Ethiopia: Crackdown on Dissent Intensifies as Journalists Convicted

CIVICUS: WORLD ALLIANCE FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION, EAST AND HORN OF AFRICA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS PROJECT AND ETHIOPIA HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT Ethiopia’s already limited space for civil society and human rights defenders is undergoing further contraction, warns CIVICUS, The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, and the Ethiopia Human Rights Project (EHRP). Throughout 2014, Ethiopian authorities have orchestrated an unprecedented...

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Ethiopia: U.S. Deeply Concerned by Sentence of Ethiopian Journalist

press release By Jen Psaki Washington, DC — The United States is deeply concerned by the October 27 sentencing of Ethiopian journalist Temesgen Desalegn to three years in prison for “provocation and dissemination of inaccurate information.” Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are fundamental elements of a democratic society, and the promotion and protection of these rights and freedoms are basic responsibilities of democratic...

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Because I am Oromo: a sweeping repression in Oromia, Ethiopia

  (OPride) —At least 5,000 Oromos have been illegally detained since 2011 based solely on the suspicion that they don’t support the Ethiopian government, Amnesty International said. Many of the victims are held without charge for months or even years and subjected to repeated torture, it said. Oromos from all walks of life, including peaceful protesters, students, members of opposition political parties, farmers, teachers, medical professionals,...

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Ethiopia ‘ruthlessly targeting’ and torturing Oromo people, says Amnesty

Damning report says thousands of people from country’s largest ethnic group are subjected to abuse including rape and killings Guardian, Tuesday 28 October 2014 Oromo demonstrators protest in London earlier this year following the killing of student...

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Ethiopian court sentences journalist to three years in prison

Nairobi, October 27, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today's sentencing of Ethiopian journalist Temesghen Desalegn to three years' imprisonment on charges of defamation and incitement that date back to 2012. A court in Addis Ababa, the capital, convicted Temesgen on October 13 in connection with opinion pieces published in the now-defunct Feteh news magazine, according to news reports....

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Nine parties to “cooperate” for upcoming election

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Nine opposition parties have formed a platform for cooperation to stand together in the upcoming election and, in the long run, to create a platform where the parties can work together to ensure the existence of free, fair, participatory and credible elections, to expand the political space and to work on issues related to human and democratic rights of citizens. The cooperation between...

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General Kemal is in charge, OLF says

WASHINGTON, DC - General Kemal Gelchu is in charge of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), and the news that he has been removed from his post is a baseless report by a group of individuals already suspended by the chairman and pending further action by the Central Committee, a new press release  said on Saturday. "We would like to assure the wider Oromo people at home and in diaspora that the general is in full command of the...

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Berhanu Nega says Eritrea crucial to building capacity

                                         Dr Berhanu Nega (right) with Ethiomedia editor Abraha Belai  Dr Berhanu Nega, chairman of Ginbot 7, the Movement for Freedom, Justice and Democracy, was in Seattle recently. He addressed Ethiopians on the progress of Ginbot 7 as well as the overall political situation in Ethiopia. Later in...

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የዛሬው የፍርድ ቤት ቆይታ

የዛሬው የፍርድ ቤት ቆይታ October 21, 2014 (ከዞን ዘጠኝ) ኤዶም እና ማህሌት በዛሬው ዕለት በጋዜጠኛ ኤዶም ካሳዬ እና በዞን ዘጠኝ ጦማሪት ማኅሌት ፋንታሁን የእስር ቤት አያያዝ ጉዳይ በተመለከተ በጠያቂዎቻቸው እና በራሳቸው ላይ የሚደርሰውን ወከባና ማሸማቀቅ፣ ከቤተሰብ ውጪ እና ካስመዘገቧቸው ሰዎች ውጪ እንዳይጠየቁ መከልከላቸውን እንዲሁም፤ በተጠርጣሪነት እያሉ በእስር ቤት ውስጥ አሸባሪ እያሉ የስም ማጥፋት እንደሚደርስባቸው በገለጹት መሰረት በተደጋጋሚ ማረሚያ ቤቱ ሃላፊ ለፍርድ ቤት መጥቶ እንዲያስረዳ ተጠይቆ የነበረ መሆኑ ይታወቃል፡፡ በዛሬው...

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“Ethiopia Should Free Journalists from Jail and Exile” - IFJ

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the Africa regional group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), has today called on the Ethiopia Government to free all journalists jailed and to allow the exiled journalists to come back and work for the mother country, Ethiopia. The FAJ made this call while mourning the untimely death of exiled Ethiopian journalist, Million Shurube, who passed away at the Kenyatta National...

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Ethiopians in Norway protest against FM Tewdros Adhanom

Ethiopians residing in Norway have protested the presence of Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Tewdors Adhanom Gebreyesus, who is in an official visit in Norway. The Minister reportedly met with senior Norwegian government officials and businesses and the academia so far. Ethiopians have protested saying that a “humble looking official that represents a terrorist government should not be present in Norway”. Watch the video...

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Ethiopia - Country Case Study Update

London — A country case study update on Ethiopia which forms part or the 2013 Human Rights and Democracy Report. Progress on most economic and social rights continues on a broadly positive trend. Ethiopia is on track to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Most recently, Ethiopia achieved the MDG 4 target reducing mortality of children under five by 67%, the maternal mortality rate has declined by 69% since 1990, and the incidence of malaria has halved. Over two thirds of government expenditure is allocated to basic...

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Bloggers Behind Bars: Ethiopia's Zone9ers and Threats to Online Speech Across the Globe

 Global voices “We want more openness, more transparency,” Ethiopian writer Endalkchew Chala told me in a phone interview. “People deserve choice; people deserve access to the world’s knowledge.” For expressing views like these online, his friends were scheduled to go on trial for terrorism in early August—though the trial was later adjourned to October 15. It briefly reconvened last week then adjourned again until early November. In July, Ethan Zuckerman wrote a detailed post here on Global Voices describing the origins of the Zone...

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Ethiopians in Norway demonstrated against Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister

Ethiopians in Norway demonstrated against Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom today(16.10.2014). He was expected to participate in ‘Invest in Ethiopia’ seminar. The seminar was organized by the Norwegian-African Business Association (NABA). ጥቅምት ፮(ስድስት) ቀን ፳፻፯ ዓ/ም ኢሳት ዜና :-የኖርዌይ ባለሀብቶች በኢትዮጵያ ኢንቨስት እንዲያደርጉ በተጠራ ጉባኤ ላይ የተገኙትን የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚ/ር ቴዎድሮስ አድሃኖም በመቃወም የተጠራው ሰልፍ የአገሪቱን ዋነኛ የቴሌቪዥን ጣቢያ ኢነርኬን ሽፋን አግኝቷል። ዲሞክራሲያዊ ለውጥ በኢትዮጵያ የድጋፍ ድርጅት...

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Ethiopian Editor Convicted for Inciting Public With Articles

By William Davison   An Ethiopian editor is facing as many as 10 years in prison after being convicted of inciting the public against the government through his newspaper articles, his lawyer said. Temesgen Desalegn, the former editor of Feteh, a defunct weekly newspaper, was convicted yesterday by the Federal High Court on charges that also included defaming the government and distorting public opinion, after a case that lasted about...

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የህግ የበላይነት፣ የፓለቲካ ምህዳር እና ሰብአዊ መብት - የጸረ ሽብር ህጉ ሲገመገም

“ጋዜጠኝነትን እና የፖለቲካ ድርጅትን ሽፋን በማድረግ የሀገሪቱንና የሕዝቦቿን ሰላም ለማደፍረስ ከሚያስቡና ከሚፈልጉ ‘ሀይላት’ ጋር ግንኙነት በማድረግ የተለያዩ  የሽብር ተግባራትን ለመፈጸም ሲንቀሳቀሱ በቁጥጥር ስር አውለናቸዋል።“  ይህ መግለጫ (መልስ) የኢትዮጵያ የፀረ-ሽብርተኝነት አዋጅ 652/2001 ከወጣበት ከነሀሴ 2001 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ ጋዜጠኞችና በሰላማዊ መንገድ ተመዝግበው የፖለቲካ ምህዳሩን የተቀላቀሉ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች አባላት በኢህአዴግ መራሹ የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ከታሰሩ በኋላ በመንግስት አካላት የሚሰጥ የተለመደ አባባል ነው። የፀረ-ሽብርተኝነት አዋጁ ከወጣበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ እስከ መስከረም 2007 ዓ.ም ባሉት አምስት ዓመታት ውስጥም ከጋዜጠኛ እስከ ፖለቲከኛ (political personalities)፣ ከሀይማኖት መሪዎች እስከ ጦማሪያን፣ ከታጣቂ ወታደሮች እስከ የኮንትሮባንድ ነጋዴዎች... በዚሁ አዋጅ አማካኝነት ‘ሽብርተኝነታቸው...

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