Ethiopia: Media watchdog urges Zenawi to uphold press freedom

The media watchdog, Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), on Saturday expressed concern about freedom of the media in Ethiopia and urged Prime Minister Meles Zanawi to lead media reforms in the country.

"As Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stands for re-election in May, we urge him to sh ow leadership on constructive reforms to make press freedom, as guaranteed under Article 29 of the Ethiopian constitution, a reality," CPJ Africa Programme Coordinator Tom Rhodes said in a statement.

He was reacting to threats by Zenawi that Ethiopia would jam the Amharic language broadcasts of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America (VOA).

The Ethiopian prime minister accused VOA's Amharic service of "engaging in destabilizing propaganda" and compared it to Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines, the Rwandan station whose inflammatory broadcasts helped stoke the 1994 genocide.

VOA has rejected the comparison as "incorrect and unfortunate."

CPJ also said invoking the Rwandan genocide was an excuse to silence legitimate criticism and scrutiny.

Rhodes said the Ethiopian government used this reasoning to crack down on the country's once-vibrant Amharic press after the disputed 2005 elections.

-March 20 ,2010 by PANA

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Source: www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/ethiopia:-media-watchdog-urges-zenawi-to-uphold-press-freedom-2010032046256.html  (accessed on 22.03.10)