Papers by Lamesgnew Negalign
When EPRDF took control of the power in Ethiopia around the end of May 1991, many human rights ad... more When EPRDF took control of the power in Ethiopia around the end of May 1991, many human rights advocates including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were happy; hoping that the new regime will work to make sure civil and political rights are safeguarded (HRW, 1992; Amnesty International, 2016). There was optimism among many because of some initial signs of improvement and because of the EPRDF’s promises—the EPRDF promised that it will democratize Ethiopia and that it will work towards the protection of civil and political rights (Vestal, 1999; Tetzlaff, 2008; Merera, 2008). According to Paulos Mikias (2011), democratization was the ‘buzz word’ of the time (p. 400). The following discussion shows what the status of human rights looked like in the past 28 years (since 1991), in Ethiopia. It starts by discussing the constitutional provisions that provide protection to the basic rights of the citizens of the country, then it will assess the status of the civil and political rights
This study analyzed the US’s human right promotion efforts in Ethiopia and the impacts of securit... more This study analyzed the US’s human right promotion efforts in Ethiopia and the impacts of security concerns on these efforts. By doing so, it has remedied the gap created by the lack of literature that focuses primarily on assessing how security interests affected the US’s human rights promotion efforts in Ethiopia. To this end, the study has primarily utilized a qualitative method. The WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables, governmental reports, foreign policy documents, and legal documents were analyzed as primary sources of data. Moreover, books, articles, journals, news websites, and human rights reports have been utilized in this research as secondary sources of data. This thesis has deliberated that the US has indispensable security interests in the Horn of Africa, namely, to protect its citizens, embassies, businesses, and ‘the homeland’ from terrorist attacks. To protect these interests, it has primarily relied on its partners; and Ethiopia has been among the US government’s major security partners. Nonetheless, because of Ethiopia’s bad and deteriorating human rights record, the partnership between Ethiopia and the US has been highly criticized. The findings of this thesis suggest that the desire for maintaining stability, fear of antagonizing the security partnership, fear of losing Ethiopia to China and Russia played a significant role in deterring the US from utilizing more confrontational and more coercive human rights promotion mechanisms. Moreover, because of the reliance of the US on Ethiopia (as one of its main security partners) for its security interests in the Horn of Africa, security has been utilized by the Ethiopian government as leverage against the US’s attempts to put stronger pressure against Ethiopia. Key Words: Ethiopia, Human Rights, Human Security, Security, USA
Thesis Chapter , 2019
When EPRDF took control of the power in Ethiopia around the end of May 1991, many
human rights a... more When EPRDF took control of the power in Ethiopia around the end of May 1991, many
human rights advocates including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were
happy; hoping that the new regime will work to make sure civil and political rights are
safeguarded (HRW, 1992; Amnesty International, 2016). There was optimism among
many because of some initial signs of improvement and because of the EPRDF’s
promises—the EPRDF promised that it will democratize Ethiopia and that it will work
towards the protection of civil and political rights (Vestal, 1999; Tetzlaff, 2008; Merera,
2008). According to Paulos Mikias (2011), democratization was the ‘buzz word’ of the time
(p. 400). The following discussion shows what the status of human rights looked like in the past
28 years (since 1991), in Ethiopia. It starts by discussing the constitutional provisions that
provide protection to the basic rights of the citizens of the country, then it will assess the
status of the civil and political rights
Thesis, 2019
This study analyzed the US’s human right promotion efforts in Ethiopia and the
impacts of securit... more This study analyzed the US’s human right promotion efforts in Ethiopia and the
impacts of security concerns on these efforts. By doing so, it has remedied the gap
created by the lack of literature that focuses primarily on assessing how security
interests affected the US’s human rights promotion efforts in Ethiopia. To this end,
the study has primarily utilized a qualitative method. The WikiLeaks US diplomatic
cables, governmental reports, foreign policy documents, and legal documents were
analyzed as primary sources of data. Moreover, books, articles, journals, news
websites, and human rights reports have been utilized in this research as secondary
sources of data. This thesis has deliberated that the US has indispensable security
interests in the Horn of Africa, namely, to protect its citizens, embassies, businesses,
and ‘the homeland’ from terrorist attacks. To protect these interests, it has
primarily relied on its partners; and Ethiopia has been among the US government’s
major security partners. Nonetheless, because of Ethiopia’s bad and deteriorating
human rights record, the partnership between Ethiopia and the US has been highly
criticized. The findings of this thesis suggest that the desire for maintaining
stability, fear of antagonizing the security partnership, fear of losing Ethiopia to
China and Russia played a significant role in deterring the US from utilizing more
confrontational and more coercive human rights promotion mechanisms.
Moreover, because of the reliance of the US on Ethiopia (as one of its main security
partners) for its security interests in the Horn of Africa, security has been utilized
by the Ethiopian government as leverage against the US’s attempts to put stronger
pressure against Ethiopia.
Key Words: Ethiopia, Human Rights, Human Security, Security, USA
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Papers by Lamesgnew Negalign
human rights advocates including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were
happy; hoping that the new regime will work to make sure civil and political rights are
safeguarded (HRW, 1992; Amnesty International, 2016). There was optimism among
many because of some initial signs of improvement and because of the EPRDF’s
promises—the EPRDF promised that it will democratize Ethiopia and that it will work
towards the protection of civil and political rights (Vestal, 1999; Tetzlaff, 2008; Merera,
2008). According to Paulos Mikias (2011), democratization was the ‘buzz word’ of the time
(p. 400). The following discussion shows what the status of human rights looked like in the past
28 years (since 1991), in Ethiopia. It starts by discussing the constitutional provisions that
provide protection to the basic rights of the citizens of the country, then it will assess the
status of the civil and political rights
impacts of security concerns on these efforts. By doing so, it has remedied the gap
created by the lack of literature that focuses primarily on assessing how security
interests affected the US’s human rights promotion efforts in Ethiopia. To this end,
the study has primarily utilized a qualitative method. The WikiLeaks US diplomatic
cables, governmental reports, foreign policy documents, and legal documents were
analyzed as primary sources of data. Moreover, books, articles, journals, news
websites, and human rights reports have been utilized in this research as secondary
sources of data. This thesis has deliberated that the US has indispensable security
interests in the Horn of Africa, namely, to protect its citizens, embassies, businesses,
and ‘the homeland’ from terrorist attacks. To protect these interests, it has
primarily relied on its partners; and Ethiopia has been among the US government’s
major security partners. Nonetheless, because of Ethiopia’s bad and deteriorating
human rights record, the partnership between Ethiopia and the US has been highly
criticized. The findings of this thesis suggest that the desire for maintaining
stability, fear of antagonizing the security partnership, fear of losing Ethiopia to
China and Russia played a significant role in deterring the US from utilizing more
confrontational and more coercive human rights promotion mechanisms.
Moreover, because of the reliance of the US on Ethiopia (as one of its main security
partners) for its security interests in the Horn of Africa, security has been utilized
by the Ethiopian government as leverage against the US’s attempts to put stronger
pressure against Ethiopia.
Key Words: Ethiopia, Human Rights, Human Security, Security, USA
human rights advocates including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were
happy; hoping that the new regime will work to make sure civil and political rights are
safeguarded (HRW, 1992; Amnesty International, 2016). There was optimism among
many because of some initial signs of improvement and because of the EPRDF’s
promises—the EPRDF promised that it will democratize Ethiopia and that it will work
towards the protection of civil and political rights (Vestal, 1999; Tetzlaff, 2008; Merera,
2008). According to Paulos Mikias (2011), democratization was the ‘buzz word’ of the time
(p. 400). The following discussion shows what the status of human rights looked like in the past
28 years (since 1991), in Ethiopia. It starts by discussing the constitutional provisions that
provide protection to the basic rights of the citizens of the country, then it will assess the
status of the civil and political rights
impacts of security concerns on these efforts. By doing so, it has remedied the gap
created by the lack of literature that focuses primarily on assessing how security
interests affected the US’s human rights promotion efforts in Ethiopia. To this end,
the study has primarily utilized a qualitative method. The WikiLeaks US diplomatic
cables, governmental reports, foreign policy documents, and legal documents were
analyzed as primary sources of data. Moreover, books, articles, journals, news
websites, and human rights reports have been utilized in this research as secondary
sources of data. This thesis has deliberated that the US has indispensable security
interests in the Horn of Africa, namely, to protect its citizens, embassies, businesses,
and ‘the homeland’ from terrorist attacks. To protect these interests, it has
primarily relied on its partners; and Ethiopia has been among the US government’s
major security partners. Nonetheless, because of Ethiopia’s bad and deteriorating
human rights record, the partnership between Ethiopia and the US has been highly
criticized. The findings of this thesis suggest that the desire for maintaining
stability, fear of antagonizing the security partnership, fear of losing Ethiopia to
China and Russia played a significant role in deterring the US from utilizing more
confrontational and more coercive human rights promotion mechanisms.
Moreover, because of the reliance of the US on Ethiopia (as one of its main security
partners) for its security interests in the Horn of Africa, security has been utilized
by the Ethiopian government as leverage against the US’s attempts to put stronger
pressure against Ethiopia.
Key Words: Ethiopia, Human Rights, Human Security, Security, USA