H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn
P.O.Box 1031
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
3 June 2014
Your Excellency,
We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum (WEF), which represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, to again request the release of Eskinder Nega and all journalists jailed under Ethiopia’s 2009 Anti-Terror Proclamation.
Mr Nega, a publisher, journalist and blogger, was arrested in September 2011 on charges of supporting terrorism and sentenced to 18 years in jail. He was arrested after criticising the government’s use of anti-terrorism laws to jail other journalists and opposition figures.
We respectfully remind you that we have not yet received a reply to our letter of 31 January, in which we requested that you release all jailed journalists and informed you that our organisations have awarded the 2014 Golden Pen of Freedom – an annual prize awarded by WAN-IFRA since 1961 to recognise the outstanding action, in writing or deed, of an individual, a group or an institution in the cause of press freedom – to Mr Nega.
We call on you to immediately release all journalists and to allow Mr Nega to travel to Torino, Italy, so that he may receive the Golden Pen of Freedom in person on 9 June, in accordance with international standards of human rights and freedom of expression. We also urge you to end the government’s systematic campaign of intimidation of critical media, which includes the 25-26 April arrests of nine journalists and bloggers on allegations that they worked for foreign human rights groups or used social media to incite violence.
We would also like to restate that we would welcome a meeting with government representatives to discuss the issues raised in a joint report we published with the International Press Institute following a visit to your country in November 2013. The report made a number of recommendations, including:
1. Revamping the anti-terror law to ensure that it does not contravene the rights of freedom of speech and assembly provided under Article 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution and further guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the U.N. Human Rights Covenant, which Ethiopia has ratified.
2. Recommending that your government reviews laws that bar foreign investment in media, measures that inhibit the development of an economically viable and diversified market.
3. Urging the courts to ensure that rulings restrict press freedom only in cases of intentional incitement or clear participation in acts of terrorism, and that judges act independently to protect the public’s right to be informed about political dissent and acts of terrorism.
4. Urging Ethiopia’s journalists and media owners to step up cooperation to improve professionalism and independence, and to form a unified front to defend press freedom.
We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Tomas Brunegård
President
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
Erik Bjerager
President
World Editors Forum
Cc
Pansy Tlakula, Special Rapporteur, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, Africa
Guy Berger, Director, Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development, UNESCO
Alison Bethel McKenzie, Executive Director, International Publishers Institute
WAN-IFRA is the global organization for the world’s newspapers and news publishers, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries.
