Somali Region frees ‘121 unlawfully detained’ people, ‘pardons’ two jailed journalists, Rights Commission says

EHRC Chief Commissioner Berhanu Adelo and Mustefe Mohammed during the meeting on 21 October. (Photo: EHRC)

By Addis Standard
Wednesday, November 26, 2025

On 17 May 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that at least seven journalists were arrested across Ethiopia in April, shortly after parliament passed an amendment to the media law.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has confirmed that 121 people who were “unlawfully detained” in various police stations across the Somali Region "have been released”, alongside two journalists who were “serving sentences” in correctional facilities and were freed on pardon.

The Commission said today that it has “verified” that the Somali Regional Government has begun “implementing practical measures to address longstanding concerns over prolonged pre-charge detention, access to justice, and treatment of persons in custody.” The steps follow the Commission’s visit and subsequent meeting with regional authorities, including regional president Mustafe Mohammed, on 21 October 2025.

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During the meeting, the EHRC highlighted areas of improvement in the Somali Region since the current “reforms” began, including the cessation of beatings and systematic abuses in police stations and correctional facilities, higher inmate daily expenditure compared to other regions, ongoing efforts to return and rehabilitate displaced people, and early steps toward implementing transitional justice.

However, the Commission expressed concerns over what it said were “unresolved issues” requiring immediate attention. These included ensuring accountability for human rights violations linked to conflicts in the Dewa’aley area bordering Fafen and Jarar zones, rehabilitating affected victims, improving detainee treatment and access to justice, and addressing the problem of prolonged pre-charge detention.

In June this year, two senior members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) were detained in the Nogob Zone in the Somali region, where they have been held “incommunicado” after they were detained “without warrant, charge, or any semblance of due process,” according to the party.

According to the party, Ayaanle Yaasiin Budul, Chair of its Nogob Zone chapter, and Bashiir Cismaan Budul, Head of the Elweyne District chapter, were apprehended after “armed personnel stormed the ONLF office” in Elweyne. The group claimed the officials were assaulted during the raid and taken to “an undisclosed detention facility.”

It is not clear if they are among the released detainees.

The release of the two pardoned journalists comes against the backdrop of a broader crackdown earlier this year. On 17 May 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that at least seven journalists were arrested across Ethiopia in April, shortly after parliament passed an amendment to the media law. According to CPJ, the amendment “increases government control” over the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA), reversing protections introduced under the 2021 media law.

Among those detained at the time was Ahmed Awga, founder of Jigjiga Television Network, who was arrested on April 23 in the Somali Region. Ahmed had been in prison following an interview he conducted with a father alleging that his 16-year-old son, Shafi’i Abdikarim Ali, died from injuries sustained after police beating.

In the interview, the father, Abdikarim Ali Ahmed, called for justice and said an officer “kicked the teenage boy’s head, while wearing boots,” after which the boy was hospitalised and later died. Somali Regional Police Commander Abdi Ali Siyad responded to the allegations by saying, “The boy simply died. There is no one to be held accountable”.

Ahmed was brought to court on April 25 on incitement charges and was remanded pending investigation.

The Commission cited regional president Mustafe as stating that he viewed the concerns raised by the EHRC “positively and committed the regional government to focused efforts to eliminate prolonged pre-charge detention and accelerate justice processes.”

He also said the region would continue collaborating with the EHRC on “transitional justice and human rights awareness” and said that steps were being taken to “prevent further violations, including in border areas shared with neighbouring regions.”

EHRC Chief Commissioner Birhanu Adelo commended the developments, stating that “the action should be emulated by other regions”.

He encouraged the Somali Regional Government to continue its efforts to resolve remaining human rights issues and reiterated that the Commission will “continue to strengthen its advocacy and monitoring of the implementation of recommendations at the regional level to improve the human rights situation in Ethiopia.”