Lucy Kassa

Lucy Kassa (in Amharic: ሉሲ ካሳ (Lusī Kāsa)) is an Ethiopian journalist and war correspondent. For her coverage of the Tigray War, where she exposed and denounced the atrocities committed by the Ethiopian government, particularly the widespread rapes and sexual violence against the Tigrayan population, she was persecuted and forced into exile. Kassa is a political refugee in Europe.

Biography
Kassa originally wrote as a freelance journalist on development and economic issues in Ethiopia for a Norwegian magazine called Bistandsaktuelt.

However, with the outbreak of war in her home region of Tigray in November 2020, she began documenting significant human rights violations. The journalist faced numerous threats and an attack at her home, during which armed men stole her computer and documents. She then decided to leave Ethiopia. She has since lived in Europe, supported by an international organization, but does not share specific details about her location for security reasons.

Work
Through her work, Kassa drew international attention to the victims of the war and the suffering of the civilian population, particularly women and children. Her articles, notably in Al Jazeera, the LA Times, The Telegraph, and The Globe and Mail, exposed crimes such as ethnic cleansing, massacres, sexual violence, and war crimes. Kassa countered misinformation and propaganda, uncovered hidden atrocities committed by all parties in the conflict, and thus influenced international reactions, including sanctions against war criminals. Her contributions to investigative journalism have received several awards, including the Magnitsky Award, and have been mentioned notably in British parliamentary debates and in a U.S. Senate resolution. In 2022–2023, she received the Anna Politkovskaya Award  and the Amnesty Media Award.