Thursday, October 10, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Anti-terrorism law among targets of Addis Ababa protest Reporters Without Borders October 4, 2013
A major street protest took place in Addis Ababa on 29 September in response to a call from Unity for Democracy and Justice, an opposition political party headed by the previous president, Dr. Negasso Gidada.
The demonstrators protested against the arbitrary detention of journalists, human rights activists and dissidents, which is made possible by the 2009 anti-terrorist law.
Independent estimates put the number of demonstrators at between 12,000 and 15,000 while government sources said they were a few hundred.
The urgent need to amend this repressive law was of one of the recommendations that Reporters Without Borders included in its submission on Ethiopia to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 19th Universal Periodic Review session to be held between April and May next year.
“The anti-terrorism law is one of the most serious obstacles to the promotion and protection of freedom of information in Ethiopia,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Ever since its adoption, the government has used it as a legal tool to clamp down on dissidents and create a cloud of fear that limits the ambition and activity of the media.
“Without taking any position on the politics of the demonstrators, we urge the government to respond to the widespread demand by concerned citizens and activists for immediate and participatory reform of the anti-terrorism law. We also call on the government to respect the freedom of expression of all news and information providers, regardless of their political views.”
According to the organizers, the demonstration’s aim was not only to condemn the law but also to demand the release of opposition members and journalists who have been jailed under it. They include activist Eskinder Nega, detained since 15 September 2011 for alleged "links with terrorist organizations and conspiracy to harm national security".
Journalists Reyot Alemu, winner of the 2013 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano press freedom prize, and Woubeshet Taye, the deputy editor of the Amharic-language weekly Awramba Times, have been detained under this law since June 2011.
The demonstrators protested against the arbitrary detention of journalists, human rights activists and dissidents, which is made possible by the 2009 anti-terrorist law.
Independent estimates put the number of demonstrators at between 12,000 and 15,000 while government sources said they were a few hundred.
The urgent need to amend this repressive law was of one of the recommendations that Reporters Without Borders included in its submission on Ethiopia to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 19th Universal Periodic Review session to be held between April and May next year.
“The anti-terrorism law is one of the most serious obstacles to the promotion and protection of freedom of information in Ethiopia,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Ever since its adoption, the government has used it as a legal tool to clamp down on dissidents and create a cloud of fear that limits the ambition and activity of the media.
“Without taking any position on the politics of the demonstrators, we urge the government to respond to the widespread demand by concerned citizens and activists for immediate and participatory reform of the anti-terrorism law. We also call on the government to respect the freedom of expression of all news and information providers, regardless of their political views.”
According to the organizers, the demonstration’s aim was not only to condemn the law but also to demand the release of opposition members and journalists who have been jailed under it. They include activist Eskinder Nega, detained since 15 September 2011 for alleged "links with terrorist organizations and conspiracy to harm national security".
Journalists Reyot Alemu, winner of the 2013 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano press freedom prize, and Woubeshet Taye, the deputy editor of the Amharic-language weekly Awramba Times, have been detained under this law since June 2011.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Ethiopia: Beyond the Hubris of Evil
September 22, 2013
When I wrote a commentary on the plight of the imprisoned 32-year old Ethiopianjournalist Reeyot Alemu last April, I titled it “The Audacity of Evil in Ethiopia.” At the time, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had sent a letter to the “Minister of Justice” of the ruling regime in Ethiopia pleading medical care for Reeyot and urging them to spare her from a threatened solitary confinement. In that commentary, I explained why I was compelled to “stray from my professional fields of law and politics” to moral philosophy.
In this commentary, I am again compelled to indulge in philosophical musings on the hubris of evil. I am prompted once again by a statement of the Committee to Protect Journalists issued last week protesting the decision by the ruling regime to impose severe visitor restrictions on Reeyot. CPJ “called upon the Ethiopian authorities to lift these latest restrictions and allow Reeyot Alemu to receive all visitors… She is a journalist, not a criminal, and should not be behind bars.”
Reeyot began a hunger strike to protest an order by regime officials to pre-clear a list of her
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)