United Nations Rights Advocates Criticise Ethiopian Use of Anti-Terror Law

The United Nations criticized the Ethiopian government’s use of an anti-terrorism law to curb freedom of expression by jailing opposition politicians and reporters critical of the state.

In December, two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years each by an Ethiopian court for supporting terrorism after being captured with a banned rebel group. An exiled journalist, two writers, a politician and one other individual, all from Ethiopia, were given terms ranging from 14 years to life last week for plotting terror acts.

Journalists “should not face criminal proceedings for carrying out their legitimate work, let alone be severely punished,” Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, said in a statement posted on the website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ethiopia holds journalists accountable when they commit crimes, Communications Minister Bereket Simon said.

“Ethiopia clearly differentiates between freedom of expression and terrorism,” he said in a phone interview from the capital, Addis Ababa, today. “This is simply a very wrong defense of foreign journalists who have been caught red-handed when assisting terrorists.”

Ethiopia was the third-largest recipient of humanitarian aid in the world in 2009, receiving $3.8 billion, according to Global Humanitarian Assistance, the Wells, England-based research group. There are 26 UN agencies operating in Ethiopia, according to the Addis Ababa-based Development Assistance Group, which represents Ethiopia’s donors.

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