Court Watch Tracking Current Developments in International Law
Journalists and Political Opponents Convicted Under Ethiopia’s Harsh Anti-Terrorism Law
On January 19, 2012, the Ethiopian Federal High Court sentenced three Ethiopian journalists and two politicians to terms ranging from 14 years to life in prison under Ethiopia’s harsh Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009. On December 21, 2011 two Swedish journalists were also sentenced to 11 years under the same law after being arrested while investigating allegations of Ethiopian gov- ernment abuse against the ethnic Somalis who inhabit the Ogaden region, an area located in the eastern Ethiopian lowlands that border Soma- lia, Kenya and Djibouti. Human rights advocates claim these recent convictions provide further evidence of the Ethiopian government’s hostile campaign to suppress freedom of expression and due process rights.
Following the collapse of Ethiopia’s communist regime in the early 1990s, a new constitution was adopted that cleared the way for country’s first multi-party elections. Initially it appeared the election of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi signi- fied a shift towards a more democratic form of governance, however, by 2005 it was apparent that Ethiopia would remain a one-party state. In May of that year Meles claimed victory in a controversial national election many alleged was fraudulent. Violence ensued, but Ethiopian secu- rity forces responded decisively and wound up killing over 200 people.
Since the 2005 elections, tens of thousands of Ethiopian citizens, including many opposition leaders, journalists and human rights advocates, have been arrested and sent away to rural deten- tion camps. But however uneasy Meles’ authori- tarian rule made some Western countries, Ethio- pia’s location in the Horn of Africa put them in a unique position to serve as allies in the West’s
fight to thwart the spread of terrorism in East Af- rica following 9/11.
Seizing on their status as anti-terror ally of the West, the Ethiopian government passed the Anti- Terrorism Proclamation of 2009, which granted authorities sweeping powers to detain virtually anyone suspected of supporting terrorist activi- ties. However, many human rights groups have been critical of the Proclamation for its overly broad definition of “terrorist acts” which can in- clude peaceful protests that result in the “disrup- tion of any public services.” The law has also been lambasted for its vague provisions that proscribe support for terrorism, including “public reporting on banned terrorist groups” and “moral support,” a provision under which only journalists have charged. The Proclamation also allows people to be detained for up to four months without being formally charged.
Many human rights groups believe the Anti-Ter- rorism Proclamation was designed exclusively for stifling freedom of expression and due pro- cess rights. The United States-based Committee to Protect Journalists stated that Prime Minister Meles’ government has driven more journalists into exile in the past 10 years than any other country, and at least 79 journalists were forced into exile from 2010 – 2011 alone. The recent con- victions of the Swedish and Ethiopian journalists and political opponents seem to reinforce these statistics.
The Ethiopian journalists convicted in January 2012 include Woubshet Taye Abebe, who worked for the now-defunct Awramba Times, Reeyot Alemu Gobebo, who worked for the weekly publication Feteh, and Elias Kifle, editor of the U.S.-based Ethiopian Review, who was tried in absentia. The political actors convicted were Zeri- hum Gebre-Egziabher Tadesse of the Ethiopian
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 4 » May 2012
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