Bereket Habte Selassie is a Eritrean-American scholar on African law and government. He is William E. Leuchtenburg Professor of African and Afro-American Studies at
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he also instructs at the
University of North Carolina School of Law. Selassie is an activist for reform in
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
and a supporter of
pan-Africanism.
Biography
Selassie graduated from the University of Perugia, he studied for his LL.B. at the
University of Hull and received a Ph.D from the University of London. Dr. Selassie subsequently held numerous high-profile positions within Ethiopia, serving as Attorney General, Associate Justice of
Ethiopia’s Supreme Court, Vice Minister of Interior, and Mayor of
Harar.
However, Selassie resigned from the government in 1964 out of dissatisfaction with
Imperial policies.
Several years later he left Ethiopia, narrowly escaping capture by the military, to join armed guerrillas fighting for
Eritrean independence
An independence referendum was held in Eritrea, at the time part of Ethiopia, between 23 and 25 April 1993. The result was 99.83% in favour, with a 98.5% turnout. Independence from Ethiopia was declared on 27 April.
Conduct
The UN Observer Mis ...
. After spending time on the battlefield, Dr. Selassie left the war zone to serve as the representative of the
Eritrean People's Liberation Front to the
United Nations in
New York City.
After Eritrea gained independence, Selassie served as the constitutional commission chair and was the principal author of Eritrea's constitution. He has also served as senior advisor on constitutional reform in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Nigeria, and
Iraq, among others.
Selassie taught at
Howard University and
Georgetown University, before joining the faculty of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His work in Eritrea has been chronicled through a number of books he has authored, including "The Making of the Eritrean Constitution: The Dialectic of Process and Substance" (2003), "The Crown and The Pen: The Memoirs of a Lawyer Turned Rebel" (2007), and "Wounded Nation: How a Once Promising Eritrea Was Betrayed and Its Future Compromised" (2010).
Among several Eritrean opposition groups, Selassie is viewed as a force for progressive change, free speech, and an alternative to the government of
Isaias Afewerki
Isaias Afwerki ( ti, ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and partisan who has been the president of Eritrea since shortly after he led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) to victory in M ...
in Eritrea. However, he is still considered a controversial figure among supporters of the Eritrean government, who describe him as an opportunist, Ethiopian loyalist, and someone who lacks affection for Eritrea.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selassie, Bereket
Living people
University of Perugia alumni
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Alumni of the University of London
Howard University faculty
Georgetown University faculty
1932 births
Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences