Sept 3rd, 2020 – After years of widespread protests against unjust government policies and brutal repression, the ruling coalition party of Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) was forced to change its leadership. Shortly after assuming office, the new leadership under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed dismantled the EPRDF itself and came up with a new political party called Prosperity Party (PP), dismembering the dominant Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). As a coalition party, EPRDF basically entrenched on ethnic identity and representation, which marks the social and political reality of Ethiopia. On the other hand, as stated in the party’s policy, PP has no ethnicity policies at its core. It is established on “pan-Ethiopian” rhetoric, which risks alienating sections of the country that worry that the way PP was established may lead to a return to a hegemonic unitary system being imposed on nations and nationalities with disastrous consequences. Abiy’s vision of Ethiopia that overemphasized “Ethiopianism” has also frustrated ethno-nationalist groups. That is why TPLF, the dominant party in EPRDF, dismembered itself from the newly formed PP.
Abiy’s leadership admitted that security forces relied on torture pre-2018 and committed itself to legal reforms of repressive laws. He also promised to open up political space by holding free and fair elections and introducing other ambitious economic possibilities. However, barely two years after the collapse of the EPRDF regime, Abiy himself is now using the same brutal tactics that were commonplace in previous administrations. The continuation of widespread human rights abuses has been recorded, including the use of force and brutality, torture, and cruel and degrading treatment by government security forces. These violations affect various sectors of the population, particularly the Qeerroo (Oromo youth forces that ensured the collapse of EPRDF), democracy and human rights advocates, and supporters and/or members of opposition political organizations who simply attempted to exercise their fundamental democratic rights. These fundamental rights are recognized not only by international covenants that Ethiopia has ratified, but also in Ethiopia’s constitution and other legal documents. Abiy’s leadership has significantly violated law and order amidst political transition.
Transition in Jeopardy
When Abiy Ahmed took power in April 2018, both local and international communities had high expectations for a drastic change in human rights compared to the previous TPLF-led EPRDF regime. While the country faces many challenges, the much anticipated political reforms that have taken place since 2018 have sparked hopes that the country can bring about an end to century-old authoritarianism. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, however, human rights violations continued not only to occur, but worsen. As has been reported by local, regional, and international human rights organizations, as well as some western governmental agencies, human rights violations in Ethiopia have become rampant, including politically-motivated extrajudicial killings, kidnappings and disappearances, mass arrests without court warrants, extended imprisonments without trials in unofficial and secret prisons, torture, denials, and delaying of justice.
The political crisis in Ethiopia has been deepening with time. The ongoing protests in Oromia and Wolayta, state fragmentation and continuously attempted coups d’état in the Amhara region, and the standoff between the federal government and the Tigray region, have put the survival of the government in question.
Election Dispute and TPLF
The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced the deferment of election and suspended all election-related operations under the pretext of COVID-19 precautions. The decision was rejected by most substantive opposition political groups, which called for a dialogue to avert the consequences of a constitutional crisis. The board’s announcement generated widespread concern about the transition to democracy, given the expiring mandate of the current parliament in September 2020, and brought forward troubling questions about how a legitimate government can be maintained in the absence of planned elections. Indeed, it creates a political vacuum that can considerably endanger Ethiopia’s political transition unless a consent-based alternative solution is prepared.
In defiance of federal authority, the TPLF, which ruled the country for nearly three decades since 1991, has vowed to hold its own regional election. Normally, elections must be held every five years, both for the national law-making bodies and for the regional and local-level lawmaking bodies as per Ethiopia’s constitution. In today’s Ethiopia, TPLF is the best-organized party and has the capacity to hold its regional elections on schedule.
Abiy has been at odds with Tigrayan elites, many of whom he has purged from government and state institutions since taking office, and the Tigrayan decision to hold an election disobeying the federal deferment has further ratcheted up tensions. So far, no meaningful dialogue has been initiated on steps to address their rift, leaving the confrontation with unforeseen consequences. Any punitive measures could also provoke Tigrayan leaders into triggering constitutional secession clauses in response to what they see as a steady erosion of their self-rule rights within Ethiopia’s federation.
The Quest for Self-rule vis-à-vis Abiy’s Move to Dismantle Ethnic Federalism
One major political reform presented by EPRDF in Ethiopia’s politico-legal history is the introduction of ethnic-based federalism. Prior to 1991, Ethiopia had suffered under the unitary state, which does not consider the existing social and political realities of the country. Though roughly materialized, federalism in Ethiopia matches with the nation’s long-held quest for self-rule.
More recently, a number of ethnic groups have demanded referendums to establish their own region as a means of self-rule. After decades of bitter struggle, the Sidama people recently succeeded in formally declaring their own region through a referendum. Many other ethnic groups such as the Wolayta, Qimant, Guraghe, and Hadya have also been seeking regionhood, citing Article 39 of Ethiopia’s constitution, which legally permits every nation, nationality, or people the “right to self determination up to secession,” including the right to administer itself and establish government institutions. This constitutional right appears in sharp contradiction to Abiy’s seemingly unitary political party. Abiy’s PP has no consideration for ethnicity while selecting the party’s leadership. His pan-Ethiopian agenda has basically contradicted the quest of nations and nationalities for self-governance. Ethno-nationalists are not against Ethiopia’s unity, but seek unity in diversity, not uniformity at the expense of diversity.
The Wolayta people in the country’s south have long agitated for a regional state of their own. The claims have become louder since December 2018 when the neighboring Sidama people secured a referendum to form their own regional state by breaking away from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). The federal government, under Abiy’s leadership, on August 9, 2019, responded to these developments by arresting more than 20 zonal officials, elected members of the Wolayta statehood council, political party leaders, and civil society actors, as well as community leaders and activists.
The government security forces also acted violently against peaceful demonstrators demanding the release of those wrongfully detained. The government suspended a community radio station and shut down offices of civil society organizations. Amnesty International reported the killings of 16 protesters and bystanders by government security forces during the unrest. More than 20 individuals were also injured.
Rising Public Discontent in Oromia
The public mistrust of government has grown amid inconsistent statements and its knee-jerk decision to arrest opposition political leaders following the June 2020 assassination of prominent Oromo artist and activist Hachalu Hundessa. The Abiy government’s failure to set up an independent inquiry into the artist’s killing fueled further suspicion.
In reaction to the resistance of Oromo leaders, Abiy has purged more than 1,700 local administrators and civil servants. The dismissed officials include his former ally, Minister of Defense Lemma Megersa, a politician considered pivotal to the prime minister’s rise to power. The dismissal came following Lemma’s suspension from PP’s membership. Relations soured in November after Lemma, who enjoys wider support and approval in Oromia than Abiy, publicly criticized Abiy’s decision to consolidate the ethnically-based parties in the ruling coalition into one political party, the PP.
A staggering number of civilian protesters are being killed and injured by security forces across the Oromia regional state on a daily basis. Nevertheless, protests in the Oromia region continue in different forms. With more than 9,000 people in prison, including key Oromo political leaders, the crisis has immense potential for escalation.
Photo credit: Horn diplomat (left), Tiksa Negeri/Reuters (right)
Oromo Legacy Leadership And Advocacy Association (OLLAA) has stood alongside voiceless and faceless victims killed, falsely arrested, and forced into exile to become refugees at homes and abroad by the thousands. We believe the Oromo people, like others, deserve to be heard and to be understood for all the sacrifices they have paid and are still paying. Right now, we are truly disturbed by the daily news of human rights violations coming from Oromia!
Our Solution & Plan
Our immediate quest is to show and pursue the international community that federalism is not up for debate and once again continue to speak up & build a platform for Oromos are being prosecuted. Donate to OLLAA as we:
- Hire professional human rights consultants to speak on behalf of Oromos.
- Hire researchers in Oromia to ensure accurate real-time information and to write professional reports in English so as to spread truthful & repressed information internationally.
- Globalizing Oromo human rights violation concerns by writing weekly & building relationships with international non-profit like Human Rights Watch, Freedom House as well as United Nations & United States government.
- Work on creating a stronger network & society through development work such as investing in education, youth leadership, women & girls projects, businesses, and much more.
OLLAA a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. All donations are tax-deductible: EIN 81-5230544