On July 29, 2025, Human Rights Watch issued a stark warning: Ethiopia’s proposed amendments to its civil society law represent a grave threat to civic freedom and democratic accountability. Framed as regulatory reform, the draft legislation would cement authoritarian control under the illusion of legal reform. The recently proposed amendments to the country’s civil society law represent a deliberate attempt to eliminate independent civic voices, obstruct public scrutiny, and preemptively suppress electoral accountability ahead of the 2026 national elections.
These amendments do not address governance deficits or improve public oversight. It is a calculated move to dismantle the fragile civic space that has allowed citizens, journalists, and rights defenders to speak and organise with limited autonomy. If enacted, it will institutionalise repression and extinguish the possibility of democratic participation under current conditions.
What the Law Proposes
The draft grants the federal government expansive authority to restrict or dismantle organisations deemed inconvenient. It bans foreign funding for groups engaged in governance or electoral work and permits the suspension or dissolution of organisations on vague “national security” grounds. The bill eliminates judicial recourse, requiring groups to appeal only within the same government body that sanctioned them.
The Civil Society Authority (CSA), restructured under the draft, will be controlled by five Justice Ministry appointees, with only two seats reserved for civil society representatives. Previously, the board included representatives from women’s and disability rights organisations. Their exclusion signals the state’s intent to narrow civic representation to state-aligned actors.
The law introduces oppressive reporting requirements. Organisations must secure prior approval to receive property, open accounts, or borrow funds. Licenses will be issued for four years and can be revoked or suspended at the Authority’s discretion—without independent oversight.
The language is deliberately vague. “Political advocacy” is left undefined, allowing the state to criminalise virtually any form of dissent, civic education, or mobilisation.
Ethiopia’s 2019 civil society law was seen by many as a step forward, replacing the widely condemned 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation. While imperfect, the 2019 law allowed independent human rights groups to reemerge and supported limited civic engagement. It marked a moment of cautious optimism.
The new proposal does not simply roll back those changes—it erases them. It mirrors the architecture of the 2009 law but with tighter state control, fewer procedural protections, and broader discretionary power. It is an engineered regression designed to legalise exclusion and consolidate power.
The Political Context: Consolidation, Not Consultation
The timing is no accident. With national elections scheduled for June 2026, the law would prohibit independent voter education, election observation, and civic participation for any organisation that receives foreign support. This includes technical assistance or in-kind resources, effectively disqualifying most local and diaspora-supported initiatives.
By criminalising such activity, the state aims to insulate itself from scrutiny. The proposed framework ensures that elections occur in a tightly controlled environment, devoid of independent oversight or informed participation.
Organisations supported by Ethiopians abroad will also be disqualified, severing links between local activism and diaspora solidarity. The message is clear: civic expression, if not state-sanctioned, is unwelcome.
The Institutional Environment: Captured and Hollowed Out
There are no internal mechanisms capable of checking this law. The ruling Prosperity Party entirely controls Ethiopia’s parliament. It has no credible opposition and no institutional independence. Judicial institutions have been systematically weakened. Media organisations face harassment, censorship, and criminal liability under recent legal amendments.
Between January and June 2024, authorities shut down 1,504 organisations for alleged reporting failures. In December, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council—among the oldest and most respected rights groups in the country—was suspended. At least 54 journalists and media workers have fled since 2020, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. This bill is the formalisation of that pattern.
Impact on Peace and Stability
Ethiopia faces ongoing conflicts in Amhara and Oromia, a fragile ceasefire in Tigray, and rising tensions with Eritrea. Civic actors—especially community-based organisations—play a vital role in promoting dialogue, documenting violations, and supporting victims. Silencing these voices removes essential intermediaries who can de-escalate tensions and promote reconciliation.
Without space for civic engagement, conflict narratives go unchallenged, and grievance festers. The cost is not just political—it is societal. Suppressing civil society undermines long-term peacebuilding and makes governance more fragile, not more secure.
No Hope in Parliament
Expecting Ethiopia’s parliament to reject the bill misunderstands its role. This is not a deliberative body; it is a procedural extension of the executive. Debate is symbolic, not substantive. Approval is all but guaranteed.
As a result, resistance must come from outside: from regional and international actors, from civic actors in exile, and from global institutions committed to defending civic space.
What Must Be Done
Ethiopia’s bilateral partners and multilateral donors must take an unequivocal stand. They should publicly demand the withdrawal of the draft and halt any cooperation that is not explicitly conditioned on civic space protections.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should immediately assess the draft’s compatibility with the African Charter, particularly Articles 9, 10, and 11, which guarantee freedom of expression, association, and assembly.
Donor governments must tie funding to enforceable benchmarks for civic protection and ensure that technical and financial support is not complicit in the erosion of fundamental rights.
International actors must also support alternative civic infrastructures—especially diaspora-led efforts—that can maintain accountability and connection while domestic spaces are shuttered.
Silence will be interpreted as consent. There is still time to prevent this bill from becoming law. But only if pressure is timely, public, and coordinated.
This Is Not a Domestic Matter Alone
Across Africa, governments are learning to use legal means to criminalise independent civic work. If Ethiopia succeeds in passing this bill without consequence, it will establish a dangerous precedent: that civil society can be eliminated through regulation, and democracy maintained as an empty shell.
African democracies must not normalise the disappearance of civic space. Ethiopia’s regression is a warning to the continent.
Getachew Temare is a dedicated human rights defender and peacebuilding analyst with extensive expertise in human rights advocacy, peacebuilding, and transitional justice, focusing on the Horn of Africa. A trained lawyer and peacebuilding practitioner, he holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Transformation from the Centre for Justice and Peace at Eastern Mennonite University.
