Addis Ababa, September 10, 2026 (FMC) — Ethiopia has released 600 prisoners, including prominent figures such as Christian Tadele, as part of a major New Year move that the government says advances peace, forgiveness and national consensus.
The prisoners were released on the eve of the Ethiopian New Year and have reunited with their families, marking a significant development as the country enters 2019 E.C. with a renewed emphasis on resolving differences through dialogue, understanding and peaceful means.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it worked for five months to help make the release process effective after receiving requests concerning prisoners held through various legal processes. The Commission subsequently engaged with the government and undertook broad efforts to facilitate solutions.
EHRC Chief Commissioner Birhanu Adelo said the government’s initiative was instrumental in turning the process into a concrete outcome. He said the development demonstrates a commitment not only to legal justice but also to sustainable peace and national consensus.
Regional governments also played their respective roles in facilitating the releases.
The release of the 600 prisoners, including Christian Tadele, was described by the Commission as a unique chapter in Ethiopia’s history and a concrete indication of efforts to strengthen the rule of law, protect individual rights and advance sustainable peace.
For the government, the decision also carries a wider significance as Ethiopia moves into a new year following an extensive national process aimed at addressing longstanding differences.
In his Ethiopian New Year message, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the release was intended to begin implementing the outcomes of the National Dialogue through love, forgiveness and peace. He said participants in the dialogue had raised requests for the release of people imprisoned because of past mistakes, and that the government had accepted and acted on those requests.
The Prime Minister said those released are expected to make positive contributions to peace and democracy, learn from the past and make the future a path of peace and democratic engagement. He also called on society to support and advise them.
The decision comes against a broader political message in the Prime Minister’s New Year address. Abiy said the coming year would be one in which Ethiopia further implements the “Guba Tidings,” broadens the political space, brings different ideas and approaches together around the national interest, strengthens the country’s comprehensive sovereignty and reinforces its multinational unity.
He also said the year ahead should see productivity increase in both variety and quality across sectors, while Ethiopia strengthens its leadership in the region and Africa and builds prosperity that can extend across generations.
At the center of his political message was a call for a different method of addressing national challenges. The Prime Minister declared that the time is for “the pen and ideas, not guns and force,” emphasizing that Ethiopia’s next chapter should no longer be written through the methods of conflict and confrontation.
The National Dialogue is one expression of that broader direction. The process brought Ethiopians together to deliberate on national issues and reach common positions, with the government saying its outcomes will be translated into practical measures, including policies, systems, laws, institutional reforms and other appropriate actions.
The release of the 600 prisoners provides one of the first visible examples of that stated commitment being translated into action.
For the families receiving their relatives back, the moment carries an immediate human significance. For the country as a whole, the decision comes as Ethiopia turns the page from 2018 to 2019 E.C., placing forgiveness, peace and national consensus among the defining themes of its new chapter.
As the new year begins, the release stands as a tangible expression of Ethiopia’s stated effort to address differences through dialogue and understanding and to build a political culture in which ideas, reconciliation and national consensus take precedence over force.