In
its freshly released annual report, Amnesty International blasted
Ethiopia for a broad range of human right issues, from serious
restrictions of Freedom of expression to extrajudicial executions. Below
is the full report.
Amnesty International Report 2014/15
Freedom of expression continued to be subject to
serious restrictions. The government was hostile to suggestions of
dissent, and often made pre-emptive arrests to prevent dissent from
manifesting. Independent media publications were subject to further
attack. Peaceful protesters, journalists, and members of opposition
political parties were arbitrarily arrested. The Charities and Societies
Proclamation continued to obstruct the work of human rights
organizations. Arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment
were widespread, often used as part of a system for silencing actual or
suspected dissent.
Background
Economic growth continued apace, along with
significant foreign investment including in the agriculture,
construction and manufacturing sectors, large-scale development projects
such as hydroelectric dam building and plantations, and widespread
land-leasing, often to foreign companies.
The government used multiple channels and methods
to enforce political control on the population, including politicizing
access to job and education opportunities and development assistance,
and high levels of physical and technological surveillance.
The politicization of the investigative branch of
the police and of the judiciary meant that it was not possible to
receive a fair hearing in politically motivated trials.
Federal and regional security services were
responsible for violations throughout the country, including arbitrary
arrests, the use of excessive force, torture and extrajudicial
executions. They operated with near-total impunity.
Armed opposition groups remained in several parts
of the country or in neighbouring countries, although in most cases with
small numbers of fighters and low levels of activity.
Access to some parts of the Somali region continued
to be severely restricted. There were continuing reports of serious
violations of human rights, including arbitrary arrests and
extrajudicial executions. There were also multiple allegations of the
rape of women and girls by members of the security services.
Excessive use of force ‒ extrajudicial executions
In April and May, protests took place across Oromia
region against a proposed “Integrated Master Plan” to expand the
capital Addis Ababa into Oromia regional territory. The government said
the plan would bring services to remote areas, but many Oromo people
feared it would damage the interests of Oromo farmers and lead to
large-scale displacement.
Security services, comprising federal police and
military special forces, responded with excessive force, firing live
ammunition at protesters in Ambo and Guder towns and Wallega and
Madawalabu universities, resulting in the deaths of at least 30 people,
including children. Hundreds of people were beaten by security service
agents during and after the protests, including protesters, bystanders,
and parents of protesters for failing to “control” their children,
resulting in scores of injuries.
Thousands of people were arbitrarily arrested.
Large numbers were detained without charge for several months, and some
were held incommunicado. Hundreds were held in unofficial places of
detention, including Senkele police training camp. Some detainees were
transferred to Maikelawi federal police detention centre in Addis Ababa.
Over 100 people continued to be detained in Kelem Wallega, Jimma and
Ambo by security service agents after courts ordered their release on
bail or unconditionally.
Many of those arrested were released after varying
detention periods, between May and October, but others were denied bail,
or remained in detention without charge. Others, including students and
members of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) opposition political
party, were prosecuted and convicted in rapid trials on various charges
relating to the protests.
Freedom of expression, arbitrary arrests and detentions
2014 saw another onslaught on freedom of expression
and suggestions of dissent, including further targeting of the
independent media and arrests of opposition political party members and
peaceful protesters. Several attempts by opposition political parties to
stage demonstrations were obstructed by the authorities. The
Anti-Terrorism Proclamation continued to be used to silence dissidents.
Opposition party members were increasingly targeted ahead of the 2015
general election.
In late April, six bloggers of the Zone 9
collective and three independent journalists associated with the group
were arrested in Addis Ababa, two days after the group announced the
resumption of activities, which had been suspended due to significant
harassment. For nearly three months, all nine were held in the
underground section of Maikelawi, denied access to family members and
other visitors, and with severely restricted access to lawyers.
In July, they were charged with terrorism offences,
along with another Zone 9 member charged in their absence. The charge
sheet cited among their alleged crimes the use of “Security in a Box” – a
selection of open-source software and materials created to assist human
rights defenders, particularly those working in repressive
environments.
Six of the group said they were forced to sign
confessions. Three complained in remand hearings that they had been
tortured, but the court did not investigate their complaints. The trial
continued at the end of 2014.
Early in 2014, a “study” conducted by the national Press Agency and Ethiopian News Agency and published in the government-run Addis Zemen
newspaper targeted seven independent publications, alleging that they
had printed several articles which “promoted terrorism”, denied economic
growth, belittled the legacy of former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, and
committed other “transgressions”. In August, the government announced
that it was bringing charges against several of the publications,
causing over 20 journalists to flee the country. In October, the owners
of three of the publications were sentenced in their absence to over
three years’ imprisonment each for allegedly inciting the public to
overthrow the government and publishing unfounded rumours.
The OFC opposition party reported that between 350
and 500 of its members were arrested between May and July, including
party leadership. The arrests started in the context of the “Master
Plan” protests, but continued for several months. Many of those arrested
were detained arbitrarily and incommunicado. OFC members were among
over 200 people arrested in Oromia in mid-September, and further party
members were arrested in October.
On 8 July, Habtamu Ayalew and Daniel Shebeshi, of
the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) Party, and Yeshewas Asefa of
the Semayawi Party were arrested in Addis Ababa. Abraha Desta of the
Arena Tigray Party, and a lecturer at Mekele University, was arrested in
Tigray, and was transferred to Addis Ababa. They were detained in
Maikelawi and initially denied access to lawyers and family. In late
October, they were charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.
Yeshewas Asefa complained in court that he had been tortured in
detention.
The Semayawi Party reported numerous arrests of its
members, including seven women arrested in March during a run to mark
International Women’s Day in Addis Ababa, along with three men, also
members of the party. They had been chanting slogans including “We need
freedom! Free political prisoners!” They were released without charge
after 10 days. In late April, 20 members of the party were arrested
while promoting a demonstration in Addis Ababa. They were released after
11 days.
In early September, Befekadu Abebe and Getahun
Beyene, party officials in Arba Minch city, were arrested along with
three party members. Befekadu Abebe and Getahun Beyene were transferred
to Maikelawi detention centre in Addis Ababa. In the initial stages of
detention, they were reportedly denied access to lawyers and family
members. In late October, party member Agbaw Setegn, was arrested in
Gondar, and was also transferred to Maikelawi, and held incommunicado
without access to lawyers or family.
On 27 October, editor Temesgen Desalegn was
sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for “defamation” and “inciting
the public through false rumours”, in the now-defunct publication Feteh, after a trial that had lasted more than two years. The publisher of Feteh was also convicted in their absence.
People were detained arbitrarily without charge for
long periods in the initial stages, or throughout the duration, of
their detention including numerous people arrested for peaceful
opposition to the government or their imputed political opinion.
Arbitrary detention took place in official and unofficial detention
centres, including Maikelawi. Many detainees were held incommunicado,
and many were denied access to lawyers and family members.
Numerous prisoners of conscience, imprisoned in
previous years based solely on their peaceful exercise of their freedom
of expression and opinion, including journalists and opposition
political party members, remained in detention. These included some
convicted in unfair trials, some whose trials continued, and some who
continued to be detained without charge.
Access to detention centres for monitoring and documenting the treatment of detainees continued to be severely restricted.
Torture and other ill-treatment
Torture took place in local police stations, Maikelawi federal police station, federal and regional prisons and military camps.
Torture methods reported included: beating with
sticks, rubber batons, gun butts and other objects; burning; tying in
stress positions; electric shocks; and forced prolonged physical
exercise. Some detention conditions amounted to torture, including
detaining people underground without light, shackled and in prolonged
solitary confinement.
Torture typically took place in the early stages of
detention, in conjunction with the interrogation of the detainee.
Torture was used to force detainees to confess, to sign incriminating
evidence and to incriminate others. Those subjected to torture included
prisoners of conscience, who were arrested for their perceived or actual
expression of dissent.
Defendants in several trials complained in court
that they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention. The
courts failed to order investigations into the complaints.
In several cases, prisoners of conscience were denied access to adequate medical care.
Oromia region
Ethnic Oromos continued to suffer many violations of human rights in efforts to suppress potential dissent in the region.
Large numbers of Oromo people continued to be
arrested or remained in detention after arrests in previous years, based
on their peaceful expression of dissent, or in numerous cases, based
only on their suspected opposition to the government. Arrests were
arbitrary, often made pre-emptively and without evidence of a crime.
Many were detained without charge or trial, and large numbers were
detained in unofficial places of detention, particularly in military
camps throughout the region. There was no accountability for enforced
disappearances or extrajudicial executions during 2014 or in previous
years.
In the aftermath of the “Master Plan” protests,
increased levels of arrests of actual or suspected dissenters continued.
Large numbers of arrests were reported, including several hundred in
early October in Hurumu and Yayu Woredas districts in Illubabor
province, of high-school students, farmers and other residents.
There were further reports of arrests of students
asking about the fate of their classmates arrested during the “Master
Plan” protests, demanding their release and justice for those killed,
including 27 reported to have been arrested in Wallega University in
late November.
Refugees and asylum-seekers
Forcible returns
Ethiopian government agents were active in many
countries, some of which cooperated with the Ethiopian authorities in
forcibly returning people wanted by the government.
In January, two representatives of the rebel Ogaden
National Liberation Front were abducted and forcibly returned to
Ethiopia from Nairobi, Kenya. They were in Nairobi to participate in
further peace talks between the group and the government.
On 23 June, UK national Andargachew Tsige,
Secretary General of the outlawed Ginbot 7 movement, was rendered from
Yemen to Ethiopia. On 8 July, a broadcast was aired on state-run ETV
showing Tsige looking haggard and exhausted. By the end of the year, he
was still detained incommunicado at an undisclosed location, with no
access to lawyers or family. The UK government continued to be denied
consular access, except for two meetings with the Ambassador, to one of
which Andargachew Tsige was brought hooded, and they were not permitted
to talk privately.
In March, former Gambella regional governor Okello
Akway, who has Norwegian citizenship, was forcibly returned to Ethiopia
from South Sudan. In June, he was charged with terrorism offences along
with several other people, in connection with Gambella opposition
movements in exile.
