Ethiopian Govt Transfers Editor Woubshet Taye to Remote Prison

PRESS RELEASE

New York — The Committee to Protect Journalists protests Ethiopian authorities' transfer of independent newspaper editor Woubshet Taye to a remote prison several hours away from his family's home. Woubshet has been imprisoned since June 2011 on vague terrorism charges that CPJ has determined to be unsubstantiated.

"Moving detainees to prisons far from their families is a tactic long used by governments that wish to not only further penalize the individuals but to punish their loved ones as well," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "Woubshet Taye should not be in prison at all, never mind held in one so far from his family. We call on Ethiopian authorities to return him to a facility closer to his home, and to reconsider the unjust conviction that put him behind bars in the first place."

Authorities on Friday transferred Woubshet from Kilinto Prison, outside Addis Ababa, to a detention facility in the town of Ziway, about 83 miles southeast of the capital, according to local journalists and the U.S.-based exile-run AwrambaTimes.com. The authorities did not provide a reason for the transfer. Local journalists told CPJ that Woubshet's wife and four-year-old son would now have to travel more than four hours to reach the prison to visit the journalist.

Woubshet, former deputy editor of the now-defunct independent weekly Awramba Times and a recipient of Human Rights Watch's Hellman/Hammett Award, was sentenced in January 2012 to a 14-year prison sentence on charges lodged under Ethiopia's broad anti-terrorism law. The journalist was arrested a couple of weeks after he published a column in Awramba Times that critically assessed the ruling party's performance in its two decades of rule. The paper was known for its bold coverage of local issues.

The U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said last month that Ethiopia had violated Woubshet's rights by failing to address his allegations of being tortured in custody, despite Ethiopia's commitment to "uphold the highest standard of human rights."

CPJ research shows that other states that have imprisoned journalists have used the tactic of moving journalists to prisons far from their homes as a means of punishing them and their families. Cuba, for example, placed journalists in prisons hundreds of miles from their families at the height of the Black Spring crackdown in 2003, according to CPJ research.

For more data and analysis on Ethiopia, visit CPJ's Attacks on the Press.

Somalia - Journalist Gunned Down Outside Mogadishu Home

Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn that another journalist has been killed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. It was Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh, who worked for Somali National Television and Radio Mogadishu, which are both state-owned. Two gunmen trailed him home and shot him yesterday evening.

"The supposed improvement in security in Mogadishu is for the time being still very fragile," Reporters Without Borders said. "The Somali capital continues to be one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists.

"Rageh had received threats in the past and had just returned to Somalia after fleeing abroad for safety reasons. He is the second journalist to be killed in connection with his work in Somalia since the start of the year."

Relatives said Rageh was gunned down outside the door to his home in Ma'ma'anka neighbourhood, in the Dharkenley district of Mogadishu, at around 6 pm. The two gunmen shot him seven times in the chest and head before fleeing.

Rageh had recently returned to Somalia after several years in Kenya and Uganda. In 2009, he resigned as a Radio Shabelle host and member of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) in order to leave the country after receiving death threats from the Islamist militia Al-Shabaab (http://en.rsf.org/predator-al-shabaab,42476.html).

He is the fourth journalist to be killed in Somalia since the start of 2013, but only the second to have been targeted in connection with his journalistic work. A total of 18 journalists were killed in Somalia in 2012, making it the world's deadliest country for media personnel.

More information about media freedom in Somalia: http://en.rsf.org/somalia.html.

ትንሽ ምክር ቤጤ ለወዳጄ ልጅ ተክሌ

በኢሳት ላይ ያለህን ቅሬታ በአውራባ ታይምስ ድህረ ገጽ ላይ ወጥቶ አነበበኩት። የጹሑፉ ፍሬ ነገር አላስገረመኝም ወይም
በቀረበው ሐሣብ ላይ ቅሬታ የለኝም።ቅሬታ የሚኖርብኝና ይህንን እንድጽፍ ያነሳሳኝ: ግን: ቅሬታውን ለማቅረብ
የመረጥከውመንገድ ነው።
ልጅ: ተክሌ:እኔ እስከማውቅህ ድረስ ለኢሳት ቀረቤታ ያለህና ለኢሳት ሥራ ዘወትር በትጋት: አስተዋጽኦ: በማድረግህ: ስለሆነ:
ለኢሳት ያለህን አስተያየት ወይም ቅሬታ ለስራ:ባልደረቦችህ:ለድርጅቱ ሃላፊዎች ወይም ለቦርዱ ማቅረብ: ነበረብህ ባይ ነኝ።
ይህን በግል ብነግርህ መልካም ነበር። ሆኖም ያአንተ ጹሑፍ በአደባባይ: በመውጣቱ: እኔም ምክሬን በአደባባይ ላደርገው ብዬ
ነው።ሌሎቹም እንዲሰሙኝ።

ይህ የመናገር ነፃነቴ ነው ልትለኝ ትችላለህ:: ልክ ነውም። ግን እኮ የመናገር ነፃነት
የሚመጣው ከሃላፊነት ጋራ ነው። ያውም “self -censorship” ከሚሉት:
ሃላፊነት: ጋር ። ላብራራ: በአንድ ሰው ፊት ላይ ጉድፍ ቢኖር የተለያዩ ሰዎች
በተለያየ መንገድ ይህን በሰውዬው ላይ ያለውን:ጉድፍ: ለሰውዬው ለመንገር
ይጥራሉ።
ሕፃናት የሆኑ እንደሆነ ጉድፉን ያዩት በጣም ግልጽ በሆነ ግን ሰውዬውን
በሚያሳፍር መንገድ :በሰው: መሐል: አንተ ፊትህ: ላይ ቁሻሻ: አለብህ ብለው
ይናገራሉ። ልጅ ያየው እንደሚባለው፤‘ትልቅ ሰው’ የሆነ እንደሆነ ጉድፉን ያየው በቀጥታ ተናግሮ ሰውዬውን ከማሳፈር
የተለየዩ ዘዴዎችን ተጠቅሞ ለሰውዬው የጉድፉን መኖር ሊጠቁመው ይችላል።
አየህ: ልጅ ተክሌ ሁለቱም መንገዶች: ሰውዬው ጉድፉን: እንዲያነሳ ለማድረግ የተደረጉ ናቸው ግን አቀራረባቸው የተለየ
ነው።አንተም ሁለተኛውን:መንገድ: ተጠቅመህ:ቢሆን: ኖሮ ምንኛ: ባደነቅሁ ነበር።በተለይም :በአሁኑ: ሰአት: ጠላቶቻችን:
በእቶን:እሳት: በእሳት: በሚለበለቡበትና:ያን:ለማጥፋት:በሚቅበዘበዙበት:ጊዜ:: ግን: አልሆነም:: ወደፊት: እንደሚታረም:
ግን:ተስፋ:አደርጋለሁ::

ልጅ ተክሌ ጹሑፎች ካናደዱ ወይም ካለስጨበጨቡ አይዋጥልኝም ብለሃል።እኔ በዚህ አልስማማም። ምክንያቱም እንዲህ
ዓይነቱ ጹሑፎች ስሜታዊነትና:ጊዜያዊነት: ያጠቃቸዋልና:: በኔ: እምነት: ጽሁፎች:አይምሮን የሚኮረኮሩ (thought
provoking) እና ገንቢ ቢሆኑ: ምርጫዬ: ነው፤ ሆኖም: ግን: ምርጫህን: አልጋፋም።እንዲያው: በውልና ጥቅምና ጉዳቱን
ባመዛዘነ መንገድ ይሁን ከሚል አንፃር እንጂ::
ልጅ ተክሌ እንደያው ድፍረት ባይሆንብኝ ለወዲሁም ታላቅህ ነኝ ና፤ ምክሬን ሰማኝ ኢሳቶች ጥፋት ካለባቸው( ፍጹም
ናቸውም ብዬ ለመከራከር አልከጅልም) እባክህ በጆሮ አቸው ሹክ በላቸው: ደግሞም: ከእኔ ይበልጥ: ቅርበት አለህና! እንዲህ
በአደባባይ መናገሩ ከጥቅሙ ጉዳቱ ያመዝናል። እኔም አንተም ለጠላቶቻችን ቅጣት ያህልም ቀዳዳ መስጠት የለብንም ብዬ
በማሰብ በቅን ልቦና የሰጠሁት አስተያየት ስለሆነ ምክሬ ትቀበለዋለህ ብዬ አስባለሁ።
የኢሳትም አስተዳደርም ግልጽ የሆነ የቅሬታ መስሚያና ማስወገጃ መንገድ (complaint resolution process)
አለው ብዬ ስለማስብ በዚያ መጠቀሙ ለሁላችንም ይበጃል: እላለሁ።
ታዛቢ

Reeyot Alemu Ethiopian jailed journalist u named winner of 2013 UNESCO Press Freedom Prize

    

Reeyot Alemu

Imprisoned Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu has been named the winner of the 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

Announcing the winner April 16, 2013, UNESCO said Ms Alemu was recommended by an independent international jury of media professionals in recognition of her “exceptional courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression.”

Accordingly, the Jury took note of Reeyot Alemu’s contribution to numerous and independent publications.

She is noted for writing critically about political and social issues, focusing on the root causes of poverty and gender equality.

Reeyot worked for several independent media. In 2010 she founded her own publishing house and a monthly magazine called “Change”, both of which were subsequently closed.

In June 2011, while working as a regular columnist for “Feteh,” a national weekly newspaper, Ms Alemu was arrested.

She is currently serving a five year sentence in Kality prison.

The UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was created in 1997 and it is awarded annually during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, which will take place this year in Costa Rica.

Ethiopia Drafting Law to censure Internet, Radio and TV

Ethiopia is preparing a draft law to regulate Internet, radio and TV. The draft is being prepared by a steering committee constituting the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority, Ethiopian Ministry of Communications & Information Technology and Information Network Security Agency. The Ethiopia Radio & Television Agency is also participating in the drafting process of the new law.

The draft bill is expected to be finalized and forwarded to the Council of Ministers before the end of the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year, according to Leul Gebru, deputy director general of Ethiopian Broadcast Authority.

The bill is required to regulate Internet, television and radio broadcasts, once the current analogue infrastructure is transformed to a digital system.

“The law is needed, in order to prepare for the management complexities that will follow digitization,” 

A federal agency will also be established  to administer the broadcasting network and radio waves, with Ethiopian Broadcast Authority controlling the content transmitted on different channels"

Under the new bill, additional licenses are expected to be issued, including mobile TV broadcasting license,.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) agreed in 2006,  to change all broadcasting frequencies to digital by 2015, with extended period until 2018 for Ethiopia and most African countries.

The change to digital will not only require the import of digital televisions, but also 74 additional transmitters, necessary to transmit the extra channels, according to Leul.