Foreign Ministry Press Statement on US Human Rights Report

Press Statement - Wednesday 15th March 2006

The following Press Statement was released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa.

The U.S State Department has recently released official human rights reports pertaining to a number of countries, including Ethiopia.

The report states that the May 15, 2005 election was on the whole credible, as confirmed by both local and foreign observers despite certain problems encountered. It also mentions the violent route certain members of the opposition intermittently pursued. However, the report contains a number of rumours and repeats certain unfounded accusations.

The report presents those problems which have been said to be the result of Government action, having accepted, without critical appreciation, statements made by groups with political agendas of their own, such as the Ethiopian Human Rights Council.

Respect for human rights in Ethiopia is a high priority issue enjoying the protection of the supreme law of the land.

The Government is making unstinted effort to mobilise all government organs, institutions and citizens for the enforcement of provisions on human rights as enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution. The human rights institutions it established have already been operating for some time.

With a high sense of responsibility, the government took steps to minimise the infringement on human rights which may result from the ill-advised and perilous tactics the opposition sought to pursue.

The unrest fomented by sections of the opposition, fanning discontent by exploiting the unemployed in cities and employing violent tactics while seeking to unseat government by force, has been the cause of injuries and the deaths of police officers and civilians. Had the government not fulfilled its responsibilities and had it failed to quell the insurrection, it is quite clear the devastation could have been much greater.

The report issued by the Human Rights Bureau of the U.S. State Department is based on unfounded claims with political motives; failing to fully examine the reports it received does the Department little credit.

Receiving alleged complaints, the concerned organs have virtually failed to ascertain the other side of the story looking into the response by the Ethiopian government, rendering the whole process professionally unethical. A report on human rights in Ethiopia, written in such a manner, will do little to assist the consolidation and protection of human rights or promote the on-going democratic process.