The Cost Of Speaking Truth To Power In Ethiopia: Abductions, Arbitrary Arrests, And A Dim Outlook

Observers warn media, civic spaces likely to grow narrower in run-up to elections

On the evening of Wednesday, August 13, 2025, Yonas Amare, a senior editor at the Ethiopian Reporter newspaper, headed to his rented apartment in Koye Fiche at the close of what seemed like an ordinary day. Yonas had no idea that a group of masked men were waiting to abduct him when he arrived.

He has not been seen or heard from in the days since and Yonas’s troubling disappearance was not the only one of its kind in recent weeks.

On August 5, Khadar Mohamed, a reporter with the state-owned Somali Regional Televisionwas arrested by regional police over what later transpired to be a Facebook post highlighting local criticism of the government. He remains in detention.

Abdulsemed Mohammed, host of Radio Ahadu’s popular ‘Kidame Gebeya’ program, was detained in Addis Ababa on August 11—two days before Yonas was abducted. Hassen Seid, owner of digital media platform Salon spacesalso vanished this week.

Two months ago, Tesfalem Weldeyes, founder and editor-in-chief of the digital Ethiopia Insider outlet, was arrested for “disseminating false information” before being granted release on bail.

Incidentally, Tesfalem was one of the nine journalists and activists—collectively referred to as the Zone 9 Bloggers—who were imprisoned for lengthy terms on similar charges under the EPRDF regime.

His most recent arrest, the disappearances of Yonas, Abdulsemed, and Hassen, and other troubling developments paint a picture of narrowing press freedom in Ethiopia, while indications of a similar clampdown in the civic space and perceived sensitivities during an election year have led observers to warn that conditions are likely to grow worse in the coming months.

The details of Yonas’s abduction give credence to their sombre prediction.

The Ethiopian Reporterits publisher Media & Communications Center PLC, and Yonas’s friends and family have repeatedly inquired the government about his abduction and whereabouts to no avail. After days of waiting for any news on Yonas, his colleagues and friends made the trip over to Koye Fiche, in Sheger City, to learn what they could about his disappearance.

Curiously, neither the residents or security guards in the area, nor any other individuals, were willing to say anything at all about what happened to Yonas. When shown a photograph of the veteran editor, many quickly turned away in fear.

Finally, an individual employed at the condominium site spoke up.

“At around 9:30 PM on Wednesday night, the condominium block was under the total control of security forces. They wore red berets, military uniforms, and black face masks. They took the cell phones of each resident in the building [where Yonas lives],” the eyewitness said. “They ordered everyone to remain in their homes. They were heavily armed.”

The scene gave the impression that a gunfight was going to break out, according to the eyewitness.

“It seemed as if they were getting ready to open fire on another armed group. It didn’t look like they were here to detain just one unarmed citizen,” he said.

Yonas was not home at the time, so the men waited.

“Yonas arrived at around 9:30 PM. Then they took him,” said the witness.

The Addis Ababa Police Commission has stated it does not have Yonas in its custody. Other federal security institutions have also denied holding him but eyewitness accounts identify the masked men who rolled up to Koye Fiche that night as government security forces.

The government has denied involvement, but has yet to express any concern regarding the abduction. It stands to reason that if Yonas were abducted by non-government forces, the government bears the responsibility to, at the very least, identify these forces.

Local organizations and political parties like the Ethiopian Mass Media Professional Association, Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (EZEMA), and the Enat Party have issued statements demanding the government immediately disclose the whereabouts of the journalists, release them from unlawful detention, and take them to court if they stand accused of any legitimate wrongdoing.

“Illegal acts like these infringe on press and journalistic freedom,” the Association said in its statement, calling on all concerned bodies to react swiftly.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international watchdog, has also expressed alarm over the arrests and abductions.

“Ethiopia, a country that already has a stained press freedom record, is increasingly becoming a hostile environment for journalists,” said CPJ African Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “Authorities must urgently investigate Yonas Amare’s abduction, hold the perpetrators accountable, and unconditionally release journalists Khadar Mohamed Ismael and Abdulsemed Mohammed.”

The government has yet to respond to the statements.

Social media has also been in an uproar following news of the abduction.

Yared Hailemariam, who headed the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center for four-and-a-half-years before resigning a few weeks ago due to mounting pressure, described the developments as “extremely concerning” in a social media post this week.

“This pattern of forced disappearances of journalists is extremely concerning. Those who commit such acts are either government security forces, or secret killing squads run by officials,” Yared wrote.

Legal experts who spoke to The Reporter anonymously argue this specific case showcases the government’s failure to live up to a core tenet of the social contract: protecting citizens.

“The government has the constitution and the laws it ratified itself to govern the media. But it’s breaching all of them. If a journalist or media practitioner airs or publishes wrong information, the remedy should be as per the media law. The government allowed the establishment of the Media Council to take self-correcting measures before a case moves to the legal process. But what we’re witnessing is the erosion of all these procedures and a growing government motive to take justice into its own hands and treat journalists like armed groups or terrorists,” said one legal expert and human rights advocate.

Others point to the government’s growing frustration with criticism on sensitive topics at a crucial time in Ethiopian politics.

“The incumbent’s approach to the media has changed. The government has become highly time-sensitive and topic-sensitive. It’s no longer tolerating media coverage of certain topics. Elections are just a year away, and the government does not want media that criticizes the incumbent’s work,” said Befekadu Hailu, former director of the Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD).

Befekadu was also one of the Zone 9 Bloggers imprisoned by the EPRDF regime. He foresees the coming year will be full of challenges for the media.

“The next year leading up to the elections will be a highly sensitive time for the media. Topics like the Corridor Development project, corruption, and others are non-negotiable agendas for the government,” said Befekadu.

He and other observers agree that an approaching election is almost always accompanied by a general crackdown on civil society organizations (CSOs), activists, and human rights bodies in addition to the media.

“If you look at the patterns preceding the last three national elections in Ethiopia, crackdowns like this are common and they typically begin just a year before the vote. Journalists, activists, CSOs, opposition party members, human rights advocates, and ordinary citizens are unlawfully detained and accused of terrorism, killed, or forced to flee the country. Then the incumbent wins the election in a landslide,” said Befekadu.

He notes the suppression extends not only to individuals, but to organizations and systems.

“For instance, over the past year, the government has amended the CSO proclamation and the media proclamation. Despite rejection and controversy, these laws were ratified by Parliament. The amendments undercut free press and CSO operations,” said Befekadu.

He cautions that while crackdowns have happened in the past, conditions are shaping up to be especially difficult this time around.

“In the past, the international community would pressure the government to ease its grip on the media. At present, even CSOs and rights advocates in Ethiopia are all silent because they are afraid for themselves, let alone fighting for journalists and the media. We’ve given up on domestic CSOs and human rights advocates based in Ethiopia because they’ve already been weakened by the government. The only hope now is pressure from the international community,” said Befekadu.

However, even this last line of defense could be futile, according to the political commentator.

“Unfortunately, the international community is not what it used to be. International diplomacy has made a significant departure from the past. Trump’s second term, in particular, has disrupted everything. Media institutions, CSOs, and human rights initiatives in Ethiopia were severely affected by Trump’s decision to cut funding,” said Befekadu.

“Worse, foreign governments, UN agencies, global rights bodies, and the like have also taken a departure from pressuring the Ethiopian government to stop its arbitrary actions against journalists. This is a very unfortunate time for freedom of expression in Ethiopia.”

Still, international organizations like Human Rights Watch, CPJ, and others could help pressure the incumbent into relaxing its grip on press freedom.

Press freedom in Ethiopia has been on a distressing decline for the past few years. The country dropped four places to rank 145th out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in May 2025—placing it squarely in the ‘very serious’ category for the first time alongside the likes of Yemen, Sudan, and Rwanda.

Academic research on the Ethiopian media space further illustrates the increasingly restrictive environment.

‘The Cost of Dissent in a Governance System Characterized by ‘Political Marketplace’: A Phenomenological Study of Independent Journalists in Ethiopia’ is a research paper published in 2024 by Abdissa Zerai, Getachew Dinku, and Desalegn Aynalem.

The paper examined the lived experiences of nine journalists who have endured harassment, kidnapping and arbitrary detentions for daring to be independent and committing themselves to the pursuit of truth. The researchers analyzed how the victims make sense of their ordeals, the impact their experience has had on their professional practice, on their safety and security and the overall wellbeing of their families, and what they make of the media space and the broader political reform in today’s Ethiopia.

The paper indicates that study subjects “fell victim to dramatized arrests, enforced disappearances, trumped-up charges, weaponized court systems, and suffered inhumane treatment of different kinds at the hands of law enforcement agents.”

It also shed light on how their harrowing experiences pushed the overwhelming majority of the victims to either be very cautious and exercise more self-censorship in their journalistic practice, or decide to quit altogether the profession they loved, or even contemplate exile as an option.

The study also uncovered the fact that the study participants invariably felt that the whole experience has left them psychologically traumatized, morally depressed, professionally fearful and economically stressed.

“As the ‘political marketplace’ that structures the current system of governance discourages dissent and diversity of views, the study showed that the communicative space has increasingly been narrowing and is unlikely to improve any time soon. Taking all these into account, the much hyped Ethiopia’s political reform seems to have largely waned,” reads the paper.