The attacks against the United States of America (US) on 11 September 2001 paved the way for the coming into effect of much counter-terrorism legislation across the world. Ethiopia is one of the countries that have introduced new legislation on terrorism, which is mainly drawn from the UK and, to a lesser extent, from the US. The aim of this thesis is to comprehensively assess Ethiopia's counter-terrorism legislation in light of the experiences of the UK and the US in dealing with terrorism. Furthermore, this thesis discusses the consequences of ‘copying' Western counter-terrorism legislation into Ethiopian culture, drawing particular attention to the need for a proper balance between legitimate security interests and the protection of fundamental rights. This thesis is organized as follows. The first chapter introduces the significance, methodology, limitation, and scope of the thesis. The second chapter discusses the development of Ethiopian legal system, human rights and counterterrorism measures. Moving forwards, chapter three seeks to analyse two important factors encapsulated within the right to freedom of expression; that is, the content and medium of the expression and the identity of the speaker/publisher. The relevance of these factors in giving effect to the right to freedom of expression is evaluated in light of the need to protect against the incitement and/or encouragement of terrorism. The chapter then deepens its critical assessment by reviewing the difficulty of implementing these factors in Ethiopia. Chapter four seeks to widen the debate by exploring the legal regimes governing intercept evidence - an issue of great importance in terrorism discourse. The chapter critically examines why intercept evidence obtained through a warrant is inadmissible in UK courts. Additionally, this chapter compares the position of the UK with that of the US, isolating areas of similarities and differences with a view to comparing the Ethiopian position on intercept communications. Chapter five focuses on the arrest of individuals on suspicion of terrorism and the length of pre-charge detention under the three countries selected for this research. This chapter will then explore whether there is a need for a watered down version of ‘reasonable suspicion' in terrorism cases. This chapter further considers Ethiopia's position with regard to the level of knowledge required to execute arrests, considering whether Ethiopia could and should reflect on the UK's position in attempting to facilitate a greater accordance with fundamental rights by shortening the 120 days pre-charge detention currently available to police when arresting individuals on suspicion of terrorism. The final chapter draws on the preceding debate and provides the concluding remarks on the thesis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:617580 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Teklu, Asmelash Yohannes |
| Contributors | Stone, Richard; Velluti, Samantha |
| Publisher | University of Lincoln |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/14695/ |
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