No reporting on Tigray
please and thank you
Hi there,
I hope you had a lovely weekend.
I spent mine socializing, napping, and watching World Cup football commentary, my newfound interest. I’ve learned many things so far (including, I’m ashamed to admit, finding out about a new country I didn’t know existed). The timings of some of these matches are hellish, but I’ve sacrificed my sleep for much less compelling reasons.
Thanks to everyone who emailed to ask about the project we’re working on (tracking violence against women during Ethiopia’s 7th general election cycle). We’re likely wrapping up that work this month, so I’ll share more on that in due time.
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.
Results: what do we know so far?
Last week’s edition was a preview of how Ethiopia’s 7th general election looked in terms of numbers and what those numbers indicate.
The results are somewhat in: in 24 constituencies, the incumbent Prosperity Party has won all but one parliamentary seat, according to a story on The Reporter.
Here’s an excerpt on that one exception:
The sole opposition victory was recorded in Gondar Zuria Constituency No. 4 in the Amhara region, where Tahir Mohammed Tahir of the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) won the parliamentary seat. Prosperity Party did not field a candidate in the constituency.
Two more opposition political party members have secured parliamentary seats since this report was published, and both were from constituencies with no Prosperity Party candidates, according to a story on Ethiopia Insider.
The Prosperity Party has not presented any candidates in a total of 48 parliamentary constituencies in this election cycle.
Why not? Here’s an excerpt from an older report on Ethiopia Insider:
As the Prime Minister stated to parliament in January 2026, the number of opposition members in parliament would increase “by five to ten times,” adding that his party would “intentionally work toward this.”
But, “conceding parliamentary and council seats to the opposition does not guarantee a fair election”, adds the report.
The full story on the latest result on The Reporter, here, and on Ethiopia Insider, in Amharic, here.
Displacement: what will the results look like here?
While election day for most voters was set for June 1, military personnel and internally displaced persons voted on June 9.
How did that go?
In one camp for internally displaced people in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, people were only aware that an election was taking place on the morning they were told to go out and vote, according to a report by Ethiopia Insider.
They were not aware of the parties or the candidates running. There were also shortages of food and water in one of the camps. Similarly, no representatives from the National Election Board of Ethiopia were present at one of these camps, and the election was coordinated by people sheltered in the camps.
There were 126,000 military personnel and 29,000 internally displaced persons registered to vote.
The full story, where this update was sourced, on Ethiopia Insider, in Amharic, here.
Conflict: what else happened on election day?
In Ethiopia’s Oromia and Amhara regions, certain areas had already been excluded from the elections because they were unsafe (in both regions, the federal government is fighting regional armed groups).
On election day, 143 polling stations across these two regions were forced to close down midway because of this.
In the country’s Amhara region, the region’s informal militia, Fano, had already warned that they would close down roads.
Here’s an excerpt from a report by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED):
With at least 90 clashes recorded on 1 June alone, the day saw more fighting than any other since the conflict between the Fano militias and the government began in 2023…
What about in the country’s Oromia region, where the government has been in active conflict with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) since 2019?
…the OLA/OLF-Shane imposed its own road closure from 29 May to 4 June. ACLED records eight armed clashes between OLA/OLF-Shane and security forces on 1 June, heavily concentrated in the East Wollega zone.
The full report on ACLED, here. You can find a list of story updates I’ve covered on the conflict in Amhara region since it began in August 2023, here.
Tigray: conscriptions backed by law
In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where elections didn’t take place for the second consecutive cycle, international envoys have arrived to prevent a “return to war” between the region’s Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the federal government.
Here’s an excerpt from a story on Addis Standard:
The visit comes amid renewed security concerns in Tigray and growing international calls to prevent a return to armed conflict. On 06 June, residents and local officials reported a drone strike…Tigray authorities later accused the federal government of carrying out the attack, saying it killed and injured members of the Tigray forces and damaged property.
The reports of forced military conscription in Tigray are now backed by a new draft law that “would make military mobilization a legal obligation while imposing harsh penalties on individuals and media organizations accused of discouraging recruitment,” according to another story on Addis Standard.
The full story on the talks to de-escalate the tensions, here, and the details on the new draft law, here.
Media: no reporting on Tigray
Augustine Passilly, a correspondent for La Croix, has been expelled from Ethiopia after her story on forced conscriptions in Tigray was published.
Here’s an excerpt from a statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ):
Ethiopia’s expulsion of Augustine Passilly is a blatant act of retaliation against a journalist for reporting on developments in Tigray, an issue of significant political and security importance that authorities would rather not see scrutinized or discussed publicly,” said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal.
Passilly was first interrogated about the reporting trip she made to Tigray earlier this month, and had her license temporarily suspended.
Once the story was published, her license was revoked, and she was “told to leave Ethiopia”.
The full statement on CPJ, here.
That’s all for this week. I’ll catch you next Monday.
In the meantime, if you know someone who might be interested in this, share and let them know!