We are writing to you to express our concern about the arrest of more than thirty-five people in Ethiopia that include individuals who happened to have familial relation with opposition leaders outside the country on fabricated charges of plotting a coup. We are expressing our ongoing concern about the Ethiopian government disregard of the human rights law.
In the past 17 years, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, State Department, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, BBC and other leading newspapers have repeatedly reported about the use of arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and killing of civilians by the Ethiopian government as methods to undermine the resistance movement for freedom and democracy under the pretext of a counterinsurgency campaign against terrorism. Ethiopian Civic Advocacy often called for urgent and independent investigation into crimes committed by the current government of Ethiopia.
The key opposition Parliament Member Bulcha Demeksa has expressed skepticism about the reports of this coup plot. He said “I honestly believe this is not true. The government of Ethiopia has used such accusations so many times to make it a reason to arrest people … The election approaching. Anybody who could be a viable candidate for an opposition party will be caught by this net”.
This latest baseless and fabricated charges against the 35 people that include individuals who happened to have familial relation with opposition leaders outside the country is a continuation of same old and worn out practices of criminalizing Ethiopian activists and there family members under the pretext of counterinsurgency campaign against terrorism. Those, the Ethiopian government, who arrested over 35 people under the pretext of counterinsurgency campaign against terrorism, have been implicated for committing war crimes and violating domestic and international humanitarian law, including deliberately and indiscriminately attacking and harming civilians.
The arrest of the thirty-five people on fabricated charges of plotting a coup by the Ethiopian Government is in violation of Ethiopia’s obligations under international humanitarian law. Therefore, we call on you to take immediate and tangible steps to ensure that the actions of Ethiopia’s government to comply fully with the Geneva Conventions and the Ethiopian government to be accountable for violating the international human rights law. In addition we urge you to press the Ethiopian government to release the prisoners immediately and ensure an end to the practice of arbitrary arrest and unfair trials in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian American Civic Advocacy is a nongovernmental organization based in Virginia
