disarming fighters from the Tigray war
and a new head for the media regulatory body
Hi there,
It’s been an intense few days, so this edition will be short. I will be in Dakar this week attending the African Women in Media conference, so if you’re also going, hit reply to this email and let me know and we can find each other there.
To new subscribers, welcome!
My name is Maya Misikir, and I’m a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba. I write Sifter, this newsletter where I send out the week’s top 5 stories on human rights and news in Ethiopia.
Now, to the news.
Tigray: disarming, and reintegrating former fighters
It’s been over two years since the Pretoria peace deal (the Cessation of Hostilities) was signed between the federal government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) ending the two-year war in Tigray.
At the end of last month, as part of this agreement the, ‘disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) program for 75,000 former combatants in Tigray’ officially commenced.
There are three designated centers for this in the region: Mekelle, the region’s capital, and Edaga Hamus, and Adwa.
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
Temesgen Tilahun, Commissioner of the National Rehabilitation Commission (NRC), stated that the identification and disarmament process for over 371,000 former combatants from seven regions has been completed, clearing the way for reintegration efforts. The two-year DDR program has a budget exceeding $760 million, with the first phase in Tigray funded by 1 billion birr from the government and $60 million from international partners.
The TPLF’s deputy chairperson, who is critical of the region’s interim administration, says the DDR process should have been ‘implemented when armed forces outside of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces exit Tigray territories’.
I wrote about the split in faction within the TPLF, that has pitted the region’s interim administration against the party’s ‘old guard’ in September; you can read that here.
Civic space: bogus reasons for suspension
I wrote about the suspension of three organizations last week by the civil society regulatory body: the Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy, the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia, and Lawyers for Human Rights.
The basis for suspension includes claims of ‘lack of political neutrality’ and ‘engaging against the national interest’, a move Amnesty International says indicates a ‘growing crackdown on civic space, compounded by the lack of accountability for recent targeting of human rights defenders.’
What about the alleged grounds of suspensions themselves? Here’s an excerpt on that from the statement:
Such allegations have long been used by the Ethiopian authorities as tools to suppress civil society organizations.
The statement adds that the ‘use of these vaguely worded restrictions to curtail freedom of association is contrary to Ethiopia’s regional and international human rights law obligations.’
The full statement by Amnesty International, here.
Infrastructure: involving more neighbors
Ethiopia and Somalia’s falling out (due to a port agreement Ethiopia signed with Somaliland earlier in the year), has been a cause of concern for the stability of the Horn. You can read the last update I wrote explaining this, here.
Over the past year, the government of Turkey has mediated two rounds of talks, and last week, Kenya and Uganda reportedly joined in these efforts.
Here’s an excerpt from a story on Reuters on the reasoning behind their involvement:
"Because the security of Somalia ... contributes significantly to the stability of our region, and the environment for investors and business people and entrepreneurs to thrive," Ruto told a press conference at a regional heads of state summit.
However, Somalia’s foreign minister says, ‘previous resolutions by regional leaders had fallen on deaf ears in Addis Ababa, but he had confidence ongoing mediation efforts by Turkey would be fruitful.’
The full story on Reuters, here.
Reshuffle: who will lead the media regulatory body?
Ethiopia’s media law and the newly proposed amendments to it have been a topic of concern over the past few weeks. You can find the detailed update on the public discussions over this here.
Last week, the head of the country’s media regulatory body, Mohamed Idris, was appointed as the Minister of Peace, by the Prime Minister.
Mohamed Idris has been ‘serving as the Director General of the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) since 5 April, 2021.’
No official information has been released yet on who will be taking his place. Ethiopia’s current Minister of Peace, Binalf Andualem has been serving in his role since October 2021.
The full story on state broadcaster Fana BC, here.
Refugees: Eritreans in Addis Abeba
Last week’s update was on the importance of quick registration for Eritrean refugees coming into Ethiopia; to get access to basic services (and to decrease the risk of human trafficking).
Yet Eritrean refugees in the capital city say that there are, ‘widespread arrests among their community’ that have happened over the past few weeks, according to a story by BBC.
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
One Eritrean refugee, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said he was arrested after someone heard him speaking Tigrinya - a language used in Eritrea, as well as Ethiopia's Tigray region.
"We were sitting in a café when someone overheard us speaking Tigrinya and called the police.
Eritrean refugees, who leave their country to avoid forced ‘military conscription and government oppression’ are now in fear they might be deported back, according to the story.
The full story on the BBC, here.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!
In the meantime, feel free to share this with anyone you think can benefit from keeping up with what’s going on in Ethiopia.
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