July 24, 2025
- Constitutional Conference
We are very pleased to share that Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) has kindly sponsored meeting space for us at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Rayburn Building. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 1st, from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM.
The meetings will be a continuation of a series a Constitutional Conferences focused on finalizing the draft Ethiopian Constitution and addressing the ongoing deterioration of human rights in Ethiopia.
In light of recent events, we have also decided to include the persecution of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia as a major topic of discussion during the conference.
We will share more details in the coming weeks.
- Request for Senate hearing
We asked Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa & Global Health, to hold a hearing on crisis in Ethiopia. We outlined outlines the causes and impacts of the crisis in Ethiopia, emphasizing that political stability and economic prosperity in Ethiopia are critically important to the United States as instability in Africa’s second-most populous nation threatens to destabilize the Horn of Africa. While crises in the Middle East, Ukraine, and elsewhere dominate the attention of the State Department and the national security community, ignoring the looming catastrophe in Ethiopia is a mistake.
- Press Freedom in Ethiopia: A Concerning Backslide
Recent actions by the Ethiopian government have significantly curtailed press freedom, undermining the progress achieved following the political reforms of 2018. Although the media environment is relatively more open than under previous regimes, it remains fragile and vulnerable to state control.
Key Developments:
1. Crackdowns on Journalists:
Authorities have increasingly targeted members of the press, including both Ethiopian and international journalists. Reports include arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions without due process, intimidation, and even physical assaults. These actions have created a chilling effect on independent journalism and public discourse.
2. Internet and Communication Blackouts:
The government has imposed widespread internet shutdowns and communication restrictions, particularly during periods of unrest or conflict. These blackouts not only obstruct the flow of information but also hinder humanitarian response and civil society engagement in affected regions.
States of emergency have been used to justify sweeping limitations on media activity, including censorship and legal action against those who report on sensitive political or security issues. These measures often lack transparency and due legal safeguards.
Despite previous steps toward media liberalization, these recent trends represent a concerning regression. Sustained international attention and pressure are essential to uphold press freedom, protect journalists, and ensure the public’s right to information in Ethiopia.
- Human rights abuses
On June 17, Ethiopia’s Parliament passed a contentious law targeting terrorism financing and illicit property concealment. The legislation has drawn criticism for granting authorities sweeping powers, including the use of coercive interrogation methods—stopping short of killing—during covert investigations.
- Economic policy
አቶ መስፍን፦
Please extend our very sincere thanks to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) for her kindly sponsoring a meeting at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Rayburn Building for Wednesday, October 1st, 2025 from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM.
The meeting, as you put it, will be a continuation of a series a Constitutional Conferences focused on finalizing the draft Ethiopian Constitution. This is interesting. Our Diaspora colleagues are doing well to look into the drafting of a constitujtion, but Ato Mesfin will surely realize that, no matter how enlightened, there is no power on Earth, outside Ethiopia, that can finalize a constittion for our homeland. It is, I guess, a reflection of a careless write-up on the part of Ato Mesfin Mekonnen.
Having said that, I suggest that Ato Mesfin gives a report on the draft made so far so that we may also have a chance to chip in.
የዛሬው ሕገ መንግሥት በወያኔ በጫካ ተዘጋጅቶ፣ ክልሎችም ለወያኔ ቅዠትና አገዛዝ እንዲያመቹ ተደርገው ተቀርጸው፣ ወያኔ አዲስ አበባ ሲደርስ፣ በወያኔና ኦነግ ጀሌዎች ጭብጨባ የታወጀ ሰነድ ነው። የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ክለላውንም ሆነ ሕገ መንግሥቱን አያውቃቸውም። አሁን ደግሞ አቶ መስፍን ሕግ መንግሥት ዝግጅት እናጠናቅቃለን ሲል፣ ለወሬውም እንኳ ወያኔ ወያኔ የሚሸት አሠራር እንዳይሆን መጠንቀቅ ያሻል።
እንደ ጭነት እንስሳት፣ መጀመሪያ ደርግ፣ ቀጥሎ ወያኔ አሁንም ያው የወያኔ ግርፎች ለኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ መልካም አስተዳደር የማይመጥን ሰነድ በየተራ፣ በፈጠርንላቸው ጦር ኃይል ሕገ መንግሥት ነው ብለው አሸክመውን ያለፉት የ 50 ዓመታት ውጤት መፈናቀል፣ መጋደል፣ መሞት፣ ውድመት፣ ስደትና መራብ ሆነዋል። እነዚህ የተሸከምናቸው ሰነዶች ዲሞክራሲያዊም ሆነ ፌደራል አለመሆናቸው ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ መሪ ናቸው የተባሉት መንግሥቱ ኃይለ ማርያም፣ መለስ ዜናዊና የዛሬውም አቢይ አሕመድ የኃያል ጦር ፈላጭ ቆራጭ መሪ እንዲሆኑ አድርገናቸው፣ ምንም ዓይነት ልጓም ሳይደረግባቸው እንዳሻቸው በገዛንላቸው መሣሪያ እንዲያፍኑ፣ እንዲያጋድሉና እንዲገድሉ ስለቻሉ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ዕጣ ፈንታ ሞት፣ መፈናቀልና ስደት ሆኗል። 50 ዓመት ያሳለፍነው በገዳይ አምባገነን መሪዎች ተረግጠን እየሞትንና እየተሰደድን ነው።
የዛሬው ረቂቃችሁ፣
1ኛ/ ለመሪዎች ልጓም ያበጀና መሪዎች ሕገ መንግሥት ሲጥሱ የሚሻሩበትና ከሥልጣን ከተነሱም በኋላ ለፍርድ ቤት የሚቀርቡበት፣
2ኛ/ የፖለቲካ ሥርዓቱ ምንም ሆነ ምን (ፌደራል፣ ዩኒታሪ፣ በሕገ መንግሥት የተገደበ ንጉሣዊ ሥርዓት እንደ ታላቋ ብሪታንያ)፣
ዲሞክራሲያዊ ይዘት ያለው፣ ሁሉንም ኢትዮጵያውያን፣ ዘር፣ መንደር፣ ሃይማኖት፣ ደጋና ቆላ ሳይለይ፣ እኩል የምንሆንበትና ሰው መሆናችንን ያከበረ፣
3ኛ/ የመንግሥት ሕግ አውጪ፣ ሕግ ተርጓሚና ሕግ አስፈጻሚ ዘርፎች የእርስ በርስ አስተማማኝ ቁጥጥር የሚያደርጉበት፣
4ኛ/ የተባበሩት መንግሥታት የፈረንጅ አቆጣጠር 1947 የሰብአዊ መብቶች ድንጋጌዎች ሳይሸራረፉ የሚከበሩበት፣
5ኛ/ የዛሬ 9 ክልሎች ቢበዛ 9 ጎሣ ብቻ ያነገሡና የቀሩትን 74 ለጎሣ ብዝበዛ የዳረጉ በመሆናቸው ፈርሰው፣ ታሪክን፣ ባህልና የዘመናት ውርስን ባካተተ ሁኔት እንደገና በሕዝብ ፈቃድ የሚከለሉ እንዲሆኑ፣
6ኛ/ እንደ አንቀጽ 47 ያሉ አዲስ አበባንና ድሬ ዳዋን እንዲሁም በሚሊዮን የሚቆጠር ዜጋ የይስሙላውንም ሥልጣን ያሳጡ፣ በአንቀጽ 61 እና 62 ክልሎች ፌደራል መንግስትን የሚመሩበት፣ የሚያዙበትና የሚቆጣጠሩበት የደናቁርት አምባገነኖች ሕገ መንግሥት መጣል አለበት፣ መከላከያም የአገር ዳር ድንበር የሚጠብቅበት ድንጋጌ ብቻ መኖር አለበት፣
7ኛ/ሕዝባችን ባለፉት 50 ዓመታት እንደተደረገው በጮሌ አምባገነን መሪዎችም ሆነ በምንም ዓይነት ቡድን እንደከብት እንዳይነዳ የሚገድብ ሕገ መንግሥት መረቀቅ አለበት ። ሞት፣ ስደትና ውርደት ሊበቃን ይገባል። ተማርን እያልን የውድቀት ታሪክ መደጋገም ዘርና ትውልድም አሰዳቢ ነው።
Dear Ato Andinnet,
Unfortunately, it seems that you did not fully grasp the content and intent of the article. I encourage you to read it carefully, perhaps more than once, to better understand the message.
It is easy to sit behind a keyboard and criticize, but much harder to actively engage in the real work of advancing human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Ethiopia. That is the work many of us have been doing with dedication and transparency.
There is no secrecy from the Ethiopian people—they are the rightful owners of this process. We shared the draft Ethiopian Constitution online last year, and it remains open for public review.
You should have no concerns. Everything we do is transparent and public. The draft constitution will be distributed to the Ethiopian people inside the country, as they are the ones who will ultimately decide what is best for Ethiopia.
You, along with all concerned Ethiopians, are warmly invited to participate in the upcoming conference.