Amnesty International Against Meta & more – 2nd Nov 2023

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 2nd of November twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

On Monday the 30th, Amnesty International released a report entitled A Death Sentence for My Father, exposing the role of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, in human rights violations during the war in Tigray, which lasted two years. The report mainly accuses Meta of not taking action even though it had received several warnings from human rights experts and local civil societies that —probably extremists against Tigrayans— ethnically targeted people on Facebook. One harrowing story is that of a university professor, whose photo is on the cover of the report, who was murdered a few days after an anonymous extremist posted his personal information on Facebook, along with accusations that he supported the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (or TPLF). Amnesty International accused Meta of being ‘extremely slow’ when responding to reports of hate speech, which resulted in numerous tragic instances of human rights violations.

Wanna read the full report? Follow the link in the show notes.

Amnesty’s report, however, isn’t the only one released this week. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (or EHRC) also came out with a report on Monday, the 30th, but this one concerns an ongoing conflict in the Amhara region. The Commission said it had been talking to residents, witnesses, victims, and government officials to try and find out if there were any human rights violations. The EHRC sadly reported that there had been hundreds of rape cases within the context of the conflict. The Commission also said that the government had launched drone attacks a few weeks ago on a small town in the northern Shoa zone, killing a child that wasn’t even two years old and many other civilians. The EHRC expressed its concern over the significant number of people internally displaced as a result of the conflict.

The government didn't like the sound of the report. On Thursday, the 2nd, the executive’s communication service's minister held a press release saying that the report was unfair and untrue. He said that the EHRC's report didn’t consider the context of the government's operation. He also said that the report wasn't based on adequate, reliable information. The minister explained that the government is taking calculated measures to resolve the instability in the Amhara region and ensure citizens' right to life.

More news on the aftermath of the war in Tigray as Ethiopia is actively trying to take part in the US’ Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (or AGOA) again. The US removed Ethiopia from the AGOA because of human rights abuse allegations. Still, Ethiopia had been trying to get back into the Act for a while, even before reaching the agreement to end the war with the TPLF. Recall that the AGOA provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 1,800 products. On Thursday, the 26th, Constance Hamilton, the Assistant US Trade Rep for Africa, said that the decision to reinstate Ethiopia to the program is still pending. She added that ‘probably’ there wouldn’t be any news regarding this issue during the AGOA forum since the matter requires careful deliberation on the US' part, and they don’t want to rush the decision. The Forum will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from Thursday, the 2nd, to Saturday, the 4th of November,

Next up, Ethiopia’s primary legislator, the House of People’s Representatives, is adopting a draft law that will control the import and use of information technology products. The House’s Human Resource Development, Employment, and Tech Affairs Standing Committee held discussions with the Information Network Security Agency (or INSA) on the draft law. The INSA deputy director said that when the law enters into force, it will allow the government to conduct investigations on businesses and other entities that import sophisticated tech products that can be used to endanger national security. The law will also bar the users of such tech products from transferring ownership without obtaining permission from the INSA. According to the draft, law-breakers will go to jail for a period ranging from one to five years and will have to pay a fine between fifty thousand to two hundred thousand birr or nine hundred to three thousand six hundred US dollars.

Mamo Mihretu, The National Bank’s governor, sat down with all the banks’ executives and board chairs on Tuesday, the 31st of October. He convened the meeting mainly to talk about the National Bank’s three-year strategic plan to control inflation. In the meeting, the governor said that the country’s banking sector has grown significantly - bank users opened thirty million new deposit accounts in the past fiscal year. Reps of the National ID program office also attended the meeting and talked about plans to launch a digital biometric identification for all financial institutions. The National Bank and the ID program jointly stated that the program will improve banks’ e-Know Your Customer or e-KYC and increase financial inclusion. Ethiopia’s banking sector has been thriving for years now, and most, if not all, of the banks have made a profit every year.

Speaking of banks, Dashen Bank, at its 30th general shareholders meeting held on Thursday the 26th, revealed that in the previous fiscal year, it brought a billion US dollars in foreign currency revenue, making it the third bank in the country to do so, after state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and the Awash Bank. The bank authorities also talked about how it was the first ever bank in the country to successfully borrow foreign currency from international lenders. The bank had borrowed about forty million US dollars and said that it is currently negotiating with the African Development Bank to borrow some more. The bank’s CEO explained that they would lend these funds to exporters working in the agriculture and manufacturing sector, and, per the National Bank’s directive, the bank would pay back the loan and the interest in foreign currency.

Still on banks and money, the Ethiopian Deposit Insurance Fund officially began operations. The fund's CEO said that the Fund's inauguration comes after the government's two hundred million birr or more than three and a half million US dollars grant. The Fund will pay back depositors if financial institutions encounter trouble doing so. The Fund plans on collecting more than one and a half billion birr or almost thirty million US dollars.

Moving on, a few weeks ago, the Ministry of Agriculture struck a deal with Moroccan state-owned company OCP to import more than two billion kilos or four and a half billion pounds of fertilizer. On Monday the 30th, the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise said that the first shipment, containing more than fifty thousand tons, arrived at the Djibouti port a day earlier, on Sunday the 29th. The second batch will soon be on its way to the country, with the Enterprise saying it has made ample preparations to deliver the shipment to mainland Ethiopia. This year’s fertilizer imports have seen an increase of one billion kilos or 2.2 billion pounds compared to last year.

Yvan Gil Pinto, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, was in Addis this week and sat down with Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Demeke Mekonnen. The Foreign Minister said Venezuela is interested in working with Ethiopia in the agricultural, tourism, energy, and health sectors. After visiting the Ethiopian Airlines’ facilities, he also invited the airline to begin operating direct flights to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

Still in the capital, Addis Ababa's Traffic Management Agency announced that it will begin punishing drivers who turn on high-beam lights at night. The agency said it will amp up monitoring to ensure drivers observe the law. The agency also said that even though the law has been clearly communicated, some people are still driving with high-beam lights on at night, adding that the punishment will be harsh from now on.

And that's it for this week!

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