Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC)
30 June 2009
(Page 3 of 4)
The law also imposes an obligation to notify police within 24 hours if a foreigner is living in one's house, and to provide the police a copy of the foreigner's passport.[41] This violates the right under international law not to be subjected to arbitrary interference with privacy, family, or home.[42]
Changes from the January 2009 Draft of the Proclamation
There were very few substantive changes from a January 2009 draft of the law and the version that was ultimately submitted to parliament. Those worth noting here are as follows:
The only major positive change to the current draft is that a provision in the January 2009 draft that allowed for shifting the burden of proof onto suspects who confess has been eliminated altogether. This was one of the worst provisions of the first draft, as it could have led to confessions extracted under torture being used to shift the burden of proof onto criminal defendants.
The draft Proclamation's definition of "terrorist acts"-one of the most alarming aspects of the first draft of the law-is even broader than it was in the January 2009 draft. The new draft expands the intent element of the crime. The first draft provided that carrying out one of the enumerated acts "with the intention of coercing or intimidating the government" was an act of terrorism.[43] The new draft changes this to "intending to influence the government."[44] There is some uncertainty as to whether this was a deliberate change or an issue of translation from the Amharic version of the draft law, which is not currently available to Human Rights Watch.
Section 14 of the draft Proclamation now requires that surveillance and interception of communications requires a court warrant; the first draft did not. However as noted above most of the other search and seizure provisions in the draft remain without any kind of warrant requirement.
[1] Anita Powell, "Somali Islamist group claims responsibility for deadly bomb attack in Ethiopia," Associated Press, May 29, 2008, http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/29/africa/AF-GEN-Ethiopia-Somalia-Bomb-Attack.php (accessed March 4, 2009).
[2] Mohammed Ibrahim and Jeffrey Gettleman, "5 Suicide Bomb Attacks Hit Somalia," The New York Times, October 29, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/world/africa/30somalia.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/S/Shabab,%20Al- (accessed March 4, 2009).
[3] In 2006 the US government's Country Report on Terrorism noted that "draft counterterrorism legislation is currently before [the Ethiopian] Parliament for approval." See US Country Reports on Terrorism, Africa Overview, April 28, 2006, http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/64335.htm (accessed March 4, 2009).
[4] "Speech by President Girma Wolde-Giorgis of Ethiopia," October 9, 2006, http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/Archive/Speech%20by%20President%20Girma%20at%20the%20Opening%20of%20Ethiopian%20Parliament%20Monday%209th%20October%202006.htm (accessed March 4, 2009); see also "Ethiopian Parliament to discuss anti-terrorism legislation," Agence France-Presse, http://icpat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=144&Itemid=81 (accessed March 4, 2009).
[5] An earlier draft of the law, dated January 2009, used the words "coercing or intimidating" in place of "influence." As of the time of writing it is not clear if the change represents a government attempt to make the definition of terrorism broader still, or whether this is primarily a translation issue.
[6] Draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, art. 3.
[7] Although there is no single internationally accepted definition of terrorism, the term generally refers to the use of violence against civilians for political ends.
[8] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force March 23, 1976, article 6(2). Ethiopia ratified the ICCPR in 1993. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty and finality.
[9] Draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, art. 3.
[10] Ibid., art. 2.4(a) and (b).
[11] Ibid., art. 2.4.
[12] Ibid., art. 7.1.
[13] Draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, arts. 5.1(b) and (c).
[14] Ibid., art. 8.
[15] Ibid., art. 9.
[16] See Johannesburg Principles on National Security, Freedom, of Expression and Access to Information, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1996/39 (1996), principle 6 (expression may be punished as a threat to national security only if a government can demonstrate that the expression is intended and likely to incite imminent violence); European Court of Human Rights, Erdogdu and Ince v Turkey, Nos. 25067/94 and 25068/94 (1999) [finding that Turkish authorities acted disproportionately and violated freedom of expression, as guaranteed by article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, by convicting Umit Erdogdu for the offense of "disseminating propaganda" under the Prevention of Terrorism Law after his monthly review published an interview with a Turkish sociologist].
[17] Draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, art. 6.
[18] See UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, "Joint Declaration on International Mechanisms for Promoting Freedom of Expression," December 21, 2005 (criticizing the use of vague terms such as "promoting" terrorism).
[19] See Human Rights Watch report, Ethiopia - Collective Punishment: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia's Somali Region, ISBN: 1-56432-322-6, June 2008, http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/06/12/collective-punishment; Ethiopia - Suppressing Dissent: Human Rights Abuses and Political Repression in Ethiopia's Oromia Region, vol. 17, no. 7(A), May 2005, http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/05/09/suppressing-dissent-0; and Ethiopia - Targeting the Anuak: Human Rights Violations and Crimes against Humanity in Ethiopia's Gambella Region, vol. 17, no. 3(A), March 2005, http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/03/23/targeting-anuak-0; and other documents at http://www.hrw.org. See also Amnesty International, "Human Rights in Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia," http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/ethiopia; and the US State Department, 2008 Human Rights Reports: Ethiopia, February 25, 2009, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/af/119001.htm.
[20] Draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, arts. 16 and 17.
[21] Ibid., art. 17.1.
[22] Ibid., art. 16.
[23] Ibid., art. 14.1.
[24] Ibid., art. 13.1.
[25] Ibid., art. 35.
[26] Ibid., art. 22.
[27] Ibid., art. 19.
[28] Article 19 of the Ethiopian constitution states, "Persons arrested have the right to be brought before a court within 48 hours of their arrest. Such time shall not include the time reasonably required for the journey from the place of arrest to the court. On appearing before a court, they have the right to be given prompt and specific explanation of the reasons for their arrest due to the alleged crime committed."
[29] Draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, art. 20.
[30] Article 19 of the Ethiopian constitution provides that "Where the interest of justice requires, the court may order the arrested person to remain in custody or, when requested remand him for a time strictly required to carry out the necessary investigation. In determining the additional time necessary for investigation, the court shall ensure that the responsible law enforcement authorities carry out the investigation respecting the arrested person's right to a speedy trial."
[31] Draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, art. 20.
[32] ICCPR, art. 9.
[33] Draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, art. 21.
[34] Ibid., art. 23.2.
[35] Ibid., art. 23.1.
[36] Ibid., art. 23.5.
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