Ethiopia Emergency: Police detaining Tigrayans based on their ethnicity, says report

Nearly four days after the Ethiopian government declared a national state of emergency, Tigrayans are being arrested in Addis Ababa in a wave of alleged ethnic targeting, reported CNN on Monday, November 8.  According to media reports, the ethnic community alleged that the authorities are arresting people including, priests, women and children. Notably, the 'discriminatory' arrests were going on since the Ethiopian authorities declared a national state of emergency on Tuesday following a threat of rival Tigray forces to move on the capital. According to the authorities, the government action came after the country intelligence agency warned that the rival group was planning to oust the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Authorities detaining people on the basis of ethnicity: Report

Citing Ethiopia's state-appointed human rights commission (EHRC), CNN said that the administration has been arresting the common people of Ethiopia 'based on ethnicity'. The commission noted that the state of emergency gave 'special privileges' to the administration to arrest people on the basis of mere suspicion. The human rights commission said that the authorities are detaining people by saying "they are involved with the terror outfits". It is worth mentioning the state of emergency will last for the next six months. The government can impose a curfew, order citizens into military training, disrupt transport services and travel, suspend licenses of media outlets and detain indefinitely anyone suspected of having links with a terrorist group.

Police failed to prefer documents for arrests, says family members

Further, the commission demanded the law enforcement agency to work professionally while "protecting the human rights" of the ethnic people living in the country for decades. It also urged the administration to adhere to principles of legitimacy, reasonableness, proportionality and impartiality, reported CNN. Meanwhile, while speaking to CNN, the family members whose elders got arrested on the basis of a "false" narrative claimed that the police who came to arrest failed to provide the documents for the arrests. Notably, the Ethiopian police arrested a mother of a two-year-old without providing any details to her family members.

"Now, the toddler has been continuously watching the other female members whenever he feels hungry," said the husband of the woman arrested on the suspicion of having links with the rebel groups. However, Addis Ababa police commander Fasika Fenta told CNN that the law enforcement agency was only arresting those who receive money and training from the TPLF. When the media outlet asked about the detention of a woman whose toddler is reportedly continuously crying to get a glimpse of his mother, Fasika said he was not aware of the incident and would look into it.

(Image: AP)