BY SOLOMON WASSIHUN
There are not enough positive superlatives to appreciate the latest move made by the Ethiopian government to ensure lasting peace and to address the most pressing demand of the landslide majority of Ethiopians, justice. This statement is a reflection of the harsh reality on the ground. Currently, Ethiopians have a long list of expectations from their government, but the tops on their list are the delivery of justice and respect for the rule of law.
Of course, with interims of peace and stability, the country is now better off than it has been one or two years ago. To say the least, the danger of further escalation of violence and possible unconstitutional change of government has been avoided. The constitution and the sovereignty of the country are secured. The wind of peace is beginning to hold sway.
But peace without justice is nothing; it is like a house made of sand foundation. The prevailing fragile peace can only be consolidated and sustainable only when it is backed by the effective delivery of justice and ensure the protection of the human rights of citizens.
Ethiopia has been through a lot of intra- state violence and conflicts over the last half-century. During this time, three regime changes have taken place, and all of them were violent changes of tyrannical regimes driven by the popular revolt that involve both peaceful and armed struggle.
In their desperate struggle to elongate the inevitable demise of their regime, the ruling powers have committed untold misery against their own people they are supposed to care for and protect. With absolute power, the past regimes have gross human rights violations, summarily executed and systematically displaced and impoverished citizens. Tensions and power struggles among political entities frequently exploded into conflicts causing a massive humanitarian crisis and crimes against humanity. In addition to the rival political ruling powers, armed militant non–state actors have committed various atrocities and human rights violations against their fellow citizens.
One need not go back far in time to see the colossal records of crimes against humanity, and human rights abuses committed by various actors. Independent human rights organizations both from home and abroad have confirmed the perpetration of human rights violations against citizens during the two-year war in northern Ethiopia. Besides, sectarian violence that took place in recent years in various corners of the country have claimed the lives and the livelihoods of millions. Some of the clashes are still ongoing and fanned by the offensive and destructive political rhetoric of irresponsible political groups.
The human right violations that occurred on various occasions in recent times of the country’s history have been largely left unaccounted for and justice has not been delivered to the victims. This has been the cause for the exacerbation of pre-existing grievances and the creation of fresh causes for conflicts. Thus the country has been forced to languish in a vicious cycle of conflicts for several decades.
Sadly all attempts made in the past to deliver justice for the massive human rights violations committed against citizens have not been successful. For one thing, the massive crimes committed cannot be handled by the ordinary legal system due to its limited resources and the immense size and complicated nature of the crimes.
Secondly, there was no clear guiding policy set to execute the delivery of justice coherently and systematically. Third, in the past, the justice delivery option was almost entirely focused on a punitive approach in which alleged perpetrators of human rights violations were brought to the book.
This week the government has demonstrated its commitment to facilitating the delivery of transitional justice to all Ethiopian citizens, with the unveiling of a draft document for the formulation of a national policy of transitional justice. A team of legal experts commissioned by the government is expected to formulate an appropriate policy for transitional justice by the next Ethiopian year, with the support of inputs from stakeholders and the public at large. Discussions among stakeholders to gather inputs for developing the policy have already started and similar events are expected to be held across the country to ensure the participation of the citizen residing across the nation.
Emphasizing on the need for the transitional justice policy, the speaker of the federal parliament said: “We need a transitional justice policy that focuses on the victims of injustice and human rights violation, respects international human rights laws and conventions and bases the experience of other countries in a similar situation, and takes into consideration the political and socio-economic condition of the country. We do not just want this policy. We need it. The existing situation of our country requires us to adopt and implement such policy.” he said
The formulation and implementation of the policy are expected to serve as a pillar for the bridge that serves to transfer the country to a stable democratic system and to ensure sustainable peace. As seen from the experiences of some countries in Africa and South America, the implementation of transitional justice has created conditions for the prevalence of national reconciliation by seeking the whole truth about what happened and holding accountable the perpetrators of crime, introducing institutional reforms, and as well as promoting the culture of forgiveness and providing appropriate compensations for the victims.
As the country’s Deputy Premier indicated this week, the importance of transitional justice in the current political climate of the nation is unquestionable. It is a priority of paramount importance. “To give an appropriate response to the human rights violations committed and to assert the supremacy of law of the land, the adoption of an appropriate policy of transitional justice and its immediate implementation is essential more than ever before,” he said.
Critics may argue that the kick-start of the process of transitional justice is long overdue, but they would not dare to say it is too late. Since the time the incumbent government assumed power [2018], the country has been through a continual wave of unrest, violence, and full-scale war. In addition, large-scale natural disasters like the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, locust infestation and the draught due to the effect of climate change has a considerable dragging and distracting effect on the progress of the multifaceted reforms the government exerted over the last five years. Had it not been for the occurrence of those unfortunate challenging situations, the process of transitional justice would have been started much earlier.
The other most important thing is the process of transitional justice is owned and driven by Ethiopian institutions and Ethiopian experts without the need for the involvement of foreign bodies, which could have jeopardized the potential acceptability of the outcomes of the transitional justice process by all Ethiopians from every corner of the political and social spectrum.
So the optimism of Ethiopians that their country will become a stable and peaceful state is now becoming more realistic. The implementation of the Pretoria Peace Agreement has passed the point of no return and is beginning to pay off. The war news that came from the north of the country has now been completely replaced by news of peace, resettlement and developments.
The long-awaited national dialogue will be launched in just two months, after the successful completion of the preparatory phases. And early in the New Year, Ethiopians will embark on another complementary journey of peace and reconciliation through the path of transitional justice. So you can bet that the coming Ethiopian New Year will mark the beginning of a new peaceful era that citizens only dream about but have not experienced for several generations.
The Ethiopian March 14/2023