Anthony Mitchell: Keeping the Tormentors Honest

We were grieved to learn of the untimely death of Anthony Mitchell this past weekend. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, children, and all his friends and colleagues at Associated Press. Anthony Mitchell was a true friend of Ethiopia and Ethiopians.

Last year, in Suffocated, we wrote the following on the EPRDF’s expulsion of the journalist, whose only crime was to report the truth:

We are incensed over Anthony Mitchell's expulsion, the jailing of Ethiopian journalists, and the consequence of these draconian measures to the freedom of thought and expression in Ethiopia.

It is one thing for a government to kick out a foreign journalist on grounds of national security threat. But a decision to render a journalist persona non grata for merely "disseminat[ing] information bent on tarnishing the image of the country" brings us closer to the type of tyranny that made Jefferson lose sleep. And Ethiopians, withered by years of governmental repression understand that [ ] tyranny is never a one-time dose; it's part and parcel of an overall intention to muzzle anything printed or spoken by those who disagree. The Walta, ETV, and Fana Radio type of journalism savored by those in power--pamphleteerism--is suffociating and at times puke-worthy. Andrew Heavens' fatigue with what he correctly refers to as blaxploitative headlines is justified (especially those on Gondar) and do nothing to contribute to the marketplace of ideas so stifled in Ethiopia.

And by the way, what image is Ethiopia upholding? Aren't millions dying of hunger? Didn't you shoot kids in broad daylight? What exactly did Frezer and Anthony say or write that deserved the EPRDF's wrath?

Addis Voice has written a befitting tribute which can be read here. Vaya Con Dios, Mr. Mitchell.