Asrat Woldeyes (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: አስራት ወልደየስ; June 20, 1928 – May 14, 1999) was an Ethiopian

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, a professor of medicine at

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (; AAU) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, and one is located in Bishoftu, about away. ...

, and the founder and leader of the

All-Amhara People's Organization The All-Amhara People's Organization or AAPO is an ethnic based political party in Ethiopia, created in 1993 by Asrat Woldeyes. Creation The All-Amhara People's Organization was created by Asrat Woldeyes in 1993 to try to limit the domination ...

(AAPO). He was jailed by the

Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...

and later by the

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...

(EPRDF). After his death, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described him as "successively Ethiopia's most distinguished surgeon, physician and university dean, most controversial political party leader and best known political prisoner".

Medical work

Asrat studied medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, becoming the first Ethiopian to qualify as a surgeon in the West. He then returned to Ethiopia, serving as Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

's personal physician until his 1975 death. He continued teaching and practicing medicine throughout the rule of President Mengistu Haile-Mariam.

Political activism and imprisonment

When

Meles Zenawi Meles Zenawi Asres ( Tigringa and ; ), born Legesse Zenawi Asres (8 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian politician and former rebel militant commander who served as president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and as prime minister from 19 ...

succeeded Mengistu in 1991, Asrat became an active critic of the government, particularly of Meles' formation of new autonomous regions in Ethiopia. He then formed his own political party, the AAPO, with a central tenet of restoring Ethiopian unity. The new Addis Ababa University administration led by Duri Mohammed dismissed Asrat in 1993. In 1994, he was sentenced to two years in prison for "planning violence against the state". International human rights organizations protested the evidence against him as unsound, and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

named him a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

. He was later convicted of more charges, extending his sentence by an additional three years. In 1996, Asrat faced a new trial which was repeatedly adjourned, keeping him in prison indefinitely.

Illness and death

In 1998, Asrat, who had previously had bypass surgery, developed further heart problems, and government doctors stated that he needed treatment overseas to survive. However, the Ethiopian government initially denied him permission to travel, triggering international appeals on his behalf. On December 25, 1998, authorities yielded to international pressure, granting him a

compassionate release Compassionate release is a process by which inmates in criminal justice systems may be eligible for immediate early release on grounds of "particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by t ...

and allowing him treatment in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Though his treatment was at first successful, Asrat died five months later of his heart ailment at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

hospital in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asrat, Woldeyes 1928 births 1999 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School Academic staff of Addis Ababa University All-Amhara People's Organization politicians Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Ethiopia Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England People from Addis Ababa Victoria College, Alexandria alumni Ethiopian surgeons Ethiopian prisoners and detainees 20th-century surgeons