BECAUSE I AM OROMO’ Amnesty International Report

November 19, 2014

“I was arrested for about eight months. Some school students had been arrested, so their classmates had a demonstration to ask where they were and for them to be released. I was accused of organising the demonstration because the government said my father supported the OLF so I did too and therefore I must be the one who is organising the students.”

Young man from Dodola Woreda, Bale Zone1

The anticipation and repression of dissent in Oromia manifests in many ways. The below are some of the numerous and varied individual stories contained in this report:

A student told Amnesty International how he was detained and tortured in Maikelawi Federal Police detention centre because a business plan he had prepared for a competition was alleged to be underpinned by political motivations. A singer told how he had been detained, tortured and forced to agree to only sing in praise of the government in the future. A school girl told Amnesty International how she was detained because she refused to give false testimony against someone else. A former teacher showed Amnesty International where he had been stabbed and blinded in one eye with a bayonet during torture in detention because he had refused to ‘teach’ his students propaganda about the achievements of the ruling political party as he had been ordered to do. A midwife was arrested for delivering the baby of a woman who was married to an alleged member of the Oromo Liberation Front. A young girl told Amnesty International how she had successively lost both parents and four brothers through death in detention, arrest or disappearance until, aged 16, she was left alone caring for two young siblings. An agricultural expert employed by the government told how he was arrested on the accusation he had incited a series of demonstrations staged by hundreds of farmers in his area, because his job involved presenting the grievances of the farmers to the government. [Read Full Report]

From left: Woman beaten during interrogation in her home about her husband’s whereabouts and Businessman, arrested on the accusation he gave money to the OLF, and arbitrarily detained and tortured in an unofficial place of detention in a private house, before being taken to a prison

Zone 9 Case Sees 11th Court Delay

By: Siobhan Hagan, IPI Contributor

The International Press Institute

VIENNA – An Ethiopian court this week delayed proceedings for an 11th time against six bloggers and three independent journalists, who were arrested in April in connection with their activities as part of the Zone 9 collective.
The Trial Tracker blog reported that at Tuesday’s hearing there was confusion regarding changes in the courtroom venue. The blog said that the hearing was pushed back as a result of two presiding judges in the case being replaced with new judges, who were unprepared to make a ruling.

The court at a hearing on Tuesday adjourned the case until Nov. 12, 2014. The nine defendants, who were arrested in Addis Ababa on April 25 and 26, have now been in pre-trial detention for over six months.

The bloggers and journalists are being held on charges of alleged terrorism and inciting violence as a result of their contact with foreign human rights organisations and opposition political parties. They are being prosecuted under Ethiopia’s controversial, 2009 anti-terrorism law.

After a joint mission to Ethiopia with the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) last year, IPI called on Ethiopian authorities to release all journalists convicted under the legislation and urged that the law be amended in a way that does not inhibit constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression rights.

IPI Senior Press Freedom Adviser Steven M. Ellis said: “The Zone 9 case not only illustrates the stifling press environment in Ethiopia, but the severely impeded judicial proceedings in this case also interfere with the defendants’ due process rights.”

The Zone 9 Trial Tracker blog calls the 11th delay a “record” in a case that has been stalled since the April arrests and marked by repeated delays.

The first delays were a result of police requests for more time to conduct investigations. The defendants were not formally charged until July 17, when they were brought to the Lideta High Court for a hearing without legal representation. When they refused to be tried without a lawyer, the case was adjourned until the next morning. At a July 18 hearing, the trial was adjourned until Aug. 4.

Family of Upper Holloway man tell David Cameron: ‘Do more to free kidnapped Andy’

November 7, 2014

by ANDREW JOHNSON

Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege with Yemi and children

(Islington Tribune) THE partner of a British man kidnapped by the Ethiopian government in June and facing execution has accused Prime Minister David Cameron of not doing enough to free him because of the African nation’s central role in the fight against terrorism.

Andargachew “Andy” Tsege, 59, a father of a 15-year-old daughter and ­seven-year-old twins who lives in Upper Holloway, was “rendered” by the Ethiopians while travelling through Yemen on his way to Eritrea in the summer.

He has not been seen since, except in a brief appearance on Ethiopian television in July in which he confessed to crimes. According to human rights organisation Reprieve, screaming can be heard in the background of the video.

Mr Tsege, a naturalised British citizen who has lived in London since 1979, is a respected and outspoken critic of the Ethiopian regime and a member of the exiled opposition group Ginbot 7. He has spoken about Ethiopia’s poor human rights record in front of the US Congress and the EU’s Committee on Human Rights.

The jazz fan was on his way to an opposition conference in Eritrea.

The UK Foreign Office has established that, after being taken in Yemen, he has since been removed to a prison in Ethiopia, but his exact location is unknown. The Ethiopians have so far denied any consular access to Mr Tsege, except for one visit.

BBC Seeking Executive Editor in Addis Ababa

November 7, 2014

BBC Media Action uses media and communications to help improve health, reduce poverty, and support people in understanding their rights. To achieve this, it partners with civil society, local media and governments to:

• Produce creative programmes in multi-media formats which inform and engage audiences around key development issues; and
• Strengthen the media sector through building professional capacity and infrastructure.

The work of BBC Media Action focuses on three thematic areas:

• Health
• Governance and rights; and
• Humanitarian and emergency preparedness

Role Responsibility

This role will require you to provide leadership of the production team in Ethiopia, with overall responsibilities for editorial decision making, production processes, outputs, and equipment. You will develop systems and organise regular editorial and management meetings to guarantee that the production department resources are being strategically allocated, scheduled, and shared. You’ll manage heads of different production teams to coordinate and creatively influence. You will need to recruit, retain and develop staff, along with keeping across budgets and spending. This position will also need you to build and maintain relationships with media partners, donors and other stakeholders.