Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Ethiopia's National Intelligence and
Security Service (NISS) has broad authority for intelligence, border security, and criminal
investigation and is responsible for overall counterterrorism management. The Ethiopian Federal
Police worked in conjunction with the NISS on counterterrorism. Ethiopia continued to use the
Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System, PISCES, biometric security
measures at immigration enforcement stations at Bole and Dire Dawa International Airports, as
well as other points of entry throughout the country.
In February, the Government of Ethiopia announced that it had arrested eight AQ operatives in
the Bale area of the Oromia Region in December 2011. Those arrested had links to Kenya,
Sudan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. A verdict in the trial of self-confessed
cell leader Hassan Jarso – a Kenyan national – and other cell members, had not been reached by
year’s end.
The Government of Ethiopia convicted 46 people, 24 of whom were tried in absentia, under its
2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, including an 11-person AQ cell and three members of the
ONLF.
Also among those convicted were 12 journalists, opposition political figures, and activists whose
trials were deemed by several international human rights organizations and foreign diplomatic
missions to be politically motivated and based on evidence indicative of acts of a political nature
rather than linked to terrorism. The government also invoked the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation in
charging 28 Muslims in connection with protests that alleged government interference in
religious affairs, and accused one Muslim of accepting funds illegally from a foreign embassy.
Countering Terrorist Finance: Ethiopia is not a member of a Financial Action Task Forcestyle
regional body (FSRB), but is an observer to the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money
Laundering Group, an FSRB, which it hopes to become a member of in 2013. The Ethiopian
government froze assets allegedly used in planning terrorist acts, pending investigation as to
whether those assets can be legally confiscated. The Government of Ethiopia’s Charities and
Societies Agency is responsible for monitoring non-profit organizations to prevent misuse of
funds and terrorist financing. NGOs were monitored, but the Ethiopian government has limited
expertise in the area of terrorist financing. The Government of Ethiopia routinely distributed the
UN list of designated terrorists and terrorist entities to financial institutions. For further
information on money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the 2013 International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial
Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.
Regional and International Cooperation: Ethiopia is a member state of the Inter-
Governmental Authority on Development and participated actively in its Security Sector
Program, which builds the capacity of its member states to mitigate, detect, and deter advances
by terrorists. Ethiopia was an active participant in the AU's counterterrorism efforts and
participated in its Center for Study and Research on Terrorism and in meetings of the Committee
of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa.
Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism: The Ethiopian government and the
Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council continued to implement a controversial training
program for Muslims on the subject of violent extremism; the program led to ongoing protests by
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