The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has published a report of an international fact-finding mission to Ethiopia titled Human Rights Defenders Under Pressure. [1] The report details how defending human rights in Ethiopia today comes down to facing constant risks of clashes with federal, regional and local authorities, who show a blatant will to control and neutralise independent civil society, while the ruling power and State agents continue to subject human rights defenders to repression, harassment and retaliation.