U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 1997 - Ethiopia
Publisher | United States Department of State |
Publication Date | 30 January 1998 |
Cite as | United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 1997 - Ethiopia, 30 January 1998, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa4034.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, January 30, 1998.
ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia continued its transition from a unitary to a federal system of government. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi leads the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which was elected in 1995 to replace a transitional government that was established following a long and brutal civil war. Most opposition groups boycotted the elections, and candidates affiliated with the dominant party within the transitional government, the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), won a landslide victory in national and regional elections. The principal faction within the EPRDF remains Prime Minister Meles' Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF). The judiciary is weak and overburdened, but continued to show signs of independence. Federal regions, organized along ethnic lines, are increasingly autonomous, having greater local control over fiscal and political issues. However, the relationship between the central Government and local officials and among the various judiciaries has not yet been finalized. A history of highly centralized authority, great poverty, the civil conflict, and unfamiliarity with democratic culture combine to complicate the implementation of federalism. The federal Government has significant difficulty protecting constitutional rights at the local level, especially when local authorities are unwilling or unable to do so. Local administrative, police, and judicial systems remain weak in many regions. Responsibility for internal security continued to shift from the military forces to the police in most regions. Throughout the year, military forces conducted low level operations against the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in parts of the Oromia regional state. The military forces also conducted operations against the Somalia-based Al'ittihad terrorist organization and elements of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). The national police organization is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice. Despite increased professional training during the year, some local officials and members of the security forces committed human rights abuses. The economy is based on smallholder agriculture, with more than 85 percent of the population of 58.5 million living in rural areas under very poor conditions. Per capita gross national product is estimated at $135 per year. Real economic growth in 1997 was 6 percent. Coffee accounts for about 60 percent of export revenues. The Government continued to implement an internationally supported economic reform program designed to liberalize the economy, attract foreign investment, and bring state expenditures into balance with revenues. Despite promises by the Government to improve its human rights practices, serious problems remain. An opposition figure suspected of terrorism was killed while reportedly trying to avoid arrest. Security forces sometimes beat or mistreated detainees, and arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens. Prisons are seriously overcrowded, and prolonged pretrial detention remains a problem. The judiciary lacks sufficient staff and funds; consequently, most citizens are denied the full protections provided for in the Constitution. In response the Government sought to strengthen the judiciary; it trained additional civil and criminal judges and prosecutors and assigned them to regional courts, while it dismissed many others in an effort to eliminate judicial malfeasance. The law regarding search warrants is widely ignored. The Government restricts freedom of the press and continued to detain or imprison journalists. At year's end, 13 journalists were detained, two were imprisoned, and five were awaiting trial. Most were accused or convicted of inciting ethnic hatred, libel, or publishing false information in violation of the 1992 Press Law. Nevertheless, the private press is active and flourishing. Many publications are unprofessional and print inaccurate and untrue articles. The Government limits freedom of association and continued to refuse to register several nongovernmental organizations (NGO's), but otherwise did not prevent them from operating. The Government remains skeptical of NGO's, and the registration process is slow and tedious. However, in the latter half of the year, the pace of registration improved considerably. Societal discrimination and violence against women and abuse of children remain problems; female genital mutilation is widespread despite active government support for groups opposed to the practice. Child labor is pervasive. Societal discrimination against disabled persons is a problem. On several occasions, the Government took active measures to protect religious freedom. The Government continued its efforts to create a national, apolitical army by replacing thousands of demobilized Tigrayan soldiers with recruits from other ethnic groups. It expanded its training programs in military justice and undertook programs to enhance the professional capacity and improve the performance of military personnel. The Government sought to enhance transparency and accountability by continuing to publish in state media several detailed reports on officials who were arrested or dismissed for abuse of authority, corruption, and violations of human rights. These included two EPRDF members of Parliament who were removed from office in July and indicted for war crimes committed during the former Mengistu regime. The former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, indicted for abuse of authority and embezzlement in 1996, are now facing trial. Governmental transparency, however, remains limited. Preliminary hearings and arraignments of the first group of defendants accused of war crimes under the brutal Marxist regime of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam (1974-1991), which began in December 1994, continued through the year. Many of the accused have been held in detention for more than 6 years without formal charge. By February the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO), which is in charge of war crimes investigations and indictments, had completed its lengthy investigation process and brought charges against 5,198 persons; however, more than half of those accused were not in custody and were charged in absentia. Radical Ahmara groups, the OLF, and the Islamic extremist group Al'Ittihad Al'Islamia were responsible for a number of grenade attacks, bombings, shootings, and ambushes that killed and injured a number of persons.