Ethiopia's imprisoned #FreeZone9bloggers have not been forgotten : BBC

In April 2014 BBC Trending covered the arrest of six bloggers and three journalists in Ethiopia. The bloggers are part of a group known as Zone 9, and are well known for campaigning around censorship and human rights issues in Ethiopia. Ten months on from their arrest, the hashtag #FreeZone9Bloggers continues to be used in the country as the trials continue.

That's not typical - campaigning hashtags often tail off over time. This one is being kept alive by activists both inside and out of Ethiopia who are challenging the government's decision. The total number of tweets is still only in the tens of thousands, but that is enough to be noticed on the global map (Twitter does not produce an official trending topics list for Ethiopia).

Why are they so focussed on social media? It certainly isn't the best way to reach the Ethiopian people: the internet is estimated to reach just over 1% of the population there. But it does allow them to network with the global blogging fraternity and the international media. Recently a blog began in support of the nine prisoners, and to report on the hearings. A campaign video has also been released in which complaints are raised over the conditions of Kalinto prison and Kality prison, where the bloggers are being held.

These complaints include torture, unlawful interrogation tactics and poor living conditions. The Ethiopian Embassy in London told BBC Trending that allegations of torture and unlawful interrogation tactics are unfounded, and that they have taken a series of measures "in collaboration with stakeholders, including civil society, to improve the conditions of prisons". They say the nine individuals are charged with "undermining the constitutional order, inciting violence and advocating the use of force to overthrow the legitimate government." They are also accused of working with an organisation proscribed by the Ethiopian Parliament as a terrorist organisation. However, activists in support of the group maintain that Zone 9's actions were constitutional.

Blog by India Rakusen

Source: BBC

የዛሬ የቂሊንጦ አጭር ቆይታ አብርሃን መጠየቅ ከጀርባ ሰው ያስከትላል (ከኤልያስ ገብሩ ጎዳና )

‹‹ዕድሜያችንን መቼ ሰራንበት፣ ልደት ማክበርም ያስፈራኛል፡፡
እንኳን ተወለድክ ላላችሁኝ በሙሉ ከልብ አመሰግናለሁ››

ጦማሪ እና ጋዜጠኛ በፍቃዱ ኃይሉ

ከዛሬ ከሰዓት በኋላ ከወዳጄ አቤል አለማየሁ ጋር ወደ ቂሊንጦ እስር ቤት አምርተን ነበር፡፡ አካሄዳችን በዞን ሁለት የሚገኙትን አብርሃ ደስታን፣ ጦማሪ እና ጋዜጠኛ በፍቃዱ ኃይሉንና ጦማሪ አጥናፍ ብርሃንን ለመጠየቅ ነው፡፡

የቃሊቲ እና የቂሊንጦ ጸሐይ ከረር ያለች ብትሆንም በቦታው ደርሰን ወደፖሊሶች ለምዝገባ ተጠጋን፡፡ ጠያቂና ተጠያቂ መዝጋቢ የሆነችው ሴት ፖሊስ ‹‹ማንን ነው የምትጠይቀው?›› ብላ አቤልን ጠየቀችው፡፡ በፍቃዱን እና አጥናፍን መሆንኑ ነገራት፡፡ መዘገበችውና ሂድ አለችው፡፡ ‹‹አንተስ ማንን ነው?›› ስትል ጠየቀችኝ፤ ‹‹አብርሃ ደስታን›› አልኳት፡፡ ቀና ብላ አየችኝና ‹‹ቆይ፣ ቁጭ በል›› የሚል መልስ መለሰች፡፡ ሌሎች ሰዎችን መመዝገቧን ቀጠለች፡፡ ‹‹ሰዓት እየሄደ ነው፣ ችግር አለ ወይ?›› አልኳት፡፡ ‹‹አይ ችግር የለም›› ካለች ከተወሰኑ ደቂቃዎች በኋላ ሌላ መዝገብ አምጥታ ፓስፖርቴን መዘገበችው፡፡ (መታወቂያዬ አልታደሰም) ከመዘገበች በኋላም ሌላ የፎርም መሙያ አውጥጣ በድጋሚ መዘገበች፡፡ ይሄንን ስትመዘግብ እኔ እንዳይባት ስላልፈለገች

More Than 200 Migrants Feared Dead After Boats Sink in Mediterranean

By VICE News
February 11, 2015 | 1:16 pm
More than 200 migrants are missing in the Mediterranean sea after the motorboats they were traveling in sank, the UN refugee agency says.
Nine people were saved after four days at sea, but a further 203 were "swallowed up," Carlotta Sami, the UNHCR spokeswoman in Italy, said on Twitter.
She called the incident a "horrible and enormous tragedy."
The two boats departed from the Libyan coast on Saturday, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Lauren Jolles, UNHCR officer for Southern Europe, criticised Operation Triton — Europe's Mediterranean border patrol — for lacking a "core mandate" of saving human lives.
"We are shocked by the news of the death of another 203 migrants and refugees," she said in a statement.
She added: "The Operation Triton does not have as its core mandate of saving human lives and therefore can not be the answer of which is urgently needed."
Triton was brought into replace Operation Mare Nostrum, the Italian government's program of maritime patrols, which ended last year to warnings from refugee experts that the death toll could soar. The EU operation, run by the bloc's border agency Frontex, covers a much reduced search area and is mandated with border surveillance rather than search and rescue.
Nils Muiznieks, human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, also denounced Triton's inadequacy, saying the loss of life could have been avoided.
The news comes just days after 29 migrants died after their inflatable raft capsized near the Italian island of Lampedusa. 22 of those died from hypothermia after being picked up by a rescue vessel.
More than 165,000 undocumented migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in the first nine months of 2014, accroding to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, compared with 60,000 for the whole of 2013. Almost half of the 2014 migrants were Syrians and Eritreans.
At least 3,000 died or went missing at sea in 2014, according to UNCHR estimates, compared to over 600 in 2013.
Main image: Migrants are picked up by an Italian navy patrol in December. Image via the Italian navy.

C'est ENCORE en Lampedusa! Plus de 20 migrants morts de froid.

Des gardes-côtes italiens ont retrouvé en mer Méditerranée plus de vingt migrants morts de froid, lors du sauvetage d'une embarcation sur laquelle se trouvaient plus d'une centaine de personnes.

Plus de vingt migrants sont morts de froid sur une embarcation qui a été secourue dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi par des gardes-côtes italiens, a annoncé, lundi 9 février, une source médicale à l'AFP. Selon les médias italiens, le total des morts pourrait atteindre 25 à 27 personnes.

"Il y a beaucoup de morts, certainement plus de vingt", a déclaré un médecin du centre des urgences de l'île italienne de Lampedusa, où ont été transférés lundi après-midi une centaine de survivants, dont certains hospitalisés pour hypothermie. "Nous avons dans le centre six jeunes souffrant d'une forte hypothermie et on tente d'organiser leur transport par hélicoptère" vers des hôpitaux mieux équipés, a ajouté le médecin.

L'alerte avait été donnée dimanche après-midi par les migrants à l'aide d'un téléphone satellitaire. Le centre opérationnel des gardes-côtes a dépêché sur place deux navires marchands qui se trouvaient dans la zone, ainsi que deux vedettes parties de Lampedusa, qui ont secouru les migrants dimanche vers 21 h GMT.

Source: France24 Avec AFP