As part of my work with the UNDP, last week, I met with officials from the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in Addis. The EHRC is a relatively new organization and is slowing developing its complaints system, allowing individuals, organizations and entities to file complaints for human rights violations. In Canada, human rights commissions are established by legislation which clearly stipulates the situations in which a commission can accept complaints. For instance, complaints can be lodged only if there is discrimination on a prohibited ground (i.e. race, sex, creed, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability etc.) in a specific context (i.e. in the context of employment, the provision of public services, housing etc.).
In Ethiopia, the EHRC is given a vast mandate allowing complaints for any violations of the Ethiopian Constitution. The Ethiopian Constitution is a robust instrument that provides a vast protection of rights in a vast number of areas. That there is an organization that allows individuals to make direct complaints against others based on constitutional violations is truly interesting. Furthermore, under the EHRC framework, individuals can file complaints against other individuals. The complaint framework does not have the same restrictions of prohibited ground and specific context as the Canadian models.
In my work with the EHRC, I am helping them with programming and planning for next year, including the development of projects which they can implement to further their mandate. The EHRC staff is an amazing group of people with lots of energy and enthusiasm and who believe in the promise of the EHRC to engender a culture of rights and their respect in Ethiopia.
