Ethiopian terrorism law would curb free speech: rights watchdog
June 30, 2009 (NAIROBI) – A draft law on counterterrorism in Ethiopia “violates fundamental freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly,” according to an analysis of the bill done by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The counterterrorism bill has been submitted to parliament by the Council of Ministers.
At issue are provisions in the bill criminalizing speech that incites or supports terrorism. HRW argues that such restrictions should be “limited to speech that directly incites — or is likely to result in — an imminent crime.”
The rights watchdog says the bill relies on an overly broad definition of ‘terrorist acts,’ and criminalizes speech that supports terrorist acts even if such speech did not directly incite the violence.
In a hypothetical circumstance, according to HRW, “students participating in a peaceful demonstration seeking to influence government policy — or even someone merely voicing support for such a demonstration without participating — could be subjected to a 10- to 20-year prison term.”
Under the law, news coverage of any opposition group branded as a terrorist organization would possibly be off-limits for national media, since discussion of such groups could result in charges of encouragement of terrorism.
The rights group further claims that the bill would introduce inappropriate powers of arrest, search and seizure; detention without charge; violation of the right to bodily integrity; and use of evidence obtained by torture.
Joanne Mariner, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program director at Human Rights Watch, said “Ethiopia may well need a fair and effective law to combat terrorism, but this is not it. As drafted, this law could encourage serious abuses against political protesters and provide legal cover for repression of free speech and due-process rights.”
HRW used an English-language translation of the bill for their analysis. The proposed bill is a slightly revised version of one dated January 2009.
(ST)