AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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opening a branch office in the town of Fasha on December 29, pro-government supporters
severely beat several KPDU members and seriously damaged the newly
opened office. According to the KPDU, local government officials also detained Kafta
Kayitre and held him incommunicado for leasing office space in Fasha to the KPDU.
On November 20, the home of EDUP official Desalegn Yimer was burned down
by an arsonist in Ambasel Woreda, Kebele 2, in the town of Hayk, South Wello
Zone, which resulted in extensive property loss. The EDUP blamed government
forces for the incident. No government investigation had been initiated by year’s
end.
In October Prime Minister Meles dissolved the Addis Ababa city government and
replaced it with a provisional administration to be led by EPRDF/TPLF member
Arkebe Oqubay until elections are held next year.
Political participation remained closed to a number of organizations that have not
renounced violence and did not accept the Government as a legitimate authority.
These groups included MEDHIN, the Coalition of Ethiopian Democratic Forces, the
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party, the OLF, some elements of the ONLF, and
several smaller Somali groups.
Of the 19 members of the Council of Ministers, 1 was a woman, 2 other women
held ministerial positions, and a number of other women held senior positions.
There were 42 women among the 548 members of the HPR, and 9 of 113 members
in the House of Federation were women. Of the 14 members of the Supreme Court,
3 were women.
The Government policy of ethnic federalism led to the creation of individual constituencies
to help ensure representation in the HPR of all major ethnic groups.
Small ethnic groups were not represented in the legislature. There were 23 nationality
groups in 6 regional states that did not have a sufficient population to qualify
for constituency seats; however, individuals from these nationality groups competed
for 23 special seats in the 548-seat HPR in the 2000 elections.
Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation
of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups operated with some
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights
cases. Government officials were somewhat cooperative with them; however, the
Government often was distrustful and wary of such groups. Some of the most prominent
domestic human rights organizations included EHRCO, the Human Rights
League (HRL), and the Ethiopian Women’s Lawyers Association (EWLA). These and
numerous other groups primarily engaged in civic and human rights education,
legal assistance, and trial monitoring. However, the Government neither shared information
about nor acknowledged the existence of human rights abuses with members
of the NGO community.
The HRL, founded by Oromo civic leaders in 1997, continued to be investigated
by the Government at year’s end for its alleged ties to the OLF. In 2001 the HRL
sued the Government, and the court ordered the Ministry of Justice to reply to the
HRL petition for registration by February. The lawsuit was pending at year’s end
(see Section 2.b.).
Unlike in the previous year, the EWLA did not experience harassment from the
Government. The EWLA’s primary function was to represent women legally, particularly
in civil matters involving the new family law, spousal abuse, divorce, child
custody, and criminal matters.
Several international human rights groups visited the country during the year.
There were no reports that any member of such a group had difficulty obtaining an
entry visa. In July a group of researchers from HRW visited to gather information
on the violence in Awassa and Tepi. In August the CPJ visited to meet with members
of the independent press and to criticize government intimidation of journalists.
Education International was able to visit without restriction during the year.
Prison Fellowship International has developed a good relationship with prison officials
throughout the country. In September Transparency International sent a team
to Addis Ababa to explore conditions for establishing a local chapter.
During the year, the ICRC was allowed to visit most federal and regional prisons,
civilian detention facilities, and police stations throughout the country, including the
facilities where persons still were in detention at year’s end in connection with the
student riots in April 2001. The ICRC was granted access to the Tatek military detention
facilities but not to other military detention facilities where suspected OLF
fighters had been held (see Section 1.d.). The ICRC generally was given access to
detention facilities holding Eritrean POWs, including the main camp at Dedesa (see
Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). In 2000 the Government and Eritrea agreed that the ICRC
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