Ethiopia: Amnesty International 2011 Annual Report
14 May, 2011 | Amnesty International
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) won the parliamentary elections in May, which took place
in a context of intimidation, harassment and restrictions on freedom
of association and assembly. Legislation that severely limits human
rights activities came into force. The independent press was severely
restricted. State resources, assistance and opportunities were
broadly used to control the population.
Background
Parliamentary and State Council elections took place in May. The
EPRDF and a small coalition of affiliated parties won 99.6 per cent
of parliamentary seats. An opposition coalition, Medrek, the Forum
for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia, accused the government of
electoral fraud and called for a rerun. The National Electoral Board
rejected the call and a subsequent appeal to the Federal Supreme
Court was dismissed.
The final report of the EU Election Observation Mission stated that
the elections fell short of international commitments. The findings
highlighted the lack of a level playing field for all contesting parties;
violations of freedom of expression, assembly and movement of
opposition party members; misuse of state resources by the ruling
party; and a lack of independent media coverage. The Prime
Minister described the report as “useless trash” and the Chief EU
Observer was not granted access to Ethiopia to present the final
report.
Ethiopia was considered to have one of the fastest growing
economies in Africa. The government received praise from the UN
for being on track to halve its poverty rate by 2015. However, the
UN also stated that increasing inequality in urban areas and poor
education standards were obstacles to development and that
Ethiopia was not making sufficient progress on gender equality and
maternal mortality.
Pre-election violence and repression
State resources, assistance and opportunities were used repeatedly
before May’s elections as leverage to pressure citizens to leave
opposition parties. Education opportunities, civil service jobs and
food assistance were often contingent on membership of the ruling
party. Immediately prior to the election, voters in Addis Ababa
were reportedly threatened with the withdrawal of state assistance if
they did not vote for the EPRDF.
The build-up to the elections was punctuated by incidents of political
violence.
party reported that Biyansa Daba, an opposition activist, was
beaten to death on 7 April because of his political activities. In May,
the government announced that a policeman had been stabbed to
death by two opposition members who had confessed and were
carrying Medrek identity cards. Their trial and conviction reportedly
took place within one week. On 23 and 24 May, two members of
the Oromo People’s Congress party were shot in Oromia. The
opposition stated that the government’s aim was to stop protests;
the government stated that the men had been trying to storm a ballot
collection office.
Medrek reported in February that armed men were preventing its
members from registering as candidates.
Opposition parties said that their members were harassed, beaten
and detained by the EPRDF in the build-up to the elections.
Hundreds of people were allegedly arrested arbitrarily in the Oromia
region, often on the grounds of supporting the Oromo Liberation
Front (OLF), an armed group. Detention without trial, torture and
killings of Oromos were reported. On 7 February, Dr Merera
Gudina, leader of the Oromo People’s Congress party and the
Chairman of Medrek, told the media that at least 150 Oromo
opposition officials had been arrested in less than five months.
Freedom of expression – journalists
Ethiopia’s independent press was barely able to function. Journalists
worked in a climate of fear because of the threat of state harassment
and prosecution. Information was closely controlled by state bodies
including the Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) and Ethiopian
Press, the state publisher.
four independent publishing companies in the wake of a post-
election crackdown in 2005, but overturned by a presidential
pardon the same year. The publishers could not pay the re-imposed
fines. The High Court was asked by the government to freeze the
assets of the publishers and their spouses.
Internet content was censored by the state and some websites were
blocked. The National Electoral Board introduced a press code
which restricted journalistic activities during the elections, including a
ban on interviews with voters, candidates and observers on election
day.
The Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation
remained in force, giving the government disproportionate power to
launch defamation cases, issue financial penalties and refuse media
registrations and licences.
Human rights defenders
The Charities and Societies Proclamation, passed in 2009, took
effect. The legislation imposed strict controls on civil society
organizations and provided for criminal penalties, including fines and
imprisonment. Local NGOs were barred from working on issues of
human rights and democracy if more than 10 per cent of their
income came from foreign sources. The law made human rights
defenders fearful of working and led to self-censorship.
Some organizations significantly altered their mandates and ceased
their work on human rights. Several human rights defenders fled
abroad fearing government harassment following the implementation
of the law.
A small number of organizations continued working on human rights
and democracy issues, including the Ethiopian Human Rights
Council (EHRCO) and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association
(EWLA), although both were forced to reduce staff numbers and
close offices due to the new funding rules. At the end of the year,
EHRCO had only three offices (compared to 12 previously).
Despite successfully re-registering with the Charities and Societies
Agency, the enforcing body, the bank accounts of EHRCO and
EWLA were frozen in late 2009 and remained frozen at the end of
2010.
Counter-terror and security
The Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, whose broad definition of
terrorism appears to criminalize freedom of expression and peaceful
assembly, remained in place. The threat of prosecution contributed
to a climate of self-censorship including among journalists, who can
be prosecuted for publishing articles referring to individuals or
groups deemed to be “terrorists”.
Prisoners of conscience and political prisoners
A large number of political prisoners and possible prisoners of
conscience remained in detention.
The government continued to imprison numerous ethnic Oromos on
accusations of supporting the OLF. These charges often appeared
to be politically motivated.
Conflicts in the Somali and Oromia regions
Low-level conflict continued between the OLF and government
forces. Ethiopian refugee children reported that they had been
forcibly recruited by the OLF in Kenya and trafficked back to
Ethiopia to serve as porters and cooks.
Clashes continued in the Somali region in the long-running conflict
between the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and
government forces. The ONLF published a statement on 4
February calling on the AU to investigate human rights violations, in
particular alleged war crimes by government forces in the region.
Access to the Somali region for international journalists and certain
humanitarian organizations was restricted by the government and it
remained largely inaccessible. A Voice of America journalist was
expelled from Ethiopia in June after reporting on clashes between
the government and the ONLF.
On 12 October, a peace deal was reportedly signed between a
breakaway faction of the ONLF and the government. It was
reported that under the agreement, members of the faction received
immunity from prosecution and prisoners taken by the government
would be released. The main ONLF group reportedly dismissed the
deal as “irrelevant”.
In November, reports were received that over 100 civilians had
been detained in the town of Degeh Bur and transferred to a military
prison in Jijiga. In December, it was reported that Ethiopian troops
had burnt a village in the Qorahey zone, resulting in the deaths of
three civilians.
Death penalty
Death sentences were imposed but no executions were reported.
14 May, 2011 | Amnesty International
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) won the parliamentary elections in May, which took place
in a context of intimidation, harassment and restrictions on freedom
of association and assembly. Legislation that severely limits human
rights activities came into force. The independent press was severely
restricted. State resources, assistance and opportunities were
broadly used to control the population.
Background
Parliamentary and State Council elections took place in May. The
EPRDF and a small coalition of affiliated parties won 99.6 per cent
of parliamentary seats. An opposition coalition, Medrek, the Forum
for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia, accused the government of
electoral fraud and called for a rerun. The National Electoral Board
rejected the call and a subsequent appeal to the Federal Supreme
Court was dismissed.
The final report of the EU Election Observation Mission stated that
the elections fell short of international commitments. The findings
highlighted the lack of a level playing field for all contesting parties;
violations of freedom of expression, assembly and movement of
opposition party members; misuse of state resources by the ruling
party; and a lack of independent media coverage. The Prime
Minister described the report as “useless trash” and the Chief EU
Observer was not granted access to Ethiopia to present the final
report.
Ethiopia was considered to have one of the fastest growing
economies in Africa. The government received praise from the UN
for being on track to halve its poverty rate by 2015. However, the
UN also stated that increasing inequality in urban areas and poor
education standards were obstacles to development and that
Ethiopia was not making sufficient progress on gender equality and
maternal mortality.
Pre-election violence and repression
State resources, assistance and opportunities were used repeatedly
before May’s elections as leverage to pressure citizens to leave
opposition parties. Education opportunities, civil service jobs and
food assistance were often contingent on membership of the ruling
party. Immediately prior to the election, voters in Addis Ababa
were reportedly threatened with the withdrawal of state assistance if
they did not vote for the EPRDF.
The build-up to the elections was punctuated by incidents of political
violence.
- Aregawi Gebreyohannes, a candidate for Arena-Tigray, one
of the opposition parties forming Medrek, was stabbed to
death by six unidentified men in Tigray on 2 March. The
government rejected opposition claims that the attack was
politically motivated and said it had been a “personal quarrel”
in a bar. A man was tried and sentenced to 15 years’
imprisonment. The opposition said that the trial was
“arranged and orchestrated” and that Aregawi
Gebreyohannes had previously been subjected to government
harassment.
party reported that Biyansa Daba, an opposition activist, was
beaten to death on 7 April because of his political activities. In May,
the government announced that a policeman had been stabbed to
death by two opposition members who had confessed and were
carrying Medrek identity cards. Their trial and conviction reportedly
took place within one week. On 23 and 24 May, two members of
the Oromo People’s Congress party were shot in Oromia. The
opposition stated that the government’s aim was to stop protests;
the government stated that the men had been trying to storm a ballot
collection office.
Medrek reported in February that armed men were preventing its
members from registering as candidates.
Opposition parties said that their members were harassed, beaten
and detained by the EPRDF in the build-up to the elections.
Hundreds of people were allegedly arrested arbitrarily in the Oromia
region, often on the grounds of supporting the Oromo Liberation
Front (OLF), an armed group. Detention without trial, torture and
killings of Oromos were reported. On 7 February, Dr Merera
Gudina, leader of the Oromo People’s Congress party and the
Chairman of Medrek, told the media that at least 150 Oromo
opposition officials had been arrested in less than five months.
Freedom of expression – journalists
Ethiopia’s independent press was barely able to function. Journalists
worked in a climate of fear because of the threat of state harassment
and prosecution. Information was closely controlled by state bodies
including the Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) and Ethiopian
Press, the state publisher.
- In January, Ezeden Muhammad, editor and publisher of
Ethiopia’s largest Islamic weekly, Hakima, was sentenced to
one year’s imprisonment for “incitement” in connection with a
2008 column criticizing comments made by the Prime
Minister. In September, Ezeden Muhammad was released,
but his 17-year-old son Akram Ezeden, who had been acting
as editor during his father’s detention, was arrested on the
same day. He was later released and the case against him
dropped. - On 4 March, Voice of America reported that its Amharic-
language broadcasts were being jammed. On 19 March, the
Prime Minister declared that the radio station had been
broadcasting “destabilizing propaganda” and compared it to
Radio Mille Collines, a Rwandan radio station that incited
ethnic hatred before and during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. - In May, Woubshet Taye, editor-in-chief of the Awramba
Times, resigned following a warning from the Ethiopian
Broadcasting Authority that he would be “responsible for any
bloodshed that may occur in connection with the coming
election”. The Awramba Times had featured an article the
week before about a pro-democracy demonstration during
the 2005 election period.
four independent publishing companies in the wake of a post-
election crackdown in 2005, but overturned by a presidential
pardon the same year. The publishers could not pay the re-imposed
fines. The High Court was asked by the government to freeze the
assets of the publishers and their spouses.
Internet content was censored by the state and some websites were
blocked. The National Electoral Board introduced a press code
which restricted journalistic activities during the elections, including a
ban on interviews with voters, candidates and observers on election
day.
The Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation
remained in force, giving the government disproportionate power to
launch defamation cases, issue financial penalties and refuse media
registrations and licences.
Human rights defenders
The Charities and Societies Proclamation, passed in 2009, took
effect. The legislation imposed strict controls on civil society
organizations and provided for criminal penalties, including fines and
imprisonment. Local NGOs were barred from working on issues of
human rights and democracy if more than 10 per cent of their
income came from foreign sources. The law made human rights
defenders fearful of working and led to self-censorship.
Some organizations significantly altered their mandates and ceased
their work on human rights. Several human rights defenders fled
abroad fearing government harassment following the implementation
of the law.
A small number of organizations continued working on human rights
and democracy issues, including the Ethiopian Human Rights
Council (EHRCO) and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association
(EWLA), although both were forced to reduce staff numbers and
close offices due to the new funding rules. At the end of the year,
EHRCO had only three offices (compared to 12 previously).
Despite successfully re-registering with the Charities and Societies
Agency, the enforcing body, the bank accounts of EHRCO and
EWLA were frozen in late 2009 and remained frozen at the end of
2010.
Counter-terror and security
The Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, whose broad definition of
terrorism appears to criminalize freedom of expression and peaceful
assembly, remained in place. The threat of prosecution contributed
to a climate of self-censorship including among journalists, who can
be prosecuted for publishing articles referring to individuals or
groups deemed to be “terrorists”.
Prisoners of conscience and political prisoners
A large number of political prisoners and possible prisoners of
conscience remained in detention.
The government continued to imprison numerous ethnic Oromos on
accusations of supporting the OLF. These charges often appeared
to be politically motivated.
- In March, 15 Oromo men and women were convicted of
membership of the OLF in a group trial and given sentences
ranging from 10 years’ imprisonment to death. The 15 –
arrested in 2008 along with other Oromos who were
subsequently released – came from a variety of professions,
and many did not know each other before being arrested and
tried as a group. There were concerns that the trial fell short
of international standards and was politically motivated in the
run-up to the elections. Many of the detainees reported that
they had been tortured. Two male detainees who were
released before the trial died immediately after their release,
reportedly as a result of their treatment in detention. - Prisoner of conscience Birtukan Mideksa, leader of the Unity
for Democracy and Justice Party, was released in October.
She had been detained since December 2008 following a
previous two-year imprisonment.
Conflicts in the Somali and Oromia regions
Low-level conflict continued between the OLF and government
forces. Ethiopian refugee children reported that they had been
forcibly recruited by the OLF in Kenya and trafficked back to
Ethiopia to serve as porters and cooks.
Clashes continued in the Somali region in the long-running conflict
between the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and
government forces. The ONLF published a statement on 4
February calling on the AU to investigate human rights violations, in
particular alleged war crimes by government forces in the region.
Access to the Somali region for international journalists and certain
humanitarian organizations was restricted by the government and it
remained largely inaccessible. A Voice of America journalist was
expelled from Ethiopia in June after reporting on clashes between
the government and the ONLF.
On 12 October, a peace deal was reportedly signed between a
breakaway faction of the ONLF and the government. It was
reported that under the agreement, members of the faction received
immunity from prosecution and prisoners taken by the government
would be released. The main ONLF group reportedly dismissed the
deal as “irrelevant”.
In November, reports were received that over 100 civilians had
been detained in the town of Degeh Bur and transferred to a military
prison in Jijiga. In December, it was reported that Ethiopian troops
had burnt a village in the Qorahey zone, resulting in the deaths of
three civilians.
Death penalty
Death sentences were imposed but no executions were reported.
- A former regional official, Jemua Ruphael, was sentenced to
death in June for murder and supporting an Eritrean-backed
armed group. - Hassan Mohammed Mahmoud, a former member of the
armed Somali group Al-Itihad Al-Islamiya, was found guilty
in March of committing terrorist acts in the 1990s and
sentenced to death.
| All rights reserved. |
| Ethio Quest News Together We Can Make It! |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| A row over human rights Feb.5 ( Economist ) - INDEPENDENT voices in Ethiopia are finding it ever harder to be heard. Suffocated by an irascible government,... More |
| Related Stories Human Rights Watch World Report 2011 - Ethiopia Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch World Report 2010 - Ethiopia Human Rights Watch Ethiopia: Amend Draft Law Human Rights Watch New Ethiopia law may criminalise opposition - group By Barry Malone The law would classify acts that cause serious damage to property or disruption of a public service as terrorism. It would also criminalise speech that may be interpreted as "encouraging terrorism". Reuters Ethiopia's opposition parties resist new draft law on terrorism Ethiopia’s opposition political parties and parliamentary members strongly opposed a new anti- terrorism draft proclamation... Sudan Tribune Is Rock Throwing Punishable by Death in Ethiopia? New Draft of Ethiopian “Anti-Terrorism Proclamation” Revealed SMNE |
| Ethio Quest News: For latest Ethiopian News, views, Reviews and More |