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24-05-2022
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian authorities have arrested more than 4,000 people in the northern Amhara region, local state media said on Monday, as part of a wider crackdown against militia fighters, journalists, judges, critics and judges.
Gizachew Muluneh, spokesperson for the Amhara regional administration and federal government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the wave of arrests.
More than 200 of the suspects are accused of killings, Amhara state security official Desalegne Tasew told the Amhara Media Corporation, accusing them of conducting “illegal activities” in the name of the Fano paramilitary group. It was not clear why the rest were being detained.
Tasew did not provide any evidence to back up the accusations of killings. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
Amhara is the second-most populous region in Ethiopia, and a key constituency for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Amhara forces and the Fano militia backed Abiy’s federal troops against rebellious forces in northern Tigray when fighting erupted there in 2020, but relations between some top Amhara officials and central government have since soured.
Meanwhile, a prominent Ethiopian general critical of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government appeared in court on Friday after being detained this week, his wife said, amid the arrests of some ethnic Amhara political activists and journalists.
Brigadier General Tefera Mamo commanded the Amhara region’s forces until February when he was removed without explanation. Amhara forces backed Abiy’s federal troops against rebellious forces in northern Tigray when conflict erupted there in 2020.
Last Sunday, Tefera gave a TV interview in which he criticised Abiy’s strategy against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and also accused Amhara members of the prime minister’s ruling party of being motivated by money.
Menen Haile, Tefera’s wife, said he had been remanded in custody for ten days.
“The police said they suspected him working to forcefully dismantle the constitutional order,” she told Reuters.
Tefera was arrested in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa on Monday, Menen said.
The president and spokesman of Amhara’s regional administration and police did not respond to requests for comment.
Critics say Abiy, who won a Nobel Peace Prize after taking power as a reformist in 2018, is cracking down on dissent around Ethiopia. He says he is guaranteeing stability and law and order in the multi-ethnic nation.
Daniel Bekele, head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, said his team was monitoring Tefera’s detention.
“We are gravely concerned about the wave of arrests,” he told Reuters.
The federal government issued a statement saying it was “taking a wide range measures in Amhara region against groups involved in the illegal arms trade, looting and destroying property of individuals, killings, and creating conflict among the public.” (Reuters)
