Senior police officers enhance knowledge on humanitarian principles ethiopia. Article 19 comments on anti terrorism proclamation article 19 today issues its analysis of the ethiopian anti terrorism proclamation 2009 and calls for the government to fully recognise the right to freedom of expression under international and regional human rights law. Refworld contains a vast collection of reports relating to situations in countries of origin, policy documents and positions, and documents relating to international and national legal frameworks. Terrorism proclamation antiterror law have severely undermined civil society and. An examination of ethiopias anti terrorism proclamation. After the adoption of the infamous anti terrorism proclamation in 2009, ethiopian authorities have charged hundreds of citizens with terrorism by criminalising and politicizing dissident acts. The most recent basis for punishment of journalists and media are the anti terrorism proclamation, the freedom of the mass media and access to information proclamation no. Analysis of ethiopias draft antiterrorism law ethiopian.
Ethiopias antiterrorism proclamation and the right to freedom of expression. The law permits warrantless arrests for various offenses including flagrant offenses. The use and abuse of antiterrorism law, the case of ethiopia article pdf available in european scientific journal may 2017 with 254 reads. Addis abeba ethiopian lawmakers have ratified the revised the anti terrorism bill during their regular session today. The ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front and other political parties will meet wednesday after agreeing to alter unspecified articles of. This paper analyses ethiopia s draft anti terrorism proclamation the draft proclamation and assesses to what extent the proposed law on its face conforms to international human rights. The situation of human rights defenders in ethiopia ishr. Council of ministers approves antiterrorism law embassy. Aug 30, 20 ethiopias antiterrorism proclamation and the right to freedom of expression. Amnesty international, human rights watch, committee to protect journalists cpj, all have openly criticized ethiopia for adopting the antiterrorism proclamation.
Access to information proclamation3, the 2009 proclamation to provide for the registration and regulation of charities and societies4 and the 2009 anti terrorism proclamation5, was particularly responsible for the rapid shrinking of the civic space in the country, leaving scars still visible in the current process of reform. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the situation for hrds in ethiopia since its. Ethiopia may well need a fair and effective law to combat terrorism, but this is not it, said joanne mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism program director at human rights watch. In the course of deliberations over the law, some members of the ethiopian parliament, as well as human rights organizations, journalists. We recently condemned the application of the anti terrorism proclamation. The information has been carefully selected and compiled from. The 20 edition of the human rights and democracy report of the government of the united kingdom uk severely criticized the government of ethiopia for its application of its anti terrorism proclamation and the charities and societies proclamation, which hampers the activity of the opposition camp of the country. Expressed grave concern over the ethiopian governments application of antiterrorism proclamation 6522009 to arrest and prosecute protesters, labelling them as terrorists without substantiated evidence expressed their concern that ethiopias use of terrorism laws to criminalize peaceful dissent is a. Ethiopia, one of the key political players in africa and in the world, has for long maintained a poor record of human rights.
Unhcr is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Oda to ethiopia dipped during the 19982000 conflict between ethiopia and eritrea but has exceeded two billion usd per year since 2004. This is the conclusion reached by the united nations, the worlds leading democracies, international human rights organizations, and numerous other groups. The use of ethiopia s anti terrorism proclamation to arbitrarily arrest journalists is completely out of step with reforms witnessed in the country. Ethiopia to amend antiterror laws in political thaw.
Ethiopia 2015 human rights report executive summary ethiopia is a federal republic. A tool to stifle dissent, authored by lawyers from leading international law firms, provides an indepth and damning analysis of ethiopia s anti terrorism proclamation. In its analysis, the paper does a diachronic analysis of comparing the ethiopian situation before and after the passage of the anti terrorism legislation. The restrictive anti terrorism proclamation adopted in 2009 has been used to justify arrests of both journalists and members of the political opposition. Pdf the impact of ethiopias antiterrorism law on freedom of. The proclamation also extends aspects of the anti terrorism proclamation and the criminal code to electronic communications. The ruling ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, a coalition of four ethnically based parties, controls the government. However, the current political climate in ethiopia is a tense one. In addition, the anti terrorism proclamation and the ethiopian constitution serve as critical sources of reference materials for this paper. Ethiopian government and opposition start talks on. The report examines how the law, enacted in 2009, is a tool of repression, designed and used by the ethiopian government to silence its critics. Over the last decade, ethiopian civil society organisations csos. While legitimate anti terrorism laws have been enacted in a number of countries, these critics of.
Council arise to reform anti terrorism, media law ethiopia. Definitions in this proclamation, unless the context otherwise requires. Terrorism by antiterrorism law lately, meles zenawi, the dictator in ethiopia, has been rounding up dissidents, journalists, opposition party political leaders and members under a diktat known as antiterrorism proclamation no. Ethiopias antiterrorism proclamation and the right to. The office of the federal attorney general established a legal advisory council, composed of prominent legal experts, on 29 june 2018. Copy of the proclamation is attached to this comment, see appendix 1. End use of counterterrorism law to persecute dissenters and opposition members. Ethiopia s ruling coalition started talks with opposition groups on wednesday on amending provisions of an anti terrorism law that critics say has criminalised dissent, stateaffiliated media said.
In august 2009, ethiopia enacted legislation to counter terrorism anti terrorism proclamation no. Threat of terrorism and inadequate law as justification one of the justifications for the promulgation of the anti terrorism proclamation is that ethiopia has faced a clear and present danger of terrorism and the. The proclamation was adopted on 7 july 2009 and came into force upon its publication in the federal negarit gazeta of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia official gazette 15th year no. Prime minister abiy ahmeds administration initiated an important reform agenda that has the potential to improve the ethiopian human rights situation if effectively implemented. Instead, yonatan tesfaye, a former spokesman of the semayawi blue party, was detained in december 2015 on charges under article 4 of ethiopia s anti terrorism proclamation. In june 2011 the ethiopian house of federations officially proscribed two armed groupsthe ogaden national liberation front onlf and the oromo liberation front olf and one opposition.
The council of ministers in its 68th regular session held on may 18, 2019, approved the anti terrorism draft law developed to prevent and control terrorism. Jan 20, 2011 a proclamation on anti terrorism proclamation no. According to other ngos and oromo region officials, there were hundreds of deaths due to militia groups in the eastern side of ethiopia. Pdf the purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the oau convention in preventing and combating terrorism africa. Ethiopias highly controversial antiterrorism law, proclamation no. Duration of crime investigation quandary under ethiopian. After protests in oromo, amhara, and the southern nations, nationalities, and peoples region, the ethiopian human rights council reported that there were 669 deaths on aggregate. An analysis of ethiopias draft antiterrorism law human rights. Joint contribution on ethiopia to the 19th session of the. The government of ethiopia routinely uses its vague and overly broad antiterrorism law to stifle freedom of expression and. The governments of france, germany, norway and australia. Ethiopian political prisoners and their accounts of torture.
On wednesday 17 july 20, members of the european parliaments subcommittee on human rights visited ethiopia and urged the government to release journalists and opposition activists imprisoned under the countrys anti terrorism proclamation no. The enactment results from an acknowledgment that terrorism is a threat to human rights, peace and security of not only the people in ethiopia, but to the rest of the world preamble of ethiopia anti terrorism proclamation, 2009. Anti terrorism proclamation 6522009 under article 20 declared that the court before which an arrested person is presented in accordance with article 19 of the proclamation, may give an order to remand the suspect for investigation or trial. But first it will tell the stories of just a small number of those unjustly targeted by the law. Proclamation is deleted and is replaced by the following new subarticle l. The law drew international condemnation for granting the government broad power to criminalize reporting that it claims supports or glorifies terrorist groups.
Analysis of ethiopia s draft anti terrorism proclamation march 9, 2009 summary this paper analyses ethiopia s draft anti terrorism proclamation the draft proclamation and assesses to what extent the proposed law on its face conforms to international human rights standards. In 2016, ethiopia was the top recipient of oda in africamore than four billion usd. Amnesty international, human rights watch, committee to protect journalists cpj, all have openly criticized ethiopia for adopting the anti terrorism proclamation. Ethiopia s highly controversial anti terrorism law, proclamation no. This law must be revised to align with international standards and must no longer be used to harass journalists, said seif magango.
By framing the ethiopian antiterrorism proclamation of 2009 as an. This paper analyses ethiopias draft antiterrorism proclamation the draft proclamation and assesses to what extent the proposed law on its face conforms to international human. Article 19 has extensive experience of working on freedom of expression and information issues in ethiopia. Many of the protestors were charged under the under the draconian anti terrorism proclamation atp. This paper analyses ethiopia s draft antiterrorism proclamation the draft proclamation and assesses to what extent the proposed law on its face conforms to international human rights. Comment on ethiopian antiterrorism proclamation article 19, london, 2010 law201003. Legality, political significance of parties removal from terrorists list. The full text of the anti terrorism proclamation no. This paper analyses ethiopias draft antiterrorism proclamation the draft proclamation and assesses to what extent the proposed law on its face conforms to international human rights standards. Under the antiterrorism proclamation atp, police may request to detain persons without charge for 28day periods, up to a maximum of four months, during an investigation. Whereas, the right of the people to live in peace, freedom and security has to be protected, at all times, from the threat of terrorism. Analysis of ethiopias draft antiterrorism proclamation. Expressed grave concern over the ethiopian governments application of anti terrorism proclamation 6522009 to arrest and prosecute protesters, labelling them as terrorists without substantiated evidence expressed their concern that ethiopia s use of terrorism laws to criminalize peaceful dissent is a.
The refusal to accept this recommendation underlines the worsening climate for journalists in ethiopia since the government of former prime minister meles zenawi began using anti terrorism legislation against them. Even though the proclamation was intended to provide adequate legal. The use of ethiopia s anti terrorism proclamation to arbitrarily arrest journalists is completely out of step with reforms witnessed in the country, said seif magango, amnesty internationals deputy director for east africa, the horn and the great lakes. New antiterrorism proclamation jeopardizes freedom. On september 8, 2014, the government published proclamation no. This proclamation may be cited as the antiterrorism proclamation no.
The identity of those suspected for terrorism and arrested based on the law also gave this institutions a reason to take ethiopia a regular destination for their condemnations. On may 24, the country held national and regional elections for. By framing the adoption and execution of the eatp as an outcome of eprdfs longterm hegemonic project coalesced in. The australian anti terrorism law, one of the legislation said to have been used as a basis for the ethiopian anti terrorism proclamation, incorporates a. Several countries have adopted counter terrorism legal frameworks in the past two decades. Jun 21, 2014 hrw ethiopianantiterrorlaw pdf summary. Whereas, terrorism is a danger to the peace, security and development of the country and a serious threat to the peace and security of the world at. On wednesday 17 july 20, members of the european parliaments subcommittee on human rights visited ethiopia and urged the government to release journalists and opposition activists imprisoned under the countrys antiterrorism proclamation no. Ethiopian government and opposition start talks on amending.
Proclamation into conformity with international human rights standards and narrow the definition of terrorism used. May 30, 2018 ethiopia s ruling coalition started talks with opposition groups on wednesday on amending provisions of an anti terrorism law that critics say has criminalised dissent, stateaffiliated media said. Members of parliament endorsed the bill, named proclamation to provide for prevention and suppression terrorism crimes, in majority vote with one abstention. Proclamation on antiterrorism, published in the federal negarit gazeta of the federal republic of ethiopia on 28 august 2009 proclamation against international standards on freedom of expression. Analysis of ethiopias draft antiterrorism law human. An examination of ethiopias anti terrorism proclamation on. Ethiopian federal high court convicted two swedish journalists on. Recognizing that limitations on fundamental rights should be proportionate, narrowly tailored and prescribed by law in pursuit of aims that are legitimate in a democratic society, now therefore in accordance with article 55 1 of the constitution of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia, it is hereby proclaimed as follows. The government used the law to force the closure of the independent addis neger in late 2009, dealing a serious blow to key independent voices in the. The conformity of ethiopian anti terrorism proclamation. The stories also affirm ethiopia s governments politicized use of the ominous anti terrorism proclamation, and the inability of the justice system to protect the safety of prisoners. With a long history as a sovereign christian state, ethiopia was for many years a key western focus, and was able to rely on massive development aid from abroad. The new law was drafted by the federal attorney general office of ethiopia to protect the peace and security of the people and the government from the threats of terrorism. The provisions of ethiopia s draft antiterrorism proclamation can be broadly grouped under the following categories.
Proclamation 5902008 and the anti terrorism proclamation no. This regulation is issued by the council of ministers pursuant to article 34 of the definition of powers and duties of the executive organs of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia proclamation no. Mahlet fasil addis abeba, march 62017 as fresh terrorism charges against several individuals surge following the yearlong public protests that led to the current state of emergency, prosecutors in ethiopia have today charged a group of 76 individuals with various articles of ethiopia s infamous anti terrorism proclamation atp. A prominent ethiopian political opposition member sits in prison on charges of terrorism. Introduction country overview the federal democratic republic of ethiopia ethiopia is located in the horn of africa and shares borders with eritrea, djibouti, somalia, sudan, south sudan, and kenya. A comparative analysis henok abebe gebeyehu abstract the anti terrorism proclamation of ethiopia has a farreaching effect on human rights, such as freedom of expression.
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