UDJ’S ABEBE AKALU ON THE ATROCITIES OF TPLF AGAINST UDJ PROTESTERS
Sunday, 25 January 2015
UDJ’s Abebe Akalu on The Atrocities of TPLF Against UDJ Protesters (Must Listen)
UDJ’S ABEBE AKALU ON THE ATROCITIES OF TPLF AGAINST UDJ PROTESTERS
Ethiopia: Media being decimated
Human Rights Watch
(Nairobi) – The Ethiopian government’s systematic repression of independent media has created a bleak landscape for free expression ahead of the May 2015 general elections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. In the past year, six privately owned publications closed after government harassment; at least 22 journalists, bloggers, and publishers were criminally charged, and more than 30 journalists fled the country in fear of being arrested under repressive laws.
The 76-page report, “‘Journalism is Not a Crime’: Violations of Media Freedom in Ethiopia ,” details how the Ethiopian government has curtailed independent reporting since 2010. Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 70 current and exiled journalists between May 2013 and December 2014, and found patterns of government abuses against journalists that resulted in 19 being imprisoned for exercising their right to free expression, and that have forced at least 60 others into exile since 2010.
“Ethiopia’s government has systematically assaulted the country’s independent voices, treating the media as a threat rather than a valued source of information and analysis,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director. “Ethiopia’s media should be playing a crucial role in the May elections, but instead many journalists fear that their next article could get them thrown in jail.”
Most of Ethiopia’s print, television, and radio outlets are state-controlled, and the few private print media often self-censor their coverage of politically sensitive issues for fear of being shut down.
The six independent print publications that closed in 2014 did so after a lengthy campaign of intimidation that included documentaries on state-run television that alleged the publications were linked to terrorist groups. The intimidation also included harassment and threats against staff, pressure on printers and distributors, regulatory delays, and eventually criminal charges against the editors. Dozens of staff members went into exile. Three of the owners were convicted under the criminal code and sentenced in absentia to more than three years in prison. The evidence the prosecution presented against them consisted of articles that criticized government policies.
While the plight of a few high-profile Ethiopian journalists has become widely known, dozens more in Addis Ababa and in rural regions have suffered systematic abuses at the hands of security officials.
Breaking News: UK diplomats clash over Briton on death row in Ethiopia
January 24, 2015
UK diplomats clash over Briton on death row in Ethiopia: Officials’ fury after Foreign Secretary claims he couldn’t ‘find time’ to help father-of-three facing execution
- Andargachew Tsege was snatched by officials at Yemen airport last June
- The 59-year-old was transferred to Ethiopia where he is thought to remain
- Father-of-three moved to London in 1979 from native African country
- He was dubbed ‘Ethiopian Mandela’ after exposing government corruption
- Leaked emails revealed British officials’ frustration at political inaction
- Philip Hammond said he could not ‘find time’ for phone call on issue
From left Andargachew Tsige’s wife Yemi Hailemariam, Andargachew Tsige and UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
(Mail Online) An explosive row has erupted between diplomats and Ministers over their reluctance to help a British man on death row in Ethiopia.
A series of extraordinary emails, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, reveal officials’ increasing frustration at political inaction over Andargachew Tsege.
Tsege, 59, a father-of-three from London, was snatched at an airport in Yemen last June and illegally rendered to Ethiopia. There are concerns he may have been tortured.
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Journalist Reeyot: Prisoner of conscience continues in defiance to TPLF/EPDRF prison
January 21, 2015
by Ewnetu Sime
The recent article posted on several websites entitled ” metaram yemgebaw manew” (መታረም የሚገባው ማነው) by Journalist Reeyot Alemu caught my eyehttp://www.abugidainfo.com/amharic/index.php/16788.
Reeyot is a winner of the 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. She is one of the many political conscience prisoners in Ethiopia. Based the regime so called anti-Terrorist Law which is designed to suppress free speech and fundamental democracy rights of the Ethiopian people, she has been thrown to jail. She was regarded as a “terrorist” and jailed in the infamous prison of Kaliti, initially sentenced to twelve years later reduced to five years. Her detention is the result of judicial proceedings that are clearly unfair. Since her detention the Ethiopians civic organizations and other humanitarian organization called for her and other prisoner of conscience to immediate and unconditionally release. To this date the ruling party TPLF/EPDRF regime refused to release her.
We have read dozens of articles about political prisoners who had experienced the terror, torture, and the solitary confinement in Mekelawi and Kailti prisons. Both prisons have a notorious reputation when it comes to dealing with political detainees. The prisoners are subject to ruthless TPLF interrogator with harsh and life threatening condition. She was not allowed to speak to her lawyer to contest the charge against her, and to see or speak to her family members or friends for extended time. She stated that all her rights were abused . It is clear that she doesn’t want to reveal to the readers all brutality used by the police interrogators, but she indicated a hint. She – said the interrogator slapped her on her face and bangs her head to prison wall to shake her down. You may guess what is happening next.
Monday, 19 January 2015
In Picture: ESAT Journalists with Freedom Fighters
January 19, 2015
The two top notch ESAT (Ethiopian Satellite Television) journalists Mesay Mekonnen and Fasil Yenealem are in Eritrea to gather news and reports about the Ethiopian patriots (freedom fighters), the following pictures are taken from Mesay Mekonnen’s Facebook page.
Should Ethiopians Boycott the Upcoming Fake Election in Ethiopia?
January 19, 2015
More Crackdowns Lock Out Opposition Groups from Political Participation
“If we do not have a proper multiparty democracy, this country is going to end up like Somalia. This is imperative” he said. “It is up to the people to decide on how many seats should be given to the opposition and how many to the ruling party.” (Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn)
SMNE PRESS RELEASE
(December 16, 2015. Washington, DC) The Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) has no choice but to
expose the duplicity and repression of choice in the upcoming Ethiopian National Election due to the dictatorial nature of the ethnic apartheid regime of the TPLF/EPRDF that has been in power for the last 24 years. The SMNE is non-political, non-violent social justice movement that stands up for the freedom, rights, and well being of all Ethiopians, regardless of ethnicity, political view, religion, regional background or other differences. We are very concerned about the future of the country.
The above statement by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is frightening in light of the recent crackdown on political opposition groups in Ethiopia; however, his ominous prediction of Ethiopia becoming another Somalia without a fair process should be a cause of alarm to all. Even now, it is obvious that the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) so deeply fears what could happen in the build-up or aftermath of the upcoming May 24, 2015 election that they are now training militias in regions of the country where they see greater resistance, like in the Amhara and Oromia regions. If the people rise up in protest to the election, they intend to use these militia groups to suppress the people.
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