Ethiopia: Authorities must drop proposed changes to the CSO law, halt restrictions on civic space
“This proposed amendment is an indication that the recently intensified crackdown onhumanrightsdefenders, CSOs, andmedia is widely linked to the upcomingelections and the human rightschallenges confronting the country ahead of theelections.It also leaves room forabuse ofdiscretionby introducing vagueand overly broadlanguage that refers to “politicaladvocacy,” which presents a risk of executive officers, including security forces and law enforcement, taking arbitrarymeasures. This ban will also likely impact mediaorganisations registeredas non-profits (which isa growing model globallyin the face ofchallenges tothefree press presented by thefor-profit model).7″ AI