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The Ethiopian Human Rights Council or EHRCO is an Ethiopian
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
created in 1991 by Mesfin Woldemariam and 31 colleagues shortly after the dictator
Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam ( am, መንግሥቱ ኀይለ ማሪያም, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian politician and former army officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Wor ...
was overthrown. EHRCO's funds and staff were greatly reduced in 2009 as a result of a law limiting the role of foreign funds in citizens' associations, and restored by 2020, after
Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali ( om, Abiyi Ahmed Alii; am, አብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who has been the 4th prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He won the 2019 ...
became the new prime minister, allowing EHRCO to expand its operations. EHRCO published its preliminary report on the
Mai Kadra massacre The Mai Kadra massacre was a massacre carried out during the Tigray War. Ethnic cleansing and mass murders were carried out on 9–10 November 2020 in the town of Mai Kadra in the Tigray Region of northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. ...
of the
Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...
on 25 December 2020.


Creation

The ''Ethiopian Human Rights Council'' was created on 10 October 1991 by Mesfin Woldemariam and 31 colleagues in 1991 shortly after Mengistu Hailemariam was replaced by the
Transitional Government of Ethiopia The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was an era established immediately after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seized power from the Marxist-Leninist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) in 1991. ...
, dominated by the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; am, የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር, translit=Ye’Ītiyop’iya Ḥizibochi Ābiyotawī Dīmokirasīyawī Ginibari) was an eth ...
(EPRDF). In 1993, EHRCO filed a lawsuit against the Ethiopian government for refusing its registration as a citizens' association. The government claimed that EHRCO was "a political organisation", "side with the opposition", was "ethnically oriented" and made inaccurate reports. EHRCO disagreed. Mesfin was detained by the authorities in 1993 and later released on bail, without charges nor trial.


Leadership

EHRCO was headed by Mesfin Woldemariam from its creation in 1991 through to 2005. Yoseph Badwaza led EHRCO from 2007 to 2009. In 2018, Ameha Mekonnen headed EHRCO. Dan Yirga was acting executive director in October 2020.


Aims

The initial aims of EHRCO were described as helping the 1991 Transitional Government of Ethiopia in "respecting, protecting and fulfilling
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
."


Actions

Dan Yirga, executive director of EHRCO in 2020, summarised EHRCO's main actions as having consisted of investigating human rights violations; providing human rights awareness training to police, judges, lawyers and community representatives; carrying out human rights advocacy and providing free legal aid. EHRCO planned a one-day human rights workshop for media organisations and political parties for 20 October 2020. EHRCO protested against the forcible 1998–1998 deportation of 52,000 "Eritrean" Ethiopians to Eritrea. Mesfin Woldemariam stated the deportations were "causing a build up of hatred" that, if continued, would "lead to indiscriminate violence that
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...
go on for generations". In 2020, EHRCO planned to provide voters' education and election monitoring, claiming extensive experience from the 2005 Ethiopian general election. On 25 December 2020, EHRCO published its preliminary report on the
Mai Kadra massacre The Mai Kadra massacre was a massacre carried out during the Tigray War. Ethnic cleansing and mass murders were carried out on 9–10 November 2020 in the town of Mai Kadra in the Tigray Region of northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. ...
of the
Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...
, finding that 1100 civilians had been killed, attributing the killings to youth from the ''Samri'' and other
kebele A ward ( am, ቀበሌ; om, Araddaa; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. It is part of a district, itself usually part of a zone, which in turn are grouped into ...
s, supported by Tigray Special Forces and militia. Survivors stated to EHRCO that ethnic Tigrayans had protected and aided potential victims in escaping; these Tigrayans had left due to fear and weren't contactable by EHRCO.


Repression

Repression of EHRCO members included arrests, beatings and killing by security forces. Executive Committee member Assefa Maru was killed. In 2009, Ethiopian authorities froze in EHRCO's bank accounts following the ''Charities and Societies Proclamation No. 621/2009'' (law) that required at least 90 percent of associations' incomes to come from local instead of international sources. The freeze forced EHRCO to close ten out of thirteen (or eight out of eleven) of its offices and to sack 80 (or 52) staff members. EHRCO was also forced by the 621/2009 law to drop "Ethiopian" from its name, since it had representation in less than five regions. The
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
created a fund considered to be locally Ethiopian, the ''Civil Society Fund'', which, in 2015, provided EHRCO and other Ethiopian
non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
s with legally permitted financial support. In 2018, EHRCO wrote to the new Ethiopian prime minister
Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali ( om, Abiyi Ahmed Alii; am, አብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who has been the 4th prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He won the 2019 ...
asking for the freeze to be lifted. Following the ''Civil Societies Proclamation 1113/2019'', EHRCO legally restored its original name. EHRCO's frozen funds were restored by 2020.


References


External links

*{{official website Human rights organisations based in Ethiopia