Ethiopians who post statuses on Facebook about the country’s growing
political unrest could face up to five years in jail, as part of a
series of measures under a “state of emergency” that grow more stringent
by the day.
The government has imposed the longest blanket ban on
mobile internet services in the capital Addis Ababa since protests
began a year ago, and access to messaging platforms like WhatsApp has
been heavily restricted.
The measures are designed to stifle
people’s ability to organise protests, amid calls for greater political
freedoms and recognition from the ethnic Oromo and Amharic groups.
Access
to foreign-based media has also been restricted, including Deutsche
Welle and Voice of America, which both have popular Amharic stations.
Two TV stations run from the US for the Ethiopian diaspora, ESAT and the
Oromia Media Network, have been banned.
And the new rules even
seek to ban people from carrying out certain gestures “without
permission”. They include crossing arms above the head to form an “X”, a
political symbol that has become synonymous with the Oromo struggle and
featured at the Rio Olympics and Paralympics.
UK rights charities
are particularly concerns that under the emergency rules, which are
expected to be in place for the next six months, foreign diplomats will
have their movements heavily restricted.
The government says
diplomats are not allowed to travel more than 40km (25 miles) from the
capital, Addis Ababa, without permission, and say it is for their own
safety.
But the rights group Reprieve told The Independent there
are serious concerns this could limit the access Britons have to
consular services. They raised the case of one UK citizen,
father-of-three Andy Tsege, who is on Ethiopia’s death row and held at a
jail some way outside the capital.
Ethiopia is a key strategic
ally for the US and European countries in the fight against Somalia’s
Islamist insurgency, al-Shabaab, and Addis Ababa is the home of the
African Union.
The
global importance of the country’s stability has meant Western
governments turning a blind eye to its authoritarian leadership. In
June, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front cut
off nationwide access to social media – on the grounds of preventing
exam result leaks.
The new ban on internet services has already
made a noticeable impact on the flow of reports of unrest coming out of
the country via on-the-ground activists.
Ethiopian state media
reported that 1,000 protesters had been arrested in the central Oromia
town of Sebeta since the state of emergency was declared on 8 October,
and ahead of an investment conference in the town which began on Monday.
FBC
said those detained were suspected of damaging property, but there was
little in the way of opposition reports to give the other side of the
story.
The emergency rules include a ban on using social media to
contact “outside forces”, and Ethiopians risk jail if they communicate
with any “anti-peace groups designated as terrorist”.
Finally, the
rules stipulate a curfew of 6pm to 6am in which members of the public
may not visit factories, farms and government institutions, which have
come under attack in recent weeks.
The UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon has urged the Ethiopian government to ensure “the protection of
fundamental human rights” during the state of emergency, and the
president has announced some electoral reforms in order to try and reach
out to protesters.
A Western diplomat told the AFP news agency
those changes had not yet materialised, however. “This is a state of
emergency and we expect repressive measures,” the diplomat said.
“But
we also expect an opening of the political space for the opposition as
stated by the president in front of the parliament. This is not what
seems to be happening.”
