According to Country Reports on Human Rights for 1990, there were no legal restraints on the surveillance (visual and electronic) of persons and all mail was subject to government monitoring (1991, 118).

After the overthrow of that regime in May 1991, a National Charter was introduced, and freedom of speech, assembly, association, religion and travel were more widely respected than under the previous regime (Country Reports 1992 1993, 85). This information is corroborated by Human Rights Watch World Report 1993. The Charter prohibited arbitrary interference in privacy, family, home or correspondence, but there were complaints about intrusions into private premises by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) troops (Country Reports 1992 1993, 85). The source does not mention these intrusions as also involving correspondence to and from Ethiopia.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1992. 1993. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1990. 1991. United States Department of State. Washington, D.C: US Government Printing Office.

Human Rights Watch. December 1992. Human Rights Watch World Report 1993. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch. December 1992. Human Rights Watch World Report 1993. New York: Human Rights Watch.