In May 2019 The Elders welcomed the wide-ranging reforms introduced under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and called on Ethiopian leaders to uphold the rule of law as politics opened.
The group, founded by Nelson Mandela, framed reform as unfinished if courts, rights, and peaceful contestation did not keep pace with releases of prisoners and freer speech.
International elder diplomacy often sounds soft, yet it left a public checkpoint on how outside mediators judged Ethiopia’s transition before later violence.
Kept as politics archive, The Elders’ statement dates a rights-minded welcome that already insisted on legal limits.
Sources: The Elders / Look to the Stars