Ethiopia lessons in repression: violations of academic problems, HRW

When the university was first created in the 1950s, Emperor Haile Selassie granted it independence, at least in
name, through a charter. But when Mengistu Haile Mariam took over the country in 1974, his military regime,
known as the Derg, suspended that independence. A European professor who taught at AAU during that period
recalls that his employment contract had an explicit clause guaranteeing academic freedom, with the exception of
anything deemed contrary to the principles of Marxism-Leninism. 195 Since the current government toppled the
Derg in 1991, professors have been demanding university autonomy from the government through a charter.
They say they were close to agreement in 2001, but discussions were suspended after the April student strike. In
April 2002, the government reportedly promised to grant the charter by September. 196 As of December 2002, the
issue had yet to be resolved.
The most egregious incident of government interference remains the 1993 firing of some forty professors
discussed in chapter III above, and the ongoing consequences thereof. Some of those dismissed, including Dr.
Taye and Professor Mesfin, have been imprisoned for advocating academic freedom. Professor Asrat Woldeyes
died in 1999 after spending five years in prison for his activities with ETA, during which his health deteriorated
seriously. Human Rights Watch interviewed two other professors fired in 1993, both of whom said they have
attempted to remain active but have had to balance that activism against harassment that they, their families, and
their friends have suffered. One repeatedly looked over his shoulder while speaking, explaining that he had
recently been threatened with arrest, a threat he deemed credible since he and several of his colleagues in an
educational organization already had been imprisoned in the previous eight months. 197 Another said that, though
he had taken the university to court to grant him access to the university library which was open to the general
public, he preferred to stay away from the campus because it is painful for him to go there. He said that
professors whom he considered his friends now turn away from him on campus because of the stigma; they have
been chastised for being associated with him. His mother-in-law had recently been threatened:
You can’t imagine how difficult this is, to have to stay away from your friends. . . . Some of us
have been made heroes by the government, not that we intended to be heroes. And we have paid
for it. Professor Asrat died; Dr. Taye was in prison for more than six years. Seeing this, the
public is scared. Even our friends are scared to talk to us. You can see how this affects freedom
of speech! Of course, they haven’t completely muzzled speech. [The government] should know
better, having gone through the same thing before themselves [when the TPLF started as a
movement of academics]. I think it will explode again. 198
Professors maintain that the legacy of the 1993 firings continues to have a chilling effect on them and
would-be academics. The combination of this fear and direct government influence in university administration
serves to stifle dissent and activism among the faculty. “I don’t know of any other cases of professors being fired
for sure,” a professor told Human Rights Watch. “But it is definitely insecure.” 199
In addition, some professors—including supporters of “narrow nationalism” and supporters of Ethiopian
nationalism alike—believe the policy of ethnic federalism has been used against them. It is not always apparent
whether political motivations have played a role when professors complain of arbitrary treatment by the university
administration, whether there was some legitimate basis for the treatment, or whether the problem was merely
bureaucratic politics. At least two professors of Eritrean origin were summarily dismissed when the border war
195 Human Rights Watch interview, Addis Ababa, July 22, 2002.
196 Human Rights Watch interview, Addis Ababa, July 24, 2002. For a discussion of the importance of a charter, see Yakob
Adugna, “The students do not have more rights than any other Ethiopian citizen: Interview with Dr. Tetemke Mahri,
Academic Vice President of Addis Ababa University,” Sub-Saharan Informer, July 12, 2002.
197 Human Rights Watch interviews, Addis Ababa, July 15, 20, 22, 25, and 26, 2002 and Washington, July 3, 2002.
198 Human Rights Watch interview, Addis Ababa, July 15, 2002.
199 Human Rights Watch interview, Addis Ababa, July 23, 2002.
Human Rights Watch
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January 2003, Vol. 15,No. 2 (A)