Current State of Political rights and Civil Liberties in Ethiopia:

In Freedom House’s 2013 Index of Freedom, Ethiopia’s rating is “NOT FREE,” the same rating it has earned in the last three years.[ix] Another part of that study was Freedom of the Net. Out of the sixty countries in the study that earned a lower score in terms of Freedom on the Net than Ethiopia were Syria, China (PRC), Cuba and Iran. This should speak for itself. A quick comparison of political and civil rights between Switzerland and Ethiopia reveals vast differences, with the higher scores being desirable:

Political rights:                                                      Switzerland          Ethiopia                     

1.       Electoral process                                                                        12                           1                                                             

2.       Political pluralism and participation                                    16                           2

3.       Functioning of government                                                      11                           4

Civil liberties:

4.       Freedom of expression and belief                                            16                           3

5.       Associational and organizational rights                              12                           0

6.       Rule of law                                                                                  14                           3

7.       Personal Autonomy and individual rights                           15                           5

In terms of their study on Freedom of the Press, Ethiopia, again considered “not free,” was near to the bottom at position 44[x] out of a total of 49 Sub-Saharan African countries and 175 out of 197 countries worldwide[xi]. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 79 journalists have been exiled, more than any other nation. Most notable are Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu, and others who have been targeted through the use of draconian laws meant to silence the most courageous voices of freedom.  Two of these laws bear mentioning:

1.      Anti-terrorism Proclamation (2009): In 2012, Eskinder Nega, Reeyot Alemu—both nominated for the Sakharov prize in the European Parliament—as well as numbers of others were sentences to years in prison, being accused of terrorism; anyone who speaks out against the government can be charged with this crime and sentenced to years in prison.

2.      Charities and Societies Proclamation: This law restricts civil society by making it illegal for organizations receiving more than 10% of its funding from foreign sources to advocate for human rights, child’s rights, rights for the disabled, women’s rights, conflict resolution between religious groups or ethnicities and other legitimate roles carried out by such non-governmental organizations and institutions. The law has closed down the work of more than 2,600 civic organizations and in their place have risen pro-government look-alike organizations.

SSOURCE, GOLGUL WEBSITE, For detail clarification see the site