Amnesty International urged Ethiopian authorities to stop using state of emergency to silence peaceful dissent by arbitrarily detaining prominent politicians critical of the government and journalists.
In its report published on Monday, February 19, 2024, Amnesty recalled that Ethiopia’s state of emergency which came into force in August 2023 amid escalating violence in Amhara region between government forces and Fano militia, and extended on 2 February 2024 by the country’s House of People’s Representatives is being served as an instrument to shut down nonviolent struggle in the country through putting opposition leaders and journalists behind the bar.
During the last six months, Amnesty said, the nationwide state of emergency has given authorities sweeping powers to arrest suspects without a court warrant, impose curfews, restrict the right to freedom of movement, and ban public assemblies or associations.
“The Ethiopian government must stop resorting to old tactics of denying basic rights through the pretext of emergency laws. Ethiopians face another armed conflict in Amhara region, a serious humanitarian crisis in Tigray, a dire security situation in Oromia and pervasive impunity nationwide. The role of the media and the right to freedom of expression is as vital as ever,” Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Tigere Chagutah said in the report.
He said: “The extension of the state of emergency proclamation has not yet been published in the country’s Negarit Gazette. This lack of transparency violates the right of access to information and the principle of legality, as Ethiopians are not able to determine whether their conduct amounts to a breach of the law, or whether the law continues to apply nationwide.”
In the report, Amnesty International expressed that it has confirmed the arrest and detention of five politicians and the three journalists without charge under the state of emergency.
The report indicated that Christian Tadele, a member of the federal parliament and Kassa Teshager, a member of Addis Ababa City Council were arrested on 4 August 2023 at their homes in Addis Ababa.
On 15 August 2023, Yohannes Buayalew, a member of the Amhara Regional Council, was arrested in Bahir Dar. In addition, Amnesty stated that Taye Denda, the former State Minister of Peace and a member of the Oromia Regional Council, was arrested on 12 December 2023, days after criticizing the prime minister over atrocities in Ethiopia saying, “you are an evil man who plays with blood”.
When the state of emergency was extended on 2 February 2024, federal security forces detained Desalegn Chane, a member of the federal parliament opposition party also known for his criticism of the prime minister, according to Amnesty.
Family members of detained politicians told Amnesty International that all of them remain in police custody without charge and have not been able to meet their lawyers.
On 10 August 2023, Abay Zewdu, Chief Editor of Amara Media Center was arrested in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian authorities also arrested journalist Bekalu Alamrew on 9 August 2023 and Belay Manaye of Ethio News on 13 November 2023. All three journalists remain in police custody. A lawyer who follows their case said that authorities have banned lawyers from visiting the journalists, and no charges have been pressed against them, the report mentioned.
According to Amnesty, Ethiopian authorities must stop detaining people en masse with disregard for due process under the country’s state of emergency law. They must uphold the country’s national laws and international human rights obligations by either pressing charges or releasing everyone detained under the state of emergency, including high-profile politicians and journalists.
Since the latest state of emergency came into force, Amhara region has been under a command post led by the head of the National Intelligence and Security Service reporting directly to the prime minister. Following the outbreak of armed conflict in Amhara region in early August, the government has also limited access to information by imposing an internet ban and sporadically imposing complete communication blackouts in this region.
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