• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Goolgule

Ethiopian News

  • ስለ እኛ/about
  • አስፈንጣሪዎች/links
  • ቤተ መዝገብ/archives
  • አድራሻችን/contact
Header Banner Image
  • Home
    ዋና ገጽ
  • Editorials
    ርዕሰ አንቀጽ
  • News
    ዜና
  • Socio-Political
    ማኅበራዊ-ሽከታ
  • Religion
    ሃይማኖታዊ
  • Interviews
    እናውጋ
  • Law
    የሕግ ያለህ
  • Opinions
    የኔ ሃሳብ
  • Literature
    ጽፈኪን
    • Who is this person
      እኚህ ሰው ማናቸው?
  • Donate
    ለባለድርሻዎች

Ailing Civic Space in an Authoritarian State: The State of Human Rights Defenders and Cost of Dissent in Ethiopia

January 30, 2018 06:08 pm by Editor 3 Comments

Journalists, activists, and other civil society actors play a pivotal role in building a transparent system of governance in any society. The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders* affirms that everyone, individually and in association with others, has the right to submit to governmental public bodies, criticism and proposals for improving their functioning, and to draw attention to any aspect of their work that may hinder or impede the promotion, protection, and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In Ethiopia, many journalists, HRDs, and political figures have endured varying degrees of targeting by authorities including arrests, intimidation, and torture, making their work very difficult and, at times, altogether impossible.

This report assesses the overall situation of HRDs in Ethiopia and examines the government’s repression of dissent, particularly since the introduction of three restrictive laws almost a decade ago and in light of current developments. The Ethiopian government has made considerable strides in economic development since coming to power in 1991, which has attracted international recognition and acclaim. Ethiopia, as the seat of the African Union (AU), is also a key political figure on the continent, and partner to many in the fight against terrorism in the region.

Shortly after the highly controversial 2005 national elections, the Ethiopian Parliament enacted legislation that further narrowed civic space, notably: the Charities and Societies Proclamation, Mass Media Proclamation, and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. These three laws were criticised for their restrictive provisions, which limit the work of journalists, HRDs, and civil society organisations (CSOs) through broad language and severe punishments. At least 27 journalists and HRDs (excluding the ones charged in absentia) have been charged and some convicted to lengthy prison terms because of the nature of their work since then. However this number only represents the known cases that were brought before a judge and prosecuted, and does not include cases where HRDs were not officially charged.

Over the past two years, Ethiopia has been rocked by growing protest movements in different parts of the country, notably in the two most populous regions of the country, Oromia and Amhara, and to a lesser extent the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). Although their immediate causes differ, protesters in all regions claim they are in practice being marginalised from participation in key economic and political affairs despite the government’s ethnically-based federal structure and regional devolution.

Security officials responded to mass protests in Oromia and Amhara regions with excessive force, which resulted in the killing of over a thousand people and the arrests of tens of thousands of demonstrators since 2014. These actions triggered timid condemnations from Ethiopia’s key partners and outcry from international human rights bodies. The widespread and deadly protests led the government to declare a State of Emergency that lasted 10 months, the first of its kind under the current government, which has been in power for over 25 years.

This report aims to document the growing restrictions on civic space in Ethiopia, which, in many regards, can be seen as one of the causes of Ethiopia’s current political crisis. Civic space represents a forum for citizens to express their opinions and grievances, engage in a dialogue with authorities about governance issues, and is occupied by HRDs and other actors looking to express views on and participate in public affairs.

* United Nations General Assembly, “Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,” 8 March 1999, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SRHRDefenders/Pages/Declaration.aspx

To read the full report please click here.


Notice: Reports, rebuttals, analyses, press releases and/or recommendations offered by the author/s or organization/s do not necessarily reflect that of Goolgule: Amharic Internet Newspaper’s stand.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us

Filed Under: Opinions Tagged With: ahre, civic society, eprdf, human rights, Left Column, tplf

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mulugeta Andargie says

    January 31, 2018 07:22 am at 7:22 am

    መቼም ቢሆን እነዚያ የብርሃኑ ነጋ ቦንገርን ዘመዶች ከሆነ የምታወራው፣ እነሱን መንግስት ፈትቶ እንደገና ጭንቅ ውስጥ ኣይገባም!! እነ እስክንድር ነጋን ነው??? ምንም ኣይሆንም!! እዚያው ቢቆይ ለራሱም ደህንነት ነው።

    Reply
    • ኪሩቤል says

      February 2, 2018 07:34 pm at 7:34 pm

      በሰው ቁስል እንጨት ስደድበት። ይኸ የግፍ ቃል ባንተው ራስ ላይ ሲመጣ ታርፋታለህ።

      Reply
  2. Alem says

    February 2, 2018 09:53 pm at 9:53 pm

    Dear AHRE,
    Thank you for your taking on this challenge.
    Most of us spend our energies on petty items while Tplf continues to loot the nation and sow discord.
    You need to bring together Ethiopians of diverse backgrounds and analytical skills to address issues of the day.
    Here is what I mean. We all know maid service to Arab countries and child adoption have been a booming cottage industry run by Tplf and Tplf-favored individuals. There are over 2million young women working in Arab countries for a little over $200 per month. That is a fourth of the base wages. A little over 7,000 children have been adopted for a sum of nearly $300 millions. Where do you think have those monies ended up?
    “Ethiopia lifts ban on domestic workers moving overseas” reads today’s news. (see News24.com) Do you see how Tplf phrased it? The same Tplf that made a business out of indentured servitude of Ethiopians is trying to tell us it is now out to protect the rights of Ethiopians. Just two weeks ago a statement by Tplf read “Ethiopia bans foreign adoptions”(see bbc.com/news). Do you now see what is happening? This is a disinformation campaign that groups like yourself need to match. We simply can’t continue to speak without understanding what is going on and without prioritizing issues. Thanks.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

በማኅበራዊ ገጾቻችን ይከታተሉን

Follow by Email
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Tweet

Recent Posts

  • የገዳ ሥርዓት እና የኦሮሞ ገዢ መደብ June 20, 2022 11:34 pm
  • “የወልቃይትን ጉዳይ ለድርድር የማናቀርበው ቀይ መስመራችን ነው” ርዕሰ መስተዳድር ይልቃል June 12, 2022 07:09 pm
  • የሰሜን ምዕራብ ዕዝና የአማራ ልዩ ኃይል ተከዜ ክፍለ ጦር ዕውቅናና ሽልማት ተሰጣቸው June 12, 2022 06:21 pm
  • ሀገር በቀል ባህላዊ የግጭት አፈታቶችን በተገቢው በመጠቀም ዘላቂ እርቅና ሰላምን ማምጣት ይቻላል June 12, 2022 05:40 pm
  • የፌዴራል ቤቶች ኮርፖሬሽን በገረጂና በቀበና ያስገነባቸውን የመኖሪያ አፓርትመንቶች አስመረቀ June 12, 2022 05:35 pm
  • በኦነግ ሸኔ ፈርሶ የነበረውና ወታደራዊ ጠቀሜታ ያለው ድልድይ ተጠግኖ አገልግሎት መስጠት ጀመረ June 10, 2022 09:13 am
  • ጃዋር በዳውድ ኢብሣ ቀይ መስመር ተሰመረለት June 8, 2022 12:59 pm
  • ወልቃይት: ቢመረንም ለመዋጥና ራሳችንን ለመመልከት እንሞክር June 8, 2022 11:53 am
  • እብድ ይሻለዋል እንጂ አይድንም፤ ሐጂ ጃዋር አሁን ለምን ብቅ አለ? June 8, 2022 05:59 am
  • ሕዝብ ድምፅ የነፈጋቸው “ፓርቲዎች” የሽግግር መንግሥት ይቋቋም አሉ June 7, 2022 01:11 am
  • “አድጌ እንደናንተ መሆን እፈልጋለሁ” June 5, 2022 06:58 pm
  • በሳምንት ለ100 ያህል ሕሙማን አገልግሎት የሚሰጥ የኩላሊት ዕጥበት ማዕከል ሥራ ጀመረ May 30, 2022 02:20 am
  • የጥቁር አንበሳ ዕጩ መኮንኖች (ካዴቶች) ተመረቁ May 29, 2022 04:01 pm
  • “ኢትዮጵያን መንካት አይቻልም!!” በሚል ቁጭት ነው እየሠራን ያለነው May 29, 2022 01:04 pm
  • “ከሞፈርና ቀንበር ወደ ትራክተር” በሚል መርህ ለአማራ ገበሬዎች የግብርና ሜካናይዜሽን ተሰጠ May 29, 2022 02:02 am
  • ኢትዮ 360 “የወያኔ፣ የጁንታ ሚዲያ ነው” – ባለከዘራው ጄኔራል May 27, 2022 02:51 am
  • “እኛ የምናውቀው ነገር የለም፤ የሚያጣሉን ፖለቲከኞች ናቸው” የአማራ ወዳጃቸውን አደራ ቤት የመለሱ የቅማንት ተወላጅ May 27, 2022 01:40 am
  • ትግራይን አገር እናደርጋለን፤ “በውይይት እና በጦርነት” ሁሉንም ጉዳይ እንቋጫለን – የወንበዴው መሪ ደብረጽዮን May 26, 2022 09:18 am
  • “ሁለቱ የምዕራብ ዕዝ ተዋጊ ዶክተሮች” May 26, 2022 08:19 am
  • ወደ ትህነግ ሊተላለፍ የነበረ አምስት ሚሊዮን ብር ከ20 ተጠርጣሪዎች ጋር ተያዘ May 25, 2022 01:57 am
  • የጦርነቱ ስትራቴጂያዊ እውነታዎች May 19, 2022 09:37 am
  • በጦርነቱ የተጎዱ አካባቢዎችን ለማቋቋም የሚውል የ15 ነጥብ 6 ቢሊዮን ብር ድጋፍ የዓለም ባንክ May 16, 2022 10:22 am
  • በአዲስ አበባ 1 ሺህ 98 የብሬን እና 2 ሺህ 162 የክላሽ ጥይት ተያዘ May 16, 2022 10:10 am
  • በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ በግለሰብ መኖሪያ ቤት ከ5 ሺህ በላይ የአሜሪካ ዶላርና የተለያዩ አገራት ገንዘቦች ተያዙ May 16, 2022 09:53 am

ጎልጉል የድረገጽ ጋዜጣን በኢሜይል ለማግኘት ይመዝገቡ Subscribe to Golgul via Email

ከዚህ በታች ባለው ሣጥን ውስጥ የኢሜይል አድራሻዎን ያስገቡና “Subscribe” የሚለውን ይጫኑ፡፡
Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Copyright © 2022 · Goolgule