New York, 18 June 2010 (CPJ) —Authorities in Ethiopia expelled an American journalist on Thursday who had been reporting near a rebel area in the east of the Horn of Africa country, according to local journalists.
Heather Murdock had been reporting with the U.S. international broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) in the eastern region of Harar, near an area where there was reported skirmishes between the army and rebels of the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), according to the same sources. The Ethiopian government has denied journalists independent access to the restive Ogaden province, which neighbors the Harar region, and attempted to censor an exclusive report on the rebels last year, according to CPJ research. Under Ethiopia’s draconian anti-terrorism law, journalists risk as many as 20 years in prison if authorities deem their reporting favorable to armed rebels and banned opposition groups.
VOA confirmed to CPJ that Murdock had left the country. Assistants to Ethiopian government spokesmen Bereket Simon and Shemelis Kemal told CPJ the officials were not available for comment. The Ethiopian government announced plans to officially jam VOA in March, after reports that there had been electronic jamming of the station’s Amharic-language shortwave broadcasts and that its Web site had been blocked in the country.
“We condemn the expulsion of Heather Murdock,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “Ethiopian authorities have for years used the threat of expulsion to induce self-censorship among foreign journalists working in the country.”
Murdock arrived in Ethiopia last month after she was expelled from Yemen in April following a reporting trip to strongholds of Yemen’s armed separatist Southern Movement, according to news reports. In Ethiopia, she covered the country’s general election and its aftermath, among other topics.
June 19th, 2010 at 3:59 am
WHATEVER. I DON’T BELIEVE ANY OF THIS STORY…
SOUNDS LIKE A DRAMA TO ME.
June 19th, 2010 at 5:05 am
TPLF is going to be rewarded with billions of dollars for such activity. If I were TPLF, why would it bother me the slightest?
June 19th, 2010 at 9:12 am
To Ethiopian Youth:
This is the true image of dictatirial regime. The TPLF mafia gang wants us to believe that the “DERG” regime a dictatorial marxist government that needed to be changed and they got an ally in the west in the name of President Regan who provided them with diplomatic, financial, and poltical covers to dismantle the Ethiopian government. The issue of maintaining stable Ethiopia under the derg was at the back seat and all forces were aligned with TPLF and EPLF. So they allowed them to ascend to power but immediately dismantled Ethiopia by separating Eritrea from Ethiopia. Now the TPLF has transformed itself to the worst kind of dictatorial governement worse than the Derg and Meles is the longest serving dictator than any one in the history of the country. We are to often absorved into the minor differences that exist among the opposition groups that we fail to see the big menacing elephant in the country-TPLF. It should also be noted that the TPLF is a very weak organization since it has no mass base in the wider Ethiopia. Now we have no support from the westm because Meles has become a trusted errand boy to maintain their interest in the region. Time has come to recognize the fact that the Ethiopian people also have an interest in their life: the inalienable right to live freely and democratically. No amount of trickery can change the fact that the desire for freedom from a tyranny is a universal attribute of humanity. You must be ready to excercise your god given right.
June 19th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
mister drama the news is true but the strange thing is meles like to put Americans under his foot (berebaso) this must be the end of democracy and the beginning of communism so mister dream wakeup you can lose your home !!!!!!!!
June 19th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
who cares
June 19th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
What is the big deal we know they do much more to their own citizens.
I could be wrong but some time you don’t know who is doing what but when it comes to
the Ethiopian gov. it is mind over matter.
Let us see ESAT for example, what i suspect of this people is Some kind of an Arab agent.
What made say that is first of all I don’t bilive this people are jamed, and the other thing is,. Do any of you people understand what ” kerswo lerswo ” suppose to mean???????
Dear Esat people or who ever you are,
WE ETHIOPIANS AND THE WORLD KNOWS THAT A LOT OF ETHIOPIANS GO TO THE MIDDEL EAST LOOKING FOR WORK.
AND WE ALSO KNOW THAT A LOT OF ARABES ARE ETHIOPIAN MIX. SO, YOU DONT HAVE TO TELL US THAT. AND I THINK YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM A SERIOUS LUCK OF INDIVIDUALITY MALNUTRITION.
CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION?
WHY IS IT ME AGAINST ME THEN IN YOUR SPEAKING?
I WISH YOU SOME HEALTH.
June 19th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Moderators at EMF must be complete jerks. They love editing and censoring too much. For once, wouldn’t you like to see how Ethiopia would look like without your censorship? Meles in the making, take a chance on bolder Ethiopia!
June 19th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
ሌባ ሲቀባጥር ተገኝቶ ይሆናላ. የአመሪካ ጋዜጠኛ አይደለም ለምን የማርስ ኤልያን አይሆንም.
June 19th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
I do because I did not melese to be exposd to the rest of the world
June 19th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
አረ የጋዜጠኞች መብት ምናምን የሚባል አይስማማኝም. ጋዜጠኛ አይዋሽም, ጉቦ አይቀበልም, አይወግንም, አይሸቃባጥርም ያለው ማነው. አንዳንድ ጥሩ ቢኖሩም ለሞያቸው የማይገዙ ህዝብ ከህዝብ ጋራ ደም የሚያፋሥሱም አሉ እኮ.
June 20th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Different levels of censorships- expelling, jailing and killing journalists and other citizens for what they think.
The power of ideas and free will debate : narrow the gap that is perceived by groups and make them get closer, for further understanding and thereby either eliminate differences or understand differences and work in harmony. Differences after all are not bad things, instead they are reasons for thinking alternatives which might be better and functioning for both sides. These habits also keep us out of emotions and sensations, so that we always make good decisions that are stable, well thought with values to all that are lasting.
It is therefore important to make a change of mind set and work habits, when it comes to censorship-Just do not do it. Let the reader decide which ideas are worth considering and which are not. Which ideas are anti-social and anti-coexistence, anti-growth, untimely and out of contemporary thinking. Most of us came from Ethiopia, because of a complete absence of freedom of expression and a non existence of rule of law- I heard today from a you-tube video, where the prime minister of Ethiopia saying, if their government decides that the eye color of a person is not something they do not want to see, then he said, they can kick him out of the country. This is a display in microcosm of a system which functions without any law and with no regard to the common and trivial human universal rights ratified by all member countries of the united nations-let alone a country whose leaders pretend it to be democratic and everything associated with it–that terrifies me.
Think the extrapolations of what he has said. If all countries who gave refuge to we all Ethiopians and other world citizens have the type of sub-law the prime minister is using, then the earth would have been practically hell. No man will go and live in places where he is different not only in his eye color, but in every possible dimensions that differentiate humans. Can you all imagine that type of world in your dreams ?. This is a type of sub-thinking which was common during the first stages of human evolution, when cavemen came out of their caves and encountered people who did not see them before, it was in this way they used to respond, live and survive, not in contemporary societies, in which all types of people live everywhere in the world in harmony under the fine thread of humanity and common home earth.
But all those things which happen in our country are alien here in America. We are free to express our ideas and our rights are protected by law with being equal to all citizens and government authorities. No man will come to our door and arrest us because of what we have said or what we have written, or who we support or vote for. These are the main things that differentiate the country we left- Ethiopia and the country we live in- America and these are the things we have to learn and practice to do while we are here in America and these are the things we have to wish for Ethiopia and its citizens—a free country in all possible and conceivable dimensions of existence of a free individual.
As a side note though, I will say this: in order to develop a positive culture of debate which is free and open, we all have to use our own names-not anonymous ones. Anonymity usually gives a space for an irresponsible and less virtuous individual to put something un necessary scripts, like a man named Dr. Megalomanias Mahammad— from American Chronicle who posts not only anti-Ethiopia, but utterly false and nonsense articles.
Ideas are works of the brain and the brain needs clean environment to function properly. Therefore, we have to restrain from writing words that are immature, built and strengthened by naivety and devoid of wisdom and virtue and above of have no truth in them.
Sincerely,
Dejenie Alemayehu Lakew, Ph.D.
June 20th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
No surprise at all. Because that is the way dictatorship works. And that is our tragic political history,particularly since the late 1960s. Is it not so sad to live under ruthless rulers who seriously convinced themselves and work hard to grab and stay in power by silencing and killing those who tell the truth as it happens for almost half a century( a generation)?? They (rulers) think killing the agents of the truth is killing the turth itself which is absolutely imposible.
It is true that unless we try hard to save this generation from this kind of tragic belief and behavior, thereis no doubt that milinos of truth-loving minds will continiue to perish. It is true that Sooner or Later truth will prevail !!
But, unless we make it happen, truth will never be materilized and become the power for freedom. Imagine, for how many years we use the term TRUTH almost in all our daily conversation and in writing our books, articles, speeches.
June 20th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
ቡችሎች ምንም ሳልላቸው ከህዻንነቴ ከ3ኛ ክፍል ጀምሮ ጠልተውኛል:: እስካሁንም ከአምሳ አመት በሁዋላም አይተውኝ ሳይስድቡኝ ዝም ብለው እንዳያልፉ ለሚበሉት ያልከፈሉ ይመስላቸዋልና ይሳደባሉ:: የትግሬ ወይም የኦሮሞ እጅ ለዚህ ክፋ ስራቸው ይክፈላቸው ከማለት ምን ልበል::
June 20th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Bisexuals and prostitutes in Addis showcased a rally saying that they have higher virtues than those who masterbate.
June 23rd, 2010 at 3:17 am
በዚህ ድሕረ ገጽ ኃሳብ የምትሰጡ ዜጎች እባካችሁ ያለውን አውንታ አሉታ በጥልቀት አጢኑት በዘፈቀደ ማን አውቆኝ ማለቱን ትታችሁ የዚህን መውያያ መድረክ ክብር መጠበቅና ማስጠበቅ የኛ ተትቃሚዎች ያለንን አስተያየት የግልና የሀገር ጉዳዮች በነጻ የምንሳትፈት እድል ለሰጡን ላለው እድገት ለፈጠረው ስነጥበብ በማመስገን ከስድብና ሞያተኞችን ከማንቋሽሽ ያለቸውን በመንፈግ የሚሰጡ አስተያየቶች ተገቢነት የሌላቸው አልዋቂነት ጠላትነት (ባልንጣነት)ያንሚያንጸባርቁ ከመሰንዘር ለመማር ለማስተማር የሚጠቅሙ ሚዛናዊና ባሕል አቀፍ ያዘሉ ልዝብቶች ብንጠቀም ባለንበት ሀገር የሚደረጉትን ውይይቶች የያንዱን አስተያየት እንደሚያከብሩት ሁሉ እኛም ተቀብለን እርማት ብንሰጥበት መልካም ይመስለኛል::
በተለይ ባለ መንግስት የሚደረጉት ማንኛውም እርምጃዎች ያላቸውን የውስጥ ችግር ለመሸፈን ሲሉ የተደረገውን የሚታየውን ሁሉ የለም የሚለው ውሸታቸው በደርግ ጊዜ የሚሰጠውን የነበረ ጥቂት ወንበዴዎች ዛሬም በውያነ እየተደመጠ ነው የመራባውያን ጋዜጠኞች ለተሰጣቸው ስራ ሞያና ተግባር ሞያቸውን ተጠያቂነታቸውን የሚያውቁ በመሆናቸው ጭብጥ የሌለውን የማድመጥ የመጻፍ ሞራላቸው አይፈቅደውም የተሰታቸውን ሥራ ተጻራሪነት እያደርጉም በተለይ ተውቃሽነትን ተጠያቂነትን ይፈራሉ ስለዚህ የኛ ሀገር ጋዜጠኖች በተለይ አሁን አሉ የሚባሉት እውነትን ጨፍልቀው ሃሰትን አንግበው ሞያቸውን ሳይሆን ለሆዳቸው ተገዝተው ስሙን ብቻ ለብሰው የሚጓዙ ለመሆናቸው ሁሉም ያውቃል እውነተኛ የሞያው ተክህኖ ያላቸው ከስራም ቢታገዱም የጋዜጠኛ ሞያና ተግባራቸውን ለገቡበት ዓላማ ድብቁን በማውጣት እውነቱን በማብራት ሕዝብን ከማነቃቅት አልተበገሩም ለነኛህ ወድ የኢትዮጵያ ውጤቶች ክብርና ለልና ይገባቸውል በሞያዋን ተመርኩዛ ከገር ለወጣችው ላደረገችው ሁሉ መመስገን ሞያዋን በማክበሯ ትመሰገናለች::
ያልሆነ ከማተት ሞያውን በተቻለን በመጠየቅ ተምረን እናስተምር ብተግባር የማናውቀውን ከመተቸት እንቆጠብ::
June 23rd, 2010 at 3:29 am
በዚህ ድሕረ ገጽ ኃሳብ የምትሰጡ ዜጎች እባካችሁ ያለውን አውንታ አሉታ በጥልቀት አጢኑት በዘፈቀደ ማን አውቆኝ ማለቱን ትታችሁ የዚህን መውያያ መድረክ ክብር መጠበቅና ማስጠበቅ የኛ ተጠቃሚዎች ያለንን አስተያየት የግልና የሀገር ጉዳዮች በነጻ የምንሳትፈት እድል ለሰጡን ላለው እድገት ለፈጠረው ስነጥበብ በማመስገን ከስድብና ሞያተኞችን ከማንቋሽሽ ያለቸውን መንፈግ የሚሰጡ አስተያየቶች ተገቢነት የሌላቸው አላዋቂነት ጠላትነት (ባልንጣነት)የሚያንጸባርቁ ከመሰንዘር ለመማር ለማስተማር የሚጠቅሙ ሚዛናዊና ባሕል አቀፍ ያዘሉ ልዝብቶች ብንጠቀም ባለንበት ሀገር የሚደረጉትን ውይይቶች የያንዱን አስተያየት እንደሚያከብሩት ሁሉ እኛም ተቀብለን እርማት ብንሰጥበት መልካም ይመስለኛል::
በተለይ ባለው መንግስት የሚደረጉት ማንኛውም እርምጃዎች ያላቸውን የውስጥ ችግር ለመሸፈን ሲሉ የተደረገውን የሚታየውን ሁሉ የለም የሚለው ውሸታቸው በደርግ ጊዜ የሚሰጠውን የነበረ ጥቂት ወንበዴዎች ዛሬም በውያነ እየተደመጠ ነው ምእራባውያን ጋዜጠኞች ለተሰጣቸው ስራ ሞያና ተግባር ሞያቸውን ተጠያቂነታቸውን የሚያውቁ በመሆናቸው ጭብጥ የሌለውን የማድመጥ የመጻፍ ሞራላቸው አይፈቅደውም የተሰታቸውን ሥራ ተጻራሪነት እያደርጉም በተለይ ተውቃሽነትን ተጠያቂነትን ይፈራሉ ስለዚህ የኛ ሀገር ጋዜጠኖች በተለይ አሁን አሉ የሚባሉት እውነትን ጨፍልቀው ሃሰትን አንግበው ሞያቸውን ሳይሆን ለሆዳቸው ተገዝተው ስሙን ብቻ ለብሰው የሚጓዙ ለመሆናቸው ሁሉም ያውቃል እውነተኛ የሞያው ተክህኖ ያላቸው ከስራም ቢታገዱም የጋዜጠኛ ሞያና ተግባራቸውን ለገቡበት ዓላማ ድብቁን በማውጣት እውነቱን በማብራት ሕዝብን ከማነቃቅት አልተበገሩም ለነኛህ ወድ የኢትዮጵያ ውጤቶች ክብርና ለልና ይገባቸውል በሞያዋን ተመርኩዛ ከገር ለወጣችው ላደረገችው ሁሉ መመስገን ሞያዋን በማክበሯ ትመሰገናለች::
ያልሆነ ከማተት ሞያውን በተቻለን በመጠየቅ ተምረን እናስተምር ብተግባር የማናውቀውን ከመተቸት እንቆጠብ::
June 26th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
listen to tpdm radio in tigraina & visit TPDM website
http://demhit.com/
I as tigrain, I hate that ugly monkey wedi zenawi wedi adawa
weyane has no support in tigray outside of adawa
tpdm, tigray people democaratic movement . we & ethiopian should join fight and isolate weyane & adawan gang ruling ethiopia & tigray. ethiopian please help us tigarin fight the adawan gang killing tigarue & ethiopian.
death to weyane & adawan
long live tigray
June 26th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
listen to tpdm radio in tigraina & visit TPDM website
http://demhit.com/
I as tigrain, I hate that ugly monkey wedi zenawi wedi adawa
weyane has no support in tigray outside of adawa
tpdm, tigray people democaratic movement . we & ethiopian should join fight and isolate weyane & adawan gang ruling ethiopia & tigray. ethiopian please help us tigarin fight the adawan gang killing tigarue & ethiopian. death to weyane & adawan.
long live tigray