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71st Special Report: An Ethnic Conflict Flared up in West Harrarghe Zone

Posted on 30th December 2003 by HRCO
Categories: Press Releases, Special Report
Posted on: Dec 30, 2003
Region: Dire Dawa, Oromia, Somali

“Since the coming into effect of ethnic and language based division of administrative units, several ethnic and religious conflicts have occurred in many parts of the country. The conflicts between Amhara and Oromo, Oromo and Somali, Oromo and Gedio, Wolayita and Gamo, Wolayita and Sidama, Anuak and Nuer, Surma and Dizzi tribes can be cited as examples. As a result of these conflicts several people were killed and wounded and property worth millions was damaged.

EHRCO has investigated the conflicts when they occurred and reported its findings in its regular and special reports. It also urged all concerned bodies to appreciate the seriousness of the situation and take the necessary measures that would bring about an end to these series of clashes before they spread all over the country and cause irreparable damages. However, due to the failure of all concerned government bodies to take measures, ethnic conflicts have continued to arise in increasing gravity and frequency. One of such conflicts recently broke out between Oromo and Somali tribes in West Harrarghe Zone, Meisso wereda. Several persons were killed and many sustained injuries; and property was destroyed. The following is an account of the cause of the conflict and the consequent damage.”

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69th Special Report:Lift The Ban On The Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association!

Posted on 29th December 2003 by HRCO
Categories: Featured, Laws, Special Report
Posted on: Dec 29, 2003
Region: Addis Ababa

“One of the manifestations of a democratic system is that the human and democratic rights of individuals and groups are respected without restrictions. It is EHRCO’s belief that the constitutional recognition and guarantee of these rights is not enough. It must also be made a point of concern that legislations enacted for the purpose of facilitating the exercise of these rights have been incorporated in them in their entirety.

Article 31 of the FDRE Constitution stipulates, “Every person has the right to freedom of association for any cause or purpose. Organisations formed in violation of appropriate laws, or to illegally subvert the constitutional order, or to promote such activities are prohibited.”Moreover, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is ratified by Ethiopia and made part of the Constitution, provides in Article22 (2) that no restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right (freedom of association) other than those in the interest of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. The Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Accordingly, as it is clearly stipulated in Article 9 of this Constitution “…Any law, customary practice or decision of an organ of state or a public official which contravenes this Constitution shall be of no effect.”

Groupings and associations that are formed in line with the freedom of association recognized by the Constitution have to be able to be managed and controlled by persons who have agreed to the terms of their regulations and become members of them. Whatever the purpose of the associations, any government body should not interfere in their internal affairs. As the government has the responsibility to make every effort to promote and encourage civil societies, it should not go beyond issuing certificates of registration ensuring that after the associations are not formed for illegal purposes. Any administrative or other interference by the government is unacceptable as it stifles the free exercise of the constitutionally recognized freedom of association.”

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70th Special Report: Stop Violating Citizens’ Rights To Education

Posted on 13th December 2003 by HRCO
Categories: Press Releases, Special Report
Posted on: Dec 13, 2003
Region: Addis Ababa

“Government policies concerning the economic, social and political affairs of citizens have to be designed and implemented in line with the constitutionally guaranteed human and democratic rights. Moreover, it is imperative that government policies be designed taking into account the existing realties and the full participation of the public. The Ethiopian government has expressed on various occasions that it has designed different policies that would speed up the country’s economic and social development. One of these policies is the Education and Training Policy, which has come into effect a few years ago.

It is to be recalled that some of the students who completed grade 10 in the year 2001 were made to continue studies in the academic stream. According to the plan these students were supposed to take the Ethiopian Higher Education Entrance Certificate Examination after two years of stay in the preparatory classes. Accordingly, the Exam was administered all over the country for the first time in the year 2003.Following this, the Ministry of Education issued a statement regarding the prerequisites necessary to be placed in the government higher learning institutions for those who took the entrance Exam. According to the statement, those who have scored 101 and above (out of 400) in the entrance exam can apply for degree programs in government higher learning institutions.”

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67th Special Report: Stop Violating the Human Rights of Journalists!

Posted on 23rd October 2003 by HRCO
Categories: Featured, Special Report
Posted on: Oct 23, 2003
Region: Addis Ababa

“Ato Araya Tesfa Mariam (the victim) is a resident of Yeka sub-municipality, kebele 06; house number 404.He is 28 years old and is father of a 9-year-old girl. He had been a reporter for The Reporter newspaper from1996-1998. He has been working with the Ethiop newspaper and magazine since2002.

Ato Araya told EHRCO that three men who were wearing the Federal Police uniform had made an attempt on his life. According to him, on 1 October 2003 at about 9:30P.M. he was returning home from work when he saw a car parked at a place where there was no street light. Alerted by the strangeness of the situation, he continued walking to the direction of his home. And when he got close to the car, three men in Federal Police uniform came out of their hiding place in the dark and hit him twice on the head by a ball-pointed iron rod. When he fell to the ground, the men continued to hit him with the iron rod.

While laying on the ground, Ato Araya heard one of the men ordering in Tigrigna, to kill him and the other one responding that he was dead. Then, the attackers went to their car and, put the car’s lights on and watched the situation of their victim. Then, they lifted him up, took him to the Abo Bridge and threw him into the riverbed under the bridge. He fell on a rocky ground in the river. The bridge is 5-6 meters high. Afterwards, the three men entered their car and took off. Ato Araya remained unconscious for about half an hour as a result of the injury he sustained by hitting the ground when he was thrown into the river. When he became conscious, he was too weak to be on his feet. He crawled on all fours and managed to reach and knock at the door of a house located on the riverside. The residents of the house opened the door and let Ato Araya in and called his family, as they happen to know him.”

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67th Special Report: Stop Violating the Human Rights of Journalists!

Posted on 23rd October 2003 by superuser
Categories: Special Report
Posted on: Oct 23, 2003
Region: Addis Ababa

It is to be recalled that EHRCO has issued reports at different times condemning the imprisonment and harassment of journalists by government security forces. It has also repeatedly appealed that the illegal acts committed by government security forces on journalists are in clear contravention and violation of the basic human rights of citizens. Article 29 of the FDRE Constitution stipulates in the following Sub Articles that;

  1.  Everyone has the right to hold opinions without interference.
  2.  Everyone has the right to freedom of expression without any interference. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of an art, or through any media of his choice.
  3.  In the interest of the free flow of information, ideas and opinions that are essential to the functioning of a democratic order, the press shall, as an institution, enjoy legal protection to ensure its operational independence and its capacity to entertain diverse opinions.

Moreover, Article 19of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights similarly provide those rights. Nevertheless, in utter disregard of these constitutional and international principles, government forces have recently committed an illegal act against a journalist who works for the Amharic weekly, Ethiop. The details of the human rights violation committed on the journalist are presented in the full report.

Read 67th Special Report (PDF)

68th Special Report:The Problems of an Ill-Prepared Resettlement Programme

Posted on 17th October 2003 by HRCO
Categories: Special Report
Posted on: Oct 17, 2003
Region: Amhara, Oromia

” Ethiopia is one of the few countries that are subject to periodic droughts and severe famines. The fact that the number of people that need relief food reached its all time record is an indication that the problem of drought has become chronic. It is saddening to see the peasant population starved and waiting for others for their daily bread in a country where more than 80% of the population depends for their livelihood on agriculture and the economic policy is said to have been agriculture-led.

Identifying the right cause of the famine is not only an achievement by itself it also help to seek lasting solution to the problem. However what could be gathered from the fact that the famine is striking repeatedly is that a consensus has not been reached between the government on the one hand and the general public on the other as to identifying the real cause of the problem and seeking solutions.

In a situation where the real causes of the problem remain obscure, it is highly doubtful if measures that are being taken to deal with the famine would bring about a lasting solution. Some measures are not well panned and end up in worsening the situation rather than solving the problem. One of the measures that the government is taking to do away with the famine is to resettle victims of the famine to different areas. The resettlement activity which is being carried out without sufficient preparation has caused different problems on the resettles. Based on the information it received, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) conducted investigations on different resettlement villages in Bale and North Gondar Zones.

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