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| Berhane Tesfaye and her son, Fiteh, (CPJ) |
The International Rights' watchdog expressed its concern today after interviewing Taye's wife and their little kid who is being unlawfully separated from his father with TPLF's trumped up terrorism charges. Here is what Taye's wife told CPJ about their son's fear of being jailed when he grows up.
"When
I grow up will I go to jail like my dad?" This was the
shattering question that the five-year-old son of imprisoned
Ethiopian journalist Woubshet Taye asked his mother after a recent
prison visit. Woubshet's son, named Fiteh (meaning "justice"),
has accompanied his mother on a wayward tour of various prisons since
his father was arrested
in June 2011.
Authorities
have inexplicably transferred Woubshet, the former deputy
editor of the independent weekly Awramba
Times,
to a number of prisons. From Maekelawi
Prison, authorities transferred him to Kality Prison in the
capital, Addis Ababa, then to remote Ziway Prison, then Kalinto
Prison (just outside Addis Ababa), back to Kality, and in December
last year--to Ziway again.
It
is at Ziway,
an isolated facility roughly 83 miles southeast of the capital, where
heat, dust, and contaminated water have likely led to a severe kidney
infection in Woubshet. The award-winning
journalist was meant to receive medical treatment while at Kality
Prison in Addis Ababa, Woubshet's wife, Berhane Tesfaye, told me, but
it never took place. Suffering in such pain in his ribs and hip that
he cannot sleep, Woubshet has not even received painkillers,
according to local
journalists who visited him.
CPJ's
attempts to reach Ethiopian government spokesman Shimeles Kemal by
phone call and text message were unsuccessful.
Despite
high transport costs and more than four hours of travel each way,
Berhane and Fiteh try to visit Woubshet every week. Fiteh routinely
becomes ill from the dust, Berhane said, and prison guards prevent
Woubshet from hugging his son. Prison visits are often brief and
canned, local journalists told me, as even discussions over
Woubshet's health are restricted by guards assigned to monitor the
conversation.
What
terrible misdeeds could have triggered such a fate? Authorities
sentenced Woubshet to 14 years in prison on charges
lodged under Ethiopia's broad anti-terrorism
law. The evidence includes email exchanges he had with Elias
Kifle, exiled Ethiopian editor of the Washington-based opposition
website Ethiopian
Review,
Berhane said. An email to Woubshet's brother in America was also
cited as evidence against him, she said. After Woubshet's brother
asked about their ailing father's eye operation, his reply that "the
operation was done successfully" was used as an example of his
terrorist activities.
Local
journalists suspect the real reason lies in Woubshet's critical
reporting at Awramba Times. Two weeks prior to his arrest,
Woubshet published a column critical of the ruling party's
performance in its two decades of rule. Another column, written in
2009, that questioned the whereabouts of former opposition party
members after the 2005 elections may have also triggered his arrest,
Berhane said.
While
debates over the reasons for Woubshet's arrest may persist, there is
one point on which all sides should agree: Woubshet must be allowed
access to medical treatment. Ethiopia is a signatory to the African
Charter on Human and People's Rights, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and thus duty-bound to ensure
the health of its citizens as a fundamental human right.
እንደሚታወቀው ባለፈው ሚያዚያ መንግስት ሊያጸድቅ ያቀደው የአዲስ አበባ ማስተር ፕላን በዋና ከተማ ዙሪያ አካባቢዎች ላይ የሰፈሩ ገበሬዎችን ያፈናቀላል በሚል በተለያዩ የትምህርት ተቋማት ተማሪዎች ከፍተኛ የተቋውሞ ሰልፍ አስነስተው በሰው ህይወት እና በንብረት ላይ ከፍተኛ አደጋ ደርሶ ነበር። የኦሮሚያ ቲቪ ጋዜጠኞች ይህንን ፖሊሲ የሚተች ነው ያሉትን ዘገባ እና የገዥው ፓርቲ ባለስልጣናት የተሳተፉበትን ስብሰባ ከተቃውሞ ሰልፉ አንድ ቀን ቀደም ብለው ማቅረባቸው ከስራ ለመባረራቸው መነሾ ሊሆን እንደሚችል አክለው ገልጸዋል። ይህ አንድ ስሙ እንዳይጠቀስ የፈለገው ጋዜጠኛ ለሲፒጄ በሚከተለው መልኩ ገልጾታል።
