AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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and the Amharic Addis Zemen (circulation 50,000), and a government Arabic-language
weekly, Al-Alam (circulation 10,000).
The official media, including broadcast, wire service, and print media received
government subsidies; however, they legally were autonomous and responsible for
their own management and partial revenue generation. The Government’s press and
information department acted as an official spokesperson and managed contacts between
the Government, the press, and the public. The office of the Government
spokesperson and information sections of government ministries routinely refused to
respond to queries from the private press and limited their cooperation with the
press to the Government-run Ethiopian News Agency, the ruling party-run Walta
news agency, and correspondents of international news organizations. Government
reporters practiced self-censorship.
Generally the Government permitted private newspapers and news organizations
to attend government briefings and press conferences, and some government officials
provided information and granted interviews to private journalists. However,
there were instances when members of the independent press were barred from attending
press conferences given by government agencies, such as one given by the
Ethiopian Tourism Commission in July where only the ruling-party Walta Information
Agency and the Government-owned Ethiopian News Agency were allowed to
cover the event. The Prime Minister’s office continued to deny all access to the independent
press for coverage of official events at the Prime Minister’s office.
The Ministry of Information and Culture required that newspapers show a bank
balance of $1,200 (10,000 birr) at the time of their annual registration for a license
to publish. This substantial sum of money effectively precluded some smaller publications
from registering. Although the requirement was not enforced strictly, the
Ministry of Information and Culture noted publicly that many papers were not in
compliance and could be closed down on short notice. Permanent residency also was
required to establish a newspaper. The Government did not require this of other
businesses, and some independent journalists maintained that the residency requirement
was used as a form of intimidation.
The majority of private papers as well as government papers were printed at government-owned
presses. However, a few private papers started using smaller private
printing presses, one of which was owned by the publisher of the Daily Monitor.
All EPRDF publications were printed at the party-run Mega Publishing Enterprise.
Police had the authority to shut down those printing presses without a court
order. Amare Aregawi, editor of The Reporter, an independent newspaper, asserted
that his paper’s dependency on a government-owned printing press was used
against him when he wanted to publish an article concerning the U.N. Boundary
Commission’s decision earlier in the year. He alleged that the Government printing
press technicians were ‘‘conveniently absent’’ on every occasion that he sought to
have the article published.
Despite the constant threat of legal action, the private press remained active and
continued to publish articles critical of the Government and to report on human
rights abuses. Many private newspapers continued to publish inaccurate information,
unsubstantiated stories, and harsh antigovernment articles without any official
penalty.
While much of the private press continued to lack professionalism in its reporting,
some print media were developing into more responsible publications. Others were
opposition newsletters that often purveyed unsubstantiated criticism of the Government.
Several were tied to distinct ethnic groups, especially the Amharas and
Oromos, and severely criticized the Government for being ethnocentric.
The Government used statutory provisions concerning publishing false information,
inciting ethnic hatred, libel, and publishing articles offensive to public morality
to justify the arrest and detention of journalists.
Police beat journalists during the year (see Section 2.c.).
During the year, six journalists were detained. On April 3, the First Criminal
Bench of the Federal High Court arrested and sentenced Lubaba Seid, former editor-in-chief
of Tarik, to 1 year of imprisonment, but granted her parole in late December.
The court found Lubaba guilty of violating the Press Law by disseminating
‘‘fabricated news that could have a negative psychological effect on members of the
Defense Army and disturb the minds of the persons.’’ Lubaba was charged for reports
in the August 1996 issue of Tarik newspaper entitled ‘‘An OPDO cadre who
replaced Samora Yenus in Eastern Oromiya has defected,’’ and ‘‘The President’s personal
security guards are said to have defected.’’ Tarik had been shut down for several
years, but published for a few months in 2000 before it was forced to shut down
again.
On July 10, the Federal High Court arrested and sentenced Tewodros Kassa,
former editor of Ethop, to 2 years in prison. He was charged with publishing ‘‘false
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