NEW YORK - Journalists in Ethiopia are facing growing hostility as the country’s civil war persists. The conflict between the federal government and the rebel forces led by the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) has prompted a media crackdown that extinguished the glimmer of hope sparked by the initial reforms of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, research by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) shows.
The fight to control the narrative of the war is one of the reasons for this crackdown. CPJ has documented the arrest of at least 63 journalists and media workers since November 4, 2020, at least eight of whom remain imprisoned.
Journalists have also faced physical attacks, and telecommunications blackouts in the Tigray region, as well as parts of Amhara and Afar state, undermine media coverage of the war and of the atrocities committed by both sides.
The authorities – at federal and state level – need to stop detaining journalists for doing their job, says CPJ, and ensure state institutions cannot be used to gag and harass the press in the future.
