From ICFTU OnLine, 122/970513/ND, 13 May, 1997
Brussels, May 13 1997 (ICFTU OnLine): Assefa Maru, a member of the Executive Committee of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA) was killed on May 8 by members of the Ethiopian security forces. According to the police who came to his home to arrest him on charges of "terrorist activities", Assera Mafu was killed "as he tried to escape". Seven other people were arrested during the police raid. The ETA's headquarters in Addis Ababa were later ransacked by security forces.
The Ethiopian Teachers Association has repeatedly been subject to harassment by the authorities. On May 30 last year, ETA's President, Taye Woldesmiate, was arrested upon his return from a trade union seminar in Europe, and is still in jail.
Despite attacks, the ETA is surviving and continues to have the support of two thirds of teachers throughout Ethiopia, says Education International, the Brussels-based global teachers' group. EI General Secretary Fred Van Leeuwen has condemned the assassination of Assefa Maru and has called on the Ethiopian government to withdraw forces surrounding the ETA headquarters.