Freedom of expression at risk in Ethiopia : Article 19

The watchdog revealed this grave and disturbing facts after interviewing local journalists, activists, family members of imprisoned Ethiopian journalists. According to Article 19, The TPLF led government highly restricts the work of journalists through intimidation,threats and punitive arrests under dubious laws. Article 19 produced this documentary to highlight the plight of journalists in Ethiopia. To date, a dozen journalists are sitting behind bars convicted with tramped up terrorism charges while hundreds of their counterparts fled the country to avoid persecution and intimidation.

IPI urges Ethiopia to immediately release jailed journalists

One of the biggest freedom of expression watchdogs, the International Press Institute (IPI), makes condemnation of Ethiopia’s use of sweeping anti-terrorism law to imprison journalists and other legislative restrictions are hindering the development of free and independent media in Africa’s second largest country, according to a report published in VIENNA, on January 14, 2014.

Dozens of journalists and political activists have been arrested or sentenced under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009, including five journalists who are serving prison sentences and who at times have been denied access to visitors and legal counsel. The report, “Press Freedom in Ethiopia”, is based on a mission to the country carried out in November by IPI and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

“Despite a strong constitutional basis for press freedom and freedom of information, the Ethiopian government has systematically used the anti-terrorism law to

Post Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's Human-Rights Situations Become Hopeless: Human Rights Watch

HRW (Human Rights Watch), the International watchdog disclosed this on its annual Human Rights Report for 2014 today. According to HRW's investigation following the death of Ethiopia's former Premier, 

Hopes that Ethiopia’s new leadership would pursue human rights reforms following Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s death in August 2012 have been shattered; there was no tangible change of policy in 2013. Instead, the Ethiopian authorities continue to severely restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, using repressive laws to constrain civil society and independent media, and target individuals with politically motivated prosecutions.

Muslim protests against perceived government interference in their religious affairs were met by security forces with arbitrary arrests and detentions, beatings, and other mistreatment throughout the year. The trial of 29 protest leaders who were arrested in July 2012 has been closed to the public, media, and family members since January. Others convicted under the country’s deeply flawed antiterrorism law—including opposition leaders and four journalists—remain in prison.

Ethiopia’s ambitious development schemes, funded from domestic revenue sources and foreign assistance, sometimes displace indigenous communities without appropriate consultation or any compensation. Security forces have also used violence, threats, and intimidation to force some groups to relocate, such as in the Lower Omo Valley where indigenous people continue to be displaced from their traditional lands, which are earmarked for state-run irrigated sugar plantations.

Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
Since early 2012, members of Ethiopia’s Muslim community—which constitutes at least 30 percent of the country’s population—have organized regular public protests. Demonstrations were triggered by perceived government interference in the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs and the Awalia mosque in Addis Ababa.

The government has clamped down heavily on the protests, arbitrarily detaining and beating protesters, including 29 prominent activists and leaders who were arrested in July 2012 and charged in October 2012 under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. In January, the High Court closed those hearings to the public, including media, diplomats, and family members. Some defendants have alleged mistreatment in detention and the trials raise a number of due process concerns, including lack of access to legal counsel for some defendants for almost two months, and erratic access to relatives.

The government has also undermined the defendants’ presumption of innocence by broadcasting inflammatory material and accusations against them on state television. In February, the state-run Ethiopian Television (ETV) broadcast a program called “Jihadawi Harakat” (“Jihad War”) that included footage of at least five of the defendants filmed in pretrial detention. The program equated the Muslim protest movement with Islamist extremist groups, casting the protest leaders as terrorists.

Despite the arrests, protests continued throughout 2013. In early August, protests were organized in the capital, Addis Ababa, as well as in other cities to commemorate Eid al Fitr, the end of Ramadan. Witnesses described a heavy police presence in Addis Ababa, and credible sources said that police used excessive force to disperse the demonstrators and detained hundreds, at least temporarily.

The Semayawi Party (“Blue Party”), a newcomer to Ethiopia’s political scene, held a peaceful protest in June—the first large-scale protest organized by a political opposition party in eight years. A planned protest in August was cancelled when the Blue Party offices were raided by security forces, resulting in the arrest of dozens of people and the confiscation of equipment. The Blue Party had earlier been denied a permit by government to hold the protest.

Arbitrary Detention and Ill-Treatment
Arbitrary detention and ill-treatment in detention continues to be a major problem. Students, members of opposition groups, journalists, peaceful protesters, and others seeking to express their rights to freedom of assembly, expression, or association are frequently detained arbitrarily.

Ill-treatment is often reported by people detained for political reasons, particularly in Addis Ababa’s Federal Police Crime Investigation Center, known as Maekelawi, where most individuals are held during pre-charge or pretrial detention. Abuse and coercion that in some cases amount to torture and other ill-treatment are used to extract information, confessions, and statements from detainees.

Individuals are often denied access to legal counsel, particularly during pre-charge detention. Mistreated detainees have little recourse in the courts and there is no regular access to prisons and detention centers by independent investigators. Although the government-affiliated Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has visited some detainees and detention centers, there is no regular monitoring by any independent human rights or other organizations.

In July, a delegation from the European Parliament was denied access to Kaliti prison in Addis Ababa by Ethiopian authorities, despite having received prior authorization.
Freedom of Expression and Association
Since 2009, when the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and the Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO Law) were passed, freedoms of expression and association have been severely restricted in Ethiopia. The CSO law is one of the most draconian laws regulating nongovernmental activity in the world. It bars work on human rights, good governance, conflict resolution, and advocacy on the rights of women, children, and people with disabilities if organizations receive more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign sources.

Ethiopia’s most reputable human rights groups have either dramatically scaled down their operations or removed human rights from their mandates. Several of the country’s most prominent human rights activists have fled the country due to threats.

Ethiopian media remains under a tight government stranglehold, and many journalists practice self-censorship. Webpages and blogs critical of the government are regularly blocked, and foreign radio and TV stations are routinely jammed. Journalists working for independent domestic newspapers continue to face regular harassment and threats.

The Anti-Terrorism Proclamation has been used to target political opponents, stifle dissent, and silence journalists. In May, the Supreme Court upheld the 18-year sentence of journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega Fenta, who was convicted in July 2012 for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and participation in a terrorist organization. Eskinder received the PEN Freedom to Write award in 2012. Reeyot Alemu Gobebo, a journalist for Feteh, was convicted on three counts under the terrorism law for her writings. Her sentence was reduced from 14 to 5 years on appeal, but her appeal of the remaining five-year sentence was dismissed in January. Reeyot was awarded the prestigious 2013 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

Journalists covering the Muslim protests were threatened and arbitrarily detained. Solomon Kebede, chief editor of the now-defunct Yemuslimoch Guday (“Muslim Affairs”), was arrested in January and charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. Yusuf Getachew, his predecessor, was charged under the same law in 2012. Several other journalists fled Ethiopia in 2013, making it one of the top three countries in the world in terms of the number of journalists in exile.
Forced Displacement Associated with Development Programs
Both the government of Ethiopia and the donor community have failed to adequately investigate allegations of abuses associated with Ethiopia’s “villagization program.” Under this program, 1.5 million rural people are being relocated, ostensibly to improve their access to basic services. However, some of the relocations in the first year of the program in Gambella region were accompanied by violence, including beatings and arbitrary arrests, and insufficient consultation and compensation.

On July 12, the World Bank’s board of executive directors approved the recommendation of the Inspection Panel, the institution’s independent accountability mechanism, to investigate a complaint from ethnic Anuak refugees alleging that the bank violated its own safeguards in Gambella. The investigation was ongoing at time of writing.

Ethiopia is proceeding with development of a sugar plantation in the Lower Omo Valley, clearing 245,000 hectares of land that is home to 200,000 indigenous peoples. Displaced from their ancestral lands, these agro-pastoralists are being moved to permanent villages under the villagization program.
Key International Actors
Ethiopia enjoys warm relations with foreign donors and most of its regional neighbors. Ethiopia has forged strong ties based on its role as the seat of the African Union (AU), its contribution to United Nations peacekeeping, security partnerships with Western nations, and its progress on some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These strong relationships have contributed to the international community’s silence on Ethiopia’s dismal human rights record.

The year 2013 saw Ethiopia continue to play a mediation role between Sudan and South Sudan, while its troops maintained an uneasy calm in the disputed Abyei region. Ethiopia continues to deploy its troops inside Somalia, but outside the AU mission.

Ethiopia also continues to receive significant amounts of donor assistance—almost US$4 billion in 2013. As partners in Ethiopia’s development, donor nations remain muted in their criticism of Ethiopia’s appalling human rights record and are taking little meaningful action to investigate allegations of abuses associated with development programs.

Relations with Egypt worsened in 2013 due to Egyptian concerns that Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam will divert valuable water from the Nile River. An estimated 85 percent of the Nile’s waters originate in the Ethiopian highlands and Egypt is completely dependent on the Nile for all its water needs. At 6,000 megawatts of electricity, the dam will be Africa’s largest hydroelectric project. Construction started in 2012 and the dam is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

In addition to Western donors, China, India, and Brazil are increasingly financing a variety of large-scale development initiatives. Foreign private investment into Ethiopia is increasing with agro-business, hydroelectric, mining, and oil exploration all gaining prominence in 2013. Agro-business investment is coming mainly from India, the Gulf, and the Ethiopian diaspora, attracted to very low land prices and labor costs. As seen in several of Ethiopia’s other large-scale development projects, there is a serious risk of forced displacement of people from their land when some of these programs are implemented.

Source: Human Rights Watch 2014 Report 

መለስ ዜናዊን የተካው አዲሱ የኢትዮጵያ አመራር ሰብዓዊ መብቶችን የሚመለከቱ ማሻሻያዎች እንደሚያደርግ ተጥሎ የነበረው ተስፋ ተዳፍኗል

የ 2014 የዓለም የሰብአዊ መብቶች ሁኔታ ሪፖርት፡- ኢትዮጵያ

ዓለም ዓቀፉ የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ተሟጋች ድርጅት ሂውመን ራይትስ ዎች ዛሬ በለቀቀው የ2014 የዓለም የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ሁኔታ ሪፖርት እንዳስታወቀው የቀድሞው ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ እ.ኤ.አ በነሀሴ ወር 2012 ዓ.ም. መሞታቸውን ተከትሎ በኢትዮጵያ የተተካው አዲሱ አመራር ሰብዓዊ መብቶችን የሚመለከቱ ማሻሻያዎች እንደሚያደርግ ተጥሎ የነበረው ተስፋ ተዳፍኗል፤ በ2013 ዓ.ም ተጨባጭ የሆነ የፖሊሲ ለውጥ አልታየም፡፡ ይልቁንም የኢትዮጵያ ባለስልጣናት ሃሳብን የመግለጽ፣ የመደራጀት እና በሰላም የመሰብሰብ ነጻነት ላይ የጣሉትን ጥብቅ ገደብ ማስፈጸማቸውን የቀጠሉበት ሲሆን የሲቪል ማህበራትን እና ነጻ መገናኛ ብዙሃንን እንቅስቃሴ ለማዳከም አፋኝ ሕጎችን ይጠቀማሉ፤ግለሰቦችንም ፖለቲካዊ መነሾ ያላቸውን ክሶች በመመስረት የጥቃት ዒላማ ያደርጋሉ።

Woubshet Taye, Award winning Ethiopian journalist, on prison odyssey needs medical care: CPJ

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.

 

TPLF in a Preemptive mood to Silence Media ahead of Ethiopia's 2015 "election"

Government owned Ethiopian Press blasts its Private Counterparts as Extremists 

According to ESAT's (The Ethiopian Satellite Television) report the government run Ethiopian Press Agency and Ethiopian News Agency (an organization which dissolved legally but used its namesake) said that their collaborated recent studies conducted on a few Ethiopian private media revealed the prevalence of extremism on the latter group.  The culprits according to this study are Addis Guday, Fact, Lomi, Qonjo, Jana, Enequ and Lia magazines which are published in Ethiopia recently. AddisZemen, the oldest and the only Amharic government owned daily in the country, published the "findings" on its front page yesterday as seen on the picture alleging these privately owned magazines as promoting extremist organs of political parties. AddisZemen alleges that these magazines are inciting the public against the government with false information. The Newspaper also accuses the magazines for blasphemy/defamation; inciting riots; encouraging terrorism; demonize the political system; deny country's double-digit economic growth and breaching the constitution. A journalist approached by ESAT expressed his fear that such malicious practices by the ruling party is probably a preemptive measure to shut-down the private press ahead of the 2015 National Election in Ethiopia. "The government doesn't want any dissenting views other than its own agenda," said the journalist adding that this latest move might be used as a pretext to kick out the private media from the market. Ethiopia is the second biggest journalists' jailers in Africa and known as the worst predator of the media. It is to be recalled that Eskinder Nega, Shifferaw Insermu, Reeyot Alemu, Woubshet Taye and other journalists are behind bars for exercising their constitutional and universal rights. Fiteh which became the popular Amharic weekly following the 2005 election, was forced to closed down due to TPLF's unprecedented pressure against its staff members harassing them with various fabricated charges. 

ህውሃት የ ፳፻፯ ምርጫ ከመካሄዱ በፊት የፕሬሱን ድምጽ ለማፈን ዝግጅቱን እያጠናቀቀ ነው

የመንግስት የፕሬስ ተቋማት የግል መጽሄቶችን በጽንፈኝነት ፈረጁ

ኢሳት ዜና ታህሳስ ፳፱ (ሃያ ዘጠኝ) ቀን ፳፻፮ ዓ/ም  እንደዘገበው መንግስታዊዎቹ የኢትዮጵያ ፕሬስ ድርጅት እና በሕግ በፈረሰ ድርጅት ስም የሚጠቀመው የኢትዮጵያ ዜና አገልግሎት በጋራ አስጠንተነዋል ባሉት ጥናት መሰረት በአገር ውስጥ ከሚታሙት መጽሄቶች መካከል አዲስ ጉዳይ፣ፋክት፣ሎሚ፣ቆንጆ፣ጃና፣እንቁ እና ሊያ የተባሉ መጽሔቶች ጽንፈኛ ፖለቲካ አራማጆች መሆናቸውን አረጋግጠናል ብለዋል።

አዲስ ዘመን ጋዜጣ በረቡዕ ታህሳስ ፴ ቀን ፳፻፮ ዕትሙ መጽሔቶቹ በብዙ ባህርያቸው የጽንፈኛ ፖለቲካ ፓርቲ ልሳናት መሆናቸው፣ በተሳሳቱ መረጃዎች ሕዝቡ በስርኣቱ ላይ እምነት አጥቶ ለአመጽ እንዲነሳሳ የሚያደርጉ ዘገባዎችን ያቀርባሉ ብሏል፡፡በጥናቱ መጽሔቶቹ የመንግስትን ኃላፊዎች የግል ስብዕና እንደሚነኩ፣የአመጽ ጥሪዎችን እንደሚያሰሙ፣ሽብርተኝነትን እንደሚያበረታቱ፣የፖለቲካ ስርዓቱን እንደሚያጨልሙ፣ኢኮኖሚ ዕድገቱን እንደሚክዱ፣ህገመንግስቱን እንደሚጥሱ በዝርዝር አቅርቧል፡፡

መንግስት መጽሄቶችን በጽንፈኝነት በመፈረጅ ምናልባትም ከ ፳፻፯ ምርጫ በፊት እንዲዘጉ ሊያደርግ ይችላል ሲል አንድ ያነጋገርነው ጋዜጠኛ ተናግሯል።

“መንግስት ምንም አይነት እርሱ ከሚያራምደው አጀንዳ ውጭ የተለየ ድምጽ መስማት አይፈልግም” የሚለው ጋዜጠኛውም፣ መጽሄቶችን በተለያዩ መንገዶች በመፈረጅ ከገበያ ለማውጣት ያሰበ ይመስላል ሲል አክሎአል።

ኢትዮጵያ የፕሬስ መብቶችን በማፈንና ጋዜጠኞችን በማሰር ግንባር ቀደም ተጠቃሽ ናት። ጋዜጠኛ እስክንድር ነጋ፣ ርእዮት አለሙ፣ ውብሸት ታየ፣ የሱፍ ጌታቸውና ሌሎችም ሀሳባቸውን በመግለጻቸው ብቻ መታሰራቸው ይታወቃል። ከምርጫ 97 በሁዋላ እጅግ ዝነኛ ጋዜጣ ሆነ የወጣው ፍትህ ጋዜጣም በመንግስት ጫና ከገበያ እንዲወጣ ተደርጓል። በጋዜጣው ላይ ሲሰሩ የነበሩት ታዋቂ ጋዜጠኞችም በተለያዩ ክሶች ሲዋከቡ ቆይተዋል።

Ethiopia ranks again Second Worst Place For Journalists: CPJ

The International Press Freedom Watchdog, CPJ ( Committee to Protect Journalists) in its annual report for this year released today disclosed that 2013 is  the worst for journalist worldwide and Ethiopia is one these places where the safety of journalists is under extreme threat. Our country again named the second journalist jailer in Africa and our competitor, Eritrea is clinching its first place by holding twenty-two journalists behind bars for another reason doing their job - journalism. What makes our country is unique that it is incarcerating not only Ethiopians but two journalists from Eritrea who were captured in Somalia during TPLF's military adventure back in 2006. The whereabouts of these two Eritrean journalists are unknown, according to CPJ's report. In the meantime, our rulers are denying that there are no journalist who are jailed due their profession; an insult to our intelligence. But, I still wonder why is my colleague Shifferaw Insermu, who is the longest serving Ethiopian journalist since April 2004 and whose whereabouts is still unknown to these days,