This is what an election campaign
looks like in Ethiopia, where the ruling coalition took 99.6 percent of
parliamentary seats in the last national elections, in 2010.
Jirata, who asked that his real name
not be used, is a 19-year-old student who was campaigning for a legally
registered opposition party recently, when security officials arrested him.
They told
him that he was working for a "terrorist group" that sought to
forcibly bring down the government. He was badly beaten over the course of
three nights and released on the condition that he end his involvement in
politics. He is still limping from his injuries, and he told me he no longer has
any interest in getting involved in politics. He says he will vote for the
government party "because life is easier that way".
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Ethiopia: Journalism under
anti-terrorism law
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Jirata was working for an Oromo
party, representing an ethnic group long targeted by the government. But as Ethiopians go
to the polls in late May, the prospects for opposition parties to fully and
fairly campaign are grim.
Since the last election, the ruling
party has only exerted more control and increased its widespread repression of
basic liberties, including the rights to free expression, assembly, and
association.
The courts provide no justice in
cases of political importance. While election day is unpredictable, it's clear
that the avenues by which opposition parties can fully function and citizens
can engage on political issues are largely closed.
While there
are 75 registered opposition groups, several of the largest parties have talked
of boycotting the elections because of flawed electoral processes. Challenges
with registering candidates, acquiring the funds they are legally entitled to,
mobilising their supporters, and keeping their members out of prison have taken
their toll.
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In short, there is limited space
for government critics to play a peaceful and constructive role.
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Suppression of non-governmental
voices
The Ethiopian media provides little
coverage of relevant political issues ahead of the election since what vestiges
of independent media existed have largely been eliminated since 2010.
Reporters critical of the government
are regularly harassed, threatened and detained. In 2014 alone, over 30
journalists fled Ethiopia and at least six publications were closed down.
Sources providing information to
media and human rights groups are regularly targeted. Many diaspora media
websites, while heavily politicised, remain blocked in Ethiopia.
Journalists must choose between self-censorship, harassment, imprisonment, and
exile.
The
situation hasn't been much better for opposition parties that want to organise
peaceful protests and rallies ahead of the election. The Semayawi party (Blue
Party), for example, is one of the newcomers in Ethiopia's electoral landscape,
and since 2013 has tried to hold regular and peaceful issue-based protests.
Protesters
and organisers have frequently been arrested and harassed, their equipment has
been confiscated, and permits unfairly denied. One of their leaders is on trial
on trumped-up terrorism charges.
The lone
opposition parliament member is not running this time due to a split in his
party, the Union of Democracy and Justice, in which Ethiopia's national
electoral board played favourites. The net effect is that the government
awarded the party name to an offshoot of the party that is more closely aligned
to government policies and interests.
No dissent allowed
There are
few ways for Ethiopians to peacefully express dissent or to contribute to the
national political dialogue. Dissent of any type, particularly in rural areas,
is dealt with harshly. The long-standing 5:1 system of grassroots surveillance
- under which one individual is responsible for monitoring the activities of
five households - has let local officials clamp down on dissent before it
spreads beyond the household level. Telephone surveillance is
commonplace, and the ongoing trial of a group of bloggers called Zone 9 has resulted in
increased self-censorship online.
In short,
there is limited space for government critics to play a peaceful and
constructive role. The only international observers to the election will be the
African Union. The European Union is not sending observers, noting that
Ethiopia has not implemented recommendations by previous election observers. As
Human Rights Watch documented after the 2010 elections, those who complain
about election irregularities risk arrest and harassment.
"If we
have an issue with government where do we go?" an Ethiopian who lives in a
rural area recently told me, summing it up: "There is no media that will
write our story, there are no more organisations that work on issues that the
government does not like, if we take to the streets we are arrested, and if we
go to their office to question we are called terrorists. If we go to the
courts, there is no independence - we go to jail. There are no large opposition
parties to vote for in the election, and even if there were, if we vote for
them our lives then become very difficult. So what can we do? The elections are
just another sign of our repression."
Felix Horne is a Horn of Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Source: Al Jazeera
