Local NewsNewsOpinion and analysis

Mass arrests in Addis Ababa city

The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (Esmegu) has announced that mass arrests continue to take place in Addis Ababa city, some of which do not follow the legal system, and some of them have forced disappearances.

In a statement released by the Human Rights Institute on Saturday, September 12, 2023, after the declaration of a state of emergency following the conflict in the Amhara region, large-scale mass arrests of journalists and members of the council, including those with immunity from prosecution, were carried out. He said mass arrests continued because they did not take them.

According to the information he got from the families of the detainees, Esmegu said that many people were unjustly detained in the capital. in addition, the report indicated that it was understood that people who are arrested are not brought to court at the appropriate time, and the whereabouts of those arrested are not known by their families.

In order to confirm the information received that public schools in the city are used as detention centers for these arrests, he requested the Addis Ababa Education Bureau, Federal Police Commission, Addis Ababa Police Commission in a letter, but he issued this report on September 12/2016. He explained that he has not received a response. Some of the detention centers were not set up for this purpose and were not kept clean, and the detainees were exposed to a serious health crisis, according to the report. In the past few weeks, pictures of prisoners who have been released from the Tulu Dimtu Detention Center and are suffering from health problems have been widely shared on social media.

The images have not been verified by the BBC. It was not possible to verify from an independent party about the situation that is said to be there. However, one of the respondents of the Amhara Association of America, Nehe Mandefro, told the BBC that they had received information that the images were taken from the Tulu Dimtu mass prison. Ato Hone told the BBC that there was a health crisis in the places where the detainees were held unjustly and an unknown number of people died.

The Amhara National Movement (ABN) said in a statement on its social media page yesterday that the implementation of the state of emergency has seen large-scale military operations and arrests of civilians. In addition, he said, he has received suggestions that actions that violate the principles of human rights are being carried out. He stated that in Addis Ababa, Amhara region and Oromia region, citizens have been arrested for crimes they did not commit and are not responsible for, beatings, confiscation of property, abuse and harassment by the security forces.

He accused Abe in his statement saying that the start-up factory warehouses around Addis Ababa are serving as a “concentration”. In a statement issued two weeks ago, the General Department, which was established to implement the emergency decree, stated that there are only 5 detention areas, and these are in Kombolcha, Gondar, Bahir Dar, Showa Robit and Awash Arba.

However, the Emergency Proclamation Investigation Board, which is monitoring the treatment of the prisoners, has pointed out that there are people detained in Addis Ababa as well.

Chairman of the Proclamation of Emergency Investigation Board, Azmerau Andemo, in a statement to reporters two weeks ago, said that he received a suggestion that arrests were made outside the areas where the Proclamation of Emergency is applicable.

The Oromia Communication Office, on the other hand, announced in a post on its social media page last week that there is no detention camp in Sheger and Fetche cities in the Oromia region, as well as in the general state of emergency implementation investigation board, in connection with the state of emergency.

A few days ago, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (ESMECO) announced that 190 people were admitted to the hospital and 3 people died due to an infectious disease in a temporary detention center in Gelan Sub-city, Sheger City, Oromia Region.

Related posts

Ethiopia has been ranked as the third-worst country in Africa for imprisoning journalists

Kidus Tekleyohannes

Mr Bekele Gerba said they resigned from OFCO and sought asylum in America.

Kidus Tekleyohannes

The United Nations expert group urged the government to take appropriate action in the Amhara region

Kidus Tekleyohannes

Leave a Comment