Issue No. 151

Ethiopia’s Censorship Culture Shows Little Improvement Post-Tigray War
 

With the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) between the Ethiopian government and the regional government of Tigray signed in November 2022, many had hoped that Ethiopia’s press freedom would improve. However, continued detentions and harassment of journalists expose the country’s ongoing decline in press censorship. Press freedom took a downward turn with the federal government’s 2020 invasion of Tigray, and today it shows no meaningful signs of positive change. However, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed looks toward Western support in the hope of saving his country from a financial crisis, there are relatively easy improvements that could be implemented. Greater press freedom would both appease his public and demonstrate a meaningful commitment to political reform.
 
In 2018, when Abiy released all journalists still in detention by the previous government, international observers celebrated long-awaited reform in Ethiopia. However, by the beginning of the Tigray war, journalists found themselves facing nearly the same level of hostility as in the peak years of Oromo youth protests, in 2015 and 2016. Most concerning, on 20 January 2021 Tigray-based reporter, Dawit Kebede Araya was shot and killed by Ethiopian forces, the first Ethiopian journalist killed since 1998. In 2021 nearly 50 Ethiopian journalists were detained, and reporters from major international media outlets, including the New York Times, were expelled from Ethiopia. The country dropped 13 places in the Reporters Without Borders’ 2022 Freedom Index. 
 
The year 2022 saw continued hostilities directed at the press. In April 2022, the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) filed criminal cases against at least 25 media outlets, and 19 journalists from local newsrooms were detained – a dozen due to their critique of federal security plans. In May, the EMA expelled Economist correspondent, Tom Gardner, over his purportedly "misguided approach" to journalism. Other journalists told Voice Of America that public officials feared speaking on the record to non-state-run publications, which dominate Ethiopia’s media market. But those state-run outlets are known to actively spread disinformation, particularly related to armed conflict, popular protests, and political leadership. 
 
The end of the Tigray war brought with it hopes of improvements in civil liberties, especially given the release of several Tigrayan journalists detained since May 2022. Moreover, Abiy appeared to be realigning himself with the West, partners who had brokered the Pretoria Agreement under the auspices of the African Union. Western governments have historically pressured Ethiopia and other African countries to improve their treatment of the press. At a meeting in October 2022, the UN Human Rights Council pressed its Ethiopian delegation to end the country’s arbitrary detention of journalists. 
 
However, implementation of the CoHA has been slow, and two Tigrayan journalists, Hailemichael Gesesse and Dawit Mekonnen are still detained. What’s more, government-led harassment of the press does not appear to have ended with the war. In December 2022, federal authorities arrested Meskerem Abera, founder and owner of Ethio-Niqat, a YouTube-based media outlet, for the second time last year. And around 1 January 2023, Addis Ababa city police reportedly harassed journalists associated with the state-owned Fana Broadcasting Corporation for their investigative coverage of a real estate-related court case. 
 
Most recently, around 27 January, Somali Regional State authorities suspended the licenses of 15 foreign media outlets, including BBC Somali, effectively banning them. The regional authority was believed to be acting under the direction of federal communication authorities in Addis Ababa. The certification of the Somali Regional State of Journalists Association was also revoked.  Its chairperson had been accused of making a statement alongside BBC Somali and the Somali Administration’s Head of Information condemning the suspensions. 
 
Still, there have been some positive signs in the past few months as well. Meskerem Abera was released from detention in early January 2023, and the Ethiopia Media Authority made a rare statement on 2 January calling on the judiciary to protect investigative journalism rather than obstruct it. Nevertheless, observers should be wary of what the Columbia Journalism Review calls Ethiopia’s ‘vicious cycle’ of censorship. This is a cycle in which improvements in democratic freedoms are made to appease international observers then followed by crackdowns on journalists. It has happened before – in the late 1990s over the border war with Eritrea, and during mass anti-government protests in the mid-2010s. 
 
Press freedom in Ethiopia is now tied to the weakened position of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) the main rival of the Prime Minister’s Prosperity Party, along with Abiy’s appeals to Western actors for critically-needed financial assistance. It would therefore be unsurprising to see some improvement in civil liberties, including press freedom, in the short term.
 
Long-term improvement is needed and can be realized, by reforming the enforcement provisions in Ethiopia’s New Media Law, and language in the Anti-Terrorism Law, which Amnesty International has warned can be used against journalists. Moreover, Abiy will need to take meaningful steps toward judicial independence, no small feat for a regime of such a historically authoritarian design. 
 
If Abiy wants to demonstrate to Western backers that he is serious about reform, he would also be wise to take immediate steps to return licenses to media outlets in the Somali region, release all journalists who remain in detention, and welcome back expelled international journalists. A good faith demonstration of political will would go a long way to obtaining crucial international support. Then it will be up to international partners to ensure that such changes are sustained.

By the Ethiopia Cable Team