Ethiopian journalists continue to bear the brunt of the ongoing conflict in the region.
Two years into the civil war that has broken out in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, journalists continue to face arbitrary arrests, intimidation and attacks as they try to report the ongoing conflict on the ground.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Ethiopian journalist told frayintermedia that these mass arrests had given rise to fear and self-censorship among reporters in the country.
“We journalists now live in terror. Some of our colleagues have been jailed without charge and held for a long time. I mean, for some, their families don't know where they are,” they said.
In June 2021, a dozen Awlo Media Centre employees were arrested in the capital of Addis Ababa after publishing reports that were criticizing the federal government with regards to the war, reported the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
According to a Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) report, a dozen of those arrested worked in the Awlo Media Center which was launched in 2019 and broadcasts current affairs programming on YouTube.
According to a CPJ report, this includes:
Bekalu Alamrew, Fanuel Kinfu, Fana Negash, and Miherete Geberkirestos; camera operators Musse Hadra and Nebeyu Mikael; video editors Melkamfire Yemam and Fikerte Yensu; four other non-journalistic employees, including accountants, janitors, and technical staff.
Freedom of speech in danger
CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo said that the biggest impact was on the freedoms of citizens to participate in the democratic process and for the protection of their human rights.
“The work of journalists is essential to guarantee the protection of these other broader societal rights, a repressive environment is a pointer that things might get worse,” said Mumo.
The resurgence of press freedom assaults over the last year poses a grave danger not only to journalists but to the Ethiopian society in its ability to access independent and trustworthy information.
“Ethiopian people and the rest of the world will eventually not be able to know what is happening in the country,” said Reporters Without Borders (RSF) sub-Saharan Africa representative Arnaud Froger.
Froger emphasised the importance of independent media. He noted that the multiple arrests and attacks of journalists has a chilling effect on journalists and this could thrust Ethiopia right "back to square one".
“When you fear reprisals you are tempted to not cover or to take extremely constraining and precautionary measures to report about some issues,” said Froger.
Ethiopia in an oppression tail-spin
Over the last few years, the Ethiopian media freedom landscape has been declining, even though Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seemed to bring hope and a new dawn for the media when he took over in 2018.
Ethiopia also ranks low on the 2021 World Press Freedom Index at the 101 position out of 180. It is also one of the 48 African countries marked red or black on the World Press Freedom map, meaning the status of a free press is classified as “bad” or “very bad”.
An RSF report on the status of press freedom highlights that “Ethiopia’s is now at a crossroads and the great hopes raised by newly-recovered freedoms, including freedoms for the media, now seem to be hanging by a thread”.
Consortium of Ethiopian Human Rights Organization executive director Masud Gebeyehu explained that journalism serves the best interest of the public and a shrinking media landscape is a threat to the civic space because journalism is the pillar of society’s right to information.
Gebeyhu said journalists being attacked and detained without charge is a violation of their human rights.
He added that “law enforcement should approach journalists with clear and due process of law and fair trial standards.
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