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In a landmark decision that accompanies ongoing reforms, the House of People's Representatives (HPR) voted unanimously on Thursday to defeat the appointment of three political groups: Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) ), Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), and [Patriotic] Ginbot 7 from his "terrorist list".
The resolution, in fact, was announced last week by the Prime Minister's Office shortly after the Council of Ministers voted and sent for
The three organizations were among the five designated "terrorist" groups in 2010, in accordance with the highly controversial bill dubbed Anti-Terrorist Proclamation [Procès 652/2009] while the so called "freedom fighters" .
Before voting for the resolution, several members welcomed the government's decision to give the group a chance to engage in peaceful political activity. ty. Nevertheless, some legislators have raised questions about guarantees and confirmations that the government has received so far from the armed groups that have led to the decision to "withdraw" the "terrorist list".
In response to parliamentary questions, Birhanu Tsegaye, Attorney General, first explained that these organizations need legal support that gives them the guarantee of participating freely at home.
"Unless the names of these organizations are removed from the terrorist list, neither their leaders nor their members can do anything in the country. Therefore, as stipulated in the provisions of the existing law; He added that once designated as "terrorists", they could not have the legitimate right to participate as a political organization.
"Most of the leaders of the organizations told us that they wanted to go home and peacefully participate in the process. Even some have already started to return home. That's why we came to the decision [removing their name from the list]"said Attorney General in the House.
Fitsum Arega, chief of staff at the Prime Minister's office tweeted last week saying "The decision will encourage groups to use peaceful political speech for political purposes."
Legislators' approval came three months after the Prime Minister made an extraordinary remark during his inaugural address to them and the nation on April 2.
On this historic day, Abiy promised to bring an atmosphere conducive to opposition groups whose roles and participations in the political process and democratization of the country. have been limited due to anti-terrorism legislation.
Arrested by one of the legislators on the constitutionalism of the release of prisoners, especially those imprisoned for corruption and terrorism, the prime minister simply said: "Imprisonment and torture, we l & # 39; We have not been constitutional either. "
promulgated the controversial proclamation in 2009, several people – including prominent leaders such as Andargachew Tsige of Ginbot 7 (second in command) – were arrested and sentenced to a term of imprisonment long term.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) is an ethnic group fighting for the secession of the Somali region of Ethiopia.
Similarly, the OLF was part of the fight against the Marxist Derg regime, but victoriously in Addis Ababa they were marginalized by the new EPRDF regime in Ethiopia. Since then, they are fighting for the secession of the Oromo region.
In 2015, the ONLF and the OLF formed an alliance with other parties seeking to advocate for a democratic renewal of Ethiopia: the Alliance of Peoples for Freedom and Democracy (PAFD).
Ginbot 7 An armed rebel group based in Eritrea with some affiliations in Yemen enjoys broad support from the Ethiopian diaspora.
It is to be remembered that a British national, Andargachew Tsige – a senior member of ] Ginbot 7 – was also released from the infamous Kality Correctional Center a month ago [19659003] Similarly, the Ethiopian government has also released Abdikarim Muse Qalbi Dhagah, an ONLF military commander transferred to Ethiopia from a Somali prison.
Of the five groups on the Ethiopian terrorist list in 2011, Al-Qaeda and Al Shabaab (based in Somalia) remain on the list.
In addition to senior officials of armed groups, charges were also dropped such as ESAT (Ethiopian Satellite Television) and OMN (Oromo Media Network).
OMN has already opened an office in Ethiopia with plans to continue operations locally.
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