Ethiopia: Telecom Users` Rights Abuse

By Mekonenn Elalla Fekadu

In recent reports by Human Right Watch/HRW/,it emerges how Ethiopia has built up a large monitoring system for controlling citizens network and phone usage. In the country there is telecommunication and network monopoly .And according to HRW there is no constraints that prevent the government from gaining an overview of who have contact with any one on the phones, and internet, in addition, they also save cone phone calls on a large scale. Theauthorities have an opportunity to store all phone conversations going on the country and outside the country. According to the HRW report ,it often happens in the interrogation that the police are playing phone calls that the arrested person had with family and friends ,specially conversations with someone abroad .This has led many Ethiopians abroad are afraid to call home to Ethiopia.

It is not a secret to any one that the TPLF bandits are doing all they can to remain in powers, so this is one of their tools supposing intimidate all of those who don’t share their evil ideology of hates and especially those denouncing and fighting their tyrant regime. TPLF/EPRDF are specializes on hijacking, assassination, looting and introducing bombs .They are really specialized on the matter of crimes of terrorism. Majority of the people are starving with the lack of foods, and children suffering of malnutrition but the TPLF bandits have means to through millions of dollars to pay for Chines hackers.TPLF hunt for an anonymous blogger who criticized a new law that defies the constitution. The international Telecommunication union/ITU/ estimated internet penetration at 1.5 per cent, this seems surprisingly low, although the precise scale of usage is notoriously difficult to ascertain in Ethiopia. Foryears, the Ethiopia government had systematically restricted access to political content on line.

Bloggers are not immune from legal threats, and a TPLF security wasted valuable time and resources trying to identify an anonymous blogger who had criticized their conflict with a constitutional court. Ethiopia’s telecom sector cannot easily sustain responsible investment .A repressive legal framework that allows for security, privacy, and human rights abuses governs the sector. These laws permits the government to engage in surveillance, censorship, cyber-attacks collect and store user data, and disrupt communications. Although freedom of expression is enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution, the guarantees are qualified by the phrase, cyber-attacks against opposition pages like OLF /Oromo liberation front/and other websites are common in Ethiopia and have intensified following the

protests ,several online forums, websites, and Facebook pages related to the protesters were hacked. It is saddens me to think that, one of the poorest country on earth, deploying the most sophisticated technology to spy its citizens, majority of the people are denied the most simple basic services like clean water,access to reliable telephone services…etc. population of 90 million only 1.5 per cent of the population have an access to internet .I don`t know how on earth one justifies to spend our limited resources frivolously like the way the wanes are spending it. It’s almost a crime for the sake of fake security.

All human beings are born with inalienable rights. These human rights empower people to pursue lives of dignity – thus, no government can bestow them but all governments should protect them. Freedom, built on a foundation of justice, tolerance, dignity, and respect – regardless of ethnicity, religion, political association, or social standing – allows people to pursue these fundamental rights. Whereas dictatorships deny human rights, free societies continually strive to attain them.