Unlawful Imprisonment In Ethiopia: Intimidated, Tortured And Detained – OpEd

Written by: Graham Peebles May 4, 2012

Arrested, jailed and beaten, tortured and imprisoned, this is the recipe for justice that the Ethiopian government serves up to dissenting voices. Men and women peacefully exercising their democratic right, demanding their human rights, crying out for their moral rights. The victimised are not only those living within Ethiopia who attempt to offer an alternative to the current dictatorship, who form and organise political opposition to the Meles regime, but journalists inside Ethiopia and abroad, who dare to speak out in criticism of the governments criminality, human rights violations and policies of indifference.
Amnesty International in its damning report of the Ethiopian government, Dismantling Dissent in Ethiopia (DDE);1 state that from March to November 2011 “at least 108 opposition party members and six journalists have been arrested for alleged involvement with various proscribed terrorist groups.” By November they were all charged with crimes under the internationally criticised Anti Terrorist Proclamation. In addition, Amnesty continues, “six journalists two opposition party members and one human rights defender, all living in exile, were charged in absentia.”
The ‘T’ word as former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan, called terrorism, is the umbrella term used by the Ethiopian government (amongst others) to justify the unjust, the dishonest and the criminal. If there is a terrorist organisation flourishing in Ethiopia, committing crimes against humanity and violating the human rights of the people it is State terrorism delivered by the EPRDF government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, as this UN definition of terrorism makes clear. “Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable.”2 Fear of the government, fear of reprisal, of violence and [false] imprisonment casts a deep shadow across the people of Ethiopia, whose human rights are being ignored by the Meles regime, that seized power twenty years ago and has brutalised and systematically restricted the peoples freedom and human rights ever since.

Ethiopia: Serkalem Fasil accepted PEN award for Eskinder Nega

Posted by Esconder Asefa ,  Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

The New York Times
As many of his colleagues fled Ethiopia’s crackdown on the news media, Eskinder Nega stayed to write.

Eskinder Nega

A prominent journalist, Mr. Nega challenged the prosecution of fellow reporters and editors under terrorism laws in reports that ran afoul of those very same laws in the eyes of the government. He went on trial for inciting terrorism and could face the death penalty if found guilty in a hearing scheduled for later this month.
Mr. Nega has stood by his writing and maintained his right to publish. His defiant stance in defense of human rights in Ethiopia earned him a prestigious press freedom award from PEN America in what the literary nonprofit organization said was both recognition of his past work and an attempt to pressure the Ethiopian government into halting its prosecution of journalists.

Serkalem Fasil accepted a press freedom award from PEN America for her husband, Eskinder Nega

ኢትዮጵያዊ ዲያስፖራ ሲፈተሽና ሲጋለጥ

በአለማችን በቀደምት ታሪካቸው ከሚታወቁት አምስት ሃገሮች መካከል አንድዋ ኢትዮጵያ ናት:: ኢትዮጵያ በራስዋ ታሪክ ወግና
ባህል ስትኩራራና ስትመጻደቅ ይሕው ከ 3,000 ዘመን በላይ አስቆጠረች::
ኢትዮጵያኖች በሰፊው ከምንኩርራባቸው ዋና ዋናወቹ የራስ ፊደልና ቋንቋ ፥ ታሪካዊ ሃውልቶች ፥ የክርስትናና እስልምና
እምነቶችን ተቀብለን የባህልችን አካል ያደረግን ፥ ቅኝ ግዛትን አፈርድሜ ያገባን ፥ በውበታችንና በባህላችን ስብጥርነት የምንኮራ
፥ የሃገር አንድነትን ለበዙ ዘመናት የጠበቅን፥ የህግ የበላይነትን ጠንቅቀን የተረዳን ወዘተ ይገኙበታል:: እነኝህ ኩራቶች ግን
ከታሪክነት አልፈው ዳቦ አልባሳትና መጠለያ ሊሆኑን አልቻሉም::
ሊቃውንት እንደሚሉት ከሆነ በጥሩ ታሪክ ላይ የተገነባ ማህበረሰብና ሃገር ለፖለቲካዊ፥ ኢኮኖሚያዊና ሕብረሰባዊ እድገት
የተዘጋጀ ሊሆን ይገባዋል ይሉናል:: በእኛ ሃገር ሁኔታ ግን ይህ መላምትና አስተሳሰብ በተቃራኒው ያለ ይመስላል::
የሀገራችን ስልጣኔና እድገት በአስከፊ ሁኔታ እንደግመል ሽንት ወደ ሗዋላ የሚሂድ፥ ተሻለ ሲባል ደግሞ እንደ ውታደር እርግጫ
ባላበት የሚረግጥ ነው ቢባል ማጋነን አይሆንም:: ለዚህ ሁሉ ችግር ተጠያቂው ማነው ያልን እንደሆነ መልሱ እኛ ይሆናል::
ምክኒያቶችስ ምን ሊሆኑ ይችላሉ ለሚሉት ግን መልሱ እንደዚህ ቀላል አይሆንም:: ይህን ከባድ ጥያቄ ለመመለስ ራሱን የቻለ የስነ
ማህበር፥ የስነ ፖለቲካ ፥ የስነ ኢኮኖሚ ምርምርና ጥናት ያስፈልገዋል:: መጠናትም አለበት:: ለምን ያልን እንደሆነ በሽታው
ካልታወቀ መፍትሔውን ማግኘት ያስቸግራል እና ነው:: ምርምሩና ጥናቱ እስኪደረግ ግን ተጨባጩን ሁኔታ በመዳሰስ መሰረታዊ
የሆኑትን መተንተን ይቻል ይሆናል:: ከሁሉ መቅደም ያለበት ተግባር ግን ራስን መፈተሹ ላይ ማተኮሩ ይጠቅማል:: እራሱን ያላወቀ
ሌላውን አውቆ መለወጥ ያስቸግረዋልና:

Eritrea, North Korea, Syria top list of 10 most censored countries

CPJ | May 2, 2012

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New York, May 2, 2012--Dictatorial control over news coverage, achieved through a combination of propaganda, brute force, and sophisticated technology, define the world's top 10 most censored countries the Committee to Protect Journalists found in a new report issued to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. Eritrea, North Korea, and  Syria top the list, underscoring that domestic restrictions on information have broad implications for global geopolitical stability. “In the name of stability or development, these regimes suppress independent reporting, amplify propaganda, and use technology to control rather than empower their own citizens,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Journalists are seen as a threat and often pay a high price for their reporting. But because the Internet and trade have made information global, domestic censorship affects people everywhere.” CPJ’s report details how censorship works in each nation and highlights some trends among the censored countries, including disputed legitimacy of leadership and lagging economic development. In Eritrea, only state media is allowed to operate and the international press has been shut out, according to CPJ's report. North Korea’s  official news agency produces all content for local media, while foreign reporters have limited access and are always under surveillance. Syria has imposed a blackout on independent news coverage for more than a year, unleashing a range of physical and electronic attacks while disabling means of communication. The list of top 10 nations is rounded out by Iran, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan,  Burma, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Belarus.  The new rankings, which update a  list published in 2006, was determined according to 15 benchmarks assessed by CPJ experts. These include the blocking of websites, restrictions on electronic recording and dissemination, the absence of privately owned or independent media, restrictions on journalist movements, jamming of foreign broadcasts, and blocking of foreign correspondents, among others. All countries on the list met at least 10 benchmarks. CPJ also considered Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, China, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam -- all  heavily censored nations that call for scrutiny. The report is available in Arabic, English, French,  Russian, and Spanish.  CPJ also published a video counting down the top 10 most censored countries with a brief outline of their restrictions.

Stop business with TPLF, appeals TaskForce

Press Release | May 2, 2012

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ATTENTION: All Ethiopian restaurants and groceries in the Diaspora

Boycott TPLF Task Force (BTF) is formed following a worldwide call by Ethiopian media around the world for the boycott of businesses that generate revenue for the TPLF brutal dictatorship in Ethiopia that is making the country a living hell for most Ethiopians. The revenue these businesses generate is being used by the regime to commit horrible crimes against our people. Our objective is to dry up the regime’s source of income in an effort to lessen its ability to inflict harm on our people.
We therefore appeal to you to stop doing any kind of business with the TPLF regime, and particularly to stop selling injera, teff, beer and other products that are exported from Ethiopia.
The export of injera and teff not only provide hard currency for the TPLF regime, but it is also causing price hike in Ethiopia hurting the people. Imported teff injera is a novelty item, not a necessity. The U.S. grown teff is just as good.
The Task Force would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation

Eskinder honored with Pen America's "Freedom to Write" Award

By Associated Press | May 2, 2012

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Serkalem Fasil receives the award on behalf of her husband, Eskinder Nega (Pen/AP)

Eskinder smiles as he comforts his crying son, Nafkot. The miracle child was born in prison in 2006 when his mom, award-winning journalist Serkalem Fasil was also behind bars for the same reason as her husband.

NEW YORK — An imprisoned Ethiopian journalist and blogger who could face the death penalty for advocating peaceful protests in his Horn of Africa homeland was honored Tuesday with PEN America’s “Freedom to Write” award. Eskinder Nega was arrested in 2011 under Ethiopia’s sweeping anti-terrorism laws, which PEN says criminalize any reporting deemed to “encourage” or “provide moral support” to groups and causes the government deems “terrorists.”
Nega is still in jail after a judge in Addis Ababa found him guilty Jan. 23 on terror charges. He could face the death penalty at sentencing.
Ethiopia has arrested close to 200 people, among them journalists and opposition politicians and members, under last year’s anti-terrorism proclamation.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more journalists have fled Ethiopia than any other country in the world over the past decade.
Nega was honored at PEN/America’s annual gala dinner Tuesday at the American Museum of Natural History, with some 500 PEN members and supporters in attendance.
PEN/America granted him the year’s PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
Forty-six women and men have received the award since 1987; 33 of the 37 honorees who were in prison at the time they were honored were subsequently released.
Accepting the award was his wife, Serkalem Fasil, a free expression advocate in her own right, who served 17 months in prison for treason starting in 2005 and gave birth to their child behind bars. She won the International Women’s Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award in 2007.
“The Ethiopian writer Eskinder Nega is that bravest and most admirable of writers, one who picked up his pen to write things that he knew would surely put him at grave risk,” said Peter Godwin, president of PEN American Center. “Yet he did so nonetheless. And indeed he fell victim to exactly the measures he was highlighting, Ethiopia’s draconian ‘anti terrorism’ laws that criminalize critical commentary.”
Nega has been publishing articles critical of the government since 1993, when he opened his first newspaper, Ethiopis, which was soon shut down by authorities.
He was the general manager of Serkalem Publishing House, which published the newspapers Asqual, Satenaw, and Menelik, all of which are now banned in Ethiopia.
Nega has also been a columnist for the monthly magazine Change and the U.S.-based news forum EthioMedia, which are also banned in Ethiopia.
He has been detained at least seven times under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, including in 2005, when he and his wife Serkalem were imprisoned for 17 months on treason charges for their critical reporting on the government’s violent crackdown of protests following disputed elections, and briefly in February 2011 for “attempts to incite Egyptian and Tunisian-like protests in Ethiopia” after he published articles on the Arab uprisings.
Nega has been denied a license to practice journalism since 2005, yet he has continued to publish columns critical of the government’s human rights record and calling for an end to political repression and corruption.
Nega was again arrested Sept. 14, 2011, after he published a column questioning the government’s claim that a number of journalists it had detained were suspected terrorists, and for criticizing the arrest of well-known Ethiopian actor and government critic Debebe Eshetu on terror charges earlier that week.
Shortly after his arrest, Nega was charged with affiliation with the banned political party Ginbot 7, which the Ethiopian government considers a terrorist organization. On Nov. 10, Nega was charged and further accused of plotting with and receiving weapons and explosives from neighboring Eritrea to carry out terrorist attacks in Ethiopia. State television portrayed Nega and other political prisoners as “spies for foreign forces.”
He is being held in Maekelawi Prison in Addis Ababa, where detainees are reportedly often tortured