By Mohamed Keita/Africa Research Associate — Reliable sources in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa have informed CPJ this week that our site was inaccessible on the servers of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, the country’s official Internet service provider. A handful of separate Internet users in the country have independently confirmed seeing “The page cannot be displayed” messages when attempting to access our site. The same sources have reported that e-mails they have tried to send to CPJ have not gone through.
Web sites, particularly foreign-based independent sites and blogs discussing political reform and human rights, have been blocked on a recurring basis in Ethiopia since the government cracked down on free media following disputed elections in 2005. In 2007, OpenNet said it has gathered “overwhelming evidence” that
This time, the reports emerged over the weekend as CPJ was investigating the detention of newspaper editor Amare Aregawi in northern
Ethiopian journalists sent CPJ this screen shot of what they see when they try to access our site.
Authorities have repeatedly denied blocking Web sites, even casting doubt “if the problem really exists,” to quote Information Ministry Spokesman Zemedkun Tekle.
This week, in a telephone interview with CPJ, Bereket Simon, a top senior advisor to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, echoed the same position. “The government has no policy of blocking Web sites. Accessibility to any Web site is open,” he told me. He said he had not received any complaints from Ethiopians about blocked sites, and questioned whether such reports were credible. The government has no control over foreign-based sites, he said.
In July, Simon asserted that the mushrooming of private electronic media in
Nazret–remain inaccessible.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I am not surprise in this dictators action.the Meles regime is number one enemy of democracy.freedom of expression is in danger in Ethiopia since from Meles come to power.he don’t know what democracy is ruther than too much talk.specially after 2005 election,every thing is going back.the Meles husler & gungster group pressurising us[Ethiopian people]to arm struggle.
any way ,Many thanks to CPJ for helping Ethiopian journalists in exile & in Ethiopia always.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
It is bad news for all of Ethiopian People
August 29th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
ለ ወያኔ አረመኔ ..mulu z…የተደረገና የሚደረግን ሁኔታ መናገር ህጢያቱ ምኑ ላይ ነው? የጻፍከው ልክ አንድን ነገር አስታወሰኝ:ልክ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ያለውንአንሶላውን ሄራልድ ጋዜጣ ይመስላል::ከ እንግሊዘኛው ኤለመንተሪነት ውጪ::የምታወራው ስለ አንድ እድሜው ከስደስት ወር የማይበልጥ ፓርቲን ወቀሳ ይመስላል:: ጭፈን የ ዘመኑ በላተኛ ነህ::ወያኔ የሆንከው በስራው ሳይሆን ከብሄርህ ተነስተህ ይመስላል::ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በፊት የተደረጉ ወንጀሎች ሁሉ በአሁኑ ሰአት እየተደረጉ ነው ያሉት::አይደለም ኢንተርኔት ብሎክድ ማድረግ ቀርቶ:: ስውች በጀምላ ተገለዋል : ሰልጣን የተያዘው በሃይል ነው: ህጻናት ተገለዋል:ወጣቶች ታስረዋል ተንገላተዋል:አገር ተሸንሽኖ ለጎረቤት ተሰጥትዋል; የዘር ፖለቲካ ሰፍኑዋል: አገሪትዋ ያለ ወደብ አስቀርተዋል: ወደ ውጭ አገር ገንዘብ ሸሽትዋል: በድንበሩ ተደራድረዋል: የሰው አገር ወሮ በጀምላ ሲቭላውያንን ገድለዋል:ወላጆች ለሞቱባቸው ልጆች ለሬሳ ከፍለዋል:ምርጫ ተጭበርብረዋል :14 ሚልዮን ህዝብ ለረሃብ አደጋ ተጋልጥዋል: ገበያ በጎሳ ሞኖፖል ተይዝዋል….ይህ ሁሉ እንግዲህ አንተና የምትወክለው ፓርቲ ሳይሆን ወታደራዊ ግንባር የፈጸማችሁትና እየፈጸማችሁ ያላችሁት ተግባር ነው: ወደፊትም ብዙ ተግባራትን እና አስነዋሪ ድርጊቶችን ከማድረግ ወደ ህዋላ አትሉም::ቅንጀት መንግስት አይደለም::ቅንጅት ሰው እንደ አማራጭ የወሰደው ከወያኔ የተሻለ ፓርቲ ነው::ወያኔ ግን ፓርቲ አይደለም:ህዝብም ማለት አይደለም::ወያኔ በአንድ ባልና ሚስት የሚመራ ወታደራዊ ግንባር ነው::በታሪክ ስልጣን ላይ ለረጅም ጊዜ በመቀመጥ አንባገነንነቱን ያሳየ ለአንድ ጎሳ የቆመ የዘመድ ስብስብ ነው:: ይህን ለምን አላደረጋችሁም ብለህ ስታስታውክ በጣም ያሳፍራል:: ድሮም ከወያኔ የሚጠበቅ ምን ቁም ነገር አለ?
August 29th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
ስለ መለስ መናገር ዉሃ መ ዉቀጥ ነው::ዐለም ያውቀዋል አሁን እንደት ይወገድ ብቻ ነው ጥያቂው መሆን ያለበት:
እግዚአብሂር እኢትዮጵያን ይባርክ::
August 29th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
we are in sorrow because of this bad news. we know very well that CPJ is the main & concerned partner of journalists all over the world,specially for the journalists who are doing in dictatorail regimes like Ethiopia.
that is why the huslers Meles Zenawi & Bereket Simon blocked CPJ’S blog.
however, Democracy shall win at last!
Dear Emf editor,
Extends great thanks to cpj behalf of Ethiopian People.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
when woudl Ginbot 7 starting fight woyane stop the spech and show action
August 30th, 2008 at 3:36 am
shame on you ppl who work in this w.site why you delet my messege???
you see thats why i hate kinijit. and yet you keep telling us your cpj is
closed in ethiopia. iam glad about that coz you ppl are full of hate nathing more. iam trying to get a solition for my friend who is in mekele jail but you deleted my messege and yet you said free speech shame on you againe you are much more dictator if you got a chance to lead ethiopia. dowen with power mongers.
August 30th, 2008 at 5:44 am
mulu ዚፍጥ ..አይጋ ፎረም ሂድ ..ወይ ኢትዮ ፈርስት.. ያንተ ቢጤ ለሆዳቸው ያደሩ ደናቁርት አሉልህ:: የታሰረው ግዋደኛህን ያሰረው የምትጮህለት አሳሪው ነው::
August 31st, 2008 at 4:38 am
You mean CPJ could have been accessed until today.If that was the case, Woyanne should be complimented for allowing it this much latitude.After all,Dear Woyanne told us from day one that she isn’t serious about democracy that she just parrots the word to squeeze some real money from her donor masters who in turn don’t expect her to be a genuine democrat just to keep up appearances.So,please tell this idealists in CPJ to wake up!They have to know as the going gets tough,Woyanne will turn the whole country into an iron curtain as never seen before,thanks to the money pouring from our “western democrat allies.”They supply the finance,the Chinese will do the gagging with state-of-the-art technology.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:44 am
In Ethiopian political dictionary the word “democracy” does not exist unless it means blindly supporting the government and worshiping the leaders day- in and day-out. Note hear that, like Mengistu Hailemariam, Meles Zenawi has developed a personality cult. His dole parliament, idiot political cadres and his pot ministers are all worship in him. His wife in public declares that no one in the world is so brainy as her husband is…. etc. Then why democracy or freedom of speech if any of these is against Meles or his political establishments? Tel me the benefit of democracy- where- in a “land of blinds a one eyed man is a king”???
Secondly, we only learn of the denial of basic democratic rights and deliberate suffocation of the people of Ethiopia only when we are directly affected by the actions of that country’s regime. Take the Reporter New paper and read its recent editorials. Now, day and night they are crying for the respect of fundamental democratic rights and the rule of law only after it’s chief editor- who was not only a member of TPLF and ex-combatant of then rebels but also an ardent supporter of the regime was briefly thrown into prison. Like the Reporter newspaper-it seams that the CPJ new of the sheer absence of the rule of law and serious violation of basic human right in Ethiopia when access to its website was blocked. What a judgment it is and how shameless we are!!