Borkena
Toronto – Ambassador Beth Van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, advises the Ethiopian government to remove defense force officials who were allegedly involved in rights violations. She said so during a briefing with reporters last Wednesday.
“Over the history of Ethiopia, there’s never been a fully comprehensive or credible transitional justice process, and the cycles of impunity continue to fuel ongoing insecurity,” she remarked.
The Ambassador also said that she is “encouraged” at this point about “Ethiopian Government’s commitment to transitional justice.” However, she also mentioned “vetting individuals who were associated with previous abuses,” as an important element for the process in addition to the legislation pieces.
Although the Ethiopian government claims that it has taken measures in that regard, she expressed concern about transparency of the trials and proceedings. She said :
“…it will be essential for the government to be honest about its past and to take real measures to hold those responsible in its own ranks accountable. And we, of course, as a member of the international community, will continue to push them to do so. There have been some trials and proceedings, disciplinary proceedings, before military courts, but they’re very non-transparent. We don’t have any visibility into who was prosecuted for what crimes, what the resulting sentences were, and so for it to be part of a comprehensive process, there needs to be some visibility into how that process has played out. ”
She also highlighted that “Transitional justice was a central part of the Pretoria Agreement…”
There have been speculations that the Pretoria agreement and the terms of the agreement were the works of the U.S. government although it was the African Union that was running the show on the stage. During the briefing, Ambassador Beth admitted, “Obviously, the United States Government was extremely active in the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which very importantly includes a specific provision whereby the parties agree to submit to a comprehensive transitional justice process.”
She was in the country between December 8-11. Her travel was “to advance transitional justice and accountability initiatives in Ethiopia and across Africa,” and met with senior government officials.
Content of the full briefing is available here
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Defense officials in America or Ethiopia?