Ethiopia’s national dialogue and transitional justice: competition or complementarity?

This research paper examines the relationship between Ethiopia's national dialogue and its transitional justice process, arguing that the two should be complementary and simultaneous rather than sequential. The author highlights tensions and delays in the transitional justice process, suggesting that strategic alignment and coordination are necessary to prevent one process from undermining the other.

• The transitional justice process in Ethiopia is experiencing delays, with a public consultation on draft laws that was scheduled for early in the year failing to occur. There are unofficial claims that the process is informally paused until the National Dialogue Commission completes its mandate.
• Tensions exist between the two processes because transitional justice actors fear the national dialogue will monopolise political and institutional attention, while national dialogue proponents view transitional justice as potentially polarising and believe it should be a downstream outcome of the dialogue.
• The author argues against delaying transitional justice in favour of national dialogue for four reasons: it risks reinforcing perceptions of government lack of commitment, it ignores that the need for justice is already established in the CoHA and public surveys, the anticipated overlap with national dialogue has not yet materialised, and the two processes can coexist without overburdening institutional capacity.
• The transitional justice process is an established policy commitment based on the 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) between the Federal Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. In 2024, the Council of Ministers adopted a policy leading to draft laws for a Special Bench, Special Prosecution Office, Truth and Social Cohesion Commission, and Vetting Commission.
• The National Dialogue Commission is unlikely to finish its work by the extended deadline of February 2026 due to insecurity, displacement, and distrust, which have led to the withdrawal of major opposition political parties.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Ethiopia’s national dialogue and transitional justice: competition or complementarity? https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ethiopia-s-national-dialogue-and-transitional-justice-competition-or-complementarity

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Ethiopia’s national dialogue and transitional justice: competition or complementarity? n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ethiopia-s-national-dialogue-and-transitional-justice-competition-or-complementarity.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Ethiopia’s national dialogue and transitional justice: competition or complementarity? |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ethiopia-s-national-dialogue-and-transitional-justice-competition-or-complementarity |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndethiopias, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Ethiopia’s national dialogue and transitional justice: competition or complementarity?}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ethiopia-s-national-dialogue-and-transitional-justice-competition-or-complementarity}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }