EHAHRD-Net WELCOMES ACQUITTAL OF ETHIOPIAN JOURNALISTS, URGES COURT TO FREE OTHER HRDs STILL DETAINED

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Also in the news:
[CPJ: Somali government detains three TV journalists]
[Four killed as new clashes shatter Mogadishu ceasefire ] - [Former U.S. envoy says Washington erred in allowing Ethiopia-North Korea arms deal] - [Ethiopian government shows terror detainees on state-run television] - [Sudan says Ethiopian rebels cause tension on joint border]

International:
[Blasts Rock Algerian Capital] - [Fred Thompson reveals he has lymphoma] - [N. Korea Wants To Delay Reactor Shutdown] - [Chinese Premier Visits Japan] and more of today's top stories!





Eerily similar pictures:
(Left) Ethiopia: state television shows pictures of detainees smiling and waving to prove that they are being treated well.4/10/07
(Right) Iran: state television shows pictures of detainees smiling and waving to prove that they are being treated well. 4/5/07



26th Regular Report
ETHIOPIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Human Rights Situation in Ethiopia
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Ethiopian American Civic Advocacy (EACA) website
EACA demands that all political prisoners in Ethiopia be released urgent petition
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EASTER MESSAGE FROM KINIJIT CHAIRMAN AND PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE, HAILU SHAWEL - KALITY PRISON
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PRESS RELEASE
Kinijit Canada Support Chapter
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Human Rights and Humans Without Rights in Ethiopia
Professor Alemayehu G.Mariam
Speech at the University of Minnesota Law School Human Rights Conference
April 6, 2007

CPJ: Somali government detains three TV journalists

New York, April 11, 2007— Three journalists of Somali-language international broadcaster Universal Television were arrested in the capital Mogadishu in connection with questions they asked during a presidential interview, according to local journalists.

On Sunday, director Abdulkader Ashir Nadara, reporter Bashir Dirie Naleye, and cameraman Hamud Mohammed Osman of the London-based satellite network were exclusively invited to interview presidential spokesman Hussein Mohamed Hubsireed and then arrested without charge, according to the same sources. They remain detained today without charge in a police station at Mogadishu’s airport, they said.(More...)

EHAHRD-Net WELCOMES ACQUITTAL OF ETHIOPIAN JOURNALISTS, URGES COURT TO FREE OTHER HRDs STILL DETAINED

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net) welcomes the news about the acquittal of Ethiopian journalists who have been under detention or in exile since November 2005.

The journalists were arrested over their reporting on the violence that occurred in the capital Addis Ababa and other parts of the country in the aftermath of the May 2005 General Elections. The journalists were handed anti-state charges of which if found guilty, could have faced the death sentence. Other charges included treason and charges of inciting genocide.

According to information received from Network members in Ethiopia, those acquitted include; Publisher Sisay Agena of Ethiop and Abay; Publisher Serkalem Fassil and Columnist Eskinder Nega of Menilik, Asqual, and Satanaw; Editor-in-Chief Nardos Meaza of Satanaw; Publisher Zekarias Tesfaye and Deputy Editor Dereje Habtewold of Netsanet; Deputy Editor Feleke Tibebu of Hadar; and Publisher Fasil Yenealem of Addis Zena were acquitted of three criminal charges and ordered released from Kality prison. The publications have been banned since the crackdown.

Kifle Mulat, the exiled President of the banned Ethiopian Free press Journalists Association (EFJA), was also acquitted of the single charge of "outrage to the Constitution and constitutional order" over his organization' s criticism of the Government crackdown. The Network has also been informed that at least nine (9) other journalists still remain in detention.

"Whereas as a Network we welcome the court verdict, we wish to urge the Ethiopian Government to desist from future intimidation of the media. Those journalists and other human rights defenders still under detention must also be freed to continue their duties.

The Government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi must come out and openly pronounce itself on its commitment to observe media freedom, which is an essential component of any democratic society," says Hassan Shire Sheikh, Chairperson EHAHRDP/Net.

Background

EHAHRDP/Net started an advocacy campaign on behalf of the detained Ethiopian journalists soon after their detention. The Network published a number of public statements on the case, and also petitioned the Ethiopian Prime Minister over the same.

This campaign came as the first challenge to the Network during its inaugural conference held at Entebbe Uganda, in November 2005, attended by over 45 human rights defenders from the East and Horn of Africa sub-region. Kifle Mulat, President of the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists Association along with other human rights defenders (HRDs) from Ethiopia, were unable to return home after the conference as their names appeared on the police list of "most wanted" persons.

It is therefore a great joy that these committed HRDs have been acquitted, though this joy remains incomplete as long as their colleagues remain detained.

For further information, please contact:

Tumusiime Kabwende Deo
Press Officer
Mobile: +256-712-075721
Regional Coordination Office
EAST AND HORN OF AFRICA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS PROJECT (EHAHRDP)
Human Rights House, Plot 1853, Lulume Rd., Nsambya
P.O. Box 11027 Kampala, Uganda
Phone: +256-41-510263( general)/ ext.112
+256-41-267118( direct)
Fax: +256-41-267117
E-mail: ehahrdp@yahoo. ca, hshire@yorku. ca

Four killed as new clashes shatter Mogadishu ceasefire

MOGADISHU (AFP) - At least four civilians were killed Wednesday in renewed clashes in Mogadishu between Ethiopian forces and Islamist fighters that shattered a ceasefire, residents said.

Sporadic gunfire and heavy mortar shelling rattled neighbourhoods where the two sides recently fought the worst battles the Somali capital has seen in 15 years, leaving as many as 1,000 dead.

"The fighting is going on in our neighbourhood and around four people have been killed, one of them a young boy. They were civilians killed by stray bullets," said Gure Ahmed Olow, a resident of Sagah district in northern Mogadishu.(More...)

Also see:
-Mogadishu ceasefire shattered
-Somali insurgents, government troops exchange fire in capital
-New clashes shatter Somalia cease-fire

Former U.S. envoy says Washington erred in allowing Ethiopia-North Korea arms deal

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Yonhap) -- A former U.S. envoy on North Korea said Monday that Washington made a mistake in assenting to Ethiopia's arms purchase from Pyongyang, thus potentially allowing other countries to deal with the communist regime believed to have a stockpile of missiles and nuclear weapons.

"It points out that things are not black and white," Jack Pritchard, now president of the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute, told reporters.

The decision to allow the Ethiopia-North Korea deal apparently was made because other U.S. goals superseded compliance with a U.N. Security Council resolution banning military trade with Pyongyang, Pritchard said.(More...)

Sudan says Ethiopian rebels cause tension on joint border

April 10, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan has acknowledge for the first time security tensions on the border with Ethiopia over activities by the Ethiopian rebels which it said is receiving training in neighbouring Eritrea that has a long-standing border dispute with Ethiopia.

The governor of Gadharif State, eastern Sudan, Abdelrahman al-Khadir, admitted that the Ethiopian rebels is active on the border. He said the opposition received its training in Eritrea and crossed Sudanese territory to carry out forays in Ethiopia. This is distinct from activities by the highway robbers known as Al-Shafta gangs who menace both Sudanese inhabitants and foreigners in the region, the London based Asharq al-Awsat reported on Tuesday.(More...)

Ethiopian government shows terror detainees on state-run television

Ethiopia, which initially denied holding the prisoners, has a long history of human rights abuses- AP

NAIROBI, Kenya: Ethiopia, facing criticism over its detention of foreign terror suspects, paraded eight detainees on state-run television, with one prisoner saying the captors were "like our friends" and were treating them well.

The Ethiopian News Agency's broadcast late Tuesday came hours after the government confirmed an Associated Press report that Ethiopia detained dozens of foreign suspects as part of an effort to stem terrorism. Human rights groups say the detentions violate international law, which Ethiopia denies.(More...)

Ethiopian court continues trial for former NSU professor

A former Norfolk State University professor, labeled by international human rights groups as a "prisoner of conscience," will have to defend himself against charges potentially punishable by death, an Ethiopian court has decided.

Yacob Hailemariam, 62, has written to supporters that he and other defendants won't defend themselves because they don't believe the government trial is legitimate.

Hailemariam, who taught business for almost 20 years at the Norfolk college, returned to his native Ethiopia in 2005 to run for a parliament seat as a reformer. Civil unrest followed the election, and he was jailed that October and charged with treason and attempted genocide, among other accusations.(More...)

Alledged devotional crucifixion thwarted, residents

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- A nun in Addis Ababa who what many believe is a member of a breakaway sect of the Ethiopian Orthodox church was briefly arrested on Thursday by police following reports that she was attempting to go through a devotional crucifixion.

The nun who some five months ago had established her own sect after leaving the Entoto Kidane Mihret monastery in Shiro Meda, located in north Addis Ababa had apparently told her followers that following here crucifixion she would be resurrected three days later just as Jesus Christ is believed to have done.(More...)

Man Accused Of Robbing Bank, Wiring Money Overseas

Homeless Shelter Resident Accused Of Wiring Robbery Proceeds To Ethiopia

(CBS) CHICAGO Police arrested a 35-year-old man at the Pacific Garden Mission after he allegedly robbed a West Loop bank Monday and then wired money to Ethiopia for a child he told police he was supporting.

Police identify suspect as Michael Rayfield, and say the FBI is now handling the case.

The man, who remains in the Central District lockup early Tuesday, was arrested by officers who recognized his face from a video image of him allegedly robbing the Chase Bank branch at 200 W. Jackson Blvd. on Monday, according to Central District Capt. Joe Boisso. It was unknown exactly how much money the man stole and at what time the robbery occurred.(More...)

Today's Top Stories

-Blasts Rock Algerian Capital
-Fred Thompson reveals he has lymphoma (Potential GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson has disclosed he has a treatable form of lymphoma)
-N. Korea Wants To Delay Reactor Shutdown
-Humanitarian situation in Iraq worsening -Red Cross
-U.S.: Iran Training Iraqi Bombers(Military Spokesman Renews Allegation Over "EFP" Bombs, Cites Intelligence)
-U.S.-Saudi Rift? Saudi Actions Say Yes, Saudi Prince Says No
-Murder charge for Bangladesh ex-PM
-Chinese Premier Visits Japan
-Pope says science too narrow to explain creation




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