Disclaimer: This is an English translation of an Amharic press release of Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and is intended solely for information purposes.
Amhara Region: Arrests which do not follow human rights provisions and standards should stop immediately
October 6, 2024
Press Release
Despite ongoing armed conflict and insecurity, sufficient legal grounds are necessary to arrest civilians.
Since late September 2024 (mid-Meskerem 2017 E.C.), the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has monitored a new wave of mass arrests in various areas of Amhara Region including Gonder and Bahir Dar cities, and calls for relevant legal and human rights provisions to be respected during arrests during at any period. Government workers, political party members and media and civil society members are being taken to detention facilities. These arrests have not been undertaken with court warrants in accordance with the law, and detainees have not been brought before a court of law until the time of this statement’s release, and among them are persons requiring medical attention. Efforts will continue to reach the regional administration and security bodies for a response regarding the circumstances of the detentions and the human rights situation of the detainees.
The EHRC is also closely following human rights violations and implications caused by the October 4, 2024 (Meskerem 24, 2017 E.C.) bomb detonations by persons not yet identified in the Adventist School and other areas of Bahir Dar city. The EHRC calls on all actors to refrain from attacks on civilians and civil institutions, and actions which may hinder the daily activities of residents.
The EHRC’s Acting Chief Commissioner Rakeb Mesele said arrests have had negative psychological, economic and social effects on detainees and their family members and have the added effect of compromising public trust. She said, “even in armed conflicts and during periods of insecurity arrests of civilians require reasonable grounds to suspect criminality and sufficient legal grounds, even if there are special circumstances a court warrant and search order are needed, persons suspected of crimes should be held in regular detention facilities in a manner in which their rights are respected, and they should be presented in a court of law within 48 hours of their arrest.”
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