UN says local staff, dependents detained in Ethiopia

A United Nations (UN) representative on Tuesday reported that several Ethiopian staff members were arrested and detained during government raids targeting ethnic Tigrayans in the capital Addis Ababa.

UN security officials say they have visited those detained and the UN has formally contacted the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry to demand their immediate release.

Ethiopia’s state of emergency

The central government and members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been engaged in armed conflict for the past year, with fighting intensifying in recent weeks.

The Ethiopian government put a state of emergency in place on November 2 as rebels from the country’s northern Tigray region continue to threaten advancing to the capital.

The state of emergency allows government forces to arrest at will anyone suspected of supporting terrorist organizations — the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy has declared the TPLF a terrorist organization.

Police in Addis Ababa on Monday had told reporters that they had been arresting TPLF “followers” and that the arrests were “not ethnically motivated at all.”

The US State Department on Monday called reports of harassment against ethnic Tigrayans “concerning.”

js/fb (AFP, Reuters)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/un-says-local-staff-dependents-detained-in-ethiopia/a-59770619?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf