Waging Peace:  Ethiopia

Strengthening Civil Society

The Center's Democracy Program has supported the efforts of civic leaders in Ethiopia to convene discussions about the most pressing and contentious political and social issues facing the country.  The group set an ambitious agenda of modeling constructive dialogue on issues such as media policy, ethnicity, and the future of the country's economic development. The Carter Center provided support to the first phase of the project, which focused on facilitating public discussions based on well-researched facts, in a forum that demands respect for opposing viewpoints.

Mediating Conflict

In 1988, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Addis Ababa to consult with Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. On a subsequent visit to the region, President Carter met with Eritrean and Tigrayan revolutionary leaders who had been engaged in a 30-year war with the Ethiopian government. At the invitation of both sides, President Carter presided over peace negotiations between the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front at The Carter Center for 12 days in September 1989. These mediations marked the first time the parties agreed to negotiate without preconditions in the presence of a third-party mediator.

These negotiations were reconvened in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 1989. Despite having made some progress, the parties continued to fight. In May 1991, Tigrayan forces reached the capital city of Addis Ababa, forcing Mengistu to flee the country. Eritrea became an independent nation in May 1993.
A 1991 conference of the leading forces in Ethiopia set the course toward full democracy under President Meles. Subsequently, all but President Meles' Tigrayan groups withdrew from the transition government. Although Ethiopia was well on its way to achieving democratic practices, elections in 1992 were flawed. Eager to help the country deepen its democratic practices, President Carter invited all sides to The Carter Center in February of 1994 for a dialogue.

Read more about the Carter Center's Conflict Resolution Program >

Intervening for Human Rights

In August 1988, President Carter interceded on behalf of 30 Ethiopian Jews and 220 Somali prisoners of war in his first meeting with Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. They were released a month later.

In 1992, President Meles Zenawi requested President Carter's help to incorporate strong mechanisms for the protection of human rights into the structure of the Ethiopian state. With these goals in mind, the Center worked with various Ethiopian government ministries in 1992 and 1993 to prevent human rights violations. Training and assistance were provided to conduct fair trials against officials of the former regime, design a human rights training program for law enforcement personnel, and increase awareness within the judicial system of human rights issues.

Election Monitoring

2005 Elections
At the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affais of Ethiopia, The Carter Center observed the country's third national elections on May 15, 2005. While the Center's assessment determined that the majority of the constituency results were credible and reflected competitive conditions, a considerable number of constituency results were problematic. After the election, Carter Center observers were witness to and received reports of human rights violations occurring in and outside Addis Ababa, and on June 9, 2005, the Center issued a statement condemning the postelection violence. The Carter Center released a final report on the Ethiopian elections in December 2009.

Election Reports

View Carter Center election reports for Ethiopia >