Ethiopia removes OLF, ONLF and Ginbot 7 from terror list

Addis Ababa – Ethiopia’s parliament has approved a government recommendation to take three rebel groups off the country’s list of terrorist organisations.

Parliament, which is controlled by the ruling EPRDF coalition with all 547 seats currently held by members of the party, passed the resolution unanimously on Thursday. EPRDF has been in power since 1991.

The groups – Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and Ginbot 7 – have each been engaged in armed struggles against the government in Addis Ababa.

Fitsum Arega, the Ethiopian prime minister’s chief of staff, said on Twitter on Saturday that the “Cabinet has submitted a resolution to parliament for ratification that will rescind the designation of OLF, ONLF & Ginbot 7 as terrorist groups”.

Pursuant to Proc. 652/2009, Cabinet has submitted a resolution to Parliament for ratification that will rescind the designation of OLF, ONLF & Ginbot 7 as terrorist groups. The decision will encourage groups to use peaceful political discourse to achieve political ends. #Ethiopia

— Fitsum Arega (@fitsumaregaa) June 30, 2018

As part of reconciliation Cabinet has approved an Amnesty Law to be sent to Parliament that grants amnesty for individuals & groups, either under investigation or convicted on treason, crime against the Const’l order, armed struggle. Details & conditions are in the law. #Ethiopia

— Fitsum Arega (@fitsumaregaa) June 30, 2018

The cabinet had also sent a law to parliament granting amnesty to individuals and groups involved in armed struggle against the government, according to Fitsum.

Analysts in Ethiopia said the move was a step in the right direction but more needed to be done before the groups put down their weapons.

“The decision is a major breakthrough but for it to be really effective the government needs to revisit some of the restrictive legislation currently in place,” Hallelujah Lulie had told Al Jazeera about the cabinet decision.

“The government needs to look at the current anti-terror law. It also needs to reform the security services, the justice system and also the electoral commission,” Hallelujah added.

Last month, Ginbot 7 said it would cease armed attacks in the country following reforms announced by the new government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

“Our forces have received strict orders to refrain from any sort of armed resistance,” the group said in a statement posted on their Facebook page.

Ginbot 7, an outlawed opposition group formed after a disputed election in 2005 and named after the date in the Ethiopian calendar when the vote took place – has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks in the past.

Ethiopia released top Ginbot 7 officials from prison in June, including Andargachew Tsige, who was found guilty of violent attacks and initially sentenced in absentia in 2009 over his role in the opposition group.

Tsige was arrested during a stopover at a Yemen airport in June 2014 and taken to Ethiopia.

Prosecutors also dropped charges against the group’s leader Berhanu Nega, who is based outside Ethiopia and had in 2009 received a death sentence in absentia over an assassination plot.

The OLF seeks self-determination for the Oromo people against what they see as Amhara colonial rule. Amharas are an ethnic group in the northern and central highlands of Ethiopia.

The ONLF is a separatist rebel group fighting for self-determination for Somalis in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The group demands autonomy of this region and has claimed several attacks since 1994 aimed at Ethiopian forces in the area.

Abiy, who took office in April, has been pursuing rapprochement with several opposition groups.

All the three groups have bases in neighbouring Eritrea. Addis Ababa has also begun peace talks with Asmara, its long-time foe.