The New Ethiopian Telecom Service Infringements Law. Is it the most creative way of copying SOPA and PIPA?

The new Ethiopian Telecom Service Infringement Law was ratified last Thursday on May 24th 2012 .The new Telecom Law meant to impede internet telephony which is commonly referred as communications services —voice and fax infringements.

This post is to highlight problems which could be caused because of provisions in broader context. The popularity of computer-to-telephone call services is expanding in Addis Ababa and some regional cities and the legislators argue that this trend has threatened the profits of Ethio-Telecom the solitary service provider in the country. Furthermore it was reported that the trend of using internet telephony in the country has posed a threat to a national security. The legislators argued that the new law will help in fighting threats which would use internet telephony to disrupt national security. To impede the growing trend of using internet telephony the proclamation grants the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the right to license private companies those engaged in producing importing and distributing any sort of information communication technology apparatus which might include cell phones.

Thriving Ethiopian blogging and social media culture in danger?

Now let me draw attention to the problems concerning the proclamations’ anti-terrorism and defamatory laws related provisions. I strongly believe these problems would make the heart provisions of the proclamation. They will be equally as controversial as the anti-terrorism law which was passed in 2009.While the proclamation would be taken as one positive step in having at least directives to use internet in Ethiopia—targeting particular individuals’ internet activities which could include blogging and posts on social networking sites such as facebook and twitter, the proclamation would defiantly further burden the already injured freedom of expression beyond telecom service infringements.

As an affiliate of a thriving Ethiopian blogging culture, whose life is strongly linked up well with internet, I strongly go up against this law which receives a scant media attention. I find this law to have straight and extensive blow to threaten thriving facebook culture of the Ethiopian online populace. To illustrate how its impact here is an example: if one facebooker posted a status update on his page regarding his allegiance say for example peaceful Muslim protesters and his status update attracts a string of comments, this facebook user will be directly liable for disseminating offending information. These infringements risks up to 8 years imprisonment and heavy fines.

As Frank Nyakairu once highlighted on his blog- Is this a very fast and creative way of copying SOPA and PIPA proposed laws of United States?

Ethiopia free press situation on the spotlight

A recent G-8 meeting brought Ethiopia free press situation on the spotlight again. The meeting caused gatherings of free press campaigners who had much to say about the unfavorable media landscape of Ethiopia.

Just to run through the major ones CPJ urge President Obama to emphasize the importance of free press in ensuring food security during G-8 meeting, on Huffington Post Ben Rawlence, Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch casted an unflattering light on state of human rights in Ethiopia, Straight Talk Africa VOA – an international call-in talk show hosted by Shaka Ssali discussed sterner issues of Press Freedom in Africa by inviting Birtukan Midekssa, well known opposition politician who is currently a Fascell Democracy Fellow, Mohamed Keita,Advocacy Coordinator for Africa Program ,Committee to Protect Journalists, Karin Karlekar(PhD), Project Director of Freedom of the Press, Freedom House. Meanwhile on New York Times a blog post Eennd Muchler, prefers to be hopeful though the piece highlights on murkier sides of Ethiopian journalism.

The 2012 Freedom House press freedom indicator categorized Ethiopia as ‘Not Free’ zone and ranked it 176th out of 194 countries. This tied Ethiopia with the Gambia which left both at 43rd out of all African countries. The rankings are based on evaluation of the legal, political, and economic environments for media in each country with a scale representing 0 as “most free” to 100 as “least free. On the talk show Birtukan Midekssa reiterated that she was not surprised to see such terrible performance from Ethiopia. Furthermore she insisted that with such terrible track record of the past two decades for Ethiopia’s government it has no alternative but attempting to swing people’s attention to its economic development narratives, service delivery in Shaka Ssali’s terms.

Elsewhere it was reported that two members of the U.S. Congress, Mark Begich, an Alaska Democrat and Edward Royce a Republican have openly expressed their concern at Ethiopia’s persecution of members of free press which are widely considered as proponents of democracy, with both equally asserting the fact that press freedom will boost stability and security that enhance the democratization process contrary to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s claims that dismissed any direct relationship between economic growth and democracy at recent World Economic Forum (WEF) which took place in Addis Ababa from 9 to 11 May 2012.

In contrast, home based Ethiopia’s media outlets do reflect on the predicament of Ethiopia’s free press, but their focus was largely on a new directive that authorizes government printers to censor the content of newspapers and magazine that reject their publications.

“I am really surprised by the audacity of Berhanene Selam (Ethiopia’s main, state-owned printing company) to impose this kind of obligation in clear violation of abrogating the provision which is stated in the constitution. So the Ethiopian press is in a really grim situation created by the action from the printing house.” says Yakob Hailemariam (Ph.D.) in an interview with the English Version of The Reporter. On the Amharic version of the same newspaper “An Ethiopian free press faced with censorship” writes Daniel Bekalu. Amare Aregawi, General Manager of the private newspaper Reporter, argued that freedom of expression in Ethiopia is facing a more serious challenge than ever before during the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) that was marked on Thursday, May 3, at the newly built African Union Hall writes Capital a weekly English newspaper on its society section. While Addis Fortune in its typical fine line column choose to reveal US diplomats based in Addis Abeba were speeding up to include democratic deficits including space for dissent and the media as agenda for a discussion which was to be held during Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s G-8 Summit attendance. Sheger Café, a talk show hosted by Meaza Birru discussed the impact of these new directives in broader, context with Abdu Ali Jira. Abdu stressed these new directives a copy of which have been circulating online after CPJ put the copy online allows printers to terminate any printing contract if the publisher repeatedly submits content the printer considers legally questionable.

On social media arena Ethiopian netzines often post their reaction to the stories those show the state of Ethiopia’s press freedom through their Facebook updates and tweets and despite the restrictions and a wide-ranging fear of being persecuted words spread quickly in Ethiopian social media sphere. For instance a recent footage which shows an Ethiopian journalist speech interruptive objection targeted against Prime Minster Meles Zenawi at G8 Summit 2012 was shared extensively amongst netzines. Yet within hours of the news going up, most news sites, you tube channels and blogs those put out the video were blocked ; only Twitter, Facebook and few blogs contained information or footage of the journalist’s protest at the G8 Summit. Later local media and few news websites ran sanitized versions of the story and, all state owned media and one local FM Radio Station focused on the ‘praise’ and ‘accolades’ Prime Minster Meles Zenawi received from the participants of the summit rather than the hype swirling around the protest video footage.

Ethiopia English Blogs Roundup

For my Amharic blog roundup followers I promise it is coming up but for now I decided to do English blogs round up as Ethiopia has been on spotlight on various international media blogs. I just want to update my readers and urge you to share your opinion in the comment thread below, or add perceptive to these compilations by tweeting at @endalk2006

Guardian’s Poverty Matters Blog wrote:

Years after debt campaigners succeeded in persuading the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and G8 to abolish debts worth billions of dollars owed by developing countries, figures show total external debts are once again on the increase

The blog further situate the account by highlighting Ethiopia’s debt

Ethiopia’s public sector debt is almost back at pre-MDRI levels, with China becoming Ethiopia’s third biggest lender (11% of new loans) behind the World Bank (34.3%) and IMF (11.5%), according to the AEO report.

On Huffington post it was reported that a £1bn programme of British aid for education in three east African countries has failed to teach basic reading, writing and maths skills to most of the children involved. Ethiopia being one of the recipients of British aid for education the account might be interesting for you and you can click here to read the full report.

Again on Huffington post Ben Rawlence, Senior Researcher, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch wrote a commentary titled “The Ethiopian Enigma”. He claims:

Ethiopia is a reliable partner on counter-terrorism and regional security and perceived to be an oasis of stability amid Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia. Ethiopia has held terrorism suspects from Somalia and Kenya for interrogation and hosts a U.S. drone base for operations in Somalia. Ethiopia intervened in Somalia in 2006 to oust the militant Union of Islamic Courts and deployed peacekeepers in the contested region of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan.

On Guardian Land grabbers: Africa’s hidden revolution is one of the highly commented stories of the day so far. In a book review titled same as the title of the commentary Pearce, the author of the book wrote:

Gambella is the poorest province in one of the world’s poorest nations – a lowland appendix in the far south-west of Ethiopia. Geographically and ethnically, the hot, swampy province feels like part of the new neighbouring state of South Sudan, rather than the cool highlands of the rest of Ethiopia. Indeed, Gambella was effectively in Sudan when it was ruled by the British from Khartoum, until 1956. For the half-century since, the government in Addis Ababa has ruled here, but it has invested little and cared even less for its Nilotic tribal inhabitants, whose jet-black skin and tall, elegant physique mark them out from the highlanders. The livestock-herding Nuer, who frequently cross into South Sudan, and the Anuak, who are farmers and fishers, are peripheral to highland Ethiopia in every sense.

Tadias Magazine interviewed Francis Falceto and wrote a feature on How Ethiopian Music Went Global.

Will bring to you my Amharic blog roundup soon!

Ethiopia’s Free Press and Food Security. Comments and analysis from around the web

A current collection of comments and analysis on function of free press in securing food security in Ethiopia

The campaign for press freedom has reached a critical stage in recent weeks. In this context it may be worth collecting commentary from those participating in an effort to regain freedom of the press in Ethiopia – from analysts to reporters to readers. You can also share your opinion on my blog, or throw in a perceptive from elsewhere to this collection.

On top of the countless list free press champions CPJ comes first. Taking the 38th G8 Summit on which Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is expected to take part as an opportunity Joel Simon Executive Director of CPJ wrote a public letter to President Barack Obama.

President Obama has invited Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to attend the G8 Summit to have a discussion about food security on May 19 at Camp David. In the letter Joel Simon highlight the significance of free press in ensuring food security and urge President Obama to raise this issue as a topic of discussion during the summit. He wrote:

Mr. President, we are deeply concerned that Ethiopia’s ongoing repression of investigative journalism fuels tensions that threaten the country’s relative stability and risk unraveling the economic and social progress registered in recent years. Since 2011, under the guise of a counterterrorism sweep, the government of Ethiopia has brought terrorism and anti-state charges against 11 independent journalists, including blogger Eskinder Nega, who may face life in prison for his writing about the struggle for democracy. Such policies deter reporting on all sensitive topics, including food security

You can read the full letter by clicking here but for my readers in Ethiopia you must have a circumvention tool to read the letter on CPJ’s site as CPJ’s site blocked in Ethiopia.

Mohamed Keita/CPJ’s Africa Advocacy Coordinator wrote on Huffingtonpost

Timely and accurate information about conditions of drought and famine in Africa’s Sahel could save lives. But if the press is unable to report freely, how does a country build consensus on tackling national food security and ensure that official policies are the result of broad consultation with all segments of society? What happens when leaders of a nation respond to this caprice of nature by deliberately downplaying the extent of the crisis, limiting journalists’ access to sensitive areas, and censoring independent coverage of the problem, in the name of protecting the country’s image?

Alemayehu G. Mariam an activist based in US wrote an opinion piece which later translated and published on various sites. He stated:

On May 19, President Obama and the G8 leaders will have to face some tough questions: What is the moral hazard of endlessly supplying food relief to the Horn countries? Why should the world continue to help a country that leases millions of hectares of the most fertile land in the country and become the breadbasket for India and the Middle East while its people are starving? Why should the world provide food aid to a country when the ruling regime weaponizes the aid to decimate opposition, crush the democratic aspirations of the people and flagrantly violate human rights? Does aiding dictators who use food aid for political purposes end famine and food shortages in Africa?

Graham Peebles, Director of the Create Trust, wrote on Dissident Voice highlighting how Ethiopia muffles critical voices

Journalists must be free to speak out against the government, to criticize policies of persecution, to highlight the suffering of the people and to draw attention to the multiple human rights abuses taking place within Ethiopia.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault wrote on the Root

It is time for me to return to Ethiopia and try to see the prime minister, to plead yet again for the journalists’ freedom and for their right to free expression. And maybe, just maybe, in the interim, when Prime Minister Zenawi attends a G-8 Summit Food Security at Camp David on May 19, American officials can weigh in, too, on the importance not only of strategic partnerships but also of freedom of speech in a democracy.

African Confidential reported that thought Ethiopia is deemed as the fastest growing economy its approach towards independent voices in a contentious way. You can find a series of reports and netzines campaign on Global Voices.

የኢትዮጵያ ብሎጎች ምን ጻፉ ከሚያዚያ 29 እስከ ግንቦት 6

አለማየሁ ገላጋይ እና በውቀቱ ስዮም በሳምንታዊው የፍትህ ጋዜጣ ላይ ስለኢትዮጵያና ጃፓን፣ ስለአጼ ቴዎድሮስና ስለአንድ የጃፓን ንጉሥ ክርክር ማካሄድ ከጀመሩ ሰንበትበት ብለዋል:: እኔም ሳምንት በመጣ ቁጥር የነዚህን ጸሀፍት ክርክር ለማንበብ መናፈቅ ጀምሪያለሁ:: ምንም እንኳ በውቀቱ በዚህ ሳምንት ክርክሬን አብቅቻለሁ ቢልም ሳምንትአለማየሁ ምን ሊመልስ እንደሚችል ለማወቅ ግን መጓጓቴ አልቀረም:: ፕሮፌሰር መስፍን ወ/ማሪያም ግን እንዲህ ያሉትን ያደባባይ ክርክሮች በተመለከት “በፍትሕ ጋዜጣ ላይ ለምንጽፍ ሁሉ እየተናገሩ አለማነጋገር፣ እያሰቡ አለማሳሰብ” በሚል ርእስ አንድ ጽሁፍ አስነብበዋል:: ይህቺ ጽሁፋቸው በብሎጋቸው ታትማ ስለነበር የዚህ ሳምንት የብሎግ ክለሳዬ ፊትአውራሪ አድርጊያታለሁ:: አንድ አንቀጽ ላቃምስና ወደ ሌሎች ብሎጎች ልለፍ::

“ሀሳብን በጋዜጣ ማውጣት አደባባይ መውጣት ነው፤ አደባባይ የሚወጡበት ጉዳይ የግል ሳይሆን የአገርና የሕዝብ ነው፤ መሆን አለበት፤ አደባባይ በወጣው ጉዳይ ላይ በአገርና በህዝብ ጉዳይ ያገባኛል የሚል ዜጋ ሁሉ ባለቤት ሊሆንበት ይችላል፤ በባለቤትነት ሊተችበት ይችላል፤ በጉዳዩ ላይ የሞቀ ክርክር ቢደረግበት ሁላችንም በብዙ መንገድ ተጠቃሚዎች ልንሆን እንችላለን፤ ነገር ግን እስከዛሬ የሚታየው አዲሱ ልምድ ከላይ ባለስልጣኖች እንደልባቸው ይናገራሉ፤ በግድም ይሁን በውድ አብዛኛው ሰው ይሰማቸዋል፤ ባለሥልጣኖቹን በማስተጋባት ቴሌቪዥኑና ራዲዮው ደጋግመው እስቲሰለች ድረስ ያሰማሉ፤ በግድም ይሁን በውድ የባለሥልጣኖቹ ንግግር ለብዙ ሰዎች ጆሮ ይደርሳል፤ ግን ጆሮ የደረሰ ሁሉ ወደልብ መተላለፉን እርግጠኛ መሆን አይቻልም፤ በአንጻሩ በግል ጋዜጦች ላይ የሚወጡት የተለዩና የተለያዩ ሀሳቦች በተለያዩ ጉዳዮች ላይ አመራሩን የሚተቹ ናቸው፤ እነዚህን ጋዜጦች የሚያነብቡ በጣም ጥቂቶች ናቸው፣ ጋዜጦቹን የሚያገኙዋቸው በገንዘባቸው እየገዙ በመሆኑ የሰዎችን ቀልብ መሳባቸው ይታወቃል፤ እነዚህን ትችቶች ባለሥልጣኖቹ ጉዳያቸው አድርገው የሚያነቡዋቸው አይመስለኝም፤ የእነሱ ንቀት ሚስትህ አረገዘች ወይ ቢሉት፣ ማንን ወንድ ብላ! እንዳለው ነው መሰለኝ፤ ባለሥልጣኖቹ ሁለት ጥቅሞችን ያጣሉ፤ አንደኛ የተቺዎቹን ሀሳብ መረዳትና ከራሳቸው ሀሳብ ጋር የማመዛዘን ዕድሉ ያመልጣቸዋል፤ ሁለተኛው ሕዝቡ በነፃነትና ያለምንም ግዴታ ትችቱን በማንበቡ ብቻ የሚያስተላልፈውን መልእክት ሳያውቁት ይቀራሉ፤ የዚህ ውጤት የአገር ጉዳት ነው፤ እንግዲህ እነሱ የሚናገሩትን ይናገራሉ፤ ሌላውም የሚናገረውን ይናገራል፤ በሁለቱም ወገን የሚነገረው ስለአንድ አገርና ስለአንድ ሕዝብ ነው፤ በሁለቱም በኩል የተያዘው ፈሊጥ ሳያነጋገሩ መናገር ነው፤ ክፉ ሕመም ነው።”

ሙሉውን ጽሁፍ ለማንበብ እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ ማድረግ በቂ ነው:: አልያም ያለፈውን ሳምንት ፍትህ ጋዜጣ ማንበብ::

ቀጠልኩ ሰሞኑን ሀገራችን የአለም ኢኮኖሚ ፎረምን አስተናግዳ ነበር:: ፎረሙ ብዙ ገጽታ ነበረው። ኢትዮጵያ እያሳየች ባለው ኢኮኖሚያዊ መነቃቃት የተነሳ የዚህ ፎረም አዘጋጅ እንድትሆን ተመርጣለች በመባሉ በርካታ ኢትዮጵያውያን ስሜታቸውን ገልጽዋል:: የተደሰቱ ያልተዋጠላቸው እና ምንም ያልመሰላቸው ወይም ያልሞቃቸውም ያልበረዳቸውም ይገኙበታል:: ነገር ግን አቤ ቶክቻው ለማተኮር የፈለገበት ነጥብ በፎረሙ የሀገራት መሪዎች ውይይት ወቅት ጠቅላይ ሚንስትር መለስ ዜናዊ የተናገሩት ላይ ነው:: አቤ ለጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ ሽሙጣዊ ሰላምታ ባቀረበበት ብሎጉ ውይይቱ ላይ የነበረውን ድባብ በሚከተለው መልኩ አቅርቧል:: አንድ አንቀጽ እንካችሁ::

ማንም ያልደፈርዎትን ሰውዬ ትላንት በአለም ኢኮኖሚ ፎረም መድረክ ላይ፤ “ዲሞክራሲን ከሚያፍኑ እንደ ቻይናን ከመሳሰሉ ሀገራት ጋር በይበልጥ የመተባበራችሁ ምስጢር ምንድነው?” ብሎ ሲያበቃ “አቶ መለስ ዙሪያ ጥምጥም ሳይሄዱ በቀጥታ ይመልሱልኝ” ማለቱን ስሰማ እንዴት ቢደፍራቸው ነው? ብዬ የደነገጥኩትን መደንገጥ የተበሳጨሁት መበሳጨት አይጠይቁኝ። ለነገሩ ግን እርስዎም እኮ ራስዎን አለቅጥ ለተቺ አጋለጡ። ትዝ ይልዎት እንደሆነ፤ በፎረሙ ላይ አወያይ የነበረችው ሴት አንድ ጥያቄ ጠይቃዎ ያልተጠየቁትን ሲያወሩ፣ ሲያወሩ፣ ሲያወሩ ቆይተው ሰዓቱን ከፈጁት በኋላ፤ “ጥያቄሽን ረሳሁት ምን ነበር ያልሽኝ?” ብለው ድጋሚ ሲጠይቁ ተሰባሳቢው በሙሉ እንዴት እንደሳቀብዎ እኔም እንዴት እንደተሸማቀኩልዎ ቢያዩኝ ለአንዱ ቀበሌ ሊቀመንበር ያደርጉን ነበር።

ሙሉውን ጽሁፍ ለማንበብ እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ ያድርጉ:: ከዚህ ጋር በተያያዘ የጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ በውይይቱ ወቅት የሰነዘሯቸው አስተያየቶች በሌሎች አለም አቀፍ ብሎጎች ላይም ወጥተው ነበር::በተለይ አፍሪካ ውስጥ ስለተንሰራፋው ሙስና ተጠያቂው ምእራባዊያን ኢንቪስተሮች ናቸው የኢትዮጵያ የኢኮኖሚ እድገት ፈጣን ብቻ ሳይሆኖ ፍትሀዊ ነው ለኢኮኖሚ እድገት ዲሞክራሲ ወሳኝ አይደለም የሚሉት አስተያየተያየቶቻቸው ሰፋ ያለ ትኩረት አግኝተው ነበር:: የጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩን አስተያየቶች እና ውይይቱን በከፊል እዚህ ትይይዝ ላይ ጠቅ በማድረግ ማግኝት ይችላሉ::

ጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ እነኝዚህን አስተያየቶች ይስጡ እንጂ ብሎገሮች/ጦማሪያን በሳቸው አስተያየቶች አይስማሙም እንዳውም ዲ ብራሀን የተሰኝ በእንግሊዝኛ የሚታተም ብሎግ የጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩን አስተያየት የሚያፋልስ ሰፋ ያለ ጥናታዊ መልክ ያለው ትንታኔ አትሟል:: ከክርክሩ ባሻገር የዲሞክራሲን እና የኢኮኖሚ እድገትን ግንኙነት ግንዛቢዮዎትን ለማዳበር የሚረዳ ጽሁፍ ነው:: እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ በማድረግ ጽሁፉን ያንብቡት:: ኢኮኖሚው አደገ ተመነደገ የሀብት ክፍፍልም ፍትሀዊ ሆነ ኢትዮጵያም የማር እና የወተት ምድር ሆነች ለሚሉ ወገኖች ስኳር እንኳ ማግኝት እንዴት እንደቸገረው ስኳር እንደገና በሚለው ጽሁፍ ተስፋዪ አለማየሁ አትቷል። ጽሁፉን እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ በማድረግ ያንብቡት።

ስለ ሰዎች ስንሰማ እንዴት መስማት እንዳለብን ሦስቱ ማጣርያዎች በሚል ርእስ ስለ ሃሜት ክፋት ያስነበበን ዳንኤል ክብረት ነው:: ጽሁፉን እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ በማድረግ ያንብቡት። ባለፈው ሳምንት ስለ አብዮት ያስነበበን በፍቄ በዚህ ሳምንት ደግሞ የጋንዲ፣ ኪንግ እና ማንዴላ መንፈስ በሚል ርእስ እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያኖች ከነእዚህ የዓለም ሃብቶች አንፃር ራሳችንን አይተነው እናውቅ ይሆን? ብሎ እራሳችንን እንድንጠይቅ የሚገፋፋ ጽሁፍ አሥነብቧል:: ጽሁፉን ትይይዙን ጠቅ በማድረግ ያንብቡት።

ወደው እና መርጠው ኢትዮጵያዊ ስለሆኑ የውጪ ሀገር ዜጎች እና ስራዎቻቸው ያስነበበን ደግሞ ዘላለም ማልኮም ክብረት ነው:: ምንም እንኳ ዘላለም የእንግሊዝኛ ጦማሪ ቢሆንም ያነሰው ርእሰ ጉዳይ ከኢትዮጵያውያ ጋር የጠበቀ ግንኙንት ስላላቸው የውጪ ሀገር ዜጎች ስለሆነ በዚህ የአማርኛ ጦማር ክለሳ ውስጥ ላካትተው ግድ ብሎኛል:: ዘላለም የውጪ ሀገር ዜጎች ስለ ኢትዮጵያ ምን ያስባሉ የሚለውን ለመረዳት አስፈላጊ ናቸው ብሎ ያመነባቸውን አስር ፊት አውራሪ ምሁራን አቅርቧል:: ከነዚህም መሀከል ጀምስ ብሩስ ክርስቶፎር ክላፍም ዶናልድ ሊቭይን ክላውድ ሰምነር ይገኙበታል:: ሁሉንም ዝርዝር ለማግኝት ትይይዙን ጠቅ በማድረግ ያንብቡት።

ባለፈው ሳምንት አንድ የስነጽሁፍ ብሎግ አስተዋውቄ ነበር:: : ቤዋዬን:: ይህ ብሎግ በዚህ ሳምንት ደግሞ እውነት ቀመስ ልቦለድ አስነብቧል::ታሪኩ ስለስደት ነው:: አሳዛኝ ግን የበርካታ ኢትዮጵያውያን የህይወት እውነታ ታሪኩን ትይይዙን ጠቅ በማድረግ ያንብቡት።

አትሌቲክስ ለምትወዱ የፍሰሀ ተገኝ ብሎግ አመታዊው የዳይመንድ ሊግ አትሌቲክስ ውድድር ኳታር ዋና ከተማ ዶሀ ውስጥ ሲከፈት የተለያዩ አስደናቂና ያልተጠበቁ ውጤቶች ተመዝግበውበታል ይለናል:: ሀተታውን ለማንበብ እዚህ ጋር ጠቅ ያድርጉ:: መልካም ሳምንት::

Addis Ababa is hosting World Economic Forum. Does anyone care?

When Addis Ababa hosts the 22nd World Economic Forum for the first time on Africa soil will anyone care?

Oh sure there are some who cares and obviously their favorite theme in the media in the wake of World Economic Forum in Addis Ababa is Ethiopia’s speedy economic growth.

Before we go in to details of things, let me explain how free and independent media encourage economic growth. It has been said a thousand times that a free and independent media has played a great role in promoting economic development by solving primary problems of a certain society through the free flow of information. Furthermore a free media improves public policy implementation, by increasing government accountability and transparency and it also raise political consciousness of citizens. Definitely today’s global economic powers with the exception of may be China are primarily managed to grow because they have had comparatively free media.

I strongly believe that one topic that should be tackled in numerous debates in the forum should be the role of free and independent media and economic growth in Africa. Also other topics on the agenda should be issues like journalists’ incarceration, telecom services control by government and may be corruption. In fact the present spotlight of media on Ethiopia’s economic breakthrough is distracting attention from many serious challenges that Ethiopia’s free media is facing on day to day basis.

Free media gloom

The forum has started on Wednesday, however, does not promise well.

The forum has started on Wednesday after lots of bad news about Ethiopia’s free press five journalists—Woubshet Taye, Elias Kifle, Re’eyot Alemu and two Swedish journalists — sentenced to at least 10 years and more behind bars and 2012 PEN America press freedom award winner, Eskinder Nega, could face the death penalty if convicted this Friday. Even more worrying news is that government has triggered a reminiscence of a ‘Derg’ regime by reactivating highly restrictive directive that authorizes publishers to censor the content of newspapers. These are dire warnings that Ethiopia’s media is in a danger zone.

Ethiopia is dubbed as the Africa’s fastest-growing economies and I do not have a problem with that though the rate of the growth is questionable one. However Ethiopia’s political integration is inadequate and it lags behind its much heralded economic growth. National consultations mechanisms stay behind and even weaker than economic growth wise slow paced African countries for instance Zimbabwe. Differences persist over whether a liberal democracy, social democracy or even narrower version of democracy called revolutionarily democracy should prevail in Ethiopia.

There are no the slightest hints that this mood in Ethiopia could turn, though many press freedom activists campaigning for more freer environment during the past few weeks I have started to feel much more pessimist about Ethiopia’s press. And of course World Economic Forum hasn’t captured my imagination and many friends of mine in the way other similar meetings has. Will you care?

የኢትዮጵያ ብሎጎች ምን ጻፉ ከሚያዚያ 21 እስከ 29

የእስክድር ነጋን መሸለም ፡ የርእዮት አለሙን ለሽልማት መታጨት ይህንን ተከትሎ ደግሞ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ስላለው የፕሬስ ሁኔታ የተሰጡ አስተያየቶች በዚህ ሳምንት የኢትዮጵያ ብሎጎች የትኩረት ነጥቦች ነበሩ:: እስክንድር ሽልማቱ ይገባዋል የርእዮት አለሙም ለሽልማት መታጨት አስደስቶናል የሚሉ በርካታ ጽሁፎች ተነበዋል:: ጥቂቶቹን ላቃምሳችሁ:፡ፕሮፌሰር ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም ስለ እስክንድር አንድ ጽሁፍ አሰነብበዋል:: አንድ አንቀጽ እንካችሁ፦

በተረትና በባህላዊ ወጎች በርካታ የተለያዩ ጀግኖች አሉ፡፡አንዳንዶች በሚያጋጥማቸው አደጋ ወቅት በሚያሳዩት የሞራል ጥናካሬ ይጀግናሉ፤አንዳንዶች ደሞ ለክብራቸውን ለዓላማቸውበመቆማቸው ይጀግናሉ፡፡ እንዲሁም አንዳንዶች ጠላቶቻቸውን በፍልሚያው ሜዳ በመግደላቸው ድል በማሸነፋቸው ጀግና ይባላሉ፤ለፍቅር የተሰዉ ጀግኖችም አሉ፤ዘመናዊና ባህላዊ ጀግኖችም ይታያሉ፤ያልታወቀላቸውም ጀግኖች አሉ፤ደግሞም የድል አጥቢያ ጀግኖችም አሉ፡፡ በዚህም ሆነ በዚያ ሁሉም የሚጋሩት አንድ ባህሪ አላቸው፡፡መስዋእትነት፤ታማኝነት፤ጥንካሬ፤ቆራጥነት፤ እርግጠኛነት፤ ያለማወላወል እና ሌሎችም ሁኔታዎች፡፡
ከዚህ ሁሉ በተለየ አካሆን ግን እስክንድር ጀግና ነው! እስክንድር እውነትንና ሃሳቦችን ብቻ በመያዝ የሚዋጋ ጀግና ነው፡፡መነሻው ሃሳብ መድረሻው ሃቅ ነው፡፡ መቀላመድን በእውነት ሰይፍ ያነበረክካል፡፡መሰረተ ቢስና መደለያ ማታለያ የሆኑ ሀሳቦችን በሚቻል፤በሚታመን፤ትክክለኛና ሕዝባዊ በሆነ ሃሳብ ይረታዋል፡፡ብእር ብቻ የጨበጠው እስክንድር ነጋ የሚዋጋው በብእሩ ነው፡፡

ሙሉውን ጽሁፍ ይህችን ጠቅ በማድረግ ያንብቡት:: ስለ ርእዮት ከተጻፉት ደግሞ የአቤ ቶኪቻውን ያዙልኝ አቤ ዜናውም ትንተናውም እንግዲህ በጫወታ መልክ ነው::ከሱም አንድ አንቀጽ ላካፍላችሁ::

በፍትህ ጋዜጣ አምደኛ ሆና በምትሰራበት ወቅት “አሸበርሽ” ተብላ የታሰረችው ርዮት አለሙ “ኢንተርናሽናል ውመን ሚዲያ ፋውንዴሽን” የተባለ ድርጅት የሚዲያ ጀግና ሲል ለሽልማት መረጣት።ሽልማቱ በአስቸጋሪ ሁኔታ ውስጥ ራስን ለአደጋ አጋልጦ በጋዜጠኝነታቸው ለተጉ ሴቶች የሚሰጥ ሲሆን፤ ከርዮት አለሙ ጋር አንዲት የፓልስቲን እና አንዲት የአዠርባዣን ጋዜጠኞች ለሽልማቱ ተመርጠዋል።

የአቤ ብሎግ ቢታገድም ብዙ ሀገር ውስጥ የሚታተሙ መጽሄቶች ጽሁፎቹን ያትሟቸዋል:: አቤ ሌላም አንድ ትኩረቴን የሳበ ጽሁፍ አስነብቧል:: ስለሳንሱር ከመጀመሪያው አንቀጽ፦

እኔ የምለው ወዳጄ ሳሱር ነብሴ ድጋሚ መጣች አይደል እንዴ!? እሰይ! እልል በሉ እንጂ። ድግስ አትደግሱም እንዴ!? ጠላው ይጠመቅ፣ ድፎው ይደፋ፣ ቡናውም ይፈላ፣ ፈንዲሻው ይፈንደሽ፣ እጣን ሰንደሉ ተጫጭሶ ቄጤማውም ይጎዝጎዝ። በዓሉ የትንሳኤ በዓል ነውና ሁሉም ሰው ይደሰት።

አቤ ባሽሙር ተደሰቱ ቢለንም ይሄ እንግዲህ ብሎጎችን ከማገድ ያልተናነሰ ህግን የሚጥስ ነው:: የሀገሪቱ የአየር ሞገድ በአንድ እይነት ድምጽ ብቻ መሞላቱ በርግጥ አሳሳቢ ችግር ነው:: ወደ ተስፋዬ አለማየሁ አለፍኩ በሁለት ሃገራት ያሉ የሚመስሉ የመገናኛ ብዙሃን− የግል እና መንግስት ጋዜጠኝነት ሲፈትሽ በሚል ርእስ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ልማታዊ ጋዜጠኝነት አለ ብለው ለሚከራከሩ ወገኖች መልስ የሚሆን በግል እና በመንግስት የመገናኛ ብዙሃን ላይ ታትመው የወጡ ዜናዎችን በመሰብሰብ አጠር ያለ ይዘታዊ ትንተና ሰርቶ ግንዛቤ የሚያስጨብት ጽሁፍ አስነብቧል:: እንደ ማጓጓያ አንድ አንቀጽ ላቅርብ:

እስቲ ጥቂት ስለ ጋዜጠኝነት አላባውያን እናውጋ እና ከዚያ ወደ ተነሳሁበት ሃሳብ አንድ ሁለት እያልን አብረን እንዘልቃለን፡፡ ከጋዜጠኝነት አላባዎች ቀዳሚዎቹ እና ዋነኞቹ ነፃ ትክክለኛ እና ሚዛናዊ መረጃን ለህዝብ ማድረስ ናቸው፡፡ ይህን ለማድረግ ደግሞ ለህዝብ ታማኝ በመሆን ለእውነት ዘብ መቆም ከአንድ ጋዜጠኛ ከሚጠበቁበት መሰረታዊ ግዴታዎች ውስጥ ዋነኞቹ ናቸው፡፡ ለእውነት ዘብ መቆም እና ለህዝበ ታማኝ መሆን፡፡ እነዚህ ሁለት ነጥቦች በዋነኛነት ላተኩር የፈልግኩባቸው ነጥቦቼ እንጂ ሌሎቹን ዘንግቼ አይደለም፡፡ ለእውነት ዘብ መቆምን እና ለህዝብ መታመንን ይዘን አብረን እንዘልቃለን፡፡ እነዚህን ሁለት ነገሮችን በዋነኛነት ያልቋጠረ ጋዜጠኛ ለሌሎቹ ግድ ላይኖረው ይችላል፡፡ ሁለቱን በመሰረታዊነቱ ከያዝን በኋላ ግን ልማትን ጨምረን በሃገራችን ያለውን የጋዜጠኝነት ትግበራ እንፈትሸዋለን፡፡ ልማት ስንጨምርበት ደግሞ ለአንድ ማህበረሰብ የጋዜጠኝነት እና የጋዜጠኛው ሃላፊነት እና አስፈላጊነት በጣም ከፍ ይላል፡፡ ሃላፊነትን የሚሸከም ደንደን ያለ ትከሻ እና ብርቱ ጉልበት ይልጋል፡፡ ጋዜጠኝነት ከባድ ሃላፊነት ነው፡፡ በተለይ ደግሞ ልማታዊ ጋዜጠኝነት፡፡

ሙሉውን ጽሁፍ ለማንበብ እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ ያድርጉ::

ከተስፋዬ የመገናኛ ብዙሃን የዘገባ ሽፋን ይዘታዊ ትንተና ጋር በቀጥታ ግንኙነት ስላለው ርዕሰ ጉዳይ ልለፍ:፡ ላለፉት አስራ አንድ እና አስራ ሁለት ሳምንታት በኢትዮጵያውያን ሙስሊሞች እና በእስልምና ጉዳዮች ምክር ቤት ወይም መጅሊስ መካከል የነበረው አለመግባባት እየተካረረ በመምጣቱ መንግሥት ሐሙስ ዕለት ባወጣው መግለጫ ሃይማኖትን ሽፋን በማድረግ ሁከት ለመፍጠር እየሞከሩ ናቸው ለሚላቸው ወገኖች ሕገመንግሥታዊ ሥርዓቱን እንዲያከብሩ ጥብቅ ማስጠንቀቂያ ሰጥቷል :: መግለጫው እስከሚሰጥበት እለት ድረስ ቀን የመንግስት የመገናኛ ብዙሃን ስለተፈጠረው አለመግባባት እና በአወልያ ትምህርት ቤት እና በታላቁ አንዋር መስጊድ ዘውትር አርብ ለሶስት ወራት ገደማ ሲካሄድ ስለነበረው የተቃውሞ መግለጫ ብዙም አልዘገቡም ነበር:: መግለጫውን ተከትሎ ብሎጎች እና የማህበራዊ ድረገጽ ተጠቃሚዎች ግን የትኩረት ነጥባቸው አርገውት ነበር:: ኢትዮ አንድነት የተሰኝ ብሎግ ይህንን ጉዳይ በማስመልከት ሁለት የሌሎች ሚዲያ ዘገቦችን አስነብቧል። እዚህ እና እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ ቢያደርጉ ያገኟዋቸዋል::

አቤል በዚህ ሳምንት በቅርቡ 82ኛ የልደት በአላቸውን ስላከበሩት ፕሮፌሰር መስፍን ወ/ማሪያም አስነብቦናል:: ኢትዮጵያዊው ጆርጅ ኦርዌል ይላቸዋል:: እስቲ አንድ አንቀጽ፦

መቼም ‘Animal farm’ን የሚተካከል ተሳልቆ (ሳታየር) አላነበብንም፡፡የዚህ መጽሐፍ ደራሲ የብዕር ስሙ ጆርጅ ኦርዌል ሲሆን ትክክለኛ ስሙ ኤሪክ ብሌር ይሰኛል፡፡ዛሬ ስሙን ላነሳሳው የፈለኩት ያን ጋዜጠኛ፣ መምህር ፣ ወታደር እና የተባ ብዕረኛ ሳይሆን ኢትየጵያዊውን ጆርጅ ኦርዌል ነው ፡፡ ይህ ኢትዮጵያዊ መምህር ፣የካርታ እና ጂኦግራፊ ባለሙያ ፣ የዕድሜ ልክ ሐያሲ ፣ የሰብአዊ መብት ተሟጋች ፣ በምክንያት ፓለቲከኛ ሲሆን የኛን እንስሳት ዓለም ለማሳየት እንደጆርጅ ኦርዌል ልብወለድ መጻፍ አላስፈለገውም፡፡ ለብዙ አመታት ስለ ሕገ አራዊትና ሕገ ሐልዮት በግልጽ እየተነተነ አሳየን እንጂ፡፡ ሰው እንድንሆን መሞገት ከጀመረ እንደሰነበተ የምንረዳው ከሁለት አገዛዞች በፊት በአዲስ አበባ ማዘጋጃ ቤት በተደረገ የዕድሮች ስብሰባ ያደረገውን ንግግር ስናነብ ነው፡፡

ሙሉውን ጽሁፍ ለማንበብ እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ ያድርጉ::

በነገራችሁ ላይ ፕሮፌሰር መስፍን ወ/ማሪያም በስማቸው የተሰየሙ ብሎጎች አላቸው:: አንዱ ቆየት ያለ እና ፕሮፌሰር መስፍን ለተለያዮ መገናኛ ብዙሃን የሰጡትን ቃለምልልስ እና አንድ አንድ ስራዎቻቸውን የያዘ ነው እዚህ ላይ ጠቅ ቢያደርጉ ያገኙታል:: ሁለተኛው ውቅታዊ ጽሁፎችን የሚያስነብብ ብሎግ ነው:: በዚህ ሳምንት አንድ በፍትህ ጋዜጣ ላይ የታተመችን የመንግሥት ሌቦች አደራ-ቢስነትና ሕዝብ ኃላፊነት በሚል ርእስ የተጻፈች ጽሁፍ በድጋሜ አስነብበዋል:: ይችን ጠቅ በማድረግ ያንብቡት:: ፍትህ ጋዜጣን ለማታገኙ እስቲ አንድ አንቀጽ፦

ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ በተደጋጋሚ ስለመንግሥት ሌቦች እየተናገረ ነው፤ ሌቦቹን ግን እሱም አያውቃቸው፤ እነሱም እየሰሙት አይደለም፤ የመንግስት ሌቦች የተባሉት የሚግጡባቸው ዋናዎቹ መስኮች ታክስ፣ መሬትና የንግድ ውድድር መሆናቸውንም ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ገልጾአል፤ ከዚህም በላይ የተባሉትን የሌብነት መስኮች ከለምነት ወደበረሃነት ለመለወጥ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ኃላፊነት አለበት ያለ መሰለኝ፤ ሥልጣን ሳይኖር ኃላፊነት ከየት ይመጣል? እንግዲህ የፌዴራል ፖሊሱንና ሌላውን አልፎ፣ የደኅንነቱን ሰራዊት አልፎ፣ የጸረ-ሙስና ኮሚሽንን አልፎ፣ ዓቃቤ ሕግን አልፎ ሕዝብ እነዚያን ለምለም መስኮች ማድረቅ እንዴት ይችላል? ሌቦቹ ያሉት በመንግስት ጎራ ብቻ ሳይሆን በህዝብም ጎራ እንደሆነ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ጠቆም አድርጎአል፤ እንዲህ ከሆነ ‹‹አባቱ ዳኛ ልጁ ቀማኛ›› የሚባለው ሁኔታ ሰፍኖአል ማለት ይመስላል፤ ይህ እውነት ከሆነ ሌብነት ሥርዓት ሆኖአል ማለት ነው።

በፍቄ በዚህ ሳምንት ስለአብዮት አስነብቦናል:: አብዮት ምን እንደሆነ እና ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ስላለው ነባራዊ ሁናቴ ጋር በማዛመድ አንድ ብሏል:: አንድ አንቀጽ፦

አብዮት – ከዚህ ቀደም እንዳወራነው – የእንግሊዝኛውን Revolution እንዲተካ ‹‹በደርግ›› የተመረጠ፣ የግዕዙን ቃል ‹አበየ› (Revolut) መሠረት አድርጎ የተሰየመ ቃል ነው፡፡ አብዮት – መንግሰትን ወይም ርዕዮተ ዓለምን የመተካት ሒደት ነው፤ አብዮት – ድንገታዊ እና ፈጣን ክስተት ነው፡፡

ሙሉውን ጽሁፍ ለማንበብ ትይይዙ ላይ ጠቅ ቢያደርጉ ይከፍትሎታል::

በመጨረሻም አሁን አሁን ስነ:ጽሁፋዊ ብሎጎች እየተበራከቱ ናቸው:: ዛሬ አንድ ጀባ ልበላችሁ እና የብሎግ ክለሳዬን ላብቃ :: ቤዋዬ ይባላል የብሎጉ ስም ሙሉ በሙሉ ለስነጽሁፍ የተከፈተ ብሎግ ነው:: በዝህ ሳምንት አጭር ልቦለድ አሰነብቦናል:: መሳጭ ቋንቋው እና አዝናኝ አተራረኩ ደስ ይላል:: ሙሉውን ጽሁፍ ለማንበብ ትይይዙ ላይ ጠቅ ቢያደርጉ ይከፍትሎታል:: መልካም ሳምንት::