This was to
change gradually in which the aftermath of the 2005 national election was an apex in this
rebound where a large scale crack down against this free press took place by the
imprisonment and revoking of licenses of journalists and private publishers. Hitherto the
free press survives in the balance by the perseverance and dedication of a few journalists
in a very restrictive and cumbersome environment under a proclamation issued in 2008
namely Freedom of Mass Media And Access to Information Proclamation No 590/2008
which provides preposterous penalties for multiple misdemeanors.
The current milieu of exercising freedom of expression in Ethiopia is next to none since
many prominent journalists have fled the country for fear of imprisonment and
prosecution and very few newspapers survive to properly function. Newspapers as a sole
life line of independent media, because of the government’s control of other electronic
media, seem to be the target of this systematic reprisal against the free press. To be more
precise the recent prosecution over charges of terrorism has ended in the conviction of a
number of practicing journalists known for their critical view of government policies and
practices. And a still recent move by government printing agencies, which at present are
the only service providers for newspaper publishing, by coming up with a new form of
contract named “Standard Contract for Printing” entitles these publishers to conduct a
form of censorship giving them the authority to reject requests for publishing if they deem
the contents of the material submitted for publishing contains illegal matters.
At the moment a widely read and popular newspaper called ‘Fitih’ (Justice) has been
proscribed by the ministry of justice from publishing its weekly issue for July 20/2012.
Even though the said proclamation authorizes the Ministry of Justice to impound printed
materials or periodicals that it believes pose danger to national security, the newspaper
was actually denied printing service by the government owned Berhanena Selam Printing
Enterprise for an alleged news item they believed contained criminal matters. This is a
clear case of censorship by an unauthorized body. Even then the legally authorized body
for impounding, the Ministry of Justice, wrote an injunction order to the printing
enterprise on July 20/2012, before the newspaper was actually ready for publication
which is against Article 42(9) of proclamation 590/2008 that provides “an impoundment
of a periodical or a book shall relate only to copies intended for dissemination”. This
HRCO stands for democracy, the rule of law and the respect of human rights
impounding letter was issued a day before the newspaper went to printing which only
happened the next day July 21/2012.
While this impoundment was awaiting a court approval the newspaper was denied
publishing by the government printing enterprise for its next issues the following weeks
July 27/2012 and August 3/2012 with no legal ground at all. Another newspaper Finote
Netsanet is now expressing its concerns of denial by the same printing agency citing a
refusal by the later giving technical reasons for its failure to print. The newspaper has said
it only succeeded in printing its last issue through negotiating with the officials of the
printing agencies. This direct and indirect pressure upon the few remaining symbols of
free press, if allowed to continue undeterred, will be another dark chapter for freedom of
expression in Ethiopia.
Hence, HRCO urgently calls upon all national governmental and non-governmental
organizations and international organizations that have the responsibility to protect and
promote human rights to come to the rescue and save the free press. At the moment
freedom of expression languishes under severe persecutions upon the practitioners of
journalism frequently prosecuted by the government for terrorism and other institutional
blunder. A vivid example is the current practice of censorship and undue restriction upon
the print media particularly on the weekly newspaper called ’Fitih’.
Please call upon and urge the following government bodies to fulfill and respect their
duties of protecting the constitutional and international rights of citizens to enjoy their
freedom of expression and bring an end to the above mentioned human right violations.
To the office of the Speaker of the House of Peoples Representatives:
To the office of the Speaker of the House of Federation: P.O. Box: 20122 / 1000 Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia; Tel: (+251) 011 122-3322; Fax: (+251) 011 124-1208 / 011 124-2308;
Email: [email protected]
To the Office of the President: P.O. Box: 23698 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;
Tel: (+251) 011 551-8186; Fax: (+251) 011 551-8656
To the office of the Prime Minister: P.O. Box: 1031 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;
Tel: (+251) 011 124-1155; Fax: (+251) 011 122-6292
To the Office of Ministry of Justice: P.O. Box: 1370 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;
Tel: (+251) 011 551-3620; Fax: (+251) 011 551-7775; Email: [email protected]
To the office of the Commissioner of the Federal Police Commission of the
F.D.R.E: P.O. Box: 199 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Tel: (+251) 011 551-2744
To the Institution of the Ombudsman: P.O. Box: 2459 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Tel:
(+251) 011 554-3336; Fax: (+251) 011 553-2073;
Email: [email protected]
To the Human Rights Commission of the F.D.R.E.: P.O. Box: 1165 Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia; Tel: (+251) 011 550-4031; Fax: (+251) 011 550-4125;
Email: [email protected]
Tel: (+251) 011 551-7704 / 551-4489 Fax: (+251) 011 551-7704
P.O. Box: 2432 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ehrco.org
—
HRCO has an observer status in the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, is a member of World
Organization Against Torture and is also a corresponding member of the International Federation of Human Rights.
