Amnesty International (AI) issued a statement Monday urging Ethiopian authorities to stop using the country’s state of emergency as a way to “silence peaceful dissent” by arbitrarily detaining politicians and journalists critical of the government.

The state of emergency, originally imposed for six months in August 2023 under Article 93 of the Ethiopian Constitution, granted the government authority to impose curfews, restrict movement, make arrests, conduct warrantless searches, ban the carrying of guns and sharp objects, and restrict public gatherings. The government was also given impunity to close or limit the distribution/reach of media outlets where it deemed that these contradicted the emergency orders.

On February 2, Ethiopia’s parliament extended the state of emergency previously declared in August in response to an insurgency in the northern region of Amhara, by four months.

AI, in their statement, argued that, in failing to publish the extension of the state of emergency in the country’s official gazette, “Federal Negarit Gazeta,” the government is directly violating the public’s right to “access to information” as well as the corresponding principle of legality.

Interviews conducted by AI revealed that this state of emergency has seen countless arrests and subsequent detentions, including of at least five politicians and three journalists. Additionally, the interviews exposed a practice of unlawful detention, with several arrested individuals allegedly being held in police custody without being charged, and without being allowed to contact or meet with their lawyers.

Tigere Chagutah, AI’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, unequivocally condemned the actions undertaken by the Ethiopian government:

The Ethiopian government must stop resorting to old tactics of denying basic rights through the pretext of emergency laws. Ethiopians face another armed conflict in Amhara region, a serious humanitarian crisis in Tigray, a dire security situation in Oromia and pervasive impunity nationwide. The role of the media and the right to freedom of expression is as vital as ever.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in April 2023, ordered the security forces from 11 regions of Ethiopia to be integrated into the police or national army. This was supposedly necessary to “strengthen national unity,” as said by the government; however, dissidents allege that the move was a calculated effort to weaken Amhara.

Clashes erupted in Amhara in July 2023 between armed forces and local militia known as the Fano. The Fano was a key ally of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) during the Tigray War. However, the relationship between the government and the authorities weakened over time, especially after the 2022 peace deal wherein the Amhara expressed their anguish as they said that the peace deal failed to address their security concerns from Tigray and Oromiya.

AI has received reports of extra-judicial executions of civilians by the ENDF and has expressed its intent to undertake investigations into the matter. The European Union on February 13 issued a statement expressing concern over the alleged targeted killings of civilians in the Amhara region and considered the extension of state emergency as a “worrying development.” The US previously called for an investigation into the killings.