Ethiopia’s Growing Assault on Independent Media

Ethiopian authorities are intensifying their assault on media freedom in the country. On August 1, unidentified security personnel detained Yonas Kedir, the editor-in-chief of Addis Standard, and questioned him for 24 hours about the independent news outlet’s reporting before releasing him, according to a statement by the outlet. The following day, security and intelligence officials raided the outlet’s offices, damaging and confiscating equipment. Addis Standard has been through this before. Four months ago, men in plainclothes seized the outlet’s managing editor, Million Beyene, and held him incommunicado for nearly two weeks before releasing him without charge. The authorities have yet to publicly explain his detention. In February, the government’s media regulatory body, the Ethiopian Media Authority, revoked Addis Standard’s operating license for alleged repeated violations of the media laws. The outlet is challenging the decision in court. The government’s harassment of Addis Standard reflects a broader campaign by Ethiopian authorities to silence independent media and deter reporting it deems too critical or sensitive. In the past year, authorities have arbitrarily arrested scores of journalists, holding some incommunicado, while media outlets and journalists have had their accreditation or licenses revoked. The Ethiopian Media Authority has also alleged repeated violations of media laws by independent broadcasters Arts TV and Ahadu FM, and on July 31 issued “final written warnings,” threatening that further action could include suspension or revocation of their licenses. The repeated targeting of Addis Standard, together with regulatory threats against other independent broadcasters, often on vague national security or national interest grounds, points to an increasingly hostile environment for independent media in Ethiopia that had worsened prior to the country’s June elections and has continued to deteriorate. Earlier concerns that the Ethiopian government might use the elections as a pretext to further restrict independent media proved to be well-founded. It seems the government has now set in motion a machinery of repression that it has little inclination to stop. Despite the shrinking space for independent media, Ethiopia’s international partners have so far remained silent. They should publicly condemn the government’s latest attacks and press the authorities to respect media freedom and ensure journalists can report without fear of arbitrary detention, intimidation, or reprisals.