#BBCtrending: Jailed bloggers spark Ethiopia trend

The Zone9 bloggers arrested on Friday

Just when US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Ethiopia, six of the nation's leading bloggers have been arrested.

On Friday afternoon at 5pm Addis Ababa time, the mobile phones and inboxes of nine Ethiopian bloggers began to beep and vibrate with frantic messages. One of the members of social media activist group Zone 9 had been arrested - and others were being warned. But the alerts came too late and by the next day, five more bloggers and three journalists had been arrested All nine are in custody whilst police investigate allegations that the individuals have been working with foreign organizations, rights activists, and "using social media to destabilise the country".

The arrests highlight the highly political role social media now plays in Ethiopia. Officially a democracy, human rights groups have repeatedly complained about the lack of press freedom there. Most of the TV and radio stations are state run. Because of this, the opposition and activists, including those based abroad, have come to dominate social media conversation in the country.

As you'd expect, then, since the arrests a protest hashtag, #Freezone9bloggers, has been tweeted over eight thousand times. Respectable by international standards, but a top trend in a country where the internet is estimated to reach just over 1% of the population. The Zone 9 bloggers began writing together two years ago and they use the platform to criticize the government, accusing it of human rights abuses and building poor infrastructure for example.

Paul Brown from BBC Monitoring says that the crackdown seems to be a response to a statement from the group posted on 23 April on Facebook. Zone 9 wrote that they would resume their blogging after several months of inactivity. He says that the arrests "suggest that the government is taking online activism seriously - probably because elections are due next year." The Ethiopian government has not responded to BBC Trending's invitations to comment but Getachew Reda, an advisor to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, told Reuters that these arrests "have nothing to do with journalism but serious criminal activities". The arrests come just days before the scheduled visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry, which is now set to take place today.

Reporting by India Rakusen

http://www.bbc.com

Netizen Report: Ethiopia Cracks Down on Political Expression

Ethiopian opposition activists demonstrate in Addis Ababa on June 2, 2013. 

Photo by STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images

The Netizen Report originally appears each week on Global Voices Advocacy. Ellery Biddle, Lisa Ferguson, Alex Laverty, Hae-in Lim, and Sarah Myers contributed to this report.

Global Voices Advocacy's Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in digital rights around the world. This week's report begins in Ethiopia, where, on April 25, six members of the Zone Nine blogging collective, known for their critiques of government policy and political repression, were arrested in Addis Ababa. One journalist suspected of association with the group was also taken into custody. The next day, two more journalists were arrested on similar grounds. According to local sources, the bloggers have since been issued charges of  “working with foreign organizations that claim to be human rights activists and ... receiving finance to incite public violence through social media." Various members of the group have worked with Global Voices as authors and translators. In 2012, Zone Nine worked in partnership with Global Voices to create Global Voices in Amharic. In a post about the arrests, Zone Nine member Endalk explained the origin of the group’s name:

“In the suburbs of Addis Ababa, there is a large prison called Kality where many political prisoners are currently being held, among them journalists Eskinder Negaand Reeyot Alemu. The journalists have told us a lot about the prison and its appalling conditions. Kality is divided into eight different zones, the last of which—Zone Eight—is dedicated to journalists, human right activists and dissidents.

When we came together, we decided to create a blog for the proverbial prison in which all Ethiopians live: this is Zone Nine.”

Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have called for their release.

http://www.slate.com

Human rights on agenda of Kerry visit to Africa

US Secretary of State John Kerry will focus on human rights, crisis aid and economic cooperation on his six-day trip to three African countries.

It was like a slap in the face for the US administration when, just days before the visit to Ethiopia by Secretary of State John Kerry, Ethiopian police arrested six bloggers and three journalists. The reaction from Kerry’s press spokesperson Jen Psaki was swift.

“We urge the government of Ethiopia to expeditiously review the cases of these detainees and promptly release them. We have raised these concerns on the ground directly with the government of Ethiopia. And we, of course, reiterate our longstanding concern about the abridgment of the freedom of press and the freedom of expression in Ethiopia, and urge the government of Ethiopia to fully adhere to its constitutional guarantees,” Psaki said.

It is a regular occurrence for the US to criticize human rights violations in the authoritarian state. Kerry is certainly going to raise the topic during his visit. However, it is not his main reason for going to Ethiopia.

A demonstration against Ethiopia’s authoritarian government

For the US, Ethiopia is an important partner in the battle against the numerous crises in neighboring countries like Somalia and South Sudan, says Alex Vines from London-based think tank Chatham House. Historically, it’s a strong relationship, Vines told DW. “The US has invested heavily in terms of international development, but also in capacity building and institution building in Ethiopia.”

Possible stopover in South Sudan

The ongoing conflict between the government and rebels in South Sudan is also on Kerry’s agenda. He has indicated that he may make a brief stopover there. Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa was the venue for so far unsuccessful peace talks held under the auspices of IGAD, the regional alliance on the Horn of Africa. Observers believe Kerry wants to kick start a new round of talks.

Vines points out that the US played a major role in bringing about the 2011 referendum in which the people of South Sudan voted overwhelmingly for independence.

For Kenyan observer Barack Muluku, Kerry’s trip to Africa underlines the growing rivalry between the west and burgeoning economic powers like China and Brazil who are also expanding their cooperation with Africa. “The influence of western states and America on Africa is decreasing,” he told DW.

The US and other western countries generally become involved when their own interests are concerned, Muluku said, quoting the examples of South Sudan and Angola, two countries with large oil reserves. Angola will be the last stop on Kerry’s itinerary. Big US oil concerns are active there, such as Chevron which last year joined a major oil extraction project off the Angolan coast.

Angola has rich oil reserves

Chatham House’s Vines also believes economic interests come indeed into play, but says there is more to it. “The visits to Angola and the DRC are about Eastern Congo and about conflict resolution there. Kerry is visiting Angola in particular to congratulate the Angolan President Jose Edouardo dos Santos on his role as acting president of the Intergovernmental Conference for the Great Lakes and the positive role that the Angolans have been playing in trying to push for solutions to the variety of crises that remain in Eastern Congo.”

In short, there will be some praise and many sensitive questions to be raised during the Secretary of State’s six-day trip.

http://cyberethiopia.com

Ethiopian Journalists Forum (EJF) is attending the AU meeting in Angola, made a presentation about the current situation of Ethiopia

EJF made a presentation about the current situation of Ethiopia including the unlawful arrest of Zone 9 members and Other Journalists . Ethiopia was an agenda and participants were discussing in depth about it. The recent crackdown was something that shocked many. The Head of the EJF delegation said that There were some people crying when we explained what is happening there. By the way we issued a joint statement there. We are also working to submit a letter to AU to work on the case.

EJF Delegation said We also recommended what the AU should do to overcome the problem in Ethiopia.We also meet with AU commissioner and discussed with him about the situation of journalists. We did the same thing with IFEX director. We made an aggement with her to join her org. as a member. We have done a lot of things there. We have distributed a document about the freedom of speech and of the press in Ethiopia to all participants. We explained about what is going in Ethiopia and the way out.

The EJF Delegation also added that We gave detail information about Ethiopian Journalists and Zone 9 Bloggers and the unlawful acts.Also also discussed the situation of Ethio Mihdar newspaper Journalist Ephrem, the journalists experianced a car accident recently.

The Chairman of EJF Journalist Betr yakob Getahun said that Ethiopian Journalists Forum will become a member of international journalists federation, East African journalists Association, and Ifex. and He said ".. I discussed with the directory of ifex and she promised us to write a letter to organizations to accept us to their membership.We have also made an agreement to work together in the future...

Journalist Betre Yakob Getahun said ; "we have made an appointment with African Union representative to meet in Addis and see what we can do in the future...the meeting was sucssesful for us. We did what we had planed to do. it was our plan to do when we left Addis to show the real situation of Ethiopia and to integrate our association we the international and regional organizations.EJF has got welcome by almost all organization including AU... "

EJF Delegation said taht There was a team comprised of different organization to issue a statement about Zone 9. I hope it will be issued these days. EJF was the coordinator and main actor of the team. A representative of the AU was a part of the team. The team is also to submit a letter to AU to actively react against the Ethiopian government with regarding to zone 9.

Ethiopian authorities lie about crackdown against free speech

AFP – Ethiopia said Tuesday several people had been arrested on charges of “serious criminal activities”, but rights groups identified those detained as journalists and bloggers targeted in a sweeping crackdown against free speech.

“They are suspected of some serious crimes, and the police are investigating,” government spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP, without providing details of the alleged crimes.

The journalists and a group of bloggers known as “Zone 9″ were arrested last week, prompting an outcry from rights groups.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called the arrests “one of the worst crackdowns against free expression” in the country, while Amnesty International said it was part of a “long trend of arrests and harassment of human rights defenders, activists, journalists and political opponents.”

Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch said the “arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticises the Ethiopian government will be silenced”, and called for their immediate release.

The arrests come ahead of a visit this week by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

“The timing of the arrests — just days before the US Secretary of State’s visit — speaks volumes about Ethiopia’s disregard for free speech,” Lefkow added.

The bloggers Zone 9 website, reportedly named after the prison where political detainees are held, listed the names of nine people arrested, saying they were charged with having worked with foreign human rights activists to foment violence or instability.

But the government dismissed the rights groups, and said those arrested were not detained for their work as journalists.

“We don’t take orders from Human Rights Watch,” Getachew said.

- Free speech ‘a crime’ -

An opposition group staged a protest on Sunday following the arrests, calling for “greater liberties and a true democracy” in Ethiopia, but police shut the 200-person demonstration down soon after it started.

HRW said 20 members of the political opposition Semayawi or “Blue” party have also been arrested since Friday, although there has been no official confirmation of exact numbers.

“With the latest arrests, Ethiopian authorities are turning the peaceful exercise of free expression into a crime,” the CPJ’s Tom Rhodes said in a statement.

Amnesty said the group had only restarted blogging last week after suspending their work for the past six months, accusing the government of harassment.

Ethiopia has been accused of cracking down on independent media and has doled out several heavy sentences for journalists charged under the controversial anti-terror legislation, which rights groups have called vague and far-reaching.

“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 Amnesty’s Claire Beston.

In 2011, two Swedish journalists were sentenced to 11 years in jail under the law, but were later pardoned after serving 15 months.

Ethiopia has one of the most closed press environments in the world, the CPJ says. It calculates that at least 49 journalists have been forced into exile, the third worst after Somalia and Iran.

http://ecadforum.com

TPLF/EPRDF charges nine bloggers and journalists with inciting violence

(Reuters) – Ethiopia has charged six bloggers and three journalists with attempting to incite violence, their supporters said on Monday, prompting accusations from rights groups that the government is cracking down on its critics.

All nine defendants, including freelance journalists Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye, appeared in court on Sunday after they were rounded up by police on April 25 and April 26, their colleagues told Reuters.

On Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who visits Ethiopia on Tuesday, to press the government to “unconditionally release” all the defendants, but Addis Ababa dismissed the criticism of the case.

“The nine arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticizes the Ethiopian government will be silenced,” said Leslie Lefkow, HRW’s deputy Africa director.

“The timing of the arrests – just days before the U.S. secretary of state’s visit – speaks volumes about Ethiopia’s disregard for free speech,” she said in a statement.

In 2012, Addis Ababa sentenced a prominent blogger and five other exiled journalists to between eight years to life on charges of conspiring with rebels to topple the government.

In the new case, a colleague of Tesfalem said security officials in plain clothes searched his house and confiscated several materials before taking him to a detention center.

An Ethiopian government official defended the case against the nine, saying it had nothing to do with muzzling the media.

“CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES”

“These are not journalists. Their arrest has nothing to do with journalism but with serious criminal activities,” Getachew Reda, an adviser to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, said.

“We don’t crack down on journalism or freedom of speech. But if someone tries to use his or her profession to engage in criminal activities, then there is a distinction there,” Getachew told Reuters.

Critics say Ethiopia – sandwiched between volatile Somalia and Sudan – regularly uses security concerns as an excuse to stifle dissent and clamp down on media freedoms.

They also point to an anti-terrorism law, passed in 2009, which stipulates that anyone caught publishing information that could incite readers to commit acts of terrorism can be jailed for between 10 and 20 years.

Addis Ababa says the law aims to prevent “terrorist attacks” as it is fighting separatist rebel movements and armed groups.

A court in Addis Ababa adjourned the hearing for the group of bloggers and journalists until May 7 and 8.

Kerry will meet Prime Minister Desalegn and Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom in Addis Ababa to discuss peace efforts in the region and to strengthen ties with Ethiopia, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

The State Department says the aim of Kerry’s African tour – which will also take in Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola – is to promote democracy and human rights.

(Editing by James Macharia and Gareth Jones)

http://ecadforum.com/

ጆን ኬሪ በአዲስ አበባ – ኢህአዴግ አሁንም በሶማሊያ ያስፈራራ ይሆን?

ኢህአዴግ የዞን9 ጦማሪዎችን “አገር በማተራመስ” ወንጀል ከሰሰ

የአሜሪካ የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር ጆን ኬሪ የኢትዮጵያ ጉዞ በርካታ ጉዳዮች የሚከናወኑበት እንደሆነ ተጠቆመ። የዘወትር የጎልጉል ምንጭ አንዳሉት የኬሪ አዲስ አበባ ጉዞ አስቀድመው የተሰሩ ስራዎች ውጤት ነው። ጥቁሩ ሰው “ውሻ ምንም ሳይመለከት አይጮህም” ሲሉ አገር ቤት ያሉ ተቃዋሚዎች ራሳቸውን ብቃት ያላቸው አማራጮች መሆናቸውን እንዲያሳዩ ጠይቀዋል። ኢህአዴግ አሜሪካንንና የምዕራቡን ዓለም እንደለመደው “ከሶማሊያ ጦሬን አወጣለሁ” በማለት መደራደሪያ ከማቅረብ ውጪ ሌላ አቅም እንደሌለው ተገለጸ። ኢህአዴግ የዞን9 ጦማሪዎችና ጋዜጠኞች “አገር በማተራመስ” ወንጀል ክስ መሰረተባቸው።

የድረገጽና የማህበራዊ ገጽ የኢህአዴግ ደጋፊዎችና የስርዓቱ ተጠቃሚ አባላት ባይዋጥላቸውም አሜሪካና ኢህአዴግ የነበራቸው ግንኙነት እየሻከረ መሔዱን ጎልጉል የድረገጽ ጋዜጣ በተደጋጋሚ ሲገልጽ እንደነበር ይታወሳል። ጎልጉል የዋሽንግቶን ዲፕሎማት ምንጩን በመጥቀስ እንደዘገበው አሜሪካ ኢህአዴግን “የምስራቅ አፍሪካ ስጋት” አድርጋም ፈርጃለች። የኢትዮጵያን ጉዳይ የሚከታተለውና በስቴት ዲፓርትመንት ውስጥ የተቋቋመው የቀውስ መከላከልና ዕርቅ ቢሮ ሃላፊ ከጥር ወር ወዲህ ባሉት ጥቂት ወራት ውስጥ አራት ጊዜ አዲስ አበባ ተጉዘዋል።

ኢህአዴግ እየተከተለ ያለው ፍትሃዊነት የጎደለው አገዛዝ ኢትዮጵያን ወደ ቀውስ እንዳመራትና ይኸው ቀውስ እልባት ካልተበጀለት የምስራቅ አፍሪካን የሚያዳርስ እንደሚሆን በአሜሪካ በኩል አቋም መያዙ ኢህአዴግን እንዳስበረገገው ተንታኞች እየገለጹ ነው። የምስራቅ አፍሪካ “የሰላም አባት ነኝ የሚለው ኢህአዴግ በውስጣዊ የፖለቲካ ቀውስ ስለሚገኝ የመወላለቅ ችግር ሳይገጠመው በፊት አሜሪካ አስቀድማ ስራዋን መስራት መጀመሯ ከራሷ ጥቅም አንጻር ነው” ሲሉ ዲፕሎማቱ እንደቀድሞው ሁሉ ሳይሸሽጉ ተናግረዋል። የኬሪ ጉዞም የዚሁ አካል እንደሆነ አስታውዋል። “ኢህአዴግ” አሉ ዲፕሎማቱ “የቀለም አብዮት እያለ እንደሚደነፋው ሳይሆን በመጪው ምርጫ በሩን ከፍቶ ለመወዳደር ከተስማማ ብቻ የለመደው ርጥባን ይሰጠዋል የሚል ግምት አለኝ” ብለዋል።

በ97 ምርጫ ወቅት እንዳደረገው በሶማሊያ ያለውን አለመረጋጋት እንደ ማስፈራሪያ በመጠቀም ጦሩን የማስወጣት ርምጃ ቢወስድስ? በሚል ለተጠየቁት “ኢህአዴግ የመጫወቻ ካርዶቹ ያለቁበት ይመስለኛል” በማለት የግሌ ያሉትን አስተያየታቸውን ሰጥተዋል። ኢህአዴግ በምርጫ 97 ተደራደር ሲባል ጦሩን ሰብስቦ ለመውጣት በዝግጅት ላይ እንደሆነ መግለጹን የተለያዩ የውጪ አገር ሚዲያዎች መዘገባቸው አይዘነጋም።

የአዲሲቷ ኢትዮጵያ የጋራ ንቅናቄ (አኢጋን) ዋና ዳይሬክተር ኦባንግ ሜቶ /ጥቁሩ ሰው/ “ውሻ ከጮኸ የሆነ ነገር አለ ማለት ነው” ሲሉ ለጎልጉል አስተያየት ሰጥተዋል። ኦባንግ አገር ቤት የሚንቀሳቀሱ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲዎች ይህንን ጩኸት ሰምተው ህዝብን በማስቀደም ራሳቸውን አማራጭ አድርገው እንዲያሳዩ ጥሪ አቅርበዋል። አማራጭ የለም የሚለውን ፍርሃቻ በመስበር ወቅቱን ለህዝብና ለአገር ጥቅም ለማዋል እንዲተጉ አሳስበዋል። የሚመሩት ድርጅት በቅርቡ በዚህ ዙሪያ የሚለው ነገር ስላለ ዝርዝር ጉዳይ ውስጥ ከመግባት ተቆጥበዋል።

የአሜሪካ የውጪ ጉዳይ መስሪያ ቤትን በመጥቀስ የጀርመን ድምጽ እንደዘገበው ኬሪ፤ ሃይለማርያም ደሳለኝን፣ ቴድሮስ አድሃኖምንና የሚመለከታቸውን ባለስልጣናት በሰብአዊ መብት አያያዝና በዲሞክራሲ ትግበራ ዙሪያ እንደሚያነጋግሩ ማረጋገጫ መሰጠቱን ጠቁሟል። በዚሁ ዜና ላይ ቃላቸውን እንዲሰጡ የተጠየቁት አቶ ጌታቸው ረዳ ኬሪ ከሌሎች የፖለቲካ ድርጅት አመራሮች ጋር ይነጋገራሉ የሚል ስጋት እንዳለባቸው የሚያሳብቅ መልስ ሰጥተዋል። ኬሪ የዞን9 ድረገጽና ማህበራዊ ድር ጦማሪዎች እስርን አስመልክቶ የተጠየቁት አቶ ጌታቸው ረዳ ጆን ኬሪ ስለ ዞን9 አባላት እስር ሊያነሱ እንደሚችሉ ተጠይቀው “እንደምናከብረው መሪ ጥያቄውን ካቀረቡ አስፈላጊውን መልስ እንሰጣለን” ካሉ በኋላ “የዞን9 ጦማሪዎች በጋዜጠኛነታቸው አልታሰሩም” በማለት ከገጀራና ከስርቆት ወንጀል ጋር በማዛመድ ለማቃለል ሞክረዋል።

ጌታቸው ረዳ

አገዛዙ ዝም ማለቱን አስመልክቶ “የመፈንቅለ መንግስት ሙከራ ያደረገ ሴል ቢኖር መግለጫ እናወጣለን” ሲሉ የመለሱት አቶ ጌታቸው፣ ጆን ኬሪ የእስረኞቹን ጉዳይ እንዲያነሱ ያሳሰበውን ሂውማን ራይትስ ዎችን “ልማዱ ነው” ሲሉ ዘልፈዋል።

የዞን9 አባላትን ታፍኖ መወሰድና በአገር ማተራመስ ወንጀል መከሰሳቸውን የሰሙ “ኢህአዴግ ማንንም ለአገር ተቆርቋሪ ሆኖ የመወንጀል ሞራላዊ ብቃት የለውም” በማለት ነው አስተያየታቸውን የሚጀምሩት። ኢህአዴግ ከአፈጣጠሩ ጀምሮ አሁን አስከደረሰበት ደረጃ ድረስ ዜጎችን በአገር ክህደት የመፈረጅ ብቃት ከቶውንም እንደሌለው ራሱም ጭምር የሚያወቀው እውነት እንደሆነ የደረሱን አስተያየቶች ያመላክታሉ።

ያለፈው እሁድ አራዳ ምድብ አንደኛ ችሎት የቀረቡት ሶስት ጋዜጠኞችና ስድስት ጦማሪዎች በሶስት የተለያዩ መዝገቦች መከሰሳቸው የጀርመን ሬዲዮ ይፋ አድርጓል። ከታሰሩ በኋላ ከቤተሰብና ከተመልካች ተሰውረው ምርመራ ሲደረግባቸው የነበሩት የዞን9 ጦማሪዎች አስመልከቶ ወ/ሮ ሚሚ ስብሃቱ የራሳቸው በሆነው የዛሚ ኤፍ ኤም 90.7 ሬዲዮ ክስ ከመመስረቱ በፊት ስለተከሰሱበት ጉዳይ የፖሊስ ምንጭ ጠቅሰው መናገራቸውን ቪኦኤ ተናግሯል።

ወ/ሮ ሚሚን ጠቅሶ የዞን9 ጦማሪዎች አርቲክል 19 ከሚባለው ተቋም ጋር ግንኙነት ያላቸውና የተለያዩ አገራት ሄደው የሰለጠኑ መሆናቸውን፣ በአገሪቱ ትርምስ ለመፍጠር በሻዕቢያና በግብጽ በገንዘብ እንደሚረዱ ቪኦኤ በዘገበ ማግስት ነው ፖሊስ በተመሳሳይ የክስ መዝገብ የተጨማሪ ቀጠሮ ቀን የጠየቀባቸው። የዞን 9 ጦማሪዎች ኢህአዴግ ላይ ጠንካራ ትችት በመሰንዘር የሚታወቁ ናቸው።

“አርብ ሚያዝያ 17 ቀን 2006 አመሻሹ ላይ 11፡20 ገደማ ስድስት የዞን ዘጠኝ ጦማርያን አባላት ናትናኤል ፈለቀ፣ በፍቃዱ ሀይሉ፣ አጥናፍ ብረሀነ፣ ማህሌት ፋንታሁን፣ ዘላለም ክብረት እና አቤል ዋበላ በበነጋው ደግሞ ጋዜጠኛ ተስፋለም ወልደየስም በመንግስት የጸጥታ ሀይሎች ከያሉበት ተይዘዋል፡፡ታሳሪዎቹን ለመያዝ የመጡት አካላት የማሰሪያና የመፈተሻ የፍርድ ቤት ፈቃድ የያዙ መሆናቸውን መስማታቸውን በዚሁ አጭር መግለጫ ላይ ተጠቅሷል።

“ዞን 9” የጦማርያን ስብስብ አባላት ሚያዚያ 15፣2006 ባወጣነው መግለጫ ላለፉት ሰባት ወራት የዞኑ አባላት ከፍተኛ የሆነ ክትትል ሲደረግባቸው እንደነበር በጠቅላላው የተጠቆመ ሲሆን ክትትሉ የተወሰኑ የቡድኑን አባላትና የቅርብ ወዳጆችን ጭምር ያካተተ ነበር፡፡ አሁን በመንግስት የተወሰደው እርምጃ የዞኑን ተመልሶ ወደ ስራ መግባት ተከትሎ ሊሆን እንደሚችል ይገመታል ሆኖም የዞን 9 አባላትና ወዳጆች በምንም አይነት ህገ ወጥ ተግባር ላይ ተሰማርተው እንዳልነበር ለማረጋገጥ እንወዳለ” በማለት በራሳቸው የፌስ ቡክ ገጽ ላይ ዜና አሰራጭተው ነበር።

በተመሳሳይ ዜና ቻይናን “ቃል የገባሽውን ብር አምጪ” ብሎ የሙጥኝ የያዘው ኢህአዴግ “ቀለም ይፈራል” ሲሉም በቅርብ የሚከታተሉ እየተቹት ነው። “ሆድ በባሰው ቁጥር የቀለም አብዮት ” በማለት ቅስቀሳ የሚያዘወትረው ኢህአዴግ አሁን ያስፈራው የትኛው ቀለም እንደሆነ በይፋ ባይገልጽም የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ሊቀመንበር የሆኑትን ኢንጂነር ይልቃል “ተስፋ የተጣለባቸው ወጣት መሪዎች” በሚል ተመርጠው ከሌሎች አቻዎቻቸው ጋር አሜሪካ ለስልጠናና ለልምድ ልውውጥ መጋበዛቸው፣ ወደ ስፍራው እንዳያመሩ መደረጉ፣ እንዲሁም አሁን በድፍረት የሚንቀሳቀሱና የሚያስተባብሩ መሆናቸው አንዱ የስጋት ምንጭ ሊሆን አንደሚችል ግምት አለ።

“የቀለም አብዮት ሰለባዎች” በሚል ርዕስ ኢህአዴግ ዩክሬንን አስታኮ ያሰራጨው ቪዲዮ አሜሪካንን በሽብር ስራ የማሰልጠን ክህሎት ያላት፣ ሽብርተኞች አገርን አንዲያተራምሱ በመደገፍ የሚታወቁ ተቋማት ባለቤት የሆነች አገር ብሎ መፈረጁ አይዘነጋም። ኢህአዴግ ተንታኝ አድርጎ ያቀረባቸው ጎረምሶች አሜሪካንና የምዕራብ አገሮችን ሲዘልፉ የሚያሳየው ፊልም መጨረሻው “ከፊል የዩክሬን ህዝብ ራስን በራስ በመወሰን መብቱ ተጠቅሞ የቀድሞ አካሉን ሩሲያን ተቀላቀለ” በሚል መሆኑና ጉዳዩ ከአሁኑ የኢትዮጵያ ሁኔታ ጋር ተዛምዶ መቋጨቱ የኢህአዴግን በተለይም የህወሃትን ስጋት እንደሚያጎላው የሚያሳይ እንደሆነ አስተያየት እየተሰጠበት ነው። በሕገመንግሥቱ አገር እንድትበታተን በአንቀጽ 39 በግልጽ አስቀምጦ እስካሁን ኢትዮጵያን በ“ነጻ አውጪ ግምባር” ስም የሚመራውና “የነጻ አውጪ ግምባሩን” መሪ ወደ ተባበሩት መንግሥታት በመላክ ኤርትራ ከኢትዮጵያ እንድትገነጠል ዓለምን የለመነው ህወሃት/ኢህአዴግ፤ “የቀለም አብዮት ሰለባዎች” በማለት ፕሮፓጋንዳ ሲያሰራጭ ከሶቪየት ህብረት የተገነጠለችውና የዩክሬን አካል የነበረችው ክሬሚያ ወደ እናት አገሯ ሩሲያ መመለሷን አብሮ ማሰራጨቱ ዘጋቢ ፊልሙን ዋጋቢስ የሚያደርገው መሆኑን አለማስተዋሉ በራሱ ሌላ ዘጋቢ ፊልም የሚያሰራ ነው፡፡

http://www.goolgule.com

Ethiopia: Arrests Upstage Kerry Visit

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.

“The nine arrests signal, once again, that anyone who criticizes the Ethiopian government will be silenced,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The timing of the arrests – just days before the US secretary of state’s visit – speaks volumes about Ethiopia’s disregard for free speech.” 

On the afternoon of April 25, police in uniform and civilian clothes conducted what appeared to be a coordinated operation of near-simultaneous arrests. Six members of a group known as the “Zone9” bloggers – Befekadu Hailu, Atnaf Berahane, Natnael Feleke, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kibret, and Abel Wabela – were arrested at their offices and in the streets. Tesfalem Weldeyes, a freelance journalist, was also arrested during the operation. Edom Kassaye, a second freelance journalist, was arrested on either April 25 or 26; the circumstances of her arrest are unclear but all eight individuals were apparently taken to Maekelawi Police Station, the federal detention center in Addis Ababa, the capital.

The police searched the bloggers and journalists’ offices and homes, reportedly with search warrants, and confiscated private laptops and literature. On April 26, another journalist, Asmamaw Hailegeorgis of Addis Guday newspaper, was also arrested and is reportedly detained in Maekelawi. 

The detainees are currently being held incommunicado, Human Rights Watch said. On the morning of April 26, relatives were denied access to the detainees by Maekelawi guards, and only allowed to deposit food. 

Human Rights Watch released a report in October 2013 documenting serious human rights abuses, including torture and other ill-treatment, unlawful interrogation tactics, and poor detention conditions in Maekelawi against political detainees, including journalists. Detainees at Maekelawi are seldom granted access to legal counsel or their relatives during the initial investigation phase.

The Zone9 bloggers have faced increasing harassment by the authorities over the last six months. Sources told Human Rights Watch that one of the bloggers and one of the journalists have been regularly approached, including at home, by alleged intelligence agents and asked about the work of the group and their alleged links to political opposition parties and human rights groups. The blogger was asked a week before their arrest of the names and personal information of all the Zone9 members. The arrests on April 25, 2014, came two days after Zone9 posted a statement on social media saying they planned to increase their activism after a period of laying low because of ongoing intimidation.

A Human Rights Watch report in March described the technologies used by the Ethiopian government to conduct surveillance of perceived political opponents, activists, and journalists inside the country and among the diaspora. It highlights how the government’s monopoly over all mobile and Internet services through its sole, state-owned telecom operator, Ethio Telecom, facilitates abuse of surveillance powers. 

Kerry is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom in Addis Ababa “to discuss efforts to advance peace and democracy in the region.” Kerry should strongly urge the Ethiopian government to end arbitrary arrests, release all activists and journalists unjustly detained or convicted, and promptly amend draconian laws on freedom of association and terrorism that have frequently been used to justify arbitrary arrests and political prosecutions. The Obama administration has said very little about the need for human rights reforms in Ethiopia, Human Rights Watch said.

“Secretary Kerry should be clear that the Ethiopian government’s crackdown on media and civil society harms ties with the US,” Lefkow said.  “Continued repression in Ethiopia cannot mean business as usual for Ethiopia-US relations.”
http://www.hrw.org

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. 

http://amnesty.org/

Ethiopian to Demand John Kerry Raise Human Rights Issue

Ethiopian to Demand John Kerry Raise Human Rights Issue



Demonstration to demand Secretary Kerry raise Human Rights Violations during his upcoming trip to Ethiopia and to show solidarity for jailed Semayawi (Blue) party members, Zone 9 independent Journalists and all Political Prisoners.

A protest demonstration has called for Monday April 28, 2014 in Washington, DC in front of the State Department ahead of Secretary John Kerry’s scheduled visit to Ethiopia. The protest rally is planned to show our solidarity with detained Semayawi Party members, recently arrested independent journalists and bloggers from Zone 9 group and political prisoners and to urge Secretary Kerry to make human rights and freedom of expression as one of his main topics of discussion during his stay in Addis Ababa.

It’s to be recalled that in the last few days, the TPLF lead Ethiopian regime has arrested over 50 Semayawi ( Blue) Party members ahead of their planned peaceful and legal protest rally on Sunday April 27. The regime is also tightening its suffocating grip on freedom of expression in a major crackdown with the arrest of numerous members from independent blogger and activist group ( Zone 9). With still a year to go before the “general elections”, the regime is tightening the screws on its iron curtain on freedom of speech, opinion and thought.

We urge Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopians in Washington DC metro and surrounding areas to join us to express our outrage at TPLF lead governments spiteful action against peaceful political party members, independent journalists and to demand release of political prisoners and to urge Secretary Kerry to make human rights and freedom of expression as one of his main topics during his upcoming visit to Ethiopia.

For more information contact

Semayawi Support-North America

P.O.Box 75860, Washington, DC 20013

semayawiusa.org

info@semayawiusa.org

Ethiopian Security Forces Open Fire on Students

Although officials in Oromia state and Addis Ababa city administration insist the plan only intends to develop Addis Ababa and its surrounding, Oromo students and the wider Oromo elites believe the plan is to displace farmers in the outskirts and suburban areas of the city, meet the growing demand for land, and weaken the Oromo identity. The Ethiopian constitution grants a special interest to the Oromia state regarding administrative, resource and other socio-economic matters in Addis Ababa, in its article 49 which never have been implemented. This has largely resulted in significant resistance within the ruling party, OPDO, in Oromia and a continues pressure to materialize the implementation.

The protest against the doomed to fail master plan is held in four universities sofar. Yesterday (26/04/2014) at Wollega University, the infamous and notorious Federal police opened fire at innocent Oromo students. Reports and eye witness indicate unknown number of students were hurt and some have fled to the bushes. The people of Nekemete town were prevented from joining the resistance. Even then some of the residents broke through line of federal police force and joined the protest.

At similar protest in Jimma university, the security forces picked more than 10 students and jailed them. Further 15 students in Ambo university were jailed.

The uproar against the plan is resonating across different segments of Oromo society. A singer by name Jafar Yusuf was jailed last week that is believed to be because he released a single condemning the plan. The diaspora is is voicing its concerns through the newly launched diaspora based Oromia Media Network

The security forces in Ethiopia are dominated by the Tigrayan minority who have been in power since the downfall of Derg communist regime in 1991. The Oromos are the most prosecuted in Ethiopia. More than 40000 Oromos are in jail, although the correct figure is hard to know.
Ze-Habesha Website may contain advice, opinions, and statements of various information and content providers. The Website neither represents nor endorses the accuracy of information or endorses the contents provided by external sources. All blog posts and comments are the opinion of the authors.

Ethiopian Security Forces Open Fire on Students

by admin

Report by korma

There has been widespread protest by Oromo students in universities in Ethiopia against unpopular ‘Addis Ababa-Finfinnee surrounding integrated master plan’. Oromo students in Haromaya, Jimma, Ambo and Wollega universities held protests.

ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የሰልፍ አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ በሃይማትታችሁ ጣልቃ ለተገባባችሁ ኢትዮጵያውያን በሙሉ የተደረገ ጥሪ!

ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የሰልፍ አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ በሃይማትታችሁ 

ጣልቃ ለተገባባችሁ ኢትዮጵያውያን በሙሉ የተደረገ ጥሪ!


ውድ ሃይማኖታችሁ ላይ ጣልቃ እየተገባባችሁ ያላችሁ ኢትዮጵያውያን በሙሉ፡- ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ኢትዮጵያውያን በነጻነት የፈለጉትን ሃይማኖት እንዲከተሉ፣ የፈለጉትን እምነት እንዲይዙ ባለው የጸና አቋም ገዥው ፓርቲ በሙስሊሙና በኦርቶዶክስ እምነት ተከታዮች ላይ እያደረገ ያለውን ጣልቃ ገብነት ሲቃወም ቆይቷል፡፡ የሙስሊሙ ማህበረሰብ ገዥው ፓርቲ በሐይማኖቱ ጣልቃ መግባቱን ተቃውሞ የሚያደርገውን ፍጹም ሰላማዊ እንቅስቃሴ በማድነቅ ገዥው ፓርቲ ከህገ ወጥ ተግባሩ እጁን እንዲሰበስብ ምክር ከመለገስ አልፎ በሰላማዊ ሰልፍም ድምጹን አሰምቷል፡፡ በተጨማሪም የሙስሊሙን መፍትሄ አፈላላጊ ኮሚቴ አባላት ላይ የተወሰደው ህገ ወጥ እርምጃ እና በእስር ላይ እየደረሰባቸው ያለውን ስቃይም በጽኑ ሲቃወም ቆይቷል፡፡ ወደፊትም በዚሁ አቋሙ እንደሚቀጥል ይገልጻል፡፡
በተመሳሳይ በክርስቲያኖች በተለይም በኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ እምነት ተከታዮች ያለውን ጣልቃ ገብነትም በተመሳሳይ ሲቃወም ቆይቷል፡፡ ለአብነት ያህል በዋልድባ ገዳም ላይ የተወሰደውን ህገ ወጥ ተግባር በግልጽ ተቃውሟል፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅትም ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ እምነት ተከታዮች በተለይም በማህበረ ቅዱሳን ላይ ጫና እየተደረገ እንደሚገኝ መረጃዎች እየጠቆሙ ነው፡፡ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ በማህበሩ ላይ ሊደረግ የታሰበው ሴራ እየተከታተለ ይገኛል፡፡ በኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ቤተ ክርስትያንም ሆነ በማህበሩ ላይ እየተደረገ ያለውን ጫናም በጽኑ ይቃወማል፡፡

ውድ የሁለቱም እምነት ተከታዮች፡- ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ህወሓት/ኢህአዴግ የሚያደርገውን ጫና እና ጣልቃ ገብነት በጽኑ እየተቃወመ፣ ማንኛውም በሐይማኖታችሁ ላይ የሚደረግን ጫና በግልጽ እንድትቃወሙ ጥሪ ያቀርባል፡፡ የሁለቱም የእምነት መጽሃፍቶች በአንዳችን ላይ የሚደርሰው ግፍ በሌላኛው ላይም እንዳይሆን መፈለግ እንዳለብን እንደሚገልጹት የእናንተ ብቻ ሳይሆን ሌሎች ላይ የሚደረገውን ጣልቃ ገብነትና ጫናም በመቃወም ለመርህ እንድትቆሙ ማሳሰብ ይፈልጋል፡፡

ሃይማኖት ለአንድ ማህበረሰብ ማንነት መሰረት እንደመሆኑ በአገር ግንባታ ቀላል የማይባል ሚና እንዳለው እናምናለን፡፡ ኢትዮጵያውያን ሐይማኖታች ሳይገድበን ተረዳድተን፣ ተባብረንና ተፈቃቅረን ኖረናል፡፡ ለዚህ አብሮ መኖርና መቻቻልም ሃይማኖታችን የራሱ የሆነ ሚና እንዳለው እናምናለን፡፡ ገዥው ፓርቲ በአሁኑ ወቅት በተለያዩ ሃይማኖቶች መካከል ብቻ ሳይሆን አንድ ሐይማኖት ውስጥ የሚገኙትን የአገራችን ዜጎች በጠላትና በወዳጅነት በመከፋፈል ኢትዮጵያውያን እርስ በእርሳቸው እንዲጠራጠሩ፣ ግጭት ውስጥ እንዲገቡና ሃይማኖታቸውን በነጻነት እንዳይከተሉ እያደረገ ነው፡፡ ይህም ለቀጣይ የአገራችን ሁኔታ አሉታዊ አስተዋጽኦው የጎላ በመሆኑ ፓርቲያችን በጽናት ይቃወማል፡፡

ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ በዚህ ጽኑ አቋሙ አግባብ ያልሆኑ የተለያዩ ስሞች ተሰትቶታል፡፡ አመራሮቹና አባላቱም ታስረዋል፡፡ ተደብድበዋል፡፡ ከተነጠቁት መብቶች መካከል ይህን የእምነት ነጻነት መብት እንዲከበር የሚጠይቁ ጥያቄ ባነሳበት በአሁኑ ወቅት እንኳ ከ50 በላይ የፓርቲው አመራሮችና አባላት ማጎሪያ ቤት ውስጥ ይገኛሉ፡፡ የኢትዮጵያውያን መብት ይከበር ዘንድ የሚከፈለውን ዋጋ ለመክፈልም ቁርጠኛ መሆናችንን መግለጽ እንወዳለን፡፡
ገዥው ፓርቲ በሃይማኖታችን ላይ ጣልቃ በመግባት የዜጎቻችን አንዱንና ዋነኛውን መብት ቀምቷል፡፡ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ይህን የኢትዮጵያውያን መብት ለማስመለስ ሚያዝያ 19 ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ጠርቷል፡፡ በመሆኑም ይህን የተቀማችሁትን መብት ለማስመለስ በዚህ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ እንድትሳተፉ ጥሪውን ያቀርብላችኋል፡፡

ኑ ራሳችን ነጻ በማውጣት የአገራችን እጣ ፋንታ እንወስን!

ኢትዮጵያ በክብር ለዘላለም ይኑር!

ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የሰላማዊ ሰልፍ አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ ለሚዲያ ማህበረሰቡ የተላለፈ ጥሪ

ከሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የሰላማዊ ሰልፍ አስተባባሪ ኮሚቴ ለሚዲያ 

ማህበረሰቡ የተላለፈ ጥሪ

ውድ የሚዲያ ማህበረሰብ አባላት፡- ባለፉት 23 ዓመታት ህወሓት/ኢህአዴግ በህገ መንግስቱ የሚዲያ ነጻነት እንደሚፈቀድ ቢደነግግም በተግባር ግን የራሱን ፕሮፖጋንዳ ከሚነዛባቸው ሚዲያዎች ውጭ ሌሎቹን ሲዘጋና ሲያሸማቅቅ ኖሯል፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅትም ህዝባችን ከገዥው ፓርቲ ፕሮፖጋንዳ ውጭ አማራጭ መረጃ ማግኘት አልቻለም፡፡ ጋዜጠኞች እየታሰሩ፣ እየተሰደዱ፣ ሚዲያዎች እየተዘጉም ቢሆን የተቻላችሁን ያህል ለህዝብ መረጃ ለማድረስ የሚዲያው ማህበረሰብ አባላት ለምታደርጉት ሁሉ ከፍ ያለ ክብር አለን፡፡ የታፈነውን የህዝብ ድምጽ ለማሰማት የምታደርጉትን ጥረትም እናበረታታለን፡፡ ሆኖም አሁንም ቢሆን በገዥው ፓርቲ አፋኝነት ምክንያት ህዝባችን የሚገባውን መረጃ እያገኘ አይደለም፡፡ እናንተም በሰበብ አስባቡ ጫና እየደረሰባችሁ እንደሆነ ፓርቲያችን ይገነዘባል፡፡

ገዥው ፓርቲ ላይ የሰላ ትችት የሚያደርሱ ጋዜጠኞች ‹‹አሸባሪ›› ተብለው ታስረዋል፡፡ ጋዜጦችና መጽሄቶች በስርዓቱ ተዘግተዋል፡፡ በርካታ ጋዜጠኞች አገራቸውን ጥለው ተሰደዋል፡፡ ሌሎቹ ደግሞ ድብደባ፣ ማስፈራሪያና ዛቻ ደርሶባቸዋል፡፡ እየደረሰባቸውም ነው፡፡ ገዥው ፓርቲ በሚያደርስባቸው ቀጥተኛም ሆነ ተዘዋዋሪ ጫና ከገበያ ወጥተዋል፡፡ በአጠቃላይ በአሁኑ ወቅት ለህዝባችን አማራጭ መረጃ የሚያደርሱ ሚዲያዎችና የሚዲያው ማህበረሰብ መብቶቻቸውን ተነጥቀው አደጋ ላይ ወድቀዋል፡፡

አማራጭ መረጃ ለዴሞክራሲና ለልማት ቀዳሚውን ሚና እንደሚጫወት የሚያምነው ፓርቲያችን ይህን የመብት ረገጣና አፈና ሲቃወምና ሲታገል ቆይቷል፡፡ አሁንም በጠነከረ መልኩ ይቃወማል፡፡

ፓርቲያችን ሀሳብን በነጻነት የመግለጽን ጨምሮ የተነጠቁትን መብቶቻችን ለማስመለስ በመጣሩ አመራሮቹና አባላቱ በህገ ወጥ መንገደ እስር ቤት በሚገኙበት ተመሳሳይ ወቅት የዞን ዘጠኝ ወጣቶች በእስር ላይ ይገኛሉ፡፡ ይህም ከመቸውም ጊዜ በላይ ጭቆናው እንደመረረ እና ሁሉን ማህበረሰብ ያቀፈ ትግል እንደሚያስፈልግ ዋነኛ ማሳያ ነው፡፡ ከዚህ የመረረ ጭቆና ህዝባችንን ነጻ ማውጣት የምንችለው እኛ ህዝቡን ማደራጀትና ማንቀሳቀስ የሚዲያ ማህበረሰቡም መደረጃውን ለህዝባችን ማድረስ ሲችል ብቻ ነው፡፡

ፓርቲያችን ሚያዝያ 19/2006 ዓ.ም ሀሳብን በነጻነት የመግለጽ መብትን ጨምሮ ገዥው ፓርቲ ከኢትዮጵያውያን የነጠቃቸውን መብቶች ለማስመለስ ተቃውሞ ሰልፍ ጠርቷል፡፡ የሚዲያው ማህበረሰብ ይህን የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ ሂደት ለህዝብ በማስተላለፍ ከፍተኛ ሚና እንዳለው የታመነ ነው፡፡ በመሆኑም መብቶቻችን በህዝብ ትግል ይመለሱ ዘንድ እናንተም የተለመደው የበኩላችሁን አስተዋጽኦ እንድታደርጉ ጥሪያችን እናስተላልፋለን፡፡

መረጃ ኃይል ነውና በአገር ውስጥም ሆነ በውጭ የምትገኙ የህትመትም ሆነ የብሮድካስት ውጤቶች የተነጠቁትን መብቶቻችን፣ የሰላማዊ ሰልፉን ሂደት፣ በሂደቱ በፓርቲያችንና በህዝቡ ላይ የሚደርሰውን በደል እና ሰላማዊ ሰልፉን ለህዝብ በማድረስ ግዴታችሁን እንድትወጡ አደራ እንላለን፡፡ በተለይ ሌሎች ሚደያዎች በታፈኑበት በአንጻራዊነት የህዝብ ድምጽ በመሆን ላይ በሚገኘው ፌስ ቡክ በኩል መረጃዎችን ለህዝብ በማድረስ ቀላል የማይባል ጫና መፍጠር የሚቻል በመሆኑ አጋጣሚውን በመጠቀም መብታችን ለማስመለስ እንድንታገልና በሰልፉም እንድንገኝ አደራችን እናስተላልፋለን፡፡

ኑ ራሳችን ነጻ በማውጣት የአገራችን እጣ ፈንታ እንወስን!

ኢትዮጵያ በክብር ለዘላለም ትኑር!

Six Members of Blogging Collective Arrested in Ethiopia (globalvoices)

Six Members of Blogging Collective Arrested in Ethiopia (globalvoices)

Six bloggers arrested on April 25 in Addis Ababa. Photos from Facebook, assembled by Endalk.

On April 25, six members of the Zone Nine blogging collective [am] were arrested in Ethiopia. Allies report that they are now being held at Maekelawi, a detention center in Addis Ababa, the nation’s capital.

News of the arrests first broke on Twitter, where fellow bloggers and social media users voiced support for those arrested and expressed their own fears about what may be to come.

Formed in 2012, the Zone Nine group has leveraged significant critiques of ruling government policy and practice. We have managed to conduct online campaigns in an effort to raise awareness about political repression in the country. We are also dedicated to translating international news for local audiences — through our partnership with Global Voices, we launched Global Voices in Amharic two years ago.

We believe we have been a surveillance target of the Ethiopian government since the death of the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. We have written critical articles about Zenawi’s so-called economic development and other achievements. While he received favourable reports we have shown his achievement is dubious

As of today, no charges had been issued to the members of our group who were arrested today.

Unfortunately, these arrests are not the first of their kind. In the suburbs of Addis Ababa, there is a large prison called Kality where many political prisoners are currently being held, among them journalists Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu. The journalists have told us a lot about the prison and its appalling conditions. Kality is divided into eight different zones, the last of which — Zone Eight — is dedicated to journalists, human right activists and dissidents. When we came together, we decided to create a blog for the proverbial prison in which all Ethiopians live: this is Zone Nine.

http://ethioforum.org

ሰበር ዜና ፖሊስና የደህንነት አባላት የሰማያዊ ቢሮ አካባቢ የሚገኘውን ህዝብ በር እያንኳኩ

ሰበር ዜና

ፖሊስና የደህንነት አባላት የሰማያዊ ቢሮ አካባቢ የሚገኘውን ህዝብ በር እያንኳኩ “የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ በድምጽ ብክለት ክሰሱት!” እያሉ እየቀሰቀሱት ነው፡፡ ነገርግን አብዛኛው የሰፈሩ ነዋሪዎች “እስካሁን አረበሹንም፤ ሊረብሹንም አይችሉም፡፡” እያሉዋቸው ነው፡፡ ከዚህ በፊት የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ለማድረግ በዝግጅት ላይ እያለ አመራሮቹ ጃን ሜዳ ፓሊስ ጣቢያ በታሰሩበት ወቅት ፖሊስ “ህዝቡ ነው የድምጽ ብክለት አድርሰውብናል በሚል” የከሰሳችሁ ማለቱ ይታወሳል፡፡

ሰበር ዜና ፖሊስ ቅስቀሳው ላይ ያልነበሩ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አመራሮችንም እያሰረ ነው

ፖሊስ ቅስቀሳው ላይ ያልነበሩ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አመራሮችንም እያሰረ ነው፡፡ 

የታሰሩትን አባላትና ደጋፊዎች ሁኔታ ለማጣራት ወደ የካ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ ያቀኑ 

የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አመራሮችና አባላትን ፖሊስ አስሯቸዋል፡፡

16 members and leaders of the Blue Party are arrested 

today without any reason.

Blue Party will hold a grand demonstration in Addis Ababa 

on the coming Sunday 27/04/2014.

በዛሬው ቀን ካሳንቺስ ስድስተኛ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ የታሰሩት 

1. ብሌን መስፍን

2. አስናቀ በቀለ

3. መስፍን

4. ተስፋዬ አሻግሬ

5. እዮብ ማሞ

6. ኩራባቸው

7. ተዋቸው ዳምጤ

የካ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ ታስረው የሚገኙት የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ አባላትና ደጋፊዎች

1. ፍቅረ ማሪያም አስማማው

2. እያስፔድ ተስፋዬ

3. ጋሻው መርሻ

4. ተስፋዬ መርኔ

5. ሀብታሜ ደመቀ

6. ዘሪሁን ተስፋዬ

7. ጌታነህ ባልቻ

8. ንግስት ወንዲፍራው

9. ሜሪን አለማየሁ ናቸው