
Hi there,
I’ve been spring cleaning over the weekend. Or the version of spring cleaning that you do in the middle of the rainy season in Ethiopia. While the cleaning and organizing have been really fun, the cold weather means all the washed clothes are drying at a snail’s pace. Luckily, that’s the ultimate hack for using a space heater in my home without mummifying myself in the process: a drying rack of never-ending wet clothes.
Moving on to even better news, I’m excited to announce the launch of Sifter: Elections, a newsletter entirely dedicated to breaking down the events around the upcoming Ethiopian elections, set in mid-2026.
You can expect a similar format to what I do here. I’ll be selecting the top five election stories and analysis to share every two weeks, and as usual, my sources will be events I attend, people I speak to, as well as local and international reports (and reporting) I’ll be reading.
It’s a pop-up, which means I will only run it for a year, with the last edition published a couple of months after election day. If this sounds like something you’ve been looking for, sign up 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 human rights stories in Ethiopia.
Now, to the news. It’s a heavy edition, buckle up.
Human Rights: choosing the path that works
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has released its annual report on the state of human rights in Ethiopia. Last year, weeks before he left his post, Commissioner Daniel Bekele had said that Ethiopia was in a human rights crisis. On Monday, the new Commissioner, Berhanu Adelo, gave a press conference on this new annual report, and his take was that things are starting to look better.
The new Commissioner glossed over many of our questions raised during the session, but there were some things that he said which I think are worth noting.
To start with, the new Commissioner is taking a very different approach in the work of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. When asked by journalists why the Commission has remained quiet on important events (like the legal changes in the civil society law), his response was that he didn’t see the benefit of “making noise” when it doesn’t bring any changes.
In fact, this is something that the Commissioner kept circling back to: speaking up against an issue won’t make a difference, so he will be focusing on ways that can guarantee an outcome, i.e., instead of “naming and shaming”, he will be choosing to work closely with the government.
To questions on enforced conscriptions, the Commissioner said that he has had close discussions with the Ethiopian National Defense Forces as well as government representatives in Oromia region, and that they have assured him that this is not taking place. He said that the media can do its investigation (if we’re so keen).
As for other questions, including updates on the investigation into the murder of prominent opposition political figure, Bate Urgessa, the Commissioner said he will have to check on updates before answering (as it was before his time).
As for where the Commission stands with the work of international rights bodies, the Commissioner made a clear distinction between what’s happening over in Geneva and the work of the Commission here. He brought up for comparison the number of staff the Commission has in the country (over 300), versus the international organizations that barely even have 10. In other words, the Commission knows best.
Not once did the issue of conflict-related sexual and gender based come up in the 15 pages the Commissioner read through at the press conference.
As for what did come up in the annual report, here are a few highlights:
This year, like the past few years, armed conflict continues to be the major cause behind human rights violations in the country.
It’s not just Amhara and Oromia regions, where the government has been fighting insurgencies for years. It’s also parts of the country we never get to hear much about: Central Ethiopia region, South Ethiopia region, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Gambella regions, where people continue to die because of conflicts.
In places like Amhara region, the state of emergency seems like it’s still in place (despite being officially lifted in June last year); mass, arbitrary, and prolonged arrests are still happening.
On the other hand, in Central Ethiopia region, higher courts are citing Article 93 of the constitution to deny appeals by detained citizens. While Article 93 deals with the state of emergency, the report says higher courts are citing this when there has been no official declaration of a state of emergency there.
Kidnappings for ransom have continued in Ethiopia’s Amhara, Oromia, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Gambella regions. As is well known by now, the kidnappings for ransom happen for a variety of reasons: mostly to raise funds for the armed groups, sometimes politically motivated, sometimes vengeful.
The report brings up several examples in Amhara region, by the Fano armed group operating in the region. The kidnappings include journalists as well as teachers who were accused of reopening schools. According to this same annual report, there are 7.8 million children out of school in Ethiopia.
The Corridor Development Project has not just displaced people across the city, but it has also resulted in overcrowded schools, according to the report. Some schools in the city now have up to 100 students in one class because of the influx of new students displaced from their homes in other parts of the city (projects that “ignore essential features of any real, functioning social order”).
The full report, in Amharic, here.
Women’s rights: horrors that are hard to face
A new investigation in Ethiopia’s Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions says that there is ongoing widespread, systematic, and deliberate acts of conflict-related sexual and reproductive violence.
The new report by Physicians for Human Rights and the Organization for Justice in the Horn of Africa says that the impunity for these atrocities in Tigray has ‘enabled the spread of similar atrocities in other conflict zones’.
Here’s an excerpt from a story on The New Humanitarian:
Sexual abuse is not just being committed by armed groups, but also from within communities. The report analysed 50 medical records from Amhara between February 2021 and July 2024 and found that 22 of the perpetrators were civilians, with 10 of them either family members or intimate or ex-partners.
The story has quotes from a researcher and several healthcare providers, all anonymized. The Pretoria peace deal did not bring an end to sexual violence, and now even speaking up about it has become dangerous.
The full story, on The New Humanitarian, here.
Geopolitics: so…what are we?
At the end of June, I wrote an update when the border crossing opened up in Zalambessa. Zalambessa is a town in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and borders Eritrea. Families were reunited, yet it had no official backing on either side, and instead was led by local leaders. This might sound like good news, but it is ‘only part of the story,’ says a report on Africa is Not a Country.
What is the other part of this story?
Here’s an excerpt:
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Eritrea have improved relations through a makeshift alliance with the aim of facing Ethiopia in a potential military escalation.
The author says that after the Tigray war, and all the atrocities that the Eritrean army has been accused of in the region, this new “unthinkable Eritrea-TPLF alliance should raise concerns about what lies ahead”.
What has been the relationship between the current Eritrean leadership and the TPLF? Historical ties that go all the way to the 1970s, and a relationship that has gone from friends to enemies to their current status: “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
So, is it likely that another war is coming? Here’s an excerpt:
Leaders in Asmara, Addis Ababa, or Mekelle are not keen to launch another war. They all have thinly stretched resources, and Ethiopia must manage various violent flash points, including in the Amhara and Oromia regions undermining its assertive rhetoric on sea access.
But still, the author, argues for close monitoring, diplomatic brokering by Turkey or Saudi Arabia (think of the economic interests if nothing else!), and if all else fails, sanctions (though I’m not entirely sold on that one).
The full story on Africa is Not A Country, here. And a very powerful first person account from a former fighter in the Tigray war, on The New Humanitarian, here.
Civic space: another resignation
The executive director of the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center has resigned. If you recall, the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center was suspended back in December along with three other human rights organisations. The executive director is a veteran human rights advocate but even he could only take so much.
Here’s an excerpt from a story on Addis Standard:
Due to his advocacy work, Yared said growing intimidation forced his resignation, citing threats, surveillance, and suspicious calls that raised safety concerns.
Citing growing pressure and health issues, Yared said he submitted his resignation months ago but was forced to leave sooner due to worsening conditions.
We barely had time to come to terms with the resignations over at the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
The full story on Addis Standard, here.
Migration: on the way to Yemen
Only 12 people have been rescued from a migrant boat that had about 157 people on it before it capsized off the coast of Yemen. Most of them are believed to be Ethiopians, according to a story on the BBC.
Here’s an excerpt:
Abyan security officials said a large search-and-rescue mission had been launched and many bodies had been found across a wide area of shoreline.
IOM Yemen chief Abdusattor Esoev said the boat was on a dangerous route in the vast coastal area often used by people smugglers.
For a look at other updates I have written on migration, take a look at this list here.
The full story on the BBC, here.
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