The Swedish journalists accused of terrorism in Ethiopia are part of a major clampdown on freedom of expression and freedom of the press where over one hundred opposition leaders and at least six journalists have been arrested in Ethiopia since March of this year. This is a sign that freedom of expression and freedom of the press must be constantly defended. The Ethiopian government must immediately realease any detainees who have been arrested purely for carrying out peaceful, legitimate activities. The European Commission must take a definite position and clearly show where Europe stands, demands Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.

Two Swedish journalists, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, went to Ethiopia to see with their own eyes what was happening there. They had heard accounts from refugees on the situation in the conflict-ridden Somali region, commonly known as the Ogaden. Accounts of villages burned to the ground, rape, and civilians killed and then left on the streets as a warning to others have been reported for many years, and documented by human rights organisations. They decided to go to a place that was denied entry to foreign journalists, researchers and human rights organizations, to report on what was happening. In order to get there they entered Ethiopia illegally. On 1 July 2011, they were arrested by Ethiopian forces. Since this time, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye have been held in an Ethiopian prison, charged with terrorist crimes because they attempted to reveal what the Ethiopian government would rather keep hidden. The trial started on the 20th of October and will resume 1 November in Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian anti-terrorism legislation defines terrorist activities so broadly that it can be used to criminalize freedom of expression in the country. The arrests since March signify an all-out attack on dissenters and government critics, on the pretext of counter-terrorism. The Ethiopian authorities are intent on destroying the last vestiges of free expression and freedom of the media in the country.

The arrests are in fact a violation of both Ethiopian and international law, which are both aimed at protecting the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. The European Commission must now take a clear stance in the issue and pledge the EU’s full support for all journalists and members of the opposition who have been imprisoned in Ethiopia in recent years.

For several years now, Reporters Without Borders has been reporting on Ethiopia’s systematic attacks on the freedom of the press and imprisonment of journalists. In recent years, over 80 journalists have been forced into exile from Ethiopia. In 2011 alone, at least 105 members of the opposition and four Ethiopian journalists were imprisoned after criticizing or investigating the regime or opposing the government through peaceful political activities. Supported by the country’s anti-terrorist laws, Ethiopian and now even foreign journalists have been arrested and prosecuted, many times for nothing more than simply doing their job as journalists. Amnesty International, whose research team was recently expelled from the country, was able to confirm during their visit that the severe restrictions and obstacles faced by independent journalists and human rights defenders have recently become even worse. In July, an Ethiopian employee of the UN was arrested, for negotiating the release of hostages taken by the rebel movement ONLF. According to the Anti-Terrorism legislation it is a criminal offence to communicate with a proscribed terrorist group.

The right of all people to freedom of opinion and expression, regardless of frontiers, is protected by Article 19 in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 79 of the Geneva Convention also addresses the need to protect journalists engaged in dangerous missions in areas of armed conflict.

Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, has made the following statement: “It should be acknowledged that any crime against journalists for their profession, for what they have published or what they have planned to publish, is not just an ordinary crime. It is a crime against democracy.”

In 2010 Ethiopia agreed to the recommendation from the UN Human Rights Council that it would “adopt all necessary measures to provide for free an independent media which reflect a plurality of opinion”. The ongoing clampdown on media and dissent are in stark contrast to these commitments.

We call on the Ethiopian government to abide by its international commitments and to immediately stop using criminal proceedings to silence its critics, opposition politicians and journalists who are carrying out their legitimate work.

The European Commission must make it clear that Ethiopia’s actions are a violation of human rights that cannot be accepted.