War-hit Ethiopia has announced new rules against sharing infor-mation on battlefield outcomes in the war against Tigrayan rebels, a move that could bring sanctions against journalists.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government declared a nation-wide state of emergency earlier this month as fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) advance towards the capital, the latest turn in a brutal year-long conflict.
International alarm is mounting about the escalating war in Af-rica’s second most populous country, with anxious foreign governments urging their citizens to leave.
The new decree issued late Thursday said it was “forbidden to distribute in any communica-tion systems any military move-ments, battlefield outcomes” that were not officially published by the government.
“Security forces will take neces-sary measures on those who have been found to violate” the order, it said in a possible warning to news outlets and social media ac-counts that have reported on re-bel claims of territorial gains.
The government also barred resi-dents from “using various types of media platforms to support di-rectly or indirectly the terrorist group” — a reference to the TPLF — and warned of unspecified consequences for anyone who ig-nored the decree.
The state of emergency imposed on November 2 allows the au-thorities to conscript citizens who own weapons or suspend any media outlets believed to be “giv-ing moral support directly or in-directly” to the TPLF.
The latest decree also bans any-one from calling “for a transi-tional government”, days after a prominent opposition party, the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), issued a statement urging an end to the fighting and the es-tablishment of an interim admini-stration to facilitate dialogue.
“During the mandate of the in-terim administration, all parties will begin negotiations on the formation of an all-inclusive transitional government that shall last for 18 months. No major stakeholder shall be excluded from these negotiations,” the OFC said Wednesday.—APP
