In April 2019, Amnesty International argued that Abiy Ahmed’s early releases, law redrafts, and arrests of some officials still fell short of victims’ needs for truth, justice, and reparations in Ethiopia’s transition.
More than sixty senior figures had been charged over torture or corruption by end-2018, and the Legal Advisory Council talked of rewriting the Charities and Societies rules and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. Amnesty said that was not enough while hate speech and ethnic clashes spread.
A reconciliation law without victim-centered accountability risks becoming another elite bargain. Some suspects faced court; others kept careers as if the past were a closed drawer.
As rights archive, the Amnesty call still reads clean. Transitions that skip justice often recycle violence under new party names, including Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party project that followed.
Sources: Amnesty International, ReliefWeb
