This is the second installment of the article entitled ‘Twenty eight years holed up in Italian Embassy.’

The guests have overstayed their welcome

The book, “I noti ospiti” (‘Known guests’) sheds light on the untold story of the two former Derg officials, Berhanu Bayeh and Addis Tedla who took up residence in the Italian embassy, located in the district of Bella, Kebena hilltop. The “guests” live in a dilapidated bungalow, situated on the edge of the compound, with bedrooms, living room, bathroom, and kitchen. They each have their own bedroom, but they share the same bathroom and kitchen. In addition to the provision in the form of shelter, they have staffers that help assist in the day to day functions of their life. They could walk three times per day in limited space between their bungalow and the premise’s garden, watched by Ethiopian guards who monitor the compound. It was said that they have access to a few newspapers, television. In the initial period, they sometimes joined in the game of tennis.

Food is offered by the Italian mission, though once an agreement was reached between the embassy and their families so that they could provide their own food. Apparently, most of the family members have settled in Canada and the United States and come only two or three times a year.

The “guests” presence there have initiated behind-the-scenes moves over the years by the Italian and Ethiopian governments. Ethiopia has been asking the Italian government to extradite the officials, such as one strong statement published by the Ethiopian Ministry of foreign affairs on June 2004, saying that giving sanctuary to individuals being prosecuted for genocide and war crimes under the cover of privileges of diplomatic immunity was by no means acceptable. Italy reiterated in public that they would be allowed to remain at the embassy for as long as they want, though it was well- known that they were “nuisances” for the Italian officials who wished they had left a long time ago. Mostly, the Italians have tended to remain discreet about the issue, making it appear low-key and avoiding any kind of public and media clamour.

Intrusion of the journalist

As we come to learn from the book, the embassy officials were once unpleasantly surprised by the intrusion of a journalist and worried that the publication might create inconvenience in their relations with the Ethiopian government. That was in 2004, when a British journalist Jonathan Clayton sneaked into the Italian embassy with the pretext of meeting an embassy staff, and published a few days later a story in the Times, entitled “Embassy guest drops in and stays for 13 years.”

In the article, the journalist says he met one of “the guests” by accident outside the bungalow as he strolled past, looking for the embassy’s exit. “Recognising the former President, who was wearing a smart suit with a pink rose in the lapel, I quickly shook hands and said that it had been a very long time since we last spoke.”

Clayton conceded that they were visibly suffering and pointed out their sense of exclusion, saying they were gradually becoming the detritus of history. “Tennis is no longer permitted. Exercise can take place, but only with the neatly uniformed carabinieri, who call at dusk when the chances of Ethiopians working at the embassy seeing the three are minimised,” he wrote.

“I am so bored here, but how can I leave? Please tell people about me. I am not allowed a phone, nor e-mail you see,” Tesfaye Gebrekidan was reported as saying as the security man started shouting into his walkie-talkie.

“You cannot talk to guesti,” the journalist was told by the guard as he walked him off the premises.

Clayton also managed to get a few lines from then the new Italian ambassador who told him, “If they are not happy to stay here, they are free to go anytime”.

“The article was a flop. Rome and Addis Ababa have reached an accord, in the impossibility to resolve the matter, both to respect the status quo and avoid clamours,” the citation from the book reads. Contrary to the previous fear, the article did not cause any offense on the part of the Ethiopian government and did not have any negative consequence between the relations of Ethiopia and Italy.

Confinement, prospects for the future

Senior Derg officials, including Berhanu Bayeh and Addis Tedla were convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death in 2009. While the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment two years later for those who served prison, the two officials sheltered at the embassy were not included in the list. Strange as it may seem, their diplomatic immunity put them in an unfavourable position, as their stay at the embassy is not considered as a form of incarceration by the Ethiopian government.

Not everybody agrees with that. The Italian ambassador to Ethiopia, from 2010 to 2017, Renzo Mario Rosso in an interview with the Reporter on July 30, 2016 argued. “Actually, they have many limitations, limited to possibilities to walk in the compound, only during their limited period access. ….. They have very limited access to the families. That is why I said it is not different from imprisonment.’

For the two officials themselves, the very question of their situation being deemed as incarceration or not might only come as a bad joke. With no escape and the growing despair of the passing years, they are even more prisoners than someone actually serving a sentence in jail. As the book points out, Berhanu Bayeh has again to go through his days, ​​burdened by the suspicion of having caused the death of Tesfaye. 

From the facts of this book and other many accounts, what we have come to learn is the Ethiopian political players, who often are faced with other pressing issues, have not been paying much attention to the plight of these individuals. As a matter of fact, the issue has become an old hat and the “victims” have become too inconsequential. The improvement of the political climate in the country a year ago and the release of other prisoners might have created a limited ground for optimism. But getting the two “guests” out of the embassy has become an elusive undertaking.

For now, with plenty of time in their hands, they would continue to reflect and ponder on their past, probably also question the wisdom of seeking hospitality at the foreign embassy. The authors wrote that that the book was written in order to contribute finding a solution to this long story. Let hope that it does.

Image: Addis Admass

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. Please cite Ethiopia Observer prominently and link clearly to the original article if you republish. If you have any queries, please contact us at ethiopiaobserver@protonmail.com. Check individual images for licensing details.