Ethnic based EPRDF never had any plan to establish a democratic government

By Jonas Tameru

It is evident that Meles’s EPRDF never had any plan to establish a democratic government in Ethiopia. While showing authoritarian tendencies from the beginning of his rule, Meles’s government initially adhered to a range of democratic standards. As the years passed, his leadership style became increasingly iron-fisted. Ethiopia’s designation in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report declined from Partly Free to Not Free for events in 2010, as the government grew more hostile toward political opponents, media critics, and civil society activists. The country was also designated Not Free in parallel reports on press freedom and internet freedom. Freedom in the World registered a further decline for Ethiopia the following year, citing the misuse of antiterrorism laws to punish opposition activists and journalists. Given Ethiopia’s tragic and bloody political history—first under Emperor Haile Selassie, then under Mengistu—Meles’s refusal to institute governance norms based on democracy and human rights principles is an important and thoroughly unhappy part of his legacy.

Ethiopia’s authoritarian government showed no sign of loosening its grip on power in 2011, using an antiterrorism law to target opponents of the ruling party. More than 100 political activists and journalists were detained, often for several months, before being charged with vaguely defined terrorism offenses. In a country where freedom is uncertain to its citizens, it makes it almost impossible to fight for democracy!!!!

The EPRDF and its allies rigged the 2005 parliamentary elections, though the main opposition parties performed well, winning a third of the seats, the EPRDF announced its victory throughout the country. Claiming that voter fraud had deprived them of outright victory, opposition supporters took to the streets. The authorities responded harshly, killing at least 193 people and arresting more than 4,000, including leading opposition figures. Several prominent detainees received harsh sentences, and though all were pardoned and released in 2007, some were later rearrested. Shorn of its representation in Parliament and placed under relentless pressure by the authorities, opponents of the EPRDF found it increasingly difficult to operate. The government forces took harsh measures on demonstrators most were shot dead. Some were beaten to death. The reaction from Meles was cold. He was sorry for the deaths, he said, but he'd simply told the security forces to "stop the insurrection." These were not normal demonstrations, he insisted. Afterwards, opposition leaders were rounded up and jailed. The "strong hand" of his government was crushing the opposition, stifling the press, and scaring human rights groups..  A planned antigovernment protest inspired by the uprisings in North Africa fizzled out in May 2011. In June, Parliament’s lower house declared five groups to be terrorist entities, including the U.S.-based opposition movement Ginbot 7. The designation meant that any journalist who interviewed party members faced possible arrest on terrorism charges. Scores of activists and journalists were arrested in the following months, including well-known actor Debebe Eshetu, who was charged with planning attacks on behalf of Ginbot 7. Two political leaders from the Oromia region were arrested in August and charged under the same antiterrorism legislation; another four politicians were detained the following month.This is what the EPRDF boosts as its successful build of a democratic system of governance.

Ethiopia’s news media are dominated by state-owned broadcasters and government-oriented newspapers. One of the few independent papers in the capital, Addis Neger, closed in 2009, claiming harassment by the authorities. Privately owned papers are small in number, tend to steer clear of political issues, and have low circulations. A 2008 media law allows prosecutors to seize material before publication in the name of national security, and makes defamation a criminal offense.

Journalists who reported on opposition activities faced serious harassment in 2011. Two newspaper reporters were detained under the country’s antiterrorism law in June. They were formally charged with terrorism offenses during a court hearing in September, at which one of them claimed to have been tortured. A third journalist was charged in absentia. In a separate case, two Swedish journalists were charged on the same day with terrorism offenses for reporting on the activities of the ONLF. In December, they were found guilty of supporting terrorism and were each sentenced to 11 years in prison. Another well-known journalist, Eskinder Nega, who had previously been pardoned for treason relating to the postelection protests in 2005, was detained again in September and accused of terrorism. Because of these risks, many of Ethiopia’s journalists work in exile. In September, a reporter fled the country after being asked to reveal the source of a story he wrote that was cited in a U.S. diplomatic cable published by the ant secrecy group Wiki Leaks. The authorities routinely block opposition websites, and in 2010, they jammed the Amharic-language broadcasts of Voice of America for eight months.

Academic freedom is restricted. The government has accused universities of being friendly to the opposition, and prohibits political activities on campuses. There have been reports of students being pressured into joining the EPRDF in order to secure places at universities. The presence of the EPRDF at all levels of society inhibits free private discussion. Many people are wary of speaking against the government for fear of being overheard by party officials. The EPRDF maintains a network of paid informants, and opposition politicians have accused the government of tapping their telephones. Freedoms of assembly and association are guaranteed by the constitution but limited in practice. Organizers of large public meetings must request permission from the authorities 48 hours in advance. Applications by opposition groups are routinely denied. During the 2010 election campaign, police routinely broke up political rallies and meetings organized by the opposition.

The judiciary is officially independent, but its judgments rarely deviate from government policy. The 2009 Antiterrorism Proclamation defines terrorist activity very broadly and gives great discretion to the security forces, allowing the detention of suspects for up to four months without charge. It was used in 2011 to detain more than 100 members of opposition parties; terrorist suspects were denied legal assistance while they awaited trial. Conditions in Ethiopia’s prisons are harsh, and detainees frequently report abuse. The government has tended to favor Tigrayan ethnic interests in economic and political matters. Politics within the EPRDF have been dominated by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, one of its constituent groups. Repression of the Oromo and ethnic Somalis, and government attempts to co-opt their parties into subsidiaries of the EPRDF, have fueled nationalism in both Oromia and the Ogaden. Persistent claims that war crimes have been committed by government troops in the Ogaden are difficult to verify, as independent media are barred from the region