Ethiopia:
Human Rights Watch World Report 2010
20 January, 2010 | Human Rights Watch
Events of 2009
In 2009 the government passed two pieces of legislation that codify
some of the worst aspects of the slide towards deeper repression and
political intolerance. A civil society law passed in January is one of the
most restrictive of its kind, and its provisions will make most
independent human rights work impossible. A new counterterrorism law
passed in July permits the government and security forces to prosecute
political protesters and non-violent expressions of dissent as acts of
terrorism.
Political Repression and the 2010 Elections
As Ethiopia heads toward nationwide elections, the government
continues to clamp down on the already limited space for dissent or
independent political activity. Ordinary citizens who criticize
government policies or officials frequently face arrest on trumped-up
accusations of belonging to illegal "anti-peace" groups, including armed
opposition movements. Officials sometimes bring criminal cases in a
manner that appears to selectively target government critics, as when in
June 2009 prominent human rights activist Abebe Worke was charged
with illegal importation of radio equipment and ultimately fled the
country. In the countryside government-supplied (and donor-funded)
agricultural assistance and other resources are often used as leverage to
punish and prevent dissent, or to compel individuals into joining the
ruling party.
The opposition is in disarray, but the government has shown little
willingness to tolerate potential challengers. In December 2008 the
security forces re-arrested Birtukan Midekssa, leader of the Unity for
Democracy and Justice Party, which had begun to build a grassroots
following in the capital. The government announced that Birtukan would
be jailed for life because she had made public remarks that violated the
terms of an earlier pardon for alleged acts of treason surrounding the
2005 elections. The authorities stated that there was no need for a trial
as the move was a mere legal technicality.
In July the Ethiopian government passed a new anti-terrorism law. The
law provides broad powers to the police, and harsh criminal penalties
can be applied to political protesters and others who engage in acts of
nonviolent political dissent. Some of its provisions appear tailored less
toward addressing terrorism and more toward allowing for a heavy-
handed response to mass public unrest, like that which followed
Ethiopia's 2005 elections.
Civil Society Activism and Media Freedom
The space for independent civil society activity in Ethiopia, already
extremely narrow, shrank dramatically in 2009. In January the
government passed a new civil society law whose provisions are among
the most restrictive of any comparable law anywhere in the world. The
law makes any work that touches on human rights or governance issues
illegal if carried out by foreign non-governmental organizations, and
labels any Ethiopian organization that receives more than 10 percent of
its funding from sources outside of Ethiopia as "foreign." The law
makes most independent human rights work virtually impossible, and
human rights work deemed illegal under the law is punishable as a
criminal offense.
Ethiopia passed a new media law in 2008 that improved upon several
repressive aspects of the previous legal regime. The space for
independent media activity in Ethiopia remains severely constrained,
however. In August two journalists were jailed on charges derived
partly from Ethiopia's old, and now defunct, press proclamation.
Ethiopia's new anti-terror law contains provisions that will impact the
media by making journalists and editors potential accomplices in acts of
terrorism if they publish statements seen as encouraging or supporting
terrorist acts, or even, simply, political protest.
Pretrial Detention and Torture
The Ethiopian government continues its longstanding practice of using
lengthy periods of pretrial and pre-charge detention to punish critics and
opposition activists, even where no criminal charges are ultimately
pursued. Numerous prominent ethnic Oromo Ethiopians have been
detained in recent years on charges of providing support to the outlawed
Oromo Liberation Front (OLF); in almost none of these cases have
charges been pursued, but the accused, including opposition activists,
have remained in detention for long periods. Canadian national Bashir
Makhtal was convicted on charges of supporting the rebel Ogaden
National Liberation Front (ONLF) in July, after a trial that was widely
criticized as unfair; he was in detention for two-and-a-half years before
his sentence was handed down, and he was unable to access legal
counsel and consular representatives for much of that period.
Not only are periods of pretrial detention punitively long, but detainees
and convicted prisoners alike face torture and other ill-treatment. Human
Rights Watch and other organizations have documented consistent
patterns of torture in police and military custody for many years. The
Ethiopian government regularly responds that these abuses do not exist,
but even the government's own Human Rights Commission
acknowledged in its 2009 annual report that torture and other abuses
had taken place in several detention facilities, including in Ambo and
Nekemte.
Impunity for Military Abuses
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has committed serious
abuses, in some cases amounting to war crimes or crimes against
humanity, in several different conflicts in recent years. Human Rights
Watch is not aware of any meaningful efforts to hold the officers or
government officials most responsible for those abuses to account. The
only government response to crimes against humanity and other serious
abuses committed by the military during a brutal counterinsurgency
campaign in Gambella in late 2003 and 2004 was an inquiry that
prosecuted a handful of junior personnel for deliberate and widespread
patterns of abuse. No one has been investigated or held to account for
war crimes and other widespread violations of the laws of war during
Ethiopia's bloody military intervention in neighboring Somalia from 2006
to 2008.
In August 2008 the Ethiopian government did purport to launch an
inquiry into allegations of serious crimes in Somali Regional State,
where the armed forces have been fighting a campaign against the rebel
Ogaden National Liberation Front for many years. The inquiry was
sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, lacked independence, and
concluded that no serious abuses took place. To date the government
continues to restrict access of independent investigators into the area.
Relations in the Horn of Africa
In August the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission issued its final rulings
on monetary damages stemming from the bloody 1998-2000 border war
between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Nonetheless the two countries remain
locked in an intractable dispute about the demarcation of the heavily
militarized frontier. Eritrea continues to play a destabilizing role
throughout the Horn of Africa through its efforts to undermine and
attack the government of Ethiopia wherever possible. The government
of President Isayas Afewerki hosts and materially supports fighters
from Ethiopian rebel movements, including the Oromo Liberation Front.
Eritrea has also pursued a policy of supporting armed opposition groups
in Somalia as a way of undermining Ethiopia's support for the country's
weak Transitional Federal Government.
Key International Actors
Ethiopia is one of the most aid-dependant countries in the world and
received more than US$2 billion in 2009, but its major donors have been
unwilling to confront the government over its worsening human rights
record. Even as the country slides deeper into repression, the Ethiopian
government uses development aid funding as leverage against the
donors who provide it-many donors fear that the government would
discontinue or scale back their aid programs should they speak out on
human rights concerns. This trend is perhaps best exemplified by the
United Kingdom, whose government has consistently chosen to remain
silent in order to protect its annual £130 million worth of bilateral aid
and development programs.
Donors are also fearful of jeopardizing access for humanitarian
organizations to respond to the drought and worsening food crisis.
Millions of Ethiopians depend on food aid, and the government has
sought to minimize the scale of the crisis and restrict access for
independent surveys and response.
While Ethiopia's government puts in place measures to control the
elections in 2010, many donors have ignored the larger trends and
focused instead on negotiating with the government to allow them to
send election observers.
A significant shift in donor policy toward Ethiopia would likely have to
be led by the US government, Ethiopia's largest donor and most
important political ally on the world stage. But President Barack
Obama's administration has yet to depart from the policies of the Bush
administration, which consistently refused to speak out against abuses
in Ethiopia. While the reasons may be different-the current government
is not as narrowly focused on security cooperation with Ethiopia as was
the Bush administration- thus far the practical results have been the
same. The events described above attracted little public protest from the
US government in 2009.
Human Rights Watch World Report 2010
20 January, 2010 | Human Rights Watch
Events of 2009
- Ethiopia is on a deteriorating human
rights trajectory as parliamentary
elections approach in 2010. These
will be the first national elections
since 2005, when post-election
protests resulted in the deaths of at
least 200 protesters, many of them
victims of excessive use of force by
the police. Broad patterns of
government repression have
prevented the emergence of
organized opposition in most of the
country. In December 2008 the
government re-imprisoned
opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa
for life after she made remarks that
allegedly violated the terms of an
earlier pardon.
In 2009 the government passed two pieces of legislation that codify
some of the worst aspects of the slide towards deeper repression and
political intolerance. A civil society law passed in January is one of the
most restrictive of its kind, and its provisions will make most
independent human rights work impossible. A new counterterrorism law
passed in July permits the government and security forces to prosecute
political protesters and non-violent expressions of dissent as acts of
terrorism.
Political Repression and the 2010 Elections
As Ethiopia heads toward nationwide elections, the government
continues to clamp down on the already limited space for dissent or
independent political activity. Ordinary citizens who criticize
government policies or officials frequently face arrest on trumped-up
accusations of belonging to illegal "anti-peace" groups, including armed
opposition movements. Officials sometimes bring criminal cases in a
manner that appears to selectively target government critics, as when in
June 2009 prominent human rights activist Abebe Worke was charged
with illegal importation of radio equipment and ultimately fled the
country. In the countryside government-supplied (and donor-funded)
agricultural assistance and other resources are often used as leverage to
punish and prevent dissent, or to compel individuals into joining the
ruling party.
The opposition is in disarray, but the government has shown little
willingness to tolerate potential challengers. In December 2008 the
security forces re-arrested Birtukan Midekssa, leader of the Unity for
Democracy and Justice Party, which had begun to build a grassroots
following in the capital. The government announced that Birtukan would
be jailed for life because she had made public remarks that violated the
terms of an earlier pardon for alleged acts of treason surrounding the
2005 elections. The authorities stated that there was no need for a trial
as the move was a mere legal technicality.
In July the Ethiopian government passed a new anti-terrorism law. The
law provides broad powers to the police, and harsh criminal penalties
can be applied to political protesters and others who engage in acts of
nonviolent political dissent. Some of its provisions appear tailored less
toward addressing terrorism and more toward allowing for a heavy-
handed response to mass public unrest, like that which followed
Ethiopia's 2005 elections.
Civil Society Activism and Media Freedom
The space for independent civil society activity in Ethiopia, already
extremely narrow, shrank dramatically in 2009. In January the
government passed a new civil society law whose provisions are among
the most restrictive of any comparable law anywhere in the world. The
law makes any work that touches on human rights or governance issues
illegal if carried out by foreign non-governmental organizations, and
labels any Ethiopian organization that receives more than 10 percent of
its funding from sources outside of Ethiopia as "foreign." The law
makes most independent human rights work virtually impossible, and
human rights work deemed illegal under the law is punishable as a
criminal offense.
Ethiopia passed a new media law in 2008 that improved upon several
repressive aspects of the previous legal regime. The space for
independent media activity in Ethiopia remains severely constrained,
however. In August two journalists were jailed on charges derived
partly from Ethiopia's old, and now defunct, press proclamation.
Ethiopia's new anti-terror law contains provisions that will impact the
media by making journalists and editors potential accomplices in acts of
terrorism if they publish statements seen as encouraging or supporting
terrorist acts, or even, simply, political protest.
Pretrial Detention and Torture
The Ethiopian government continues its longstanding practice of using
lengthy periods of pretrial and pre-charge detention to punish critics and
opposition activists, even where no criminal charges are ultimately
pursued. Numerous prominent ethnic Oromo Ethiopians have been
detained in recent years on charges of providing support to the outlawed
Oromo Liberation Front (OLF); in almost none of these cases have
charges been pursued, but the accused, including opposition activists,
have remained in detention for long periods. Canadian national Bashir
Makhtal was convicted on charges of supporting the rebel Ogaden
National Liberation Front (ONLF) in July, after a trial that was widely
criticized as unfair; he was in detention for two-and-a-half years before
his sentence was handed down, and he was unable to access legal
counsel and consular representatives for much of that period.
Not only are periods of pretrial detention punitively long, but detainees
and convicted prisoners alike face torture and other ill-treatment. Human
Rights Watch and other organizations have documented consistent
patterns of torture in police and military custody for many years. The
Ethiopian government regularly responds that these abuses do not exist,
but even the government's own Human Rights Commission
acknowledged in its 2009 annual report that torture and other abuses
had taken place in several detention facilities, including in Ambo and
Nekemte.
Impunity for Military Abuses
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has committed serious
abuses, in some cases amounting to war crimes or crimes against
humanity, in several different conflicts in recent years. Human Rights
Watch is not aware of any meaningful efforts to hold the officers or
government officials most responsible for those abuses to account. The
only government response to crimes against humanity and other serious
abuses committed by the military during a brutal counterinsurgency
campaign in Gambella in late 2003 and 2004 was an inquiry that
prosecuted a handful of junior personnel for deliberate and widespread
patterns of abuse. No one has been investigated or held to account for
war crimes and other widespread violations of the laws of war during
Ethiopia's bloody military intervention in neighboring Somalia from 2006
to 2008.
In August 2008 the Ethiopian government did purport to launch an
inquiry into allegations of serious crimes in Somali Regional State,
where the armed forces have been fighting a campaign against the rebel
Ogaden National Liberation Front for many years. The inquiry was
sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, lacked independence, and
concluded that no serious abuses took place. To date the government
continues to restrict access of independent investigators into the area.
Relations in the Horn of Africa
In August the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission issued its final rulings
on monetary damages stemming from the bloody 1998-2000 border war
between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Nonetheless the two countries remain
locked in an intractable dispute about the demarcation of the heavily
militarized frontier. Eritrea continues to play a destabilizing role
throughout the Horn of Africa through its efforts to undermine and
attack the government of Ethiopia wherever possible. The government
of President Isayas Afewerki hosts and materially supports fighters
from Ethiopian rebel movements, including the Oromo Liberation Front.
Eritrea has also pursued a policy of supporting armed opposition groups
in Somalia as a way of undermining Ethiopia's support for the country's
weak Transitional Federal Government.
Key International Actors
Ethiopia is one of the most aid-dependant countries in the world and
received more than US$2 billion in 2009, but its major donors have been
unwilling to confront the government over its worsening human rights
record. Even as the country slides deeper into repression, the Ethiopian
government uses development aid funding as leverage against the
donors who provide it-many donors fear that the government would
discontinue or scale back their aid programs should they speak out on
human rights concerns. This trend is perhaps best exemplified by the
United Kingdom, whose government has consistently chosen to remain
silent in order to protect its annual £130 million worth of bilateral aid
and development programs.
Donors are also fearful of jeopardizing access for humanitarian
organizations to respond to the drought and worsening food crisis.
Millions of Ethiopians depend on food aid, and the government has
sought to minimize the scale of the crisis and restrict access for
independent surveys and response.
While Ethiopia's government puts in place measures to control the
elections in 2010, many donors have ignored the larger trends and
focused instead on negotiating with the government to allow them to
send election observers.
A significant shift in donor policy toward Ethiopia would likely have to
be led by the US government, Ethiopia's largest donor and most
important political ally on the world stage. But President Barack
Obama's administration has yet to depart from the policies of the Bush
administration, which consistently refused to speak out against abuses
in Ethiopia. While the reasons may be different-the current government
is not as narrowly focused on security cooperation with Ethiopia as was
the Bush administration- thus far the practical results have been the
same. The events described above attracted little public protest from the
US government in 2009.
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