Reporter still detained in Ethiopia

Democratic U. S. Reps. Adam Schiff of California and Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania joined advocates to demand the release of Amir Aman Kiyaro, a freelance video journalist for the Associated Press, who has been held for months in Ethiopia without charges. Ethiopia adopted the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the American lawmakers say obliges them to release detained journalists to protect freedom of the press.

What prompted this detainment? Kiyaro and local journalist Thomas Engida were arrested in November in Addis Ababa. Police told state media the journalists violated the war-related state of emergency law and an anti-terrorism law, which could lead to sentences of seven to 15 years if convicted. Authorities claim Kiyaro served a terrorist organization’s purposes by interviewing one of its members. But the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Ethiopia, says journalists should not be imprisoned for interviewing sources classified as terrorists. The state of emergency concerning conflict with the Tigray region was lifted in February, and the Ethiopian government announced a humanitarian truce last week. Kiyaro’s case is due to be reviewed in court Tuesday, and the state must then either formally charge or release him.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s World Tour report on civilians being targeted in Ethiopian airstrikes earlier this year.