Africa Ethiopia's human rights record scrutinized

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NAIROBI, Kenya — It has proven notoriously tricky for Africa’s rebel armies to transform themselves into democratic governments and Ethiopia offers perhaps the clearest case study on the continent of ho

Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi speaks to the press during a stop over in Sudan on his way to the UN General Assembly in New York, at Khartoum International airport on September 19, 2010. (Ashraf Shazly /AFP/Getty Images)

w and why this transition so rarely happens.
Ethiopia, under rebel fighter turned political leader Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, attracts huge donor support for its aid programs and no-holds-barred criticism for its human rights record.
In May 2010 the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition won all but two of the seats in the 547-member national parliament, a 99.6 percent landslide.
European Union election observers were among the few foreign monitors permitted into the country at the time and judged the election to have fallen short of international standards.

“Assistance to Ethiopia's government has increased while its human rights record has deteriorated.”

~Rona Peligal of Human Rights Watch

Often seen sporting a flatcap and glasses, Meles cuts a slight figure and looks more like a 1960s intellectual of the sort that might be found smoking Gauloises and discussing Foucault outside a Parisian cafe than a ruthless guerrilla fighter and military tactician.
Now aged 56, Meles seized power 20 years ago at the end of a long armed struggle to overthrow Mengistu Haile Mariam, who led the notoriously bloodthirsty "Derg" regime.
Before his 20th birthday Meles gave up medical studies to join the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which was part of the EPRDF anti-Mengistu alliance which rules the country today.
Meles set about rebuilding his country under a system he called “ethnic federalism” which would devolve power from the center and prevent domination and oppression by any single ethnic group.Continued