Professor Meareg Amare Abrha

Our father, Professor Meareg Amare Abrha, 60, father of 4 children, and a full Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Bahir Dar University, was shot to death in his home at midday on November 3rd, 2021 in Bahir Dar.

Professor Meareg Amare Abrha was born on March 21, 1961 as the second child of his parents Amare Abrha and Zewditu Gebrewahid in Adi-Tsehafiti, Leto village, 10km outside the city of Axum. He attended his primary in Abreha Atsbeha Elementary School and secondary education at Axum Secondary School in Axum. After completion of his secondary education in September 1981, he joined the Science Teachers Training Program (STTP) and received a Diploma in Chemistry, at the then Haramaya College of Agriculture in 1982. After his diploma, our beloved, respected intellectual father served as a teacher at the secondary school in Dabat town, Wegera district of Gondar province. In 1983, he was arrested by the Derg military government and remained in Gondar Baeta Prison until 7th of January, 1985. During that time, he lost five of his prison friends named Tadesse, Kiros, Godefay, Birhane, and Kidane-Mariam, and he survived an extreme and brutal shoe nails torture that was visible on his feet with white stripe marks.  

He was later released from prison surviving from death and was assigned as a teacher at the Tikl-Dingay (1985-1988), and Dangla (1989) schools. He also served at Tana Haik Secondary School (1990), raising himself as a longtime teacher, continuing his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in the summer education program of Addis Ababa University “Arat Kilo” Campus, where he graduated in 1990. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, for three years he was Vice President for the Amhara Regional State Teachers’ Association and served as a high-level expert in the educational bureau of the region. Later, in 2004 he received his M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry and Ph.D. in 2013 in Physical Chemistry. After receiving his M.Sc. degree, on Sunday, August 7 ,2005 with a 1565 ETB monthly salary, he started his new teaching and research role at a tertiary level at Bahir Dar University.

Due to his passion for knowledge and development, from the time he joined Bahir Dar University he renewed his stay for five years on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, and requested retirement on Friday, October 29, 2021. As he mentioned in the letter submitted to the Science College, he was pushed to retire due to pressure beyond his expectation and the unpleasant working environment rooted in the institution.

We have leaned from numerous letters of recognition and certificates that our father made significant contributions to Bahir Dar, Gonder, Axum, Mekelle, Jimma Universities through lecturing and advising undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students, and providing research and community service until he was brutally murdered. He was a real academician dreamed of leaving a literary legacy that will last longer than he does. To give a glance at his scientific publications, our father was the author of the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th-grade textbooks and editor of the 11th and 12th-grade chemistry textbooks in the late 1990s and 2000s. He disseminated twenty-eight chemistry-related research and thoughtful laboratory findings and reports. And as a major and co-researcher, he published over 47 scientific articles and executed six projects. In his physical absence to finalize leading research, the nine scientific articles have been published after his departure. In the years 2022 and 2023 he was invited and expected to present his brainchild works at more than 19 international scientific conferences and seminars in Europe, Far East, and the US.

After much effort and collaboration with his colleagues, and by taking the alpha role, our father was able to establish an extensive Bahir Dar University Science Laboratory for which his college and the University have been recognized nationally. In addition to his professional activities in teaching, research, and community service, our father has served the university as Science College Laboratory Manager. Our father considered rest to be laziness, and he never took a day off from work; instead, he spent his weekend learning and teaching (often after church or prayer times). He worked 14 to 15 hours a day in his office, laboratory, and on his laptop, including weekends and holidays.

As a result of his successive contributions in 2017, he was promoted to Associate Professor and then promoted to Full Professorship on February 1, 2021 at Bahir Dar University. He was among the three Full Professors of Analytical Chemistry in Ethiopia and one and only at Bahir Dar University. He was a polymath person with mastery on mathematics, physics, biology, and house designing. On Sunday 21 April, 1985 our Father married our mother, Nigist Hailu, under Ethiopian Orthodox wedding traditions. Our mother was born and raised in North Gonder, Dabat town, where they had met. They have three sons and one daughter, as well as two grandchildren. Our parents lived happily and fearfully; they respected and adored each other every day. For nearly 31 years, they lived a house in Shimbit Sub-city, Kebele 13 in Bahir Dar. Our father was a wonderful man who consoled the bereaved, helped those in need, never gave up in hard times, and never boasted in good times. He believed that all things can co-exist in an individual's mind if the person compartmentalizes them according to necessity and ideology. He managed to use this philosophy to ensure he was both religious and a man of science as best in his field.

Professor was a devout Christian who observed and celebrated the Orthodox Church’s holy days, particularly Ba’at Mariam, every year. In addition to his family, our father had respect for all humankind regardless of their background and a special love for the people of Tigray, residents of Bahir Dar, especially his neighbors and students. He loved listening to the legendary Yemane Ghebremichael, Tsehaytu Beraki, and traditional Tigrigna music.

Our father retired on March 29, 2021 but he had an agreement with the University to work five years, so he continued working. He had plans to write a series of chemistry books in Amharic, English, and Tigrinya for children and adults, as well as his autobiography (memoirs). He had completed five books and was working on several more, not to mention his research outputs, working non-stop to complete all he planned.

On Friday, August 20th, 2021 six armed police officers with the regional pelt car went to both the university and our house looking for him but he had gone to Addis Ababa the same day for personal work and a family visit [due to a COVID-19 +VE close family members]. On the 9th and 10th of October, a Facebook address “BDU STAFF” with more than 50k followers posted two posts defaming and threatening him with death. It was saying that our father, as an ethnic Tigrayan, fled to the USA after leading the war in Wollo, East Amhara, supporting the Tigray forces with finance and materials. It mentioned that Professor was a corrupt person who misused his power in the University to build his house in Shimbit Sub-city, and owned countless assets, and vehicles. Along with mentioning him as an agent of "Woyane" and the Tigray People Liberation Front (the TPLF) living abroad in the US to destabilize the country through social media platforms.

Regardless of the nationwide anti-Tigrayan hate campaign and Facebook disinformation, and character assassination against him, he ignored advice from his close ones to stay in Addis Ababa and returned to Bahir Dar for his regular life on Sunday, October 10th, 2021. Besides the genuine danger, he claimed his innocence “I am an innocent teacher living there [Bahir Dar] before you even get born. We have life there; we build a very strong social capital, and people respect us! I am about to retire; we will come and visit you wherever you are… It is disappointing my age to read total fabrications slandering my name. Is this what people do on Facebook? Are people paid for writing something on Facebook? I am truly amazed by their followers’ reactions, don't even ask who writes, and why. Anyways, don’t panic, I think the Facebook posts are from indolent people, just focus on your own life".

On the same day October 10, 2021 he went in person to Bahir Dar Special Zone Police and Security Office and the following day Monday, October 11, 2021 to Amhara Regional State Police Commission to request if they were looking for him or if he was wanted by the law. In response, they responded that they are not looking for him at all.

On November 3rd, 2021 he was gunned down in front of his house at midday. On the same day, our father was at the university to process some documents for his retirement, and he met the academic Vice President. The family has learned that the coldblooded murder was orchestrated by Bahir Dar University, Amhara Special Forces, Fano militants, and secret agents. Tens of the killing squad from Amhara Special Force and Fano were waiting right and left of his house for hours and the other three squad members were following him from the city center to his home by motorcycle. As our parents were living alone with five tenants, after parking the car outside the compound, our father opened the left side of the main gate. At that moment, three gunmen, wearing the Amhara Special Force uniform started to fire two bullets into the sky and six at the house fence, gate, and rooms. One of the murderers, covered with a mask, managed to approach him and fire two shots, the first hitting our beloved father’s right leg and followed by the second shot on his right chest, which resulted in losing his life at the scene. As our father was the most lovable and respected person in the city and in the region, a few people were motivated to take the risk to take him to the hospital. Unfortunately, they were prevented by the militant and secret agents neither to call for help nor covering his body, referring to the body of our father “Junta! Tigre! We warn you not to help or cover the body! Our brothers on battlefields are fighting against Junta, and their body left to be eaten by scavengers.

Following their crime, the three assassins took his private YARIS car (license plate number 80771 AA.2) that his children had gifted him in the summer of 2013. Nobody was allowed to pick him up, and the dead body was on the ground for seven hours until the municipality buried him in an unmarked grave, and thousands of people witnessed the tragedy. On the same day our mother, Nigist Hailu, 57, was forced to witness the body of our father, and hug and kiss him for an hour. On the spot of the crime, members of the Fano militia and Bahir Dar City Security agents were yelling at her to tell her ethnicity. She told them the whole family was born and raised in town of Dabat and her parents were originally from Tigray living in the area for more than 65 years. As she was asking them to kill her with her lifetime lover, one of the perpetrators replayed “We don’t want to waste our bullet, you’ll keep crying your whole life”, and blackmailed her by referring to her as “Junta” and vowed to annihilate her and other Tigray ethnics from the earth. As the condition went intense the Shimbit Sub-City Police Officers took our mother to prison for two days. 

What makes our grief even more bitter is that we were not allowed to bury him, and we were kept in the dark about his funeral process and location which was later informed by the report of the Bahir Dar Branch Human Rights Commission. As per the three pages of the report, on November 3, 2021, at about 10 AM, Professor was back home from the University, and “Unidentified” perpetrators were following him by car and murdered him in his house, and took his car. The local police have reported that after hearing the gunshots their officers went immediately to the crime scene but were unable to do anything for fear of further violence from the armed mob. Per the report, his body was lie-down on the ground until 5:30 PM when the City Municipal officers took him to Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital [250m away from our residence]. After receiving an order from the top authorities, two employees of the municipal buried his body without a coffin on an unidentified day.

Following the extra judicial killing, the criminals, helped by one of the tenants who lived in the house for two years, took the money, gold jewelry, electronics, many pieces of furniture, hundreds of books, and documents worth two million five hundred thousand Ethiopian Birr (2.000.500 ETB). In February 2022, the Amhara Special Forces took control of the house, 465 square meters, which forced our mother to relocate to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

If the unjustly shed blood of our father is investigated, it will be revealed that he was more concerned, caring, and a servant of the Amhara community in action than his killers, who believe they have killed him for the benefit of the Amhara they claim to represent. People know him well in Ethiopia. Among many pieces of evidence count Amhara’s television programs demonstrating the scientific laboratories, he had renewed at Bahir Dar University’s Science College.

Neither Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar Municipal Administration nor Amhara Regional State gives any condolence/ statement/request/investigation/ on the murder of a public intellectual who was an asset to the country and scientific community. Both the President and Academic Vice president of Bahir Dar University have rejected an email and phone call request from local and international journalists to comment on the Facebook page and extrajudicial killing of the high-profiled chemistry scientist.

Babaye was super-intelligent in all forms unfortunately end up with his priceless life in the hands of pseudointellectuals and the featherbrained mob, which left the family in mind-numbing pain! On a good day, in the middle of our conversation, he persuades us that he will join heaven earlier than any of us to reserve a place for the family, which is true! We believe that death is just the beginning, not the end. Enjoy the peace that this unforgiving world could not give you, our wonderful Dad. When the time comes, we will be reunited and ever happy with you but for now keep rest in peace, Babaye. You will forever be remembered and loved by all who knew you. Not a single day goes by without us thinking about you. Proudly, the purpose of your life was to be useful and honorable! You have lived and lived well!

You are missed beyond measure!

As Abel's blood in (Gen. 4:10) our father's, Gebre-Stephen, (His baptism name) blood is crying out to God from the ground!

Online links:-

1). Obituary Professor Meareg Amare (1959-2021) – Emnet Negash (wordpress.com)

2). BDU vice president timidly admits that Prof. Meareg Amare has been murdered – Emnet Negash (wordpress.com)

3). Etiopia: Professor jobbet i byen i 40 år – så ble han henrettet foran huset sitt (bistandsaktuelt.no)

4). Database: the Ethiopian public universities during the Tigray war | Zenodo

5). https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/report/2021-11-03-bahir-dar-university/

6). Meareg Amare - Professor of Analytical Chemistry - Bahir Dar University | LinkedIn

7). ‪‪Meareg Amare‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬

8). Meareg AMARE | Laboratory Manager at College of Science | BSc in Chemistry, MSc in Analytical Chemistry & PhD in Physical Chemistry | Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar | Department of Chemistry (researchgate.net)

9). https://twitter.com/martinplaut/status/1458451294134411275?s=20&t=VBl00Egt0TiCw1sqibuyFw

10). https://twitter.com/ProfKindeya/status/1456878143487238146?s=20&t=VBl00Egt0TiCw1sqibuyFw

11). EHRCBSB/02/7043 Report

12). (116) Report - ርዕዮት፡- እቤቱ በራፍ ላይ በግፍ የተረሸነው ፕሮፌሰር . . . | የባህርዳሩ አሰቃቂ ትእይንት። 02/25/2022 - YouTube

13). (116) ጥሕሰት ሰብኣዊ መሰል ተጋሩ፣ መቕተልትን ማእሰርትን ተጋሩ ኣብ ኢ/ያ - ሕዳር 05/2014 ኣ/ኣኽሱማውያ - YouTube

14). (110) የዶ/ር ደብረጽዮን አዲስ መግለጫ፣ ''ዜጎች ሞቱብን' ጠቅላይሚኒስትሩ፣ ''ወደ ውጊያ ልገባ ነው'' አፋር፣ የጎንደሩ ፍንዳታ፣ የፕሮፌሰሩ አስከሬን| EF - YouTube

15). https://youtu.be/2JoFM9DWObw

16). https://twitter.com/addisstandard/status/1601500665611943936?s=20&t=-b1xEpeZ9cs9YG50F1qmxg

17). Ethiopia: Facebook and the Civil War | ZEIT ONLINE18).

18).Ethiopian universities have infringed on human rights during the Tigray war - Ethiopia Insight (ethiopia-insight.com)

19). ትንታኔ፡ ሜታ ላይ የተመሰረተበት የ2.4 ቢሊዮን ዶላር ክስ አካል የሆነው የኢትዮጵያዊዉ ፕሮፌሰር ግድያ እንዴት ተፈፀመ? - Addis Standard

20). Udvalgt fra 21 SØNDAG: Sæson 2 – Beskylder Facebook for at promovere krig | DRTV