Amnesty: Ethiopia stifling human rights organisations
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
March 12, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) – An international human rights watch dog report published on Monday said a “restrictive” law implemented by the Ethiopian government is further shrinking the works of monitoring organisations in the horn of Africa nation.
Amnesty International (AI) said the introduction of a controversial Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSP) law, adopted by the Ethiopian parliament in 2009 is severely crippling human rights work in the country forcing the organisations to cut programs, close offices and lay off staff.
“The result is that people in the country have less access to independent human rights assistance,” Amnesty’s deputy Africa director, Michelle Kagari, said in a statement.
The 2009 law bans local human rights organisations from receiving more than 10% of their funding from foreign sources and allows more government interference.
The human rights group said that $1 million worth of assets from two leading human rights groups has already been frozen under the legislation.
AI called on Ethiopian authorities to amend the law and create a positive environment for the non-governmental organisations (NGO) to carry out their mission.
Government spokesman Bereket Simon dismissed Amnesty’s allegation as a “smear campaign”.
He accused AI of interference in country’s internal affairs and further said that Addis Ababa has no plans to review the law, which he said was in fact introduced to support domestic organisations.
“The law is not intended to shut civic society. On the contrary, it enables those who can operate within the law to function,” he told AFP.
International human rights groups have criticised Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopia government for passing a series of broadly defined and vague laws to muzzle peaceful dissent and stifle the freedom of expression and freedom of association.
The Ethiopian government accuses AI, Human Rights Watch, and other international organisations of continuously releasing reports far distorting the truth.
The Human Rights Council (HRCO), Ethiopia’s oldest human rights group said the legislation has led to the freezing of its bank accounts. The group has been forced to shut down nine of its 12 offices and had let go 85% of its staff.
(ST)