ESAT News (December 14, 2016) Andargachew “Andy” Tsige, a politician on death row in Ethiopia has gone two years without a phone call to his family in London, Reprieve, a rights group said on Wednesday. Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege last spoke to his partner and three children on 14th December 2014. His family say that the rare phone call came out ...

ESAT News (December 14, 2016) Ethiopian regime’s deadly crackdown on protesters in the last one year was accompanied by blockage of the internet and social media, according to a report by Amnesty International. “The crackdown on protests was accompanied by increasingly severe restrictions on access to information and communications in large parts of the country by cutting off internet access, ...

ESAT News (December 13, 2016) Ethiopia’s Olympic athlete, Feyisa Lilesa, has been named among the 2016 top 100 global thinkers by the US based Foreign Policy (FP) magazine. Feyisa was classed in the group of thinkers called ‘‘the challengers.’‘ “Given the fact that the Olympic Charter bans political propaganda, demonstrations are a rarity at the games. Nevertheless, Ethiopian runner Feyisa ...

ESAT News (December 13, 2016) The Committee to Protect Journalists said Ethiopia has become the fifth worst jailer of journalists in the world.   CPJ in its end of the year report said a record number of journalists are in jail in 2016. “Turkey’s unprecedented crackdown on media brought the total number of jailed journalists worldwide to the highest number ...

ESAT News (December 13, 2016) A Nigerian was arrested hiding over one kilogram of cocaine in his belly at the Addis Bole International Airport, local media reported on Tuesday. The alleged smuggler, who complained of stomach pain, was taken to the hospital where doctors performed an operation to remove bags of cocaine. It took doctors three hours to remove the ...

ESAT News (December 13, 2016) Nearly 900 million dollars is needed for 2017 Ethiopia drought response. Relief web said in its weekly humanitarian update that the global need has reached record 22.2 billion dollars. Drought exacerbated by El Niño, combined with extensive flooding, disease outbreaks and the disruption of basic public services, continue to have a negative impact on the ...

ESAT News (December 12, 2016) The president-elect of the Gambia has demanded that Yahya Jammeh step down immediately, as African leaders prepared to fly in and persuade the country’s autocratic leader to reconsider his refusal to accept defeat and resign, according to the report by The Guardian. After 22 years in power in the west African nation, it came as ...

ESAT News (December 12, 2016)     Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Affairs Tom Malinowski will travel to Ethiopia from December 14-17, the office of the spokesperson for the assistant secretary said in a short statement. “During his visit, he will meet with government officials as part of a continued dialogue on human rights and governance. ...

ESAT News (December 12, 2016) The Ethiopian National Movement (ENM), a coalition of four political groups fighting the TPLF-led tyrannical called for the release of Dr. Merara Gudina, chairman of the Oromo Federalist Congress and all prisoners of conscience. Dr. Gudina was arrested recently upon his return from Europe, where he testified against the regime and spoke against the human ...

ESAT News (December 9, 2016) Reports reaching from northern Ethiopia say regime’s army is burning down houses and crops belonging to families of militia who are fighting government forces. A source who spoke on the phone to ESAT from northern Ethiopia said the war crimes have been perpetrated against families of people fighting the regime by government forces in the ...