remain. National elections in 2005, the largely uncontested local elections in April 2008, and the parliamentary elections of May 2010, illustrate the fragility of the democratic transition, EPRDF dominance, and the weakened state of the opposition. 42. In January 2009, the Ethiopian Parliament passed legislation to regulate civil society organisations (CSOs). While many CSOs had long argued for a new and coherent framework, the new law is quite restrictive in demarcating areas of operations for different types of CSOs (particularly those receiving more than 10 % of funding from external sources for many areas of activity). 2.3 The Red Terror Trials 43. With the growing importance of human rights, the issue of transitional justice dealing with human rights violations of previous regimes - has assumed prime importance in recent years. Whatever the approach adopted, transitional justice seeks to provide avenues for societies to address past human rights abuses, mass atrocities, or other forms of severe trauma, in order to facilitate a smooth transition to a more democratic or peaceful future. 44. Ethiopia experienced gross and widespread human rights violations from 1974 to 1991. The military regime of Col. Mengistu Hailemariam – the Derg and its Workers’ Party of Ethiopia (WPR) – is well-known for its brutality, especially because of the summary executions of a large number of Emperor Haile Selassie’s political officials, including the Emperor himself. There were also the atrocious Red Terror campaigns against alleged anti-revolutionaries and reactionary elements. A well organised campaign of systematic human rights violations resulted in thousands of summary executions, disappearances, and cases of torture. Estimated numbers of people killed by the Red Terror ranges from 150,000 to 500,000.9 Even those who managed to survive were forced into exile (and hence rendered irrelevant to national life) or, if they chose to stay in the country, often lost their former drive and élan. The ramifications of this loss were felt not only in the political but also in the cultural and academic spheres. 45. 46. 9 Following the downfall of the Derg regime in May 1991, a Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was established and assumed its responsibility under international law to exercise the state’s criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for the atrocities committed by the Derg regime. In 1992, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (SPO) was established amidst great optimism about the importance of the principles invoked and the prosecutorial processes. This breaking of new ground in international legal precedent was heralded not only for its representation of the political transformation within Ethiopia, but as a potential model for such proceedings throughout Africa. Tronroll K, C Schaefer , J. Currey and G. Aneme (2009) , The Ethiopian Red Terror Trials, Transnational Justice Challenges, James Curry. - 52 -