UN Report Says At Least 1,000 Tigrayans Have Been Arrested In Ethiopia

As the war in Ethiopia worsens, a report by the United Nations Human Rights Agency has said that at least 1,000 Ethiopians suspected to be Tigrayans have been arrested by the Prime Minister Abiy-led government since the declaration of the state of emergency on November 2.

Authorities under the six months emergency have the power to arrest and detain suspects without trial and also conduct house searches without warrant in the East African nation.

United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights revealed that “at least 1,000 individuals are believed to have been detained over the past week or so – with some reports putting the figure much higher”. The statement went further to note that conditions in detention centres are generally poor especially as most of the detention facilities are overcrowded. Ten local UN staff members who were arrested on November 9 are yet to be released.

 “Most of those detained are reported to be people of Tigrayan origin, arrested often on suspicion of being affiliated to or supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF),” the UN statement said.

The Ethiopian police have in the past said arrests were not ethnically motivated, citing supporters of the TPLF as targets as they continue with efforts towards advancing to the capital.

Source

BBC

Featured Image Source: Reuters