COMMISSION INVESTIGATING ETHIOPIAN ELECTORAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000143

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KJUS KDEM ET
SUBJECT: COMMISSION INVESTIGATING ETHIOPIAN ELECTORAL
VIOLENCE WILL HAVE LIMITED MANDATE

REF: A. 05 ADDIS ABABA 4073


B. ADDIS ABABA 49 (AND PREVIOUS)


1. (U) SUMMARY. The 11-member commission of inquiry
established by Parliament to investigate anti-government
demonstrations that occurred in June and November 2005 has
yet to formally meet, but is scheduled to deliver its report
in March. According to its chairman, Frehiwot Samuel, a
career judge, the commission's role is limited to determining
whether government security forces responded with
proportional force, determining whether the Government
observes Ethiopian human rights standards, and calculating
the number of casualties and value of property damaged. The
commission intends to hire investigators and call witnesses,
but has not established any procedures to grant witnesses
immunity from prosecution. Only two of the commission's 11
members have any legal experience. The commission's findings
are due to be released just as government prosecutors will
likely be making their case in Ethiopia's High Court that 131
opposition leaders and supporters, independent journalists,
and NGO representatives should face life imprisonment or
death for seeking to overthrow the government through violent
demonstrations. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) On December 27, deputy polecon counselor and French
ambassador met with Frehiwot Samuel, a career judge appointed
by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and approved by the House of
People's Representatives (Ethiopia's parliament) on December
6 to chair an 11-member commission on inquiry (ref A)
reviewing June and November 2005 anti-government
demonstrations. The formation of an independent commission
to investigate the June 8, 2005, killings of civilians was
one of eight preconditions sought by the opposition CUD in
October 2005 for CUD members to reverse its decision to
boycott entering Parliament. Parliament's approval of the
commission in early December came one month after
anti-government demonstrations rocked the capital in early
November, and followed the GOE's arrest of at least 80
opposition leaders and supporters on anti-government charges
that include armed uprising, high treason, and genocide.
International media and human rights groups report that armed
security forces killed at least forty individuals during the
November demonstrations alone. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
appointed all the commission's members, who were subsequently
approved by Parliament (ref A); a motion to have Parliament
itself appoint the commission's members was not approved.

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COURTS, NOT COMMISSION, WILL DETERMINE WHO IS RESPONSIBLE
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3. (U) Frehiwot explained that the proclamation establishing
the commission limited its mandate to the following:
-- establishing whether actions taken by GOE security forces
(to respond to demonstrators) were proportional;
-- determining whether the GOE is observing human rights
standards promulgated in Ethiopia's constitution and in
Ethiopian law;
-- determining the number of casualties, and the amount of
property destroyed, as a result of the June and November
demonstrations.

According to Frehiwot, the GOE asserts that up to 27 people
were killed in November and 36 in June. (NOTE: On December
21, High Court prosecutors formally charged 131 defendants,
including at least 39 leaders of the opposition Coalition for
Unity and Democracy party, with capital charges ranging from
"obstructing the Constitutional order" to high treason and
genocide. In its written charges, prosecutors allege that
the 131 defendants are responsible for 34 deaths, injuries to
167 people, and causing material damages or loss of one
billion birr -- or approximately 116 million USD. END NOTE.)
Frehiwot noted that while the commission is to consider
Ethiopian, rather than international human rights standards,
Ethiopia's constitution refers to the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.


4. (U) Parliament's legal and administrative committee had
determined that it was the role of the court, not the
commission, to establish responsibility for the June and
November anti-government demonstrations, Frehiwot said. In
contrast, he noted, the parliamentary commission previously
established to investigate alleged human rights abuses
committed in December 2003 by the military in Ethiopia's

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western Gambella region, had been mandated to identify
specific individuals who were responsible for abuses, who
were instigators, or who had participated in the violence.
That commission had presented its report to Parliament
attributing blame to "military persons," he said; he did not
know whether any had subsequently faced prosecution, however.
(NOTE: The commission investigating December 2003 incidents
in Gambella issued its report in late 2004. END NOTE.)


5. (U) The commission of inquiry will submit its report
directly to Parliament, Frehiwot said, but Parliament had not
yet determined whether the report would be public or
confidential. Frehiwot said he preferred that the report be

SIPDIS
public. He lamented that the three months given to the
commission to produce its report was "quite short," as
building public trust in the commission would likely require
several weeks. French ambassador noted that gaining the
trust of the public was key, and observed that it would be
difficult to establish the facts without implying that one
side or the other (i.e., the GOE or the opposition) was wrong.

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COMMISSION AWAITING BUDGET FOR OFFICES, STAFF
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6. (U) Frehiwot said he had only met with six of the
commission's 11 members, and would not meet them again until
"all arrangements" had been completed. He explained that the
commission did not have any office: Parliament had not yet
provided any funding for the commission, but was expected to
do so soon. Frehiwot also said that he was scheduled to meet
with parliamentary speaker Teshome Toga, but had not yet done
so.


7. (U) While Parliament had established the commission, it
was up to the chairman to establish its procedures, Frehiwot
said. The proclamation establishing the commission stated
that no witnesses would be forced to testify, he said. He
added that the commission had the right to summon witnesses
from "around the world" as well as to issue arrest warrants,
but that doing so would be "the worst way" of obtaining
information. Asked whether the commission would grant
immunity from prosecution to those who testified before it,
Frehiwot only said that he felt strongly that witnesses
should not be harassed: he said he would establish a
telephone hotline for witnesses to report harassment, as well
as issue special identification cards to witnesses, who were
to testify under oath. The commission needed to hire its own
expert staff, he said, especially investigators.


8. (U) Commenting on the composition of the 11-member
commission, Frehiwot said that is was unclear how they were
selected: none had legal experience, with the exception of
himself and Wold-Michael Meshesa (Vice President of the
Federal Court of First Instance). He said that other
commission members included four clergy (a Roman Catholic
priest, Lutheran church vice-president, vice president of the
national Muslim council, and Orthodox Church archbishop); an
Addis Ababa University professor who formerly served as the
university's vice president; a Somali political scientist; an
advisor to a pastoralist NGO; and one woman: an accountant
from Harari regional state (the country's smallest).
Frehiwot said that the commission's vice chairman, Shiferaw
Jamo, had been a been a consultant to the GOE during both the
reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and the Derg regime, who now
served as an advisor to the Ministry of Capacity Building on
civil service reform.


9. (U) BIO-NOTE: A government legal expert, Frehiwot began
his career as a legal advisor to the president and parliament
of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples regional
state. He has been a supreme court judge for the last eight
years, and chairs the supreme court plenary as well as the
court of constitutional inquiry. He previously worked on a
World Bank project on civil service reform and currently
serves on several GOE working groups addressing legal reform.
In his capacity as member of the national steering committee
on legal education, he obtained a non-immigrant visa on
December 27 to visit Georgetown Law School in Washington (he
also plans to visit McGill University in Canada).


10. (SBU) COMMENT: Frehiwot appears to be a career technocrat
with extensive experience in Ethiopian law. However, the
commission he chairs faces the politically sensitive task of

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producing a credible report on events for which government
prosecutors have charged 131 opposition party members,
independent journalists, and representatives of civil society
NGOs with capital crimes. The commission's findings, due in
March, will likely be released just as the trial of CUD
leaders and others is underway. END COMMENT.
HUDDLESTON