Press Release for Third Online Campaign
Zone9 is an online activist and blogger group which is a collection of Ethiopians
that envision creating all-inclusive and independent narration in
Ethiopia’s politics and social matters. Its main objective is to create a
platform were concerned Ethiopians are cultivated to make each and
every one participate in the various facets of the country, discuss and
contribute to the betterment of Ethiopia.
Respected residents of
Zone 9, in the year 2012/13 we have planned to conduct four different
campaigns on different issues. We are going to conduct our third
campaign from May 8th to 10th of 2013. This
campaign will focus on demanding Article 30 of FDRE’s constitution,
which entails that everyone has the right to assemble and demonstrate
together with others peaceably and unarmed, and to petition, to be respected.
Peaceful
demonstration and assemblies are rights granted by the constitution to
enable citizens to associate and express their common views of their
choices.
During and after the 2005 national election, any form of
public demonstration and assembly was banned by state of emergency from
the prime minister on the evening of the election. The two major
historical demonstrations of May 7 and 8 were parts of the election
campaign and it is possible to conclude that few demonstrations held
there-after were to support government and solely one sided.
After
May 2005 the one and the only opposition demonstration was held by
Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party with only 250 participants
demanding the release of the then Party chair W/t Birtukan Midekssa. UDJ
leaders were asked to take responsibilities for any security problems
which forced them to limit the number of participants.
Currently,
even though, there isn’t any legal barrier, assemblies, political
campaigns and demonstrations are restricted and limited. Private owners
of meeting halls and conference rooms are often hesitant and prefer to
refrain from renting their properties in fear of unfavorable
repercussion that might follow, from the government.
This
third campaign requests immediate action on bans and indirect
restriction on rights to unarmed peaceful demonstration and assemblies
and protection of this right enshrined in the constitution by the
government.
The campaign will mainly be held on Facebook
and Twitter. Articles and blogs focusing on the constitutional right
and related topics will be posted and shared. The Hashtags that will be
used for the campaign are #Assembly4Every1 and #Demonstration4Every1.
We
would like to invite residents of Zone9 and all others, who believe in
the right to demonstrate and assemble: to participate and share your
experience in regards to the abuse of these rights and discuss your
thoughts, change your profile
picture and status updates with the ones that are going to be shared on
the two main pages – Zone9 and Respect the Constitution (??-?????
????!). Thank you!!!
We blog because we care!!!
Zone9
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