a(nother) journalist convicted under hate speech

and Ethiopian women migrants

Check out this exhibition at Studio 11, open until June 24.

Hi there,

I’ve had an incredibly challenging week dealing with a lupus flare-up and an ever-increasing number of items on my ‘to-do’ list. Seriously contemplating chucking the whole list and starting from scratch (I could never). Any tips on how to manage this are most welcome!

Hoping this week is off to a better start, seeing as how it’s also my birthday month. On a positive note, my trip to the Immigration and Citizenship Services has been fruitful (I have my new passport). Let me know if you need help navigating that.

My name is Maya Misikir, and I’m a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba. I write Sifter, this newsletter where I send out the week’s top 5 human rights stories in Ethiopia.

Now, to the news.

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Press Freedom: sentenced for an interview

One of my updates from last month – when we ‘celebrated’ World Press Freedom Day – was a quick summary of the seven Ethiopian journalists imprisoned in April.

One of them was Ahmed Awga from Ethiopia’s Somali region (arrested for interviewing a man who said his son died after police beat him). Ahmed has been sentenced to two years by a high court in Ethiopia’s Somali Region.

He was charged with the ‘propagation of disinformation and public incitement’. Ahmed’s conviction, ‘was primarily based on a post he didn’t write’ says the Committee to Protect Journalists, which had reviewed the prosecution’s evidence.

Here’s an excerpt from CPJ’s statement:

His [Ahmed’s] account was merely tagged in an April 20 post, which clearly originated from another Facebook page, not Ahmed’s. None of Ahmed’s April 17 posts appeared to reference the allegations in the charge sheet, according to CPJ’s review.

The charges fall under Ethiopia’s Anti-Hate Speech Law, ‘one of the most debated pieces of legislation in Ethiopia’. A few days after the law first took effect in 2020, the first journalist was charged.

What has been the response of the President of the Somali Region?

The four people currently in custody — “a journalist, a former official, and two activists” — face charges of “harming the reputation of security agencies, spreading false information about jail conditions, and exploiting the death of an inmate to incite the public,” he said, adding that the regional judiciary is independent.

The full statement from CPJ, here.

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Migration: the women leaving Ethiopia

As dangerous as the Eastern Route is (the irregular migration route from Ethiopia through Somalia or Djibouti, through Yemen to Saudi), the number of people making this trip is increasing.

Here’s an excerpt from the latest story on The New Humanitarian:

Last year, nearly 235,000 people left Ethiopia and headed towards the Red Sea coastline, according to the International Organization for Migration, the UN’s migration agency. The country is Africa’s second largest by population, but it has been wracked in recent years by successive crises, including various ethnic armed conflicts and related economic instability.

Most people make this journey through Djibouti (89%), while some go through Somalia (10%). This particular story follows the journey of a man from Ethiopia’s Harari region, who took the road through Somalia.

Here’s an excerpt on his journey from Ethiopia to Somalia:

Border crossings usually take place near the town of Wachale, with migrants walking in secret by night through shrub-covered hills. The dalalas [smugglers] show them the paths to follow, which are often the same as those used by smugglers bringing alcohol and khat – a mildly narcotic plant used widely in the region – from Ethiopia into Somaliland.

Once they cross the borders, they are handed over to traffickers, who extort them for money before allowing them to continue.

Only after they pay (300 USD per person) are they taken to the next stop in Somalia – Port Bosaso, where they start their sea journey toward Yemen.

It took Yasin, the Ethiopian man featured in this story, a month to get to Saudi Arabia once he reached Yemen.

At various points, his group was stopped by one militia or another, who each demanded money. Those who had no cash would have to pay in-kind, by labouring for the gunmen, moving equipment or tending crops.

Once he reached Saudi, and found work, his employers there, where he worked as a goat herder, reported him to the authorities when it was time to pay his salary (he spent nine months in prison before being sent back home).

In recalling this journey, Yasin mentions one thing: when they reached the shores of Yemen, he said that the men were separated from the women, and that he never saw the women again.

A recent survey, conducted by UN Women and the Mixed Migration Center, highlights what the situation is like for migrant Ethiopian women.

The survey, which included Ethiopian women returnees, captured their experiences from those who had returned, because it was hard to identify Ethiopian women in Yemen, due to the very exploitative nature of the networks there.

While the survey also included foreign women living in Ethiopia (immigrants), as well as foreign women in transit through Ethiopia (migrant women in transit), the findings below are on Ethiopian women returnees.

Like Yasin from the story, the vast majority of Ethiopian returnee women went seeking better work opportunities.

What were their intended destinations? Most were headed to the UAE or Saudi Arabia, and a few to Kuwait and Qatar.

While most had passports (less than 10 percent had no documentation), nearly half of them had used a smuggler, mostly to help with documentation, find jobs, or cross borders.

But 20 percent of those who used smugglers were kidnapped for ransom, and 14 percent said they had been trafficked; most faced forced labor, and others sexual exploitation.

Almost half of them included in the survey said they ‘were aware of women who went missing’.

The full story on The New Humanitarian, here.

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Labor rights: the strike continues

Patients and staff across Ethiopia have come under immense pressure as the strike of health workers continues with no resolution yet.

The strike, which started on May 12, has increased work pressure for senior doctors working in hospitals across several regions, says the latest update from Addis Standard.

Here’s an excerpt:

At the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, another senior doctor said that many services previously offered are no longer available. “The hospital is open just to avoid being called closed,” he told Addis Standard.

He described how emergency care is now limited. “We triage patients using red and yellow codes to determine severity,” he said. “But tests and assessments that were routine—like taking blood pressure or other basic exams—are no longer being done.”

Dozens of arrests have been made by the federal police since the strike started. Several of whom have been charged with inciting riot and unrest, including one doctor whose family members say ‘hasn’t been engaged in clinical activities and was not involved’ in the strike.

The full update from Addis Standard, where this story is still getting continued coverage, here.

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Security: we don’t know her (XLVI)

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this series, which tracks the security situation in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.

The region has been an active conflict zone since August 2023, when fighting started between the federal government and the region’s informal militia, the Fano.

The last post I wrote was at the end of April, when reports indicated a ‘new phase of fighting’ marked by ‘extra-judicial killings and deployment of regional anti-riot militias and police units’.

The number of kidnappings in the region is rising, with more than 30 heavy truck drivers taken by armed groups over two weeks in May.

Drivers are now using alternate trade routes to avoid being taken hostage or killed, according to a story on Addis Standard.

Here’s an excerpt from a representative of the Tana Heavy Vehicle Drivers Association:

…abductors typically demand ransoms ranging from 50,000 to one million Ethiopian birr…

The official noted that while the number of driver deaths reported in the region has declined, this is mainly because “drivers have stopped traveling at night.”

The full story on Addis Standard, here, and a list of all 46 updates on the region, here.

Law: judges back in court

Courts have reopened in the capital of Tigray region, after days of closure.

Judges in Mekelle had stopped work because of serious safety concerns related to their work, including threats, harassment, and physical assault related to the rulings they were passing.

The courts were reopened last Thursday after a discussion with the administration of the region, according to a story on Ethiopia Insider.

The demands made by the judges in the region, to ensure their safety, are being met, says the president of the Tigray Judges Association, cited in the story.

One of these demands was adding security personnel to be present in court sessions, which was previously only two police officers. There are now armed security personnel guarding courts in the city.

Also addressed was a request for the provision of transportation services for the judges to avoid the harassment they were facing while taking public transportation.

Their requests for housing and investigations into officials who have violated court orders are still underway.

The full story on Ethiopia Insider, in Amharic, here.

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That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!

In the meantime, feel free to share this with anyone you think can benefit from keeping up with what’s going on in Ethiopia.

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