Nairobi, Kenya-The United Nations said Tuesday that at least 16 of its local employees were detained in the Ethiopian capital, and government spokesmen said they were detained for “participation in terrorism.” Stated. Under a new state of emergency as the country’s year-long war intensifies.
Humanitarian activists told The Associated Press that all detained staff were Tigrinya and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
The United Nations said no reason for detention was given, but has reported that Tigrayans, including lawyers, have been extensively detained in Addis Ababa since the state of emergency, and people are based solely on ethnicity. He said he was arrested.
“?? They are detained in the facility against their will,” UN spokesman Stephen Dujaric told reporters. He said six more employees were detained, but were subsequently released and many of the employee’s dependents were also detained.
In a message to the AP, government spokesman Legesse Tulu said the detention took place “for their participation in cheating and terrorist acts” without giving details.
The Ethiopian government has said it has detained suspected supporters of rival Tigray troops who have fought the Ethiopian government for the past year.
UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said security forces visited detainees and the UN called on Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to release them immediately.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, founded by the government, pointed out this week that the new wave of arrests “looked like ethnicity” and included older people and mothers with children. The AP confirmed that the detained people included priests and monks. And other priests of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Envoys from the African Union and the United States are trying to encourage an immediate suspension by the Ethiopian government and the Tigray army, which had long ruled the country before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power.
Thousands were killed, thousands were detained, and millions were evacuated in wars all year round. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people in the Tigray region are facing famine under a government blockade aimed at denying the possibility of food, medicine and other aid reaching the Tigray army.
The detention of UN Tigrayan staff took place the day after the UN Humanitarian Officer Martin Griffiths met with the Prime Minister and completed his visit to Ethiopia, which visited the “de facto authorities.” In Tigray, we advocate more access to millions of people in need.
Last month, the Ethiopian government expelled seven UN officials from the country and accused them without evidence of accidentally inflating the scale of the crisis. This move has been criticized by other countries and international organizations.
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Contributed by Edith M. Rederer of the United Nations.
Ethiopia detains UN officials and accuses them of “terrorist acts”
Source link Ethiopia detains UN officials and accuses them of “terrorist acts”
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