Disabling by Design? - The Ethiopian Charities and Societies Proclamation

Dear friends and colleagues,

A major part of our work at CIVICUS is to support and encourage the growth of an enabling environment for civil society to operate. In doing this, we engage with national governments, particularly on legislation that negatively impacts civil society freedoms. Ethiopia has recently released a third draft of its Charities and Societies Proclamation. Sadly, despite the interventions of both national and international civil society groups, the current draft fails to redress the most seriously disabling provisions of previous versions. While some of the most arbitrary clauses have been modified, the Proclamation falls substantially short of internationally accepted standards, by providing legal cover to disproportionate, discriminatory and disabling actions against a broad range of civil society actors.

This proposed legislation is just the latest in a series of similar attacks on civil society freedoms globally. In 2007 alone, CIVICUS’ Civil Society Watch programme documented 87 countries that have increased restrictions on civic expression and engagement. In virtually every case, the new constraints have sought justification in amorphous threats to national security, often as part of the so-called war on terror. This fig-leaf has been cited by overtly repressive governments and ostensibly democratic ones alike, to impose restrictions and seize powers that threaten legitimate democratic dissent. From Guantanamo to Gujarat, citizens have first been sold the notion that the security of their homes and families necessitates the sacrifice of liberty and privacy. Experience in the large majority of these cases shows that these powers have been abused and misused to target, not just opponents of the current regime, but basic freedoms of association and expression by ordinary citizens.

These difficult times call for civil society everywhere to stand in solidarity with our colleagues across the globe, in their struggle to protect their basic democratic and human rights. Or, as the tide of repression rises around us, we will, as Martin Luther King. Jr. reminded us, “remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

To read more on the analysis of the draft law threatening to criminalise Ethiopian civil society, click here.

With gratitude, faith and solidarity,

Ingrid Srinath,

CIVICUS Secretary General 

To send your comments, suggestions or contributions of articles to e-CIVICUS, e-mail editor@civicus.org.

For previous articles from the Secretary General, see details below: 

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. CIVICUS new Secretary General appointed. 

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