Ethiopia: Proclamation on Telecom Fraud Offences

ARTICLE 19

06 Aug 2012

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In this analysis, ARTICLE 19 finds the recently adopted Proclamation 761/2012 on Telecom Fraud Offences (“the Proclamation”) to be fundamentally flawed from a freedom of expression and information perspective, and recommends its immediate repeal. 
The Ethiopia House of Peoples’ Representatives passed the Proclamation on 11 July 2012. It creates new offences related to the use and provision of telecommunications services, and increases sentences for a number of existing offences. It also extends the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and the Criminal Code to electronic communications. The Proclamation will gain legal effect once published in the Federal Negarit Gazett.

Ethiopia: Seyoum Mesfin is back and at the Helm in Meles’ Absence

9 August 2012 [ESAT]
The former Ethiopian Foreign Minister and a close confidante of Meles Zenawi, Seyoum Mesfin is back in Addis Ababa and leading the country according to a news report by the weekly Amharic newspaper–Finote Netsanet .

It has been more than seven weeks since the Prime Minister was last seen and people are wondering if the Prime Minister is alive.  ESAT –citing sources in ICG–has broken the news that the Prime Minister has died in Belgium last week.  Though the government was quick to deny ESAT’s news report, it couldn’t show the Prime Minister or any audio or video evidence to disprove the news.

Seyoum is currently working as Ethiopian ambassador to China. It is a recent memory that his appointment as ambassador to China –after serving at the helm of as important a ministry as foreign affairs– has left many with mystification

ኢትዮጵያዊት ዲፕሎማት አደንዛዥ ዕፅ ወደ ለንደን ለማስገባት ስትሞክር ተያዘች

ሐምሌ ፳፮ (ሀያ ስድስት) ቀን ፳፻፬ ዓ/ም

ኢሳት ዜና:- “ካናቢስ”የተሰኘ አደንዛዥ ዕፅ ወደ ለንደን ለማስገባት ስትሞክር የተያዘች አንዲት ኢትዮጵያዊት ዲፕሎማት  የ33 ወር እስራት ተፈረደባት።

እንደ አሶሲየትድ ፕሬስ ዘገባ፤በዋሽንግተን የኢትዮጵያኤምባሲ ውስጥ  የምትሠራው አመለወርቅ ወንድማገኝ    የተባለች ዲፕሎማት፤ የዲፕሎማቲክ ከለላዋን በመጠቀም 56 ኪሎ ግራም የሚመዝንካናቢስ-  በሄትሮን አውሮፕላን ማረፊያ በኩል ወደ ለንደን ለማስገባትስትሞክር ነው የተያዘችው።

ጉዳዩን ሲከታተለው የነበረውና በምዕራብ ለንደን የሚገኘው  የአይስወርዝ ክራውን ፍርድ ቤትም ተከሳሿ ዲፕሎማት በ ዕጽማዘዋወር የቀረበባትን ክስ አምና በመቀበሏ በ33 ወራት እስራት እንድትቀጣ ውሳኔ አሳልፏል።

የ36 አመቷ አመለወርቅ ከአዲስ አበባ ከመነሳቷ በፊት አንድ ሰው 3 ሻንጣዎችን አድርሽልኝ ብሎ እንደሰጣት ተናግራለች።  በሻንጣዎች ውስጥ ያለው ስጋና ቅመማቅመም መስሎአት እንደነበርም ገልጻለች።

Muslim Protests in Ethiopia Reveal Religious Fault Lines

Muslim Protests in Ethiopia Reveal Religious Fault Lines 

Gabe Joselow, VOA | August 3, 2012

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NAIROBI — An Ethiopian Muslim protest movement has quieted down since the arrests of key organizers two weeks ago in Addis Ababa. The government crackdown has aggravated tensions between Muslim and Ethiopian authorities. A small group of Muslims began organizing demonstrations at mosques in the Ethiopian capital earlier this year to protest the perceived interference by the Ethiopian government into religious affairs.Among their demands, the protesters called for new elections for the country's Islamic Affairs Supreme Council to be held in mosques, rather than in government offices.
Tensions reached their peak on July 13, when the government raided a gathering at the Awalia Mosque in Addis Ababa, where government officials said Muslim leaders were planning further protests.
Ethiopian authorities said more than 70 people were arrested in the operation, including the members of the mosque's central organizing committee.
A week later, thousands of Muslims gathered at the Anwar Mosque to protest the arrests. More activists were detained following clashes with police.
Federal Police Commissioner Workneh Gebeyehu, in a televised address, blamed the mosque's committee for instigating the unrest.
He said even before the arrests, the “members of the committee were urging others to follow in their footsteps, therefore those arrested at Anwar were organized by the committee.” He said the police investigation “shows the whole movement is associated with extremism.”

Day 42: Meles Zenawi’s body arrives in Addis Ababa – unconfirmed report

Day 42: Meles Zenawi’s body arrives in Addis Ababa – unconfirmed report

Elias Kifle | August 2nd, 2012

Today is the 42nd day since Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi has disappeared. This morning, Ethiopian Review has received an unconfirmed, but credible, report that his body has arrived in Addis Ababa from Belgium.
Power struggle in the ruling party TPLF intensifies. Tigray President Abay Woldu is emerging as a serious contender to replace Meles. One sign of his growing influence is that there is more security around him than an of the other TPLF leaders. During the past few days he has been observed traveling with an army of bodyguards, according to Ethiopian Review sources.

Why we say Meles is dead

Why we say Meles is dead  
Meles Zenawi is dead

By Abebe Gellaw | August 1, 2012

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Meles Zenawi

The decision to report that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is dead, according to reliable sources, has never been easy. It was two weeks ago that we received the news from highly credible sources in Brussels. Our sources that want to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak to the media on this sensitive matter told us that the International Crisis Group (ICG) concluded that Mr. Zenawi was deceased. Headquartered in Brussels, with offices around the world, ICG is the leading independent think tank on conflict prevention and resolution around the world. It was hard to ignore information from such a highly reputable international organization.

As journalists we tried to investigate and verify the tip meticulously before it decided to broadcast the news. To be fair to the facts, we have also scrutinized the conflicting and contradictory information coming out from the ruling TPLF clique. We have examined not only the statements and stories put out for public consumption by the TPLF, but also their conducts that tell their own stories. As Meles Zenawi’s 21-year tyrannical rule has surely come to a screeching halt, the TPLF proved to be a heap of mess without its chieftain. Ethiopia appeared to be leaderless and cheerless. In the absence of its head, the regime appeared to be decapitated, incapacitated, incoherent, disunited, disorganized and disoriented. This is typical of a one-man regime unlike institutionally sound democratic systems (like Ghana) that cannot be easily shaken by the death or absence of one man. Like an untrained ship crew with no captain in sight, the ruling elite seem to be at a loss for direction in the face of a gathering storm.

Meles Zenawi is dead: Abebe Gellaw

Meles Zenawi is dead: Abebe Gellaw

Posted by admin on July 31, 2012 26 Comments

By Abebe Gellaw
ESAT’s decision to report that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is dead, according to reliable sources, has never been easy. It was two weeks ago that we received the news from highly credible sources in Brussels. Our sources that want to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak to the media on this sensitive matter told us that the International Crisis Group (ICG) concluded that Mr. Zenawi was deceased. Headquartered in Brussels, with offices around the world, ICG is the leading independent think tank on conflict prevention and resolution around the world. It was hard to ignore information from such a highly reputable international organization. 
As a responsible media outlet, ESAT tried to investigate and verify the tip meticulously before it decided to broadcast the news. To be fair to the facts,