The Ethiopian Parliament has approved the new anti-terrorism law consisting of the article imposing death
penalty for terrorism.-
The country’s anti-terrorism law enacted in 2009 was criticized for containing articles overly broad and
vague definitions of terrorism that are susceptible to misinterpretation and misapplication, which critics
said adversely affect the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression and political opposition.
The new anti-terrorism law was approved on Thursday amid concerns raised by some lawmakers calling for
clarity on the definitions of some articles of the law, which they referred to as “vague”and many number
seats of the Parliament were vacant.
According to the revised anti-terrorism law, perpetrators of terror acts will attract 15 years
of rigorous imprisonment to capital punishment as opposed to the previous anti-terrorism law of the
country.
The revised anti-terrorism law states that the federal police can search, chase and apprehend criminals
of terror acts in any corner of the country sometimes without the knowledge of the regional security
forces.
In the previous Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism legislation, the House of Peoples Representatives was in charge
of labeling if an offence is a terror act or not, but the revised one provides this mandate to the council
of ministers.
Similarly, the previous anti terrorism law used to label those forces which were engaged in armed struggle against the government as “terrorist groups” but this one does not.
The Foreign Relations and Peace Affairs standing Committee of the House of Peoples Representatives
Tesfaye Daba said even though the national Parliament invited citizens to comment on the revised
Anti-terrorism and other laws, their participation was very minimal.
The government of Ethiopia was accused of using and abusing the anti-terrorism law to stifle dissent and
crack down on members of the legal opposition parties, human rights activists, journalists, bloggers and the
civil society, who criticize the ruling party and its policies and practices.
MG/GIK/APA