Protection of Minority Rights in Harari Region: Case Study of Local Governments
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Date
2017-04
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abstract
Ethiopia is one of the ancient countries in the world which was a decentralized state until
it changed to a process of centralization that took place in a period extending over a century.
Present day Ethiopia was created by highlander rulers through twin processes of political and
economic conquest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Emperor Menelik II
(1889-1913) embarked on a campaign of expanding his rule from the central highland regions to
the South, West and East of the country. After the demise of the power of Emperor Menlik II and
his eventual death, in 1913 the centralization drive continued by Ras Tafari Mekonnen leter he
became crowned Emperor Haile Selassie in November 1930. He continued by his highly
centralized system of governance without considering the existing diversity of ethno national
communities and in the name of the nation-building. The system recognized only Orthodox
Christianity as a state religion, Amharic as an official /national language, and other political
opportunities without considering diverse societies of the country. because of his centralized rule
and lack of proper and adequate reform different struggles raised in different ways, This popular
movement caused the break down of Haile Selassie‘s regime in 1974. At that time because of
lack of organized political groups to lead the country a military officers called Derg controle to
the power in September 1974. The Derg era was characterized by massive human rights
violations and internal conflicts. So after a bitter 17 years struggle he defited in 1991 by the
Ethiopian Peoples‘ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) Girmachew Alemu (2010,pp.4-5).
The new rulers announced a radically different nation and state building policy. Under the
guidance of the EPRF they declared their interest that to break the past injustices and to develop
a new Ethiopian society based on freedom, equal rights and most notably self-determination for
all Ethiopian peoples. The right to self-determination is the foundation of the new constitutional
strategy of state building. In the FDRE Constitution ethnic groups which are territorially defined
have become the bearers of sovereign power and entitled to the right to self-determination by
constructing nine constitute units arranged based on territorial and hitter titular ethnic majority
groups. So harari is one of the nine regional states which is an inhabitant of different ethnic
communities. Hrari is the sovereign power and become the majority ethnic of the region. But non
indigenous minorities are discriminated in political participation. The only Harari and Oromo
people are the participants in the political game (Harari constitution 2004).