Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Ethiopian lawmakers to reject legislation that would make it harder for NGOs to work in the most troubled spots in Ethiopia. The Charities and Societies Proclamation Bill will give the government the power to ban NGOs from work related to ethnicity, gender and children’s rights.

The New York based global watchdog claimed that this legislation would, “criminalise human rights activity and seriously undermine civil society groups”. The government, if this bill was passed, would be able to imprison aid workers for up to five years for minor administrative violations.

The Woyone regime has come back at HRW, saying that “Ethiopia’s internal affairs are within the sovereign power and rights of the Ethiopian people and government”. Yet, the sovereign power of the government should not be used to threaten the human rights of the very people they are meant to serve.

HRW have been calling on donor countries to threaten Ethiopia with the cutting off of future funds, to ensure this legislation, which could “strangle Ethiopia’s few independent voices”, is not passed.