Ethiopia confirms detention of three US journalists
May 26, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopian government has confirmed the arrest and the release of three US journalists in eastern Ethiopia. Addis Ababa said they were detained because they had no professional visa to investigate in the country.
The Ethiopian foreign ministry confirmed in a pres statement that three journalists of the New York Times were detained by Ethiopian soldiers in the Somali Regional State, in eastern Ethiopia in the town of Degeh Bur last week.
They were subsequently sent to Jijiga, a town n eastern Ethiopia, before being taken to Addis Ababa. They have now left Ethiopia, the ministry said.
The three journalists were arrested by the Ethiopian military on May 16 in the Ogaden region, held for five days and interrogated at gunpoint, and then released Monday May 21 without any charges being lodged against them.
“Jeffery Gettleman, the NY Times correspondent in Nairobi, and his two colleagues had come to Ethiopia as tourists, not on any news gathering assignment. They specifically requested visas by email to visit Gonder, Aksum and Lalibela in northern Ethiopia.”
Gettleman and his colleagues were detained at Degeh Bur in southeastern Ethiopia. This is a town not far from Abule where the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front at the end of April killed 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese workers.
The foreign ministry said Degeh is an area where security forces have been carrying out operations in search of the perpetrators of these killings.
According to the New Yorl Times, Ethiopian soldiers confiscated all of the journalists’ equipment, including computers, cameras, cellphones and notebooks; none of the equipment has been returned. The Ethiopian security forces say they are holding the equipment for security reasons.
The three journalists were reporting on the Ogaden conflict taking place there when they were detained by soldiers in the town of Degeh Bur.
Gettleman, 35; Vanessa Vick, 43; a photographer, who was kicked; and Courtenay Morris, 34, a videographer, were moved to different jails before authorities released them in Addis Ababa, the paper said.
“Why were journalists on a legitimate newsgathering assignment arrested, imprisoned for five days, manhandled and threatened?” Keller asked. “Why were they denied a chance to communicate with the American embassy in Ethiopia, or with civilian officials of the Ethiopian government? Why were we unable to get accurate information about their whereabouts and condition?” Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times said.
“This, indeed, is why they were detained. We do not accept that any of the three were “manhandled”. Nor are we aware that they were denied an opportunity to communicate with the American embassy or with civilian officials.” The ministry retorted.
(ST)