HRLHA Press Release, February 4, 2012
The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) strongly denounces the life in prison sentence for blogger and long year in prison sentence for two journalists and two political leaders passed by the Ethiopian Federal High Court on January 19, 2012 and call for the reversal of the unfair and Politically Motivated decision.
The five alleged convicts were accused of allegedly supporting, sympathizing and/or collaborating with an opposition political organization Ginbot 7 (the organization which has been outlawed and labeled as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government). It is very sad that a country and government who claims to be a democrat and respect the rule of law and also claim a quarter of its constitution has been drafted based on standard human rights norms and promotion of human rights imposes a life imprison sentences on its own citizen for simply practicing their rights of freedom of expression and allegedly holding a political stand different from that of the governing party.
 
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From left to right, Wubshet Taye, Reeyot Alemu, and Elias Kifle
Woubshet Taye, deputy editor of the now-defunct weekly Awramba Times, and Reeyot Alemu, a columnist with the independent weekly Fitih, were sentenced to 14 years in prison and 33,000 birr (US$1,800) each. Elias Kifle, the editor in-chief of the Washington-based opposition website “Ethiopian Review” was handed life sentence in absentia for the second time. Mr Kifle has been handed the first life sentence in 2007 also in absentia on charges of treason for his coverage of the government’s brutal repression of 2005 post-election protests. Opposition leaders, Zerihun Gebre-Egziabher Tadesse and Hirut Kifle Woldeyesus of the Ethiopian National Democratic Party, were also sentenced by 19 and 17 year in prison respectively on the same date.
HRLHA believes this decision of the said federal high court is in breach of not only the democratic principles the government claims to have been following, but also the constitution and other international human rights standard documents that Ethiopia has signed and ratified.
The Ethiopian Government is misusing the ant-terrorist legislation to protect its power for indefinite. The anti – terrorism law of Ethiopia gives full power to the security forces to put behind the bars any person who criticizes the Ethiopian Government regime
The law allows the government to hold the prisoners in prison without trial and trials and appeals to be held secretly. Moreover, the Ethiopian Government passed the legislation to grant the Security force broad powers including the ability to tap telephones or search houses of alleged individuals without permission from the judiciary. HRLHA believes the Ethiopian anti-Terrorism law has been planed not to fight against terrorism but it has been actually designed to quash political dissent inside the country by allowing the government officials to suppress even peaceful demonstration as an instance of terrorist action.
HRLHA calls up on all democratic governments and civil organizations to put pressure on Ethiopian Government to abolish the so called anti-terrorism law and set free all prisoners who were convicted under this law.
The HRLHA is a non-political organization (with the UN Economic and Social Council – (ECOSOC) Consultative Status) which attempts to challenge abuses of human rights of the people of various nations and nationalities in the Horn of Africa. It works on defending fundamental human rights including freedoms of thought, expression, movement and association. It also works on raising the awareness of individuals about their own basic human rights and that of others. It encourages the observances as well as due processes of law. It promotes the growth and development of free and vigorous civil societies
