Peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia

The Addis Abeba peace conference was initiated by the March 1993 meeting of 7 political organizations on Peace and Reconciliation held in Paris, France. The objective of this meeting was to discuss the concrete steps required to hold a national reconciliation conference. To this end, the seven organizations established a Peace and Reconciliation Coordinating Committee (PRCC) to facilitate the holding of an all-inclusive, National Conference on Peace and Reconciliation in Ethiopia, including the government. However, the Ethiopian government, led by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) was rather hostile to the idea of holding this conference.

The conference was supported by Ethiopians and the international community, including the EU and its Member states, the United States of America, Russia and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). On December 18, 1993, the conference opened with around 160 participants from political, labour, cultural and religious groups as well as 60 elders. The Opening ceremony was attended by representatives from 31 foreign governments including the USA, Russia, China, EU Member States as well as OAU and about 20 NGOs. Unfortunately, the delegates from the organization that initiated the conference were arrested upon their arrival in Addis Abeba. Abera Yemane Ab, the head of the Coalition of Ethiopian Democratic Forces (COEDF) and a member of Meisone, was one of them. He was held in jail without a fair trial from 1993 to 2011.