In this week’s Ethiopiques exiled journalist Mesfin Negash reflects on the ways that Ethiopia – once home, sweet, home – has become “a bitter prison for the majority of Ethiopians, both at home and abroad.”
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Former poet laureate of South Africa Keorapetse Kgositsile and K. Mensah Wali, artistic director of Kente Arts Alliance discuss South Africa’s progress since the end of apartheid, the effects of exile on family, and the relationship between poetry and jazz.
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In this interview, Darfuri activist Hawa Abdullah Salih talks about conditions in the IDP camp, her arrest and defamation at the hands of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), and her hope for democracy in Sudan.
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In this week’s “Ethiopiques” column journalist Mesfin Negash examines the challenges and opportunities offered by the internet to activists in Ethiopia.
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In the Weekly Freedom of Speech Roundup Sampsonia Way presents some of the week’s top news on freedom of expression, journalists in danger, artists in exile, and banned literature.
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“Why do writers risk imprisonment or death for an idea?” In this week’s Ethiopiques journalist Mesfin Negash reflects on the risks faced by journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.
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So far in 2012 four journalists have been killed in Somalia. The last two years have truly marked difficult times for journalists in Somalia as pressure not only comes from Al-Shabaab, but also from local and national governments.
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In this excerpt from a speech she delivered on March 14, Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer warns that South Africa’s Protection of State Information Bill will return the country to an equivalent of apartheid-era limits on free speech.
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A look at countries with anti-terrorism laws where journalists and writers are in danger, or have been convicted of associating with alleged terrorist forces. These laws outline provisions for indefinite and undisclosed detainment of citizens without trial, including for publishing information on “terrorist” groups.
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Alongside a litany of human rights abuses, Eritrea is perhaps most notable for its lack of any private, independent media outlets, which was the result of massive crackdown in 2001 on the press, labor unions, and the political opposition leaders.
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