E/CN.4/1993/62 page 32 28. In a letter dated 2 October 1992 the Permanent Mission of El Salvador acknowledged receipt of the Special Rapporteur’s communication and indicated that a reply from the Government would be forthcoming. Ethiopia 29. In a communication addressed to the Government of Ethiopia on 19 October 1992, the Special Rapporteur transmitted the following information: "According to the information received, Amhara Ethiopian citizens who belong to the Orthodox Christian faith have been subjected to persecution in the Arba Gugu region involving numerous cases of summary executions. The victims are said to have included children, the elderly as well as pregnant women and their bodies were allegedly burnt or thrown into ravines. According to the sources, one of the instigators of the persecution of Amharas is Mr. Dima Gurmesa, the District Representative of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO). It has been alleged that although these human rights violations have been reported to the Minister for Internal Affairs both orally and in writing, the Transitional Government is said not to have taken any action in this regard to date. The following specific incidents were brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur: On 4 June 1992, 50 women, children and elderly persons from the village of Abule are reported to have sought refuge in the church courtyard when the village was attacked by the OPDO armed forces. They are said to have been surrounded and their throats slit individually by a special group of Oromo nomads. The church was reported to have subsequently been burned, together with the priests, and the entire Abule village was allegedly razed to the ground. In the neighbouring Ashe village which is also populated by Christians, men are said to have been castrated and slaughtered, while unborn babies were taken from mothers who had been slain. Similar human rights violations are said to have been perpetrated also on 4 June in the villages of Abomsa, Abesa, Serbio Addis Alem, Wakentra, Messo and Endele Beyu. The Special Rapporteur has been informed that the following churches in Arba Gugu District were burned together with the ancient manuscripts and relics they contained: Guna District - St. George of Andrea St. Gabriel of Teram St. Gabriel of Meso Jeju District - St. George of Abuli Egziharab of Abesa Medhane Alem of Abshire