Ethiopia: Rights watchdog says impunity carries high price

ESAT News (April 21, 2017) 

Researches on atrocities committed against people in tyrannical regimes have demonstrated that  a decision to ignore atrocities and reinforce a culture of impunity carries a high price, and merely encourages future abuses, the Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

Felix Horne, Senior Researcher with the Human Rights Watch for Horn of Africa, writing about the report released by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, said “an international investigation would be a first important step in ending Ethiopia’s culture of impunity and would send a powerful and overdue message to the Ethiopian government that its security forces cannot shoot and kill peaceful protesters with impunity.”

In a report titled “Fear of Investigation: What Does Ethiopia’s Government Have to Hide?” Felix Horne said the atrocities committed by the Ethiopian regime with impunity should “concern investors, diplomats, and others concerned about the long-term stability of Ethiopia following almost 18 months of bloody turmoil.”

The government sponsored Ethiopian Human Rights Commission in an oral report early this week says 669 protesters were killed and the measure by the security forces was “proportionate.” Horne said this conclusion is “at odds with the findings of other independent investigators.”

“At this stage, the grounds for the commission’s conclusion are unclear, since no written report has yet been published,” Horne writes.

He said the Commission “parrots” the regime’s narrative, blames opposition political forces like the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), another proof that it is not an independent body. “Independence is crucial for any successful national human rights commission, and the Ethiopian institution has failed to meet this bar for many years.”

“Aside from the commission’s activities, there is no domestic scrutiny of security force abuses. The members of parliament are all from the ruling party and affiliates. The judiciary lacks independence on politically motivated cases. Various courts have consistently refused to investigate mounting allegations of torture from detainees.”