Human Rights Situation Dire Ahead of May 2015 Elections
(Nairobi) – The Ethiopian government during 2014 intensified its
campaign of arrests, prosecutions, and unlawful force to silence
criticism, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2015.
The government responded to peaceful protests with harassment, threats,
and arbitrary detention, and used draconian laws to further repress
journalists, opposition activists, and critics.
“The Ethiopian government fell back on tried and true measures to muzzle any perceived dissent in 2014,” said Leslie Lefkow,
deputy Africa director. “Journalists and dissenters suffered most,
snuffing out any hope that the government would widen political space
ahead of the May 2015 elections.”
In the 656-page world report, its 25th edition, Human Rights Watch
reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries. In his
introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth
urges governments to recognize that human rights offer an effective
moral guide in turbulent times, and that violating rights can spark or
aggravate serious security challenges. The short-term gains of
undermining core values of freedom and non-discrimination are rarely
worth the long-term price.
Ethiopia’s dismal rights record faced little criticism from donor
countries in 2014. Throughout the year, state security forces harassed
and detained leaders and supporters of Ethiopian opposition parties.
Security personnel responded to protests in Oromia in April and May with
excessive force, resulting in the deaths of at least several dozen
people, and the arrests of hundreds more. The authorities regularly
blocked the Semawayi (Blue) Party’s attempts to hold protests.
Media remain under a government stranglehold, with many journalists
having to choose between self-censorship, harassment and arrest, and
exile. In 2014, dozens of journalists fled the country following
threats. In July, the government charged seven bloggers known as Zone 9
and three journalists under the abusive Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. In
August, the owners of six private publications were charged under the
criminal code following threats against their publications. The
government blocks websites and blogs and regularly monitors and records
telephone calls.
The authorities have been displacing indigenous populations without
appropriate consultation or compensation in the lower Omo Valley to make
way for the development of sugar plantations. Villagers and activists
who have questioned the development plans face arrest and harassment.
The government showed no willingness to amend the Anti-Terrorism Law or
the Charities and Societies Proclamation, despite increasing
condemnation of these laws for violating basic rights. Authorities more
rigorously enforced the Charities and Societies Proclamation, which bars
organizations from working on human rights, good governance, conflict
resolution, and advocacy on the rights of women, children, and people
with disabilities if the organizations receive more than 10 percent of
their funds from foreign sources.
“The government’s crackdown on free expression in 2014 is a bad sign for elections in 2015,” Lefkow said.
