Continue reading CPJ urges Ethiopia's Zenawi to pursue press reforms »
Committee to Protect Journalists
Saleh Idris Gama
11 results arranged by date
• Terrorism law criminalizes coverage of sensitive topics.
• Broadcasting Authority serves as government censor.
4: Journalists jailed as of December 1, 2009.
Ahead of national elections scheduled for May 2010, the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) further curtailed the limited freedom of the country’s small number of independent newspapers. The government enacted harsh legislation that criminalized coverage of vaguely defined “terrorist” activities, and used administrative restrictions, criminal prosecutions, and imprisonments to induce self-censorship. In all, four reporters and editors were being held when CPJ conducted its annual census of imprisoned journalists on December 1.
Continue reading Attacks on the Press 2009: Ethiopia »
Imprisoned
| Azerbaijan, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen
136 journalists jailed worldwide
As of December 1, 2009 | » Read the accompanying report: "FREELANCERS UNDER FIRE"
Continue reading 2009 prison census »
Continue reading Anti-terrorism legislation further restricts Ethiopian press »
The small vanguard of independent media that emerged from a brutal 2005 crackdown struggled in the face of continuing government harassment. Although authorities issued licenses allowing a handful of independent political newspapers to operate, they continued to use imprisonment, threats, and legal and administrative restrictions to suppress coverage of sensitive issues.
Continue reading Attacks on the Press in 2008: Ethiopia »
Journalists in prison as of December 1, 2008
Read the accompanying report: "Online and in jail"
Continue reading 2008 prison census: 125 journalists jailed »
Involved militarily in the conflict engulfing Somalia, engaged in a tense stalemate with arch foe Eritrea, assailed by allegations of human rights abuses in the eastern region of Ogaden, Ethiopia eased media repression slightly and released many journalists from prison. Yet the chilling effect of a brutal 2005 media crackdown that led to 15 arrests and numerous newspaper closings hung over Ethiopia’s beleaguered private press in 2007. And continued government harassment drove many journalists out of the country.
Continue reading Attacks on the Press 2007: Ethiopia »
January 30, 2008
His Excellency Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
c/o Embassy of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia to the United States
3506 International Drive, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Via hand and facsimile: (202) 587-0195
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to express our great concern about the government's denial of publishing licenses to five independent Ethiopian journalists freed last year from prison. We are calling on you to use all your influence to remove such administrative restraints, which contradict the government's public assurances last year that former prisoners would be allowed to resume their work.
Continue reading Ethopia urged to grant publishing licenses »
December 4, 2007
The Hon. Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
Via Facsimile: 202 647-2283
Dear Secretary Rice,
In advance of your meeting with Ethiopian officials in Addis Ababa, the Committee to Protect Journalists would like to draw your attention to our concerns regarding press freedom conditions there.
You may know that 15 Ethiopian journalists were recently released from prison, but this development belies the country's sustained record of contempt for independent media, which manifests itself in a variety of legal and administrative restraints. The 15 jailed journalists were sentenced on trumped-up charges such as genocide in connection with the media's coverage of Ethopia's 2005 post-election unrest.
Continue reading CPJ asks Rice to discuss Ethiopian press freedom »
Detailed accounts of each imprisoned journalist.
Continue reading 2007 prison census: 127 journalists jailed »
