Saturday, 23 August 2014

EFF to Ethiopia: Illegal Wiretapping Is Illegal, Even for Governments

Earlier this week, EFF told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that Ethiopia must be held accountable for its illegal wiretapping of an American citizen. Foreign governments simply do not have a get-out-of-court-free card when they commit serious felonies in America against Americans. This case is the centerpiece of our U.S. legal efforts to combatstate sponsored malware.
In February 2014, EFF filed suit against the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on behalf of our client, Mr. Kidane, an Ethiopian by birth who has been a U.S. citizen over a decade. Mr. Kidane discovered traces of Gamma International's FinSpy, a sophisticated spyware product which its maker claims is sold exclusively to governments and law enforcement, on his laptop at his home in suburban Maryland. A forensic examination of his computer showed that the Ethiopian government had been recording Mr. Kidane’s Skype calls, as well as monitoring his web and email usage. The monitoring, which violates both the federal Wiretap Act and Maryland state law, was accomplished using spyware that captured his activities and then reported them back to a command and control server in Ethiopia controlled by the government. The infection was active from October 2012, through March 2013, and was stopped just days after researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab released a reportexposing Ethiopia's use of use of FinSpy. The report specifically referenced the very IP address of the Ethiopian government server responsible for the command and control of the spyware on Mr. Kidane’s laptop.
The Ethiopian government responded to the suit with the troubling claim that it—and every other foreign government—should be completely immune from suit for wiretapping American citizens on American soil. Ethiopia’s filing rests on several logic-challenged premises. Ethiopia claims that the recording of Mr. Kidane’s Skype calls and Internet activity at his home in Maryland actually took place in Ethiopia, and is therefore beyond the reach of any U.S. court. Worse still, Ethiopia claims that it had the "discretion" to violate U.S. law, reducing the Wiretap Act to something more like a traffic violation than a serious felony. Interestingly, Ethiopia does not actually deny that it wiretapped Mr. Kidane.
Yesterday, EFF and its co-counsel at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresifiled a response knocking down each of Ethiopia’s arguments, noting that not even the U.S. government is allowed to do what Ethiopia claims it had the right to do here: wiretap Americans in America with no legal process whatsoever.  We argue that Ethiopia must be held accountable for wiretapping Mr. Kidane, just as any other actor would be. Neither its status as a government nor the fact that it launched its attack on Mr. Kidane from Ethiopia gives it carte blanche to ignore the law. If Ethiopia legitimately needed to collect information about Americans for an investigation, it could negotiate a deal with the U.S., called a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, which would allow it to seek U.S. assistance for something like a wiretap. Otherwise, there simply is no “international spying” exception to the law for foreign governments, nor should there be. When sovereign governments act, especially when they invade the privacy of ordinary people, they must do so within the bounds of the law.  And when foreign governments break U.S. law, U.S. courts have the power to hold them accountable.
This is the next step in what we hope will set an important precedent in the U.S., fighting back against the growing problem of state-sponsored malware.  No matter what one thinks about the NSA spying on Americans inside the U.S. (of course EFF believes that this has gone way far too), it should be easy to see that foreign governments—be they Ethiopia, China, or as EFF itself experienced Vietnam—do not and should not have that right. 
Sourse   EFF

Tuesday, 19 August 2014

Family of Andargachew Tsige Calls for his Release


The family of a British citizen kidnapped and rendered to Ethiopia in June has called on the British government to secure his release as soon as possible.
LONDON – Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege, a father of three from London, was travelling to Eritrea in June this year when he was seized during a stopover in Yemen. Two weeks later, Ethiopian officials admitted to the UK government that Mr Tsege was in their custody.
British consular staff were denied access to Mr Tsege over 50 days after his initial capture, and his family still do not know where is being held. Last month, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn dismissed concerns about Mr Tsege’s concerns and whereabouts.
Mr Tsege, who is a prominent member of an Ethiopian opposition group, faces a death sentence imposed in absentia, and his arrest comes amid a crackdown on political activists and journalists ahead of elections in Ethiopia next year. In a heavily-edited video aired recently on Ethiopian state TV, Mr Tsege appeared thin and exhausted, and was presented as having ‘confessed’ to various charges.
Torture in prisons in Ethiopia is common; a 2013 Human Rights Watch report on the notorious Maekelawi Police Station documented serious human rights abuses, unlawful interrogation tactics, and poor detention conditions.
Speaking to The Times in an interview published today, Mr Tsege’s partner Yemi Haile Mariam said: “Where is the outrage that a Brit has been held for this many days? He is a British national sentenced to execution in absentia.”
Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: “Andy Tsege has been subject to kidnapping, torture, and secret detention, all for the ‘crime’ of his political beliefs. He had to endure 50 days of detention and torture before UK officials were even permitted to see him this week. Even now, his family in London have no idea where he is being held, and in what conditions. This is an unacceptable state of affairs; the UK government should be using its close ties to Ethiopia to call unequivocally for his release.”

Saturday, 9 August 2014

አለማቀፉ የጉዲፈቻ ተቋም በሙስናና በማጭበርበር ሕፃናትን ከኢትዮጵያ ወደ አሜሪካ መውሰዱን ኃላፊው አመኑ

ለክልል ባለስልጣንና ለአንድ የስራ ሃላፊ ገንዘብና ውድ ስጦታ ሰጥቻለሁ ብለዋል












ተቀማጭነቱን በአሜሪካ ያደረገው ‘ኢንተርናሽናል አዶፕሽን ጋይድስ’ የተባለ አለማቀፍ የጉዲፈቻ ተቋም የውጭ ፕሮግራም ክፍል ሃላፊ በመሆን ለረጅም አመታት ያገለገሉት  አሊያስ ቢቬንስ፣ ተቋሙ በሙስናና በማጭበርበር ኢትዮጵያውያን ህጻናትን በጉዲፈቻ ወደ አሜሪካ ይወስድ እንደነበር በሳውዝ ካሮሊና የፌደራል ፍርድ ቤት ቀርበው ቃላቸውን እንደሰጡ አጃንስ ፍራንስ ፕሬስ ዘገበ፡፡  
የአሜሪካ መንግስት የፍትህ ተቋም ባለፈው ረቡዕ ያወጣውን መግለጫ የጠቀሰው ዘገባው፣ የስራ ሃላፊው እ.ኤ.አ ከ2006 እስከ 2009 በነበሩት አመታት ኢትዮጵያውያን ህጻናትን በህገወጥ መንገድ ወደ አሜሪካ ለመውሰድ ሲሉ ጉዳዩ ለሚመለከታቸው የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ባለስልጣናትና የስራ ሃላፊዎች ጉቦ መስጠታቸውን እንዲሁም ለአሜሪካ መንግስት ሐሰተኛ የጉዲፈቻ ሠነድ በማቅረብ የማጭበርብር ድርጊት ሲፈጽሙ እንደቆዩ ማመናቸውን ጠቁሟል።

የ42 አመቷ አሊያንስ ቢቬንስ ከሌሎች አሜሪካውያንና ኢትዮጵያውያን ግብረ አበሮቻቸው ጋር በመመሳጠር ከኢትዮጵያ የወላጅ አልባ ህጻናት ማሳደጊያዎች ጋር ተፈራርመናቸዋል ያሉትን  የተጭበረበሩ የጉዲፈቻ ስምምነቶችና  ተያያዥ ሃሰተኛ ሰነዶች ለአሜሪካ መንግስት መስጠታቸውን እንዳመኑ የጠቆመው ዘገባው፣ በዚህ መልኩ በህገወጥ መንገድ ወደ አሜሪካ እንዲገቡ ከተደረጉት ኢትዮጵያውያን መካከል የተወሰኑት፣ ከተቋሙ ጋር የጉዲፈቻ ስምምነት አድርገዋል በተባሉት የወላጅ አልባ ህጻናት ማሳደጊያዎች ውስጥ ያልተመዘገቡና ተገቢው እንክብካቤ ያልተደረገላቸው መሆናቸው እንደተረጋገጠም አመልክቷል፡፡ ከዚህ በተጨማሪም በኢትዮጵያ ጉዳዩ የሚመለከታቸውን  የመንግስት ባለስልጣንና የስራ ሃላፊ የድርጊቱ ተሳታፊ እንዲሆኑ በማሳመን እንዲሁም  በጥቅማጥቅሞች ደልለው ወደ አሜሪካ በመውሰድ፣ የህጻናቱ የቪዛ ጉዳይ በቀላሉ እንዲያልቅና ጉዲፈቻውን በማጭበርበር ለማሳካት እንዲዲያግዟቸው ማድረጋቸውንም አምነዋል ብሏል- የአሶሼትድ ፕሬስ ዘገባ፡፡ የድርጊቱ ተባባሪ ከሆኑት ኢትዮጵያውያን መካከል በመንግስት ትምህርት ቤት ተቀጥረው የሚሰሩ ግለሰብ እንደሚገኙበት ለሳውዝ ካሮሊና ፍርድ ቤት የተናገሩት ቢቬንስ ፣ ግለሰቡ በአሜሪካ ለሚገኙ የጉዲፈቻ አሳዳጊዎች የህጻናቱን የጤናና ማህበራዊ ሁኔታ የሚገልጽ መረጃ በመስጠት ላደረጉት አስተዋጽኦ ከተቋሙ ገንዘብ እንደተከፈላቸውና ውድ ስጦታዎች እንደተበረከቱላቸው ተናግረዋል፡፡

የክልል የሴቶችና ህጻናት ጉዳይ ቢሮ ሃላፊ እንደሆኑ የተነገረላቸው ሌላው የድርጊቱ ተባባሪም፣ ስልጣናቸውን በመጠቀም  ተቋሙ በአገራት መካከል የሚያከናውናቸው የጉዲፈቻ ስራ ማመልከቻዎች በኢትዮጵያ ተቀባይነት እንዲያገኙና ህገወጥ ተልዕኮውን እንዲያሳካ በማገዛቸው፣ ሙሉ ወጪያቸው ተሸፍኖላቸው የውጪ አገራት ጉዞ ከማድረጋቸውም በላይ ጠቀም ያለ ገንዘብ እንደተሰጣቸውም ሃላፊው ቃላቸውን ሰጥተዋል፡፡

የቢቬንስን ጉዳይ ሲመለከት የቆየው የሳውዝ ካሮሊና ፍርድ ቤት፣ከጥቂት ቀናት በኋላ በተከሳሹ ላይ ተገቢውን ቅጣት ይጥልባቸዋል ተብሎ ይጠበቃል፡፡

http://www.afp.com/en/node/2702799

Sunday, 3 August 2014

Ten years old Eyana Mesfin wrote a letter to President Obama regarding Andargachew Tsige.

This letter posted by Hello! I am 10 year old Eyana Mesfin from Centennial, Colorado. I was wondering if you could do something about the crisis in Ethiopia. Andargachew Tsige has been kidnapped during a flight from Dubai to Eritrea. On June 23rd, at a stop in Yemen, they captured him and took him to Ethiopia, his birth country. He is a citizen of Britain, and left Ethiopia in 2005, following protests of the nation’s elections. He is married and has twins, both 7. Andargachew has been captured before and tortured, but he escaped blind in one eye. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, has labeled his activist group, Ginbot 7, as a terrorist group. They are said to currently be torturing him, which is against human right laws. Millions of Ethiopians are frustrated that nothing is being done. Please help Andargachew, for he is an important figure in Ethiopian hope. Millions of Ethiopians have fled Ethiopia due to poor leadership. His kids don’t even know about his capture, all they think is that he is visiting Ethiopia. Please help Andargachew, I know you’re busy but please, if you can, have Ethiopia free Andargachew Tsige, and rule Ethiopia better. Millions of Ethiopians from Australia to Europe to America, can return to their wonderful, beautiful home.
Thanks,
Eyana Mesfin

Free Andargachew Tsige.

This is the new website for Andargachew Tsige

http://www.andargachewtsige.com/?cat=2