Ethiopia has appointed both a Human Rights Commissioner and an Ombudsman.

Dr Kassa Gebre Hiwot, former Ambassador to Russia, was named as the Human Rights Commissioner and Mr Abay Tekle Beyene as Ombudsman. Both were sworn in at a ceremony on 29^th June 2004.

The House of Peoples’ Representatives approved their appointment by a majority vote during its regular session on 29^th June 2004. Both were supported by a majority vote  with 13 abstentions in Dr Kassa’s case while 11 voted against Mr Abay (there are 548 MPs).

The Commissioner and the Chief Ombudsman were sworn in before the House through the offices of the President of the Federal Supreme Court.
 

The Candidature Presenting Committees announced that Dr Kassa has a degree in literature and was Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Russia for ten years. He has also lectured in history and languages at Moscow University and at Moscow International Diplomats Training Institute. He is also a writer and translator and had published Amharic-Russian and Russian-Amharic dictionaries and a textbook for college students. Dr. Kassa was also advisor at the Africa-Asia Study Institute and Consultative Member of the International Studies. Mr Abay has a Master’s degree in Educational Administration and was a lecturer at Bahir Dar University. He was also Electoral Board chairman of the Amhara state.

The Committees said though the scrutiny and presenting of the nominees to the House had been delayed, all care has been taken since December 2001 to assign competent, qualified and experienced citizens to the posts.

Consultative forums that discussed the criteria set for the nominating of candidates for the commission and ombudsman were held in all regional towns, including Addis Ababa and the Dire Dawa administrative council during that period.

Some 282 of the 550 nominees elected for the Human Rights Commission were rejected for various reasons ranging from age to other factors and 290 of the 559 candidates proposed for the ombudsman were also rejected on various grounds.

The Commission and Ombudsman offices were set up in accordance with the Ethiopian Federal Constitution, which stipulates the creation of these organs with a view to institutionalizing democracy in the country.

ENDS