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Petition filed with the U.N. on behalf of Eskinder Nega

Posted on by Elias Kifle

FREEDOM NOW FILES PETITION TO UNITED NATIONS ON BEHALF OF ESKINDER NEGA TO OBTAIN OPINION THAT HIS ONGOING DETENTION VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL LAW

Washington, D.C.: Today, Freedom Now filed a petition on behalf of jailed Ethiopian journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Freedom Now seeks a legal opinion from the Working Group that the Ethiopian government’s detention of Mr. Nega is in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“The Ethiopian government’s actions in this case clearly violate international law,” said Freedom Now Executive Director Maran Turner. “The government detained Mr. Nega for exercising his fundamental right to freedom of expression and failed to observe minimum international standards of due process. We call on the Ethiopian government to abide by its international commitments and immediately release Mr. Nega.”

Mr. Nega has worked as an independent journalist in Ethiopia since 1993 and authorities have detained him seven times previously. Mr. Nega’s current detention, beginning with his arrest September 14, 2011, violates both Ethiopian and international law. In prosecuting Mr. Nega under Ethiopia’s widely criticized 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, the government relied upon Mr. Nega’s public calls for peaceful democratic reform in the country. Such speech is expressly protected under international law.

The government also failed to observe minimum international standards of due process. Authorities held Mr. Nega for nearly a month before he was allowed access to his family and denied him access to legal counsel for nearly two months—during which time the government held two proceedings extending his pretrial detention. Mr. Nega was also denied the right to the presumption of innocence.

A PDF copy of the petition can be found at Freedom Now’s website. Freedom Now represents Mr. Nega as his pro bono international legal counsel.

5 thoughts on “Petition filed with the U.N. on behalf of Eskinder Nega”

  1. You guys are funny. The USA funds the Ethiopian gov to do what what they want. Why is the petition addressed to the UN which has no power and is useless. If you have any beef it has to be wth the US gov

  2. As you all can see I am not saying anything about this group – Freedom Now. Because I was trying to protect your image in that if I say something you will counter me with some non-sense comments just to embarrass yourself. You blubber mouths!!!!

    Anonymous replies:
    July 18th, 2012 at 5:57 AM

    I,think when you talk about others,really you are talking about your self. my Termite Tackle.case in point..

    “You blabber mouths”

  4. As they do in all dictatorial countries the imprisonment of Eskinder in Ethiopia is not a surprise. They jailed so many countless Ethiopians who talked against their policies. If we think about it the only difference between Mengistu and Meles is one is friendly with the Soviets and the other one is friendly with the Americans. So the Meles TPLF regime thinks if you are friendly with the Americans you can kill and jail all opposition leaders and journalists and the news will not be on CNN or BBC.

    But when you kill don’t announce it like the stupid Derg. Do it quietly and use the courts as your weapons and denounce the opposition in the media.

    When Derg killed he tells the relatives to not ask for the bodies, but when TPLF kills a person , it searches the person with relatives so that they don’t blame the government. This is not smartness it is the new way of killing the opposition. It comes with the new generation. The TPLF did this same secret killing while they were still in the jungle they are only doing it now in the city.

    Eskinder will not remain in prison he will be free soon. Freedom, Freedom for Ethiopians.

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