Haile Woldense or Woldetensae (ሃይለ ወልደትንሳኤ) is an

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

n politician. Woldense was born in 1946 and attended High School in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The ...

. After graduation, he was accepted to the

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (AAU) ( am, አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) 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, ...

engineering program. There he met

Isaias Afewerki Isaias Afwerki ( ti, ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and partisan who has been the president of Eritrea since shortly after he led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) to victory in M ...

and they withdrew from school to join the

Eritrean Liberation Front ar, جبهة التحرير الإريترية it, Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo , war = the Ethiopian Civil War, Eritrean War of Independence and the Eritrean Civil Wars , image = , caption = Flag of the ELF ...

. In 1974 he became a member of what would become the Eritrea People's Liberation Front (EPLF) Central Committee and joined the Political Bureau. He was the head master of EPLF's cadre school, who transformed the movement. After Independence he became the Minister of Finance and Development and served in that position until 1997. In mid-February 1997, he was instead appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs."President quietly shuffles cabinet"
''Indian Ocean Newsletter'', 29 March 1997 (''Horn of Africa Monthly Review'', 21 February–28 April 1997). As a member of the G-15, who requested the resignation of the

President of Eritrea This is a list of heads of state of Eritrea. Since the establishment of the office of President in 1993, the office has been held by Isaias Afwerki. The President is the head of state and head of government of Eritrea, as well as commander-in-c ...

to end the war with

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, he was arrested and replaced in his position.

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 it has more than ten million members and sup ...

considers Woldense and the other imprisoned G-15 members to be prisoners of conscience and has called for their immediate release.

References

External links

Picture of Woldense to the right of picture
1946 births Addis Ababa University alumni Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Eritrea Eritrean prisoners and detainees Foreign ministers of Eritrea Finance ministers of Eritrea Government ministers of Eritrea Living people People's Front for Democracy and Justice politicians People from Asmara {{Eritrea-politician-stub