COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONSIDERS REPORT OF ETHIOPIA

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the combined seventh to sixteenth periodic report of Ethiopia on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Presenting the report, Fisseha Yimer, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, said that Ethiopia’s report was long overdue and that the Government genuinely regretted this situation which had been created mainly due to the lack of technical capacity and resources. Thanks to the valuable financial and technical support of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Government had finalized its combined reports. The last periodic report of Ethiopia had been presented in a different political era, when the country had been under a military dictatorship and engulfed in a civil war generated by old political wounds and repression. The overthrew of the military junta in 1991 and the subsequent drastic and fundamental constitutional and political reforms had played a pivotal role in rectifying old political contradictions and discriminatory policies that had fuelled the country’s political crisis. New national human rights institutions had been established and currently both the national human rights commission and the institutions of Ombudsman were effective and running. Previously neglected religious and ethnic groups were now enjoying the fullest protection of their right to religious practice and culture respectively. The 1995 Constitution had instituted a unique form of federalism which guaranteed greater opportunity for Ethiopia’s diverse ethnic communities.

In preliminary concluding observations, Chris Maina Peter, the Committee Expert who served as Rapporteur for the report of Ethiopia, said that the dialogue had been quite constructive. However, the written replies could have cleared several issues and assisted the process to go faster, if they had been submitted earlier. He had spent five months reading material on the country. For everything he had said he had made sure that he had had at least three sources. On caste-like discrimination, this was a serious issue. His sources on this issue had been from across the continent and dated from 1965 to 2007. He would never say something in a public United Nations meeting on which he had no sources. He had been happy to hear that the member of the National Human Rights Commission had raised some of the same identical issues as the Committee.

Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, the availability of the Convention in local languages; the situation of refugees; whether the local legislation was consistent with federal legislation and the Convention; freedom of association and the effects on associations of a new law called “proclamation for the registration for charities and societies”; regional minorities; the right of foreigners to participate in the State’s pension system; the many languages used in the country and which ones were used as working languages; the modus operandi for the early warning system for ethnic conflicts that was being prepared by the country in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme; the difficulties encountered by the State in the implementation of the refugee legislation; the demilitarized zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia; the displaced population; and the representation of women and minorities in Parliament.

The delegation of Ethiopia also included members of the Religious ad Beliefs Affairs Directorate, the House of Federation of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Ministry of Justice and the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will present its written observations and recommendations on the combined seventh to sixteenth periodic report of Ethiopia, which was presented in one document, at the end of its session, which concludes on 28 August.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it is scheduled to take up the combined tenth to fifteenth periodic report of Chad (CERD/C/TCD/15).

Report of Ethiopia

The combined seventh to sixteenth periodic report of Ethiopia (CERD/C/ETH/15) says that Ethiopia is a multi–ethnic country, where diverse societies, cultures and languages co-exist. Despite this reality, accommodating diversity and protecting the rights of the different ethnic groups has been a daunting challenge for the country throughout its history. The Convention has been part of the country’s body of laws for more than three decades now. However, it was not until 1991 when the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front came to power by overthrowing the military regime that laws that protect and promote the equality of the different ethnic groups in the country were adopted, and various administrative, judicial and other measures were taken to ensure the implementation of those laws.

Most legal matters are resolved by the legal institutions and framework established by the federal and regional constitutions, including customary and religious institutions. In a country like Ethiopia, where there exists a vast diversity of culture, it is hardly possible to ignore the existence and active role of customary mechanisms which the public has adopted for centuries. In some ethnic groups like the Somali, the Amhara and the Gumuz, local customary law is applied to govern their day-to-day affairs. Moreover, most of the customary laws, for example the Gedda system in Oromia region, the Abbo-gereb in Tigray region, the Xeer in Somali, play key roles in the maintenance of local peace and order, and above all sub-regional stability. The Oromia Regional Government is looking for a way to incorporate the rules of customary laws applied by the society in the region into the formal legal order. As the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, all citizens including community elders who take part in customary mechanisms of dispute resolution have the duty to obey it and ensure its observance. Moreover efforts are being made to ensure participation of community elders in training covering issues of rule of law, human rights and other training necessary to promote human rights. The Constitution also provides that customary practices inconsistent with it shall be null and void.

The report also states that ethnic conflicts have occurred in some of the regional states in the country. These conflicts are triggered mostly by water or water use, border issues, grazing land, and lack of good governance. Although some ethnic conflicts have been settled through mechanisms such as referendum - for example the border conflict between Oromia and Somali Regional States - some remain unsettled even today. The Government is presently determined to provide permanent solutions to all such disputes. Temporary measures such as ensuring the presence of the police in conflict areas are being taken. For more permanent solutions, the causes of conflicts and possible resolution are being studied and a national strategy for dispute prevention and resolution is being formulated and debated.

Presentation of Report

FISSEHA YIMER, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, said that Ethiopia’s report was long overdue and that the Government genuinely regretted this situation which had been created mainly due to lack of technical capacity and resources which it had actively sought to remedy through international cooperation and assistance. His delegation was very pleased to see that thanks to the valuable financial and technical support of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Government had now finalized its combined reports.

With respect to the preparation of this combined report, the Government had consistently pursued a transparent and participatory process in which a wide spectrum of actors, including federal government offices, regional governments, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and others had been intensely involved, said Mr. Yimer.

In addition to the inter-ministerial coordination mechanism that had been in existence to facilitate human rights reporting, an expert committee had also been formed to assist in the initial drafting of this and other reports to other treaty bodies. Mr. Yimer indicated that the preparation of the report had gone through elaborate public consultations and discussions.

The last periodic report of Ethiopia had been presented in a different political era, said Mr. Yimer. That was when the country had been under a military dictatorship and engulfed in a civil war generated by old political wounds and repression. Since then Ethiopia had entered a new political era. The overthrow of the military junta in 1991 and the subsequent drastic and fundamental constitutional and political reforms had played a pivotal role in rectifying old political contradictions and discriminatory policies that had fuelled the country’s political crisis. The decades-old resistance against feudal and military dictatorships had been spurred by people-centered movements.

Thanks to these developments, Ethiopia had ushered a new path in which it undertook a series of democratic elections; actively sought compliance with international human rights standards; became signatory to numerous international and regional human rights instruments; and implemented significant legislative reforms to domesticate international human rights instruments and ensure conformity between its domestic laws and international obligations, said Mr. Yimer.

Numerous political parties were actively participating in the democratization process. The country had successfully carried out one of Africa’s biggest criminal trials involving egregious human rights violations including the crime of genocide committed by officials of the previous regime, said Mr. Yimer. New national human rights institutions had been established and currently both the national human rights commission and the institutions of the Ombudsman were effective and running. Previously neglected religious and ethnic groups were now enjoying the fullest protection of their right to religious practice and culture respectively.

The 1995 Constitution had instituted a unique form of federalism which guaranteed greater opportunity for Ethiopia’s diverse ethnic communities to promote their culture, exercise self-governance and engage in people-centered economic development. The Constitution incorporated all types of rights including an explicit recognition of socio-economic rights. The implementation of constitutional principles was required both in the private and public sphere, said Mr. Yimer.

Mr. Yimer noted that ethnic identification was a self-definitional exercise where individuals were allowed the possibility to choose their identities. Fair representation of all groups in federal institutions, the judiciary, the national defence forces, federal police and other entities had been actively sought. All regions now used their own languages for public administration and schools. Special arrangements were made including the establishment of special zones within each region so that minority groups also enjoyed such cultural entitlements.

The full realization of promises of ethnic federalism took time, said Mr. Yimer. Regional states with relatively weaker infrastructural development and resources remained in need of federal support and assistance. A national board supervised granting of specific subsides to regions which were in need of such assistance. Continuing decentralization programmes had also been undertaken with all regions with the view to enhancing the potential of minorities to fully benefit from constitutional entitlement of self-governance. Special polices and programmes had also been designed to protect the rights and entitlement of groups such as pastoralists who had a unique attachment to their lands.

A federal cultural policy had been adopted which recognized the rights of all groups and communities to the preservation of their culture and heritage, said Mr. Yimer. The Constitution also stipulated that religious and customary laws which infringed human rights norms were null and void.

With the view of fully realizing its obligations under the Convention, the Government had undertaken far-reaching legal reforms which had resulted in the promulgation of numerous key legislation which, among others, expressly prohibited discrimination, said Mr. Yimer. A 2205 revised law also criminalized certain harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage. Labour related legislation had also been revised to allow greater protection to workers and civil servants.

Constitutional provisions would of course not become realities without socio-economic development, strengthening of democratic and judicial institutional capacity and increased awareness of the public about its rights and obligations, said Mr. Yimer. This was why the Government continued to heavily invest in institutional capacity building.

Turning to the military, Mr. Yimer said that it was effectively and institutionally under civilian control. Continuous trainings in human rights and international humanitarian law had been given to members of the national defence forces and the police.

With regard to education, Mr. Yimer said that all ethnic groups could now teach their children in their mother tongue. Federal and regional higher education institutions were required to implement affirmative action programmes that allowed greater representation of students from less developed regions in the country. Similar affirmative action had also been implemented in political appointments to Government offices and civil service institutions.

As in many countries, women often suffered multiple forms of discrimination and a federal women affairs ministry had been established which was coordinating programmes that looked at issues such as female genital mutilation, child marriage, forced marriage and other harmful traditional practices, said Mr. Yimer. A federal family law had been enacted which guaranteed equal protection to women. Over 30 per cent of seats in the House of Peoples’ Representative were occupied by women.

Promotion of tolerance and co-existence among nations, nationalities and peoples remained a key objective of the federal and regional Government, said Mr. Yimer. The role of a free media in this context was vital and the country’s new press and broadcasting legislation aimed to tap the positive potential of the media in promoting tolerance.

Constitutional institutions and government offices actively worked in conflict prevention and resolution efforts, such as in the Gambella and Somali regional states. The role of religious and traditional institutions in conflict prevention and resolution also deserved mention, said Mr. Yimer. The protection of the mandate and role of religious and traditional institutions had been strengthened by the Constitution and had helped them to be part of the solution rather than the source of racial and ethnic tensions and conflicts.

Poverty reduction had also been a top priority for the Government since its inception. In a country that was continuously challenged by economic under-development, climatic aberrations and population pressure, achieving this was indeed very challenging. Mr. Yimer said that the Government was very much encouraged by the growth of the economy by an average of 10 per cent in the last five years and was determined to ensure its continuity. Even amidst the current global economic downturn, Ethiopia’s economy was one of Africa’s best performing economies in 2009.

Ethiopia also had an elaborate policy on disasters and recovery programmes, said Mr. Yimer. The unfortunate history and experience with famine and disasters had helped the country to put in place policies and programmes designed to support those who were negatively affected by natural manmade disasters including those who were displaced. This year, the country had revised its disaster and recovery policy. Ethiopia unfortunately remained dependent on foreign food aid.

In the early 1990’s Ethiopia had only two universities, but currently, more than 13 new universities had been established and additional new ones were being built, said Mr. Yimer.

Mr. Yimer noted that Ethiopia was located in one of the most challenging, unstable and underdeveloped regions in Africa. This had bred a cycle of conflict, terrorism and insecurity. Some foreign groups continued to arm and train so-called rebel groups within the country to create division and instability. The claim that these groups had taken up arms due to racial or other forms of discrimination in Ethiopia would not stand in the face of the political and constitutional reality in the country.

Members of illegal armed groups in custody and on trial were handled without any form of discrimination whatsoever. The malicious allegations mainly parroted by these groups had been exposed as baseless with facts and figures, said Mr. Yimer.

Response by the Delegation to Written Questions Submitted in Advance

Responding to the list of issues submitted by the Committee in advance, the delegation said, on the relationship between the concept of nations, nationalities and peoples on the one hand and ethnicity on the other, that ethnicity was very difficult to define. But the concept of nations, nationalities and people was clearly defined in the Constitution. It identified people who shared a common culture, or similar customs, mutual intelligibility of language, belief in common or related identities, a common psychological make-up and who inhabited an identifiable predominantly contiguous territory. All groups enjoyed similar rights.

On teachers and their rights and some allegations that teachers were dismissed on the basis of their social origin, the delegation indicated that this was not true; no one was dismissed on such grounds in Ethiopia. What had happened was that the Government was promoting teaching in the regional mother language. Thus, existing teachers who did not know the local language had had to either learn the local language or look for another job. Thus, the impression had arisen that the Government was dismissing these teachers. The Government was however helping these teachers to find jobs in other regions.

On traditional and religious law and their consequence on Ethiopians, the delegation said that there were rights allotted to the different groups which gave them the right to apply their own law. But there was universal human rights law and no one could violate it in Ethiopia, whether one was from the private sector or public sector. Sharia law courts were being relegated by the Government. Also, as an example, women had the right to exit Sharia courts and go to a civil court if they wished so.

On harmful traditional practises, the delegation said that this was a huge problem to the country. Massive investment had been made by the Government towards advocacy against such practices. Human rights education programmes had been implemented all throughout the school curricula. The Government also made sure to criminalize these practises.

Oral Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts

CHRIS MAINA PETER, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Ethiopia, said that Ethiopia was a country with a mixture of diverse fortunes, some of which were positive and others negative. Among the positive aspects was the fact that Ethiopia was one of the oldest democratic African countries, it was the centre of African diplomacy and the African Union was building its new Headquarters in the country. The challenges encountered were in the areas of politics, wars, geography and climate.

On the issue of politics, Mr. Peter noted that the country had been ruled by an emperor during 44 years which had been followed by a military junta and a Marxist regime. With the creation of Eritrea, Ethiopia had suddenly become a landlocked country. The country had also gone through several famines.

Mr. Peter noted that although Ethiopia had become a party to the Convention, it did not allow individuals to send individual complaints. The Constitution had a very rich bill of rights and all international instruments that Ethiopia had acceded to were automatically applied to the country’s legislation. But one needed to be careful as, in such cases, parts of the international legal instruments might sometimes not be easily applied directly.

Mr. Peter noted two problems: the Convention was not available in the local language in Ethiopia and thus it could not be used by the people to protect their rights. The Convention was also not available to the local courts, thus it could not be applied by them if they wished to do so. Ethiopia should also consider ratifying other human rights international treaties.

Mr. Peter said that the Committee had received reports on harassment, arrest and detention of certain groups of foreigners, mainly from Eritrea; often members of mixed Eritrean-Ethiopian families. The country should address these issues.

Ethiopia was also a refugee generating and receiving country, mainly due to wars and natural disasters in the region. Mr. Peter noted that Ethiopia had ratified the United Nations Convention on Refugees. A problem linked with the issue of refugees was the fact that there was no specific legislation which covered refugees.

Mr. Peter said that he had not had access to all the regional constitutions, thus he could not tell whether the regional constitutions reflected the principles of the federal constitutions. Also there was no specific anti-discriminatory law in the country. The country should consider enacting one.

Further, research indicated that a system of caste groups was existent in the country and that some of these groups were stigmatized and discriminated against. There was discrimination in the way one greeted another or the way one sat at a table, depending to which caste one belonged to. Objects belonging to members of the higher caste and which had been touched by members of a lower caste had to be broken afterwards.

Turning to the freedom of association, Mr. Peter said that in Ethiopia there was an increased involvement of non-governmental organizations and civil society. However there had been worrying developments lately, such as a new law called “proclamation for the registration for charities and societies” of 2008. This new law identified three categories of charities: Ethiopian charities formed under national law with only Ethiopians as members; resident charities with members who had their dwellings in the country; and the foreign charities founded under foreign law with foreign members.

Mr. Peter said that according to this law, charities from the first group were not allowed to receive more than 10 per cent of their funds from foreign sources, including from international agencies or Ethiopians living abroad. The other two categories were precluded to participate, in any way, in the promotion of rights and good governance; they were restricted to poverty alleviation.

This law had also established an agency with wide-ranging discretionary powers and its decisions were final and could not be challenged in a court of law, said Mr. Peter. These rules would negatively affect the civil societies of the country, as they were widely dependent on their donors.

Mr. Peter noted that the recognized minorities in Ethiopia had a different status than in other countries as these were created by the law. The various regions of the country had been established where various native groups were present. But the real minorities in the regions were considered as foreigners. Thus, the so-called minority groups were in fact the regional majority and they enjoyed advantages in the regional laws. The real minorities however were highly marginalized and had no constitutional protection. How could this situation be improved?

Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, why a working foreigner did not have the opportunity to participate in the State’s pension system?

As there were many recognized languages in Ethiopia, did it mean that any individual could speak to the authorities in all of these languages, or were there any working languages?

Another Expert said that there was not enough statistical data available in the report to get a better appreciation of the challenges that were being encountered by the State and the success it had met along they way.

Other questions that were asked by Experts included: what was the outcome of the war crimes and crimes against humanity trials? What was the number of cases of racism conveyed to the judiciary? What would be the modus operandi for the early warning system for ethnic conflicts that was being prepared by the country in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme?

An Expert noted that there were a large amount of refugees from Somalia, South Sudan and Eritrea in the country. What difficulties did the State party encounter in the implementation of the ratified refugee legislation?

One Expert noted that the protection of human rights was linked to economic development. The State party had a duty to act according to the relevant conventions and sound economic development was the material foundation for this. But the civil war in the southeast and the unrest in the northwest could affect social calm and development. The border dispute with Eritrea could also have similar consequences. He noted that in the demilitarized zone line between Eritrea and Ethiopia fertile land went unused. He hoped that the no war-no peace situation would soon be resolved.

How did the federal Government ensure that regional laws were consistent with the federal law of the country and that regional bodies respected these federal laws and international conventions signed by the country, wondered another Expert.

Other Expert asked further questions, among which, what measures had been taken to protect the 700,000 displaced people mentioned in the report. The report also stated that 30 per cent of Parliament seats belonged to women. Was this out of a quota system or had they been elected naturally? Were the seats currently allocated to ethnic minorities in Parliament, permanently allotted to them or was this only a photography of the current situation? Was it true that there were no political parties based on nationality?

Response by Delegation to Oral Questions

Addressing concerns expressed, the delegation said, on the Ethiopian federal system, that they did not call it an ethnic federalism. Ethiopia was a country of nations, nationalities and peoples. Ethiopia was not a unitary and centralized state; but it used to be one in the past. Last year Ethiopia had embarked upon their third millennium of recorded history. The nations, nationalities and the peoples of Ethiopia had all celebrated this anniversary, not only certain ethnicities.

The establishment of the federal republic had not been created by law, but had been done through a two-year-long consultation process of the nations, nationalities and people of Ethiopia. It was the product of long negotiations among all the people, before the current government came into existence. The current government was the result of this process, said the delegation.

All this did not mean that all was fine and that there were no problems, every country had its own detractors. Ethiopia did not claim that there were no problems. The problems did not emanate from the federal system per se. The delegation said that the Rapporteur had given the impression that the federal system was the very cause of the problem. If this was the case, many other federal countries in the world would have encountered the same problems.

The Ethiopians were convinced that they were on the right path by choosing the federal system. There would of course be problems until they would perfect it. Even the federal system of the United States had changed since the creation of the confederation, said the delegation. The federal system granted rights to minorities more than a unitary system. The facts were that Ethiopia was not composed of homogenous population and the federal system was a good one in such a case.

It was also wrong to describe Ethiopia as a country with an ethnic conflict, stressed the delegation. They had, from time to time, ethnic conflicts but they resolved them. But this was not the same as saying that there was a prevailing ethnic conflict, said the delegation.

Every ninth of December, the day the Constitution had been adopted by the Ethiopian people, was the day of the nations, nationalities and people of Ethiopia. This was the day of the celebration of “diversity in unity”. Why would the people of Ethiopia celebrate this day if they were not happy with their federal system?

On regional minorities, the delegation said that these were not regarded as foreigners and that they participated in the regional elections and could also be elected; some were even sitting in Parliament, even some who did not speak the local language.

The delegation also indicated that the federal Supreme Court did not have the power to interpret the Constitution. This issue had been debated during the constitutional conference. This was also the case in other countries. It was the people who interpreted the Constitution.

The Ethiopian Constitution even provided for the session of a region, said the delegation. The Constitution indicated the session-process step by step from referendum up to the division of property. Ethiopia was almost 18 years old now and it had not disintegrated, as some thought it would happen with such a provision in its Constitution. Ethiopia was alive and well.

Would the State allow a region break away from the federation? Of course, said the delegation, why would they have a provision in their Constitution that they would not implement? The self determination of Eritrea was an example of this possibility. Other provisions of the Constitution even allowed for a change from the federal system to another one, if the people deemed it necessary.

The delegation said that the questions asked by the Experts had showed the challenges, the lack of understanding and misconceptions the Experts had in understanding the very specific legislation of Ethiopia. There was a huge misunderstanding in several areas. These misunderstandings had been created by some forces outside of Ethiopia which wanted to create the impression that whatever the Ethiopian Government was doing was wrong.

Turning to the refugee legislative regime, the delegation indicated that it provided for the treatment of refugees as outlined in the Refugee Convention. Ethiopia had also elaborated a system which provided protection to internally displaced persons. Ethiopia had a broad experience with displaced persons, especially through the fact that they had a long history and experience with displacement because of natural disasters. People displaced by conflicts were also recognized as internally displaced persons.

On the applicability of the Convention, the delegation said that all treaties ratified by Ethiopia were part of Ethiopian law. International conventions even were considered as a basis for the elaboration of national human rights law. The Ethiopian system almost gave primacy to international conventions. In terms of translation of conventions, it was difficult to translate it in all languages and there was currently a debate ongoing on whether they should have them translated in all the languages.

Turning to customary law, the delegation said that the Constitution recognized the application of religious and customary law in cases such as family disputes, on the condition that it respected human rights. The Government was also encouraging the codification of customary law. Dialogue and mediation were also ongoing between the Government and the traditional systems, especially on issues such as HIV/AIDS and female genital mutilation. The delegation indicated that female genital mutilation had decreased by 15 per cent in Ethiopia between 1997 and 2007.

Addressing the new non-governmental organizations legislation, the delegation said that the Government had wanted to create an enabling environment for non-governmental organizations. This legislation had also created an agency which specifically dealt with the registration of non-governmental organizations. Through this process the diversity of civil society had been recognized. The law even provided for non-governmental organizations to participate in income generating activities.

On the issue of funding of non-governmental organizations, the new legislation said that if a non-governmental organization received more than 10 per cent of its funding from outside of Ethiopia this meant that the organization would no more be considered as an Ethiopian non-governmental organization. It was wrong to say that the organization could not function in the country anymore in such a case, as an Expert had said yesterday. It was only the status of the organization which changed.

On the power and the reach of the agency dealing with non-governmental organizations, the delegation said that it was not as extensive as some claimed. Its power was constrained: religious institutions were not covered by it, as well as self-help organizations, and international organizations. The decisions taken by the agency, unlike what had been said by an Expert, could be appealed, to the director of the agency, its board and to the High Court.

Turning to the conflicts in the country, the delegation said that there were intra-ethnic and ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia. Their causes were many and not all conflicts shared the same causes. Among some of the causes were: competition for resources, water, grazing land, farming but also lack of awareness, power sharing of local government and lack of good governance. They had never found in any conflict that the Constitution had been the cause of any conflict.

On what the Government did to avert conflict situations, the delegation said that the main tools were development and democratic system-building. But these were long-term tools. In the meantime, they had created a conflict settlement and prevention tool which included an early-warning and early-response mechanism which was used as soon as there were any sign of a conflict. The Government was confident that they could prevent 90 per cent of the conflicts with these tools. For the remaining 10 per cent, the Government called for the rapid development of security forces and engaged in the dialogue process, until the settlement of the conflict. Turning to unresolved conflicts, it was the House of Federation which had the last say. Cases were also brought to the court when persons had been the cause or had played a negative role in a conflict.

On the atrocities and the human rights violations committed during the military regime, the delegation said that when the new regime came to power, one of the measures that had been taken had been to resolve these issues through due process of law. Higher authorities and individuals suspected of crimes had been imprisoned, with due respect to their human rights. A special prosecutor office had also been established by the Government. The whole process had taken time due to the complexity of the matter. Convictions were issued against individuals and some had appealed the decisions. There were currently no more cases before the court.

On the issue of representation of women in Parliament, the delegation said that there was no quota system for women in the Parliament, but that the political parties were setting them themselves when putting candidates running for Parliament. On the numbers of seats allotted to minorities, this was basically a permanent figure.

Responses by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission

A member of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission which was not part of the delegation but participated as an observer in the meeting said that the Commission had been created by the Constitution. The detailed mandate of the Commission had been provided by the Parliament. The Commission was independent and investigated all cases of human rights violations, including cases of discriminations, as well as the steps taken by the Government in implementing international human rights standards, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The capacity of the Commission was of course limited, but it had carried out a number of activities relevant to the Convention, including information seminars and workshops on human rights for law enforcement officials and teachers, amongst others. The Commission had also made efforts to be more accessible to the public and to have branches in all of the regions of the country.

The Commission asked the Government to reconsider and give attention to the ratification of other international human rights treaties, to widen the awareness of harmful traditional practices, and to also establish a mandated body for the drafting of reports to the United Nations treaty bodies.

Further Oral Questions Posed by Experts

Another Expert then made comments on the fact that it was true that the term “ethnic federalism” reduced the moral force of federalism. However, other constitutions in Africa based themselves more on unity. A federalism based on diversity could lead to difficulties in the relationship between communities. He had however felt relieved with the answers of the delegation which showed that that was not the case.

Other Experts acknowledged that they had not fully understood the situation in the country and that was why they were happy to hold this exchange with the delegation in order for the Committee to make useful recommendations applicable and adaptable to the concrete situation in the country. They also acknowledged that they were of course not entitled to evaluate the political system of a country. Their role was to monitor the implementation of the Convention.

Another Expert also noted the fact that in Ethiopia a person was entitled to identify himself or herself as having mixed ethnicity and even had the right to self identify as not being part of any ethnicity or even not being Ethiopian.

Preliminary Concluding Observations

In preliminary concluding observations, CHRIS MAINA PETER, the Committee Expert who served as Rapporteur for the report of Ethiopia, thanked the delegation for their honest comments on the remarks he had made. The dialogue had been quite constructive. However, the written replies could have cleared several issues and assisted the process to go faster, if they had been submitted earlier. He noted that the Government had changed since the last time the country had appeared before the Committee.

It was clear that the Committee would never say to a delegation that everything was alright in a country. He noted that he had been assigned as Rapporteur in March 2009 and he had visited Ethiopia, and had bought many books there to inform himself. He had spent five months reading material on the country. For everything he had said he had made sure that he had had at least three sources. One needed to have basis when saying something about a country, said Mr. Peter.

On caste-like discrimination, this was a serious issue. His sources on this issue had been from across the continent and dated from 1965 to 2007. He would never say something in a public United Nations meeting on which he had no sources. He had been happy to hear that the member of the National Human Rights Commission had raised some of the same identical issues as the Committee.

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