YOUNG ETHIOPIANS AND HUMAN RIGHTS:

THE KNOWLEDGE GAP

Prepared by Yodit Shibru

October 2005

 INTRODUCTION 

The promotion of democratic institutions has moved from empty rhetoric to a core concern of both developed and developing countries alike. A major challenge facing the world today is search for relevant, new paradigms of development which can integrate economic practice and popular demands for respect for human rights and adherence to democratic forms of government. Our attempt in this paper is to look at human rights issues in Ethiopia, particularly the concept and the practice of the    government in supporting democratic institutions and advancing human rights.

This report is a result of a focus group conducted during September 2005 as part of the Democracy and Human Rights project grant awarded by the Delegation of the European Commission to Ethiopia. The focus group participants were young citizens from all alks of life who are part of the special Human Rights (HR) education programs supported by Initiative Africa. The Focus Group Discussions had three goals: (i) Brainstorming ideas; (ii) Gauge knowledge of HR issues; and (iii) improve commitment to advancing HR of participants. 

Specific discussion questions included: Is there better understanding of HR in Ethiopia?  How robust are human rights norms?  Fifteen years after the collapse of the military regime and after a number of reforms and resources spent to support democracy and human rights, how do Ethiopians think about human rights? The randomly selected participants were 18-35 years old and come from diverse backgrounds: senior high school and/or college levels students, individuals from economically disadvantaged families, individuals engaged in nontraditional training and employment, and young professionals. The Focus Groups Discussions took place in the cities of Addis Ababa, Awassa and Harar. The gender balance was strictly adhered to in all the meetings.

Our analysis indicates that the answers to these important questions are, at best, mixed.  Moreover, close inspection of the results reveals some troubling findings for those who hope to see democracy in Ethiopia become robust.   

HUMAN RIGHTS PERCEPTION 

Our analysis indicates that most of the participants do not perceive human rights as a universal concept. In fact, there is a perception of priority of rights among           

individuals. During the focus group discussions, most participants perceived human rights in terms of just two distinct normative dimensions: civil liberties (e.g., freedom of religion, association, and expression) and rights of the person (e.g., freedom from torture and from arbitrary arrest). A third dimension of rights, namely economic rights (e.g., the right to work, to own property, and to social welfare) was mostly considered external to the rights dimension.  

Economic rights, including the right to own property, are highly supported.  Rights of the person also received relatively strong support.  In contrast,  Ethiopians’ commitment to civil liberties seemed weak.  Ethiopians readily express indifference, uncertainty, or hostility toward civil liberties than to strongly supporting them.  A large majority finds it acceptable for the government to suspend rights for certain goals or in response to certain threats, especially those concerning order and public safety.  Few youth are concerned about censorship of the press, and practically none fear the suspension of civil liberties. Perhaps most disturbing, the well-educated showed only slightly more support for civil liberties than the least educated.     

SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 

Here, we focused on responses to questions that address how strongly participants supported eight specific rights included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  These were: freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of religion, the right to work, freedom of expression/information, freedom from torture, the right to a minimal standard of living, the right to own property, and the right of free association.   

An overwhelming majority of participants support rights from arbitrary arrest and freedom from torture. Although more than half of participants supported rights concerning a minimum standard of living, private property, and employment, only less than half of participants say protecting these rights should be the responsibility of the government. Strong support to the promotion of social and individual responsibilities was also registered. The remaining rights, freedom of expression/information, and the right of free association - enjoy less overall support and, among supporters, more qualified support.  We determined that the respondents are, on average, indifferent or opposed to protecting this type of right.  Those who “don’t know” have no opinion on all of the specific rights corresponding to that particular dimension. It seems that Ethiopians’ support for economic rights generally exceeds their support for civil liberties.  Non-supporters of a particular right are generally more likely to have no opinion about it than to view it as unimportant or harmful.   

Most participants also noted the important signs of progress, including greater awareness of abuses of women rights. Participants comment stronger standards for prosecuting violence against women, particularly in conflict situations, and some initial efforts by the government, to implement programs to support women’s rights are needed. Still, these steps forward seemed too few and far between, especially when contrasted with the scale and scope of ongoing     violations of women’s fundamental human rights. 

One of the most striking findings is the reluctance of a large number of the male participants opposing further expansion of women’s human rights in Ethiopia.

COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS 

Participants were asked to indicate up to two specific threats that would justify, in their view, the suspension of at least some human rights. An overwhelming number of     participants consistently stated that situation involving order and public safety – namely, fighting foreign attackers, and/or corruption – justifies the violation of human rights. Only a negligible number of participants said that no threat justifies violating rights.  A sizeable number advocated limiting rights for the sake of improving the economy or halting economic risks.  A minority of participants saw fighting a war as a legitimate reason for sacrificing human rights.   

These views suggest that young Ethiopians’ belief in human rights is weaker when juxtaposed against concrete concerns as opposed to being presented in abstract terms.  They also suggest that young Ethiopians prefer to see the main tradeoff of rights for order and public safety – not economic progress.  In other words, young Ethiopians see an inverse relationship between maintaining law and order with say, fighting corruption and the protection of rights.   

Participants were asked which of specific threats – including the loss of civil rights, democratic freedoms, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press – they fear most.  Very few listed loss of these civil rights as among their top five greatest fears.  As for censorship, respondents were also asked to assess the level of government control over press reports.  A sizeable number of participants think government control of media is excessive.  In contrast, almost half advocated more censorship of media!  Many Ethiopians are not aware of the level of government control of the media, official harassment of individuals and voluntary associations who criticize the government, and the restriction on the activities of religious groups.   

YOUTHS – NOT READY TO INITIATE CHANGE 

Conventional wisdom would expect higher support for civil liberties and other rights among younger and better-educated Ethiopians.  This could serve as the basis for some optimism, because the younger generations will eventually replace the elders, and the highly educated, who they see as playing a more influential role in the political life of modern societies. In fact, there is no strong level of support for civil liberties among youths. 

As expected, education is associated with higher levels of strong support for civil liberties, but this effect is muted: Altogether, demographic patterns offer little encouragement that the younger generation or the well-educated will act as strong defenders of civil liberties.  Further research is necessary to explore why this is currently the case, and how it might be reversed.   

Some argue that human rights and democratic norms have steadily increased throughout the international community in the last several decades, and that we should expect this to be the case in Ethiopia.  Many reports claim that Ethiopians have in fact made considerable progress in assimilating democratic values. Norms favoring human rights are a crucial component of democratic values, and our findings on how Ethiopians think about human rights portray a less optimistic picture.  Ethiopians’ views on human rights are complex; to speak of support for “human rights” as a whole is not accurate: Most opt for "picking and choosing" rights.  And so, support varies for different types of rights.  Ethiopians are strongly committed to economic rights.  However, their support for civil liberties is weak, especially when they are asked concrete   questions rather than abstract ones.   

CONCLUSION 

Those who wish to see democracy take hold in Ethiopia should be patient. Ethiopians back a cluster of economic rights, some of which are at odds with market reform.  Ethiopians highly value social welfare, the right to work, and the right to own property.    The focus group also shows that Ethiopians are generally less individualistic. They assign equal value to the promotion of social and     individual responsibilities - that is, for both the state and the individual - to bring about and maintain a desired social order. Indeed, the maintaining of social order in this manner requires a shift in the intellectual discourse from placing greater emphasis on individuals’ rights to looking at responsibilities of both individuals and the state in the promotion of social development. In terms of civil liberties, the news is bleak.  Despite an increase in threats to civil liberties, our review suggests that many Ethiopian youths are not bothered by this.  For example, we found apathy toward freedom of the press.  This apathy was also evident in the lack of public reaction to the damaging reforms introduced by the government in 2004 and the delay in opening the broadcast and electronic media to private operators.  Together, public lethargy and increased governmental control of the media create permissive conditions for violations of human rights. News about human rights that Ethiopians do strongly care about, such as freedom from torture and arbitrary arrests, rarely make it onto television. Because individuals and groups who monitor human rights have little access to the media, assaults on rights go largely unnoticed.   

Policymakers in the West need to devote more attention to the status, both legal and normative, of civil liberties in Ethiopia.  An important aspect of this will be to work with civic organizations to increase funding for democracy assistance. Since the advent of the EPRDF, the West has spent money supporting a range of institutions associated with democracy.  Now is the time to dramatically increase assistance to democracy programs, and, within democracy assistance, to increase funding for education about human rights, human rights groups monitoring abuses, and groups that support free media. Civic education, therefore, is or should be a prime concern. There is no more important task than the development of an informed, effective, and responsible citizenry.  Democracies are sustained by citizens who have the requisite knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Absent a reasoned commitment on the part of its citizens to the  fundamental values and principles of democracy, a free and open society cannot succeed. Therefore, it is imperative, that educators, policymakers, and members of civil society make the case and ask for the support of civic education from all segments of society and from the widest range of institutions and governments.