United States punishes former intelligence chief

The United States imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Getachew Assefa, a former Ethiopian intelligence official on the run.

The sanctions follow the US House of Representatives (HR) Bill 128 passed by the US Congress against Mr. Getachew's violation of human rights.

Mike Coffman, of the House of Representatives, sponsored the HR 128 bill and finally passed it through Congress.

Mr. Getachew is accused of orchestrating the assassination attempt of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa at the rally to support the reformist leader. Among the charges against him are also crimes against humanity committed against thousands of prisoners across the country, including authorizing gang-rape of men and women. women, torture and murder with the help of different techniques in secret prisons.

The US federal prosecutor recently reported that many secret prisons used to torture detainees have been discovered in Ethiopia, including seven in Addis Ababa.

A dozen former intelligence officers were recently arrested. Mr. Getachew, whose face was unknown to the public, allegedly hid in the Tigray area.

Reports show that billions of dollars have been stolen from Ethiopia and hidden abroad in recent decades, mostly by officials who run very large political party companies and their affiliates, including holders of foreign passports.

More than $ 2 billion was allegedly stolen from the Metal Engineering Corporation, owned by the military.

Ethiopia lost $ 11.7 billion in illegal capital flight between 2000 and 2009, according to the Global Financial Integrity report released in 2011.

According to the study, it is more worrying that the losses of Ethiopia due to illicit capital flows are increasing. In 2009, illicit cash outflows in the economy totaled $ 3.26 billion, double the amount of each of the previous two years and more than $ 2 billion in annual export earnings at that time.

While Ethiopia was experiencing a political crisis and a period of instability in recent years, it was estimated that the amount of money that had left the country was well above that of 2009.