Ethiopia

Ethiopia accused of silencing dissent, targeting journalists

Batte Urgessa, the spokesperson for the opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) political party.

By Foreign Reporter | Wednesday, March 6, 2024

In 2023, Addis arrested and jailed eight journalists after covering the Amhara conflict.

Human Rights Watch has accused the Ethiopian government of engaging in arbitrary arrest and confinement of opposition figures, journalists, and critics as part of an escalating strategy to suppress dissent.

According to Addis Standard, one case cited by the rights body occurred in February 2024 when plainclothes security officers detained Batte Urgessa, a spokesperson for the opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) political party, and French journalist Antoine Galindo as the two met for an interview at a hotel in the capital, Addis Ababa.

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More than 24 hours later, they were brought before a court in the capital. The court granted police a request to detain Batte and Galindo until 01 March to pursue an investigation into unspecified allegations.

Following international pressure, Galindo was released from a police station and allowed to depart Ethiopia on February 29, 2024.

However, Batte's detention was extended.

On March 1, prosecutors stated he was under investigation for suspected links to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the rights group said.

The Ethiopian court ordered Batte to remain in custody until at least March 6.

This is not the first time Batte has been detained.

In March 2022, it was reported that Batte was arrested and held for one year. During that time, authorities repeatedly transferred him between detention facilities and denied him access to relatives and legal counsel.

He was only released after developing serious health issues that persist today, Human Rights Watch stated.

The organisation added that Seven other OLF opposition leaders detained in the months before Batte's 2021 arrest remain in jail despite multiple court orders for their release.

The detained leaders of the OLF include Mikael Boren, Kenessa Ayana, Dawit Abdeta, Lemi Begna, and Geda Gabisa, who remained in Oromia police custody long after they were freed by a federal court.

In addition, the Addis Ababa-based government have recently arrested at least five other prominent opposition politicians, Human Rights Watch said.

Those detained include Christian Tadele, a member of parliament who has criticized the government's actions in the Amhara region, and Dessalegn Chanie, another outspoken opposition lawmaker from the Amhara region.

The arrests coincide with mounting pressures on journalists in Ethiopia as well, Human Rights Watch reported.

A quick facts sheet on jailed journalists in Africa by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) indicates that Ethiopia has appeared on the census frequently and remains a difficult media environment.

In 2023, Addis arrested and jailed eight journalists after covering the Amhara conflict.