Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam (born 8 June 1980) is an Ethiopian constitutional law scholar, political theorist, conflict analyst, and a public intellectual.
[5] Besides, he has served as project officer with the Organization for Social Justice in Ethiopia, legal advisor to the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce, and regional director of the Ethiopian Global Initiative, political commentator at Ethiopia Insight, contributor to the Horn of Africa Bulletin, a monthly publication of the Life and Peace Institute, based in Uppsala, Sweden, editor-in-chief of Addis Fortune, and a consultant on regional and national peace and security.
He does so by telling the story of the suppression of the diverse customary and religious laws in the country's recent past as part of the larger history of ethnic homogenization and state centralization.
Invoking Weldemariam's observation, Wondwosen Teshome (2009, 822)of the University of Vienna writes, “In fact, frustrated by the fragmentation of opposition parties and the refusal of many African incumbents to hand over power peacefully some political observers felt that unless the army stages a coup it is not possible to remove electoral autocrats democratically.”[citation needed] His work as human rights activist figures in prominently in his advocacy for freedom of the press, worship, conscience, and association.
He also advocated for release of Judge Birtukan Mideksa, leader of Unity for Democracy and Justice, the major opposition party in Ethiopia, against the rise of authoritarianism, and his critique of the Ethiopian national security and foreign policy in many of his writings.
He was nominated for the Lorenzo Natali Prize for Excellence in Reporting on Human Rights for the year 2009 for his Ethiopia: On forgiveness, reconciliation, and pardon[dead link], an article published in Sudan Tribune.
Following the re-release of Judge Birtukan Mideksa from prison on 6 October 2010, he wrote a critical piece exposing the motive behind the decision and particular procedure selected for her release.
In spite of the inhumane treatment Birtukan received in the hands of her jailors, one thing that is certain is that she will remain to be a source of inspiration for all who work the betterment of the human condition in Ethiopia.
He also prognosticated a possible cooling in the Ethiopian American relations as result of foreseeable diplomatic wrangles over the grim domestic human rights situation.