Full text of the Prepared
Statement of Birtukan Mideksa,
First Vice
Chair, Coalition for Democracy and Unity
US House of Representatives Subcommittee on
INTRODUCTION
Chairman Payne, Distinguished Members of the
House
It
is a distinct honor and privilege for me to be invited to address you here today
on the subject of democracy, the rule of law and human rights in
When I sat in prison
for nearly 20 months, until my release in late July, 2007, with many other
colleagues accused of unspeakable political crimes, I had no idea that I would be
invited to appear in the halls of the Congress of the United States and share my
views with American lawmakers. Thank you Mr. Chairman for opening the doors to
this great House of the American people, and for inviting me and my colleague,
Dr. Berhanu Nega, Mayor-elect of
Mr. Chairman: I want
to take this special opportunity to thank you and this subcommittee for standing
with me and my fellow political prisoners in our darkest hours in Kality
prison. We remember vividly, Mr. Chairman, when you traveled all the way to visit us in Kality prison
in 2006. Your words comforted us then, as they did throughout our imprisonment
when you called unrelentingly for our immediate and unconditional release. I thank
you very much!
Mr. Chairman: You and this distinguished
Committee have defended and promoted democracy, freedom and human rights in
Mr.
Chairman: I am currently Vice Chairperson of the Coalition for Unity and
Democracy Party (CUDP) in
Mr. Chairman: In my opening
statement, I will briefly summarize my testimony. I respectfully request the
Chairman to include my prepared statement in the official record of these
proceedings.
In my testimony
today, I would like to provide the Committee with a brief overview of the state
of democracy in
The Pre-Election Period in
To understand the current
situation and meaningfully discuss future course of actions it is necessary to consider
the birth of democracy in
The preparations for the
2005 parliamentary elections were unprecedented in the country’s history. For
the first time, genuine political competition by the various political parties
in the electoral process was allowed. There was fair access to
publicly-controlled media outlets, and the level of public participation and
political debate on radio and television between opposition and government leaders
and supporters provided a solid background for an open and genuine exchange of
views on the important issues affecting Ethiopian society.
Public interest and
participation in the electoral process was massive. The European Union Observer
team estimated voter registration at no less than 85% of all eligible population,
based on voter lists containing 25,605,851 names of registered persons in 2005.
The total number of candidates for the House of Peoples’ Representatives was 1,847.
a total of 3,762 candidates ran for Regional Councils. The total number of women
candidates to the House of Peoples’ Representatives was 253, and 700 in the
Regional Councils.
The pre-election process while much more open than any past election it
fell short of accepted norms of free and fair election. To its credit the
government allowed limited media access, established a Joint Political Party
Forum at national and constituency levels, regular consultations with electoral authorities to resolve problems in campaign
and election administration, special elections-related training programs for
the police and the judiciary, pledges of non-violence between the ruling and
opposition parties for election day and invitation of international election observers
by the Government of Ethiopia, among others.
As election day approached
the government started to use its power to influence the outcome of the
election, The problems in the pre-election period also included administrative and
bureaucratic problems, wide spread interference by local authorities in the
conduct of public gatherings and opposition party rallies, threats and
intimidations by some local public officials. In some instances, force was used
to disrupt public gatherings and detain opposition supporters throughout the
country. There was concern among opposition leaders that the national elections
board lacked independence and impartiality because of the dominance of the
ruling party in the operation and administration of that board. In the days
preceding the elections, there was a spike in negative campaigns on radio and
television using images and messages designed to intimidate by associating the
genocide in
Polling Day,
As documented by various
international organizations, there was a very high voter turnout on
Election day was not entirely
without its problems. There were significant instances of expulsion and harassment of poll workers and
inadequate supply of polling materials. However, the incidents of intimidation,
multiple voting, ballot stuffing, and disregard for secret vote was limited.
Post Election Period
The early elections results
showed considerable gains for opposition candidates. Opposition parliamentary
and municipal candidates swept the seats in the capital,
Even though the Board was
required to announce the official results on June 8, that requirement was
superseded when Prime Minister Meles Zenawi declared a state of emergency,
outlawed any public gathering, assumed direct command of the security forces,
and replaced the capital city police with federal police and special forces
drawn from elite army units were deployed. The Elections Board simultaneously ordered
the vote tallying process to stop, and on May 27, the Board released its
determination that the ruling party, the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary
Democratic Front had won 209 seats, and affiliated parties 12 more. The report
indicated the opposition parties had won 142 seats. Our party filed complaints in 139
constituencies, the UEDF lodged 89 complaints, while the EPRDF raised concerns
over irregularities in more than 50 seats.
The ruling party, faced
with the prospect of being swept out of office, and before the votes were fully
counted, announced on May 16 that it had won more than 300 seats. It
conceded that opposition
parties had won the capital, but claimed victory in the national parliamentary
elections. Our party, the CUD and the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces,
claimed that we had won 185 of the approximately 200 seats for which the
National Elections Board had released preliminary results.
By early June, 2005,
it was unofficially reported that the ruling party had won the parliamentary
elections. This led to spontaneous public protests and demonstrations throughout
the country alleging election fraud. Throughout June and subsequent months,
such protests continued. The government undertook a program of massive arrests
and incarceration of protesters and political opponents. In an attempt to
suppress protests, hundred of demonstrators were shot and killed or severely
wounded. Our party strongly protested the use of deadly force against unarmed
protesters.
Report
of the Official Inquiry Commission On
As you will recall,
both the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Commission have briefed this
Congress in November, 2006.[2]
The chief of the European Union Election Observer Team, Ana Gomes, commenting
on the Commission’s report stated that the report "only confirms what we
have said in our report on the elections," and "that indeed there
were massive human rights violations."
Post Election Efforts by the CUDP to Create National
Political Reconciliation
In light
of the unstable political situation in the country following the May, 2005
elections, the CUDP made 8 specific proposals to the government as conditions
for it to join parliament. These
proposals addressed a number of critical institutional and rights issues,
including: restructuring of the Election
Board to insure its independent and impartial operation, equal accessability of public media to all
political parties, institutional independence
for the judiciary and non-interference in judicial matters by political
authorities, establishment of an investigative committee to look into killings
of unarmed protesters by government security forces, de-politicization and
professionalization of the police and armed forces, recission of recently
introduced parliamentary procedures that limit the participation of opposition
parliamentarians and governance of the City of Addis Ababa, release
of all political prisoners and reopening of
opposition party offices and
establishment of an independent commission, that is acceptable to all parties,
to follow up on the various proposals.
Government’s Response to CUDP Proposals
In November
1, 2005, the government responded to the CUDP proposals by arresting, jailing
and charging numerous opposition party leaders including myself, human rights
advocates, journalists and civic society leaders for various state crimes. For
nearly, 20 months these leaders were jailed in Kality prison while their case
was being heard. The international press characterized the court as “Kangaroo
Court”.
Our
Release
As you well know, there were numerous
attempts by various groups to secure our release from prison. Discussions with
a group of elders to find a common ground between the government and the
imprisoned CUDP leaders for negotiation on the future of democracy in our
country did not bear fruit because of the belligerence of the government and
the ruling party. While in prison and
throughout these discussions with the elders, CUDP leaders showed their
unflinching commitment to finding a peaceful and negotiated settlement to the
political crisis in our country. All our calls for peaceful dialogue have,
unfortunately, fallen on deaf ears. Even the most basic agreement we reached
with the elders to secure our release was nullified and used by the government
for mind numbing propaganda to isolate CUDP from the public and to instill fear
in the public so that it will refrain from supporting the party. In so doing,
the government once again showed its total preoccupation in gaining temporary
political advantage rather than look at the long term interest of peace,
democracy and national reconciliation. Our release after 21 months,
unfortunately, failed to bring us any closer to a more serious dialogue for
national reconciliation.
Restoring Democracy in
Mr. Chairman: Democracy can and must
be restored in
In 2005, we expected the
results of the national parliamentary elections as strong foundation for
building a temple of democracy in
There is no democracy in
The government’s
claim of political pluralism has not gone beyond the stage of political
sloganeering. If pluralism involves widespread participation and a greater feeling of
commitment from society members, it does not exist today in
Democracy in
Establishment of An Independent Judiciary
For the past two years, I
and my colleagues were on the opposite side of the bench. We were prosecuted
for various state crimes including treason, outrage against the constitution, inciting, organizing or
leading armed rebellion, obstruction of the exercise of constitutional powers, impairing
the defensive power of the state, and attempted genocide. Some of these offense
are capital crimes.
Our prosecution occurred in a court
system that has little institutional
independence and subject to political influence and manipulation. It is a judiciary that is used as a tool of political harassment,
intimidation and persecution. Judges are selected not for professionalism or
legal knowledge but for their loyalty to the government.
It is universally accepted
that an independent and professional judiciary is a key element in the institutionalization
of the rule of law, the promotion and protection of human rights and even in
implementing social and economic reform in society. The Charter of the United
Nations declares the determination “to establish conditions under which justice
and respect for the obligation arising from treaties and other sources of international
law can be maintained” (Article 1 (3)) and the aim to promote “universal
respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion” (Articles 1
(3), 55 (c)).
The 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights(4) provides for an independent judiciary in Article
10: “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal,
in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge
against him.” Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, explicitly states that “all persons shall be equal before the courts
and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of
his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a
fair and public hearing by a competent,
independent and impartial tribunal established by law.” There are many
other principles that support an independent judiciary.
The fact of the matter is
that there is no independent judiciary in
Although judges are
supposed to be free of political party politics, many are under the control of
the party in power, if not outright members. The judiciary is not perceived as
an independent and impartial body accessible by the public to seek justice and
protect their legitimate rights. With the judiciary under the effective control
of the executive, as it is today, there is little confidence in its
institutional powers or the legitimacy of its rulings; and very little public
expectation that the judiciary can be the guarantor of individual rights protected
by the constitution or the law. As a result, the Ethiopian judiciary has failed
to be the guardian of the Constitution and a protector of human rights.
Judicial
reform in
The principal danger to judicial independence comes
from parallel institutional forces in the form of executive interference and manipulation and legislative
meddling in judicial matters. Impartiality requires that in the discharge of
his judicial duty a judge is answerable to the law and his conscience only.
There
are various ways judicial independence could be achieved. Institutional and constitutional reforms have
to be implemented to ensure the judiciary’s capacity to deal with all matters
of a judicial nature. The judiciary should have the exclusive authority to
decide whether a matter submitted to it is under its jurisdiction. The final
decisions of the judiciary must not be subject to revision of any the
legislative or executive powers.
These proposals for reforms
are not anything new. In fact, in Arts. 79-84 of the Constitution, all of them
are listed one by one.
The Ethiopian judiciary has
serious structural problems. As has been said, “A competent and independent judiciary
can make a bad law become a good law, while an incompetent and dependent
judiciary can make a good law become a bad one.” In
Institutional guarantees
are essential in establishing judicial autonomy and independence. This requires
political commitments by those in the executive and legislative branches and
public awareness and appreciation of the significance of an independent
judiciary.
In
addition to structural reforms, there must also be judicial accountability that
will establish public confidence in the court system and enhance the quality of
the judicial services. Such accountability can not occur unless mechanism are
in place to monitor the relationships between those on the bench and those in
the political branches and the need to fight judicial corruption which is
always a looming threat.
If we can not
have serious judicial reforms, not only will we be unable to protect the rights
of citizens, but we will always live under the rule of the gun instead of the
rule of law. 6
The
Independent
Electoral Commission The
lack of impartiality and transparency of the Ethiopian National Electoral Board
was one of the factors that complicated the resolution of the dispute in the
2005 elections. We need an elections board that is representative of all the
political parties and enjoys the public trust. People need to have confidence
that their votes are counted correctly and there is no elections fraud. The U.S is in the best position to provide
technical assistance in establishing an independent electoral commission.
Imrpoving the Human Rights
Situation in
Mr. Chairman: You and this committee have worked tirelessly too improve the
human rights situation in
We in the CUDP believe that all
political prisoners in the country must
be released and their democratic rights restored. We support democratic reforms
and accountability. We favor protections for human rights and civic society
organization and ensure adequate monitoring and reporting processes. We have
argued for an independent judicial system with effective monitoring processes
to protect judges from political interference. We are committed to bringing to justice
all human rights abusers to justice. We have called for improvements in election procedures to ensure
fraud free elections. We support the existence of a free press without censorship
and restrictive press laws, and programs that seek to strengthen private media
in
We believe human rights and
democratic institutions building go hand in hand. We fully support training
programs that enhance democratic participation by the people, and enable political parties to do a better job
in organization building and campaign management, lawmakers do a better job of
legislative crafting, civil society groups become effective facilitators in the
democratic process and
professionalization of the National Election Board to help it become fair and
balanced. We support limiting the use of
HUMAN RIGHTS
Mr. Chairman: I
find it somewhat difficult to tell you and this Committee about human rights
abuses and remedial actions to improve the human rights condition there. You
have spent over two years studying the human rights situation in
All I can say
today is highlight the incontrovertible facts about human rights in
The Ethiopian
constitution under Art. 14 enumerates all of the “human rights” enjoyed by
Ethiopian citizens. Arts. 14-28 enumerate these rights and include basic
protections and guarantees of due process. Art. 13, sec. 2 states “The fundamental rights and freedoms enumerated in this
Chapter shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, international human rights covenants and
conventions ratified by Ethiopia.”
In fact, the ruling regime
observes neither its won constitution nor the requirements of well-established
international human rights conventions. The government established Inquiry
Commission I mentioned above has documented the widespread excessive use
of force by government security forces.
It has imprisoned hundreds of thousands of innocent people on suspicion of
opposition or disloyalty. The human rights violations
committed by this government are so numerous in their variety, and nature that
it would obviously be too difficult to list them all here. But I wish to cite a
few examples documented in the most recent U.S. State Department Human Rights
Report for 2006[3].
The report
stated that “Although the [Ethiopian] constitution and law prohibit the use of torture
and mistreatment, there were numerous credible reports that security officials
often beat or mistreated detainees.” Massive arrests and detentions are common,
and the Report concluded, “are Although the [Ethiopian] constitution and law
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the government frequently did not
observe these provisions in practice…. Authorities regularly detained persons
without warrants and denied access to counsel and family members, particularly
in outlying regions... The independent commission of inquiry… found that
security officials held over 30,000 civilians incommunicado for up to three
months in detention centers located in remote areas… Other estimates placed the
number of such detainees at over 50,000.
There is a substantial risk of miscarriage of justic in the judiciary: “While
the law provides for an independent judiciary, the judiciary remained weak and
overburdened. The judiciary was perceived to be subject to significant
political intervention.” Expressive freedoms are severly regulated or punished:
“While the [Ethiopian] constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and
press, the government restricted these rights in practice. The government
continued to harass and prosecute journalists, publishers, and editors for
publishing allegedly fabricated information and for other violations of the
press law. The government continued to control all broadcast media. Private and
government journalists routinely practiced self censorship.”
On a matter that I have intimate knowledge: “The 200 political prisoners on
trial in the Addis Ababa federal system were held in two separate prisons,
Kaliti and Kerchele, often under harsh conditions. In March CUD Secretary General
Muluheh Eyoel was placed in solitary confinement at Kerchele prison. In August
fellow CUD member Andualem Arage, along with journalists Sisay Agena and
Eskinder Nega, were placed in solitary confinement.” Perhaps the word “harsh”
is an understatement. Perhaps better
words to describe our condition may have been “dehumanizing”,
“atrocious” or “barbarous”.
Th right to assembly and association were vilated just the same: “The [Ethiopian]
constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly. Prior to the May 2005
national elections, there were numerous opposition rallies, including one that
occurred in Addis Ababa that was attended by nearly one million persons the
weekend prior to the elections. However, immediately following the elections
and throughout the year, the government restricted this right in practice. From
May 2005 to year's end, the government granted only one permit allowing a public
demonstration to take place… Although the law provides for freedom of
association and the right to engage in unrestricted peaceful political
activity, the government in practice limited this right. The Ministry of
Justice registers and licenses NGOs, and there was some improvement in
transparency of the NGO registration process. The government continued to deny
registration to the Human Rights League (see section 4).”
Thank
You Mr. Chairman
[1] http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/human_rights/eu_election_ass_observ/ethiopia/pre_stat_17-05-05.pdf
[2] http://www.qalitiqalkidan.org/commission/Testimony_Wolde_Michael_Mesesha.pdf; http://www.qalitiqalkidan.org/commission/Testimony_Frehiywot_Samuel.pdf;