Thursday, April 9, 2020
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
#ETHIOPIA
የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ እየተባባሰ በመምጣቱ ምክንያት የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ ዐውጇል፡፡
ክቡራትና ክቡራን ኢትዮጵያውያን
እየተመለከታችሁትና እየታዘባችሁት እንደሆነው ዓለም በአስቸጋሪ የፈተና ምእራፍ እያለፈች ነው፡፡ ዓለም ይሄንን መሰል ነገር ሲገጥማት ከመቶ ዓመት በኋላ የመጀመሪያ ነገር ነው፡፡
የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ኮሮና (ኮቪድ -19) የዓለም ሁለንተናዊ ችግር ሆኖ ብቅ ካለበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ ደረጃ በደረጃ የመፍትሔ ርምጃዎችን ሲወስድ ቆይቷል፡፡ ሕዝቡ ግንዛቤ እንዲያገኝ፣ የሕክምና ተቋማት እንዲዘጋጁ፣ የመከላከያና የሕክምና መሣሪያዎች ከውጭ እንዲገቡ፣ የማቆያ ሥፍራዎች እንዲዘጋጁ፣ ትምህርት ቤቶች እንዲዘጉ፤ አብዛኞቹ የመንግሥት ሠራተኞች በቤት እንዲወሰኑ፣ ብዙ ሕዝብ ሊሰበሰብባቸው የሚችሉ ሃይማኖታዊና ማኅበራዊ ተቋማት አገልግሎታቸውን ሕዝብ ሊሰበሰብ በማይችልበት መንገድ እንዲከውኑ፣ በአብዛኛው ሥፍራዎች የሕዝብ ትራንስፖርት እንዲቋረጥ፣ ለአስቸጋሪ ጊዜ የሚሆን ሀብት የማሰባሰብ ሥራ እንዲሠራ ተደርጓል፡፡
መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝን በተመለከተ የሚከተለው ስትራቴጂ በመከላከል ላይ ያተኮረ ነው፡፡
1. ኅብረተሰቡን አስተባብሮ በባለሞያዎች ምክር መሠረት ለመከላከል መቻል
2. ከመከላከል ያለፈ ነገር ሲመጣ ለማከም የሚያስችሉ ዐቅሞችን ማዳበር፡፡
3. የከፋው ነገር ከመጣም አስቀድሞ በመዘጋጀት እንደየ አስፈላጊነቱ ተገቢ ውሳኔዎችን እያሳለፉ መሄድ፡፡
1. ኅብረተሰቡን አስተባብሮ በባለሞያዎች ምክር መሠረት ለመከላከል መቻል
2. ከመከላከል ያለፈ ነገር ሲመጣ ለማከም የሚያስችሉ ዐቅሞችን ማዳበር፡፡
3. የከፋው ነገር ከመጣም አስቀድሞ በመዘጋጀት እንደየ አስፈላጊነቱ ተገቢ ውሳኔዎችን እያሳለፉ መሄድ፡፡
እስካሁንም በዚህ መንገድ ነው የተጓዝነው፡፡
አሁን ያሉን መረጃዎች እንደሚያሳዩት በቫይረሱ የተያዙ ወገኖች ቁጥር በፍጥነት እየጨመረ ነው፡፡ ይሄም በመሆኑ ሁላችንም ያለንን ዐቅም ሁሉ አስተባብረን ወገኖቻችንን ከዚህ ወረርሽኝ ለመከላከልና የታመሙትንም ለማዳን ማዋል አለብን፡፡ ያለንበት ጊዜ ሕዝብና ሀገርን ለማዳን ሲባል አስቸጋሪ የተባሉ ውሳኔዎችን መወሰን ያለብን ጊዜ ነው፡፡ ይህም ውሳኔ፣ እንደ ግለሰብ፣ እንደ ማኅበረሰብ፣ እንደ ተቋምና እንደ መንግሥት የሚወሰኑ ናቸው፡፡
ይህ ውሳኔ በዛሬው ትውልድ ላይ ብቻ የምንወስነው ውሳኔ አይደለም፡፡ በልጅ ልጆቻችን ላይ ጭምር የምንወስነው ነው፡፡ በዛሬዋ ኢትዮጵያ ላይ የምንወስነው ብቻ አይደለም፤ በነገዋና በከነገ ወዲያዋ ኢትዮጵያ ላይ ጭምር የምንወስነው ውሳኔ ነው፡፡ የኛ የመሪዎቹ ውሳኔ ብቻ ሳይሆን የእያንዳንዱ ዜጋ ውሳኔ በታሪክ የሚመዘገብ ነው፡፡
ይሄንን አስቸጋሪ ጊዜ ልናልፈው የምንችለው በአካል ተራርቀን በመንፈስ ግን አንድ ሆነን ከቆምን ብቻ ነው፡፡ የያንዳንዳችን ሀብት የሁላችን፣ የእያንዳንዳችንም ችግር የሁላችን መሆን አለበት፡፡ አንዱ በልቶ ሌላው ተርቦ፣ አንዱ ሠርቶ ሌላው ሥራ አጥቶ፣ አንዱ መኖሪያ አግኝቶ ሌላው ውጭ አድሮ፣ አንዱ አትርፎ ሌላው ከሥሮ ይሄንን ችግር ለማለፍ ፈጽሞ አይቻልም፡፡ ምክንያቱም ይህ ችግር የመጣው በህልውናችን ላይ በመሆኑ፡፡ ይህ ችግር የተጋረጠው ሰው ሆኖ በመኖርና ባለመኖር ላይ በመሆኑ፡፡
መንግሥት ችግሩን በደረሰበት ልክ ለመቋቋም ተዘጋጅቷል፡፡ የምንወስዳቸው ውሳኔዎች ክብደት እንደ ችግሩ ክብደት የሚወሰን ነው፡፡ ታሪክ እዚህ አድርሶናል፡፡ ሀገርና ትውልድ በእጃችን ላይ ነው፡፡ በዚህ ዘመን በምንሠራው ሥራ ወይ እንመሰገናለን ወይ እንወቀሳለን፡፡ ከምንም በላይ ግን በጊዜውና በዐቅማችን ማድረግ ያለብንን ካላደረግን የበለጠ እንወቀሳለን፡፡ ይህ ደግሞ ሁላችንንም ኢትዮጵያውያንን የሚመለከት ነው፡፡ ከተረፍን አብረን ነው፡፡ ከከሠርንም አብረን ነው፡፡
የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ እየተባባሰ በመምጣጡ ምክንያት የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ ዐውጇል፡፡ ይህም በሕገ መንግሥቱ ዐንቀጽ 93 መሠረት የተፈጸመ ነው፡፡ ይሄንን መሳይ ዐዋጅ ብዙ ሀገሮች ካወጁ ሰንብተዋል፡፡ እኛ እስክንዘጋጅና ሁኔታው የግድ እስኪለን ጠብቀናል፡፡ ጊዜው ሲጠይቅ ግን ዐውጀናል፡፡ ሀገርን ለማዳንና ትውልድን ለመታደግ ከዚህ በላይ ልንወስን እንደምችልም መታወቅ አለበት፡፡ ዜጎቻችንም ከዚህ በላይ ግዴታቸውን ለመወጣት ወገባቸውን አጥብቀው መጠበቅ አለባቸው፡፡
በዚህ ወቅት ሁላችሁም ችግሩን ለመቋቋም ከሚሠሩት አካላት ጋር አብራችሁ እንድትቆሙ ጥሪ አቀርባለሁ፡፡ ከዚህ በተቃራኒ ችግሩን ለማባባስ የሚሠሩ ካሉ ግን፣ በሕጉ መሠረት የማያዳግም ርምጃ እንወስዳለን፡፡
ወገኖቼ፤
ኢትዮጵያውያን የሚያምርብን መረዳዳቱና መደጋጋፉ ነው፡፡ ድኾችን እንርዳ፡፡ በአካባቢያችን ላሉት ዐቅመ ደካሞች እንድረስላቸው፡፡ የቤት ተከራዮቻችንን ዕዳ እንካፈላቸው፡፡ ከቻልን አናስከፍላቸው፤ ካልቻልን ቅናሽ እናድርግላቸው፡፡ ያም ካልሆነ ይህ ጊዜ እስኪያልፍ እንታገሣቸው፡፡ በዚህ ወቅት ተከራዮችን ከቤት ማስወጣት ፈጣሪም፣ ታሪክም ሕግም ይቅር የማይሉት ወንጀል ነው፡፡ ማናችን አልፈን ማናችን እንደምንተርፍ ለማናውቅበት ጊዜ ከመተባበር የተሻለ መሻገሪያ የለንም፡፡ የግል ባለሀብቶች የሠራተኞቻቸው ሕይወት እንዲያስጨንቃቸው አደራ እላለሁ፡፡ መንግሥት የኢኮኖሚ ችግሮቻችንን ለመፍታት አስፈላጊውን ሁሉ እየወሰነ አብሯችሁ እንደሚሆን በዚህ አጋጣሚ እገልጥላችኋለሁ፡፡
ለሌሎች ወገኖቻቸውና ለሀገራቸው ሲሉ ቤታቸውን፣ ሆቴላቸውን፣ አዳራሾቻቸውን፣ የእምነት ተቋሞቻቸውን፣ መኪኖቻቸውን፣ ገንዘባቸውንና እህላቸውን የሰጡ ዜጎቻችንን ስናይ ይሄንን አስቸጋሪ ወቅት ከፈጣሪ ጋር ሆነን ልናልፈው እንደምንችል ርግጠኞች እንሆናለን፡፡ በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ ከወገኖቻቸው መከራ ለማትረፍ የሚሽቀዳደሙ፣ ከመከራ እንኳን የማይማሩ ሰዎችን ስናይ መንገዱ ከባድ እንዳይሆንብን እንሠጋለን፡፡ በጎ አድራጊዎችን የምናመሰግነውን ያህል መንገዳችንን ይበልጥ ፈታኝ የሚያደርጉብንን ስግብግቦች ግን ለሕዝብና ለሀገር ስንል አስተማሪ የሆነ ቅጣት ለመቅጣት እንገደዳለን፡፡
የሕክምና ባለሞያዎቻችንን በሚቻለው ሁሉ እንርዳ፡፡ ያለ እነርሱ ግንባር ቀደምነት ትግሉን ልናሸንፍ አንችልም፡፡ የሕክምና ባለሞያዎችን ማክበር፣ ማመስገንና በጉዟቸው ሁሉ መተባበር ከእያንዳንዳችን ይጠበቃል፡፡ ለሕክምና ባለሞያዎች ተገቢውን ሁሉ አለማድረግ እጅን በእጅ እንደመቁረጥ ነው፡፡ ከእነርሱ በተጨማሪ የመከላከያ አባላት፣ የፖሊስ ሠራዊት አባላት፣ የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይልና የውኃ አቅርቦት እንዳይስተጓጎል የሚሠሩ ባለሞያዎች፣ የሚዲያ ባለሞያዎች፣ የመገናኛ መሥመሮቻችን ላይ 24 ሰዓት የሚያገለግሉ ዜጎች፣ እኛ ቤት እንድንውል እነርሱ ውጭ የሚውሉ ሠራተኞች ተገቢው ምስጋናና ድጋፍ ከቤተሰባቸውም፣ ከማኅበረሰባቸውም ያስፈልጋቸዋል፡፡
የሕክምና ባለሞያዎቻችንን በሚቻለው ሁሉ እንርዳ፡፡ ያለ እነርሱ ግንባር ቀደምነት ትግሉን ልናሸንፍ አንችልም፡፡ የሕክምና ባለሞያዎችን ማክበር፣ ማመስገንና በጉዟቸው ሁሉ መተባበር ከእያንዳንዳችን ይጠበቃል፡፡ ለሕክምና ባለሞያዎች ተገቢውን ሁሉ አለማድረግ እጅን በእጅ እንደመቁረጥ ነው፡፡ ከእነርሱ በተጨማሪ የመከላከያ አባላት፣ የፖሊስ ሠራዊት አባላት፣ የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይልና የውኃ አቅርቦት እንዳይስተጓጎል የሚሠሩ ባለሞያዎች፣ የሚዲያ ባለሞያዎች፣ የመገናኛ መሥመሮቻችን ላይ 24 ሰዓት የሚያገለግሉ ዜጎች፣ እኛ ቤት እንድንውል እነርሱ ውጭ የሚውሉ ሠራተኞች ተገቢው ምስጋናና ድጋፍ ከቤተሰባቸውም፣ ከማኅበረሰባቸውም ያስፈልጋቸዋል፡፡
በዚሁ አጋጣሚ አርሶ አደሮቻችን የበልግ ወቅት እንዳያልፍብን ራሳቸውን ከቫይረሱ እየተጠነቀቁ በምርት ሥራ ላይ ጠንክረው እንዲሳተፉ አደራ እላቸዋለሁ፡፡ ከቫይረሱ ባልተናነሰ የእርሻ ምርት መቀነስና የእርሻ ምርት አለመኖር ሀገራችንንና ሕዝቧን ይጎዳል፡፡ እናንተ ሀገር መጋቢዎች ስለሆናችሁ፣ እየተጠነቀቃችሁ ካለፈው የተሻለ ምርት ለማምረት ትጉ፡፡ መንግሥትም አስፈላጊውን ሁሉ ሞያዊና ድጋፍ ያደርግላችኋል፡፡
የኢንዱስትሪ ምርቶቻችንም ፈጽመው መቆም የለባቸውም፡፡ ለሠራተኞቻችን ሕይወት እየተጠነቀቅን፣ በወረርሽኙ ምክንያት የሚያጋጥመንን ተግዳሮት ሁሉ እየተቋቋምን በፋብሪካ ምርቶች ላይ የተቻለንን ሁሉ ጥረት እናድርግ፡፡ በተለይም ከውጭ የምናመጣቸውን ምርቶች ለመተካት ለሚደረገው ጥረት መንግሥት አስፈላጊውን ድጋፍ ሁሉ እንደሚያደርግላችሁ እገልጥላችኋለሁ፡፡ በተለይ ግን በምርት ዝውውር ጊዜ ከፍተኛ የሆነውን የመጨረሻ ጥንቃቄ እንዲደረግ ለአፍታም ቢሆን እንዳትዘነጉት ይሁን፡፡
ይህ ጊዜ ያልፋል፡፡ ሀገራችን ከዚህ የሚስተካከሉና ከዚህም የሚብሱ ፈተናዎችን አልፋለች፡፡ ዓለማችን በየዘመናቱ የከፉ ተግዳሮቶችን አልፋ ነው እዚህ ዘመን የደረሰችው፡፡
የሚሰጡንን መመሪያዎች በሚገባ እናክብር፣ የጤና ባለሞያዎች የሚሉንን ለሕይወታችን ስንል እንስማ፡፡ በኮሮና አይቀለድም፡፡ ጉዳዩ ከመኖርና ካለመኖር ጋር የተያያዘ ነው፡፡
ይሄንን ፈተና ለማለፍ ባለ ሦስት መዓዘን ትብብር ያስፈልገናል፡፡ ወደ ጎን እኛ እርስ በርሳችን፡፡ እያንዳንዳችን ደግሞ ከፈጣሪያችን ጋር፡፡ እኔ ከሌላው ወገኔ ጋር፣ ሌላው ወገኔ ከእኔ ጋር፣ እኔና ሌላው ወገኔ ከፈጣሪ ጋር የምንገናኝበት መሥመር መቼም መቋረጥ የለበትም፡፡
በርትተንና ተረባርበን የሚጠበቅብንን እናድርግ፣ ጸንተንና በተሰበረ ልብ ሆነን ወደ ፈጣሪ እንለምን፡፡ ፈጣሪ ከእኛ ጋር ነው፡፡ መከራውን ያቀልልናል፤ ፈተናውን ያሳልፈናል፤ ማዕበሉን ያሻግረናል ብለን እናምናለን፡፡ የሃይማኖት አባቶች ያዘዙንን ጥንቃቄ እየፈጸምን ያዘዙንንም ጸሎት ተግተን እንጸልይ፡፡
ኢትዮጵያ በልጆቿ ጥረት ታፍራና ተከብራ ለዘላለም ትኑር
ፈጣሪ ኢትዮጵያንና ሕዝቦቿን ይባርክ
ፈጣሪ ኢትዮጵያንና ሕዝቦቿን ይባርክ
መጋቢት 30/ 2012 ዓ.ም
#Covid19
10:10 GMT - Ethiopia declares state of emergency to curb spread of COVID-19
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in the country to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, his office said on Twitter.
"Considering the gravity of the #COVID19, the government of Ethiopia has enacted a State of Emergency," Abiy's office said.
Considering the gravity of the #COVID19, the Government of Ethiopia has enacted a State of Emergency according to Article 93 of the Constitution.
PM @AbiyAhmedAli calls upon all to follow the ensuing measures that will further define the SOE. #PMOEthiopia https://twitter.com/AbiyAhmedAli/status/1247814586830671873 …
147 people are talking about this
Africa's second most populous nation at more than 110 million, Ethiopia has recorded 52 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and two deaths.
Authorities have already taken a series of measures to stem the spread including closing schools, banning public gatherings and requiring most employees to work from home.
The prime minister did not mention what additional steps would be taken under the state of emergency.
Aljazeera
Sunday, April 5, 2020
#Ethiopian
Only in Ethiopia!
This is one of the prisons in Ethiopia, located in the western Oromia region. Almost all of these people are political prisoners. The so-called Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed is treating human beings like this at the time when the world is shaking of Civid-19 pandemic. The Ethiopian government has made a lip service ban of gatherings to contain the pandemic, however, these citizens are still being treated like this, only because of their political opinion. The people in this part of Ethiopia were deprived of their right of access to information until very recently, due to government blockade of internet and telephone service to the region, hence, there is very limited awareness on the virus transmission.
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Saturday, March 28, 2020
#Ethiopian
My name is Tofik Jamal Abdullah
I condemn the internet and phone service shutdown by Ethiopia gov’t in Western and southern Oromia. To prevent the spread of Corona Virus information is very crucial. Blocking information during this critical time is a violation of human rights. The Ethiopian government should unblock the internet and phone service shut down before it is too late. The people should not be left in the dark for death.“
#ReconnectTheWestETH
#COVID19
#Ethiopia
I condemn the internet and phone service shutdown by Ethiopia gov’t in Western and southern Oromia. To prevent the spread of Corona Virus information is very crucial. Blocking information during this critical time is a violation of human rights. The Ethiopian government should unblock the internet and phone service shut down before it is too late. The people should not be left in the dark for death.“
#ReconnectTheWestETH
#COVID19
#Ethiopia
Thursday, March 26, 2020
#Ethiopia
My name is Shakira Adam
I condemn the internet and phone service shutdown by Ethiopia gov’t in Western and southern Oromia. To prevent the spread of Corona Virus information is very crucial. Blocking information during this critical time is a violation of human rights. The Ethiopian government should unblock the internet and phone service shut down before it is too late. The people should not be left in the dark for death.“
Saturday, March 21, 2020
#Ethiopia
Two journalists and a driver arrested, held without charge in Ethiopia
March 18, 2020 12:10 PM ET
Nairobi, March 18, 2020 -- Authorities in Ethiopia should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Dessu Dulla and Wako Nole and media worker Ismael Abdulrzaq, and let them work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On March 7, police arrested Dessu, deputy director of the privately owned Oromia News Network broadcaster, Ismael, a driver for the station, and Wako, a reporter with the Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo radio broadcaster, in Burayu, a town in the Oromia region, according to Muhammed Regassa and Betie Urgessa, two Oromia News Network employees who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and an eyewitness to the arrests who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.
Betie told CPJ that the three appeared in court on March 10, and that police were granted 14 days to hold them in custody, but said they were not charged with any crime.
“Holding journalists for weeks without charge is a violation of their basic rights and a clear effort to intimidate the press; Ethiopia must release Dessu Dulla, Wako Nole, and Ismael Abdulrzaq immediately,” said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo. “Journalists must be allowed to cover regional politics without official interference or fear that they will be arbitrarily arrested.”
Police arrested the journalists and driver shortly after they left the Burayu police station, where they had traveled to speak with Abdi Regassa, a senior member of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front political party, who was detained there, according to Muhammed, Betie, and the eyewitness. Two Oromo Liberation Front party members who were visiting Abdi were also arrested, those sources said.
The eyewitness told CPJ that he heard a police officer shouting that the journalists had taken pictures on their phones before they arrested them and added that officers were likely uncomfortable with the journalists visiting Abdi Regassa. Prior to 2018, Abdi was a commander in the liberation front’s armed wing while it operated from exile and was designated a terror organization; police initially denied having him in custody, according to a report by the privately owned news site Addis Standard.
The Oromia News Network vehicle was involved in a minor road accident at the scene, but those sources told CPJ that it was unrelated to the arrests. Police are still holding the vehicle, Betie told CPJ.
The Oromia News Network, which operated in exile until 2018, primarily covers politics and is targeted at an Afaan Oromo-speaking audience; Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo, which broadcasts some of its programming on the news network, hosts programming that is supportive of the Oromo Liberation Front and also covers regional news, according to Muhammed and Betie, as well as CPJ’s review of the broadcasters’ content.
In a phone interview on March 10, Oromia regional government spokesperson Getachew Balcha told CPJ that he did not know anything about the journalists’ arrests. Getachew later acknowledged their detention in an interview with the U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America broadcaster, but said that they were arrested due to prior offenses.
Getachew referred CPJ to the head of the Oromia Peace and Security Bureau, identified as “Mr. Jibril,” for comment. Jibril told CPJ in a phone interview yesterday that he did not know about the journalists’ cases.
Friday, March 20, 2020
#Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Communications Shutdown Takes Heavy Toll
Restore Internet, Phone Services in Oromia
(Nairobi, March) – The Ethiopian government should immediately lift the shutdown of internet and phone communications in the Oromia region. The two-month-long shutdown has prevented families from communicating, disrupted life-saving services, and contributed to an information blackout during government counterinsurgency operations in the area.
Since January 3, 2020, the authorities have disconnected mobile phone networks, landlines, and internet services in western Oromia’s Kellem Wellega, West Wellega, and Horo Gudru Wellega zones. In East Wellega, residents reported that the internet and social media services were blocked, with text and cell service available only in major towns. The shutdown has been imposed in areas under federal military control and comes amid reports of government military operations against the armed wing of the once-banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The media have credibly reported human rights abuses, including accounts of killings and mass detentions by government forces.
“The Ethiopian government’s blanket shutdown of communications in Oromia is taking a disproportionate toll on the population and should be lifted immediately,” said Laetitia Bader, Horn of Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The restrictions affect essential services, reporting on critical events, and human rights investigations, and could risk making an already bad humanitarian situation even worse.”
Under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration, communication blackouts without government justifications has become routine during social and political unrest, Human Rights Watch said.
A ruling party regional spokesman told the media in January that the communications shutdown had “no relationship” to the military operations but then said that it had contributed to the operation’s success. The federal government offered no explanation for the shutdown until February 3, when Abiy told parliament that restrictions were in place in western Oromia for “security reasons.”
International human rights law protects the right of people to freely seek, receive, and provide information and ideas through all media, including the internet. Security-related restrictions must be law-based and a necessary and proportionate response to a specific security concern. A lack of government transparency regarding communication shutdowns and their length invites abuse, Human Rights Watch said.
Four humanitarian agencies operating in the affected zones told Human Rights Watch that their activities were considerably hampered because they could not get critical information on the humanitarian and security situation. One aid worker said that health care services were also affected, with doctors and ambulances unable to communicate with patients.
The communications blackout was also affecting people outside these areas who are desperate for news of their loved ones. One Addis Ababa resident told Human Rights Watch: “Prior to the blackout, I was able to communicate with my mom almost every day. She lives alone. Now that internet and phone services are blocked, I worry very much.”
One university lecturer described the effects of the shutdown on his students: “PhD students are worried about the how this will impact their final dissertations and tests. They don’t have access to the online materials and the library doesn’t have hard copies of the research or the books they need.”
Students whose families have been affected by the communications shutdown and the military operations have held sporadic protests on some university campuses. On January 10, at Bule Hora University, security forces fired live ammunition at protesting students. Three witnesses to the crackdown, including one who went to the hospital after the incident, said that one student had been shot dead and at least a dozen injured. “Many students at Bule Hora are from [the Wellega zones] and were not able to contact their families,” one witness said. “Some students were hit or beaten after confrontations with security forces.”
In 2019, Ethiopia shut down the internet eight times during public protests and unnecessarily around national exams. Following the June 22 assassinations of five high-level government officials, which the government linked to an alleged failed coup attempt in the Amhara region, the government imposed an internet blackout across the country. The internet was only completely restored on July 2. At the time of the shutdown, the government gave no explanation or indication of when the service would be restored.
In August, Abiy told the media that he would switch off the internet “forever” if deadly unrest prompted by online incitement continued, asserting that the internet was “neither water nor air,” and thus not an essential right.
In January, the Ethiopian government introduced a hate speech and disinformation law that could have a chilling effect on free expression and access to information online. Overbroad and vague language in the law may facilitate misuse by authorities who may use the law to justify blanket internet and network shutdowns.
Communications shutdowns violate multiple rights, Human Rights Watch said. In their 2015 Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Responses to Conflict Situations,United Nations experts and rapporteurs stated that even in times of conflict, the use of communication “kill switches” (i.e., shutting down entire parts of communications systems) can never be justified under human rights law.
During a visit to Ethiopia in December, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, expressed his concerns that the Ethiopian government’s use of internet shutdowns occurred “without constraint under law or policy.” In a 2017 report, Kaye wrote that network shutdowns fail to meet the standard of necessity and that governments need to demonstrate that any shutdown would not only be necessary, but would achieve its stated purpose since shutdowns often have the opposite effect. “It has been found that maintaining network connectivity may mitigate public safety concerns and help restore public order,” he stated.
Instead of indefinite, blanket shutdowns and repressing peaceful dissent, Ethiopian authorities should use the media to provide transparent information that can discourage violence and direct security forces to act according to international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said.
“The lack of transparency and failure to explain these shutdowns only furthers the perception that they are meant to suppress public criticism of the government,” Bader said. “Amid ongoing unrest and ahead of critical national elections, the government should be seeking to maintain internet and phone communications to ease public safety concerns, not increase them.”
#Ethiopia
Millions of Ethiopians Can’t Get COVID-19 News
Refusal to Restore Communications Threatens Public Health
Laetitia Bader
Senior Researcher, Africa DivisionLaetitiaBader
Millions of Ethiopians living under a months-long government-imposed shutdown of internet and phone services in western Oromia are being left in the dark about the health risks.
Even before Ethiopia confirmed its first coronavirus case on March 13, people in the western Oromia region, where the military has conducted operations against a rebel force, faced significant challenges. Access to health care is severely limited, especially for those in rural areas. We recently spoke to a man who in July spent days calling hospitals in West Wellega in search of a ventilator for his sister who was dying of pneumonia; she didn’t survive. Because of the government restrictions, international and local aid groups are unable to monitor disease outbreaks or provide adequate assistance.
The government has started to implement other basic measures to increase awareness and prevent the spread of the virus: the Ministry of Health provides regular updates, added sign language to its promotional materials, and appealed for calm following reports of discrimination and harassment of foreigners.
Ethiopia also partnered with the Jack Ma Foundation to help distribute coronavirus testing kits, masks, face shields, and protective suits to the 54 countries on the continent, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed managing the logistics and distribution of these supplies.
But access to timely and accurate information is essential in a time of crisis, especially as Ethiopia simply does not have the infrastructure to cope with a coronavirus outbreak. Access to safe water and sanitation is low in Ethiopia. Cholera and measles outbreaks remain persistent public health threats, and high patient-to-physician ratios mean doctors are unable to tend to everybody. The new virus risks adding significant pressure to already strained health systems.
Those with the privilege of access to radio and television may hear about coronavirus risks, but not in great detail. The government’s refusal to restore phone and network access makes it likely that key information is not reaching everyone, including those vital to control efforts in western Oromia —health care workers and humanitarian organizations.
It is laudable that Abiy is taking charge of managing a coronavirus prevention effort on the African continent, but he should not ignore the needs of those within his own country.
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