Ethiopia: Transparency Group Should Reject Membership
Repression of Civil Society Contravenes Organization’s Rules
March 14, 2014,
New York (HRW) – A major global initiative to encourage governments to better manage natural resource revenues should reject
Ethiopia’s bid for membership due to its harsh restrictions on civil society,
Human Rights Watch said today.
The
governing board of the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is expected to make
a decision about Ethiopia’s candidacy at its next meeting, on March 18
and 19, 2014, in Oslo. EITI was
founded in
2003 to strengthen governance by increasing transparency over revenues
from the oil, gas, and mining industries. Its members include countries,
companies, and civil society representatives.
“The Ethiopian government has crushed activist groups and muzzled the media,” said
Lisa Misol, senior
business and human rights researcher
at Human Rights Watch. “Ethiopia’s harsh repression of independent
voices is utterly incompatible with this global effort to increase
public oversight over government.”
An earlier effort by Ethiopia to join the transparency group was
rebuffed in 2010 out of concerns over a draconian 2009 law, still in
effect, that sharply limits the activities of independent groups. Civil
society representatives on EITI’s board said that the law contravened
the initiative’s standards that make the
free and active participation of independent organizations a requirement for a country to join.
The board
deferred the
decision, and suggested that it would not reconsider “until the
Proclamation on Charities and Society Law is no longer in place.”
The Ethiopian government has
crushed activist groups and muzzled the media. Ethiopia’s harsh
repression of independent voices is utterly incompatible with this
global effort to increase public oversight over government.
Lisa Misol, senior business and human rights researcher
Supporters of Ethiopia’s membership, including Clare Short, the former
United Kingdom
minister who has been the group’s chair since 2011, have recently
pressed the board to overturn its 2010 decision. On February 28, Short
publicly endorsed Ethiopia’s candidacy and criticized those who opposed
its membership in an unprecedented
open letter to
civil society members of the board. She argued for loosening the
group’s rules and claimed that civil society in Ethiopia favored her
position, even though nongovernmental organizations in the country
cannot risk criticizing the government.
“It’s absurd to suggest that Ethiopia deserves to join EITI because
it has civil society support after the government has systematically
intimidated groups into submission,” Misol said. “EITI would become a
reward for Ethiopia’s effort to dismantle and silence civil society,
providing a perverse incentive for other governments to do the same
thing.”
Ethiopia’s repressive laws and policies have severely undermined
independent activists and organizations in the country. Many
organizations have been forced to greatly reduce their activities,
others engage in self-censorship, and still others have had to close
down. Several of the country’s leading activists have fled the country
due to threats. New government-backed nongovernmental organizations have
formed. One group
that supports the government’s drive to join EITI is a journalism union described as “
government-controlled” by the
Committee to Protect Journalists.
The 2009
Proclamation on Charities and Society Law
curtails the independence of nongovernmental organizations in Ethiopia, particularly groups that scrutinize the government. It forbids
national organizations
from receiving more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign donors
if they engage in human rights, advocacy, conflict resolution, or
governance activities. The law also bars organizations from activities
related to state policy, functioning, and accountability.
It established a regulatory body, the Charities and Societies Agency,
with broad discretion to arbitrarily cancel organizations’ registration
and to levy fines and criminal charges against their personnel.
To join EITI, Ethiopia should be required to repeal or substantially
amend the 2009 proclamation to eliminate problematic clauses that limit
foreign funding, restrict certain types of activities, and grant
far-reaching powers to a government agency to regulate activities of
independent groups, Human Rights Watch said. Additional preconditions
should be tied to
media freedom and respect for other
fundamental rights necessary for open public debate on natural resource topics.
“Admitting Ethiopia into EITI now would send a terrible signal about
the initiative’s commitment to core principles about the participation
of civil society,” Misol said. “The board should insist on meaningful
reforms in Ethiopia so that the government demonstrates its commitment
to the initiative’s principles and rules before it is admitted.”
Source: Human Rights Watch
