N E G A S H I - OJ

CPJ’s OPEN LETTER

His Excellency Meles Zenawi
Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Via facsimile: (251) 11 1552020

Mr. Prime Minister,

We are writing to draw your attention to conditions that undermine press freedom as guaranteed in Article 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution. We would welcome your leadership in furthering reform by working for the repeal of draconian provisions in recent antiterrorism and media legislation. We also call on your administration to abandon practices that obstruct the free flow of information, such as the ruling EPRDF’s absolute control of the government-subsidized and publicly funded national press, the government’s restrictive media regulation and licensing practices, and the state’s censorship of Internet content.

Five journalists are currently in Ethiopian prisons in connection with their work, according to our research, making your country the second worst jailer of the press in Sub-Saharan Africa. Only Eritrea jails more. Three of the journalists were sentenced to prison for their independent coverage of government affairs dating as far back as 2004 under Ethiopia’s now-obsolete 1992 press law, according to our research. The government has declined CPJ’s repeated requests to account for the whereabouts, health, and legal status of two others-Eritrean state television journalists Saleh Idris Gama and producer Tesfalidet Kidane Tesfazghi-who have been held incommunicado and without charge or trial since 2006.

• Read more: Ethiopia’s Zenawi Urged to Pursue Press Reforms

[EEJ] It is quite natural that “Unity” resonates well with all. That is why we often see the term being used by political, religious or social/ community organizations. Unity is something that should be pursued , and all unnecessary divisions which may lead to failure need to be avoided , and in Islam emphasizes on the importance of Unity.

However, for some unity appear be to synonymous to uniformity. Some Muslims appear to pursue a unity through which all Muslims think and act in an identical way in every issue. The moment they see diversified ideas among the Muslims on a given issue, they declare failure!

This kind of unity is ideal, and unachievable. People should look unity through their natural diversity. Otherwise, any effort to crush this natural diversity to `uniformity` would rather lead to fractured community with little opportunity to come together.

As long as there is unity in the objective, the variation in the process to get into the objective shouldn’t generate enmity. True, that at most attempt should be made to narrow the gap based on mutual understanding that, at the end of the day, they all share the same dream.

Naturally, this would bring the majority, and not all of the community members, share similar vision-not necessarily identical. It is from this stage onward that many seem to fail to carry on forward.

All groups who have similar visions are supposed to concentrate to on their activities and use their energy to prove that they are on the right path, unfortunately they turn against each other.We commonly waste our time and energy to smearing each other. Instead of establishing how better our approach is through our activities and results, we try to get this by discrediting our `opponent` who may be even turned as our `primary enemy` by now. If all sides were to focus on their objective, at the end of the day we may have one of them succeeded, which is a blessing of natural diversity- rather than putting all of our eggs in one basket.

Islam is a religion of tolerance, and we practically show this with our non-Muslim country fellows. I just wonder why we fail to exercise a fraction of it when it is among ourselves.

Uniformity is unachievable , and you may listen for more on this issue to Radio Negashi Editorail on how diversity should be considered as source of our strength rather than weakness.

Human rights instruments provide protection against refoulement. The UN Convention against Torture, in Sub-article (l and 2) of Article 3 states that:

1. “No State Party shall expel, return (refouler) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.
2. “For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.”

Reports has reached African Rights Monitor-ARM, that Ms. Bisharo Wa’adi, an Ogaden Women Democratic Association activist, who fled from Ethiopia to the neighboring province, Somaliland, as a refugee has been captured and detained by Somaliland authorities and handed to the Ethiopian Security Services (ESS) on February 10, 2010. Ms. Wa’adi lived in Hargaisa for the past two years as a refugee under the alias Shamsa Abdulahi Hirsi to disguise her identity from ESS after she escaped from JigJiga prison where she was unlawfully detained from October 2006 to January 2007. Prior to this latest arrest, Ms. Wa’adi was arrested and jailed multiple times where she was severely tortured psychologically, mentally and physically. Ms. Wa’adi’s body bears injuries that made her physically disabled and her mental anguish prevented her from leading a productive life.

Article 14 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that

“Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution”.

ARM urgently appeals to the international human right agencies, the United Nations, and governing bodies, to condemn Ethiopia and Somaliland for these unlawful acts against innocent civilians that flee a country that does not respect nor protects the rights of its citizens. This is not the first reported renditions by ESS and the Somaliland forces against innocent Somali refugees and this violation of basic rights must be stopped and prisoners freed.
__________________________
Contact: Huda Yusuf FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Email: africanrightsmonitor@gmail.com

Ethiopian Muslims has lost another man of great history. Hajji Bashir Dawud, a legendary father of  Ethiopian Muslims Right struggle, has died, Inna Lillahi We Inna Ilaihi!. Negashi OJ conveys its heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the this great father. May Allah enter him to Jenat al-firdous. May He, the almighty, give the umma patience and strenght. It is to be remembered that two other great men of the nation died last year: Prof. Hussien Ahmed and Ethiopian Bukhari - Hajji Muhammed Rafea.

Insha Allah we will try to bring you a brief biography of this great man.

[Radio Negashi] አምባሳደር አብደላ ግብጽ ሀገር በህግ ትምህርት ተመርቀው ሲያበቁ ሀገራቸውን ለማገልገል ተመልሰው በውጪ ጉዳይ ሚስቴር መስሪያ ቤት ተቀጥረው የሙያ ግዴታቸውን በመወጣት ላይ እያሉ አንድ ጊዜ አንድ በላዩ ላይ ሚስጢራዊ ሪፖርት የሚል ቃል የሰፈረበት ጽሁፍ ቀርቦላቸው ሪፖርቱን ከተመለከቱት በኃላ በመረጃው ላይ የላቸውን አስተያየት አክለው ለአለቃቸው ለልጅ እንዳልካቸው መኮንን ባቀረቡበት ወቅት አለቃቸው ይህንን መረጃ ላንት የሰጠህ ማን ነው በማለት መቆጣታቸውንና ከዚያም ጊዜ አንስቶ መስሪያ ቤቱን ለቀው እስከመጡበት ጊዜ ድረስ ሥራቸው ሸኝ ደብዳቤ መጻፍ ብቻ የሆነበት ሁኔታ ተከስቶ እንደነበር የአይን ምስክር በሚለው መጽሃፋቸው አስነብበውናል።

ይህም የሆነው በሙስሊምነታቸው የተነሳ እምነት የማይጣልባቸው ሆነው በመገኘታቸው እንደነበረም በዚሁ መጽሀፋቸው ገልጸዋል። በዚህ መጽሀፋቸው ላይ መናፍቅ የሆነው የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሣዊ መንግስት በሙስሊሞች ላይ ይፈጽም የነበረውን በደል የተለያዩ ምሳሌዎችን በማንሳት ከገለጹ በኃላ በመጽሀፋቸው መደምደሚያ ላይ አሁን ላለው አስተዳደር ያላቸውን በጎ አመላካከት ገልጸዋል። በ1990ዎቹ የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ዋና አስተዳዳሪ እስከመሆን ደርሰው የነበሩት ዶክተር አህመድ ቀሎም ባደርግንላቸው አንድ ቃለ መጠይቅ ላይ እርሳቸው ያለፉበትን ዘመን ከአሁኑ ትውልድ ጋር ሲያወዳድሩ የአሁኑ ዘመን ኢትዮጵያዊ ሙስሊም እንደሳቸው ዘመን ሙስሊም በእስላምነቱ ተሸማቆ አለማደጉን ከገለጹ በኃላ በእርሳቸውና በአሁኑ ዘመን መካከል ሙስሊሙን አስመልክቶ ተጨባጭና ጥራት ያለው ልዮነት እንዳለ ገልጸዋል።

• Read more: Radio Negashi Editorial (24/01/10) - Uncompormised Right

It has become common these days to hear one declaring the other as Hypocrite (Munafiq) and a certain deed hypocrisy (Nifq). Often times it is used as a tool to silence those who disagree with one’s ideas … no matter how trivial that maybe. As a comprehensive code of life, Islam is clear on the term itself, its use, to whom it should be used and who may invoke it. In fact ,the Quran has given the issue a great position when it holds a chapter with the title: Al-Munafiqun, the Hypocrites (the 63rd sura of the Qur’an with its 11 ayat).

Learnt men of all times have also warned their folk to take the maximum pre-caution and never to be tempted by whatever reason to use it carelessly. As the Hypocrites are the worst enemies of true believers and the religion, believers are provided with the common feature a likely hypocrite exhibits. This might help us take an immediate corrective action (Tawuba) if one or more of those listed are part of our personality. It is equally important so that we protect ourselves from their evil schemes.

Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘The signs of a Munaafiq are three; When he speaks, he lies; When he disputes, he is vulgar; and When he makes a promise, he breaks it.’ (Mishkaat). Please read below for more of the characteristics of the Munafiqun.

• Read more: Hypocrites: Some of their Characteristics!

Ethiopia - the Second Worst Jailer of Journalists!

Ethiopia jails editor whose paper challenged Zenawi New York, February 1, 2010—An Ethiopian judge sentenced a journalist to prison on Friday in connection with a January 2008 column that criticized Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s statements about religious affairs in Ethiopia, according to local journalists.

Federal High Court Judge Mohammed Omar sentenced Editor Ezedin Mohamed of the Muslim-oriented newspaper Al-Quds to one year in prison. The precise charges were not immediately available but were related to a January 30, 2008, column that came in response to Zenawi’s interview with The Guardian of London that month, according to CPJ sources.

The Al-Quds column challenged Zenawi’s characterization of his country as “Orthodox Christian Ethiopia,” one source said. Mohamed has begun serving his sentence at Kality Prison outside the capital, Addis Ababa, sources said. “The jailing of Ezedin Mohamed is another example of Ethiopia’s intolerance of independent and critical voices,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “It is high time for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to demonstrate his commitment to democratic values by ending the practice of imprisoning journalists.”

Mohamed is the fifth journalist imprisoned in Ethiopia, which is the second worst jailer of journalists in Africa, according to CPJ research. Only Eritrea jails more.

Information that reached Negashi OJ indicated that Ato Ezedin Mohammed, editor-in-chief of the weekly Newsletter Al-Quds has been sentenced to a one year imprisonment. The reason for the sentence is an article that he published a year ago. The particular article was analysing the implication and impact of the draft regulation of the Ministry of Education.The regulation was seen by the Muslim Community as a measure intended to curb the rights of Muslims.

Insha Allah, Negashi OJ will soon bring more on the arrest of Ato Ezedin Mohammed.

BEIRUT – An Ethiopian Airlines plane carrying 90 people crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in flames early Monday just minutes after takeoff from Beirut, authorities said.

Four bodies were recovered in the hours after the crash as ships searched through the choppy waters under gray skies and driving rain, a Lebanese military official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Lebanon has been slammed by stormy weather since Sunday night, with crackling thunder, lightning and pouring rain.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism was not suspected. “Sabotage is ruled out as of now,” he said. The Boeing 737-800 took off around 2:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. EST) for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said Ghazi Aridi, the public works and transportation minister. “The weather undoubtedly was very bad,” Aridi told reporters at the airport. He added that the plane went down about 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) off the Lebanese coast.

The Lebanese army said in a statement the plane was “on fire shortly after takeoff.”

The wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon was on the plane, according to an embassy official who asked that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the matter. Helicopters and naval ships were scrambled for a rescue effort in poor conditions. Huge waves lapped the shore as several ships plowed through the water.

Ethiopian Airlines released a statement on its Web site confirming the plane was missing. “A team is already working on gathering all pertinent information,” the statement said. “An investigative team has already been dispatched to the scene and we will release further information as further updates are received.” Calls to the airline were not immediately returned.

Relatives of the passengers began arriving at the airport early Monday, many of them crying and hugging. Officials led them into a VIP area. The plane was carrying 90 people, including 83 passengers and 7 crew. Aridi identified the passengers as 54 Lebanese, 22 Ethiopians, one Iraqi, one Syrian, one Canadian of Lebanese origin, one Russian of Lebanese origin, a French woman and two Britons of Lebanese origin.

Ethiopian Airlines reported that there were 82 passengers and eight crew; the discrepancy could not immediately be explained.

Ethiopian Airlines has long had a reputation for high-quality service compared to other African airlines, with two notable crashes in more than 20 years.

• Read more: Ethiopian Jet Crashes off Beirut, Lebanon _ 90 on Board