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UPR Submission by Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO)

Posted on 20th April 2009 by HRCO
Categories: Commentaries, Reports, UPR Submissions
Posted on: Apr 20, 2009
Region: Addis Ababa

” Suspend the application of the Charities and Societies law and amend the restrictive provisions of this law in a manner that guarantees the rights of human rights defenders to promote human rights and democratic values.

– These severe restrictions on the rights of free association of persons to provide an alternative voice for the citizenry or by promoting human rights, accountability and transparency in government are not limited to the Charities and Societies law. The government seemed to have resorted to a legalistic approach to silence any form organized dissent and activism. The patterns shown by the laws enacted or amended during the post 2005 period clearly show a growing trend of using the law and the judicial system as an instrument of suppression.

– In this regard, the Amended Electoral law of 2007, the Media and Freedom of Information law of 2008 and the Amended Political Party Registration and the Charities and Societies law of 2009 are a few cases in point. The amended Electoral law severely restricts the involvement of civil society organizations in electoral activities by requiring them to choose between voters’ education and election monitoring. An NGO cannot engage in both during elections. Apart from this, NGOs are required to obtain permission from the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to engage in voters’ education or election monitoring activities. A decision by the Board denying this permission is not subject to judicial review. The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia ignored repeated written application by EHRCO to monitor and observe the April 2008 local and by elections. The law requires the Board to give written explanations when it denies permission for a request to observe elections.

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110th Special Report: Worsening Situation of Ethnic Clashes Needs due Attention

Posted on 10th June 2008 by HRCO
Categories: Special Report
Posted on: Jun 10, 2008
Region: Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia

“Members of the Oromo, Gumuz, Amhara and other ethnic groups live in the bordering kebeles of Oromia and Benishangul Gumuz regional states. There have been clashes in the past particularly between members of the Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups over claims to farmlands. As the cause of the clashes has not been addressed adequately, the clashes turned violent and caused the loss of lives and damages to property.

The conflict occurred starting on May 17, 2008 in the Anger locality in a place called Haro Wata (Arategna), Amestegna, Sementegna, Zetenegna and Aseregna villages in Sasiga wereda, East Wollega zone of the Oromia regional state between members of the Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups. Survivors of the conflict told EHRCO that more than hundred people were brutally killed and injured and thousands were displaced from their homes. Local transportation services were disrupted for security reasons by the time this report was being compiled. As a result, EHRCO investigators could not get access to all the areas affected by the conflict. The information in the following tables were documented based on interviews conducted with local authorities, survivors of the conflict who are receiving medical treatment in Nekemt Hospital and persons who fled their homes and sought refuge in Nekemt and neighboring towns.”

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109th Special Report:Recurring ethnic clashes need lasting solutions

Posted on 7th May 2008 by HRCO
Categories: Special Report
Posted on: May 7, 2008
Region: Oromia, Southern Nations

“In this 109th Special report, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) presents its findings on human rights violations caused as a result of the ethnic conflict that flared up between members of the Sidama and Guji Oromo ethnic groups living in Wondogenet wereda, Sidama zone of the South Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR).

Members of the Sidama, Guji Oromo and other different ethnic groups engaged in different forms of agricultural activities live in 13 kebeles of the Wondogenet wereda. Since 1992, there have been frequent ethnic clashes between members of the Sidama and Guji Oromo ethnic groups. The Guji Oromos had long been petitioning concerned government bodies that Wondogenet wereda be given the status of a special wereda and become under their administration. On the other hand, the Sidamas were asserting their claims over the wereda.

This dispute has in many occasions led to violent clashes between members of the two ethnic groups causing the death of people and destruction of property. For instance in clashes that erupted on May 16,2007, four people were killed and several houses, shops and hotels were burnt or looted. In another conflict that flared up on January 12, 2008, schools were burnt and crops were destroyed.

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108th Special Report: EHRCO denounces terrorist attacks targeting innocent citizens

Posted on 18th April 2008 by HRCO
Categories: Special Report
Posted on: Apr 18, 2008
Region: Addis Ababa

“Article 6(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Ethiopia is a party, provides that everyone has a natural right to life. The right to life is also reaffirmed in Article 15 of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE). Moreover, Article 16 of the FDRE Constitution states that,” Everyone has the right to protection against bodily harm.” Article 14 of the Constitution expresses this right as an inviolable and inalienable.

Nevertheless, these inviolable and inalienable Constitutional rights to life, and the right to be protected against bodily harm are being violated on account of various reasons. Human rights violations as a result of terrorist attacks targeting civilians are becoming causes concern.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) issues this 108th special report to express its denouncement of the bomb explosions that occurred in Addis Ababa on April 14, 2008.”

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107ኛ ልዩ መግለጫ – የብሔረሰቦች ራስን የማስተዳደር ጥያቄ ዘላቂ መፍትሄ ያሻዋል

Posted on 28th February 2008 by HRCO
Categories: ልዩ መግለጫ
Posted on: Feb 28, 2008
Region: ደቡብ ብሔሮች፤ ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች

“የገዋዳ(አሌ) ብሔረሰብ በደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰብ ሕዝቦች ክልላዊ መንግሥት ከሚኖሩ በርካታ ብሔረሰቦች አንዱ ነው።  የብሄረሰቡ አባላት ከ1987 ዓም ጀምሮ በደራሼ ልዩ ወረዳ በሚገኙ 10 ቀ/ ገ ማህበራት ፤ በኮንሶ ልዩ ወረዳ በሚገኙ 7 ቀ ገ ማህበራት እና በደቡብ ኦሞ በሚገኙ 10 ቀ/  ገ/ ማህበራት ውስጥ ይኖራሉ።  ራሳችን ችለን በልዩ ወረዳ መደራጀት ሲገባን በተለያዩ ወረዳዎች መካከል ብሔረሰቡ ስሙን እንዲያጣ ፣  ባህልና ቋንቋውን እንዳያሳደግ  በአጠቃላይ ራሱን ከማስተዳደር ተጠቃሚ እንዳይሆን አድርጎታል በሚል የብሄረሰቡ ተወካዮች ጥያቄያቸውን ለሚመለከተው የክልልና የፈዴራል አካላት ሲያመለክት ቆይተዋል።

ይሁን እንጂ ይህ ልዩ በወረዳ እንካለል የሚል ጥያቄ ያቸውን አሁንም ድረስ አጥጋቢ ምላሽ እንዳለገኘ የብሄረሰቡ ተወካዮች ይናገራሉ።  በአንጻሩ ለምን እንዲህ አይነት ጥያቄ ታነሳላች ሁ በሚል የብሄርሰቡ አባላት ለእሥራት ፣ ከሥራ መባረርና ለሌሎች የበቀል እርምጃዎች ሰለባ ሆነዋል ሲሉ የብሄረሰቡ አባላት አስመልክተዋል።

ተጨማሪ እዚህ ያንብቡ

107th Special report: Demands for self-administration need a lasting solution

Posted on 28th February 2008 by HRCO
Categories: Special Report
Posted on: Feb 28, 2008
Region: Southern Nations

“The Gewada (Ale) ethnic group is one of the many nationalities residing in the SNNPR. Since 1987 following a new administrative division in the region, members of the ethnic group have been living in 10 kebele farmers’ associations in Derashe special wordea, 7 kebele farmers’ associations in Konso special woreda and in 10 kebele farmers’ associations in South Omo. The fact that members of the ethnic group were made to live in scattered areas instead of being given the status of a special wereda, has been a long-standing concern among the Gewadas. According to members of the ethnic group the present administrative division impacted negatively on the development of the ethnic group in terms of maintaining and nurturing its identity, culture and language as the ethnic group is deprived of its rights to self-administration. This demand of the Gewadas to self-administration has been repeatedly presented to the respective regional and federal authorities. However, this demand of the ethnic group was not addressed adequately. Instead, representatives of the ethnic group who were in the forefront of this popular demand have been subjected to several retaliatory measures including detention and summary dismissal from jobs.”

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