Meles Zenawi

The 2009 counter-terrorism law drew strong criticism because its broad definitions could criminalise reporting, contacts with banned groups or forms of dissent. It was subsequently used in prosecutions against journalists and opponents.

State of the evidence

Documented

Person targeted by the proceedings

journalists and opponents

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

In the 2010 elections, the EPRDF and its allies won 99.6% of seats in a context HRW described as marked by intimidation, control over public space and weak independent media. Subsequent years saw further prosecutions and convictions of journalists under counter-terrorism legislation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Person targeted by the proceedings

journalists

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

HRW collected testimony alleging that access to seeds, fertilisers, land, credit, public employment and aid programmes could depend on membership of or support for the ruling party, creating a system of political pressure in rural areas.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Charities and Societies Proclamation of 2009 restricted the ability of organisations receiving more than a low threshold of foreign funding to work on human rights, democracy and governance, significantly reducing the space for independent civil society.

State of the evidence

Documented

Ethiopia intervened militarily in Somalia to support the Transitional Federal Government. Human Rights Watch documented indiscriminate artillery, rocket and mortar attacks by Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu, along with other violations committed by various belligerents.

State of the evidence

Documented

Following an ONLF attack on an oil facility, Meles announced a major counter-offensive. HRW documented executions, torture, rape, village burnings and forced displacement by the army, describing certain patterns as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Following post-election violence, opposition leaders, journalists and civil society representatives faced very serious charges, including treason, in proceedings condemned as politically motivated.

State of the evidence

Documented

Person targeted by the proceedings

opponents and journalists

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

Human Rights Watch describes a longstanding pattern in Oromia of arbitrary arrests, torture, harassment, surveillance and the use of local structures to control political expression and discourage opposition under the EPRDF government led by Meles Zenawi.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The May 2005 elections saw an unusual political opening, but HRW research shows that much of the country, notably Oromia, remained subject to intimidation, detention and surveillance of dissenting voices, undermining equality of electoral competition.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Following disputes over election results, security forces killed numerous protesters in Addis Ababa during the crises of June and November and arrested thousands. The repression marked an abrupt closure of the political space opened before the vote.

State of the evidence

Documented

In Gambella, hundreds of Anuak were killed in violence in which soldiers and police participated according to HRW; military attacks and abuses continued, and the official investigation mechanism was criticised for lacking credibility and independence.

State of the evidence

Documented

During the war with Eritrea, Ethiopian authorities detained and then expelled tens of thousands of people regarded as Eritrean or of Eritrean origin, often without effective individual review or judicial remedy, with assets frozen or lost.

State of the evidence

Well documented