Amnesty International, International
Secretariat
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ, United
Kingdom
Tel: (44) (71) 413 5500, Fax: (44) (71) 956
1157
ETHIOPIA
Accountability past and present: Human rights in
transition
APRIL 1995 SUMMARY AI INDEX: AFR
25/06/95
DISTR: SC/CO/GR
The Ethiopian authorities are prosecuting officials of the former
government for gross human
rights violations, but the Transitional Government has not acted
with equal determination against
abuses by its own forces.
The Transitional Government was established in 1991 after 17
years of brutally repressive
rule. The general election scheduled for May 1995 marks the end of
the four- year transition
period.
The Transitional Government took on the crucial task of
bringing to justice officials of the
former government responsible for gross human rights violations.
The trials have started after long
delays and will continue for some years. If they are fair and do not
result in executions — which
are themselves violations of human rights — they will send a
message to all perpetrators of human
rights violations that they cannot expect impunity and will be held
accountable for their
actions.
However, the transitional period has also seen many new
abuses of human rights. Thousands
of opponents of the Transitional Government were detained
without charge or trial between 1992
and 1994. The majority have now been released but there are still
hundreds of political detainees.
Some political prisoners have possibly been given unfair trials; as
more detainees are being
brought to court this is of growing concern. Some detainees are
prisoners of conscience, including
journalists and members of non-violent opposition parties.
Dozens of government opponents have “disappeared”. People
have been held in secret
detention centres, and torture has been inflicted on suspected
members of opposition groups. A
number of defenceless civilians have been shot dead by the
security forces. Abuses have also
been committed by armed opposition groups.
The Transitional Government has not been consistent in its
approach to accountability for
human rights abuses. It has not done enough to stop and prevent
human rights violations,
especially in the context of the Oromo Liberation Front’s continuing
armed opposition. The
international community too has paid insufficient attention to
continuing reports of violations. The
important message of the trials of former officials will be
undermined unless decisive action is
taken to stop human rights violations perpetrated by those in
power now.
This report is about the human rights record of President Meles
Zenawi’s four-year
Transitional Government. It is based on extensive research by
Amnesty International and the
outcome of Amnesty International’s latest talks with the Ethiopian
government in February 1995.
The meetings discussed a detailed memorandum submitted by
Amnesty International to the
government three months earlier and the report incorporates the
government’s response.
The report documents human rights violations in Ethiopia since
1991, including the
imprisonment of non-violent critics of the government; detentions
without charge or trial of other
government opponents, some of whom were involved in violent
opposition; “disappearances”;
torture; and political killings by the security forces and by
opposition groups.
It also describes the first stages of the trials of officials of the
former Dergue and Workers
Party of Ethiopia governments headed by Lieutenant-Colonel
Mengistu Haile-Mariam between
1974 and 1991.
The report concludes with a series of recommendations for
urgent action to end and prevent
human rights violations. The Ethiopian government should be more
open and consistent in its
approach to human rights by acknowledging and redressing
violations. It should look more closely
at its own record and deal with present as well as past abuses.
This summarizes a 58-page document (23,360 words), Ethiopia:
Accountability past and
present: human rights in transition (AI Index: AFR 25/06/95),
issued by Amnesty
International in April 1995. Anyone wanting further details or to
take action on this issue should
consult the full document.
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AI INDEX: AFR 25/08/95
ETHIOPIA: CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
NEED TO BE
TACKLED
While the Ethiopian government has been praised for
prosecuting former government
officials on human rights charges, this initiative will be undermined
unless the authorities stop
abuses by their own forces.
“The authorities should openly acknowledge and deal with
violations going on now,” Amnesty
International said. “The important message of the ongoing trials
into past violations is that the
perpetrators will not get away with their crimes — and that message
also needs to be sent to the
forces committing violations today.”
The human rights organization is urging the outgoing
Transitional Government — and the new
government to be formed after next month’s elections — to act firmly
to end and prevent
In the run-up to those elections on 7 May Amnesty
International is appealing to all parties
participating — although an opposition boycott seems likely — to
support the organization’s human
rights recommendations aimed at developing safeguards against
new violations. It is asking
election observers to watch for any abuses of human rights, report
them and press for prompt
remedies.
The human rights organization made its appeal as it published a
58-page report today on the
human rights record of President Meles Zenawi’s Transitional
Government which assumed power
in 1991.
The report reviews the first stages of the trial of former members
of the military government
(Dergue) which overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. Forty-
eight people face the death
penalty for genocide and crimes against humanity. Ex-President
Zimbabwe, is being tried in
absentia.
More than 1,700 other detainees, mostly held since 1991, have
yet to be charged and it is
expected that the trials could last for years. Amnesty International
is concerned that the trials
should be fair and that the courts should not hand down death
sentences — themselves a violation
of human rights.
The reports also highlights violations committed under the
Transitional Government.
Thousands of government opponents were detained without
charge or trial between 1992 and
1994, mostly in the context of the ongoing conflict with the Oromo
Liberation Front. While the
majority have now been released, several hundreds remain in
political detention.
Some of the detainees are prisoners of conscience who have
been jailed for the expression of
their political opinions, including journalists and members of non-
violent opposition parties. Political
prisoners are more often being taken to court now but Amnesty
International is concerned at the
failure of some trials to meet international standards of fairness.
Dozens of government opponents have “disappeared”, some
apparently ending up in secret
detention centres. Detainees suspected of belonging to opposition
groups have told Amnesty
International about being tortured.
In addition a number of defenceless civilians have been shot
dead by the security forces and
abuses have also been committed by certain armed opposition
groups.
In February 1995, an Amnesty International delegation visited
Ethiopia to discuss its concerns
with the government. Ethiopian officials rejected many of the
organization’s criticisms and claimed
its research was politically-biased. Testimonies of torture and cases
of “disappearances” were
“mostly fabricated”, they alleged.
“We have listened to their replies and reviewed the evidence
but we reject charges of bias
and remain convinced that human rights violations are continuing
in Ethiopia,” Amnesty
International said. “The serious concerns we identify in this report
need to be considered on their
own merits.”
Among other recommendations, the organization is calling for
impartial inquiries into alleged
“disappearances”, torture and political killings by the Ethiopian
security forces.
ENDS
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