SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Mugabe regime resumes jamming SW Radio Africa broadcasts

By Lance Guma 02 September 2010 Robert Mugabe’s regime has resumed jamming news broadcasts from SW Radio Africa, despite the existence of the coalition government with the MDC, that is supposed to guarantee freedom of expression. On Wednesday evening the first half hour of our broadcast featuring Newsreel was drowned out by a heavy noise, sounding like a slow playing record. SW Radio Africa listeners told us that soon after the news ended the jamming noise stopped and the rest of the broadcast featuring current affairs programming could be heard clearly. Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa told Newsreel he was not aware of the jamming. He said; ‘We will have to start gathering our facts on the matter before coming up with our position.’ Deputy Information Minister Murisi Zwizwai’s phone went unanswered the whole day. But a source told us the Central Intelligence Organisation, which falls under the President’s Office, is running the operation. In 2005 Mugabe’s regime began jamming SW Radio Africa frequencies just before the controversial Operation Murambatsvina. It was reported that the jamming equipment and expertise was provided by China and at the time we spoke to a soldier who says he was sent to China to be trained in jamming techniques. The jamming was then extended to include signals from Voice of America’s Studio 7, in clear violation of international laws. In March 2007 then Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga admitted they were jamming our broadcasts. Speaking in parliament Matonga boasted that the government was generating electronic interference to prevent reception of the broadcasts. "We cannot allow foreigners to invade our airwaves without our authority. We will continue to do it. We need to protect our sovereignty. If you go to England you will not receive any foreign radio station." SW Radio Africa is run by exiled Zimbabweans who, because of repressive media legislation, were not allowed to broadcast from home. In 2000 the station, then called Capital Radio, challenged government’s broadcasting monopoly and won its case in the Supreme Court. But after just 6 days of broadcasting from a local hotel the station was shut down by Mugabe using his presidential powers. While the initial jamming in 2005 was done when Zimbabwe was under the sole rule of Mugabe and ZANU PF, the situation is now different and, in theory, we have a unity government where responsibility must be shared by the MDC. The national chairman of the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa Loughty Dube said; ‘It’s quite surprising because this inclusive government has made a commitment to promote a diversity of views and a diversity of media. It is imperative that they do not select which voice they want in this diversity.’ As for the MDC not knowing about the jamming Dube said; ‘It clearly tells us they are junior partners in the government’. In a related issue it was also this week that co-Home Affairs Minister, Theresa Makone, said she was unaware of an order issued by her Permanent Secretary banning paintings done by Bulawayo based artist Owen Maseko depicting the Gukurahundi era.

Ethiopia : Meles Zenawi Threatens to Jam VOA, U.S fires back

Oromsis

By Oromsis Adula*

Last month, the Voice of America, a "multimedia broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors", complained that its Amharic broadcats were jammed in Ethiopia. Speaking to reporters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian tyrant Meles Zenawi, threatens to jam the broadcast completely while comparing it to Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). RTLM is a radio station best known for inciting and excerbating the Rwandan Genocide.

Meles Zenawi likes to use Rwandan Genocide as a scare tactic. During the 2005, he used Interahamwe referring to opposition protesters. Interahamwe was the government backed Hutu militia mobilized to massacre their Tutsi counterparts.

Apparently, although this could just be a war of words, the State Department is fighting back. Clearly, the sun is shining on Meles Zenawi's repressive rule. It is up to the United States and other donor countries to take note and stop financing a dictatorial regime.

It is also to be remembered that following the contested 2005 Ethiopian election, the minority regime in Ethiopia effectively muzzled out independent press in the country. Many of the journalists who were instrumental in bringing to light the brutality of Ethiopian government were either in prison or forced to flee the country.

For the last eighteen years, despite the rhetoric of democratization, the Voice of America Radio and Germany's International Broadcasting Station, the Deutsche Welle Radio, served the people of Ethiopia as the only media outlets not controlled by government.

In a country of seventy plus million people, there is not a single free press to speak of. Afan Oromo, the lingua-franca of Ethiopia and the third most widely spoken language in Africa, is relegated to a limited propoganda service. Jamming the VOA broadcats will leave the whole country with vitually no voice or an alternative news source apart from the government controlled agitprop.

One can only wonder, what good does writing annual human rights reports and complaining about jammed radio broadcats do for the American government that continues to support the authoritarian regime in Addis Ababa. A powerful nation such as the United States, has the power to tell Ethiopian authorities, "they are on the wrong side of history" and also they have a stated will to stand "with those who seek justice, freedom and liberty"

Related Stories:

• U.S. condemns Zenawi's VOA-Rwanda comparison - EthioMedia
• U.S Strongly Criticizes Ethiopia's Jamming of VOA - State Department
• U.S Criticizes the jamming of VOA - VOA News
• Ethiopia admits jamming VOA radio - BBC News
  

「広島に原爆」川越から傍受 通信社分室が政府に報告

「広島に原爆」川越から傍受　通信社分室が政府に報告（1/2ページ）

2010年8月9日0時42分

杉山市平氏

武井武夫氏

　終戦直前に広島へ投下された兵器の正体を、国内でいち早く「原子爆弾」と訳し、政府に報告したのは、埼玉県川越市で海外放送を傍受した通信社だった ――。戦後６５年の今年、そんな裏面史を検証する調査が進んでいる。大本営は結局、しばらくは「新型爆弾」としか発表せず、放射能の脅威が知らされないま ま２次被爆の拡大につながったと指摘する専門家もいる。

　「トルーマン（米）大統領が原子爆弾で広島を攻撃した旨発表した」

　財団法人通信社史刊行会（現・新聞通信調査会）から１９５８年に発行された「通信社史」によると、こんな海外放送を傍受したのは、共同通信社や時事通信 社の前身だった同盟通信社の川越分室。４５年８月７日午前１時半ごろだった。前日の広島の惨禍に関する重大情報で、日本語に訳され、直ちに東郷茂徳外相ら に伝達されたという。

　しかし、この記述を検証できる史料は乏しい。川越市史には「同盟通信社が疎開して外国電波をキャッチしていた」とだけ記されている。

　外電の傍受活動について調べている元共同通信記者の鳥居英晴氏（６１）と、郷土史を探究する市内の作家龍神由美さん（５２）が別々に検証作業を始めたと ころ、昨年から今年にかけて、市内の同じ「生き証人」にたどり着いた。分室の記者だった故・杉山市平氏の妻昭子（てるこ）さん（８３）だ。

　昭子さんは夫から生前、こう聞いていた。「今までにない爆弾が落ち、どうやって訳すかを考え、『原子爆弾』という名を付けた」。翻訳は、同僚の故・武井武夫記者との共同作業だったという。

　昭子さんによると、分室は現在の市立博物館の場所で、当時の市立工業学校を使っていた。傍受にあたる逓信省の技術者や英文をタイプする日系人も出入りしていた。昭子さんは「知られていないけど大変な歴史なんです」と話す。

両記者の上司だった木下秀夫氏は、文芸春秋７１年１２月号への寄稿で、分室開設について「すべて極秘のうちに行われた」と記し、こう述懐している。 「トルーマン大統領の原爆投下声明も、ポツダム宣言も、日本の降伏受諾が先方に届いたことの確認も、その第一報はすべてここでキャッチされた」

　東郷外相への伝達直後の８月７日午後、大本営は広島に投下された核兵器を「新型爆弾」と発表した。軍が「原子爆弾」と認め、被爆地の残留放射能の危険性を公表したのは同１４日だったとされる。

　核開発の歴史に詳しい山崎正勝・東工大名誉教授（科学史）は、通信社からの情報が生かされなかったことも、２次被爆の拡大の一因とみる。「日本で戦時中 にウランの軍事利用を研究していた専門家は、残留放射能の危険性を知っていたが、軍や政府から知らされずに原爆投下直後の広島、長崎に入り、命を失った人 たちがたくさんいる」

　鳥居氏は、新聞通信調査会の会報「メディア展望」で、川越分室に関する連載を始める予定という。（村野英一）

ew !August 03 Author: yontambek | Today, 05:26 | Views: 6
	Earlier, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia had been testing jamming equipment, but there had been no formal decision to block the US station. The Amharic Service has experienced interference since late February. Mr Meles also compared the VOA's transmissions to broadcasts in Rwanda in the mid-1990s that incited genocide. "We have for some time now been trying to beef up our capacity to deal with this, including... jamming," Mr Meles replied In a statement, VOA director Danforth Austin said that any comparison of VOA programming to Rwandan broadcasts inciting genocide in the 1990s was "incorrect and unfortunate". "The VOA deplores jamming as a form of media censorship wherever it may occur," he said, adding that the station's Amharic Service was required by law to provide accurate and objective information. The VOA and other foreign media organizations say broadcasts in Amharic - the country's most widely spoken language - have been jammed around elections in the past. According to 2nd August 2010 message from VOA. Greetings from Voice of America! Over recent months we’ve appreciated hearing from you about our Horn of Africa broadcasts to our Ethiopian and Eritrean audiences. For 28 years Voice of America has broadcast uncensored news to both countries, but that service has been recently interrupted by the Ethiopian government. And they have blocked access to our Horn of Africa web site for all who live in Ethiopia. We value your views and during a crucial time in Ethiopian domestic affairs, we wanted to offer you by e-mail a new way to receive our news and feature programs. Our broadcasters continue to work diligently to reach many parts of the world with news in Amharic, Afaan Oromoo and Tigrigna, but most listeners in Ethiopia cannot get that news now. So, we invite you to receive the Horn of Africa news Monday through Friday. You can subscribe at http://www1.voanews.com/amharic/email/ If you cannot access our site, click on http://www.melkamzena.com. You will be able to hear a recent broadcast in any of our three languages. Or, click on “newsletter” and enter your e-mail address and Monday through Friday you’ll receive links to our top stories of the day about Ethiopia. Your subscription to our Horn newsletter is one of many ways VOA is reaching out to our loyal listeners during this communications crisis. We invite you to forward this e-mail to anyone in Ethiopia or anywhere else in the world who would like to receive our Horn of Africa newsletter.

情報機関が『地下放送』　脱北者関与 反政府勢力装う

2010年6月23日 07時08分

ソウル近郊にある「人民の声放送」の送信施設。フェンスと鉄条網に囲まれた敷地内は立ち入り禁止だ

　韓国軍哨戒艦の沈没事件が国連安全保障理事会で協議される中、五百万人近くが死傷した朝鮮戦争（一九五〇～五三年）勃発（ぼっぱつ）から二十五日 で六十年を迎える。韓国政府は沈没事件の制裁措置として、軍事境界線付近で宣伝放送を開始。その水面下にある非軍事的戦術「心理戦」の実態が明らかになっ た。　（ソウル・城内康伸、写真も）

　六月初めの未明、ソウルで短波ラジオをある周波数に合わせると、激しい雑音とともに「朝鮮語」による 男性のアナウンスが聞こえてきた。

　「朝鮮労働者総同盟がお届けする人民の声放送を始めます。独裁政権と戦うみなさんの決死組織です」

　 この日の放送の話題は哨戒艦沈没事件だ。北朝鮮の朝鮮労働党党員の夫妻が対話する形で「沈没の原因はわが軍の攻撃だ。それなのに（北朝鮮の）上層部は南 （韓国）の捏造（ねつぞう）としている」と伝えた。続いて金正日（キムジョンイル）政権を非難。放送は北朝鮮内の反政府勢力が流しているように聞こえた。

　 その送信施設がソウル近郊の田園地帯にあるのを見つけた。広大な敷地に巨大なアンテナ塔が十六本。施設の外にはフェンスが張り巡らされ、監視所もある。近 くでラジオの電源を入れると、放送には雑音もなく普通に受信できた。電波は毎日十八時間、北朝鮮に向かって飛んでいる。

　「人民の声は、実 は国家情報院（韓国の情報機関＝国情院）が運営している」。“怪電波”の正体を、情報当局筋が明かした。

　三十年余の短波ラジオ受信歴があ るアジア放送研究会の山下透代表は「八六年六月二十五日に開局し、かつては平壌が発信地と放送していた」と説明。

　放送にかかわった男性は 「放送原稿の執筆やアナウンスは、主に国情院が選抜した脱北者が携わっている」と証言する。別の関係者は「盧武鉉（ノムヒョン）前政権では金正日と呼び捨 てにしないよう上部から指示があった。李明博（イミョンバク）政権誕生後、激しい批判が復活した」と指摘した。

　だが、国情院は「対北放送 はしていない」と否定しており「人民の声」の運営は、極秘事項なのだ。

　こうした放送は地下放送と呼ばれ、敵対勢力や相手国内の動揺や反乱 の扇動を目的とする。放送にかぶさる雑音は、北朝鮮が住民に聞かせないようにする妨害電波だった。

（東京新聞）

Iran Jams Satellite Signal

Iran Jams Satellite Signal

The Iranian government has continued to increase its jamming of satellite television signals in Iran, thereby prohibiting access protected by international treaties

Photo: photos.com

Satellite Dishes

"Suppressing ideas does not succeed in making them go away."

In the run-up to the one year anniversary of last June's disputed presidential election, the Iranian government has continued to increase its jamming of satellite television signals in Iran, thereby prohibiting access protected by international treaties.

According to complaints by Iranian citizens, the electronic interference was evident when the Voice of America's Persian News Network recently broadcast an HBO documentary on the life of Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman killed during peaceful protests following the election last year. Her death was captured on video, and she has become a symbol of the aspirations of the Iranian people for freedom and justice.

Earlier this year, the Iranian government also jammed VOA and other international broadcasts when Iran's leadership sought to suppress opposition protests on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. At that time, VOA, Deutsche Welle, and the BBC issued a joint statement condemning the jamming, saying "it contravenes international agreements and is interfering with the free and open flow of international transmissions that are protected by international treaties."

In addition, the broadcasters noted, the Iranian authorities "are using the same satellite services to broadcast freely around the world including broadcasts in English and Arabic; at the same time they are denying their own people programs coming from the same satellites from the rest of the world."

Iranian authorities have attempted to keep information from the citizens of Iran through tactics such as jamming signals or closing newspapers or filtering the internet. They also continue their arrests and detentions of citizens with any association to the political opposition.

Despite the attempts of the leadership in Iran to deny outside information to its citizens, those in Iran who are trying to exercise their universal rights should know that the world is watching. As President Barack Obama has said, "Suppressing ideas does not succeed in making them go away. . . . History will be on the side of those who seek justice."

voice of america

Press Freedom | 28.05.2010

Jamming of DW is part of Ethiopia's campaign against press freedom

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: A DW reporter interviews an election helper in Ethiopia.

Coinciding with Ethiopia's parliamentary election last Sunday, DW's Amharic service in the country was deliberately jammed. It is part of the government's strategy to silence independent media.

"These methods are a violation of international law and -- what is even more important -- they are a violation of human rights, particularly the right to freedom of information for people all over the world," Deutsche Welle's director general Erik Betterman said following the news of the intentional disruption of Deutsche Welle broadcasting during the election by the Ethiopian government.

Just as in 2007 and 2008, Deutsche Welle's Amharic radio broadcasts were subjected to jamming, i.e. the deliberate interference of Deutsche Welle's short wave signal.

Two and three years ago it was the invasion of Ethiopian soldiers into Somalia and increasing border tensions with Eritrea that led the government in Addis Abeba to disrupt transmission of Deutsche Welle. Germany's international broadcaster has been transmitting in Ethiopia's official language, Amharic, since 1965.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: DW Director General Erik Bettermann protested against the jamming efforts Bettermann has called the renewed interference of DW's frequencies a drastic attack against "Germany's voice for human rights."

Jamming linked to elections

According to Ambroise Pierre, director for Africa at Reporters without Borders in Paris, the government's latest jamming efforts are linked to parliamentary elections in Ethiopia.

"The jamming of Deutsche Welle in Ethiopia must obviously and directly be viewed in a political context. The election on May 23 was an important milestone for Meles Zenawi and his government. This government made it impossible for domestic and international media to inform the Ethiopians independently," Pierre said.

On the world stage Prime Minister Meles, a Marxist and former guerilla fighter who has led the country for 19 years, presents himself as Africa's negotiator on climate issues and the G-20. But at home in Addis Abebba, the seat for the African Union, human rights groups say he bullies the opposition, journalists and civil society activists.

Freedom of press not respected

In May after the jamming of the Amharic broadcasts of Voice of America became public, Reporters without Borders sent an open letter to Meles, urging him to uphold the freedom of the press during the election. That demand was ignored, said Pierre:

"With our letter we wanted to appeal to the prime minister to not interfere with the work of the media. But he obviously didn't heed our demand, since Deutsche Welle is being jammed now as well."

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The Amharic department at Deutsche Welle in Bonn, GermanySince the election of 2005 which was marred by 200 deaths and charges of massive fraud, the Ethiopian government has been engaged in an aggressive lobbying campaign against the Amharic service of Deutsche Welle. These efforts culminated in a complaint to the German parliament alleging that DW's reporting was biased. While this accusation could be invalidated after broadcast manuscripts were re-translated into German, the jamming was only stopped after the intervention of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Addis Abbeba in 2008.

According to Bettermann the continued attacks by the Ethiopian government and the blocking of unpopular Internet sites through the aid of Chinese software and hardware is a confirmation that Germany's broadcaster is on the right track.

"Since this isn't the first time that we are being jammed, this shows that what we transmit to Ethiopia must be considered as very serious," he said and added that the government in Addis Abbeba must be "thin-skinned" to block media access. Information educates the people and governments must be able to withstand criticism, he stressed.

Ethiopian authorities could not officially be reached for comment. However, confronted with the alleged jamming, Prime Minister Meles denied any interference with DW's signal in a conversation with the head of the EU's election observer mission (EU-EOM) in Ethiopia.

Listeners from all over the world have protested against the jamming during the election weekend. In Ethiopia people have begun calling in to the Deutsche Welle to express their frustration and regret that the international broadcaster could not be heard reporting on the country's election.

Author: Ludger Schadomsky (mik)
Editor: Kristin Zeier