Friday, June 29, 2012

Ethiopia's terror conviction of journalist raises doubts on free speech


Ethiopia's terror conviction of journalist raises doubts on free speech Ethiopia conviction of journalist Eskinder Nega for covering planned protests sparks international condemnation. US Sen. Patrick Leahy suggests cutback in aid to Ethiopia.

45 Ethioprest ian immigrants found dead in found dead in forest



At least 45 illegal immigrants reportedly from Ethiopia have died and 72 others are in critical condition from lack of clean air in a container they were in, apparently on their way to Malawi via Tanzania.
Reports said bodies of the deceased and those who were still alive were discovered yesterday morning by wananchi in Chitego forest.

Sweden to give illegal immigrants healthcare


Sweden to give illegal immigrants healthcare

Published: 28 Jun 12 12:52 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation 
The Swedish government, together with the Green Party, on Thursday presented a framework agreement that will allow undocumented immigrants in Sweden to access state subsidized healthcare.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Ethiopia: Terrorism Law Used to Crush Free Speech

Ethiopia: Terrorism Law Used to Crush Free Speech
Donors Should Condemn Verdicts, Demand Legal Reforms
June 27, 2012
This case shows that Ethiopia’s government will not tolerate even the mildest criticism. The use of draconian laws and trumped-up charges to crack down on free speech and peaceful dissent makes a mockery of the rule of law

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Ethiopian Journalist Abebe Gellaw will be on Al Jazeera

Ethiopian Journalist Abebe Gellaw will be on Al Jazeera

Ethiopian Journalist Abebe Gellaw will be on Al Jazeera
Is free speech being silenced in Ethiopia through telecom and anti-terrorism laws? And despite what human rights groups see as increased abuses against peaceful political activists and journalists, why are western nations continuing to send aid to the Ethiopian government? Join the conversation at 19:30 GMT. Watch Live!
In Ethiopia, are free speech and the media being hurt by anti-terror and telecom laws? What do you think? Record a comment for Tuesday’s show. Click here to Record your comment
Ethiopian Journalist Abebe Gellaw will be a guest of “The Stream”
The Stream is a new phenomenon – a web community with its own daily show on Al Jazeera. The Stream taps into the extraordinary potential of the increasing power of social networks to disseminate news. Individuals have now become an integral part of the newsinformation network through their ability to publish information and share opinions on events as they take place.
The viral nature of social networks allows for such information to spread and multiply rapidly. While these developments have the potential to generate more heat than light, to a broadcaster like Al Jazeera, they are also a huge opportunity to reach news in places and at levels until now impossible.
The Stream is a super-aggregator of these online sources, seeking out both untold stories and new, ground level takes on stories in the mainstream.
Follow the The Stream on twit

Friday, June 22, 2012

Ethiopian Troops To Stay In Somalia Until Government Set Up

By William Davidson
(Bloomberg) – Ethiopian forces will stay in Somalia until an elected government is set up and takes over from the interim administration, State Communications Minister Shimeles Kemal told reporters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

በፍርድ ቤት ዳኞች ቁጣ ሕብረተሰቡ መማረሩ ተገለፀ


  • በፍርድ ቤት ዳኞች ቁጣ ሕብረተሰቡ መማረሩ ተገለፀ

    ሰኔ አስራ አራት ቀን ፳፻፬ ዓ/ም
    ኢሳት ዜና:- በአገራችን በሚገኙ የፌዴራል ፍርድ ቤቶች ውስጥ የተሰየሙ ዳኞች በባለጉዳዮች ላይ በሚያሰሙት ቁጣና ሃይለ ቃል በመረበሽ ባለጉዳዮች በችሎት ውስጥ ባግባቡ ሃሳባቸውን ባግባቡ ሳይገልፁ መመለሳቸው እውነት መሆኑን የጠቅላይ ፍ/ቤቱ ፕሬዚዳንት አመኑ።
    እንደ ሪፖርተር ዘገባ፤- ከትናንት በስቲያ በፓርላማው ተገኝተው የ2004 ዓመት ሪፖርት ያቀረቡት የጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ ተገኔ ጌታነህ፤ ይህንኑ አስመልክቶ ለቀረበላቸው ጥያቄ በሰጡት ምላሽ “የፍርድ ቤቶች ዳኞች የሕዝብ አገልጋዮች መሆናቸውን ተገንዝበው ኅብረተሰቡ የሚፈልገውን አ...ገልግሎት በመስጠት ፋንታ መቆጣታቸው አግባብነት የጐደለው ድርጊት መሆኑን በመግለጽ መታረም እንዳለበት ገልፀዋል።
    በቅርቡ የፀረ-ሙስና ኮሚሽን በአንድ የውጭ አገር ድርጅት አማካኝነት ያስጠናው ጥናት እንደሚጠቁመው፣ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በሕዝብ አመኔታ ከማይጣልባቸው መንግስታዊ ተቋማት ውስጥ ፍርድ ቤቶችን በመጀመሪያው ረድፍ ላይ እንደሚገኙ ይፋ ማድረጉ ይታወሳል። ይህንኑ በመንተራስ በፓርላማው ብቸኛው የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ ተወካይና የአንድነት ፓርቲ ም/ሊቀመንበር የሆኑት አቶ ግርማ ሰይፉ በበኩላቸው ‹‹እምነት የማይጣልበትን ተቋም መምራትን እንዴት ያዩታል? ይህንን የተዓማኒነት ጉድለት ለማሻሻል ምን እየተደረገ ነው? የዳኝነት ሥርዓቱስ ምን ያህል ነፃ ነው?›› የሚሉ ጥያቄዎችን ለፕሬዚዳንቱ አቅርበው፣ አቶ ተገኔ ጌታነህ “ጥናቱ ያለውን እውነታ ያሳያል ብለን አናምንም” በማለት በፍርድ ቤቶች የሚከፈቱ ፋይሎች እየጨመሩ መምጣታቸው ሕዝቡ በፍርድ ቤቶች ላይ ያለውን እምነት ያሳያል” በማለት ለማስተባበል ሞክረዋል።
    ምንም እንኳን በአዋጅ ቁጥር 24/88 አንቀጽ 8/2 ላይ «ማንኛውም ሰው፤ በመንግሥት ሕግ አውጭ፤ ወይም አስፈፃሚ ውስጥ ወይም በማንኛውም የፖለቲካ ድርጅት በአባልነት በሚያገለግልበት ጊዜ፤ አጣምሮ የዳኝነት ስራ ሊሰራ አይችልም።» በማለት ቢደነግግም፣ ከ7 ዓመት በፊት በአገራችን የተደረገ ጥናት ግን እንደሚጠቁመው፣ በኢትዮጵያ ከሚገኙት ዳኞች ከ82% በላይ የሚሆኑት የኢህአዴግ አባላት ብቻ ከሚሰለጥኑበትና፣ በማህበረሰባችን ዘንድ “ድንጋይ ማምረቻ” በመባል ከሚታወቀው ከሲቪል ሰርቪስ ኮሌጅ የሚወጡ የአገዛዙ ካድሬዎች ሲሆኑ ከነዚህም ውስጥ አብዛኞቹ ከዚያ በፊት በሕግ ስራ ምንም አይነት ልምድ የሌላቸው መሆኑን ይጠቁማል ሲል ቅዱስ ሀብት በላቸው ዘግቧል

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Ethiopia court convicts UN security officer of 'terrorism'

Ethiopia court convicts UN security officer of 'terrorism'

Mamo Esconder
You read this
An Ethiopian security officer with the United Nations faced up to 10 years in jail after a court in Addis Ababa found him guilty Monday of "participating in a terrorist organisation."
"The defendant has not convinced us that he did not commit a crime... he's guilty," judge Mulugeta Kidane said.
Abdurahman Sheikh Hassan, who was based in Ethiopia's troubled southeastern Ogaden region, was charged last July with having links to the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a secessionist rebel group.
He is charged along with Sherif Baido, whom the charge sheet lists as a senior member of the ONLF and was convicted on the same charge in absentia, according to Mulugeta.
The two men face five to ten years in prison. The court is expected to deliver a sentence on Friday.
Hassan was arrested after negotiating the release of two UN World Food Programme (WFP) officers kidnapped in the Ogaden.
Judge Mulugeta said defence witnesses failed to prove Hassan did not have links to ONLF members.
The key evidence used by the prosecution was recordings of phone conversations between Hassan and his co-defendant.
The judge said the voices of Hassan and Baido had been matched to those on the tape after it was analysed by the cybercrimes unit.
"It has been proved by the cybercrimes section that it was their voices," he said.
Hassan -- an ethnic Somali who does not speak Ethiopia's main language, Amharic -- stood expressionless as the judge read the verdict in Amharic. He appeared in court wearing a clean white shirt and holding Islamic prayer beads.
The prosecution called for the court to impose a strong sentence against Hassan, saying his case should serve as a warning to would-be offenders.
"We want the court to take this as a really serious offence, he has a connection to the ONLF and he is a real danger to the country," the prosecutor told the court.
But Hassan's lawyer Netsanet Getahun asked the court to be lenient towards her client.
"My client hasn't harmed anyone, he hasn't done any concrete damage... we want the court to be considerate because he has already served one year in jail," she said, adding that Hassan suffers from high blood pressure and heart disease and has a large family to support.
Rights groups have criticized Ethiopia's 2009 "anti-terrorism" legislation for being far-reaching and used to stifle peaceful dissent and freedom of expression. Close to 200 people, including opposition members and journalists, were charged under the law in 2011.
In December, two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years in prison after an Ethiopian court found them guilty of supporting ONLF rebels in the Ogaden.
Hassan was arrested in the remote Ogaden region, where ONLF militants have been fighting for independence since 1984, claiming they have been marginalised by Addis Ababa.
Oil and gas reserves in the region have brought hopes of wealth but also fears of increased conflict.