The harrowing stories of TPLF mass murders in Tigrai
as told by a surviving elder
By
ጌታቸው ረዳ
Posted
April 2009
According
to many of your request, here is the English translation of the Tigringa version
interview of Fitawrari Gezai Reda. (Editor- www.ethiopiansemay.blogspot.com).
Let me
start my view by quoting from an article I read a few years back from Ethiopian
Register magazine, under the topic: “Understanding the Machine of Woyane
Politics and How It Works." In that commentary, the writer tried to
show how the Ethiopian people were trying to identify the government of TPLF
and the nature of it. The writer says,
“As critics and opponents of the Meles regime,
we often look like those fabled individuals who try to identify a large animal
blindfolded. One character touches the animal’s head, another its back, still
another its legs, each one giving an account of the whole beast by the part of
the beast it has felt." Similarly, opposition parties and groups describe
the Woyane political creature in various limited ways. Some say TPLF rules are
similar to an Apartheid-like ethnic tyranny. Others draw parallels with a
Marxist-Leninist clique. Still others equate TPLF with a shifta (banditry),
two-faced par communist, par capitalist, political entity. We also mark the
regime as a worari (occupying) force, clever at operating behind tribal lines,
reminiscent of colonialism, yet quick to resort to frontal assault on
dissidents, citizens, and communities to bolster its monopoly of power.” End Quote.
Each of
these outlines of TPLF rules is right, but only partially. Each depiction
highlights a particular feature or element of the Meles dictatorship.” Indeed,
as the writer above tried to show the different features of TPLF, each one of
these taken separately, or as a mere sum, the depictions do not, however, yield
an adequate picture of the gangsters of Woyane Tigray . Even as mercenary as it
is, stating Meles and his groups as group of “Banda”, still we can’t describe
the nature of the political beast! The nature of the gangs should be
interpreted in ways worse than what has been said for years. Can I simply say,
“These are beasts dispatched from hell?
Many of
us may not have the detail understanding and information how Tigrian farmers
and citizens were the subject of these beasts for solid seventeen years.
Because of our frustration, many of us blame the Tigrians for harboring the
beasts for seventeen years, but in reality the Tigrian farmers and people have
suffered more than all of us can imagine. Sadly ethnic affiliation is weird; to
that extent still Tigrayan majority supports and likes this fascist beast gangs
from hell called TPLF.
Leaving
the weakness and the failure of the flamboyant members and sympathizers of the
beasts, and leaving aside for a moment, the ugly record of the Tigrian intellectuals
and all walks of Tigrians who defended and supported the cruel nature of TPLF
leaders and their Bado Shidushte (06) (the notorious security apparatus of
TPLF), for many years, without any
doubt, the majority of the Tigrian people, particularly “farmers,” were the
direct victims of TPLF savagery more than any society in Ethiopia during the 17
years of the TPLF jungle territory control in Tigray .
In this
report you will read a very shocking history from an elderly man from Tigray.
Ato Gezai Reda, who was tortured and released after paying Birr 15,000
($7,500.00 at the time of that era’s dollar exchange rate), after he was
captured by TPLF guerrilla fighters in 1969 EC (about 1976/1978), and recently
exposed the cruelty and injustice done to the Tigrian farmers and citizens by
the so called leaders of Woyane Tigray in his interview with Dejen radio,
produced by my friend, Dr. Hailemariam Abebe.
I am working on the full translation of the
interview in Amharic, to be published in one of the national papers (already
published) . Till then, take the idea home, weigh the gruesome and utterly
despicable nature of TPLF, the mass murders and tortures it inflicted on
thousands of Tigrians.
Here is the short summary of the Tigrigna interview I
translated into English for those who cant read or understand Tigringa:
I have some
extensive audio interview that I did with him separately outside the following
version of interview. For now, I will present the interview he did with Dejen
radio.
Ato Gezai
Reda is originally from Enderta (around Mekelle), but worked and spent most of
his life in Shire Awraja (Enda-Selassie). He was an employee of the Ministry of
Interior before his ordeal. Ato Gezai expresses his thanks to Dejen radio for
having him as a guest, and for getting the opportunity to expose the crimes of
TPLF to the Ethiopian people, after keeping them with him for many years for
lack of a free forum. Ato Gezai Reda, after briefly explaining about his life
history, directly goes to his narration. In the mid-'70s, he was a member of
“Teranafit” (a group established in shire district before it merged with Prince
Mengesha Seyoum's armed rebel group - the Ethiopian Democratic Union - EDU). He
said TERANAFIT at first had no intention of fighting against TPLF.
Teranafit
was established to fight against then military Junta in power - the
"Derg." But TPLF accused members of Teranafit of being “rivals” in
recruiting the Tigrian youth. Because of this, he said he and other Teranafit
members came under the focus of TPLF hostility. Ato Gezai Reda was captured in
March 1969 (1977/78) when he and others were travelling by bus to Axum to
celebrate the religious holiday of Hidar Tsion. TPLF fighters threw hand
grenades and ambushed the bus in the vicinity of “Af Gah-gah”. Held at
gunpoint, the rebels ordered three passengers to get down, and those were: Ato
Gezai, Ato Feseha, and Ato GebreTsadik Woldu.
The three
"captives" were taken to a locality called Mai Demas, where they were
thrown into a closure, and spent a bitter cold night along with livestock. The
next day, says Ato Gezai,
"we
were taken to Badme. Along the way, every village we passed by, there were many
young farmers and elders who were being rounded up by TPLF as Teranafit
accomplices." Ato Gezai and other 50 prisoners were taken to a place
called Ginbot (near Badme). Ginbot was lush green, and had several springs that
watered the site. "Upon our arrival," says Ato Gezai, "all of us
were ordered to roll over a field covered with ash which was so thick and over
a feet or two high. We did as ordered, but fell to severe coughing, sneezing, and
itching. Once our introductory lesson was over, we were thrown into a tiny
cell, joining other prisoners who had lost their hairs due to inhuman
conditions. Those who were imprisoned before us were seriously emaciated, like
they have been starving for a long time. Parts of their bodies were burned with
fire, and their skins had turned yellow. With their sunken eyes, they looked
like lifeless skeletons.
Their
legs were swollen, and their voices coarse." Some of the young men whom
Ato Gezai saw in that prison cell were students from Adi-Awala, Adi Dairo in
Shirre. The other victims included individuals who suffered from "manic
depression," and had already lost their minds, understandably from the
complication of constant exposure to cruel torture and loss of hope in life.
The next morning Ato Gezai was interrogated as an accomplice of the Teranafit
rebel group which TPLF saw as a sworn enemy.
On the
second day, they woke Ato Gezai up, took him out, and tied his hands behind his
back against a tree, and set a pile of firewood between his legs. He was fixed
to a tree trunk as the TPLF guys used tight ropes and wires to wrap him by.
They started the fire between his legs, and Gezai Reda's long journey into the
world of hell controlled by TPLF starts in earnest. As a thick smoke chokes Ato
Gezai, the fire has already created blisters all over his body. Out of
desperation, he shouted "Kidus Michael! Kidus Michael..." His
torturers heard what he said, and started to make fun of him. The torturers
picked up two small rocks and rubbed the stones against each other and,
mockingly, asked their victim: “Can you see your St. Michael in these stones?”
(At this moment on the Radio, Ato Gezai is overwhelmed with emotions of grief,
and slips into silence)
He comes
back on air, and continues his narration. "The fire was too much
painful," and I cried out: "The fire Is Hell!", and said,
"My brothers and sisters! I can't move left or right. I am being eaten up
by the fire. You bet Hell is better than enduring this cruelty!" My hands
were tied behind me to a tree; there is no way one can escape from the chocking
smoke and the flames of the burning wood. My body started to swell like a
balloon. My body was covered with blisters, containing water under the swollen
skin. And at one time, my skin burst and gushed out water from my entire body.
Then my torturers ordered a break, using the military code “erefti!” (Recess/
break!).
After
this unbelievable torture of burning and roasting my body with fire, they took
me away from the fire, and untied my hands. I was lying on the ground, from
where I slipped into unconsciousness. I can’t remember how long I was in a
state of shock. I only knew when they woke me up again, and ordered me to
stand, walk, and sit back to the burning fire. I couldn’t move my body! I was
burned, numb, and roasted; my throat and lungs were coarse like burned; I
couldn't talk either. Practically, my body was turned into the size of a
monster; my eyes were hanging out of their sockets. My tormentors also knew I
that I couldn't move. They looked for other means. They burned a bunch of figs,
and threw the fire onto my body. After a few days, I woke up, and tried to make
sense of where I was (mind you I was still in severe pain and mentally
devastated).
But once
more, they took me out in that bad shape, when I was looking just like an
invalid. I was asked if I'd learned anything from my being tortured. The
interrogator asked me if there was something I could make as a confession. I
said: “Other than being a member of Teranafit, I have nothing to confess; I did
nothing wrong that harmed TPLF; if there is anything, please show me any
evidence of wrongdoing than torturing me for a crime I know nothing
about." I begged them to tell me if I'd done anything wrong to them. Ato
Gezai went on to say, “The interrogator didn't whet his thirst of cruelty,
and said me, 'You still didn’t learn a lesson after all that?!”
He then ordered the torturers to take me back
to the torture chamber, where I was hung upside down, and the
interrogators started to beat my bare feet with a rubber stick. My body started
to burn like I caught fire: I shivered, vomited, moaned with unbearable pain.
By the way, I still have difficulty walking, and I often feel pain in my feet.” “Those are not Tigrians, those are not Ethiopians;
those are some evil creatures from hell! They
have no respect for even to the elders. They were educated by us, by the
Tigrian parents; they were schooled by the farmers' and tax-payers' money, they
were armed by Tigrians but turned their back on us, and humiliated us in a way
difficult to express in words.”
Question- Other victims?
Ato
Gezai:– There were many of them. At least eight people
were being executed every day. Every morning, many young ones from among the
prisoners would be called out by their names. The prisoners knew they were
being taken to be murdered. The young ones would cry, scream, saying, “tell my
parents and families that I am executed...goodbye Tigray! Good bye folks!” Mass
murder was routine. I can tell you a few more agonizing stories as to what
extent TPLF’s cruelty stretches. The crimes of TPLF that I saw with my own eyes
are chilling." “There was this elder who was highly respected in Shirre
Endaselassie. His name was Gebrelibanos Mezgebo. He was a chief accountant
employee of the Ministry of Internal revenue. He and a few other respected
individuals like him were selected by the people of Shire and surroundings to
go to TPLF bases, and meet with TPLF officials over how to peacefully resolve
the war with the Derg.
The idea
was proposed by the Derg officials. The Derg explained to the elders of Shirre
that war was killing the nation, and such peaceful plan was also being executed
in Eritrea. Eritrean elders were also elected by residents to go to the
mountains to meet the rebels over a possible dialogue with the Derg. The Derg
proposed they can solve their differences with EPLF-ELF for the sake of peace
to the war-torn country. Likewise, the elders from around Shirre went to
TPLF-held areas so as to meet and discuss the issue with them.
"Mind
you!" says Ato Gezai Reda
“...these
are respected elders, who know nothing about politics, or who have never been
members of any political group. But since the Derg officials ordered them to do
something to resolve the conflict, they went out as peace envoys, shouldering
responsibilities both by the people and the Derg. The residents also gladly
agreed to try the strategy if that would work out for the sake of peace. The
elders met TPLF leaders, but they were unlucky: they were thrown into prison
immediately.” Dejen radio - And then? Ato
Gebrelibanos and the other elders were murdered.
Question:- How
come?
Ato
Gezai - Well, it is a very sad and shocking scene to
witness such tragedy taking place in ones presence. One night EDU rebels came
to the vicinity with their full military might. Subsequently, TPLF “firing
squads” rushed to where we were being held. And we heard the interrogators
saying loudly, "Let us Kill them! Let us finish them!"
Immediately, they opened the door and ordered us to line up. They wanted to
carry out the execution there and then but they changed their mind, and rushed
us to a gorge covered with thick forest. However, they delayed the execution
for reasons we did not know. “Let me take you back for a second, to the
question of what happened to Ato Gebrelibnos Mezgebos. As I said earlier, we
were told EDU rebels were encircling the area. At that moment they tried to
kill all prisoners. But later on, they decided to rush us somewhere else.
However, Ato Gebrelibanos was badly burned and tortured like myself. He was a
sad sight to the eye. He had open wounds on his back and his legs. He was
almost crippled from torture. The TPLF decided he should be put to death. THEY
FIRED THREE SHOTS INTO HIS BODY AND MURDERED HIM where he was lying!". “With
him, there was also a very handsome young man who was their member, a “guerilla
fighter," who fell sick with severe malaria. He was shivering with high
fever, was unable to walk. He was lying under a shade from the outside of the
prison cell that housed us. He was there just to rest and get some medication.
He too was shot to death by the firing squad in his sleep. They executed him on
the spot because he was unable to walk with the rest of us. This young fighter
was from a village called Enticho (Adwa). They pumped three shots into each of
the two victims in a cold-blooded murder.
Question:– Why
did they do that?
Ato
Gezai - They didn't want to carry them.
Question;-They shot and killed their own
fighter too?
Ato
Gezai - Yes, they were cold-blooded murderers who had no
value for human life. I have no idea how such youngsters came out from the womb
of Tigrians and turned into some despicable monsters!
Question: - And then?
Ato Gezai - We
left the two murdered gentlemen behind us as we were rushed to a place called
Maay Lam (Mereb). It was very hot, humid, and sand. Many of the prisoners had a
difficult time dragging themselves along a very hostile terrain. Many of us
never had any exercise, let alone overcome long journeys atop our tortured
bodies. We had no power at all. Many of us had headaches, dizziness, and were
thirsty and exhausted. Those who were limping and had fallen behind, the rebels
pulled them like they were animal carcasses to be disposed of. Rebel harassments
were rampant against those who staggered on the way. Among the weak prisoners,
I remember there was a respected elder, Balambaras Tilahun. He was from Deki
Awuaala. They wanted to riddle his body with bullets. Fortunately, when they
were ready to do just that, some higher official of the organization came to
the scene, and the firing squad asked the official if they could kill the man
whom they saw as a burden. The official asked them if his interrogation was
finalized. They said "no." He told them to first get over the
investigation. The old man was spared, and was suggested they somewhat carry
him. However, they tied him tight to a single long stick (It was supposed to be
a stretcher).
They went
away rocking the old man left and right his body tied/hooked with that single
stick. Finally we reached a place called "La'e-Lai Barka/Uper Barka/ (may
be close to Eritrea border), and it was time to spend the night there. On the
same night, they told us there would be assignments, and they split us in two:
Group A and Group B (the reason was one of the groups would go to the Red Cross
for check-ups, while the other would take other assignments. That was what they
said).
We formed
long columns, but we were worn out. Immediately everyone was asleep. But again
in the same night, they woke us up, and called the names of 25 individuals.
They took them to a nearby ravine, and in an outburst of gunfire, the 25 were
murdered en masse. That day was Ethiopian Easter holiday. The way how the
gentlemen were killed was really frightening to human mind. They told the
victims to line up like soldiers but they machine-gunned them down all at once.
The killers didn’t even bother to bury the victims. Their bodies were later
found by Eritrean cattle herders. When the cattle came closer to the sight,
they began to retreat as if they had seen predators. This alerted the herders
who became curious why their cattle were frightened, and suddenly saw the
bodies of 25 Ethiopians murdered at one go.
"It is really heart-wrenching to recall
such tragedies despite the passage of a long time," says Ato Gezai. He
mentioned some of the executed individuals by name. Among them: Ato Tewolde Gebresilassie (a town
council official from Endaselassie - Shire) Ato Abebe Gebre-Mariam (an old
man from Adi Beiray, Deki-Awala) Wodi Goshim, a 16-year-old from
Endaselassie. Mohammed, a 12-year-old boy
from Adua who came to the Selekleka to visit his aunt. In prison, the boy
always cried, saying he wanted to go to his mother and his Aunt and would often
ask them "what am I doing here? I want to go to mom”. Altogether with the
kid, 25 people were slaughtered.
By the way, after the herders discovered the
mass murder, they immediately notified ELF fighters. The ELF men were shocked,
and held an official meeting, and expressed their disappointments by the
gruesome murders TPLF committed. ELF told TPLF to move out of their territory.
TPLF fighters who were guarding us shared the secret with us. Some of the
fighters were very close to us and sympathized with our condition. It was their
closeness and sympathy that helped us to get the information that TPLF had
differences with ELF with that incident. Unfortunately, many of the prisoners
were murdered, (even after the ELF ordered TPLF, move out itself and its
prisoners from their area). Those murdered, were murdered in the same fashion:
“summary execution!”
After they relocated us, there were killings
as well. There were prisoners like Haleka Tilahun (Adi Hagerai?) , Yigzaw Hailu
(I think if I am not mistaken he was the son of Kegnazmach or Dejach Hailu
Aduwa). Yigzaw was unique than the rest. He was a strong man. He killed one of
the executioners, and stabbed another with the executioner's own knife, and
fled on foot. They pursued him with a barrage of machinegun fire. They shot him,
but could not find him, dead or alive. After a week, however, his death was
confirmed when vultures were spotted, and they were scavenging on the corpse.
Question: - What happened to you finally?
Ato Gezai - I
was told I could bail myself out by paying them Birr 15,000 (then the
equivalent of $7,500 U.S. dollars). They ordered me to write a letter to my
wife to make the payment. I pleaded for lesser settlement. They told me “TPLF
is not a market place for bargaining." Finally, I wrote a letter to my
wife and they took the letter to her, and she sold our hotel (the only source
of income we had to support my children and my wife at that time while I was
under TPLF custody). My wife had no other choice, and she sold our property,
met one of the agents, and paid him 15,000 Birr.
I was released but there was a string to it:
If I talked about TPLF brutality, I would be hunted down. No mercy! And they
had these so-called fedayeen, (disguised TPLF snipers who infiltrate towns
either to kidnap victims, or else, murder them.)…
Question: -
We have heard many people lost their
finger-nails, and fingers and limps were being pulled off the bodies of victims
during torture. And we heard TPLF was forcing its victims to dig their own
graves before they were shot dead.
Question:-It that
true?
Ato
Gezai - Many despicable things have befallen too many
innocent people. One day, they decided to kill me. My hands were tied, and I
was watching when they were digging my grave. They dug it themselves because I
was too weak to do anything. I was tied very tightly, and asked them: “My hands
are tied and it is hurting me badly. Can you please loosen the rope?" One
of my guards got upset and said: “This is your grave; in our law, you were
supposed to dig your own grave. But because you have no muscle to do that, we
are doing you a favor. Therefore, you better shut up and get ready to
enter your warm grave!”
I was put
down in the grave. Then, the firing squad gathered and started to lower down
their heads to the ground with their formal whispers (prayers par communist
zealots), called “zikri sema'atat” (a prayer in memory of our martyrs). When
they prayed their version, I was also praying loudly: “ABUNE ZEBESEMAYAT...
(Oh, our Heavenly Father...) at that moment, one of them by the name “Mesele”
asked me, “what are you chanting for?" When he was asking me this very
question, another messenger called Alemseged came running and screaming so loud
towards us. They said, "who is that guy?" He screamed so loud from a
distance, and told them, "wait, wait! Don’t do anything! Don’t kill
him!" Alemseged told them higher officials were saying that the prisoner
had more interrogations and should be spared of the execution.
The
amazing thing was a member of the firing squad was my neighbor’s son by the
name “Nuguse Lilai”. This young man was a promising soccer player in Shire
Enda-Selassie, back in the good old days. At that time, I used to encourage him
and his friends to pursue their sports. Occasionally, I used to support them
financially. I also used to take their pictures, extending some form of
fatherly help. He was the first one who jumped into the grave, and pulled me
out, by cutting the rope that had tied my hands. I saw him and his friends
beaming with joy in the presence of the executioners who were suddenly ordered to
delay my death. However, I felt like they were playing with me like a toy. I
begged them to finish me off. I asked them why they were playing with my soul,
and asked them to fire a single shot, and get over with me, instead of taking
me back and forth to the same hellish life. They replied, “We have orders that
you have more interrogations."
So to
answer your question, "Yes, they used to make us dig our graves before
they killed us. Indeed, they were evil, anti-Tigray, anti humanity, anti their
own family, anti Ethiopia, generally they were demons from devil knows
where."
Question: – you have seen and witnessed all these nightmares,
and the unbelievable evilness of TPLF. I think to my understanding hearing this
shocking story, do you think you considered them as Tigrians? This is barbaric.
Their action is even worse than Fascist Mussolini’s atrocities. How were you
judging them at that time?
Ato
Gezai — Oh! We took them as the disciples of Satan. Given
their lack of humanity, I could only say I was saved by the power of God! They
were cruel. They fed us very salty food so that we would feel thirsty, and they
would punish us by denying us water. They added gasoline to the injera and soup
so that we would suffer with hunger. It is hard to explain their cruelty.
They kept
prisoners in dungeons; there were dungeons in Kalema (Jihanem) near Gondar,
another one in one of the Tekeze River hills, and another in Tembien. Those
underground prisons were dug beneath the hills. I heard it was very hard for
strangers to tell if there were underground prison chambers or not.
Question - Have
you had children at the time? Did they ever know where you were?
Ato
Gezai - I had young children, all of them under seven.
They didn’t know where I was till my release.
Question - After
your wife sold the hotel and paid TPLF the money they had asked, how did you
end up going back to EDU? What forced you to leave town?
Ato
Gezai - Let me tell you, whether I like it or not, they
could have taken the money anyway.
Question:- How is
that?
Ato
Gezai - What they did to many innocent families, they
could have done to my wife too. There are more and more sad stories. For
instance, they execute their victim. By the way, they cover the heads of their
victims with some sort of garment. Then they execute them. After that, the TPLF
prepares a letter as if it were written and signed by the victim. TPLF would
write as though the victim was alive, and was a dedicated fighter. In the
letter, they would write as if their victim would tell his family that he would
never abandon TPLF, and for his cause, he was dedicating the family property to
his organization “TPLF”.
So when
the family gets the letter, given the reign of TPLF terror in the area, would
be forced to hand over the property. Don't forget TPLF has already killed the
individual. Many families were robbed of their children and property by such
sordid TPLF crimes. They never cared that their victimized family had kids, and
would perish to hunger.
Let me tell you about the fate of one
promising businessman in Adi Hagerai, Adiabo. His name was GebreTsadik Tsige,
the son of Haneta Tsige. They were of Eritrean origin that lived as good
Ethiopians. The young businessman had heavy-duty trucks and over a thousand
heads of cattle. They killed him. On top of that, they ordered his wife to pay
Birr 12,000. She said she had 6,000 Birr to pay right away, and not the entire
sum of money. She asked them to give her more time. They demanded she had
better paid the full amount right away. When she could not find the money, they
took the trucks, 500 heads of cattle from the family ranch.
Now, let me go back to your question and
answer what happened to me after I was released.
I gave my
hand to Colonel Kale-Kristos Abai, then regional governor of Tigrai province. I
visited the colonel's office, where I was interviewed by the governor himself
and other attending senior officials. Upon hearing my harrowing stories of
tortures and mass killings, they were heart-broken, shocked and truly
disoriented. On my part, I begged them to keep the stories to themselves.
"If the stories leaked and reached TPLF," I told them, "they
will kill me. No doubt about that." But the officials were overwhelmed
with the gruesome murders TPLF was carrying out against innocent people. They
immediately called for public meeting with the residents of the town. They
began to tell the people the crimes being committed by TPLF.
At that
moment, they wanted an eye-witness, and called my name to testify. I heard them
calling my name, but I kept quiet. I did not want to risk my life for I knew
TPLF would murder me. In the first place, I didn't want to disclose TPLF crimes
to the Derg. But the Derg was also another problem, and I had no choice but to
tell them what I went through. Immediately on the third day, TPLF sent me a
“death warrant.” They sent one old man relative of my family. The letter told
me to get prepared for my death any time.
I
prepared myself in a few days, kissed my kids and my wife good-bye, and after a
long trek through the jungle, I joined EDU combatants.
Question:- Dear
Ato Gezai: You have seen TPLF in detail. TPLF is anti Tigray, anti Ethiopian
culture. They changed everything, even the names of villages and hamlets. They
devalued the honor of our mothers; they chopped away our territories, and ports
preserved by our forefathers. Would you share your views with us on these
points?
Ato
Gezai:- “TPLF is insane; they are evil, anti Christian,
anti religion and anti our culture. They went against Tigrian culture. They
desecrated churches. They smoked cigarettes inside churches. They turned
churches into dancing halls. They tore down holy church garments and used them
as sacks for stolen goodies. They used Medhani-Alem churches in Sheraro as
their dancing floor for their "artistic troupe." They forced elderly
priests to lead their dances. They forced priests to throw their crosses, and
made them carry guns and forced them to shoot. This was the most disturbing
time in the history of our country. After having been an EDU combatant, I was forced
into the world of exile, and I will never be able to visit my country until I
make sure TPLF is removed and gone forever.” Concluded Ato Gezai Reda.
NOTE
FROM GETACHEW REDA: Who is Ato Gebrelibanos Mezgebo?
I am his son in law. Ato Gebrelibnos Mezgebo is from Yeha, near Adua. His wife,
Woizero Yeshi is from Aduwa, Yeha. Woizero Yeshi, an elderly mother is still
alive with her 7 children and many grand children. Justice will reveal,
murderers who killed elders and young children as old as 12 years would one day
face the wrath of justice.
The
cold-blooded murderers can fool only to the fools pretending like they are
peaceful individuals and peaceful leaders not for those few of us knew who they
were and still who they are. Regardless of their camouflage, their blood-soaked
life would one day end up in front of the court of justice.
I thank
Ato Gezai Reda from my heart, and Dejen radio in behalf of the family. The
family may not question TPLF currently for fear of persecution. We the family
are many and we are everywhere to challenge the thugs and murderers. Justice
will prevail! There will no more be a mystery. The curtain that had covered the
criminal and murderous nature of TPLF is uncovered for all to see, and for all
to add their voices they had up to day kept for themselves for fear of being
added to the long list of the thousands of men and women TPLF firing squads
murdered in the quiet fields of northern Ethiopia.
In Recent
interview, Fitawrari Gezaie Reda exposed his torturers and prison chiefs who
sent many young kids and elders to their death chamber as Abebe Teklehaymanot
(filed name Usman) he was the ETPLF/EPRDF Air force chief. Awalom Weldu (real
name Tiku Weldu- the brother of Abay Weldu currently Abay Weldu is TPLF’s CC) –
Awalom was the first TPLF/EPRDF Ethiopian Ambassador to Eritrea. (Currently,
Ass/chair and CC of Gebru Asrat’s “Arena” party).
Mesele
was also the x-Derg Lieutenant Officer, who later fled to TPLF and became one
of the executioners. The story will be published in book version for history to
document it (update- already published). getachre@aol.com (Ethiopian Semay) ጌታቸው ረዳ _//-
