Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1986
ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia is ruled by Chairman Mengistu Haile-Mariam who
exercises absolute power over the majority of Ethiopians. The
ability of the Mengistu regime to maintain itself in power is
based on the conviction of most Ethiopians that it is prepared
to take whatever steps are necessary to continue in power.
Chairman Mengistu holds the top post of general secretary in
the Workers Party of Ethiopia, established September 6, 1984.
The stated goal of the party is to transform the country into
a Marxist-Leninist state.
Ethiopia deploys the largest standing army in Africa south of
the Sahara, numbering over 250,000 soldiers. It uses this
power to pursue military solutions to the armed insurgencies
of varying intensities directed against the Government.
Ethiopia also supports rebel movements fighting against its
neighbors, Sudan and Somalia, in retaliation for their alleged
support of Ethiopia's internal opponents. The Government has
an extensive security apparatus which uses a comprehensive
system of surveillance and informers to strengthen its control
over the population.
The economy is currently suffering not only from the
aftereffects of the drought and civil strife (military
expenditures take 25 percent of the budget) but also from
ideological constraints, notably in the Government's efforts
to impose upon a nation of small, independent farmers a system
of collectivized and state farms.
Ethiopia's record on human rights remains deplorable.
Ethiopians have no civil or political freedoms and no
institutions or laws to protect their human rights. Over
1 million Ethiopians have fled the country, many preferring
life in refugee camps. The Provisional Military Government of
Socialist Ethiopia (PMGSE) dominates the media, labor,
education, internal and external movements of Ethiopian
citizens, and all political processes in government-controlled
parts of the country. The Government expects to hold a
national referendum in the near future on a constitution based
on Soviet and Romanian models. This constitution will provide
the legal basis for guarantees of human rights, but it is not
expected to alter the human rights practices of the present
regime. In recent years, the Government has forcibly moved
hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians, in part to improve its
control over them. Although the Government temporarily
suspended its program of forcibly resettling massive numbers
of northern highland peasants into lowland areas of the
country, a much larger nationwide program involving the
grouping of farmers in new villages accelerated in 1986. Also
in 1986, both government forces and members of various rebel
movements committed atrocities against prisoners and civilian
populations .
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political Killing
Ther'e were reliable reports in 1986 of the execution of
approximately 60 political prisoners in October 1985. None of
the executed is known to have been granted a trial, much less
an appeal, and the Government has never acknowledged the
executions nor attempted to justify them. Among those
believed executed was Dejazmatch Asegahgen Araya Hailu,
accused by the Ethiopian Government of being a "ringleader" of
an opposition political group, and 1 of 18 persons detained
since December 1983 for "distributing antirevolutionary
pamphlets." There is uncertainty regarding the fate of the
rest of these detainees, although another. Dr. Mengasha
Gebre-Hiwut, is believed to have died under torture in 1985 at
the infamous "Third Police Station" in Addis Ababa.
In insurgent areas, political killings by both government
forces and contending factions continued. Guerrilla forces
used assassination, sniping, and the mining of roadways as
tactics against the Government, while the Government continued
to execute captured combatants and to bomb civilian population
centers. Both government and rebel forces are believed to
have destroyed crops and homes in their opponents' areas.
On March 8, 1986, members of the Tigrean Peoples' Liberation
Front (TPLF) entered a relief feeding center and clinic and
shot and killed two civilian Ethiopian relief workers, one a
nurse who was allowed to bleed slowly to death under the gaze
of her assailants. The two victims were employed by the World
Vision Relief Organization.
b. Disappearance
The most notable disappearance in 1986 was that of the
Ethiopian Permanent Representative to the United Nations and
Ambassador to Canada in April. No charges are known to have
been filed against him, and his whereabouts have not been
officially announced by the Government. He is believed to be
in a prison in Addis Ababa. Amnesty International continues
to express concern for 15 persons who disappeared in 1979 and
who are presumed dead, including the Patriarch of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
c. Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
Methods of torture, including severe beatings, crushing of
bones of the hand, and the use of electric shocks, although
technically illegal, are practiced by Ethiopian officials in
cases involving insurgent combatants and those believed to be
engaged in political activities against the Government.
Amnesty International states that reports indicate torture is
often practiced on Ethiopian prisoners interrogated at the
Central Revolutionary Investigation Department ("Third Police
Station") in the capital and is routinely used in other parts
of the country to interrogate prisoners about opposition
organizations .
On February 8, 1986, the TPLF stormed the main prison in
Makelle, the capital of Tigray Province, releasing hundreds of
prisoners who provided fresh examples of torture employed by
the Ethiopian Government. Interviews by the International
Federation of Human Rights of 121 of those released
documented repeated cases of beatings of prisoners while
either bound and/or suspended from a ceiling and of forced
immersion in hot or dirty water, sometimes upside down.
Certain low-level officials who arbitrarily held prisoners
without charge, however, were themselves imprisoned for false
arrest and torture in 1985 and 1986.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Ethiopians suspected of antigovernnient actions or sentiments
are subject to arrest or detention by the security police
without charge or judicial review. Remarks considered
critical or derisive of the Government, failure to attend
mandatory political or kebele (urban neighborhood
associations) meetings, and suspicion of association or
sympathy with organizations opposed to the Government are
common reasons for arbitrary arrest and detention. In most
cases, political detainees are held incommunicado, 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. Prisoners have been held without charge
for periods of up to 9 years.
In politically sensitive arrests, the Government generally
prefers to operate in secret, taking the suspect from home at
night. However, 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 common civil and criminal cases (but not political cases
brought before the "special court" created after the 1974
revolution), lawyers are sometimes permitted to appeal
informally to government authorities, not judges, to know the
charges against a client and to have a detainee released if no
charges have been filed.
In May 1986, over 700 prisoners were amnestied from prisons in
Addis Ababa. Throughout the year, additional small groups of
prisoners were released from time to time.
Amnesty International and others continue to press for the
release of the 10 remaining members of the royal family
detained since the revolution, all held without charge.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
There is no discernible separation between the executive
branch and the judiciary. Courts are subject to political
control and are responsive to the requests and directions of
Ethiopia's leadership. Ordinary criminal and civil cases are
generally 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. Members of
Ethiopia's substantial Muslim population may elect to present
their civil case to a traditional Shari'a court, if both
parties agree.
Ethiopian political detainees generally do not receive trials,
public or otherwise. No guarantee of a public trial with
counsel exists in such cases, nor is the accused permitted to
present witnesses or evidence in his or her defense.
Political trials are almost always held in secret with only
the verdict (if even that) publicly announced. Those cleared
of charges or whose terms have been completed are not always
promptly released from prisons.
There are conflicting reports about the current number of
political prisoners. If the total includes those taken
prisoner as a result of ethnic insurgencies, it could well
number in the thousands. Amnesty International believes
several thousand were still being held at the beginning of
1986.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Warrants are not required for entry into or search of offices
or private homes. As a result, forced entry is commonly used
by the police and security forces, particularly during
military call-ups, although the level of this activity is
currently much lower than during the "Red Terror" period of
1977-78. However, surveillance of individuals, both visual or
through use of listening devices, has increased and continues
with no legal restraints.
All mail is subject to monitoring by the Government.
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. Every
urban Ethiopian lives under the watchful eyes of local kebele
association officials. These officials monitor visitors
received, items brought in and out of houses, any meetings,
and adherence to local curfews.
In November 1984, the Government began a massive and forced
resettlement of famine victims, especially from the northern
regions to western parts of the country. To date this program
has involved the forcible removal, transport, and resettlement
of over 500,000 persons, and eventual resettlement of up to 1
million more is projected. The program, as conducted in
1984-85, was rife with abuses, including the wholesale
separation of families and inhumane conditions of transport to
resettlement sites up to 700 kilometers distant. Following an
international outcry, the resettlement program was suspended
in December 1985. Efforts were made to improve the conditions
in the resettlement areas, but people already moved were not
officially permitted to return to their homes, although some
have left on their own. Several thousand reportedly attempted
to flee towards Sudan. Suffering from hunger, exposure, and
attacks by Sudanese rebels, fewer than a thousand reached
Sudanese relief centers. The Ethiopian Government has
publicly stated its intention to resume the program on a
"voluntary" basis in the near future.
One tragic byproduct of both drought and resettlement is the
"unaccompanied children/orphan" problem. According to
conservative estimates, there are as many as 10,000
unaccompanied children in relief areas alone, with an
additional (and presumably sizable) number of unaccompanied
children in the resettlement areas. By any accounting, many
of these children are "orphaned," that is, separated from
living family members because of the way the resettlement
program was implemented. While there have been small-scale
efforts at family reunification in several regions by both
government and private voluntary organizations, the Government
has not yet undertaken a countrywide project to reunite those
children who are not true orphans, with either immediate or
extended family members. Moreover, despite several offers by
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to embark
on a family reunification program in resettlement areas, the
Government has not yet accepted the ICRC proposal .
A much larger progrcim of collecting scattered peasants into
artificial and sometimes crowded villages continued in 1986.
According to government figures, 4,587,187 Ethiopians have, as
of November 1986, been forced into such villages. Peasants
cannot avoid participating in the program, and so far almost
everyone living in "villagized" areas has moved to the new
villages. At least one group of "villagized" peasants has
reported that they were told that their huts would be burned
down by party officials if they refused to move to the new
site. The Government has devoted very few resources to this
large program, so peasants must dismantle their own houses,
transport them to the government-selected village site, and
reassemble them. Promised social services such as schools,
new roads, or clinics, though promised, are rare.
Approximately 30,000 additional Ethiopians appeared in refugee
camps in Somalia during 1986, most claiming to have fled the
villagization program. Their allegations of violent coercion,
religious persecution, rape, and crop burning associated with
the program in the Harerge region have not been substantiated
despite extensive investigations in the area by
representatives of foreign governments and international and
private relief organizations.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, including:
a. Freedom of 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, i.e., women, youth, worker, and professional
associations, kebeles, and military commissariats.
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 circumscribed, especially in the political and social
sciences, still finds expression at the university. Private
secondary schools, where affluent Ethiopians can send their
children, are mostly free of political orientation. Many
Ethiopians, including government officials, seek to send their
children abroad for education.
Books and magazines can be confiscated if deemed to contain
sentiments opposed to the revolution. For example, the August
4, 1986, issue of Time magazine, which contained a lengthy
article on Ethiopia as well as verbatim excerpts from an
interview with Chairman Mengistu, was confiscated by
government censors. 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.
During 1986 the government-owned television, radio, and
newspapers significantly increased their use of American and
Western European "soft" news, features, and entertainment
products in an effort to improve the quality of their
programing and to make it more appealing to the public.
"Hard" news, however, continues to come almost exclusively
from official Ethiopian and Soviet/Eastern European sources.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
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 mandatory and enforceable by arrest and detention.
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 Religion
With the overthrow of the Haile Selassie regime, the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church lost its favored position, along with its
lands and most of its property. The Government allows the
Orthodox Church and the Muslim religion (each claims about 50
percent of Ethiopia's population) freedom of worship and
proselytism. However, the Orthodox Church has
government-appointed officials within its administration to
ensure its conformity with party policies. Party members are
legally prohibited from worshiping, but this ban is not
enforced .
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. There is,
however, a continuing effort to deemphasize the presence and
importance of religion in Ethiopian life, e.g., references to
any deity are expunged from dialog in television programs and
movies and are forbidden in government statements or
publications. Nevertheless, in recent years there has been a
notable resurgence in religious observances and church
attendance, deemed by most observers to be a popular response
to the regime's efforts to curb religion.
Other religions, particularly foreign Protestant Evangelical
organizations, have found their activities sharply curtailed
by the Government, through the closure of churches, the
seizure and nationalization of property and facilities, and
harassment and surveillance. At least one organization's
congregation, its leader imprisoned since 1977, now assembles
in secret "safe areas" for worship and other church-related
meetings. The Government gives permits to foreign
missionaries to enter and work in Ethiopia in limited numbers,
although ostensibly as development specialists, not as
missionaries .
Members of many of Ethiopia's Evangelical churches were
released from prison in 1986. A general trend of greater
tolerance by government officials at the central and local
levels continued during the year, although there were
exceptions. Several persons at a Protestant wedding ceremony,
including the groom, were arrested, reportedly for assembling
without a permit. The Jehovah's Witnesses church remains
totally banned.
Ethiopia's small Jewish community (the Falashas) live in areas
of insurgency (Tigre, Gondar) . 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 degree of
economic discrimination. The many craftsmen are not allowed
to sell their wares themselves in local cities, and tourists
are only infrequently permitted to visit a few of their
villages. As in the rest of Ethiopia, visitors are required
to get permission to visit these v^illages. 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.
d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Restrictions on freedom of travel within Ethiopia exist as a
result of the insurgencies (several areas, mainly in the
northern administrative zones, are closed to travel for
security reasons). Moreover, permission is required for
Ethiopian citizens to change their places of residence, and
persons considered politically suspect can be forbidden to
travel outside their home areas.
Travel abroad by Ethiopians is closely controlled. A passport
application can be denied for failure to attend the mandatory
Sunday morning political meeting or to "volunteer" for kebele
work activities. In 1986 the Ethiopian Government appeared to
be more liberal in granting passports and exit visas to its
citizens — applications for visas to visit the United States
were up by 4 percent.
Emigration is highly restricted, except in special
circumstances such as marriage to or adoption by a foreign
national. Some emigration has been allowed on the basis of
family reunification. Leaving Ethiopia without authorization
is a serious offense punishable by 5 to 25 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. The
government does not participate in forcibly repatriating
refugees from other countries. There are approximately
180,000 Sudanese resident in Ethiopia, some genuine refugees,
some armed Sudanese dissidents, while others are persons
displaced by drought and insurgency in southern Sudan.
Foreigners in Ethiopia, always required to obtain a travel
permit for internal travel, found that permission occasionally
denied in 1986. Representatives of the United Nations and of
foreign assistance programs and embassies who had been allowed
to travel freely in connection with emergency assistance
programs over the past 2 years found restrictions being placed
on such travel as the emergency subsided in late 1986.
Most of the Ethiopians displaced by the drought/famine
returned from Sudan before or during 1986. There is no
evidence that they were mistreated or discriminated against
upon their return. Also, from 1983 to 1986, 400,000
Ethiopians spontaneously returned to Ethiopia from Somalia,
according to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees. Approximately 32,000 refugees have returned from
Djibouti as of the end of 1986.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Ethiopian citizens have no legal right or peaceful means to
change their Government. All power to determine policy in
Ethiopia resides in the upper echelons of government, led by
Chairman Mengistu and shared less each year by a small group
of associates, mostly former military officers. Political and
economic policies are dictated to the population. The
Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia
invariably claims to be speaking on behalf of all the
Ethiopian people. The Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE)
purports to offer Ethiopian citizens a means of participation
in government, but its real role is to ensure that all
government ministries, mass organizations, and nationalized
businesses adhere to Marxist-Leninist principles. The WPE,
like its Soviet counterpart, is a rather exclusive group — not
everyone can join. Some, such as higher-level government
officials, are required to join if they want to keep their
jobs. Kebeles, the primary party/government control
mechanisms at the local level, control housing allocation,
basic food rationing, political indoctrination, and implement
other government policies, such as registering and selecting
youths for national military service.
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. Women are
poorly represented at the top echelons of government. Only
one woman, a vice minister, holds a senior position.
Ethiopia's new constitution, which is scheduled to be voted on
in a referendum in early 1987, would provide for the creation
of a People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and
representation by "nationality" or ethnic group in national
and regional parliaments. The extent of autonomy, if any,
that actually will be permitted groups such as the Eritreans,
Tigreans, Somalis, and Oromos is not clear. Until the key
issue of how the central government relates with its many
nationalities is resolved to the satisfaction of ethnic
minorities, ant i government insurgencies can be expected to
continue.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
There is no governmental or private body to investigate
alleged human rights violations. The government resists
attempts by international and nongovernmental organizations to
investigate such cases. Representatives of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Addis Ababa are not
allowed to visit political prisoners but are allowed to visit
prisoners of war from the 1977-78 war with Somalia. The ICRC,
however, does not have access to prisoners taken in fighting
with insurgent groups or to prisoners held by Ethiopian-backed
rebel groups opposing the governments of Sudan and Somalia.
In March 1986, the United States, introduced a resolution at
the annual meeting of the United Nations Human Rights
Commission calling for monitoring the widespread reports of
abuses associated with Ethiopia's resettlement program.
Ethiopia vigorously opposed this proposal which was not
brought to a debate or vote, despite the support of the
Western countries for a vote on the substance of the
restriction .
Ethiopia is not a signatory to any of the U.N. human rights
documents nor the Organization of African Unity's Charter of
Human and Peoples' Rights.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Language, or Social Status
Various U.N. studies indicate Ethiopian women are subject to
many disadvantages, encountering, inter alia, cultural and
traditional biases, marriages imposed at a very young age,
hard and time-consuming labor, and inadeguate employment
opportunities and decent wages in urban areas. Village
leadership is invariably male, and all clergy are male.
However, women in the central Ethiopian cultures (Oromo,
Amhara, Eritrea, and Tigre) enjoy economic rights equal to
those of men. They may inherit, sell, or buy property and
engage in business. Women have a subservient status within
the home, and child m.arriages remain common in some rural
areas despite opposition by the Government. Female
circumcision is widely practiced among Ethiopian Orthodox
families and is less common with some other groups, although
the Government has stated its opposition to this practice.
The Revolutionary Ethiopian Women's Association, a mass
organization created in 1980, has the proclaimed goal of
improving the status of women.
CONDITIONS OF LABOR
The minimum age of 14 for nonfarm labor seems to be
respected. The maximum legal workweek of 48 hours is
generally respected in practice. "Voluntary" work campaigns
at places of employment are common. Workers "volunteer" to
work extra hours and weekends so that factory or office quotas
can be achieved but receive no pay for these hours. Although
the right of workers to an annual vacation is guaranteed by
law, in practice government workers are usually allowed little
time off. Employers in private industry, however, are obliged
by the Government to respect this law. Health and safety
codes for the workplace are rudimentary and remain
unenforced. Absenteeism is very high despite punishments,
including beatings, in an attempt to curtail it.
The minimum wage in Ethiopia remains 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 is
currently under review; a new rate may be established next
year .
