RIGHTS-ETHIOPIA:
Fears Over New Anti-Terror Law
23 July, 2009 | By Omaeyr Rado
ADDIS ABABA, Jul 23 (IPS) - A little over 18 years ago, when the
ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) came to power, people were so eager to exercise
democracy that even children started to challenge their parents
saying "this is my democratic right". Perhaps it was too good to
last.
When 17 years of armed struggle finally ended the dictatorial rule of
Mengistu Haile Mariam and the Derg in 1991, the EPRDF started
preaching democracy, equality and human rights. The party soon
proved impatient with opposition of any kind.
In January 1993, the government carried out a brutal crackdown on
students at the Addis Ababa University (AAU) who were demonstrating
against the referendum on Eritrea's independence. The incident led to
the death of at least one student and 85 injuries when live ammunition
fired into a crowd of unarmed students by security forces. In April of
the same year, the government dismissed 40 professors from the AAU,
reportedly because they were deemed too critical.
There followed the harassment of the Ethiopian Teacher's Association
(ETA), its top leaders imprisoned. Human Rights Watch accuses the
police of gunning down the ETA's acting director, Assefa Maru, in
1997.
More recently, the 2005 election campaign - preceded by a loosening of
controls that saw opposition political parties able to freely debate issues
live on even state media - was followed by violent repression, despite
the EPRDF scoring a resounding victory.
The opposition won a record number of seats, but in limited parts of
the country; elsewhere, they alleged, government repression and
intimidation had prevented them from winning even more. Street
protests in the capital, Addis Ababa, led the deaths of nearly 200 at the
hands of security forces.
Hundreds more were wounded and thousands arbitrarily detained,
including many leading opposition politicians. A number of prominent
private newspapers were closed, their owners and editors charged with
genocide and treason. Several were sentenced to lengthy jail terms.
Over almost two decades in power, the ruling party has maintained a
tight grip on power. Its latest moves suggest this is not about to change.
Several months ago, the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) law was
approved despite an uproar from local activists and the international
community. This law expressly limits "foreign" and "Ethiopian resident"
CSOs - the latter defined as any Ethiopian CSO that obtains more than
ten percent of its funding from sources outside the country - from
doing any work related to human rights, governance, and a range of
other issues. The law makes it easy for the state to refuse to register
organisations.
The Ethiopian government this week suspended 42 NGOs for
"exceeding their mandate" in the southern part of the country.
Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation reported that the organisations had
their licence revoked because, according to the local officials, they had
supplied information to the United States State Department about human
rights abuses in the area.
The names of the organisations were not released, but are understood
to include two local gender rights organisations and international
humanitarian agency Médécins Sans Frontières.
Anti-terrorism law
With the ink barely dry on the CSO law, parliament has now approved
the Anti-Terrorism Law, first crafted by the National Intelligence and
Security Agency and experts from the Ministry of Justice and the
Federal Police four years ago, and approved by the Council of Ministers
in early June.
The law is premised on an extremely broad and ambiguous definition of
terrorist activity that could permit government to repress wide range of
internationally-protected freedoms, and contains provisions that
undermine fundamental due process rights, according to Human Rights
Watch.
The United Nations special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human
rights has stated that the concept of terrorism should be limited to acts
committed with the intention of causing death or serious bodily injury,
or the taking of hostages.
Ethiopia's new law defines terrorism in such a way that it includes acts
that do not involve violence or injury to people, such as property crimes
and disruption of public services. The penalties range from 15 years to
life imprisonment or even a death sentence.
The law also gives police powers of arrest, search and seizure without
guarantees of due process.
The law also contains ambiguous language against material support for
terrorism. An analysis by HRW suggests that who even offered water
or food to a political protester might find themselves charged with
aiding terrorism under the new legislation.
"This [law] is a legal cover for every unlawful action the government
has been and is taking against political dissent and free press," said
Beyene Petros, chairman of the opposition United Ethiopian Democratic
Forces (UEDF) party, which voted against the legislation.
But, Beyene argues, even without this law, the "security forces have
been above the law. They already make arbitrary arrests and stifle
freedom of expression; yet the law intensifies this practice.
"We objected to the fact that the law is against the country's
constitution and the issues it is planned to address are under the
jurisdiction of the existing criminal codes of the country," he said. "The
country does not need this law."
Though his Ethiopian Democratic Party also voted against the law,
Lidetu Ayalew, another opposition leader, believes Ethiopia needs some
kind of anti-terror law because it has been a victim of various terrorist
acts.
In 2007, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) took
responsibility for an attack on Chinese run oil exploration field in
Ogaden killing 74 people. Numerous people have been killed in other
bombings and grenade attacks in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and
elsewhere in the country in recent years. The Ethiopian government has
alleged that these attacks were carried out by armed opposition groups
like the ONLF, the Oromo Liberation Front - both fighting for
autonomy of various regions - as well as groups like Al-Itihad, which
springs from Ehtiopia's volatile neighbour Somalia.
The government alleges all these groups are terrorist. However, aside
from the ONLF's attack on the oil installation, the popular view is that
the government itself orchestrates these attacks to incriminate its
oppositions; a charge government officials of course deny.
Shimeles Kemal, deputy head of the Government Communication
Affairs Office, told IPS that in the current globalised world, no country
is insulated from the threat of terrorism.
"The normal court procedures will take the police more time than they
have to put terrorist threats under control," said Kemal.
"By the time the police seek a court warrant, the damage might have
taken place. This law is preventive and the police need the legal
provision to effectively do their job. Besides, terrorist acts are very
different and highly sophisticated from other crimes," he said.
The concerns of the EDP and the most of the rest of the opposition
centre on the very broad definition of terrorism at the heart of the bill,
which Lidetu says could serve to incarcerate opposition.
"This means the police can simply arrest opposition members for
choosing their preferred way to express their dissent including armed
struggle or demonstration," Lidetu told IPS.
Courtesy
Fears Over New Anti-Terror Law
23 July, 2009 | By Omaeyr Rado
ADDIS ABABA, Jul 23 (IPS) - A little over 18 years ago, when the
ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF) came to power, people were so eager to exercise
democracy that even children started to challenge their parents
saying "this is my democratic right". Perhaps it was too good to
last.
- Earlier this month a new anti-
terror law was passed,
granting sweeping powers to
the state to detain people it
deems threatening. It follows
closely on the heels of
legislation that severely
restricted the operations of
NGOs working human rights
issues.
When 17 years of armed struggle finally ended the dictatorial rule of
Mengistu Haile Mariam and the Derg in 1991, the EPRDF started
preaching democracy, equality and human rights. The party soon
proved impatient with opposition of any kind.
In January 1993, the government carried out a brutal crackdown on
students at the Addis Ababa University (AAU) who were demonstrating
against the referendum on Eritrea's independence. The incident led to
the death of at least one student and 85 injuries when live ammunition
fired into a crowd of unarmed students by security forces. In April of
the same year, the government dismissed 40 professors from the AAU,
reportedly because they were deemed too critical.
There followed the harassment of the Ethiopian Teacher's Association
(ETA), its top leaders imprisoned. Human Rights Watch accuses the
police of gunning down the ETA's acting director, Assefa Maru, in
1997.
More recently, the 2005 election campaign - preceded by a loosening of
controls that saw opposition political parties able to freely debate issues
live on even state media - was followed by violent repression, despite
the EPRDF scoring a resounding victory.
The opposition won a record number of seats, but in limited parts of
the country; elsewhere, they alleged, government repression and
intimidation had prevented them from winning even more. Street
protests in the capital, Addis Ababa, led the deaths of nearly 200 at the
hands of security forces.
Hundreds more were wounded and thousands arbitrarily detained,
including many leading opposition politicians. A number of prominent
private newspapers were closed, their owners and editors charged with
genocide and treason. Several were sentenced to lengthy jail terms.
Over almost two decades in power, the ruling party has maintained a
tight grip on power. Its latest moves suggest this is not about to change.
Several months ago, the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) law was
approved despite an uproar from local activists and the international
community. This law expressly limits "foreign" and "Ethiopian resident"
CSOs - the latter defined as any Ethiopian CSO that obtains more than
ten percent of its funding from sources outside the country - from
doing any work related to human rights, governance, and a range of
other issues. The law makes it easy for the state to refuse to register
organisations.
The Ethiopian government this week suspended 42 NGOs for
"exceeding their mandate" in the southern part of the country.
Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation reported that the organisations had
their licence revoked because, according to the local officials, they had
supplied information to the United States State Department about human
rights abuses in the area.
The names of the organisations were not released, but are understood
to include two local gender rights organisations and international
humanitarian agency Médécins Sans Frontières.
Anti-terrorism law
With the ink barely dry on the CSO law, parliament has now approved
the Anti-Terrorism Law, first crafted by the National Intelligence and
Security Agency and experts from the Ministry of Justice and the
Federal Police four years ago, and approved by the Council of Ministers
in early June.
The law is premised on an extremely broad and ambiguous definition of
terrorist activity that could permit government to repress wide range of
internationally-protected freedoms, and contains provisions that
undermine fundamental due process rights, according to Human Rights
Watch.
The United Nations special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human
rights has stated that the concept of terrorism should be limited to acts
committed with the intention of causing death or serious bodily injury,
or the taking of hostages.
Ethiopia's new law defines terrorism in such a way that it includes acts
that do not involve violence or injury to people, such as property crimes
and disruption of public services. The penalties range from 15 years to
life imprisonment or even a death sentence.
The law also gives police powers of arrest, search and seizure without
guarantees of due process.
The law also contains ambiguous language against material support for
terrorism. An analysis by HRW suggests that who even offered water
or food to a political protester might find themselves charged with
aiding terrorism under the new legislation.
"This [law] is a legal cover for every unlawful action the government
has been and is taking against political dissent and free press," said
Beyene Petros, chairman of the opposition United Ethiopian Democratic
Forces (UEDF) party, which voted against the legislation.
But, Beyene argues, even without this law, the "security forces have
been above the law. They already make arbitrary arrests and stifle
freedom of expression; yet the law intensifies this practice.
"We objected to the fact that the law is against the country's
constitution and the issues it is planned to address are under the
jurisdiction of the existing criminal codes of the country," he said. "The
country does not need this law."
Though his Ethiopian Democratic Party also voted against the law,
Lidetu Ayalew, another opposition leader, believes Ethiopia needs some
kind of anti-terror law because it has been a victim of various terrorist
acts.
In 2007, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) took
responsibility for an attack on Chinese run oil exploration field in
Ogaden killing 74 people. Numerous people have been killed in other
bombings and grenade attacks in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and
elsewhere in the country in recent years. The Ethiopian government has
alleged that these attacks were carried out by armed opposition groups
like the ONLF, the Oromo Liberation Front - both fighting for
autonomy of various regions - as well as groups like Al-Itihad, which
springs from Ehtiopia's volatile neighbour Somalia.
The government alleges all these groups are terrorist. However, aside
from the ONLF's attack on the oil installation, the popular view is that
the government itself orchestrates these attacks to incriminate its
oppositions; a charge government officials of course deny.
Shimeles Kemal, deputy head of the Government Communication
Affairs Office, told IPS that in the current globalised world, no country
is insulated from the threat of terrorism.
"The normal court procedures will take the police more time than they
have to put terrorist threats under control," said Kemal.
"By the time the police seek a court warrant, the damage might have
taken place. This law is preventive and the police need the legal
provision to effectively do their job. Besides, terrorist acts are very
different and highly sophisticated from other crimes," he said.
The concerns of the EDP and the most of the rest of the opposition
centre on the very broad definition of terrorism at the heart of the bill,
which Lidetu says could serve to incarcerate opposition.
"This means the police can simply arrest opposition members for
choosing their preferred way to express their dissent including armed
struggle or demonstration," Lidetu told IPS.
Courtesy
| All rights reserved. |
| Ethio Quest News Together We Can Make It! |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Ethio Quest News: For latest Ethiopian News, views, Reviews and More |
| A Career In Dissent " Mideksa became the exception to the rule in September, When she was elected to head Ethiopia's newest political party..." More |
| Declaration on Free and Fair Election in Ethiopia 14 May, 2009 (ENPCP) "WHEREAS 15th May 2009 marks the fourth anniversary of Ethiopia's ill fated election, in which elected parliamentarians were thrown to jail; at least 193 innocent individuals were killed; an unknown number of people were injured and exiled; over 40 000 supporters... More |
| Related Stories Anti-terrorism legislation further restricts Ethiopian press CPJ Proposed Counter terrorism Legislation Violates Human Rights Human Rights Watch New Ethiopia law may criminalise opposition - group By Barry Malone "The law would classify acts that cause serious damage to property or disruption of a public service as terrorism....". Reuters Ethiopia's new climate of fear By David Dadge Ethiopia's opposition parties resist new draft law on terrorism Sudan Tribune Is Rock Throwing Punishable by Death in Ethiopia? New Draft of Ethiopian “Anti-Terrorism Proclamation” Revealed SMNE |
