Why African media leaders must head to Ethiopia | Newstime Africa

AMI

From November 6 to 8, 2013, the African Media Initiative (AMI) will hold its flagship annual convention, the African Media Leaders Forum (AMLF), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, focused on the theme “Media and the African Renaissance.” It will be AMLF’s sixth edition. Over the years, the Forum has become the largest gathering of media owners, operators and managers from across the continent and beyond. In November 2012, some 550 delegates attended the 5th AMLF in Dakar, Senegal.

While many have saluted the courageous decision of the AMI board to hold the Forum in Ethiopia, others have remained either sceptical or critical. The critics cite Ethiopia’s huge challenges in fostering an environment in which both press freedom and freedom of expression can thrive.

While I fully understand and respect the concerns being raised, I am convinced that Ethiopia remains the most appropriate venue for AMLF 2013 for a number of reasons.

Redefining History in Ethiopia for 2013 and Beyond

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the African Union, previously known as the Organisation of African Unity. Since its inception in 1963, the organisation, a symbol of Africa’s desire and determination to forge ahead in the true spirit of Pan Africanism, has been headquartered in Addis Ababa. Admittedly, it has not always endeared itself in equal measure to its collective body of stakeholders. Yet we must recognize its value as Africa’s largest intergovernmental organisation, where the most critical matters touching every single African are debated throughout the year.

I must admit that like many other Pan Africanists, I have been quite critical of some of the organization’s decisions. But I do acknowledge the key role it has played in the unification of Africa by promoting cooperation, friendship and mutual support among its member states, and the courageous positions it took at the vanguard for the struggle to liberate nations that were under colonial domination. The AU is marking a positive resurgence, under the excellent leadership of its chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. It is our responsibility, as thought leaders and as Africans, to both encourage Dr. Dlamini-Zuma and her team and to roll up our sleeves to participate in the AU’s endeavours by contributing the best way we can. At the end of the day, building a brighter future for ourselves, our children and grandchildren is not the responsibility of politicians and development partners alone.

For these reasons, I am convinced that the story of the AU is the story of all Africans. Consequently, we must all participate in writing it. The organisation deserves to be honoured in its golden year in the same place where its story started – Addis Ababa.

The city is also where another key African institution is headquartered – the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) – which continues to work relentlessly for the improvement of the continent’s human and economic development.

As a strong advocate of constructive engagement, I see our coming together in Ethiopia as a great opportunity to engage with media stakeholders within the country, including the Government. In our preparations for the Forum, we have been both encouraged and actively supported by the Ethiopian media community – through its publishers association and the leaders of the nascent media council – which is known for its independence and commitment to building free and balanced media. Under AMLF’s National Organising Committee, Ethiopian media leaders are playing a critical role in a collaborative effort with AMI, AU, UNECA and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

True to the spirit of AMLF’s theme, “Media and the African Renaissance”, the heads of the three most influential African institutions have been invited as co-chairs of the Forum: Dr. Donald Kaberuka, President of AfDB, Dr. Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary of UNECA and Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission.

AMLF 2013 intends to engage all stakeholders in Ethiopia and elsewhere to discuss openly, freely and respectfully on ways the media can contribute constructively to renewed efforts to craft a narrative about Africa that both promotes a dynamic Pan Africanism and reflects the demands and expectations of the continent’s citizens.

We will structure our deliberations around plenary sessions and working groups – ethics and leadership, access to finance and business development, as well as innovation and digital adaptation – to guarantee the full participation of all delegates.

A number of key challenges await us to ensure that in the next 50 years, Africa’s growing youth population has access to a good education and jobs; that the poorest segments of our communities are lifted out of poverty; that the environment, which is a source of livelihood for so many of our people, is not destroyed, and that peace and security prevail.

AMLF 2013 will be an opportunity for the public to play an integral role in the discussion. Indeed, AMI in collaboration with the Organisation of Social Science Research in Southern and Eastern Africa (OSSREA), based at the University of Addis Ababa, will organise a public debate on November 6 on the theme “My Africa in 50 years”.

In the midst of the media and public discourse, a range of conversations will contribute to a new Pan African narrative to inspire and re-energize us all. Indeed, AMLF will open what is now dubbed the “Governance Week” – with a number of institutions holding important meetings in Addis Ababa as a way to reaffirm their strong faith in the future of our continent, and its citizens and institutions. These include AMI’s traditional partners such as the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and Africa 2.0. Fresh additions will be Femmes Afrique Solidarite, one of the most influential women’s organizations on the continent headed by Bineta Diop, and ONE, the foundation set up by rock music star Bono, to contribute to Africa’s development.

What all these organizations have in common with AMI is the strong belief that Africa has great potential to considerably enhance the livelihoods of its people. We share an unbridled confidence that Africa will shed its stereotypical images and re-write its own story.

I remain convinced that participating in Addis Ababa Governance Week 2013 is the right thing to do for the African media community. We cannot miss this unique occasion to engage with leaders from around the continent and beyond to advance the cause of a free and prosperous Africa. As media practitioners, our greatest strength lies in our ability and courage to confront issues, no matter how daunting, as we seek to fulfil our mandate of serving the public interest.

In that regard, we must never refuse to engage in or shy away from situations that may seem to undermine our sense of community and fair play. Instead, we should embrace these challenges and meet them head on – this is the only way to progress. It is in the spirit of constructive engagement that we should view Ethiopia’s current media environment and, yes, add our collective “big voice” to its improvement. It is in this spirit and to create a forum for healthy debate that AMLF and its Governance Week partners are going to Ethiopia. I believe that only by embracing all voices and perspectives can we engender public trust in the media, an institution that is critical for the consolidation of democratic governance. Together we will refine Pan Africanism and re-define a narrative that is suited for our African renaissance.

© 2013, Amadou Mahtar Ba. All rights reserved. Newstime Africa content cannot be reproduced in any form – electronic or print – without prior consent of the Publishers. Copyright infringement will be pursued and perpetrators prosecuted.

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EU urges Ethiopia to release journalists, revise terror law | Reuters

EU urges Ethiopia to release journalists, revise terror law

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By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA | Wed Jul 17, 2013 1:17pm EDT

(Reuters) - A European Union parliamentary delegation urged Ethiopia on Wednesday to release journalists and opposition politicians jailed under an anti-terror law, and revise the legislation that critics say is used to stifle dissent.

Ethiopian opposition parties routinely accuse the government of harassment and say their candidates are often intimidated in polls. All but two of the 547 seats in the legislature are held by the ruling party.

Critics point to a 2009 anti-terrorism law that makes anyone caughtpublishing information that could induce readers to commits acts of terrorism liable to jail terms of 10-to-20 years.

Last year, an Ethiopian court handed sentences of eight years to life to 20 journalists and opposition figures on charges of conspiring with rebels to topple the government.

"We note flaws in the impartiality of the judicial system," said Barbara Lochbihler, who led the delegation to the Horn of Africa country.

"Therefore we also call on the Ethiopian authorities to release all journalists, members of the opposition and others arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for exercising their legitimate right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, as well as freedom of religion and belief."

Government officials were not immediately available for comment, but they often dismiss claims that they are cracking down on dissent. They say the law is needed to fight separatist rebels and armed groups they say are backed by arch-foe Eritrea.

The delegation's visit came after thousands staged an anti-government procession in June in the first large-scale protest since a disputed 2005 election ended in street violence that killed 200 people.

A smaller protest in the northern towns of Gonder and Dessie followed over the weekend, and opposition officials said dozens have since been detained ever since.

The delegation said they were denied access to a prison where some of the journalists and politicians were being held.

"We acknowledge and recognize the highly volatile situation of Ethiopia's immediate neighborhood," Lochbihler said.

"However, when we look at the anti-terrorism legislation in this country, you think (about) how this legislation is implemented and being understood and being interpreted. This leads to a lot of arrests."

Analysts say the opposition may have found renewed vigor since the death last year of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who was praised abroad for delivering strong economic growth but criticized for keeping a tight grip on power for 21 years.

(Editing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Ethiopia: EU group: Ethiopia should release jailed reporters | Presidential Election 2012 | Bradenton Herald

By KIRUBEL TADESSE — Associated Press

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — A European Union parliament delegation on Wednesday called on Ethiopia's government to release jailed journalists and activists, but in a sign the call may not be heeded the delegation was denied from visiting a prison it had been approved to see.

The head of the delegation, Barbara Lochbihler, said Ethiopia is jailing journalists and activists for "exercising their legitimate right to freedoms of expression, association and religion." The group is concerned by reports of misuse of the country's anti-terrorism legislation to stifle dissent, she said.

"Despite the country's excellent constitution, we note flaws in the impartiality of the judicial system," Lochbihler told journalists at a press conference Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Ethiopian Prime Minister said the country doesn't have any political prisoners and that prisoners would not be released "just because some European Union members said so."

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Ethiopian government criminalizes the coverage of any group the government deems to be a terrorist group, a list that includes opposition political parties.

"Among those jailed is Eskinder Nega, an award-winning blogger whose critical commentary on the government's extensive use of anti-terror laws led to his own conviction on terrorism charges," the group said in its latest survey, which placed Ethiopia among the world's top ten worst jailers of journalists.

The EU parliament delegation said certain broadcasters are jammed in Ethiopia and that access to the Internet and social media are "regularly restricted." The practice is at odds with the Ethiopian constitution, the delegation said in a statement.

The four-person delegation, drawn from the parliament's subcommittee on human rights, said the Ethiopian government must guarantee freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly at all times in accordance with its constitution and obligations under international law. The delegation met top government officials, activists and leaders of the opposition.

Earlier on Wednesday the delegation was scheduled to visit to the country's Kaliti prison where most activists are believed to be serving their sentence. But the prison director turned the group back on arrival, saying "he didn't have time to work with you," according to a member of the delegation, Jorg Leichtfried.

Leichtfried told a news conference their visit was "overshadowed" by the incident. He described it as an episode he doesn't wish to experience again. All four delegation members spoke about the incident, which appeared to have frustrated them.

The delegation said Ethiopia itself has requested international assistance to improve its detention centers and their visit was to have a firsthand experience of the detention conditions.

Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, said he was not aware of any decisions either to grant permission to see the prison or to deny it. Getachew said only family members can visit the prisoners.

"We don't have any single political prisoner in the country. We do have, like any other country, people who were convicted of crimes including terrorism who are currently serving their sentence. They would only be freed when either they complete their sentence or probation on good behavior," Getachew told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "We are not going to do release anyone just because some European Union members said so."

He criticized the delegation's statement, calling it "unhelpful" to relations between Ethiopia and the EU.

The EU is one of Ethiopia's largest donors with millions of dollar spent on development projects across the country.

Hailemariam was scheduled to meet the visiting delegation on Wednesday night.

The European lawmakers also met with African Union officials. Lochbihler criticized Nigeria and the AU for allowing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to travel to Abuja earlier this week. The International Criminal Court has an arrest warrant out for Bashir.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2013/07/17/4611711/eu-group-ethiopia-should-release.html#storylink=cpy

Ethiopian Journalists Exile Continues -CPJ

ifty-five journalists from 21 countries fled their homes due to violence, imprisonment, and death threats in the past year, according to a new report from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Argaw Ashine, an Ethiopian journalist exiled following Wikileaks information

The annual survey, marking World Refugee Day on June 20, spotlights the plight of journalists who have been forced into exile from some of the world's most repressive nations and have received assistance from CPJ over the last 12 months. 

The top countries driving out journalists were Iran and Somalia, followed by Ethiopia, Syria, and Eritrea, among others.

"Journalists all over the world are being forced from their homes to escape persecution, imprisonment and sometimes even death," said María Salazar Ferro, CPJ Journalist Assistance Program coordinator. "When journalists flee, their absence often weakens the besieged media community already struggling to provide insightful reporting about sensitive issues."

Journalists assisted by CPJ consistently cited fear of violence as the top reason for fleeing. The most deadly country for journalists in 2012 was Syria, where at least 28 were killed for their work, according to CPJ research. Violence was also acute in Mexico, where reporters are faced with intimidation and death threats if they do not self-censor, and in East Africa, where CPJ supported 18 exiles fleeing since May 31, 2012. 

In Eritrea, Africa's worst jailer of journalists, many who fled had been unlawfully imprisoned without charge or trial. Journalists also face imprisonment in Iran, where authorities cracked down on freedom of speech ahead of elections. 

Those who do manage to escape violence, intimidation, and jail in their home countries do not necessarily find an easier life in exile. Many are unable to secure entry visas, and it can take up to two years to register for asylum. As refugees they are often stigmatized, and can face the very same threats they fled from in the first place. Even when journalists are able to successfully build a new life in a new country, they pay a psychological toll. Only about one-fifth of exiled journalists are able to resume work in their field. "Forced exile can wreck journalists' lives, as well as the lives of their families," Salazar Ferro said. 

To help journalists reach safe destinations, regain stability, and earn a living, CPJ's Journalist Assistance Program works with other organizations to optimize advocacy and logistical and financial support.

Ethiopia'sJailed for 18 years for criticising thw government, journalist Eskinder Nega vows to keep fighting - The Independent

The Independent has seen a defiant letter smuggled out of jail by a man who pines for democracy

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An Ethiopian journalist who was jailed after publishing a series of articles calling for democratic reforms has penned a letter from prison, seen exclusively by The Independent, in which he decries the “human rights crisis” unfolding in Ethiopia and describes the personal toll of facing 18 years behind bars.

The call to action: You can help Eskinder’s case. Please share these stories, his journalism, and his prison letter, as widely as you can through social media. Wherever you are in the world, please raise his case with your elected officials and governmental foreign ministers.

Eskinder Nega, 45, was sentenced last year under a broad 2009 anti-terrorism law which freedom of speech activists, the United Nations and various members of the US congress and European Parliament  say effectively ban independent journalism in Ethiopia.  At trial, Mr Nega admitted he had criticised the government, but said he had only ever called for peaceful steps towards democratic reforms.

A copy of Mr Nega’s letter, smuggled out of his cell in Addis Ababa’s notorious Kality Prison, was passed to The Independent for publication as part of its Voices in Danger campaign, which is aimed at publicising the plight of jailed, attacked or harassed reporters around the world.

Under the headline “I shall persevere!”, Mr Nega’s letter is a reaction to a ruling handed down by the Ethiopian Supreme Court on 3 May, which rejected his appeal and upheld his 18-year jail sentence. In it, Mr Nega vows to continue his fight for freedom of speech in Ethiopia.

“Individuals can be penalised, made to suffer (oh, how I miss my child) and even killed,” he writes. “But democracy is a destiny of humanity which cannot be averted. It can be delayed but not defeated.”

Mr Nega quotes widely from literary figures such as Keats and Horace in his assessment of Ethiopia’s government, citing Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s analysis of the Stalinist purges of the 1930s, which “tortured you not to force you to reveal a secret, but to collude with you in a fiction.” He writes: “This is also the basic rational of the unfolding human rights crisis in Ethiopia.”

Ethiopia is courted by western governments including Britain, partly because it is seen as a relatively stable nation in the Horn of Africa. But critics say that behind this reputation lies one of the continent’s most repressive regimes when it comes to free journalism.

At least 72 publications, including those for whom Mr Nega worked, have been forced to close under government pressure over the last two decades, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Educated in the US, Mr Nega has been imprisoned nine times for his journalism. His wife, Serkalem Fasil, was also jailed at one stage for her activities as a newspaper publisher and even gave birth to their son in prison. She once described jail as “a home away from home” for her husband.

In his prison cell letter, he concludes: “I sleep in peace, even if only in the company of lice, behind bars,” he writes in his letter from jail. “The same could not be said of my incarcerators though they sleep in warm beds, next to their wives, in their homes.”

Mr Nega’s calls for freedom of speech echo those voiced on Sunday, when around 10,000 Ethiopians marched through the capital of Addis Ababa in the first large-scale anti-government protests since the disputed 2005 election which ended in street violence that killed 200 people.

After Mr Nega and his wife published columns criticising what they described as the government’s brutal crackdown on those2005  protests, they were both arrested and charged with treason. They were both  acquitted after 17 months in jail, where Serkalem gave birth to their son, Nafkot.

Speaking after Sunday’s march, Yilekal Getachew, chairman of the Semayawi (Blue) party, which organised the protests, said: “We have repeatedly asked the government to release political leaders, journalists and those who asked the government not to intervene in religious affairs.”

Journalists are not terrorists

Mr Nega is one of 11 journalists convicted in total under the country’s controversial 2009 anti-terror law, including two Swedish nationals, who were later released after pressure from their government, and six Ethiopian journalists convicted in absentia.

Of the 11 journalists convicted, three are currently jailed (Eskinder, Woubshet Taye and Reeyot Alemu). A further two, Yusuf Getachew and Solomon Kebede, were arrested in 2012 – both are awaiting trial on terror accusations.

The new laws were brought in after Ethiopia became a key regional security partner of of America’s so-called ‘war on terror’.

While the government claims the laws are necessary to maintain stability,  critics say they confuse the actions of a free press with terrorism.

Ethiopia has the highest number of exiled journalists in the world, the CPJ claims. Against a backdrop of increasing pressure from the authorities, between 2007 and 2012, 49 journalists fled the country. According to the CPJ, there are currently seven journalists in jail in Ethiopia, some without charge. In Africa, only Eritrea jails more.

Ethiopia’s government says all the journalists currently in jail are there due to their terrorist activities. It says Mr Nega is in jail for writing “articles that incited the public to bring the North African and Arab uprisings to Ethiopia.”

In contrast, a recent ruling by a panel of five independent United Nations experts said Mr Nega’s imprisonment came “as a result of his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression”. The US state department’s latest human rights reports described the trials of Mr Nega and other journalists and dissidents as “politically motivated.”

Throughout his career, Mr Nega has refused to be exiled or silenced, even publishing critical pieces about the government right up until the days before his trial last year.

His last article, published on 9 September 2011, five days before his arrest, came in response to the arrest of dissident actor Debebe Eshetu, and discussed how improbable it was that those who were being jailed under the new laws were really “terrorists”.

Eskinder Nega’s letter: I will live to see the light  at the end of the tunnel

I shall persevere! ‘So I may do the deed that my own soul has to itself decreed’ – Keats.

Individuals can be penalised, made to suffer (oh, how I miss my child) and even killed. But democracy is a destiny of humanity which can not be averted. It can be delayed but  not defeated.

No less significant, absent trials and tribulations,  democracy would be devoid  of the soul that endows it  with character and vitality. I accept my fate, even embrace  it as serendipitous.

I sleep in peace, even if only in the company of lice, behind bars. The same could not be said of my incarcerators, though – they sleep in warm beds, next to their wives, in their homes.

The government has been able to lie in a court of law effortlessly as a function of the moral paucity of our politics. All the great crimes of history, lest we forget, have their genesis in the moral wilderness of their times. The mundane details of the case offer nothing substantive but what Christopher Hitchens once described as “a vortex of irrationality and nastiness”. Suffice to say that this is Ethiopia’s Dreyfus affair. Only this time, the despondency of withering tyranny, not smutty bigotry, is at play.

Martin Amis wrote, quoting Alexander Solzhenitsyn, that Stalinism (in the 1930s) tortured you not to force you to reveal  a secret, but to collude in  a fiction.

This is also the basic rationale of the unfolding human rights crisis in Ethiopia. And the same 1930s bravado that show-trials can somehow vindicate banal injustice pervades official thinking.

Wont to unlearn from history, we aptly repeat even its most brazen mistakes.

Why should the rest of the world care? Horace said it best: Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. (Change only the name and this story is also about you). Where ever justice suffers, our common humanity suffers, too.

I will live to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It may or may not be a long wait. Whichever way events may go, I shall persevere!

Liberté, égalité, fraternité. History shall absolve democracy.

Written by Eskinder Nega from Kaliti Prison in Addis Ababa

African giant: Ethiopia profile

Africa’s oldest independent nation is also its second-most populated, and boasts one of the fastest-growing economies on the continent. It has long been seen by the West as a bulwark against radical Islamists in neighbouring Somalia, and is seen as one of the most stable countries in the Horn of Africa.

However, its government, led by the Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who was sworn in last September following the death of long-term leader Meles Zenawi, is also frequently criticised by human rights groups for cracking down on opposition and the media on the grounds of protecting national security. The country’s 547-seat legislature only has one opposition member.

Anti-terrorism legislation passed in 2009 has meant anyone who is caught publishing information that could induce readers into “acts of terrorism” are liable to jail terms of up to 20 years.

In addition to tightening its grip on the opposition and media, the government has also been accused of meddling in the day-to-day religious affairs of Ethiopians.

Muslims, who comprise about a third of Ethiopia’s 86.5 million people, have staged protests against the government, including mosque sit-ins in 2012, to call for some jailed religious leaders to be freed. The majority of Ethiopia’s population is Christian.

Ethiopia denies interfering in religious affairs, but also says it fears militant Islam is taking root in the country.