4 SU-27 Ethiopian fighter pilots defect

Four Ethiopian SU-27 fighter pilots have fled the government over lack of freedom, democracy and justice, and the overall worsening political repression in the country.

The four fighter pilots are Captain Samuel Getachew, Lt. Haimanot G. Mariam (female), Lt Yitibarek Tekle and Lt. Fikre-Selassie Feleke. Their whereabouts for the time being remains unknown.

In addition to the repression, the pilots blamed the Zenawi regime for the disappearance of two Air Force pilots who had defected to neighboring Djibouti in June 2005 but were forcibly returned to Ethiopia and have never been heard of again.

The four pilots were students of former Ethiopian Air Force Captain Teshome Tenkolu, a pilot instructor who was tortured and held incommunicado in a dark cell for over two years up to 2000. Captain Teshome, who now lives in exile in Canada, survived a gruesome ordeal and chronicled perhaps the most heart-wrenching story of torture and melancholy to ever befall an innocent Ethiopian citizen.

"The pilots have defected because they wanted to protest against the brutal political conditions in the country, and cited the case of Captain Teshome and the disappearance of the other pilots as cases in point that there is no rule of law and justice in the country.

Captain Behailu Gebre and Lt. Abiyot Mangudai defected to Djibouti in June 2005 after they disobeyed government orders to use their gunship helicopter to fire on anti-government protesters in Addis. Human rights organizations condemned the Djibout regime after deporting the pilots.

Fear of Ethiopian national anger forced Djibouti to misinform BBC on July 19 that the pilots were repatriated voluntarily but tearful family members of the pilots in Addis told Ethiomedia their return was a deportation order carried out jointly by the security forces of President Omar Guelleh of Djibouti and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi."

The pilots who fell back into the hands of Meles, were tortured, and witnesses said the two were limping when they appeared before a Military Tribunal at Debre Zeit Air Force base, 32 km south of the Ethiopian capital.

At that time, Amnesty International called on the Meles regime to allow the pilots immediate access to relatives, lawyers and any medical treatment they may require. Amnesty also called for an investigation to establish whether the pilots had been "forcibly returned" to Ethiopia, in breach of international conventions.

The calls fell deaf ears.