Ethiopia: State of emergency declared

Ethiopia | 27 October 2016

Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency, as reported by ABC News on 9 October 2016. This is the government"s response to the long-lasting series of protests in the country. Foreign diplomats face travel restrictions too and those failing to obey risk a prison sentence of up to five years. The US State Department commented on 12 October 2016: "We are troubled by the potential impact of the decision to authorize detention without a warrant and to further limit freedom of expression, including by blocking Internet access, prohibiting public gatherings, and imposing curfews." Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, explains some of the details: "The state of emergency does not specifically target Christians, yet the communication restrictions (which also affect social media) will have a huge impact on the Church in many ways: Conducting acts of worship in public will be more difficult and church leaders will have difficulties staying in contact with fellow Christians and the international community. It will also be difficult for Christian teachers to speak about justice and equality as this could now be more easily construed as an attempt to undermine the government. The state of emergency will therefore have a negative impact on the Church and its interactions with society and the global community."