Press coverage of military operations banned

The Ethiopian Government has issued an order banning media from covering military operations as conflict heightens in the Horn of Africa nation. According to a report in The East African, in a tweet, Abiy Ahmed’s administration has asked media practitioners to desist from reporting on military operations in his country. However, the ban isn’t clear on whether it applies to both local and international media. Several media outlets reported that the Central Command of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces said the press has been banned from reporting on military operations, battlefields and consequences of the conflict. The general ban comes a week after the Ethiopian Media Authority issued a warning to some international media houses regarding their coverage on the ongoing conflict. The warning was issued to BBC World News, CNN, Reuters and the Associated Press, with the government threatening it will revoke their licences for reporting ‘fake news’.

Full East African report

Leading Ethiopian academic and critic Assefa Fiseha is one of at least 1 000 people arrested under Ethiopia’s state of emergency. Fiseha is a scholar of comparative federalism, constitutional law, management of diversity, intergovernmental relations, minority rights, second chambers and judicial systems. A report on the News24 site notes that the Ethiopian Government on 2 November introduced emergency rule a year after militias linked to the Tigray People's Liberation Front clashed with government forces. The state of emergency will last for six months and suspects can be detained without trial. Ethiopia's Human Rights Commission said ‘the state of emergency was not executed in a manner that upholds the principles of human rights such as utmost necessity, proportionality and impartiality’.

Full Fin24 report