4 Ways You Can Join the #FreeZone9Bloggers Campaign

Zone 9 Tumblr Collage.

Zone 9 Tumblr Collage. Images selected from zoneniner.tumblr.com.

Befeqadu Hailu, Abel Wabela, Atnaf Berahane, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kibret, and Natnael Feleke (all members of the Zone 9 blogging collective) and journalists Asmamaw Hailegeorgis, Tesfalem Waldyes and Edom Kassaye were arrested on April 25 and 26, 2014 in Addis Ababa. They have since been held in Maekelawi detention center with no access to legal counsel. They have not been allowed to see their families.

Since 2012, the Zone 9 blogging collective has worked to foster civic engagement and critical commentary about social and political issues in Ethiopia, alongside fellow journalists seeking similar results through newspaper work. Their arrest and detention constitute a violation of their universal human right to free expression, and their right not to be arbitrarily detained, as protected by Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The Global Voices community and our network of friends and allies are demanding the release of the nine men and women.

Here are four ways that you or your organization can lend support to the campaign:

 

1. Send a letter: Write to your country's ambassador to Ethiopia or to the African Commission office in your country. Use one of these templates to get started. Deliver the letter by hand, like our friends in Uganda did.

 

2. Add your photo and message of support to the Free Zone 9 Tumblr

 

3. Sign the Global Voices Community Statement urging for the bloggers’ release

 

4. Spread the word! Talk to your friends, family, and colleagues about the campaign — share articles and links, work together on joint letters to policymakers, or plan a gathering.

 

Global Voices Coverage of Zone 9 Bloggers Case

Why Blogging is a Threat to the Ethiopian Government May 10, 2014

Advocates Ask African Commission, UN Experts to Intervene in Zone 9 Bloggers Case May 3, 2014

STATEMENT: Global Voices Calls for the Release of Nine Journalists in Ethiopia, May 2, 2014

Netizen Report: Ethiopia Cracks Down on Free Expression, April 30, 2014

Six Members of Blogging Collective Arrested in Ethiopia, April 25, 2014

8 comments

  • seoulsmyrna.co.kr

    4 Ways You Can Join the #FreeZone9Bloggers Campaign – Global Voices Advocacy

  • […] مجتمع شبكة الأصوات العالمية وأصدقائنا وحلفائنا يطالبون بالإفراج عن هؤلاء الرجال والنساء التسعة، الذين عملوا بجد لتوسيع مساحات للتعليق الاجتماعي والسياسي في إثيوبيا من خلال التدوين والصحافة التقليدية. نعتقد أن اعتقالهم هو انتهاك لحق عالمي لحرية التعبير، وكذلك حقهم في عدم التعرض للاعتقال التعسفي. لمعرفة المزيد عن قصتهم والحملة من أجل الإفراج عنهم انقر هنا. […]

  • Shimels Eshete

    Free zone9 bloggers!!

  • Shimels Eshete

    Free zone 9 bloggers!

  • […] … the initiators of the tweetathon, Nigerian bloggers Blossom Nnodim (@blcompere) and Nwachukwu Egbunike (@feathersproject), along with Global Voices editor Ndesanjo Macha (@ndesanjo) from Tanzania, write. […]

  • […] The Global Voices community and our network of friends and allies are demanding the release of these nine men and women, all of whom have worked hard to expand spaces for social and political commentary in Ethiopia through blogging and traditional journalism. We believe their arrest is a violation of their universal right to free expression, as well as their right not to be arbitrarily detained. Learn more about their story and the campaign for their release here. […]

  • […] publicerade Global Voices Online ett uttalande med en uppmaning om att de skulle släppas, bjöd in människor att delta [en] i #FreeZone9Bloggers-kampanjen via brevskrivning och onlineaktiviteter, samt organiserade ett […]

  • […] you advocated, we would love for the Zone 9 bloggers to be released and more attention to their trial might help. But it should not stop there […]

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