Nairobi, CPJ— Ethiopian authorities must swiftly and credibly investigate the killing of reporter Sisay Fida and guarantee the safety of journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On the evening of May 9, two unidentified attackers in the town of Dembi Dollo, in the Oromia region, shot and killed Sisay, a reporter and coordinator for the Oromia Broadcasting Network, a broadcaster owned by the regional government, while he was walking home from a wedding, according to reports by his employer, the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America.
Ahmed Yassin, the deputy director of peace and security in the West Wellega Zone, whose jurisdiction includes Dembi Dollo, told Voice of America that he believed Sisay had been killed by the Aba Torbe, which officials say is a hit squad linked to the Oromo Liberation Army armed group.
Bilisuma Gutta, a spokesperson for the Oromo Liberation Army’s Western Zone, denied any involvement in the killing and denied that the group had any connection to the Aba Torbe, according to the Voice of America report.
Ahmed also said that police had identified two suspects by name and were searching for them, according to the news reports.
“The killing of Ethiopian journalist Sisay Fida not only silences one voice, but also sends a devastating message about the dangers facing journalists throughout the country,” said CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. “Authorities can reassure journalists working in Ethiopia of their safety by carrying out a credible investigation into Sisay’s killing, and delivering justice through a fair and transparent process.”
Ahmed told Voice of America that he believed Sisay was killed because he worked for the government and because he had respect in his community. CPJ was not immediately able to find contact information for Ahmed.
Bilisuma, however, accused the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of killing Sisay; he did not provide any explanation for why they would have done so.
A colleague of Sisay’s, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity citing safety concerns, said that the journalist had received anonymous death threats on his phone over OBN’s reporting on western Ethiopia. This colleague and another Oromia-based colleague, who knew Sisay and also requested anonymity for safety concerns, said that they believed Sisay was targeted for his work with the station.
The Oromo Liberation Army broke away from the Oromo Liberation Front opposition party in 2019 and has been accused of killing civilians and government officials as part of an insurgency in the region, according to news reports. The group has previously denied such allegations, and has accused the Ethiopian government of human rights violations, according to those reports.
On May 5, days before Sisay’s killing, the Ethiopian federal parliament declared the Oromo Liberation Army a terrorist organization, alongside the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a group fighting the federal government in northern Ethiopia, according to media reports.
One of Sisay’s colleagues and another journalist familiar with the case, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, told CPJ that Sisay had recently worked on a report about public opinion concerning that terrorist designation. CPJ was unable to review that work.
The Oromia Broadcasting Network did not respond to CPJ’s emails and messages sent to its Facebook pages seeking comment; CPJ’s calls to the broadcaster did not connect or went unanswered.
Billene Seyoum, a spokesperson for the Ethiopian prime minister, referred CPJ to local Oromia officials for comment.
When CPJ called Oromia regional government spokesperson Getachew Balcha on May 13 and 19, he said that he was too busy to speak; he did not answer follow-up calls or messages sent via messaging app. CPJ also called, emailed, and sent Facebook messages to the Oromia Communications Bureau, the regional government’s public relations’ office, but did not receive any replies.
CPJ called Oromia police commissioner Ararsa Merdassa for comment but the calls did not connect, and he did not reply to messages sent via messaging app.
Sisay is the second journalist to be killed in Ethiopia this year, following the January shooting of Dawit Kebede Araya in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray. CPJ is investigating Dawit’s killing to determine whether his death was work-related.
- በአሜሪካ ብልጽግናን ተክቶ አራት ኪሎ እንዲገባ ” ዳግማዊ ኢህአዴግ” እንደገና እየተበጀ ነው፤ መንግስት ሙሉ መረጃው አለው
በአሜሪካና በተለያዩ አገራት የሚገኙ ስደተኛ ፖለቲከኞች ብልጽግናን በመተካት አራት ኪሎ ለመግባት አሜሪካንን እያባበሉ መሆኑ ተሰማ። እንደ ዜናው ከሆነ አቶ ለማ መገርሳ፣ አቶ ገዱ አንዳርጋቸውና የትህነግ የአሜሪካ ህዋስ አሉበት። ስብስቡ ” ዳግማዊ ኢህአዴግ” የሚል ስም በአንዳንድ ተጋባዦች እየተሰተው ነው። ለውጡን በሙሉ አቅሟ ደግፋ የነበረችው አሜሪካ በቅጽበት የብልጽግናን መንግስትና መሪውን ዶክተር አብይ … Read moreContinue Reading - ኢዜማ እስር ላይ ያሉት መሪው ዶክተር ጫኔ የድርጅቱን መርህ መጣሳቸውን በይፋ አስታወቀ
ኢዜማ እስር ላይ ያሉት የድርጅቱ መሪ ዶክተር ጫኔ ከበደ የድርጅቱን መርህ መጣሳቸውን በይፋ አስታወቀ። ድርጅቱ ባወጣው መግለጫ ከድርጅቱ መርህ ውጭ ባፈነገጠ መልኩ መንቀሳቀስ ኢዜማን እንደማፍረስ እንደሚቆጠር አስታውቋል። የድርጅቱን መርህና አሰራር የዘርዘረው መግለጫ ” የፓርቲያችን ሊቀመንበር ጉዳይም ከዚህ ከላይ ከተገለፀው መርኅ አንጻር የሚታይ ይሆናል ሲል ፓርቲያችን ይገልፃል” ሲል አቋሙን ይፋ አድርጓል። … Read moreContinue Reading - የመከላከያን ጨምሮ የአሜሪካንን ሚስጢር “ለትውልድ አገሩ አቀብሏል” የተባለው ትውልደ ኢትዮጵያዊ ” ብሄራዊ ጀግና” እየተባለ ነው
ባለፉት ሁለት የጦርነት ዓመታት ኢትዮጵያ ላይ የሚያሴሩ፣ ራሳቸውን ሸጠው ኢትዮጵያን የሚያደሙና የቀጠራቸውን አገር ፍላጎት ለማሳካት ውል ገብተው በጋዜጠኛነት ስም ፕሮፓጋንዳ የሚያሰራጩ “ልጆቿን” በገሃድ አይታለች። ዓለም “ታላላቅ” በሚባሉ መሪዎችና ዓለም ዓቀፍ ተቋማት፣ ሚዲያዎች፣ አገራትና ህብረት ስም ኢትዮጵያን ለማወላለቅ ተባብሮ ሲዘምት እነዚሁ ወገኖች አብረው ተሰልፈው ሲያሸረግዱና ለገቡት ውል አፈንድደው የኢትዮጵያን ውድቀት ሲያሳልጡ … Read moreContinue Reading - በአማራ ክልል ከ90.5 ቢሊዮን ብር በላይ ፕሮጀክቶች ቆመዋል፤ “በተፈጠረው የሰላም እጦት ክልሉ ከፍተኛ ገቢ እያጣ ነው”
“በተፈጠረው የሰላም እጦት ክልሉ ከፍተኛ ገቢ እያጣ ነው” ሲል የክልሉ ኢንዱስትሪ እና ኢንቨስትመንት ቢሮ አስታወቀ። በክልሉ እየታየ ያለው የሰላም እጦት በኢንቨስትመንቱ ላይ ቀጥተኛ የኾነ ተጽእኖ እያሳደረ እንደኾነ ነው የአማራ ክልል ኢንዱስትሪ እና ኢንቨስትመንት ቢሮ የገለጸው፡፡ እየታየ ያለው አለመረጋጋት ወደ ክልሉ እየገባ ያለውን እና ለመግባት በሂደት ላይ የነበረውን ኢንቨስትመንት እንደሚያስቀር ተገልጿል። … Read moreContinue Reading
