Geneva, 8 September 2016
To Permanent Representatives of
Members and Observer States of the
UN Human Rights Council
Members and Observer States of the
UN Human Rights Council
RE: Addressing the escalating human
rights crisis in Ethiopia
Your Excellency,
The undersigned civil society organisations write to draw
your attention to grave violations of human rights in Ethiopia, including the
recent crackdown on largely peaceful protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.
As the UN Human Rights Council prepares
to convene for its 33rd session between 13 – 30 September 2016,
we urge your delegation to prioritise and address through joint and individual
statements the escalating human rights crisis in Ethiopia.
An escalating human rights crisis in
Oromia and Amhara Regions
The situation in Ethiopia has become increasingly unstable
since security forces repeatedly fired upon protests in the Amhara and Oromia
regions in August 2016. On 6 and 7 August alone, Amnesty International reported at
least 100 killings and scores of arrests during protests that took place across
multiple towns in both regions. Protesters had taken to the streets throughout
the Amhara and Oromia regions to express discontent over the ruling party’s
dominance in government affairs, the lack of rule of law, and grave human
rights violations for which there has been no accountability.
Protests in the Amhara region began peacefully in Gondar a
month ago and spread to other towns in the region. A protest in Bahir Dar, the
region’s capital, on 7 August turned violent when security forces shot and killed at least 30
people. Recently, on 30 August, stay-at-home strikers took to the streets of
Bahir Dar again and were violently dispersed by security forces. According to
the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE), in the week of 29 August
alone, security forces killed more
than 70 protesters and injured many more in cities and towns across Northern
Amhara region.
Since November 2015, Ethiopian security forces have
routinely used excessive and
unnecessary lethal force to disperse and suppress the largely peaceful
protests in the Oromia region. The protesters, who originally advocated against
the dispossession of land without adequate compensation under the government’s
Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan, have been subjected to
widespread rights violations. According to international and national human
rights groups, at least 500 demonstrators have been killed and hundreds have
suffered bullet wounds and beatings by police and military during the protests.
Authorities have also arbitrarily arrested thousands of
people throughout Oromia and Amhara during and after protests, including
journalists and human rights defenders. Many of those detained are being held
without charge and without access to family members or legal representation.
Many of those who have been released report torture in detention. The continued
use of unlawful force to repress the movement has broadened the grievances of
the protesters to human rights and rule of law issues.
The need for international,
independent, thorough, impartial and transparent investigations
Following the attacks by security forces on protesters in
Oromia earlier this year, five UN Special Procedures issued a joint
statement noting that “the sheer number of people killed and
arrested suggests that the Government of Ethiopia views the citizens as a
hindrance, rather than a partner”, and underlining that “Impunity … only
perpetuates distrust, violence and more oppression”.
In response to the recent crackdown, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has called for
“access for
independent observers to the country to assess the human rights situation”.
Ethiopia’s government, however, has rejected the
call, instead indicating it would launch its own investigation. On 2 September,
in a public media statement, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights reiterated the
UN High Commissioner’s call to allow a prompt and impartial investigation led
by regional or international human rights bodies into the crackdown.
There are no effective avenues to pursue accountability for
abuses given the lack of independence of the judiciary and legislative
constraints. During the May 2015 general elections, the ruling EPRDF party won
all 547 seats in the Ethiopian Parliament.
Ethiopia’s National Human Rights Commission, which has a
mandate to investigate rights violations, has failed to make public its June
report on the Oromia protests, whileconcluding in
its oral report to Parliament that the lethal force used by security forces in
Oromia was proportionate to the risk they faced from the protesters. The Global
Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions has rated the Ethiopian National
Human Rights Commission as B, meaning the latter has failed to
meet fully the Paris Principles.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign
Affairs, Federica Mogherini, who met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam
Desalegn at the margins of the European Development Days in June 2016, has called on
all parties to refrain from the use of force and for a constructive dialogue
and engagement to take place without delay. On 28 August, after the EPRDF
party’s general assembly, Prime Minister Hailemariam reportedly
ordered the country’s military to take any appropriate measures
to quell the protests, which he described as illegal and aimed at destabilising
the nation. Following a similar call
regarding the Oromia protests, security forces intensified the use
of excessive force against protesters.
A highly restrictive environment for
dialogue
Numerous human rights activists, journalists, opposition
political party leaders and supporters have been arbitrarily arrested and
detained. Since August 2016, four members of one of Ethiopia’s most prominent
human rights organisations, the Human Rights Council (HRCO), were arrested and
detained in the Amhara and Oromia regions. HRCO believes these arrests are
related to the members’ monitoring and documentation of the crackdown of
on-going protests in these regions.
Among those arrested since the protests began and still in
detention are Colonel Demeke Zewdu (Member, Wolkait Identity Committee (WIC)),
Getachew Ademe (Chairperson, WIC), Atalay Zafe (Member, WIC), Mebratu Getahun
(Member, WIC), Alene Shama (Member, WIC), Addisu Serebe (Member, WIC), Bekele
Gerba (Deputy Chair, Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC)), Dejene Tufa (Deputy
General Secretary, OFC), Getachew Shiferaw (Editor-in-Chief of the online
newspaper Negere Ethiopia), Yonathan Teressa (human rights defender) and Fikadu
Mirkana (reporter with the state-owned Oromia Radio and TV).
Prominent human rights experts and groups, including the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights, have repeatedly
condemned the highly restrictive legal framework in Ethiopia.
The deliberate misuse of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation’s overbroad and vague
provisions to target journalists and activists has increased as protests have
intensified. The law permits up to four months of pre-trial detention and
prescribes long prison sentences for a range of activities protected under
international human rights law. Dozens of human rights defenders as well as
journalists, bloggers, peaceful demonstrators and opposition party members have
been subjected to harassment and politically motivated prosecution under the
Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, making Ethiopia one of the
leading jailers of journalists in the world.
In addition, domestic civil society organisations are
severely hindered by one of the most restrictive NGO laws in the world.
Specifically, under the 2009
Charities and Societies Proclamation, the vast majority of Ethiopian
organisations have been forced to stop working on human rights and governance
issues, a matter of great concern that has been repeatedly raised in
international forums including at Ethiopia’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
This restrictive and worsening environment underscores the
limited avenues available for dialogue and accountability in the country. It is
essential that the UN Human Rights Council take a strong position urging the
Ethiopian government to immediately allow an international, thorough,
independent, transparent and impartial investigation into alleged human rights
abuses committed in the context of the government’s response to the largely
peaceful protests.
As a member – and Vice-President – of the Human Rights
Council, Ethiopia has an obligation to “uphold the highest standards” of human
rights, and “fully cooperate” with the Council and its mechanisms (GA
Resolution 60/251, OP 9). Yet for the past ten years, it has consistently
failed to accept country visit requests by numerous Special Procedures.
During the upcoming 33rd session of the
Human Rights Council, we urge your delegation to make joint and individual
statements reinforcing and building upon the expressions of concern by the High
Commissioner, UN Special Procedures, and others.
Specifically, the undersigned organisations request your
delegation to urge Ethiopia to:
1. immediately cease the
use of excessive and unnecessary lethal force by security forces against protesters
in Oromia and Amhara regions and elsewhere in Ethiopia;
2. immediately and
unconditionally release journalists, human rights defenders, political
opposition leaders and members as well as protesters arbitrarily detained
during and in the aftermath of the protests;
3. respond favourably to
country visit requests by UN Special Procedures;
4. urgently allow access
to an international, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent
investigation into all of the deaths resulting from alleged excessive use of
force by the security forces, and other violations of human rights in the
context of the protests;
5. ensure that those
responsible for human rights violations are prosecuted in proceedings which
comply with international law and standards on fair trials and without resort
to the death penalty; and
6. fully comply with its
international legal obligations and commitments including under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights, and its own Constitution.
Amnesty International
Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Civil Rights Defenders
DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
Ethiopian Human Rights Project
FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights)
Foundation for Human Rights Initiative
Freedom House
Front Line Defenders
Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect
Human Rights Watch
International Service for Human Rights
Reporters Without Borders
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Civil Rights Defenders
DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
Ethiopian Human Rights Project
FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights)
Foundation for Human Rights Initiative
Freedom House
Front Line Defenders
Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect
Human Rights Watch
International Service for Human Rights
Reporters Without Borders
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Source:
Human Right Watch
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