Report finds 43 journalists arrested, imprisoned, or kidnapped in Ethiopia in 2024 amid rising threats to press freedom

Addis Abeba– At least 43 journalists in Ethiopia were arrested, imprisoned, or kidnapped in 2024, according to the Journalists’ Safety Assessment Report by International Media Support (IMS), which states that the safety of journalists has been “increasingly threatened,” with journalists facing intimidation, detention, and harassment from both state and non-state actors.

The assessment, based on interviews with 60 journalists and documented cases, found that those in conflict-affected areas faced particular risks, especially in Amhara, Oromia, and Benishangul-Gumuz.

According to the findings, “armed groups arbitrarily detained journalists, confiscated their equipment, and kidnapped them either for ransom or to control media narratives about conflicts,” while authorities detained journalists under what the report describes as “national security and national interest as a justification for threatening journalists.”

IMS states that three journalists were victims of enforced disappearance in 2024, two of whom remain missing at the time of reporting, including a Benishangul-Gumuz TV cameraperson who was “abducted by armed groups when he traveled back to Assosa with his wife from a family visit to a village 60 km away.” Armed groups, IMS adds, “stopped the public bus, singled him out, and kidnapped him.”

In Amhara, where militarized conflict between government forces and the Fano militia has continued since 2023, journalists have faced detention and accusations of “aiding illegal forces” or spreading “false information” about the Ethiopian National Defense Force, according to IMS.

The report documents “nine cases of arbitrary detention in Amhara during the extended state of emergency,” with journalists “targeted both by the government and insurgents.”

“My camera crew and I went to the Amhara region using an office vehicle. We were kidnapped and detained by armed groups for two weeks and suffered a lot,” a journalist, speaking anonymously, told IMS. “Our captors told us to go back to where we came from without returning our cameras and vehicle.”

The report also notes cases of journalists being “taken to government security service personnel and detained in military camps for days.” By the end of 2024, IMS states, “none of the perpetrators of attacks against journalists were tried before the courts.”

Similar previous reports have detailed a steady decline in press freedom in Ethiopia. In its 2024 Global Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Ethiopia 141st out of 180 countries, a ten-point drop from 2023. RSF stated that “devastated by inter-ethnic conflict and civil war, most of the recent gains in press freedom have been reversed,” adding that the Amhara conflict has renewed journalists’ fear of reprisals.

Likewise, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranked Ethiopia among the worst jailers of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa, placing it third after Eritrea and Egypt. Its 2024 prison census recorded six detained journalists in Ethiopia, five facing “terrorism” charges. CPJ noted that authorities often use “vague charges or convictions for terrorism or extremism” to imprison journalists.

IMS notes that legal measures originally introduced for national security and online content regulation have increasingly been used against journalists. “Seven journalists (five males and two females) were brought before the courts under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, Criminal Code, Computer Crime Act, and Hate Speech and Disinformation Prevention and Suppression Proclamation,” the report states.

The report raises concerns over proposed amendments to Ethiopia’s Media Proclamation No. 1238/2021. The proposed changes, currently under review by parliament’s Standing Committee on Democracy Affairs, would “repeal key clauses of the media law, particularly Article 9(2), which mandates the House of Peoples’ Representatives to appoint the Director General of Ethiopia’s Media Authority.”

Civil society organizations warn that “the proposed amendment will concentrate power in the hands of the executive and open the door to partisan control over the media regulatory body,” the report states.

The report also details gender-specific threats faced by female journalists, documenting “gender-based violence in the media manifested in various ways,” including “women journalists receiving death threats online and by phone, facing sexual assault, and experiencing character assassination.” Cases include women being “denied promotions due to pregnancy” and subjected to “online harassment campaigns.”

Economic struggles have further worsened conditions for journalists, with “layoffs, delayed salaries, and limited access to official information” affecting media workers across the country. Financial pressures have strained journalists, with IMS stating that “financial and social insecurity” impacted their ability to work “professionally and ethically during the assessment period.” The report adds that “journalists in private media earn less than their counterparts in state media.”

IMS calls on the Ethiopian government to “end arbitrary arrest, detention, and intimidation of journalists” and to ensure that “media outlets, regardless of ownership structure, can operate freely.” It urges security agencies to “refrain from unlawfully deploying physical, digital, and cellphone surveillance” and to ensure such measures comply with “the Federal Constitution and international human rights standards.”The report also warns against impunity for crimes against journalists, calling for “effective, impartial, and independent investigations” into all alleged attacks and for perpetrators to be “brought to justice.”

It further urges the House of Peoples’ Representatives to “refrain from approving amendments to Media Proclamation No. 1238/2021 without proper public consultation” and to ensure any revisions meet “international standards on media freedom.” IMS also calls for the national dialogue and transitional justice processes to “consider reparations for journalists who have suffered violations.” Warring groups in Amhara and Oromia, the report states, must “stop abducting, abusing, and threatening journalists” and adhere to “international guidelines on media safety in conflict zones.” AS

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