The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) expressed concern that civil society organizations were being suspended without providing details of any serious violations of the law. The government human rights organization made this announcement in a statement issued yesterday regarding the ban on civil society organizations.

EHRC highlighted that complaints were received following the ban of three civil society organizations by the Civil Society Organizations Authority in November. The institute received information that these organizations were suspended due to allegedly engaging in activities harmful to the interests of the country, despite being mandated to work independently from politics.

While monitoring the situation, EHRC also noted that two other human rights organizations were banned earlier in the week. The EHRC found it alarming that these organizations were suspended without clarity on the law violations.

In a statement, EHRC expressed concern that these repeated bans were restricting civic space and negatively impacting the right to organize. The EHRC called on authorities to expedite investigations and allow the organizations to resume their work without hindrance.

Since last November, five civil society organizations have been banned by the government. For the first time, the Center for Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD), Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), and Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) were all banned within days of each other.

The ban on these organizations was lifted in early December, but five days later, the Center for Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD) and Lawyers for Human Rights were banned again. A week after the second ban, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council and the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center (EHRDC) were also banned.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center-EHRDC, established in 2020 based on the Declaration of Civil Society Organizations, is an indigenous civil society organization that focuses on human rights.

Another organization that was suspended at the same time was the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRC). In its 33 years of operation, EHRC claims to be “a veteran organization that has been engaged in high-level activities to ensure human rights are respected, democracy prevails, and the rule of law is upheld in the country.”

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his speech to Parliament at the end of last year, stated, “It is necessary to scrutinize the operations of the institution known as Human Rights. We cannot continue to fund entities that report to external forces, and we must consider the consequences of allowing such institutions in Ethiopia.”

Furthermore, Abiy added, “Human rights is meant to be a noble concept. However, it has been distorted from its original intent and is now being used as a political tool.” This statement by the Prime Minister has sparked outrage among human rights organizations.