what
the hell of this? What's going on? Now is it right democracy in
ethiopia? How just to bit human being like this?? Oh sorry God remember
our student, our country Oromia, our land. This thing happened in Gimbi
Wollega!!
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Ethiopia: Arrests Upstage Kerry Visit
9 Bloggers, Journalists Held Before US Official Arrives
(Nairobi,
April 28, 2014) – The Ethiopian authorities should immediately release
six bloggers and three journalists arrested on April 25 and 26, 2014,
unless credible charges are promptly brought, Human Rights Watch said
today.United States Secretary of State John Kerry, who is scheduled to visit Ethiopia beginning April 29, should urge Ethiopian officials to unconditionally release all activists and journalists who have been arbitrarily detained or convicted in unfair trials, Human Rights Watch said. The arrests also came days before Ethiopia is scheduled to have its human rights record assessed at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review in Geneva on May 6.
Read more…
Saturday, April 26, 2014
http://amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/ethiopia-multiple-arrests-major-crackdown-government-critics-2014-04-26
Press releases
26 April 2014
Ethiopia: Multiple arrests in major crackdown on government critics
The Ethiopian government is tightening its suffocating grip on freedom of expression
in a major crackdown which has seen the arrest of numerous independent,
critical and opposition voices over the last two days, said Amnesty
International.
Six members of an independent blogger and activist group and a freelance journalist were arrested yesterday 25 April. Another journalist was arrested this morning. Meanwhile 20 members of the political opposition Semayawi (Blue) party have been arrested since Thursday.
"These arrests appear to be yet another alarming round up of opposition or independent voices" said Claire Beston, Ethiopia researcher at Amnesty International.
"This is part of a long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders, activists, journalists and political opponents in Ethiopia."
Six members of the independent blogger and activist group ‘Zone 9’ were arrested on 25 April in Addis Ababa. Group members Befeqadu Hailu, Atnaf Berahane, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kiberet, Natnael Feleke and Abel Wabela were arrested from their offices or in the street on Friday afternoon. All six were first taken to their homes, which were searched, and then taken to the infamous Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector ‘Maikelawi’, where political prisoners are held in pre-trial, and sometimes arbitrary, detention.
At around the same time on Friday afternoon freelance journalist Tesfalem Waldyes was also arrested. His home was also searched before he was taken to Maikelawi. Another freelance journalist and friend of the Zone 9 group, Edom Kasaye, was arrested on the morning of Saturday 26 April. She was accompanied by police to her home, which was searched, and then taken to Maikelawi.
"The detainees must be immediately released unless they are charged with a recognisable criminal offence" said Claire Beston.
"They must also be given immediate access to their families and lawyers."
The detainees are being held incommunicado. Family members of those arrested reportedly went to Maikelawi on the morning of Saturday 26 April, and were told they could leave food for the detainees, but they were not permitted to see them.
The Zone 9 group had temporarily suspended their activities over the last six months after what they say was a significant increase in surveillance and harassment of their members. On 23 April the group announced via social media that they were returning to their blogging and activism. The arrests came two days later.
It is not known what prompted Waldyes’ arrest, but he is well known as a journalist writing independent commentary on political issues.
In further arrests, the political opposition party, the Semayawi (Blue) Party, says that during 24 and 25 April more than 20 of its members were arrested. The party was arranging to hold a demonstration on Sunday 27 April. They had provided the requisite notification to Addis Ababa administration, and had reportedly received permission.
The arrested party members, which include the Vice Chairman of the party, are reported to be in detention in a number of police stations around the city, including Kazanchis 6th, Gulele and Yeka police stations.
The Chairman of the party, Yilkil Getnet, was also reportedly arrested, but was released late on Friday night.
Over the last year, the Semayawi party has staged several demonstrations, which have witnessed the arrests and temporary detention of organisers and demonstrators on a number of occasions.
In March, seven female members of the Semayawi Party were arrested during a run to mark International Women’s Day in Addis Ababa, after chanting slogans including “We need freedom! Free political prisoners! We need justice! Freedom! Don’t divide us!” The women were released without charge after ten days in detention.
“With still a year to go before the general elections, the Ethiopian government is closing any remaining holes in its iron grip on freedom of speech, opinion and thought in the country” said Claire Beston.
Six members of an independent blogger and activist group and a freelance journalist were arrested yesterday 25 April. Another journalist was arrested this morning. Meanwhile 20 members of the political opposition Semayawi (Blue) party have been arrested since Thursday.
"These arrests appear to be yet another alarming round up of opposition or independent voices" said Claire Beston, Ethiopia researcher at Amnesty International.
"This is part of a long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders, activists, journalists and political opponents in Ethiopia."
Six members of the independent blogger and activist group ‘Zone 9’ were arrested on 25 April in Addis Ababa. Group members Befeqadu Hailu, Atnaf Berahane, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kiberet, Natnael Feleke and Abel Wabela were arrested from their offices or in the street on Friday afternoon. All six were first taken to their homes, which were searched, and then taken to the infamous Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector ‘Maikelawi’, where political prisoners are held in pre-trial, and sometimes arbitrary, detention.
At around the same time on Friday afternoon freelance journalist Tesfalem Waldyes was also arrested. His home was also searched before he was taken to Maikelawi. Another freelance journalist and friend of the Zone 9 group, Edom Kasaye, was arrested on the morning of Saturday 26 April. She was accompanied by police to her home, which was searched, and then taken to Maikelawi.
"The detainees must be immediately released unless they are charged with a recognisable criminal offence" said Claire Beston.
"They must also be given immediate access to their families and lawyers."
The detainees are being held incommunicado. Family members of those arrested reportedly went to Maikelawi on the morning of Saturday 26 April, and were told they could leave food for the detainees, but they were not permitted to see them.
The Zone 9 group had temporarily suspended their activities over the last six months after what they say was a significant increase in surveillance and harassment of their members. On 23 April the group announced via social media that they were returning to their blogging and activism. The arrests came two days later.
It is not known what prompted Waldyes’ arrest, but he is well known as a journalist writing independent commentary on political issues.
In further arrests, the political opposition party, the Semayawi (Blue) Party, says that during 24 and 25 April more than 20 of its members were arrested. The party was arranging to hold a demonstration on Sunday 27 April. They had provided the requisite notification to Addis Ababa administration, and had reportedly received permission.
The arrested party members, which include the Vice Chairman of the party, are reported to be in detention in a number of police stations around the city, including Kazanchis 6th, Gulele and Yeka police stations.
The Chairman of the party, Yilkil Getnet, was also reportedly arrested, but was released late on Friday night.
Over the last year, the Semayawi party has staged several demonstrations, which have witnessed the arrests and temporary detention of organisers and demonstrators on a number of occasions.
In March, seven female members of the Semayawi Party were arrested during a run to mark International Women’s Day in Addis Ababa, after chanting slogans including “We need freedom! Free political prisoners! We need justice! Freedom! Don’t divide us!” The women were released without charge after ten days in detention.
“With still a year to go before the general elections, the Ethiopian government is closing any remaining holes in its iron grip on freedom of speech, opinion and thought in the country” said Claire Beston.
BARATTOOTAA FI BOONSITOOTA UNVERSIITII JIMMAA HARAMAAYAA FI AMBOO IRRAA MAASTERPILAANII FINFINNEE MORMUU DHAAN HIRIIRA NAGAA BAATAN HUNDAAF:- Humna sodaachisuuf osoo hin rifatin Faayidaa dhuunfaatiif osoo dursa hin laatin Uummata keessaniif sagalee taatanii Gamtaan gurmooftanii obboroon baatanii Gaaffii mirgaa keessan kanneen gaafattanii Uummanni oromoo isiniin booneeraa “Akka uurjii ifaa” jedhee eebbiseeraa!!!! NU BOONSITAN!!! VIVA
Friday, April 18, 2014
http://ayyaantuu.com/horn-of-africa-news/ethiopia-why-are-so-many-journalists-in-jail/
ETHIOPIA: WHY ARE SO MANY JOURNALISTS IN JAIL?
By Dana Wagner, Huffingtonpost
April 18, 2014 (In Depth Africa) – I recently wrote an article criticizing
two Canadian Cabinet ministers and the absolute privilege of
irreverence struck me yet again. I didn’t have to spend a week sleeping
anywhere but home to avoid thugs, or worry about my family losing their
jobs, or alert my friends — especially my international ones — that I
feared jail and to keep the media on my case if I disappeared.
If I did expect any of that, I don’t think I
would have the courage to write. That is a great tragedy in societies
without press freedom or freedom of speech, that critics can be silenced by the powerful, invisible force of self-censorship.
Disturbingly, it’s the ones who defy that
force that make the case for self-censorship stronger: They face the
outsized punishment that is also an explicit warning to the rest. Jail,
harassment, or worse for journalists and their families has the ultimate
demonstration effect.
A reporter in Mexico summed the rationale for
staying quiet, for only covering the soft stories in his narco-ruled
city, to fellow journalist Óscar Martínez: “Because I live here. And my
family lives here.”
Martínez explains, in his book The Beast,
“For those who live in the middle of the violence in these towns, for
those who travel without bodyguards and earn a pittance for their work,
for those who work from their homes where their kids live and play,
silence is understandable.”
In countries where autocrats control and restrict information, the demonstrations are chilling. Take these three cases from Vietnam, Turkey, and Ethiopia (ranked in the bottom 40 out of 180 countries on the 2014 World Press Freedom Index):
Nguyen Van Hai, pen name
Dieu Cay, is a Vietnamese blogger currently serving a 12-year prison
sentence. He covered government corruption and other sensitive issues —
or, in the language of his charges, he ‘conducted propaganda’ against
the state. The little that’s known about his condition in Vietnam’s
infamous prison camps is from rarely-approved visits by family,
sometimes just five minutes long.
Hatice Duman is a former owner and news editor of Atilim (Leap),
a socialist weekly, and is serving a life sentence in Turkey on several
charges including propaganda, weapons seizure, and attempted use of
force to change the constitutional order. Part of the evidence used to
lay these dubious charges, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF),
was witness testimony
by Duman’s husband who says he gave it under torture. Turkey ranked
first for the number of jailed members of the press until March 2014,
and RSF calls the country “one of the world’s biggest prisons for
journalists.”
Reeyot Alemu is a freelance columnist and former high school English teacher
in Addis Ababa. She is serving a five-year sentence on a conviction of
promoting terrorist attacks. Her columns criticized the government for
nepotism and cronyism — for reserving good careers and education
for the friends and family of elites. Alemu also compared
Ehtiopian-style governance to that of Muammar Qaddafi. Alemu reported
being tortured in jail, prompting UN criticism when Ethiopia failed to
investigate.
What’s behind censorship? The essence is
image and interests. No government wants embarrassing facts circulated
by the press. Some governments mitigate this risk by curbing
embarrassing behaviour; others choke anyone who points it out. And no
government wants to damage its own interests, which directly counter the
public interest wherever state officials collude in corruption and
thuggery.
The Committee to Protect Journalists tallied the charges against jailed journalists around the world and found the
majority are anti-state charges like subversion and terrorism. The
easier it is to be handled as a subversive or terrorist – and
unenviably, it’s easiest for Turks, Iranians, and Chinese, according to
CPJ — the less likely it is that reporters will confront state image and
interests.
Sticking with Vietnam, Turkey and Ethiopia,
there’s a lot of material for writers. Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung said in his New Year’s address, that “any restrictions on
freedom of citizens must be … only for the sake of national defence and
security, social safety and order and preservation of our cultural,
historical and moral values” — for anything, in other words. Turkey’s
leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tried to ban Twitter and social media
before elections in March, explaining “I cannot understand how sensible
people still defend Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. They run all kinds of
lies.” And Ethiopia’s head, Hailemariam Desalegn, vowed (in
Qaddafi-style eloquence) to continue the legacy of his predecessor,
dictator Meles Zenawi, “without any change” because “we brought peace,
democracy and development to the country.”
In all three countries, anti-press freedom laws give leaders the
impunity to act on their arrogance, and silence whoever bears witness to
their delusions and exposes the ugly underside of their societies. That
cheats all of us out of being better informed, global citizens.
Imagine a world without a George Orwell and The Road to Wigan Pier, without Katherine Boo and Behind the Beautiful Forevers, or without Óscar Martínez and The Beast.
What if Britain, the United States, and El Salvador had silenced these
radicals before they ever documented working class poverty, the
economics of slum life, and the horror of migrant trails?
Of course not every writer behind bars is a
prodigy, but some likely are. There are 211 jailed journalists
worldwide, as of December 2013, and a countless community of silenced
colleagues attached to each one. Imagine what we’re missing.
Source: In Depth Africa
The Oromo Martyrs’ Day or Guyyaa Gootota Oromoo 2014 Oslo
April 15th is the Oromo Martyrs’ Day, also known as Guyyaa Gootota Oromoo. This commemorative day was first started by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) after the executions of its prominent leaders on a diplomatic mission en routed to Somalia on April 15, 1980. Since then, this day has been observed as the Oromo Martyrs’ Day by Oromo nationals around the world to honor those who have sacrificed their lives to free Oromia, and to renew a commitment to the cause for which they had died.
The reasons we Celebrat the Oromo Martyrs’ Day
- This day allows us to remember those Oromo heroines and heroes who sacrificed their lives to restore Oromo culture, identity, and human dignity that were wounded by Ethiopian colonialism.
- This commemoration day reminds us that Oromo liberation requires heavy sacrifices, and those who have given their lives for our freedom, are our revolutionary models.
- This day reminds us that we have historical obligations to continue the struggle that Oromo martyrs started until victory.
- This celebration helps us recognize that Oromo heroes and heroines are still fighting in Oromia today.
This year, we celebrated the Oromo Martyr's Day on 13 april in oslo, There was around 150 people who gathered there with different kinds of cultural clothes to celebrate the day with different kind of martyr's songs, with poems from young oromos and blessings from our fathers , it has even become more power full . with more love.
Oromo Demonstration Against TPLF Tyranny April 5th, 2014 Levanger, Norway
Oromo Demonstration Against TPLF Tyranny April 5th, 2014 Levanger, Norway
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