The Investigator’s Handbook: Ethiopia Edition

What the Ethiopia edition covers

1. Ethiopia 1. Domestic legal process: who can ask for what, and how

   This chapter shows an investigator working in Ethiopia which texts govern a request to a telecom operator, internet provider or bank, who may issue it, how long each step lasts, and what a private investigator or journalist must do instead. Ethiopia has one cybercrime statute with its own investigation powers, the Computer Crime Proclamation No. 958/2016. Its preservation order needs no court; its production, search and interception powers do. Beside it sit the telecom, money-laundering and electronic-evidence texts, and a new Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code whose commencement this chapter could not establish.

   Sections in this chapter

   • What was read, and which text is in force
   • The map: one cybercrime law with its own powers
   • Who may ask, and who may not
   • Preservation, retention and freezing
   • Subscriber data, traffic data and content
   • Search and seizure of data
   • Interception: awareness only
   • Emergency requests
   • Time limits, notice and secrecy at a glance
   • If you are a foreign investigator
   • Making the records usable as evidence
   • Data protection law
   • Worked example (generic)
   • Checklist

2. Ethiopia 2. Internet and telecom providers in Ethiopia

   This chapter shows how to identify the provider behind an IP address, a phone number or a .et domain in Ethiopia, what the law makes providers keep, whom to serve and what to ask for. Ethiopia has one regulator, the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA), and two mobile operators whose official pages we read. The Ministry’s ISP directory has no Ethiopia page, so this chapter works from the regulator and the operators’ own pages instead. Chapter 1 covers the legal process; the shared Chapter 5 covers shared addresses and general method.

   Sections in this chapter

   • Regulator and licensing
   • From an IP address to a provider
   • Domains
   • From a phone number to an operator
   • What providers must keep
   • Provider duties that affect your request
   • Who to serve, and what our directory gives you
   • What to ask for in each reply
   • Foreign platforms and local presence
   • Worked example (generic)
   • Checklist

3. Ethiopia 3. Banks, wallets and national reporting: money and complaints

   This chapter shows where a fraud victim or an investigator in Ethiopia reports a cyber incident, how funds can be held or reversed, what the National Bank of Ethiopia’s consumer-protection directive requires of a bank or wallet operator and by when, and how the complaint ladder works. We found no single national fraud-reporting portal or rapid-freeze line for victims on the pages read. The fastest steps are usually the bank’s or wallet operator’s own; statutory holds exist but are slower and sit with the Financial Intelligence Service and the courts.

   Sections in this chapter

   • National reporting: who receives what
   • Freezing or holding funds
   • What the customer’s bank must do, and by when
   • The regulator and complaint ladder
   • Wallets and payment systems
   • Our pages and the numbers on them
   • Cryptocurrency losses
   • Worked example (generic)
   • Checklist

4. Ethiopia 4. Cross-border: treaties, platform routes and what Ethiopian authorities can send out

   This chapter sets out Ethiopia’s treaty position, who handles mutual legal assistance, how a foreign agency reaches Ethiopian records, how Ethiopian requests reach the large US platforms, and the police channels. Ethiopia is not a party to the Budapest Convention, has no mutual legal assistance treaty or CLOUD Act agreement with the United States, and has no published step-by-step procedure for incoming requests that we could find. Where we could establish a route from the texts, we say so; where we could not, we say that too.

   Sections in this chapter

   • Treaty and convention position
   • The central authority
   • Incoming requests: how a foreign agency gets Ethiopian records
   • Outgoing requests: what Ethiopian authorities can send abroad
   • How Ethiopian requests reach the large US platforms
   • Police and other channels (awareness)
   • What a foreign agency should send to reach Ethiopian providers or banks
   • Decision flow
   • Checklist

5. Ethiopia 5. Templates, contacts and quick reference

   This chapter gives the national agencies you will deal with, four ready-to-adapt templates written for Ethiopian law (a preservation order, a court application for production of computer data, an urgent request, and a foreign agency’s request outline), a one-page “who do I call first” table by case type, and a quick-reference card of articles and time limits. Chapters 1 to 4 explain the law behind each item.

   Sections in this chapter

   • National agencies
   • Template 1: Preservation order to a provider (Article 30)
   • Template 2: Application to a court for production of computer data (Article 31)
   • Template 3: Urgent request to a provider
   • Template 4: Foreign agency request outline to the Ethiopian authorities
   • Who do I call first? Quick reference by case type
   • Quick reference
   • Checklist

Every edition also includes the global reference: how data requests work, the seven big platforms, the 116-service directory, country routes, cryptocurrency, evidence handling, templates and a glossary. See the full contents or try the free First 24 Hours checklist.

Related directories for Ethiopia

• Bank fraud help in Ethiopia
• Cybercrime agencies in Ethiopia
• Law-enforcement request hub (LERS)

Questions