Zelalem Kibret is an

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

human rights activist and legal scholar. He emigrated to the US in 2016.

Early life and education

Kibret grew interested in politics from a young age due to the Soviet-era literature in his childhood home, and from hearing of the

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

following the contested

2005 Ethiopian general election General elections were held in Ethiopia on 15 May 2005, for seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives and four regional government councils. Under pressure from the international community, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi promised that this elec ...

, the first in which he could vote. Kibret worked with the

Ethiopian Human Rights Council The Ethiopian Human Rights Council or EHRCO is an Ethiopian human rights non-governmental organisation created in 1991 by Mesfin Woldemariam and 31 colleagues shortly after the dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam was overthrown. EHRCO's funds and s ...

. He did his

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (AAU) ( am, አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, ...

, and became a lawyer.

Career

Kibret was appointed professor of law at Ambo University. IIn 2011, Kibret turned to blogging as a medium for discussing Ethiopian human rights, after the newspaper Addis Neger was shut down by the government. He blogged as part of the

Zone 9 bloggers The Zone 9 bloggers are a blogging collective from Ethiopia, who maintain a blog in Amharic. On 25 and 26 April 2014, the Ethiopian government arrested six members of the Zone 9 bloggers network and three other journalists, who faced terroris ...

, which attracted attention from the security forces of Ethiopia. In 2012, Kibret was tortured and in 2014, imprisoned in

Kaliti prison Kaliti Prison'' is a maximum security prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Commonly referred to as a gulag, it serves as the main prison of the country. It is 11 km south of central Addis Ababa, in Akaky Kaliti, the southernmost subcity of the ...

alongside his colleagues for criticising the government. After being released after just over a year behind bars, Kibret continued to be harassed by government officials including confiscating his passport so that he could not accept an award for the Zone 9 Bloggers in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

from

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

. Kibret could not return to his job at the university. In 2016 he emigrated to the US and took on an African Leadership Initiative fellowship during the presidency of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

. In 2018, Kibret was selected as one of 30 African pioneers by

Quartz Africa ''Quartz'' is an online news platform in English. It is focused on international business news. Quartz is privately held and was established in New York City in 2012. It is published in the United States with global business news and has specifi ...

. He is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibret, Zelalem Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Ethiopian human rights activists Ethiopian bloggers Male bloggers Ethiopian lawyers Addis Ababa University alumni