Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1987
ETHIOPIA
.
In September 1987, the Provisional Military Government of
Socialist Ethiopia (PMGSE) declared itself to be the People's
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) . Mengistu Haile Mariam
remains the effective ruler, and the "new" Government boasts a
Soviet-model Constitution which formally provides for a wide
range of protections and civil liberties for its citizens, as
well as an elected parliament, the Shengo. In reality.
President Mengistu continues to exercise complete control over
the majority of Ethiopians. Mengistu is also the Commander-in-
Chief of the armed forces, the ultimate source of his power in
the country. He also holds the top post of General Secretary
in the Workers Party of Ethiopia (WPE), established September
6, 1984, as the nation's only political party. The stated
goal of the party is to transform Ethiopia into a Marxist/
Leninist state.
Ethiopia deploys the largest standing army in Africa south of
the Sahara, numbering over 250,000 men. It uses this force
primarily to pursue military solutions to the armed
insurgencies of varying intensities directed against the
Government. Ethiopia also supports rebel movements fighting
against its neighbors. The Government has an extensive
internal security apparatus which uses a comprehensive system
of surveillance and informers, including the kebeles (urban
neighborhood associations) at the neighborhood level, to
maintain its control over the population.
The PDRE is committed to a centralized, planned economy based
on "Socialist" principles. The economy currently suffers not
only from civil strife (military expenditures take 20 percent
of the budget), but also from ideological constraints, most
visible in the Government's priority of funding for state
farms in a nation of small, independent farmers. At the end
of 1987, new drought and famine gripped Ethiopia.
Ethiopia's record on human rights remained deplorable in 1987,
notwithstanding adoption of the new Constitution which provides
a legal basis for respect for human rights. The Government
continued to exercise tight control over political processes,
judicial functions, the media, labor, and education. Both
government forces and members of longstanding insurgent groups,
notably in Eritrea and Tigray, committed atrocities against
prisoners and civilian populations. During 1987 the nationwide
program of consolidating rural homesteads in new villages
continued, often by implicit threats of force, and was
sanctioned in the Constitution. The resettlement program
resumed in late 1987, but the Government promised that it
would be on a modest scale and on a purely voluntary basis.
The Government unveiled a general plan aimed at ending the
insurgencies, through the establishment of five autonomous
regions, but at the end of 1987 details of the plan were
lacking, and its practicality remained to be tested.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political Killing
There were no reported instances of extrajudicial executions
in 1987. The Government has come to rely less on actual
violence and more on the latent threat of violence to maintain
political control.
b. Disappearanceppearance
Although the Ethiopian Government increasingly has tolerated
religious activity (the new Constitution also recognizes the
right of religious freedom) , it has not explained the
disappearance between 1979 and 1985 of a number of religious
leaders and lay people, including the Patriarch of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church (1979), the leader of the Ethiopian
Evangelical Mekane Yesus Church (1979), and a number of
Jehovah's Witnesses. Some of these people cannot be located
and are presumed to have been executed summarily or to have
died.
The well-publicized disappearance in May 1986 of the Ethiopian
Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador
to Canada, Berhanu Dinka, remains unresolved despite pressure
by many Western governments for information concerning his
whereabouts. No charges are known to have been filed against
him, but there are unconfirmed reports that he was transferred
in July 1987 from the "Third Police Station" (an Addis Ababa
torture and interrogation center) to the so-called "Gebi
Prison" in the basement of the National Palace.
c. Torture or Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishmenture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The new Constitution notably omits the passage from the 1955
Constitution prohibiting cruel and inhuman punishment. The
use of torture by the Government persisted in 1987 but has
declined from the levels during the period of "revolutionary
terror" in the late 1970's.
Torture has been used against members of most opposition
groups, both those opposed for ideological reasons, such as
the radically leftist Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party
(EPRP) or the more moderate Ethiopian People's Democratic
Alliance (EPDA) , and those opposed for a combination of
ideology and ethnic/regional separatism, such as the Ethiopian
People's Liberation Front (EPLF) in Eritrea, the Tigray
People's Liberation Front in Tigray, and the Oromo Liberation
Front among the Oromo. The EPRP and the EPDA have no open
membership within Ethiopia at present, and the Government
seems more concerned with the ethnic/regional opposition
groups. Political prisoners are initially taken to central
investigation centers operated by the Ministry of Interior,
such as the Third Police Station in Addis Ababa cr the Mariam
Gimki Center in Asmara. Interrogation is often combined with
physical abuse, especially for those suspected of affiliation
with an opposition or insurgency group.
Common methods of torture include prolonged beating on the
soles of the feet, prolonged suspension from a rope in a
contorted position, death threats, mock executions, sleep
deprivation, and submergence to the point of unconsciousness
in tanks of dirty water. In June 1986, Amnesty International
(AI) published a special report, "Political Imprisonment and
Torture in Ethiopia," and appealed to the Ethiop: an
Government, inter alia, to stop torture and safecjuard
prisoners from ill-treatment. In two 1986 cases involving
prosecutions of kebele officials for torture, AI reported the
authorities had sentenced 14 kebele officials to 3-year and
life imprisonment terms, while another received the death
sentence.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, Exile or Forced Laborrary Arrest, Detention, Exile, or Forced Labor
While no accurate figures are available, some human rights
groups outside Ethiopia estimate that the Government has
incarcerated as many as 3,000 people for political reasons.
Over half of these political prisoners have not been formally
charged or sentenced. The new Constitution sets forth certain
civil liberties for all Ethiopians, including prohibition
against unreasonable search and seizure and a requirement that
arrested citizens be arraigned in court within 48 hours. The
Constitution also provides for arrest warrants, a fair trial,
the right to protection against self-incrimination, and the
right to counsel. These constitutional measures became
effective on September 12, 1987, but the Government has yet to
take any steps to implement them or to extend them to those
already imprisoned at the time they came into effect.
Widespread expectations of a general amnesty for political
prisoners concurrently with the establishment of the PDRE did
not materialize.
Although the new Constitution emphasizes the seriousness of
any treasonable act, it does not specifically limit the due
process rights of those charged with offenses against the
State. Nevertheless, Ethiopians suspected of antigovernmental
actions or sentiments continue to be subject to arrest or
detention by the police without charge or judicial review. In
politically sensitive arrests, the Government generally prefers
to operate in secret, taking the suspect from home at night.
In most cases, political detainees are held incommunicado,
without charge and without legal representation, at least
initially, and sometimes for the length of their term of
incarceration. The term of confinement for a suspect held
without legal charge is subject to the whim of the detaining
official or agent. Some prisoners continue to be held without
charge 13 years after their detention.
In 1987 about 25 people were arrested in Addis Ababa, Dire
Dawa, and Gondar, reportedly after arranging for the
surreptitious departure of Jews from Ethiopia. At the end of
1987, they had not been charged or tried, and AI cited reports
that several of them had been tortured.
Arbitrary arrest is not limited to the politically suspect.
Even people with no record of political activity or political
affiliations have been arrested and detained for months or
longer without explanation. In March 1987, the Government
detained an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 unemployed Addis Ababa
residents suspected of street crime. Those whose kebeles
would not vouch for them were transported to a "resettlement"
site in the countryside.
Ethiopia has generated the largest number of refugees in
Africa. There are more than 1 million Ethiopian refugees
living in neighboring countries, and tens of thousands, many
of whom cannot return to Ethiopia for fear of persecution,
living abroad.
There is no information that forced labor is practiced in
Ethiopia. However, on the demand of the kebele officials,
citizens are required to "volunteer" their services for
frequent community work programs. Workers are also expected
to "volunteer" to work extra hours and weekends, at no pay, so
that factory quotas can be met.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial of Fair Public Trial
In the PDRE there continues to be no real separation between
the executive branch and the judiciary. Courts are subject to
political control and are responsive to the requirements of
Ethiopia's leadership. The modern court system has a Supreme
Court at the apex and includes magistrate courts and a Special
Court of Appeal. While the civil court system operates
relatively independently of politics, the criminal court
system is more open to political manipulation. The special
courts established for trying political crimes against the
State were abolished with the adoption of the new Constitution
in February 1987. The recent consolidation of the Ministry of
Interior and Ministry of Public Security into a single ministry
under the former head of Public Security implies a continuing,
overriding priority for state security regardless of
constitutional provisions for humane judicial procedures.
AI and Western governments continue to press the PDRE to bring
charges against, or to release, all political prisoners,
including the 10 remaining members of the royal family
detained since the Revolution. When political trials do take
place, they are almost always held in secret with only the
verdict (if even that) publicly announced. Prisoners cleared
of charges or whose terms have been completed are not always
promptly released from prisons.
In practice, the right to a fair public trial is observed and
respected in civil and criminal cases of a nonpolitical nature.
These cases generally are based upon the submission of evidence
in a public setting. Minor cases are tried at the kebele
level, while more serious criminal accusations are tried in
courts where the accused has access to court-appointed lawyers.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home or Correspondencerary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides for the "inviolability of the house"
and protects against unlawful entry into private homes. In
reality, as in the past, warrants are not used for searches of
offices or private homes. However, the number of incidents of
forced entry by government forces, which are often related to
enforcing military call-ups, appeared to decrease in 1987,
including in homes in regions of insurrection.
Although the practice is generally decreasing, surveillance of
persons, both visual or through use of listening devices,
continues with no legal restraints. All mail is subject to
government monitoring. Ethiopian citizens can be called in at
any time for questioning by authorities and for mandatory
kebele meetings, political rallies, or marches. Refusal to
appear for any of the above may result in imprisonment without
hearing
.
Local kebele association officials monitor urban Ethiopians,
whereas peasant association leaders perform the same function
in the countryside. These officials monitor visitors
received, items brought in and out of houses, any meetings,
and adherence to local curfews. Such surveillance and petty
interference in the private lives of Ethiopian citizens is
very much dependent on the makeup of the kebele and its
leadership
.
Government proclamations designed to enforce Socialist
patterns of work make it illegal for a private farmer to
employ laborers on his farm or to own more than one home.
Such proclamations, however, are apparently ignored in some
remote areas of the country.
The Government's forced resettlement program which was halted
following an international outcry late in 1985, was rife with
abuses, including the wholesale separation of families and
inhumane conditions of transport to resettlement sites up to
700 kilometers distant. There were reports in 1987 that up to
100,000 persons had returned to their native provinces.
Nevertheless, an affirmation of the Government's commitment to
resettlement is incorporated in Article 10 of the new
Constitution, which protects the Government's right to "ensure
that human settlement patterns correspond to the distribution
of natural resources." In accordance with this commitment,
the Government late in 1987 resumed the resettlement program,
announcing plans to resettle 300,000 people in 1 year. By the
end of 1987, however, only a few hundred people had been
resettled. Preliminary reports indicated that these people
had volunteered for resettlement to escape the drought, that
families had been resettled as a unit, that they had been
transported in buses adequate to the task, and that the
resettlement sites were prepared to receive them.
Progress was made in 1987 to reunite unaccompanied
children/orphans with their families. Of the estimated 17,000
unaccompanied children/orphans who were a byproduct of drought
and resettlement, the Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation
Commission has placed 9,137 with family members. Although the
reunification effort continues, the Commission estimates that
it may be impossible to locate the families of about 3,000
children.
The Government's mandatory "vi llagization" campaign, which
collects scattered rural farmers into newly created villages,
continued in 1987. It is sanctioned under Article 10,
Sub-Article 3 of the Constitution, which states that "the
State shall encourage the scattered rural population to
aggregate in order to change their backward living condition
and to enable them to lead a better life." According to the
Government, 5,726,530 Ethiopians had been moved into such
villages as of February 1987 (15 percent of the rural
population). The Government has announced plans that call for
31 percent of the rural population to be moved into villages
by July 1988. Rural farmers cannot avoid participating in the
program, and to date almost everyone living in areas scheduled
for vi llagization has been moved into the new settlements.
The program has proceeded in the Gondar region despite some
scattered antigovernment violence in opposition to the program
early in 1987. The Government has devoted few resources to
this large program, so farmers must dismantle their own
houses, transport them to the government-selected village
site, and reassemble them. Social services such as schools,
new roads, or clinics, though promised, are rare. The
Government has repeatedly stated that this program is a
precursor to collectivization of Ethiopia's agriculture.
Despite this goal, over 90 percent of agriculture is still on
an individual family basis.
g. Violation of Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflictstions of Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflicts
In 1987 armed conflict between government and various
opposition forces continued in many parts of the country,
especially in the regions of Tigray and Eritrea. In previous
years, there were some reports from insurgent areas of summary
executions of combatants and civilians by both government
forces and rebel groups. No specific instances were recorded
in 1987. While in previous years there were instances of
relief workers in insurgent areas being killed, no incidents
occurred in 1987. However, a guerrilla group detained a
Western humanitarian relief worker in October 1987; she was
released in neighboring Sudan in November. Another guerrilla
group seized two Western contractors working at a village
settlement scheme in November 1987; they had not been released
by the end of the year. Guerrilla forces continued
indiscriminate mining of roadways as a battle tactic.
Government and insurgent forces reportedly destroyed crops and
homes in their opponents' areas.
On October 23, 1987 insurgent forces attacked and burned
without warning an unarmed and unescorted famine relief
column, destroying 23 late-model trucks traveling to food
distribution centers in Eritrea and Tigray. One driver was
killed, and 400 tons of wheat, enough to feed 40,000 people
for a month, was destroyed. This incident challenged the
famine relief effort, particularly to regions which insurgents
claim to dominate. The temporary severance of crucial
transport links increased the possibility of famine afflicting
hundreds of thousands of civilians.
The number and treatment of prisoners held by government
forces and rebel groups are not known. Some reports indicate
that the treatment of PDRE prisoners by some guerrilla forces
generally has been good. The Government apparently does not
recognize those rebels captured in battle as prisoners of war,
but rather classifies them as guilty of treason and either
executes or imprisons them. The Government considers its own
soldiers captured by insurgent forces as deserters who merit
execution, imprisonment, or immediate reassignment to the war
front if returned. The Government prevents relief
organizations from providing communications with families of
the PDRE prisoners in rebel hands. Of the insurgent groups,
only the EPLF has begun to allow the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) limited access to some of its
prisoners
.
In addition, the Ethiopian-Somalia conflict continued to
simmer in 1987. The PDRE has permitted the ICRC to visit 230
of its Somali prisoners of war, who were captured during the
1977 war between the two countries.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Pressof Speech and Press
There is no freedom of speech or press in Ethiopia. The
Government owns and operates all information media and
exercises censorship through editorial boards and the Ministry
of Information. Expression of unauthorized political opinions
or of views at variance with the official government line can
result in imprisonment. Political, economic, and social
policies in Ethiopia are formulated at top levels of
government, then disseminated and monitored through the
government-controlled media and government-organized citizen
groups
.
The Government closely monitors the pronouncements of public
officials, academics, and clergy. Some instructors and
professors in secondary schools and at the university have
resisted the politicization of education. Academic freedom,
although seriously circumscribed, especially in the political
and social sciences, still finds limited expression at the
university. In October 1987, students at two University of
Addis Ababa campuses demonstrated against dormitory living
conditions and the removal of the dean of students. About 10
students were arrested for their alleged leadership role in
the demonstrations but released a short time later.
Books and magazines can be confiscated if deemed to contain
sentiments opposed to the revolution. Foreign magazines and
newspapers are not readily available since foreign exchange is
not granted to purchase them. Foreign radio broadcasts are
widely listened to in Ethiopia. There is no evidence of overt
attempts by the Government to interfere with radio reception.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Associationof Peaceful Assembly and Association
Notwithstanding constitutional provisions, assembly of any
sort not previously approved by the Government is strictly
forbidden under penalty of arrest. In contrast, attendance at
government-sponsored rallies, meetings, and parades is
frequently mandatory and enforced by a wide range of
sanctions. Ethiopians, traditionally cautious in their
associations with one another and with foreigners, have become
even more so under the present regime. There is a pervasive
system of informers and surveillance. Frequent or close
association with foreigners can result in questioning, arrest,
and detention. Professional associations, such as the Rotary
and Lions clubs, are allowed to operate, though their
membership and activities presumably are monitored by the
Government. Trade and professional associations were
reorganized in 1986 by order of the Workers Party of
Ethiopia. New boards were selected for these groups from
members approved by the party.
Workers are not permitted to organize independently in
Ethiopia, and labor/management negotiations are strictly
controlled. Collective bargaining does not exist. Strikes
and slowdowns are forbidden. The only labor organization
allowed to operate is the government-controlled All-Ethiopia
Trade Union (AETU) . The AETU, one of Ethiopia's mass
organizations, is a political group used by the Government to
implement its policies, expand party control within the
workplace, and prevent work stoppages. Many of AETU's top
leaders have been trained in Eastern Europe, and the
organization has close ties to Soviet and Eastern European
labor organizations. The 1985 report of the International
Labor Organization (ILO) Committee of Experts criticized the
mandatory, single trade union structure in Ethiopia and
repeated its request that freedom of association be granted to
rural workers and public servants.
c. Freedom of Religionof Religion
Despite government attempts to deemphasize the importance of
religion in Ethiopian life and to ensure Orthodox Church
conformance with party policies, there has been a notable
resurgence in recent years in religious observance and church
attendance. The Government allows the Orthodox Church and the
Muslim religion (each claims about 50 percent of Ethiopia's
population) freedom of worship and proselytism, as stipulated
in the new Constitution. The Government has appointed some
officials to the Orthodox Church administration to ensure
church conformity with party policies. Party members are
prohibited from worshiping, but this ban is not enforced.
According to press reports, kebeles often discourage church
attendance, generally by scheduling mandatory meetings on
Sunday mornings. The Government nationalized most church
property when it took power, and the church reportedly is
dependent on annual government compensation payments to cover
clergy salaries.
Orthodox and Muslim holidays are recognized by the Government,
and officials of both religions are allowed to exercise
jurisdiction over civil matters such as marriage. However,
the Government expunges references to any deity from dialog in
television programs and films and forbids such references in
government statements or publications.
Some other religions, particularly foreign Protestant
evangelical organizations, which found their activities
sharply curtailed following the revolution, have experienced a
general trend of greater tolerance by central and local
government officials over the last 2 years. Local government
officials allowed a number of churches that had been closed to
reopen. In 1986 a number of church officials were released
from detention including the General Secretary of the
Mennonite Church (who had been detained since 1981) and
leaders of the Ethiopian Evangelical Mekane Yesu church. The
Government gives permits to foreign missionaries to enter and
work in Ethiopia in limited numbers, although ostensibly as
development specialists, not as missionaries. The Jehovah's
Witnesses, however, remain totally banned.
Ethiopia's small Jewish community (the Falashas) live in areas
of insurgency (Tigray, Gondor) . Stories of "genocidal"
actions by Ethiopian authorities or of highly brutal behavior
toward Ethiopian Jews have not been substantiated by American
visitors to these areas. Jews do suffer some economic
discrimination, a holdover from prerevolutionary practices.
During 1987 the Government continued to permit foreign
visitors, including groups of American Jews, relatively
unrestricted access to Falasha communities in the Gondar
region. These communities also continued to receive
assistance from the U.S. Government and private sources.
Large numbers of Ethiopian Jews have surreptitiously left the
country in recent years. The Government has attempted to
block this exodus as part of its overall antiemigration policy
(see Section l.d.). Those who have left Ethiopia are not
permitted to return to visit family members, and family
members (as with non-Jewish Ethiopians) are generally not
permitted to emigrate on the basis of family reunification.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreignof Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Although the new Constitution provides for freedom of movement
and the freedom to change one's place of residence within
Ethiopia, actual government practice is quite restrictive.
Travel within Ethiopia is limited as a result of the
insurgencies (several areas, mainly in the northern
administrative zones, are closed to travel for security
reasons). Permission is required for Ethiopian citizens to
change their place of residence, and persons considered
politically suspect can be forbidden to travel outside their
home areas. Travel abroad by Ethiopians is closely controlled
by the Government through the issuance of passports and
mandatory exit visas. Passport applications require a letter
of recommendation from the appropriate kebele head. Foreigners
in Ethiopia have always been required to obtain a travel permit
for internal travel. In 1987 they occasionally were denied
that permission, although most representatives of the United
Nations and of foreign assistance programs and embassies,
including U.S. officials, have been able to obtain permits to
travel in connection with their assistance programs.
Emigration is highly restricted, except in special
circumstances such as marriage to or adoption by a foreign
national. Leaving Ethiopia without authorization is a serious
offense punishable by 5 to 15 years' imprisonment or, in
exceptional cases, reportedly by death. Nonetheless,
considerable illegal emigration occurs either under the
subterfuge of travel abroad for business or to visit
relatives, or by arduous treks overland and surreptitious
crossing of borders.
The Government recognizes the right of voluntary repatriation,
and its proclamation of mass amnesty for Ethiopians living
abroad (numbering more than 1 million) remains in effect.
From 1983 to 1987, according to figures provided by the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) , approximately 750,000
Ethiopians spontaneously returned to Ethiopia from Sudan,
Djibouti, and Somalia. Most of the returnees were rural
people who returned spontaneously; the outflow of refugees
during the same period was about 550,000. The PDRE supports
UNHCR repatriation programs, which have successfully
repatriated 3,397 Ethiopians from Djibouti since late 1986 and
approximately 5,500 Ethiopians from Somalia during the same
period. Many of the returnees benefited from UNHCR
assistance. There is no evidence that they were mistreated or
discriminated against upon their return.
There have been no reports of the Government forcibly
repatriating refugees from other countries.
As a result of the civil war in southern Sudan, an estimated
103,000 Sudanese refugees entered Ethiopia in 1987, bringing
the total number of Sudanese refugees to about 225,000. The
Ethiopian Government also reports that it has received at
least 10,000 asylum seekers from Somalia.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Gonvernment
Citizens of Ethiopia are not free to change the government.
In fact, the new Constitution institutionalizes all power in
the Workers Party of Ethiopia (WPE) , the President, his
advisors, and the new Council of State. Political and
economic policies are still dictated to the population with
little opportunity for public debate.
To give a semblance of democracy to the newly organized
administration, the Government sponsored a referendum to
approve the new Constitution and an election to choose the
members of the 835-member national Shengo (one-chamber
parliament) from slates of candidates approved by the WPE.
Following public discussion meetings held throughout the
country, the People's Review Board made several changes in the
draft Constitution. Eighty percent of those voting reportedly
voted in favor of the new Constitution.
The WPE and its "mass organizations" purport to offer Ethiopian
citizens a means of participation in government, but its real
role is to ensure adherence to Marxist/Leninist principles.
The WPE, like its Soviet counterpart, is an exclusive
group--not everyone can join. Some, such as higher-level
government officials, are required to join if they wish to
keep their jobs. Kebeles, the primary party/government
control mechanisms at the local level, control housing
allocation, basic food rationing, political indoctrination,
and implementation of other government policies, such as
registration and selection of youths for national military
service.
The new Constitution mandates the formation of assemblies
(shengos) in the various regions including in the five newly
created autonomous regions. Under the autonomy plan, the
Assembly of the Eritrean Autonomous Region is to have the
exclusive right to promulgate and enforce its own laws so long
as they do not conflict with national laws. The assemblies of
the other four autonomous regions, Assab, Tigray, Dire Dawa
,
and Ogaden, would require permission from the central
government in order to formulate their own laws. The
Constitution also lists a number of responsibilities reserved
for the regional assemblies and their executive committees,
including the preparation of social and economic plans and
budgets for approval by the national Shengo . The PDRE hopes
the autonomy plan will serve as the basis for a political
solution to the various internal insurgencies, but
implementation has not really begun.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The Government resists attempts by international and
nongovernmental organizations to investigate human rights
cases. It did not respond, for example, to AI ' s various
inquiries in 1986, such as on the reported use of torture.
There is no governmental or private body to investigate
alleged human rights violations. Representatives of the ICRC
in Addis Ababa are allowed to visit some of the prisoners of
war from the 1977-78 war with Somalia. The ICRC does not have
access to prisoners held by Ethiopian-backed rebel groups
opposing the Governments of Sudan and Somalia. Ethiopia is
not a signatory to any of the United Nations' human rights
documents or the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution provides for the equality of all Ethiopians
irrespective of nationality, sex, religion, occupation, social
or other status. The highest government echelons are no
longer dominated by the Amhara ethnic group but include many
Oromos and a few Eritreans and Tigreans. Almost all senior
government and political figures are of Christian origin,
although the population is approximately 50 percent Muslim.
While the rights of women are protected and promised
additional government support by the Constiutution, sexual
discrimination persists. Various U.N. studies indicate
Ethiopian women are subject to many disadvantages,
encountering, among other things, cultural and traditional
biases, marriages imposed at a very young age, hard and
time-consuming labor, inadequate employment opportunities, and
subaverage wages in urban areas. Village leadership is
invariably male, and all clergy are male. However, women in
the principal Ethiopian cultures (Oromo, Amhara, Eritrea, and
Tigray) enjoy economic rights equal to those of men. They may
inherit, sell, or buy property and engage in business. In
some rural areas, women have a subservient status within the
home, and child marriages remain common, despite opposition by
the Government. Long-established practices, such as female
circumcision remain prevalent despite government opposition
among Ethiopian Orthodox and Muslim families and is less
common with some other groups.
The Revolutionary Ethiopian Women's Association, a mass
organization created in 1980, has the proclaimed goal of
improving the status of women. Women are poorly represented
at the top echelons of government. There are, however, 46
female members in the 835-member Shengo.
CONDITIONS OF LABOR
The new Constitution recognizes in principal the right to work
and to rest. Given high unemployment, there is pressure for
existing jobs in the modern economy. Accordingly, the minimum
age of 14 for nonfarm labor seems to be respected. The
maximum legal workweek of 48 hours also is generally respected
in practice, but, as noted, there is much volunteer labor to
meet factory or office quotas, and government workers receive
little of their promised time off. Health and safety codes
for the workplace are rudimentary and remain unenforced.
The minimum wage in Ethiopia is about $24 per month.
Additional allowances effectively raise the minimum wage of a
full-time employee to about $34. Day laborers in the
agricultural sector receive almost $1 per day plus some
payment in kind (shelter or a meal, for example). Day
laborers in the urban areas receive almost $1.50 per day plus
transportation to and from the workplace. The minimum wage
has been under review for some time without decision
