HRW urges Ethiopia to press charges or release detained journalists

JULY 25, 2011 (NEW YORK) – Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged Ethiopian authorities to promptly come-up with credible charges or immediately release the two newspaper journalists held with out charge since June.

Wubushet Taye, deputy editor of the Awramba Times newspaper and Reeyot Alemu, columnist for the weekly Feteh, are held on terrorism charges.

“The Ethiopian government should not rely on an overly broad anti-terrorism law to silence independent reporting in Ethiopia,” said Rona Peligal, deputy Africa director for HRW.

“It should either bring credible charges against the two journalists or quickly release them.”

The two journalists will remain in jail for at least another month after court this week ruled out an extension of 28 days for prosecutors to pursue investigations.

HRW said it is aware of at least 11 people in pretrial detention under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, and 14 people who were charged in June 2011 under this law with membership of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an armed group recently designated as terrorist group along with two domestic groups Ogaden National Libration Front, Ginbot 7 and two international terror networks Al-shabab and Al-Qaeda.

Ethiopia has six journalists currently behind bars, which is believed to be the highest number in Africa after Eritrea which holds at least 17, according to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) research.

The Ethiopian constitution requires the government to bring a person before a court within 48 hours of being detained and to inform that person of the charges against him or her. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Ethiopia ratified in 1993, provides that anyone arrested for a criminal offence shall be brought before a judicial authority and promptly charged.

HRW added that the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, adopted in 2009, also violates due process rights guaranteed under Ethiopian law and international law.

“Every detainee in Ethiopia should be granted immediate access to counsel and to their families,” Peligal said. “Accusations under the terrorism law should never mean the denial of basic human rights.”

Widely condemned by international human rights organisations, Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law criminalises any reporting authorities deem to “encourage” or “provide moral support” to groups and causes the government labels as “terrorists.”

(ST)