were injured. At the time, many churches and the homes of 72 Christians, including the Ansha St. Mary?s church, were burned. A lot of properties were destroyed. Residents were displaced from their village.

5.2.2. Girar Jarso District

On 29/06/2001, the guards of the Debre Fiseha Shinkurt Michael church in the North showa selale diocese, Girar Jarso district, were killed by looters and the church was looted.

5.2.3. Ephrata Gidim district

The death of the faithful and priests on 14/04/2001 the believers who were worshiping in the night at Debre Selam George?s Church Ephrata Gidim District of the North Showa Diocese were shot by extremists. As a result, a father lost his life.

5.2.4. Kemise

On 19/01/2002, extremists entered St.Michael?s church, and burned six piles of grass and 11 piles of cane; and destroyed the church. On 19/01/2006, the Christians of Kemise and Bati were beaten by extremists on the baptism festival.

5.2.5. East, Kelem and West Welega

On 02/11/2004, they broke the door on the west side of Wanke Jesus Church in West Welega Diocese and stole the ark and relics. "The Orthodox Church occupies a wide area and the other should not have trouble in a narrow area," they said, tearing down the fence of the church and allowing them to build mosque.

On the same day, many Christians were killed in the area. Priests were beaten.

5.2.6. Mettu Elubabur

In 2006, the Guchi Gole Gatra Tekle Haymanot church was completely destroyed by radical Islamists and rebuilt at a cost of 260,000 birr. In the same year, among the churches in Dedesa district the Chilo Medihanealem church and the Kemeche St. Michael church were burnt down and were rebuilt with the help of the congregation and the contributions of the faithful.

However, the city of Yembero, which has a large Islamic Medressa school and where extremism is spreading, has forced many to leave the place by threatening and robbing the surrounding believers to keep them calm

5.2.7. In Jimma and its surrounding

Jimma in the area of Beshasha on 14/10/2006, in Agaro, the Christians who had gathered to celebrate the Holy Spirit Church in Beshasha Abune Gebre Menfes kidus were killed and the church burned down. The origin of the case is a place called Chelo, Elubabur Zone, Dedesa district, and the day was 26/09/2006, On the True cross finding festival9 day.

The conflict was caused by the riots of some Muslims who claimed that the smoke of the True finding of cross festival had entered our mosque. When an old man named Ato Kinde was sent to settle the matter, they were pelted with stones and the conflict happened.

As a result of this conflict, people died on both sides, and the angry Muslims set fire to the Holy Gabriel church on 03/10/2006. 08/10/2006, they tried to burn the Beshasha Abune Gebremenfes kidush church. Since the door of the church is burnt, Agaro district church parish took the tablet to Agaro St. Mary?s church and stayed for a week.

Later, on 15/02/2006, by building the door, the ark was returned to the throne on the eve of celebrating the anniversary of Abune Gebremenfes kidus.

Due to the conflict, the federal police were called in, but mayor of Agaro city ordered the soldiers to leave Agaro district on 14/10/2006, on the eve of October 15th.

On that day, when Agaro?s congregation, Sunday school youths, and preistswentb to beshasha to celebrate the festival, the Muslims on the road signaled that they would kill Christians, eye witnesses said.

The believers went to the place thinking that the environment (country) was peaceful and spent the evening well. At 12:00 o?clock in the night, while the Mahlet10 service was being performed, the Muslims surrounded the church with guns, big knives, fire, gasoline and other weapons of destruction and started killing the worshipers. 6 peoples were killed in the action.

Among the dead were priests, elders and mothers. More than 16 people were cut by big knives and injured. More than 30 people were beaten.

The church was burned with the bodies of the believers. An Isuzu car was burnt. Women were raped; thirsty women were given human blood to drink. More than 2000 people were displaced from their villages (Simatsidk magazine, October 2006).

In general, Orthodox Christians were killed in the attack that took place from 26/09/2006, to 14-15/10/2006. Thousands of Christians have been displaced. Churches were burned. The properties of many Christians were destroyed. It was stolen.

The bodies of Christians were dumped on the ground in an indecent manner. In a place called Qumbi, believers were asked to break their necklace11 and when when the believers refuse to do it, the attackers cut off their fingers with a knife.

From 26/09/2006 starting on consecutive days, in Goma, Mana, Toba and Elubabor diocese in Dedesa district, Extremists armed with weapons and knifes killed 12 Christians.

They burned three churches (Chego St. Gebriel church Bore St. Gebriel church and Beshasha Abune gebremenfes kidus churches). They also looted the relics. They burned more than 800 ancestral homes and evicted them from their villages. Some were forced to...