The Committee to Protect Journalists posted on 5 September 2025 a press release titled "Ethiopian Police Detain 2 Sheger FM Journalists, Force Station to Delete Report."
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Ethiopian authorities detained 2 FM radio journalists and forced the station to remove a report on widespread poor working conditions of healthcare workers.
The Committee to Protect Journalists posted on 20 August 2025 an article titled "Ethiopian Journalist Abducted by Masked Men; 2 Others Detained."
Masked men abducted the editor of the privately-owned Ethiopian newspaper, Reporter. Officials also detained a reporter with the state-owned Somali Regional Television and another with the privately-owned Ahadu Radio in Addis Ababa.
The Committee to Protect Journalists posted on 29 May 2025 a press release titled "CPJ, 31 Others Call for UN Scrutiny of Eritrea's Human Rights Record."
As of 1 December 2024, Eritrea remained the worst jailer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa, with 16 behind bars without charge or trial. The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 31 other non-governmental organizations calling on the UN Human Rights Council to condemn grave human rights violations in Eritrea.
The Committee to Protect Journalists posted on 9 April 2025 a bulletin titled "At Least 7 Journalists Detained in Ethiopia on Terror Allegations."
Police arrested at least 7 journalists with the privately owned Ethiopia Broadcasting Service (EBS) over what authorities said was a fabricated documentary. The EBS founder apologized for airing the fabricated allegation. The journalists' lawyers said the editorial lapses should be addressed under Ethiopia's media law, not its antiterrorism legislation.
The Committee to Protect Journalists posted on 18 June 2024 an article titled "Fleeing Prolonged Media Crackdown, Ethiopian Journalists Struggle in Exile."
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that it is aware of at least 54 Ethiopian journalists and media workers who have gone into exile since 2020. This article focuses on Tesfa Alem-Tekle, Woldegiorgis Ghebrehiwet Teklay, Belete Kassa, Yayesew Shimelis, and Guyo Wariyo.
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 5 September 2023 an analysis titled "China's United Front Strategy in Africa" by Paul Nantulya.
This analysis describes the efforts of China's United Front Work Department and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to mobilize individuals and institutions in Africa to advance the interests of the Communist Party of China and isolate its adversaries.
The Committee to Protect Journalists published on 1 August 2022 a commentary titled "Journalists Face Growing Hostility as Ethiopia's Civil War Persists" by Muthoki Mumo.
According to the Committe to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Ethiopia now ranks with Eritrea as sub-Saharan Africa's worst jailer of journalists. CPJ has documented the arrest of at least 63 journalists and media workers since November 4, 2020, the outbreak of civil war, at least eight of whom remain detained as of August 1, 2022.
The Associated Press published on 23 May an article titled "Ethiopia Launches Crackdown on Journalists and Activists" and Reuters a similar one titled "Ethiopia Arrests 4,000 in Amhara Region Crackdown, Local State Media Report."
Ethiopia reportedly arrested thousands of journalists, activists, and Fano militia members in Amhara region to "ensure the survival of the nation."
The Committee to Protect Journalists posted on 16 December 2021 an article titled "Ethiopia Uses Emergency Law to Ramp Up Arrests of Journalists."
Ethiopian authorities have arrested at least 14 journalists since declaring a state of emergency on 2 November. The only country in Sub-Saharan Africa with more journalists under arrest is Eritrea.
In a related story, Aljazeera published on 16 December 2021 an article titled "Ethiopia Arrests Associated Press Freelance Journalist."
UN News published on 18 November 2021 an article titled "Bachelet Condemns Killings of Peaceful Protesters in Sudan."
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, announced that at least 39 peaceful protesters have been killed by Sudanese security forces since the 25 October military coup.
I spoke with Richard Cuthbertson of the Calgary Herald about Alberta native, Amanda Lindhout, a journalist who was kidnapped in Somalia in August 2008.
Cuthbertson's story focuses on the ways that Lindhout's status might be at "a crossroads with the exceedingly fluid political situation in Somalia." Here is the background on the situation that I provided.
"The moderate government will almost be wholly dependent on the international community for assistance, both humanitarian assistance and any development aid that might start going in there," says David Shinn, a former U. S. ambassador to Ethiopia and now an expert on the Horn of Africa at George Washington University in Washington, D. C. ... "The entrepreneurial Somalis, as opposed to the ideological al-Shabab, they're not interested in making a political point or in harming the person,"Shinn says. "All they want is money. If the person were to die on them . . . they wouldn't get any money, and then they'd really be unhappy."You can view the entire article here. Image: Free Amanda Lindhout.
