Ethiopia is a federal republic. The ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four ethnically based parties, controls the government. In 2012, following the death of former prime minister Meles Zenawi, parliament elected Hailemariam Desalegn as his successor. In national parliamentary elections in 2010, the EPRDF and affiliated parties won 545 of 547 seats to remain in power for a fourth consecutive five-year term. Although the relatively few international officials allowed to observe the elections concluded technical aspects of the vote were handled competently, some also noted an environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place prior to the election. Authorities generally maintained control over the security forces, although Somali Region Special Police and local militias sometimes acted independently.

The most significant human rights problems included restrictions on freedom of expression, including continued restrictions on print media and on the internet, and restrictions on freedom of association, including through arrests; politically motivated trials; and harassment and intimidation of opposition members and journalists. The government continued restrictions on activities of civil society and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) imposed by the Charities and Societies Proclamation (the CSO law).

Other human rights problems included alleged arbitrary killings; alleged torture, beating, abuse, and mistreatment of detainees by security forces; reports of harsh and at times life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; a weak, overburdened judiciary subject to political influence; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights, including illegal searches; alleged abuses in the implementation of the government’s “villagization” program; restrictions on academic freedom; restrictions on freedom of assembly, association, and movement; alleged interference in religious affairs; limits on citizens’ ability to change their government; police, administrative, and judicial corruption; violence and societal discrimination against women and abuse of children; female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); trafficking in persons; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities; clashes between ethnic minorities; discrimination against persons based on their sexual orientation and against persons with HIV/AIDS; limits on worker rights; forced labor; and child labor, including forced child labor.

Impunity was a problem. The government, with some reported exceptions, generally did not take steps to prosecute or otherwise punish officials who committed abuses other than corruption.

Factions of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an ethnically based, violent, and fragmented separatist group operating in the Somali Region, were responsible for abuses.

Read the full Report U.S. Ethiopia Human Rights Report 2014.

Updated 1103 GMT (1803 HKT) May 1, 2015

Every week, Inside Africa takes its viewers on a journey across Africa, exploring the true diversity and depth of different cultures, countries and regions.

Scroll through the gallery below for an overview of some of the best Ethiopian fare, from traditional wots to fusion flare.

Read More and watch Video on CNN

Kenyan and Ethiopian runners were the stars of the 39th Paris Marathon, which took place in the French capital on Sunday.

A source told Radio Tamazuj that chief editors of all newspapers received strict orders from the security on Saturday not to report any anti-election stories or low turnout during the voting process.

Any newspaper reporting on the electoral process will be confiscated by security agents, the source said.

A number of opposition parties have are boycotting the vote.

https://radiotamazuj.org/en/article/sudan-election-national-security-bans-anti-election-reporting

HOLETA (ETHIOPIA) (AFP) -

Ethiopia’s black-maned lions once represented a former emperor, “Lion of Judah” Haile Selassie, and were immortalised in a song by reggae legend Bob Marley. Today, they struggle for survival.

A booming human population, widespread habitat destruction and growing livestock numbers mean the animal that once graced Ethiopia’s flag — and is still a potent symbol for Rastafarians through the song ‘Iron Lion Zion’ — is on the wane.

They live on in only small pockets of the Horn of Africa nation, and conservationists warn that without action, all that will remain of the powerful creatures are the stone sculptures and statues dotted in the flourishing capital, Addis Ababa.

“There were lions everywhere in Ethiopia, but their habitat is shrinking,” said Zelealem Tefera, country head of the Born Free Foundation, a conservation group.

“Human settlements are expanding, prey is disappearing and there is nothing to eat for the lions,” he said.

In decline across Africa, lions have been put on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of threatened species, but Ethiopia’s rare lions — seen as unique though debate continues over their DNA — are even more vulnerable.

In the past few decades they have disappeared from much of Ethiopia. With 96 million people, it is Africa’s second most populous nation, and the number is growing by some two million people every year.

Conservationists estimate there are, at most, 1,000 lions left. They are to be found mainly in remote areas bordering the war-torn countries of South Sudan and Somalia, as well as in a handful of national parks in the centre and east.

“The black-maned lion is very unique and only found in a few locations in Ethiopia,” Zelealem said.

“It makes them very important in our culture. I don’t think the lion population will completely disappear from Ethiopia in the coming few years, but if we don’t protect their habitat there is no reason why this couldn’t happen,” he said.

- Abused and poisoned -

In a forest area some 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of Addis Ababa, the Born Free Foundation has taken in seven of the lions, all captured by villagers or soldiers.

Many have suffered physical abuse — a far cry from how Haile Selassie used to keep them as palace pets — and unlike other wild animals seized from traffickers, such as cheetahs and monkeys, the lions cannot be released back into the wild.

Their remaining habitat is very small and the risk of conflict with humans too great.

One young male, Kebri — a powerful cat with a dark brown mane just beginning to appear — is just such a victim of growing conflict with farmers.

“His mother killed some livestock here and as a result the local village poisoned her,” said Derek Bretts, who looks after the animals at the centre.

“They fed her meat that had been laced with poison and she ended up dying,” he said. “We got a call saying that there was a young cub, so we went and took him.”

While Ethiopia has a dozen national parks where wild animals can find safe havens, pressures on the lions continue to grow.

“Wildlife preservation is not given priority in Ethiopia. Not all protected areas in Ethiopia are actually well protected,” said Fikirte Gebresenbet, an Ethiopian lion expert from Oklahoma State University in the United States.

“People reside in the park for half the year, or pastoralists come to the park every now and then to graze their cattle. And it results in conflict with the lions,” she said.

The future of the lions of Ethiopia may lie in the development of tourism, but it is an industry still in its infancy.

“If we take lessons from Kenya and Tanzania, the future could be brighter,” Fikirte said. “We have to convince the government that people would pay to see lions in well-protected areas.”

January 27, 2015
Although at a slightly decreased rate compared to previous months, large numbers of Eritrean refugees continued to cross the Ethiopian border into Tigray region. During the first two weeks of January, UNHCR and ARRA registered more than 1,400 Eritreans at the Endabaguna transit center near Shire, bringing the total number of Eritrean refugees to more than 125,000. The last quarter of 2014 saw Eritrean refugees arriving at a monthly average of 5,000 people. Before the spike in the number of arrivals in October 2014, the rate was steady at a monthly average of 800 to 1000 people between 2010 and 2012, and an average of 2,000 refugee arrivals from March 2013 to September 2014. The influx of late 2014 congested the reception center and resulted in shortages of shelter in the camps. UNHCR and ARRA, with support from IOM, are decongesting the reception center by expediting the relocation of the new arrivals to the camps. To date, IOM transported more than 2,800 new Eritrean refugees from Endabaguna transit center to the camps. Last week, the Humanitarian Response Fund supported two NRC projects worth US$1.2 million for emergency shelter, core relief items and livelihoods support for Eritrean refugees in Shire.

Source: OCHA