In my academic life in the law school, you know, I was – I almost fall in love with the ideals of, you know, equality, civil liberties, and, you know, all those notions of legal realm – and I was, you know, I was looking forward to the time I would be able to give legal service with that ideals, having that, you know, at the center of it. But, you know, the moment I joined the judiciary, my expectation and my idealism and whatever I had was entirely different what I got in the institution, you know.
All the legal practice and the tradition of the court as dictated by principles and traditions which are contrary to the constitutional principles and contrary to the detailed legal principles – so in a way, it was frustrating, because, you know, that is not our expectation, you know; that was not what I wanted to see in the institution. You know, if you look into the whole working environment in the judiciary, even when I was part of it, you know, everyone, every one of us understood how we are expected to work, you know, how we are expected to interpret the laws, you know. Nobody told us that, like, you know, if we don’t – if you don’t try to follow the interest of the party or the interest of the government, what would the consequence would be in terms of a career life, in terms of a professional future.
But there was a clear understanding, you know. There were people that were judged before us who were, you know, fired just because they handled some political cases, you know, strictly according to the principle of the law. And, you know, everybody understood it. But for me, you know, the major reason I was there is – what interested me to be a young judge in a federal court, one of the major reasons is that it would give me a chance to implement and to realize those, you know, very noble ideas of civil liberty and, you know, freedom of individuals, you know, in terms of legal framework.
So for me, was clear from the very start that was not the place I could achieve what I want to, you know, without compromising my basic beliefs and my understanding of the constitution and, you know, the basic laws of the country, which are almost consistent with the international standards.
Birtukan Midekssa is a former federal judge and leader of the pro-democracy opposition movement in Ethiopia.
Hailed as the Aung San Suu Kyi of her country, she was sentenced to life in prison in 2005 after her party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, won an unprecedented number of seats in parliamentary elections. After eighteen months in prison, she was pardoned in 2007 following a series of high-level negotiations. Upon her release, she founded the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) and was elected its first chairperson. In 2008, she was rearrested for allegedly having violated the terms of her pardon and remained in prison for almost two more years. In 2010, she was shortlisted for the European Parliament’s 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Prior to entering politics, Ms. Midekssa served as a defense attorney and federal judge, rendering numerous court decisions in support of the rule of law and in defense of fundamental constitutional liberties. She drew the ire of the Ethiopian government when she presided as a judge in a high profile corruption case involving the former defense minister, Siye Abraha. Ms. Midekssa released Abraha for lack of evidence, but the government immediately rearrested him and sent him to jail for seven years. The government’s contempt for the rule of law helped motivate Birtukan Midekssa to become active in politics.
She was selected as a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow for 2011-2012 at the National Endowment for Democracy and as a Scholar at Risk Fellow at the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University for 2012 – 2013.
The Ethiopian economy is based primarily on agriculture, with a growing services sector and one of the largest GDP growth rates in Africa in recent years. Main industries include food processing and textiles, and the most important export goods are coffee and gold. While unemployment is high and the country has one of the lowest GDP per capita rates in the world, the current government has instituted economic reforms and begun a process of privatization of state enterprises.
Until 1974, Ethiopia was a monarchy, ruled by a dynasty that traced its roots to the 2nd century B.C. Unlike most of the African continent, Ethiopia was never colonized by a European power and has long been recognized as a sovereign country.
The downfall of the monarchy led to the establishment of a socialist government under Mengistu Haile Mariam. The Mengistu regime received significant aid from the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War. Ethiopia suffered a series of internal and external conflicts, calamitous droughts, massive famines, and refugee crises during the 1970s and 1980s. The Mengistu regime was a harsh dictatorship with little tolerance for dissent. Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 10,000 people died under what has been called the “Red Terror,” although the exact number is unknown.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, opposition groups united to form the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). They ousted the Mengistu regime in May 1991. A new constitution and political reforms led to the first multiparty elections in 1995. Over time, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the EPRDF tightened their grip on power by promoting ethnic federalism through which power is given to regional and ethnically based authorities. The 2005 elections were deeply troubled, with violence and widespread accusations of fraud. A number of prominent opposition leaders were accused of inciting violence and held as political prisoners for calling a general strike and boycotting the new parliament.
The flawed 2010 elections resulted in an EPRDF landslide, with only 2 seats going to the opposition. A crackdown on opposition parties, civil society, and the media prior to the elections further limited political space in the country. Since the death of Meles Zenawi in 2012, Hailemariam Desalegn has served as prime minister.
Freedom House describes Ethiopia as “not free,” with both the civil liberties and political rights given a rating of 6, with 1 regarded as most free and 7 as least free.