Kennedy Human Rights Co-Hosts Webinar on the Landmark Decision on the Right to Vote: Kennedy Human Rights & IHRDA vs The Republic of Ethiopia

Civic Space and Activists

Democracy

Event Recap

Africa

Ethiopia

In May 2026, Kennedy Human Rights Center alongside the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) held a webinar on the African Commission’s decision in Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights & IHRDA v. Ethiopia (Ethiopia Right to Vote Case). This is a landmark decision of the Commission because it found, for the first time, that the government violated the rights of all Ethiopians by its conduct in the 2015 elections. The webinar was held to assess whether Ethiopia has made meaningful progress in addressing the violations identified by the Commission and what the current conditions mean for the credibility, inclusiveness, and participation in the June 2026 elections.

This case challenged the conduct of Ethiopia’s 2015 general elections, with a specific focus on the government’s restrictions on civic space during the election period. During that period, the government deployed violence, intimidation, and repressive legislation to restrict the democratic space. The government arbitrarily arrested journalists and violently attacked peaceful protestors. Voter education groups were defunded, human rights organizations were criminalized, and opposition leaders were arrested. After the election, the government continued to repress critical voices, using a myriad of laws to stifle civil society organizations and the free flow of information. Journalists and citizens who opposed the outcome of the election continued to be threatened, and hundreds were arrested, detained, and killed.

In November 2023, over seven years after the case was filed, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights delivered a decision holding, among other things, that the Government of Ethiopia violated the rights of all Ethiopians to participate freely in the 2015 elections. This decision marks the first time a human rights mechanism has found a violation of the right to vote for an entire electorate. In particular, the Commission found that a violation of the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association during an election period constitutes a violation of the right to vote. More specifically, the Commission held that Ethiopia violated numerous rights under Articles 1, 9, 10, 11, and 13(1) of the African Charter, all under the realm of civic space; freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, as well as the right to participate in government. This decision confirmed that restrictions on civic space limit the citizen’s right to vote.

The webinar featured a keynote address by Honourable Ourveena Topsy Sonoo, the Commission’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to information. Other speakers included our senior staff attorney Ikechukwu Uzoma; Michael Gyan Nyarko, Deputy Executive Director, Institute of Human Rights and Development in Africa; Dr Mesenbet Assefa Tadeg and Mr Noah Yesuf Yimer. During his statement, Mr Uzoma shared the procedural history of the case highlighting that the 2021 Ethiopian elections held while the Ethiopia Right to Vote case was pending before the Commission and violations similar to the complained about in the case occured. Unfortunately, the same trend of violations have continued into 2026 and further exacerbated by the aftermath of the Tigray war and the ongoing conflict in the Amhara region. Mr Uzoma noted that political and ethnic polarisation has also negatively impacted civic space, voter participation, public debate, and the overall integrity of elections. He advised citizens and civil society organizations to continue to document violations of human rights during the polls and called for continental solidarity in support of free, fair and credible elections in Ethiopia. 

Kennedy Human Rights Center and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa made a commitment as the named applicants in the case to follow up on the implementation of the decision in line with the recommendation of the African COmmission for the government to report on its implementation of the decision. 

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