CPJ: Ethiopian journalist speaks from exile

Written on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 8:16 am by ethioforum

Recently released journalists[Picture: EFJA journalist who were in kality prison. From left to right, Feleke Tibebu, Eskendir Nega, Serkalem Fasil, Sisay Agena, Dereje Habtewold and Fasil Yenealem] Feleke Tibebu, deputy editor of private Ethiopian newspaper Hadar, was arrested in a 2005 government-led crackdown on dissidents and the private media. Tibebu and 13 other journalists were charged with “outrages against the constitution or constitutional order,” “impairment of the defensive power of the state,” and “attempted genocide,” after the publication of editorials critical of the government’s conduct surrounding the May 2005 parliamentary elections. According to international news reports at the time, more than 190 people were killed when the government crushed post-election protests after the opposition contested the victory of the ruling party.

After nearly 17 months in prison, Tibebu and seven other journalists were acquitted and released in April 2007. Facing more harassment, he fled to Kenya later that year where he waited for more than a year for approval of his resettlement petition and visa to travel to the U.S. On August 16, Tibebu arrived in Virginia, where he has extended family.

He is one of more than 340 journalists forced into in exile whose cases CPJ has documented since 2001.

Tibebu was interviewed in Amharic last week by Voice of America Amharic service reporter Henok Fente, who is based in Washington:

Henok Fente: What are your feelings, observations, and impressions upon arriving in the U.S.?

Feleke Tibebu: I have mixed feelings about coming to America. I am sad because I was forced to flee my country, and it is not easy for someone to leave family, friends, and one’s career to build a new one in new country. I was forced by the Ethiopian government to flee. However, I am glad to be in America. I am glad I am not in prison or in a refugee camp. I am alive, and that is what matters.

HF: When is the last time you were in Ethiopia and what drove you out?

FT: I was in Ethiopia until the 2005 elections. I covered the election and the dispute in the aftermath. The government accused me, along with other colleagues, of genocide and crimes against humanity. What we did was report extrajudicial killings by government security forces and that is why we were sent to prison. I was acquitted by the high court and was released. But government security forces kept harassing me and my family. Eventually, I decided to flee to Kenya.

HF: What were some of the conditions you faced in prison?

FT: I was in jail for 17 months. The conditions were terrible. I was in the Meakelawi interrogation center for two months. A colleague and myself were locked in a dark room. Then we were transferred to a Kaliti correction facility. There were 430 inmates in one room. The cell had four latrines, two showers. It was hot and dirty. CPJ gave me hope and support. I knew organizations like CPJ were fighting for our rights when they visited us. When the authorities heard that CPJ and others were coming, they built a new cell and they moved us there. That cut the suffering by half. CPJ also helped my family–giving cash–and helped me in Kenya, where I was a refugee. This encourages journalists. It helps the cause of free press in Ethiopia.

HF: What would have to change in Ethiopia for you to consider returning?

FT: Ethiopians should have the right to fully and freely express their thoughts and opinions. People should be free to write, say, or use whatever means they want to express themselves. Such rights have to be exercised fully–there is no middle ground here–it has to be fully free. Electoral processes and other institutions have to function independently. Unfortunately that is not the case in Ethiopia. The role of the free press has been significantly undermined by arrests and abuses and now [the government has] come up with a new press law that is even more suppressive. Honestly, the situation in Ethiopia is gloomy.

CPJ Blog
Press Freedom News and Views
Q & A: An Ethiopian speaks from exile

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    21 Responses to “CPJ: Ethiopian journalist speaks from exile”

    1. abity Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 9:37 am

      እንዴ እነዚህ የሚታዩት እውነት ዘበኞች ናቸው ወይስ ጋዜጠኞች?

    2. Taye Asfaw Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 10:01 am

      አቶ አብይ:

      ዘበኞች ናቸው:: ምን ትሆናለሕ? ያንተ አለቆች ሁለት አመት ካሰሩዋቸው በሁዋላ: የቃሊቲው እንግልት ቢያጎሳቁላቸው ዘበኞች አልካቸው? እስቲ ይሁና::ታዲያ የስውን ልጅ በቁመናውና በአለባበሱ የምትንቅ ከሆነ - እናንት ስልጣን ስትይዙ የለበሳችሁትንም እያስታወስክ ተናገር:: ከቅማል ያወጣችሁ ህዝብ መሃል ሆነህ የንቀት ቃል ትናገራለህ:: የገንዘብ ድህነታችሁን በዝርፊያ ተወጣችሁት ነገር ግን እስካሁን አስተሳሰብ ድሃ ናችሁ!

    3. nuna Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 10:43 am

      abity,
      What does a zebegna or a journalist look like to you? we remember how the TPLF shiftas looked like when they came to Addis.

    4. kassa Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 12:21 pm

      አቢቲ አንተ ባዶ ራስ አንተ እና አለቆችህ ሆዳችሁ ከሞላ ዴንታ የለችሁም
      እነ እስኪንድር ነጋ ከ አሜሪካ ማሥትሬት ኦቭ ኢኮኖሚክስ ሆልደር ነው እንደ አንተ ባዶ ራስ አይደሉም::
      ዓቢቲ ድንጋይ ድንጋይ ላይ ተቀምጠው ቢሰድበኝ አይሰመኝ ነው ነገሩ
      ጥቁር ቁራ አስሬ ቢታጠብ ……ዳክዬ አይሆንም እንግዲህ ቢትማሩም በሰለጠነ ሀገር ቢትኖሩም ያዉ ደደቢቶች ናችሁ:: ከደደቢት ስድብ ማሰልጠኛ መመረቅህን እናውቃለን ተዉ::

    5. Kerkero Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 12:53 pm

      Amare is faky but are you sure these are real prisoners of conscience. Some may be but some became Journalists because it was a lucrative business. How about that

      Kerkero

    6. dagne Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

      አቢቲ
      የዛሬዋ ቀዳማይ እመቤት ;ከጫካ አዲስ አበባ ስትገባ ምን እንደምትመስል አይተሀታል?ቅጫሙዋና ቅማሉዋ በአንግቱዋ እየተንጠበጠበ ; ..ያደፈ ልብስ ለብሳና
      ሴት ወንድሞቻችንን መስላ አይተሀታል? ከፈለግክ ኢትኦጵ ጋዜጣ ላይ አለችልህ;;
      ድንቄም ቀዳማይ እመቤት! ኡኡቴ አሉ እትዬ ማሚቴ?
      ዶሮን ሲያታልሉዋት በመጫኝያ ጣሉዋት!
      እዚህ ላይ የምታያቸው ጀግና ጋዜጠኞች ናቸው::በዚያ ላይ የተማሩ::ለመሆኑ ብዙዎቹ ቢ.ኤ እና ማስትርስ ሆልደር መሆናቸውን ታውቃለህ? እንደመሀይም አለቆችህ ከስልጣን በሁዋላ አይደለም በህዝብ ገንዘብ ለመማር ትምህርት ቤት የገቡት::ደግሞም ዘበኞች ናቸው-ከሽፍታውና ከሌባው ወያኔ ጋር በጀግንነት የተፋጠጡ የህዝብ ዘቦች!!!

    7. abity Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 2:39 pm

      ጋዜጠኛ እኮ የሆኑት እና የተባሉት ኢሃደግ በሰጣቸው መብት ተጠቅመው ነው::እንጂ ኢሃዲግ ታግሎ ነጻ ባያውጣቸው ኖሮ ወይ ይሄኔ ተራ የደርግ ወታደር ነበሩ ወይ ጠጅ ቤት ነበሩ: አለበለዚያ ዘበኞች ነበሩ:: ለ ኢትዮጵያ ነጻ ጋዜጠኛ ለመሆን መስፈርቱ ምንድን ነው? መልሱ ምንም ::ጸረ እህአዲግ ፕሮፓጋንዳ ማድረግ ነው::የኢኮኖሚስት ዲግሪ መያዝ ለጋዜጠኝነት ሙያ በቂ አያደርግም::ጋዜጠኝነት ማለት ጭፍን የመንግስት ደጋፊ ወይም ተቃዋሚ ማለት አይደለም ::ገለልተኛ ሆኖ የተደረገውን የሚዘገብ ማለት ነው;; ስለዚህ እነዚህ ከላይ የሚታይዋቸው ቦዘኔዎችን ወይ የማይሰሩ ወይ የማያሰሩ በህገመንግስቱ እና በዲሞክራሲ ላይ አስራሰባት አመት ሲያሾፉ የነበሩ ምን አይነት ጋዜጠኛ ነው የሚባሉት? ጋዜጠኝነት ሆድ መሙያ መሆን የለበትም::ኢሃዲግን ስለተቃወሙና ሰለጻፉ ብር ሜክ አደረጉ ከዛ በሰሩት ወንጀል ታሰሩ ኢህዲአዲግ ይቅር ባይ ነው ይቅር አላቸው እና ከእስር ወጥተው አሁን ሰላማዊ ኑሮአቸውን እየኖሩ ነው::በደርግ ቢሆን እነዚህ ግለሰቦች የት እንደሚኖሩ አስቡ::

    8. abity Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

      በመጀመሪያ ለemf እድሉን ሰለሰጠኝ ለመናገር በጣም አመሰግናለሁ:: kassa አሁን ለመብላትና ለመጥገብ በመጀመሪያ መራብ ያስፈልጋል::ቀበቶህን እስከመጨረሻው ቀዳዳ ድረስ ማጥበቅ ያስፈልጋል::ችግሩ በመጀመሪያም ሆዳም አሁንም ሆዳም የሆኑ እለት ነው::

    9. LULU Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

      አይ አብቲ !
      ኢሃድግን አሁን ካለበት ገደል ጫፍ ያደረሱት ጀግኖች ልጆቻችን ናቸው እኮ እነዚህ ሰዎች:: የእነሱ ለእውነት መቆም ነው የወያኔን እርቃን እንድናይ ያደረገን እኮ! እንዳንተ አባባል ወያኔ መብት ሰጠ ተበሎ ጋዘጠኛ ሁሉ የአዲስ ዘመን ወይም ወይን ጋዜጣ ኮፒ እንዲሆን ነበር የተፈለገው ? ገለባ ! ደግሞ አታፍርም ዘበኛ ትላለህ ? ያልሆነ ነገር ቀባጥሮ ፍርፋሪ ከመልቀም
      ዘበኝነት የተከበረ ሙያ ነው :: ለነገሩ ወዲ አረጋዊም (የሪፖርተር አዘጋጅ) ሸቤ ወረደ አሉ ፍርፋሪም ለቃቅሞም አልተቻለም ማለት ነው ዘንድሮ :: አይዞህ ጠብቅ እርሱም ስደት ከች ይላል ነገ :: ልቃሚ ! የት ሄደን እንፈንዳ አቦ !

    10. zemenay Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

      Hello Every body,

      Did you remember that the woyane officials are graceless among all ethiopian leaders since from previous time?
      all of woyanes are KOLE-BIS when they arrive in our city Addis.
      then,they transfer to Addis Kitfo from mekele kulkual & kita.
      now they start to open their big mouth regarding protocol & phyical apperance.
      you woyanean, you haven’t any ground to critisize Ethiopian in this area.
      we know you very well.we know your background.you are eating the Ethiopian people enjera for a long time.በማን ላይ ቁመሽ: እግዜርን ታሚያለሽ?
      God forgive you !

    11. worku Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

      አቶ አብይ
      እባክህን እንደሰው አስብ::መልካም አገር አፍቃሪ ለመሆን ሞክር:: በብር ብቻ ናላህ አይዙር
      ከበደ

    12. worku Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 10:42 pm

      አቶ አብይ
      እባክህን እንደሰው አስብ::መልካም አገር አፍቃሪ ለመሆን ሞክር:: በብር ብቻ ናላህ አይዙር

      ከበደ

    13. Kerim Says:
      August 27th, 2008 at 11:55 pm

      አቢቲ ዶማው!
      ውሻ በበላበት ይጮሀል አይደል ነገሩ! አንተም ብሎ የባንዳ ተቆርቋሪ እነዚህ ጀግኖች ጋ ለመድረስ እንደገና መወለድ ያስፈልግሃል የደደቢቱ ዶማ ራስ!!!!!!!

    14. bora Says:
      August 28th, 2008 at 5:20 am

      is thoes ppl are real journalist ethiopians????? oh if ye ashame to be called ethiopiawi. coz look there face they 100% look like liers.
      and iam sure thoes ppl have a big natural problem except the 2 guys.
      the women and the fat man the rest i have no doubet they are liers.
      any way i dont care for lier ppl. they are here for there better life not poletical problem. hi fool me 1 x but not 2 x shame on you ppl.
      there is no problem in ethiopia like derg but if you lie like your face then you will get what you diserve.
      mot le wishetamoch dil le woyane. thanks lord for my right.

    15. Tizeta Says:
      August 28th, 2008 at 9:04 am

      why?

    16. samson Says:
      August 28th, 2008 at 5:16 pm

      ቦራ በስተመጨረሻው ትክክል መፈክር አስቀምጠሀል::እኛም እያልን ያለነው ውሸታሙ ወያኔ መሞት አለበት ነው::እነዚህም ጋዜጠኞች የታሰሩት ወያኔ ህጻናትን ገድሎ ባንክ ዘራፊ ገደልኩ የሚል ውሸታም: በምርጫ ሲሸነፍ በምሽት ኮሮጆ ገልብጦ ህዝብ ድምጽ የሰጠበትን ካርድ የሰረቀ ሌባ ነው ብለው በመጻፋቸው ነው;;
      በቻይና አሎምፒክ በርካታ የቅርብ ጊዜ ሪከርዶች ሲሰበሩ;ወያኔ ላለፉት 18 ወራት ያስጠበቀውን የውሸት ሪከርድ ማንም ሊደርስበት እንዳልቻለ መረጋገጡን ሰማህ?ለነገሩ እድሜ ለጀግና ጋዜጠኞቻችንና ለጀግኖች ታጋዮቻችን, ወያኔ ጨርሶ መሞቻው ተቃርቡዋል::ሚሊኒየም በሚል ሰበብ የቁም ተስካር ማውጣት የጀመረውም ለዚሁ ነው-
      የመተት አባቱ መሞቻው መቃረቡን ነግሮት:እና ቦራየ, ሆድህ መጉደሉ የማይቀር ነውና ካሁኑ በልኩ መኖር ተለማመድ::በመጪው ስርኣታችን ባለ ህሊናዎች እንጂ ሆዳሞች እንዳሁኑ ቦታ የላቸውምና:እንደዚህ ስልህም አይዞህ;ብርድ ብርድ አይበልህ ::ሆድህ አይባባ:የማይቀረውን እውነታ የነገርኩህ ላስጨንቅህ ሳይሆን; መዋሽትና ነገር መደበቅ ስለማልወድ ነው::

    17. daniel gezahegn Says:
      August 28th, 2008 at 5:44 pm

      may be one day weyanes regime must go but whenthe next future cames the new day is not easily the secrification is huge therwise the ethiopian free journalists struggle is put on golden paint.

    18. alex Says:
      August 28th, 2008 at 7:49 pm

      THIS ANOTHER ROUND OF DRAMA BY THE EPRDF GOVERNMENT ,AMARE IS THE PRINCIPAL AGEWNT OF WOYANEE ,HE WAS NOT ARRESTED FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS EVEN IF HE ISSUED SENSETIVE ARTICLES ,THIS ONE IS SILLY ONE ,THIS IS DESIGNED TO CAMOFLAGE HIS AFFILATION WITH THE TPLF , NOBODY WILL BE CHEATED BY THIS FAKE DRAMA ,HE WENT TO GONDER FOR PICNIC ON DASHEN BEER FACTORY CAR ,HE WAS STAYED IN THE EVENING IN THE CONFORTABLE LUXTURY HOTEL AROUND PIASSA,WE HAVE EVIDENCE FOR THAT.

    19. YEBELAHAL. WO Says:
      August 30th, 2008 at 6:33 am

      YEBELAHAL_______YEBELAHAL WOYANE YEBELAHAL GENA SLAW DEATH
      TO YOU ANTI TIGRIAN PPL.
      WOYANE WILL BE IN POWER FOR THE NEXT 3000YEARS SO WHAT????.
      WHO IS GOING TO FIGHT WOYANE??? NOT HERE BLA BLA BLA BUT WITH GUT AND MORAL IS THERE ANY BODY???? NO IAM 100% SURE THERE WILL BE NO ONE WHO CAN FIGHT THE GREAT AND STRONG ARMY AGAZI.
      BY THE WAY BE CAREFUL AGAZI DONT LIKE JOKE WHEN YOU COMES TO WAR OK?. AGAZI CAN EAT YOU ALIVE. HOOOO IAM GLAD COZ IAM NOT YOU. KKKKKKKKKKKKK LONG LIVE AGAZZZZZZZZZZI AND ITS SMART LEADER KUBUR PM.MELES ZENAWI. DOWEN WITH GIEEB7AND THERE BLAIND SUPPORTERS.

    20. girum Says:
      August 31st, 2008 at 9:20 am

      oh…….good chance good lack my friend

    21. ras m Says:
      September 1st, 2008 at 1:35 am

      YEBELAHAL WO.እንዴ የምንለው እኮ የህንኑ ነው ወያኔ ይባላል የቀን ጅብ ነው::ወያኔ ሙጀሌ ነው እግርን አስነክሶ ሰርስሩ ን የሚቦረቡር ; ወያኔ መዥገር ነው ደም መጣጭ ከያዘ የማይለቅ:ወያኔ ተባይ ነው ቱሃን ቁንጫ የሌለው መድሃኒት:ወያኔ በሽታ ነው ንዳድ ውስጥ ውስጡን አመንመኖ የሚገደል ኤድስ: