ETHIOPIA: PARLIAMENTARIAN RECOUNTS HARASSMENT AT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 002645

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2019
TAGS: PGOV ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: PARLIAMENTARIAN RECOUNTS HARASSMENT AT
LOCAL LEVEL

REF: ADDIS 1611

Classified By: Classified by CDA T. Kirk McBride for reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d)


1. (C) Summary: Member of Parliament and Central Committee
member of the opposition Oromo People's Congress Mekonen
Geleta reported harassment by woreda (municipal equivalent)
officials of the Oromia Region during a recent trip to visit
constituents and deliver official Parliamentary documents.
During a two-day trip, Mekonen said he was prevented from
meeting constituents and was insulted and followed by
security officials and the woreda administrator. Such
credible reports of obstructive tactics taken by local level
officials to prevent a Parliamentarian from carrying out the
basic functions of his job are a glaring example of the
downward trajectory of democracy in rural Ethiopia. End
Summary.

2. (C) Major Mekonen Geleta (strictly protect),a Member of
Parliament (MP) and member of the Central Committee of the
opposition party Oromo People's Congress (OPC),recently
described to Deputy Pol/Econ Counselor a trip he took to
visit his constituency in Horoguduru zone, Kombolcha woreda,
Oromia Region during the week of October 12. Mindful of
potential interference by local authorities, he took the
precaution of bringing along a letter from Parliament
indicating that his travel was official. The goals of the
trip were to deliver some letters and reports on HIV and
women's issues (including requests for statistical data) to
the woreda Record Office as well as to visit his constituents.

3. (C) Mekonen traveled to the woreda level with another OPC
member, Seleshi Belay, an elected member of the Oromiya
region Parliament from Guduru woreda, who had just been
released from prison in May after serving a three-year term
for inciting violence in Guduru woreda following the 2005
elections. (Note: There were several deaths as a result of
the violence in Guduru woreda following the 2005 elections.
It is commonly believed that these deaths were at the hands
of the police and the military, and that many opposition
leaders were tried as scapegoats for the violence. End
note). They arrived at the first woreda office on October 14
and were received by a secretary who told them the woreda
officials were in the countryside and would not meet with
them. She accepted their letter and put a stamp on it, but
said they were not permitted to visit any constituents.
Mekonen and his companion waited the whole day outside of the
office.

4. (C) According to Mekonen, on October 15 they travelled by
public bus to another nearby woreda and two security
personnel assigned by the woreda Administrator travelled on
the bus with them while the woreda administrator and two
other individuals followed the bus in a private vehicle from
village to village. Approximately 35 other individuals were
also on the bus. Mekonen said he was prevented from leaving
the bus to meet with constituents in any of the villages, but
he reported that some of his constituents came by car and
motorcycle and drove in front of or in back of the bus.

5. (C) During the course of the two days he spent in Oromia,
he said he was unable to meet with any constituents. He was
only able to stop in the woreda Records Office to deliver the
official papers. The woreda security officials, while
provocative, did not incite him to break the law, he said.
They did however, order the arrest of one student in the city
who had welcomed Mekonen. He said the student was released
after one night in jail. Mekonen reported that during his
last trip to Oromia in February his efforts were similarly
stymied. On that occasion, he said, police from the two
woredas surrounded his 86-year-old mother's house in an
attempt to harass and intimidate him.
6 (C) Comment: The Embassy finds this report to be credible
because it tracks with reports we have heard from other
opposition legislators who have tried to visit their
constituencies in recent months. The fact that an elected
representative with written permission from Parliament to
visit his constituency is being obstructed by local woreda
officials is a glaring example of the actions the ruling
party is taking to tightly restrict political space for any
opposition party at the local level. It is yet another
indication of the downward trajectory for democratic
institutions in which there is little to no opportunity for
opposition parties to engage with their members let alone
actively oppose government policies.
MCBRIDE