Journalists honored for courageous reporting

International Press Freedom Awards go to Ethiopian bloggers, Malaysian cartoonist, Paraguayan crime reporter, Syrian citizen journalists

New York, November 25, 2015–Journalists from Ethiopia, Malaysia, Paraguay, and Syria were honored Tuesday night at the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 25th annual International Press Freedom Awards for courageous work amid risks such as physical attack, imprisonment, exile, and murder.

“These awardees go forward with their work in the face of threats from repressive governments, drug cartels, Islamic State, and other terrorists and thugs determined to stifle the truth,” said Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director. “In recognizing these fearless journalists, we send a message of support to journalists everywhere–and a message to authoritarian actors that we are watching.”

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a group of Syrian citizen journalists that has seen two members murdered by Islamic State, received its award from the editor of The New Yorker and CPJ board member David Remnick. Creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Doonesbury comic strip Garry Trudeau presentedZulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque (“Zunar”) of Malaysia with his award, the first time CPJ has honored a full-time cartoonist. Suroosh Alvi, co-founder of VICE Media, presented an award to the Zone 9 bloggers, a group of journalists from Ethiopia, of which six were charged with terrorism and imprisoned for more than a year in retaliation for critical reporting. Cándido Figueredo Ruíz, a Paraguayan journalist who has lived under 24-hour police protection for two decades because of his reporting on organized crime, received his award from CPJ board member Isaac Lee, president of news and digital for Univision Communications, Inc. and CEO of Fusion.

Kathy Gannon, special regional correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan at The Associated Press, received the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in the cause of press freedom from Christiane Amanpour, the chief international correspondent for CNN and host of CNN International’s nightly program “Amanpour.” Gannon has covered the region since 1998. In 2014, she was seriously wounded when an Afghan police officer opened fire on the car she was sharing with AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed.

The awards dinner was chaired by Steven R. Swartz, president and CEO of Hearst, and held at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. The dinner raised a record $2.04 million for CPJ’s worldwide advocacy–including a special appeal during the evening that was matched by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

“We are most grateful to Steve’s leadership in making this evening such a success,” said Kathleen Carroll, CPJ’s vice chair and the executive editor of The Associated Press.

Source: CPJ

Zone9 Bloggers of Ethiopia: 2015 CPJ Award Acceptance Speech

Four international journalists were honoured with the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2015 International Press Freedom Awards. The awardees are Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, “Zunar,” of Malaysia, CPJ’s first cartoonist awardee, who is charged with sedition and faces a potential 43-year jail term for drawings lampooning high-level abuse in the Malaysian government; Zone 9 bloggers of Ethiopia, a group of bloggers of which six were arrested, imprisoned, and charged with terrorism in retaliation for critical reporting; Cándido Figueredo Ruíz, a Paraguayan journalist who faces death threats and has lived under 24-hour police protection for the past decade because of his reporting on drug smuggling on the Brazil-Paraguay border; and Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a Syrian citizen journalist collective and one of the few independent news sources that continues to report from inside the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital. The associated Press’s special regional correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Kathy Gannon, received the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in the cause of press freedom.

Ethiopia: Acquittal of Bloggers Has Not Ended Repression

The detention of the Zone 9 bloggers in 2014 became an international cause célèbre, and the release of the last of them in October was greeted with euphoria. But the regime’s crackdown on dissent continues unabated.

Last month, on the same day that the last member of Ethiopia’s Zone 9 blogger collective walked out of jail on $1,000 bail, the Federal High Court in Addis Ababa quietly sentenced the publisher of a now-defunct magazine,Lomi, to 18 years in prison in absentia on dubious charges of tax evasion. The publisher, Gizaw Taye, was among dozens of journalists who fled the country in August 2014, when the government launched one of its most intense crackdowns on independent media in recent memory. In October of that year, he received a three-year prison sentence in absentia for incitement and disseminating false information.

It’s not very clear why the government, dominated by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), decided to stop pursuing the frivolous terrorism charges against the last Zone 9 bloggers at this particular point in time. However, the first batch of detainees were released in July, days before U.S. president Barack Obama’s trip to Ethiopia, suggesting that the move was in part a response to the intense diplomatic and other pressure that the government had faced since the bloggers were arrested in April 2014.

Unfortunately, the progress represented by the releases is quite limited. An appeal is still pending, and the lengthy detentions dealt a significant blow to the morale of Ethiopia’s budding community of digital activists, as it signified a blatant disregard for constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of expression. It is also important to remember that the releases can in no way make up for the unjust imprisonment and the physical and psychological abuses inflicted on the detainees by government security and judicial personnel.

While spinning the release of the bloggers as a demonstration of judicial independence, Ethiopian authorities have brushed aside the idea of compensation for the unlawful detention and mistreatment of the bloggers, and of many other dissidents thrown in jail without a shred of evidence pointing to criminal activity.

In fact, the pending appeal and the threat of rearrest are essentially a ploy to keep the bloggers and their supporters in a perpetual state of fear, and to deny them the moral victory of a complete exoneration.

Meanwhile, the EPRDF continues to use Ethiopia’s criminal justice system as its primary instrument of repression. The pliant courts enable arbitrary enforcement of the flawed Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (ATP) and an intricate web of other draconian laws, providing little oversight or redress for the routine abuses committed by police and prison authorities. In addition to the real threat of imprisonment, the EPRDF employs widespread surveillance to keep a stranglehold on the country’s independent media and civil society, and routinely blocks access to online content. The presence of the ruling party at all levels of society has seriously inhibited free discourse. Ethiopians are increasingly wary of speaking against the government in any context, as the regime maintains a network of paid informants both online and off.

There are still at least eight Ethiopian journalists in jail, either serving long prison sentences or facing bogus terrorism charges under the ATP. The release of the Zone 9 bloggers is even less heartening when one considers that at least 57 Ethiopian journalists have taken refuge abroad, placing Ethiopia second only to Syria among countries with the most exiled journalists.

The 18-year sentence imposed last month on Gizaw Taye should be a glaring reminder that the price of criticizing the government in Ethiopia is still too high. The release of the bloggers does not signify any fundamental break from EPRDF’s long-standing intolerance of dissent or a shift from its policy of using the law as a tool of repression. If anything, the releases should spur the international community to continue pushing the EPRDF to free the dozens of other journalists, peaceful political activists, and civic and religious leaders who remain unjustly imprisoned.

Analyses and recommendations offered by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of Freedom House.

Ethiopians welcomed the heroic journalist Reeyot Alemu in Washington DC

ከፍተኛ ቁጥር ያላቸው ቁስለኛ ወታደሮች ዳሽ-6 በተባለ አውሮፕላንና ኤም.አይ-17 ሄሊኮፕተር ከሶማሊያ አየተጫኑ ድሬ ደዋ ላይ በመራገፍ ላይ ናቸው፡፡

 

ራሱን በመንግስትነት ስም የሚጠራው የማፍያው ቡድን ህወሓት የምዕራባዊያንን ቁሳዊና ፖለቲካዊ ድጋፍ በማግኘት ስልጣኑን ለማደላደል ሲል ብቻ ከ10 ዓመታት በፊት ማለትም ከ1998 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ የድሃው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ልጅ የሆኑ ዕልፍ አዕላፍ የመከላከያ ሰራዊት አባላትን ያለማቋረጥ ወደ ሶማሊያ በረሃማ ምድር እያስገባ እጅግ በጣም አሰቃቂ ለሆነ እልቂት እየዳረጋቸው ይገኛል፡፡
የህወሓት አመራሮች የእስላማዊ ፍርድ ቤቶች ህብረትን ከሁለት ሳምንታት ባልበለጠ ጊዜ ውስጥ በመደምሰስ አፈራርሰውት ለቀው እንደሚወጡ ለህዝቡ ገልፀው ወደ ምድራዊ ሲኦል ወደሆነችው ሶማሊያ ጦር ጭነው ያስገቡ ሲሆን ነገር ግን አልሸባብ የተባለ ሌላ ፅንፈኛ ቡድን ፈጥረው ምስኪን ኢትዮጵያዊያን ወጣቶችን ከማይወጡበት የጦርነት አዙሪት ውስጥ ከተዋቸው ለድፍን 10 ዓመታት ሰቅጣጭ የሞት ገፈትን ሲግቷቸው ቆይተዋል፡፡ ቀጠናውንም የባሰ አለመረጋጋት እንዲሰፍንበት አድርገውታል፡፡
በዶላር ፍቅር ዓይኑ የታወረው የህወሓት አገዛዝ ከ10 ዓመታት በፊት ጦሩን ወደ ሶማሊያ ሲያስገባ እሱ እንደሚነግረን መጀመሪያ ላይ ጦርነት የገጠመው ከእስላማዊ ፍርድ ቤቶች ህብረት ሽምቅ ተዋጊዎች ጋር ብቻ ሳይሆን በዋነኝነት ከሶማሊያ ጎሳዎች መካከል በጠንካራነቱና በታላቅነቱ ከሚታወቀው የሃውዬ ጎሳ ጋር ነበር፡፡ በመሆኑም በገብረ ዲላ እና በሌሎች ህወሓታዊ ድኩማን የጦር አዛዦች የሚመሩት 43ኛ እና 44ኛ ክፍለ ጦር ሙሉ በሙሉ ተደምስሰዋል፤ መሪዎቹ ጭነዋቸው የሄዱትን በብዙ ሺህ የሚቆጠሩ ወታደሮች ለሶማሊያ በረሃ ገብረው አምስትና ስድስት ወታደሮችን ብቻ አስከትለው ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ተመልሰዋል፡፡ ሞቃዲሹ ውስጥ አንድ የሃውዬ ጎሳ አባል በአንድ ህንፃ ውስጥ መትረየስ ጠምዶ ቢያንስ አንድ ሻምበል ጦር ብቻውን ጨርሷል፡፡ የድሃ ልጆች ለኢትዮጵያ ምንም አይነት ጠቀሜታ በሌለው ጦርነት በክንቱ ደማቸው ፈሶ ረግፈው ያለቀባሪ ቀርተዋል፡፡ አሁንም በዘግናኝ ሁኔታ መገደላቸው ቀጥሏል፡፡ ሬሳቸውም እንዳያርፍ ተፈርዶበት በየጎዳናው በገመድ ታስሮ ሲጎተት ታይቷል፡፡
ምንም እንኳን አሮጌዎቹ የአየር ኃይል አውሮፕላኖችና ሄሊኮፕተሮች የወታደር ሬሳና ቁስለኛ ወደ ድሬ ደዋ ያለማቋረጥ ማመላለስ የጀመሩት ካለፈው 2007 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ ቢሆንም አሁን አሁን ደግሞ የባሰውኑ ስራ በዝቶባቸዋል፡፡ ዳሽ-6 አውሮፕላንና ኤም.አይ-17 ሄሊኮፕተር በቁስለኛ ወታደሮች ጥቅጥቅ ብለው ተሞልተው ከወደ ሶማሊያ እየመጡ ድሬ ደዋ ላይ በማራገፍ ላይ ናቸው፡፡
ከሶማሊያ በአውሮፕላንና በሄሊኮፕተር ተጭነው ድሬ ደዋ ላይ የተራገፉት ቁስለኛ የሰራዊቱ አባላት ወደ ሐረር ወታደራዊ ሆስፒታል እየተወሰዱ በመግባት ላይ ናቸው፡፡ በመሆኑም የሐረሩ የመከላከያ ሆስፒታል ከአቅሙ በላይ በቆስለኞች መሞላቱን የሆስፒታሉ ምንጮቻችን ገልፀዋል፡፡
ሆኖም ለቁስለኞች የሚደረገው ህክምና እና እንክብካቤ በራሱ ከአድሏዊነት የፀዳ እንዳልሆነ ተጎጅዎች ቅሬታቸውን እየተናገሩ ነው፡፡ የህወሓት ታጋዮች የነበሩ የሰራዊቱ አባላት ሆዳቸውን በቆረጣቸው ቁጥር ደቡብ አፍሪካና ሳዑዲ አረቢያ ድረስ እየሄዱ በከፍተኛ የውጭ ምንዛሬ እየታከሙ ተገደው የሶማሊያው ጦርነት ውስጥ ተማግደው ስጋቸው በእሳት ተጠብሶ የተመለሱት ወታደሮች ግን ጦር ኃይሎች ሆስፒታልን እንኳን በዓይኖቻቸው የማየት እድላቸው የጠበበ እንደሆነ እና አካላቸውን ላጡትም ምንም አይነት የሞራልም ሆነ የቁሳቁስ ድጋፍ እንደማይደረግላቸው ብሶታቸውን ዘርዝረዋል፡፡
በተጨማሪም ሶማሊያ ውስጥ የሚገኙ የአየር ኃይል አባላት በአውሮፕላኖችና ሄሊኮፕተሮች ብልሽትና እንዲሁም የመለዋወጫ እጥረት ምክንያት ስራ ፈትተው ለረጂም ጊዜ በመቀመጣቸው በአገዛዙ ላይ ከፍተኛ ቅሬታ ያዘለ ጥያቄ በአንድነት አንስተዋል፡፡ የአየር ኃይሉ ምክትል አዛዥ ጀነራል ማዕሾ ሐጎስ ወደ ቦታው አምርቶ ጥያቄ ያነሱ አባላትን የማረጋጋት ሙከራ ያደረገ ቢሆንም ለተነሳው ጥያቄ ተገቢ መፍትሄ ባለመሰጠቱ አሁንም ቅሬታው ባለበት ቀጠለ እንጂ ሊቀረፍ አልቻለም፡፡
የእነዚህን ሶማሊያ ዘማቾች የአየር ኃይል አባላት ሚስቶች የምስራቅ አየር ምድብ አዛዥ የሆነው ኮሎኔል አበበ ተካ በየተራ እያማገጠ እንደሚገኝም ውስጥ አዋቂ ምንጮቻችን ገልፀውልናል፡፡
በአጠቃላይ ሰሞኑን በኢትዮጵያና በሶማሊያ አዋሳኝ ድንበር ላይ በህወሓት መራሹ መከላከያ ሰራዊትና በአልሸባብ ተዋጊዎች መካከል ከባድ ጦርነት እንደተካሄደ ከቦታው የደረሰን መረጃ ያመለክታል፡፡

ባዕዳን ላይ በተመሠሰረተ ጥላቻ ስድስት ኢትዮጵያውያን ሞተዋል

በደቡብ አፍሪቃ ደርበን ከተማ ዘነፎብያ (Xenophobia) ወይም በመጤ ባዕዳን ላይ በተመሠሰረተ ጥላቻ ምክንያት ስድስት ኢትዮጵያውያን ላይ የደረሰውን ጥቃት የዐይን ምስክሮች ይገልጻሉ።

ቀደም ሲል በዜናችን ላይ እንደተገለጸው፣ በደቡብ አፍሪቃዋ ደርበን፣ ዘነፎብያ (Xenophobia) በተሰኘ በመጤ ባዕዳን ላይ በተመሠሰረተ ጥላቻ፣ ስድስት ኢትዮጵያውያን ላይ አሰቃቂ ግድያ ተፈጽሞባቸዋል።

ዜናውን እዚያው ከደርባን ለአሜሪካ ድምፅ ያደረሱን የዐይን ምስክሮች እንደገለጹት፣ ኢትዮጵያውያኑ ላይ የሚፈጸመው ዝርፊያና ድብደባ ሳያንስ፣ ቤንዚን ሰውነታቸው ላይ አርከፍክፎ እስከ ማቃጠል ተደሯል።

አዲሱ አበበ ሁለት ደርባን ኗሪ ኢትዮጵያውያንን አነጋግሮ ተለከታዩን አእርቧል። የድምጽ ፋይሉን በመጫን ያዳምጡ።

TPLF denies imprisoned journalist visitation rights, medical treatment

(CPJ) – Local friends and relatives of journalist Temesghen Desalegn, who is serving a three-year jail term, said that Ethiopian prison authorities in Ziway Prison have denied him medical treatment and all prison visits.

A court in the capital, Addis Ababa, convicted Temesghen on October 27, 2014, on charges of defamation, incitement, and false publication in connection with a series of opinion pieces published in 2012 in the now-defunct Feteh (“Justice”) newsmagazine, according to a translated copy of the charge sheet in CPJ’s possession. Two of the articles discussed the peaceful struggle of Ethiopian youth movements for political change and two columns criticized alleged government efforts to suppress student protesters and ethnic minorities through violent means, according to the charge sheet.

Temesghen’s family and local journalists said authorities did not provide a reason for the denial of prison visits. Local journalists said they suspected it could be linked to an interview Temesghen’s mother, Fanaye Irdachew, did with the U.S.-backed Voice of America Amharic service last month.

Temesghen suffers from back pain and has been denied access to medical treatment, and he has lost hearing in his left ear, according to the VOA interview which was corroborated by local sources that visited Temesghen before the visitation ban. According to one source that visited him in prison in July, the back pain is so severe the journalist is unable to sit or sleep.

In February 2015, authorities denied Temesghen prison visits from his family and friends for over a month, according to a public letter by Irdachew. Authorities did not provide an explanation at the time, but local journalists told CPJ they suspected Temesghen had been denied prison visits after an article he wrote from prison was published in several Ethiopia news websites. The articles detailed the mistreatment of prisoners at Ziway Prison.

The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, to which Ethiopia is a signatory, states that authorities are obligated to ensure that its citizens receive medical attention when necessary.

በስዊድን ለአርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት መርጃ ገንዘብ ተሰበሰበ (ወለላዬ)

አቶ ዘለሌ ፀጋ ስላሴ ዝግጅቱን ሲከፍቱ

ቅዳሜ ኦክቶበር 31 -2015 (ጥቅምት 20 – 2008 ዓ.ም ) በስዊድን ዋና ከተማ በስቶክሆልም ለአርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት ንቅናቄ መርጃ የሚሆን የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ዝግጅት ተደረገ። በዝግጅቱ ላይ በርካታ ኢትዮጵያውያንና ኤርትራውያን ተገኝተዋል።በቦታው ላይ በክብር እንግድነት የተገኙት አቶ አበበ ቦጋለ የውጪ እንቢተኝነት ሊቀመንበር እና አቶ ቸኮል ጌታነህ የንቅናቄው ከፍተና አመራር ናቸው።

አቶ አበበ ቦጋለ ንግግር ሲያደርጉ

ዝግጅቱ ረፋዱን 14፡00 ሰዓት የተጀመረ ሲሆን አቶ ጌታሁን ማሬ የዝጅቱ አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ ሰብሳቢ የስዊድን የአርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት የስራ አስፈጻሚ ሰብሳቢ የሆኑትን አቶ ዘለሌ ፀጋ ሥላሴን ስለዝግጅቱ ገለጻ እንዲያደርጉና ዝግጅቱንም እንዲመሩ ጋብዘዋል። አቶ ዘለሌ በበኩላቸው የከተማው የአርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት ንቅናቄ ያለበትን ሁኔታ ገልጸው እንግዶቹንም በማስተዋወቅ አቶ አበበ ቦጋለና አቶ ቸኮል ጌታሁን ንግግር እንዲያደሩ ጋብዘውል።

አቶ ቸኮል ጌታሁን ንግግር ሲያደርጉ

አቶ አበበ በአሁኑ ሰዓት አርበኞች ግንቦት ሰባት እየሰራ ስላለው የስራ ክንውን እቅድና አላማ እንዲሁም ደጋፊዎቹና አባላቶቹ እያደረጉ ስላሉት እንቅስቃሴ ማብራሪያ ሰጥተዋል። አቶ ቸኮል ጌታሁን በበኩላቸው በኤርትራ ቆይታቸው ወቅት ስለተመለከቱት የአርበኛው ቆራጥነትና የአላማ ጠንካራነት የገለጹ ሲሆን በአሁን ሰዓት የድሮ ጀግናችን ስም በመጥራት የምንቀመጥበት ጊዜ ሳይሆን እኛው እነሱን ተክተን በጀግንነት ስማችን ማስጠራት የሚገባን ጊዜ ነው በማለት ደጋፊውንና አባላትን የሚአበረታታና የሚነሳሳ መል ክት አስተላልፈዋል።

ለጨረታ የቀረበው ምስል

ከሁለቱ አመራሮች ንግግር በኋላ ተሰብሳቢው ሰው ጥያቄ እንዲያቀርብ ተጋብዞ ለቀረቡት ጥያቄዎች መልስ ተሰጥቷል። እንዲሁም ንቅናቄውን በተመለከተ ግልጽ ውይይት ተደርጓል። ከዚህ በመቀጠል « በደል ይረሳል ወይ?» የሚል ግጥም በማራኪና በወለላዬ ከቀረበ በኋላ የገቢ ማሰባሰቢያ ጨረታ ተደርጓል። ለጨረታ የቀረበው የንቅናቄው ሊቀመንበር የሆኑት የፕሮፌሰር ብርሃኑ ነጋ እና ቆራጡ አርበኛ የአቶ አንዳርጋቸው ጽጌ ከሚመሯቸው አርበኞች ጋር ሆነው የሚታዩበት «ላንቺ ነው ኢትዮጵያ » የተባለ ምስል ሲሆን ይሄው ምስል በግልና በቡድን ተጫርቶ ከፍተኛ ፉክክር ከተደረገ በኋላ በአንድ መቶ አራት ክሮነር( የስዊድን ገንዘብ ) የስዊድን የስደተኞች ማህበር አሸንፎ ምስሉን የግሉ አድርጎታል። ከዚህ ከጨረታ ከተገኘው ገንዘብ ሌላ ሁለት የቃል ኪዳን ቀለበቶች የመግቢያ ገንዘብ ሦስት መቶ ዶላርና ከእጣ የተሰበሰበ ገቢ ተገኝቷል።

የጨረታው አሸናፊዎች

በወቅቱ በስደተኛ ማህበሩ አባላት ይደረግ የነበረው ተሳትፎ ዝግጅቱን አድምቆት አርፍዷል በጨረታው ጊዜም በማሃል እረፍት በሚደረግበት ወቅት የ/ሪት ሙሉቀን አማረ «ኢትዮጵያዊት ነሽ አትበሉኝ » የሚል ግጥምና የ/ሮ ውቤ ማሞ እንዲሁም የአቶ መብራቱ ፀሐዩ ቀስቃሽ ግጥሞች ቀርበዋል።

የጨረታው አሸናፊዎች ከአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 አመራሮች ጋር

Patriatic G7 Fundrasing in Stockholm sweden

በሲዊድን ስቶኮሆንም አርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ያዘጋጀው የአገር አድንን የደጀንነት ጥሪ በደማቅ ሁኔታ በማከናወን የንቅናቄው ከፍተኛ አመራሮች አቶ አበበ ቦጋለ እና አቶ ቸኮል ጌታሁን ለታዳሚው በረሀ ያለው ትግል እና በውስጥም በውጭም ያለው ትግል ለታዲሚው ሰፊ ማብራሪ የሰጡ ሲሆን በስዊድን በድምቀት የተካሄደ የአገር አድን ጥሪ ለጨረታ የቀረበው ፎቶ በ 100 ሺህ የስዊድን ክሮነር ተሽጧል።