Ethiopia file Charges against #FreeZone9Bloggers, Journalists detained over the Weekend

Reporter Mahlet Fasil

Charges were brought against a group of bloggers writing for Zone9 and three journalists detained by security forces on Friday April 25^th and Saturday April 26^th.  

Friends of the detainees were told this morning at the Ma’ekelawi, the central investigation office where the detainees were are kept since Friday that charges were already filed against the detainees on Sunday April 27^th. According to journalist Lily Yekoye,

Ethiopia detains bloggers and journalist

Security forces arrest six bloggers and a journalist in latest crackdown on opposition voices.

 

The Ethiopian government has arrested six independent bloggers and a journalist in what human rights group Amnesty International has called a "suffocating grip on freedom of expression".

Six members of independent blogger and activist group ‘Zone 9’ and a prominent Ethiopian journalist were arrested on Friday in the capital Addis Ababa.

All six bloggers were arrested at night by armed security forces and taken from their homes to the Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector ‘Maikelawi’, where political prisoners are alleged to be held in pre-trial, and sometimes arbitrary detention.

The Zone 9 group who are said to be very

ህይወታችን በፍርሃትና በስጋት የተሞላ ነው፡ በኬንያ የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ስደተኞች

ኬንያ የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ስደተኞች ችግር እየተባባሰ መሄዱን እዚያ የሚገኙ ስደተኞች አስታወቁ ። የኬንያ መንግሥት ስደተኞች በሙሉ በሃገሪቱ ወደሚገኙ የስደተኞች መጠለያ ጣቢያዎች እንዲገቡ ካዘዘ ወዲህ በተለይ በከተሞች የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን የፍርሃትና የስጋት ህይወት እንደሚገፉ ለዶቼቬለ አስታውቀዋል ።

በኬንያ የተባበሩት መንግሥታት የስደተኞች ጉዳይ ከፍተኛ ኮሚሽን ቢሮ በበኩሉ በከተሞች ኑሮአቸውን ሲገፉ የቆዩት ስደተኞች ጉዳይ መፍትሄ እንዲፈለግለት ለኬንያ መንግሥት ማሰሰቡን መቀጠሉን አስታውቋል።ድርጅቱ ችግሩ መፍትሄ ያገኛል ብሎ ተስፋ እንደሚያደርግም ተናግሯል ።ኬንያ ከ3 ሳምንት በፊት ያወጀችው አዲሱ ህግ በሃገሪቱ የሚገኙ ስደተኞች በሙሉ በሁለቱ የስደተኞች መጠለያዎች ማለትም በምሥራቅ ኬንያው የዳዳብ የስደተኞች መጠለያ ወይም ደግሞ በሰሜን ምዕራቡ በከካኩማ መጠለያ እንዲገቡ ያዛል ። ይህ ህግ ከታወጀ አንስቶ በተለያዩ ከተሞች የሚኖሩ የተባበሩት መንግሥታት የስደተኞች ጉዳይ ኮሚሽን «ዩኤንኤችሲአር»እውቅና የሰጣቸውም ሆነ ገና እውቅና ያላገኙት ስደተኞች መብታቸው መጣሱና መንገላታታቸውም መባባሱን ኬንያ የሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ስደተኞች ለዶቼቬለ አስታውቀዋል ።የኬንያ መንግሥት ስደተኞች በሙሉ ወደ መጠለያ ጣቢያዎች እንዲገቡ ቢያዝም ኢትዮጵያውያኑ ስደተኞችም እንደሚሉት

Planned anti-gay rally in Ethiopia is cancelled

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A planned anti-gay rally that would have made Ethiopia the latest African country to demonize gays has been cancelled, officials said Wednesday.

In addition, plans by the legislature to add gay sex to a list of crimes not eligible for presidential pardons has been dropped, said Redwan Hussein, a government spokesman.

Hostility toward gays across Africa is high. Uganda and Nigeria increased penalties against gay acts this year. Homosexuals in other countries face severe discrimination and harmful physical attacks.

Gay Ethiopians still face severe penalties for living in the open. Same-sex acts are punishable by up to 15 years in prison. A 25-year jail term is given to anyone convicted of infecting another person with HIV during same-sex acts.

But the government does not appear ready to further demonize homosexuals. Redwan said

Ethiopia: Addis Ababa City Administration gives Green Light for Anti-Gay Rally

 Ethiopian Copycats of Uganda

The Addis Ababa Youth Forum and a religious association known as the Weyneye Abune Teklehaimanot Spiritual Association have received permission from the Addis Ababa City Administration to hold a mass demonstration in the capital to protest against Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transsexuals (LGBT)

and the violence that is being committed against minors.

The request made by the Forum and the Association was given the green light by the city government last Tuesday. The mass protest is scheduled to be held on April 26 under the motto 'Keeping alien culture and homosexuality at bay'.

Ethiopian domestic worker “disciplined” by rape in Lebanon

Kafala and its Defenseless Victims

Rape is one of the many risks Lebanon’s migrant domestic workers face as a consequence of the power imbalances created by the sponsorship (kafala) system.  The system renders workers overly dependent on both recruitment agencies and employers, neither of whom are adequately regulated by government agencies. This legal framework of bondage is compounded by gender, racial, and economic stratifications that render workers even more vulnerable to abuse. These overlapping constraints furthermore limit workers ability to report misconduct, as migrants who leave abusive employers may jeopardize their visa status and because authorities are often apathetic to their distress. Workers often chose not to report abuse because receiving a positive, enforced verdict is unlikely and rarely worth the risk.

Consequently, the abuses domestic workers face are purposefully invisibilised; grass-roots organizations such as KAFA and the Anti-Racism Movement work to elevate these narratives into popular and government consciousness.  As a result of their efforts, Lebanese media has increased coverage of  exploitation, suicide, sexual abuse, and other migration issues over recent years. But last week Beiruti’s al-Akhbar published a uniquely in-depth report on a rape crime committed against an Ethiopian domestic worker in the Northern Lebanese village

The War on Terror Has Turned Ethiopia Into a Surveillance State

How Debrestion & Co are Making Ethiopia A Prison State

There’s a knock at your door. You open it, only to find several grave-looking police officers accusing you of a crime you didn’t commit. They pull out records of your most recent phone calls and tie you to your alleged co-conspirator, and now you’re screwed. This is Ethiopia.

According to a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Ethiopian surveillance of phones and emails is rampant. Eskinder Nega, a journalist and dissident blogger, reports being shown emails, text messages, and phone recordings when approached by Ethiopian police who were investigating him. Nega’s newspaper, Ethiopis, was shut down for being critical of the Ethiopian government’s abuses in freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Nega was sentenced to 18 years in prison for allegedly conspiring against the government in July of 2012.

TPLF's Long-arm Don't Spare Diaspora Ethiopians

  

“Ethiopia certainly doesn’t have the resources or capacity to engage in surveillance on the scale of the NSA—very few governments do,” Cynthia Wong, a Senior Researcher at HRW, told me. “The biggest difference, however, is that Ethiopia is using surveillance