They condemned ''all persecution of fellow journalists and media personnel in Ethiopia, targeted simply for doing their jobs," according to a statement.

Rights groups have long accused Africa's second-most populous nation of cracking down on voices of dissent.

The rise to power of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018 had brought new hope to the country, after he introduced a wave of reforms.

But relations between the press and the government took a turn for the worse when a civil war broke out in the north of the country in November 2020.

"The country has since backpedalled considerably on its pledges to honour press freedoms. Detentions of journalists have once again become the norm," the journalists said.

The statement described journalists as "intimidated, languishing behind bars, living in fear of the very real risk of arrest, and contemplating either quitting their jobs or fleeing the country".

In its annual report in 2021, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) put Ethiopia among the top jailers of journalists in Africa together with Egypt and Eritrea.

Officials always deny targeting journalists for doing their job.

A number of journalists detained under a state of emergency have since been released.