Daniel Bekele has resigned as the Chief Commissioner of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. The Speaker of the Parliament Mr. Tagese Chafo thanked the Chief Commissioner of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Daniel Bekele (Dr.). Daniel assumed the role of Chief Commissioner on June 25, 2019 following his appointment by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The appointment was approved by the House of Representatives.
During its tenure of about five years, the commission issued several reports on the human rights situation in Ethiopia. A 130-page national investigative report, one of the most recent releases under Daniel’s leadership, shows widespread human rights abuses against individuals in prison in three regions and the area formerly known as the Southern Nations and People’s Region. From 2018 to 2023. The report describes these abuses as “systemic,” suggesting repeated practices that affect a segment of the population.
Daniels’ leadership of the commission has sparked controversy, with the federal government criticizing its November 2023 report as not adequately addressing the current “context and reality”. This report showed many human rights violations in the Amhara region.
Prime Minister Abiy raised various human rights issues in his speech in Parliament on Thursday and showed a tendency to use the concept of human rights for political purposes. He stressed the need to protect the independence of human rights institutions and make them work free from government interference and external pressure.
A lawyer and human rights activist, Daniel served as Africa Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). He received his PhD in International Law from Oxford University in International Law and Human Rights Management and Social and Environmental Development from Addis Ababa University.
In the year During the 2005 Ethiopian elections, he was involved in civil society and his election to the State Human Rights Commission was seen as a positive step. In the year During the 2005 Ethiopian elections, he was active in civil society, and his appointment to the government’s human rights commission was seen as a positive development.
