Rights Federation Condemns 'Disturbing Decline' in Civic Freedoms in Ethiopia
A recent report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) paints a grim picture of Ethiopia's deteriorating human rights situation, highlighting a series of alarming trends. The report, titled 'The Illusion of Progress: Ethiopia's Human Rights Defenders Under Attack', was published in collaboration with the World Organization Against Torture. It details a disturbing pattern of human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, the resurgence of torture sites in military camps, systematic harassment of journalists, raids on newsrooms, restrictions on civil society, and the frequent imposition of states of emergency to silence dissent.
The 46-page report reveals a 'disturbing decline' in civic freedoms since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office, describing a relentless persecution of rights activists and a reversal of the progress once promised by the reform-oriented government. It notes that many human rights defenders have been forced into exile, while others face entry bans and a systemic culture of intimidation, often leading to the suspension and silencing of rights groups. The government has enacted repressive laws to justify these violations.
The report highlights the persistence of torture and other forms of ill-treatment against dissenting and critical individuals as a deeply ingrained governance tool. It criticizes the administration for failing to implement substantive and structural changes recommended by UN treaty bodies and investigative mechanisms, instead opting for superficial measures that leave the underlying legal and institutional framework intact.
The Federation argues that Ethiopian authorities retain the ability to resort to such practices whenever deemed necessary, particularly concerning human rights defenders. It emphasizes the contradiction between advancing reforms in certain areas and the ongoing contraction of civic space, indicating a lack of genuine transformation in fundamental rights protection.
The political landscape in Ethiopia has undergone a dramatic shift over the past five years, marked by intensified political unrest, ethnically motivated attacks, controversial election delays, and the outbreak of the Tigray war. The creation of the Prosperity Party in 2019 and the aftermath of the Oromo artist Hachalu Hundessa's assassination precipitated a sharp crackdown on civic space and civil society organizations (CSOs).
The report documents abductions, arbitrary detentions, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings faced by human rights defenders. Many have been forced into exile, while those remaining in the country endure harassment, surveillance, and legislative reprisals. The shrinking civic space is described as a deliberate policy by the government, with human rights organizations subjected to systematic restrictions and prominent defenders facing harassment, threats, attacks, and forced exile.
The report highlights the arbitrary arrest and detention of human rights defenders as an alarmingly common practice, often carried out by masked individuals using excessive force and refusing to disclose reasons for arrest. Detainees are frequently held incommunicado, denied access to courts within 48 hours, and remain behind bars even after being granted bail.
Between 2019 and 2024, 244 arrests involving 201 journalists were recorded, according to data from the Ethiopian Press Freedom Defenders. The report also documents cases of journalists from the Amhara region being detained for interviewing critical political voices, subjected to harsh conditions, and held in military camps under states of emergency.
The Federation's report warns of the resurgence of torture as an entrenched governance tool, citing new allegations of torture centers being re-established in Awash Arba, a military camp 220 kilometers from Addis Ababa, where detainees are held incommunicado and denied due process. International bodies, including the Human Rights Committee, CAT, and the UPR, have confirmed ongoing torture and enforced disappearances in Ethiopia.
Several media institutions have been targeted, including burglaries at EHRCO's office, Ethiopian Insider's office, Ethio-News, and a raid on Addis Standard by security forces in April 2025. The report also mentions psychological warfare waged by insurgent and ethnonationalist groups against human rights defenders, with each group perceiving itself as the sole victim and attacking defenders who criticize any side.
The report describes successive states of emergency since 2020 as a central tool for targeting human rights defenders, with powers that have gone beyond what is strictly necessary, enabling warrantless arrests, media censorship, and bans on assemblies. The Federation revealed that during wartime states of emergency in 2021, mass detentions targeted Tigrayan human rights defenders, journalists, activists, and aid workers. Similarly, the 2023/2024 Amhara state of emergency targeted human rights defenders and journalists of Amhara origin.
The report concludes that states of emergency have evolved into recurring governance tools rather than temporary responses to crises. Even after bans on rights organizations were lifted in March 2025, the ACSO imposed suffocating conditions, requiring CSOs to report every activity, disclose all partners, and provide constant funding details.
One interviewee described this as a replacement of outright prohibition with surveillance and control. Another noted the pressure on organizations to change leadership, citing the resignation of EHRDC Executive Director Yared Hailemariam as directly connected to such pressure.
An expert interviewed by the researchers tied the current repression to the political calendar, suggesting that the upcoming 2026 general elections and the transitional justice process are factors in the government's actions. The report concludes that the government's unwillingness to address these violations reinforces a persistent climate of impunity, undermining transitional justice and national dialogue.
