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Sub Saharan Africa
Ethiopia |
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Country information
POLITICS
Ethiopia's current constitution was adopted in December 1994, with executive powers vested in the Prime Minister, the post Meles Zenawi has occupied since 1995. In a decisive break with Ethiopia's tradition of centralised rule, the new institutions are based on the principle of ethnic federalism, designed to provide self-determination and autonomy to Ethiopia's different ethnic groups. Elections in 1995 and 2000 gave the component parties of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) an overwhelming majority of seats in the national parliament. The regional governments were similarly dominated by the EPRDF affiliated parties. (General elections held on held 15 May 2005 revealed a sharp increase in public support for opposition parties. The final results, announced in September, gave the EPRDF and its affiliates control of the 547-seat parliament. Opposition parties gained a tenfold increase, with 176 seats. Two prominent coalitions dominated the opposition scene - the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) formed in 2001 and the newer Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) formed in 2004. The CUD won 109 seats and the UEDF 52.
In the aftermath, the political atmosphere deteriorated. A large number of electoral complaints were made and elections were re-run in some constituencies. Opposition elements contested the conduct of the elections, and over 100 opposition members were arrested for an alleged role in stimulating violent protests in November 2005. After being detained for nearly 2 years, the courts found them guilty, but most were pardoned and released, coinciding with the celebrations of the Ethiopian millennium in September 2007.
Meanwhile the CUD split, 2 factions claiming the CUDP name, and one former consituent party, the United Ethiopian Democratic Party-Medhin, reestablishing its independent existence. Dissident CUD members - mostly based in the US and European diaspora - known as CUD-Kinjit joined a new opposition group named the Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (AFD) in May 2006. The AFD also includes existing armed rebel movements fighting for regional causes, including the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), the Ethiopian Peoples Patriotic Front (EPPF).
HUMAN RIGHTS
The 1994 Ethiopian Constitution and many other laws offer strong protection for human rights, but these rights do not always translate into practice. Since the controversial multi-party elections of 2005, respect of human rights in Ethiopia has markedly deteriorated. Street demonstrations in Addis Ababa in June 2005, following the disputed elections, and a further wave of violent protests around the country in November 2005, resulted in 189 people killed (according to the official inquiry) including a several policemen. Opposition leaders have continued to face intimidation, harassment and the arrest of party activists in the difficult post election period. Oromo activists report continuing cases of harrassment and imprisonment. During 2007 until the present time an on-going insurgency in the Somali regions has met with a strong government response with numerous unconfirmed accounts of atrocities and detention. Only a single Ethiopian human rights NGO remains active and comprehensive information on the human rights situation is not available. International monitoring bodies note that detention without trial is common; prison conditions are very poor and allegations of torture under detention are common. Journalists in the independent press who criticise the government are at risk of arbitrary arrest and detention. In response to growing criticism the government appointed an Ombudsman and a Human Rights Commissioner in July 2004. The principal women's and children's rights issues are Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), violence and child marriages.Human Rights Annual Report 2007
