In its latest global human‑rights overview,
“The State of the World’s Human Rights”,
Amnesty International singles out Ethiopia as a case where impunity for past and ongoing abuses remains the norm and civic space is rapidly shrinking. The report maps a pattern of forced evictions, arbitrary arrests of journalists and activists, and delays in justice, showing how the state increasingly treats dissent as a security threat rather than a legitimate expression of rights. Amnesty stresses that
“impunity for past and ongoing abuses remains the norm”,
underlining how the absence of accountability perpetuates cycles of violence and mistrust in institutions.
The Anatomy of Impunity
Amnesty’s analysis reveals that impunity has become institutionalized in Ethiopia’s political and security architecture. The report notes that state forces, regional militias, and non‑state armed actors have all been implicated in killings, torture, sexual violence, and other abuses, yet few perpetrators face meaningful prosecution. As Amnesty puts it,
“authorities routinely fail to investigate, prosecute, or provide remedies for grave human‑rights violations”,
creating an environment where violators operate with near‑total confidence.
This pattern is reinforced by a broader regional context monitored by the United Nations and related bodies. A United Nations‑linked analysis of the transitional‑justice policy introduced after years of conflict in Tigray and Amhara observes that
“accountability efforts for past and ongoing abuses have been inadequate and lacked transparency and independent oversight”,
leaving many victims and civil‑society groups deeply skeptical. The result is a
“history of impunity and lack of effective transitional justice”
that exacerbates grievances and fuels future cycles of violence.
Forced Evictions and Urban Development
Beyond wartime abuses, Amnesty turns its lens to peacetime violations linked to urban‑development projects. The report highlights Ethiopia’s Corridor Development Project, under which thousands of residents were evicted with as little as 72 hours’ notice, often without adequate consultation or compensation. Amnesty states that
“authorities carried out mass forced evictions in the name of urban development, displacing thousands of people without fair notice or remedy”,
showing how the state repackages displacement as progress.
In response to domestic and international pressure, authorities have announced a temporary suspension of the project in parts of Addis Ababa and pledged to “improve engagement with affected communities”, but Amnesty remains cautious, warning that such measures can easily be reversed unless legally binding safeguards are put in place. These evictions intersect with broader displacement trends monitored by the United Nations and its regional partners, which document that around 3.3 million internally displaced persons live in Ethiopia, many uprooted by conflict in Tigray, Amhara, and other regions, while the country also hosts over one million refugees from South Sudan and Sudan.
Shrinking Civic Space: From Law to Practice
Amnesty’s most striking warning concerns the systematic shrinkage of Ethiopia civic space. The report underscores how laws, surveillance, and administrative harassment are being used to stifle dissent, particularly ahead of planned elections and amid ongoing instability. Amnesty notes that “civic space continued to shrink as authorities increased surveillance and suppression of activists and human‑rights defenders, while introducing draft legislation that threatened freedom of association”, highlighting the risk that space for civil society will contract further.
The 2019 CSO Proclamation was initially presented as a liberalizing reform, replacing a more draconian law that had long been used to harass civil‑society organizations (CSOs). However, Amnesty’s analysis points out that
“despite legal reforms, significant challenges persist for civic space in Ethiopia”,
pointing to intrusive supervisory powers, burdensome reporting requirements, and opaque administrative decisions that can lead to the sudden closure of organizations. In 2024 alone, at least 1,504 CSOs were shut down, often on the grounds of “failure to submit annual reports” or other technicalities. Amnesty warns that
“if the continued closure of civic space is not halted, it will further intensify the crackdown on human rights in Ethiopia”,
echoing concerns that such closures are not incidental but part of a broader strategy to marginalize independent voices.
Media Under Pressure
Journalists and media outlets are at the forefront of this civic‑space squeeze. Amnesty’s report documents arbitrary detentions, harassment, and surveillance of reporters, particularly those covering conflict, human‑rights abuses, and politically sensitive stories. The report observes that
“authorities harassed, surveilled, and detained journalists, human‑rights defenders, and outspoken figures, creating an increasingly hostile and restrictive reporting environment”,
underscoring how the state uses legal and extra‑legal tools to silence critical voices.
Amnesty, in its public statements, highlights that
“the closure of civic space is not just shrinking—it is being crushed”,
pointing to raids on newsrooms, such as the April 2025 police raid on the Addis Standard office and a senior staff member’s residence, where employees were arrested and electronic devices confiscated. These incidents contribute to a chilling atmosphere where self‑censorship proliferates and critical reporting becomes increasingly risky. The United Nations and its media‑freedom mechanisms have repeatedly flagged that Ethiopia’s environment for journalism is deteriorating, with authorities using vague security rationales to justify repression.
A Regional and International Response
The critiques of Ethiopia’s human‑rights record are not confined to Amnesty alone; they are embedded in broader United Nations‑linked analyses of the country’s trajectory. A joint submission for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) notes that
“impunity for grave human‑rights violations persists, and victims and civil‑society organizations face ongoing obstacles to justice and remedy”.
These groups urge the Ethiopian government to meaningfully implement its transitional‑justice policy, ensure independent investigations, and protect civic actors who seek accountability.
Analysis by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect stresses that “lack of effective transitional justice for abuses under successive ruling parties has exacerbated grievances”, arguing that the absence of justice makes populations more vulnerable to future violence and polarization. The centre also notes that the only international body monitoring the situation in Ethiopia, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), was terminated in October 2023, despite its repeated warnings of ongoing and future atrocity risks. This termination has raised alarm that domestic accountability mechanisms, already weakened by opaque oversight and limited international involvement, may falter entirely.
The Risk of a New Repressive Cycle
Amnesty’s report does not simply catalog problems; it frames them as symptoms of a deeper structural risk—a new repressive cycle in which Ethiopia civic space is driven underground and impunity becomes permanent. The organization warns that
“if the continued closure of civic space is not halted, it will further intensify the crackdown on human rights in Ethiopia”,
emphasizing that the state’s current approach threatens to hollow out the country’s democratic foundations.
A United Nations‑inspired analysis of the situation argues that
“normalization of relations with Ethiopia must not come at the expense of justice and accountability”,
calling on foreign governments and multilateral partners to condition aid and political engagement on demonstrable improvements in human‑rights protections. Amnesty echoes this, urging the Ethiopian government to halt forced evictions without adequate consultation and compensation, end arbitrary arrests of journalists and activists, and ensure transparent, independent investigations into past and ongoing abuses.
Options for Reversal: Domestic and International Levers
Amnesty’s analysis of Ethiopia civic space offers not just criticism but a clear roadmap for reversal. The organization calls for the Ethiopian government to reform the CSO Proclamation to remove excessive supervisory powers and punitive administrative sanctions, arguing that
“proposed amendments to civil‑society legislation must be dropped if they threaten foreign funding and expand executive oversight of organizations”.
Amnesty insists that any renewed law must genuinely protect, rather than dismantle, civil society.
At the United Nations level, several partners and monitors have recommended that technical and financial support for transitional‑justice institutions be strengthened, while ensuring that those bodies operate independently of the executive. Amnesty’s analysis concludes that
“meaningful progress on human‑rights issues will only be possible if civic space is protected, and if victims and civil‑society organizations are able to participate without fear”.
Unless these conditions are met, the shrinking civic space in Ethiopia risks becoming a permanent feature of the country’s political landscape rather than a phase to be reversed.
Amnesty’s Ethiopia report serves as both a snapshot and a warning: impunity and the shrinking Ethiopia civic space threaten to hollow out Ethiopia’s democratic and human‑rights foundations. The forced evictions, silenced journalists, shuttered CSOs, and stalled accountability mechanisms revealed in the report are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of repression. The United Nations‑linked analysis of transitional‑justice and atrocity‑risk frameworks underscores that without a decisive course correction—and without international actors backing that reversal with credible pressure and support—Amnesty’s stark assessment may well become a self‑fulfilling prophecy: a civic space not just shrinking, but extinguished.
