The
Ethiopian government should immediately drop politically motivated
charges brought against 10 bloggers and journalists on July 17, 2014,
under the country’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law, Human Rights Watch
said today.
Human Rights Watch
The
Ethiopian authorities arrested six of the bloggers and three
journalists on April 25 and 26. They have been detained in Maekelawi,
the Federal Police Crime Investigation Sector in Addis Ababa. The court
charged the nine with having links to banned opposition groups and
trying to violently overthrow the government, local media reported. A
tenth blogger, who was not in Ethiopia at the time of the arrests, was
charged in absentia.
“Ethiopia’s courts are making a mockery of
their own judicial system,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director
at Human Rights Watch. “Hiding behind an abusive anti-terrorism law to
prosecute bloggers and journalists doing their job is an affront to the
constitution and international protection for free expression.”
The
charges are part of an intensified crackdown in Ethiopia in recent
months against perceived political opponents, Human Rights Watch said.
The
six bloggers in custody are Atnaf Berahane, Befekadu Hailu, Abel
Wabela, Mahlet Fantahun, Natnael Feleke, and Zelalem Kibret. Soliana
Shimeles was charged in absentia. The three journalists are Tesfalem
Waldyes, Edom Kassaye, and Asmamaw Hailegiorgis, an editor at weekly
magazine
Addis Guday.
The bloggers are part of a blogging collective known as
Zone 9,
which provides commentary on current events in Ethiopia. Zone 9 is the
section of Kaliti prison in Addis Ababa where many political prisoners
are held. The Zone 9 group had stopped blogging in February after
security officials harassed the group and questioned them about their
work and alleged links to political opposition parties and human rights
organizations.
Zone 9 announced on Facebook on April 23 that they
would resume blogging, and on April 25 and 26 the six bloggers were
arrested. They were detained for over 80 days without charge, and remain
in custody. Their lawyer, Ameha Mekonnen, has had only sporadic access
to them, and family members were not allowed to meet with them until
July 9. The lawyer plans to bring a civil suit about irregularities in
the legal process, media reports said.
The bloggers and
journalists are accused of connections to Ginbot 7 and the Oromo
Liberation Front (OLF), two of five organizations designated as
terrorist organizations in 2011 by the House of Federation, the
Ethiopian parliament. Human Rights Watch has not yet obtained the charge
sheets, but credible media reports say that the bloggers and
journalists are alleged to have taken directions from Ginbot 7 and OLF,
planning and organizing terrorist acts, and agreeing to overthrow the
government through force.
Judge Tareke Alemayehu was reported in
the media saying that the group “took training in how to make explosives
and planned to train others,” accusing them of plotting “to destabilize
the nation” and using blogging as a cover for “clandestine” activities.
Human Rights Watch and other organizations have repeatedly raised concerns about
Ethiopia’s
anti-terrorism law’s
overly broad definition of “terrorist acts” and provisions on support
for terrorism. Its vague prohibition of “moral support” for terrorism
has been used to convict a number of journalists. Since 2011, at least
11 journalists, and possibly many more, have been convicted for their
journalistic activities, even though the Ethiopian constitution and
international law protect media freedom.
Three of the Zone 9
bloggers were outside of Ethiopia when their colleagues were arrested.
According to media reports, one of these, Soliana Shimeles, was charged
in absentia with coordinating foreign relations for the group and
coordinating digital security training with “
Security in-a-box”,
a publicly available training tool used by advocates and human rights
defenders. Human Rights Watch has documented how the Ethiopian
government
monitors email and telephone communications, often using information unlawfully collected, without a warrant, during interrogations.
“The
fact that bloggers used digital security isn’t terrorism but common
sense, especially in a repressive environment like Ethiopia,” Lefkow
said. “The government should drop these charges and immediately release
these nine journalists and bloggers, as well as others who have been
wrongfully prosecuted under the anti-terrorism law.”
Others caught
up in the government’s recent crackdown are four opposition leaders
affiliated with political parties – Yeshewas Asefa of the Blue Party,
Abraha Desta of the Arena Tigray party, and Daniel Shibeshi and Habtamu
Ayalew of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party. They were
arrested on July 8, 2014, accused of providing support to terrorist
groups, media reports said. They are scheduled to appear in court on
August 14.
On June 23 or 24, Andargachew Tsige, a British citizen and secretary-general of Ginbot 7, was
deported to Ethiopia from Yemen
while in transit, in violation of international law prohibitions
against sending someone to a country where they are likely to face
torture or other mistreatment. He had twice been sentenced to death in
absentia for his involvement with Ginbot 7. His whereabouts in Ethiopia
are unknown. He has been detained for more than three weeks without
access to family members, legal counsel, or UK consular officials, in
violation of Ethiopian and international law.