A staff in Afar region’s Samara University, Rashid Saalih has been missing for the last three months, his son claimed.
Speaking to the Voice of America’s Amharic service, Jamal Rashid said that his father vanished on his return from Djibouti where he went to receive medical treatment. He and other members of the family have not heard from him since December, and his whereabouts are unknown to this day. Jamal told VOA that the family lodged a complaint to the local administration and was told that they had no knowledge of his whereabouts. “He is a good, just person, law-abiding citizen and well-liked by everybody. We have no idea about the cause of his disappearance,” he said. The son said Rashid in the past established a political party, which he later disbanded after pressure from the previous administration of the region. Other than that, he has not participated in any political activity recently, he said.
A person who gave the tip-off to the VOA, a Brussels resident Afar community member and journalist, Akadir Ibrahim, said that he is convinced of the government’s involvement in Rashid’s disappearance, alleging local police negligence in investigating the case, for someone as important as a teacher at Samara University. “He was involved in 2005 election by establishing his own party, that he used to chair, but his license was revoked by the region. Though recently, he was not active in the politics, I have every reason to think that the government arrested and held him in incommunicado. Anyone who does not support the government is seen as an opposition member in the region. I have talked to lots of people. Even the government media was not willing to report on the case,” he said.
VOA’s journalist Konjit Taye said that her repeated effort to get reaction from the Afar region’s communication bureau head, Awol Wottica has not been successful.