TRANSLATION
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Affidavit
April 28, 2005

My Name is Roman Gebremariam. I am an Ethiopian by nationality. Currently I am living in Bole sub-region, kebele 10 house number 1364 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I am married and have two children, namely Robel Haddis and Alemtsehay Haddis. I used to be self-employed until about three years ago, then I sold my business, ans I am now living of the proceeds.

I am writing this affidavit in support of my son's asylum application in the United States of America. 

My family faced persecution in Ethiopia on the basis of my husband and children’s Eritrean Ethnicity. Our troubles began after war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998. A few months after the beginning of the war, the Ethiopian government deported my husband Haddis Weldegebreal to Eritrea. The day they arrested him was Wednesday in the month of December 1998. On that day, two armed Government Security Officers knocked on our door around 5 o’clock in the morning. My daughter Alemtsehay Haddis opened the door.  The officers asked her where Haddis was. They told us that they were sent to take him with them. They told us to prepare the luggage that he will carry with him. 

We prepared his luggage. We put in his luggage some dry food and medicine that was prescribed to him. When we were finished preparing those items, they took him to the Woreda 13 district office. 

During the two following days, we took him some food and medicine again to the Woreda 13 district office where Eritreans were gathered for deportation. Early on Friday of the same week, the Ethiopian Government’s agents deported my husband to Eritrea. I found out that he was deported because on that same day, I went to the Woreda 13 to give him food and medicine as I did from the day he was arrested. When we arrived at the compound, the officers told us that he and the other Eritrean prisoners have already been deported to Eritrea. The only reason the Ethiopian Government deported my husband is because of his Eritrean Ethnicity. My husband has never been involved or interested in politics, and he always considered himself Ethiopian until the day they deported him.

My son Robel was also persecuted by the Ethiopian government because of his Eritrean Ethnicity. On January 11, 1999, he was dismissed from his job at the Ethiopian Security, Immigration and Refugee Affairs Authority; the government agency where he had been working for about a year and a half. My son had a perfect working record in that agency, and was known for his serious and hard work. Despite his outstanding record, his employer gave him a dismissal letter stating that because of Security reasons, his presence in the department is no longer necessary. It was clear to me that the only reason they were dismissing him was because of the anti-Eritrean measures the government was taking following the war with Eritrea.. My misery doubled because my son now was also being targeted in addition to my husband. After Robel was fired from work, he used to spend most of his time reading and working privately in programming and networking. I mention here that my son Robel has always had a very special talent for computers. 

I mention here also that my son was always gifted academically, and that he finished high school at the early age of 15 because he understood topics that were beyond his age . (The average student finishes high school at the age of 18 in Ethiopia). I mention also that he graduated from high school with the highest G.P.A in his class of 4.0. His school awarded him his high school degree with very great distinction.

At the age of 16, my son was exposed to computer technology through a course he took at the University following his graduation. From that time, he became obsessed with computers, and with the idea of doing original projects with computers. I bought him a computer to use at home. 

For his University studies, my son was enrolled in the Electrical Engineering Department, and he was also doing a minor in Computer Engineering. He chose those subjects because they exposed him to more contact with computer technology. During those difficult years, my son continued to have an excellent academic record despite the trauma he suffered because of his father’s removal from Ethiopia, and his loss of the ability to have face-to- face contact with his father. He also suffered because he needed to work, in addition to studying, due to the decrease in our finances following my husband’s deportation. He did several jobs during his University Education period; all of them related to the computer field, such as being a teacher of Windows 2000 Server and other computer programming subjects. In the middle of his University Education period, he landed a full-time job with Ethiopian Airlines.

Robel told me that the reason they hired him is that, while he was at the University, prior to  getting the job, he was working on a project as part of one of his courses, and the project was  to create a computer program that allows airplanes to complete their itinerary with minimum fuel costs. Robel’s professor, who admired my son’s original idea for that project was a good friend of the friend of one of the vice-residents of Ethiopian Airlines. When he told him about my son’s project, the vice-president offered my son a position inside Ethiopian Airlines. My son was very happy to accept, especially that his work in the beginning few months was totally focused on the same project he was completing in the University.

My son Robel, and the friends he made in the airline who visited us in our house, told me that his project, after it was completed, allowed Ethiopian Airlines to save a total of two million U.S. Dollars per year in fuel costs. Because of this accomplishment in Ethiopian Airlines, my son had a very special position inside the company, and was considered more important than the normal employee. The company continued to constantly need his help to  maintain and update the program he created. They also allowed him to continue going to school even during working hours as part of the special arrangement they made for him.
I want to say here that during my son’s University Education, there were student riots that happened. Thy happened in April 2001. About eight months after he became an employee of Ethiopian Airlines. On April 18, 2001, my son did not return from the University. On that day he had gone to class only because the Ministry of Education had issued an ultimatum warning students who were boycotting classes to resume immediately or be dismissed from the University. When he did not return, I began to fear that something happened to him, especially that the media was talking everywhere about the riots in the University and how violent they were. The media mentioned that arrested students were taken to Sendafa. Sendafa is a big police training college, and it has a lot of space. This is why they chose it to put the students there. I did not manage to sleep the first night wondering what happened to my son, but the next morning, I went to Sendafa; there were many other parents there looking for their children. I asked about Robel. The government agents there were very rude, and they were using insulting words to address the gathered parents. An officer finally called Robel’s name with a speaker, and I finally saw him. I saw, to my horror, that both his knees were bleeding and bandaged. I asked him what happened, and he told me that they made him, and others, kneel, and walk over sharp stones until their legs were wounded and open. He told me also that the security arrested all the students who had taken refuge from the riots inside St. Mary’s church which is near the University, including those students who were not involved in rioting. 

My son spent 10 days inside the Sendafa. He told me that the government agents made him, and the other arrested students, walk again on sharp stones a second time during the ten days detention. He also told me that they were beating him and the others while he was kneeling on the ground, and that they. made them do difficult and painful physical exercises  designed to make them suffer, such as forcing them to jump up and down for long hours without stopping. 

On the day that my son Robel returned, his knees were still bloody from walking on the sharp stones. I was scared that the wound will create more problems for him, so I took him to local clinic where they gave him a cream, antibiotics and  new larger bandages for his knees.
A few days following his return home, my son returned to his job in Ethiopian Airlines. It was known in those days that many people were arrested in the confusion of the riots, and that a lot of innocent people were among the arrested. 

More than a year after my son returned to work from that arrest in the University, he told me that he was having problems at work. When I asked him what had happened, he told me that  some people in the company had found an error in another computer Program he designed. At that time, my son was working on the General Accounting Software System of Ethiopian Airlines. He had designed a computer program that calculated some company costs based on foreign-currency exchange rate. He told me that they found something defective in that program that did not calculate the exchange rates accurately, because it could not foresee the fluctuations in exchange rate. As a result of this flaw, certain employees in the company claimed not to be able to  make useful calculations of some of its costs.

Robel also told me that they found that some virus had infected some of the files in the program, and that the same employees were blaming my son, and claiming that he deliberately set up the program to be defective in order to cause the company harm. I was shocked to hear that they were accusing my son of wanting to hurt the company. I already knew from Robel that there were many employees who were jealous of the special status he enjoyed inside Ethiopian Airlines as a person who came up with original new ideas, but I never thought a day would come where they would accuse my son of deliberately wanting to harm the company he loved.

My son also told me that some of his colleagues were letting him know that they believe he made those defects in order to harm Ethiopian government interests, and that his Eritrean ethnicity was the reason he was trying to harm the Ethiopian government. This was a ridiculous accusation. My son was always dedicated to his work, and he considered himself an Ethiopian above everything else. Even when they deported his father, my son always believed that it was a mistake and that any day they will correct it and bring his father back to Ethiopia.
To make things worse, my son was also telling me that they were now taking him away from the important projects he loved. He told me he still felt that the vice-president who hired him was protecting him from harm in the company, but he knew that at some point, those who hated him might make his protector distance himself from him if they pressure him too much. 

To our great misfortune, another incident happened which harmed my son and his safety in Ethiopia. On July 28, 2003, my son did not return home after he left with his friends. They had all gone out to celebrate his recent graduation from the University. I worried very much and searched for him in every Kebele, Woreda and Police Station; finally, I found him in Woreda 17 Police Station. 

When I met him, he told me that he was in Coffee Shop with his friends, Solomon Gebremedhin and Mulugeta Mehari; both of them are of Eritrean Ethnicity. He also told me  that there was a television in the coffee house and that, at some point, the news on the television said that the disputed area of Bademe was awarded to Eritrea by u United Nations decision. He told me that, at that point, his friends cheered and clapped. He let me know that  a few minutes later, Security Officers came to the Coffee Shop; arrested him as well as his two friends, even though he himself had done nothing when he saw the news on television.
My son spent about seventeen days in that detention facility. Finally, he was released through the efforts of my brother Amaha Gebremariam. Amaha contacted a security official who was a personal friend of his and made him agree to release my son Robel on bail until the investigation was complete. After few weeks the security official, who helped Amha  bail Robel out, warned us that the case of Robel’s two other arrested friends was getting worse, and that it will back fire on Robel too. I told this to Robel

I mention here that when Robel was released, it was August 14, 2003, he looked terrible, he had lots of bruises on his back and some on his face. He had lost a lot of weight. I was terrified to see his condition. He told me that they tortured him by beating him with sticks , and that they kicked and punched him also.
He also told me that they accused him first of having cheered with his friends when the news on television showed Eritrea’s victory. When he denied that he had done so, they refused to believe him and beat him even more. He also told me that in the following day, they also accused him of sabotaging the computer system inside Ethiopian Airlines, and that his friends had already told them about him, and that it was pointless for him to hide the truth. He told me that their methods were very cruel and that they might have made his friends give false confessions about him to escape more pain. I took him to Fluha Physiotherapy Center for treatment of his bruises. He kept going back and forth to the center to get physical treatment. They also gave him anti-pain pills and an ointment.

About four days after his release, my son returned to work with Ethiopian Airlines. He told  me that it was clear the employees who hated him, as well as the Security People in the Airline wanted him to be fired, and they treated him in an insulting manner. He told me that  more than one person at work came to him at his desk and said “you got what you deserved you jerky Eritrean”. He also told me that his friends at work told him that the security people wanted him out of the company as fast as possible, and that the only reason he was not fired yet is because of the intervention of his direct boss Moges Delelegn, as well as the vice-president who had hired him. His boss told him that he had convinced the security people that Robel should be kept at work at least long enough to repair the defective computer program he was accused of creating, and that he believed Robel was the only person who could fix that defective system. His boss told him that the Security was impatient but accepted to wait at least until he repaired the defect.

During that same period, government security people continued to harass Robel. They used to call us, even in the middle of the night and ask me when I happened to pick up the phone where Robel was. They used insulting language like “you filthy Eritreans” and “ your son will finally go to the jail where he belongs”.

Finally, one day in October 2003, Robel told me that he talked with his boss and told him that the situation had become very risky and unsafe, and that he was afraid they will detain and torture him a second time. His boss told him he will help by  writing him a vacation letter to the American Embassy, asking for a visa to allow Robel to attend a training seminar with CISCO ( A computer networking company). At the same time, he told me that one of his old friends from the days when he used to work for the Ethiopian Immigration Authority was going to get him an exit visa.

Robel finally escaped on October 26, 2003. On that day, I went with him to the airport in a cab. I was very scared that something dangerous can happen to my son, or that the government in the airport will catch him. I prayed the whole time for his safety. Finally we said goodbye in the airport. I stayed in the waiting area until I saw that his plane had departed for America, and that he had not been returned or caught. I was very sad that I might never see my son again, abut I was also grateful to God that he managed to escape from Ethiopia where  his life was in danger.

A few weeks after he left for the United States, security agents came and asked me where Robel was, I did not give them an answer; they searched my residence and took away Robel’s computer, diskettes and documents. They told me that there I will have problems if I know something and hide it from them. They still call by phone from time to time to ask if he is there.

Please know also that my brother Amha, who bailed Robel out of his last imprisonment, was arrested and tortured by the Ethiopian Security. They accused him of failing to guarantee my son’s staying in Ethiopia. He stayed in their hands a full week, and they used on him the same kind of torture they used on my son Robel, like sticks and kicking with boots. When he was released, and I saw him, my heart was broken that out family had to go through all this suffering only because of the ethnicity of my son and husband. I know also that Robel’s two Eritrean friends who get arrested with him in the coffee shop are still in jail until now. I know they are in jail because I talk to the sister of Solomon Gebremedhin who is one of those two friends. 

I thank you for your kind consideration of the problems that my son Robel faced in Ethiopia, and ask to you to kindly allow him to stay in the United States away; from the Ethiopian Government which wants to harm and destroy him; only because he happens to have Eritrean Blood.

I.......................swear and confirm, on penalty of perjury, that all the information I am supplying in this letter are correct and accurate to the best of my knowledge and my recollection.

They even charged Robel transmitting intelligence information to the oromo liberation front spy named Alemu Jote, after Mulugeta mehari and Solomon Gebremedhin were charged conspiring with the OLF and Eritrea government. That is why the security agents came home to arrest Robel again for conspiring and transmitting intelligence information to the Oromo liberation front which made his head office in Asmara, Eritrea. I was so happy that he left the country so that he won’t face the same imprisonment as his friends. But my brother Amha suffered the consequence. He suffered a week of imprisonment in the police station when he was summoned to the police station. I was worried at first when he was arrested but now I am very happy and proud of my brother for the sacrifice he made. They would have imprisoned and  tortured Robel like his other friends. Security agents captured and arrested Robel’s friend Alemu jote accusing him instigating violence in Addis Ababa university and sabotage the Airline computer flaw. They linked Alemu jotes accusation with Robel of conspiring and transmitting intelligence information to the OLF. The two friends of Robel were thrown into jail after they were sentenced conspiring with the OLF and Eritrean government. If Robel is forced to return back home, he will face the same persecution as his friends are suffering.

 I swear and affirm with my signature that the affidavit I have given above is true to the best of my knowledge and recollection. Sincerely, 
Roman Gebremariam

Finally he managed to go to school for his post graduate studies at Addis Ababa university in the department of Electrical Engineering. I am proud of Robel’s diligence and courage to survive during those difficult years . He managed to be hired for Ethioian airlines in the computer department while he was in school. But He faced a problem at a student riot while he was studying at Addis Ababa university. It was April 18, 2001 after he left for school following an ultimatum of media announcement to resume class, he never returned back home. I feared something worst has happened to him. I watched the riot in a media that students were arrested and taken to Sendfa.  I went to sendafa to check whether he was also arrested with the rest of the students taken to the sendafa police jail. I and my brother Amha went together. We found him in sendafa detained with the rest of the students. We were harassed when we tried to visit him. They suffered 10 days of coercive physical exercise while in detention. I and Amha went to the Sendafa Police training college to bring him back home after they were released.

He had already managed to be hired by the Ethiopian Airlines in the computer department while he was in school. Hence he resumed his work after he have been released. He used to tell me that he had a tension around where he was working in Ethiopian Airlines. Some jealous co-workers and security agents were intimidating him of his ethnicity, giving reasons that he was terminated from his former job and accusing him that he deliberately made a flaw in the computer system he developed. But on the night of July 28, 2003 he never come home after he left with his friends. I was worried and searched him in every kebele, wereda and police station. Finally I was told that he was arrested in Wereda 17 police station. When I visited him he told me that they were taken from a coffee shop with his friends Solomon Gebremedhin and Mulugeta Mehari. He told me that his friends made an emotional reaction to a news broadcast on a television. He was arrested by party security agents at wereda 17 police station and subjected to mistreatment and torture. He was wrongfully accused of being Eritrean government agent and suffered imprisonment and torture.

I and my bother Amha visited him from time to time when he was languishing in security agent custody in the prison. I tried my best to contact people and also asked my brother Amha to find any means to get him released. He was released due to the effort of my brother Amaha Gebremariam. Amha contacted a security official who was a friend him.  The security official bargained at least to release Robel on bail until the investigation is over. We were glad and Amha become his bail bond and bail him out. 

After few weeks the security official, who helped Amha  bail Robel out, warned us that the case of those friends of Robel was getting worse and will back fire on Robel too. I told this to Robel . 

Since he couldn't live peacefully even after he was released, my son was forced to flee from the country. After few weeks he went to US, security agents searched my residence and took away robel’s computer, diskettes and documents. They even charged Robel transmitting intelligence information to the oromo liberation front spy named Alemu Jote, after Mulugeta mehari and Solomon Gebremedhin were charged conspiring with the OLF and Eritrea government. That is why the security agents came home to arrest Robel again for conspiring and transmitting intelligence information to the Oromo liberation front which made his head office in Asmara, Eritrea. I was so happy that he left the country so that he won’t face the same imprisonment as his friends. But my brother Amha suffered the consequence. He suffered a week of imprisonment in the police station when he was summoned to the police station. I was worried at first when he was arrested but now I am very happy and proud of my brother for the sacrifice he made. They would have imprisoned and  tortured Robel like his other friends. Security agents captured and arrested Robel’s friend Alemu jote accusing him instigating violence in Addis Ababa university and sabotage the Airline computer flaw. They linked Alemu jotes accusation with Robel of conspiring and transmitting intelligence information to the OLF. The two friends of Robel were thrown into jail after they were sentenced conspiring with the OLF and Eritrean government. If Robel is forced to return back home, he will face the same persecution as his friends are suffering.

 I swear and affirm with my signature that the affidavit I have given above is true to the best of my knowledge and recollection. Sincerely, 

Roman Gebremariam

[Signature]

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I, Habtamu Weldeab certify that I am fluent in both the Amharic and English languages and that I am competent to translate this document. I have translated the attached document completely and accurately from Amharic to English to the best of my abilities on May 12, 2005

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