Gov't acting to prevent any abuses of opposition supporters - spokesman

The Ethiopian government is taking steps to prevent any abuses of opposition political supporters and has contacted all regions in the country to stress that forthcoming elections should be held in a fair and democratic manner, a spokesman told IRIN. "This is the period of preparation for the election," Zemedkun Teckle said on Tuesday. "Let me assure you, one commitment of the government is to ensure free and fair elections." The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRC) had claimed that opponents of the ruling party had suffered at the hands of local officials because of their political affiliations, saying they had been victims of abuses, including torture, imprisonment and eviction from their land. "These abuses are being committed by taking membership in opposition political parties as an excuse," the EHRC, in a report submitted to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, said. "These illegal acts include extra-judicial killings, torture, eviction from farmland, intimidation, denial of relief food, prohibition of public services and discrimination against participation in social forums and institutions." Zemedkun said many of claims by the EHRC were false and that opposition groups were making claims ahead of the May 2005 regional and federal elections. "If this kind of thing is happening, then the government is going to follow it and take action," he told IRIN. "But most of the time the allegations are false. All government institutions are trying to prevent any kinds of problems happening." According to the EHRC, supporters of the Ethiopian Democratic Unity Party and the All Ethiopia Unity Party had been victims of human rights abuses. It listed the names of alleged victims, saying all the allegations surfaced earlier this year, prior to a new pact between the government and opposition groups over the behaviour of local officials in the run up to and on the day of elections. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, which ousted Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991 after a 17-year guerrilla war, won 479 seats in the 547-seat assembly in the last national elections in 2000. The next general elections are the third democratic ballot in the country’s history.