NAIROBI: Ethiopian authorities must immediately free all detained journalists and stop using wartime emergency laws to lock up reporters for doing their jobs, a press freedom watchdog said Thursday.
The call from the Committee to Protect Journalists came as police in the conflict-torn Horn of Africa nation arrested a freelance video journalist working for The Associated Press and two other local reporters.
Journalists working in Ethiopia face restrictions under a nationwide state of emergency declared last month by the government, which has been locked in a 13-month conflict with Tigrayan rebels.
The CPJ said at least 14 journalists had been arrested since Ethiopia issued the decree.
“Ethiopia’s state of emergency law gives security personnel extremely broad powers of arrest and suspends due process, effectively bans critical journalism, and sends an intimidating message to the press,” CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo said in a statement.
“The Ethiopian government should release all journalists detained for their work and stop using the state of emergency as a pretext to infringe on freedom of expression.”
The CPJ named Ethiopia as a major jailer of journalists in its annual scorecard of press freedom issued last week.
The state-affiliated Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Wednesday it was “gravely concerned” about four detained journalists in detention, whose whereabouts are unknown even to their families.
The Associated Press, meanwhile, has called for the immediate release of Amir Aman Kiyaro, who it said was arrested in the capital Addis Ababa on November 28 after returning from a reporting trip.
Kiyaro was accused of breaching state of emergency laws, promoting terrorism and spreading propaganda, actions police said could be punishable by prison terms of seven to 15 years.
The AP described the charges as “baseless.”
At the end of November, Ethiopia announced new state of emergency rules banning the sharing of non-official information about military movements and battlefield outcomes, an order that was seen as an attempt to further restrict media reporting on the war.
The government also barred residents from “using various types of media platforms to support directly or indirectly the terrorist group,” referring to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, and warned of unspecified consequences for anyone who ignored the decree.
Much of the conflict-affected zone in northern Ethiopia is under a communications blackout and access for journalists is restricted.
On Thursday, Reporters Without Borders said there were currently 488 media professionals imprisoned around the world — the highest number since the NGO began counting more than 25 years ago.
Ethiopia urged to free reporters held under emergency laws
https://arab.news/rfvpx
Ethiopia urged to free reporters held under emergency laws
- Journalists working in Ethiopia face restrictions under a nationwide state of emergency declared last month by the government
- The CPJ named Ethiopia as a major jailer of journalists in its annual scorecard of press freedom issued last week
India displays ancient Buddhist jewels taken during British colonial rule
- Piprahwa gems are believed to have been buried with bodily relics of the Buddha
- Precious stones are ‘living presence’ of the Buddha himself, expert says
NEW DELHI: Sacred ancient gems linked to the Buddha’s remains went on display at an exhibit in New Delhi on Saturday, almost 130 years since they were taken abroad during British colonial rule.
The Piprahwa gems, named after the town in what is now the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, were removed by British colonial engineer William Claxton Peppe during excavations of a nearby religious site in 1898.
The collection of more than 300 carved gems is believed to be more than 2,000 years old and was found with the bodily relics of the Buddha in northern India, near the border with Nepal.
“India is not only the custodian of Lord Buddha’s sacred relics but also the living carrier of his tradition,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during the opening of the exhibit.
“These sacred relics of Lord Buddha are India’s heritage. After a century-long wait, they have returned to the country.”
In May, the precious stones made international headlines after Peppe’s descendants, who kept a portion of the gems, put the items up for sale and consigned them for auction by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, with bidding starting at roughly $1.3 million.
After the auction sparked an international outcry from Buddhist leaders, academics, and devotees, the Indian government intervened, threatening legal action and demanding the return of the jewels.
The gems were repatriated to India in July through a public-private partnership between the Indian government and Godrej Industries Group, a Mumbai-based Indian conglomerate, which reportedly acquired the jewels.
The New Delhi exhibit marked the first time the entire collection was displayed to the Indian public since they were excavated by the British in the late 19th century.
“After the excavation, a portion had been kept by the excavator William Claxton Peppe, and it became his family heirloom. And, of course, it traveled out of India, and a portion remained at the Indian Museum,” Lily Pandey, a joint secretary at the Indian Ministry of Culture, told Arab News on the sidelines of the event.
Pandey said that a series of “very fortunate events” led to the exhibition and the showing of all the gems together.
The Piprahwa relics are considered central in the archaeological study of early Buddhism and are “among the earliest and most historically significant relic deposits directly connected” to the Buddha, the Indian government said in a release.
Savita Kumari, an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Heritage, said the exhibit gave Indians an opportunity to connect with the Buddha.
“Buddha is actually present in these relics,” she told Arab News.
“It’s the living presence of Buddha himself. So, it is very important emotionally and spiritually for the people of the country to have it with us.”
