BBC News – Ethiopia has admitted it is jamming the Voice of America’s (VOA) broadcasts in Amharic, accusing the radio station of engaging in “destabilising propaganda”.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia had been testing jamming equipment, although there had been no formal decision to bloc the US station.
The Amharic Service has experienced interference since late February.
Mr Meles also compared the VOA’s transmissions to broadcasts in Rwanda in the mid-1990s that incited genocide.
‘Unfortunate’ comments
“We have for some time now been trying to beef up our capacity to deal with this, including… jamming,” Mr Meles said on Thursday.
In a statement, VOA director Danforth Austin said that any comparison of VOA programming to Rwandan broadcasts inciting genocide in the 1990s was “incorrect and unfortunate”.
“The VOA deplores jamming as a form of media censorship wherever it may occur,” he said, adding that the station’s Amharic Service was required by law to provide accurate and objective information.
The VOA and other foreign media organisations say broadcasts in Amharic - the country’s most widely spoken language - have been jammed around elections in the past.
The next polls in Ethiopia are in May and human rights groups say there has been a crackdown on the press.
The last elections saw opposition accusations of widespread rigging.
Thousands of opposition supporters were arrested after protests and some western countries reduced aid to Ethiopia.
Separately, Mr Meles again denied claims in a recent BBC report that he had ordered the diversion of food aid money to buy arms to fight the government in the 1980s.
“We did not need to [do it]. We were not short of ammunition or arms. That was never our problem. Our main problem was that we were operating in an environmentally very fragile area unable to feed itself,” he said.
March 19th, 2010 at 7:44 am
I blame The opposition leadaers peaseful or armed struggle letting this mafia man and his tplf groups swimming in our country with out any limmit.
March 19th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Meles Zenawi is the architect of ethnic fascism and will not stop short of committing genocide in Ethiopia. The genocides committed in the World are the works of fascists and racists. The ethnical fascist Meles Zenawi is now the only fascist in power in Africa and his warnings pointing to the genocide in Rwanda show us his plans to commit the same in Ethiopia. Ethiopians have exeprience his masskillings in Arba Gugu, Bedeno, Gambella, Ogaden, Sidama and other places in the country. These are indicators of the impending genocide the ethnical fascist Zenawi has planned. The Amharas whom he has defined as the worst enemies of the people of Tigray are the first targets of his genocide. His followers are accusing Seye Abraha and other former ethnical fascists of betraying the people of Tigray and joining hands with the enemies of the people of Tigray, Amharas. The Amharas should watch out and get ready to defend themselves against a possible genocide they face if the going goes tough for the ethnical fascists holding power in Ethiopia.
March 19th, 2010 at 8:08 am
Oh la la,
The prime minister got crazy and finally forced to admit the illegal jamming of the most popular voice (VOA) to the Ethiopian people. To my understanding this person officially declared his dictatorial rule on our country. Unless we organize our struggle and united to that end, Woyané is preparing to stay on power for unlimited period. Now the time comes to realize how peaceful struggle is not working and the vision of Dr. Birhanu Nega and others who raised arms against the regime is correct.
March 19th, 2010 at 8:14 am
“When a mouse seeks its death, it sniffs to a cat’s nose”.
This will put this midget at logerheads with USA, and it is a good thing for us. Megdels Naziawi is getting out of his “democrat” condom little by little everyday. He is exposing himself that he is a worse dectator than his predecessor, Megistu.
What are we Ethiopians waiting for????? Are we waiting untlill this midget to jam all of us individually.
It is long overdue that we let our country to be misled by this kind of mosnters. We have to be united to get rid of them sooner than they know it. Wake up everydoby, wake up!
March 19th, 2010 at 8:41 am
- NOTHING NEW, BBC & VOA ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT PROPOGANDA, NOT JOURNALISM -
AFRICANS FINALLY GETTING SMARTER IDENTIFYING THEIR REAL CORE ENEMIES. TO BEGIN WITH BBC AND VOA HIDDEN AGENDA ALWAYS HAS BEEN ANTI-AFRICANS BY CREATING DIVSIONS AMONG AFRICANS BE IT WITHIN DOMESTIC AFFAIRS THE NATION AND INTERNATIONAL AFFIARS. BBC AND VOA ALSO SPEARHEADING SUCH HATE MONGERING PROPAGANDA INTHE STEALTH OF JOURNALISM BY CREATING DIVISION AMONG ASIANS,AMONG MIDDLE EASTER COUNTRIES, AMONG SOUTHERN AMERICAN COUNTRIES, FAR EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES.
THIS IS WHY MOST COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD INCREASINGLY BLOCKING VOA AND BBC`S AIR WAVE FROM BRAODCASTING IN THEIR COUNTRIES.
March 19th, 2010 at 11:13 am
MUST READ!! How Iyasu Berhe acted in the killing of artist Kiros Alemayehu , artist Surafel, etc http://www.cyberethiopia.com/warka4/viewtopic.php?t=39239
March 19th, 2010 at 11:17 am
The strategy of this midget is to pre-empt VOA from covering genuine news during the upcoming election.
From experience, VOA may be pressured by their financer (US govt) and may bend a little bit and may refrain from covering the oposition in the upcoming election. Remember, after the 2005 election VOA became less critical of woyanes after some of the journalists were sued by the midget.
We need to have a counter strategy by bombarding VOA with phone calls, emails, twitters, and by any means we have at our disposal to pressure VOA not to bend to the demands of this midget(Megdels Naziawi). VOA has to livie up to its commitments.
March 19th, 2010 at 11:55 am
I did not appreciate that VOA covering the story about the mass genocide story, because there never was no mass genocide in Ethiopia, whether be it under Menlike, haileselassie or mengestu, according to the story interview by asociating and charging the previous amhara dominated governments with mass genocidal crime, for commiting genocidal crime against oromos,tigreans and Eritreans. It is totally wrong and historically inaccurate.
Let Ethiopians run there country as they see it fit, we do not need no some hidden agents and foreigners to interfare in our affairs, Beside, that is what Democracy is all about.
March 19th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
ይህ ማስፈራራትና የበላይ ነኝ ባይነት ለራሱ በጎች እንጂ ለሌላው ምንም ቅንጣት ታህል ከወሬነቱ አይዛልም ነገር ግን አሁን ያለበትን በውስጡ ያሉ ተነጅ በጎችን አለሁኝ አይዞኝ ስልጣኔም እንዳለ ነው እዩኝ አይነት ፉካራ ነው የሚፎክረው እን እነዛን ለሆዳቸው ያደሩላትን የበጎች እረኞች ሬድዮ ይዛችሁ ብትገኙ እኔን አያርገኝ ብሎ እንደለመደው ጦሌውን ሊቀጣው እየተንደረደረ ነው እና እኛም ስለባነንን ወንድማችን ወታደሩ አለኝታችን መከታችን እንዳይጎዳብን FM Addis ን ደጀን :ጦላይ: ሻኪሶ: ቃሊቲ እንዲሰማ የበኩላችንን ……………::
“አንዱ ለሌላው ደስታ ህይወቱን እሳልፎ ሲሰጥ ማየት ያበረታታል እንጂ አያሳዝንም” በአሉ ግርማ
March 19th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
የአንድ ሰው ገገዥ መደብ መልካም አገዛዝ ተብሎ የተለፈፈበት መራባውያን በኢትዮጵያ የነበራቸውን ቂም በመለሰ አቀቃኝነት በድርጎ የተገዙ ሆድ አደሮች የሕዝብና የሃገር ክብርና ለልና እንዲዋረድ ያደረገ ከ ፎሮአኖች ያልተለየ ግፍ ብቀላ የፈጸመ በታሪክ አልተገኘም:: አሁንም ጌቶቹ በሚ መጸውቱት የሚያደርገው እነሱ የማያውቁት ሆኖ ሳይሆን ስለ መብት በቃል ከማሳመር አልፈው የሚያደርጉት እንደሌለ የሰጡት መመርያ የኛን ጥቅም እስካራመድክ ሕዝቡን ማሰርና መግደል ያንተ ፍላጉት ነው በማለት የገዳይ አሰልጣኞች ሰጥተውታል የፖለቲካም አማካሪውዎች ለማጭበርበር የሚችልበትን መንገድና የገንዘብ እርዳታ የሚያደርጉለት የተቃዋሚው ጎራ ካሸነፈ አሁን ያላቸው ሙሉ መብትና ስልጣን አናገእኛም የሚል የመለሰን የተንኮል ቅንብር በመስማት የሚያደርጉት ስለሆነ VOA እንዳይሰማ ማድረግ አይችልም እነሱ ካላሉት በመግደል በመስረቅ በማሰር ኢሓዴግ ወያነ ስልጣን በኢትዮጵያ አለው በማስተዳደር 60% የግንዘብ ድልድሉ የሚያገኘው ከአሜርካ ከ እንግልዝ, ከአውሮፓ ሕብረት በመሆኑ ተቃውሞው በቀጥታ በትር ለሚአቀብል ከዳር ቁሞ ገላጋይ የሚመስል ለባለ በትሩ መልሱ በመጣበት ይመለስለታል ሜዳውን ሸንተረሩ ጥሻው የማን ሁኖ?
የመለሰ ችግር ያለኔ መምራት የሚችል የለም አዎን ኢሓዴግ ባሉት ስብስብ ሰሚና አዳማቂዎች የተሰበሰቡበት በደመነፍስ የሚሄዱ ለሆድ አደርነት የተሰለፉ በስነ ልቦና ,በስነጥበብ በስነአይምሮ ያልጎለበቱ በሰው አምልኮ ብቻ የሚኖሩ በመሆናቸው አያጠያይቅም:: አስተዳደር የተበላሸ በመሆኑ ማረም አለብን ብሎ የተነሳው በተቃዋሚው ጎራ ከመጣን የምድርና የሰማይ ርቀት በሁሉም የመንግስት የጦር የፖለቲካ ማሕበራዊና ፍትሓዊ ኢደጥብብ ሕክምና የስይንስና ተክኖሎጂ ያባንክ ያስተዳደርና የተለያዩ ሞያዎችን የሚያስተናግዱ እንዳሉ በመረዳት ለመሸፈን ውድቀቱን ከነተከታዮቹ ለማታለል እየሞከረ ነው::
March 19th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
It is being a while since I convinced myslef that ethiopia is not governed by an ethiopian. The way they react does not have anything ethiopian. The prime Minister often potraits himself as an expert to every dicpline and has a medicine to any possible illness we ethiopian came across. He does not have any respect for ethiopia and ethiopiawinet and scared of anything that bring us together as a country. May GOD help that country get ride of this person before creating more damages to our ethiopiawinet fabric. He is just like a cancer.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
The chimp from 4kilo take out his mask and makes an official declaration of being ruthless means the 18 years cheat tricks lies
and pretending for the west seems to be over and at the same
time the wests tolerance is fading thx God his slave masters (BUSH
% CO)who have done not less harm to the peoples of Ethiopia are
now for history books,his African sale in copenhagen was taken
by a surprise even though his intention was to be taken as an
allywhich has created fear after president Obamas speech that
his first foreign politics gives priority for human right records of any govt
in the camp of woyannes that to the day today we did not see
any specific action in my view takes long because of building bushs
8 years wrack and it will never be the same like bushs.Dont get me
wrong not a single expectation from no body to free Ethiopia it is the
duty of its own peoples ,having said all these i have heard woyanne
has built 6.5 million us dollar building which is finished last month
in the sudans capital khartoum after being rewarded by fertile land
why to much money or is it suppose planed as exile home for the
chimp and family? time will give us all the answers
March 19th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
The VOA is also part of the Drama. Americans and Meles are friends. They both know that the oppositions are using the outlet. Now they have to act like they don’t get along. Next time they might act like enemies. Just wait and see. Pleeeeeeeeease somebody tell’em to try something smarter.
March 19th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Click the following link to hear the opinion of the people in Addis Ababa about the jamming of VOA radio:
http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_single_mediaplayer/0,,5372722_type_audio_struct_12097_contentId_5372737,00.html
March 19th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
There is no place for Zinawi and his crimefamily to wellcome neither there is a gateway to escape from the justice because Zinawi is cronically sick and excessively a criminal.Sick on the head and weak on the knees;he is crushing everyday.Where will he run to when they come for him?
Today,Zinawi is a fugitive threatening opposition candidates,Ethiopians and VOA to harm and jam so that he will continue holding citizenz hostages to prolong suppression and oppression and looting and murdering of Ethiopians.
It is also important to remember that Ethiopians both at home and abroad must continue bearing the burden and pusing forward to bringing the criminals to justice so that those who lost their precious life will be remembered eternally both on Earth and in the heaven.
Victory for all Ethiopians!!!
March 19th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
The reason the Ethiopia govt jammed the VOA is simple and acceptable reason.It is the American govt propaganda machine,which spread false information at any govt around the world,in order to create dist ability.If anyone think it is a fair and balance media organization, you better think again,because it is not.To give you an Example,in 2007 the VOA Amharic service purposely excluded the killing of hundreds of innocent civilian by ONLF.When the head of the horn of Africa VOA service (Annette Sheckler)complain about this to the management, she got fired.Instead the VOA continue demonizing the Ethiopian govt about genocide and ethnic cleansing without any merit.Still to this day,it is okay to spread false propaganda around the world to torn apart country and people but not okay to feed the same propaganda to their own people.Yes,it is true.Under the SMITH-MUNDIT ACT the VOA (own by the US govt) is forbidden to broadcast to American public in order to protect their dear citizens from its own propaganda action.Because of these kinds of false in formations(propaganda) hundreds of thousand people are dying and untold numbers of people who are lucky to flee their country are turning to refugees every year.Why don’t we try to resolve our problems with out adding some foreign elements to stir our problems beyond any hope of solution.Why is a kid in Africa suffering while a kid in the west where this venom coming from live in peace?
March 19th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Good job VOA. You are professional.
March 19th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
THE BIG ISUE IS ALSO WHY THEIR IS NO ELECTRIC POWER IN ETHIOPIA MOST OF THE TIME. AT THIS POINT WHAT DIFFIRENC DOES IT MAKE WHETHER THEIR IS A VOA OR NOT? THOUGH IT MATTERS.
WE JUST HAVE TO AXCEPT THAT OUR COUNTRY IS IN HANDS OF ENEMY. I DONT SEE ANY ETHIOPIAN THAT LOVES HIS COUNTRY OR AT LEAST BELIVS THAT HE IS ETHIOPIAN DOING THAT. WHY WOULD ANY BODY DO THAT? UNLESS THAT PERSON IS THIER FOR SOME OTHER REASONS.
OR AT LEAST EXPLAN WHY THEY ARE DOING THAT IF IT IS A GOOD REASON. AND GIVE PEOPLE A CHANC TO MAKE CHOOS.
YOU CANT JUST JUMP UP IN A COUNTRY THAT HAS MORE THAN FOUR THOUSEND YEARS HISTORY AND DO WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
MELSE PROBABLY THINKS HE OWNS THE LAND JUST BY HIM SELF. DONT YOU THINK?
AND LETS NOT FOR GET THIS PEOPLE ARE SOCIALIST.
March 19th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
well done Meles. jam it all the way.
March 20th, 2010 at 12:50 am
I doubt there will be any consequences for his misbehaving. That is why the midget can say and do anything he wants.
After sending tens of thousands of Ethiopians to their death for Badme, he then gave away the land in court. Then he pretended to care for it when he sensed his parochial party was about to hold him accountable. Now he is bending over for Issayas Afeworki.
He killed and maimed 950 innocent people infront of the whole world and infact he got even more Aid after that. So he is now engaging himself in more and more bizzare behavior. He even lied to the whole world saying he would step down from power.
oh well…we Ethiopians have lost our sense of justice and patriotism. it is all for naught!!
March 20th, 2010 at 2:05 am
Gigi,
Who are these people who jump on four thousand history?let me guess,are they aliens or creatures out of space disguised as tigrian and took over the country.
March 20th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
allula aba nega
First of all change your name even though it is pen either to (bandaw or
paid cadre ) rather than trashing this patriot of Ethiopia, and secondly i
hope you have heard the Ethiopian peoples on the street of addis think
about the woyannes p.m move to jam a very high qualified radio station
and his ill fated explanation why ,woyanne p.m introduced interhamue
Ethiopians 2005 and this time around their propaganda radio station to
comparing with the voa,and the Ethiopian peoples are well aware what
the guy has in store coz he was practising it systematically all the way
from day one in addis or 4 kilo his place after toppled should be mental
clinick before justice if we take him to justice right away they will let
him go free reasoning menal handicaped
March 20th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
The mentioning of Rwanda case is a sign that Meles is going to instigate ethnic war among Ethiopians. Extremist factions such as Liberation fronts now the only OLF and ONLF, TPLF better be vigilant that Ethiopians are not like that, we are too civilized to cause genocide and that we are all struggling for equality, rights and our own style democracy. All Ethiopians better be cautious and let the international community know Meles’s intentions. Really, the international community seems to do more than us writing all these articles of oppposing Meles, what have we done? Are we prepared? Stop your division of parties such as Sahwel’s Vs. Medrek’s this is a blessing for Meles. The main problem now is Shawel, group who are inciting more divisions instead of joining Medrek’s that embraces all ethnicity. In fact, Shawel groups are trying to indicate they are anti unity? Shame on them! So they have been barking on unity for nothing. In fact they are saying they are pro unity only if their kinds win. That is shame. Stop dividing the people and come to one table with Medrek. Of course there might be disagreements within Medrek but that is second priority or Shawel’s intolerance is an indication of anti democracy. The leader is Birtucan and will remain Birtucan. However, I am not sure the Shawel’s will be trusted.
Curse those who are supporting Meles after proven opporession of Ethiopia, for the sake of getting benefit for themselves. You guys, it is time to come together and work against Meles.
March 20th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
alula you want attention that why you try to monopoly the page. as a supporter of the ringleader, the way you explanation about the american foreign policy. yes you are right, but if you want to look the true every one has a right for free express to hear what he want. but no one to order him. because he now right and wrong, if you want to know the best information to get more informative to understand the people of etiopia pain go to the wab side “law of attraction” to now about reactiv and proactiv this is a good for any one to preoccupation.
March 20th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Alula
This are the tigrayans who went againest Ethiopian history and values and God even knows
if some of them ..who really?… if not all…….
The real answer to you quastion is………some woroblas. who has no clue or reapect or car about their people or
country just like mengestu ehapa shabia… bla bla bla……..all of this people brought death to our people. not one singel thing good to any body.
Does it have to be an alin? May be you should ask Issayas and Meles who they work for and for what kind of money and Interst.
I can tell you more if you wish.
March 21st, 2010 at 10:59 am
አሉላ አባ ነጋ የሚለውን ኢትዮጵያዊ ጀግና ስም ወያኔ ሲፈነጭበት EMF ፍቃድ የሰጠው ይመስላል:: ለዚያውም አቋሙን ቁልጭ አድርጎ እየጻፈ በፎረሙ ውስጥ በወያኔነቱ ወይም በጸረ ኢትዮጵያዊነቱ ሲፈነጭበት::
EMF የምትገርሙ ናችሁ! VOA የአማርኛው ክፍል Jamm ተደረገ ሲባል EMF በኢትዮጵያ እንደማይታይ ነጻ ፕሬስ የሚባል ነገር እንደሌለ እያወቃችሁ በተለይም በአሁኗ ሰአትና ወቅት ብሶበት ታግዶ እያለ እናንተና መሰሎች ለምን ዝም እንዳላችሁ ግራ የሚያጋባ ነው::
የ VOA ጋዜጤኞች ለአሜሪካ መንግስት እየሰሩ ለሃገራቸው ግን አብዛኞቹ ያለውን ዲሞክራሲ በመጠቀም ሕሊናቸውንና አንደበታቸውን ሳይሰውሩ ፋሽስቱን ወያኔ ማጋለጣቸው የሃገራቸውን መብትና ግዴታ ያወቁ ናቸው ብዬ አስባለሁ:: እናንተስ? ነጻ ሆናችሁ ነጻነት ያጣውን በየደቂቃዋ በነዚህ ፋሽስት ወያኔዎች በተለያዩ መንገዶች እየረገፈ ያለው ኢትዮጵያዊ ለነጻነቱ የእናንተ ድጋፍ አያስፈልገውም ብላችሁ ታስባላችሁን?
ተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች(ቅንጅት) በ2005 ባሸነፈ ጊዜ ማለትም መለስ በአጋዚ ጦር የግፍ አገዳደል ድላችንን ከመውሰዱ ጥቂት ቀናት በፊት ሁለት ፊቶችና( ከወያኔው ጋር ወያኔ ከተቃዋሚው ጋር ተቃዋሚ) ሚዲያውችን ጨምሮ ማለት ነው ከቅንጅት ጋር ነን የሚል አላማ ነበራቸው::
በሃገር ቤት የኤኮኖሚ ተቋምና ቤት እየሰሩ ያሉ ዜጎች በወያኔ ወጥመድ መግባታቸው የአደባባይ ምስጢር ነው:: EMF ከእናንተስ አለ እንዴ? ካለ እንግዲህ ከራሴ በፊት ለኢትዮጵያ እናቴ: ለኢትዮጵያዊው ወገኔ ለነጻነቴ ብሎ ከድል በኋላ በፍጹም ነጻነት ታገኙታላችሁና ቸር እንሰንብት::
ኢትዮጵያ ለዘለአለም ትኑር!!!