Ethiopia: Life sentence for blogger, prison for journalists

CPJ

New York, January 26, 2012--A U.S.-based journalist convicted on politicized terrorism charges in Ethiopia was sentenced to life in prison in absentia today, while two other Ethiopian journalists received heavy prison sentences in connection with their coverage of banned opposition groups, according to news reports.

Elias Kifle, exiled Ethiopian editor of the Washington-based opposition website Ethiopian Review, was handed a life sentence in absentia today, which followed a 2007 life sentence given to him also in absentia on charges of treason for his coverage of the government's brutal repression of 2005 post-election protests, CPJ research shows. A court in the capital, Addis Ababa, sentenced Reeyot Alemu, a columnist with the independent weekly Feteh, and Woubshet Taye, deputy editor of the now-defunct weekly Awramba Times, to 14 years in prison and 33,000 birrs (US$1,500), news reports said.
"The life sentence for Elias Kifle and the prison sentences for Reeyot Alemu and Woubshet Taye are based on their writings about political dissent. This verdict has little to do with justice," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We condemn this politicized prosecution designed to cow critical voices into silence and call on the Supreme Court to reverse all the convictions."
The three journalists were charged in September with lending support to an underground network of banned opposition groups, which has been criminalized under the country's 2009 antiterrorism law. Alemu and Taye were arrested in June and held for weeks on government accusations of plotting to sabotage telephone and electricity lines before they were charged. In the trial, government prosecutors presented as evidence intercepted emails and phone calls between the journalists, as well as more than 25 Ethiopian Review articleson the activities of opposition groups, CPJ research shows.
Eskinder Nega, another Ethiopian blogger, has been imprisoned since September and could be sentenced to death if convicted of similar politicized terrorism charges in connection with his coverage of banned opposition groups.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The headline and text of the alert was changed to reflect that the U.S.-based blogger was given a life sentence, not the death penalty.

Ethiopia: Terrorism Verdict Quashes Free Speech

(Nairobi) - The Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012, convicted three Ethiopian journalists, an opposition leader, and a fifth person under an anti-terrorism law that violates free expression and due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The Ethiopian government should immediately drop the case, release the defendants, and investigate their allegations of torture in detention. The journalists are Woubshet Taye Abebe of the now-closed weekly newspaper Awramba Times, Reeyot Alemu Gobebo of the weekly newspaper Feteh, and Elias Kifle, editor of the online Ethiopian Review, who was tried in absentia. An opposition leader, Zerihun Gebre-Egziabher Tadesse of the Ethiopian National Democratic Party, and a woman named Hirut Kifle Woldeyesus were also convicted. All five were convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, which carries a sentence of 15 years to life imprisonment or death, as well as of participating in a terrorist organization. They were also convicted of money laundering under the Ethiopian criminal code. Their sentencing is expected on January 26. “The verdict against these five people confirms that Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law is being used to crush independent reporting and peaceful political dissent,” said Leslie Lefkow, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, “The Ethiopian courts are complicit in this political witch-hunt.” The case was marred by serious due process concerns. The defendants had no access to legal counsel during their three months in pretrial detention, and the court did not investigate their allegations of torture and mistreatment in detention. And here is the rest of it.

Ethiopia: Journalists, politician found guilty

By LUC VAN KEMENADE, Associated Press ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — An Ethiopian court on Thursday found three journalists, a politician and a politician's assistant guilty of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism, in a case that drew rebukes from rights groups who fear the country's anti-terrorism law is being used to suppress dissent. The five were charged under Ethiopia's controversial anti-terrorism laws. Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal has said they were involved in planning attacks on infrastructure, telecommunications and power lines. Alemu Gobebo, a private lawyer and a father of one of the defendants, called the case politically motivated. The five will be sentenced Jan. 26. They could face the death penalty. Among the three journalist convicted were Reeyot Alemu, a columnist for the independent weekly Fetah and a former opposition member; Elias Kifle, editor-in-chief of a U.S.-based opposition website, who was tried in absentia; and Wubshet Taye, deputy editor-in-chief of the recently closed-down weekly newspaper Awramba Times. International rights groups have been calling for the release of the journalists. Ethiopia recently found two Swedish reporters guilty of supporting terrorism and sentenced them to 11 years in prison. And here is the rest of it.

Attack Stirs Ethiopia, Eritrea Tensions

By Solomon Moore: The Wall Street Journal
NAIROBI—Tensions rose between Ethiopia and Eritrea on Wednesday, after officials from the two hostile east African neighbors blamed each other for the killing of five European tourists along their border.

Ethiopian spokesman Bereket Simon said gunmen who carried out Monday's attack in the Afar region of northeastern Ethiopia, about 25 kilometers from the Eritrean border, near the active Erta Ale volcano, were members of "subversive groups trained and armed by the Eritrean government." He didn't offer evidence to support his claim.

Eritrea's foreign ministry called the accusation a "ludicrous" smear campaign, saying in a statement that Ethiopia has long been host to home-grown, armed opposition groups. Eritrean officials said the attack took place in Ethiopian territory, and is an Ethiopian matter.

A European official said a group of European tourists came under attack from an armed group between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time on Monday. The official didn't identify the armed group or its affiliation. Ethiopian and European officials said several of the tourists were taken captive.

A representative of Diamir Adventure Travel of Dresden, Germany, confirmed that the company had been involved, but declined to provide details of the attack, the number of travelers affected or the victims' nationalities. European officials said the five dead included nationals from Germany, Austria and Hungary.

Twelve members of the tourist group had been rescued and were being flown by an Ethiopian helicopter to Addis Ababa, according to Theresa Schönfeld, a spokeswoman with Germany's Foreign Ministry, who confirmed that at least two Germans were killed by gunmen.
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The great Ethiopian land-grab: feudalism, leninism, neo-liberalism ... plus ça change

René Lefort

Courtesy of Gado Cartoons

Land in Ethiopia is being leased to agro-industry investors on very long terms and below market rates. The beneficiaries have good political connections. But then land has been the play-thing of centralising authoritarians throughout Ethiopia's recent history.  

Ethiopia is the world champion of “land grabbing” – the practice of renting out vast expanses of farmland to local and, in particular, foreign investors. In 2011, 3.5 million hectares were allocated, while the projected figure for 2015 is 7 million hectares, an area twice the size of Belgium.[i] By way of comparison, 12 million hectares are farmed by the same number of smallholders, who make up four-fifths of the Ethiopian workforce. It is not hard, then, to imagine the anticipated leap forward in agricultural output, especially given that the productivity of these new mechanised farms should be much greater than that of traditional peasant farmers. As a first approximation, medium sized yields and export of just half of their production should, in the medium term, bring in about US$ 10 billion in foreign currencies, at a time when the deficit in the balance of payments is the Achilles heel of the Ethiopian economy and its GDP currently stands at US$ 30 billion.

And here is the rest of it.

Ethiopia: OLF drops secession, embraces Ethiopian unity

By Abebe Gelaw

Washington DC (ESAT)– The Oromo Liberation Front has announced its historic decision to drop its long-held secessionist agenda and to embrace the unity of Ethiopia under a genuine federal arrangement that must guarantee the rights, equality and liberty of all Ethiopians.

In a historic press release, the OLF, led by Brigadier General Kemal Gelchu, issued at the conclusion of its extraordinary National Council plenary, held on December 30 and 31 in Minnesota, the front spelt out its new vision in an unprecedented clarity. The meeting was also open to any non-Oromo Ethiopians for the first time.

 

 

According to the press release, the OLF National Council has examined the struggle of the Oromo people, the political program of the front, the prevailing conditions that the Ethiopian people suffer under the dictatorship of Meles Zenewi and the necessity of working with all democratic forces in Ethiopian to end the untold misery of Ethiopians under the tyrannical regime.

“The OLF National Council also focused on the timely demand of working with other democratic forces in forming the new Ethiopia that will guarantee and protect the fundamental rights of all peoples in Ethiopia. The new social contract will and should be based on the free will and consent of all peoples in Ethiopia. The previous style that claims “I know for you” should be abolished and replaced with a new vision that is based on peoples’ consent and free will,” the release stated.

The historic statement further noted that OLF would struggle not only for the Oromo people but also the people of Ethiopia suffering under the tyranny and oppression of the TPLF regime. “To fulfill this vision and play crucial roles, not only for the Oromo people, but for all Ethiopian people, the OLF National Council pursuant to the power vested to it by the OLF National Congress effectively amended the OLF political program today, January 1, 2012,” the front said.

The release underscored the fact that the revised OLF political program will “accept the new federal democratic republic of Ethiopia that will work for the betterment of all of its citizens, neighboring countries and international communities.” It also said that the OLF would honor and respect the decisions of the Ethiopian people would make exercising their will under the new federal republic of Ethiopia.

OLF also urged all democratic forces to work in tandem to make Ethiopia a common home for all its people. It also called on the international community to desist from supporting the tyrannical regime of Meles Zenawi that is “engaged in terrorizing the Ethiopian people, selling the precious resources of the country to the highest bidders, and the government that does not respect the principles of democracy, human rights and rule of law.”

In an interview with ESAT Radio, Dr. Nuro Dedefo, OLF Executive Committee member, has explained that the front has charted out a new vision based on the reality on the ground. He said the new vision of the OLF aspires to liberate the Ethiopian people from the brutal minority rule of the TPLF and establish a new democratic Ethiopia based on the free will of the people to live, work and set up a common country for all. He pointed out that previously OLF used to advocate for the establishment of an Oromo state. As per its new vision, OLF now aspires to establish one country with other Ethiopians, he explained.

Dr. Nuro also underscored that OLF rejects the bogus federal arrangement that has imposed the hegemony of the TPLF on the rest of Ethiopia. According to Dr. Nuro, the OLF wants a real and genuine federal system which clearly shows that OLF broken with the past and embraced Ethiopian unity. “In order to change the racist minority rule of the TPLF and form a new Ethiopia that will be free from absence of the rule of law and rampant abuse of citizens… OLF is ready to work with all Ethiopian democratic forces,” he declared.

He noted that TPLF’s so-called federal arrangement has been designed to divide and rule the people of Ethiopia and impose its hegemony using its servile puppets and messengers. Dr. Nuro has underlined that that OLF’s new vision will put an end to TPLF’s propaganda against OLF, which it tried to present as a secessionist force. “That will put the scheme in the coffin once and for all,” he said.

The OLF official also called upon fellow Ethiopians to work with the OLF in a spirit of trust in order to establish the new Ethiopia, where democracy, justice, respect for human rights and rule of law will be the founding values.

Dr. Nuro told ESAT that the meeting, which was also open for non-Oromo Ethiopians, was exciting to so many Ethiopians that have already endorsed OLF’s new vision that it adopted to end dictatorship, suffering and lawlessness in Ethiopia once and for all in collaboration with any democratic forces.

Two Swedish journalists who entered Ethiopia with Somali rebel group are jailed for 11 years

Mail Online

Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye found guilty of supporting terrorism

Accused of making journey into Ethiopia from London

Lawyer says they are considering an appeal

EU raises concerns about freedom of media in Ethiopia

Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye found guilty of supporting terrorism

Two Swedish journalists have been jailed for 11 years after illegally entering Ethiopia with a Somali rebel group.
A judge ruled that the two freelances - Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye - must serve 'rigorous imprisonment' following their convictions for supporting terrorism last week.
Ethiopian troops captured them six months ago during a clash with rebels in eastern Ethiopia's troubled Somali region, a no-go area for reporters.
And here is the rest of it.