“Any act of aggression without reason by the police forces is a crime and whoever takes such actions is considered as a criminal,” Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia was quoted saying as he was speaking to Ethiopian artists this week.

He spoke this in response to why the police take rough measures against photographers while taking pictures on the streets of Addis Ababa.

This question was raised by a veteran photographer named Nigussie Teshome who was arrested and harassed by the police force more than 60 times.

Nigussie, who has been a photographer for over three decades, says he has paid the price to fulfil his passion of photography. He was asked by the police on different occasions and at random places what he was doing and when he explained he was taking pictures, he was told to stop. At times, he has also been arrested without warning.

The veteran photographer says that his experiences with the police are not unique, his challenges are shared by many Ethiopian photographers as well.

The photographers know the areas that are not allowed to be picturedphotographed: they have signs that read “photography is prohibited”. And they say that they would not dare to take pictures at these locations. Some of the places include the National Palace, army bases, embassies and some government institutions.

The spots which are troublesome, however, are the ones which are not prohibited.

Kalkidan Mihretu, Binyam Mengesha, Anteneh Aklilu, Michael Tewolde, Tamirat Getachew and Nahom Tesfaye are photojournalists who work atfor newspapers in Addis Ababa who have faced their share of harassment from the police.

The former teacher and Fortune Newspaper photo journalist Kalkidan Mihretu, has spent the past six years covering events in Addis Ababa. During those years, he was arrested over 10 times. And he explains that some of the reasons for his arrest were bizarre. He says that in the past, he was also forced to delete the pictures he had taken.

After he encountered many odd incidents in his job, he reminisces on some with a smile on his face. One of the incidents that he remembers is one when he was assigned to take a picture of an Isuzu truck that bumped against a tree. “I Arrived at the spot and began taking pictures. Then all of a sudden, a policeman came and asked me to show him an ID”. Kalkidan did show his ID but he was still taken to the police station where a high-ranking officer got confused as to why he was there in the first place. Despite explaining his reasons, he had to finally have his boss come to the station and bail him out.

“This was a regular occurrence. And the amazing thing for me was that the police officers didn’t have the same stance which kind of made me think that they don’t even know what they are doing,” says Kalkidan.

The photographer says that he is very careful and looks for the ‘No Photography’ signs. He, however, says that he finds it difficult to know the spots which are prohibited.

“I find it very amazing how some people want to create illusive images from the shattered reality,” he says. One time Kalkidan saw a hole which was dug but left there, and during the rainy season it created a problem for vehicles. While he was taking picture of the hole, he was asked why he is trying to shatter Ethiopia’s image.

Biniyam Mengesha, who was also banned from exhibiting nude photos of women he had taken, was told by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism told him that it will ruin the image of Ethiopia. Such prohibitions are limitations to the freedom of expression. He strongly believes that as any art form, photography should also be given to photographers so that they can pass on whatever message they want.

“There is a risk when you take a photograph, sometimes it leads to death. Photographers should know there is no easy way out,” explains Binyam.

Despite his willingness to pay the price, he says that he does not understand some of the restrictions and impositions.

A couple of years back, he went to Addis Ababa City Hall to take pictures but he was told it was not allowed. After a week, the regulation was changed and it was possible to take pictures but, unfortunately for him, the security guards would not let him in, unless they get a formal written letter from the higher officials.

Binyam knows that he might be held in contempt if he takes photographs in any court. Putting that in mind, he got permission from the judge to take photograph outside the premises of the court, while people are going in, but he was told by the police that he could not take pictures there.

“Even if the judge approved it, the police didn’t allow me. I still have the paper and it still amazes me how this could happen,” says Binyam.

Like Kalkidan, Binyam has also encountered incidents where he was forced to delete the photographs he took.

Most people here in Ethiopia don’t like being photographed by strangers and unsolicited portrayals are considered as rude acts or an invasion of one’s privacy. Sometimes the people take it to the extreme where they insult the photographers, and often try to embezzle the photographs to sell the pictures for different indecent purposes.

Michael Tewolde, a photographer for Xinhua, does not ask for permission because he says he knows the answer would be a no. The police and the community are full of suspicion when it comes to cameras. Like his colleagues, Michael was arrested numerous times over his six-year career as a photographer.

“I don’t know how I can ask permission to take picture of a public place full of people,” says Michael.

But for photographer Nahom Tesfaye the community’s negative perception is justifiable, for the photos could be associated with different things.

Within his seven years as a photographer, the one thing that upsets him most is not being able to capture the moments because of the bureaucracy. Whenever he goes to cover events, he is asked if he has permission to take photographs, and since the events are time sensitive applying for permission is just not convenient.

“They forget the fact that time is not on our side. If a place is on fire, they ask you to bring a permission paper to take a photograph and when you are back I am sure everything is over. And the moment passes you by without capturing it,” explains Nahom.

Another thing that confuses this photographer is why it is not allowed to take pictures in places which do not have restriction signs. Nahom has decided to take another approach to get his pictures, taking a wide angle shot in a hiding spot.

“Even after you get the permission and get inside the National Palace you are scared to take pictures but you see videos of pedestrians taking pictures of the White House as a souvenir,” Nahom explains with anguish.

This photographer was also arrested many times where he had to call the police chief many times, and was told to delete all his pictures in order to be freed. But more than that, what makes him sad is when he sees priority being given to government media photographers instead.

Private newspaper photographers Antenh and Tamirat also share Nahom’s frustration when government-owned media photographers have the privilege to take pictures and are treated differently by the police.

Antenh, photographer for Addis Admas Nnewspaper, was asked frequently to show his identification card on different occasions, and is given a hard time after the police findfound out that he works for a private media.

“The policemen are always in our way and they always interfere in our work. I remember one time at the Millennium Hall they deliberately pushed me and my hand was immersed in hot sauce (wot), and I was injured,” says Anteneh

Harassments are not new for this photographer, as he has also been arrested. For Tamirat, who shifted from taking pictures in a studio to photo journalism, after a couple of years of service, he has seen his share of hardship as well. This photographer says that it was a completely different experience for him.

Among the segregation he experienced working for a private media; there is one incident which has left a big scar on him. “It was the time wheren Gotera Interchange Road was being built. A house was demolished and a girl died because of that, and I started taking photographs but soon I was arrested and was detained for one hour.” Tamirat was not able to use the photos he had taken, for he was told to delete them. “I’ve hidden some of the files and have not deleted them all, but I still was not able use them.”

The other incident which made this photographer question the whole process occurred in the Oromiya Regional Office. When he was going in to the office, Tamirat was searched and the security guards saw he had a camera but reluctantly let him in. After a while, he was taking photographs of people who claimed that their land was taken and the police came and asked him to delete his pictures, which he did. But it was not over. He was charged with an offence of instigating a riot. The photographer was taken back and forth to the court for one year in Sebeta till the charge was finally dropped.

“As far as we know, there are the usual places that are restricted. But for the other places, there is no clear guideline. And one thing everyone should understand is photography is more than documentation, it is part of history. These photographs are tomorrows’ history. It is a shame we are not always allowed to preserve them,” concludes Tamirat.


Source: http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/