another weapon of war
and evictions across 58 cities
Hi there,
I’m sending this edition out from Djibouti, where I am currently on a reporting trip with another colleague. The sheer number of people who speak Amharic, not to mention the Ethiopians I have come across, has made me feel right at home. The weather is warm and humid, but not oppressively so (yet), and the Ethiopian food here is shockingly better than some I’ve had back home.
Incidentally, I mentioned Djibouti in last week’s edition, highlighting the politics of port infrastructure and security, and the new dynamics introduced in the Horn by the port deal signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland at the beginning of last year. You can take a look here.
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.
Press Freedom: right on schedule
A lot is happening in the media sector in Ethiopia. None of it is good.
Last week, a major media house in Addis Abeba was raided. An amendment to the country’s media law was passed by parliamentarians, clearing the way for more interference from the executive branch, and a new report on the safety of Ethiopian journalists says that targeted harassment is being used as a weapon of war. Let’s get into it.
Readers of this newsletter know that one of my commonly used sources for news is the local media house, Addis Standard. They’re one of the few media houses consistently providing coverage of what is happening across the country. Last week, the publishers of Addis Standard sent out a public notice on a raid on their offices (and a ‘private house of a senior staff’) by police.
The raid happened last Thursday, right before Easter holiday celebrations, and six Federal police officers arrived in a minivan, confiscated multiple electronic devices, and took two staff members in for ‘questioning’.
On the same day, an Addis Standard senior staff member was taken from their home (at 5 AM), and also had their personal and work-related electronics confiscated (laptop, phones, hard disks). The staff was then forced to sign a paper saying they had given their equipment away willingly (formality is still important).
All staff were released on the same day and given a ‘stern warning and threat against any public announcement’. This comes right on the heels of the arrest of journalists from a private TV station, Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS), on terrorism charges.
On that same day, parliamentarians were busy approving an amendment to the (once progressive) media law. I’ve written about the process of this amendment in past editions: the vocal opposition it faced from journalists, media law experts, and civil society, and what the law aimed to fundamentally change (including the power to refuse, suspend, and revoke broadcasting licenses). You can read that edition here.
The journalist’s safety assessment report looks at what has been happening in 2024. Ethiopia has an unfortunately robust history of journalist abuse (at what point do we stop referring to it as unprecedented?). But the recent increase in conflicts in the country has added a new dimension: it’s now being used as ‘a weapon of war’.
What’s the data? A year where no journalists have been killed but where 10 have been exiled, and 43 were ‘arrested, imprisoned and kidnapped’.
Though there is data on these attacks in Ethiopia’s Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Tigray regions, none is available for Oromia. But the country’s largest region is far from safe - a battleground between the federal government and the region’s Oromo Liberation Army - journalists just avoid it altogether.
Raids and imprisonment are not only happening by security forces, but also by insurgents in the many regions where there is conflict (for not producing ‘favorable’ stories). In Amhara region, where the Fano militants have been fighting federal troops, the conflict has been used as a pretext to ‘arbitrarily detain and abduct journalists’.
When they’re not imprisoned, journalists have had their equipment confiscated. The message is clear: ‘controlling the narrative’ has never been more of a priority.
The enemies of the free press grow every day in Ethiopia: ‘state and non-state actors, including political figures, insurgent groups, influential individuals, and businesspeople’. I’ve personally observed the disdain for journalists also seeping into the private sector.
Even organizations that openly advocated for the safety of journalists haven’t been spared. I’ve written on the legally baseless suspensions of prominent civil society organizations in Ethiopia that have been happening since December last year.
What’s the silver lining?
That there are media outlets which are ‘boldly’ reporting these detentions and abductions. The work of our association (the Ethiopian Media Women Association) has also been mentioned here: organizing ‘continuous roundtable discussions on gender- based violence against women journalists’. (Yet even the silver linings have come with their costs.) There is also a new group in action as of last year, the Consortium for the Safety of Journalists.
As these crimes against journalists increase, the courts in Ethiopia have yet to try a single perpetrator for it.
The full assessment, commissioned by the International Media Support, here, and the news about the media law, covered by Addis Standard, here. If you’re interested in the public statement on the police raid of Addis Standard, hit reply and let me know. I can share that with you.
Infrastructure: the evictions need to stop
At the end of last year, I featured a report in this newsletter that looked into Ethiopia’s urban megaprojects to give context to the rapid demolitions and reconstruction happening in Addis Abeba.
As parts of the city were being torn down to make way for the version of the city envisioned under the ‘Corridor Development Project’, the report explained the political dynamics behind the emerging urban aesthetics using earlier examples like Lagare and Beautifying Sheger.
Whether these new changes make Addis (and wherever else they’re being implemented) look better is up for debate, but the more pressing issue remains the ruthless evictions that accompany them.
Over 800 people have been removed from their homes against their will in just two sub-cities, according to a new investigation by Amnesty International. These evictions came with barely any notice, with some homes ‘demolished within 24 to 72 hours after officials delivered the door-to-door notice’.
Residents who legally possessed their homes but had no certificate received no compensation at all. Those who received compensation say that ‘their properties were reportedly undervalued by authorities.’
The evictions happening across this urban development project (in effect across at least 58 cities in the country), ‘must immediately pause’ pending a ‘human rights impact assessment’, says the statement.
The loss of their homes also comes with a ‘sudden disruption to social cohesion, a loss of social security and livelihoods’ and has ‘further exacerbated existing inequalities’, it adds.
Yet another ‘top-down’ approach that ignores ‘essential features of any real, functioning social order.
The full statement, from Amnesty International, here.
Tigray: shuffling allegiances
The interim administration in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has a new president. The newly elected president, Lieutenant General Tadesse Werede, who served as the former vice president, will be in charge of this administration for the coming year, until elections can be held.
What do we know about the new leader of Tigray region? Here’s an excerpt from a story on Le Monde:
Tadesse Werede has military legitimacy, stemming from his 17 years of armed struggle against the Derg regime, from 1974 to 1991.
A reputation, ‘forged on the battlefield and tempered in the negotiation rooms of Pretoria and Nairobi’ (the peace deal which ended the Tigray war).
What role is he expected to play? Many: forging ‘ties with the federal government and the international community’, and fulfilling duties that fall within his eight mandates, including ‘the return of 1 million displaced persons and the demobilization of former combatants’.
More than 130,000 displaced people in Tigray’s North West and Southern Zone have returned to their homes, but the conditions of their return are grim, according to a recent report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. Most have returned to empty or destroyed homes.
Where is the former leader of Tigray, Getachew Reda, now? ‘Once a vehement opponent of Abiy, he is now his adviser for East Africa, with ministerial rank.’
The full story, on Le Monde, here.
Security: we don’t know her (XLIV)
Teachers in Ethiopia’s Amhara region are being targeted for ‘failing to adhere to a warning to halt their regular operations’.
The report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Council says that five teachers were killed by Fano militia in the region’s North Gojam Zone, for refusing to comply with these orders to stop teaching.
Here’s an excerpt from the story on the abduction of aid workers in the region:
“On March 31, 2025, nineteen humanitarian aid workers were abducted by armed groups while traveling from Metemma town in the West Gondar Zone to Gondar city,” the report stated.
“While three women were reportedly released immediately, the remaining sixteen male aid workers were freed on April 3, 2025, after the ransom demanded by the captors was paid.”
This is the 44th update on the security in the region, since the conflict between the informal Fano militia and the federal government started in August 2023. You can find the compiled list of previous updates, here.
The full story on The Reporter, here
Labor rights: forex > human rights
Last week’s edition included highlights from a parliamentary session with officials from the Ministry of Labor and Skills. The Ministry had reported a ‘76-percent shortfall in targeted income’; income they had hoped to gain through placing Ethiopians in overseas jobs.
One of the main issues raised at the session was the ‘pervasive fraud in the industry’. I’ve added updates on this parliamentary session below.
How many countries does the Ethiopian government have formal agreements with for overseas employment? ‘The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, and previously Lebanon, now suspended over safety concerns’.
It’s questions on these ‘safety concerns’ that dominated the session, especially for ‘Ethiopian migrant workers in Gulf countries’, which includes ‘forced labour, passport seizure, abuse, and unpaid wages.
Illegal agencies and recruiters are now cropping up, demanding upfront fees and then vanishing without a trace.
Officials are reluctant to prosecute agencies and are unwilling to ‘engage diplomatically to secure the safety of exploited Ethiopians abroad’, says an immigration expert in the story.
The full story on Addis Standard, 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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