The Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission is a

truth and reconciliation commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

created in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

in December 2018.

Creation

In December 2018, the

House of Peoples' Representatives The House of Peoples' Representatives is the lower house of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Located in the capital Addis Ababa, the House has 547 members. All are elected in theory for five-year term in single-seat constituencies. ...

(HoPR) voted overwhelmingly in favour of the creation of an Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission. The creation of the ERC was formally published in '' Federal Negarit Gazeta'' as Proclamation 1102/2018 on 5 February 2019, with the proclamation becoming law on 25 December 2018.

Leadership and structure

In February 2019, the HoPR appointed 41 members to the Reconciliation Commission, including

Berhanu Nega Berhanu Nega (; born 6 December 1958) is an Ethiopian politician who is serving as the current Minister of Education since 2021. He previously was the mayor elect of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the 2005 Ethiopian general elections. He is a foundi ...

Beyene Petros Beyene Petros (; 11 March 1950 – 17 September 2024) was an Ethiopian politician and educator who was the Professor of Biology at Addis Ababa University and a former member of the Ethiopian House of Peoples' Representatives, representing an ele ...

Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu NL COL (, Amharic: ደራርቱ ቱሉ; born 21 March 1972) is an Ethiopian former long-distance runner, who competed in track, cross country running, and road running up to the marathon distance. Derartu is the first Ethiopian ...

Goshu Wolde Goshu Wolde (, born 1942) is a former Ethiopian Foreign Minister and worked as minister of education, of Ethiopia from 1983 to 1986. Wolde, formerly a foreign minister under Mengistu, resigned the Mengistu government in 1986, by sending his resi ...

Hailemariam Desalegn Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe (; born 19 July 1965) is an Ethiopian politician who served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister of Ethiopia from 2012 to 2018. He also previously served as deputy prime minister and Ministry of Foreign Affair ...

Yetnebersh Nigussie Yetnebersh Nigussie (; born 24 January 1982) is an Ethiopian lawyer and disability rights activist. In 2017, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her inspiring work promoting the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities, allowi ...

Zeresenay Alemseged Zeresenay "Zeray" Alemseged is a paleoanthropologist who is a faculty member at the University of Chicago. In 2013, he was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts ...

and other religious figures, former politicians, intellectuals and philanthropists. A religious figure, Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, was chosen as president of the ERC.

Aim and powers

The aim of the ERC, defined in Article 5 of Proclamation 1102/2018, is to "maintain peace justice, national unity and consensus and also Reconciliation among Ethiopian Peoples." The powers and duties of the ERC defined in Article 6 of the Proclamation include communication with varying social groups, identifying the origins of conflicts and human rights violations, considering both the victims' and offenders' points of view, the power to subpoena any document except for national security reasons, to visit any institution and obtain copies of documents found there, to summon any individual or group to give testimony, to get support from any federal or regional police force "depending on the situation", to notify the public and government agencies of the ERC's conclusions, and to "make Reconciliation among peoples to narrow the difference created and to create consensus."

Independence

Article 18 of Proclamation 1102/2018 formally requires the ERC to "perform its activities freely and independently".

Witness and whistleblower protection

Article 18 of Proclamation 1102/2018 defines protections for witnesses and

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

Actions

In October 2020, the ERC stated that it had documented 370 "traditional reconciliation and conflict resolution mechanisms". In the context of the increasing tension between the federal and Tigrayan governments, the ERC stated that it was trying to mediate, but that pre-conditions set by both sides had blocked progress.

References

External links

{{official website Law of Ethiopia Human rights in Ethiopia Government agencies of Ethiopia Truth and reconciliation commissions