There were no reports that the government or its agents committed politically motivated killings during the year.Human Rights Watch reported that it received reports of five to six persons dying due to security force beatings in connection with the government’s “villagization” program during the year (see section 1.f.).In May gunmen linked to the ONLF killed a humanitarian aid worker (see section 1.g.).Clashes between ethnic groups during the year resulted in dozens of deaths, as well as the displacement of persons (see sections 2.d. and 6, National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities).

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances; however, there were credible reports that security officials temporarily detained opposition activists and held them incommunicado.The ONLF held two humanitarian aid workers for more than six weeks (see section 1.g.).

The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, there were credible reports that security officials tortured and otherwise abused detainees.Authorities reportedly tortured Ethiopian National Unity Party president Zerihun Gebre-Egziabher and journalist Woubishet Taye, two of the nine persons arrested June 19-21and accused of terrorist activity and involvement with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) (see section 1.e.).In November 2010 the UN Committee Against Torture reported that it was “deeply concerned” about “numerous, ongoing, and consistent allegations” concerning “the routine use of torture” by the police, prison officers, and other members of the security forces–including the military–against political dissidents and opposition party members, students, alleged terrorists, and alleged supporters of violent separatist groups like the ONLF and the OLF. The committee reported that such acts frequently occurred with the participation of, at the instigation of, or with the consent of commanding officers in police stations, detention centers, federal prisons, military bases, and unofficial or secret places of detention. Some reports of such abuses continued during the year.Numerous credible sources confirmed in 2009 that in Maekelawi, the central police investigation headquarters in Addis Ababa, police investigators often used physical abuse to extract confessions. Citizens widely believed that such treatment remained a common practice at Maekelawi. Authorities continued to restrict access by diplomats and NGOs to Maekelawi.

Although the constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the government often ignored these provisions in practice.

The law provides for an independent judiciary. Although the civil courts operated with a large degree of independence, the criminal courts remained weak, overburdened, and subject to political influence. The upper house of parliament has sole responsibility for judging the constitutionality of proposed new laws, handling judicial appointments, and reviewing judicial conduct. Courts have the ability to convict defendants on charges not raised by the prosecution.Regional offices of the federal Ministry of Justice, known as bureaus of justice, monitored developments in local courts, but the federal judicial presence in the regions was otherwise limited. Some regional courts had jurisdiction over both local and federal matters, as the federal courts in those jurisdictions were not operational. Many citizens residing in rural areas generally had little access to formal judicial systems and relied on traditional mechanisms of resolving conflict.A severe lack of experienced staff in the judicial system sometimes made the application of the law unpredictable. The government continued to train lower court judges and prosecutors and made effective judicial administration the primary focus of this training.The seventh criminal branch of the Federal Court of First Instance, headed by three judges, handled cases involving juvenile offenses and cases of sexual abuse of women and children. There was a large backlog of juvenile cases, and accused children often remained in detention with adults until officials heard their cases. There were also credible reports that domestic violence and rape cases often were delayed significantly and given low priority.The law provides legal standing to some preexisting religious and traditional courts and allows federal and regional legislatures to recognize decisions of such courts. By law all parties to a dispute must agree to use a traditional or religious court before such a court may hear a case, and either party can appeal to a regular court at any time. Sharia (Islamic) courts may hear religious and family cases involving Muslims. In addition other traditional systems of justice, such as the Council of Elders, continued to function. These customary mechanisms resolved disputes for the majority of citizens who lived in rural areas. Some women complained of lack of access to free and fair hearings in the traditional justice system because they were excluded by custom from participation in the Council of Elders and because there was strong gender discrimination in rural areas.

The law requires authorities to obtain judicial warrants to search private property; however, in practice police often ignored the law, and there were no records of courts excluding evidence found without warrants. Opposition political party leaders reported suspicions of telephone tapping and other electronic eavesdropping. In 2009 a former employee of the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), the state-run monopoly telecommunications and Internet provider, reported from self-imposed exile that the government had ordered ETC employees to record citizens’ private telephone conversations unlawfully. It was widely believed that this practice continued during the year. In at least one instance, a foreign diplomat received a communication from a service provider stating that the government had accessed the diplomat’s private e-mail account.The government reportedly used a widespread system of paid informants to report on the activities of particular individuals. During the year opposition members reported that ruling party operatives and militia members made intimidating and unwelcome visits to their homes, although the number of reports of such visits declined significantly compared with the previous year, when there was an election.Human Rights Watch and some opposition parties alleged that the government politicized foreign donor assistance and that humanitarian assistance was used as an incentive to secure support for the ruling coalition. In 2010 the donor community based in the country, collectively known as the Development Assistance Group, conducted an assessment of the four largest donor-supported development programs. The assessment concluded that all four programs had accountability systems in place that provided effective checks against distortion for political purposes in the distribution of assistance.Security forces continued to detain family members of persons sought for questioning by the government. There were credible reports that unemployed youths who were not affiliated with the ruling coalition sometimes had trouble receiving the “support letters” from their kebeles (neighborhoods or wards) necessary to get jobs.The national government and regional governments continued to put in place “villagization” plans in the Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Somali regions. These plans involved the resettlement of scattered rural populations from arid or semiarid lands vulnerable to recurring droughts into designated clusters by regional governments. The stated purposes of villagization were to improve the provision of government services (i.e., health care, education, and clean water), protect vulnerable communities from natural disasters and attacks, and change environmentally destructive patterns of shifting cultivation. However, some observers stated that the purpose was to enable the large-scale leasing of land for commercial agriculture, a claim the government denied. The plan involved the resettlement of 45,000 households in Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz and 70,000 in the Somali region from 2008-11. The government described the villagization program as strictly voluntary, and assessments by international donors found no systematic evidence to the contrary. These assessments found that communities and individual families appeared to have agreed to move based on assurances from authorities of food aid, services, and land, although in some instances communities moved before adequate basic services and shelter were in place in the new locations. They also noted that community members who objected to moving were allowed to stay, with consultations continuing, and some persons later returned to their original homes without hindrance. A Human Rights Watch report characterized the process as “far from voluntary.” The report described a process in which security forces and local militia attended meetings with those communities that had initially indicated they did not want to move and later went with villagers to the new locations, where they oversaw the construction of tukuls (traditional huts) by the villagers. According to the report, security forces beat (sometimes leading to death), threatened, arrested without charge, and detained persons who were critical of planned villagization of their communities, and this caused persons to fear speaking out against the process.

Since1994 the ONLF has engaged in armed conflict with the government. During the year scattered fighting continued between government forces, primarily regional government-backed militia, and residual elements of the ONLF. Allegations of human rights abuses committed by government forces (including regional police), government-aligned local militias, and ONLF forces continued. Often fighting was reported only well after the fact with the opposing sides alleging vastly differing and unverifiable accounts of events. In June parliament declared the ONLF and four other entities as terrorist organizations.Most allegations of human rights abuses involving government actors came from ONLF sources, typically conveyed via diaspora blogs, and could not be readily investigated. Some villagers continued to report that local authorities threatened to retaliate against anyone who reported abuses by security forces. The number of reports of such human rights abuses continued to decline. The “Admiral Osman faction” of the ONLF, consisting of hard-core fighters and supported by the Eritrean government, was believed to be responsible for an attack against aid workers on May 13 and attacks against the government. Deliveries of food and medicine were temporarily halted in the limited areas affected by fighting due to security concerns.The 2010 peace agreements that the government signed with the United Western Somali Liberation Front and the Salahdin Ma’ow faction of the ONLF held.

See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/rpt.

Although the law provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, the government restricted some of these rights in practice.The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and returning citizens.In-country Movement: The government relaxed but did not completely remove restrictions on the movement of persons into and within the Ogaden area of the Somali region, continuing to argue that the ONLF posed a security threat (see section 1.g.).Exile: The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not employ it. Several citizens sought political asylum in other countries or remained abroad in self-imposed exile, including prominent human rights advocates. For example, during the year Awramba Times editor Dawit Kebede fled the country after receiving information that he was going to be imprisoned (see section 2.a., Violence and Harassment).

Recent Elections: In the May 2010 national parliamentary elections, the EPRDF and affiliated parties won 545 of 547 seats to remain in power for a fourth consecutive five-year term. In simultaneous elections for regional parliaments, the EPRDF and its affiliates won 1,903 of 1,904 seats. The EPRDF and its affiliates received approximately 79 percent of total votes cast but won more than 99 percent of all seats at all levels. Independent observation of the vote was severely limited due to government restrictions. Although the relatively few international officials allowed to observe the elections concluded that technical aspects of the vote were handled competently, some also noted that an environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place prior to election day. Several laws, regulations, and procedures implemented since the 2005 national elections created a clear advantage for the EPRDF throughout the electoral process. There was ample evidence that unfair government tactics–including intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters–influenced the extent of the EPRDF victory. In addition voter education was limited in scope to information about technical voting procedures and done only by the National Electoral Board, and then only days before voting began.The African Union, whose observers arrived one week before the vote, pronounced the elections as free and fair. The European Union, some of whose observers arrived a few months before the vote, concluded that the elections fell short of international standards for transparency and failed to provide a level playing field for opposition parties. Overall the EU observed a “climate of apprehension and insecurity,” noting that the volume and consistency of complaints of harassment and intimidation by opposition parties was “a matter of concern” and had to be taken into consideration “in the overall assessment of the electoral process.”Political Parties: Political parties were predominantly ethnically based. Membership in the EPRDF conferred advantages upon its members; the party directly owned many businesses and was broadly perceived to award jobs and business contracts to loyal supporters. The opposition reported that in many instances local authorities told its members to renounce their party membership and join the EPRDF if they wanted access to subsidized seeds and fertilizer; food relief; civil service job assignment, promotion, or retention; student university assignment and postgraduate employment; and other benefits controlled by the government.During the year there were credible reports that teachers and other government workers had their employment terminated if they belonged to opposition political parties. According to opposition groups such as the OFDM and the OPC, the Oromia regional government continued to threaten to dismiss opposition party members–particularly teachers–from their jobs. At the university level, however, members of Medrek and its constituent parties were able to teach.Registered political parties must receive permission from regional governments to open and occupy local offices.In early 2010 a system of public campaign finance was announced. Under this system parties are to receive public funds based in part on the number of parliamentary seats they hold.Participation of Women and Minorities: No laws or cultural or traditional practices prevented women or minorities from voting or participating in political life on the same basis as men or nonminority citizens.The government policy of ethnic federalism led to the creation of individual constituencies to provide for representation of all major ethnic groups in the House of People’s Representatives. There were more than 80 ethnic groups, and small groups lacked representation in the legislature. There were 24 nationality groups in six regional states (Tigray, Amhara, Beneshangul-Gumuz, SNNPR, Gambella, and Harar) that did not have a sufficient population to qualify for constituency seats based on the 2007 census result; however, in the May 2010 elections, individuals from these nationality groups competed for 24 special seats in the House of People’s Representatives. Additionally these 24 nationality groups have one seat each in the unelected, largely ceremonial House of Federation.

Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape and provides for penalties of five to 20 years’ imprisonment, depending on the severity of the case; however, the law does not expressly address spousal rape. The government did not fully enforce the law, partially due to widespread underreporting. Recent statistics on the number of abusers prosecuted, convicted, or punished were not available.Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a pervasive social problem. The government’s 2005 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) found that 81 percent of women believed a husband had a right to beat his wife. A 2005 World Health Organization study found that in two SNNPR rural districts, Meskan and Mareko, 71 percent of women were subject to physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner during their lifetime. Although women had recourse to the police and the courts, societal norms and limited infrastructure prevented many women from seeking legal redress, particularly in rural areas. The government prosecuted offenders on a limited scale. Domestic violence is illegal, but government enforcement of laws against rape and domestic violence was inconsistent. Depending on the severity of damage inflicted, legal penalties range from small fines to imprisonment for up to 10 to 15 years.Domestic violence and rape cases often were delayed significantly and given low priority (see section 1.e.). On December 17, Fisseha Tadesse was convicted of attempted murder after gouging out his ex-wife’s eyes. On December 30, he was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. In the context of gender-based violence, significant gender gaps in the justice system remained, due to poor documentation and inadequate investigation.During the year the Ministry of Health began the expansion of the rape crisis center at Gandhi Hospital into a training center for health workers, law enforcement personnel, and others. Police officers were required to receive domestic violence training from domestic NGOs and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. There was a deputy commissioner of women’s and children’s rights in the EHRC.Women and girls experienced gender-based violence, but it was underreported due to cultural acceptance, shame, fear, or a victim’s ignorance of legal protections.The government established a National Commission for Children’s and Women’s Affairs in 2005, as part of the EHRC, to investigate alleged human rights violations against women and children. During the year the commission focused its efforts on workshops and seminars, and not on investigations.Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): One of the most prevalent harmful traditional practices, FGM, is illegal, but the government did not enforce this prohibition or punish those who practiced it. The practice was still widespread but declining. The 2000 DHS found that 80 percent of all women surveyed had undergone FGM, while the total dropped to 74 percent of all women surveyed in 2005. In addition the number of younger women subjected to FGM was declining more rapidly; in 2005, 81 percent of women ages 35-39 had been subjected to FGM, compared with 62.1 percent of women ages 15-19. The same survey found that four in five women who had been subjected to FGM in the Somali region, and three in five in the Afar region, underwent infibulation, the most severe form of FGM (see Children, Harmful Traditional Practices).Other Harmful Traditional Practices: The most prevalent harmful traditional practices, besides FGM, were uvulectomy (cutting or removal the uvula, the piece of flesh that hangs down at the rear of the mouth), tonsillectomy (cutting or removal of the tonsils), and marriage by abduction.Marriage by abduction is illegal, although it continued in some regions, including Amhara, Oromia, and SNNPR, despite the government’s attempts to combat the practice. Forced sexual relationships accompanied most marriages by abduction, and women often experienced physical abuse during the abduction. Abductions led to conflicts among families, communities, and ethnic groups. In cases of marriage by abduction, the perpetrator did not face punishment if the victim agreed to marry the perpetrator. Ethiopia Goji Limadawi Dirgitoch Aswogaj Mahibar (EGLDAM), an NGO that combats harmful traditional practices, reported in June 2010 that there were significant decreases in this practice in all regions over the past decade. Overall, 25 percent of women ages 60 and above reported marriage by abduction, but only 8 percent of women under age 30 reported this practice.Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment was widespread. The penal code prescribes penalties of 18 to 24 months’ imprisonment; however, harassment-related laws generally were not enforced.Reproductive Rights: Neither law nor practice curtailed the right of individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of children, and to have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. The 2011 DHS Preliminary Report indicated a contraceptive prevalence of 29 percent nationwide among married women, a twofold increase from five years ago. A 2009 modeling study by the World Health Organization indicated that the maternal mortality rate was 590 per 100,000 live births. The principal causes of maternal mortality were excessive bleeding, infection, hypertensive complications, and obstructed labor, and the underlying cause for these was the prevalence of home births. Only 9 percent of women reported delivering in a health facility or with a skilled birth attendant.Discrimination: Discrimination against women was most acute in rural areas, where an estimated 82 percent of the population lived. The law contains discriminatory regulations, such as the recognition of the husband as the legal head of the family and the sole guardian of children over five years old. Courts generally did not consider domestic violence a justification for granting a divorce. There was limited legal recognition of common-law marriage. Irrespective of the number of years the marriage existed, the number of children raised, and joint property, the law entitled women to only three months’ financial support if a relationship ended. A common-law husband had no obligation to provide financial assistance to his family, and as a result, women and children sometimes faced abandonment. Notwithstanding progressive provisions in the formal law, traditional courts continued to apply customary law in economic and social relationships.According to the constitution, all land belongs to the government. However, both men and women have land-use rights, which they can pass on as an inheritance. Land law varies among regions. All federal and regional land laws empower women to access government land. Inheritance laws also enable widowed women to inherit joint property they acquire during marriage.In urban areas women had fewer employment opportunities than men, and the jobs available did not provide equal pay for equal work. Women’s access to gainful employment, credit, and the opportunity to own or manage a business was further limited by their low level of education and training and by traditional attitudes.The Ministry of Education reported that female participation in undergraduate and postgraduate programs increased to 123,706 during the 2010-11 academic year, compared with 90,938 in 2008-09, continuing the trend of rising female participation in tertiary education.

Birth registration: Citizenship is derived from one’s parents. The law requires that all children be registered at birth. In practice children born in hospitals were registered while most children born outside of hospitals were not. The overwhelming majority of children, particularly in rural areas, were born at home.Education: As a policy, primary education was universal and tuition-free; however, there were not enough schools to accommodate the country’s youth, particularly in rural areas. The cost of school supplies was prohibitive for many families, and there was no legislation to enforce compulsory primary education. The number of students enrolled in schools expanded faster than trained teachers could be deployed.Child Abuse: Child abuse was widespread. A 2009 study conducted by the African Child Policy Forum revealed that prosecuting offenders for sexual violence against children was difficult due to inconsistent interpretation of laws among legal bodies and the offender’s right to bail, which often resulted in the offender fleeing or coercing the victim or the victim’s family to drop the charges.Harmful Traditional Practices: Societal abuse of young girls continued to be a problem. Harmful practices included FGM, early marriage, marriage by abduction, and food and work prohibitions. A 2006 African Child Policy Forum retrospective survey indicated that 68.5 percent of girls surveyed had been abused sexually and 84 percent had been abused physically.The majority of girls in the country had undergone some form of FGM. FGM was much less common in urban areas, where only 15 percent of the population lived. Girls typically experienced clitoridectomies seven days after birth (consisting of an excision of the clitoris, often with partial labial excision) and faced infibulation (the most extreme and dangerous form of FGM) at the onset of puberty. A 2008 study funded by Save the Children Norway reported a 24 percent national reduction in FGM cases over the previous 10 years, due in part to a strong anti-FGM campaign. The campaign continued to have an effect in SNNPR and Afar during the year. The penal code criminalizes practitioners of clitoridectomy, with imprisonment of at least three months or a fine of at least 500 birr ($29). Infibulation of the genitals is punishable with imprisonment of five to 10 years. However, no criminal charges have ever been brought for FGM. The government discouraged the practice of FGM through education in public schools, the Health Extension Program, and broader mass media campaigns (see Women, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).Child Marriage: The law sets the legal marriage age for girls and boys at 18; however, this law was not enforced uniformly. In several regions it was customary for older men to marry young girls, although this traditional practice continued to face greater scrutiny and criticism. Child marriage was a problem, particularly in Amhara and Tigray, where girls were married routinely as early as age seven, despite the legal minimum age of 18 for marriage. Regional governments in Amhara and Tigray ran programs to educate young women on issues associated with early marriage. There were some signs of growing public awareness in communities of the problem of abuse of women and girls, including early marriage.Sexual Exploitation of Children: The minimum age for consensual sex is 18 years, but this law was not strictly enforced. The law provides for three to 15 years in prison for sexual intercourse with a minor. The law provides for one year in prison and a fine of 10,000 birr ($580) for trafficking in indecent material displaying sexual intercourse by minors. The law prohibits profiting from the prostitution of minors and inducing minors to engage in prostitution; however, commercial sexual exploitation of children continued, particularly in urban areas. Girls as young as age 11 reportedly were recruited to work in brothels and often sought by customers who believed them to be free of sexually transmitted diseases. Young girls were trafficked from rural to urban areas. They also were exploited as prostitutes in hotels, bars, resort towns, and rural truck stops. Reports indicated that some young girls were forced into prostitution by their family members.Infanticide: Ritual and superstition-based infanticide continued in remote tribal areas, particularly the South Omo Valley. Local government worked to educate communities against the practice.Displaced Children: According to a 2010 report by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, approximately 150,000 children lived on the streets, and 60,000 of these children lived in the capital. The ministry’s report stated that families’ inability to support children due to parental illness and insufficient household income exacerbated the problem. These children begged, sometimes as part of a gang, or worked in the informal sector. Government and privately run orphanages were unable to handle the number of street children.Institutionalized Children: There were an estimated 5.4 million orphans in the country, according to a 2010 report by the Central Statistics Authority. The vast majority lived with extended family members. Government-run orphanages were overcrowded, and conditions were often unsanitary. Due to severe resource constraints, hospitals and orphanages often overlooked or neglected abandoned infants. Children did not receive adequate health care, and several infants died due to lack of adequate medical attention. There were multiple international press reports that parents received payment from some adoption agencies to relinquish their children for international adoption, and that some agencies concealed the age or health history of children from their adoptive parents and also misled birth parents about the conditions of adoption. The government had begun to investigate the allegations.International Child Abductions: The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The Jewish community numbered approximately 2,000; there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

The constitution does not mandate equal rights for persons with disabilities. However, two laws prohibit discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment and mandate access to buildings. It is illegal for deaf persons to drive.The Right to Employment of Persons with Disabilities Proclamation prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability. It also makes employers responsible for providing appropriate working or training conditions and materials to persons with disabilities. The law specifically recognizes the additional burden on women with disabilities. The government took limited measures to enforce the law, for example, by assigning interpreters for hearing-impaired civil service employees.The Ethiopian Building Proclamation mandates building accessibility and accessible toilet facilities for persons with physical disabilities, although specific regulations that define the accessibility standards have not been adopted. Buildings and toilet facilities were usually not accessible. Landlords are required to give persons with disabilities preference for ground-floor apartments, and this was respected in practice.Women with disabilities were more disadvantaged than men with disabilities in education and employment. An Addis Ababa University study from 2008 showed that female students with disabilities were subjected to a heavier burden of domestic work than their male peers. The enrollment rate for girls with disabilities was lower than for boys at the primary school level, and this gap increased at higher levels of education. Girls with disabilities also were much more likely to suffer physical and sexual abuse than girls without disabilities.There were approximately seven million persons with disabilities, according to the Ethiopian Federation of Persons with Disabilities. There were one mental hospital and an estimated 10 psychiatrists in the country. There were several schools for hearing and visually impaired persons and several training centers for children and young persons with intellectual disabilities. There was a network of prosthetic and orthopedic centers in five of the nine regional states.The CSO law prohibits organizations receiving more than 10 percent of their funding from foreign sources from promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. Several domestic associations, such as the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind, Ethiopian National Association of the Deaf, and Ethiopian National Association of the Physically Handicapped continued to be affected negatively by the legislation.

The country has more than 80 ethnic groups, of which the Oromo, at 35 percent of the population, is the largest. The federal system drew boundaries roughly along major ethnic group lines, and regional states had much greater control over their affairs than previously. Most political parties remained primarily ethnically based.Clashes between ethnic groups during the year resulted in deaths. Water shortages contributed to interethnic conflict.On January 2, a territorial dispute in SNNPR between members of the Guji Oromo and the Sidama ethnic groups left five persons dead and 11 injured.On April 4, a dispute in SNNPR over land ownership between members of the Geweda and Kolme ethnic groups resulted in the death of three persons and the injury of seven others. The federal police and local administration intervened quickly to bring calm to the area.

Consensual same-sex sexual activity is illegal and punishable by imprisonment under the law. There were some reports of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals; however, reporting was limited due to fears of retribution, discrimination, or stigmatization. Persons did not identify themselves as LGBT persons due to severe societal stigma and the illegality of consensual same-sex sexual activity.In early December Christian and Muslim religious leaders attempted to derail a seminar on sexual health that was targeted at men who have sex with men. The government intervened, and the seminar went ahead, although at a different location.The AIDS Resource Center in Addis Ababa reported that the majority of self-identified gay and lesbian callers, the majority of whom were male, requested assistance in changing their behavior to avoid discrimination. Many gay men reported anxiety, confusion, identity crises, depression, self-ostracism, religious conflict, and suicide attempts.

Societal stigma and discrimination against persons living with or affected by HIV/AIDS continued in the areas of education, employment, and community integration. Despite the abundance of anecdotal information, there were no statistics on the scale of this problem.

The law provides most workers with the right to form and join unions. However, the law specifically excludes managerial employees, teachers, and civil servants (including judges, prosecutors, and security service workers) from organizing unions.A minimum of 10 workers is required to form a union. While the law provides all unions with the right to register, the government may refuse to register trade unions that do not meet its registration requirements. The law stipulates that a trade union organization may not act in an overtly political manner. Seasonal and part-time agricultural workers cannot organize into labor unions. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers and provides for reinstatement for workers fired for union activity.The law protects the right of collective bargaining for most workers.Although the constitution and law provide workers with the right to strike to protect their interests, it contains detailed provisions that make legal strike actions difficult to carry out, such as a minimum of 30 days’ advance notice before striking when the case is referred to a court or a labor relations board. The law requires aggrieved workers to attempt reconciliation with employers before striking and includes a lengthy dispute settlement process. These provisions applied equally to an employer’s right to lock workers out. Two-thirds of the workers involved must support a strike for it to occur. If a case has not already been referred to a court or labor relations board, workers retain the right to strike without resorting to either of these options, provided they give at least 10 days’ notice to the other party and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and make efforts at reconciliation.The law also prohibits strikes by workers who provide essential services, including air transport and urban bus service workers, electric power suppliers, gas station personnel, hospital and pharmacy personnel, firefighters, telecommunications personnel, and urban sanitary workers. The law prohibits retribution against strikers.The government permits unions in practice. Approximately two-thirds of union members belonged to organizations affiliated with the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions. There was no reported government interference in trade union activities during the year, although the major trade unions were government-established entities. There were no reports that the government used its authority to refuse to register trade unions during the year. Approximately 400,000 workers were union members. Based on a 2008 Council of Ministers’ regulation, the government sued the Workers’ Association of the National Bank of Ethiopia (central bank) in the federal High Court, claiming that the bank was a nonprofit government agency and that the labor union should be dissolved. In 2009 the High Court ruled that the association could not be dissolved by a regulation while the rights of workers of the bank were protected by law. The government appealed to the Supreme Court, and at year’s end the case was pending; however, the worker’s association was not functional.The government allowed citizens to exercise the right of collective bargaining freely. Labor experts estimated that collective bargaining agreements covered more than 90 percent of unionized workers. Representatives negotiated wages at the plant level. It was common for employers to refuse to bargain. Unions in the formal industrial sector made some efforts to enforce labor regulations.Despite the law prohibiting antiunion discrimination, unions reported that employers frequently fired union activists. Lawsuits alleging unlawful dismissal often take years to resolve because of case backlogs in the courts. Employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination were required to reinstate workers fired for union activities and generally did so in practice. While the law prohibits retribution against strikers, most workers were not convinced that the government would enforce this protection. Labor officials reported that, due to high unemployment and long delays in the hearing of labor cases, some workers were afraid to participate in strikes or other labor actions.

The law prohibits most forms of forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, the law also permits courts to order forced labor as a punitive measure. The government did not effectively enforce the forced labor prohibition.Forced labor occurred in practice. Both adults and children were forced to engage in street vending, begging, traditional weaving, or agriculture work. Children also worked in forced domestic labor. Situations of debt bondage also occurred in traditional weaving, pottery, cattle herding, and other agricultural activities, mostly in rural areas.Also see the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

By law the minimum age for wage or salary employment is 14 years. The minimum age provisions, however, do not apply to self-employed children. Special provisions cover children between the ages of 14 and 18, including the prohibition of hazardous or night work. By law children between the ages of 14 and 18 are not permitted to work more than seven hours per day or between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., on public holidays or rest days, or overtime. The law defines hazardous work as work in factories or involving machinery with moving parts or any work that could jeopardize a child’s health. Prohibited work sectors include passenger transport, electric generation plants, underground work, street cleaning, and many other sectors.The government did not effectively enforce these laws in practice. The resources for inspections and the implementation of penalties were extremely limited. Child labor issues are covered by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, with support from the Ministry of Women, Youth, and Children. Cooperation, information sharing, and coordination between and among the ministries improved during the year. Courts are responsible for enforcing children’s rights, and criminal and civil penalties may be levied in child rights violation cases. In the absence of a national strategy, investigation and disposition in cases of the violation of children’s rights was minimal.Child protection units, which the NGO Forum for Street Children (FSCE) had sponsored, ceased child protection activities at the end of 2010 due to restrictions in the CSO law and did not resume them during the year. The FSCE changed its name to Forum on Sustainable Child Empowerment and piloted a child-labor-free zone at the subcity level in Addis Ababa. In this zone the FSCE worked with child protection officers, labor inspectors, and police to reintegrate child laborers.During the year the government continued to invest in modernizing agricultural practices as well as in constructing schools to combat the problem of children in agricultural sectorsChild labor remained a serious problem, both in urban and rural areas. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, many children worked for their families without pay. In both rural and urban areas, children often began working at young ages. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs reported that two of five working children were below the age of six. Child labor was particularly pervasive in subsistence agricultural production, traditional weaving, and small-scale gold mining. Children in rural areas, especially boys, also engaged in activities such as cattle herding, petty trading, plowing, harvesting, and weeding, while other children, mostly girls, collected firewood and fetched water. Children in urban areas, including orphans, also worked in domestic service, often working long hours, which prevented many from attending school regularly. Children in urban areas also worked in construction, manufacturing, shining shoes, making clothes, portering, directing customers to taxis, parking, public transport, petty trading, and occasionally herding animals. Child laborers often faced physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of their employers.Also see the Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

There is no national minimum wage. Some government institutions and public enterprises, however, set their own minimum wages. Public sector employees, the largest group of wage earners, earned a monthly minimum wage of approximately 420 birr ($24); employees in the banking and insurance sector had a minimum monthly wage of 336 birr ($20).Wages in the informal sector were generally below subsistence levels. Consequently, most families in the wage sector required at least two wage earners to survive, which forced many children to leave school early. Only a small percentage of the population was involved in wage-labor employment, which was concentrated in urban areas.The law provides for a 48-hour maximum legal workweek with a 24-hour rest period, premium pay for overtime, and prohibition of excessive compulsory overtime. The country has 13 paid public holidays per year. The law entitles employees in public enterprise and government financial institutions to overtime pay; civil servants receive compensatory time for overtime work.The government, industries, and unions negotiated occupational health and safety standards. Workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous situations without jeopardizing their employment. However, due to lack of resources, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs inspection department did not effectively enforce occupational health and safety standards. Lack of detailed, sector-specific health and safety guidelines also precluded enforcement. The country had 130 labor inspectors. Penalties were not sufficient to deter violations. Compensation, benefits, and working conditions of seasonal agricultural workers were far below those of unionized permanent agricultural employees. Although the government did little to enforce the law, in practice most employees in the formal sector worked a 39-hour workweek. However, many foreign, migrant, and informal sector workers worked more than 48 hours per week.Despite the law providing for the right to remove themselves from dangerous situations without jeopardizing their employment, most workers feared losing their jobs if they were to do so. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs did not have an effective mechanism for receiving, investigating, and tracking allegations of violations.Hazardous working conditions existed in the agricultural sector, which was the most primary base of the country’s economy. There also were reports of hazardous and exploitative working conditions in the fledgling construction and industrial sectors. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs attempted to enforce occupational health and safety laws, but its investigative and administration capacity was severely limited