Ethiopia Censors Satellite TV Channels as Student Protests Draw Global Media Attention

The Ethiopian government is reportedly undertaking a massive clampdown on dissenting citizen voices in relation with the ongoing Oromo student protests in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest administrative region.

The regional political party known as the Oromo Federalist Congress reports that upwards of 80 people have been killed over the past four weeks by government forces. The government has yet to release its own updated numbers, but said on December 15 that five people had died.

Alongside increasing tensions around protests, security forces have arrested two opposition politicians, two journalists, and summoned five bloggers — all members of the Zone9 collective, who were acquitted of baseless terrorism charges just two months ago — to appear in court on December 30.

The government has also reinforced censorship campaigns against US-based Ethiopian satellite TV channels as well as protest songs that were produced in solidarity with Oromo protesters.

Torture marks on musician Hawi Tezera after she was arrested for supporting Oromo student protesters with music. Photo shared on Facebook by Jawar Mohammed.

Protesters of the “Master Plan” to expand the capital city, Addis Ababa, into Oromia fear that the proposed development will displace large numbers of farmers mostly belonging to the Oromo ethnic group. Since demonstrations across the region began, the Ethiopian government has tried hard to stifle any kind of information about the outcry.

However, photos, videos and audio materials captured on mobile phones of the protests and of police brutality have made their way out of the country and are widely shared on the US-based satellite TV channels ESAT and Oromia Media Network (OMN).

These two channels reach tens of millions of Ethiopians who don’t have access to the Internet but who do have satellite dishes and depend on the two channels for news, analysis and views about the protest in Amharic and Afan Oromo, two of Ethiopia’s major languages.

Executives from the satellite channels report that Ethiopian authorities attempted to prohibit their broadcasting services. Jawar Mohammed, executive director of OMN, wrote on his Facebook page:

Notice: OMN is NOT back on satellite yet. It was NOT jammed either. Transmission was discontinued by the service provider under duress. The satellite we were on Eutelsat 8WB is still not jammable. Stay tune for details as soon as piece it together.And the promise remains the same; OMN will be back on air very soon one way or another!

Meanwhile, ESAT posted the following on their website:

The management of the Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (ESAT) said the regime in Ethiopia has jammed one of its two satellites, Eutelsat E8WB @ 8West starting the morning of Saturday December 19, 2015. .This latest move by the regime came at a time when ESAT has been widely covering the growing protest against the tyrannical regime in Ethiopia. Ethiopians rely on ESAT for news and information about their country. The regime, known for muzzling press freedom and one of the top jailers of journalists in the world, is spending millions of dollars on jamming equipment to deny people access to information.

Citizen reports on Facebook indicate that Ethiopian authorities have started to frantically send security forces around to remove satellite dish receivers from the rooftops of residents particularly in Oromia region.

Photo taken from Facebook page of Getachew Shiferaw

Getachew Shiferaw, editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Negere Ethiopia, wasarrested. Two days earlier, he had shared a photo showing satellite dish receivers on rooftops (above) with the following note on Facebook:

They [Ethiopian government] are wrong if they think all these satellite dish receivers are set up to watch their tired propaganda.

Again, Jawar Mohammed wrote on his Facebook page:

The War on Satellite Dishes Continue. If the regime thinks it can cut our audience off from receiving OMN news and programs, they are too dumb to understand what we are made off. Just as we beat them time and again during their 10 jamming in the last 18 months, we will beat them again by staying several steps a head of them. Even if they take down every dish in the country, we will still find a way to reach our audience. Time for them to give up and face up to the truth!

Both ESAT and OMN say that in the past, they have moved their signals to other satellites that are harder for the Ethiopian government to jam. They both frequently notify their audiences in Ethiopia and advise them to re-position their dishes accordingly.

The Ethiopian authorities see these channels as mouthpieces of outlawed oppositions groups engaged in destabilizing the country. Although the government usually denies jamming satellites services, media outlets such as France24, Deutsche Welle and BBC have all condemned Ethiopian authorities for interfering with their broadcasting abilities.

Ethiopian authorities’ satellite jamming is similar to Internet censorship, whereby the government blocks access to websites, blogs and online radios, which are mostly set up by journalists and activists living in exile. Ethiopia tops the list of countries forcing journalists to flee into exile for fear of persecution.

Source: globalvoices.org

Ethiopian journalists should be freed, says CPJ

Two journalists arrested in Ethiopia this month should be freed, an international press freedom group says.

The detentions come amid deadly protests over a plan to expand the capital's administrative control into the Oromia region, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said.

The government has accused Oromo protesters of links with terror groups.

The country criminalises any reporting that authorities consider an encouragement to such groups.

'Hollow achievement'

The CPJ said two journalists were detained within a week of each other.

Getachew Shiferaw, who edits the online paper Negere Ethiopia, was arrested on Friday and the next day a court granted permission for him to be held for 28 days for interrogation, the CPJ said in a statement.

On 19 December, Fikadu Mirkana, a news anchor at the state-run broadcaster Oromia Radio and TV, who also was arrested at his home in the capital, Addis Ababa, the press watchdog said.

"Ethiopia prides itself on development, but economic growth is a hollow achievement if the public does not enjoy fundamental human rights such as the right to receive and share information and divergent viewpoints," said Sue Valentine, the CPJ's Africa programme co-ordinator.

The CPJ added that four Ethiopian bloggers cleared of terrorism charges in October have been summoned to appear in court on Wednesday as the prosecution is appealing their acquittal.

They were part of a group know the Zone 9 bloggers and their case inspired a sustained online campaign for their release by activists in Ethiopia and beyond.

Oromia is Ethiopia's largest region, surrounding Addis Ababa.

Protesters say they fear losing their land and cultural persecution if what has been dubbed a "master plan" to integrate parts of Oromia into Addis Ababa go ahead.

The government says other views are being taken into consideration.

Officials say five people and an undisclosed number of security personnel have died in the latest protests.

But US-based Human Rights Watch says activists say the security forces have fired on the demonstrations, killing at least 75 protesters.

The BBC's Africa correspondent Alistair Leithhead says demonstrations are rare in Ethiopia and the current Oromo anger over urban planning is an expression of much older complaints over a lack of political and economic inclusion.

At the last census in 2007, the Oromo made up Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, at about 25 million people out of a population at the time of nearly 74 million.

Source: BBC

Ethiopia: Prosecutors Appeal Court Acquittal of Zone 9 Bloggers

Washington

In response to Ethiopian prosecutors appealing the dismissal of terrorism charges against five members of the Zone 9 bloggers and authorities issuing them a court summons, Freedom House issued the following statement:

"The Federal Supreme Court should reject the prosecution’s appeal and reaffirm the bloggers' innocence as the High Court did in October," said Vukasin Petrovic, director of Africa programs. "The terrorism charges against the bloggers were unfounded from the beginning and are part of the government’s relentless onslaught against freedom of expression." 

Background
In October, the Federal High Court acquitted four members of the Zone 9 bloggers: Abel Wabella, Natnael Feleke, Atnaf Berhane, Soleyana Shimeles (in absentia) of terrorism charges and lowered charges against Befekadu Hailu to "incitement of violence through writing." Two other members of the blogging collective and three journalists arrested in April 2014 and charged in the same file with the five bloggers had their charges dropped and released days before US president Barrack Obama’s trip to Ethiopia in July. The appeal hearing date for the five has been set for December 30.

Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights.

 Source: freedomhouse.org

Ethiopia arrests second journalist in a week, summons Zone 9 bloggers

Nairobi, December 27, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Ethiopia to release the editor-in-chief of Negere Ethiopia online newspaper, Getachew Shiferaw, who was arrested on Friday, according to news reports.

"Ethiopia prides itself on development, but economic growth is a hollow achievement if the public does not enjoy fundamental human rights such as the right to receive and share information and divergent viewpoints," CPJ's Africa Program Coordinator Sue Valentine said. "Authorities should immediately release Getachew Shiferaw, drop all charges against him, and allow journalists to do their jobs."

Getachew's arrest follows the detention on December 19 of Fikadu Mirkana, a news anchor at the state-run broadcaster Oromia Radio and TV, who was arrested at his Addis Ababa home. The arrests come amid protests over a plan by authorities to expand the Ethiopian capital, which campaigners say would displace hundreds of thousands of farmers, according to news reports. Authorities have cracked down on the demonstrators as well as clamping down on critical and independent voices in the press. At least five protestors have been killed and hundreds arrested, according to news reports.

Getachew was arrested by federal police on December 25 while walking to his office in Addis Ababa in the morning, news reports said. He is being held at Maekelawi, the main federal police investigation center, where political detainees have been tortured or ill-treated, according to a 2013 report by Human Rights Watch.

Getachew appeared Saturday in court, where police were granted permission to hold him for 28 days for interrogation, after which he is likely to be charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, news reports said. Ethiopia's broadly wordedanti-terrorism law criminalizes any reporting that authorities deem encouraging to groups and causes the government labels as terrorists, including banned political opposition groups. CPJ wrote a letter to the government expressing its concern shortly after the law was passed in 2009.

Negere Ethiopia is affiliated with the Blue Party, an opposition movement that has campaigned for greater political openness in Ethiopia, news reports said. The newspaper was forced to suspend its print edition a year ago, and now is distributed via social media. The outlet covers political trials, including proceedings against opposition politicians and journalists, co-founder of the Zone 9 blogging collective Soleyana S. Gebremichael told CPJ. It reported on calls by the Blue Party and the Oromo Federalist Party for a public demonstration to be held today, but for which authorities denied permission.

The director general of Ethiopia's Government Communications Affairs Office, Getachew Reda, did not immediately respond to emailed questions from CPJ.

Separately, authorities in Ethiopia on December 24 summoned five members of the Zone 9 blogging group--Soleyana, Abel Wabella, Natnail Feleke, Atnaf Berhane,and Befekadu Hailu--to appear in court on December 30. The bloggers wereacquitted of terrorism charges in October, and the prosecution is appealing their acquittal, Soleyana, who was tried in absentia, told CPJ. Befekadu is still facing charges of "incitement of violence through writing." The Zone 9 bloggers were honored with CPJ's 2015 International Press Freedom Award in November.

Ethiopia is the third worst jailer of journalists on the African continent, with at least 10 behind bars on December 1, CPJ's 2015 prison census shows.

Source: CPJ

የአርበኞች ግንቦት 7 ድምፅ ሬድዮ ‪#‎የህወሓት‬ አገዛዝ በአገር ውስጥ በገጠመው እጅግ በጣም አስጊ ሁኔታ ምክንያት በሶማሊያ ተሰማርቶ የነበረውን የአየር ኃይል ቡድን ወደ ኢትዮጵያ የመመለስ ውሳኔ ላይ ደርሶ ቡድኑ የጉዞ ዝግጅቱን ማጠናቀቁ ታወቀ፡፡

በሶማሊያ ከአሚሶም ጎን ለግዳጅ ተሰማርቶ የነበረው የህወሓት አየር ኃይል ቡድን እዚህ ግቡ የማይባሉ ሰባት አሮጌ ሄሊኮፕተሮች የነበረው ሲሆን ሶስቱ ወደ ደቡብ ሱዳን ሊሄዱ ተብሎ ከጥቂት ሳምንታት በፊት ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ተመልሰዋል፡፡ ሆኖም እስካሁን ምንም አይነት እንቅስቃሴ አላደረጉም፤ የደቡብ ሱዳኑ ጉዞም መሰረዙ ተሰምቷል፡፡ ቀሪዎቹን አራት የሾቁ ሄሊኮፕተሮች የታጠቀው የአየር ኃይል ቡድን ደግሞ አሁን ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ለመመለስ ዝግጅቱን አጠናቆ የጉዞ እንቅስቃሴ ጀምሯል፡፡ 
የህወሓት አገዛዝ በኦሮምያ የተቀሰቀሰውን ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞ በጉልበት አፍኖ ለማርገብ በሱሉሉታ የተጠቀማቸው "የትራንስፖርት" ሄሊኮፕተር አብራሪዎች በጣም ዝቅ ብለው በመብረር ጭነዋቸው በነበሩት የአግአዚ ኮማንዶ አልሞ ተኳሾችና መትረየስ ታጣቂዎች ህዝቡን እንዲጨፈጨፍ አላደረጉም በሚል በግምገማ ተወጥረው እንደሚገኙ ምንጮቻችን ተናግረዋል፡፡

Ethiopian PM reacts over land-giveaway rumour to Sudan

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

(ADDIS ABABA) – The Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn dismissed on Friday circulating rumours that his government secretly gave away part of the Horn of Africa’s territories to            stakeholders in neighbouring Sudan.

Desalegn’s remarks came while responding to queries raised by members of the House of People’s Representatives during a session on the country’s Second Growth and Transformation Plan and other current issues.

His reaction comes days after seven exiled Ethiopian political parties and civic organizations wrote a petition letter to the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon over the Ethiopia-Sudan border demarcation matter.

Last week’s petition was in protest to what activists alleged was against a secret border deal made between Ethiopia and the Sudanese government.

Desalegn said the rumour alleging Ethiopia had given land to Sudan were “baseless”.

“There is no negotiation on the issue with the government of Sudan”, said the Ethiopian prime minister adding, “The two countries [Ethiopia and Sudan] are working together to keep peace and stability in border areas”.

According to the activists, exact details of the border deal between the two neighbors are still shrouded in secrecy, but said media outlets of both countries recently reported that leaders of the two nations made public their intention to demarcate the common boundary on the basis of that deal.

With regard to the alleged reports of border deal, the Ethiopian prime minister stressed that his government would not make any decisions without making consultations and without the knowledge of the people.

“The Ethiopian people view the government’s decision to demarcate the boundary on Sudan’s terms as nothing less than a sellout”, reads the petition.

It warned that if the demarcation goes as per the agreement of the two countries, thousands of people all along the frontier will be uprooted from their homes, farms and investments, a result they will not take lying down.

“Ethiopians demand that the proposed demarcation of the boundary line be effectuated in compliance with the provisions of the 1902 Treaty,” states the petition.

“Anything short of that which is concocted as a political expedient for the ruling clique to prolong its power by ceding Ethiopian territory will never be honored by the Ethiopian people and is bound to provoke serious backlash”, it added.

According to the 1902 Treaty, the line delimited therein must be demarcated by officers of the two countries if and when the decisions and recommendations of the Joint Commission were accepted by the two governments.

(ST)

Source: sudantribune

Oromo Protests Shed Light On Ethiopia’s Long-Standing Ethnic Tensions

Why is Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group also one of the most oppressed? As anti-government demonstrations spread across the Oromia region, and the death toll continues to rise, the Oromo people are asserting their long neglected struggle.

Why is Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group also one of the most oppressed? As anti-government demonstrations spread across the Oromia region, and the death toll continues to rise, the Oromo people are asserting their long neglected struggle. Labelled as terrorists and extremists by the government, the diaspora are reaching to the international audience for support.

n Israel, Oromo asylum seekers marched upon the Ethiopian Embassy, asking the compelling question: “UN - where are you?” As part of a wave of similar protests around the world, the demonstration called for intervention in what has been described as Ethiopia’s worst civil conflict in a decade. The rally echoed a series of peaceful demonstrations that have spread throughout Ethiopia’s Oromia region. As the protests escalate, so too does the government’s use of excessive force to crush the dissent.

According to Human Rights Watch around 75 protesters have been killed by Ethiopian security forces since mid-November. Many others have been wounded. Meanwhile, the government reports a starkly contrasting five deaths. Peaceful protests began in schools and universities, but as the government responds with violence, outrage has spread throughout society.

The unrest was sparked by a draft Master Plan designed by the Tigrayan-led Ethiopian current government, which aims to expand the territorial scope of Addis Ababa, into 1.5 million hectares of Oromia land. Since the contentious national elections of 2005, Oromos have borne the harsh consequences of thecountry’s quest for economic growth. In order to meet the demands of Ethiopia’s rapid urbanisation, the government has failed to consult with the affected populations about its annexation of land and mass forced evictions.

Matat Admusu, standing outside the Embassy in Tel Aviv, fears the escalation of the current situation.

“The Oromo people are resisting by peaceful means. But the government is taking action with the military. As the protests continue they are bringing special military from the border into the region, who do not speak the language of our people. Because the government says we are terrorists, they kill us. But the more they kill our people, the angrier we get. The demonstrations are getting bigger. Now the region is full of the military.”

A HISTORY OF POLITICAL REPRESSION

Ethnic Oromos comprise more than 25 million people of the nearly 74 million that constitute the total population of Ethiopia. Despite their number, the ethnic majority are the subjects of state discrimination. Nearly all Oromo cultural organizations are banned, youth unemployment is severe, and the Oromo language, despite being widely spoken throughout the country, is not an official language of Ethiopia. Employment opportunities in the public sector tend to be highly politicised, as the only successful applicants are the ones with strong connections to the ruling elite.

These structural concerns were voiced by the protesters in Tel Aviv: “We are competing with those who speak the official language and we are not given the chance to work in the government or other institutions. There is no place for us in our country, even though we are the majority.”

While the recent uprising was sparked by the government's land-grab, it comes in the context of a long history of Oromo political repression. The ruling regime is led by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition that has been in power since 1991 and that reflects the long-term domination of the Marxist Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The leading coalition consists of four political parties, including the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization (OPDO).

However, as one of the protesters in Tel Aviv explained, the OPDO does not address the demands of the people they are supposed to stand for: “It is just symbolic, it is a fake party that is not working for the Oromo. They were born in Oromia but do not represent our plight, and every time there are demonstrations they do not hesitate to kill our people.”

Lacking genuine representation in government, many Oromos are dedicated supporters of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a nationalist political organization, founded in 1973, whose aim is ‘to exercise the Oromo peoples' inalienable right to national self-determination’. The OLF is labelled as a terrorist group in Ethiopia, which hinders the struggle of Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

PEACEFUL PROTESTS OR TERRORISM?

On 16 December the Ethiopian state intelligence services issued a statement claiming that the Oromia protesters were planning to “destabilize the country” and that some of them have a “direct link with a group that has been collaborating with other proven terrorist parties.”

Human rights groups are concerned this anti-terror rhetoric will escalate the severe crackdown on the Oromo protesters. “Instead of condemning the unlawful killings by the security forces, […] this statement in effect authorizes the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters,” said Amnesty International.

The Ethiopian government’s disregard for human rights attracted international attention when, in July 2015, Barack Obama became the first sitting US President to visit the country. His visit, highly criticised by Ethiopian activists and international human rights organisations, focused on the country’s increasing strategic importance in the fight against terrorism in the region.

“Ethiopia and the United States share a long friendship,” Obama said. He described the nation as an “outstanding partner” for its contribution to the fight against Islamic extremism in East Africa. He went on to declare his support for the current government, elected in May 2015 with a contested landslide 100% of the vote: “We are opposed to any group that is promoting the violent overthrow of a government, including the government of Ethiopia that has been democratically elected.”

Obama’s lip-service to Ethiopia’s democracy was the subject of widespread criticism. Bekele Nega, general secretary of the Oromo Federalist Congress,voiced the popular outrage: “I don’t know if democracy means robbing people’s vote and robbing their election result? They have killed people and they have taken the ballot box with them in organised fraud. [...] Is this the meaning of democracy in America? We are very sorry that Mr Obama’s comment on our election is really supporting dictators. We know the US is always looking after its own interests”.

APPEAL FOR INTERVENTION

While appealing for external assistance, Matat, one of the protesters in Tel Aviv, conveyed that the known strategic value of the Ethiopian government to US interests dampens hopes for effective action.

“The international community only work for their own interests. They have an international military vision. In Somalia and in Sudan, they need the Ethiopian military to support them in the fight against terrorism. So they ignore the innocent people being killed. It is the same military who fights for Western interests on the border that are brought to kill the Oromo people. How can this not attract the international media?”

The resounding silence in the international press reflects the complete absence of independent coverage in Ethiopia.

“The protests in Ethiopia are not reported on national television. If you look at Ethiopian media they talk about development, about new hotels and train lines, not about the plight of the Oromo people”, says Matut.

In an effort to counteract the negative government rhetoric, the protesters across Oromia are reaching out to social media. The Twitter campaign, with the hashtag #OromoProtests, calls for international intervention against the state violence. Images and videos depicting the brutality across the region have successfully spread, prompting the authorities to cut mobile phone coverage in some of the key areas.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

As the demonstrations continue across the region, it remains unclear if the incumbent regime’s violent crackdown on ethnic Oromos is prompted by deep-rooted sentiments of ethnic supremacy or rather by an attempt to utilise ethnic divisions to crush any perceived dissent. But there is a fear among the Oromo that the current status quo could develop into further violence, fuelled by ethnic divisions.

“It could lead to ethnic conflict. There is tension now. The government is not only suppressing Oromos but other ethnic groups [there are more than 80 ethnic groups in Ethiopia]. The situation is increasing. As people continue to be killed, the protests continue to grow, and after time it could spark uncontrollably. We are afraid of that. Everyone should be afraid of that”, expressed Fikreselassie, a 28-year-old Oromo asylum seeker in Israel.

The characterisation of the Oromo struggle as a terrorist movement and the strategic importance of Ethiopia in the fight against regional Islamic extremism contribute to the deafening silence within the international community regarding the brutal oppression of the Oromo protesters. The UN and civil society institutions must call on the Ethiopian government to restrain from the use of excessive force against demonstrators, take measures to de-escalate the growing tensions, and address the root causes of Ethiopia’s ethnopolitical conflict.

Source: saharareporters