By Kenyamarie Mahone
The issue of telecommunications surveillance has become a marker of political freedoms in the 21st century. With increasing technological capacities in the Department of Defense, and the growing role of technology in everyday American life–Americans have become wary of surveillance and its many forms. This has become especially true in the wake of Edward Snowden’s 2013 release of NSA documents outlining the extent of government surveillance, particularly on American citizens. While this leak led to intense public criticism of the Obama administration’s anti-terrorism techniques, more recent documents released by Snowden outlining the use of American surveillance tools in Ethiopia have largely fallen on deaf ears. The continued proliferation of American surveillance techniques in Ethiopia through the early 2000s demonstrates the intense struggle between American ideals of democracy and foreign officials’ interests in counterterrorism.
US Counterterrorism in Ethiopia
The early 2000s were marked by an enhanced War on Terror following the 9/11 attacks in New York. Subsequent initiatives like the Patriot Act and the CIA’s resort to torture at Guantanamo Bay have become infamous examples of the United States shift to prioritizing counterterrorism efforts. Since the 2000s counterterrorism efforts abroad have also increased–specifically, as the United States has struggled to gain control of regions in the Horn of Africa. During this time, the United States has attempted to utilize its relationship with Ethiopia, which it has maintained since 1903, to counter extremist organizations in the region.
Ethiopia itself is Africa’s second most-populous country in Africa and as such has become an extremely strategic partner for American counterterrorism for several reasons. In recent years, US control in Ethiopia has become largely driven by rivalry between the United States and China over influence in Africa. But in the early 2000s, US relations with Ethiopia were motivated by more specific goals. After 9/11, the United States built a network of surveillance outposts in Ethiopia, training their army and security officials in telecommunications eavesdropping techniques. In return for these new technological resources, Ethiopians provided the United States with valuable knowledge of local languages, intelligence, and location. These efforts grew rapidly in the early 2000s, with a single Deployed Signals Intelligence Operations Center–commonly referred to as “Lion’s Pride” growing from just 12 people to 103 in just 3 years.
These operations provided the United States with intel regarding suspected Al Qaeda presence in Ethiopia, Somalia, Mogadishu, and the Darfur region of Sudan. Documents released by Edward Snowden in 2017 found that one tactic the United States utilized and provided Ethiopian officials was a software called “FinSpy.” The software, which was created after 9/11 as a weapon of surveillance in the War on Terror, allows users to essentially hack into the devices of unsuspecting individuals and gather data remotely. Despite the State Department’s stated goals of democracy promotion, expanding human rights, and “advancing regional peace and security” in Ethiopia, American tools of surveillance were soon weaponized by Ethiopian officials to find and destroy domestic political opposition.
The Use of US Tools in Ethiopia’s Repression of Political Dissent
Despite the US interests in counterterrorism, American surveillance tools have been used by Ethiopian officials to spy on its citizens and media outlets. Media outlets found to be critical of the Ethiopian government were shut down under accusations of “violence and disorder.” In 2014, a Human Rights Watch report in Ethiopia detailed the extent of telecommunications surveillance. The report illustrates how political dissent is often met with harsh punishment by the regime, as citizens live in constant fear of retribution even for private communications. A former member of a government opposition group who had been arrested explains: “one day they arrested me and they showed me everything. They showed me a list of all my phone calls, and they played a conversation I had with my brother. They arrested me because we talked about politics on the phone.”
The addition of American surveillance techniques has allowed the Ethiopian government to rapidly expand their technological capacity and increase their control of “internet and mobile technologies.” This outcome is unsurprising considering Ethiopia’s long and known history of violent repression of its own citizens. A 2008 Human Rights Watch report outlined the use of torture, extrajudicial killings, and sexual violence in the Ogaden region. Despite the State Department reporting “serious abuses” by the Ethiopian army in 2005, according to Human Rights Watch, in 2006 the United States expanded their signal posts operations in Ethiopia, providing them with further surveillance strategies. While other nations like China, have also aided Ethiopia in their surveillance techniques, the US government’s support shows a particular disregard for ideals of democracy, freedom of expression, and privacy abroad.
Counter-Terrorism, A Battle Between American Ideals and Interests
Despite clear precedence in international law which makes complicity in international law violations itself a crime, the United States and actors like Congress, for years, turned a blind eye to surveillance in Ethiopia. While at home, the United States has advocated for increased peace and democracy in Ethiopia, the influence of American surveillance tools has had the inverse impact. Moreover, domestic interests in counterterrorism have largely clouded officials, Congress, and the public’s view of surveillance abroad, with little outcry when these tools are used abroad. Too often ideals of political freedom and democracy are abandoned when confronted with interests of counterterrorism. The war on terror and its subsequent policy outcomes have enhanced repressive regimes like those in Ethiopia and should concern all invested in protecting human rights at home and abroad.
