Past Cases

Background

Eskinder Nega (b. November 7, 1969) is an Ethiopian editor and journalist. In 2012, he was convicted of terrorism-related charges and sentenced to an 18-year prison sentence under Ethiopia’s national security legislation. 

Nega was previously jailed along with his wife, journalist Serkalem Fasil, between 2005 and 2007 on treason charges for their coverage of protests that followed the 2005 legislative elections. 

On September 14, 2011, under Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, Nega was arrested for criticizing the detention of a prominent government critic (Ethiopian actor, Debebe Eshetu) and disputing the government’s assertion that detained journalists were terror suspects. At his trial the judge reportedly accused Nega of using “the guise of freedom” to “attempt to incite violence and overthrow the constitutional order” through a popular revolt similar to those of the Arab Spring.

According to news reports, the judge claimed that Nega wanted to spark a popular revolt in the style of the Arab Spring. Nega was also accused of having links with Ginbot 7, a group regarded as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian authorities. Convicted on June 27, 2012, Nega was sentenced to 18 years in prison on July 13, 2012; the prosecutor had asked for a life sentence.

In December 2012, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) said the sentence violated free expression and due process rights under international law. The UN group called for his immediate release. Despite this, on May 2, 2013, the Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court upheld both the conviction and the sentence.

Since its 2010 UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Ethiopia has repeatedly used its Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to arbitrarily arrest, prosecute, and imprison independent journalists and opposition activists. By 2015, Nega was among eight journalists and bloggers jailed in Ethiopia under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. Six others were released in July 2015 after being held for periods ranging from 16 months to four years under the same legislation. 

Ahead of Ethiopia’s 2014 UPR, a shadow report by PEN International and the Committee to Protect Journalists found the Proclamation overbroad and inconsistent with international law. The use of the Anti-Terror Proclamation to stifle the independent media has been condemned both by regional human rights bodies and the UN.

The Ethiopian government has arbitrarily imposed restrictions on the distribution of broadcast and print licenses, the content and editorial position of news outlets, the freedom of movement of journalists, the accreditation of international journalists, and domestic access to international broadcasts and Internet content. Since 1992, government pressure has forced at least 75 independent publications, overwhelmingly from the Amharic language press, to close. Although a large number of private publications continue to operate, less than a handful of publications cover politics with a critical perspective. A high number of journalists have fled the country as a result of government persecution.

Eskinder Nega received PEN Canada’s One Humanity Award in 2015. In 2018, he received the Oxfam Novib/PEN International Award for Freedom of Expression. 

Eskinder Nega was released from prison on February 14, 2018.