Ethiopia: UN Conducts Fourth Review of Ethiopia’s Human Rights Record Amid Mounting Reports of Rights Abuses

Addis Abeba — Ethiopia’s human rights record is under review today, 12 November 2024, by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group, marking the fourth assessment of the country’s human rights practices.

Ethiopia’s review is part of the UPR Working Group’s ongoing session from 4 to 15 November, during which the human rights records of 14 countries are scheduled for evaluation.

Ethiopia’s previous UPR reviews took place in December 2009, May 2014, and May 2019. This session will see Ethiopia present its progress and actions on recommendations from past reviews, along with recent developments in its human rights landscape.

The review documents include a national report from Ethiopia, input from UN special procedures and human rights bodies, and contributions from other stakeholders, including civil society and regional organizations.

The Ethiopian delegation, led by State Minister of Justice Belayihun Yirga, is set to discuss the country’s human rights achievements and challenges. Representatives from Algeria, Bangladesh, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands will serve as rapporteurs for the session.

Ahead of the review, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement urging Ethiopian authorities to “commit to press freedom” during the proceedings. CPJ emphasized the need for the government to “accept and implement recommendations on improving press freedom conditions and guaranteeing the safety of journalists.”

CPJ submitted a report earlier this year detailing its assessment of Ethiopia’s press freedom environment since 2019, highlighting instances of arbitrary detention, physical violence, harassment, and restrictive laws faced by journalists.

CPJ called on Ethiopian authorities to release detained journalists, investigate attacks on the press, hold accountable those responsible for violence against journalists, and amend laws to better align with international standards on human rights.

The United Nations’ review of Ethiopia’s human rights record takes place amid mounting concerns from rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC). These organizations have reported several human rights abuses and expressed serious concerns over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, particularly in conflict zones such as the Amhara and Oromia regions, among others.

The UPR process, established in 2008, is a peer review system through which all 193 UN Member States undergo periodic human rights reviews. In the current UPR cycle, states are expected to outline their commitments to prior recommendations and highlight new initiatives.

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