Ethiopia trails only Eritrea as Africa’s worst jailer of journalists

 Ethiopia arrests 2 journalists from independent paper

CPJ New York, November 5, 2013–Ethiopian police have arrested without charge two editors of the leading independent Amharic weekly Ethio-Mihdar, according to local journalists.
Police in the town of Legetafo, northeast of the capital Addis Ababa, on Monday arrested Getachew Worku in connection a story published in October alleging corruption in the town administration, according to Muluken Tesfaw, a reporter with the paper, who spoke to Getachew shortly after his arrest. Getachew has not been charged, he said.
On Saturday, police arrested Million Degnew, the general manager of the newspaper, and Muna Ahmedin, a secretary, said Muluken and local journalists. Muna was released the same day but Million remains in custody without charge, Muluken said.
“A free and inquisitive media is a cornerstone of development that should benefit all Ethiopians,” said CPJ’s Africa Program Coordinator Sue Valentine. “Repeatedly detaining journalists without charge is an intimidation tactic that must end. We urge the authorities to release Million Degnew and Getachew Worku immediately.”
The government has harassed Ethio-Mihdar in the past for its independent coverage, according to CPJ research. Million and Getachew have been sued for defamation by the public Hawassa University, according to local journalists and news reports. University officials are seeking 300,000 birr (US$15,000) and the closure of the newspaper over a report alleging corruption in the school’s administration, according to local journalists.
In May, Muluken was detained for 10 days while reporting on evictions of farmers from their land in northwest Ethiopia. He was released without charge.
Ethiopia trails only Eritrea as Africa’s worst jailer of journalists, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. More than 75 publications have been forced to close under government pressure since 1993, CPJ research shows.

Abbay dam will be owned by Egypt and Sudan

Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia are all committed to coordinating and cooperating in dealing with Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam, said Egypt’s Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources on Monday.

A picture taken on 28 May 2013 shows the Blue Nile River in Guba, Ethiopia, during its diversion (AFP/File, William Lloyd-George)

Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Moteleb said that it was “time to consider a new strategy for the available investment opportunity,” adding that any matter dealing with the dam must be agreed upon by the governments of the three countries.
The countries’ water ministers began meetings in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Monday in order to review recommendations put forth by a report formed by a tripartite committee investigating the impacts of the dam on Ethiopia’s neighbours in the north.
Abdel Moteleb added that trilateral support for the dam could set a “good example for cooperation in the region,” adding that he hoped that the outcome of the process would be the “beginning of a new era of cooperation between the three countries.”
“I would like to recall the initiative put forth by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, a proposal considering the Renaissance Dam a joint regional project from which the three countries could benefit,” said Moteleb in his Monday address to the representatives from the three countries.
Last week Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy stressed the importance of joint action and cooperation between countries when dealing with Ethiopia’s dam, saying that the water issue must not be dealt with as a “zero-sum game.”
Spokesman of the foreign ministry Badr Abdelatty said that the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn would come to Cairo “soon.”
“We will continue dialogue with Ethiopia and our Sudanese brothers,” added Abdelatty.
Source: Daily News