By Habtamu Kebede
The brutal and heinous sexual assault and murder of seven-year-old Heaven Awote has sparked widespread outrage among the Ethiopian public. Heaven was attacked and killed by her landlord and neighbor, who was also a father of three children. This tragic and disturbing story has sent shockwaves throughout the Ethiopian community, from Bahir Dar to the Ethiopian diaspora in Europe, North America and around the world.
This brutal murder of Heaven has brought to light the issue of gender-based violence, which has been ignored indefinitely. Celebrities and social media personalities have taken proactive steps to raise awareness about this issue. Some musicians have even canceled their scheduled concerts in order to send a strong message and draw attention to gender-based violence.
The Ethiopian government officials, known for their corrupt and self-centered policies, are attempting to manipulate public opinion and improve their image in light of the recent unfortunate news. The Mayor of Addis Ababa has made a public appearance on national television, pretending to weep with the victim’s mother. She has also promised to provide a safe place for the mother to live and assist her in finding employment in Addis Ababa. However, as all Ethiopians are well aware, the current Ethiopian government has a history of forcefully demolishing homes and displacing tens of thousands of people in the vicinity of the city alone. In fact, it is the same crooked government officials who are responsible for these crimes, which not only displace families but also put women and young girls at risk of sexual predators. Their actions are not only disingenuous, but also disgusting and shameful.
It is well-documented that the Ethiopian authorities have a history of neglecting the safety of women and girls from sexual assault. This blatant disregard for the safety of women and girls is evident from the Prime Minister’s office to the lowest levels of the bureaucracy. As many people remember, it has been documented that the Prime Minister of Ethiopia once stated that “our soldiers, who are human beings, might have raped Tigrian women, but our soldiers were subjected to brutal violence, including the use of swords and combat knives.” This statement normalizes sexual assault and reinforces harmful gender stereotypes.
The brutal assault on seven-year-old Heaven took place several months ago, and the perpetrator has since been tried, convicted, and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. However, what has sparked further outrage is the fact that he is now appealing his sentence. Adding to the controversy, the mother of his three children and other family members have come forward to proclaim his innocence and have even resorted to intimidating the victim’s mother and attempting to bribe individuals involved in the case.
Gender-based violence is a widespread problem in various regions of Ethiopia. Unfortunately, many victims do not feel comfortable reporting these incidents due to the absence of effective prevention and protection measures. Moreover, the societal stigma surrounding sexual assault often forces victims to suffer in silence. This was particularly evident during the Tigray conflict, where a significant number of women and girls from Tigray and Amhara states were targeted and sexual violence was used as a weapon. Furthermore, there have been ongoing reports of gender-based violence against Amhara women in the Oromia region.
Coincidentally, the news of the tragic incident of the brutal sexual assault and murder of seven-year-old Heaven has circulated across the country when the popular Ashenda celebration in the northern parts of Ethiopia, specifically in Tigray and Amhara is being celebrated. During Ashenda, women and girls come together to sing and dance about their cultural heritage. It is likely that some of the women who celebrate Ashenda might be among those who have experienced sexual violence and are often suffering in silence as they have no support system to listen to their agony, let alone offer them meaningful support.
Furthermore, in Ethiopian society, men are not only responsible for providing for their families, but they also hold the dominant role as the head of the household. On the other hand, women are often confined to traditional gender roles, such as cooking, caring for children, and satisfying their husbands. This societal expectation can result in the suppression of women’s true emotions and ambitions.
The horrific crime committed against Heaven Awote is not only abhorrent and inhumane, but also satanic. It has rightfully sparked widespread public outrage and brought attention to the prevalent issue of sexual assault and gender-based violence. However, the unfortunate incident that occurred to young Heaven is not an isolated case; there are hundreds of thousands of sexual assault victims throughout the country who deserve justice and equal attention. It is long overdue for everyone to take action in preventing and stopping gender-based violence in Ethiopia.
This indeed is a national tragedy.
However, the political motive behind the selection of this one-year-old story from the hundreds of thousands of atrocities committed by TPLF and Prosperity Party forces is suspect, to say the very least. This very week, Abiy Ahmed’s forces have been to mutilate the dead bodies of the traditional church school that they massacred. The genitals of the dead youth have been found mutilated.
With respect to the murder case in question, the case had been seen in court and the accused convicted to 25 years in prison. Abiy Ahmed is responsible for the murder of over a million Ethiopians since he assumed power. He has yet to see his day in court. Where is the outrage for the thousands of Amhara farmers in Oromia that were maimed, chopped off with machetes, burned in their homes or massacred and buried in mass graves? Where is the uproar for the tens of thousands of Tigrayan women raped by TPLF members before, during and after the TPLF-PP war? The timing of this Prosperity Party orchestrated and globally coordinated propaganda smells foul.
The government has been known to use such attention-grabbing agenda to surreptitiously carry out major treasonous projects undetected. Some have suggested the removal of the Sebastopol monument to Emperor Tewodros as one such project completed during this current uproar.
Any story has two sides. How come we do not hear the other side of the story?
The other side of the story….
Besides the hospital lab results, there are discrepancies from missing testimonials of eyewitnesses.
Here is what the wife of the accused had to say:
የፍርደኛውን ባለቤት ደግሞ እንስማት (Eyoha Media excerpt on Z.B.)
“…ፌቨን የሞተችው ግቢ ውስጥ ባለ እንጨት ዥውዥዌ ስትጫወት ወድቃ ነው። (እህቷ መስክራለች) …አሸዋ አፏ ላይ ተደረገ የተባለው የአቡነ በትረማርያም እምነት ነው።… በሰዓቱ ባለቤቴ ቤት ውስጥ ፊልም እያየ ነበር። ፖሊስ የሄቨን እህት እና ጓደኞች ህፃናትን የምስክርነት መረጃ አጥፍቶብናል። …መርማሪ ፖሊሱ ህፃን ሄቨን ዥውዥዌ ስትጫወት ወድቃ መሞቷን ነግሮኝ ባለቤቴም አከራይና በጊዜው በቦታው ስለነበረ ብቻ መታሰሩንና ቶሎ እንደሚለቀቅም ነግሮኝ ነበር።
“… Feven died when she fell while playing on a wooden swing in the yard. (her sister testified). The so-called sand found in her mouth is religious soil from Abune Batrimariam monastery. At the time, my husband was watching a movie at home. The police destroyed the testimony of Haven’s sister and friend’s children. … The investigating police called to tell me that baby Heaven had fallen to her death while playing on a swing and told me that my husband, who was arrested just because he was the landlord and because he was present at the time, would be released soon.
“…ሕፃን ሄቨን በማንም አልተደፈረችም። ጫማዋም እኛ ቤት አልተገኘም። ወሸት ነው። …ባለቤቴ ጋር ከተጋባን 10 ዓመት አልፎናል። አንድም ክስ ኖሮበት አያውቅም። ሁሉም ውንጀላ ሀሰት ነው። ባለቤቴ ንፁህ ነው። …ባለቤቴ የተፈረደበት በተፅዕኖ ነው። …በምላጭ ተተልትላለች የተባለው ውሸት ነው። አሜን ሀኪም ቤት ነው የሴራው ጠንሳሽ። ሀኪም ቤቱ የፎረንሲክ ምርመራ ክፍል የላቸውም።
“…Baby Heaven was never raped by anyone. Her shoes were never found in our house. It’s a lie. …My husband and I have been married for 10 years. He has never been accused of any criminal conduct before. All the allegations are false. My husband is innocent. …My husband was convicted under duress.The claim that she was cut up with a razor is a lie. Amen Hospital is the mastermind of the conspiracy.
“…የሕፃን ሄቨን እናት ለልጇ ፍትሕ እንደምትጠይቀው ሁሉ እኔም ለባለቤቴ ፍትሕ ጠይቃለሁ። …ይግባኝ ጠይቀን ይግባኛችን ተቀባይነት አግኝቶ በሂደት ላይ ነን። የ10 ዓመት ባለቤቴ በፍፁም እንደዚህ አያደርግም። ደግሜ ደጋግሜ የምናገረው ሕፃን ሄቨን ተደፍራ አልሞተችም። የ7 ዓመት ሕፃን ልጅ አባት የ7 ዓመት ሕፃን አይደፍርም። …ባለቤቴ በግልፅ ተጣርቶ ድርጊቱን ፈፅሞ ከሆነ ከዚህ በላይ ቢፈረድበት እንደሚባለውም ቢሰቀልም አይከፋኝም። እውነታው ግን ፍርዱ ትክክል አይደለም።
“…Just like the mother of baby Heaven is asking for justice for her son, I am asking for justice for my husband. …We appealed and our appeal was accepted and we in due process. My husband of 10 years would never do this. I repeat again and again, that baby Heaven did not die from rape. The father of a 7-year-old child would not do this to another 7-year old . I don’t mind if my husband is hanged if deservingly convicted. However, the truth is that the sentencing was not just.
“…አሜን የአጥንት ስፔሻሊቲ ነው ስህተት የሠራው። የሄቨን እናት አይደለችም የተሳሳተችው። ፍርድ የተሰጠው በአሜን ሀኪም ቤት ምክንያት ነው። የፈለገ ሕይወት ሆስፒታል እና የአሜን ሀኪም ቤት የምርመራ ውጤት አንድ ላይ በድጋሚ ታይቶ ባቀረብነው ይግባኝ መሰረት ፍትሕ ይሰጠን።
“…Amen Orthopedic Specialty made a mistake. It was not Heaven’s mother who made the mistake. The judgment was given because of Amen. The results of the examination of the Felege Hiwot Hospital and that of Amen Orthopedic Specialty have been co-presented and we should receive judgment on our appeal based a joint review of these two medial documents.
The outrage of the people is completely justified, because of the inhuman nature of the crime but mostly because of the treatment that this poor, powerless, single mother faced in the hands of the police and the justice system in general. It showcases the helplessness a woman, a single mother, with no economic power and influence, “cursed” in these ugly times of tribal warfare with a child from a Tigrean man. A “Junta bastard” as I have heard a few people call Heaven.
These attitudes are a direct result of the tribal divisions that run through the country. These last 3 years of civil war have seen hundreds of women been rapped by multiple people, treated as sexual slaves, mutilated and disgraced by barbaric soldiers having their babies torn out of their bellies while alive, been rendered infertile by soldiers that inserted heated metal objects in their vaginas and other medieval, monstrous, dehumanizing tortures. These crimes were committed by all sides. By Eritrean soldiers (that the government invited to help) against Tigrean women. By Federal soldiers against the Tigreans and Amharas , by TPLF soldiers against Amhara women, by OLF against Amhara and by Amhara militias against Tigrean and Oromo women.
I didn’t see much outcry or condemnation then, by everyday people of all (political) colors. I didn’t see the same level of media coverage and rage when they were clearly war crimes and crimes against humanity. Instead many people were screaming that it was western propaganda and fake news to hurt the noble cause of exterminating each other!
Sadly such actions were silenced and covered. Was there any real investigation, prosecutions and punishments ? (I think only 3-4 federal soldiers were accused but I didn’t hear any punishment of them).
It seems that when these monstrosities happen to the “enemy” silence and cover up, protection and dismissal was the norm. Only in barbaric, backwards cultures can sick men get away with such heinous crimes, where women are seen not as human beings, as equals, not revered as givers of life and the backbone of a healthy society but as sexual objects devoid of any human rights, where the rapped woman is shamed and in some cases forced to marry her rapist so that her family can “save face”. Of course the fish smells from the head, so when people of authority use dehumanizing language, starting from the boy king and his generals that used words such as “cancer”,” hyenas and snakes”or “weed that should be uprooted from the (their) land” etc. normal everyday people were silent or even offered justification to these criminals on the basis of “they did this to us, so we are justified to do that to them” when in reality they were talking about their brothers and sisters. Sadly this zero sum game where the winner gets all and the looser losses everything is deeply embedded in the Ethiopian psychic.
Let’s just hope that the horrible death of this child will be the beginning of some change in this medieval mentality where dialogue and mutual compromising is seen as weakness. Let’s pray that more women will find the courage to come forward and share their horror stories and get justice. Let’s pray that the kind hearted police men and women will start changing their attitude towards the victims. That corruption and.bribery will subside and that judiciary system will start fulfilling it’s obligations of protecting the WEAK from the POWERFULL and not vice versa as is the current situation.
RIP young heaven, may your mother find the courage and the support to become an inspiration for other women and get much deserved justice. More than money and water, JUSTICE & ACCOUNTABILITY is what is lacking from the Ethiopian reality…