Ethiopia’s move to block social media, news sites illegal: report

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

December 14, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – A new report says Ethiopia’s move to block social media and news websites during months long deadly protests was illegal.

Research conducted by Amnesty International and the Open Observatory of Network Interference shows that between June and October this year during times of heightened tension and protests, access to WhatsApp and at least 16 news outlets was blocked, especially in the Oromia region.

“The internet blocking had no basis in law, and was another disproportionate and excessive response to the protests. This raises serious concerns that overly broad censorship will become institutionalized under the state of emergency.” Said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes.

“It’s clear that as far as the Ethiopian government is concerned, social media is a tool for extremists peddling bigotry and hate and therefore they are fully justified in blocking internet access. The reality, though, is very different. The widespread censorship has closed another space for Ethiopian’s to air the grievances that fueled the protests.”

The research also found "systematic interference" with access to political opposition sites and ones supporting freedom of expression and gay rights.

Since last year, the horn of African nation has faced an unprecedented wave of violent protests that claimed the lives of over 500 people.

But the country’s most recent protests were sparked after a religious festival in Oromia region turned into violet anti-government protests claiming lives of 55 in stampede.

In October, Addis Ababa has declared a six-month state of emergency giving the authorities the power to arrest anyone without court authorization and impose curfews.

The new report said the Ethiopian government is systematically and illegally blocking access to social media and news websites to deliberately crush dissent and prevent critical reporting.

Ethiopian authorities have admitted arresting over 11,000 people after the state emergency was imposed.

Protests among the Oromo, Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group initially sparked over territorial rights but later turned into more political, wider freedoms and economic rights.

Protesters of Oromos and Amhara which is the country’s second largest ethnic group are discontented that the ruling coalition is dominated by the Tigray minority group and demand a more inclusive power sharing.

Opposition parties have failed to secure a single parliamentary seat during the past election.

A government official has dismissed the new report as “one-sided, not credible and baseless”

"There is no internet blackout in Ethiopia," government deputy spokesman Mohammed Seid told The Associated Press.

“What we have is a certain obstruction on mobile data services. It will be resolved very soon”

However previously a number of government officials have admitted access to internet and social medias were blocked in a bid to arrest the violence which was expanding to many parts of the country.

Access to internet services have been widely affected since early October in larger parts of the country including in the Capital, which a seat to the African Union (AU) and international organizations.

Last week the government has partially lifted ban on social media and mobile data.

 Sudan Tribune

HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS TO ETHIOPIA: WHERE IS JAILED JOURNALIST?

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Human rights groups are asking Ethiopia's government to immediately disclose the whereabouts of a popular local journalist who has been behind bars since October 2014.

The Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia and DefendDefenders on Wednesday called it "unacceptable" that the government was unwilling or unable to provide Temesgen Desalegn's relatives with information after two years of detention.

The groups say Temesgen was jailed on "spurious charges." The journalist is serving a three-year sentence on charges of defamation, incitement and false publication.

The public relations head of the Ethiopian Federal Prison Administration, Gizachew Mengiste, tells The Associated Press he has no information about Temesgen's whereabouts

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency in October amid massive anti-government protests, leading to the arrest of at least two journalists.

The Associated Press

Briton on Ethiopia death row two years without family phone call

By agency reporter

A British man on death row in Ethiopia has gone two years without a phone call to his family in London.Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege last spoke to his partner and three children on 14 December 2014.

His family say that the rare phone call came out of the blue and lasted only a few minutes.Since then, guards at Kality prison, which has been dubbed ‘Ethiopia’s Gulag’, have heavily restricted Mr Tsege’s contact with the outside world.

He is held under an unlawful sentence of death in Ethiopia, after he was kidnapped and rendered to the country in 2014.Mr Tsege is a well-known critic of the Ethiopian ruling party, and he was sentenced to death in absentia in 2009 while he was living in London.

The Foreign Office recently lost consular contact with him for a fortnight, amid reports that he was "in fear for his life.".(http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/23584)

Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood told Parliament last month that, “As part of our ongoing consular support to Mr Tsege, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made representations to the Ethiopian Government requesting that he be given access to a telephone.”

Mr Tsege requested a phone call with his family at his last consular visit over a month ago. However, since then he has not been able to make a call.

On the last visit by British Embassy staff to the jail, he asked the FCO to “Pass my love and tell them I am thinking of them always.”

British MPs are due to debate Mr Tsege’s case in Parliament on Tuesday, 20 December.

Maya Foa, a director of Reprieve, said: “Andy Tsege has had no contact with his family in the UK for over two years. Having been kidnapped from an international airport and rendered to Ethiopia’s Gulag in June of 2014, Andy has languished on death row ever since. Andy’s nine-year-old twins are facing another Christmas without their father at home. It is shocking that the British and Ethiopian governments cannot organise something as basic as regular phone calls for Andy’s family.”

* Reprieve http://www.reprieve.org.uk/

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የኢንተርኔት የስለላ ተግባርን ለማከናወን የሚረዳ ቴክኖሎጂን እየተጠቀመ እንደሚገኝ ተገለጸ

የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ዲፕ ፓኬት ኢንስፔክሽን (Deep Packet Inspection) የተሰኘና የኢንተርኔት የስለላ ተግባርን ለማከናወን የሚረዳ ቴክኖሎጂን እየተጠቀመ እንደሚገኝ ተገለጸ።

ቴክኖሎጂው በህጋዊ መንገድ የደህንነት ተያያዥ ስራዎችን ለማከናወን በተለያዩ አለም አቀፍ ኩባንያዎች በመቅረብ ላይ ቢሆንም፣ እንደ ኢትዮጵያ ያሉ ሃገራት አገልግሎቱን እየገዙ ለኢንተርኔት የስለላና ቁጥጥር ስር በማዋል መሆናቸውን አምነስቲ ኢንተርናሽናል መረጃዎችን ዋቢ በማድረግ ይፋ አድርጓል። 

ቴክኖሎጂውን ለስለላ ተግባር እየተጠቀመ የሚገኘው የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ለህዝብ የታገዱ ድረ-ገጾችን ለመከታተል እንዲሁም የኢንተርኔት አገልግሎት ተጠቃሚዎች በኢሜይልና በቀጥታ የመልዕክት (ቻት) ልውውጥ የሚያደርጉትን መረጃ ለመከታተል ማዋሉን የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅቱ አስታውቋል።

የቴክኖሎጂውን አገልግሎት ያለው ፍላጎት መጨመርን ተከትሎ የዚሁ ዘመናዊ ቴክኖሎጂ የገበያ ድርሻ በቀጣዮቹ ሶስት አመታት ውስጥ ወደ 5 ቢሊዮን ዶላር እንደሚደርስ መረጃዎች ያመለክታሉ።

ይኸው ዲፕ ፓኬት ኢንስፔክሽን የተሰኘው የቴክኖሎጂ አገልግሎት በተለይ በሞባይል የእጅ ስልኮች ላይ ያሉ መረጃዎችን በቀላሉ መንገድ ለመከታተልና ለመቆጣጠር እንደሚረዳ በጉዳዩ ዙሪያ ከተጻፉ መረጃዎች ለመረዳት ተችሏል።

አምነስቲ ኢንተርናሽናል ኢትዮጵያ እያደረገች ያለውን የኢንተርኔት አፈናና ቁጥጥር ለመረዳት ኦፕን ኦብዘርባቶሪ ኦፍ ኔት ዎርክ ከተሰኘ ኩባንያ ጋር አምስት ወር የፈጀ ጥናት ማካሄዱን አፍሪካ ኒውስ መጽሄት ሃሙስ ዘግቧል።

የጥናቱ ግኝት ሰሞኑን ይፋ ያደረገው የሰብዓዊ መብት ተሟጋች ድርጅቱ ኢትዮጵያ በሃገሪቱ የተቀሰቀሰን ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞ ለመቆጣጠር ሲል 16 ድረገጾችን ዝግ አድርጎ መቆየቱን አስታውቋል።

ድርጊቱ ህጋዊ መሰረት እንደሌለው የሚገልጸው አምነስቲ ኢንተርናሽናል መንግስት አገልግሎቱን ከሟቋረጥ ይልቅ ከህዝቡ ለተነሱ ጥያቄዎች ምላሽ ቢሰጥ የተሻለ እንደሚሆን ገልጿል።

በኢትዮጵያ የስልክ መሰረተ ልማት በማስፋፋት ላይ የሚገኘው ህአዌ ቴክኖሎጂን ጨምሮ ኖኪያ፣ አልካቴል፣ ኤሪክሰን እና ሲስኮም ሲስተም የተሰኙ 19 የቴክኖሎጂ ኩባንያዎች የዲፕ ፓኬት እንስፔክሽን አቅራቢዎች መሆናቸውን ለመረዳት ተችሏል።

የቻይናው ሁአዌ ቴክኖሎጂ ከጥቂት ከጥቂት አመታት በፊት የራሱን ብድር በማቅረብ በኢትዮጵያ ከሁለት ቢሊዮን ዶላር የሚፈጀው የስልክ መሰረተ ልማት ለማካሄድ ከመንግስት ጋር ስምምነት መፈጸሙ ይታወሳል።

ከአንድ አመት በፊት ገዢው የኢህአዴግ መንግስት ከአንድ የጣሊያን ቴክኖሎጂ ኩባንያ ጋር አንድ ሚሊዮን ዩሮ የሚበልጥ ስምምነት በመፈጸም የኢንተርኔት ቁሳቁስ ሲገዛ መቆየቱ መጋለጡ ዋሽንግተን ፖስት ጋዜጣና ሌሎች አለም አቀፍ መገናኛ ብዙርሃን ሰፊ ስፋን ሲሰጡ ቆይተዋል።

የዚሁ የስለላ ተግባር ተጎጂ የሆነ አንድ ትውልደ ኢትዩጵያዊ አሜሪካዊ በኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ላይ ክስን አቅርቡ ጉዳዩ በሂደት ላይ መሆኑም ታውቋል።

ኢሳት

Ethiopia: Social media and news websites blocked by government to prevent protests

• Google transparency report shows dramatic drop in internet traffic out of Ethiopia on two days when at least 100 people were killed by security forces during protest
• 16 news sites and access to WhatsApp blocked between June and October

“As far as the Ethiopian government is concerned, social media is a tool for extremists... The reality, though, is very different” – Michelle Kagari

The Ethiopian government systematically and illegally blocked access to social media and news websites in its efforts to crush dissent and prevent reporting of attacks on protesters by security forces during a wave of protests over the last year, a new report released today shows.

Research conducted by Amnesty International and the Open Observatory of Network Interference shows that between June and October this year during times of heightened tension and protests, access to WhatsApp and at least 16 news outlets was blocked, especially in the Oromia region.

Since November last year, thousands of people from Oromia have taken to the streets to protest against possible land seizures under the government’s Addis Ababa Masterplan, which aims to expand the capital’s administrative control into the region. The government declared a six-month state of emergency in October this year in response to the protests.

The study was conducted to investigate whether and to what extent internet censorship was actually taking place after contacts of Amnesty and the Open Observatory of Network Interference in Ethiopia consistently reported unusually slow internet connections and inability to access social media websites.

Testimonies gathered by Amnesty from different parts of Oromia found that social media mobile applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter, have been largely inaccessible since early March this year, especially in the Oromia region where residents were waging protests against the government since last November.

The Ethiopian government is also reported to have blocked access to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Viber during the National University Exam week (9 – 14 July 2016) so as “to prevent students being distracted from studying during the exam period”.

Amnesty contacts also reported that internet access on mobile devices had been completely blocked in Amhara, Addis Ababa and Oromia in the lead up to protests in the three regions on 6 and 7 August.

This was confirmed in Google’s transparency reports for the period between July and November this year, which showed a dramatic drop in internet traffic out of Ethiopia on the two days when at least 100 people were killed by security forces during the protests.

Amnesty International’s Deputy East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes Director Michelle Kagari said:

"It’s clear that as far as the Ethiopian government is concerned, social media is a tool for extremists peddling bigotry and hate and therefore they are fully justified in blocking internet access.  The reality, though, is very different. The widespread censorship has closed another space for Ethiopian’s to air the grievances that fuelled the protests.

“The internet blocking had no basis in law, and was another disproportionate and excessive response to the protests. This raises serious concerns that overly broad censorship will become institutionalised under the state of emergency.

“Rather than closing off all spaces for people to express their concerns, the authorities need to actively engage with, and address the underlying human rights violations that have fuelled the protests over the last year. “We urge the government to refrain from blocking access to internet sites and instead commit its resources to addressing its citizens’ legitimate grievances.”

Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology used to filter websites

The report also found that the Ethiopian government uses Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology to filter access to websites. DPI is a technology that can be bought and deployed on any network. Though it has many legitimate functions, it can also enable monitoring and filtering of internet traffic.

The Open Observatory of Network Interference’s Maria Xynou said:

“Our findings provide incontrovertible evidence of systematic interference with access to numerous websites belonging to independent news organisations and political opposition groups, as well as sites supporting freedom of expression and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights.

“Tor Metrics data illustrate that more and more people were trying to access censorship circumvention tools, such as TOR, which indicated that the internet was inaccessible through the normal routes. This all paints a picture of a government intent on stifling expression and free exchange of information.”

Background

Ethiopia has been hit by a wave of protests since November 2015 when ethnic Oromos took to the streets to protest against possible land seizures under the government’s Addis Ababa Masterplan, which aimed to expand the capital’s administrative control into Oromia.

The protests later spread to Amhara, with demands for an end to arbitrary arrests, as well as respect for regional autonomy rights enshrined in the constitution.

Most of the protests were met with excessive force from the security forces. The worst incident involved the death of possibly hundreds of protesters in a stampede on 2 October at Bishoftu.

Protest groups say the stampede was caused by the security forces’ unnecessary and excessive use of force. The government has denied this, instead blaming the deaths on “anti-peace forces.”

amnesty.org.uk