{"id":12,"area":"Africa","region_name":"Ethiopia","iso_2":"ET","region_sub":null,"legal_code_title":"Penal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia established by Proclamation No. 414/2004","legal_code_title_citation_1":"Text of the law is available at: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/70993/75092/F1429731028/ETH70993.pdf","legal_code_title_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body":"Article 629 – “Whoever performs with another person of the same sex a homosexual act, or any other indecent act, is punishable with simple imprisonment. \n\nArticle 630(1) – “The punishment shall be simple imprisonment for not less than one year, or, in grave cases, rigorous imprisonment not exceeding ten years, where the criminal…makes a profession of such activities within the meaning of the law.”","legal_code_body_citation_1":null,"legal_code_body_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body_citation_3":null,"legal_code_body_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments":"At its 2nd cycle UPR that commenced in April 2014, Ethiopia ‘noted’ (did not accept) three Level 5 (act immediately)\nrecommendations from France, Portugal and Argentina to decriminalise same-sex sexual activity. Ethiopia made no\nresponses to the decriminalisation issue in the UPR Interactive Dialogue or in its formal responses to recommendations in\nthis regard.\nIn its submission to the 56th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the situation of human\nrights defenders the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) observes: “… that Ethiopia’s repressive laws provoke\nfear and self-censorship among HRDs and that HRDs frequently face threats, acts of intimidation, judicial harassment\nand arbitrary arrest”, with “…surveillance and ofcial restrictions on the movement of HRDs.” The document goes on\nto say: “Defenders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights in Ethiopia operate in a particularly\nhostile environment, with organised anti-homosexuality organisations calling upon the government to close spaces for\nthe LGBTI rights movement and tighten ‘anti-gay’ legislation, punishing ‘homosexual acts’ with the death penalty. LGBTI\norganisations have been consistently accused of being Western proxies seeking to subvert Ethiopian cultural values. Many\nclerical leaders have made statements against sexual diversity in a country where ‘homosexual acts’ are punishable with\none to ffteen years imprisonment pursuant to Articles 629 and 630 of Ethiopia’s Criminal Code”.\nThe difcult legal and social situation of LGBT people in Ethiopia in 2014 and 2015 is described in a 2016 report produced\nby the East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative, and the immense challenges faced by LGBT refugees is described\nin an article of March 2017.","legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_1":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_2":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_3":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_5":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_6":null,"legal_code_scruff_comments":null,"prison_term_min_length":0.027,"prison_term_max_length":5,"prison_term_notes":null,"prison_term_not_specified":null,"prison_term_years":true,"prison_term_life":null,"prison_term_mandatory":true,"fine_min_amount":null,"fine_max_amount":null,"fine_currency":null,"fine_notes":null,"fine_not_specified":null,"fine_amount":null,"fine_mandatory":null,"penalty_death":false,"penalty_death_notes":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment_notes":null,"penalty_hard_labor":null,"penalty_hard_labor_notes":null,"penalty_banishment":null,"legal_code_explicitly_references_same_sex_acts":true,"legal_code_explicitly_references_acts_against_nature":null,"legal_code_differentiates_anal_sex_from_other_acts":null,"legal_code_indicates_hiv_as_aggravating_factor":true,"legal_code_indicates_age_of_consent_homosexual_acts_over_18":null,"existing_laws_used_to_target_gays_but_not_anti_gay":null,"islamic_sharia_law":null,"islamic_sharia_law_notes":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction_notes":null,"laws_not_specifically_homophobic":null,"laws_status_unclear":null,"laws_status_unclear_notes":null,"persecution_non_state_agents":null,"criminalization_under_consideration":null,"recently_decriminalized":null,"propaganda_law_under_consideration":null,"propaganda_law_title":null,"propaganda_law_title_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_body":null,"propaganda_law_body_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_ilga_comments":null,"legal_developments_2023_2024_summary":"Continued criminalisation under Penal Code (2004) Art. 629. Since July 2023, Addis Ababa authorities have run a public crackdown on venues suspected of hosting 'homosexual activity,' with police hotlines set up for public reporting and multiple arrests in Adama and Bishoftu.","legal_developments_2023_2024_citations":"ILGA World, Laws On Us: A Global Overview of Legal Progress and Backtracking on SOGIESC, 1st Ed. (Geneva, May 2024), p.35.","status_change_type":"Unchanged (severe enforcement escalation)"}