• Human Rights in Ethiopia

    The death in August 2012 of Ethiopia’s powerful prime minister, Meles Zenawi, led to new leadership but seems unlikely to result in tangible human rights reforms. Ethiopian authorities continue to severely restrict freedom of expression, association, and assembly. Thirty journalists and opposition members have been convicted under the country’s vague Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, and security forces responded to protests by Muslim communities with excessive force and arbitrary detentions. The Ethiopian government continues to forcibly resettle hundreds of thousands of rural villagers, including indigenous peoples, as part of its “villagization” program, relocating them through violence and intimidation, and often without essential services.

  • Tunisian journalists protest for freedom of speech in Tunis on October 17, 2012.
    © 2012 Reuters
    Ethiopia: Terrorism Law Decimates Media
    The Ethiopian government should mark World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, 2013, by immediately releasing all journalists jailed under the country’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law. On May 2, 2013, the Supreme Court upheld an 18-year sentence under the anti-terrorism law for Eskinder Nega Fenta, a journalist and blogger who received the 2012 PEN Freedom to Write Award.
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Ethiopia

  • UN Human Rights Council: Extreme Concern due to Increased Restrictions Affecting NGO Activities
    Jun 4, 2013
    Human Rights Watch is extremely concerned by increased restrictions affecting NGO activities in many countries, in particular restrictions to access to funding as highlighted in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
  • Extractive Industries: A New Accountability Agenda
    May 21, 2013
    The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) was founded in 2003 with the goal of strengthening governance by increasing transparency over revenues from the oil, gas, and mining sectors. EITI has contributed to much greater disclosures of information and helped spur dialogue in many countries. But EITI has not made progress toward its ultimate purpose of enhancing accountability in resource-rich countries. An independent evaluation commissioned by EITI in 2011 concluded, “EITI has not been a significant driver of change. While transparency has improved, accountability does not appear to have changed much.” The evaluation attributed this problem to the absence of a coherent strategic vision, explaining that without clarity on how publicizing credible data on natural resource revenues would lead to better governance, EITI would not be able to direct its efforts to where they would be most likely to deliver results.
  • Ethiopia: Terrorism Law Decimates Media
    May 3, 2013
    The Ethiopian government should mark World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, 2013, by immediately releasing all journalists jailed under the country’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law. On May 2, 2013, the Supreme Court upheld an 18-year sentence under the anti-terrorism law for Eskinder Nega Fenta, a journalist and blogger who received the 2012 PEN Freedom to Write Award.
  • NGOs Have a Right to Receive Foreign Funding
    Apr 26, 2013
    The first lesson taught in the School for Autocrats is to keep people isolated.
  • Ethiopia: Muslim Protesters Face Unfair Trial
    Apr 2, 2013
    The prosecution of 29 Muslim protest leaders and others charged under Ethiopia’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law raises serious fair trial concerns. The trial is scheduled to resume in Addis Ababa on April 2, 2013, after a 40-day postponement.
  • World Bank: Investigate ‘Development’ Project Abuses
    Mar 18, 2013
    The World Bank’s board should support an internal investigation into allegations of abuse linked to a World Bank project in Ethiopia. The Inspection Panel, the World Bank’s independent accountability mechanism, has recommended an investigation into whether it has violated its policies in a project linked to the Ethiopian government’s resettlement program, known as “villagization.”
  • Letter to the Chairperson of the African Union
    Jan 21, 2013
  • AU Summit: Rights Key for Addressing Crises
    Jan 21, 2013
    The African Union (AU) should make human rights central to its discussions about crises situations in Africa at its summit meeting this week in Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch said today in an open letter to the AU chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The Ordinary Summit begins on January 21, 2013, and AU heads of state are due to meet on January 27 and 28 in Addis Ababa.
  • Discrimination, Inequality, and Poverty—A Human Rights Perspective
    Jan 11, 2013
    Despite recognition in the Millennium Declaration of the importance of human rights, equality, and non-discrimination for development, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) largely bypassed these key principles. The fundamental human rights guarantees of equality and non-discrimination are legally binding obligations and do not need instrumental justifications. Discrimination can both cause poverty and be a hurdle in alleviating poverty. Even in countries where there have been significant gains toward achieving the MDGs, inequalities have grown. The MDGs have supported aggregate progress—often without acknowledging the importance of investing in the most marginalized and excluded, or giving due credit to governments and institutions which do ensure that development benefits these populations. Recognition of this shortcoming in the MDGs has brought an increasing awareness of the importance of working to reverse growing economic inequalities through the post-2015 framework, and a key element of this must be actively working to dismantle discrimination.
  • Civil Society Crackdown in Ethiopia
    Jan 4, 2013
    On 1 January 2013, Ethiopia took up its seat on the United Nations Human rights Council. The uncontested election – Africa put forward five countries for five seats – has raised some eyebrows, given the country’s own poor rights record. Elected member countries are obliged to ‘uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights’. Yet, in Ethiopia, hundreds of political prisoners languish in jails where torture is common and a crackdown on the media and civil society is in full swing.
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