By Keffyalew Gebremedhin The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)
Backgrounder
Ethiopians have not as yet officially heard of David Kaye’s assessment of the human rights situation in Ethiopia. I guess he still happens to be in the country, having arrived in Addis Abeba on Monday December 2, 2019.
I know he still is in Ethiopia, as we have not learned from the media about his mission culminating in an exit meeting with the nation’s prime minister, as is the tradition.
Otherwise, a quiet exit may emit a different message, an ominous sign Ethiopia’s ugly past of habitual refusal of cooperation with the UN Special Procedures mechanism having made a quiet comeback. Human Rights Watch once described this state of affairs with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) as a “history of [Ethiopia’s] non-cooperation…with UN special mechanisms…” It is only in 2006, Ethiopia was compelled to accept the UN special rapporteur on Eritrea.
Therefore, the present non-meeting with special rapporteur with the highest level of the ruling Oromo Democratic Party (ODP) government may come as a confirmation that past negative habit is alive and well and is still kicking.