Ethiopia’s Zone 9 Bloggers Harsh Treatment

February 5, 2015

Ethiopia’s ‘Zone 9 Bloggers’ Case: Harsh Treatment of Defendant

(Freedom House) In response to reports that Abel Wabella, a defendant in the Zone 9 blogger case in Ethiopia, was kept shackled overnight and had his hearing aid removed following a February 4 court appearance, Freedom House issued the following statement:

“The brutal treatment of Mr. Wabella by prison officials amounts to torture,” said Vukasin Petrovic, regional director for Africa. “Since their arrest in April, the Zone 9 bloggers and journalists have endured horrific treatment at the hands of the Ethiopian police and prison officials. At the very least, the court should investigate these cases of torture and hold those responsible accountable.”

Case Update:

On February 5 , the court rejected a petition submitted by the defendants to have the presiding judge removed from the case due to his alleged unbalanced handling of proceedings. The presiding judge did, however, announce that he would recuse himself of the case on his own accord. The defendants are now required to enter a plea with a new presiding judge on February 18.

Ethiopia is rated Not Free in Freedom of the World 2015, Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2014, Not Free in Freedom on the Net 2014.

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.

ECADF

ሰበር ዜና የአንድነት አባላት በይፋ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲን ተቀላቀሉ

January 3,2015

ብሄራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድና ኢህአዴግ በወሰኑብን ፖለቲካዊ ውሳኔ ምክንያት አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲን ተነጥቀናል ያሉ የአንድነት ፓርቲ አባላት› በይፋ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲን መቀላቀላቸውን አስታወቁ፡፡

በእነ በላይ ፍቃዱ አመራርነት አንድነት ፓርቲን በተለያዩ የኃላፊነት ቦታዎች ሲመሩ የነበሩ አመራሮች ዛሬ ጥር 26 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም በሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጽ/ቤት በሰጡት ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ እንዳስታወቁት ከቀድሞ ፓርቲያቸው አንድነት ጋር የፕሮግራምም ሆነ የስትራቴጂ ተመሳሳይነት ወዳለው ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ተቀላቅለው ሰላማዊ ትግላቸውን ለመቀጠል መወሰናቸውን ይፋ አድርገዋል፡፡

መግለጫውን የ‹ቀድሞው አንድነት ፓርቲ› አፈ ጉባዔ የነበሩት አቶ አበበ አካሉ፣ ምክትል አፈ ጉባዔው አቶ ፀጋዬ አላምረው፣ የአዲስ አበባ ምክር ቤት ሰብሳቢ አቶ ነገሰ ተፋረደኝ እንዲሁም የወጣቶች ጉዳይ ኃላፊው አቶ ስንታየሁ ቸኮል ሌሎችን በመወከል ሰጥተዋል፡፡

‹‹የምናምነው በሰላማዊ ትግል ብቻ ነው፡፡ ይህን ሰላማዊ ትግል ለመምራት ደግሞ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ብቁ ነው ብለን በማመን ፓርቲውን ተቀላቅለናል›› ብለዋል በመግለጫው ላይ የተወከሉት አዲሶቹ የሰማያዊ አባላት፡፡ በዚህ መሰረትም በርከት ያሉ አመራሮችና አባላት በይፋ የሰማያዊ ፓርቲ የአባልነት ፎርም ሞልተዋል፡፡

ይህ በእንዲህ እንዳለ የአንድነት አባላት ሰማያዊ ፓርቲን መቀላቀላቸውን አስመልክቶ መግለጫ ለመስጠት ወደ ሰማያዊ ቢሮ ባቀኑበት ወቅት ፖሊስ ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ቢሮ ድረስ በመግባት ‹‹በሰማያዊ ስም መግለጫ የሚሰጡ አካላት እንዳሉ ሰለሰማን ነው›› በሚል ለፓርቲው አመራሮች ጥያቄዎችን አቅርበዋል፡፡

     DCESON

US concerned over fate of Zone 9 bloggers

UD State Dept
January 30, 2015

The Zone 9 bloggers and journalists

The United States is concerned by the Ethiopian Federal High Court’s January 28, 2015, decision to proceed with the trial of six bloggers and three independent journalists on charges under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. The decision undermines a free and open media environment—critical elements for credible and democratic elections, which Ethiopia will hold in May 2015.

We urge the Ethiopian government to ensure that the trial is fair, transparent, and in compliance with Ethiopia’s constitutional guarantees and international human rights obligations. We also urge the Ethiopian government to ensure that the trial is free of political influence and continues to be open to public observation.


The use of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation in previous cases against journalists, activists, and opposition political figures raises serious questions about the implementation of the law and about the sanctity of Ethiopians’ constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are fundamental elements of a democratic society. We call on the government of Ethiopia to support freedom of expression and freedom of the press to demonstrate its commitment to democracy as it approaches its May 2015 national elections.

Ethiomedia