Ethiopian security forces have intensified their crackdown on journalists and media professionals, leading to numerous arbitrary arrests since August 2025. Human Rights Watch has called on authorities to halt their harassment of independent journalists and immediately release all those detained simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion.
“The Ethiopian authorities’ renewed efforts to muzzle independent reporting are all about preventing public scrutiny of the government,” stated Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should stop targeting journalists and media workers and immediately release those unjustly detained for their work.”
The latest incidents occurred on September 3 when federal police and plainclothes security officers arrested Tigist Zerihun, Mintamir Tsegaw, and Eshete Assefa, employees of Sheger FM 102.1, a private radio station in Addis Ababa. These arrests followed the station’s August 29 broadcast of a report concerning Ethiopian health care workers. The Ethiopian Media Authority, responsible for regulating the media, had previously ordered the station to remove the broadcast, accusing it of bias and inciting violence. Despite the station’s compliance on August 30, the journalists were still arrested.
Eshete was released the same day, but Tigist and Mintamir remain detained at the Federal Police Crime Investigation Bureau. During their court hearing on September 8, police requested more time to investigate. Although the court granted them bail on September 17, it remains unclear whether they have been released, as police appealed the lower court’s decision to the Federal Supreme Court, with a hearing scheduled for September 22.
The situation has raised alarms about media freedom in Ethiopia, particularly ahead of the national elections slated for 2026. On August 13, Yonas Amare, a senior editor for the privately owned newspaper The Reporter, was abducted by masked gunmen at his home in Koye Fiche, a town near Addis Ababa. Witnesses reported that the assailants confiscated cell phones and ordered residents indoors before taking Yonas away. Both the Addis Ababa Police Commission and the Federal Police Commission denied having custody of him. Yonas’s whereabouts remained unknown for eight days until his release on August 22.
Human Rights Watch has stated that the arrest or detention of a person followed by a refusal to acknowledge their deprivation of liberty, or by concealing their fate or whereabouts, constitutes an enforced disappearance. The organization has urged authorities to conduct an effective, independent, and transparent investigation into Yonas Amare’s enforced disappearance.
In another alarming incident on August 5, regional police in Ethiopia’s Somali region arbitrarily detained Khadar Mohamed Ismail, a reporter for Somali Regional Television, after he published a video showing residents voicing complaints about the regional government. Khadar was presented in court on August 9, but he has not reappeared in over a month, remaining in detention without charge, according to a relative.
Abdulsemed Mohammed, a radio host in Addis Ababa, was also detained on August 11 and held incommunicado until his release on August 22. The arbitrary detention of at least six media professionals, including prolonged detention without charge, has reignited concerns about the state of media freedom in Ethiopia.
Government threats to journalists and news outlets have escalated since early 2025. In March, seven journalists from the privately owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS) were detained on terrorism allegations after the station aired an episode in which a woman accused Ethiopian soldiers of rape in 2020. Although the woman later retracted her allegations on a state-owned channel and the EBS founder reportedly apologized, two journalists are still awaiting trial for disseminating so-called hateful information.
The Ethiopian media regulatory body has taken further steps to suppress independent journalism. In April, police raided the offices of Addis Standard, a popular private news outlet, detaining two employees and confiscating several electronic devices. The outlet claimed that these devices had been implanted with sophisticated surveillance malware upon their return.
In June, Tesfalem Woldeyes, a prominent journalist and editor-in-chief of the independent outlet Ethiopia Insider, was detained by a plainclothes intelligence officer on allegations of “disseminating false information,” but was released on bail shortly thereafter.
This latest wave of repression follows parliament’s approval of controversial amendments to the country’s media law that many have criticized as a move towards increased political interference. The new law shifts significant responsibilities from the board of the media regulatory body to its director general, who is appointed by the prime minister, and eliminates the ban on political party affiliation for board members, thus diminishing the role of civil society and media groups.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has contributed to this hostile environment, claiming in a June interview that the media often serves its interests over the nation’s and asserting that true independent media does not exist. The police have utilized overly broad definitions under the 2020 Hate Speech and Disinformation Prevention and Suppression Proclamation to investigate journalists based on vague allegations, leading to a chilling effect on critical reporting.
Nongovernmental organizations advocating for the safety of journalists have also faced backlash, with authorities suspending prominent human rights groups and intimidating advocates. The government’s recent amendments to media law indicate a shift back to authoritarian practices that threaten freedom of speech and opinion.
On World Press Freedom Day in May, 14 diplomatic missions expressed concerns about the diminishing press freedoms in Ethiopia. Regional and international partners of Ethiopia must consistently condemn the government’s assault on independent media and civil society groups.
“Ethiopia’s media and civil society should be contributing to the upcoming elections to ensure they are free and fair, not living in fear of arrest and self-censorship,” Bader emphasized. “The authorities still have the time to change course and end their all-out assault against journalists and independent voices.”
