Censorship and Hate Speech in Ethiopia
By Bisrat Woldemichael
Freedom of speech does not mean hate speech to use for insulting or attacking anyone. Hate speech is any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that denigrates or insults a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race or another identity factor. Hate speech may suggest that the person or group—it is usually groups—is inferior and that they should be excluded or discriminated against on this basis including, for example, by limiting their access to resources, education, employment or political positions.[10]
The hate speech has a contribution to creating conflicts between individuals, the societies, the movement, between the states. The objectives of hate speeches are to attack, insult, marginalize or expose innocent individuals and civilian for personal egoistic interest than the public. The haters are negative thinkers those who are searching or finding the dark point from the bright sky. Once the free mind colonized by hate speech, it is difficult to manage easily because it has already corrupted the haters’ fellow mind. Perhaps they could not find anything for their hate purpose, then they create a false flag for conflicts to attack the exposed target individuals or social groups. Moreover, all incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence is hate speech, not all hate speech constitutes incitement.[11]
It has contributions to social crises, conflicts, genocide, and political instability. For example between 1941 to 1945 the Germany Nazi party of Hitler’s irresponsible hate speech abused his fellow leaders, soldiers and Nazi party members, the 17 million targeted people, including 6 million European Jewish were killed.[12] In Rwanda, 1994, the irresponsible leaders and journalists promulgated hate speech through media, such as Kangura newspaper, the Radio Rwanda, Echo des 1000 Collines, and The station Radio-Télévision Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM) promoted hate speech in Rwanda.[13] In addition, some of songwriters and singers; Simon Bikindi, Nanga Abahutu and Bene Sebahinzi contributed to inflammatory fuel for such horrible genocide.[14] As a result, they created conflicts between ethnics’ groups, mainly Hutu and Tutsi, then more than 800 thousand civilians killed, and 2 million people displaced within a short period of time. Similarly, hate speech affected Kenyan, Bosnia and Guatemala societies.
In Ethiopia, since the 1960’s revolution, hate speeches are highly grew up by irresponsible political activists, radical groups and their leaders entire the country. The haters gave negative attitudes and bad images for a specific social group, with lots of pseudo-stories to use for mobilizing their supporters for political interest. In addition, the haters gave code name for specific ethnic groups and religion followers. Their members and supporters accepted as a truth, then published and broadcasting hate speeches repeatedly. Finally, in May 1991 those political groups took the government office, but they continue their hate speech as an ordinary word until April 2018. The ruling party, EPRDF and its coalition members and affiliated groups’ constituents are not free from hate speeches. In addition to promoting hate speech to discriminating, insulting some specific social groups who are categorized by political elites and activists. Some of the opposition groups did the same thing to react to the ruling party attitude. All these imprudent political traditions have been expanded entire the country.
The New prime minister, Abiy Ahmed boldly changed this negative attitude of state-sponsored hate speech and criminalizing targeted social groups and political organizations. This is a good opportunity for all actors those who want to exercise their democratic rights to involve in a genuine political activity. Unlikely, some of the activists and political leaders manoeuvre hate speech as a tactic for their selfishness demand. Gradually, hate speeches are dramatically increased both in mainstream and social media. As a result, many civilians, including children and women have been killed, more than 2 million people internally displaced.[15] Therefore, hate speeches have a contribution to creating social conflicts, which are orchestrated by activists, and the local leaders. Of course, some of the ruling party leaders and the radical groups are committed for local displacement and ethnic cleansing.
Today, social media are very important to disseminate information, knowledge and make social life. The proper use of social media platform is important to help to exercise freedom of speech and citizen journalism. On the other hand, some people misuse the platform for insulting or harassing individuals or some social groups. Yet, hate speech promoters and sponsors are not accountable for such public damages. Hate speech is using an instrument for dictators and idealess activists to mobilise their supporters, then leads to taking immediate reactions to limit freedom of speech. In Ethiopia, hate speeches highly spreading by mainstream media and social media as well. Ethnic-based private owned and regional state media promoting hate speech against of pro-Ethiopian unity groups commonly insulting, attacking and discriminating with the words, “homeless, settlers, …”
In social media, the ruling party had experiences to organize the activists in the name of “Social media soldiers” under fake name those who were promoted hate speech, and to share distorted information for diverting and controlling social media. Similarly, some of the diaspora based ethno-nationalist activists and haters have the same experiences to react the ruling party and the other counterpart. Currently, the country is under political reform, however, both of them are continuing in the same way to create a false flag, promoting hate speech and social grievance. It has an impact on freedom of expressions and press freedom as well. Unless to manage the hate speeches, the country reform will be faced by social crises and political instability. Otherwise, the hate speech determines the fate of freedom of expression and press freedom sustainability in general.
[1]The World Bank Group (2017) Ethiopia, [Online], accessed April 25, 2019, available at https://data.worldbank.org/country/ethiopia.
[2]CSA (2017) Population projections [Online], accessed April 25, 2019.
[3]World Justice project (2019) Global rule of Law Index, 1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005 USA, available at https://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/WJP_Ruleo… Website_reduced.pdf.
[4]UN (2015) Universal declaration of human rights, United Nations.
[5]Federal Negarit Gazeta (1995), Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: Constitution ‘proclamation’ no. 1/1995, Berehannena Selam Printing Enterprise, Addis Ababa.
[6]Federal Negarit Gazeta (2009), Anti-terrorism proclamation no.652/2009, Berhannena Selam Printing Enterprise, Addis Ababa.
[7]Sullivan M. K. (2010) Two concepts of freedom of speech, Vol. 124:143, Harvard Law Review.
[8]Dorter K. (1976) Socrates on Life, Death and Suicide, Laval théologique et philosophique, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 23-41.
[9]Amnesty International (2019), Ethiopia: Stop harassing Eskinder Nega for his opinions, [Online], accessed June 18, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/06/ethiopia-stop-harassing-….
[10]Reporters without Border (2019) New era for Ethiopia’s journalists, [Online], accessed April 20, 2019, available at https://rsf.org/en/news/new-era-ethiopias-journalists.
[11]UN (2017) Plan of action for religious leaders and actors to prevent incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes, Genocide prevention document.
[12]Flaim F.R. and Furman H. (2008) The Hitler legacy: A dilemma of hate speech hate crime in a post-holocaust world, (ed.), Trenton, New Jersey, 08625, USA.
[13]Scheffler A. and Pelley M.L. (2015) The Inherent Dangerof Hate Speech Legislation: A Case Study from Rwanda and Kenya on the Failure of a Preventative Measure, fesmedia Africa, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Namibia.
[14]United States Holocaust museum memorial (None), Hate speech and group-targeted violence, the role of speech in violent conflicts, Washington DC, USA, [Online], accessed April 24, 2019, available at http://www.genocidewatch.org/images/OutsideResearch_Hate_Speech_and_Gro….
[15]Human rights watch (2019) World Report, Ethiopia reports: events of 2018, [Online], accessed April 25, 2019, available at https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/ethiopia.
Source: https://www.penopp.org/articles/censorship-and-hate-speech-ethiopia
የአምቦ ዩኒቨርስቲ መምህር እና ብሎገር ስዩም ተሾመ ታሰረ
ስዩም ተሾመ
በአምቦ ዩኒቨርስቲ ቢዝነስና ኢኮኖሚክስ ኮሌጅ ወሊሶ ግቢ መምህር እና ብሎገር ስዩም ተሾመ ታሰረ፡፡ መምህር እና ብሎገር ስዩም ተሾመ ከሚኖርበትና ከሚሰራበት ወሊሶ ከተማ ዛሬ ቅዳሜ መስከረም 21 ቀን 2009 ዓ.ም. በፀጥታ ኃይሎች ታፍኖ ከተወሰደ በኋላ መታሰሩ ተጠቁሟል፡፡ ስዩም ተሾመ በአምቦ ዩኒቨርስቲ ወሊሶ ግቢ የማናጅመንት ትምህርት ክፍል ኃላፊ እና መምህር ሲሆን፤ ከማኀበራዊ ሚዲያ በተጨማሪ በ ”ኢትዮቲንክታንክ” እና የገዥው ስርዓት ደጋፊ እንደሆነ በሚታወቀው ”ሆርንአፌይርስ” ድረ-ገፅ ጭምር በመፃፍ ይታወቃል፡፡
በተለይ ከህዳር 2008 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ በመንግሥት እና በህዝቡ መካከል በተፈጠረው አለመግባባት ችግሮች በሰላማዊ መንገድ እንዲፈቱ እና ሌሎች ሀገራዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ የተለያዩ መፍትሄ ሊሆኑ ይችላሉ ያላቸውን ምክረ ሐሳቦችን በመሰንዘርም ይታወቃል፡፡
10ኛ ወሩን ባስቆጠረው የኦሮሚያ ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞን ተከትሎ በአማራ እና በደቡብ ኮንሶ ተከታታይ ህዝባዊ ተቃውሞች መቀጠላቸውን ተከትሎ ከ820 ያላነሱ ሰላማዊ ዜጎች በፀጥታ ኃይሉ ወታደራዊ ርምጃ ሲገደሉ፤ በሺህዎች የሚቆጠሩ ቆስለው፣ በአስር ሺህዎች የሚቆጠሩ ታፍነው ታስረዋል፡፡ ከተገደሉ፣ ከቆሰሉና ከታሰሩት መካከል ህፃናት እና አዛውንት፣ መምህራን፣ ጋዜጠኞችና ብሎገሮች፣ የፖለቲካ ፓርቲ አመራሮች እና ተማሪዎች ይገኙበታል፡፡ በተለይ ይህ ዘገባ እስከተጠናቀረበት ድረስ፤ በተለያዩ ኦሮሚያ እና አማራ ክልል ከተሞችና ወረዳዎች የመንግሥት ግድያና እስር እንደቀጠለ ነው፡፡
በኢትዮጵያ የግል የሬዲዮ ጣቢያዎች ፈርሰው ከመንግስት ቻናል እንዲከራዩ ለማድረግ ታቅዷል
በኢንተርኔት የሚሰራጩ ፅሑፎችን፣ ምስሎችንና ቪዲዮዎችን ለመቆጣጠር ታስቧል
በኢትዮጵያ የሬዲዮና የቴሌቪዥን ስርጭቶችን ለመቆጣጠር ከስምንት ዓመት በፊት በታወጀው ህግ ላይ አዳዲስ ቁጥጥሮችን የሚጨምርና እንዲሁም የኢንተርኔት ስርጭቶችንና ድረገፆችን የሚያካትት ህግ ተዘጋጀ፡፡
ከተለያዩ የሚዲያ ተቋማት ጋር ከትናንት በስቲያ ሃሙስ ውይይት የተካሄደበት ረቂቅ ህግ፣ ነባሩ አዋጅ ውስጥ የሰፈሩ የባለቤትነትና የፈቃድ አሰጣጥ ቁጥጥሮችን የሚዘረዝር ሲሆን፤ በኩባንያ መልክ እንጂ በግለሰብ የሬዲዮ ወይም የቴሌቪዥን ድርጅት ማቋቋም እንደማይቻል ይጠቅሳል፡፡ የዝምድና ወይም የጋብቻ ግንኙነት ያላቸው ሰዎች ለብቻቸው ባለአክሲዮን የሆኑበት ኩባንያ ፈቃድ እንደማይገኝም ተደንግጓል፡፡ ምንም እንኳ እስከዛሬ ተግባራዊ ባይሆንም በ1999 ዓ.ም በወጣው ህግ፣ የግል የቴሌቪዥን ጣቢያ ለማቋቋም ፈቃድ እንደሚሰጥ ተገልፆ የነበረ ሲሆን፤ አሁን በተረቀቀው ህግ ግን የቴሌቪዥን ጣቢያ በግል ማቋቋም እንደማይቻል ይደነግጋል፡፡
መንግስት የቴሌቪዥን ማሰራጫ ኔትዎርክ እንደሚዘረጋ የሚገልፀው ይሄው አዲስ አዋጅ፤ የግል ኩባንያዎች ከመንግስት ቻናል እየተከራዩ ለመስራት ማመልከትና ፈቃድ መጠየቅ ይችላሉ ይላል፡፡
የግል ኩባንያዎች ለጊዜው የራሳቸው የሬዲዮ ጣቢያ ለማቋቋም ፈቃድ የሚያገኙበት እድል ሊኖር እንደሚችል አዲሱ ህግ ይጠቁማል፡፡ ወደፊት ግን በግል ባቋቋሙት የማሰራጫ ጣቢያ ሳይሆን ከመንግስት የማሰራጫ ጣቢያ ቻናል እየተከራዩ እንዲሰሩ ይደረጋል ተብሏል፡፡ ለዚህም መመሪያ እንደሚዘጋጅ በረቂቁ ህግ ተጠቅሷል፡፡
በረቂቁ ህግ ከተካተቱ 60 አንቀፆች መካከል አብዛኞች በሬዲዮና በቴሌቭዥን ስርጭት ቁጥጥር ላይ ያተኮሩ ሲሆን፤ በኢንተርኔት የሚሰራጩና በድረገፅ የሚቀርቡ መረጃዎችን ለመቆጣጠር የታቀዱ ሦስት አንቀፆች ተጨምረውበታል፡፡ የሬዲዮና የቴሌቪዥን የግል ድርጅቶች ስለዲሞክራሲና ስለ ኢኮኖሚ እንቅስቃሴዎች የመዘገብ ግዴታ በህጉ የተጣለባቸው ሲሆን፤ በኢንተርኔትና በድረገፅ የሚሰራጩ መረጃዎች እንዲህ አይነት ግዴታ ባይኖርባቸውም ትክክለኛነታቸው ያልተረጋገጡ መረጃዎችን ማቅረብና ሌሎች በአንቀፅ 33 የተዘረዘሩ ድርጊቶችን ከፈፀሙ ተጠያቂ እንደሚሆኑ ረቂቅ ህጉ ይገልፃል፡፡
አመፅና፣ ግጭትና ጦርነት መቀስቀስ፣ እንዲሁም የሰውን ስምና ነፃነትን የሚያጠፋ መረጃ ክልክል መሆኑን የሚዘረዘረው አዲሱ ህግ፤ ምን ማለት እንደሆነ በግልጽ ባይብራራም የሃይማኖትን፣ የዘርን፣ የፆታን ክብር መንካት ክልክል ነው ይላል፡፡ በደፈናው ስነምግባርን የሚፃረርና የልጆችን አስተሳሰብ ወደአልተፈለገ አቅጣጫ እንዲያዘነብል መገፋፋትም ህገወጥ መሆኑን ይገልፃል፡፡
እንደ ፌስቡክ እና ቲዊተር የመሳሰሉትን ጨምሮ አብዛኞቹ ድረገፆች በውጭ አገር የሚገኙ በመሆናቸው እንዴት ሊቆጣጠራቸው እንዳሰበ ሲጠቁም፣ በፅሁፍ ማስጠንቀቂያ እንደሚሰጥና ድረገፁ ከሚገኝበት አገር መንግስት ጋር በመተባበር እርምጃ እንደሚወስድ ህጉ ይገልፃል፡፡
ብዙዎቹ ድረገፆች በሚገኙበት በአሜሪካ “ሃሰት አሰራጨህ ወይም ወዳልተፈለገ አቅጣጫ ትገፋፋለህ” የሚል የአስተሳሰብ ቁጥጥር እንደሌለ ይታወቃል፡፡
ምንጭ፡- አዲስ አድማስ ጋዜጣ
Black terror on freedom of expression
Bisrat Woldemichael
addismediab@gmail.com
Among the desperate times faced by Ethiopians in the 1970s are the socialist divisions among the citizens as groups of ‘white terror and red terror.’ At that time, military rules suppressed ideas. For this reason, some parties are established to face against the army while others are subjected to life in refuge.
The Derg regime did not allow the freedom to expressions and suppressed the press freedom amid its demise by the EPLF & EPRDF forces in 1991. The Derg opponents of that time split in to two as Ethiopia & Eritrea and repeating the same system they used to oppose.
Particularly, after controlling the Menlik II palace in Addis Ababa, under the leadership of Mr.Meles Zenawie, the EPRDF disclosed the right to free expressions, press freedom, multiparty, freedom of organization for professionals and political parties. Proclamation 34/93 for press freedom in accordance with the constitution Article 29(3) A & B, the right for press freedom for multimedia and copyright provisions are being respected. The press freedom particularly encompasses the following press rights:-
A. Any form of censorship is prohibited
B. Clearly indication of getting information for public interest but the above rights slightly worked only until May 2005 during the election. The main reason that the free press disclosed the bad operations and oppression of the press rights by the government and played major roles in the election by motivating the public at large. After the election, some journalists were jailed and others were subjected to refuge.
Consequently, the CPJ, HRW and other reputable international media indicate that more than 140 free press and about 48 government multimedia Journalists are subjected to refuge.
In fact, even during that time, the number of free press and government media are not proportional to the need of the people. Notwithstanding to the gaps in capacity of some free press & government media professionals, the number of such institutions remains lacking ; for this reason, information supply is limited to some towns and cities.
Notwithstanding to the provisions of the constitution, the press freedom proclamation No. 590/2007 article 4/1/ that attest ‘The freedom of multimedia is accredited by the constitution. Censorship is prohibited in any way.’ In this proclamation Article 2 attests that “any limitations to multimedia shall be enforced based up only on the provisions of the constitution and the laws.’ The fact presently is far beyond this truth.
For instance, the government owned ‘Berhanena Selam Printing Enterprise’ officially violated the constitution and the proclamation and drafted a new ‘printing Agreement.’ In this draft article 10/1/ is written ‘The printing press, up on findings that the script supplied by the client violates the law, has the right to reject the printing order.’ This shows that the firm is ready to censor the script before it is printed and as a result the newspapers that officially disclose human rights violations, non democratic operations, issues of good governance and inappropriate actions by EPRDF will be forced to diminish and the public remains thirsty of such information. This encourages dictatorship and the need to remain on power.
The other article 10/2 of this draft attests that ‘If the printing press finds a content that brings legal accountability is intentionally submitted for printing, it can terminate or dissolve the agreement.’ Besides implementing censorship, it articulates the Journalist or the press ethics as if it is not legally accountable and therefore leading to a conclusion that journalism is not a disciplinary profession. The amazing thing here is that it contradicts with the constitution regardless of the article 9/1/ that states any law or regulation that contradicts the constitution shall be nullified. Not only due to the fact that the printing press belongs to the government but also under the leadership of the EPRDF higher officials that it intended to censor scripts.
The socialist partisan philosophy divided parties as ‘white terror’ and ‘red terror’ and now indirectly imposed on the free press because of censorship. The White terror and red terror are direct signs for bloodshed but censorship is indirect way of violation of freedom of consciousness and that’s why we called it Black Terror. Thus any threat to the natural rights of human beings shall be cursed.
The EPRDF led Ethiopian Government appears saying ‘The right to free expression and press freedom are constitutionally approved’ to win the hearts of donors and fooling citizens but kept contrary in action. Writing on papers cannot guarantee the right of citizens nor does it have more value than the paper it is printed on. Freedom shall be shown in action not only by papers. Therefore, suppressing the free press and censorship is a black terror to the freedom of expressions. In this case now a day’s two independent newspapers Feteh and Finote Netasnet are blocked from publishing without legal ground.
In general, suppressing the free press is not only violation of the law but also threatening dignified humanity.
Dagumedia 