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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of
Pretoria, is deeply alarmed by the deteriorating human rights situation in
Ethiopia, and especially, the arbitrary killing, arrest and detention of
protesters.
According to reports, the Ethiopian government forces have
killed more than 500 protestors since November 2015, and have arrested and
detained thousands.
We recall that on the eve of calls for protests, the
Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile-Mariam has warned that measures will be taken
against protesters. Eventually, when protests took place in the Amhara and
Oromia regions in August 2016, nearly a hundred protesters were killed. The
public statements of warning by the senior government officials stirred the
suspicion that the ongoing human rights abuses by government forces are happening
by the approval of the Ethiopian government.
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The Ethiopian government has rejected the United Nations
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (UNOHCHR) request that the
government allow international observers to assess the human rights violation
in Ethiopia. The government has stated that it would establish a domestic body
to investigate the matter.
However, the findings of the commissions of inquiry
established in the past by the Ethiopian Parliament (House of Peoples’
Representatives) have generated mistrust by stakeholders, human rights
organisations and other bodies. In the past, instead of the main perpetrators
of the violence that actually committed the arbitrary killings and detentions,
individuals who took part in the protests have been held accountable on charges
like incitement and terrorism. The commissions of inquiry have not implicated members
of government forces and senior government officials, and as a result, they
have not been held accountable. These commissions of inquiry have also lacked
adequate participation of stakeholders and transparency.
Moreover, the fact that senior government officials have
been, and continue to make statements threatening protesters from making
peaceful protests amounts to approving the human rights violations. Such
statements send a signal to the Ethiopian security and military forces to
assume that the ongoing arbitrary killings, arrests and detentions are
legitimate.
With a view to addressing these problems, making a credible,
independent, impartial, effective and transparent inquiry is imperative. To
this end, the Centre is convinced that international or regional inquiry
mechanisms are better suited than domestic commission of inquiry in Ethiopia.
Therefore, the Centre for Human Rights makes the following
requests:
·
The
United Nations Human Rights Council should put the serious human rights
violations in Ethiopia in its agenda on the 33rd regular
session in September 2016. It should be noted that Ethiopia is currently a
member of the Human Rights Council. The Council should consider whether to
suspend Ethiopia’s membership of the Council for having committed “gross and
systematic violations of human rights” (as provided for under A/RES/60/251
paragraph 8).
·
The
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary
Killings should make an urgent appeal to the Ethiopian government, and undertake
a visit to Ethiopia with a view to gather first-hand information of the
arbitrary killings according to its mandate, and to release it reports.
·
The
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions should investigate the arrests and
detentions of protesters in Ethiopia.
·
While
we take note of the letter expressing grave concern about the violations by the
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, we urge the Commission to
undertake a visit into the country and in order to assess the human rights
violations.
·
The
Chairperson of the African Union, with its seat located in Addis Ababa, should
denounce the human rights violation in Ethiopia
·
The
Ethiopian government should consent to fully cooperate with international and
regional inquiry mechanisms to undertake their investigation; it should release
political detainees; it should respect the right to peaceful demonstration,
which is protected in art 30(1) of the Ethiopian Constitution and various human
rights treaties to which Ethiopia is a party; it should note that the
limitations of this right are to be construed narrowly; and it should desist
from further using excessive force and violence to disperse peaceful protests.
Source: chr.up.ac.za
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