ARBITRARY DETENTIONS IN ETHIOPIA
- ILAAD
- 6 hours ago
- 1 min read
This report published by the International League Against Arbitrary Detention (ILAAD) informs legal practitioners, NGOs, activists and civil society about the national laws and practices leading to systemic arbitrary detention in Ethiopia.
Over the past years, thousands of people have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in Ethiopia mostly on the basis of political and ethnic motivations, particularly in regions affected by socio political tensions, such as Tigray, Oromia, and Amhara. The recent escalation of internal conflicts in those regions has intensified these groundless arrests, further worsening human rights abuses and increasing the suffering of the population. The report demonstrates that arbitrary detention in Ethiopia is a consequence of both the military conflicts ongoing since 2020 and systemic practices of law enforcement, despite the legal frameworks prohibiting arbitrary detention in the country.
Certain categories of individuals are particularly targeted by arbitrary detention in Ethiopia, namely political opponents, journalists, Human Rights defenders, protestors and ethnic groups, specifically Tigrayans, Amharas and Oromos. In this context, Ethiopia uses mostly security, terrorism and hate speech laws to arbitrarily detain individuals. Furthermore, arbitrary detention in Ethiopia has been identified as a consequence of pervasive violations of due process rights. These violations manifest in a number of different forms, including, for example, enforced disappearance, unreasonable delays, lack of independence, difficulty in accessing legal counsel, and torture and ill-treatment.
Comments