07/03/2020

Criminalization of government critics in Ethiopia

Ethiopia falls back into dictatorship (Press Release)

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has sharply criticized Ethiopia's treatment of opposition politicians and critical journalists, accusing the government of the country of falling back into dictatorship. According to the human rights organization, Ethiopia's government has decided to criminalize critics instead of trying to enter a political dialogue. Thus, the influential Oromo activists and politicians Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba, who were imprisoned last Tuesday, were brought before a judge today. Further, the journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega, who was only released from prison in February 2018, is facing another long prison sentence. The STP demanded the release of the arrested journalists and politicians. "Their imprisonment will only fuel the tensions in the country. This shows that Ethiopia's government lacks the political will to further democratization and to resolve conflicts through negotiations," stated Ulrich Delius, the STP's Director, in Göttingen on Friday.

Further, it is an evidence of incapacity that Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed feels he has to criminalize his critics and competitors, after pardoning the political prisoners Gerba and Nega in February 2018. Nega had been sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2012 in an unfair trial. Press freedom organizations from around the world had lobbied for his release. Gerba had been arrested in December 2015 and was released through an amnesty in February 2018 as well. Jawar Mohammed was a long-standing comrade-in-arms of the prime minister and is now considered his most important critic and rival. 

The detainees are probably facing long prison sentences, as they are accused of endangering public order and causing unrest that led to the deaths of numerous people. "We are deeply concerned for the life and health of the detainees. Ill-treatment and torture are widespread in Ethiopia's prisons," Delius criticized. 

The prime minister's three most prominent critics were arrested last Tuesday after public protests and riots broke out following the murder of the popular Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa.