Wubrest Adamu is AIUSA’s Almami Cyllah Fellow.
For civil society in Ethiopia, 2019 was a year of fresh starts. After Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office, many Ethiopian civil society organizations (CSOs) anticipated the future in this manner. People were hopeful for increased press freedoms and more open civic space in light of the prime minister’s promised reforms. In that same year, Ethiopia even commemorated World Press Freedom Day. While these reform efforts were viewed as a significant move toward enabling and protecting the civic space in Ethiopia, the initially optimistic outlook quickly faded, leaving Ethiopians in an increasingly vulnerable and precarious situation.
Crackdown on civil society organizations
Reality didn’t match the promise. Far from protecting Ethiopia’s civic space, the deteriorating state of press freedom and suspensions of prominent CSOs are a warning that this valuable civic space is not just shrinking but closing altogether.
International Media Support’s Journalists’ Safety Assessment Report highlights state suppression and press freedom erosion, with 43 journalists incarcerated in 2024. One of the clear examples occurred in April 2025, when police raided the Addis Standard office and the residence of a senior staff member, arresting employees and confiscating electronic devices.
There have also been recent suspensions of prominent CSOs. In November 2024, the Authority for Civil Society Organizations (ACSO) suspended the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE), the Center for Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD), and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) on grounds of “lack of political neutrality” and “engaging against the national interest.” Authorities intensified their crackdown on civil society by suspending two more prominent human rights organizations, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRC) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center (EHRDC), for similar reasons and for exceeding their mandate in late December 2024. The authority lifted the suspension of all CSOs later on.
The history of limiting civil society repeats and worsens
Under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration, these are not the first instances in which authorities have used vaguely worded or sophisticated procedural restrictions to curtail freedom of expression and association. A 2024 report by the Ethiopian Press Freedom Defenders highlights that since 2019, Ethiopia has seen the arrest of over 200 journalists and media workers, including foreign journalists.
In February, April, and May 2024, government security forces tracked and harassed staff members of human rights organizations at their workplaces and residences. In July 2024, ASCO reported the closure of at least 1,504 CSOs, citing their “failure to submit annual reports.” Amnesty International and other rights groups have condemned Ethiopian authorities’ escalating crackdown on civic space, urging them to end the situation immediately.
The U.S. must act to protect civil society in Ethiopia
The United States government should take decisive steps to address the closing of civic space in Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s stability is closely linked to the region’s overall stability and the ability of people in Ethiopia and the region of eastern Africa to exercise their human rights.
- The U.S. should strongly and publicly condemn the suspension of CSOs and assaults against journalists and media outlets and exert pressure on the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to promptly reverse these actions and make it clear they are monitoring the situation closely. There is a real concern that if the U.S. does not do so now, the GoE will feel emboldened to continue these tactics. This has already been demonstrated by the GoE’s move to suspend additional NGOs after its initial crackdown in November.
- U.S. officials must ensure human rights concerns remain a central theme in all bilateral discussions with their GoE counterparts. The U.S. should resume technical and financial assistance to Ethiopian CSOs to enhance their capacity to protect themselves and monitor and report such violations. The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia should also intensify its monitoring of the human rights situation, providing regular updates to inform U.S. policy and actions.
- The U.S. should not stand in the way of the UNHRC re-engaging on human rights issues in Ethiopia. UNHRC engagement is critical to addressing increasing violations and the suppression of CSOs by establishing an independent mechanism. With local mechanisms under repression, international oversight is not only crucial to investigate, document, and preserve evidence of abuses but also to prevent further escalation.
If the U.S. fails to take these actions, the risk of further oppression of civil society will lead to greater instability in Ethiopia and more human rights violations in Ethiopia and the region.