Journalists and bloggers continue to face reprisals and restrictions on World Press Freedom Day
Journalists and bloggers around the world continue to face reprisals and restrictions on 22nd World Press Freedom Day
On 3 May PEN International marks World Press Freedom Day – affirming the importance of freedom of expression and press freedom – a fundamental human right enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"PEN members worldwide are personally engaged in the struggle for freedom of the press," said Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.
"We are no strangers to the challenges and dangers journalists and media workers face in the course of their work, which is essential in providing checks and balances to all governments."
The day is also an opportunity for the international community to renew their commitment to press freedom.
The date marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of principles drawn up by African journalists in 1991 calling for a free, independent and pluralistic media on that continent and throughout the world.
PEN International monitors attacks on hundreds of journalists worldwide each year, highlighting the dangers they face. The organisation campaigns for dozens of emblematic cases of journalists persecuted by governments in all regions of the world. PEN also campaigns on behalf of transitional media and internet users, recognising that writers – including online journalists, bloggers and social media producers - in the digital world, where news is increasingly produced and consumed, are no less subject to forms of persecution such as arbitrary arrest, torture, unfair trials, physical attacks (including in the most extreme cases killing) and threats than their traditional media colleagues.
Digital media has vastly expanded the capability of individuals, groups and whole societies to express themselves both privately and publicly, to associate freely, to exchange literature, ideas and information. Whilst digital media has expanded the ability of individuals to share in such a way, it has also increased the number of individuals who are vulnerable to persecution for their writing.
Online writers additionally face new forms of attack such as cyber-attacks, data breaches, invasion of privacy and undue surveillance. Through its Declaration on Digital Freedom, PEN has been campaigning to protect journalists online and highlight the ways in which assaults, such as online censorship and illegal surveillance, limit the right to freedom of expression – which includes the right to receive and impart information - and undermine press freedom.
This year PEN International is highlighting press freedom in four countries:
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Journalists and social media users are increasingly facing pressure and often prosecution from the government’s crackdown on free expression. These pressures have only increased since the introduction of a new internet law, giving Turkey’s telecommunications authority almost unlimited power in tightening its control over the internet.
PEN International is also gravely concerned by a controversial new law ratified by President Gül on 26 April 2014 that gives Turkey’s national intelligence agency MİT extraordinary new powers. Under the new law journalists and editors who publish leaked intelligence material are liable for jail terms of up to nine years. The law also gives the intelligence agency unrestricted access to private data without a court order. The new law greatly undermines freedom of expression, press freedom, the right to privacy and the public’s right to access information, while violating Turkey's obligations under international human rights law.
Gökhan Biçici - reporter and editor
Gökhan Biçici is a reporter and editor for İMC TV who was subjected to police violence during the 2013 Gezi Park protests. Arrested on 16 June 2013 while documenting the excessive force used by police against protesters in Istanbul, Biçici was beaten severely by police before being dragged through the streets. Observers in apartments overlooking his arrest captured footage of the attack, which went viral on social media within a matter of hours.
Gökhan Biçici gave a detailed account of the torture and other ill-treatment he was subjected to to PEN, which was published in a recent PEN report on the Gezi Park protests.
Biçici submitted an official complaint to the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office in June 2013 regarding his treatment at the hands of the police. The Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office has since dropped its investigation into the case, citing an inability to identify the police officers involved in the attack.
The decision conforms to a pattern of impunity in cases involving police attacks on journalists during last summer’s protests. Other prominent journalists who were also victims of attack, such as PEN main case and UNESCO 2014 World Press Freedom Prize winner Ahmet Şık, have also had their complaints ignored. According to statistics gathered by Bianet, 153 journalists were attacked by security forces during the 2013 protests.
PEN calls on the Turkish authorities to:
Initiate a comprehensive review of the use of excessive force by security forces against journalists during the protests;
Bring disciplinary and, where appropriate, legal action against any law enforcement officials found to have tortured or otherwise ill-treated journalists, including Gökhan Biçici, so that police violence is not met with impunity;
Conduct a comprehensive review of police regulations and training with regard to the treatment of journalists, their property and materials during demonstrations;
Revise law enforcement officials’ code of conduct so that journalists’ right to safely report during protests is fully respected in future.
Please send appeals reiterating PEN’s calls (listed above) to:
President Abdullah Gül, T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Genel Sekreterliği, 06689, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey, Fax: +90 312 470 24 33, Email: cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cbabdullahgul
Twitter: @cbabdullahgul (Use the hashtag #PENGezi)
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Vekaletler Caddesi, Başbakanlık Merkez Bina, 06573, Kızılay, Ankara, Turkey, Fax: +90 312 417 0476
Email: receptayyip.erdogan@basbakanlik.gov.tr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RecepTayyipErdogan
Twitter: @RT_Erdogan (Use the hashtag #PENGezi)
And copy to the Embassy of Turkey in your country.
Background on the Gezi Park Protests:
In March 2014, PEN International and English PEN published a joint report titled ‘The Gezi Park Protests: the impact on freedom of expression in Turkey’. PEN assessed the violations of the right to freedom of expression and to freedom of assembly during summer 2013’s protests, detailing numerous examples of intimidation, judicial harassment and violence against writers and journalists by authorities in Turkey, and shedding light on the mechanisms by which the mainstream media is pushed towards self-censorship.
For more information see: https://pen-international.org/news/turkey-end-human-rights-violations-against-writers-and-journalists/
Background on Gӧkhan Biçici
Biçici is a journalist who has worked in the media in Turkey since the late 1990s. He was a reporter for the Evrensel newspaper from 1999-2001 before working in media relations for the agricultural worker’s trade union Gıda İş. In 2006 he founded the Centre for Social Research and Education (TAREM) with a group of academics, journalists, trade unionists and human rights activists, where he continues to work as the organisation’s general coordinator. In 2007 he launched an online news website, EmekDunyasi.net. Since 2011 he has hosted various news shows for İMC TV.
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Journalists who cover organised crime, government corruption and other sensitive issues are increasingly facing threats and lethal attacks in Honduras, with almost complete impunity for perpetrators. Since June 2009 at least 32 Honduran journalists – most working for the broadcast media – have been killed and many more continue to work in a climate of fear and self-censorship. Only two cases have seen a successful prosecution – an impunity rate of over 90%.
Ahead of World Press Freedom Day (3 May), PEN International welcomes the recent convictions for the murders of journalists Aníbal Barrow and Alfredo Villatoro Rivera. However, PEN notes that only one of at least six suspects in the Barrow case has been convicted, the sentencing of Villatoro’s killers has been delayed and those who ordered both murders have yet to be found. Additionally, five months on, there has been no progress in the investigation into the December 2013 murder of radio station owner and reporter Carlos Argeñal Medina, while a family member seeking justice for his murder has been subjected to intimidation. Of 38 journalists killed in Honduras since 2003, only four cases have seen any convictions, an impunity rate of 90 per cent. Attacks on journalists continue unabated, as evidenced by the murder of another media worker in April – despite the fact that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had ordered his protection – and the judicial harassment of journalist Julio Ernesto Alvarado who was convicted of criminal defamation.
PEN International calls on the Honduran authorities to:
Expedite a full, impartial and independent investigation into the murder of Juan Carlos Argeñal Medina, to make the results public and to bring those responsible to justice;
Ensure that appropriate investigative bodies and protocols for crimes committed against journalists and media workers are established, with adequate resourcing, and ensure that all such crimes are fully investigated, prioritising any links with their professional duties;
Overturn Julio Ernesto Alvarado’s conviction and sentence for criminal defamation, investigate the threats he has received and to provide him with appropriate protection;
Establish an effective protection mechanism for journalists and human rights defenders in full consultation with civil society;
Improve the implementation of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights precautionary measures for journalists and human rights defenders.
Please send appeals reiterating PEN’s calls (listed above) to:
Attorney General: Señor Oscar Chinchilla Banegas Ministerio Público, Lomas del Guijarro Avenida República Dominicana Edificio Lomas Plaza II Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Fax +504 2221 5667, Twitter: @MP_Honduras
Salutation: Dear Attorney General / Señor Fiscal General
Minister of Interior: Señor Arturo Corrales Secretaria de Estado en el Despacho de ́ Seguridad, Aldea el Ocotal, Antiguo Local de la Academia Nacional de Policia ANAPO Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Email: comunicacionCNDS@gmail.com
Salutation: Señor Ministro del Interior/ Dear Minister of Interior
Please also send a copy of your appeal to your nearest Honduran diplomatic representative (the contact details for Honduran embassies abroad are listed here: http://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/honduras)
Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN International if sending appeals after 3 June 2014.
PEN International welcomes the recent advances made by the Honduran government in addressing impunity for journalist murders, including convictions in the cases of the June/July 2013 killing of Globo TV news presenter Aníbal Barrow and the 15 May 2012 murder of HRN Radio director Ángel Alfredo Villatoro Rivera. On 14 March 2014, Gabriel Armando Castellanos Pérez was found guilty of killing Barrow; he reportedly faces a maximum of eight years in prison since he was a minor when he committed the crime. On 25 March, Marvín Alonso Gómez and brothers Osman Fernando and Edgardo Francisco Osorio Arguijo were convicted of aggravated abduction and murder of Villatoro and now face life imprisonment. PEN also welcomes the Honduran government’s response to the concerns and recommendations contained in PEN’s joint report Honduras: Journalism in the Shadow of Impunity during a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on 25 March 2014.
However, PEN notes that at least five other suspects in the Barrow case have still to be tried, the sentencing of Villatoro’s three killers has been delayed to 14 May, and that the intellectual authors of both murders have yet to be found.
Meanwhile, deadly attacks on the media in Honduras continue unabated, as demonstrated by the 11 April murder of media worker Carlos Hilario Mejía Orellana. Mejía, who worked as head of marketing for Radio Progreso, was stabbed to death at his home in El Progreso municipality, Yoro department, in northern Honduras. He had received threats in the past, presumed to be in connection with his work to promote human rights and social justice for Radio Progreso and the Reflection, Investigation and Communication team (Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación – ERIC); both the radio station and ERIC are projects of the Society of Jesus (Compañía de Jesús). The IACHR ordered the Honduran government to protect the media worker in 2009, 2010 and 2011. However, the authorities failed to investigate the threats against Mejía and around 17 other members of Radio Progreso who were also awarded IACHR precautionary measures following the 2009 coup, or to provide them with effective protection. On 14 July 2011, a correspondent for Radio Progreso, Nery Jeremías Orellana, was shot dead; his murder remains unsolved.
In fact, of 38 journalists murdered in Honduras since 2003 – 32 of which have occurred since the coup d’état that ousted President José Manuel Zelaya in June 2009 – only 10 cases have been prosecuted and just four have resulted in a conviction, according to figures provided by the government during the hearing at the IACHR in March. Impunity thus remains the norm in 89.5 per cent of these cases, due to inadequate investigations resulting from under-resourcing, bureaucratic ineptitude, blame-shifting and denial.
01A case in point is Juan Carlos Argeñal Medina, the last journalist to fall victim to the violence gripping the country. Almost five months after his fatal shooting in December 2013, the investigation into his murder has stalled while a family member seeking justice for the crime has been subjected to intimidation and harassment.
Owner of Christian station Vida Televisión and correspondent for opposition stations Globo TV and Radio Globo in Danlí, Juan Carlos Argeñal Medina was shot and killed in his home by unidentified gunmen. He had covered local government corruption in the months before his murder, and had reported receiving death threats. He had also previously been threatened for revealing corruption in local hospitals. Argeñal was also a member of Libertad y Refundación (LIBRE) and Vida Televisión had voiced support for the party. LIBRE is the political wing of the National Front of Popular Resistance (Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular – FNRP) a coalition of politicians, unions and indigenous groups led by Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, the wife of former President Zelaya.
Some 150 days on, Argeñal’s murder remains unsolved. The journalist’s brother, Mario Argeñal, who has been active in demanding justice for the killing, has told PEN that there has been no progress in the investigation and the overall impression is that there is absolutely no interest on the part of the state in solving the crime. According to Mario Argeñal, the police have not even taken basic steps such as looking into the contacts on the journalist’s mobile phone and summoning suspects for investigation, while the person in charge of the case is apparently occupied with other tasks. Mario Argeñal says the family’s requests for the case to be assigned to investigators from outside the area for fear that local police might be corrupt or implicated in the crime have been ignored, as has a local rights group’s recommendation that the case should be led by a Special Prosecutor.
Mario Argeñal was subjected to intimidation and surveillance by vehicles circling and keeping watch on his house, in December and February 2014. He had given several interviews to national media on his brother’s murder, linking it to his reporting on corruption in local government and had also been liaising with the authorities to seek justice.
Globo TV and Radio Globo have often been targeted in the past. Two journalists for Globo TV were murdered last year: presenter Aníbal Barrow in June/ July (see above) and cameraman Manuel Murillo Varela in October 2013. Another journalist killed in December 2011, Luz Marina Paz Villalobos, had also previously worked for Radio Globo. While one of at least six suspects in the Barrow case has been convicted, the other two murders remain unsolved.
02Moreover, Julio Ernesto Alvarado, director and presenter of the news programme ‘Mi Nación’ on Globo TV, has been subjected to threats and judicial harassment. In December 2013, Alvarado, was sentenced on appeal to a 16-month prison sentence and ban on practising journalism for covering allegations of corruption at a local university in 2006. The case was brought by university deacon Belinda Flores, whose alleged involvement in influence peddling and falsification of university degrees had been covered by three editions of ‘Mi Nación’ in 2006.
Alvarado and two university teachers who had appeared on Alvarado’s show to discuss the allegations had been cleared of the charges in March 2011. However Flores appealed the decision and in December 2013 the Supreme Court of Justice in the capital Tegucigalpa convicted Alvarado of criminal defamation – despite the fact that the non-guilty verdict was upheld for the two teachers and that the Court took as proven that Flores was in fact implicated in some wrongdoing.
Following his conviction, Alvarado was subject to harassment and threats in early 2014 via his Facebook page and that of journalist and human rights defender Dina Meza, who made various posts protesting Alvarado’s sentence. One post to Alvarado’s Facebook account dated 7 February threatened him and his family members with death. PEN International protested Alvarado’s conviction as politically motivated and called on the authorities to investigate the threats against him. Alvarado previously endured months of threats and harassment which culminated in a suspected attempt on his life, and led him to suspend his radio programme on Radio Globo in March 2013.
As a result of this intimidation and a lack of faith in the impartiality of the justice system, Alvarado decided not to appeal his conviction, opting instead to pay a fine of10 lempiras per day of his sentence (around US$250 in total) in order to avoid imprisonment. At a hearing on 28 April 2014, the judge also lifted the ban on practising journalism. Following the hearing, Alvarado thanked the press for following his case and appealed for unity among journalists, stating: “We must not think of ourselves as journalists of different ideologies, since we are united by the fight to defend our right to express ourselves freely. If we are isolated things will be worse and we could all be imprisoned.”
However, the battle is not over. The plaintiff’s lawyer announced that she would appeal the judge’s decision to overturn the work ban and that she also intended to launch civil defamation proceedings against Alvarado. If such a law suit is successful, the plaintiff could be awarded large damages which could ultimately lead to imprisonment for Alvarado should he fail to pay.
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In recent years several laws curtailing free speech and dissent have been passed in Russia. These laws – the so-called ‘anti-gay propaganda’ law, the ‘blasphemy’ law, and a law reintroducing criminal defamation – specifically restrict the right to free expression, and pose a particular threat to journalists and bloggers. This week, Russia's Upper House of Parliament approved a bill that applies new restrictions to the internet and blogging. Once signed into law by President Putin, the laws are expected to take effect in August, when bloggers with more than 3,000 page views a day will face regulation and legal liability. Human rights groups have criticised the bill as a means of suppressing critical voices on the internet.
New Blogging Law to Restrict Freedom of Expression
PEN International is deeply concerned by the news that the Russian Parliament has passed a bill that threatens to stifle freedom of expression online. If the bill is ratified by President Vladimir Putin, popular bloggers will be required to comply with the same onerous standards imposed on traditional media outlets in Russia. PEN calls on President Putin to veto the new law and uphold freedom of expression online in accordance with Russia’s obligations under international treaties.
The bill, which was passed by the lower house of the Russian Parliament on 22 April 2014 and by the Upper House on 29 April 2014, as part of an amendment to an anti-terror law, imposes strict rules on blogs and websites that attract more than 3,000 visitors per day. Under the new bill, bloggers that pass the 3,000 visitor threshold are not allowed to post anonymously and face fines of up to 500,000 rubles ($14,000) for publishing ‘unchecked facts’. Bans on ‘obscene language’, ‘electoral propaganda’, ‘extremism’ and ‘pornography’ are amongst the broadly defined restrictions that already affect mass media that would also apply to bloggers from 1 August 2014 if the bill is ratified.
The bill has been described by critics as a crackdown on one of the few remaining bastions of free speech in the country. PEN is concerned that Russia’s vibrant political blogosphere will be pushed to self-censorship and that the government is attempting to control online content under the guise of the fight against extremism. Blogging has become a sanctuary for lively political debate in Russia as the scope for freedom of expression has narrowed in recent times.
Technologically-minded Russian bloggers and internet users have already started exploring ways of getting round the restrictions imposed by the new bill, including various means of online anonymisation. Online services, meanwhile, are moving to shield users’ page view data. Russia’s most popular search engine Yandex shut down its blogger popularity rankings on 18 April. The popular blogging service LiveJournal followed suit just five days later, before replacing the actual number of subscribers to its most popular Russian blogs with ‘2500+’.
As ingenuous as internet users and service providers may be in getting round restrictions on online activity, they shouldn’t have to resort to such methods to overcome unfair limitations of their rights to freedom of expression online. If ratified, the new bill would represent a major threat to all Russian bloggers, who are likely to self-censor to avoid the kind of costly penalties that are normally imposed on major media enterprises.
PEN International is calling on President Vladimir Putin to:
prevent the undue restriction of freedom of expression online by vetoing the bill and to
ensure that Russia complies fully with its international obligations under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Please send appeals reiterating PEN’s calls (listed above) to:
His Excellency: Vladimir Putin, 23, Ilyinka Street, Moscow, 1031132, Russian Federation
Email: Via website http://eng.letters.kremlin.ru/send
Twitter address: @PutinRF_Eng (don’t forget to copy in PEN International @pen_int)
Please send copies to the Embassy of Russia in your country.
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Ethiopia has a long history of government control over media. Following the controversial elections of 2005, a crackdown on press freedom - with repressive measures introduced aimed at restricting freedom of expression and association - has resulted in a stifling of critical voices. Although recent years have seen a rapid increase in amount of internet access and use in Ethiopia, there has been a corresponding development of the Ethiopian state’s digital surveillance technology, the sophistication of which could pose increasing threats to voices of dissent in the country.
The state has increasingly utilised its draconian Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009 to arbitrarily arrest, prosecute, and imprison independent journalists and opposition activists. Actions classified as ‘terrorist’ would often not even be considered crimes outside of Ethiopia. The application of the law has led to many journalists opting for self-censorship instead and a stifling of independent publications. Nine bloggers have been arrested in recent days, and at least five print journalists, including Eskinder Nega and Reeyot Alemu are currently held in the country for alleged terrorism.
Nine bloggers and journalists arrested in Ethiopia
The arrest of nine bloggers and journalists in Ethiopia just days before World Press Freedom Day on 3 May once again highlights PEN International’s concerns for freedom of expression in the country. PEN recalls with dismay that last year Ethiopia’s Supreme Court marked World Press Freedom Day by upholding journalist Eskinder Nega’s 18-year prison sentence on highly dubious terrorism related charges; he and at least four other journalists remain in prison in Ethiopia on similar charges.
Ahead of World Press Freedom Day and the second Universal Periodic Review of Ethiopia at the UN on 6 May where the country’s human rights record will be reviewed, PEN reiterates its calls on the Ethiopian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all independent journalists, bloggers and activists held for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of opinion, expression and association. It also calls on the authorities to repeal or amend its anti-terrorism and media laws, which are frequently used to harass journalists and curb free expression in the country.
PEN calls on the Ethiopian authorities to:
Immediately and unconditionally release all independent journalists, bloggers and activists detained and imprisoned for peacefully exercising their fundamental right to freedom of opinion, expression and association protected under both the Ethiopian Constitution (Articles 27 and 31) and international human rights treaties to which Ethiopia is a party, including the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights
Repeal or amend the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and the Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to Information Proclamation so that they comply with Ethiopia’s obligations under international law regarding the freedom of opinion, expression and association
Ensure that all detained or imprisoned journalists and bloggers are granted access to visitors, including legal counsel, and medical treatment as enshrined in the Ethiopian Constitution (Article 21.2).
Please send appeals reiterating PEN’s calls (listed above) to:
Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, Office of the Prime Minister, P.O. Box 1031, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Fax: +251 11 551 1244
Email via Ministry of Justice: mojmo@ethionet.et
Message via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/PM-HaileMariam-Desalegn/130218980457764
Twitter: @HailemariamD
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
Please also send a copy of your appeal to your nearest Ethiopian diplomatic representative (the contact details for Ethiopian embassies abroad are listed here: http://www.mfa.gov.et/abouttheministry.php?pg=6#vdo and http://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/ethiopia).
On 25 April 2014, six Zone 9 bloggers – Atnaf Berhane, Mahlet Fantahun, Natnael Feleke, Befeqadu Hailu, Zelalem Kiberet and Abel Wabela – and freelance journalist Tesfalem Waldyes were detained in what appear to be a series of coordinated arrests. The following day, journalists Asmamaw Haile Gorgis and Edom Kassaye were also arrested. The nine were reportedly brought before a court without legal representation on 27 April and have been detained incommunicado in Maekelawi detention centre since their arrest. According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, which documented serious human rights abuses in Maekelawi, detainees are seldom granted access to legal counsel or their relatives during the initial investigation phase. Waldyes, Haile Gorgis and Kiberet are reportedly next due in court on 7 May, while the remaining six will appear in court on 8 May.
Two days prior to the bloggers’ arrest, Zone 9 – an independent collective of bloggers who campaign against political repression and human rights abuses in Ethiopia – announced the resumption of operations after a hiatus of several months due to security concerns. The day before his arrest, Feleke was reportedly ordered to hand over the contact details of all Zone 9 contributors, which he refused to do. The bloggers stand accused of working with foreign human rights organisations and receiving finance to incite public violence through social media. As such, PEN is concerned that their arrest is part of the authorities’ continuing attempts to curtail freedom of expression in the country.
It is thought that Waldyes (a freelance journalist writing for the weekly English Fortune and the monthly Addis Standard), Haile Gorgis (editor of the monthly Amharic-language Addis Guday magazine) and Kassaye (a former journalist for the state-owned daily newspaper Addis Zemen and a member of the Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association) were arrested on suspicion of being affiliated with Zone 9. In the weeks prior to her arrest, Kassaye was reportedly subject to surveillance and interrogation over her connection to and the activities of Zone 9, including their relationship with foreign human rights organisations.
Zone 9, whose motto is “We Blog Because We Care,” formed in May 2012 in response to the narrowing of space for free expression in the country. The group’s name is reported to derive from Kality Prison, the main jail where Ethiopia’s political prisoners are held. Access to the blog is reportedly regularly blocked within Ethiopia; however, it has a strong following among the Ethiopian diaspora community. Activities on the blog were reportedly suspended for seven months following the harassment of its members by security agents, but its contributors remained active on social media. Members of Zone 9 among those arrested are reported to have met with the International Press Institute during its November 2013 mission to the country.
PEN International’s campaigning on Ethiopia
In September 2013, PEN International submitted a report on the situation for writers and journalists and freedom of expression in Ethiopia, produced jointly with the Committee to Protect Journalists and Freedom Now, to the Working Group of the UPR. The report finds that the climate for free expression, press freedom and digital freedom in Ethiopia has deteriorated since the first review in 2009. Ethiopia has failed to meet its commitments to bring anti-terror legislation into line with international human rights law standards or take any significant steps towards protecting media freedom. Ethiopia continues to threaten, prosecute and detain writers and journalists. Of particular concern is the continued use of arbitrary detention, lack of access to government information, supression of peaceful assembly and restrictive laws regarding the internet and digital technologies.
Since 2009, the state has increasingly utilised its Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No. 652/2009 to arbitrarily arrest, prosecute and detain independent journalists and opposition activists. At least five print journalists are currently held in the country for supposed terrorism offences: Eskinder Nega (journalist for now-defunct political magazine Change), Reeyot Alemu (contributor to the independent weekly Feteh), Woubshet Taye (deputy editor of the now-defunct Awramba Times), Yusuf Getachew and Solomon Kebede (editor and managing editor of the now-defunct weekly newspaper Ye Muslimoch Guday [Muslim Affairs]); for more information see PEN’s previous actions and Case List. PEN believes that these journalists have been jailed because of their critical reporting and considers the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to be draconian. Actions classified as ‘terrorist’ by the law would often not even be considered crimes outside of Ethiopia.
In December 2013, PEN International protested the continuing imprisonment of Reeyot Alemu and Eskinder Nega, calling on the Ethiopian authorities to release the journalists immediately and unconditionally and for Alemu to be given immediate access to medical treatment. PEN also invited members of PEN and the general public to send messages of solidarity to Alemu and Nega in prison and took part in #Kality Tweet Chat on the situation of press freedom in Ethiopia. On 8 March 2014, PEN International used International Women’s Day to once again raise awareness for Alemu, who spent her 1,000th day in prison that month.