By releasing imprisoned journalists, unblocking access to news websites and lifting bans on media outlets that had been imposed by the previous regime, Abiy’s government has moved in a swift and spectacular manner in the 12 months since it took office on 2 April 2018.
For the first time in more than 15 years, no journalists are being held in connection with their work. A total of 264 previously banned websites and blogs have been given permission to operate. Leading Ethiopian TV channels that had been forced to operate from bases outside the country, such as OMN and ESAT, can now operate in Ethiopia. In all, 23 publications and six TV channels have been approved in recent months.
“In the past year, Ethiopia has gone from being one of Africa’s biggest jailer of journalists, only just behind neighboring Eritrea, to being a country where journalists can now fulfill their role as a fourth estate and criticize the government without immediately being imprisoned,”said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk.“We urge the new authorities to continue the important progress that has been achieved by quickly keeping the promise to overhaul legislation that is extremely repressive for journalists, by improving access to state-held information, by abolishing Internet cuts altogether, and by acting as press freedom advocates internationally.”
Hostile legislative environment
A commission that was established to review the draconian media laws is due to issue its conclusions in the next few weeks. In the past decade, a major arsenal of legislative weapons had been created to gag the media. It included a 2009 terrorism law that was used to sentence the well-known journalist Eskinder Nega to 18 years in prison just for speculating about the Arab Spring’s potential impact on Ethiopia.
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