From: Tsegai Emmanuel (emmanuelt40@gmail.com)
Date: Wed Mar 31 2010 - 22:14:22 EST
Ethiopia: Repression Rising Ahead of May Elections
© 2010 Human Rights Watch
The ruling party and the state are becoming one, and the government is using
the full weight of its power to eliminate opposition and intimidate people
into silence.
Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch
Government Intimidating Opposition Supporters, Media, Activists
March 24, 2010
(Nairobi) - The Ethiopian government is waging a coordinated and sustained
attack on political opponents, journalists, and rights activists ahead of
the May 2010 elections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
On May 23, 2010, Ethiopians will vote in the first parliamentary elections
in Ethiopia since 2005, when the post-election period was marred by
controversy and bloodshed.
The 59-page report, "‘One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure': Violations of
Freedom of Expression and Association in Ethiopia," documents the myriad
ways in which the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) has systematically punished opposition supporters. Since the 2005
polls, the party has used its near-total control of local and district
administrations to undermine opponents' livelihoods through withholding
services such as agricultural inputs, micro-credit, and job opportunities.
The report also documents how recently enacted laws severely restrict the
activities of civil society and the media.
"Expressing dissent is very dangerous in Ethiopia," said Georgette Gagnon,
Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The ruling party and the state are
becoming one, and the government is using the full weight of its power to
eliminate opposition and intimidate people into silence."
Government repression has caused many civil society activists and
journalists to flee the country in recent months. The most prominent
independent newspaper was closed in December 2009 and the government jammed
Voice of America radio broadcasts last month. Ethiopians are unable to speak
freely, organize political activities, and challenge their government's
policies - whether through peaceful protest, voting, or publishing their
views - without fear of reprisal. In 2008, the government arbitrarily
imprisoned opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa, president of the Unity for
Democracy and Justice Party.
Ethiopia is heavily dependent on foreign assistance, which accounts for
approximately one-third of all government expenditures. The country's
principal foreign donors - the World Bank, United States, United Kingdom,
and European Union - have been very timid in their criticisms of Ethiopia's
deteriorating human rights situation, Human Rights Watch said.
For the report, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 200 people during
15 weeks of research in Ethiopia, including farmers, teachers, civil
servants, activists, opposition, and government officials, as well as
foreign diplomats and aid officials in the capital, Addis Ababa, and in
three other regions.
Since the April 2008 local elections in which the EPRDF won over 99.9
percent of the vote, the ruling party has consolidated its control over
village and district administrations and ruled with an iron grip. In the
districts visited by Human Rights Watch, residents told how every village
was organized into cells and local government officials, and militia
monitored households for signs of dissent. Local administrations withheld
government services to punish those who criticized the government or did not
support the ruling party.
Local government officials have considerable influence over the livelihoods
of villagers: they are responsible for selecting and supervising
participation in food-for-work programs, allocations of seeds and
fertilizer, micro-credit loans, and for providing letters of reference for
jobs, educational opportunities, and training. Opposition parties claim that
their memberships have been decimated because people have no option but to
join the ruling party to protect their jobs and feed their families.
The government has also put pressure on all state employees - and especially
teachers - to join the ruling party, and selectively punished critical
voices. It has used the draconian Charities and Societies Proclamation as
well as the Anti-Terrorism law to intimidate civil society activists and
journalists who have tried to report on state repression.
Human Rights Watch calls on the Ethiopian government to take urgent steps to
improve the electoral environment by immediately releasing all political
prisoners, including Birtukan. Human Rights Watch also calls on the
government to publicly order all officials and EPRDF members to cease
attacks and threats against members of the political opposition, civil
society, and the media; and permit independent efforts, including by
international electoral observers, to investigate and publicly report on
abuses.
The European Union and the African Union are the only institutions
considering sending international election observers to monitor the May
elections. Restrictions in the Charities and Societies Proclamation make
independent election monitoring by Ethiopian organizations practically
impossible. Human Rights Watch called on all international observers to take
into account the pre-election repression when assessing the freedom and
fairness of the polls.
"Ethiopia's foreign backers should break their silence and condemn the
climate of fear in Ethiopia," said Gagnon. "Donors should use their
considerable financial leverage to press for an end to the harassment of the
opposition and to oppressive laws on activists and the media."
Selected Accounts from the Report
"You have to understand that at the grassroots level, everything is
organized according to the EPRDF ideology, everything is organized and
controlled by cells; if you are opposition you are excluded [from village
life]."
- Teacher, Amhara region
"I am a member of the EPRDF, but I do support the opposition party. Being a
member does not mean anything. I am a member of EPRDF because I need relief
assistance.... The list of receipts - the proof that I am paying my dues to
the party - are required to get relief assistance. I am paying because I do
not want to be suppressed or ignored."
- Ruling party member, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region
"There is a significant element of self-censorship, there are many stories
we cannot write, many things we cannot say. We are not told the red lines,
we have to guess. Their interpretation of terrorism [in the anti-terrorism
law] is so broad that it is dangerous for us. For example, if they label a
particular political party a terrorist organization then we cannot write
about them.... Newspapers are not allowed to do polling or predict anything
before the National Electoral Board has announced it."
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